#anyways literally since i made the original masterlist i realized i should have made it a post instead and then. never did. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

drawlfoy · 3 years

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detention retention finale p.2 (the real finale!)

masterlist (catch up on parts 1, 2, and the first half of the finale here!)

request guidelines

pairing: draco x reader

request: no my original idea

summary: gryffindor and friend of the golden trio y/n y/l/n is tasked with getting close to malfoy to learn his secret in 6th year. things quickly become more complicated.

warnings: (please pay attention this time around) nsfw content, implied sex, swearing, character death. however, if you are sensitive to gore know that this one is a lot less graphic than the first half of the finale

a/n: wow. here we are! this part is going to be considerably more light hearted than the first part. ngl while writing this i reread my 8th grade diary when i spent hours overanalyzing what my crushes did/said and i kind of wanted to emulate that school crush feeling of “does he like me does he not”. if this seems like a weird turn considering how dark things were in the last chapter, i’m sorry i just really wanted to give poor draco and y/n a break fdajkfls. i hope you guys like it :)

word count: 16.1k (the longest part of them all...lmfao)

tags! @sycathorn-slush @writeandtranslate @gruffle1 @missmultifandommess @cleopatera @hahaboop @accio-rogers @geeksareunique @eltanin-malfoy @war-sword @cams-lynn @itsivyberry @ayo-cowbelly @nerd-domland @yesnerdsblog @shizarianathania @evanstanfanatic @strawberriesonsummer @hariosborn @night-ving @straightzoinked @imintoodeeptostop @naiomimoonshard @jejegu @ophelia-enthusiast @alwaysbeanunknownfan @nearly-memories @litty-dumb @callieclearwater @malfoy-wife15 @charlenasaxen @belladaises @fiantomartell @yiamalfoy @crystalox @dracoismybabey @dreamcxtcherr @decaffeinated-turtle @marrymetheonott @felicityofbakerstreet @daedreamss

here’s a spotify playlist i made for this!

enjoy!

Back at the Gryffindor tower, she was met with a surprise: Ron, sitting cross-legged on her bed, paging through a random Quidditch catalog he stole from Fred.

“Hi, Ron,” greeted Y/N tentatively. Despite the fact that Harry and Hermione had both been outwardly stand-offish towards her, Ron had, for the most part, remained neutral. “What’s up?”

He jerked his head upwards, his eyes wide. “Sorry, er, you scared me. Hey, Y/N.” Ron awkwardly waved.

“Is something...going on?”

“Oh.” He uncrossed his legs and sat up straight, his thumbs twiddling together in his lap. “I just wanted to, erm, have a chat with you. I know Hermione and Harry are a little angry with you still, but I miss you. And I don’t think they’re right in doing this to you.”

Y/N allowed her shoulders to sag in relief as she joined him, letting the bed sink under both of their weight. “I understand why they’re upset. I just felt so bad, you know. Drac--Malfoy is going through a lot right now, and even though he’s been a prat to you guys, all of a sudden it was like I would be a horrible person to ignore what’s been going on with him.”

“Harry and Hermione think it’s because you’re a pureblood,” Ron said. “That’s mostly why I came to talk to you. Harry said something before the day in the bathroom about how he wasn’t surprised ‘your kind’ was so quick to turn on us.”

“Does he not know that you’re literally a--”

“Exactly.” A nervous laugh left Ron’s lips. “I mentioned that, and I think he realized how messed up that line of thought was. Anyways, he feels proper terrible about hurting you the way he did. I think you’ll have to wait around a bit before he swallows his pride and apologizes to you himself, but he hasn’t been the same since what happened before the break.”

“Wow.” Y/N allowed that thought to sink in. “And...Hermione?”

“She’s still hurt,” admitted Ron. “Can you blame her, though? One of her best friends starts messing around with her childhood bully?”

She winced. “I know, I know. Believe me, I know. But we’re not...like that.”

“I think you should try talking to her again. I’m not sure why you’re so insistent on keeping a promise to Malfoy, but nothing’s going to change unless you tell her why you did what you did.”

“Thanks, Ron.” Y/N reached out to lay her hand on his shoulder. “Also, I don’t want to be gossipy or anything, but I think you should leave Lavender for Hermione.”

Ron balked. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s just an idea,” said Y/N, shrugging. “I just have a feeling you two would be really cute together. I dunno what it is. Just an inkling of a thought.”

“I would never leave Lavender,” he said, frowning as his eyes hazed over. “I would never do that…”

“Are you trying to convince me or yourself?” Y/N smirked, elbowing him in the side. He grinned at her, the dimples easily forming in the freckled skin of his cheek.

“Shut up, Y/N.”

Hermione Granger was not a difficult witch to locate. All Y/N had to do was wait until prime studying hours before searching the library’s long halls until she found the bushy head of hair craned intently over a large textbook.

“Hermione.”

At her voice, Hermione snapped to attention, a sour expression forming on her face. “What do you want?” She didn’t even wait for a response, dipping her head back down and continuing to take notes.

“I want to apologize, properly, for what happened,” Y/N said, settling into the seat across from her and dropping her voice. “I know I didn’t give you a very good explanation about what was going on, and I know I wasn’t completely honest with you.”

“I’m not interested in hearing what you have to say right now, Y/L/N.”

She brushed off the pain of her last name being used instead of her given name and continued. “I know you must be really hurt that I got close with Malfoy, especially considering how cruel he was to you.”

Hermione remained silent.

“I know that I’ll never understand how it feels to be an outsider in this world,” she said. “I’m sorry that I can’t change what happened in the past. You’re allowed to be as angry as you want with me. Believe me when I say that I never meant to lie to or to deceive you. You had to have noticed how different Malfoy looks. He needed someone, and I was there. He might not deserve that kind of treatment, especially not from you, but it would’ve been wrong of me to just let him suffer on his own.”

Hermione finally met her eyes, a few tears shining in the deep brown depths of her stare. “I don’t understand how you could overlook all the things he’s said about me. Is...that what you think of me, too?”

“Of course not, Hermione,” exclaimed Y/N. The angry shh from the table over made her drop her voice once again. “You’re twice as capable as my entire bloodline combined. You have every right to be part of this world. You are part of this world and you always have been. If I thought that Draco hadn’t changed, I wouldn’t have become friends with him.”

“You call him Draco now?”

“He’s my friend. And I think that if things were a little different, he’d actually defect from his family’s beliefs and join our side. Living firsthand in the close proximity of Death Eaters really took a toll on him.”

Hermione chewed her lip. “This is really hard. I don’t know what to say.”

“I miss you,” confessed Y/N. “And, to be honest, I felt quite left out, too. I know you and Harry and Ron have important confidential business to attend to, but the way it was treated made it seem like I was too stupid to hear about or understand it. Draco didn’t make me feel that way, and I liked it.”

To her surprise, Hermione’s features softened. “I’m sorry. I really am, Y/N. I don’t know why I didn’t realize earlier how unfair we were to you about that.”

“Really?”

She shrugged. “I think so.”

“Are we okay, then?”

Hermione frowned a little deeper as her idle hand allowed her quill to dribble ink over the fresh parchment she used. “Not really. I think I need some time. It’s hard for me to feel like I can trust you again after all of this.”

“I completely understand,” Y/N rushed out. “Hopefully one day things will be better, yeah?”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Hermione offered her a small smile before turning back to her work. If it had been another time, Y/N would’ve invited herself to sit across from her and distract her as she tried to study, telling Hermione all about her day and how much she wanted to drop kick Goyle across the Quidditch pitch, but it was different now, and she knew that.

Without another word, Y/N got up and left her old friend in her library.

Her dorm was rather quiet as she settled back into her bed for the second time that day, this time happy to find it entirely empty. It was a Sunday, after all, and she had an entire stack of homework to try and drag herself through before her classes the next day.

As her fingers began to card through the messy parchment of her desk, she took notice of an item that hadn’t been there before--a crimson red envelope, embossed with glittery golden piping and a roaring lion. Her family crest.

Y/N tore into the parchment as she wracked her brain to try and guess the contents. A howler? No, she’d been (mostly) good. A gift? She hadn’t been that good. What awaited her was much more underwhelming--just a boring old piece of parchment with black ink penned in her father’s handwriting.

But the news that it brought her had the memories from Christmas Break rushing back.

The next day, he was sitting in his Potions seat, making small talk with Pansy that coaxed a few laughs out of both students like nothing had happened the day before. Their eyes met briefly before he uncomfortably cleared his throat and turned away, back to Pansy’s animated speech over how ridiculous this class was.

Her heart ached at the sight. How could he act like nothing had ever happened between them? How could he just evade eye contact like that? Y/N felt a wave of uncontrollable jealousy wash over her when the thought of Pansy lying in his silk sheets with the knowledge that she was actually HIS, that he actually wanted her. It was all she could do to avert her eyes and pretend it didn’t happen, though Draco wasn’t exactly ignoring her anymore, which was almost worse. Now that she knew he only saw her as a friend, it only hurt so much more when he would chivalrously offer to walk her back to the library at night or say polite hellos to her in the halls.

The days began to bleed into each other again, speeding along even quicker now that she actually had people to sit with during meals and to talk to during common hours. Hermione and Ron had begun speaking to her again, though Harry was still making himself sparse whenever she appeared in a group.

To her surprise, though, that changed one day when a paper crane fluttered onto her desk in Charms. She opened it quickly, hoping desperately (and against her will) that it was from Draco, but instead she was greeted with a messy scrawl that she knew very well.

Meet me after practice on the pitch if you’d be okay with talking to me. -Harry

Despite the recent events, Y/N couldn’t help but feel a twinge of nostalgia for the many times that Harry had written her similar notes, back when their relationship wasn’t rocky and she was actually helping the Trio. That wistfulness was quickly replaced with anxiety when she tried to figure out what to expect from Harry.

“Y/N,” he greeted her a few hours later. She rose from her seat on the bleachers and began to walk alongside him.

“Hi Harry.”

“Listen,” he began, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “I know I’m not very good at talking about feelings--that’s why I’ve been putting this off for so long--but you deserve an apology for what happened in Myrtle’s bathroom. I don’t think I’ll ever understand your connection with Malfoy, but that isn’t an excuse for what happened.”

Well, this was going better than expected. “I’m not going to lie and say that it’s okay that you hexed me, but I don’t blame you all that much.”

Harry let out a nervous laugh. “That’s, er, really good to hear, Y/N. I am so, so sorry for what I did to you. Are you okay?”

“Just peachy,” responded Y/N. “Madame Pomfrey even said that the scarring might go away.” The way the blood drained out of his face made her realize that that probably wasn’t the right thing to say.

“Oh, Merlin, there’s scarring?”

“Forget I said that,” replied Y/N, placing a hand comfortingly on his arm. “Water under the bridge. It really is okay.”

“Well…” He coughed awkwardly as they neared the castle’s entrance. “I think I owe you an explanation as well. If you want one, that is.”

“Shoot,” she said. “Preferably not a deadly curse at me, though.”

If Harry thought that was funny, he certainly didn’t show it. “Looking back on what happened, it was all just a complete blur. I lost control.”

“Because I hadn’t told you about Malfoy?”

“Oh, well…” He cleared his throat, avoiding her eyes. “Obviously I was angry that you’d lied to us. And I was angry at Malfoy over Katie Bell. But that wasn’t what made me lose control. It was seeing you together. There was this moment before either of you noticed I was there and it just made me sick to my stomach to watch. Merlin, the way he…” Harry trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut. “The way he looked at you. It just boiled my blood.”

“What do you mean?” asked Y/N, beginning to grow more and more confused. How could Harry have seen something that wasn’t even there in the first place?

“And the way you two looked at each other in Potions,” he continued, clearly not planning on answering her question. “It makes me sick. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“He doesn’t see me that way, Harry,” she said, her voice little.

“Has he told you that?”

“As a matter of fact he has.”

Harry’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Sorry about that.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” she replied, holding his palms up in a surrender. “It’s not as if it came as a surprise or anything. Plus, not like I care. Just because I don’t want to see him get hurt does not mean I have feelings for him.” Y/N was talking too animatedly, something that prompted her friend to tilt his head and send her a curious look.

“Right. Well…” Harry stood up, brushing his robes off. “If I didn’t make it clear enough already, I’m sorry. I don’t think I’ll ever understand what you see in him. But you haven’t lost me. I just hope I haven’t lost you.”

Y/N gave him a grateful smile before launching into his arms. He started, but once Y/N had her arms around his neck, he hugged her back. She breathed in the familiar woodsy smell she’d known since she was 11 and swallowed the lump in her throat. “I missed you, Harry.”

“I missed you too. So much.”

She was just about to poke fun at him for being sappy when someone pointedly cleared their throat behind them, prompting her to spin around and prepare to tell someone off for interrupting her conversation. Once she saw who it was before her, though, she froze.

“Try and keep the PDA at a minimum, yeah?” Draco Malfoy said, his lips twisted into a bored scowl.

“Draco,” she warned. He simply arched an eyebrow at her before swiftly passing by the two, being sure to brush harshly against Harry’s shoulder.

“What has gotten into him?” she asked in astonishment. “Merlin, it’s like we time traveled back to 5th year or something.”

He scoffed at her side. “Y/N, what did I tell you?”

The next day, Draco wasn’t at breakfast. Y/N tried not to think too much about his empty seat as she listened to Ron ramble on about how crazy Lavender was being. She had finally migrated over to the Gryffindor table, bringing her new Ravenclaw friend along with her. Hermione was still giving her side eye, but it was better than being treated like a complete outcast. This time around, Parkinson was gone from the Slytherin table, too. The thought of Pansy being the one to comfort him filled her chest with the slimy coolness of jealousy, but instead of dwelling on it further, she stabbed her fork through the strawberry on her plate and took a bite. If he wanted to mess around with her, he could. Merlin knew he needed some sort of distraction. But her most private thoughts couldn’t help but wonder if he ever had feelings for her. There were so many moments that made her think otherwise--the way he’d blush when she said anything flirtatious, how eager he had been to walk her to her dorm, all the glances sent her way…

It was at moments like these when Y/N sternly reminded herself that they were just friends and that was all he’d ever seen her as. Friends brushed hands. Friends walked each other to their dorms. Friends stared across the room at each other sometimes. Friends gave each other gifts. Hermione, Ron, and Luna had all acted similarly to her in the past and it was entirely platonic. She was just overanalyzing.

He didn’t show up to Potions, Charms, or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Snape was giving her the eye, and Y/N uncomfortably shifted in her chair as she wondered if the wizard had found out it was her who stole the Veritaserum.

“As you all may know,” he drawled, stalking the perimeter of the classroom, “A particular potion of mine has been...misplaced. If any of you happen to know where it is, I suggest you confess now.”

Nervous chatter erupted around the room as Snape’s eyes bored into hers. Was he using Legilimency on her? Wouldn’t she feel something? Despite her worries, he broke eye contact and spun around to the board, scrawling the topic of the lesson on the chalkboard. Y/N reminded herself to breathe.

He wasn’t at lunch, Transfiguration, or dinner. Y/N was starting to believe that Draco had just up and left Hogwarts as she began to get ready for bed, showering off the day and dressing in comfier clothes. For once, her homework load had been lightened to the point where she could put it off for a full day. Diffuser on, windows open, and sleeping clothes on, Y/N was ready and settled into bed early with nothing but her racing thoughts to keep her company.

Was Draco okay? Did something happen with his task? Where was he?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a light rap on her door.

“Y/N?” A young girl’s voice, muffled but distinguishable through the heavy wooden door shook her out of it. She groaned, throwing the blankets off her and closing her hand around the doorknob. She wasn’t even a prefect, but for some god-forsaken reason the first-years always went to her instead.

“Candace,” she greeted. “What’s cracking?”

“Someone wants to see you.” The first-year’s voice sounded shakier than usual. Y/N finally cast her eyes up from the short girl to take in the sight of a rather disheveled looking Draco Malfoy standing in her hallway.

“Draco? What are you doing here?”

He cleared his throat. “Are you busy?”

“Candace,” Y/N said, addressing the eleven year old in front of her first, “Thanks for helping Draco. You should go to bed, you know. It’s late.”

Wide-eyed, Candace dashed off without any protest. Y/N cast a raised brow to Draco and tried to look like she hadn’t spent the past 12 hours obsessing over his disappearance. “You better have a good reason for showing up at my dorm in the middle of the night and scaring one of my first-years to death.”

“She wasn’t scared,” he argued.

“You must be horrible with reading children,” stated Y/N. “Anyways, is this a conversation that you want to have in my dorm hall? Or would you prefer to come inside?”

He tilted his head towards the doorway. “May I?”

“Er...sure. Come on in.” She bit back the quip about already offering. “What’s going on? You missed all your classes today.”

“I’m aware,” he responded drily as he sat down on the same spot she’d just been nearly asleep on. “I just...something happened last night. I didn’t know where else to go.”

Y/N tried not to blush at how flattered she was. He didn’t even like her. Why was she acting like that still? Friends did this sort of thing. Friends were there for each other. “Oh. Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want to just take your mind off of it?”

He seemed to ponder this for a moment before exhaling a deep sigh. “I don’t know. Maybe take my mind off it until I feel ready to talk about it.”

Y/N gave him a small smile, leading him by the cuff of his sleeve over to her window. “I think I know something we can do. Grab a pillow and a blanket.”

He did as she asked while she opened up the window wider until it was large enough to crawl through, spelling the tiles of the roof outside clean.

“Are we going on the roof?”

“As long as you’re not too scared of heights, yeah,” she responded, using her desk as a stepping stool while she swung the rest of her body out on the old Hogwarts roof. Despite the age of the castle, the structure was thankfully sturdy. “Pass me anything you want out here. I’ll get it set up for us.”

“I’m not sitting on that dirty roof,” he said, his usual snotty tone creeping into his voice as he handed her a blanket for each of them.

“Okayyy, Your Highness.” Y/N rolled her eyes. “We can sit on my blanket.” True to her word, she took the one she usually slept with and covered the tiles. “Will you come sit with me now?”

“Since you asked so nicely.” He settled in next to her, his own blanket barely draped over his knees while she sat cross legged at his side, trying not to shiver from the cold late winter air. “Wow. This is actually a better view than from the Astronomy tower.”

“I know, right?” she said, trying to ignore how her heart fluttered every time he looked at her. “You can see Hogsmeade from here, too.”

The pair watched the scenery before them in silence. Y/N drank in the landscape bathed in soft moonlight, the winding creeks leading into the Dark Forest reflecting the moon while the Black Lake’s waves gently lapped at the shores.

“I come up here sometimes when I get stressed,” she confessed after a little while. Draco turned to look at her, his lips slightly quirked up and his eyes soft.

“Yeah?”

“It just helps clear my head,” she continued. “I feel really lucky to live in the Tower. It must be kind of weird to know that if you opened your window you’d just flood your room.”

Draco snorted. “You get used to it.”

Y/N hummed in something that felt a little like agreement.

He shuffled, clearing his throat. “By the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you this since that night. I’m…sorry that I can’t give you what you want.”

“It’s really okay,” she said, her cheeks growing hot. “I understand. You can’t change how you feel. I’m happy to be your friend and eventually that’s all I’ll ever want.”

Draco dipped his head in a nod of acknowledgement when a brilliant display of lights suddenly exploded over Hogsmeade. Fireworks. They were obviously magic, charmed to glitter in the shape of the words, “Happy Birthday, Margie!”

“Oh my god, happy birthday Margie,” Y/N echoed, eager for the distraction of their conversation.

“I wonder how old she’s turning.”

“I bet she’s 34,” said Y/N.

“32.”

“33, maybe, but that’s pushing it.”

She returned his grin before she felt something hit the top of her head--a raindrop, fat and cold--and roll down the back of her neck. “Shit. I think it’s going to rain soon. Do you want to go back in?”

As if to accentuate her point, the clouds above them rumbled. Draco shrugged. “If you want. I kind of like staying out here, though.”

“Me too.”

They sat in the quiet for a few more moments, the only sound coming from the soft patter of the rain and the occasional boom of Margie’s birthday fireworks. Y/N began to shiver as the raindrops became more frequent, her loose sleeping shirt and her shorts not really doing much for her. All of a sudden, she felt something fuzzy on top of her head.

She looked to her left to see that Draco had lifted his blanket to drape over both of them, creating a tent of some sort. “Thanks, Draco.”

“Don’t mention it.” His smile set off the butterflies in her stomach once again, but she beat them back. The fireworks continued, now switching to a glittering sage green. “I bet Margie was a Slytherin.”

“Or maybe she just likes sage green,” argued Y/N.

“Maybe.” He held her gaze for what felt like a second too long before clearing his throat and turning his attention back onto the night sky. It occurred to her at that moment that they could’ve just transfigured the pillows they were sitting on into umbrellas, but traitorously, she didn’t want to mention it if it meant she lost her chance to be near him.

She felt something lightly brush past the hand she had rested in the space between them but thought nothing of it, instead focusing on her breathing and making sure she didn’t sound like she was hyperventilating because she most certainly felt like she wanted to. She’d never shared her special roof spot with anyone, not even Harry or Ron. But he didn’t know that.

The fireworks exploded with a crescendo of motion as multiple green sparkles were launched into the air, crackling and sparking with energy. At any other point in time, Y/N would’ve found it easy to focus on the beauty of the show, but something else caught her attention: the fact that Draco’s hand was now set directly next to hers, the edge of his touching her with the lightest of pressures. Every nerve ending in her left hand felt like it was burning with energy as Draco, without even sparing a glance in her direction, inched his hand over just enough for his pinky to overlap with hers.

Y/N tried to remember how to breathe as her thoughts ran wild. Friends touched hands sometimes. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe he didn’t even know it was her hand.

She heard Draco’s own breath hitch in his throat as his hand finally slipped under hers, intertwining their fingers and turning them so her hand rested in his palm.

Friends held hands sometimes. There was nothing romantic about this. Nope. This was normal. Y/N’s frenzied thoughts were interrupted by Draco’s voice.

“You know how much danger my family is in,” he said, finally revealing what had him so shaken up. “Well, I got a letter from my mother last night. Apparently she’s been getting these strange, veiled threats. She can’t identify the owl and it seems like whoever this is is hell-bent on breaking into the manor. My aunt and the rest of the Death Eaters have been ridiculing her for even worrying about it.”

Y/N started to feel a guilty pit in her stomach. The letter her father sent her was beginning to make more sense. “Draco, that’s awful.”

“Do you think that maybe they’re the ones who are sending them to her?” he asked, his voice raising an octave at the end, flourished with a small crack in his tone. “As a way to rush me to the end of my task?”

Draco had slowly leaned into her as he told her his worries, and Y/N found herself gently squeezing his hand. “I’m so sorry you have to deal with this on top of everything else. This isn’t fair to you. Is there anything I can do to help you? Do you need help solving the cabinet?”

He shook his head, casting his gaze down to their hands. “Is it okay if I just stay here for a little?”

“Of course you can,” she said, immediately regretting her words. Having him around would only make her feel worse. Was this how he treated all of his friends? She held back an ill-timed chuckle at the thought of him holding hands with Goyle.

“Thanks, Y/N.” His eyes were so light that she could still see the silver hue of them in the dark, reflecting what little moonlight found him under the blanket. “You know, I’m glad we had detention together. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Pansy kept badgering me all day about how she could help instead of actually listening and Blaise just told me that if I kept moping around he’d nab my mother himself.”

“Oh,” said Y/N. Jealousy surged through her as she thought again about Pansy. When she held hands with him, she probably never had to wonder what it meant. “Do they know about…”

“Not everything,” Draco clarified. “That’s just you. They just know about my current house guests. I haven’t told them any specifics.”

Another pang of guilt rattled through Y/N as she ran through the information she’d gotten the night prior in her head while he squeezed her hand back, his thumb running along her skin. She felt like the shame of not mentioning it earlier was burning her up.

“Draco, I need to tell you something.” The makeshift blanket tent all of a sudden felt like the most intimate location in the world as he turned to face her fully, now gripping her hand with two of his own and leaning closer, his eyebrows raised in curiosity. “What is it?”

“I…” She trailed off, squeezing her eyes shut as she mentally ran through the contents of the parchment on her desk. For a moment, all she could hear was the pounding of rain and Draco’s breathing.

“If this is what I think it is, then I--”

“I’m not about to confess to you again literally right after being rejected,” she snipped back, pulling her hands from his grip in a moment of unexpected humiliation. “I’m not that stupid.”

Draco took his own hands, now empty, and folded them neatly on his thigh. He stopped meeting her eyes. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t--I wasn’t going to--”

“It’s--no, I’m sorry.” Y/N found herself angry that she gave up her excuse to hold his hand. “That was just a little embarrassing for me. I promise I won’t bring it up again. This is something totally different.”

“It’s okay. I understand.” To her surprise, there was no usual teasing lilt to his tone; he was being entirely genuine.

“I want you to know that we can call this off at any time,” she began, watching his blank expression carefully should it change, “But I hope you think about this.”

“Think about what?”

“I’m kidnapping your mom.”

There. It was out. Draco’s mouth had long since fallen open, a look of mild horror on his face. “What the actual fuck?”

“Let me explain,” Y/N rushed. “The Order owes my family a favor. My mom knew yours. I may have mentioned something about the treatment towards her over the holidays and now my family is orchestrating a way to fake a kidnapping-turned-murder situation to get her out.”

He blinked at her.

“Of course we can call it off anytime you want,” Y/N repeated. She cast a quick Accio (something she was surprised worked considering how shaky she was) and summoned her father’s letter from her desk, thrusting it into his arms. “Read this. It has all the details.”

Draco scanned the document without a single word leaving his lips.

“You’re scaring me, Draco. What do you think?”

“You have an Italian beach cottage?” he asked.

“Apparently so,” answered Y/N. “I’ve never been there, but we haven’t actually registered it through the British Ministry. If we hide your mother there, no one is going to be able to find her. She’s not required to give up information to the Order, either--I mean, we kind of hope that she will, but there’s no mandated amount of intel to keep her safe.”

“And I can…”

“Yes. After your task is straightened out, you can join her if you want.” She hardly finished her sentence before Draco’s arms pulled her into the tightest hug she’d ever been given in her life.

“I can’t believe you did that,” he mumbled, his voice strained. “How did you...wow. Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” Her voice was muffled by his shoulder. “I’m just glad I could help.”

He finally pulled away, still keeping his hands gently placed on her forearms. She tried to keep her thoughts from straying too much as he gazed down at her, a slightly sad downturn in his lips. The way he was looking at her began to make her even more nervous.

“Well, it’s getting late,” she stated. “I want to get up early tomorrow so I’m not too late to Potions. Are you feeling better?”

Draco cleared his throat. “Er, yes. I suppose so. Thanks again, Y/N. I’m assuming this is when you kick me out?”

“Don’t say it like that.” She spelled her blanket clean from under him and stepped back into her room, turning to face him. “I’m just tired. That’s all. I’m glad you felt like you could come to me.”

He sent her a small smile before swinging his legs over the windowsill and making his way to the door. “I hope you have a good night. Sleep well.” He went in for another hug, but this time Y/N accidentally leaned the same direction as him, nearly crashing her lips into his.

“Shit, sorry,” she murmured as she quickly corrected herself to lean the other way--and was horrified to find that he had done the exact thing as well, barely dodging him this time and instead reeling herself back as far as his hold on her allowed. Draco let out a nervous laugh, letting her go and stepping away, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Well. That was poorly timed considering the conversation we had,” he pointed out. What stellar observational skills.

“Er, yeah. Well…” Y/N held her hand out and immediately felt herself cringe. “Here’s to being good friends.”

He took her hand in his and tentatively shook it, a sort of half-smirk dancing on his lips as his eyebrow raised. “To being good friends. I’ll see you later.”

Then he was gone, and Y/N was able to flop back on her bed and frantically sort through her thoughts in peace. He’d almost--no, she’d almost--well, they both had almost kissed. As friends, though. Obviously.

This is ridiculous. She pulled a blanket up around her and immediately froze when she breathed in--black tea and sage, just as she remembered. She decided it was high time to switch her blankets anyways and tossed that one in the laundry bin.

“And then guess what she said?”

“Come on, we’re waiting,” Y/N said to Ron as they chattered over their cauldron in Potions together, flanked by the rest of her Gryffindor friends.

“Lavender said I’m obviously pining after Hermione because I keep asking her to study with me.”

“No!” came from Neville after a theatrical gasp. “She did not.”

“She literally did, mate,” Harry cut in. “I saw it myself. Honestly, I think she might be onto something. I’ve always sensed some sort of tension between you two.”

“I think Harry’s right, as much as it pains me to say it,” she teased, giving her friend a little shove. Seamus had just opened his mouth to start talking when the sound of shattering glass prompted them all to whip around to face the Slytherin section. Draco Malfoy stood awkwardly clutching the broken remains of a glass vial in his hand like he was still in disbelief over what had occurred.

“Malfoy, boy, is everything alright over there?” Slughorn asked from the front.

“Yes,” he said quickly, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know what happened.”

“You should sleep more,” the professor continued. “It’s harder to control your magic when you’re young and exhausted.”

Draco just nodded, his gaze turning over to meet Y/N’s worried one. She tilted her head, mouthing, “Are you okay?”. He sent her a tight smile and nodded, though Pansy sent her a very dirty look.

“So that was weird,” said Y/N, turning back around to face Harry. “I haven’t broken glass by losing control of my magic since I was a kid.”

“One time I let a snake out in a muggle zoo,” said Harry, his eyes miles away as he traveled down memory lane.

“You what now?”

“I can’t believe I never told you that.”

“I think I would’ve remembered that. What’d you do, whisper in its ear about how the only thing it has to lose is its chains or something until he was motivated enough to escape?”

Harry laughed. “No. I vanished the glass. And then it thanked me, which was horribly alarming for a kid who had no idea what magic was.”

“You poor, poor thing,” she mocked before Slughorn dismissed them and they began to make their way together down the hall. “Suffering from success.”

Harry chuckled, and Y/N felt a surge of affection for the fact that they were friends once again. “Basically the story of my life. Anyways, I’m off to see Snape.”

“Merlin, are you okay?” asked Y/N, holding her hand to his forehead and miming the motion of checking for a fever. “On your own time?”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s alright,” he said, suddenly looking more somber. “I’m just serving detention for what happened in the bathroom. I am still very sorry about that, you know. If you wanted to curse me to get back at me, I’d understand.”

She shoved him forward, a smile dancing on her lips as she said, “Go on, suffer for my honor.” Then she felt a hand pull her back into an empty, dark classroom.

“Let go of me!” she exclaimed, twisting around to try and see the person who had grabbed her.

“Boo,” whispered a familiar voice in her ear.

“Draco, you do realize you could just talk to me in the halls like a normal goddamn person,” she chided, finally being released from his grip so she could give him a stern look. He only shrugged, a slightly impish look displayed across his features.

“But it’s more fun this way.”

She tried her hardest to frown at him, but it was honestly difficult when he was smiling at her the way he was. “So, what’s up? Did something happen?”

“Nothing really,” he admitted. “I just know that we both have free periods. Do you want to spend it together?”

Friends, friends, friends, friends, friends Y/N chanted in her head. He’s only saying this as a platonic thing.

“I guess I don’t really have anything better to do,” she teased. Despite her light hearted tone, she couldn’t help but notice the shift in Draco’s behavior. In a matter of days, he was looking more like himself than he had all year--the color finding its way back into his cheeks, the corners of his eyes crinkling up when he smiled, the food on his plate in the Great Hall actually being eaten.

If there was one thing that Y/N was quickly learning about Draco, it was that under all of his snobbery, he was endearingly weird. He’d memorized all of the captains of the Slytherin Quidditch team, read everything there was in the library about alchemy, and always sent her the dorkiest fucking waves whenever their eyes met.

So, in spirit of Draco’s newly recovered persona, Y/N spent the rest of her free period sitting in the empty classroom and chatting with him about a whole load of nothing. They’d both sat on top of adjacent desks, and sometimes Y/N would swing her feet so she kicked his shin. He’d always promptly return the favor.

“So,” she said after a while, “Have you been thinking about what I told you? My family’s plan, and all?”

He was quiet for a few seconds, his gaze cast down to his hands. “A little. I guess I’m just a little confused about what I should do with my task or when all of this is going to happen.”

“I’m only asking because I’ve been thinking about it,” confessed Y/N. “I think I’ve figured out what you should do with your task. If you want to, that is.”

“I’m listening.”

“We’ve already established that You-Know-Who has nothing to hold over your head without your mother at stake,” began Y/N, searching his face to find agreement, “But it’s going to look suspicious if you suddenly stop sending progress reports.”

Draco reached his hand up to scratch his cheek. “One problem, though. I don’t think I’ll be able to repair the cabinet. I’ve hit a complete dead end anyways.”

“That’s fine,” said Y/N. “That doesn’t matter. Fake the progress reports. I don’t think that you should fix it at all, to be honest. I think you should leave it broken and still invite Bellatrix and her friends to travel through it.”

“And kill them?!”

“Or maim them,” offered Y/N. “I know it’s not ideal, but I think that if I tweaked the cabinet’s lunar belt just right, I might be able to control how the space-time continuum is warped and simply incapacitate them so the Order can take them into custody. Of course, the dark magic as an element may throw a curveball, but it’s worth a shot. And if you do this, it’ll mean that the Order will trust you more.”

“Hm.” Draco caught his bottom lip on his teeth while he shut his eyes, obviously stewing over everything. “That’s quite the risk.”

“I can run it by my family to get their thoughts on it,” she offered. “But the only caveat is that I have to mention what you’re trying to do.”

His eyes shot open. “Maybe don’t mention the part where I’ve already made more than one attempt on the headmaster’s life if we end up going down that route.”

Y/N shrugged. “The Order might already know. Isn’t Snape onto you?”

“He’s not ‘onto me’, he was instructed to help--” Draco stopped in his tracks as he stared at her. “Wait, what?”

“Oh,” she said, both of them frozen as they realized what they’d revealed to each other. “Erm...forget I mentioned that.”

“Yeah, probably a good idea,” he mumbled, sending a half-hearted kick at her. “Let’s change the subject.”

“Love it,” she said absentmindedly. “Anyways, will you go to Slug’s Valentine party with me next weekend? As friends, of course. He wants all of us to bring dates and I don’t know who else to ask.”

Draco looked like he was glowing. “Really? You wouldn’t bring Potter?”

“Eh,” she responded. “I’m pretty sure he’s going with Ginny. Plus, I see him around the common room enough as it is.” Y/N waited a few moments. “So? Are you in?”

He shook himself out of what looked to be a weirdly stupified state. “Er, of course. Just let me know when you need me.”

The Hogwarts bells began to chime outside, signifying that the third period block was beginning.

“Saturday at 8,” said Y/N, turning to leave. “You can meet me in front of the Great Hall.”

“I’ll just walk you from your dorm.”

“Then you have to be there earlier.”

Draco shrugged. “I don’t mind. Anyways, I’m off to Runes. Enjoy Divination.” He bumped her shoulder as he walked past, sending a thrill through Y/N. How had he even known that she had Divination? That was one of the few classes they didn’t share, and she probably just mentioned it in passing once.

Then again, they were friends. And just because Ron and Hermione hadn’t memorized her schedule, it didn’t mean that Draco was the same kind of friend.

Things only got more confusing as time went on. Draco found any excuse to talk to her, especially when she was with Harry. If he were any other boy, Y/N would’ve immediately assumed the obvious: that he had a crush on her and was jealous. But, obviously, that was impossible. He’d told her upfront that he didn’t have any feelings for her. So why was his behavior so different after that night they spent together on the roof?

It got even weirder on Friday. Draco once again pulled her away from a conversation with Harry to shove a little box in her hands.

“What’s this, Draco?” she asked, frowning as she turned it around in her hand.

“It’s just something I thought you might like,” he muttered, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Her interest piqued, Y/N opened the box.

“A quidditch bracelet?” Y/N gulped as she looked down at the enchanted diamonds, each glittering with a gentle silver pigment--as well as a slight lavender purple sheen. This was not a normal gift to give to your school friend. This was at least a few thousand galleons--probably even more, considering the enchantments that made the stones glow. Even her considerably wealthy family wouldn’t buy her one because of her horrid track record with jewelry.

He shrugged. “I picked it up while I was at Barnaby’s a bit ago. You don’t have to wear it if you don’t want. I remembered I had it when you asked me to Slug’s party and I thought I’d see if you’d be interested.”

“Erm,” said Y/N, stammering, “I’ve never gotten a gift like this from someone before.”

“Believable.” Draco snorted. “Take it and do me a favor. It’s not like I’d wear it. It might as well be appreciated by someone.”

“It’s beautiful, it really is. I’m just worried because I have a bit of a habit of forgetting I’m wearing jewelry and breaking it….”

“I assumed. That’s why I charmed it to be unbreakable,” said Draco quickly. “If you don’t want to wear it, I won’t be offended. I’m just offering.”

Y/N couldn’t help but be thankful that the abandoned classroom he’d pulled her into was dark. Otherwise, he might’ve seen how red her cheeks were. “I guess we’ll figure out how strong your unbreaking enchantments are shortly.”

“Is this your way of saying yes?”

“Help me put it on, will you?”

She could see dimples form in his cheeks as he allowed a small, close lipped smile to spread across his face while he unclasped the bracelet from the box and gently turned her arm so her palm faced up to the sky. His touch lingered over her skin for a few seconds. Y/N had to remind herself to breathe.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, his voice suddenly low, “About what we talked about last time we were here. About the cabinet, and the Order…”

“Yeah?”

“I think I want to do it,” he said firmly, finally pulling his hands away from her arm and tossing the empty wrapping into his pocket. “Just tell me what you need from me.”

“Nothing yet, really. Just your consent to tell my family about your task. I’ll let you know if they want anything else.” Though Y/N’s response was truthful and concise, her mind was elsewhere as she came to a depressing realization. He wasn’t giving her the quidditch bracelet because he secretly liked her and wanted to spoil her or whatever. He was doing it as a thank you for what she was doing for him and his mother. An elaborate gift for an even more elaborate favor.

“That’s easy enough,” Draco mused. “In the meantime, I’ll keep sending progress reports.”

“Good plan,” said Y/N, her voice a little deflated. “Thank you again for the bracelet. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She left the classroom and spent the rest of her night stewing over the poor decisions she’d made regarding her emotions over the past week. She knew about the effect that Draco had over her, yet she still invited him to Slug’s party like an idiot. And then she’d let herself get her hopes up over dumb little things like the way he looked at her in class or the quidditch bracelet when he was really just being a friend trying to pay her back for a big favor.

Saturday night was going to be rough if she couldn’t get her feelings in line.

At 7:50 sharp, Y/N waited by the portrait of the Fat Lady. Peeves wailed above her as she tried to practice slow breathing--in for 5 seconds, out for 5 seconds. I am in control of my feelings. I control my own reality.

Then she saw him, and all of the work she’d done trying to quell the butterflies in her stomach at the thought of him amounted to nothing. He looked breathtaking. Y/N bit her tongue as she tried to violently beat back the thoughts of all the things she wanted him to do to her.

“You look nice,” he said smoothly once he was close enough for it to be socially acceptable. Her mouth went completely dry as she drank in the sight of him in an all-black suit.

“Thanks. So do you.” She internally congratulated herself for getting through that without stumbling over her words too much. Gingerly, she pushed herself off her position of leaning on the wall and began to walk alongside him.

As they ascended the steps, her heel teetered. She reached for Draco’s hand in a moment of sheer panic--and, surprisingly, he latched onto her and held her up.

“Didn’t your parents ever tell you to not wear shoes you couldn’t walk in?” he said, amused. He didn’t move to let go of her hand.

“Don’t be rude, Malfoy,” she fired back.

“You’re not wearing it,” he noted. His lips slightly turned into a frown as he cast his eyes downwards.

Y/N stared at him, her mind barely functioning at this point. “What?”

“The bracelet,” he said, letting go of her hand to motion to her wrist.

“Oh,” she responded lamely. In truth, she’d tossed it into his quill box while she was in the throes of self-pity over the whole ordeal of unrequited feelings, but she could hardly tell him that. “I took it off to shower and it took too long to put back on.”

“You know, you could’ve just asked me to help again,” he said with a teasing lilt. “I’d only judge you a little.”

She smiled, grateful he wasn’t pushing it any further. “Ever the gentleman. I’ll keep that in mind next time.”

They made it to the fifth floor in no time. Slughorn only seemed slightly concerned with the presence of Draco, but he didn’t say anything to Y/N. As she expected, Hermione and Ron gave her a little bit of side-eye once they saw her choice of a date, but neither of them brought it up and even spoke to her for a little--though they never verbally acknowledged Malfoy. While she was constantly overanalyzing the little things that Draco was doing--the way he offered her a sip of his drink when she spaced out on the way his hands looked holding it for too long, the way he was always touching her in some way, whether it be a hand on her lower back or a lingering grip on her waist--she couldn’t help but feel overcome with the relief that her friends seemed somewhat accepting of her new friendship with Draco.

Then Harry opened his mouth.

“Malfoy,” he greeted through gritted teeth.

“Potter.”

Ginny met her slightly panicked gaze with one of her own. To her surprise, though, Harry just flicked his gaze to where Draco’s hand was lightly poised on her waist, raising an eyebrow. “Congratulations for finally being honest with her. I always thought Y/N deserved a bloke who outright admitted his feelings. I never thought I’d say this, but maybe that is you after all.”

Draco’s hand immediately dropped. “Do me a favor and bugger off.”

“Or maybe I’m wrong,” replied Harry, looking Draco up and down with possibly the pettiest look she’d ever seen on a wizard before. “Enjoy the rest of your night.”

“That was weird,” said Y/N, though she secretly revelled in the fact that Harry was picking up on something too.

“I suppose.” Draco slid off one of his rings, running his fingertips over the ridges of his family crest.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked Y/N, placing a hand on his shoulder.

He nodded. “I’m fine. Sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’ve just never really been a party person.”

“I imagine it’s probably not helping that Harry’s here,” she said, giving his arm a little squeeze before releasing him. “Do you want to just get out of here? I think we’ve been here for long enough to justify ditching.” His grateful smile told her everything. “I had a feeling. Where do you want to go?”

He pondered this for a bit. “I’m not sure. Anywhere but here.”

“Anywhere but here” quickly turned into his dorm as they wordlessly made their way down to the dungeons, passing by Marvin the raven outside Snape’s stores. Y/N’s pulse sped up every time their hands brushed--which seemed to happen far, far too often for it to be accidental on either of their ends.

“I can’t believe you broke in there,” he said finally, chuckling as the raven cooed at her appreciatively. “And just for me? I’m flattered.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t mention it,” grumbled Y/N. Obviously she’d done it just for him--she was hopelessly obsessed with him. He knew that. She found herself profoundly grateful that she’d been under the influence of Veritaserum that time instead of now--if she’d had so much as a drop of truth serum, she’d spend the entire night telling him how much she wanted him. “Anyways, I’m sorry for how weird Harry was back there. I don’t get why he feels the need to make assumptions about everything.”

Draco hummed, tapping his fingers on her wrist. Just friends, just friends, you’re just friends. Merlin fucking damnit, why did he have such nice hands? “I don’t know. He was certainly sure about it.”

“And I have no clue why,” Y/N said, pretending like she was in disbelief instead of acute pain. “I know you don’t see me like that. I’m not really sure where he’s getting that from.”

“Oh?” Draco let his hand fall, a weird tone coming over his voice. “You aren’t?”

“Well, I remember what you said,” she said matter-of-factly, trying her hardest not to read into the way he was staring at her, watching every fidget of her hands. “It’s not like I’d be self-loathing enough to expect anything different.”

He let out a huff of frustration. “Y/L/N, honestly. I sent you a box of special Wurgie’s lavender chocolates on Valentine’s day. I spend all of my free periods talking to you.”

“Ok?” Y/N couldn’t help but be taken aback by how argumentative his tone was becoming. “I suppose I see how Harry could read into that. But I have to spend my free periods with someone, right? And sometimes I get my friends chocolate on Valentine’s day too.”

“I bought you a whole enchanted quidditch bracelet. It’s the only one of its kind,” he snipped, obviously becoming more agitated. “I spent an entire day trying to find the right unbreaking spell. My father literally wrote to me from Azkaban to ask me why the Gringotts bank statement recorded me taking out that many galleons at once. He thought someone had broken into our account.”

“He doesn’t know that.” Y/N was becoming keenly aware of how close he was standing to her now that they’d stopped walking, her back a few inches from the wall as he leaned into her space. “Even if I had worn it out, there’s no way he could’ve known it was from you.”

“That’s not what I’m--” he began waspishly before clearing his throat and collecting himself. “I’m just saying, those things aren’t exactly platonic.”

“Okay,” said Y/N slowly, trying to turn her thoughts away from how soft his lips looked, “I’ll concede that some things that we do can be read as something more than friendship. But I know how you feel. You told me.”

He wet his lips. “Do you actually think I care about whatever goes in that dim brain of his?”

“Normally, no. But considering the fact that we just had an argument over it, then maybe I’m incorrect in assuming.”

“Well, I don’t,” he said, his voice suddenly quiet. He was close enough that she could smell the traces of that expensive cologne he always wore that reminded her of loose leaf lapsang souchong and fresh parchment. “And I was never trying to argue with you about his perception. I was talking about my actual intentions.”

“What?” Y/N choked out as she tentatively glanced up to see his jaw set. Her heart was pounding so hard it must’ve been audible. What the hell was he talking about?

Instead of answering, Draco gently reached up to her shoulders, walking her back until she was pinned up against the wall. His other hand came to tilt her chin so their eyes met. She would’ve been deceived into thinking he was confident by his unwavering stare, but she’d felt how his hands were slightly unstable. “Merlin, are you going to make me spell it out for you? How many different ways am I going to need to tell you?”

In the end, she wasn’t quite sure who it was who closed the gap--just that, at some point, one of them did, and that she was all of a sudden kissing Draco Malfoy with a fervor that she didn’t know she had in her. His mouth was hot against hers as he pressed her up further into the wall, his knee rising between her thighs to prop her up.

In the recesses of the back of her mind, it vaguely registered that this didn’t add up with what he told her the last night they spent together--but she decided to brush all those concerns off to the nebulous concept of later when his hands tangled into her hair.

The sound of footsteps and students giggling echoed down the corridor, making the pair jump apart. Y/N wiped her lips, trying to fix the smear of her lipstick as Draco frantically straightened out his tie that she’d tugged loose. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn’t make herself meet his eyes.

“Do you still want to go back to my dorm?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

She dared to look up at him, not expecting the sight of his pupils blown out and his cheeks slightly rosy. “If that’s okay, yeah.”

Neither of them attempted to make conversation as he led her through the empty Slytherin common room. She could feel her heart crawling into her throat. She’d never gone to a boy’s dorm before other than during the Veritaserum incident--sure, she’d kissed some boys before, she’d even gone to the Yule Ball with a cute Beauxbatons boy--but she didn’t know how this worked. Was she supposed to immediately start kissing him the moment his bedroom door was closed? Was she supposed to be kissing him now? Was she supposed to be kissing him at all after that?

They made it into his bedroom before Y/N could come to a decision on her next action, so she decided to just not make any moves. Fuck, that was almost worse. Where would she sit? At his desk? No, who the fuck does that? Next to him on his bed? No, too suggestive. Just stand by the door? Merlin, no. She wished that the ground would just open up and swallow her whole so she could sit back in her dorm and think about the way he’d kissed her in private.

“So,” said Draco.

“So,” echoed Y/N, finally giving in and sinking down onto the bed next to him.

“So, I take it that you still like me?” A small smirk danced on his lips.

Her cheeks blushed into a furious red. “Draco, please don’t make this any more embarrassing than it has to be.”

“What are you...huh?” He shifted so he was on his side, propping up his chin with his palm as he studied her with agonizing attention. “Why would it be embarrassing when I was the one who kissed you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe the fact that this isn’t the first time? And the fact that I’m waiting for you to tell me you didn’t mean it again?”

“You think I didn’t mean that?” Draco’s eyebrows raised. “Do I need to do it again to get it through that thick skull of yours?”

“I--what--don’t be rude,” she stuttered.

He rolled his eyes but didn’t lose the upturn of his lips. “I guess so. I suppose I was planning on it anyway.”

All her nervousness melted away as Draco edged closer, the coolness of his rings pressing pleasantly into her neck. Instead of kissing her immediately like she expected, he traced the outline of her neck up to her ear where he wound his fingers into her hair, finally leaning in so their lips met.

His skin was soft against hers as he tilted his head, deepening the kiss and pulling her into his lap, his fingers spanning the width of her waist and twisting in the satiny fabric of her dress. When she was out of breath and the pillow she was next to was beginning to get pushed dangerously close to the edge, she finally broke the kiss.

“Can’t you just tell me how you feel with your words?” she prompted.

“Isn’t it obvious?” said Draco.

“I thought it was obvious last time.”

“Well, it was. That was before I knew that I was relieved of my task,” he explained, his grip around her waist tightening to tug her ever closer.

“Why would that matter?”

“Because,” he began, a slightly exasperated look in his eye, “If I had my task and my mother was still at stake, I would’ve had to go back home over the summer. And You-Know-Who would see you in my memories. Plus, I think that being a full-time Death Eater makes it very difficult to be a good boyfriend to someone who’s best friends with Harry Potter. That would complicate things. I knew that if I told you I felt the same way I wouldn’t be able to say no to you.”

“So…” She swallowed. “Does this mean that you’ve liked me all along? Like, from the start?”

“What do you think?” he drawled, his fingers ghosting over the zipper of her dress. “Do you think I just go around kissing random girls in my bed?”

“Well, what about Pansy?”

“Yeah, actually, what about her?” he asked, a little glimmer appearing in his eye. “We haven’t been together since, what, the middle of 5th year? I talk to her as much as I talk to any of my other Slytherin friends. I don’t know what’s got you so up in arms over her.”

“She obviously isn’t over you,” Y/N pointed out. “I just know it.”

“And? I’m over her.” He gave her a knowing look. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

“I didn’t know!” she exclaimed. “I thought that maybe there was something. It’s not like I’m keenly aware of the Slytherin social going-ons.”

“Sheesh, so defensive,” he tutted, his thumbs now rubbing circles into her shoulders. “It’s almost like you like me or something.”

“Draco!” She swatted at him, but he caught her hand in midair and kissed each of her knuckles, giving her an almost sheepish look. It was all she could do to keep her laughs from getting too loud as he dropped her hand and swept towards her again, kissing her fully.

Before she knew it, they were rolled over so he was on top of her, hovering over her with his elbows supporting his weight as he pressed warm, open-mouthed kisses along the bare curve of her neck. She closed her eyes and let a soft sigh escape her as his lips drags across the spot under her ear, pushing up further into him.

“You liked that, huh?” He looked far too pleased with himself.

“Shut up,” she said, reaching up to thread her fingers lightly through his hair. It was just as soft as she imagined it to be. Something possessed her to wind her fingers through the locks on the back of his neck and close them into a fist, awarding her with a sharp intake of air from Draco. “You liked that, huh?” she mocked.

He rolled his eyes, muttering a “fucking hell” so quietly that she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to hear it. Despite the exasperation in his tone, his mouth was still fixed in an upturn as he looked down at her, his eyes soft. She couldn’t help but move up to kiss him again, and again, and again, until her lungs were screaming for air and her neck was cramping from the angle.

She let her head fall back onto his down comforter, taking in the sight of Draco with swollen, well-kissed lips.

“What?” He tilted his head as he regarded her.

“I just love you like this,” she said shyly. “Oh, Merlin, wait, I didn’t mean it like…”

Draco let out a chuckle. “It’s okay. I know what you meant. I love you like this, too. You’re not as difficult.” He rolled off of her, taking a moment to shed his dress coat and pull off his tie.

When he was close enough again, she rewarded his tolerance with a smile and a delicate, nervous kiss on his collarbone, dragging her teeth over his skin for just a moment. The hand that was placed on her back scrunched up the material of her dress as Draco’s breath caught.

“Your hands are bloody cold,” he complained as her fingers wound themselves under his dress shirt, exploring the new expanse of exposed alabaster skin.

“Do you want me to stop?” she asked, pulling away and letting go for just a second before he grabbed her wrists together and hauled her back.

“No.”

“I’ve never…”

“That’s okay,” he said as she settled back onto his lap, reveling in the soft way that he was treating the skin that was exposed by her dress. “We don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”

“I’m just scared,” she suddenly choked out. Where did that come from? “I want you, now, but I don’t want to wake up tomorrow to you telling me that you can’t do this or that you didn’t like it or…” She trailed off, distracted by the way he firmly tapped the outer edge of her thigh.

“I’m not going to do that to you,” he said. “I promise. I made that mistake once. Plus, the burden of the performance is kind of on me anyways, so there’s nothing to be nervous about if that’s a hold up.”

She snorted. “Don’t make me change my mind, Malfoy.”

Despite her words, the corners of his eyes crinkled. “I mean it. If you want to just lie there that’s fine. As long as you enjoy it, it’ll be great for me.” His hand came up to gingerly brush away the pieces of hair that had fallen in her face before dropping to gently toy with the top of her zipper again--a question. Wordlessly, she allowed herself to be helped out of the garment, letting it fall to the ground before turning back to attack the buttons on Draco’s chest. He made an amused sound as she struggled, eventually unsheathing his wand and opening it up in a second.

“I could’ve done that, you know,” she said rather defensively.

“Yes, yes, I know,” he said, hardly masking his teasing tone. “You’re very capable. Now come here.”

And so she did.

The idea of sex had always been scary to Y/N. Someone, especially someone attractive enough for her to want to sleep with him, seeing her fully exposed made her want to freeze up and dive under her blankets. But that was before Draco. Somewhere, hidden deep in the back of her brain, lay an anxious switch that flicked off as soon as she was pinned under him with his knee pushing up to part her legs. She no longer felt like she had to be self-conscious--despite how intimidated she was by him, she’d never felt more adored.

Y/N learned three surprising things about Draco in the span of that night: one, that in some places his skin felt like crushed velvet under her fingers; two, that he melted in her hands when she pressed her lips to the sensitive spot on his neck; and three, that he had a freckle under his jaw. And on his left shoulder. And at the spot where his thigh met his torso.

“What are you thinking about?” he murmured to her after they’d slumped together, his duvet haphazardly flung over their bodies while his fingers traced patterns on her back.

“I’m just so glad you feel the same way,” she admitted. “I thought I was going crazy over your actions not lining up with your words. It was driving me insane.”

Draco let out a little laugh. “I thought it was painfully obvious.”

“Remember when you tripped up the stairs that time you walked with me after detention?”

“Remember when you tripped up the stairs today?”

“You’re ruining this,” she said sourly as she swatted his chest.

Instead of responding, he just snatched her hand and held it hostage. “I’m not the one resorting to physical violence. Which, now that I think of it, is pretty commonplace for you.”

“Hey! If I hadn’t thrown the york pudding at Pansy, we wouldn’t be here right now.”

Draco was silent for a few moments.

“You know I’m right,” she pressed. To her surprise, he shifted uncomfortably under her.

“I’m not so sure,” he finally admitted.

“Huh?” Her features flooded with confusion. “What does that mean?”

“I mean, I’m lucky it worked out like this,” he said hesitantly. “And...so soon. You hated me.”

She sat up, pulling away from his embrace and folding her knees under her. “What are you talking about?”

“I dunno.” Draco refused to meet her eyes, his fingers instead playing with the edges of his sheets. “This is probably stupid, but do you remember the time we brewed Amortentia in Slughorn’s class?”

She nodded.

“You told me that it reminded you of a memory,” he continued, “And that you knew you had to have danced with them at some point.”

“I’m aware.” Y/N blinked down at him as she tried to piece the puzzle together.

He finally flicked his gaze up to meet her eyes. “I guess you don’t remember it, but in fourth year we danced together once. I’d never talked to you before--I knew you were friends with Potter and the like--but I just never really stopped thinking about it since.”

“This is so embarrassing,” said Y/N. “How do I not remember?”

He shrugged. “I think you were a little tipsy at the time. I did, though. I’ve never forgotten.”

“Then why were you so mean to my friends?”

“I stopped for the most part,” he pointed out. “And, if you’ll notice, it was mostly towards Harry.”

“I thought that was because he’s the Chosen One.”

“No, it’s because I could see that he liked you and I was jealous. Eventually I just gave up around 5th year, around when I started dating Pansy. I didn’t think there was a chance in hell that I was ever going to be able to be with you, especially not after getting my task.”

“Oh,” Y/N said as she mulled over this information. “My story isn't as romantic. I suppose I’ve always had a little crush on you too, but I was definitely in denial. I just always found you ridiculously attractive and tragically funny considering what you used to support.”

He glowed down at her, pressing the pad of his thumb into her cheek. “Well, I’m glad I can finally give you what you deserve.”

“Me too.”

The weeks began to pass faster after that. Draco never really struck Y/N as a PDA type of guy, but he was surprisingly affectionate. When they began to brew potions together again, he was quick to tuck away her hair behind her ear when she was looking over the cauldron and sent her sweet, private smiles that made her heart flutter. He even sat with her every once in a while at the Gryffindor table when the trio was busy doing whatever they had to do to save the world. Y/N pretended to not notice the whispers that were elicited from her peers when Draco would casually touch her.

They spent as many nights together as they could, but considering how often her friends were giving her dirty looks for stumbling into Potions after not being seen in the Gryffindor Tower for the past day, they had to be reasonable, cutting it down to three or four nights a week.

Y/N treasured every moment she had with Draco, even when they were fleeting and in between classes. She learned everything she could about him--how he was actually terrified of snakes, how he preferred his tea black, how he had an elaborate morning routine he hardly ever deviated from--and committed it all to mind. Her favorite version of him in her head was the way he looked when he was between her sheets, fast asleep with his arms draped over her. Whenever she woke up before him, she tried to memorize it.

He was absolutely ridiculous with the kind of gifts he gave her. Y/N swore that one day she’d wake up to find that he’d bought the British crown jewels because he “saw them” and “just thought of her”. She now had enough Barnaby’s quills to rival the number of feathers on the country’s entire population of geese, but instead of feeling overwhelmed with gratitude, all Y/N could feel was the impending doom that, one day, those gifts would be the only thing she had left of him. He seemed to know this, too.

Draco always found some kind of reason to pull her away and kiss her senseless, whether it be behind a tapestry or in a broom closet when Filch heard them walking around the castle after curfew. In a way, it was like they were just normal teenagers, enjoying the thrill of the moment and acting out. When she thought of it like that, it made the inevitable events seem more bearable; at least they had some time together.

The letter came with no more context than just a simple “Tomorrow.” Y/N knew exactly what it meant--Narcissa Malfoy was going to finally be taken from the manor. Bellatrix needed to be convinced over the next 24 hours to enter the Borgin & Burke’s Vanishing Cabinet as a distraction, and Y/N needed to be sure of her work on the cabinet.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Y/N mused absentmindedly as she sat in front of the cabinet. Draco’s head rested on her shoulder after recounting all of the changes he’d made. “That was clever, switching out the conductor clasp with a copper fitting.”

He smiled, pressing a kiss into her shoulder. “I’m not totally daft, you know.”

“Of course I know,” she said, her voice dropping into a soft murmur. Fingers pressed into the soft flesh of her thigh as he pulled her onto him. “Draco, I have to fix this first. Then we can do whatever you’d like.”

“Hm,” was all he said, burying his face in her neck once again and letting out a deep sigh.

“Are you worried?”

He was still for a few moments before dipping his head slightly in a nod.

“You’ll be okay,” she promised, winding his fingers through hers. “I’ll make sure of that.”

“I should be comforting you, not the other way around,” he said softly. “I dragged you into this.”

“I pushed myself into this,” she corrected. “And, plus, it’s not my mother on the line. It’s okay to care, you know.”

Y/N got up, making her way towards the cabinet and meeting his eyes once. They shared a knowing glance as she brandished her wand and whispered a quick fracturing spell, sending cracks down the eastern side of the lunar belt. Her hand shook as she shrank back onto the couch until his arms found her shoulders and turned her towards him. “I can’t believe I just...I just did that.”

Instead of responding, he simply sat up straight and delicately pressed his lips to her forehead, his hand coming around to cradle her for just a moment. “Let’s get out of here.”

“Out of here” once again turned into Draco’s dorm room.

“I can’t believe this will all be over tomorrow,” Draco said, his back turned as he loosened his Slytherin tie. “I’m going to be gone by Sunday morning.”

“Yeah.” Y/N tried not to let the lump in her throat garner too much attention at the thought of losing Draco into what was essentially the Order’s witness protection program.

He seemed to notice her uncharacteristic silence, frowning at his reflection before making his way towards her and diligently pressing kisses on her cheeks. Instead of grabbing onto his sleeve cuffs and pulling him closer like she usually did, she just let out a tiny sigh and kept her eyes fixed on the tie slung over his shoulder.

“Hey,” he murmured, moving so she had to look at him.

“Hey.” She sent him a watery smile, hoping that he couldn’t see how close she was to tears.

“What’s wrong?”

Y/N just shook her head, anchoring her bottom lip with her teeth so she didn’t choke up. “It’s nothing.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “Don’t pull that with me. I’m not falling for that. I’m going to ask again. What’s wrong?” His hand came up to pull her chin up again so their eyes were level, his eyebrows raised in expectation.

Y/N tried to tell him; she really did. It wasn’t her fault that the most pathetic sounding sob of her life came out of her mouth instead of a confession. Instead of asking any more questions or trying to get her to talk, Draco just pulled her into his arms and held her there, letting her weep into him. His hands came up to rub her back as she struggled to breathe normally.

“Everything’s going to be okay,” he whispered, breaking the silence. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“This isn’t about me,” said Y/N miserably. “It’s about you. What if something happens to you while we’re apart? What if I don’t get to see you again?”

Draco made a small sound in his throat, almost like he was holding back a sob himself. “Y/N, don’t worry about me, okay? It’ll all be alright, love. Don’t worry.”

Despite the fact that Draco was doing his best to comfort her, Y/N knew one thing for sure: his word couldn’t stand against fate, and if he were meant to die or disappear during the time that he was hidden away in Italy, there was nothing either of them could do about it.

She turned her head and found herself pressing her lips to his with so much desperation that she hardly even noticed the few stray tears that had made their way down her cheeks. He met her with much more tenderness, his fingers gently brushing away the wetness on her cheeks. For someone as cocky as Draco, he could be so shy when he kissed her, almost like he expected her to change her mind halfway through.

“I don’t want this to be over,” she whispered as she pulled away, leaving the slightest gap between their lips.

He cupped her face, his eyes shining. “It’s not over. We have a few hours left.”

To her horror, another strangled gasp left her lips. Draco had her tucked into his arms in an instant, his lips pressing into her hairline. “It’s not over, okay? I just don’t want to hold you back if you aren’t allowed to see me. Don’t wait around for me.”

“I don’t care,” choked out Y/N. “I’d wait forever if it meant I got to have you.”

“I know,” he murmured. “But it’s not fair of me to expect that from you. I don’t know how long this war is going to last.”

“I don’t care about fairness,” whispered Y/N. “I just want you.”

They spent the rest of the night tangled together in his sheets, just waiting for the morning to come. Neither one got any sleep. Instead, Y/N entertained herself by playing with his hands and asking him questions about his childhood--anything to keep her from remembering what was in store for both of them.

It had been decided earlier that Y/N would have no part in the cabinet plan after they ran the information by the Order. Actually, it was decided that she’d have no part in anything beyond just bringing the situation of Narcissa Malfoy to attention. “It’s crucial to your safety that you don’t connect yourself and by extension our family to this,” one of her father’s earlier letters had read. “Doing so puts you and everyone you love in jeopardy.”

That evening, just as dusk set in, she stood with Draco in her dorm for what was the last time, shaking with unshed tears. He just clung to her for the first few minutes, her head tucked under his chin as his hands were clasped around her back.

“Give me your hand,” he said finally. “I want you to have something.”

She felt something slide on her thumb, her eyes widening as she realized what it was--his family ring.

“Draco…”

“I probably shouldn’t have this on me, anyways,” he explained. “And I want you to have something of mine, something that’s really mine, not just a gift. Just...maybe don’t wear it in public, and if you do wear it as a necklace charm or something. The last thing I want is you to get connected to this--”

Y/N cut off his rambling by pressing her lips to his, his hand feeling oddly bare as it came up to touch her cheek. “If anything happens to you, I love you. I hope you know that.”

He smiled, then kissed her again--so long that it seemed like he was savoring every moment of

it before finally stepping away. “You know I love you. Always will.”

She managed to fit in one last kiss before he left.

Monday turned into Tuesday which turned into Wednesday which turned into the next week. Before she knew it, her 6th year was almost over. Neither Draco nor Narcissa had contacted her. The Order had been cagey about the details leading to the Malfoys--while she obviously had a general idea as to the location of her Italian vacation home and thus by extent the Malfoys, she hadn’t heard anything about their travels there. All she’d heard was the basic news that everyone had--that Bellatrix Lestrange had been found dead and that the Ministry had taken both Fenrir Greyback and Antonin Dolohov into custody with near fatal injuries.

But that didn’t make her miss him any less. Y/N found herself longing for the nostalgic, innocent time when she shamelessly flirted with him in detention and only worried about whether or not the Trio would like her again. It all seemed so long ago.

Falling asleep was the worst. She couldn’t smell the lavender of her diffuser or her room spray without relating it to him, couldn’t slide under her sheets without remembering how it felt to fall asleep in his arms. Around May, Y/N came to the most disturbing realization: she wasn’t entirely sure if she remembered what his voice sounded like anymore. Not in the way that meant she wouldn’t recognize it if he called out to her--she would, of course she would--but she couldn’t replicate it in her mind or replay their interactions with convincing accuracy.

Sometimes, on the nights when she couldn’t sleep at all, she envisioned her last interaction with Draco: his snow blond hair ruffled and his face grim as he turned to leave. Even though she couldn’t hear his voice quite right as he told her he loved her, she remembered the scent of his cologne against her jumper and the feeling of his skin against hers as he slipped his family ring onto her hand. It was killing her that she didn’t know exactly what happened to him. He could’ve been taken by a surviving Death Eater and held hostage at the manor. He could be dead. The papers had printed that he’d been pulled into the Vanishing Cabinet and, true to the name, completely vanished, caught in the space passageway between it and the sister cabinet. She’d known that that was the angle the Order was going to take from the start, but it did nothing to ease her anxiety.

It was even more concerning when she remembered that they’d never agreed upon anything in the future--just simply that they cared about each other in March. At that moment it had been enough. But it wasn’t anymore. All she wanted was for him to appear, give her that stupid wave he sometimes sent to her from across the dining hall when she saw him enter in the morning, and sweep her up into his arms. But that was hard to do when he was countries away.

N.E.W.Ts had been cancelled, much to the dismay of Hermione, so Y/N had even less things to distract her with. Harry was off with Dumbledore doing Merlin knows what to try and defeat Voldemort. She was left with nothing to do but wallow in her own pity.

In early June, days before Hogwarts classes were officially concluded, someone knocked on her door.

“Come in,” mumbled Y/N. While she had thankfully gotten past the habit of crying every day, she’d instead slipped into a sort of anxious paralysis, lying on her bed after all of her tasks were done.

“It’s me.” Ron’s voice made her sit up in surprise. He hadn’t really spoken to her privately since he’d brokered the peace between her and the rest of the trio. “Do you have time to chat?”

“Sure,” she responded, moving over so he had room to sit beside her. “What’s going on?”

“Lavender just broke up with me,” muttered Ron, his hand coming up to brush at something on his cheek. “And I’ve never felt this way before. Is this what it feels like for you? With Malfoy?”

Y/N met his eyes and saw the same kind of hopelessness in them, the edges pricking with tears. “Yeah. I think so.” It was hard to choke back her own sob, so she just hugged him. He smelled of caramel and spring grass.

“Not to be a prat,” he said, “But you shouldn’t waste any tears over Malfoy. I don’t care if he switched sides in the end, he’s still a snot-nosed tosser to me. When this is all over, we’re going out together so we can find you someone better.”

“You know he switched sides?” She pulled back in surprise. Ron sent her a little wink.

“Of course not. I’m not sure why I said that. I’m sure if it was true, it’d be confidential Order information.”

“Who else?”

“Just Hermione and Harry,” he replied in a low voice. “But we weren’t supposed to figure it out--it was an accident over Easter break while we were eavesdropping on an Order meeting. That doesn’t change anything, though. You could definitely do better.”

“And so could you,” she said. “Remember what I said about you and Hermione?”

He laughed. “I’m working on it.”

Her conversation with Ron shed light on something else that had baffled her as of late--the tentative rekindling of her friendship with Hermione. The witch was actually inviting her to study nowadays, making small talk with her despite steering clear of all topics regarding Malfoy and Death Eaters.

The last day of school rolled around before she was ready, the final ceremony being spoken by McGonagall instead of Dumbledore while he was still traveling with Harry. As she got up from her seat in the Great Hall, Hermione grabbed onto her sleeve.

“Let’s go for a walk, shall we?”

So, instead of walking straight up to the Gryffindor Tower on the route they’d used countless times since the beginning of their educational career, they took the scenic route along the Black Lake, away from the hordes of students. They walked the shore quietly until Hermione spoke up.

“Draco needs a tutor to cover what he missed this year.”

Y/N snapped to attention. “What?”

“Narcissa Malfoy has been requesting it and all the professors are busy with Order work,” continued Hermione, not bothering to repeat herself. “They want me to do it. When they ask, I’m going to turn them down and volunteer you instead. Is that okay?”

“Um…” Y/N stuttered. “I’m going to be a pretty shit tutor. Why would you do that for me?”

“I’m going to try and help Harry this summer,” she explained. “And even if I wasn’t, consider it my formal apology. I know it wasn’t right how I treated you this year. I don’t expect you to forgive me right away. I just hope you understand why I was hurt.”

“Of course I understand!” said Y/N, reaching out to touch her elbow. “Considering the way he treated you, I can’t blame you for feeling betrayed. I should be the one apologizing. It just...happened the way it did. I didn’t want to fall for him, but I did anyway.”

Hermione covered her hand with her own and gave it a little squeeze. “I know. Do you think we can put this all behind us? I’ve missed my best friend. Ron and Harry have been driving me crazy this term. Ron told me to tell you that you have permission to smack me if I ever say something condescending to you again.”

“Please, let’s. And I think I’d resort to throwing a nice york pudding instead…”

The familiar bittersweet feeling of looking forward to putting school behind her yet dreading leaving her friends consumed her as she filed onto the Hogwarts Express, looking back onto the castle for the last time. She didn’t know it then, but she wouldn’t be returning. At least not for a long time.

“Luna!” she exclaimed as she ran into someone trying to find her seat. The blonde Ravenclaw sent her a dreamy smile.

“You certainly look happier.” Luna tilted her head as she studied her features.

“I never got to properly thank you for this,” said Y/N, “But you absolutely saved me this year. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you in January.”

“You don’t need to thank me for being your friend,” responded Luna. “If you really want to, owl me this summer. I think I’ll miss you quite a bit.”

“I’ll miss you more.” She let her new Ravenclaw friend pull her into a hug before she finally retired to her respective seat next to Hermione, who pressed a package into her hand.

“McGonagall just gave it to me,” she whispered into her ear. “Don’t show it to anyone. I think it’s a Portkey.”

True to Hermione’s prediction, it was a familiar object from her manor--an ornate vase that was normally on display in the main foyer. A piece of parchment was rolled up inside.

Activates at 9am on the 10th of June. Closes 5 minutes after the hour. Do not be late.

Instead of feeling excited to see Draco, all she could feel was her nerves as she stared at the vase in front of her at 8:55 in the morning. It’d been so long since she’d kissed him that she wasn’t even sure if she remembered how. She literally felt as if her virginity had grown back like her leg hairs did the morning after she cast hair removal spells.

And not to mention, seeing Narcissa again--that was terrifying. She’d always been a very intimidating woman, dressed impeccably with sharp, aristocratic features much like her son. Y/N doubted she’d take kindly to her son’s tutor being more interested in him than the actual job at hand.

That assumed he even wanted her still, anyways. Maybe three months in isolation made him come to his senses and realize he’d been absolutely off his rocker for liking her in the first place. Merlin, did he regret it? Was he going to tell her they couldn’t?

Swallowing her worries as the clock chimed at 9, she wrapped her hand around the vase and allowed herself to be pulled across international borders.

The first thing she noticed was the smell. Instead of the florally pine forest that surrounded her family’s main manor, she was greeted with the scent of sea salt and the sound of cawing birds. The sun had long since risen, the temperature a pleasant warmth to her skin after she’d spent a year in the cooler English air.

Y/N stepped forward, towards the looming white structure that she assumed was her beach cottage. Her feet sunk in the sand as she made her way across the beach. Did he even know she was coming then? She would’ve thought he did, considering that anyone approaching the safe house unannounced would no doubt send everyone into some sort of a panic.

Finally, she made it to the front door, tapping her wand on the enchanted knocker to signal that someone was at the front door. It creaked, and all of a sudden she was looking into the silver eyes of Draco Malfoy. He looked less pale than he did the last time she’d seen him, like he’d actually begun to spend time in the sun instead of locked away in the Slytherin dungeons. His hair looked somewhat sunbleached. She could see the faintest beginning of unfamiliar freckles across his nose.

“Hi,” she said shyly, toying with her nails in front of her and not sure whether or not to embrace him. “I’m not sure if you knew, but your mother wanted someone to review the material you missed this year and Hermione didn’t want to, so--”

She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before he crossed through the door, swept her up, and kissed her with conviction.

“I was wondering when you’d show up,” he whispered when he pulled away. Her eyes pooled with tears as his voice re-registered in her head.

“I missed you,” Y/N managed. She let her fingers run over his cheekbones and the rest of his face and hair like she couldn’t believe he was actually there in front of her again. “I thought something had happened to you.”

“Something kind of did,” he admitted. “My aunt died.”

“So I’ve heard. Sorry about that.”

“It was her own fault. She brought a dagger enchanted with dark magic and it messed with the energy.” His smile had morphed into something more tense, so she stood on her toes to press a kiss to the corner of his lips, a bit tentative after not touching him since March.

“You were all I could think about,” she admitted. “I’m not going to be much good at teaching you anything because I honestly stopped paying attention after you left…”

Draco’s smile widened, and she felt her legs turn to jelly. “I don’t mind. You were all I could think about, too. If you ever run out of things to teach me…” His fingers ghosted along her jawline as he spoke, “...I’ve had three months with nothing better to do than to think up ways to make up for the time we’ve spent apart.”

As she basked in the warmth of his embrace and the gentle sound of the Mediterranean ocean lapping at the earth, she allowed herself to relax for the first time in months. There was a war on the horizon, her friends were in danger, and her parents were once again risking themselves to aid the Order. But she’d gotten Draco out of his task. They had at least a summer left together. And at that moment, that was enough.

“What are you thinking about?” he murmured, tugging her chin up to meet his eyes once again.

She shrugged. “Nothing. Just kiss me again.”

And so he did.

final a/n: thanks for hanging in there! i hope you guys liked it! first off, apologies if my fluff scenes are choppy or repetitive. i’m not very experienced with writing them yet. also, i decided to write draco this way last minute because i like to imagine him as someone who has never had to actually admit feelings for someone and put himself on the line--instead i think he’d try his hardest to get you to confess that you like him if he’s afraid of messing it up. also if you were confused the quidditch bracelet is supposed to be the magic equivalent of a tennis bracelet lol...when i was shopping w my mom i may have been inspired when i saw those bc literally who wears diamonds around their wrist that cost thousands of dollars every day? i asked the saleslady how much the smallest one was and she was like “only 4k and you can wear it anywhere!” like girl i work a minimum wage customer service job and that shit would break in a few seconds. no i would not wear that everywhere. tennis bracelet rant over but anyways ig i was saying that a tennis bracelet def has draco malfoy energy per se

#draco x reader #draco malfoy x reader #draco imagine #draco malfoy imagine #draco #draco malfoy #draco x you #draco malfoy x you #draco x y/n #draco malfoy x y/n #draco x oc #draco malfoy x oc

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luci-in-trenchcoats · 3 years

Text

By Your Doorstep (Part 2)

Summary: Dean lets Sam in on a secret of his as to why he’s previously sworn off all dating before he and the reader go on their first one together. But it’s not just a simple first date when they realize they have more in common than they originally thought...

Pairing: Doctor/Neighbor!Dean x reader

Masterlist

Word Count: 4,200ish

Warnings: language, mentioned past sexual assault (not graphic)/child abuse, talk about sex toys, self-worth issues

A/N: Enjoy!

_________

Dean’s POV

“Hey,” said Sam a little over an hour later as he walked in the front door. Dean nodded and put the pie he’d brought into the fridge, walking back over to take a seat on the other side of the wrap around couch. “Your eyes are red.”

“That’s what happens when you cry, genius,” said Dean. He sighed and pulled his blanket over himself, rolling his eyes when Sam got up and sat closer. “It’s embarrassing.”

“Embarrassing was me being really sick when I was sixteen and shitting my pants and you didn’t say a damn thing about it other than you got me cleaned up. Dean nothing you can say will make me laugh. Fuck, I’m scared somebody…” said Sam.

“You’re gonna find out stuff about my sex life,” he said.

“You taught me about sex. Dean, I’m not gonna judge you.”

“I hooked up with a chick after work once. I had some meetings so I wore a dress shirt and tie that day. We got a room, it got heated, and my first mistake was letting her tie my hands to the headboard with that stupid tie. I shouldn’t have asked but I did. I must have been in a mood cause...I asked her to stick a finger up there cause it feels good with a blowjob. I told her the tip of a finger and she didn’t really seem to care when I told her to stop pushing inside with a dry fucking finger. She didn’t care when she shoved practically her whole hand up there no matter how much I told her to stop. Eventually once she realized my boner wasn’t coming back she washed up, untied me and left. I’ve always been leery of relationships but after that I said fuck no. Until I met this girl today. She seems sweet.”

Sam didn’t move and Dean threw his head back.

“Say something.”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” said Sam quietly. Dean risked a glance over at him and was surprised to see Sam’s scrunched up face. “Did you ever say anything?”

“No and I don’t want to. It was over two years ago. I honestly forgot about it until today and I met that girl,” said Dean.

“I hope she’s a good fit,” said Sam.

“Me too.”

“Just um, for the record, doing that stuff isn’t weird. I’ve had my share of experiences,” said Sam.

“Thanks,” said Dean. “Don’t go on treating me any kind of way or anything, got it? This was a one time thing.”

“That’s what you said the last time,” said Sam before he gave Dean a hug.

“Loser,” said Dean as he returned it. “You staying the night? It’s pretty late.”

“Yeah if you don’t mind,” said Sam as he sat back. He stretched and Dean looked him over. “What?”

“You were at the office, weren’t you.”

“So,” he said with a shrug.

“Sammy you’re twenty seven. Friday nights are for fun or hanging out at home, not work. I told you I didn’t like that firm you work for.”

“It’s not a very kind place to work,” said Sam. “I’ve been thinking of leaving honestly, coming closer to home again.”

“Really?”

“I miss my friends, our friends. You’re alright too,” he said, Dean resisting the urge to tease him for it.

“Move in here. If you want your own place, you can find one with no rush. I wouldn’t mind company,” said Dean. “There’s plenty of law firms downtown. You’d have no problem getting a job.”

“I gotta stay another two months for them to finish paying off my loan,” said Sam. “But after that, yeah I think I’ll come back home. I just had to go out on my own without you watching my back, you know?”

“Yeah. I was still always watching your back though,” said Dean. “Don’t be trying to get me to eat all that healthy crap or I’ll kick your ass to the curb.”

“You are literally a doctor.”

“And doctors are literally the worst patients. Trust me,” said Dean with a smirk. “What kinda pie you bring me?”

“Blueberry,” said Sam.

“I gonna ruin whatever cleanse you’re on if you have a slice?”

“You got ice cream?”

“Always were a sucker for ice cream,” said Dean. He hopped up from the couch and hummed as he went over to the kitchen, Sam watching and following after a moment. Sam took a seat at the counter while Dean put a plate in front of him, putting the ice cream on top of the pie how he liked it. “There you go.”

“Thanks,” he said before he dug in. Dean took his time with his own piece, leaning back against the counter.

“Thanks for coming over tonight. Never told anyone before.”

“I’ll never say a word,” said Sam.

“I know you won’t, Sammy,” said Dean. He got out a pair of beers from the fridge and handed one to Sam with a smile. “You doing okay? Been awhile since we talked.”

“Mhm,” said Sam quickly.

“Want to tell me what it is? Whatever you’re not telling me? I think we established that-”

“Mom contacted me this week. At work. My number and picture was on the company website so she called there,” said Sam.

“What exactly did Mary have to say?” said Dean, setting down his plate and nursing his beer instead.

“She said she and dad have been together again for a few years. They went to couples counseling and dad stopped drinking and a whole bunch of other bullshit.”

“Wouldn’t happen to be the fact I’m a doctor and you’re a lawyer and her stay at home ass wants a nicer lifestyle, hm?” said Dean. “Tell her to shove it up her ass and to get a job if she wants money.”

“She sounded different, Dean. Like maybe she’s in trouble or something,” said Sam.

“That’s the same crap she pulled on you when you were eighteen and twenty one and twenty four and guess what, it’s three years later again. Time for her to lie to you, right on schedule.”

“She’s not the devil, Dean.”

“She slapped you in the face.”

“I was backtalking her. I deserved it.”

“You were an upset kid-”

“I was 14.”

“You were an upset kid and she hit you. That was the final straw for me and it should have been for you too,” said Dean. “You should stay away from her, Sam.”

“I’m not going to suddenly start hanging out with her. She just wanted to know if I’d consider meeting her and dad again and I told her I didn’t know and if I wanted to talk to them, I’d reach out, otherwise they could leave me alone. Happy?” Sam pushed his plate away and crossed his arms, pursing his lips while he stared at the counter.

“I just don’t want you to get hurt, Sammy. I wish our parents were normal. I’d kill to have had them. But they weren’t and they sucked and they’ve tried to manipulate us our entire lives. Just keep no contact and you’re better off.”

“Why don’t they ever contact you?” Sam looked up and Dean turned his head.

“They hate me. I hate them so that’s fine,” said Dean.

“But why-”

“I got custody of you. I took you from them in their eyes, ergo they hate me.”

“I mean, do you ever think about-”

“No. I don’t plan on speaking to either one of them for the rest of my life,” said Dean. He finished his beer and picked up his pie plate again. “I know you want-”

“I used to want a lot of things. It wasn’t what was best for me though and I shouldn’t have given you so much shit for taking me away as a teenager.”

“Well alright then,” said Dean, picking at his pie again.

“You ever gonna tell me how exactly you pulled that off? It was handled outside of court and I know you gotta have some shit or something on them,” said Sam.

“Maybe I’ll share someday but not tonight,” said Dean, his voice firm. “Why don’t you grab another couple beers and we’ll throw on a movie, alright? Polish off this pie.”

“Alright. I’m stealing some of your clothes though. I want to get out of this office crap,” said Sam. He stood up and headed for the stairs when Dean grunted. Sam looked back over his shoulder and Dean nodded.

“I’m glad you came over tonight,” said Dean.

“Me too. This girl must have made a hell of an impression.”

“You don’t know the half of it.”

Reader’s POV

“Tessa. Oh my God, it was fine the first time,” you said as she worked on your side braid again. “Dean’ll be here any minute.”

“Relax. Make him squirm,” she said. “How are you so shit at braiding hair anyways?”

“Cause mom never taught me, that’s why,” you said.

“I think it’s cause you’re just shit at it,” she said.

“You shouldn’t say shit all the time you know.”

“Seriously.”

“Just don’t do drugs and don’t get pregnant and I’m happy.”

“Well for the record, I’m a virgin,” she said.

“Good.”

“I actually do have a question.”

“You waited until I literally can’t move away, didn’t you,” you said as she moved your hair together.

“Yes, I did,” she smiled. “Um it’s kinda…”

“Go ahead and ask. I guarantee I had the same questions.”

“What’s a vibrator? One of the girls was talking about it in gym class and I didn’t...get it,” she said.

“Do you understand how girls masturbate?” you asked. She nodded and you bit your lip. “So you know how when you rub your...when you rub your clit it feels good, right? Some people like to use a vibrator which is normally a stick type thing that has different settings with a head end that’s rounded. If you put that against your clit, it can feel really, really good...and get you to orgasm pretty hard.”

“Oh. Okay,” she said as she finished with the braid. “So what’s a dildo?”

“Similar but basically a fake dick,” you said.

“Uh, what?” she said as the doorbell rang.

“How about we talk about all this stuff tomorrow, okay?” you said.

“Okay. I’m still hung up on the fake dick thing.”

“Block it out of your head for now,” you said, shaking your head. “If I’m not back by the time you head to Hailey’s lock up and remember to bring Toast’s bed with you this time, okay? He likes it better than the hard floor.”

“I know, I know,” she said. You jogged downstairs and opened the door, Dean in a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt.

“Howdy,” he said with a big smile.

“Hi Dean,” said Tessa out her window.

“Hello Tessa,” he chuckled. “Torturing your sister today?”

“Always,” she said. “You two kids have fun now!”

“Oh you don’t even know what a fake dick is,” you said. “Do not go looking that up on the internet either.”

She groaned as you grabbed your purse and locked up, Dean laughing to himself.

“Sorry. She decided to literally start asking about sex toys right before you got here.”

“Sounds fun,” he said. You hopped down your steps and saw a very nice muscle car parked out front. “Hungry?”

“Starving.”

“I know the perfect place.”

“Okay, Winchester. I will respect your food truck game,” you said, munching on your taco. “Normally I’m leery but this is good.”

“Told you so,” he said. He took a big bite of his across from you, slurping down some lemonade. He burped and blushed, covering his mouth. “Excuse me.”

“You’re almost cute with that pink on your cheeks,” you said.

“I liked this better when you were the shy one,” he said. You smiled and ate quietly for a few minutes, Dean nodding when you were both finished. He took your hand and you started to walk around the big park in town, finding a walking trail after a few moments. “I like your hair. It’s cute.”

“My sister did it. I’m not you know, good at that stuff,” you said.

“I liked your hair yesterday too,” he said. “So how does one name a dog Toast?”

“I thought it’d be funny,” you said. “Tessa was on a limited diet at first at the hospital. Toast was the one thing she liked. When they talked to me about a service dog, I got in touch with some people and they were training a new litter so we got to name the dog and I picked Toast. It was just a goofy thing I suppose.”

“Is he always on duty?” he asked.

“No. His vest comes off at home and he’s a normal one mostly. Tessa’s staying with a friend tonight so he’ll go with her. He’s very protective of her. It’s why he ran home and got me yesterday.”

“Smart dog,” he said. “My brother always wanted a dog. It never quite fit with our life though.”

“How old is he?”

“A year younger than you. He might get one soon I think.”

“What about you?”

“I don’t think I’d be very good at it. My yard is big enough though,” he said. “I’m over on Fern Lane. The blue house.”

“You got that big cool balcony over the garage right?” you said.

“That’s the one,” he said. “I haven’t been there too long. It’s a nice neighborhood.”

“It is. We grew up here. I was out of the house but I moved back for Tessa. You from Lawrence?”

“Yeah. East side of town though. Always wanted to live over here,” he said. “Everything seemed so perfect over in the nice part.”

“Mostly,” you said.

“It does get easier. Trust me.”

“I hope so,” you said. He bumped your shoulder and you smiled. “So what kind of doctor are you?”

“Obviously I’m a brain surgeon,” he said. You rolled your eyes and he laughed. “General family practice. I’m boring, I know.”

“That is still way too hard for me,” you said.

“I bet you could do it if you really wanted to. So what do you do? I overheard you say to Tessa you got a new job.”

“I was a paralegal at a law firm. On Monday I start as a junior investor at Sandover, the big marketing firm.”

“My friend Charlie is head of IT there,” he said. “She says it’s a pretty decent place to work.”

“Oh. That’s good. I hope it works out,” you said.

“I bet it will. Just don’t let ‘em work you to death,” he said.

“I’m gonna try. I’m excited. This could be really good for us. Tessa doesn’t know how...tight things have been.”

“Leeman’s over on the east side, it’s a pretty cheap grocery store. It’s not fancy but we used to go all the time as a kid. Way cheaper than the box store over here,” he said.

“I’ll have to check it out,” you said. You looked him up and down, Dean smiling to himself. “You grew up kinda…”

“Poor? Yeah. It’s okay. It’s not a bad word,” he said. He ran his thumb over your hand and you smiled back at him. “You learn to get by. My brother’s a lawyer now so we don’t have to worry about that too much now.”

“Maybe Tessa’ll be a doctor,” you said. “That’d definitely help us.”

“I’m sure she’ll do something good. You can just tell she looks up to you. She won’t let you down.”

“Fingers crossed,” you said. “So why choose general medicine?”

“Thanks,” you said, sticking your arms through Dean’s flannel later that evening.You took his hand again, walking through downtown back towards his car.

“I don’t remember the last time I spent a Saturday like this, hanging out with someone,” he said.

“Been a while for me too,” you said.

“Is this still considered the first date?” he asked.

“Probably. Why?”

“You want to come over my place...for coffee?” he asked.

“Oh.”

“No, no. I mean like, literal coffee. I have pie at home and...if I was talking sex I’d be a big boy and just ask,” he said.

“Oh. Well in that case, sure,” you said. “Guys that want sex on the first date normally don’t end up getting a second one in my experience.”

“Well I definitely want a second one,” he smirked. “Also I really want some pie and I need to know your pie stance because this could impact the future of this relationship greatly.”

“I see,” you laughed. “I like a man who knows where his priorities lie.”

“Damn straight I do,” he said. He threw his arm over your shoulders and chuckled. “It’ll knock your socks off, I guarantee it.”

“Alright, this is pretty good,” you said twenty minutes later as you sat at Dean’s kitchen counter, munching on a piece of blueberry pie.

“Told you so,” he said. He ate another forkful, getting some whipped cream stuck on the tip of his nose. He didn’t notice and started to giggle as you stared at him. “What’s that face for goofy?”

“You got a little…” you said, reaching over and wiping it off with your thumb. You licked if off and he blushed for probably the tenth time that day. “You don’t strike me as shy around women, Dean.”

“Normally I’m not. You make me nervous. Good nervous but still nervous.”

“What about me is so intimidating?” you asked, stealing a tiny piece of his pie.

“You remind me of me. I’ve been in similar shoes to yours. I know how easy it is to get set off and how people don’t realize you don’t mean what you’re saying.”

“Pushing people away you mean.”

“I don’t want to get pushed away or cross a line.”

“Tell me a secret and I’ll tell you one of mine,” you said.

“I took custody of my brother when I turned eighteen,” he said. You stared at him, Dean nodding. “My mom walked out when I was a kid more than once and my dad was...unkind at times. I protected my brother from it as much as I could. When I was able to, I left and I was given guardianship of my brother. I’ve not seen either of my parents since. I understand raising your younger sibling when you are scared shitless. Most people don’t. They don’t get that I’m still fucked up from the stuff that happened as a kid and when I took in my brother. People don’t get that, not all the way. Not even my best friends or my brother. But you have this look and I know you understand the same way I do so I’ll be nervous because I like you more than just because you’re pretty and helpful and a good sister. You get some part of me that I don’t talk about and it’s the part of you that you don’t talk about and maybe we can make that work.”

You leaned forward and kissed him, Dean sliding a hand to your cheek, a soft but comforting weight to it.

“What’s your secret,” he said quietly, your forehead resting against his.

“I lost my job,” you said. “I lied to Tessa. She worries so much already and I can’t let her know the truth. I’ve been working as a cashier the past month.”

“Y/N, you gotta tell her the truth.”

“She already feels guilty because our parents were picking her up from basketball practice when the accident happened. She goes to therapy, Dean. I can’t tell her. Not now.”

“Can you afford to stay in the house?”

“It’s almost paid off. She can afford four years at the university with my share of the inheritance.”

“Y/N. You can’t go bankrupt just to send her to a university.”

“Lots of people do.”

“Y/N. I practice general medicine because the state pays off my student loan debt if I do. You have to tell Tessa the truth about what’s realistic.”

“My seventeen year old sister currently makes more money than I do. I can’t take anything else from her. She deserves to go to the school she always wanted to.”

“Well...we need a new lab tech at work. Do you want it?” he asked.

“Dean, I’m not asking for a job.”

“I’m not giving charity either. You have a degree, you’re smart and I know you could do it. I don’t know the pay but it’s got to be better than minimum wage.”

“Dean.”

“Someone helped me. I was an eighteen year old kid with a part time job and I had no idea what I was doing. Someone helped me and it gave me a chance to live, to have all this. It’s not charity. It’s decency and everyone deserves that.”

“Never tell my sister,” you said.

“If you take the job I won’t.”

“Okay,” you said with a nod. “This was a more fun date a few minutes ago you know.”

“But now we’re really starting to know one another,” he said. You were quiet, playing with your fork for a beat.

“Can I stay over? I don’t like sleeping in the house alone.”

“Of course,” he said. You flicked your eyes up, Dean offering you a smile.

“How do you get happy again?”

“Having a stranger run by shouting about toast helps,” he said. You rolled your eyes and he shrugged. “I’m not joking.”

“Why are you single?”

“I’m more complicated than I look at first glance. I’ve been told it’s not an attractive quality.”

“Well fuck whatever bitch said that.”

“I really like you,” he chuckled.

“I have my moments,” you said. You sat back, Dean pushing the bit of pie left on his plate around. “Was that too much...me sharing that.”

“No. I’m glad you did,” he said. “You want to watch something?”

“Whatever you want is fine.”

“Come on,” he said. He showed you upstairs and gave you some clothes to sleep in before he showed you outside to the balcony over the garage. “I sit out here at night sometimes.”

“It’s gorgeous,” you said. You settled down into an oversized chair with him, looking up at the dark sky.

“Yes, it is,” he said as he looked in your direction.

“So what’s your favorite kind of pie?”

“Oh well if you want to go down that road I can chat your ear off all night.”

“Good morning,” said Dean as you made your way downstairs. You yawned and gave him a smile, Dean handing you a cup of coffee.

“Much appreciated.” You took a long gulp, stretching out and taking a deep breath. “What time is it?”

“After ten. We stayed up pretty late talking,” he said.

“I guess we did,” you said, rubbing the back of your neck. “Can I have your phone for a sec?”

“Sure,” he said. You put in your number and handed it back.

“Text me sometime,” you said.

“I think I’ll take you up on that,” he said. “I gotta run and do a few chores this morning but I’m having a few friends over later to watch football if you and Tessa would like to join.”

“You really want my sister hanging out with us?”

“Yeah. As long as she’s like, not a devil worshipper or doesn’t like pie she’s always welcome.”

“Only you would categorize those two things together,” you laughed.

“I am quite serious about my pies.”

“Oh I learned that last night,” you said. “I’ll invite her. She’s seventeen though so not sure how much fun she’ll have.”

“There’ll be a couple guys her age if-”

“She’ll definitely be there then,” you said.

“Great. Let’s have some breakfast quick before I drop you off at home.”

______

A/N: Read Part 3 here!

#spn #supernatural #dean x reader #doctor!dean #au!dean x reader #spn reader insert #supernatural reader insert #doctor!dean x reader #dean winchester #supernatural fanfiction #dean winchester x reader #dean #dean spn #winchester

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sassycassie-s-writing · 3 years

Text

Under the Moon

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): Avengers - Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Rating: PG/K+

Original Idea: I’ve been in a mood recently.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) I actually put forth a decent effort this time to make it as gender-neutral as possible. It’s probably not perfect but I tried.

^^^^^

A twinge in the muscles of my back jarred me from my sleep.

$#!+ did I forget again? I thought. Another spasm arched me off my mat. I fumbled through my bag for my phone. No service. Of course not. With shaking fingers, somehow I managed to unlock it. Moon Tracker was waiting for me on my home page. It launched and actually loaded, despite the lack of service.

Tonight’s Moon: Full read the screen.

I swore aloud. MJ didn’t wake.

Scrambling out of the tent, I stumbled through the dark to the tent next to ours. “Peter!” I hissed, knocking a knuckle against the tent pole. “Pete!”

I heard a groan. “What?” Peter complained.

“I need your help. I need you to come with me. Now.”

The tent he shared with Ned zipped open. Ned was curled up in a corner and clearly Peter had been sprawled out. Peter slipped out, barely managing to get into his sneakers, and zipped the tent shut behind him. “What’s goin’ on?” He yawned.

I recoiled as pain wracked through me. “We need to get away from camp—and I need you to web me to a tree,” I replied.

“What?”

“Now!”

My tone scared him into movement. He grabbed my hand and we ran from the campsite. I stumbled more than anything. My control over my own body was slipping. I moaned in pain. Peter looked back at me.

“What’s happening to your eyes?”

“No time to explain. Keep moving,” I panted.

We blindly wove through the woods until we were over a mile away. I found a sturdy tree and backed against it.

“Web me here,” I said. “Just cover me.”

“Why?”

I looked up. The moon was starting to peek above the hills, casting its light through the woods. “Just do it!” I cried out—stifling the sound as much as I could—and slammed into the tree. “Now!”

Peter’s webshooters activated and he spewed webs at me. I gave him a small smile.

Then I thrashed in pain—

And everything went black.

—

Peter stared as his friend’s body began to change. Claws broke through fingers. Fangs replaced teeth. A snout elongated from the face. Thick, brown-and-black hair sprouted. Pajamas started to disappear under the hair.

Until, instead of a human, Peter was staring at a wolf.

An enormous wolf. Easily twice the size of a regular wolf—and he’d found out that wolves were twice as big as he’d thought not too long ago—and covered in grey fur. The beast’s paws were wide and ended in long dark claws sharp enough to tear flesh like cotton candy. Thankfully they were positioned too awkwardly to reach the webs holding it.

“Gah! What the he—” He cut himself off as the wolf snarled at him, writhing against the webs. He applied another layer just to be safe. “Since—since—since when could you do—” The moonlight shone brighter, catching his attention. He peered up.

The moon was a massive disc—full and shining silver-white down against the tree trunk.

The wolf in front of him seemed transfixed by it, staring up with a melancholy whine softly escaping its throat. It tried again to escape the webs, but only half-heartedly.

Peter whooshed out a breath as realization struck him like a blow from the Hulk. “You’re a werewolf,” he whispered.

The wolf whimpered and then growled. Peter stepped back.

“I’m not sleeping tonight, am I?” He asked.

The wolf didn’t reply.

Which was probably a good thing, because if it did he probably would have screamed loud enough to wake up their friends over a mile away—and every big nasty in the forest. And he doubted his werewolf friend would protect him.

The wolf’s amber eyes were watching him suspiciously. But Peter just sat down and yawned again. “You and I have known each other for like ten years now. You’re in on my secret. Why didn’t you ever tell me yours?” He stared at the wolf, who was still seething at being trapped, but not fighting against the webs. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Again, the wolf made no reply. Just turned those amber eyes up to the moon. Peter looked up at it too. “Yeah. It’s beautiful. Especially on nights like tonight. When there aren’t any clouds.”

The wolf whined like a puppy—and Peter had to remind himself to not tear off the webs to cuddle into that thick, soft-looking fur. That werewolves probably didn’t have any human memories when they were in their wolf form. He leaned back on his hands. “You’re probably not gonna remember this, so I may as well tell you: I’ve actually had a crush on you since like seventh grade. I know we’ve been friends for longer than that but…” He shrugged. The wolf kept staring at the moon. “I don’t know. Something changed that year. I saw you in the gym with the ballroom dance club, teaching some poor dude how to waltz when I stayed late for robotics, and it was like this… like a lightbulb went off in my head. You know? Suddenly it was like I was really seeing you for the first time. Like I caught a glimpse of the best pieces of your soul.

“And I’ve never been the same since. Never looked at you the same way. I notice the grace you use when you move. Even if you’re clumsy sometimes. But I see your compassion too. Your care. Like once I started looking, I couldn’t stop.”

The wolf didn’t even react to him at all.

Peter sighed. “I’ll keep an eye on you tonight. I promise. You won’t be able to get out or hurt anything. It’ll be okay. I promise.”

—

I came to under the pale orange light of dawn. The last dregs of dissolving web fluid clung to my pajamas. I felt drained. Like I always did the morning after a full moon.

“Hey, you’re up!” Peter said happily. I turned. He was sitting on the forest floor a few feet away, using a Bunsen burner camping “stove” to heat a small pot of water. Two paper cups were sitting near him, plastic spoons poking out of the top. I slumped against the tree trunk. “I’m making some cocoa. Want some?”

I watched him pour the water in the cups, adding packets of cocoa mix and stirring carefully. I didn’t have the energy to actually reply.

He handed me one of the cups. “This should warm you up. It’s a little chilly.”

“Did you get any sleep?” I croaked.

“I did, actually. See, the thing is, my webs dissolve in two hours. On average, it takes fourteen minutes for a person to fall asleep, and a single sleep cycle is ninety minutes—hour and a half. So I used my webshooters to set timers. An almost-two-hour one to know when to replace the webs around you, and another to wake me up roughly an hour and forty-four minutes after I set it. So I slept between replacing your webs and I actually feel alright. Probably better than you anyway.”

I grunted agreement at that. I felt like I’d been trampled by a herd of elephants.

I tried a sip of the cocoa. Not too hot, but enough to warm my core. I sighed, content with the taste and warmth.

“Why didn’t you ever tell me?” Peter asked quietly. I met his eyes. He had the expression of a sad puppy on his face.

I huffed a little, stirring my cocoa. “My secret isn’t like yours, Peter,” I said. “You keep your secret to keep the people you care about safe. I do too, but mine—mine is different. You’re keeping the people you love safe from villains who want to hurt you by hurting them. I’m keeping the people I care about safe from me. Because I’m… we’re classified as monsters, Peter. Werewolves, vampires—we’re referred to as monsters the same way humans are mammals. I never told you because what I can do… it’s worse than what you can do. You’re a superhero. I’m a lycanthrope. Yours is a mutation of your DNA. Mine is literally a curse. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you looking at me like I’m…”

“A monster?” Peter finished gently.

I almost growled at the word. “Yeah,” I admitted begrudgingly, taking a sip of my cocoa. “You have no idea how hard it is for someone like me to make or keep friends. I’ve spent most of my life super lonely. Then I met you and Ned and MJ and I felt like… like finally I could have some friends. I was turned into a werewolf when I was four-years-old, Peter. Thirteen years, I’ve suffered with this alone. My parents know but they don’t talk about it. They pretend like my curse doesn’t exist. Then I make friends for the first time in my life and still know, deep down, that I’ll never belong with them. Not really. Even when you told me about you, I knew I still wasn’t like you. I never would be. So I hoped I could just be friends as long as I could with you guys and… find a way to live with it when you all eventually left me.”

I downed the rest of my cup and stood. My joints ached.

“We should go back to camp before Ned and MJ wonder where we’ve gone,” I said.

Not waiting for Peter, I headed back the way we’d come, following my own scent through the trees, several hours old now, but doubly punctuated by Peter’s as he’d gone back to get the burner and the cocoa.

He caught up to me, jogging a little. “For the record, even though you scared the pants off of me last night when I saw you turn, I don’t think you’re a monster,” he said.

I managed a small smile. “Thanks,” I replied.

“And, also, I’m not going to leave you. You’re still my friend and I’m not scared. I can lift… like, a hundred times more than my body weight. I think I can handle you as a wolf. You’re not gonna hurt me and I’m not going anywhere.”

“That’s… that’s a relief to hear,” I admitted. We kept hiking back. “Do I remember you saying you’ve had a crush on me since we were in seventh grade? Or did I dream that up?”

Peter swore under his breath. A normal person wouldn’t have heard it, but I did. Wolf’s hearing. “Uh… I think you dreamt that up,” he said.

Liar. But if he wasn’t ready to tell me human-face-to-human-face, I’d give him time. He’d taken my secret better than I could have asked for or anticipated. I could let him admit his feelings whenever he was ready. I owed him that much.

When we got back to camp, MJ was sitting on a tree stump, munching on some dry cereal. “Where have you two been all night?” she asked.

#Under the Moon #Spider-Man #spider-man imagine #spider-man fanfiction #spiderman #spiderman fanfiction #spiderman imagine #Spider Man #Spider Man Imagine #spider man fanfiction #Peter Parker #peter parker imagine #peter parker fanfiction #Avengers #avengers imagine #avengers fanfiction #marvel #marvel imagine #marvel fanfiction

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haokyeom · 4 years

Text

all the stars | kim mingyu

ミ★ synopsis: in which you fall in love with your rival, kim mingyu.

ミ★ genre: sin of envy!mingyu, ceo!mingyu, ceo!reader, enemies to lovers!au, angst, fluff, some humor

ミ★ warnings: mentions of blood and broken glass

ミ★ word count: 8,764

ミ★ pairings: mingyu x female reader

ミ★ notes: hi guys ! it’s lila, aka, @viastro ! this is my last post for the lucky 7 collaboration </33 this one is actually so fucking long for no reason i am so sorry HAHAHA this was so exciting to be a part of even tho i kinda procrastinated and made all of the oneshots ten million years long </33 this one was really exciting to write tho. think it might be one of my favorite works along with my minghao oneshot for this collab :o i hope you guys like it ! make sure to give mingyu lots of love <3

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They say to live the life you dream of, you have to work hard. Some people can start from the bottom and work their way up to the top. While others are fortunate enough to start directly from the top due to the resources that are available to them.

Unluckily for you, you are not one of the latters. You worked hard to get where you are now, being the CEO of Bloom. You didn’t earn the status of CEO through being the heir to the company, no. You built Bloom on your own, and now you’re one of the youngest, as well as the richest, in the business of the gaming industry.

However, as it was said before, you’re one of the youngest and richest. There’s another that you’re currently ahead of in the business, some claim to be your rival in the industry. The two of you are always clashing on the charts, always competing at the same time. Since you just recently launched a new update for your game, you’re higher on the ladder than him. For now.

Kim Mingyu, the CEO of Ainsoft. At the age of 19 he inherited the money to start up his own gaming company, which ended up being incredibly successful. As he is now 23, and one of the youngest and richest in South Korea. Right beside you on the charts, but you started from the ground up, while he had a bit of help.

What you don’t know is that Mingyu is truly out of this world. Tall, handsome, and rich, yes. However, he is actually not a part of this world. For he is one of the seven deadly sins,

The Sin of Envy.

And you, yln yn, are at the top of his list.

“Nah, he’s a villain. If you wanna make him look the part, he should look less soft. Taller, broader, dark hair, nice tan skin. Yes! Perfect.” You clap your hands once your game designer makes the changes you requested. Minghao turns to glance at you with a look that basically says, ugh! this bitch.

“... What?”

“You literally just had me draw Kim Mingyu.” You purse your lips once you see the resemblance, and turn your head away, letting out a whistle tune. Minghao chuckles, deleting the edits he made so that the drawing is back to its original rough draft.

“You know, it’s not my fault that he looks like the perfect villain.” You say to Minghao, and he waves his hand away at you, flashing you a grin. “I’ll work on this and show you the draft when I’m done, deal?”

You smile, giving the black haired beauty a thumbs up. “Deal.”

And with that, you turn and stroll back to your office. You check in with your other employees on the way there, seeing how the design and coding is going for the upcoming game you plan to discuss with investors in a month or so.

With a smile and wave of your hand, you step into your office, shutting the door behind you and walking over to your desk. You sit down, letting out a breath and closing your eyes as you rest your head on the back of your seat.

You quickly get interrupted by a knock on your door, and you call out that they can come in. Sitting up straighter in your seat, you watch as your COO, Chan, steps into your office with a straight face. You raise an eyebrow, knowing that he brought news you must not like.

“What is it?” You ask as Chan sits down in the seat in front of your desk, and he lets out a sigh. He places the small envelope before you, and you purse your lips, reaching out and taking it. You carefully open up the red paper, and pull out what seems to be an invitation.

You immediately frown at what you read, and you glance up at Chan to see him also looking at the piece of paper as if it were cursed. You place it back down onto the table, letting out a sigh and slumping in your seat.

“Why is Kim Mingyu inviting me to his gala?” You ask, pointing to the invitation in disgust, and Chan shrugs in response. He looks rather tired as well, and you feel a bit bad for your friend.

His black hair isn’t as put together as it was in the morning, showing that he must’ve been running his hands through it a lot during the day. His tie is a bit loosened as well, and he��s more hunched over. You know for a fact that once he leaves your office, he won’t be showing any sign of fatigue to your employees. You don’t blame him for being tired though, it’s a stressful process trying to create a new game.

“I think he might be planning something.” Chan mutters, squinting at the invitation from his seat. You tilt your head, wondering what Mingyu could possibly be scheming. You’ve never met him before, as you’re not one to go out to galas or many public events, and he’s never invited you to one of his galas before. Chan is usually the one who attends those things because he knows you’d much rather work on new game developments or on updates for any existing games than waste time at a party.

“Of course he is. He never invites me to these things, and I’ve also never met him, yet we’re each other's biggest competitor. You’re the only one who has spoken to Mingyu before.” You say, pointing to Chan, who is now rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands. Once he’s done he glances at you, giving you a shrug of his shoulders.

“All I can remember is that he’s really tall, and pretty cocky.”

“Only a little bit?”

“Nah, like. The type that knows everyone loves him and can get anyone he wants without trying.” You purse your lips, turning your head away with a scowl. From what you’re hearing, Kim Mingyu is the worst type of man.

“I’m not going.” You state with finality, turning back towards your computer. You begin typing away for a minute, only to pause when you realize that Chan is still sitting in your seat, staring at you. Your eyes immediately widen and you shake your head, while Chan stands up and raises his hands towards you. “Absolutely not!”

“You didn’t even hear what I was going to say!”

“Because I already know what you were going to say!” You exclaim with a baffled expression on your face, and Chan gives you a defeated look in return. He purses his lips and you squint back at him. After a moment Chan finally says, “I think you should go.”

“Give me one good reason why.” You tell him and Chan grins, having already expected you to say that.

“It’s an opportunity to get information on the enemy.” Chan states, and you raise an eyebrow. Leaning back into your seat, you signal for him to go on.

“Listen. Mingyu is known to hold these big galas when they’re planning on launching a new game, right?” Chan glances at you for your reaction, and you nod your head. “So, you can go to try and get information. You’ve never met Mingyu, and he’s never met you. What if you managed to even swoon him?”

You roll your eyes, grabbing your stapler to throw it at your partner’s head, and he raises his arms in surrender, letting out giggles at your reaction. You place the almost weapon back down on your table, and bite your finger, a habit you do when you start to think heavily about something.

Chan has a point. It’s a dirty way of playing the game, but hey, you’re in the gaming industry. What you and Chan are planning on doing isn’t that bad anyways. You’re just going to see what his next game may be, report it back to your employees, and make sure your new game release will be a thousand times better than his.

Which is why you turn back to Chan, a newly formed smirk on your lips, and he grins evilly back. You rest your chin on the palm of your hand, “Guess I have plans this Saturday.”

“Ms. yln, the CEO of Bloom, has just arrived at Kim Mingyu’s gala. This is her first time attending Mr. Kim’s gala since they are the two biggest competitors in the gaming industry. She’s wearing an emerald green…”

You ignore the voices of the reporters as you step out of your bugatti chiron with a knowing smile on your face. You hand your keys to the valet, giving them a nod as you walk down the red carpet. You flip your hair over your shoulder, before walking up the steps and into the grand venue.

You feel the eyes on you when you step in, and you bow to those around you. You walk further into the ballroom of the hotel, running a hand through your hair as you walk up to one of the tables. You take out your phone from the strap on your leg, sending Chan a quick text that you’re going to curse him for not coming with you. To which he replies,

chan: love you too sexci :D

“Champagne, Ms. yln?” You turn to glance at the voice, to find a young waiter standing before you, holding fancy glasses filled with the expensive alcohol. You give him a small smile, and watch as a blush rises to his cheeks when you take one. “Thank you so much.”

He bows, before turning and walking away. You take a tiny sip and let out a pleased noise once you taste the unexpected sweetness to it. You ponder your luck on your favorite alcohol getting served at the gala you dreaded going to, only to receive an answer from the voice beside you.

“Montaudon Brut, your favorite.” You turn your head to find none other than the Kim Mingyu standing close beside you, a knowing smirk on his face as he stares at you. You raise an eyebrow, turning your body to face him as you look back into his eyes.

“How’d you know?” You ask with a small smile, and he shrugs, running a hand through his perfectly styled hair, damn you kim mingyu, before giving you a mischievous look. “Did a little bit of research.”

You let out an, ah, before turning your head away to sweep the room. You lock eyes with a few onlookers, but they quickly glance the other way, making the corner of your lips tilt upwards a bit. You take in the decorations on the ceiling, from the bright pink and white flowers, to the green leafy plants hanging next to the fairy lights. What used to just be a golden ballroom inside a hotel now resembles what you’d consider a great option for what heaven may look like.

It’s rather ironic actually, considering that the Sin of Envy is standing right beside you. Mingyu watches you with fire in his eyes, having not expected you to be more gorgeous in person than in pictures, let alone when the fairy lights cast an iridescent glow over you.

“The decorations are lovely, did you pick them out yourself as well?” You ask, turning to glance back at Mingyu, just to feel your breath get caught in your throat when you catch the intense look in his eyes. He tilts his head at you, opening his mouth to say something when the sound of the mic turning on catches both of your attention.

Mingyu flashes you a mischievous smile, “That’s my signal to go and greet everyone. I’ll see you later?”

You find yourself smirking, nodding your head and waving off the handsome man with your hand. “You know where to find me.”

And with that, Mingyu turns and walks off the stage. All while you head off in the opposite direction to go and get some info on his upcoming game. You notice a group consisting of a few women and men who are eyeing you, and you walk over to them. They seemed to not have expected you to go up to them due to their eyes widening slightly, and you let out a grin when you reach their table.

“Ms. yln, what an honor it is to meet you.” The tallest male says, and you extend your hand out to shake his. Only to bite the inside of your cheek when he raises your hand up and presses a kiss to the back of it instead. He leans back and you glance at the rest of the people around him, just for them to immediately bow to you. You bow back, before giving the man a smile. “What’s your name?”

“My name is Cha Eunwoo, I’m Mingyu’s game designer.” You nod your head, mentally patting yourself on the back for finding one of the main people in charge of making Mingyu’s newest release. You run a hand through your hair before turning to ask, “What got you into game design?”

The two of you spend the next hour talking about Eunwoo’s experience working with Mingyu. You find yourself enjoying the pretty man’s company. He’s nice, witty, charming, and rather funny. You wish he could be a part of your team, but alas. At least you found out small bits and pieces of what could potentially be Ainsoft’s next release.

What you’ve gathered so far is that there’s mentions of a dystopian universe, and a team. You’re worried that may be all you’re able to get, but you think that it could be enough. You wave bye to Eunwoo, and he tells you he was happy that he got to speak to you, before you turn and walk back over to your table.

You raise an eyebrow when you see that your table is now full, so you decide to walk around. Other than doing the occasional bow, you don’t feel like talking to anyone else for now, so you continue to roam around. You tilt your head when you find a hallway close to the stage, so you walk down it. Taking in the hanging green plants on the ceiling, finding the interior decoration of the gala to be impeccable. You see doors leading to a balcony once you’re closer to the end of the hallway, and you step out.

You take a sip of your champagne when you find Mingyu looking over the ledge, staring out at the city. You raise an eyebrow and walk over, but he doesn’t seem startled by your presence. He just continues to look at the skyline, taking in deep breaths of the cold, night air.

“Thought you said you’d find me?” You joke after a moment, and Mingyu turns to glance at you. He lets out an amused grin, shaking his head at you. “Wanted to give you a little adventure.” Is all he replies, and you find yourself smiling.

The two of you stare out at the skyline together in silence, and you feel that you’re the calmest you’ve been in months as you stand beside Mingyu. Glancing up at the night sky you notice a shooting star, and you nudge the man. He turns to look at you, and you point up at the sky with a glimmer to your eye, “Look! A shooting star.”

Mingyu looks up at the sky, and he catches the very last second of the shooting star. He chuckles, knowing that means one of the stars is on their way to fulfill a quest, but of course, you don’t know that. So he turns to glance at you, just to find that your eyes are closed, and your hands are clasped together as you make a wish up to the shooting star.

Mingyu feels something in his chest at the sight, and he wonders whether he may be having a heart attack, but then he remembers that he’s immortal. You open your eyes and turn to glance at Mingyu, and that’s when he feels his heart stop.

He realizes that your eyes outshine all the stars in the sky with the way they brightly bore into his, and he finds the visual so enchanting, that he forgets to speak. You tilt your head to the side at his silence, and you take the last sip of your champagne, before placing the empty glass onto the ledge.

“So quiet now. Have you just realized how pretty I am?” You tease, and Mingyu snaps out of his trance. He leans in closer to your face, and your eyes widen when his nose almost touches yours. The handsome man lets out a smile, “I’ve always known you were stunning, yn. However, I didn’t expect you to be even prettier in person.” And with that, he leans back at his full height, chuckling at your surprised expression.

You squint at him, “Shut up.”

“Awe, is my biggest rival shy now?” Mingyu asks, and you roll your eyes. You nudge him with your shoulder, and he hides his smile behind the glass of champagne, taking a large sip of it. You feel your phone vibrate in the strap on your thigh, so you stick your leg out of the slit of your dress. Mingyu glances down and his eyes widen slightly at the sight of you taking your phone out of the strap.

“You kept… your phone there?” You nod your head without looking at Mingyu, seeing that Chan needs you to come home so he can discuss one of the character designs for the game you’re creating. You place your phone back in the strap, before hiding your leg from view. Turning towards Mingyu, you give him a grin.

“I have to take my leave now. Thank you for inviting me to your gala, I had a wonderful time.” You tell Mingyu, and he purses his lips at the fact that he feels the slightest bit of disappointment in his chest from you leaving already.

“So soon?” Mingyu asks and you nod your head, muttering that duty calls. You’re about to turn around to leave when you feel a hand grasp your wrist, and you glance behind you to see Mingyu staring at you with a small smile.

“Will I see you again?”

Your eyes widen at the question, having not expected for there to be a next time. While Mingyu continues to look at you with a glint in his eye, and you wonder why he wants to initiate a relationship between the two of you. However, you also enjoy Mingyu’s company, so it really has you thinking.

“Maybe. Depends on what the Gods have in store for us.” You answer, and Mingyu finds it so painfully ironic that he lets out a laugh, to which you find yourself smiling back. He nods his head, letting go of your wrist so that you can leave the gala.

“I’ll see you, yln yn.” You flip your hair over your shoulder, waving bye to Mingyu. “See you, Kim Mingyu.”

And with that, you walk off the balcony. Leaving Mingyu alone underneath the night sky. He lets out a breath, turning back towards the ledge as he decides to head back into the gala after a few minutes.

Mingyu glances up at the stars, and he comes to realize that you’re all he can think about as he does so.

“Minghao!” The black haired beauty turns in the direction he heard you call, just to find you quickly walking over with an excited smile on your face. He raises an eyebrow, about to open his mouth to ask how much espresso you got in your coffee, just for you to slam your journal onto his desk. “Someone’s excited.”

“I had a dream.”

“So did Rapunzel and Flynn Rider.” You squint at Minghao, and he gives you a smile that convinces you not to reach out and smack the back of his head. So you instead open up your journal, showing the drawing you made at four in the morning the night before, and Minghao’s eyes widen slightly in awe.

“These are…”

“Perfect.”

“An incredibly different vibe from the characters we had drawn out before.” Minghao points out, and you nod your head. Running a hand through your hair, you give him a grin. “Don’t you think they suit the game so much better though? I was unsure of the direction we were going in, but after what I learned at the gala, I think these characters will be better.”

Minghao nods his head in agreement, turning back towards the drawing. You stare at the drawing as well, “I had a dream last night and as soon as I woke up I just had to draw the characters I dreamt of. This is what I got. I want you to show this to the team and make these characters come to life by the end of next week.” You tell Minghao, and he purses his lips. He grasps the journal and raises it up towards his face, taking in the detail of their outfits, the brightness of the hair, and their varying facial expressions.

“What kind of dream did you have?” Minghao asks after a moment, and you tilt your head at the thought of it. Perhaps you had that bizarre dream because you watched that one alien episode of buzzfeed unsolved to try and stop thinking of Mingyu, but you’re not sure.

“These weird aliens kept trying to peg me with their tentacles.” You mutter with a look of unease displayed over your features, and Minghao just stares at you in concern. You snap out of the memory, turning back towards Minghao and giving him a small smile.

“You can create these by the end of next week, right?”

“You dreamt… of tentacle porn?” You let out a laugh, reaching out and resting a hand on Minghao’s shoulder. “Remind me to not watch anything involving aliens before I go to sleep.”

Minghao nods his head, “Noted.”

And after he confirms that he’ll be able to have the characters drawn out and will show them to you as soon as they’re done, you walk back to your office after checking with your other employees. You’re about to turn the corner to your office when Chan stops you, a bright smile on his face that has you suspicious.

“...What?”

“You want coffee?”

“I don’t like coffee.”

“Well, let’s make you like it! Let’s go!” Chan says quickly, hooking his arm with yours and pulling you in the opposite direction of your office. With a frown you pull your arm away, squinting at Chan. “Why are you stopping me from going into my office?”

“Why… not?” You stare at Chan with a bored expression, before turning around and opening the door to your office, promptly ignoring Chan’s sounds of protest. You find yourself staring at the back of Mingyu’s head, who is sitting in the seat placed in front of your desk.

“Kim Mingyu.” You state, and the man turns around, flashing you a smile. His black hair is up in the style he had at the gala, revealing his forehead and strong eyebrows. He’s wearing a black dress shirt, the top buttons being unbuttoned, revealing a bit of his chest, and you raise an eyebrow. You take notice of his sharp canines for the first time as he smiles at you, and for some reason, you’re intrigued.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of having you in my office right now?” You ask as you walk up to your chair, feeling Mingyu’s eyes on you the whole way there. You sit down in your seat, and look up into his eyes, finding the same intense look that he had at the night of the gala two weeks prior. Mingyu smiles, leaning his head back into the chair, and your eyes trail down to his Adam's apple, watching it move as he swallows.

“You weren’t making any moves to come and see me again, so I decided to pay my rival a visit and ask her out for coffee.” You choke on your saliva at the end of his sentence, and Mingyu smiles at that. You stare at him with wide eyes, and he rests his chin on his hand, looking at you with amusement dancing in his deep brown eyes.

The two of you weren’t supposed to meet again. By you going to the gala it was simply for your own gain, to learn more about his upcoming game. However, you ended up learning more about the enemy himself. You know that you shouldn’t entertain him like this, but here you are, wanting to get to know your rival more.

And so you regain your composure, and tilt your head to the side, now grinning back at Mingyu. “After your research on me, I thought you’d learn that I’m more of a tea person.”

Mingyu bites his finger, letting out a smile at that. “Guess the internet isn’t always that reliable.”

You nod your head, before standing up from the chair and heading over to the door. Mingyu raises an eyebrow at you moving to leave without another word, and you turn your head to look at him. You smirk, “Are you coming or what? I know a good tea place down the street from here.”

Mingyu laughs, standing up from the seat and grabbing the maroon jacket that was laid over the back of it. He puts it on, and you find that he looks like the epitome of a God as he walks up to you. Once he’s standing in front of you, the two of you stare into each other’s eyes for a moment.

Mingyu thinks that emerald green complements your eye color as he stares at you, curious as to how he didn’t notice it when you wore that emerald green dress at the gala. While you wonder how cursed you have to be for your rival to be one of the prettiest people you’ve ever laid eyes on. So you grin, opening the door for him and pointing out with your arm. “After you.”

Mingyu chuckles out, “How sweet of you.” as he steps out of your office.

The two of you walk over towards the elevators, and you glance over to see Minghao staring at you with a small smirk on his face, while Chan looks like he’s shitting himself. You raise an eyebrow at them, and Minghao makes his hands look like they’re kissing, and Chan just makes the motion that looks like he’s praying to the Gods. You roll your eyes, before turning back towards Mingyu to see him bowing his head towards your other employees that are looking at the both of you.

at least he’s respectful.

“Are you gonna pay for my tea?” Mingyu asks once the two of you enter the elevator, and you smile, turning to look at your rival. You reach over and press the star button, and the elevator makes its way down. After a second of silence you respond,

“Sure, I’ll pay for your tea as a celebration for the fact that I’m in the #1 spot right now.” You answer, giving Mingyu a cheeky smile, and he rolls his eyes.

For now, Mingyu thinks to himself bitterly once the elevator doors open.

“You fucking suck at fall guys.” You mutter to Mingyu once you hear him yell out beside you. He chooses to ignore that comment so that he can try and make it into the qualifying round, and you let out a squeal once you take the last spot. Mingyu glares at the screen, seeing the word eliminated flash across it while you celebrate.

Mingyu removes his headset, and turns to glare at you on the other side of your gaming room, clapping your hands happily. He lets out a groan and rests his head on the back of the chair, causing you to let out a laugh at his reaction.

“Who would’ve thought that the CEO of Ainsoft is so terrible at fall guys?” You tease, and Mingyu rolls his eyes. He stands up from the seat without another word and walks over to you. You open your mouth to ask what he’s doing, only for your whole world to be flipped upside down when he throws you over your shoulder. You let out a laugh, “Put me down!”

“No.” Mingyu states, smiling as he spins around, hearing you let out a squeal as he does so. You threaten that you’re going to throw up onto the back of his shirt if he doesn’t set you down, and he laughs. “Then apologize and tell me I’m the best player ever.”

“Lying is a sin, Mingyu.”

“Bruh…” And so, Mingyu spins you around a few more times before setting you down onto the couch with a laugh. The two of you freeze once you realize the position you’re in, with him hovering over you and you laying flat on your back.

It’s been a couple months since the gala, and you and Mingyu have gotten close. What started out as you trying to beat him, led to you wanting to get to know him, and now you can’t help but think how nice it must be to kiss him as you stare down at his soft, pink lips.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, Mingyu thinks as he stares into your eyes. He didn’t even think he was capable of feeling this way towards anyone. But it’s when he lifts up his hand and rests it on your cheek, and he watches as your eyes glance down towards his lips that he realizes,

“I want you.” Mingyu murmurs, and your breath hitches at his words.

And so the two of you stare at each other for a moment in silence, before you let out a small smile.

“Only if you can beat me at fall guys.” Mingyu squints at you, and you giggle at his reaction. He rolls his eyes before leaning down and capturing your lips in a kiss for the first time.

“Fuck!” You hear Mingyu yell as you step into his office. It’s already late at night, almost one am, and yet Mingyu is still here working at his desk. He glances up at you when he hears the sound of the door close, and he turns off his computer when you walk towards him.

His hair isn’t perfectly put together anymore based on the way it’s falling over his forehead now. His tie is loosened and is just hanging around his neck, the first few buttons now unbuttoned on his shirt as well. You take notice of the bags under his eyes, and you realize he’s been lacking sleep.

“Yn, how did you get in?” Mingyu asks tiredly, standing up from his desk and walking over to you. You chuckle, holding up the spare keys that he left at your house a week prior and dangling it in front of his face. He opens up his hand, and you drop the keys onto the palm of his hand. Mingyu lets out a small, “Ah.” and you chuckle.

You wrap your arms around his waist, rubbing his back and he finds himself smiling softly at the feeling. He lets out a breath of relief and cradles your head, pressing a kiss to the top of it. After a moment you pull back and give him a smile, “Let’s take you home, mm? You’re overworking yourself.”

Mingyu opens his mouth to protest and you shush him, shaking your head. He stares at you for a moment, not used to anyone taking care of him when he stays late at the office, and he feels his heart warm slightly. He lets out a sigh, before giving you a smile and nodding his head. He leans forward and presses a kiss to your forehead, “Just let me pack up, okay? I’ll be out in a sec.”

You walk out of his office and wait by the door for a few minutes, just scrolling through your phone when Mingyu finally walks out. He reaches out for your hand and you intertwine your fingers with his, and the two of you talk about your day as you head to his car.

“Eunwoo choked on tteokbokki?” You ask, and Mingyu laughs at the memory of Eunwoo choking in his office. He starts the car and backs out of his parking spot, and begins driving out of the parking garage. “He absolutely did. I wish I got it on video.”

You giggle at the thought of the pretty man turning red in the face and choking on the small rice cake. Mingyu smiles at the sound, finding it to be one of your best qualities. The two of you drive in relative silence the rest of the way to his place, as Mingyu’s sleepy, and you’re also tired.

When you both finally arrive, you step out of his car and walk into his house. Mingyu makes a beeline for his room, taking off his dress shirt and belly flopping onto his bed. You laugh at his antics, sitting on the edge of his bed and slapping his back. “Go and change into your pajamas at least.”

“Can you do it for me?” Mingyu asks teasingly, lifting up his head to glance at your reaction. He wiggles his eyebrows at you, and you glare, reaching out and slapping his back. He lets out a whine, before getting up from his bed and walking over to his closet.

He comes back after a moment, changed into fluffy pajama pants and an old t-shirt. He throws one of his t-shirts at you for you to change into and you chuckle. He climbs back into bed and looks at you with a confused expression, wondering why you haven’t changed.

“I’m not staying the night Gyu.” You mutter, pushing back the strands of hair that are falling into his eyes. He frowns, “Yes you are.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yes you are.”

“Mingyu, I have a meeting at work in the morning.”

“And I’ll drive you there.” Mingyu offers and you giggle, shaking your head at him. He whines, making a grabby hand towards you, and you bite the inside of your cheek.

Mingyu has come to realize that he sleeps a lot better when he’s holding you after the first time you let him spend the night a couple weeks ago. He realizes he shouldn’t have let himself get so attached to you, but he just wants one more night. One more night with you.

“Please?” Mingyu asks in a softer voice, and you sigh. You nod your head, grabbing the shirt and walking into his bathroom to change, before waddling back over to the bed and climbing in. It’s like second nature to you and Mingyu when you both go into your cuddling position. With you draping your arm and leg over him, and Mingyu wrapping his arm and leg around you. He rubs your back, and you slowly find yourself falling asleep.

“Don’t forget that you promised to drive me to my meeting tomorrow.” You mumble before you fall asleep, and Mingyu nods his head.

Mingyu watches as your breathing evens out, and he knows that you’re asleep. He stares at you for a moment, finding that you look so pure when you sleep. There’s no frown to your forehead, no tiredness to your eyes, you’re just at peace. He presses a kiss to your forehead, before letting out a sad smile.

“I’m sorry, yn.”

“You hear that your boyfriend is releasing a game tomorrow night?” Chan asks as the two of you walk back to your office from the meeting on how far along your guys’ game development is going. You giggle at the term, and nod your head, feeling a sense of pride at the sleepless nights Mingyu has spent on working on the release of his game.

“Yeah, he’s been working hard on the last minute touches. I had to drag him out of his office at like, one am last night. I plan to surprise him after his launch party.” You tell Chan as you enter your office. You sit down in your seat, placing your notes down by your keyboard, and Chan takes off his blazer and hangs it on the back of the chair before sitting down.

“Has he told you anything about the game?” Chan asks, and you shake your head with a smile. “I told him I wanted him to surprise me, so I don’t know anything about it other than the little pieces of info I got from Eunwoo at the gala a few months ago.”

Chan nods his head, letting out a grin at the happiness radiating from you as you login to your computer. Chan chuckles, “Who would’ve thought that by you going to the gala to get intel on the enemy, you ended up falling for the man?”

You smile, shrugging your shoulders in response. You mutter how life works in mysterious ways, and Chan agrees wholeheartedly based on how life has turned out for you.

Everything is going great so far. The development of your new game is on its last stages, and you’re so happy seeing your characters come to life on the screen from what your employees have shown you. It’s one of your best works yet.

And you’re finally dating after years of just dedicating all your time into work. Chan hasn’t seen you so happy before, and he’s so glad to see you glowing. So Chan reaches over and rests his hand over yours, giving it a small pat, and you let out a smile.

“I’m proud of you, yn.” Your eyes fill with fondness as you stare at your best friend who has been with you since the very beginning, and you feel your heart swell with love. “Thank you Chan, I love you.”

Eunwoo and Mingyu eat silently as they look over the game character designs and the gameplay. Mingyu can’t help but feel a sense of guilt as he stares at them, and he mentally slaps himself for feeling that way. Eunwoo glances at him, taking in the furrow between Mingyu’s eyebrows, and he lets out a sigh. Mingyu turns to look at him, “What?”

“If you feel guilty, then why did you suggest to even do this?” Eunwoo asks, and Mingyu scoffs. “I don’t feel guilty.”

Eunwoo rolls his eyes, reaching out and poking the prominent furrow that’s been hanging out between Mingyu’s eyebrows the whole day they’ve been working. The game release is tomorrow night, and they’re still here at the office working. Mingyu whines, rubbing the area that Eunwoo poked, and Eunwoo lets out a grin. “Lying is for sinners.”

Mingyu lets out a cocky grin, eyes turning red for emphasis, “Good thing I’m not a virtue.”

Eunwoo lets out a tired sigh, pushing Mingyu’s face away, causing the sin to let out a laugh at his friend’s antics. Eunwoo is the only one who knows of Mingyu’s true form, it was an accident honestly.

“I’m so sick of this fake love! Fake love! Fake love!” Eunwoo raises an eyebrow at the sound of Mingyu’s singing, and he steps into his friend’s room to see the tall man dancing in front of his mirror. His eyes are glowing a bright red rather than the deep brown he’s known him for. Mingyu pauses, slowly turning the sound down on his phone when he locks eyes with Eunwoo, and he turns his eyes back to brown.

“Eunwoo, let me explain-”

Eunwoo passes out onto the floor.

Mingyu’s just lucky that Eunwoo’s his best friend and didn’t have any plans on outing him for being one of the seven deadly sins. However, he’s both blessed and cursed on the fact that Eunwoo can read him better than an open book.

“You love her, don’t you?” Eunwoo watches as Mingyu turns rigid, and he tilts his head at him. Mingyu turns back towards the screen, choosing to ignore the way his heart throbs at the thought of you and him slow dancing in the kitchen the other night. Eunwoo decides to press him a bit more, “Gyu?”

“I’m the Sin of Envy, there’s no such thing as love for me.” Mingyu mutters, making himself look like he’s staring intently at the gameplay on the screen. Eunwoo runs a hand through his hair, taking a sip of his water. “But you love her.”

Mingyu bites his lip, choosing to stay quiet as his response. The silence is everything Eunwoo needed to know, and so he leans back into his seat and stares at Mingyu a bit longer. Mingyu turns to glance at him after a moment of silence, and he sees the judgmental expression on his best friend’s face. “What?”

Eunwoo just shakes his head, glancing over at the journal full of notes about the game before saying, “You could live a hundred lifetimes, and never deserve that girl.”

Mingyu turns back towards the game, seeing the characters come to life on the screen, and he bites the inside of his cheek. He nods his head slowly, knowing what he’s going to lose as he quietly mutters, “I know.”

Mingyu takes a sip of water as he looks at himself in the mirror, deciding that he looks good. He glances down at his phone when he hears a ding, letting out a smile when he sees your text on the screen.

yn: good luck !! i’m so proud of you, can’t wait to beat you at the game stinky >:D

Mingyu looks back up when he hears that it’s almost time for the game to launch, and he stands up from the seat. He turns around to see Eunwoo standing there, and he tries to ignore the disappointed expression on his best friend’s face.

“You know you can still stop this, right?” Eunwoo insists, and Mingyu shakes his head at his friend. He bites the inside of his cheek, ignoring the feeling of guilt that’s building up in his conscience. He finds that emotion annoying, guilt. He’s the Sin of Envy, how is he able to feel that?

“Because you fell in love.” Eunwoo states. Mingyu’s eyes widen, turning to Eunwoo and wondering how he could hear his thoughts, who briefly explains that Mingyu said it out loud.

“You can stop this, Mingyu. You’re going to ruin something you’ve been blessed with. Just listen to me-” Mingyu raises his hand up at Eunwoo, stopping him from speaking. Eunwoo lets out a tired sigh, and Mingyu gives him a smile.

“Let’s go celebrate our game launch.” Mingyu says, and walks out of the room. Eunwoo bites the inside of his cheek, before following after his friend.

While you hangout with Chan at his house, staring at the TV that displays OGN. They’re about to announce Ainsoft’s game launch and show the commercial for it as well. You let out an excited smile, seeing that Chan is staring at the TV expectantly.

“Oh! It’s 8:00!” You exclaim, and right as you say that, you see Mingyu’s pre-recorded announcement of the launch of the game. “He looks so handsome…”

“Okay we get it, you have a boyfriend.” Chan jokes, and you let out a laugh. You watch as Mingyu gestures to the large screen beside him on the TV, and it zooms into it as the commercial begins to play.

Your smile slowly drops from your face when the main character shows up on the screen, and Chan squints at the TV. “Wait a minute.”

You raise a hand to your mouth when the other characters start coming in, hearing the voice in the back of the video explaining the gameplay and the adventure the characters have to go on. You stand up from the couch with shaking knees, and Chan looks over at you.

This is your game. This is your creation. This is the game you’ve spent months working on.

It’s gone.

All of it is gone.

“Wait, yn-” Chan begins as you grab your car keys from the table. You walk towards the door, ignoring Chan’s calls as you hurry to get to your car. “Yn, you’re not in the right frame of mind to drive.”

You feel Chan grasp your arm and you shake it off, pointing at him with a shaking hand. The anger that Chan feels is not even close to the betrayal you must be feeling as he notices there’s no trace of happiness to you anymore. “Let me go.”

So Chan lets go, and you step out of his house. You quickly walk to your car, pushing back the tears so that you can be able to see as you drive. Millions of thoughts flow through your head as you back out of Chan’s driveway and speed down the street towards Mingyu’s house.

Was that his agenda all along? When did he get the info on your whole game? Is that why he spent so much time with you?

You bite your lip when you think,

Did he ever even love you?

“Great job on the game guys, it’ll be a big hit.” Mingyu tells his employees over by the glasses of champagne. They all smile and tell them their thanks, and he waves his hand at them, saying that this wouldn’t have happened without their help.

Eunwoo stares from across the room, drinking the sweet champagne that he knows you enjoy so much. However, it just tastes bitter once it goes down, reminding him of the sin he’s committed as he watches Mingyu act like everything’s fine.

He stands up straight when he hears the front door open behind him over the chatter, turning around to see you walking in. Eunwoo’s eyes widen, and he reaches out to stop you but you push his hand away. “Don’t fucking touch me.”

You walk over to the glasses of champagne, and grab one. Mingyu’s employees stare with wide eyes when they take notice of you, wondering what you’re even doing at their launch party. Mingyu raises an eyebrow at their sudden silence, and he turns in the direction that they’re staring in, only to get a face full of champagne.

“What the fuck?” Mingyu growls, wiping his eyes so that he can see who did it. Only for his heart to drop when he locks eyes with you. You’re standing there, eyes full of rage as you stare at the man that you love, the one who betrayed you.

“Yn.” Mingyu breathes out, and you bite the inside of your cheek.

“You fucking BITCH!” You scream, slapping Mingyu across the face, and the whole room turns silent at your outburst. You reach out to start shoving him, but he grasps your wrists to stop you. Mingyu glances around at his employees, and he gestures for them to leave, to which they slowly do. Once the living room is empty except for Eunwoo, he finally lets go of your arms, and you shove him away.

“You stole my game. You stole my fucking work!” You yell, and Mingyu just stands before you, face void of any emotion as he lets you scream at him. You tightly squeeze the glass between your hand, and Mingyu’s eyes widen when the glass shatters within your grasp. He tries to reach out to remove it from your hand but you step back, the blood from the wound dripping down your wrist as you stare at him.

“Was this your plan from the beginning? Since the gala?” You ask, and Mingyu stares. You bite the inside of your cheek, reaching out to grab another glass, but Mingyu steps forward and blocks your view of the table so that you can’t grab it. You throw the remainder of the broken champagne glass in your hand towards the floor, hearing it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces.

“Answer me!” You shout, and Mingyu slowly nods his head. You stare down at the floor, and you feel nothing but betrayal running through your veins. You look back up into his eyes, and you wonder how you allowed yourself to be so naive.

“So you just used me.” You mutter, and Mingyu just stares as he watches you break right before him. His hand twitches at his side as he holds back from falling onto his knees to beg for forgiveness, because this was all his fault.

“How did you even do that? How did you even find out about my characters? The plot-” You pause when you remember the nights he spent at your house, the days he’d surprise you at your office to go get lunch. They were all just a ploy to get more information. You let out a pained laugh when you realize he must’ve gone through your stuff when you were asleep, while you were thinking he was holding you at night.

how pathetic.

You open the palm of your hand, staring at the tiny pieces of broken glass that have edged themselves into your skin. The blood continues to trickle down, and you know that you’ll have to get stitches, but for some reason, you can’t feel any pain.

Mingyu takes a step forward when he sees the severity of your wound, “Yn, let’s go to the hospital so you can get stitches-”

You push him away, pointing directly at him with your other hand. You press the area where his heart is with your finger, and you bite your bottom lip harshly when you feel it beat beneath your finger. The familiar pattern is something you’ve gotten used to from the times the two of you have cuddled.

“You made me trust you, fall in love with you, just so you could steal my game? My work? Just to get on top? Just to be above me? Were you that envious of me?” You ask, and Eunwoo glances down at his feet when he hears how fragile your voice has become. Mingyu just stares at you, and he feels his heart break within his chest when he notices the glassiness to your eyes. He no longer sees anger or rage, he can only see the pain and betrayal in your gaze.

There’s no trace of all the stars that he once saw.

“Did you even,” Your voice cracks, and you don’t realize the tears have formed in your eyes until you can only see Mingyu as a blurry blob. You blink, and Mingyu watches as the first tear escapes from your left eye, and falls onto the floor. “Did you even love me?”

Mingyu stares at you in silence, the answer on the tip of his tongue as you look up at him with tears silently falling from your eyes. He looks down at the floor instead, breaking eye contact with you, and you have your answer. You let out a pained laugh, taking a step back as you stare at the man you love.

The one who betrayed you.

The one who broke you.

The one who lied.

“Fuck you, Kim Mingyu.” You state, before turning away and walking out of his house. The sound of the door slamming echoes through the home, and that’s when the tears finally fall from Mingyu’s eyes. He watches as they fall to the floor, mixing with your blood.

Eunwoo leans against the wall, and he runs a hand through his hair as he watches Mingyu just stare at the floor in silence. He stands up at his full height, and he claps his hands. Mingyu glances up at the sound, finding Eunwoo just standing there, applauding him.

“Well. Was it worth it, Sin of Envy?” Eunwoo asks, pulling out his phone and turning the screen around to show that Ainsoft is now above Bloom in the market. Mingyu watches as the numbers keep rising, and he just stares at it.

A few months ago, Mingyu would’ve been ecstatic to see that he was above you. The craving to beat you and earn your spot would’ve been fulfilled.

But now, all Mingyu feels is pain.

And so he smiles at Eunwoo, and his friend takes notice of the tears falling from Mingyu’s eyes as he responds,

“No. No it wasn’t.”

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xbaepsae · 3 years

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the ebb and flow | part seven

“The son of Poseidon stares at you with an intensity you’ve never seen before. It seems to burn hotter across your skin than the fire is right now.”

[demigod!jeongguk x demigod!reader]

genre: percy jackson!au, mythology!au, demigod!au, enemies to lovers!au

word count: 1.7k

rating: pg-13

warnings: language, the usual character tension

a/n: merry belated christmas (to those who celebrate)! and happy (almost) new years! stay safe and healthy everyone. hope 2021 is a better one for all of us. xoxo

→ series masterlist!

the fifth summer – in which you fall (quite literally)

At the end of your first week of cleaning the stables with Jeongguk, you manage another capture the flag win. Nothing brought you more joy than seeing the look of absolute anguish on Park Jimin’s face when you ripped his red flag from right between his hands.

“Better luck next week, Park,” you teased as your cabin raised you up on their shoulders. “Guess we all can’t be winners.”

Your cabin celebrated with its allies at the campfire that night—singing and dancing to your heart's delight. Normally, you’re not one to dance much; the act is entirely too embarrassing to do in front of so many people. However, maybe it’s the stress from the week or the high from the win, but you feel the need to shake all your worries away.

And dancing proves to be a great stress reliever.

To the beat of drums and lyre playing, you sway your body beside your friends. Haru takes your hands in her own and spins you around, to which you can’t help but laugh. The two of you must look ridiculous right now. She spins you around in another 360 and you close your eyes, taking in the heat from the fire. When you open your eyes, you meet the cool gaze of someone you didn’t expect to still be here.

Across the campfire, Jeon Jeongguk stands by himself. You didn’t expect him to be here because his cabin was on the losing team. You thought that maybe he would be sulking in his cabin like Jimin probably is right now. Instead, his eyes seem glued to you. The son of Poseidon stares at you with an intensity you’ve never seen before. It seems to burn hotter across your skin than the fire is right now.

Even though he is yards away, you feel incredibly exposed at this moment. His round eyes are illuminated by the fire, and they seem to pierce you like he can see right into your soul or something. After another second, you force yourself to look away—the tension is just too much to take right now.

“Are you okay?” Haru’s voice breaks your thoughts.

Looking up, you notice concern clouding her eyes; however, there is also a gleam of interest there—probably wondering what made you stop dancing.

“I’m fine,” you tell her. “Just dizzy, I guess.”

Haru doesn’t seem to buy it, but she doesn’t pester you about it again. “Well, too bad—I want to keep dancing with my best friend!”

The next morning, you make your way towards the stables feeling more exhausted than usual; body still slightly aching from last night’s festivities. When you arrive, Jeongguk is already there leaning against the gated entrance. Probably hearing your footsteps draw closer, he looks up; however, you don’t meet his gaze. Instead, you pretend the rising sun has captured your attention.

Fishing the key out of your back pocket, you unlock the gates and greet the Pegasi already vying for your attention. And much like the other days, you both work in silence again; you even go out of your way to avoid passing by him or having to make small talk. During your other hours here, the silence was at least kind of bearable. However, today, for some reason, something feels different and you don’t like it one bit.

As the hours pass by, the silence seems to eat you alive. It’s all that you can hear. Or maybe it’s just your heart racing and blood rushing past your ears. Whatever it is, you’re about to reach your breaking point.

“Are you joining your cabin later?”

You nearly drop your broom at the sound of Jeongguk’s voice echoing through the thick silence. Styx, he scared you. “What’s happening later?”

Even though he’s on the other side of the stables, you can feel him take a step closer. “You know, the canoe races. The one that’s always held during the summer around this time.”

In all honesty, you’d forgotten all about the canoe races. And this isn’t like the recreational, free time canoeing you can do. No—this race is one that all the cabins participate in. It’s just as intense and competitive as it sounds. You’ve never participated before, so it must’ve slipped your mind. But unlike you, Jeongguk has always participated—you know, being the son of the sea god and everything.

“I usually don’t, so probably not,” you say.

“It’s your last summer, right?” he suddenly asks.

You turn around at the question. “Why, yes. As a matter of fact, it is. I’m planning to attend college in New Rome.”

Which means, you don’t know when you’ll ever be back at Camp Half-Blood since New Rome is equally as safe for demigods. The thought makes you feel bittersweet since Long Island is your home. You’d always thought you’d be here, probably continuing to offer your services to the camp. However, there’s an opportunity to expand your life on the other side of the country; you’d be foolish not to go.

“So, you should participate then,” Jeongguk breaks your thoughts.

“I think we already settled on who would participate. Besides, there’s always more cabin canoe races throughout summer,” you add as a rebuttal. “Maybe then.”

“What a shame,” he hums. “I really wanted to beat you this time around.”

Jeongguk’s mention of obtaining a win begins to turn the gears of your rivalry in your head. You should’ve known he would do something like this; the son of Poseidon just loves to egg you on. And sadly, you always seem to give in.

“We’ll see about that.”

***

“I’m going to participate in the canoe race.”

Namjoon looks at you like you’ve lost your mind. “What? I thought we already decided on who would participate.”

“I know, but I want to do it. You know, I’ve never participated before,” you tell him. “I should try this year.”

“You’ve never participated because you—”

You cut him off. “I have to beat Jeon Jeongguk at his own game. I will not settle for anything less.”

Namjoon rolls his eyes. “You and that damn rivalry. I know you hate the guy, but I don’t think this is worth it.”

“Jeon is a thorn at my side; beating him during the canoe race is my chance to gain some leverage on him,” you say, ignoring what your half-brother just said.

“Whatever,” he sighs. “Just don’t say I didn’t try to talk you out of it.”

***

The breeze from the Long Island Sound whips your hair. You put it in a braid earlier to keep it at bay, but your baby hairs don’t seem like they want to cooperate today.

“I’m so excited, y/n,” Harrison, a second-year in your cabin, practically vibrates with serotonin beside you. “Thanks for allowing me to join.”

“Of course,” you offer him a smile. At least, you hope it’s a smile.

A part of you wishes that you listened to what Namjoon said earlier. Because at the end of the day, he’s one of the few people that know you well and maybe he’s right; maybe trying to beat Jeongguk today isn’t worth it.

“Are you okay?” Haru is suddenly in front of you. “Namjoon told me to come and talk to you, and try to talk you out of this because—”

“I’m fine, Haru,” you lie through your teeth, forcing a smile. “I’ll be okay.”

Your best friend raises a brow at you. “You know, I’ve gotten pretty good and figuring when you’re lying to me. I know you always feel this intense need to beat Jeongguk at everything…though, I do wonder now if you’re starting to feel something else towards him…”

“Haru,” you warn.

She laughs a little. “Only joking.”

“I promise, I’m okay; don’t worry about me. This race will be quick anyway.”

“Whatever you say, y/n.”

Once everyone else arrives and the canoes are pushed into the water, you settle behind four others from your cabin. Harrison is seated in front of you, that beaming smile still stretched across his lips. “This is so exciting.”

The gentle rocking of the canoe does nothing to ease your nerves. If anything, it actually makes you feel sicker than you already are. “Let’s win this, for Athena!”

For Athena, your half-siblings mimic as they reach for their oars. Next to your canoe is none other than Poseidon’s cabin—whoever’s idea that was is definitely going to get a mouthful from you later—which means you-know-who is already staring at you.

“See you from the other side of the finish line,” Jeongguk taunts with a smirk. You try to return the same attitude tenfold.

“Don’t even think about any of your dirty tricks, Jeon.”

He scoffs. “Poseidon always plays fair.”

“Sure,” you roll your eyes. “We’re in a huge body of water—nothing could possibly go in your favor.”

You don’t know if he catches your sarcasm, and you don’t have time to. Because before you can even think about it, the race begins at the blow of a whistle.

Sure enough, like you already predicted, Poseidon’s cabin gets the immediate lead. But you don’t let it faze you; this actually motivates you to work harder—commanding your cabin to row faster.

However, what you fail to realize is that what originally seemed like a beautiful day on the lake is suddenly shifting in the blink of an eye. Because you’re all concentrated on reaching the finish line, you don’t see the sudden storm clouds looming in on the horizon. The wind picks up and water begins to rise, rocking the canoes dangerously.

You grab onto the sides of the canoe for support, but it’s no match against the current. The gods must be angry. And when a wave crashes against the canoe, you lose your balance and plummet headfirst into the water.

Through the muffled sound of water rippling past your ears, you can hear echoed screams. But they seem terribly far away as you struggle to break the surface. Your hands grasp for air, but the tows of the current feel like a weight on your ankles as you begin to sink deeper into the water.

Worst of all, you can’t swim.

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writingtoforgetreality · 4 years

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Happy Birthday - The Devil´s Daughter Chapter One (Lucifer Morningstar x Daughter!Reader)

[Lucifer-Masterlist], [The Devil´s Daughter-Masterlist]

Next Chapter

Summary: Being the Devil´s daughter was not particularly fun but it was something you could not change, unfortunately. What would you do on your birthday when you finally had the chance to leave heaven? Leave everything behind and start over on Earth?

Words: 1,702

Warnings: Lucifer Season 5 Part 1 spoilers, nothing too crazy yet (pretty much introducing everything), Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, God, (Y/A) = your age, (Y/E/C) = your eye color

If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤

Heaven. Everyone has their own imagination of this place. Of how beautiful it is. Some people believe while others don´t. You, though, you did believe in heaven. How could you not? You had been there your entire life. Why, you ask? Well, you were an angel and angels were supposed to be up there. You were not an ordinary angel, though. What made you special was your father. The Devil. Yes, you heard that right. The daughter of the rebel, someone who was “disliked” by pretty much every single existing angel. We don´t need to talk about his reputation. Even though you had never met your father, you had been excluded from all angelic doings. Therefore, what other people saw as paradise, you saw as hell. Ironic, wasn´t it?

In all your years of existing, you had met a total of three other angels and, the one and only, God himself. Apparently, nobody else wanted to be close to you. You were the devil´s daughter, you did not have the best reputation either but you had never hurt anyone and never would. As you can imagine, being pretty much alone most of the time was rather boring. Once a day, Micheal came by to keep you company for a while. The two of you were close, he always made sure you felt comfortable and never judged you by your origin. It was not something you could change anyway. On lucky days, all three angels, archangels to be precise, were at your chambers. Mostly you guys chatted but sometimes you even had game nights, your absolute favorite. To say you were thankful for Michael, Gabriel and Raphael would be understatement. Without them, you would have gone insane ages ago. To you, heaven felt like a prison. You were not allowed anywhere but your chambers. “(Y/N), it´s for your own good, trust me.” God had told you this sentence way too many times and you were starting to grow tired of it.

While you were alone, the one thing you loved doing was watching Earth and humanity. How they lived so freely without any restrictions. It was no secret that you wanted to leave heaven as soon as you would turn (Y/A). By then, you would be allowed to go anywhere you liked, without God telling you what to do. Especially Michael listened to your complaints and wishes closely. You were sure you had his support since he had told you many times before. One person you did not tell. God. Maybe because you knew his answer. Maybe because he would try everything to keep you up here, even if you had not felt happy in years. Humans did not know you were the Devil´s daughter, your reputation down there would be just fine. At least that was what you had told yourself. It did not matter anyway, your mind was set. Your birthday was in one day. One day and you would finally be free. Away from the negative energy heaven and its angels were giving you. You knew you were about to make the right decision even if it meant that you disappointed God. But this was different from what your father did, right? Rebelling meant something completely different. You simply wanted to feel free and you knew you could never achieve that if you stayed in heaven. Would God hate you forever, like Lucifer?

“You know there´s literally no need for you to knock. We´ve talked about that, Mike.” you chuckled. Mike. That was the nickname you gave Michael a while ago. He seemed to like it so you kept calling him so.

“Yeah but what if you´re changing.” he entered, wearing his smirk. His appearance made you smile. Only a few more hours until you would be gone. Looking at him made you realize that, maybe, you would miss one thing. One angel. Him. He always had your back, told you stories about your father. Because of him, you knew you were nothing like Lucifer. Everything he had done? You used to be disgusted by sharing one bloodline. Michael, though, he helped you through all of your dark phases, telling you that you were so much better. Could do so much better. He knew you were no Devil. So did Gabriel and Raphael but Michael was another story. As mentioned, he meant a big deal to you, kind of being the father you always wished you had.

“What are you doing here? I thought you said you were busy today?” confusion was shown all over your face.

“Can´t miss my favorite´s birthday now, can I?” Micheal answered, stepping closer to your bed were you were currently sitting.

“Yeah...the big (Y/A), huh?” your eyes were focused on your hands in your lap. All of a sudden, you felt a wave of guilt hitting you. Micheal was far older than you yet had never left heaven. And you, you saw the first chance and were about to leave right away.

“You´re leaving, aren´t you?” you could feel his eyes on you but you did not dare to look at him. You would break down, something you definitely did not want to do.

“I never made a secret out of it.”

“Except for Dad.” Michael interjected.

“Except for him.” a door opening made the both of you look up.

“Father, we just talked about you.”

“Mike!” you glared at him.

“(Y/N), do you really think I don´t know what you´re planning?” God gave you a look of what you read as sympathy.

“But I never-”

“(Y/N). I´m God, did you forget that? I knew you were up to this for as long as you, trust me.” he made his way over to Michael and you, stopping right in front of you.

“You are mad.” again, your eyes drifted to your lap. You felt exposed in front of him.

“I`m not. I just want you to know that you will never feel this type of safety on Earth. Humans are...well, humans. You don´t belong there, (Y/N). You belong in heaven, like me, like Michael.” God tried reasoning. You were right, he wanted to change your mind.

“I might not be as safe but at least I would have freedom. Space to move. Not just one single chamber for eternity.” by now, tears of frustration were forming at the corner of your (Y/E/C) eyes. How could he be so convinced of himself? He had no idea of how you felt being locked up.

“(Y/N), sweetie, he just wants to keep you safe.” Michael said, putting one of his arms around your shoulders, something he did to calm you down.

“Are you serious, Mike? I thought you supported my plan? Have you been lying to me?” you shook his arm off of you, looking at him with a hurtful expression.

“No, never. I would never lie to you. (Y/N), just think this through.” Michael changed sides right in front of your eyes.

“Mike, you know I want that. You should, too.” by the last part you made sure to look straight at God.

“(Y/N), you´re special. Nobody will-”

“MAYBE I DON´T WANNA BE SPECIAL!” you screamed. This was the first time you ever raised your voice but you were so frustrated, so angry, that you did not know what else to do. Both, God and Michael were taken aback by your sudden outburst.

“All my life, you told me I was special. Well, for instance, I wouldn´t say being Satan´s daughter is special when I have never met him! I´m an angel with wings like everyone else and I happen to be Lucifer´s offspring BUT that doesn´t make me special, okay? What´s special about being in my chambers all day long, doing literally nothing but daydreaming? I´m leaving and you won´t be able to change my mind. I´ll be gone soon then you don´t have to worry about me anymore.” by the time you finished, you were facing the wall away from Michael and God.

“If you are leaving, don´t think about coming back. I gave you everything. Kept you and your not so special wings safe and that´s what I get in return? I´ll see you when you´re begging on your knees in front of heaven´s doors. Happy Birthday, (Y/N).” and with that, God left.

“Sure, special wings. Just because they´re not black like the others.” you mumbled under your breath. When you turned around, you still saw Michael sitting on your bed, looking at you expectantly. He did not leave with God and you were not quite sure why he was still with you after everything he just said.

“What?” you questioned after the staring became too uncomfortable for you.

“Just know that I still support you. Go to Earth, have adventures. If you ever need anything...I´m only one prayer away. Happy Birthday, sweetie. See you soon.” he was about to turn towards your door when you ran into his arms, hugging him with tears in your eyes.

“Mike? Thank you for everything you´ve ever done for me. You were the only one who accepted me from the first moment on. My wings didn´t matter to you, my origin didn´t matter to you. I mattered and I am forever grateful for that. I´d be happy if you visited me once, Mike. You´ll always be welcome to stay with me. Besides, you´ve never been to Earth either. It could be fun.” your eyes shined when you looked at his face, releasing the hug.

“It could be, yeah. Bye, (Y/N), take care of yourself.” before you had the chance to say anything back, you found yourself alone in your chambers. This was it. The moment you had waited (Y/A) years for. A few more minutes and your life could finally begin. Really begin. Without anyone judging you by your wings, by your father. Just (Y/N). You were ready for it. What city would you visit first? Paris? London? No. There had always been a city you were drawn to. Ironically, it was called the City of Angels aka Los Angeles. LA. Name it as you want. That would be your first stop. What would be waiting for you there? You were eager to find it out.

~to be continued~

Next Chapter

Published (08/24/2020) by Cathy

Tags: @fandomqueen2003, @natashaashleymarvelromanoff, @severewobblerlightdragon, @tenderlyunlikelyexpert, @zoseph, @comicbucky-s, @dad-ee-drea (let me know if you want to be tagged <3)

217 notes · View notes

7wanderingpaws · 4 years

Text

Simply, yours (10)

Pairing: Baekhyun x reader

Genre: family AU, hapkido teacher AU, PhD AU

Word count: 6.5K

Warnings: cursing

A/N: Hello, hi! Welcome back! This chapter has a LOT of stuff happening... But at the end of the day, we all want to have a pleasant read, right? I hope you will like this one, I enjoyed writing it a whole lot... 😊💖 Pls let me know what you thought, it helps me so much! Have a good day/night! ^^ Btw what did you think of BBHs cover of BoA? I LOVE IT! Original was already so good and he just made it more speacial by adding his sweet flavor... 💕

tags: @milky-baek @itsbaekhyunsbutt @luvhtears @shesdreaminginoverdose @cynthbee @jummyjammy @junmyeonnoona (if you want to be tagged/untagged please let me know!)

MASTERLIST

1 . 2 . 3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 . 10

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

That was what you've been muttering to yourself for the past two hours on your way back home and basically ever since you turned your back on him. Literally. Because you are that bad at controlling your emotions for some reason.

So as a way to punish yourself, you ended up popping into the nearest convenience store to your apartment and getting chocolates and sweet bakery because you… needed it. You had been dying to put something sweet into your mouth, so it could be hardly taken as a punishment, but you did find it as unnecessary expense, plus you were already halfway through looking like an elephant. But wow, what a sucky day, yucks.

It was one thing to be a little jealous about that girl, and a completely different thing to become cold towards Baekhyun and not even tell him what was bothering you. He didn't deserve that and you felt extremely guilty, to the point that you just entered your quiet, loving home and felt like crying like a baby.

Changing into comfy clothes, you didn't even bother with folding them, instead throwing them into the laundry basket, too preoccupied with your own guilt. Plus, your sweat pants felt tighter and uncomfortable around your thighs. How annoying. You needed to spend even more money now for the stupid XXXXXL size that you were slowly becoming.

You could bet that Jiyoung girl had the smallest size waist-

“Ah, stop it!” you shouted into nothing, tired of yourself and the whirlwind of emotions that you became. How was it possible to switch between emotions this fast? Your period wasn't the kindest but thankfully it was rarely painful and you only had terrible cravings instead of mood swings but this pregnancy was too much.

And in that moment, everything was getting on your nerves. You losing your job. You wanting to surprise your boyfriend. Him smiling like that at another woman. Him smiling. Seriously, why was he even smiling?! You weren't even there, so how dared he smile? Oh, and yeah that woman next to your man! You declining his request to stay until he was done. You should have stayed. You should have stayed and support him, enjoy the way he was doing his passion and maybe you would have understood what that Jiyoung girl was doing. Was she even a student?

You sighed. You wouldn't know. If she would have been a student, you didn't think she would dare to come collect him from his girlfriend like that.

You threw yourself into the softness of your pillows, chocolate bar in your mouth as you took a small bite and let your angry tears fall. This was so not you. This wasn't the strong, independent woman and if you would keep up this game, Baekhyun would notice too. He would see the faults in you.

“Stop thinking, you brat,” you warned yourself. “Stop it! Don't think! Just don't!”

And the worst?! You couldn't even touch your bump in that moment, you were that disgusted. It was all fault of the babies; they were making you like this, creating problems where there weren't any!

Before you could wallow even more, your phone rang. Scrambling quickly to get it in hopes to see Baekhyun's photo as your caller ID, you were surprised to see your mother's name dancing on the screen. That could only mean some bad news as you rarely talked. The last time you talked was nearly a month ago when she was checking up on you and your pregnancy and making sure Baekhyun was there for you.

Ignoring the way your hands were shaking, you answered the phone, feeling a bit of adrenaline rush in your blood causing slight dizziness. It'd been a while you felt lightheaded like this.

“Mum?”

“Hi, daughter,” she gasped, her voice gentle as always. “How are you? It's been a month almost, thought I'd check up on you.”

And there it all went. You started to wail at that question right away, unable to bear your mother's gentle voice. You didn't even realize how much you missed having a mother figure in this period of life, when she could give you advice, guidance and especially deep understanding.

“Are you crying?” she quipped, surprised at the sniffles that would soon follow with stifled sobs. “Oh, my, why are you crying? Is it the hormones?”

Well, was it the hormones? you asked yourself, but you were so incredibly clueless and so incredibly frustrated because of everything that you couldn't get a proper reply. “Ye-yes,” you hiccuped as hot tears streamed down your face. It was that type of crying where you just couldn't stop, the hysterical sobs needing to be let out, tears seeming to have an infinite storage somewhere inside of you.

Your mother sighed, but you imagined her affectionate gaze. “I understand. Although I don't know to what extent is having three babies burdening, any pregnancy is extremely difficult on your body, honey. Just let it all out and don't dwell too much on what is the reason. You don't need it now, so just let it out.”

At that you had to hide your face in the pillow and let out a little wail, because her words were warming you up so much, yet she was far away from you. Oh, dear, she had no clue what a rollercoaster of a ride you had put yourself and your boyfriend through, so you basically had every reason to have these feelings. She didn't even know you had been sacked. That was the reason you were crying, right?

“Is Baekhyun there?” your mother kept on going when she knew you wouldn't give her a coherent answer.

You hiccuped again, trying to make your mouth move. “N-no. Wo-worki-ing.”

“It's almost late evening, though,” she muttered to herself.

It was just 6pm, but the elders always had the specialty of saying “it's late in the night” when it was barely 8pm. You tried to smile at her antics, but it was painful. Because your boyfriend wasn't home. He was at that stupid training of his with stupid women that had to take the stupid hapkido class.

“What did you have for lunch-”

“I got sacked today,” you blurted suddenly and sniffed back big time, not even listening to her words.

“What do you mean you got sacked today?”

“Just exactly what I said. I am jobless.”

“How did you get sacked? You were promoted not long ago.”

You let out a loud breath, your lungs aching from all the crying. It just made more tears well up in your eyes again. “I had an idiot of a boss.” You should have definitely said it was all your fault, but currently you were feeling like the biggest loser in the world. “So it was better like this anyway. I can't even do much, soon I will be huge and… useless.”

Your mother tsked disapprovingly as you heard some shuffling in the background. “What is this silly talk, daughter. What did Baekhyun say?”

You gritted your teeth. “Why do you always ask about him?! He was happy I got sacked, okay?”

“Alright, alright, no need to shout at your mother.”

“But I don't want to talk about Baekhyun right now, so stop asking me!”

“Oh, I understand now,” she replied back nonchalantly, and some creaking noise provided just the perfect background. “As long as you think you can manage…”

“Yes, I can manage.”

“You and Baekh-”

“Don't.”

She sighed and you heard fire. She was probably warming up dinner in the kitchen. “Did he do something?”

You opened your mouth to retort but were stopped, because YES was your personal answer but NO was the fact. You wiped your tears quickly. “No. I mean... “ you trailed off and rolled yourself on your back, staring at the ceiling. “No.”

“Well then why are you so sensitive? I am trying to see what is wrong and you clearly have an issue with him. You can tell me honestly. Or don't.”

Just then you heard the code being typed in the entrance door, sign of Baekhyun arriving. You groaned loudly and stood up quickly to close the bedroom door before he could get in and have an easy access to bedroom but it was a wrong idea. Seeing black spots everywhere, you felt like your entire body just gained another 40 kilograms as an invisible weight pulled down on your shoulders making you stumble back into the mattress, the world spinning with along with you rather fast.

“I'll call you back,” you murmured softly into the phone and threw it away into the blanket somewhere, trying to make your head calm down.

Baekhyun called out your name, announcing his arrival but you felt like throwing up. You groaned as quietly as possible, scrunching up your face in hopes of stopping this terrible attack. Cold sweat made its way down your neck and you shivered as you felt a huge bulge in your stomach. But you were so extremely disoriented you could barely open your eyes let alone make it to the bathroom in time.

“Baekhyun,” you called out, “please bring me the bucket from the-” gulp, gulp, gulp.

Baekhyun walked into the bedroom but when he saw you his eyes went wide. “What is wrong? Hey, hey, what's- shit,” he cursed when he heard the familiar noise, and ran to the bathroom to get the little pink bucket as you gagged, trying to get on your fours, looking extremely shaken up. Tears were streaming down your face, your knees and arms trembling violently before you saw two feet clad in white socks and then bucket pushed into your face as Baekhyun reached for you with his other hand to keep your balance up. “Shh, c'mon, let it out. Don't keep it back,” he murmured urgently and sweeped the hair that was plastered to your forehead and cheeks away, noticing the snot and flushed cheeks. Just then, finally, you let it all out. Your throat was on fire but your head kept pulling you in one direction into which you would have easily fell if it weren't for the safety of Baekhyun's arms. “Shh, you're doing well.”

Although not seeing his face, you knew he was tense and probably wondering what made you this terribly sick when food and spit kept constantly coming out until it became just violent gagging, nothing able to come out anymore, only caused by your head spinning so much it triggered your stomach. Wasn't it just today that you were thankful for not having to go through this again?

You calmed down after another couple of minutes, completely spent. “Baekhyun,” you murmured, afraid to open your eyes. He hummed as he took the bucket to the side, and looked at you closely as he brought his other hand to your pale face, wiping the tears away. “I'm very dizzy.”

“Look at me, baby,” he murmured, frowning a little and wanting to check the focus in your eyes.

You shook your head ever so gently before your lower lip trembled. “I can't… please,” you said just as you were about to crash on him again, the invisible pull still there.

“Okay. Lay down for me, can you do that?” he asked gently. “I will help you move now, don't get startled.” And he did so, pushing on your shoulders a bit, helping you lie down. He took all the pillows on the bed and put your head under them, by then knowing very well what to do when you got into this kind of situation. “Keep your head up for me, and your knees too,” he whispered and patted your straightened-out legs. You did as he said and heard him move around the room before he came back with the little machine, pushing your arm through the hole to measure your blood pressure.

“Don't cry, sweetheart,” you heard him whisper as he tried to catch every single teardrop while the machine was working. He looked around for a glass of water which, of course, you didn't have.

“I feel like hell,” you said, your voice raw.

Baekhyun was thankful your eyes were closed, for he didn't want you to witness how worried and scared he was. Yes, you did get dizzy and many times sick, but to this extent? Never. He was already thinking three steps ahead, fishing his phone out of his pocket.

Beeping sound brought you back to the reality and Baekhyun checked, murmuring the results out loud, his frown now deep. “We are going to the hospital,” he decided.

“No!” you shouted, opening your eyes to look at him but you almost saw three Baekhyuns. Usually, you wouldn't mind but it made you want to throw up again. You were fast to close them, scrunching your face. “Please,” you sobbed, scared. “Make it stop! But don't call anyone!”

Baekhyun was already calling ambulance, leaving the room in case you would have a tantrum. He knew your blood pressure was skyrocketing and it made him worried sick; he didn't know what to do. Plus, he was told by your doctor that if your blood pressure reaches a certain level, you were eligible to call for ambulance.

As much as he hated you crying and going through this, he was there with you, every single step at a time.

“She will be alright,” said the doctor that was in the emergency room, checking your vitals on his clipboard. “She needs to rest for now, but,” he shook his head gently and looked up at Baekhyun whose eyes were bulging in fear of what was to come. “Her blood pressure was too high. It isn't good for the patient, neither it is good for the pregnancy.”

“What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Well, it is very likely that she will have to endure this until she gives birth. Triplet pregnancy is a bit different than the usual ones. Since premature birth is highly possible to happen, which also may affect the health of the children, her not monitoring stress levels or taking good care of her body may also influence the health of the kids.” He sighed. “She is bearing a lot right now, so there are high risks of her fainting if this continues. As you told me, she had been struggling with high blood pressure this whole time, correct?”

Baekhyun nodded quickly.

“Well, she is in the fifteenth week which means almost half-way through till due date… It should have subsided by now but we can't do anything to change it; only give medication, unfortunately. Multiples' pregnancy is full of surprises.”

Baekhyun felt so helpless in that moment. Why did he get the feeling the doctor was clueless in a way too?

“Will she survive?” he asked seriously.

The doctor smiled gently. “She is completely healthy, so there is no risk of her losing her life, but this was definitely a dangerous situation. She shouldn't be left alone for too long as this occurs unexpectedly. It is rare anyway to have such strong reaction to high blood pressure, but this is what it takes to live for three more lives, I suppose.”

Oh, how Baekhyun wished he could take at least half of the burden you were bearing.

The doctor patted him twice on the shoulder before leaving. He looked at you, your sleeping figure so peaceful compared to couple of hours ago when you looked white as death and just about to pass out.

Sighing, he reached for your hand, gently squeezing it before murmuring a soft I love you. You were going through all of this because of him. He made you pregnant and now here you were, fighting for four lives: the unborn babies and your own.

His phone vibrating was what interrupted his train of thoughts. Quickly searching for it in his winter jacket, he saw your mother's name flashing on the screen, bad feeling already eating him away. Should he tell her where you were now? He would only make her worried.

“Hello, mother,” he answered, trying to make his voice as normal and even as possible while stroking your knuckles with is thumb.

“Oh, thank God you picked up, Baekhyun! I've been contacting my daughter for the past hour and she wouldn't answer. Are you with her now?”

Gulping, he said: “Yes. She is, uh, sleeping now.”

“Silly girl. I called her earlier today to check up on her and caught her in a bad state of mind,” she explained, her voice sounding exasperated. “She kept crying but wouldn't tell me why. This is none of my business, my dear, but did you two have a fight?”

Surprised was an understatement to Baekhyun. First of all, you didn't necessarily fight, it was your weird mood that created negative tension between you two but it was certainly not a fight; second of all he had no clue you were having such a mood prior to his arrival although he did see your swollen face and eyes. “No, we didn't have a fight. She has been acting strangely today, that is true. She lost her job and maybe the hormones and all…” he trailed off, trying to justify your actions though he himself wasn't sure.

“Yes, she told me she lost her job, but to me it didn't seem like that was her main issue. Let me be honest with you, Baekhyun,” she said and Baekhyun didn't have a good feeling about what was to come. “She didn't even want to hear your name. I don't know what exactly happened between you two, but it would be healthy if you both talk. You know she cannot get this upset while being pregnant. She was choking on her own sobs.”

Baekhyun closed his eyes and left your hand so he could pinch the bridge of his nose. Just what the hell was up with you? “She came to visit me at the university today, but she had such a change of mood, mother. I was shocked myself and I try to understand, I really do but it has been difficult recently.” Let alone she was lying to me, he thought but kept quiet.

Your mother sighed again; she trusted Baekhyun and wasn't doubtful about him at all. She also knew what pregnancy mood swings meant, so she was not blaming entirely you just as she knew Baekhyun could have been falsely accused. She knew him ever since he was a baby after all. “I understand, sweetie, and I am not blaming you at all. I will let you rest. I know you also don't have it easy, dear,” she added, affection lacing her voice, “so please I just ask you to have some patience with her for now. She can be a handful.”

“I do, mother, you know I do,” replied Baekhyun right away, looking at your sleeping face. “I can't get mad at her even if I want to.”

At that she laughed. “My sweet boy. I hope I can call you my son-in-law very soon.”

“Actually yes. Sooner than later.”

You found yourself seated on the wooden bench, a book about multiples' pregnancy perched on your thighs while you tried hard not to stare at your boyfriend clad in his hapkido uniform.

He was currently leading his class with Jiyoung, the girl because of whom it all went downwards. Bitterly, you stopped yourself from blaming it on someone like her. It wasn't her fault. Why, you ask? Because…

Few days ago

“Can you explain to me what happened on Monday?” murmured Baekhyun as you were both lying in bed, the dimmed light on his side still on, as he just finished going through his notes from the previous lectures. It made you resent yourself even more knowing how much he had on his plate, yet you couldn't even control your emotions as soon as he stood next to a pretty lady or he looked at you weirdly.

You sighed, rubbing your temple as you were lying on your back. Baekhyun turned his head to look at you, pausing, contemplating. Then, he slowly changed positions, lying on his right side, his hand slowly dragging on the surface of the mattress, reaching your hip and sliding it up over your belly that was sticking out, giving it gentle rubs as he waited patiently for you to talk.

“I won't get mad,” he had the need to add which made you scoff, and him chuckle.

“It's so fucking stupid, Baekhyun, and don't say I can't swear while being pregnant.”

He frowned gently. “Well, it obviously made you upset,” he argued, “so it cannot be fucking stupid.”

He saw you gritting your teeth, and he slid his gaze over your profile, how the light was illuminating the part of your face to which he was turned to. He honestly thought you looked breathtaking and would have kissed you whole night if it weren't for the confusion he was currently feeling. In that moment, he wanted answers more than anything.

“What is Jiyoung-” you trailed off and Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, “to you? To your class? To… hapkido?” Asking, instead of answering him. Great. Although, you weren't expecting silence that followed. You imagined him chuckling at your ridiculousness but he didn't. He didn't and it almost made you lose yourself once again, but he spoke: “She is a master like me,” he spoke softly, and you focused on his warm hand sliding over your belly. You turned your head a little to catch his gaze that was already burning holes on your face. “I didn't tell you until I was sure, which I became on Monday, but then things happened…”

“Sure about what?”

“I am leading the hapkido universiade team with her, but I am the main master,” he revealed, his face still in a gentle frown. “She was assigned to do it together with me, so that is why she was there during practice, too. And she will be from now on until July.”

“But is she like a teacher at Sungkyunkwan or something?”

He shook his head. “She is from Kyunghee university where she is the head of department. There was a joint alliance with them for the hapkido team and also, if we win this, I might have a chance to work with the National team later on,” he explained patiently, not tearing his gaze away from yours.

So many things you were founding out, so many good news. That meant Jiyoung was older than Baekhyun! That was definitely good news! And you ruined it all on Monday and you completely misunderstood the entire situation.

“Baekhyun,” you whispered, closing your eyes. Humming in response, he now caressed your cheek, his thumb making slow circles. “I'm so sorry. For being the way I was. What you just said,” you stuttered, opening your eyes, urgency in them, “is all amazing news and I couldn't be any more proud of you.”

“Shh, it's okay, princess,” he whispered, scooting closer to your side.

“No,” you shook your head, “I thought… I was… jealous, so jealous. I shouldn't have let the emotions control me like that. I shouldn't have just left you like that. I apologise,” you said sincerely, staring into his eyes that were now casted in shadow as he was with his back towards the light. Yet, the burning behind his eyes could hardly go unnoticed by you.

“You are so mean when you are jealous,” he blurted, intending to make you chuckle which he succeeded in, but then it disappeared just as quickly and you nudged his cheek with your nose to get more out from him. He sighed, eventually. “You know you can trust me, right? You know I would never want to lose your trust despite you lying to me.”

At that, you whimpered, pouting and widening your eyes at him, still terribly ashamed for what you had done.

“It's okay, I am not holding grudges,” he insisted, “but you know I can't stand you not trusting me, hm? I already know I want to spend the rest of my life with you and with our kids,” he murmured and at that he caressed the belly yet again as he buried his face in your neck, sending goosebumps down your spine. “So why do I have a feeling you keep doubting me?”

You stiffened, but his caresses didn't cease, which meant he wasn't upset. You raised your hand, playing with his hair as you mumbled: “No, I don't doubt you at all. It's the hormones. It's the babies. You know that before getting pregnant we were just fine.”

“I know,” he whispered, his hot breath fanning the skin on your pulse point, “it is always the babies fault, right?”

“Please.”

“Please, what?” he asked, curious as he pulled back to look at your face.

“Just… I apologise, Baekhyun.”

His eyes searched your gaze. “And I forgive you. But you need to promise me you won't get so worked up over nothing in the future.”

“I won't.”

“By nothing I mean anything. If it isn't a life or death situation, I don't want you to pay it too much attention.”

You watched his mouth move as he spoke, going on about what the doctor said, what the books said about triplet pregnancy, what he thought would be the best for you. And you tried to listen, you really did, but you were head over heels for him; he was mesmerizing and he understood your crazy whirlwind of emotions, and you loved him. So much.

“Are you listening?” he asked, snapping his fingers two times in front of your face. “Young lady, you keep zoning out on me.”

You smiled at his playful manner and he reciprocated the gorgeous grin as he leaned in closer. “I am listening, I am. I just realised once again how much I love you, Baekhyun.”

His grin turned into an affectionate, lopsided smile and he eyed your lips before flicking his orbs back to yours, murmuring your name. “And I love you. Do you understand? I love you. Only you. Can you actually understand?”

“No,” you whispered, dreamy look on your face as you were bewitched by him. He shook his head, and reached for your face, brushing the baby hair out of your forehead. “It's difficult to get it through my thick head that someone like you loves someone like me.”

“How would I make you understand then?”

“Show me. I want you to kiss me, it's been too long.”

He leaned in more, his eyes constantly flicking between your lips and your eyes as he muttered with narrowed eyes: “You're horny again, aren't you?”

You let out a breathy laugh as you sneaked your hands around his neck, bringing him closer. “For you? Always.”

He chuckled just as he kissed you, smiling widely into your mouth before playing with your lower lip, going straight for a gentle bite that he knew would ignite the fire in you.

“Are we doing another make-up sex?” he murmured between kisses, slowly climbing over you and you gladly widened your legs for him.

“Uh-uh, you're making love to me because you need to show me you love me.”

He kissed your neck, laughing quietly. “You're shameless.”

“So are you. Now, do your magic, honey.”

And now here you were, as per his order, watching him. As you would be every week whenever he wasn't home. If he could have, he would have dragged you to all his lectures as well, but you managed to talk him out of it. Honestly, you didn't mind this at all, as you really enjoyed observing him teaching hapkido and doing all the cool moves he was so smooth at doing. It was true you would get tired and wooden bench was only so comfortable for you to sit through couple of hours.

During the break, Baekhyun jogged to you with an energetic smile and leaned in to give you a quick peck. “You good over here?” he asked as his team erupted in big laughters, everyone enjoying their break time.

You beamed up at your boyfriend. “Yes, all fine.”

He smiled even wider at that, ruffling your hair as he looked down on the book in your lap. “Is it any good?”

“Well, for sure although I'm learning some disturbing stuff,” you muttered, worry flashing through your eyes that made Baekhyun raise his eyebrows.

“We will finish in 50 minutes and then you can tell me all about it, how is that?” he asked gently, and grabbed your cheeks to observe you closer.

You giggled and he seemed satisfied. “Alright, let's do that.”

He was just leaning in for another kiss when someone cleared their throat muttering a little excuse me, making Baekhyun move away from you. “Jiyoung.”

“Sorry to disturb, but I think it would be better if we stay longer today. For practice, I mean,” she said, her eyes wandering over to you and a bit lower, obviously looking at the baby bump. She snapped her eyes back at Baekhyun's questioning face. “It's better if we start going through basic kicks now, just so the kids can remember each technique correctly and from then build on it.”

You watched Baekhyun's back, but he was relaxed. “The kids are black belts, 4-5 dans in at least, though,” he replied diplomatically, “I don't see the point in going through basic kicks. Techniques should come to them as second nature by now.”

“I still think we should start having longer practices,” she insisted. “So your girlfriend might be a bit uncomfortable sitting here for such a long time.”

Wow, you thought, she was actually dragging you into this somehow. Interesting.

“I don't mind,” you heard yourself say before you could think twice. “So do whatever you deem correct.”

“Not today, no,” Baekhyun decided. “After December we will be good with longer practices if necessary,” he emphasized. “If we don't slack off, we can manage just fine.”

She gave a confident smile. “Alright then. I suppose you won't mind if we start the class now.”

What a bitch, you thought again.

“I won't mind. You may start,” was Baekhyun's curt nod and he turned around to face you, his actions heating your cheeks up as he crouched in front of you and took your hands in his before bringing them up to his lips.

“Alright, master.” And she was gone.

“What are you doing?” you whisper-shouted, but the excited glint in your eyes told Baekhyun you loved what he just pulled.

“Prioritizing you.”

You smiled graciously, and leaned in, pecking his lips.

Couple of weeks went by, you following Baekhyun to his practice, while you were found your way back to knitting that you so diligently used to do when you were younger, your mum teaching you as a little girl. Trying hard not to sound annoyed or desperate for any activity, you made sure you were always smiling and at peace in your mind. You promised your boyfriend you would look after yourself and that was what you had been trying to do. You even managed to sell some of the scarfs and gloves you knitted, given it was now nearing the end of December.

You smiled up at Baekhyun who dismissed the class, not waiting until Jiyoung and the students leave. “Ready to go?”

“Yes,” he replied, some perspiration on his forehead glistening in the practice room. “Can't wait to have a rest.”

You stood up to your feet slowly, minding your blood pressure, and reached for a handkerchief before grabbing his hand so he wouldn't move away. “Let me,” you murmured as you reached up and tapped the textile gently along his hairline.

His eyes focused down on you, affection and love melting his features into the softest smile. “Thank you.”

“We don't want daddy to catch a cold, right?” you chirped enthusiastically.

Baekhyun quirked an eyebrow at you, never hearing the nickname leave your mouth before. You would always get extremely embarrassed when he called you mummy, so this was a new discovery. “Yeah, otherwise how would daddy protect mummy, hm?”

Just as expected, you grew red in your face and quickly looked around, making sure no one was too near to overhear.

“What? You started,” he laughed quietly before leaning in to kiss your cheek, leaving it with a loud smooch and moisture on your skin. “Mummy.”

Your eyes widened and you laughed along with him before he moved to pack up his stuff. All the students who were now leaving farewelled cheerfully, always enjoying how flustered you would get from the attention, because master Baekhyun's girlfriend is so cute! and of course, he would encourage them, showing you off, which always warmed your heart.

“Not tired?”

You turned to the right to see Jiyoung approaching, a glass bottle in her hand as her high ponytail swung with each step she made. “I'm okay, thank you. Aren't you tired?”

“Nope,” she said, the p sound bopping like a bubble. “Master Baekhyun has been a bit slacking off with the workouts, eh?” she chuckled, nudging Baekhyun who was putting on his jacket with her elbow.

“Well, I can always make it especially hard for you, Jiyoung,” was his confident reply.

Oh my god, he was so hot you actually had to cross your legs while standing.

She smirked. “I would love to finally find out what does this especially hard mean, master.”

Well, you definitely didn't find her confidence hot. If anything, you wanted to warn her not to challenge Baekhyun too much.

“Alright, especially hard it is then,” he concluded just as he zipped up his jacket and took his gym bag, slugging it over his shoulder.

Jiyoung's eyes sparked with excitement, you could see that. It was always there, actually. Coming to the practices with him for two weeks, you kind of learnt to read her. She was a professional, you knew that much. She wasn't openly hitting on your boyfriend, no. It was in these subtle talks that irked you because you couldn't do anything about them, just tolerate and trust Baekhyun. Which, he really not once made you doubt - his trust. He would always prove you his love to you, and you to him. It was so obvious. He only had eyes for you.

Even now, as he stood in front of you, touching your hip gently and sliding his hand to your lower back to lead you out and saying his bye to the disappointed face of his hapkido partner, you knew it.

“Baekhyun,” you said once outside on the half-dead campus as you were making your way to the bus stop, the dark sky not showing any clouds which only meant another freezing night.

“Yes, angel.” He intertwined your fingers and pushed the connected hands into his pocket.

“I was thinking… What if I just went home?”

He stopped walking, looking at you a bit taken aback. “What do you mean?”

“I feel a bit useless, you know. But also quite tired from all of this,” you said showing your belly that was sticking out. “So I thought I would visit home.”

“But we have regular check ups at the clinic,” he replied, his eyes wandering over your features. His nose was growing a bit red which you found adorable, which is why you stood on your tippy toes and gave him a little peck on it.

“I know… but if I would miss one appoint-”

“No.”

“Baek-”

“You are not missing an appointment, baby,” he said, this time more sternly as he looked down at you, his hair that was trapped under a red beanie made his soft hair fall into his eyes.

You pressed your lips together, understanding his choice. “So, I would go only for two weeks.”

Something flashed across his eyes, something that you couldn't decipher. “What about me?”

Yes, what about Baekhyun? “You have lots on your plate right now,” you reasoned, squeezing his hand that was trapped in his pocket. “You could study better, and focus more on the practices. And, you could totally go and have a good time with your friends, or even invite them over, hm?”

“You actually think I would let you travel alone? With your blood pressure?”

“C'mon, by KTX it takes an hour and a half and then taxi just twenty minutes out of town.”

You felt like you were contradicting yourself. You, the one who was always trying to save up money was willing to pay a lot just to travel. KTX tickets were already very expensive. Taxis as well. But there was very little public transportation going to your village and you didn't feel like taking it with your big belly.

Baekhyun didn't say anything for a while, just staring at you. “Why this sudden- need?” is what he asked eventually.

“You know I miss mum,” you mumbled, averting your gaze.

“I know it's difficult,” he sighed, the action condensing his breath. “But I can't let you go by yourself, no way. Besides,” he added eagerly, “it's Korean new year soon. Can't you wait just a little longer? We both will be going home for that, you know that.”

He was right. It was literally around the corner.

“It's just in two weeks time, hm?” he asked, quirking his eyebrows at you, pleading to say yes. When he saw you contemplating, he mumbled: “I am not letting you go alone, anyway, so you better agree.”

You huffed in disbelief and dragged him towards the bus stop. “Let's go home. I will think about it.”

“Tomorrow we have a double-date with Chen's, did you forget that too?” he said as he let you drag him after you.

“No, I didn't. I would have gone the day after.”

“Well, you wouldn't leave me alone for such a long time, right?”

That made you stop and turn to him just to witness the puppy eyes and a prominent pout that made you smile softly at him as you walked even closer, resting your forehead on his jacket-clad chest. “I hate even the idea of not being with you for two weeks, Baekhyun.”

“Exactly. So just wait until we can go together, hm? Please? I don't want you to go. I can't even sleep without you anymore.”

You chuckled and leaned back, catching his small smile. “Alright. I think.”

He whined your name before he grabbed you by your waist with his free hand and brought your hips closer as he hovered a bit over you. “Alright, I won't go is what you wanted to say,” he muttered before kissing you hungrily. It was such a contrast; outside, the air was freezing, but your hot mouths pressed together, his body glued to yours as he breathed in loudly before tilting his head, asking for access with his eager tongue was hot, burning up. You moaned quietly, just for him to hear and he growled in response, a satisfactory hum leaving his throat while he circled your tongue, sucking on it, making you gasp because you were in public. He kissed you, and kissed you until you were completely breathless, until you were fully convinced that he didn't want you anywhere far from him. Even if it meant he could focus more on his practice, studies and whatever else you just listed. Even if it meant a short time.

He didn't want you away. And that was final.

#baekhyun fanfiction #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun angst #baekhyun smut #baekhyun fanfic #baekhyun oneshot #baekhyun scenario #exo fanfiction #exo fluff #exo au #baekhyun au #exo angst #exo smut #kpop fanfiction #kpop au #kpop scenario #mywritings

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pappydaddy · 4 years

Text

Attention (b.h.)

A/N: This is my first ever Billy imagine. Originally, I was thinking of doing this for Steve, but I realized that I should probably start writing for another character. I might do something along the lines of this with Steve, but idk yet. It’s really short, but I have a Billy Series that I’m going to start working on soon!!

Pairing: Billy Hargrove x Reader

masterlist | taglist | wips | navigation

- not my gif -

The light shooting across the dark living room from the TV casted on the couple snuggled together under a warm blanket. Y/n sat in Billy’s lap, her lips attached to his as the movie rolled in the background, the volume probably louder than it should’ve been but neither of them cared, the house was empty anyway - Y/n’s parents having left earlier that day to attend a couples retreat. She was sitting comfortably on Billy’s lap, finding it hard since his legs were covered with his normal pair of jeans.

When Y/n had started the movie, Billy had no intention of watching it or letting her watch it. Instead, he had swiftly and smoothly captured her attention along with her soft, kissable lips. He focused on his fingers dancing over the edge of the sides, slipping under one of his t-shirts that she had thrown on. He loved when she wore his shirts. The faint smell of their scents combining, the way it hung off of her, the sight of the hem just barely covering her bottom.

Their lips moved together, her hands cupping his cheeks. It wasn’t a steamy, hot make out that they normally experienced. This was a slow, sensual kiss. It was sweet and romantic, the kiss full of love. Y/n hummed, finally pulling away. Her lips were puffier and red, the skin around it tinted with a slight red as well. Billy was almost positive that his looks relatively the same as hers. Both donned a goofy smile as they gazed at each other. “I love you.” She whispered, her voice soft as her thumbs stroked his cheeks, feeling the prickle of his whiskers that he hadn’t shaved.

“I love you too.” His usually tough voice was soft and sweet, his hands squeezing her sides affectionately. She smiled, moving to watch the movie, trying to shift in his lap, but his grip only tightened, keeping her straddling his waist. She looked down at him.

“What?” She asked with furrowed brows, confused with the gleam in her boyfriend’s eyes. It was a gleam far different from his normal gleams that told everyone he was looking for a fight, it was one of neediness.

“I want you to pay attention to me.” He insisted, pulling her flush against him. She gasped slightly, surprised by the sudden action, but then giggles started to slip past her lips, her hands lightly resting on his chest.

“We literally just finished making out!” She laughed, her pointer finger tapping his nose, a sweet smile on her face. Billy scrunched his nose up, his lips curving into a smirk.

“And your point is?” He asked, bringing his lips closer to hers. She felt his breath fanning over her lips, his eyes flicking from her eyes to her lips.

“My point is,” She smiled, pulling away from him with a teasing tone. “I was paying you attention and now I want to watch the movie,” At that, she turned her head to face the screen. Billy huffed, shaking his head in amusement. Y/n smiled happily to herself, shifting in his lap easily and snuggling into him. “You’re cute when you pout.”

“You’re cute all the time.” He remarked, pressing his lips against hers softly. She hummed against his lips, knowing that there was no way she was going to watch the movie. He smirked against her lips as the kiss picked up, her hand slipping along the back of his neck to tangle her fingers in his curly hair.

She pulled her lips from his for a moment, her eyes opening just enough to see him. “Happy now?” She mused, smiling down at him.

“Beyond happy.” He chased after her lips, collecting them back up into another kiss. The movie long forgotten, their thoughts consumed by each other. The feeling of their lips moving together. Y/n’s mind was clouded by the way Billy’s hands trailed over her body. Her head spun wildly as she became intoxicated by him.

The shrill sound of the phone ringing made them jump apart. Billy let go of Y/n, letting the girl scramble off his lap, rushing to the phone. Holding the receiver to her ear, she let out a breathless ‘hello’ into it. She was silent for a few seconds before she angrily hung the phone up. “Every Friday night.” She huffed, making her way back to the couch where Billy sat, watching her.

“That drunk girl again?” Billy asked, his arms wrapping his arms around her when she fell back into his lap. She hummed tiredly, nuzzling into his chest.

“We always tell her that she’s got the wrong number, but she just keeps calling,” She complained. “We need a new number.” She muttered. Billy nodded in agreement, pressing a kiss to her head. They sat in silence, the only sound in the room being the tail end of the movie.

“Well,” Billy paused, the smirk on his face evident in his voice. “I think paying attention to me will take your mind off it.” He suggested with a wiggle of his eyebrows. Y/n scoffed, lifting her head to look up at him.

“You’re so needy tonight,” She commented teasingly. “All you want is attention.” And with that, she connected their lips for yet another kiss, making Billy’s chest burst with happiness and love.

#billy hargove imagine #billy hargrove blurbs #billy hargrove x female reader #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove #billy hargrove fluff #stranger things #stranger things imagines #fluff #soft!billy hargrove #imagine #imagines #cute

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daveyjacobss · 4 years

Text

clarity | davey jacobs

french vanilla part seven

reader x davey jacobs

summary: a stupid decision and a moment of clarity (in which maybe things aren’t as easy as they had hoped)

a/n: happy october!! not sure if anyone even remembers or cares about this series anymore but october 1st is when it all started lol so happy anniversary :) thanks to anyone who takes the time to read this and i hope you like it!! (please don’t be mad at me) as always, come tell me what you though of it!! (also this is unedited so pls forgive me for mistakes)

( french vanilla masterlist )

__________

Another month passed, all of the autumn leaves were long gone and the winter chill that lingered in the air had people crowding into coffee shops and the like. Y/N had gone to breakfast a week before with Race and Spot and they'd all been texting ever since. She'd gone to Crutchie's to bring him the promised coffee and banana bread and she had stayed there for hours talking. He'd been texting her, too. Even Sarah had started to text her regularly, chatting about whatever came to mind.

Davey Jacobs had been back in her life for a little over two months and her world felt a million times brighter. It felt like, slowly, he was bringing back all of the other people that she'd lost, too. She knew he wasn't actually responsible for Crutchie, Race, and Spot being back in her life, but it felt that way. It felt like merely his presence in her world was parting the clouds and combating the winter winds.

They were meeting up again, but this time he was coming to her apartment. Her roommate was gone for a few days visiting her parents, which meant they would have the place to themselves. It would be the first time since they saw each other again in that coffee shop that they would be alone together, no Sarah on standby waiting to act as a buffer if needed. Truth be told, she wasn't entirely sure what to do with herself while she waited for him to arrive. She had already done a deep cleaning of the apartment the night before, coffee was all ready to be made if needed, their cabinets were stocked with a good amount of snacks, and she was fully dressed and ready. That left twenty minutes until he was supposed to be there for her to walk around her apartment aimlessly, trying to calm her heart and control her breathing. She didn't have any papers out for their story. They rarely seemed to get any work done for it anyway, so she thought, maybe, she would ask if he just wanted to push the story to the side for the day. Maybe they could just talk or watch a movie or make out on her couch (okay, probably not the last one, but she could dream).

It was odd being so nervous, as if asking if he wanted to simply hang out with an excuse for doing so was some big step in their relationship. Their relationship would probably have to be normal for things to be categorized as big steps, what they had was all twisted and out of order. There were big steps that they had already taken and then backtracked on, steps they had never made it too, steps they would have to find their way back to. Still, her heart squeezed in anticipation for his telltale knock on the door. Alex would tell her how annoying her pacing was, but Alex wasn't there so she continued to stomp around.

Davey got there exactly eight minutes early, his knock loud against the wooden door. She startled like a cat, tensing immediately and practically jumping out of her skin. Her heart beat sped up to impossible rates, she felt like if she waited a few seconds more she would be able to watch it hop out of her chest and start doing laps around the building. Determined not to give it the chance, she stumbled quickly over to open the door. He was running a hand through his hair as she did so, smiling when he saw her.

"Hey," he said, bristling a little as he situated his bag and his coat. She opened the door wider to let him in and closed it behind him.

"Hey, do you want me to take your coat?" He looked at her with a raised eyebrow, obviously amused as he shrugged the garment off his body.

"Why thank you, kind madame," he said as he handed it to her, tone mocking and jovial. She laughed quietly.

"But of course, good sir," she responded, smiling up at him as she hung up his coat. Having in the apartment made the space look different somehow—smaller, but not in a bad way. It looked more homely, she supposed, cozier with his warm presence there. She took a step toward him without even really noticing, unconsciously trying to close the distance between them. "So, do you wanna watch a movie or something? There's this YouTube video I kinda wanna show you if you're down."

She saw the look of confusion pass over his face, eyes flicking over to his bag set down on the floor. She could tell he was thinking about the story, thinking about how he had brought his materials because he assumed that's what they were doing. She held her breath while waiting for him to say something, to react in some way.

Slowly, a grin spread across his face. His shoulders seem to sag a little in relief as he met her eyes. "What do you wanna show me?"

She clapped excitedly and then grabbed his hand to drag him over to the couch, picking up the remote so neither of them sat on it. She didn't realize until she had pulled the video up that she was till holding his hand. She looked at their joined fingers with wide eyes before her gaze moved upward to his face, finding him resolutely facing the TV, his cheeks flushed pink. The corners of her mouth twitched upward.

He hadn't pulled his hand away. He was still sitting there holding her hand and not looking at her and it felt remarkably similar to how it had been when they originally started dating. She untangled their fingers and moved her hand to her lap, but the feeling of his skin lingered. She had the urge to text someone about it, an all caps freaked out rambling kind of message. The thing was almost everyone she wanted to tell about it (Race, Spot, Crutchie, Sarah) was connected to Davey. She supposed she'd have to settle for telling Alex later, with his disappointingly apathetic reactions.

Later felt like it was centuries away, though, with the thoughts running through her head. He hadn't pulled away. He had just kept holding her hand. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she turned her attention to the video she had put on. Still, she remained painstakingly aware of Davey next to her and the small space between them. She wanted to scoot over and rest her head on his shoulder, curl up around him like she used to when they had movie nights. She wanted that space gone and she couldn't stop thinking about what he might do if she held his hand again. She breathed. He laughed at something in the video. She breathed again. Time seemed to be moving strangely, like they had entered their own little pocket of the world where nothing, not even the passage of time, could reach them. She took a second to revel in it before she found herself once again glancing at Davey's hands, her own fingers twitching with the desire to reach out to him.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep pretending she wasn't in love with him.

__________

In retrospect, Davey probably should have pulled his hand away the second they sat down on the couch. All he could think about since the last time they'd seen each other, on repeat, was that she didn't love him anymore. He was torturing himself at this point, literally laying down to have his heart stomped on. When she finally detached their hands neither of them said anything, but he could feel her looking at him and he fidgeted a bit under her gaze. He wished he wasn't so nervous around her, constantly tiptoeing around the things they wouldn't talk about. Eggshells wasn't the right word for the floor their feet had seemed to find, it was far more precarious than that. There was a fear buried deep under each of their interactions that he would say something wrong, make a reference to their relationship before or, god forbid, bring up the night it all fell apart.

And yet, she had invited him over for no reason. Not to work on the story, just to exist in the same space as her and show him a YouTube video that she thought he would like (he did, it was incredibly funny). That was dangerously close to what they had once been, and the potential of it almost scared him.

He needed to start thinking of this practically. None of his friends knew that he was talking to Y/N again, Sarah was the only one. They'd only been back in each other's lives for two months after spending over a year apart because they had broken each other's hearts. She likely wasn't still harboring any secret feelings for him, not after all that time and certainly not after what he had said to her that night. Realistically, this strange little relationship of theirs wasn't going anywhere. Maybe they would end up friends in the long run, but it was never going to go any further than that. So, thinking practically, Davey needed to decide whether it was all worth breaking his own heart every time he saw her and had to pretend that he didn't feel the same way about her that he had back then.

He wanted to just bask in the moment, to sit there with Y/N and steal glances at her as she pulled up another video for them to watch. She was so breathtakingly beautiful it was almost unreal. When he wasn't thinking practically, half the time he was convinced she didn't even exist, that he must have dreamed her up. But she was real and she was there and he needed to stop looking at her before she noticed. He wanted to bask in the moment, he really did, but he just couldn't. Not this time.

They made it through four videos before he got a text from Les. It wasn't anything important, just a question about if Davey knew where his favorite hat was, but he knew that was his chance to remove himself from the situation so he could think more clearly. He told her that the text had been from Jack and he needed him back at the apartment.

"Oh, you have to go so soon?" She frowned at him, almost pouting. He nodded, standing up reluctantly. She followed suite, looking rather dejected. It made his heart ache, seeing her upset over him leaving. But that was exactly what he needed to escape, her ability to break his heart over and over and over again every time they saw each other.

Something about it all made that goodbye seem very final. He wasn't trying to erase her from his life completely, so why did it feel like this was the last time he was ever going to see her? Maybe that was what made him do it. Maybe it was her frown or the finality of it all or the fact that he was about to go out into the cold and she always made her feel warmer. Maybe it was everything and nothing all at once. It didn't really matter why he did it, all that mattered was that when they paused together in front of the door he reached out and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her securely into his chest.

She let out a surprised squeak, but then she was leaning into his touch and burrowing her face in the material of his crew neck. He held her for longer than he probably should have, just as he had held her hand earlier. Having her so close to him formed a barrier between him and any sense of his practicality, the smell of her shampoo flooding his nose and the feeling of her hands on his back soothing him more than anything else could.

He had to pull away, he knew he did. Taking one last deep breath, relishing in the feel of her body against his, he began to untangle himself from her.

He didn't make it far.

Their eyes met with their arms still wrapped around each other. He couldn't breathe, her face so close to his that he could see even the tiniest of movements of her pupils. Practicality, his brain kept screaming at him. He was making too much out of nothing, he needed to get out of there before it got to weird and then she didn't even want to be his friend anymore (more precarious than eggshells). He needed to get out.

But then she was leaning in and pulling him closer and crashing her lips against his and he figured he could probably stay a while. Forever, really, if she wanted. Screw practicality, caution to the wind, all that mattered was the fact she was kissing him.

And he was kissing back—fervently, desperately. God, he loved her. He had so much love for her he barely knew what to do with himself, but that didn't have to mean heart break and confusion anymore because she was kissing him.

He'd been stupid, thinking this was escapable. They were inevitable—of course they were, they always had been. He could see it all in front of him: his parents welcoming Y/N back with open arms, overjoyed that Davey had won her back. Les joking around with her and letting her wear his hat even though no one else was allowed to. His friends warming back up to her and all of them getting to be together like a family again. Sarah cheering him on when he told her they were back together. Nights spent together on her couch watching dumb videos that made them laugh and mornings in his bed, constantly asking for five more minutes so they could keep holding each other. Going out for dinner and going ice skating in the winter and talking walks in the park in the spring and going on day trips to the beach in the summer and frequenting coffee shops in the fall, laughing over how it all began.

It was all right there in front of him, right in his arms. He wasn't going to let it go this time, let her go. He loved her, and she was kissing him, all was right with the world.

__________

Holy shit. She was kissing him. Y/N was full on frenching Davey and she.....had not meant to do that. But he had had his arms around her and then he was looking at her with those sparkly eyes of his and he just looked so pretty that she couldn't resist.

Kissing Davey was nice, familiar. It awoke stampedes in her stomach and sent a warm tingling feeling through each of her limbs. She had missed kissing him a lot, more than she'd initially realized. It made her want to reach up and tangle her fingers in his hair, to pull him away from her door and back into the apartment where they could make out on the couch like she had fantasized about an hour ago. The tingling sensation was taking over her body and suddenly there was adrenaline rushing through her.

Something that felt like clarity broke through the haze. Maybe it wasn't clarity, maybe it was just foolishness or fear, but it broke through nonetheless.

She pushed him away as it came over her, staring at him with wide eyes. He looked wonderfully flushed and tousled, panting as he stood there. He was looking at her like he might be in shock, and she didn't blame him. She had come out of nowhere with that kiss, no time spent spent pondering the consequences or what it might mean for them.

But there were plenty of consequences to think about, millions of things running through her head at lightning speed once she finally found the sense to think of them. And, suddenly, she wasn't so sure kissing him had been a good thing. It had been too fast, too soon after everything they had put each other through in the past. She couldn't do this to him again, and she wasn't sure her own heart could handle loving him only to lose him again. Or, worse, to somehow find, as the time passed, that she would fall out of love with him. That one day she would look at him and not feel the same way, like she was still that girl behind the counter at the coffee shop writing jokes on his napkins.

And she wouldn't be able to survive it if she had to go through the loss again. She had given up so many friends for the sake of not intruding on Davey's life after they had broken up, she'd spent her entire time in Paris so sad that she could barely enjoy all the sights.

She hadn't meant to kiss him, and she really really shouldn't have. It was too much. The room felt like it was shrinking, the walls closing in on her, and even though she was panting no air was reaching her lungs.

She looked at him, at his messy hair and his red face and his eyes completely focused on her. She loved him, she really did, but she couldn't do it.

"I'm sorry," she choke out, feeling a sob forming in the back of her throat. "I shouldn't have—"

"It's okay," he breathed. The corner of his mouth started to move upward and she let out a strangled noise like a dying animal. His face contorted in confusion but she couldn't bear to stay and explain. She opened the door and walked out, rushing down the stairs until she was outside and the cold air was burning in her chest. She didn't even realize until she was a block away that she had just abandoned Davey in her own apartment.

She hadn't grabbed a coat or gloves, her body shaking in the cold as her teeth chattered. At least her phone was in her back pocket, waiting patiently for her to make an inevitable call.

The first time her and Davey had ever had a fight she had gone to Spot and Race's apartment to rant to them about he stupid he was being. Even though they had been his friends first, they listened dutifully to her and offered up their support. They had even helped her cool down with warm drinks and funny TV shows until she felt okay enough to call Davey and apologize. What had happened in her apartment wasn't exactly a fight, but it was a Davey related panic and they had always been her go-to people for that sort of thing.

She called them when she was halfway to their place, shivering violently as she walked and praying it wouldn't start snowing. Race picked up after the second ring and, when he heard the way her teeth were chattering, urged her to find somewhere warm to wait so they could pick her up.

The closest place was across the street from where she was standing, and it was the same coffee shop where she had met Davey. She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, but she went inside and told Race where she was. He told her he'd be there in ten minutes, asking if she wanted him to stay on the phone while he made his way to her so she wouldn't be alone.

She told him no, but when they hung up she felt the isolation suffocating her. Everything that had happened that day weighed her down, bringing her sluggishly into a seat next to the window where she could keep an eye out for Race.

She closed her eyes for a minute, pretending she was back at home in her bed and she had never invited Davey over, never even met him again after they broke up. It tore her up to think about, but maybe the alternative—the life she had been leading before, no closure and still heart broken—was better than the mess she had landed herself in.

Race made it to the coffee shop in nine minutes and thirty six seconds, she had counted. He took one look at her and wrapped her up in his arms. It was nice, and he was warm, but it felt like Davey's touch was still lingering on her and he had squeezed too tightly on a still healing bruise.

When they made it back to Race's place, Spot was waiting for them with three steaming mugs and a soft, sympathetic smile on his face. Race had given her one of his sweatshirts at the coffee shop and she bundled herself up in it, hiding away from the world.

"What's going on, Y/N?" Race asked gently. She sighed, taking a sip from her mug. She had called them, after all, she figured it was only fair they got to hear everything.

"It's a bit of a long story..."

__________

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#french vanilla #davey jacobs x reader #newsies fic #davey jacobs #newsies #newsies modern au #racetrack higgins #spot conlon #bambi can kinda write

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starrynite7114 · 4 years

Text

everything is you: eight

A/N: Happy Monday everyone! Monday is such a hit or miss, I will let you all know how Monday is once I get to work later. I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday thus far. I know I’ve been promising Snapshots, I am working on it. I’m just having a difficult time with it for some reason, but I’m pushing through!

School starts back up again next week, yay! Pray for me. Full time school and work again, yay! This is my literal escape, so I hope it will continue to pull through for me.

Anyways, hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Enjoy the update! <3

Thank you @carlaangel86 for the collage! <3

everything is you

one : two : three : four : five : six : seven

Word count: 9562

Warnings: Angst

Masterlist

Request tagged list: @justahopelessssromantic : @ifoundmyhappythought : @carlaangel86 : @woahitslucyylu : @encounterthepast : @enamoured-x : @thewarriorprincessxo : @briana-mishell24 : @bribri-82 : @chibsytelford : @agirllovespasta : @twistnet : @everyhowlmarksthedead : @trulysuccubus : @jadert15 : @sammskellington : @cind-in-real-life : @claytoncardenasbabymama : @sadeyesgf : @thickemadame : @summertimesadnesswithadashofsass : @gemini0410 : @elcococruz : @samcrobae : @sesamepancakes : @iambabyharry : @blackmissfrizzle : @mrs-losa : @1-800-imagines : @phoenixhalliwell : @lady-pswrld : @dazzledamazon : @getyourcrayoncas : @fvckthisbxtchup : @lukealvxz : @scuzmunkie : @lilac-tea-time : @danie1432 : @cocotheclown : @soaronmywings : @my-rosegold-soul : @buttercup812 : @itskiranbitch : @angelreyesgirl : @sheeshgivemeabreak : @vicmackeybullshxt : @bigcreatorwombatdreamer : @khyharah : @strawberrywritings : @cherry-icetea : @fuzzy-jellyfish : @losolvidad0s : @brownsugarcoffy : @courtrae89 : @prdsdjarin : @blessedboo : @marvelmaree : @enamouravecleslivresetlechocolat : @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead : @thesandbeneathmytoes : @dark-twisted-and-mechanical-mind : @maddie-georges : @pearlkitten33 : @aquamento : @incorrect-mcdanno

If you would like to be added to the tag list, please let me know!

Alena yawned as she gathered her things, glad to be finally done for the day. She was out at her scheduled time of six in the evening. Cruz was with Angel so she was free to do as she pleased. She messaged Carla, but she picked up a shift at work. She decided she was going to stay in and order some food, catching up on some Korean drama she’s been meaning to see.

Making her way down the stairs, she forego her car today since she wanted to walk home. It was Friday and she meant to call Victor, but she knew he had family dinner tonight. She was invited as well, but she didn’t want to make their relationship more personal till she and Angel were divorced.

She missed Angel.

She thought of going to see Angel, but she had to remain strong. As much as she wanted to just go back to normal with Angel, this was for her own good.

Walking out of the building, she was surprised to find EZ outside.

She hasn’t talked much with him either since everything fell apart between him and Angel. While she understood his reasoning to some extent, he put Angel in danger. He was holding the sleeves of his kutte and offered a smile.

She returned his smile and gave him a questioning look. “What are you doing here?”

“You got plans?” EZ knew she didn’t, but things could have changed since Carla informed him of their failed plans. He knew he shouldn’t approach Alena for help, and she technically wasn’t talking to Angel. But he figured he could help his older brother out, maybe Angel would forgive him.

“No, well besides enjoying some take out and a Korean drama, no.”

“Want company?”

Alena was hesitant, but it was EZ. The same one who betrayed Angel. “I don’t know. Angel wouldn’t want me to speak to you.”

“Well, Angel isn’t around is he?” EZ sighed. “I’m sorry, come on Alena, just like old time, our Friday night hangouts.”

“Okay.”

Alena held the door for EZ as he brought up the food Alena picked up. They set it up on Alena’s coffee table, sitting on the floor against the couch. Ever since EZ got out, he’s never had a moment alone with Alena, but with her not talking to Angel as often, keeping a distance between them, he had the opportunity to talk to Alena.

And if he played his cards correctly, he could convince his sister-in-law to have mercy on his idiotic brother and in turn, maybe Angel would forgive him.

“Why won’t you catch me up?” EZ opened the packages of Korean fried chicken that Alena picked up. They had original flavor and a spicy one, which EZ knew was mostly for Alena. She loved spicy food. Two individual containers of rice, and udon that they could share. She also got French fries, since Alena loved the carbs. Alena always has a big appetite, so he wasn’t even surprised that they had this much food.

“About?” Alena handed him a paper plate. EZ knew everything in some sense, maybe not all the gritty details, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Come on Alena, about you and Angel, you and Cruz. Apparently you and Victor now.” EZ teased her making Alena blush, playfully smacking her brother-in-law.

“There’s nothing to talk about. I realized it was time for us to just put some boundaries so that we can still remain friends once we divorce.”

“You’re going to divorce my brother?” EZ thought it was cute that Alena thought Angel would let her go.

“That’s what he wants.”

“But what if that’s not what he wanted? What if he wants you to stay by his side?”

Alena smiled, slightly laughing. “He doesn’t, your brother made that very clear a few months ago. It’s time to stop hoping you know? I’ll always cherish my friendship with Angel, but that’s all we’ll ever be.”

“God, Carla is right, you’re infuriating.” EZ shook his head. “How can someone so smart be so naive and stupid?”

“Ezekiel Reyes!”

EZ chuckled. “I’m joking, but you are. You’re refusing to see what’s finally in front of you.” He knew of Alena’s crush on Angel. She used to tell him about Valeria and Angel whenever she came to visit and how happy Angel appeared. Yet, when EZ spoke to his father, he didn’t even fucking know Valeria.

“Can we just enjoy a quiet night, no mention of your brother or Victor? We can talk about Cruz though, I’m glad you finally can spend time with him.” Alena would bring Cruz from time to time to meet EZ, after all, he should know his uncle. Angel wasn’t really onboard at first, but Alena eventually got him to see her reasoning.

“Alena, Angel doesn’t want to divorce you.”

“And you know this as the person he confides in?” Alena sighed. “I’m not going to apologize, what you did to your brother was not right.”

“I fucked up, I get it, but that’s why I want to help him. If he doesn’t forgive me that’s fine, but he deserves to be happy and that happiness is with you.”

“EZ, your brother is a great guy, he has a big heart and he would do anything for you. When he told me you were getting out, expressed your desire to join the club, he was overjoyed. Something he could share with his baby brother, help him assimilate back into this life.” Alena placed some food on her plate, starting to nibble on the chicken. “All he wanted was for you to be happy, to be safe. Regardless of how he felt towards you, Angel prioritized you because that’s what big brothers do.”

“I’m not going to excuse my actions, but I always made sure Angel and the club would be protected.”

“That’s not the point. You didn’t trust Angel enough and yet again, he was left out by you and your father.”

EZ saw Alena’s point, he came here to help Angel out and somehow, Alena helped him out with his struggling thoughts about his betrayal with Angel.

“Can you help me?” EZ put some food on his plate as well, his appetite gone with the shift in conversation.

“No, this is up to Angel, I wouldn’t force him to talk to you. He’ll talk to you when he’s ready.”

“What if that never happens?” EZ itched to tell Alena about his mother since she was such a big part of Alena’s life as well, but he knew it would upset Angel if he dragged Alena into this.

“You're his brother, he’ll come around.”

==================

Carla walked in Alena’s apartment and gave Letty and Cruz a quick hug before dropping her purse at the dining table. Alena called her over since they haven’t seen one another and Alena wanted to catch up.

“Where is Alena?”

“Room, she’s catching up on her korean dramas before dinner.” Letty nodded her head towards the room.

Carla went inside Alena’s room and found her watching television. “Alright, first of all you look like hell.”

“Hell?” Alena sat up frowning. She looked at the mirror across from her and she didn’t see any difference. “Thanks for the insult jerk.”

“Alena, your eyebags look like that cartoon dog with droopy eyes.” Carla teased, sitting next to her best friend.

When EZ first told her that Alena finally put some distance between herself and Angel, she didn’t believe it. After all, who would? Alena was in love with Angel and the last thing she wanted was to put space between them. But when EZ told her why Alena put the distance between them, she went to Angel’s while Cruz was napping and slapped him. He had given her an incredulous look before she uttered Alena’s name and he took it, nodding his head.

After that, she rarely spoke to Angel, upset at him for his actions.

She was on Alena’s team afterall.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m good.”

“This is good to you?” She looked around and Alena was much neater than usual. She figured with all the time in her hands, all she did was organize and clean.

“Carla, I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m hurting, but I don’t want to dwell on it. I made my choice and it’s better for us to get used to this instead of just ripping off the bandaid.” Alena turned her television off, giving her full attention to Carla.

“True, and I’m proud of you Alena, I just want to make sure that this is what you truly wanted.” Angel was such an idiot. All he had to do was confess to Alena, but instead, the two were suffering.

“I don’t even know, what I do know is that I want to get used to not having Angel around. I can’t always count on him.” Alena knew that she eventually had to pull away from Angel. It would make things easier and on Cruz as well. They could just co-parent and Cruz was used to going back and forth anyway.

Carla frowned. She was all for Alena moving on, honestly whatever made her happy she was happy with, but she was conflicted. Angel was prone to making stupid ass decisions that he thinks was a good idea, but in reality, it was far from that. She was sympathetic to Angel, who basically became a brother to her, but maybe this was what he needed, to lose Alena to finally prompt him to do something.

“You’re right, you can’t. But I always thought you would do it slowly, not rip the bandaid off.” Carla slightly laughed. “Alena, are you really okay? It’s me, you don’t have to lie.”

“I’m not, not at all. But I always figured it was going to hurt, I didn’t think it would hurt this much.” Alena felt herself tearing up, but she tried to hold back, tired of always shedding tears.

“Alena, you can’t keep doing this to yourself. You have to make a stand. If you want to stay away from Angel, hold your ground, but if you want to stay until it’s done, then stay. But for once, think of yourself. Angel will never hate you for thinking of yourself, maybe this would wake his big butt up.” Carla wrapped an arm around Alena’s shoulders, pulling her close to her.

“He told me he had feelings for me.”

“And you don’t believe him.”

“Am I supposed to? He tells me that then next thing I know, he takes it back. I just don’t want to fall for it. I feel that he just tells me that to keep me grounded cause he knows I have feelings for him.” Carla agreed. Angel definitely knew Alena had feelings for him, but she doubted that Alena would believe it. It was definitely a dick move on Angel’s part, but Carla knew it had something to do with Angel’s own insecurities of not deserving Alena. That if he gave her enough, she would stay, but joke was on him, Alena would eventually reach her point.

And this was her point.

They were supposed to divorce after the fifth year.

“Good on you Lena, it was time for you to walk away.” Carla softly squeezed her arm. “What about Cruz?”

“I’ll always be here for Cruz.”

“Look, I get it, you don’t want to believe Angel has feelings for you, but Angel almost always takes it back right away. Did he take it back this time?” Carla didn’t want to push Alena, but she had to do her due diligence.

“No, he kept telling me that he had feelings for me.” Alena looked at their reflection on her television. She was always so grateful for Carla. One of the few women who didn’t befriend her due to her connections to the Reyes brothers and her older brother. “I don’t know. It’s not about Victor or anything, it’s about me and Angel, it always has been. Maybe it was a mistake I stood by him, but have you seen him with Cruz? He’s so happy, so good with him. He’s always felt inadequate in their family, but now he has Cruz, a family of his own.”

“Don’t do that Alena, you’re Angel’s family. Look, I’m not his biggest fan right now, but you should see how he talks about you. Whenever you’re not around it’s my wife this, my wife that, my wife and Cruz did the funniest thing.” It was the reason Carla slightly favored Angel. Whenever Alena wasn’t around him, he always spoke about her. “I’m not trying to convince you to stay, but I also want you to know that Angel is a big dummy, your big dummy.”

Alena wipes her tears, slightly laughing. “He really is, I miss him so much.”

“He misses you two you know, he’s miserable with you. He’s also a pain without you. He’s not talking to EZ, so she bugs me more.”

“Did you know about the deal?”

Carla sighed. “I did, but Angel chooses to ignore it because he knows you listen to me.”

Both women laughed knowing that’s most likely the reason Angel was talking to her. And he didn’t expect anything from Carla. EZ and Felipe were different, they were his family and they shunned him as always.

“I’m serious though, you’re Angel’s family. You, Cruz and Angel, that’s what he needs, that’s what he’s needed for the last few years.” Carla leaned her head against the top of Alena’s head. “I love you Alena, you’re my best friend, but I also want you to know that this time, I don’t think Angel is going to take it back. I think he finally realized what you’ve been waiting for, he just hasn’t come out and said it yet.”

Alena remained silent, letting Carla’s words sink in. She wasn’t sure where they stood, but whatever it was, she wanted to move forward. Whether it would be with Angel or not, that was yet to be determined.

==================

Coco watched as Angel busied himself with the vehicle in front of him, Angel had been picking up more hours when Cruz was with Alena and taking on more runs to keep himself busy.

It’s been a month since Alena put her foot down with whatever was going on in their relationship and Angel has not been taking it well.

Not even close.

Coco has seen Alena a few times, he drove up to San Diego to see her and she looked better than Angel, but this distance was taking a toll on her as well. She came to the scrapyard and Vicky’s to do her weekly drop off, but she avoided Angel as much as possible.

Watching them do this, it was painful, and he thought it would be what pushed Angel. But from what he understood, Alena put a wall between them and Angel couldn’t tear it down as he was accustomed to do so.

“How long is this going to go on for?” Gilly was watching Angel as well, breathing out the smoke from his lips. “He isn’t talking to his brother and he’s barely talking to Alena.”

“There’s just so much he could take.” Riz added. “Is Alena with the Italian now?”

“No, she’s getting closer to him, but from what I understood, she’s just busying herself with her job.” Coco was coming over Alena’s later. Letty has built a relationship with Alena and was currently over at San Diego, taking her away from the craziness of Santo Padre. He appreciated Alena’s help knowing she would be a good influence on Letty. She took care of Cruz while Alena was at work. “This isn’t healthy man,” Coco shook his head.

“What can we do?” Gilly questioned.

“For once man, I don’t think we can interfere. If we do, we might hurt Alena and none of us want that. Maybe this is for the best. Angel took advantage of having her around for all these years. Alena deserves to be happy.” Coco threw his cigarette butt to the floor. “And maybe her happiness isn’t with Angel anymore.”

Angel took out his phone after he wiped the grease off of his hands. It was nice to busy himself so he didn’t constantly check his phone. Usually, he would have a picture of Alena and Cruz on their latest adventures, but Alena rarely texted him these days. They were very formal and to the point. He didn’t know how much more he could take, but he would give her time.

He would do anything to appease Alena.

Angel was a prick and he thought she wouldn’t last long. Alena has tried putting space in between them before, but was always able to charm her and she came back to him.

This time around he wasn’t able to do so.

She was fed up.

Rightfully so.

He treated his feelings for her like a yoyo and he was a fucking idiot.

“You good?” Bishop’s voice broke Angel from his thoughts.

“Yeah prez, I’m good. You need something?” Angel slipped his phone back in his pocket.

“Coco tells me you sleep in your car these days.” Bishop was well aware of what occurred with Angel and Alena.

Everyone did.

Alena was slightly putting distance between herself and the club as well and no one was a fan.

Angel has been sleeping in his car from Sunday-Thursday in Alena’s parking structure. He didn’t want to be far away just in case Alena needed him. He felt pathetic, but he tried to sleep in his home after he dropped off Cruz and he couldn’t. He became anxious and all the thoughts wouldn’t turn off.

They quieted down when he was in her parking structure.

It wasn’t ideal, but he couldn’t let her go.

He didn’t want to push her, so it was the second best thing. Luckily, he was cool with the security guards and they didn’t pay him no mind when he slept there.

“Yeah, I can’t sleep at the house without Cruz.” He couldn’t sleep without Alena, but having Cruz slightly made him feel at ease.

“Angel, you can’t keep doing this.”

“I’ll do it for however long it takes. I’ve always pushed Alena and this time, I want to give her time. I want to let her come to me.” Angel pushed the hood of the car closed, leaning against it. “I honestly don’t know how to fix it.” Angel chuckled as he placed a cigarette in between his lips. “She closed me off. Alena has never closed me off.”

Bishop sighed, leaning against the car beside Angel. “Have you told her you love her?”

“Did everyone fucking know?” Angel mumbled under his breath as he shook his head. “I did, I just don’t think it registered.”

“Angel, even a blind man could tell you love Alena. You have a hero complex and Alena was the perfect damsel in distress. Somewhere between that and now, your dynamics changed and Alena is the one whose saved you. She let you become a father to a son your ex gave away to spite you.” Bishop fucking hated Valeria. “She married you, became Cruz’s mother, and was content with whatever you two had because Alena has always love you. Now, she’s twenty-nine years old with nothing to show for. She gave away her 20s to you and Cruz. She stood by and smiled at all those girls at Vicky’s knowing there was a possibility they all slept with you while she was gone.” Bishop always adored Alena. She was a genuinely kind person who never expected anything back from anyone. Her actions was purely selfless and it was rare for him to see. It was the reason most of the Mayans men were protective over her, even going against Angel at times since their brother couldn’t get his head out of his ass. “Never once did she expect anything from you, want to know why?”

“Why?” Angel felt that familiar pressure on his chest, this ache whenever he thought of all the sacrifices Alena made for him and Cruz. People rarely spoke to him about it, but he wasn’t obtuse, he knew the lengths Alena went for him.

“Because you’re her angel, as cheesy as that fucking sounds. You saved her when she was drowning in her own pain and she would forever be thankful for that. And because of that, she doesn’t think you could fall for her.”

“I’m so in love with her, it’s fucking suffocating. I can’t breath without her. I can’t sleep without her. I’m at a fucking lost.” Angel threw his cigarette butt to the ground. “I’m fucking losing her to that pendejo and it sucks.”

“Then I guess it’s time for you to truly fight for her.”

“What you mean? That’s what I’ve been doing.”

“No, you’re playing a pity party hoping Alena will realize how pathetic you are right now.” Bishop chuckled. “It’s time for you to man up and show Alena why you deserve her.” Bishop clapped a hand on Angel’s shoulder, giving him a soft squeeze. “Try to do it before the second week of August cause I got big money on this.”

Angel laughed genuinely for once in the last few weeks. “How the fuck are all of you always making a bet on Alena and I?”

“Cause we’re fucking invested. You have two weeks to fix this, don’t disappoint.”

Angel knew he had to fix this with Alena. He wasn’t sure how much more his sanity could take.

==================

Angel settled in his car for the night letting out a sigh. Every night when he was done with whatever club business he had to handle, he made his way to Alena’s apartment, parking at a free spot the security guard let him take up. It was within sight of her car and the elevator so it kept him at ease.

It was ten at night so Cruz and Alena should be sleeping.

“You really do this every fucking night?” Coco questioned.

He decided to accompany Angel tonight, just to see what he did when he went to San Diego.

“Yeah man, only way I can sleep.”

They heard the laughter before they saw them. Cruz walked out of the elevator with Victor holding his hand. On his other hand was a trash bag. Angel sat up then watching as his son was animatedly talking to Victor who was paying attention.

If Angel was honest the fucking whole thing killed him. Alena was preparing for this life without him and he just couldn’t have that. They came out from where the bins were, Victor now carrying Cruz.

He was fucking playing stepdad to his son.

“Don’t bro,” Coco dissuaded Angel knowing the look on his brother’s eyes.

“I can’t do this man.” Angel sighed, closing his eyes. “I can’t fucking do this.” This feeling of dread just seeped in and he felt nauseous.

“Angel, come on, no one would ever replace you.”

“Maybe not to Cruz, but what about Alena?”

Coco sighed. “This was your own doing. I told you to tell her what was going on, but you know, you became complacent.”

“Coco, I literally don’t need this right now.”

“Tough shit, you didn’t want to tell her you love her, fine, now you have to live with that decision. Don’t play this pity party. You love her? Prove it. You want her to stay? Deserve it.”

Angel was not happy with the Church of Coco, but he definitely needed this. And he was going to show Alena he was worthy of her, he just had to break down her walls. He wasn’t used to being the one that Alena closed off. Seeing her do it to her father, he was proud of her.

Her doing it to him?

The worst fucking thing.

==================

Alena frowned at Coco’s message. Angel slept at the parking structure in his car? She was frustrated at him. How could he do that? He knew he had a bad back and it was the reason they got that expensive mattress that would help with his back pain. She watched as Letty and Cruz were finishing off Moana.

This past month has been hard avoiding Angel, but after the reports Coco was giving her, he was making it harder and harder on her to continue this. She missed Angel terribly, she never thought this was how dependent she was on him, but this was painful.

Whenever she saw him, all she wanted to do was hug him, care for him, but she couldn’t. She had to protect herself.

But not at the expense of Angel’s health.

Cruz wasn’t taking this too kindly either. He was confused and she shouldn’t have put him through this, but she just explained to him that mommy had loads of work lately so she had to stay in San Diego.

It worked for now, but she wasn’t sure how long it would.

“Can you just put us all out of our miseries and talk to the Giant?” Letty didn’t mind staying with Alena in San Diego, there was more to do and Alena was amazing. At times, she wondered who Angel fucking killed for Alena seeing as how devoted she was to him, but after seeing how Angel was without her, it was evident that Angel was definitely more into her than he let on. He was pathetic and honestly, it kind of made her like Angel more. He wasn’t Coco’s obnoxious best friend. He was Alena’s obnoxious husband.

“Letty, I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, have you had to deal with him these past few weeks? He’s annoying. He sleeps in his car just in case you need him so he can be here immediately.” Letty didn’t believe much in love or romance, but seeing Angel and Alena, she might actually start believing in it. “And you think he doesn’t love you? Pssh, you’re fucking crazy.”

“Ooh, Lele said a bad word.” Lele, a nickname Cruz made for Letty and it was her favorite word.

“Sorry Cruzie.” Only mommy and Lele could call him Cruzie, no one else.

“It’s okay,” he hugged Letty’s middle before he continued to watch Moana.

“You two are so cute.” Alena gushed, taking pictures of them.

“Yeah, we are.” Letty grinned. “So are you going downstairs or you’re gonna keep punishing yourself?”

“What?”

“Don’t you think that maybe you’re putting distance between you and Giant because you feel bad for kissing Victor?”

“What?” Alena always admired Letty. Due to her circumstances, she had to be more mature than anyone her age. She was strong and just pushed through everything. Alena was going to make sure she was taken care of, that she didn’t have to feel alone again. “That’s crazy.”

“No it isn’t, you decided to protect your heart, I get it, but you feel like you did Angel wrong by kissing Victor, but you didn’t. You two are technically not together. You’re punishing yourself because you hurt Angel so you’re keeping yourself away since you don’t feel like you deserve Angel’s devotion to you.” Letty looked at Alena who was sitting on the armchair with her legs under her. “You’ve given up a lot for Angel, that’s what Coco tells me. He finally realized how much he really needed you and it seems like you have as well. Go get your boy, the other Mayans are plotting on how to kill him.”

Alena sighed, closing her eyes. She didn’t see it that way. She wasn’t punishing herself, this was just for the best so they could get used to the arrangement. This was so complicated and fucked up.

But she wasn’t going to let Angel sleep in his damn truck.

Grabbing her keys, she made her way downstairs, taking the stairs since she was too wired to wait on the elevator. She could have sworn she heard Letty say thank god and explain to Cruz where mommy was going. When she reached the parking lot, sure enough, Angel’s car was right there. Walking to the car, she saw Coco who muttered a thank god. He exited the car and Alena handed him her keys.

“Don’t do this again and if you do, just give all of us a heads up.” Coco kissed her forehead after he pulled away from hugging her.

Alena got to his window, and watched as Angel was laying on his side, arms crossed over his chest. She frowned knowing how uncomfortable this must be for him. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the window, startling Angel.

His eyes focused on her, and she saw a small smile appear on his lips.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Angel opened the door.

Alena moved to stand next to him, frowning. “Why are you doing this Angel?”

“I can’t sleep at home alone.” Angel studied her, making sure she was okay. “Sorry, if you don’t want me to be here I can leave.”

“No, I just,” Alena wanted to tell him that she did want him here, she always did. “We bought that bed for a reason because of your bad back from that football injury in college.” It was during his brief stint in college. Angel played football and had so much potential, but he was injured and he was never really able to play again.

“I know, but it didn’t matter how comfortable I was, I couldn’t sleep.” Angel’s eyes connected with hers, man did he miss seeing her. Just being in her fucking presence. “You doing okay? How are you?”

“I’m good,” she smiled, her hands folded in front of her. She wanted to reach out to him, smooth back his growing hair, run her fingers through it, but she had to keep to herself.

“I miss you, Cielo.” Angel sighed. “I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to hear that, but I really do. I can’t fucking sleep without you.”

“Do you want to come upstairs? I don’t like you staying here.” Alena offered. She didn’t tell him that she didn’t sleep much without him as well.

“Do you want me to come upstairs?” Angel questioned.

She looked up at him then. “Yes.”

Angel internally cheered, overjoyed by this whole situation. He didn’t know who the fuck told Alena, but he didn’t care, just to be able to see her he was thanking every deity out there.

He followed her up, noticing that she still kept the distance between them. He unlocked the door for her when they arrived in front of her door and held the door open. When they walked in, Coco was on the couch getting ready to sleep.

“Letty brought Cruz to the second bedroom, you two good?” Coco mostly looked at Alena since he was done with Angel today.

“Yes,” she nodded her head and smiled. “Good night Coco.”

She made her way to her room, stopping at the door to wait for Angel. He looked at Coco and mouthed a thank you.

“Yeah you fucking owe me.” He chuckled, turning the television on.

Angel walked in Alena’s room and she closed the door behind her once he was inside. She got into bed at her usual side and turned the television on. Angel joined her once he stripped to his undershirt and boxers. He wasn’t sure what it was, but he was pretty sure that it was due to Alena’s presence that he felt more at ease. She laid on her back and he did the same.

He was becoming sleepy, but he was trying to stave it off so he could just enjoy being around her.

“I missed you too.” She broke the silence between them and Angel just let out a sigh of relief turning to Alena.

“I can’t do this Alena, I’m going fucking crazy without you. Please don’t continue this, I get you’re trying to protect your heart, but I don’t know how much I can take.” Angel waited for her to react, he saw the tears spill from her eyes. “Cielo, if this is what you want, that’s fine, I just, I miss you so fucking much.”

Alena turned to him and she moved till her arms were around him. Angel’s arms immediately wrapped his arms around her.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be selfish. We can just keep it how we’ve always done it till we separate.” Alena made up her mind. She was just going to cherish these moments with Angel and go from there.

“You’re not being selfish Alena, you’re far from that.”

Angel was going to confess to her soon. He couldn’t let her go, this was such an eye opener for him. He would be lost without her, he would die without her. He was going to convince her that he was worth it, that he deserved her.

She gave up so much for him.

It was time he repaid her tenfold.

Alena was the love of his life and he was done playing games.

==================

Angel has been giving Alena space ever since they reconciled three days ago. They were back at their house and Alena kept sleeping with Cruz, which was not ideal for him. When they woke up the next morning, Alena was talking to him, but she kept her distance, which he could respect. But he just wanted her to be playful with him again, to blush every time he flirted with her.

He was going to win her back.

Currently, he was at Vicky’s playing with the guys before going home to have dinner with his two favorite people. He’s avoided EZ successfully and he planned to do so till he was ready to forgive his younger brother.

Angel laughed as everyone around him groaned after he put down another winning hand.

“Seems to be my night boys, let’s do another hand.” Angel ordered before he left the table to use the bathroom.

His phone began to rang, Myrna who was standing behind Angel’s chair noticed it. She picked up the phone and smirked.

‘Wifey ♾👑💍’

“Hello?” She answered. The guys looked at Myrna in curiosity, she was far too bold to answer someone’s phone who clearly disliked her. But none of the guys made a sound to stop her.

“Hi, sorry, I think I called the wrong number.” Myrna heard Alena’s confusion.

“No, it’s the right phone. Angel’s busy, can I take a message?” Myrna’s smirk grew knowing that this would hurt Alena.

“The fuck are you doing?” Coco grabbed Angel’s phone, checking the caller ID. “Are you fucking insane?” Coco walked away, placing the phone on his ear. “Lenny, hey, Angel went to the bathroom. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I was gonna ask him to buy the VapoPads for the humidifier, but it’s okay, I’ll go get it.”

He could see the thoughts running in Alena’s head and he couldn’t have that, they just made up. He couldn’t fucking deal with mopey Angel again, fuck no.

“Lenny, don’t let Myrna get to you, you know Angel isn’t interested in her.” Coco reasoned.

“No, it’s okay, I don’t need an explanation. I’m gonna go to Target with Cruz. You don’t have to let Angel know I called.” Alena requested. “You guys have fun, remember to wrap it up. Please tell Maxine the cake is ready for Olalla’s birthday.”

“Alena, I’ll go to Target, just stay home.” Coco knew that Alena was having her seasonal allergies right now. The last thing he wanted was for her to go outside when she should be resting.

“No, you’re fine, I don’t want to intrude.”

“What the fuck are you doing?” Coco turned around and found Angel behind him giving him a curious look as to why he had his cell phone and saying Alena’s name.

“That bitch Myrna answered Alena’s call, insinuating she was busy with you. Handle that.” Coco kept Angel’s phone to his ear, hearing Alena’s disagreement with his actions. “You know she’s been targeting Alena right? That night at the club, it wasn’t the first time she’s given her shit. Now be Alena’s husband and handle her.”

Angel’s eyebrows furrowed, his good mood down the drain because of this stupid woman. She was a thorn to his side that he never paid much attention to, but knowing he mistreated his wife more than once, that was fucking unacceptable.

He made his way over to her and Myrna’s smile could only be categorized for him as creepy.

“I’m going to say this once, and only once. I’m not fucking interested and never will be. I’m married and even if I wasn’t, I wouldn’t give you the time of fucking day. Who the fuck do you think you are to answer my phone when my wife is calling?” Angel got in her face, making her step back due to his intimidating stance. “Stay the fuck away from my wife, if you even breathe the wrong way towards her, I have a bullet with your name on it.”

Myrna nodded her head before running up the stairs. Gilly, Creeper and Riz looked on at Angel, impressed by his words.

“About fucking time.” Gilly clapped.

“The fuck? You all know this has been an ongoing thing?” Angel sat back down on the table, looking over at Coco, slightly worried that this put things between him and Alena in a bad place again. “Why didn’t any of you tell me?”

“We didn’t want to fall out of grace with Alena.” Riz answered. “She said she had it handled, we never let her go too far.”

“That’s not the fucking point, she’s my wife, she should have told me that she was being mistreated by one of Vicky’s girls.” Angel was frustrated with Alena. She always did this. He knew he couldn’t fight every battle for her, but this was fucking ridiculous. How many more times have Alena endured shit from women and not told him?

“It’s Alena, she knew you would have waged war against all these women.” Creeper reasoned. “You have to let her fight her own battles.”

“So how many of these women did you all fight for her?” He knew his brothers were hypocrites. They all had a soft spot for Alena.

“All of them of course.” Coco joined the conversation, placing Angel’s phone on the table. “Alena needs the VapoPads.”

“Next time this happens, please fucking tell me. I’m not going to fight these women, but I just want to know what’s going on with her.”

“You’re so fucking whipped.” Creeper teased.

“Don’t give a fuck, you fuckers are just jealous that Alena’s my girl.” Angel slipped his phone inside his kutte.

“Yeah, if we didn’t like you so much we would have made a move on Alena.” Gilly shook his head. “Fair game if we all met her at the same time.”

“Tough shit, she’s my wife, always will be.”

==================

Alena sneezed into her mask as she made her way down to the medicine aisle at Target. She paused and sneezed before continuing to walk. Cruz was walking beside Alena, holding her hand.

“Bless you mommy,” he told her, looking up at her. “Mommy, why didn’t daddy get it?”

“Daddy is busy baby, don’t you want to go on an adventure with mommy?” Alena looked down at Cruz who smiled up at her.

“I always like going on adventures with you.”

“Cute kid.”

Alena looked up and as luck would have it, Dante was standing at the same aisle she needed to go to. She immediately stepped in front of Cruz and Dante held his hands up.

“Hey, you know I honestly mean no harm.” Dante knew the kid was Angel’s and judging by the ring on Alena’s finger, he finally made a move. “I’m glad Angel got his head out of his ass and married you.”

“What are you doing here?” Alena questioned.

“Visiting my sister, just came to pick up some VapoPads for my nephew’s humidifier.” Dante held the box up. “Your guard dog isn’t here?”

“Right behind you, asshole.” Alena looked up and found Angel standing tall, his hands holding his kutte by the zippers, gloved hands covering his rings. “What are you doing here? Thought we had a talk.”

Dante froze up and turned around facing Angel.

“Daddy!” Cruz ran to Angel who easily picked him up.

“Hey, man, I honestly just ran into her.” He quickly turned to face Alena, the frightened look on his face surprised her. Dante was always so confident and sure of himself. Nothing hardy scared him. “It was nice seeing you, I’m sorry again Alena for the way things ended.”

Alena just nodded her head. Angel kept his eyes on Dante till he was out of sight. He looked over at Alena, shaking his head.

“Why are you so stubborn? I told you I was picking it up.” Angel picked up the box of VapoPads making his way over to her.

“And I also told you I got it.” Alena countered taking the VapoPads from him.

“Cruzito, mommy’s stubborn huh?”

Cruz shook his head. “No, mommy just knows you forget.” Angel doesn’t know why he bothered, Cruz always took Alena’s side.

“Me?” Angel tickled Cruz causing him to shriek in delight. “Doesn’t daddy take care of you and mommy?”

“Yes.” Cruz nodded his head, coughed a little due to the laughing fit he had.

“So Daddy wouldn’t forget right?”

“Mmm, yes, but mommy said you were busy.”

“I’m never too busy for you and mommy.” Angel looked at Alena as he said that. She was walking in front of them and she didn’t skip a step, but he knew he heard her. Alena chose not to acknowledge Angel’s words. She had to get used to doing things on her own, she couldn’t rely on Angel.

They went to the self checkout, paying for the VapoPads. Angel held Alena’s hand then, walking her to her car. He parked his motorcycle right next to her vehicle.

He buckled up Cruz, closing the door once he was set.

“Did you eat?” Angel questioned as he opened the door for Alena.

“I made pasta, but I wanted to get the VapoPads first.” Alena placed her purse on the front passenger seat.

“Okay, I’ll see you at home.” Alena slid in the seat and before she could close the door, Angel prevented her from doing so. “Hey, that thing with Myrna, you know it’s not true right?” They literally just made up, the last thing he wanted was for Myrna to get to Alena.

“Yes, of course not. I would like to think you have some standards.” Alena teased. Coco talked her off the ledge and after everything that happened with Myrna, she trusted that Angel wouldn’t do anything with her.

“Yeah, I do, you’re my standard.” He was pushing it, but he wanted her to be flirty and playful with him again. Maybe if he showed her it was okay, then she wouldn’t be opposed to it.

Alena blushed, playfully pushing Angel away. “You’re trouble.”

“Let me get a kiss.” Angel puckered up and she giggled.

“Nice try.”

==================

Alena got out of the car and opened the door for Cruz who jumped out of the car. Angel has Cruz’s backpack while Alena carried Cruz all the way inside the school.

It was Cruz’s first day of school.

It was the day Alena had been dreading, but she was excited for Cruz as well. It would be good for him to meet kids his age and it was a plus that their neighbor and Cruz’s best friend Devin was in the class with him.

“Mommy and Daddy will come at three, okay? Stay with Devin or the teacher then we can go get a snack. What do you want to have Cruzie?” Alena was rambling on because she was nervous. How would Cruz do with other kids? Was he nervous?

Angel smiled watching Alena. She couldn’t sleep last night due to how anxious she became. No matter how many times he tried to reassure her, nothing got to her. He understood, he was nervous too, but he figured he had to seem less anxious to keep Alena sane.

They stopped in front of the classroom and he had to laugh at how fate could be.

“Monica?” Angel came face to face with his ex-girlfriend, Monica Avalos. They were together for four years and broke up when she left to further pursue her education. It hurt when it first happened, but over the years they kept in touch and he was happy for everything she’s achieved.

“Angel Reyes, still a looker I see.” The two embraced, confusing Cruz.

“Mommy, who is daddy hugging?”

“That’s your teacher.” Alena answered. The one that got away, she knew how much Angel and Monica meant to one another. It was crazy that Monica was his teacher. Alena looked at Monica’s ring finger and there was no ring.

Oh lord, it was like those romantic films, this was their chance to reconnect.

“Alena, oh my god, last I heard you were going to Paris.” Monica walked over and was going to hug her, but Cruz has his arms wrapped around her. “Oh hello, you must be Cruz.” She gave Cruz space, not wanting to overwhelm him. “I’ll be your teacher Ms. Avalos.”

“Hello,” Cruz looked at Angel who gave him an encouraging smile. He looked uncertain now, noticing how his mother tensed up. “Mommy, are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine Cruzie, mommy is just nervous cause it’s your first day of school.” She placed him on the ground and crouched before him, holding his hand. “Mommy packed you a snack and you can share with Devin too, okay? Be a good boy for Ms. Avalos. I love you.”

“Okay mommy, I love you.” Cruz hugged her and Alena fought her tears, not wanting to be that mom.

Angel crouched beside Alena and gave his son a hug and a kiss on the head. “Daddy and mommy will be waiting for you.”

“Cruz, your mommy and daddy were my friends when I went to school.” Monica heard the gossip around town, but she didn’t think it was true. She was always confused as to how it happened. She thought Cruz was Alena’s child and Angel was just helping her out. It turned out it was the other way around especially since Cruz looked so much like Angel. “And you’re married.” She smiled. “Always thought you would end up with EZ.” Monica teased Alena knowing it would irritate Angel.

“Haha, so fucking funny.” The two kept in touch these past few years, so she knew he was married to Alena.

“Angel, language.” Alena scolded him.

“Sorry cielo.” Angel kissed her cheek.

Monica envied them, mostly Alena. She always had Angel wrapped around her fingers, it wasn’t even funny. She never mistreated Alena or hated her, she knew that somewhere down the road, Angel would get his head out of his ass and she was glad he finally did.

The two stood up, handing Cruz his backpack.

“Let’s go Cruz, say bye to mommy and daddy.”

Cruz waved goodbye to them before running in the room when his eyes landed on Devin. Angel wrapped his arms around Alena, leading her away after saying goodbye to Monica. Once they were outside, Alena cried a bit harder and Angel just hugged her.

“Cielo, don’t cry.” Angel kissed the side of her head. It wasn’t like Cruz never did school before. He has a hybrid for kindergarten, which was also a daycare. But that wasn’t as bad as this. He was starting first grade, he would have homework and field trips. “Cruz is going to have so much fun and at least Monica is his teacher.”

Alena nodded her head, pulling away from him and wiping her tears. They went back to their car and drove home. Angel had a shift at the scrapyard for a few hours, but he was free after that.

“I’ll drop you off at the house then pick you up before we get Cruz.”

“Sure.”

Alena remained quiet and she just mostly paid attention to her cell phone. Angel hoped she wasn’t rattled by Monica’s appearance.

“You okay?”

Alena nodded. “Yes, sorry.” She felt stupid for fretting over Monica. It’s been years since they were together, but it was too convenient that she came back around the time she was divorcing Angel. This was their second shot and Alena was the one before his forever. She let out a bitter laugh, startling Angel.

“Hey, you’re overthinking this, don’t let that shit sink in.” Angel knew what she was thinking and he wasn’t going to let that sink in. Monica didn’t mean anything to him, she was just a memory. “Monica means nothing to me, get out of your head.”

Alena turned to Angel, surprised that he knew what she was thinking. “Don’t act brand new cielo, I know you, I told you, I have feelings for you and have had feelings.” He took her hand in his, kissing the back of it. “Let’s go grab food and just stay at the clubhouse with me, I don’t want to leave you alone cause god knows what you’re gonna conspire against me.”

She laughed, shaking her head. “It’s fine Angel just drop me off.”

“Nope, you’re stuck with me.”

==================

Alena was sitting in the office with Chucky, when a customer walked in.

“Howdy John.” Chucky greeted the man that walked in.

Alena looked up and greeted him with a smile before going back to the files she was organizing for the yard.

“I’ve never seen you around,” John commented, leaning against the countertop of the office that separated the customers and the workers.

“Oh, I don’t work here often.” Alena answered once she realized he was speaking to her.

“Better not miss my opportunity then, you want to grab dinner sometime? I’m new here so it would be nice to have a local take me around.” John smirked, watching as Alena looked over at Chucky.

“Oh, is he your husband?” He was slightly judging her as Chucky wasn’t much of a looker, but ugly men usually got the most beautiful women.

“No sir, but I’m sure her husband wouldn’t appreciate you hitting on his wife.”

“I don’t see a ring on your finger.”

Alena cussed under her breath. She had taken off her ring since she washed her hands. Her ring was loose and she was afraid it would slip off of her finger.

“Oh, I was washing my hands.” Alena took it out of her pocket and slipped it back on. “But I am married and not interested.”

“I’m sure a friendly date wouldn’t be so bad, just take me to the spots around town.” Marriage was a farce for John. A beautiful girl like this woman before him wouldn’t be happy with just one man. “Maybe I can entice you enough to leave your husband?”

“Can I help you?” Chucky and Alena looked over at Angel who heard the whole exchange.

“Just trying to get your secretary to give me her number.”

Creeper who was standing behind Angel, moved in front of Angel, making sure his brother didn’t do anything crazy.

“I’d be careful, Angel is her husband.” Chucky warned.

John looked back at Angel and then at Alena. He knew he fucked up. He’s heard of the Mayans and the last thing he wanted to do was get on their bad side.

“My bad bro, I didn’t know.”

Alena stood up and tried to diffuse the situation. “It’s okay, he didn’t know Angel. It’s fine.” Alena made her way over to Angel and wrapped her arms around him. She didn’t want him to fight anyone for her behalf.

The way Angel quickly relaxed, it always surprised Creeper. He was hot tempered and acted on impulse, but Alena just had this sense of calm and control over him.

Alena stood on tiptoes and kissed Angel, which surprised him, but he was completely distracted after that. Who the fuck was John? Where were they? His girl just kissed him after a month or so, he just needed to bask on that.

John quickly excused himself and left. Creeper just chuckled and patted Angel on the back. But nothing could get to him. He had his girl in his arms.

“You just have to be so damn cute cielo.” He playfully scolded her, kissing her again.

“Shut up.” Alena tried to pull away, but Angel just kept his arms around her.

“Just stay like this.”

“Is it close to his time yet?”

“No babe, it’s only 930, we dropped off Cruz an hour ago.”

Alena groaned, resting her head on Angel’s shoulder.

“It’s literally too early for this cute shit.” Coco teased as he walked by them.

“You're just jealous, you want a hug?” Angel extended an arm towards Coco making him laugh.

“From Alena, sure.”

“Nope, fuck no.” Angel wrapped both arms around her again.

“You’re so needy.” Coco rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

“Let me get another kiss.” Angel bent down and kissed Alena once more earning groans from the people around them. Angel lifted one of his hands and flipped them off.

“I rather have them kissing than fighting.” Coco chuckled, happy that they were finally back in good terms.

“Come on, let’s go take a nap, you slept a whopping three hours last night.” Angel led her to the clubhouse, she waved goodbye to Coco and a Chucky.

Once inside, the cool air made Alena sigh. Angel wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leading her towards the back.

“Hey, no fucking, it’s too early.” They heard Taza tease making Hank and Bishop laugh.

Alena blushed and Angel just laughed.

“I mean, if you really want to cielo, I would not be opposed.” Angel whispered into her ear, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

“Stop it,” she hit his stomach.

They entered Angel’s designated dorm room in the clubhouse, a place he hasn’t used in years. He’s had a few escapades with Alena here, but it was rare since he was mostly at his home or hers. Alena immediately took off her flats and slipped under the covers.

“You want to change baby?” Angel took off his sweaty Romero Brother’s work shirt and changed into a white muscle shirt.

Alena couldn’t help but check him out. It was sinful how good Angel looked. She was going to enjoy these last few months with him. This was so depressing.

“No, I’m okay.” Alena pulled the blanket to her chest since the AC was blasting in Angel’s room and she was trying to remain as modest as possible. She felt like an idiot for doing so since Angel has seen everything, but a little boundary didn’t hurt anyone.

“Are you cold? Do you want me to turn off the AC?” Angel stood beside the bed, waiting for Alena’s answer.

“No, it’s okay,” she took off her glasses and turned away from Angel.

He knew what she was doing and he didn’t want to push her. But she just kissed him, what would be so bad with cuddling?

“Cielo, you don’t want to cuddle with me?” Angel slipped in beside her.

“I’m okay,” Alena kept her back turned to him.

Angel started poking her back, Alena had to pay attention to him. This was unacceptable. Finally after ten pokes, Alena turned around and she glared at Angel. He chuckled, awing at her attempt to look annoyed.

“Baby, you look so cute glaring at me. Come on, cuddle with me.” Angel pouted. Alena hated the man before her. She did not want to cuddle, she literally hasn’t slept on the same bed as him since they made up.

“No, your body heat is literally not what I need right now.”

“Alena, you covered yourself all the way to your neck, I think you need my body heat.” He wiggled his eyebrows, pulling on her shirt.

“No, I’m good, so good.” Alena shook her head, slapping his hand. “Behave or I’m going to Coco’s room.”

“Fine,” Angel huffed and puffed, turning away from Alena. This would work, he knew it would. All he wanted was to fucking cuddle. They did that before they were married.

Alena didn’t want Angel to be upset at her. He was going to hold this against her the whole day.

She sighed and scooted closer to Angel, wrapping her arms around him. Angel smirked triumphantly. Alena closed her eyes, not wanting to admit how much she enjoyed hugging him, or any contact with Angel. She really enjoyed any contact with Angel, he always made her feel safe, protected and comforted. If she was being honest, the thing she loved the most was being wrapped around Angel’s arms after a long day. When he would run his fingers through her hair when she was having an especially awful day. When Angel would hold her hand whenever she became anxious.

God, she loved him so much, it was going to be awful to try and get over him.

Angel turned around, crushing Alena to his chest.

“Thanks cielo,” he kissed the top of Alena’s head just as sleep took over.

#angel reyes #angelreyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes fic #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic #eiy #angel reyes fanfic

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lov3nerdstuff · 4 years

Text

Silent Waters

*Geralt of Rivia x reader*

Part: 1/?

Words: 4.6k

Imagine: After running into the infamous witcher himself, rather literally, you both soon discover that neither of you is quite what the other expected. And as adventure is never far from destiny's path, Geralt and you soon embark on a journey together neither of you could've foreseen.

A.N.: 💚 This is kind of a slow burn romance I gotta say 😁 but slow burns are so much brighter indeed, so maybe some steamy stuff in the future ^^? And kind of a big adventure ahead 😇 also a lot of insights into Jaskier, Geralt and their lovely friendship!

All Parts can be found on my Masterlist!

_____________________________

You ran as fast as you could while the wind whipped past your body almost painfully, catching onto your clothing and hair to leave it aflutter behind you. No, you couldn't slow down, couldn't stop moving forward, on and on and on… You had to find it, soon. Or any hope would be lost on you once and for all.

Stumbling over the occasional roots winding over the once mushy forest ground that was now starting to freeze over, you thanked fate that at least the full moon illuminated the woods around you enough for the tripping to be kept at a minimal. Yet whenever your foot caught onto a root, a vine, a hole in the ground deeper than it had appeared in the soft silver light from above, you yelped in pain as your body came crashing down on the frozen soil beneath you.

Not that scraped knees and hands would coax such an open avowal of pain from your long since chapped lips… but the scorching heat of your body, your skin aflame beyond the bearable, was even more agonizing without the freezing wind brushing over it as you ran. And yet the frostbitten ground did nothing to chill down your body at all. You needed water, and you needed it fast, or the curse would burn your skin beyond what any flame possibly could.

Scrambling to your feet, you ran on while forcing any and every tear away from your eyes, as they served for nothing more than to blur your anyway limited vision. Damn night… damn forest and damn cursed fog. No, damn the mage who had brought this upon your village. Thrashing on through the foliage, you simply ignored the thorns digging into your skin even through your protective garments.

Thump. Again your run came to a sudden halt when you collided with something tall, dark and broad. The force of your impact sent both you and whatever you had run into tumbling to the ground with a groan. After half a second of fighting the increasingly numbing haze in your mind down to the workable, your eyes met amber ones only two feet in front of you. A gasp escaped your lips both at the surprise and the renewing pain in your body, and for but a second you stared at what you'd run into, at who you had run into. A man with hair white as the full moon itself, glowing almost in a cool silver in this light, and eyes of the warmest swirling amber color… what a contrast. Yet you had no time to dwell.

"Fuck…" You hissed through teeth gritted in pain, then jumped back up to your feet and in an instant ran on through the dark, leaving the man sitting on his behind on the ground in irritation.

_____________

Geralt's journey through the forest had been a slow one, cold and long and unbearably dull. Not that he minded the peace and quiet, but speaking from countless years of experience, peace and quiet were usually an indicator of something rather unpleasant yet to happen. He wouldn't be fooled by the calm before the storm, but neither would he dwell on it more than he had to. If whatever was to come could be avoided or ignored, all would be good. Yet the silence of the forest unsettled him more than he would have liked, for usually woods like this were everything but quiet even at nighttime. In equal silence he continued his journey towards the village that lay at the outskirts of the forest, leading Roach by her reins as the poor mare carried an unconscious Jaskier on her back already. The bard was as much a nuisance as he was a friend, admittedly, and while Geralt was seriously appreciating the silence that came with Jaskier's unconsciousness, he couldn't have left him behind. If Jaskier would ask about it later, once he was among the living again, Geralt would simply say it would have resulted in him falling out of favor in the kingdom, if he had imposed the bard on anyone else. Or he would simply say nothing at all, which was what he usually opted for. It wasn't that he didn't have anything to say, really… he did, in fact, have something to reply to almost anything. But while words were difficult, made to be misunderstood and misinterpreted, silence was easy. Horribly easy even, cursed and beautiful at once in its isolation spiked calm. If one didn't say anything at all, at least they couldn't say anything wrong.

His thoughts came to a sudden halt when his ears picked up the slightest noise to his left, and he urged Roach to stand while he walked a few more steps along the path… and suddenly he was knocked down to the ground by the impact of something crashing into him. Someone.

Slightly puzzled, he stared at the girl who had also landed on her butt just like he had. In but a second he studied her features, considering if she posed a threat to him, only to decide that she very likely didn't. Her clothes were torn, as much covered in dirt as he usually was, and her skin was scraped in multiple places. Yet what most struck him was the stone set beauty of her face, contrasting with the fact that her every muscle was tense and clenching, almost twisted in pain but unfaltering. A light sweat had broken on her forehead, but he couldn't possibly tell if it was for the run or her injuries. Her eyes drilled holes into his own for the second it took him to contemplate his next move, putting him under a spell that had his mind numbed and his body on high alert. However before he could act, she had uttered a single 'Fuck' and gone she was already, on into the woods to his right.

_______________

Acting purely on instinct, Geralt rose to his feet the second the girl had vanished and moved to tie Roach to the nearest tree. The girl had come from the direction of the village… and if she had a reason to run, he needed to know. Thus, leaving Jaskier behind with the mare, he took his swords just in case and followed after where she had disappeared between the trees. He didn't worry about finding her, even in the deep darkness of the woods… he was decent enough at trailing both monsters and men, and she didn't make it particularly difficult for him either. It left him to guess that she was rather running to something than from something, and the thought intrigued him. People this desperate to get to a place, especially in the middle of the night in a forest full of peril, usually had a reason worth investigating. Thus he followed her trail through the undergrowth, occasionally cutting his way through a maze of thorns that she must have simply thrashed through. His brows furrowed at the thought, as he found himself asking why someone would willingly hurt themselves like this if there were other paths available that promised less agony, and took less effort too. But he followed behind her nonetheless.

Indeed, a few moments later he heard a not too distant thud of sorts, and his steps quickened involuntarily, carrying him towards the origin of the noise. And suddenly there was no more undergrowth, no more thorns and thicket… Geralt found himself standing at the shore of a smaller lake. Rather a pond, really, but the exact size was hard to tell in the dark that loomed over the far edge of the water, bleeding into the blackness of the distant trees. Maybe it was a lake after all, he wasn't an expert and he really didn't care.

What did catch his interest however was the girl standing at the edge of the water. She had abandoned a belt that held two daggers on the shore, otherwise she was still fully dressed as she stepped into the water determinedly, but slowly nonetheless. Geralt considered making his presence known, but decided against it quickly. Whatever this odd creature was doing, he was intrigued to learn more before he would step out of the shadows.

And odd it really was, he realized, once he spotted the frozen edges of the water and the drifting pieces of ice floating on the black lake's surface. The girl must have a really good reason for willingly stepping into the freezing liquid, especially with all those open wounds. And with her clothes, for they would bring her no warmth after her bath, rather the opposite. Geralt couldn't help himself but simply stare at the scene in front of him, even though he realized he should probably return to his horse and his bard. But he found that even though he willed his legs to move and his eyes to look away, he simply couldn't.

____________

The water sloshed around your body, engulfing your being more and more with every step into its icy furnace. God, how only could ice burn as much as fire did? And still, you took step after step into the dark liquid that right now was both your salvation and your doom. A whimper escaped your lips as the water touched your ribcage, and you quickly clasped your hand over your mouth. The only thing that could've made your situation any worse was to attract monsters of any kind, and you definitely didn't need that right now. So you simply bit down the agonized cry that bubbled up in your throat by biting the back of your hand.

As soon as the water reached your lower bust, you started cleaning both your garments and your skin from the cursed fog's touch with shaky hands, trying to ignore the new pain you thereby caused for yourself. Really, it was ridiculous… the fog's burn needed to be washed off your skin with water, and it needed to be washed out of the fabrics it had touched. The only water which had been around was where you were in now, a partially frozen lake which in return burned in your wounds like a good dash of salt had been poured into the bleeding cuts. Just great. And in addition to that, the cold's bite hurt almost as much as the fog had in the first place. If the curse hadn't killed you yet, the remedy would. Maybe that was just your bad luck, or maybe it was fate telling you that you had lived past your welcome. Anyway, you hurt… more than you had ever before, likely. But you needed to hurry, needed to get out of the water before your limbs would become too numb to move. With one last shivery breath, you squeezed your eyes shut and dove under. The scream that had been burning on your tongue for the past minutes finally broke free from your control, drowned out by the water even to your own ears as you were surrounded by utter blackness but for the dull reflection of the moon far above you. With almost numb fingers you scrubbed over your face, before running them through your hair to get rid of even the very last of the fog's touch. Then you broke back through the water's surface, gasping for air as much as for its subtle warmth to fill your lungs.

You couldn't feel your toes as you stiffly tumbled back towards the shore, forcing your body to move on through the brick wall the water seemed to have become. The cold, it was almost gone now. No burn, no bite… only numbness and a black depth within you that you felt very tempted to sink into. But your mind was still alert enough to know precisely not to give into that desire and keep moving forward instead, until at last you reached the shore.

The water made your clothes heavy as veils of solid stone, and you found yourself crawling onto land on all wounded fours, panting and tired. Everything hurt, everything… you felt tempted to sleep yet again. Only for a minute. Only a little rest… your eyes fluttered shut before your remaining reason could argue your body to stay awake. Amber eyes flashed through your mind, before at last that as well was consumed by perfect darkness.

_______________

Geralt stood as if frozen to the ground at the edge of the clearing, staring straight ahead at the scene unfolding. He still couldn't fathom why the girl was doing what she was doing, but he had to admit that she did it well. Every movement was efficient, quick and certain, and she seemed to know that she was better off keeping quiet. All that despite the obviously agonizing cold she was surrounded by, and despite her visible, even if minor injuries… Geralt found himself almost as impressed as he was intrigued.

Once she dove under, the frown fell back onto his face and it deepened with every moment she remained gone from his sight. The seconds ticking seemed like minutes to him, until at last she resurfaced from the realm beyond his vision's reach. Geralt let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

His eyes followed her back to the shore, back onto dry land and up towards him a few feet only, yet not enough to spot him in the shadows. He doubted that she would have been able to see him even if she hadn't been so obviously in a haze of pain. But what concerned him even more was that her movements were slow, too slow to be a good sign. He almost found himself frowning again at the way she let out the faintest whimper before collapsing, and turning onto her back at last. Then she stopped moving altogether, for only the subtle rising and falling of her chest to tell Geralt that she was still alive. Barely.

She really wasn't his problem at all, and her fate wasn't his to meddle with… and yet his feet carried him towards her small form that looked almost eerie now that it was still and brushed in the silver moonlight. Serene.

He found himself towering above her for a moment, perching down at last, half a second before her eyes fluttered shut and her breathing slowed down even more. Almost simultaneously his mouth set into a grim line, and he sighed deeply in both annoyance and compassion. Fuck...

_______________

The icy water that still clung heavy onto the girl's garments slowly sept into Geralt's own linen shirt as he carried her back into the forest, through the thicket and towards where Roach must be waiting. He didn't mind that he grew colder, nor that his own clothes got more drenched by the second as he held her tightly against himself, in an attempt to keep her from freezing before he reached the horse and foremost his limited, but no less valued supplies.

As he teetered through the undergrowth in the dim silver light, he repeatedly asked himself why only he had to keep running into problems of this kind. The difficult kind, the kind that involved people. Well, this time the problem had run into him for once, rather literally… He almost snarled at the thought. But he would try his best to save her, as he had saved the annoying bard a hundred times before. Maybe even more, Geralt didn't keep count. Jaskier probably did, knowing him, to write a ballad or rime about it at some point.

Maybe that's what it came down to these days… him saving people. Slaying monsters, even if for coin, and protecting the innocent were two sides of the same medal after all, if one really thought about it. Still, he liked to think of himself more as a slayer of monsters than a savior of men.

"Geralt! Oh thank god, I thought… what, uh… what do you have there?" Jaskier blurted out the very second the witcher's silver head came into sight between the black briars.

"Get off the horse." Geralt ordered even before he reached them, and for once Jaskier obeyed without question and more or less awkwardly slid off Roach's back.

"You don't happen to know where my lute…" Jaskier started as he brushed invisible dust off his ever colourful clothing, but the menacing glare shot at him shut him up in an instant.

Geralt hoisted the girl up onto Roach's back, admittedly a little more carefully than he had tossed Jaskier up there a few hours back, and then moved to untie a blanket from the saddlebags to place it over her for now. The mare's warmth in addition to the blanket should keep her alive for a little while, but he knew that they wouldn't make it to the next village like that, not if he wanted the girl to keep all her limbs.

"Uhm… I know you're gonna tell me to shut up any second now, but I just have to ask… who is that?" Jaskier finally couldn't help himself and spoke up again. "What did I miss while I was… out? Did we kill another monster? Save a princess? Wreak havoc somewhere?"

Geralt groaned under his breath as he untied the mare's reins and started walking into the opposite direction of where he had just come from. They needed to find a place to spend the night, preferably somewhere off the paths and out of the still biting wind, and thus most of his attention was directed towards their surroundings and the drawing up of a plan to keep the girl alive. Jaskier however kept asking questions, making comments about how Geralt was even more brooding than usual, and finally went on to come up with his own stories about what had happened during his time of unconsciousness.

The witcher only sighed to himself, partially resigned for the peaceful silence from earlier was yet again replaced by the bard's unfaltering ramble, and partially annoyed for he had to remind himself every two minutes that he shouldn't check on the girl yet again. That was precisely why he didn't particularly enjoy traveling with people… he tended to worry, a lot. More than appropriate. And he didn't like that at all, neither the feeling he simply couldn't shake off nor the distraction it ought to pose to the tasks at hand.

_____________

It didn't take them too long to find a decent enough spot for setting up camp, and while Geralt tied Roach back onto a tree, Jaskier actually surprised the older man by making himself useful without being instructed to do so, as he moved to pick up more or less dry pieces of wood for his friend to start a fire with. Even if it seemed like that occasionally, Jaskier wasn't completely helpless out here in the wild, nor was he completely useless for that matter. It just took him some time to learn what Geralt had known and practiced for decades. Then again, it by far wasn't the first time they had set up camp after all, and it was by now more of a routine than a challenge.

While Geralt got the fire going a minute later, Jaskier started setting up their bedrolls around this magnificent source of light and warmth that one really only learned to appreciate once traveling in the wilderness for a while. But since he very well knew that Geralt didn't enjoy being watched while doing, well, anything really, the bard trailed back over to the girl who still hung limply on the horse's back, once he had finished his self-assigned task. Now with the warm glow of the fire a few feet away, he could make out her features at last, only to find her skin looking more blue than it should. With a frown, Jaskier rose his hand to move a wet strand of hair out of her face to get a better look, but he flinched back immediately once his more or less warm fingers came in contact with her chilled skin.

"Uh, Geralt… I think she's freezing. As in 'freezing to death'..." He spoke before he thought the whole thing through, and only then realized that this most likely wasn't news to his friend. That really happened more often than not, him stating the obvious… but he just was the kind of person who automatically shared any and every of his thoughts with the people he found himself liking. Which in this case was only the witcher.

Seeing as there was yet again no reply, nor any noise at all but for the crackling of the fire, Jaskier decided to take matter into his own hands. He wouldn't let the girl freeze back here if there was a perfectly good fire close by, and if Geralt wasn't up to help, he simply would do it without him… somehow.

With more reluctance than he'd ever shown towards a woman, he pulled the blanket away from her body and immediately earned himself a huff from Roach, who obviously had enjoyed the warmth as well.

"Oh hush, you… you're warm enough with your own blanket and all." He replied automatically, before rolling his eyes at himself. "Great, now I'm talking to the horse as well… and they say I'm the bad influence."

With more effort than he would've expected, he pulled the girl towards himself so that her body slipped off the mare's back slowly at first, but suddenly dropped into his arms with such a momentum that he could barely catch her. Still, he stumbled backwards as his arms threatened to give out for both the unexpected weight and the surprise of the impact.

Just as he took the tumble, her weight was suddenly lifted off his arms at the same time as he was barely kept on his feet by a strong grip on the back of his collar. It made the fabric dig into his throat uncomfortably, cutting off the airflow for the moment it took him to stand back straight on his feet.

"Geralt!" He croaked out, clearing his throat right after, as he spotted his silver haired friend staring him down with the ever same, ever annoyed expression. "I… I wanted to get her closer to the fire."

Geralt rose an eyebrow at the bard in silence while he hoisted the girl higher up into his arms to have a better hold on her. In the witcher's arms, she looked like a fairy, light as a feather or a lush summer leaf, while with Jaskier… probably everything but. Maybe she had way more muscle mass than those ladies at court he was used to, or it was the water clinging to the fabrics of her clothes… either way, he felt himself blush at his lack of strength. Luckily Geralt didn't see it, as he had already moved away towards the fire. Jaskier followed in an instant, and found he wasn't sure whether it was anger dancing in his friend's amber eyes, or simply the licking of the flames.

"I only meant to help…" He found himself saying in an almost sad seriousness. It was true, he had meant to help the girl. But he'd also meant to help Geralt, to take some work off his shoulders and be less of a bother for once. And as of usual, he had failed, which had only resulted in more trouble. Maybe he should just stick to writing catchy songs and let the witcher do the heroic business…

"You can let her have your bedroll." Geralt's low voice drew him out of his thoughts. "If you really want to help."

"Uh, yes, yes!" His mood brightened immediately. Maybe he didn't have to feel useless for the rest of the night after all. Cold, but not useless. "O-of course, she can have it."

_______________

Geralt placed her down on Jaskier's bedroll almost gently, as gently as he could anyway, and then went to cover her with his own blanket. He could feel his friend's eyes digging holes into his back, but the bard didn't speak up again. That was one thing Geralt had learned about his unlikely companion… as long as he was still talking, even if he was complaining and whining about something, he was fine. Only if he stopped speaking, one should start worrying about him. And this time it just appeared that he was feeling seriously down, by the looks of it, either with guilt or shame or sadness… Geralt couldn't tell without looking at him more closely.

He wasn't particularly good at comforting people, not good at all actually, because he simply didn't know how to. It wasn't something he did, for it wasn't something anyone had ever expected him to do, nor something shown to him in return. So now that his friend's sadness seemed to wrap around him like a cloak of gloom, he had no better idea to cheer him up than to guess what his problem was and subtly offer a solution. Like he had with the bedroll only minutes ago.

"Bard." He said at last, neutrally as ever and likely coming off pissed as ever too. "Get over here. I need your help." As soon as he had spoken those words, the energy shifted entirely.

"What? YOU need MY help?!" Jaskier asked incredulously, but followed command nonetheless and kneeled down next to his friend, in front of the girl in an instant. "What with?"

"Undress her, down to one layer and put the other clothes by the fire to dry. Make sure she stays warm." Geralt said, then sighed under his breath as he rose to his feet, grabbing his sword in the same move.

"Uh, where are you going...?" Jaskier asked immediately, voice laced with concern, but he didn't stop peeling the girl out of her drenched jacket for now.

"Finding us dinner." Geralt replied before he wandered off, out of Jaskier's view and out of the firelight's reach.

Finding something to hunt in winter, especially at night, was not an easy task as it was, but with all the recent distractions, Geralt's thoughts were everywhere but on the task at hand.

At least distracting the bard had worked, even if technically Geralt could've done himself what he had asked Jaskier to help with. He usually preferred doing things himself, for it was less of a risk than having another potentially screw it up. And somehow, he felt more uncomfortable about his friend getting the girl out of her drenched garments than he cared to admit, even to himself… not that undressing her himself would've been any better, really, in terms of discomfort. But it seemed that this was just the right thing to cheer Jaskier up, not the undressing, but being given a task that he could actually accomplish. Something that made him feel of use… And Geralt was fairly sure that Jaskier knew how to undress a woman most efficiently indeed.

As he made his way through the forest as quietly as the moonlight itself, he couldn't quite tear his thoughts away from her though. Her behavior had been so very odd, so reckless and mindless foremost, while yet he had gotten the impression that she had known precisely what she was getting herself into. What was horrible enough for someone to willingly jump into a freezing lake on a cold midwinter night, even if it rose the risk of dying to the almost inevitable? It truly defied any explanation, for now at least. Once she'd wake up however, Geralt would demand answers. But until then, he would likely do anything and everything to keep her safe.

__________________________

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As promised already, here's the first chapter of a new series I'm working on 😁 I hope you guys enjoyed it! If you would like to be added to the tag list, let me know in the comments 💚✨ feedback is ALWAYS appreciated 💗

#the witcher #witcher #witcher imagine #geralt x reader #geralt imagine #geralt of rivia #geralt fanfic #geralt smut #witcher fanfiction #witcher fic #witcher x reader #henry cavill #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill x you #geralt fanart #geralt de riv #geralt of rivia x reader #geralt x you #silent waters

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