#apparently H is in his hotel or was an hour ago

[rubra-wav]

Hi! I’m autistic and a lesbian and my current hyper fixation/ comfort show is Hazbin Hotel and my favorite/comfort character is Angel Dust. I was wondering if you could write a platonic Angel x gn/fem reader that is angsty and involves the reader comforting and taking care of Angel after a really bad night with Valentino. With cuddling, and handholding and Angel dealing with addiction/ self harm and the reader just being there and supporting him or something. I totally understand if not I just thought I would ask. Also I’m a huge fan of your work!!

Safe and Sound If Only For Now (Angel Dust x Reader fic)

A/N Absolutely can, and 100% understand the vision. THE BOY NEEDS TO BE TAKEN CARE OF. 🗣

Also, thank you sm im glad my writing is being enjoyed 🙏

CW: marking it as NSFW due to the themes within but theres not any actual smut, hurt/comfort, angst, gn!reader, written as platonic but could be seen as romantic as well, Angel throws up at one point(dk if I need to tw that), themes of s/h and addiction, reference to trauma responses and mentions of physical and sexual abuse

When you were called downstairs by a very concerned Charlie at the wee hours of the morning, you knew that the night Angel Dust had was hell without having to even see him.

He'd apparently stumbled loudly through the door about 10 minutes ago, clearly not sober but still demanding a drink looking absolutely trashed. Husk had attempted to touch his shoulder, and the bartender was promptly smacked away with a yell to 'not touch him!'

Your footsteps had pattered loudly on the creaky floorboards down the hall of your hotel room as you quickly made your way to the bar where you knew he was.

And there you found him.

The hunched over, trembling figure of your friend with two of his arms folded around his head, a glass of alcohol you know tasted like utter shit clutched in another shaky hand.

Husk looked at you tiredly from behind the bar with clear relief on his features as he gestured to Angel with a look that asked you to take care of him - do what he couldn't in this moment.

It had taken a lot of verbal coaxing to get Angel to put down the drink and come with you to your room, but he eventually allowed you to gently grip his hand and tug him up the stairs and back down the hall to your room.

The second the door had shut behind the two of you, he'd completely fallen apart as you told him he was safe now.

That's how you were in this situation now, slumped on the floor next to the bed with Angel's face buried into the front of your shirt, your arms pulling his face closer and running your fingers through his messed up fur, carefully avoiding touching his neck and shoulders as you whispered to him softly to let it out.

Seconds ticked into minutes as his previously loud crying had slowly turned into broken, shaking sobs that were barely audible as you sat there with him slumped against you.

It was rather uncomfortable, your knees digging into the coarse rug on the floor of your room, but at the moment, that didn't much matter.

"'ank you. 'Ank you 'o much." He slurred out finally, voice cracking with emotion.

You hummed in response, relieved to hear his voice finally.

You removed your hands from where they were combing through his fur and instead cupped his cheeks, pulling his face away from your chest carefully.

Sympathy and anger stabbed through you painfully as you observed the darkening bruise on his puffy under-eye that had now been exposed with his tears. That asshole.

You brushed a thumb over the bruise with a furrowed brow, your frown deepening at the way he winced despite you barely even grazing it. You quickly moved your thumb away.

Angel's unfocused, bloodshot eyes watched you react to it with clear guilt. He swallowed thickly as he forced a grin onto his face. "'T's nothin' I'm not used to, toots." He mumbled. He could tell you didn't believe it for a second, and his heart sank despite all the alcohol knocking through him. Shit, he didn't want to sober up.

He could feel the pain he was trying to numb already creeping back into his body, though, and he 'tsk'd' with a hissing breath.

You shook your head slowly and got a better look at him as his eyes shut with a wince.

His jacket was a mess, a bite mark that was still bleeding soaking into his collar peaked out at you, and you grit your teeth as you looked down to see more droplets soaking into other places as well on his sides and hips.

Christ.

"I'm going to go get some things to help fix you up. Are you okay with taking a shower on your own?" You murmured softly but very seriously.

Angel forced his eyes open and nodded despite moving being the last thing he wanted to do right now, having you leave being even lower on that list.

"Yeah.. 'ut get me a change of clothes while you're out. That is unless you wanna see me in nothing more than a towel." He joked with a humour that was obviously not present, voice still very much hoarse.

You smiled at the comment half-heartedly and nodded. "I'll be right back, I swear." You gently patted his cheek before gripping his hands to help him stand up. With the tremendous height difference, it didn't do too much, but you could see he was appreciative of it nonetheless.

-

After a couple of minutes, you came back into the room with a change of clothes, a first aid kit, and a water bottle in one hand, a cup of hot chocolate in the other made just how liked it.

Angel was sitting on your bed awkwardly with a white towel draped over his lap. As he stood up and turned the other way to slip on the pair of shorts you'd bought him, you could fully see some of the multiple bite marks that were seeping into Angel's fur, matting it.

Your fists clenched and unclenched but you still didn't voice the silent fury coursing through you at what had clearly happened to him.

You placed the hot chocolate in Angel's hands as he sat back down, receiving a barely audible thanks, and then set into disinfecting the various marks and patching them up.

Each time he tensed up and hissed due to the disinfectant, you apologised profusely but didn't stop as you wanted to get it over as soon as possible for his sake.

Angel dug his teeth into the mug in his hands to avoid biting his tongue or cheek as he winced in pain, the hot drink on your part both a crutch and a grounding tool so he didn't dissociate away from everything completely.

If that happened, he knew he'd most likely pass out and that was the last thing he needed to do right now while you were making sure he didn't get some horrific infection from the wounds he'd sustained.

He was so incredibly tired of so much.

He didn't want to keep seeing the blurred images of the afternoon and night that made him want to start sobbing again.

He couldn't even remember properly, it was all a blur; hungry hands on him, faces and bodies he couldn't quite remember, and Valentino's red eyes looking down on him as his fist closed around his neck. All his memories were out of place, like a ripped up photograph rearranged wrongly.

Angel didn't even know what he'd done to get punished by him today.

He'd come to realise there was no real reason though due to you telling him as much, and that searching for it would just make spiral. It wasn't his fault that that moth-winged cunt had decided to break him today.

Or at least, that was the logical answer.

He still remembered the words that plagued him through the mess of memories and painful sensations staring at back at him like a hall of mirrors, though. 'You brought this upon yourself, Angelcakes.' Said through a cruel, patronising grin right before those same teeth dug into him again, and again, and again.

Angel grit his teeth as the memory made his head hurt before gagging as horrific nausea suddenly hit him all at once.

You cursed, having just finished up patching his wounds and pulled him towards the bathroom sink in your ensuite.

You took the hot chocolate from his hands before using the other to sweep his fur out of the way just in time as he started wretching loudly into the sink.

You patted his back awkwardly as he threw up all of what he'd been binging for the night in rapid succession, looking at a crack near the door frame of your bathroom to try give him some semblance of privacy.

After a couple of seconds, Angel panted with a horrified expression on his face at the taste in his mouth, shuddering.

"That was fuckin nasty, 'm sorry." Angel cringed, trembling with exertion as he washed out the sink and his mouth.

"If you're sick, you're sick, Angie." You continued rubbing his back gently as Angel straightened up, sighing in relief as he felt more steady now that everything had all been purged from his system.

One part of himself wanted to go bother Husk for more to drink, but he pushed it away, instead opting for the now lukewarm cup of hot chocolate that was sitting neglected on the edge of the bathroom sink.

He gripped the mug and threw it back, chugging it in the hope of washing out the horrific taste that still stuck around.

"Wait a second, I'll give you the painkillers with that." You called over you shoulder as you went to rummage through the first aid kit.

Angel slowly walked out of the bathroom after you, hunched over to be about your height as he waited for the pills. He tiredly spaced out as he looked at your hands going through the pile of stuff you'd brought.

You pressed the meds into his palm, and watched as he quickly downed it. "Do you wanna stay in my room tonight?" You asked as you cleared the stuff off of your bed.

You didn't really need the verbal confirmation as Angel flopped down onto your bed with a loud groan as he finally relaxed, exhaustion passing over every part of him.

You chuckled softly, and crawled up next to him, gently wrapping your arms loosely around his lower back as you pulled his face into your chest again.

He wrapped his arms around you in turn, another one of his hands creeping towards yours in silent request. You understood, lacing your fingers with his and gently nuzzled affectionately into the top of his head.

You could feel him start shaking softly again, once again tearing up despite everything. You tightened your embrace as you felt wet tears sink into your shirt again.

"It's okay, honey. It's okay. You're safe here with me." You repeated.

"Thank you 'o much." Angel whispered, tightening his grip on you in an attempt to bring you and your warmth to the bottomless pit of despair he constantly tried to forget.

"No problem. I love you, Angie. I really hope you know that." You gently kissed the top of his head, squeezing your hand laced with his reassuringly. "Now come on, try to get some sleep, you must be exhausted."

Angel's crying slowly stopped as the feeling of the security you provided swept over him like a warm blanket, creeping into every last crack in himself and filling it. The rhythmic beat of your heart under his cheek lulled him to complete calmness.

He didn't want it to end, but he still slipped into the warm embrace of sleep.

If only for a small while, the lock on his prison cell wasn't as cold, and the bars were not visible through your arms.

All that shit could wait until tomorrow.

I've read over it multiple times, but if there are errors y'all can see reading this one pls lmk - my brains been on wrong a bit today.

Bruh I just want Angel to be happy and cared for istg, he deserves it. 😭

[babytarttdoodoo]

for the mini fic prompt, could you do hurt/comfort where jamie hyperventilates and has a panic attack in mom city? and with keeley and roy to help him through it

Y’all really looked at the angst and h/c of the last one and went ‘yup’, huh? I love it.

Went back and forth on when in Mom City to place this but there is a good chunk of unaccounted for time in the episode where we know Jamie, Roy and Keeley were all together.

Thank you for the prompt and I hope you enjoy.

(Prompt Fill Masterpost)

—

They ended up in the hotel bar. It was hardly the most glamorous spot in the city and Jamie felt a bit like he should be doing more to show Roy and Keeley around his hometown.

The truth was, though, that he was still just bone-deep tired. He hadn’t missed the way Roy had eyed him assessingly before telling Keeley that Jamie wasn’t allowed cocktails and making a fuss about the team curfew.

Jamie was grateful for it. Not that he would ever admit it out loud.

So all three of them had retraced their steps back to the Hacienda and found a quiet corner that kept them mostly hidden from the view of other guests enjoying a nightcap. Roy had looked entirely too pleased with himself when he returned from the bar with a beer, something pink and foamy for Keeley, and a neon-coloured, sugary monstrosity of a mocktail that he set down in front of Jamie.

The umbrella in it was a nice touch.

It drew out a bout of good natured teasing that it was easy to laugh at, to fall into a familiar rhythm with, but Jamie quickly resorted to quietly sipping his glorified fruit juice while Roy and Keeley (mostly Keeley) carried on the conversation around him.

Talking seemed like so much effort, right then.

Don’t get him wrong, seeing his mum had helped loads. It always did. She never judged him for anything and always understood what he was trying to say, regardless of whatever mixed metaphors he came up with to describe the mess in his head.

Just spending a bit of time with her had settled something in his chest that felt like it had rattled loose weeks ago.

But that feeling of dread that had dogged so many of his waking hours was still pulling at the back of his mind. It was with a sort of detached fascination that Jamie noticed his fingers shaking when he reached for his glass.

“Jamie?”

“Hmm?” He startled and looked up from the table to see Roy and Keeley staring right at him, twin expressions of pinched concern on their faces. Like a weird parody of those posters in his room. “Oh, er, sorry, Keels. Miles away.”

“You should get to bed.” Roy stated, frowning but not (Jamie thought) in an angry way. “We still need you tomorrow.”

Right.

“The crowd’s gonna hate you. And the person who’s gonna be booing the loudest in the crowd is your dad.”

Jamie stood abruptly, barely noticing the screech his chair made against the floor past the white noise suddenly rushing in his ears. He did notice the way concern shifted straight to fucking alarm across the table and stumbled over an apology.

“Sorry! Sorry, I’ll just go. Upstairs.” He swallowed and it made his stomach churn. Could you sweat on the inside of your mouth? It definitely felt like it. “Need me rest, don’t I?”

Roy was already getting up too. “Fuck, Jamie, I didn’t mean…”

“Stay for a bit? We’ll walk you up.” Keeley chimed in, looking at Jamie with big, liquid eyes and shit, he couldn’t handle any more of this.

He said something, he thought, but didn’t know or care if it made sense. He just shook his head and backed away quickly, keenly aware of the eyes on him as he made a beeline for the lobby.

Jamie shouldered open the door to the stairwell without making a conscious decision to take the stairs. It probably wasn’t a good idea - the shaking in his fingers had apparently spread and it felt like pins and needles were running up his legs. Everything about how he was feeling made the plushly carpeted steps seem horribly intimidating.

In the absence of a better option, he sank down to sit on them instead, clutching onto the wall and only barely aware of the short, sharp breaths he was pulling in. His chest felt like he’d been doing Roy’s sadistic suicide runs all day.

Funny, his vision swam when he did those too.

He closed his eyes against the nausea that swamped him as if a tide of awful was rushing over his head and just tried to breathe, to focus on the sound and rhythm of air sucked into his lungs instead of anything else.

The feeling of hands on him jolted through his body like a shockwave.

“No!” He flailed his arms in an effort to get away and pressed back against the wall, looking around wildly.

“Shit, shit, sorry love.” For a terrifying second, Jamie didn’t even recognise Keeley, too confused by her sudden appearance. She was perched on the stairs too, hands snatched back against her chest to keep from reaching out again. “It’s just us. You’re okay.”

“Oi, Tartt.” Oh, Roy was there too, crouching down to his level and fixing him with a remarkably steady look. Right now, that seemed like some sort of superpower. Roy Fucking Kent, eh?

“Look at me, alright? Deep breath in.” He gestured to his own expanding ribcage and Jamie found himself following along. Copying his coach like it was the most natural thing in the world. He blew air out through pursed lips and drew it back in again. And again. And again. His eyes stayed fixed on Roy’s face, latched on to that cool, collected calm.

Slowly, the rest of the world started to filter back in and Jamie had the presence of mind to realise how ridiculous this all was. He was cowering in a corner like a scared kid while the two people he’d idolised for at least a fucking decade coddled him. His face felt wet.

He scrubbed his hands roughly over his eyes and cheeks, shifting into a more comfortable seating position and feeling his ears and neck burn with shame.

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.” Roy agreed, still watching him carefully. “Alright?”

Jamie nodded glumly then startled when Roy all but collapsed to sit on the floor below him. The calm of a moment ago had disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“Jesus Christ, don’t fucking do that again.” He practically snarled the words but didn’t actually look angry. He looked… something else. “Scared the shit out of me.”

Oh.

“Oh. Sorry.” Jamie offered weakly, baffled when Roy just shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Babe.” Keeley’s voice was quiet, tentative in a way he’d never really heard from her before. He turned to see that her eyes still looked huge, set in a paler than normal face. But she smiled at him. “Can I touch you now? Is that alright?”

That sounded fucking wonderful so Jamie nodded and went easily into her arms. She was tiny but he curled up to tuck his face against her shoulder, shivering when her fingers smoothed back his hair.

“That’s it, darling. We’ve got you. You’re gonna be okay.” She went on murmuring soft, nice little things to him as the shaking slowly left Jamie’s frame and he felt like his legs might support him again.

Eventually, he cleared his throat and sat back up straight. His eyes darted between them, seeing clearly now that they both looked properly terrible.

“... don’t suppose there’s any chance we can just forget that happened?” he tried hopefully. It did at least get a snort of laughter from Roy.

“Not a fucking hope in hell, you little prick.” He stood slowly, bracing a hand on the wall, and grimaced. “Ears.”

“What?” Jamie furrowed his brow in confusion when Keeley immediately slapped her hands over her ears. It quickly curdled into guilt when Roy reached down and viciously adjusted his knee with the worst cracking, squelching sound Jamie had ever heard. “Fucking hell, old man. What the fuck did you get on the floor for?”

Roy didn’t dignify that with an answer, just held out his hands to Jamie.

“C’mon, up. We’re not staying here all night.”

Jamie almost questioned what he meant by ‘we’, but just accepted the help instead and used Roy’s strong grip to pull himself back to standing.

Keeley followed his lead unaided and wrapped herself around Jamie’s arm, clearly intent on holding him for the foreseeable future. Or maybe she just thought he needed the extra support. That was valid.

Stairs were obviously not an option now, not with Roy wincing on every other step taken to show them back out into the lobby. Nevertheless, he hovered like a bodyguard, shielding the view of them both as much as he could with his own body until they reached the lift.

Keeley disentangled a hand to stab at the call button and they all herded into the small space like some bizarre conga line.

Jamie couldn’t even find it in himself to protest. Not when Keeley was soft and warm against his side, the smell of her perfume so achingly familiar. Not when Roy put a guiding hand to the small of his back and it drifted up to grip his shoulder once they were inside.

He found his voice, though, when Roy pressed the button for the eighth floor.

“I’m on six.” His suitcase was still sitting open on the bed, he thought, unpacked and lonely.

“My room’s bigger.” Roy told him gruffly, like that was any kind of answer, and made absolutely no move to change their destination.

Confused, Jamie let himself be led along to the room that Roy was apparently staying in and shuffled across the threshold. It actually was a bit nicer than his - that hardly seemed fair.

Keeley gently tugged him over the bed and sat him down. She smoothed back his hair again and it felt so nice.

“Do you need anything? I’m going to grab some of my stuff. I can go to your room too.”

Jamie scrunched up his face. It felt like he’d missed a whole conversation at some point. 

“You’re sleeping in here.” Roy told him, tone brooking no argument and Jamie turned to him in surprise. “So we can make sure you do actually fucking sleep.”

Sure enough, Roy was turning down the bedsheets and moving his own things around. Making room.

“Oh.” Jamie considered that. The thought of spending the night alone with Roy Kent in a hotel room brought up a lot of very complicated feelings. Except, it sounded like Keeley was planning to stick around as well, didn’t it? And the idea of staying like this for the rest of the night, bracketed between them with nice words and soft touches, was more comforting than he could bear.

“Alright then.”

[svtgg]

I Saw It In A Dream

pairing(s): yun x members, yun x carats

genre: humor, slice of life

wordcount: 1.5k

Idol Room was a variety show that Seventeen had continuously been going to for their comebacks. This was their third comeback in a row, and Coni and Doni (the hosts), were asking the members for tmi’s.

Dk was the first to speak up, “Yun predicted the weather today.”

Both of the hosts were visibly shocked, and some of the members laughed at their reactions.

Coni starts waving his arms and speaks directly at the camera, “No, you guys don’t understand, all week we’ve been told that it was going to be sunny. Even today! But an hour before we started filming, it suddenly started pouring! Everyone was surprised.”

“Yun has very good intuition,” Mingyu explains. “Her gut feelings are always right.”

Doni shakes his head, “I don’t believe you.”

Yun herself is watching this entire interaction go down, smiling to herself. The members' excitement for this was greatly amusing her. Luckily, the members rush to defend her.

“This other time,” Edyth says, “I was supposed to be on a rising platform for a performance. The staff always makes sure it’s working before I get on it for rehearsal. Apparently, they had never had problems with their lifts at this venue, and it was working fine so everyone was confident that the show would run smoothly. The rehearsals went well. But right before the actual performance, Yun pulled me aside and told me that there was something wrong with the lift and to be really careful during the performance.”

Everyone was listening to Edyth’s story and anticipating what was going to happen next.

Doni gasped, “The platform didn’t work?”

“The platform didn’t work,” Edyth confirmed. “It buffered while it moved me up and then wouldn’t come down for the rest of the song. Luckily, it went back down smoothly after the song.”

Coni shook a finger in Yun’s direction, “It sounds to me like Yun tampered with your platform.”

Yun laughs at the accusation and shakes her head. “I would never,” she says.

“I have another story,” Jeonghan says. “I didn’t believe the members when they talked about this either until this happened a couple of weeks ago.” “You don’t have to tell this story!” Yun protests.

Jeonghan waves off her reluctance to share what happened, “Recently, we did a concert in Osaka. There were a couple of us in a hotel room, I think it was Hoshi, Woozi, Nix, Yun, and me. We had just ordered food and were waiting for the hotel staff to bring it up. So, a couple minutes go by, and there's a knock on the door. I assumed it was our food and got up to answer the door. But as I’m walking to the door, Yun tells me to not open it. I checked through the peephole and it was a person in uniform, with a cart of food, so I really did just think it was staff with our food. 

I really was going to open the door, but then Yun started freaking out, telling me not to open it. Hoshi and Nix believed in Yun’s ability while Woozi and I didn’t, so we didn’t open the door. We sat in silence for like 5 minutes while the person outside kept knocking on the door and saying they had our food. They finally left and I was complaining about how that was our food and I was hungry, but we got another knock on our door. It was one of our managers, and they told us that apparently some criminals had gotten into the hotel and were pretending to be staff in order to come see us. Right before I went back into our room, the staff came with our food. I asked if any other hotel staff had already come by, and they said no.”

“Random people were trying to get to you guys?” Doni asked.

Jeonghan and some of the other members nod enthusiastically..

Doni nudges Coni, “Maybe she’s some sort of a witch.”

“How do we test this?”

Yun is still shaking her head, “I’m not a witch. I just know when I should follow my gut feeling.”

The members are quick to protest this again. “No – she’s totally a witch.” Dk says.

Doni and Coni laugh. “What do you think?” Coni asks Minghao, as he hadn’t really spoken up with his own opinion.

Minghao smiles and looks over at Yun, there's a teasing glint in his eye before he looks back at Coni, “Maybe she’s not a witch, but she must have some sort of spiritual ability. She can predict the future with her dreams.”

Doni is quick to intervene, “How do you know it’s an ability though? Couldn’t it just be a coincidence?”

Minghao shakes his head, “It’s happened way too many times to be considered a coincidence.”

“Raise your hand if Yun has predicted something about you from one of her dreams?” Doni asks everyone. Him and Coni’s mouths drop open when all of the members raise their hands. “Are you guys trying to prank us?”

“One time,” Seungcheol said eagerly, his arms moving animatedly as he told his story. “Yun told me that she dreamt that a red jacket would give me a rash on my arm. I didn’t believe her but then a couple weeks later it happened! I bought a jacket but I had to get rid of it because it gave me a rash.”

“What about you?” Doni nudges Woozi, hoping that he’ll disagree with the members.

“I never give out the password of my studio to anyone. Only one of the managers, Bumzu, Hoshi, and I have access to it. One time I asked Yun to get me food while I was in the studio. I ask members all the time to do this and they always knock or just leave it outside, so I thought Yun would do the same. She had texted me that she had arrived at the building so I got up to accept the food but someone was opening the door to my studio. She just walked in and handed it to me super casually –” Everyone laughs when he makes the confused facial expression that he had as he told the story, “– I thought that maybe she had gotten the code from Hoshi or our manager but when I asked them they said that they didn’t. No one had given her the code and I was so confused. When I finally asked her, she said she dreamt coming into my studio and wondered if the code she saw in her dream would be the same one in real life.”

Coni points accusatively at Hoshi, “You gave her the code!”

He raises his hands up in defense, his voice loudly denying it, “I didn’t tell her anything! Woozi would kill me if I told anyone the code, I wouldn’t even be here!”

Everyone laughs at Hoshi’s ability to make any situation humorous and the mc’s move on from this segment into a game. Yun hadn’t thought much of this moment when they were filming it, in fact, she thought that it would get cut. But it was aired and it went viral, carats were amazed with her ability while others didn’t believe her.

Fascinated with the alleged ability, this often became a topic of discussion between the media and Yun. Interviewers would ask her what her latest dreams had been about and sometimes members would tell stories of Yun predicting things during a vlive. Of course, there were always people that were skeptical of the entire thing so Yun usually opted to not talk about this. The last time it was really a topic of discussion was when a fan went viral for telling their own Yun story:

“As a carat, I had heard the rumors of Yun’s ability of being able to see into the future through her dreams. I thought that it was a joke that all of the members were in on, but now I’m a believer. Yesterday, I went to the Seventeen fansign. I was excited to meet all of the members. I was one of the last carats to say hello to them, and Yun was the last member I would say hello to. When I finally got to sit in front of her, she was very excited and pleasant to talk to. When I told her my name, her eyes lit up with realization. She asked me if I had a boyfriend and I said yes. She then told me his name and how long we had been together (3 years). I was shocked and confused about how she knew, but she only laughed and said that she had seen our wedding in her dream. I told her that I wasn’t married, but that I wanted to marry him. Yun smiled playfully and said that my boyfriend would propose to me that upcoming Saturday. Imagine how surprised I was when it was true, yesterday my fiance proposed to me.” 

The post went viral and gained over a million likes. Yun only responded in the form of a weverse post:

[hotforharrysheart]

A Close Call

“How’s Helen?” Harry asks as he comes into his dressing room after soundcheck.

You’d skipped out of hearing him sound check to call Ron back after getting a worrying text from him asking you to call. You sigh. “I’m worried about her. She can barely speak and I can tell Ron is worried about her too.”

“Has she gone ta the doctor?”

“No. She had a cold and said she felt better a couple of days ago. It doesn’t make sense,” you say, putting your elbows on your knees and your head in your hands. “I’m worried.”

He kneels down in front of you and takes your hands in his. “Hey, it’s gon’ be ok, Jezebel. She’s in good hands wi’ Ron there. Ya know he’ll move heaven an’ earth fo’ her,” he says, trying to soothe you.

“I know you’re right. I just…I don’t wanna lose her.”

“I know, baby. It’s gon’ be ok. She’ll be fine, ya’ll see.” He swings your hands. “Ya gon’ be ok?”

You smile. “I’ll be fine. You’re right, it’ll be fine,” you say kissing him quickly.

“Good. Ya wanna get somethin’ ya eat wi’ me?”

You nod. “Yes, let’s go.”

A few hours later and you’ve been kicked out of the dressing room telling you that his outfit is a surprise. You roll your eyes and make your way to the VIP area. You’re just as anxious as the crowd to see what he’s wearing. You look around in awe at the fans in the arena. It never amazes you how loved he is. A few fans wave you over from the pit and you collect notes and take pics of them in their lavish costumes and promise to show them to Harry, Tommy behind you collecting information from the fans you just talked to so you can get them a little something.

As the last song winds down and the band walks out to take their places you can hear the thrum of crowd and you get caught up in the anticipation as the opening blares through the speakers and then you watch with the crowd as he pops up from below the stage and the opening to Golden starts up. Your eyes go wide as you take in his outfit. “Jesus fucking Christ,” you breathe out.

He notices your expression and smirks at you.

You shake your head. He’s a demon, you think.

He winks and you bite your lip. He’s happy to see you smiling again. He spends a lot of time on your side of the stage flirting with you as much as possible, enjoying watching you dance for him.

As he sings the last words of Kiwi, you walk quickly to the car to wait for him. A couple of minutes go by and then the car door opens and he hops in and then you’re on the move.

“Hi Jezebel,” he says lowly, leaning over to kiss you. “Do ya like ma outfit?”

You bite your lip. “It seems like night 6 is always very lucky for me when it comes to your outfit. I’m starting to think that’s not a coincidence.”

He laughs his breathy little laugh. “Nothing gets by ya, Jezebel, I’ll give ya tha’.”

Your hand runs down his sweaty chest. “Nope. I appreciate the effort, believe me.”

“Ya gon’ let me love ya up when we get back ta the hotel?”

You pull his hand to your center. “What do you think?”

His eyes never leave yours, “Cal…ge’ us tha fuck ta tha room…,” he says with a chuckle as he leans forward to devour your lips.

Cal grins with a twinkle, “Yes, sir…”

You attempt to walk down the hall to the room, but Harry is making it practically impossible walking so closely behind you with his arms around your waist and his face buried in the side of your neck. You shrug and stumble with giggles, “H, I cannot walk…and you’re getting my shirt all sweaty, ahh!” You choke out as he bites your neck. The sensation causes you both to stumble to the side and into the wall. Security is closely following and doing their best to keep a straight face.

You stop pressed against the wall and snort out a laugh, “We look drunk, I can’t walk with you doing that and apparently you can’t either.”

He chuckles and breathes heavily against your neck, “Smell s’good Jezebel, mmm…,” he murmurs and licks your neck to your ear. “Saw ya dancin’ tanight…fuck me moves, hmm? ‘No wha’ these hips do, baby.”

You turn around with a smug smile and wrap your arms around his neck. “Ya do, huh? You like my moves,” you whisper against his lips and a wiggle of your hips against his.

“Jump,” he says tapping your bum on one side. You jump and wrap your legs around him and make eye-contact with security behind you who are biting side lips trying not to laugh. You bury your head in his neck to hide your blush and he steps way and starts walking down the hall toward your room. You simply stay tucked in tight and wrapped all around him as he holds you by your bum until he reaches to door. He turns and looks at security and nods toward the door. One of the men jump to the door and tap the card to let you in. The door slams behind you shutting out anyone and anything that could pry on your private time.

He steps into the bedroom of the suite and attempts to drop you to the bed by letting go, but you just hold on tight to his standing figure. “Don’t let me go…” you whimper.

His large hands spread along your back rubbing up and down, “Lily, ‘ll never let ya go, don’ hafta worry abou’ tha’, love ya s’ fuckin’ much. Le’s go ge’ a shower…help clean me up s’ ya can ge’ me dirt’y all ov’r again.”

“Ok…wait, it’s 7:10 in the morning in Cornwall, I was thinking about calling Marcy and having her make some soup, sammies and muffins for Ron and Helen. Lemme call her real quick,” you say with a wiggle.

He smiles and shakes his head searching your eyes, “Tha’s a lovely idea, baby. Gon’ go ahead an’ jump in, come join when ya finished, yeah?”

You scramble up on your knees on the bed to cup his cheeks, “Mm-hmm…,” you murmur against his lips.

He turns to walk away, but twirls around when you fall over to crawl the other side of the bed and steps back long enough to tap your bum, “Love this arse,” he growls.

You bite your bottom lip and your eyes flutter shut. Why does that feel so goddamn good?

He’s stripping on his way to the shower when you look back and you drop your head and groan…how in the hell are you supposed to concentrate for fuck’s sake?

You flop to the side and sit up pulling your phone around and dialing Marcy’s phone number.

“Good morning Marcy! How are you doing?” you say with a happy greeting.

“Oh, that’s great! Hey…oh yeah?... Uh-huh, yes, I can’t believe how good the film…Mm-hmm…,” you sigh and lift your head to look at the ceiling. You adore Marcy, really you do…it’s been weeks since you’ve been able to speak to her and you forgot just how much she loves to talk…god love her soul. You sigh and look toward the bathroom door with a frown and settle in for a longer convo than planned.

Twenty minutes later: “That’s something, Marce, yeah, you might wanna have a doctor look at that…better to be safe than sorry… Listen, I was gon…,” you start but she begins the next sentence before you can finish.  You bite your bottom lip and hold your mouth away from the phone and softly whine.

A few minutes later a very damp, very naked Harry walks into the room, running a towel through his hair.  

You gulp audibly and lick your lips, “No, no, Marcy, I’m still here…,” you say looking to Harry who has sucked in his lips to contain his laughter.

He crawls up behind you on the bed and sits back on his ankles with his knees on either side of your thighs. He pulls your hair to one side and softly kisses down your neck.  

You lean your head to the opposite side and close your eyes giving him better access. He smells amazing and his hair drips warm drops on your skin where it rolls down your chest.

At this point you’ve lost all track of the conversation, and your body is alive with arousal…much to Harry’s delight. He twists around to kiss your chin and you almost drop the phone on a chatty Marcy. One of his hands slides under your shirt and around your tummy, causing it to quiver. He takes the phone from your hand and holds it to his ear, “Marcy, hold on a second, Lily’ll be righ’ back…Oh, I’m fine, thank ya so much…” He grabs the bottom of your tank top and starts to tug it up and whispers, “Lift.” Holding the phone you lift your arms and he pulls the tank over your head and your breasts spill out. He pulls your chin back toward him and kisses you deeply, just as you hear, “Lily…Lily…are you there?”

You drag your lips away from his and hold the phone to your ear while you maintain his eye contact, “I’m here, Marcy…Listen, I need to ask a favor, could you make a pot of your amazing chicken soup and some of those sammies that Ron Chapman likes for lunch and take them over to them? Oh, and some berry cream muffins. Please? Yes, I know Helen hasn’t been feeling very well, could…could…,” she interrupts again and Harry takes the silent moment to cup your breasts and thumb your nipples. Your hand with the phone falls from your ear as you flutter your eyes closed with desire.

Chuckling, he takes takes the phone away from your hand, “Marcy, Lily’s gettin’ another call, love. Can ya take care of her order an’ she’ll call ya back?”

Your eyes go wide as saucers at his boldness.

“Thank ya, we appreciate it so much, we’ll call ya back soon. Aww, we miss ya ta. Thanks fo’ everythin’,” he says with every ounce of charm he has in spades. He ends the call and tosses the phone on the bedside chair.

“Harry, I cannot believe you did that!”

“Listen ta Jeffrey on calls…learned a thing or two sometimes ya jus’ hav’ ta cut ta tha chase…an’ righ’ now ‘m naked an’ I wan’ ya naked too,” he whispers in your ear as he reaches down to the button and zipper on your jean shorts. The scruff of his chin bristles the sensitive skin at the back of your ear.

Fluttering your eyes, you whimper. “Mmmm…you are naked…I love you naked….”

“Stand up Jezebel.”

You stand up and he turns your around to face him. “Take ‘em off for me,” he asks bringing his hands up to your ribcage.

You wriggle back and forth sliding the tight shorts and panties down your hips till they fall to the floor.

“I haven’t had a shower, H,” you say smoothing your hands down his shoulders and biceps.

“Ya perfect…jus’ like this, babe,” he says leaning forward to kiss your chest between your breasts. “So goddamn sweet, beau’iful,” he says looking you up and down, “this body,” then placing his hand over your chest, “an’ inside here…’s all so sexy ta me. My Jezebel an’ ma Lily, all wrapped in one…how’d I ge’ so lucky?”

“Harry…” you trail off, resting your nose to his. “I’m just me…and I love you with all of me.”

“Wanna take ya close tonigh’ …ya move wi’ me…slow an’ close, please?” He pleads with glassy eyes. “Ya lay down on the bed an’ lemme rub ya back, babe?”

“You just finished a show, I should be rubbing your back!”

“Please, I jus’ wanna feel ya skin…need ta touch ya.”

You crawl on the bed parallel to him, lying on the bed on your tummy. He leans over and draws up one leg over the back of your thighs and gently slides his hands up your spine. “Love ya, sweet Lily girl… softest skin…” he brushes his fingertips down to the base of your spine. “These dimples…love these dimples…”

You body breaks out in goosebumps as his nails lightly scratch along your bum cheeks. “Mmmm,” you moan at the sensation.

“Lifetime won’ be long ‘nough ta spend touchin’ this skin…’no eve’y inch of ya body, still no’ ‘nough.”

You shiver at both his words and his touch.

“’S it feel good…ma touch?” he asks genuinely, like he could ever doubt how much you love his touch.

“It’s so good, it’s like coming home at the end of the craziest day…”

“Yeah, it is, righ’!?” he leans forward to kiss your shoulder and works his way to your ear. “Tha’s exac’ly how it feels…comin’ home.”

His hand slides up and down your back and bum, down to the back of your thigh and back up again. He slips his hand between your legs and touches your folds softly, then back up on your bum again, down your thigh and back to your center.

Your breathing picks up and you can’t help but arch your back and open your thighs just that much more seeking more of his touch.

Kissing your shoulder and neck, his hand pushes your inside knee out to widen your part.

“Hold on, angel,” he says leaning over and covering your back as he reaches for a pillow at the head of the bed.

“Lift up ya hips fo’ me,” he whispers on a demand. He tucks the pillow under your tummy perching your bum in the air. One of your legs is tucked up against him and the other is bent out to the side, opening your body up for him.

He smooths his hand up your back to cup your shoulder where he squeezes with his thumb at the back of your neck. “Comfy?”

“Mmm…,” you moan and smile stretching your arms out straight.

He pulls your hair off your face and to one side, “There, ya are,” he mutters with a smile, “lost ya in all tha hair.”

You smile arching your back, “Believe me, I’m here with you, H. You spoil me….” Your eyes flutter and fix on him as he bends his arm flat and rests his head down. He returns your smile as you lie face to face and his fingers run up and down your side. Biting his bottom lip he runs his hand down your backside, his middle finger tracing the crease of your bum down to your entrance.

“Wet?” he asks eyes searching yours.

You nod and close your eyes as his middle finger lazily circles the rim of your hole.

“Fuckin’ hell, baby, d’ya know how hard ya make it fo’ me ta work…ta finish a show when I look down an see ya there watchin’ me? Ya slidin’ ya hands down ya hips on the “gettin’ y’self wet for me,” is gettin’ outta hand…I’m havin’ ta look away…so I don’ ge’ hard.” He slides his now wet finger down to your clit and circles.

You suck in your lips with furrowed brows at the feel of his fingers, “I don’t mean to do it on purpose. It’s jus-j-just…” your eyes roll, “how the words…no, not true,” you whimper, “…it’s how YOU affect me.”

“S’ beau’iful like this…relaxed under ma touch, makes me feel s’…”

“Powerful, H… You have this power over me, it’s your love, and our passion…I squirm for you during shows, I have to sit sometimes, just because I need to feel the pressure on my core.”

He pulls his hand back from your cunt and runs his wet fingers up your spine and to his mouth where he suckles them.

“Hmm…delicious…sweet an’ so…you,” he says with closed eyes as he savors his fingers. He draws them away from his mouth, “Open… ge’ ‘em wet…” he demands softly.

You open your mouth and swirl your tongue around the already wet digits. They taste lightly of his toothpaste and salty from your juices.

“Gon’ make ya cum like this…need ta see ya face up close…wanna watch…ya watch me all nigh’, ‘s my turn,” he says lowly as his hand once again traces down your back, your bum crease to your entrance. The cold wetness of his fingers begins circling again.

You sigh and bite the side of your lip, “please…yes, please make me cum,” you plead with glassy eyes.

“Baby, please don’ be sad…”

You smile and shake your head, “Not sad at all, just so happy to feel your touch…I wanna see myself in your eyes.” Your hips swivel and grind against his fingers.

“Can ya cum like this…? Withou’ my fingers inside…? Wan’ ma cock ta be tha only thing inside ya tonigh’, tha’ alrigh’? Can ya try?”

“Won’t have to try, I’m so close…you don’t know how good that feels….”

“Tell me how it feels.”

You groan and briefly twist your neck to reach your teeth to your own bicep and bite down.

“No, talk ta me, baby….”

“Ahh…Gahh, it’s soft and tingly, makes me feel tight inside, like I’m empty and need something I can’t find.”

Moving his finger down to your clit he circles and then runs the pad of his finger back and forth along the hood. “How’s it feel here? ‘S it sensitive?”

“You know how I like it, H….”

“Tha’s righ’, ‘no ya body…fuck, ‘m so hard,” he groans gritting his teeth, “Indirect, ya like it soft… on the top… ta the left a little, like this, hmm?”

You furrow your brows and squeeze your eyes shut as your mouth goes slack.

“So sexy how you know that…,” you whisper softly almost to yourself as your thighs begin to shake and you feel the fluttering low in your tummy.

His finger moves to your hole and begins the soft circling again. It’s agonizingly slow and you swivel your hips in the same direction of his finger chasing the sensation.

“Haahh…Haahh…Haahh…don’t stop, please, don’t stop! I want you inside me so much.”

Finger still circling, he twists his other hand around so that he can brush your hair from your cheek, “In a minute, Jezebel, in a minute…lemme watch ma fill firs’…keep goin’, tell me wha’ ya need, beau’iful.”

“Just don’t stop…,” you pant.

“Wouldn’ fuckin’ dare,” he says rutting his hips into your thigh.

“Touch my clit, UNGAH! Like that! There…can’t stop it…can’t stop it…can’t stop it!” You grimace as his thumb strokes your cheekbone.

“Don’t stop, baby… cum fo’ me…cum fo’ me…an’ I’ll take ya from behind.” He whispers scooting his face in close and running his nose along yours.

Those words snap the tight band and your hips and thighs quiver and shake as your core contracts over and over again.

“Tha’s ma girl…fuckin’ ‘ell, s’good…so so good…so goddamn beau’iful when ya cum,” he praises placing a soft kiss to the corner of your mouth. “Love watchin’ tha’… please, please tell me I can’ film tha’ someday. Wanna capture it an’ watch it tagether,”

“Oh God! Harry! It’s not…ungh, ungh, ungh, not stopping. Please make love to me, please, please I’m begging for you.” You draw your knees up and push the pillow out from under your tummy rising to your elbows perched on your knees.

He kisses your cheek with a wet smack before he scrambles up and over you his knees on the outside of yours so he’s spread as wide as you are. He’s hard as a rock but takes a moment to tug once on his cock before he positions it at your wet entrance. He pushes forward just as you push backwards and both your eyes roll into your head.

“Fuck!” he curses as he slides in your tight hole.

“Ahh!” you moan out loudly as he slips in.

“Lemme in, baby…breathe…’no ya can’ stop, try ta breathe through it an’ lemme in.”

“Gah…Gah…Gah…,” you whimper on each breath.

He bottoms out and stops long enough to swivel his hips and wrap one arm around your tummy. “Feel me, beaui’ful? Feel me deep inside ya?”

“Un..gah, Un..gah…Mm-hmm. So good!” you pant out.

“Can feel ya clenchin’ down…can ya hold on fo’ me?”

“Yes!” you exclaim as your head falls forward and your hair curtains your face. You twist the duvet in your fists and pull on it until it’s bunched between your elbows.

“Move wi’ me, angel, like this…” he says with his hips grinding in and out in short deep thrusts and swivels of his hips. It’s a dance you both settle into that feels not only sexually intense, but emotionally connected like only lovers deeply in tune with each other experience.

“Touch us,” he says as his hand on your tummy reaches down to pull one of your hands to where you’re connected.

Your eyes squeeze shut as you feel his shaft moving in and out of your body.

“Fuck, H…”

“S’ hot, righ’?”

You gulp and nod as you fall back to your elbows. His hand stays where you’re connected, but his middle and ring finger go back to circling your clit.

“Come on baby, let’s cum…,” he says with his lips pressed to your back.  

You circle his arm with one hand and thread your fingers over his against the mattress as he begins to thrust in earnest.

The only sounds are your labored breathing as his hips never leave your body, his fucking is an intimate coupling of grinding and swirling.

“Babe, wha’ d’ya need, ‘cause I’m so close…so fuckin’ close…” he grits out.

“Me too! Me too!,” you cry out, “Just need you to cum with me, don’t wanna cum without you!”

“Jesus Jezebel…Jesus, fuck’ sake… Cumming! Cumming! Errrrr…..Hah, Hah, Hah…,” he groans loudly holding still deep inside.

“H! ohgodohgodohgodohgod!” you chant as your back arches and your body spasms from head to toe. Your fists pull up the duvet to your mouth as you bite down and groan loudly into the fabric.

Your elbows buckle with his weight and his arms encircle your waist to hold you up and close to him.

“I’ve got ya,” he pants out, breathe warm on your neck. You’re both still breathing hard but he can’t help but press wet kisses to your neck as you come down.

“Mmmm…” you moan out into the duvet.

“‘M gon’ let ya go, yeah?”

You nod.

“Jus’ stay righ’ here an’ I’ll get us cleaned up,” he says as he moves off of the bed.

You collapse to the bed and close your eyes, your mind reliving the sex you just had. You smile, fingers gripping the duvet. You can still feel him inside you if you think about it and you’re not sure you’ll ever get tired of that feeling.

He comes back into the bedroom and sees you laying there so beautiful and smiling. “Wha’ ya smilin’ abou’, Jezebel?”

“Jus thinking about what we just did,” you say giggling.

He smirks as he comes up behind you. “Lift up fo’ me a little.”

You lift your hips and he gently cleans you up with a washcloth.

He gets up to drop the washcloth in the hamper and comes back to the bed and crawls in next to you.

You roll over so you’re on your side and he snuggles in close to you, his hand on your hip.

“Did ya like it?” He rasps.

You pull your head back from his neck and meet his eyes. “I fucking loved it.”

He laughs his breathy little laugh and you giggle.

“It’s always so damn good with you…I just…I can’t get enough.”

His fingers slide up and down the skin of your sides from your armpit to the outside of your thigh. “Can’ get enough of ya either, Jezebel. Jesus…’m addicted to ya. Wan’ ya all the damn time,” he says puffing out a breath.

“I just…is it supposed to be like this? Are we supposed to still be…”

He kisses you quickly. “Wha’? Fuckin’ all the time?”

You giggle. “Well…I mean, yeah I guess.” You run your fingers back through his hair and you watch as his eyes flutter closed.

“I dunno abou’ everyone else, Jezebel. I jus’ know I wan’ ya all the time an’ imma keep fuckin’ ya as long as ya wan’ me ta,” he rasps against your lips.

“Mmmm…can’t imagine a day when I won’t want you.”

“C’mere,” he says, pressing a kiss to your lips.

You sigh as his soft lips cover yours and when he darts his tongue out to take the kiss deeper you open your mouth and dart your tongue out to meet his. “Mmmm…” you moan into the kiss and he sucks your tongue in his mouth.

“I love ya, Lily Rose.”

“I love you, Harry Styles.”

You both smile at each other.

“Ya wanna try an’ get a little sleep?”

You nod your head yes and he presses another series of kisses to your mouth before rolling over and letting you snuggle up next to him.

****4 hours later****

You hear your phone ring and you slowly pull yourself from a deep sleep. Harry is fast asleep next to you, arm curled around your waist. You pick up your phone and look at the time…4:37 am. You see Ron calling and you slide the bar to answer the call.

“Hello?” You say quietly as you slip out of bed and make your way to the living room.

“Lily?! It’s Ron. I’m s’sorry ta wake ya bu’…it’s Helen…” he trails off, his voice breaking.

You’re wide awake now. “What’s happening? Is she ok?”

“She’s in hospital. She…she couldn’t breathe so the ambulance came an’ go’ her an’ I jus’…I don’ know wha’ to do or who ta call an I knew you’d want’ ta know.” He’s nearly crying, you can tell.

“Did the doctor say what was wrong?”

“It’s pneumonia. They’re concerned…”

“Oh Ron, she’s gonna be ok!”

“I hope so, sweet girl. I can’t imagine life without her,” he says, tears falling down his cheeks.

“It’s early here and I need a while but I’m gonna get a flight there.” You close your eyes and let the tears fall.

“No, Lily ya don’ need ta do tha’.”

“Yes, I do! I need to be there with you. I’ll text you when I’m close to Cornwall.”

“Ok, ok, Helen will be s’happy ta see ya,” he says, choking up.

“Tell her I’m on my way and that I love her.”

“I will. We love ya, sweet girl. See ya soon.”

“See you soon,” you say hitting end and turning around, you see Harry in the doorway rubbing his eyes.

“Wha’s goin’ on? Everythin’ ok?”

You shake your head no as the tears fall down your face.

He rushes to you and pulls you into his arms. “Hey, wha’s goin’ on, ma love?”

“It’s Helen. She’s in hospital and they’re not sure she’s gonna make it. I have to go…I have to be there for her, but I hate leaving you.”

He sighs. “I hate ya leavin’ me ta, bu’ I know ya gotta go,” he says, pushing your hair behind your ears. “I’ll get a plane fo’ ya,” he says, smiling sadly.

“I hate this so much,” you say, snuggling into his chest.

“Hate it too. Will ya promise ta hurry back ta me as soon as ya can?”

“I promise.”

“C’mon, le’ me make some calls while ya pack an’ then we’ll cuddle until ya leave, yeah?”

“Ok.” You’re worried about Helen but trying not to think about being without Harry.

You pack only what you think you’ll need as he makes all of the flight arrangements. He comes back in the bedroom just as your zipping your overnight bag.

“Flight leaves at 7. Tha’s the best they can do on short notice. Cal’ll be here at 6:30 ta get ya.”

“Thank you,” you say as a tear drops from your eye. You look at the clock and see it’s just gone 5:00 am. “Can I have that cuddle now?”

He crosses the room and steps in front of you. “C’mon, get in bed.”

You slide in and he slides in next to you.

“‘M gonna miss ya.”

Your tears fall in earnest now. “Gonna miss you too. When are you leaving for Chicago now?”

He sighs, and pulls you close to him, soaking up the feel of your body close to his. “Gon’ leave as soon as they get another plane fo’ me.”

“Harry…I…” You’re worried about Helen, of course you are, but right now in this very moment, you desperately wish you didn’t have to leave him. It’s selfish but it’s also your truth.

“Listen, I know wha’ ya thinkin’ Jezebel. No’ wantin’ ta go doesn’t mean ya love her any less.”

You move your head back so you can look into his eyes and smile a sad smile. “Stop reading my mind, Styles.”

He chuckles. “Can hear ya wheels turnin’. Know ya an’ know wha’ ya thinkin’ as if you’d said it aloud.”

You kiss his mouth and just breathe him in and that’s all the invitation he needs to kiss you, really kiss you.

His kisses start off slow and soft, just enjoying the way your lips feel against his. When you slide your hands down his back to his bum and pull him closer to you, he stops, mouth open and looks into your eyes.

Your hands slide under the band of his briefs and your fingernails scrape against his skin.

His hands slide to your face and then he’s pressing desperate kisses to your lips, and then he darts his tongue out wanting more.

You moan against his lips and then he rolls over on top of you, your legs a perfect cradle for him and then his tongue is in your mouth and his hands slide up your shirt to cup your breasts, thumbs swiping at your nipples. And he kisses you. He just kisses you until you’re both panting. He pulls back, his forehead against yours, mouth open, breathing hard and then you feel the tear hit your face.

Your hands card into his curls. “No, please don’t cry, baby. I’ll be back as soon as I can,” you soothe as as tears leak out your own eyes.

“Know ya will. ‘M jus’ gon’ miss ya is all,” he says, voice reedy.

“I’m gonna miss you so fucking much, fuck!” You cry out as he kisses down your neck, greedily sucking your skin in his mouth. Your hands grapple at his shoulders and you can’t get him close enough. “Can’t…you’re not…need you closer,” you grunt out, frustrated.

He kisses across your sternum. “I need ya, Jezebel. Ya gon’ lemme take ya again befo’ ya gotta go?” He asks, pulling your T shirt down to suck a nipple in his mouth.

“Yes! Ungh! Yes, please!” You cry out as he bites down on your nipple.

“Fuck!” He says tugging at your T shirt. “Gotta…fuck…get ya undressed fo’ me,” he grunts out.

You’re not sure you’ve ever seen him quite like this - he’s like a man possessed. You sit up slightly and tug your shirt off and then you work together to wiggle your leggings down and off.

His hands tug his briefs down and he kicks them off before moving back over you and kissing you, hard, his hands pushing your hair back off of your forehead.

“Ya’ll come back ta me as soon as ya can, won’ ya?”

Your hands tighten on his back. “Yes!”

His fingers move slowly down your face and to your lips.

You open your mouth and the tips of his fingers pet your tongue and you close your mouth around his fingers.

He removes his fingers from your mouth and he slides them down your body to your entrance.

Your back arches as he slides his middle and ring finger inside you and your eyes flutter closes as his long fingers stroke your walls.

His thumb swipes your clit as he curls his fingers to stroke your g spot. “Wan’ ya ta get close an’ float fo’ me, can ya do tha’?”

You nod your head, licking your lips.

He smiles and kisses you quickly, all the time slowly pulsing his fingers and swiping his thumb across your swollen clit. He watches your mouth open and your eyelids flutter. “Ya close, Jezebel?”

“Mmmm…yes…”

He pulses his fingers a little faster and you grip his shoulder.

“Ohhhh…just there…mmmm…yes,” you breathe out, smiling.

“Hang here fo’ a bit, my sweet Jezebel. Hang here an’ lemme enjoy watchin’ ya befo’ I take ya, yeah?”

“Mmmm…I like watching you too, H…look so good….ohhhh…so good when you cum…ahhhh…slow, go slow…mmmm…gonna cum…”

“Hold it fo’ me, baby. Wanna feel ya cum on me. Can ya hold it?”

You nod your head and grimace as he pulls his fingers from you.

He pulls back and pushes your legs out and open before leaning down to place a kiss to your clit. He glances at the clock, sighs, and slides your legs into the crooks of his elbows and kisses back up to your waiting mouth. “Put me in, Jezebel.”

You move your hand to grasp his cock and place him at your entrance.

He pushes his hips forward and you gasp as he fills you and stills. “Rub ya clit. Wan’ ya ta cum right now.”

Your fingers circle your clit and you inhale sharply. You’re so wound up and you know it won’t take long.

“Can feel ya squeezin’ me. Can tell ya close. Cum fo’ me, Jezebel.”

“Ahhhh….ohhhh…hahhh…cumming, I’m cumming!” You cry out as everything goes white.

He’s smiling as you come back to him. “Good girl…fuck, my good girl…did s’good fo’ me.”

Your head plows back into the pillow, your orgasm still running through your body in soft waves. Your arms circle his neck and pull him close to you. “You feel so good inside me, Harry. You always feel so good. Make love to me, please. Show me how much you love me,” you whisper against his lips.

“I love ya s’much an’ I’ll show ya,” he rasps. He starts to thrust slowly, grinding into you in each thrust in. It’s slow and deep and full of connection. Each thrust tells you how much he loves you and how much he’ll miss you.

“Harry…”

“I know, baby. I know. S’good yeah?”

“Yes! I love you!”

“Love ya too, baby,” he says kissing you softly. “Gon’ cum fo’ me? Need ya ta cum fo’ me,” he whispers against your lips, tongue darting out to lick your lip.

Your hands move up his neck to his curls and you lick your lips. “Gonna cum for you. Only for you!” You say, closing your eyes as your orgasm explodes through your body.

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

You open your eyes just in time to see him cum and it’s such a beautiful sight.

He buries his face in your neck, breath warm against your skin. “I love ya. Love ya s’much.”

You’re both silently solemn as he cleans you up, kissing you in tender places and offering soft reassuring smiles in every effort to make the moment not feel so empty. It’s one thing for Helen to be ill, and him be unable to make the trek to be by her side because of work, but another completely to add the fact that he’s sending the love of his life and the bearer of his heart off to handle it alone. You both try and wear the bravest smiles to help the other through the situation.

“Am I completely pathetic for being this sad to be leaving you?” You ask with a whisper as you tie your Vans.

“’F ya are, then tha’ makes me pathe’ic too, because ‘m fuckin’ dreadin’ this,” he says pulling on an off-white hoodie and digging out a pair of Adidas basketball shorts.

“Wait, what are you doing…why are you getting dressed?”

“Because ‘m ridin’ wi’ ya ta the airport…”

“Harry, don’t be ridiculous, you could get seen! I’ll be fine.”

“Don’ give a fuck abou’ bein’ seen, I’ll cover up, baby, need ta see ya ge’ on tha plane…please, don’ figh’ me on this,” he says pulling his favorite royal blue baseball cap and covering it with the hood of the hoodie.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’m not gonna fight you on this, I want you with me as long as I can have you,” you say closing your eyes and nibbling you finger.

“Don’ bite ya fingers, baby,” he says cupping your cheeks and kissing your forehead. His phone dings with a notification that Cal is in the parking garage waiting. He grabs your overnight bag, your purse, swings them over his shoulder and reaches his hand out for yours.

You place your hand in his and let him lead you to the car. You’re trying not to cry but the tears are sliding slowly down your cheeks.

“Morning, Lily, Harry,” Cal says as you approach the car.

“Hi Cal,” you say softly as he opens the door and you slide into the Range Rover.

Harry slides in next to you and as soon as the door closes he grabs your face and starts kissing you. “Can I (kiss) jus’ kiss ya (kiss) until ya leave me (kiss)?”

“Mmmm…yes,” you breathe out, returning his kisses.

Cal smiles as he catches a glimpse of your kisses in his rear-view mirror.

His hand is on your neck, thumb rubbing your skin as he presses kiss after soft kiss to your lips.

By the time Cal turns the car into the airport, your lips are swollen but you can’t stop kissing him. You pull back long enough to see planes and you know you’re at the airport. “No, no, no,” you mumble as you lean back in for more of his mouth.

The car comes to a stop and he pulls back pressing his forehead to yours. “I’ll miss ya every second, Jezebel. Call me as soon as ya land, yeah?”

You can’t help the tears that fall down your face. “I’ll miss you more, but yes I’ll call you.”

“I love ya, Lily. Hurry back ta me.”

You cover his hands with yours. “I love you. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He sighs as Cal opens the door and steps out of the car, grabbing your hand and pulling you out. He pulls you in for a tight hug, gripping you to him tightly. He lets you go and you wipe the tears from his eyes.

“Bye,” you choke out.

He nods and then you kiss him quickly before turning and walking to the steps of the plane. You turn around for one last look and he kisses his hand and blows you over last kiss.

You lift your foot to step up on the first step, when you hear, “Jezebel!” Turning around swiftly you stumble slightly then get your bearings about you as you see Harry opening the door to the car. You sigh out a sob and run back to jump into his arms.

Squeezing you tight he gently lets you slide down his chest before he mutters, “Take this wi’ ya.” He reaches behind his neck and unhooks the clasp to his cross and banana necklace.

“No, H, I have my ring on my neck…this is…,” you whimper shaking your head.

“Jus’ wear this as well…do it fo’ me, please?” he pleads softly hooking the clasp around your neck. “Jus’ need ta ‘no it’s on ya…”

You place your hand tightly over it on your chest and search his eyes. You can see by the look in his eyes this means a lot to him, so you nod your head and tip your toes up to give him a last kiss.

“Now, go…be careful an’ kiss Helen fo’ me.”

You nod with a watery smile. “I love you.”

“I love ya ta…go, love…,” he says patting your bum.

For whatever reason you feel slightly calmer about boarding the plane and settling in. Looking out the window you watch as he drives away, missing him already.

Buckled in you ready for the flight and take a moment to think about what the next twenty-four hours will entail. You send a message off to Ron to let him know you’re on your way and what time you’re scheduled to arrive. He replies with the address of St. Austell Community Hospital and Helen’s room number. He’s made arrangements for Marcy’s son, Ben, to drop off the Range Rover Harry keeps there for you at the airport and apologizes that he won’t be there to pick you up himself. Your heart breaks just a little for the concern he must be feeling, Helen is his heart and soul. You message to assure him that you’ll be fine and not to worry about you. Plugging the phone in and connecting your headphones, you wrap up in a blanket and attempt to get some sleep.

Despite your sadness over leaving Harry and your concern about Helen, you let the flight lull you into a deep sleep. You’re only awoken when you hear the captain over the speaker advising that you’re making the initial descent into the airport. You sit up and gently rub your eyes and pull your hair into a messy bun. You move from the bedroom to the cabin and seatbelt up for arrival.

The plane lands and the flight attendant helps you off of the plane. You thank the crew for the flight and apologize for the short notice. You see the Range Rover and make your way to the car and sure enough the keys are in the ignition just like Ron said they would be. You drop your overnight bag in the front seat and type out a quick text to let Harry know you landed safely. You want to call and hear his voice but you’re afraid it would make you miss him even more. You put the address for the hospital in car navigation and start the car. Jesus, it feels weird to drive, you think. You try to think about the last time you were behind the wheel of a car and you can’t. Either Harry drives you or you have a driver. You’re a little stunned at this realization and you sit back against the seat for a minute. I can do this, you think. It’s been a while, but I can do this. You slowly back out of the parking space and carefully make your way to the hospital.

You park the car and go into the hospital and to the room number Ron gave you but it’s empty. What the hell?

Just then, a nurse walks by and tells you that Helen has been moved to the ICU.

The ICU?! She gives you directions and you walk quickly to the elevator, wondering what could’ve happened while you were traveling.

You step off of the elevator and ask the nurse at the desk and she escorts you to Helen’s room. You step in the door breathless and Ron looks up. “Lily! Thank god you’re here, my sweet girl,” he says, tears falling down his cheeks as he pulls you into a tight hug.

You hug him back but look over to Helen in the hospital bed and there are tubes everywhere. “What happened? Why is she in the ICU?”

Ron wipes his eyes and looks at Helen before going to sit in the chair by her bed, taking her hand. “A few hours ago she was havin’ trouble breathin’ on her own so they moved her up here an’ put her on a vent. I’m sorry I didn’t text ya…I jus’ forgot.”

“Jesus, it’s ok,” you tell him sitting in the chair on the other side of the bed.

“She’s here, Helen. Our sweet girl is here,” Ron says, tears streaming.

You take Helen’s hand in your own. “I’m here…I’m here,” you tell her and realize you won’t be going home to Harry tomorrow.

Over the next couple of hours you help care for Helen in ways you would your own mother. Brushing her hair, you rub lotion on her hands, arms and feet. Her poor small legs are bound in inflating wraps to keep her circulation up. You help bend her knees back and forth to keep the joints loose and hum, “You Are My Sunshine,” the entire time. Everything feels so second nature and you’re just following what feels like needs to be done to make this easier. You look over to Ron who is slumped over in the vinyl hospital “recliner” snoring lightly. Poor thing has finally relaxed enough to rest. Thank god. Heaven knows you are gonna need his strength later, because this process, although so natural, is breaking your heart. You love this sweet lady as much as any other mother figure you’ve ever known and anything you could do to make her better this very instant you would do.

All the while nurses are in and out monitoring her vitals, the machines and watching her IV fluids. Before Ron fell asleep he mentioned that in twenty-four hours they’ll re-scan her lungs to see if they are clearer and determine just how well the treatments are working. The next twenty-four hours are going to be critical and much would be up to Helen’s own fight.

You stroke her hair and watch the jerk of the tube running from her mouth as it pushes air into her lungs. Lying your head next to the pillow close to her ear, “Helen, Mum, ya gotta fight to breathe, kay? I need you to fight to be here, with me…with Harry…and, god knows, to be with Ron…he’d be lost without you.  I…I…I would be so lost without you. I need you in my life, we ALL need you,” you raise your tear-stained face to look at her with her eyes gently taped shut, “I know you have the fight of a lifetime on your shoulders right now, but I believe in you. So, you fight this with everything you have and come back to us…I love you so very much, come back to me Mumma.” You feel a hand stroke the back of your head and turn to see a very awake Ron just as he leans over to kiss the top of your head.  

“Thank you, baby girl…thank you for lovin’ my ‘Elen so much…you need to know how very much we love you sweetheart and that boy of ours, Harry too. Life brings people to you at the perfect time and you are ours now and nothin’ will change that, understand?”

“I understand,” you sob standing to hug him tightly.

Stepping back to you run your hand up and down his upper arm. “What can I do for YOU now, Ron? Have you eaten? Can I please go get you some proper food?”

“Marcy called and said she’s sending Ben over after the lunch rush with some of her Shepard’s Pie,” he cups his hand to the side of his mouth, “it ain’t nothin’ like ‘Elen’s, but it’ll do. Thank you for offering.” He stops to think for a second, “Lily, there is something you could do that would really help me out. Could you run back to the blue cottage and check on Bennett and Thomasina? Their food is on the wooden box on the back deck,” he says scratching the side of his whiskered chin. “Have you talked to Harry, yet?” You shake your head and he wags his finger, “Hon, you need to call that boy and let him know you are safe, yeah? You gonna be okay gettin’ around on your own? Should I get someone to drive you?”

“No way, Ron. I’m gonna be just fine. And I would be happy to go check on the animals. Anything else that needs to be done at the blue cottage?” you ask.

“Nah, ‘Elen will hate you seeing it cluttered, but we kind of left in a hurry,” he says with a frown.

“I’m not the least bit worried about that.”

“Anything I need to bring back for you?”

“Nah, I’m fine…I’m not leaving her side though.”

You offer an understanding expression, after all, if it were H, you wouldn’t leave his side either.

You make your way to the blue cottage, smiling with a longing sensation as you drive past the pink cottage. Bennett comes running to the car, jumping up and down with excitement and you feel his ability to sense something is going on. Opening the car door, you step out and immediately bend down to love on Bennett.  “Hey boy, how you doin’, hmm? You good? Mumma isn’t feelin’ too good right now, but she’ll be back soon, I promise. You been watchin’ the cottage, buddy? Mwah,” you kiss his nose, “You’re such a good boy…ya hungry, hmm? Let’s go get ya some fresh food and water.” You stand to walk away and he whimpers and follows. You bend down to pet him one more time, “It’s ok, buddy…I miss you too. How is your sister, hmm? How’s Thomasina? I’ll be back in a minute, I just need to check on ‘Sina, Ok? Go on to the back and I’ll meet you back there…go on..go,” you say pointing in the direction of the back of the house. Bennett takes off toward the back deck as you walk the rest of the way to the blue door. Opening the door, you call out, “Thomasina! Here kitty, kitty…where’s my favorite putty-tat?” You hear her meow before you see her and she comes down off the back of the sofa where she’s been looking out the front window. It’s as if the pets are just waiting for their Mumma and Papa to come home. She walks up and immediately starts rubbing her body along your leg while you get the door closed. You pick her up and offer you best kitty kisses, “Hey beautiful girl, how are you? You lookin’ for Mumma and Papa, hmm? Aww, such a good kitty. I’m gonna get you some fresh food and water and take care of your litter, kay?” You scratch behind her ears and whisper, “And if you’re good, I’ll give you a saucer of milk too, hmm, would you like that?” Thomasina meows and begins to purr, then decides she’s had enough and jumps down heading toward the kitchen.

After taking care of the animal chores, you take a moment to look around and decide to help tidy up. You get the morning dishes that were left washed, rinsed, dried and put away. Find a basket of dishtowels ready to be folded on the dining room table so you fold and put them away. Straightening the pillows on sofa, you spot a picture of you and Harry framed on the mantel. It was taken the night Harry asked you to marry him. Unshed tears form in your eyes as you remember that night so clearly and how excited you were to share the moment with Helen and Ron. They really are like the Mumma and Papa you never had the opportunity to have. You take a minute to sit in Helen’s rocking recliner, her basket of crochet with a beautiful blue and yellow project going. Looks like a blanket.

You pull your phone from your back pocket and see two missed calls from Harry. Shit, probably should’ve called him before you started on the animals, but you just wanted to get the chores done before taking a bit of a break to talk to him. Speed dialing the number he picks up before the end of the second ring.

“Baby? Ya doin’ ok?” he answers.

“Oh, I’m fine, sorry I didn’t call sooner… god, you sound so g..g…goooddd…” you trail off, before the tears start rolling and the hiccup of a sob comes barreling out.

“Lily, baby…is everythin’ ok, ma love? Are ya ok?” he says both soothing and concerned.

Sniffling and taking a deep breath, you reach for a tissue and blow your nose, without even making an effort to pull the phone away.  It feels like if you pull the phone away, Harry won’t be near and at the moment, you just want him to be as close as possible.

“Talk ta me, swee’eart. How’s Helen?” he says softly.

You give him an update on how she’s doing and relay what the doctors have said about her prognosis. It’s a difficult task because the moment you heard his voice your brave face and courage melted away as you lean into him looking for comfort.

“Babe, ‘s gonna be alrigh’...please don’ worry.” He pulls the phone away in frustration and looks to the ceiling, “Fuck! Hate bein’ away from ya righ’ now. Listen, Helen is a strong lady an’ I jus’ feel like she’s gon’ be alrigh’. Bet Ron’s outta his mind,” he says putting himself in his shoes and trying not to imagine what it would be like to see you that ill.

“Yeah, once I got there he fell asleep in the hospital chair. I have a feeling he’s been losing a lot of sleep since she’s been sick even when they were home. I’m gonna go back after I drop off my bag at the pink cottage to see if I can get him tucked in for a little more sleep later. They’ll let him stay with her, but not me because I’m not family. Think I’ll grab one of Helen’s blankets for him while I’m here.”

“Tha’s a great idea, baby. Called this mornin’ an’ had a plant an’ some flowers sent.”

“Oh, that’s lovely Harry, I should do something as well.”

“Baby, signed it fo’ both of us…Lily, listen ta me, it’s me an’ you in this life tagether, yeah…we do thin’s tagether now, kay?”

You look to the picture on the mantel as a tear slips down your cheek. “Yeah…thank you…so thoughtful. I love you, H, and as much as I don’t wanna say how much I miss you because I don’t want you to feel bad about not being able to be here…I really, really miss you.”

He sighs loudly. “I know, Jezebel an’ ‘m sorry. I wish I could be there wi’ ya. Miss ya s’damn much,” he sighs again, hand running back through his hair. “Didn’t thin’ she was tha’ sick. Though’ ya’d be comin’ back ta me soon or I would’ve come with.”

Tears fall freely down your cheeks. “It’s way worse than I thought. They’re hoping to take her off the machine tomorrow so we’ll see. I know you’d be here if you could.”

“I’d bet-tah let ya go s’ys can get back. Jus’ know I love ya an’ I miss ya…an’ ‘m here fo’ ya whaever ya need me.”

You smile sadly. “I know baby and I love you for it.”

“I love ya, ma Jezebel. Don’ ever forget it.”

“I love you too. So much.”

“Bye baby. Call me an’ let me know how it’s goin’.”

“Ok, I will. I love you. Bye,” you say softly, hanging up. You let the tears flow freely and just let yourself miss him. You smile as Thomasina jumps up and settles in your lap, purring as you run your hand down her back. As much as you love your life, you can’t deny you miss having animals. You pet her and let her soothe you. Bennett comes and sits by your side and you run your hand over his head. When she feels like she’s done her job, she jumps back down and goes back to her lookout on the couch. “Ok guys, I’m heading out but I’ll be back. Love you both.” They both blink at you and you shut the door and head out.

You make your way through the maze at hospital and to the ICU. When you get to the room, you smell something wonderful and see a dark haired man in the room with Ron emptying bags of food.

“Lily! Ya jus’ in time! This is Ben, Marcy’s son.”

You smile and take out his offerred hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m happy to finally meet ya. I’ve seen ya ‘round the cafe bu’ we’ve never been properly introduced. I’ve brought dinner. Hope you like shepherds pie.”

“I love it!”

“Great! Come sit an’ I’ll serve ya up proper like.”

“Ya’ll stay an’ join us won’ ya, Ben?” Ron says hopefully.

He smiles and says, “jus’ lemme text mum an’ let her know.”

Ron smiles and squeezes your hand. Ben finishes his text and passes out the to go containers. He passes each of  you a small bakery box. “My mum’s special chocolate coconut caramel pie. It’s famous ‘round here.”

“Oh aye,” Ron says. “Ya’re in fo’ a proper treat, Miss Lily.”

“We’ll I can’t wait to try it.” You take a bite of the shepherds pie and you take five bites quickly in succession. “I’m sorry,” you say, pulling back and taking a drink of water. “I didn’t realize how hungry I was!”

“Ya haven’t eaten all day, have ya?” Ron asks.

You shake your head no as you eat another bite.

“Go on then. We can talk later.”

You nod and you all focus on your food. Ben passes each of you a piece of buttered crusty bread and you sigh. Everything is so good. You’ve all scraped the bottom of the containers and sopped up the sauce with the bread and Ben holds out his hand for the containers and places them in the trash can.

“That was so good, Ben. Please tell Marcy thank you,” you say, rubbing your tummy.

“Was my pleasure.”

“I’m gonna go an’ get us coffee from the cafeteria an’ check in with the doctor. You kids stay and get ta know each other,” Ron says getting up.

You and Ben make small talk and you tell him how much you love Marcy and the cafe and Cornwall. He asks you about where you’re from…your muddled accent confuses everyone, it seems.

Ron comes back in the room and he’s positively beaming as he hands you your tea and Ben his coffee. “I jus’ talked ta the doctor an’ they’re gonna take Helen off of the machine tomorrow mornin’!”

“That’s great news! Congrats!” Ben says.

Ron sits down next to you and you squeeze his hand. He pops open the container to his pie and holds his fork up. “Shall we?”

Ron and Ben are watching you as you take a bite.

Your eyes roll back in your head. “Oh my god…This is amazing! Why didn’t I know about this before?” You ask Ron.

He chuckles.

“So I can tell mum ya love it then?” Ben asks you.

“100 percent. I’ll be back for this pie.”

Ben beams. “Mum’ll be pleased ta hear it.”

You talk for a little bit longer as you finish up your pie until Ben says he needs to get back.

Ben leans down to kiss Helen’s cheek and tells her to get better soon and then he hugs both you and Ron goodbye.

You sit down next to Helen and tell her all about your stay in Austin - the good food, nice people, and wonderful shows.

At 8 pm, the nurse sends you home and you hug Ron goodbye, promising to come back tomorrow morning after checking on Bennett and Thomasina.

You kiss Helen goodbye and make your way carefully back to the pink cottage. You check your phone and realize it’s almost 3 am in Chicago - too late to call Harry. You sigh and type out a text message letting him know how it’s going. You’re so tired you can hardly keep your eyes open but manage to brush your teeth and take a quick shower. You find one of Harry’s worn T shirts in a drawer and slip into it and turn the fireplace on high and get under the covers. Your phone buzzes and your brows furrow as you check your phone and see a text from Harry.

Harry: glad you’re home safe. Keep me posted and send Ron and Helen all my love. I love you - H

You smile.

Lily: go back to bed rockstar. I love you very much.

You giggle as you see the three dots.

Harry: goodnight Jezebel. Wish I were there with you. Love you.

You sigh.

Lily: goodnight. Love you too.

You put your phone on the nightstand and snuggle into the duvet. You sigh and let sleep take you.

You wake after a fitful sleep. You thought you would sleep hard after such an eventful day, but it was a restless sleep without Harry. Your body is so accustomed to his warmth and this is the first time you’ve spent a night in the bed at the cottage without him. If you’re honest the emptiness of the house without him and knowing no one is close by in the blue cottage is disconcerting to say the least. You dress and head to the back door and almost trip over a curled up sleeping Bennett who apparently saw the porch light and decided to come watch over you. “Hey, boy,” you say leaning down to scratch his ears. “I’m gonna go check on Mumma, the doctor’s are working hard to make her better.”

When you arrive, you find Ron sitting on a bench outside the ICU unit. “Hey, Ron, whatcha doin’ out here?”

“Doctor’s are in with Helen removin’ the tube from her throat and lungs. They worked all night to step her down from the machine to get her takin’ in her own air. She’s done pretty good…she’s workin’ s’damn hard, I can just see it in her heart rate and blood pressure, she’s fightin’ this. I’m s’ proud of my girl.”

“That’s wonderful to hear! I know she’s a fighter,” you say putting your arm around his shoulders.

“Thank you s’much fo’ bein’ here, swee’heart,” Ron says pulling you kissing your temple. “Helen needed ya and, well, I don’ know wha’ I woulda done wi’out ya ‘ere.”

“I’m happy to be here, I wouldn’t be anywhere else in this situation, I love you both so much. You mean the world to me and Harry…but for me, well…you know my story…and…it’s just…I never had a proper mum and dad and I feel so close to you both, I…need you two,” you say looking down as you shyly fidget with the hem of your shirt.

“Speakin’ of Harry, he called earlier ta check in. He’s such a good boy, his mum raised him proper. I don’ know how he handles himself so well, bein’ s’popular…he sure didn’ hav’ ta take time outta his busy schedule ta call, bu’ I wasn’ at all surprised to hear from him. Lily, he’s good…you two are good fo’ each other.  A lot like ‘Elen an’ me.  Ya go’ tha’ special connection…we see it… any fool can see it. Tha way you handle things tagether…well, swee’heart…just…keep doin’ tha’ ‘cause tha’s how ya make love work, yeah? Ya be there fo’ each other and work tagether to build ya life around each other. When ya do tha’…build ya life tagether…nothin’ can tear ya apart, hear me?” Ron looks down at his wedding band and the little diamond wedding band he has on his pinkie. “‘Elen never takes this ring off, she’ll be fit ta be tied when she sees it’s off. Tha circle is never ending….”

“Just like your love, Pop,” you interrupt.

“Jus’ like our love, tha’s right. Never take this symbol fo’ granted,” he says holding his hand up, “It’s a symbol during the good, the bad, the hospital stays,” he says gesturing with his hand to their surroundings.

You sniffle and draw your hand up to your chest feeling the ring that hangs there. You eyes cast downward knowing that at some point this little bubble of privacy about the engagement is going to end and you’ll have to face the fact that there will be hateful comments when the news travels.

As if he could read your mind, Ron pipes up, “Don’ worry abou’ others when it comes to you an’ Harry, hear me, sweet girl, people are gonna say wha’ they are gonna say, bu’, darlin’, tha’ boy loves ya wi’ his whole heart…I see how he looks at ya an’ how he looks after ya. Was antsy on tha phone earlier, ta find out how ya were, if ya safe at the pink cottage alone, if ya restin’. He’s crazy abou’ ya…righ’fully so.”

“Thank you, Pop, for all you’ve done for us, for watching over us and the pink cottage…for…,” you clear your throat and clasp your hands in your lap, “f..f..for keepin’ our secrets without judgement.”

He looks hard at the top of your head before it dawns on him what you are talking about. “Err…well…ummm…we were young and in love once too,” he says with a slight smirk.  “Although ya never too old fo’ some thin’s…,” he murmurs to himself not intending for it to reach your ears.

“Are you good here, Pop?”

“Sure,” he says with a smile.

“I have an errand to run real quick…” you say standing.

“Sure, darlin’, anythin’ I can do?” Ron says standing next to you.

“I don’t think so, I just need to go visit Declan. It’s time I look into getting Harry something.”

He grins and kisses your forehead, “You go on, sweet girl, we’re doin’ fine. Take ya time.”

“Wha’ if som…”

“I have ya number an’ I promise ta message ‘f something happens, bu’ it won’, so go…” he says interrupting.

On the way to the car, you call Declan to see if he happens to be at his shop. Thankfully he answers and is there working on some custom orders. Perfect, you think to yourself, because that happens to be exactly what you want to talk to him about. Pulling into the parking space you stop and pull your ring off the chain on your neck and put it on your finger with a sentimental smile. Instinctively you pull your hand to your mouth and kiss the diamond. God, you miss Harry. He’s the sunshine and light in your life and being away from him is so difficult. Especially during an already difficult time. You pull the ring away and take a deep breath, “Here we go, let’s do this!” you say to yourself excitedly.

Reaching for the door handle on the back door of the shop, you watch it turn as Declan, opens it from the other side before you have a chance.

“Hey, Lily!” he says leaning down to kiss first one then the other of your cheeks.

“Hi Declan! How are you doing?”

“If I were any better, I’d be twins. How about you? Everything alright with your ring?” he asks with a furrowed brow as you step past him into the back of the shop where he has his equipment set up.

“Oh, Declan, it’s lovely, look! It’s perfect! I’m so very happy with it…with Harry.”

“That’s great, dear…He really had a hard time deciding until he saw this one and it was like a light when off on his face how much he lit up. He was positive this was the ring for you…the one!” he says gesturing for you to sit in a chair behind a glass top table.

“Well, he picked the perfect one.”

“And it is one, that’s the only one I made like that…he insisted on only looking at one of a kind pieces…”

Declan continues to talk as you look below to the glass cabinet where all types of beautiful jewelry pieces are neatly and thoughtfully displayed. Most of them obviously expensive. A vision flashes through your minds eye of glass cases with sliding doors. The smell of glass cleaner runs through your system. Your job as a child at your parent’s jewelry shop was to polish the glass cases. You fix your eyes on the glass in front of you and zone out as the memories flood through you.

“Lily?”

You miss his que and continue to look at the glass top with wide focused eyes.

“Lily? Dear, are you ok?” Declan asks and reaches across the glass to touch your arm.

You shake your head to clear the memories and blink your eyes rapidly, “Oh, goodness, I’m so sorry…I kinda zoned out there."

"Looked like ya saw a ghost.”

“No,” you say with a breathy nervous laugh, “It’s just my parent’s had a jewelry shop in Boston when I was young and this glass,” you say running your hand along the edge of the case, “brings back so many memories.”

“Hmm, Boston… that’s interesting, I once knew a really talented jeweler in Boston once, was from here, met a lovely lady, married and opened shop over there. He was incredibly good at what he did. Dealt with some beautiful antiques too,” he says as he fiddles with a notepad and fountain pen.

You sit back in your chair and sigh with wide eyes. “Declan, my dad was from Hampstead. They owned Laura’s Jewelry and Antiquities. Do you think…”

“Laura! Yes! That was the name of his lovely bride. He came to me to help design the ring he gave her.”

“Declan, this can’t be real,” you say in astonishment. “I think you knew my mum and dad. Here, I have a picture on my phone.” You say opening your phone to the stored photos and pulling up a picture of your parents with their arms around each other with big smiles standing in front of their dream, their jewelry shop.

“Yep, that’s Edward. Tall fella…and ya Mum was quite a catch. You look so much like her, yanno?  How are they?” he asks with a curious smile.

“Oh, Declan, they were murdered,” you say softly, “at the shop, for some of their merchandise. We weren’t supposed to be there and rather than leave witnesses…” you trail off.

“Jesus, Lily. I’m so terribly sorry to hear that. My god, I always wondered what happened to Ed. Did they get the bastards responsible?”

“Well, no…I mean… yes, but not for years,” you say looking down. You share with him the story of the murder and the delayed justice as he looks on in awe.

“Oh my god, Lily, I am so very sorry that you had to go through that. That Ed and Laura’s life ended that way…they were so in love. Ed was mad about your mum. A stoic man turned soft as jelly over her. Ya know…?...,” he trails off looking in the direction of a filing cabinet behind him. “I might have the design we did for ya mum’s wedding ring. Do you have it?”

“No, I don’t,” you say with a sad expression, “somewhere along the way, the ring was lost.”

Declan rolls is chair over to the filing cabinet and opens the second the last drawer and begins flitting through the files, “Rose…here it is.”

You shake your head with astonishment and hold your breath as he sets the file down and opens the front sleeve. He thumbs through the papers and pull out a yellow legal pad page of what looks like doodles. “Here we go… he brought this in for us to work from.”

An unexpected sob escapes as you take the yellow page. My father held this paper. These are his ideas. His dreams doodled on a page while he thought of his love. His heart is on this page. His hands held touched the edges of this paper. A shock of electricity…an intense feeling of warmth shoots through your body from your fingers to your toes. “I c…c…can’t b…b…believe this.”

“Small world right? Would you like to have that?” he says as he cards back through the other papers, “I think I have…here…here is the final design.  Would you like to have those?”

“May I? Really?” you ask while wiping the tear that runs down to your mouth.

“Of course! It’s his ideas, it was his design, I just helped keep it a secret and gave him a spot to work on it without Laura, er, your mum, knowing what he was working on.”

“Thank you so much…I…I…I’m so grateful.  I’m shocked, like I’ve never been shocked before.  I mean, you…really? You…”

“Of all the jewelers…I’m kinda shocked myself.” Declan says with raised eyebrows.

“You…you designed my ring AND helped on my mum…I’m just…,” you close your eyes and shake your head, “I’m sorry, Declan, I’m just amazed and so…”

“Yeah, yeah…I designed your ring and worked on your mum’s too,” he says nodding his head.

Suddenly, your phone rings. You just can’t stop staring at the papers before you as his rings and rings. Startled out of the moment by the ringing, you look at the face of the phone.  It’s a number you don’t recognize, but you know it’s a Boston area code. Pressing the side button, you send the call to voicemail and decide to deal with that later.

“So, what brings you to see me today, Miss Lily, other than fate?” Declan asks with a knowing smile.

“Well, thank god for fate, that’s for sure. But I’m here to see about something for Harry, specifically his wedding band.”

“Oh really!” Declan says clapping his hands together as he sits back in his big office chair. “So, have you set a date then!”

“No, we haven’t even officially announced, it’s just that now, while he’s not here, seems like the time to talk to you about it,” you say tucking the papers gently into your handbag.

“What would you like to do?” Declan says pushing the notepad and pen your way.

“I’m thinking I would like a gold band, something with beveled edges like my engagement ring…maybe with a diamond in the middle…something thick and sturdy, like his H and S rings. I think it would be nice to have a lily flower engraved on one side, kinda like this…” you say doodling away on the paper.

“Yeah, how about we shape it like this and wrap it around the stone this way…”

“Oh, I love that Declan.”

“And I thought I would like to have a rose on the other side…like this…”

“Oh that’s good, I could intertwine the stems like this…and I could even put a tiny H and L delicately on this side…to look this way…,” he says drawing a beautiful rendition of your thoughts.

“My god you are so talented…that’s just beautiful.”

“Yeah, I know Harry’s style and I can put something really nice together for him. Do you want an inscription.

“Yes, ‘I love you always, Jezebel’. Is that too long?” you ask with a hopeful expression.

“No, I can do that no problem.  Let’s look at some fonts and see what you think he would like.”

You spend a couple of minutes finishing up the final design and making arrangements to forward him payment from your personal account. You hug Declan, thanking him for everything and walk to your car with a giddy happiness. Crawling into the driver’s seat you stop to send Harry a message.

Lily: Know you are busy, baby, but I just needed to tell you I love you.

You dig for the keys when you hear the ding.

Harry: never too busy for you. I love you too

You alright?

Lily: I’m great actually. They’re taking Helen off the vent.

Harry: that’s fantastic news! I miss you. I’m a bastard for asking this, but does that mean you are coming home to me?

Lily: Not right now, baby. ☹ I’m sorry…think I better stay until she’s ready to come home.

Harry: hate it. But I understand. Just take care of yourself. Please. love you so much

Lily: I love you so much. Miss you so much.

Harry: Call me tonight?

Lily: As soon as I get home. May be really early for you.

Harry: doesn’t matter. Need to hear you

Lily: Need to hear you too. I gotta get going, talk to you later. I love you.

Harry: I love you

Starting the car, you head to the hospital. The rest of the day and into the next passes in a blur of tests, respiratory therapy and, thankfully, a move from the ICU to a step-down critical care unit on another floor. Helen is sitting up taller in her bed, and although raspy and with an occasional cough is talking. You occasionally have to remind her not to talk too much because it tends to cause a coughing fit and, although good for her lungs, it sure takes a lot of energy and effort out of her. You feel your level of personal anguish and worry about her subsiding as you see her getting better and better with the passing hours. In many ways it was less hectic in the ICU room because now it seems she’s getting visitor after visitor. Thankfully, they’re respectful enough to not stay long or pry for too much information. Ron finally breaks down and leaves to go home and get a shower and a change of clothes. Helen is resting well so you decide to read a little in the hospital chair while it’s finally quiet.

A couple of hours later Ron pushes the door open with a big bouquet of red roses and to find his two girls fast asleep. One in the bed getting the rest she needs to recoup, and his Lily girl curled awkwardly in the hospital chair with her phone upside down in her lap. What in the world would he have done without her this week. She reminds him so much of Helen…sweet, thoughtful, yet a feisty little fighter. He’s thankful for that fighting spirit because he suspects that can’t be easy to be in a relationship with someone as popular in the world as Harry. He sets the roses down just as he reaches his beloved’s side. Leaning down to kiss her cheek she shifts awake. “Aww, I didn’t mean to wake ya sweetheart,” he says with a soft smile.

“Ronnie, oh Ronnie…” Helen says reaching up to his cheek.

“Shh…baby,” he says putting his finger to his mouth. Pointing to Lily he says, “Look.”

“Aww…Ronnie, look at that baby.”

“Out cold…she’s not left your side other than to go get me food or to take care of Bennett and ‘Sina.”

A tear slides down Helen’s cheek, “That sweet girl…I love her so much. I can’t believe she came here.”

“Babe, she loves you so much, has been worried sick…she’s been callin’ ya Mum, how do you feel about that?”

Another tear slides down, “I feel…honored.”

Ron smiles and wipes the tear from Helen’s cheek. “She’s our girl, honey…she and Harry…they’re our kids and I’m so proud of them.  I love you so much ‘Elen. And baby, please, if you need a vacation away from home, next time just ask, this was a little extreme, doncha think?” he teases with a glittering smile.

“Pshah…this was no vacation, Mr. Chapman,” she says with grimace and an attempt to sit up taller in the bed. “But, I will say this, my love, I’m always up for some time away with you, handsome.”

“I guess as soon as you are back to 100 percent, we’ll hafta do something about that, kay?”

Helen smooths his cheek, “I would love that Mr. Chapman, I would just love that…”

The door creeks and a nurse comes in to take Helen’s vitals. The commotion wakes you and you stretch your neck that was laid in an awkward position. “Ouch…” you whisper with a frown as you straighten your legs and stretch your arms. You look up to find Ron and Helen in an intimate conversation as the nurse sets up to change out an IV bag. “Hey you two lovers. Pop, careful you’ll increase her heart rate and then you’ll be in real trouble,” you quip secretly enjoying seeing them smiling and happy. Ron steps back and holds up his hands in surrender and Helen’s giggle turns into a cough.

“Easy Mum,” you say looking on with concern.

“Oh, darlin’, I’ll be fine. I’d be much better if you would go on home and get something proper to eat and get to bed early. Between the time difference and hours you’ve been keeping here, I’m worried about you getting enough rest,” Helen says with Ron looking on and shaking his head.

“I’m good, I’m just so relieved that you’re doing better.”

“Lily, honey, I do have something you could do for me, if you wouldn’t mind,” Helen says thoughtfully.

You stand and step to the foot of her bed, “Anything,” you offer wide-eyed.

“Could you please go to the pink cottage and rest? Go get something to eat, and just rest for me, please.”

Looking down at the end of the bed you smile and concede that you are, in fact, longing for a hot bath and a call with Harry. Although he responds to your messages, you know he’s been in meetings all day sorting some rescheduled dates for the tour leg in South America. You’re missing his voice so much and without him by your side through the night, you haven’t exactly slept your best. “If you’re sure?”

“Please, hon, I’ll feel so much better if I know you’re getting some well-earned rest,” Helen says with pleading eyes.

“Yes, please go rest, I promise, if we need anything we’ll call, yeah?” Ron reassures.

“If you’re sure, then I’ll head out for the night. I’ll be back in the morning after I stop and check on Bennett and Thomasina. Although, I must tell you, Bennett has taken to sleeping outside our back door since I’ve been here. I mean, I know they both know something is up because you two aren’t home, but it’s interesting that Bennett is staying at the pink cottage all night.”

“Nah, Bennett’s a protector and he knows you are there without Harry, so he’s watchin’ out for ya,” Ron says a proud pet owner.

“I’ll be glad to be home to both of them soon,” Helen says looking up at Ron.

You say your goodbyes with a round of hugs and kisses and make your way to the pink cottage, stopping at the market to pick up some fresh apples, cheese, peanut butter, a loaf of fresh French bread and bottle of your favorite white wine. At the cottage you make a plate of apples and peanut butter, and add some slices of cheese and cut several slices of bread to warm in the toaster. Pouring a glass of wine you sit at the breakfast bar, munch and take a minute to message Harry.

Lily: I love you. I’m home for the evening. Helen is doing well so I decided to come home and relax a little. Have I mentioned how much I love you?

You smile as you see the three dots indicating that he’s replying.

Harry: I’m so glad Helen is getting better. Jesus baby, I miss you so much. I love you.

Lily: I miss you more than you know. I think I’m gonna go take a hot bath.  I fell asleep in the hospital chair and now I’m all sore.

Harry: I’ll call you as soon as I get out of these meetings. No, I’ll FaceTime. Need to see you

Need to touch you. Can’t sleep worth shit without you. Fucking hate being apart. Go get a hot bath and think about me. Fuck the water for getting to touch you when I can’t!

You giggle as you crunch into your apple slice.

Lily: I already think about you all the time, will def be thinking about you in our tub.

Harry: don’t tease, Jezebel. I’m hard thinking about you.

Lily: Go finish up, my little freak and call me when you are free. I love you.

Harry: love you

You carry your plate to the kitchen and pour another glass of wine and head up to the master bath.
You feel yourself smile as you saunter up the stairs. Just the thought of FaceTiming with him later has put you in a better mood. Setting your wineglass down on the table by the bathtub, you turn the water on. You turn the fireplace on to get things cozy and strip out of your clothes, twisting your neck from side to side in an attempt to get the crick out of your neck.

The water is finally warm and you pull the stopper and pile your hair on your head in a messy bun. You pour a handful of bubble bath in and swirl it around in the water and step in, sighing as the warm water envelops you. Laying your head back on the bath pillow, you reach for your wine glass taking a long sip. You close your eyes as you set the glass down gently. You can’t help but imagine all the baths you and Harry have had here…both foreplay and aftercare. Arousal begins to pool in your core and your nipples harden. God, I miss him so much. You hold up your engagement ring and watch it shimmer in the light, thinking about the day’s events.  It’s been almost a year since he confessed his feelings for you and today you were designing his wedding ring. You remember Ron’s words about his ring being a symbol of unending love. Someday you will be able to wear it out in the open, but, being honest with yourself, you enjoy the fact that at this moment it’s your special secret.  

It’s still hard to believe sometimes that you found such deep love for each other. Imagining what his ring is going to look like on his finger, how it will feel against your skin, your thoughts flit to the way he takes his rings off before he comes to bed…before he takes you. It’s been so long since he's taken you in the tub… “Wanna take ma time an’ don’ wan’ ya ta get cold, baby” he’ll say as he stands to step out with a hard, wet cock. You think back to the last show and how your mind went down a dirty path when he walked back toward your side of the stage after “showering” the crowd with water. His hands were dripping wet…water sliding down around his rings. Your pussy throbs at the memory.

If only he were here, you think. You love how he stares into your eyes as he takes his rings off slowly. He seems to thrive watching the way you squirm for him. Right now, if he were here, you’d ask him to leave those rings on. To leave his initials on your bum. The urge to feel those rings sliding over your skin…warm and heavy. Your eyes flutter closed and your hands slide down your body, but in your mind, it’s his hands. You cup your breasts, fingers pinching your nipples hard and your back arches. Your breath hitches as your hand slides further down your body, over your abdomen to your mound. You can feel him behind you, his breath on your neck, large hand cupping your mound. Your fingers slide to your entrance and slip in, thumb on your clit, moving back and forth. You breathe his name out on a sigh and you feel him kiss your neck. “Gotta find my spot, Jezebel.” Your middle finger runs along your top wall searching for the spongy spot. The reach and the touch of your own fingers not the same as his, but you search in your mind’s eye for his feel, the roughness of his fingertips. His long fingers run through you memory, the hardness of the rings against the softest tender skin of your pussy. “Who’s cunt is this, baby, hmm?” you can hear as his lips brush against you ear. You whimper with fluttering eyes, “Yours, Harry,” you say to the empty bathroom. “Tha’s righ’, ‘s mine…mine ta love…ta fuck,” you think as your finger continues to rub and your clit stands engorged throbbing with your heartbeat. Thumb running up and down your clit, you focus on the sensation. It’s intense and feels so good…but, in all honesty, not as good as his fingers, his touch is magic to you. You try to concentrate on moving your fingers the way he does. In your mind you feel his fingers start to scissor, his way of signaling he’s ready for you to open up so he can take you. “Mmmm…,” your moan echoes off the walls of the bathroom. You arch your back trying to add just the right pressure while your other hand cups and massages your breast…thumb tracing your nipple.  In your mind he’s asking you to cum for him, but you just can’t get there. You try just a little harder to focus on his voice and the way he talks you through an orgasm. You can hear the words, but you can’t feel his emotion and that’s a problem. Your brows furrow and your face twists in frustration. Arms and legs goosebump with both a chill and unreleased sexual tension. The water is cooling off and your body just isn’t cooperating even though you’re burning up with need. You rest you head back and look up at the ceiling, sliding your hands to the side of the tub. You grit your teeth and slowly use your toe to pull the plug on the water. “Fuck!” you growl out and slap the side of the tub. Sincerely, you feel like you could just cry from frustration. “Hate this so much,” you say sitting in the slowly emptying tub. With a shiver, you pull yourself up and step out taking a moment to look at yourself in the mirror. Nipples hard, your breasts feel and hang heavy with arousal. Your eyes run down lower to your mound where the hair is growing out. You had a wax appointment for the day you ended up leaving for Cornwall, but even then, you had neglected to keep the previous appointment so it was more grown out than usual even before you cancelled the last appointment. You look down and are at least happy it a nice thin patch, still short and trimmed neatly. Your thoughts drift to the time Harry first offered to shave you there, and his silly artistic skill at marking his initials on your smooth mound. Your first “tattoo”. Harry loves marking his territory, the thought of being his…just shoots further arousal through your body.

You wrap yourself in a towel and make no effort to hide downing the last of your glass of wine in one swig. You gulp the dry liquid, closing your eyes as the tannins hit your taste buds. Setting the glass down on the bathroom vanity, you look up at your reflection then let the towel drop to the floor not bothering dry off further. You walk through the bedroom and into the master closet to search the dresser drawers for some of Harry’s old boxer briefs. When you pull them on a gush of wetness runs through your channel as you think of his cock being tucked inside the same place where your very wet core is currently. A zing of arousal hardens your nipples as your roll the waistband down low on your hips. You whine and throw your head back in frustration silently cursing the heavens for this neediness you feel. Your eyes drift to the shelf wall that opens into the pink room. God, it’s been weeks since you and Harry have been in there. You try to pull your eyes away from that direction, but you feel drawn. Considering for a moment, you step out to grab your phone then back in to pull down the secret lever until the door pops open. You step through the door slowly and flip the light switch. As you walk into the room, you take in the pictures on the wall across from the bed. There are photos of you and Harry making love, his hips pushed to yours just barely hiding his cock that’s buried deep and his raspberry lips latched on to your nipple. You’ve never noticed how his lips are similar in color to the color of your nipples…fuck, that’s sexy.

Your eyes fall to the pink leather photo album Helene gave you to hold your boudoir shots in. You quickly walk over to snatch it up and take a seat on the fuzzy rug in front of the chaise lounge. Pulling the chunky knit throw from the lounge you wrap it on your shoulders, set your phone down and open the album. It’s been a while since you looked at the pictures and when you do, you’re amazed. Did I really do that…you think as you watch yourself pose seductively for Helene’s camera. Then you turn the page and see the pictures of the two of you together. Each page turn sends another spiral of pleasure through your body. But there’s a particular photo, Harry is looking down his body to where you are connected. You too are looking down between your bodies. He has a somewhat arrogant expression of satisfaction, and you look on in awe. You can see a slight inch of his shaft as it’s tucked deep inside. His hand splayed on your tummy and his thumb circling your clit.  Squirming from arousal, you raise your knees and slip your fingers down to your slit, petting it up and down. The sensitivity so intense, your middle finger slipping through your folds down to your wetness and back up to circle your clit. One knee falls to the side, opening your body to your touch. Your eyes slide along the image of his body taunt, his back muscles flexed as he holds himself up over you; his hips in the flexed position. Your breathing picks up and as you chase this feeling. It’s running through your body, bumping around, ready for release. Your feeling of arousal combined with the feeling of missing him hits you so hard, you feel like crying. The photo album falls forward on your bare breasts as you push your hair back, breath coming out in pants, tears threatening to fall. It’s then you hear your phone ring. Looking down, you see his beautiful face fill up your phone screen.

Fingers shaking you reach for the phone and answer, “Harry…” you rasp on a breathy exhale panting.

“Hey baby…umm…ya alrigh’ you sound outta breath?” His hair is clipped back the way he does when when he’s relaxing. You can tell by the light and the surroundings that he’s sat on the edge of the bed in the New York apartment. He’s shirtless, but wearing a pair of joggers.

You lay your head back against the lounge still shaking, yet so deeply comforted with the sound of his voice and the sight of his beautiful face. Your eyes close when suddenly, your grip on the phone faulters, and it slips… falling to the floor. You scramble to gather it back up and bring it back into view.

“Lily, ummm…ya in tha pink room…? Wait, are ya naked?” he asks with a slight grin.

You just nod while taking big gulps of air in and pushing them out – a futile attempt to control yourself.

"Ya ok...baby, talk ta me... wha's goin' on?"

Your voice shaky, you breath out, “Not naked, got a pair of your boxers on…I…oh god…Harry, I need you. I need to cum so bad…I tried to cum in the bathtub and…I couldn’t get there…please….”

His eyes widen and he smiles softly, "Shh...shhh...aww, baby...'m s' sorry,” he says feeling a rush of blood surging into his already hard cock. “Fuck, if it doesn' make me hard...tha’ ya need me," he says shuffling the phone. You catch glimpses of him shucking his joggers.  "Darlin' switch me ta tha big screen an' camera, then go get on our pink bed...show me wha' ya did an' 'll help. Can ya do tha' fo' me Jezebel?” he asks taking a closer look at you. “God damn ya shakin' s'hard...baby, ya hear me?"

“Hmmm…?” you answer raising your eyebrows in an attempt to open your eyelids, heavy with arousal.

“Baby, get on the bed an’ turn on the big camera. Can ya do tha’ fo’ me? Put the photo album down, Jezebel.”

You nod your head yes. “Ok,” you say getting up and moving to turn the big screen on. He can’t help but smirk as you fumble with the remote. She’s really gone, he thinks as he syncs his phone with his laptop and pulls it with him as he scoots to the headboard of the bed.

You move back and get on the bed. “Can you see me?”

“Yeah…I can see ya. Can ya see me?” He asks moving his laptop to between his legs.

You nod. “I can see you.”

“See how hard I am, Jezebel? I see how swollen ya clit is, how wet ya are…fuck,” he says, gritting his teeth as he squeezes his cock.

You moan as you watch him stroke his cock.

“Touch yaself, baby. Show me how bad ya need ta cum.”

Your eyes flutter shut and your head falls back at his voice. "No baby, eyes on me, darlin' stay wi' me, kay? We do this tagether. Look at me," he says as you roll your head forward and meet his eyes. He simply...just…simply smiles and it's like a shot of arousal. He's so fucking sexy.

You look at his cock...the head almost purple and mad with the need to fuck. His rings running along the underside, right where you know he's so sensitive. “Feel your rings, H? They’re running along my favorite place to lick,” you whimper as your fingers slide up and down your wet slit.

"Fuck!" he groans as his fingers pull back and he runs just his fingertips on the underside softly.  

"Feel good?” You say pushing your middle and ring finger in your soppy hole.

“Fuck! Jesus fucking Christ! Can’ thin’ abou’ ya mouth right’ now, I’ll fuckin’ cum!” Clenching his jaw, he looks up and nods toward your hand, "Push ya fingers deeper, baby... you like 'em in deep, kay?"

You groan deeply as you twist your arm to get your fingers deep.

“Bet-tah, love?" he asks with a proud smirk.  

You nod frantically, "Oooo, yessss..."

"'No ya body, baby...prolly better than you ‘no it…now swirl ya fingers around an’ around...yeah, like tha’...."

Your eyes roll and your breathing picks up. “Talk to me, baby. Need to hear your voice…Ya wan’ my voice since ya can’ have ma cock?”

You groan your agreement hardly able to talk at this point, "Please, talk me through this, H...please, I need you so bad, I'm hurting!"

"Fuckin' three thousand miles," he mutters under his breath cursing the distance. "Jezebel.” He says sternly getting your attention. “Pull 'em out...show me how wet they are,” he says squeezing his cock trying to get some control, “Do it now, swee’eart.”  It's time to get you off, he thinks, he just can't stand seeing your hurting frustration.

You pull your fingers out, grimacing and holding them up so he can see how wet they are. You scissor open your forefinger and middle finger and a clear string of arousal strings from one finger to the other.

He shakes his head, “Ya drenched, baby, fuck! Put ‘em back in, deep an’ curl ya fingers. Find ma spot…” He watches closely as you do what he says. “Good girl. Now, pulse ya fingers slowly.”

“Ohhhh…,” you groan.

“Righ’ there? Tha’ good?”

“Yes!” You say, breath hitching.

"Use ya other hand ta rub ya clit....yeah, like tha'...," he mutters out as his hand works up and down his shaft.  "Jesus baby, don' stop...fuckin' sexiest sight.... Keep goin’, baby. Cum wi’ me cause ‘m gonna cum.”

"Harry! Can't stop...'s not stopping...I can feel you...can feel you!"

"Don' you dare fuckin' stop, Jezebel..., hear me! Don' fuckin' stop....Jesus, 'm cummin' c..c..cummin...unnnggaaahh..."

Your body begins to contract over and over and over on your fingers. You feel the race of your heart running up and down your spine. His hand stills as you watch his cum fountain out and drip down his fingers... over his rings... and that's all it takes for the crest to hit your body to the point you can’t hold your eyes open any longer.

The orgasm is almost painful. Your hips are moving against your fingers of their own accord and his mouth is open, lips wet as he watches you cum for him. Mine, is all he can think. That’s my orgasm. I did that for her.

During your release, your knees pulled themselves back toward your hips and now rest opened wide, muscles taunt. Sliding one hand around your knee, you pull your fingers up to circle your clit. You can feel your cum drip down from your hole.

"Jesus Christ, Jezebel. I wanna see," he says breathing hard, "show me...."

"I can' s...stop sh...shaking, H,” you say shivering.

"Grab that blanket, baby. Why don' ya jus' sleep in there, angel?"

“I miss you Harry. Wish you were here,” you sob out.

“I know, baby, I know. Miss ya s’damn much.” He hates the tears that are falling down your face as he watches you grab the blanket and pull it over you. “Can ya sleep there, sweet girl?”

“I think so. It’s just not the same,” you pout. “I’m sorry, I’m being a baby….”, you say rolling your eyes at yourself in self-deprication.

He zooms in to where he can see your face closer, “Babe, ya just came really hard an’ ya feelin’ vulnerable, it’s been a hard week an’ ya’ve been a real trooper, I’m s’ proud of ya. No’ being a baby…’cept my baby, kay?” he says running his hand through his hair. “Fuck, I hate not bein’ able ta hold ya righ’ now. Look, it’s late, love…close ya eyes an’ I’ll stay wi’ ya until ya fall asleep.”

Admittedly, you feel sleep pulling you in, however you fight it just so you can keep your eyes on him…his head tucked back on the pillow, eyes watching over you.

“Close ‘em, baby, ‘ll stay here all night ‘f ‘ave ta, kay? Love ya s’much. Did s’good fo’ me. Rest, ‘m righ’ here,” he says soothingly.

“I love you, H.” you say with a sniffle pulling the blanket up to your neck.

Need ta make sure there is ‘nough heat in tha’ room, ‘f ‘ave ta ‘ave tha whole fuckin’ house redone, he thinks to himself as he watches you tremble under the blanket. He touches the screen of his laptop outlining your face. “Beau’iful,” he whispers as you finally fall.

You wake hours later to a black screen with the words, “Good Morning Beautiful! I had to run to an afternoon meeting. I love you. Talk soon.” Your expression falls slightly, missing him never gets easy, but you have animals to go tend to, so you slip out of the bed and take a minute to make it back up proper. You put the pink leather album back in its usual place and slowly walk out of the room. Turning back once you step out, you silently say good-bye knowing there’s no telling when you and Harry will get a break long enough to come back together. The shelf door clicks into place, and you set about getting your day started.

Once again Bennett is resting blocking the backdoor and you smile to yourself when you see him rise and wag his tail.  “Hey buddy! Guess what? Your mumma is getting better,” you say kneeling down to scratch behind his ears.  “You’re such a good boy, thank you for watching over me, let’s walk down and check on your sister, hmm.” You get chores done down at the blue cottage and enjoy the fresh air and the memories from last night on the walk back. Pulling out your phone you debate on sending Harry a message not wanting to interrupt any meetings. “Anytime…message me anytime,” you’ve heard him say over and over so you decide to send one.

Lily: I missed you this morning, but I understand that you have business to take care of. Thank you for last night. It was amazing. I love you.

You click your phone off and put it in the pocket of your parka. Once you reach the pink cottage you hop in the car, start it, reach for your seatbelt when you feel the vibration of the phone.

Harry: You are amazing. Watched you sleep for over an hour before I couldn’t stay awake any longer. I love you Jezebel. Did so good for me last night. Love your surrender.

Lily: I miss you

Harry: Soon baby soon

You whimper out loud and draw the seatbelt over your chest and make your way to Marcy’s to pick up coffee and pastries for everyone before heading to the hospital. Helen is feeling much better although stir crazy. The doctors say they will consider releasing her in a couple of days as long as she continues to respond to treatment and makes positive improvements on her lung capacity. You share your most exciting news with them about your visit with Declan and even show them the pages of jewelry doodled design that your father did when designing your mother’s wedding ring. They listen and hang on every word astonished by the unexpected connection. They’re equally excited to hear about your designs for Harry’s ring and offer their undivided attention along the way.  

“Oh, Lily, that sounds just lovely, darling,” Helen says clasping your hand.

“Yeah, Harry’ll really like tha’, hon, he’s a sentimental chap, tha’ one an’ ya did real good,” Ron says with a smirk.

“Now, Ronnie, I seem to remember a sentimental ‘chap’ who fought Declan on takin’ his ring off just to have it cleaned the last time we had mine cleaned. ‘Ring don’ need cleanin’, D, ‘aven’ taken it off in forty-five years, don’ plan on takin’ it off taday’,” Helen mocks attempting to sound like Ron.

“See, Lily, told ya she was feelin’ better, onery as ever,” Ron says grinning at Helen’s remark.

The day continues in a flurry of doctor’s and nurses and endless streams of visitors, so many you have to turn them away letting people know Helen needs her rest. Finally, finally, things have quietened down. A afternoon rain storm moved in casting the day in clouds and dribble. Ron has fallen asleep in the reclining chair and Helen has finally drifted off getting some much needed rest. You stand and stretch your back feeling it pop and creek from being in a hard uncomfortable chair. It’s time for some afternoon coffee you think to yourself. Between the weather and the quiet room filled with steady beeping, you’re lulled into a drowsy state. You shake your head and stretch your arms above you head then tip-toe out the door. As you walk by the nurses station, you let them know that you’re headed down to the cafeteria, but will be back in just a moment. They offer a friendly smile. When this is all over you’re going to make sure to send a nice spread of Marcy’s best treats as a thank you for the care they provided. You make your way to the elevator and down to the bottom floor and around to the cafeteria. You order a large coffee and discover a delicious looking slice of orange cranberry bread that you can��t resist getting. There’s a well-equipped coffee station where you add your favorite Hazelnut creamer and some sugar. Sealing the lid on the cup, you grab a couple of napkins and head out the double doors, smiling at a cute young boy with very red lips who is slurping down what looks like strawberry jello.  

He smiles a toothy smile as you turn into the hallway. You make your way to the elevator lost in your own thoughts. It dings and you step onto the floor where Helen’s room is. It happens about half-way down the hall. You manage to get to the nurse’s station when you hear it.

“Jezebel.”

Your cup holding hand begins to shake and you don’t dare turn. You MUST be hearing things. You start to move forward a step before it happens again.

“Baby?”

You drop your head because you’d recognize that voice anywhere. The slow lilted accent, thick and filled with emotion. Before you bother to investigate further you simply set the cup and bread down on the counter of the nurse’s station and turn to see a rain soaked Harry standing just a few feet away with a expression of complete relief, like a drowning man finally getting a gulp of air.

The sob escapes loudly, along the same time the nurse’s clue in to what is happening and who is actually there. Thankfully they act professional and simply look watching the reunion. First you cover your face and eyes with both hands as the tears fall, then you slide them down until they only cover your mouth and stare into his eyes as he smiles at you. Before you can even make a conscious decision, your legs are walking slowly toward him, your arms moving toward him as if they long to get to him first.

“Harry,” you say softly on an exhale, “you’re here.”

He smiles at you…the one that melts you to your very core. You wrap your arms around his neck and he pulls you to him, hard.

You close your eyes and just soak his presence in. You have so many questions but you don’t care about them right now. Right now, you’re just glad he’s here.

“Jezebel, god, I missed ya,” he says against your ear, pulling back just enough to look into your eyes.

“Got ya all wet,” he says, smirking.

You laugh, despite the tears falling. “You do that to me.” You pull him back to you for a hug and then kiss him quickly. “C’mon, let’s go see Ron and Helen and see if we can get you dried out,” you tell him, pulling him down the hallway and into the room. “Look who I found lurking in the hallway!”

Ron and Helen both exclaim, “Harry!”

He shakes Ron’s hand and kisses Helen’s cheeks. “Glad ya feelin’ bett-ah, Helen. Ya can’ be gettin’ sick an’ scarin’ us all ta death,” he says in his cheeky way.

Helen laughs and it feels so good to hear her laugh after everything.

A nurse walks in and places your coffee and pastry on the table and you smile your thanks. You grab a towel from the closet and hand it to Harry and he excuses himself to the bathroom to dry and dry off as best he can.

You sit down next to Helen and she grabs your hand. “I know you must be so happy to have him back with you sweet girl.”

“I am.”

“But doesn’t he have a show tonight?” Helen asks, mouth open wide.

“He does. I dunno…didn’t get a chance to ask him.”

“Ask me wha’?” Harry says coming out of the bathroom, toweling his hair.

You open your mouth to speak but nothing comes out. You have so many questions you’re not sure where to start. When you meet his gaze, all you can think is that he’s really here.

Helen looks at you and then at Harry and decides to jump in. “Don’ ya have a show tonight?”

That seems to break the spell and both your and Harry’s gaze moves to Helen.

Harry walks to the chair next to you and sits down. “I do, yeah. I mean, I did. Sarah’s sick an’ can’ do the show withou’er so we made the decision ta reschedule so I hopped a plane ta see ma girls,” he says, kissing your cheek.

“Is Sarah ok?” You ask, concerned.

“She’ll be fine. S’not COVID. Doctor thinks it’s a virus. Said she’ll be fine by tomorrow, he thinks.”

“Oh, that’s good,” you say, relieved.

The next few hours pass in a blur of conversation and laughter, only interrupted by the nurses coming in to monitor Helen’s progress.

You watch as Helen tries to keep up with the conversation, but she’s struggling to stay awake. “I think maybe we should go and let Helen rest,” you tell the room.

“I had such a good afternoon. Thank you,” Helen says, squeezing your hand.

“We’re jus’ glad ya feelin’ bett-ah,” Harry chimes in.

Helen nods and smiles, eyes closing.

“You kids go on home. I’ll stay until visiting hours are over. The doctor thinks ‘Elen can go home tomorrow,” he says, eyes glassy.

You look at Harry and then back at Ron. “If you’re sure…”

“Ya’ve done mo’ than enough, Lily. Can’ do anymore tanigh’.”

“Ok,” you say kissing Helen’s cheek.

Ron walks you to the door of the room. “Glad ya here, Harry. Hated ta think of our girl alone in the pink cottage.”

Harry nods and smiles. “I hated it too. Missed ma girl,” he says, squeezing you to him.

You walk down the hallway and get in the elevator. “Let’s go home, Jezebel. ‘M dyin’ ta be alone wi’ ya,” he rasps, pulling you tight to him.

You sigh, content. “Thank you for coming.”

He smirks. “Ya’ll be sayin’ tha’ again, believe me.”

You groan and snuggle into him.

Unable to resist the curiosity, you squeeze his hand and look up, “So you just jumped a flight all alone and zoomed in here…how did you get from the airport?”

“Not ‘ alone, brought Bella an’ Gavin…called her ta let her ‘no was comin’ ta see ya an’ she started in abou’ some message ya go’ on that podcast website, summat abou’ some girls in Brazil an’ their parent’s murder…she asked me ta tell ya abou’ it an’ I was s’ready ta ge’ here…well, wasn’ really listenin’ so I jus’ asked ‘er ta pack up an’ come wi’,” he says looking from your eyes to your mouth back and forth.

You frown animatedly. “So are they at the pink cottage…?” you shake your head and plaster a smile, “I mean, that’s so sweet, she needs a get away, I work her so hard.”

He smirks knowing exactly why your first reaction is your truth.

He boops your nose. “Don’ worry, Jezebel, I pu’ ‘em up at The Headlands, s’ they can ‘ave some alone time…bu’ mostly so we can ‘ave some alone time.”

“Am I a jerk for being so thankful?” you ask with a squeamish face. The elevator door dings and he grabs your hand and starts to walk out.

“Darlin’ you couldn’ be a jerk ‘f ya tried,” he says smiling and drawing your hand up to kiss your knuckles.

Suddenly, you hear, “OH MY GOD, it’s Harry Styles!” squeal from the waiting area just outside the elevator.

Then, “LOOK, he’s with  Lily! Look it’s Lily!”

A small group of younger girls walks forward with their phones in hand. Uh-Oh is all you can think.

“Hi, You alright?” He says to first one.

“Can I have a picture?” She says with a high-pitched voice.

He looks at you and you smile at him as he takes a moment to take a few pictures and offer well-wishes. Thankfully they were respectful and didn’t cause a rush, but you know you need to get him outta here soon. You smile for a couple of photo requests and even autograph a phone just under Harry’s autograph. That’s new and unusual.

Finally he gets back to you and leans over to whisper, “Le’s get outta here, baby.”

“Yeah, this’ll be interesting when it gets around…” you trail off.

“Aww, not worried, we’ll let Jeffrey handle it,” he says with a smirk and a wink. “Where’re ya parked?”

“It’s over here,” you say leading him through the drizzly weather. “How did you get here?”

“Marcy’s kid, Ben, came an’ go’ me. Was jus’ after the lunch rush, he smelled like fried chicken,” he says with a chuckle.  

You giggle at the comment and the image of Harry folded up in Ben’s old beater Toyota. What a change from the usual! The beautiful thing is that you know Harry well enough to know, he isn’t the least pretentious about his life or his “usual”.

“Well, you’re here now, and we have our car,” you say as you step up into the Rover while he holds the door open for you. The moment your bum hits the seat he leans in from the open door, his hand sliding on your denim covered thigh. You study his face, eyelashes dotted with raindrops as he studies yours. He’s so beautiful.

“Ya so beau’iful,” he says as if reading your mind. “Wanna kiss ya so bad, bu’ those girls are glued ta the window an’ once I ge’ ma mouth on ya….”

You place your hand over his on your thigh, “Then take me home, Harry, please.”

He smiles, squeezes your thigh and draws it up dangerously close to your core before he steps back and shuts the door.

He pulls out of the hospital parking lot leaning toward you with his hand on the inside your thigh and his arm suspiciously close to your breast. You look at him suddenly forgetting every question you had as to who, what, where, why and how he manages to be here…truth be told you can’t bother to care at the moment. He doesn’t make decisions on a whim or without considering all options, so you’re gonna accept it, hell, you’re gonna revel in it. Harry is here. His thumb is stroking the inside of your thigh and it's driving you crazy. Every few minutes he glances at your face, offering a smoldering expression and a side smirk. He looks down at his hand on your thigh and squeezes causing you to exhale a breath you didn’t know your were holding. The third time he’s caught you blowing out air through pursed lips he’s caught on to your subtle squirm. “Ya alrigh’?” He asks knowing damn well what’s up.

“I just…I’m thinking about last night and, well… you’re here and I haven’t even had a proper kiss,” you whine. “I’m…’m…”

“Wha’ baby, ya wha’?”

“Mmmm…,” you drop your head back against the headrest and roll it toward him. “Mmm just achy,” you admit softly.

“So sexy fo’ me las’ nigh’… only slep’ a coupla hours befo’ jumped the fligh’ – could’ve watched ya fo’ hours.”

Reaching up, you smooth your hand down your neck, “Missed your touch, though.”

You see his through bob with his swallow, “Fuck baby, tryna be a gentleman here, ya make it s’ hard…everywhere.”

Not daring take your eyes off him, “Turn down here, it’s shorter,” you say at the cross of Debbie and Vicki Drive. Follow Vicki and it takes you to the turn off.”

His hand keeps sliding higher and higher, not just from his own movement, but also from your slight pull. The rain is coming down heavier and the clouds are getting darker. The headlights automatically turn on as you make it to the turn off for the cottages. Suddenly, it’s like the sky just opened with a faucet left fully open. Sheets and sheets of pouring rain wash down from the darkness above. There’s lightening in the background and the rolling boom of thunder following along.

“Jesus, H. It’s really coming down.” You say over the slapping sound of the windshield wipers.

“Yeah, it’s a mess,” he says slowily, concentrating on the road.  

You stare hard at that concentrating face. It’s so decisive, sharp and attentive. It’s incredibly sexy.

“Stop lookin’ at me like tha’, Jezebel, tryna drive safely, go’ precious cargo wi’ me.”

“I’m jus…I…I…I love you Harry. I’m the one that’s a mess,” you say pulling his hand up to your denim covered mound. You whine in frustration because it’s not enough.

He swings his head to glance at you before he turns back to eye the road, “Fuck, babe…”

Soon enough the pink door is visible in a blur through a water drenched windshield. A heated aura has filled the car. You’ve fogged the passenger window with your breathing, and his bottom lip is swollen and red from where he’s been biting it for the last few blocks. Turning in he runs over a rock marking the driveway and pulls in behind the cottage with a slammed brake at an odd angle, dangerously close to your flower beds. Throwing the gear into park, you both unbuckle your seat belts with abandon.

“It’s pouring, H…we should make a run for it,” you say turning toward the door.

He takes half a second to consider.  “Fuck it…” he slurs grabbing your hand and pulling you toward him. “C’mere….”

It’s not even awkward, how he manages to get you over the console and onto him in a straddling position. A blast of thunder sounds as the rain blurs out the surroundings.

“Fuckin’ missed you…,” he says cupping your cheeks and staring into your eyes, “Like oxygen…baby, my oxygen, hard ta breathe….” He pulls your face to him, tilting your head and opening wide to take in as much of you as he can. His mouth fits over yours like a puzzle, but then all of him fits you like a puzzle…one made long ago and destined to be put together at just the right time. He hold his tongue at bay at first, he’s waiting for you to give yours to him first. It’s from his own need to feel you need him. You happily, plunge your tongue in and up to run it along the roof of his mouth, just like he likes. That slight tickle, just before he licks into yours. A bolt of lightening fills the sky and flashes on his face, his eyes wide as they watch you. You close your lips around his tongue and suck.

“Mmmm…,” he groans hands on moving down your collar and further to your cotton and lace covered breasts.

You pull back breathing hard, “we should go inside…” you whisper against his lips as your hands grip his shoulders.

“Mmm…no’ yet, jus’ a ‘lil mo’,” he says kissing to your ear and down your neck.

“God that feels good…” you moan.

His hands work their way to the hem of your t-shirt and up to your bra where he pulls the cup down till your breast falls over the edge of the underwire. With no preamble, he pushes the t-shirt up and latches on to your nipple sucking like a starving man sat at a feast.

“Jesus, missed you…,” he says laving the hard bud with his tongue and an open mouth.

You’re squirming and grinding when suddenly the seam of your jeans is hitting your clit just right. “Fuuuuhhhuuucckk…,” you whimper with furrowed brows. “Don’t stop….”

“Wan’ ya so much,” he slurs against your nipple. He stops only long enough to place a soft kiss where his teeth have been nibbling. “Fuckin’ love these tits, Jesus!  I’m sorry, swore I wasn’t gonna be like this…swore was gon’ be…”

“Take what you wan’, H…I’m giving you everything. I want you how you want me,” you say swallowing a mouth full of saliva not even trying to hide your watering mouth. Lightening strikes again in the distance and long, soft thunder rolls past as the rain continues to come down in a steady drench. It’s like the sky is washing away all the turmoil of the last week, the fears, the distance, the need.

You stop him by pulling his face up to yours, “What do you want, H?”

His head thuds back to the head rest. “Fuck, I wan’ take ya in s’many ways, Jezebel,” he says, hand wiping down his face. He meets your gaze again. “Bu’ righ’ now I wan’ ya ta cum fo’ me. I can tell ya close.”

"It's my jeans, seam's right there...," you say eyes heavy-lidded, hips rolling back and forth with the friction.

He watches your face intently before he pulls up the other side of your tee, ripping the lace of the bra between your breasts and shoving the lace out of the way.  He cups them both tight, thumbs and fingers squeezing and rolling your nipples.

"Hah! Mmm...that was one of my favorites...." you say rolling your head back.

“I’ll buy ya another one, don’ give a fuck. Cum fo’ me, Jezebel,” he says pushing his hard cock up.

“Mmm…ohhh…shit,” you pant out.

“Tha’ good?”

You nod, biting your lip. “I’m so…I missed you so bad…I -ungh,” you say on a particularly rough grind down.

“Cum fo’ me, Jezebel. Cum fo’ me an’ I’ll take ya in our bed an’ then I’ll take ya in our pink room,” he rasps, fingers of one hand pulling your nipple while the other on your hip helps you move on him.

The orgasm is burning its way out, when suddenly lightning strikes close enough to cause the hair on your arm to stand up, The thunder follows closely, just like your orgasm, "Therrr....there! Hahh...gaahhh," you grit out so hard it feels like you might crumble your teeth..

Your thighs tighten trying to close in on the vibration. You can't because he’s pulled you down so hard on him. "Fuck these jeans," you say contracting with the spasms of pleasure.  "It's good, but I need you, H."

"'No ya do, love....good fo' ma ego...'s good, bu’ I can make it bet-tah. Say it, darlin'...tell me ma cock is bet-tah." he asks smugly.  

You indulge his raw need, "You know it is...You know I love your cock. To feel you inside me is...the purest pleasure...the groan you give me when you first push in...," you lean your head forward against his as the little orgasm subsides, "you tell me H, how does that feel...when you first push in?"

His eyes flutter closed but then pop open boring into yours. “‘S intense, baby. Ya s’warm an’ wet an’ I can feel ma cunt hugging me s’tigh’. S’like comin’ home. Love watchin’ ya face as I push in, ya mouth opens in a gasp an’ I know ya feelin’ it ta.”

“Ready ta run?”

You nod and open the door, trying to clamber off if him quickly and then you’re making a run for it, him right behind you.

You stand in the foyer, soaking wet and then he pulls you to him by your hips, slanting his lips over yours and then his hands go to the hem of your shirt and he tugs it up and you break apart long enough to pull it over your head. Your hands reach to his back and you claw his shirt up until you pull it over his head and it gets caught on his head because he can’t stop kissing you.

You both giggle and work him out of his T shirt and your hands automatically go to your jeans and unbutton and zip. He watches in awe as your breasts jiggle as your slide your jeans off of your legs.

“You ok?”

“Wha’? Yeah, yeah m’ fine,” he says as he unbuttons and unzips his jeans, pushing them down his legs.

You lick your lips as you see his boxers. You meet his eyes as you hook your thumbs in your panties and slide them down your legs.

He watches in awe before sliding his boxers down his legs. “Let’s go upstairs, Jezebel,” he says pulling you to him for one more kiss. “Gonna show ya how much I missed ya.”

You start toward the direction of the stairs manage to make it halfway through the kitchen before he can’t stand to keep his hands off of the view. He grabs your arm and pulls your back to his front in a stumbled stop at the breakfast bar. He pulls you to him with his hand on your tummy and kisses the shell of your ear. “Saw those panties…they were wet, baby. Wasn’t rain was it…?” he asks with smug smirk against your ear.

You shake your head and grin, “No….” You reach for his head behind you and thread your fingers through the curls at the back of his neck. His hands slide up to cup your breasts and your back arches as he kneads and massages.

“Can smell ya, love…’s like tha ocean,” he says sexily.

“Harrry…”

One hand slides down your tummy to your mound. He pets the rounded area, then, looking over your shoulder softly threads through the hair that’s grown there.

“I’m sorry. I had a wax appointment on the day I left to come here. Had to cancel.” You say turning your head toward him.

“Don’ be sorry, like ya either way…don’ ‘ave ta do anythin’ here fo’ me. Jus’ like touchin’ places only we touch at least this way…we’re the only ones who touch ya like this, fo’ this reason. Feels good ta ‘no ya mine, ta feel ya on ma fingahs. ‘S our cunt. Lemme hear ya say it.”

“It’s our cunt,” you say softly.

With his hand cupping your mound, he starts to walk to your forward toward the steps. You stumble and giggle. When you finally reach the stairs you whisper, “Baby you have to let me go so I can walk up…” You start to unwind from him but his grip only tightens.

“Noooo…,” he whines petulantly.

Giggling you squirm out of his hands and take the first step up. Unable to resist, you add a little hip to your walk as you step ahead of him.

“God damn my girl is fuckin’ hot!”

You make it to the landing and turn to see he’s still on step three. You smile, jut your hip to one side and place a hand on it in a sassy pose, “You coming?”

“Ya have no idea,” he mumbles to himself as thunder rolls outside. “Mmm-hmm, stay there,” he says a little louder. At the top of the steps he cups your cheeks, “Ya distract me…it’s a struggle. C’mon, need ta fuck ya.”

You reach the side of the bed and fall back with him not far behind. He crawls in the cradle of your thighs and pulls your legs up high on his hips. Petting the hair out of your face, “Pu’ me inside ya.”

You reach down and grab his shaft. He’s so hard. You use his cock to slide up and down on your clit. His eyes close at the sensation. “Good?” you ask.  

“Fuck, yeah. S’sensitive under the head, rub it on ya clit,” he says with a groan.

You pull his shaft up enough to rub his frenulum on your clit and he grunts in satisfaction.

“Jesus…” he says rolling his eyes and dropping his forehead to yours. His hips buck softly rubbing it up and down. The softest most sensitive part of his sex rubbing the softest most sensitive part of your sex. You feel the dribble of pre-cum drip down to your clit wands it’s warm and slick and sticky.  

You sigh and place him at your entrance and gasp as he pushes forward.

“God, why d’ya always feel s’fuckin’ good, Jezebel. I jus’…fuck, ma body craves ya an’ I can’ get enough of ya.” His hands slide down your legs and he hooks your knees into his elbows and he goes that much deeper.

“Closer H, move closer. Want you as close as possible…please!” You say, gripping his shoulders until he falls forward his chest pressed to yours. You moan out at the feeling of him deep inside you. “Feel so good, H,” you whimper, biting your lip, your pussy clenching on him.

“Fuck, Jezebel, ya squeezin’ me already, yeah?”

“‘M sorry, baby I just…god I missed you! Last night was so good but I was empty when I came!” You pant out, as you continue to squeeze him.

He rests his forehead on yours, noses touching, lips centimeters away. As he draws out, your mouth falls open and his eyes flit from your mouth to your eyes, watching every breath you take, every expression. Fuck if he isn’t memorizing every moment. He’s pulled out almost all the way and stopped, just his crown positioned back at the entrance. He sees the flit of yearning flash through your eyes at the loss. He begins to slowly push back in and your exhale is slow and audible.

“Mmmmmmm….oh my god,” you slur breathily, your hands shaking on his shoulders

“Shhhh…’ve got ya babe, jus’ feel it,” he says as he reaches the bottom and then pushes just a little bit further.

“Unnngaahh,” you say stretching your neck and breaking your forehead touch. He kisses down the side of your cheek to your ear where he breathes in your scent.

“’S hurt?”

“No, it’s good…I mean, you’re big inside me and ‘s been a few days, stings, but in a good way,” you whimper honestly.

He’s moving inside in long slow, slow strokes. “Feel tha’?”

A tear leaks from you eye and rolls down to your ear, you nod, squeeze your eyes closed and then open, “Yeah, yeah, I feel it…every inch.”

“Squeezin’ s’ tight ‘s hard ta pull out an’ push in,” he with a breathy grunt in your ear, “Ahhh…take me, baby…take me….”

This time when he pushes in, he swivels his hip in a grinding move that not only touches your g-spot it strokes your clit. You pull his shoulder tight, “Stay, stay…r…r…ight there! So’ good.  Can I see?” you ask in his ear. You feel his smile before you see it.  

He pulls back and kisses your lips softly then your nose, “’Course.” Raising up on hands, your legs still hooked in his elbow, he pulls back and looks down your body then looks up to watch you looking down to where he’s buried deep. Only a slight bit of his shaft shows from the nest of hair that surrounds it. He’s nestled between the pink lips of your sex. A rush of arousal floods your pussy.

“Damn.” He waits for you to capture his stare, “Sexy innit?”

Your head falls back on the pillow, eyes flutter, “Doesn’t seem real sometimes, still feels like a dream…but, yeah, seeing you inside me….”

“’S real, Jezebel, feel this…” This time he pulls out then pushes back in quickly, pulls out and pushes back in quickly, your bodies bumping forward each time he bottoms out.

“Ungh!” You whine softly the feeling growing more and more intense. “Ungh! Ungh!”

His pace quickens and your fingernails scratch into his shoulders. You know better than to scratch him where it’s visible, but at this moment you can’t care and neither does he. You scratch up lightly into his hair where you draw a fist and tug.

“Jesus, Jezebel, pull it…!”

“More, Harry! Want More! Harder!”

He thrusts harder and harder with each downward push.

“’m gonna cum Jezebel! Gonna cum… please cum wi’ me. Wha’ do ya need?”

“ l…l…love you!” you gasp.

“Aww…fuck, baby, I love you so so much, I can’t hold back, babe, cannnnn’ errrrrrrr….!” He thrusts one last time hard and holds deep.

“Cum inside me Harry….Cum in me….ohgodohgodohgod…I can feel it, I can feel it,” you whisper-shout as you feel the blood surge in his cock and his seed spill inside you.

You body comes alive…your spasms clench from head to toe…over and over and over. Your tummy is contracting around him over and over and he is jerking with aftershocks as your body squeezes his very sensitive cock.

He pulls his head back from where he had buried it.  “Ya ok, swee’eart?”

You’re lost on post orgasmic bliss, ears ringing, vision blurry, heartbeat strong in every pulse point, erogenous zones burning with sensitivity. You simply nod, it’s all you can do.

He smiles loving a fucked-out Jezebel. Kissing your nose he checks again, “Hmm? Ok?”

You’re panting against his lips as you continue to pulse around him, your body greedily holding onto him. “K-kiss me. Mmmm… please,” you pant out. 

His eyes dart from your eyes to your wet lips before pressing his lips to yours. “Mmmm…” he moans into your mouth, sucking your tongue into his mouth. He spends the next few minutes just enjoying the feeling of your mouth against his.

Your hands pull on his curls, loving the feeling of his weight on you.

He pulls back from your mouth, but his nose is still touching yours. “I missed ya, Jezebel. Lemme get ya cleaned up an’ then ‘m takin’ ya in the pink room s’ don’ go ta sleep on me,” he says, smirking.

Your stomach flips in response to his promise of play in the pink room and you blush but nod at him as he slips out and gets up to go to the bathroom.

You stretch your body and bite your lip, your back arching. You feel deeply contented.

He smiles softly as he comes back in the room. He loves seeing you so relaxed and content. He gently cleans you both up and drops the washcloth in the hamper. He comes back to you and holds out his hand.

You sit up and take his hand, allowing him to pull you up.

“Ya ready to play Jezebel?” He asks, smirking, fire in his eyes.

“Yes.”

“Go ta the pink room an’ get on the bed on all fours, arms stretched out, face in the pillow, an’ wait fo’ me while I figure out how ‘m gonna take ya.”

You nod and move to the walk in closet, hand hovering over the latch to the false door.

“Oh, an’ Jezebel?”

You look back to him.

“No touchin’. It may take me a while ta decide.”

You gulp and pull the lever, blowing out a breath. You can feel the wetness pooling in your center in anticipation. Here we go, you think walking through the door into the pink room. Here we go.

A few hours later and you’ve finally caught your breath as you lie strewn across Harry’s body blissfully satisfied and worn out from his lovemaking. He did in fact take his time deciding how he wanted to take you and the waiting time built your anticipation to a frenzied level. His ability to take you places where there is no time or place, only the two of you still surprises you. He knows you so well, he knows what you need and this time you needed a place to escape from worries and responsibilities and just feel…feel him…and belong…belong to him. His hand is resting on your lower back with his fingers draped on your left bum cheek and he too is finally breathing steady. He lets out a big sigh of contentment and you smile against his chest as you finger his chest hair.

“Thank you for letting me wear your necklace this week, it really helped me feel like you weren’t so far away,” you say raising your head to kiss just over his nipple.

“When I saw ya walkin’ away from me at tha airport, jus’….it hurt…an’ I wan’ed so badly ta go wi’ ya…I jus’…couldn’ let ya walk away wi’out somethin’,” he murmurs accent thick as ever. “Hate ta bring it up, baby, bu’ I ‘ave ta be back tamorrow. If Helen is feelin’ bet-tah, can ya come home wi’ me?  Called earlier, while ya were, uh-hm, waitin’ fo’ me like a good girl,” he says with a smug smile and a kiss to the top of your head. You grin at the memory of waiting for him on all fours ready to play. “Anyway, called ta check on Helen an’ see if they needed anythin’. Said she was doin’ great an’ would prolly be comin’ home in a day or two. Told him we were gonna take tha nigh’ ta, ummm, rest.”

“Yeah, I think since she’s doing so well and with all the people that have been looking in on them, I feel pretty good about flying out with you tomorrow. What about Gavin and Bella?” you say looking up at him.

“They’re gonna stay fo’ a couple of nights, apparently Gavin finds The Headlands…as, err, ‘inspiring’ as we did,” he says with a chuckle.

You giggle, “Hmmm…I seem to remember you asking me to marry you just two days after our trip to Headlands. I sure hope Bella is ready for that kinda ‘inspiration’. I’m super curious about what post she’s so intent on me reading,” you say sliding your leg in between his. “Hmm, Brazil? That’s quite a distance, I’ve never considered international cases,” you look up at him, “can’t believe we’re headed there soon, I’ve never been to South America. I’m so excited that Anthony agreed to give me some photography lessons while we’re there, I’ve been dying to use the camera you gave me for my birthday to take some shots other than just pics of my sexy as fuck fiancé…” you say swirling your finger around his nipple.

He grabs your wrist to stop you from plucking at his nipple, “Jezebel, don’t start somethin’ you can’t finish.”

“Who says I won’t finish it?” you say coyly. You begin to slide up his body when you hear your phone ring. “Humph…” you grunt. “Who is that?!”

He stretches to reach for your phone on the bedside table and holds it up for you to see. “Hmm? Same number,” you say absentmindedly. “Just let it role to voicemail.”

He clicks it to voicemail, “Babe ya got two messages from tha’ number…might be important, he says handing you the phone.

Clicking the voicemail option, you switch it to speaker phone.

“Ms. Rose, this is Ethan McConnell of McConnell, Sykes and Stone Law office.  MI am the legal representative for Mr. Fitzpatrick. We have finalized Mr. Fitzpatrick’s estate and, I have some paper work for you to sign and need to know where to deposit the final financial assets. As you know per his request and final will, you are the sole beneficiary of his life insurance, as well as the liquidated estate assests. You can reach me at this number at your earliest convenience and we will make the final arrangements. Thank you and have a great day.”

You blow out a big sigh, “Wow, this is all so surreal….”

“Call ‘em back, Jezebel. Give him Jeffery’s name and tell him that he’ll get everythin’ in order fo’ ya.”

You sigh. “You’re right. I’ve been putting it off because it’s overwhelming. Are you sure Jeff can help?”

“He’ll get everythin’ ta the lawyers, babe. Jus’ leave it all ta him.”

“Ok, thank you,” you murmur hitting the phone number to call Ethan back.

“Ethan McConnell speaking.”

“Hi, Mr. McConnell. This is Lily Rose calling you back.”

“Oh yes, Ms. Rose! I’ve been trying to reach you.”

“Yes, well I’m here now.”

“Yes, well as you know I need to talk with you about Mr. Fitzpatrick’s estate.”

“Yes. I ummm…I’m having someone take care of that for me,” you say, biting your lip.

“Oh?”

“Yes. Can you contact Jeffery Azoff? I’ll text you his phone number. He’ll handle everything.”

“Well yes, if you’d like but I’d like to get this wrapped up as soon as possible.”

“I understand and I apologize for the delay, but I can assure you that Mr. Azoff will handle this quickly.”

“Well, if you’re sure. I’ll be looking for your text.”

“I’ll send it right now. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Ms. Rose. Good day.”

“Bye.” You end the call and text him Jeff’s number.

“I like ya professional voice, Jezebel. It’s very sexy,” he says smirking.

You reach over him and drop your phone to the nightstand. “What can I do for you, Mr. Styles?”

He rolls on top of you and kisses you passionately. “I’ll think of something,” he says against your mouth.

After a brief make-out session you both reluctantly agree that it’s time for a shower…you’ll have to sleep on the flight home, time is moving fast and Chicago is calling for him.

After a “water-saving” shower together, Harry loads your bag and you head to the hospital to say a final good-by the Helen and Ron.  

“Hey Mum, how are you feelin’,” you ask as you and Harry reach her bedside. He pulls you close to him, happy to hear you call Helen “mum”.

“I’m getting stronger and stronger, baby. Thank you so much for all you’ve done these few days. I felt so much better knowing you where here with Ronnie, I hated to think about him being along through all this.” Helen say hoarsely.

“Please, it was my honor.”

Harry steps out with Ron to take care of some business.

“Is there anything else we can do before we take off?” you ask taking her hand.

“No, you two go…go do what you need to do, darling. I am looking forward to being home, and in my own bed,” she says attempting to adjust to a more comfortable position in the bed.

“Oh, I’m sure!”

Harry and Ron return from the hall and you all say your final good-byes. Harry grabs your hand as you head out of the hospital room noticing the unshed tears in your eyes. You look at him and smile as he pulls you close in the elevator.

As soon as you’ve closed your eyes against his chest you feel his phone vibrate before you hear it ring.

He bends down to kiss the top of your head as he reaches for his phone in his jacket pocket.

Pulling the phone to his ear, you hear his soft “’ello?” And then, “This is Harry…. Oh, hi! Yeah, Mr. Chapman said they could be placed on the back Northwest corner of the property...."

"Harry, what in the world..." you ask when he hangs up the phone.

"S nothin' really, jus'… ya ‘member ‘ow Helen always says she wishes she ‘ad bees ta harvest fresh honey...?"

"H...! Did you...?" you gasp in astonishment.

He laughs that breathy little laugh you love so much. “I might-uv had 30 or so hives shipped ta the blue cottage. With Ron’s permission, of course.” 

“Oh my god! You wonderful, thoughtful man!”

“Jus’ thin’ of all the fresh honey we’ll have, Jezebel. An’ ya ‘no how much I love honey, don’ ya?” He says, leaning in close to your ear and causes you to shiver.

You tip toe up to kiss his lips softly, "You, Harry Edward Styles definitely know something about making honey flow, that's for sure." The elevator dings and an adorable older couple get on holding hands and smiling at each other. Harry nods his head in their direction and pulls you in tighter.

Along the way to the airport you decide to call Bella to let her know you’re on your way to Chicago.

“Hah…Hah… Hi, er…Hah Hello, Lily?” Bella answers awkwardly out of breath and with a stammer.

“Bella? Jesus, are you ok?”

“Y..Y..Yes, hold on just a sec,” she says fumbling around and softly whispering, “Staahhp, G, I have to take this, mmm…no, no, staahhp.”

You grin and suck in your lips to keep from giggling. Sounds like Bella and Gavin are really, really enjoying themselves.

“Hey, Lily. There was a very interesting, long message sent through the website from a girl, name is Sha..Son…Sophia! that’s it, she has a very similar story to yours. Her parent’s were murdered a few years back and the case has gone cold. She heard about the podcast because she’s a Harry fan and has been following your case…I can’t recall the entire story, but it just, well, I dunno, there’s something about her…I just think you should look at the message and maybe, at least, give her some pointers. I realize we try to avoid the “I love Harry” messages who are trying to get to him through you, but I just feel like this is different. It’s in your email…know you’ve been busy so you might not have noticed the notification.”

“Hmm? Well, if you feel like it’s worth a look, I will pull it up during the flight. Just wanted to let you know we’re headed to Chicago. And, well, I wanted to check and see what you thought about The Headlands, but it, well, it sounds like you two are doing just fine,” you say looking over to Harry and catching him grinning.

Bella gasps and then lowers her voice sounding like she’s trying to convey a secret, “Oh. My. God. Lily… I cannot tell you how much we needed this break…just to be together…and,” her voice gets even lower and to a whisper, “well, let’s just say I may need a wheelchair when it’s time to leave, I’m just…Wow, just wow.”

You finally let out that giggle, “That’s fantastic, babe, please go and enjoy…enjoy some time off. Let me know when you get back to LA, yeah?” and this time you lower your voice, “and we will have a girls night and so you can spill all the glorious details!”

“It’s a date. Have a safe flight.” Bella bids a final good-bye with a kiss just as Harry pulls onto the tarmac.

Finally settling in a seat with a blanket on your legs and a glass of orange juice in the cup holder, Harry has taken the seat next to you and is working on his phone. You look at his profile, staring your fill.

“Hey, handsome.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you so much for coming here. And thank you so much for loving me,” you say resting your head on his shoulder.

He kisses the top of your head, “Missed you s’much, babe. I’m s’ happy ta be here wi’ ya. Love you so much.”

You close your eyes and absorb his words.  

“’m gonna get some sleep, babe. You should think abou’ getting’ some too.”

“I will, just gonna look over this message that Bella is so keen on,” you say opening the mail app on your phone.  Locating the message you begin to read the heart-felt message from a young lady, Sophia, and her younger sister, Felicity. Their parents were murdered at their business. Supposedly it was a burglary gone wrong, but Sophia does not believe that it was a random crime. She thinks someone close to them murdered them with intent, but she can’t get cooperation form local Federalies. “Hmm?” you say outloud to no one. Her message is heart-felt and sincere. Maybe there is something to this that needs to be looked into. Maybe these girls just need a good advocate to get the case back on the radar. Your skin pimples with goosebumps. Bella was right, there IS something about this message, about this story. There IS something here you need to investigate. It’s gonna start with a reply. Sitting up straighter in your seat you begin the process of typing a reply on your small phone screen.  “Sophia, thank you for your message. I’m terribly sorry to hear about your parents. Would you be available to talk on Monday around 10 a.m. your time?”

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

Lost and Found

Chapter 2 (of 2): Wherein Mario finds out where his brother is

Fic Summary: Sunny skies and friends by his side...in Mario’s opinion, it was all the perfect setup for a perfect vacation! ...Too bad his brother up and disappeared partway through it. Fic Tags: Minor Bowser/Luigi, Hurt/Comfort, Humor, Nonverbal Mario

Word Count: 4,427 words A/N: This fic's Mario's POV of An Egg in a Trying Time! So it would be helpful to read that one first, but I can't tell you what to do so do whatever!

[AO3 Link] [Link to beginning]

~~~

When Mario woke up, he squinted blearily at the clock and realized the restaurant Luigi had been last seen at had opened an hour ago.

Mario leapt out of bed. Beside him, Peach stirred. By the time he was ready to go she was still sleepily stumbling about, steps vaguely aiming for the bathroom. It took a minute or two of standing in the mirror for her to realize that her toothbrush wasn't here because she was in the wrong bathroom.

So she left. Mario followed her. He almost followed her straight into her room; the bemused smirk Peach sent at him at the threshold made Mario realize what he was doing, and he sheepishly stepped back to wait for her in the hallway.

During his wait, Toadette stepped out of her hotel room across the hall. Mario waved at her in greeting, and her face lit up with a grin.

“So the Princess was with you last night!” The glint in her eye strengthened at Mario’s confirming yet confused nod. She snickered. “Busy making quite the wish, weren't you?”

...What?

“Toadette!” Peach shouted from behind the door. She sounded mad. “What are you saying to him!”

“Nothing!” Toadette sang. She laughed, winked at Mario, and pranced down the hall.

Almost as soon as she’d turned the corner, Peach emerged from her hotel room. “Sorry about her,” she sighed, but Mario shrugged. He had no idea what Toadette had been on about.

The two of them scarfed down their complimentary continental breakfasts, and as soon as Mario finished he was immediately dashing for the door. “Mario, wait!” Peach called after him, to little avail. The only reason he stopped long enough for her to catch up was because he suddenly tripped on thin air. He must have finally realized what Toadette was hinting at earlier, judging by how red his face was and how he wouldn't look her in the eye. Peach couldn't help but laugh at his embarrassment.

---

Mario and Peach burst into the restaurant Rosalina had directed them to. The man at the counter, who had been practically falling asleep, started violently, jerking his head up. Peach steamrolled over his canned customer greeting to ask if anyone who looked like Mario but taller and wearing green had come by yesterday.

“I wasn't workin’ yesterday so I can't really help you,” the man said, looking regretful. “My junior was the one on the clock, but they'd had a bad day yesterday, so they're taking the day off.”

“I see.” Peach sighed, similarly disappointed. “Thanks anyway.”

With a little curtsy she turned to leave, and Mario trailed after her, hat pulled low on his head. Something about that downtrodden motion had the man’s eyes widening.

“H-Hold on a sec!” He stopped them as they were almost out the door. “Did your guy have a hat like that one?” He pointed to Mario’s hat. Mario nodded, and the man ducked under the counter and pulled out —

“That’s Luigi’s hat!” Peach exclaimed. Mario’s eyes widened at the evidence Luigi had been here. Peach hurried back to the counter. “Where did you —?”

“Guess he’s the guy from yesterday my junior was telling me about.” The man handed Peach the hat. “I think they said he dropped it when he left with that other guy.”

“‘Other guy’?”

“Big, spiky, scaly, looks like he could tear apart concrete with his bare hands?” The man raised an arm in the air as if to demonstrate how tall that 'other guy' was. "Apparently he just picked up your guy and left. Scared my junior half to death; it's why they're not here, ha! Honestly, if that’s all it takes to scare them, then I'm not sure they’re cut out for this job if I'm being honest!”

“O-oh thank you for your help have a good day goodbye!” Peach said all in one breath, because Mario had already stormed out as soon as he’d heard the words big and spiky. If not for knowing exactly where he was headed, she probably would have lost him completely. She just about caught up with him at the beginning of the makeshift path to Bowser’s fortress, where she had to stop and catch her breath. Ugh, she knew she shouldn't have worn these shoes today...!

Perhaps sensing how exhausted she was trying to run after him, Mario paused his determined march to turn around and hover near Peach concernedly. And now that he was close, Peach glared at him, poking a painted nail into his chest. “Quit leaving me behind,” she scolded him. “I want to teach Bowser a lesson as much as you do! Using my invitation to pull this stunt...” she huffed, punctuating her frustration by putting Luigi’s hat firmly on her head. She scowled at the place the dirt path met the horizon.

Mario looked chastened, and also a little wary of Peach’s ire. That was likely why he stopped rushing ahead, making a point to make sure Peach was always close behind him. To her credit, Peach wasn't exactly going slow, and they sped down the path. They only stopped once more, upon catching a glint of something in the grass. It was Luigi’s phone, screen cracked yet still powered on. The sight put them on edge; was there some kind of struggle? At least they knew why he wasn't answering any of their messages, now. They took it with them as they ran onward.

---

They arrived at the front gates of the fortress, closed. Mario had half a mind to break in through the doors anyway, but Peach was already sneaking around the curve of the fence to scout ahead so he quietly followed her lead.

Soon enough, they heard laughter. They hid behind some bushes, peeking out to see Bowser Junior running across the courtyard behind the fence, with Kammy chasing after him. Beyond them, Bowser was sitting against the wall, looking down at something.

Kammy stumbled, catching herself before she fell but staying hunched over, hands on her knees. She panted and gasped for breath in a way that had Mario concerned for her overall well-being. Before that sympathy could fully manifest, though, Kammy perked her head up, furrowed her brow, and stared straight at Mario and Peach’s hiding place like she was seeing right through it.

Peach gathered her skirts to hide better. Mario tensed, ready to act if Kammy exposed their hiding spot.

Kammy narrowed her eyes at them, but then turned to Junior, who was too busy taunting her and waving something shiny around to pay attention to what she was looking at. She dashed at him, and he danced out of reach with a laugh, towards Bowser. She feinted, and he ran away in the opposite direction. With one last look at them, Kammy resumed her chase, leaving Mario and Peach feeling a bit wrong-footed. Because if this was a kidnapping, then why didn't Kammy fight them? She definitely knew they were there. And for that matter, why lead Junior away? Maybe it was a way to get him out of an upcoming fight? But it wasn't like Junior’s family shied away much from letting him participate in kidnappings to begin with...

The pair crept forward, hidden in the foliage. From behind a tree they watched Bowser as he sat on a blanket. Kamek was sitting next to him. In Bowser’s lap was the Yoshi egg, and next to Bowser’s leg was a clump of green, chest rising and falling. Peach's grip on Mario's shoulder was strong as Mario went weak-kneed in relief. Luigi was okay, thank goodness.

That relief bred a bit of carelessness, so Mario and Peach were noticed by Kamek next. But aside from sending them an aggrieved glare, he did nothing else, similar to Kammy earlier. When neither of them moved, Kamek raised an eyebrow. Well?, he seemed to be asking.

With a shared unsure glance, Mario and Peach stepped out of their hiding spot and approached the fence. It was then Bowser noticed them and — yep, there was the aggression Mario had been expecting this entire time, even if said aggression was manifesting as snarling and growling rather than the usual shouting and taunting. Either way, of course his brother would be sleeping through it, the spaghetti-head, despite Peach calling his name to try and rouse him.

Well, desperate times called for desperate measures, and Mario was pretty sure he could manage one such measure, given the situation. Hands gripping tight on the fence and eyes squeezed shut, Mario took the biggest breath he could, dug deep inside himself, and shouted his brother’s name. It wasn't a particularly good shout, crackling and dying on the last syllable in a way that had Mario coughing from the lingering tear in his throat, but it was enough to cause Luigi to leap to his feet instantly upon hearing it, scooping up the egg as he rose and turning his head every which way for the source of the sound. When he found it, he looked surprised, then gladdened, but then worried as he took in the full scope of what was happening. A worry Mario certainly shared, and one that grew for the both of them when Luigi’s attempt to leave Bowser’s reach captured Bowser’s full attention. A second attempt had Bowser advancing towards Luigi, and Mario’s heart dropped like a stone.

Mario needed to get over there. But there wasn't a way around this fence. So Mario lodged a foot into one of its decorative spirals and pulled himself up, and up, and up. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kamek reluctantly ready himself for a fight, but Mario’s main focus was on Luigi, pushing himself to climb faster as his brother was forced to resort to using his Thunderhand to keep Bowser at arms length.

Mario was almost at the top of the fence when he felt something hit his leg. He looked down. It was Peach, arm outstretched. Wait, she mouthed up at him and — wha —?! No!

But in that brief moment Mario spared to scowl down at Peach, the situation in the courtyard changed dramatically. Luigi was backing away from Bowser, and Bowser looked...like he’d given up on whatever he’d planned for Luigi. Which was so odd and incredibly unlike him that Mario stopped climbing the fence. Bowser was hardly known as someone who just...gave up, like he was seemingly doing now. It was a difference Luigi seemed to pick up on as well as he — as he walked toward Bowser? If Luigi was going to make baffling decisions like that, then Mario really shouldn't have stopped climbing after all...

But strangely yet thankfully, Bowser still didn't move, letting Luigi rest the Yoshi egg by his foot and back away again. Luigi continued to back away, and after a hesitant glance at Kamek — who also looked disinclined to do anything — he turned on his heel and ran toward Mario and Peach.

Despite Mario’s progress up the fence, he slid all the way back down it, because Luigi was running too fast to not get a faceful of iron when he reached them. And get a faceful of iron he did, Peach and Mario putting a hand on each of his shoulders to steady him. As Luigi breathed the adrenaline out of his system Peach carefully put his hat back on his head, and he clutched the brim of it so tightly that he was probably creating creases he’d be cross about not being able to iron out for the time being.

Movement over Luigi’s shoulder caught Mario’s eye. It was Bowser, who’d also reacted to Luigi’s impact with the fence, having taken a step forward. He watched them not with the second wave of anger Mario was expecting him to be in by now, but with something closer to wariness plus a touch of what maybe could have been described as concern, if such an emotion made any sense right now. But watch was all Bowser did, so in the lull in the action Mario checked Luigi over, gaze sweeping over his shaking form. He looked unharmed physically, but...

As Luigi took one last deep breath, Peach asked him what was going on. Luigi took a moment to steady himself, then he answered her, a long-winded story that told the tale of what had happened over the past day.

Luigi told them about being snatched away from that restaurant around lunchtime yesterday, and Mario abruptly remembered that foreboding feeling he’d had at the beach. The feeling that, if he’d followed it, he might have been able to...A wave of regret washed over him, and he kept it off his face the best he could.

As Luigi explained the reason behind Bowser acting so strange lately, Mario glanced behind Luigi at the Koopa in question. The longer Luigi stood over here, the less wary Bowser looked. Until he was just annoyed and impatient, wearing a scowl more closely resembling his usual self. He also looked like he wanted to go over to them, which despite what Luigi had told them so far had Mario’s guard rising. Except Kamek leaned up and whispered something into Bowser’s ear, and whatever he had to say made Bowser huff grumpily and sit down. Not only did that make Mario feel a bit better, but the fact that Bowser listened to something Kamek said without any complaint or backtalk was yet another piece of evidence for his strange behavior.

Luigi finished off his tale by assuring them he was unharmed — “I know it looked scary earlier, but everyone’s been pretty nice to me, promise!” — but Mario knew said scare had probably spooked his brother something fierce, despite the brave face he was trying to put on. So Mario was back to trying to get over the fence, this time to give Luigi the embrace he sorely needed to hold it together (and one he himself could admit he’d like to have for the same reason). He could try climbing again, but now that he had the space to think, Mario had a better idea. He turned to Peach, who nodded.

The two of them both backed up, Peach motioning for Luigi to back up as well. With a lead-up run and a hop into Peach’s cupped hands, Mario was over the fence in one fell swoop. He’d meant to land next to Luigi, but in his excitement he landed on top of him instead, sending them both crashing to the ground. Mario propped himself on an elbow and grinned at Luigi, even as he was admonished for almost re-antagonizing Bowser.

As Luigi sat up, Mario rubbed at the red mark on Luigi’s forehead from when he’d collided with the fence. When blue eyes met blue, Luigi’s breath hitched, and he dropped his head on Mario’s shoulder. Mario leaned his head atop his, all the stress about being apart from his brother melting away in an instant. Not even Junior’s suspicion at his presence could disrupt it. And really, if Luigi didn't want him laughing so much every time someone brought up that acquired maternal title of his, then he should probably react less hilariously defensive about it when Mario did so!

What did pop his mood a bit, however, was Peach joking about hanging out in Bowser’s nest herself. Although he had to concede to her implied point that Bowser was quite the bastion of safety for the people he held dear, at least. When Luigi agreed too, her smile widened, but she quickly moved the conversation along.

Peach handed Luigi his phone; Luigi’s eyes widened as he scrolled through his notifications, and Mario abruptly remembered the obscene number of messages he’d sent him, face growing hot. But even still, Luigi looked apologetic, as if he hadn't been the one who’d lost his phone while getting kidnapped. Thankfully, Luigi got distracted from asking why Mario had sent so many messages to him by one of Peach’s texts that had come way before most of them, and Mario leapt to help Peach explain what, exactly, had happened at the beach yesterday in Luigi’s absence. They talked and talked and for a moment Mario forgot Luigi wouldn't be able to go with them when it was time for them to leave.

And that time came sooner than Mario wanted it to, judging by how Bowser was looking at them. Or, rather, how he was looking at Luigi. And wasn't that a curious thing? From what Luigi had explained, it was the Yoshi egg that had been the trigger for all this, and it was currently sitting right next to Bowser’s knee. By all rights, then, Bowser should be satisfied. So why wasn't he?

Luigi asked almost as much out loud, and Peach’s cryptic reply shed no light on it. And for some reason, she added an out-of-pocket comment about Bowser being cute, which was an opinion Mario was pretty sure she’d never held in her entire life.

But...it was one Luigi apparently had, judging by his near-immediate hum of agreement. Subconsciously, too, by the way he immediately tried to take that agreement back.

As Mario watched his brother sputter and wave his arms around in embarrassed denial, he realized he’d seen this behavior before. With Daisy, Prince Peasley...Mario knew Luigi was quick to catch feelings, but...Bowser? Of all people? Really? Mario looked between Luigi, who was looking more and more flustered by the second, and Bowser, who was looking more and more forlorn to match. Mario resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. His brother really outdid himself this time, didn't he. When did this even start? No, that was a silly question; of course one day of Bowser acting soft would be all it took for a crush to form. Luigi knew Bowser had to go back to normal eventually, right? What was he going to do then? Honestly...

Mario's thoughts were derailed by Luigi calling his name. He decided not to answer Luigi’s question of what he was thinking about; just because he was still struggling to wrap his head around the current state of his brother’s love life didn't mean he had to turn his incredulity outwards in a way that might come off as negative. Maybe later, when it could come out with a more teasing edge to it.

For now, it was probably time to stop stalling and let Luigi go back to Bowser’s nest. Before he could lose his nerve about it, Mario clasped a hand on Luigi’s shoulder and led him back there himself. He got as close as he dared, since Kamek was snapping at him and Bowser’s defensive aggression had returned in full force, and pushed Luigi the rest of the way. Though Bowser calmed down a few notches once Luigi was within arm’s reach again, from the way he was still glaring at him he must have been thinking Mario was going to change his mind and take Luigi away after all, in some cruel bait and switch. One Mario had no interest in; there was no telling how exactly Bowser would react if he tried. Admittedly, Mario felt like he probably should bear the brunt of whatever fury would ensue to bring Luigi back to town with him, but...

Mario’s eyes swept over the scene before him, taking in Luigi’s surprise at his actions and everyone else’s varying degrees of hostile protectiveness, keeping what Luigi had said about their treatment of him and the optimism with which he’d described it in mind. If Luigi was confident his remaining time here was going to be fine, then Mario was willing to borrow some of that confidence and trust he was right. Besides, with Bowser’s current mental state Luigi was obviously considered important to him in some way, so at least Luigi would be safe in Mario's absence.

...it was still hard to part with him, though. And yet he had to, because his presence was making this sub-optimal situation worse for Luigi. It took all he could to muster the energy to back away, and after jumping back over the fence he and Peach waved goodbye to Luigi for maybe a little too long before they parted ways with him. Mario fought the urge to turn back around, slotting a hand in Peach’s so she could lead him away before he gave in to that impulse.

---

The walk back to town was quiet, with both Mario and Peach thinking and worrying about Luigi.

Mario, especially, was worried if he’d done the right thing by leaving him with Bowser. But at least he knew where Luigi was now, and he could go fight to get him back, if necessary. And hopefully that wouldn't be necessary; hopefully all that would happen was Luigi would hang out with his new crush for a day or two more and then come back safe and sound. Mario huffed at the thought of it.

“What’s so funny? Oh!” Peach giggled. “Luigi’s crush on Bowser, right? It’s cute, isn't it?”

Mario made a face. He wasn't sure ‘cute’ was the word to describe it. But at least it'll be fleeting, like all Luigi’s crushes usually were, and all Mario really had to worry about was the moment it petered out into a teary-eyed aftermath he would have to help him through, as per usual.

Peach hummed. “Maybe...I guess it would end that way if not for Bowser having a crush on Luigi, as well.”

Mario rolled his eyes. Right, it was so —

Mario stopped.

Peach kept walking, turning around to smirk at him. Mario’s feet caught up with his brain when she was almost a pink speck on the road before him, and he all but sprinted to catch up with her.

“What, you didn't notice?” Peach innocently asked when Mario grabbed desperately at her sleeve. The distress on Mario’s face only grew. Peach laughed and took pity on him, explaining how Luigi’s recount of Kamek’s explanation for Bowser’s behavior truly aligned with said behavior regarding Luigi, with ample evidence from both Luigi’s description of Bowser’s actions yesterday and the behavior they witnessed from him themselves. It was really the only explanation that made sense, given all the facts.

Mario nodded slowly. Now that Peach laid it all out, it was a little bit obvious, wasn't it? He let go of Peach’s sleeve. He took a step back. He turned on his heel.

“Hey, wait!” Peach snapped her arm out to grab Mario’s sleeve, this time. “You can't do that!”

But —

“You wouldn't have left him there in the first place if he wasn't safe,” Peach argued. “This hardly changes that. In fact, I think that makes things even more safe for him, actually! Bowser does have standards for how he treats love interests, you know.”

Mario thought about the places he’d rescue Peach from — cages, locked rooms, dangling from the ceiling by rope. Weird standards, aren't they?

“And yet!” Peach clapped her hands once with a grin. “The feelings are real this time! So it’ll already be a step up from how he’d treated me!”

...Mario wasn't sure he was reassured by that.

At his continued hesitance, Peach’s grin melted into something softer. She patted him on the shoulder. “We still have to get Luigi some spare clothes, among other things,” she reminded him, “So you can check on him then. In the meantime,” she added when his worried face still didn't budge, “since Luigi isn't here, you can tell me the story behind the whole ‘Mama Luigi’ thing; I’m dying to know!”

At that, Mario’s face finally broke into a small smile. They resumed their walk back to town, a walk that was loud with laughter about the job Mario and Luigi had taken all those years ago, and the ridiculous events that had followed it.

---

About an hour later, Mario returned to Bowser’s fortress, a green duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He made his way directly to the same part of the fence as before, and through it he could see Bowser, Luigi, and the others having a picnic lunch. When Bowser noticed him and began to growl, Luigi was quick to nudge him for it, and with a few words he had Bowser sullenly glaring at Mario instead. Seeing that Luigi had Bowser well under control put Mario a bit more at ease. Even if the main reason for that control was nigh incomprehensible.

Mario shook his head; he could continue to process all this some other time, but right now he had to get Luigi his bag. He wondered if he could make the triple-jump over the fence again; in the middle of backing up to try it, the bag slipped up off his shoulder. Mario almost ran right into the fence trying to grab it as it floated away from him, but then it floated up and over the fence towards the picnicking group and he realized Kammy’s magic was levitating it, solving his problem. Oh well. He’d kind of been hoping to hug Luigi again, but he supposed he would have to wait until some other time.

On the other side of the fence, Luigi rifled through his bag, even giving one or two things to Bowser to examine more closely. Satisfied with the contents, Luigi raised his head and turned his attention back to Mario. Even from this far away Mario could see Luigi’s dawning realization about how he looked planted square in Bowser’s lap. His lips twitched in amusement as Luigi’s cheeks turned pink. Just as he’d hoped; Luigi was just hanging out with his crush, his crush’s family notwithstanding. Fleeting or not, and regardless of how things would go after Bowser was back to normal, Mario could hardly begrudge Luigi making the most of his circumstances while he could; if nothing else, it was more to use to tease Luigi later, which was something Mario could admit he was very much looking forward to after the days he’s had, recently.

With that, though, there was little Mario could do besides leave again, to go back to town while Luigi stayed here. It was still hard, but at the same time it was easier, somehow. Still, as he turned away, Mario couldn't help but pull out his phone. He sent a message. Seconds later, he got one back. The skip in his step stayed for the entire walk back down the path.

[jinxedshapeshifter]

I can now say I've finished Hazbin Hotel (granted I did like 10 hours ago then went to bed but STILL) so I'm gonna talk about it. I'll split this post into parts based on specific subjects I want to talk about to make it easier. Spoilers for Hazbin Hotel if you haven't seen it obviously.

Concept

I really love the concept of Hazbin Hotel, as well as how that concept is explored throughout the show. For additional context I'm ex-Mormon, so I grew up religious. Episode 6 hit me HARD in the religious trauma. Religious trauma will be another section, because I have a LOT of thoughts on it (especially on episode 6 and You Didn't Know). Anyway, the concept of Hazbin Hotel is something I really like, and it's something that I appreciate.

Character Designs

The character designs in Hazbin Hotel are so much fun tbh. It seems that 3 things affect the appearance of demons once they've died:

What they looked like in life

What they did in life

How they died

For example, Angel and his entire family's appearances are based on spiders because they operated a crime web. Alastor's appearance is based on a deer because of how he died. It's a detail I really really like, but then again I'm also someone who appreciates subtle animal traits in character designs (and Alastor's deer traits are absolutely subtle in his regular form). Also Husk expresses himself with his wings and it makes me want to design a character with wings lmao

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is great. Might have to rank the songs at some point idk. One of the things I love is the different music styles throughout the soundtrack. Loser, Baby feels like classic Broadway, You Didn't Know has rock elements, Out For Love has elements of Latin music, it's just a mix of different genres and I love it. Also I love that Hell's Greatest Dad is just Lucifer fighting with Alastor.

Art

I've always loved Vivziepop's art style. Hazbin Hotel is no different. Very fun and dynamic art style, and incredibly fun to see animated. The color palettes are also really nice; the character color palettes specifically are incredibly consistent across Hell and Heaven (lots of red, pink, and black for the demons, and lots of gold, white, and blue for the angels). I also really like that aside from post-ascension Sir Pentious none of the angels have animal motifs in their designs.

Characters

The character writing doesn't feel inconsistent. It's fun to watch the characters interact. Valentino is absolutely and utterly hateable. Alastor is incredibly fun to watch. I love the choice to give Husk a deep voice because the contrast with the little cat noises he sometimes makes is wonderful (especially his purring which is apparently completely involuntary, which is adorable). Husk's dyamic with Angel is also really nice and I love them.

Religious Deconstruction

Alright so as I said, I'm ex-Mormon (this section is long because of it lol). One of the reasons I love Hazbin Hotel as much as I do is because it deconstructs the hypocrisy I, and many other ex-Christians, talk about. So much of the heaven vs hell stuff I was taught is full of hypocrisy and lacks nuance. This is fully deconstructed in Welcome to Heaven, where Sera says that even she doesn't know what qualifies a soul for heaven (personally, I wouldn't be surprised if there are tons of souls in Hell that qualify but Adam and Lute are/were actively working to keep Hell overpopulated). As Emily and Charlie say during You Didn't Know, "If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie" and if there's no redemption after death, even if you've ended up in Hell for mistakes (as is usually the case from what we see in the show; the only exception I can think of really is Alastor), what's the point?

Like, let's look at some of the sinners that end up at Hazbin Hotel.

Angel Dust was born into a crime family; I wouldn't be surprised if he was threatened into staying, especially because the rest of his family is also mostly in Hell with him, although it is also possible that he stayed by choice. Either way, he was born into that lifestyle, which is entirely out of his control. Did him being born into a mafia doom his soul to Hell? Did his choices effect it? Did his addiction send him to Hell, which is what's largely implied by Adam and Lute? What damned him? I doubt anyone in Heaven or Hell even knows, considering Sera doesn't know what qualifies a soul for Heaven.

Husk grew up in Vegas, specifically in a casino. This alone tells me it's not impossible his gambling addiction developed in life, not after he died. We don't know much about Husk so it'll be interesting to learn more about him, but from what we do know, and given Adam and Lute imply Angel's damnation to Hell was caused by addiction, I wouldn't be surprised if Husk's gambling addiction is what damned him.

Alastor was a serial killer and radio host in New Orleans in life, which is definitely what got him in Hell. The thing that makes Alastor's situation different from Angel or Husk is Angel and Husk seem to have been victims of circumstance; Alastor, unless I'm missing something, was a serial killer to be a serial killer, and fully embraces his status as a demon (whereas Angel and Husk are more or less like "Guess this is where I'm at now").

Sir Pentious ascended to Heaven after sacrificing himself for the friends he'd made at the hotel. He was apparently a Victorian era inventor and villain during life, which is likely what landed him in Hell. The fact that he was an active villain in life but was able to be redeemed is notable, and implies to me that anyone could be redeemed if they wanted to be. I think the difference between Sir Pentious vs Angel Dust and Husk is Angel Dust and Husk aren't in possession of their souls, which likely complicates ascension.

The rules feel incredibly arbitrary, and that's also the vibe I got when I was religious. If lust is a sin, what happens to people who have medical conditions that cause hypersexuality? What happens to people who make mistakes that are "damning" by Christian standards? Everything is so arbitrary. Bringing back the lyrics of You Didn't Know, this describes my experience with Mormonism flawlessly:

If Hell is forever, then Heaven must be a lie If angels can do whatever and remain in the sky The rules are shades of gray when you don't do as you say When you make the wretched suffer just to kill them again

I also want to point out that the sinner demon that Vaggie corners and then lets go in the flashback to the last Extermination she participated in during Welcome to Heaven is a fucking child. Children who die can go to Hell as sinner demons, and the Exorcists will kill them during Exterminations. Some might say "oh, that's in bad taste!" But I actually think it's a good example of further religious deconstruction. As a kid I was taught that if I did anything wrong, I would end up experiencing eternal damnation. Because of how Heaven is in Hazbin Hotel, I'm not at all surprised that some of the sinner demons are children. It also further shows how fucking corrupt Heaven is. Also, on the topic of Heaven's corruption, to everyone like "how the fuck are Adam and Lute still in Heaven???" it's more than likely to show the extent of corruption in Heaven.

(I do want to clarify that I don't think religion, including most denominations of Christianity, is inherently bad. However I do have religious trauma from my time in the Mormon church, and seeing a show deconstruct and criticize the worst parts of Christianity is incredibly comforting.)

[ithehellisbucky]

Waking Up In Vegas

spencer reid x reader

request: prompts 87 (boop), 88 (that's such a bad idea- lets do it), 89 (Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool), 96 (I'm not crying, you are.) by anon

word count: 1.7k

warnings: Mentions of drug addiction, heavy drinking and blackout, that's it.

author's note: I've had this in my inbox for months, and I'm so sorry I didn't finish it sooner. Also, what do you want to see from my blog, it seems like I only post once a week for my fics and that's a no go from me.

~~~

The light was too loud- that's a wonderful thing to think when you remember nothing of the night before. You groaned and sat up, seeing that you were in a large bed with white covers. You scratched your head and looked around, noticing that the bedboard behind you was a large pink heart.

Looking down you realize that you're wearing a sequined red bikini top and a skirt scarf combo with booty shorts underneath. Drunk you does not have good fashion sense.

Before you can notice anything else, you start to feel puke crawling up your throat and you immediately run and vomit all your guts up.

You rinse your mouth out and notice that the blanket mound you left has shifted, and you become wary and pick up a heavy brass candlestick.

And then the lump rolls over, and it's your goddamn coworker.

"Reid?"

He startles and wakes up, staring at you and then glancing down at himself- huh, there was something wrong about that picture, but you couldn't figure out what it was just yet.

"y/n? What are you doing in my hotel room?" He pauses, looks around, then mutters under his breath "this isn't my hotel room."

He looks up at you "Since when are you married?"

"I'm not," You look down at your hand, noticing a giant red ruby adorning your ring finger "I am."

You look down at his hand and notice that he is too, "And so are you."

You and Spencer look around your room, both badly masking paranoia and panic. Both of your eyes stop when you notice a picture frame in the corner- a wedding certificate.

"Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool Cool. This is fine, no big deal, just a marriage certificate," You move over and pick it up "with both of our names on it."

"Okay, this is okay, this is fine," Spencer says, sitting back down on the bed stunned.

"So, we're married, which is a thing that happened, last night, that you definitely remember." You say, sitting down next to your newly revealed husband.

"I don't remember."

"How do you not remember? You have super memory powers!"

"This is an excellent first fight to have as a married couple, of course, you blame me." He says, standing up and shrugging.

You meet his stance "Of course I blame you! You're the smart one!"

"Oh, well Agent, I wasn't aware that you had an IQ of 25!" He pauses "25 is the number associated by Henry H. Goodard to be an idiot, it's actually-"

"I know!" You exclaim, seething with half-hearted rage.

"You know, your the one who got an addict drunk!"

"Your vice isn't alcohol! If I drugged you I'd be a monster! You ordered that first bloody mary all by yourself, and those shots we did were totally consensual!!!"

He looked up at you "you remember that?"

You think, and notice memories that you didn't know were there, "um, yeah, bits and pieces."

From the expression he makes, he looks to be remembered more too. You and your new husband sit down and let it all hit you.

~~~

"4 tequila shots please." You wave down the bartender.

You're already buzzed, but you and Spencer were just getting warmed up. Morgan and Garcia left hours ago to go to a fancy restaurant, Rossi was planted firmly at the poker table, Hotch was nowhere to be seen, JJ had gone home to be with Henry, and Emily was at a "sin to win" night at some casino that you already knew too much about just by hearing the name.

So that leaves you and Spencer at the bar in the only casino in town he wasn't banned from.

At first, you were concerned about him drinking, but once he reassured that alcohol isn't his way of self-medicating, you were okay. Besides, if you saw any red flags, you would throw his ass in rehab faster than you can say 'gin'.

So, you were 5 drinks in and having the time of your lives, showing off battle scars and laughing. God, his eyes were pretty.

"Your eyes are so pretty!" You giggled "like soooooo pretty, woooooooow."

He laughed and looked back at you "your skin is pretty, like in a non-serial killer way, it's really pretty."

"Thank you, just don't kill me for it."

"I just called no murder!" He whined "besides, how am I sure you won't kill me and scoop my eyes out?"

"Because that's gross." You said, rolling your eyes.

"And stealing your skin isn't?"

"You can' have my skin!" You say, mock running away.

He laughs, and looks directly into your eyes, and smiles, wow, he was pretty. Morgan was right.

"Hey, do you wanna get out of here?" Spencer asks you.

"Yeah, let's get ice cream!" You grab his hand, and it feels natural through your foggy brain.

After stumbling through the ice cream parlor, full of people who were trying to pretend like they weren't. Spencer got butter pecan, and you got sherbert and chocolate.

You stumbled out of the store, giggling to yourself and Spencer.

God, you loved him. So you told him.

"I love you." He stopped in his tracks, and you almost tripped on a bicycle rack.

"Really?" He whispers.

All of the giggles are gone.

"I love you."

The ice cream is long forgotten, his on the ground, and half of yours on your clothes and half next to his on the ground. All that's left is your faces inching closer to each other.

When your lips meet it feels like firecrackers going off inside your head.

His mouth is soft, gently contrasting with your soft lips. His tongue sneaks into your mouth, your smile around his.

"Let's get married." He pulls apart from you, out of breath.

You stay silent for a moment, before looking up and directly into his chocolate brown eyes "That is such a bad idea-"

He diverts his eyes and scratches the back of his skull "Um, yeah, that's okay, let's-"

"Let's do it."

He looks back at you, and you grab his body and kiss him.

~~~

Sometimes people can be happy, you realize as an elderly woman ties a sash around your waist.

You have to be honest, you never thought this was gonna be how you were gonna get married. Hell, you weren't sure if you were gonna get married at all. But certainly not like this. Certainly not at 1 am to your coworker 7 drinks in at a cheap roadside attraction.

Definitely not like this.

But something about this weirdness felt like the only way anything ever would've made any sense.

There was something about the outfit you were wearing that was perfect, a bright red bra covered in sequins underneath a top with buttons and poofy sleeves that showed off a lot of your chest, a wrap-around cheap white silk skirt with jeans shorts underneath. And of course purple open-toed boots. Perfect.

Marrying Spencer Reid is like a fever dream. A perfect man with perfect hair and perfect eyes. So of course you were giggling like crazy while they put the cheap crown with pink tulle serving as a veil on your head.

Your witnesses were an elderly couple, of course, you wanted to have your best friends there, but knowing them they'd try to talk you out, and believe me, there was no way you wanted out of it.

"Now's time dear," the woman exclaims, gently patting you on the shoulder and leading you out of the fitting room and towards the chapel.

The owner of the business hooks his arm around yours and leads you into the chapel, church bells from an iPod attached to a speaker ringing out into the air.

Spencer turns around the air visibly leaves his lungs when you make eye contact. The chapel you two had chosen in this drunken haze was costume-themed, and he was wearing an ancient Rome costume that fit the time where his favorite philosopher, so even though no one else noticed, you could tell he was dressed as Gaius.

His hair had been attempted to slick back, but little curls were popping up all over the place instead. He was wringing his hands tightly and bouncing his knee, god you couldn't wait to marry him.

The elderly man who had led you to the alter places you next to Spencer, you couldn't focus on anything but your soon-to-be-husband.

Spencer takes his hands and gently pulls your veil up from around your face, and a tear trickles out of his eyes as he sees you. You smile and notice his nerves, try to calm the love of your life down "boop", you gently tap his nose and he smiles in comfort.

The officiant drones on and on about love but you can't hear him, all you can focus on is his love-filled eyes.

"Do you take Spencer Reid to be your husband?"

Your eyes snap out of their daze and you say with the most certainty than you have ever said anything: "I do."

"And do you take (y/n) (y/l/n) to be your life partner for as long as you may live?"

"I do," And you feel more wanted than you ever have in your life, he wants you, Spencer wants you.

~~~

You and Spencer sit on your bed in stunned silence, neither believing that last night had really happened. You look over at your apparent husband and notice tears streaming down his face.

"You're crying." You say, your voice coming out as a chocked whisper.

"I'm not crying, you are." You look down and notice that your shirt is soaked in tears.

"Oh." You take a deep breath and look into his eyes. "So, what do you want to do?"

"Get an annulment?" He doesn't look completely happy about his answer and stares into your eyes for reassurance.

You take a deep breath and stare off into the distance, out into a world that would be so much better if you were married to Spencer Reid. "I don't want that."

You look back at him to meet his eyes, "Me neither."

"I love you, a lot, and I want to be married to you." Spencer smiles, and you feel wanted and safe and loved.

Instead of saying it back, he kissed you with a passion that was way more descriptive than simple words. Spencer is your husband and you love him, he loves you, and you are finally wanted.

~~

My Masterlist

Requests are open!

~Taglists are open~

Permanent Tags: @natasha-danvers​

Marvel:

Criminal Minds:

[heyitssmiller]

Clandestine: Chapter Eleven

I... about 75% of this chapter was not in the outline, and I don’t really know what to do about that fact. This completely ran away from me, but that’s ok I guess.

Characters, as always, belong to the amazing @lumosinlove and a huge thanks again to @donttouchmycarrots for proofreading!! <3

Clandestine Masterlist

CW: hospitals, injury, brief mention of blood, medical drugs

.

Leo slept. A lot.

Logan knew this was normal; their nurse had reiterated it a few times now. When he did wake up, it was only for a few dazed, confused minutes before he was pulled back under again. The confusion ebbed the more time went on, the effects of anesthesia wearing off, but the dull sheen to his eyes remained. He could fight his way through a brief conversation with him or Finn, and then he was back to sleep. It was probably for the best, Logan told himself. Better than dealing with their present situation, at least.

Finn was curled up uncomfortably in the chair beside him, also sleeping. He normally looked peaceful when he was asleep – lips slightly parted, face relaxed, on his side or stomach with one hand usually shoved under his pillow. After about a week of sharing a hotel room and a bed, Logan knew these things. It wasn’t the same now. Granted, he was in a chair instead of a bed, but still. He was curled up somewhat in a ball, with the leg in a brace stretched out and immobile – an awkward position that almost made him look like a flamingo balancing on one leg. His shoulders were tense, even in sleep, and his jaw was clenched tight. A worry line was furrowed between his eyebrows, steadfastly refusing to smooth out. Logan brushed his knuckles faintly against the bruise on his cheek, plum against porcelain, and sighed. He knew he should be doing the same thing – sleeping, that is – but every time he closed his eyes… well. It wasn’t pretty. Besides, someone needed to keep an eye out. There was only so long the nurse could delay the GSW report.

It was only a matter of time before they were on the run again.

Regulus drifted in and out on occasion, checking in on them. He seemed to be on guard, constantly walking the perimeter of the hospital and keeping an eye out for familiar faces. It put Logan on edge and calmed him down at the simultaneously. He didn’t trust Regulus, not really, but he figured if he was going to sabotage them he would’ve done so already. He’d had ample opportunity, after all.

Logan glanced at the clock. They’d been here for just shy of twenty-four hours now. The sun was starting to rise again, not bringing any answers with it. Loops had been in contact, briefly. They’d received one text message that simply said “stay put” and radio silence after that. He just hoped they had a good plan. Even better if it was safe, too, but Logan wasn’t about to push their luck… if you could even call it that.

For now, this was ok. They were together, they were alive, and they were relatively safe, for now. In that moment, listening to the steady beeps of a monitor and muffled conversations of people in the hallway outside their door and the even breathing of his partners, he couldn’t ask for much more.

***

Nate saw the scowling, intimidating group of people in the lobby and knew they were in trouble.

He had just started today’s shift, still tired from the one the day before, and was in the process of saying his usual hello to the staff working the front desk when he saw them. There were three of them – at least two of which were over six feet tall, looming and muscular and intense. One had a scar traversing down one side of his face, healed but still a beacon that screamed “don’t mess with me”. The short, scary one was right.

He’d submitted the GSW report about ten minutes ago, and here they were.

Fuck.

Nate didn’t even say goodbye to the sweet lady working the desk that day, he just backed away slowly and tried to appear normal as he pushed past the doors. As soon as they closed he broke into a run, headed straight for room 308 and stopping by the nurse’s station for a split second to grab two prescriptions before he was off again. He was almost there when he crashed into someone as he rounded a corner, only avoiding hitting the ground by two arms that snaked out to steady him. He looked up to gray eyes and a vaguely familiar face.

“Sorry.” The guy said and let go of him, frowning when he saw what was no doubt a look of panic on Nate’s face. “You ok?”

He remembered this guy now. He was with the scary short guy and the other two. He wasn’t around much, but Nate had seen him a few times when he’d been making his rounds.

“They’re here.” He blurted, hoping that he didn’t need so say anymore.

He didn’t. in the blink of an eye he was leading the way to room 308 and throwing the door open, which Nate didn’t think was the best idea. He didn’t know what these people did for a living, but it was clearly dangerous. Barging in like that probably wasn’t a good move.

Sure enough, when Nate followed Gray Eyes into the room, the short one was on his feet and had pulled a gun from somewhere, aiming it at the two of them. Gray Eyes stuck his arm out and kept Nate from going any further until Short Angry One recognized them.

Nate used to think this was a relatively safe career path. Sure he might get puked on, yelled at, mentally and emotionally eviscerated by doctors and patients and family members alike on a regular basis, but he’d never felt like his life was in danger.

Maybe he should go into accounting. Just him in an office with a bunch of numbers. Or a museum curator, surrounded by ancient artifacts and not much else. Definitely not people pointing guns at you.

Both the redhead and the blond woke up at the disturbance, one sitting up in a flash and the other just blinking sleepily and frowning in concern. Before anyone else could get a word in edgewise, Gray Eyes blurted out, “They’re here.”

The EKG readings on the monitor spiked, and then it was a flurry of motion. Short Angry One cursed under his breath and pulled Gray Eyes and Nate into the room fully, closing the door behind them. The redhead started throwing the few things they had into his pockets – a phone, some other electronic device Nate couldn’t identify, an old lock, a pen. He shoved his shoes on, unsteady on his feet, and looked to the blond, who was still in a hospital gown and watching with wide eyes. All the color that had been slowly returning to his cheeks was now gone.

Nate steeled his resolve. His job was to save lives, damnit, and that’s what he was going to do.

He jumped into action, pushing Gray Eyes out of the way and unhooking his patient from the monitors before discontinuing the IV drip and pulling the IV out, stopping the bleeding with quick pressure from his hand. “There’s an employee exit down the hall that leads to the parking garage. You guys know how to hotwire a car, by any chance? I’d offer you mine but I don’t have one.”

“I can.” Glaring down at his sling, the blond muttered, “Well. Maybe can is the wrong word.”

Nate let up on the pressure, shrugged his thin jacket off, and helped him slide his good arm through the sleeve, throwing the other side around his shoulder gently. It wouldn’t do much to help, but it was better than nothing. “Can you show someone else how to do it?”

“Maybe.” He said, moving to swing his legs over the edge of the bed and frowning when Nate stopped him. “I can walk.”

Nate smiled. Typical. “That’s what they all say. I’m going to grab a wheelchair, anyways. You’ll be faster that way.” He looked at the others in the room and continued. “I’ll lead you to the exit, but I’m afraid that’s as far as I can take you. I’ll try to find these guys and get them off your trail as best I can.”

He shoved the two prescriptions he was so glad he’d filled last night at Ginger, trying to ignore the way all of them seemed to be staring at him. “Instructions are on the labels. He needs to finish all the antibiotics. All of them.” He didn’t have time to stress the importance of preventing antibiotic resistance, but he hoped they would take his word for it. “Let me go get-”

The door opened again and they all swiveled towards it. Ginger stepped between the blond and the door while Short One raised his gun again – but he didn’t shoot. In fact he just stared for a second, then lowered his gun with a smile.

“Loops.” He said, relieved, and – what?

The three men Nate had seen earlier were ushered into the room, the tallest one slapping the brunet on the shoulder, causing him to stumble as he flipped the safety of his gun back on and stashed it in the waistline of his pants.

The one in the front with caramel colored eyes looked between their group, one eyebrow arched. “Going somewhere? I thought I told you to stay put.”

Ginger laughed incredulously, shoulders slumping. “Holy shit, Loops. We thought you were someone else.”

Gray Eyes looked at Nate, exasperation clear in his gaze. “You told me they were here.”

Nate threw his arms up in defense. “You look at those guys and tell me you wouldn’t be suspicious.” He winced and looked at the newcomers, realizing that his words might be offensive. “Sorry.”

Neither of them seemed to take it to heart. The tall one just grinned and said, in a heavily-accented voice, “We still got it, eh, Nado?”

The one with the scar – Nado, apparently – just rolled his eyes and didn’t comment, but Nate could see one side of his mouth lifting into a smile. It softened his face, made him look more like a teddy bear than the scary, intimidating guy he’d seen in the lobby.

“We’ve got a car out back.” The one called Loops said, looking to the blond with gentle, understanding eyes. “You good to go?”

He nodded firmly, no room for second-guessing. “Let’s do this.”

Now, Nate didn’t exactly think it was a good idea to move a GSW patient out of a hospital only a day after getting shot, but – judging by how the others had reacted at the thought of people coming for them – it was safer for him to leave than to stay here. His brain, after all those years of medical classes and caffeine/anxiety induced all-nighters, was screaming in horror about complications and sepsis and bone fragments, but he didn’t voice them. He just reached for a pen and paper in his pocket. He scribbled his number down and handed it to his patient. “If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask, ok? I’d feel much better if you at least had a nurse with you, but this’ll have to do.”

He got a warm smile in response. “Thanks,” he said, voice and eyes serious. “For everything. Not many people would do what you did for us.”

Nate blinked. “I genuinely don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but thanks?” He still didn’t know who exactly he was helping, but then again, he guessed it didn’t really matter either way. They seemed like good people dealing with a shitty situation, and that was a good enough motive for him. “I’m going to grab that wheelchair quickly and I’ll be right back.”

He should’ve known that, by the time he got back, they’d already be gone – leaving no trace except for the disheveled sheets on the bed, two chairs next to it instead of the standard one, and the still humming machines and monitors.

Nate let himself slump against the wheelchair, forearms resting against the handles.

“What the fuck,” he said, with feeling.

***

Sirius was behind the steering wheel of a very old service van, watching six of them pile into the back and Loops slide into the passenger’s seat. His eyes didn’t stray long from Regulus, though. If he’d had enough time, he would’ve tackled his younger brother in a hug. Unfortunately, they were on a bit of a tight schedule. “Petition to never have to break someone out of a hospital again.” He said wryly, putting the van into drive and searching for the exit to the maze that was this parking garage. All the while, he was sneaking glances in the rearview mirror, unable to help himself.

“Where do I sign?” Finn deadpanned from the back row, sandwiched between Logan and Leo. They looked so tired. Leo didn’t hesitate to twist in his seat a little so that he could lean into Finn’s chest and close his eyes, looking absolutely miserable. Finn shifted just slightly, pressing a barely-perceptible kiss to a bird’s nest of curls and relaxing back into his seat.

Huh.

That was… new.

But then again, was it? Sirius thought back to the past several months of this operation and found that he really wasn’t that surprised. But then there was Logan…

“Turn left here.” Remus said, pulling him out of the thoughts, calm and in control like usual. His lips turned up into a smile as he flicked his turn signal on. He could see them doing exactly this, when all the chaos was said and done. Taking a roadtrip, Sirius behind the wheel and Remus navigating, going wherever they felt like. No worries or missions, just the two of them and the black top below them. He shelved the daydreaming for later.

“Where are we going?”

Sirius’ eyes flew back to the mirror at his brother’s voice – the first time he’d head it un-obscured by a phone or earpiece in too long. He’d missed him. He’d fought so hard for him, to get him out of that mess and keep him safe, and here he was. They’d done it.

Was he a horrible person, for feeling as relieved as he did? He’d inadvertently put the Cubs through hell for mostly selfish reasons. Sure, he wanted to take the Snakes down, but that paled in comparison to the safety of his brother. He’d let the Snakes walk away scot-free if it meant Reg was safe.

He didn’t know what kind of person that made him – he was too afraid to speculate about it.

“My family has a cabin about two hours away,” Remus replied, balancing his phone with the navigation app against the center console so that Sirius could see it. “It’s empty right now, so it’s a perfect hideout until we figure out next steps.”

Finn was asleep now, too, head pillowed on Leo’s. Logan stared sightlessly out the window beside them, stonily silent. Sirius ached for him. They were kindred spirits, he and Logan. Stubborn, fierce, bleeding hearts who cared too much and shouldered more than their fair share of the responsibility when things went wrong.

And things had really gone wrong.

“What are the next steps?” Reg asked as they left the city and headed towards the interstate. “This isn’t the only backup we’ve got, right?”

“Sleep,” Kuny told Regulus, not unkindly, “had big couple of days, yes? Plan later.”

Reg looked at the tall Russian sitting next to him for a second, then sighed and turned his gaze to the window.

Sirius drove on in silence.

Two hours and eighteen minutes later, he was pulling up on a gravel driveway to a quaint, two-story cabin. The jostling of the gravel under their tires seemed to wake everyone up, according to the grumbles and yawns Sirius could hear from behind him as he finally put the van in park. The doors opened and they were all climbing out of the van, stretching stiff muscles and groaning. The ones with bags in the trunk went to unload while Remus fished his keys out of his pocket and headed for the front door, bounding up the last two steps to the porch. He was equal parts glad and upset that they were here. He was grateful that the Cubs were safe now and that this cabin was so far off the grid that the Snakes wouldn’t find them. But bringing a bunch of coworkers to the place he went to escape work stuff… jeez. Not that he didn’t like his coworkers, but sometimes he needed a break from it all. Plus this place belonged to his family. Being here with anyone but them just felt wrong.

Remus opened the door, instantly on guard when he saw the kitchen light was on. Whoever was in there must’ve heard the door because Remus could hear the refrigerator door close, then loud footsteps headed towards them. His hand drifted to his gun and he cautiously flicked the safety off.

A head peeked out from the kitchen. All-too-familiar eyes widened excitedly. “Re?”

The safety quickly went back on. “Jules?”

He wasn’t supposed to be there. Their trip wasn’t for another week-

Remus’ younger brother beamed and launched himself towards him, leaping into Remus’ arms when he got close enough with an excited shout.

“What are you doing here? I thought you couldn’t make it this trip!”

“What am I – what are you doing here?” Remus shot back, tensing up when he heard footsteps behind him. “Your trip is supposed to be next week!”

“School got cancelled because of all the snow.” Jules peered around Remus at the gathering group behind him. “Who are they?”

“Jules?” The familiar voice of their mother called from down the hall. “Who are you talking to, honey?”

Oh god, this was something straight out of Remus’ nightmares. How the fuck was he supposed to explain all this to his family? The rest of their agents were supposed to drive up here tomorrow with gear and supplies and weapons for their final stand against the Snakes. That… there was no way to explain that. At all.

Fuuuuuuck.

Hope Lupin stepped around the corner, startling when she saw the crowd on her doorstep. “Remus?”

“I’m so sorry, mom,” he blurted, the words coming out in an unfiltered rush. “I didn’t know you’d be up here or else I would’ve-”

“Oh, nonsense. We’re happy to have you and your… friends.” She said sweetly, voice raising into an almost-question at the end. Remus, flying blind, said the first thing that came to mind.

“They’re work friends. And there’s a few more coming tomorrow, if that’s ok.”

“What happened to him?” Jules interrupted, wide eyes trained on Leo, who smiled faintly.

“Shoulder surgery,” Leo said easily, taking Remus by surprise a little at how easily he responded with a textbook spy tactic: tell the truth, but only enough to not raise suspicion. He technically wasn’t lying, either. It was harder to get caught lying when you technically hadn’t.

It seemed like the rookie was no longer a rookie.

“It was recent, wasn’t it?” Hope asked, eyes sharp with observation as she ushered them all inside. When Leo looked at her a little distrustfully and both Logan and Finn stiffened beside him, she sent them all a soothing smile. “I’m a nurse, I can tell.”

“About a day and a half ago.” Leo let her lead them to a couch and sat down, answering Hope’s questions calmly now, seeming to know she could be trusted. When Remus looked around again, he noticed that Sirius and Regulus were both absent, no doubt having a much-needed talk. He was struck with a twinge of worry, but pushed it back. He shouldn’t interfere. They needed some time alone to sort through things. Sirius would talk to him about it if he felt like it. Nado and Kuny were trying to sneak their way into the kitchen, looking for whatever smelled so good in there. For spies, they weren’t very subtle.

“What kind of shoulder surgery?” Jules asked, trailing after their mom. “Re had one a few years ago, too!”

Remus winced and shot Leo an apologetic look for his over-inquisitive brother. “Not quite the same, Jules.”

“All he does is sleep now,” Finn said teasingly as he took a step back and stretched out his leg with only a slight wince. “My jacket has drool all over it from the car ride here.”

Leo shot Finn an unheated glare as he sat up and opened his mouth to shoot back a reply when all of a sudden he went pale as a sheet, eyes dazed. Everyone in the room froze, looking at him nervously.

Finn was kneeling in front of him in a flash, Logan already holding his hand too tightly from his spot beside him. “Leo?”

The blond squeezed his eyes shut and leaned into Logan heavily. “Hurts,” he managed to grit out while Logan wrapped an arm around his waist and held him close, combing his fingers through a riotous mess of curls. He locked gazes with Finn and saw a different kind of pain from Leo’s, but identical to Logan’s, reflected there as he watched helplessly.

Maybe they should’ve accepted the risks and stayed at the hospital. They’d be sitting ducks there, but at least it wouldn’t be this. Logan would take the uncomfortable chairs and the nurse who talked too much and the stress over the heavy weight pressed against him, the shaky, too-measured breaths, the soulful brown eyes that matched his own.

It felt like all the decisions he’d been making recently were the wrong ones. It would be nice to not put his partners through pain because of his poor decisions for once.

Hope was by their side then, holding out a glass of water and two pills. Logan hadn’t even noticed Finn set the prescriptions down on the entryway table. “I think it’s time to take these now.” Leo refused to move from his current spot, but he took the pills and followed them with a quick drink of water. A muffled “thank you” was murmured into the material of Logan’s shirt, quiet and a little tense.

Hope just smiled sympathetically. “You’re probably going to get really sleepy in the next thirty minutes or so,” she continued, giving the three of them a look. Like she knew something. “So if there’s any conversations that can’t wait until the morning…”

Loops came by his eerie observation skills naturally, it seemed.

Logan looked to Remus and the others, hoping that all the planning could wait until the morning. They were exhausted. Surely they’d be ok without them for a few hours.

“Go get some rest,” Loops said gently, motioning down the hallway. “There’s a guest bedroom down there, second door on the left. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

Finn made a beeline for the bathroom as soon as they reached the bedroom, muttering about how he’d needed to use the restroom since they’d all piled into the van. Leo toed off his shoes while Logan hovered, unsure if he should offer to help or not, his heart still in his throat. Leo just sent him a weary, affectionate smile. It tugged viciously at Logan’s heart and made him want to pull his partner close and not let go. Ever.

“I’m ok, sweetheart.”

He could’ve cried at the relief of hearing that nickname again. “You sure?” He asked, just to be safe.

Leo’s face was inscrutable as he cautiously sat down on the bed. “If I keep telling myself that… eventually I’ll start to believe it, right?”

Logan didn’t have an answer to that, not at first. But he remembered the feeling from after missions that had gone belly-up, the few that he wasn’t sure he was going to make it out of. The disbelief that somehow, after all of that, he was still alive and ok. It felt like trying to find his way through a snowstorm when all he could see was blinding, overwhelming white.

He wasn’t about to let Leo navigate that without a guide.

He sat down next to Leo and grabbed his hand, moving down to the pulse-point at his wrist and feeling tendons flex and shift under his fingertips. It beat, steady and strong, when he pressed down lightly. He knew Leo could feel it, too.

“You’re here.” Logan said simply. It was a tactic he used on bad days, when everything got to be too much. That little pulse, a sign of life and resilience. The two of them shared that now, that resilience and refusal to die that flowed through their veins.

Leo stared at him, eyes so soft and a hue that Logan wanted to engrave into his memory. “Logan,” he said quietly, right as Finn flung the bathroom door open again. His mouth was in the process of opening to tell a joke when he saw the two of them and snapped it shut again with an audible click, unsure of what to do next.

Leo shared a look with Logan and a conversation passed between the two, silent but apparently crystal clear. Finn couldn’t quite tell if it was excitement or anxiety dancing in his stomach, but either way he wasn’t sure he liked the sensation.

He had a feeling he knew what was coming. They’d been tip-toeing around this conversation for too long now, and they’d finally reached the tipping point. However this conversation went, he knew their relationship would never be the same, and that scared him. There was comfort in things known and familiar, after all.

This felt like hanging out of a perfectly-good plane and not knowing if the parachute strapped to his back was going to work or not.

But everyone who took the jump said it was worth it, in the end. Finn desperately hoped they were right.

“I think we should talk.” Logan said quietly, patting the open spot on the bed next to him. The dreaded words. No one ever wanted to hear those words.

Finn made his way towards them, too afraid to make eye contact, and sat down gingerly. Feet firmly planted on the floor, one hand braced on the bed, tense and ready to get up and take flight if he felt like he needed to. “We’re finally going to have this conversation, huh?” he asked with a fake laugh that fell flat, finally glancing up. Looking at the two of them, side by side and seeming to just know each other in a way Finn felt like he didn’t, he wondered where he fit into all of this.

If he fit in at all.

God, he hoped he fit in.

“Look,” Leo started, voice steady and resolute like he was getting ready to rip off the proverbial bandaid. It did nothing to calm Finn down. “Logan and I talked a while ago, about us. And, um – well, we want to be together. All three of us.”

Finn blinked once, twice. The words weren’t exactly computing, not after spending so long telling himself that this would never happen, could never happen. “Oh.”

“You had to know,” Logan said, sounding confused. “You had to know how we felt. None of us were exactly subtle.”

“I… I hoped.” Finn managed to get out before he got distracted by Logan’s soft touch against the curve of his cheekbone, creating his own constellations out of the freckles there. Finn let his eyes close and focused on the point of contact. He had hoped, even if he’d tried to stamp it out most days. He’d hoped and he’d yearned and he’d ached, and now – finally, unbelievably – he might be getting exactly what he’d wanted. “I knew how the two of you felt about each other, I just… wasn’t sure where that left me.”

“Finn…” He heard the sheets rustle as Leo scooted closer and opened his eyes again.

“Can you blame me?” Finn let Leo hold his hand and slot their fingers together, a painfully delicate motion. He stared down at them, noticing faint green bruising from an IV line and deeper, purple discoloration from that one time Finn tried to catch himself before he hit the ground after a brutal punch. They matched, in a sick, twisted way.

But they were both healing – skin stitching itself slowly back together and aches fading little by little. There was a poignant symbolism there, Finn thought, musing over the words he needed to say. Talking about the doubts and the hurt and the confusion surrounding the three of them might be painful in the moment, but healing would always follow, even if it took a while.

He was thrilled that they wanted him, don’t get him wrong, but that didn’t have the ability to just wipe away the hurt of the past week. “You seemed happy together, just the two of you.” He thought of the coffee shop and watching them from his table with June. Or the hotel room the next day, the stolen glances and furtive touches. “I didn’t want to get in the way of that, not if I wasn’t wanted.”

One of the other two made a broken sound; Finn wasn’t sure who it was. The hand on his cheek moved to his chin and Logan ducked his head to meet Finn’s eyes again, fierce and sincere – a combination that encompassed the very core of the fighter.

“I’ve wanted you since that crazy New Year’s party.” He said with conviction and Finn laughed a little at the memories.

“Then why didn’t you ever say anything?”

“Why didn’t you?” Logan challenged, signaling a change in the winds. Finn could see the storm brewing in those green eyes. “We were partners. Adding a relationship to the mix would only complicate things.”

“So what changed?” Finn let his frustration bleed through, ignoring Leo’s squeeze to his hand. “You’re saying two completely different things right now and it’s confusing as hell.”

Logan bit back, voice suddenly loud and harsh. “You think this is how I wanted to fall in love?”

Leo and Finn stared at him. No one had mentioned love. Not yet, at least. Logan seemed to recognize the intensity of his words and his shoulders slumped, but he didn’t take them back. Finn wasn’t sure if he was grateful for that or terrified because of it.

“It’s not supposed to be this hard, is it?” the brunet asked, voice a softer murmur. “Why couldn’t the three of us be normal and meet at, like, college or a coffee shop or something?”

Silence greeted him, heavy and suffocating.

“Because these are the cards we were dealt,” Leo said finally, looking between the two of them. “And yeah, it might be a shitty hand, but don’t you think it’d be worth it? After all that we’ve been through, choosing each other instead of letting the fear pull us apart?”

“Sounds like something out of a romance novel.”

Leo shrugged his good shoulder at Logan’s words, a conscientious effort to keep the other side of his body completely still. Finn ached a little at the sight. “Love isn’t easy, not for anyone. It’s a choice you make, day after day.” Blue eyes the color of a cloudless afternoon sky were calm and free of conflict when he looked at them again. “I’ve made my choice. What about you?”

Finn stared at him for what felt like forever, then blurted, “Did you rehearse that or something? What the fuck, Nutty.”

The resulting smile on Leo’s face was a welcomed reprieve from the earlier storm, placid and radiant. How was Finn supposed to do anything else but lean over, cup his cheeks in his hands, and press his lips against that smile?

Leo kissed a little distractedly, like he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to do first. The hand not caught in a sling flitted from auburn hair to fist in his t-shirt, then migrated lower to wrap around Finn’s back, long fingers splayed against his spine. But his mouth was soft and sweet against Finn’s, returning his kisses happily, and the combination of the two were just so Leo that Finn’s stomach swooped and his heart flopped in his chest.

He pulled back for air, an unfortunate necessity, and took in the sight in front of him. Leo’s eyes were still closed and that smile still graced kiss-swollen lips as he swayed towards Finn, clearly wanting more. Finn smiled too, irrevocably charmed, and kissed his cheek, his jaw, that cute little indent in his chin, then the curve of his smile again. He could never, not in a hundred years, get enough of this.

And then Logan met his gaze from beside the blond, eyes fond and warm as he watched them and ran his fingers up and down Finn’s thigh, the motion raising goosebumps on Finn’s arms – the air dense and volatile around them like the instant before lightning struck. Finn needed to kiss him, too. To learn the difference between the way he kissed to keep up pretenses on a mission and the way he kissed when he meant it. Finn kept Leo close with a hand on his waist and tilted Logan’s head up to kiss him, deep and intense. It was thrilling and a little wild; so different from kissing Leo, but just as captivating. Always unpredictable, the kiss morphed from charged to surprisingly, achingly gentle – a thunderstorm melting into a comforting spring shower. Finn was reminded of shoving the couch up against the wall nearest to the window during storms as a kid, watching the raindrops track down the glass, and the sound of the world going silent save for the wind and the thunder and the rain hitting the roof like the pounding of drums – a symphony just for him to witness. He sighed against soft lips and sank into the kiss, listening for the intricacies of this new, unknown melody.

The rustle of clean sheets, a hitch in breath followed by a deep exhale, the steady beat of the old clock hung on the wall, a hum against his lips.

Then Leo was leaning in to kiss Finn’s pulse-point, firm enough to bruise and tender enough to make Finn’s eyelashes flutter. Finn canted his head to the side, stretching his neck to give Leo more skin to claim, and pulled Logan in again. A duet shifting to a trio and slotting perfectly into place, patching the gaps in the music that Finn didn’t even notice were there.

This was worth it. It had to be. As much as it would kill him – or any of them, really – to love them and then lose them, that would still be better than not loving them at all.

They’d wanted this for so long now, all of them. Even with all the stress and hurt and doubt, Finn couldn’t help but feel a little giddy. For fuck’s sake, he was kissing Logan. It wasn’t part of a mission. And Leo was still pressing kiss after kiss to his neck because he wanted to. They wanted each other.

Screw panicking about losing them. Finn was done missing things because he was worried about things that might not even happen. It wasn’t something he could just will away or turn off, of course, but he could actively make sure he was living in the current moment. And right then, the current moment was making out with his boys in a cabin in the middle of nowhere.

He loved the current moment.

The kiss turned to simply smiling against Logan’s mouth, delirious with contentment, so Finn broke away and pulled Logan in for a hug, then gently maneuvered Leo to join them, making sure his wound was well out of the way. They stayed like that for a long time, relaxing in the closeness and adjusting to the newness of all of this. And even though it was new, it was already something they were quickly getting addicted to. The string connecting Finn’s heart to theirs cinched tighter and pulled sharply. For the first time, he didn’t mind it in the slightest. It was no longer a painful reminder of what he couldn’t have, it was an exhilarating sign that were all irreversibly intertwined, both in each other’s arms and in this crazy mess that was their lives.

Leo interrupted the moment with a yawn, blinking sleepily. Finn smiled a little at the sight – he almost felt like he was doing too much of that in the past few minutes, but sleepy Leo was simply adorable.

“Come on, let’s get you to bed.” Logan urged. It would be a tight squeeze, the three of them in that bed, but now they could cuddle and press close without pretending it didn’t happen the next morning. Finn sighed happily at the thought and headed for the light switch. The light from the lamp on the bedside table illuminated his way back to his boys, all soft and stretched out next to each other under a pale comforter. It was a much-needed reprieve from the chaos of their current situation that Finn was all to eager to take advantage of.

He watched as Logan propped himself up on one arm to look down at Leo, hand trailing through that tuft of gray hair and then tugging on it playfully. They shared a smile before Logan leaned down the rest of the way to kiss him, assured and familiar and unrushed. They’d done this before. The knowledge didn’t tear at Finn’s heart like it would have a week ago, because now he knew that they felt the same way about him. And he was falling for them, too. Watching the two boys he was half in love with already so comfortable and loving with each other? How was Finn supposed to handle all the emotions bubbling over in his chest? He crawled into bed next to Logan and flicked the lamp off, settling the room into darkness.

Logan settled in to sleep facing Finn and with Leo’s reassuring warmth behind him. His eyes closed and time slowed, a blessed mercy. The events of tomorrow felt years away in that still, quiet moment. But there was something prodding at the back of Logan’s mind – some strange, uncomfortable feeling that he could quite place, until he realized that everything was too still, too quiet. His mind flashed to the litany of “what ifs” that had looped in his brain like a mantra back in that hospital room and he rolled over quickly, shuffling over until his head was pillowed on Leo’s chest, far away from the bandages.

Thump-thump.

Leo’s chest rose and fell under Logan’s head as he breathed and Logan let himself relax, reaching blindly behind him until he found Finn’s arm and flung it over himself, loosely intertwining their fingers over his chest. Finn moved in closer to press against his back and tangle their legs together. He sighed before going still again, breaths deep and even.

And Logan finally, finally let himself drift off to sleep.

[talesofstyles]

The Law of Attraction

buckle up my little ballsacks you’re in for a treat. this is pure lawyer harry filth. honestly i’ve got no excuse.

massive massive thank you to @smokeinherperfume​ for letting me ramble about lawyer harry 24/7 and @for-fucks-sake-h​ for allllll the knife emojis FGHSHSGSGH ILY 🥺💛

p.s. all of my fics about lawyer harry are standalones so you don’t have to read them in order. but just fyi technically this one happens after Quid Pro Quo. hope you like it! xx

An orgasm crashes through YN’s body, causing her back to arch in her chair and her fingers to tug hard at the hair of the man who’s working his tongue between her legs. It’s half three on a Wednesday, and instead of skimming through stacks of her clients’ contracts trying to find loopholes or go through the first set of Interrogatories once again before she sends it to the opposing counsel later today; she’s got her former-nemesis-turned-best-friend kneeling before her chair, her skirt hiked up around her waist and her knickers haphazardly pulled to the side. She lets out a groan, which only eggs him on, and he lashes his tongue against her even harder.

“Enough,” she mutters weakly, her voice barely audible and she’s not even sure if he even heard it. She pushes his head away from her, but the stubborn sod only swats her hands away while growling and doubles up on his efforts. She can feel him shaking his head as he licks and sucks away, slipping his finger deep inside her the second she closes her eyes and proceeds to bring her to another shattering orgasm in just under two minutes.

She slaps her hand over her mouth as she reaches her high again, and Harry looks at her with a satisfied smile, before licking his shiny wet lips without breaking eye contact. The sight alone is almost enough to make her want to shove his head back to where it was half a minute ago. “Feel better?”

“Mhm,” she hums happily and Harry’s lips quirk into a gentle smirk. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure,” he replies as he stands up, before leaning over to button their lips together in a quick kiss.

“I think the pleasure’s all mine, but let’s rectify that,” she mutters as she pulls away. “What do you want? You tell me and I’ll give it to you. Do you want me to get you off slowly or do you want to fuck my mouth?”

“Fuck,” he groans in frustration. “You’re gonna kill me here. I’ve got a deposition in- shit, two minutes. I’ve got to go now. Catch ya later doll.”

She shakes her head, chuckling as she watches him rushing out of her office. “Later, shithead.”

Isn’t it just funny how the universe works sometimes? Six months ago they couldn’t even be in the same room without having a scream-whisper match, but here they are half a year later, happily handing each other orgasms like sweets on Halloween. Harry didn’t even know exactly what was bothering her today. He just sensed that she was in a real mood when he swung by her office, so instead of splitting a packet of KitKats right on the dot at three o’clock like usual, he closed the door and switched on the panel by the door so the transparent glass wall turned translucent to give them privacy, and then he went down on her without saying another word.

The perks of being friends instead of foes with Harry is that she gets to find out that Harry’s oral skills are not limited to advocacy and sarcasm. And not to mention that he’s a very generous man. Sure, it’s not a trait particularly needed in a best friend and colleague, but fuck if that’s not something that is much appreciated. At first, obviously it wasn’t easy for YN to hang the white flag above her head. Her ego was badly bruised when the firm made Harry Senior Partner instead of her in the beginning of the year, making her feel that all the long hours and the all-nighters she’d pulled were all for nothing. She felt like she gave up her social life for nothing, basically put her life on hold for nothing and gave her all to her firm for nothing. She felt unappreciated, and the easiest target to channel all her anger and frustration was Harry. Because come on, who else was she supposed to be mad at? Her boss? It’d be like being mad at Gandhi.

It definitely got much easier when she finally let the resentment go, the fact that he was the one being promoted. Especially knowing well the reason was only because he came from a bigger law firm, and that he came bearing gifts—the gifts being five huge clients from his old firm—when he came into her firm earlier this year. She’s accepted the fact that him being promoted instead of her doesn’t mean that she’s not a damn good lawyer. Hell, she’s got a hundred percent win record to prove that. It was easier to hate him when she didn’t know him, but as they began working on cases together and she got the chance to get to know him more, she knew he deserved it. 

If you ask YN, she’d most likely tell you that having a work husband surely beats having an enemy in the office. She loves having Harry as her best friend, her most trusted legal confidant when she needs to strategise on a case and well, as an occasional lover on a bad day. He is her number one ally and advisor, the person she can laugh with and be stressed with, have politically incorrect conversations with, and give her bone-deep honest opinions to. He supports her and helps her with her cases—not that she needs help because again, she’s one hell of a lawyer, but it’s surely nice to have an extra brain in the case sometimes. 

Fuck, she really does owe Harry a good one tonight for giving her a nice distraction.

A ding sound from her phone brings her back to reality. She darts her eyes at her phone for a second, and she lets out a heavy sigh when she reads the name on the screen. It’s a text to confirm the dinner meeting tonight at The Berkeley, definitely one that she can’t avoid since he’s a huge client, but more importantly, one that she dreads to meet.

You see, there’s a large part of life that we call normalcy. Eat, sleep, take a shower. Wearing underwear inside our clothes instead of outside like Batman and Superman. The sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Most people drink coffee in the morning. Thirty minutes of cardio three times a week. 

As pathetic as this may sound, pining for Luke, that said client who also happens to be her ex-boyfriend has been YN’s normalcy for the past two years. Luckily, his company is her client and not the man himself so she got away with keeping contact to a  bare minimum. Meeting him only about two to three times a year and only when it’s absolutely necessary and cannot be handled by his General Counsel. But apparently, his step-father decided to retire and pass his hotel business to him—honestly, as if he’s not bloody minted already—and he needs her now more than ever because even though he knows his way around the business world, this whole thing is a new territory for him. 

This is the second time in a week that he’s arranged a meeting and only God knows how many more meetings with him she could take. Because, as always, his presence means the absence of her sanity. And she hates it.

Welcome to YN’s fucked up life.

***

“I still don’t know why you want me to go with you,” Harry says, turning to look at her when they stop at a red light. Even though it’s dark outside, the neon-blue lights from the interior electronics cast the angles of his face handsomely.

He’s driving both himself and YN to The Berkeley where they’ll be meeting Luke for a dinner meeting to discuss his new business and his plan to merge with another hotel group. Which is an absolutely terrible idea and YN plans to talk him out of it tonight. It’s probably easier said than done though, because she knows Luke and she’s definitely familiar with how stubborn he can be. 

There are a lot of things about Luke that she still remembers. He pretends to hate those mini chocolate muffins but he actually loves them. He drinks his coffee at six thirty sharp every morning, yes, even on the weekends. He loves jogging and sometimes he wishes he’s an athlete so that he can get paid just to run and play football all day long. Even though he’s rich as sin—and God, fit as fuck too—he’s humble and definitely not flashy, so if you see him without his suits, you’d probably never guess that he doesn’t actually need to work a day in his life because he comes from old money. But Luke is different. He never touched his trust fund and he was determined to create his own business from scratch.

He’d just started his business around the same time YN started working in her firm as an associate, so she saw it right before her eyes how hard he worked during those first few years as he nurtured his business. His company was one of the first clients that she’d been assigned to work on, and when she got promoted to Junior Partner, her mentor gave her The White Company as her first official client. The timing couldn’t be more brilliant since she and Luke just broke up two days prior, but she knew there was no way she could turn down such a big business.

Fuck, she’s thinking about him again. She immediately makes a mental note in her head to ask Harry for an extra orgasm tonight to keep him out of her mind. But now she can’t help snickering at the thought because she makes it sounds as if she’s asking for extra ketchup. 

“Cat got your tongue?” He asks and she turns to look at him. He gives her a tiny smirk before his eyes get back on the road, but he reaches his hand out to her bare knee to give her a squeeze. “Still haven’t answered me, doll.”

“Sorry- what did you ask?”

“Why did you want me to go with you?” He asks again. “He wants to merge, right? That’s totally your thing. You don’t need me.”

“You helped me with his crisis a few months ago,” she reminds him. “Just thought we could do his business together again. He’ll be happy he’s getting two partners, the firm will be happy because they can charge double. It’s a win-win, really.”

“Bollocks that,” Harry laughs. “Worst bullshit I’ve ever heard.”

“That’s all, honest,” she feigns innocence.

“Honey, I didn’t go through law school for nothing, did I?” He replies without moving his head, keeping his eyes on the road. “You’re using me as a human condom, aren’t you?”

“What the hell does that even mean?” She drops her jaw in shock at the fact that he calls her out on the carpet just like that.

“You’re afraid you’ll catch feelings again if you’re left alone with him, so you bring me as a shield. Am I right?” He asks her with an accusatory eyebrow raise. “You know what, no need to answer that. Of course I’m right.”

“I told you, he’s just a client now,” she insists, trying to ignore her heart pounding in her chest as Harry’s hand inches its way up her thigh. It’s incredibly arousing, but she also finds it a little disturbing since they’re having a conversation about a man she’s head over heels for. She almost want him to stop but fuck if she’s going to ask him.

“Look, I don’t know exactly what’s going on here,” he says, and it’s really hard for her to concentrate on what he’s saying since he’s squeezing her thigh. His fingers pressing deep into her muscles and she can only wish they’re a few inches higher. “But if in any way you want to get him back, just say the word and I’ll back away, yeah?”

“There’s nothing going on, Harry,” she reassures him. “You’ve got to trust me on this. He’s just a client now.” 

“You sure?” Harry asks again. Turning to look at her briefly before he pulls into a parking space and puts the car in park, but she can tell by the tone in his voice that he doesn’t buy a single thing she’s said.

“I’m sure,” she nods reassuringly.

Harry grins as he reaches up and tweaks her on the nose. “You’re cute when you lie.”

“Shut up, shithead,” she mutters as she pulls on the door handle. It opens and she steps out, taking a moment to smooth down her dress. Leaning back down, she looks inside the car to look at Harry and give him a wink. “Now let’s go. The sooner we get this done, the sooner I can reciprocate.”

***

“You have it bad for him, don’t you?” Harry cocks an eyebrow at her accusingly, not even bothering to wait until Luke disappears past the lift to take a call.

YN blinks in surprise at his accusation, but instead of denying it for the second time tonight, she finally concedes. “Is it that obvious?”

“Holy shit,” this time, it’s Harry’s turn to look at her in surprise. He definitely wasn’t expecting her to admit it, but fuck if he believed that bullshit she told him in the car. “No, it’s not obvious. But I know you better than anyone in this room.”

She chuckles, before taking a swig of her Chardonnay. “True.”

“I meant what I said earlier in the car,” Harry reminds her. “Just say the word and I’ll back away. He’s probably still into you too.”

She just stares at him for a second. She’s obviously contemplating something, he can tell. He braces, wondering if she’ll finally tell him to back away. He has to remind himself to be cool, to just nod and smile if she actually does say that. They’re not exclusive, and as amazing as this last six months has been, he knows all good things come to an end. He has no absolute reason to be upset, he knows that. And as her best friend he only wants the best for her. If she thinks Luke can make her happy, then so be it.

He’s ready for her to tell him to back away. He does. Not saying that he’ll be happy, but he’ll accept it. So imagine his surprise when she gives him a smirk and says, “let’s go all the way tonight.”

Harry’s head shoots up, and he narrows his eyes at her. “You fucking with me?”

“I was hoping you’d be the one doing all the fucking,” she murmurs, still smiling coyly at him and somehow has the audacity to dip her eyes in a completely fake showing of shyness.

Harry’s eight-inch piece of equipment that had been jumping and twitching like an excited puppy now goes to full mast, pushing hard against his zipper. He drains the rest of his drink in one big gulp, not wanting to waste any time. “Stay here and wait for him to finish that sodding call. Make up an excuse for me and distract him while I go and try to get us a room upstairs.”

“You do realise that my flat is literally ten minutes away from here right? And your place is like, what, twenty minutes tops?”

“Upstairs is closer,” he lowers his voice huskily. “They have beds too.”

Her eyes sparkle with excitement. “Beds, huh?”

“What? Don’t fancy shaggin’ on a bed?” He says with a smirk, sitting straighter as he smooths his tie. “I’ll see if they’ve got anything with a balcony then.”

“You’re a lawyer, aren’t you?” She mocks, rolling her eyes. “Does the word indecent exposure mean anything to you?”

“Did you just roll your eyes at me?”

“I did,” she challenges him with a spark of defiance in her eyes. “And what are you gonna do about it?”

“Do that again and you’ll get the palm of my hand,” he tells her ominously.

“You’re all mouth and no trousers, Styles,” she taunts him. 

“Good luck trying to sit tomorrow.”

***

In less than fifteen minutes, YN is standing in a lift with Harry’s lips roaming her neck and his finger sinking deep inside of her.

She didn’t have to make up an excuse when Luke went back to their table after taking the call. Apparently, there was some emergency and he needed to get back to his office as soon as possible for an emergency meeting with the boards. She assured him it was fine and that they could easily arrange another meeting to further talk about his plan to merge with another hotel group.

Harry doesn’t waste much time as he pushes the button to their floor and the doors close. He stalks towards her, cupping her head to bring her mouth to his, and his other hand going directly between her legs. She slips her tongue into his mouth and touches it against his, the vibe of the kiss turning a bit dirty. It’s a thrilling turn on, causing waves of pleasure to pulse through both of them. His tongue ends up dominating hers in the most searing, sexually explosive kiss she’d ever been given.

His hand softly fondles her for a moment, and then he’s inside of her, curling his finger in a way that has her knees buckling. He immediately saves the day by pushing one of his legs in between hers to hold her steady. He knows he doesn’t have time to get her off before they reach their floor, so he breaks the kiss and roams his lips along her neck lightly, moving his finger in and out of her leisurely but so very deeply. Her hips flex against him, trying to demand more, but she’s just going to have to wait.

When the lift starts to slow near their floor, he calmly removes his hand, smoothes her dress down, and gives her a light kiss on the nose.

He’s smiling at her as he closes the door behind them, in a completely relaxed, but thank fuck we’re finally doing this and I’m here to fuck you senseless kind of way, and it manages to show the two dimples he sports on either side of his full lips.

Their lips meet again as he leans in, softly at first, just a taste to whet the appetite. His arms tighten around her, and he increases the pressure, urging her to open up and let him in. He’s a force to be reckoned with in a courtroom, and fuck if she’s not thanking her lucky stars that he’s just the same in the bedroom. He moves his lips against hers, making delicious little thrusts and flicks with his tongue, teasing and tantalising, all while stroking her back in the most incredibly sensual way that makes her tingling from head to toe. 

He loves how she just melts against him when he rubs her back, and how adorably dazed she looks just from a kiss. Grinning at her, he reaches a finger out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear. The blood in his dick thumps, eagerly demanding to move things along, but he’s determined to take his time with her. 

Her mouth waters as her hands work at his belt buckle. His cock is thick and hard when she pulls him free of his boxer briefs, and she drops to her knees with her hand wrapped around his girth. It’s standing straight up before her after she releases it for a second, and she melts at the sight. There’s one perfectly thick vein running straight up the middle, but then it veers off at an angle. And although this is certainly not the first time she sees it, she can’t help but cock her head to the side just to see where it goes. 

He palms the side of her head with one hand and holds her hair in a ponytail at the back of her head with the other. Looking up at him, she can see his jaw is locked tight and his chest is rising and falling rapidly.

She squeezes him hard, just the way she knows how he likes, and strokes up and down a few times, making him groan. His head falls back, eyes squeezed shut. “Please, sweetheart.”

“Ssh,” she shushes him before she murmurs low in her throat. “I’ve got you.”

She finally opens her mouth, bares her teeth slightly, and then scrapes them lightly over the tip. A long, deep groan rumbles out of him, his eyes remain shut tight. Exhilaration and victory swells within her, knowing that just that one tiny touch reduced him to utter helplessness. 

He opens his eyes, gazing at her. His voice is thickened and gruff when he says, “you’ve got no idea how beautiful you look while on your knees before me.”

She responds to him by leaning in, and without hesitation taking the tip of him into her mouth, making him groan in relief. He grips her lightly, his fingers pressing into her scalp as a means of holding her steady and not to force action. She licks and sucks, squeezing and stroking him with her hand. He’s watching her from above with lust on his face, and she’s savouring every little groan she drags out of this normally stoic man. She flutters her tongue on the sensitive underside just below the head of his cock, her hand gently squeezing his balls as she works his shaft. 

“Been dying to get that cherry lipstick on my cock,” he mutters softly, she can barely hear him. He grits his teeth as he slowly pulls out of her mouth. “Knew that red lipstick would look good on me.”

Her eyes slide to his cock, and she has no clue what her mouth looks like, but she’s absolutely sure most of her lipstick is gone since it’s smeared beautifully along the length of his shaft. She tries to take it back into her mouth, determined to bring him into completion that way, but his hand immediately covers her, holding her still while his eyes pin her in place. “Wanna be inside you.”

He helps her stand on her feet, and the next thing she knows, her dress pools around her ankle. His hands come to the back of her bra, flicking it open and pulling it from her. Then he drops to his knees before her. Fingers going under her knickers, he pulls them down just enough to gain access and runs his tongue up her centre. 

He had fantasised about her naked before him more times than he could probably admit that he has to blink twice to convince himself that this time is real. And fuck if it isn’t much better than his dreams.

“Bed,” he commands, and she crawls on it with the intent to lay in a sexy pose as she turns over to face him, but he’s on the bed with her, quick as lightning, and flips her to her back.

Her eyes go up to find him staring at her tits, and she can’t help but joke. “They don’t bite, you know.”

His gaze comes up to meet hers, and his lips curve slightly. “But I do. It’s probably going to hurt a little.”

A shudder ripples through her, and her nipples harden. His eyes flick back down to her breasts. She swallows hard at the anticipation, the thought of him getting a little rough with them is thrilling, but there’s something else she wants more right now.

“I’m fucking dying to be inside you right now,” he whispers in her ear. His admission elicits a deep moan to escape from her lips. “Last chance to change your mind, doll.”

“Please just fuck me already,” she whimpers, her hands roaming his body. Every glide of her fingers over his skin fills him with a fullness he’s never experienced before. “I’m losing my mind.”

With one hand pressed into the mattress, Harry uses the other to take his cock in hand. He dips his hips, pressing the tip right into her entrance. Blowing out a breath, he brings his eyes to hers and holds her captive, finally thrusts deeply into her. She screams, not in pain but in pure fucking ecstasy, as he fills her up. Harry bottoms out, his pelvis pressed hard into hers. 

Baring his teeth, he mutters, “fuck… that feels good.”

“Would feel better if you move,” she suggests with a smirk.

Harry stays completely still inside of her. He breathes in deeply, closes his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them up again, he gives her a sheepish grin. “I’m afraid to move. Afraid I might embarrass myself and blow my load in about two nanoseconds.”

She lets out a giggle, pretty sure that’s the one and only time in her life she’s ever done something so girly. Harry laughs huskily and kisses her hard. He doesn’t move an inch from his waist down but just kisses her deeply with thorough possession. When he pulls away, he tentatively circles his hips, grinding into her.

“Fuck,” Harry mutters, and drops his forehead to hers. “Yeah… definitely not gonna last long.”

Her hands go into his hair and she massages his scalp, incredibly touched and turned on over his reaction to her. She tugs on his hair, pulling his face away from hers. “Harry?”

He moves reluctantly and looks down at her with that same abashed look. She tilts her hips, clenches her internal muscles around his cock, and then rubs her thumbs into his scalp.

“Let go,” she commands him softly. “Fuck me hard and come as fast as you want. We’ve got all night.”

***

Harry’s hand reaches out, tapping the screen on his phone to turn the alarm off, laying silently in the predawn gloom pondering about his situation at this very moment.

There’s a naked, beautiful woman on top of him, and fuck if he can remember when was the last time he woke up with someone else in his bed. It’s not that he’s averse to cuddles; if the woman wants a cuddle with him after sex, he’d give it to them. The act of intimacy like that doesn’t scare him whatsoever. But normally he’d be out of their hair long before the sun is up, leaving them to wake up alone and him to start his day as if the night before didn’t happen.

He always tells himself to forget whoever he shags the night before no matter how great of a fuck she was, although he’ll allow himself to bring forth the memories when he jerks off if needed. 

YN fell asleep a few hours prior, spread-eagled over his body right after she collapsed from the most recent fuck-fest. She came, he came, then she fell forwards onto his chest and was out like a light. And he left her right there all night. Letting her lie on top of him, calling it a day well completed and went to sleep himself.

His hand slides down from her stomach right between her legs, his fingers swiping through her folds which become slicker with desire the more he plays. She softly moans in her sleep and her lower body starts to squirm. Her breathing hitches, and the second she cracks her eyes open, she gives him that happy, sleepy, please fuck me again smile. 

He gently eases her down from the top of his chest to lay beside him, rolling her to the side so her back is facing him. Then he pushes her outer leg up, sliding his body down just a little bit, angling his cock to slip into her from behind. 

Harry moves slowly as he’s spooned around her and she moans in pure bliss as he fills her up. The arm that her head is resting on comes up to curve across her chest and hold her tight. His other hand grips the back of her thigh firmly to pin her in place.

“More,” she whispers on a forced exhalation. 

“Fuck me,” he mumbles against her hair. “My girl wants more.”

And he gives her more. Fucking her exquisitely and with no doubt that neither of them has ever had it that good. He takes her higher and higher, the sweet words that he’s whispering in her ear is the complete opposite of the kinky shit they did last night. 

“Balcony?”

YN didn’t hesitate, following right behind him as he pushed the doors open. A light breeze filters in but it’s still muggy outside. They’re on the seventh floor, and they can still hear the rumble of engines and the honking of horns below them. The quiet darkness of Belgravia stretches out beyond.

Harry walked up to the edge of the balcony, which was made of stone and concrete, sitting about three and a half feet high. He pulled her into his arms and gave her a searing kiss. She moaned, slipping her tongue in his mouth and gripped onto his shoulders. The kiss was deep and wet, and honestly, the best kind of kiss.

He pushed her up against the wall, laying a palm over one breast. Squeezing, plumping, testing the weight in his hand. He rubbed a thumbnail over her nipple, eliciting the softest sigh from her. 

He brought his other hand south. Straight shot, right to her centre. Her head dropped to his shoulder as his fingertips continued to circle and rub against her. Within minutes she had his fingers deep inside her and his thumb working her hard. He wanted nothing more than to just line up and push his way in, but he waited. He waited until he saw her trembling became a little fiercer, her body tensed, and when she sucked in a large gulp of air, he knew that was his cue.

He quickly removed his fingers, bracing his hands on her hips and slammed forward. She took him all the way in and he cursed under his breath as he felt her spasm all around him when she came. For a second he thought about hitting it hard, chasing another orgasm, but then he decided against it, wanting to relish the scenery and listen to the sounds of the city.

“Let’s just quit our jobs and fuck all day,” Harry jokes as he drops her leg back down into place.

“Sounds good to me,” she laughs as she reaches around him, grabbing the complimentary bottle of water on the nightstand, taking a sip before she hands it to him and he finishes it in a couple of long swallows. 

“Thirsty?”

“Starving too,” he replies in a way that doesn’t make her think he wants some bacon and eggs. 

Within seconds, he has her on her back again as he slides down her body, roughly pushing her legs apart. Her hands shoot out, grabbing the sides of his head before he gets the chance to descend even lower. “No.”

“What?”

“Let me get cleaned up first,” she says lamely, pretty sure she’s killed the mood. “I mean… I’m filled with-”

Harry ignores her, cutting her off by dropping his mouth right between her legs and begins sucking. She shrieks from the warm contact, surprised by how sensitive she is, and as he lifts his gaze to hers, he murmurs. “That’s you and me together, and we taste fucking delicious.”

Her body trembles from his words, and through a dry and parched throat she croaks, “then by all means.”

“Thank you,” he says with a wink, then proceeds to bring her to another shattering orgasm that totally wrecks her.

[formenis]

Rain

Anon asked: “ Can you do a one-shot were reader is Light's sister and secretly in a relationship with L and she spends the night with L at HQ for the first time and Light catches her leaving L's bedroom and confronts her and L in front of the whole Task Force“

A/N: sure dear. But since in the manga L and Light were handcuffed together at the HQ, I changed a bit the location so this one-shot is set in the hotel we can all see in the anime.

Again, sorry if you find mistakes in my stories, English is not my first language.

pairing: L x Light’s sister!reader

warning: none

requested: yes

H/L = hair length

H/C = hair colour

F/C = favourite colour

E/C = eye colour

Y/A = your alias

The third Yagami. Why did nobody talk about her? Y/N Yagami: H/L hair in a shining H/C shade, excellent scholastic career and charming personality. Few years younger than Light and older than Sayu, she was as smart as Light, as perfect as her older brother despite the tiny age gap so why she wasn't on everyone's lips like him? Simple, because she liked something called discretion.

Y/N Yagami never liked being under the spotlight (A/N: ahah did you get the joke here?). She was an excellent student yes, Soichiro and Sachiko's pride, but she didn’t show it off.

Y/N, Light and Sayu had a special bond. They would do everything for each other, they were one the confidant of the other. However, since the end of November 2003 Light started to act strange. He would spend more time in his room than with Y/N or Sayu and both of her didn’t know the reason. He was more distant and colder with her too and this made Sayu a bit sad.

But, as we said before, Y/N loved discretion. Something happened to her too. She met someone. It was a strange encounter, Y/N admitted it.

♰ FLASHBACK ♰

It was another rainy day at Tokyo but Y/N had her F/C umbrella in her bag. Luckily it wasn’t that heavy so she was pretty confident she would reach home all dry.

Wrong. Not much after she left the Daikoku Private Academy (her high school), a heavy shower poured on her and the tiny pocket-sized umbrella could do precious little. Fortunately, a nearby bakery had a big awning and she ran towards it searching for a shelter.

«Damn…such a timing…» she wasn’t wet but that rain bothered her a lot since that afternoon she wanted to go at the tennis field with Light.

Y/N closed the umbrella and turned to take a look at the shop window of that bakery. In front of her a large variety of sweets, cookies, cakes, ice-creams, candies scattered all together on a table. She frowned finding it quite strange.

«Why on a table?» she asked mostly at herself since she was alone under the awning. However, she soon realised it was not the bakery's shop window but the table of one of the many clients. Then, from behind a black cherry double layer cake, appeared a head of a young man with messy black hair. Y/N observed how greedily that man was eating the cake: in one bite he ate almost half slice of that cake.

She opened her E/C eyes wide at that sight. Were all those sweets only for him? He would get a stomach ache and a cavity if he decided to eat all those sugary delights.

Another good look at the guy and Y/N, if it was possible, would open even wider her eyes: a very slim, pale, young man with messy neck-length black hair and black eyes; those eyes had a deep shadow below them, maybe his sleep was too much overwrought. Y/N noticed how simple his clothes were: a pair of blue jeans and a long-sleeved white shirt. Nothing more, nothing less.

But two things caught Y/N attention: first, his posture. He seemed to prefer to crouch rather than sit. And second, the way he was holding those sweets, using only a thumb and a finger. For someone as Y/N Yagami, a guy like him was strange yet interesting at the same time. For some reason she wanted to know more about him.

He was going to eat what remained of the slice of cake when he turned his gaze at her. His look was so intense that made Y/N jump for the surprise. However, she got hypnotised by those eyes, so deep black and apparently empty.

They kept staring at each other for a while, none of them looked away or blinked. It was only when someone spoke near Y/N's ear that she snapped back in the real world.

«Y/N, what are you doing here?» it was Light with his usual serious voice. When Y/N looked at him she noticed he was still wearing the Daikoku's uniform.

«Light!» she turned her body fully at him. «I was waiting the rain to stop»

«It stopped ten minutes ago, we're waiting for you at home»

Ten minutes ago? For how much time Y/N and that guy stared at each other then? She apologised to Light and before leaving the bakery's awning she looked inside one more time but she didn’t see that weird boy anymore.

♰ BACK TO THE PRESENT ♰

Since that particular encounter, Y/N met few more times that guy. Especially at the To-Oh University where Y/N was present at a tennis match between that guy and Light. Of course Light won and his little sister couldn’t be happier.

One day, back at that specific bakery where the two saw each other for the first time, Y/N was enjoying a break from her studies with a cup of tea and some sweets when she felt a presence beside her.

«Good afternoon, Miss. May I have a seat?» a warm and monotone voice spoke not much far from her. When Y/N turned towards the source of that voice she couldn’t hide the surprise in finding that same weird guy! What was his name…ah, something like Hideki Ryuga, like the idol. Sayu loved that actor.

Y/N looked around the shop noticing many empty tables so she found it very strange. However, she gestured him the chair in front of her and he sat down. Well, the correct expression was "he crouched" since he didn’t sit like a normal person.

«I noticed you took all the remaining daifuku» (A/N: "daifuku" = a Japanese confection consisting of a small round mochi (glutinous rice cake) stuffed with sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans. They could be white, pale green, or pale pink-coloured).

«It's because they're my favourite sweets»

Shortly after that a waiter walked closer and took Hideki's order and few minutes later that same waiter brought a cup of tea and a large slice of strawberry shortcake. The two of them stood in silence for a while until Y/N decided to end that embarrassing situation.

«I saw you at the To-Oh…great match» Y/N took a sip of her tea, the steam warmed her face.

«Thank you. Light Yagami was a great rival back then. Aren't you too young for the University?»  he asked tilting his head in confusion, the thumb was pressed against his pale lips. «Oh my, the manners. I'm Hideki Ryuga»

«Like the idol?» Y/N asked surprised.

«Yes» Hideki replied and then he devoured in one bite an entire daifuku.

Of course Y/N didn’t believe him. Sure, it could be true that this guy shared the same name with someone else. However, Y/N had a strange feeling.

«I'm Y/A» she ate a daifuku, a pale-green one.

«Only Y/A?»

«Yes»

Unaware of Y/N, Hideki's gaze darkened. He knew exactly who Y/N was and the fact that she used an alias much like him made grow a strange excitement inside him. That was going to be fun.

♰ TIME SKIP ♰

It went without saying that Y/N and Hideki (or Ryuzaki as he wanted to be called) created a special, deep tie. Something completely different from the connection with Light and Sayu. Between Y/N and Ryuzaki there was understanding, complicity and empathy; they completed each other sentences and their way of reasoning was the same. This bond became even stronger when Ryuzaki revealed he was the greatest detective L. Y/N suspected that he was hiding something but she couldn’t imagine something like that.

Soon they could consider themselves in a romantic relationship. The fact that Y/N was Light's sister could be a problem but not for L. The two of them had a personal way to show love and affection: whispering sweet nothings in each other ears, lacing their fingers together when nobody was looking or gently running a hand over each other’s back or arm. In public they were quite discrete as Y/N requested. However, one day this discretion broke irremediably.

«Are you sure? I mean…I'm Light's sister after all…»

«You're nothing like Light-kun, Y/N»

It was late afternoon, almost dinner time. Very soon Y/N should come back home but before that they had a couple of hours for themselves. Their relationship grew to such an extent that both of them were ready to take one step forward (if you what I mean).

«You're the exact opposite…your eyes don't have the same dangerous shadow as his» L raised the hand and touched Y/N's cheeks, the index finger traced every curve of her features as to register everything.

Y/N smiled leaning in the touch. She looked at him, E/C pools met black ones. After an endless minute, their faces became closer and closer until a kiss connected them. A first chaste and sweet kiss turned in something more passionate and rough, the hands started to roam around their bodies wanting more and more. And they had more those hours.

.

.

.

It was 7pm and Light had to walk back home with Y/N as often happened when she would come with him at Ryuzaki's hotel. The Yagami boy had a strange feeling about his sister: she was acting strange, she was so out of character. Nothing worrying but Light noticed this change in his sister.

He was searching for Y/N around the hotel, they had to meet near the elevator but she didn’t specify which one. That was what Light referred when he said "being out of character": Y/N would never forget a detail like that, he knew she was a precise person.

However, Light would discuss this later but in that moment he had to find his sister. He turned the corner and stopped abruptly at the sight in front of him: Y/N was kissing L on the lips in front of his bedroom.  Light kept staring at them in disbelief, horror and in rage. How dare L do such things with his sister? He was going to pay for this.

After the kiss, Y/N walked away from the bedroom leading towards the private lounge where the task-force worked. Maybe she wanted to say hi to Soichiro before leaving the hotel. Light followed her, his blood was boiling inside him. Now he had another good reason to kill Ryuzaki, at least from his point of view.

«Dad! Me and Light are leaving. Should we wait for you for dinner?»  

«No dear, I'll be late tonight. Be careful on your way home»

Light joined the task-force in the lounge shortly after Y/N. Everyone greeted him but he didn’t say anything. His younger sister found it quite weird.

«Are you alright, Light?»

«Of course, Y/N. Everything's fine…except for the fact I saw you»

«It's good to hear you don’t need glasses, Light…» Y/N tried to appear relaxed by using sarcasm but inside her she was panicking.

«I'm talking about the kiss with Ryuzaki» he crossed the arms while looking sharply at his sister.

«The what?!» Soichiro uttered in shock dropping all the papers on the ground. Even the rest of the task-force was shocked.

In that exact moment L entered the lounge and sat at his armchair ignoring everyone's gaze on him.

«Ryuzaki! Explain! Is it true you kissed my daughter?» Soichiro asked in a rush. His face was red but for rage or embarrassment? Who knew.

«Please Yagami-san, there's no need for these scenes» the greatest detective in the world replied monotone as always.

«Don’t tell me to stay calm, Ryuzaki!»

L sigh. «Light-kun, could you tell your father to stay calm please?»

«I won't say anything, Ryuzaki. However, I would rather an explanation»

«You don’t need explanations, Light. My life has nothing to do with you» Y/N crossed the arms as well, now quite bothered by both her father and brother.

«You cannot date Ryuzaki, Y/N!» Light said firmly.

«And please, may I know the reason?» Y/N counterattacked.

«Because he is way older than you!»

«Look who's talking…the boy who is dating a girl older than him…» Y/N was talking about Misa who was for real two years older than Light.

This back and forth continued for a while and the three Yagamis were raising too much their voices for L's taste. Luckily, the rest of the task-force was too terrified to interfere and kept following with the eyes the moves of Soichiro, Light and Y/N. After a while, L had enough.

«Light-kun, Yagami-san please…» he put down the discussion using his alluring and authoritative voice despite it was always so emotionless. However, Y/N discovered how passionate his voice could be just few hours before in his bedroom. «Have you even considered that your daughter is smart enough to understand what is the best for her? I understand that you, Yagami-san, as a father and you, Light-kun, as a brother were worried about Y/N's safety, but please evaluate her opinion too before making a fuss» L took from the pocket of his jeans a lollipop, he unwrapped it and started to eat it.

Light and Soichiro stopped arguing. At those words Soichiro was deep in thought while Light didn’t change his mind about that topic.  After five minutes of silence, Soichiro sighed.

«I want the best for her too…» he admitted. «And if you're the best for her, Ryuzaki, so be it»

«Dad!» Light protested but Soichiro raised a hand to stop him.

«I know you're worried, Light, but Ryuzaki is right. Y/N…are you sure about him?»

Y/N nodded with conviction. «Yes dad, I trust and love Ryuzaki with all my heart. I want to stay with him»

Soichiro smiled at her. «Good. But Ryuzaki!» he said out of nowhere pointing his index finger to the greatest detective in the world. «If you hurt Y/N in any way I'm going to arrest you!»

In the meantime, Light didn’t say a word. He was trying to elaborate a new plan after that sudden turn of events. When Y/N asked his opinion about that argument, he replied that as long as Ryuzaki treated her with love and respect he could consider the idea to accept that relationship.

But now that his sister and Ryuzaki were a couple, will he continue with his deadly plan?  

[eminems-skittles]

cosplays and crushes [penelope garcia x reader]

penelope garcia x fem!reader warnings: none word count: 2.3k

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

     The hot San Diego sun had started to set on the line full of costume-clad convention goers. Penelope and Spencer, decked out in their Doctor Who and Rose Tyler cosplays, had been camped out since 4 in the afternoon. They just so happened to be in San Diego for a case when Rossi surprised the two nerds with tickets to Comic Con. Hotch had already agreed to giving them the weekend off in order to attend the event, saying they deserved the break and to be around people who understand what they're talking about. After some pushback from Spencer and Penelope, not because they didn't want to go but because they didn't want to be out of state if there was an emergency, they gladly accepted the tickets. The rest of the team, having been aware of the surprise, had already booked hotel rooms at a fancy hotel in San Diego as well. They had all decided that it was time for a well deserved break from their demanding jobs.

   Currently, Spencer and Penelope were in line for the Doctor Who panel. They were surrounded by people who shared their love of the show. While everyone there were all dressed in cosplays and costumes, one specific person caught Penelope's eye. Well, technically, she noticed the girl as soon as they arrived in line. This particular girl had (Y/H/C) and was dressed as (Y/F/C). She was there, apparently by herself. After two hours of constant chatting with Spencer about what they are looking forward too, their theories of previous cases, and Penelope's not so secretive constant checking to see if maybe the beautiful stranger's friends had finally showed up, Penelope had finally gathered the courage to introduce herself to the lonely girl. Spencer, being the expert profiler he is, had already picked up on Garcia's growing curiosity about the lonesome girl.

   Spencer leaned close to Penelope, to ensure that the girl wouldn't hear him, and whispered, "Just talk to her Pen. She won't bite."

   "Aw but I like it when they bite," Penelope whined jokingly, winking at the now blushing Spencer. She pinched his cheek, "Oh ease up, kiddo. I'm kidding. I would talk to her but what if she shoots me down? She is way out of my league. Besides, what am I supposed to say?"

   "Pen, believe me, she is not out of your league. She's here isn't she? You two are in the same league. Just talk to her." Spencer tried to convince her. If the girl they were talking about wasn't so close, Spencer might have also mentioned that he noticed the girl looking at Penelope also. But for now, he'd keep that too himself.

   Penelope took a deep breath, making eye contact with Spencer, who gave her a small reassuring small, before turning around to face the girl. She waved before introducing herself, "Uh, hi! My name is Penelope and this is my friend Spencer! I really like your costume! (Y/F/C) is one of my favorites!"

   "Oh hi!" she waved at spencer slightly before directing her attention back to Penelope. "My name is Y/N! Thank you so much! It took forever to make. I like yours too! Where are you from?"

   "We're from Virginia, we were out here for work and one of our co-workers surprised us with tickets. How about you? Where are you from?"

   "Oh that's awesome! I'm actually from Virginia also! How funny! I live in Richmond for work but when I'm not working I live in (Y/H/T)." Y/N said, her eyes lighting up when she heard that the pretty girl in front of her lived in the same state as her. "If it's not too much to ask, where do you guys live? I'm not a stalker I swear." She added quickly.

   Spencer and Penelope shared an amused look, before laughing slightly.

   "We live in Quantico. Spence and I work for the FBI." Penelope hoped it was okay that she told this stranger that she was an FBI agent. However, Spencer didn't stop her so she assumed it was okay. "What do you do for work?"

    "Oh well I am an elementary school teacher so when school is session, I live in Richmond but during summer I go back home to help out my family. It's not the best situation but I make it work," She laughed slightly. Penelope decided then and there that she loved Y/N's laugh. "Anyway, what do y'all do for the FBI, that is if you're allowed to say."

   "Well I am a tech analyst for the Behavioral Analyst Unit, or the BAU as we call it. So I basically research suspects, victims, open cases, stuff like that and send it to the team." Penelope explains, being careful not to spill too much about her job.

   "And I'm a profiler for the BAU. So while Penelope is at the office, the other agents and I are in the field, examining crime scenes and catching serial killers and bad guys," Spencer explained.

   "Wow, you guys have such cool and important jobs." Y/N said.

   "Yeah, I guess we do," Penelope said, smiling brightly at Y/N. "So are you here by yourself?"

   "Unfortunately. My girlfriend was supposed to come but uh she broke up with me two weeks ago and it was too late to refund the tickets. I needed time away from there anyway" Y/N looked sad as she explained. Penelope looked at Spencer, her eyes silently pleading with him. Spencer looked at Y/N, then at Penelope, before slightly nodding his head.

   "Oh no! I'm so sorry, hon! If you'd like, you can stick with Spencer and I. We're staying at the main hotel with our coworkers. You are more than welcome to join us!" Penelope said, silently cursing herself for sounding so eager. How she already managed to have feelings for this girl so fast was beyond her. Normally, it took her a few days before developing feelings for someone. Yet here she was, having the most mundane conversation with this random girl.

    Thoughts started zooming around in Penelope's brain. Surely it has to be fate that they were both here. Penelope never planned on going to Comic Con until a few days ago. She didn't even plan on going to this panel because she had thought they missed it. And yet, here she was, talking with the prettiest girl she had ever seen. She almost couldn't form proper sentences. Y/N's smile seemed to cause her brain to short-circuit.

    "Are you sure? I don't want to impose. This is your guys vacation." Y/N hesitantly said.

     "It's fine, really, Y/N. It would be fun. Comic Con isn't a place to be alone at." Spencer cut in, a small smile stretching across his face. This was the first time he had seen Penelope act like this in front of a girl, and with everything that Penelope did for him and the team, he figured it was time he did something for her.

    Y/N contemplated for a second. A very small part of her was saying no, because she had just met these people. But then she reasoned that they are FBI agents so they wouldn't hurt her. She also already had started developing a small crush on Penelope. She knew she shouldn't of been catching feelings so quickly. It had only been two weeks since her ex had broken up with up her. However, in this moment, Y/N could care less. If her ex didn't want to be with her anymore, that was no longer her problem. She couldn't spend the rest of her life being sad about someone who did not care about her anymore.

     "If you're sure about this, then of course! You guys seem really fun and I'd love to hangout!" Y/N agreed.

    Penelope and Y/N shared a smile, getting momentarily lost in each others eyes. They stayed like that until Spencer nudged Penelope with his elbow. Once they were broken out of their trance, Penelope and Y/N had realized that the line had finally started moving. Once they got into the panel, Y/N, Penelope, and Spencer sat down as close to the front as possible. Throughout the panel, Y/N and Penelope silently fangirled as Spencer watched intently, no doubt trying to memorize everything that everyone said. Not that he had to try.

     At the end of the panel, around 9:00 at night, the trio was trying to figure out where to go for dinner. Spencer, who was eager to tell Derek about Penelope's new love interest, excused himself to the hotel for the night, saying he was too tired and to go out without him.

    "Let's go change into normal clothes and meet up in 15 minutes? We can go to the hotel bar or go to a restaurant in town?" Y/N asked, secretly hoping this dinner would turn into a date. The day she had spent with Penelope was one of the best days she had had in a long time. Even when she was with her ex-girlfriend. Penelope agreed before they headed to their respective rooms to change into clothes for the evening.

   After they got ready, they met in the hotel lobby and decided on staying at the hotel restaurant and bar. Penelope decided against going into town because of what she sees everyday in her line of work. Y/N did not mind, she just wanted to spend time with Penelope.

   The two had ended up getting kicked out of the hotel bar, having stayed until 2 in the morning. They had decided to make their way to the pool to just sit and talk.

   "Thank you for the wonderful night, Penny," Y/N said, smiling at the slightly taller girl. Y/N was slightly tipsy, leaning her head against Penelope's shoulder.

   "You know, I think you're one of the first people to call me Penny, doll face," She said giggling a bit harder than she should have. "You're welcome, sweetcheeks. I had an amazing time tonight also."

   Little did the two girls know, the BAU team (with the exception of Hotch, who insisted that he had better things to do than spy on Penelope's first date) were hiding along the row of chairs behind them to get a good look at the scene unfolding in front of them.

  Y/N and Penelope stared at each other for a second before a voice shouted, "JUST KISS ALREADY!" The two of them jumped about five feet in the air before looking back to see JJ and Emily pulling Spencer back to the ground to hide him from the two.

  "Might as well give the people what they want," Penelope said, wiggling her eyebrows. Y/N smiled for what felt like the millionth time that day, before nodding her head.

  The two leaned forward, pausing for a second to look each other in the eyes, before leaning in all the way. Penelope brought her hands up to Y/N's face, one on her cheek, the other on the back of her neck. Y/N put both of her hands on Penelope's cheeks. They stayed like that for a few moments, the soft kiss seemingly having lasted longer than a few seconds. They pulled apart, catching their breaths.

   "Wow," Y/N breathed out. A smile and blush had forced their way onto her face, as she looked at Penelope.

   "Wow," Penelope repeated, staring into Y/N's eyes.

   "I SHIP!" Spencer shouted from where he, Derek, Emily, JJ, and Rossi were supposed to be hiding. Penelope broke her stare from Y/N, turning to face her not so secretive friends.

   "Ok, who let him drink tonight?" Penelope shout back to her friends.

   "You know, for FBI agents, your friends aren't all that sneaky." Y/N said, smiling slightly before kissing Penelope again. The group of FBI agents all hooted and hollered jokingly at Penelope and Y/N.

    "Alright you idiots, lets all get to bed before we anger Garcia enough to make her hack all of our records," Rossi said to the team, trying to get them to leave. He was met with a few groans and 'okay dad's, but everyone got up and followed him out of the pool area. As soon as they were sure they were by themselves, they pulled apart from the kiss.

   "I know we just met and you're fresh out of a relationship, but Y/N, I uh I really like you. And I'm willing to do whatever it takes to be with you. I can wait as long as you-" she was interrupted by yet another small kiss.

   "Penny, I like you a lot too. And I want to be with you too. But it's going to take a bit of time before I get into another relationship." Y/N explained.

   "Of course, take all the time you need, sweetie," Penelope said. The two girls cuddled up next to each other for a few minutes before deciding to call it a night. Penelope walked Y/N to her hotel room with promises of an early breakfast the next day.

  "Goodnight Y/N," Penelope said, before kissing Y/N's cheek.

  "Goodnight Penny," Y/N said, kissing Penelope's cheek as well. She unlocked her door and stepped instead, saying goodnight one final time before watching Penelope walk back down the hall to the elevator. Before she got into the elevator, Penelope waved back at Y/N before dramatically blowing a kiss down the hall. Y/N playfully got the kiss and placed her hand on her cheek, waiting for the elevator doors to close, before making her way into her own room. She was unable to stop smiling the whole time she got ready for bed. This was the best day ever.

[whats-rambled-rambled]

Long Nights - part 3

Neil x Reader

Chapter 3: Difficult

(see chapter 2, 1)

summary: the morning after.

warnings: 18+, explicit language and other things, not that descriptive but I am not leaving you with -implied- this time, nsfw

author’s note: Right, this is actually half of what I wanted to write for this chapter, but I thought that it might work better this way. A bit shorter one, 2.4k words, I hope you’re still gonna like it. 

Also - apparently all fandom writers share one brain cell, so let me just say that any resemblance to other works is purely coincidental. (hi Tessa!)

The song for this part is Billy Raffoul - Difficult

Enjoy! All feedback is greatly appreciated, let me know what you think?

——————

Tag list: @cxnnienikas  @neutron-stars-collision ​ @ergunbilge @invertedneil @wanderedaway​ @the-gazette-of-tea @wonderwoman292 @buckysgoldenheart @townmoondaltwistle (please let me know if you want to be added/removed from the list)

------

Even before you opened your eyes, you knew something was off. The smell of bedsheets. Their texture. You rolled to the side, groaning slightly. A pulled muscle. Or two.

And a few other sore places.

Oh, right.

You heard the muffled sound of a door clicking shut and you glanced towards the entrance to the hotel room.

Neil looked like he’d just woken up himself, the lack of proper sleep painting dark circles under the blue eyes, a somewhat crumpled olive green t-shirt amplifying the usual dishevelance of his appearance. He caught your stare as he removed his shoes, balancing two cups of what you hoped was coffee in the other hand, and smiled lightly.

“Did I wake you?”

“No, but your timing is impeccable,” you laughed, stretching your arms and stifling a yawn. And then you smirked. “Glad to see it still holds true in the daylight.”

Neil snorted, his gaze lit up as you sat on the bed, not really bothered to cover yourself up.

“Coffee?” he said and handed you a cup.

“Yes, please and thank you.” You took the first sip and sighed with delight. “You’re an angel,” - a wicked grin crept on your face - “...a naughty one, but still.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, trying to hide the smug smile behind his cup.

“I did exactly what you suggested numerous times during the training,” he said, and then tugged the bottom lip between his teeth. “...and maybe elevated it here and there.”

You hummed in agreement as your sleep-deprived brain rolled a pretty vivid the best of tape; the string of flashbacks quickened your pulse more efficiently than the hot beverage in your hand.

“That you did, all right.”

Then your gazes met, and you pushed back the urge to curse. Yep, that was it. That scanning look. Vibe check. When both of you tried to figure out if the previous night changed anything between you. You wondered if he could see the silent plea in your eyes.

Please, don’t make this weird.

Neil hesitated, suddenly tense.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked sheepishly and took a swig from his cup, grimacing with regret as he evidently burned himself in effect.

“We had a fun night. Now we’re enjoying the coffee,” - pursing your lips, you tilted your head - “Did I miss anything?”

Seeing you all casual about it, Neil relaxed and exhaled slowly.

“I think that covers it.”

With the air cleared, you finished your coffee and put down the empty cup on the nightstand. Your clothes still scattered the floor, but there was something you needed to do first. You got up and stretched again, smirking as you caught the blue eyes wandering across your naked body.

“I’m gonna hit the shower,” you said, walking past Neil on the way to the bathroom. “Feel free to join me.”

Soon the hot water was soothing the stiff muscles and you closed your eyes, blessing the minds behind the concept of the rain showers.

The glass door creaked behind you.

“There you are.” You smiled, pouring a bit of the shower gel on your hand and spreading it on your shoulder. “For a second you got me thinking you’re not gonna come.”

Neil scoffed, amused.

“As if I could say no to an offer like that.”

His hand replaced yours on the shoulder and you gave him the bottle, groaning quietly as he started slowly rubbing your neck. The tension eased under his fingers, and you took a step back, turning your head and reaching to his cheek. As Neil leaned in to kiss you, his hands slipped down your sides. then up your stomach, and when they cupped your breasts, you gasped breathlessly. He smiled against your lips, looping one arm across your waist and pulling you closer. 

You tangled your digits in wet blonde strands, tugging at them and shuddering as Neil stopped teasing your nipple and moved upward, wrapping the long fingers around your throat gently while he deepened the kiss. As if the act alone wasn’t enough to haze your mind, it awoke the memories from the night before, wiping any coherent thought from your head. Maybe that’s why a delicate stroke on your clit was almost enough to make your knees give out.

You whimpered and broke the kiss, then turned around and rested your forehead on his collarbone, catching your breath. Neil’s chest heaved under your palms as he embraced you, chuckling lightly.

“Still tired?” he asked, tucking dripping hair behind your ear and pressing his cheek to your temple.

“Not that tired,” you replied, smirking as you dragged your fingertips down his body.

A moan built in his throat but you were there to capture it with your lips. Your mind overcast with desire as you felt him getting even harder under your touch.

Even with the weary mood of the morning after, that pull between you was too strong to resist. And with your current state, it was so easy to get lost in each other’s closeness, in shared shaky breaths, in pleasure flowing through you to the rhythm of your bodies. Slow and careful at first, gentle brushes and gliding fingers - with the steam from the hot water enveloping you, the temperature was rising, and soon you wanted more. So did Neil.

He waited for a sign from you, and when your hips bucked and you started pushing against him, needy and desperate, his hold on you got firmer, his kisses more hungry and the pace of his thrust faster. The pulse pounded in your ears. Cold tiles against your back. You buried your face in his neck, gasping. Faster. The fire roamed through your veins, leaving you a moaning mess. Faster. The sounds of your bodies coming together filled the air. He cursed and pulled you closer.  Harder. You cried out, so close to the edge. Neil tilted your chin and when his lips met yours, the world dissolved and you came undone, clinging to him as he joined you with a guttural groan.

You rode out your highs, trembling in each other's arms, huffs and giggles breaking in between sloppy kisses.

Neil pulled back to take a look at you.

“You okay?”

“Mhm,” you mumbled, running your fingers along his jawline. “Thank you.”

A smug smile dangled in the corner of his mouth.

“My pleasure.”

You scoffed and smacked his chest, making him laugh in response. Pressing his forehead to yours, he cupped your face as the other hand stroked your back in a soothing manner, and you closed your eyes, letting out a small sigh.

“I think I need a moment to recover,” you said, melting into his touch. “Feels like I could crash right here and now.”

Neil’s thumb brushed your cheek.

“Good thing we have some time before the meeting.”

“Wait, we...?” - you furrowed your brows, trying to focus - “What meeting?”

“With the boss. He left a message a few hours ago.”

You pushed him away, staring at him in disbelief.

“And you’re only telling me now?!”

He shrugged, unfazed by your outburst.

“Was there any appropriate moment earlier?”

“Okay, fair enough,” you said and pinched the bridge of your nose, collecting yourself. You’d been waiting for a chance to ask your questions for so long, and now that you finally could get it, you were exhausted from indulging yourself with a hook-up. A stellar one, hard to mark as a mistake, really, but a stupid thing nonetheless. “Do you know what it's about?”

Neil studied you intently, puzzled by the sudden mood swing.

“I have an idea or two, but you never know with him.”

“Perfect.” You drew a long breath, and then you felt a reassuring squeeze on your shoulder. The blue eyes finally found yours and you couldn’t hide that fond smile any longer. “Pass me that shampoo, will ya?”

-----

“So to recap - you have a tech that allows you to move backwards in time,” you said, combing a hand through your hair. “Sure, yeah, cool, makes total sense.”

You recalled Neil's reverse entropy theory and you looked at him just to catch his stare, checking on you if you made that connection. You knew better than to mention it aloud, chances were that he hadn’t told the boss about his slip-up.

“Glad to hear that it does.” The Protagonist smiled, but he was watching you closely as if he could see right through your bullshit.

Because to be completely honest, though? It didn’t. The whole concept was absolutely fucking mental. But at this point, all you could do was simply roll with it. Especially since it somehow explained why that goddamn lock they’d used to lure you into cooperation behaved the way it did.

You slumped on the chair, processing the new take on good ol’ reality. All the answers you got somehow led to even more questions, but before you could decide on one, The Protagonist leaned in.

“I asked you to come because I need to know if Neil is ready to check his skills in the field.”

You shrugged. “Depends. We’ve covered most mechanisms, but there are still things I need to introduce to him. But from the ones he knows? He’s good to go.” You smiled, your expression nothing but innocent as you glanced at your student. “He passed his recent stress test with top marks.”

If The Protagonist noticed the way Neil’s eyes widened at your words, he didn’t let it show.

“What if he had to be inverted?”

“Beats me,” you said and puffed your cheeks, exhaling slowly, considering the implications. “I assume that would mean the lock remains regular?”

The boss shook his head slightly. “I can’t guarantee that.”

You looked at Neil. He was sitting on the edge of his seat, pinching his little finger, the eyes darting between you and The Protagonist. Probably not too comfortable with being a passive subject of the conversation, bless his heart.

“Have you ever tried picking any of those locks that way?” you asked Neil, shifting on your chair to sit in a way that was supposed to make him feel more included in the discussion.

“Once, at the very beginning,” - he sent you a nervous smile - “but I failed miserably. Since then I’ve only practiced on the old locks in our regular setting.”

“I see,” you said, shifting your gaze to The Protagonist. “Then I can’t guarantee anything as well. We’ll add that to our training plan, when’s the first mission?”

The dark eyes bore into you.

“Yesterday.”

You scoffed, but then you realized he wasn’t kidding. You bit back a hysterical giggle and sighed.

“If I’d known about that from the start… about the mere possibility of training like that, I would’ve included it in the schedule a long time ago.”

“I had no idea it would take so much time.”

You didn’t know if that it was aimed at your teaching skills or at the pace Neil was learning, but it pissed you off enough to not care to ask for clarification. You weren’t having any of those.

“Listen, pal, you can’t learn it fast if you want to learn it well. Even with all the shortcuts provided, you need practice, and you can’t do that without spending hours polishing the skills enough to use it in the real world,” you huffed, glaring at the indifferent man behind the desk. “Neil can be exceptional all he wants, but he simply can’t cheat the process and skip right to the end.”

A light split-second brush against the side of your knee made you miss a beat. You blinked twice and you looked at Neil, but he was focused on the boss, using your moment of hesitation to chime in.

“Do you have any intel about locks on the location?”

The Protagonist nodded, handing him a folder.

You watched as the blue eyes flitted through the documents, the color draining from Neil’s face with every other page. Uh-oh. He cleared his throat.

“What’s our window to prepare?”

“Two days.”

Neil stifled a curse and rubbed his face. The boss fell back on his chair, reading enough from that reaction. You watched as they both considered the options.

“Is it just a b&e kind of assignment?” you asked, cutting into the heavy silence.

The Protagonist looked at you, puzzled.

“You mean breaking and entering? Yes, it should be, why?”

“Take me there, then.”

Neil straightened in his seat. “You can’t know for certain what we might find there,” he blurted out at the boss and turned to you. “No.”

But you ignored him, locking your eyes on The Protagonist.

“Seems like I’m your best chance.”

He couldn’t deny it, and from that brief glance at the information he’d collected on your jobs, you knew he got an idea about the things you were capable of. A certain level of flexibility was required in your line of work, and some of the stuff you’d gotten yourself into while working with Mahir proved you could get shit done, even if everything came crashing down on your head. Once or twice - quite literally. Ah, fun times. The Protagonist drummed the fingers on the desk, weighing his decision.

Meanwhile, you finally granted Neil some attention. He stared at you in silent protest, the features clouded with concern. The fact that he could be worried about you was utterly adorable, even if totally out of place. A corner of your lips twitched and you winked. Neil slouched against the back of the chair, rolling his eyes as a faint smile crept on his face.

Finally, The Protagonist made up his mind and nodded.

“All right. But I’m not sending you there without a basic training. Neil, I’ll ask Ives to clear his afternoon. He’s at the shooting range now, both of you should get there and start preparing straight away.”

“Oh, I know how to handle a gun,” you said, waving a hand dismissively. You’d rather jump straight into something more fun than that.

“Not an inverted one, you don’t.” Neil grinned and raised a brow, playful lights shining in his eyes. “Have you ever tried catching a bullet instead of shooting one?”

You fought the urge to massage your temples. Of course.

And then you beamed, barely containing your excitement.

That was more like it.

(next chapter ->)

[lizacstuff]

Your thoughts on the first episode of the new season? And can we talk about all those parallels? Also I'm loving the summer vibes!

I'm LIVING for the summer vibes! Doesn't everything feel like a breath of fresh air? I definitely feel like new life has been injected into the series. And that new location is so beautiful, I LOVE IT.

As for the episode, I thought it was masterfully done. You could tell Ayse was back and bringing the perfect mix of comedy, romance and drama. And the sparkle! The show sparkles again. The almost two and half hours flew buy, I was on the edge of my seat, and the performances from Hande and Kerem were amazing. Plus I just adore every moment between Serkan and his new nemesis (aka his secret daughter).

On the sober side, I don't care how jerky Serkan got while battling cancer, or how he may have pushed her away, nothing they've shown us so far even begins to justify Eda not telling him about Kiraz, and it certainly doesn't justify her continuing to lie when he's standing right in front of her making overtures (and her daughter is clearly longing for her father). Obviously, there are still many things we don't know and I'm sure there are many flashbacks to come, and Eda has been though so much, but still...I don't see how they will thread that needle and have Eda come out unscathed.

That being said, with this first episode they executed this story so well and it really does give new life to the series, so I won't dwell on the fact that Eda never would have done this. Never. We just have to move past it, accept that it's a soap opera plot device designed to give us an amazing second season packed with all sorts of amazing scenes and just enjoy every minute while it lasts.

(More under the cut)

I'll get to more on Edser later, as for everyone else... silliness abounds.

First... Erdem cheated on Leyla? WHAT!?!?! With whom? But I guess that was a clean way to explain Leyla leaving.

Engin and Piril, I love that Engin is staying home with their son, and that young actor is a cutie! As for Piril... GRRRRRR... she is still on my shitlist. Last time it was for betraying Eda (and Serkan) by enabling Selin's reign of terror, this time it's by betraying her friend and business partner Serkan! Good grief. If Piril just found out recently at the start of this project I could accept on her holding off because it's not her secret to run off and tell, but what I can't accept is her actively working against Serkan finding out. Even if in this episode she had gently said to Eda... "do you think maybe it's time you told him?" it would be a lot easier to swallow... but nope! She's acting like it would be the end of the world if Serkan found out. I sincerely hope that when everyone finds out and Engin finds out Piril knew, it causes problems between them. She deserves that.

She remains my second least favorite character. Who was my least favorite character this episode? Oh you know! Awful Ayfer is back! We got a reprieve from her in the last arc, but she's back to her annoying, controlling, Serkan-hating ways. Eda is a mother, an international award-winning landscape architect and business owner and she still has to lie to Ayfer because she's such a pain-in-the-ass? Watching her is going to be a trial.

Even though it feels like both Aydan and Ayfer were reset to zero character development, and Aydan has done worse (keeping the fact that Serkan was alive from Eda) I still find her a much easier character to take. Probably because Neslihan is a much better comedic actress, so she's a lot more entertaining. But... Aydan's been with Kemal for 5 years and hasn't told Serkan? WHY? I can't believe Kemal didn't give her an ultimatum years ago. I was loving, however, Serkan being in the way for both Aydan/Kemal and Engin/Piril. GOOD. Those people caused problems for him at one point or another or were in the way, it was nice to see him return the favor. I like Kemal and am still hoping they'll do a parallel "not knowing your father thing" and reveal he's Serkan's bio dad while Serkan is finding out he had a child he never knew about.

Melo and Seyfi were their awesome supportive, funny selves. It was great to see both of them, I'm so glad they stayed.

As for the new characters, love the kids. The new hotel manager is apparently ditzy and starstruck over Serkan, and I don't really understand how she's going to be integrated into the cast, but I love that she was used as a device to show us that Serkan has zero interest in any woman who is not Eda Yildiz. Eda's assistant seems like he'll be a fine side character. As for Burak, he seems harmless, obviously he has feeling for Eda that she does not reciprocate (fuck off Ayfer trying to push her on him) but hopefully they don't make him a psycho like Deniz. I did think he was a bit out of line to Serkan. Isn't that his cafe? And a customer has his glass spilled by a child in his care, and he insults him instead of apologizing? That is the worst customer service I've ever seen! He's a character that could wear on me quickly, we shall see. Kiraz can't help but be sassy because of genetics, but some of the adults in her life seem to be modeling rude behavior!

Now on to Eda and Serkan, I can't say enough about Hande and Kerem's acting in this episode. Phenomenal! They were both brilliant. Plus both are doing a great job working off of Maya (especially Kerem) those scenes were priceless. I don't often enjoy kids on shows, but so far I'm loving this dynamic.

As for Edser, while we don't know everything yet it feels like Serkan got to a point where he couldn't stand to see Eda in pain and putting her life on hold, he outright mentioned that she might not have graduated if they'd stayed together, and so that was part of the reason he reverted to his robot self and pushed her away. I'm going to guess she tried and tried and he was just unyielding. Saying he didn't want to get married or have kids in the harshest way possible. Perhaps even she went to tell him that she was pregnant and he went off on not wanting kids before she could even tell him. Time will tell.

At this juncture, my best guess is Eda's fear is rooted in rejection. It can't be that she thinks Serkan is a terrible person that doesn't deserve to know his child, or would be detrimental to Kiraz. However, she knows what it feels like to be rejected by Serkan, I'm sure she was beyond devastated, so I'm guessing now she's bent on protecting her daughter from feeling that same rejection. She fears if he found out, but wanted nothing to do with her, it would feel worse than him not knowing. She's not thinking clearly and perhaps it hasn't even occurred to her that the man she fell in love with is still under there and that man is fully capable of opening his heart wide to their child.

The fact that this child, a stranger to him, already has him wrapped around her little finger to the tune of being late to meetings while he waits for her to pick berries, speaks volumes.

The lies that Eda is telling Kiraz though... there is a fairy tale poetry to Eda saying her father is among the stars... but there was no way this would ever end well. Such a bad idea. Eda.... has made mistakes.

As for Eda and Serkan, their reunion was so bitter sweet. The way Serkan was sure he was hallucinating her and couldn't believe she was real, speaks to the fact that his thinking he saw her that morning was not an anomaly. It must happen all the time. She's never left his thoughts in 5 years. Especially since Engin makes it clear that women throw themselves at Serkan all the time, and he never bites. That's a lot of years celebrate, pining after a love he lost through his own actions. Though it's not that surprising that he didn't pursue other women, as he's never been a character who was motivated by sex. Which makes it hilarious that during his presentation that's where his mind was at, remembering their intimate times together. Serkan Bolat is an Edasexual.

Serkan seemed to want to brush past what happened between them, how they ended, but from Eda's pain, it's clear it was gut-wrenching and tragic and that's something he's going to need to recon with in the coming episodes. But how refreshing that they actually talked! That Eda actually expressed her pain to him! Wowza, that's a change from recent episodes when they didn't even have a proper conversation after he got his memory back.

The flashback scenes were a combination of pure brilliance and pain. Just rip out my heart why don't you. Serkan's angry reactions seem very believable for someone suffering what he was going through. I think it's typical to lash out at the person closest to you. And their fear and pain, their commitment to getting him better and seeing it through... those scenes were made all the more heartbreaking knowing that they didn't make it out the other side intact.

On a lighter note, I loved how even despite their intention and best efforts to remain closed off to one another, and away from one another, they couldn't. Physically, Serkan couldn't stay away, and every time Eda was in his presence you saw her resolve slip and her start to feel that old pull towards him. The fact that Eda thinks there's any way to keep this secret and get rid of him, she must just be in full panic mode and not thinking clearly. She's never going to shake him.

Thank goodness Serkan came back and actually issued a sincere apology for what he said at coffee. He definitely owed her one, but what was extraordinary is that it showed that the growth he went through when they were together didn't regress. He was able to apologize and explain that he was angry and hurt and that's why it happened. If you remember from the first time around, saying sorry was something he was just unable to do, so this felt big to me. He's not the same robot Bolat, she left an indelible mark on him.

As for him making her present her proposal, it's really not out-of-line for the professional relationship, however, we all know he did it just so he had an excuse to be around her. That man will take any excuse, plus he likes to get a rise out of her.

The dinner scene was breathtaking. How beautiful and achingly romantic was that setting? Wowza. And what a roller coaster of emotion those scenes were. It was great to watch them talk and laugh. Who didn't swoon when he deveined her shrimp and when she gave him fries? But we had to know it wouldn't last. Eda's speech had me breathless. Serkan had that coming, it hurt but it had to happen. What a relief to see them get things out in the open. Now I hope we get to see them really talk about what happened and why. Explain yourself Serkan!

As for the next episode, I was so hopeful that the Kiraz secret would be out after the final scene, but the first fragman makes it look like that's not going to happen, at least not at the start of the episode. My fear is that if Eda outright lies to him that just makes everything worse. The longer she keeps it from him, when they're back in each other's orbits and it's clear he's not running away, it makes her more and more at fault.

In any case, it looks like we're in for some fabulous scene so I look forward to the second episode!

[ace-of-pythons]

A bunch of marvel headcanons for your entertainment

Some of these are inspired by general stuff I've seen on the internet a while ago, others are completely random

• Clint Barton often inhabits the vents. He's been doing so for years and the avengers have all gotten used to it. He will usually sit in the vents and record them doing stupid stuff and adds it to his smack cam. He actually has a youtube channel called "HawkeyeTheBestAvenger" and has quite a few followers.

• Tony stark and dr. Stephen strange have a web show called "stark contrasts, strange similarities". They were very bored and apparently people found amusement in hearing them engage in a battle of wit. It now is a weekly activity and some of the other avengers will come down and watch the show. It helps the two so they have a designated time to verbally attack eachother instead of doing so on the battle field. They used to ignore each others plans and argue to the point of losing the battle, but now they are an unstoppable force and barely anything stands in their way. Except peter parker's puppy dog eyes.

• Clint Barton wanted to be a stand-up comedian, but he ended up becoming an assassin instead.

• Doctor strange owns at least 4 different copies of lord of the rings. Only peter parker knows this. If tony were to find out, he would never let him live it down.

• Peter parker often confuses the ceiling and the floor which has lead to tony freaking out at 2AM because he saw a figure crawling on the ceiling. (Tony called an exorcist soon after, but it happened to be doctor strange. The following events are now known as the not-so-demonic-doctor-and-the-spiderlings-unfortunate-timing.)

• Natasha and bucky sometimes have entire conversations in Russian without realizing it. Once they were talking late at night and had switched over to Russian without realizing and then steve walked into the kitchen. Nat asked what he was doing and he looked confused. She asked again but he still wasn't saying anything. Bucky then asked and all steve said was "what?". The two assassins then started to yell at steve in Russian. They forgot to watch their volume and ended up waking everyone. They were still shouting at steve when clint walked in and said "You know they are just asking you what you're doing up this late at night, right?" The rest of the night was filled with a tired spider-child, a blanket covered Bruce, and an overly annoyed tony.

• Tony has many nicknames for dr. Strange including, but not limited to: strange, stranger danger, Dumbledore, wizard, Merlin, Harry Potter, better steve, and stephanie.

• Outside of avengers tower, most people think that tony treats his intern poorly, but in reality he treats him like royalty. Peter has gotten used to tony stark's dad mode, everytime someone new comes in they are always surprised. Tony will cary around all the things his spider child needs. Food? He has a plethora of snacks. Backpacks? He has a closet with a bunch of new ones. Web fluid? He always has a replacement vial of the stuff if peter runs out. Hotel? Travago. He makes sure the spiderling is as happy as possible and will go to any length to make it happen. Scott lang was shocked to discover this. He then assumed that peter was his actual child. No one had the heart to tell him otherwise. He didnt find out he wasn't Tony's biological child until a month later.

• When scott lang, aka ant man, first joined it caused much confusion. The later deemed bug bois had a rocky start, but in an interesting way. Scott was under the impression that peter can control spiders and peter thought that Scott's full name was Scottish language. It took an hour and a spider sister for everything to be cleared up. Now the bug bois and the spider sister go on many missions together. Peter and scott always make as many nerd and science puns as possible while natasha just shakes her head.

• Tony does a bad. A terrible, terrible thing. He introduced peter to harley. This resulted in immediate vine references and instant friendship. It also caused the labs to catch on fire. The pure chaos that these two caused is more than even clint and scott can cause which is saying alot. It got to a point where the whole base was covered in waiting pranks and operational lightsabers. The two also figured out how to safely eat tide pods. You can imagine Tony's reaction. And to add insult to injury, king T'Challa came to the compound. With Shuri. S h u r i. The damage increased by double in the first hour alone. Let's just say that tony had to call Stephen to try to clean everything up. They still find shaving cream in the labs and kitchen even after they thought they were done cleaning.

• Doctor strange is broke. He had literally no money whatsoever. In the beginning he had started to spend it faster then he was making it. He then spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to try and fix his hands and when that didn't work he sold his things to get to Nepal. Specifically Kathmandu. Even more specifically, kamar-taj. Once he became a sorcerer money didn't matter as much. Now that he's back in New York, well, money is a problem again. He'll sometimes do really odd jobs to make a little bit more money in his free time (which is already minimal). The weirdest job he took was being a magician for a little kids birthday party. He may or may not have sent a kid to another dimension, but he'll never tell. (Sorry Marcus).

• Matt has a habit of getting thrown into dumpsters. Clint also has a habit of getting thrown into dumpsters. You can imagine Matt's suprise when someone else gets thrown into his dumpster. That's the somewhat anticlimactic way that Hawkeye and Daredevil meet. It's the deaf leading the blind. Two halves of one full idiot. They hated each other at first but they kept ending up in dumpsters. After one battle where daredevil got seriously injured, clint helped patch him up. From that moment on they learned that teaming up with each other wasn't that bad. Now the two can be seen patrolling around hell's kitchen and Manhattan and chatting all along the way.

• Peter got stuck. Quarantined in tony stark's laboratory. With iron man himself. And a few of the avengers. They have been pretty good with not bothering Peter while he's on a zoom call. That was until strange came by because of some multi-dimensional beast or something that turned out to be nothing. Well after that was settled, wong refused to let strange back into the sanctum. Resulting in Stephen being stuck at the compound with everyone else. This of course included tony. Peter was minding his own business following along with his chemistry class one peaceful Wednesday. Tony was tinkering on some piece of the newest iron man armor. Peter had turned his microphone on to answer a question when suddenly, strange yells out " Anthony Edward Stark!" Turns out that tony wasn't going to let the wizard enjoy his stay and decided to channel his inner loki. The good doctor appeared in the doorway covered head to toe with bright pink glittery paint. Tony then proceeded to laugh so hard he's on the floor. Peter had at one point, gotten up to help the sorcerer leaving his call unmuted. Meaning that his entire class heard the absolutely absurd conversation happening. That was how his class learned that he did in fact have an internship with tony stark himself.

[kenanda]

9 FOR LONELYEYES FOR THE CLICHE PROMPTS 🥰🥰🥰

9. There’s only one bed and we sleep as far away as possible from each other but wake up cuddling

EGG I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH FUN I HAD WRITING THIS, IT MADE ME SO WARM AND FUZZY THAT I WANT TO FUCKING SCREAM!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THESE OLD MEN IN LOVE!!!!!!!!1 SO!!!!!!!11 MUCH!!!!!!!!!1

THERE WAS ONLY ONE BED LONELYEYES PROMPT BELOW THE CUT

words: 1,1k

rating: PG 

tags: established relationship; sharing a bed; banter; mutual pining; the love is requited, they’re just idiots; boner mention; fluff

Peter and Elias stared at the bed in great discomfort. It was a perfectly normal piece of furniture: spacious, with a mattress that dipped nicely under one’s weight and aligned the spine; covered in fine silken sheets and fluffy pillows.

It was an excellent bed, save for the fact that there was only one of it.

“There must have been a misunderstanding,” Peter pointed out, rather unhelpfully.

Elias bit back the impulse of making a snide remark. This situation wasn’t optimal, given the recent- erm- fallout between them. Any other time, Elias would have been happy sharing a bed with Peter — right now, however, with their divorce well under way, the mere idea of being in the same room as Peter made him grimace.

“I’ll go downstairs and see what can be done,” he said, and went to do just that.

Peter only grunted in surprise as he left, but Elias didn’t dwell on how easily he had fallen back into the dynamics of their relationship, lest it robbed him of whatever rest he could manage that night.

Half an hour later of arguing with the receptionist in his very rusty Mandarin, Elias returned. Peter didn’t need to ask to know that it had been a mighty failure.

“They said the whole floor is already booked for the event; they can move us to separate rooms tomorrow, but we’ll have to spend the night in this one.”

Peter was quiet for a while, in which time Elias poured himself something from the frigobar, with no intention of paying.

“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Peter said.

“With your shitty back? Yeah, right.” Elias had had to help Peter stretch and rub ointment on his back too many times to allow for that.

“Some of us age, Elias.”

“Sucks to be you.”

Peter threw his hands up. “Well then I guess I won’t sleep.”

“I doubt either of us will, but I won’t be able to rest with you standing ominously in the corner, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“Why don’t you stand in the corner then, since none of my ideas are good enough?”

Elias rolled his eyes. They had had this argument before, and Elias wasn’t keen on repeating it.

He was jet-lagged, sweaty and exhausted from the trip to the event — a charitable initiative held among the leading institutes in paranormal research. Of course he had to be here, but so did Peter, since he funded many of those institutions.

Apparently, the people in organisation hadn’t received the memo about their divorce. If they had, the two of them wouldn’t be having this conversation right now.

Elias sighed. He would not go there, not tonight.

“Look. You’re old, I am tired. There’s only one sensible solution here, and that is we share this bed. I am sure you won’t be able to sleep, and I won’t either, but we can at least lie in it and wait until we’re able to solve this tomorrow.”

Peter raised his eyebrows at him.

“What.”

“Seems awfully convenient for you, Elias.”

“Are you trying to imply something here?”

Peter shrugged. “No, it’s fine. Fine.”

If Elias didn’t have an institute to maintain, he would have wiped the floor with Peter, but he couldn’t risk losing funding. Whether he liked it or not, Peter was currently an asset to his plans. If he had to lie awake in the same bed as his soon-to-be ex-husband to keep it that way, then so be it.

They got ready for bed, in spite of having said that neither would be able to sleep. There was no reason to keep wearing a suit, or that godawful seaweed-smelling coat that Peter carried everywhere — a gift from James Wright a lifetime ago.

Right now, they built an imaginary wall between them, but their motions were almost choreographed, and the tension of awareness was almost palpable. They had lived together too long to avoid it — so much so that when Elias turned off the bedside table lamp, Peter whispered an involuntary “Good night.” and Elias almost leaned in to kiss him briefly on the lips; but that didn’t belong to them anymore.

Perhaps they had underestimated how exhausted they were, for sleep overtook them fast, neither realising that they were drifting off, and towards each other.

When they awoke the next day, Elias’s face was pressed

against Peter’s side and his arm circled Peter’s middle. There was a sizable spot of drool on Peter’s shirt, courtesy of Elias, and Elias’s hair was a mess where Peter’s forearm rested upon it.

Both remained very still, taking in the morning light, the tangled mess in which they found themselves, and the fact that sleep had been serene as it hadn’t in a long time.

Elias pushed off of Peter slowly. He cleared his throat tentatively, but what was one supposed to say in a situation like this? Apologies for drooling all over you; sorry for my boner poking your thigh; I somehow took your pillow at some point during my sleep, oopsie? No, those were all too humiliating.

Peter saved him from the task. His hand slid down Elias’s back and remained there in quiet suggestion. Just a little more.

Elias knew that Peter could never get proper rest in hotels, the knowledge of being surrounded by so many people overwhelming, as he had once confided. Right now, though, he seemed awfully peaceful in his sleepy state.

“Morning,” Peter rasped. “Sleep well?”

Elias could only nod. Yes. Yes, he had.

“This is an excellent bed. Very, erm, orthopedic.” Elias was positive that he had never said anything lamer before.

Peter agreed. “Be great to have one of these. These pillows aren’t half-bad either, though… I didn’t get to enjoy them long.”

Elias couldn’t help a small snort.

“Between the two of us, you’re the blanket thief.”

“What can I do if you have cold feet?”

“Buy me socks?”

Peter laughed. “I have, and you hated them.”

“They had little marijuana leaves all over them! Can you imagine the hazard it would be if I came to work in those and Tim saw them?”

Elias felt something warm pool in his stomach when Peter chuckled and the corners of his eyes became all wrinkly. This was painfully familiar, the banter and the soothing way that Peter had been caressing his back.

“I suppose- suppose it wouldn’t hurt to have them send us a couple more blankets and pillows."

The minute interval between his words and Peter’s reply seemed to last for ages. There was more to the suggestion than both dared acknowledge, and perhaps Peter’s heartbeat picked up under Elias’s palm.

“That’d be nice.”

[dc41896]

There You Are

Something I thought of inspired by the song “There You Are” by Zayn. Hope you guys like it☺️!

Pairing: Chris EvansxBlack Reader

⚠️: Bit of angst, drunk reader, fluff mixed in

Need you when I'm broken, when I'm fixed

Need you when I'm well, when I'm sick

Friends that I rely on don't come through

They run like the river, but not you

The erratic knocking at his hotel room door makes Chris turn on the bedside lamp as he sits up annoyed and confused. Picking up his phone, the time read 2:17 am making him mentally groan as the knocking continued.

“Hold on!,” he called out as he slipped on his sweatpants draped over the lounge chair in the corner and pulled his hooded jacket over his arms before lazily zipping it up. Coming closer to the door, he slightly pauses now hearing humming mixed with faint giggles only making him more confused and eyebrows knit together.

Although warped due to the view from peephole, he could see you clad in your satin like, short, black dress leaning against the door swaying to the song coming from your smiling lips. You ran into each other earlier at a wrap party neither of you knew the other would be attending, and briefly talked before going your separate ways for the night agreeing to try to meet later to catch up on lost time.

So why you were here at his hotel room, he had no idea.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?,” he asked once opening the door to see you visibly drunk, heels in your hand, as you continued to sing to yourself and dance as if he wasn’t there.

“I jus keep em satisfied on the weekend,” you giggled leaning forward until your head was nearly at your knees. If it wasn’t for Chris reaching out to hold you up by your waist, your body would’ve eventually touched the floor as well. Head tilted, you dreamily take in those familiar features that always made you weak. His soft beard covering that sharp jawline, barely noticeable freckles speckled near his adorable nose. And the cherry on top, his bright blue eyes shielded by those infuriating long lashes that you, and probably every woman in the world, were envious of.

“Hi,” you whisper being met with his small smile.

“Let’s get you inside.”

His arm moves to wrap around your waist holding on a bit tighter noticing your unsteady footsteps. Really they shouldn’t even count as footsteps since you barely moved your feet, instead letting them slide along the carpet as he took a couple steps back.

“You feel sick?,” he asked closing the door behind him with his foot before padding across the cool floor with your chests firmly pressed against each other’s. Shaking your head no as he carefully sits you on the edge of the disheveled bed, you instantly fall back laughing with your arms stretched out bringing them up and down trying to make snow angels.

“Comfy.”

“Glad you feel at home,” he chuckles to himself removing your phone from your purse. Luckily he knew your passcode would be your birthday from being friends for so long. “I’m gonna call your boyfriend to pick you up okay?”

“We broke up,” you sigh, stopping your arms movements.

“Oh...I-I’m sorry.”

“Yep. Last year.”

“Wait you broke up last year?,” he repeats stepping closer to the bed leaving your phone on the dresser next to your purse. “But earlier you said-,”

“I lie.”

“So,” he starts as he sits next to you. “You’re out here on your own and came here all by yourself?”

He couldn’t help but think of everything that could’ve gone wrong during your journey making him want to hold you close being glad that you were, for the most part, okay.

“Mhmm,” you nod looking up at him with innocent, doe like brown eyes as if you saw nothing wrong with what you did. Fingers raking through his messy hair, he quietly sighs sympathetically peering down at you.

“It’s good you made it here safely, but promise me you won’t do that again.”

Whispers in the background, behind closed doors

I got myself in a mess and without you I'm in more

Oh, I'm a little drunk now, that's why I went to war

Oh, yeah, you are my sober when I'm on the floor

“...I’m a terrible person,” you slur, back still pressed against the mattress.

“No you’re not. That’s just the shots talking,” he replies returning beside you with a bottle of water from the minibar. “Here, so you’ll start to feel better.”

“But I am,” you insist holding onto his arm as you sit up. “I hurt people.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips and the amused look that spread across his face. You were one of the nicest people he’d ever met, so to hear you, or anyone for that matter, call you terrible, or anything bad, only made him want to laugh since clearly it had to be a joke.

“Who did you hurt then?”

“You.”

There was an awkward silence as his eyes slowly shifted from you to the plastic bottle in his hands. He wouldn’t say you hurt him those few years ago, but he was definitely left with unanswered questions. Your friendship seemed to slowly be turning into something more as texts became more frequent and calls became longer, lasting into the early hours of the morning. You even started visiting his place more after being prompted with his many invites, and persuaded by pictures of the beautiful scenery that surrounded him.

“Ugh so jealous😩! Rather be there than stuck with this meeting” you’d reply to his small video clip of the sun shining down on the terrain in front of him and Dodger during their hike.

“Come by after and we can go again😋”

“Hmm...maybe I will☺️. Don’t tempt me with a good time lol”

“😂 wasn’t trying to purposely tempt you, buttt not gonna lie and tell you not to take the bait😉”

One day though, the mood between the both of you shifted as he felt you become more distant. Chris thought that maybe it was something he’d said or done and tried to talk with you about it, but you kept avoiding it.

So much so, that you eventually left without a warning not telling him until he tried to come see you.

“Don’t worry about that, get some rest.”

“You’re so amazing, and kind, and-and beautiful! I was scared, and always I run,” you sniff hanging your head. “You d-deserved better, I’m terribully.”

Palms finding your cheeks, he gently tilts your head so you’ll meet his soft eyes while his thumbs wipe away the couple tears that just started to fall.

“Hey, you’re not terribully okay? Yea we have some things to talk about, but we can do that later. Your mind doesn’t need the stress right now.”

His calm voice and sweet words only make you feel worse as a few more tears fall to meet his hands.

“And you’re patient. There for me,” you add playing with the zipper on his jacket. “I mess up.” Noticing your slight shivers, he moves to his open suitcase getting one of his sweatshirts.

“Think you can put this on by yourself?,” he asks to which you nod yes. “Go ahead and change. I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.”

Only you know me the way you know me

Only you forgive me when I'm sorry

“Y/N? You okay?,” he asks a few moments after no longer hearing you shuffle and stumble about. Peeking in, he softly chuckles shaking his head at the sight of you sleeping across the bed in his sweatshirt. He gently lifts your head placing one of the many hotel pillows under it before pulling the comforter over your bare legs.

“I’m sorry,” you mumble sinking your face further into the side of the oversized hood pulled over your head.

“Shh, get some rest.”

Taking one final look at your still body to make sure you were okay, he moves towards the couch with head cycling through all those feelings he thought were buried deep enough he’d eventually forget. Who was he kidding though? Even after everything that happened between you two he knew those feelings would always be there.

And seeing you tonight practically glowing; looking every bit as angelic as he remembered only confirmed it.

———

Eyes slowly opening to the dimly lit room, your instincts to quickly sit up and take in your new, unfamiliar surroundings are halted by the pounding in your head. All those shots definitely weren’t as enjoyable now as they were going down.

You let your head roam to the best of your ability eventually falling on the navy blue hoodie keeping you warm, bringing back last nights events along with embarrassment and shame as you groan.

“Okay new rule, no more drinking when you’re out since apparently you get diarrhea of the mouth and spill all your emotions when no one asked.”

“So I guess that’s a no to bar hopping tonight then?,” you hear making you sit up with a wince and a few ow’s. Standing in his seemingly shmedium black tee over dark jeans and sneakers, his Boston ball cap shades his face but not enough that you can’t see his dazzling smile.

“H-hey.”

“Hey. How are you feeling?”

“Pretty good, besides my head feeling like I’m gonna have a brain blast in the worst way that is,” you answer making him chuckle as he moves closer to the bed.

“Yea I kinda figured, which is why I got breakfast for you.” Setting down the plastic bags in his hands, he pulls out takeout containers still steaming from the top causing you to mentally aw at his sweet gesture. “Hope you’re okay with waffles, eggs, and bacon. I wasn’t really sure what your go to was.”

“I’d honestly take anything right now,” you softly laugh carefully removing the lid to your waiting food. “Thanks Chris. Not just for the food, but for last night too.”

“Anytime.”

Even when I messed it up

There you are

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