#apparently don’t count as workers anymore because they don’t work as hard as we do so they don’t deserve our attention

[skeleton-monarch]

i’m not going to directly argue at 2:30am but remember hourly workers and salary workers are both workers and the people refusing to pay us have a vested interest in driving a wedge between us.

[darkazraels]

          ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

Azriel x pregnant! reader (part two)

part one

word count: 1391

For a month after your encounter with the High Lady, it became the norm for you to spot one of the Court members lingering across the street, outside one of the many stores on the same street as your's. None had approached you in that time, but it still made you feel anxious to walk home after work. It was Morrigan more often than not, and Cassian (who made his presence known by waving at you through the window but never actually entering). You must have seen the High Lord twice at least, and the High Lady a couple more times than that.

After that month, however, it had stopped. It was a good job too, as your growing bump was becoming something that was increasingly hard to hide. Well, it was practically impossible to hide now. At thirty one weeks, your belly was round before you, and you knew with the rate at which it grew, you wouldn't be able to see your own feet soon. It was quite a queasy thought to have.

Maria - one of your shop workers and seamstresses - had been the one you had approached with the hopes she would step in as manager as you were away on maternity (for a raise of course). The dark skinned fae had agreed readily, a smile so bright on her face that it nearly blinded you. She had worked for you the longest out of your current workers in store, nearly five decades actually. As fae lived so long, changing professions was not uncommon, and you knew that eventually Maria would want to move to something else, so perhaps this would be good experience for her. Maria had also been excited at the prospect of seeing a tiny baby at business meetings you would eventually have to attend again.

Working had become increasingly harder for you as they grew, your feet swollen and body aching all over as you lugged through the day. And with the added stresses of Azriel on your mind, you just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry more often than not. For your own sanity, you had cut your own workload down significantly in preparation for when you'd be out of work for at least three months. Knowing how much you struggled now, you had little doubt that you would be out for longer than that. So far, you had planned a total of three months with no meetings and no in shop work time. Meetings had been changed and rescheduled, and quite a lot of work had been slowed down.

You slumped into the black velvet armchair in the dimly lit break room, lifting your feet onto the stool carefully. A hand placed over your belly, you felt the little being thump against it gently. A smile spread across your tired face at the feel of them. "I know, I know. I'm stressed out. I know you don't like that," you mumbled, leaning your head back against the plush pillow, sighing contentedly.

There was still so much to do so much to prepare for still. The nursery wasn't even half completed yet, your house hadn't been baby-proofed at all, and there was still so much to buy —

Your eyes snapped open, staring up at the dark green ceiling, heart speeding up. The familiar tugging you felt whenever your lover was near nagged within your chest. It appeared that the shadowsinger had finally returned.

You sat up straight in the chair, awkwardly shuffling your legs to the ground, heart beginning to beat faster in your chest. Shit, did he even know? Of course he did, that had most likely been the reason he had left. Or had he truly not known and had just had enough of you?

"Y/N," he spoke, already stood in the doorway, looking ashamed in the least. He was earlier than Feyre had said by two weeks, though you hadn't believed he would seek you out after his return.

You pushed yourself up from the plush chair to give yourself some even footing against the Illyrian, though he still towered above you. "Azriel. I wasn't expecting you."

He pursed his lips and nodded, staring at the bump. He didn't particularly seem surprised by the roundness of it, perhaps only a little startled at the size. But you could tell by the shame in his hazel eyes that he had known.

"I'm sorry," he said, meeting your intense gaze.

You shook you head, a frown creasing your features, "sorry? You just walked away when I needed you the most. And I thought you loved me."

"I do, I was just being a coward and I didn't know what else to do."

You scoffed at him. "You should have stayed, Azriel. We've been together for decades. Years of commitment down the drain just because you were scared of being a father."

"I know."

"Did walking away help at all?" you pressed on, despite the discomfort evident on his face. This confrontation was one which you had to have, he couldn't just come walking back in only to back out again.

He shook his head, "no, it didn't. I was stupid."

"You were. We've worked through hardships before, why couldn't you just talk to me about it before making any rash decisions?" you looked up at him expectantly. Of course you understood the reasons for his abandonment, but it still wasn't enough to prove to you that it was a good enough reason for him to never come back to you. And it wasn't enough to prove he would be a terrible parent as he had apparently convinced himself he would be if he was involved. Apparently that had given him a good enough reason to leave you. Did he not truly love you enough if that was all it took?

"I don't want to hurt them. I don't want to hurt you. But I did. I know that now," he stated, looking down to his feet through the swirling darkness surrounding him, that now nearly swallowed him, yet still reached out to be closer to you.

"And you didn't know that then?" you asked him pointedly.

"I did. I just thought it would hurt less than me doing something wrong and messing up them up for good."

"I know that your father wasn't a good person," you stepped closer to him, close enough to touch him, "and I know that you are nothing like him. So do you. But you still walked out. Did you think not being there would be better than making mistakes, by what... not being good enough?"

You blinked back you tears, bottom lip jutting out slightly, he met your gaze again, "it was stupid. I don't want our child to feel abandoned, like they're worthless and that I don't care about them."

"Then you need to be able to prove it. Can you do that? Or is it too much to ask of you?" it was a gentle question, but the words hit him hard.

"I want to be there," he admitted.

You felt relieved to hear those words, but it did not change the fact that he had still left. What if he would go on to do it again? It wasn't just you that you had to think about anymore, it was the life you were bringing into this cruel world. No matter how much you loved him, how much he had hurt you too, you had to put your child first.

"Then you will be. But you can't go back and fourth."

"I won't. I'll make sure to be there, I'll make sure to give them everything that I can," he promised, sincerity lacing his gruff voice.

"We should talk more about this when I've finished. Can you be at mine at eight?"

Work still had to be done, and it would be best to discuss this more thoroughly in a private environment. There was no doubt that you would be tired at that time, but you could not put this conversation off as you feared that if you did that for too long, it would never end up happening.

He nodded his head, "see you soon Y/N."

You watched as he retreated from the room, heading back through the shop he had entered through.

"You too, Azriel."

          ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ.

@mis-lil-red

[softboywriting]

Meet The Parents | Billy Russo

Summary: You introduce Billy to your parents and it doesn’t go as well as you hope. [Billy Russo x F!Reader] [Assistant!Reader Trope] [Alternate Timeline - Castle family not mentioned/never happened] [Fluff] [Problematic Parents/Divorced] [Parents Fighting] [Language] [Flirting] [Flashback/Nightmare]

 Word Count: 3.8k 

 A/N: This is a follow up to my first fic Little Moments but can be read separately as a stand alone story. I may be doing several in a series with these two.

---

The office is quiet, and has been for the whole day. Billy has been out at a client meeting since you got in. Anvil is becoming quite popular in the private military market, having taken on three new contracts in the last two weeks. You're proud of Billy, he works hard to win over his clients and offer top of the line service. As the primary contact for all contracts and placements, you've gotten busy too. More business means more expenses, and more employees to keep track of. You don't mind, it keeps you active and engaged. There is nothing more you hate than just sitting around staring at the wall or watching cat videos for the billionth time.

"Hey sweetheart."

You glance up from your work and see Billy closing the office door behind him. He's dressed up, black and grey patterned silk shirt, expensive black suit, the tailored jacket over his arm. He looks positively delicious if you do say so. Those shirts are the best thing you ever convinced him to wear.

"Hey yourself. How'd the meeting go?"

"Shitty." He sneers and tosses his jacket on his office chair. He begins unbuttoning the sleeves of his shirt to roll them up to his elbows. "The guy brought his daughter."

"Okay? What does she have to do with anything?"

Billy raises his eyebrows in an 'are you shitting me' expression. "His daughter is a model. Not naturally talented mind you, paid for by her daddy. Clearly he thought havin' her there would sway me into acceptin' the number he offered for the contract you wrote up. Like he's doing me a favor."

You stand and walk around the desk, eyes going up and down his chest. "You didn't do anything did you?"

"What kinda man do you think I am?" Billy walks you back against your desk, pinning you in with his hands on the top behind you. He drops his head to yours and stares at you with those dark endless eyes. "You think I'd fuck around?"

"I know you won't, you're too gone for me." You run your hands up his back and he arches against you. "Did she try?"

"She tried. Even sat on my lap."

"In front of her dad?"

"Mmmhmm." Billy drops his face to your neck and mouths at your skin. "I don't mind a little show and tell but even I got boundaries. Parental peepshows are off limits."

You laugh softly and he brings one hand against your lower back up to pull you against him. "Take it easy. You know the rules. No relationship stuff while I'm on the clock."

He groans, pulling his head back to look at you. "I need to touch you though. I don't want her lingering on me."

"I know." You step out of his hold and he lets his hand drag across your back as you escape his grasp. "Just another hour okay? I've gotta wrap a few things up."

Billy pulls his tie loose and unbuttons the top of his shirt. "Why did I ever make these rules?" He sinks down in his chair and spreads his legs, lolling his head against the back. He really is such a tempting little tease. How could you resist a man like that? Truth be told it's hard.

You take a seat behind your desk and focus your eyes on the invoices on screen. "You made them because you want Anvil to remain professional and not a playground."

"Bullshit."

"Your bullshit."

Billy bites his lip and gives you that look. The one that says he isn't to be messed with, that he's gonna get what he wants no matter what. And oh it's so tempting to get up and go sit on his lap in that chair. It's always been a fantasy of yours. One you haven't gotten to full fill due to his rules. He's really only cockblocking himself.

"C'mere."

"No, Billy."

"C'mon, be bad. Break my rules."

"No! You're such a jerk!" You laugh and he chuckles playfully. "We have dinner with my parents after this anyway. I'm not breaking your rules and getting all messy before we go see my parents. You hear? Parents."

"Always such a good girl."

"You like it."

"Damn right I do." He pushes up out of his chair and crosses the office to cradle your head and press a chaste kiss to your temple. "I'm gonna go home and get ready. Anything you want me to lay out for you? I think you've got a few things at the apartment."  

"The blue dress. I picked it up from the cleaners last week with a few suits. It should be in your closet."

"The one I bought you a while back for the client dinner?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that a little revealing for a parents dinner?"

You raise your eyebrows and he narrows his eyes.

"You're a monster." He presses his lips to your ear. "If you keep teasing me I'll have to put you in your place."

"I guess I'm a glutton for punishment."

"Oh sweetheart, you have no idea what you're askin' for." Billy kisses your cheek and steps away. "Playin' with fire will get you burned."

You smile innocently. "See you later."

"You're terrible." He goes to the door and stops, looking back once more. "But I love you."

"Love you too Billy."

"Ugh," he groans, slapping a hand over his chest. "Say it again."

"Love you?" You giggle and he acts even more dramatic, pretending to swoon against the door. "What are you doing?"

"Being you."

"Wh- you son of a bitch! Get out!" You throw your squishy stress ball at him and he cackles as he runs from the office. What a child.

_____________________

"Oh, this is your boyfriend?" Your mother asks in actual surprise. As if you weren't meant to have a man that looks like Billy Russo. Truth be told you had never dated anyone half as attractive, not to you anyways. "He's so...well dressed."

Billy takes your mom's hand and kisses it politely. "We're all well dressed here ma'am. You look lovely too."

"Thank you." She flushes and giggles.

Billy gives a warm smile and tugs you closer. His hand on your back is radiating heat, its comforting. He knows you're tense. This dinner will be a strain on your nerves and he had been warned how difficult your parents can be.

"Your father should be here soon. I told him not to be late." Mom says huffily, eyeing the doors to the restaurant. You've met up with her outside and you're currently waiting for your dad to arrive. Your parents have been split for ten years and it's been hard, but not as hard as it would have been if they had divorced when you were still a young child. Well, you like to think that anyways. They waited, held on to their shit until you were graduated and old enough to understand that some people don't remain in love.

Billy leans in and presses his lips to your ear. "Are your parents going to fight? This place is very nice, I don't want to cause a scene."

"It'll be fine. They can hold it together for a few hours. I hope. Just don't mention their personal lives. It's a sore spot for mom. Dad isn't single anymore."

"Gotcha."

"Sorry I'm late." You turn and see your dad walking towards you. "Some asshole parked his Rolls Royce just on the line and I hardly squeezed into the only spot open beside it."

Mom scoffs and rolls her eyes. She bites her tongue but you know what she would say. Some comments about his truck being too damn big and a gas guzzler.

Dad puts his hand out for Billy. "You must be the lucky guy!"

Billy takes it and smiles a beautiful, toothy, shit eating grin. "Billy Russo, the asshole who parked his Rolls Royce a bit close to the line."

The way Dad's face turns pale and then red with embarrassment makes the whole evening worthwhile up until then. "That's yours?"

"One hundred percent. Bought and paid for."

"That's a beautiful piece of machinery. Expensive."

Billy leans his head on yours. "I only go for the best."

"Well you know I-"

"Oh shut up already, let's go inside." Mom says and grabs your dad's arm. "Always babbling on about shit when we've got things to do."

"Y'know what-" the conversation fades as your parents head into the restaurant. You're glad. It is bound to be petty anyways. Always was with them. Bickering children they should be called.

"Relax." Billy says in your ear, hand traveling up and down your side. "I can win over your parents for one night."

"You could charm anyone into anything and I've seen as much. You're a silver tongued sn-"

Billy catches your jaw in a light hold and presses a kiss to your lips. Your hand slides up into his hair and he grins into the kiss. "Easy now. We've not even gotten seated yet."

"Your fault."

"Usually is."

____________________

You stare at yourself in the reflection of the bathroom mirror. Dinner wasn't going so great and you had barely made it through an appetizer and drinks.

Your parents couldn't stop arguing, Billy was trying his best to charm them but apparently they're uncharmable, and you were left to play referee for your parents against each other or them against you and Billy.

It is a whole mess and you want to just leave, just walk out say fuck everything and go to Billy's apartment and go to bed. You haven't even had a chance to tease Billy like you were planning, hell, you've barely gotten a word in that wasn't defending him or fielding your parents insults they continuously hurdled over the table at one another.

The door rattles on your left and you clear your throat. "Occupied!" You shout and it stops.

It's a single use bathroom, not a multi-stall type set up. So the person outside would just have to wait until you were done having your crisis. Maybe not so fair to them but you'll be damned if you won't let yourself have a moment.

The handle turns and you back into the sink as the door opens. To your surprise it is Billy, not some worker with a key. "What the-"

"Your parents are insufferable. How the hell did you grow up with them? I mean I was in a group home and a few of the adults weren't great but holy shit they weren't my parents."

"I'm sorry."

Billy closes the door and shakes his head, taking your hands in his. "Don't be sorry for their actions. Never apologize for anyone but yourself."

"I knew this would happen. I just thought that maybe...I don't know...maybe they'd be different. Maybe they'd be proud of me, of you, so they would get along for two fucking hours."

"Sweetheart, you're nearly thirty, you're still seeking your parents approval?"

You laugh joylessly and bite the inside of your cheek. "You don't understand. You can't understand."

Billy brings your forehead to his lips and he rubs your back. He's always so affectionate with you, careful to hold and to love you like a man who never received it himself so he wants to make sure those he loves receives it tenfold.

"I understand seeking approval, but there is nothing you need approval for. You're an adult with a good job, a place to stay, an outstanding boyfriend with his own company. I'd say you're doin' alright honey."

You let out an actual little laugh, and he does too, bumping his nose against yours. "You're so full of yourself."

"You like that?" He bumps again, eyes on yours. "I said it to get you to giggle."

"You know it's a little true."

His lips meet yours in a warm tender kiss. "Confidence is sexy."

"It is."

"I could tell your parents there's a work emergency." He slides his hands over your ass and pulls you flush against him. "A real pain in the ass employee is causin' trouble."

You smile into his lips and he smiles back. "Oh yeah?"

"Mmhmm."

He chuckles softly and cradles your head to his chest. "You can't choose how your family acts. Remember that. It's up to you to decide how you act, and if you want to deal with them."

"I know."

"Do you?" He runs a hand over your hair, tangling his fingers in the strands briefly.. "I know it's different for you, I can distance myself easier since I didn't grow up with proper parents. Maybe I'm cold, or indifferent but-"

"Stop." You dig your fingers into his side and he falls quiet. "Don't compare your childhood to mine. It's not fair. I don't want you to begin resenting me because-"

Billy gives you a look that is all warning and it silences you instantly. "I would never resent you for having parents and growing up like a normal kid should. I ended up in a shit situation and that is no one's fault but my own mother's. She is the only person I will ever resent." He softens, leaning in and kissing your nose. "Do you wanna ditch or go try to make something of this dinner?"

You swallow harshly and look at the door. Ditching would be easy, but the repercussions would be insufferable. Your mom would never stop calling about it, your dad would hold it over your head forever. It would be more of a disaster to leave than it would be to stay. No matter how valid the reason.

"We'll stay. I can try and redirect the conversation."

"That's my girl." He pats your cheek. "Proud of you."

"T-thanks."

Billy takes your hand and interlocks your fingers with his. "I'll take care of it. I can get them to shut up."

"If you can get a word in."

"I have my ways. Don't worry."

You cut him a look as you exit the bathroom and head for the table. "What are you-"

"Don't worry." He presses against your ear and guides you down to sit at the table.

Your parents are still bickering.

"Hey!" Billy says firmly with his hands on the table, not a yell, but enough to get his point across and the attention of your parents but not many others.

"Yes?" Mom asks surprisingly quietly.

Billy smiles and it's all venom, beautiful venom. You know this look, these eyes, that deadly grin. He isn't fucking around and the way he can express that so physically subtly astounds you. "The arguing is going to stop. The petty comments are going to stop. We're going to sit here and have conversations like adults, or you can leave and your daughter and I will have a nice dinner."

"Wh-" Dad starts but doesn't get any further.

"I am not goin' to repeat myself." Billy stands up straight and raises his eyebrows, daring your parents to say another word. The tension is thick, you can hardly breathe. Never did you think you'd have to witness Billy being like this with your parents of all people.

You grab a roll from the basket at the center of the table and pick at it. "How's work been, Dad?"

Dad clears his throat. "Good, busy. People always need an electrician for something. I did a school the other day, new classroom."

Billy sits beside you and lays his hand on your leg, thumb stroking your skin gently. He leans in and whispers "I told you don't worry." He turns his attention back to your parents. "So you're an electrician? Contractor?"

"Yeah, I work for Mundun Electric. Union job, pays well."

"And you?" Billy looks to your mom.

"I'm a medical receptionist. Clarke Center Hospital."

Billy smiles. "That's incredible. You're both hardworking people it seems, I see where she gets her work ethic. She's incredible, the best I've hired for Anvil."

You chew your lip and look down, flushed. "You're just being nice."

"I'm serious." He holds your hand up and kisses your knuckles. "I admire your dedication and the hard work you've put into making Anvil a success. Without you, I don't know where I'd be. Probably buried in paperwork."

"So you work for Billy? That's how you met?" Mom asks and you nod.

Dad raises his eyebrows.

"Dad, don't start."

Billy cuts a glare at your dad. "Don't start what?"

"Nothing." Dad says nonchalantly, eyes going to somewhere else in the room. "I just think inter-workplace relationships are never a good idea."

You squeeze Billy's hand and he just smiles oh so sweetly. "Dad, it's fine. Billy and I are both professionals. If things don't work out we'll make it work for the sake of the company."

"He'll fire you and you'll be looking for a job yet again." Mom pipes up, rolling her eyes. "See, things like this are why you can't hold a career."

"Mom!"

"Alright." Billy says firmly. "We're done here. Ma'am, sir, with all due respect you can both go fuck yourselves."

"Excuse me!?" Dad bellows and your mom looks flustered at the use of language. "You have no right-!"

"Actually I do." Billy stands and guides you to stand with him. "I'm going to love and care about your daughter the way she should be. You two are self absorbed monsters who should have never had a child, let alone forced the one you had to live through a loveless marriage. The fact that you cannot manage to sit here and have dinner with her and myself, which mind you has left quite a first impression, is sad and disappointing."

You grab his hand and you're shaking. You don't even know what to say. It's like Billy is telling them everything you've wanted to for your whole life.

"C'mon sweetheart." He puts his arm around you and guides you out of the restaurant. You know there are people staring but it's fine. It's over now.

"I'm s-"

"Uh uh." Billy puts his finger to your lips. "No apologies. Here." He shrugs his suit jacket off and puts it around your shoulders.

"Thanks."

"You wanna get out of here before your parents come out. Go get some burgers or something?"

You can't help the little smile that tugs at the corner of your mouth. "Pete's Diner?"

"Anywhere you like." He takes your hand and walks you toward the parking area. "Fuck this fancy bullshit anyway. I never understood the food they serve."

"Me neither. A hamburger and fries with a big ole pickle is good enough for me."

Billy opens the passenger door for you. "You're a girl after my heart y'know that?"

"I think I already have it."

He leans in and kisses your forehead. "That's for damn sure."

_____________________

Midnight you wake up crying. A nightmare, a reoccurring one as it would be. Though it is more of a twisted memory than a nightmare in actuality.

You are always around seven or eight years old, it's nighttime, you've been in bed for an hour and still not asleep. Downstairs your parents are awake, their disembodied voices float through the old floors. Their voices grow louder, shouting, screaming at each other. A glass shatters and you crawl under the bed. Footsteps come closer in the hall, heavy and slow.

The dream shifts. You're not a child but an adult. Under the bed is smaller now, the footsteps grow louder. The door opens and you scream when your foot is grabbed and you wake up crying.

"What's wrong?" Billy asks, sitting up in bed abruptly and turning on the light, hand instinctively going for the nightstand where you know a weapon is stored.

You had stayed the night, both of you decided it was best to stay together while you decompress from your tragic meet the parents dinner. Didn't matter in the end though. The nightmare still came.

"Just a bad dream. I'm going to get some water." You push back the blankets and plant your feet on the cold floor. It's a nice shock to the system, reminding you this is reality.

Billy's arm snakes around your waist. "Care to share with the class?"

"It's nothing. Just a nonsense dream about old crap."

"Your parents?"

"Yeah. Um, just a dream." You yawn and pat his hand on top of your stomach. "I need water."

"Grab me a bottle?"

"Sure."

You end up in the kitchen, looking out at the New York skyline. His place is so beautiful. It's luxurious, and you can't get used to it. You lean on the island and sip a bottle of cold water from the fridge. You don't think you belong here.

Then the dream comes creeping back in. Rationally you know that dream is never going to become a reality. Not with Billy around.

"Hey."

You look back to see Billy walking in with his sleep pants low on his hips. He scrubs a hand over his face before meeting you at the island.

"Sorry, I just got caught up in the view."

"It s'okay." His arms wrap around you and he presses his face to your neck. "I love you." He whispers softly into your skin.

"Are you alright?"

"Mmm."

You thread a hand into his hair and scratch at his scalp. It elicits a hum that's nearly a purr against your back. "Do you ever feel like you don't deserve this? Like everyday you can't comprehend that you're loved."

"I didn't think I could fall in love before I met you, yeah. I'm familiar."

"Oh."

"Wasn't expecting that?" He chuckles, flexing his fingers against your tummy.

You shake your head and he kisses along your jaw. "Billy, stop," you giggle as his short beard tickles your skin.

"No way." He starts walking you back away from the island counter and toward the bedroom. "I've got a disease and if I don't kiss you all the time I'll definitely succumb to it."

The two of you tumble onto the bed and he straddles your hips, mouthing at your neck and chest relentlessly.

"It's three in the morning. We need to go back to sleep."

Billy hums and settles on top of you, nose in your hair. "Sleep is for the weak."

"Then I'm weak." You trail a hand up his back, fingers flitting over his shoulder blade. His skin is so soft, so warm. "Thank you by the way."

"For what?"

"Being here when I had a nightmare."

"Of course." Billy pets your hair, stroking it down against the pillow. "I've suffered my share of them alone. I'm glad you were here so you weren't."

"Me too."

"Go to sleep." He kisses your cheek and rolls off to the side. His arm curls around you and pulls you close. "Love you."

"Love you too."

_____________________

*****Note: none of my works should be posted anywhere outside of my linked accounts. I do not give permission to repost with or without credit to my accounts. Please notify me of any reposted works.*****

Header image by delicate-venus

Thank you so much for reading, please reblog to support content creators. -A

[missyasf]

Game Of Hearts

| 1 |

↳ Summary: Your life is in monotonous tones of grey, day in, day out. Nothing matters besides your sister, the only thing you remember is seeing fireworks before waking up to Tokyo abandoned . Soon enough you are properly introduced to the deadly Borderlands where you must fight for your life in Games to survive. When things can’t possibly get worse soon division arises and rivalries are made. No matter what though, you are constantly plagued by a blonde who, no matter how hard you try, just can’t seem to go too far without.

↳ Pairing: Chishiya/Reader

↳ Genre: Angst, smut, thriller

Word Count: 11k

___| Next

Trigger Warning: ⚠️ much like the manga/Netflix adaptation this will be a dark fic which includes mentions of prostitution, attempted murder, child ab*se, sexual harassment, heavy grief and attempted suic*de among other things. Additional warnings will be added for chapters when triggers are brought up. Please read with caution if these are triggers for you or just skip all together! 

Side mention: This could be considered a prequel to the current Alice In Borderland. I’m writing based off the Manga bc I was a glutton and couldn’t wait no spoilers will be present as of...

Escapism

noun

the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy ♡ 

You had known all about this during your short lifespan, as a child you’d often play pretend with your sister that you were movie stars living in a five star hotel rather than the shitty busted up apartment on the wrong side of town. Escapism came in, many forms. It was often a way for people to cope psychologically, simply because sometimes, facing the reality of your situation can be too much for one person to handle mentally. 

Or at least, that was the topic of your lecture today in class. The human mind always fascinated you. Even at the young tender age when your mom died and you watched your once cozy little family fall apart piece by piece until nothing was left in its wake. 

It was your fascination that drove you now for most things, why? Why, why, why? You always wondered what the motive was behind someone’s actions, not only thing but you wanted to  understand them better, to try and sympathize. You were already fairly intuitive in nature. It wasn’t difficult to read people. In fact your line of work made it easy, you’d watch a man who would be excited to be with you reach for his left finger as if used to touching something. A wedding band perhaps? 

The lowlife cheater was fairly common in a whore house after all. Or the man who had been pissy this morning behind you in line because you had decided to try something new on the menu and you weren’t fast enough, obviously because he was tardy and woke up late, his shirt unbeknownst to him was button the wrong way and his tie loose and even the way his hair fell were all signs of being late to work. 

It was the little things you noticed in people’s facial expressions, the way they moved and spoke. You could read people like a book, and sure sometimes it was useful. But you often wished you weren’t so perceptive. It drove you mad knowing when a potential love interest was no longer interested through a simple text or a friend not wanting to talk by their tone. Sometimes you wished you could just blot it all out, still, you lived like this day in and day out, you were used to this kind of thing and honestly. Friends? Love? Your gaze dropped a little to your feet, the pumps you were wearing a jet black and the heel too high for any respectable woman to ever wear. 

...It wasn’t like you ever had any of those in your life and you had struggled to come to terms with the fact that you could survive without that kind of support. Still...it made you envious, the couple happily holding hands on the sidewalk. The group of friends all laughing at a table while they studied. Oftentimes these feelings are muted, but when you’re faced with something you’ve always craved, those muted feelings suddenly become hyperactive in your mind. 

It’s pathetic, honestly. 

“How dare you! You disgusting slut!” 

In this moment however, you were brought back to reality at just what was happening, you squeaked loudly as you dodged the shoe the woman had thrown at you. This was all a regular occurrence, you had a lot of regulars who weren’t the most amazing people but hey, money was money. But along with them they also left a trail which their wives and girlfriends always followed. And then they always blamed you instead of their partner for leaving them for a prostitute despite you never having agreed to anything such as that.

It really wasn’t your fault, you were just trying to make a living while juggling with keeping up your own education, paying your fathers debts, rent and still somehow getting food on the table. What part time college job could provide that?

Prostitution wasn’t a job you would’ve gone into willingly but given the past and your trauma that was already laced in it you had been learning that sometimes because of the trauma we experience, sometimes people go back to that same trauma and actively participate in it as a way of feeling like they’re in control. 

That whatever happened before, would never happen again if you were in control. You weren’t sure if you qualified under this category, trauma came in many forms but the one most used as an example in your class was that a study showed that women who were assaulted often develop a kink for consensual non consent as a way of coping with what happened, except this time, it’s in a controlled environment where it can end the moment they want it too. 

Again, you weren’t sure you fell into this category, but you often wondered if your line of work was intertwined with your earlier memories when you were younger, if anything it brought comfort to you. Much of it, blotted out now simply because your mind couldn’t take it. Trauma expressed through amnesia was also much more common than many thought, and it’s so small, so easy to miss. After all how can you be aware of something if you have no memory of it anymore?

“Security!” Your manager screeched, two of the bodyguards were already between you and the feral woman who was ready to gut you clean as she screamed hysterically, her husband...your regular....at her side trying to get her to calm down only for her to come to her senses and slap him clean across the face. You didn’t condone violence, but he did have it coming...

You weren’t about to justify cheaters, you couldn’t imagine the hurt someone had to feel that not only did their partner cheat on them, but it was with someone...like you...You had been trying not to put down your job occupation, sex workers were just as valid as anyone else...you knew you would’ve thought this way if it was anyone but you in this position. 

You sighed as you ran your hands through your hair, watching the couple get dragged out of the tight space of the brothel, “Jesus christ....didn’t you say you stopped using perfume because of this?” Miki, your manager sighed as she crossed her arms. You didn’t want to say your manager was your friend but she was the closest you had as you’d often complain to her about most of your problems. Sex work often attracted broken people, it wasn’t something she wasn’t used to. 

“Yeah, but apparently he never got around to washing his clothes…” You wiped your mouth on the back of your hand, “Lipstick stain,” You glanced down at the ruby pink color that stained your skin now, “Fuck...that did hurt.” You rubbed your sore cheek that was still throbbing from where she had first slapped it when she ripped the door open of the room where she got to see with her own eyes you riding her husband. 

It had happened so many times now you weren’t even embarrassed about someone walking in let alone a partner. Miki gave you a lopsided smile as she patted your shoulder, “Guess that just pays for being one of the best here. Did you at least get paid.” 

You nodded, “Yeah, I always make them pay in advanced but I was hoping to get a tip afterwards...He was a lawyer so you know he had good money.” You sighed, crossing your arms, you were well aware of his partner because a lot of the time he didn’t even come in for sex anymore. It was funny how humans work. 

He often felt his wife was overbearing and you had suspected some sort of verbal abuse by the way he talked about her constant screaming. Truthfully, you don’t think he ever intended on cheating with her. He just wanted someone to talk to without being judged, you could relate with sympathy to that, but he unfortunately chose to walk into a brothel instead of a therapy clinic and this truly was the only inevitable outcome. Still, you hope if for anyone’s sake, he gets that divorce for himself. 

 “Hey I think I’m gonna call it a day. I need to get back to Nanami, she was wanting to talk to me about college applications.” You sighed as you rubbed your neck, ever since she had graduated high school she had been chomping at the bit to start applying for college, maybe to just get out of the house and into a dorm. You couldn’t blame her and if she did that it would lighten your load a little. 

Guilt washed over you at the thought as Miki chuckled, “They grow up pretty fast huh? My brother was the same way, except the moment he found out I was a sex worker was the moment he called me a whore and we haven’t talked since. That was probably about five years ago,” She crossed her arms as she sighed, “Crazy how the things we do for the ones we love, never appreciate our effort...I’ll see you tomorrow then?” 

“If I’m not bruising.” You offered a weak smile as you nodded at her before going back to your room to get changed. Truthfully, you much like anyone else, often wished you could go to a world where reality wasn’t a concept any longer. Where you could lay out in the sun for the whole day and just soak up it’s rays with no worries or trepidations. 

But sooner then later everyone had to face their fears. Even you, you supposed. But no matter how hard you fought your demons, they always came back tenfold. Again, you supposed your story was no different from tens of thousands, and yet you all live on regardless. Maybe it’s you who should be the one seeking therapy. Pulling on your jeans and the cropped top over your head before pulling the jacket over your arms and grabbing your bag. 

The walk home was as quiet as ever, your hood over your head and earbuds any unwanted attention, it wasn’t too late at night, only eleven PM and your work had just been getting started but that had ruined the night for you and besides, you had already failed a test today, you could use the sleep tonight. 

Occasionally you’d hear the sirens of  a cop car passing by or a bystander shout, nothing out of the ordinary in this neighborhood. Walking up to the apartment complex you pulled the key from your bag as you unlocked the door. Quietly stepping insides as you shut the door before locking it once more. Your nose wrinkled at the smell of stale air mixed with rotten...something…

If anything, you were always lacking in something, you had been so busy most of the day that you never had time to clean anything leaving the house in a horrible state. Not that you thought this was much of a house. 

Walking down the narrow hallway you opened the rickety door with a missing lock as you gave a brief smile to the small clump of bedsheets. Your sister was curled up and on her phone, eyes darting to the door with a hint of fear before she jumped up, “Y/n! You’re home earlier from night shift already!?” 

You offered a smile as you set down your bag and nodded, sitting down on the mattress that laid on the floor as you replied, “Yeah, a coworker needed the extra hours so I let them cover for me tonight. Besides, you wanted to talk about college applications?” Your sister was under the impression your late night job was bartending at some hole in the wall downtown, where in all actuality you just went there to drink a few days and talk to the loud and sometimes obnoxious, but good hearted bartender who loved talking about his nerdy underaged friends that couldn’t do anything beside stay and drink soda. 

It wasn’t that you didn’t think your sister would accept you, if she knew what you were actually doing. Fear, most times came in many different forms and this was one of them. You simply didn’t want to be judged, even by her. So nobody in your life truly knew who you were, and therefore, how could you hold the expectation for people to accept you into society if you were already self sabotaging yourself? 

All philosophy aside, you were simply a lost soul, looking for your way in the cruel reality called life. 

“Yes!” Nanami was chipper as always as she squealed, clapping her hands, “I…! I was thinking about applying to the university you attend! Maybe I'll get a grant and move into the dorms there? I already applied for several jobs, I’m just waiting on a callback!” 

You offered a small smile as you hugged your knees to your chest, “I think you’d like it there, there’s lots to do around campus. But what will you go in for? The only advice I can offer is be sure it’s what you want to do.” 

Nanami’s face faltered a little as she hummed, “Well...I thought maybe working with animals? I’d love to be an assistant surgeon in veterinarian? I know it’s a pretty...sad job but...I really like the idea of being able to heal such innocent things.” Your smile tugged into a gentle one at your sister. She was too tender for this world.

It had been your goal sense the day your mother died that you took care of your sister, it didn’t matter what happened to you. You could rot for all you cared at the end of the day, all you wanted was to look up and see your sister's smile and her happiness in life blossom. She more than anyone deserved it. 

“I think you’ll be great at it.” You encouraged as you rested your chin on your hand, always happy to see her bounce in excitement as you yawned, your body was used to your demanding schedule but it was always more than happy to welcome a few extra hours of sleep.”

Hearing the door loudly slam close caused you both to jump, Nanami hurriedly crawled back in bed, pretending to be asleep as you frowned. Your dad must’ve come back home from wherever he was. 

“Y/n! Just stay here! Can’t you talk to him later?” Nanami looked scared, she always did when he was around. But you weren’t about to stand down to the bastard any day of the week, you offered a weak smile as you replied. 

“It’s fine Nami, I’ll be just a few minutes.” You replied, you knew that she knew, that was probably a lie. But you’d try your best, for her sake at least. But somebody had to put this guy in his place occasionally and it was always you. It results in a lot of screaming sometimes, other times he’d break down in tears or on a bad occasion you’d get shoved to the ground, a few times hit. Nothing major. 

Walking out of the room you leaned against the wall of the entrance of the hallway watching your father stumble around in the living room, “Did you finally talk to the loan company?” You called out as you asked, not in a forgiving mood tonight. He had said he’d do this for two weeks in a row. The company that sank your whole family into the ground. The reason your mother couldn’t take it anymore and put a blade to her wrist. 

Your father stood up, looking a little wobbly, obviously drunk, “Now listen here little girl I don’t have shit to own to you or anyone else.” You sighed as you tucked your tongue into your cheek, annoyance flowing inside you as you straightened up. You weren’t going to be bullied into being scared of this guy. 

“Actually you do,” Your smile twisted into something more sharp, more bitter and sinister as you walked forward, “See, if you hadn’t of gotten involved in something shady like loan sharks we wouldn’t be drowning in debt and mom wouldn’t have killed herself because of you and both your daughters wouldn’t hate you. I know you drink away all our money in some pathetic attempt to escape from the cold reality that you fucked up your whole life and watched your family slip from your fingers while not even trying to do anything other then put us in further shit,” You closed your eyes as you tilted your head, “But the least you could do, is admit that. You owe us at least that for being a total fuck up.” 

You opened your eyes to find pure rage brewing in your fathers eyes as you smiled once more, this time a false sense of sickly sweet tone to it as you shrugged, “Or you could live in denial, at this point, there really isn’t anything you can do to get anyone back ♡ ” 

You had turned around, planning to tell Nanami that maybe she should go sleep over at a friends house today but you never got the chance, suddenly being slammed into the wall and flecks of spit hitting your face, “I am your fucking father! I deserve respect from you and your worthless sister! Do you know how much I provide for you both?” 

Anger splintered through your veins as you grabbed onto his wrists, his fingers digging into your neck as you squirmed, “Like fucking what!? A shitty broken down apartment that your vacant from because you’re too fucking ashamed of yourself to even look at us sober!?” 

Much like years in the past you weren’t surprised to hear Nanami cry as she rushed out of the room at the sound of you both screaming, “Stop!” She cried out, trying to break you both up, “Stop! Don’t fight! Why…! Why can’t we all just get along!” She sobbed only for your dad to shove her down making her curl up in defeat. 

Alarm bells were triggered in your head at the sight of Nanami on the ground, she had never actually gotten hurt while in your sight and it was triggering something deep inside you as you watched him stalk up to her. Your hands shaking and rage boiling in your mind as you grabbed the closet thing you could find. An empty beer bottle on the table. 

Your vision blurred and you don’t quite remember what happened other than glass shattering over his head and the brute force of you shoving something before blood was stained on your hands. 

How did you end up sitting against the wall? Why was there….blood on your hands…? Your fingers trembled at the metallic sticky substance. All you could hear were Nanami’s sobs and cries as she frantically pushed herself away from the body slumped on the ground. 

“You…! He…!” Nanami’s eyes brimmed with tears as you heard a loud boom making you jump, your eyes darting to the open window where….fireworks, big and bold crashed and crackled before you felt like you were sucked into a vortex making your whole vision black out. 

Your head felt fuzzy and there was ringing in your ears as you groaned, curling up into yourself as the darkness beckoned you closer before you forcibly opened your eyes. You were laying against the hardwood floor. Beams of light streaked through the window and you could see dust particles in the air against the shower of sunshine that streamed in. 

...Wait...Light? The thought had perplexed your head enough to make you push up from the ground, memories pulling into your mind as your breath became shallow, suddenly looking to the side where...you slumped against the wall. It must’ve just been a bad dream….your eyes flickered to Nanami’s curled up figure...a really vivid dream…? Something wrenched in your gut as you rubbed your eyes. What happened? “Nami…!” You whispered, forcing your muscles to move despite their protest as she whined. 

After another moment she reluctantly opened her eyes, flickering around before she suddenly scrambled up, taking a deep breath as if realizing what had happened before, looking towards where your dad once was she frowned, “...I...What…” She seemed just as perplexed as you and if her face was anything to go by, last night had obviously happened, “Is dad…” She looked at the absent place of the floor. 

Leaning against the wall your eyes darted around the room, “I guess so…” You silently felt relief at knowing your dad was still very much alive as you leaned back as you closed your eyes, trying to remember what had happened before everything went dark...oh..! The fireworks...had it been a celebration last night? Your brows pinched together, something felt...off...getting up you opened the door to the apartment walking out. 

“Y/n? Y/n! Hey! Where are you going!” Nanami called out, quickly chasing after you as you frowned, cars were parked odd and there was no one out on the street...as in...at all...Something was very wrong and you couldn’t figure out what. 

“Wow...it..must be a slow day…” Nanami felt a sense of discomfort at the lack of life as you both walked down the side walk, it didn’t just feel like a slow day it felt, apocalyptic. As if humanity just left on it’s own leaving nothing but an empty city behind. Cars were parked on the curb and a few even left in the street.

“No, it’s like everyone vanished...This is really weird.” You wrapped your arms around yourself as you frowned, looking around as you came closer to where typically it would be a booming part of the downtown but it was empty, just as everything before. 

“Well, maybe it’s a national holiday?” Nanami rubbed her head, trying to make sense of the situation just as much as you, surely everyone wasn’t...gone...right? She looked around as she bit her lip, second guessing herself at all the cars that were vacant, “Hey Y/n.” 

You paused as you looked at your sister, curving an eyebrow as she offered a weak smile, “What if everyone got raptured away like they talk about in christanity?” Your expression flattened as she giggled, obviously getting a rise out of you as you crossed your arms. 

Raptured? Where? To heaven? “Wouldn’t it be fire and brimstone then if that was the case?” Nanami pouted at your words as you shrugged, snickering yourself at her expression, the tables now turned as you sighed, “I don’t think there’s anyone left in Tokyo...I mean, it feels like...we’d have seen someone by now...right?” 

“Well…” Nanami frowned once more, a little disturbed at your words as she spoke, “There’s no way everyone could be gone I mean, where would they go? And how could we miss something like that...Maybe the police found us and now we’re under some weird simulation.” 

Chills spilled down your spine as you shoved her making her whine, “Don’t say that! That makes me feel all weird…! I didn’t…!” You cut yourself off, you didn’t what? Murder your own dad in cold blood...you looked down at your hands, they were free of any blood but it still felt like something like sin lingered. Like no matter where you went, it would always be stuck to you.

You didn’t like this, not one bit. Briefly you felt the urge to go hunt down your dad, he was a deadbeat but you would never...you’d never kill him....Right?

“Well…” Nanami hummed her eyes scanning ahead before they jumped to the mall that was up ahead, “Hey…! If nobody is here...maybe we could make use of it! Come on! Let's go!” You yelped at her grabbing your arm before dragging you ahead. Cars were all parked and yet not a single person exited through the mall's entrance. Something just felt off! You wrapped your arms around yourself as you warily looked around the empty mall, “Nanami I really don’t like this!” You looked around, concern bubbling inside you as she ran ahead into the store, digging through the section of clothes as she giggled. 

“Relax! I doubt any of this is real and even so…! Who’s going to stop us!?” She shrugged as she bounced in excitement, “Oh my god! I had dreamed of something like this happening! Now we can do whatever we want! Go wherever we want! Y/n!” She gasped with a smile, “Now we don’t even have to worry about money!” 

“We don’t even know if this is permanent.” You looked around warily, not partaking as she began plucking off the racks, “Regardless of what this is, I don’t like it. I want to go back home, our home. This just doesn’t…” You shook your head, “This just doesn’t feel right.” 

“Well you can feel that way!” Nanami clacked her tongue as she gave a childish smile, “But I’m gonna go through this whole store and get a new wardrobe so feel free to sit on the bench and tell me what you think looks good!” 

Looking away you sighed, unable to pinch the anxious feeling you had away as you sat down reluctantly as Nanami went into the changing room. Well...at least she was smiling and she was happy...With each outfit Nanami tried out and giggled, you giggled with her and maybe things weren’t so bad after all…

“What a perfect day.” Nanami hugged you close as she sighed, yawning as you looked up at the sky in awe, you had seen a single star while living in Tokyo before, but now it was filled with constellations and millions of stars that stretched for miles. You could stare at it for days and days. The sun had just set a little over half an hour ago and you were ready to retire and find something to eat at the apartment. 

You and Nanami had tried going to the food court but much to your dismay everything had been...rotten...soiled and ruined, meaning there was no point in trying to find anything there and you were getting really hungry despite devouring bags of chips you had both got at the convenient store, another thing that stood out to you was that there was no electricity...at all..

Looking back up to the sidewalk something caught your eyes...was that…! Light!? “Hey! Nanami look!” You shook her making her squeak as she looked up ahead, “It’s the hospital! They have electricity there which means there’s other people! Of course! Why didn’t we think to check essential areas!? Come on! Lets go! I wanna figure out what happened.” 

“Alright! It sucks that this is already over but at least I can finally charge my phone, the battery is pretty low.” Nanami nodded in agreement as you both made your way up the road. 

The walk wasn’t too far and you felt excitement fill you at the sight of the hospital all lit up as you walked into the entrance, a frown slowly setting on your lips once more as you walked past the receptionist desk and…! Oh there’s other people! 

You felt relief wash over your as you ran up, there were at least seven other other people here at least! “Hey! Guys oh my god. I thought everyone was gone! What’s going on?” You asked, smiling bright in relief that you and Nanami weren’t the only ones left behind. Was this some kind of evac point or…?

Silence ensued and you slowly began to frown as you felt everyone stare at you as if you were insane, “Um…” You wrapped a hand around your arm, suddenly feeling as if everyone knew something you didn’t, “What’s going on…?” You furrowed your brows as you tilted your head, unsure of why everyone was looking at you like this. 

Somebody looked like they were going to talk to you, a guy relatively around your age but a woman stopped him- his girlfriend maybe? “Stop, the less that know the better chance we have.” She said quietly though you still heard just enough. Fear twisted inside you as you took a cautious step back...The...the less you knew? 

“Wow, you guys are assholes,” A girl suddenly whistled out, she was sitting in a waiting chair, a cowboy hat on her head paired with distressed jeans and...a bikini top? Strange but you’d roll with it if it meant getting answers. She stood up as she offered a smile, “Akari, nice to meet ya’. You folk must be new to the Borderlands huh?” She jutted her bottom lip a little as you frowned. 

“Um I’m Y/n and this is my sister Nanami...?” You introduced yourself despite feeling confused as you raised a brow, “Borderlands…?” You echoed, what was that supposed to be? Other than Tokyo?

Akari gave a nod as she let out a brief chuckle, as if amused by your confusion but you sensed she had no real ill will unlike....your eyes checked to the couple that stood off in the corner on their own, “That’s what they call it here,” She nodded in affirmation as your eyes darted back to her in confusion, “To be frank with ya’, I don’t have a damn clue what's going on. Nobody does. But ever since you crossed the threshold there’s no going back, so I’ll be brief. We’re all considered outsiders here and we participate in games at venues such as this to extend our stay.”

Nanami and you looked at one another confused as Akari waved you over to the table in front of a TV, “Here, you’ll wanna put these on, it’s for the game.” She explained as you carefully picked up the metal bracelet, something about it felt ominous as you reluctantly put it on, jumping at the way it latched together and there was no getting it off now, “Word of advice, just don’t panic and you probably won’t die.” 

“What?!” You screeched as Akari smacked your back, panic evident in your voice as you turned around to face her making her laugh again, this girl was insane! She had to be! “You’re…! You’re joking!” 

Akari wrinkled her nose as she tilted her head, “Ah shit, I wish I was- Oh…! There’s the last player!” Just on que everyone turned to look at who had arrived, someone heaving breaths with their hands on their knees as if they had sprinted. You were mildly worried at why he seemed so scared but you had a feeling that was the least of your problems right now.

“Y/n what’s going on…?” Nanami frightened grabbed your arm as she hid a little behind you due to all these immensing strangers that looked like they were ready to feed you to the sharks, literally. 

The guy walked past you both as he put on his bracelet, your eyes sharp as you watched it latch together automatically, your gaze jumping to everyone's wrists to notice you were all now wearing one. The TV suddenly lit up. 

Game 

You squinted your eyes a little at the sight of the screen, just what were you about to unwillingly participate in…?

Difficulty: 5♣

“The game you will be participating in is, Monster under the bed.”

A playing card? Monster under the bed? Your brows furrowed as you looked at Nanami who shrugged a little despite her concerned expression, looking just as confused as you. You could’ve made a joke out of this, surely it would’ve been easier. Maybe everyone would bust out laughing and you’d be at the end of a poor joke but...somehow you felt that wasn’t the case. Thus paying very close attention to whatever was on this screen, 

“Everyone will be sectioned off into pairs by the number chosen on your bracelet, when the doors to the ward open you will have three rounds ten minutes each to figure out who is the monster under the bed that must be returned to its own, once the ten minutes is up you must hide before you are found. If the selected pair that is the monster is chosen correctly it’s a Game Clear.  If the monster is not found by the end of the third round or if the pair fails to hide it’s a Game Over.” 

Rules: 

Once the doors are open you and your partner must find a hiding spot by the time limit

Both partners must be hidden. If one is exposed to the monster it’s a Game Over for both partners

There will be an X marked on the ground to place the monster of your guess onto. 

You will have three rounds of ten minutes each to find the monster.

Any attempt to remove bracelets results in a Game Over

If the monster is not found by the third round a Game Over.

The only Game Clear condition required is for the monster to be returned by the third round.

What…

What!? 

“Now the game will commence, you have five minutes to figure out who you have been paired up with before the doors open.”

Your mind was blanking as you watched everyone look down at their bracelet, hurriedly you lifted your arm as your mind blanked 2 looking back at Nanami her lips were already quivering as she sniffled lifting her arm in defeat as your lips dropped open, 5.

“Hey! Guess you’re my partner!” Akari grinned as she wrapped an arm around Nanami who sniffled, “Oh…” She looked between you both, “Oh! Oh don’t worry! We’re not the monster so I’ll make sure your sister lives! You should go find your partner.” 

Your hands trembled unsure of what to do before you went to hug Nanami, “Whatever happens just stay calm okay! I need to go find my partner now!” You whispered, kissing her cheek as she sniffled while nodding. 

Everybody was shuffling around looking for their partner now, you passed by a few people, 4, 1, 3...did you even have a partner…? You scanned around, your throat tightening a little in panic, there had to be a mistake! There were only 8 people surrounding you- you yelped at the tight grip that suddenly held your arm forcing you to turn around to be met with a white hooded figure, a lollipop handle hanging and earbuds in before sighing, “So it appears I’m stuck with someone useless.” The man concluded as he stood up making you back away a little as your lips parted somewhat indignantly. 

How...how rude! You looked up, unable to fully make out his face but you could tell you didn’t like him one bit, “I’ll…! First of all I’m not useless! I’m just trying to understand what's going on! This is insane! We aren’t actually going to die from this, are we!?” Pushing his hood down you were immediately met with a snide gaze and cat eyes that leered at you like you were nothing more then dirt beneath his feet, long blonde hair pushed behind his shoulders and his bangs hanging low, suddenly a viscous side smile appeared on his lips, “Apparently so, otherwise I wouldn’t have watched half my last game get their brains blown out and the other half hung.” 

You reeled a little away from the blonde, your face dropped in semi horror, unsure if this was just a sick joke or he was serious. You searched his face a thousand times over, but for the first time in your life, you couldn’t figure out what his goal was. You couldn’t figure out anything about him, except he was exceptionally cold, “Well I don’t suppose I have much choice to doubt you,” He said with an annoying sing song tone as he rattled his wrist that showed the bracelet with a matching 2 on it, “My name is Chishiya, just stay out of my way and we’ll both live.” 

How arrogant! You scoffed as he walked past you, not the least bit bothered at your offense as you whipped around, glaring at his back. How come out of everyone you got stuck with the most…! Pompous! Arrogant! Ugh! You crossed your arms as you followed behind him, stilling secretly sending daggers into his back with your eyes as everyone shuffled into the ward. 

Hospital beds were scattered around the room, a few closets and one large vent at the bottom right corner of the room ahead. 

“Wait, what is this?” The first person to speak was a fair thin older gentleman, he appeared friendly as he observed the room around him, everyone looked around in confusion as you noticed what he meant. 

Any possible hiding spot was covered by either sheets of metal or locked tight...How were any of you supposed to hide if…!? The rules mentioned nothing about solving puzzles to gain access to a hiding spot!

“Forget that,” Another man said with a sneer he was broad and a bit older, well into his late twenties at least, perhaps a gym coach? Or maybe a wrestler of some sort? He looked like he could break you and nearly every other person in this room like a twig, “We need to figure out who’s the monster. “ He cracked his knuckles as you leered a little away and nobody spoke for a second. 

Of course, who would out themselves as the monster, more importantly, how does one even know they’re the monster? You could immediately feel tension rise as the previous, more patient man spoke, a little more collected, “How about we just check one another's’ watches! If anywhere it would show us on that! One pair should work on solving these puzzles here so everyone has a place to hide” 

“Unless the monster is among us and it sabotages us so we all die by the time limit.” The girlfriend crossed her arms as she darted her eyes around. Truthfully you didn’t know what to believe, the wording on the soundbox was rather confusing as to just what were you looking for. Was the monster supposed to be in the group or it’s own entity?

“If that were the case it would’ve showed up on our watches, which it didn’t. So that won’t work.” Chishiya spoke matter of fact, his tone cool as his eyes gazed across the room before he walked away from the group inspecting various hiding spots granted you didn’t think he was about to help anyone but himself, if anything you were at least lucky that him securing a hiding spot meant it was one for you as well. 

You looked at everyone in confusion, some arguing while others scattered to look for a hiding spot as the clock ticked down. You breathed in relief at the sight of Nanami and Akari both going for a bed to hide under. Your gaze finally found Chishiya’s form before following him, unsure of what you were supposed to do, if anything outside trying to figure out just what the monster even was. 

You glanced up at the digital clock that stood above the entrance you had just come in from, it was already a minute in before you searched the floor where you found a red X in the center of the room, that must’ve been the...what? Offering spot? You cringed a little at the idea. Looking forward you peered behind Chishiya’s shoulder deciding to not think about that, it seemed the metal sheet that had wrapped around the bed and was sealed to the ground was locked by some sort of metal device…? Contraption? Lock?

“Isn’t hiding under a bed a bit obvious…?” You frowned as you crossed your arms, unsure as you looked behind your shoulder once more to where accusations were already being thrown in the group. 

“The vent is a decoy to make you waste time, I already checked,” Chishiya replied, his fingers nimble as they rattled the metal, “And even if someone were to accomplish it in the time limit it’s the most obvious spot the monster would first check. Next would be the closet given it’s at eye level and the first thing one is drawn too when they walk into a room.” 

Your lips parted a little in surprise at his assessment...obviously he wasn’t just overconfident, “And why this spot?” If he had really thought about all this in less than a minute then...did he have a reason for this spot? You now found yourself, slightly less annoyed and a little more curious as to what was going on in his mind. 

“If the monster were to check a bed it would be after his eyes are drawn to the closet. Next in that line of sight would be the vent directly across it, which would be his next place to look if not his first and vice versa. The beds are all staggered throughout the room making them less conspicuous compared to the other hiding places, the bed on the far end of the room would be no good.” 

Your brows furrowed in curiosity at his assessment as you watched Chishiya blow a piece of hair from his face, wiggling out one piece of the knotted metal, “It’s too far from the entrance where as the one in the middle is by average the one most people would start with, where as the first? It’s almost too soon in the start to look there thus making it the safest.” 

“It’s them! They’re over there conspiring!” You both twisted around to watch the broad man point an accusing finger at you both as your eyes darted from him to the clock on the wall, which read at six minutes. A few other pairs, relievingly so was your sister had started working on a hiding spot while a few others stood around and argued. 

Your face coiled a little as you replied, not appreciating the accusation to such a baseless accusation, did they not realize the longer they argued the less time they had to secure a hiding spot? “Someone who’s terrible at playing the minority would often be the first to point fingers. There’s only six minutes left before the first round is over and we need to hide. But if you want to talk about this then sure,” 

You stepped closer as you crossed your arms, scanning over him before continuing, “Let’s talk about the chances of you being the monster, ever since you first came in you’ve been all twitchy and acting like something is wrong. Even when we first got paired up, you seemed a little panicked. Anyways,” You turned around as you spoke, “How do we know one pair is a monster and not one single person?” 

“Eh,” Akari sat on the bed that her and Nanami chose as Nanami fumbled to work out the puzzle, she had always been good at those! You felt assured as your heart beat frantically at the idea of them not being able to get a hiding spot in time, “Let’s all calm down,” She gave an awkward laugh, “This isn’t a hearts game, we shouldn’t divide our trust. This is a team building after all which means this game should be making us work together, the last thing we need to do is throw that away on our own accord.” 

“...Team building?” You frowned as you murmured having not been aware that this was some sort of game category...Hearts? Clubs? The memory of the playing card flashing on the screen appeared in your mind again, right...was that to stand for some kind of game genre? If Clubs stood for team building then...there should be no reason that the monster is any of you. Why would they even suggest that to begin with?

Then...what was the monster? 

“One minute remaining.”

The lights suddenly began flickering, “Got it.” Chishiya yanked the last piece of metal undone as he pulled the sheet of metal off, everyone was now scrambling and the few who had not done their puzzle were now panicking. Getting down you crawled under the bed, your back flat to the ground as you inhaled sharply as you noticed the lights beginning to dim, “This is...uncomfortable.” You mumbled, trying to ignore being pressed shoulder to shoulder with a man you didn’t even know besides him having a god complex, “We should’ve went with the vent.” 

“By all means, if you want to try and get yourself killed already. Go for it.” You turned to look at him, dark endless cat eyes meeting you as you harshly glared at him, why was he so condescending!? 

You were about to snap back something before you realized it was completely dark and the door slammed open causing you to jump. Was your heart always this loud? You could see the heavy boots step against the ground making you unsteadily inhale, swallowing as you closed your eyes. You could only place your trust that Chishiya hadn’t picked a horrible spot. 

More importantly your mind was plagued with worry for your sister, you had been so caught up you hadn’t even tried to help her yet...did she even…! You heard a sudden loud scream from two people causing you to stiffen as you looked up at the bed frame lined with wooden planks. You could only cower back down at blood suddenly painting the floor.

Your stomach suddenly churned as you covered your mouth. So he wasn’t lying. Chishiya however looked just as nonpulsed as he did when he first told you himself, his eyes blankly staring up at the bed frame as if this was just a regular game of hide and seek as people screamed as they were torn apart. 

Or that’s at least what you assumed it was. 

After an agonizing few minutes the doors finally closed and the lights flickered back on making you breath in relief as you waited a moment, could you even bear to face what was waiting on the floor? You winced a little before something caught your eye. What was with all this extra wood stuck in the frame? 

Chishiya had already gotten out from under the bed and before you suddenly heard a few girls scream, your sister among them making you puff and breath as you scrambled from beneath the bed.

Standing up your mouth agape at the horrid sight of the female and the broad male that had been too focused on accusing others, they didn’t have...enough time...it looked like they had been completely mutilated, blood pouring on the floor and the smell made you want to gag as you looked away. 

“Well, now what do we do.” Akari scratched her head, also not looking phased that two people had just been brutally killed. Your eyes stayed placed on the bodies before they slowly trailed to your hands, the memory of blood staining them still fresh in your mind. 

“Well we have to figure out where the monster is?” The girlfriend of the couple spoke up, she looked around somewhat suspiciously, “But I’m not sure where we could find it? Maybe it has to do with the bracelets? Maybe there’s a clue hidden.” 

“Oh what about in the cabinets?” The collected man from before offered as he went to search the cabinets, your frown furthered as you glanced around. Everyone was now getting along, still on edge but along at least. 

Chishiya only leaned against the wall, his hands in his pocket as he rolled the lollipop in his mouth, his gaze the same steely one it was before as if he had done his job in securing his temporary salvation and was now done. 

Or maybe he just didn’t know what to do? It was obvious his strength didn’t lie in teamwork, clearly. But then again, you weren’t sure what was going on, you couldn’t get a read on him. Crossing your arms you stayed beside him, your eyes briefly washing over your sister who was working Akari to dig through a desk together. 

“Cabinets and drawers are too obvious.” 

Chishiya’s eyes flickered to your figure, his expression just as cold if not...a little smug maybe? He said nothing in return as you continued, “If we’re looking for a monster, it’s obvious it’s a metaphor for something. Inanimate most likely,” Your eyes flickered around the room, inhaling sharply, why did it feel like the answer was right in front of you? 

Think…! You glanced at the clock, only six minutes left. The rounds were really short…! “It’d be something small and inconspicuous, something that’s in plain sight….but easy to miss...and the game said it was a pair which means there’s more than likely two.” 

“Three,” You glanced at Chishiya as he spoke, pulling the lollipop from his mouth, that permanent smug look on his face as he answered, “Two is what they want you to think and if you spend a round searching for each like they hope it’s game over by three.” 

You rubbed your neck as you frowned, “It’s already the second round and we haven’t even found one…” You glanced around before you suddenly perked up, “Wait…!” Getting back down on the floor you laid on your back as you pushed yourself under the bed, “Chishiya! Help me get this thing out!” 

Within a moment the blonde appeared as well, his eye sharp and keen as they noticed straight away what you were tugging at, “You think this is the monster?” 

You looked at him as you raised a brow, “We have less than four minutes left on our second round, you have a better idea?” Chishiya said no more but helped regardless, successfully with the both of you maneuvering it around from beneath the wooden boards you managed to get it out. 

Holding it up you looked at it, “It’s a poppet doll.” You turned to face him as you smiled in accomplishment, “They’re typically used as curses to place upon people in folklore. If anything is a monster, this would be it.” 

Excited at your first victory you pulled out from beneath the bed as you waved it up, “Hey guys! We need to start looking for something similar to this! If not a replica.” Everyone huddled around you examining the doll before the microphone sounded, “One minute remaining.”

Everyone had immediately scrambled back to their hiding place as you ran to the red X, placing the poppet on it, that's the reason that had to be there right!? You’d just have to see, hurriedly you ran back to your spot under the bed. Making it just in time as the lights flickered off. 

The door slamming open once more as you slowly inhaled, it had to work right? If not...then you were at a loss for what to search for and you were utterly screwed. 

The boots stomped against the floor past the bed as you closed your eyes, unable to calm yourself. After a moment you heard a screech and something rip open before screams followed making you jump. Chishiya’s eyes were on the feet that stood by the closet that had been obviously ripped open. 

You heard the sound of something wet and a gurgle before a body slumped to the floor and you could hear begging before something got snapped in half causing you to close your eyes once more...Did you make it angry!? Was that not it? Fuck. You had never felt this stressed before as it roamed around, passing in front of your bed as you tensed.

Was this your last moment alive? Truly? 

Much to your relief, the door closed once more before the lights followed, flickering on, relaxing a little you sighed as you reluctantly got out from underneath the bed with Chishiya to see what had happened. Much to your horror it was the man who had been so kind this whole game and his partner. 

The monster didn’t check anywhere in the first round, yet he did this round? You tried to block out the bodies slumped in the corner as you glanced at the red X, the poppet doll gone. 

“Why- why were they killed!” Nanami’s eyes began to water as she grabbed her head, “This makes no sense!” 

“If it accepts the doll that means we only need two more. What happened to them is irrelevant.” Chishiya stuffed his hands back into his pocket as you glared at him sideways, not appreciating his careless tone. You could deal with it, but you didn’t want your sister dragged into it. 

Grabbing your chin you thought about it for a moment, “Well...the game said to return the monster to its own and…” You glance down at the X, was there some kind of unsaid rule that if you didn’t get all three of them on the first try that it would start hunting down players? “How would a mother feel if they only returned one of its children?” 

“This thing doesn’t have feelings,” The girlfriend of the partners replied coldly, her eyes like steel of her own as she clung to her boyfriend, “It’s as he said,” She waved to Chishiya, “It doesn’t matter, we’ll be like them if we don’t figure this out.” 

You glanced around the room, “Tell me this, if it doesn’t matter, then why did they give us all these different hiding spots?” Everyone was silent, all eyes on you as if your question didn’t make any sense, your eyes flickered to the clock that was nearing eight minutes, you didn’t have time to monologue, “No think about it. The monster never intended to look for us- that was never stated in the rules. So why did they give us all of these choices if we only needed one per pair? My point being, if we found one poppet in our hiding spot then...You get where I’m going with this? Chishiya.” 

He glanced up at you acknowledgement as you curved a brow, your lips threatening to tug into a smile as you tilted your head, “How confident are you in solving that vent?” 

He glanced back down and for the first time, you watch a cocky wide smirk twist onto his lips, “You’re lucky to have someone as smart as me here to be able to open it.” You tucked your tongue into your cheek as in annoyance as he sauntered over to the vent already getting to work, “As for everyone else, we need to open up as many of these as possible to find the other two.” 

Everyone immediately scrambled to get to work, with only seven minutes on the clock this was...going to be difficult. First Nanami and Akari searched all the opened spots as you worked on another bed. Rubbing your head as muttered, “Shit...I never was good with puzzles.” You awkwardly hung your head in defeat temporarily, briefly letting your eyes shift to Chishiya who was fiddling with several locks, his gaze sharp and you couldn’t even imagine all the calculations going on in his mind. You were somewhat envious of what it would be like to be that perceptive to anything adhering to logic and solution. 

“Aha! Found one!” Akari yanked the poppet from the top of the closest as Nanami covered her mouth, looking like she was gonna throw up being so close to so many dead bodies. You ignored the grisly sight at the second victory of the poppet doll. Akari quickly placed it on the X as you began to work on the puzzle once more, looking up at the clock. Oh no...Oh no there was only three minutes left!

“Chishiya! Hows that puzzle coming along.” You called out, trying not to sound alarmed but you could see the clear cut annoyance on his face as he continued working through the locks, “If you’d like to help while struggling on a novice lock feel free.” He replied condescendingly, not appreciating the pressure. 

You rolled your eyes with huff as you finally managed to get it undone, feeling triumphant as you searched under the bed but there was no luck, “There’s nothing here!”

“Or here!” 

Several people called out as well as you rubbed your head, standing up, “If the only other place that hasn’t been searched is the vent then maybe there’s only two? It did say a pair.” You felt a lump of anxiety well in your chest at the sight of the clock ticking close to a minute and half. 

“Should we really take the risk?” The boyfriend asked as he rubbed his neck, concern on his face as he looked around, “If we’re wrong then we’ll all…” 

You hadn’t even thought of that…

“...! Hey.” You turned to Chishiya who seemed to be trying to get your attention making you immediately come over, if he was asking for you it’d have to be for something important given there was nearly less then two minute on the clock, “Hold this right here.” He immediately pushed your hand onto the lock right where he wanted it, “This is a two handle mechanism meaning that there needs to be two people unlocking it. Push down and out at the same time.”

“Hide! Everyone needs to hide now!”

The lights were beginning to flicker as everyone scrambled to hide, stress evidently put on your shoulders now more than ever. You could only hope he was right with your life on the line, “Now!” You pushed down on your side, the lock sliding as you pulled out, pulling a piece of metal holding up the lock directly out as Chishiya did the same with his side. 

The lock fell off as well as the metal of the gate of the vent, you immediately with no hesitation leaned inside it was dark and hard to make it out anything besides the steep drop off. So he was right, this was a waste of time for a hiding place. 

Looking down you caught sight of wood before laughing in relief, “It’s here! Wait shit! Chishiya! It’s too far down in the vent, you’re gonna have to lower me down to reach it. Time?” 

“Forty five seconds.” You felt unfamiliar hands on your hips lifting you up as you were lowered down, “We have time.” 

You squinted trying to see as you reached down, “Lower me further! I’m not quite in reach,” Your muscles began to ache in your shoulder as you reached harder, growling in frustration, “Time!?” You were lowered a little further, the wooden poppet brushing against your fingers. 

“Thirty seconds! Could you go a little faster?” 

“Could you lower me a little quicker- Ah! Hey did you almost let go!?” You snarled back, grabbing the poppet doll, giving a good yank as it lodged in between the crevice it was in, “Get me back up! I got it. Time!” 

“Twenty seconds.” Chishiya called back, pulling you up as you gasped, pain from the metal jabbing into your stomach evident as you were met with a darkening room. Setting your feet firmly on the floor your eyes flew to the flock fifteen seconds and your spot was all the way across the room….! 

“Where are we supposed to hide!? We can’t get all the way there in time!” You hissed out running to the X as you dropped the poppet down. The lights shut off as the final five seconds counted down and before you could do anything you were shoved to the floor as you squeaked. Your body throbbing in pain and your mouth immediately covered as you were met with the coverage of a bed but neither one of you were bold enough to try and scramble beneath it as the doors slammed open. 

Fuck.

Your whole body was tense as your eyes squeezed shut, you were just a little ahead of the X here, if this is all the poppet dolls...they’d have no reason to go further into the room...unless...Your hand squeezed tight around the wrist of the hand that covered your mouth as you tried to calm yourself at the loud thudded footsteps. 

It was quiet for a moment before you heard more walking before the doors closed. 

“Game Cleared”

The lights turned on as you fell limp against the side of the bed, Chishiya’s hand removed from mouth as you pushed your hair from your face, closing your eyes as you breathed in relief, “Holy shit.” Was all you could mutter to yourself, you had never been more grateful to breathe air in your whole life. 

“I guess you weren’t that useless after all huh.” Chishiya clacked his tongue as you turned your head to look at him, raising your brows as your face contorted into something between insult and amusement. 

You’ve only known this man for a half an hour and yet...something about his words, if you dug down deep past that smug expression of his, was this a compliment? Looking away you pressed your tongue into your cheek, trying to keep from smiling, “Yeah, and you’re still conceited and arrogant but, I guess you have a good reason to be.” You glanced back at him again but you could hardly hold his gaze, something in that brief moment was electrified between you both as you laughed somewhat sheepishly, closing your eyes as you looked away once more. 

What the fuck was even wrong with you? If this was back before today you would’ve totally kicked this guy in the balls and went about your day.

“Y/n!” You straightened up at the sound of Nanami’s voice, your expression brightening as you stood up, quickly running to her as you hugged her tight, “I can’t believe that just happened…” She whispered to you as she pressed her face into your neck. You couldn’t either but, you were thankful you had survived this game. Whatever it was. 

“Come on, let's get out of this room.” You tugged on her arm, no longer wanting to be in this death room despite knowing it was all over. Pulling her out you paused at the sight of the TV and a...register…? You bracelet unlocked as you took it off, tossing it on the table as you tilted your head. 

“Congratulations Game ''Clear ``.''

“...Now issuing visas to those who survived the game…?” You furrowed your brows as you glanced at Nanami who rubbed her head in confusion. You grabbed the receipt as you looked it over with a frown before picking up the 5 of clubs playing card along with it. Odd. 

“It’s how many days you’re allowed to stay now! Almost a whole week, that's a good score for a first game!” Akari called out as she patted your back making you jump a little. 

Almost a whole week…”Until we have to play again to...continue our stay?” You raised a brow, deciding not to ask what happens if you refused. While you had many questions, you had a feeling you knew the answer to that one. 

A part of you couldn’t even believe this had happened, or was it all still a dream. 

“Hey…! Sorry for all of that in there,” You turned to see...oh…! It was the boyfriend of the partner, the gifrlfriend stayed behind looking brooding, “I’m Ryu and that’s my girlfriend Hiroko I was...ah…” He faltered a little, rubbing the back of his neck as his gaze flittered to his girlfriend who was glaring him down, “You should stop by the Beach- I...I think you guys would make good additions! Bye!” He hurried not even finishing his original sentence before scurrying off making you furrow your brows at what he even meant. 

“The hell?” Akari raised a brow as she watched the guy run off, “Seems to me he wanted to chat more…guess we know who's really pulling balls in that relationship.” 

Nanami suddenly snickered, covering her mouth as she giggled, “Hey Akari! Why don’t we stay together! We did really well in the game together!” 

“Awh shit, if you guys really want me too!” Akari offered a quirky smile as you laughed, you had no problems with someone staying behind with you. Looking past Akari your smile faded a little at the sight of a white hoodie exiting the entrance. 

“Hey- I’ll be right back!” You pushed past the both of them who paid you no mind as you pushed out of the exit and down the stone steps, not sure why your feet were making you chase after such an egotistical man but…!

“Chishiya!” You called out, making the man pause, he turned around, pulling the earbuds out as he glanced up from his hoodie, raising his brows in acknowledgement, “Um…” Why did you even chase after him…? You stepped down the last step as you wrapped your arms around yourself. 

It was silent for a moment as you berated yourself internally for why you seemed so speechless all of a sudden. Chishiya however didn’t seem to mind, his eyes absent now as he stared up at the hospital, “I used to do my clinical rotations here.” 

You were broken out of your silent thrashing of internal humiliation as you raised your brows, lips parting in curiosity as you asked, “You were a doctor?” 

“No,” Chishiya snorted, that amused calico look of his on his face once more as he looked down at you, “I was a medical student. Training to be a doctor but that obviously didn’t happen…” His lips curved into a frown, his eyes cold once more as they looked back up at the building, “I came here tonight to see if anyone I knew would be here.” 

“Oh…” You looked away, feeling somewhat awkward and unsure of how to reply to him as silence took over once more beside the occasional rustling of the wind in the tree’s, the urge to speak overtaking you to the point you couldn't resist, “Chishiya...I…” You looked away, feeling somewhat bashful, “We...made a really good team back there.” You forced yourself to look up at him as you offered a bright yet subtly shy smile, “If you want...you could stay with us…?” 

Chishiya pulled the lollipop stick from his mouth, letting it drop to the ground as he spoke, “No thanks.” You turned to him in surprise as you frowned a little, you shouldn’t have expected anything less…

“Oh...I understand.” You offered a weak smile as he turned his back on you and began to walk once more, “I just have one more question,” You called out causing him to pause, “...Do you by any chance know about a place called the Beach?”

Note: Whew...! As a lurker in the Alice in borderland fandom I saw a lot of people complaining about the lack of Chishiya fics so I decided to volunteer myself and take on for the team to write a series for this little blonde fucker so PLEASE let me know your thoughts and I hope you enjoy!! Also

[thisnoodlewritesao3]

Please Don't Say Goodbye | Tsukishima Kei/Reader

Characters: Tsukishima Kei, Reader, Yamaguchi Tadashi

Pairings: Tsukishima Kei/Reader

Warnings: light swearing, crying, implied panic attacks, arguments, yelling, ummm lemme know if I missed anything

Word Count: 2181

A/N: This was meant to be a drabble- okay, in my defence, I've had such writers block and apparently the feels were necessary soooo. This is 1 of 2 fic ideas that were sent to me by @satan-ruler-of-hells for a prompt thing I did (idk if I can find the thing) and the next one is Tendou. So, maybe get ready for more feels of my almost 5 am angst. I also did not proof-read this, sooooo

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How had things ended up like this?

Every little thing was like the calm before the storm - the most tense calm that had ever existed; you were walking on eggshells, and maybe so was he, but you couldn’t help it. At least, you thought you couldn’t. Each attempt to try and fix the mess around you only ended up in more heartbreak.

The storm that always seemed to be headed in your direction had tore apart the home you’d meticulously built together. Plates and picture frames shattered to the ground; glass leaving you walking on bleeding feet. The flowers of your love torn apart somewhere in the distance now. Breath stolen from your lungs, but not from those kisses he’d give you back in high school, not from the way he’d dance with you around his bedroom (only to shove you onto the bed when his brother barged in), not from your outrageous laughter at something stupid that had happened. This was a breath stolen from countless nights arguing, screaming, trying to gain the upper hand in a situation where you were both at a standstill. A breath stolen from your heaving words as you scrunch your hands into your roots, pull your legs close to your chest and shove yourself into a corner while he slammed the door and left to God knows where. Breath stolen from the realization that maybe things just weren’t working like they used to, and that it was okay to love him, but to not be in love with him.

Tonight was just another picture perfect example of why you weren’t meant to be together. You’d come home late from work (because of some stupid assignment that you just wanted to finish today). He was sitting on the couch, scrolling through Netflix for something to watch. Honestly, you just wanted to eat something, so you didn’t bother greeting him, but the moment he noticed your presence in the house, he was hot on your tail.

“Where were you?” His voice sharp as daggers, digging under your skin and tearing you apart piece by piece. His arms are crossed over his chest, eyes so judgmental you feel like you’re in court. Nothing you say is the right answer, so you choose to not say anything. Apparently, that wasn’t the right answer either - this you find out when his iron grip settles on your shoulder and forces you to turn around.

“Hey-” you winced, trying to pry his fingers off.

“Where were you?” He repeated, basically growling at you through his gritted teeth.

“I was at work.” You rolled your eyes, turning your attention back towards the fridge, trying to ease the beating of your heart. In, hold, out. You repeat to yourself, barely remembering what all those instagram therapists had told you.

He scoffed, finally releasing his grip in favor of slamming the fridge door shut, “really? Because the last time I checked, your work ended two hours ago. What could you possibly have been doing for two whole hours?” He was in your face now, making you know how pissed he was.

But you already knew. You’d always known. Why did he need to try and make it so blindingly obvious to you?

“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Kei, I was working. What part of that is so hard to understand?” You snapped back, moving away from him with a heavy sigh. At this point, you didn’t bother holding back the venom in your words. You knew he had issues (and you knew why) but did that mean he should take it out on you? No. Fuck.

“Two hours! Y/N, I was waiting two hours. I was going to take us to dinner, we were going to have a nice time.” He followed after you, closing every cupboard door you opened, trying to get your attention. “But you didn’t even send me a text. Were you too busy fuck-”

“Oh my God!” You yelled over him, spinning around to face him with your pure unfiltered aggression.

Back and forth you went for what felt like hours. Tears were acid down your cheeks, your spit a very special concoction of venom just for him. And yet, even as you were dry heaving in the kitchen sink, yelling more obscenities at him, you could never seem to stop. Neither could he.

Tsukishima Kei was known for a lot of things, being an asshole was one of them. That you knew too well.

For a while, though, things were good. He loved you. You loved him.

As he sits there, accusing you over and over of cheating on him, even though you hadn’t and you wouldn’t. God.

When had he become so anxious and persistent that things were going wrong? Yes, they were going wrong, but not for the reasons he keeps saying. It’s driving you insane, to the point where you can’t even remember those stupid breathing techniques, or grounding techniques, or anything.

This argument had lost the plot at some point around when he started yelling at you for doing the dishes wrong (you still insisted there wasn’t a wrong way to do them). So you bit back that his clothes were stupid, or that dinosaurs were stupid, something. Something was stupid.

“If you have so many problems with the way I choose to live my life, then get the fuck out.” You screamed, slamming your fists down onto the table and pointing to the door. His expression was scrunched up into something completely unrecognizable - a fine mixture of hatred and anguish. His chest rising and falling so rapidly you’re amazing he’s still standing. His hair is a complete and utter mess, so many times he’d ran his hand through it to try and make sense of the nonsense you were both spouting.

“Fine, I will!” He yelled back, voice hoarse from the past two hours.

You watched him head towards the door without a second thought, grabbing his coat, shoving his shoes on. You didn’t have the energy to call out after him, no matter how much your heart begged you to.

And your heart did beg you to; but it had already accepted that the end had been coming for too long.

You lean back against one of the cupboards, looking up at that one crack in the ceiling that he’d insisted he’d get around to fixing but something had always come up.

If you had to say what was wrong in your relationship, it would just be something. Something was wrong, and neither of you knew what it was, but something would be your downfall. Something filled the air with poison and made you destined to hate each other; something danced around in your words and twisted the meaning; something caressed your cheek as tears fell.

Something was your downfall and you didn’t have the energy to fight it.

So, maybe you’d call in sick the next day, and your boss would believe you because your voice sounded like hell; and maybe you’d spend the entire day lying in bed despite the fact your stomach was beginning for some nutrients; and maybe it would feel good to not have that nagging voice that you shouldn’t sleep in all day.

But today would have felt nicer with him by your side.

If there was one thing Tsukishima Kei was good at (after a lot of practice), it was making you feel just a little bit better with his empty promises and sweet nothings.

So, maybe you’d dressed yourself in his shirt and breath in him; and maybe you’d grab that dinosaur plushie you’d bought him for his birthday so many years ago and pull it to your chest; maybe you’d sleep on his side of the bed even though his pillow wasn’t as fluffy as yours; and maybe, just maybe, you watched his favourite movie on repeat, hoping it would bring him back to you.

Those were all maybe’s. But maybe they did happen, and you wanted nothing more than to be in his arms and tease him for his glasses that he insisted were cool. Or to have him laugh at you for the fact you majored in literature, despite the fact you weren’t good with words.

When your phone rang, you didn’t hesitate in picking it up, almost too excited for his voice, “Kei-”

“Y/N…” Yamaguchi’s voice was soft, understanding. It killed your fire of excitement in an instant.

You listened to him talk, something about how Tsukishima had decided you needed a break and would be staying at his place for a little while. Something about how he still loved you, but he didn’t want to keep hurting you like this.

It wasn’t a surprise that you didn’t manage to keep it together and broke out crying all over again, basically screaming and begging for things to be okay. There was no doubt in your mind, if Tsukishima was in the room with Yamaguchi, then he’d heard your cries.

“I’ll be better…” you whimpered, after far too long, “I’ll be nice. A-and… I won’t make fun of his glasses. Or dinosaurs. Please… please, Yamaguchi, please tell him to come home!” You cried out, unsure if you even managed to breathe.

He was silent on the line. You couldn’t take it. The silence, you wanted the noise. You’d prefer the arguing over this.

“I’m sorry…” Yamaguchi said weakly, and you knew how much it was hurting him to say this.

He hung up the phone and you were left as a shell of yourself.

And yet, your life must go on. So, for two months, you pushed your problems to the side and kept dredging forward in the hope that the answer to your problems was in one of these articles. Hoping that your co-worker would tell you some shitty anecdote that would distract you for just a little while.

Yo couldn’t look at your apartment anymore, not as little pieces of him were still littered everywhere.

Only, one day, you came home and he wasn’t anywhere. You didn’t notice it, not at first, but then you saw his mug from your museum visit in his third year of high school wasn’t next to your matching one. And then neither were his books on the shelf in your living room, or under the coffee table. His clothes gone from the closet. Every inch. Every detail. Every bit of him you had left had disappeared in the span of one work day.

And you were left with nothing.

With as much energy as you could muster, you turned and ran in the general direction of Yamaguchi’s house (which was hopeless, considering you had the directional capability of a broken compass and the stamina of a dead horse). You really were hopeless as you dialed his number, ignoring the way the moon taunted you in the sky.

He answered, for whatever reason, and you let out a breath. “What is it?” His tone was even, but something told you he was barely holding it together.

“Is this it?” Was all you could say. Head dizzy as you looked for Yamaguchi’s house - which you just knew was somewhere around here.

“It’s been it for a long time.” He really sounded robotic, like he was reading from a script.

“And you didn’t think to tell me?” Your voice broke as you ran, ignoring the splintering pain in the balls of your feet, “you thought making Yamaguchi say you needed a break, and then disappearing for two months, and then only reappearing to take your things back was the answer?” You cried out.

“You know-” his voice cracked and he stopped speaking. God, it hurt you so much.

“I never wanted this.” Tears were pouring down your cheeks.

“You think I did?”

“No-”

“I tried, Y/N, I tried so hard. But you would never listen to me!”

“I tried too, Kei!” You tried not to yell, and you hoped that it worked.

Some miracle brought you to Yamaguchi’s door, the one you only recognized because of the little frog statue on the windowsill. You pressed the doorbell, hoping for the best.

“I tried because I loved you. And I waited for you, I waited and hoped you’d come back. I-” you ran your hands through your hair once again. “I know we aren’t the best, that something is always wrong, but we can work on this. We can… fuck, I don’t know. You were the smart one…” he let out a low chuckle laced with pain. “But we can work something out, can’t we?”

There was a pause, and Yamaguchi opened the door, shocked to see you. Your breath hitched but neither of you spoke.

“I… I can’t do this anymore…” he admitted, and you felt your heart shatter. “Y/N, this is it…”

You could see Tsukishima pacing in the living room just down the hall, and you know Yamaguchi knows you’ve seen him. His phone pulled away from his face, finger shaking over that familiar red button.

“Please don’t say goodbye…” you called out.

--------

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5 star conversation (r.p)

a/n: since it’s valentine’s day i thought i should update my softest series to date

word count: 3.3k

reggie peters x gender neutral!reader

5 star conversation masterlist

place three: a 1 star fair

“Flynn, just trust me okay?”

Flynn said nothing as she fell back on the tour bus's couch, for a single second the tiniest smirk was painted across her lips.

“Who are you doing this for exactly?” She got cozy, looking at me from where I stood against the kitchen tops.

“The band,” I nodded, trying my best to keep my voice natural as I lie through my teeth.

“Maybe a bassist in particular?” Flynn laughed when I rolled my eyes, turning back to the open cupboard and looking through the never ending rows of snacks.

“Just thought-”

“I’ll give the driver the address,” Flynn pushed off the cushions and walked behind me, placing her chin on my shoulder for a second, “just hurry up and tell him before the tour is over.”

I smiled slightly at Flynn, the address of the fair pulled up on her phone as she skipped to tell the driver. I played with one of the boxes in front of me, completely zoned out as I watched her back.

How would I just tell him?

The truth was Reggie deserved more than a simple confession, he deserved something crazy you would only hear about in a romcom or even bigger. I didn’t know what I was thinking, maybe I was hoping to see if confessing was even a good idea.

“Whatcha thinking?”

I jumped at how close the voice was, spinning around to find myself face to face with the boy in question. He had a goofy smile on his face and held his hands behind his back while rocking back and front.

“Reg,” I let his name roll off the tongue, letting my breathing return to normal as I calmed my nerves from the little jump scare.

“Sorry, you zoned out I got worried.”

I can have a delicate smile, trying my best. best to remind me he was only a boy. A really cute boy.

“I’m fine, trying to work on some new designs for merchandise,” I shrugged, his smile soft as his eyes seemed to roam my face. I tried not to think much of it, maybe it was nothing, but he always looked at me like I meant something.

“Any good ideas?” He didn’t say anything else as he reached over me, looking at the snacks behind me while trapping me to the counter. His soft scent of lavender and cedarwood was odd but comforting as he had started using my perfume when he would go on stage, claiming it was lucky.

“I-uhm- '' my brain refused to use words, the idea of novelty items barely on the tip of my tongue as I rambled. I didn’t even know what I was saying to be honest, but Reggie smiled and nodded like I had done something right and that was enough for me.

“People will have flannels with my face on it? That’s awesome!” He jumped on his feet slightly, smiling like a puppy dog at the idea.

“I thought you’d like it, and your face would only be on the pocket,” I pointed at him, making sure this didn’t get to his head.

“I don’t even care, if you had told me this in 95 I wouldn't have believed you!”

He spun slightly, moving to the couch Flynn was laying on a little while ago, a Poptart held in between his fingers as he swung around slightly.

“I’m proud of how far you’ve come,” I shrugged. I didn’t think much of my words but when Reggie spun to look at me thought it over.

He looked so emotional, his eyes searching my face as if I told him he won the Nobel Peace Prize. I took the time to take him in, the look he was giving me was something I would never want to forget.

“You’re proud of me?”

“Of course, you’ve come so far and-” my words were cut off, arms around my frame in seconds and all I could smell was Reggie. All I could think was Reggie. I was all Reggie.

I lifted my fingers, playing with the black shirt he wore while he drew shapes on my arm.

“Thank you,” he muttered softly, his voice sounded far away as we stood in the kitchen.

“Anytime Reg.”

The silence that followed was nice, something I enjoyed deeply as I felt his arm grow tired around me.

“I need to say something,” Reggie pulled back just enough for me to see his face, the hard light from outside made his look like he was glowing almost.

“What-”

“Is that the last Poptrat?”

I push off Reggie, my hands find the countertop behind me as I tried my best to not look so caught. I frowned when I noticed Luke’s smirk, his eyes looking between Reggie and I while his finger pointed to the Poptrat that Reggie held in his hand.

“I-uhm- it’s the last Strawberry-” Reggie tripped over his words, suddenly letting the Poptrat fall from his finger before he reached out to grab it.

“You gonna eat it?” Luke slowly crossed his arms, his muscle tee making his arm look large and intimidating as he looked between us both.

“Oh uhm-” Without another word Reggie crammed the Poptrat into his mouth, a nervous laugh fell from his lips and he smiled at Luke. I covered my mouth, doing my best to hide my little giggles as the two bickers, something we had all grown to use too.

“Well, guess we have to get some when we stop,” Luke snapped, his smirk only growing when he saw me glide my thumb over my neck, begging him to shut up just for once.

“When are we stopping?” I was in shock to see Reggie and pretty much already finished the Poptrat but said nothing about it.

“A few minutes, (Y/N) here had a plan.”

I suddenly felt stuck and Reggie turned to look at me, his eyes scanning my own for answers as my brain broke. I forgot everything, what even was my name anymore?

“I need to find Alex and Julie,” the words came out rushed, I didn’t even wait for Luke or Reggie to answer before I was slipping out of the tension filled room to the back where we slept.

My feet were working faster than my brain, carrying me away from Luke’s cursed situation. Why did he always have to do that?

I really was starting to hate Luke Patterson.

“(Y/N)!”

I jumped, my hand over my heart again and I swear I was going to put cow bells on everyone before the last venue in a few weeks.

“Julie!” I did my best to match her excitement but I could tell she saw right through me.

“Where is this place you taking us?”

“Surprise?” I did my best jazz hands, an awkward smile on my lips as I tried to escape everyone for a minute. This whole crush thing was so overwhelming.

“Spill,” she grabbed my upper arm, not thinking twice as we slipped into the nearby bathroom and shut the door. Julie leaned against the door, the small space only has so much room as I sat on the top of the toilet.

“It was a surprise for Reg,” I shrugged, trying not to make eye contact with Julie as I played with one of the rings on my fingers. Flynn got it for me at a cheap store that was supposed to be a mood ring but it never moved from the deep blue.

“Is it his birthday? Did I forget again?” Julie started to panic but I grabbed the end of her sweater to stop her.

“No, it’s this one star fair I found on the internet.”

“A one star fair?”

“I know I was shocked when I found it, apparently it just open so it doesn’t have a lot of reviews-”

“How are you both so in love?” Julie almost laughed at my rambling, her smile bright as she looked at me and talked with my hand.

“Don’t use the “L” words, but yeah I have a crush on him. I just thought it would be funny,” I held my headrest on the wall behind me.

I shouldn’t have thought of this plan. This might be the worst idea I’ve had in a while.

“It’s cute,” Julie smiled sweetly at me, something I was grateful for.

“It’s not stupid?” I looked up at her, my knee almost knocking her as we seemed to draw closer with each word.

“Of course not!” Julie reached out for my hand, which I obviously let her take. She gave the slightest smile, my own smile meeting my lips before a loud banging on the bathroom door took our moment.

“I have to pee!” Alex’s voice echoed through the crowded bathroom.

*

Reggie almost fell from the tour bus, a little death glare over his shoulder at Flynn who didn’t look to feel bad for her little shove. He was stalling and it was starting to send me in a panic, as I rocked on my heels in front of the fair with a nervous smile.

Once Reggie stopped looking at Flynn to me, his face fell for a second. I did awkward jazz hands, hoping I didn’t blow this joke out of the water and I now looked stupid. Reggie read the sign above my head, his head tilted but a little smile was now painted on his lips.

“What’s this?”

“A one-star fair?” It came out as more of a question and I hoped I wasn’t digging this hole even deeper. The smile that once painted his face grew, his feet took off until he was in front of me and wrapping his head around me.

I fell back slightly at the force but smiled nonetheless, happy that I had chosen the right place for our break. I let my arms wrap around the back of his next, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck and I couldn’t imagine a world without him in it.

I looked over his shoulder, rolling my eyes and Alex and Luke made kissy faces and Flynn turned and rubbed her hand over her back as if she was kissing someone. My friends were middle schoolers.

“I love it,” Reggie whispered in my ear before he pulled back, his eyes going back to the sign above my head before he grabbed my hand and turned over his shoulder.

“Race ya to the bumper cars!”

Without another word, Reggie was almost pulling me behind me as we raced into the fair. My legs were slightly burning and my throat felt sore from laughing but I couldn’t bring myself to care as Reggie rushed around different obstacles. The workers looked annoyed at us as we rushed around them, our laugh probably way too loud for this time in the evening but I couldn't care as I looked over my shoulder to find Alex and Flynn holding hands and pracing like they belonged in the Sound of Music. Reggie came to a stop, my body colliding into his back.

“We won!”

He jumped around, I tried my best to ignore the feeling of his fingers wrapped in mine. It felt so normal, like it was meant to be glued together for an art project.

“Because you ran like Lighting McQueen,” Flynn commented, giving Reggie while squeezing my arm.

“Who’s that again?” Reggie turned to me, his eyebrows raised as he waited for my answer but it never came. Instead a laugh bubbled out the back of my throat, looking at his confused face was making it worse.

“I thought you were on my team!”

“I am,” I did my best to defend myself but my laughing only grew louder the longer we stood there.

“Where’s Julie and Luke?”

“Getting passes,” Alex pointed over his shoulder, his eyes looking at me and he quickly sent a wink. Did everyone know about my plan?

“Until then, (Y/N) and I will walk around.”

I nodded, smiling at Reggie while I waved at Flynn and Alex. The two gave me a thumbs up and I was grateful Reggie didn’t decide to turn around in that moment.

“You didn’t have to do this, you know?”

I looked back at him, smiling as I still felt our hands together. He hadn’t let go yet.

“I wanted to, since you planned the diner,” I shrugged, as if I didn’t seem almost a week planning and searching to find a place that was five star that I didn’t think would kill us.

“Well thank you, the bus was starting to get stuffy with everyone.”

I nodded, understanding exactly what he meant. I loved the band, they were everything to me, but it’s hard living on a bus with them. Flynn and I lived in a studio apartment together and that became a lot at times, although the fans loved the content they got because of us living together.

I spotted Julie waving at us, I excused myself from Reggie and walked to her. She smiled at me, holding passes in her hand that were obviously made for some cheap car-stock paper, which I felt add to the vibe of the entire park. It had a few basic rides and a bunch of rigged games, with the oldest looking Ferris Wheel in the world.

“Does he look happy?” I asked Julie as soon as I got close enough, taking the passes from her out of reach and looking over my shoulder. As soon as I did he waved at me, going back to looking at the sky.

“Yes, very. He’d be happy if you dug him a hole with nothing in it,” Julie shrugged, squeezing my shoulder.

“I think I’m gonna tell him,” I spoke, a little smile playing on my lips as Julie smirked.

“I would hope you didn’t drag us out here for nothing to happen.”

I rolled my eyes, walking backwards to Reggie as I stuck my tongue out at her, which she returned. Once I knew I was growing closer I turned around, handing Reggie one of the passes with a smile.

“What’s first on the agenda?” I looked up at him, smiling when he gave me that look. The same look from the hotel and the diner, like I meant something.

“I have to win you a stuffed animal, I’d be a horrible person if I didn’t!”

He didn’t wait for me this time, walking to the nearest rigged game and flashing the pass at the guy. The boy behind the counter seemed bored, barely giving us a glance before handing Reggie the darts.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Totally,” he brushed me off, closing his left eye and sticking his tough out the side of his mouth. I watched him and admired him more so.

The sun was about to set behind him, casting the prettiest glow across his hair and his features. He looked so consistent and his eyebrows raised to his hairline. He looked like something out of a romcom, where the girl realizes it has always been the boy in front of her.

He threw the dart, completely missing the board and falling to the grow. I watched the boy cover his mouth, hiding a laugh and I frown. I didn’t waste time, reaching for one of Reggie’s darts and quickly aiming at the dart board. I toned out all the noise, quickly throwing the dart and making it in the center. I smirked, looking at the boy with an innocent smile.

“I win, right?”

“Uhm, yeah,” he turned around and took the dart out of the board, taking the other dart from in front of Reggie and turning back to me. I looked over the stuffed animals, my eyes landing on one of a small brown horse. I pointed at that one, not saying a word as I watched him pull it down without hesitation.

As soon as the horse was placed in my palm the boy went back to his phone, ignoring Reggie and I. I finally looked at Reggie, his eyes still trained on the dart board with his jaw hanging. He turned back to me, his smile reaching his lips again as he jumped up and down.

“That was amazing!”

I grabbed one of his wrists, his hand held open in front of me as I placed the horse in the center of his hand.

“Now you have a horse,” I shrugged, thinking back to the conversation from the diner with a little smile. He looked between the horse and I, the smile only kept growing and I felt myself jump within myself.

I was going to tell him. I was going to tell him that I was completely whipped for him no matter the place or time. No matter if it was a one star or five star hotel, I wanted Reggie Peters at my side.

As my mouth opened to speak I heard loud screaming, turning around to find the front of the gate was full of girls and boys alike, each had shirts with Julie and the Phantom plaster on the front.

“Crap,” I grabbed Reggie’s wrist, ducking behind a display as I looked around for everyone else. I saw Luke wave at us, everyone climbing onto the Ferrie’s Wheel. I pointed to him, Reggie getting my idea as we jumped from display to display.

We got caught.

Once we got close enough to the Ferris Wheel we made a dart for it, smiling when Luke held an empty container for us, both of us jumping in and sitting on the floor instead of the seats. Luke quickly joined the other, waving the worker to start the machine. I smiled when I heard the loud creek, now this was definitely an adventure.

“Taylor didn’t like that,” Reggie held up the horse for me slightly, laughing when I rolled my eyes.

“Did you name your horse after Taylor Swift?”

“I plead the fifth!”

I laughed harder but my laughs were replaced with yelps as the machine started rocking, not in a fun way either. I leaned into Reggie's side without thinking but he said nothing, letting his arm wrap around my shoulder to keep me at his side. I felt myself chew at my bottom, wondering what would have happened if the fan didn’t come.

“Thank you, I know we didn’t get to hang out before we got busted but it means alot.”

I nodded against his chest, looking up at the cotton candy pink skies above us as the machine started up again. I felt Reggie’s head move, most likely looking up at what I was looking at.

“It was nothing.”

“It was everything (Y/N), you are everything,” his words were soft against my ear, this breath hot over the cool breeze that washed over my face. I didn’t want to look him in the eye, I didn’t think I could handle it but his finger grabbed my chin and I didn’t have a choice.

His nose brushed against mine, his face so close I couldn’t imagine this would ever happen. He looked so innocent and perfect and I just felt myself leaning in until the container door was ripped open, one of the bodyguards from the bus stood above us.

Reggie and I broke from each other, his horse falling between us as my side rushed into the metal seat. I felt the embarrassment overtake my body, this body guard looked sorry but also told us he would be escorting us from the fair.

I nodded, letting Reggie get out first as I sat in self-pity for a second while rubbing my hand over my face.

Maybe I shouldn’t sign up for any more one-star events.

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[delaber]

Could you do like a short piece where Daveed and reader are a thing but not really a couple. And he ruins it by not wanting more but comes back and apologises. Thanks!

Title: Stepping Up

Pairing: Daveed Diggs x Reader

Note: Thanks anon! First time I’m writing Daveed. This was fun and challenging.

Word Count: 1.7K

Warnings: mentions of sex. Slight angst. I think that’s it but let me know

"U up?"

Two words and a question mark. That was all it took and you felt your heart start pounding in your chest. Your feet started moving around, unable to stay in one place. You had to shred the duvet, you had started sweating. Two words and a fucking question mark and he could make your body betray you. Two words and you were ready for him.

You had to actively remind yourself that you were in withdrawal. That you couldn't hit him back no matter what. That he hadn't treated you the way you deserved. That he was fine and sweet and wonderful - but a dick nonetheless.

Still, it was hard to resist temptation. If you finally allowed yourself to text him back he would be here in a jiffy. You needed it. You missed him. And suddenly everything came rushing back: Daveed's athletic body the first time you'd seen him jump around on stage, his smile as he had introduced himself to you, his teasing manner as he had thrown around millions of jokes to you and the rest of your cast-mates. How you had already fallen for his wicked charms by the end of the first rehearsal. How you had flirted desperately to get him to notice you, and how he had finally pulled you backstage and kissed you in secret. It had all lead to a daring affair between the two of you, Daveed fucking you roughly every day in between rehearsals and later in between shows. His long fingers curling inside you while you moaned his name, the taste of him on your lips, his demanding movements as he took you in various positions all over your dressing room.

And no one could know. Not even Jas or Leslie or Oak. Daveed had made you promise not to tell - that this was your personal thing. You had agreed and said 'of course' right before he had hoisted you up beside the powder room mirror and slid into you. At first, the sneaking around had been nothing but arousing - you one hundred percent condoned it; your only goal back then had been to keep fucking Daveed in your costumes, the blue revolutionary jacket always open against his toned chest, but as the weeks proceeded, you felt yourself wanting more from him.

You wanted to be able to snog him senseless every time you saw him. You wanted to intertwine your fingers with his in public. Treat him to dinner. Take him home. Watch movies on lazy Sundays. Run your hands over his abs in your own bed. Waking up to find him covering your body with kisses.

But Daveed had said no. That he didn't want those things. That he didn't want to engage in anything serious with someone he worked with. That you were just co-workers who helped each other relieve some of the stress that the highly demanding job craved. Nothing more. In other words, you deduced that you were his stress ball - and you got angry! You yelled, and you threatened to kick him out of your dressing room, and you even threw a small lipstick at him, but his chocolate brown eyes were so sweet and so kind that you eventually felt yourself nodding along to his arguments of how the two of you could mess up the entire production if you started dating and things didn't work out. You sighed and you nodded and you agreed with him. And not even ten minutes later had he pulled off your panties, bent you over the couch, and dropped to his knees behind you. A lousy way to make up for it.

You had let it continue like this for eight months until his contract finally ran out and you were no longer co-workers. You had been looking forward to this. On his last night at the theatre, Daveed had stumbled into your dressing room in his Jefferson robe. The door behind him had barely closed before he had ripped your corset open, his warm fingers immediately rolling your nipples they way he knew you liked it. He had pressed his pelvis up against you and whispered in your ear that he had been hard on stage all night, patiently waiting for the show to be over so he could come see you. And you had decided that now was the time; slowly, you had turned around in his arms with a smirk and you had asked him out seeing as you wouldn't be working together anymore. You had thought it was a sure thing. But Daveed had pulled down your pants mumbling "My contract's in effect until tomorrow," right before you had felt his tongue on your skin.

"So what happens if I ask you again tomorrow?" You'd panted as his tongue was joined by his fingers.

"It'll still be a no," he grinned up at you, apparently unaware of your aching heart. He was a good man. If he knew the effect he had on you, he would've either stepped back or stepped up.

"And what happens after tonight?" You'd asked.

"We keep fucking," he had grinned with a content sigh as he spread your legs apart.

That was five weeks ago.

Now you had endured five weeks of Daveed constantly texting you that he was stressed, or hard, or thinking about you. Five weeks of him sending you dirty texts explicitly describing what he wanted to do to you. Five weeks of you ignoring him completely.

And now you were staring at his text consisting of two words and a question mark, contemplating if a small toe-dip into your old addiction was such a catastrophe. You felt your phone buzz in your hand as another text from him ticked in: 'I know you're reading my texts. Please stop ignoring me I miss you.'

You almost choked. In the year you'd known Daveed this was the most sensitive he'd ever gotten with you. You read the second text over and over and over again contemplating what to do; text him back? Call him? Or keep ignoring him?

In the end, you decided to call him up. He needed to be told of. He answered before the fourth ring.

"Hey," he almost whispered.

"Daveed," you let out a sigh, "you can't keep texting me."

"I know. I know I'm sorry," he mumbled, "are you mad at me?"

"Of course I'm not mad at you," you said quietly, "but things can't go on like this."

"I know... Are you in love with me?" He said abruptly but in a soft voice.

You went completely quiet when you felt your heart ache. So he did know about it. He had managed to put two and two together... "it isn't fair of you to ask me that," you almost whispered, "you know I am."

Daveed went quiet too and you could hear his steady breathing on the other end of the phone line. After a couple of seconds he finally said, "can I come over?"

"I'm not sure it's a good idea."

"Please. I have to see you. I want to apologise properly," he groaned painfully, "can I please come over?"

Unable to resist him, you breathed a short "yes," and ten minutes later opened the door to him.

"Hey," his face curled up in a smile the minute you came into sight. He stepped closer to you, and pulled you in for a soft hug, "you look cute."

"Yeah, well thanks," you mumbled against his neck. You didn't want to reciprocate his compliment even though he did look awfully cute too.

He followed you to the living room.

"Whiskey?" You asked him.

"Nah, I gotta stay sober for this," he shook his head.

"Sober for what?" You asked quietly.

"I - ehm - I wanted to apologise. Like a man," he looked at you with a firm gaze, "I've been a dick and I've been treating you badly."

"Yeah," you nodded and folded your arms across your chest, "you've been acting like an ass. When did you realise?"

"It's embarrassing for me, but I honestly didn't realise before you started ignoring me. I was so used to having you around me all the time, and suddenly I missed you like crazy," he took a deep breath before he continued, "I was so sexually frustrated that I called a friend back home in California and told him about it all. I thought he would agree with me and call you stone-cold or something like that but instead he called me an idiot. He called me out for the way I've been treating you. He made me realise why you wanted to ask me out. I didn't even realise. I'm very sorry."

"It's okay," you said softly, "I know you didn't mean to."

"Good," Daveed nodded and looked like a schoolboy who'd just been scolded and you suddenly felt bad for him.

"I didn't mean to ignore your texts. After your time was up at the theatre, I wanted to keep seeing you - it was just too rough. I had to back off."

"I'm glad you took care of yourself. It's made me realise some stuff about myself that I want to change. I want to be better."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

"Let me start by making it up to you," he smiled, "tomorrow's Valentines day. Let me treat you to dinner. Give you the proper date you deserve."

"I'm not going on a date with you just because you're sexually frustrated and you know I'm an easy fuck," you huffed.

"No! Never! But how about going on a date with me because I like you and I want to see where it could go?"

You shot him a look.

"I understand if you don't believe me but in the past couple of weeks I haven't just missed having sex with you. I've really missed... you. The goofing around, the banter, your infectious laughter. I want to treat you to a date. Let me take you out."

You looked at him suspiciously, "romantically?"

"Yes. Rafa was right. I have a crush on you too. Let's see where this goes."

A small smile crept onto your lips, "okay. If you're sure."

"I'm positive," he grinned and pulled you in for a hug, "fuck I've missed you."

@ramp-it-up

[official-weasley]

Meant to Be (Charlie Weasley x OC)

What happens when Bill brings home a girl and Charlie is completely awestruck by her?

WARNINGS: cursing, angst

Chapter 18

Charlie

It was a few days after my birthday and I was feeling rather cheerful. My friends made a surprise party for me and nothing made me happier than Rhylee showing up. She seemed to be doing better. She was still shy and didn’t talk to me much but compared to before, this was progress.

It actually looked like she slept for once and she wasn’t trying to run away. Theo made her laugh with his stupid jokes and her hair wasn’t a mess for a change. I was happy she was doing better and I was hoping that with a little more time, she would come around and talk to me.

I hiked to my usual spot before work, a bit sad that she wasn’t there. I watched the sunrise and appreciated the silence surrounding me until I heard a roar. I got up at once and followed the noise. I could be mistaken but I think that was Gorra, our Chinese Fireball.

“What is going on?” I asked Andrew the second I got there, hands over my ears as Gorra didn’t stop roaring.

It sounded as if she was in pain.

“I think she stepped on something!” He replied.

“Charlie, where in the bloody hell is Rhylee?!” Theo shouted while trying to get Gorra’s attention.

I looked around, she was the only one who wasn’t there. I didn’t have a watch but I was pretty sure we were all supposed to be at work already.

“I swear if she’s late one more time, you’ll have to do something about it, Weasley!” Theo stepped aside just in time as the Fireball jerked her head, almost knocking him to the ground.

“Seriously, Charlie.” Evan looked at me, wand at the ready, observing the dragon’s moves. “We need one more person.”

“I’m on it!”

Damn it, Rhylee! Where are you?

I ran down to her hut as fast as I could and knocked. No answer. I pressed my ear on the door and I couldn’t hear anything. I knocked again, harder this time. Still no sound. I tried the door. It was unlocked.

It was empty. There was nobody there. But that wasn’t the weirdest part. It looked vacant. As if nobody lived here at all. There were no books on her coffee table as they usually were. The blanket she kept on the side of her sofa was gone. I didn’t dare to step further inside and investigate. What was going on?

“Charlie?” I jumped in the air at Peter’s voice and turned around.

“What are you doing?” He asked with a worried expression on his face.

“We need help with Gorra. Andrew reckons she stepped on something and we need more people.” I explained.

“Okay.” He said slowly. “I’ll help, no problem.”

“Let’s go then.” I stood still for a second longer and then followed him back to the Fireball habitat.

I couldn’t get the image of her empty apartment out of my head but I couldn’t afford to think about it now. Gorra needed help.

“Why were you snooping around Rhylee’s place?” He asked as we were hurrying up the hill.

“She didn’t show up at work and since we were a few people short I came to get her.”

“She didn’t tell you.” He murmured more to himself than to me.

“What?” I turned to him and I could see he was going about it in his head.

“Charlie,” he stopped and grabbed my elbow for me to stop walking as well, “Rhylee left the day after your birthday. I thought you knew.”

I stood and stared at him like a statue. I didn’t understand what he was saying.

“What do you mean she left?” I tilted my head. “I didn’t give her a day off.”

“Not for a couple of days, Charlie.” Peter said calmy. “She resigned. She left for good.”

I looked around and walked to the nearest rock. I had to sit down.

She left?

She resigned?

What the fuck?

I…I don’t understand.

She left without saying anything? Without telling me? Without saying goodbye?

I grabbed my chest as I was gasping for air. I couldn’t breathe. I felt like I was having a heart attack. This isn’t happening. What does he mean she left for good?

“Charlie!” Peter kneeled before me. “Are you okay?”

“I…what.” I looked up at him, still breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry, Charlie. I thought she told you. You two were so close.” Peter frowned.

I think he couldn’t believe it either.

Close? Apparently not. Apparently, I didn’t mean shit to her. Otherwise, she wouldn’t leave like this.

I turned my head as I heard another roar. I can’t deal with this right now.

I took a deep breath and got up. I started running toward the dragon, Peter right behind me. I knew he wanted me to stop and talk about it but I couldn’t. What am I supposed to say? What am I supposed to do?

Peter sent me home the second we immobilized Gorra and the healers came to help her. I don’t remember getting home. I don’t remember unlocking the door or taking my shoes off. I don’t recall taking my clothes off and going into the shower but here I was. Hands leaned against the wall, water pouring over me.

I was so confused. I kept shaking my head. I couldn’t believe it. She just left. Without even a note or any indication where she has gone or why.

Deep down I knew it was too good to be true when she got friendly again for my birthday. It was sudden but I thought she was finally moving on from whatever was bothering her so much. I know now that I was wrong. What was she doing it for then? For my sake? Because it was my birthday?

I stopped counting how many times she broke my heart. I simply couldn’t do it anymore. This was all too much. Maybe it’s for the best. Perhaps it’s better this way. I came to terms with the fact that I will never be able to call her mine and I was beating my head around the fact that we’ll work together for what might be forever.

I didn’t have to worry about that anymore. She was gone. Apparently, not carrying at all that I will miss her. That I am clueless about what has happened to her or where she is.

She didn’t care.

I felt as if someone hit me in the chest with a Bludger. Just saying the last sentence in my head broke something inside of me.

Fuck, it hurt.

This was unbelievable. I thought she needed time. I thought she’ll come around but I guess I was wrong. I guess I couldn’t read her after all and everything was just in my head; an illusion.

—

1 month later…

“Charlie, look at this!” John handed me the Daily Prophet and pointed his finger at a paragraph. “It’s about that dragon in Gringotts. Tomorrow’s the final trial.” He summarized it.

“I hope the Ministry sees that the dragon is innocent.” I said without much interest in my voice.

“Come on, mate. This can be your chance!” I looked up at him and raised my eyebrows.

“A chance for what?”

“You have been trying to track Rhylee down ever since she left. She’s going to testify, right? This is your chance to speak to her!” John exclaimed.

“Are you mental?” I frowned at him. “Why would I do that?”

“Because you still care about her, Charlie!” Theo spoke for the first time. “And don’t try and deny it. You’re a mess and you haven’t drunk a beer with us in a month.”

“We know you’re still wondering what happened to her and why she left the way she did.” Evan said gently.

“I can’t just go there and say hello. She didn’t bother telling me she’s leaving. She obviously doesn’t care.” I scoffed.

“You’re going to attend that trial if I have to drag you!” Theo stood up and banged the table with his fists.

“Alright, calm down!” I lifted my hands in defense. “I’ll go.” I glared at him. “Alone.”

“I’ll work instead of you, Charlie.” John offered immediately.

“Thanks, John.” I gave out a weak smile.

I looked down at the paper again, my heart racing. I hated that it still did. I haven’t seen Rhylee for over a month. Not a word. Not a letter. Nothing. I had no idea where she was. I asked around but nobody knew anything.

Peter asked some of his friends that work at the Ministry and nobody has seen her. I even reached out to Bill to see if he knew anything about it or if she spoke to him by some chance but until I wrote to him, he didn’t even know she wasn’t working at the Sanctuary anymore.

I didn’t want to go to the trial but I knew I won’t be able to forgive myself if I don’t go. I deserve a fucking explanation for her behavior. You don’t just leave without saying anything. It’s reckless, childish, and cruel. I know we were nothing more than friends but I thought we had strong enough of a bond for her to tell me that we might never see each other again.

I apparated to London the next morning. I was more nervous than I would like to admit. I hated this. I hated coming here and I dreaded talking to her. What am I supposed to say?

Hi.

Why did you leave?

How are you doing?

I can’t pretend like that. I am not a person to do that. It didn’t matter that I went over at least 10 scenarios yesterday, thinking of what to say and what might happen. I knew that I would freeze the second I would see her. I wasn’t even sure she was going to be there or if I would be able to catch her alone.

I made it to the trial just in time and spotted her at once. I thought my heart was going to escape my ribcage, that’s how fast it was beating when I caught sight of her. She was sitting in the middle of the room, waiting to be questioned along with a group of people for which I assumed were her previous co-workers.

They made some good arguments, defending the dragons but I got the feeling that the Ministry has already made their decision and that the trial was just a formality so that people who care about dragons wouldn’t protest. They didn’t stand a chance.

I saw the pain on Rhylee’s face when they told them that they are going to execute Kyan. I felt bad for her. I knew how hard she worked on the case. How hard we worked on it together and it was all for nothing. I hope she’ll at least have the chance to say goodbye.

She stood up the second it was over and rushed out of the room. I got up too and made my way outside. I have to follow her. This was my only chance to talk to her.

“Rhylee!” I shouted her name when I spotted her in the crowd.

She turned around and her eyes widened when she saw me. She turned back in the direction she was walking and continued to do so. I looked to the ground and inhaled sharply.

Am I really going to go after her? Shouldn’t I just let her go?

I will and I can’t!

I followed her outside. Great, it’s raining. As if the whole situation isn’t gloomy enough. She rushed into a nearby alleyway.

“Rhylee!” She stopped walking but she didn’t turn around. “Don’t you dare apparate away!” I knew what she was doing.

She was panicking. Was she too embarrassed to face me?

“What are you doing here, Charlie?” She was still facing away from me, her voice barely audible because of the rain.

“I came for the trial.” I said bluntly.

“Then why are you following me?” She looked at me over her shoulder.

It looked as if she was crying but I couldn’t tell with rain droplets running down her face.

“I want an explanation.” I said through my teeth.

I was trying to keep it together. But it was hard. I was so mad at her. She broke my heart by leaving.

“For what?” She turned to me and I automatically took a step forward.

“Stop with the bullshit, Rhylee. You know what for!” I raised my voice.

“What do you want me to say, Charlie?” She brushed the wet hair off her face.

“How about you tell me why you left without saying anything? Without telling me? Without any sort of inclination that you’re going to resign?” Fuck I wanted to run to her and shake her by the shoulders.

I wanted her to tell me everything and more. I wanted her to say everything she ever stopped herself from saying to me and I wanted her to say it straight to my face.

“I told you…” She closed her eyes slowly, gathering her thoughts. “I can’t repeat what happened between us.”

“Oh, go feed those lies to someone else, Rhylee! Because I am not buying it! That’s not the reason you left!” I shouted at her.

I can’t believe she tried to lie to me, again. Was it so fucking heard saying the truth for once?

“Nick couldn’t get over what happened.” She sighed. “I couldn’t see him be in so much pain so I left.” She said with a bowed head.

No.

Not buying it.

That wasn’t it.

I knew her too well and she was either playing stupid or wanted to hide the truth from me.

“I thought I was your friend.” I said softly.

“You are, Charlie.” Her shoulders sank.

“Then why are you not telling me the truth?” I asked.

“I just told you the truth, what more do you want from me?” She looked at me incredulously.

“I know you better than that Rhy, and I know you’re lying to me. Now tell me the truth. Why did you really leave? I deserve that much.” My voice shook.

“I…” She sobbed. I didn’t have to see her tears now to know that she was crying. “I felt too guilty being around you.”

“The truth, Rhylee!” I raised my voice again.

At this point, I knew I wasn’t getting any more than that so I was determined to get it. I needed it to move on.

“I…” She stuttered.

“The truth!” I muttered and took one more step toward her. “Give me the truth and I’ll leave you alone if that’s what you want.”

“I’m pregnant!”

My eyelids fluttered and I felt my knees weaken.

What?

I was slightly shaking my head, not sure how to comprehend what she just said.

“What?” Was all I could muster.

I couldn’t clear my head and I was hoping I heard her wrong.

“I’m expecting Nick’s baby.” She cried.

I closed my eyes and pretended that she wasn’t there. I tried feeling every raindrop that touched my skin. Is it possible to hear your own heart breaking? Because I am pretty sure that was the last thing I heard before the drumming started in my ears. My head was pounding and I felt like fainting.

She isn’t.

She can’t be.

What was she thinking?

With him!

Really?

I opened my eyes and looked at her. She was still standing there. I was hoping she would apparate away now. I didn’t want to see her face. It hurt too much. And I hated the expression on it. She was waiting for me to say something. What the fuck am I supposed to say to her?

I don’t think I slept for more than 2 hours the night Peter told me she left. I was going on and on in my head, thinking of any possible reason why she left. Why she was so miserable. Why she didn’t say goodbye. Her being pregnant wasn’t one of them. I was prepared for anything. I expected her to say anything but that.

Anything.

This changed everything. It was all over. I lost her. I really did. There was no turning back. No more chasing around. No more hope. She will never be mine.

I will never kiss her forehead again and run my fingers through her hair. I will never hear her laugh again and see that playfulness in her eyes. She won’t fall asleep in my arms and I will never be able to feel that connection between us. The tension. The many possibilities of showing each other affection and just how much we are meant for each other.

All of that was gone. All of that will never happen. I will never call her mine. I will never be with the girl of my dreams.

It was one thing when Bill fancied her and when she had a boyfriend. There’s always a chance things go south no matter how bad it might sound, me thinking about it.

But a child. I can’t compete with that. I can’t break up a family.

It really was over.

“Please say something, Charlie.” She pleaded. “I know you’re mad.”

“Mad?” I let out a suppressed laugh. “I’m not mad, Rhylee. I’m disappointed.”

I’m heartbroken.

But I can’t tell her that. It doesn’t matter now. It wouldn’t make a difference.

“I…I just thought…you know since everything…that…you know…” She started blabbering.

“How could you let this happen?” I frowned at her.

I knew it wasn’t my place to talk to her like this but I couldn’t help it. She ruined her life by staying with him and it pained me. It pained me so much.

“What?” She locked her eyes with mine.

“What were you thinking having a baby with him? With someone you’re not happy with!”

“That is none of your business, Charlie!” She screamed in my face.

“You made it my business when you distanced yourself from everybody! When you came to work late! When you started looking like you haven’t eaten anything for days!” She stared at me, her mouth slightly opened.

“What? You thought I hadn’t noticed? Everybody noticed, Rhylee! We were all worried for you and then you just left!” I threw my arms in the air.

“You wanted to know, so I told you.” She said biting her lip.

“And what do you want me to reply?” I questioned. “Want me to say that I’m happy for you? Want me to congratulate you? No offense, Rhy…but I can’t do that. You don’t look that cheerful about it either!” I turned away.

I couldn’t look at her anymore. It hurt too much.

I wanted to just walk away. I knew it would be dangerous to apparate. My mind was all over the place. I wanted to scream. I wanted to run. I wanted to disappear. This was all too much.

But I couldn’t. I couldn’t walk away from her. I couldn’t just leave her in the middle of the street. I wouldn’t do that to her even if she did do it to me. I still loved her. Fuck, how much I loved her.

We were standing like this for at least a minute. I knew she was still there and I could feel her eyes piercing through me. For some reason, I knew she felt bad. I know her. She didn’t want this. We never talked about things like this. Kids or having a family. But I knew she didn’t want it to happen like this.

With him.

But she’s right. It’s none of my business and it’s her life. She’s the one who ruined it. She could be happy. I could make her happy. I know I could. But she didn’t choose me. She chose Nick.

I took a deep breath and turned around again. I walked to her and wrapped my arms around her. She whimpered under my touch.

“Have a nice life, Rhy. I wish you all the happiness.” I whispered in her ear with the heaviest heart and walked away as fast as I could, knowing she won’t follow me.

[smallheathgangsters]

Second Youngest | Part Three

A/N: The final part is finally here! So sorry for the longest wait ever, but I do hope you enjoy and that I didn’t disappoint you. Lots of love! xx

Tag List: @sophieshelby @annabethgranger123 @marvelschriss @bloodorangemoonlight @chill-bee @savannah-elliott @the-number7 @mayakblack @thekillingjoke-haha @soleil-dor @theshelbyclan @erinwhelan99 @saniyaah @loveforweasleys @livingforbarnes @multi-fandom-iimagines @lovemissyhoneybee @peakyblindersengland @lucillethings  @callmesunshinexx @simonsbluee @anyasthoughts

Shelby!Sister Reader

Word Count: 2483

Type: angst

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

Alfie. What a man. Impressive, but so scary and intimidating at the same time. Thinking about him sent shivers down your spine, although you were never sure if in a positive or negative way.

He clearly wasn’t a good man. Not to his employees, not to his business partners, not even to himself. To you though, he was strangely kind. Kind in a way that meant he didn’t yell at you the way he yelled at Ollie. Or how he asked you to do something instead of demanding it. They were subtle things, gestures that might not stand out very much. But that didn’t mean you weren’t able to notice and appreciate them.

You’d been afraid that life would go downhill again after it had just gotten better. Your former boss was a lovely man and he had treated you more than well. When Alfie stepped into the room and introduced himself to you, your heart had sunk. He had seemed violent and messy and anything but a serious, successful entrepreneur.

Luckily, it had turned out better than expected. You knew he was into the same shady business as your family and that his ethics were more than questionable. It was painful for you to watch how he treated people, though over time you got used to it, especially since he spared you. Not once had he raised his voice at you. He even complimented you from time to time, mentioning your hard work and that he appreciated your commitment.

Of course, you would have preferred staying with your old boss. He didn’t make your skin crawl every time he entered the room. His tone has always been cheerful and motivating, the work had been morally a lot less worrying and the office had been filled with sunlight and cute little plants. Alfie’s place was dusty and dark, and you were often working by yourself.

Still – it was a hundred times better than what you had to endure in Birmingham. With your family.

Every day you wished you could write to Finn. Sweet, sweet Finn. You missed him so much. But you had to make sure that no other family member found out where you were located. And the last thing you wanted was your little brother getting in trouble because of your foolishness.

It was a stormy Thursday evening. There was still so much to do, the paperwork piling on your desk, waiting to be taken care of. Alfie hadn’t been around all day, but Ollie had come by more than once to bring you more assignments. You sighed and looked out of the tiny window up in the corner. Your office room was located underneath the bakery, hidden away from daily life and anybody who could be suspicious about what was going on behind the flour and eggs.

Suddenly, Ollie poked his head through the door frame.

You let out a scoff, loud enough for him to hear.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to bring you more work,” he defended himself, lifting his hands as if he was surrendering.

“Sorry,” you mumbled, leaning back into your chair and regretting that you had made your annoyance so obvious. Ollie was a nice guy and he asked you if he could help you with your papers every single day. Even though you declined every time, you very much appreciated it.

He leaned against the frame and ran a hand through his hair. “It’s okay, I understand. Today was stressful.”

“Are you done?” you asked your colleague.

He nodded. “Joining me? We could get a drink somewhere.”

You let out another sigh and shook your head. “Not today. I need to get a few more things finished up before I go. I really don’t want to stay longer tomorrow.”

Ollie chuckled. “I understand. Have a nice evening, Y/N.”

He waved at you politely and then left, leaving you behind your desk with your typewriter. Before getting back to what you had been working on, you lifted your head and studied the clock. It was already seven. You decided to stay another hour.

Eight o’clock came around faster than expected. You had managed to do half of what you’d intended to, but you were starting to get incredibly sleepy, so you knew you would only start making mistakes from now on.

You pulled out the piece of paper from your typewriter, pulled open one of the drawers underneath the desk and placed it inside. Then you closed it maybe a little too forcefully, making you flinch at the slamming sound. You clearly were stressed, but the week was over soon, and you couldn’t wait to go on a relaxing trip to the countryside on Saturday. Have a picknick on the greenest field with the prettiest flowers. Enjoying the sun and gentle breeze. The smell of freedom and the calming tranquillity.

You sighed to yourself yet again, the images buzzing around in your head, and grabbed your purse. Your fingers rummaged around in it, trying to find the keys to the bakery. After a couple of seconds, they pulled out the cool metal.

You walked out of your office, closing the door and continued to the main entrance. You weren’t even halfway there, when you heard footsteps. Two, to be precise. Two steps into your direction.

You stopped in your tracks, your hand closing tightly around the keys, making them clink loudly. Slowly, you turned around, scanning the large hall.

Alfie had always promised to keep you safe. Or at least that was the reason he gave for why you were the only employee without a gun. He had said that you would never have to worry about anyone hurting you or even getting too close to you. And you had trusted him, hadn’t even questioned his decision. He had sounded so convincing, as though there was no doubt in what he told you.

Now, you regretted trusting his words. Because you knew you were the last worker to leave the shop and you were clearly not alone.

“You really thought you could outsmart us, Y/N …”

Tommy.

He had found you.

And with another step he slowly started coming out of the darkness. The distinctive sound of him clearing his throat gave you the worst case of goose bumps.

You were scared. So scared.

There was no way he’d let you go. Let you stay here.

There was no place for peace in this war. You had thought you had escaped for good. But apparently you could never escape the Shelby curse.

“H– How did you find me, Thomas?”

You could have slapped yourself right then and there. Your voice sounded pathetic and frightened. Not the impression you wanted to give off. Especially when facing your older half-brother.

He chuckled. To himself. Mockingly. “You chose Finn to help you.”

You gulped, your fingers closing even tighter around the metal in your hand, slowly beginning to hurt yourself.

“Finn only had to look me in the eyes once and I knew he was involved in your very clever escape plan,” he explained while taking another two steps towards you and fishing out a cigarette. He placed it carefully between his lips but didn’t immediately light it.

His eyes had always been very empty. Even today. Cold and empty.

The difference was, today they looked disappointed. And furious. Furious about somebody thinking they were smarter than him. Somebody thinking they could get away without facing the consequences. Somebody underestimating him. Gravely.

“And when I found out you were hiding in Solomon’s bunker, I knew I had to put an end to this foolishness of yours.”

You gritted your teeth and tried to move backwards, as discreet as possible, with a loudly thumping heart. The main entrance was facing your back and all you wanted to do was turn around and bolt. Out of the bakery and into the night. As fast as possible.

But you didn’t trust your brother. You didn’t trust Tommy not to shoot you. Because he obviously had no sympathy for you at all.

The clicking of a lighter filled the air and the cigarette between Tommy’s lips caught the flame. “A Shelby on the Solomon side of the business? You know I can’t accept that, Y/N. It’s bad for my deal and my reputation.”

You sucked in the cool air through your still gritted teeth. “Please just let me go home.”

You had wanted it to sound like a demand. But as you had expected, it had come out like a plea.

“I can’t let you do that.”

His voice was lacking every sign of emotion. Making it the scariest you had ever heard.

“I’ve done nothing wrong, Tommy.”

Another step backwards. How much more until you got to the door?

“Perhaps not maliciously, but you’ve caused a lot of trouble already and I don’t want to clean up your mess,” Tommy explained and took another drag of his cigarette.

All of a sudden, panic overcame you. Your feet started moving on their own, in direction of the exit. A rush of adrenaline overcame you, although that ended very promptly when you felt a strong hand wrap around your upper arm.

“Stop running away, Y/N,” Tommy’s growled. “I’m taking you home.”

“Home?” you yelped, struggling in his grip, trying to get him off. “Small Heath was never my home, Tommy!”

“So, you think the basement of this Jewish bastard is your home?” he huffed, tightening his grip even more.

You let out a desperate cry. “At least he made me feel welcome!”

“Shut up, Y/N,” you heard Tommy grumble, his voice coarse. Then, you heard the cocking of a gun. “I don’t want to shoot you. Please do as I say and come with me. Civil.”

Only a moment later you felt the barrel against your ribcage. Your heart stopped for an interval, trying to cope with the stress you were under. Your breath was shaky and your body stiff as a board.

“Please …” you begged again, tears forming in the corners of your eyes. You knew it was stupid to show weakness, but you just couldn’t deal with it anymore. With Tommy and his obsession with power and control. With the Shelby name haunting you. With the fact that you would probably never get away. They would always find you. They would always get you back.

Suddenly, there was a door being slammed. Both yours and Tommy’s head shot up.

“Thomas, fuck off.”

“Alfie, stay out of this.”

“Stay away from my employee.”

“I said stay out of this,” Tommy repeated, pressing the gun even harder into your side. “If I shoot her, she’ll be no use to you anyway.”

Alfie, who was stood in a doorframe slightly above the ground, slowly moved down the few steps, closer to the scene. “You’re not fucking shooting my employee.”

Even though Alfie was technically defending you, you despised how they both talked about you in the most objectifying way possible.

You began twisting in Tommy’s grip, trying to free yourself, since he was now busy with Alfie’s interference. But your half-brother wasn’t one to easily get distracted.

“I’m going to fucking shoot you if you don’t stop,” he hissed, now visibly angry. Tommy aggressively pushed you towards the large main door, trying to take you out of here and with him.

“Fucking get back here, Thomas!”

Alfie started getting pissed. And you knew, that meant nothing good was going to happen.

“I said stay out of this. This is about family, not about business! We can talk business some other time.”

With that said, he forcefully threw you against the steps leading up to the exit. You fell onto your knees and hands, scraping them badly. You let a sound of pain slip out of your mouth and immediately pressed your eyes and lips together, trying to suppress any more noise and tears.

Straight away, Tommy’s gun was on your body again. This time, right against your temple. “Don’t move.”

But why should you obey? What was the benefit of obeying him? You were terrified for your life, though you’d rather be dead. Rather get shot in the head than accept the fact that you were defeated. By your family. That they had ultimately broken you.

Your mind had no time to catch up with what happened next. The only thing you were more than sure about was that a gun was fired. And a heavy weight had fallen onto you.

The scent of cigarettes and musky aftershave crept into your nose, making you realise that it was Tommy. Making you realise that the pressure on your body was Tommy and the warm liquid spreading on your clothes was blood.

You wanted to scream. And cry. But every single sound you wished to make was stuck in your throat, keeping you from breathing properly. You weren’t only trapped underneath your dead half-brother. You were trapped in your own skin, unable to move and say anything.

“Get up.”

As if nothing had happened. As if Alfie had not just shot Tommy. Demanding you to get up, while he pushed away his lifeless business partner and offering you his large, dirty hands.

And you knew crying, not accepting his offer or resisting him would do absolutely nothing for you. This life didn’t give you a chance to breathe. Either you got over this evening right away or you’d lose everything you’d fought for.

And Tommy was not worth it.

Not even a bit.

So, you grabbed Alfie’s hand and let him pull you up. You accepted the handkerchief he held out and cleaned off the blood as good as possible.

“Alfie …” you said carefully, looking up at him cautiously. “Why did you shoot him?”

He frowned. “No one fucks with my business.”

You bit your lip and handed him back the cloth. “Wouldn’t it have been better for business, if you’d just let him take me?”

He shrugged, scratching at his beard. “Maybe,” he mumbled almost incomprehensible. “Your brother–“

“Half-brother,” you corrected.

Your interruption made Alfie eye you up and down. “… half-brother used to be my favourite Shelby. Though, y’know, that may have changed over the past few months.”

You snorted, almost a little too confidently. “You’ve only just found out about my identity, Alfie.”

Your statement made him laugh, confusing you.

“You really thought I didn’t know you were a Shelby?” he asked and stepped closer to you, piercing into your eyes with his. “I know a Shelby when I see one. Even the ones that are nothing like the rest of the pack. Your true nature sits deep inside you and always will.”

Then, he backed away before turning his back on you.

“I hope you know how to hide a body, Y/N.”

He opened the door to his office and let it slam shut. Leaving you alone with Tommy.

[krreader]

what matters is here and now.

pairing: kim seokjin x manager!reader fandom: bts warnings: / genre: angst ; fluff  word count: 1.8k+

summary: it wasn’t a question of whether or not you two loved each other. it was the question of how you were going to make this work with your circumstances.

a/n: haven’t done a jin story in a while, so I hope you guys like it ♥

With Jin being the oldest member of Bangtan and not having a girlfriend – unlike others from his group – questions were bound to come up, especially from his family.

“Why do all the younger ones have girlfriends, but you don't?” his mother would complain, “I want to have grandchildren some day, you know?”

He would simply smile and nod, tell her that she would get her grandchildren eventually, but then quickly change the topic.

He would love nothing more than to tell her the truth, her and everyone else, but he couldn't.

Because if anyone found out, you would be ruined.

Getting a position as a manager for Bangtan had been a dream come true for you. You had worked hard on achieving this dream and showed your worth within the first month after a scheduling conflict could have destroyed the entire upcoming world tour. But after two restless days and nights and countless of phone calls and emails, you had managed to figure it out and the entire company was in your debt, glad to have you on board.

That was four years ago.

And a lot can happen in four years.

While Bangtan had their own personal managers, you were one of the general ones, one of the ones that they could all go to if they had a problem. And the first few weeks, you barely spoke to any of the members, were more involved with Bang PD than with the boys themselves.

But then, one night when you had been sitting in your office and had just ended a video conference with their American record label, there had been a knock on your door.

“Hello manager,” Jin had smiled a little, “Can I come in?”

“Of course,” despite your tiredness, you had smiled back at him, offering him a chair across from your desk, “What can I help you with?”

“It's not so much what you can help me with, than what I can help you with,” he had placed a plastic bag on your desk and had began grinning, “I made too much food earlier and I figured I'd see if anyone was still at the company and would like some. And... well... you're one of the only ones left.”

This was probably the first time that you had a conversation alone with him and while you had always been kind and professional towards him, this act of kindness had surprised you.

“Really?” you had blinked a couple of times in confusion, “You're... giving me this?”

“You work so hard for us, I'd like to give you something back. And right now, that is the only thing I have.”

“You don't have to give me anything, Jin. I'm getting paid to help you, you know?” you had chuckled a little.

“Hm,” he had thought for a moment, then he had smiled again, “Then look at this as our first proper introduction dinner. Just you and me, getting to know each other better so we can work even better together in the future.”

You had laughed then, had thought it was incredibly endearing and had ended up having dinner with him. Not just for half an hour, but you two had talked for nearly two hours, despite the time ticking away until it was the early morning hours.

At first it was strictly professional stuff, gossip within the company of who was dating who and such.. but eventually it started to get a little more personal. What's your favorite this and that, where were you born, what are your parents doing and so on.

And that's the kind of relationship that you've had for the first year. It was genuinely just a friendship that had developed between you two. He got along with all managers, especially his own, but with you, there wasn't that feeling of him having to be professional at all times anymore. He could simply be himself and that was something he valued a lot in you.

Feelings only started developing a year or so after that first conversation between you two.

It was at a wedding of one of the other managers, where naturally both you and him – including the rest of Bangtan – had been invited to. It was a lovely ceremony, the food was great, the atmosphere even better and at one point of the night, you ended up with only Jin in the beautiful gardens of the private venue.

“I'm so happy for him,” you had said with your head turned around to look at your co-worker and his newly wedded wife dancing and laughing, “It's so nice to see someone love someone else so deeply.”

Jin had first looked at the manager as well, but then his eyes had shifted to look at you. And that's all he did for a moment. Watch you.

Then, he had finally said: “Have you ever experienced it? This kind of love?”

Your smile had faltered, turning your head to look at him, “Have you?”

He couldn't reply, just like you couldn't.

That was answer enough.

“Sometimes I think that not everyone is destined to find someone else that loves them. Loving yourself is enough for some,” you had sighed and fully turned around now, so that your back was facing the wedding, “I have my job and I have me and I think that is enough.”

“You think that is enough.. but you wonder what it's like, don't you?” Jin had nodded to himself, looking down to his hands, “I'm like that too. I try to find solace in my work, but every now and then I wonder what real love would be like.”

You had turned your head to look at him, a small smile spreading on your face once again, “Don't worry, Jin. I know you'll find someone that see's you for the amazing, handsome and intelligent man that you are.”

“Like you?”

It came out of his mouth before he could even really think about it, but the words were already spoken and all he could do then was watch you gulp down hard before leaving in a hurry.

That night was the first night that both of you were confronted with feelings that you hadn't noticed before. However, it didn't lead to a confrontation or anything like that for a while. It was almost like as if it took both of you by surprise, that neither you nor Jin had actually thought about the fact that maybe, you had found your special someone already.

And on top of that, there was the obvious problem of you being his manager and a romantic relationship between a manager and an idol was forbidden for good reasons. Favoring said idol, the scandal it would be for the company, the fact that it would ruin your career if people ever found out of it... all of these things made neither of you say anything for a long time.

Jin tried calling eventually, texting you countless of times and asking you, almost begging, actually, to talk to him. That he wanted to talk to you and discuss... whatever it was that you two had to discuss.

But you never answered, too afraid of what could be said in that conversation.

It was months after that wedding, at a Christmas party at the BigHit building that you two found each other on your own once again, standing in front of each other when a slow song suddenly started playing.

Not wanting to make it seem like something was up, Jin had simply grabbed your wrist and pulled you towards him, dancing with you like everything was fine. However, he could feel how stiff you were.

“You haven't called me back,” he said in a low voice, “Or answered any of my texts.”

“I figured if there was something important, you'd meet me in my office.”

He slowed down even more, so that he could properly look into your eyes, “It is important.”

“Not now, Jin. Not here.”

“Then where? When? You keep ignoring me. All I want is to talk, (Y/N). That's all we used to do.. remember? Because in case you forgot, we used to be friends at one point.”

But you were better at fleeing from your personal problems than facing them, unlike in your career. And so you did that once again. You walked away as soon as the song stopped, out into the hallway, thinking that you'd have a moment to breathe and gather your thoughts.

But not today.

He wouldn't let you run away again.

“Why is this so hard for you?!” he grabbed your wrist and turned you around, his eyes big, “Why can’t you just talk to me for god’s sake?!”

“Are you seriously asking me this?! Is your career on the line or mine?!”

He let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping and looking down, shaking his head once, then looking back up, “I'm not asking you to marry me. I just want to talk about... us.”

“And then what, Jin?” you let out a humorless laugh, “Because we both know what conclusion we're going to come to.”

“Then so what?” he grabbed your upper arms, “We could work things out!”

You became sad at how much this meant to him. At how much you apparently meant to him. If only you hadn't chosen BigHit. If only he hadn't. If only you had met under different circumstances.

“Jin, I'm..-”

But before you could talk any further, he had already pressed his lips against yours, doing what he had wanted to do ever since that wedding. And it was just like he thought it would be like.

It was as if you both knew that there was no going back now. Feeling the things you felt with that kiss was enough to know that you were already in this too deep.

He pulled back only a few seconds after, a lot softer than how the kiss had started, still leaning his forehead against yours, “I promise we can work it out. I promise you, (Y/N).”

You wanted to believe him so badly, all those years of you being lonely came crashing down right there and then, now that there was finally a man in front of you that cared so much about you.

That part of you that yearned for love made you nod.

The period that followed was both the best time of your life, as well as the hardest.

Constantly lying to every single person in your life wasn't easy. But simultaneously, coming home to your – now – boyfriend standing in the kitchen with the most beautiful smile on his face, kissing you and telling you how much he had missed you and loved you... it made it all worth it.

You never talked about the future, because both of you knew that if you'd want to take this just one step further, there'd be even more complications than you already had now.

So you lived in the moment, were happy with the time that you were given and eventually, if destiny would have it, you would try to figure out if there was a way for you two to spend the rest of your lives together.

But right now, right there, just lying next to each other in bed, entangled limbs and gentle kisses... that was all that mattered and all that you needed to finally be... content.

[simp-for-mha-men]

𝕒 𝕔𝕠𝕦𝕡𝕝𝕖 𝕠𝕗 𝕔𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕝𝕖𝕤 (𝕜𝕒𝕥𝕤𝕦𝕜𝕚 𝕓𝕒𝕜𝕦𝕘𝕠𝕦 𝕩 𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕖𝕣)

Request by @oneseharuxo: So, Can I request a bakugo x fem! Reader fluff where it's the reader's birthday? I really loved the Aizawa fluff! And you can take your time dw!

A/N: My first request! I was so incredibly soft while writing this. It’s the cutest little thing for our favorite explosive boy. I hope you all enjoy this little bit of Bakugou positivity to get you through the week! Also, I was listening to Ghibli soundtracks so it got super romantic. Enjoy!

Genre: some cute pro-hero!Bakugou and pro-hero!reader banter/fluffy times, a little bit of swearing, a dash of angst in the beginning about the reader feeling terrified of the future during past birthdays 💥❤️

Word count: 3.9k

♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥*♥

Birthdays are awful. No matter how you celebrate them, they always bring on the negative and looming thoughts of the future. You’ve known this since you were quite young.

Your mother told you not to worry about your 6th birthday party. You didn’t care about the theme, cake, or favors because you were too caught up in the idea about starting kindergarten. It was terrifying. You were going to need to make new friends, meet new teachers, and start the beginning of a full education.

On your 12th birthday, you began to worry about becoming a teenager. Sure, it was a year away, but it still scared you. The fact that high school was just around the corner made you want to vomit. Middle school was already a big issue in your life, and high school was just going to make it all worse.

When you turned 16, you were already done with U.A. You began to get anxious about your future as a pro-hero. Who would you intern with? Who would you do a work studies with? Who would you be a sidekick for? When would you get your own agency? All of these questions brought on a lot of stress, causing you to want U.A. to invest in one thing: a counselor.

Your classmates were a big help during this period, considering they were all thinking the same things as you. You got close with a certain group of “hooligans,” as Mr. Aizawa put it. He told you to be wary of those individuals, but he was so wrong. The Bakusquad, comprised of Mina, Denki, Hanta, Eijiro, and Bakugou, brought you so much joy and made you forget about your thoughts temporarily. However, you weren’t as close with Bakugou as you were with the others. You were never even on a first name basis with him.

Now, you were older and still stressed yourself out about the littlest things. You had officially become a pro-hero, after graduating as a sidekick to Best Jeanist, and worked at Bakugou’s agency due to him “owing you a favor” from high school. You wanted to start your own agency, but you were currently tight on money due to some issues with your apartment. Of course, the entire plumbing system needed to be fixed right before your meeting the bankers to ask for a loan.

Bakugou was “kind” enough to let you work alongside him, but he treated you the same way he did in high school. He was distant enough to not ask you personal questions, yet he always showed up when you had a bad day and needed to rant to someone. Today, it was the latter.

“He was so idiotic and rude!” you yelled to your co-worker.

“Yeah, what an asshole,” he replied, crossing his arms and leaning against his desk.

You were currently in Bakugou’s personal office, looking out the window and whining about a man you encountered after your recent rescue. It was already close to 10 PM so the building was empty. It was always like this, especially with the week just beginning.

“After he told me to come over later,” you sighed, “he tried to get my number.”

“Wait, really?” Bakugou asked, walking over next to you.

“Yeah! I mean, come on! You don’t just say that to a pro-hero. I’m not even that good looking.”

Bakugou fell silent. He wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn’t get anything to come out. He thought you were so gorgeous. How was he supposed to tell you that, though. He had acted as if he hated you until you both were 3rd years. He always regretted that. Maybe he needed to learn how to just “be manly,” as Kirishima would say, and tell you his actual thoughts.

“Hey, dumbass,” you said, flicking his forehead.

He rolled his eyes dramatically before grabbing your hand and flinging it away as gently as possible. “Oh, please. You’re the dumbass, dumbass.”

You giggled at your friend’s response. It was a classic exchange between the two of you. He had always called you a dumbass, and you had grown accustomed to it. You thought it was endearing and sweet, despite it being an insult the first time he said it. At least he wasn’t calling you an extra anymore.

“Well,” you began again, “what kind of paperwork do you have tonight? Is it some major damage paperwork due to your inferiority complex?”

“Shut up,” he growled. “Today, I actually didn’t go out. I had a couple of meetings with the damn nerd and pink cheeks.”

Huh, you didn’t remember him telling you about seeing Izuku and Ochako. You two weren’t the closest, but you both knew each others’ schedules inside and out in case of an emergency. 

“Oh,” you replied, dramatically. “Let me guess, you couldn’t take your eyes off of Uravity.”

That earned you a hard punch in the shoulder. While you were wincing in pain, Bakugou was churning over what you had just said in his mind. Did you think he had a thing for pink cheeks? You had thought a while back about him and Kirishima dating, earning relentless teasing from Raccoon Eyes, until he denied it.

“You know for a fact I wasn’t,” the explosive hero commented, walking back to his desk.

“Yeah, yeah,” you groaned.

“You just love getting in my head, don’t ya?”

“Obviously.”

“You’ve been doing it more recently.”

Oh no. He’s noticed. You admit that your teasing has gotten a bit heavier since the beginning of the month. Why? You were trying to distract yourself from a certain day. Today, if you want to talk specifics.

“You wish,” you uttered quickly.

Bakugou chuckled and bore his vermillion eyes directly into yours. Smirking, he commented, “You totally have. What? Finally developed feelings for me or some shit?”

Well, great way to get caught twice in the span of 30 seconds. You were way too obvious for your own good. However, Bakugou was oblivious. You’ve liked him since 1st year. I mean, how long is it going to take this guy?

Trying to cover up your embarrassment, you howled with laughter before saying, “Absolutely not! How low do you think my standards are?”

He started chuckling. You turned back to face the window again and joined in the hilarity of his accusation. Although both of you wanted him to be right, neither of you wanted to admit it. With Bakugou’s pride and your fear, a confession was not in the near future.

Bakugou’s laughter subsided first, causing him to look down at the mahogany desk. A faint blush crept up on his cheeks from your sweet voice filling the air before fizzling out. Damn, he really thought he had you there. Apparently, he read the signs wrong.

“When are you leaving?” a tone of bitterness lining his voice that he wished wasn’t there.

You flinched at the sudden hostility and glanced at your watch. “Now, I guess. I mean, all I’m doing is going to my shabby apartment to freak out over my ever-growing age.”

“What?”

“What?”

Both of you were looking at each other. You just let slip your biggest flaw: your tendency to overthink your future. Also, it was your least favorite day: your birthday. The fact you admitted it in front of Bakugou, your only crush in history, was like being bound up my Hanta’s tape. 

You couldn’t move. You had always kept up a stronger guard around the blonde than with the others because you had another fear. You had never even let this slip to Mina, and that’s saying something. Your biggest fear besides the future was losing Bakugou.

Throughout your time at U.A., he constantly pushed you to do better. Whether you were doing a simple training exercise or working on getting stronger for the sports festival, he was always there to encourage you. Of course, his encouragement was telling you to get your ass in gear or face the consequences from him, but it was still sweet of him. 

Suddenly, the opening of desk drawers sounded through the room. You tilted your head to the side, wondering what your angry Pomeranian of a friend was doing. All you could hear was grunting for a couple of seconds.

Then, pens and pencils were thrown out. Next, pieces of paper went up in the air. Whether they were contracts for new sidekicks or just blank binder sheets, you ducked so you wouldn’t get in the crossfire of flying office supplies. After a couple of other things, like paper clips and sticky notes, were scattered across the office, Bakugou finally sighed.

You looked between your hands covering your face and noticed he held...a calendar? Since when was King Explosion Murder organized? You had known this man for years and understood his habits. You even understood why he went to bed so early in high school. This, however, was very different.

“Ugh, what the hell?” he muttered.

Just as you were about to ask him what was up, he grabbed his bag off the back of his chair. He jogged over to you, grabbed your hand and bag, and opened the door.

“You’re an idiot,” he said, shoving you into an elevator. “How long? How long have we known each other? You still never told me.”

Your brain couldn’t keep up. What was he talking about? Did you forget an important dinner meeting he had? No, he usually only scheduled those on Fridays. Then, what was going on.

Before you could ask him, you felt your whole body being yanked by the muscular man. He took you both down to the parking garage and walked straight to his BMW convertible. Letting go of your hand, he went to the trunk and dropped both of your bags in. He opened your door, practically shoving you in, and slammed it closed when all of your limbs were safely inside. Bakugou got in the driver’s seat, buckled his seatbelt, and started the car.

You felt very hazy. You know Bakugou can get...intense about certain topics, but he’s never dragged you into it. The calendar was weird. Him dragging you to his car was weird. The aura was weird. All of this was weird.

“Bakugou?” you asked.

“You’re such a dumbass,” he scoffed.

“Bakugou, please tell me wh--”

“Shut your damn mouth.”

He was acting strange. You weren’t phased by his attitude since you’ve known each other for ages. Deciding to give up, you sighed and looked out the window. The scenery passed by quickly, making your mind wander to the moment you realized you liked him.

It was a normal day at U.A., and exams were just around the corner. You were planning to study alone until Bakugou asked you to join Denki, Eijiro, and himself. You agreed and immediately regretted it. Bakugou was constantly yelling at your other two friends because they were being absolute idiots. In his defense, they were. Denki didn’t even know his body was made of cells, for crying out loud. Despite this, Bakugou indirectly complimented you on your notes. He even smirked a bit at your flustered response. You knew from the way your heart picked up its palpitations that you had fallen hard.

“Out,” Bakugou huffed, scaring you out of your flashback.

Opening the car door and getting out, you looked up and noticed his apartment complex. You heard from Eijiro that it was nice, but it was beautiful. It was made with a light gray cement, almost looking white in the light of the moon. The wood accents were all dark oak, and each apartment had a secluded balcony. You’d definitely have to hit Red Riot the next time you saw him for calling this complex “nice.”

Noticing Bakugou had already grabbed your bags and started up to the door, you began walking to catch up to him. You both got in the elevator, and he pressed the button to the top floor.

You turned your gaze to him. He was deep in thought. His eyes held a purpose, but they were a bit muddy. The reason he had dragged you here must’ve been important. Could it be a reconnaissance mission of some sort?

Soon enough, the ding in the elevator signified your arrival. Instead of a long hallway lined with apartments, there was only a single door. Bakugou slid his key in and turned the look. Holy mother of All Might...Bakugou owned a penthouse.

You were expecting minimal decorations from your friend, and you were right and oh so wrong at the same time. Everything in his apartment was classy and modern. From the wood floors to the paint color to the granite on the counters, his house looked like it had been done by a professional designer. You decided in that moment that you were never taking Bakugou to your apartment.

“Well,” he sighed softly, “go take a shower. The bathroom is down the right hallway over there. You can use one my shirts and a pair of shorts once you’re done. Just don’t waste all the hot water, got it?”

You blinked your eyes a couple of times before meekly nodding your head. Carefully walking over in the direction he pointed, you admired the living room from a new perspective. You also got a chance to see the paint color up close. It was a beautiful soft blue that held a lot of gray tones. It was perfect for a man of his caliber, despite his anger issues.

Once you got to the bathroom, the clothes were already there for you. Bakugou had either gained your former class president’s quirk or you were walking extremely slow. Either way, you smiled when you recognized the top: his iconic black skull t-shirt. He’s had it since high school. The fact he chose that one for you, or maybe just yanked it out of the depths of his closet, made your heart flutter.

The warm shower helped clear your senses. You had to figure out a way to make sure you kept your cool around Bakugou. You had no idea why your crush had acted so strangely before dragging you to his apartment. However, as strange as this whole thing still was to you, despite living in this reality for almost an hour, you couldn’t let him know anything.

After using up almost all of the hot water, you got out of the shower and put on his clothes. They felt so comfortable and reminded you of some of the craziest things you both had gone through. From the USJ attack to witnessing All Might’s fall, you two had seen a lot of crazy things. These thoughts helped give you courage. With that, you checked yourself in the mirror one last time and went to the living room.

Upon walking into the open space, you felt your heart stop. You had only been in the shower for 15 minutes, but Bakugou had done some work. The angry boy you had watched grow into a man had changed, but what you saw was completely beyond you.

On the coffee table, a little strawberry cake with fluffy white icy sat in all its beauty. Next to it were two forks, some napkins, and two cups of tea. There was a card with a picture of you and Bakugou messing with each other that Denki had somehow snapped after the concert had been executed perfectly in 1st year. The reason he had rushed you to his house wasn’t because of hero work. He knew it was--

“Happy birthday, dumbass,” he said, causing you to look up to him.

He held the softest expression you have ever seen. Bakugou’s eyes entranced you and held something similar to...adoration? He was holding some candles in his right hand, but his left hand was hidden behind his back.

“But,” you began, “how? How did you even remem--”

“We were in Yokohama at the hero conference a couple of years ago,” he stated. “Jeanist told me your birthday was coming up, and I asked him what specific day it was. After that, I marked it in my calendar.”

He sauntered over to the coffee table and sat down on the ground. He placed each of the candles meticulously onto the birthday treat. It was almost too perfect.

“I then tried to find you a gift,” Bakugou continued. “Of course, I suck at remembering what people like. I couldn’t get you anything. I did remember something, though.”

Once the candles were placed, he activated his quirk, barely creating a spark, and lit the candles. There were only 4, but it was even sweeter than him leaving out his shirt. 

“At U.A., you always distanced yourself around this time,” Bakugou said, looking up at you. “I thought you had a family thing happen to you or something, but Dunce Face explained it to me. This year, I wanted to change that for you.”

You were speechless. Never in your life did you expect such a gesture from your friend. At this point, it didn’t even feel like you two were friends. It felt as if you two had been together since the dawn of time.

Bakugou then slid on the floor and propped himself on one knee before you. He took his left hand from behind his back, revealing a black and orange box. When he slowly opened it, you gasped at what you saw. It was a Cartier simple black band adorned with emeralds and jaspers.

Tears welled in your eyes as Bakugou extended his hand to you. You placed yours gently in his, allowing him to stand up and slide the ring onto your right hand. It was a perfect fit. Never in your life had you received such a perfect birthday gift. It was a sign from the universe, you thought. It was now or never.

“Baku--” you began, inhaling a sharp breath before starting over. “Katsuki, I can’t keep it from you anymore. I think I like you.”

“No,” Bakugou stated, trying to contain his laughter.

“Excuse me?”

“Try it again, (y/n). Tell me how you really feel.”

You were too infatuated with this man to get angry at him now. Screw your pride. This was your man standing in front of you. You had to say it. You had to say the words he and you both wanted to hear.

“I love you, Katsuki Bakugou,” you announced, causing warmth to flood to your cheeks.

He smiled and sighed. Rubbing a hand over his face, he groaned, “You know I suck at words so get your ass over here.”

Listening to his command, you stepped forward into his arms. He glanced at your lips before you both instinctively closed the gap. You had never felt more alive. It was as if you were both perfectly molded for each other. Whatever god or goddess had created you had also created the handsome specimen you were kissing. The genuine passion and love his kiss held spoke to your heart. It made you realize that the time you had spent waiting to confess to him was wasted time. He wanted you just as much as you wanted him. This was the moment you had been waiting for.

After pulling apart, you both stared into each other’s eyes. Every romance manga you had ever read could’ve never prepared you for what this man was about to say to you.

“Be mine?” Katsuki questioned.

“Absolutely,” you smiled, kissing him once again.

Your entire world changed in those two words. His entire world changed in the response you provided him with. It was meant to be. It was the best thing to ever happen to him. You, (y/n) (l/n), were the best thing to ever happen to him. It was because of you his anger subsided drastically in 3rd year. It’s because of your positive personality that he ended up deciding to take a social ethics class to be kinder to civilians. It’s because of your smile that he kept going, even through the events you both had been through.

Breaking off the kiss, you giggled before saying, “I should blow out those candles. Wouldn’t want your fancy place getting burned to a crisp.”

Playfully punching your shoulder, Katsuki sat down and held open his arms. You got on the ground and crawled into them, feeling peace and security enter your system. Leaning forward, you thought for a few seconds before blowing out your candles. You did make a wish, for the first time in your life, despite having everything you could’ve ever wanted holding you tightly to his chest.

“Wanna break the rules and tell me what you wished for?” he whispered in your ear.

“Sure,” you replied, turning your head to look into his eyes. “I wished for our new relationship to be even better than our friendship.”

Rolling his eyes, he leaned in and kissed your temple. “Now,” he said, grabbing the forks, “let’s dig in.”

You both sat together on the floor of Katsuki’s apartment for the next 3 hours, talking, laughing, and eating the strawberry cake. You both reminisced on how you met, gave your genuine first impressions of each other, and even talked about your first thoughts on the life threatening situations you guys had been in.

For the first time in your life, you weren’t worried about the future. You were actually excited by it. Why? You finally had your partner...no, soulmate. Katsuki was meant to be with you, and you with him. Everything had finally fallen into place. This was the best birthday you had ever had.

Together, you cleaned up the dishes at 3:22 AM, and Katsuki headed off to take his shower. During this time, you began to wander around the apartment again. There was a wall, secluded from the others, that caught your attention.

On it were multiple sleek, black picture frames holding many different photos. There were a couple from the sports festival in 2nd year, one of the first photos the Bakusquad took with you, a couple of Katsuki and Izuku when they were kids, and a single photo of you.

You recognized it. You were at the beach with Mina and Hanta because they begged you nonstop to go. You ended up having a lot of fun, and Mina captured this photo when you happened to look back at her with the biggest smile on your face. When did she give that to him?

“She gave it to me graduation day,” Katsuki stated, as if he was reading your mind. “It’s my favorite photo on this wall.”

“Of course it is,” you smirked. “Who wouldn’t love a photo of me on their wall?”

“That’s it.”

Suddenly, Katsuki charged you and threw you over his shoulder. Laughing like a maniac, you hit his back until he was laughing with you. After a couple minutes of this, he put you down and hugged you. He really did wonders through his actions. Who needed words when Katsuki’s hugs were the best in the world.

“We need to go to bed,” he said into your hair.

“I know,” you yawned.

He picked you up, much more gently, and led you to his room. He plopped you down on the bed and got under the covers. Quickly, you scrambled in next to him. He instinctively wrapped his arms around you. His warmth caused your heart rate to quickly slow and your eyelids to flutter shut. Before you completely fell asleep, you heard the one sentence that made you remember that this birthday was not a dream.

“I love you, (y/n).”

[multi-obsessed-fanfic-writer]

Bet On It Part 2 (Draco x Reader)

Author’s Note: And it’s finally up! This is a part two to Bet On It, but it honestly only kinda mentions it once near the end so it can also be read stand alone. I hope this doesn’t seem rushed, but I had an idea and ran with it so I hope all of you like it as much as Bet On It. As always, feedback is appreciated and I can’t wait to continue writing! Requests are open, have a great day <3

Summary: You’ve been doing fine with your life so far. Draco’s your fiancé and you’re good at your job. But what happens when there’s a transfer into your division at the ministry that wants to shake things up?

Bet On It Part 2

Draco Malfoy x Reader

Word Count: 5.2k

Warnings: reg warnings - angst, fluff, a curse word maybe?, etc. // TW!! - unwanted advances & mentions of rape, please don’t read if that will hurt you in any way mentally or otherwise. I’ve included a warning section before the trigger material happens so you can skip over that if you want, or you can just skip this story. I want you guys to stay safe <3

“Draco! Come on, we’re going to be late!” You chastise your fiancé as you grab your wand and coat. 

“Darling, you say that as if we can’t just teleport to work. Come on, I’ll apparate us there.” Draco smirks at you, grabbing your waist and pulling you to his chest. You’re about to reach up and give him a sweet kiss when all of the sudden you’re no longer in your apartment. You look around, slightly disoriented, at your new surroundings outside the Ministry of Magic. 

You let out a huff and break away from him, wrapping your scarf around your neck that you had been carrying. It’s wintertime, and you are not one keen on freezing to death outside of your work.

“You could have told me,” You mumble, burrowing in your coat and scarf. Draco chuckles.

“Oh, come on. It was kind of funny.” He softly grabs your wrist and pulls you back into him, planting a sweet kiss on your nose. You giggle and pull him back for a real kiss to which he accepts instantly, wrapping his arms around your waist as your arms snake around his neck.

“We should probably go to work,” You whisper, your lips brushing against his. He groans. 

“Do we have to?” He grumbles, kissing you again. You laugh

“Yes, Draco, we’re already here. They don’t pay us to kiss all day.” You pull away from him just slightly, looking at him with such adoration that it would take a fool to not see that you’re utterly in love with him.

“We’re lucky they’re letting us stay together, I suppose.” He sighs, releasing you from his grasp.

“We were a previously established couple, Draco. They can’t break us up because we’re not breaking department rules by ‘dating co-workers.’” You roll your eyes, stepping away from him and starting into the building. Draco follows closely behind.

“Whatever you say, darling. I’ve got a meeting this morning but we’ll grab lunch later, okay? I love you.” He gives you a chaste kiss on your cheek before walking swiftly away to his office. You smile to yourself and sit down at your desk.

Yes, Draco is slightly higher-up in the auror business here. It doesn’t bother you, though, because everyone in this office (including Draco) knows you’ve got just as much skill as him, just not the Malfoy name attached to you. Yet, that is. That will be different a few months from now.

“(Y/n), did you hear that someone’s transferring into the office today? They’ll work beside Draco, filling Lawrence’s old position.” Your friend and co-worker, who sits conveniently at the desk beside you, gossips.

“Oh, really? I didn’t think they’d get a transfer for his position, I heard that they were going to promote someone instead.” Your heart sinks a little bit. You were hoping for that promotion so you’d get an office like Draco, and a title that matches. The two of you are an unstoppable duo, and it’s a pity that the department can’t see past your relationship to make their division work as efficiently as possible. Oh, well. You’ll get promoted one day, and you’re determined to work as hard as you must to get there.

“I hear he’s dreamy, though. Too bad we can’t date co-workers,” She sighs next to you, momentarily forgetting about work. You chuckle.

“I’m lucky I don’t have to worry about that rule. I’m not sure I’d be working here anymore if I did.” You smile lightly, looking at the criminal documents before you that you had left to sign. You internally sigh, dreading this part of the job. You just wanted to get back on the field, but unfortunately, there is only one case out right now and it wasn’t assigned to you.

About an hour of paperwork drones on before you hear your name get called.

“(Y/n), may I speak with you?” Draco calls out, and you look up to see him standing in the doorway of his office. You smile and nod, standing up from your desk.

“Ooh, some alone time with the fiancé, hm?” Your friend teases you. You roll your eyes but the smile stays on your face as you push your chair in and step into Draco’s office.

“Yes, Draco?” You hum, leaning your hands on the chair in front of you. He motions for you to close the door behind you and you do so. You grin at him from the door and make your way to him. You wrap your arms around his torso and kiss the underside of his jaw.

“As much as I’d love to just hold you, (Y/n), this is unfortunately work-related.” He sighs, still wrapping his arms around you and setting his head atop yours. You pout below him, letting out a small ‘humph’ of disapproval. He chuckles and you feel the vibration in his chest, letting a smile work its way back on your face at that small triumph.

“What’s the work, then?” You hum, pulling away from his embrace to turn and look at the files in his hands. He sets them on the desk and opens them.

“I was tasked to find this former death-eater and they let me choose my partner this time, surprisingly. There is a small catch, though.” He looks up at you, a small but sympathetic smile on his face.

“What?” You ask.

“I’ll also be on the case,” A new man walks in, about your age, and extends his hand to you, “nice to meet you, I’m Oscar. I just transferred in from the other division.” 

You shake his hand apprehensively before he moves to shake Draco’s hand next.

“Nice to meet you, Oscar. This is...our co-worker, Miss (y/l/n). She’s the best in the division and she’ll be joining us on the case today.” Draco introduces you. You internally groan. This must be the transfer that your friend was talking about earlier. 

“Pleasure to meet you, Oscar.” You try your best to be polite, giving him a small smile.

“The pleasure’s all mine, Miss (Y/l/n), believe me.” He flashes you a blindingly toothy grin. Draco’s brows furrow for a moment, but it’s gone before you can ask him about it.

“Well, let’s get on with the case. We’ve got to look at all of the evidence in the briefing room first.” Draco leads the two of you down the hall and to the briefing room. You try to ignore how close Oscar seems to be walking next to you, brushing it off as him just being confident.

~+~

A few hours later, you’re officially off work. You smile and stop by Draco’s office, seeing him stressed over a pile of paperwork on his desk. You had caught the death-eater in record time, as he was surprisingly hiding out in the same place as he had always been, so now the process paperwork was on Draco’s plate. You knock on the doorframe softly, causing his head to shoot up.

“Hey, Draco, it’s time to go home. You can worry about the rest of that tomorrow,” You coo, walking over to his desk and laying a hand on his shoulder. His hand comes up and covers yours, squeezing tightly. He smiles and gets up, grabbing his coat from the back of his chair.

“Sounds perfect. I’m dying to get home anyway.” He presses his hand to the small of your back, edging you forward to go first out of the door. You do as you’re told and walk to your desk, gathering your stuff before walking out of the building with Draco. You don’t notice Oscar leering behind the two of you.

~+~

It starts off small at first. Little things that Oscar does for you that make him seem just slightly nicer. Things that you brush off because maybe he’s just a nice guy. Maybe he just cares. There are good men in the world, you’re about to be married to the best, so what if Oscar’s just a good guy? Sure, he picks up your pen when you drop it. He gets you extra paper for your desk when you run out without you having to ask him to. They’re no big deal.

Then things started increasing. He’d start getting you coffee in the mornings, setting it on your desk before you even get to work. He’d ask you to lunch a few times, promising to pay for the meal. You always felt obliged since he is technically your superior, so you thought nothing of it. You usually discussed business at the lunches, anyway. This went on for a few weeks.

What you didn’t see were the hungry glances he’d send your way. He always seemed to be watching you. If he wasn’t watching you, he was talking to you. And while you didn’t seem to notice this, Draco did. And it made him furious.

“(Y/n), what’s going on with you and Oscar?” Draco asks one day when the two of you get home.

“What do you mean, Draco?” You ask, concern filling your gaze that rests upon your soon-to-be husband.

“I mean...he’s into you, or something. Do you not see it? And you… you’re flirting back, aren’t you? Or am I missing something?” He asks, running a hand through his hair. He seems more sad than angry, you note.

You look at him quizzically. 

“Draco, I’m not flirting with Oscar. First of all, I’m engaged to you and I love you. Secondly, how daft would I have to be in order to flirt with him right in front of you?” You scoff softly, going to cup his face in your hands. He lets you, lifting his gaze to meet yours as your hands envelop his face.

“But you always say yes to his lunch dates. You’re always so sweet to him. You...you look happy with him.” He frowns, eyes searching your face for any sign of misinformation. You chuckle softly.

“I’m happy with you, Draco. If you could see the way I look at you, there would be no doubt in your mind of where my affections lie. I go to lunch with him occasionally to discuss business, but I can stop that if you’d like. I love you. I’m just trying to be nice to the new guy, I promise you that’s it.” You murmur, stroking your thumb across his cheek. He nods, wrapping his arms around your waist.

“Okay. I love you. I trust you.” He buries his head into the crook of your neck, pulling you flush to him. You smile and rest your head against his chest. There was truly no place you’d rather be than his arms right now. You wish you could convey that so much better to him. 

~+~

A couple of weeks later, you’ve tried to abide by your soon-to-be husband’s desires. You no longer go to lunch with Oscar, and you’ve been a little less sweet in your conversations. You know Draco’s not being possessive, he’s just trying to share his feelings. You know he’s struggled with that in his past, so you’re being accommodating. Plus, you’re not the biggest fan of Oscar anyway.

“Hey, (Y/n)!” Speak of the devil.

“Hi, Oscar.” You smile tightly, turning your chair to see Oscar walking to your desk with a coffee mug in hand.

“I got this for you. Your usual.” He sets the mug down on your desk, a wide smile on his face. You grimace slightly but turn it into a small apologetic smile.

“Oscar, I’ve told you that you don’t need to get me coffee in the mornings. It can’t be doing good things for your bank account.” You chuckle slightly forced, drawing the mug to the corner of the desk instead of right by you.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You can make it up to me some other time.” He laughs. You stop slightly in your tracks for a split second before resuming what you were doing, hoping that you didn’t cause suspicion. You do not want to know the connotations of that phrase. 

“Well, I should get back to my paperwork.” You chuckle, brushing off the small innuendo that you’re not sure he meant to make or not. You turn back to your desk.

“Would you like to get dinner sometime? Just the two of us?” He asks suddenly, drawing your attention back to him. You keep yourself from making a face.

“Like...a date?” You choke out, unsure of what else to say.

“Yes, exactly.” He smiles at you.

“I’m sorry, I’m already with someone. Draco’s my fiancé.” You deadpan. You immediately regret apologizing at the beginning of your sentence, you have nothing to be sorry for.

“Oh, my apologies, I had no idea! I’m so sorry, that must have been odd. Forget it ever happened.” He laughs, brushing it off. You smile nervously, knowing you won’t be able to just forget it, but you’re grateful that he at least took the rejection well. 

“Well, I should get back to our current case…” You trail off, looking back to your work laying on your desk.

“Oh, about that. I’ve got some information about the case that I need to discuss with you later today. Come to my office after work?” He asks, taking a sip from his own coffee mug. You tense up slightly, but force yourself to relax.

“Of course. To discuss the case, right? Won’t...Mr. Malfoy also need to be present?” You press, not entirely comfortable with the idea of being alone with him after work. 

“Oh, yes he’ll be there, too. So I can expect you?” He asks, tracing his finger around the rim of his coffee cup. You force a smile onto your face.

“I’ll be there.” Your smile drops and you turn back to your desk. Oscar seems to not have noticed because he walks back to his office and shuts the door. You roll your shoulders to relax some of the tension in them. You already rejected him, and he took it well, so everything’s fine. Plus, if Draco’s there after work, then nothing can go wrong, right? 

~+~

Wrong. It’s time for you to meet with Oscar after work and Draco’s nowhere in sight. You’re sitting at your desk, eyes wildly searching for Draco to walk in with you, but no one is anywhere near. You see Oscar step out of his office and his eyes immediately land on you.

“(Y/n)! What are you waiting for? Come on, Draco said he’s running a tad late. We can chat in here until he’s back.” Oscar waves you over. There are a million alarms ringing in your head, but you stand up and walk over to his office. You don’t feel like you can just say no, as that might look bad to your authorities. 

~TW: unwanted advances ahead! Please don’t read if this will trigger you. There will be another cut that shows when the TW ends~

“Hey, Oscar.” You try to stay casual as you sit down in his office. He strides in after you but keeps the door open. That eases your nerves slightly.

“How’ve you been, (Y/n)?” He asks, sitting on his desk in front of you. You scoot the chair back slightly, not liking the close proximity. You pray for Draco to walk in any moment now.

“I’ve been...fine. Thank you for asking.” You uncomfortably shift in your chair, waiting.

“And you’re sure you don’t want to go on that date later?” He asks, a dark chuckle in his voice that sends chills down your spine. Not the good kind.

“No, I’ve already told you that Draco is my fiancé.” You push your chair back, standing up. You’ve had quite enough, and he’s crossed the line now.

“Oh, come on. I was just playing around.” He chuckles, standing up as well.

“I came here under the notion that we would be talking business about the case, Oscar. This is not what is happening.” You state, setting your jaw and clenching your fists.

“Don’t be like that, darling. You know we have to wait until Draco’s here until we can discuss the case. He won’t be here for a minute or two...we can do whatever we want in the meantime.” In a breeze, he’s behind you and holding your upper arms.

“Get off of me.” You sneer, ripping your arms from his grasp and turning around to face him. You step back a few steps to lengthen the space between the two of you.

“Don’t fight it. I know you like me. You’ve said it all along with that pretty little gaze and flirtations of yours. Don’t deny it.” He keeps stepping forward as you keep stepping back until you run into the desk. He traps you against the desk, pinning your legs down and grabbing your shoulders. You whimper, fear filling your body with dread as he stares down at you hungrily. At this moment, you wish you had listened to Draco all those weeks ago and just stopped talking to Oscar altogether.

“Let go of me.” You try weakly as he leans down and stares deeply into your eyes.

“Make me.” He whispers harshly, not letting you get the last word in before he presses his lips to yours roughly. Your eyes widen and you resist, bringing your hands up to punch his chest repeatedly. He grabs your wrists with an iron grip, continuing to move his mouth against yours and work against your will. Tears prick at the corner of your eyes as you evaluate your options. Your wand is in your pocket, but how do you reach it?

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t know you would have company--” You hear a voice from the doorway. Oscar breaks the kiss and turns around, seeming shocked. You look around him to see Draco standing there, slightly surprised until his gaze lands on you. Then you see his body language go slack.

“Draco?” You whimper, squeezing out from behind Oscar and running to your fiancé. You throw your arms around his shoulders and sob into his chest, your words coming out broken as you try to explain the situation but fail. 

You feel his body stay tense under your touch, causing you to step away and look up at him. He doesn’t even look at you, just stares ahead as his face contorts in anger and hurt.

“Don’t bother coming home tonight, I’m sure you can stay at Oscar’s. Have fun.” He steps out of your grasp, turning on his heel and walking away. You try to reach for him, but Oscar grabs your wrist before you can make it. 

“Not so fast, darling. We both know he won’t listen to you right now. Why not stay and enjoy the fun while you can? Besides, you heard it from him yourself. Why don’t you stay at my place tonight?” The devilish grin on Oscar’s face tells you all that you need to know.

“You set this up, didn’t you? You knew he was going to be here slightly later, so you made it look like I was cheating on him! You bastard!” You scream, ripping your wrist from his grasp with newfound adrenaline.

“I may have invited your fiancé for the discussion on the...urgent news of the case, but I accidentally told him the wrong time… it was a shame he walked in on us like that. Oh well.” Oscar tsks.

“You’re sick! Once higher-ups find out about this, you won’t have a job anymore!” You sneer.

“And what are you going to do? Tell on me? Please, I’m in a higher position than you. They won’t listen to a word you say...especially because you’re a woman.” He laughs in your face.

“You’re a monster!” 

“No, I hunt monsters. I’m just a man with needs.” 

“And I’m feeling the need to kick your ass.”

“As if you could do that. You’re weak, (y/n). I could take you in a heartbeat.” He growls.

“I guess we’ll see about that. Expelliarmus!” You grab the wand out of your coat pocket at the same time as him, but luckily you’re just slightly better at dueling than him.

“Stupefy!” You say, aiming your wand directly at him. He’s hit and down within a second, lying unconscious on the floor. You go over and pick up his wand, giving his ribs an extra good kick to bruise whenever he wakes up. 

You take some of the handcuffs from your desk and handcuff Oscar to his own desk, knowing that someone will find him in the morning and you can explain the situation later.

~TW over~

Finally feeling the effects of everything that just happened, you wrap your arms around your torso and sob, curling into yourself. You realize what could have happened to you had you not taken action. Would he have gone so far? What would have happened if Draco didn’t walk in at that time?

Draco.

You find a little resolve left and stand up from your desk, wiping the tears from your eyes as you make your way to the door. You apparate back to your apartment.

You open the door and walk in quietly, seeing him laying on the couch, staring emptily at the ceiling.

“Draco?” You murmur, coming in and shutting the door behind you.

“I told you not to bother.” He mumbles, not even looking at you. Your heart aches. 

“I can’t just walk away from this knowing that you’re believing a lie.” You walk toward the couch, seeing him sit up as you approach. 

“Excuse me? Believing a lie? I literally walked in on you snogging him--” 

“He forced me into it!” You defend yourself. 

“You didn’t seem to be stopping him!” 

“Are you kidding me? I couldn’t! He’s strong!” 

“Oh, so you like him for his muscles, huh? I thought we had put the past behind us, (Y/n),” Draco scoffs.

“What are you talking about?” You cock your head to the side, a deep pain settling in your chest as you try to work through this. If you could just get him to trust you again...

“What is this? Revenge? Or are you just reverting to our Hogwarts days?” 

“What? Draco you’re not making any sense.” 

“Are you cheating on me to get back at me for what I did at Hogwarts? For when I broke your heart? It’s been over two years! I thought we were over it! I won back your trust, your heart, and this is how you repay me? You must be really dedicated to payback because you’ve shown that more loyalty than you’ve shown me.” Draco spits at you, venom laced in his voice as he accuses you. Your heart breaks. Is that really what he thinks of you?

“Why would I wait two years to exact my revenge? What do I gain from that at this point, Draco? I love you! Why would I lose all of that?” You ask him, slightly defensive but slightly just...hurt.

“I don’t know, maybe you’re just reverting to your ways of being a player. Maybe I’m getting played.” He hangs his head in his hands. You feel tears prick at your eyes again.

“Are you...are you kidding me? Now you’re just grasping at straws- I’m telling you the truth. He forced me into a kiss and made sure that you were going to walk in right as it happened. I swear it. I’ll do anything to make you believe. I didn’t do this for stupid revenge, I’m not a slut, and I’m not lying. I’m...kind of hurt that you don’t believe me.” You answer honestly, hoping that he’ll look up at you and know that you’re telling him the truth.

“It’s...really hard to believe you when I walked in on you kissing another man. It’s hard to unsee.” He murmurs.

“What do you want me to do, drink veritaserum so you can test me?” You scoff, throwing your hands up in the air out of frustration. The only thing he can do is take your word for it. If he doesn’t trust you, then what can you do?

“There’s no way to access that, you know it’s controlled by the ministry.” Draco shakes his head, still hung in his hands.

“Holy crap you actually...” your heart pangs in your chest, “you actually don’t believe me enough that you’d have me take a truth potion?” You mutter, feeling a few tears roll down your cheek. You never thought it would reach this point. You thought he would believe you. You’re not sure what to do anymore if he’s willing to take it this far.

“No. we’re agents trained in ways to avoid the truth serum in case we’re captured. It would never work.” He thinks through in his head. You scoff, the tears choking your voice slightly.

~TW: alluding to rape!~

“Forget it. Forget this. Send me an owl when you’ve learned some common sense, but I’m done with this right now. You….you can’t seriously believe that I’d want to be with that...that jerk. That slime ball of a human being,” more tears stream down your cheeks until you’re almost out-right sobbing, “I was...so scared of what he was going to do. I didn’t know you were headed that way, I….I thought he was going to take advantage of me...further than he did. I was terrified...but then you walked in and I thought I was saved….I thought…” You trail off, tears streaming down your face as the trauma of what almost happened sinks in. You never thought you’d be faced with this in your work before, but why are you surprised when it happens to women all the time. 

~TW over~

Suddenly, there’s a strong pair of arms wrapped around your shoulders and pulling you into Draco’s chest. You sob into him, unable to control the tears anymore. Draco strokes your hair, whispering sweet nothings to you. You pull back after a moment and look at him, seeing the concern and love swimming in his expression. 

“Did he hurt you at all?” Draco’s voice is soft but fierce. The amount of genuine concern and fear written on his face tells you that he’s serious at this moment and that he’s putting your previous argument aside for now. For you and your wellbeing. 

“N-no...but I hurt him pretty badly. He’s probably still passed out in his office…” you try for a small forced chuckle, thinking about how you paid him back for what he did. Draco breaks into the smallest of smiles, pulling you back against his chest. 

“I’m sorry...I’m so sorry.” You think you hear him sniffle. 

“For what?” You ask. You know exactly what he should be sorry for, but you want to hear it. 

“For not believing you. I...I was the one caught up in the past, not you. I was so caught up in my jealousy and guilt from that guy and what happened two years ago that I couldn’t see past what I wanted to see. I’m so sorry. For just now, for two years ago, for everything. You deserve so much better.” He murmurs into your hair. You hug him tight. 

“You apologizing so quickly...realizing your mistakes...Draco, that’s what solidifies in me that we do deserve each other. We’ve both made mistakes. I should have realized what was happening with him, and I should have told you and kept you informed...and you were blinded by jealousy and guilt. But we’ve realized this and we’ll move past it. I love you, Draco. You’re the perfect man for me.” 

“(Y/n)...I couldn’t ask for a better woman to be my fiancée. And as for him...I would like to be informed next time, but you couldn’t have known what was going to happen. Don’t blame yourself for this, it isn’t your fault. It’s entirely on him and his choices, and I will see to it that he gets severely punished for what he did.” 

You smile at him. 

“I love you.” You murmur, burying your face into his chest.

“I love you too, (Y/n). So much more than you can ever imagine.” He sets his head atop yours, running his fingers up and down your spine. You’re not sure what’s going to happen now, but you know that Draco and you have made up. Mistakes were realized, and he prioritized your needs above his own and saw past his distrust to hear you out.

“Should we tell the ministry?” You ask.

“Yes, we’ll tell them tomorrow morning. And I’ll back you up the entire time, I promise. I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. I’m sorry I took it too far… I didn’t know what to think. But I should’ve believed you the entire time, I’m so sorry.” He utters quietly, pressing a long kiss to your hair. You close your eyes and relish his presence, his embrace, just him.

“It’s okay, Draco. I love you. I know.” You squeeze him just slightly tighter. You’ll need to save your strength for your next battle tomorrow.

~+~

A few days later, you’re packing up the stuff on your desk, a small smile escaping you as you remember all the good times you’ve had here. You were going to miss this little desk. You’ll miss your co-worker gossiping next to you all day. You’ll miss a lot of things about this little office space.

“Are you leaving, (Y/n)?” Your co-worker asks you, a small frown appearing on her face.

“Yeah, I am. I won’t be here anymore. The ministry didn’t quite believe me when I told them about Oscar’s offenses.” You frown, looking at your little box of stuff from your desk.

“Oh, I’m sorry. What are you going to do now?” She asks, casting a forlorn look to your previous desk-space. 

“Well...I’ll be moving into Oscar’s office because I got Draco to speak up on my behalf. I may not have had much pull in this ministry, but my fiancé certainly does, and you can’t get away with hurting a future Malfoy. And trust me, I certainly have some pull here now.” You smile at her. Her frown transforms into a grin.

“Congrats, that’s so exciting! We’ll miss you out here, but congrats on the new promotion and office. You deserved it.” She hugs you, almost knocking your box out of your hands. You laugh as she pulls away. 

You turn to see Oscar walking out of his office with a similar box in his hands, except with termination papers sitting atop the items. You send him a smirk and a small mocking wave as he leaves the building. 

Excited, you turn back to your new office and start setting everything up. There’s a soft knock on your doorway and you look up to see Draco looking at you. You grin at him.

“We did it!” You giggle, throwing your arms around him as he walks up to you. 

“I didn’t doubt you for one second. I knew you’d win the argument against the ministry.” He laughs, closing the door behind him for a private moment.

“Well, having the Malfoy name to back me up certainly did wonders. I should be thanking you.”

“You would’ve won either way, the other way just would have taken longer. Trust me, (Y/n) (Y/l/n)...soon to be (Y/n) Malfoy...is a force to be reckoned with.” He wraps his arms around your waist and leans down to kiss you. You accept the kiss with eager anticipation and throw your arms around his neck.

You pull away and rest your forehead against his, closing your eyes and basking in the moment. This perfect moment. You got the promotion, you got payback on Oscar, and you kept your love. 

“I love you, (Y/n) Malfoy.”

“And I love you, Draco Malfoy.”

[blogging-time]

When I Kissed The Teacher

Dialogue Prompt List – Long List My Fic Masterlist

Prompt: “Let’s drink wine and trash talk our co-workers.” - Logan and Roman. (Friendship) - Submitted by @louisthewarlock

Summary: Roman Crowne has just been dumped by yet another co-worker. Logan Sanders makes it his personal mission to console the heartbroken Spanish teacher while also convincing him to turn off that godforsaken ABBA soundtrack.

Warnings: Post Break-Up (Not Logince), Alcohol Mention.

Pairings: Platonic Logince/Foreshadowing Romantic Logince, Past Royality, Past Prinxiety, Past Roceit, Background Intruality.

Word Count: 1,688

~ ~ ~

“Well this seems like a perfectly healthy and not at all counter-intuitive way to conduct oneself post break-up,” Logan remarked as he slowly entered the almost vacant looking Spanish classroom.

The sight awaiting him was that of his co-worker – Roman Crowne – sitting slumped over a rather busy looking table, his unusually messy head of hair tucked uncomfortably between his hastily folded arms. Surrounding him were various pages that Logan couldn’t quite decipher, as well as some familiar looking textbooks that Roman would use to teach his sophomore classes when the school board once again forbid him from making “Pan’s Labyrinth” an official part of the school’s curriculum. The most notable item at Roman’s disposal however had to be his mobile phone, as it was currently playing “When I Kissed The Teacher,” repeatedly on Spotify.

“You know most people actually knock before inviting themselves into a colleague’s classroom, right?” Roman half-heartedly muttered against the cheap plywood.

“Well you should know that most teachers actually prefer to work at their own desks instead of downgrading to a small student’s table. I guess we’re both just feeling a little unconventional today.”

With a heavy sigh and even heavier limbs, the Spanish teacher finally mustered up the energy required to pry his face off the aforementioned table. As soon as the pair made eye-contact, Logan couldn’t help but smile sympathetically at Roman. No matter how many times he found the man in this heartbroken state his tearstained face simply never failed to upset him.

“There’s a window,” Roman responded vaguely before Logan could even make an awkward attempt to console him. Then, upon recognizing the science teacher’s confusion, he unenthusiastically waved his hand and explained, “There’s a window embedded in the door to this classroom – I’m sure you’re well aware of it. Had I chosen to lay about and wail over my lost love at my own desk then surely any old passer-by could have caught me in my moment of lament.”

As sympathetic as Logan was towards his friend’s situation, he still couldn’t help but roll his eyes at how dramatic the man was being.

“Janus Marshall merely terminated his relationship with you, Roman. He himself is not deceased.”

“Hark! For his love for me is dead at least – dead and buried beneath the heels of some younger, prettier thing! Its ghost takes the form of the man I once danced with, and it taunts me as I pass him by in the corridor on my way to lunch.”

“Would you kindly stop and think rationally for five minutes instead of writing another soliloquy?” Logan may sound exasperated, but in reality, he simply hates seeing his friend’s thoughts spiral out of control like this. “Janus made it abundantly clear to you months ago that he would be migrating to England at the end of the year in order to teach Psychology at Oxford. Since neither of you were ever interested in long-distance relationships, I thought this break-up would seem inevitable to you.”

Roman visibly deflated upon hearing such a logical argument, yet somehow Logan didn’t feel victorious.

“I know… I suppose I just got a little carried away again. Deep down I’d honestly hoped we’d be able to make it work.”

“But why?” Logan asked, “Why would you allow yourself to get your hopes up time and time again? Every time you’ve dated a colleague your relationship has ended within six months or less.”

“Now hold on just a moment, Charles Rush-In! Just because I happened to date – and consequently was dumped by – a few of my colleagues doesn’t mean having a relationship with one is inherently flawed and destined to fail.”

“While your current statistics would highly suggest otherwise, that isn’t the part that concerns me the most. What concerns me the most is that you’re clearly upset or made to feel uncomfortable every time you’re forced to work with an ex-partner.”

“Name one example.”

“Patton Hart.”

“You mean the Home Economics teacher? I love Patton! Well… not in that way… not anymore at least… Yeah things were a little awkward at first… and then things got awkward again eight months later when he asked if I would be okay with him dating my brother… but both of us are on very good terms now!”

Logan quirked an eyebrow at that, but ultimately decided it was Remus’ responsibility to tell Roman about his current engagement plans.

“Okay then, what about Virgil Rae?”

“Ah yes, the English teacher who never stopped reading too much into things.”

“You and him seem to argue a lot.”

“To be fair we also argued before and during our relationship too.”

Logan clicked his tongue in perfect time with ABBA before naming, “Janus Marshall.”

“That’s a fresh wound! It’s hardly fair for you to twist the knife in that!”

“I can’t help but disagree considering you’re currently spending your lunch break marking papers and crying in your classroom just to avoid encountering Janus – something you wouldn’t have to do if he wasn’t your colleague.”

Roman couldn’t deflate anymore, so instead he was forced to sink further down in his admittedly rather uncomfortable plastic chair. Mentally he made a note to stop by the thrift store and his aunt Dot’s place after work to see if he could somehow acquire twenty-six cheap cushions that would make hour long lessons in these chairs more comfortable for his students.

“Why are you so determined to prove the successful office romance trope is unattainable?” he asked in a voice that already sounded so defeated.

“Why are you so determined to prove me wrong?” Logan countered.

Roman met Logan’s eyes for just a moment before completely averting his gaze. Logan coughed into his elbow for just a second in a manner that conveniently covered both of his cheeks. A minute passed, and neither man acknowledged either his or his co-worker’s sudden actions.

Eventually Logan decided to break that uncomfortable minute of silence with a sigh of his own.

“Do you have another class immediately after lunch?”

“Not today. I was supposed to be teaching Freshman Spanish for the next hour, but apparently Principal Sanders has called in a public speaker. I won’t have a class again until last period. How about you?”

“It appears I’m in a similar situation. I typically have the hour free after lunch on a Thursday until my Juniors come in for their Chemistry class at 2PM. If the circumstances today were any different then I would undoubtedly use this time to either grade my students most recent homework or to formulate a lesson plan for next week.”

“If the circumstances were any different?” Roman asked with a raised eyebrow and an only slightly watery eye.

“I have a bottle of Chardonnay in my car,” Logan answered. Then, upon recognizing the Spanish teacher’s concern, he quickly waved his hands and explained, “Your brother gifted it to me a few weeks ago, stating that it may help me to ‘loosen up around handsome men,’ - only he used far more vulgar phrasing than I. I can assure you that I would never drink and drive. I’ve simply never felt the need to consume alcohol since receiving the gift, and so I let the bottle sit forgotten in my car until now.”

“What? I haven’t driven you to drink already have I?” Roman joked, but Logan didn’t miss the way another silent tear disobediently slid down his still reddened cheeks.

Again, neither man acknowledged the sudden presence of emotion.

“Believe me, Roman, if any Crowne were ever going to drive me to drink then it would most certainly be that unfathomable brother of yours. My idea was more along the lines of… well…” The science teacher paused for a moment as he remembered how much more important Roman was to him than his reputation. “Let’s drink wine and trash talk our co-workers.”

Upon proposing the idea, Logan let out a nervous breath he hadn’t even realised he’d been holding. Despite the simplicity of their plan, inviting Roman to share a glass of wine with him during work hours just so that they could say negative things about their generally very respectable colleagues to him felt so deeply personal and borderline exhilarating.

Roman must have recognised how much the offer meant to Logan, as he too seemed shocked that the usually oh-so calm and collected science teacher would propose something so unorthodox.

“You want to share a drink with me now?”

“Well encountering your colleagues won’t be an issue after work hours – Perhaps if we start highlighting all of their potential flaws now, you’ll be less inclined to test fate and pursue another doomed relationship with one of them later.”

“Hey!” Roman shouted incredulously, but he was genuinely laughing now.

The sound was so infectious that his co-worker soon found himself chuckling quietly to himself.

“I’ll ask the canteen staff if they can spare two small cups so we don’t drink too much,” Logan offered, “Plus I keep more than enough spare change in my wallet at all times to ensure we can afford a cab ride home. We won’t be stranded here at school if you accept. All I ask in return is that you turn off that infuriating song – I’ve heard it more than enough times now, thank you very much.”

“You drive a hard bargain, Mr Berry,” Roman responded, his lips forming a playful smirk as he pretended to mull the proposition over. “What album would you suggest we listen to in its place?”

“How about ‘The Wall’ by Pink Floyd? I believe I still have that cassette sitting in my car right now, along with ‘The Dark Side of the Moon.’”

“Oh, wow…” Roman drawled as he blinked his eyes rapidly in only semi-feigned surprise. “I think you just aged ten years for every word you just said, Lograndad.”

“Of course, you can always just sit here and listen to the sound of Janus’ voice instead.”

“On second thought-” Roman announced, standing up rather quickly as he grabbed his nearby coat and bag, “-Pink Floyd sounds like an excellent choice. Why don’t you lead the way?”

~ ~ ~

General Tag-List:

@sholaghhh (Formerly @lunamay2006) @not-so-innocent-bi-sander @saphael-malec102 @anastasialestina @seraphlies 

Additional Tags:

@sympathetic-deceit-trash

Note: It’s been a long time since I’ve posted a fic, so this tag-list may be a little outdated. If at any point you want to be added/removed from my tag-list then feel free to let me know!

As always, feedback is much appreciated! I was pretty out of practice here, so I’m sure I’d benefit a lot from constructive criticism!

For spelling, punctuation and grammar I followed Microsoft Word's English (UK) rules. Feel free to correct any errors you may find in the comments, but please keep in mind that some words are spelt differently here in the UK! 

I hope you’re all have a fan-der-tastic day!

~ ~ ~

[midnightmoonkiss]

Hand Snatcher

Izuku Midoriya X Fem! Reader

Summary: When a creep is following you, what else are you expected to do other than to grab a hero's hand and plead for help? Who knows, you might just get coffee from it.

WARNINGS!: None  :)

Category: Fluff

Word Count: 2.9k

A/N: Found a prompt list, forgot all other responsibilities and cracked down on this cliche ass shit

Just To Clarify:

It’s very early in the morning

Streets are practically void of people

The reader is an office worker

Deku is just a sidekick, and reader doesn’t know about him

“I’ll buy you coffee if you hold my hand for five minutes.!”

You pleadingly whisper to the hero clad in a green and black suit, grabbing his gloved hand and trying to control the shaking of your body as you pressed close to him.

You didn’t want this to happen, you didn’t think you’d ever have to reach out to a hero of people for help, but at the moment, you didn’t have much of a choice.

It was a hard concept to grasp, that crime would show itself on the streets so early in the morning. Dawn was just breaking the sky, orange and purple rays of light shone down on the buildings, encasing them in a fire-like glow.

You noticed him following you for a while, but you put it off, figuring he just so happened to be going in the same direction as you.

Of course, when you noticed him getting closer, taking the same unconventional turns as you, you put him to a test, walking faster and taking routes that differentiate from your usual ones.

He still followed you.

He matched your pace, coming closer and closer to your much smaller frame.

He was a big, burly man, and ironically enough, he was clad in a dusty trench coat and fedora.

It was unclear if he was trying to stand out by looking shady or match the setting of a 1950’s murder mystery.

Either way, it was unsettling, and it was obvious he was trying to get to you for some unknown reason.

So the moment you spotted the hero, you immediately power walked over to him, heels clicking loudly on the pavement, trying to hide the shaking of your knees.

You had to look confident, had to act like you knew just who you were walking up to despite never seeing the hero before.

You couldn’t just scream out for help, especially since the man following you hadn’t really done anything other than give you the scare of a lifetime. Not exactly enough to scream.

All that truly mattered was that if worse came to worse, surely he, a fellow burly man, could potentially protect you.

Who were you kidding, he could! That’s what heroes did, right?

Protect innocent civilians?

It was unnerving how the man followed behind you still, despite you clearly making your way to an authority figure.

“H-Hey!” You called out, a fearful smile on your face, “Funny seeing you here, huh?”

And that’s when you whispered those words to him, locking your fingers with his own, absentmindedly taking notice of how soft his gloves were, and how large his hand was.

Deku, the hero you just attached yourself to, already knew something was up the minute you called out to him.

It was obvious you were trying to get the hell away from that creepy-ass dude following you. The man even had the gall to try and grasp your arm at the last second but stopped once he made eye contact with the hero’s cold, glaring eyes.

It would scare anyone if they saw that, especially in this day-and-age where there still was no symbol of peace just yet, and crime was still on the rise.

He was working hard to lower that crime rate, but it would obviously take many years, same as it had been with Allmight. He was only a sidekick at the moment, after all.

So, without delay, he happily squeezed your hand, pulling you towards his large frame and smothering you in a protective hug.

“It is funny, but I’m so glad you ran into me! I missed you~!” He sang out, staring down into your wide (E/C) eyes.

Oh, thank god! He was actually going to help you!

Reporters on the news always said to pretend someone was a significant other of yours to fool any potential snatchers. You were always better off with two people than just one!

With a smile of relief, you both headed off in a different direction.

A peek over your shoulder showed the figure still standing there, staring at you with blue eyes filled with malice. 

It sent a shiver down your spine.

“It’s okay, I won’t let him touch you.” you looked up at the kind hero, heart warming at his gentle yet determined gaze.

“Ah.. thank you so much! He’s been following me for the past half hour. I don’t know why..” you relented, head tilting down to stare at your feet as you walked hand in hand with him.

It wasn’t that hard to tell he was trying to get you or something, you were previously alone, after all. The streets were empty. You were the perfect prey. He looked like one of those villains that stole women when they had the chance, dragging their unconscious bodies to a rusty van just for them to be sold on the black market.

The hero would know, because, funnily enough, that was his current mission. He was out on the streets so early looking for a perp just like that. He had been for the past week now.

In fact, he already sent his location to the agency with the click of a special button on his utility belt.

He didn’t expect one of them to actually be chasing a woman, he just thought he’d see one conveniently out in front of a van or something. Life really was full of surprises.

It was certainly a good thing he was there when he was, or else…

He didn’t want to think about what would’ve happened to you.

“You won’t have to worry about him anymore.” He promised, beginning to swing your hand between the two of you, a distraction of sorts and a form of comfort.

You were clearly shaken up, legs and shoulders still trembling as your free arm held itself comfortingly to your chest.

A quick look at your attire led him to believe you were an office worker of sorts, black pumps, pencil skirt, button-up shirt, and a black suit jacket.

Those shoes certainly made your leg trembles more apparently, and it hurt his heart to see someone so frightened. It always had. That familiar need to cheer someone up swelled in his chest,

“How about we get that coffee now? I’ll pay! It seems like you could use a second to catch your breath.”

Wha?! Your eyebrows rose in disbelief as you looked at him from the corner of your eye, how did he know?

Geeze, you need to start giving heroes more credit it seems.

They’re practically trained to be perceptive, you just hadn’t expected this one to see through you so easily!

You were exhausted, you’ve been walking for far too long in these damned heels, and that fear pumping through your veins wasn’t helping either.

How embarrassing..

With a stuttered inhale, you straightened your back, “I’ll be paying, if you don’t mind. You did help me, after all.”

“But that’s my job~” He teased, smirking down at your now flustered self. 

“Well! It’s my job to pay back my hero!” You declared, pouting as you glared up into his green eyes shimmering with amusement.

“Alright, alright. Just this once, then.” He agreed, holding the door open to a cafe.

You had no idea how you had gotten here so fast.

Nor did you have really any idea where you were. 

It seems the mysterious man had distracted you too much for you to really pay attention.

Which, in hindsight, was a relatively good thing. It definitely took your mind off of what happened only a few minutes ago.

Walking in, you were immediately hit with the pleasant smell of caramel, coffee, and the aroma of freshly baked pastries.

It was a tiny little rustic shop, polished dark wood surfaces taking up the majority of the space.

Not that you minded, it all fits so perfectly well with the cream walls chandeliers hanging down.

It screamed comfort, and you couldn’t help but wonder if their coffee tasted as good as this place looked.

You immediately walked to the front counter, delightfully ringing the small golden bell that sat on top of the display case.

The unnamed hero watched from behind, smiling at how your shoulders relaxed, your body suddenly not as tense as it was before.

 This shop was a personal favorite of his, he’d often come here for breakfast or before a late-night shift. It wasn’t too far from his agency, so it was perfect. That, and he really enjoyed the food and quality of coffee beans here. Though it was small, it was certainly one of the more luxurious shops he’s been to. That’s not to say it was expensive, though, it was all amazingly affordable. A godsend to his practically broke ass.

He had no idea that apartments in the city were so much money, and they were eating at each and every side-kick paycheck he’d get.

A little old lady wobbled out from what seemed to be a break room, used floorboards creaking under her every step. “Hello, hello! Welcome Sugar n’ Spice Cafe~ How may I help y- Oh! Well if it isn’t Mister Broccoli head!” The woman gushed, enthusiastically waving at the man behind you.

Looking back, you could see he was already frantically shaking his hands, sweat dotting at his forehead. The moment he noticed you looking back at him, he shoved his hands behind himself, almost dying on the spot as he noticed you trying to hold back giggles.

 “M-Mrs. Suzuki! Hi!” A nervous smile forced itself onto his freckled face, cheeks dusting a pretty pink.

Aw, he was trying to act suave, as if a little old lady didn’t just call him a vegetable.

How cute.

It was hard not to laugh at that.

His fluffy green hair did indeed resemble broccoli, perhaps that had been his nickname here for a while, leading you to the obvious conclusion that he’s been here multiple times before.

Still, it was funny that a hero, someone who is the personification of strength and power, was called a veggie.

“U-uhm,” He stuttered, gloved hand scratching at the back of his head as he avoided eye contact, “Could I get my usual?”

“Of course dear. And how about you? What can I get for you, sweet cheeks?”

You jumped as you were suddenly thrown into the conversation, previously absorbed by how cute the hero looked at the moment. “D-do you have (f/d)?” You shyly asked, shifting from one foot to the other. You hadn’t had a chance to really look at the menu, so you hoped they had it and you didn’t just embarrass yourself.

“Of course!” She beamed at you as her tiny fingers began typing on the computer screen.

“That’ll be a thousand yen, darling.” 

After swiftly paying for your drinks, your hand once again was seized by a much larger one as you were led to a small booth in the back, the walls providing a sort of comfort as you sat in the corner. You could clearly see the entire shop from where you sat, and you know for a fact no one could potentially sneak up on you like this. Did he know it as well, and that’s why he had you sit there? It certainly put you at ease.

He sat across from you, shifting for a second as he made sure his flowy white cape didn't fall into the other booth.

It was a wonder how he even fit in this booth, seeing as he had large leg braces on. Muscle memory, maybe? 

You sat in silence for a moment, still taking in the cafe and all the decor lining the walls and shelves.

“I’m Deku, by the way-” ‘Deku’ sputtered suddenly, hands resting on the table as he fiddled with his fingers. A nervous habit?

All around, he seemed like a nervous and sweet guy - despite you only knowing him for no less than ten minutes.

“I’m (Y/N). And, thank you, Deku, once again, for saving me. I know it must’ve been weird for you to suddenly be latched onto so early in the morning..” You laughed, fingers tapping on the smooth table as you couldn’t help but stare at his gloves.

They were so cool! You wondered what all those weird things on the knuckles were, and what purpose they served.

Heroes always had such interesting gadgets on them to help aid with something, you’d be lying if you said you weren’t interested in hero support tools. The thought and creativity that goes into them were outstanding.

“Don’t mention it! I’m just happy I was there when I was.” All this man seemed to do was smile, and it was honestly a relief to know you hadn’t really bothered him.

“Order up!” Mrs. Suzuki called to both of you. Just as you were about to get up, Deku flung himself from his seat, knees knocking loudly on the table as he did so.

“Sorry!” He called back to you as he rushed to get your drinks.

It was.. Kind of endearing, seeing him flounder around a bit, it really opened your eyes a bit. It made you realize that even if they were heroes, they weren’t perfect, and they were just as normal as you were. It was hard to see that difference in today’s society. Heroes were always held on a pedestal, ones that they graciously accepted and thrived off of. 

But he certainly seemed different.

You were probably dragging him away from his work, now that you realized it, and yet he continued to stay here with you, calming you down with just his presence alone.

It didn’t even matter that he was capable of beating the shit out of that guy from before, it just mattered that he was a kind gentleman hoping to help a lady in distress.

It didn’t seem like he was looking for praise, money, any of that, he just... He genuinely wanted to help you.

You smiled to yourself. The world was corrupt, but maybe he could help with that. Be an example to others, especially to aspiring heroes already in the making.

It was his job, as he mentioned before, but he showered you in unnecessary kindness. 

What a hero.

You’d certainly make sure to condemn the name ‘Deku’ to memory.

Maybe even do research once you get home from your office job.

You had an hour before it started, and you didn’t really have any clue where you were since you didn’t pay attention.

You’d have to suck up what little pride you had left and asked the man where the fuck you were.

Just then, a cup was delicately placed down in front of you, paired with shuffling as he squeezed into the opposite seat.

“Thank you for paying! I hope I can repay you someday.” He added cheerfully whilst sipping at his hot beverage, before almost choking once he realized what he said.

Your cheeks heated up at the proposition, you’d be able to meet him again?!

Ah, but,

“Didn’t we just meet, Mr. Deku? I’m practically a stranger, and you’re already proposing a date.”

You teased, similar to what he had done to you earlier as you stared at him through your lashes.

He found himself gulping quite loudly, much to his dismay, cheeks flaring up as he felt like a mouse under your alluring gaze.

“W-well, uhm, m-maybe we can.. Get to know each other for a bit? I mean! If you’re not busy, of course! I-I know this is really random! I’m sorry if I’m freaking you out! I’m not really used to all of this, it seems like a date already even though I know it’s not. I assume things too much, I’m so sorry! I’m just someone who helped you and you wanted to repay the favor- thank you again by the way! I guess you could say I’m attracted to you a bit?! Y-you’re really cute! And I! I want to get to know you more! If I’m making you uncomfortable, tell me, and I’ll just-”

You reached over, placing your much smaller hand over his own, successfully cutting off his adorable rambling.

“It is a bit strange, but I don’t mind it. I’d like to get to know my savior a bit more, too.”

His lips turn into a wobbly smile, blush darkening at the contact, despite the two of you holding hands not long ago.

“But yeah! Let’s get to know each other a bit.”

And so, after a half-hour of chatting and laughter, you were shown to the nearest train station, given his number, and a promise to meet again soon.

In the back of your mind, you wondered what had happened to that creep, but later in the day, you’d find out, thanks to local news reporters, that he was captured and arrested not long after you left the scene.

Oh yeah.

You sure were happy you woke up extra early that morning, even if it was originally to head into the office to complete some work leftover from the day before, but you weren’t too excited to spend overtime on it now that you lost the chance. 

But you wouldn’t trade that time for the world, because your luck just hit an all-time high, seeing as you just potentially snagged the world’s greatest bachelor.

[masterthespianduchovny]

The Truth is Out There (Part 1):

Summer 2008

The utility worker makes his way to the building. The sun beats down his neck, but he’s unbothered by the heat as a thin sheen a sweat forms where the cap meets his head. Pleasantly, he smiles and slightly nods at the woman holding the door for him.

Unnoticed, the utility worker passes by customers and employers, expertly navigating his way to the boiler room. 

Locking the door behind him, the man gets to work. He’s pulls out various items, some of which seemingly have nothing to do with the task at hand: a syringe, a black substance in a bottle, and a band. 

Inspecting his items, he then pulls out a large wrench and a cylinder object. It has buttons on it and a countdown timer.

The man makes easy work of getting a tightly screwed pipe off, and then partially slides the cylinder into the pipe. Fiddling with the buttons, a beeper goes off and the cylinder slides completely within the pipe.

After the man finishes screwing the pipe back into place, he grabs the syringe and fills it with the black substance.

He waits.

His eyes are hard and determined.

Another beep. The man sits down and grabs his laid out items.

Tying the band around his arm, it doesn’t take him long to find the vein, and then insert the syringe in himself.

Taking a deep breath, his eyes snaps shut as the needle pierces his skin. The man exhales as the substance flows through his veins.

His eyes fly open and small, black lines are on his eyes.

Efficiently, he places all of the discriminating items in his worker bag, and then unlocks the door. He makes it a few steps before he and his bag falls to the floor.

No one sees him falls as everyone else fell unconscious themselves moments prior.

Fall 2008

“...I DO SO LIKE GREEN EGGS AND HAM! THANK YOU! THANK YOU, SAM I AM.” 

The library worker strummed his fingers along the spine of the book as he smiled at the claps from children and their parents.

They waved goodbye at him as their parents gathered him.

“Carl,” said Majorie, extending a hand out to her daughter. “You’re just showing off at this point.”

Smiling, Carl bowed his head. “I’ve tried reading without the book, but you know kids, they love the theatrics. It’s only impressive to them if I start reading the book, and then tell the story from memory.”

Majorie chuckled.

“Thank you for this.” She gestured to the book. “Ever since the divorce, after school care has been so hard to find and...story time is a God send.”

“It’s no problem, really.” Carl crossed his arms, and then looked at the girl Bethany. “The kids are doing my wife a favor, it’s like an after school care of sorts for myself. If I didn’t have this I’d be driving my wife up the wall sending her thousands of emails.”

Amused, Majorie smiled. “I know parenthood isn’t everyone’s path, but I’m surprised you aren’t a father. You’re just so good with kids.”

Biting his lip, Carl looked off. “Uh...well, that wasn’t in our cards.”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s fine, Majorie.” He waved off her concern. “I need to straighten up in here, but I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Carl stacked the surplus small chairs and put them in their designated corner. He then gently tossed the beanbags near the back wall. After collecting and putting away stray items, he exited the event room.

The next hour or so, he busied himself putting away returned books, but manned the information desk twice for a handful of minutes each. Once, so Ashanti could go to the bathroom and another as she made a quick personal call. Carl didn’t mind since he was almost finished with the return pile. Due to his eidetic memory, Carl remembered the location of books and the filing system as clear as day.

Filing was light work for Carl.

As soon as he finished with his last book, he joined Ashanti at the desk. Whenever they were assigned together, they chose a topic to debate through their shift.

The topic: Harry Potter v Percy Jackson

Who was the stronger protagonist? Which themes are embodied better in their respective series? Which series has stronger supporting characters? And which author was more effective in their series?

Knowing how beloved the Harry Potter series was to Ashanti, Carl let her argue in favor of the series. Although he enjoyed the series himself, he personally leaned towards Rick Riordan and his series. Because he knew how passionate Ashanti was about all things Harry Potter, the debate was going to be especially fun for him.

Just as Carl began to argue his position after listening to Ashanti, someone asked for assistance. 

“No cheating while I’m gone,” Carl warned.

Ashanti rolled her eyes. “I don’t need to cheat, old man.”

Carl grabbed his heart as he walked backwards. 

The two looked at each other and laughed.

In his life, Carl’s been accused of many things and paranoid was at the top of the list. As he assisted the visitor, Carl felt as if he was being watched. Men and women pretending to be occupied with books or the computer, hell, even making small talk with Ashanti, but casting quick glances in his direction.

Just because he’d been called paranoid more times than he could count doesn’t mean he was wrong.

Carl finished up with the visitor and pointed towards the information desk. Discreetly, he patted his pockets and he checked his mental map of the other exists. Obscuring the eyesight of him by going to the other side of the book shelfs, Carl hurriedly walked to the side door. As the distance increased between him and the other library occupants, he heard someone yell:

“He’s making a run for it.”

Carl put up a valiant fight. He ducked, dodged, and outran longer than anyone would’ve imagined, he’d bet. But, if only he was a little quicker--spotted them a little sooner, he would’ve made it out of the side door, instead of being tackled near the front entrance.

A knee was in his back as handcuffs were tightened around his wrists.

“What is this about? What do you want?” Carl yelled. “I didn’t do anything!”

“Fox Mulder, you’re under the arrest for...”

Mulder zoned out.

Granted, he knew the FBI could’ve found him if they wanted to, but he assumed that they didn’t give a shit where he was as long as he wasn’t the Bureau’s problem anymore.

Although he never felt truly comfortable due to being on the run, he thought he was in the safe. And yet...they were still trying to make him serve justice for a bullshit crime.

As Mulder was led out of the library, he saw Majorie and Bethany approach. They were shocked to see him in handcuffs being led out by FBI agents.

Scully.

He needed to talk to her.

Although she hadn’t been a fugitive like himself, since the FBI knew where he was, they had to know she was involved. Hell, they were together. Who knows how long they’d been surveilled. 

An hour later, he was in an interrogation room, handcuffed to the table.

His old boss walked in moments later.

“Skinner? What is this? What’s going on?”

Looking at the two way glass, Skinner said, “Uncuff this man.” Sitting down, he looked at Mulder. “Long time no see.”

“Not long enough apparently.” Mulder rubbed his wrists after the metal rings came off. “Where's Scully?”

“On her way,” Skinner answered. “Don’t worry, she hasn’t been arrested.”

Mulder stared Skinner, and then the file on the table. Skinner has always inhabited many roles and leveraged his position as he saw fit. This wasn’t about Knowle Rohrer. Just like he thought, the charges were bogus and the FBI didn’t give a shit about the murder. It was all about having him out of their hair.

Leaning back in the metal chair, Mulder looked at Skinner again. “Why was I arrested?”

“That was the only way we could get you in a room.”

Biting back what he truly wanted to say, Mulder said instead, “I can think of other ways.”

“Cut the crap, Mulder, you and I both know you would’ve slipped out of our radar again.” Skinner gave him a hard stare. “Look, we need your help.”

“And why would I do that?” Mulder looked at the two way glass. “I just got re-arrested on bullshit murder charges again, Walt. The last thing I want to do is help the FBI with anything.”

Uncomfortably, Skinner shifted in his seat. “Shortly after you were escorted in here, the charges and...conviction was taken care of.”

“Oh really, that simple.” Mulder narrowed his eyes at Skinner.

He didn’t have anything against his former boss. Skinner did help him escape and most likely thwarted efforts of his capture years before it happen. But, Mulder was still angry about what happened--about all of it. Skinner was just a convenient scapegoat. 

“I get it, you’re angry, but we need your help on this--you and Scully,” he clarified. “I don’t want to take credit for having your charges and conviction cleared because what happened was a gross interpretation and handling of justice. But, the FBI needs you.”

Skinner slid the folder in front of Mulder.

“No one knows more about this stuff than you two.” Mulder’s brows furrowed as he looked through the file. “You have every reason not to trust the FBI or--or want to work with us, but we have no one else to go to.”

“And, if I don’t help?” 

Skinner caught Mulder’s meaning. “Your record will still be clean.”

“But, not my conscious.” Mulder closed the folder and looked at it in thought. “Any other cases.”

Skinner nodded. “A duplex in upstate New York and a chicken plant in Kansas. Officially, all three were said to be gas leaks. Spread far apart enough not to cause any panic or raise any questions.”

“For both the perpetrators and the FBI,” Mulder supplied. “But, someone or something has possession of live black oil and they're going around and weaponizing it.”

“An agent from the BSU made a profile suggesting that these...incidents are trial runs.”

“That much is obvious,” Mulder mumbled to himself. “Why publicly?”

“What do you mean?”

Mulder shook his head. “These tests are usually done under the cover of night. In the shadows. In controlled situations. But, with the duplex, the bank, and the factory, it’s an attack. A public one at that. And they're allowing the government to control the narrative. Why?”

[piracytheorist]

A Kiss for Good Luck (4/14)

Summary: So this is the story of one born lucky, and one born unlucky. Fate will keep making them cross paths, but is it to bring them together, or to test them? Captain Swan AU.

A/N: Prepare thyselves, here be angst. And warnings. Next update will come on Saturday, then from next week updates will come every Tuesday and Friday.

Rating: T (make sure you’re okay with the warnings) Warnings: This chapter contains minor character death, cancer, child abandonment, and some minor child abuse.

Word count for this chapter: 2.6k (47k in total) AO3

Read from the beginning: Tumblr | AO3

~

Chapter 4: Killian Jones, August 11th 1995 – October 31st 2000

Killian doesn't expect to get the girl's name from two policemen who were searching for her. They say she was sneaking out and that they need to get her back home.

He looks at her as she's leaving; her head is low and she doesn't look back at him.

He steps away from the children still playing. He's not in the mood anymore, he's feels more like... eating something... or running to the bathroom to puke. He's not really sure.

He's certain he knows his first hardship on the difficult trip back to England. While still at the airport in Boston, his mother keeps saying something about an "immigration office" as she talks to his father on a payphone, eventually hanging up angrily. She apologizes to Killian and tells him they'll figure things out soon.

They miss their flight. He's too tired to calculate but he's sure they stay in the airport for more than a day, hardly getting any sleep on the hard chairs of the lobby. He's lucky he's got his mama's lap to rest his head on, at least.

He spends a few good hours trying to remember the girl's name; Liam would be so curious to find out about his younger brother's first kiss, and he can't even remember her name! Anna? Enya? No, he would've remembered such a name.

After even more hours they reach home tired, unwashed and hungry, and for the first time he hears his parents fight.

That same night, still shaken by hearing the fight, he goes to his brother's room. They just sit together, looking at Liam's star light that projects constellations on the ceiling. He thought that, upon coming back, he'd spend hours telling him everything about the summer school, and Boston, and having his first kiss, and flying on a plane... instead they just sleep next to each other, and for the first time he understands why some of his friends had said that they sleep with their parents after a nightmare.

That night is, actually, the first time Killian ever has a nightmare.

It only takes a week. He would later consider it the calm before the storm. Calm, or more like quiet, because his friends don't talk to him much, which he interprets as jealousy because he had the trip and they didn't.

But the storm hits exactly one week after they've gotten back; his mother passes out while coming home from work. Some long hours of Liam babysitting him later, his father brings her home from the hospital.

He's never seen their faces so saddened before.

He has so many questions, ones that fifteen-year-old Liam apparently doesn't. Like, what cancer is, and why it's bad that it's fast-acting. What is chemo and why is it too late for it to have effect? Why does mama have to stay in bed so much?

"How long will you stay in bed?" he asks that out loud.

"A few months," his father says.

Another question; why is mama not talking at all?

"And then you'll be up, mama?"

She looks at him, and tears fall from her eyes. She stands up slowly, sits between her two sons on the couch and holds them close.

Killian cannot explain it, but somehow, he knows. Somehow, the knowledge sets itself in his mind as if it were always there.

That October 24th is the most underwhelming birthday he has had. He's so used to big parties and celebrations and gifts, that a simple cake shared between the four of them around the quiet table feels out of place for a birthday.

They never tell him anything, but it doesn't come as a surprise when two weeks before Christmas his father starts preparing a black attire for himself and the boys.

He takes one black dress for mama, too, though Killian knows someone else will put it on her.

The house is silent when they leave for the funeral, and it feels even more silent when they come back.

Killian has a feeling that it will never stop being that.

This night it's Liam who comes into Killian's room and sleeps next to him.

Time becomes a blur; it's one of the days where Liam sleeps next to him that Killian wakes up early, and father isn't home. He doesn't worry much, he just tries to spend time on the TV. Only one channel has signal, and though normally Killian hates listening to the news, he prefers that over the silence now.

He remembers it's a Saturday, but father still hasn't come home when Liam wakes up and takes up making breakfast for the two of them. Killian offers to help, but he burns his hand trying to make an omelette and Liam, with a patience Killian doesn't think he deserves, takes over for him.

Had Killian known more, he would have realized that on any other day he would be getting stressed and angry. Instead, he feels empty – almost as if anticipating the news that, by two days later, become a reality.

Their father left them. He took clothes and personal documents, withdrew all the money they had in the bank, including Killian's and Liam's college funds, and apparently sold their home two days before he left.

Killian didn't cry at mama's funeral. He didn't cry when the social worker confirmed that father had left by his own choice and left them with nothing. But when they tell him that there aren't any foster families that will take both brothers together, Killian breaks down sobbing.

He can't... he can't lose him too.

"I'll visit, brother," Liam says, his voice shaking. "I will call you every day."

Killian trembles in his brother's arms. He'd rather not have a home than not have him right now. He's all he has left.

But the social workers don't seem to care. They pull Killian away – and damn Liam, why isn't he holding onto him? Why is he letting go?! – and put the two brothers in two separate cars.

It's three long but empty weeks before the phone rings and for the first time, it's Killian they ask for.

Mr. Silver doesn't look happy when Killian reaches the phone – not that he ever looks happy when Killian is concerned. He gives him the receiver with a frown.

"Don't take too long," he whispers at him and Killian fights back a shiver.

"Hello?"

"Killian!"

"Oh, Liam! Where are you? Are you coming? I miss you."

"I know, brother. I'm sorry. They took me to Bristol."

"Bristol?! How?! That's too far away!"

"I know. Maybe I can convince someone to drive me to London."

"I miss you. Please come."

"I miss you too. I'll try."

"Come where, Jones?" Mr. Silver's strict voice is heard from the other room.

"Bollocks," Killian whispers.

"Killian!"

"Oh, shut up. You have no idea how much that guy curses."

Mr. Silver appears in the hall right in front of Killian. "I asked you a question, Jones."

"It's- it's my brother, sir."

"You're not answering my question."

Killian swallows hard. "He- he said he may visit one day."

Mr. Silver snorts. "Not in here. Make it quick, now. I'm waiting for a call."

He doesn't leave, instead he stands there, arms crossed, and this time Killian can't stop the shiver down his spine.

"Killian," Liam's calm voice comes from the phone.

"Yes?"

"Is that man treating you right?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"Does he hit you?"

Killian grabs the phone tightly. He's never heard his brother's voice like this. "No." Not yet, he thinks. He's seen how he pulls at the bigger boys' ears when they aren't behaving.

He chances a glance at Mr. Silver, regretting it immediately. His eyebrows are raised suspiciously and he makes a gesture with his hand towards the receiver.

"I gotta go. Try to- please." He doesn't dare say much with that man so close to him.

"I will. I promise, brother. I love you."

"Me too. Goodnight."

He doesn't get a goodnight back. Mr. Silver grabs the receiver and hangs up.

"Move," he says, picking it back up and dialing.

It takes two more months for Liam to actually visit, but Silver doesn't let them go further than the playground a couple blocks away, with him sitting on the bench across from the swings where the brothers sit.

Killian is still young, but his mind is hardening enough to start knowing better. Silver is not suitable for a foster parent, but maybe it's not a coincidence that the other two boys in the house have already sullied criminal records.

"You're not gonna be like them," Liam says.

"Can't I come to Bristol too? Isn't there room in your house?"

"I've talked to the social worker, but I don't know how this works. She says it's not that easy."

"You're lucky," Killian says, looking down at his feet. "My social worker won't answer my calls." When I do get time for a phone call, he thinks.

"Hey, I'm still here. We may be far, but we're both still here. We'll get through this. My foster father said that when I turn sixteen he may let me help around his brother's gas station. I'll make some money, I'll find a job, and when I turn eighteen, I'll do my damnedest to get custody of you."

Killian feels tears well up in his eyes, but he quickly blinks them away. He can't let Silver see him like this.

Empty weeks turn into empty months, and those turn into empty years. Killian changes foster homes, never getting closer to Liam's, but eventually he gets in some kind of trouble – biting back at school bullies, staying out late, getting caught with alcohol – and he always finds himself back to Silver's house.

It's there that he feels the most empty, the most lost. It's only Liam's occasional phone calls, less occasional visits, and the hope that he'll get a job and get them a home for themselves that keeps Killian afloat.

There are times he wonders how things could turn out like this. He used to be happy. Things used to go well for him, he had a bright future... he had a family, a home. Now he's resorted to just waiting until he's old enough to take some control over his life, no matter how little.

And the more time goes by, the more he feels his patience running out.

Nothing is permanent in his life, nothing is stable. Homes come and go. Liam comes and goes. Having only a miserable plastic bag to keep his stuff in, most of the drawings he makes to pass the time end up in the trash. His mother was the one who encouraged him to draw and hang his pieces all over his bedroom walls. Keeping them now only serves as a reminder of what he's lost.

The only thing he actually treasures is the photo of himself, Liam, and their mother, which he managed to grab just in time while the social workers were urging him to pick up only the essentials from his childhood home. As it almost was victim of being ripped to pieces by whatever bully targeted him, he now keeps it in the most uninteresting place he could have thought of; his math notebook.

After turning eighteen, Liam finally moves in London, but he's working two jobs and only has time once a week, for a few hours, to visit Killian.

Killian doesn't celebrate his fifteenth birthday. Not that Silver would care if Killian had asked for a celebration. And when, just two days later, the police call him to come recognize his brother's body after he was killed in a work accident, Killian finds the lack of celebration so fitting that he actually bursts into laughter. He laughs and laughs until his chest starts hurting and he's on his knees, shaking but unable to call for any help.

Silver is still talking to the police on the phone, shouting at him to stop being a brat. It's Ed, the only boy older than Killian in the house, that kneels down to him and slaps him, getting him out of his hysterics.

Killian struggles to hold on, but his resolve breaks into pieces when the doctor raises the sheet covering Liam's body. He doesn't have any care left about Silver seeing him crying and sobbing like this.

One last broken hope he had, that Silver might give a damn after seeing him so devastated, is gone too after that.

It's just that one time; for the next two years that he stays under that horrible man's roof, he cultivates a cool, careless exterior, while his pillow soaks his silent tears almost every night.

At least, Silver doesn't care much for Killian causing trouble, like trespassing, breaking curfew, or even drinking. He just gives him the ceremonious slap and goes on with his day.

So Killian doesn't think too much before deciding to sneak out and into the Halloween party on the other side of the city that Ella – or Cruella, as the kids in the house call her – the first girl in the house in years, suggests they go to. With his meager savings he puts together a pirate costume, puts a thick line of black around his eyes with the eye pencil he borrowed from Cruella, and together they hot-wire the first car they find and drive to the extravagant villa where the party is at.

At first glance, Cruella scoffs and searches around the house for booze.

"I can't believe there's adults here. What was the point?!"

It's a good thing Killian got an eyepatch. The pencil irritates his eye and he has to wash it off in the bathroom, then cover his reddened, smudged eye with the patch. His other eye isn't done and the eyepatch looks weird on the side it's on, but the lights are so low that probably no-one will notice. He doesn't expect anyone to look at him long enough to notice, anyway.

Like any other party, he feels like an outsider, but he doesn't care. He dances by himself while occasionally looking around to check if Cruella found the alcohol. Instead he spots a girl, probably his age and dressed as a zombie princess, who is looking at him. Like, looking looking.

He doesn't connect the feeling in his stomach with the one he'd felt at that game of spin the bottle so many years ago. He's so older, his mind burdened with such darker thoughts, that right now it's confusing to feel an unknown emotion that isn't scraping away at his soul.

And the girl is walking to him, just as a ballad comes on.

"Wanna dance?" she says.

He just offers his hand. His mouth feels so dry he fears his voice won't come out if he tries to say anything.

He heard the term 'butterflies in one's stomach' before, but he had no clue it would feel like this, so overwhelmingly confusing but making him happy at the same time. The girl is smiling at him as they slow dance, and he reckons, so is he. From the corner of his eye he spots Cruella, holding a cup that most definitely doesn't have a plain fizzy drink or juice in it, but he can't tear his gaze away from the girl. There's something familiar about her bright eyes, whose colour he can't decipher in the red and purple lights.

Her expression is soft; her smile falls, but not out of any sadness. The song draws to an end, and suddenly her lips are on his.