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[capearchivestours]

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[pparadiselost]

crying wolf.

werewolf michael kaiser x red riding hood fem reader clichés always hold a grain of truth to them. warning(s): nsfw, noncon, murder of an uninvolved character, breeding, knotting minors do not interact.

a big bad wolf lives in the woods near your village. 

that much you know. 

the wolf has been the talk of the town for years now, and no matter how many men set off to kill the wolf or how many traps had been set up to catch it once and for all, the sly beast always managed to escape the trickery of your town.

there came a point where you stopped caring about it. you had no reason to step into the woods, satisfied with your quiet life in town, and outside of the stray sheep being killed and eaten every few months, the wolf really didn’t do anything to disturb your quality of life. it must suck to be a sheep farmer while this was all going down, but you weren’t a sheep farmer, so you didn’t care.

“you ought to be more careful!” the old cheesemonger’s wife scolds you as she hands you a generous chunk of cheese. “you know, the huntsmen are saying that they’re going to form an escort group in about a week’s time. shouldn’t you wait until then to go visit your grandma?”

you shake your head. “mama said i should go as soon as possible. grandma hasn’t been feeling well for a while, and ever since the whole wolf scare, we haven’t been able to visit her frequently. i just want to make sure she has enough food, because she can’t really do much herself.”

the old wife clicks her tongue and waggles her finger. “i keep telling my husband here, they really ought to catch that wolf quickly. this is how these things always begin. a couple sheep here and there, and next thing you know, the wolf’s run off with a toddler. who’s to say it won’t develop an appetite for a pretty girl like you?”

“oh, please.” you snort slightly. “the only things with an appetite for women like me are the drunkard sleazebags that waste their money away in the taverns.”

“well, you can say that again,” she laughs. she winks as she tucks you an extra slice of sweet cheese into your basket, and she waves you off before you finish off your errands and head home.

the chilled autumn breeze nips at your skin, and you huddle under the red cape your mother’s lovingly sewn for you. it’s become your best friend when winter starts to draw close, and you’ve worn the garment for years. you’re sure you’ll wear it in due time when you’ll set out through the woods to your grandmother’s, where the bright crimson ought to serve as an identifying beacon of sorts for your ailing grandmother. 

the sun threatens to set in the distance by the time you gather up all your supplies and head to the outskirts of the village, where your home is. you double check the contents of your basket at your front door, not wanting your mother to scold you for having forgotten anything.

a bottle of hearty wine? check. loaves of bread that won’t go bad soon? check. cheese, meats, and fruits? check.

“i’m home!” you called out, swinging your front door open. your mother jumps and places a hand over her heart, exhaling deeply when she notices it’s just you.

“you scared the wits out of me, dear!” she scolds, stirring intensely at the pot in front of her. “a knock before you come in wouldn’t hurt, you know!”

“says the person who leaves the front door unlocked.” you toss your boots off and hang your cloak up, and you set down the heavy basket on the already set dining table. you swing in to a seat at the table, stomach growling at the scent of fresh stew. “i got everything for grandma tomorrow. is there anything else you need me to bring to her?”

“do you think i should pack some jam for her? i have a few jars that mr. ah… what’s his name again- well, he gave me some because his sister had made too much, and i reckon that your grandmother wouldn’t have too many sweet things to eat while she’s sick,” your mother suggests. you shrug, and she wipes her hands down on her apron before grabbing at the pot’s handle. “stay put where you are, dear. hot pot coming through!”

“i don't think it'll hurt. might as well bring it over if i’m headed there in the first place,” you offered. your mother smiles at you fondly as you practically lunge for the pot, spoon in hand to scarf down a well-deserved meal.

“slow down, or you’ll get a tummy ache,” she reminds you. you swipe at your mouth with your sleeve, earning a wince from her, but she doesn’t say anything. the night quickly melts away into the everyday hum of dinner followed by a quick berry pie dessert. 

you haven’t even thought of the wolf until your mother tells you to go fetch the rest of the laundry she forgot to get earlier in the day. you balance a laundry basket on your hip as you drag your feet outside, wishing you were snuggled up in your bed with a book instead. the cold wind bites at your exposed neck and face, and you scowl as you haphazardly yank at the clothes and socks hung up on the laundry line.

“stupid wind,” you grumble under your breath. you stuff some shirts into the laundry basket, but when you reach to grab at the last pair of socks on the line, the wind tussles it free from the clothing pin and the socks go flying off in the distance. you let out a yelp before running after it, watching the white socks flutter like a pair of doves before landing onto the dirt.

“stupid, stupid wind!” you doubly curse as you bend down, yanking your nightclothes up so that the hem won’t be stained by the dirt. you reach to grab the socks before something in the ground catches your eye, and you shift to take a closer look.

your eyes widen in horror.

pawprints. wolf pawprints.

you shudder and quickly stand up, racing back to the safety of your laundry line and basket. the cursed beast must have been wandering around the wilderness near your home. a shiver runs down your spine at the thought of some stinky mutt of a wolf sniffing at your laundry, and once you see that there are no more clothes left on the line, you march back home and shut the door firmly behind you.

you have nothing to fear. you’re no sheep and definitely not meal material for the big bad wolf. you don’t even bring up the pawprints to your mother once you’re inside, and you don’t even think of the wolf again when you go to bed, bracing yourself for the long journey to your grandmother’s cottage tomorrow.

…

…

…

“do you have everything?”

“yes, mama.”

“are your boots comfortable?”

“yes, mama.”

“will the cloak be enough to keep you warm?”

“yes, mama.”

you swear the entire day’s going to be over by the time your mother’s done fretting over you. she’s not only gone over the contents of your basket once, twice, thrice, four goddamn times, and she’s still convinced that somehow she magically forgot to add everything to it. she keeps fretting over you, pulling the cloak tighter around your throat and making sure the hood covers your head comfortably.

deep down, you know she means well, but she keeps fussing over you like you’re a newborn baby. you’re old enough to take care of yourself, old enough to know how the world runs, old enough to stand on your own two feet without having her circling you like some kind of anxious mama bear. which she is, you suppose.

she kisses your forehead gently, looking at you with the weathered affectionate eyes only a mother could ever muster up. “i know you’re sick of me worrying over you like this. i can’t help it—you’re my baby.”

“i’ll be back before you even know it, mama,” you joke back. “and if i’m not back by dinner, you can assume i’ll be at grandma’s for the night. either way, i’ll be back by tomorrow for sure.”

“i’ll be waiting for you,” your mother promises. she clasps your hands, rubbing her calloused palms over yours. she squeezes your fingers carefully, grinning at you despite her obvious nerves. “my baby’s all grown up! going through the woods by herself and everything… what am i going to do when you actually leave the nest?”

“oh, you’ll be fine.” you hoist the heavy basket up, flashing your mother a thumbs-up. “i’ll be on my way then. i shouldn’t dally around too much, or it’ll get late.”

“right, right. i guess i’ll bake something to pass the time while you’re gone. maybe making your favorite pie ought to incentivize you to come home faster!” she agrees with a hearty laugh. you’re just about to turn around and set off before your mother cries out a panicked “wait!”

you look over your shoulder. “huh? what is it, mama?”

“i know this is probably just me fretting,” she looks at you firmly, and she wrings her hands slightly, “but it’s better safe than sorry. make sure to never wander from the main road, okay? you’ve heard about the wolf that’s been terrorizing our village. i don’t want to risk you getting hurt.”

you’d snark back at her a bit normally, but the pure fear in your mother’s eyes makes you bite your tongue for once. “i’ll stay strictly on the path, mama. besides, the wolf’s never taken a human before. and i’m sure there’ll be huntsmen and all sorts of other people out and about at this time of day, so i’ll be okay.”

“i know,” she sighs. “it’s a mother’s instinct. i can’t help but fret over you constantly.”

she waves you off, and you’re on the path to your grandmother’s before you even know it. the weather today is perfect: brisk refreshing air, a few cotton-white clouds in the bright blue sky, and the mischievous twinkles of sunlight streaming through forest trees’ branches. 

truth be told, you like these solo adventures more than anything else in the world. living a quiet life in your village has its perks, but when everyone knows everybody, you rarely get a chance to set out by yourself without the scrutiny of your entire town on your back. you hum a little song while you skip through the beaten path in the woods, savoring the solitude. it shouldn’t take you more than a few hours to make the round trip, save for a quick lunch break in the middle and maybe a snack for the road at your grandmother’s abode. 

you couldn’t be happier right now. the basket swings from the crook of your arm as you stroll through the woods, admiring the wilderness. a pair of butterflies flutter every now and then, and you can make out the melodic warbles of birdsong. you wonder if it’s mating season for the creatures; the closest you ever got to romance were the fairy tales in your book (your mother’s old hand-me-downs, from when she lived in the port city before moving her to marry your now-absent father) or the occasional wedding that took place in your village (the last one was 7 years ago, when the wheat grinder’s daughter married the postman. you pressed the flowers from your corsage between the pages of a heavy dictionary).

either way, you wish your village had more to show a young woman like yourself. everyone seems happy living their rustic life, and while you were satisfied with the peace that your mother strove so hard to provide you with, you knew that the world had more to show you.

and you crave it. just as the horizon of the woods seems to stretch on forever and ever, you wonder if there’s something beyond it just waiting for you. 

maybe there ought to be a great marble castle, blinding white in the distance, complete with a prince charming inside atop his great steed. or maybe big markets with all sorts of treasures from afar! sometimes when a stray merchant stumbles across your town, you’d eavesdrop on the stories they’d tell to the little kids (you always dreamed about tasting the delicious spices they bragged about. cinnamon, was it? oh, that sounded fabulous).

but instead, you’re stuck with this bumfuck, hillbilly country town. there aren’t even any good looking guys here, and you know it’ll take at least a decade to convince your mother to let you move out away from the safety of her arms. the height of gossip here is a stupid wolf running around the woods. your village is so boring that they can’t even find a human to gossip about.

sweat dots your brow once you’re a good way into your journey. parts of the woods clear out into patches of grass or the sporadic lake, and your stomach starts growling slightly. you debate pushing yourself a bit further before you decide otherwise—your mother had packed you a delicious lunch, and it wouldn’t hurt to give your feet a quick break while you wolfed it down.

you scan the nearby woods for a clearing you could sit at, and after a few more feet of walking, you’re greeted with what looks like a meadow of wildflowers in the distance. you keep your eye on the main path before plopping down on the side of the beaten track, leaning your back against a tall tree.

‘lunchtime, lunchtime,’ you excitedly think to yourself as you peel back the cover of your basket. in the corner, all wrapped up, is a pair of sandwiches, a bottle of water, and a whole apple that your mother has prepared for you. the bright noon sun above your head indicates to you that it's the perfect time for lunch, and you lick your lips as you unwrap the sandwiches.

you go to town on your food. you have to force yourself to slow down a bit so you won’t choke on your food, and you listen to the back-and-forth of bird calls as you savor the taste of tasty bread. the crisp tanginess of the apple is welcomed by your tongue after you finish your sandwiches, and you chew thoughtlessly.

crunch.

‘hm?’ you don’t even move when the sound of rustling comes from behind you. it’s probably a deer or something. the sound of rustling wasn’t uncommon this deep into the woods, and huntsmen often told stories about daring foxes or squirrels that would venture close to the tracks to fight over scraps that other travelers had dropped.

crunch. 

you swallow down the final bite of your apple, inwardly wishing you had more. you dangle the core in between your fingers, and you wonder if you should toss it into the woods. yeah, that wouldn’t be too bad, right? 

crunch. 

the birds could pick at it for a bit, and then maybe the bugs could enjoy the sweet treat. what use would you have for an apple core? you stand up, dusting yourself off the best you can, and without looking too far into the woods, you rev up your arm and throwing the apple core as far as you can into the trees with as much force as you can muster-

-only to hit something square on with the apple core.

you blanche. what did you just hit? you weren’t looking too closely, and you had expected the apple core to unceremoniously fall somewhere on the ground and be forgotten. but instead, something of considerable size lurks in the woods, and you hold your breath as you haphazardly grab your basket and your cloak, getting ready to run for it.

“ow…,” a boyish voice whimpers. 

huh??? you freeze in your place, confusion flickering through your brain as a shadowy figure rustles around the place you had tossed the apple. a voice? you hadn’t expected that. you were supposed to be the only person here.

did you accidentally hit a wandering huntsman on accident?

“w-who’s there?” you call out. “come out and show yourself!”

“i was trying to-,” the voice grumbles. you hear footsteps and the crunching of breaking branches and leaves, and you keep your distance from the voice. the figure shifts closer to you. “-before you hit me in the face with your leftovers.”

your breath stops just short in your throat when you see a young boy around your age step out into the light. you clearly look confused—you’ve never seen him before, and no one’s mentioned anything about a boy this deep into the woods.

“who are you?” you ask, your own voice hushed. “i’ve never seen you before.”

“i should be asking you that,” he huffs. he folds his hands over his chest, and he pouts. “i want to know about you first.”

“i live in the village.” you point the way you came, down the path. you make the wise decision to casually leave out your name and any other important information you can. “are you from there too?”

he shakes his head. “i live in the woods.”

the woods! you’d never heard of anyone living in the woods. it was pure wilderness, dangerous and scary, no less for someone who wasn’t even a veteran wilderness expert! for someone that lived in the woods, the boy looks surprisingly well groomed. his long blond hair pools over his shoulder and down his chest, and it looks clean and well maintained. his cheeks are rosy and pink, and his bright blue eyes stare you down with a kind of pride you’ve never seen before.

“that’s dangerous, you know,” you point out. “there’s a wolf that's been running around these parts lately. it’s not safe for you to be out here all alone.”

he raises an eyebrow. “a wolf, huh?”

“yeah! it’s been killing sheep in my village. everyone’s been talking about it,” you remark. “i’d take you back to my village if i could, but i can’t.”

“i’m not welcome there,” he coldly remarks. his eyes narrow slightly, as if he’s leering at you. “besides, i wouldn’t want to live in a stupid village anyway. i’m happier on my own. everyone else and their stupidity would make me mad.”

annoyance shoots through you, and you shrug. “suit yourself. i can’t force you to go if you don’t want to. but i’d rather not have blood on my hands.”

“blood on your hands, huh?” the blond boy steps closer to you. “where are you headed to?”

“why do you want to know?”

“because it’s not often that i see a girl wandering around this deep by herself. you said it yourself: it’s dangerous out here.” 

you hold your ground as he steps closer, circling around you. he’s tall when he stands at full height, almost enough to rival some of the tallest men in your village. his body is toned, most likely from living in pure wilderness for however long he has, and despite the lighthearted banter between the two of you, something in your gut swirls with anxiety when he prowls around like a wild animal.

“i’m headed somewhere,” you answer vaguely. “i have some stuff i gotta deliver.”

“and it’s that way, isn’t it? opposite your village?” he approaches closer, and you whimper when he sniffs at your ear. “lemme guess… that old lady’s house on the other side?”

your stomach drops. the boy grins, his sharp canines on full display when he sees the awestruck look on your face.

“bingo! you smell like her,” he laughs easily. “that’s a long journey for a pretty girl like you.”

you pull your cloak closer to yourself, instinctively wanting to shield yourself from the strange boy. “that’s enough! i’m going to get going.”

“sure, sure.” he sends you off, still grinning like he’s won some grand prize. “be careful out there though, darling.”

he cocks his head, watching you as you start running away from him. the blond smirks to himself, your sweet scent still clinging to his nose as your silhouette flickers from his view and then disappears into the distance.

“a wolf, huh?” he murmurs. he sounds amused, still thinking about the flabbergasted expressions on your face. something inside of him stirs sinisterly. 

he’s hungry, he decides. 

and suddenly, sheep meat doesn’t sound as appetizing anymore.

…

…

…

horror weighs on your heart like a brick thrown into a pond. it ripples and quivers violently, forming merciless waves that spread out, swallowing up anything in its path and leaving things warped in its wake.

your grandmother’s house is trashed. the windows are smashed in, and the front door is broken. your heart hammers in a panic, and your mouth goes dry. your pupils shake as you stand a distance away from the house.

your mind is blank. what happened? robbers? wild animals? a murderer?

you know deep down in your heart that the correct thing to do is turn on your heel and run, run until you find someone else, run until another person could take care of the issue for you. but your feet stay glued to the ground, and your thoughts swirl over with terrifying ideas.

your grandmother is inside! she’s a weak, defenseless lady, practically confined to her bed because of her old age and her illness… there was virtually nothing she could do to defend herself if anyone attacked her. 

what if you were already too late?

“g-grandma…!” you cry out. your basket bounces next to you as you run into the house, tears clouding over your vision. the house seems too big, like it’s swallowing you up without the safety of your grandmother. the inside of the cottage looks just like the outside. furniture overturned, big claw marks etched into the walls, and absolutely no sign of your beloved grandmother.

your blood turns cold at the claw marks.

was it the wolf? 

“grandma, if you can hear me, say something…!” you whisper, too scared to raise your voice properly. “o-or move something! grandma, you’re in here, right?”

your body trembles uncontrollably. the only room remaining that isn’t within clear sight is your grandmother’s bedroom. your gut tells you to leave immediately. you don’t want to go in there, but you have to. who’s going to help your grandmother if not for you? what if by the time you ran away and brought other people, it was too late for her?

your steps echo throughout the ruined house like the toll of church bells, and you press your lips into a thin line. you reach out for the door, which, despite its dilapidated state, somehow managed to stay partially attached to the hinges. you push, forcing your head to quit spinning from your fear.

“we meet again, darling!”

your heart drops to the ground. blood paints what seems like every inch of the room, and you immediately stumble backwards, tripping over your own feet and landing like a sack of potatoes onto the ground. 

‘move…!’ your brain screams at your body. ‘get up and move!’

but you can’t. the scene unfurling in front of your eyes makes your limbs feel like they were made of lead. you can’t bring yourself to do anything. you can’t crawl, can’t scream, can’t do anything except stare back up at the blood-drenched young man that looms above you with a wolfish smile.

he licks his lips. he looks exactly as he did in the woods. tall, with long blond hair and dazzling blue eyes. except this time, there’s a pair of pointed wolf ears that sprout from the top of his head and a bushy tail in between his legs. he’s splashed with crimson, and his mouth is smeared the deepest red.

“see, i knew this was where you were headed to,” he laughs. “are you looking for the old lady that was in here? sorry to tell you, sweetheart, but i think i was a step ahead of you.”

you can’t bring yourself to breathe.

“you- you’re the wolf…,” you choke out. the smug smirk never leaves the boy’s face as he leers down at you, and another wave of pure dread drops like a deadweight into your stomach when he nods.

“about time you pieced it together, stupid girl.” the boy clicks his tongue mockingly. “i always watched that stupid village of yours get their panties all in a twist trying to catch me. i mean, human or not, did you guys really think you’d catch anything with stupid traps like that?”

you raise your arms instinctively when he leans down. “please don’t kill me…! i won’t say anything- please don’t eat me!”

he pauses, and he takes a long inhale. you clench your eyes shut, bracing yourself from the crunch of your bones under his sharp teeth, and for the smell of your blood to fill the room. this is it. this is how you die. another victim to the weird werewolf that had terrorized your town for god-knows-how-long, gobbled up mercilessly in the same way the boy had devoured your poor, helpless grandmother.

he laughs again, and you shudder. you tentatively peel your eyes open, only to scream when you see yourself at eye-level with him. 

“did you think i was going to eat you too? nah, i’m not gonna do that to you. i’ve had my fill with that bony old grandma of yours.” he grabs your wrist, and you yelp when pain shoots up your arm. he yanks you up to your feet, and you shakily lean against him when he drags you into the heart of the scene of the crime. you don’t want to look at all the blood splattered against your now-dead grandmother’s bedroom, and the boy flings you like a ragdoll onto her bed.

he looks so monstrous, towering over your cowering form. in every other way, he looks like a normal human, like any other boy you’d see frolicking in your hometown, but his animalistic features betray him. the gleam in his eyes mark him as unmistakably a ruthless predator, and your heart feels like it's going to give out.

“what are you going to do to me?” you eke out. “are you going to take me hostage?”

“hostage? for what? do i look like the kind of person to bargain with stupid humans?” he snorts, and when he shakes his head at your foolishness, his long hair tumbles over his broad shoulders. you look like a deer caught in headlights as he clambers onto the bed, and he presses a hand on either side of your face as he cages you in between his body and the mattress.

he’s smiling, but you can’t detect any trace of goodwill or kindness on his face. “do you really want to know what i’m going to do with you, my darling?”

you didn’t know how to respond. he leans down to your level, and you whimper when you can smell the stench of blood and death on his mouth. despite this, he presses his lips against the outline of your jaw, and you quiver underneath the boy as his tongue darts out to lick at your skin.

“i’m going to make you my mate.”

your head feels like it’s caving in. 

“what-?” you flinch. “no- no, no- nonono- you can’t do that… i can’t- no, i can’t do that! i can’t be your mate…!”

he narrows his eyes, yet his lips never leave your face. he keeps kissing you greedily, and you push at him to no avail, unable to wrench his heavier, stronger body off of you. you start sobbing and crying out, yet the boy pays no attention to you as his mouth tastes your skin like a starved man.

“be good, or i’ll force you. you wouldn’t want that, would you? i don’t want to hurt a pretty thing like you,” he hisses. you sniffle and swallow back your oncoming sobs and you avert your eyes. 

“i promise i’ll be gentle. besides, i’m way better looking than any of the men in your village,” he attempts to cheer you up. “c’mon. look at me. isn’t something like this more exciting than a drab country wedding? i’ll treat you like a princess. just love me, darling. does it matter if i’m a wolf or not?”

“you’re a wolf that kills! i don’t want to be with someone like you!”

he frowns, and his hands move to your cloak. your heart pounds painfully against your chest as his fingers twist at the material. your mother’s painstaking handiwork dissolves like sugar in water under his grip, and you know moving to defend yourself is futile. he quickly shreds your clothes as you cry quietly.

“you would do this too, if you were me.” his fingers trace over the bare skin of your collarbones and dip towards your breasts. his hands are sticky and warm against the chill of your body, and he cups your chest. it’s insane, how well your body fits into his big palms. he watches you with lust-stricken eyes, and his cock strains against his pants when he sees your tears wetting your pretty face and you laying there underneath him, not bothering to fight him off.

he knows. he knows you’re being obedient out of fear rather than true submission, but it’s good enough for him.

“i’m lonely,” he whispers. “you don’t know how it feels. having to kill to live. having to stay in the shadows. having to always yearn from afar because all of those stupid humans can’t see that i’m more similar to them than i am different.”

“t-that’s no reason to ruin my life…!” you protest. it’s a last ditch effort, but you shakily inhale anyway. “please… let me go. we can pretend like none of this happened. i promise i won’t tell anyone anything. i’ll give you my word. just… i can’t be a wolf’s wife- i can’t- i can’t do that-”

he shakes his head. “i want you. you talked to me in the forest. offered me help. treated me like a normal boy my age. i was too scared, so i hid my ears and tail, and you were none the wiser. that- that’s enough proof, isn’t it? that with enough time, you’d come to love me for who i am…”

you let out a strangled cry as a hand starts groping your tits, rough fingers brushing over your sensitive nipples. it feels foreign, having your boobs touched like this, but a dull heat thrums deep inside your stomach. the boy looks entranced as he stares down at your form. the way your plush chest molds and bends to his hands makes him desire you even more, even if he’s aware that you’re terrified to death of him.

“i can’t let you go. i can’t,” he doubles down. any of the remorse you had managed to wrench out of him disappears bit by bit, and he groans as he paws at your body greedily. “god, you’re just so pretty… i have to have you.”

you clench your thighs together. his lips meet yours, and you nearly vomit at the taste of iron on your mouth. he’s clumsy, but he kisses you so hungrily, eager to lap up any semblance of affection. you grip at the sheets as his hot tongue swipes at your closed lips, and you’re determined to deny him. he frowns into the kiss, and you feel a twinge of pride well up.

the wolf exhales angrily. the hand that’s been roaming your chest twists at your nipple harshly. you yelp at the pain, and the boy shoves his tongue into your mouth, moaning into the kiss. you start thrashing slightly. he doesn’t heed any mind to your discomfort, and if anything, he begins grinding his clothed hips against your thighs.

he can’t get enough of how you feel. your kisses are like honey to his mouth, and his body melts at the feeling of you against him. you know he’s going to leave bruises all over your tits from how hard he’s grabbing at them, but despite everything that’s overwhelming you, the heat that pounds against your core only builds. 

you can’t breathe. you clench your eyes shut and try to bear it, try to work through the sparks of pleasure that cloud your mind from having your breasts molested, as the wolf kisses you how he wants you. your mouth tastes foul when he finally pulls away, and a string of saliva connects the two of you momentarily.

you glare up at him. 

“i want to fuck you…,” his voice trails off. “i want to fuck you so bad. but i have to be gentle. i promised to treat you well…”

your pussy curls at the thought of taking the wolf’s dick. he bucks his clothed erection higher and higher up your legs, and he moans shamelessly into your mouth as he kisses you again. he slobbers all over your mouth like a feral dog, his tongue slithering into your throat like he’s fucking your mouth. 

you don’t enjoy this. you don’t want this at all. yet you can’t ignore the throb that pulses at your core, the way your walls squeeze every now and then painfully against nothing. you’re not turned on by this—you’re not. you want to convince yourself of that so badly, but every time you realize the situation you’re put in, pinned down to a bed with a werewolf that wants to stuff every inch of his dirty cock into your cunt, arousal swirls inside your body. 

his hands trickle down to your pants, and fear pricks sharply at your heart.

“i’ll be a good mate.” he peels the rest of your clothes off, mimicking the gentleness of a human lover the best he can. “i can be like a real human husband. no, i can be better. i know i can be better than any of those stupid boys in your village.”

you shudder when cold air rushes at your bare cunt. the slick that coats your slit is undeniable, and the boy’s pupils widen at the sight. he swallows, and you watch as his neck bobs. even by human standards, he’s handsome, and your body betrays your mind as he coaxes your thighs open.

“you want me too, don’t you?” he asks. he offers a weak smile. it’s almost sickening, how someone who mercilessly took everything from you can pretend to be a human in hopes that you’d grant him any pity. “i’ll make you feel good. i’ll be everything you want me to be.”

he lets go of your legs, and he grabs at his own clothes, shredding them apart. he groans when his cock springs free of his pants.

your heart drops into your stomach.

“i-i can’t take that-,” you choke out. “that’s too big! you’ll kill me- i’m not kidding…!”

he tilts his head to the side, and he shrugs. his cock is inhumanly huge, and if he were to put that inside your cunt, you swear that you’d be able to feel it in your throat. it’s long and thick and swollen up to an angry red. a few prominent veins run along his length, eager to stuff itself into your soft and vulnerable cunt. his balls hang heavy and big, undoubtedly filled with all the cum that he wants to fuck into you.

he grabs at your thighs again, and you squeal loudly in protest as he keeps you pinned in place.

“stay still-,” he grunts, “it’ll hurt less if you stop squirming like that! you’ll get used to it with time. it might hurt a little, but it’ll feel good with time… now shut up, and let me fuck you already-”

you grit your teeth and brace yourself as he starts rubbing his length against your lower lips. he moans softly, savoring the way your warm body feels against him. you can feel his cock twitch dangerously against your folds, and you whimper in a mix of pleasure, disgust, and fear whenever his cockhead catches at your sensitive clit.

he lines his cock up at your fluttering hole, and you stop breathing. your chest feels tight, and your head feels blown out. you prep yourself for the oncoming pain, but he pauses for a moment.

“give me your name.”

you blink. “huh?”

“if- if i’m going to take you to be my mate, i should know your name at least. before i do this,” he whispers sheepishly. your stomach twists with hatred. why should he care? he’s going to do all of these horrible things to you, so why is he even bothering to pretend to play the act of a caring lover?

“yours first,” you hiss. “if a wolf like you even has a name.”

“i do.” his response surprises you. “michael. it’s michael. i have a human name like you do. i heard that it means ‘he who is like god.’ now tell me yours.”

you lay there for a moment, dumbfounded. you didn’t expect a monster like him to have a label like that. and less so a name as blessed as “michael.”

you hang your head. “...(y/n).”

he hums, and you flinch when his cockhead threatens to break into your hole. “it’s a pretty name. a perfect name for a perfect mate.”

you bite the inside of your mouth and properly brace yourself. he pushes his hips in slowly, his gaze fixed on where his cock connects with your pussy. you weren’t sure exactly what you were expecting, but the pain comes faster than you thought. it burns and stretches, and you cry out, stiffening and lashing out, trying to get him off of you.

“hurts…! ‘t hurts-!!” you screech. you pound and claw at his shoulders, yelling and immediately bursting into another onslaught of tears. the tears are hot and heavy as they trickle down your face, and your legs shake uncontrollably. it genuinely feels like he’s splitting you into two, and the torturous pain makes your head flash white.

michael nearly falls on top of you. your cunt is disgustingly warm and inviting, and it stretches out and envelops him. it’s hot and wet and tight, and despite your constant protests, your pussy is heavenly around his cock. you’re so small, and he knows his wolf cock is about to break you. but god—he wants to break you. if breaking you feels this good, he’ll eagerly shatter you into a million pieces so that he has the depraved honor of being the one to destroy you and strip you of your humanity. 

he clenches his jaw. he couldn’t lose his mind. not like this, not when his endgame was right there. “take it. i’m going to be your mate, so you better get used to taking my dick and get used to it fast.”

you hold back a strangled sob. your tears are freeflowing, and it’s hard to breathe. his cock feels like it’s pressing straight up against your womb, and he’s not even giving you the mercy of adjusting to his size slowly. his length invades every inch of your cunt, and his ridiculous girth has you stretched out thin. you know you can’t take this. he’s actively molding your tight hole into the shape of his cock, and if he keeps himself in here any longer, you might actually go insane.

your words slur sloppily. “you’ll kill me- you’ll fuck me to death-”

his breathing is strained just from the pleasure of putting it in, but he still manages to snort at you mockingly. “you won’t die. no one’s ever died from sex.”

you wish you had the spirit to shout back at him, to put up more of a fight. but that instinct has been long extinguished at this point, and you’re nothing more than a sniveling mess as you struggle to breathe through the tightness in your chest. 

“c’mon, don’t be boring now.” he truly can’t get enough of the sight. the pretty girl from the village, face stained with tears, legs spread out all for him to fuck into her pretty cunt. to put it as frankly as he can, the boy doesn’t know what he wants to do first with you.

the sweeter part of him wants to kiss away your tears, to comfort you the best he can with a low voice and whisper his undying love to you, to convince you that a life as a wolf’s wife won’t be all that bad. you’ve caught his eye for a reason, and he wouldn’t want to have you snatch away whatever dregs of humanity the hybrid wolfboy was clinging desperately too. even if everyone else regarded him to be some kind of barbaric monster, deep down, even he has a soul that yearns painfully for love. for a romantic partner that could accept him as an equal and open their heart up to him.

but maybe this other part of him is what makes him a monster.

he loves seeing you reduced to this broken mess. he enjoys it, the primal fear that’s evident on every inch of your face. the way you’re nothing more than prey in his arms, with no other choice but to let him fuck your tight pussy out on his monstruous cock, to be the direct cause of all the pain and anguish you’re going through and to enjoy it like it’s the thrill of a fresh kill… it makes the wolfish streak inside of him go wild with delight, and he wants to keep you pinned down and helpless underneath him so he can soak up that bliss a little longer.

your stomach coils up on itself when you feel him slide his hips back slowly. the strangled noise that leaves your mouth is a mix between a pained shriek and a pleasured moan. he’s really too much for you to fit inside, and your strained walls cling to his cock. you’re barely hanging on for dear life just from him penetrating you. you can’t even imagine what it would be like once he would start actually thrusting and having sex with you.

“ahhh, you’re just too cute,” he teases you. “i never knew love could feel like this… it’s so good, isn’t it? no regular human dick could even come close to what i’ll make you feel, my little wife.”

you sob as he slowly bullies his cock back into you, once more making sure that you can properly feel the torturous stretch. the pain wobbles dangerously on edging you towards pleasure, and your vision blurs over slightly as the mounting heat in your gut tightens up. it’s gross, it’s inhuman that you’re getting off on having sex with a wolf, but your own self-restraint is being tested with the small cries you’re letting out.

“ah-,” you pathetically squeak out, “ahh…! michael- michael, please- i can’t do this!”

“yes, you can,” he promptly corrects you. his thrusts are shallow, granting you the rare mercy of sparing you from being speared in half on his entire length. “look at you… you’re starting to feel good, aren’t you? i can feel everything… that little cunt of yours won’t stop tightening up around me. you’re squeezing so much! it’s like your pussy knows better than you who you’re meant to be with.”

your mind shakes. it’s all you can do to keep yourself conscious. all the stimuli are too much: the anxiety, the pleasure, the adrenaline. your thoughts are being smoothed over, all logic coming to a screeching halt as the tightness welling up in your womb is all that your body can focus on. you hate how easily his name falls out of your mouth, how easily you find it to moan, and the wolfboy eagerly devours the attention you give him.

how angelic you must look to him right now! his mate, his precious mate, moaning out his name in pleasure, no matter how terrified they are of him! he moans softly too, and he can’t help but buck his hips deeper and harder into you. your voice and all your little noises are too adorable to him, and he just wants it all.

“you like it, don’t you? yeah, i know it’s starting to feel good. give in to me. you don’t have to do anything but let me have my way.” his breath is hot and heavy and tinged with the sharp tang of blood. you cringe when he kisses at your neck and cheeks again, but with how rapidly his hips are picking up at the rhythm, your thighs tremble dangerously. “i’ll make you cum again and again… oh, you’re just so lovely…”

your cunt sucks him in greedily. feeling his cock rub against your walls and prod dangerously at your cervix makes you grow blank, and your body keeps reacting more and more to what the wolfboy is doing to you. you wonder if this is what people mean when they say they’re being fucked stupid, and if it isn’t, whatever he’s doing to you is coming horribly close.

“fuck…! fuck- no- michael- michael, please-,” you whimper out. you two both know perfectly well that your cries are from how good it feels, but you still refuse to verbalize it properly. michael smiles into the curve of your throat, and he kisses your jugular with what you can only describe as a sickly kind of affection.

“what are you asking for, my love?” he chuckles endearingly. you sob, and your toes curl into the disheveled bed when his cock slides into you just right. your vision skews its axis slightly, and you let out a sharp exhale, mouth lolling open a little. he nips at your skin with his sharp teeth to snap you back to life. “tell me properly with those human words you’re so proud of. ‘please fuck me harder, michael! make love to your wife! give me more of your cock!’”

your cheeks burn with humiliation when he ridicules you, but deep down, you don’t know if you can wholeheartedly refute him. you do want more of him. you do want him to fuck you harder. your cunt purrs in delight every time he slides in and out of your slick hole, and his cock manages to ruthlessly hit all the right places. 

it’s unfair. it’s unfair how everything’s stacked against you.

you must have ignored him for too long. michael frowns disapprovingly, and a low growl vibrates in his throat. he ducks his head and bites down on your shoulder, sharp teeth digging themselves into the curves of your soft flesh. you scream out in pain, your walls clamping down on him and another flurry of torturous pleasure shreds your stomach.

“p-please fuck me harder, michael…!” you’re fully crying. your words don’t sound like your own, and you certainly don’t feel like yourself. the tears and snot smeared all over your face makes you feel like some lowlife, and you hate the way he forces you to beg for him. “make love to me… give me- give me more of your cock!”

“see?” he licks his lips, and he grins devilishly as you as he pulls away from your now-marked shoulder. “that wasn’t so bad, was it? nothing wrong with you for wanting more from your husband. i’ll gladly indulge my darling.”

a shaky scream pounds at your chest, and blinding hot pleasure overwhelms your head as he picks up his pace. your moans reach a high-pitched squeal as he fucks himself into you, his cock rapidly pulling in and out of your pulsing hole. it’s not like you make it particularly easy for him either; your disgustingly tight pussy walls cling to him and almost refuse to let him go. 

does your body love his dick that much? does your cunt want to savor the feeling of him stretching it out that badly? those thoughts make kaiser swell with pride as he reaches a fast rhythm. despite how sloppily and quickly he’s ramming his whole length into you to make sure you feel every single bit of his dick, he still makes sure that each thrust has his heavy cockhead drilling right at your womb. 

he prods at your deepest parts, shamelessly making sure that your womb knows it’s time to be bred. it’s time for him to fill you up with his cum, to fuck a baby into you, to force every part of your body to be tainted with him. from inside and out, from outside to in, kaiser wants to selfishly claim every part of you. that’s what good husbands do to their wives, don’t they? that’s what your folk—the human folk—did, right?

the tightness that gnaws at your core refuses to relent. your arousal runs rampant through your veins, and it feels like your guts are tying themselves into a knot. you don’t know how else to describe the heat that mounts in your core and inside your head. your body and conscience are at odds with each other. your brain rejects michael, your mouth begs for him to hold you and fuck you harder, and your hole sucks him in like it doesn’t want to let go.

“that’s my pretty wife. you have such a fucking slutty body- begging for your husband feels good, yeah? i know, i know, darling,” he drinks up your tears, his hot tongue lapping languidly at your face. you choke back another sob, and he moves to steal a kiss. his tongue invades your mouth, and your eyes gloss over. you’re overwhelmed with his presence. it smells like him, tastes like him, feels like him. you’re crying out and mewling in pleasure into his mouth, and he literally eats up every single one of your lewd noises.

his balls slap against your ass, desperate to empty themselves into you. his cock twitches and throbs inside you, making you shudder in delight. it’s a sick kind of lovemaking, if you could even call it that. your own slick dribbles down between your legs, and the lubrication only makes it easier for michael to greedily shove his cock into your fluttering cunt. 

“can’t take anymore- michael, ‘m gonna lose my mind-!” you breathe out. you hate to admit it. you don’t want to tell him how stupidly close you are. you blame how monstrously huge his cock is; how else would he be destroying your body in such an inhuman way? your vision is unstable, blurring even more around your teary edges, and the heat that licks inside of you is unbearable. 

michael knows it. he can feel it. the way the velvety lining of your cunt coaxes his cock right up to your cervix, the way it keeps squeezing him and writhing around his sensitive inches, the way your own voice seems to hike higher and higher. your legs tremble underneath him, and michael is thrilled to know just how far he’s successfully broken you. the shame and embarrassment that’s scribbled all over your face makes him almost uncontrollably giddy. 

“are you gonna cum, darling? did my cock make you feel that good?” he laughs mockingly. his words are like thorns against your ears, yet with how roughly he’s pounding into your pussy, having mounted you like the uncivilized animal he was, you couldn’t deny it. he’s a predator through and through, and with you trapped in his reach like prey, you know all too well that he’ll be moving in for the kill soon.

the insatiable tightness inside you teeters on the brink. you’re barely holding on, each breath growing more strained than the last. michael doesn’t let up his pace, continuing to rut into you. each snap of his hips has you close, so close, so fucking close—you don’t want him to stop. you clench your eyes shut, bracing yourself to hurtle headfirst into the crash, to topple finally past the point of no return where you would irrevocably become the wolf’s.

“i’m cumming…! ah- michael- cumming- cumming…!”

heat rips through your body in half. you throw your head back, the foreign feeling consuming you whole as if you had been thrown directly into fire. your cunt clamps down on the boy’s cock, and it feels like he’s about to split you into two. your vision completely blurs, and the world rushes around your senses. it’s too much yet not enough at the same time, and you rake your nails down the wolf’s bare back with such a fervor that you must have shredded up his skin and drawn blood.

you shake and squirm and thrash underneath him, but no matter how much you writhe against his body, michael won’t let his grip on you go. he relentlessly fucks you through your orgasm, leaving you a sobbing mess as your juices squirt out of your abused hole and drip down onto the shaky bed. his cock pounds harder and harder, and he groans out as he feels your slick and pulsing walls flutter and clench around him.

“hah- that’s what i thought-,” he chuckles. you can’t breathe. you can’t think. the incessant throbbing in your stomach is still there, but it’s morphed from arousal into something a little more painful. he’s overstimulating your already overrun cunt. “your husband’s dick is that good, isn’t it? don’t worry; i’ll fuck you like this as much as you want… i’ll get you to cum over and over again.”

you dumbly shake your head. your head is foggy, and the throes of your climax don’t want to let you go. “n-o… can’t take any more- no more- don’t want any more…!”

“you’re going to take it, like the good wife you are. you don’t get a choice in this. i’m your husband,” he snarls. you shudder, whimpering in weak protest as he continues using you. it hurts, and it burns, and the coil that refuses to let up in your stomach makes you feel sick. how much longer could this monster last? it feels like he’s been having sex and using your body forever, but even after ripping an earth-shattering orgasm from you, he still hasn’t cum yet.

“it hurts- i can’t do it…!” you smack at his chest again, but you know he won’t let you go. your tears sparkle cruelly on your cheeks, and michael sighs lovingly as he laps at your face. he swings back and forth constantly between treating you like you were a mere bug to cherishing you. was this some kind of karmic revenge from the universe for thinking so lowly of your own village? the home that seemed so far away now?

“take it- take it- fuck- let me make you my proper wife…” fear floods your body when you can feel his cock twitch dangerously deep inside you, your bruised cervix contracting and sucking him in. his balls tighten and continue to slap against your ass, but with how quickly and frantic his movements are, he’s going to cum. “fill you up with my pups… we’ll be such a happy family together-”

your eyes shoot open. cold reality splashes over you as if slapping you back to your senses, even in the midst of being manhandled. “no! no, no…! don’t! please, please, michael- that’s the one thing you can’t do! don’t cum inside- i don’t want to get pregnant with your babies!”

he grits his teeth, and he presses his entire body weight on top of you, determined to keep you physically where you are. he’s determined to make sure you can’t escape from his grasp, as if you’d be able to go anywhere with how disheveled and haunted you are. it’s a good look for you, second only to the loving glances he knows you’d never spare him.

“shut up, shut up…! this is your job, this is what you’re supposed to do! this is what lovers do!” he thrusts once, twice, and when he brings his hips down one final time, your fate is sealed. his own cry dies out, buried deep inside his throat as he cums deep and hard into you. your breath lodges into your neck, leaving you with nothing but bitter defeat and the taste of uncertainty all over your mouth.

his cum spurts everywhere, and it floods your womb. it burns and goes everywhere, painting your insides a pretty shade of ivory white, and you can feel every drop of it flowing into you. it’s poison, it’s heavy, and it’s awful, yet your cunt has no choice but to take every little bit of it. you bite down on the inside of your cheek as it starts to eke out, and you force yourself to endure it. you have no choice but to; this is what survival is for you now. this is the only answer you have now.

you don’t know how you’re going to live with this. you try to console yourself by telling yourself that you had gotten over the worst, but you know that you haven’t. you never will.

“nnghg…!” a stray cry slips from your mouth when something tight and way too big for you to take invades your strained hole. a sharp pain invades and spearheads through you, and your entire body stiffens as his large knot shoves its way into your plush and stretched out pussy. his cum overwhelms your body, stretching out every inch of your battered womb. your stomach bulges just slightly, feeling stuffed to the very brim.

michael nearly collapses on top of you, keeping you folded in half and in a perfect, vulnerable breeding position. his eyes are blown open wide and glossed over in a kind of drunken stupor, yet he refuses to let you go in any capacity. it’s not like you have the physical means to anyway; you’re already so weak from having him force himself onto you, and the pain of being bred and knotted is taking everything in you to not pass out right there and then.

he reaches towards your face, cupping your tear-stained and broken expression with his large palm. you don’t know if the feeling that stirs in your gut is simply the aftershocks of sex or pity towards yourself, but seeing michael look down at you with such a triumphant yet lovestricken gaze isn’t doing your any favors. you know you have no choice but to get pregnant with his children, to watch in horror as your body turns into nothing but a host for these parasites he’s determined to fuck into you over and over, not a single squeeze of semen going to waste with the knot he’s plugged you up with.

“we’ll be perfect together,” he whispers. his words are almost like a mantra he’s brainwashing you with. you wonder who needs it more, the manipulator or the one being manipulated. everything feels like a punishment to you. just where did you go wrong? were you too ambitious for your own good? too hopeful? too willing to jump at the first opportunity for escape that came your way, not caring to see if any part of the rosy details were traps?

or maybe the worst part was that you might have done nothing wrong at all. maybe this was all a twisted machination of the universe. maybe just like what michael believed, you were destined to fall into the wolf’s grasp one way or another, to disappear from the face of society and the world as you knew it, to have him drag you off into the darkness and to become the broken but beautiful wolf’s bride that he must have dreamt of forever.

“i love you.” he kisses you, and you don’t have the strength nor the courage to say those blasted words back to him. it’s not like you could say them back sincerely either. instead you avert his gaze, turning your face towards the red scraps of your cloak that lay on the ground as if they were miniature corpses of their own, left over from a long lost war.

you hope your mother can forgive you when she realizes you won't ever come back home.

KINKTOBER 2023—le cinquième jour, le dernier jour.

[gretavangroupie]

Vigilance (Chapter 22 Part 2)

Word count: 18.7k

Pairings: Jake x Reader, Sam x OC

Warnings: Alcohol, Cursing, Dramatic Themes. Angst Including: Talks of Infidelity, Toxic Themes, Stalking, Arguing, Yelling, Extreme Portrayal of Sadness, Crying, Abandonment, Heartbreak, Talks of Illness, Extreme Illness, Hospitalization, Talks of Death and Dying, Domestic Violence, Domestic Abuse, Verbal Abuse, Physical Violence. Talks of Pregnancy, Pregnancy Complications, Pregnancy Loss/Termination. Smut Including: Kissing, Touching, Fingering, Oral F!Receiving, Oral M!Receiving, Penetration, Rough Sex, Voyeurism. Fluff.

This story is a collaboration with my best pal @gretavanmoon.

SAM POV

“Is there a faster setting for these windshield wipers? Cause these things are shit.” You asked Elle as you pulled into the tiny neighborhood in Cape Cod, peering through the thick falling raindrops to see if any of the buildings looked like the one in the Air BnB photos. You’d flown into Boston and rented a car, the perfect small-town birthday getaway, all planned by your lovely Elle. 

“Oh, there it is, babe! That one on the corner. It says we can park on the street.” Elle said, pulling on the rain boots she’d ditched the minute you got in the car. 

You pulled the car up as closely as you could to the front door of the tiny old house, situated perfectly on a row of about ten others that looked just the same. “It’s so cute!” Elle muttered.

“I can’t even see it, it’s raining so hard!” You yelled over the loud drops pounding on the sunroof. “Let’s wait a second while it calms down before we take everything inside.” 

“Mmm…okay.” She complained. 

“So anxious to get inside, babe…?” You said, running your hand over the back of her head. 

“Maybe. Yes. I’ve just planned this so quickly in the last few days, thinking we were gonna be out on the road instead of getting to do something special. I just can’t believe we actually made it, is all.” She leaned back into your touch, calming her jittery and excited nerves. 

You offered her a smile. “I’m excited too, babe. I can’t believe we made it either, honestly. And thank you, for planning this. You’re the best.” You sighed, watching as the rain let up a bit. “We should be soundchecking right now.”

“I’m sorry, love. I know you’d rather be out there playing.” She relented. 

“No, no. Not rather. Not rather at all. It’s just you get yourself in this mindset to go and do something like that, it takes a long time to get yourself there. Then it just stops. But it’s okay, shit happens. Jake needs to heal more than anything. Top priority.” You said, giving her a little smile. 

“Yes. Top priority. He will be okay, babe. Just needs some time.” She said, clicking the toes of her boots together. “Ready to go in now?”

——

You’d spent the afternoon making yourselves at home in the little house, a quaint place right on the water. The air still had a wintery feeling, but it didn’t stop the place from slowing down. You’d decided to take a walk down into town once the rain turned to a drizzle, seeing what all you could find in your short stay. It was straight out of a Hallmark movie; Main Street still bustled with people and tourists even this time of year. 

You picked out a few spots you wanted to come back and visit, making mental note to remember them. Restaurants, record stores, gift shops…everything you needed in one little place. 

It had gotten fairly late, and after a tiny takeout dinner, you had retreated to the oversized couch to watch a movie as you both let the jet lag set in. 

“So tomorrow. Your birthday. You pick what we do, the whole day.” Elle said as the two of you cuddled up under a blanket when the movie was over.  

“The whole day?” You said, scratching your peach fuzz. 

“Yep. Morning into night.” 

You picked her legs up from the floor and brought them to rest in your lap, massaging her muscles. “Hmm, well I think we should start off taking a shower, and you can wash my hair with that smelly-good stuff you have…” you let your hand travel up her leg, fingers digging into her thigh. 

“Then we can walk down to that Bread & Roses place and get coffee…then spend the day just exploring, maybe go out on the boat and see the humpbacks…” your hand ghosted over the hem of her sweatpants, fingers slipping in just barely as she let her eyes bore into yours. 

“Mmmhm, then what?” She said. 

“Then we can come back and get ready for dinner, you can put on that sexy black dress I saw you put in your suitcase…” your hand snuck below her waistline now, hand grazing over her heat. She smirked hard. 

“You saw that, huh?” She asked, clicking her tongue. “That was supposed to be a surprise, Sammy.”

“It still will be, baby. You never cease to surprise me. So then we can go get some seafood, and drink too much wine…” you watched as she began to lose composure at your touch, as you slipped a digit between her folds. 

“Way too much wine…” she breathed, arching her back just a little. 

“Wayyy too much…” you agreed, allowing your hand to go to work as you maintained eye contact. 

“Then we can cuddle up right back here again, and do this again…and again and again…” you slipped your middle finger inside her as her legs fell open under the blanket, and her jaw fell slack. 

You sat still, half of you wanting to grab her and take her into the bedroom, the other half wanting to sit here and undo her, with her completely at your will. 

You watched as her hands stayed under the blanket, gripping your thigh underneath you. Her face was contorting into beautiful and blissed-out expressions as you worked, hooking your finger slowly deep inside her. “Again and again?” She panted. 

“Uh huh, as many times as you want…” you replied, moving your thumb to make tiny swirls on her sweet spot. 

“How’s that feel, baby? Feel good?” You asked her, voice low and gravely against the sound of the rain picking back up again. 

“Yeah, feels so good…”  she moaned a high pitched sound, letting you know she was enjoying herself. “But Sammy, it’s your birthday. You should be the one getting all the special treatment.”

“Eh, yeah maybe. But watching you like this…it’s it’s own special kind.” You began moving your pace a bit faster, adding another finger inside her. 

Her head tilted back as her hands gripped your leg harder, completely falling apart right here on your lap. She hummed and gasped for air, her knees opening and closing over and over. 

"Sammy, please…keep goi-"

 “We’ve got three whole days for you to treat me, baby. Right? You gonna do that for me later, too?” 

She nodded hard as her hips began to grind up into your hand. “Of course I will baby. Whatever you want. It’s all yours...” She brought her eyes to yours again, giving you a look that came straight from another world. God this woman…

You brought your face closer to hers, gritting your teeth. “You know what I want right now, Eleanor…go ahead and give it to me…” you growled in her ear. 

Seconds later she was coming undone at your words, riding out her high as you continued to move your hand in and out of her, mouthfuls of pitiful words falling from her lips. You swear you could never get enough of her like that, and you weren’t sure you would ever get tired of it. Even if you got nothing in return, just watching her fall apart at your mercy was enough. 

“Fuck Sam, that was…a welcome surprise.” She laughed, letting her arm fall over her eyes. “I like the idea of us just doing that kind of thing over and over and over again..” She sat up a bit, wrapping her arms around your neck. “What time is it?” 

You clicked your phone screen on the table. “11:49.” 

“Close enough.” She popped out from under the blanket, and dashed into the bedroom and then into the kitchen. You heard the refrigerator door open and close, and a few seconds later she was coming back into the room with a plate, with a lit candle sticking out of something on the top. 

“Happy birthday to Sammy, happy birthday toooooo Sammy…” she sang, a giant smile on her face as she held her hand in front of the flame while she walked. She set the plate down in front of you. “Make a wish, silly!” She beamed. 

You smiled hard at her, rubbing your hands together as you closed your eyes, making a scene out of making your wish. 

For the love of all that is holy, please let this discussion I’m about to have with Elle go smoothly, please don’t let her leave me, and please help her to know that she’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me…

You opened your eyes, and blew out the candle. She clapped her hands and took the candle out, bringing the plate up in front of your face. You could hardly make out what it was in the dim light of the room. 

“That smells amazing, what is that?” You asked. 

“My granny’s old recipe for homemade cinnamon rolls!” She answered, running her finger along the top of it, taking some icing and licking it off. 

“When did you make these?!” You asked. 

“When you were out running errands the other day. Here, try some…” she handed you a fork and you both dug in. 

“Holy shit, Elle. That’s the best fuckin thing I’ve ever eaten. Please marry me tomorrow.” You said with a full mouth. 

She blushed hard. “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach!” She laughed, sitting back onto the couch and covering herself with the blanket. You placed the plate back on the table, and laid back with her. 

You were trying your damnedest to find the right time to talk to her, tell her what you’d done. You knew it wasn’t going to be pretty, and you absolutely expected the worst. You deserved anything she threw your way, and you’d prepared yourself for her to pack her things and leave when you got back home.

But for right now, her yawns were becoming more and more frequent. And you decided it could wait until tomorrow. For now, you’d let yourself enjoy the peace of her presence, just for a little while longer. 

“Happy birthday, Sammy.” She said as she gave you the sweetest look, adoration filling her to the brim. It hurt your heart, to know that tomorrow you’d probably be breaking hers. 

——

The next morning you and Elle walked hand in hand along the beach, picking up shells as you sipped your coffees. It was chilly and breezy, and the beach wasn’t too crowded just yet. There was more rain in the forecast though, calling for heavy showers and colder temperatures all night. 

“Oh my god babe, look!” You suddenly called out, picking a shell up from the sand and bringing it over to her. “It’s abalone! This is my favorite shell!”

You both examined it, cleaning off the bits of sand to let the iridescent rainbow colors shine through. 

“Guidance.” Elle said. 

“What?” 

“These symbolize guidance, within like, relationships and love.” She went on, giving you a tiny sweet smile. “Are you looking for guidance with something, Sammy?”

Uh, fuck. Yeah, kinda. Wow. 

You shrugged, gulping down a hard swallow. “Guess it’s always cool to have a little extra help from the…ocean, hah.”

Elle giggled. “So how does 23 feel?” She asked, pushing her heavy waves behind her ear. The oversized sweater she had on was draping over her shoulder, sitting perfectly on her tiny frame. 

“Feels like 22 but cooler.” You answered, kicking through the icy water, sticking the abalone in your pocket. “How is 24?”

“It’s the best year I’ve had yet.” She smiled, always being the glass half-full type of person. 

“It has been a good year, hasn’t it?” You answered. “Except for, well, our most recent bummer. Hopefully this doesn’t set the pace for the rest of tour…”

“I hope not.” Elle went on. “You wanna walk down to the pier and get a sandwich or something?” 

The two of you made your way to get lunch, stopping at little gift shops along the way. You’d ended up underneath the pier after you ate, the air slowly getting cooler as a drizzle blew in. Elle was standing next to one of the pier beams, looking at all the clusters of barnacles stuck to the sides. 

“Elle sells sea shellllls…” you sang as you approached her. “Ew, that’s gross. What are all these things?” You asked, flicking away at some of the crusty old growths. 

“Don’t take them off! They’ll die if you remove them!” Elle swatted your hand away. 

“Shit, my bad.” You hopped back, hands up in surrender. 

“Look, babe…” she pulled her arm in front of her, gently grabbing a tiny shell from the cluster. “Ammonite…” she said, bringing it close to her face. 

“Well great, now it’s gonna die!” You complained. 

“No, this isn’t a barnacle, dummy. It’s an ammonite shell. Do you know how rare these are? And look, it’s opalized…” She said quietly, the wind blowing her hair in front of her face. 

“No, I don’t guess… how do you know all this stuff?” You inquired, truly impressed that she did. “You didn’t even grow up near the ocean…”

“I know a lot of cool things, Sammy.” She said blankly, still closely inspecting the perfect spiral shell, in pure awe that she found it. 

“Why don’t you keep it? I can make you a necklace or something out of it.” You suggested. 

“Really? Can you?” She said, finally smiling. 

“Sure. Couldn’t be too hard. Little dremel action. I’ll figure it out.” You promised her. You knew you’d give her anything in the world if it meant she’d give you that sweet smile again. 

“I’ll wear it every single day. Never take it off.” She said, slipping it in her coat pocket for safe keeping. 

“And what does the mighty ammonite shell symbolize, oh Wise Knower of All Things Ocean?” You teased. 

She rolled her eyes and laughed again. “Change. Just, change.”

——

The rain was falling heavier now, as you and Elle munched on your seafood takeout, opting to stay in with your dinner and wine instead of going out. She’d set the table nicely, lit candles and transferred all the food from the to-go boxes onto nice plates. You cracked a few windows, letting the smell of the rain mixed with the ocean air blow in slightly through the house. You were nearing the bottom of your first bottle of Chardonnay, fully intending on starting the second bottle the minute it was empty. 

“Babe, you didn’t have to put the sexy black dress on, I was just kidding.” You joked. 

She scoffed. “Of course I did, it’s your birthday. Gotta wine you, dine you, and give you a show. What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn’t?” 

You giggled. “I’m also glad you got oysters. You know what they say abou-”

“Sam. We all know. You say it every single time we eat oysters…” she rolled her eyes as she sipped her wine. 

“What? No I don’t, it’s true though…” you defended yourself. 

“I know it is.” She sighed. “That’s why I ordered them.” 

“That’s my girl…” you gave her a flirty and devilish laugh. “You’re already killing me in that dress, it’s…truly something. Hope these oysters work their fuckin’ magic…” you said. 

She stood from the table, swishing her hips from side to side, knowing she was giving you a show. “All finished, Samuel?” She asked in a sultry voice  as she leaned down low, putting her boobs in your face as she took your plate. 

“Yes…all done…” you were quickly falling into her trap, getting more turned on with every passing second just by watching her.

“I’ll do the dishes later, we’ve got other things to attend to, hm?” She said, walking back over and straddling you in the chair. She brushed your hair back, hands wrapped around your face as she took you in. Finally she connected her lips to yours, brushing her wine-soaked tongue into your mouth. Her hands wrapped around your head and your neck as she started kissing you harder, giving you immediate indication of exactly what she wanted. God, you were already so turned on, but, you were also bursting at the seams to tell her. You had to talk to her, right now.

You pulled away quickly. “Stop. Elle, stop.”

“What, babe? What’s wrong?” She said, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. 

You began to stand the two of you up, hand in hand, walking to the couch to grab the blanket and lead her into the sunroom. The wall was nothing but big windows, a perfect view of the now stormy waves blowing up onto the beach. There was another giant couch in here, plush and white and covered with pillows. You sat down, motioning for her to join you. 

She sat, and you threw the big blanket across you again. “What is it, Sam? You’re scaring me. Is something wrong?”

“No. Well, yes. Yeah, actually.” You took a breath as you took her hands under the blanket, preparing yourself for the storm that was about to hit. The guilt was eating you alive. 

“Elle, you know I love you more than anything, anything in the entire world, right?” You prefaced, looking her directly in the eyes. 

“Yeah, I know. God Sam, what? What is it?” She asked, anxiety setting in. 

“Just let me…” you huffed, running a hand over your face. “That night, in Vegas. I, uh. I did something really bad, Elle.” You felt a lump form in your throat, watching as her eyes filled with dread. 

“After Jake left, and you got sick and went to sleep, um. Y/N and I went to smoke, and…things kind of…”

“No, Sam. No…don’t…” she said, letting go of your hands. 

You stayed steadfast in your confession. “We hooked up, Elle. Behind your backs. I did it, and…I have no excuse at all. It just… happened. And we both had immediate, immediate regret. It was the most stupid decision I’ve ever made in my life, Elle. And I can never take it back. I will never forgive myself, ever. You don’t deserve that, you never did. And I put our relationship in jeopardy. After everything we built. And I’m so, so sorry baby.” You began to cry a little, seeing the look on her face. She stayed silent. 

“I’m so sorry. I should have told you immediately after it happened. But I’m stupid, I guess. I don’t expect you to forgive me. Hell, ever. But I just… wanted to tell you. I couldn’t lie to you any more.” You bit your lips together as the tears fell. You felt relief, but not the good kind. 

After a few seconds of hell, she finally spoke. “Does Jake know?”

You nodded. “Yeah, he knew the night it happened. I’m so sorry Elle. They both begged me to tell you, even threatened to do it themselves. But I made them promise me they wouldn’t. It had to come from me.”

"So you lied to me, all that time. All the times we had sex…you told me you loved me, you…” she shook her head, standing from the couch. “You lied to me, Sam. For a good while, why did you-"

“I’m so sorry Elle. Yes I did, I lied to you. And I…I don’t know why I did. I guess I just, everything with Jake happened so fast, and it was so scary, and I was in a weird headspace with that, and worrying about him. And then tour got postponed, I just– I should have told you. As soon as it happened. And I apologize for making that horrible decision. It was thoughtless, Elle. And you don’t deserve that. Neither does Jake.”

She shook her head, letting everything hit her as she sat back down on the other end of the couch. She wiped away a few stray tears. “I think I need a minute. Can you…”

“Yes. Whatever you need. Just, come back to me, soon. Please Elle. Please don’t leave.” You begged, walking slowly to her and holding out your hand. She didn’t grab it. She looked away, pulling a pillow from the stack and curling her body around it, looking out the windows as the rain pounded. 

Fuck. 

What now? 

You retreated back into the kitchen, blowing out the candles and closing the windows. You kept your mind distracted and your hands occupied, cleaning up the table and doing the dishes. You cleaned the entire kitchen, wiped down the counters and even scrubbed the sink. 

She just needs a minute. Just needs some time. 

After you cleaned until there was not a thing out of place, you grabbed your acoustic from the case in the bedroom, sitting back on the couch in the living room to play a little, hoping it’d bring you some solace. 

What came out first was the Age of Machine riff that you wrote so long ago, on a rainy day just like this one. You remembered the day you played it for Jake, thinking it was just going to be something he brushed off. 

“Wait, wait…what was that? Do that again.”

“That’s fuckin' scary, Sam. God damn…let’s keep going with it.”

Your fingers plucked away as your mind raced over what had just happened. Was she crying? Should you go in there?  Then it hit you, her favorite song. 

You began to strum the first few chords of Anthem, hoping she’d hear and come back in and be ready to talk. You hummed along, remembering again when you all wrote it. How simple it was. No frills, nothing fancy. Just good guitar, simple percussion, and really powerful lyrics. 

You played for a long while, moving then into something else entirely, big foreboding bellowing sounds then tight and cheery ones, letting the thoughts running through your mind come out through your hands. Darkness fell completely in the house, and you started to worry about Elle, and if she would ever come back. 

“Sammy.” You finally heard. You popped up, turning around on the couch to face her. 

She walked over slowly, eyes puffy and red and face swollen with tears. She sat carefully on the edge of the couch as you sat up, wanting nothing more than to console her. 

“I was going to sleep with Jake that night.” She said finally. 

“Uh, yeah? You…you were?” You were caught off guard, knowing that that night had gotten really wild really fast; you knew that while you were busy with Y/N, Jake and Elle were entertaining themselves. You remembered though, not harboring much feeling about it. 

“Yes. We talked about it. We were going to…because we assumed you guys were going to, too. Well, at least I assumed…” she scooted a little closer to you as you listened. “Jake and I were…very close that night. And I even texted him and apologized for coming on too strong. But, then Josh called, and I got sick…” 

“Yeah, yeah baby that’s exactly how it went. And that’s when I made my decision.” You answered. 

“Sam, stop.” She shook her head. “I’m not mad at you, really. I’m… very disappointed. That you lied. Y/N too. My best friend, your best friend.” You nodded. “But that night was so crazy, so uninhibited, we were all, all over the place…I’m sure you were all surprised at me and Y/N taking things where we did, and that’s something else I never really talked to you about. We never…none of us ever talked it through. I guess I know why now…”

“Jake, was he…?” She asked. 

“Pissed? Yeah, unbelievably so. Elle, they aren’t together anymore. They’ve been broken up for about a month. Well, since that night. They’ve been lying to us all to keep morale up, keep things normal. But, yeah. They broke up.” You explained. 

“What?” She said. “No, fuck! God, Sam. What on earth…”

You nodded, feeling sad for them, too. 

“When I texted Jake to apologize, he didn’t tell me that. He barely even remembered he and I being so…close. Sam, if things hadn’t gotten stopped, I was…” she caught her words, shaking her head as she tried to speak. “I was going to ask your permission. I was going to see if you were going to be with Y/N. Because I was going to be with Jake.”

Hm. Okay, well. This conversation wasn’t on your bingo card for the night of your 23rd birthday. 

You leaned back on the couch. “What a fucked up situation.” You relented. “But, you aren’t mad at me? How is that even right, Elle? I cheated on you.”

“Yeah, you did. And fuck you for that, truly.” 

Deserved that. 

“Absolutely, yes. Keep cussing me out. Fight me, slap me if you want. Catch a plane and leave, go back home and pack your things, I get it. I deserve that, because I don’t deserve you, and your heart, Elle. Your big, beautiful, smart, intense and over caring heart. You’re a million times the person that I could even think about being. Just when I think I have shit figured out, you always come and knock me on my ass with something better. You make me want to be better, Elle. All the time.”

“When I’m challenged with something, anything at all, I literally ask myself, ‘What would Elle do?’ I swear to god I do that at least once a day. You inspire the ever living fuck out of me. You make me laugh, because you’re always so unapologetic about being your pure self. When you left, that first time, I swear I didn’t know how I was going to make it. You disappeared, and I was lost for so long, Elle. And when you came back, god, it was like I was whole again.” 

You held your head in your hands, listening as a low roll of thunder rumbled in the distance. You thought about Y/N, and how for the longest time, both of them took up space in your mind. Your feelings for them were the same, in love with two people at once. But then, out of nowhere, it hit you. 

You moved to Elle, taking her hands in yours. “When I picture my future, when I’m older and we slow down, or whatever. It’s always you there with me. It always has been. Watching Jake in that hospital bed, and watching him fight to breathe as they took him away, his face turning blue and purple as he reached for me, it kinda. Ah, it…” You felt tears beginning to come, now. You hadn’t told Elle about that yet. She squeezed your hands again as you pinched the bridge if your nose, pushing that visual away. 

“I watched him go through something that I should have never seen, Elle. It kinda made me realize what’s important in life, cheesy as that sounds. And later he told me that he saw nothing but Y/N’s face as he was blacking out. It made me start thinking…” you were crying hard now. “If that were me, I would see your face. I’d want to see yours. The last person I’d think about, it would be you.”

She sighed deeply as she dried your tears. “Sammy, babe…”

“I love you, Elle. Way too much. So much that it scares me, sometimes. Because…I don’t know what to do with my emotions. You make me feel a way that I’ve never ever felt before. And it’s terrifying. And I run from it. I don’t know why, but I do. Maybe that’s why I made the decision that I did that night. Because I still didn’t want to admit it to myself.”

“Admit what, Sam?”

You took her chin in your hand, bringing your face close to hers. 

“That I meant what I said when I was eating that cinnamon roll last night.” You said nervously, every nerve ending in your body on fire. 

Finally, finally, she laughed. Rolled her body back on to the couch and laughed. In absolute stitches.

 “I’m not marrying you tomorrow, Sam.”

You giggled at her display, feeling like three million pounds had been lifted from your body. You chased her, laying over top of her on the couch, bringing your faces close together as she brought you into her embrace. 

“No, not tomorrow…”

——

The storm had intensified, thunder and lightning coming every minute now. You and Elle had spent the last half hour curled up with each other, doing nothing at all but being intimate. Talking, laughing, apologizing and explaining…you let more secrets be shared with her that night than you had ever shared with her before. You got down into the roots of some things, telling her detailed stories and experiences, and letting her know how much you cared for her. 

It felt like you had reconnected with her on a cellular level, somehow, and you were thanking your lucky stars that she even was letting you sit with her. It was definitely not how you saw your night going when all of this began. Maybe blowing out that candle really worked. 

“Can I kiss you, Elle?”

The very fiber of your being felt like it had been reset, all the reasons you loved her flowing back through your body like a flooding river. The way she kissed you back, the way she touched you, felt like the very first time. You didn’t deserve this…

“I’m nervous, for some reason…”

You picked her up and carried her slowly to the bedroom, never disconnecting from her lips the entire way. You laid her gently on the old mattress, the iron bed frame squeaking as she fell. She still had her black dress on; it accentuated her curves so perfectly and was cut right at her mid thigh…she slid one strap down, pulling it to sit low on her shoulder, before pulling the whole dress down and off, revealing her black lace set. She made intense eye contact with you, bringing her knees toward her chin as she reclined on her elbows.

“Stop giving me those eyes, Eleanor…you know I can’t say no when you do that…”

“Then don’t tell me no…”

You reached down and took your boxers off, letting them fall to the floor as you inched yourself toward her on the bed. You were positively dizzy, the feeling of her skin on yours igniting you into a fire that blazed differently than it ever had before. Her mouth connected to yours in such a way that felt like you were bonded together, feeling every tiny touch and movement as if it were magnified. You were still anxious, nervous for some reason. Like you were about to sleep with her for the very first time. But she comforted you, kissed your sweet spots, walked you through learning her body again. 

“Don’t be nervous, Sammy. It’s just me…it’s okay…”

“I know, baby..but the way you touch me sometimes…god.. I swear I could love you all day, and all night for the next hundred years and I’d still never get tired of you…”

It was something brand new. She pushed you back into the pile of pillows, crawled over top of you and flipped herself around with her back to you as she straddled your lap. What a fucking view. She leaned down and connected her sweet mouth to you, licking and pulling and pushing, hands in a soft fury to prepare you for her. Your hands reached down and pulled at her hair, directing her throat to be just where you needed her without forcing her…in and out…her mouth was pure euphoria..hot and wet euphoria. 

“You not gonna touch me, Sam?”

Her free hand reached back and ran a finger along the lace barely covering her ass, pulling it to one side as she invited you to touch her. You pulled it more to one side, and her back arched hard for you, revealing her dripping entrance as she continued to close her throat around you. You brought your hand to her, feeling her wetness soak your fingers. “Mmhm…” she hummed around you, causing your dick to jump in her mouth. “Keep feeling me Sam, keep touching me like that…”

The visual was insane, the lightning like camera flashes into the room, each time burning the erotic images into your mind. Your fingers were working her, deep and slow as she hummed her lips around you, bringing you closer and closer…you were sure you’d never felt her like this ever before. 

“So gorgeous, my Eleanor…your mouth feels so fucking good baby…”

She arched more for you as her mouth popped hard off the top of your dick, the loss of contact almost bringing tears to your eyes. “Need you to fuck me into this mattress, Sam. Can you break my back, baby?”

You were putty. Melting and running all over the place. You pulled her back, disconnecting her mouth from you as you brought your tongue to her entrance, suddenly feeling the need to taste her. So fucking delicious. You let your tongue delve into her as far as it could go, reaching into her as she pushed herself backwards onto your face. 

“Fuck, Sammy…yeah…” 

She was whining as you ate her, flipping and flitting your tongue into her as the thunder rolled louder now. Right as you felt her body begin to shake, you repositioned yourself, standing high on your knees behind her as you pulled her panties to the side again, ripping them just a tad in the process. You teased her, the head of your dick begging to push all the way into her, fill her up with everything you had. 

“Do it, Sammy please…I can’t wait any longer, fuck…”

She buried her head in the bed, her hands reaching into her hair to grasp it. “Huh uh, my job…” you fisted her hair, tightening it around your hand and pulling her head back slowly, but forcefully as you slowly entered her. Thick and sticky and so ready for you, she felt like heaven. Her sounds alone were enough to get you there, so you pulled back harder. “Arch it for me baby, I know you can do it…” 

Her body was at an almost 90 degree angle as you fucked slowly and languidly into her, pushing as deeply as you could go, one hand tangled in her hair and the other pulling on her hip…giving you leverage to move her into just the right spot. She spread her legs a little, lowering herself into the bed a bit more, and allowing her to fuck back into you. 

You both were moving slowly, her body dipping low with each thrust and meeting you perfectly as you hit her g spot. “Don’t fucking stop, Sam…right…fucking…there…” she was whining, mewling and purring sounds into the air. 

“You want it harder, baby? Think you can take it?” You asked as she nodded. The thunder was clapping now as her asscheeks hit your thighs repeatedly, her muscles flowing like shockwaves with each hit. 

You pulled yourself out, earning a groan of displease from her. Hand still tangled in her hair, you stood from the bed and pulled her along with you, walking her to the wall by the bed. You gently pushed her against it, letting her cheek fall flat against the white paint. You lifted her left leg up, hitching the back of her knee in the crease of your elbow. 

“Spread for me, babe. There you go…”

And you entered her again, pushing her into the wall. She was considerably tighter like this, and the new position garnered you almost complete control. She was almost unable to move at all. But her sounds continued to fill the room…you knew she was loving it just as much as you were. 

“I’m close, baby…almost there…” she said, breathless and sweaty as you fucked up into her. 

“Hang on, go with me…I’m right there too…goddamn you’re so fucking tight…”

Your name poured from her mouth as you poured into her, bodies shaking together as you pressed your front against her, her forehead rolling against the sheetrock. When your head came back into one piece, and her body stopped jerking, you snuck your hand around in front of her, between her legs, finding her clit and immediately rubbing small circles. 

You went insane on it, flicking it from side to side as you continued to press her into the wall, your still-hard dick resting comfortably inside her. Her cries sounded almost close to tears. You kissed the back of her neck, biting into it as you felt her writhing again. 

It surprised her, the overstimulation making her shudder. Her body stiffened as you worked your middle finger over her already swollen bud, begging her to let go again. Her walls were still squeezing around you, still inside her. You almost felt like you could let go again, yourself. 

“I know you’ve got another one in there, baby. Let me have it…give it to me again…”

Her hand reached behind her and grasped your shoulder, pulling your torso against her back, fingers digging into your shoulder muscle like she was holding on for dear life. 

Within seconds she was soaking your dick all over again, her knees threatening to buckle as she doubled over. Her cries were almost pathetic, shrieking and breathless as she came again. 

“There it is, just for me…so gorgeous Eleanor…” you growled into her ear. 

When she finally came back to life, you pulled yourself out of her, but still kept a firm hold around her limp body, walking her carefully back over as you both crashed back onto the bed in pure exhaustion. 

After a few minutes, she perked up lying on her elbow, looking at you with so much love in her eyes. 

“What?” You asked, smirking as you rolled to rest on your elbow too. 

“Do you really want what you asked me while you were eating the cinnamon roll?” She peeked through one eye. Her words made your stomach drop and your mouth go dry. 

“Yeah, I do. One day, down the road. I can picture it…” you rolled over to your back, looking at the ceiling. “Three kids, maybe four. All really close in age, so they can grow up together like we did. I want to find a big house with a bunch of land, so I can have a massive garden. And a bunch of dogs. Giant kitchen with tons of windows…and all four of my pianos in different rooms. I’m gonna teach all the babies how to play every instrument that I can, whatever they want to learn. The house will be filled with music all the time. And I wanna write songs about them, and for them…that’s what I want.” You huffed a breath, looking back over to her. 

“And you know what the best part will be?” You asked. 

“Tell me.”

“That you’ll be making those cinnamon rolls for us every week…all the time…the kids will love them…” you brought yourself over to kiss her. “And they’ll love you… and I’ll love you…until we’re old and gray, baby. Until the day you tell me not to. I promise. I promise, I promise…” 

—

JAKE POV

You hear her alarm go off on her phone, startling you from your sleep. Her face turned towards you as her own eyes fluttered open. She squeezed them back shut as she reached over to snooze her phone. You smile realizing it’s another morning you’ve woken up and she’s still in bed. 

It’s warm under the sheets, you don’t blame her for not wanting to leave. If it were up to you the two of you would stay cocooned in the sheets all day. She throws her arm over her eyes blocking out the morning light, trying to get those five extra minutes. You lay there just looking at her, watching the rise and fall of her chest as she fights to get back to her dream.

Minutes later when her alarm sounds again, she rolls over towards it and groans, grabbing it from the charger and laying it on her chest. 

You reach your hand out and place it on her arm, “You better get moving baby, Josh will be here soon.”

“I know, but I am so tired, we stayed up too late watching last night. I fell asleep in here, again.”

“We can take a break from watching if you want to.” you offer.

“No! I mean, we don’t have to. I just need to force myself out of here.” she giggles.

“Every night I ask you if you want me to take you back in there and you say no…You say you want to stay…” you goad.

“Ugh, I know Jake, sue me…” she says, tossing the blankets off of her, and standing from the bed. 

“Don’t be like that…You know I don’t want you to anyways. Like waking up to your face.” you smile.

She steps into the bathroom and shuts the door; your signal to start the coffee before she has to leave. It had been several nights since the family dinner and each one of them was spent twisted together watching a TV show until the both of you fell asleep. At least that was your excuse for it. 

As the coffee pot started to gurgle, you grabbed a to-go mug, and waited for the pot to finish brewing. You leaned against the counter, scrolling through your phone as she stepped into the kitchen. She was in a pair of crimson colored leggings, and had on a sports bra that matched. Her hair was in a high ponytail braid down her back, resting just at the criss crossed straps of her sports bra. Shit she looked practically edible. 

She had your flannel tossed into the bag hanging from her shoulder, and her birkenstocks in her hands, dropping them to the floor to slide into them as she approached you. 

“Again, is there any type of viewing package at the yoga place.” you said, pouring the coffee into the mug.

“No, Jacob…” she says, rolling her eyes and reaching out to grab the mug from your hands. 

You look at her again, somewhat jealous that Josh gets to spend the morning with her, looking like that. Fucker. 

“I will be back after, okay?” she said, spinning on her heels.

“Hey, wait…” you asked. 

You swallowed nervously as you grabbed her free hand in yours, “You wanna go do something tonight?” 

She furrowed her brow, “Like what?” 

“Something fun, just us. Like we used to.” you offer, feeling your heart beat out of your chest. 

“Oh, like a date?” she smiles.

“Do you want it to be a date?” you ask hopefully. 

“Yeah, I think I’d like that.” she grins, squeezing your hand. 

“Okay, yeah, then like a date.” you say, releasing her hand. 

You see Josh’s car pull up through the front door window, and look back to her, “Your ride is here…Be careful okay, check your surroundings…all of that…” 

“Okay, I will I promise and Josh is with me. But…I’m excited… for tonight.” she smiles walking down the hallway. You are right behind her, ready to close the door, but as she slips out she spins around and places a barely there kiss on your cheek. “See you later…” 

You smile as you watch her ponytail swing as she jumps into the passenger seat of Josh’s car, waving through the window as they pull away. 

—

You spend much of the morning racking your brain for ideas of what the two of you could do tonight. You’d never felt so much pressure planning a date before, but then you realized. It’s Y/N, she won’t care what you’re doing as long as it’s you she’s doing it with. You knew just what to do, and you knew she would love it.

You grab a quick shower and dig through your closet, looking for something to wear down to the studio. Today would be your first meeting back with the guys to start practicing for the South American leg of tour starting up. You were itching to get your hands back on your guitar, ready to turn the amps to one hundred and just rip for a few hours. 

Shortly after 11:00 you heard the front door open, and heard her setting her things in the hallway, kicking off her shoes.

“Jake?” she called.

“Up here!” you called out to her from the music room, checking out the strings on your guitar. 

You hear her climb up the steps and round the corner, still looking gorgeous as ever.

“I’m back…” she giggled.

“I see that.” you smile, twisting the knob on the headstock.

“You excited to go play today?” she asked, leaning against the wall. 

“Hell yeah, but you know what?” you asked.

“What?”

“I’m more excited for after…” you smiled.

“Yeah? What should I wear on my date with Mr. Jacob Kiszka this evening?” she smiles.

“Mmm…” you hum, rubbing your lips, “A dress. But bring a sweater or something.” you answer. 

“I think I can work with those requirements… I’m gonna go take a shower, but, have fun today and don’t over do it, okay?” she pleads. 

“I won’t, I won’t, promise.” you answer, sliding your guitar back into the case, and locking it. 

“I’ll see you tonight?” she asks.

“Not soon enough.” you smile, watching her blush and run down the stairs. 

Your phone buzzes in your pocket and as you pull it out you see a familiar name cross the screen.

misscarsonneely: Guitar question? I’m sure you’re never going to see this.

You smirk, it is a miracle you saw it.

You: I probably have an answer…

misscarsonneely: Wow, I can’t believe you saw this. Okay, so I have been feeling a little inspired lately and decided to put those new strings to use, but when I play it sounds…bad? Like off kind of? Maybe I just suck? Lol.

You smile and laugh, knowing exactly what the problem is. 

You: I usually never check my messages to be honest, surprised I saw it too. How about you text me instead. I’ll get you fixed up.

You send her your number and wait for her message to come through, adding the new contact to your phone.

Carson

11:23pm: Have I reached the guitar guru hotline?

You

11:24pm:  You have. So I think what you are describing is it being out of tune which happens sometimes when you put higher tension strings on. Could you maybe send me a video so I can be sure?

Carson

11:28pm: Do NOT laugh at me, it is the only song I know.

11:28pm: *Attachment*

You open the video and let it play, stifling back the laugh that escapes you when you hear ‘Cheeseburger in Paradise’ ringing out terribly through the speaker.

You

11:30pm:  Okay, yes. So the strings I put on your guitar are all I had to choose from, and they are high gauge and high tension so they are putting your guitar under a little more stress than it's used to, so it is spinning the knobs itself to release that tension and its causing your guitar to lose its tuning. It’s probably going to do that a few times until the strings are settled, so just re-tune your guitar and you should be set. Well, until next time. ;)

Carson

11:32pm: I swear I’m not an idiot. I really did tune it yesterday and it sounded fine so when I picked it up today and it sounded like that I never thought that maybe it was just out of tune. God I’m sorry I bothered you with that.

You

11:35pm: No, I know you’re not. You just aren’t used to those type of strings. Asked Sam to grab some to give to Josh, and that's probably all I had in my kit. 

Carson

11:36pm: And I appreciate it soo much. Thank you again for doing that. 

You

11:37pm: My pleasure Miss Carson, let me know if you need help with anything else.

Carson

11:38pm: Thanks Jake. Promise I won’t bug you with more stupid questions. Lol

You

11:39pm: I can assure you you’re not bugging me. Not in the slightest. 

Carson

11:40pm: Good to know ;)

You stare at the message for a bit before locking your phone and shoving it into your pocket. You grab your guitar case and make your way downstairs, grabbing your keys and heading out the door, set for the studio feeling happier than you had in weeks.

—

It felt good to be back to it. God it felt good. But it felt even better knowing you’d be back on the road soon. As much as you were enjoying your time at home with Y/N you craved to be out seeing the world. And it was even better when she was there with you. 

You started small, playing through a few songs, working your stamina back up to what it was. You had another week or two before you left for South America and you were convinced that if you just came in and did a little bit everyday, you would be back to where you were. Almost like muscle memory. 

After a particularly long jam session you checked your phone seeing that it was damn near time to leave to make it home in time to get ready for your date. 

You slung your guitar strap over your head and turned off your amp, unplugging the pick up and beginning to pack up your things. 

“Damn Jake, what lit a fire under your ass?” Sam asked. 

“I gotta get out of here. Have plans tonight.” You replied flicking your glasses down over your eyes. 

“With who…” Danny winked.  

“Your motha…” you said in your best British accent. 

“Good. Go. In fact what the fuck is taking you so long? Get outta here…” Josh said, shooing you out the door. 

You turned to the guys and offered them a quick wave as you stepped out the door ready to wine and dine your favorite girl. 

—

You stepped into the front door and deposited your guitar case against the wall, calling her name through the echoey house. 

When you heard no answer you called out again, “Y/N? Where are you my love?”

“Jake?” She said, stepping out into the hallway as she fastened her earring. You nearly stopped breathing at the sight of her. 

“Sorry babe, didn’t hear you come in!” She smiled walking over towards you. 

“Is this okay?”’she asks, running her hands over her navy blue dress nervously before looking up at you. 

“Everyday I think there’s no way you could possibly be more beautiful and everyday I wake up to just that. You look gorgeous.” You say, seeing the blush creep across her face. 

“Jake…” she whines. 

“It’s true. I’m going to change clothes and then I will be ready to go, okay? Why don’t you have a glass of wine and I’ll be out in a minute.” You say. 

She nods and flits off to the kitchen as you turn on your heels heading for the bedroom. You had stewed over what to wear for your date all morning, finally deciding on a pair of pinstripe slacks and a black button up. You knew she liked it, and she was always particularly handsy when it came to you leaving your shirts open, so it seemed like the natural choice. 

You kick off your jeans and your t-shirt and throw them in the hamper, hearing a knock on the closet door. You spin around and see her standing with a wine glass extended towards you. 

“Can’t drink alone…” she coos. 

You take the glass and laugh, “You’re not supposed to see me like this until after, baby….” 

A short and sweet ‘hm’ leaves her lips as she spins away to let you finish dressing. You sip the red wine and feel your insides warm as you fasten the bottom buttons of your shirt. You slide on your slacks and a pair of loafers before picking a necklace from your wall. 

You give yourself a once over in the mirror and step into the bathroom to spritz yourself with cologne, taking a deep breath and tossing back the rest of the glass of wine. 

She’s sitting on the couch in the study, lazily scrolling through her phone as she sees you step out. Her eyes scan over you top to bottom lighting your chest on fire. Her gaze grows dark and she bites her lips together stifling back the words that want to escape. 

Reaching a hand towards her, you ask, “Ready my love?”

—

“Two for Jacob…” you said to the hostess. She grabbed two menus and guided the two of you to a small candle lit table in the corner of the restaurant. 

You pulled her chair out for her, letting her sit before pushing her in. You took the chair across from her, laying your napkin across your lap as she perused the drink menu. 

“Can’t believe you got us a reservation here last minute… you know this is my favorite place in the city.” She smiled shyly. 

“I know it’s your favorite and when I called earlier to see if they had any availability tonight I wasn’t hopeful but by some stroke of luck…” you trailed off. “Anyways, I’m happy they got us in. Fate I guess.” you smiled. 

“Thank you, Jake… for doing all of this. For planning this and asking me…” She said. 

“Of course baby, wish we could go out more. But I was thinking, how about when we are out on the road, you and I sneak off and find somewhere cool to eat in the long stop cities. Just us. Keep working on us…” you say, reaching for her hand. She laces her fingers with yours and you smile feeling her hand in yours. 

She nods her head excitedly, rubbing her thumb over yours. 

“Okay good. Can’t imagine being on the road without you, you know. Want to see the world with you.” you admit, seeing her eyes grow teary. 

“Me too, Jake.”

A few minutes later the waiter arrived to take your drink orders, both of you opting for specialty cocktails, sure to have both of you feeling more relaxed in a matter of minutes. 

As they arrived you tapped your glass to hers, “To our first date…” you smirked.

“And hopefully not the last…” she replied with a playful smile.

You both sipped your drinks, carrying on normal conversation and talking about all the cities you’d be traveling to in the upcoming months. You both ordered your food, and as you waited you checked the time on your phone to make sure you were still looking good.

“Have a hot date?” she asked with a smirk.

“Sure fuckin’ do…” you grin, “I was just making sure we’re good on time. Our next activity starts at a very specific time…”

“Oh, we are doing something else?” she asks.

“Yep, this is going to be a proper first date. When we are done here I am taking your to the movies, where I am going to spend half of it working up the courage to hold your hand.” you say.

“Oh gosh, well I will make sure I position my hand on the armrest just right to make it not look super obvious that I want you to.” she laughs.

“Can’t wait.” you smile.

“What movie are we seeing?” she asks.

“Well, that was the hard part. There were hardly any options. We have tickets for The Northman. I know it’s not really your thing but we can pick another if you don’t want to see that.” you offer.

“Jake…Do you think we’ve been watching The X-Files every night because I am really into alien mystery shows?” she asks.

“Um…” you hum.

“We could be watching Antiques Roadshow and I wouldn’t miss a single night…” she says.

“And why’s that Y/N…” you coax.

“You know why.” she smiles shyly.

“Tell me, I want to hear you say it.

“Because I just want to be there with you. Lay with you…Want to feel you run your fingers over my arms, and hear your laugh, and feel you twirl my hair between your fingers and kiss my head when you think I’m asleep.”

“So you aren’t leaving on purpose.” you smile.

“Absolutely on purpose.” she smiles.

“So don’t.” you reply, locking eyes with her across the table. 

You feel her foot brush your leg and you swallow back the overwhelming urge to kiss her, and thankfully the waiter arrives with your food, putting a stop to your sudden urge.

The two of you continue to talk as you enjoy your food, downing another drink and sharing a few more laughs. You check your phone again, and see that you are right on time, as long as the bill comes in the next few minutes.

With the sign of your name on the line and the toss of a few bills on the table you are walking hand in hand down the sidewalk towards the movie theater, buzzing from the alcohol flowing through your body.

“Does my date require any concessions?” you ask, playfully. 

“No your date is miserably full from dinner, but if you want something you should get it! I can’t even remember the last time you went to the movies.” she says.

“I can’t remember the last time I went either…” you say rubbing your lips. “Come on, let's go find some good seats.” you say, clasping her hand in yours as you step into the musky smelling theater, ready to hold her hand for the next two hours straight.

—

Obviously, the two of you rushed to the very top row of seats in the theater against the wall, any other seats simply not making any sense. You took the seat to her left, removing your jacket and setting it in the seat beside you. The advertisements before the previews began rolling, and your heart rate began to pick up. Why did you feel like you were 14 again, on a date with a girl you’d had a crush on for two whole weeks? 

The two of you shared a few glances, her hands folded and rested comfortably under her chin as her elbows balanced on the armrests. Suddenly the lights went down, and the previews started. The quick heart rate from earlier got even worse. You didn’t know if it was the nerves from being on a real actual date with her again, or the fact that you were so starved for her touch after the week you’d had, but you found your insides rolling around on themselves with want for her. Her touch, any kind. 

You looked at her with your peripheral, the light from the screen bouncing off her face. She smirked a little, feeling your eyes on her. You made it through the five or six new movie previews, but you couldn’t name one. All you could think about was the gorgeous girl to your right, shoulder to shoulder with you. 

Finally the lights went down even more, and you noticed that the only other people that had made it into the theater was another couple around your age, who had chosen to sit down in almost the front row. A theater almost to yourselves. 

The opening credits began, the loud music rattling the walls and chairs. You felt your palms begin to sweat with nerves, so you wiped them across the thighs of your pants, and rested your elbows on the armrests, jokingly fighting Y/N to claim the spot. You heard her laugh through her nose, moving her elbow around to make room for you. 

“You know, if you wanted the arm rest all you had to do was ask.” She whispered, bringing her mouth to your ear. Instant chills. “And if you want to hold my hand, all you have to do is grab it.”

She pulled back, turning her attention back to the movie. Deep breath, it’s just Y/N. 

You held your hand out, palm up, and she happily laid hers in it, interlacing your fingers with hers and squeezing tightly. Okay, good. Okay. 

You looked to her, smiling ear to ear. The feeling of holding her hand was sending bolts of electricity straight up your arm, and you began rubbing your thumb across her knuckles. 

The movie went on, you only paying half-attention to it. In an act of confidence, you brought her hand to your lips, lying a long and sweet kiss to her palm. She started gushing, shying away and giving you a smile so sweet you felt like melting. She then repeated your action, kissing each of your fingertips and then your palm, her mouth parted and half open as she slowly laid kisses all over your scarred hand, like she remembered where she pulled each and every shard of glass out all those years ago. 

Then, she did something that caught you so completely off guard that you felt your head spin. She brought your pointer finger slowly into her mouth, running her tongue along it, closing her lips tightly around it, and lightly biting the tip…shit. You exhaled, getting so extremely turned on from such a simple act. Then, she switched your fingers, stretching it all the way to the back of her throat. 

Fuck.

When she finally removed it, you were writhing in your seat. She turned back to the movie like nothing had ever happened. Your heart was beating in your ears as you decided to meet her energy, snaking your hand down to her thigh, letting it slip underneath her dress, and grip the tender part of her muscle. You watched as she scooted forward just a bit in her seat, obviously enjoying this game so far. You took it further, letting your hand travel higher and higher until your fingers were ghosting the fabric of her thong. 

The next thing you knew, her hand was mirroring yours, traveling with a tight grip up the inside of your thigh. Shit shit shit. She didn’t slow down, she didn’t shy away. Her hand lightly grazed your bulge, before completely gripping it in her hand. You couldn’t stop yourself from looking directly at her, but the expression on her face was begging you to touch her more. 

You let your hand go up further, touching her through her panties. You held eye contact as you both touched each other, driving the other absolutely insane. You were hoping and praying that she would move to unbuckle your belt, and like she was reading your mind, she did. 

Your free hand moved to help her, your chest already heaving. She kept her eyes trained on the movie while you maneuvered your belt and zipper, and when you got everything unlatched, her finger tips sunk below the waistline of your boxers, pulling them out so she could reach her hand all the way in. 

Fuck what is happening shit shit…

You felt your already damaged lungs lose every bit of air at her touch, her hand gripping your dick and squeezing it, moving her hand as much as she could with it still tucked away in your boxers. 

You gathered your thoughts quickly…two can play this game, baby. You let your left hand pull her thong to the side, wasting no time in going straight for the place you knew would drive her wild. God, she felt so perfect. You’d almost forgotten…her hand on you mixed with the feeling of her on your fingers was making your vision blur. She scooted down in the seat a bit more, giving you more space to feel her completely. Should you…?

Just then, the door to the theater slammed, and in walked another couple, coming up the stairs and taking their seats near the middle of the theater. You closed your eyes, sighing a frustrated huff while you glanced to Y/N, her opposite hand covering her mouth. 

She started to giggle. She removed her hand slowly, and you did the same. She was trying hard not to laugh out loud, holding her nose closed as she caught her breath. 

“What the fuck are you laughing at?” You whispered, readjusting yourself in your slacks. 

“We’re acting like a couple of horny teenagers feeling each other up in a damn movie theater, and we almost got caught. It’s just funny, okay?” She laughed again through her strangled whispers, causing you to feel a chuckle leave your chest. It was kind of funny. 

After you calmed down a little, you leaned in close to her ear, sharing the armrest now. “Doesn’t change the fact that even though I’m not a teenager, I’m still extremely fuckin’ turned on right now and I want to leave this movie as soon as humanly possible.” 

She took a deep breath, teeth gritted tightly as she watched the screen. “Let’s go.”

——

You both made a mad dash out of the theater and toward the car, the brisk night air bringing you back to reality for the time being. What the hell just happened in there? As you made your way through the parking lot digging for your keys in your pocket, Y/N rushed up beside you, taking your hand in hers as you walked. Oh. 

You gave her a knowing glance, and she gave you a glare that could’ve killed you. She really wants this to keep going…get it together Jake.

You both hopped in the car, and you started up the engine, backing out of the parking space. When you got on the road, you cleared your throat. Neither of you had said a word since you left the theater, and frankly, you had no idea what to say. All you knew was that you were absolutely starving for her, and the tension between you was so thick you could almost see it. Was this really happening? It’s been over a month…

You let your left hand drape across the steering wheel and your right balance on the console, nervously running your fingers over your lips. 

“Are you anxious, Jake?” She finally broke the silence. 

Uhhhh…

You cleared your throat once again, feeling the threat of a tiny cough tickle your throat, still not completely rid of your illness. “Yeah,” your voice cracked. “Yeah not gonna lie, Y/N, kinda anxious.” You told her truthfully. 

“Me too.” She said meekly, sinking into the chair. 

You reached your hand out for her again like you had in the theater, letting her grasp your fingers with hers. Still feels so perfect. 

“Do you wanna go home? Or…” you asked, making sure she had the same thoughts as you. 

“Yeah. Let’s go home.” She said. 

“What uh, what about the rules?” You asked her. 

“Well, we didn’t break rule #1, and we kinda broke rule #2…”

“We broke the fuck out of rule #2, babe.” You laughed. 

“Yeah, well. I guess, since we never um. Stated a rule #4, it doesn’t really, technically exist, right?” She offered. 

Holy fucking shit she wants to do it. 

“Yeah I…I don’t remember us saying that one was in the book, do you?” You replied nervously. 

She shook her head from side to side. “Won’t change anything though… We’re still, not…”

You nodded. “Right. Yes. Won’t change anything at all. Still very much…not together.”

“Right. Not together.” she said, looking at you longingly.

You brought her hand to your mouth again, this time not letting it leave your lips until you were pulling down your street. 

——

HER POV

Did he really want to do this? Should you do this? As the car pulled up to the house he put it in park and shut off the engine, as he turned to look at you. Your hands were still clasped together but now rested on your lap. Your brain started to swirl with panic. Would this undo everything?

“Jake, I’m sorry I did that in the movie theater. I shouldn’t have.” you said quietly.

“No, I… It’s okay. I liked it…I’ve…missed your touch.” he replies.

“You have…” you question.

“Are you kidding me? Yeah baby…” he scoffs. “Come on, let’s go inside…”

You nod and open your door, stepping out onto the sidewalk as he rounds the front of the car to meet you. Your brain was still rushing with want but you knew in your heart that you shouldn’t. You shouldn’t be with him like that until the two of you were back together. Right?

“I can see you overthinking it.” he smirks, unlocking the front door. 

“I’m not…I’m just…I’m scared it will undo all the progress we’ve made. That part of our relationship was always solid. I’m just scared we will fall back into how things were…” you explain.

“And what’s wrong with that?” he says, stepping inside and tossing his keys on the table.

“I was a terrible person. Partner…I just want to be what you need in a partner and back then, I wasn’t. You deserve better Jake.” you say.

He steps up to you and grabs your arms looking into your eyes, “I can assure you that you are everything I need. Everything I deserve. Everything I want. If you want to wait, it’ll fuckin’ kill me, but I will wait. I will always wait for you, Y/N. Okay?”

He slides his hand down your arms and twists his fingers with yours.

“Are you sure you aren’t mad Jake? I feel like I just teased you so bad, and you planned the most perfect date and now I am leaving you high and dry…We shouldn’t have taken it that far…” you say.

“Baby this was never part of the plan. I never expected anything. I just wanted to take you out, have a little bit of fun outside of the house. Everything else was just extra. And honestly just feeling your hand on me even if just for a minute was enough.” he pauses. “I mean I guess I was kind of expecting a kiss at the end of the date…” he says playfully.

“So walk me to my door and maybe you’ll get it…” you tease.

He releases one of your hands as he walks you to the guest room door pausing as you turn to face him, “Thank you for the date. It was so much fun…I hope we can have another one day…” you taunt.

“Mmm it’s looking pretty good so far…” he smirks, leaning his head towards you placing his hand on your cheek as he presses his lips to yours. You wind your hands around his waist and pull him closer to you. He pulls your bottom lip between his, sucking at it gently as his tongue swipes over it. You open your mouth just slightly to let him in, a gentle whine leaving your mouth. 

“Mmm fuck…” he growls as he pulls away. “We have to stop. I want you so bad. I’m sorry Y/N. Anyways, thanks for coming with me tonight. I hope you… sleep well…” he says, stepping back from the doorway. 

You twist the door knob and step inside, “You too…” you breathe, your head still rushing with want. 

You close the door softly and stand there, heart pounding as you think about his mouth on yours, his lips, his hands on your skin. Your body fills with goosebumps and your breath catches in your throat. Next thing you know your hand is reaching for the door knob throwing it open ready to run straight to his room, but as the door flies open he's there, leaning against the wall.

“Jake…” you breathe.

“Baby…” he replies, pulling you into him. 

Your mouths reunite once again but this time it's faster, more frenzied. Both of you positively dripping with need for the other. You tangle both of your hands into the hair at the base of his head as your lips fight to kiss every inch of his. His hands reach down and cradle your thighs, pulling you up to wrap your legs around his waist as he walks both of you as quickly as he can towards his bedroom. 

Your lips never part from him, kissing his jaw, his neck, fuck… anywhere you can reach. He kicks open the door walking straight to the bed and dropping you onto your back into the fluffy duvet. 

He steps back from you, unbuttoning the last buttons of his shirt and throwing it to the floor. He kicks off his pants and rejoins you on the bed, hovering over top of you as his lips connect to the skin of your neck. He brings one of his hands to your chest, grabbing your tits as frantically as he can. His fingers hook into the strap of your dress, sliding the fabric down your shoulder to reveal your bare chest. 

“Goddamnit Y/N…” he breathes. 

You squirm underneath him, desperate to feel his lips on your skin again. 

“Tell me you’re sure.” he demands.

“I’m sure! I’m sure! Please!” you beg.

He pulls your dress the rest of the way off of your body, leaving you both in just your underwear. He studies you, his eyes running over every inch of your body like it’s the first time he’s seen it. Your eyes flick to his nervously as his gaze grows darker. 

He runs his hand down your chest, and over your stomach, letting his fingers graze your heat as he swipes them down your legs. Your hips buck up into his feeling his hardened length brush your skin. 

He sees the look in your eye when you feel it, a smirk pulling up the corner of his mouth. “Every fuckin’ day. Every day I have to fight that off. I’m not gonna fight it anymore baby.”

“Please Jake…” you beg. 

His fingers hook into the lace of your thong all but ripping it from your body as he uses his knee to spread your legs. You’re breathing heavily, your chest rising and falling quickly as you wait for his touch. 

“Where was I…” he said, swiping a finger through your wetness. 

“Somewhere like here…” he said, pushing two fingers inside of you, causing your back to arch up off the bed. 

“Yeah, yeah. Right there, huh baby…” he growled. 

His free hand comes up to twist one of your nipples between his fingers, a whine leaving your lips at the sensation. “You always have made the prettiest sounds.”

He hooks his fingers up into you, as he lowers his lips to your other nipple, sucking it into his mouth and biting gently. 

“Jake…” you moan.

He releases his mouth from you, continuing to pump his fingers in and out, “Yeah baby?”

“I can’t wait. Please. Just…please.” you beg, reaching to pull his boxers down.

He pulls his fingers from you and pushes his boxers the rest of the way off, kicking them to the floor to join the rest of your clothes. 

Your eyes travel down his torso to his dick, before you flick your eyes back up to his. 

He snaps his fingers and points to the top of the bed, “Get in the middle.”

You quickly move yourself backwards as he crawls onto the bed between your legs. He bends down, licking a hot stripe up your center, as you sigh into the air.

His left hand comes up to rest next to your head as his right grips his length and drags his tip through your folds.

“Jesus Christ Y/N, I swear to god I’m not going to last five seconds.” he pants. 

“If we’re going to break the rules, we are going to fucking break them.” you breathe.

With a grunt he presses inside you and a whine rips from your chest at the feeling. He is breathing heavy over top of you, trying to keep his composure as your insides adjust around him.

“Fuck me, you are so tight. Feels like the fucking first time I felt you around me…” he pulls his hips back to try to start moving, his eyes rolling to the back of his head as he lets out a breath.

“Shit, yeah I need a second.” he pleads.

“Jake, I need you to move. I need you to fuck me right this second.” you beg.

He swallows harshly and pulls back, before pressing into you again with a deep groan. You can see him fighting it, he wants to give you what you want. He wants this to last the rest of the night. You can feel every sweet inch of him as he moves inside of you, your walls clenching around him with every thrust. 

“Jake…fuck…fuck I missed you. I…” you breathe, digging your nails into his back. 

He attaches his lips to yours, licking into your mouth as he starts to move quicker, hitting your sweet spot with every stroke.

He lowers his lips to your ear, whispering into it as he works both of you towards release. 

“You feel so fuckin’ good baby. My gorgeous fuckin’ girl…” he growls.

He starts to roll his hips, causing his tip to slide against your g-spot in slow meticulous strokes as he presses his hand to your pelvis to increase the pressure. You cry out in bliss as the sensation takes over your body.

“Feel good? Feel good when I fuck you like that? Been thinkin’ about it for weeks. The things I was going to do to you when I finally got you back…Better than I imagined baby. You always are…” he whispers.

He pulls out all the way, grabbing your knee and hooking it up over his hip as he presses all the way in to be fully seated inside of you. You clench down around him, and his eyes shoot open to lock with yours. 

“I can’t hold it…” he breathes.

“Don’t…” you pant.

“Want you to cum with me.” he begs.

“I’m there… just keep going…” you answer.

He brings his thumb to his mouth, licking it before pressing it to your clit making rapid circles. You arch up into his touch, and whine.

“Yeah just like that love, you’re so close. My good girl, let me have it. Let me fill you. Can I do that? Can I fill my girl?” he coaxes.

“Please Jake! Fuck!” you cry, a tear springing from your eye.

“Now baby, right fuckin’ now!” he says, grabbing your hips and pulling you impossibly closer to him as his cock jerks violently inside of you. You feel the fire blaze through your chest as your release washes over the both of you, completely tearing your consciousness apart. He grunts your name as his warmth fills you, the room filled with breathy moans and whimpers.

He releases his grip on your hips trying to slowly pull himself out of you without making a huge mess, but as he pulls out, it spills out of you and onto your legs. He groans as he watches, his eyes flicking to yours, which you’re sure are completely blissed out. 

He brings himself to lay on top of you, pressing his lips to yours over and over, until you’re both giggling and smiling. 

“I’m sorry we couldn’t go longer. I…It’s been a month without you…” he says, rolling off of you and onto his side.

“Jake…I was barely holding on too. But…” you pause.

“But what…” he asks, running his finger down your sternum.

“But I want more.” you whisper.

“Oh thank god…” he says, turning your body onto your side, and pulling you into him. He lifts your leg and positions himself at your entrance, slowly pushing inside of you.

“I don’t know if I will ever get enough of you Y/N…” he whispers into your ear. 

His hand reaches around to the front of you swirling his fingers over your clit as you arch into him. 

“Oh fuck stay like that, keep your back arched like that, holy fuck…” he begs slowly thrusting in and out of you. He continues to whisper sweet praises into your ear as his hand travels over your body so softly, so gently.

His hand comes back up to wrap around your front holding you tightly to his chest. Suddenly you feel the air between you shift, this is no longer frenzied and furious sex, no, somewhere it shifted into slow and tender love making. There were no more harsh movements, there were no more dirty phrases. It was just you and him. The both of you showing each other you’re still here. You’re both still in there, loving each other, through it all. 

He pulls out of you and you spin to face him, near tears as he presses his lips to yours in a kiss you know is laced with love and adoration. He pulls your hips towards him, as you part your legs to let him back in. He presses into you until he is fully seated and breathing in deeply the scent of the two of you together. 

You wrap your arms around his neck as he slowly pushes and pulls in and out, his eyes never leaving yours once. 

“Remember, that night in the hotel room, I told you to stop telling me you loved me.” he says, continuing to move. 

“Yeah…” you breathe.

“Please don’t…” he begs.

You press your lips to his, your tongues tangling together as he moves inside of you.

“Why did you say it?” you ask.

“Because it was killing me that I couldn’t say it back…I never stopped loving you.” he answered, starting to pant. 

“I found out right after that, what I did. Crawled into bed with you. Just wanted to be close to you. Had to tell you I loved you too. Couldn’t breathe until I said it. You didn’t hear it, but…” he continued.

“You do?” you ask.

He grabs you and rolls to his back, bringing you to sit on top of him. You spin around to face him, repositioning yourself on top of him, as you begin to roll your hips slowly. 

“Y/N there is nothing in the world that you could ever do that would keep me from loving you.” he answers. 

You lift off of him before dropping back down, repeating the motion until the both of you are crumbling closer to your second orgasm. 

His hands guided your hips, as he talked you through it, his touch tender and loving as he spilled into you for the second time. You rolled off of him and into the bathroom to clean up, opting for a quick rinse in the shower before you both returned to the bed. 

You helped him change the sheets and he disappeared down the hallway, returning with your pillow and your cell phone. 

You pulled on one of his t-shirts and a clean pair of underwear before you slid into the bed next to him and cuddled into his side. 

“Hey baby?” you asked, into the dark room.

“Yes?” 

You rolled closer to him and looked up towards him, “What do you want to do for your birthday?” 

“Hmmm…That…” he giggles. 

You dig a finger into his ribs, “No seriously…”

“I am being serious.” he laughs again.

“Jacob…” you warn.

“I don’t know. I just want to spend the day with you…See Josh, and the guys…nothing fancy. Just want to do this. This feels good. Makes me happy.” he answers.

“Okay, okay…” you say, pressing a kiss to his bare chest. 

“Are you excited to go to South America in a few days?” he asks.

“I am excited, I have always wanted to go to Brazil.” you answer. 

“I can’t wait to take you, it's so beautiful there. There are so many cool places to eat and things to see…” he gushes, “...and to spend every night just like this…” 

“Jake… we… won’t spend every night just like this though…” you say.

“What do you mean…” he asks, turning towards you.

“We…we’re in separate rooms, remember?” you remind him.

“No…cancel it, change it, or whatever…You sleep with me damn near every night Y/N…I’ve kind of grown partial to it…”

“I know baby, but this is part of that growing up thing I am working on. I think we need to stay separate while we are on tour. At least while we aren’t together…”

“I don’t want to be separate. I want to go out, play our shows, eat good food, and make love to my girl every night.” he says. 

“Jake, we can’t do that either…” you say nervously.

“What so this was just…Just a one time thing?” he asks, stopping the hand that's been rubbing your arm.

“No…I don’t know, I don’t know what we are supposed to do but I feel like we need to limit it as much as possible. I know it will be hard but we have to… try.”

He lets out a sigh, “Okay, well, if that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”

“It’s not what I want Jake, but it’s what we need, as a couple. To keep rebuilding our relationship, without using sex as a buffer.” you say.

“I know. I just, need you…sometimes.” he admits.

“I know babe, me too. And I think sometimes is…fine. We just need to wait until neither of us can take it anymore and then…” you pause. “Think about how good it felt just now…”

“Fucking perfect.” he answers.

“Exactly, and I feel like emotionally our relationship is getting so much better. If we can just keep… doing what we’re doing…I think we can be together again and I can be the person I want to be for you.” you say.

He pulls you into his chest and kisses your head, “I know baby. I want you to be happy. I’m so glad you are still coming with us. With me. Still want to go eat at cool places with you. We can do that, right?”

“Yeah babe, we can do that.” you say reaching up and pressing a kiss to his lips. “And for the record I am fully intending on sleeping just like this all night long.” you say wrapping your arm around his waist and nuzzling your face into his neck.

“I’d be sad if you didn’t.” he says, wrapping his arms around you. 

You both start to drift off, your mind swirling with thoughts of Jake and Brazil, when your phone chimes on your nightstand. Your eyes pop open and you roll over to grab it, squinting as you read the name.

Elle

11:47pm: We need to talk.

You lock your phone and set it on the nightstand, swallowing nervously as you return back to Jake.

“Who was it baby?” he asks, voice groggy and still half asleep.

“It was Elle. She wants to talk…”

—

The next morning you woke up almost exactly how you’d fallen asleep, tied and twisted with Jake, your limbs sweaty underneath the heavy covers. The memories of the night before came swirling back as the muscles of your insides began to throb. It really had been a while. But you welcomed the uncomfortable sensation, truly being thankful you could fulfill your human needs so effortlessly with him. 

His hair was overtop of your face, just where you liked it. He stirred beside you, flipping his face to the other side, taking his locks with him. Then he propped up on his elbows, rubbing his face before looking at you with the sweetest smile. 

“Mornin' sunshine.” You said, taking in the sight of him grinning with all his teeth. “You look like you got laid last night.”

“I’m on cloud fuckin’ 9, baby.” He giggled shyly, rolling himself to you and placing his elbows on either side of your head. “Actually got to sleep with the hottest girl I’ve ever seen last night.” He went on, laying sweet kisses to your lips. 

“Oh really? How was that?” You played along. 

His tongue brushed inside your mouth, instantly bringing back that feeling of want that lived deep in your bones. “Fuckin’ amazing. Perfect. I’d give you all the details, but…” he clicked his tongue. “Unfortunately I probably won’t get to do it again for a while, she said she wants to take things slow.”

“Ahh, that sucks. Well, maybe from time to time, when you’ve both built up so much tension…” you let your hands travel down to grip his ass, letting your fingernails dig in and pull him toward you, pressing his morning hard-on directly to your heat. 

“…you both can talk about it again. Ya know, just hooking up every once in a while. You’re both adults, right?” You suggested, leaving the conversation open ended. 

He moaned through a little cry, pushing himself against you again. “We are both adults. Nothing wrong with some healthy sex every once in a while, right?” 

You pressed your lips to his again, licking into his mouth as you felt him hold himself back. “Nothing wrong with it at all…” he mumbled. “God you’re fuckin killing me again, Y/N. I gotta get up. Gotta go, do something…anything…” You giggled as you watched him walk to the bathroom, still completely nude. “Let’s go get coffee.”

——

Half an hour later, the two of you were sitting outside of your favorite coffee shop, sipping from your cups and sharing an oversized blueberry muffin. 

“My abs are sore.” Jake said quietly as he stirred his coffee. 

“Sore? From what? We hardly lasted five minutes each time…jeeze. Must be out of shape…” you shook your head at him playfully. 

He scoffed. “Ugh leave me alone, it’s been a while. Plus I haven’t exercised in like, two months. I almost died of fuckin’ pneumonia and laid in a bed for two weeks, did you forget?” He spat back, sounding bratty as hell. 

“Hm. Well. Guess you’ll just have to build that stamina back up then, won’t you?” You winked. 

The courtyard in front of the coffee shop was semi crowded, lots of people with dogs and baby strollers. You watched as a young mom pushed a double carriage to the table beside you, parking it there and pushing the sun visor up to reveal two sleeping baby boys. 

“Is anyone using this table?” She asked, taking her backpack off. 

“No, no. All yours.” Jake smiled and moved a chair out of the way for her. 

“Got some tiny ones there.” You said. 

“They’re three months old today. Meeting my friend to celebrate their milestone with some coffee and way too much sugar!” She laughed. 

“Oh, I bet you need all the caffeine you can get, huh?” You said. 

“That’s an understatement…” she laughed as she waved her friend over to join her. 

You and Jake sat in silence for a while, people watching and finishing your coffees. You started thinking, right then and there, about something that you truly hadn’t thought hard about in years. Something that, until recently, you’d buried away so far in your brain that you’d nearly forgotten, and the fact that you’d almost forgotten made you sick. A part of your life that you didn’t discuss, that you didn’t bring up, that was a secret from everyone you loved. 

“What’s wrong baby? You’re being kinda quiet…” Jake interrupted your internalization. 

You perked up. “Oh, nothing. Just kinda sleepy still.” 

“Okay. We can take a nap later, if you want.” Jake suggested. 

“Yeah, that sounds good to me, babe.” You answered blankly. 

You both glanced over to the mom again as one of the babies woke up and started crying. You watched as she picked him up to console him, and watched as the other one instinctively opened his eyes at the sound of his brother’s crying. 

“Ya know, me and Josh always used to wonder which one of us would end up with twins, since there’s such a big chance of that happening through generations. I always thought it’d be him.” Jake said. 

You watched as the second baby moved his head around, eyes darting side to side, looking for his counterpart. Your heart nearly shattered into pieces. Even as young and tiny as he was, he looked lost, like his compass was going haywire…

“Watch it be Sam.” You responded. 

Jake’s head snapped your way. “Really? You think? Why?”

You shrugged. “Just would be funny. Hey, you think your brothers would wanna come over for dinner tonight?”

“Yeah, probably. I think Sam and Elle are back, Danny texted me last night-”

“No, Jake. Just your brothers. Your blood ones.” You interrupted, earning a very strange look from him. 

“Uh..I guess. I can… ask them. Why just them?” He pressed. 

Your mind spun around as you tried to pull an excuse to get the three of them alone together. 

“I want to talk to them. You. Just you three. About… everything.” You only half-lied. “Together, as a family.”

“Okayyyy, yeah, I’ll text them now. Uh, our house? 5:00?” He said, pulling out his phone. 

“Perfect.” You took the opportunity to take your phone out as well, pulling up the text from Elle. 

You

10:31am: Coffee tomorrow?

——

The rest of the day proceeded normally, you and Jake went home and did end up napping the rest of the afternoon away, him walking on eggshells at the uncertainty of why you wanted just Josh and Sam to come over this evening, but never pressing the issue with more questions. 

“I’m starting the pasta babe! They should be here any minute!” Jake yelled from the kitchen as you finished up some laundry. 

“Sounds good! I’m almost done here!” You shut the lid to the washing machine, nerves suddenly overtaking your body. You felt your face flush pink, and your stomach flipped over, making you feel sick. You leaned backwards onto the machine, fanning your face as the blood finally traveled back to your brain. 

You rushed into the guest room, pulling the drawer to your nightstand open to reveal your barely-yet-used journal. You flipped to the last few pages, finding the old photograph perfectly safe there. 

Fuck, you can do this. 

Little did Jake know, you weren’t okay. You were terrified. And you were about to share with them your deepest, darkest secret. 

——

“…and it wasn’t even the priest, it was his barber all along!” Josh had finished up with a twenty minute long joke, sending the four of you into stitches. 

“That’s the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard, Josh. My god.” Sam said. 

“Well, it made you laugh didn’t it?” Josh retorted, making Sam throw his hands into the air. 

Dinner was drawing to a close, and you knew the guys were getting antsy with their curiosity of asking them here tonight. All three of them. 

“Another bottle, guys?” You said, standing from the table and clearing some of the plates away. 

“Yeah, sure. And also when you come back, can you bring the reason you asked just us two to come over tonight?” Sam snapped, turning around in his seat to face you. Fuck you, Sammy. 

You turned to shoot daggers at him, only to be met with three of almost the exact same face staring back at you. You dropped the plates into the sink, admitting defeat. 

You slowly walked back over to the table, taking your seat. The three of them leaned in closely, watching your next move. You cleared your throat. 

“Alright, alright.” Deep breath. “So, this…isn’t easy to say…so forgive me if I get, a little emotional, okay?” You asked, looking to all three of them, the people you loved most in this world, looking at you with so much worry and concern in their eyes you could explode. 

“We grew up together right? Since we were babies, and stayed so close all these years, so I feel like I can trust each of you, even after all the bullshit we’ve been through, what I ultimately was the cause of, right?” 

They all nodded, speaking quietly that yes, of course you could trust them. 

“Sam, my very first chosen friend. Always there for me and always my rock ever since we could walk. I think you know me better than I know myself, and that’s a little terrifying. Always calling me out on my shit, and helping me fucking cause it, too.” You giggled, hoping that one day all of the stuff that happened in Vegas could become a joke. 

“Well, ya know...” He laughed. 

“Josh, you’re such a good big brother to them. And to me, you always were. You don’t even know you’re doing it, but you keep all of us so grounded and so in line, and so in love with life that you should win an award. And thank you, for helping me here lately. Taking me out of my comfort zone and under your wing. I don’t think you know how much I appreciate it.” 

He nodded a sweet you’re welcome.

“And Jake, what the hell. Where do I even start? I’m so excited about this new life we’re building together, and how supportive you’ve always been of me. All the shit I put you through, it’s been some of the most horrible and beautifully messy times of my life. And I’m so thankful for you and all you do for us.”

“I’m also so proud of you guys.” You said, looking to Jake and Sam. “After all that shit in Vegas, you two can still find a way to love each other. And I am so wholeheartedly sorry about how that all went down. From the bottom of my heart, I swear.” 

Jake reached over and grabbed your hand, squeezing it tightly. 

“I don’t know if you know, Jake, but Sam watched you go through something really traumatic in the hospital, and when he told me about it, god, it tore me to shreds. Seeing the love you guys all have for each other, it…” you couldn’t stop the tears that were forming in your eyes, as Jake squeezed your hand harder. “It made me realize some things. And I don’t want to run from it anymore. I want to share…everything. With you guys. With my family. Even my secrets.”

All three of them adjusted in their chairs, curiosity and apprehension written all over them. You stood up, went into the guest room, and re-emerged with your journal. You sat back down, and flipped to the very back page. You pulled the tiny photograph that was stuck between the pages, seeing it one last time by yourself before it became not only your secret, but theirs, too. 

You turned it around so all three of them could see. 

Sam and Jake simultaneously sat back in their seats, physically blown away by what you were showing them. 

A blurry black and white sonogram image of a baby. Your baby. The one you never got to meet. 

“It’s okay, it’s okay…it’s neither of yours…look at the date…” you said to them as you realized their instant state of panic. 

“January 14, 2017.” Sam said, his breath falling out of him with relief. “Oh my god…”

“Baby, what the fuck is going on? What is this? Your name is on this…” Jake said, letting his emotions start to rise. 

“Yeah, Jake. That’s because it was mine. Mine and Andy’s.” You relented. 

You watched as their faces were painted with happiness, then shock, then sorrow.

“I never got to meet this baby, because right before I found out, Andy started showing his true colors in a more public way. Remember the night of the New Years Eve party? When he found us out on the porch?” You looked to Jake. 

“The night he put his hands on me there, left bruises on my arms…all the horrible things he did even before that, you know. Well, I found out two weeks later. I didn’t tell him I was even going to the doctor to find out for sure.” Your tears finally decided to run over. “The night before my appointment, he was drunk. We got into an argument, he pushed me so hard into the wall that it busted a hole through. I thought for sure that if I was pregnant, I would have lost it that night, anyway. So I fought him off of me for another hour or so, let him pass out on the couch. The next day at my appointment, lo and behold, the baby was alright. But I wasn’t.”

“I was so devastated…the nurse at the clinic saw the bruises on me, noticed how much of a shell of a person I was, slipped me a brochure for noticing the signs of domestic abuse. God, it threw me for a loop…I never even thought that that was what I was enduring, all that time. Seeing it there on paper, that Andy was abusing me while I was being told I was most definitely going to be bringing his child into the world. It…fucking…” you were sobbing hard now, finally feeling the weight of the subject coming to the light like a weight off your entire being. 

“I had to make the hardest decision of my entire life, that day. I had to decide. I had to keep myself safe, and I could barely do that. Andy was getting worse by the day. The thought of having to bring a baby…god, I couldn’t even…” you took a deep breath, feeling Jake’s arms wrapping around your back, pulling you tightly into him. 

“Fuck, Y/N…” he cried into your hair. 

You continued. “I never told Andy about it. I kept it a secret…from everybody. I felt so ashamed. A few weeks after I had the procedure, one of Andy’s fraternity brothers’ girlfriends decided to let it slip that she knew I was there…she worked at the clinic and recognized me I guess. Bitch. Completely against the fucking law, but. They told Andy, and he was infuriated. Said that I took something away from him without him even knowing he had it. Hated me for it, called me horrible things. Thinking back now, maybe I should have told him. I guess I could have given him that much. But honestly, things were getting so bad that I truly don’t think that tiny thing would have survived another night of its mother being thrown into the dining room table.”

Jake’s arms held you steady, his hands rubbing across your skin. You finally got the gumption to look at Josh and Sam, both of them absolutely fraught with sadness, tears falling hard from both of their faces. You could tell they were dying to speak, but neither of them had any clue what to say. 

“The reason I’m telling you all of this is because you deserve an answer. I’ve lied about it for months. That’s why he’s stalking me. That’s why he’s been following us everywhere, breaking in and stealing your things…He’s obsessed with giving me what he thinks I deserve for taking that away from him. I’m scared he’s not gonna stop until he gets it. He’s getting worse, he’s in it too deeply now.”

Josh’s hands were folded in front of him, covering his mouth as his leg bounced up and down. Sam had his head hanging from his fingers laced through his hair, staring at the tiny photograph. Jake finally released you, squatting beside you to speak. He brought both hands to your face, slowly drifting his thumbs under your eyes to catch the tears that just wouldn’t stop coming. 

“I love you so much, Y/N, I swear to god I do. I’m so sorry…” he whispered, pulling up to embrace you again. You let your arms wrap around him, your safe place, your home. He’d finally told you he loved you, after weeks of not hearing those words fall from his mouth. 

“I love you too, Jake.” You said through cutting sobs. “I’m so sorry I never told you, told any of you. I should have been honest from the get go. I was just too afraid to tell the truth of why he was following me. Could’ve saved us a lot of difficulty.” 

“No, no no…” they all chimed in unison. 

“No, Y/N. That was something you didn’t have to share with us. You could’ve kept that secret for as long as you needed to.” Josh said. 

“Yeah, this is him being crazy, not you. Don’t worry. We’ll keep you safe. All of us will.” Sam added. “He’s not gonna get what he thinks he deserves. We won’t let him.”

“Yeah, no way that fucker is getting anywhere near you ever again.” Jake added. 

You nodded. “I’m trying really hard, guys. I’m trying to be better. I think getting this off my chest was the real start of it.” You said, tears staining Jake’s shirt. “I’m ready to heal.”

The other two silently made their way over to you and Jake, wrapping their arms all around you and each other as they held you in their own cage of protection. 

You weren’t sure how long you stayed like that, all embraced together, but right then you knew you’d made the right decision in telling them. They harbored no blame, no judgment, no ill feelings toward you. Just love. Devastatingly perfect love. 

——

After a few minutes of silent sobs and embarrassed tears, the four of you stood to gather yourselves. 

“Well, that was a lot, sorry guys.” You laughed nervously, stepping away a bit. 

“Please stop apologizing, Y/N. There’s nothing at all to be sorry for. If anything you should be patting yourself on the back, for sharing that with us. That’s a huge step.” Josh said. 

“Yeah, babe. Don’t be sorry to us. We’re all gonna get through it together. One step at a time, okay? We won't leave you.” Jake said, rubbing your shoulders from behind. 

Sam walked up and took you in a giant embrace, his chin resting on your shoulder as he spun you in little half circles. “Can’t believe you held that in for so many years…I’m–I’m so sorry, Y/N.” His whisper was quiet in your ear. This was the closest you’d been with Sam since…

“Thanks, Sammy. It’s alright. In a dark place for way too long…ready to walk away from it.”

He pulled back, taking your head in his hands. “And we’ll be right here to hold your hand as you do. Okay?” You nodded, more tears forming as you felt his familiar comforting touch. He laid a sweet kiss to your forehead, and backed away. A little more light conversation added some happiness to the heavy atmosphere, and you suddenly felt yourself become extremely exhausted. 

The air changed, and Josh and Sam caught the drift that it was time for them to go home. “Thanks for listening to me, guys. Means more than you know.” You told them as you walked them toward the door. “I’m gonna tell Elle and Daniel soon, so. Just wanted you three to know first.”

They nodded, sending you more sweet goodbyes as they shut the door behind them. You turned to see Jake leaned against the countertop, his face completely sunken in with an expression that didn’t make sense. 

“You wanna go for a walk or something?” He said. 

You sighed, walking back over to wrap yourself up in him. “No, I gotta clean up the kitchen.” You said. 

“No, baby. That can wait until tomorrow. It’s fine.” Jake replied. 

“Okay…kinda wanna go lay down again.” You laughed. 

You walked under his arm back to the bedroom, changing into something comfy, and sliding back under the covers with him. He took you up in his arms, pulling you close as you let yourself finally breathe. 

“I don’t know what to say, babe. I’m proud of you for being strong, though. I can’t believe you went so long holding that in…I couldn’t imagine what you’ve been going through keeping that to yourself.” Jake said, laying his cheek to your hair. 

“I almost called you. That day I went to the clinic. I didn’t want to be alone, didn’t want to go by myself. But, I just…”

“You should’ve called me! I would have gone with you, talked to you…” he said, voice rising. 

“You were in Europe, Jake. Not even in the same time zone. But, I did it. Got through it. It all…worked out…” you said, squeezing him tighter. 

“I know…I’m so sorry baby.” he whispered. 

You took another deep breath. “Jake, there’s more, though…”

He pulled back a bit, looking at you sternly, pity on his face. “More…?”

You buried your face in his chest. “After everything with the baby, in the year or so after, when I’d go to my annual checkups, they told me it was a miracle I even conceived at all. And after the procedure, I was left with a lot of internal scarring. Lots of… strange complications. Told me it would be extremely difficult for me to even get pregnant ever again, without intervention.”

“Fuck, babe…” he mouthed. You felt his body go limp.

You sat up, able to look him in the face now. “That’s why…that’s why I never told you about it. I didn’t think you’d want me anymore, if you knew I might not…” 

“Shit, Y/N, no. No no no, please don’t.” He sat up and squeezed you again, more sobs rattling through your chest. 

“It’s not fair to you, Jake. You deserve that. And I was selfish in not telling you, but I just love you so much, and everything was so scary and crazy, I didn’t want you not in my life…”

He pulled away, grasping both of your hands in his. “Listen to me, Y/N. You’re it for me. Okay? You always have been. I’m ready to have you any way you are, no matter what. Please, don’t for one second think that I think less of you. Ever. You’re the most amazing thing in my life and I’m not ever letting you go.” 

“But what if I can’t give you what you’ve always wanted?” You cried. 

“You are what I’ve always wanted, Y/N. Only you! As far as that goes…we will figure it out, babe. You and me. We’ll make it through all that together, okay? We have tons and tons of options. I’m not even worried about it.” He pulled you into him again, qualming your tears as he soothed you. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, but first we have a few places to stop along the way.”

“You think we will get there?” You breathed.

“Yeah baby… I know we will. I think about it almost everyday.” he says. 

“You do?” you whisper.

“Yeah Y/N. I…I know you’re the one. You always have been. I was stupid to ever let you go. I’m not going to make that mistake again. I swear.” he says, pushing the hair from your face.

“I love you Jake.” you say, wrapping your arms around his neck.

He pulls you down on top of him, holding you close to him as he kisses your head, “I love you too Y/N. I always always will. Until the day I die. I swear it.”

As you let him hold you, your mind raced again but a little more peacefully now, knowing that this was just the beginning. You’d started on a brand new journey, and family had taken on a whole new meaning. Facing it head on was going to be the challenge, but you felt stronger than ever. Ready to weather a new storm, with your compass heading set toward calmer seas. 

But in the back of your mind lingered a persistent demon, one that had haunted and tormented you for years on end. And though you felt safe here in your lover’s arms, you knew that the storm was still brewing, waiting, ready to wash you away the second it could. 

.

.

.

.

.

.

When someone we know and care about is impacted by domestic violence, it is hard to know how to help. But friends and family are important in supporting people experiencing domestic violence so they feel empowered to leave. Waiting for the perfect words could keep you from seizing the opportunity to change a life.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, there is help. All it takes is one call to the 24-hour National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or Text START to 88788 to discuss your situation.  

For more help identifying the signs of domestic abuse visit this site for tons of helpful resources.

If you are pregnant and unsure about your feelings or what to do next, we recommend calling the All-Options Talkline at 1-888-493-0092 from anywhere in the United States or Canada. All-Options offers unconditional, judgment-free support for people in all of their decisions, feelings, and experiences with pregnancy, parenting, abortion, and adoption.

Vigilance The Outtakes : Disruption

@gretavansara@jordie-gvf-admin@starshine-wagner @eyelinerjake@gretavanfvckface@gretavanmoon@misshunnybeebee@fretaganvleet@gvfpal@joshkiszkas@ascendingtostardust@raviolilegs@sammysprincess@gvfpal@objectsinspvce@lallisonl@gvfpal@raviolilegs@jaketlover@ascendingtostardust @violet-hayes@indigostreakmorgan@jakemarrymeibeg@fakeplastiqtree@radmads-gvf @fwzco @katelynn-gvf @writingcold @jakesgrapejuice @jakekiszkasbabymama @emsfallingsky @gretavanbear @ejoygvf @beebloopbleep @mackalah @weneedsomehealing123 @reesetrippingthelight @lightmylove-gvf @wetkleenex-gvf@fulltimecynical@ageofbajabule@ageofsinners@indigostreakslut @katelynn-gvf @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @joshskittytickler21 @mp0801@starcatcherry @samsbirks @darianh07 @cassiesgreta @becinabubblegvf @hanntisocial @demonrat444 @mrbrownstne @gretabyss @bizzielisteningtogreta @samsbirks @jakes-archer @laneygvf @jaketsword @hangvf @indigostreakmorgan @sadiextricia @thunderstomp-and-tequila @farfromthehomelands @takenbythemadness @lyndz2names @brujamagik @overtheehillsandfaraway @gretavanfan @ohgodthefeeling-gvf @slightly-russian

@gracev0609 @sammiboo162 @jakekiszkasmommy @jaketkiszkalover @everyglowinthetwilightknows @literal-dead-leaf @ghostly--photography @aintthatapity @wildbluesorbit

If you'd like to be added to my taglist, please send in an ask!

[hometoursandotherstuff]

It’s time to revisit photographer turned novelty chandelier maker, Adam Wallacavage’s Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1890 brownstone, b/c it celebrates spooky season all year.

Before he purchased his home, he lived in a tiny apartment across the street from famed stained glass artist Judith Schaechter. Her house was his original inspiration.

From there, he graduated to making sculptural lighting, then showing at the Jonathan LeVine gallery in NYC and all over the world.

Unlike Judith’s house, Adam’s was missing all the ornamental elements as it was modernized in the 1940s.  It was dirt cheap, so he didn’t have a place worth restoring but a place worth customizing.

He tore down walls and rebuilt the layout similar to the original design, making molds and casting plaster and turning the place into a Victorian style freak show.

After visiting the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, United Kingdom just a few months after closing on the house, he found his path to what he wanted his interior to be based on.

He describes his style as a mixture of the beach towns Wildwood, New Jersey and Cape May, New Jersey.  Wildwood is known for kitschy ’50s neon and mid-century modern motels. Cape May is known for its gingerbread Victorians.

He’s proudest of the first room he did, which was inspired by Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” It’s the room that he made the first octopus chandelier for.

Chandeliers are how he makes his living now.

He was broke when got the place, but was able to do things like bling it out in ornamental plasterwork with help from a friend who has a plaster studio and let him borrow from her extensive rubber mold collection. 

There’s a perfect long decal for fridge.

Adam says that a backpack vacuum cleaner is the best thing he ever bought to dust the house.

Adam’s advice: Don’t be afraid of messing stuff up. It can always be redone.

And don’t be afraid of what people are going to think. Do it for yourself first and not for trying to impress others.

Being pretentious works in what you do as well as what you don’t do that’s not yourself or true to your vision.

It’s okay to emulate others but always give credit to those who inspired you and try to put a spin on it.

Adam says that his home is basically a show room for his chandeliers. His studio is on the third floor as well.

His biggest indulgence is the second floor greenhouse and backyard.

It’s not finished or really started on yet, but the room under the greenhouse is going to be the seashell grotto room.

Adam’s fabulous Victorian fish tank and goldfish.

Adam’s absolute best home secret is to let your freak flag fly.

If you are remodeling, Adam says to mess with what you are getting rid of, for practice.

What a beautiful back garden.

https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/adam-wallacavages-south-philadelphia-home-37137656

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

May I request something for Julie,Poppy and Sally(separate) with a dragon reader who hid that they were a dragon because they grew up reading the stories about dragons and are worried about being feared or attacked?

Recently I've been trying to write longer and more detailed posts, this being one of those attempts. Hope you enjoy the headcannons! (⁠^⁠-^⁠)

Julie, Poppy and Sally x dragon Reader

Julie

★ Julie met you while visiting her family, she got lost and stumbled upon you. You don't like to live near people so the forest is where you call home. Being under the same umbrella as you (rainbow monster) you warmed up to her quickly.

★ Not realizing you where hiding from people, she immediately introduced you her family. Bringing the joyful family into the dense forest you call home. It went surprisingly well, and now you're a friend to the little family.

★ Imagine all the new games she can play with someone who has wings! During a game of hide and seek you could hide on top of a the post office and win every time. In capture the flag you could hide the flag where nobody can reach! The possibilities are endless...

★ She doesn't understand why you hide yourself. After all, she's a Rainbow Monster and never has she needed to hide her identity. Everyone in home is so friendly, she can't imagine a place where people are mean.

★ You meet the rest of the town through her. It's a classic case of a extrovert adopting a introvert. She goes around Home knocking on people's doors and introducing you to them.

★ If that's too much for you, she does the same thing but over the phone so you don't need to leave your house. Introducing you to Frank first because he is her best friend and she's definitely told him about you beforehand.

Poppy

★ This mother hen is deeply concerned, if you live in the deep forest where do you get your food? What if you get lost in the forest?? Do you even have running water there??? These are the things that come to mind when she learns about you.

★ Do you like pastries? If you do she puts together a basket full of various cookies, puff pastries and cream puffs then gives it to Eddie for delivery. It took Eddie an hour to find your house because he kept getting lost.

★ Like you Poppy has wings. Except hers are used for baking, not flying. Technically she could fly if she really wanted to but she's too scared to try. By proxy, she's scared that you will hurt yourself while flying.

★ She covers her eyes when you take off from a high place because she can't bring herself to watch you jump into the air. What if you fall?!?

★ To quell your fear of being in public places she knits you a cape-like poncho that covers most of your body. Poppy can assure you that nobody in home would ever hurt you, but if this makes you more comfortable then so be it.

Sally

★ Being the towns theater kid, she's well-versed in story's about dragons. Congratulations, you got this star to be enamored with you. Never in her life has she seen a dragon! She asks you so. Many. Questions.

★ Sally likes to cast you in her plays as the hero character, despite the situational irony. Only casting you as the "bad guy" when you audition for the role. She refuses to promote any mean/harmful stereotypes in her plays!

★ When you tell her that the way dragons are portraid in old plays is inaccurate and problematic, she feels really really bad. She gives you some written copies of her performances (specifically the ones with dragons in them) for some constructive criticism.

★ Stories focusing on dragons are now among her favorite genres. Darker stories about dragons being hunted and driven out of towns are a bit too dark for her. More lighthearted stories about dragons collecting gold, jewels and knowledge are what she finds riveting.

★ The change in perspective inspires her to write manuscripts for stories about dragons. With your help, of course. What if she re-wrote old stories but instead of being "evil" the dragon is the hero?

[yelenasdiary]

Reader is a chef and owns a well-known restaurant, she invites Florence to her restaurant and has cooking with Flo there. They flirt without really knowing it, they end up together

The Special Guest

Pairing: Florence Pugh x Reader

Summary: When you heard that Florence Pugh was in town for an event, you invited the woman to your well-known restaurant after hearing her talk about wanting to visit the restaurant.  

Fluff | No Warnings | 1.2K

AC: Who else loved the vogue edition of Cooking with Flo?!

"I'm so glad to finally be here! I've heard so many great things about your cooking" Florence smiled after you greeted her. The restaurant was caped to 50 people while the short blonde-haired actress was visiting, you had reserved the best table in the restaurant for her. The staff and you were very excited to show Florence just how wonderful your restaurant is, with all your hard work earning you an outstanding 5 stars, you were keen to know what the actress thought. 

"We're excited to have you" you smiled warmly before placing a menu in front of Flo, "I've heard you're a bit of a cook yourself" you added as you looked at her. "I love it! My whole family is a big on food, I cook as much as I can" Florence smiled with joy, her cheeks glowing with a blushing color. "We've all seen some of the wonderful videos you've made with your little show" you replied.

"They're a lot of fun!" 

"We'll let you take a moment and decide on what you'd like to order, it's all on the house" you smiled. "Thank you, you're so very kind" Flo replied as she picked up the menu. 

After a few moments, Florence's order came through the till and you lit the stove. Even through the heat of the working kitchen, you knew the sweating nerves you had weren't from the flame on the stove or the heatwaves from the grill but more so the fact that the Florence Pugh was eating at your restaurant. Sure, you've had plenty of high-profile celebrities come to eat and have received wonderful reviews from them but something about having Florence sitting in the dining area sipping on a martini only made you want to be sure that everything was extra perfect. 

Everybody was slightly on edge as the food was delivered to Flo's table, she hummed with joy as she picked up her cutlery and dug right in. By the look on her face, you could instantly tell how much she loved the food. "This is so good! All the flavours just mix so well together!" She stopped you as you walked by her table, "I'm so glad you're enjoying it" you replied with a proud smile. 

After her starter meal, Florence asked if you'd be okay with her filming a 'Cooking with Flo' with you in your restaurant's kitchen, a spontaneous idea you thought to yourself but nodded and showed her the way. She quickly found her way around the kitchen, setting up her phone and kindly asking one of your chefs to record the little show for her 8.6 million Instagram followers. 

It amazed you that she didn't care that she wasn't dolled up or the fact that your kitchen wasn't clean or how she didn't request anything. She found ingredients and anything else she needed on her own with a small smile on her lips. "I like a woman who knows her way around a kitchen she's never been in before" you joked with a chuckle, "Oh trust me darling, I know my way around a lot of things" Florence playfully winked before brushing her shoulder length golden locks out of her face and smiling to the camera. 

She introduced you, the wonderful restaurant you owned and how spontaneous this little idea was for her. You smiled nervously at her phone before she started to make her own little twist on a classic garlic bread. "Something a little basic but fun" she chuckled while speaking through the steps she was doing. 

"Do you mind if I make a fair bit and hand it out to everybody?" Florence asked as she looked up at you. "Of course, seems like you're already at home" you joked as she slowly walked over to grab more bread, grabbing a few different kinds to cater for everybody. You watched unknowingly in awe as Florence made her own garlic butter from scratch then made a pure pesto paste. You knew that if the customers enjoyed the Florence twist that you'd kindly ask if it would be okay to add it to your menu as a little special.

"Would you like to come and help me spread these on the bread?" Florence asked breaking your thoughts, who were you to say no to the pretty women in front of you as you nodded with a smile. Before spreading the pesto paste over the seeded bread, you took a little taste test as was instantly blown away by the amount of goodness and flavor it had. "Are you sure acting is working out for you? I could do with another chef" you smiled softly unsure if you were even joking. Florence chuckled, "oh yeah, it's fine, I'm sure I could pull out of the few movies I have coming up if I got to work here every day". "My door is always open" you playfully winked. 

After a while, you noticed some of your waiters and waitresses sending very concerning looks at the two of you. Pulling a waitress aside you asked her why they were all looking at you and Florence in such a way. "Really boss? You and her have been flirting this entire time. It's been fun to watch" the young waitress smiled. "We have not, she's a very special guest and I'm just trying to make her feel comfortable" you frowned slightly. 

"Yeah, ask her to dinner tonight, I bet she won't say no" 

"You're being silly, stop it"

"I'm not, look!" the young women turned you slightly to face the kitchen, "see how she literally can't keep her eyes off you? Don't say you aren't enjoying it because the smile on your face says otherwise" she adds. She was right, Florence smiled softly as she saw the two of you facing her. "And that's pretty much it!" her eyes turned to the camera, "go on, ask her" your employee pushed you gently towards the kitchen. "That looks delicious" you nervously walked back over to Florence with a smile trying to hide your nerves. 

"Here's some for you" Florence placed a small plate in front of you, "thank you" you replied before taking a small bite, before you could even shallow you knew that this would be a hit. "Your eyes tell me you love it" Florence watched as you nodded, agreeing with her, "it's so good!" you replied, "I'd love to put these on the menu if that's okay" you added before taking another bite. "Go for it! Gives me even more of a reason to come back". 

After Florence had handed out the free bread to the other customers in the restaurant you couldn't help but notice how much flirting the two of you actually did without noticing. "Ask her!" you saw the waitress mouth as Florence came back to you. "This was amazing, thank you so much for a lovely night. I can't wait to come back again soon" she smiled. "You're more than welcome, I meant what I said, you can work here if you need" you replied with a light chuckle, "before you go" you paused for a moment, "I was wondering….would you like to grab breakfast or lunch one day?" you asked with a nervous smile. 

"Thank god you asked" Florence chuckled, "I was too nervous to ask you out myself but yes, I'd love too" she smiled, her eyes looking deeply into yours. "Well, I best get your number then" you smiled softly.

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[astralfms]

[ … ] ❀ you’re not from around here , are you? i figured because you totally just missed { CELESTE JAMES } walking by. don’t tell me you don’t know who { SHE } is/are ? they kind of look like { NATASHA LIU BORDIZZO } and i could be wrong but i think that they might be { TWENTY EIGHT } years old right now. they’ve been living in palmview for the last { TWENTY YEARS }. and i don’t know if anyone has ever told them this before but they kind of remind me of { CARRIE BRADSHAW } from { SEX AND THE CITY }. if you stick around the town long enough you might catch them in action working at { SUNSET VILLA BEACH } as a { LIFESTYLE VLOGGER }. you see this town isn’t really that big of a place, some folks like to call them the { VIDEOPHILE } of palmview! they took a liking to the name too after a while, go figure. oh crap, they must have heard me yapping. they’re coming this way. i got to warn you though, rumor has it they can pretty { SELF ABSORBED } at times. i wouldn’t take it too seriously though, from the times i’ve spoken to them they seemed pretty { CHEERFUL } to me. we see each other all the time since they live in that { TWO BEDROOM } apartment beside me over in { MANGO BAY }. i better leave you to it. it was nice meeting you

STATISTICS:

full name: celeste james

nicknames: cel, cely, letty

birthday: may 12, 1995

hometown: cape cod, massachusetts

occupation: social media influencer, lifestyle vlogger

hobbies: vlogging, trying new food spots, serial dating, shopping

lives: mango bay lofts

BACKGROUND:

enter: celeste, first born of the james family. her mother likes to tease that she was born to be an older sister. in fact, she'd rub her mom's pregnant belly and say, "my baby, my baby." it's safe to say that her childhood was largely focused on playing with her sister, doing any silly thing she could to make her laugh, and getting into as much trouble as you'd expect of two girls under five. when their family packed up and moved to palmview, celeste made it her personal mission to show charlotte that moving was no big deal. so what, they'd packed up their whole lives and moved across the country? that just meant they'd have new adventures to go on, and it wasn't like they wouldn't go back to visit. this mindset stuck with her throughout her life, choosing to see the cup half full even when logic told her otherwise.

her teen years were as chaotic as you'd expect, celeste taking full advantage of her short summers in cape cod. parties, boys, sneaking out, boys, nights on the beach, boys. rinse and repeat. during this time she swore she was just making the most of her teenage years, but her parents would say they let her watch way too much sex and the city. this would become exaggerated one summer when celeste got the bright idea to take her dads boat out at night, all in efforts to impress a boy. she'd been sailing with her dad since she was a kid, what could go wrong, right? wrong. she hadn't accounted for the coast guard, who luckily let her off with a warning, ( and a call to her parents. ) for the rest of the summer, they cut her off entirely, forcing her into her first summer job.

this is where she met her first true best friend, who was able to speak some knowledge into that delusional head of celeste's. instead of pouring all that energy into boys, she was encouraged to take her ambition and ideas and put them into making videos. her friend was convinced she had what it took to make it big. following this advice was the best thing for her, although, her bad habits hadn't left entirely. after graduation, and throughout college, celeste was known to party on the weekends and seen with a new beau in what seemed like every other new vlog. it's not her fault she's a lover girl, right? at least, that's what she tells herself.

tldr; celeste is a silly goofy girl that hasn't quite grown out of her boy obsessed phase. her friends encourage her to put that ambition into something creative, and she does, but that only keeps her delusion at bay for so long. will she overcome the boy fever? will she ever not be a sleazebag wrapped in a pretty package? stay tuned and find out!

[bookofbolden]

TIMING: Current LOCATION: A bookshop in Portland, Maine PARTIES: Hazel & Eleanor SUMMARY: Out of options and patience Eleanor decides to visit an old friend who might be able to help her with the bond she shares with Lily. WARNINGS: None!

When Eleanor and Lily had lived in Portland they discovered a bookshop that was run by an older woman who called herself Hazel and claimed to possess magical abilities. Whether or not the two women had believed it, they continued to show their support for the shop by making it one of their favorite stops because of how cozy and inviting it was. Although all of the books that were on the shelves had to do with magic (spellbooks, magical recipes, how to tame your familiar) Eleanor had found a few that looked interesting during her many visits. In fact, the only non-magical books featured were Eleanor’s own publications which Hazel proudly displayed near the front.

The empath hadn’t visited the shop since Lily’s disappearance because it held too many memories but she had started to grow impatient with how slow things were moving when it came to finding a solution to her bond with her girlfriend. Although it was a shot in the dark Eleanor had decided that if there was anyone who could help her it would be Hazel.

Eleanor had told no one that she would be leaving to visit Portland because she hadn’t wanted anyone to insist on accompanying her. Hazel’s shop was a special place that she shared with Lily and she selfishly didn’t want to share it with anyone else.

The bell above the door rang out when Eleanor walked in and she took a deep breath to take in the familiar smell of soothing lavender and incense.

“I’ll be right there, take a look ‘round!” Hazel’s raspy voice floated out from the back room.

Memories came rushing back and flooded all of Eleanor’s senses. Her and Lily laughing as they played with Hazel’s pet black cat that roamed the shop freely. Lily buying tarot cards for the first time and Hazel promising to teach her how to read them. Eleanor accidentally tripping over one of the many displays that clogged the one long aisle of the small shop and Lily catching her just in time.

“Alright, what can I help… Eleanor?”

Hazel had emerged from the back and she stared at Eleanor with wide eyes behind her round glasses. Her frizzy gray hair had gotten longer since the last time they’d seen one another but other than that she looked the exact same. She wore a dark purple cape over a long black dress and the bangles on her thin wrists jingled every time she moved.

For Eleanor it almost felt like returning home to a loved family member.

“Hi Hazel, how have you been?”

Eleanor felt first elation then sadness roll off of Hazel and she didn’t have to wonder why. The last the old woman had heard of her was that Lily had gone missing and never found. Eleanor had packed up and left town without a proper departure, something she felt terrible for in retrospect. Hazel had been nothing but kind and accepted her and Lily into her little world without hesitation, she had deserved a goodbye at the very least.

“Elle.” The nickname rolled off of her tongue in such a satisfying way that it nearly brought tears to Eleanor’s eyes. It was strange seeing someone from Before but comforting at the same time. “I’ve missed you my friend. Do ya want some tea?”

Hazel brewed the best tea in Maine, it would have been foolish for Eleanor to decline.

“Of course,” the empath agreed with a smile, “I was hoping we could… talk. If that’s alright, I know you're a busy woman.”

Hazel chuckled. “I always make time for those who matter most. Flip that sign over and come to the back.”

Eleanor flipped over the open sign, locked the door, and followed her old friend to the back of the shop. She sat down in one of the three rickety chairs that were there and placed her hands into her lap as she waited. Curiosity radiated from Hazel but she was willing to answer any questions the older woman may have had, she just needed to be asked.

“How have ya been? When I heard about everythin’ that happened I was shocked. I’m so sorry for what you’re goin’ through.” Hazel started on the tea immediately, her old electric kettle beaten up but still functional. “I never expected to see ya again, this is a real treat.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry about just leaving without saying anything Hazel, I should have come by and spoken to you.”

“Don't apologize, I understand. After everythin’ you’ve been through I wouldn’t have expected anythin’ else. I wouldn’t wanna stick ‘round for much longer, either. But I expect that this ain’t just a friendly visit.”

Eleanor sighed and looked down at her hands. Hazel had a strict no judgment rule in her shop but she still felt silly for what she would be requesting.

“I need some help, Hazel. You’re the only person I know that might be able to point me in the right direction.”

With a huff the older woman sat in the chair across from Eleanor and offered her a kind smile. “Ask away, dearie.”

Could she do it? Would Hazel think that Lily’s disappearance had completely fried her brain? This was always the hardest part, determining whether or not someone would believe her or think that she was insane.

“Hazel, I have this… ability. I can…” How could she go on? Eleanor closed her eyes and decided to rush through the rest so that she wouldn’t lose her nerve. “I can feel other people’s emotions. I can feel yours right now. You’re curious as to why I’m here now, happy to see me, but a little sad because of what’s happened with Lily.” She opened her eyes but still avoided looking at the woman across from her. “I’m still learning how to control it and not let the emotions of others influence me so much but it’s hard. Especially since… since I can still feel Lily.”

It was silent in the small room for a long time and Eleanor had half a mind to get up and run out.

“What ya are, dearie, is an empath.”

Eleanor was completely caught off guard. “You believe me?”

“‘Course I do. And ya ain’t the first one to come through m’shop.”

The sound of the kettle sent Eleanor jumping to her feet.

“Calm down, it’s just the water!” Hazel chuckled and went to tend to the kettle. “Sit down Elle, we have a lot to talk ‘bout.”

Eleanor sat back down as she was told. Eventually a teacup was placed into her hands.

“When did it start for you?” Hazel asked.

“As a child. No one knew what was wrong with me, they just all thought that I was strange. I decided to keep it to myself after a while.”

“Well,” Hazel chuckled, “Nothin’ is wrong with ya, I promise. Did you have questions concernin’ these abilities?”

“In a way.” Eleanor took a big gulp of the tea, wincing when it burned her tongue. “I can still feel Lily and I… I don’t know how much longer I can stand it. She’s in constant pain and she’s afraid. I don’t know what to do.”

Hazel nodded and drank her own tea. “I’ve heard of this before. The bond you’ve created with Lily is so strong that you're able to feel her even when she’s not around. It’s a rare and special thing, I just hate that it’s making you feel the way that you are.” The old woman thought for a moment before she continued. “What kind of solution are you looking for?”

Eleanor shrugged. “I didn’t even know there were solutions.”

“You always have a choice dearie, unfortunately it’s not always easy to make.”

“What choices do I have?”

“I know of two.” Hazel got to her feet. She was unable to remain still for too long. “The first may not be so easy. The best way to stop feeling poor Lily’s misery is to find where she is and bring her home.”

Eleanor frowned. “I’ve tried that. I’ve been trying that for a year now, Hazel.”

“Which is why I said there’s two options.” Hazel placed her own teacup down on the only table in the room and started to hum to herself as she looked through a stack of dusty books. “Ah, here it is.” Satisfied with her selection she pulled it from the stack, looked through the table of contents, then quickly flipped to the page she’d been looking for. “Your second option… well, it’s less desirable to say the least, but it’s an option nonetheless.”

“Please Hazel.” Eleanor pleaded.

Hazel cleared her throat. “You have the option to break the bond you share with Lily.”

Eleanor was uncharacteristically quiet for a long moment as she tried to piece together what had just been said to her.

“Break the bond… as in…”

“You’ll never feel Lily again.”

The empath’s throat closed. She wanted to stop feeling Lily’s misery but would she be able to survive without feeling her at all? The good thing about feeling her missing girlfriend was knowing that she was alive somewhere, but if she opted out of that how would she know whether or not Lily was still breathing?

"Would... would you be able to break it? How does it work?"

Hazel shook her head. "Not me, but we can find someone who can, I promise ya. I can tell that you have a lot to think ‘bout, I wouldn’t expect ya to make this kind of decision right away.” Hazel placed her hand on Eleanor's shoulder and squeezed it. “I’ll give ya this book so that you can read over everythin’ that’s involved in breaking the bond. Take as long as ya need and once ya mind is made up just give me a call to let me know what you’ve decided.” The older woman sighed and shook her head. “I really am sorry dearie, no one should have to make this kind of decision, especially not someone so lovin’.”

A tear rolled down Eleanor’s cheek but she didn’t have the strength to wipe it away. In a zombie-like state she accepted the book and walked out of the shop and got into her car where she stared through the windshield for twenty minutes before she was able to shake herself out of her thoughts.

She couldn’t break her bond with Lily, they had shared some of the best years of her life together - she couldn’t just pour that down the drain. It was selfish to do such a thing especially since Lily was still out there in pain and scared and confused. It wasn’t fair for her to be left completely on her own to feel those things.

But it had been a year. How was Eleanor expected to move on if she continued to hold onto the past? She thought of all of the good things that had happened in her life since she had decided to move from Portland. She’d done a great deal of growing but none of that mattered if she continued to live in the past.

Eleanor had a lot to think about, that was for sure.

[short-black-diamond]

Hercules? -But make it MHA!

Brainrot over Hercules! Deku, who is absolutely smitten for Meg! reader. This is also turning into a Bakugo! x reader, plus...Dabi x reader???, but I don’t know if I should make a part 2 out of it...

Yara is your name here, and you are a woman. Your pronouns are she/her in this story plus, you are thick and soft, so chubby!reader. 

Read! :D

Also, not proofread...

...

Like, imagine.

Okay, so, deku is like, he was thin and lanky and in his hometown, he didn’t get much recognition. He was just some nerd who wanted to see gladiators and fighters, and become one some  day. 

His daily life consists of studying about the history od dungeons and heroes, getting bullied by his childhood friend by not being able to attend the ‘Hero Course’ because he was too thin, and he looked ffragile. 

Like a girl.

Then, one day, something tragic happens like Katsuki bullying him or telling him to take a swan dive, because it had been both their dream to become a fighter and hunt the dungeons. But, since Izuku couldn’t really train because of the circumstances - he and his mother were mere peasants who had to work on the field- and Katsuki’s parents were proud inhabitants working in the city of athen. 

so, like, after that, Izuku encounters a dungeon on his way home from selling vegetables, and nearly fucking suffocates if it weren’t for you and Yagi Toshinori (=all might) to save him. 

He didn’t see your face though, because of the mask you wore. He couldn’t even distinguish wether or not you were a woman or a man, your cape or ‘toga’ (?) covering your feminine silhouette from pervy or prying eyes. 

But, he gets to know Yagi Toshinori and that he had been one of the greatest gladiators the world has ever seen. He had a mighty body, and was known as ‘All Might’ by the folks. But, as time went by, he also got older and eventually couldn’t fight anymore, and the people also forgot about him. 

But that didn’t mean that he couldn’t pass down his legacy to an aspiring hero. You knew the older man’s intentions and tried to stop him, but Yagi didn’t budge. And so, Izuku trained day and night, learning from the older man’s tricks and tics, unaware of your frequent visits in your casual appeal when you helped out Inko without even her noticing. 

[ you: ‘Okay, cabbage and tomatoes there, cucumbers and peppers here.’ ...done. I hope that’ll be enough and not too suspicious-oh shit, she’s coming- *jumps into a nearby bush and fucks off into the forest*

Inko: Who did that? Was that Izuku? I told him to not do all the hard work!]

Soon, the townspeople found out that some new hero was fighting and killing off monsters and beasts and they could only wonder if it was their well-loved Bakugo, also known as ‘Dynamight’, because he had the murderous intent and tendency to blow the nightmares off.

It wasn’t Bakugo, but Deku, who became a man with a bulking body-like the one of a greek god- and even got a few inches taller than his childhood best friend. 

That of course, made Bakugo mad and he demanded to know how the hell Izuku managed to become a true gladiator in such a short time. Cue to Izuku having to lie at the fiery blonde because Yagi wanted to keep it a secret - but also because the retired hero thought that nobody remembered him.

It all then came crashing down when Yagi ordered you to make connections with the two young men. You, a sight for sore eyes, with the most beautiful eyes and most extraordinary hair, your skin glowing etherally in the sun, your ‘dress’ (??) underlining your curves amazingly. It was really a bonus that you were chubby too, gaining the attention of nearly the entire town- or places where you shouldn’t be...

You had to talk to the two men. You knew katsuki, unfortunately, and you had to fear that he might’ve fallen in love with you.

Now, Katsuki had seen plenty of pretty women in his life, he looked and smirked and flirted - but nothing too serious, never. BUT. 

But. 

He felt like a hopeless romantic whenever he caught sight of you. Katsuki always made new excuses whenever he went by your little library which you owned with your father. Yagi Toshinori. 

He wanted to thank the gods whenever he caught a wiff of your scent, wanting to have the same one as you, searching in various markets which selled parfume for the scent smell as yours. He wanted to stare at these beautiful orbs of yours for the rest of his life. Bakugo wanted to write you thousands of poems in which he declared his love for you. 

But he never had the time, constantly being called for another attack (he spent the nights reading romance novels and imagining himself as the hero and you the love interest). He was also brutish, loud, mean, egoistical, arrogant, and only cared for the cheers that came after the draw of a monster’s blood which he drew from his sword or hands. 

However, Bakugo tried to be as nice, polite, calm, peaceful and gentle with you as he could muster. But internally, he fought and restrained himself for looking you in the eyes, in fear of losing himself in them. So he’d look at your hands, shoulders collarbone. Bad idea. He thought about how your hands would feel in his hair, massaging his neck, holding his face, his hands - He’d blush.

Even when he’d go more south, his thoughts wouldn’t be any better. Free shoulders, visible collar, large chest - he wanted to bury his face in you. inhale you. kiss you. mark you all over. touch your soft thighs, tummy, arms. 

So he always looked/turned away when he talked to you. You kinda found it unpolite, but at least he didn’t yell at you or ask you out. 

...

With Izuku howerver, that, that was another story. You actually never met him first, just heard his failed attempts for crying for help, your father right next to you. And without wasting a second, you put on your disguise as you ran towards the source and slaughetred the demon, making the poor freckled boy fall to the groun with an ‘oof!’ sound. 

His face landed on mud, and when Yagi helped him to his feet while you were checking the place for any other intruders, Izuku thanked you. And then you turned around. You shouldn’t have done that though.

He had the most genuine and pure smile you’ve ever seen, innocent eyes looking up at you through teary eyes, cute nose which was adorned with freckles and unnaturally dark green hair. He was pretty thin, but he was cute, and you fell for him the moment you properly layed eyes on him. 

Sadly, you couldn’t ask the boy in front of you if he had a partner because your dad was right next to you, so you just casually replied with an “it’s alright. As long as you’re not hurt.”

Izuku found you pretty cool -in your disguise- and could even talk to you whenever he ran into you or when you tipped his shoulder from behind. He’d always talk about the different classes of fighters, demons, dungeons and more. 

But when you met him in your normal being, said boy couldn’t talk. He only stuttered out a “g-g-gg-ood m-m-morining..Yara...”, too scared to embarass himself and stumble over his feet, let alone his own words.

you loved it. Him. For his nerdiness. sweetness, kindness. he was also so smart. He had you write a few rolls again because they didn’t have the right grammar or were simply wrong. your wrist was so tired and still you met him again the next day. 

...

“And, did you talk with the two boys?“, your father asked eagerly as you poured him some wine into his chalice. you poured yourself some tea. 

“Yes, father.“

“were they nice to you?“

“yes.“

“Did they bring you flowers?“

“yes...?“

“Do you like any of them?“

“I-Father!?“

“Yara, you’re already old enough to get married, you know? I know that you like at least one of the two guys.“, Yagi explained, taking a long sip from his wine. 

You were left speechless, but your thoughts did get consumed by a certain shy boy. But, you had to brush it off, telling your father that you’d be going out for some fresh air. 

...

“So, you’ve fallen for our new hero, what now?“, the god of the underworld asked, soft blue fire lighting up his dark spiky hair. 

You looked around yourself, disgusted by the many spiders and whatnot in the cave Dabi has made himself at home at. 

“I don’t know what I should do, but you should definitely change your....apartment.“

Dabi was taken aback by your lack of taste, but he quickly brushed it off, about to introduce his new plan to you. 

“We’ll talk about that later. what’s more important is that you’re going to help me-“

“I don’t care! I’m not gonna help you hurt him.“, you answered coldly, turning around. 

Dabi rolled his eyes, massaging his forehead. “Can’t believe you’re getting so worked up about some...guy!”

“This one is different, h-he is honest and he’s sweet-“

“Please-“

“he would never do anything like that!“

“He’s a GUY!“

You smiled, turning away again and looking at the view in front of you. “You can’t beat him, he has no weaknesses. He’s gonna-“

You shouldn’t have turned around. You shouldn’t have been so proud, so...cocky. 

You flinched at the devilish grin Dabi gave you. He went up behind you, softly touching your arms in the process as a mirror appeared in front of you - Dabi’s doing. 

“I think he does, Yara.“, he whispered, enjoying the way you weren’t doing anything to stop him. “I truly think he does.“, Dabi murmured as he kissed your neck as you watched your and his reflection in horror. 

“You’re...going to use me again?“, you asked bitterly, bite and tears boiling in your gut and head. you also hated yourself of how...well, your body answered to Dabi’s touches and kisses. 

“Only for a bit. Trust me. I won’t even tear a strand of hair from your body, look how well I’m treating you now...!“

He hugged oyu from behind, his body heat making you tired and sleepy, but you still blushed from the body contact he gave you.

“What about Katsuki?“, you tried to reason, knowing that Dabi won’t be able to withstand the two greatest heores of Athen. 

That made him halt in his steps before he pulled you even closer to himself, brushing some loose hair behind your ear as he watched your every move through the mirror. “well, my angel. You’ve gotta decide.”, he only murmured, before he stepped away from you. 

You hated to admit it but you missed Dabi’s presence on you. “Decide what?”, you were very coutious about the way Dabi circled you, looking you up and down. 

“well, I know for sure that nearly all of Athen have fallen for your beauty. Especially Deku and Dynamight.“

Shit.

“So, which one do you want to stay alive?“

...

how was that? Should I continueeeeee???????

[shallyne]

Feysand Week Day 6: Mates

Accidentally in Love

Day six! Based in one of my Feysand AU posts. @officialfeysandweek2023 please ignore inconsistencies and just vibe OK thx love y'all

Words: 3,056

TW: none

Feyre likes her life as a witch. She's living in a cute cottage and makes potions, her best friend is visiting her all the time. But one day, her friend accidentally sips from her love potion and Feyre has to keep an eye on him

It was a sunny spring day, there was a slight breeze of wind fluttering through the windows, ruffling Feyre's hair as she happily added the last ingredient to her love potion. It had taken her quite some time to find the berries, especially at this time of year but there was also a big demand for Feyre's infamous love potion. It also satisfied her to no end that the potion ended up being pink, it attracted buyers.

Feyre remembered when she was small, it was frowned upon in her village to ask for payment in return for her gifts but why shouldn't she? A farmer took payment, so did carpenters, cobblers, blacksmiths, seamstresses and clothiers. Everyone took payment for their work. Feyre had to make a living somehow. She was born as a witch so she would damn well use that, it would be stupid otherwise. She had left her town shortly after she reached her majority, never looked back and never once missed her village since then. She now lived in a forest on the outskirts of a town called Velaris. That place was enchanting in itself, the atmosphere was incredible and Feyre finally had the feeling of arriving at home. Although she didn't like wandering into the city. The people were nice but the crowds could get overwhelming for her.

She stirred her potion one more time before she rested the wooden spoon on the pot's handle and checked her recipe. Feyre was sure that she made everything right but she just made sure. As she did, there was one knock on her door and then her best friend walked into her cottage as if he owned the space. "There you are!" Rhys exclaimed, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

Feyre snorted, her eyes still trained on her cookbook. It was a book she had written herself, potions she had crafted herself carefully over the years. "What do you mean everywhere? I must say, I'm disappointed, Rhysand. You, as my best friend, should know me better. If you are looking for me, you know my home is the first place to look."

He huffed amused, his steps nearing until he stood right beside her, "For how many people are you cooking? Were you awaiting me?" and before she could stop him, he had taken the wooden spoon and downed a whole spoonful of her love potion.

"No!" she said, ripping the spoon out of his hand. "That's - that's a love potion!"

Rhys's eyebrows shot up. A mild reaction for what she just told him. "Since when do you make potions in the morning? You always make them in the evening!"

"Don't blame me for being so stupid to eat something in a witch's cottage without asking!" She countered.

Rhys smiled, "Touché."

He took the wooden spoon again, that Feyre was close to breaking in her steel grip, and put it on the counter. She sighed, "You're right, I usually make my potions in the evenings but my love potions are so high on demand that I had to track down the ingredients and make them in an instant." she sighed and looked at Rhys, "Do you feel something?"

He went rigid, his eyes slightly widening but shook his head. "I feel the same."

Feyre smiled at him, not feeling the smile at all, and lied, "It wasn't really cooking yet, it probably didn't work." she sighed. "Are you going back to the city?"

"I wanted to spend time with you," he said, "But I'll plan to get back sometime today."

Feyre got her satchel and packed two love potions and a healing potion that she made earlier, "I have a customer in Velaris and I'd like to visit Mor. Will you accompany me?" Feyre threw over her cape. Rhys stepped forward and helped her with the clasp. Their eyes met when she looked up, his eyes twinkling with unconditional affection. "It would be an honor, Feyre darling."

If Feyre wouldn't have known that this is how they always interact, she would have thought it was the love potion speaking. It wasn't, he is his usual self. They are best friends, nothing more.

They kept eye contact for a few more moments until Feyre averted her eyes and walked to the door. "Well then, come. I don't have the whole day."

"Why are you in such a rush?" Rhys asked. "Are you in some shadowy business? If you don't deliver the potions at the agreed time, will you be hunted down by an assassin? Will you have to change your name and vanish?" he chuckled.

When he caught up to her, Feyre pushed him, which made him laugh harder. He kept joking around as they followed the path to Velaris and by the time they reached the city, Feyre's stomach hurt from laughing.

They reached a narrow house in the palace of hoof and leaf, on the ground level was a little shop and the two upper levels were living quarters. The exchange went quickly and smoothly, especially after they stopped eyeing Rhys. Either it was his beauty or the surprise that the High Lord had accompanied her, maybe both. She didn't care.

They slowly walked to the other side of the Sidra, nearing Rhys's townhouse in comfortable silence. Some of the people greeted Rhys, some waved. They didn't pay much attention to Feyre, which didn't bother her. She drank in the city around, the mountains that surrounded the city, the flat-topped mountains of red stone, where Feyre was sure she saw windows built inside. That must be the House of Wind Rhys and Mor told her about. When they crossed the bridge, Feyre marveled at the sapphire water of the Sidra and the little ships she could see in the distance. Feyre also marveled at the white marble, sandstone and red stone buildings all throughout the city, the restaurants where many different, delicious smells drifted over. Feyre couldn't believe she was so rarely here, and when she was, she hadn't paid attention to much. It was unlike her to not pay attention but the thought of getting overwhelmed held her back but now, with Rhysand at her side, she felt safe enough to do so. Maybe someday she'd ask him to show her the Rainbow. Maybe someday she'd paint again.

Rhys opened a wrought iron gate, leading up to a townhouse. She knew that Rhys wasn't living in a castle like other High Lords, the simplicity of it all still surprised her.

"Make yourself comfortable, I'll get Mor." he told her when they stood in the foyer. Feyre looked around as he took the stairs, two steps at the time. Two paintings she painted a hundred years ago hung in the wood-paneled walls. She hadn't painted since she left the spring court, breaking off her engagement with the High Lord of spring and looking for refuge in the night court. She hadn't taken much, but she took three paintings and gifted them to Rhys as a thank you for taking her in. She couldn't see the third anywhere. Maybe he didn't like it and threw it away.

A few minutes went by and she could hear Rhys and Mor whispering upstairs, she couldn't make out what they were saying, though.

"Feyre!" a familiar voice squeaked behind her. She whirled around, looking at the blonde stop the stairs, who vanished into black smoke and then reappeared before Feyre, barreling into her.

"Mor!" Feyre said excitedly, wrapping her arms around her friend. "I missed you so much!"

"These last few weeks were crazy busy, I'm sorry I couldn't visit you." she put her hands on Feyre's shoulder and looked at her face. "Come with me, we have so much to catch up on! I also have an important question for you." she told Feyre as she pulled her to the double doors leading into the garden. They sat down on a little table, Mor smiling brightly at her. Mor's hair was put up in a ponytail, her clothes simple. Wide pants and a thin, blue sweater.

"What's your question?" Feyre asked curiously, pulling off her cape.

"Okay, I have a friend who…it's exciting, actually, he found his mate!" Mor said, her smile spreading wider, a smile so bright that Feyre couldn't but smile, too. Mates were rare, so this was amazing. "Although, he doesn't know if she's into him, either. And he asked me about you, about your love potion, to be exact."

Feyre nodded to signal her to keep going.

"If they would take a love potion, would it change anything about their bond? He doesn't want to ruin any chance of them getting together but having a bond is an unusual situation."

Feyre thought about it for a moment, her head resting on her hand. She shook her head, "The potion shouldn't change anything about their bond. It was created to mimic a mating bond but a real bond is always stronger than a potion. No potion in this world override or take away a bond like this. He should be careful though, no matter who takes the potion, there shouldn't be any other person around. The potion works for the first person you see after you take that potion and if there is a real bond in play, it could potentially get dangerous for every person involved."

Mor's eyes went wide, "How so?"

"The "fake" bond is strong in itself, you feel extremely protective and obsessive over your mate, especially in this initial period. If you found your mate, you usually want to claim them and these feelings are even stronger in a real bond. So if there is a third party who wants to claim someone's mate…" Feyre drifted off but Mor nodded knowingly. If everything went to shit, it could end in death.

It was quiet between them for a few minutes until Mor's face lit up again, "What about you? What's been going on in your life?"

Feyre looked back to the door, making sure Rhys wouldn't hear. Mor looked confused, so Feyre told her, "Rhys accidentally took my love potion." Mor sat up surprised and Feyre fell into an explanation about what happened not even two hours ago.

"Wow." Mor said. "So he'll fall in love with you now?" something twinkled in her eyes that Feyre chose to ignore. She held her cup of tea that Cerridwen brought out while Feyre explained the situation to Mor. "That's it, he doesn't act any different than usual! I was watching him the whole time, he's normal. Normal Rhys. But it can't be my potion. My potion works. So why didn't it work on Rhys?"

Mor took a sip of her tea, shrugging. "Are you sure he's not any different?"

"No! Absolutely not. The very same." Feyre said, frustrated. There was something she didn't see, but what? When she expressed this to Mor, she only smiled. Irritating Feyre even more.

"You should stay the next few days, to keep a watch on my cousin. You can have my room, it's directly beside Rhys's. I'll take Azriel’s in the meantime, he's sleeping at the House of Wind." Mor nodded satisfied at her suggestion.

"I think you're right!" Feyre said, "I should keep an eye on him."

And that's what they did. Feyre was there for a week, spending time with Rhys, Mor and Cassian.

On day one, Rhys and Feyre went back to her cottage to put her love potions in little vials to store them and take them back to Velaris.

On day two, Feyre and Mor lounged on the House of Wind, where Rhys had flown Feyre. They sunbathed and watched the boys during training. She had pushed all her thoughts away that sneaked in, focusing on Rhys's behavior.

On day three they went to a restaurant, Sevendas. Feyre and Cassian had talked for a while on their way there, until Rhys interjected with his own opinions and squeezed between Feyre and Cassian.

On day four, Rhys and Feyre were pretty much alone. She hadn't left his side, steadily keeping an eye on his behavior. All the time. Rhys didn't seem to mind, he even invited her to a game of chess. He won the first two rounds, Feyre won the third.

On day five, Rhys had to go to Windhaven but when he arrived at the townhouse late in the evening, they sat on the rooftop together and watched the stars. His behavior was still the same.

On day six, Feyre tried to make herself Omelette. It only half burned, which was victory enough. When she offered Rhys the half that wasn't burned, he evaded her, panic written in his eyes. Feyre scoffed when he was gone. She wasn't that bad of a cook.

On day seven, Mor dragged Feyre shopping. Feyre tried to deny her offer but she insisted, telling Feyre she had to get out of the house for a day. Feyre could only think about Rhys, what if his behavior changes that day when she wasn't there?

It didn't.

When day eight arrived, there was a change. Not in Rhys, but in Feyre. They all went to Rita's, Feyre sat in the booth nursing her drink while Cassian and Mor vanished on the dancefloor somewhere. Rhys was at the bar, talking to a stunning female. A weird seizing in her chest made it hard to breathe as the pounding in her ear got louder and louder. When Rhys leaned forward, Feyre's grip on her glass was so strong she Feared it would break. Abruptly standing up, she almost lost balance in the high heels that Mor had lent her. She pulled down the sparkling, black mini dress and walked over to Rhys. She felt the eyes of a few other patrons on her but she didn't care. "Rhys," she said, her voice straining. He turned to her, eyebrows raised in question. Feyre ignored the other female. "We need to talk." she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a big metal door. They ended up in a dark side street, only one lamp above the door lighting a small spot up.

"What is it?" he asked.

Feyre stepped back, getting a little distance between them. She loosened her fist and balled them again, over and over, not sure what to say.

"Feyre?"

She looked at him, in his mesmerizing, violet eyes. What would she tell him? She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"Why did you pull me away?" Rhys asked. It didn't sound like a question. No, it did, but it didn't sound like he wanted the answer. It sounded more like a question she should ask herself.

He stepped closer. Breathing became harder.

"Were you jealous, Feyre?" he asked, tilting his head slightly, a lock of his raven hair falling in his face. Feyre looked away from his face, letting her eyes wander down. He was wearing a black button up, the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, showing his powerful muscled forearms. Was she even breathing anymore?

"No." she looked up again, Rhys was so close.

"Alright," he said, his eyes still trained on her. "So it won't bother you of I get back inside now, picking up the delightful conversation I just head with that lovely-"

"No!" she spit out, grabbing his arms.

"Why?"

"You're mine!" she said. Yelled. Whispered. She didn't know but they both heard, the word echoing between them. Mine. Mine. Mine. But there was another whisper, getting louder with every heartbeat. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mine. Mine. Mine.

Rhys's nostrils flared, as if he could hear it, too. Feyre's eyes went wide, checking her mental shield that he taught her to keep up when she came here. They weren't up, he heard every single thought. Feyre could have screamed them down the bond as well, it wouldn't make a difference. Bond. Bond? The mating bond.

"The– the mating bond." Feyre said. "That's why my potion didn't work."

"No," Rhys said, surprising Feyre. "The potion didn't work because I was already deeply, irrevocably in love with you." Feyre's breath hitched. "I have been since I found you at the night court border, asking for refuge. Since I saw you, hungry and frozen and still having so much fight in you."

"Did you know about the mating bond?"

He leaned against the door, sighing, "Only later. Remember when I showed you the cottage? You were so excited, telling me it's perfect. Already planning how to pay me back,"

Feyre smiled, "You told me it's a gift from a friend."

Rhys chuckled, "I did. When you were all settled in, I left but I turned around one more time to look at you. I saw you skimming through a notebook, smiling. You looked so content, happy. That's when the bond snapped. You just started to heal from your time in the spring court, I couldn't burden you with this. Then, as you healed, we became closer and the thought that you could reject me felt like someone stabbed me in the heart, so I settled to be your best friend. I couldn't risk this Feyre. I couldn't risk you." his eyes were silver lined when he met hers. "I love you but– but I understand if you don't love me back. If you don't want this bond. I can live with it–"

"Oh Rhysand, shut up!" Feyre said, wiping a tear away. "I love you, too, you idiot! More than anything in this whole, damned world." she hiccuped, "I'd be honored to be your mate, Rhys."

Something snapped inside Rhys as he jumped forward and tugged her close. One arm wrapped around her waist, one hand held her head in place and crashed his mouth into hers. It was explosions, it was fireworks, it was like the last puzzle piece sliding into place. Feyre wrapped her arms around his neck, keeping him close, melting into his touch.

She pulled back, just a bit, for a moment to ask him, "Would you show me the Rainbow?"

"I'd show you the whole world if you'd want that," he said out of breath.

Feyre giggled, "The Rainbow does it for now."

Rhys smiled and Feyre kissed him again, not letting him go. He was hers and she was his. The beginning and end.

Them.

Finally.

Feysand Taglist:

@captain-of-the-gwynriel-ship @edgyellie @starfall-spirit @rhysiedarling @corcracrow @sydney-fae25 @tothestarsandwhateverend @aayo-whatt @dreamlandreader

[shuttlescapetown]

Top Family Day Trips in Cape Town

Are you looking for the perfect family day trip destination in Cape Town? Look no further! In this article, we will be exploring some of the top family-friendly day trips that Cape Town has to offer. From picturesque landscapes to exciting activities, there is something for everyone to enjoy. So pack up the car, grab your loved ones, and get ready for a fun-filled adventure exploring all that this beautiful city has to offer!

Beach Bumming: Exploring Cape Town's Best Beaches

Cape Town is synonymous with breathtaking scenery, and its stunning beaches are a big part of that allure. These beaches are a must-visit for the ultimate beach bumming experience, where sun-drenched days blend seamlessly with the vibrant energy of the city.

Camps Bay Beach is a picture-perfect paradise, with its iconic backdrop of the Twelve Apostles mountain range. Powdery white sands, crystal-clear waters, and a lively atmosphere with beachfront restaurants and bars make it a popular spot for sunbathing, swimming, and socializing.

Clifton Beaches: Tucked away in a series of secluded coves, Clifton's four beaches offer a more intimate and exclusive experience. Clifton 4th is particularly popular, attracting a trendy crowd with its pristine sands and stunning sunsets.

Llandudno Beach: This hidden gem on the Atlantic Seaboard boasts a more laid-back vibe and a picturesque setting surrounded by dramatic cliffs. It's a favorite among surfers and those seeking a quieter beach experience.

Muizenberg Beach: Known for its colorful beach huts and gentle waves, Muizenberg is a popular spot for families and beginner surfers. The long stretch of sandy beach also offers plenty of space for picnics and leisurely strolls.

Boulders Beach: Discover a colony of adorable African penguins at this one-of-a-kind beach. Stroll along the wooden boardwalks and observe these playful creatures in their natural habitat.

Noordhoek Beach: Escape the crowds and immerse yourself in the natural beauty of Noordhoek's vast expanse of sand dunes and dramatic coastline. It's a perfect place for long walks, horseback riding, or simply soaking up the sun in a tranquil setting.

Bloubergstrand Beach: With panoramic views of Table Mountain, Bloubergstrand offers a unique perspective of the city. This expansive beach is popular for kitesurfing and windsurfing, thanks to its consistent winds.

Hout Bay Beach: Located in the charming fishing village of Hout Bay, this beach offers a more laid-back atmosphere and stunning views of the harbor. Enjoy fresh seafood at the local restaurants and embark on boat trips to explore the nearby Seal Island.

Remember to pack your sunscreen, beach towel, and a favorite book, and let Cape Town's beautiful beaches transport you to a world of sun, sand, and serenity.

Wildlife Encounters: Visiting the Penguin Colony at Boulders Beach

Discover a unique family adventure by visiting the charming penguin colony at Boulders Beach. Observe these adorable creatures as they waddle along the sandy shores and swim in the pristine waters.

Experience close encounters with African Penguins as they go about their daily activities, making this trip perfect for both kids and adults alike. Don't forget your camera—you'll want to capture every moment of this unforgettable wildlife experience!

Outdoor Adventures: Hiking Table Mountain with the Family

Explore Cape Town's natural beauty on a family-friendly hike up Table Mountain. With various trails catering to all skill levels, everyone can enjoy breathtaking views of the city and ocean below. Make sure to pack plenty of snacks, water, and sunscreen for a fun day out in nature.

Explore unique flora and fauna along the way as you climb higher towards the summit. Encourage your kids to stay curious and engaged by playing hiking games or spotting different bird species. Remember to take breaks when needed and admire the stunning scenery surrounding you. Once at the top, celebrate your achievement as a family with a picnic overlooking Cape Town's iconic landscape.

Tips for Hiking Table Mountain:

Check weather conditions before heading out

Wear comfortable shoes with good grip

Bring layers, as temperatures can vary.

Stay hydrated throughout your hike

To ensure safe navigation, closely follow trail markers.

Take advantage of this opportunity to bond with your loved ones while enjoying an exciting outdoor adventure together. Capture memorable moments through photos, or simply immerse yourself in the tranquility of nature around you. Prepare for an unforgettable day trip that will create lasting memories for years to come!

Cultural Experience: Discovering the History of Robben Island

Take a tour of Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years in prison. Learn about the island's rich history and significance in South Africa's fight against apartheid.

During your visit, explore the prison cells, meet former political prisoners who now serve as tour guides, and gain insight into the struggles faced by those fighting for freedom and equality. Join a guided tour to fully immerse yourself in this important piece of South African history.

Uncover stories of resilience and hope as you walk through the same halls that once held some of the country's most influential leaders. Listen to firsthand accounts from changemakers and appreciate their courage and sacrifices.

Family Fun: Exploring the V&A Waterfront

The V&A Waterfront is a vibrant hub of activity for families in Cape Town. With its mix of shops, restaurants, and entertainment options, there's something for everyone to enjoy. Take a leisurely stroll along the waterfront promenade and soak up the beautiful views of Table Mountain and the ocean.

For a bit of excitement, hop on a boat tour around the harbor or ride the giant Ferris wheel for panoramic views of the city. Don't miss out on exploring the Two Oceans Aquarium with its fascinating marine life exhibits that will captivate both kids and adults alike.

After all that exploring, refuel at one of the many family-friendly eateries in the area offering everything from fish and chips to gourmet burgers. Whether you're looking for adventure or relaxation, the V&A Waterfront has plenty to offer for an unforgettable family day trip in Cape Town.

Scenic Drives: Taking a Road Trip Along Chapman's Peak Drive

Experience breathtaking views on a road trip along Chapman's Peak Drive, one of Cape Town's most iconic scenic routes. The winding road hugs the cliffs, offering panoramic vistas of the ocean below. This road is ideal for families who want to appreciate the beauty of nature without venturing too far from civilization.

Make sure to stop at designated viewpoints to snap some family photos against the backdrop of azure waters and rugged mountains. Pack some snacks and enjoy a picnic overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Take your time cruising down this picturesque drive, soaking up every moment with your loved ones by your side.

Educational Excursions: Visiting the Two Oceans Aquarium

Discover the wonders of marine life at the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town. Kids and adults alike will be amazed by the vibrant array of fish, sharks, turtles, and other sea creatures on display.

Take a guided tour to learn about sustainable fishing practices, conservation efforts, and the importance of protecting our oceans. Interactive exhibits make learning fun for all ages; touch pools allow visitors to feel starfish and sea anemones up close.

After exploring the aquarium, head outside to enjoy stunning views of Table Mountain and Robben Island from the V&A Waterfront. Grab a snack at one of the waterfront restaurants or browse through the shops for souvenirs to remember your educational day trip by.

Foodie Delights: Sampling Local Cuisine at the Hout Bay Market

Indulge in a culinary adventure at the vibrant Hout Bay Market, where you can savor an array of delectable dishes from local vendors. From traditional South African cuisine like braai (barbecue) to international flavors like Thai and Italian, there's something to please every palate.

Grab a freshly squeezed fruit juice or gourmet coffee to sip as you stroll through the market stalls, sampling everything from savory pies to sweet treats. Don't miss out on trying some freshly caught seafood or handmade chocolates for a truly unforgettable tasting experience. With live music adding to the festive atmosphere, the Hout Bay Market is sure to be a highlight of your family day trip in Cape Town.

Private Group Day Trips in Cape Town

Experience the ultimate convenience and comfort with private group day trips in Cape Town. Our shuttle service offers a stress-free way to explore the city's top attractions with your family. Sit back, relax, and let us take care of all the transportation logistics for you.

With our private group day trips, you can customize your itinerary to suit your preferences. Whether you want to visit Table Mountain, Boulders Beach, or the Winelands, we've got you covered. Enjoy a hassle-free day out with your loved ones as you embark on an unforgettable adventure in beautiful Cape Town.

Why Choose Private Group Day Trips?

Personalized experience tailored to your group's interests.

Avoid the crowds and long lines at popular tourist spots.

A dedicated driver ensures safe and efficient transportation throughout the day.

The shuttle provides ample space for your family to unwind and relish the journey.

Stress-free planning with all transportation details taken care of for you.

Take the hassle out of planning your family day trip in Cape Town by booking a private group tour.

[saremina]

I'm gonna be posting some older oneshots here too.

This is from the Love&Abuse verse, taking place between Love and Abuse and Delicate and Vicious, around ~2700 words.

Enjoy!

Sometimes Jonny wishes his job was less ‘caretaker’ and more ‘personal driver’ like it used to be in the beginning. When Harley was there to take care of Joker. And when Bob was there to pick up the slack when Harley and Joker broke up for a few weeks.

And now he has to get breakfast and walk a dog at ungodly hours after a night of trying to keep Joker from getting murdered because he thought spilling beer on Black Mask’s latest girlfriend because she didn’t want to give her stilettos to Joker, and then chopping her foot off to get her to relinquish said stilettos (can’t forget that), was a good idea.

Basically, Jonny is exhausted. Constantly.

He still does his best to not make too much noise when he lets Pumpkin into Joker’s apartment (good side of being a valet instead of personal driver: Jonny gets to live rent free down the hall), and closes the door quietly; Joker is a light sleeper when he’s not in a drug induced coma, and Jonny doesn’t want to deal with the foul mood accidentally waking him up because Jonny ‘breathes too loud’ creates.

So Jonny tiptoes deeper into the apartment, yawning as quietly as he can—

and nearly drops the bag he’s carrying at the sight of Pumpkin gnawing on a piece of what looks an awful lot like Batman’s armor.

What the hell did he miss?

Shit. Did Batman break in? Joker is going to murder him if that happened.

Quietly—just in case Joker is asleep and not waiting in some corner for a chance to kill Jonny for letting Batman find his home—Jonny takes the bag into the kitchen, and pulls out his gun. Pumpkin gets up when Jonny enters the living room, catching onto his tenseness.

When she heads into the bedroom, Jonny follows her at a safe distance. The piece of armor is still in her mouth, and it scratches against the bedroom door as she opens it with her nose and paws. Jonny is far more quiet as he follows, his gun at ready. He peeks through the door, finding the room quiet for the most part. Pumpkin has discarded the piece of Kevlar for the cape; she’s pulling at it, no doubt ripping holes into it, probably ruining it in the process.

There’s no dead or maimed Batman, though. There is Joker, sound asleep atop of Bruce Wayne.

Okay.

Jonny stretches his neck and surveys the room. There’s discarded gauze among the pieces of armor. But no Bat-corpse. Which would mean…

Oh no. No. No, nope, not happening. Fucking shit, this is not happening to him.

He stumbles back and hurries to the kitchen as quickly as he can without making noise. He’ll empty the bag, because Joker without his morning coffee is far more terrifying than Joker who has gotten his morning coffee, and then he’ll leave town, change his name, and move to some backwater place with no internet or phones or cameras or anything that could be used to track him.

He’ll definitely need to leave the country as well. Maybe even the continent. Europe might be nice; he’s always wanted to visit, anyways.

With the coffee maker on—bless the thermos pot—and the breakfast in the fridge—Jonny had learned not to bring anything that would need to stay heated to be edible a long time ago—Jonny turns around, only to find a revolver at his face.

“Jesus fuck!” He scrambles to get a hold of the counter as he gasps for breath. How silently can a person move? Holy hell that’s horrifying. “Hi, boss. The bulldog was back at the park, but we handled it. And Happy’s kid is having a birthday party. I’m trying to figure out if we can attend because of the—the cake. And—”

Joker cocks the revolver, his frown shifting into a more are-you-serious-right now look, which isn’t really better. He clicks his tongue—never a good sign oh god Jonny is going to die in a kitchen, murdered by his boss who’s wearing that dark pink, lacy dressing gown with those poofy sleeves and hems he’d bought just because he started dating Bruce Wayne who is apparently also Batman, and he wanted the perfect outfit for when the police came to question him on whether or not he killed Wayne, and he wanted to descent the stairs like one of those rich widows who definitely killed their husbands in movies—and… lowers the revolver? Even if it’s just an inch or two, it’s still unexpected. “Now, I don’t really wanna shoot you.”

Jonny has entered a twilight zone. “I’d rather not be shot.”

“Great! Common ground.” Joker smiles in that too sweet way he does when he’s seconds away from fucking someone up. “But we kinda have a problem, here. A dilemma, if you will. See, I like you. I know I pay you to be nice to me and stick around, but you’re the best pretend-friend I’ve got. And you’re great at your job. Replacing you would be a hassle.”

Jonny nods. The coffee maker puffs out hot steam as it finishes brewing the coffee.

“But,” Joker continues. “You do get that I can’t exactly let you go and run around tellin’ everyone about Brucie, right?” Joker waves the revolver over his shoulder at the living room.

Jonny swallows and nods again. “Sure. But—”

“So what am I supposed to do here?”

Coffee. Jonny needs coffee. He raises his hands and inches towards to the cupboard with the mugs, the counter pressed uncomfortably against his back the whole time. He doesn’t want to turn his back to Joker, but he has to if he wants the coffee so he risks it, grabbing Joker’s favorite mug so fast he almost drops it. He hurries back to the coffee maker, pours the coffee, and adds sugar and just a tiny drop of milk into the coffee before handing it to Joker.

He’s never gotten the milk thing. The amount is so minimal it barely changes the taste of the coffee, and Joker has no problem drinking coffee without milk, so why add it? And if Jonny even thinks about adding milk to a triple shot of espresso, Joker will berate him for his stupidity for the rest of the week.

Joker takes the coffee and sips it. That should give Jonny a few seconds before his brain gets scattered across the kitchen surfaces. “I’d never do anything to compromise your operations or safety or—”

“I’m not the one at risk here,” Joker points out, his voice so sharp Jonny flinches.

Shit. “Yeah, could I finish a sentence?” The look of shock on Joker’s face is almost worth Jonny’s chances of walking out of there alive dropping to zero. “Also, permission to speak freely?”

“You’re not already doing that?”

Jonny takes that as a yes. He’s already dead, anyways. He sighs and pushes his hair from his face, and spreads his hands. “Look. I keep your secrets to my grave, no matter how hard the road there is, and it’s got nothing to do with money. Or the fact that you’re terrifying.”

Joker’s smile loses a hint of its cruelty. “Aww, thank you!”

“You’re welcome. The point is, I don’t tell your business to anyone, under any circumstances, and it’s not because you’re my boss or professional pride or any bullshit like that; I’d like to think we’ve got some kind of… mutual respect thing going on here? Maybe? Or maybe it’s just on my side. The point is, I don’t spread your business around, and as far as I’m concerned, whoever you’re sleeping with is your business, so I keep it to myself. Even if it’s…”

“Batman?”

“Yeah.” Jonny sighs again. “Double incentive to keep my mouth shut if there ever was one, actually. Not that I’d need it because it’s your business, and I keep all of that to myself until I die. Like I said.”

Joker regards Jonny closely as he sips his coffee until Jonny is sweating in his spot, his heart racing in his chest. Finally Joker puts the revolver on the table, but he keeps his hand on it. “That so?”

“Yes,” Jonny says with conviction that’s (fortunately) real.

Joker shifts, cocking his head. “Well, this was easier than I thought.”

Jonny shrugs. “I aim to please.”

It gets a genuine laugh out of Joker, which is always a good thing. Maybe Jonny will live though this after all.

“Ya know, you are definitely the best paid-friend I’ve ever had.” Joker flashes Jonny one of those rare, genuine smiles, and raises his cup. “So glad I shot Bob and got you to replace him—not that Bob wasn’t amazing, he was. Bless Bob and may he have many margaritas wherever he is these days. But I kinda like your attitude better.”

Okay, no. That’s not going to fly, not if Jonny is not getting shot. “You’re not paying me to be your friend.”

Joker tilts his head from side to side and hums. “Yeah, I kinda am.”

“No—” Joker can look so incredulous when he wants to “—you’re paying me to drive you around and take care of your dog and… clean up and do groceries and stuff. I don’t hold your hair back when you’re throwing up from too much drugs or alcohol because you pay me; I don’t sit with you to four in the morning listening to you talk about your relationship problems, or do online shoe shopping in PJ's because you pay me either. I do that because… well, I dunno how much of a friend you can be with your boss, but I’d like to think we’re that.”

Joker blinks, his face having gone dangerously blank. “You think we’re… friends?”

“Aren’t we?”

Joker’s jaw clenches and his hand goes to the revolver again. Jonny would take a step back if he wasn’t already pressed against the counter. “Whoa! Don’t—”

Joker points the revolver at Jonny’s face. “Don’t bullshit me.”

“I’m not—”

“Because I’m not in the mood for that, and you’re not even going for something worth laughing about later on.”

“I’m not! Jesus, how does anyone have a relationship with you if you react this badly to having a friend?” Jonny bites his tongue. That… was probably not a good thing to say.

For a moment, Joker remains absolutely still. Then he laughs and lowers the revolver slightly—but he still lowers it and that’s what’s important. “So you think we’re friends?”

Jonny licks his lips and nods slowly. “As much as anyone can be friends with their boss, yeah.”

“How much is that?”

“No idea.”

They regard each other in silence, Joker with a dangerously calculating look, Jonny fearing for his life.

Eventually Joker lifts the revolver to his shoulder. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Joker places the revolver and the coffee on the table. “So we’re friends. Ish. Whatever.”

“Yeah.”

“Huh.” Joker bites his lower lip, then he smiles, grins and makes a high pitched keening sound. Jonny barely has the time to wonder what the hell is going on before Joker throws his arms around his neck and pulls him into a crushing hug.

Jonny oomphs, his arms flailing around. What the fuck? What the ever-loving fuck is happening? What is he supposed to do? Is he going to die? He’s probably not going to die, unless it’s from a lack of oxygen caused by Joker hugging him too tightly. Holy hell he’s strong for such a wry guy. He’s all limbs; he shouldn’t be able to choke Jonny with a hug.

Cautiously, Jonny puts his arms around Joker and pats his back. Joker only squeezes him tighter, making another one of those happy noises. That… good? “Any chance you could not choke me to death?”

Joker lets go of Jonny, but he stays well within his personal space, a happy smile on his face.

Jonny clears his throat. “So. Bruce Wayne is Batman, huh? Didn’t see that coming.”

Thankfully, Joker laughs at that. “He’s so sweet when he’s Brucie and he’s got ten different kinds of soap and cream made of diamonds or some shit. And then he hits you like a freight train while he’s cosplaying and breaks all your bones and then you have to stay in the ICU for a month. He’s adorable.”

Jonny doesn’t know about that, but he trusts Joker’s judgment.

“Oh!” Joker claps his hands together. “I gotta clean up. Could you make me breakfast?”

Jonny nods, confused and a little worried, but since Joker still has a happy smile on his face, it can’t be that bad. Jonny pulls the things he’d just put in the fridge back out and heats what needs to be heated while Joker does… something in the living room. Going by the sounds, he’s picking up the armor.

He returns as Jonny starts setting the table, singing under his breath. He stays out of Jonny’s way, observing him in that silent way of his.

When he’s done, Jonny straightens up and turns to face Joker.

“Don’t worry, he’s asleep.” Joker cocks his head towards the bedroom. “I slipped him a sedative last night.”

“Okay.” Jonny shifts. “So, uhh… just to clarify, now that you’re dating Batman—”

Joker makes an earsplitting sound and hops in his spot, clapping his hands together. God, he’s like a child sometimes. “I know! I always said it’d happen.”

Jonny nods. “You did.”

“And now I’ve got him and I can’t tell anyone. Do you know how much I just wanna let people know I was right: he’s totally into me! There are so many people who said I’m delusional but I was right.”

“You were.”

Joker nods. “And he loves me. He said that. I got Bats to admit that.” Jonny hums and nods, and sits down with his coffee. Joker slumps in the seat opposite of him with a happy sigh, and accepts the coffee Jonny offers him. “He’s so cute with his little, pointy ears and all that brooding.”

Jonny keeps agreeing as Joker babbles on about Batman and Bruce, sometimes like he doesn’t realize he’s talking about the same person, until Pumpkin starts yapping in the living room. Joker switches topics to needing to buy new clothes on the fly. Jonny does his best to pretend he’s following the one sided conversation until Bruce enters the kitchen, running his hand through his hair. “Your dog still hates me.”

“She can sense you don’t like her.” Joker leans back in the chair and smiles at Bruce. “You gotta be nicer to her.”

Bruce grimaces and sits by Joker’s side. He offers Jonny a brief greeting and pours himself coffee from the pot Jonny had placed in the middle of the table.

Jonny mumbles a good morning and shoves toast into his mouth. He’s eating breakfast with Joker and Batman.

Fuck his life.

Fortunately for him, Bruce’s attention soon turns back to Joker. “What’s with the, uh…” he waves his toast at Joker’s dressing gown.

Joker looks down on himself, then turns his attention to Bruce with a happy giggle. “It’s for when I murder you and Gordy comes to question me.” Joker sits up and puts on his dramatically shocked face. “’No, Commissioner, I didn’t kill him; I could never hurt him. He was so sweet and kind. I don’t know who could have done such a thing.’ Think he’d fall for it?”

Bruce smiles and shrugs. “Maybe.”

“Oh, I will need to be at your place for this to work.” Joker points at Bruce, turning more towards him. “Mostly for the staircase. I could also cry for effect. Like a single tear? And I need the kiddos and Niles on my side.”

“I’ll make sure they’re aware of it,” Bruce promises, smiling at Joker as he launches into a detailed explanation of how this supposed murder and it’s investigation would take place. Jonny would be concerned over it if it wasn’t for the warmth in Bruce’s eyes as he watches Joker act out his imagined scenarios of murdering Bruce and then covering it up.

Yeah, they love each other.

And as far as Jonny is concerned, anyone who tries to get in between them can go fuck themselves until Joker is busy with something that doesn’t require Jonny so that Jonny can hunt that asshole down and shoot them between the eyes.

[medusapelagia]

Give your all to me, I'll give my all to you [NSFW]

This is my gift fic for the Steddie one-shot holiday exchange!!!

For: @lorifragolina / TheMadcapLaugh Relationships: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Rating: Explicit Wordcount: 12k Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Tags: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst and Feels, Fake/Pretend Relationship, one bed, Anal Sex, Alcohol, Misunderstandings, Mutual Pining, Christmas, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, Steve Harrington Needs Love, Steve Harrington Needs a Hug, Eddie Munson Has a Crush on Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington Has Bad Parents, Eddie Munson Loves Steve Harrington, Sharing a Bed, Protective Eddie Munson, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Steve Harrington-centric, Minor Robin Buckley/Chrissy Cunningham, Christmas/New Year, New Year, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Upside Down (Stranger Things), Bartender Eddie Munson, Alternative Universe - Roommates/Housemates Summary: When Steve receives the invitation to his mother's wedding his first reaction is to ignore it, but when she insists that he has to come Steve decides that he will attend the wedding… with his fake boyfriend, Eddie.

A brief snippet under the cut!

When Steve opens the mailbox he glares at the fancy letter with his address written in a nice calligraphy in gold letter. Mr. Steven Joseph Harrington. No one calls him with his full name and he dreads the moment he finds out who the author of the letter is, but he is already late for work so he puts it in his backpack and runs to catch the bus to town. He likes living in Chicago, where he moved with Robin when she got accepted at the University, and sharing his two-room apartment with his best friend was just a plus. He deeply regrets that they weren't friends in High School, but they made up for the lost time and now they are closer than ever. When he gets into the little bookshop Robin is already checking the new arrivals. "You are late, dingus." she scolds him. "I am not. A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to." he replies sticking out his tongue. Robin snorts "Oh my god, did you just make a nerd reference?" "Maybe?" "God I knew he was a bad influence but I thought you were immune." "Like you are immune to my charm?" Steve asks while going in the back to take off his jacket. The bookshop is tiny and cozy, they specialize in foreign books and most of the ones they sell have a double version of the text: original language and English. Robin started to work there during college and when the old owner proposed to her to take over the business she happily accepted, involving Steve who now is an underpaid employee. "You are not underpaid, Steve! Stop saying that!" she complains while adding the new arrivals to the shelves. Steve laughs and opens the bookshop. The place it's so small that even a few customers make it feel overcrowded, and it's even worse when the kids come to visit because they take up almost all the space in the shop, but both Robin and Steve are too fond of them so they have come to a little agreement, every Thursday the shop host a little game of D&D, it should be open to anyone, but in reality is always the kids (and their plus one if there is one at the moment) that join them bringing some pizza from the closest Italian pizzeria. The day is pretty slow, so when finally the kids make their entrance the table for the game is already set and Steve is taking a few refreshments from the fridge. "Don't touch the book with your dirty fingers!" he tells Mike who is looking at a very expensive French translation of the Hobbit. This time the DM is Will, who takes his role very seriously and asked anyone to dress according to their character, which means that Max has a pair of pointy ears, Dustin is wearing a cape, and Eddie... Eddie is wearing a corset.

READ MORE ON AO3

[tokidokitokyo]

秋田県

Japanese Prefectures: Tohoku - Akita

都道府県 (とどうふけん) - Prefectures of Japan

Learning the kanji and a little bit about each of Japan’s 47 prefectures!

Kanji・漢字

秋　あき、シュウ　autumn

田　た、デン　rice field

県　ケン　prefecture

東北　とうほく　north-east, Tōhoku (northernmost six prefectures of Honshu)

Prefectural Capital (県庁所在地) : Akita (秋田市)

Akita prefecture is known for the natural beauty of the sea and mountains, hot springs, and the preserved samurai district in the town of Kakunodate. The capital of Akita prefecture is Akita City, and the economy of the prefecture is structured around traditional industries such as fishing and agriculture, particularly rice cultivation, as well as high-quality sake. Akita's numerous seasonal festivals offer insight into traditional culture, especially the New Year's Eve Namahage Festival of Oga, which is unique to the Oga Peninsula area of Akita prefecture. The Namahage are demon-like beings which are portrayed by men dressed as masked ogres (oni) with traditional straw capes (mino), who go door-to-door in pairs or threes and admonish children who are lazy or who have been behaving badly. They are commonly shown on TV news making children cry as they visit homes in the neighbourhood during the New Year celebrations. Other, less traumatizing, festivals include the Yokote Kamakura Festival in February, where igloo-like snow houses (kamakura) are built across the city of Yokote, inside of each of which is a snow altar to the water deity to pray for ample water; or the Tsuchizaki Shinmeisha Shrine Float Festival, where floats with warrior dolls parade around the port area of Akita City. The women of the region are also famous as 秋田美人 (Akita bijin) or "beauties of Akita" and are known for their white skin, rounded faces and high voices.

Recommended Tourist Spot・おすすめ観光スポット

Nyūtō Onsen - 乳頭温泉郷

By Bjckashiwa

Nyūtō Onsen is a traditional hot spring town in the eastern mountains of Akita. The town has six ryokan, or traditional inns, some of which date from the Edo period, and a hotel. The most famous hot springs is Tsurunoyu, which is over 300 years old, and considered to be one of the best establishments in all of Japan for a traditional and authentic onsen ryokan experience in the countryside. The onsen in the town can also be visited with general admission for those not staying in the inns. Most of the ryokan have mixed-gender onsen in addition to the male-only and female-only baths. The Yumeguri Pass can be purchased at the ryokan, allowing access to all seven of the hot springs, and a reservation at the ryokan on a shuttle bus allows for easy access to all of the onsen. Nyūtō Onsen means "nipple hot spring" referring to the shape of Mount Nyūtō nearby. The mountains and the deepest lake in Japan, Tazawako, are only a 30-minute bus ride from Nyūtō Onsen.

Regional Cuisine - 郷土料理

Kiritampo Hot Pot - きりたんぽ鍋

Photo from HIS

Kiritampo are tubes of rice mashed up into a paste, wrapped around a skewer, and grilled on an open flame. These traditional tubes of sticky rice are then placed in a nabe (hot pot) with local meats and vegetables and cooked together, creating a dish perfect for the frigid winter.

Akita Dialect・Akita-ben・秋田弁

泣く子はいねがぁ (naku ko wa ine gaa)

Standard Japanese: 泣く子はいないか (naku ko wa inai ka) English: Is there a crybaby here? Note: A standard line used by Namahage during the Namahage Festival

あい、しかだね (ai, shika dane)

Standard Japanese: ありゃ～、仕方ないなあ (arya, shikata nai naa) English: Oh no, it can't be helped Note: Said when the other person does something by accident (casual)

これをけ (kore o ke)

Standard Japanese: これを食べてください (kore o tabete kudasai) English: Please eat this

どでした (do deshita)

Standard Japanese: びっくりした (bikkuri shita) English: I was surprised

[archangeltwins]

rick x fem!reader hcs / plotline

- main gal is part of a wildlife photography group that takes tours & gets shots of the "Big Five" across notable reserves

- she happens to bump into him at the airport, striking up conversation just as he's coming in from a cross-continent emergency call

- he comments on one of her ( stunning ) photos and eagerly agrees to review her shots before she has them printed

- cue her able to get the directions to his sanctuary / reserve

- the first time she visits, he attempts to coach her through a bit of the local customs and what to do / what not to do

- him showing her around Johannesburg and Cape Town, bringing her to all his favorite street vendors

- taking her to popular hiking trails or to see national landmarks / important historical places to take photographs

- her sneaking in pics of Rick because he’s so handsome and kind and she can’t help herself

- him teaching her Afrikaans so she can at least be fluent enough to ask for directions/bathroom, or for help during an emergency

- her trying not to visibly get a sappy look on her face while listening to his beautiful accented voice eloquently sounding out words for her

- he's probably highly quatri-lingual, with said afrikaans, dutch, french, and english under his belt

- his cabin / lodge being on sanctuary property, and he gets occasional visitors on his porch from the recovered wildlife that are cleared to free roam

- him eventually letting her help do his daily rounds of feeding / medicating / repairing the fencing

- them bonding over said animals while she helped bottle feed the runt of a cheetah litter? him stealing her camera briefly to take a quick shot of her with the baby, because how could he not? ( she’s slowly but surely stealing his heart )

- them having lunch “date” picnic at boulder beach to watch the african penguins waddle around

- them having another (“not a date”) at the Clay Cafe, painting ceramics together and munching on pizza while sharing info about their different childhoods

- her painting a penguin as a memento to their special penguin picnic, a memory she already holds dear

- rick focused on her joyful, lit up face instead of on the animals, his blue eyes all soft and fond as she took in the joys of SA?? ❤️

- them trying but failing miserably at not falling for each other, because they both know she’s only here temporarily and will eventually have to leave

- him knowing he should probably stop being with her every single day of her trip, but he can’t help himself. Constantly making excuses to himself as to why it was reasonable to invite her to the sanctuary AGAIN, or take her out for breakfast/lunch/dinner AGAIN ( or even cook for her at his home )

- he was just helping her explore and learn the culture, it was the best thing to do.......right??? And if his heart happened to flutter every time he saw her, it had to just be his imagination 💭

- him taking some american dollars & exchanging it for rand so he can treat her to a trip to pilanesberg reserve

- them sharing vetkoek stuffed with curry on the drive to pilanesberg, her absolutely in love with the local cuisine by now and comfortable being around him

- so much casual "not dating" pda like playing footsie in the car / under the table of a cafe! him being super touchy-feely with side hugs / air kisses / shoulder pats! loaning her his coat when she gets a cold chill or whatnot! putting the cap he's wearing on her, making sure to unbutton the neck flap so she doesn't get sunburn! her falling asleep with her head on his shoulder during a long drive somewhere ( alternatively, him dozing off on a flight with his head in her lap ). hair stroking / tugging / curling through fingers / making little braided patterns

[emudi]

Top 20 Most Beautiful Cities In Africa | Travel Tips

Certainly! Africa is a continent known for its diverse landscapes, rich cultures, and vibrant cities.

You may choose to watch Top 10 Most Beautiful Cities In Africa | Best Places

Here's a list of 20 of the most beautiful cities in Africa, each offering its own unique charm and appeal:

Cape Town, South Africa: Nestled between the iconic Table Mountain and the Atlantic Ocean, Cape Town boasts stunning natural scenery, vibrant neighborhoods, and a rich cultural heritage.

Marrakech, Morocco: Marrakech mesmerizes visitors with its bustling souks, intricate architecture, and the vibrant colors of the Jardin Majorelle.

Nairobi, Kenya: As the gateway to East Africa, Nairobi blends modernity with wildlife conservation, offering attractions like Nairobi National Park and the Karen Blixen Museum.

Fes, Morocco: Fes is a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its medieval medina, elaborate mosques, and labyrinthine alleyways.

Cairo, Egypt: Cairo is a bustling metropolis steeped in history, home to ancient wonders like the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, as well as vibrant markets and lively streets.

Zanzibar City, Tanzania: The old Stone Town of Zanzibar City is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, featuring ornate doors, winding alleys, and beautiful beaches.

Luanda, Angola: Luanda is a coastal city with a mix of Portuguese colonial architecture and modern skyscrapers, offering stunning seaside views and a vibrant nightlife.

Johannesburg, South Africa: Johannesburg is a dynamic city known for its cultural diversity, thriving arts scene, and historical sites like the Apartheid Museum.

Dakar, Senegal: Dakar is a lively coastal city with colorful markets, vibrant music scene, and stunning beaches like Yoff Beach and N'Gor Beach.

Cape Coast, Ghana: Cape Coast is known for its picturesque beaches, colonial architecture, and its historic role in the transatlantic slave trade, evidenced by landmarks like Cape Coast Castle.

Asmara, Eritrea: Asmara boasts a unique blend of Italian colonial architecture, modernist buildings, and palm-lined boulevards, earning it recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Windhoek, Namibia: Windhoek is a city surrounded by breathtaking landscapes, offering visitors a blend of German colonial architecture, lively markets, and nearby safari adventures.

Kigali, Rwanda: Kigali is a clean and green city known for its orderly streets, cultural attractions like the Kigali Genocide Memorial, and stunning views of the surrounding hills.

Accra, Ghana: Accra is a vibrant capital city with lively markets, beautiful beaches, and historical landmarks like Independence Arch and Jamestown.

Lagos, Nigeria: Lagos is a bustling megacity with a vibrant atmosphere, offering a mix of beaches, bustling markets, and a thriving arts and music scene.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Addis Ababa is a city of contrasts, blending modern skyscrapers with traditional Ethiopian architecture, vibrant markets, and cultural attractions like the National Museum.

Maputo, Mozambique: Maputo is a coastal gem with a laid-back atmosphere, colonial-era architecture, vibrant markets, and stunning ocean views along its scenic waterfront.

Stone Town, Zanzibar: Stone Town is the historic heart of Zanzibar, known for its narrow streets, ornate doors, and rich Swahili culture, offering a glimpse into the island's past.

Gaborone, Botswana: Gaborone is a modern city surrounded by natural beauty, offering visitors botanical gardens, wildlife reserves, and a thriving arts and crafts scene.

Abuja, Nigeria: Abuja is Nigeria's modern capital city, known for its impressive architecture, lush greenery, and cultural landmarks like the Nigerian National Mosque and Aso Rock.

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