#but again they brought back a plot that went on too long and they officially ended it in a fucked up way

[capinejghafa]

the messed up thing about tua 3.02-3.04 is that if they just edited a lot out and fixed a few plots (that on for way too long), it could of been a really interesting start to the season. ya, we were on our third apocalypse, but the way they’ve intro them has always been interesting imo

the “real” season 3 doesn’t start until 3.05 (arguably aspects of 3.01 and 3.04... basically any mention or references to the Kugelblitz). that’s the real problem i’m having this season. the show wastes so much time establishing plots that often time don’t go anywhere or stop midway through. the moments that really stick out in a positive way are when the hargreeves are all together, working together...yes, they can still fight among themselves and develop relationships outside of this family, but at its core it’s always been about this dysfunctional family coming together.

[darling-i-read-it]

Right Family, Wrong Malfoy

Lucius Malfoy x fem!reader

Word Count: 2.6k

Warnings: toxic relationship !!!, age gap (legal ofc, reader is in her mid to late twenties), you dated draco and then lucius lol, insinuations to smut

Author’s Note: I DONT KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS. i think i like it and i went a slightly spookier/intense route but idkkkkkk. I love writing for lucius though so this was a fun little twist 

Requested: by @russian-soft-bitch, Hello love! I'm officially requesting that Lucius idea you had, I HAVE to read it 😤 Thank you and have a good day!

Summary: What started as a revenge plot against your ex boyfriend Draco ended up with you in Lucius Malfoy’s bed. 

Song: Back to Black by Amy Winehouse 

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

Lucius wrapped his hand around yours. You were sleeping soundly beside him, breathing evenly. Your expression was peaceful. Serene. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen you at such peace. You were always stomping around Malfoy Manor with such umph that he would’ve thought you ran the place if he didn’t. 

Your lips were parted ever so slightly. The same lips that had touched every part of him, the same lips that left marks on covered places, the same lips that whispered things to him that would never be said in the daylight. Your presence here was something he had never expected but something he granted with open arms. 

Narcissa had left him in the dust years ago. She was to raise Draco. There was no need that Lucius put himself into affairs that had nothing to do with him. Truthfully, Lucius had no real interest in raising Draco any longer. It was a project that continued to fail him. He was too much like his mother. 

Which meant he had Malfoy Manor to himself most of the time. The help walked around without making a sound. It was him in the large place and it was never lonely because now he had you. 

“Lucius,” you whispered. He hadn’t noticed your eyes open. You squinted at him for a moment and then your expression turned into a doe’s. Wide gaze, looking at him like he had all the control in the world. “You’re starring.” 

He raised his hand and brushed your face. 

“I’m admiring,” he promised. His voice was gravely. It wasn’t even light outside yet. It was still dark outside, the moon the only thing illuminating the crevices of the room. You nuzzled your head into the silk pillow. 

“Go to sleep,” you whispered. Your eyes shut again. He lost the doe look he had savored so dearly for a moment. He dragged his hand down your face to your chin, raising it. Your eyes opened again at the sudden movement. “Lucius…” 

He dipped his head down and kissed you. It was a hungry kiss, something to be relished. There was nothing like an extremely early morning with a Malfoy. You would know better than most. 

You gripped the back of his head, scrunching up his long white hair. You brought him to you so that you didn’t have to strain your neck kissing him. He was a much better kisser than his son. He was more attentive. He was cautious with his words, knowing the weight of them. 

For all of those reasons it was easy to slip from the youngest Malfoy boy to the eldest. It was easy to forget all of Draco’s vein promises when you had new ones being made by someone who would keep them. 

You opened your mouth, gasping at his cold touch. The icy night left the imprint of his hand on your cheek. He worshiped at your bare skin, making it a point to touch every inch of you as often as he could. 

There were no thoughts of Draco as he kissed down your stomach, moving lower with each deliberate kiss. 

-

There was a letter on the table. You opened it with a Malfoy letter opener. You knew that it was addressed to you before you even checked the name. Draco had always left you a special seal, one that dripped red as it dried. You wondered if he knew you were staying at the Manor or if your owl had brought it. 

You tossed the envelope back onto the table and sat down on top of it. Your black dress flowed nicely onto the ground, just barely touching the hardwood. Lucius had gotten it for you. 

Please answer my owls. I can’t speak to a wall any longer. 

It felt like a waste of paper. You tossed it aside. Draco had been an awful boyfriend, one that you grew up beside and all you had known. You had never understood what love was actually supposed to look like because Draco had promised you that he knew. 

He did not. 

You were doomed to him from the second he stared at you in the Great Hall. Slytherins were naturally tethered to one another, based on their shared personalities and pride. Draco had chosen you far too young. 

Now you were older. You had grown to be more mature. Draco hadn’t. He didn’t understand that it was truly as simple as that. Draco had hurt you. You recoiled. The relationship ended. 

“Your son sent me another letter.” Lucius walked from the kitchen to the dining room. The walls were clad with portraits of the Malfoys going back decades. The most recent was of Lucius, Narcissa and Draco. It was slightly tilted, as though someone had tried to take it down. 

“Are you going to answer it?” he asked, uninterested. 

“No.” He kissed your forehead as he passed. You watched him go to the head of the table. Dinner would be served soon. He had invited you to stay, though you likely would’ve stayed without any invitation. 

“Good girl,” he grumbled. 

What had started as a revenge plot against Draco had started to become a domestic relationship. The secret was thrilling. The only people that saw you were the help, who were sworn to silence. 

“I have to leave in the morning,” you said as you approached your seat. “Work is calling.”

“Work seems unnecessary,” he said curiously. “You could stay. I’ll give you an allowance.”

“I’m not your child. I can live my own life.” He leaned back in his seat. He had a hand wrapped around his staff as his eyes narrowed on you.

“Those statements have nothing to do with each other,” he observed. “Stay. Just a while longer. Live in his honeymoon, finally allow yourself to know what it’s like to be worshiped.” His words were alluring. “I have to go to Knockturn Alley tomorrow. You could come with me, get out of the manor if you insist on leaving.” 

You half smiled. You had never assumed Lucius to be the type to come up with other options to spend time together. You were so used to Draco who had endlessly forced you to follow him along like a lost pet and lose you in the corners like you were a joke. 

This whole thing was so cloudy. 

“I have been meaning to stop by the apothecary.” 

“It’s settled. You’ll come with me tomorrow.” He clicked his water glass with his fork. Someone brought food through the doors. You wondered what it was like to have so much power.

-

Knockturn Alley was permanently dark. At least, it seemed that way. The people rushing by never rose their faces and when they did they were indistinguishable. It was as though everyone had enchanted themselves to become mundane and unremarkable. Lucius had a hood over his head but made no attempt to hide his blonde hair. Your hood kept you shrouded, even as you walked closely beside him. He had a list of things he needed to get and you looked through the windows of the shops at things you had never studied before. 

Stores selling human fingers were of interest to Lucius. He let you go inside first as he pursued. You had never been inside a place like it before. It felt like a forbidden realm, something that was locked off to you because you had no reason to enter it. 

“Fingernails,” he muttered. “Do you see the fingernails dear?” 

You looked around, trying to stifle the reaction you had to being called dear in public. 

“Here,” you breathed. You raised your hand and he approached. “Aged,” you read from the small note card. “What do you use this for?” 

“Severus sent me a potion he’d been testing. I wanted to try it.” 

“What kind of potion?”

“An unnamed one,” he muttered. “Perhaps you could help me with it. Draco said you were rather good at potions.” You were reminded of the age difference suddenly but quickly brushed it aside. 

“I was the best in my class. Snape seemed to like me,” you said proudly. It was a fact you took pride in. Snape didn’t like just anyone. 

“I should’ve asked you to tutor Draco,” he muttered, grabbing what he needed off the shelf. 

“I tried. He was often distracted.” Lucius’s hand brushed your side as he walked past you. Like father, like son. 

You could feel prying eyes. You glanced around the dark shop that was illuminated only by floating candles. The shelves looked like people. You had to search to find anything actually moving. Your eyes landed on the sales clerk, another man who had been shrouded in a dark hood. You couldn't see his eyes but you could feel his gaze on you. You raised your chin, as though in defiance. Lucius didn’t seem to notice as he grabbed your hand and dragged you along to the next row of shelves. 

You avoided eye contact when Lucius checked out. 

-

You returned back to the Manor later that night. The sun was setting behind the peak of the house. It was like you were living your life shrouded in darkness nowadays and you couldn’t say you were complaining. It was slightly like you were constantly hidden from anything important. The door opened for Lucius. By the time it shut you couldn’t see who had been the culprit of moving it. 

Living in the house with Lucius was vastly different than living in the house with Draco. Draco knew the best hiding places but Lucius didn’t need them. You felt the most in control as you ever had. 

Lucius put down the bag of things onto the dining room counter as he walked into the room. Sitting in the chair at the other end of the room was a face you hadn’t expected to see, one that stopped you completely. 

Toying in Draco’s hand was the letter you had discarded. 

“You aren’t scheduled for a visit,” Lucius said. His voice was strong. There was no hint of weakness. You raised your chin to match his attitude. 

“This is why you haven’t been answering my letters?” Draco questioned, staring at you as though his father wasn’t there. “You found a different Malfoy to follow around like a lost puppy?” He sat forward, accusatory. 

“Draco,” Lucius snapped. You met the young Malfoy’s gaze with ice. 

“I haven’t been answering your letters because I have no interest in speaking with you.” Draco set his jaw, chewing on his cheek. Lucius took a deep breath. 

“This isn’t a ploy to make me jealous? To get me back?” he questioned but it felt more like he was stating a fact. 

“Why would I want you back?” you asked him. “Why would I beg for your forgiveness and your kindness when I know I can get it from someone I like far more?”

“My father?” 

“Yes Draco.” Draco stood up. He put his palms down on the table, leaning forward. He shook his head, a signature scowl on his face. 

“Were you plotting to steal the Malfoy money through different means because I tossed you aside like a piece of trash?”

“I wanted someone who would treat me like a woman and not like a charm to accompany his pride,” you seethed. 

“This is ridiculous. There’s no way you’re entertaining this father,” Draco said, his eyes now set on the older Malfoy. Your eyes followed his as well. Lucius had taken off his cloak and set it on a chair. He was acting completely unbothered by the conversation. 

“Draco, you’ve always been too much like your mother.” Lucius raised his chin. He eyed his son, knowing he would cower under the gaze. “If you intend on being a pest, I’ll have you escorted out of the manor.”

“Father.” 

“You were a stupendous failure Draco,” Lucius said lowly. “You took something great and you botched it with continuous frustrations. There is no need to take out those frustrations on someone who salvaged the situation or the woman.” Draco’s jaw set. “Go back to your mother. Maybe she’ll teach you some manners.” 

Draco choked on whatever words he intended to say. He took the letter he had written to you and ripped it in half. He left it on the table, dramatically. He gave you a lingering angry look before walking past the both of you out the room. The manor was so large that he could return to his room and neither you nor Lucius would ever know. 

The tension in the room defused. 

“I’ll put away the things we got,” you said, grabbing the bag from him. You took a jar with you into the kitchen. He followed you. 

“Your son is impossible,” you muttered. There were no feelings resurfaced at seeing Draco again. You wondered how long you had been over that relationship, if it had been longer than you even remembered. 

“His mothers fault.” Lucius raised his hand and brushed your hair off your shoulder and onto your back. He leaned forward and kissed your neck. You let out a soft sigh. 

“You’re distracting me from the task at hand.”

“My fault,” he muttered against your skin. 

“You have no reserves?” you asked. You turned around to look at him. He had his hands on your sides in an instant. “Your son's ex-girlfriend in your bed every night?”

“Do you have reserves?” he questioned. You weren’t sure why you were even asking the question. Lucius had done some morally challenging things in his life. There was no way this was a concern of his. You found that realization quite freeing.

“No,” you said finally. You meant it. He nodded once, proud of himself. He traced your jaw with his finger. 

“Then I don’t see any issues.” You glanced at the door Draco had left. You knew he was likely still in the manor. You kissed Lucius like it was the last thing you would ever do. You didn't care if this was a relationship that would fizzle out, all you knew in the moment was that you wanted to kiss him. You devoured his lips, holding his head so he was as close as you could get him. 

Everything else felt like an afterthought to him. It occurred to you that in the past you had had the right family, but the wrong Malfoy. He hoisted you onto the counter, pushing aside everything you had gotten from Knockturn. 

[mcuamerica]

The Shadowsinger: Twenty-Three

Warnings: Healing wounds, mentions of parental abuse, mentions of death, ACOTAR series spoilers.

Pairings: Azriel x Fem!Reader

Summary: As an official part of the IC, and an Oristian Illyrian warrior, you heal with your mate as you fight battles for your Court.

Disclaimer: I do not own SJM’s characters or plot lines, only the ones I create for the purpose of this story. This is a work of fiction. I do not give permission to repost my work on any other platform or medium. Please be respectful.

Graphics are my own. If you use, please give credit!

Series Masterlist

Your leg and your wing were the two things that still bothered you. With the infection that took root in your calf, it was harder to heal. Meaning that you now limped just a little, and Madja said it may never fully heal. Your wing, as well, was still healing. The top tendon that went about halfway down your wing snapped. Madja did everything she could to piece it back together, but it was too thin. You could fly short distances. But not in the cold and certainly not with any other weight on you. You worked with Madja, Rhys, Cassian, and Azriel to get the strength back up, but nothing was really working. Not yet. You still had faith your wing would get better and you could fly in the Illyrian ranks one day.

You decided with Azriel that you wanted to wait to offer him food, to accept the mating bond. The flash of hurt in his eyes had you scrabbling to explain you wanted everything to be back to normal, to not be at war. You wanted Feyre here.

You didn’t want a large ceremony. But just a small one with your family. And then Az and you would go up to the mountain cabin and spend however long you needed to officially mate.

So you waited. As much as you wanted to accept the bond and mount him almost every minute of the day, you wanted to have a proper future. You didn’t want to be mated in the middle of a war. The prospect of losing him when the bond was accepted… you didn’t dwell on it too long.

So you waited. And fought alongside your family when the time came. The worst of it was the night Azriel returned with Elain, Feyre, and some human girl. Your heart almost shattered at the look of his wings. How badly he was hurt. Was this what it was like for him when you returned from the Blood Rite?

You sat by his bedside, forcing him down and keeping him from going off to spy or fight or whatever he wanted to do. Because he needed to rest and heal.

You stood on the battlefield as Illyrians died, as Nesta saved Cassian. As Amren unleashed herself onto the army and brought victory to you all. You watched by Azriel’s side as Rhys died, and was then brought back to life when Feyre pleaded for his life.

You spent the next Solstice with them all, watching as Feyre’s sister, Nesta, withdrew into herself more and more each day. You became somewhat friendly with her, while Azriel took to helping Elain. Not nearly as close as she was with Amren, though.

You stayed with Mor and Feyre as the boys had their snowball fight, Azriel coming out the victor (again). You were his reward that night.

Once Solstice had ended, you started planning the mating ceremony. Or dinner, as you called it. You planned to make Azriel’s favorite meal with Nuala and Cerridwen.

Azriel and you also started looking for a new place to live. Feyre and Rhys offered to let you stay in the River House once it was built, but you decided you wanted your own space. You didn’t want the House of Wind or the Town Home. You wanted your home. One you could build with Azriel. Neither of you have ever truly had the ability to call a place your home. It was always owned by others.

So you bought a decent sized home on the River, not too far from the River House, and began making it just that. Your home.

After getting a bed, the dining room was the main thing you focused on. You wanted everything to be perfect because this was where Azriel and you would officially accept the bond. You could technically stay in the house for your mating, but the cabin was better cause there was no one to hear you. And if you knew anything from the past year, it would be that Azriel and you would disturb your neighbors. Maybe even Feyre and Rhys down the street.

Your shadows were still gone. And you knew in your gut you wouldn’t get them back. Not unless something terrible happened.

When you came out of the Rite, you were a different female. You were an Oristian, which many of the Illyrian males wanted to reject, but they couldn’t argue with what was final. Above all else, you weren’t alone anymore. You think the moment you chose to defend your brother, almost dying because of it, was the moment your shadows knew you didn’t need them anymore. You had always been fiercely loyal to your chosen families, but never to your blood.

When you exited that cave many many years ago, you were lonely and desperate. You were lost and didn’t know where to turn, so you found comfort in the darkness and the shadows were the ones to be there for you through everything. But you didn’t need them now. You had your family, chosen and blood (though, it’s still just Varyn that you trusted). And you were finally happy with your life. Your family. You didn’t need the shadows for comfort.

You didn’t think the shadows came to Azriel for the same reason they came to you. Yours was in need of survival while his was a triumph in darkness. A way for him to make the best of the terrible situation he was in. Once you completed the Rite, proved to yourself that you could survive without anyone’s help, the shadows had done their job. They had made sure you were safe. And it was now on you alone to protect yourself.

You couldn’t winnow yet, but you tried every day with your Siphon. It never worked. So you relied on your mate and the rest of your family.

You went to group meetings with the priestesses, helping them through their trauma. And sharing your own. You even saw Gywn at a few of them, and you were glad to see her somewhat happy. Healing. Slowly.

And then came the day you were dreading. Before the mating dinner you wanted to go to Valorworth. First to invite Varyn and Wessian to join the dinner, but also to see your blood family. To announce to the new camp Lord that you would be coming once a week to check on the females’ progress in training. You would be visiting each camp and giving them the next month, to get their acts together before you and Cassian would return to fix it. And to quell the murmurs of rebellion.

You took Azriel’s hand, smiling up at him as he winnowed you both to Valorworth. The rest of the Inner Circle was at the River House. This was something you would do with your mate. And if you needed comfort, a drink, or a night out afterwards, they would be there for you.

You watched from the hill just south of the camp. The same smells from Windhaven were present. But it was different. The air was slightly thinner, higher up in the mountains. Though you weren’t scared. You wore your Illyrian tattoos now, going across your chest, shoulders, and mid back. You were an Oristian. One of the top warriors of Illyria. You were to be a commander of the first female unit in centuries.

You wore your Siphon proudly on your right hand, while the pure black dagger hung on your waist. Twin to Azriel’s Truth Teller. And you had two swords across your back. You took up archery, Rhys and Feyre being the ones to teach you. Rhys taught you how to maneuver the Illyrian bow while Feyre taught you proper aim. You were an Oristian. You would not be afraid of your father and elder brothers. Not when you were higher rank than them. Not when you went through so much to come to this moment.

You greeted the camp Lord, the son of the one that you remember. Marc, the male that your father wanted you to marry 150 years ago. His father died in the final battle against Hybern, and he took the title of camp Lord.

He was surprisingly respectful. Maybe it was your new title. But you bet it was your towering male mate that was scowling at every single person that looked at you the wrong way. Az was itching to accept the bond, and his need to protect you grew only more when you approached your father’s cabin and told him you would be back. He didn’t want to leave you alone with him, but he knew that if something went wrong, he would be there in an instant. And he sent a few shadows with you to be his eyes and ears.

“Father.” You said once you crossed the threshold. He survived the battle and so did your brothers. You weren’t sure whether to be relieved or upset. But chose not to dwell on it for too long. Your older brothers, Corin and Caden, were in the small sitting room as well, monitoring your every move. Scanning you over to see the steel on you. And your Siphon.

“(Y/N)… I see you’re still alive.” He said, standing up. “I’ve missed you. Why haven’t you visited?” He asked, a knowing smirk on his lips. You wouldn’t play into his games.

“You will be seeing much more of me now.”

“Is that so?” He asked and smirked. “Come to infiltrate our camp with your females?”

“No, I’ve come to teach the females how to be the warriors they want to be. If they choose.” You said and glanced around.

“Those your shadows? It’s a poor excuse for a Shadowsinger.” He motioned to Azriel’s shadows that swirled around your feet.

“I don’t need my shadows anymore. I’ve relieved them on their duty.” You said and looked down as Az’s shadows stayed close to you in a protecting manner. One swept up and brushed against the back of your neck in comfort. “These are my mate’s.” You said.

Your father scoffed, shaking his head. “I’m surprised the Spymaster would waste his time on you.”

“Unlike you, Rechard, most males like a female who can protect herself.” You said. “This is not why I’m here. I’m here to inform you that if I so much as hear about you helping these so-called rebels, you better believe I won’t hesitate to kill you. Or maybe I’ll let my mate do it for me, he certainly knows how to take his time with males that have hurt females.”

You turned around, walking straight out the door. They didn’t stop you.

A/N: only one more chapter left! (This format might be off, I’m posting from my phone)

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[mae-i-scribble]

Seeing that one reblog of yours about the manhwa I Became The Male Lead's Adopted Daughter really intrigued me! Is it a good one? 👀

Funny story about that, after your reblog brought the post to my attention again and after talking with a friend on discord about stories that subvert tropes I just went back and reread that entire manhwa up to the end of season 2 so this is great timing XD. Im summary: It's absolutely worth your time if you're a fan of father/isekaied daughter fantasy, if you're an isekai manhwa fan in general, or if you just want a well made fantasy father daughter story. Its fantastical concepts are handled with a grounded maturity that most stories in the same genre just don't manage to pull off because it takes the time to truly flesh out its characters as human being first and any tropes last.

The long story is below the cut, I'll be discussing vague spoilers throughout seasons 1 and 2. (side note, im using the official TL names for this bc i like em better)

I Became the Male Lead's daughter has a lot going for it, first of which being Pelliot, the cold duke of the north who adopts Lionia from the orphanage. Most manhwa of this nature have the isekaied person be our main pov with brief glimpses into the parent's perspective, usually done more for plots sake or to comment on how strange the isekaied child is acting. Pelliot shares the protagonist spotlight with Lionia because this story is about both of them concurrently- in fact, we don't even get a look int Lionia's head to find out she's been isekaied until chapter 8(i think, either way its after chapter 5). Before that we get to know her from how Pelliot and the people at the estate see her. Which is such a refreshing take for me, especially when you consider that Pelliot while a stereotypical "violent and competent northern duke who becomes a parent" in theory, is actually played out in a grounded way. The reason he even wanted a child is because he's feeling lonely and he sees how his best friend (yes!! our cold duke has friendships!! and they're super sweet!!) is so happy with 2 children, that he goes about getting a child in the most pragmatic way possible. He is violent and regularly commits war crimes, but he isn't cruel to his staff or his knights as is standard fair for these archetypes. (Can't say the manhwa avoids classist tropes, but such is the way when you have noble protagonists and don't want to make them look complicit in a degrading class system but overall things are handled well enough in that regard). Pelliot, in his fatherhood, also avoids falling into trope traps yet again by being a very believable first time parent. He struggles to adjust to Lionia's emotional needs but is learning, he goes to his knights for advice, he's studying Lionia and trying to make sure she gets a proper childhood and does his best to protect her from further exposure to violence beyond what happens with the abusive orphanage staff. They have a believable banter and play off each other to a scary degree, and while he loves her and worries for her he isn't an overbearing protective trope either. I feel like this is already too long but like. He's such a cool protag to have in a genre that tends to have very narrow and singular dynamics of parent/child relationships. And this isn't even talking about the other relationships we see him have with his peers which are just as good.

Moving onto our other protagonist, Lionia, the post made by @living-as-the-enemy-prince HERE (which clearly you have read but in case other curious souls want to look at it) sums a large part of what makes her work. This is a story that fully realizes its concept to the most effective degree. And I love in turn the story addresses the trauma that comes with being reincarnated- not only from a "i miss my home and family and friends" but from the inherent trauma of being an adult only to one day become a child. Lionia didn't get a chance to rest, she was thrown into a life of abuse, all her agency stolen from her, forced to look after the other orphans because she was the only one who could thus she felt responsible. That sort of disruptive event isn't something that can be brushed off, and it shows in the way Lionia is deeply insecure about her relationship to Pelliot. In this way their dynamic is made equivalent from both sides- in many stories its almost one sided, with the parent figuring out this relationship naturally and the isekaied child playing things 'for the story' and only recognizing the relationship theyve built later (thank you wmmap for helping solidify that -_-). It's truly so well thought out and every aspect of the central relationship feels so natural.

As for the story at large, I'm very excited to see what the plot has in store. As of season 2 of the manhwa, we're only just starting to kick things off plot wise, up until now its been far more concerned with relationship building and giving us a foundation on these characters. But things are definitely cooking now that we've heard mention Baria- the protagonist of the novel Lionia read in her past life (I could probably write another blurb about how well that is being handled but this post is so long already so). On that note though, don't be worried about that "oh but i have to follow the original plot against all common sense and reason" trope bc that doesn't matter at all here. Lionia has her concerns when it comes to the story, some of her insecurities stem from the fact that Pelliot never had a daughter in it, mentioned or otherwise, but at the end of the day she doesn't give a shit, she just wants her dad to have a happy and peaceful life.

Tbh anyone who hasn't read this should absolutely give it a chance bc I haven't even mentioned half the things I find cool about it like all the side characters that I love or the empress storyline that I am eyeing with extreme interest, etc etc

[fancifulflora]

(SFW) Azad deserves a break and happiness so can I request a drabble where Azad's been having a hard day and gets a lot kisses as he cuddles with the Crown?

Terribly sorry that this took forever and a half- I literally spent a good few days trying to come up with ideas for this prompt that didn't feel too close to other things I've written. It may be a tad short since I'm still very much out of practice and am currently busy sacrificing my life to Baldur's Gate 3 lol

One would think that a childhood spent around the upper echelon of Arsurian nobility and the best tutors Arsur had to offer would have made dealing with the pests buzzing around the Crown easier for Azad.

The only thing it did manage, it seemed, was make the tired Captain all the more aware of the little plots and schemes being seeded around him. Not that he'd do much about it mind you, those matters were probably best left to the General or Sorcerer.

Still, it wouldn't hurt for some of these nobles to at least try a little harder. Even a child would be able to see through their thinly veiled promises and idle threats.

The sounds of nervous shuffling brought his attention back to one of the more persistent officials. Some lackey that was sent here to pressure the Crown no doubt. A gangly, unfortunate-looking one at that. Why were they still here?

"Were my words not clear enough?" Azad tilted his head a little as he studied the shorter figure before him, his glare making the poor official shrink back as if the look alone had struck them. "The Crown is currently preoccupied with important matters."

A complete and utter lie, but a believable one.

"Well, yes, I-I understand," The official stammered, fiddling with their hands as they frantically jerked their head left and right, searching along the empty corridors of the palace. Unfortunately for them, there'd be no one else to lend them aid at this time of night. "It's simply that the Mîrs were very insistent that-"

"They can and will wait till morning. Unless the situation is dire, I suggest you heed my previous warnings." Azad corrected his head, glowering down at the official who was quickly developing an interest in his khopesh, the metal shining under torchlight. "I will not repeat myself again, nor will I allow you to disturb the Crown's peace. Now go."

Though there was really no need to, Azad made the subtle movement of resting his palm against the hilt of his blade, finding a great deal of amusement as the official swallowed.

Without a moment of hesitation and with a flurry of apologies and deep bows, the poor sod dismissed themself. And once more, the hall was refilled with a blissful, beautiful silence. "... Are they gone?" A muffled voice called from behind him after a few minutes had passed. His Crown's voice.

"For now, yes," He nodded at an invisible guardsman, moving to enter the room just as said guard smoothly took his place outside the Crown's chambers.

"Thank goodness," The weary voice of the Crown breathed, paired with equally weary golden eyes. Azad couldn't exactly blame them either, anyone in their position would have been worn down by back-to-back meetings and a lengthy court session that, truth be told, went absolutely nowhere. Still, they managed a smile upon his entry. "I knew I could count on you to save the day."

"As much as I appreciate your thanks, it may be a little premature," Azad grinned, his posture relaxing now that he was off duty or as off duty as a Royal Protector could be at this time in the evening. "I've only postponed the inevitable. You'll have to deal with that mess in the morning."

A long groan came from his Crown, the ruler of Arsur springing up from their desk... only to wander a few steps and fall rather unceremoniously on their bed. "I need no reminders, thank you very much."

Azad stretched a little, feeling the slight pop of his joints that accompanied the familiar ache in his body from being so active for the past few days. The poor protector was so busy in fact, that the last time he could even remember being able to wind down like this with his Crown was...was...

Damn, that long, huh? He couldn't recall the last time they were together like this- being able to have each other all to themselves. The two still regularly trained together, but this was a different matter entirely.

"Have you eaten anything yet?" He then asked, clearing his mind and taking a seat beside his Crown who was now laid out on their side, facing him with a small frown on their face.

"I think I should be the one asking you that Azad," Their eyes studied him, the Royal Protector raising a small eyebrow under their scrutiny though he kept any retorts to himself. "You look... awful."

Surely he didn't look that bad, did he?

With a small laugh, he leaned against the back of the chair, glaring a little at his lover though his hazel eyes lacked any real fire. "You've got little room to speak yourself."

The Crown gave a small mock gasp, their body seeming to reenergize from the banter alone. "Excuse you, I thought I looked rather nice today!"

"Three meetings ago perhaps."

"Hmm... You didn't deny that I look nice though," With little effort, the Crown rolled on their stomach, elbows propping their body up while their chin nestled itself in the cradle of their hands.

Azad rolled his eyes at that one, the faintest warmth beginning to wash over his cheeks. "You're even worse than the Pale Sword somehow. Congratulations, it's no easy feat." Moving to stand and eager to change subjects, he gave his Crown a rather pointed look indicating that he was quite aware of their attempt to dodge his initial question. "Wait here, I'll go-"

"Oh no," Though still remaining playful, there was an intensity behind the Crown's words that did manage to make him pause for a moment, the ruler moving to get off their bed to push Azad back down into his seat with a gentle hand. "Stay right there. Get yourself comfortable while I go find someone to make a run to the kitchens."

The Crown didn't even wait for his answer, giving him the briefest of kisses before hurrying to the door to catch the attention of some passing servant.

Azad, knowing when to pick his battles and still worn from days of work, simply relented and carefully undid the fastenings on his weapons; getting up to leave them on the bedside table.

There were words traded between his Crown and a servant, the Captain pushing what he could hear to the back of his mind as he undid the clasps on his silver armor with practiced ease.

By the time the door shut once more, he had finished placing the last of his gear by the bed, Azad glancing over his shoulder at the Crown.

"It might take a while but I did request a small cup of mint tea for you."

"With honey?"

"Naturally," There with a hint of smugness to the words, the Crown getting comfortable once more with their back pressed against the plush pillows of their bed, only this time, beckoning Azad to join them.

The ruler of Arsur tried and failed to hide their smile when seeing their Royal Protector getting on the bed and settling by their side, his head pressed to their chest, drinking in the steady beat of his beloved's heart.

"That was easier than expected. Do you plan on saving the protests for later?"

Now it was Azad's turn to groan a little, closing his eyes to give them some much-needed rest. "Only because I'm far too worn out to argue against your wishes."

"You poor thing." The sarcasm was dripping as he felt light kisses press themselves against his cheeks and the corner of his lips. "Perhaps you want to trade with me? I could send you to tomorrow's court session in my stead, surely."

The mere thought alone could give him a headache, the Captain shaking his head. With his eyes still shut, he returned the kiss in kind. "Enticing as that idea sounds, I think the Mîrs are best left to you."

"Ughh."

"I'll be just beyond the doors if that is any consolation."

That got a laugh out of his Crown, Azad's smile pressing up against where he'd approximated the Crown's forehead would be. Another kiss traded between the two.

"Any chance I could convince you to stand guard, by my side, this time?"

Another kiss, this time from his partner, soft lips heating the edge of his jaw.

Ah.

The Captain opened his eyes with a slow blink and studied the grin plastered across his star's expression.

So that was how they were going to play it, bribery.

"Perhaps." Azad kept his voice light, resisting the urge to smile as another kiss was planted on him, this time on his brow.

"And now?"

"Still unconvinced." His voice was a soft velvet now, an observant gaze picking up the slightest shiver running down his Crown's spine.

Cute.

Another kiss was gifted to him, this time directly on his lips. His arms made their move, wrapping around the Crown. With the softest noise escaping his lover's lips, he pulled them into an embrace. The two practically melted together, a kiss the Crown had most certainly meant to be chaste and quick now slowing as the two got lost within one another.

Spirits, he truly did miss this, didn't he?

Somewhere along the sixteenth or so kiss was when Azad finally lost count, or rather, when he simply stopped bothering altogether. Time itself seemed beyond his comprehension as the Captain thoroughly savored each little reaction he could get out of his Crown. Not that he minded, of course, Azad being the type to take his time with his love.

He eventually pulled away for air, forehead pressed against his Crown's as the two recovered from their entanglement.

"Well? Have I successfully persuaded you?" The Crown's voice was lighter now, breathless, and a touch sultry, the glimmer of gold in their eyes swallowed by the darkness of their pupils.

Azad paused a moment to consider the question, weighing the bliss given to him by his love's presence with the hours of senseless prattling he'd have to endure.

"Perhaps. Though I might be able to give you a solid answer... after we eat."

The look of confusion on the Crown's face was priceless, the tender moment between them was cut off by a knock at the door. Azad seized the chance to get off the Crown and straighten himself out, though he did clock the look shot at him by his charge.

With a small turn away from his Crown who was undoubtedly disappointed by the interruption, Azad turned to answer the door feeling lighter than ever.

[siriannatan]

Combat Maids

Well, after days of complete writer's block and mess at home here we are. Chapter 2. I'll drop the Pinterest reference board for this fic just so it's easier to find :}

Over the next week fWhip carefully observed the maids. Mostly the head maid but he certainly wasn't about to ignore all the staff changes and the sudden influx of new maids. He did tell Scott but all he said was that all security matters were fully up to fWhip's digression. More security needs to be hired? Go ahead and hire some, they don't have to dress up but then Scott does not want to see them unless necessary. Someone needs to be fired or beat up? Go ahead. As long as fWhip continued to look cute he was the head of security.

At least he didn't have to follow Scott everywhere he went. So a week after the uniform debut, with Scott spending the day with his brother. Very corrupt and overprotective politician brother. Xornoth. fWhip decided to sneak around the mansion and investigate what the maids could be up to. Lucky for him, with the whole staff fluctuation and Scott not liking seeing normal maids many of them did not recognise fWhip as a bodyguard and just assumed he was a normal maid.

He didn't find much other than whatever head maid was up to had to wait for something to happen. No talk he eavesdropped on told him anymore and all the 'maids' seemed to know at least some of what was going on. He'd rather not risk asking too many questions. He did overhear the head maid mumble about 'that pesky guard' once when going out with Scott so he assumed it had to do with him being actually able to do his job. Maybe someone was plotting - again - to kill Scott and infiltrated the mansion and fWhip and his skill and competence and maid dress were in the way?

Very possibly they hired an assassin to get him out of the way. And knowing to expect that was a good start. He could use it to lure the assassin out.

He made sure the head maid knew when he was officially out and even told her when Xornoth - or his staff - would have boss back. And that he'd be checking the security cameras around the mansion. She was uncharacteristically okay with him just going about around the mansion. A good sign that he was right that there was a highly skilled assassin, brought into an absurdly complex plot just to kill him.

So fWhip went about checking the cameras and other security equipment. Pretending he was at all not aware or worried about assassins.

He managed to go through about half of the mansion before any trouble started. And trouble came in a form of a lanky and undoubtedly very skilled, and if fWhip wasn't expecting him deadly avian assassin. Blonde and handsome assassin but that wasn't important at the moment. "I should probably thank the 'head maid' for being too suspicious," fWhip huffed once he had the assassin pushed to the ground and his wrists in a firm grip. "I'll assume she had something to do with you."

"And why should I tell you anything?" the assassin asked, still attempting to free himself.

"I'm not expecting you to know much, they probably just brought you here to kill me, so I doubt you know much," fWhip chuckled and a sudden tense-up had him guessing he was right. "I would have a much harder time fighting you if I had to keep Scott safe so they kind off messed up with their planning. I'll guess they didn't want someone from outside handling the 'important' task so... how much?"

"What?"

"How much will I need to pay you to ditch them and work for my boss? The maid dress is not a requirement, he just doesn't like uncute things near him," fWhip explained with a quick clarification of his outfit. "So? Would fifty thousand a month be enough?" he said his old pay from before the dress. Scott has raised it after, a uniform fee he called the extra fifteen thousand...

The assassin likely did a quick calculation. "Does the dress come with a bonus?" he asked, going completely slack.

"Fifteen thousand," fWhip said a bit dumbfounded by the question. Would hiring someone so greedy possibly cause an issue? Maybe but Scott had different issues. "I can even introduce you to my tailor," he added with a smirk. What an amusing bird.

"Deal," the assassin said almost instantly. "The uniform's worth it. Jimmy by the way," he added along an introduction as fWhip let him go. He was still a bit wary of the blonde, canary avian. "I'm honestly shocked I didn't feel that you were ready for a fight, I usually sense the danger."

"What can I say, I'm rather good at my job," fWhip grinned as his phone made a loud noise. It was time he left to get Scott. "I'll go and grab boss, I can drop you by the tailor on the way," he said.

Jimmy accepted and sneaked off so no maid would catch on that their 'deal with that annoying bodyguard' trick failed. 

As expected, Jimmy knew very little about the actual plot or who was even behind it. The 'head maid' was the one to hire him and she was not the boss of the whole plan. He also raised a concern that fWhip was scared to raise himself. Could they trust this whole thing would not happen again? Hiring good house staff came with risks of further infiltration attempts. They decided to talk about it later when the current issue was dealt with but Jimmy did say he would not mind helping around the mansion. For a bonus pay of a standard maid that is. Greedy bastard but a right one. That would keep Scott the safest...

Introducing him to Katherine was as fast as she was excited to make a new 'special uniform' and fWhip was off to pick Scott up with a plan on how to deal with the 'maid rebellion' in his mind.

Scott was excited when fWhip said there'd be a new bodyguard. And they were willing to wear the uniform. He'd of course prefer to see them first but fWhip assured them they were cute. Very cute he even said so Scott decided to trust him on this one. And he'd be meeting them after his afternoon tea and cake he'd be having at a patio overlooking the gardens. What a good time for that. 

He was a bit shocked fWhip was nowhere to be seen but the maids assured him he had an important thing to do before introducing the new bodyguard. Reasonable enough a reason. He was just a bit bummed fWhip didn't tell him himself. Oh well. He was going shopping the next day and would possibly have two pretty guards with him. If only the rest of the staff were half as cute.

As he was about to lose himself in the thoughts of pretty maid bodyguards the head maid. One that worked for him for at least four years pulled out a sword. That was new. Usually, it was fWhip that was armed. Oh, she was pointing it at him and saying something. Oh and now she was charging but he couldn't really do anything. Was his tea spiked with something? Wouldn't poison be more effective?

He was about to die, wasn't he? Maybe fWhip and the new hire would avenge him? That would be nice. Avenged by two cute guys in cute outfits. Though. Would they keep the outfits without him around? Probably not. Would death hurt?

While morbid thoughts swirled in Scott's brain whole world almost seemed to slow down as the currently former head maid was pushed away by fWhip. He was as cute as when Scott saw him not even an hour ago. His cute, half-dragon maid-bodyguard saviour. 

"You... How are you still alive? He said he's killed you?!" whatever was in his tea seemed to start wearing off as fWhip calmly stood between Scott and about fifty armed boring at all not cute maids.

"The pay with you guys is garbage," Scott heard a totally new voice. A cute voice. Hopefully with a cute face.

Scott kind of stopped listening to the former head maid talk as fWhip quickly moved to administer the antidote for whatever was in the tea. He could see the source of the cute voice. A very cute avian with golden feathers and hair. Tall, thin, very, very pretty. Swinging a sword as the maids advanced at him. Most importantly he wore a maid dress. The new bodyguard. And the water from the ponds around the gardens raised and formed into more blades.

"Assassinations are more of my speciality," the pretty man said and Scott smiled like an idiot. He'd blame it on whatever was in the tea. Oh, and the cute wings coming off his hips flapped. And his skirt was short. And his under-the-knee boots had cute ribbons. And there was a small chest window. And the short sleeves were see-through and utterly adorable. And as short as the skirt was it still had a bit of a slit and Scott maybe really had a thing for men in tights. 

Oh... and now there was blood. And as hot as blondie looked there was no way Scott could look at that so he closed his eyes with a whine. "I approve the new hire, on the downside, I think we'll be out of maids when he's done," he sighed, even listening to the combat was making his stomach churn. "fWhip? Where did you even find someone who can rival you in cuteness and who's also willing to dress up for me?"

"Whoever's behind the maid rebellion hired him to kill or at least keep me out the way. I offered him better pay so he's working for you now," fWhip explained and Scott could feel the chair he was in be moved. With a deep breath, he dared to crack one eye open. No visual of the maids being killed. And fWhip did a cute whistle clearly looking in that direction. "I'm lucky the head maid made me suspect something was up. I'd have a lot of trouble if he surprised me," he said with a nervous chuckle. "As for the housework... Until we find someone better me and Jimmy can try to do it?"

"Oh, I'll add standard maid pay if you do, I really want to be careful when choosing who works here now," Scott instantly nodded. "I don't mind if it means we have to stay at home a bit more often as long as I can be around you two doing chores, for safety of course," he added with a grin. "And Jimmy?"

"The new hire, he's actually an assassin but the pay convinced him to work for you," fWhip smiled with a tiny curtsy.

"All done but I say one of us goes around the mansion to check for any traps or stragglers," suddenly Jimmy was in Scott's view, not a drop of blood on him and the dress. "And maybe move boss inside, I made a bit of a mess," oh, and his smile was cute too."

"I'll go, you rest," fWhip nodded and was off and Scott was left with just one cute guard to stare at.

And he was even cuter up close. With really blue eyes and a little frilly headband a bit crooked on his head. fluttering his wings as he looked over the garden for any more danger. "Any idea what they added to my tea?" Scott asked. He wasn't really all that curious. Just wanted to hear Jimmy talk more.

"Just a mild numbing poison. Nothing dangerous, they were honestly pretty bad at assassinations," Jimmy explained with a sigh. Oh. There were two smaller wings on the sides of his head and they too fluttered all cute-like. "You got pretty lucky they got me to try and kill fWhip if I were to come after you... you'd probably be dead."

Scott knew he probably should have been freaked out by that. But Jimmy was too cute. And he had cute lace wrist cuffs and... Scott just wanted to touch him. "You're really cute, I was honestly expecting you'd have the same uniform as fWhip," Scott grinned and gently flipped Jimmy's skirt as a test. He was maybe pushing it but it was better to let Jimmy know how much he appreciated the uniform early on. 

"I'm sorry about the terrible mess I made off the garden," Jimmy said as calm as he was the whole time. Was he not bothered? Scott would not push much more but he kept on carefully to not flip anything too far up played with Jimmy's skirt while bothering him with boring questions about his favourite cakes, cookies and sweets until fWhip was back saying the mansion was safe and a new batch of tea was in process of being made.

Scott gladly followed him to a different part of the mansion with Jimmy staying close behind. Overall it was a good day. He might be down the whole house staff but had a new cute bodyguard and fWhip and Jimmy agreed to - with extra pay as Scott promised - take care of the mansion as well until better, more loyal staff could be found. There was still the matter of his outing the next day but one guard - maid - would be enough. He could give fWhip some time to get used to being the new (temporary) head maid.

[angstyaches]

A scene that comes before an early-days Shayne/Charlie hunger-related request. It became very long and plot-heavy, so I decided to split it in two, at least for now.

Takes place during the prologue, sometime after Shayne confronts Charlie’s demon and before Shayne visits Charlie at home for the first time. (Note for die-hard readers: “Rin’s Exposition Inquisition” is basically being retconned and no longer canon, because I want to develop her character and story a bit more slowly in the rewrite.)

Hunger/whump happens in part two (hopefully posted later today; if not, it’ll be next week because I’m travelling again this weekend).

CW: mentions of death, anxiety, insecurities, childhood trauma, food mention, horror elements (mentioned).

___

“Hey, Charmander.”

Charlie had been peacefully eating his ham and cheese sandwich when Rin Johnson swept up next to his desk. It was rare to see her without her band of pals these days, but she was alone. 

Before he could even open his mouth to question her choice to call him by a Pokemon’s name, she pulled up the empty chair from the desk in front of Charlie’s, spinning it around to face him.

As she sat, she drew a couple of glances from some of Charlie’s classmates who’d formed little groups throughout the room. It wasn’t against the rules for students from other tutor groups to eat in another tutor group’s base classroom, but it was a little unusual. If people wanted to mingle, they went outside, or to the canteen, to eat. Rin usually went to the latter.

There was also the fact that as far as secondary school social hierarchy was concerned, Rin was considered royalty. Not quite a queen bee, but perhaps a princess.

“Charmander?” Charlie asked.

Rin smiled secretively, propping her lunch bag on an empty corner of Charlie’s desk. “We’re officially friends now, and I have a whole bunch of nicknames I want to try out on you.”

Her floral water bottle was placed on Charlie’s desk, too, while Rin rummaged in her lunch bag. She started tearing into the wrapping on her sandwich.

She hadn’t bothered to tie her hair in its usual space buns today, and it fell in fiery-orange waves around her shoulders. She had a small streak of pink glitter drawn across each eyelid, and she didn’t seem to have noticed that a speck of it was stuck to one of her glasses lenses.

She looked up at him, chewing. “You don’t even want to question me on the ‘us officially being friends now’ thing? I was getting ready to bribe you. I brought Tucs!”

In case he thought she was bluffing, she put down her sandwich, reached into her lunch bag again, and pulled out a snack-sized packet of salted crackers.

“You don’t have to bribe me, Rin,” Charlie smiled. “I already thought of you as my friend.”

She smiled in what seemed to be relief, which was a bit confusing to Charlie. What exactly had she expected to happen?

His gaze was drawn back to the packet of crackers she’d put on his desk. He remembered taking them to primary school to have as a snack, and he was suddenly in the mood to relive his youth. “Although, I do kind of want to open those.”

“Go for it! A bribe’s a bribe, even if it was unnecessary.”

Charlie picked up the packet and split the side of the wrapper. “Share them?”

“Sure.”

“When you really think about it,” Charlie said as he opened the packet, “I’m the one who should have been begging you to be my friend.”

Rin frowned.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Charlie grinned. “You’re so much cooler than I am, Rin. And even if you weren’t… I mean –” Charlie pulled a cracker out and used it to gesture all around him. There were about fifteen other students in the room, all convening at different points and at a considerable distance from Charlie’s desk. “I can’t exactly afford to be picky, can I?”

Rin bit into her sandwich and glanced around too, though she seemed to be looking for somebody, rather than following Charlie’s point.

“Well, we do have something essential in common, you and I,” she said around a mouthful. A conspiratorial look crossed her face as she swallowed and leaned in closer. “Something that binds us.”

Charlie bit back another smile, not wanting her to think he was laughing at her. He adored the way Rin could romanticise the mundane, or make a lunchtime chat feel like he was being indoctrinated to a secret society.

“Okay, well now I have to ask,” he said, crunching down on his Tuc. “What is it?”

“Rejection.” Rin wrinkled her nose, as though the word tasted bad in her mouth. “From the same boy.”

All of the heat, along with the remnants of his smile, left Charlie’s face. What the hell kind of rumours were going about now?!

“What – I haven’t – what are you talking about?”

Rin gave a thin smile and touched the back of Charlie’s hand. “Shayne Devine rejected my friendship, too. Only that was about… wow, I guess it was about twelve years ago.”

Charlie barely had time to settle his frantic heart – friendship, she’s just talking about friendship – before his head started reeling with this new information.

“You knew him twelve years ago?”

“Well, yeah. We went to primary school together.”

Charlie nodded, battling a sudden wave of despair. Of course. That made sense. Rin and Shayne had grown up in the same town. They knew each other from way back. Meanwhile, Charlie had never been in one place long enough to hold down a friendship for longer than a year, let alone know anybody from way back. The only people he knew from way back were family members, most of whom he wouldn’t have anything to do with if he wasn’t forced.

“I tried so hard to get him to be my friend, but he would never even come to my birthday parties.” Rin dropped the remnants of her sandwich back into her lunch bag and pulled a pot of yoghurt and a spoon.

Charlie nodded again. The birthday party thing was a big deal. Ingrid had insisted he go to every party he was invited to, even if he didn’t know the birthday kid for very long. Charlie had always suspected there was a political force behind children’s birthday parties. Like the more birthday parties your child attended, the better it reflected on you as a parent. He tucked that thought away for later interrogation.

Rin peeled the lid from her yoghurt pot and began licking it clean. Charlie realised he wasn’t even remotely surprised that she was the kind of person who did this.

“So, Shayne was always… the way he is?”

Rin tilted her head to one side. “Well, he was always extremely shy…”

Charlie struggled to swallow a mouthful of his food. After the number of insults he’d been handed by the person in question, he wondered how anyone could ever describe him as shy. He took another bite of his sandwich to keep himself from making a shady remark.

“But he wasn’t always so…” Rin glanced towards Shayne’s empty desk, as though it might be listening in and would report back to him later.

“Cranky?” Charlie suggested sheepishly.

Rin flinched. “Sure. Let’s go with that. That only happened after his parents died.”

Charlie nearly dropped his jaw, and a mouthful of his sandwich along with it. Nobody had ever mentioned this before. Charlie had known Shayne was adopted, but he hadn’t known that Shayne had once lived with his biological parents.

“They… died?”

Rin frowned. “You didn’t know?”

Charlie shook his head.

“Oh. Crap. Um, sorry, babe! I’m used to everybody knowing everything about everybody. But, yeah, they died when we were, like… I guess nine or ten.” Rin’s eyes became unfocused for a few seconds. “Well, let’s see. We had Miss O’Rourke as our teacher that year, I think… yeah, we were ten. It messed him up really badly.”

“I can imagine,” Charlie whispered numbly. Judging by the way she had started staring blankly into her yoghurt pot, Shayne’s parents’ death had probably affected Rin in some way, too. “Are you okay?”

She nodded and cleared her throat. “I guess what I was trying to say is that I get it. He acts like he doesn’t want anything to do with you, but he still sort of… pulls you towards him, doesn’t he?”

Yes. He didn’t trust himself to say it out loud, certain that he’d betray the depth of his feelings if he did. 

He nodded.

“I guess I always thought it was just me.”

Charlie was entranced by how much this conversation seemed to be affecting Rin’s mood, like it was sucking her entire personality away from her. It must have been an extremely sad story...

Charlie stiffened as goosebumps rocketed up and down his body. No. No, it couldn’t be… Someone would have told him… 

Right?

“Uh, Rin?”

She listlessly picked up a Tuc and popped it in her mouth. “Uh-huh?”

Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to. Charlie swallowed the fear in his throat. “Shayne’s parents weren’t involved in that… that tragedy that happened at Mulberry, were they?”

Rin’s eyes took on that glassy, faraway look again. Charlie thought she was going to slip into the habit that most people had, of avoiding that particular topic at any cost. He half expected her to tip her yoghurt all over his desk, exclaim about how clumsy she was, and run off to get some paper towels, only to never return.

“They…” She seemed to swallow with some difficulty. “They were kind of unusual, from what I remember. Shayne’s mum was… She was so beautiful and kind, but always carried this air of, like, sadness. But her pies were always the best thing at the school bake sales. I didn’t know much about his dad, but my dad got along well with him. I… I don’t think I stopped crying for a week after they…”

Charlie felt a lump in his own throat. He’d only been able to stomach reading a few details about the incident; he couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to be a kid growing up in a town with a story like that attached to it.

But beneath his sadness, there was a pit of anger bubbling. How had no one thought to mention this to him before?

“Anyway.” Rin drew a circle in her yoghurt with her spoon. “Have you… Have you been out in the woods since you moved in?”

“No,” Charlie croaked. “They give me a weird feeling.”

Rin looked up, her spoon stilling. The absent look fled her eyes, leaving behind what could only be described as... desperation? Like she was teetering on the edge of a cliff, and the only person who could grab her and pull her to safety was Charlie. 

Charlie was just relieved that some of that furtive intensity was coming back to her.

“What kind of feeling?” she whispered.

“I…” Charlie’s heart sank as he tried to gather the words. “I don’t know. It’s…”

Careful. The voice insisted. She doesn’t know.

She might know, Charlie thought, examining the interrogative look in Rin’s eyes.

She doesn’t.

She… kind of acts like she knows.

Charlie…

“It’s kind of like… I’ll walk up to the edge of the garden feeling normal, and as soon as I think about putting my foot over the line, it’s like this huge wave of nausea crashes over me. I look through those trees and it feels like… like I’m staring into the ribcage of some huge… decaying… corpse.”

Rin put down her yoghurt with an air of finality.

“Sorry,” Charlie muttered, placing the last section of his sandwich back in its box.

“No, no, you’re good.” Rin drummed her fingers against the table. “You know, everyone says there’s something weird about Mulberry, but as soon as you start getting into detail, they just...”

Charlie’s heart skipped a beat. Does she know? ... Maybe she knows.

“Crap! I have to go,” Rin exclaimed, glancing at her watch. “I completely forgot there’s a yearbook meeting today.”

She gave Charlie a pleading look, like she wanted to be rescued from something, as she packed away her lunch.

Charlie grimaced. “Um... sorry this turned so dark.”

“Oh – no, don’t be sorry for that.” Rin’s eyebrows knitted together. “You have any idea how much of a relief this was?”

“It… was kind of a relief,” Charlie said. This was the first time in weeks that he’d been given new information, either about his house or about his desk neighbour. He also hadn’t mentioned how much the woods at Mulberry unnerved him to anybody else, and he could feel a new lightness where it’d been weighing on his chest.

He didn’t really know what made it a relief for Rin, but that was what he liked about her company. They seemed to understand each other’s emotions, even if it wasn’t clear how they’d arisen.

I’ll tell her, he realised. I’ll tell her everything. Another time.

“You have my number, right?” he asked.

“I – yeah, I think so.”

“Do you want to come over this weekend?”

Rin raised her eyebrows. “Yes. Please. I’ll text you.”

“Cool.” Charlie watched Rin scoop up her bag. “Have fun at your meeting.”

“With a room of self-obsessed control freaks? How could I not have fun, Charlie Bear?” Rin tilted her head as she stood up. A hint of her smile crept back. “Hey, I like that one.”

[lunarcovehq]

BREAKING NEWS - INCOMING PLOT DROP #2

It appears the robbery at the Poison Room last week was not an isolated instance. The HQ Burglar has struck again. This time targeting the Wolf Den. In between the hours of 11p to Midnight last night (the same time frame as the previous Break in), the Burglar entered the werewolf headquarters. They were carrying a portable radio with them and a drawstring branded Siren Sounds backpack. The culprit stole an official pack member log that detailed out all of the wolves information by name and address dating back fifty years. They knocked over chairs, tossed documents around, tore up a number of Pack Pamphlets that had been used as coasters at the time and smashed a number of paperweights, as well as knocking a lamp over. They were interrupted a few minutes in by Nicolás Castillo Alders, the same witness to their previous Break In, and similar to the last time, the masked figure was able to flee the scene of the crime before Nico could catch them. Although the Alpha did manage to grab a hold of their backpack, the straps tearing clean off the culprit’s back allowing them the opportunity to slip away with the documents in hand. 

Sheriff Cavanaugh made it to the scene not shortly after where authorities worked with Nico to determine what had been taken and examined the evidence left behind. Inside the Burglar’s backpack itself, was a portable radio that was tuned into one, Wilhelmina Fitz’s, radio show. There was also a slip of paper with an email address for the pseudonym “Das Kind” on it and the password flowersforbex1967. This pseudonym, Authorities have been able to trace back to an ‘anonymous caller’ of the Siren Sounds Radio show. When asked about said caller, producer, Lisa Cramer, who works on Billie’s show with her, had the following to say, “I remember ‘Das Kind’. They reached out to us over email which isn’t all too out of the ordinary when you work in Radio. They went on and on about how much they loved Billie’s late night show, with its ‘array of classical selections’. You know how fans can be. They requested that she add Beethoven’s 45-minute ‘Hammerklavier’ to the playlist. The request was, in hindsight, a little strange? It was rather detailed... They wanted it to be played at precisely 11:10pm. ‘No later than 11:10′. They repeated it multiple times and had this whole sob story to go along with the request, about how the song was ‘in memory of a long lost love’? But, our listeners eat that kind of sh&* up, so I relayed the request onto Billie before I headed out for the night and, from what I heard, she ended up playing it just as requested at precisely 11:10pm.” 

Beethoven’s 45-minute ‘Hammerklavier’ was the exact song that was reported to be still playing out of the portable radio the HQ Burglar left at the scene of the crime and Sheriff Cavanaugh has reason to believe that the Burglar was using the song to keep track of the time while breaking into the Den given that the backpack also contained a detailed map to the Den (a location that only pack members should be aware of) from Siren Sounds station. The map had markings drawn along the river with timed notes regarding the Sonata’s four movements. The backpack was even lined with a trash bag as if in an attempt to keep the contents inside dry while swimming.

Perhaps the right supernatural could have swam from Sunny Harbor to Echo Acres, sacked the Den and made it back to the station before the song even ended. It would be a perfect alibi for a radio host supposedly "in the booth" during that time frame. This is only speculation, but given that ‘Das Kind’ is german for ‘the Kid’ as in ‘Billy the Kid’ and Sheriff Cavanaugh brought Billie Fitz in for questioning today, it is only safe to assume that the authorities are operating under a similar assumption. 

Billie Fitz will be held for questioning for two days before being convicted. On Friday the 16th, Billie will be able to be released on bail and, unless the charges are dropped, there is a pending Coalition Trial to be held the following week.

REMINDERS

This is our second plot drop in the series of plot drops we will be having this month!

For Pack Members- The Wolf Den is temporarily closed. You will have been alerted of the break in and, starting today, you will have been put on town watch. Although, authorities believe the culprit is now in custody, there is no telling as to whether or not Billie was working alone. So, you have been instructed to guard the Clan HQ & the Coalition HQ to keep an eye out for any future attacks.

For Coven Members- The Witch HQ and Poison Room are still closed, being roped off as part of the crime scene. It looks like you will have to find a different location/meeting point to brew any potions for the foreseeable future and, without the Poison Room, finding ingredients will become far more tedious.

For the Fae Court- A fae has been taken into custody and, although Billie was not a member of the Fae Court, Authorities have chosen to station look outs at the other HQs to prevent any future break ins, but not yours given that the culprit was a fae themselves.

For the Human Coalition- Given that Billie is a lesser fae, the Human Coalition has been tasked with putting together a list of questions for the Authorities to ask Billie while in custody. You have also been all alerted to keep your calendars free for the next few weeks in case authorities rule that this case will be taken to trial.

For the Council- Although Billie Fitz being taken in for questioning for the Break Ins falls under Human Coalition jurisdiction, given that it was the Council Headquarters that were the targets, you have also been gathered to personally question Billie as to why she’s been targeting the Council HQ locations specifically. You have also been tasked to hold a meeting to decide what to do moving forwards in terms of headquarters security etc. Nico, documents from your HQ have been stolen, so this is also an opportunity for you to figure out where they are now.

For Billie Fitz- You are being wrongfully framed for the past two Break Ins and have now been taken into custody. You are allowed visitors as well as phone calls while you are in holding, but all communication with outside parties will be monitored. It’s time to lawyer up and get someone to hopefully bail you out when your release date is set.

These plot drops are not mandatory, so if you’d prefer to not react to the above, you don’t have to. But, we do strongly encourage you to write open or private starters if you so choose. Even if your character doesn’t fit into any of the categories above, there are still break ins occurring around town that your character could be worried about/affected by or are wanting to prove Billie’s innocence etc.

The tag for these plot drops are lunarcoveplotdrop2. If you do react to any of the above, we ask you please tag everything under this tag.

We will be continuing to incorporate our volunteers into posts like these throughout the upcoming weeks.

Last, but not least, we hope you have fun!

[pahrak-the-sinnoh-slizer]

Doesn’t seem right to do a proper “Games in 2024” post about the Pokémon Violet DLC Epilogue since it’s not something that can be bought by itself.  Still, spoiler-free tl;dr: they went full Silly Mode on this and I love that for them, hoping this becomes the blueprint for future Mythical events.

First of all, it took me too damn long to figure out how to start the epilogue so I want to explain it for your benefit.  After getting the Mythical Pecha Berry through Mystery Gift (via Internet), you need to go to Peachy’s in Kitakami and specifically examine the portion of counter where something that looks like a big purplish fruit is sitting.  The trailer for the epilogue did linger on this object at the very end, but that’s literally the only thing telling you where to go.  Even if they had just made it so approaching Peachy’s activated the event, that’d be a lot better IMO; cryptic shit can be fun but I don’t think it’s the right choice for debuting a brand-new event-exclusive.  Oh, I should also mention the list of pre-requisites to complete before the epilogue can start: you need to beat The Way Home, The Teal Mask, The Indigo Disk, and at least 1 Academy Ace Tournament.  It’s an “epilogue” for a reason.

The quick summary is that you meet up with the gang back in Paldea, Kieran invites you all to Kitakami, and then a Mythical Pokémon decides to cause some chaos.  The sequence of events takes…maybe an hour or two?  I didn’t keep track.  But it was nice to see the old gang again!  Arven becomes a tsundere, Penny says more Penny Things (she points out your Switch when they visit your house), and Nemona continues to be a lovable battle maniac.  It’s our first real chance to see where the former two settled after the resolution of their character arcs, and to see them all interacting as friends under normal circumstances rather than a team on a mission, and I like that!  Similarly, we get to see Kieran really pick up the pieces after what happened in Indigo Disk, and this was my favorite stretch of time spent with him by far.  He and his relationship with the protagonist felt a lot more believable this time, and I really appreciate that.  Early on we see the aftermath of Nemona defeating him, and he starts to get depressed over losing, only for Nemona to counter with her upbeat “battling is fun even if you lose!” mentality, and I kinda love that being brought into your wider circle of friends is what helps cement Kieran’s new, healthier mindset.  Anyway, it’s at about that point where things get silly.

You see, while this is very much an epilogue to all of the events thus far, it’s ALSO the distribution event of a brand-new Mythical Pokémon!  We haven’t had a Pokémon officially designated as such since Zarude; I’d begun to think that the Pokémon introduced in DLC were essentially the replacement for this model, and while I think there’s still a conversation to have there (this one IS still locked behind the DLC after all), this new Pokémon is explicitly stated to be a new Mythical.  And folks, if you were one of the fans wishing for the return of full events for Mythicals rather than just having them dropped into your PC, do I have good news for you!  Not only is this little fucker given a proper in-game event, I’m willing to declare it the BEST in-game Mythical event we have EVER had!  It’s similar to Victini’s event in that there’s an actual mini-plot containing a string of battles, but again: this event is also the epilogue to everything that’s happened in the game up to this point.  It’s a mini-story focused on a Mythical that is directly tied into the main story!  And, as SV has taken to doing, it ends with a proper boss battle against the Mythical with a massively inflated health bar!  Not to mention that these battles aren’t just fodder: most of them are Double Battles with Kieran as your partner, and start with Pokémon in the high 70s before ramping up to a final one-on-one with Pokémon in the mid-to-high 80s!  I’m being 100% serious when I say I want this to be the way Mythicals are handled going forward.  It has far more personality than a simple distribution, and I’d argue it’s even more satisfying than most of the movies made to promote new Mythicals (RIP).

Not to say that it’s perfect, of course.  Our new Mythical friend, Pecharunt, really does just sort of show up and cause chaos for no discernible reason, and ideally I’d like a bit more.  This is mainly because it’s easy to conclude that there IS more to show: it’s made super obvious that Pecharunt is connected to the Loyal Three, and Ogerpon recognizes them if you bring her to the fight, but nothing is ever directly said about any of this.  It’s possible that this was done to keep focus on the main characters, which would be worthwhile if that was the case.  Still, I would’ve at least liked there to be an NPC you can speak with who explicitly relates Pecharunt’s backstory to you.

But you may be asking, what makes this so silly?  Well, Pecharunt is able to take control of people by feeding them poison mochi, and the affected do the chicken dance and constantly say “mochi mochi!”  The one full-on cutscene in the epilogue is Pecharunt shooting mochi into Penny and Arven’s mouths in dramatic slow motion, while the protag casually sidesteps one, and another bounces off of Kieran’s forehead.  It’s mad.  The second-hand embarrassment is potentially lethal.  10/10 would recommend.

Also I do want to say, I can’t help but find Pecharunt to be incredibly clever on the part of the designers.  I already appreciated the reversal of the Momotaro legend we got in Teal Mask, it’s funny to continue that with an actual peach, I adore the consistency of incorporating the name of the pre-existing berry based on the peach into its name, AND, since that berry normally cures poison, this evil peach is a Poison type!  Well fucking done!

Completing the epilogue also adds Kieran, Carmine, Nemona, Penny, and Arven to the League Club Room; the Kitakami siblings haven’t showed up for me yet since they’re random chances, which is a little annoying.  I’m glad they were added—it would have been a huge missed opportunity to never let Nemona visit Blueberry Academy, and we get to see them all interact with a wider cast of characters.  Also, after thinking carefully about which Pokémon to trade each of the coaches, I can confirm it does not matter what you give them, because I gave Penny a Glaceon and she didn’t comment on it.

[nationalharryleague]

Two for the Show

Summary: Jeff plans for Harry’s new opening act to be more than that. 

Genre: Famous Fake Dating! 

Word Count: 17.1k!

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A/N: Hey babes!! This is something I’ve been working on since December now and I’m so fucking proud of it and how it turned out!!! It’s the longest thing I’ve ever written and I’m so so so excited to hear what everyone has to say!! Giant thank you’s go out to the incredible soph (@theharriediaries​) and Lu (@meetmymouth​) bc this never would have come to fruition without them and their help!! Please let me know what you think!! More of my writing can be found in my masterlist!! Happy reading y’all :)

***

Keeping appearances in the public eye is a delicate balance.

If Y/N was being honest with herself, everything Full Stop Management had ever suggested to her had worked, and very well. When they suggested her music took a more pop direction, they set her up with a team of fantastic producers and her music sales and popularity skyrocketed. And when they set up an appointment with a celebrity stylist to figure out her signature style, it worked; they turned her into the 1970’s inspired goddess she had always dreamed of being. Even the hours of media training that she had been put through worked, helping her learn how to bob and weave even the most intrusive of interview questions.

But this time, she thought they might be going too far.

“Jeff,” she began with a sigh and a doubtful shake of her head, “I don’t know about this one.”

“It’s just a few months before and during the tour,” explained the man sitting across from her at the long conference table. “You’ll be seen in public a few times to drum up publicity for the tour and your album, maybe do an interview or two together, and some light PDA.”

His expression was honest and earnest. In the time he had represented her, he had never done anything to her that didn’t help her succeed. It was not hard for her to believe that he just wanted what was best for her and her career.

But something kept holding her back.

“I just got my heart broken in the most public way,” she said softly, absentmindedly fiddling with the base of her ring finger where an engagement ring once sat. “Isn’t it a little too soon to be seen jumping back into a whirlwind romance?”

“I don’t think so. If anything, it will make James look even worse than he already does after what he did to you.” She had to admit the idea of a little revenge did perk her ears up a bit. “And it doesn’t hurt that Harry is so universally loved and known for being such a good guy.”

That was another reason she was skeptical of this entire plot. This was Harry Styles they were talking about; Harry fucking Styles. She had only met him once or twice while working out details for her to be the opening act for his upcoming tour, but she had been a big fan of his and idolized him since she was a teen. Just meeting him threw her inner 16 year old self for a loop, let alone trying to pretend she was in love with him.

In all honesty, it probably wouldn’t be too hard on her end once she got over being starstruck; she wasn’t so sure she still wasn’t kind of in love with him, or at least the version the public saw.

“Listen,” Jeff began again, his voice taking on a bluntness, “no one cares about the opening act. No one bought tickets to see you; they’re there to see Harry.” His words stung but she knew it was the truth. “But if they think you are a part of Harry’s life, they care about you too. And they will keep on caring about you after they leave the show.” Her apprehensiveness must have been clear on her face when he put on a gentle smile. “He’s a really nice person. I promise.”

“I know,” she breathed, a small pout finding its way to her lips. “Fine,” she conceded after a moment, throwing her hands up in the air dramatically to signal surrender. “I’m in.”

A triumphant grin spread across his face. “Thank you. I’ll go call Harry and tell him you’re down.” She watched as he got up from his chair and came towards her, pressing a brief and friendly kiss to the top of her head. “You won’t regret this, Y/N.”

“I better not, Azoff,” she chuckled while shaking her head slightly.

Soon she was alone in the conference room, basking in the light from the floor to ceiling windows that sat before her.

“What did I just get myself into?” she mumbled quietly to herself.

***

The answer to that question came two weeks later when she was sitting across a table from the Harry Styles at a small outdoor brunch spot in LA. Their meeting place was strategic, a small restaurant, not too flashy so it didn’t look like they were seeking attention, but outdoors where anyone could see. It was only a matter of time before he was recognized, and the sighting was almost guaranteed to be trending on Twitter only minutes later.

She couldn’t say that she wasn’t nervous. The inside of her mouth had been chewed raw and the bags under her eyes showed she had been having trouble sleeping in the nights leading up to their first appearance together. By the end of the day, she would most likely have countless articles written about her and possibly have millions of angry fangirls coming after her; even though their “relationship” wouldn’t be officially confirmed for a few weeks.

If all went to Jeff’s plan, she would become an A-lister overnight.

She stood in front of her closet for over an hour, trying on and taking off outfits before finally settling on her favorite pair of bright red corduroy flares and a crisp white textured halter top. She paired the outfit with a new pair of heeled leather boots. They were a flashy pair that were split down the middle, bright yellow on one side and white with yellow stars on the other, hoping Harry would appreciate the bold colors.

She meticulously did her makeup, sure to match her lipstick color exactly to the shade of her pants; and spent far too long in front of the mirror fussing with her hair, praying it would lay the way she wanted it to.

She knew that she was going to be photographed in some way shape or form, and with the fashion icon himself. She had to look good. He had been on the cover of Vogue for god’s sake.

When she finally arrived at the cafe, Harry sat quietly across from her. He looked casual, or as casual as Harry Styles gets. A yellow t-shirt, that was tight enough to look as if it was painted on, showed off his muscular chest and arms. His iconic tattoos illustrated his arms and she hoped he wouldn’t notice as she covertly tried to examine closely. He uncomfortably ran his palms down the legs of his high waisted denim flares that had been paired with his signature pearl necklace and ratty, but well loved, white vans.

And she couldn’t forget his rings. His signature gold ‘H’ and ‘S’ looked back at her as he gently grasped his flute filled to the brim with a mimosa, bringing it to his pink lips that were surrounded by the short stubble he had been wearing lately.

The pair sat in a slightly awkward silence, both seeming to down their mimosas quickly just because it was something to do with their hands and could occupy their lips so they didn’t have to talk.

To say she was panicking, wouldn’t be too much of an over exaggeration. She was sitting across from one of the world’s biggest stars, and as one of his biggest closeted fans. The things he could do for her career were astronomical and it was hard to ignore that, but she also had a hard time getting over the way his hair seemed to fall into perfect tousled curls and his dreamy green eyes.

She had been in love with him (or at least the idea of him) since she was 16. She couldn’t help it.

But the bottomless mimosas helped to break her anxiety, and apparently his as well, as they both began to feel a slight buzz.

“So how did Jeff end up talking you into this?” Harry eventually broke the silence, the alcohol lowering his naturally shy inhibitions just enough to kick off their conversation.

She let a playful eye roll take over her face before she began. “Oh Jeff,” she said jokingly, letting out a long sigh. “I was convinced somewhere in between ‘it’ll make your ex look bad’ and a stern ‘no one ever cares about the opening act,’” she chuckled, while sarcastically wagging her finger in the air, dramatically re-enacting his scolds.

He sucked in a breath through his teeth, letting out a dramatic ‘ouch.’ “He’s not always gentle, is he?” matching her chuckle.

“He knows where to hit you where it hurts,” she laughed, while nodding in agreement. “How did he convince you?”

“Coincidently, he also took a low blow involving my ex. I believe his words were ‘You wrote an entire album about her and haven’t dated anyone since and it makes you look kind of pathetic.’” He dramatically used air quotes and did his best impression of Jeff’s American accent. She couldn’t hold back the giggles that erupted from her.

“Oh my goodness,” she let out through slightly buzzed giggles, “you definitely win.”

From that point, their conversation began to flow more easily, easing her anxiety as she learned he was generally easy to talk to. He laughed at her jokes, and she laughed at his. He really did have the calming and disarming quality that people always said he had, like could melt down any walls and convince you to be honest with him, even if you didn’t really want to be. She was shocked to find that she wanted him to genuinely be a friend to her so badly. He was just so nice and such a good listener.

Their conversation took a turn when Harry’s super power of knowing when his picture was being taken kicked in. “Give me your hand,” he said to her, diverting from the pleasant conversation they had been having about their families. “Don’t look but there’s someone across the street taking photos of us.”

His instructions brought her back to the reality that they weren’t really friends and that all of this was for show.

She brought her hand up to meet his, strategically resting on the side of the table that faced the street, giving the camera the best view. The cool metal of his hand full of rings felt good against her skin that had been baking in the hot LA sun and he passed his thumb over her knuckles with faux affection.

She couldn’t help but feel a dishonest weight pulling on her heart. She knew everything was going to plan and this was all for the best, but it also felt slightly wrong. She played with her small heart shaped earring to distract herself from the sinking feeling.

“Harry,” she began, knowing the people across the street were out of ear shot. Her voice brought his attention from her hand back up to her eyes. “Does this feel wrong to you at all?”

“How so?”

“It just feels dishonest, like we’re lying to millions of people, our–well, mostly your fans.” She couldn’t help but correct herself.

His eyes softened at her words, like he was taking in the innocence she still held onto after only being in the industry for a short time, compared to his decade in the spotlight.

“I try not to think of it as lying,” he spoke slowly after a moment of thinking. He nodded along softly to punctuate his words. “When you think about all this as lying, it starts to weigh pretty heavy on you as a person. I try to be as honest as possible in my music and daily life, but that’s not always what people want to see. They want a show that will entertain them, and it is our job to give it to them.”

“I see,” she mused.

They sat together for another hour or so, allowing their small mimosa buzz to wear off enough for them to drive the short distances to their homes. The pair eventually found their way back to a comfortable conversation, but Harry’s comment about being in the public eye still weighed on her.

Suddenly, she wasn’t sure if all of this was worth it. Y/N was a master at dodging a question and turning the charm to 10 when it was needed, but she wasn’t a liar and she definitely wasn’t an actress. She hoped she (or Jeff) hadn’t bitten off more than she could chew with all of this.

Harry eventually walked her back to her car that was parked a few blocks away, and while she was sure he was doing it for the cameras, she didn’t doubt that he would have done it even if they weren’t there. He just seemed like that kind of guy to her; caring and trustworthy.

“Thank you for a very nice date, Harry,” she said, winking and chuckling along with the extra emphasis she put on the last word.

“My pleasure,” he smiled down at her. He moved along with her as she walked to the driver's side door, opening it for her like a perfect gentleman. The two stood close, his body hovering over her’s as they stood inside the open door. Her heart rose to her throat as he leaned down to her and pressed a gentle kiss to her burning cheek.

Y/N  looked back up at him with rosy cheeks and a tightlipped bashful smile. She watched as he walked backward carefully, taking her hand that had been locked with his until he was too far and let it fall back to her body.

She situated herself in her drivers seat and was ready to leave when she heard a knocking on the passenger side window that startled her. Harry had bent himself over and was motioning for her to roll the window down. When she did, he leaned himself in, an honest look in his eyes.

“Before you go,” he said gently. “A word of advice from someone who had been in the public eye for a long time,” he spoke with a tender yet serious tone, eyes locking with hers. “When you go home today, don’t go on social media. People are mean, and it’s just going to hurt.” She nodded along with his words and watched as he pinched his bottom lip. “And when you inevitably can’t resist, text me if you need to talk about it.”

***

They must have done a good job putting on their show because within an hour of her returning home to her apartment, they were all anyone was talking about. Their names were trending worldwide #1 on Twitter. Streams of Y/N’s debut album were up by 800%, and even Harry’s streams had taken a considerable jump. Y/N had gained 40,ooo new followers and views on every interview she had ever done were steadily rising.

All was going according to Jeff’s plan.

Harry’s words circled her brain for hours. “Don’t go on social media,” she heard him say over and over again as she paced her apartment, only stopping to look at the phone sitting on the kitchen counter every so often.

She had taken a shower, done her hair, tried to watch TV, cooked herself dinner, and even tried to sit down and write a song; it all got her nowhere fast. The unknown was eating at her inside.

Y/N broke when she heard the small ding signaling she had gotten a text message. She had all but sprinted to see who it was, reunited with the outside world through her touch screen. Unsurprisingly, it was from Jeff; the message sent to her and an unknown number she assumed to be Harry’s.

Good job, kiddos., was all it read but there was a photo attached to the message. Her heart stopped while she waited for the photo to load, cursing her slow wifi in the process. After a few breathless moments, the photo came through.

It was a screenshot from the website of one of the biggest entertainment magazines in the country. A picture of him kissing her cheek was the front page of the website.

Harry Styles and Y/N Y/L/N Rumored To Be Music’s New Power Couple Ahead of Tour

She was honestly speechless. This was huge.

She would like to say the sheer shock blurred her judgement, but the curiosity just got the better of her. Harry’s words repeated over and over again in her head, telling her not to, even as her finger connected with the icon of the little blue bird.

She was the most talked about topic in the entire world, her name hovering in bold letters on the trending page. She did everything she could to not click on her name, but her fingers did it all on her own.

The first few tweets were nice. Someone said they liked her style and that they looked cute together as a couple. Another said that they had always enjoyed her music and that they were happy for them.

But as she scrolled, it became harsher and just mean. People commented on her weight, said she couldn’t sing, and criticized her personality as seeming fake and forced. Her eyes were locked on the screen, unable to look away, as her heart began to break and few tears began to roll.

It took one final, and the most painful, tweet for her to consider deleting her account completely. She swiped out of the app fast, but the words were still burned into her brain.

Y/N is using Harry, just like she used James before he got rid of her and found someone better.

The words knocked the wind out of her, pouring salt on an open wound that had yet to heal.

She also had the little blue bird for that heartbreak as well. When she opened the app two months ago, the first thing she saw was pictures of her (former) fiance, James, with his tongue down some girl’s throat. At the time she had been devastated, her heart broken beyond repair.

It felt like no one else in the world could understand the way she was feeling. If she was in this position because of another person, they must get it too. The text to Harry was already sent before she had time to think it over.

I looked and I shouldn’t have. I’m sorry that I didn’t listen.

His response came only seconds later.

Don’t be sorry. It’s hard not to. Are you alright?

She had to think about his question, unsure if she knew the answer. Tears were still running down her face and she felt like she was a target the entire world had decided it was open season on. Logically, she knew these people never thought she would see these awful things, but it didn’t excuse the hurt she felt when she did.

I don’t know. I just don’t understand how people can be so cruel.

She felt like she was bothering him, even though he had offered to be there for her. He wasn’t her best friend, or a close confidant; he was her fake publicity boyfriend. He had real friends he wanted to talk to or maybe even a real girlfriend underwraps somewhere. Her body was wracked with guilt as she thought it over.

People are just mean on the internet, okay? They think they can say whatever they want without repercussions. I’m so sorry that you are being targeted because of me.

Before she got a chance to think through a proper response to him, her phone dinged with another text. It was from Jeff again.

Really good job, kiddos.

Y/N was confused. They hadn’t done anything else but be seen together today. Her sick sense of curiosity got her again before she opened Twitter again and looked up Harry’s name. He had tweeted for the first time in six months only a few moments ago.

@Harry_Styles: We treat people with kindness.

***

The next time she saw him was two days later at yet another public meet up Jeff had arranged for them. Unfortunately this time, she had become just as famous as Harry seemingly overnight, the flames of her new found fame growing even larger after he had sent that tweet.

While the fame had grown, the hate had calmed since his statement, which most had taken as an official declaration of their relationship. Now, that was not to Jeff’s plans.

She had to fight her way out of her apartment complex, wearing a pair of massive dark sunglasses with circular lenses and shielding her face with her hands the best she could. But she did have to admit that the electric orange fabric of her jumpsuit probably didn’t do much to help her blend in and avoid the attention of the paparazzi that had now found out where she lived.

Harry was sitting at the table by himself facing the back of the cafe when she arrived, two cups of coffee waiting before him to be drank together placed delicately on the table. He had his head down, buried in a book, before she startled him with a hug from behind. Her cheek connected with his warm neck where she buried her head into him and she took in his dizzying cologne.

She felt him jump beneath her as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pressing a dramatic and cheesy kiss to his cheek, feeling his light stubble prick her chapsticked lips. “My hero,” she joked, trying to bring at least a little humor to the man who had just about jumped out of his skin at her touch.

It felt like she was crossing a boundary, and she was pretty sure she was, but she just needed to thank him and a hug felt like the best way to do that while in a semi-crowded coffee shop. Also, playing up that they were madly in love didn’t hurt.

“Jesus Christ,” he breathed, a hand flying over his chest in surprise to feel his racing heartbeat. “You scared the shit out of me.” Once he settled for a moment, his arm moved across his chest to rest on her arm. His touch was gentle and soft, holding her there gently like he didn’t want her to release him from her grasp. She tried not to think about it too much as she slipped her arms off of him, making her way to the seat that was clearly meant for her across from him.

“I’m sorry that I scared you. A little jumpy today?” she teasingly questioned.

“Hey, watch it,” he playfully threatened. “I believe you called me your hero about thirty seconds ago.”

“I guess I did,” she quipped over the mug she was bringing to her lips. It was sweet but not too sweet, with cream but not too much, and still piping hot; just the way she liked it. “I don’t think it’s too far off,” she smiled before turning back to the coffee. “Good coffee,” she mused. “Just the way I like it.”

“Good. I texted Jeff for your order,” he informed her, the gesture being so thoughtful and sweet she could have melted into a puddle right there and then. “And I think ‘hero’ might be a bit much,” he tacked on.

“Don’t be humble, Harry.” While her voice was still light and held a jesting tone, she meant her words. “You made the entire internet leave me alone, for the most part,” she clarified as there were definitely some nasty messages still floating around Twitter, “in five words.”

“It was the least I could do,” he said while shaking his head slightly, seeming to deflect her words.

“You could have done absolutely nothing.” She reached across the table and grabbed his hand in hers like they had staged at the cafe a few days earlier; but this time, it was an honest gesture, not one for a role they were both meant to be playing. Her words were serious, punctuating each with a gentle nod of her head. “I mean it. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” His eyes held the same truthfulness and honesty she hoped she was mirroring in her own. “I know all of this,” he paused and gestured between them with his free hand, “is for publicity, but I consider you a friend. It was hard to watch it all go down like that. You’re a good person and you didn’t deserve all that. I had to do something.”

There was a warmth that flooded her chest. He called me his friend, she thought to herself, fighting back a big toothy grin. She had been under the impression that all of this was just work for him, something he was doing just to drum up publicity, with no personal connections at all. But him calling her a friend meant so much to her. It meant she was not alone in all this terrifying and overwhelming attention.

“I’m glad you think of me as a friend,” she said, still holding back her smile. “You’re my friend too.” He matched her close-lipped smile that had fought its way onto her face at her words.

They sat in silence together for a few moments. Harry returned to his book and Y/N answered emails; but their hands stayed connected across the small table. This silence was very different from the silence on the day they first met. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence that sat on your tongue, begging you to break the quiet; it was peaceful and safe.

Their silence was broken when a young woman wearing a jittery smile and nervous eyes approached their table. Her voice squeaked out a mouse-like “Hi,” towards the both of them, bringing their eyes up to meet hers and instinctively breaking their hands away from each other.

“I’m so so sorry to be a bother,” she began, cheeks red and hot. “But I’m a really big fan of both of you and I would never forgive myself if I didn’t say hello.” She rambled excitedly, mostly looking at Harry, as she held her slightly shaky hands up to her chest.

“Hello,” Harry said with one of his million dollar smiles. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Emma,” she breathed.

“Well, it’s so nice to meet you Emma.” He spoke gently with her, clearly sensing her anxiety, extending his hand for her to shake. “Thank you for all of your support.”

Y/N watched closely as he spoke with her. He spoke to her like she was the only person in the room, giving her his whole undivided attention, and repeatedly thanking her as she flooded him with compliments about how his music and message of kindness meant so much to her. She was so entranced that she nearly didn’t hear her own name being said as the girl turned towards her.

“I love your music as well,” she grinned, clearly more comfortable after her short conversation with Harry. “And your jumpsuit is just incredible.” Her nervous giggle was contagious, Y/N releasing one as well at the compliment as her cheeks heated slightly. She was shocked she even knew any of her music, clearly being the less popular of the pair.  

“Thank you so much, Emma. It means a lot.”

Emma took a few quick selfies with the both of them (that would be everywhere within a few hours), said goodbye and went to leave the two, but not before she paid them one last compliment. “You two are really cute together. I’m rooting for you.”

Both of their cheeks warmed as they looked back at each other. They were quiet for a moment, unsure how to respond, before Harry turned his attention back to the girl with a coy smile. “I am too,” was all he said.

***

The next three weeks passed in a blur of tour rehearsals, fittings, and public meetings with Harry. And then all of a sudden, it was the night of the first show.

Y/N had never been so nervous in her entire life. She would be the first face seen by just over 19,000 people, tasked to warm up the crowd and prepare them for Harry, which was enough pressure. And then there was the chance that they all hated her guts.

She stood behind the curtain, listening to the loud and inpatient crowd as she paced back and forth. She white-knuckeld her guitar, trying to keep her violently shaking hands from being too visible to the crew around her. Her stomach swirled and her palms were clammy, constantly having to rub them on the pants of her icey blue jumpsuit. It fit her like a glove, the wide legged pants and slight shoulder pads, creating a perfect hourglass silhouette; the only thing she was confident in at the moment was how good she looked in it.

Her heart leapt out of her chest and she almost hit the ceiling when a small voice appeared over her shoulder, whispering “You’re going to do great,” in her ear. If her heart wasn’t about to give out before, it was now. She swung around to face him, almost hitting Harry with her guitar, letting out a small breath of relief when her eyes met his own. They always seemed to calm her down a bit.

“I’m kinda freaking out, H,” she anxiously babbled, using the nickname he had told her to call him. “This is the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of, and they probably all hate me because they think I’m dating you, and I have to make sure I do a good job so they start listening to my music; and I just…” she trailed off for a second, uncomfortably scratching the back of her neck, “I just can’t let you down.”

His face softened at her words, seeming to take pity on her. “Y/N,” he began, resting his hands on her shoulders and looking so deep into her eyes she felt like he could probably see her soul. “We picked you to open because people love your music and the way that you perform. You just have to go out there and do what you do best: sing your heart out and put on a good show. It’s only 25 minutes. I know you can do it.”

Every word that left his lips was laced with honesty and encouragement; just enough for Y/N to relax her furrowed brow and give her lip a break from her constant chewing. “I can do it,” she softly repeated back to him, still not breaking contact with his striking green eyes.

A stage manager passed by them, running to some other important task, but not before tapping her shoulder. “You’re on in 30 seconds,” he spoke, just as she heard the roar of the crowd begin, signalling the dimming of the lights in the arena.

“Go kick some ass,” he winked, stepping backwards from her and releasing her from his grasp. “I’ll be watching.”

Walking on stage, she wasn’t met with ‘boo’s that had plagued her nightmares, or mean looks from the audience, or rotten tomatoes thrown from the crowd.

They were screaming in excitement, screaming for her.

From the second she started playing, the crowd had her back; the ones that knew the words to her songs sang them along with her, and the ones that didn’t, happily danced to her voice. Before long, the smile she had forced onto her face was genuine, and her set passed by with ease. When her 25 minutes were up, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to get off the stage.

She took her final bow as the crowd roared, running off of the stage into the wings, looking for one person in particular. And when she found him, she threw herself into Harry’s open and waiting arms. “I told you that you were going to do great!” He spoke excitedly into her ear and he held her close to his body, his arms wrapped around her waist tight.

She liked the way it felt to be in his arms.

Pulling away from him, she saw the massive grin that he wore for her, noting how adorable his dimples were and how the excited look in his eyes made him look like a little kid. But there was more to his face than excitement, he looked proud.

“They were so nice to me, and they knew my songs, and they were screaming so loud for me, and it just went so well. I can’t believe it!” Her previous anxious chatter had become an exhilarated rambling and she felt on top of the world.

“I can,” he grinned, looking down at his watch quickly. “I have to go get changed.” If she wasn’t so amped up, she might have noticed the disappointment that flashed over his features. “Promise me you’ll watch the show?”

“Pinky swear?” She stuck up her little finger in the air.

“Pinky swear.” He kept their pinkies locked for a moment too long, then released her hand and ran backstage to get dressed.

She kept her promise and watched with excitement as the building shook when Harry took the stage.

She had never heard something quite so loud, sure her ears would be ringing when she snuggled into her bunk on the tour bus that night. Watching him perform was mesmerizing; he knew how to work a stage in every way and make every person in the arena feel like he was singing just for them. He was larger than life while performing and his little dances and mannerisms only got more pronounced the more comfortable he got on stage. He messed with Mitch, who she had only met a few hours ago (he was very nice), and constantly praised Sarah on the drums behind him, while he looked over to Adam and sent him smiles often.

Everyone in the building came for a show, and boy, did he give them one. It was amazing to watch. There was a reason she was a fan.

Bouncing off the stage, full of adrenaline and in a post-show high, he came to find her. It wasn’t hard, as she had never left her spot on the side of the stage, unable to rip her eyes away from the man before her.

“Oh my god, Harry! That was incredible!” she said with delighted amazement.

“I’m glad you liked it.” He was smiling down at her with a big toothy grin, a hand running through his sweaty hair and pushing it off his forehead. “They only get better from here.”

***

He was telling the truth. The shows only got crazier and more exciting as the tour went on, and so did their “relationship.”

About five shows in, Jeff had Harry given her his “H” ring to start wearing. Harry didn’t seem too phased by it all even though she thought it might be too much, saying “it’s like a friendship bracelet.” But it was too big for her fingers, not because she had small hands, but because Harry’s were absolutely massive. She wore it on a chain around her neck from then on and made sure to always be seen playing with it.

Fans took notice and loved it.

A little after that, Jeff sent them off to get matching manicures. Both had a melting rainbow of oranges, pinks, and browns on their fingertips, which looked amazing in the paparazzi photos of them walking around with their fingers intertwined.

The fans loved that too.

But when she “accidentally” posted a photo of Harry on her story, the entire world lost it’s shit. In the photo, he laid sprawled across a bed in only a white hotel robe that was creeping dangerously high up his thigh. He looked sleepy and slightly sweaty, in a post-fuck haze, and clothes that looked very similar to ones she had been seen wearing in public only days before were strewn across the floor. The caption read “I love getting to love you.”

The photo had strategically only been up for about 30 seconds, but by the time it was deleted thousands of people had seen it and screenshots had been taken. They quickly circulated the internet, creating a bit of scandal. But more than anything, people began to love the two of them together even more. Harry looked genuinely happy in the photo, and for most of his fans, that was all that mattered.  

They were creating a fairytale love story for an audience, but she would be lying if she said she wasn’t enjoying her role. She quite liked being his “girlfriend.”

Harry and Y/N had a way of clicking as they grew closer–quite literally as they were crammed together on a tour bus most of the time. They seemed to be able to finish each other’s sentences and always beat the other to the punchline of a joke. The pair had begun to pick up on the other’s mannerisms and habits; Y/N always teasing that Harry was going to rub his nose off one day if he kept rubbing it while he was thinking and Harry always knowing when she got enough sleep by whether or not she had put on eyeliner that morning. They swapped playlists back and forth in their bunks as they tried to doze off and always grabbed a cup of coffee for whoever had decided to sleep in the next day, now knowing the other’s order by heart.

There was only one thing she didn’t know about him that she longed to discover: what his lips felt like against her own. She could never think too hard about it though, or she may just explode.

He had become a calming presence and was currently helping her keep her cool, even though she knew the pair of interviewers across the table were getting ready to grill the pair for every detail they could get. His hand had settled on top of her knee to quell it’s nervous bouncing, but remained after she had stopped, even though no one could see his touch under the table. She watched as his thumb ran itself back and forth along the leg of her flashy orange and yellow patterned overalls and she had a hard time pulling her gaze away when the radio host across the large table began to speak.

“So Harry,” the bald man began. “Fine Line has been one of the biggest albums of the year and I just have to say I love it. It’s truly incredible.” She listened as the man continued on to sing Harry’s praises, going on to list his grammy nominations, sold out world tour, and other accolades. She couldn’t help but smile as she watched his cheeks tinge pink with the praise. She knew anyone watching would pick up on her adoring look and people fawn over it, but she knew her gaze was nothing but truthful.

“Thank you very much,” he said shyly, shaking his head slightly as he spoke into the microphone suspended in front of his face. “You’re too kind.”

“Stop being humble,” she teased him, playfully tapping him on the arm. “All of his music is fantastic,” she said turning her attention back to the man across from them, “especially Fine Line.”

“And there’s Y/N, being the supportive girlfriend,” the man chuckled.

“I support him in everything he does,” she smiled back, not having to embellish the truth at all. “He is an amazing talent and I think Fine Line shows that.”

It wasn’t hard for her to gush about him. It was actually quite easy. She absolutely adored him, as an artist, a friend, and the focus of her affection. She felt an equal warmth in her cheeks as she watched his get even pinker with her compliments.

“That’s actually something we wanted to ask you about,” the blonde woman sitting next to him piped up, a mischievous glint in her eyes that sent nervous butterflies flying around Y/N’s stomach. “One of the songs on Fine Line, Cherry to be specific, actually features the voice of Harry’s ex, Camille. How does that make you feel as his new girl?”

Y/N did her best not to gag at the woman’s question, gritting her teeth as she plastered on a polite smile. “Well, I think Cherry is a really great song and her voice at the end adds a lot,” she spoke as smoothly as she could, refusing to let on that the question rattled her. Harry’s light squeeze on her knee signalled to her that she had answered the question well.

“It’s also been three years since the song was written,” Harry cut in. “Things are obviously a lot different now.” He connected their eyes for a second while he was leaning back into his seat, sending her a short smile, but she knew him well enough to know it was genuine.

“Oh, definitely,” the woman eagerly agreed. “You’re in a great new relationship with a beautiful girl on your arm.”

“Y/N,” he emphasized her name as the woman had referred to her as a possession of his for a second time, “and I are very happy. Thank you.” To an onlooker, he was calm. To her, he was visibly uncomfortable by her words.

Y/N began to notice a clear pattern as the interview went on. Harry was asked exclusively about his music and the tour, while Y/N only became relevant to their interviewers when they wanted to mention their relationship.

When the man asked Y/N if she felt uncomfortable playing to Harry’s mainly female fanbase every night that are “so obviously jealous of her,” something snapped inside of her, sending all her hours of media training out the window. “I’m not uncomfortable at all,” she said curtly. “His music is great and he puts on an awesome show. I don’t think the audience’s gender really has anything to do with the music.” She watched the man’s face fall before she decided to go on. “And I would like to think that at least a few of them are there for me too. You do know I make music too, right?”

An indignant smirk found its way to her lips as the man stammered out, “yes, of course.”

“Okay. I was just wondering since you have only asked me questions about our relationship since we got here.”

She knew Jeff wouldn’t be happy, but at the moment, she couldn’t care less. They may not have really been dating, but the interviewers didn’t know that. All of their dismissal of her and her career was 100% real.

She had been so worked up that she didn’t even realize Harry’s hand had left her knee until it found its way to rest on her back. She leaned into his touch as he rubbed her back softly while she crossed her arms in front of her.

The interviewers looked at the two of them across the table, jaws both lying on the floor. It was quiet until Harry nonchalantly spoke. “She has a point.”

The last few minutes of the interview passed in an awkward blur that felt suffocating. She felt like she could finally take in a deep breath once they were in the back of a massive SUV being driven away from the studio.

“Jeff is going to have my head,” she mumbled under her breath, nose stuck into her phone as she scrolled Twitter to see what people were saying about her outburst. But before she could read any opinions, Harry's tattooed arm blocked her view as he gently pushed her phone down onto her lap.

“Look at me,” he murmured, beckoning her attention to the other side of the back seat. When she connected her eyes with his, his usual calming aura took over her, softening the stressed crease between her brows. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Harry, I just blew my career up into smoke because I couldn’t deal with a rude interviewer,” she huffed at him.

“No,” he disagreed softly, moving the hand that rested on her arms to interlock his fingers with one of hers. “You stuck up for yourself to people who were ignoring your work and whittling you down to your relationship.”

“But it was rude.”

“It was necessary.”

The car ride to the venue for that night’s concert was quiet, but Harry never let go of her hand, brushing his thumb over her knuckles in a comforting touch. She wasn’t sure if she ever wanted him to let go.

***

It was the early hours of the morning by the time the pair returned to their tour bus and went to crawl into their bunks.

Her performance had gone well and Harry was mesmerizing (as always). He was truly hypnotizing to watch while he performed and she hadn’t missed watching him yet, even as they drew close to the end of the tour. It was the best part of her day and she would miss it dearly after the last show.

She was almost asleep, curtain drawn and cuddled under a pile of blankets, when her cell began to ring. Her heart sank, knowing only one person who would know when she had a sliver of free time (even though it’s debatable if sleeping counts as free time). She was going to get scolded like she was a little kid in the principal's office and she knew it.

“Hi Jeff,” she answered with a sigh as she pulled the curtain back and slid from the bunk, the cold air of the tour bus nipping at her legs.

Her gaze was met by a snuggled up Harry wearing a concerned face across from her in his own bed. He never closed the curtain, not even when she asked politely to muffle his snores, always saying something about how it made him claustrophobic. He sent her a tired smile and mouthed “good luck,” extending a hand for a fist bump as she passed. Knocking their knuckles together put a brief smile on her face before she buckled in for the chewing out she was about to get.

Harry watched her intently as she paced up and down the front of the tour bus as she spoke to Jeff, too far away for him to listen in. Her face gradually turned from anxious, to surprised, to something that would have probably been happiness if she wasn’t so tired.

“Alright, thank you for everything.” She spoke softly when she finally returned to be within earshot for him. “Goodnight Jeff.”

“So?” he murmured groggily at her, brows raised in question at her.

“People loved it,” she said shocked, like she didn’t fully believe it herself. “They think I’m some kind of badass for shutting down a sexist. Which is, like, a lot,” she spoke with a disbelieving chuckle, unable to find the right words in her groggy state. “I don’t really know what to make of it.”

Harry seemed to spring up from his spot in his bed, smacking his head on the top of the bunk in the process, prompting them both to dissolve into a puddle of giggles.

“Don’t get too excited for me,” she laughed. “I cannot be the reason that you hurt yourself and have to cancel a show.”

“I was just too excited to say ‘I told you so,’” he smirked, now rubbing the side of his head through his curls.

“Cocky bastard,” she sarcastically murmured under her breath while dramatically rolling her eyes.

She watched with confusion as Harry left his bed, and after a short and frantic search for his pajama pants so he wouldn’t “offend her eyes,” he moved towards the front of the bus. Her eyes trailed him as he bent down to the small mini fridge and pulled out two beers.

“We have to celebrate.”

It was 2 AM and she had been so ready for bed after a long day. But she knew she could never say no to him. She thanked god that they had a day off tomorrow.

After retrieving her massive and lovingly worn Grateful Dead sweatshirt to protect her from the chilly air, she nearly ran to the front of the bus. His painted pink fingers moved with skill as he popped the bottle caps off with one of his rings, handing it to her and gently nudging his bottle against hers.

“Cheers,” he murmured softly as he looked down at her with a kindhearted smile.

“Cheers,” she seemed to whisper back to him, a flutter in her stomach reminding her how badly she wanted to reach out and connect her lips to his. Instead she slid into the small booth across from him, taking a long sip from the bottle as she watched him do the same.

“I want you to know that I was really proud of you today,” he said as he put his beer down on the table. “Rude interviewers are never easy and you handled it like a champ.”

“Thank you, H,” she nodded, suddenly bashful and unable to make eye contact with him. Her cheeks burned hot as she put all her focus into tracing the rim of the bottle with her finger tip.

“Hey,” he called for her attention and her eyes snapped up to meet his. “I mean it, Y/N.”

“I know you do,” she gently nodded at him. “I’m just really happy they didn’t ask about my ex,” she chuckled as she took another sip. “That would have gone very poorly.”

“Oh yeah, I was a little annoyed they brought up my ex but not yours,” he teased. “Not fair if you ask me.”

“Well, then I’m glad no one asked you.”

“Can I ask you?”

“What?”

“About your ex.”

She should have been prepared to talk about it with Harry at some point. Half of this plan had been devised to get back at James anyway. She should be able to talk about it by now, especially with someone she had grown so close to.

“I guess so,” she shrugged, trying to seem casual like the mere mention of him didn’t still hurt her heart a little bit. “What do you want to know?”

“As much as you’re willing to tell me.”

He looked soft like this, eyes slightly sleepy with a tenderness in them as he looked back at her. His hair was unruly and puffy and he was wrapped in the powder blue blanket that lived on the tour bus’ couch. She would have told him anything that he ever wanted to hear if he kept looking like this.

With a deep breath, she began to recount everything that went down.

“I met James while I was still working as a waitress. I recognized him from his movies and started a conversation, and then–to my surprise–he asked me out on a date. I had been in LA for three weeks and this insanely famous actor is asking me to go out with him, so I obviously said yes.” She paused to take a swig of her beer, before mumbling under her breath, “I should have said ‘fuck no’ to that.”

A smile ghosted over her lips as she listened to Harry’s laugh across the table. She swore that laugh could cure cancer.

“But I didn’t,” she continued. “He introduced me to the right people and helped me make the right connections in the industry, which I guess made me feel indebted to him. Does that make sense?”

“Of course,” Harry nodded, eyebrows furrowed and listening intently.

“I should have broken up with him after I signed with Jeff and the label, however awful that sounds. But he just always knew the right things to say to make me feel special and like I was the most important person in the world. Even after I found out he was talking to other girls, he was somehow able to talk himself out of it.” She shook her head as she recalled it. “You wanna hear something fucked up?”

“Always,” he said with a gentle smirk.

“He proposed to me using lines from a romcom he was working on.”

Harry nearly spit out his drink. “Holy shit, you’re kidding!”

“I wish. I didn’t find out until I went with him to the premier a few months later and the proposal scene sounded surprisingly familiar.”

“What a dirtbag.”

“I know, right?” she laughed. “Then a few weeks after that, he got papped with his tongue down another girl’s throat. That finally knocked some sense into me and I ran for the hills.”

“Fuck,” he sighed as he finished his beer. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she breathed. “I don’t even feel hurt by him anymore, ya know? I just feel angry at myself for trusting him.”

“I understand but it’s not your fault he was a piece of shit,” he said as he rose from his seat and traveled to the mini fridge once again. “Another?” he asked, holding the bottle up about his head.

“Fuck it,” she shrugged. “Sure.”

She watched him skillfully pop off the tops again using just his rings, making a mental note to make him teach her how he did that, before he flopped back down in his seat.  

“At the risk of sounding like a Facebook mom, ‘you grow through what you go through,’” she chuckled, taking another long sip as she finished her first. He matched her high pitched giggle across the table and she nearly drooled beer down her front from smiling so wide.

“Amen, sister,” he agreed, raising his beer in the air.

“Oh, that was awful.” She shook her head as she descended into giggles. “Please never say that again.”

“Noted.”

“Anyway,” she began again after another sip of her drink, “I was well prepared to get my heartbroken by untrustworthy men after you, Styles.”

“I’m offended–tell me more,” he spoke quickly, his signature narcissistic smirk settling onto his features.

“I need you to know that Zayn leaving was my first real heartbreak.”

“Were the rest of us chopped liver?”

“You weren’t Zayn, I can tell you that.”

“Ouch!” He let out a loud belly laugh.

“Put yourself in my shoes for a minute, H. So first, the hottest-”

“Rude-”

“-I’m speaking. So the hottest one leaves, and then the rest of you are all like ‘we’ll be back in 18 months,’” she mocked him in a high pitched impersonation with a wave, “and then 6 months later you all mysteriously have solo careers.”

“I do not see you complaining about my solo career now, ya fame leetch.” He spoke with such humor and charisma, she couldn’t have even wished to be offended by his joke.

“Absolutely not, sir,” she said sternly, giving him a dramatic salute. “Deepest apologies from the fame leetch.” The two collapsed into giggles, laughing until their sides began to ache.

“Wait, I have a question for mega superstar Mr. Harry Styles of former One Direction fame,” she announced.

“I believe that’s me,” he bowed his head and raised his hand into the hair. “Shoot.”

She barely could get the question out, laughing too hard at her own joke. “Is Taylor Swift a good kisser?”

“Oh god,” he exasperatedly threw his hands in the air, chuckling while rolling his eyes dramatically before grinning wide as he thought over his answer. “I don’t kiss and tell,” he finally smirked.

“Wait, I have another!”

“Watch it, smart ass.”

“You think I’m smart?” she teased as she feigned flattery. “Have you ever heard of a song called ‘English Love Affair?’” He narrowed his eyes at her, a knowing smirk crossing his lips as he shook his head at her. “Also, when do I get to meet Gemma?”

“I’ll consider it when you stop bringing up her sex life, perv.”

“We’ve been dating for a few months now,” she teased as she continued to prod, emboldened by the liquid courage running through her veins as she was now half way through her next beer. “I think I should be allowed to meet the family soon. They seem delightful.”

“They would love how you have decided to rip into me like this,” he said with a cheeky smile, dimples on full display.

“Rockstars have to get knocked down a peg every once in a while.” She sarcastically shrugged. “Consider it a favor.”

She couldn’t help but think about how right this felt. Their back and forth flowed so smoothly, the banter falling from their lips without effort. Their laughter joined together in a delightful melody and she imagined they could go on this way all night.

Spending any amount of time with him made her so fucking happy; and time spent teasing each other over beers caused her to nearly explode with joy. How much she was enjoying herself was too hard to put into words.

He was safe and he was kind and he made her laugh no matter how bad his jokes were.

He was her best friend.

And for the first time, she was willing to admit that she was in love with him.

“Harry,” she hummed softly as their laughter died down to a comfortable silence. “Thank you for everything. You’ve changed my life forever and I can never repay you.”

“Just remember me when you get famous.”

“Oh shut up, I’m being serious,” she playfully scolded before letting her tone drop back into honesty. “You’re a very good person and I’m eternally grateful for you letting me be your opening act and then agreeing to this whole relationship charade.”

“I didn’t ‘let’ you be anything, Y/N. I picked you myself.”

Her brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I listened to your album when it came out and fell in love with it,” he shrugged, his casual tone contradicting the surprised raise of her pulse. “When I found out Jeff also managed you, I knew I had to have you on the tour.”

Y/N was honestly stunned. She had always assumed that the tour was Jeff’s doing, a careful arrangement pairing Full Stop’s new up-and-comer with their most famous and established talent. Being offered the tour had been the biggest opportunity and honor she had ever been presented with; but she had never considered Harry himself being behind it.

“Oh,” was all she could manage to get out.

It was now his turn to be confused. “What’s so surprising about that?” he asked, reading the shock on her face like she was an open book.

“I just,” she stammered, trying to find the words in her slightly hazy state. “I never would have thought you knew who I was or listened to my music.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t know,” she trailed off. “You’re you, and I’m just... me, I guess.”

He didn’t respond right away, just looking at her intently and slightly amused, sea glass eyes boring into her with a pink lip held between his teeth.

He scanned her frame, from the way her hair sat messily on top of her head and the way the massive sweatshirt swallowed her body enough to where she had pulled her knees up to her chest underneath it. Her shoulders were slumped slightly, making her appear smaller as she held her legs close to her torso and her eyebrows were knitted together in worry, slightly nervous under his intense gaze.

She downed the rest of her beer in an attempt to forget his intense attention. It didn’t work.

“You really don’t know how incredible you are, do you?” he finally asked, the corner of his lips twitching into a small smile.

She felt her whole body burn with his compliment, wanting to shrink into herself and disappear completely from his view. She finally shook her head slightly in an attempt to deflect his words, breathing his name under her breath as if to scold him for being too kind.

“You are,” he insisted, ignoring her objection. “You’re so talented and your music deserves all the attention that it gets. I am honored that I get to play a part in helping expose the world to you and what you have to offer.”

“Thank you.” Her words came out as a whisper.

“You’re welcome, love.”

His pet name made her stomach turn in a nervous excitement and a wide grin involuntarily came to her lips.

“I like it when I make you smile like that.” His words only made her beam further. “You look very pretty when you smile.”

“Stop it,” she said softly, cheeks burning hot and having a hard time making eye contact with him.

“Stop what?” He feigned innocence as he lightly teased her, smirk still prominent on his features.

“Are you flirting with me, Styles?”

“Just practicing.”

His words rang through her mind long after they had left the table and crawled back into their bunks for the night. She wished she could see inside his head to understand whatever thoughts were running around his brain.

But for now she could just peak at him through the gap she had purposely left in her curtain, wondering if she ever popped into his dreams as he slept.

He was always in hers.

***

There was a sadness mixed in with her usually thrilled mood as she took the stage for the last show of the tour. While there was an element of relief as she looked forward to some well needed rest, the adrenaline and joy of being in front of a crowd was something that she would miss dearly. She had grown into a real performer over the last two months as they zig-zagged across the US and this period of time would have a special place in her heart long after it had ended.

But there was another reason why she was so sad to see this chapter come to an end. As far as she knew, a staged breakup was not far away and the thought of being without Harry was heartbreaking. He had become her person and soon their feux falling out would be on the front page of every magazine. She wanted nothing more in the world than for their relationship to be real, but it would be forced to end before it had even truely started.

She got choked up as she sang her final song that night, letting a few tears escape as she took in the thousands of people singing her lyrics back to her, flashlights swaying in the air to the beat of the music. Taking a move from Harry’s own playbook, she took her mic and directed it to the crowd to sing as she cried. The vibrations of the drums and bass behind her nestled it’s way into her bones and the chorus of singing voices in the crowd surrounded her in a bittersweet melody.

The past two months she had been on top of the world, and as soon as this song finished, it was the beginning of the end.

She took her final bow, watching as the small tears fell forward onto the dusty stage below her. She waved and blew kisses to the crowd, then nearly ran off the stage looking for the only person she wanted to see.

Harry was right where he always was, just out of view behind the curtain, holding his arms out for her to fall into.

“Awe, babe,” he hummed sympathetically when she settled her head onto his chest, surely ruining his crisp white t-shirt with her now wet makeup. “It’s okay. Final shows are always tough.” He rubbed her back gently, in a soothing rhythm.

He smelled so good. He smelled like home.

She tilted her head up to connect her glassy eyes with his. “I just don’t want this all to end.” She knew she wasn’t just talking about the tour.

“Neither do I,” he said as his lips curved into a devilish smirk that sent her heart into palpitations. “That’s why I have one last surprise for you.”

“Oh, Harry,” she sighed while wiping the remaining tears off her cheeks. “What have you done?”

“You said you liked surprises!” he defended.

“Not surprises in front of 20,000 people!”

“I promise you’re going to love this one, okay?” His voice was softer now, encouraging and supportive. “You’re going to come out and sing an extra song with me during my set,” he revealed.

“Sing what?”

“That’s the surprise.”

“Do I even know the words?”

“You definitely know the words,” he chuckled.

“I just finished sobbing. I can’t go out there like this.”

“You can fix your makeup. I believe in you.”

“What am I going to wear?” she asked, grasping at straws at this point, doing anything she could to get out of this.

“I had Lambert put something together for you.”

“Of course you did.”

She peppered him with a few more questions, but he had a smooth and charming answer to every single one. He had thought every detail out, and as always, she couldn’t say no to him.

“Fine,” she finally exasperatedly agreed, immediately met with his excited and dimpled smile that she had fallen head over heels for.

“Perfect,” he breathed. “I have to go get ready and so do you. I already put everything you need in your dressing room, okay?” She nodded, still biting her lip anxiously. He held her by her shoulders, lowering his head to match their eye level as he leaned in close, before he spoke. “You’re going to have fun. I promise.”

“Pinky swear?”

“Pinky swear.”

Seconds after they locked their little fingers together, he pressed a quick and protective kiss to her forehead that set her whole body ablaze before running off in the direction of his dressing room. She remained stunned and frozen in her spot for a few moments trying to process what it felt like to have his lips on her for the first time since that very first day they had met.

There was no audience to perform it for or an act to keep up behind the curtain. He kissed her because he wanted to.

She was finally snapped out of her daze when a stagehand bumped into her by accident, prompting her to begin the short walk back to her dressing room. But the ghost of his lips remained on her forehead, an incessant tingle placed there by his touch.

The dress she found waiting for her was one of the most beautiful gowns she had ever set her eyes on. Made of a light purple chiffon, the wrap dress’ long sleeves and floor length skirt flowed freely. A belt cinched the wispy fabric close to her waist and a deep-v exposed her neck and chest. But the most dazzling part of the dress were the red sequined hearts that dotted the fabric and reflected the light of the dressing room like a million little mirrors.

Slipping into it, the light fabric was soft against her skin, opaque enough but still slightly sheer to let light through and show off her legs and the bright red shiny pumps Lambert had left for her. She felt the most beautiful she had ever felt in this dress, boosting her confidence and quelling her nerves about whatever the hell Harry was planning.

“One minute to curtain,” was announced in an ominous voice over the arena’s backstage speakers as she finished fixing her makeup and she all but ran to make it back to the stage in time. She only had one more chance to watch him perform and she refused to miss a second of it.

Harry dazzled as the lights focused in on him, his deep blue and fully sequined suit reflecting the light and turning him into a human disco ball. He stood close to the edge of the stage as the beginning notes of the first song began being played by the band, but he made no move towards his mic stand to sing. His eyes were closed and his arms were outstretched to the audience, taking in every scream, every tear, and the thunderous shake of the building; but also giving himself to them.

Then the show began. As usual, he was electric, but tonight was like he had turned himself up to eleven. Every note he sang was full of his heart and every dance move was done with his entire body, even his bad jokes seemed funnier tonight.

She was so mesmerized she almost forgot about his ‘surprise.’ Almost.

“Since tonight is unfortunately our last show,” he pouted. “I thought I would do something special,” he spoke to the crowd as they roared, but quickly connected his eyes with her’s in the wings. By the smirk plastered on his face, she knew she was in for it.

“I recently found out that someone very close to me was a very big fan of…” he trailed off as he dramatically pretended to search for the right words, “my previous work.” He finished with a smirk and his words prompted the loudest reaction since he had been on stage.

“Now, I told her that she would be coming on stage to join me tonight, but I didn’t exactly tell her what we would be singing and I haven’t performed this song in a very long time, so cut us some slack if we mess up. This is very unrehearsed.” He kept sneaking glances back to her, as her eyes grew wider at the stunt he was currently pulling. “But I know for a fact that she knows all the words. I listen to her sing them in the shower quite often.” He wore a cheeky dimpled grin as he looked back at her once again.

The building was shaking due to the suspense he was creating, and looking down at her hands, she realized she was to. She gripped hard onto the mic a stagehand had just shoved at her, pleading with her hands to stop their tremors.

“Now, I would love it if you could all give another warm welcome to one of my favorite people on the planet, Y/N Y/L/N!” He turned his body to her for a final time, extending his hand out for her to take. Her legs felt like jello as she walked out into the bright lights towards him, interlocking her fingers with his as a way to keep her on her feet.

The audience’s screams were deafening at seeing the two of them together and she thanked god she had her earpieces in to protect her ear drums or they would have surely burst. She could only imagine the articles that would be written about this and the thousands of tweets that were probably already being sent.

“I’m gonna kick your ass,” she mouthed at him threateningly, but she couldn’t even get through the sentence before his dazzling smile began to quell her anxiety.

“The look on your face is 100% worth getting my ass kicked,” he answered smoothly before turning his attention back to the audience. “Everyone, sing along if you know the words,” he commanded their attention. “This is Ready to Run.”

Her jaw dropped and the crowd roared as the band behind her began to play the first few chords of the song she loved and knew so well. She had admitted it a few days ago that it was one of her favorites of his ‘previous work,’ but apparently he already knew that from the few showers she had taken on the tour bus.

“There’s a lightning in your eyes I can’t deny,” he began by himself, her brain still too shocked to jump in yet. He sang the first few lines to her with a giant grin plastered on his face, hand still holding tight to hers. His eyes had a playful glint in them that seemed to say ‘just have fun.’

“There’s a devil in your smile, it’s chasing me,” she finally began to sing, Harry fading his voice out so she could take the next few lines by herself as he admired her.

He did have a devilish smile, but it was one she loved with her entire heart. As she began to sing, she felt her muscles begin to relax into the song she had sung to herself so many times before, letting her body begin to bounce to the growing rhythm as her dress flowed around her.

The stage vibrated as Sarah beat her drums to introduce the chorus. “This time I’m ready to run, escape from the city and follow the sun,” the pair sang together, eyes still locked as their voices combined into the most perfect tune. “Cause I wanna be yours, don’t you wanna be mine?” they continued the lyrics. She felt herself meaning the words leaving her mouth more and more as they went on. She did want to be his, she couldn’t deny that. “I don’t wanna get lost in the dark of the night.”

Her apprehensiveness eased further as the music picked up and the hook went on, finally allowing herself to have a bit of fun. “Wherever you are is the place I belong,” they insisted towards each other, leaning in close before Harry grabbed her hand to dramatically spin her, the beautiful shining fabric of her dress splaying out around her. The next line was mumbled through giggles by both of them, but their laughter only added to the perfect moment they were having.

They danced across the stage together like there weren’t 20,ooo pairs of eyes watching them, both singing their hearts out to each other. It began to feel like they weren’t even there. It was just Y/N and Harry, serenading each other to one of her favorite songs.

“There’s a future in my eyes I can’t foresee,” she sang to him to start the second verse.

“Unless, of course, I stay on course and keep you next to me.” Harry grabbed her by her waist and pulled her into his side as he sang the words, prompting more giggles from her. She loved the way he smiled so wide as he sang, never breaking his eye contact with her and emitting pure joy. His eyes looked honest as he sang, like he meant every word just as much as she did.

The pair made their way through the rest of the verse and second chorus, flawlessly moving around the stage like they owned it. Y/N selfishly decided to let him have the bridge all to himself, needing to hear the way his beautiful voice hit the high notes. “This time I’m ready to run,” he sang passionately, executing the downward moving riff perfectly. “I’d give everything that I got for your love,” he pointed across the stage towards her, beckoning her back close to him. She quickly skipped to him at his request.

Like she had blinked, the song was already nearing its end.

“Cause I wanna be free and I wanna be young, I’ll never look back now I’m ready to run,” they belted the last lines out to each other. The band fell quiet on their last chord and the crowd exploded, but their noise fell on deaf ears as the pair stood so close their heaving chests were almost pressed up against each other. His eyes stared down into hers and she watched as his eyes flickered quickly down to her lips.

The world ceased to exist when he pressed his mouth to hers, even if it only lasted a second. It was nothing more than a peck, but it was everything to her. Her body igniting with heat and eyes full of shock, she looked back at him in simultaneous confusion and adoration, before realizing they had been staring at each other for too long. She needed to get off the stage so he could continue with his show. She walked back slowly towards the wings, letting the hand he had still been holding fall to her side. She waved and smiled to the crowd the best she could in her clouded mind.

“Thank you everyone!” she shouted into her mic as she moved out of their view. She shoved her mic into the first set of hands that would take it as she wobbled her way over to a table with water bottles. She nearly choked as she tried to suck one down, hoping it would ease the dizzy feeling he had created with his lips. Her lips burned just as her forehead had earlier in the night.

He had kissed her. He had sang a love song with her and then he had kissed her. She couldn’t decipher if that kiss was a confirmation that he shared the same feelings for her or if it was just another act for the cameras. But his mouth felt so right against hers. They fit together like a pair of puzzle pieces. She tried to suppress the optimistic hope that rose in her chest, but it began to swallow her whole.

When she heard his next song begin, she made her way back to the spot that had become hers at the side of the stage. She watched him perform the rest of the show in a loving haze, doe eyed and hypnotized, lips still buzzing from his contact.

He gave it his all. By the last song he was out of breath, drenched in sweat, and looked like he was about to pass out at any second. The crowd applauded for minutes after he left the stage and they were still cheering when she finally caught sight of him again. His curls were stuck to his forehead and his skin was shiny and flushed. He was panting, still trying to recover from his workout of a finale show; but he was beaming. His smile seemed to turn him into a beacon, emitting a light and positive energy that drew everyone backstage towards him.

She was so transfixed on Harry as he thanked the crew and accepted congratulations from all around that she just about jumped out of her skin when Jeff slinked up behind her and whispered ‘boo’ in her ear.

“What the fuck, Jeff,” she chuckled as she caught her breath, resting her hand on her chest and feeling her racing heartbeat.

“I just wanted to congratulate you on being half of the best fake couple out there,” he teased. “That kiss was perfect. People are losing their minds over it.”

“Oh,” she said softly, feeling every emotion she was distracted from while watching Harry rush back into her. Her heart sank as she remembered all the questions that continued to haunt her since she got off stage. “Thanks,” she murmured, plastering a smile onto her face. “I’m glad we could make you proud.”

“If you two could convince me, you can convince anyone.” Jeff walked off moments later, leaving her to sit in her confused thoughts as he disappeared into the hoards of bodies waiting for their minute with Harry.

She knew that she didn’t ‘convince’ Jeff of anything on her part. Everything she did with Harry was authentic and truthful. Including the thrilled grin that appeared on her face when she finally made eye contact with the exhausted man across the room. She gave him a shy wave that he sheepishly returned, biting back a shy smile. He pointed in the direction of his dressing room and mouthed “meet me in 15.”

She could never say no to him.

Fifteen minutes later, she was knocking on the large wooden door that had a single piece of paper that read STYLES haphazardly taped onto it. When it finally flew open, she was met by a soaking wet Harry with a towel hanging dangerously low on his hips. Her eyes trailed down his body without permission, taking in the toned torso that was decorated with his beautiful tattoos. Her eyes hovered over the two ferns that sat on his pelvis, too fascinated with the dark ink to pull her eyes away just yet.

She had obviously seen him in various states of undress before. They lived together on a tour bus without much space to exist with privacy, but this was different. He wasn’t rushing to get dressed or quickly changing his outfit. And he wasn’t moving away from her gaze at all.

If she hadn’t been so entranced by him, she would have noticed he was looking her up and down in the exact same manner.

She had changed since she had seen him last. The skin-tight black velvet romper she had brought along for the afterparty now fit her snuggly and held her every curve. The dark fabric was tight and appeared almost painted on, a rainbow racing stripe making its way down either side of her chest. The short shorts of the outfit exposed nearly all of her legs and the deep neckline put much of her chest on display as well. It’s long sleeves were her favorite part, as a strip of fringe dangled from below her arms any time she moved.

“You look great,” Harry finally choked out, his voice pulling their eyes back up to the other’s face.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, slightly awkwardly. “You too.”

“Well, I’m hopefully not going to the after party dressed like this,” he chuckled before stepping aside and ushering her into the room.

His dressing room was much larger than hers and she settled herself on the brown leather couch in the corner as she waited for him to get ready, sneaking glances up from her phone often. She chuckled as she watched him spend far too long fussing with his curls in the mirror, but was quickly distracted by the way his back and arms flexed when he reached up to muse his hair. Once he was satisfied with the way it fell, he disappeared into the bathroom at the back of the room. When he emerged, he was finally dressed, allowing her to take a deep breath and to focus on something other than his bare skin for the first time since he had opened the door.

The black satin suit was simple for him, but the tight white tank top that sat underneath hugged every muscle in his torso. She knew as soon as he got in the hot club, he would lose the jacket, and she would be devastatingly distracted once again.

The narcissist took one final look at himself in the mirror before turning to her and extending a hand. “Ready, darling?”

“You just spent 15 minutes exclusively on your hair and you’re asking me if I’m ready?” she teased as she took his hand, weaving her fingers between his as they exited the room together.

He leaned down close to her ear as they walked down the now mostly empty hallway, lips brushing over the hollow of her ear as he spoke. “I could have done it faster, but you were so obviously enjoying the show.”

“Relax yourself, Magic Mike,” she muttered indignantly, but hung her head in a way she hoped he couldn’t see how flustered he made her. Was she really that obvious?

They walked hand in hand out to the parking garage, now caught in a back and forth about whether or not Harry could be a male stripper. He said yes. She said no, although she did admit at one point that he worked his mic stand like a pole.

“Hey Jeff,” he called when they finally reached the parking garage where Jeff and Glenne had been waiting for them to head to the club. “Do you think I could be a stripper?”

“I think people would pay a lot to see it, but they may be disappointed in your dancing skills.”

“Come on,” he playfully whined. “I have some moves.”

“You have one move,” Y/N cut in with a chuckle, “and it’s the wiggle.” She brought her hands up near her chest, tilted her head back while dramatically biting her lip, and swayed her arms by her sides, earning a chorus of laughter from the people around her.

She hadn’t even realized she had done the move without releasing Harry’s hand first, dragging his arm into her dance as well, until their manager commented on it. “You know, you two don’t have to be holding hands all the time and keeping the show up back here,” he said with a slightly suspicious quirk in his eyebrows.

Her smile had been in the process of fading, like they had been caught doing something wrong, before Harry answered smoothly. “We know. Just practicing.”

There were those words again. Just practicing, she thought over to herself. But was he practicing anymore? How many flirty comments, heartfelt compliments, and warm touches did it take to cross the line of practicing to the real thing?

She wasn’t sure about Harry, but she knew that she wasn’t just practicing anymore.

She knew that the way they sat nearly on top of each other in the large SUV on the way to the club felt more than friendly. And the way he hadn’t stopped touching her in some way since they left his dressing room insinuated far more than something with business-like intentions. And the way he looked at her everytime he caught her eye the entire way to the club, always with a bright smile and adoring gaze that she always returned, pulled at her heartstrings far more than they should have if this was all an act.

A sloppy and cheeky grin settled almost permanently on his features after he had a few drinks in him, his arms moving in a lazy and fluid manner as she took in his many tattoos that he had exposed when he ditched his jacket (just like she knew he would). His butterfly was visible through the tight ribbed fabric of the white tank top and the little birds that peaked out from underneath seemed to be inviting her even closer to him in her now inebriated state.

All she wanted to do was to connect her lips with his as she watched him make conversation with someone from his management, entranced by the way his perfect mouth moved as he spoke. She once again craved the shocks of electricity that were created between them at the contact and could not stop thinking about it no matter how hard she tried. The protective hand that had settled onto her hip and continued to hold her close to his body just wasn’t enough anymore.

The pair had been drinking far too much; martinis turning into vodka sodas that had turned into straight tequila shots. She believed it was tequila shot four that did her in. The last thing she remembered was licking the line of salt off the back of her hand, downing the shot, and being entranced by Harry’s eyes as she bit down on the slice of lime he held carefully with his jeweled fingers.  

***

The next morning, Y/N woke up in a hotel room that she didn’t recognize with a pounding headache and a swirling gut. It felt like she had been hit with a truck and she could barely pick her head up off the pillow.

She had so many questions about what had happened the night before. Where was she? Who let her drink that much? Whose clothes was she wearing? But most of all, what the hell happened after that fourth shot?

But she realized the worst was yet to come when she heard soft snoring coming from beside her. She knew that snoring well. It was the snoring that kept her up half the night for the last two months and the one that had almost driven her to suffocating her bus-mate in his sleep; the snoring that matched the crumbled black suit she just noticed in a ball on the floor.

It took every ounce of strength in her body to pull herself from the pillow and turn around in the bed to have her suspicions confirmed.

There he was.

His dark long eyelashes were fluttered down across the tops of his cheeks and his hair was going in every direction, skin clammy like his body was trying to rid itself of all the poison he had ingested the night before. The crumpled comforter was pushed down his stomach, his bare skin holding a sheen that helped define every dip or curve of his muscles and the tiniest bit of the band of his boxers peaked out to assure her that he at least wasn’t fully naked next to her.

Why were they in bed together? And why did he look so good? Oh my god, she thought as a possibility dawned on her. Did we sleep together?

“Harry,” she murmured softer than she intended, voice scratchy and mouth dry. The soreness at the back of her throat clued her into the copious amounts of screaming she must have done last night. He didn’t stir at her gentle coaxing, the light streaming through the windows making him look angelic as it covered him in a blanket of soft light while he continued to sleep.

It was a hard nudge to his chest that finally made him open his eyes, immediately releasing a groan she was sure she made when she regained consciousness too. He looked at her puzzled, still rubbing sleep out of his eyes as he propped himself up on his elbows. He took an equally confused look around the hotel room before looking back at her. She watched as the gears slowly turned in his head until his eyes opened wide and he spring up into a sitting position to mirror hers.

“We didn’t,” he whispered hopefully. “Oh my god, did we?” he asked, a look of horror crossing his face that matched her own.

“I have no idea,” she anxiously replied. “I was hoping you would know!”

“You don’t remember anything?”

“The last thing I remember was doing tequila shots with you.”

“I remember those.” He rubbed his eyes hard like it would somehow jog his memory. His eyebrows knit together, buried in thought as he searched his brain for a timeline. “I can follow the night up until we did karaoke.”

“We did karaoke?” she repeated incredulously and was met with a somber nod. “Do I even want to know what we sang?”

He shook his head slowly, shame clear on his face, before he finally mumbled. “We did ‘It’s Raining Men.’”

“Oh my god, no,” she whined, holding her head in her hands and rubbing her temples. There were surely videos of them sloppily singing on top of a bar circulating online and she wasn’t sure how Jeff would be able to spin that one in a positive light.

“Where’s your phone?” he asked, a hopeful glint in his eye as he reached for his own. “Maybe there’s something on there that can clue us in.” It took her a moment but she finally spotted it on the ground in the corner of the room. She said a silent prayer that it wasn’t dead or broken.

Forcing her heavy limbs out from under the covers she made her way towards the device, but not before she heard a confused sound coming from Harry. “How did you get my clothes?”

Looking down at herself and taking in the red lettering that read But Daddy I Love Him across her chest, it clicked that the t-shirt and baggy basketball shorts were his. But how they hell did she get into them?

“I think we’ve established at this point that I don’t know anything that happened after about midnight, Harry.” Her words came out laced with slight frustration. She hoped he knew she wasn’t annoyed with him, just their situation.

“Just a question, princess.”

She ignored his quip and began to search through her texts, call history, and photos, hoping to find anything at all that could help trace their steps through the night. She found nothing but a few selfies of them still at the club. One was the pair casually smiling, the next was one of him kissing her on the cheek that made her skin warm, but the final one made her snort out a laugh.

“What’s so funny?”

“I have a picture on my phone of you with two martini olives shoved up your nose,” she spoke through hysterical laughter. “Definitely birthday post material if you ask me.”

“Let me see,” he demanded with an adorable scowl.

She passed her phone over to him, still letting a few chuckles fall past her lips. “I’m gonna change your name in my phone to ‘Olive Nose Styles.”

“You're cruel.”

“You’re the one that put olives up his nose and then posed for a picture!”

“Whatever,” he grumbled, turning attention back to his own screen to continue his investigation. “There’s nothing of use on my phone either.”

The two flopped back on the bed, staring at the ceiling in the frustrated confusion. There was so much of their night that had gone up into smoke, completely unaccounted for with no clues as to what they did. Each traced their steps over and over again in their heads as they hoped desperately for a single detail that would lead them down a path to bigger memories, but it never came.

“Are we going to have to call Jeff and ask him what happened?” she finally murmured.

“I think so.”

“He’s going to put us both in client timeout, isn’t he?”

“We’re probably already there,” he groaned as he picked up his phone and hit Jefe Jeff-e in his contact list, putting the call on speaker and resting it on his still bare chest. The man on the other end picked up almost immediately.

“Morning Sleeping Beauty, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you.”

“Hi Jeff,” he groggily started then stopped, searching for the words that would make this all less uncomfortable. “Y/N and I have some questions about last night.”

Jeff let out a strained chuckle. “Yeah, that doesn’t really surprise me after last night’s bar bill.”

“Um,” Harry hummed, stammering but unable to form any real words.

“You sing about sex for a living,” she hissed at the man next to her before yanking the phone off his chest. “Jeff,” she started, taking over the conversation for them both. “Do you know if we slept together?”

“Probably not. You both were pretty unconscious when I put you in the hotel room.” His words prompted a massive sigh from both of them, looking to each other to share a relieved smile.

“Oh thank god,” they mumbled in unison.

“Jinx,” he smirked under his breath, prompting a ‘shut up’ from her.

“How did I get into Harry’s clothes?”

“I stopped by the tour bus when I realized you two probably shouldn’t be trusted not to roll out of your top bunks. I got you some clothes to sleep in before we took you guys to the hotel.”

“But why Harry’s?”

It was Jeff’s term to get squirmy. “I felt weird going through your things.”

“But you were perfectly fine with going through mine?” Harry asked, only half joking.

“Absolutely,” he deadpanned. They were all quiet for a moment before Jeff began again. “You two really don’t remember anything else that happened?”

“Everything after about two is unaccounted for,” she confessed.

“Oh,” Jeff chuckled. “So, you don’t remember when you stuck your tongues down each other’s throats on the ride home?”

Fuck.

Her eyes raced up to Harry’s from the phone she had been staring at like it held all the secrets of the night before. His easily readable features displayed all his emotions that surely matched hers. His pupils had grown in surprise, taking over nearly all the green in his wide eyes, and an embarrassed blush tinted his cheeks in a red hot flush that had reached the tips of his ears. His eyes flashed to the blank wall in front of them, running a stressed hand through his curls, like if he wasn’t looking at her, he would be able to focus better on the newly revealed information.

She couldn’t say that she didn’t relate. Her mind often went blank when she looked at him too. But right now, it was racing, occupied by anxious thoughts and intense emotions she couldn’t quite place, but felt with her entire being.

Her inevitable downward spiral was interrupted when Harry stiffly cleared his throat. “Uh,” he started, scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably. “We’ll see you later.”

“Sounds good, love birds,” Jeff replied, a clear snark apparent in his voice. Neither of the pair dignified his teasing with a response, Y/N quickly ending the call.

Silence hung heavy in the air and she let her eyes hover over the phone for too long when she settled it down on the bed, unwilling to connect her eyes with his just yet. Harry always had a way of staring into her and revealing all her cards to him before she even knew them herself. She wanted to hold them close to her chest for a moment, protecting the heart that longed for him more than anything else in the world.

There were no words exchanged between the two for a while as they silently took turns in the bathroom and occupied their hands and thoughts by their phones. They walked on eggshells anytime one neared the other. A tension like this hadn’t existed since the very first day they met, the first day they had begun to pretend.

Maybe that's why Harry was being so quiet. Maybe he never wanted to cross that line of pretending like she did. Maybe she had been blinded by his generally friendly personality and tricked herself into thinking there was anything more than a charade between them. Maybe last night really was just a drunken mistake, no matter how much she wanted it to be more.

“Maybe it’s a good thing that we don’t remember what happened last night,” she finally murmured from the opposite end of the room. She rested the side of her still heavy head and muscles against the wall, arms crossed in front of her as if they could keep her safe from the tension they had created. Her fingers nervously played with the hem of his t-shirt she was still dressed in.

“Why is it a good thing?” he almost immediately responded from the chair on the other side of the room he had settled himself into, running his hands along the satin pants of last night’s outfit he had put back on during their awkward shuffling around the room. He had even put physical space between them since they found out what happened, causing her heart to feel as if it was teetering on the edge of disintegrating.

“Well,” she stuttered, refusing to look at him and continuing to pick at her nail polish. “We’re just pretending so it would be weird if we really remembered it.”

“I don’t think it would be weird.”

“I don’t know,” she tried to maneuver her way around his response. “It might just be embarrassing to think about it.”

He let out a long and frustrated sigh, running his hands down his face. There was so much going on behind his eyes and she wished he would say something, anything, to break down the wall that hadn’t existed between them in months that was slowly reappearing.

“Do you regret it?” he asked bluntly, the abrupt question shocking her body to attention. “Do you regret any of this? Any of us?”

Did she regret drinking too much? Yes. Did she regret making out with him in front of their manager? Yes. Did she regret denying her feelings and pretending they didn’t exist for so long? Of course. But, did she regret falling in love with him? Never, not even for a second.

“No, I don’t,” she let out with a gentle shake of her head, no louder than a whisper.

“Neither do I.”

The words had barely left his lips before he crossed the room and crashed them into hers. The same fire she had felt on stage returned ten times over as his lips moved smoothly over hers, every neuron in her body lighting up like a switchboard. Her fingers reached up to curl into his hair and pull his lips impossibly closer to hers as her heart hammered in her chest with a passionate love she had kept under wraps for so long.

He tasted like the spicy peppermint toothpaste the hotel stocked in the bathroom and smelled like the tiny bottles of shampoo that rested on the side of the bathtub; but there was so much else about him that was completely unique–wholly irreplaceable and indescribable. He was just Harry.

Teeth clashed, lips were bitten, and hair was pulled as they took in every sensation the other created. His lips had been the only thought that captivated her mind since they were on stage the night before and her return to them did not disappoint. If her head wasn’t dizzy and her lungs not screaming at her for air, she would have stayed in that moment forever

When they finally disconnected, they stood against each other in a heaving and disheveled mess of heavy breathing and adoringly dazed smiles. She swore she could feel the pounding of his heart under her fingertips that rested on his chest.

“That was nice,” he eventually murmured down at her through heavy breaths, a love drunk grin finding its way onto his swollen lips.

“Yeah, I agree,” she hummed breathlessly, her anxious thoughts quiet and calm for the first time she could remember since she met him.

“I’m kind of disappointed I don’t remember doing that the first time,” he chuckled softly at her, shaking his head lightly in embarrassment with his pink tinged cheeks on full display.

“That’s okay. We were ‘just practicing’ then, right?” A giggle left her lips as she used the words against him. The same words he had used every time they let a glimpse of their true affections for each other slip past their guarded and friendly facade.

His dimples were exposed when he smiled a giant grin and let out a knowing huff, piecing together that she had caught onto his trail of excuses. “Yeah, just practicing,” he repeated softly, before his tone turned sincere and genuine. “I don’t want us to pretend anymore.”

“Good,” she said softly as her fingers slid up his neck to beckon his lips back down to hers. “I never was.”

“Neither was I.” She watched a soft smirk appear on his lips as they hovered over hers. “Do you want to keep not practicing?”

“Depends,” she quipped, lips brushing over his as she spoke. “Am I better kisser than Taylor Swift?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!! REBLOGS AND FEEDBACK MEAN THE WORLD!!! 

An extra for our babies can be found here!

[anewp0tat0]

Chapter 190

wow I'm back with these things! didn't do them for a bit, and to be honest I thought this chapter break was very long, but that's just because I forgot last month's chapter happened for a moment. weird cause I thought it was sad and funny, but reasonable.

yana really went hard here and I'm so happy, Ada deserves this panel so much☆☆☆ I'll maybe never see her again and I'll probably forget soon but girl you a keeper.

I like that we have this little thing here, shows us everyone we know so far, kinda. yana's refusal to draw Polaris's right eye really doesn't do good for me. those other two seem to be people we don't know. I think I still fall on the possibility of him being Joker, which is a common theory. makes sense enough. but I'm not committed.

also, the one on the bottom left looks to be of Asian decent right? the only connection I can think of is to the quin bang, but that's a stretch.

also some of you know lots a flowers and that's very cool! that's a flower back there right? idk. I suck at flowers.

my first impression when he makes these shocked faces is that he's truly alarmed by the information. however after reading the panel below, it seems like that face is just his "new scheme in the making" face.

nice to see Lau is the same as ever. I really hope Ada and the rest have some sort of freedom from now on. Lau is sly with his repayment debts anyway. and I sure hope this is some side "i must bring honor to my country" thing and not some more relevant plot twist thing.

this poor girl I want to give her everything. she was meant to do nothing more in this world. also me too Lau. glad we all agree some information just gets lost over time. how is this man so powerful??

@grelleswife mentioned that so far all of the servants arcs have ended with a sunset, and thats a cool observation! i like that. gives me hope for the future. ofc yana isn't too predictable, but still. generally this panel is just... mhm. feelings.

that seems like a wrap then, overall super mega happy ending, finally!! it's been so long. I gotta say it doesn't feel as complete as a wrap that we were all expecting, but I think that's the general fault of having too much time to theorize and then totally expecting an explosion and multiple deaths. Ada is taken care of, Bard's alive, no one dies hazah. I think we can safely say that no one will die in these miny arcs until we get to ciel and sebastian unfortunetly.

one more thing though.

ngl i kinda forgot he was even here for a moment, no shade to Ronald I was excited and expectant but that's just what happens with a poor memory and 9 pages a month.

sorry that I'm just unable to buy the official translations atm so sit through my possibly unofficial confusion for a moment please. so Al is someone who seemingly is an ally of Layla, or so she thought. I have doubts that Ronald is a twist villain, even if it's just hopeful thinking. here though, Ronald's dialogue does in a way make it seem that he was supposed to meet with her, and she was certainly expected an "Al". RonAld is too much of a stretch right? or is that what is meant to be assumed?... what was his doctor allias again anyway, Dr. Knox right? idk sorry I gotta reread this whole arc soon but luckily it won't take long.

I would frankly be mad if Ronald turns out to be a secret baddy because 1) means future conflict with our cast. and grelle :< no they're meant to be best buds. also 2) means we need a whole other chapter to explain this and have them talk. nope, we're gone now sorry.

I doubt he is, I just wonder what type of deal he would have brought up with her.

and yea please discard the child, im very sorry to whatever she was before the fake soul inhabited the body, truly, my heart brakes. now throw it away.

[fanficsfromyesteryear]

Hi! Can I request headcanons for dating marcus (deadly class)? Thank you

HEADCANONS FOR DATING MARCUS LOPEZ ARGUELLO

A/N: Just a head’s up, I got a little carried away, so this is kinda long lol. Also, sorry this took forever! I’ve been suuuuuper busy lately :/ I almost had it done before work picked back up, but I couldn’t figure out how to end it. Anyway, I hope you like it!!

Before the two of you started dating, Marcus had no idea that you liked him, and for good reason

You did such a good job with hiding your feelings that sometimes even you forgot they were there, which was kind of the whole point

With girls like Saya and Maria around, sending out mixed signals and dropping subtle hints that they liked Marcus, too, it was intimidating

Add Marcus’s constant cynicism about love, and life in general, into the mix, and it was clear the chances of him actually liking you back were next to nothing

So, you knew it was probably for the best to move on

You used the “if you ignore it, it’ll go away” approach in the hopes that if you simply didn’t acknowledge your feelings, the problem would disappear

All this did, however, was create a whole new issue

Somewhere along the way, you’d begun to take the thought process of ‘ignoring your crush’ too literally

You and Marcus were best friends, so when, out of the blue, you stopped talking to him, he could tell something was up

He had no clue what, though

Naturally, he assumed it was something he had done

Marcus started asking around among your mutual friends to see if they knew anything, but they were all just as out of the loop as he was

You hadn’t told anyone about your repressed feelings for Marcus, and you had no intention of letting the secret slip any time soon, but accidents happen

The truth came out one night during a game of truth or dare when you were up on the roof smoking with the Rats

Your confession came tumbling out quicker than you could even think about reeling the words back in

“You hear that, Romeo?” Billy asked, elbowing Marcus in the ribs. “Y/N’s got the hots for you”

All Marcus could do was laugh nervously as he looked down at his feet, refusing to meet your gaze

To your relief, no one brought it up again for the rest of the game

When the next day rolled around and your crush on Marcus still wasn’t the topic of conversation, you started to think that you were in the clear

Maybe they’d all been too stoned to remember when they’d woken up that morning

Your hopes were shattered by the late afternoon

As you left the bathroom, Marcus spotted you from across the hall

He quickly rushed over and caught you by the elbow, dragging you back through the doorway

“Relationships aren’t really my thing,” he said

Marcus sounded like he had more to say, but before he got the chance, you cut him off

“It’s fine,” you said. “I get it”

“No, no. I mean, I like you, Y/N, really. I just don’t wanna mess it up”

You couldn’t stop the smile that spread across your face even if you tried

“You’re not gonna mess it up”

Before either of you could say more, the bathroom door opened and Petra walked in

She glanced between the two of you knowingly

“Hate to break this up, but if I hold this piss in any longer, I’ll explode”

With that, she pushed past you both, effectively ruining the moment

It didn’t take long after that for you and Marcus to make your relationship official

‘Official’ is a bit of a loose term in this case

For the most part, both of you kept the fact that you were dating fairly under the radar for fear of what others would do with that information

In a place like King’s Dominion, something as small as caring for another person beyond using them as an ally was seen as a weakness that could and would be used against you, and the last thing either of you wanted was to be put in a situation where you were pitted against each other

Of course, there were several instances when one (or both) of you nearly blew your cover

Such as in Martial Arts class

Instead of fighting you, Marcus would try to cop a feel

You’d quickly smack his hand away

“Miss De Luca’s right there!”

“She’s not looking”

In defense of both of you, though, a class in which hormonal teenagers are asked to pair themselves up and wrestle is practically an invitation to break the ‘no sex’ rule

The other classes you shared weren’t any better

Master Lin caught you and Marcus staring at each other instead of paying attention on multiple occasions, earning both of you a smack from his cane

Although Marcus was somewhat known for his smart mouth and talking back to authority, he knew better than to challenge Lin, not mention that if he did, he’d risk exposing the two of you in the process

So, Marcus bit back his insults and held in his tirade until the two of you were safely locked away in his dorm room

“He had no right to hit you like that”

“I’m fine,” you assured him, shoving another tissue up your nose to stop the bleeding. “Besides, he does it to everyone”

“That still doesn’t give him the right”

“Next time, I’m gonna stick that cane right up his ass”

Marcus wanted to shield you from all the violence at King’s, but when it was coming from teachers, there wasn’t much he could do about it

If it was a fellow student pushing you around, on the other hand, there was no holding him back

You loved how protective Marcus was of you, but sometimes you worried that he’d get carried away

Marcus always made sure you were never around to witness the fights take place, but the scrapes and bruises on his face that hadn’t been there when you saw him that morning were all the proof you needed

In such cases, you would insist on patching him up afterwards

The first few times this happened, Marcus was embarrassed by all the attention you were giving him

After a while, though, he grew to love the feeling of having someone fuss over him, especially if it was you

It was nice to have someone care about him for a change

You weren’t much of a fighter, but making sure he didn’t get Tetanus was your way of looking out for him

When you and Marcus weren’t getting into trouble, you were actually a pretty cute couple

Your roommates became accustomed to the two of you being a package deal, which often meant sneaking into each other’s rooms after lights out

Sometimes, it was to make out, but other times, it was so you could have late night conversations that you didn’t get the chance to have during the day

The topics of these conversations varied—they could be deep and philosophical (which was Marcus’s favorite kind), an opportunity to open up to each other about yourselves and your pasts, a time to plot someone’s death (usually only theoretically), or simply joking around

After especially long days, you would accidentally drift off in the middle of these nightly chats with your head on Marcus’s chest, but he never minded

He’d pull the covers up on your side and wrap his arms more tightly around you

While both of you were perfectly capable of pulling all-nighters, whenever you fell asleep, Marcus was never far behind

The sound of your evened-out breathing was like a lullaby to him, so it was safe to say that his sleep schedule drastically improved after the two of you started dating

You’d found that you slept better with Marcus, too, so on the few nights you spent apart, you’d doze off listening to the mixtapes he’d made you in your Walkman, which were full of your favorite songs and songs that reminded him of you (though, these had quickly become your favorites, too)

It was rare that the two of you weren’t together, though

Even during the day, you and Marcus were practically joined at the hip

At lunch, you would hold hands under the table and share food

Of course, this always opened the door for plenty of teasing from your friends, especially Lex

“While you’re at it, why don’t you chew the food up for each other and pass it back and forth like little birds?”

“Fuck off, Lex”

It was always in good fun, though

Actually, the other Rats were relieved when the two of you finally got together because the weird tension that had been brewing leading up to that point went away, meaning group hangouts could carry on normally

They could overlook you sitting in Marcus’s lap if it meant you weren’t being distant and secretive

Just like they pretended not to notice when you showed up to class wearing each other’s blazers by mistake after spending the night together

Or walking in late looking ✨especially disheveled✨

All in all, you and Marcus are King’s Dominion’s cutest couple™️ that only, like, five other people know about, but still-

[toru-oikawas-milkbread]

First Time With Chikara Ennoshita

Pairing: Chikara Ennoshita x f!reader

Prompt/summary: After dating him for such a long time, you wondered if Ennoshita would ever have sex with you. While his family is gone, you went to spend time with him that night, though planning on heading home early to help yourself out since you were so in the mood for more than just some sweet kisses, but he shocked you after a short talk by giving you what you had been wanting for such a long time— even better than you thought that it was going to be

Word count: 7.4K

Warnings/contents: Smut: Oral, light dirty talk, relatively vanilla smut, squirting, clit stimulation, light nipple stimulation, more experienced reader. Strong language, fluff, 18+

Notes: I love this man so much. I liked to write this chapter a lot, because I don’t get to do much for Ennoshita, so every time I start a series where I can do multiple characters for similar prompts and not have to pick only one character, I get really excited for Ennoshita’s. I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter. First time with Atsumu got a lot of attention and I hope this one gets even just a smidge of that attention as well 

If you want to see the other “First Time With...” chapters I have done so far, you can follow the link to be brought to the masterlist!

<>~<>~<>

It had officially been a year since you had last had sex. While you weren’t crazy, you didn’t need to have sex to be happy with your boyfriend, you thought that you were going to lose it at least just a little bit. It had been years since you’d gone longer than a month without at least a quick session, having friends with benefits, side hoes and different boyfriends for periods of time, but even as the two of you had been dating for 9 months now, you wanted to prove to Ennoshita that he meant more to you than sex, that you could go a few months with nothing to focus completely and only on him, and while it had worked, you had previously been so sex driven that you were now left fiddling with your fingers too much.

Sitting beside him all snuggled up on the sofa was fun, you loved to go on long car rides with the man while you listened to music and laughed along with each other, dinner dates that ended with a soft kiss to your lips was sweet and often left you flushed in the face, but it was a huge adjustment from your life before him. You weren’t entirely sure if he wanted to wait until marriage to have sex and that was why he was so hesitant or if it was another reason, but you knew a couple things: Ennoshita was a virgin, you were aching to see him and feel him, and you loved him.

Even if you wanted to touch him, to hear him moan and for him to finally give you what you had been craving for months on end now, you respected him and you respected what he wanted. Sex was a big thing in your life, but you loved him, and you loved him more than you wanted to have sex. Even as you imagined for hours on end some nights while you touched yourself what it may be like for him to be between your legs instead of your fingers or a dildo, you knew that when he was ready, you’d be ready and that was all it was going to take was a simple “I’m ready” for the first time.

You daydreamed about the words finally coming from him, so often that you could damn near hear his voice in your head as you imagined him finally telling you that he was ready to have sex with you. Lately you were craving the touch more, plotting to take care of the issue by yourself tonight without even a message in his direction. As understanding as you were with his wishes, he understood that you were rather experienced and talked with you about sex on a past occasion, but you feared you had frightened him a bit.

So you bit it back. You didn’t mention it to him, you didn’t rub his thigh and kiss his neck because you were worried if you scared him again, you might lose him. That if you were to look a little too long at him with your lip between your teeth like you wanted to, you’d scare him off for good, and you didn’t need his dick so badly that you wanted to drive him away.

Unfortunately, you unconsciously shifted on the sofa beside the man a few too many times tonight for him to miss as he snugly held you beneath his arm.

“Are you okay?” He asked, catching your attention. You sent the man a smile and nodded, but he sent you a skeptical gaze in return. “You’re awfully squirmy, do you need me to let you go so that you can go to the bathroom or something?” You shook your head again, moving to lay your head back on his shoulder and closing your eyes; even if the house was empty for the two of you, an opportunity you and your ex would’ve taken for sex, you were planning on leaving by 10 tonight, unsure of whether or not you’d be able to make it that long without rubbing yourself in a desperate attempt to feel stimulation.

“I’m good.” You assured him. “So, I was thinking, I might leave around 9:30 tonight.” You said, making the man give a little frown.

“Why so early? Even when my family is home you often stay late.” You looked at him, immediately guilt tripped by the sad look on his face. With a soft sigh beneath your breath and a mental curse, you reached for his hand and gently slid your fingers between his.

“I just didn’t want to steal your time away since you never have this time alone. But if you don’t mind me staying, I’d love to.” You said, squeezing his warm hand lightly in your own as you cursed at yourself, but how could you say no to him for your own pleasure? You’d just stay up later, just wait a few more hours and try and enjoy the peaceful time you had with him until you were able to touch yourself again.

“Well, I don’t want to force you.” He said. “I’d like you to stay, but only if you want to. If not, I won’t make you feel bad for wanting to go home.” You shook your head, gently holding his cheek to press a soft kiss to his lips that lingered for longer than you meant it to.

“No, I wanna be with you.” You whispered, kissing him again. “I’ve missed you lately.” With another kiss, you reached up, shifting beside him to face him better while you held his shoulder. “I could be with you forever and be happy.” You kissed him again, though he seemed tense.

“(y/n),” he started softly, making you mentally sigh as you pulled back and sent him a small smile.

“Sorry— sorry, I’ll stop.” You said, assuming that it was too much— that your multiple kisses were overwhelming him and that your advancements might make him uncomfortable.

“No— it’s not that, I just…” He sighed and looked down. “Truthfully I… I think you deserve this explanation…” You looked at the man with a confused frown and shook your head lightly. “I was watching this movie last night and while there was a sex scene on I was thinking and… and I’ve always been worried about having sex for the first time, but that isn’t… the only reason I’m worried about having sex with you, and it’s time I told you about it instead of just… sitting here.”

“Well, you can tell me anything whenever you feel like it.” You said, relaxing on the sofa cushion. “There’s no rush— you don’t even need to give me an explanation.”

“I know, but… I want to.” He said, shyly meeting your gaze. “(y/n), I… I want to have sex with you, I just… I’m worried.”

“Worried?”

“You’re so experienced. You’re such a good kisser I can’t even imagine how good you’ll be at… well, everything else. And I… well, honestly, I’m scared that after a year of waiting I’ll disappoint you and you’ll be unhappy.”

“Oh, Chikara,” you whispered, gently reaching to hold his face in your hands so that he would meet your eyes. “Everyone has a rocky first time. Even I did, and look at me now. There’s no rush okay?”

“I know that you want this.”

“And I know that you don’t.”

“This isn’t just about me.”

“And it isn’t just about me either.” You pressed a soft kiss to his nose. “Look, I want to have sex with you— I want to have sex with you so fucking bad, but I can wait. I told you, I can wait as long as you want. We can… we can be one of those couples that never has sex if that’s what you want.” The man sent you a skeptical gaze.

“You could never be happy like that.” He said despite knowing that wasn’t what he wanted.

“It’s not about sex. It’s about how you make my heart race when you look at me with your cute smile and how you talk to me even when I feel like I’m impossible to talk to. You’re the love of my life, Chikara. Maybe I want to have sex and maybe I’m a bit sex obsessed, but you don’t understand the limits I’d go to just to be with you; I mean, I didn’t have sex with anyone for months before I got with you because I wanted to prove something to you— that you could be a priority, because I know you’ve always been worried I’d hurt you.” He looked guilty as you spoke. “But this is it. Even if we don’t have sex, you’re it for me and I just wanna be it for you.”

“You are. You are it for me.” He pressed a soft kiss to your lips that you quickly leaned into. “And it isn’t that I never want to have sex with you, I do, it’s just… what if it isn’t just beginners trouble. What if it’s more, what if it’s something bigger than that? I used to be scared that I couldn’t trust you, but I’m not scared of that anymore, now it’s… I want you to be happy, I just don’t know how to make you happy in bed.”

“But it’s okay. Because you make me happy like this.” You said, moving to sit on your knees beside the man as you held his face. “Because you singing along to the radio with me on the way into town to buy dinner ingredients like old people makes me so happy. Because you hold my hand and you hold the basket and you kiss my head when you’re cooking and I’m only just barely helping. Because you’re showing me so much more than I could have ever known. What it’s like to love someone for everything but the experience in bed for the first time. And you worrying about disappointing me— you don’t need to. You won’t disappoint me. If it’s not that big and that’s what you’re worrying about, that’s nothing. I love you so much, that means nothing to me.” You said, kissing him. “Whenever you’re ready, it’s gonna be great.”

“Do you think… we could just kiss for a little bit?” You chewed on the inside of your lip and nodded, pressing your lips to his gently. “Will you come sit on my lap?” He asked between sweet kisses. You didn’t even take the time to acknowledge him before you moved, pressing one of your knees between his legs as you straddled one of his, wrapping your arms around his shoulders as you kissed him again. Ennoshita’s hands rested on your hips, his thumbs hesitantly rubbing your side over the shirt that you wore.

You were craving so much more than this, pushing your tongue into his mouth as he gave a soft hum. His eyebrows furrowed inwards as he focused on swirling his tongue around yours, but he was absentminded as you gave a soft moan into his mouth. It was noticeable to him as you squirmed on top of him, lightly rocking your hips every now and then even if you weren’t resting on his thigh.

With his cheeks burning, Ennoshita broke the kiss and looked at you.

“Do you… do you want to grind yourself against my thigh?” He asked, watching as you tugged your bottom lip back into your mouth and gave a hesitant nod. “You can,” he said, watching you search his face. “Go on, you can grind yourself against me.” With his assurance, you finally rested yourself down on his thigh. Even over your jeans, you gave a soft hum as you rubbed yourself against his leg. A soft moan left you as you leaned in, resting your forehead on his shoulder and breathing shakily on to his neck as you grinded yourself against him.

“Oh, Chikara…” You mumbled out, kissing his neck gently and making the man shiver as you moaned his name. More soft, almost needy, sounds left you as you rubbed yourself against him. While his cheeks were flushed dark, he couldn’t help but give a soft moan, feeling himself hardening in his pants at the sounds you were making.

“You’re really making me twitch here, baby,” he hissed quietly. “I… I was wondering…” He started, though cutting himself off with a bite down on his bottom lip. You pulled back to look at him, raising an eyebrow at him in question.

“What’s the matter? Do you want me to stop?” You asked, never knowing how far was too far with him because he often didn’t say it. “I’m not… offended or anything.”

“No, I was wondering… I was wondering if you’d let me see…” He stopped, flushed as he flicked his gaze to your chest. Your cheeks seemed to warm, but you smiled nevertheless, trying to bite it back and eagerly nodding in the meanwhile.

“If you want to see them, sure.” He nodded shakily, watching as your fingers tugged up the end of your shirt and brought it over your chest. He swallowed hard at the sight of your breasts even in your bra. Sure, he’d seen boobs before— it was impossible to not catch sight of boobs when there was shirtless photos and scenes in movies all of the time, but this was different; these were your boobs. These boobs were right in front of him and bare as you pulled your bra up, letting your breasts rest nicely on your chest.

His breath caught in his throat as your nipples hardened in the cool air around you. You watched the man as he stared at your breasts with a slightly agape mouth. You couldn’t help but bite your lip, wanting nothing more than to keep grinding yourself against him, wanting his hands on your breasts and his mouth around your nipple, but you kept quiet as he gulped.

“Geez, I…” A deeper flush was quick to work its way onto your boyfriends face as he looked at your breasts. You thought about pulling your shirt down, not wanting to overwhelm the man even if all you could think about was what it might be like to have his lips on your chest and his mouth around your nipples. “Wow…” He said quickly, looking to your eyes as he licked his lips. “Can I… can I touch them?”

“You can do whatever you want to me.” You said almost desperately. “You don’t have to though.”

“No, I… I want to.” He said, hesitantly reaching up and holding your breasts in his large hands, giving them a light squeeze that made you moan softly. “Is this good…?” He asked softly.

“You can do it harder,” you said, reaching for one of his hands and squeezing your hand over his. You gave a quiet moan as he squeezed your breast rougher and closed your eyes while he twitched in his pants. “Oh, just like that…” Again, Ennoshita gave your breast a rather rough grope, worrying that he may hurt you, but you only moaned. “God, it feels so good when you touch me,” you said, shifting on his leg. “Does it feel okay for you?” You asked, meeting his eyes. “Do you want to stop?” There was this look in your eyes that made his heart race— a lustful look that he’d seen several times now, but now that he was causing it rather than your own thoughts, he didn’t want to stop.

“Don’t worry about me so much,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to your lips. “Just… just let me make you feel good and tell me what to do. Teach me to make you feel good.” Your clit throbbed at his words as you nearly panted at the thought, nodding nevertheless. “Does it feel good to get them sucked on? Should I…?” You nodded and shifted closer to him.

“It does feel good. Just suck on them a little hard, but not too hard.” He nodded, not completely understanding but leaning in anyways. With warm cheeks, Ennoshita helped lift your breast a little as he kissed your chest for the first time, his lips making you give a shaky exhale even as he only kissed your cleavage before he kissed your nipple and hesitantly took it into his warm mouth.

You gave a quiet hum, gently grinding yourself against his thigh while he sucked on your nipple, gently pinching the other with his fingers and making you give a little moan beneath your breath as your hand grabbed onto his head and gently gave his hair a tug.

“Mmm, just like that.” Ennoshita peeked up at you, a sight that you had been aching to see for such a long time now. You looked into his pretty brown eyes and gave a shaky exhale when he slowly pulled back.

“(y/n)?”

“Hmm?”

“Will you… do you think you would… maybe take these off and let me take mine off, and…” His cheeks were flushed darker than you’d ever seen them as he gently reached down to fiddle with the button on your jeans and made your heart thump hard in your chest; it had been such a long time since you’d been touched like this by someone that you swore it felt like it was your first time again. “Will you rub yourself against me like this without the clothes on?”

You nodded eagerly.

“If you want me to.” There was a hint of desperateness in your tone that he couldn’t say no to.

“I do want you to.” You nodded again, nearly stumbling as you stood to take your jeans off. He flushed as your bare breasts bounced with your movements, keeping his eyes on your body while he started to take his own pants off, shaky fingers struggling with the button while you already pushed the tight jeans you wore off and nearly made him drool at the sight of you.

“Having a little trouble?” You asked with a teasing chuckle. “Is it okay if I take this off?” You asked, tugging at your own shirt. He nodded quickly, looking at your thin thong while you stripped the shirt over your head and tossed it aside before taking your bra off as well. “We’re alone here for the night, right?” You asked, peeking over towards the door that was in eye sight as you covered your breasts.

“Yeah, it’s just us.” He said, pushing his jeans off of his hips and quickly pulling them off until they hit the floor. “Are you uncomfortable like this?” He asked, looking back to you and worrying you might be afraid of someone peeking in the curtains and seeing, but he was flushed when he saw your breasts no longer covered.

“No, just making sure your parents aren’t gonna come home to a… surprise.” He chuckled and leaned back against the sofa while you moved to straddle his thigh again. He twitched in his boxers, swearing he could cum right now as you rested yourself against him, hands on his shoulders while you started to grind yourself against his bare thigh. You gave a soft moan, watching yourself rub against his leg, flushing when he felt how wet you were even through the underwear.

“You’re— you’re wet,” he said, embarrassed as he looked to your face and saw your eyes watching his cock twitch in the rather tight boxers he wore and bit your lip with an absentminded nod. “How… how long?”

“Are you kidding— I’ve been thinking about this for days.” You mumbled shamelessly. “I’m wet for you like this all the time.” Ennoshita was so flustered he couldn’t even think of what to say as the words came from you.

You? Were wet for him? He couldn’t imagine, after all he hadn’t done anything. He always assumed that for someone to be wet for him he would have had to do something, but as you watched him with a lustful look and grinded against his thigh, he had a hard time not twitching so much in his boxers that he gave a moan.

“I know you told me not to worry about you, but… are you okay?” You asked quietly, watching as his lip seemed to quiver and he didn’t seem to blink. Absentmindedly, he nodded, peeking at your breasts as they shifted with your movements.

“I just… I’ve never… nobody has ever… I didn’t think I’d ever…” He seemed to struggle finding the words to speak, so you stopped moving, quickly making the man frown. “Wait, don’t stop,” he said, reaching for your hips. “Please,” he nearly begged, meeting your eyes. “Please, it feels really good.” You flushed, though continuing to lightly grind yourself against the man who gave a shaky moan. “I’ve never thought about feeling it like this, I… I didn’t know it felt good for you…” He mumbled in an embarrassed way. “I don’t… I don’t know anything about you.”

“Well, that’s not exactly true.” You said, moaning softly as you rubbed your clit against his muscular thigh. “You just don’t know much about sex— that’s okay. You’ll learn with time. You’re learning now, aren’t you?” You hummed. He couldn’t help but moan softly as he looked at you.

“You’re so patient with me.” He sighed.

“Are you kidding? You’re patient with me.” You said simply. “How could I be anything but patient with you when you love me for all of my flaws?”

“Flaws? You don’t have those.” He said simply. “There’s little things, little quirks about you— but they’re special. They’re cute. You don’t have flaws, you have little things that just need a little bit more love and how could I ever judge you for that when I could just give you all of my love instead?” Your eyes seemed to water as you looked at him.

“Don’t make me cry, I’m trying to grind against you.” He gave a soft chuckle, leaning up and bringing you into a hug as you buried your nose against his shoulder.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” You sniffled, kissing his neck gently and making a shiver run down his spine. In the moment, he hadn’t thought about it— the way your nipples pressed to his chest even through the shirt he wore, but now his ears burned.

“(y/n)?”

“Chikara?”

“Will you… touch me?”

“You mean like— like, jerk you off?” You asked, pulling back and looking at the man with awaiting eyes. He flushed and looked at your hands that seemed to shake in excitement.

“You can do whatever you want.”

“Well… I think you know what I want, so what do you want?” You’d mentioned it before, putting your mouth around his cock, and while the thought worried him, he couldn’t help but want it.

“You can do… whatever you want.” He said, forcing himself to meet your eyes. They seemed to shine differently as you looked down and nodded. He moved with you while you got up and sat on your knees between his legs. He moved on the couch to be closer to you, sliding his boxers off and watching as you licked your lips absentmindedly, watching his cock pop free from his boxers with a hum.

“It’s so big,” you mumbled, moving closer to the man and reaching for his shaft while he tossed the boxers aside. He gave a shaky sound at the mere feeling of your hand around him, previously never feeling anything but his own. Your fingers were amazingly warm, your hand gently tugging on him as you bit your lip. You watched a thin stream of precum bead up and leaned in, cheeks warm as you licked the tip of his shaft and made him gasp, cock twitching in your grasp. “Mmm, I can’t wait to taste you,” you mumbled, peeking up at him as you took the head into your mouth. He watched you, mouth agape as your eyes fluttered shut, your mouth sucking on his shaft and he already felt like he was going to cum as he reached for your head.

“Oh, god…” He mumbled, shifting on the sofa while your hand reached up and squeezed his inner thigh, making him twitch in your mouth as he gave a soft moan. He couldn’t even care about keeping quiet, eyebrows furrowed inwards lightly as he watched you with an open mouth. You sucked hard on his cock, sliding more of him into your mouth easily and swirling your tongue around his shaft, making the man moan out again. “Oh, god!” He tried to keep quiet, but he couldn’t help it as you peeked at him. “Geez, you’re gonna make me cum too fast.” He warned you, but you didn’t seem to care, the tip of his cock bumping your throat in a way that made you give a light gag.

It had been such a long time since you’d sucked on a dick that even if you were still good at it, you struggled to get his cock any further even when you tested yourself whenever you brushed your tongue.

Your gagging didn’t seem to bother the man who tossed his head back with a sharp moan. His fingers tightened in your hair, making you give a little smile around him as you chuckled and made yourself gag around him on purpose.

“Oh, fuck,” the words left him shakily, making your clit ache for more stimulation. Ennoshita didn’t curse often, typically keeping himself rather clean purely because he didn’t make a poor habit of cursing, but when the words came from him, you couldn’t help but find it strangely attractive. “Oh, (y/n),” he panted, twitching in your mouth. “I’m gonna cum,” he felt pathetic, but he couldn’t lie about it; not only had it been at least a week and a half in the least since he had touched himself, but your mouth was doing things better to him than he’d ever felt before and he knew he wasn’t going to last long even the second your tongue licked him. “God, you’re gonna make me cum.”

You peeked up at him again, hollowing your cheeks around him and giving a soft hum that made the man moan and look away from you in an embarrassed manner. He twitched in your mouth, soft pants and moans leaving him as he had a tight grip on your hair, unable to think of how tightly he was holding you and missing how it made you moan around him when he tugged your hair.

“Oh, baby! I’m gonna cum!” He moaned out, cheeks flushed deep as he tossed his head back and panted. “I’m gonna cum!” He bit down on his lip, trying to stay quiet but being unable to stop a shaky moan leaving him as he came in your mouth. He panted as you pulled back from him, missing seeing you swallow his cum and pant as you watched his cock, still hard in your hand, twitch.

“Mmm, that was so fun,” you mumbled, gently stroking him and making him moan in a whiny manner.

“Oh, baby,” he mumbled, looking at you. “God, that felt so good. You’re so good at that.” You gave a soft giggle, moving to sit back on his lap and kissing him. He flushed as he tasted himself in your mouth, but he grabbed at you and kept you close regardless. “I, uh… can’t believe it’s still…” You hummed as he trailed off and peeked down, seeing himself still so hard even after cumming in your mouth already.

“You want more?” You asked, catching his eye. “I can suck on you again. I can make you cum in my mouth again.” You licked your lips and hummed. “I can jerk you off. Or I can just leave you alone.” You said. “If you want to stop now—”

“I… I really don’t.” He said shakily. “I want… more.” He mumbled desperately. “Maybe… maybe just a little bit.” You nodded.

“What do you want me to do?”

“Can I… touch you now?” He asked, embarrassed. “Or will you take these off and rub against me more?” He asked, gently touching your hips. “I really want you to feel good like you made me feel good.” He said softly.

“Okay.” You nodded, moving to take the thong you wore off and setting it aside on the sofa. “Do you wanna kiss me again or do you want to touch my boobs?” You asked, starting to gently grind yourself against his leg. He could hardly think of your words as he gasped, looking down while you rubbed yourself against his leg. He swore you were wetter than before, but he wasn’t sure if it was because you were now naked or if it was because you really had gotten wetter. “Do you like that?” You asked quietly with a light chuckle. “Does it feel good?” He nodded, meeting your eyes lamely.

“It feels so good… it’s… it’s weird.” You hummed and kissed him.

“You can touch it if you want to.” You said, lifting yourself off of his thigh. “Do you want to?” He nodded silently. “Do you want my help?” He nodded again and swallowed hard. You gently grasped his hand, kissing his knuckles before you brought his hand down. Ennoshita watched you silently as you held his large hand, bringing it to your clit and pressing his fingers to you. A jolt seemed to shoot through your body as you tensed and gently rubbed his fingers against you. “Oh— just like that,” you said quietly. “Just rub it just like that.” Your clit was throbbing for attention, making you moan as he rubbed against you as you clamped your hand down on his shoulder and watched as he rubbed his fingers against your wet pussy and flushed deeply. “Oh my god,” you mumbled, pressing your forehead to his as he silently watched you pant. “Oh, it feels so good,” you moaned. “You can push your fingers in me if you want.” You said. “You can just rub my clit.” You added quickly. “Do whatever you want.”

“What if I… if I rub it like this…?” He asked, sliding his fingers along your folds, teasing your wet entrance and flushing as he pulled his fingers back up and rubbed at your clit.

“Oh— yeah, just like that!” You moaned softly, trying not to rock your hips against his fingers as he rubbed on your clit. “A little faster.” He nodded, starting to work his fingers faster on your clit and making you moan. “Oh, fuck! It feels so good,” you mumbled in a whiny tone. “Mmm, you’re gonna make me squirt if you do this too much,” you said, unable to stop yourself from lightly rocking your hips against his fingers, something he didn’t seem to care about. “You should stop,” you said breathlessly, “I don’t wanna make a mess.”

“What if… we go to my room?” He asked softly, meeting your eyes. “I… I really want to see it. I really want you to feel good.” You swallowed hard, shakily nodding.

“If you want to.”

“I do.” You nodded, moving with the man to stand up. He swallowed hard, standing and gently taking your hand. “I was… wondering if you would let me…” He sighed as the two of you walked to his bedroom, looking down as you met his eye. “I’m anxious I just… thought maybe I was ready.”

“Well, we don’t have to.” You said. “We can stop. We can cuddle on the sofa. We don’t need to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“It’s not that I’m uncomfortable, I’m just… I’m worried that it won’t be great. That I might disappoint you or something.”

“You won’t. I told you, the first time can be rocky. You’ll do amazing. But when you’re ready.” You said assuringly, gently squeezing his hand. “I’ll have sex with you when you’re ready, but if you feel like you have to have sex with me to hurry things along or you’re rushing and worrying it’ll go bad, don’t. It’ll be okay. I’d wait a whole ‘nother year to be with you that way. I’d wait even more than another year. I’d wait until we’re married. I’d wait until after.” With a soft sigh, Ennoshita looked at your hands. “When you’re ready.”

“I’m… ready. Just… be slow with me?” You smiled and nodded, gently leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek.

“As much time as you need.” You assured him. “I’m ready when you are.” He nodded softly, walking with you to the edge of the bed and gently pressing his hand to your thigh. He leaned in, pressing a soft kiss to your lips to make you smile before he spoke again.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” He seemed to hesitate before he guided you by the hips to sit back on his waist.

“Can I touch you again?”

“God, I want you to so bad.” You said, reaching down and fiddling with his shirt. “Will you take this off?” Ennoshita nodded, shifting with you to take his shirt off and flushing as he tossed it aside and watched you lick your lips. “God, you’re so hot…” You mumbled beneath your breath, pressing your hands to his chest and sliding them down along his abs and back up his chest. He gave a shaky breath, watching you touch him in an embarrassed manner.

“Is it okay if I touch you now?” He asked, watching as you snapped out of your trance and nodded.

“Oh— right, yeah. Yeah, that’s good.” He nodded, glancing back down at your pussy, licking his fingers and pressing them to your clit. You leaned back a bit as he watched himself touch you, fingers rubbing at your clit and making you moan out. “Mmm, I can’t believe you’re making me feel like I could squirt so fast.” You said, peeking at the man who watched his fingers move against you as if he was stuck in a trance. “Nobody’s touched me in such a long time,” you sighed out, relaxing your head back and lightly rolling your hips on his fingers. “Mmm, Chikara,” your moans were so sweet, making the man twitch as he touched you. “Mmm, fuck Chikara…”

“Should I push my fingers in, too?” He asked, but you were quick to shake your head.

“No— no, don’t stop, you’re gonna make me squirt— please, make me squirt,” you begged, making the mans heart race as he nodded, eyebrows furrowed inwards worriedly as he rubbed his fingers against your throbbing clit. “Faster— just a little faster,” you seemed to pant, rolling your hips against his fingers. “Ah, yes! Just like that!” Your eyes squeezed shut as you tossed your head back, breast bouncing lightly with your movements. “Oh, Chikara! Fuck!” You grasped tight onto his shoulders as you felt your orgasm coming closer, desperate to squirt out as he rubbed on your clit. “Oh, I’m gonna cum!” You bit your lip, trying to stay quiet with desperate whines and moans as he held onto your hip with his free hand. “Fuck! F-fuck!”

Shocking the man, you came quickly, squirting as his fingers rubbed at your clit. He lagged for a second before you spoke.

“No, don’t stop!” He looked at you with wide eyes, rubbing quickly at your clit and prolonging your orgasm. You leaned in, moaning loudly as you pressed your forehead to his shoulder. Your hips rocked lightly against his hand as he stopped moving his fingers when you stopped gushing out, his fingers resting on your pussy in shock as he held onto you.

“Uh… wow,” he mumbled out, unsure of what to say or even think. He could feel the excess of your orgasm sliding down his leg, flushing but he couldn’t say he hated it— in fact, his cock was aching now, he couldn’t help himself. “That was… holy shit, that was so hot,” he mumbled, watching as you pulled back and reached up to rub your teary eyes. “I didn’t know that you could do that.”

“I told you it was messy,” you said, making the man laugh as he glanced between your legs and at his own that you straddled. “What, uh… what do you want to do now?” You asked, catching his eye. “Do you want me to ride you?” He swallowed hard, but he nodded nevertheless. “Okay. Just lay back.” He moved along with you as you sat on his waist, laying back on his comfortable bed and glancing down to see you reaching for his cock. “If you change your mind, tell me.” You said, but he met your eyes and licked his lips.

“I don’t think I’m gonna change my mind.” He said softly. “Will you… will you do that again? Around me?” He asked, looking between your legs. “Does that happen?” You gave a soft chuckle and nodded.

“I’ll rub my clit so I do.” He swallowed hard, watching as you gently pressed the tip of his cock to your entrance. “You ready?” He nodded, but he was quick to speak.

“Oh— wait, do we… do we need a condom?”

“Do you want one?” He hesitated before he shook his head.

“Then no. I’m on birth control, it’s okay if you cum in me.” You licked your lips as you teased his cockhead with your pussy and made him moan. “I want you to cum in me.” You said, pressing a hand to his chest when you got his cockhead inside of you. He gave a moan, laying his head back on the bed and closing his eyes.

“Ah, it’s so warm…” He mumbled, hissing softly when you slowly rocked your hips, taking more of him inside of you. He was nearly panting, making you flush as you bit your lip, watching his face while you moved on his shaft. “It feels so good,” he mumbled, meeting your eyes with a deep flush on his face. “Do you… feel good like this, too?” He asked, embarrassed as you bit your lip and nodded.

“It feels really good,” you said, slowly moving along his shaft and enjoying every inch of him inside of you, slowly rolling your eyes back in your head as he pushed deep inside of you. “Fuck, you’re so fucking big,” you mumbled. “I didn’t know you were so big,” you said. “I thought maybe you wouldn’t have so much and that’s why you were so anxious,” you said truthfully. “But it’s so big,” you moaned, head back and eyes closed as you moved a little faster. “Mmm, feels so good.”

“God, you’re so warm around me,” he mumbled again, looking between your legs and flushing when he watched you ride him. “Ah, fuck…” He mumbled absentmindedly. “It’s so good…” You panted, hands rested nicely on his chest while you gradually moved faster, making the man moan out as you clenched around him.

“Oh, god! I think I’m gonna cum!” You said, purposely hitting a spot deep inside of you with his cock that you knew was going to make you gush out around him. “You wanna rub my clit? Make me squirt again?” He nodded, bringing his fingers down and working on following your movements, moaning out when you clenched tight around him as he rubbed your clit. His fingers lagged when you squeezed him so tight, eyes falling shut. “Fuck, I’m gonna cum!” You moaned out as his fingers weakly rubbed at your clit. “Oh, fuck!” Your toes curled, trying to hold back the orgasm that you could feel coming, but Chikara’s fingers teasing your clit so infrequently broke you as his thumb pressed back to your wet clit. You couldn’t help yourself, moaning out as you squirted around his cock. “Ah, fuck!” He glanced down, cheeks bright red as you gushed around him, blissful noises coming from you as you tried to bring him to an orgasm before you had to stop, resting down on his hips and panting as you hung your head.

Ennoshita licked his lips, looking at your face as you panted.

“Are you tired?” He asked, moving up on his elbows. “Do you want to stop?” You were quick to shake your head at his words.

“I could go all night.” He gave a soft laugh, glancing at the rest of his bed and sitting up all of the way with you.

“Then why don’t you let me do some of the work,” he said, helping you off of him and giving a moan when your warmth left him. “Just lay down. Help me make you feel good. I wanna cum in you anyways,” he said, kissing your head when he moved between your legs. You gave a soft hum, wrapping your legs around his waist and arms around his shoulders when he leaned down to kiss you.

“Here, let me help,” you reached down, fingers brushing his cock and helping guide him to your pussy. “Just slowly push it in and move your hips,” you said, moving one of your legs off of him and glancing down as he pushed himself inside of you. A moan left you in this new position as he rocked his hips lightly, making you moan out again as you grabbed his shoulders tightly. “Oh, just like that… move just like that.” You brought him back in for another kiss and moaned into his mouth. “Mmm, just like that…” He panted into your mouth, moving his hips a bit faster against you and making you moan louder this time. “Oh, it feels so good!” You moaned out, burying your face against his shoulder. “Oh, fuck— don’t stop, don’t stop,” you begged. “Fuck! Faster!” He gave a soft moan by your ear that made you clench around him. “Oh, yeah! Right there! Right there, hit right there— just like that!” Your toes curled again as he edged himself closer to an orgasm, moving quickly inside of you and pressing to your clit with every thrust inside of you. “Mm, Chikara— Chikara, I want you to cum in me,” you said, kissing his neck. “Fuck, cum in me, Chikara. Fill me up and fuck me just like this all night.” He was flushed, embarrassed, but pressed a kiss to your head.

“I’ll— I’ll fill you up, baby.” He said shakily, thoroughly embarrassed and though seeming to only make you feel better.

“Yeah? Yeah, fuck— fuck, cum in me and fill me up.” You said with a little smile, nuzzling your head against his shoulder. “Oh, it feels so good, Chikara— I want you so bad!” He bit down on his lip and buried his face against your shoulder, panting by your ear as he twitched inside of you.

“I’m gonna cum,” he said softly. “I’m gonna cum, baby,” he said, kissing your neck gently. “Can I cum yet, baby?” He asked, making you flush and give a cute laugh.

“Yeah— yeah, baby, cum in me right now.” You said, kissing his head. “Go on and cum in me.” He seemed to cum on command, moaning out by your ear a little too loudly, hands clenching tight onto the sheets as he stopped moving inside of you, his body completely pressed to yours as he panted. You gave a soft, teasing laugh. Despite your heart racing in your chest and your clit throbbing, you teased the man. “Mm, cumming on command? I could get used to this.” The man flushed as he pulled back and met your eyes. You gave a soft sigh and kissed him. “Do you regret it?” You asked, immediately making the man shake his head.

“No, it felt so good.”

“You trust me?”

“I trust you.”

“Can we go again?” He flushed, but he nodded, glancing down and catching a glimpse of his cum seeping out of you. “Don’t worry, I’ll do the work this time,” you said, pushing the mans shoulder until he slid out of you and laid on his back. You moved, sitting on his waist and leaning down to kiss him. “You just lay here and keep making those cute faces. I’ll make you feel good.” You promised, easily sliding him back inside of you. “Mm, so big… you make me feel so fucking good.”

“Are you kidding— you made me feel so good.” You gave a cute giggle and kissed him.

“I’m not done yet. Just tell me if you want me to stop, but I can go for a long time.”

[mysticalrambling]

Hello

I m new on your blog and read your work and i fell in love with your stories. I read you were interested in taking request so can you take my request too? I was wondering if you can write a steve rogers x reader, where y/n is his girlfriend and he leaves her after civil war and then they see each other in infinity war, he tries to patchup with her but she ignores him because in past he often compared her to peggy and also because she knew about him kissing sharon and she is hurt. During the fight she doesn't talks to him and when tony returns from space she still continues to ignore Steve and when he confronts her she snaps at him for hurting her for a long time. He apologizes and somehow they makeup and also him kissing sharon was misunderstanding because sharon kissed him. And then they are happy together and also in endgame the reader is worried steve will stay in past but he comes back and they get married with the team present and have kids and live happily

Happily Ever After (S.R)

A/N: Thank you so much lovely and I loved the plot line. I loved writing about it and I made a few additions to the story. Hope you like it and I am open to more requests.

Steve Rogers Fanfiction (Fanfiction Master List)

Summary: Steve comes back after Civil War and you are angry with him because he left you. You do not forgive him because you thought he cheated on you and he always compared you with Peggy. But he returns from the past when he chose you over Peggy and you forgive him. You eventually get married and expand your family.

Warnings: Angst but eventual fluff.

._._._._.

He stood right there in his Captain America shield with all his former glory. Your ex boyfriend looked the same but there were some differences like he had a full grown beard and he was more muscular. He kept staring at you with longing and pain but it was not even the half of what you experienced while he was gone.

“(Y/N), you need to take the position left to Steve.” Tony pulled you out of your trance and you just stared at him when you comprehended his order. He had been there for you from the moment Steve left you after the Civil War. Sitting with you when you couldn’t sleep at night and forcefully feeding you when you spent the whole day starving. He didn’t want you anywhere near Captain but you both always worked best together and there were much more important matters at hand.

“But Tony, I can be with Steve.” As much as Rhodey wanted to be away from all of the people that were responsible for his fall, he didn’t want you to suffer. They all had seen you fall apart on the Avenger base when you realised that your boyfriend left without saying good bye to you and without an explanation. Just telling Tony on a voice message to take care of you wasn’t enough.

“I’ll be okay, Rhodey. You are needed near the buildings so if some of the aliens escape our defenses, you can be there to protect the city.”

All of the avengers kept stealing glances at the both of you because they knew that it was only a matter of time before you exploded. But they were wrong. You were not the stubborn, hot headed woman that did not let anyone walk over her. That woman died when Steve left. He took her with himself.

"Take your positions and give them hell." Steve and you made your way towards your designated place.

"(Y/N), listen to me. I-"

"Do not talk to me. We are done." Keeping your eyes trained on the path, you avoided meeting his eyes.

"But, let me explain. I did not have a choice. You sided with Tony and I couldn't tell you that we were leaving." He tried to catch up with you but you were a woman on a mission.

"I did not side with Tony, I sided with the accords. And I was working my ass off to get you all out of there and I looked like a fool in the end." He collided in you as you abruptly stopped in your tracks.

"(Y/N), I didn't know-"

"You didn't know because you never tried to contact me. I was the one who had to go through multiple trials with the government because they thought I helped you all to escape." There were tears pooling in your eyes and Steve wanted to kill himself for being the cause. "I was benched for four months, for Gods sake."

You are reminded of those horrible times when you didn't know what your next step was going to be. The others tried to help you but you had to suffer through all the criticism alone. Some days you just wanted to leave it all behind and start a new life. But you weren't a coward. You wouldn't let anyone run over you like this and ruin your life. Getting back up was tough but you managed it. The day that you were allowed back on the field was the day that you decided you were not going to let anyone ruin your life.

"(Y/N), I made a mistake and I missed you so much." He tried to touch you but you flinched. A look of hurt passed his eyes and retracted his hands.

"Let's just fight. I want to kick some ass." The war crafts soon landed and you all got to fight. You had to admit that Steve was one of the best teammate that you had. He knew when to defend you and when to let you attack. You were busy fighting two of the aliens when one came from the back. Steve saw it and immediately came to your defense. You were never going to admit it but you missed this.

When the fight ended, you both made your way towards the main compound and saw all the avengers gathered together. Steve and you only had minor cuts throughout your body but nothing major. The moment you saw what all the commotion is about, your breath hitched. It was Tony with half of his skin burnt and taking his last breath.

Kneeling down beside him, you started crying. "Hey, it's okay. Just be happy and do not hold on to old grudges. Take care of family for me, please." Pepper was beside you and she started crying harder when she heard him. "Steve, come here for a second."

"I am so sorry for everything. You will always be my friend, Stark."

"We both were in the wrong, Cap. For what it's worth, do not lose (Y/N) because she is the best thing that has happened to you."

Tony was on his last breaths now and you both moved aside because Pepper wanted to have some last moments with him. There were some rifts in the team since the civil war but at this moment, you all were in this together. Tony was the one who brought you all together and saved many of you from your abusive lives. He was your best friend and you didn't know how you would spend your life without his sarcastic comments and his new inventions.

"You go, Tony. We are going to be okay. I love you." The words that left Pepper were a mere whisper but because of the pin drop silence, you were able to hear her.

"I love you too," Uttering his last words, he finally closed his eyes and all that could be heard were Pepper's wails of agony. Everything after it was a blur; the med bay, the briefing, the funeral. Time seemed to pass you by and you were numb the whole time. It was like a large piece of your heart was torn away from you and you didn't know how to react.

"(Y/N), can we talk?" Natasha lightly knocked on your door before you muttered a small come in. She looked around the room and noticed the lack of pictures in your room. The warmth that once radiated from your room was now gone. There were pictures of you with the team, with Steve and with Natasha. You liked to capture all the memories and it was one of the things the team loved about you.

"Hi."

"Hello. I just wanted to see how you were doing after everything."

"I am fine. Just processing everything." The loose thread on your blanket was the main focus of your attention right now.

"You don't seem fine. I know you, (Y/N)."

"No, you don't." Scoffing at her ridiculous statement, you felt anger bubbling inside your chest. "You were one of the first people who became my friend when I came to this tower. You knew I couldn't live without Chris and you. You both were my support system."

"(Y/N), I wanted to tell you everything. Believe me, I did. But we had to keep it a secret because we had to protect the other avengers as well."

"I have been listening to this reason from the past few days and I am done. I was ready to help you guys and you could have just contacted me once. I didn't know if you were dead or alive."

"I am sorry. I wanted to do it but it was never the right time. Half of the times you were surrounded by government officials. Can you forgive me?" The red head came and sat next to you on the bed.

"I can but I don't know if we can go back to the way things were."

"It's okay. We will be friends again. And as a new friend, I just want to tell you that Steve was miserable these past two years and he loves you so much."

"I don't want to talk about him, Nat. Let's go to the gym and spar."

"I am going to kick your ass as alway, (Y/L/N)."

"I have been practicing, Romanoff." You both went on to sparring and Natasha won in the end. However, the whole day you kept thinking about your ex boyfriend. He had been trying to talk to you from the past two weeks. It was hard for you to ignore him but you were now reminded of the times when he compared you with Peggy.

The small things that you did was always met with criticism like Peggy did not work in the field like this or Peggy wouldn't talk to him like a brat. Apparently, she was the mature one and you could never compare to her. Most of the times, you tried not to let the comments get to you but you were human. He might have done it unintentionally and you didn't want to hold it against him. But it hurt.

"We are going to talk today and you are not going to run away this time." He blocked you in the kitchen when you came out of your room to drink some water.

"Funny how you are saying that I am the one that is running away. Hypocrite much now, are we?"

"(Y/N), I am apologising to you because I can't live without you."

"You did so well for two years, I don't know why it is a problem now."

"I understand that you are angry with me. I wanted to be with you so bad but my duty as Captain prevented me from it." Your face was turned away from Steve but you turned towards him when you heard the words leave his mouth.

"Your job is more important than me?" Enraged, all you could see was red and you wanted to punch the daylights out of him.

"I thought it was but not anymore. You are the most important thing in my life and I don't want to lose you."

"Well, you have other women in your life so you don't need me."

"What other women?" Steve's confused gaze swept over your face when you spit those words out.

"I know about Sharon. You kissed her when we were still together. You cheated on me and I hate you for it." Pointing your fingers at his chest, you didn't realise when your voice started to rise.

Steve held your hands and pulled you close to his chest. "Sharon kissed me and I immediately backed off. I would never cheat on you."

You couldn't believe your ears right now. This was one of the things that helped you get over Steve. Believing that he cheated on you, made it a lot easier for you to despise him. Granted that never happened but it was still easier. However, he was still stuck in the past and he did not want to admit it.

"Even if Sharon is not a problem, you are still stuck in the past."

"What do you mean?"

"You are still in love with Peggy and I can not be your second choice anymore."

"Peggy has got nothing to do with this. She is dead and I love you."

"But I would have never been the one you loved if Peggy was here."

"That's not true. You both are totally different people and I love you now." Steve didn't know how to explain it to you. The things he felt for you were totally different for what he felt for Peggy. You made his breath hitch and his heart pounded whenever you smiled at him. He was so in love with you that he didn't think it was possible to love someone this much.

He knew that he compared you with Peggy before he left but at that time he was not ready to leave the past. It was unfair of him to do that to you while you tried very hard to meet all his expectations. However, he realised afterwards that you did not have to meet any of his expectations because you exceeded all of them. He felt so guilty and he just wanted to have you back in his life and forget about all the things that happened.

"I don't believe you."

"Please do. I want us to be okay before I go to return all the stones."

"You do that and then we can talk about us." He gave you a quick peck on the cheek before you could say anything. You were pretty sure that would stay back with Peggy and that's why you didn't want to reconcile things. You didn't want him to break your heart again.

"Ready to go, Cap?" Scott asked as he rechecked the time machine again. Everyone glanced at each other when he said that because they all thought that Steve might remain in the past for Peggy. They all had their doubts but everyone was scared to say them out loud. "You only have five seconds to get back before you are stuck."

"Ready." He glanced at you one last time and stepped in to the machine. You held your breath as Scott counted out loud and when he reached the number four, you were sure that he wasn't coming back. You were about to turn back when a snapping sound echoed throughout the room.

"I told you I will come back." Coming to a halt right in front of you, you couldn't believe your eyes. You pulled him in and kissed him ferociously.

"I love you."

"I love you too and remember that no one compares to you. I am really sorry."

"It's okay. You passed the test." When you both kissed again, all of your friends cheered for you.

As time passed by, you realised that Steve was the best person you could have possibly ended up. He was the literally the man of your dreams. Waking up to him every morning, cuddled up in your bed to going to bed with him kissing you goodnight. Steve made you breakfast every morning even when he was getting late and weekends were only reserved you.

The day that he proposed was still so clear on your mind. You remembered how he was nervous for a week that you thought something was seriously wrong with him. He would stutter and sweat when you got too close to him like it was a new relationship. There was a barbecue for the whole team on the compound and you all were gathered around the garden with drinks in hand. Everyone was enjoying it to the fullest when out of nowhere Steve knelt in front of you with a ring in his hand. After listening to his speech, you said yes with tears in your eyes.

"Are you ready?" Natasha asked you as she smoothed down your wedding dress that you spent months picking out.

"Yes." Pepper helped Morgan with the flower basket because the seven year old wanted to be the flower girl.

"Okay, then it's time." Walking down the aisle was worth it when you saw the adoration flicker in his eyes. He said some of the most heart warming words that had you ruining your eye makeup. It was a beautiful ceremony that only included close family and friends. You wanted a private wedding and you announced it to the world the next day. They all went crazy but the positive response was overwhelming to say the least.

Four months in to the wedding, you realised you were pregnant. Natasha was the one who sat beside when you waited for the test while Pepper brought a million of them for you. You were scared to tell him because you never discussed the possibility of having kids in detail.

"Just tell him. He is going to be ecstatic." Natasha tried to soothe you when you started crying with your face in between your hands.

"Okay. Steve will be home anytime soon."

"We should probably get going." Pepper and Natasha made their way towards the door and gently closed it.

"Hey, babe." Kissing you on the cheek, he immediately went to the washroom to take a shower.

"We need to talk."

"Sure. What's up?"

"I am pregnant." Blurting it out was not what you had planned but you couldn't think of another way. He stopped folding his armor midway and just looked at you with disbelief in his eyes.

"Are you serious? Oh my god. When did you find out? I am so happy, baby."

"I found out about an hour ago. And you are seriously happy?"

"Of course, I am. We will have a mini you or me with us in nine months. I love you, baby."

"I love you too." Keeping his hands on your stomach, he hugged you tightly and you knew that you got your happy ending. You were one of the luckiest people alive because you have a husband like Steve and now you were going to have family with him.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!!

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A/N: I love Captain America and I was happy to write a fanfiction about him. If you guys have any more request, I will be happy to write about them and message me if you want to be added to the tag list.

Taglist: @justile 

Like, comment and reblog.

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[sinner-as-saint]

Can’t Stay Away From Me.

Cherry!Seb (mob!seb) x Stripper!reader. 

What is ‘cherry!seb’? Basically just mob!seb but like, daddy-er. (click on the tag for more)

Run-through: You've known the mob boss for a while now. He’s a regular at your club, and you are his personal favorite, everybody knew that you were his girl. You two have definitely broken the ‘no sex on premises’ rule many, many times. And although he called you his, you two were never officially a thing. So when he mysteriously doesn’t show up at the club for weeks, you decide to just put the hurt aside and move on. But the mob boss comes back from the dead just in time. And he doesn’t like what he sees. So he reminds you that you belong to him. Just him. 

Themes: smut, stripper!reader, angst, dirty talk, slight daddy kink, swear words, fluff

a/n: I wrote a hc quite similar to this last year or something, I read it recently and thought why not turn it into a fic since many of you have been missing Cherry!Seb lately. Enjoy!

You stared at yourself in the mirror of the dimly lit locker room. You were alone in there, all the girls had stepped out already. You gently touched the diamond choker you always wore and adored, your fingertips grazing his name upon it. 

His name. His choker. His girl. Everybody knew that. You were his girl so you had certain privileges that the other girls didn’t have. But you never took advantage of the power you had, mainly because you had fun with your job, but also because most nights over the past many months, you spent with him. And you loved every single moment. 

You sighed for the fifth time as you stared into the mirror. Tonight marked a little over three weeks since Seb last showed up at the club. You had no idea where he was, what he was doing, who he was with. And it hurt, bad. 

At first you were worried about his whereabouts, then by the second week you were annoyed and now all you had energy for was anger. Clearly he didn’t care, perhaps he was out there having the time of his life with other women and here you were sulking over his mysterious departure. 

Over the past weeks, you gained quite some new clients. Some new regulars as well. You did some champagne rooms, and earned decently well. But you didn’t make as much money as you made with Seb. 

You decided to stop acting like an overly obedient pet waiting for its master. You had to work and earn, like you did before him. 

You took one last look at yourself in the mirror and then went on to take the choker off. It would be humiliating to be proud of being his girl and wear his name on your neck while he was out doing God knows what. 

You tossed the choker onto the dresser with a heavy heart and walked out of the locker room, deciding to just be yourself tonight; the same beautiful, confident woman you were before meeting him all those months ago. He hadn’t been back in weeks, who knows perhaps he might never come back here. 

When you walked out, you noticed all the eyes on you. You looked good and you knew it. You sent some smiles around, some winks, a couple of flirty lines and by the time you made it to one of your regular clients, you had already earned some money bills. 

Your client tonight was an older gentleman. He was not like the typical, lousy businessmen who came by your club often. But he was very giving. The moment you settled on his lap he tucked a bundle of cash into the waistband of your thong, that alone earned him a lap dance to a sensual song. Besides, you were feeling yourself tonight so you were extra good today. 

You were carefree. You felt confident, and beautiful and sexy and you could feel all the eyes on you tonight. You danced like there’s no tomorrow. Your client was so satisfied he even put his golden chain on you at some point. You felt spoilt, so you gave him your best obviously. 

Amongst all those stares you got, one of them burned the most. You could feel the vibe around you change. You discreetly scanned the room and met with a pair of eyes you least expected. Stormy, ocean blue ones which made you tremble in both fear and hunger. 

Surrounded by his loyal guards, he stood there looking like a god; expensive, dark suit, the button of his shirt carelessly undone - he looked delectable - gawking, unable to believe that his precious babygirl dared to sit on another man’s lap. He was furious, and you could tell by the way he was shooting glares at you. 

Guess you didn’t expect him to just pop out of nowhere. But you didn’t let his presence ruin your mood right away. You maintained eye contact with him as you moved salaciously across the man’s lap. Biting your lip and being as inappropriate as you could; breaking all of Seb’s rules. 

He noticed it all. How you weren’t wearing his collar, how your dark red outfit was ridiculously revealing, how your body moved just to torment him, how you captured everyone’s attention. The more he looked at you, the angrier he got. 

You held his stare, daring and confidently. He decided not to cause a scene at your workplace so he simply pointed towards the corridor which led to the champagne rooms and walked off in that direction, expecting you to follow immediately. 

You could do so. You could drop everything and run to him because you missed him so much. But you purposely didn’t. He had made you wait over three weeks, he could wait some more minutes you thought. 

Meanwhile Seb was fuming inside the room. How dare you? Most of all, how dare that guy touch you like that? He couldn’t wait to have that talk with you and remind you that you belong to him and only him, because it seemed that you had forgotten. 

After finishing up your dance, you took your time and gracefully moved away from the man. You didn’t take off the golden chain, you didn’t take out the bundle of cash tucked into your thong either; you walked into the champagne room just like you left the man earlier - a little flushed. 

You knew which room he was in since his guards stood outside the door. They let you in and judging by their faces you could tell that their boss was in a bad mood. And you intended on making it worse. 

“Have you lost your way? Are you sure you’re in the right place?” You sassed, upon walking in. You took in his appearance for a moment or two and realized just how much you had missed him.  

Seb sat on the dark red couch, manspreading like it was his throne; quietly sipping on his liquor while his piercing eyes shamelessly roamed your body. The ridiculously bright neon signs behind him were the only things illuminating the room, buzzing slightly. Seb took his time and studied you; torn between loving and hating what he was seeing. 

Your lingerie drove him insane. Your excuse of a see-through cover up did too. Your slightly smudged dark lipstick made him want to ruin it even more, but the thought of where your lips had been were making him even angrier. 

He hated the sight of the golden chain around your neck, replacing the very expensive diamond collar he had given you a while ago; with his last name on it. That was a gift you were meant to wear all the time; to remind you and everyone else that you belonged to him. The mob boss was very possessive when it came to you, and now here you were, disrespecting him. 

But the thing he hated the most, was the bundle of cash tucked into the waistband of your underwear. And he knew that you were purposely showing it off. 

You caught the way his jaw clenched as his eyes roamed your body. He was thinking, plotting. You felt hot under his gaze. You had always loved the way he looked at you, like he owned you. He looked at you the same way, but right now he was pissed off as well.  

Seb had missed you. He even hurried his way back, eager to find you and have you on his lap while he finally touched you and told you all about the time he’d been gone. But instead, he returned to find that his girl had defied him. He felt betrayed. 

“Come here.” He simply said, authority dripping from his words. You could tell he was annoyed and troubled by what he saw out there but he had brought this upon himself. You stayed put despite his very clear order. You didn’t move a muscle. He sighed and rolled his eyes before staring deep into your soul again. “Babygirl,” he sounded threatening, “I said, come here.” He pointed to his lap. 

You approached him, knowing he would be a pain in the ass after all that he saw. But you knew he’d eventually give in because he had said it himself, he can’t stay away from you for too long. Neither could you honestly, and that was why him being gone for so long hurt so bad. 

Seb watched you as you slowly walked over to him, and before you even came to a full stop in front of him, he reached out and pulled you into his lap; gripping your jaw to make sure he had your full attention. 

“Get your fucking hands off me!” you slapped his hand away, surprising both you and him. You had never acted this way before. Usually you craved his touch. You did even now, but right now you were angry at him too. 

Seb growled as he pulled you closer and placed his hand back to your face, gripping your jaw harder this time and it hurt just a little but nothing compared to how you had felt this whole time he’s been gone. 

“Why are you being such a brat, huh? And what the fuck do you think you were doing just now, outside?” He asked, using the same tone he used when dealing with his rivals. Just a tone of pure anger and annoyance. 

Normally he was sweet and gentle with you, so this was new for you. But you wouldn’t give in so easily. You scoffed. “My fucking job is what I was doing! Now go get fucked somewhere else! I’m not your little toy!” You were mad too, and your anger camouflaged the hurt. 

You tried to get off his lap but he wouldn’t let you move. His grip on you was firm and strong. 

“Watch that tone with me, babygirl.” He threatened. This was the second time you had been entirely disrespectful while talking to him tonight. Seb was so close to losing his cool. 

“Or what?” Just two very bratty words from you was enough to make him lose his mind, and his calm and composure. 

Within a second he flipped the two of you and he had you pinned down on the couch beneath him. He held you by the neck gently, wrapping his long finger around your throat and applying the slightest bit of pressure which made you gasp softly. 

“You will not disrespect me like that. You know I don’t tolerate it.” He reminded you of his inability to put up with disobedience. 

You chuckled, mocking him. “And what are you gonna do about it? I have nothing to lose, Seb. I’m just a toy for you to play with, just a whore, or just an easy fuck on most days, aren’t I?” You sounded as though you were questioning his power, insulting him and hurting him at the same time. 

How dare you say that? How dare you assume that you were nothing but those things to him? You meant so much more to him, and you had no idea. Of all the people in his life, you were the only one who didn’t spend time with him out of fear. You were the only thing which he looked forward to almost each day. 

The mob boss was not good at being affectionate, so he thought that perhaps showering you with gifts and money would convey how much you meant to him. But apparently not, because you still dared to say such things right to his face. And upon hearing those things, something in him flipped like a switch. 

You saw it in his eyes; wild, and determined. 

“Just a whore, huh? Well, let me show you how I treat one,” he whispered before going absolutely feral. 

He tore off your lingerie in less than a few seconds. And you let him. You were mad, but you had missed him too and the truth is you’d take whatever he’d give you. He was mean, and dangerous and unpredictable but you loved him. Oh you loved him, and his cold heart and his dark soul. 

While he tore your clothes off your body, your shaky hands tugged at his suit and his shirt too. You could feel his hunger, and him yours. He wanted nothing more than to just be slow, and loving and love you and tell you just how much he missed you. But before all that, he needed to teach you a lesson. 

“I was stupid to even give you any attention.” He kissed his way down your naked body, kissing and nibbling on your skin as he went. “Should’ve left you out there, to be used like a little whore.” He mumbled, growling under his breath through clenched teeth while he parted your legs and settled in between them. 

Your breaths were short and fast as you looked up at him towering you. You had missed the sight of him above you, all big and strong. In less than a minute, he had his erected cock out in his hand. And the sight of him stroking it ever so gently made you whimper in need. 

“I was stupid to even put you on a fucking pedestal, and call you mine. I leave for some time and you get back down to where you truly belong. Guess whores never learn, huh?” He was quick to push himself in you, not even bothering about your whimpers and moans. 

You dripping wet core gripped around him immediately. Your body arched off the surface of the couch as you gasped and moaned. He supported himself above you and smirked as he saw your face morph into a frown. 

“Nothing...” he pulled out and pushed back into you again, “...but a fucking toy for me.” He repeated your words back at you as he sped up and pounded into you, making you moan wantonly in pleasure. He knew his words were a little harsh, but he wanted you to feel how he felt when he walked in to find you on someone else’s lap. 

You whimpered at how good he felt. He quickened his pace. He was relentless. 

“Guess you’ll do anything for money, huh?” His hand came down to grab you by the jaw again, forcing you to open your eyes and look into his deep, blue ones. “Tell me, did he fuck you like this as well? Did he touch you like daddy does? Did you let him?” He asked as he merciless pounded into you. 

You could only moan in response, and he got the answer he needed. He knew your body, and judging by the way you moved and squirmed under him and the sounds you made, he could tell no one had touched you since he’s been gone.  

“All fucking mine,” he growled as he let go of your face, grabbing your wrists and pinning them above your head. He grabbed the golden you wore and yanked it off you, throwing it somewhere on the ground behind him. 

You moaned out loud, struggling to keep your eyes open as it started to water. But the moment your eyes started to close, you felt a gentle smack on your cheek. 

“Look at me,” he leaned down to bite your mouth, “What is it? You can’t take daddy’s cock?” He taunted. “But isn’t that what whores do? Hmm?” he growled, “Shut up and take it then, take all of me. What else is a whore good for, huh?” He moaned and growled right against your mouth, clenching his teeth or occasionally biting down on your lip as he pounded into you relentlessly.

You moaned as he fucked deeper into you. You whimpered at the intensity of his thrust, and he kept going. You cried out as the pressure built up nicely in between your legs. Seb moaned at how your walls gripped his cock and milked it. 

You felt him too; deep inside you, touching you everywhere you wanted him too. You felt your tears fall down your cheeks. You were close...so close…

“Please… please daddy...” you whined, begging pathetically and unable to arrange your words or your thoughts any better. “Please…”

Finally, your body betrayed you and you came all over his cock without any warning. You squirmed and moaned incessantly as the pleasure washed over you. Seb didn’t slow down, he kept pounding into you as your eyes rolled back and you moaned out loud as you came. 

You whimpered at how he kept slamming into you even after you came, and your face burned as you felt the knot forming again right at your core. He fucked you relentlessly; not even stopping for a second. He panted and groaned at how good you felt around him; wet and warm all for him. Your walls clenched around him violently and your body arched off the couch. You felt your second release approaching while you recovered from the first one. 

“Look at me,” he mumbled as he noticed your eyes were closing. You fought the need to shut your eyes and stared into his blue ones. “You’re mine. My little whore,” he growled as he sped up, “My girl,” he let out a grunt, “Mine. You hear me?” 

You nodded. Your body trembled as you came again; gushing out around his cock while he still pounded relentlessly into you as he felt your walls clench around him, milking him perfectly and triggering his orgasm. 

Seb came right after you did; groaning and swearing under his breath. He pulled his cock out of you and looked down at the lovely mess you were; his cum dripping out of you. He gently reached down to touch your sensitive and throbbing core, it was wet everywhere. 

He didn’t hesitate before shoving two fingers inside you again. “Just gonna finger my cum back into your greedy cunt. And you’re gonna let me, won't you? You little slut…” he whispered. You moaned at how sensitive you were; you’re body shuddering under him. “You’ll take whatever I give you, huh?” he whispered before he leaned down to kiss your open mouth again. His tongue invaded your mouth like he owned it while he fingered you. 

You were a mess as he fingered you faster, and faster until you came all over his fingers again. You could barely keep your eyes open as Seb pulled your naked body onto his lap. You had missed his warmth so you instinctively clinged to him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and pushing your face into his neck.

You didn’t mean to cry, but you couldn’t help it. Everything was too much, you felt overwhelmed. Seb’s heart broke at the sound of your quiet sobs. He had been rough, more  than usual, and quite mean too… He was aware of that. 

He stroked your bare back gently, tightening his arms around you. “Are you okay, babygirl?” He asked. You didn’t answer. “Baby?” he whispered again, softly. You didn’t respond, instead you sniffled again as you tried your hardest to fight back your tears but they fell anyways. 

“Baby, I’m so sorry.” He spoke again, his voice a stark contrast to what it was just a minute ago. He was gentle now, soft. He was apologizing for everything. 

“You left me.” You finally spoke, voice strained and tired. You sobbed softly, still holding him tightly, “You’re so mean.” 

His heart broke a little more. Once he was done with you, you could’ve easily left and asked him to never show his face around here again, but you didn’t. You needed him as much as he needed you. You stayed because you had no one else, and you needed to be held and taken care of.

“I’m sorry baby. I’ve been away for a long time. I know.” He apologized.

You sniffled again. “Still. You were so mean.” You spoke, pulling away to look at him with tears in your eyes.

He wiped your tears away and pulled you into him. “I lost my mind when I saw you with that guy. You’re mine and you know that. But you still let someone else put their dirty hands on you. How could you, baby?” He was calmer now. 

“I didn’t wanna do it.” you said, pulling away from him to look into his eyes. His eyes were soft and deep; it only reminded you of how much you loved him. 

He was confused by your words. “Do what?” he asked, gently running his hands up and down your sides lovingly. 

You wiped some more tears away and took a deep breath. “I didn’t want to perform for anyone else. But I was running out of money, and the rent was due.” You finally confessed. 

“You could’ve just told me that, baby.” he said, sounding more caring than you wanted him to.

You almost chuckled. “You weren’t here. You were gone for weeks, Seb. Besides, that’s my problem, not yours.” You made it clear. But he didn’t like that.

He reached out to grab your face, making sure he has your undivided attention. “You are mine. All your troubles are mine, okay? You don’t have to worry about a thing from now on. I’ll take care of you, and everything else. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. But please forgive me. I never wanted to hurt you.” 

Of course you’d forgive him. But just for the hell of it, you said, “No.” and avoided his eyes. Seb sighed, knowing you’d come around eventually. He had you back now and that was all that mattered. 

He took his suit jacket and put it around you to shelter you from the cold air. “You don’t have to worry, you’re never gonna work in this club again.”

You knew that possessive, slightly arrogant tone of his, and it only entailed surprises. “What do you mean?” You questioned further

“I’m buying it. You can run it.” He spoke as if it were nothing at all. He had been thinking about this for a while now. 

You were shocked. “Seb, what-”

He cut you off, pulling you closer to kiss your forehead. “You heard what I said, baby.” He mumbled against your skin. 

“Why?” You questioned, looking down at how you straddled his lap. 

“Because I want you all to myself. I want you to be with me.”

You scoffed. “This is how you ask girls out?”

He looked at you and smiled. “Not girls, just you.” He caressed your tear stained cheek lazily. His heart fluttered as he looked at you, he loved you so much. He could find better ways to show it though. 

After talking about it, after he constantly apologized for his previous behavior and a few playful banters later, he got up and offered you his hand to take. 

“Where are we going?” you asked.

“Home.” he replied.

“Your home?”

“Our home.” he corrected you. “You’re coming to live with me. I’ve been far from you for too long and I’m done hiding what I feel for you.” You began to say something but he spoke up again before you could say a word. “And I won’t take no for an answer.” 

You smirked. “Why? Haven’t you had your fill just now?” you teased. 

“I have.” He answered as you took his hand and stood up. “But every king needs his queen by his side. And I need you. I’ll keep you safe and happy, and I’ll love you. Forever.”

You gave him a teary smile. “You never told me what suddenly brought you back after three weeks.”

He smiled and pressed his lips against yours, whispering, “You know I can’t stay away from you, babygirl.” 

[forthehpfanboys]

Christmas Break

Pair: Draco Malfoy x Reader; he/him.

Summary: You liked Winter Break Draco. Unfortunately, he was replaced by Usual Dick Bag Draco who becomes ruthless. At least Harry is there to make you feel better.

Warnings: SMUT (MDI), jealousy sex, dirty talk, swearing, spanking, short mention of slapping and hair pulling, sir kink and degrading a tad- fluffy ending tho. I may have taken the kinks too far but ya know-

Notes: Requested by @the-offical-yn​, who I must apologize too. A lot of my stories got away from me so I’m very sorry this is late- but um- enjoy getting railed by Draco guys! Yo, I made a shit plot for this. I’m so sorry if it’s baaddd.

~DO NOT REPOST ANYWHERE~

-

For years, he had this twisted mind against anyone not a pure-blood or a Slytherin. He had zero shame with cussing out Gryffindor's, spitting at Ravenclaw’s during quidditch games and tripping Hufflepuff's. But, suddenly, just before Christmas break, he changed and there was nothing blunt about it. He would help Ravenclaw first years pick up their books if they stumbled on the fake steps on the moving staircases, tutor third year Hufflepuff's in Herbology after hours and helped a few Gryffindor students fix their potions.

Draco changed faster than water turns to ice in a freezer. It was almost alarming. Even Snape seemed to be concerned, probably more than others. The greasy git kept yelling at Gryffindor's (mostly the Golden Trio [mostly Harry]) about what would happen when he found out who jinxed Malfoy. You couldn’t pinpoint exactly when he changed, but everyone else could. To the day, infact.

It was just a few days before October, when it started. Draco was strutting down the halls, using Crabbe and Goyle as shields from the dozens of students who walked by him. They stood at his sides, knocking students out of the way, acting like Draco owned this bubble of space as they walked, but somehow, you slipped through. You were crossing in front of him, trying to hurry to class and ended up tripping over your own feet.

Your instincts kicked in and you tried to catch yourself, but instead you fumbled right into Draco, landing heavily against his side. He scoffed, shoving you off and getting ready to cuss you out when you began to apologize (even if you don’t like him) and gather your things off the floor. With your head tilted down you didn’t notice the Slytherin staring at you like you were a puppy. When you gathered your things, you scurried off, apologizing to more students as you went by.

Apparently, that day, he saw you tutoring a whole table of students, all houses included, and you were being so nice to them, so kind and your voice was soft and he heard you say “Hey, no! It’s ok! There is no such thing as a dumb question, ask away”. He had this urge in his chest to just be different, to be someone you would want to be around and be a friend, maybe even be more. It made him feel sick.

It took about a week to get your attention, then a quick growing friendship blossomed. Your relationship with Draco changed- just like he had. It changed from funny jokes, sassy remarks and late night games of exploding snaps to flirting contests, long hugs and what could be considered dates. 

By December, you and Draco were dating without the official titles. Everyday, you two were growing closer and the relationship was growing more rock solid with every passing event. Soon enough, winter break was coming around and everyone was genuinely surprised when they saw the blonde Slytherin strutting through the halls during Christmas break. Usually, the pureblood went home to spend the holidays in a cabin in a warmer climate with his family.

And it was weird for everyone to see him not bragging and tripping students and spitting at kids. But for you? It was a blissful few weeks. Even the Golden Trio got a break. They were some of your closer friends, so Draco gave them a bigger break. The blonde even went as far as helping Harry during potions. It was terrifying.

Until Christmas break was passing and Draco went through another change, which was what you were going to confront him about. 

"Malfoy!" You found him out in the courtyard, a teary-eyed (y/h) first year trailing behind you. The poor kid was shaking with fear and let out a sniffle. "You have some very good explaining to do!"

The blonde looked from Goyle to you, his eyes slowly dragging down your form before darting back up to your flaming eyes. His smile had dropped and was now replaced with a sharp frown. His nose scrunched up, his eyebrows furrowed and his arms crisscrossed over his chest.

“I don’t have to explain anything to the likes of you.” He sneered. He looked over your shoulder and locked eyes with the first year, who scooted over to hide himself better.  He made a scoff and turned back to Goyle, shaking his head while snorting. “Look at this- he’s tryin’ to be a hero.” As if on a cue, his little posse of Slytherins broke out into laughter, forcing your face to heat up from humiliation.

“Seriously? Are you fucking five?” You called over the idiots laughter, which morphed into pathetic ‘ooh’s. “Draco, stop being a child and a douchebag and just apologize to the first year.”

“Why should I?” Draco stepped closer to you. His eyes, stance and voice all held a challenging undertone. He moved some blonde hair out of his face, but you didn’t miss how his eyes flicked down to your lips.

“Because you called him a mud-blood for bumping into you. Grow a pair, gain some manners and apologize to him.” You crossed your arms over your chest, putting on your best angry face. If Draco was pulling a prank, you were going to punch him, without hesitation. And how the hell did an asshole like this become a prefect??

“Oh, your right, I definitely should apologize when the kid bumped into me. But I think I have a better idea.” He brought a finger to his lips, tapping it in mock thought. Sarcasm and sass was radiating from him and it only served to piss you off more. “How about you fuck off and leave me alone, (L/n).” He smirked, turning to his posse and symboling them to leave with him for a dramatic exit. You took a deep breath, your hands balling at your sides. 

“I’m sorry for him.” You turned around and put a hand on the kids back and gave him a soft push back toward the castle. “Go tell the head of the house, ok? I’m gonna keep talking to him.” When he nodded and began to walk out of the courtyard, you hurried in the direction Draco left in. You found him heading across the bridge, in the middle of his group, who were effectively taking up the whole span of the bridge. His laughter echoed in the hollow build, which only had your blood boiling worse.

So, you called his name again, effectively getting his attention. He turned so fast you thought his head would’ve spun all the way around like an owl. You stared into his now burning eyes, walking closer to him. You could feel the adrenaline mixing with rage in your veins. You weren’t thinking straight, but you didn’t care. 

“Wanna explain why you're being an ass all of a sudden or are you just gonna insult me and strut off with your orgy party?” You glared at him, ignoring his irritated sneer. It was making your face red (or whatever hue, I wanna be as inclusive as possible) with anger.

“I don’t have to tell you a thing.” Draco was, naturally, turning defensive, even if he knew deep down how he was acting was wrong. Honestly, you couldn’t tell if he knew he was actually being an ass or not.

“Ok. I get it. You stay the fuck here with your friends and I’ll just leave you alone then. Merlin, why did I think you’d change?” Your face showed disappointment before contouring back to anger and frustration and aggression. You ran your tongue over your teeth, a frown etching across your lips. “My mistake.” You turned around, still going off pure adrenaline. You felt a hand grasp your wrist and immediately tugged it free with all of your strength. “No, I really don’t wanna hear it, fuck off.”

You didn’t look back, and you certainly didn’t hear him say anything. Of course it hurt, but you didn’t care at the moment. Your heart was thumping in your chest and all you felt was anger. He had the audacity to befriend you, say he really liked you for fucks sake, and then do a complete 180. You were grateful it was the weekend so you didn’t have to sit next to him in class.

You stomped through the snow, hurrying across the school grounds to the library (can you tell I have no idea what Hogwarts layout is?). You pushed open the doors and decided to basically hide yourself in an empty corner to try to cool down. After pulling the seat out, you sat down, slouching and resting your forehead on the table. You want to know what happened, why it happened

Was it his dad? Was it his friends? Was he jinxed or something? You let out a sigh of frustration. The idea of his dad convincing him to start treating people like trash again brought your anger back. You rolled your neck and ran your hands through it.

Pulling your wand out of your pocket, you waved it casually, summoning a book from one of the carts beside the isles. You didn't care what it was. You just wanted a distraction. 

Luckily, for you, it didn't take long to get distracted. A few pages and more than a few dreadful minutes into your "reading", someone sat across from you. You looked over the rim of the book to see a smiling Gryffindor with big, round glasses slipping down his nose. He gave an awkward greeting while pushing his glasses back up. 

"Hi to you too, Harry. This is a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you?" You smiled, shutting the book and crossing your arms over it.

"Well, I just heard about the Draco fiasco that took place a few hours ago-" had it really been hours? "-and I wanted to make sure you were OK." Harry scooted closer to the table, his cheeks a soft pink.

"I'm fine, man. You don't gotta stress about me." You stretched your arms over your head while leaning back in your chair. You were trying to give the illusion of calmness and it was sorta working.

"Oh, good! I'm- I'm glad you're ok!" He began to fiddle with his fingers, digging at the nails nervously. "Because I also wanted to ask.. Um.. If you are free? Like this weekend? To hang out?" His green eyes barely met yours and, instead, opted for staring right over your shoulder. 

"Oh, I'm n-"

"He's not free, Potter. We have plans covering every minute of the weekend. Scram."

Your smile faded as Draco's voice filled the small corner. You looked up, immediately catching his stern gaze. He was leaning against the end of a bookshelf, his arms crossed and one foot crossed over the other. He was clearly chewing on his tongue, not that he'd admit it. You gave him a glare, your arms crossing over your chest. 

"But, Draco. I thought I canceled our plans." Your voice was condescending and it only fueled his anger. Harry, noting the weird tension, ducked out of there quickly, swerving around Draco and speed walking to a safer, less awkward part of the library. 

"What the fuck are you doing?" The blonde hissed while taking long steps over to the table. He was still staring you right in the eyes. Draco moved the chair Potter was sitting in and put his hands flat against the table. He made eye contact with him. 

"Why should it matter to you? I thought I was just being a selfish hero." You narrowed your eyes at him, daring him to make a move. You could feel the anger returning from earlier.

"I never said selfish. Why are you making this so complicated? I have a reputation to withhold, (Y/n)." His eyes softened a bit. He looked down at the polished wood before looking at you again. Draco tried to give you a smile, but you didn’t return it; you just tapped your fingers against the table top.

"I don't give a rats ass about your shitty reputation! You bully pre-teens and they actually fear you and you think that's a good thing? That's what you wanna leave behind when you graduate here?" Your face was turning a deep shade of (insert skin color please). He knew he fucked up, not that he’d admit it, and his soft eyes hardened again.

"Remember who's in charge in this relationship, boy." His hand snaked around the back of your neck, tugging you forward. Your nostrils flared as you released a sigh. Was he really pulling out the dominant card right now?

"I told you there was no relationship." you shoved his hand away, standing straight up and walking past him. You didn’t get far before he grabbed the hood of your robe and tugged you back. He guided you so your back collided roughly with the end of the book case he was leaning against.

“I know you can’t quit me like that, love.” The pure-blood spat out the pet name as his thumb and index finger roughly grabbed your chin and tugged your head up. “We both know I infected you like a virus- I know you're obsessed with me, sweetie.” A menacing grin spread across Draco’s pale lips when your jaw dropped open and your mouth fumbled to find words to combat him.

He moved his leg between yours, his hands moving from the scrunched fabric of your hood to your neck. He leaned in, planting a rough kiss to your lips while his other hand untucked your shirt. He pushed his hand under the shirt, rubbing the skin of your hip while he deepened the kiss. He managed to push his tongue past your lips and ran along yours.

Draco angled his leg to brush against your crotch causing you to jolt in the kiss. He pulled back, his tongue licking your teeth while pulling back. 

“Told you.” He purred out. The hand on your neck gives you a squeeze around the neck while his icy eyes go from your lips to your eyes. He could read you like a book. You hated it. “Don’t be a slut, darling. Let’s head to my room, yeah?” He didn’t move until you nodded your head slowly. “Good boy. Come on.”

The walk to the common room was long, but the hand around the back of your neck was sturdy. It didn't take long for him to have you pressed against the wall of his prefect bedroom, chest first, your pants basically vanished from your legs and his hand wrapped around your hard dick. 

“You’re such a whore, aren’t ya, baby boy, hmm?” Draco’s voice boomed in your ear as his fingers interlocked into your skelp. You couldn’t help but sob. The hand on your dick was going faster, but refused to slide over the swollen head. Your nails scraped down the wall pressed against your front and Draco pressed your cheek harder against the brick. “Been such a bad boy- using that dirty mouth to talk so poorly about me and to flirt with my anime. If you wanted a three-some you should’ve asked Zabini. But Potter? You know that’s a firm no, baby.”

He was tsking before biting down on the side of your neck, the grip he had around your cock only tightened to the point of painful. Tears of humiliation and pain gathered in your eyeline, threatening to boil over. Your legs subconsciously spread when he began to grind into the bulge of your ass, his hard dick prominent into your crack. He licked a strip up from the bite to your ear.

“You know very well what happens to slutty bad boys who flirt with sir’s enemy, right, baby?” He was growling in your ear again, his hand coming to a tight hold at your base. He let out a mocking laugh when your legs clamped shut and your hips tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Draco!” You squeaked out, voice a few octaves higher than usual. It made Draco happy to hear your pathetic pleas, but his joy was melting away due to you still squirming in his grasp. He shook his head, tsking again. He tugged your hair, yanking your head back and forcing you to bow against his body. He gave you a firm slap against the cheek before cupping your cheeks together and forcing your lips to pout, his hand still in your hair.

“You know that’s not my name right now, kitten. Use the right one.”

“I’m sorry, sir.” Your voice was weak compared to Draco’s, the obvious authority he had over you made you shiver. Abruptly, he pushed you against the wall, letting go of your hair and he was backing away from you. 

“Not yet your not, kitten. Finish stripping then get your arse over here.” Draco spoke, sitting down on the bed, patting the top of his thighs. He smirked when you did what he said, tossing your shirt off into the corner and approaching him slowly. He reached out to grab your arm and tug you over his lap. 

He used one hand to push your face into the mattress while the other ran over your right cheek. He loved watching your hips try to duck and avoid the cold silver of his rings. He let out a mocking laugh, his hands grabbing into your bum, nails digging into the skin to leave marks that had your back arching. 

"Aw, baby. Is it too cold for you?" He laughed louder, feeling you nod against his left hand tangled in your hair. "Aw, poor baby. Wait until you feel them bruise your skin. Now, do you remember what you say?"

"Yes, sir." your voice sounded strained--like you were mentally preparing yourself for the bite of the rings, the puncture of his smacks. You were, in all honesty. He never held back during punishments. 

"See? It isn't so hard to be a good boy after all, is it?" he patted your head before brushing your hair back. "Remember the safe system, darling? Good. Color?" 

"Green, sir." your legs were clenching together and wiggling, but a swat to the back of the sensitive skin of your thighs made you stop. "I'm sorry sir." 

"Good.. Now, how many does a horny little whore like you deserve, hmm? Ten? Fifteen?"

You knew what he was looking for. 

"T-Twenty." You swallowed. The anticipation and degrading was making your head cloudy. 

"Twenty? Well, you must've been really naughty, huh?" His hand ran to your lower back, caressing the skin before dragging his nails back down, leaving a trail of red marks down your skin.

You nodded your head quickly, biting your lip to conceal a moan. You could feel the pre-cum going down your hard dick, which was pressing into Draco's thigh.

"No response? Maybe we should add another ten then, since you wanna be so bad." 

"I-I'm sorry, sir! Twenty is what I deserve." You said quickly, trying to turn back and give him the huge innocent eyes he always went weak for. 

"No. Thirty seems far more fitting." He chose now to start the punishment with a raised hand and a harsh slap over the perfect curve of your ass. He watched the skin bounce and groaned, gripping the flesh again.

"One! Thank you sir." You squeaked out, back arching at the familiar sting of the hit. The cold silver of his rings colliding with your skin caused your toes to curl. 

"Atta boy." he purred out, repeating the action on the other side.

“Two, thank you sir!”

By the tenth spank, tears were falling freely down your cheeks. By the fifteenth, your voice was breaking with each shout. By the twentieth, you were trying to crawl away. By the twenty-fifth, you were kicking your legs like a brat. Somehow you managed to count to thirty without losing track. 

"You did so good, baby. Even if you were being a brat." Draco chuckled, running his fingers through your hair. His other hand rubbed your cheeks, trying to sooth the deep red (or whatever tint shows up with your skin, I wanna be as inclusive as possible) marks on your skin.

You let out another sniffle, propping yourself up on an elbow and wiping the tears off your cheeks. His hand ran up your sweat thighs, his palms rubbing the already sore skin of your ass once he got to it.

“Color?”

“Green, sir.” You turned your head to look at him. Your legs shifted, creating a shattering hyper awareness of how hard and how wet your cock was against his thigh. You caught his dirty smirk before he flipped you over. Suddenly, it was stoic and he was tugging your lower half back onto his lap. This time, Draco was sitting back on his calves, and he was steadily putting your legs around his waist.

“Good. Now,” he paused to lick his lips, “I’m going to fuck the brat out of you, got it?” His hands moved down your thighs before moving up to your pelvic bone. While you were responding with a polite, but breathless ‘yessir’, his hand was lazily wrapping around your cock.

He was still fully dressed, and the smooth fabric of his uniform pants rubbed against the sore spots on your ass. Your hips moved upward, trying to get more of his moving hand and less of the fabric against your bottom. You let out a breathy moan while his thumb idly swiped across the swollen head of your dick.

“That’s it.” He mumbled to himself over the sound of his zipper dropping. He mumbled a preparing, lubrication and cleaning spell, his hand still working you slowly. The blonde stuck his tongue out in concentration while pushing his own cock into your lubed ass. Draco let out a hum, his teeth clamping down onto his tongue. “Fuck yes. Such a good boy- my good little slut.” He let go of your dick and clamped his hands onto your waist and used the leverage to pull you down onto his cock.

You clamped a hand over your mouth, trying to muffle the cry as he stuffed his cock into you. You felt the wind knocked out of you. You gripped the sheets, whining pathetically. The head of his dick nudged against your sweet spot while he sat there, waiting patiently for you to adjust. It had been a bit of time since the last time you guys had fun sexy time. Your dick was literally throbbing, occasionally twitching, at the idea of him literally fucking you stupid. Your eyes were staring at the top of his four post bed, lost in your own thoughts when he began to move.

He tested the waters with the quick thrust, which yanked a moan from you. When you finally looked at him, you realized he was watching you intently, a menacing grin spread across his face.

“How’s your arse?” Draco asked, his voice condescending and cocky as he gave another thrust. His hand snaked around to your sore ass cheeks and gave one a tough squeeze, his nails digging in.

A cry left your lips, this time pain filled instead of pleasure. You planted your feet flat on the bed and tried to wiggle away from his grasp, which only made it worse.

“Sore, you dick!” You reached around, grabbing his wrist and trying to pull his hand away. “Ow! Let go, Draco!” You dug your nails into his wrist, trying to show him a small level of the pain he was causing but he just laughed, mocking your voice.

“Owie, it hurts! Take it, babe. You can do it.” He let go, his hands coming to hold your hips again before moving you at a punishingly rough pace. His muscular thighs rubbed against your ass, not that he cared. The pain was somehow starting to make the pleasure stronger. Soon it was filling your veins and fogging your brain.

Draco relished every moan, every gasp, every little sound you made. He listened to you whine out his name and it only fueled him more. He watched the sweat bead across your forehead and felt proud of himself.

“Atta boy. Gonna cum soon? Gonna cum completely untouched, like a whore? Hmm?” He purred out, leaning down to leave hickies across your neck and scratches down your chest. Your back arched pathetically off the bed while a woeful affirmative left your lips- but it wasn’t good enough for him.

“Say it.” He snarled, his voice too close to your ear to be that loud.

“G’nna cum, please.” You didn’t know what you were begging for, but your arms wrapped around his neck and pulling him closer. He shifted so he could rail you into the mattress and fulfill his promise.

“Please what? How can I help you if I don’t know what you want? What do you need, kitten?” 

It was like he used the imperius curse on you. You bent to fit his mold and he couldn’t have asked for more.

“Please, sir. Please let me cum, please.” You whimpered, your toes curling in the air. Your ankles locked behind his waist and dug into him, effectively pulling him closer. His palm glided up your chest again and he gave you a smile.

“Course you can, love. Whenever you're good to go.” Draco didn’t ease up his hips, but his voice was softer and after a few thrusts hitting your prostate and a brush of his stomach against your weeping cock had you cumming. Your head tossed back and you didn’t bother to muffle the cry of his name.

It didn’t take much to follow you for Draco, it never did. He always thought one of the most beautiful expressions you could make was while you were cumming on his bed. That, and when he gave you candy and you smiled at him. He kissed every bruise he left on your skin before landing on your lips and laid next to you.

He pulled a sheet over the two of you- the room had gotten hot but he knew both of you were too tired to get cleaned and shower. He pulled you to his chest, kissing your temple.

“You did so good, baby. I love you.” He rested his chin against the top of your head, completely delving you in his shirt covered chest. He rubbed a hand down your back. Your boyfriend didn’t care about sweat. 

“I love you too, Draco.” Your voice was rough and raspy. You planted a kiss to his cheek and nuzzled deeper into him somehow. “I miss you. The nice you- not the mean Slytherin you. He can suck my dick.”

“I know, I know. I’ll work on it. I promise.” Draco spoke between laughs. He hesitated, his mind bouncing between two questions he wanted to ask at once. “Do you want me to get you a bottle of water and we go take a bubble bath?” His voice was soft, but a massive grin spread across his lips when you nodded.

“Can we take a nap first?” You looked up at him with those big innocent eyes and gave him that smile he loved.

“Of course, dove.”