#but he never took one step forward without then taking ten leaps back

[jonroxton]

my favorite thing tho is that bart is right! we should all be horrified by cathy and chris! it’s definitely DEFINITELY their trauma bonding them and their lives were never going to be safe and easy together (and it wasn’t!). it does mess him up. all those marriages and kids and deaths and family secrets truly affect him! but but but, and i hate saying but, he’s such a shit! it’s so easy to root for chris and cathy lol

[thistledown-au-warriors]

fire and ice - chapter 27

< Chapter 26 || Index || Chapter 28 >

Violet Fang and Stone Pelt rushed forward and joined Fore Heart in a defensive row, and the queens lined up behind them. Fire Heart saw Blazing Cinder hobbling to join them, but Sand Storm leaped down from the Highrock and meowed to the small gray cat as she raced by. Blazing Cinder scrabbled clumsily back into the healers' den with a wounded expression as Sand Storm joined Violet Fang's side.

The elders grabbed the kits, bundled them into the nursery, and squeezed inside after them. Brindle Face picked up Cloud Tail in her jaws and passed him to Hop Speckle. Golden Flower protested before going into the nursery while Frost Shine and Rose Fall followed Brindle Face. The three mollies tugged at the brambles with their paws, ignoring the thorns, and covered the entrance before turning to join the rest of the Clan in the clearing. Fire Heart arched his back and hissed at Broken Tail. “You lost the last time we fought, and you’ll lose again!”

“Never!” Broken Tail spat back. “You might have taken my Clan away from me, but you can’t kill me — I have more lives than you!”

“One ThunderClan life is worth ten of yours!” Fire Heart growled. The ThunderClan warriors yowled and the clearing exploded into battle.

Fire Heart leaped straight for Broken Tail and grasped the dark brown tabby with his claws. Life as an outlaw had treated the former Clan leader harshly — Fire Heart could feel the ribs of the flea-bitten tom beneath his fur. But Broken Tail was still strong. He twisted around and sank his teeth into Fire Heart’s hind leg. Fire Heart yowled and hissed with rage, but kept his grip. Broken Tail struggled forward, scrabbling with his paws on the frozen ground. Fire Heart felt his claws raking along Broken Tail's bony flanks as the rogue warrior ripped himself free. Fire Heart lunged after him, but other claws were grasping at his hind leg. He looked over his shoulder to see who it was. Claw Strike crouched there, staring at Fire Heart with narrowed, mocking eyes.

Fire Heart looked back at him in disbelief. He had never expected to see this cat again. He forgot Broken Tail instantly. It was Claw Strike who had killed Leaf Spots in cold blood in order to steal Frost Shine’s kits for Broken Tail. Rage roared in Fire Heart’s ears. He twisted around and threw himself on top of the scrawny brown tom.

Fire Heart hardly noticed the pain in his leg as he tore it free from Claw Strike’s grasp and flew at him. The tom reared up and flailed his wide front paws. Thorn-sharp claws caught Fire Heart behind his ear. Pain ripped through him like fire, and he staggered. Claw Strike was on him in an instant, pinning Fire Heart to the ground and sinking his teeth into the back of his neck.

Fire Heart screeched in agony. Suddenly the weight was wrenched off his back. Fire Heart sprang to his paws and spun around. Gray Stripe! The gray warrior stood motionless, his eyes filled with horror. Claw Strike’s body hung limply from his jaws. Gray Stripe opened his mouth and Claw Strike fell to the ground, dead. 

Both toms backed away from the lifeless body. The cat that Fire Heart felt so much rage for, who had been trying to kill him heartbeats ago… was now a corpse. It could've been me who killed him , Fire Heart realized with a chill, if Misty Step hadn't stopped me that day . In this case, it seemed like Claw Strike wouldn't have given up without taking a life. But Gray Stripe had taken his instead, to save him.

Fire Heart gave himself a shake, heartbeat fast once more. They weren't safe yet. He took a step forward. “Gray Stripe! Is Blue Fur with you?” he asked urgently.

Gray Stripe shook his head, barely out of his shock. “She sent me back to fetch Tiger's Claw.” he replied. “We found bones. Blue Fur believed she recognized Broken Tail’s stench on a tuft of fur caught on a bramble nearby, and guessed he must be leading the rogue cats.”

A hiss sounded nearby and two cats crashed into Fire Heart. He leaped out of the way. It was Frost Shine battling with another of the attacking cats. The molly was fighting with all the power of StarClan. These were the cats who had stolen her kits. Hate shone in her eyes as she struggled. Fire Heart held himself back — Frost Shine didn’t need his help. A moment later the rogue warrior was sent screeching away, through the bracken camp wall.

Frost Shine chased after him, but Fire Heart called her back. “You have given him enough wounds to remember you!” There was no need to litter their territory with corpses. The molly skidded to a halt by the bracken wall and turned, her sides heaving and her white fur stained with her enemy’s blood.

Another rogue warrior screeched past Fire Heart and headed for the camp wall. Stone Pelt and Rose Fall chased after him and managed to give the mottled tabby a fierce blow before he let him scrabble out of the camp. 

Sand Storm had a rogue warrior pinned to the ground. The tom was lying motionless beneath her. Watch out! thought Fire Heart, remembering his favorite trick of letting an enemy think he had won. But Sand Storm was not deceived. When the tom leaped to his paws, she was ready. She sprang off him, and then lunged, grasping the warrior with her claws to flip him over and rake his belly with her hind legs. Only when he squealed like a kit did she let go of him. The rogue tore out of the camp entrance, still wailing.

There was an eerie moment of stillness. The ThunderClan cats stood in silence and stared at the blood and fur that was scattered around the clearing. In the middle lay Claw Strike's body.

Where was Broken Tail? Fire Heart spun around in alarm, scanning the camp. Could he have broken into the nursery? He was about to spring toward the bramble den when a wretched howl from Violet Fang's den tore the air. Fire Heart tore across to the fern tunnel. Blazing Cinder! He raced into the den, expecting the worst, but saw instead Broken Tail lying in a heap on the ground. The old healer stood over him.

Broken Tail’s eyes were closed and bloody. Fire Heart saw his sides heave once, and stop moving. He recognized from the deep stillness in the rogue warrior’s body that he was losing a life.

Violet Fang’s claws were unsheathed and glistened red. Her face was twisted and her eyes glazed.

Suddenly Broken Tail gasped and began to breathe again. Fire Heart waited for Violet Fang to lunge at him with another killing bite, but she hesitated. Broken Tail didn’t get up.

Fire Heart ran to the healer’s side. “Aren't you going to finish him off?” he whispered. “He murdered his father, banished you from your Clan, killed your kin and tried to kill you.”

“It’s not his last life.” she rasped. “And even if it were, I couldn’t kill him.”

“Why not? I'm sure StarClan would understand...” Fire Heart could not believe her words. The name Broken Tail had always made this old molly bristle with rage. 

Violet Fang dragged her gaze from Broken Tail and looked at Fire Heart. Her eyes clouded with pain and grief as she murmured. “He is my son.”

Fire Heart felt the ground lurch under his paws. “But… you said healers are forbidden from having kits.” he blurted out.

“I know.” answered Violet Fang. “I never intended to have kits. But then I fell in love with Shadow Ragged Claws.” Her voice was thick with sorrow. Suddenly Fire Heart thought back to the battle when Broken Tail was driven out of the ShadowClan camp. Just before he fled, the cruel leader had told Violet Fang that he had murdered his father. Violet Fang had been devastated, and now Fire Heart understood why.

“There were three kits in my litter.” Violet Fang went on. “But only Broken Tail survived. I gave him to a ShadowClan queen to bring up as her own. I thought that losing two of my kits was punishment from StarClan for breaking the warrior code. But I was wrong. My punishment wasn’t that two of my kits died. It was that this one survived!” Violet Fang looked in disgust at Broken Tail's bleeding body. “And now I cannot kill him. I must accept my fate, as StarClan wishes it.”

Violet Fang staggered, and Fire Heart thought she was going to collapse. He pressed his body against her flank to support her and whispered. “Does he know you’re his mother?”

Violet Fang shook her head.

Broken Tail began to wail pitifully. “I can’t see!” Fire Heart realized with horror that the rogue cat’s eyes had been scratched beyond repair.

He cautiously approached the rogue. Broken Tail lay still, eyes covered with his paws. Fire Heart poked him with a forepaw. “Don’t kill me.” the rogue whined. 

Fire Heart backed away, feeling a shudder of revulsion at the warrior’s fear. This cat who had done so much harm with no remorse was now reduced to a terrified creature begging for his own life.

Violet Fang took a deep breath. “I will see to him.” She walked over to her wounded son, grasped him by the scruff of his neck, and dragged him to the nest that Patchy Shade had left.

Fire Heart let her go. He wanted to check that Blazing Cinder was all right. He caught sight of a dark shape moving inside the split rock where the healers slept. “Blazing Cinder?” he called.

She poked her head out.

“Are you okay?” Fire Heart asked.

“Have the rogue cats gone?” she whispered.

“Yes, except Broken Tail. He’s badly injured. Violet Fang is seeing to him.” He waited for Blazing Cinder's shocked reaction, but she just shook her head slowly and stared at the ground.

“Are you okay?” Fire Heart repeated.

“I should have fought alongside you.” her voice was choked with shame.

“You would have been killed!”

“Maybe.” The small cat’s eyes were full of despair. “But I wouldn’t have minded being killed. What good am I like this? I’m just a burden on this Clan if I can't even fight to defend it.”

Fire Heart felt a thorn-sharp pang of pity and horror. He searched for words to comfort her, but before he could speak, Sand Storm crashed through the bracken. Her face showed that she'd overheard Blazing Cinder's words.

"Sand Storm…" the small apprentice breathed.

"Don't ever say that again." Sand Storm meowed, firmly but also softly. The ginger molly marched straight for her apprentice, stopping less than a tail-lenght in front of her. "It's a great gift to me that you are alive. I wouldn't forgive myself if you weren't."

Blazing Cinder looked at her with wide, watering blue eyes. "But… Sand Storm, Fire Heart said I could be a warrior if I wanted, but… I already did before the accident and I just proved myself too dumb to listen to anyone and-"

"Hush." Sand Storm placed her chin on top of the gray molly's head. "Fire Heart was right, you'll be a great warrior. I'll train you, like I promised I would, as soon as you heal."

"But I…" Blazing Cinder's voice cracked, and she dug her face into her mentor's chest fur. "I did nothing today."

"You did. You were safe, and I could fight better because I knew I had to protect you. I'll always prefer to know you're alive than dead on a battlefield. Not only me, but your siblings and mother too." She pulled the small cat closer. "You'll be a warrior who fights and makes it alive out of a battle, okay? But be safe until then, for me."

Fire Heart heard a sob, and backed away slowly to give them space, realizing he wasn't needed in this exchange.

Violet Fang's rasping mew sounded from the nest where she'd placed Broken Tail. “Fire Heart, you there?” she called. “Fetch me some cobwebs, quickly! And some comfrey root while you're at it.” 

He blinked in surprise, then turned and disappeared inside the rock. He quickly found one of the knobbly roots near the entrance and grabbed it between his teeth, then rushed further in until he could feel cobwebs clinging to his fur and pawed at it until he'd wrapped a paw in them. On three legs he ran back to Violet Fang's side and thrust the cobwebs inside the nest.

“Leave the root here.” ordered Violet Fang. "And now go fetch me Stone Pelt." Fire Heart nodded and turned to leave. 

Hardly any cat had moved in the camp clearing. Fire Heart padded straight to Stone Pelt and meowed. “Violet Fang is tending to Broken Tail's wounds. She called for you.” He ignored someone's gasp of disbelief. Stone Pelt looked over at the healers' den, hesitated, then meowed. "Right. I should be in there." he murmured, rushing to meet his mentor.

Fire Heart looked at the den as the bracken swished behind the gray tom. Sand Storm is in there if Broken Tail tries anything, at least , he thought.

He went over to Gray Stripe. The gray warrior was still staring at Claw Strike's body. “You saved my life.” Fire Heart murmured. “Thank you.”

Gray Stripe lifted his gaze to Fire Heart. “I would give my life for you.” he answered simply.

Feeling choked, Fire Heart watched his friend turn and walk away. Perhaps their friendship was not over after all.

The sound of paws pounding through the gorse tunnel broke into his thoughts. Blue Fur came rushing into the camp, followed by Pale Tail, Dusty Earth and Swift Bird. Fire Heart felt his shoulders droop with relief at the sight of his Clan leader. She looked around at the blood-spattered clearing, her eyes wide, until her gaze rested on Claw Strike's body. “Broken Tail attacked?” she meowed.

Fire Heart nodded.

“Is he dead?”

“He’s with Violet Fang and Stone Pelt.” Fire Heart answered, forcing out the words in spite of his exhaustion. “He’s been wounded — his eyes.”

She frowned. “And the other rogue warriors?”

“We chased them off.”

“Are any of our Clan badly hurt?” Blue Fur demanded, looking once more around the clearing. The cats shook their heads. “Good.” she meowed. “Dusty Earth, Swift Bird, take this body out of the camp and bury it. No healers or elders need be present. A rogue doesn't deserve to be buried with the honor of StarClan ritual.”

Swift Bird and Dusty Earth began to drag Claw Strike toward the tunnel.

“Are the elders safe?” Blue Fur asked.

“They’re in the nursery.” Fire Heart told her. As he spoke a rustling sounded from the bramble den, and Sparrow Nest appeared, followed by the other kits and elders. Fire Heart saw Cloud Tail tumble out and scamper excitedly across the clearing to Brindle Face. She greeted him with a brisk lick, and the kit turned to watch Claw Strike's body as it disappeared away through the tunnel.

“Is that a dead cat?” the kit asked curiously. “Can I see?”

“Hush.” whispered Brindle Face, tucking her tail around him.

“Where’s Tiger's Claw?” Blue Fur asked.

“He’s taken a party to attack a ShadowClan patrol.” Fire Heart explained. “We found bones on our patrol. They smelled of ShadowClan so Tiger's Claw decided to attack. I sent Bracken Leaf to stop him when Violet Fang realized it was Broken Tail’s scent on them.”

“Bracken Leaf?” meowed Blue Fur, narrowing her eyes. “Even though he might have to cross the Thunderpath?”

“We needed all the warriors in camp. There was no one else to send.”

Blue Fur nodded, the concern in her eyes giving way to understanding. “You didn’t want to leave the camp unguarded?” she meowed. “You did well, Fire Heart. I think Broken Tail hoped to lure all our warriors away from the camp. We found bones, too.”

“Gray Stripe told me.” Fire Heart looked around for his friend, but Gray Stripe had disappeared.

“Send Violet Fang to me when she’s finished with Broken Tail.” Blue Fur ordered. She pricked her ears at the noise of more paws in the gorse tunnel. Tiger's Claw came racing into the camp, followed by White Flower and the rest of the raiding party. Fire Heart craned his neck to peer around the warriors until he saw Bracken Leaf, right at the back. The young apprentice looked exhausted but unhurt. Fire Heart let out a quiet sigh of relief.

“Did Bracken Leaf reach you before you found a patrol?” asked Blue Fur, walking over to her deputy.

“We hadn’t even entered their territory.” Tiger's Claw answered. “We were just about to cross the Thunderpath.” His eyes narrowed. “Was that Claw Strike they were burying?”

Blue Fur nodded.

“Then Bracke Leaf was right.” meowed the deputy. “Broken Tail was planning to attack the camp. Is he dead too?”

“No. Violet Fang is tending to his wounds.”

“Surely not!” Mossy Patch exclaimed, exchanging a glance with Black Leopard beside her.

Tiger's Claw’s face darkened. “Tending to his wounds?” he snarled. “We should kill him, not waste time making him better!”

“We’ll discuss that once I’ve spoken to Violet Fang.” meowed Blue Fur calmly.

“You can discuss it with me now, Blue Fur." The healer molly padded into the clearing, her head drooping with exhaustion.

“Have you left Broken Tail alone?” growled Tiger's Claw, his amber eyes flashing.

Violet Fang raised her head and looked at the dark warrior. “Sand Storm and Stone Pelt are guarding him. And I’ve given him poppy seeds, so he’ll sleep for a while. Broken Tail is blind now, Tiger's Claw. There’s no way he’ll try to escape. His injury hasn't healed and he doesn't know how to navigate being blind. He’d die of hunger in a week, if a fox or a gang of crows didn’t kill him first.”

“Well, that makes it easier.” Tiger's Claw snarled. “We won’t have to kill him ourselves. We can let the forest deal with him.”

Violet Fang turned to Blue Fur. “We cannot let him die.” she meowed.

“Why not?” Blue Fur challenge, eyes cold. "He's a murderer."

Fire Heart held his breath as he watched the leader and deputy stare at Violet Fang. He wondered if the healer was going to tell Blue Fur that Broken Tail was her son.

“If we did, we would be no better than he is.” replied Violet Fang calmly.

Tiger's Claw’s tail flicked in anger. "That's fox-dung!" He spat.

Blue Fur let out a humorless chuckle. "How, exactly, would we be any worse?" She asked, her tone almost mocking. "That cat endangered and killed kits. He drove out a whole Clan. Killed his own father. We don't have to throw him in the woods - if we kill him now, it would be merciful compared to what he deserves."

Violet Fang seemed to barely be able to contain her shock, but Fire Heart could only stare at his leader in horror. Kill a cat in cold blood? How could any of this be part of what a Clan cat should do? Where was the honor in meaning to kill a cat and carrying it out? He gulped. Would Violet Fang have to watch her only kit be killed?

"My Thunder, if may I speak?" White Flower stepped out of the crowd. Blue Fur looked at him like he'd snuck up on her. The white warrior hesitated, unsure, but went on. “It would be a burden on our Clan to look after him, and it's more than what a cat like him deserves, yes. But Violet Fang is right — if we send him out into the forest to the predators, or kill him now when he can't fight back, StarClan will know we have stooped as low as he.”

"He's not helpless. Broken Tail is a danger as long as he breathes." Tiger's Claw shot back, eyes blazing. "Would you really consider keeping this rogue inside our camp?”

With a pang, Fire Heart couldn’t help agreeing with the dark warrior’s words. The thought of killing Broken Tail appalled him, and he'd never taken a life before himself, but Broken Tail was a fearsome enemy, even in his current situation. Keeping him in the camp would be difficult and dangerous for all the members of the Clan.

"ThunderClan warriors are capable. It won't be easy, but we can keep him prisoner. We've done so before." White Flower meowed, looking the deputy in the eye. "A warrior needs not to kill."

Blue Fur seemed to flinch, turning her face away from her kin, eyes shut. The air was filled with tense silence as the ThunderClan leader's tail twitched in thought.

Finally, her meow sounded in the clearing.

“Is he really blind?” Blue Fur asked Violet Fang.

“Yes, he is.”

“Does he have other wounds?”

Fire Heart replied this time. “I clawed him pretty badly.” he admitted. He looked over to Violet Fang and was relieved when the old molly dipped her head just enough for him to know she forgave him for wounding her son.

“How long till they heal?” asked Blue Fur.

“About a moon, maybe more for his eyes.” Violet Fang answered.

White Eye stepped forward. “Blue Fur.” she meowed in her croaky old voice. “In the past we have sometimes kept prisoners for many moons. We could do it again.” Fire Heart remembered that Violet Fang herself had been a prisoner when she first came to the camp. He waited for the healer to remind Blue Fur of this, but she said nothing.

The blue molly opened her eyes. She glanced at White Flower quickly, then raised her chin.

“Very well, then. You may nurse him until he heals, Violet Fang. After that we will discuss his future again. And from now on, no cat must use his title. He's just Broken Tail. We cannot take away the lives that StarClan gave him, but this cat is no longer a Clan leader.” 

White Flower dipped his head. Fire Heart saw Violet Fang let go of a breath she'd been holding, although there was no relief coloring her expression, only weariness. The Clan began to disperse, concerned murmurs rippling through the clearing.

As Blue Fur began to pad to her den, Tiger's Claw tried to speak to her, anger twisting his face, but she cut him off. “It is decided!” Blue Fur spat without looking at him, a strange glint in her eyes. “Broken Tail stays.”

[asukamood]

Unpleasant Finding (2)

Fandom: Genshin Impact

Pairing: Chaeya (mentioned)

Warnings: Angst.

Synopsis: Having arrived at Snezhnaya, Kaeya wonders how he is going to get to Morespok to start his investigation. Little did he know that he was going to meet his future in-laws earlier than he had expected to.

***

Previous part — Next part

***

It was unbelievably cold.

Kaeya stepped off of the boat with shaky steps, a sneeze escaping his body. His nose was already pink besides only having arrived around ten minutes ago.

Diluc was right, Snezhnaya was definitely making Dragonspine, Mondstadt’s icy mountain, look warm. Another sneeze escaped him, causing him to jerk forward quite suddenly and making him bump into somebody else. He apologized, to which the local just shrugged before walking away.

It was in moments like this that Kaeya wished he had a pyro vision, at least then he would have had the possibility to warm himself up. He took a step forward before his eyes widened and he felt around his coat for a while before he finally took one the mini pyro seelie Diluc had given him before his arrival. He had forgotten about that little one!

As he pretty much covered the tiny creature with his hands, he suddenly caught himself thanking whoever decided to create the pyro seelies, whether they be of the divine or not.

While it was contributing to making him feel better, he knew that his problems weren’t solved yet and his body was still freezing. He forced himself to move as he reminisced about what Childe had told him about his hometown once:

“Back where I’m from, standing still is a horrible idea.” He had said, cutting the carrot in his head into perfect pieces that he was soon going to add to the soup he was making. “If you’re not on the move, you’re gonna freeze to death.”

Back then, he was convinced that his boyfriend had been exaggerating or lying to mess with him but as he was painfully dragging his luggage behind him while trying to decipher the Snezhnayan on the signs all around the port, he had a change of heart and was definitely believing that whole thing.

After a few minutes of walking, he was suddenly subject to a violent fit of coughing that got him to let go of his stuff that unceremoniously fell to the ground with a loud thud. Kaeya cursed out before bending over to pick up some of the stuff that fell down, inwardly praying no bags opened in the fall.

He really couldn’t deal with some property damage or loss at the moment, he had better things to do.

While putting back some of his stuff, a tiny hand appeared in his peripheral vision without warning, clearly reaching out to him. He jumped back before realizing it was a little boy who was intending to give him… was that a wallet?

Oh.

It was his wallet.

Kaeya’s cheeks heated up in embarrassment as he sheepishly reached for it, thanking profusely the little boy, who had been staring at him with wide eyes since he had jumped back.

Seeing the child so shocked, Kaeya raised an eyebrow, suddenly taking note of how familiar he looked with his messy ginger hair and his light blue eyes.

“You’re Kaeya!” It was said man’s turn to be surprised. “You’re big brother Ajax’s boyfriend!” At the realization, the boy’s eyes soon filled with stars as he leaped forward to take a good look at the cavalry captain. “Big brother Ajax has talked a lot about you! Are you really the cavalry captain of the Knights of Favonius? I don’t know what those are but that sounds so cool! I’ve never seen a horse in my life, is it true that they eat carrots??”

As he was getting showered in questions, Kaeya’s brain was trying to process the information. That boy not only called him by his name but mentioned Ajax twice. Did he seriously just bump into his missing boyfriend’s little brother, by pure accident as he is about to start investigating his disappearance? What kind of coincidence was that?

“Teucer?” Upon hearing his name, the little boy finally stopped talking and turned around before excitedly waving at a 16 years old girl. “Who are you talking to?”

“Tonia!” He exclaimed, doing even bigger movements. “Look! It’s Kaeya! Big brother Ajax’s boyfriend!”

At that, the young girl had her jaw drop wide open as the basket she was holding fell to the ground unceremoniously, much like how Kaeya’s bags fell over prior. “What?!” She shouted out, quickly making her way toward the duo.

As she approached, her pupils started to glow. “Oh my god, it is him.”

Teucer nodded excitedly. “Can he come to dinner with us? I’m sure Mama and Papa would love to meet him! Can he? Please please please—“

Tonia put a stop to Teucer’s babbling by raising her hand as a sign for him to shut it for a moment. “That decision isn’t ours to take, be patient Teucer.” Then she looked back at Kaeya. “Would you like to have dinner with us?”

It was obvious that she desperately wanted to ask him something but since they were in public, it seems like it was impossible to talk about it now. Kaeya got up with a wondering look. It’s not like he has planned to sleep anywhere at the moment and he would have asked the way to Ajax’s hometown anyways so he might as well just follow them.

He flashed her and Teucer a little smile before nodding softly. “Yes, I would love to.”

The little boy’s arms raised as he let out a cheer before running to hug Kaeya’s leg because of how tall he was. Tonia on the other hand sighed in relief before she smiled back at the man. Her eyes traveled down to his luggage as she reached for them slowly.

“You don’t need to worry, I can carry these myself.” From below him, Teucer let go of his leg and shook his head vigorously.

“Mama always says that we have to be courteous to guests and help them with stuff. Otherwise, we might come off as rude.” Tonia pat Teucer’s head.

“Good boy, Mama would have given you a candy if you had said that in front of her.” Teucer straightened up, a bright smile on his face. He looked so proud of himself that it was precious.

“Come on Mister Kaeya!” The little boy called, taking one of his lighter stuff and starting to walk toward a road. “We have to introduce you to everyone else!”

***

For someone as rich as Childe, Kaeya was expecting his house to look a bit more… Well basically he was expecting to find him living in an intimidating mansion. It was quite the contrary. Their house was medium-sized but the warmth that radiated from it contrasted vividly with the icy cold from the snow landscape that surrounded it.

Anyone that set their eyes upon this house would feel at home, regardless of whether they have been there yet or not.

As the current tenants of the building, the two children didn’t hesitate to kick the door open, which made Kaeya slightly jump from the suddenness of the action. Teucer yelled something in Snezhnayan that Kaeya couldn’t understand but if he had to guess, he would say that he just shouted “WE’RE HOME” or something among these lines.

“Teucer, watch your volume.” Tonia hissed, closing the door behind them. “You’re gonna give Papa a headache if you keep screaming like that.”

The little boy laughed guiltily, scratching his neck as he apologized softly. Behind him, a middle-aged woman with an apron appeared out of thin air, giving him a similar lecture to the one his older sister just gave him. In the middle of it, the woman finally took note of Kaeya’s presence and furrowed her brow warily.

“Who are you?” She asked, straightening up. If her strong accent was distracting Kaeya, said the man didn’t comment about it.

“I’m—“

“He’s Kaeya! Big brother Ajax has been telling us about him!” Teucer answered in his stead, gesturing toward the captain with big arm movements. Her expression shifted immediately from wariness to surprise as she pretty much gaped at Kaeya like he was some sort of alien.

“Oh by the Tsaritsa! I’m so sorry little one, you must be exhausted from your trip! Tonia dear, could you take him to the living room? I’ll go make him some warm tea.” Before he could protest and say that this wasn’t needed, the woman had already disappeared into the kitchen as loud and quick footsteps echoed in the opposing corridor.

During that time, the duo had taken him to the living room where three people sat around a large number of couches, covered by warm and thick-furred blankets. Upon their arrival, the three looked up and waved at Kaeya.

“Hello there, you must be Kaeya right?” A woman, looking around 27 years old greeted him, holding a steaming cup of tea. “It’s nice to finally meet you, I’m Ana, Ajax’s big sister.”

The man next to her nodded on his way, a smile on his face. “Oh, and that’s Aleksei. He’s my twin brother.” Ana quickly added, turning a little more toward Kaeya. “Don’t take the fact he doesn’t talk personally, he recently lost his voice so he can’t hold a normal conversation.”

“There’s no need to give so many details about him, Sis.” The last one half-heartedly scolded her before getting up and extending his hand to Kaeya who happily went and shook his hand. “As for me, I’m Dmitri, also known as the head of the pack of idiots.”

Kaeya chuckled at that while Dmitri’s four siblings let out offended gasps. “Excuse you? We are very smart!” Teucer exclaimed, a pout on his usually excited face.

“Dmitri, can you remind me who exactly went to study medicine? Right, not you!” Ana added, sticking her tongue out at the eldest. Going by the glare that Dmitri sent her, it was clear that a fight was going to break out soon but thankfully, before Kaeya had the misfortune to have to try and calm them down, their mother’s voice rang out in the house like a warning.

“DMITRI, ANA!” At the mention of their names, the two visibly paled as Aleksei smirked in amusement at seeing the terror in their eyes. In a way, he kind of reminded Kaeya of himself. “If you two dare to fight in front of our guest I promise you that you will never see your children again!”

In unison, they yelled back an apology. “SORRY MAMA!”

“Also, would you guys mind giving me a hand over there? There is a lot to do and I don’t think your old mother can pull it off all alone.” Most of the siblings jumped to hurry into the kitchen, not without waving Kaeya goodbye first.

In the end, it was only Teucer and Kaeya who remained in the living room.

Once they were alone, Teucer’s smile disappeared and was replaced by a teary expression. Seeing that, the cavalry captain frowned and knelt in front of the child, softly asking what made him so sad all of the sudden. Childe had always described Teucer as that sunshine full of energy but that description didn’t quite match with what he was seeing right now.

“Everyone’s been trying to cheer each other up about Big brother Ajx’s disappearance.” The little boy confessed, wiping at his eyes furiously. There weren’t any tears yet but it sure did look like he was afraid of letting some fall. That action sure screamed the saying: Snezhnayans don’t believe in tears.

“But I know that his disappearance affected us all.” A sniff. “I always hear big sister Tonia praying to the Tsaritsa to help us find him soon. Anton has been locked in his room ever since big brother Ajax has been reported missing and I can hear Mama crying in her room every night.” Every confession had Kaeya’s heart breaking a little more, they were making him reminiscing about the way he freaked out too when Diluc suddenly disappeared after their big fight.

“She tries to pretend that everything’s alright, that she’s strong but I know that it’s all a lie. We all do. Even Papa has been acting weird ever since he went missing.” He paused briefly to take the tissue Kaeya was handing him before blowing into it. “Ana, Aleksei and Dmitri have been visiting us more often now too but I know that they’re not doing okay either. Big sister Ana always has that sad frown on her face when it’s time for dinner and big brother Ajax’s seat is empty.”

Teucer started staring at the corridor behind Kaeya where we could hear the distorted version of the noises coming out of the kitchen. “Big brother Aleksei stands alone in big brother Ajax’s room sometimes and big sister Dmitri always goes to the police station to ask them if they had a new clue on how to find him back.”

He then turned back his teary eyes over Kaeya’s ones. “We’re gonna find big brother Ajax right? He’s going to come back home, isn’t he?”

Kaeya didn’t hesitate a second more before he wrapped his arms around the boy to pull him into a tight hug. “Yes.” He stated confidently. “We’ll find him and he’ll be back. Even if I have to drag him back by the ear, he will come back home.”

He felt Teucer shake a bit as he asked: “Is that a promise?”

Kaeya pulled back a bit and forced the boy to look at him in the eye. He let out a small smile.

“Yes. It’s a promise.”

[robininthelabyrinth]

A-Yuan wasn’t the only child among the Wen Remnants, just the youngest.

Children's Day - ao3

Lan Wangji carefully scooped up the boy out of his hiding place, tucked beneath a pile of stones, sick with fever and fast asleep.

It was a good hiding place. If Lan Wangji hadn’t played Inquiry and demanded to know if there were any living beings around in this cursed place of death, he would never have found the small child.

He remembered him – this was little A-Yuan, who Wei Wuxian had taken down into town to play, the one Lan Wangji had bought all those toys for in his confusion, the one who called him rich-gege. Barely more than two years old, having never known anything but war.

He was all that was left, now. There was nothing else left in the battlefield.

No one else left.

Lan Wangji closed his eyes in pain.

I’ll care for him for you, he promised Wei Wuxian’s ghost, wherever it might be now. Now that you cannot.

I’ll take him back to Gusu to raise as my own – wishing you were by my side.

-

-Earlier-

“Sect Leader!” one of his aides cried out when he staggered back into camp. “What – who’s that?”

Jiang Cheng looked down at the girl in his arms. She was – four, maybe? Five? He had no idea.

She looked a bit like Wen Qing.

“I found her hiding in the corner of the battlefield when she made a noise,” he said hoarsely. “The Wen sect remnants…by the time I got there, they were almost all dead already, all her family. She’s – she’s young. It didn’t seem right.”

Wei Wuxian always liked children, he thought vaguely to himself as he looked down at her. It wasn’t so much of a surprise that he would keep one there…in fact, if he thought back to that horrible meeting they’d had that one time he’d come to the Burial Mounds to try to talk to Wei Wuxian, he thought he remembered there being a small child there. This must be her.

She was bigger than he remembered, but that was what happened with small children, wasn’t it?

“Her surname is Wen?”

“No,” Jiang Cheng snapped automatically, and his aide took a step back from his vehemence. “The Wen sect is dead, you understand? All of them. The cultivation world refused to allow them to live, that much is obvious enough. Her surname…”

He looked down at her.

I failed Wei Wuxian, he thought grimly. I won’t fail his legacy.

“Her surname will be Jiang.”

-

-Earlier-

“We found this child hiding in the Demon Subduing Cave,” one of the guards reported, looking nervous. “Lianfeng-zun – what do we do with them?”

Jin Guangyao frowned down at the child, judging the child’s age to be about five or six – maybe seven, considering the likelihood of malnutrition at the Burial Mounds. If they were any younger, he would’ve said that the child ought to just execute them as useless; any older, and he would’ve had no choice but to declare them an enemy combatant, and thereby order them executed.

At this age, though…they were still young enough to be taught to forget their current surname, and to learn new loyalties, and yet old enough to perhaps remember a little of what they had learned, living as they had for a few years with the inventor of demonic cultivation.

Jin Guangyao glanced at the papers in his hands, full of barely legible scribbles, laying out powerful new spells and interesting ideas. They would help Xue Yang with his work – but not as much as a helper would, and naturally they’d just brutally executed all the other ‘helpers’ that might have been available.

Not exactly Jin Guangyao’s personal preference, but he wasn’t the one leading the Jin sect army.

Still, his father, who had been the one leading, had retired to his tent, and now Jin Guangyao was the one with the power, left to be in charge of mopping up. That, in turn, gave him a little more leeway, which meant he could implement his own thoughts, rather than badly thought out instructions.

“Put the child in my tent,” he said, and smiled. “The poor thing must have gotten lost and entered the battlefield – after we arrived. You understand?”

The guard saluted deeply. “Lianfeng-zun is kind and beneficent,” he said, and his expression was worshipful. “I will tell the others that the child is from some distant Jin branch.”

Jin Guangyao hadn’t intended for him to do that, but – well, he couldn’t exactly refute it now, could he, and anyway there were worse things to happen. Everyone would know that he had kindly taken in some orphaned child of war, which would be good for his reputation.

He smiled and nodded, and thought of the future.

-

-Earlier-

“Well, shit,” Nie Mingjue said, staring at the trio of children: nine or ten years old, he thought, maybe a little older, two girls and a boy. They stared back at him, wide-eyed and terrified – they were very clearly trying to sneak off the Burial Mounds down the back way.

Nie Mingjue rubbed his face, glad that he’d insisted on doing the forward scout work before the attack tomorrow morning himself rather than let it go to someone else. He hadn’t wanted to come to this blasted place in the first place, being that he still wasn’t sure exactly what had gone down with Wei Wuxian, who’d been a good man once. But good Nie cultivators had died at Lanling City at Wen Ning’s hands, the Jin sect claiming that that brutal attack was at Wei Wuxian’s instigation, and at the Nightless City at Wei Wuxian’s hands directly, and he didn’t have any evidence to exculpate the man, either; he had no grounds to look the families of those Nie cultivators in the eye and tell them not to pursue vengeance against the man who had slaughtered their brothers and fathers and sons, sisters and mothers and daughters, like they meant nothing.

They deserved vengeance.

Just as he had, for his father.

But at the same time…

“You’re all surnamed Wen, I take it?” he asked, and they slowly nodded. “Dafan Wen?”

Another nod.

“Wrong answer,” he said, making a snap decision. This wasn’t like his father at all, not really; he had wanted to kill Wen Ruohan, who had done the deed himself, while these children clearly hadn’t done anything. “Swear to me here and now that you won’t seek revenge for your sect or family, and you can be surnamed Nie instead.”

They looked at each other.

“Your family didn’t send you to run away because they wanted you to take revenge,” he said. It was a guess, but he could tell from the way their shoulders sagged that he was right. “They wanted you to live. Well?”

They swore.

He took them home.

-

-Earlier-

She tripped and fell flat on her face.

“Hey, girl!”

She looked up, eyes wide with terror – she hadn’t expected to be caught so soon – but the cultivator in front of her didn’t strike her down. He was a young man, just a few years older than her, and he looked nice, kneeling to help her up.

“Are you all right?” he asked. “Did you get lost?”

Lost? From where would she get lost, exactly?

Despite that, she nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Here isn’t a good place, though – we’re going to have a battle tomorrow…can you tell me where you’re from?” He frowned. “Or – can’t you speak?”

An idea suddenly came to mind, and she shook her head, lifting up her hands to mime signs like the ones she’d seen Lady Wen and her brother use sometimes when they needed to talk without disturbing others.

“Doesn’t talk,” he murmured to himself. “Clothing of white, ripped all to ribbons –”

She’d torn out any trace of the red sun. White was a common color, but she was old enough to know that she couldn’t let anyone know she was surnamed Wen.

“Oh, I’ve read about this before! Are you a bird yao that’s cultivated to humanity?”

What?

She’d been thinking of trying to pass as a traumatized war veteran, but she was only fourteen, after all; it wasn’t very believable. Of course, it was a lot more believable that bird yao – who would leap to that conclusion?

“My surname is Ouyang,” the man said, smiling brightly at her. “You should come back with me – I can teach you to speak, and we can give you a name…how about ‘Luo’ as a surname? That has to do with birds. Or we could surname you Bai, instead, since your clothing is white! Or maybe -”

She smiled helplessly at his nonsense. What a silly, cheerful man! Maybe she’d overestimated his age, he couldn’t be more than two or three years older, at most, and his brain was clearly not in the right place, filled up to the brim with romantic stories and adventure tales instead of facts.

It was a nice change, actually.

She accepted his hand as she stood.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

-

-Earlier-

Lan Wangji had returned home and submitted to a dreadful punishment. The elders he had injured on Wei Wuxian’s behalf were either in treatment or recovering.

As for the rest that had been at the Nightless City…

Many were dead.

Lan Qiren landed in the Burial Mounds, lips pressed tightly together.

He knew he was taking a risk in coming here to Wei Wuxian’s lair – no matter what Lan Wangji thought, whatever good points he’d had in the past, the man was now little better than a mad dog. He’d caused the death of three thousand people just the day before, three thousand innocents that hadn’t had anything to do with anything; why would he hesitate to attack his old teacher?

There was already talk of a siege – Jiang Cheng himself had promised to lead it, to wipe off the stain on the Jiang sect’s record, and the Jin sect had been right behind him. Even Nie Mingjue had been dragged in against his will, suborned by his sect members’ need for vengeance. As for the Lan Sect…Lan Xichen had looked so stricken by the thought that Lan Qiren had volunteered for the grim duty, despite Lan Qiren having never been much of a fighter and even less of a general. He intended to take only the smallest possible contingent, and to limit their work as much as possible to cleansing the dead rather than killing those who remained there – that much, at least, he could do for his nephew.

Either way, though, no matter his powers, Wei Wuxian would not live out the week.

If Lan Qiren desired vengeance, he need only wait.

And yet, here he was.

Alone, practically unarmed – and here nonetheless.

An old woman came out from the cave and squinted at him.

“It’s over,” she said sadly. “Isn’t it?”

Lan Qiren looked at her. One of the Wen remnants that Wei Wuxian had surrounded himself with, he assumed; the ones he’d given up his comfortable life for, claiming he was only acting as a righteous man ought. Perhaps he even had thought he was, back then.

Perhaps he really had been, back then.

“Yes,” Lan Qiren said, and cleared his throat. “After what he did at the Nightless City – the verdict is unquestionably death. But the rest of you…there are armies coming, and armies are not known for their leniency, especially not on passerby with the wrong surname. But they’re not here yet. There’s still time to flee – if you go now, you could take on a new surname and find some quiet place to live on.”

Lan Wangji had said they were civilians. Civilian life was to be prioritized above all else.

Lan Qiren was only doing what he must.

Despite his well-meant warnings, however, the old lady shook her head.

“There’s nowhere to go, and we won’t give up our surname,” she said, polite but stubborn to the last. “But thank you for taking the time to come here to tell us.”

“Wangji said that there were children here,” Lan Qiren insisted, ignoring her refusal. “If you won’t flee with them, at least send those that are old enough out on their own, and hide the younger ones. Tell them to forget their surnames – most people won’t rampantly murder children, so there’s a chance they’ll make it through, and live. Can you deny them that, just for pride?”

That gave the old woman pause.

“We’ll do what we can,” she said, and then eyed him. “How good are you at medicine?”

Lan Qiren frowned. “I can’t provide care –”

“She’s already dead. Come help anyway.”

The woman in question was not already dead, but dying – she was in her late teens, seventeen or eighteen at most, and she was in labor. From the glassiness of her eyes, the redness of her cheeks, and the threadiness of her pulse, it was clear that infection had long ago set in. It was not an exaggeration to say she was dead, little better than a corpse.

She was little more than a child.

“I don’t want her to die alone,” the old woman said. “But if you stay with her, I can use the time to try to take care of the rest. You’re not wrong, I suppose – the children, at least, deserve a chance to live on, even if it means leaving our surname behind.”

Lan Qiren looked down at the woman, unconscious already and unlikely to ever wake, and yet still whimpering. “And her child?”

The old woman looked surprised. “Can a child born like this still live?”

Lan Qiren had almost no medical training beyond the most superficial basics that were the necessity for any battlefield or night-hunt, with one sole exception: he had supervised the births of both his nephews by himself with little aid – his brother’s wife hadn’t wanted anyone else to be present, possibly in an attempt to prematurely enter her grave, possibly just out of spite. He had studied very hard in the days leading up to those births, and knew far more on the subject than most men did.

“It’s possible,” he said. “Unlikely, but – possible.”

He hesitated for a long moment.

“I can take the baby,” he finally said. “Pass him off as some war-orphan child of distant Lan cousins, sent to me on account of their deaths. I could raise him, or else give him to my cousin to raise; he’s got a large enough family that no one would question it.”

“Why would you do that?”

Lan Qiren looked at the woman who was dying, little more than a child herself. “Because of the children I can’t help.”

The old woman was quiet for a little while.

“Very well,” she said, and leaned forward to whisper the name the young woman had thought about for her child into his ear. “That works with Lan as a surname, wouldn’t it? That’s not bad.”

“Not bad at all,” Lan Qiren agreed, and rolled up his sleeves, settling down beside the girl. “Not bad at all.”

[cerebrumrott]

Obey Me! Shall we Date?

Brothers x MC

Synopsis: MC's surprise return home

Lucifer

He had noticed the odd looks Diavolo had been giving him the entire week before. Each time he had questioned him on it he would get odd evasive responses and giggling.

While he would have loved to interrogate him further, His day had been difficult enough as is with Mammon’s latest disaster.

Getting home he went straight for his office needing at least an hour away from his brothers even if that meant it would be spent doing paperwork.

Lucifer fumbled with the buttons on his school jacket with one hand while opening the door to his office with the other. Stepping inside he didn't bother to look up as he tossed his jacket onto the back of a nearby chair before heading over to his shelf and pouring himself a drink. He was half way through uncorking a bottle when he heard someone cough behind him.

Looking at his desk, you sat atop it with an unamused frown on your face as you stared at him clearing having been there this entire time seeing you were cross legged and leaning your chin into your hand.

“I come all this way to surprise you and you go straight for the-'' You don't have time to finish your sentence as he has already crossed the room and is dragging you to your feet in a spine crackingly tight hug.

You both stood there for what felt like forever just holding each other as he buried his face into your shoulder feeling the stress slowly leaving him.

He had planned on doing his paperwork for the rest of the night but now there was something else he would much rather do.

Mammon

Ever since you had returned back to the human world he had done nothing but pout waiting for you to come home. And yes he meant Home no matter how many times Lucifer tried to correct him your home was here in the House of Lamentation not in some stupid human world where he couldnt even see you.

He called you every night before bed but it still wasn’t the same… So caught up in his own pouting he didn’t notice the looks his brothers gave him as he sat down for dinner.

He was filling his plate trying to grab his favorite before Beel took everything when he swore he felt something brush against his leg under the table. He scratched at his shin with his heel not thinking much of it until something grabbed hold of both of his ankles and yanked him from his chair, pulling him under the table.

Mammon would vehemently deny that he screamed but he let out a high pitched squeal as he was dragged under the table to the sounds of his brothers wheezing laughter.

Struggling and kicking out Mammon soon found the source of his panic was just you pulling a prank on him.

Mammon can’t get any of his words out as he just tackles you to the floor crushing you in a tight hug only slightly furious at your ridiculous way of announcing you have returned.

He wouldn’t let you go so you had to eat dinner on the floor under the table…

Leviathan

Even after you went back to the human world you both still played games and watched movies only now it was through the internet. He would often talk to you late into the night until one of your would fall asleep or your call would disconnect on its own.

Before you left he had been smart enough to snag one of your blankets and kept it in his bed tub with him sleeping with it each night. It ended up replacing his Ruri chan body pillow which had been banished to the other side of the room where he kept all the extra pillows and blankets from your movie nights together.

One day after RAD he rushed home to grab something to eat and then make a B-line to his room as you both had planned a gaming marathon together wanting help beating a level that had been bothering you for some time. In such a hurry to make it to his room, Levi didn’t even process the whispering between his brothers as they watched him scarf down a sandwich and some chips before grabbing an energy drink and retreating to his room.

It was dark when he entered, though this wasn't anything new to him as he just made his way straight to his desk and flopped down in his chair. Throwing his headphones on he wheeled forward only for his knees to bump into something under his desk.

Looking down confused, Leviathan let out a high pitched scream as he toppled backwards and was thrown out of his chair as you lept out from your hiding place.

Your laughter turned into worry as Leviathan scrambled to collect himself, tail lashing back and forth behind him as you had startled him so bad he poofed into his demon form.

Laughing so hard there were tears in your eyes you chuckled out an apology before Leviathan was crushing you in a hug.

Your gaming night turns into a just cuddling till you both fall asleep on top of each other in his bed-tub.

Satan

He had been going back his day like any other. Sitting in his room reading. He was hoping to finish this latest novel of his before that night as he would have another excuse to call you and to talk to you.

Ever since you left he has made it a habit to always talk to you about his thoughts on a book after he reads it. Or at least text you about it if it's far too late at night.

Little did he know you had a surprise in store for him for this latest review of his. You had managed to get Lucifer to sneak you in without being seen by the others and had taken up camp at the top of the stairs in Satan’s room.

You watched him from atop the stairs peeking out between the railings just watching him as he went about his day. For a long while he was sprawled out on the bed reading, you couldn't help but smile everytime he checked his phone opening your chat to see if you had been online recently.

It was fun at first to just spy on him but after ten minutes it got boring fast. So you switched tactics and started taking videos of him… except he was still reading… So you switched tactics again! You snatched a book from nearby and ever so carefully held it as far out from your spot on the stairs as possible before dropping it watching Satan jump with a start looking around confused before just going back to his book like nothing had happened.

“Are you kidding me Satan?!?” You finally exclaim glaring down at him with a frown. “MC?!?” He exclaims right back looking at you surprised. His shock doesn't last long as he is storming up the spiral staircase to tackle you onto the small landing narrowly missing a large stack of books.

He is furious at first that you just sat up there picking your nose this entire time when you could have been doing something together though it doesn't last long. He can never stay mad at you.

You can’t help your laugh as he carries you down to his couch, holding you against him with one arm while he opens his book with the other going back to reading with a pout. With a laugh you just settle against him and begin to ask about what he is reading. With a small smile he catches you up to where he is in the book.

Asmodeus

He had been out at the club all night with Solomon. Which is what he had been doing for the majority of the time that you were gone as he couldn't feel lonely if he couldn't even think with the blasting music all around him.

Though as he made his way slowly up stairs to his room, he felt his true feelings return to him. He missed you so much, why did you ever even have to go back to the stupid human world? Why couldn’t he have done with you!? It's not like he would be missing anything important and besides what if you need protecting?

Sure you two are absolutely going to be out having fun and spending time together like a newlywed couple on their honeymoon for the most part, But still!

His previous mood now totally faded, Asmo pouts as he makes his way up to his door half heartedly pushing it open as he steps into the dark and cold room. Locking the door behind him he flicked the lights on kicking his shoes off prepared to just go crash into bed and deal with the repercussions in the morning. Though when he saw the bed he nearly passed out on the spot. Though it wasn't really the bed so much what was on the bed.

Sprawled out and hogging all of the blankets face buried into his pillow was you. Snoring your pretty little head away while he just stared and gawked at you convinced he was passed out in a gutter somewhere dreaming.

When he realized he wasn't dreaming and that instead of cuddling up with you he was just standing there like a fool Asmodeus got to work. He immediately began to strip himself of all his uncomfortable club wear until he was down to his boxers. Hitting the lights Asmo practically took a flying leap into the bed as he forced his way into your arms hugging you tight against him.

He was just so happy to have you here, at first he thought of waking you up though judging from the darkness under your eyes you needed the sleep just as much as he did.

Pressing a kiss to your cheek, he snuggled in for the night more than happy just to have you back with him. And besides, there will always be later for fun.

Beelzebub

He was headed home after a rough game of Fangol. They had won of course, but just barely. He was starving by the end of it but he didn't want to go to any place on the way home as he currently reeked.

So he all but ran home with his bag thrown over his shoulder completely motivated by the thought of the leftover dinner he had stashed in the fridge.

Beel abandoned his bag on the foot of the stairs leading up to the bedrooms and made a b-line straight for the kitchen. Though as he got closer he could smell something that made his stomach grumble. Pushing through the doorway he was absolutely taken aback at the feast laid out before him.

There were at least ten different take out dishes all laid out on the counter before him and at the opposite end the most delicious looking meal of all was standing.

You had heard of Beel's big game from Lucifer and ofc you weren’t about to miss out on celebrating, and what better way to celebrate than with a big meal of all your favorite foods? So you had spent the better half of the afternoon running around getting all your favorites while watching the stream of Beel’s big game.

You were actually still watching the stream of the game when Beel walked in unbeknownst to you. You were watching a replay of a particularly devastating tackle of his when you felt arms wrapping around you. The yelp of surprise that came out of you was soon forgotten as you were being smothered against Beel as he swung you around like a toy nuzzling into the side of your face.

“Yes Beel I missed you too! Please put me down” Beel gently set you back on your feet before you both pulled up stools and dug into your collection of food.

You don't think you had ever seen Beel this happy before, it was to the point where he was practically vibrating with happiness, the smile not once having left his face.

While Beel eats you begin to tell him everything that has happened while you were away. Some of which he already knows but he looks at you with awe and interest regardless taking large bites of his favorite burger in between your explanations. You two were back and were you were meant to be. With each other and that was all that mattered to Beel.

Belphegor

He had been asleep in the attic when you returned, the others all away at school still. So you did what anyone would and clambered into bed next to him making yourself comfortable as you shoved him over and started to scroll through your phone.

An hour easily passed before you felt yourself doze off curling into Belphie, pulling a spare blanket over the two of you before passing out.

When you awoke Belphie was no longer curled up peacefully at your side. Rather he had taken to laying atop you his face squished against your chest as he drooled slightly on your shirt leaving a prominent wet spot on the fabric.

You didn't mind in the slightest as he was so cute in that moment you couldn't help the smile that rose on your face. Running your fingers through his hair, you softly pressed kisses against his face knowing he’d wake up soon enough. And you were right as you scratch softly on his head he opened one eye to peer up at you through shaggy bangs.

“Good to see you awake” You say with a smile and before you can say anything else he pounces on you. Your face is bombarded with kisses and nuzzles and is he purring???

Belphie isn’t about to let you leave after this. I hope you are comfortable cause he is going to hold you there until he feels ready to get up. You have to pee? Too bad. Hungry? He can have Beel bring you all home take out. Legs asleep? Perfect now you can't run away

You two end up sleeping most of the day away until dinner comes and even then he refuses to let you leave his side. Instead you both agree to at least go down stairs to his room so Beel can bring you both dinner and you can lay in his actual bed instead of the kinda smelly attic one.

[nerdzzone]

Once Bitten - Twice Shy

Summary: Raising a child is hard. Raising a child with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars is even harder. And raising a child with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars who you’re not actually in a relationship with is even harder still.

One of the challenges of sharing custody is sharing holidays which is something that Whitney Taylor found herself struggling with in the December of 2019. The prospect of spending Christmas without her son was dismaying, but the complications that come with the alternative might be even harder to face.

Chris Evans x OFC

Part One

----

Part Two

25.12.19

When I woke up in the morning, it took me a moment to figure out where I was and why the pillow my head was resting on was so hard and warm. Once I'd figured it out - that my head was not actually on a pillow, but on Chris' chest - I almost had to roll my eyes. Of course it was. Of course we'd ended up all cuddled together. Because life was just one big romantic comedy, right?

I sighed quietly, silently praying that Chris wasn't awake yet as I slowly slid myself away from him. He didn't stir until I was sitting on the edge of the bed so I was hopeful that he hadn't been aware of the position we were in.

"G'morning," he greeted me, rubbing his eyes as the sound of excited children echoed down the hallway. "What time is it?"

I quickly checked my phone on the nightstand before answering.

"Only seven o'clock," I told him before yawning. "But it sounds like everyone is up and bouncing off the walls already."

"I'm not surprised," Chris smiled. "They've probably torn into all the presents by now."

I laughed and nodded my head, knowing it was a good possibility.

"It probably wasn't super smart to leave Scott out there guarding them by himself," I pointed out. "Not after he spent half the night shaking his own presents trying to guess what was inside."

"Oh, it definitely wasn't," Chris agreed. "He was always the one who ruined things by finding his presents early and getting us all in trouble."

"Well, I should go see what they're up to or if anything can be salvaged," I smiled as I pulled a sweater on over my pyjamas. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be out in a minute," he assured me. I headed to the door, but stopped when I heard his voice again. "Hey, Whitney? Merry Christmas."

I smiled even wider as that happy, familiar Christmas morning feeling washed over me.

"Merry Christmas, Chris."

With that, I hurried out the door, trying not to focus too much on how content I felt and how right it seemed to wake up in his arms on Christmas morning.

-

When I got to the kitchen, I was surprised to see that everyone else was already awake, despite how early it was.

"Good morning," Lisa greeted me as I wandered into the kitchen where all the adults were congregating. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, everyone," I smiled before they all repeated it back to me. "Did I miss all the fun?"

"No, of course not," Carly assured me. "We've managed to keep them away from the presents so far, but I'm not sure how much longer we can hold them off."

"We're still waiting for Chris though," Scott pointed out as I grabbed a clean mug and headed to the fresh pot of coffee on the counter. "Have you seen him? He disappeared not long after we went to bed and never came back."

"Oh, yeah, he's in his room," I answered mindlessly as I filled my mug. "We ended up sleeping together last night."

I heard Scott almost choke on his coffee and noticed the sudden silence in the room, but it wasn't until Lisa spoke that I realized what I'd said.

"Whitney, honey," she said, speaking softly. "What do you mean?"

"Oh my god, no! Not like that!" I rushed to explain as my cheeks grew hot. "We literally slept together, like as in slept next to each other. Chris came into his room looking for a sweater because he was cold and had given away all his spare blankets so I offered for him to share the bed with me. That's all, I swear."

There were knowing smiles amongst the group and I wasn't entirely sure that they all believed me which made things even more embarrassing as I wouldn't want them to think I'd talk so candidly about things like that with Chris' mother of all people. Before I had a chance to continue desperately defending myself though, a voice from the doorway interrupted.

"What are you swearing about?" He asked, leaning against the doorway. "Why do I feel like I missed something good?"

Again, I was ready to explain, but someone beat me to it.

"Whitney was just giving us the update," Scott informed his older brother as he matched his smirk. "She was telling us how you two slept together."

Chris' eyebrows knitted together in confusion for a moment before he relaxed and let out a chuckle.

"Well, that's not exactly how I would have phrased it," he informed the group with a shrug. "But I suppose it is accurate. We slept and we were together."

"I just misspoke," I groaned. "I haven't had any coffee yet, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"A little Freudian slip?" Carly suggested as she joined in on the teasing, but I simply rolled my eyes.

"Chris probably wishes that was a peak into my subconscious desires, but I'm afraid not. Just a clear sign that I am not a morning person."

"I think we'll all need plenty of coffee to deal with the energy in that living room," Lisa interjected, putting an end to the discussion despite Chris' protests of my claim. "But we should probably go and join them before they open all the presents, whether they belong to them or not."

We all murmured in agreement and everyone topped up whatever beverage they were drinking before we headed to the living room to start the Christmas fun.

-

"Mama!" Grayson shouted as we entered the room. "Look! Santa came!"

"Of course he did," I smiled at the children. "You've all been good this year so it's no surprise."

They all nodded and agreed enthusiastically except Ethan who, now that he was almost ten, had figured out the truth. He was a good kid though and a loving older brother so he kept the secret, quietly watching them with a knowing smile now that he was finally in on the joke with the adults.

"Can we open them?" Stella asked, bouncing up and down from holding in her excitement. "We've been waiting for so long!"

"I wouldn't say so long," Scott chuckled. "Since it's not even eight o'clock in the morning yet!"

"But, yes, you can open them," Carly informed her children. "Just be careful and don't rush."

There was a flurry of activity as the kids dove into the presents, organizing whose was whose before settling down next to their little piles. I took a step back and sat on the couch next to Lisa, letting Chris sit on the floor behind Grayson. It was his Christmas after all and it felt right that he should be the one helping him open presents. Plus, this way I got a perfect view of the joyful grin that was plastered on his face. A grin that was perfectly replicated by his father behind him making my heart clench at the sight of them together like this.

I watched from my spot on the couch as the gifts were opened one by one and soaked in every giggle and shriek of glee from the children. Grayson was on top of the world and so grateful for each and every gift, it was delightful to see. Given our financial security, especially for Chris, it would have been easy to spoil him, but it made me incredibly proud to see how gracious he was.

However, one of the last gifts he wasn't so grateful to receive. It was from me and I knew there was a chance it wouldn't be his favourite, but his response was far worse than I could have imagined.

It was a decent sized box and he tore off the wrapping paper eagerly, intrigued by what could be inside. When he revealed that it was a foot and a half tall electronic T-Rex, his first reaction was one of amazement.

"Wow! A dinosaur!"

"Yeah," I smiled. "Take him out and see what he can do."

Chris set to work helping Grayson open the box before glancing up at me.

"Does he need batteries?"

"I put some in already," I assured him. "I knew he'd want to see it right away so I thought it would be easier."

He nodded as Grayson placed the giant T-Rex on the floor and looked at me expectantly.

"There's a button on his back, press it."

Everyone watched as he poked around until he got the right spot and the dinosaur came to life. He roared and his head moved around, but as the older kids cheered and clapped, Grayson burst into tears.

"Oh, dear..." Lisa smiled as she watched her grandson leap into his father's arms.

Everyone was chuckling at his dramatic reaction as Grayson buried his face in Chris' neck.

"Awe, buddy, I'm sorry!" I apologized. "Did it scare you?"

"Yes! He's scary!" Grayson's response was muffled by Chris' body and hard to understand through his sobs. "I don't wike it, Mama!"

I smiled at the little speech impediment that he inherited from his father - much like the one his cousin, Miles, had - but I did feel bad for how genuinely afraid he was.

"I'm sorry, baby. We can take the batteries out, okay? Then he won't be able to move."

The dinosaur had stopped moving on his own before I spoke and Grayson moved his head from where he was hiding his face, nodding as he did so.

"Yes, please."

"I bought it a while ago, thinking it was the perfect gift and then last week, he suddenly decided that T-Rexes were mean and I thought it might not go down so well," I admitted to the adults as I stretched forward to pick up the dinosaur and take the batteries out. "It's such a shame though, I think he's adorable. If you press the button on his tail, a little song plays and he does a little wiggle dance."

Chris smirked at me as he rubbed our still sniffling son's back.

"Why don't you take him home? Sounds like you might enjoy playing with him when Grayson isn't around."

He was making fun of me, I knew he was, but I didn't take the bait.

"You know what? I might just do that."

Chris opened his mouth to most likely make another teasing comment, but Ethan interrupted him.

"If Grayson doesn't want the T-Rex, can I have it?"

"I think you got enough new toys this morning," Ethan's dad warned him. "Don't be greedy."

"We'll let Grayson keep him for now," Chris agreed. "He might get used to him after a while if he plays with him without the batteries."

I passed the toy in question back to Chris and Grayson cowered away, whimpering against his dad's chest.

"Just leave it for now," I suggested. "We can try it again later when the initial shock has worn off."

Chris nodded and put the dinosaur behind his back and out of sight.

-

The rest of the gift opening went by smoothly and no more children were traumatized. Once every gift that was under the tree had been opened, we left the kids to test out their new things while the adults headed to the kitchen to start making breakfast. It was quickly decided that pancakes would be the easiest thing to mass produce for our large group of hungry people and while Lisa, Carly and I started mixing up a few bowls of batter, Chris and Scott whipped out the orange juice and champagne for mimosas.

An hour later everyone was very full and we were two bottles of champagne down.

"So, Whitney," Scott started as he loaded up the dishwasher. "Are you staying here tonight too or are you planning on making us spend half the day shovelling the driveway for you?"

His tone was teasing, but as I looked out the window at the deep blanket of snow that covered the ground outside, I was torn. I didn't want to outstay my welcome by staying another night, but I also didn't want to make the Evans family spend their entire Christmas day shovelling snow and there was no way that I'd be able to do it by myself.

"I'm not sure," I admitted. "I wasn't planning on staying another night, but it does look like there's a lot of snow out there..."

"Just stay," Chris shrugged. "Even if we can get your car down the driveway, the roads are probably terrible."

"There's no need for you to rush off," Lisa agreed. "Stay another night and then you can just relax and enjoy the day."

"And you can drink if you're not driving home," Scott pointed out with a grin. "Chris and I stocked up on wine, beer, whiskey and gin, these mimosas were just the start of the party."

I couldn't help, but laugh at Scott's reasoning as I nodded my head.

"Alright, I'll stay. If you really don't mind, Chris?"

"Of course not," Chris assured me. "We're happy to have you."

"Great!" Scott grinned. "I'm glad that's settled, I think this calls for another round of drinks!"

Chris cheered and jumped up to help him while the rest of us smiled and shook our heads at their antics.

-

The day was spent soaking in quality family time, watching the kids enjoy their new toys and indulging in lots of food and drink. We called Chris' dad and my parents and even had an unexpected phone call from my Uncle Rob. He spent more time talking to Chris than me, his own niece, but it was nice to hear his voice even if he made sure to get a dig in about me confessing my supposedly obvious feelings to Chris.

Sitting around the table, eating a delicious meal with Chris' loving and welcoming family was quite a contrast to how I expected to spend the day and I was very grateful that Chris had included me. Grayson seemed to appreciate it too and he made his enjoyment clear as we tucked him into bed once all the fun and feasting was done.

Chris sat on the floor leaning against Grayson's nightstand, reading him his favourite bedtime story while I laid on the bed next to him and rubbed his back. He was drifting off by the time the story was finished, but he was fighting it desperately as he spoke again.

"I'm happy, Mama," he told us, his words muffled as he nuzzled into his pillow.

Chris put his hand over his heart as he mouthed an 'awe' at me and I smiled.

"You're happy?" I clarified quietly, my smile growing as he nodded. "I'm glad to hear that, baby."

"I like that you're here," he mumbled. "Daddy should come home with us too."

My heart clenched at that request as my smile faltered. I knew it was only a matter of time until Grayson paid more attention to the fact that his time was divided between two homes, but I wasn't ready to deal with it just yet.

"Maybe Daddy could come for a sleepover sometime," I suggested, stroking his hair back out of his face, but that wasn't all he wanted.

"He should come all the time."

I was never great at hiding my emotions and from the way Chris was watching me, I assumed my distress at Grayson's comments was written all over my face and I was grateful when he jumped into the conversation.

"But what about Dodger?"

Dodger's ears perked up from his spot at the end of the bed, but he settled again when he realized that Chris wasn't calling for him.

"He can come too," was Grayson's answer to that dilemma, but Chris had a response at the ready.

"C'mon, you think Dodger would have enough space in your Ma's apartment?" He asked. "He needs a big house like this to run around in!"

So then we could all just stay here would be the logical comeback to that, but it seemed our sleepy little guy was too tuckered out from the excitement to argue. He let out a little sigh of defeat, but said no more. We stayed quiet for a few minutes until his breathing shifted and he was soundly asleep.

Chris offered me his hand to help me climb over Grayson without waking him up and, after whispering a quiet request to Dodger to keep our boy safe, he led me out of the room.

"You okay?"

The question came as soon as Grayson's door was pulled to and we were in the hallway.

"Yeah, of course," I nodded, forcing a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Chris shot me a look that clearly showed his disbelief.

"You looked pretty downhearted in there."

"I just worry," I shrugged. "I don't want our situation to upset him and I know he's going to notice it more as he gets older."

"He'll be fine," Chris assured me, reaching out to squeeze my shoulder comfortingly. "He's got so much love in his life, he won't even notice that his family is a little different."

I wasn't convinced. He was obviously already noticing or he wouldn't have questioned it only moments before. I didn't want to start such a delicate, potentially tense conversation at the end of such a happy day though so I forced a more convincing smile onto my face.

"You're right," I agreed. "But I wouldn't be a mom if I didn't worry."

"Well, there's no time for worryin' on Christmas!" Chris claimed, followed by a grin as he dragged me off towards the kitchen. "What can I get you? Another wine? Maybe some gin? I might have some tequila kickin' around here somewhere..."

"No! No tequila!" I laughed. "Gin would be great, thanks."

Chris nodded and set to work mixing our beverages for the evening before we went to the living room to rejoin his family and I did my best to push any worries about letting Grayson down out of my mind.

-

After the kids were all in bed, the rest of the evening was spent playing games and sharing drinks. It was heartwarming, wholesome family fun and I was so glad that Scott had encouraged me to stay as the thought of rushing home to my cold, empty apartment wasn't at all appealing.

The only strange thing about the evening was Chris. We were teamed up for most of the games and it was quite amazing how in tune with each other we were as we won everything by a landslide. We'd been friends for a long time and knew each other very well so it was unsurprising to me that we had so much success, but the teasing comments that came from a rather drunk Scott implied other reasons than friendship for our harmony. I scoffed and rolled my eyes every time he cracked a joke about us, but Chris seemed to love it. He was a few drinks in and probably just feeling a little goofy, but the grin on his face after every suggestive comment sparked an odd feeling in my stomach.

It was around ten o'clock when everyone except Chris, Scott and I decided to go to bed. We bid them goodnight and Chris went to top up our drinks before settling back onto the couch beside me. By this time, I was definitely feeling it. I wasn't drunk, but I knew this drink would have to be my last as the flush of my cheeks and the happy, fuzzy feeling in my brain was telling me that it was time to wind it down for the night.

However, as Chris handed me another gin and soda, settled on the couch next to me, placed his drink on the end table beside him and pulled my feet into his lap, my mind suddenly felt surprisingly sharp.

"What are you doing?" I asked, a giggle slipping from my lips.

"Releasing some tension."

As he answered, he began a slow massage of my left foot and I couldn't help, but smile at how wonderful it felt.

"Releasing?" Scott snorted a laugh. "Sure, a foot rub is known for getting rid of tension, not making it worse."

Chris smirked at what Scott was insinuating, but seemed unbothered by it.

"Don't be jealous," he teased, but now it was my turn to smirk.

"Of what?" I questioned. "This foot rub? It's not that great, Scott."

Scott laughed as Chris gasped a tad over dramatically.

"Not that great? I offer you a free foot rub and you can't even be fuckin' grateful?"

Chris shook his head, but the smile on his face told me that he wasn't really offended. He did stop massaging my feet though and I whined in protest as he picked up his drink.

"A mediocre foot rub is better than nothing," I pouted. "Keep going."

Chris sipped his whiskey, the smile on his face morphing back into a smirk as he shook his head again, but he did let his hand rest over my ankles and I was happy for even that tiny bit of contact.

Scott changed the subject to some viral video he saw the other day and Chris laughed and chatted along as he absentmindedly let his hand drift up my shin, underneath the loose pyjama pants that I'd changed into shortly after we put Grayson to bed.

My mind was instantly taken back to another time when we'd shared such gentle touches. A time when his lips followed his fingers as they traced kisses up from my ankle all the way to the lacy edge of my underwear. A time when he'd then proceeded to pull that underwear off with his teeth before returning his face back to a very sensitive area.

"Whitney, have you seen it?"

Scott's question snapped me out of my racy daydream. I felt my cheeks flush with colour as I forced my gaze away from Chris' hand over to Scott, reminding myself that even though the look on Chris' face would make it seem otherwise, he couldn't possibly know what I was just thinking of.

"Uh, no, I haven't," I admitted, sipping my drink to try to cool myself down even though it was becoming apparent to me that I needed to slow down my alcohol consumption. "All I seem to watch these days is Paw Patrol."

Chris barked out a laugh and nodded.

"So much Paw Patrol," he agreed. "The kid's obsessed."

"Chase is on the case!" I giggled before changing my voice slightly. "Rubble on the double!"

"Oh my god," Scott laughed, a horrified look on his face. "We need to get you out more."

I shrugged as Chris continued to trace patterns on my shins.

"That's the life of a mom."

"Yeah, but what about when he's with Chris? You must have some sort of life then."

"Scott."

Chris' voice was harsh and warning as what Scott was implying could be taken as offensive, but I wasn't bothered.

"It's fine," I assured him. "I know I'm lame. I don't have much of my own life, I don't really know anyone around here."

"You have Allison," Chris pointed out. "You've mentioned her a lot. She's your friend, right?"

He was referring to my one and only friend in Massachusetts. She was also a photographer and we'd met at a camera store when I first moved here. She'd asked me a question about a new brand of film and we'd ended up having coffee to exchange tips. She realized quickly that I didn't know many people in town and had taken me under her wing.

"She is," I nodded. "But she has three kids of her own and she's married so she doesn't have weeks where she's child free like I do. We hang out when we can, but usually it's with all the kids, not like quality 'girl time'."

"I didn't know that," Chris frowned. "I'm sorry..."

"Don't feel bad for me." I nudged him with my foot. "I have plenty of friends, they're just in LA. I'm happy here."

"I'll take you out for drinks one day," Scott promised. "Even if you're happy, everyone needs to let their hair down a little bit sometimes."

"That would be fun," I smiled, tossing back the last of my drink. "But for now, I think I've let my hair down enough for today. It's time for me to get to bed before all these drinks go to my head."

I slid my feet off of Chris' lap and slowly stood up as he looked up at me.

"Are you cool if I bunk with you again tonight?"

"Of course," I nodded. "Just sneak in quietly if you two stay up too late."

"I'm ready to crash already," Scott informed us. "So, we won't be up much later."

"Okay. Well, goodnight boys," I waved as I headed towards the door. "Thank you for a lovely day."

They chorused a goodnight back to me before I walked down the hall.

-

I was just coming out of the en suite in Chris' bedroom after brushing my teeth when Chris strolled into the room.

"Hey," I smiled. "Ready for bed already?"

"Scott wasn't lying," he returned my smile. "He was half asleep by the time you made it down the hall."

I laughed as I crawled into bed and settled against the pillows.

"Well, it has been a busy day."

Chris agreed as he grabbed his pyjama pants and headed to the bathroom. I picked up my phone from where I left it on the nightstand, turned off the lamp on my side of the bed and answered a few text messages from my family, figuring I may as well wait the few minutes it would take Chris to get ready for bed before I attempted to get any sleep. When Chris reappeared, I locked my phone again, put it back on the nightstand and snuggled down under the blankets, trying not to stare too much at his chiselled torso. He wasted no time turning off the lamp on his side as well before slipping in next to me, shivering dramatically as he pulled the blankets up over his chest.

"It's so freakin' cold tonight."

I snorted a laugh, shaking my head even though I knew he wouldn't be able to see me until our eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Maybe if you put on a shirt you wouldn't feel it so much."

"Honestly," Chris started, the smirk evident in his tone despite his face still being hidden in shadow. "Usually, I just sleep naked so these pants are for your benefit."

I felt my cheeks flush as the words 'then by all means, take them off' were on the tip of my tongue. I forced them out of my mind as a long forgotten tingle rolled through my body and I focused on answering him.

"My point was that a t-shirt would provide you with extra warmth," I explained. "So, your point that you usually wear less clothing makes no sense."

The bed shifted slightly as Chris chuckled.

"Well, I can think of another thing that could provide some extra warmth."

"What?"

I felt my heart rate pick up, the blood rushing through my ears so fast that I hardly heard myself answer him as I wondered if he could possibly be implying what it seemed like he was implying.

"You." His voice was low, the same seductive tone he'd used all those years ago, and I felt my mouth go dry. "Come give me a cuddle."

For a moment, I thought I was a lot drunker than I'd realized and that I was hallucinating or in some kind of lucid dream, but that thought brought me to a different realization.

"Chris!" I whispered, my tone scolding and accusatory. "You're drunk!"

A burst of laughter came from the other side of the bed and I quickly shushed him, knowing Grayson was asleep in the room above us.

"I'm not drunk, I promise," Chris assured me as his raucous laughter came under control. "I just thought it was worth a shot. It's nice to have a little cuddle with a beautiful woman sometimes."

I felt another flush of heat run through me, but I rolled my eyes and, as I had the night before, I took a pillow and placed it between us, drawing a clear line in the sand even if that hadn't worked out so well the last time.

"Goodnight, Chris."

"Goodnight, Whitney."

I rolled over, closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

I did try. I really, really did.

But after almost ten minutes of thoughts whirring through my head, I knew it was hopeless and I turned back to face Chris. Now that my eyes had adjusted to the dark, I could see well enough to know that he was laying on his back so I carefully moved the pillow that I'd placed between us and slowly slid over towards him. I felt him tense so I knew he was awake, but he didn't question what I was doing so I continued until my head was on his chest and my arm was draped over his stomach. He stayed perfectly still, just long enough for me to start second guessing myself before he shifted slightly to put his arm around me.

We stayed like that, holding each other in silence, and I had to admit that Chris was right. It was nice to have someone to cuddle with. The physical contact was filling a hole in my touch-starved heart and I tried not to think about how fleeting of a moment it was or how things would be back to normal in the light of day. There was a strange ache in my heart at that thought and I knew I needed to get out of my head.

"Chris?" My voice was soft, just in case he'd drifted off in the last few minutes, but when he tightened his grip on me, I knew he was still awake. "Thank you for inviting me today."

"Of course." He squeezed a little tighter. "I'm sorry I didn't do it sooner."

"It's fine," I assured him, letting my hand lazily trace patterns on his skin. "You're under no obligation, you're allowed your time with Grayson without me."

"It's not about obligation. I'd never want you to spend Christmas alone even if Grayson wasn't in the picture."

"I was really dreading it."

My admission made me feel vulnerable as I'd spent so long trying to pretend that I wasn't bothered by the idea of a lonely holiday, but Chris didn't seem surprised.

"Really?" He questioned, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "The crying onto your steering wheel didn't give that away at all."

"Shut up," I mumbled, turning my face into his chest to hide my smile at his teasing. "I'm just trying to express my gratitude for your kindness."

"No gratitude is needed. It's been my pleasure having you here today and Grayson loved it."

He kissed the top of my head after he'd finished speaking and almost reflexively, I found myself stretching up and placing a soft kiss of my own against his collarbone. It felt intimate and the moment hung heavy between us. It felt right to me, but I knew instantly that I'd crossed a line. A comforting kiss on the top of my head was one thing, but what I'd done, kissing his bare chest, was inappropriate. My cheeks burned as I tilted my head up to look at him, meeting his eyes as they looked down at me. His expression was unreadable so I opened my mouth to apologize only to be completely shocked when he pressed his head forward and his lips against mine.

The shock quickly morphed into a feeling that could only be described as euphoria. There was something distantly familiar about the way his mouth moved on mine, but it felt strange and new as it wasn't exactly as I'd remembered - and I had spent more time than I'd want to admit reliving the last time we'd shared a kiss like this.

It wasn't until he pressed his tongue against my lips, in an attempt to deepen the kiss, that I snapped out of my daze.

"Chris, wait," I breathed out as I pulled away and stared up at him, my cheeks now flushed much more from excitement than embarrassment. "We shouldn't do this."

"Says who?"

The little voice in my head telling me that I'm about to ruin everything that we've worked hard to create. The words were on the tip of my tongue, but as he smirked down at me and licked his lips as if he was preparing for what was to come, I found myself incapable of logic and reason.

"Doesn't matter."

Chris hardly had time to acknowledge my answer before I dove back in for another kiss, moving to a more comfortable position as I straddled his waist.

He completely overwhelmed my senses. The inescapable scent of him surrounding me, the feel of his strong body between my thighs and the soft little sighs of enjoyment that he kept making every time our lips parted for us to take a breath. None of it was doing anything to ease the ache that was growing between my legs and my hands gripped into the sheets where they rested just above his shoulders as I pulled back to look down at him. I needed to see his face to remind myself this was really happening and who it was really happening with as it still felt so unreal.

Chris smiled up at me, his lips looking plumper already, and let his hands settle on my hips to keep me steady.

"You okay?"

I nodded and leaned down to peck his lips again before answering.

"I've never been better."

Chris' smile only widened at that confirmation and he moved his hands down to cup my bum, pressing my hips forward and giving me a moment of friction that I'd been desperately craving. I pressed myself up, pulling my upper body away from him as a gasp fell from my lips and my eyes squeezed shut. I was embarrassingly aroused from a few mere minutes of kisses, but it had been a very long time since I'd had any physical contact with a man and my body was already on fire.

I rocked my hips against the toned muscles of his abdomen, soaking in the pleasure that was radiating through me and I was debating whether it would be rude of me to continue until I reached the release that was quickly building inside me. Clearly, Chris was just as intuitive as I remembered as he let out a groan and effortlessly flipped us over so he was on top.

"Not like that," he smirked. "I've been thinking about this for too long, it's not happening like that."

I felt another flush of embarrassment as he could obviously tell what I'd been thinking about doing, but I nodded in agreement.

"But if this is really happening, we need to be quiet," I reminded him. "Everyone's sleeping."

"They're all upstairs, they won't hear," he assured me. "And Scott's on the other side of the house."

He was right, we'd be fine as long as we kept ourselves under control, but it didn't matter anyway as all my doubts disappeared when his lips pressed against my neck. I let my hands slide around his waist, resting on his toned back while his lips continued their trail down my neck and stretched the neck line of my shirt to expose my shoulder. His lips locked onto one spot just above my collarbone, sucking and nipping until I was sure there would be a bruise there in the morning.

"Chris," I gasped out, digging my fingernails into his back. "Don't leave a mark."

He backed off a bit, kissing gently against the now sensitive skin.

"It'll be easy to hide," he assured me. "And if I remember correctly, you enjoyed a few bites here and there..."

He opened his mouth to dig his teeth into my shoulder and an image flashed into my mind. A memory of me, bent over with Chris' thumb on my clit as the two fingers he had inside me stroked a particularly delicate spot. He'd placed a soft kiss on the cheek of my bum before sinking his teeth into my skin, sending me over the edge.

I couldn't help, but moan from the combination of the memory and the sensation of his teeth in my shoulder as my hips pressed up against his. Chris seemed to be spurred on by that action as he ground his hips against mine and quickly let his hands slide down to the bottom of my shirt. He lifted it up and for a moment I was lost in the bliss of the sensations he was providing, but as my shirt was raised just past my belly button, I froze.

"Wait!"

My voice firm and demanding and he immediately responded, stopping his actions and looking up to meet my eyes.

"What's wrong?"

I bit my bottom lip as I pondered how to voice my concerns. If I didn't say anything, there was a chance that we could get through this without drawing any attention to it, but I couldn't help but think it was better to point it out than have Chris notice on his own.

"I just..." I breathed out, trying to figure out how to articulate my thoughts. "I just look different now."

"What?"

Chris pulled back even further, looking down at me with genuine confusion in his eyes and my cheeks burned as I tried to puzzle out how to explain my feelings in a way that didn't make me look shockingly insecure.

"Since I had Grayson, since the last time we did this," I clarified, my cheeks burning as I brought my flaws to his attention. "I look different. Like, I have stretch marks and my boobs aren't as perky as they used to be."

Even in the dark shadows of the room, I could see Chris' jaw clench as it did when he was annoyed and trying to bite his tongue. Panic flooded through me as I wished I'd kept my mouth shut, but his next words astounded me.

"Get outta here," he huffed. "You think I care about that?"

I dropped my gaze to the tattoos on his chest as I regretted ever opening my mouth.

"I don't know," I admitted. "Lots of men probably would."

Chris moved back, slowly sliding his body down, away from mine and I wanted to scream, I wanted to stop him and hold him against me as long as I could, but I was powerless to do anything, but watch. My heart sank, thinking he was going to roll off of me any minute now, but then he stopped. His face was level with my lower stomach and turned his eyes back towards my face.

"This body," he started, placing a kiss on my stomach. "This stomach, these stretch marks." He kissed the faint lines that were now barely visible on my skin despite how vibrant they were in my mind. Then he continued up, lifting my shirt as he went until it was resting above my breasts, my nipples hard from the chill in the air and the anticipation I was feeling. "These boobs." He kissed and nipped at the delicate skin, tracing all the way along until he captured a nipple in his mouth, teasing it briefly with his tongue. "They changed because you gave me my son, the greatest gift you could have given me. I have nothing, but gratitude for that and you're still the most fuckin' beautiful woman I've ever seen."

He was exaggerating. I knew he was exaggerating. He saw and worked with Hollywood's most elite actresses and models, there was no chance that I was even close to the most beautiful woman that he'd ever seen. But he managed, again, to push all doubts from my mind as his lips set to work, this time focusing on my left nipple while he shifted his weight and freed a hand to stroke and pinch the right.

They were sensitive, they always had been, and the way that Chris was working them right now was almost too much. My head fell back and my hands dropped to the sheets as I tried to focus on enjoying the sensations and not immediately demanding for Chris to move lower, to give me more, to touch me where I wanted to be touched with increasing need. He was always paying attention though and before I even needed to voice my request, he let his mouth slip from my nipple and trail back down my stomach.

He nipped at the skin just above my pyjama pants before hooking his fingers in the waistband and pulling them down. I tugged my shirt over my head at the same time before laying back against the pillow, completely naked underneath him.

"Beautiful."

He'd muttered the word, almost more to himself than to me, but the sincerity in his voice flooded a new kind of warmth through my body. I tried to push it down, focusing on what we were doing, what this was and all it could be. Because yes, I loved Chris, but this wasn't that. This wasn't making love, this was a simple release of sexual tension. I didn't need my feelings getting in the way and making this complicated or I was going to get myself hurt.

I'd been so lost in my head that I hadn't noticed how my legs had fallen apart for Chris to settle between them or how he'd spread me with his fingers, opening me up for him to enjoy. It wasn't until I felt a slow, gentle lick right over my clit that I snapped back into the moment. With a gasp, my hips pressed up to meet his mouth, trying frantically to keep the friction now that it was finally there.

"Easy," Chris warned me, chuckling as he pulled back slightly, earning a whine from me. "We'll get you there, don't worry."

A feeling of desperation was building up inside of me and as he blew gently on the very sensitive parts of me that were in front of him, I was about ready to start begging.

"Please," I whimpered, moving my hand to his hair in case he got any bright ideas about pulling back any further, but I was relieved when he let out a groan and finally gave up on his teasing.

Suddenly I was aware of nothing, but Chris' mouth on me. My back arched as he licked up from the bottom of my core to the top, swirling his tongue around, exploring every little nook and cranny before settling his focus back on my clit. It was like he'd studied me, like he'd committed our previous brief encounter to memory and remembered exactly what I responded to as he licked and sucked with just the right amount of pressure and speed to have me panting as my grip tightened in his hair.

It had only been moments, but I could already feel the pressure building inside me, bubbling closer towards the surface. Chris, as if sensing this, eased off just slightly to slide his tongue a bit lower, pressing it against my entrance, dipping just barely inside, before replacing it with one of his fingers. I felt myself clench at the sensation, my body desperate for relief, desperate for something more inside me and Chris obliged, adding a second finger almost immediately.

"So wet, baby," he hummed, placing a kiss on the inside of my upper thigh.

I was too wrapped up in my own pleasure to formulate any kind of response, but Chris didn't bother waiting for one anyway before putting his lips back on my clit. The combination of his fingers and his mouth had me seeing stars and another whimpered plea slipped from my lips as he flicked his tongue against me. He was focused and determined, groaning against me after a particularly sharp tug on his hair when he angled his fingers inside me to find that one particular spot that made me see stars.

He stroked it once. Then twice. And on the third that coil that had been tightening inside me snapped. I covered my mouth with my free hand just in time to bite down and muffle the scream that Chris pulled from me as my hips thrust up towards him and I spasmed around his fingers as I fell over the edge.

Chris coaxed me through it, easing his attentions as I came down from the high I was feeling. He slid his fingers out of me, looking up to meet my eyes before licking them clean. I groaned, feeling myself twitch with arousal at the sight despite my heart still racing from the orgasm I had just had. He flashed me a smirk before crawling up my body and pressing his lips against mine again.

I sighed happily into the kiss, letting my hands slide down his back, just teasing the top of his pants as I reluctantly separated our mouths.

"Take these off."

My tone left little room for argument and Chris looked down at me with a smirk.

"Yes, ma'am."

He lifted his body off of mine just long enough for me to shiver from the loss of the warmth he was providing, but he quickly returned once his pants were discarded. He stayed slightly lower when he returned, turning his attention back to my chest, taking my left nipple in his mouth this time and using his hand to tease the other. My eyes fluttered shut at the sensation, but I fought the urge to simply lie back and let him do what he wanted with me. I wanted more, I needed more and I didn't want to wait any longer.

"Chris," I whined. "Please, fuck me."

Looking down, I could see his eyes widen in surprise at my blunt demand. He let his mouth slip off my nipple before giving it one last little nip, just hard enough to make me gasp from the slight twinge of pain.

"As you wish."

He reached down between us, taking a moment to slip his two fingers back inside me. He spread them out, gently stretching me and I was grateful. From my memory, Chris was thick and it had been approximately three years and five months since I last had sex (not that I was counting).

Once Chris was satisfied that I was adequately prepared, he pulled his fingers back and guided the tip of his cock towards my entrance. I tried to relax as he slowly stretched me open, but even as my mind revelled in the bliss I was feeling, a thought hit me that made my eyes widen and body stiffen.

"Chris!" I gasped out, gripping his shoulders to push him away slightly. "Condom!"

His head dropped down and he grunted as if he was using the last of his restraint to pull out of me.

"Shit," he cursed. "How could we forget that again?"

"I guess we don't learn from our mistakes," I smiled, despite the pang in my heart as the voice in my head chimed in again to say 'clearly not or you wouldn't be about to fuck him and break your own heart again'. "Do you have one?"

Chris nodded, rolling off me for just long enough to reach over to the bedside table. He pulled one out of the drawer, ripped it open and slid it on with impressive speed before crawling back over me.

"Now," he smirked. "Where were we?"

He looked down as he guided himself inside me again. The initial stretch wasn't as intense the second time around, but it grew as he pushed deeper and my breath hitched once he was fully inside. Chris stilled, sensing my discomfort as he dropped his head to kiss along my jaw until his lips rested just below my ear.

"You good?"

"Mhmm," I nodded, breathing out and shifting my hips as I started to adjust. We stayed like that, connected but still, for a few moments until I felt the tension ease a bit. "You can move."

"You sure?" Chris looked at me with concern on his face, but I nodded.

That was all the reassurance he needed as he began slowly moving his hips. He pulled his lips back from where they rested near my ear and pressed them against mine.

He kissed me deeply, passionately, as he created a steady rhythm, sliding in and out with his hips pressing hard against mine with each thrust. His biceps bulged and strained to support his weight through the movement and he eventually let his mouth fall away from mine as he could no longer hold back a groan. That noise, and the grunts that followed, made me twitch around him as if my body was doing everything it could to keep him inside me, to keep the pleasure that it had been craving for so long.

I could feel him dragging against every inch inside me, brushing against every nerve and stretching me just enough to keep me constantly impressed by how big he was. It was somehow too much, but not enough all at the same time and I hitched my leg higher up on his waist to help him get closer, deeper, if at all possible.

"Good girl..."

Chris' words hummed encouragingly against my collarbone where he placed another soft kiss before pulling back. He placed his hand on the back of my knee and lifted it even higher, opening me up for him even more.

My head dropped back against the pillow on the next stroke as his cock slid against that delicious spot inside me where his fingers had been only minutes before. He was watching, looking down between us to see me wrapped around him, see me taking him all the way every time he pushed in. I could hear him mumbling praises, compliments about how well I was doing, but I was too far gone, too wrapped up in the pleasure emanating from between my legs to do anything, but moan in response.

He slowed for a moment, leaning down, my leg catching on his shoulder and pressing it even higher as he reminded me to be quiet. He nipped my ear lobe, pulling a whimper from my lips before moving back and picking his pace up again. I knew he was right, but it was hard, next to impossible even, to hold back the noises that were bubbling in my throat.

I bit my lip and dug my nails into his skin as I attempted to control my volume and silently cursed Chris when he shifted his weight just enough to put the pressure of each thrust back on just the right spot. He moved his thumb down to brush over my clit, but it barely took a few strokes for me to fly over the edge.

It felt like my whole world exploded as I clenched around him, a low moan slipping past the lip between my teeth. The tingle ripped through every part of my body, every muscle quivering with pleasure, as Chris picked up the pace even more, with one final burst of speed until he stilled, letting out a deep, rumbling groan of his own before pumping in and out a few final times.

Once he'd stopped his movements completely, he let my leg lower to the bed, collapsing against my chest as he fought to catch his breath. I drifted my hand up to stroke the damp hairs on the back of his neck and soaked in the blissful feeling, a feeling I'd dreamt about since the last time I had the pleasure of enjoying it.

We stayed like that for a few moments until Chris reluctantly pulled back, letting out a soft groan as he slid out of me.

"I'll be right back."

I admired Chris' ability to walk already as all I had the strength to do was nod and shift back to my side of the bed. When Chris reappeared a few minutes later after disposing of the condom in the bathroom, I could barely keep my eyes open. He climbed back under the blankets and shifted over towards me until he could pull me right against his chest with our legs intertwined.

"That was nice," I sighed happily, enjoying the feeling of being in his arms as I nuzzled my nose into his toned pecs.

They shook as he chuckled and a giggle slipped from my lips as well.

"It was," he agreed, kissing the top of my head the same way he had at the start of this little rendezvous.

There was a heaviness in the air, the underlying unspoken words and the conversation that needed to be had hung between us, but I couldn't bring myself to ruin the moment. I'd spent so much time thinking about this, what it would be like to be in his arms again, I couldn't bare to say anything that might make him pull away and snap out of the moment of insanity we'd slipped into.

So, I didn't and neither did he. With one final, gentle kiss goodnight, we stayed tightly in our embrace until we drifted off into a contented sleep.

-

Part Three

[buoyantsaturn]

I’m all eyes (1/1)

summary: So, obviously, if Nico was wearing Jason’s sweatshirt, then they must be dating, right?

word count: 1,871

read on ao3

Will didn’t think he was the jealous type. Jealousy required some amount of anger, right? But he wasn’t angry - maybe just disappointed. And really, he didn’t even have all of the facts, so he shouldn’t let himself get worked up over it anyway. 

It’s just that, well. It sucked to always look over at the Big Three table to see Nico in that giant purple SPQR sweatshirt. Or, it didn’t suck - it was a good look, and purple was definitely Nico’s color, as much as Will would prefer to see him in camp orange. The part that sucked was that Jason was always sitting beside him, and that sweatshirt definitely looked like it was Jason’s size. 

So, obviously, if Nico was wearing Jason’s sweatshirt, then they must be dating, right? And on the one hand, it was exciting, because that meant Nico was into guys, which meant that Will might have a chance with him (and bonus points because he, too, was tall, blond, and blue-eyed). On the other hand, Nico was taken, and Will wasn’t a homewrecker (or whatever the fifteen year old version of a homewrecker was).

Anyway, Will had a lot of mixed feelings about seeing Nico in that sweatshirt. And he kept having those mixed feelings when he started to see more and more of Nico around camp. He would come by the archery range while Will was practicing with his shotgun (on his own target that he’d made specifically for shooting practice). He had started going to campfires (where he would pull the sweatshirt over his knees and turn himself into an adorable purple blob). He’d even started coming by the infirmary every few days so that Will could make sure he was keeping his fading in check (so, to be fair, Will had asked him to stop by occasionally, but that was for purely medical reasons).

On one particularly hot day in September, Nico entered the infirmary sans sweatshirt, and Will’s heart jumped in his chest. Sure, he’d seen Nico without that sweatshirt on a few times before, but he’d reacted the same way then, too. He tried to act normal, checking Nico’s solidity and making sure that his arms and legs still cast shadows, but the second Piper stepped into the infirmary, Will’s mind went blank.

She was wearing a giant purple SPQR sweatshirt, the one that looked just like Jason’s that Nico always wore. And hadn’t Jason and Piper been dating before they set off on the Argo II? 

“Is that Jason’s sweatshirt?” Will’s mouth asked before his brain could stop it.

Piper paused and glanced down, like she’d forgotten what she was wearing. “Oh, uh, yeah. Nyssa’s got the AC blasting in the bunker, so I snagged this from Jason’s cabin on the way here.”

“Oh.” Did that mean they were still dating? Or maybe they just had a really amicable breakup? Or...Nico, Jason, and Piper were all in some sort of polyamorous relationship? Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course, but the three of them together certainly made for an odd bunch. “Sorry, did you need help?” 

She shook her head. “Nah, just came to see what was holding Nico up. He’s been helping us try to track down Leo.” 

“Really?” Will asked, glancing at Nico in surprise. “That’s...nice of you.” 

Nico shrugged. “I’m just gonna make sure he stays dead this time.” 

Will grinned. “Ah. That’s more like it.” 

“So, am I good to go?” Nico asked. “I’d like to track Leo down before Thanatos does.” 

Will rolled his eyes fondly. “Yeah, go ahead. But as a bit of medical advice, murder might not be best for your mental health.” 

Nico scrunched up his nose. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.” 

“Sure, Death Boy,” Will said, brushing off his reply. It was probably a joke anyway. Right? “Get out of here already. I’ll see you later.” 

As Nico started toward the door, Piper threw an arm around him, which Nico immediately tried to shove off, albeit unsuccessfully. Once he was sure they were gone, and once Kayla returned from her snack break, Will snuck out the back entrance.

He went to the cave under Half Blood Hill, announcing himself as he pushed the curtain aside and walked in. He found Rachel the way he usually did, one bare foot holding a paintbrush as she worked on her current project. “Hey,” she greeted, not lifting her eyes from the canvas.

“Hey,” Will replied moments before flopping down face-first onto a pile of overstuffed pillows. He was pretty sure it was the space that Rachel pretended was her bed whenever she stayed the night at camp so that Chiron wouldn’t realize that she snuck into the Apollo cabin every night to sleep on one of the spare bunks. He’d gotten close with Rachel since the end of the Titan war, seeing as he was usually the one to catch her when she collapsed after giving a prophecy. It had helped them bond. Now Rachel felt like something of a sister, except Will’s only experience with siblings were his godly siblings, who always just felt like close friends. So, anyway, Rachel was somewhere between Will’s newest vaguely-related sister and a close friend. Which meant that they had a good enough relationship that they could sit in silence without it being awkward, which was how the next few minutes passed.

Then, Will lifted his face off of a pillow and glanced to the side, spotting a familiar shade of purple. He picked it up - an oversized SPQR sweatshirt. “Whose is this?” 

“Huh?” Rachel barely glanced away for a second before turning back to her easel. “Oh. That’s Nico’s. He must’ve left it here last night.” 

Will’s head snapped up. “Nico was here? Wait, you hang out with Nico?” 

Rachel shrugged. She leaned forward and pulled the brush out from between her toes, apparently deciding that Will had become too much of a distraction for the time being. “Yeah, we go way back. We both helped Percy and Annabeth with the Labyrinth, remember? And then after that he would check in on me sometimes to, like, make sure nobody came after me. It was kinda creepy at first, you know, because he just sort of appears out of nowhere sometimes? But as soon as I started feeding him, he opened his mouth and never really shut up, so the creepiness kinda faded.” 

Will smoothed a hand across the fabric. It was soft, and big enough that it would fit him easily. And Rachel said it was Nico’s, not Jason’s - not that it could be, since he’d just seen Piper wearing Jason’s about ten minutes ago. And if Rachel and Nico were friends, then she would know-- “So Nico’s not dating Jason?” 

Rachel blinked, clearly taken aback by the question, and then laughed. “No, definitely not.”

Will’s brain was moving too fast for him to process anything. “He-- I--” He scrambled to his feet and gathered the sweatshirt in his hands. “I gotta go!” 

“Uh, bye?” Rachel called after him as Will took off out of the cave. Piper had said that she was with Nyssa at Bunker Nine, so Will took off toward the woods. He was grateful for his long legs that carried him across camp so quickly, leaping over fallen branches and thankfully not tripping up on any roots. He found himself outside Bunker Nine in no time, and it wasn’t long before his eyes landed on Nico. He sprinted up to the other boy, hunching over for half a second to catch his breath before he said, “Can I talk to you?” 

Nico nodded, his eyes wide in obvious surprise at having Will suddenly appear in front of him. (Served him right for doing the same to everyone else for the last few years.) Will led him out of the bunker and away from listening ears, and then handed over the sweatshirt.

“Oh,” Nico said, sounding almost disappointed. “Um. Thanks.” 

“Rachel told me it was yours, so I...brought it,” Will told him. “I always thought-- I mean, I assumed-- You and Jason are just so close, and I figured--” 

“I don’t like Jason,” Nico said quickly, defensively, and his cheeks began to color. “Not… Not like that, I mean. He just got this for me because he was sick of me stealing his all the time.” 

“No, right, of course,” Will replied as his heart sank. “I mean-- Oh gods, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume you liked guys-- I never should’ve--” 

“I do,” Nico cut in, and Will’s mouth snapped shut. “I, um. I’m...gay.” 

“Oh. Oh! Cool! I mean, I am too! Or, uh, I’m bi, but, uh. I like guys, too.”

If Will’s arms weren’t frozen at his side, he probably would’ve smacked himself for babbling like a total idiot. But maybe it was worth it to see the way Nico’s cheeks continued to grow red.

“Cool,” Nico said softly, dropping his gaze to his shoes before rapidly looking around at anything that wasn’t Will. “Would you, um. Would you maybe be interested in sitting with me at the campfire tonight?” 

Will was pretty sure his soul had left his body, but he still managed to ask, “Like, as a date?” 

Nico scuffed the toe of his shoe against the dirt. “If… If you want.” 

“Yeah!” Will said quickly, and then, “That would be, um. Cool.” 

“Cool,” Nico repeated. He started fidgeting with the sweatshirt in his hands before he suddenly held it out to Will. “You should take this. It’ll probably be cold tonight, so…” 

Will barely managed to stop himself from saying, it’s okay, I have my own. Instead, he forced his hands out to take the sweatshirt back. “Cool.” Did he know any other word in the English language besides cool? “I’ll, um. See you tonight then.” 

Nico smiled, and Will’s heart soared. “Yeah. See you tonight.” 

When Will arrived at the campfire later, happily yet nervously showing off the SPQR laurels on his chest, he made his way straight to Nico, relieved to see that the other boy had shown up in just a t-shirt. 

“Hey,” Will said, smiling brightly as he sat down in the open space beside Nico. “You know, it might get cold this far from the fire. Maybe you should borrow this.” Will held out his own neatly folded orange camp hoodie, one with a large 7 on the back and a red cross on one sleeve - a sweatshirt that was unmistakably Will’s. 

Nico smiled down at the sweatshirt, and then up at Will like this was exactly what he’d been hoping for. “Okay,” he said as he took the sweatshirt and pulled it on over his head. 

“It might be a little big on you,” Will warned, but Nico only smiled brighter when his head popped out of the neck hole. 

“That’s okay,” Nico replied. Just the very tips of his fingers stuck out the ends of the sleeves, and Will got the sudden urge to hold Nico’s hand. Maybe he would try later, when Nico didn’t have all of his focus directed at Will. “That’s how I like it.” 

thanks for reading!!

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[oftenderweapons]

Steamy Waters — Jungkook

Pairing: Jeon Jungkook x reader (nicknamed Candy)

Wordcount: 7.7k 

Genre: smut, pwp; initial fluff, but don’t let that fool you; established relationship;  idol!AU

Rating: 18+

Hello my fluffy ducklings, welcome to Jeongguk’s Steamy Waters 😈

I won’t even pretend there’s a plot in this. It’s just Jk, coming home from the gym and finding excuses to shower with his gf. Set almost a month after Love Talk, Jeongguk is finally ready to take a big step in his relationship with Candy, however finding the courage for the big leap is excruciating. Candy is more than willing to reward him before asking for something in return, she simply doesn’t know how much her game will cost her. 

I decided I’ll keep using the nickname the nickname “Guk”, (see more in this post). Now, straight on to...

TRIGGER WARNINGS: unprotected sex within an established relationship (don’t do that unless YOU’RE TESTED AND CLEAN), mentions of therapy and mental health; sweaty jock!Jungkook, smitten!Jungkook who can’t express his emotions but IS WORKING ON IT, with a very supportive gf; I guess there’s a striptease, if you like... squint?; masturbation (female and male receiving); breast worship; period talk; very intimate love confession; foreplay under the shower (specifically mutual oral sex — aka 69 — while laying on the floor); predator/prey dynamics (namely she runs and he chases her, finds her as she tries to hide, drags her out and throws her over his shoulder); plenty of lube (lube is important and useful, let’s normalise using it); lots of degradation and objectification, name calling (fuckdoll, slut, cocksleeve, cockfairy), very multiple orgasms — like a lot; edging (both male and female receiving), begging, crying, slight humiliation. These two know all the possible variations to missionary sex (sorry not sorry); biting; slightest, most delicate face slapping and grabbing; spanking; tattoo fetish; cumplay, mentions of cum eating. 

[Inspired by this look]

Here is my masterlist and check out my non-idols!AU (Partition update coming on Sat, Jan 23rd!!!) 

Remember to vote for next prompt (link in bio)!

And now, enjoy ✨💜

————————————

The entry door smashed loudly sometime around ten p.m., followed by the thud of a bag falling to the floor, Jeongguk’s heavy steps stopping as he took of his shoes.

The moment he appeared he looked unreal, with an oversized black shirt reaching his mid thigh, the sleeves exposing his forearms and part of his tattoos, his hair falling messily in wet curls over his forehead.

“Candy, babe?” He called from the entry. “I’m home!”

“Guk?” You called from the kitchen, your head peeking around the corner. He spotted you and smiled.

“What you doing there?” He said with a smile, sauntering towards you, standing at your side and placing a hand around your waist as you stood by the stove.

You turned and stood on your tiptoes, puckering your lips and closing your eyes.

He bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips. “I’m sorry I’m messy.” He said, close to your mouth.

“Are you fresh out of the gym?” You asked.

He nodded. “I haven’t even showered yet. I wanted to come home as soon as possible.” His fingers rubbed your side gently, trying not to tickle you. “I missed you a lot today.”

You smiled as you finished warming up his favourite post-workout snack. “I’ve already eaten. I thought you might be hungry.” You said, just as he stole the ladle and took a sip.

“Yum!” He commented, placing the utensil back in your hand. He stood behind you, placing his hands on your shoulders. “I wanna hug you but I’m too sweaty.” He commented as he kneeled the tense muscles of your neck.

You shook your head. “Oh, these need to be washed,” you said, referring to your outfit. “We went to a bulgogi place today and I feel like I smell so bad.”

“You haven’t showered yet?” He asked, his hands slowing down, almost stopping.

“No… I switched on the tv and there was this interesting old interview with Miyazaki and I got caught up.” You explained with a cheery tone.

“The Japanese director and artist?” He asked.

“Yeah.” You confirmed, switching off the stove and pouring a couple ladles of noodles and broth in a bowl, adding some basic decorations on top.

He paused before wrapping an arm around your waist. “Can I hug you then?” He asked gently, almost too quietly for you to hear.

Still, there was no way you wouldn’t hear his voice. Sometimes you thought you could hear his very thoughts.

“Of course you can hug me, Guk.”

His body adhered to yours without hesitation, a low moan exiting his throat as he felt you sink even deeper into him, pressing into his body, almost trying to hide into him.

“I said I missed you.” He said shyly, waiting for you to praise him as he opened up about his emotions.

You were working through it, together, trying to make him open up more, offer you more of himself, of his feelings and fears.

“I missed you too, baby. I love you.” You spoke against his chest, taking in the clean and humid scent of his skin. He always smelled so good even after working out. Especially after working out.

Your hormones did a somersault.

“Today I felt very… restless.”

That was a very specific word for his emotional vocabulary. Lately, he was getting better and better, finding new words that fit his moods appropriately. His way of speaking was always plain, in the best meaning of the term. He is simple and transparent, always using basic words with great meaning. That seemed to be his style, pure and direct, honest.

However, he was growing a lot, even emotionally. He was slowly losing the adjective “young” that people normally put before the word “man” when trying to describe him.

He is a man. And an excellent one at that. Sure, a bit naive sometimes, and still shy, but he always showed a caring, attentive side whenever you tried to speak your needs and grievances within your relationship.

“Mh… What made you feel restless today?” You asked, repeating an exercise that your psychologist always made you do when you were a teen.

“We practiced a choreo all morning. And we always messed up the same part. There’s a very difficult transition and it’s just… so difficult to end up in the right position after the passage.” He said, huffing out loudly.

You thought about his food getting cold, still you knew that if you made him eat the conversation would quite surely stop. “Anything else, baby?” You asked, kissing his breastbone.

“We had a couple interviews this afternoon. One with a radio and another one with a talk show.” He said. “I’m glad that my English is improving. Namjoon hyung said he’s proud of me and that I did a good job.”

You heard the smile in his voice.

“Even Yoongi hyung said I did a good job. And he offered me a tangerine!” He said enthusiastically.

You rubbed his back. “We’re all proud of you, baby.” You said fondly.

“Thank you.” He replied and when you looked up at his face you saw his ears flush red.

“Time to eat, Koo.” You said, pressing your hands to the sides of his head, trying to calm down the blush.

He smiled.

He looked beautiful.

On your tiptoes, you kissed the mole under his lip, shortly before he picked you up by the waist and brought you at his eye level, your arms anchoring behind his neck as he pushed his mouth to yours. “Thank you.” He said again, that feeling in his chest getting more and more urgent.

He would say it. Just… Not now.

He had plans.

He took the bowl and a spoon in his hand, the other one staying around your back, pulling you to the table with him. First he placed down the objects and then he sat, still holding your hand, tugging at it gently and making you sit across his lap.

You giggled and adjusted yourself, your forearm moving behind him and securing you to his back.

He pecked your temple and thanked for the food quickly before digging in, slurping loudly and devouring the whole meal in eager, large spoonfuls.

“No one’s stealing your food, baby, don’t eat too fast.” You said, worried as he paused for a moment, only to take a few breaths and dig in again, finishing the bowl.

He placed down the spoon and rubbed his belly, exhaling with a satisfied grin.

You smirked. “Would you like some more?”

He shook his head no. “I wanna shower.” He said, placing the spoon in the bowl and handing both to you; but before you could protest, thinking he was asking you to tidy up, he moved one arm under your knees, the other around your shoulders, picking you up bridal style.

“Guk, for goodness’ sake!” You shrieked, trying to secure yourself with one arm, the other holding the bow.

“Trust me,” He said, “I’ve got you.” He reassured you, stopping in front of the sink and helping you place the bowl down. Next, he made you sit on the counter, “I need both hands free for this,” he said, picking up the pot and covering it with its lid before placing it back inside the fridge.

He would deal with that later.

“Come here,” he called, standing between your legs and picking you up again, his hands pressed to the back of your thighs. You pushed your nose against the soft hair of his nape. “Where are we going?” You asked, curious.

“Shower.” He said, reaching the room and placing you down near the sink in the dim light coming in from the window. He looked at the saffron gleam of the streetlights landing on the floor, cutting a thin, long stripe landing at your feet.

He took a step forward and stood in it, his black shirt immediately absorbing the light with a curious pattern of shadows that seemed to offer small outlines of the taut, solid muscles underneath.

Jeongguk stood there, fascinated with the way you looked at him, almost ready to hide his face in his hands before you traced the line of his collarbone, then up his throat, until you reached the deep darkness enshrouding his mouth.

“Would you take off your shirt?” You asked, cupping his jaw.

He nodded. “In a second.” He said, staring some more.

He would have never believed he looked at you the same way you looked at him, weren’t it for the picture that had become his new desktop wallpaper a few hours ago. Jin had sent him a picture of the night Jungkook had introduced you to the boys, a week after the two of you had reunited. In the picture, you were talking with Jimin and Taehyung, the older leaning into you as he laughed hysterically while the younger looked at you like you had hung the very stars in the sky. Sitting on the sofa, you glanced up at Jeongguk as he stood behind you with his hands on your shoulders, a large grin on his face and the warmest feeling glittering in his eyes, his ears bright as your own lips opened up in a soft smile.

And now he stood in front of you and you were gorgeous. And he felt so in love.

So desperate to touch you.

But you looked like a vision, a mirage ready to disappear like his unsteady feelings; like that ugly, lying voice could come up any moment and make his doubt you and himself, making him believe that he was incapable of understanding true love, that he had been fooled once and it was sweet like this at the beginning until all there was left was barren land and bitter dust.

He took off his shirt. You moved away the hand on his face before you got tangled up, giving him space until his naked torso was right in front of you.

“You’ve been getting skinnier.” You said, placing your hands on his pectorals. “You’ve lost weight?” You asked, cupping his face again.

“It’s why I’m exercising. It was hard to keep a routine while I was gone.” He explained, placing his hands around your wrists and pushing them down. “Am I not strong enough? Fit enough?” He asked once your hands were resting on his pectorals.

Your thumbs circled his nipples, making them harden immediately. “No, baby.” You argued, a bit disappointed. “I’m saying I wouldn’t mind if you slowed down with the gym and ate a tiny bit more.” You replied. “I love you. I don’t care about your looks, but you’re all bones and muscles. I don’t mind the flesh.” You said, pinching his belly and finding only skin between your fingers. “I’m saying I don’t want you to be so hard on yourself.” You explained before your hands travelled to the ribbon of his sweats.

“You want me to put on some weight?” He asked, incredulous.

“I just want you to be healthy and eat enough food to match your workouts, and do anything you want with your body without feeling pressured. True Army will love you with or without abs.” You raked your nails across his taut abdomen. “And I don’t care as long as I get to touch you like this. Or kiss you here.” You said, following the shape of his cock with a finger.

He smiled and blushed — which you couldn’t see, considering the dark room. What you did feel was his sex twitching and hardening some more. He moaned weakly, his head falling forward and landing on your shoulder. “You mean you care only about blowing me?” He asked, his hips pushing against your palm, his hair tickling your neck and ear, making you arch away from his sinfully messy mop of hair.

You cupped him from over his sweats, massaging him slowly, gently. “Let’s say it’s a pretty important factor in our relationship.” You joked, nuzzling your nose against his head.

“Mh...” He commented meditatively. “How important compared to your love for me?” He asked, mouthing at the underside of your jaw, chuckling and teasing it with the vibrations of his voice clad in a deep rumble and the thick, teasing accent of his dialect.

“Mh… they’re neck and neck for factor number one.” You teased back, tracing his happy trail with your index finger.

“Neck and neck, you say...” He mused, nipping at your throat harshly, making you gasp. “Let’s see what happens if I take it away from you.” He wondered as he took a step away, out of your grasp.

You tried to keep touching him until he was too far for you to reach.

“Hands to yourself, babe.” He scolded as you licked your lips, looking at him as he switched on the soft led from the shower, lowering it to a soft dark red. “Promise me you’ll keep your naughty fingers at bay.” He asked, taking one step toward you.

You nodded eagerly, “I promise. Please.” You begged, placing your palms flat on your thighs and waiting for him to come closer. Once more he stood between your legs, his hands catching your wrists and bringing your arms behind your back, indirectly making your spine arch forward and push your breasts up.

He stared unashamed at your curves, barely visible over the large cotton blouse. “Keep your hands there.” He said, his fingers starting at your buttons. “My turn.” He said, undoing enough buttons to reach the lower hem of your bra, his hands sliding into the opening and cupping your breast from the lower, outer part, pressing them together and planting his face right in the crevasse, making you laugh at the drastic way he dove in.

“You good there, Guk?”

He nodded simply. “God, if you’re listening, this is a good moment to die.” He commented gingerly. “Let my girlfriend’s tits be the last thing I see before I pass.” He went on. “Amen.”

The laughter overtook you, your whole body wiggling with giggles. “Admit it, you love my tits way more than you love me.” You said before realising that the joke didn’t work both ways: even though you had confessed your feelings, he hadn’t done so with an actual declaration yet.

“Neck and neck.” He replied, letting his feelings implicitly show with ambiguous confessions.

He drew the upper curve of each breast with small kisses while his fingers worked the buttons left. The moment he reached the last one, he undid it and raised his head, looking you in the eye for the longest, slowest seconds in the history of the universe. His lips collided with yours, pressure building and building until you separated, galaxies of feelings and sensations blooming in both of you.

His hands pushed the blouse off your shoulders, letting it slide to your wrists. Next, he moved the straps of your bra off your shoulders kissing the slope of your neck and collarbone slowly and leisurely on the left side, before turning to the other side and parting his lips, letting half an inch of his tongue hang from his mouth and trace the ridge of your collarbone, his fingers undoing the clasp of your bra. The garment slid lower, your breasts heavier now without the support of the small cage. “Are they sore?” He asked, kissing you under your ear before moving his hands to your forearms, freeing you from the shirt.

“A bit. It was hot outside today.” You paused. “And my period’s close.” You added, hoping he didn’t get embarrassed by the small statement.

He stayed silent for half a minute. “How close?” He asked, moving your arm to your front so he could remove one strap, then focusing on the other one, baring your torso completely.

“It should be… four or five days away.” You said after making a quick count.

He nodded before cupping your face and kissing your mouth. “Do you need me to stock anything in the house?” He asked, parting from your face and looking you in the eye? “Sanitary products, comfort food, anything?” He asked, his gaze so soft and caring you felt a string of your heart snap and break.

“I have those at home.” You said, combing his hair away from his face, the red light making his eyes even more intense, his lips even more tempting.

“You won’t be here on the weekend?” He asked, suddenly hesitant. “I know we met today because I called you and normally you prefer staying at your place on weekdays and coming over for the weekend; but I thought that meeting today wouldn’t mean I wouldn’t have the weekend.” He said, confused and a little bit sad. Even with the dim lights you could see the disappointed look on his face.

“I thought that since I had my per—”

“It’s not like I wouldn’t want to cuddle and sleep with you. You know I—” love you. “I don’t want only sex.” He said, frowning.

You noticed he grew increasingly upset, his teeth torturing his lower lip.

Can’t you just fucking say it, Jeon Jeongguk, for goodness’ sake! His brain snapped at him, but his heart stayed guarded and wary.

“Come here.” You said, opening your arms, and letting him barricade himself into your embrace, your chest hot against his, the late summer night making both your and his skin clammy. “I know you care about me.” You said, your hand sliding into the long locks of his nape. “I’m not used to this, Guk. You know how we did this before you left.”

“This is not before I left. This is now.” He said, his voice so insecure. “I want everything. The cuddles and the sex and the feelings and… all of it. I want to be there for you. Always.” He said, raising up, towering over you as hegave up on the protection of your arms and offered you the safety of his own. “I want you to count on me. To trust me and tell me when something’s wrong. I want to support you and protect you.” He said, more and more determined. “I want to be the one you want when you had a stressful day and you need to talk. I want your problems too, ____. I want the ugly bits too. I don’t want you to choose the parts that you think I can handle and offer those alone.” He patted your head before making you look at him. “I want everything, Candy. Every damn thing, baby. The good, the bad and the in between.” He bent to your ear and closed his eyes, leaning into you, pressing his forehead to your temple. “Will you let me be there for you, baby, please?” He asked, begging, holding the crown of your head with one hand and your waist with the other.

You nodded, almost too emotional. “Yes.” You replied simply before he pressed you to his chest, where his heart beat so loud you thought he would get a heart attack.

He placed both hands on your waist lifting you off the counter and placing you with your feet on the floor. “Take off your trousers and panties, Candy.” He spoke softly as he watched your hands slide down your sides dragging the garments all the way to your ankles before stepping out of them. He placed them in the basket with the dirty laundry.

“Your sweats,” you said, trying to reach for the waistband.

“No,” he said, getting undressed by himself.

Just like that, you stood naked in front of each other, his eyes focused on your face, your gaze laced with his.

“You're so beautiful.” He whispered, cupping the side of your neck before letting his hand skim your chest, the plumpness on your breast, the sensitive curve of your waist, his palm stopping at your hip before his fingers sunk into your flesh, his eyes following his hand with unbreakable focus.

Gently, he tugged you toward the shower, making you stop before entering. “Let me get the temperature right.” He said, opening the tap and waiting a little before the water turned warm. You stared at him as he tested the spray and dove under, small rivulets rolling down his body, following the curve of his back, drenching his hair and rolling down his cheeks as he rubbed his face with his hands.

“Come, babe.” Jeongguk said, stretching his hand toward you.

Biting your lip, you took a few steps before he moved out of the spray, hugging you before he took a small step back, your and his body both under the water. You simply pressed your mouth to the base of his throat while his hands made sure that your hair got properly wet before he could wash them.

Your hands moved down his back, from his shoulder blades to the small of his back, until you managed to reach the full roundness of his ass, massaging it slowly, comfortably.

He snickered. “Are you comfy there?” He asked, just as his hands reached your own ass and squeezed it. “Does that feel good?”

You nodded, the sound of the water drowning your small moan. “Let me.” You said, turning around and rubbing at your hair, making sure it was soaked.

His hands followed the curves of your body capturing your heavy breasts in his palms. He took a deep breath before he stretched to reach his body wash, pouring some in his palm and foaming it up before spreading it over your skin, the scent of his soap filling the space.

The lights were making it even more intimate, with the red-to-black spectrum tinging the experience in a variety of tones of eroticism. First and foremost, the mildest but most difficult of them all: intimacy.

Jeongguk placed his hands on your waist, making you turn around. You were there, with your hair pushed back, your beautiful face completely exposed to his observing stare. He couldn’t hold your gaze.

He poured more shower gel on his palm and after it turned into a small handful of bubbles he bent down and divided it between his hands, bending down and washing your legs, until he knelt, washing your feet.

“Guk.” You called shyly.

He hummed in reply, just as he took a gentler soap meant for your intimate parts. He pumped a dollop on his hand and foamed it briskly before cupping your vulva delicately, focusing on the simple, affectionate task at hand, making sure to spread your labia as you parted your legs slightly to let him have access. He rubbed the palm slowly, lightly against your skin, not sparing the back, in between your ass cheeks, waiting for the water to rinse his hands and clean you fully.

He felt ready.

His hands cupped your hips, holding tight without his fingers digging in, all the pressure focused on his palms.

He kissed your belly button.

“I love you.” He almost whispered.

You were far too lost in sensations to be sure that he had actually said what you thought you had heard.

“What?” You asked, looking down at him.

He delivered another small kiss on your tummy and looked up. “I love you, ____.” He said, before smiling timidly.

“You love me?” You asked, incredulous.

“Yes. I love you, Candy. A whole damn lot.” He said, kissing a straight line from your belly to your pubic bone, stopping there. “I wanna… Can I… Can I taste you?” He asked, waiting on his knees, removing his hands and mouth from you, letting you choose freely.

You looked at him before your mouth opened in the happiest, widest smile you had ever given him. “I love you, you know that, right?” You told him, touching his face, combing his hair back.

He nodded. “I love you too.” He said, and the more he said that, the more his body felt how right, how true it was.

“You wanna eat me out?” You asked as he nodded furiously.

You lifted a leg, ready to place it on his shoulder when he sat on his hip, then turned with his back to you, laying flat on the floor, his head away from the water spray.

Your brow furrowed before he tucked his elbows next to his torso, his hands close to his face before he grinned and wiggled his fingers in a “come forth” motion.

“Uhm…” You wondered, confused for a brief moment, trying to understand if he really meant for you to ride his face, especially since you were both still trying to understand the whole cunnilingus discourse.

“Sit on my face?” He asked, his cheeks blushing — which fortunately you couldn’t see with the current lighting, he considered.

Your eyebrows shot up. “You sure?” You asked.

“Pretty sure, yes. If you want to, of course.” He replied.

Slowly you lowered yourself to your knees, his hands circling your waist and heading up, up, until he met your breasts, before heading down again, fixing your hips right against his lips.

“I’m gonna start now, Candy.” He warned you, “you can ask me to stop whenever you want to, baby.”

“Wait!” You called. “Is it okay if I blow you?” You asked, pretty sure that it would be good for your mind space if you dedicated yourself to his pleasure, easing the mental pressure you felt whenever someone went down on you. After all, Jeongguk had been the first to make you cum during oral sex, and even with him sometimes you struggled reaching your high.

“You want to sixty-nine?” He asked, trying to comfort you by lacing his fingers with yours.

“I wanna try?” You asked. “Maybe it all works better if I’m not thinking about it too much. I could use a…distraction?” You explained, doubtful.

“Okay, let’s give this a go.” He replied, completely oblivious that the simple movements of his mouth as he spoke against your crotch were making your hole drip in wetness.

“Okay then!” You slowly lowered yourself on your elbows, his lips going on a slow side-to-side motion before he opened his mouth, his upper lip pressing against your entrance while his lower one met the sensitive nerve endings of your clit, making you moan just as his tip entered your mouth, your hand cupping his balls and sliding upwards, until you could grip him as comfortably as you could.

He released a heavy breath, the hot air meeting the raw skin of your slit. Just as his tongue made its way between your labia, you bobbed your head a couple times, making him moan loudly, which made you moan in return.

The whole situation turned into a game where the more you received, the more you gave.

As you started sucking him, creating a vacuum effect with your cheeks, his hands gripped your ass, his lips wrapping around your left labium, pumping it with his cheeks into his mouth, just past his teeth, that grazed it perfectly, alternating the softness of his lips and tongue with the hard edge of his teeth, making blood pool in the sensitive tissue. Meanwhile, on his lap, you were drooling all over him, pumping him with your fist as you started losing focus. “Guk.” You called.

He simply hummed and switched to the other side.

Yes, he was dedicated like that.

“Gu— Oh, yes, love, like that, baby, just like that.” You said as you felt his hands direct your hips in a grinding motion, your mouth returning between his legs out of sheer gratitude.

He moaned again, his eyelids fluttering with pleasure as you pushed his soft head to the back of your mouth, bobbing your head a few times before your hand started fondling his balls with your palm, twisting your wrist and using the pad of your thumb to tease the delicate spot between his balls and his anus.

He released your labium. “Candy. Fuck, baby, yeah, that a… I— I really like your finger there, baby.” He said, swallowing loudly before flicking the tip of his tongue repeatedly against your clit, spanking your ass brusquely before he gave a few strong pumps to your most sensitive spot.

You released his cock, letting it snap back to his belly and speaking against his shaft. “Please… Guk. Too good, love—” Your hips began to gyrate on him, his hands leading you, keeping your movements controlled so that he didn’t lose his grip between your legs. Holding his tongue rigid and still, he pushed the tip to the underside of your clit, dragging it up and exposing the most sensitive nerves, usually protected by the hood and way too sensitive for direct stimulation. Which is exactly why after two minutes your body stilled before starting to shake uncontrollably with effort, your whole universe silent, holding its breath before your lips opened in a high pitched, incoherent cry that announced your orgasm and predicted your reckless, ruthless movements on top of Jeongguk.

He took everything in.

Every small thing.

He kept moving his tongue even as it cramped, slapping your ass shamelessly, violently, spurring you into a wilder, more desperate pace as you — completely oblivious to your raw knees — rode him with a passion, pulling him into your mouth once more to quiet down your moans.

You felt your legs shake even more as his hips started pushing into your mouth, his long hums turning into short, deep groans and whimpers.

Just as you felt his balls tighten, you drew away, making him whine and arch his hips toward you.

“Please…” He called, his voice so, so miserable and pleading.

“You want your orgasm?” You asked, voice sultry.

You precisely knew what you wanted. And you had very clear plans on how to get it just right.

You looked right in front of you, at the small bathroom carpet laying just outside the shower, ready for you to dry your feet. Your escape route was bright and clear in front of your eyes.

“Does it feel nice?” You asked, un-straddling his face, acting as if you had each and every intention to bring him to the very edge and watch him dissolve.

“Please, Candy...” He cried, his hips undulating hypnotically.

“You wanna cum?” You cooed cutely.

He nodded eagerly. “Yeah… Please.”

You stopped. “Then come get me, bunny boy.” You grinned and stood, exiting the shower with a long step, shaking the water off your body as you rubbed your feet against the carpet a few times, before dashing for the door.

Alone, he opened his eyes and raised his head, looking around. “Candy?” He called again.

No sign.

He shook his head and stood up, his erection painful and uncomfortable as he closed the tap and walked out of the shower, drying his feet harshly as he switched off the bathroom lights and exited the room, looking around, spotting a trail of droplets on the floor.

He sneered and swore, staring at his hard on and clenching his jaw as he walked down the corridor with quick, long steps.

He found you as you tried to hide in the walk-in closet, almost sure you were unfollowed the moment you moved on all fours and tried to crawl under a lower shelf.

Jeongguk smirked, the scene disgustingly hilarious to him as he grabbed your hips and pulled you out of your hiding spot.

“That’s your plan?” He asked just as you tried to wiggle out of his grip.

His fingers dug into your waist, grabbing you even harder as he dragged you away from the shelf, where you could hit your head.

“You’re ridiculous.” He said, putting you on your feet before he turned you around and hoisted you over his shoulder, spanking you unceremoniously. “Running on wobbly legs.” He spanked you again. “Leaving a pretty trail of water leading me right here.” Another spank. “I thought I had taught you better than this.” He said, offering you some mercy and biting your leg instead of smacking your ass.

Your world was very unstable as he began walking you to his bedroom. He threw you on the mattress and switched on the led light behind the headboard. Again your view became nothing but the sultriest black and red.

“You wanted to make me angry?” He asked, looking you in the eye as he climbed on top of you, spreading your legs and sitting in between before both his arms caged your head.

His chest, wet and toned, was right before your eyes, moving with the fury of a wild beast. He grabbed your chin and led your gaze upward, into his. “I said, you wanted to make me angry?” He repeated.

You nodded.

“You wanted to make me snap?” He asked again, grabbing your face, making your lips turn into a silly pout.

You nodded once more. “I am—”

“I’ll tell you what you are.” He said, getting off you, opening his drawer and taking out a towel and a plastic bottle, which he placed on the bedside table before he lifted your legs with one arm and laid the towel down with the other.

You stayed silent as he took his time.

“You are a ridiculous little fuckdoll.” He stated clearly, no lips, no stutter, no hesitation whatsoever. “You are my dumb little fuckdoll,” he went on opening the bottle and letting a heavy amount of lube draw a line from the base to the tip as he held his cock away from his belly with his thumb and forefinger running around the glans. He spread the slick liquid with his palm, sliding it up and down as he hissed. “You always need to act like a dumb brat to make me fuck you like a slut.” The moment he leaned over you and poured some lube on your cunt too, you knew you were in for a long night. He closed the lid of the bottle but kept it nearby, in case he needed more.

You were close to your period, and once you had mentioned that you had some issues getting wet because of hormones changing. He was glad you gave him that kind of notions too. He had so much to learn still.

“You want me to fuck you hard?” He asked, spreading the wetness between your legs.

You nodded wordlessly.

“Not so wordy anymore, are we?” He said, cocking an eyebrow.

“Please, Guk.” You whimpered.

“That’s my little slut. You need to be fucked, uh?” He asked again, making you beg for him.

“Jeongguk, please.” You called again, pleading for his cock inside you.

“She even says ‘please’. Aren’t you desperate?” He asked, rubbing his tip up and down your slit.

“Yes, I’m your desperate doll. I’m begging… Please—” You whimpered, opening your legs as far as they would go.

He tutted and snarled. “Oh no. You’re not my desperate doll. You’re my desperate fuckdoll.” He said with a smirk. “Say it.”

“I’m your desperate fuckdoll.” You repeated with a thin voice.

He nodded “That’s right,” he replied, rewarding you with the tip of his cock as he swore and let it stay inside you, helping you get used to it — still, he grit his teeth, his deltoids and trapezei bulging with the effort. His tattooed hand held his cock to your entrance, covered in slick, helping you as he fed you a small inch at a time.

The moment he looked up at you, you noticed the lack of harshness in his eyes. “Are you okay, Candy?” He asked just as you hissed out a ‘yes’, closing your eyes and biting your lower lip. “Can I move?” He asked again, at which you nodded energetically. He giggled. “I love you, bae.” He concluded, making you whisper a brief ‘love you’ in reply before his bad boy persona came back into play.

“So you want it hard, uh?” He asked, feeling his cock already pulsate inside you.

“Yes, hard and fast, Guk. Please. I’m your fuckdoll. Do me like your little cocksleeve, please.” You begged, whiny and weak.

“Like my cocksleeve?” He said, rolling his hips twice before he pulled out. His hand drew away from his sex and moved to your mouth, laying there gently. “Cocksleeves don’t make a sound.” He leaned towards your ear. “So you’d better stay quiet.”

Your eyes blew wide as you bit your lip and furrowed your brow, his cock sinking in your flesh so hard that the smash echoed through every single organ inside your body.

You laid there and admired him as he fucked himself inside you, biting his lower lip and releasing it slowly, letting it roll and snap forward, past his teeth. He switched his position, leaning on his hand rather than on his elbow, arching even further, spreading his legs wider, propping his weight on his knees for better leverage, using his thighs to push your legs further apart as his eyes closed, chilly droplets of water falling on your face and your chest as he hammered into you, the tendons of his neck growing taut, his veins pulsing and growing and showing even in the dim red light.

Your high was there, right there, right…

Jeongguk roared, loud and aggressive and so, so angry that he sat on his heels and gripped your hips, shoving you on his length on and on, his hips meeting your body with loud smacks as he released inside you.

“No, no no. No, please no, please—” you begged as you felt him slow down, “So… close…” You sobbed as he stopped entirely.

He placed you down on the mattress. “Oh, no...” He said with faux compassion. “Poor cocksleeve.” He said with a sadistic grin, his smirk almost demonic in the crimson light.

He caged you with his body, his arms bulky and delicious at each side of your head, several rivulets of water — or maybe sweat — sliding down his face and chest. “Cocksleeves don’t get to cum, do they?” He asked rhetorically.

You whimpered and tried to squeeze him with your inner muscles.

“Or maybe I could be generous… Offer you another round…” He wondered, kissing your lips. “Would you like that?” He asked.

“Please. So close,” you whispered, chasing his mouth with yours.

He stretched and grabbed his pillow from the headboard, sliding an arm under your hips and lifting them up, placing the pillow right under your ass. “Do you need more lube, Candy?” He checked in on you, at which you shook your head.

“I just need you inside.” You replied miserably.

He pouted and got in position, cupping your jaw and sliding his thumb in your mouth. “Take it,” he said, his right hand pushing his cock in, only barely softened. Once he sank in and gave two tentative rolls of his hips, any sort of softness disappeared.

“Like this?” He asked, his nose curled adorably and sexily at the same time as his face scrunched at the effort of slow, deep thrusts.

You purred and shook your head. “Faster, harder… please.” You moaned before he started going even slower.

He chuckled. “What do I get in exchange for it?”

You opened your eyes and bit into his arm delicately. “Please,” you pleaded again. “I’m—” A tear rolled down your face. “It’s too good, let me cum, please, I love you. I’m your fuckdoll, Guk, please let me— I’ll be so tight around you, I’ll milk your cock so good, let me cum.”

He loved when you grew wobbly-lipped and teary-eyed. He loved seeing how desperate you always were for him, how much you depended on him for your pleasure.

He collected one of your tears with his lips, “are you crying for my cock?” He asked, wicked as usual.

You shook your head yes. “More, I’m begging you, Jeongguk. I’m begging you. I’m…” In an act of pettiness, you turned completely quiet, trying to rebel against him and his oversized ego. Self-sufficiently, your hands went to your boobs, grabbing them, pinching your nipples, sometimes climbing up to your throat and pressing against it softly.

He swatted your hand away, bending his mouth to your breast, tugging and suckling at your nipple messily, just as his arm grabbed your right knee and hooked it at his elbow, pushing your leg up, the angle so irresistible that your high finally peeked from around the corner. Still you stayed silent — mouth open, but quiet.

“Candy?” He called, curious about your sudden lack of noise.

You furrowed your brow and looked at him.

He tutted at himself. “Hard and fast?” He asked again.

You didn’t react. He rolled his hips deeper, hitting the spot you loved so much. Another tear spilled from your eye, but you proudly kept your stoic approach.

He smirked and started going faster, now that he had found the spot.

A small hiccup escaped your mouth.

“There we go, Candy.” He said, finally sure of his decision as he started pounding into you with everything he had in himself. “Touch your boobs, Candy.” He suggested as he saw you grow closer and closer. “So messy for this cock, uh? Whose is the best cock, Candy?”

“Yours.” You sobbed, your hips beginning to stutter, trying to meet his thrusts but too weak and sensitive for that.

“That’s right. You love this cock, Candy, don’t you?” He asked again.

“Only yours. I do, yes, please, Guk. Jeong— Guk, please I—” Your body thrashed against his as your orgasm finally caught you and drew you under.

Jeongguk’s head dove for your breastbone, pressing there as he tried to resist your high, currently threatening to drag him with itself.

As your climax persevered, he pushed your leg over his shoulder, picking up the other one too, sinking so deep with the new angle, his mouth kissing your calf, the inner side of your knee. “Is it good enough, baby?” He asked as he saw your eyes slowly flutter open.

Fuck, his jaw line was impeccable with that angle. “It’s perfect, Guk.”

“Nice, can you take another round, love?” He asked and damn, that nickname made you say yes, yes, ten thousand times yes with no hesitation.

He pushed his thumb in your mouth, against your tongue.

“I need to touch you.” He said, watching as his finger emerged drenched from your lips, immediately bringing it to your clit.

“Can you lift your ass?” He asked right as you obeyed, the angle so deep that he slowed down specifically to make sure he could guarantee you one more orgasm before he achieved his own.

His thumb replicated the motion of his tongue earlier in the shower, teasing the tender underside of your clit just as your eyes closed—

Too intense. Too much, you thought as your breathing slowed down again, your whole body focused on your kegels.

“Give me another… Work your magic, cockfairy.” He teased as your lips parted, your eyes flashing open before slowly, messily crossing and sliding shut again, your body too confused and overwhelmed to give a verbal reaction.

Jeongguk kept going, so, so close, his hips digging deeper with tiny rolls focused on staying in, enjoying every tight squeeze you had to offer, your hands leaving your breast as you tried to slap his hand away from your clit while his teeth began teasing your calf on one side, his deep moans unstoppable even when he turned to the other side and actually nibbled on your leg, his hand persistent in his torture.

“No. Oh god! Please. No! Oh— I need to— Yeah, yes...” You hissed as Jeongguk finally crumbled against your body and delivered the last few thrusts, deep, slow, so destructive as your head tipped back, your final high too much for your body to handle.

He looked down, where your bodies joined and with a loud growl, he came apart and spilled inside you, his cock swelling intermittently for so long he almost worried at some point. But the softness of your breasts, pillowing his head, and the warmth of your breath fanning over his head, your legs sliding off his shoulders, to his waist while your arms circled his back. “I love you, Candy. So damn much. I’m so in love with you baby.” He repeated on and on, trying to make up for each slur, each degrading word and idea he had used against you.

“I love you, baby.” He repeated again. “I love every little thing of you.” He kissed your breast — even though he truly aimed at the heart beating underneath. “I don’t want just the sex. You get it now?” He asked, nuzzling his hair against your bosom.

You caressed his head fondly.

“I get it now, of course, love.” You reassured him.

“You’ll lean on me, right? You’ll count on me?” He asked insecure, afraid at how many things he still had to learn about adult, mature relationships.

“I’ll lean on you. We’ll lean on each other.” You said, kissing his forehead as he raised his head.

“We didn’t finish the shower…” He mused, pulling out of your entrance carefully, staring as his seed dripped out of you and down your thigh.

You looked at his mesmerised expression.

He bit his lip before releasing it with a snap. “Fuck, you’re dripping.” He said before looking up.

And you don’t know if it was for the hot sight of his tattooed arm flexing, for his mop of damp long curls, for his wide, taut pectorals, for his lips glistening in drool or the dark lust in his eyes as he saw the mixture of his seed and your wetness oozing from your cunt, but you decided you were far from having enough.

“Didn’t they teach you to clean after yourself?” You teased with a cocked eyebrow.

His eyes climbed all the way to your gaze, finding the silent permission he was looking for.

And he dove for your cunt like a starving wolf.

[ktheist]

life is yours

muses. professor!fiancee!namjoon x reader x fiancee’s friend!past life husband! expecting father!yoongi

genre. reincarnation au. college au. pregnancy au.

word. 1.7k

x

you loved min yoongi, you’d die for him.

and died for him you did. when the traitors came for your king, you’d leaped in front of him and took a swing of the treacherous sword. history books portrayed him as the king who went mad. the king who slayed hundreds of lives in one night and ruled for fifty more years as a tyrant.

what are histories if not painted with a tragic romance?

they said it was because of you he went mad. because he lost his queen, his breath.

a few hundred years later, he’d found her again. at the age of twenty-seven and you, twenty-two.

his girlfriend was pregnant with his baby and you were professor kim namjoon’s student-turned-fiance.

“it’s funny, you know,” you took a whiff of the cigarette and breathe out through your mouth, “we can walk out of our current relationships and ruin everyone’s perception of us, or we can just lead the life we’re living like we didn’t remember anything.”

yoongi squints his eyes as he stares up at the sun. lips tucked downwards, as though telling the universe that after one lifetime too many, he’s unimpressed.

“or we could just run away,” he recalls the flames of the torches of that night - not as bright as today’s sun but just as mocking, “forget about everything and run away.”

“you make it sound so easy,” a laugh escapes your smoke kissed lips, “it’s not as if the people we’ve known and loved are fake, faceless puppets.”

this life is just as real.

though it would’ve gone much different if you’d met each other sooner.

yoongi taps the pointed corner of the invitation card on his palm. it tickles but it’s nothing compared to the burning sensation as he held onto the handle of the sword despite it grazing his flesh.

“how far along is she?” his girlfriend, you mean. 

walking into namjoon’s office - the office you’d snuck into a few times too many but felt utterly alien - you saw the porcelain, snow-kissed complexion of your king. all at once, the memories hit you like a rain of shards.

and in each, individual shard, you see the images of your first step, first drawing, first embroidery and the first time you met yoongi. an arrogant boy whom you pushed into the koi pond.

the same boy who smirked at you the whole time during your engagement ceremony while you squirmed in your seat, scheming a runway and an apology at the same time.

and the man who strutted into the room, plopped on the left side of the bed and bade you good night on your first night as a married couple.

it was until three months later, that you trapped him under you and confronted him about it.

you thought yoongi, the crown prince turned king, had a lover. but he loved you too much to hurt you. they said you’re supposed to bleed on your first time. you laughed until your stomach hurt because you were happy beyond words that your husband was abstaining himself for you and not going around fucking a lover behind your back.

not even a year later, you caressed your stomach and giggled to yourself, thinking about yoongi’s stone cold expression turning pink and speechless. that night, the rebellion happened.

your last memories was of him holding you in his arms and calling out your name. 

in this lifetime, your first memory of him is watching him smile a familiar smile that screamed awkwardness as namjoon relayed their youthful tales.

that was, until he got to the part where yoongi’s about to be a father.

all of a sudden, there’s a knot in your stomach. it twists and tightens until you feel like you’re going to puke if you didn’t excuse yourself, saying something about calling your mom that you’d be having dinner with namjoon and letting the two men catch up.

“ten weeks. we’re ten weeks pregnant,” he sucks in a deep, agonized breath - and from the way he’s gazing up at the sky with his hands on his hips, you don’t think he meant to hide his afflictions.

the way he refers to himself and her as ‘we’ makes that knot all the more painful.

“i was a seven weeks pregnant,” you smile softly to yourself, gazing down at your stomach as if you could feel your baby from your previous lifetime.

you shouldn’t have said it.

should’ve just kept quiet.

but-

“they told me you were eight weeks in,” the soft, breathless tone that comes from yoongi is  what makes your heart beat again.

as if you’d come to life. as if min ___, the queen of joseon had come back to tell her king the one thing she wished to say. the one thing she wished for.

a family.

“taeyang. i was going to name him taeyang because he was going to be the sun of the dynasty and bring peace to the nation,” you laugh and it’s the choked up sound that you make that makes you realize you’re on the verge of crying.

“never thought i’d be talking about histories and dynasties with anyone - i hate history,” the confession slips out of you like you’re talking with an old friend. someone you trust wholeheartedly. someone you know you can confide in. 

yoongi was your friend, your lover, your king.

“come with me. i have a savings account, we can start anew somewhere, we can have what we couldn’t have back then.” he turns to you and looks at you in the eye. 

“what about your baby?” you ask because you know it’s meant for his future family.

“i’ll send child support every month,” he says.

“your parents?” you ask because his mother was a concubine and the king barely remembered his name out of the names of his many children.

in this lifetime, from the way namjoon candidly told the story, you know they love their eldest son as much as he loves them.

“they’ll adore you,” he says.

“no one’s gonna love a homewr- ah,” you hiss, dropping the cigarette that was trapped between your fingers until it burned your skin.

“___,” a familiar, deep but less gravelly tone reverberates against the walls as namjoon comes jogging at you like you’re a kid who just bruised her knee.

you study his face and yoongi’s eyes burn holes in your head.

from the way he meets your gaze and gives you ‘your fingers almost got burned and you’re looking at me?’ you think it’s safe to say that he didn’t hear what you were saying.

“i’m fine, i just burned my fingers because i got too engulfed in yoongi’s stories about how you two met,” you laugh at how namjoon’s inspecting your fingers more attentively than a doctor would.

“another reason to include in the long list of reasons not to smoke,” your finacee chides.

“that was my last,” you announce in a higher pitch than your usual voice - and that’s how namjoon knows you’re half-joking, even when you- “i promise.”

“anyways,” you place the injured hand on his chest to distract him - the way yoongi’s jaw tighten doesn’t go past you, “i talked to my dad because apparently my mom was cooking and couldn’t come to the phone and he said to tell you to bring me back before curfew.”

it’s the way namjoon freezes underneath your touch, his eyes blinking once and his soul retreating far back into his subconscious that makes you giggle.

“i’m kidding.”

only then, does he breathe again.

“my mom wasn’t cooking, she was watching her favorite show,” you say again.

it takes a split second for namjoon to put two and two together and tenses up again. as if he feels your father’s hardened gaze behind him. your father didn’t take it too well when you introduced your professor as your boyfriend who proposed to you a week before.

“it was nice meeting you, yoongi, we look forward to see you at our wedding,” you extend a hand, the playful smile reserved for namjoon, now directed at your king.

the king whom you died for. and the king who you’re telling to live his life, as you’ll live yours.

“wouldn’t miss my best friend’s wedding for the world,” he smiles, his hand grasping yours and you thought you’re going to combust from the electrifying sensation that runs through your veins.

but it’s only short-lived. 

you pull your hand away and he summons his back to his side.

he turns to namjoon and gives him a pat on his shoulder, congratulating him again but this time, with a lingering stare before walking past the two of you and towards the parking lot.

“professor, i’ll get my purse from your office and we’ll be good to go.” you say absently before skipping to the opposite direction of where yoongi was headed.

with each step you take, you hear your heart breaking. just like the pieces of your memories that rains down like shards of glass.

you wonder if you’ll make it through this life without dying of a broken heart.

“i thought we fixed that?” namjoon murmurs behind you, just as you sling the strap of your purse over your shoulder.

“hm?” you turn to the man leaning against the doorframe, observing you with a crease between his brows.

“you called me professor again,” namjoon mumbles almost as if he’s sulking.

and your heart warms at the tender sight of a grown man acting like a child. you’re reminded of the reason you fell for kim namjoon. his gentle nature was the opposite of yours yet he laughed at your jokes like he laughed off your flirtatious advancements.

he told you he saw you as a student and lent you his scarf when he saw you shaking in the cold while waiting for your uber. the next time he saw you, at 11 pm before the library closes, he offered to drive you home even though his was in the opposite direction from yours.

“namjoon,” you say his name, a smile tucked on your lips as you wrap your arms around his waist and his arm that had been crossed over his chest instantly makes it way around you, “thank you.”

“for what?” his eyes light up like a christmas tree, dimple digging into his cheek.

“for choosing me,” you stand on the tip of your toes and he meets you halfway for the kiss.

and you loved min yoongi, you died for him.

you love kim namjoon, you choose to live the rest of your life with him.

x

note. so like, the title - technically, it’s like oc saying “my life is yours” to both yoongi and namjoon but in different lifetimes :D

[let-me-write-shit]

Hey! Idk if u r taking requests hint if you are, can u do one where harry+y/n+bby paxton are out and about but all the sudden get swarmed by paps and then one of the cameras accidentally hit the baby and the clip goes viral and celebs and ex-1D members and stans all start coming to the defense and share stories about how awful the paps are? U don’t have to haha

A/N: Thank you so much, @gwen-and-harry, for this request! I’m sorry it took so long! Hope this is alright!

Word Count: 5,227

Requests are OPEN! If you have a request for a blurb, oneshot, imagine, whatever, Send me a message HERE!!!

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Friendly reminder to please like and/or reblog. It helps more than you think :)

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

Paparazzi

The outpour of love and well-wishes after the announcement of the birth of their firstborn son was touching and comforting. Harry and Y/N were lucky to be surrounded by so many wonderful people. Still, the eagerness of the public to get the first glimpse of the newborn and the new parents began to grow. No one had seen the couple out since before their son was born and Paxton was nearly three months old, now. People were becoming desperate.

There were more and more fans outside of their house as the days passed. Y/N and Harry had people running errands for them and luckily had the help of friends and family, as well, who would stick around for a few days at a time to give them little breaks and were more than happy to get some time with the happy baby. But as the sun stayed out longer and the temperature began to rise, the new family felt the yearning for a nice summer holiday.

They’d planned it for weeks, excited to take pictures and videos of Paxton’s first time at the beach. Harry had found a perfect house with a private beach off the coast of Italy and even decided to bring along security. And even though he didn’t do it often, he thought the circumstances warranted renting a private plane to take them to the beautiful country.

Harry and Y/N were very cautious in showing any images of their baby. No one, aside from close friends and family, even knew of his name. Having been the victims of stalking, they didn’t want their son to be subjected to that and tried everything in their power to protect their child. There were brief moments when it was typical for it to be vacant outside their home, so they planned their escape down to the minute; bags loaded in the car from the night before, and two security guards standing by to rush them to the car.

Paxton was already buckled into his infant car seat and kicking along, happily, as Y/N cooed at him, dangling toys and pinching his chubby legs while Harry peered out of the window, waiting until the coast was clear. She noticed her husband straighten up more just before the security guard said, “Let’s go.”

Harry hoisted the brown leather diaper bag further up his shoulders and tossed a muslin blanket over the top of the car seat to cover Paxton, just in case anyone happened to see them. He took hold of the car seat and carried his baby out to the car as swiftly as he could while Y/N followed closely behind him. It took two minutes for everyone to get settled in and pull out of the driveway before they felt like they could breathe a sigh of relief.

Y/N and Harry shared a look of burden. The lengths they had to take just to keep a bit of privacy and normalcy was insane. And still, they weren’t out of the woods yet. Although they were flying privately, they still needed to drive to the main airport where their plane would depart from a strip off to the side. Everything seemed to be alright, so far. Usually, Harry could tell if it were going to be crazy if there were cars of fans chasing them, and that was not the case, so he let his guard down.

But, as they approached the backup in the car queue through the airport terminals, they slowly came to realize that this wasn’t going to be as easy as they anticipated. They were at a standstill for over ten minutes, unmoving, with cars honking loudly around them. It seemed that there was roadwork on a few of the lanes ahead that caused a jam. Quickly, they had to make a decision that they didn’t miss check-in with their pilot.

After much deliberation, they decided that the only solution would be that Harry, Y/N, and their baby would have to walk down the strip accompanied by one of the security guards while the other security guard continued with the car and would eventually meet them at the plane with all of their luggage. Y/N couldn’t stay stuck in traffic, her claustrophobia was already starting to make her panic. The fresh air would do them all some good, and besides, there weren’t an overwhelming amount of people walking along outside. Most people were in a rush to get in. They thought they’d be able to handle it.

Poor Paxton was fast asleep, but it was a pretty far distance to be lugging a heavy car seat while trying to walk as quickly and discreetly as possible down the sidewalk to reach the end where their terminal would be. At least by carrying him, if someone did recognize them, they’d be able to shield their son better.

Gently, Harry unfastened the buckles from Paxton’s car seat and slipped him out, passing him over to Y/N without waking him. It was warm out, but Y/N made sure to wrap Paxton loosely in the thin muslin cloth and cover his face enough so that he could breathe well against her chest, but his face couldn’t be seen. The couple made sure to wear their sunglasses and Harry took hold of the leather diaper bag before the security guard jumped out and opened the door for them.

Quickly, they started making their way down the sidewalk, heads down to not call attention to themselves, and following their security guard’s strides who was barely a step ahead of them. Horns blared and echoed around them, stuffy fumes from car engines congested the area. For a moment, Harry thought they might actually get through unrecognized. But that quickly came to prove wrong.

It always started as just a feeling of being watched before turning into a slightly louder buzzing as people, wondering if it was really him, began to mutter. This then turned into a few shouts and calls. He ignored the first few calls until he realized that too many people started to notice. He turned, smiled, and waved at them as he continued. This usually satisfied fans enough to not follow him. But then he saw it. The cluster of cameras. Paparazzi.

They looked shocked to see him, at first. He guessed they were likely here for someone else at first and he was just a bonus. Just his luck. The security guard tightened his gap and Y/N felt a hand on the middle of her back as Harry protectively pushed her along so they could keep moving faster. Still, they were already halfway there and it wasn’t more than they were used to.

However, more people became increasingly aware that not only was Harry Styles there, but also his wife and newborn baby. Harry always had a good relationship with the paparazzi, but the incitement to get the first look at their son was causing them to swarm the new parents.

“Harry, how does it feel to be a dad?”

“What’s your son’s name?”

“Where are you headed?”

“Harry, does he look just like you?”

“Can we see?”

The questions were never-ending and almost too hard to hear as everyone talked at once. Surrounded by not only paparazzi but also curious fans, it became harder to move. Their security guard did his best to keep everyone at bay and to keep moving forward, but it soon became too crowded to move. Y/N held her baby closer to her chest as he began to wriggle and squirm from all the noise, sharing a brief look of concern with Harry who tried his best to remain calm and friendly while also trying to make way for his family out of the ring of paps that surrounded them who became more aggressive with their questions, closing in on them.

Cameras started bumping together, voices became louder, and the paparazzi began to shove each other, fighting to get closer to the celeb. Some fans began to notice how reckless they were becoming and started to yell at paparazzi along with the security guard who was still trying to push through to make room for them, only inching their way forward now.

“Back up, they have a baby!” a few girls screams were muffled behind the shouts of the paps.

Paxton was wiggling more now and started to whimper as Y/N and her husband were being yelled at in all directions. Y/N could feel paps nudging her back, getting too close for comfort. When the security guard noticed, he’d yell at them, but there wasn’t much he could do. He was only one person against dozens of others. Her claustrophobia was in full swing and her heart began racing, breath becoming more of a pant. She felt a tug on her shirt followed by a deep voice beckoning, “Come on, let us get a look at the happy family.” They had gotten bolder in touching her purposefully.

Y/N spun around, “Please don’t touch me,” she yelped.

Lights started to flash in her face and she felt a hand tug at the muslin cloth that was protecting her son. Instinctively she swatted at the hand and pulled her son in tighter, shouting, “Don’t touch him!”

Harry turned, protectively shielding his wife and son, urging her in front of him, fans still yelling as another pap shoved his camera in between them so hard that he managed to whack the top of Paxton’s head with his flash attachment, causing the baby to flail and burst into wails, sobbing into Y/N’s chest at an ear-piercing level.

Before Y/N of the security guard could even react, Harry leaped at the pap, shoving him backward, and began screaming at him so ferociously that it created a momentary standstill. No one had ever seen Harry so angry before.

“What the fuck is wrong with you, eh?! That’s my baby, you fuckin’ dickhead!” Harry’s accent became thick with rage, shoving the startled man’s chest which made him back away.

“I didn’t do anything! I didn’t do anything!” the pap could be heard saying, shrinking away.

A few other paparazzi were taking the side of the pap and snapping pictures and videos of the incident while most yelled along with Harry as well as fans. Harry kept at him, screaming even louder and angrier, “You smashed my sons head with your fuckin’ piece of shit camera,” he yanked the camera out of the pap’s hands and chucked it to the ground, a few pieces breaking off and sliding every which way, continuing to shove the pap back while the security guard tried his hardest to contain the situation and get people to back off.

“Harry! Please!” Y/N cried, her heart pounding in panic and on the verge of tears.

Harry was seething, glaring at the pap who had backed away, nervously, before the awareness that Harry was surrounded by people, most with their phones out, started to sink in. The crowd had given them some more space now, and he looked back to see the concern on his wife’s face as she bounced and patted the back of their crying son in her arms in an attempt to console him.

With one last scowl at the offender, Harry hissed, “Don’t come near my family again.”

He picked up the brown leather diaper bag off of the ground; he must have dropped it during his fit. Hiking it back up his shoulders, he wrapped an arm around Y/N’s waist as the security guard led them away from the crowd, fans calling their support after them and continuing to yell at the paparazzi.

The rest of the walk was silent, still too rattled by the situation to find the words to say. By the time they reached and boarded the plane, Paxton had fallen back asleep and it didn’t take long for their other security guard to reach them.Should have just stayed in the car, Y/N thought, getting settled in a seat with her son, She loosened the muslin blanket around his face, but not too much to disturb his sleep. Harry stayed towards the front of the plane, barely out of earshot, to talk to the security after their belongings were loaded.

A few minutes in, Harry could be heard raising his voice at them, angry about how the situation was handled. Y/N winced, trying not to listen in as she kept her attention down at her son who was suckling on the inside of his cheeks as he slept. It was almost time to feed him, but Harry still had the diaper bag. She felt bad for the security, there wasn’t much they could do, and she knew Harry was only yelling because he was upset that his son was in danger. It wasn’t like Harry to take things out on other people, but he had become increasingly protective since becoming a dad.

Moments later, Harry and the two security guards made their way back, and although Harry still looked tense, Y/N could tell that they had talked things out and was willing to bet that Harry apologized to them, too. It still didn’t make her husband any less angry. He plopped in the seat beside his wife with an exaggerated sigh and leaned over to get a good look at his sin, gently pushing the muslin cloth away as he ran his hand over the baby’s soft, fuzzy head. A splotch of raised red skin could be seen forming from where the camera had hit him.

Y/N snapped her attention to her husband and saw the distress stretch across his face and with an overwhelmed frown he said, “I better take a picture of this. Just in case,” and he pulled his phone out from his pocket.

She knew what he meant. Just in case that pap wanted to press charges for destruction of property or assault. If he did decide to press charges, there’s no way he would win. There’s more than enough photographic and video evidence of the assault on their baby. But over the years they had learned that they could never be too careful.

He shoved his phone back in his pocket, and the pilot and flight attendant introduced themselves, checked ID, and went over safety procedures before the plane started down the runway. Harry stared down at his son the entire time, not letting go of his tiny hand that was wrapped around his middle finger. Y/N knew how worried he was feeling, and with an understanding smile, she carefully passed him their baby.

She grinned as Harry shushed him back to sleep when he began stirring, stroking his cheeks in total adoration of the little boy he held in his arms. His heart ached as he caressed the red splotch at the crown of the baby’s head, angry that grown adults would act in such a way, especially in the presence of a child.

“Do you think we should get a doctor to look at him?” he asked as their plane ascended.

Y/N nodded her head, “I think he’s fine but better safe than sorry. We’ll take care of it tomorrow. I think we all need to relax when we get there. It’s been a long morning.”

It wasn’t a long flight to Italy, but it wasn’t calming, either. Y/N fed Paxton while Harry fretted about the flurry of texts and missed calls he was bound to have by his managers, PR, and legal team, certain that videos and pictures will have been released by then. And just like he predicted, they landed to nearly thirty missed messages of all sorts, including links to articles titled, ‘Harry Styles Attacks Paparazzi Outside of London Airport’. They couldn’t bring themselves to open or read any of it, but Harry did spend a majority of their nearly thirty-minute car journey on a conference call with his team talking about the situation and discussing ways with which they could handle it.

Harry cut in after a while, saying, “Alright, listen. I’ve got to go. I’m supposed to be on holiday with my family. Can someone please make an appointment with a doctor out here to look at my son tomorrow and text me the details? We’ll talk about this another time.”

Harry wasn’t assertive a lot, but when he was, it always turned Y/N on. She kissed his cheek with a grin as he hung up the phone and squeezed his hand. His mom and sister were one of the many who had texted them after seeing the news and they made a quick FaceTime call to them, venting about the encounter and reassuring them that Paxton was fine, showing them the sweet baby’s face when they finally pulled up to the vacation rental and ended the call.

It was just after noon when they arrived at the house, and instead of unpacking, everyone left their luggage by the front door and took the food they had picked up from a drive-thru on the patio by the pool where they overlooked a beautiful, private beach lined with white sand and water the most beautiful shade of blue. Harry bounced a cooing baby on his lap while they ate. The couple silenced their phones, trying their hardest to avoid the onslaught of calls and messages they were bound to receive.

After lunch, everyone finally put their things away, got changed into their bathing suits, and headed to the pool for their first swim of the year. For just a few hours the coupe was able to forget about the inevitable problem they were facing and enjoyed their time together as a family.

Paxton seemed to enjoy the water once he warmed up to it, screeching joyfully and splashing at the surface while mummy and daddy took turns holding him and pushing him in the inflatable raft they brought. They laughed at the baby boy’s reaction to getting water droplets on his face and all the noises that escaped his tiny lips.

They stayed in the pool until nightfall when they wrapped themselves in towels and sat around the fire pit to keep warm while one of the security guards left to pick up dinner for everyone. Normally, Harry would feel bad for having someone else get him food, but given the circumstances, he felt it was for the best.

He looked over at his wife, her eyes red and irritated from the chlorine, and the high points of her face sunkissed from the warm, Italian sun. Her hair was slicked back, though that didn’t stop Paxton from getting a hold of a chunk of her hair and tugging as she fed him. Harry’s smile started to face into a frown when he noticed the red splotch on the crown of his son’s head was not tinged a blue-ish purple. It had started to bruise.

Y/N noticed her husband’s silence, and with an understanding and reassuring squeeze to his hand, she softly said, “He’s okay, Bub. Just a little sore when you touch it, but still a happy boy.”

“I know,” he nodded, “Still pisses me off that it even happened, though. I should go see if anyone was able to make an appointment for him, yet.”

He ambled off inside to find his phone that he left on the nightstand, ignoring all of his notifications and going right to his assistant’s texts to see the information of the doctor that was kind enough to agree to come to them tomorrow morning and take a look at Paxton. He did a quick background search on the doctor, pleased to find that she had come highly trained and recommended, and he sighed a breath of relief.

He then decided to take a look at some of these notifications, a little worried about the backlash he might have received. But, he was surprised to see the response of support and even shocked by some of the names that had reached out to him or spoke up about the fight.

The first people he noticed were his mom and sister who both made and shared an Instagram text post that read, ‘There is a lot that you have to deal with and compromise on when you have a fanbase or a following, and one of those things is privacy. It’s something so many of us take for granted, and so far, Harry and his lovely wife have taken it in stride, rarely complaining. They’re aware, just like the rest of us, that being a ‘celebrity’ and the lack of privacy in his line of work is an unfortunate given. However, when the safety and privacy of a newborn child are at risk, this type of behavior can become extremely dangerous. There is a time and place for paparazzi, and hurting a child to get a few snapshots is deplorable. Change needs to happen’. In the caption of the photo, there was a petition link that called for adjustments on laws when it came to paparazzi and children.

A lump formed in Harry’s throat as he read, reliving the moment his son had gotten hurt a mere few hours ago. There was so much running through his head. He felt like an idiot for losing his temper, he should have known not to lash out like that, especially when there were so many cameras out. He was pissed that the paparazzi put him in a situation where he felt like lashing out was his only option. He was upset that he couldn’t enjoy their first vacation as a family with their new baby because he was too worried that people might spot him. He was scared for the future of his son, worried that he’d have to look over his shoulder every step of the way to make sure his son could have even just a shot at living a semi-normal life. And he was grateful for the support of his family and for them speaking out and trying to invoke change.

As he scrolled through his notifications more, he saw that Lizzo had also posted a video to Instagram and tagged him in it. He played the video and chuckled, feeling comforted, when her face popped on the screen, shouting, “If y'all don’t leave my baby daddy, Harry, and my sister-wife, Y/N, alone! They had a baby with them! Like this child is basically straight out the womb, and y’all sick motherfuckers are out here grabbin’ on ‘em just to try and take a picture?! A picture?!” she looked disgusted as she shook her head, “These paparazzi are getting bolder every day. This shit needs to stop. I need each and every one of you to click the link on my bio. Things need to change. Yesterday.”

He went to her page and saw the same link that Gemma and his mom had posted to their story. And that wasn’t all. As he continued to go through his notifications, he saw that he had been tagged onto one of Niall’s tweets a ton. He opened the link to see what Niall had written.

‘Absolutely disgusted to see what happened to my friend @Harry_Styles, his lovely wife @Y/N, and their little lad today. Truly criminal that these paparazzi can do things like this with little to no repercussion. I’m so sorry the two of ya had to go through that. Absolutely fuming for ya.’

With a tight-lipped grin, Harry nodded and made a mental note to text Niall later and thank him. For now, he pocketed his phone and rejoined his wife outside who had just finished feeding Paxton and putting him in a portable rocker beside her to nap, her feet propped up by the edge of the fire, wiggling her toes in the warmth. He kissed her forehead before taking his seat on the other side of her, informing her of the response, so far, of the day’s events.

Throughout the week, more and more people had started to speak up. The doctor had come around to take a once-over of Baby Styles, deeming him healthy, just bruised, and leaving them to enjoy their vacation, utterly astonished by the number of people who had spoken out to condemn the paparazzi and share their experience.

Louis had called him shortly after the doctor had left while they were on the beach. Paxton was screeching on his tummy, holding his head up and beating his chubby fists into the sand. Harry watched his wife smiling and clacking at her baby, completely smitten by the two of them, as he and Louis caught up. The last time they talked was when Louis congratulated them on the birth of his son. This time, Louis called to make sure they were doing alright. Harry was still trending online and, being a father himself, he knew how upsetting it was when your kid was brought up in the media. Especially when they had to deal with the repercussions of the paparazzi.

“Man, it just blows my mind the shit these low-lives can get away with. Please tell me you’re gonna press charges, mate,” Louis seared.

Harry groaned, “I don’t think I can, mate. I broke his camera and shoved him. We’re pretty much even.”

“Even?” Louis repeated, “Mate, he hurt a baby. He’s done much worse than you did!”

“Not according to the law, man. Not really. Besides, he’s fine. Just a bruise, thank God. Was more worried about, Y/N, if I’m honest,” he whispered, trying not to let his wife hear, “You should have seen her. Thought she was going to have a panic attack because of her claustrophobia.”

Louis tutted and sighed, “Poor lass. She's alright now, though, yeah?”

“We’re on the beach, so she couldn’t be happier,” Harry laughed, watching as Paxton gazed in awe at the little sandcastle Y/N had just made.

They had received texts from friends, like Mitch and Sarah, who made sure that they and the baby were alright as well as posted a link to the petition. Big-name celebrities with kids, like Chrissy Teigen and John Legend, as well as Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma, had also come forward in light of the issue to share their experiences of being paparazzi’d with kids. He’d never had the pleasure of meeting them, but was sure to send them messages of thanks.

Ariana Grande had tweeted ‘Sending my love to the Styles Family. It’s scary when you can’t walk down the street with a newborn without being harassed. Please sign the petition to finally start holding those who cross the line accountable.’

Liam Payne texted Harry and mentioned it in one of his Instagram Live videos when asked by fans saying, “Yeah, I spoke to him. Apparently, the guy had bruised the poor baby’s head, but he’s doing alright. They’re a bit shaken by the whole thing, I don’t blame them. It’s-It’s just sad, you know? For all the years I’ve known Harry, he’s the last one to get rattled to the point of fighting someone I’ve met Y/N a few times and well and she was always kind and easy-going. But when you’re worried about the safety of your wife and child, I don’t think anyone could say they’d just sit back and take it. You’ve got to draw the line somewhere.”

James Corden dedicated a segment in his show talking about the dangers of paparazzi and his own experiences with being harassed, including the time he was out with his son, and Harry joined them.

“To see, very early on in his career, the amount of people that followed his every step- I mean, he was only with us for a couple of hours and it got so crazy that after thirty minutes I had to have Harry walk a bit ahead of us so that the paparazzi wouldn’t swarm my son. By the end of the day, we were exhausted. I can’t even imagine having to deal with that daily. I know how I felt about it at the time and my son was older. We were a bit more comfortable as parents. But these two have their first, brand new baby. The idea of leaving your house for the first time as new parents and being hounded by volatile people who have no care for anyone but themselves is terrifying. My heart goes out to him and his family,” he finished.

Dozens more came out of the gate to condemn careless paparazzi, but probably the most surprising of them all was Gigi Hadid.

It was no secret that Harry and the model had a strained relationship that dated back to the drama surrounding Zayn’s departure from One Direction. The two never really cared to get to know one another and there was always some unsaid animosity in between them for whatever reason. He never had anything against her. Still, it was there. So, when she spoke out in defense of Harry’s actions, it was in headlines everywhere.

Gigi was very vocal about it on all of her social media platforms, writing rants on Twitter, text posts on Instagram, and even making videos saying, “You know, it’s just disgusting how celebrities can be stalked and harassed every single day by people like these paparazzi and the response is always ‘well, that’s what you signed up for’. It never made sense to me. Like, why is it considered normal? Why does it have to ‘come with the territory?’ These celebrities didn’t sign up to have their lives picked through with a fine-tooth comb. Especially not their spouses or children. They don’t deserve to be harassed or stalked just because of who they fell in love with or made a family with. A lot of people forget that celebrities are just humans.

We’re normal people with abnormal jobs. My job is to model. Harry’s job is to sing. We shouldn’t be in fear to step out of our house that day, afraid of being stalked or our children being hit in the heads with fucking cameras. I’m no stranger to how dangerous and scary paps can be, and since becoming a mom myself, I’m even more cautious. We hardly leave our house. We have so much security it’s unreal. We shouldn’t have to live like this.

Having fans come up to us in the streets and saying hi or taking pictures with us is one thing, but to have these paps shoving their camera in a child’s face, blocking our way out, and endangering them is something else entirely. Paparazzi need to be held to a higher standard and they need to be held accountable. I really feel for them.”

By the end of their vacation, there was so much positive support from fans and other celebs that Harry and Y/N was feeling overwhelmed with love. They both reached out, personally and privately, to as many people as they could to thank them for speaking out and signing the petition. Their team decided that a simple response, in true Harry fashion, would be best. On Instagram, he posted a picture of Paxton’s sandy feet and captioned it,

‘All Is Well. Thank you. With Love, H.’

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

Taglist:

@odetostep @mylittleangel9403 @thurhomish @fallingfordolans @gwen-and-harry

[babypandawrites]

Allies, Pt. 2

Jet

Pairing: Sokka x F Reader  Warnings: Injury  Word Count: 5,386 Summary: In your travels with Team Avatar you meet Jet. You do not like Jet. 

-Navigation- | -Allies Masterlist- | -Atla Masterlist- 

After a while of travelling, Y/n, Aang, Katara and Sokka found themselves resting in a clearing, alongside Appa. Y/n sat on the ground, leaning against one of Appa’s legs. While the others gave a short explanation as to why they wanted her to join their group, she still didn’t completely understand. It felt like there was something else that none of them wanted to bring up. But what other reason could there be exactly? It made perfect sense they’d want her survival knowledge if they were travelling the world and having to be outside a lot, there shouldn’t be a different reason.  It wasn’t often her instincts were wrong, but it didn’t make sense for them to be right on this.  Aang stood up from where he sat, looking around. “Where’s Momo?”  A yowl from the lemur echoed through the forest.  They all started to look around, trying to tell where it came from.  “That way.” She pointed to the trees in front of her. “I think.”  Nodding, Aang ran off in the direction, Katara, Sokka and Y/n close behind. It didn’t take long for them to get to another clearing, Momo had been caught in a snare.  “Hang on Momo!”  Aang used his airbending to leap between the trees, and reach up to where Momo was trapped. After a few short moments, Aang, Katara and Sokka had gotten Momo down and out of the snare. The animal was quick to go at a handful of nuts on the ground, seeming to forget that he’d just gotten trapped, from what she could guess was something similar. Groaning, Sokka hit a hand to his forehead.  Breathing out a quiet laugh, Y/n reached down and snagged the nuts from the ground. Momo jumped up onto her shoulder and took them from her palm to eat. She patted the lemurs head, watching as the other three freed some Hog Monkey’s from another snare. “Let’s be a little more careful, alright Momo?” He chittered quickly, before going back to his nuts.  Sokka approached one of the traps, and kneeled down to examine it. “These are Fire Nation traps- you can tell from the metalwork. We’d better pack up camp, and get moving.”  They went back to their little camp, and started to pack their things up on Appa.  “Ah-ah… no flying this time.”  “What?” The three paused, looking at Sokka with question.  “Why wouldn’t we fly?”  “Think about it. Somehow Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation keep finding us. It’s because they spot Appa- he’s just too noticeable.”  Katara was about to say something, but Y/n stopped her before she could. “Woah woah woah. Wait. You guys are being chased by Prince Zuko and the Fire Nation?”  Aang, Katara and Sokka looked between each other. Katara glared at her brother. “Did you not tell her?” “I thought Aang was going to tell her!” “Wait, Katara I thought you were going to tell her.”  Sighing, she rested her forehead in her hands. “That would have been nice to know before I agreed to help… Okay it’s fine. I’ve had run-ins with the Fire Nation before, this is fine. I think Sokka is right, if you’re running from the Fire Nation, it’ll be pretty easy to be found when you’re riding Appa. He is pretty noticeable.”  “He’s not that noticeable!”  “Thank you Y/n- Yes he is! He’s a gigantic fluffy monster with an arrow on his head- it’s kinda hard to miss him!”  Appa turned his head to look at Sokka, and groaned at him. From where he sat, Aang patted his head. “Sokka’s just jealous ‘cause he doesn’t have an arrow.”  “Listen, I know you two want to fly, but my instincts tell me we should play it safe this time and walk.”  Katara crossed her arms over her chest. “Who made you the boss?” Sokka raised an eyebrow at her. “I’m not the boss- I’m the leader.” “You’re the leader? But your voice still cracks!” “I’m the oldest and I’m a warrior.” Pausing, he tried to speak in a deeper tone. “So… I’m the leader.”  Y/n scoffed. “What kind of warrior gets scared by an arrow?”  “A warrior that doesn’t want to die?!” “I thought warriors weren’t supposed to fear death?”  “You know what-”  Getting between the two, Katara shot glances to both of them. “If anyone’s the leader, it’s Aang. I mean, he is the Avatar.” “Are you kidding- He’s just a goofy kid!”  The three looked over to Aang, who was dangling upside down from Appa’s horn. The bison looked unimpressed. “He’s right.”  Groaning, Katara rolled her eyes. “Why do boys always think someone has to be the leader? I bet you wouldn’t be so bossy if you kissed a girl.”  The girl's comment caused Y/n to break into laughter, receiving a glare from Sokka.  “I-I’ve kissed a girl- you...you just haven’t met her.”  “That sounds like something a person who’s never kissed a girl would say.”  “You stay out of this! I bet you’ve never even kissed a boy before!” She looked at him with a blank expression. “I’ve lived in the forest by myself since I was ten, I have an excuse.”  “Sounds like a poor excuse to me-” Once again Katara had to reinsert herself into the conversation. “Who Sokka? Gran-gran? I’ve met Gran-gran?”  “No- Besides Gran-gran! Look, my instincts tell me we have a better chance of slipping through on foot and a leader has to trust his instincts.”  “Okay, we’ll try it your way Oh Wise Leader.”  Aang stepped over to the group, wearing a backpack. Momo sat on top of it. “Who knows- walking might be fun.” 

The group trudged through the forest. Sokka was in the lead, Y/n not too far behind him. Aang and Momo, then Katara and Appa followed behind them.  “Walking stinks! How do people go anywhere without a flying bison?”  “Usually by walking…” Her comment was ignored.  “I don't know Aang. Why don’t you ask Sokka’s instincts- They seem to know everything.”  “Haha. Very funny.”  “It was kind of funny-” “I thought you were on my side?!”  “Hey! I just agreed that Appa was noticeable, I never agreed to force everyone to walk when they didn’t want to. Anyways, my instincts say that your instincts are wrong. This was a terrible idea.”  “Oh yeah because I’m sure your instincts know what they’re talking about.” “You know, they’ve never been wrong actually so-”  Aang groaned. “I’m tired of carrying this pack.” “You know who you should ask to carry it for a while? Sokka’s Instincts!”  “That’s a great idea Katara! Hey, Sokka’s Instincts, would you mind-” “Okay okay! I get it. Look guys, I’m tired too. But the important thing it that-” He pushed a branch to the side, looking back at Aang and Katara. “-we’re safe from the-” “Fire Nation..” “Yes! Thank you, Y/n.” “No, Sokka. Look.”  Sokka turned to look back in front of him, expression dropping at the Fire Nation camp that sat in the clearing in front of them. Most of the soldiers were seated on logs at the opposite side of the camp, bowls in hand.  “RUN!” The soldiers leaped up from the logs from Sokka’s exclamation, swords in hand. One of the soldiers launches a fire at them, it misses them, but sets the bushes behind them on fire.  “We’re cut off!”  “Sokka, your shirt!” Looking at his shirt, Sokka yells in panic at seeing that it got caught on fire. While Katara used her bending to put out the fire, Y/n got her bow ready. The four stood with their backs together once they had been surrounded by fire and soldiers. “If you let us pass, we promise not to hurt you.” Katara whispered to her brother quietly. “What are you doing?” “Bluffing?” The one eyed caption smirked. “You? Promise not to hurt us?” Y/n aimed an arrow at his good eye. “Yeah. I suggest if you want to keep that eye you call off your men.”  This time it was Sokka who whispered. “What are you doing?!” “Not bluffing.”  A quiet zip then a thud sounded. A surprised expression took over the captains face for a moment, before he groaned and doubled over. His men lowered their swords some.  Aang glanced at Sokka. “Nice work, Sokka! How’d you do that?” “Uh… instinct?” “Look!” Katara pointed up above them. A figure stood on the massive branch of a nearby tree. The person dropped something, and drew two blades from the middle of their back. They stepped back off the branch, but instead of falling, they used the blades to catch onto the branch, allowing the person to sling themself in the direction of the camp. Thet kicking over two of the soldiers furthest from the group, landing with a foot on each of their backs.  Now that the person was closer, Y/n could tell they were a young man, who looked to be around her and Sokka’s age.  The boy rushed forward, sword in each hand, hooking the ends of the curved blade on two soldiers' legs making them fall backwards. “Down you go.”  Y/n was about to run into the fight, but was stopped by Katara grabbing onto her arm. Lowering her bow, she shot a glare at the girl, but stayed. Katara looked pleased at the help, Aang was in awe, while both Sokka and Y/n weren’t very happy about it.  The boy had fought off two more of the soldiers, one of the soldiers who’d managed to land on his feet looked up. “They’re in the trees!”  A small boy dropped down from above, and landing on the soldiers shoulder he spun his helmet around blinding him. He staggered, while the boy on his shoulder laughed. Before the last three soldiers could react, several arrows shot down at them, disarming each of the soldiers without hurting them.  After a few minutes, the group joined the battle.  “Finally..” Y/n mumbled, running at one of the soldiers. He swung his sword at her, but she was quick to duck out of the way, and swipe her leg under his feet knocking him down. She kicked the sword out of his hand, and used it to block an attack from a soldier who approached her from the side. Before she could get an attack on him, the boy from before ran by, knocking him down with his curved sword.  She glared at the boy. “I had him.”  “My bad.” He shrugged with a smirk before rushing back off into the battle.  A grump Sokka walked over, leaning an arm on Y/n’s shoulder. “He did it to you too?”  “Yeah.” 

After a bit more fighting, and a bit more aggravation on Sokka and Y/n’s end, they gathered back together. Aang looked at the boy in awe. “You just took out a whole army almost single-handed!”  Sokka scoffed. “Army? Pfft. There were only, like, twenty guys.”  Next to him, Y/n crossed her arms over her chest. “I could have done that…”  The boy seemed to ignore them. “My name is Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, The Duke, and Pipsqueak.”  Aang approached The Duke and Pipsqueak. “Pipsqueak- that’s a funny name.”  The larger of the two bent down to Aang’s level. “You think my name is funny?”  Despite being nervous, Aang plastered a smile on his face. “It’s hilarious.”  After a short moment, the three of them ended up in laughter. 

The Freedom Fighters had started to raid the camp. Jet leaned up against a trunk, Katara approached him. Y/n was sitting on the ground, close enough to hear their conversation.  “Um… thanks for saving us Jet. We were lucky you were there.”  Y/n rolled her eyes. Again, she could have taken care of those guys. Wouldn’t be the first time after all.  “I should be thanking you. We were waiting to ambush those soldiers all morning- we just needed the right distraction. And then you guys stumbled in.” “We were relying on instincts.” “You’ll get yourself killed doing that.”  Y/n scoffed, causing the two of them to turn to her. She pushed herself off the ground.  “Following wrong instincts will get you killed. Not the right ones.”  Katara gave her a look, but didn’t say anything as she walked away. Sulking, she moved to sit next to Sokka. He leaned close to her ear.  “Please tell me you don’t like these guys either.” “Not one bit.”  “Glad to know I’m not the only one…” 

They’d ended up following Jet to the Freedom Fighters hideout. After a little while he stopped. “We’re here.” “Where… there’s nothing here!”  Jet held out a rope with a loop at the end to Sokka. “Hold this.”  “Why… What's this do?” The loop was put around his wrist, without warning he got pulled up by his arm. “Woah!” It didn’t take long for him to disappear among the branches above.  Jet offered a similar rope to Aang and Momo. “Aang?” “I’ll get up on my own.”  Momo launched himself from Aang’s shoulder, the boy following with an airbending move. Jet then offered the rope to Y/n with a smile.  “Here, Y/n.”  She snatched the rope from him with a glare, using one hand to hold onto the loop she used the other to keep a good grip on her bow. Not too long after she got up to the tree house, Jet and Katara appeared. It did not take an expert to realize Katara was having a teen girl crush on this kid. Yikes.  Taking a look around she had to admit, it was a nice treehouse. The craftsmen ship on it was amazing.  Aang and Momo fly over to the landing area. “Nice place you got!”  Looking around, Katara nodded in agreement. “It’s beautiful up here!” “It’s beautiful… and more importantly the Fire Nation can’t find us.”  Smellerbee landed near them. “They would love to find you. Wouldn’t they Jet?” “It’s not gonna happen, Smellerbee.”  The group walked along a bridge, sans Aang and Momo, who were zip lining around the tree house. Katara looked at Jet with raised eyebrows. “Why does the fire nation want to find you?” “I guess you could say I’ve been causing them a little trouble. See, they took over a nearby Earth Kingdom town a few years back.”  Jet and Katara had been leading the group, Pipsqueak behind them. “We’ve been ambushin’ their troops, cutting off their supply lines, and doing anything we can to mess with ‘em.”  Behind Pipsqueak, Sokka tried to see over the large boy, hopping to get a peek over his shoulders. He wasn’t doing very well. Y/n didn’t have as much interest in trying to see past him as Sokka did. Jet started to talk again.  “One day, we’ll drive the Fire Nation out of here for good and free that town.”  “That’s so brave.”  Grabbing onto Y/n’s wrist to pull her with him, Sokka managed to push past Pipsqueak and get behind Jet and his sister. “Yeah, nothing braver than a guy in a treehouse.” Y/n laughed at Sokka’s sarcasm.  “Don’t pay any attention to my brother or Y/n.” “No problem. They probably had a rough day.”  “So, you all live up here?” Sokka sulked and slinked back at being ignored, Y/n resting a comforting hand on his shoulder.  “That’s right. Longshot over there? His town got burned down by the Fire Nation. And we found The Duke trying to steal our food. I don’t think he ever really had a home.” “What about you?”  Jet stopped, and aside from Katara the rest of the group moved on. 

Later that day, they all gathered at a banquet table. While everyone ate, Jet stood up and climbed up onto the table.  “Today, we struck another blow against Fire Nation swine.”  The fellow Freedom Fighters cheered, Aang and Katara watched with smiles, Sokka and Y/n watched grumpily.  “I got a special joy from the look on one soldier’s face, when The Duke dropped down on his helmet and rode him like a wild hog monkey.”  A helmet-less Duke stood up and joined Jet on the table. Amid the cheers, he took a victory walk around a fish platter.  “Now, the Fire Nation thinks they don’t have to worry about a couple kids hiding in the trees.” He paused, taking a drink from his wooden cup. “Maybe they’re right.”  The Freedom Fighters booed.  “Or maybe… they are dead wrong.”  This time they cheered.  Jet hopped off the table, and took a seat on the platform between Katara and Sokka. Katara turned to look at him.  “Hey Jet, nice speech.”  “Thanks. By the way, I was really impressed with you and Aang. That was some great bending I saw out there today.” He paused, turning to look past Sokka, and at Y/n who sat on the other side of him. “And your fighting was really good too, Y/n. You definitely have a good mark of intimidation on you.”  She didn’t say anything in response.  “Well, they’re great. Y/n is a great survivalist and Aang’s the Avatar. I could use some more training.” Katara blushed softly, when Jet turned his attention back to her and Aang. “Avatar huh? Very nice.” “Thanks Jet.”  “So I might know a way that you and Aang could help in our struggle.” Sokka stood up from his spot. “Unfortunately we have to leave tonight.”  “I have to agree.” Y/n said, standing up herself.  “Sokka, Y/n, you’re kidding me! I need you two on an important mission tomorrow.”  Stopping, Sokka turned around to look at Jet. “What mission?”  “Seriously Sokka…?” Y/n face palmed. 

Somehow, Y/n had been convinced to come along with Sokka and Jet. She really didn’t like it, but would rather not leave Sokka alone with that guy. Something about him rubs her the wrong way. The three of them were perched up high in the trees. Jet cupped his hands together and made a bird call whistle. Several trees down Pipsqueak and Smellerbee step into view from their branches. There is a reply call back.  Sokka rammed his jawbone knife into the trunk of the tree, gaining a skeptical look from Jet.  “What are you doing?” “Shh… it amplifies vibrations.”  He looked impressed. “Good trick.”  Cupping his hand around the pommel bone, Sokka put his ear to it. “Nothing yet.” He lowered his voice. “Wait! Yes, someone’s approaching.”  At his words, Y/n prepared her bow.  “How many?” “I think there’s just one.”  Jet whistled. “Good work, Sokka. Ready your weapon.” He looked at Y/n with a smile. “You get prepared fast, huh?”  She simply offered a nod to him.  “Wait! False alarm… he’s just an old man.”  Despite Sokka’s words, Jet still stood. Extending his hook swords, he leaped down to the ground. As she lowered her bow, the two watched in horror.  “What are you doing in our woods, you leech.” “Please sir, I’m just a traveler.”  Jet stepped closer to the old man, swiping his sword at his cane. It flew to the side, as the old man backed away. He tried to flee, but ran face first into Pipsqueak’s chest, the force of the impact knocking him to the ground. “Do you like destroying towns? Do you like destroying families? Do you?!” The poor man looked horrified. “Oh… please.. Let me go… Have mercy..”  “Does the Fire Nation let people go?! Does the Fire Nation have mercy?!” Jet got ready to kick the man, but Sokka snagged his foot with his club to stop him. Y/n jumped down from the tree, landing in between Jet and the old man.  “Jet, he’s just an old man!” “He’s Fire Nation! Search him!”  Pipsqueak grabs onto the man and holds him up, Smellerbee steps up.  “But he’s not hurting anyone!” “Have you forgotten that the Fire Nation killed your mother? Remember why you fight?” “The Fire Nation killed my parents too, Jet! That doesn’t mean you get to go around harassing everyone who’s from there! This man has travelled through my forest before, he’s not a danger to anyone! You aren’t supposed to fight to hurt others, but to protect those you care about! This is pointless. ”  “This is protecting the people we care about!”  “We’ve got his stuff Jet.” Smellerbee holds up the satchel the old man had.  “This doesn’t feel right.”  “It’s not right.” “It’s what has to be done, now let’s get outta here.”  Jet pushed past Sokka, as Smellerbee and Pipsqueak pushed past Y/n. The two looked at each other, before looking at the old man.  “Come on you two!” Y/n ignored Jet, as she helped the man up, giving him his cane. Sokka waited for her to be finished, before they ran back to the others. 

Aang leaped off the zip lines and onto the platform. “Sokka! Y/n! Look what The Duke gave me!”  He wore a satchel, and pulling a small pellet from it he tossed it at the platform next to Momo. It exploded with a pop, Momo puffed up like a startled cat. He growled, before lunging for the satchel. Momo crawled up onto Aang’s shoulder, and tossed pellets at his feet.  “Ow! Quit it!”  Sokka sat oblivious to his friend, sitting with his back to one of the tree trunks, he looked up at the platform above him. Y/n sat next to him, her head resting on her knees. Katara approached the two.  “Hey Sokka. Is Jet back?” “Yeah- he’s back. But we’re leaving.”  Aang looked at him with confusion. “What?”  “But I made him this hat.” Katara pulled a cap made of stitched leaves and flowers from behind her back.  Y/n lifted her head to look at them. “Jet’s a thug.”  “What? No, he’s not.”  “Your boyfriend is messed up Katara.”   “He’s not messed up, he’s just got a different way of life- A really fun way of life.” “He beat and robbed a harmless old man!” “I wanna hear Jet’s side of the story.” 

“Sokka, Y/n- You told them what happened but you didn’t mention that the guy was Fire Nation?”  The four of them and Jet were in a lantern-lit hut. Jet was sitting on a hammock bed, the others standing. Sokka and Y/n stood as far away as they could. Aang had donned the hat Katara wore.  “No, they conveniently left that part out.”  “Fine! But even if he was Fire Nation, he was a harmless civilian.” “He was an assassin, Sokka.”  Jet pulled out a knife and thrust it into a nearby block of wood. The blade was curved, and four spikes evenly spaced along the grip with enough space for singers to go between them. There was a ring on the butt of the knife.  “See? There’s a compartment for poison in the knife.” He pulled on the ring, and removed a small glass tube filled with red liquid. “He was sent to eliminate me- you two helped save my life.” “I knew there was an explanation.” “I didn’t see any knife!” “That’s because he was concealing it.” “See, Sokka? I’m sure you just didn’t notice the knife.”  Arms crossed over her chest, Y/n glared at Jet.  “Sokka didn’t notice it, because it wasn’t there. He’s lying!”  “Yeah, there was no knife! I’m going back to the hut and packing my things.”  Turning around, Sokka left the hut. Y/n was close behind him. 

When Aang and Katara entered the hut they had been staying in, Sokka and Y/n were both getting their things together.  “We can’t leave now with the Fire Nation about to burn down a forest!”  “I’m sorry Katara. Jet’s very smooth, but we can’t trust him.”  “Sokka’s right, there’s something seriously wrong with that guy.” “You know what I think? You two are just jealous that he’s a better warrior-” Katara paused, looking at Sokka. “And you’re jealous he’s a better leader!”  “Katara, I’m not jealous of Jet. It’s just that my instinct-” “Well my instincts tell me we need to stay here a little longer and help Jet.” “That’s great Katara! But my instincts agree with Sokka’s, and they’ve never been wrong before.”  “Come on, Aang.” Katara left the hut.  Aang looked between the two. “Sorry Sokka, Y/n.” He followed her out. 

That night inside the group's hut, Katara and Aang slept on their bedrolls, while Sokka slept propped up against his still packed stuff. Y/n found herself awake. “Let’s go.”  She reached over, and shook Sokka awake. He stirred awake, looking at her confused. “Wh-”  She brought a finger to her lips to shush him, and nodded outside. On the ground below them, the Freedom Fighters were quietly pushing a loaded wagon as Jet led them out of the camp. Sokka and Y/n stealthily followed them.  They emerged from the forest, onto a bare cliff that stood above a dam. Jet goes to the edge of the cliff and looks down at the dam, before turning back to the wagon.  “Now listen, you are not to blow the dam until I give the signal. If the reservoir isn’t full, the Fire Nation troops could survive.” The Duke jumps off the wagon. “But what about the people in the town, won’t they get wiped out too?” Jet placed a hand on his shoulder. “Look Duke, that’s the price of ridding this area of the Fire Nation.” He turned to Longshot. “Now, don’t blow the dam until I give the signal- got it?” Longshot nodded.  Sokka and Y/n watched them incredulously from the bushes. Rustling could be heard. Before they could react, Pipsqueak grabbed them by their hair, dragging them out from the bush. Smellerbee had a knife to each of their throat’s in seconds. “Where do you think you’re going?”  Jet watched as the two were dragged out. Pipsqueak kept his grip on their hair.  “Sokka, Y/n. I’m glad you decided to join us.”  The two were pushed onto their knees. Sokka rubbed his shoulder. “We heard your plan to destroy the Earth Kingdom town.”  “Our plan is to rid the valley of the Fire Nation.”  Y/n glared at him.” There are people living there, Jet. Mothers and fathers and children.”  “We can’t win without making some sacrifices.”  “An entire town isn’t some sacrifices!”  Sokka pointed an accusatory finger at Jet. “You lied to Aang and Katara about the forest fire!”  “Because they don’t understand the demands of war, not like we do.”  “I do understand. Understand that there’s nothing you won’t do to get what you want.”  “I was hoping you’d have an open mind, Sokka, but I can see you’ve made your choice.” Jet looked at Y/n, as Pipsqueak and Smellerbee grabbed Sokka. “You understand where I’m coming from, don’t you Y/n? I mean we’re basically one in the same, parents killed by the Fire Nation, living in the forest with no one but who we run into. You get it, right?”  Gulping, she glanced between him and Sokka. “Yeah, I do get it.”  As Sokka’s expression fell, Jet offered a smile. “I get that you’re just as ruthless and horrible as the Nation you hate so much.” She was quick to flip backwards onto her hands, kicking Jet in the chin as she flipped into a landing.  Jet stumbled back, as she jumped up to grab onto a branch and pull herself into the trees. “We can't have them warning Katara and Aang! Get her!”   Longshot offered a silent nod, pulling himself up into the trees. Jet looked at Pipsqueak and Smellerbee. “Take him for a walk. A long walk.”  “You’re not gonna get away with this Jet! Y/n is going to get to Katara and Aang!” “No, she won’t. But cheer up Sokka. We’re gonna win a great victory against the Fire Nation today.” 

Y/n was quick to jump between the branches of the trees, behind her she could hear someone following. Jumping across a long gap between trees, she was barely able to grab the branch. Before she could pull herself up, an arrow zipped through the air, stabbing through her right hand and pinning it to the branch. She shouted in pain. Using her teeth, she bit down on the arrow and pulled it from the wood in the tree. She didn’t have time to try and get it out of her hand, so she opted to break off the end with her teeth so not as much was sticking out. As she was pulling herself up onto the branch, another one lodged into her ankle. Not having time to deal with this one, she just left it there for now.  Gritting her teeth, she did her best to keep jumping through the trees. With the two arrows in her it was hard to move around, and it made her slower. Longshot was catching up to her. When he jumped onto the same branch as her, Y/n jumped down to the ground, hitting it with a roll. The arrow sticking out of her leg hit the ground awkwardly, making her yelp in pain, but at least some of it broke off. She groaned in pain, but forced herself up.  “Y/n!”  Turning around, she saw Sokka running at her, Smellerbee and Pipsqueak hot on his tail. Longshot jumped down to the ground, landing right as Sokka passed him. Running past Y/n, he grabbed onto her wrist and started to drag her along with him.  The two of them jumped over a pile of leaves, while their three chasers did not. Smellerbee, Pipsqueak and Longshot all ended up getting caught in a snare, hanging several feet in the air.  The two stopped, turning to look up at the snared trio.  “While you two are up there you might want to practice your knot-work.” Sokka held up the bindings they had been using for him as he spoke. Y/n laughed quietly at his words, following him as he turned and walked away.  “You have a plan, Sokka?”  “Yeah-” His expression twisted to concern when he looked at her. She was limping a bit. Were those broken arrows sticking out of her hand and leg..? “You’re hurt.”  “I’ll be alright.”  Wordlessly, he grabbed onto her arm, and pulled it around his shoulders, wrapping his other arm around her waist to help her walk. She breathed out a quiet sigh of relief. “Thanks.” “No problem. C’mon we need to get to Appa. I don’t think we’ll be able to stop Jet, so we’ll just need to warn the town.”  They’d been quick to find Appa, and ride out to the town. Y/n had stayed up on Appa while Sokka warned the town. When they doubted him, the old man from before vouched that he was telling the truth. The town was completely evacuated, a few minutes before the dam was blown and water flooded it. They flew up to the cliff Aang, Katara and Jet were at.  “Sokka and Y/n didn’t make it in time.”  “All those people… Jet! You monster !” “This was a victory, Katara. Remember that. The Fire Nation is gone and this valley will be safe.” “It will be safe, without you.”  Their entrance really didn’t need to be so dramatic, but she was sure that Sokka would disagree if she brought it up. Katara and Aang looked at them with relief. “Sokka! Y/n!”  “We warned the villagers of your plan, just in time.”  “What!” “At first they didn’t believe me. The Fire Nation soldiers assumed I was a spy. But one man vouched for me- The old man you attacked. He urged them to trust me, and we got everyone out in time.”  Jet glared at them. “You fools! We could’ve freed this valley!” Scoffing, Y/n rolled her eyes. “Who would be free? Everyone would be dead.”  “You traitors!”  “No, Jet. You became the traitor when you stopped protecting innocent people.” Jet looked over to Katara. “Katara. Please, help me.”  “Goodbye Jet.”  After Katara and Aang climbed up onto Appa, Sokka flicked the reigns. “Yip yip.”  “We thought you guys were going to the dam. How come you went to the town instead?” Katara leaned forward on her elbows, looking at her brother. “Let me guess- Your instincts told you.” “Hey! Sometimes they’re right.” “Um… Sokka? You know we’re going the wrong way right?” Y/n let out a laugh.  “...And sometimes they’re wrong.”

[sundaysundaes]

Iridescent

Lee Donghyuck/Haechan X Reader/Female OC | Romance, Smut, Fluff, Angst | NC-17 | Soulmate AU, Childhood-Friends-Become-Lovers AU

An epilogue to Monochrome. Contains HEAVY SPOILERS, so please read Monochrome and Spectra before you read this.

Summary: Lee Donghyuck once believed in the concept of soulmates—how fate would connect a red thread from one lover to another, in a form of dreams and memories. That was how his parents met, that was how they claimed their happiness, and he wanted nothing more but to live his life the way they lived theirs. Until one day, as he sees her slipping away from his hands, he has no choice but to stop believing entirely.

Broken bones can be mended and bruises may vanish over time, but what befell Lee Donghyuck after the accident was deeper than fractures and scars. It took him five days to wake up from his comatose sleep, eight months for his body to fully recuperate, and another ten months in rehabilitation to overcome his trauma and mental state. But even then, he was never the same. He would never be the same.

As he could never be able to see the light again.

“Vision loss may strike as a devastating injury that could change your life,” his doctor once said during his regular check-up, “But it doesn’t mean that your life has ended, nor should you stop living. There’s still a beautiful world out there waiting for you. It may feel hard today or tomorrow, but you will get through this. You will get better.”

But to Donghyuck, they sounded like a string of murmurs as if the older man was drowning but still trying to mouth the words to him. Or maybe he was the one who was drowning instead, with no chance to resurface. And he didn’t mind, not at all. He wasn’t sure he had the will to do it anyway.

A gentle caress of warm fingertips and a voice as smooth as a lullaby to a child’s ears were the only ones who kept him sane. She was there, from the very first day he’d opened his eyes and seen nothing, and she continued to stay, no matter how much he’d cried in agony or screamed from bottled-up anger. She would hug him when the thought of hurting himself became too much to bear, and she would tell him over and over again, how lucky she was to have him alive and breathing in her arms. And she would still call him in the same way—Haechannie, Haechannie—between loving words that were filled with nothing but honesty, even if he no longer shone as bright as the sun.

She was the sole reason why he continued living, though not truly alive. The only one who gave comfort to his shattered heart and soul. To him, there would be no life without her.

On the day he was discharged from the hospital, dressed in his favorite white tee and a knitted navy-blue sweater she often borrowed to wear around her figure, his chocolate brown hair was long and untrimmed, nearly brushing against his collar. His skin was starting to lose its beautiful tan, and his collar bones were protruding from how much he had lost weight during his recovery. His matching dark eyes were  slightly opened and they shone in a soft glow under the sun, but they were as lifeless as the waves before the storm.

But to her, he was still a sight to behold.

Pushing his bangs out of his eyes with her fingertips, she smiled. “I haven’t seen you standing under the sun for a long time,” she said, mesmerized by the way his hair was fluttering under the wind. “My Haechannie is so pretty.”

He responded by kissing her inner palm and they hugged once before she accompanied him walking down the stairs.

“One step at a time, okay, Haechannie?” 

Her voice was always warm, always filled with the passion of life, as if she was trying hard to be happy for his sake as well. And it made him feel various emotions at once, from the elation of having someone as patient and loving as her nurture him back to health, from agony for being the one who always caused her trouble, and from fear of losing her if one day she woke up and decided to not love him again.

“Don’t let go of my hand. I’m here with you, Haechannie. I always will be.” 

Her promise found its way to his heart, and instead of making him feel drowned like anybody else, she was the one who pulled him out of the water.

“I won’t,” Donghyuck said, tattered voice escaping chapped lips. “As long as you’d let me.”

He couldn’t see her smile, but he could somehow sense it in the way she let out her breath, in the way she squeezed his hand, in every time she spoke his name.

“I got permission from your parents to take you somewhere today before we head back home,” she mentioned before a small, excited giggle tumbled down her lips. He was sitting in what he supposed to be his father’s car by the smell of it, and he let himself stay in silence as she dragged a seatbelt forward and tied it around his body with a click. “I hope you don’t mind taking a walk because I’ve been dying to go on a date with my boyfriend.” He could hear her placing her seatbelt and the sound of dangling keys. The car engine soon started with a stutter and Donghyuck’s fingers immediately tried to find reassurance by sinking their nails into the edge of his seat, his heart ramming against his ribcages.

“Hey, it’s okay.” She hastily laced their fingers together, stealing his shivers away with how firm she held on to his hand. “Breathe, Haechannie. I’m here. I won’t let anything happen to you, do you hear me?”

It reminded him of their old days when she tried to protect him with a plastic sword from the monster that hid under his bed. She still had the same effects on him as to how she did back then, clouding his entire mind with the feeling of safety and assurance.

He followed her guidance and tried to smile even when his throat felt like burning and his heart trying to find its way to leap out of his chest. “I’ll—” he swallowed when an inevitable crack appeared in his voice. “I’ll be fine.”

There was a pause and he desperately wanted to see what kind of expression she had on her face, but the thought went away when he felt a pair of lips meeting his in a soft, chaste kiss.

“I’m sorry,” she said, sounding somewhat shy when she parted away but close enough for him to feel her breath on his face. “I know you’re shaking in fear and a kiss would probably be the last thing you wanted right now, but…” She brushed her thumb along his lower lip, yearning for him. “I really miss you.” 

 Given the situation, perhaps it wasn’t the right thing to do but to him, it was exactly what he needed. She made him feel wanted, made him feel like his existence did matter to her more than just as a burden. So Donghyuck blindly reached out to her, searching for her hands, her face, her everything, and she met him halfway, lips melding into his as naturally as breathing.

To her, he still felt the same—just as warm, just as pleasant, just as passionate although his touch felt frail on her skin. Donghyuck was still Donghyuck she remembered, the one who reminded her of the sun, and how his entire presence made her feel joy in the way no one had ever given to her before.

She was devastated when she nearly lost her sun. Countless nights were spent with her crying with her face sinking at the sheet of his hospital bed, just a few moments after he fell into his slumber with lines of tears smearing his cheeks. She had always tried to be strong in front of him and his family, but when she was alone in the dark, listening to his soft breathing as he slept, she would allow herself to break apart, just for a few moments.

Those five days when he was in his comatose state was the  loneliest, most painful time she had to endure in all her years of living. Her fingers were desperately squeezing his just to feel a slight movement and she had called and called and called but he never answered. Her life was suddenly as dark as the night, where the moon had crumbled to dust with stars transforming into black holes.

So when he finally opened his eyes, her name escaping his lips, she felt like she was being reborn, finding back her purpose in life and there would be no way, no matter how hard it would be for them, for her to let go of her sun again.

“I love you,” she whispered between kisses, finding her way back to his lips with a sense of urgency every time, “I love you, Haechannie.” Fingers curling against his soft locks, lips moving from his mouth, nose, temple, cheek, before they went back to the start with shy tongues darting only to take a hint of how they other tasted. “Don’t ever leave me again. Please.”

It was he who should’ve spoken those words. It was he who should’ve begged her to stay. So knowing that she felt the same way, Donghyuck whimpered against her mouth, lifeless eyes began to spark in the way they used to.

***

He didn’t know where she was taking him away but by the briny scent that traveled the air, he muttered his guess, “Are we going to the beach?”

“Correct. Any idea which one?”

“The… The one where we spent our summer vacation?”

“Try being more specific.”

He curled his fingers, flush bloomed on his cheeks. “The one where I confessed my feelings for you for the first time?”

A soft chuckle. “That’s right. The one where you made my heart flutter, as promised.”

“I didn’t know I succeeded at that time.”

“You’ve always won against me, Haechannie. Even if I did win at something, it was only because you’d let me.”

The trip was a three-hour drive from the hospital, and they filled the silence by recalling their memories or humming songs to whatever the radio was playing. She begged him to sing, but he was only brave enough to do it after the fifth time she’d tried, and although he hated the croaky sound he made from his throat, she squeezed his thigh, saying, “Thank you for making me so happy.” He wasn’t sure what she was referring to—was it his voice or his entire existence?—but he realized he didn’t care, as long as he could fulfill his sole purpose of living.

The evening sun was warm on his face when she opened the car door and guided him to step forward into the sand, his sneakers sinking slightly into it under his weight. “Careful,” she reminded, circling one hand around his waist as he shakily wrapped his around her shoulder. “Can you smell the air?”

He could smell the scent of her strawberry shampoo. “Yeah. Salty.”

She quietly laughed. “Do you want to get closer to the water?”

“I’m…” The thought of him not wanting to trouble her was heavier than his desire. “I’m fine here.”

There was a pause, which made him ponder whether he said something wrong but then she huffed loudly. “You’re no fun. Well, we’re going to get, at least, our feet wet, whether you like it or not. So come on, keep up with me, slowpoke.”

Hearing that coming from a girl who didn’t even want to get sand on her shorts was something that made his entire body feel warm, and the sun had no part in it.

She helped him untie his sneakers, rolled up his jeans to his knees before she pushed him slowly into the water. He could feel the waves meeting his skin, could imagine how it would look like—the sand being carried away by the pressure of the water, his feet sinking a little deeper into the ground, perhaps a strand of seaweed catching around his bare toe.

“The sun is setting,” she said and he could somehow hear the grin in her voice. “Isn’t it romantic?”

“I guess.” He felt her wrapping her arms around his neck. “What are you doing?”

“I’m gonna take you dancing.” Her smile was sheepish, her cheeks reddening almost the same color as the glow that illuminated her features. “Oh, wait. I forgot the music.”

“Noona—”

“Just a sec.” She held up a finger to his lips as she fiddled with her phone with her other hand. “Where’s that song you—oh, here it is.”

Donghyuck could hear the song—the exact same song he’d played back then when he’d asked her to do the same thing under the starry sky. “You’re right,” he murmured with a weak smile, as she tucked her phone back into her coat’s pocket. “I should’ve picked a better song. Thinking Out Loud is way too overrated.”

“It’s okay, it’s been growing on me these days. Been using it as my alarm even.” 

Her giggle was adorable and gleeful while his was soft, almost inaudible. “Is that so…”

She caressed his face, eyes becoming tender when she noticed him leaning more to her touch. “I’ve missed hearing you laugh.”

Donghyuck’s breath hitched a little so he stayed in reticence. The sound of the wind and the crashing waves were louder than her speaker, so she urged him to sing, knowing that he already remembered the song by heart. He disinclined at first but he grew soft at her pleading.

As he began to hum along the first chorus, she stroke the skin on his nape soothingly with her fingertips. “Have I told you about the day when I realized I loved you?”

He smiled, another flashback hitting him like the soft waves around his feet. “Enlighten me, please.”

“There were two different times, actually.” She leaned closer, swaying their bodies side-to-side ever so slightly. “The first time I realized I felt something for you was back when we were still in junior high. An asshole in my class stole my sketchbook and you got into a fight to retrieve it back—even though you said you got your bruises from tripping down the stairs. I felt so happy knowing that there was someone out there who cared a lot about me.”

“I did trip down the stairs, actually.”

“Of course, you did.” But like the old days, she saw right through his lies. “The second time was when we were celebrating your birthday. I wore this yellow dress that looked way too tacky for the occasion and people were looking at me weird. And you stayed by my side, ignoring everybody in the house even though it was your birthday, and you told me that I was the prettiest girl in the room.”

He hummed in agreement. “Prettier than me even.” 

“That’s right.” She snickered but her tone gradually turned into something more sincere. “So when I told you that you were my first love, I wasn’t lying nor was I exaggerating. I’ve loved you just as long as you have, I just wasn’t brave enough to admit it unlike you. And I still regret that, even to this day. We wasted so many days, and I hurt you so many times—”

“It’s okay.” He shook his head, his closed eyes somehow began to feel hot. “It’s in the past.”

She broke down into another smile, fingers reaching out to swat his bangs away from his face. “You’re right. We still have the rest of our lives to make up for it.”

When he suddenly became mute, it made her heart thump faster in anxiety. But Donghyuck soon tugged her closer into his chest, his arms enveloping her entire figure and she sighed in relief as he laid his chin on top of her head.

“What are you wearing?” He asked, his lips brushing against her hair.

“Only in my skimpy bra and g-string, lover.”

“No, I’m serious.” He could feel his laugh reverberating from his chest and it still felt unfamiliar after all this time. “Describe it to me in detail. I want to imagine the scenery.”

She was smiling but her eyes grew softer. “I’m wearing that red dress you said you loved.”

“O-oh…” He wetted his lips. “I didn’t realize that since you’re wearing—what is it, a coat?—“ She confirmed with a nod. “Right. What else?”

“My hair is untied, but I’ve cut it short since it became a nuisance whenever I have to go to work early and don’t have time to style my hair.”

“How short?”

“Short enough to show the necklace you gave me.”

His heart was loud in his ears, almost deafening. “You’re still wearing that?”

“Yes.” He could sense her moving away, sliding her hand down his arm in a silky-smooth touch before she intertwined their fingers. “Along with something else.”

“Wha—” He felt her guiding his fingers to trace hers and the second he touched it, it felt like his world was turning upside-down. “You’re wearing… a ring…” whether it was a question or a statement, he wasn’t clear himself.

“Yes,” she gently replied, moving even closer. “Want to guess what ring it is?”

His heart was in his throat. “Please don’t…” he shook his head, taking a step back. “Please don’t say it’s the engagement ring I was about to give you.”

But she didn’t need to answer, because what else could it be?

She reached out for him but he slapped her hand away when it reached his sleeve. “Haechannie—”

Donghyuck tripped on his feet, falling to his knees and felt the ocean swallowing him inch-by-inch, seawater seeping into his clothes. His face was nowhere near the water and yet he was gasping frantically for air, his chest suffocating and sending jolts of pain to his entire body. 

He could hear her shouting his name in concern, could tell the panic in her voice, but how could he comfort her when he couldn’t even help himself?

The world was swirling in his head even when he could only perceive the darkness with his eyes. His stomach lurched as he coughed multiple times, throat burning in flames.

“Oh God, okay, you’re having a panic attack,” she sounded breathy, afraid, as she clutched her hands around his shoulders. “Breathe with me. Haechannie, focus, I need you to breathe.”

He had a hand on his chest while his other one was sinking deep in the sand. The memory of the accident—how it ruined everything he had planned for her, for himself, and the future they were about to face together—and knowing how useless he had become, to simply reduce himself into nothing but a burden who couldn’t even pass through a door without help, made him feel like his world was ending.

She pulled him into an embrace, sinking his face into the crook of her neck—a habit he once grew fond of—and whispered his name over and over again until it sounded like a prayer, steadying his heartbeat little by little with every second passing by. She only hugged him even tighter when he managed to calm his breathing. “You’re okay,” she exhaled in relief, “You’re okay. We’re okay.”

He brought his hand to the back of her head, feeling her strands under his fingers and finally noticing how short it was. “You should let me go,” he whispered, voice quivering.

Whether he was talking about her embrace or letting him out of her life, she didn’t care. The answer was the same for both. “No.”

“I’m fine now.”

“Well, I’m not. I want to stay like this.” Her voice was muffled by the fabric of his sweater. “Let me stay like this.”

He kept still but he no longer answered her hug, letting his arms fell loose on the side of his body. “Why did you wear the ring?”

“Because I want to.” 

It soothed him a little that she answered with those words and not “Because it’s something you wanted to give me and I know how much you want me to wear it.”

He noticed her body shivering as their knees were still buried in the sand, engulfed in seawater. “We should move. It’s getting colder.”

She eventually nodded, helping him up to his feet and went back to their car, immediately turning the heater on before she carried him to the back seat where they settled close next to each other. 

“Are you cold?” She asked, her voice quivering as she took her half-drenched coat off. “Guess it wasn’t a smart idea going back to the beach in autumn, huh?” He didn’t answer, too busy maintaining his composure so he wouldn’t freak out again. “Your clothes are soaked, we should get you changed. I brought some spare with me. Oh, and a blanket too.”

She was doing enough talking for both of them to fill the silence so Donghyuck kept his lips pressed tightly shut and followed her order, lifting his hands so she could pull his sweater over his head. She unbuttoned his shirt, blushing a little when his chest and stomach came into view, reminding her of the times where they spent their days raking nails down each other’s skin, exchanging wanton moans between wet kisses.

When he was left only in his jeans, she unzipped her dress, the clothing falling off her shoulders before she slipped it off her body entirely. Grabbing a blanket from the trunk, she scooted over to his place, wrapping the fabric around both of their bodies. She took his hand in hers, rubbing his cold one with hers over and over until he stopped shivering. “You really are sensitive to cold,” she mumbled to herself, “Warm enough?”

“You should’ve just thrown it away.”

She abruptly stopped moving, hands freezing as they were holding him mid-air. “What?”

“The ring,” he murmured, sliding his hand away from hers and bringing it down to his lap. “It doesn’t have any meaning now, so…”

She took her time to reply, begging herself to stay calm even when the pain was tearing her apart. Her tone was expressively hurt when she finally spoke, “You don’t want to marry me anymore?”

He could feel his jaw tightening. “Do you still want to marry me?”

“Yes, just as much as I did on the day you proposed to me for the first time. If not more.”

She answered him fast and firm, without a trace of  hesitation or doubts. But the fear that his thoughts screamed at him echoed louder in his head, reducing her promise to sound nothing more than a whisper being carried by the wind. To him, she seemed like she was about to cry, and perhaps she was, but not because she had doubts about marrying him. She was heartbroken because he appeared like he was forcing her to do something she disgusts, when marrying him had been her wish all along.

If he could see her, he would’ve seen the hurtful look that painted her face. She became mute, averting her focus to her hands that laid frozen on her lap. “Haechannie,” she eventually called, “When I think of you, what do you think comes into my mind?”

A liability. A deadweight. Someone you should abandon to make your life bearable. But he stayed as soundless as the night.

“Do you think I’m doing all of this because I’m forced to do it?” Her voice was soft, but he could sense a hidden rage between her words. “Because I’m obliged to take care of you as your girlfriend—your fiancee?”

“It’s not that, it’s—” He spluttered, turning to look at her although his eyes could only see the darkness. “I just wasn’t sure it’s still the future you want us to have.“ He hesitated, his voice became quiet. “And I’m not sure whether you still want me in this condition—”

“Why are you saying that?” Her voice grew frantic. “That’s really—That’s not—“ She buried her face in her hands, her chest tightening. “I want you—of course, I want you. You’re the only one I’ve ever wanted.”

Somehow, her affection felt like a stabbing pain from all the self-loathe that bubbled in his chest. “But I’m not the same now.”

“Doesn’t mean that I’ll stop loving—God, Haechannie, why can’t you see that we—”

“That’s the fucking problem, isn’t it? I can’t see!” His voice was resonating loudly, colored with dismay and agony, muting the sound of waves crashing behind them. “I’m fucking blind! I don’t know what kind of face you wear around me these days. I can’t tell whether you’re lying or not when you say these words—”

“I will never lie to you—”

“Yes, but it doesn’t change the fact that I’m afraid!” He broke apart, voice filled with quivers as it nearly reduced into short gasps. “I’m afraid of having you look at me like I’m a liability. I’m tired of trying to convince myself that I can be some kind of help to you when I can’t even button my fucking shirt properly. I want to marry you—God, I want to marry you so bad—but what do I have to offer? I can’t function like a normal person, I’ve lost my job, I’m going insane, and I can’t see a damn thing!”

The second he stopped speaking, only the sound of their surroundings could be heard, along with their ragged breathing. Donghyuck brought his face to the side, hiding half of his face behind his shaky fingers, inhaling a few times to control his breathing but failing on each try. 

Her eyes began to water as well but she erased the tears before they could stroll down her face. “I’m not sure if you know this already but,” she said, forcing herself to smile between hot tears. “I know how you’d prepared everything that day. I was shocked when my mother told me that you’d asked for their permission to marry me. I didn’t know you were so serious about this. I was so happy, but even then, I wasn’t as happy as the day you finally woke up, five days after the accident. I was just so relieved that I could see you alive and breathing again—to hold you in my arms, to hear your voice saying my name. I know how devastating this feels to you, losing your vision so suddenly like this, and I know how insensitive I will sound to you but let me just say this.” 

She reached out to him, cupping his cheek with one hand so he could turn his face around. His eyes were tightly shut, but his eyelashes were wet as they rested against his cheeks.  “I don’t care that you’re blind,” she said, rubbing her thumb gently along his cheekbone. “And I don’t care if you can’t walk without hitting walls, or if you can’t make your own coffee or wear your own clothes—what I care about is that we’re both here, together, alive and well, and there is nothing in the world that could change my mind.” When he was about to turn away again, to be swallowed by his emotions, she held his face with both hands, forcing him to bare his soul in front of her eyes. “I’d rather have you in this state or worse, rather than losing you entirely, Haechannie. I need you just as much, if not more. So, if you could just trust me, please.”

Donghyuck laid his palm against the back of her hand. “You’re better off without me, Noona. And it’s not just because of how I am now. Bad things do happen when you ignore the signs and deny your soulmate—you should’ve been with Mark—”

“I don’t care about soulmates.” She was frustrated, he could tell, by the way he was so adamant about this. “Isn’t that what you said to me too back then?”

“I know, but seeing how this happened to me, I—”

“Haechannie,” she called, gripping his hand tightly until his knuckles turned white. “What happened to you is an accident. It has nothing to do with soulmates or fate—people get into accidents, these things happen—”

“Yes, I get that, but what if it’s not? I don’t care if anything happens to me, but I can’t—” He took a sharp intake of breath. “I can’t afford anything happening to you. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Then do you want to spend your days alone instead of being with me?” Her tone was inscrutable, almost impersonal to his ears. “Be honest.”

Donghyuck bit his lip. “It doesn’t matter what I want—“

“Stop listening to your own thoughts. Listen to mine. Listen to what I’m saying.” Her temple was pressed against his, her breath fanning against his lips. “I need you, Hyuck. And if you’re too afraid to be with me, just like how I used to in the past, then let me fight for this. Let me fight for us the way you used to.” Her lips were so close to him that he could almost feel every syllable with his own. “And before you regret everything as much as I did about us, accept me.”

And just like a twig cracking under pressure, Donghyuck snapped.

He rushed to close the gap between them, his lips meeting another pair in a searing kiss and she gasped against his mouth, body tumbling backward to the seat with him pressing hotly against her. He finally let himself go, finally caved into his desires, finally devoted himself back to her like how he did in the past.

He was rushing everything, hands desperately clawing against every part of her skin that he could reach, his kiss frenzied. But all of that was a mere distraction so she wouldn’t be able to hear him whimpering against her mouth, lips quivering as he tried to contain his sobs. 

“I love you,” he hastily said, holding her face with one hand as he kissed her fervently. “I’m sorry for hurting you over and over again—” The way he smashed his lips against hers was both bruising and comforting. “I just—I want you to be happy,” he groaned at the back of his throat when she tugged his lower lip between her teeth, “With or without me, I don’t care, as long as you’re happy, I—”

“With you,” she immediately confirmed, yanking against the strands of his hair as she peppered kisses down the column of his neck. “I’m only happy when I’m with you, Haechannie, so—” And she melded their lips together again, tongues sliding against one another, drowning in passion.

It was a mystery to her when Donghyuck said he wasn’t the same. He still felt like flames, burning her skin with his every touch, igniting sparks of fire in her heart with whispers of her name. But even if he was transforming into an entirely different person, she knew she would still dedicate herself to him either way.

There’s no life without you.

What started as a rush of a moment gradually turned into something slow where they began to savor each touch with more affection and less uncontrollable lust. As he needed her guidance, she switched their positions, letting Donghyuck sat with his spine pressed against the seat, the skin on his back sticking uncomfortably against the leather. 

She noticed how he flinched more under her fingertips, sensitive to even a small graze of skin meeting skin. “Are you okay?” She asked, settling on his lap, straps of her bra falling off her shoulders.

He nodded anxiously, tilting his face so she could take the sign and kiss him again and she did, but her touch was paper-thin. “You seem nervous,” she commented, caressing his cheek in concern as he circled his arms around her waist.

“I am,” he admitted, cheeks turning rosy. “I’m going crazy because I can’t see you. I’m afraid that I’d do something wrong and make you feel—”

“Then I’ll let you know,” she assured him, thumb tracing his lower lip. “I’ll say everything if that’s what you want to know, so stop thinking too much.” She leaned down, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead before she brushed the tip of her nose against his. “And just… feel me more.”

Donghyuck let her take his hand and exhaled softly when she pressed it against her cheek, shaky fingertips began to trace her jawline, the shape of her lips, her chin, her neck. His eyes were closed but his eyebrows were furrowed deep in concentration, and she would’ve smiled at the sight if his touches weren’t scorching on her skin, enveloping her with sensations she had been longing for months.

His other senses were heightened, noticing her scent better, listening to every gasp, every moan of his name, feeling her veins, her small scars from her childhood days—everything.

“So beautiful,” he praised under his breath but she caught it, sending goosebumps all over her body. “A-are you okay?” He asked, noticing how she fidgeted and shifted her weight. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s just—“ She bit her lip when his fingers ran along the valley of her breasts, stopping when he reached her bra. “It’s been a while since we last—” a moan escaped her lips when he slipped his thumb behind the fabric, calloused skin meeting her sensitive nub. “Haechannie…”

Donghyuck gulped, his ears turning scarlet. Not being able to see the whole thing yet hearing the sounds she made really drove him to the brink of his sanity. “God, I wish I could see you,” he nearly whimpered. “I want to see your face.”

“Do you— ” She shuddered, as he brought his lips to trace every line he made with his fingertips before. “Do you still see me in your dreams?”

He nodded once, cupping her breast and sighing in content when it fit his palm perfectly.

She flinched, pressing her hips down to meet him more, urging him to move even closer. “Present ones?”

“N-not these days,” he moaned against her neck at the needed friction. “I see your past memories more often.”

She had to stop him and push him away for a moment because she couldn’t concentrate with his lips shyly sucking bruises on her sensitive parts. “Then let’s make as many memories as we can,” she said, slightly out of breath. “Maybe you can’t see me now, but you’ll see me in your dreams. Maybe then you’ll realize just how happy I am these days, because of you.”

He parted his lips in realization. He was too consumed by his depressing thoughts that he never tried to look through a new perspective. Even when he had lost his vision, she still managed to paint a spectrum of colors in his mind, in one way or another. As long as he’s with her, his life would never be monochromatic.

So this time, he could truly smile.

“Then…” He brought his hand down, whispering against her ear, “I can see you when we’re doing this too?” He suddenly slipped behind the fabric of her underwear, sliding his finger along her folds and she almost leaped out to her feet, yelping in surprise.

“Haechannie!” Her face was flushed, even going down to her neck and for the first time in what felt like forever, Donghyuck laughed, so airy and so him, making her eyes widen when she realized just how much she’d missed seeing him like this. “Ah, you’re really just—“ but she never finished, already moving her hips against him again, lips meeting in a heated kiss as it became a necessity for both of them to fulfill.

“Marry me,” he said, breathless and desperate as he kissed her shoulder, almost sinking his nails on the sides of her hips from how tight he was holding her. “Please marry me. I want—I need you to be my wife.”

Her eyes were unfocused, just like his were. Hooking her fingers around his silver necklace, she tugged him closer before she mouthed against the mole on his neck, making him moan her name.

“That’s what I’ve been saying this whole time.” She giggled, grabbing him by the chin in preparation for another kiss. “Idiot.”

***

[padme-amitabha]

Anidala Week 2021

Day 2:  Canon Divergence or Favorite Canon work

Padmé Amidala.

The name resonated in young Anakin’s heart and soul. He hadn’t seen her in a decade, not since he, along with Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon, had helped her in her struggle against the Trade Federation on Naboo. He had only been ten years old at that time, but from the moment he had first laid eyes on

Padmé, young Anakin had known that she was the woman he would marry. Never mind that Padmé was several years older than he was. Never mind that he was just a boy when he had known her, when she had known him. Never mind that Jedi were not allowed to marry. Anakin had simply known, without question, and the image of beautiful Padmé Amidala had stayed with him, had been burned into his every dream and fantasy, every day since he had left Naboo with Obi-Wan a decade ago. He could still smell the freshness of her hair, could still see the sparkle of intelligence and passion in her wondrous brown eyes, could still hear the melody that was Padmé’s voice.

 *

Anakin, though, didn’t see either of them. He focused on the third person in the room, Padmé, and on her alone, and if he had ever held any moments of doubt that she was as beautiful as he remembered her, they were washed away, then and there. His eyes roamed the Senator’s small and shapely frame in her black and deep purple robes, taking in every detail. He saw her thick brown hair, drawn up high and far at the back of her head in a basketlike accessory, and wanted to lose himself in it. He saw her eyes and wanted to stare into them for eternity. He saw her lips, and wanted to ...

Anakin closed his eyes for just a moment and inhaled deeply, and he could smell her again, the scent that had been burned into him as Padmé’s. It took every ounce of willpower he could muster to walk in slowly and respectfully behind Obi-Wan, and not merely rush in and crush Padmé in a hug ... and yet, paradoxically, it took every bit of his willpower to move his legs, which were suddenly seeming so very weak, and take that first step into the room, that first step toward her.

“Annie?” she asked, her expression purely incredulous. Her smile and the flash in her eyes showed that she needed no answer. For just a flicker, Anakin felt her spirit leap.

“Annie,” Padmé said again. “Can it be? My goodness how you’ve grown!” She looked down and then followed the line of his lean body, tilting her head back to emphasize his height, and he realized that he now towered over her. That did little to bolster Anakin’s confidence, though, so lost was he in the beauty of Padmé. Her smile widened, a clear sign that she was glad to see him, but he missed it, or the implications of it, at least. “So have you,” he answered awkwardly, as if he had to force each word from his mouth. “Grown more beautiful, I mean.” He cleared his throat and stood taller. “And much shorter,” he teased, trying unsuccessfully to sound in control. “For a Senator, I mean.” Anakin noted Obi-Wan’s disapproving scowl, but Padmé laughed any tension away and shook her head.

“Oh, Annie, you’ll always be that little boy I knew on Tatooine,” she said, and if she had taken the lightsaber from his belt and sliced his legs out from under him, she would not have shortened Anakin Skywalker any more.

*

Padmé sat at her vanity, brushing her thick brown hair, staring into the mirror but not really seeing anything there. Her thoughts were replaying again and again the image of Anakin, the look he had given her. She heard his words again, “... grown more beautiful,” and though Padmé was undeniably that, those were not words she was used to hearing. Since she had been a young girl, Padmé had been involved in politics, quickly rising to powerful and influential positions. Most of the men she had come into contact with had been more concerned with what she could bring to them in practical terms than with her beauty, or, for that matter, with any true personal feelings for her. As Queen of Naboo and now as Senator, Padmé was well aware that she was attractive to men in ways deeper than physical attraction, in ways deeper than any emotional bond. Or perhaps not deeper than the latter, she told herself, for she could not deny the intensity in Anakin’s eyes as he had looked at her. But what did it mean? She saw him again, in her thoughts. And clearly. Her mental eye roamed over his lean and strong frame, over his face, tight with the intensity that she had always admired, and yet with eyes sparkling with joy, with mischief, with ...With longing? That thought stopped the Senator. Her hands slipped down to her sides, and she sat there, staring at herself, judging her own appearance as Anakin might.

 *

Padmé’s mind whirled as she tried to sort out Anakin’s thoughts, and his motivations. He was surprising her with every word, considering that he was a Jedi Padawan, and yet, given the fire that she clearly saw burning behind his blue eyes, he was not surprising her. She saw trouble brewing there, in those simmering and too-passionate eyes, but even more than that, she saw excitement and the promise of thrills.

 *

She looked over at Anakin, who was sleeping somewhat restlessly. She could see him now, not as a Jedi Padawan and her protector, but just as a young man. A handsome young man, and one whose actions repeatedly professed his love for her. A dangerous young man, to be sure, a Jedi who was thinking about things he should not. A man who was inevitably following the call of his heart above that of pragmatism and propriety. And all for her. Padmé couldn’t deny the attractiveness of that.

 *

“Naboo,” he said again, looking back to Padmé. “I’ve thought about it every day since I left. It’s by far the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen.”

As he spoke, his eyes bored into her, taking her in deeply, and she blinked and averted her own gaze, unnerved. “It may not be as you remember it. Time changes perception.”

“Sometimes it does,” Anakin agreed, and when Padmé looked up to see that he was continuing to scrutinize her, she knew what he was talking about. “Sometimes for the better.”

 *

Anakin smiled as he recalled the ornate outfits Padmé had often worn as Queen of Naboo, huge gowns with intricate embroidery and studded with gemstones, tremendous headpieces of plumes and swirls and curves and twists.

He liked her better like this, he decided. All of the decorations of her Queenly outfits had been beautifully designed, but still could only detract from the more beautifully designed Padmé. Wearing a great headpiece only hid her silken brown hair. Painting her face in whites and bright red only hid her beautiful skin. The embroidery on the great gowns only blurred the perfection of her form.

This was the way Anakin wanted to see her, where her clothing was just a finishing touch.

 *

Anakin studied the holograph a moment longer, then looked up and laughed, seeing Padmé wearing that same long and stern expression. She laughed as well, then squeezed his shoulder and went back to her packing.

Anakin put the holographs down side by side and looked at them for a long, long time. Two sides of the woman he loved.

 *

“It’s like that on Tatooine—everything’s like that on Tatooine. But here, everything’s soft, and smooth.” As he finished, hardly even aware of the motion, he reached out and stroked Padmé’s arm. He nearly pulled back when he realized what he was doing, but since Padmé didn’t object, he let himself stay close to her. She seemed a bit tentative, a bit scared, but she wasn’t pulling away.

“There was a very old man who lived on the island,” she said. Her brown eyes seemed to be looking far away, across the years. “He used to make glass out of sand—and vases and necklaces out of the glass. They were magical.”

Anakin moved a bit closer, staring at her intensely until she turned to face him. “Everything here is magical,” he said.

“You could look into the glass and see the water. The way it ripples and moves. It looked so real, but it wasn’t.”

“Sometimes, when you believe something to be real, it becomes real.” It seemed to Anakin as if she wanted to look away. But she didn’t. Instead, she was falling deeper into his eyes, and he into hers.

“I used to think if you looked too deeply into the glass, you would lose yourself,” she said, her voice barely a whisper.

“I think it’s true ...” He moved forward as he spoke, brushing his lips against hers, and for a moment, she didn’t resist, closing her eyes, losing herself. Anakin pressed in closer, a real and deep kiss, sliding his lips across hers slowly. He could lose himself here, could kiss her for hours, forever ...

But then Padmé pulled back, suddenly, as if waking from a dream. “No, I shouldn’t have done that.”

“I’m sorry,” Anakin said. “When I’m around you, my mind is no longer my own.”

He stared at her hard again, beginning that descent into the glass, losing himself in her beauty.

 *

Padmé gave a helpless little laugh. “Are you going to use one of your Jedi mind tricks on me?” 

“They only work on the weak-minded,” Anakin explained. “You are anything but weak-minded.” He ended with an innocent, wide-eyed look that Padmé simply could not resist.

 *

Orange flames danced about his silhouette, dulling the distinction between Anakin and eternity. Padmé had to consciously remember to breathe.

He stared at her intensely for a moment, then looked back to the fire, seeming defeated.

“No, you’re right,” he finally admitted. “It would destroy us.”

Padmé looked from Anakin to the fire. Which would destroy her—destroy them—she had to wonder.

The action or the thought?

 *

Anakin stared at her, hardly believing what he was hearing. He couldn’t resist, though, and his smile, too, began to widen. For some reason he did not quite understand, the Padawan found a good measure of justification in his abandoning the letter of his orders now that Padmé was in on, and agreeing with, the plan.

 *

“Home again, home again, to go to rest,” Anakin recited, a common children’s rhyme.

“By hearth and heart, house and nest,” Padmé added.

Anakin looked over at her, pleasantly surprised. “You know it?”

“Doesn’t everyone?”

“I don’t know,” Anakin said. “I mean, I wasn’t sure if anyone else ... I thought it was a rhyme my mother made up for me.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Padmé said. “Maybe she did—maybe hers was different than the one my mother used to tell me.”

Anakin shook his head doubtfully, but he wasn’t bothered by the possibility. In a strange way, he was glad that Padmé knew the rhyme, glad that it was a common gift from mothers to their children.

And glad, especially, that he and Padmé had yet another thing in common.

 *

“I want him to know that I care about him, Threepio,” Padmé said quietly. “I do care about him. And now he’s out there, and in danger—”

 *

“No, I’m a Jedi. I know I’m better than this.” He looked at her directly, shaking his head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“You’re like everybody else,” Padmé said. She tried to draw closer, but Anakin held himself back from her. He couldn’t hold the pose of defiance for long, though, before he broke down again in sobs. Padmé was there to hold him and rock him and tell him that everything would be all right.

 *

The tunnel was dark and fittingly gloomy, and quiet, except for the occasional echo of cheering from the huge crowd gathered in the arena stands beyond. A single cart was in there, an open oval with a sloping front end that somewhat resembled an insect’s head with the top half cut away. Anakin and Padmé were unceremoniously thrown into it, then strapped in place against the framework, facing each other. Both of them jerked as the cart started into motion, gliding along the dark tunnel.

“Don’t be afraid,” Anakin whispered.

Padmé smiled at him, her expression one of genuine calm. “I’m not afraid to die,” she replied, her voice thick and soft. “I’ve been dying a little bit each day since you came back into my life.”

“What are you talking about?”

Then she said it, and it was real and genuine and warm. “I love you.”

“You love me?” he asked, overwhelmed. “You love me! I thought we decided not to fall in love. That we would be forced to live a lie. That it would destroy our lives.” But her words had brought a wash of contentment over him.

“I think our lives are about to be destroyed anyway,” Padmé replied. “My love for you is a puzzle,

Annie, for which I have no answers. I can’t control it—and now I don’t care. I truly, deeply love you, and before we die, I want you to know.”

Padmé leaned against her restraints and craned her head forward, and Anakin did likewise, the two coming close enough for their lips to meet in a soft and gentle kiss, one that lingered and deepened, one that said everything they both realized they should have spoken to each other before. One that, to them, mocked their false heroics in denying the feelings they’d had for each other all along.

 *

On distant Naboo, in a rose-covered arbor overlooking the sparkling lake, Anakin and Padmé stood hand in hand, Anakin in his formal Jedi robes and Padmé in a beautiful white gown with flowered trim. Anakin’s new mechanical arm hung at his side, the fingers clenching and opening in reflexive movements. Before them stood a Naboo holy man, his hands raised above their heads as he recited the ancient texts of marriage. And when the proclamation was made, R2-D2 and C-3PO, bearing witness to the union, whistled and clapped. And Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala shared their first kiss as husband and wife.

— R.A. Salvatore , Star Wars : Episode II -  Attack of the Clones

[el-gilliath]

His Body is my Revelation

This is a remix of @prouvaireafterdark story Her Body is my Coffin which is a stunning Belmanes fic, and so damn hot. My intention was to make this longer, and hotter to match the original, but life got in the way so this is what it ended up being. I hope you still like it though!

Ao3

He’s getting married in 15 minutes. Fifteen. Minutes. That’s all the time in the world he has left as a single man. Well, a taken man but he hasn’t been weighed down by a paper making him an official husband. The title of Fiancé hasn’t really felt heavy, but his brain keeps telling him that Husband will. It’s making his palms sweat, and that age old insecurity creep along the base of his spine until it settles in the middle of neck, the spot where Alex likes to run his fingers because of how soft his hair is there, because of how close it makes them when they lean their foreheads together and he just holds him in that loose embrace of his that Michael loves. The one that makes him feel safer than most anything in the world.

He misses that touch now, standing there in the way-too-expensive suit Isobel bought him, the suit he’s going to marry Alex in. The suit he’ll finally get to say they made it in. Unless the insecurity takes complete control and he runs out before he can heave on the floor.

“You look way too nervous for this to be the happiest day of your life.”

Michael whirls around, eyes wide and an excuse ready on his lips before he sees the smile on Alex’s lips. Tinged with nervous energy like he is.

“Oh thank fuck you’re nervous too.”

Alex laughs loudly, shaking his head as his hands rub over his face a time or two. “I didn’t think I would be but I guess wedding jitters hit everyone.”

He takes a deep breath, his eyes meeting Michael’s as he does. “I want this though, I want you.”

“Hey, no,” Michael says, stepping closer and cradling Alex’s face in his hands. ”Me too, I want you, this, everything. It’s just...”

“Nerves. Insecurity. Our brains being stupid,” Alex replies, moving Michael’s hands down to his waist before his own circles his neck, his fingers landing right in the spot where Michael always wants them at the base of his neck. “We decided this together, we’re doing it together. We just have to relax.”

“And how do we do that?”

“Well. We could always fool around.”

Michael gives him a surprised, yet interested look. He’s always interested in fooling around with Alex. Alex just waggles his eyebrows, just enough to be silly and break the nervous hold on both of them, but also enough for Michael to know he really means it. And Michael will never say no to that.

“We’re getting married in ten minutes.”

“Plenty of time,” Alex says, pulling Michael towards him and their lips meet in the sweetest of kisses. It’s calming, soothing, wonderful, and Michael feels his nervousness diminish by the second as their lips move into an open mouthed kiss, tongues brushing together, hands clutching just a little bit tighter. It’s hot, so damn hot, the way it always is, and Michael feels his dick stirring in his way-too-expensive dress pants.

“I was thinking about you last night,” Alex says in between kisses. They’d done the traditional thing and spent last night apart. “Thinking about fucking my husband tonight. How our rings will clink together, how it’ll feel when you run your hands over my body with it on.”

“Alex,” Michael breathes out. “You need to get your hands down my pants, now.”

Alex chuckles but does as asked, one hand coming down to cup his hard dick as the other opens the button and pulls down the zipper slowly. Michael does the same, claiming Alex’s lips in a hot and heavy kiss as he does. He groans as Alex pushes down his pants and boxers just enough for his dick to jump out, groans louder when Alex immediately circles it and runs a thumb over the head.

“How did I get so lucky, to get to marry you,” Alex whispers as he breaks the kiss, his hand moving up and down in a practiced move that never fails to make Michael shiver.

“Don’t know what you’re talking about, I’m the lucky one,” Michael replies, his voice wobbly as his head falls back, his eyes closing at the sinfully good feeling of Alex’s hands on him. He can feel the way it makes Alex smile when he leans forward and starts kissing his throat. Sloppy, hot kisses, his tongue and teeth coming out to play in a way Michael knows is going to leave a mark.

His hands grip Alex’s hips, his thumbs sneaking under Alex’s shirt to feel skin, pushing his hips forward into the hand working his dick like magic. It’s just the way he likes it, just the right kind of way that only Alex can make him feel. It’s a heady feeling to be known so well, especially from the guy that he’s going to marry. Finally, after all these years, he gets to marry the love of his life.

He starts slightly at the feeling of teeth in his neck, relaxes again at the tongue and lips running over the sting in a pseudo-apology.

“Focus on me Michael, not on your thoughts,” Alex says, a slightly steely note to his words that Michael knows he doesn’t mean.

“My focus is always on you,” he replies, groaning as Alex tightens his fist and starts jerking him off in earnest.

“Good. Now you better come so we can go and get married.”

Michael snorts, a snort that’s quickly swallowed by Alex kissing him hard. It’s too hot for him to do anything but hold on after that, his mouth plundered by Alex while his hand does everything to wring an orgasm out of him. It builds in his belly, singes along his every nerve as he clings to the feeling of Alex all around him.

He comes, hot and hard, to the thought that he will get to have this forever.

He pants against Alex’s lips, floating happily as Alex cleans him up and buttons his dress pants.

“You feeling less nervous now?”

Michael laughs. “I don’t even know what that word means.”

———

It’s later when they’re sharing their first dance that he starts chuckling against Alex’s neck. Alex pulls back to give him an inquisitive look. He’s glowing, happy, relaxed. He’s never looked more beautiful to Michael.

“What’re you laughing at?”

“You know earlier when we were in the room?”

Alex rolls his eyes fondly. “Obviously.”

“Your brother and my sister were doing the same thing in the other room.”

“Eww.” Alex’s nose crinkles in disgust and Michael laughs harder.

“Straight sex that obnoxious to you?”

“No. But any sex involving my brother is.”

Michael’s laugh softens, until only a smile remains as he looks at his new husband. His husband. And never has something felt so right in his brain as calling Alex just that.

“I promise not to tell you when your sister-in-law and my brother-in-law do the dirty ever again.”

“Hey,” Alex says. “If you want to tell me, I want to hear it. Forever.”

Michael looks over at Isobel and Gregory, sees how they’re leaning against one another, sees their obvious affection and love. He’s happy for them, especially happy for Isobel. She’s been through enough, she deserves to be loved. And maybe, just maybe, Gregory can mellow her out just a little. She deserves that too.

But for now he’ll leave them be, and not worry about what’ll happen in Isobel’s life. She’s a big girl, and he has more important things to think about. He’s at the beginning of a new era, one he’s wanted for a long time. One he never thought he would get, nor deserve. And here he is, married to Alex. The man he’s loved since he was 17, when he took a leap of faith that might’ve ended horribly at the time, but was still the start of something that would eventually be great. He knows now that without their pasts and the things they learned both separately and together, they might not have ended up here. But they did, and he’s the happiest he’s ever been.

“I’d love to tell you all about it. Forever.”

[jadedxrealityw]

-Soulmates- Draco Malfoy x Female Reader

    ♡~🐍~♡

   Kody: This soulmate au came from (minxy_keys) and (paradisepjm) on Wattpad, with some slight changes. You should go read there work and such. Also there is no house rivalry in this story, just blood status and such. 

   Summary: In this world you have a timer on your wrist and once it goes out without finding your soulmate you become emotionless, but finding your soulmate before the timer runs out can come with immense pain if separated for too long.

   Year: 7th

   House: Gryffindor

   Possible Triggers: Mentions of insecurities, bullying, pain, cursing

    ♡~🐍~♡

   soulmates

   a word that was overused and overheard quite often in this world. Having a soulmate was much as a necessity as breathing was. You needed your soulmate to live a comfortable life, or to put it more bluntly live at all. Even checking your timer on your wrist became an everyday task, like second nature.

   in Hogwarts, almost everyone had found their soulmates. Even your best George Weasley found his soulmate last year, Luna Lovegood. They were both playful and weird in their own ways, absolutely perfect for each other in every way. You were one of the few who was still searching for their soulmate of course.

   little did you know it would come sooner then later and in the most unexpected way. 

    ♡~🐍~♡

   9:00, saturday morning

   your eyes slowly flutter open only to be met with the harsh gaze of the sun that shone through the window. Your eyes shut instantly and very groggily, you turned onto your side now facing the wall. With eyes still closed you lift your left arm to look at your wrist. Opening your eyes you look at the timer, a dreadful feeling sets in the pit of your stomach.

   27 hours

   you sat up quickly, praying that your mind was fuzzy from just waking up and what you were seeing wasn’t really true, but alas no matter how much you blinked it was still there. You only had twenty four hours to find your soulmate or be a empty numb hollow shell of what you were now.

    ♡~🐍~♡

   9:10, saturday morning, 27 hours

   after laying in bed for ten minutes bawling your eyes out, you get up and throw on whatever clothes you could find at the moment. ‘Why did this have to happen? i thought i had so much more time left? and on a saturday too- okay thats not important right now’

   you left your dorm and was now walking down the hallway, head full of terrified thoughts. You had witnessed students have mental breakdowns over there last few hours, but you honestly never thought you’d be in the situation yourself. It wasn’t fair. 

   as you walked into the great hall, the smell of breakfast foods filled your nose, your stomach growling in response. The hall was a bit empty, it made sense considering it was a weekend and students were most likely sleeping in and would get food later in the day.

   in a odd way, you wanted to sleep through this madness, but on the other hand waking up an emotionless zombie wouldn’t exactly be the best either. As you looked over to the Gryffindor table you spotted the ginger twin with the Ravenclaw girl.

   you practically ran over there and sat yourself in front of them, startling the couple “Woah Y/n are you okay?” George asked, taking note of your anxious state. You shook your head frantically and pulled up your sleeve, showing both of them your timer.

   “you have twenty three hours left, oh no” Luna spoke in her usual quiet tone, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. George had a horrid expression on his face “Oh shit- well we don’t have time for eating. Let’s go!” George exclaimed, standing up from his seat.

   Luna nodded once and stood up as well “Are you sure guys” you ask and stand up along with them “Your our friend and we would do anything for you! You helped me and Luna find each other and it’s my turn to help you” George states proudly, making you smile.

   “Alright let’s go”

   ♡~🐍~♡

   5:23, saturday afternoon, 20 hours

   “George it’s been seven hours, we are not going to find them and after forcing kids to touch my arm all day, i think people hate me” you groan out taking a seat on the hallway bench and shoving your face in your hands. George sighs as he looks down at you. He goes over to you and grabs your hands.

   “Come on we can’t give up. Who is going to help me plan pranks with fred? Who’s going to give me advice on Luna? I refuse to let your personality slip away from you-” George was cut off as Luna came running down the hall, you had sent her to see if any other girls or guys were around that they haven’t seen.

   Luna looked visibly distressed by something which worried the Weasley. “Luna? Are you alright?” he asked as he step towards her, grabbing her arms with his hands. She nods slowly, seemingly out of breath “Harry...Draco...fighting...courtyard...Harry....loosing....”

   you stand up quickly and look at your wrist “Twenty hours, that’s enough time to deal with Harry’s bullshit right?” you spoke, not waiting for an answer as you began to rush down the halls. George looks at Luna and turns around, crouching down. “Here get on my back darling, your already out of breath”

   Luna smiles sheepishly and climbs onto his back.

    ♡~🐍~♡

   5:26, saturday afternoon, 20 hours

   “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

   you saw a crowd of people forming a circle. The chaos was definitely in the middle. In the corner of your eye you saw George stop next to you, putting Luna back on the ground slowly and cautiously. “So i suggest we-” you rush up to the group leaving the both behind as you shoulder check students out of your way.

   students gave you hateful glares, but you didn’t care at the moment. You just wanted to make sure Harry didn’t break a limb again, you’d never hear the end of it from Hermione. Your met with the sight of the Slytherin boy hovering over Harry with a fist raised, about to strike him.

   in a swift movement you leap forward and grab Draco’s arm, holding it in place. In that moment you felt a quick sting on your wrist and wince slightly. You turn your wrist, still holding Draco’s arm and watched as your timer faded from your wrist. ‘oh no- oh merlin please- no- not him!’ 

   Draco seems to freeze in place as he to witnesses his timer vanish from his left wrist as well. You let go and take a step back from the Slytherin. He turned around, his eyes boring into you, taking in every inch of how you looked “You?” he said simply. He shakes his head slowly, going to stand up from the ground.

   you didn’t give him a chance to say anything else and turned quickly on the heels of your feet, pushing through the crowd once more. You ran back into the school, passing a confused George and Luna in your path. This could not be happening.

♡~🐍~♡

   7:42, saturday evening

   after locking yourself in your dorm room for two hours you began to feel the effects of meeting your soulmate. You need constant physical contact when you first meet your soulmate or you will become extremely lethargic. It’s like your being drained of all your energy. It’s not great.

   a soft knock came to your door and you groaned out a response “Go away George!” you hear a girls laughter, Luna’s laughter as she opens up the door. “It’s just me, George let me in. So Draco Malfoy is your soulmate?” she asked, your eyes widening a bit.

   “he told you?” you asked, the Ravenclaw shook her head and walked over to your bed, sitting beside you. “George threatened to knock his teeth out unless he told him what happened to you” she chuckles softly. You feel a small laugh bubble in your throat, but an overwhelming soreness fills you instead.

   you wince, eyes being forced shut. Luna frowns and places a hand on your head “You should go find Draco, the pain will go away-” “No, i refuse to be around that dickhead. All he does is bullying people who aren’t pure-bloods. Knowing he’s in the exact same pain is what makes it worth it”

   Luna shakes her head and pats you gently “You both are so stubborn. You’ll come crawling to each other in no time” she says as she climbs out of your bed and makes her way over to your door. You scoff and shove your head into the pillow under you roughly. “As if”

   all Luna dose is smile warmly and shut your door, leaving you to your pain and thoughts. ‘Like i’d ever go running to him’

    ♡~🐍~♡

   10:23, saturday night

   everyone in Hogwarts was sleeping peacefully in their beds. You. Were. Not. The soreness had now turned into a slight pinching feeling. It was like having your period, only all over your body. You could feel your want, your need for the Slytherin boys touch. “Son of a bitch” you mutter.

   you grip the sheets and throw them off of you, swinging your legs over the bed. You stand up and slip on your slippers so you wouldn’t have touch the cold floor with your bare feet. The room begins to spin a little, almost causing you to sit back down.

   you shake your head a bit and stumble your way to your door, opening and walking out into the common room. Making sure to lean against the wall, you quietly walk across the Gryffindor common room, passing by a sleeping George Weasley on the couch with Luna laying on his chest.

   pushing the portrait open, you begin to walk down the stairs. You had to lean on the railing so you wouldn’t fall over. It took you some time, but you managed to make your way into the halls. What were you even looking for? Maybe madam Pomfrey to see if she could numb the pain slightly? 

   as you walked the empty halls, you heard footsteps in the distance. Looking up you come face to face with a disheveled Draco Malfoy, looking just as bad as you were. Freezing in place, you watch as he looks up. He looked pale and irritated.

   the question now was who would move first? Who would sacrifice their pride to make the first move? As you begin to move your legs, so does he. Both of you make your way to each other, using the little amount of energy you had left. Once your only about a foot apart, Draco’s slender arms wrap around you.

   you feel as though you had been revived in a instant. You wrap your arms around him as well and bury your face in his chest. The thing is, despite the whole searing pain being relieved you actually liked being in Draco’s arms. He was surprisingly warm and smelt of green apples.

   it was calming and you quite enjoyed it. Who would of thought you would find comfort in such a jerk. You felt Draco grip you tighter, pulling your chest completely flush against his. “Your never being apart from me that long ever again. I don’t think i- we could handle it”

   you nod against his chest, agreeing with his statement. “Yeah sorry about that. Just- it came as quite a surprise.” you explain to him. Draco sighs deeply against your scalp “Yeah i get it, but we’re stuck with each other so we have deal with it. I’m yours and your mine”

   his possessive tone caught you a bit off guard, but at the same time you felt the same thing. Being his soulmate made you see him in a different light. “Yeah” you say simply.

   ♡~🐍~♡

   it has been three weeks since you had figured out Draco Malfoy was your soulmate. After spending the night with each other you both could now being hours apart without any pain. Draco told you he didn’t want anyone to know that you were soulmates, which made your heart sting a bit.

   so in the afternoon, after lunch you both would sneak off into the astronomy tower and hold each other for an hour before classes started again. It became a daily task like other things and you were okay with it, but you always secretly wanted more. 

   Draco had changed so much since you became soulmates. He didn’t really bully anyone anymore, he’d become less stressed and was actually paying more attention in his studies. You had even questioned him on it, but he only said “I guess you’ve changed me for the better”

   as you sat at the lunch table, you casually talked with George and Luna. You had been laughing for a good ten minutes straight at the stupid jokes George had been saying. Little did you know a certain Slytherin had taken notice. “Merlin George, your making my stomach hurt” you chuckle.

   he grins in response and shrugs his shoulders “It’s because you love me and my jokes” he spoke. You nod slowly “You are indeed right” a slightly harsh tap comes to your shoulder and you turn behind you. Draco. “Draco i-” “Let’s go, i’m feeling drained”

   your eyes widened a bit as students watch your two talking. You turn towards George and give him a slight smile “Guess i’ll be going” you spoke and stood up, straightening your robe. Draco shoots a glare at the ginger “Keep your eyes on your own soulmate Weasley, she’s mine”

   oh he did not just say that. Without getting a word in Draco grabs your arm and drags you out of the great hall, leaving students to gossip about what just happened. You stayed silent on your way to the astronomy tower, thinking about what you wanted to stay.

   once your at the top you pull your arm away from him “You know you just exposed us right? I thought you wanted it to be a secret?” you questioned him. His jaw tightens slightly as you speak “I did and now i didn’t” he spoke vaguely. “That’s not an answer Draco”

   he didn’t answer you and took a step forward to bring you into a hug, but you take a step back “We haven’t touch each other all day. I know you feel sore too” he spoke, coming closer to you. You move away from him and shake your head “You don’t get to touch me until you answer me”

   he rolls his eyes at your stubbornness and sighs “You told Weasley that you loved him. You can’t love him, simple enough” he looks away from you. You scoff in response “He’s my best friend. I meant it in a platonic way. How can you be jealous when your the one who didn’t want a relationship?”

   “I’m not jealous! You’re already mine therefore i won” he spat in slight annoyance. He takes notice of you saddened expression and sighs “I’ve never felt the way i do about somebody like i feel with you. It’s different and quite terrifying if i’m being honest” he spoke, his voice wavering slightly.

   “I also didn’t think i immediately fall in love with you, but i did and now i really want to keep you all to myself” he took a step closer to you, trapping you in his arms “Tell me Y/n, do you feel the same?” he asked, the tone in his voice lowering. You slowly nod “I do. I love you”

   a small smile came to Draco’s pale face as he leans down and captures your lips in his 

   and once again, you were revived. 

    ♡~🐍~♡

   Kody: Omg this sucks so bad. Lmao, feel free to make fun me. Anyways, peace.

    ♡~🐍~♡

[dameronology]

sorry seems to be the hardest word {poe x reader}

summary: with the war over, poe has a little too much time to think. more specifically, he has too much time to think about you.

warnings; swearing, angst (but eventual fluff!) 

 i have a lecture at 9am and here i am at 2am, producing this shit content for u all. enjoy xx 

- jazz

You passed each other in the hallway sometimes.

Nobody would have known. Not a single person would have guessed that behind your professional nods and quick glances, that years of history lay untouched between the two of you. Early mornings, filled with rays of pink and yellow sunshine, fingers dancing across bare skin and as you laughed together, revelling in nothing but the highs of pure love. Then there had been the nights; they were undeniably colder, a shadow cast over the galaxy as the darkness forced people to face the horrors of war. You couldn’t see anything, not even a foot in front of you – but you could reach your hand out, and you knew that Poe Dameron would take it.  He was there. He was always there.

And then he wasn’t.

You knew it wasn’t his fault, nor was it yours. The Resistance needed both of you, but he’d been the one to call the shots on your relationship – and it had only been a matter of time, really. It was clear that things were going to come to head eventually and Poe had been the one to pull the trigger. You were important to him – perhaps the most paramount thing in his life – but none of it would have mattered if you lost the war. Secretly, he kind of hoped that he could just put a pin in it for later and win you back when the galaxy wasn’t batshit crazy.

Later was now. Poe was a general – your boss, actually – and you were a commander for one of the New Republic fleets. He saw you ten or twenty times a day in passing, chattering with your squad or delivering mission reports. Everything he loved about you was still there; your poise, your professionalism, your biting tongue and wit. And yet, all he got these days was a curt nod or a hope you’re doing well, general.  

To give credit where credit was due, Poe had tried to get your attention. He’d made many attempts to win you back without ever actually saying it: you were the first person he promoted after the war, and you always got the good missions. He never chased you up for paperwork and surely, you must have noticed that you were always assigned the most high-tech jets. It felt as though he were screaming into the void, throwing out everything he could and hoping that you would get the message.

But you never did. Or, if you did get it, you were ignoring it. Your icy demeanour never changed, nor did your attitude towards him. Poe witnessed you in action every day – in the air and on the ground, with blasters and with words – and with each passing one, he was certain that he was still in love with you. His distance from you was simply a reminder that he’d hurt you, as though to say congrats, you fucked up! Nice one, asshole.  

That brings us to now: specifically, early on a Tuesday morning, outside of your office. Poe, having reached breaking point, finally decided that he was just going to straight up tell you – or maybe he was asking you. Whatever it was, he knew that he had to get his feelings off his chest. If the war had taught him anything, it was that there was no time to roll over and let things pass. Even if you rejected him entirely, at least he could walk away knowing he’d tried.

Taking a deep breath, Poe raised his hand and knocked on your door twice. He knew that your schedule that day was clear – he’d made sure it was. You’d found it a little suspicious that your usual weekly meeting had suddenly been moved but you hadn’t questioned it. You were already running around doing a thousand different things.

‘One second!’ You called. There was a light shuffling sound, and after the fall of your boots against the ground, you swung the door open. ‘Poe – hi! General Dameron, sorry.’

‘I hate when you call me general.’ Poe groaned. (You found that to be quite ironic, because there had been many times when he’d demanded that you call him that – but that probably wasn’t relevant. Moving on.)

‘Right.’ You raised an eyebrow. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Can we talk?’

‘We’re talking now.’

‘That’s not what I….’ his eyes fell to the floor. For someone who was usually so confident, he’d certainly lost his swagger. ‘Can I just come in?’

You stepped aside, gesturing for Poe to come inside. Your office was quintessentially you; organised, but homely. You had a neat stack of papers on your desk and a few photos lining the walls. Most of them were of you with your friends; you and Rose at Canto Bight, you and Snap beside his X-Wing, you and Leia laughing together. His favourite one, however, was one of you and him with Rey and Finn; it had been taken on Hoth, and you were all bundled up beside Threepio, who was wearing a beanie you had terribly knitted. It had been one of the hardest weeks the Resistance had seen, but you were all stood there with your arms linked, smiling at the camera despite everything.

You were the only thing that had got Poe through the war. He knew it then and he certainly knew it now.

‘You’re in luck.’ You said, dropping into your desk chair. ‘My morning meeting got cancelled.’

‘Yeah, I know.’ Poe sat opposite you. ‘I was the one who moved it.’

You thinned your eyes at him. ‘Why?’

‘Because…look, I’m just gonna give it to you straight.’ He rested his palms on the table in front of you. ‘I’ve been trying for months to get your attention. I’ve been giving you the best missions and the best jets and Finn has been on my ass about it but I was hoping it might get you to look at me.’

‘Poe, I-‘

‘- I know, it’s stupid.’ He continued. He rambled when he was nervous. ‘I thought that it might get you to talk to me again.’

‘I…’ you couldn’t quite find the words. ‘I’m not ignoring you. I’m just treating you like a colleague.’

‘And that’s the worst part!’ Poe shot back. ‘Because…we’re not just colleagues. Every time I look at you, I remember how you used to make me feel and it’s fucking killing me.’

You peered up at him, a small sigh escaping your lips. ‘The promotion.’

‘What?’

‘Was that because I deserved it or because you were trying to win me back?’

‘Shit.’ Poe murmured, heading dropping into his hands.

‘Poe.’ You leant forward, practically growling his name.

‘You know I wouldn’t do that.’ He pushed his hair back, brown eyes finally meeting yours. ‘You deserved that more than anyone.’

‘This is fucking crazy.’ You couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief. ‘You broke my heart six months ago and now you’re here, in my office at 7am, telling me that what I thought was just my good luck has been entirely your doing.’

‘I didn’t know what else to do.’ Poe admitted. ‘I just…I am so fucking in love with you. Hurting you was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.’

You didn’t mean to falter. It was just that you’d been longing to hear him say for it so long and you hadn’t even realised it. In forcing yourself not to think about him, you hadn’t taken a moment to think about the possibility of getting back together. You didn’t want to let your mind wander in that direction, especially after all the hurt you’d felt the first time.

And now, he’d come in all guns blazing. Classic Poe, really.

‘So why did you do it?’ You quietly asked. ‘Why did you end it in the first place if you’re so in love with me?’

‘I was scared.’ Poe admitted. ‘I felt so helpless that ending it myself made me feel like I had some kind of control.’

‘Hey, Poe?’

He looked up, eyes suddenly full of hope. ‘Yeah?’

‘That’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.’

And then he deflated.

‘I know.’

You shook your head, giving him a small smile. ‘I’ve missed you.’

‘I’ve missed you too.’ He said. ‘So much. I know I see you every day but…I want to be with you. Those weird nods in the hallway and sideways glances just don’t quite do it for me.’

Your initial reaction had been to jump at the chance – to leap across the table and take your lips in his, making up for months of lost time there and then. On the other hand, you had to be realistic. He’d hurt you before and by taking him back, you were giving the power to do it all over again. That was a level of trust you weren’t sure you were ready for.

But it was Poe. It was your Poe – and you knew that no matter what had happened, his intention had never been to hurt you. Rather, it had been to protect you. It was a decision he’d made in catastrophically poor judgement, but the war had made everyone do stupid things. You hadn’t made it out the other side without your fair share of embarrassing stories.

If you did give him another chance – and if it went well? You could have everything. You’d have Poe by your side again (not that he’d ever really left). The future you used to talk about as a distraction from the war could become a reality. You could have your partner-in-crime back, your ride or die.

All it took was you overlooking the fact he’d hurt you.

Slowly reaching your hand out towards his, you intertwined your fingers with Poe’s. They still fit perfectly; warm and snug, as familiar as though you’d been holding one another just yesterday.

‘Dinner. Tomorrow night.’ You said.

Poe jolted up in his seat. ‘Are you serious?’

‘Dead serious.’ You shot back. ‘I’m…I’m a little hesitant, but I know you didn’t mean to hurt me the way you did.’

‘I could never hurt you intentionally.’ His grip on your hands tightened. ‘That doesn’t change the fact I did but I promise – I swear on everything I have – that this will be worth it.’

You gave him a watery smile. ‘I know.’

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