#but my first few trips to bars were with my brother and our other guy friend and i was NEVER approached

[davidtennantpussytulpa]

seeing how your skinny pretty friends get treated in comparison to you during high school is one thing but seeing that in adulthood when youre going out to bars?? well thats just suicide inducing

[scorchieart]

Understaffed

Genre: Comedy

Wordcount: 1326

Prompt: In A Flash CCC hosted by @flash-exchange - October 2023: Magic Apprenticeship

A/N: My first entry for the In A Flash CCC! This one was inspired by the folks over on Discord, you guys rock for helping me finish a fic after so long! I will try my best to write some more as the challenge continues. For this fic, it's been split up as 2 separate parts, the first part being mainly from Jin's perspective and the second continuing from Yves and Nokto's. Many thanks to @lorei-writes for the feedback and suggestions. Enjoy!

Jin Grandet was not a warlock. At least, not officially.

It wasn’t because he had a late start. Most children couldn’t even read spells from the rudimentary tomes at age six, let alone pronounce them. And it wasn’t as if he was without talent. It was common knowledge throughout the kingdoms that the sorcerer’s gene manifested strongest within royal bloodlines. No, the true reason Jin failed his Warlock Mastery Examination was far less magical than he’d like to admit. 

But that’s a story for another time. And even if the minimum age to apply was fifteen, it didn’t mean he was barred from trying again another year. Heck, most applicants didn’t even make an attempt until they were double that! But of course, Chevalier came of age the next year, and while the exam was merely a formality for the prodigy, barely anyone bothered to register for that round. Fueled by fiery rivalry, Clavis was hot on Chevalier’s heels the year after that, and Jin was too preoccupied with helping him train to even consider enrolling himself. And just a few weeks prior, Leon passed his exam with flying colors. A feat Jin attributes to his apt sideline encouragement and diligent inspections of Leon’s daily meat intake. 

So what if he didn’t pass? Jin could still perform magic as well as any warlock. He just didn’t have a staff to show for it. Instead, he could boast that the never-before-seen-three-year-streak of fifteen-year old graduates were his students.

“For the last time, we are not your students,” Yves declared.

“And why wouldn’t you want to be?” Jin asked. He waved a hand and the curtain of low-hanging branches before him parted, revealing a narrow dirt path ahead. “I have a one-hundred percent success rate. And you’re my next conquest, Yves.”

“Yeah, Evie. Why don’t you take him up on his offer?” Nokto said, following Licht as they climbed down after Jin. “Then you can tell us if he’s legit or not.”

“Oh, he’s the real deal,” Leon said. He took a steady stance beside a cherry oak and swung his newly acquired staff overhead, making all the barren trees in the vicinity shake and shoot their branches upward like spikes. Nokto watched in awe as Leon calmed the trees down and flashed him a toothy grin. “Can’t recommend the big guy enough.”

“No, no, no, my brothers. You mustn’t let the opinions of others sway your decision making!” Clavis said, pushing past Leon. “Ask yourselves this: do I want to be taught by a syrupy dropout, or by the youngest, most renowned warlock of our age?” He struck the ground with his own staff and the dirt rumbled. Moments later, roots and tubers erupted from the earth like the undead, making Yves screech and trip on an upright rose stem. Clavis laughed maniacally as the plants continued to grow, until Leon whacked him on the head and the vegetary scene immediately reverted underground as if it never happened. 

“I’m younger than you, remember?” Leon countered.

“And I was younger than you both when I passed,” Chevalier added, his pace leisurely as he joined them.

“Yes, yes, you don’t have to remind us again how your test happened three days after your birthday,” Clavis said, rubbing his bruised forehead. “It is insufferably pedantic of you.

“Shall I remind everyone instead of how you only passed because the examiner happened to sneeze when you flubbed the fire retardancy enchantment on your trousers?”

“Like I said, little ones. Follow what Jin says, and you’ll do just fine,” Clavis said.

“If you’re done sharing my many virtues, hurry on over!” Jin called. The group exchanged speculative glances before filing through the unanimated greenery towards his excited voice.

Flummoxed by their seniors’ effortless display of magical prowess, Yves and Nokto insisted they take the lead, bewitching wayward wood knots and saplings from the path. Once or twice they glanced back, hopeful to receive praise for their successful spells, only to find the trio engrossed in their own conversation. 

“Maybe he wants to take us all on at once? Six against one?” Leon suggested.

“Please,” Clavis yawned, stretching his arms above his head and waving his staff teasingly. “He could squash the kiddos, no problem. But he won’t get much farther than that unarmed.”

“He brought his sword. Or is your staff so far up your rear that you did not notice?” Chevalier said, swatting Clavis’s staff away from his face. 

Yves and Nokto whirled their heads towards the track ahead, struggling to keep their attention back on moving the plants. Is that what this was all about? Despite Jin’s domineering stature, they had never once seen their brother in a fight. But Jin also was the most knowledgeable about the contents of the exam, even if he did fail his. Was this the type of error-correcting that guaranteed Chevalier, Clavis, and Leon’s successes?

The path eventually fed into a wide clearing as large as one of the training arenas at the palace. Even in peak autumn, thick shrubs still flanked all sides like a fence except for one; a cavernous cliff plummeted behind where Jin stood, his arms folded and mouth stretched in an expectant grin.

“Are we really gonna fight?” Nokto said nervously, reaching for his sword.

“Alright! Loser gets thrown off the cliff!” Clavis whooped. “Chevalier, fight me!”

“Slow down, we’re learning defensive tactics today,” Jin said. “Magic has limitless potential to attack, right? So it stands to reason that the same should be true in defense. Far too often does a warlock fall into the assumption that one trumps the other in combat.”

“Spoken nearly verbatim from Elemental Charms and Combat,” Chevalier said unamused.

“That means he knows his stuff,” said Leon. “But then why’d ya bring us here too, Jin?”

“No, Chevalier’s right. There’s only so much you can learn from theory alone. We need experience to connect the dots. And I sure as sugar wouldn’t hurt a hair on the little guys’ heads, so that’s where you lot come in.” Jin crouched beside Yves and Nokto and patted their shoulders. “Yves, you’ll spar with Chevalier. And Nokto, you get Clavis.”

Yves froze on the spot.  

“Oh, goodie…” Nokto mumbled. 

“Just remember the basics, and you’ll be fine,” Jin said, then he turned to the warlocks. “And don’t you go blasting infernos at them. We’re out here to prevent unnecessary bystander injuries. But remember, this is still a highly flammable area.” He glared at Clavis, who seemed to get a chill and wrapped his cloak firmly around himself.

“Wait. Where’s my partner?” Leon asked. A quick lookover of the clearing proved Licht was nowhere to be seen. 

“Maybe Leon’s branches pulled him up to the sky?” Nokto suggested.

“Or Clavis’s roots dragged him down below!” Yves gasped.

“Both,” Chevalier said, pointing over the cliff. Halfway down, Licht hung suspended and looking below, his shirt caught on a thorny branch tangled with crisscrossing roots. 

“Licht!” Yves and Nokto cried.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” Clavis called down to him.

“Something tells me the branch will snap if he so much as breathes wrong,” Leon said. Licht answered with a shaky thumbs up.

“Everyone, change of plans!” Jin bellowed. “Today we’re doing rescue training. And not a word of this gets to Sariel, got it? Okay, let’s go!” He drew his sword and leaped over the edge, jamming it into the cliffside as he descended.

Shocked, and slightly relieved, Yves and Nokto followed Jin’s lead, the scraping sounds of their blades cutting rock disappearing with them.

“Moron,” Chevalier huffed. The air around him began to crackle as he inhaled deeply and swung his staff in a circular motion. “He didn’t even evaluate the situation for a full minute. And they still wonder why he didn’t pass—”

“You heard the boss!” Clavis and Leon yelled. Together they seized each of Chevalier’s arms and hurled themselves over the cliff, leaving their staves behind.

Listen, it is liberating to write Chevalier, Clavis, and Leon as comic relief side characters. Trust me.

Tagging: @queengiuliettafirstlady @violettduchess @venulus @thewitchofbooks @leonscape @rhodolitesrose @venti-tangents @dear-sciaphilia @ikesenwritings @myonlyjknight @ladyofcrowsx @otomefoxystar @my-day6

If you would like to be added or removed from my tag list, please send me an ask or a message.

[cathygeha]

REVIEW

Billionaire Boss by Julie Capulet

New York Billionaires #2

What an entertaining story this was! I remember my first trip to Hawaii, the beaches, and the flirting…I wonder what it would have been like if I had been in my twenties instead of sixteen and I had met someone like Cash Maddox ;)

What I liked:

* Dusty Rose: intelligent, diligent, hard worker, has big plans, manifesting her dreams, supportive, loving sister and daughter, good friend, abandonment and trust issues, liked and could relate to her

* Cash Maddox: one of four brothers, billionaire and CEO of creative investment company with gaming component - Invested Enterprises, knows what he wants immediately when he sees Dusty, really liked him – wonderful alpha book boyfriend that is definitely swoon-worthy

* The meet-cute on the beach and follow up…fanning myself

* The instant connection between Dusty – Tex and Cash – Ace ~ Love at first sight for at least one of them

* That it took me back to some of my firsts…first time to Hawaii…and a few others

* That I was able to fall into the story, like both characters, see them happy together, and kind of saw myself as Dusty…even at my age of 72 ;)

* The plot, pacing, setting, and meeting a new author that I truly enjoyed reading

* That there is another book in the series to look forward to in the future

* All of it except…

What I didn’t like:

* Who and what I was meant not to like

* Having to wait for the next book in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

BLURB

Our deal was simple. One night. Fake names. No strings attached. Until it turns out he’s my new boss... I couldn’t believe my luck when I got sent to a work conference in Hawaii. Living the dream after years of pulling myself up by my bootstraps. The sand, the palm trees and the blue water were straight out of a romantic fantasy. So was the guy at the beachfront bar, let’s be honest. Blue eyes. Broad-shouldered in his business suit but with a rough-around-the-edges swagger and a filthy mouth. We laughed and had a night of crazy passion that enlightened me in every possible way. I understood what dreams coming true might actually feel like. And then I left without saying goodbye. That was two months ago and I’ve mostly been able to put him out of my mind. I’ve been busy landing my dream job in New York City. Imagine my surprise when my new boss turns out to be Mr. Dirty Talking Swagger. He’s been thinking about me too, he says, his blue eyes dancing. He’s been searching for me since that night. And he wants to see me in his office… Billionaire Boss is a steamy contemporary billionaire romance and the first book in the New York Billionaires series, starring the four Maddox brothers. Each book in the series is a complete standalone with an HEA.

[jaxxwrites4you]

Looking to Break a Man’s Heart, Starlight? (Only if it’s Yours Shortstack.) - Dragon Age Soulmate AU Oneshot (Varric x OC)

Zara’s brother snorted, “What the hell kind of person is your soulmate, asking something like that when you first meet? Besides mistaking you from some pretty little bar wench, he’s also assuming you wouldn’t break a man’s legs first.”

The half elf laughed, “Well, even a hardened warrior likes to know they're attractive, Lyre. This is why your soulmate's first words are telling you to piss off.”

The older warrior shook his head, “Maker preserve whatever poor fool ends up with you Zar, they don’t know what they’re getting into.”

***

Bartrand told him soulmates didn’t matter, he’d be expected to do what was necessary for the family. His brother had said that went doubly so when it appeared as though Varric’s soulmate wasn’t a dwarf. Perhaps that was why he hated the idea of being a good dwarf so much, because it meant that he couldn’t be with the person that fate had chosen for him, the one person in this life who was undeniably supposed to belong to him. The kind of belonging that the noble ladies read about in their romance novels, where the love interests mesh in the way that there is no room for doubt about their feelings. The kind of love he knows he’ll never have.

Bianca can never be his, but she fills the emptiness he knows will always be there and that’s enough for now.

***

Zara had left home four years ago, traveling wherever they could get passage to. They’d spent most of the last few years traveling between Nevarra, Tevinter and Orlais, with a few trips in and out of the Free Marches. It was easy to resupply and lay low there, which is why they were looking for the Hanged Man in Kirkwall’s Lowtown. A helpful city guard had told them it was a cheap and easy place to stay for a few nights, if they didn’t mind the rowdy crowds that were usually there. After asking a few locals for help, they finally saw the tavern and luckily for them it was a quiet night inside. There was a large group in the corner, playing a game of cards and there were a few other scant patrons scattered from table to table. The warrior made their way to the tavern owner’s bar, already pulling out more coins than they knew the room would cost. A little extra always ensured people kept their mouths shut.

The man was more than happy to take the coin, before gesturing to the stairs across the way.

“Third room on the right is free, the door locks if you want the key.”

A nod, and he passes said key to them and Zara starts off across the room.

***

Varric has always been weak for a pretty face and lots of freckles, so when the red headed, half elf steps into the tavern he finds himself paying them a little more attention than he would ever own up to. The loose, v-necked and sleeveless tunic shirt lets him see that the freckles are littered further and further down, a sea of stars on skin. They walked into the room like they owned it and there was a natural confidence there, the same kind that he’d always seen Hawke wear into a room. Of course, while he was attempting to be subtle it didn’t work out, because Isabelle noticed where he was looking and grinned.

“Well now, that has to be the finest thing to walk into this dingy old bar since our lovely Mira.” the pirate grinned, “Of course you saw them first, Varric, so I will be kind enough to offer you the first flirtation.”

She was wiggling her eyebrows at him and he could already hear Hawke whooping from his other side. 

“Alright Rivain, if you insist.” He chuckled, “But if I get my lights knocked out, you have to carry me up to my room.”

“I don’t know about carry, but I’ll do my best.” she says with a wink, “Worth it to see whatever is about to happen.”

***

Zara has almost made it to the stairs when the dwarf from the group in the corner makes his way to them, clearing his throat as he stops in front of them. The warrior hopes that this guy isn’t about to try and start a fight, but something about the way his friends are all giggling and falling all over each other tells them that’s not the case. Bemusedly, they cross their arms over their chest, one hip cocked to the side as they make eye contact with him.

He grins, “Looking to break a man’s heart tonight, Starlight?”

It’s like electricity over their skin as the words flow past his lips and they don’t freeze like they thought they would. Instead, the words come to them as naturally and quickly as if it was breathing.

“Only if it’s yours, Shortstack.” Zara replies, lips curling up at the corners, “and only if you really mean it.”

***

Andraste’s flaming knickers. He had not thought he would ever hear the words written across his upper arm, or that the person saying them would be so… well, so attractive. Sure, they looked like they could kick his ass into next week, but what kind of idiot didn’t want someone like that, it meant less worrying about their well being. For once in his life, Varric Tethras has nothing to say in response, he opens his mouth and then closes it again, a flush creeping up his neck as he hears Mira and Isabelle laughing from behind him.

“What’s the matter, cat got your tongue?” the half elf says, eyes alight with mischief, “Or is the stunned silence thing another flirtation technique?”

Maker’s breath, they’re witty as well. Andraste preserve him, that he does not break every rule he’s given himself over the years.

“Oh no, this is new.” He chuckles, “You just hit all the right buttons, Starlight.”

The fact that he’s not the only one blushing now is good, especially when he can hear the way they fumble over their next words.

“I… I have a name. You could just ask for it.” they grumble, “A-and why Starlight? It sounds so… sweet and sappy.”

Anders has joined in on the laughter while Fenris smirks behind his mug and Merril seems to be trying to ask Isabelle what’s so funny. Varric offers the half elf his charming, roguish grin and gestures to the table.

“Join us for a game and maybe I’ll tell you.” 

***

One game that night turned into three and the few nights they were supposed to stay turned into months, which eventually turned into years. At first they stay because they’re curious, mostly about Varric and also a bit about the rest of the ragtag little group, but they become attached and find that they care quite a bit for the group.  Zara is there for the hardships, they are there when Bartrand goes mad and when Leandra is captured by that psychopath in the tunnels beneath the city. They help Mira fight for the mages, free slaves and fight the Arishok. They are there in the final fight, when Orsino and Meredith both go crazy. As for their relationship with Varric, their soulmate, it’s not what they expected. He lets them be close, but never too close and he tells them that as a member of House Tethras and now the one who had to take over all the responsibility, the Merchants Guild wouldn’t take well to them being together. It would risk everything if he wasn’t careful. 

Whether they can or cannot because of some high and mighty Deshyrs or whatever, they know they love him and that means they wouldn’t do anything to hurt him. So instead, when the group has to split up, Zara leaves with Hawke and Fenris, heading their own way at one point and only leaving Mira with a letter. 

“It’s for Varric, you’ll know when to give it to him. You’re always good at knowing when people need things.”

It’s the last thing they say to her before leaving. 

***

Varric says nothing about Zara when the Seeker comes to interrogate him, a silent promise he had made, that he wouldn’t let them become some side piece in one of his stories. They deserved more than he could give them, in fiction or in reality. When she tells him that he is to come with her to tell his story to the Divine, he curses every higher power he can think of because Maker dammit what if anyone came back to Kirkwall while he was gone. In the end there is nothing to be done about it, he is dragged from his home and to Fereldan, and even that goes tits up.

It’s just a few weeks before the Conclave that a letter arrive s for him, Leliana delivers it to him personally and even assures him it hasn’t been tampered with. It’s a little odd, but he’s grateful, especially when he opens it and reads the contents. Maker’s balls, he is the biggest fool this side of the Waking Sea and there’s nothing he can do about it now.

***

Hawke’s letter to them is only three sentences.

‘Z, I know you’re in Fereldan and I think you should make your way to Haven. They could use the help and I know you’re eager to fight something as always. Besides, he needs you.’

The warrior can be dense at times but they know exactly who Hawke is talking about and even as they burn the piece of parchment, they are packing up the small camp they’d set up. All these long months and Zara would still move heaven and earth for that damn dwarf, even if they could never have him the way they wanted. They’re moving before night falls, skirting groups of rogue mages and templars, cutting down anyone in their way. The half elf joins a small group of pilgrims, the group has one warrior and a rather young mage, offering to help protect them as they make the trek to the Inquisition’s camp. It takes a little over a week to make it to the small town of Haven, but it's worth it. The pilgrims split off, speaking with one of the revered mothers in front of the gates before being led inside. Zara recognised Cullen almost immediately, he was speaking with a woman, who the warrior imagined could only be the Seeker they’d all heard about. There was another human speaking with them, and as they get closer they can hear people calling them the Herald, which means this is the individual who survived the explosion at the Conclave.

“Looks like luck is still on my side,” they grin, walking right up to the small group, “You’re the ones I should talk to about joining up properly, yeah?”

Cassandra gives them a scrutinizing look, but it’s Cullen who speaks up.

“Zara? Maker’s mercy, I was just saying we could use more warriors to send out with the Herald.” He chuckled, “I’d say you’re a blessing, but I imagine you don’t care much for such a sappy reunion.”

“Well, you just tell me where to go and what to hit. I can handle it from there.”

***

When Bia asks him if there are characters in the Tale of the Champion he didn’t talk about he raises an eyebrow, “I think Cassandra is rubbing off on you Spitfire, everyone that needed talking about is in the book.”

“Well, I met someone who I think should have been in your book.” the mage shoots back, “Came in yesterday morning and signed up, they’ll be working with us closely. Even Cass admitted it would be nice to have another warrior on our little team. Nothing against Bull or Blackwall of course.”

He doesn’t get the chance to reply, too surprised to come up with something quick enough and by the time he looks up Bia is already walking away to finish their rounds. The way the Herald had said that made him think that maybe he was the luckiest dwarf in Thedas. Or the least lucky. The jury was still out on that one.

***

It takes Zara only a few hours to make their way to Varric, they’ve been acquainting themself with everyone they’ll be fighting with and had been putting off seeing him until the end. They had a lot to talk about and the half elf wouldn’t be eager to leave his company once they found it. He’s settled by a small fire, writing so fiercely one might think the parchment had done him wrong. 

“I see some things don’t change.” they say, sitting not quite next to him but not too far away, “You still write like there’s a fire under your ass.”

***

He completely ruins the last sentence as he hears their voice, quill shooting across the paper as he looks up. He’ll have to rewrite it later but that’s the least of his worries honestly.

“Starlight, still trying to make my poor heart give out, I see.” 

The warrior lets out a sharp, throaty laugh and he swears in the back of his mind, because dammit, even if he had tried to convince himself that soulmates didn’t matter he hates the idea of anyone else getting to have them.

“Yes, well, it’s hard not to when you’re always so focused.” Zara muses, “I suppose it doesn’t help that you always put too much pressure on yourself, makes it easier to catch you off guard.”

***

They never talk about the years apart, not at first, not until after Haven falls and they are trekking through the mountains towards some long forgotten fortress. Everyone is having to share tents right now to ensure there is space for every person to have a relatively warm place to sleep. Varric is attempting to write although his concentration is lacking, partially due to the fact that he can see Zara across the tent, rewrapping their bandages which has left them half naked and also reminded him that some of those were because they had protected him. They swear under their breath as they fumble with the cloth and ointment, the dwarf finally getting up and making his way over to grab said items from them.

“You know you could stop being so damn stubborn and ask for help.” He grumbles, carefully working ointment over the wounds that are still uncovered, “You’re not traveling on your own anymore.”

They snort, “You know that sounds an awful lot like something I said to you before. About not being alone and letting people help.”

He sighs, continuing to work on wrapping the bandages, “You’re never going to let me live it down are you?”

They lapse into silence, not uncomfortable, but with words unspoken for too long hanging in the air. He finishes wrapping their injuries and turns to head back to his own side of the tent, but stops when he feels their hand reach for his own. 

“I know I said I wouldn’t be upset… but it’s hard not to when I care about you, even when you’re being bullheaded and think you owe something to people who don’t give a shit about you.”

He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, Andraste’s ass he was a terrible soulmate and friend. Asking them to act like they don’t want to be with him so he can uphold a reputation he doesn’t actually care about, for a family that never did him any favors. So, for the first time since he had met Zara, since he had known they were his, he turned around to face them instead of running away. Wild red hair frames their face, cobalt blue eyes half lidded from exhaustion, but they meet his eyes when he looks at them. Varric reaches one hand out, cradling their cheek in his hand and wonders why the hell he’d been trying to convince himself he didn’t want this. Or that he didn’t deserve this. Zara doesn’t give him the chance to think about it too hard as they lean in across the small space and press their lips to his, pulling him down onto their fur pile. 

The confused look on everyone’s face at his very sudden turn around in mood is funny, especially when they had all been trying to convince him things weren’t so bad. Varric lets them think that their arguments have swayed him, because some things are best kept out of the spotlight. Besides, if he did tell anyone Zara would kick his ass apart and he had it on good authority the warrior rather liked all his pieces attached to one another.

[arrogantsoap]

this is a long boy

i was with my mum and brother at the old place we used to live in. we went down to the supermarket near my old place. they went on to do some things and left me alone in the car to park it. but i think i was like thirteen so i got out of the car and started asking for help. some very fishy lady offered to help. she parked the car but i think she stole my wallet or something. i started walking down the street and saw tons of bars and pubs full of teenager and made a mental note to ask my friends to go there with me. my old literature teacher said something in my head and i don't remember what. when it was time to go back home i met up with my brother and mum to find the car. once we did find the place it was supposed to be in we found out that someone had stole it too. they got angry at me.

i woke up. fell back to sleep.

this second part is confusing. i don't know what happened when.

i was thirteen again. we had this field trip with school but the whole school was coming. i was hanging out with my friend h and this guy we used to be friends with when we were thirteen. the whole school was waiting at the bus stop and the three of us were trying to find our bus. we were actually gonna take the city bus not a private rented school bus. we saw that what was supposed to be our bus was arriving so we warned the teacher. since there were too many people he just told us to get in first and wait. we did. nobody else got in, just us. the bus started to drive away. the lady driving the bus charged us but i had no money because my wallet had been stolen in my previous dream. so h had to pay for me. we grabbed our seats and the lady said that people under eighteen weren't allowed on the bus so we had to show our ids. my friends showed her and she said it was fine. i told her i was eighteen and she believed me.

i think i woke up again. fell back to sleep.

still on a bus. different bus though. and now my friend l is with us. she's sitting right beside me and we're right in the front seat. we're watching the city go by. we start going through a visibly poorer region of the city, the road gets really bumpy because it had rained and nobody fixed the damage yet. we go down a hill that was so steep it was basically a wall. my friend tells me that in their last field trip (the one I had missed) they had visited somewhere near where we were and they saw sharks. we keep driving until I see a river running right in the middle of the city. people's backyards were facing the river and loads of people were swimming. once we get closer i notice it was full of sharks. hammer head sharks, tiger sharks and a few tiny ones I don't know the name of. we drive pass a bar that had a pool section (idk the name of that thing) that people could sit in and it was connected to the shark river. it didn't seem dangerous in my mind. i remember my nanny told me her son used to live in one of the houses with shark river backyards. i don't remember us getting anywhere, just sitting in the bus driving around this poorer part of the city forever. then things start switching.

i don't know if in my dream i was watching this movie or if i believed it to be a true event, but it was a movie. i think the bus stopped by this point. i don't remember how but suddenly i was this old guy. and we're poor factory workers living in this area of the city under some sort of dictator ship. at one point me and some other guys that i suppose worked with me started discussing the current government. we all agree it's bad. i think we should get to communism. but one them says that it's bad because it's not strict enough. and some other people start agreeing with him because he's very charming. like crazy charming. but in my mind I know there's something wrong with him. he's blue eyed and blonde. fuck him. he's starting to become some sort of leader of the people. he'd convince anyone. his point is basically that we're living like shit because the government is trying to implement socialism, and his main evidence is the book 1984. his whole point of view is literally "this is just like 1984". and he's winning. i find this woman who was working with us and we form some sort of alliance. we start digging up dirty on the blonde guy and we found a diary full of notes. we read it. and it turns out the guy was studying hitler and fascist leaders to form a personality convincing enough that he got to the top just through people's approval. we show everyone the evidence and we all defeat the guy together. we also take over the government and start implementing communism. it starts to rain. it's like the final scene in a war movie when the good guys won. me and the woman hug. we start kissing under the rain.

i woke up. fell back to sleep.

something about a hotel and my dad. i was going back and forth between his place and my mum's hotel room. they were both angry. i was using the elevator a lot. i meet up with a friend and we get into the elevator. a woman with braids walks in. we start talking to her about her hair and how pretty it looked. i woke up

[mayansmcsblog]

Her world or mine

I have no idea when i wrote this but i found it in my drafts half done so i finished it and- yh that's about it😅

This was meant to be based upon the song her world or mine but i got off track so its only loosely based upon it.

word count: 3640

Enjoy!

He hasn't used the truck for weeks, he had no reason to anymore, being in it only brought back memories of you. The long drives, the short drives too. The way you would hold his hand while he was driving or how you would remind him to pay attention to the road when he looked in your direction for too long. All the memories were fresh within his mind- almost as if it was yesterday. 

Even now, he was only sitting in it, he had to do the beer run and obviously that couldn't be done on a bike, he had to take the truck, but all he could think about was how you used to sit in the passenger seat beside him. He could see it in his mind so vividly, if he didn’t know you had moved on he would swear you were sitting with him. 

Looking at the dash his gaze caught the Polaroid photo that was still in its place next to the radio. Your face accompanied a smile whilst his had his usual ‘tough’ man expression, but if you looked close enough, you would be able to see a small smile placed upon his lips. You took it at one of the infamous Mayans parties, he remembered how it took you around 10 minutes to ‘convince’ him to take it, he wanted to take it from the moment you suggested it but he wondered how far you would go to get him to do it

-

“Please” you had been begging him for the last 5 minutes in attempt to get him to take a photo with you but to no avail

“No” you two were sitting on the bench outside the clubhouse, people surrounding the both of you, everyone was involved on their own conversations so neither of you paid any mind to them. Of course he was still aware of his surroundings but was more relaxed than usual

“But come on” you begged

“No y/n” he kept his face as straight as he could but you could slowly see a shadow of a smirk forming upon his lips

“Why?”

“No face no case” he shrugged with a slight smirk on his face, clearly that was a lie. Not even 20 minus prior you had taken a photo of all of the club members standing outside of the clubhouse per bishop’s request so he could frame it and hang it somewhere within the clubhouse to show off the members.

“Why are you so stubborn?”

“Why are you so adamant? “He questioned

“Because” 

“Because what?” standing up he motioned for you to do so as well,

“Just because”

“Come on follow me”

Standing up you took this hand as led you away from the party,

“Where are we going?”

“To take this god damn photo”

-

Recalling that night he felt a pain inevitably run across his chest, sure you two were only friends when it was taken but that night was the foundation for building the relationship you two once shared. 

Why had he been so stupid to let you go?

He knew he would have to drive past your place to get to the brewery, it was inevitable really. There was no other way unless he was going to drive an extra 30 minutes, which he didn't have time for.

when he reached the turn in to your street he slowed down a little, looking at your house from a distance he could see a car he didn’t recognize in the driveway. As he got closer he could see two people on the porch, he immediately recognized you accompanied by some guy. 

Of course you had someone else.

-----

Sitting on the couch you couldn't help but let your mind drift back to him, you missed his smile, you missed the way he would have a running commentary while watching anything on the TV, you missed how he would hold you after a long day, you missed everything about him.

“You’re thinking about him again, aren't you?” 

You did nothing but hum in response

Your brother had elected to stay with you for a few weeks while he was on a business trip for some type of expansion for the company he worked for. Originally it was a good idea, it kept you mind off Ez, but the more time your brother was here, the more he talked about his wife back home and how he couldn't wait to get back to her just made you think about how you don't have someone in your life to look forward to anymore, you no longer had someone you could tell everything to, someone who would stay by your side, someone you knew would be waiting for you when you were away from home. As much as you loved your brother, you were thankful he was leaving tomorrow

“Im gonna go get a drink” standing up you heard your brother mumble something in response but you elected ignored him and heading to the kitchen.

As you approached the fridge you spotted the picture of you and Ezekiel stuck on the door. You were pretty sure it was Coco who had taken when him, you, Ez and Angel went over the border for a day because none of you had anything to do and for some reason Mexico was the first thing that was suggested. You had been meaning to get rid of it but couldn't bring yourself to. Alot of memories were collected between the four of you, some of them you were just not ready to let go of yet.

By now he was probably already in another relationship so why were you still holding on?

Grabbing a bottle of water you headed outside and sat on the porch steps. You knew there was a party at the clubhouse tonight, Angel had invited you to come, but you knew Ez would be there. 

Did you really want to see a girl all over him while you're still here alone? Because that would definitely happen

Maybe he wouldn't be there? Or maybe he would be too busy doing stuff to even realize you were there 

You were too wrapped up in your own mind to even realize your brother had stepped outside till you heard a creak from the wood behind you 

“Y/n?”

“Yeah” 

“you okay?" He asked sitting beside you

 “yep"

You two sat in silence for a few moments before he started talking once again

“I love you ye? Don’t let that boy ruin you. He lost you by his own fault. You did nothing” he rambled on about how you should have been treated better and how Ez lost the best thing he could ever have. But you knew he was wrong.

Ezekiel always treated you like a queen, your brother met him one time and barely spoke to him for longer than five minutes. As far as you were concerned you brother didn't know anything about him

While he was rambling you were looking into the distance, mainly just looking at the sky but you could have sworn you saw his truck drive past, but maybe you were just seeing things right? His truck wasn't the only one, there were probably millions of them.

-

The party was in full swing, people were everywhere, the room full of patches from all over. mass amounts of people from charters were visiting in celebration of a new deal with the sons, leaving Ez to tend the bar along with some hang rounds.

Wiping down the bar he couldn't help but think about you for the billionth time today. He knew you two broke things off but it didn't mean you had to leave everyone from the club behind as well as him.

"Bro what the hell is wrong with you?" Angel questioned

"Nothing" shrugging his shoulders he dropped the bar rag and turned to get angel a beer from the fridge behind him

"Stop lyin man, what's going on in that head?" Angel knew his own brother better then to believe 'nothing' was going on with him, something was always going on up in Ez's brain, even if he didn't admit it

"I dunno man, I just think it's weird how y/n left us you know?" Ez shrugged again, handing angel a beer

"She didn't leave us. She’s distancing herself. Got a lot of family shit going on right now" he explained, you kept Angel in the loop with everything, after all he was your best friend even before Ez and you got together, if Ez wouldn't tell you something- Angel would.

"Just think it’s weird" Ez repeated, messing with the bar rag once again

"Ya well she’s coming tonight”

Before Ez could respond coco stood next to Angel 

"Who’s comin?"

The brothers looked at each other for a moment before angel came up with an idea 

"Just some random bird for our boy scout to bed"

"My man," Coco chuckled "finally gonna get your dick wet huh?"

----

You knew this was a bad idea, you knew he would be here. 

Was he going to be with another girl? Actually stupid question, of course he would be

Opening your phone you sent angel a text

‘I'm like five minutes out but i swear to God if you abandon me tonight i will hit you so hard that you can't remember anything for a week’

At least he would walk in with you so you weren’t alone right?

---

Angel stood up abruptly in the middle of a conversation he was having

"Where the fuck you going?" Coco questioned, lighting a cigarette from the chair he was sitting in

"Meet a friend"

"A friend huh?"

"Yeah...maybe you'll like her" Angel replied before grabbing his beer and retreating towards the door.

---

Walking through the gate you saw the front of the club littered with patches. Some of them were from different charters. Weird, angel never mentioned other charters visiting, by the look of the outside, you could only imagine the clubhouse itself is packed with people.

Scanning the crowd you spotted the person in question walking towards you

“Hey stupid face”

“good evening stupid head”

“that's basically the same thing i just said” 

"oh shut up i couldn't think of insult fast enough”

Pulling you into a hug you couldn't help but feel a little more relaxed. Angel was always like an older brother to you, an annoying one at that but still a brother.

It had been weeks since you saw him, being back in his company made you feel safe again, almost like a sense of home

He placed a kiss on your temple “We missed you here”

“Yeah, I know” letting him go you looked around, mainly to see if any of the other guys were in sight but also to see if coco was around, expecting to be attacked as per usual. 

Angel took notice of you scanning the crowd “He's inside”

“Hmm? Sorry I got no idea what you're on about”

Pulling you into his side he wrapped an arm around your shoulders “sure ya don't”

Walking inside you scanned the crowd once again, thankfully coco was nowhere to be seen for the moment and most of the guys were spread out around the room. Bishop and Taza were playing pool, Gilly and Creeper were sitting at the table in a conversation whilst hank sat opposite them looking at something on his phone, Ez was tending the bar like usual but this time he was accompanied by some hang rounds.

At least there isn't girls hanging off him yet 

“C'mon let’s get a drink huh” angel lightly shoved you towards the bar playfully.

“No”

“No?” his eyebrows raised playfully

“No and if you try to make me go over there with you i promise i will embarrass you” you laughed 

“Fine”

After he got the drinks you both sat at a table in the corner for a while talking, the majority of the topics were about what had been happening while you were distanced from everyone.

Eventually Coco spotted you two and joined in the conversation. you sat talking to the two of them while everyone else was up to their own things, you didn't mind, the both of them combined made for some very interesting storys, the conversation could never die. After around 10 minutes, Angel had left you two alone saying he “wasn't bout to listen to this shit ''- which was super ironic considering the topic of conversation was about modifications for a new bike coco had brought a few days ago

“How does your bike handle anyway? I heard they are bottom heavy and hard to manoeuvre sometimes” you questioned. overtime Ez had taught you some things about bikes, mainly when he was just rambling about random things not thinking you were really paying attention to what he was saying

“It’s alright i guess, sometimes it slips when I lean too far on corners, other times it tends to not wanna go the way I need to but other than that it handles pretty well, arms hurt like a bitch after long ride though” he explained

Nodding your head you understood where he was coming from, having your arms at that angle for hours must have taken its toll

“Ay '' he nodded his head towards someone behind you, Turning your head you saw it was Ez walking through the door with Angel, seemingly engrossed in some type of conversation they were having.

Despite spotting him earlier you only scanned over his appearance but now you actually took a good look at him, he looked different, not much but still different from before. His hair was in the same style but it little more grown out then usual, his facial hair had grown out a little too. His eyes had bangs underneath them and his face looked drained.

All in all he looked like shit.

“You know he’s not the same without you right?” bringing your attention back to coco you couldn't help but feel like you were to blame, maybe if you fought harder of him you two would have never split.

“You two spoke since?” he questioned

“Nope...I got a few drunk calls saying he was sorry but other than that. No” you shook your head. 

After you two first broke up he called you around a week later rambling about something but since he was slurring his words- you could barely understand anything he was saying. You got about 2 voicemails of him saying he was sorry and how he fucked up but- you never spoke to him, never texted him back when he would ask you if you were coming to one of the parties.

“The amount of times we've had to stop him from drunk calling you is unreal”

Playing with the label on the beer bottle in front of you, you thought about what coco said- clearly Ez had attempted to talk to you at some point, but why? The whole breakup was because he needed “space” to deal with some things so why was he trying to talk to you?

“He wanted space, I gave it to him” you shrugged, slowly peeling off the label

“Didn’t mean you had to leave us too” looking up from the bottle you saw coco was now avoiding your gaze

“Yeah...I know” maybe it was wrong of you to drop everyone, but being around them would have only brought back memories of you and Ez. At the time it seemed like a good idea to distance yourself from all of the guys, but now, despite only being here for a hour, you could tell how much you really missed being around them.

“You know he’s walking over here right?” Dropping your head onto the table you let out a sigh causing coco to laugh “I’ll leave you two alone huh?” lifting your head up you looked at him with a facial expression as if to say ‘don’t leave me’ but he did anyway

“Y/n” his voice was low, almost as if he didn’t believe he was saying your name again

“Ezekiel”

“Can we talk?”

“We are talking” sitting up straight you turned in your seat to look at him. He looked even worse up close- the bags under his eyes were alot darker then they seemed from a distance, they made it appear like he hadn’t slept for days, you couldn’t help but notice he had a bruise slowly forming on top of his right eyebrow.

“What happened there?”

He looked confused for a moment till you pointed to his eyebrow

“Oh I erm…got into a fight.....with a wall” his eyes were trained onto the floor, almost like he was ashamed.

You hummed in response not sure how to respond without laughing 

“So how have you been?” he questions

“Good i guess..how about you?”

“Alright I suppose”

What followed was nothing but silence between the both of you, neither of you knowing what to say. The sounds of other people talking and rock music became almost deafening as the two of you stayed silent

“Well this got really awkward fast” you spoke up causing Ez to laugh a little

“Yeah..yeah it did” he nodded

After a few more moments you stood from your chair “I'm just gonna-”

“Yeah go, i get it go ahead” he finished your sentence for you.

Nodding you quickly made your way outside, the yard was almost empty by now, people had either left for the night or had moved inside.

You spotted Angel sitting on the front steps fiddling with one of the rings on his hand while looking at something in the distance. You sat beside him in silence, neither of you even attempting to make conversation but simply just being trapped within your own minds.

When you and Ez broke up you knew things would change, you knew the two of you probably wouldn't be able to have the same conversations you would before, but you never expected them being so awkward.

Maybe it was just because the wound was still pretty fresh, after all it had only been just over a month

After a few minutes you heard the door behind you open as someone stepped out, seconds later a figure sat next to you, looking over you saw it was coco

“What we doin? havin a lil moment to yourselves” he asked lighting up a cigarette and offering the both of you one

“Yep” Angel responded, taking one and lighting it before looking somewhere in the distance once again. All three of you sat for a few minutes just looking at seemingly nothing in particular.

Maybe it won't be like this forever? At some point there has got to be a time where you can come to the club without feeling awkward because ez’s here.

You heard the clubhouse door open once more behind you and once again, you didn't turn around, but coco did

"Ay man sit" you heard him say as he snapped his fingers at space left beside him to whoever stepped out from the door. It didn't take long for whoever it was to sit down.

Much like he did with you and Angel, Coco offered the person a cigarette which they must of silently declined from the lack of verbal exchange.

There has to be a point when you and the club can all hang out together like before....there has to be a stage where you and Ez can talk like normal people without it being awkward….right?

Seemingly out of no were Coco spoke up, nodding his head towards two stacked benches on the opposite side of the yard "You think i could clear those in one attempt?"

Angel was the first to respond "Absolutely fucking not" he paused for a moment- looking where the benches were stacked "but I'd love to see you try"

"I bet $50 you fail and fall face first" someone spoke up, looking to your left you finally realized who stepped out earlier ..Ezekiel

"Bet, ill prove you wrong" coco stood, taking off his kutte and placing it on the stair rail "you two wanna place any bets?" Coco looked at you and Angel

"Nope, I'm good" you shook your head

"I bet $50 that you don't clear it" Angel responded

"You have no faith pretty boy" coco responded, shaking his head  as he started to walk over to the benches

"This is going to end in a hospital trip" you stated making both Angel and Ez laugh

All three of you watched as coco seemed to examine the height of the two benches, planning the distance he would have to run to gain enough speed to propel himself over them and how he would land the jump

"You think he's gonna snap his nose again?" Ezekiel questioned

"Definitely" both you and Angel replied

All three of you watched as coco began to run towards the benches, from your angle it looked as if he could clear it....you were wrong. 

Seconds later coco was laying face first in the dirt, one leg was on the floor while the other was stuck in a piece of wood on the bench that had broke underneath his weight

"I think i broke my nose" you heard coco exclaimed causing all three of you to laugh. The few people who were still outside drew their attention to the scene and started laughing too when they realized what happened.

"Ill go get some paper towels" you said, still laughing.

Maybe this was a sign nothing had changed between the four of you, that you could all still hang out and do stupid stuff like before

Maybe nothing has to change

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

An| hope you enjoyed this fic. Honestly have no idea why or when i started writing this but 🤷🏼‍♀️ . *sorry for any spelling or grammar errors or any parts that don't make sense. only scanned it before posting it*

ALSO- i swear part two to the prank war is coming! Its just talking awhile for me to find a way to describe to things going on as well as being busy with other stuff.

[l-lend]

Phone Tag

By demand, this is part 2 to Moving In

Warning: flirting, brothers being nosy, (let me know if I miss something)

The screeching of a phone alarm rang out in the sparsely decorated room causing an arm to grope for the offending device before it slithered back under the blankets. After a few more moments contemplating life, the man pulled back his bedding and ran a hand through his prematurely gray hair. That same hand passed over his face with the other plucked up a box and retrieved a sliver of wood. As soon it was perched between his lips, he could now start his day.  

Shrugging on his work uniform, he shuffled out into the hall his sights set on procuring a pre-work snack. Thankfully, Echo usually kept the pantry stocked with granola bars. As he plucked up a handful of them to keep on him while on the job, a buzzing noise sounded from the counter that drew his attention to the device that had now ceased its buzzing. Glancing over it, the lock screen was revealed to be a photo taken from what looked to be an amusement park with a blonde girl and the mountain of a man supporting her on his shoulder, both grinning like fools. The gray haired man shook his head, his brother left his phone lying around again. No doubt he would soon be bugging the rest of his brothers to help look for it. The device buzzed again, lighting up the lock screen once more with a notification appearing, causing the man to arch a brow. All of Wrecker’s contacts were saved already. The important one’s anyway, and this one only had a number. 

“Cross, what’re you-”

Crosshair whipped around only to see Echo entering the kitchen, folded dish rags in hand.

“Wrecker left his phone again.”

Echo shook his head, “It happens. I’ll let him know when he starts looking for it.”

“He’s got a text.”

“Omega sending him more cat pictures I assume?”

“This one’s just a number.”

Echo offered his brother a shrug, “It’s none of our busin-”

Crosshair tapped on the screen to see a preview of the message.

    ‘Hey, it’s Rina. Well, now you have my number so I don’t feel weird about having yours. Anyway, thanks for helping out today….’

The message preview only left Crosshair with more questions. A smirk curled his lips before glancing at his brother.

“Wrecker gave a girl his number.”

Echo left the dish rags on the counter to eye the phone as well.

“You’re kidding,”

Crosshair only shook his head. The sound of hurried footfalls brought their little sister skidding into the doorway.

“Echo, Crosshair, the new lady next door is really nice. She said if it’s okay with you guys, I could go play with her cats at her house.”

Crosshair offered a shrug, “I mean you could play in traffic for all I care. Ow-”

Echo thumped Crosshair halfheartedly on the shoulder before turning to Omega, “I don’t mind, but I think we’d feel better if we all meet her first. We can talk about it more at dinner.”

Crosshair rubbed his shoulder before an idea came to him, “Say, this new neighbor got a name?”

“Yeah, her name’s Rina.” 

Crosshair shot Echo a smirk and the bark of a laugh, “Guess that solves that.”

Omega furrowed her brow, “Solves what?”

“Don’t worry about it, half pint.”

With a quick ruffle of Omega's hair, much to her annoyance, Crosshair took his leave.

The trip back up the sidewalk was a bit longer than he thought as Wrecker attempted to think back of where he might have set his phone down. Maybe on his nightstand hooked up on the charger again? Eaten by the couch perhaps? He was pulled from his thoughts at the sound of a familiar vehicle pulling into the driveway. 

The faded gun metal gray of their family car showed her age, but she got them

places. The driver popped open the door and emerged glancing at his brother before coming to the rear door.

    “Wrecker, lend me a hand.”

    “Sure,” 

    The pair retrieved the food boxes from the backseat and made their way inside to the table taking up the dining room.

    Omega immediately made her presence known as well as being drawn to the scent of sauce and melted cheese.

    “Hunter, we got a new neighbor today and she’s got cats.”

    He heaved a heavy sigh, “Omega, we’re not getting a cat.”

    “No, that’s the best part. She’s really nice and she said if it’s okay with you I can come over and play with them.” 

    “I said it might be best if we meet her first. She did just move in and we don’t know anything about her.” Echo explained, giving a questioning glance to the boxes, “Pizza again?”

    “It was my turn for dinner, and it’s on the way back.”

    The brothers and sister broke out plates and dove into their meal, an extra plate set aside for whenever their more tech savvy brother poked out of his room for food.

“Might not be a bad idea to invite her over to see what she’s about.” Hunter replied to Echo after his first bite, “You or I can go over there tomorrow and invite her.”

Echo huffed a laugh through his nose, “Wrecker could always text her. She apparently has his number.”

Wrecker nearly dropped his slice, his mouth still open.

“Oh, your phone is in the kitchen by the way.”

The rest of their dinner passed with little incident with Tech soon joining the group rambling over some research projects his students were working on. Wrecker let the story pass over him as he was concerned with retrieving his phone.

Shutting the door to his room, he crawled into his bed staring at the message on the screen. She was true to her word and texted him, so now he had her number too. But what does he write back? Hey I know we just met but my brothers want to meet you? He read over the message once more for the tenth time.

‘Hey, it’s Rina. Well, now you have my number so I don’t feel weird about having yours. Anyway, thanks for helping out today I don’t know if I would’ve been able to unload everything without you. You’re a real lifesaver :D’

    Finally having an idea of what to reply, Wrecker tapped along the screen’s keyboard.

        ‘It’s no problem. So my brothers want to have you come over for dinner sometime to meet you. They like to meet anyone Omega would be hanging out with’

He didn’t wait too long for his phone to buzz again.

        ‘That’s fine by me, and it’s really cute you guys are protective of your little sister. Do I need to bring anything? Are you and Omega gonna be there too?’

His chest gave an odd clench before he typed back.

        ‘I don’t think so but you can if you want. Echo tends to cook quite a bit when we have company coming over, and Omega and I will be there.’

        ‘That’s good. I’ll at least have two familiar faces. Oh! I have a lemon bars recipe that’s pretty killer. Do you think that’s good? If not, I got other things.’

She sounds so sweet. She still wanted to bring over something and not show up 

empty handed and even concerned if they would like what she brings. 

        ‘Those sound good, and even if they don’t want any I’m sure they’ll be great. I’ll eat any they won’t.’

    He dragged a hand down his face. Great, now she might think he’ll just eat her desserts and that’s it.

        ‘That’s really sweet of you. I’d be nice to get more than my roommates’ comments about my desserts. I got most of the kitchen unpacked, so I found my coffee.’

    Wrecker frowned resting his phone on his chest. Wait, why was he like this because she found what she needed. That’s great, right? His phone buzzed.

        ‘Although I forgot I didn’t buy a new thing of creamer yet. Could I..come over and barrow some tomorrow morning?’

    He barely engaged his brain to type a reply.

        ‘Of course you can. Probably could stay for breakfast too.’

        ‘Oh, my hero! I’ll be over tomorrow. Is 9 too early? Or I can do 10.’

        ‘9’s fine. I’ll make sure I’m up and showered.’

        ‘Oh? Well, I’ll be sure to not show up too early….unless you want me to ;) ’

    Wrecker’s grip on his phone loosened and the device landed on his chest with a thud. His face heated up.

        ‘Wait why? I mean only if you want to.’

        ‘Lol don’t worry about it big guy. I’ll be over tomorrow at 9, so I’m gonna sleep. Have a good night, and sleep well.’

    A picture soon loaded in of Rina laid back in a bed, possibly hers. A big smile plastered on her face with what looked to be a ball of fur slightly in frame. Oh, he was in trouble.

        ‘Good night.’

    He pressed send and then tapped more on the screen before placing his phone on his nightstand to charge. Rina was saved as a contact with a fresh new picture as her contact photo.   

[snelbz]

Life As We Know It {Chapter One}

Summary: After the sudden deaths of Nesta’s sister and Cassian’s best friend, they gain guardianship of their nephew, Nyx.

Based on Life As We Know It (2010) and a prompt sent in by anonymous for our Nessian fanfic contest. This is a modern au.

Instead of doing a tag list for this story, we have decided to have a set posting schedule. Chapters will be posted weekly on Mondays and Thursdays. Chapters will be posted on both my and Tara's blogs! >> @tacmc.

Life As We Know It Masterlist

Shelby's Masterlist

Tara's Masterlist

5 years later….

Nyx looked at his birthday cake and the lone candle that was lit atop the icing before looking up at Feyre with a confused expression on his beautiful, little face.

His mother laughed, quietly, before leaning forward and taking out the candle. She had just blown out the flame when Rhys barely pushed the cake closer to Nyx, who put his chubby, little hands smack-dab in the middle of the icing and dug in.

Everyone had come to celebrate, and even Nesta couldn’t stop her smile from showing. At least, she let it show when she was on the opposite end of the house from the one and only, and massively self-centered, Cassian Nazari.

Of course, he would be at Nyx’s first birthday party. He was Nyx’s uncle - maybe not by blood, not that blood mattered when it came to Cassian, Rhysand, and their other lifelong friend, Azriel.

He, too, stood across the kitchen, watching as Elain snapped picture after picture of the jubilant baby, the mess atop his high chair the largest Nesta had ever seen. She knew Elain was taking notes for their own daughter’s birthday party, though she was barely three months old.

Rhysand’s smile was as big as Feyre’s as they watched their son, listening as his giggles filled the kitchen. Nyx realized quickly that the cake was for him alone and after smashing it for a few moments, he lifted a large handful to his chubby face and took a bite. His eyes lit up and that started the giggling anew.

Nesta loved her nephew and niece, had loved him since the day they were born, but she didn’t envy her sisters and their happy families. Unlike them, she had remained perfectly content on her own, especially after the endless string of disaster dates she had been forced to sit through throughout the years.

And children? It wasn’t that Nesta disliked kids. Not all kids, at least. She loved her nephew and niece, anyway. Having one of her own, though? Having to be around one every day? Every night? Having to constantly try and make a tiny person content?

No, thank you. That was a challenge she had little interest in.

A deep rumbling laugh came from across the house and Nesta looked up to find Cassian entering the kitchen, still chuckling at something Mor had said.

As hard as she tried, she couldn’t keep her lip from curling slightly as she looked at him. It only infuriated her more when he caught sight of her as he raised his beer to his lips and winked.

He was absolutely insufferable.

After their catastrophe of a date years ago, which Nesta had made Feyre promise was a stunt she’d never pull again, she had only been forced to be around Cassian Nazari a handful of times.

One of which was during Feyre and Rhysand’s wedding, only months after their date.

“You only have to walk with him for thirty seconds,” Feyre had sighed, while Mor continued to pin and curl her hair into place. “You don’t have to be happy about it.”

“Good,” Nesta said, draining the glass of champagne in her hand. “Because I’m not.”

As Feyre’s maid-of-honor, it was customary that she was supposed to walk out of the wedding arm in arm with Rhysand’s best man. She wished that he’d picked Azriel, but since it seemed the Cauldron hated her, it had to be Cassian.

Elain, who was harboring the world’s most obvious crush on Azriel at the time, was thrilled with how they’d be exiting the wedding. Nevertheless, she said to Nesta, “I think you two got off on the wrong foot. He’s a really good guy, Nes.”

Nesta shot her youngest sister a look of pure annoyance through the mirror’s reflection. “Have any of you ever been on a date with the guy? And not only a date, but the worst date of your life?”

Feyre snorted, fully aware of where this conversation was headed. “No.”

“Then you have no room to talk,” Nesta snapped, admiring herself in the mirror. “Mother’s tits, Feyre, he wore jeans to the nicest restaurant in Velaris!”

“At least he didn’t wear his boots,” Mor muttered, then she caught Nesta’s glare in the mirror. “Really? He wore his boots?”

“He was dressed for an all-night, summer bonfire,” Nesta said, shaking her head. “And he’s completely full of himself. And, he forgot his wallet!”

“Not like you can’t afford dinner,” Feyre said, and Nesta’s lips snapped shut. She was fully aware that the conversation had somehow become a let’s-pick-on-Nesta session.

Feyre added, “You have to walk back down the aisle with him, share an entire table during dinner, and that’s it. No one is asking you to dance with him, but be nice.” Nesta met Feyre’s eyes, her jaw set. Feyre sighed, “Fine, be civil.”

She scoffed, but nodded. “Fine.”

The ceremony itself went off without a hitch. It was beautiful and elegant and the perfect wedding Rhys and Feyre had always wanted.

She ignored Cassian’s unending looks the whole night, managed to give her maid-of-honor speech without snarling at him, and after that, took advantage of the open bar her sister and new brother had so kindly provided.

She was coming out of the bathroom, a glass of wine still clutched in her hand, doing her best not to trip over her own feet when she walked into a wall.

A wall of solid muscle that turned out to be Cassian’s back.

When he turned around and she looked up at him, his eyes were nearly as glazed as hers.

“Hello, Nes,” he said, smirking down at her.

She bit out, “Don’t call me that.”

“That was a pretty, little speech you gave,” he said, leaning against the wall. “I know true love exists cause I’ve seen it first hand. Poetic.”

Nesta scoffed, brushing off the skirt of her dress as if he had tainted it. “Don’t flatter yourself. I wasn’t referring to you. I was talking about Feyre and Rhys, in case you thought otherwise.”

“Oh, I didn’t,” he promised. “Honestly, I didn’t think you were talking about anyone. Just some fluffy shit that sounded sweet. Unless it’s that guy that showed up at the restaurant and ruined our date. Oh, wait,” he began, tapping his chin as if in deep thought, “You dumped him though, right? Poor bastard.”

“You’re a prick,” Nesta bit out. She refrained from saying that Tomas hadn’t ruined their date. It was sad that seeing her ex was one the bright points of her night, rather than seeing the Greek god standing before her. The pretentious, cocky asshole of a Greek god.

He only grinned. “But am I a liar?”

Nesta’s jaw locked. She eyed his tux. “I’m just glad you decided to clean up for your own brother’s wedding. No jeans?”

He scoffed. “Is that the worst you’ve got?”

“Do you prefer me to give you my worst?” she asked, brows furrowing. “If so, you may want to be careful what you wish for.”

Cassian said nothing, just lifted the beer she hadn’t noticed in his hands to his lips.

Nesta rolled her eyes, brushing past him, and made a move to head back into the reception.

His voice called out behind her, “You don’t have to be such a miserable bitch, you know?”

She froze, looking back at him. He was no longer smirking at her. Instead, his eyes were intense. “Excuse you?”

“You’re so miserable that you won’t allow anyone else to have any fun, won’t allow yourself to either,” he said, still leaning against that damn wall. He crossed his arms over his muscular chest, his dress shirt tight and loose in all the right places. “You want everyone else to suffer, just because you’re forcing yourself to, for whatever reason.”

“You don’t know a damn thing about me,” she bit out, stalking back over to him. She was so close she had to look up into his face.

“I don’t,” he said, words clipped. “I tried, but you didn’t seem very inclined to let me get to know you during our date. You were more concerned with my attire and your ex than you were with me. You thought all I wanted to do was fuck you.” His eyes, still glassy and glazed, dragged down her body and back up again. “Besides, you’ve got that damn stick shoved so far up your ass, there wouldn’t have been room for my cock even if I’d really even tried.”

A blink was Nesta’s only reaction. Then her hand was moving of its own accord, splashing her full glass of wine directly in his face and all over that pretty, white shirt.

“Go fuck yourself,” was all she’d said before she walked back into the ceremony, leaving him there to drip on the venue’s fancy carpet.

“Nesta!”

She blinked, Feyre’s voice drawing Nesta out of her memories, looking over at her sister. She stood next to Rhys and Elain, who had her camera in her hands, and Cassian stood behind Nyx’s high chair.

“I want a picture of him with his godparents, come here,” she beamed and Nesta tried not to cringe.

She had been so proud, her heart feeling like it would burst when Feyre and Rhys had asked her to be Nyx’s godmother. There was no hesitation when she said yes, tears lining her eyes as she’d hugged both her sister and brother-in-law.

She tried not to think about the fact that when they’d told her Cassian was his godfather, she nearly asked them to give the distinction to Elain.

But she hadn’t, wouldn’t. Despite what others, especially Cassian, thought of her… Nesta loved her nephew.

She loved her family.

With a sigh, Nesta meandered over to Nyx’s high chair. “Alright.”

“Closer,” Feyre ordered, gesturing Nesta to move in closer beside Cassian behind the high chair.

Nesta’s lips pursed but she took another step toward the boys for her sister’s sake.

“I’m not poisonous, Nesta,” Cassian muttered, smiling at the camera as he spoke. “You won’t burst into flames if we brush arms.”

“You’d be so lucky to brush arms with me,” she muttered back, hoping the smile she was giving her sister was convincing - and knowing full well that it wasn’t.

Without another word, Cassian tossed his arm around Nesta and said, “Cheeeeese!”

Nyx was giggling, looking up at his godparents behind him. There was so much joy and adoration in those big, beautiful eyes that Nesta didn’t have the heart to storm off, leaving Cassian in her dust, no matter how much she wanted to.

The camera’s flash went off and Nesta pushed Cassian’s arm off her shoulder.

The rest of the party was perfect. Feyre took Nyx up to the bathroom to clean him off, while Rhysand, Azriel, and Cassian hauled his many gifts out into the living room. Feyre opened them one by one, despite everyone knowing Nyx had no clue what was going on, though he did clap his chubby little hands and giggle at a few particular items. Nesta stood off to the side with Elain, holding a milk-drunk, sleepy Seph in her arms.

Azriel and Elain’s little girl had been a surprise, neither of them planning on Elain getting pregnant so soon after they got married. They both fell into the role of parents so seamlessly though, that Nesta knew another baby would be in their near future. They adored the baby girl, and she was the most perfect baby Nesta had ever seen.

Persephone hardly cried, only doing so when she was hungry or needed to be changed, and once whatever wrong was taken care of, she became a happy, smiley baby again.

Nyx, on the other hand, had been a hellion as a baby.

Which was to be expected, considering who his father was. Although responsible when necessary, Rhysand was just as much of a madman as Cassian...especially when infused with alcohol.

“You look good with a baby,” Elain crooned from beside her sister.

Nesta rolled her eyes. “You can keep trying to push me down the marriage-baby road, but I just won’t take it. Wasting your time.”

Elain sighed, dramatically, with that little grin remaining on her soft pink lips. “As long as you stay such a good auntie, I suppose I can’t complain.”

Nesta looked down at the sweet, sleeping infant in her arms. She didn’t mind those little snuggles.

She did mind the diaper blowouts, constant spit-ups, and loud crying, though. That’s usually when she gave Seph back to her parents and blissfully enjoyed her independent life.

Feyre gasped and Nesta looked up. She was holding a little guitar that had Nyx’s name and the night sky engraved into the dark-stained wood.

Nesta’s eyes snapped to Cassian.

Cassian smiled, fondly, at Feyre. “I know he won’t be able to start messing with it for another few years, but I couldn't help myself.”

“He made that himself, you know.” Nesta’s eyes shot to Elain, who was watching the scene before them. She whispered again, “He doesn’t do it for a living, of course, but it’s a hobby of his, making guitars. He’s really good.”

She blinked, the information catching her off guard for whatever reason. But all she said was, “That’s nice.”

She spent the rest of the afternoon, ignoring the man as much as she could, as she always did. But as the guests began to dwindle, as Nyx and Seph went down for their naps, the three sisters gathered in the living room, while Rhys, Azriel, and Cassian went out back to inspect the small jungle gym Rhys was building for Nyx. Again, he was too young to use most of it, but the tiny swing and slide would be hours of fun for the little man.

Feyre brought two cups of coffee out to her sisters before collapsing next to Elain on the couch. “That could not have gone better if we tried.”

Nesta leveled her a look and raised an eyebrow.. “If we tried? You had a minute-by-minute itinerary for a one-year-old’s birthday.”

“Everything was perfect,” Elain smiled, cutting off Nesta, blowing on her coffee gently. “Nyx had a good time, neither he nor Seph had a blow-up, Cassian and Nesta managed to be in the same room without stabbing each other. All in all, a good day.”

Nesta rolled her eyes before throwing a vulgar gesture towards her sisters, who were both laughing.

“Fine, new subject,” Feyre grinned. “Oh! Before I forget, Rhys and I are going out of town for our anniversary in a few weeks. I was hoping you could watch Nyx for a few days.”

It took Nesta a moment to realize that Feyre was talking to her. She froze, having been blowing on her own hot coffee. “I’m sorry, what?”

Feyre laughed, quietly. “I was hoping that you could watch Nyx while Rhys and I go away for a long weekend. We’re going to the mountains for our anniversary. To his family’s cabin.”

“Oh, that sounds nice,” Elain said, looking at Nesta.

Who blinked, having only unfrozen to set her coffee down on the table between them. “You want me…to watch Nyx…for the weekend? Alone? By myself? Just me and him?”

“That’s what I was hoping for, yeah,” Feyre said, nodding as she sipped from her cup. “You can come here, where all of his stuff is in one place, and make yourself at home.” She shrugged. “I’ll leave money for takeout and the key to the wine cabinet.”

Nesta hesitated. “I’ve only babysat Nyx a couple of times…all for, like, an hour each.”

“It will be fine,” she said, a genuine smile on her face. “It will only be three nights, really. We’ll leave after work on Thursday and be home Sunday evening.”

Nesta stammered and shook her head. “I have to work on Friday, the restaurant-.”

“I’ll keep him during the day on Friday,” Elain offered. “I don’t have any shoots that day, so he can spend the day with me and Seph.”

“You could keep him the whole weekend,” Nesta tried, looking at her younger sister hopefully.

“Seph is enough of a handful,” she chuckled, glancing at Feyre, who was nodding as well. “I don’t think I can handle two at once for an entire weekend.”

“Please, Nes,” Feyre said, drawing her eldest sister’s eyes to her. “I know you can do it and it would be nice for you to spend some time together, just you two.”

“And you can call me, if you need anything,” Elain added.

Nesta looked from Feyre to Elain. “You two already planned this.” They at least had the wherewithal to look guilty. She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head. “Fine. But I’ll probably end up calling both of you every thirty seconds.”

“I can work with that,” Feyre said, just as Elain said, “Then it’s settled!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Nesta snorted, shaking her head. “But, I hope you know that I wouldn’t do this for anybody else.”

“Oh, I know,” Feyre grinned, “which is what makes you such a wonderful, wonderful big sister.”

“I am pretty damn wonderful,” Nesta agreed, grinning as she sipped from her mug.

As she drank, she peeked out the window, where the boys were putting together the playset. Once she did, only one thing caught her eye.

Cassian was already watching her.

And when he caught her gaze, that stupid little, cocky-ass grin appeared.

She hated that grin, hated it with every ounce of her being.

And she wouldn’t feel bad for it, no matter how much her sisters adored the guy.

She hated him, hated Cassian Nazari.

And she always would.

[wizkiddx]

Not sure if you are taking request at all but if you do, do you mind writing something about Harry agreeing to be the birth photographer at the birth of his niece (tom and reader’s daughter) 🥺🤍

this was so interesting!! personally I am way too self conscious to have a photographer when I *eventually* have a kid aha, but I hope this is what u were looking for x x p.s. coming at my brand w the white hearts :)

tomholland x reader

summary: harry gets terrified by toms request about the birth of his child, but the reader smoothes it over

Having just had a round of golf with Harry, Tom invited him back to yours for a cuppa and a catch up too. After all the years of living and travelling with Harry by his side, Harry in particular was massively important to TOm. Especially since he’d moved in with you, Tom constantly made a super special effort to spend as much time with him as possible. Harry had a key and had no quam with letting himself in uninvited. Though since he had walked in at *the wrong time* a bit too frequently, and then the announcement of your pregnancy - he had cut down the unexpected visits.

“So, I actually wanted to ask you something.”

“This does not sound good” Harry furrowed his eyebrows together, looking suspiciously at his brother as he poured the kettle into the two matching ‘Brothers Trust’ mugs.

“Since when? I only ever ask you to do good things?”

“We both absolutely know that is not true.” Harry deadpanned, pointing to the palm of his right hand which carried a large scar. Scar in question had been sustained during one of Tom’s incredibly ‘good’ aka stupid ideas.

“Right fair… I’ll allow that.” He receeded, placing the two mugs onto the counter in front of Harry. All it took was one look at the pale brown colour for Harry to turn his nose up, shooting Tom a look as though he’d just murdered a puppy. The elder of the two sighed, knowing exactly what his brothers snobbiness was about.

“Seriously?”

“It’s not your fault your awful at this, some people just aren’t born with it.” With a sarky pat on the back Harry rounded the counter, pouring the freshly brewed but slightly too milky tea down the drain - before flicking the kettle on to make his own brew… properly this time.

Tom knew his brother well enough to know not to argue or protest, instead perching on the counter as he watched Harry work his ‘magic’.

“But seriously me and Y/n have been talking about the birth cos you know, it’s not too far away now.” This was true, you were now only 3 weeks from your due date - but going by the size of you, you were ready to pop. Quite literally, you didn't know how much longer you could last.

“I’d be concerned if you weren’t mate.”

“Well yeh and I basically um …  had the idea to get a photographer for the birth right? It’s quite an American thing but I don’t want to forget anything and I’m sure it’s gonna be magical.” In response, Harry slowly turned around, empty mug in hand and eyes fierce.

“Are you fucking stupid?!”

To be fair to Harry, that had pretty much been your reaction when Tom first suggested it - word for word. He’d got the idea from one of the crew he’d filmed his most recent projects with, the guy had been raving about how beautiful it was and once he’d shown the pictures to Tom - he had to agree. Eventually Tom had worn you down to it and actually the idea of being able to save the moment you met your kid for the first time didn’t sound too bad. You had firmly set the boundaries of no photos of your ‘labour face’ and absolutely nothing from the ‘other end of the bed.’

The worry for both of you, as it always was given Tom’s reputation, was privacy. Especially the birth of your child, having a stranger there had you straight refusing, even a friend seemed still a little invasive. It was only when Tom had remembered he had a brother (who you were also incredibly close to) who was handy with a camera. Even if he had no experience with this particular type of photography, Harry was a pretty safe pair of hands for a camera in any situation. God knows he’s had enough practice at it.

“No hear me out, Y/n agreed too-“

“Of course this was your idea! So she’s totally fine with me staring at her fanny through a camera lens?”

“Harry” That was a warning tone, which the frizzy haired boy chose to completely ignore.

“No I-I mean, you want me to stare at your finances bits? Isn’t that some sort of weird incsest?”

“Shut the fuck up about Y/n’s body. You OBVIOUSLY wouldn’t be taking photos of that end, more like when the baby gets handed to us you know?”

“When its covered in gunk that came out of Y/n?”

“I’m pretty sure they clean it-“

“Not properly!”

Thankfully perhaps, the conversation was interrupted by the kettle clicking off, the water coming to a boil. With a huff Harry turned round, pouring and then stirring the tea as Tom watched his back from a distance. Neither spoke till after Harry finished, returning the milk to the fridge and then leaning against the counter top.

“Look I get it if you dont want to but your the only one Y/n trusts to do it and it means a lot to me.”

“Y/n wants me to stare at her fanny?!”

“No calm down you div. But you are the only one she trusts to be in the room when our first child is born. Will you just think about it?”

Harry opened his mouth to reply, probably protest, but before he could the front door opened and you called through the house.

“Tom? I’m home!” And becasue the boy was whipped he instantly trotted to the front door giving you a peck on your lips. He murmured to you that Harry was there, his lips moving against yours and you nodded with a small smile. You knew, instantly, that Tom in all his idiocy hadn’t handled it well.

“Would you mind getting all the shopping from car? Pregnant and all, so I’m not allowed to lift a finger.” You cocked your head, laughing as he rolled his eyes with a nod.

“I’m excited for when you can't play that card.”

“But then I’ll be the women who pushed a baby out for you… the mother of your child.”  Winking, you then quickly moved through the house before he could protest, just knowing he was pulling a pouty face as he watched you sway away.

Once in the kitchen you saw Harry nursing his mug like it was the last drink on earth, hunched over it from where he was sitting on a stool on the breakfast bar.

“ You lose at golf?” Opening the conversation, Harry instantly shot his head up, looking slightly terrified to see you.

“Wha- no, no I didn’t actually.”

“Tom asked you huh?” He nodded, seemingly not wanting to commit with words. “I had exactly the same face when he first told me. It’s weird right?”

“Yeh no shit.”

“He’s really keen on it though, I mean he’s like an excited puppy about the whole birth.”

“But you want it too?”

“Sort of. What I do want is for him to be happy though. And I’m fairly certain he’s gonna be terrified throughout the whole birth while I won’t be in a position to help himl.”

“You’ll probably have other stuff on your mind to be fair.” You laughed, at that, nodding in agreement with him.

“Just a little. I did think though, who is a person who I can trust to look after him too during that... and even I draw a line at your dad… Look if you don't want to, I totally get it and I can’t promise that I won’t be screaming at you during if you do. But it would comfort me to know you were there, with or without the bloody camera.”

“Seriously?” Rather than exclaiming it, Harry whispered in shock, not expecting this sort of a revelation.

“Course H! You're my little brother too.”

“I might pass out.”

“So will your brother, at least he won’t be on his own then.”

“I’ll do it.”

“Thnakyouthankyouthankyou!” You squealed, running over to hug him from the back, arms round his shoulders as he squirmed on the stool.

It was at this point Tom walked back in after unloading the ridiculous amount of baby clothes shopping you had done. Big strong Tom had to take 2 trips up and down the stairs to the nursery. Of course, all it took was a few words from you and Harry was falling at your feat. He was hardly surprised. Annoyingly you seemed to have this power over all the Hollands. They never stood a chance.

It wasn’t till later than evening, long since Harry had left and the dishwasher had been put on after Tom had made a mess cooking you dinner. Only then did your phone ping with a text message from Sam.

Sam H

‘I dont know what you’ve done to Harry but I’m scared, he’s binge watching one born every minute.’

Immediately you cracked up, knowing that it was his nervous energy and need to ‘be prepared’. Tom, who was lying behind you on the sofa whilst his hands caressing your stomach, jerked his head up intrigued as the what the ‘ding’ was. You showed him and he snorted in laughter too, whilst nuzzling his nose into your neck.

“How did you bring him round by the way?”

“Oh you know, I’ve got all of you wrapped round my little finger when I want.”

“That you do… do you think I should be worried?”

“Nah your just all softies.” Laughing softly, you pulled his arms tighter around you, wiggling back into him a bit more.”

“You didn’t tell him about the godparent thing though?”

“Course not… we can give him a separate heart attack about that.”

[troubatrain]

cowboy like me - m. barzal

a/n: omg suddenly she remembers how to write - so this is bigger than a blurb but definitely shorter than a fic so i’m calling it a baby fic!! i really haven’t written anything i love (or have been able to finish) in weeks so this feels really good to post so i hope you guys like it!!!

tagging @texanstarslove & @hookingminor because they both read this ahead of time to tell me it’s not trash (and i appreciate it sm!!)

“...and the skeletons in both our closets plotted hard to fuck this up, and the old men that I've swindled really did believe I was the one...”

She’s only here for her inheritance.

I heard she was dating a CEO but she got caught having an affair with his assistant.

Careful Barz, you might be next after that contract.

Mat’s gaze was held on you while he listened to his teammates and their wives gossip next to him. Mat saw you twice, maybe three times a year, only when you were forced to show your face at an Islanders event. Other than that, Mat knew no more about than Page Six did about Manhattan’s new up and coming socialite. Your family owned the team, putting a pretty penny in your pocket as long as you kept up with appearances, or at least that’s what Sydney seemed to think. You looked perfect, a silk floor length dress that Mat couldn’t imagine wasn’t made for only your body, hair pinned up perfectly while a pair of earrings hung low. Diamonds for sure. Everything about you was eloquent and expensive, and Mat had heard just about every rumor in the book about you.

Mat felt good about himself that night. He was on a point streak and having a monster season. He was wearing a suit that was tailored to absolute perfection, Mat’s dark brown locks tousled perfectly on his head. There was no reason that he couldn’t just walk up to you and finally take a moment to introduce himself to you instead of gawking at you from afar like he’d been doing since he was a rookie. He was a kid then, and you were probably dating a prince or the son of a millionaire and had no time for a dorky kid from Vancouver. Now, Mat was a man with a contract to match and hopes that you could give him the time of day at least. His gazes lingers a bit longer, watching the way your eyes rolled briefly at whatever that man was saying to you. You excuse yourself, waving your empty wine glass in your and like Mat was stalking his prey - this was the moment.

“You’re not very subtle you know,” You muse, looking over at Mat who was leaning against the bar getting a drink of his own, “And blue’s a better color on you.”

Being a bitch was second nature to you. The way scoring came to Mat or business came to your father and siblings. It was easy to be snarky, because snarky kept people at a distance. Besides, no one thought much about you that didn’t involve how many commas were in your bank account or the constant debate about whether or not you’d gotten a nose job when you were eighteen. If they wanted nothing more than a pretty face, then that’s what you’d give them.

“Noted,” Mat takes a gulp of his drink, and your eyes linger a little too long at his hand wrapped around a glass, “You want to dance?”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” You hum, taking a sip of your drink. Mat Barzal had a reputation that was cleaner than your own, the Islanders golden boy if you will, but you knew better than that. You knew about the revolving door in his apartment and all of the girls who got strung along in hopes they’d get to be the ones who wore that number thirteen jersey to games. Mat Barzal was no saint, and it didn’t matter how many rich men he convinced he was.

“No harm in dancing darling,” Mat husks, voice close to your ear while you desperately hoped he didn’t see the goosebumps on your arm. Mat was throwing you off your game, but it’s a welcome feeling. Darling. You liked that one, tired of the men who constantly called you babe or baby.

“One dance Barz,” You took his hand, letting him guide you to the middle of the tent that your parents had set up on the tennis court in the same home you grew up in. Your hand remained in his, your other gripping his shoulder while you swayed back and forth, “You know your teammates are staring.”

And they were. Mat turns his head, stifling a laugh at Tito’s jaw that was practically on the floor, “Let them.”

“Not afraid of the rumors?” You hum, leaning your head on Mat’s shoulder, “Or are you just like me?”

“Like you?” Mat asks, raising his eyebrows at you, grabbing your and spinning you around before he pulled you closer.

“You don’t want love, just a fancy car or two and girls falling at your feet. You’ll ride into town and leave with more damage done than the time before but you’ll always get away with it. You’ll tell all the stuck up rich people anything they want to hear to keep up appearances. A cowboy if you will,” You explain, a smile on Mat’s face telling you that maybe you nailed it on the head.

“And what if those rumors about me aren’t true?” Mat asks, lips ghosting over yours but he won’t kiss you just yet.

“And what if the ones about me aren’t true?” You quip back to avoid Mat’s question about whether or not you believed any of the shit you heard about him.

“Guess we’ll have to find out.”

***

And so you did. It wasn’t supposed to happen, you took Mat home that night no intentions of ever speaking to him again. He was going to leave your place and you were going to be another notch in his bedpost. Because that’s what the Mat Barzal’s of the world did. And you were right after all, Mat Barzal was a bandit, who stole the hearts of the women he saw and deleted their numbers without a second thought.

Except Mat wasn’t going to that with you, well he was, but when he woke up the next morning to see you perched in the chair by the window in your apartment, sipping a cup of tea - he didn’t want to leave. You looked so normal, your walls finally down in the comfort of your own space and suddenly Mat needed to know why you had them up so high to begin with. Mat found out quickly, it was the pressure of the people around you. Your family needed you to be perfect, but they didn’t think you’d be good enough for the family business like your brothers.

I just hope she doesn’t ruin him like Oliver.

Mat needs someone who’s going to support him.

She’s just going to hurt him and he’s going to play like shit because of it.

“Would you just stop for a second?” Mat had been chasing you three blocks from the restaurant he was having a nice dinner with you and your family at. He wasn’t supposed to hear them, but he did and you were embarrassed, “Darling-”

“Mat, stop just stop,” You sigh, finally slowing down because those stupid heels you chose to wore were killing your feet. You shiver for a second, Mat’s large hands move to

your arms to try and warm you up, “Go ahead, ask what horrible thing I did to drive my last boyfriend away… because it wasn’t my fucking fault. He was using me, just like everyone else does and-”

“I believe you,” Mat rushes out, pulling you into his arms and holding you close. It wasn’t the first time one the skeletons in either of your closets would try and tear you apart, and it probably wasn’t going to last. There was always going to be brunches with his teammates who hounded him about his girlfriend’s past or whatever rumor they were hearing. There would always be times their significant others would grab your arm in a crowd when Mat was having a conversation with another woman like he was going to hurt you. That wasn’t going away, but it also didn’t matter to him at all. All of that was before he locked it down, things were different now.

Mat went back to your place that night, taking note of the way one of his suits was pressed and in your closet for him, like he belonged there. He smiled at it, the blue suit you insisted he bought because it was the best color on him, “You’re not mad at me right?”

“Why would I be mad darling?” Mat sighs, smiling softly at his shirt that you seemed to always steal when you stayed over. You give him a look like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world, “I love you, and I don’t care about the past. It’s you and me now and that’s what matters.”

Mat hadn’t said it yet, waiting for the right moment for him to drop a four letter word he never thought he’d ever use. He’d thought it plenty of times, but he was saving for when the moment felt right. Maybe he’d drop it on the trip you had planned in a few weeks, or after a nice date, but you needed to hear it from him now. He loved you, everything down to the way you snored if you had too much to drink.

“I love you too,” You nod, wiping the last tear that had fallen from your eyes, “Cowboy.”

“Call me that forever,” Mat husks, pressing a sweet kiss to your lips, “And ever.”

[instasiswetrust]

"Guys! Oh, I'm so glad you're here!" Dustin risks bowling over Mike, Lucas, and Will with the exuberance of his hug but there's no way he can keep quiet about this. Not after what he had done the night before. "I have a secret and I'm dying to tell somebody else."

They all seem confused for a moment before Lucas' eyes widen.

"You got Suzie pregnant?"

"What? No!" He makes a face, jokingly punching his friend on the shoulder. "Jesus, Lucas, why would you even think that?"

"If it's not that then what?" Mike sounded annoyed but then again, he kind of always sounded like that.

Dustin wasted no time in pulling out the leatherbound journal he had found the night before, leading his friends to an outcrop near the docks, shadowed by trees. He opened it to the first page, where Steve had scrawled his name in neat calligraphy.

"Is that Steve's diary? Dustin, what the hell?"

"It's from the summer of '85 guys! You know what that means?"

"Uh, that you shouldn't be reading your older brother's teenage thoughts?" Lucas fixed Dustin with a light glare, which he ignored.

"No, idiot. Summer of '85 was the last time Steve ever dated someone! You know, the same year he moved here? When mom took him in?"

"I'm not following. What does this have to do with your wedding?" Mike crossed his arms over his chest, Will peeking over Dustin's shoulder to scan the pages.

"Well, wouldn't it be nice if Steve got to be happy too? He's been taking care of me since my mom died. He's the only family I have and if Suzie and I leave the Villa, who will help him?"

Lucas and Mike don't seem convinced with Dustin's reasoning but at least they stop glaring accusingly at him. In the end, is Will who breaks the staring contest between the three of them.

"So what did you find?"

"Uh, okay so listen to this." Dustin flipped some pages from the journal stopping at a page and grinning.

I keep being surprised when Mama doesn't show up to the important events in my life but I guess I should be used to it now. Robin insists I forget her, Nancy asked if I was planning to go back, and that's when I told them about my plans. Both of them are sad to see me go, we're the Dynamos after all, but they were supportive and saw me off at the airport.

My flight did a stop in France. I met Tommy there when he confused me for one of the staff workers. He's kind of a dick but in a charming way, and he's got this adorable smattering of freckles covering his face. He told me about growing up in London and how his dad was a banker, how his mom had his whole life planned out for him as soon as he graduated from college.

We went out for a few drinks and friendly banter turned into drunk 21 questions. Tommy told me how he's always wanted to but he's never been with another guy before. And look, I'm never like this! But we were pretty drunk, and I was curious if those freckles went all the way down! So one thing led to another and we ...

"I'm not sure if I wanna keep listening to this," Lucas said, making a face.

Mike, on the other hand, took a seat next to Dustin trying to see what was written on the journal. "Well, I do."

"What's dot dot dot?" Will asked, eyebrows furrowed.

"Oh, that's just a euphemism for having sex," Dustin said waving a dismissive hand as he flipped through more pages. "Okay, okay, now listen to this."

After almost missing the ferry, I finally reached Scopello this afternoon. The turqouise waters and the approaching sunset must have been one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen in my life. I think, that maybe I could stay here. Forever. Oh, but I'm not sure, it would mean rarely seeing Robin and Nancy, dropping all dreams of singing in the big stages, all those dreams...

I don't want to worry about this now. This place is too beautiful and I want to make the most of it.

There was a storm the other night. I've been staying on a rundown farm at the edges of town and during the storm heard a loud sound downstairs. There was a horse there, probably scared from the thunder but the ceiling collapsed and I couldn't get to it. I wasn't really thinking when I decided it would be a good idea to try and run back into town to get help. Luckily, this guy had been out driving (who rides out a Camaro in a thunderstorm??) and he helped me get to the horse and calm him down.

His name is William, Billy for short (the guy, not the horse), and I've never met a guy more infuriating than him. Or as hot, either. Good gods, he looks like he walked straight out of an art museum or something.

We’ve spent this whole month together, going out to swim at the beach (he tried teaching me to surf and I almost twisted my ankle on some rocks), then to a local bar (I actually got a new job singing there, who would've thought?), some picnics. It's been awfully romantic despite Billy’s brazenness and cocksure attitude.

And I think that I... I think that I might love him.

"But if they were so into each other, what happened?" Will pipes up again, a frown on his face as he tried to read over Dustin's shoulder with little results.

"I still think you shouldn't be doing this, dude. What if Steve finds out? He's going to be so mad at you!" Lucas interjects, picking another rock from the sand and making it skip over the surface of the water.

"He would kill me for sure," Dustin shrugs, offering a toothy grin. "But only if he finds out."

"Dustin, c'mon! What happened next?" At this point Will looks like he's about to rip the journal out of his friend's hands and read it himself.

"Jesus, you're pushy. Okay, so-"

Billy's engaged. Didn't even tell me, I had to find out for myself while I was making him breakfast and accidentally stumbled over some documents he had left laying around. My chest hurts, and I haven't stopped crying since he left this morning but I'm just so angry!

Fuck, I feel so dumb. This is all my fault. All because I was being a stupid reckless little slut.

Ugh. I sound like my mom. At least Robin and Nancy called to say they would arrive this week. I've truly missed them, can't wait to see them.

The girls came to see me during one of my shifts at the bar where I was singing. Robin couldn't stop laughing at Nancy's surprised face. She thinks I've changed a lot since I left but in a good way. I don't really believe her and I think she knows that. With them here, at least the ache from Billy's departure barely makes itself present.

Oh! Before I forget to write this again, today I saw Jonathan again. He was this nice photographer who slowed the ferry's departure so I wouldn't miss it. We talked a lot on our way and he's such a nice guy. He came to the bar today and we got talking again, he asked if I would be okay with modeling for him tomorrow. Nancy and Robin insisted that I tell him yes, as a chance to try and forget Billy by "getting some".

I told them it's an awful idea but I accepted Jonathan's offer either way. He's quiet but caring, and I really enjoy talking with him. We talked about his family back in America, his mom and his little brother. Honestly, if something were to happen tomorrow, I wouldn't be opposed to it...

"Wait." Will leans back, a confused expression on his face that slowly morphs into astonishment. "Dustin, does Steve ever say the last name of this Jonathan guy?"

"Uh," Dustin frowns, flipping through the pages. "Yeah, they are here somewhere. Let me look for them."

"Will, you don't think-" Mike starts, having caught onto his best friend's train of thought.

"Jonathan took a trip to Italy when I was fifteen." He says simply, biting on the pad of his thumb.

"Oh shit." All eyes turn to Dustin who's got his eyes fixated on the journal in his lap. "Byers. The guys last name is Byers."

"Holy shit Will, your brother hooked up with Dustin's brother." Lucas tries to tamper down his laughter but it's a futile endeavor, his lips curling up before he can control them. "I can't believe this."

"But wait," Mike turns to Dustin who's expression has turned troubled. His eyes narrow. "You still haven't explained what this has to do with your wedding. What did you do?"

Dustin stays quiet for a minute or two before he lifts his gaze to his friend's, a sheepish smile on his lips. "I uh, I invited all three of them to the wedding but made it look like Steve sent the invites. And they uh... they all said yes?"

This time Lucas doesn't even bother hiding his laugh, doubling over as he nearly cackles at the stupidness of this whole situation.

"Dude, you're so fucked when Steve finds out."

[333sth]

dove. (frankie morales)

chapter ii. previous. series masterlist.

pairing: frankie morales x ofc (’dove’) no use of y/n

warnings: ptsd/military service, violence, injury detail, language, angsty.

summary: santi’s hunch is no longer a hunch, but only will knows how close they are to finding frankie’s girl. 

rating: mature wc: 1.8k 

When a strong hand had clamped around her shoulder, Dove’s instinct was to break it. It wasn’t menacing; they were just waiting at the bar to be served.

A burly, middle-aged man was towering beside her, clutching a beer bottle that looked miniature in his thick grasp. His arms, still holding the shadow of what was once impressive muscle, were littered with military tattoos. Dove could spot a stick-and-poke from a mile off.

“I recognise that,” He gestures to her neck, where a small Delta Force tattoo was usually disguised by her long hair. “You ex-forces? Delta?” 

She wanted to kick herself. The sticky atmosphere had gotten the better of her and she’d thrown her hair into a ponytail without thinking.

“Yeah, but that isn’t exactly public knowledge ‘round here.” She murmurs. 

Across the room, Roni throws her head back in exaggerated laughter. A group of men, who looked barely out of their teen years, had come over to make some desperate attempts at getting laid. Dove had excused herself to buy the next round after one of them had cracked a mortifying joke about liking older women.

“That’s understandable.” The man held out his hand, which she took hesitantly. “My name’s Mark, I just retired out here. Served for twenty three years.” He chuckled gruffly, his voice thick from cigarettes. “I got jack shit to show for it, mind you.”

“Tell me about it.” She laughs, but she doesn’t offer her name. 

Mark notices as the conversation lulls. “I trained with a guy who made Delta. Santiago Garcia - we called him Pope, ‘cause he just had that way about him. You probably knew him.”

Dove swallows, chest lurching. “Sounds familiar… You know how it is though, the nicknames all blur into one eventually.”

That’s a lie, you never forget your teammates’ names. Mark knows it and so does Dove. Thankfully, he doesn’t push a conversation she clearly doesn’t want to have, and raises his bottle to her.

“Well, it was nice to meet you anyway. Enjoy yourself out here.”

“You too, Mark.” She tries to smile, but her lips press into a thin line that probably looks more like a grimace.

*

Mark had called Santiago the following day, the alcohol-blurred memory peaking his interest once he remembered his old friend’s plea a few months back. He’d asked around for any heads-up if any ex-Delta women around their age popped up. Mark had thought the man was delusional when he’d heard. If she was Delta Force, she wouldn’t be found unless she wanted to be. 

Apparently, he was wrong. Maybe even the best of the best got rusty after a while.

The town Dove had been spotted in was questionable to Santiago. It was too cosmopolitan for a woman who was starting over. However, after a onceover on a map of Mexico, Santi spotted its smaller neighbour. He’d never heard of it, which meant it must be the place. Small population, right on the coast, with enough amenities and business to get by without any trouble.

“And, man, she had a wicked scar on her throat. Sort of shit you’d only see on a Delta.” Mark had added, with a chuckle. “I can’t imagine that ain’t your girl.”

‘Dove isn’t my girl,’ Santi wanted to bite back instinctually. He bit his tongue, and instead offered, “It sounds like her. I can’t thank you enough, brother.”

*

Santiago only told Will what he knew about Dove. He had the mind to retain that information no matter what this trip threw at them. Plus, he trusted him with his life, plus a couple other lives that came to mind. Call it insurance, if things went south.

Plus, Will didn’t have Tom’s mouth, or twisted morality. Tom was more than willing to accept that Dove would miss out on their prospective fortune, that the ‘hunch’ would have to wait until Lorea was dealt with. Santiago knew his brothers well enough to know Benny would throw a hissy fit if they knew where Dove was and she wasn’t included. She’d spent enough time stitching up their war-torn skin and shoving them out of bullets to deserve a cut.

So, Pope told a little white lie. They had a stop in Mexico to meet with a contact. 

Frankie had murmured, “Better be worth it, stuck in this shitty car with you fuckers for ten hours.” 

Santiago resisted the urge to agree. God, he hoped it would be worth it too. He hoped he wasn’t driving them into a dead end, a bluff on Mark’s part. Or even worse, invading Dove’s beautiful new life without them. That would destroy everything; Dove, the boys, Frankie. What if she had settled down? What if he pulled into that idyllic beach bar she wanted and she’s there, a baby with the same brilliant eyes balanced on her hip? She was never sure about kids. A vivid mental picture of the wrong diamond, glistening on her ring finger in the afternoon sun, and the wrong man pecking her lips, made Santi physically wince. 

Fish would never forgive him. Will and Benny would never forgive him. He’d never forgive himself. 

It was a long, apprehensive drive. Santi’s eyes were drying, squinting against the headlights that occasionally glared past them. His jaw had been clenched for the last few hours as his anxiety grew, nothing but open road to stare at while he contemplated over and over as to whether it was the right decision. It didn’t help that Frankie never really slept like the others did on the move. While the other boys passed out, Frankie’s soft eyes continued scanning the scene flying past the window. It was like he stayed awake to watch Pope’s back, as if they were still in combat, or as an unspoken act of kindness to keep him company. 

Really, Frankie was a terrible sleeper. Santi remembered that from the early days, before he and Dove gave it up and became an item. He was the last to drift off and first to wake up, always restless. Once Dove started tip-toeing over to his cot in the night, he became the worst snorer in the division. Always splayed on his front, one arm tossed over Dove’s waist and the other under his pillow. She’d kick him in the night so he’d roll over and shut up, but it never lasted long. 

One night, Benny had enough, and groaned to Dove, “Put us out of our fuckin’ misery and smother him with your pillow, for the love of God.”

Dove had snapped back, “Fuck off, Benny, just ‘cause you aren’t getting any of the action doesn’t mean you have to get all bitter.”

“I’ve told you guys - I’m more than willing to join in-”

“Ben.” Frankie grumbled into her shoulder. It was gruff with sleep but still menacing enough to make the hairs on Dove’s arms stand on end.

Before a pillow smacked into his head, Benny guffawed, “Oh, so he is alive after all.”

*

Wringing a soft rag for polishing glasses between her fingertips, Dove descends the wooden steps at the entrance of the bar. The last huddle of regulars holler behind her, wrapping up their weekend drinks as the evening creeps closer to the early hours; Dove always notices the time when moths start colliding with the lanterns.

Roni rises from a crouch on the ground, dropping a paintbrush into a can with a clatter. “See, your own little touch!” 

The wooden panels that constructed the side of the bar, usually concealed by a stack of cardboard beer boxes, is decorated with little doves. Despite studying criminology, mainly for the satisfaction of her parents, Roni loved painting and insisted on brightening the exterior of their beach shack.

Dove cracks a half-smile. “It’s lovely, Ron. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” She beams, throwing the half-empty cans into the nearby bins. She pauses, glancing hesitantly at the older woman over her shoulder,  “Dove’s not your real name, right?”

“No, no. Nickname from when I was nursing overseas.” Dove chuckles, before adding, “Feels more like my real name than my Christian one nowadays.”

Roni passes Dove on the steps as she returns to the bar, “It suits you. You’re always graceful, but… you’re fucking fast.”

Dove laughs with her, ignoring the familiar clench in her chest. It’s exactly what Frankie used to say. The difference is Roni notices when she almost drops a glass, or her tray of drinks starts to wobble, and Dove is there to catch it with such fluidity Roni never saw her coming. Even the way Dove’s knife slices through fruit like each piece is a slab of melted butter. Frankie witnessed the extreme of that, the stealth and grace that usually ensured the enemy was dead before the others had even thought to raise their guns. Still, he admired her the same way Roni was right now. It was like awe.

It’s probably because he loved her effortlessly, every single aspect of her being without a glimmer of doubt or judgement. And now he wasn’t here.

The group of regulars stumbling down the steps break Dove from her thoughts, chortling and wishing her goodnight. One of the older men turns and jerks his thumb towards the road, “You might wanna tell them you’re closing, bonita.”

Before the road becomes the sand, there is a small, dusty wasteland that doubles as a makeshift car park. A vehicle is parked, glaring headlights facing towards the ocean and forming peculiar, alien-like beams in the dark. She’s definitely getting rusty; she’d barely registered the idling truck.

“I’ll sort ‘em out, Miguel, don’t you worry.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” He jokes, waving to her. “Buenos noches, Dove.”

Military habits are practically impossible to shake, and immediately, Dove’s mind launches into overdrive. She raises her hand above her eyes, squinting against the blinding white LEDs in an attempt to make out a registration plate or even a recognisable model. Her mind is fine-tuned to memorise; most of the locals’ cars are already catalogued in her memory, but this isn’t one of them.

Maybe they’re tourists, ready to push their luck with the opening times. That’s the reasonable side of Dove’s mind. The irrational, dark edges whisper, ‘What if someone found you?’ By someone, it means someone bad. Someone she wronged during her service, an enemy or straggler that got away. Even a civilian that might have been caught in the crossfire. She thought about those ghosts often. Hell, some of them she could still name. When she can’t sleep, sometimes she lists them, pictures their faces if she can recall them, just in case they ever came back.

She inhales a sharp gust of ocean air through her nostrils, welcoming the clarity that spreads through her mind. Parting her lips (the lips Frankie always teased were in a permanent pout), she released the breath slowly, trying to relax the stressed scrunch in her features.

“Your face is gonna get stuck like that someday.”

The voice is familiar. A deep, breathy chuckle, barrel-toned and gravelly. It sounds like home.

taglist: @mishasminion360

[paperpocalypse]

family outing.

50 Wordless Ways to Say “I Love You”: 29. Tucking their hair behind their ear to help them get it out of their face.

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reader

Word Count: 1,436 words

Warning: Mild swearing

[A/N: Mild S2 spoilers!]

“So,” Vanya’s brow furrows, “Five met you after the apocalypse?”

“Yep.” Leaning against her car, you cross your arms and sigh dreamily. “Hate at first sight. He almost shot me in the head.”

“… With a gun?”

You grin. “Well, he couldn’t’ve shot me with a Twinkie.”

Vanya looks ahead at where Five is talking to some middle-aged guy, his expression friendly and polite. What a businessman. Her eyes narrow in shocked disbelief. “This is crazy,” she murmurs. “My family is crazy.”

Your grin widens as she shakes her head. Something about her mannerisms helps you realize why Five is so fond of her, though he’s never said it outright. She’s definitely your favorite of the bunch. Sans murderous intent.

“Some types of crazy can be good,” you reply, nudging her arm. “But your family’s got all of them and it’s gonna get real messy. Time to spice up your little farm life, Vanya.”

She chuckles a little awkwardly and shrugs. “I just hope I’ll have time to talk to them. Again, I mean. Maybe I’ll remember something when we’re all together.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” Noticing Five bidding farewell to the man, you push yourself off the bumper and wave at him. “Any luck, Five?”

He points down the street behind you as he walks back over. “Plano Street Rooming House for Solitary Men,” he answers. “It’s just a few blocks from here.”

“How do you know he’s there?” Vanya asks.

“I really doubt Luther would live anywhere else.”

You snort, raising your hands in surrender when Five returns it with a semi-faux withering look. With a sigh, he shakes his head and opens the rear passenger door, gesturing for you to get in.

As Vanya starts the car and turns into the street, you look through the rearview mirror at Five as he tells her where to go. Despite being stuck in a thirteen-year-old body, he still has that resting glower of his that makes him look perpetually stressed. 

(Of course, it’s not just a matter of looking stressed – he is definitely stressed. Wound up tighter than a spring. You’ll probably need to force him to sit down and relax for at least a half-hour tonight before he explodes.)

His hair is a little disheveled, so you reach over to brush it out of his eyes. It doesn’t really work, but just going through the familiar motion grounds you somehow. “You know,” you muse as Five glances back at you, “Luther’s probably living there, but I doubt he’ll be in right now. He’s probably with Ruby somewhere.”

“Even if he is, we can ask around. I assume that at least one person there knows his business.”

He absently lifts a hand to smooth his hair back, and you smile. “Good point.”

—

“Hello, do you know Luther Hargreeves by any chance?”

After some door-to-door work, someone from Luther’s hall finally answers your knock. He’s a burly man, though not nearly as big as Luther, and obviously drunk off his rocker. Definitely solitary. He squints at the three of you through red, puffy eyes.

“Luther? Yeahhh, I know ‘im. Huge bloke. Real hairy.”

“That’s the one,” Five confirms. “You see, we’re his brother and sister. He hasn’t visited home lately and we’re pretty worried, so we’re just wondering if you know where he is.”

Burly picks at his teeth. “Brother n’ sister, eh? Well,” he rumbles, “I dunno where he is, but I know some of the boys are gonna watch ‘im fight tonight.”

“Where’s the fight?” Vanya asks.

The man regards her with suspicion. “Well, it ain’t a place for a little lady like you.” He swirls his beer around in its bottle, then jabs a finger at all of you. “Don’t want you three squealing to the cops, either.”

“We won’t,” you assure him, smiling sweetly. “We just want to check on Luther.”

With a little more cajoling, you finally obtain the time and place for Luther’s fight before the man waves you away with a grunt, slamming his door shut. You give your companions a self-satisfied grin before descending the staircase back down to street level. Worked like a charm. (You suspect your youthful looks probably helped a lot, though.)

“How’d you do that?” Vanya wonders as the three of you step out onto the sidewalk.

“Simple,” you respond. “I have a knack for sweeping tough guys off their feet.”

You wink secretly at Five. He rolls his eyes, the minutest of smiles at the corner of his mouth, before ushering you and Vanya back to the Chevy.

Your little trio spends the next few hours driving and poking around, looking for Luther or Klaus or Allison. The optimist in you hopes you’ll run across at least one of them. But Dallas is a big place, and darkness begins to fall around 5:30 without a single sighting.

“Dammit.” Five clicks his tongue as you exit a paint shop alone.

“At least we know where Luther will be,” you point out, shoving your hands in your pockets. “How about we get something to eat before we head to the fight?”

Vanya unlocks the car. “There’s a place I know close by,” she says, lips quirking up. “They have sandwiches and donuts there.”

You pat her back. “Sounds great, Vanya. Five? You’ve got to eat something, too.”

Your favorite number crosses his arms as you and Vanya stare at him expectantly. “We’ll get something quick,” he eventually says.

The trip only takes a few minutes. The three of you get sandwiches and a donut each and unwrap them on the bench outside the bakery.

“Sissy and Harlan and I get something from here whenever we go into town,” Vanya says, finishing the last of her sandwich and picking her donut up. “It’s pretty good.”

“So good,” you agree. Lands alive, sitting out here like this makes you nostalgic. Ignoring the upcoming doomsday and the ‘60′s aesthetic, it feels like you’re back in 1927 again, staying out past curfew with your peers. You smile to yourself and look down at your half-finished maple bar. Best to enjoy it while it lasts.

A finger quickly sweeps your brow, tucking a lock of hair out of your face. You blink and glance over at Five, but he’s looking across the street and starting on his own pastry. (Apple fritter. Perhaps you’ll ask him one day why he always gets those.)

Heart feeling even softer than before, you lean silently against his side. He doesn’t move.

After a moment, Five speaks up. “When we were kids, I brought you to this donut shop near the academy a couple times.”

“You did?” Vanya asks.

“Yeah. Griddy’s.” Oh, the one near the academy. The one that had gotten destroyed along with everything else in 2019. He gestures at the last bit of donut – plain, glazed – in her hands. “You usually got that kind.”

She raises her eyebrows, looking into her napkin. “Oh, wow. I guess it must’ve been a subconscious choice or something, then.”

“Hm.”

“You know, I’m glad we found you, Vanya,” you offer warmly. “I didn’t … really have time to get to know you the last time we met.”

A smile spreads across her face. “Same here. For both things, I mean. Not that I’d know much about our first meeting.” She pauses, examining you for a second, then blurts, “Can I ask you something?”

“Shoot.”

She awkwardly motions between you and her brother. “Are you and Five …?”

“Partners,” you finish, “in every sense of the word. From what I know, at least.” With a grin, you turn to Five. “Is that more or less right?”

He rolls his eyes fondly. “Unfortunately,” he mutters as you move to smooth his hair back again. He sure had lovely hair when he was a kid – not that you didn’t appreciate his looks back in your Commission days. This de-aging thing really knocks you for a loop sometimes.

Vanya nods, still looking vaguely confused. “Okay. I don’t want to make things weird, I just – well, you two are kind of … young –”

“Believe me, we’re much older than we look,” you quip, standing up. “But that’s a tale for another time. We gotta go.”

Disposing of your trash, you join the others into the Chevy and start your next journey to Luther Hargreeves. Radio turned off, the leather seat squeaks as you lean back and listen to Vanya and Five murmuring in the front.

To see the siblings together again makes you glow inside, a bit of calm before the inevitable storm. You drink it in as much as you can.

[waatermelon-sugaar]

Take Care of Me

Pairing = Santiago x reader

Words = 5.5k

Summary = A discussion about sex toys turns into something more … concrete

Warnings = Swearing, talk/description of mild anxiety. SMUT (18+ only), use of handcuffs in a sexy way, oral, piv sex

A/N = Prompt no.8 requested by @itspdameronthings​ as part of my 300 follower celebration, thanks so much, hope you like it! Prompt was “Despite what you think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself” w/santi and bolded in text. Also 3 things; 1 = Tom doesn’t exist in this AU, 2 = this is basically pure smut im so sorry, and 3 = I did do head hopping in this, which I know you’re not like supposed to do but also fuck the rules y’know?

Posted to AO3

Masterlist

***

It’s always easy to be loose after one of Benny’s fights.

It’s a heady mix of adrenaline, beer and testosterone, swirling together into a mix that makes you forget your normal boundaries. You’re normally quite brazen about your sex life anyway, but there is a line. You respect your partners, and there’s no need for your teammates to know too much.  

You’re all packed into a half-moon booth, Benny straddling a chair that he pulled up to the table after he spent too long chatting up the bartender.

It’s a small comment from Benny (because of course it’s Benny), saying that you haven’t got laid in a while, and you’re honestly surprised he noticed. But then, that’s the only predictable thing about Benny, that he is unpredictable.

Your surprise means you take a little too long actually thinking about it, which confirms Benny’s statement. You lean back a little in your seat, desperately ignoring Santi, who’s sat to your left. It also means you bite back a little harder in defence.

“Well maybe if you guys didn’t look like you’re about to murder anyone who even dares ask for my number maybe I’d have better luck.” That’s a lie, but there’s no way you’re going to tell them the truth. No way you’re going to tell Santi-

Your thoughts are interrupted by Will, sat to your right. “So you’re asking for our help?”

You scoff, hitting him up the head. “No, thank you.” Will knows why. Because of course he does. One of your oldest friends, he’d been the one who convinced you to join the team in the first place. “Despite what you think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself.”

You send a wink down to the table to Benny, who’s the first to catch on, hollering, and you try not to react to Santi leaning forward, suddenly interested, as though you’re not already hyper-aware of every body movement of his.

You continue, deciding you’re quite enjoying the effect you’ve had. “What do I need some stranger for when I can give myself a better orgasm than he could ever dream of?” You take a sip of your drink to hide your grin, as both Benny and Will holler, gaining a few glares from the pub’s other patrons.

That sip means you’re unprepared for Santi to lean in closer to you, his lips so close to your ear that you can feel his breath. “Maybe ‘stranger’ is where you’re going wrong.”

You swallow, unprepared for the sudden flare of attraction shooting through you and turning your head, just as he says, “I could take care of you.”

You catch a glimpse of Santi’s fuck me eyes when Benny (the dickhead) interrupts. Crossing his arms on the sticky table in front of him, he asks, “Does that mean you have toys?”

Frankie’s hat somehow tips lower on his head, if that’s possible.

Will twitches towards his brother, like he wants to strangle Benny for being so uncouth, but you put your hand on his upper arm. “Of course.” The best course of action is to just act like this is normal, so add a bit of air to your voice. This was normal. “Who doesn’t?”

There’s a blush rising on Benny’s cheeks and you can’t help but stoke it, grinning at him, and attempting your best bedroom eyes. He’s still not too ashamed to ask though. “What kinds?”

Will decides he’s had enough, glancing at Santi behind you with a frown and hitting Benny over the head in an imitation of the way you’d hit him. You laugh, unexpectedly pleased at the reaction you’ve gotten. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

Benny nods, eager, even as Will stands, grabbing a hold of him, and steering him towards the bar. “Yes! Yes I would!” He manages to throw back at you and you laugh again, twisting your body to face Santi and Frankie, bringing your left leg onto the bench.

***

Meanwhile Santiago is in hell. He’s been in multiple hellish situations before, most similar to this one, in that it was always the 5 of you, bullets flying around your heads, rifles in your arms, weighed down by heat and sweat and tac vests.

And yet somehow, he thinks this might be the worst. Your foot next to his thigh, your knee bent, pulling your jeans up your leg and exposing your ankle to him. Watching you flirt with Benny, talking about sex, and toys, and masturbation. When that's all he wants to do with you. He just has to get the courage to tell you.

With you, there was a before in Santi’s life, and an after.

Before he knew you; and after he knew you.

Before he loved you; and after he loved you.

Except Santi’s not quite sure when he fell in love with you.

It started when Will introduced you as the newest member of the team, one of his childhood friends. He didn’t mean for it to happen, he treated you like he treated anyone else, quickly discovering that you weren’t like anyone else.

He welcomed you into his life with open arms, starting off innocently - he wanted to spend time with you. You were Will’s friend, which meant that there must be something good about you. You made him laugh, made him feel safe (even when he wasn’t). He’d wanted to do the same for you and thought he did a pretty good job.

He became your friend, until one day the two of you were watching a film. He can’t remember what it was, just that you were at his house, drinking and laughing and talking, huddled in one of his blankets, and looking like you belonged there, forever.

Falling in love with you was so easy, Santi didn’t even realise he was doing it.

Santi’s still impressed with himself that he didn’t just blurt out the words then and there. I love you.

How long had he been in love with you for? He couldn’t pinpoint down a specific moment. He remembered the night when you’d become friends - the last two around the bonfire, toasting marshmallows, making that awkward small-talk that occurs between acquaintances.

You’d made him laugh, playing chubby-bunny and teasing him until he’d had a go. You’d talked and talked, and Santi can’t even remember what about. Nothing, probably. The basics. Boring stuff, but filled with details that he’d used to keep the conversation going the next day.

He knows when he became your friend. Recognised when you trusted him more than the others, with the exception of maybe Will.

But he didn’t know when he fell in love with you. Just the day that the love became so overwhelming in his chest that he realised it.

The real nail in his metaphorical coffin was the night afterwards. The 5 of you had gone to a bar, and a girl had started talking to him as he was buying drinks. She was pretty, but she wasn’t you. And like a flashbulb, all of Santi’s previous partners flew through his mind and he realised that nothing had ever come out of them because they weren’t you.

They didn’t know how he liked his coffee, or why he had joined the military. They didn’t know the story behind his callsign, or what his favourite song was.

You did. What you weren’t there for, you asked about. You remembered. You made him feel important, like he mattered. In ways that he didn’t even really know existed.

You were the one that started him on decaf without telling him. That had been a conversation and a half. Before morning briefings, you’d started bringing him coffees. He hadn’t noticed much of a taste difference, and shamefully, had come to expect them.

Until, a month later, you weren’t there. A small trip home to visit your family, everyone knew you’d be back in a couple of days. Regardless, Santi had ordered what he’d thought was his usual coffee.

And found his anxiety rearing up again. It was subtle, making him more jumpy, less able to sleep, but it was there. He wasn’t sure what the cause was, definitely hadn’t linked it to the coffee, instead assuming that maybe he just missed you. Maybe because his anxiety hadn’t disappeared all the way, even with decaf. Maybe it was because it was your presence that helped him too.

He hadn’t even really noticed when the caffeine was gone, hadn’t noticed the absence of something wrong, only seeing the contrast when it returned. Maybe because it was gradual, the weaning off the caffeinated coffee, whereas the return, with his request of additional shot, had been too sharp for him.

You hadn’t noticed at first, assuming that Santi’s bear hug when he’d first seen you had just been because he missed you. But after lunch you pulled him to one side.

“Are you alright?” Your eyes are slightly wider with worry, and you’re chewing slightly on your bottom lip.

He hates that he’s the one to do that to you, and he tries to brush it off. “I’m fine.” That was his first mistake. His second was trying to push past you.

“Santiago!” He’s pulled up short, and there’s that tension, pulling at his shoulders, his eyebrows. “Tell me what’s wrong.” Your tone of voice hasn’t changed, but this time it’s a command.

Exhausted, hating himself, Santi drags his hands across his face. “Nothing. It’s nothing. I don’t...I don’t know.” He takes a breath, and it shudders through him. “I don’t know.” He sounds defeated, and he hopes you can’t hear it. “I just...I feel…” How does he feel? “Jittery.” Is what he finally settles on, but the word still feels wrong somehow.

You frown, looking him up and down like you’ve never seen him before. In fact, you’re silent for so long, Santi starts to be worried that you’re going to tell him to stop being so fucking ridiculous.

You don’t, but you ask questions.

Has he been sleeping? “Not really.”

Does he have something big coming up? “Just the usual.”

Has his daily routine changed at all? “No, I don’t think so. I get myself a coffee in the morning and the-”

You interrupt him with a hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.” And now it’s wrong, because now you’re looking at him like it’s your fault, when it definitely isn’t. “Santi I’m sorry. It’s your coffee.”

Santi frowns. His coffee? And you sound so apologetic, and he doesn’t understand why. “I switched you to decaf.” You can’t meet his eyes any more, gaze skittering to his shoulder with nerves. And you’re not shutting up. “I’m sorry, I should have told you, or asked if I could, I just... I knew you were getting nightmares, and decaf helped me so I thought it might help y-”

Santi cuts you off with a hug.

And now, the three of you sat in the booth, he hates himself for agreeing with Benny. He would like to know. He has a sneaking suspicion, odd little comments you’ve made throughout the years that when pieced together, paint a picture. A very vivid picture that he sometimes uses to torture himself, late at night in bed, imagining what you’d look like with your hands between your legs and wrapping a hand around his-

Santi shakes his head. Now is not the time. There’s never really a good time to fantasise about one of your best friends, but in public when they’re sitting next to you, is definitely one of the worst.

And why did he have to offer to take care of you? Did he think he was in some kind of cheesy porno? What if you hated him-

In the end, it’s you who breaks him out of his thoughts. “Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed Pope.” You push out with your foot, lightly kicking his thigh, unable to read his stony face.

Throughout all of this, Frankie has kept quiet, and now the conversation seems like it’ll be returning to safer ground, he rubs a hand over his face, lifting his hat slightly. “No.” Santi protests, although he says it too fast for it to be sincere. “I’m not embarrassed.”

“Good,” you reply, and Santi can see the moment a thought pops into your head that you can’t resist, he can see it in the way your eyes light up with mischief. “Out of all the boys, I figured you’d be the most likely to use toys.”

Frankie quickly slides out from his seat, muttering something about going to the toilet, his cheeks aflame, as Santi chokes a little on his beer. “Or maybe Will,” you muse, and Santi coughs again. “Shit, are you alright?” You ask, rocking forward to lean on your knee so you can rub Santi’s back for a second.

He concentrates on getting himself back under control, on not focusing how warm your hand is against his back. He takes deep breaths in an attempt to calm his heart down, praying that the room is dark enough that you won’t see him blush.  

Santi nods, his eyes watering a little, and you laugh, but it’s not unkind, not even when one of your thumbs wipes at his lower lash line, brushing away his tears with the pad. It’s so unexpectedly soft, another sharp contrast to this sticky, seedy bar they’re all in, where the booth seats are cracked and the most complicated drink they make is a rum and coke.

“Good,” you say, voice quiet, scooting back on the bench, your foot closer to his thigh this time, and Santi hates himself for wanting to follow you.

Instead, he pretends everyone else is still here, even as he watches Will whisper something into Benny’s ear as they stand, drinking next to the bar, with no clear intention of returning. Suddenly Benny punches Will’s upper arm, and Santi’s eyebrows twitch slightly in confusion. Benny looks ecstatic, and for what?

“I’ve used handcuffs,” he says casually, half of his mind taken up with Benny and Will acting like lunatics at the bar behind you. He’s wrenched back to you when you raise an eyebrow, and he’s reminded what it feels like to be the centre of your world.

Fuck, you’re sexy though.

***

Your heart beat speeds up, suddenly sounding loud in your chest. Your mind is screaming Danger! at you - but how can it be? This is Santiago. You would trust him with your life. You have.

I could take care of you, flashes through your mind again. Maybe-

“Yeah?” You ask, trying to act calm when there’s a steady thrumming under your skin. “And are you the tied up person, or do you do the tying?”

Santi scoffs, like he thinks the answer is obvious. Maybe it is.

“I do the tying.”

You smirk, dragging an exaggerated eye up and down his body. “Sure about that?”

He looks relaxed, like he can take up more space now Frankie has gone. One of his hands is on your calf, gently trailing up and down, slowly setting you on fire, and you don’t even think he realises he’s doing it. There’s something in his eyes that you don’t recognise, darker, although it seems familiar. That’s been happening more and more lately, especially when it’s just the two of you. You like it.

“You want to test me babygirl?”

You feel breathless. “Maybe I’d like to try.”

You’ve never spoken with Santi like this before. You flirt with him more than the other boys, but this is new. This feels...real, somehow. More dangerous. And he’s closer now, shifting, so your foot is over his lap, his hand wrapped around your ankle, on your bare skin and you’ve forgotten how to breathe. You watch his hand move on your leg and you feel like you could evaporate.  

“That’s not what good girls do.” Fuck, his voice.

“Good girls don’t do a lot of things I do.”

And you’re not sure what gives you the sudden confidence, but you lean forwards, pressing a soft kiss to his mouth. It’s a horrible angle, your legs in the way, but you don’t care.

And then you’re retreating, opening your eyes again, suddenly unsure of what you’ve just done. Your mouth feels tingly, where you can still feel Santi against you. His grip has tightened on your leg, no longer moving.

And then his hand is tugging at you a little, and there’s a smile threatening to take over his face.

Come here.

You scoot up, so your left leg is fully over him, your right leg tangling with his under the table and you can smell him now, beer and - as weird as it sounds - like a man. It’s familiar. Nice. Breathless, you shoot him a little grin, suddenly unsure.

And then he’s kissing you again and it’s everything you ever dreamed of. His lips are soft, but firm, moving against your mouth, contrasting with the slight stubble growing on his face. His free hand moves to your waist and you let out a small sound.

You break apart after a second, both of you breathless. You’ve slung your arms around his neck, fingers idly playing with his chain, and you’re the first to speak.

“So do you use those handcuffs on anyone?”

Santi kisses you again, short and sweet, before he answers, his lips mumbling against yours. “Hmm, just on girls I really like.”

You kiss again, neither of you really wanting to stop. “Can I use them on you?” Santi asks, moving to kiss along your jaw, nipping at your earlobe. You feel surrounded by him, he’s all you care about, all you can feel.

Your eyes snap open, desire pooling in your belly. Is this really happening? “Yes.”

“Good.” Santi’s voice is still low in your ear, before he moves down your neck, soft lips a stark contrast to his stubble catching on your skin. “How do you feel about a date, too?”

“Yeah?” You lean back slightly so you can see his face. He’s beautiful in this light, face half hidden in the shadows, eyes dark.

His lips are brushing yours again.

“Yeah. I’ll pick you up, take you somewhere nice, do it properly.”

“Good,” you mumble against him, “that sounds really good.” Your fingers are still playing with his chain, lightly brushing against the scar on his neck. “Shall we go?”

Before you know it, the two of you are sitting in a cab, having said a quick goodbye to the others, Will asking if it was safe for them to sit back in the booth. You’d responded with the finger, not bothering with a proper reply.

Santi leans over to you, whispering into your ear. “Can I really tie you up?”

You clench your thighs together, closing your eyes in an effort not to physically respond. The pause is enough for Santi to hesitate, hand shyly holding yours. “It’s ok, if you don’t want to, that’s fine, it was just a-”

You stop him with a kiss, moving your hand so you can squeeze him in reassurance. When you answer, it’s a mumble against his mouth so the driver doesn’t hear. “Break out the handcuffs, and we’ll see if you’re as tough as you act, big boy.”

Santi groans when you lean away from him.

Getting inside Santi’s flat is a feat in itself, and you’re honestly a little proud of the restraint both of you showed by not fucking in the stairwell, stopping every couple of meters to kiss each other senseless, hips clumsily knocking together as you rile each other up.

You’ve been inside his flat before, so when Santi kicks the door closed, walking you backwards into his bedroom, kissing you all the while, you don’t protest. It’s so nice to finally kiss Santi like you’ve wanted to for a while now, so nice to feel his hands on your waist, pushing you backwards while his hips press into yours, steady now, purposeful.

His fingers are playing with the waist of your trousers, and you help him, shimmying your jeans off, pushing them down your thighs and letting them fall to the floor. Then he surprises you, dropping to his knees in front of you, pulling your knickers down your legs.

Looking down, you feel dizzy from the rush of power this brings you. Santi looks like he’s about to worship you, his face close to your pussy. His hands are on your waist and he pushes at you, encouraging you to step back.

When you don’t he tips his head back, exposing his neck to you. “Step back.” His voice is dangerous and you can feel more wetness gathering between your legs. You grin down at him, still not moving.

In response Santi nips at your thigh, grinning when you gasp, hands flying to his hair. He pushes at you again, and this time you let him, stepping back until you hit his bed, sitting down.

Santi presses his hand against your stomach, and you allow yourself to be pushed back, falling back onto your elbows so you can watch him. He presses his nose to your mound and you squirm, impatient, as Santi spreads your knees so he can fit between your legs.

You watch him press his nose to your pussy, burying his nose in you, feeling yourself grow wetter. “You taste so good,” he groans, “Sweetest pussy I’ve tasted.” As he begins to explore you with his tongue, your hips lift off the bed with a groan and it takes you a second to recognise your own voice, broken with need. Santi’s arm reaches out, pressing you down as he explores your folds. Stubble is scratching your thighs, a pleasantly rough feeling compared to the soft wetness, the pliability of Santi’s tongue. Your clit is the first thing he concentrates on, his tongue practically lapping at you, and it all feels so good.

One hand is desperately fisting the sheets to the side of you as you try to hold on to reality, the other knotted in Santi’s short curls, nails scraping ever so slightly along his scalp even as he lifts you higher and higher. Broken pleas of his name fall from your lips when he inserts two fingers into you, gently pumping in and out, with a strangely satisfying squelch under your cries.

Your orgasm creeps up on you, slow and unsuspecting. One second your chest is heaving, breaths short and shallow, the next you’ve tensed up as you fall apart under Santi.

He keeps kissing you, gently pressing his lips over your thighs, hips, stomach as you stare at his ceiling, willing rational thought to return to you. He’s murmuring praises into your skin, telling you how good you are for him, what a good job you’ve done, how pretty you look when you come, how he wants to make you do it again, and all the while you float somewhere above your body, hardly daring to believe this is real. Santi keeps kissing you, any skin he can get his mouth on, desperate to keep tasting you. Gradually he moves up your body, even as you lie there, panting, letting him push your top up, bunching under your arms and around your neck.

Your hands fly to his hair when he bites the soft skin of your breast peeking out from your bra, and you arch your back towards him slightly, letting out a small whine. You can feel his smirk against you, so you wrap your legs around his waist, canting your hips up, grinding against where you can feel him, hard and aching in his jeans.

Now it’s your turn to smirk, slow and lazy when Santi lets out a low growl in response. He tips his head up so he can look at you, his eyes soft as he smiles at you. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

And then his body weight is gone and he’s standing next to the bed, taking his top off and it’s not the first time you’ve seen him shirtless, of course it isn’t, but it’s the first time you’ve seen him and been allowed to look, and Santi’s all shadows and soft muscle, pale scars highlighted on his skin.

You sit up, and it takes you a second to fight your way out of your top, quickly sliding the straps of your bra off, and dropping your clothes to the side of the bed as you watch Santi cross his room, and fish out a pair of handcuffs from a box with a couple of other objects inside, as well as what you’re pretty sure looks like a strap-on. And maybe it’s because his ass is currently in your eye-line, maybe it’s the surprise, but the image of you wearing it, teasing Santi with your dick while he waits on all fours on his bed, begging for you to touch him, suddenly pops into your head, and you have to work to hold back a moan at the mental image. Oh my god.

When Santi turns back to you, he’s opened the cuffs. “Are you familiar with the traffic light system?”

You suddenly feel nervous, your mouth dry, and you don’t know why, this is Santi. He’s made it clear that you don’t have to do this, and anyway you want to. “Green is good, orange is slow down, red is stop,” you recite easily, and Santi nods in satisfaction.

“Good girl,” he says and his words hit deep in your stomach, unfurling something you hadn’t known existed. “You say something and I’ll untie you.”

You raise an eyebrow, leaning back on your hands, eyeing up the way Santi’s jeans are still on, now hanging low on his hips, exposing a small trail of hair down from his bellybutton. “What if I don’t want you to untie me?” You ask.

You can see how his eyes darken, but he doesn’t move. “Tell me you understand,” he says, voice stern and you shiver.

“I understand,” you parrot. Santi nods, pleased at you doing as he says, and steps out of his jeans, pulling his boxers off at the same time, releasing his cock. He’s hard, curving up towards his stomach and leaking pre-cum.

Almost on instinct, you lean forwards to lick it off, and Santi lets out a groan of satisfaction at the sensation of your mouth just wrapping around his head, your hands on his thighs. Before you can take him any further, he’s stepping back, shaking his head.

“Lie back,” he instructs, and you obey. Santi kneels next to you, tugging your wrists up, above your head, looping the handcuffs through his headboard and clicking them on around you. You give them an experimental tug, biting back a moan when they hold fast. “Colour?” Santi asks, and you grin up at him.

“Green.” Your voice already sounds broken. “Santi, please.”

Santi just kneels back, looking at you with those hungry eyes. “Fuck, you’re gorgeous,” he breathes out, hands running up and down your body, ignoring how you squirm as best you can under him.

“Oh yeah?” You ask. “Why don’t you come down here then, instead of just watching me?” Santi’s hands reach your breasts, squeezing and gently massaging and you arch your back towards him.

“You’re unhappy with my hands?” Santi returns, and stops touching you. You can’t help it, letting out a whine and straining to move your arms towards him, before remembering you can’t, your attempted movement jangling the chain a little.

“No, Santi,” you’re desperate for him to touch you again, especially now you can’t touch him,“Santi please, touch me again, touch me more.” Begging has never come so easily to you. And then Santi’s moving between your legs, gripping your hips and thrusting up, but not into you, just along your folds. You moan, shifting as best as you can while Santi coats himself with your slick, the head of his cock just pushing your clit, teasing you and riling you up further.

You suddenly really want to touch him, to rake your hands through his hair, to scratch your nails down his back, to be able to suck a purple hickey into his skin. You let your head fall back to the bed, pushing your hips towards him, desperate for more, desperate for him.

It’s only when you open your mouth in a desperate plea, a whine of his name, “Santi, Santi please,” that he begins to push into you.

Your mouth falls open in silent pleasure, just as Santi begins to talk. “Fuck, baby.” The stretch of him is delicious. “I wanted this for so long.” Now fully seated in you, he rests on his forearms, kissing you softly, first on the forehead, then on your lips. “Colour?” he asks softly.

You nearly cry from how sweet it is, how sweet he is, before responding, a mumble against his lips. “Green.” You feel full, like this is how you’re supposed to feel all the time, this is your base state, and you’re going to spend the rest of your life trying to achieve this specific feeling.

“Good girl,” Santi murmurs and you keen at the praise, feeling insatiable, wanting more, clenching around him. He grins, registering your response. “You liked that? You like being told what a good job you’re doing, how good you feel around me..” he breaks off with a gasp, and your eyes close as Santi begins to move in time with his words, long, slow thrusts as he begins to put you together again, building you up, further and further, his thrusts speeding up gradually, the sound of his dick sliding into your wetness, and the slap of skin-on-skin loud in his room, mixing with your moans.

You lift your legs up, wrapping them around his waist, hooking one of your feet around Santi’s butt. They don’t stay there for long, one of Santi’s arms pushing one leg up your body, hand under your knee as he splits you open. The new angle hits something deeper in you, and you gasp, unable to move and at the mercy of Santiago.

Your orgasm takes you by surprise, coming out of nowhere, your lower body suddenly clenching around Santi, arms straining against the handcuffs, as you try in vain to touch him. You tumble through it, muscles spasming as you fall under him. He keeps moving into you as you shudder below him, pulling you through with murmured praise and encouragement as another broken cry leaves your throat.

His thrusts start to get sloppier as he goes faster, losing his rhythm slightly and you can tell he’s near his end. As best you can, you start moving your own hips, grinding up to meet him, words of encouragement slipping past your lips. “Santi, you feel so good, are you gonna fill me up?” You coo, pouting a little, tugging your wrists a little for emphasis. “Please Santi, I want to feel you, come in me, please-”

You stop when Santi snaps his hips once more, with a groan of finality and you can feel his cum inside of you as he holds himself there, his cock pulsing within you. He presses a couple more gentle kisses to your neck before sliding out, and you hiss slightly at the pull on your sensitive folds of your pussy.

He leaves for a second, returning with a key and gently releasing your wrists. “Good girl,” he murmurs, massaging your skin. “You did so good for me.”

He helps you sit up, kissing your cheek before leaving again. This time when he returns, he has a wet rag, and a glass of water, which you take a sip from, not having realised how thirsty you were. He gently dabs the rag on the inside of your thighs first, and the two of you watch in slightly morbid fascination as Santi’s cum leaks out of you onto the rag.

“That’s kinda hot,” you comment idly, wondering if Santi fucked all sense of you.

He only laughs, wiping the mess away and cuddling up next to you. “Do you want me to do it again?” he asks as you lean into his arms, his hands wrapping around your wrists to rub circles into your skin.

“Yes,” you answer, probably too quickly but beyond caring.

“Good.”

There’s a pause, and you can tell Santi wants to ask you something, so you twist in his arms, kissing along his shoulder. The act feels small, and innocent somehow, despite your states of undress, as you try to reassure him.

“You were right,” you murmur near his ear, “Stranger was where I was going wrong.”

It takes him a second to piece your reference together, but then he grins, and it’s like he hung the sun in the sky. “Yeah? I took care of you?”

You kiss him again, this time on the lips, biting back your own identical grin. “Yeah.”

***

Thanks for reading! Reblogs and comments mean the world to me 🥰🥰🥰

Tags: @fantasticcopeaglepasta​

[truglori]

Homebody (Ch. 15)

Summary: Amiyah is the younger sister of local drug dealer (Durkio). Shy and reserved she keeps to herself and stays out the way. But lately she began to find interest in his right hand man/ best friend (Erik Stevens). Wanting to get him to notice her she discovers that he already had her wrapped around his finger without even trying! There was only a few problems that kept her away from her fantasies , her brother that controlled almost every single breath she took and would kill anyone who looked at her that way and lastly Eriks girlfriend, Alexis , who they called the queen of the hood according to her lavish lifestyle as well as being with the next newest top boy in the making. While Alexis was his girl to the streets all Amiyah wanted to do was be his Homebody...

Pairing: Erik Stevens x Thic OC

Warning: Language

Side note: I fell off big time I know so forgive me for that and this is a short chapter because I decided to make the next one long.

*Location: Providenciales, Turks and Caicos*

Walking into the lobby of the famous Palms Resorts, Amiyah looked around stunned at the beautiful interior. Greeted by the Turks and Caicos citizens and employees of the hotel she received a fresh alcoholic beverage from a silver tray. The colorful and cooling drink made her mouth water. Taking a sip she closed her eyes as she visited paradise.

“Welcome to The Palms Resort! Where we hope your stay is everything you’ve dreamed of.” The woman on the other side of the desk smiled acknowledging them.

Amiyah, Kelley, and Durk walked to the counter. All three with their complimentary drinks in one hand and pulling on to a weeks worth of luggage in the other. Their flight had landed over an hour ago and it took them a little less than half an hour to get to the place where they would be staying for the week.

“Thanks! I have a few rooms booked under the name of Derrick Lewis.” Durk smiled speaking to the clerk and pulling out his I.D.

She returned one back taking his card and went to her computer to type in his name. It took her less than a minute to see the reservations before handing over their room keys. Durk gave her a slight head nod thanking her and then turned towards Amiyah and Kelley who were standing next to each other with wide grins. It was nothing but pure excitement clouding over their faces.

“Alright listen up. I only got two rules. Don’t go breaking shit in the room and don’t go getting nothing out of the refrigerator or mini bar that they have in there. Not tryna have y’all running up my card.” Durk spoke calmly pointing the room key in their faces.

Kelley kissed her teeth. “Durk she is grown and it’s her birthday tomorrow. If she want to get a drink from our bar that’s in our room then she can.” She went for the key but Durk moved it out of her reach.

Looking her up and down at least two times Durk chuckled before turning towards Amiyah.

“Miyah you wanna tell me why your friend, who ain’t pay for shit, speaking for you? That’s what I’m confused about.” He replied sarcastically.

Amiyah grinned stepping in between them. She politely took the room key from Durk and handed it to Kelley.

“Alright okay. We get it Durk. You paid for everything so we’re gonna respect your rules. Okay? We’re all just here to have a good time.” She smiled rubbing his arm.

“That’s all I want, is some respect. At least someone gets what I’m saying.” He directed his speech towards Kelley who simply rolled her eyes at him before walking away towards the elevators.

Durk shook his head watching her leave and laughed.

Amiyah pushed him lightly by his shoulder.

“Durk can you please not act like an asshole to her on this trip? That’s my best friend and I really want her to have just as much of a good time as me.”

He waved her off. “Ain’t nobody thinking about that girl. She got a problem with me for some reason and I been feeling her energy since we arrived at the airport back at home.” He went back towards the entrance and checked his phone.

Amiyah sighed knowing what he meant. Kelley did have some sort of dislike towards him. Mainly because of the time he put her out knowing that she had no where else to go. Before then Kelley never cared too much or know much about him besides hearing his name ringing throughout the streets and discovering that her new best friend was his younger sister. But the moment Amiyah went to Kelley’s door crying she knew that she wouldn’t find herself getting along with Durk at all.

Following behind him Amiyah stood on his side. Scooting closer she leaned her head on his shoulder and holding on to his left arm. She smiled looking up at him before speaking.

“I really appreciate this Durk. None of it would be possible without you.” She glanced at him looking into his eyes to let her know that he was very much appreciated.

Durk smirked trying to nudge her off but failed

“Get off of me girl. Damn.” He snickered.

“I will once you come with us. We’re tryna see our rooms and you’re waiting out here for what?”

Amiyah wondered why he has still yet to move. There was no need to stand at the entrance unless he was waiting on something or someone.

“I’m going I just have to make sure he gets here first.” Durk answered checking his phone for the third time.

Confused but curious Amiyah asked. “Who’s he?”

“Oh yeah I forgot to mention that Erik was meeting us.” He replied nonchalantly.

Within an instant Amiyah felt the butterflies invade inside her stomach. This was an off guard moment that she didn’t know how to receive or handle. Why wasn’t she aware of him tagging along on her birthday trip? Did he asked to come? Specifically for her? She had so many questions and thoughts running around in the back of her head but she simply pushed them to the side not wanting to make it weird for her to ask them aloud.

She sent a small smile. “Why? Why is he coming?”

Durk shrugged. “He wanted to be here to celebrate your birthday tomorrow. As well as other reasons but yeah.”

Amiyah nodded her head. “How did he get here? I didn’t see him on the plane or at the airport.”

“Since our flight was booked my mans had to drive another state over to another airport just to make it here around the same time. I know for damn sure he came out of pocket trying to get a tick at the last minute.” Durk chuckled.

Amiyah joined him as she was flattered to hear about the effort Erik put in just to be here. She hadn’t seen him since the night he came over to speak with Durk. In the inside Amiyah was hoping that this trip could not only get them back together but to come out and tell her brother about everything. Maybe it was a good thing that he decided to come after all.

Interrupted from her thoughts she heard Durk shout out.

“About fucking time. Welcome to Turks and muthafucking Caicos!” Throwing his arms up he walked towards Erik who was getting out of an all black sprinter with other guests.

Amiyah took in his appearance. He was wearing a short sleeve navy tropical print collar button down shirt that was opened showing a wife beater underneath. With his famous gold chains hanging around his neck. For his bottoms he wore white drawstring shorts and a pair of white forces to finish the look. He sported a black Nike book bag off his shoulder as he went up to Durk greeting him with a dap. When he smiled Amiyah could see the gold on his teeth peeking past his lips.

“Aye a nigga happy to be here.” Erik laughed going in for their brotherly hug. Glancing up he spotted Amiyah standing behind him next to her luggage.

Amiyah flipped her freshly done knottless braids to the side with her drink still in one hand as she held eye contact with him. It was different and intense. It was a look that she hadn’t seen in a while. In fact it was the same way he looked at her the whole night when she went to his place for the first night. Even a blind person could see that the look behind Erik’s eyes was pure desire and need.

When she came to realization Amiyah glanced away ending the staring competition.

“That’s a fact. So where’s shorty at?” Durk pulled away gaining Amiyah’s attention.

“Right here!”

Following a high pitched voice, all hope that Amiyah had in her body completely went out. There was Harmony standing next to him with the prettiest glow she had ever seen. Her hair was gorgeous as she rocked the goddess locs. Her silhouette showing past her floral maxi dress. Nails and lashes done to perfection. Of course she was his guest for the week. It only made sense. They had to be a couple.

Feeling a sting in her chest and burning in the back of her eyes Amiyah wiped away the feeling of defeat and walked over towards her brother.

“Hey Erik. Harmony. Nice to have you guys here.” Amiyah put on her best smile. She didn’t really mean it but for the sake of keeping peace on her trip being cordial was the best option.

“Thanks for letting us join you guys.” Harmony spoke up. She went in for a hug.

Us? So she must be speaking for the both of them now.

Amiyah thought returning the kind gesture.

“It’s no problem. So I’m gonna head to my room and change and probably go to the pool after. I’ll let you two check in.” Smiling she turned on her heels walking to her baggage. When she gave a glance back she saw him staring into her eyes with sorrow. Amiyah shook her head and went towards the elevators.

-

“Girl I have to give it to him...this room is the shit!” Kelley stated opening the door to let her in.

Amiyah viewed the room. First thing she noticed when she walked in was the decked out kitchenette that opened up to the livingroom area. Across from that was a bathroom and bedroom on the other side. The door was opened and bags were already placed on the bed so Amiyah figured it was Kelley’s room. Walking past the livingroom there was another door that was closed. Amiyah opened it. Her mouth dropped as she entered the master bedroom that had a balcony facing the water.

“Yeah I figured you would want this room.” Kelley said as she helped her with her bags.

“I love it, but you know I would have been fine with either one.” Amiyah smiled walking to the glass sliding door. She opened it and stepped out on the balcony. The scent of the ocean hitting her nose.

“Well you’re only getting the finest shit while we’re out here because you deserve it. Happy birthday sis.”

Amiyah turned around to see Kelley holding up four miniature bottles of alcohol. She smiled shaking her head at her friends stubbornness.

“Kelley where did you get those bottles?” She giggled lightly taking the two that was being handed to her.

Cracking open her drinks, Kelley shrugged. “Where else? The mini bar out of the fridge. Now drink up.”

They collided their bottles together taking one after the other. Amiyah made a face towards the bitter drink. She could feel the liquor warming her body up. After the long flight all she wanted to do was wash up and put on a bathing suit to go take a dip in the pool. Going back inside of her room she threw the empty nips away. Grabbing her suitcase and putting it on her bed she unzip it and searched for one of the many swimsuits she packed. Her favorite color caught her eye.

Pulling out the light purple two piece set she also took out a sheer white bottom covering. Amiyah grabbed her toiletry travel bag and went to the bathroom. When she came to she stole a glance inside of Kelley’s room as she saw her getting ready as well.

After an hour of continuous switching in and out of the bathroom the duo was finally ready and leaving out of their room suit. They strolled towards the elevators in silence and only pulling out their phones to record snapchat videos. Kelley hit the button that goes to the lobby while the two waited for the cart to come up to their floor level.

“Hey by the way Erik is here just to let you know.” Amiyah spoke up coming to the remembrance of his presence from earlier.

Kelley’s brows knitted. “The hell. Why is he here?”

“I guess he wanted to be here to celebrate my birthday.” The doors opened allowing them to walk in.

“But that’s not all. He brought his friend, Harmony, here with him. You remember the girl from the Valentines Day bash?” Amiyah stated jogging her memory.

Kelley nodded folding her arms. “Okay now why did she have to tag along? They together or something?”

Amiyah shrugged her shoulders as her reply. She wasn’t a hundred percent sure if they were but from her coming on this trip with him it only had her thinking that they were. Why else would she be here with him? It probably was a baecation for them. Amiyah sighed as she stressed herself with all of her questions.

The doors to the elevators opened as Amiyah and Kelley made their way outside towards the pool area. Already filling up with the other guests it was beginning to get crowded. Finding an empty spot on the lounge chairs Amiyah and Kelley decided to sit a few feet away from the bar.

“I’m about to get a drink. You want something?” Kelley asked standing up pulling on her pink neon swimsuit.

“Yeah get me something that’s fruity but sneaks up on you.” They laughed in unison.

“Okay, I’ll be back.”

Amiyah watched her walk away. There was a line that was already formed so she knew it would be a while before Kelley came back.Taking of her sandals she kicked her feet up to lay back on the chair. Their spot was right by the shade so the sun wasn’t beaming on her so much. Amiyah’s gaze scattered around, watching nothing in particular, but at all of the guests having a good time.

Enjoying the good music along with the warm breeze that blew every few minutes Amiyah relaxed into the chair. Her eyes closed to get the full vacation experience which she found to be peaceful was just as quickly interrupted by a shade blocking her from the sun. Her eyes jolted open to find out what was the cause.

“Sorry to intrude on what seems to look like a blissful moment but I couldn’t help but to come by and introduce myself.” A tall dark and handsome man spoke with a hand out directed towards her.

“I’m Ryan.” He waited for her to shake his hand.

Amiyah gave him a few blanks before introducing herself as well.

“Amiyah.” She replied softly. His hand much larger but soft cradle hers gently before bringing it to his lips to kiss her skin.

Blushing she looked away towards the bar to see Kelley still in the long line. She wasn’t looking at her for help but just to see if she noticed her being approached by the stranger. Amiyah quickly turned her attention back on him.

“Beautiful name miss. You’re from The States right?” He asked with a southern accent that she caught on to.

“Yeah I am. What about you?” She smiled politely.

“I’m from Georgia. Decatur to be exact.” He gave his soft pillowy lips a smooth lick.

Taking a seat on the lounge chair next to her he placed his towel that he was holding down next to him.

“So what brings you to Turks and Caicos?”

“Birthday. It’s actually tomorrow and I’m out here for the week celebrating.” Amiyah’s hands became clammy under his stare.

“Oh Happy Birthday. Mind if I ask how old you’re gonna be?” His voice was soothing and calm but dangerously low just how she liked.

“Uh 22.”

“That’s what’s up. So you like to party Amiyah?” A smirk grew on his face.

Sitting up a tad bit in her chair she looked at him confused.

“Somewhat. Why you ask?” She giggled out of nervousness.

Ryan shrugged. “A pretty girl like you I figured you would. But you can’t possibly be out here alone. You must’ve come with someone right. Like a friend?”

Before she could answer Amiyah heard a deep voice interrupt.

“Yeah she came with me my nigga.”

Looking behind her she saw Erik now in a pair of all black swimming trunks and Nike slides on his feet. He had a bucket hat on to cover his eyes from the sun. He was holding a Corona beer in his free hand as he sipped not taking his eyes off of Ryan. Seeing his abs glistening from what seems to appear as body oil Amiyah clench her thighs as his muscles flexed effortlessly.

Ryan glanced between the two. He looked at Erik before turning his gaze back on Amiyah.

“Damn and you was gonna let me talk to you knowing you had a nigga. That’s fucked up ma.” He shook his head.

“Hold on that’s not my man-“

“Baby just cause we had that little fight back in the room don’t mean we not together. Stop acting like a brat.” Erik cut her off sitting on her chair. One of his hands went to touch her inner thigh catching her off guard.

Ryan grabbed his towel and held his hands up in a surrender position.

“I don’t know what the fuck y’all got going on but that’s between y’all.” He stated and walked away.

Amiyah quickly slapped Erik’s hand away. She watched as he took a sip of his beer before folding over his lap and laughing.

“What? Why you looking at me like that?” He asked through his chuckle.

“Because you lied talking about some fight that we had in a room. Really Erik? Why would you say that?” She folded her arms.

Erik waved her off leaning on his left elbow facing her. “It’s not like you would have like the ugly ass nigga anyway. I was doing you a favor.”

“He was not ugly.”

“Well he damn sure wasn’t your type.”

She rolled her eyes. “Then what’s my type since you think you know me?”

“Nobody else but me. I’m the only nigga you should be fucking with.”

Amiyah couldn’t tell if it was him that was actually talking or the liquor. All she knows is that he was making very bold statements for someone who invited a female friend on a trip with him.

“Erik have you forgotten what you did? Bringing Harmony out here and yet you expect me to not meet or have anybody. You lost your mind?” Amiyah shook her head not believing the audacity that he had.

Erik sighed sitting up. “Amiyah it’s not what it looks like. I only did to throw your brother off. That night I came to y’all crib he was asking questions and getting suspicious. Next thing I know he asked me to come with you guys and I invited her.” He paused touching her hand gently.

“I promise it wasn’t to hurt you.”

The genuineness in his voice sounded sincere but Amiyah still couldn’t help but to be confused on why he would invite her knowing how she felt about Harmony. Her feelings were pretty clear the night of the party.

“Erik I know you’re not trying to intentionally hurt me but seeing her here with you just made me feel a certain way. We’re supposed to be here for my birthday week so excuse me if I’m having a hard time adjusting to this new person that came out of no where.” Standing up Amiyah started to walk away until she felt a hand grab her wrist.

“Miyah don’t hold this against me. I was really hoping we could talk. To straighten things out.” His stare became apologetic.

“I don’t know if-“

“There you are! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” A light voice shouted catching their attention. They turned to see Harmony walking towards them in her light orange bikini.

Amiyah’s eyes averted to her white painted toe nails. It was going to be a tough week to get through with her being around. But she couldn’t blame Harmony. Erik was the reason for her being here.

Erik smiled and nodded his head. “Yeah I was just out here talking to the birthday girl.”

Harmony sat her belongings down and wrapped her arms around Erik’s torso. Standing on her tippy toes she leaned up to kiss his lips. Erik caught off by the action pulled away and chuckled nervously. When Harmony noticed she made a face before turning towards Amiyah.

“Hey girl! You ready to celebrate your birthday tomorrow?” She smiled trying to start a conversation.

The moment Harmony was invited by Erik to go on this vacation with him she was shocked but thrilled about them taking the next step in their situation-ship. But when she found out the reason behind it she immediately had a bad feeling about going. Harmony wasn’t much of a fan of Amiyah. On the night of the Valentines Day bash she could feel the tension between Erik and Amiyah. It felt as if they had history and were trying to ignore it. She wasn’t suspicious until she seen them leave the V.I.P section one after the other. That’s when she put two and two together.

“I am. Tomorrow is gonna be great actually. I have a few things planned out for us. You know like Jet ski-ing, tubing, snorkeling, stuff like that.” Amiyah spoke through her forced smile. A relief came over her when she saw Kelley walking back with her drinks in her hand.

“Here you go. They said this was highly recommended.” She handed over a slushy drink that was in a cut out pineapple.

Amiyah happily received it and played with her straw before sipping. “Thanks.”

“Well all of that sounds fun and I can’t wait. I’m glad Erik decided to ask me to join you guys.” Harmony stated tugging onto him.

Kelley rolled her eyes and looked her up and down. Her gaze then shot to Erik’s who was wearing a guilty expression all over his face. She shook her head slowly and gave him a look.

“Yeah and I hope you enjoy your time being here.” Amiyah could feel a little bit of both hurt and jealousy coming over her. Putting on a poker face was the best way to hide her feelings.

“Durk told me that we were also doing a big dinner for you out by the water.” Erik finally spoke up.

“We are, you thinking about inviting anyone else?” Kelley asked him with her eyebrows raised.

Erik ignored her as he focused on Amiyah. He read her body language knowing that she was uncomfortable. He was starting to regret on making the decision of bringing Harmony along. He was only doing it to cover face instead of thinking about how she would feel.

Amiyah lightly brushed against Kelley hoping she would catch her drift. It was her way of signaling her to chill out.

“Yes Erik we’re having dinner and you both are welcome to join.”

“We appreciate the invitation girl.” Harmony smiled before turning to Erik. “Hey, let’s go to the beach. Please?” She pouted.

Erik chewed on his lower lip out of habit. “Yeah I was heading there anyway.”

“Perfect. Alright ladies, we’ll see you later.” Taking his hand she pulled him away towards the beach.

Kelley and Amiyah stood in place and watched the two walk away.

“Can’t believe the nerve of that nigga. That’s okay because we are gonna find you a new man for the week. Like the one that came and talked to you earlier.”

Amiyah turn towards her to see a smirk covering her face. “So you did see him?”

“Girl I noticed his fine ass the minute we came out here and I just know Erik probably fucked it up for you the second I seen him.”

Amiyah giggled nodding her head. “He told him he was my man.”

Kelley rolled her eyes. “Typical. But I spotted him on the other side by that grill and bar place. You wanna go see if he’s still there?”

Amiyah smiled knowing that her best friend was willing to do anything to get her back into good spirits. Taking a long sip of her drink she allowed the liquor to linger through her body making her relaxed.

“Let’s go.”

If Erik could have his fun then so would she.

______________________________________

Please excuse any mistakes! (Needs to be edited)

I know this chapter is short but next one is gonna be long and I’m pretty sure y’all know why...👀! Yes the wait is finally over in the next chapter!!

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[thedarklightwithinus]

Part One; Avengers MC

Summary; The beginning. 

Series Masterlist.

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The day had started out just like any for Y/N. She had awoken from her slumber in the passenger side of the car she and her sister were using for their road trip around America and switched seats with her sister whose turn it was to sleep while she continued the drive along the lone road.

They had taken to driving through the night until they made it to the destination in which they had picked out when they had last sopped for a few days. The pair would not plan their journey outright but rather plan their next move once they were settled from the previous long drive.

Around midday, the two sisters had pulled in to a small town with a population of three hundred people, give or take. At least, that's what the sign welcoming them had said.

Y/N pulled in to the only bar she had managed to find, parking up a good distance away from the door. She let out a breath, turning the engine off and slouching in her seat for a moment. While she relaxed, she took in the structure of the bar.

The bar didn't look to be brand new but then, it didn't look to be run down either. It looked as though it was maintained enough to where the owners were happy with the rustic look it gave off. The longer she looked at it, the more Y/N came to like the look of it.

Y/N sighed once more, turning to look at her sleeping sister. Even while she slept, Peggy looked as though she had stepped straight out of a magazine cover. Her brown hair sat in casual curls that framed her face to perfection while her lashes fluttered as she slept.

With a quick glance at the bar, Y/N pushed herself forward and pulled the key from the car ignition. She turned her body, resting her hand on Peggy's thigh and shaking it slightly. "Peg? We're here."

The brunette mumbled something, beginning to awake from her slumber. Y/N gave her a moment to shed to sleep from her brain. "What time is it?" Peggy mumbled, pulling the car sun visor down and checking her appearance in the small mirror.

"Just gone one." Y/N told her, nodding out Peggy's window at the bar. "This seems to be the only bar in town. I drove around for a little while. just to be sure but I suppose it doesn't look too bad. I kind of like it."

"Yes. I suppose the longer you look at it the more welcoming it looks." Peggy nodded, tilting her head as she took in the building.

"Right?" Y/N nodded, agreeing with her older sister. "We going in then?"

"Of course. My bottoms starting to go numb from being in this car for so long."

Y/N chuckled at Peggy, shaking her head as she opened the car door and climbed out. She waited until Peggy had closed her door before she locked it with the key.

She moved around the car, walking alongside Peggy as they advanced on the bar, taking in more of the structure the closer they got. Y/N could hear the steady beat of rock music that she knew would dominate the atmosphere once they were inside

Peggy reached out, gripping the door handle and pushing it open. The hinges squealed, almost as a warning to those inside. Once the door was open enough for the two women to enter, they quickly did.

"Jesus..." Y/N trailed off, not expecting the bar to be so welcoming.

Almost instantly, she felt as though she wanted to soak in the laughter and the chatter that was barely audible over the sound of the rock music. The lights were slightly dim, illuminating that of the bottle stacked up behind the bar while the neon signs that were screwed to some of the walls added to the wonderful colours.

"Bar or booth?" Peggy tore Y/N from her own thoughts.

"Bar." She answered, not wanting to take up a whole booth for just the two of them.

As she followed after her sister, Y/N kept her eyes on the back of Peggy's head. She didn't want to risk looking at someone within the bar and have a re-play of the events that happened weeks prior because she 'looked at a man funny.'

Although she initially felt that she and Peggy didn't belong within the walls, she knew that as the time goes on, they'll be more comfortable in the bar.

The two made it to the bar and took the two stools that wouldn't cause them to be out in the open and easily bothered. The bartender, a tall thin man with dark, shoulder length hair was cleaning a pallet of glasses at the other end of the bar. He spotted them and called to someone through the opening behind that bar that lead to somewhere Y/N was unsure of.

Seconds later, an even taller man came out, smiling politely at the sisters. Compared to the first guy, this one was much different. He had muscles enough for him and two other men and long blonde hair that was pushed out of his face by a blue bandana. "What can I get you both?"

"Can we get two gin and lemonade's please?" Peggy politely asked, returning the smile.

"Coming right up." He nodded, turning on his heal to grab two glasses. He filled them with ice before moving over to the spirit's and choosing the one he wanted.

"Can you make them double's please?" Y/N asked after a second thought.

"Rough day?" The blonde chuckled, looking at the time with a raise of a brow.

"Long day." Y/N said, thanking him when he handed over the two drinks. "You take card, right?"

The man from before suddenly appeared from behind the blonde and held out a card machine. Y/N took it with a small thanks and shoved her card in it, waiting or it to read her card.

"I'm just going to pop to the bathroom a moment." Peggy all but whispered in Y/N's ear who nodded.

"You two aren't from around here?" The blonde asked the obvious question.

"We're travelling through America." Y/N answered politely. "We're from England. Peggy's always wanted to see America for herself. Ever since we we're little girls so we've both decided to finally do it."

"It sound's like fun." The blonde grinned, crossing his arms over his chest as he continued to speak. "So, you're sisters? Full sisters? Adopted?"

Y/N frowned, taking a sip of her drink and eyeing the blonde as though he really wasn't all there. The silence seemed to pull the other guy back over as he looked at Y/N's awkward face while the blonde continued to grin.

"We're full sisters..." Y/N said after another moments silence.

"Ah, he's adopted you see, still brothers though." The blonde added after a seconds though clearly realising his awkward mistake. "Loki and I are as close as can be."

"That's debatable, Thor."

"I'll go ahead and assume your parent's were big on mythology?"

"Our great-grandparent's actually." Loki said, rolling his eyes as he grabbed the card machine and walked away.

"Don't mind him, he's a lone wolf."

It was as Loki walked away that she finally realised that he was wearing some type of leather vest. She had never seen one in the flesh but had seen them on pictures and shows. "Are you guys in a gang?" She found herself asking, regretting it almost instantly.

Thor laughed, a full belly one as he chucked his head back and grinned. "Not a gang no. A club."

"A... Motorcycle club?"

"Indeed." Thor nodded, motioning to the picture on the wall beside his head. Y/N stood up from her stool and moved towards the wall to get a better look at the picture.

Stood in three lines were men of many different shapes and sizes all grinning or laughing at the camera and all wearing the same leather jackets with different wears and tears. Y/N looked out the corner of her eye at the patches on Thor's and read the tope one.

Avengers MC.

Before she had a chance to say anything, the doors flew open and loud laughter filled her ears. She looked over her shoulder to see a group of well built and overly tall bed enter the bar with grins that matched that of the picture.

"Boys!" Thor grinned, welcoming them into the bar instantly.

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