#but then again i think in my head i’m comparing it to monday night where my best friend who has kissed me before was like all over me

[supergraphicultramoderngirl]

. sigh.

[diazheartsbuckley]

Hi, as someone who discovered her first grey hair a couple months ago and had a crisis about it, I'm interested in Eddie discovering his first grey hair pretty please

Hi there!

Omg I did this a while ago and it was going to be a one shot (probably still can be as it’s not finished)

Here is a snippet of it 💕

Once they finished, Eddie went into the bathroom again to style his hair and he combed it through before running his fingers through it too. He then began to style with it with a little bit of gel and as he turned his head, he had to do a double take.

That better not be what I think it is.

He tried to brush it away with his fingertips, thinking, no, hoping that it was just conditioner that hadn’t been washed out properly. When nothing happened, he placed his hands on the sides of the sink as a sign of defeat. It was barely visible, not one, not two, not three, but four grey strands mixed in with the dark brown.

Has no one else seen them? No, if they had, they would’ve said something. They wouldn’t have left it alone.

Yet he couldn’t help but to wonder.

“Chris? Will you come in here for a second?” He called out, stopped dead in his tracks. No, it wasn’t a big deal. It’s just hair and he knew that for some people even getting to have grey hair is a privilege. That didn’t mean that it didn’t take him by surprise.

“Yeah, dad?” Chris questioned as he soon stood in the doorway.

“You see these too, right?” Eddie pointed to the side of his head where he had discovered the four, small grey strands of hair.

“You have grey hair” His son laughed and put his hand on top of his. Eddie couldn’t help but to laugh a little himself too and eventually pulled his head away from Chris’ touch.

“Not a word to anyone about this. Not even Buck, okay?” Eddie said pointedly at Christopher who just agreed with a big smile on his face.

Buck is going to know within seconds the next time I see him.

The entire evening that he spent at his Tia Pepa’s house, he kept touching the side of his head and smiling awkwardly every time that he got caught doing it. It felt ridiculous but so did getting grey hairs at 35. His dad didn’t even start to get grey hairs before he was in his early 50s and he knew that their life and stress levels couldn’t exactly compare but it still made him feel self aware. It was only a few strands now but he also knew that they would only keep on coming.

When they came back home, they sat on the couch and watched a movie until Christopher fell asleep with his head in Eddie’s lap. In the middle of the night, Eddie woke up with Christopher still sleeping on him and he ended up carrying him to bed before heading off to sleep too. But he was sat on the edge of the bed and he took out his phone, brought it to the side of his head and took a picture of his grey hair strands. He didn’t know why. Maybe to document it, maybe to prove to himself that he wasn’t actually hallucinating or maybe to find some acceptance in it.

He spent the following day at home with Chris and when Carla came to pick him up Monday morning, he realized that it had already been two full days since he noticed something new about himself.

“Dad has grey hair!” Was the first thing out of Christopher’s mouth as he opened the door for Carla.

“Your dad has what now?” She said, a smile lightening up on her face.

And there we have it.

“Nothing, absolutely nothing” Eddie shot Christopher a look but it wasn’t anger. It was a mix of embarrassment and a slight bit of annoyance.

“I’m pretty sure I heard your son say that you have grey hair” Carla stated as she went to the kitchen counter to pick up some of Christopher’s things as he put on his shoes.

“I mean… yes. I do. It’s just a few strands. Really, it’s not a big deal” Eddie said, trying to sound convincing.

“Whatever you say, honey” Carla smiled at Eddie and put on her hand on Christopher’s shoulder as they were heading out of the door.

This one also goes out to @wikiangela 💋

Ask me about my wips 💗

Using this as my WIP Wednesday 🫢

This is really a raw draft that I did a while ago but the idea just came alive then

Tagged by the amazing @daffi-990 💋

Tagging!! @thewolvesof1998 @theotherbuckley @jesuisici33 @callmenewbie @cal-daisies-and-briars @watchyourbuck @giddyupbuck @wildlife4life @butraura @honestlydarkprincess @fionaswhvre @disasterbuckdiaz 🫶🏻

[oohnotvery]

Edges of the Night (Chapter 13)

Okay, holy crap, I don’t think I’ve EVER received as many comments on a chapter as I did on that last one (even Chapter 18 of “Throwing Good After Bad” didn’t get that many initial comments, and that chapter was a DOOZY, iykyk). That shocked me!! First, THANK YOU, that gives me so much joy. Second, okay, fueled by those amazing comments and people’s thirst for more, I sat down to edit/write instead of packing for my trip. I can’t deliver the entire rest of this part because it’s so freaking long and really needs more work, but I wanted to give you all something else to chew on while I’m gone. Not much happens here compared to the other chapters, but it’s all I was able to finish before my trip.

So again, thank you—and see you back here on Monday!

Alan.

It’s Alan.

With a stiff jerk, Scully untangles herself from Mulder. Dazedly, she glances up at him, then takes an unsteady step towards Alan.

Her fiancé reaches out a hand and hesitantly, she takes it. He tugs gently, his eyes creasing with relief.

“I’m so glad to see you,” he murmurs, tugging until her body collides with his. He lifts his hands to her cheeks and bends down, pressing his lips to hers chastely. She is so surprised that she jerks away. Her cheeks flood with color as Alan’s face falls and she glances behind her, where Skinner, Mulder, and the boys are staring at them uncomfortably.

Byers, who seems to be the only one with manners, hastily motions for everyone to disperse into the living room. Mulder lingers for a second longer than everyone else, his expression unreadable. When he finally disappears from sight, she turns apprehensively back to Alan.

“We have so much to talk about,” he says uneasily, and she nods, completely stunned.

“I’m—I can’t believe you’re here,” is all she can think to say.

He smiles kindly. “Mulder filled me in on some of what you two went through.” He shakes his head in amazement. “You must have been terrified.”

Terrified . . . yes. That was the overriding emotion of the past few days, right?

Traitorously, her mind flashes on an image of Mulder’s bare chest, his hands tight against her thighs, his hips pressing into hers—

Alan’s hand travels idly across her empty ring finger, interrupting her thoughts, and her cheeks flush darkly. The damn ring. We threw away the damn ring. But Alan shrugs good-naturedly. “He also warned me about what happened to the ring. He offered to pay for another, actually.”

Scully blanches. Mulder offered to pay for her engagement ring to another man? The idea is so nauseating that she grimaces, shaking her head.

“No, no, let’s just—Alan, can we just focus on putting one foot in front of the other? I can barely—I’m having trouble absorbing what’s happening,” she says truthfully.

Rationally, some part of her brain knew that she would see Alan again. In fact, everyone—Mulder included—has been reminding her that once this ordeal is over, she’ll be free to return to her life in California. A life that includes Alan. But seeing him in person has sent shock waves down her spine, forcing her to consider a future that doesn’t seem as settled as it once did.

Is that really what she wants to do? Return to her life in San Diego? Marry this man? Settle down and live a quiet life?

Just a week ago, that wasn’t even a question. She did want those things, and she remembers wanting them with Alan.

But spending four days with Mulder has suddenly thrown everything into chaos.

Alan nods understandingly, reaching out to place a warm palm to her cheek. “Of course. Let’s—let’s get settled and we can discuss everything.”

She nods.

**

They all settle in the living room, Alan and Scully sharing the couch, Mulder and Skinner sitting across from them in a pair of armchairs. The Lone Gunmen lounge casually on the floor and against the walls.

“So,” Mulder begins, looking directly at her.

There’s a part of her that knows she’s in a state of shock. As she stares at Mulder across the room, all she really thinks she has the energy to do is to curl up into his side and reassure herself that he is, in fact, very much alive. Her brain has hardly begun to wrap itself around the fact that he’s here in the flesh.  

But there’s another part of her that realizes that she and Mulder are no longer alone, that her fiancé is sitting beside her, and that she has to start accepting the facts very quickly.

“First and foremost,” Mulder continues, “you should know that Alan was never tracking you.”

She nods primly, sure that her cheeks have never sustained a blush for this long. It is mildly embarrassing that Alan knows that they were once so sure he was tracking them with her ring, that Mulder chucked it into a snowbank.

Alan rubs a comforting hand across her back. “It’s okay,” he says quietly, and she meets his eyes, which are warm and understanding.

She glances over at Mulder, then back to Alan. A headache is beginning to form between her eyes as a result of the mental gymnastics it’s taking to stay present for this conversation. As she looks at Alan, all she can really think about is Mulder. Mulder. Once again, traitor that it is, her mind flits to their last night in the cabin together, her lips on Mulder’s lips, their hips rocking together. She flushes deeper.

God, she doesn’t deserve Alan’s understanding.

She glances around the room and realizes everyone seems to be waiting for her to speak. Say something, her brain demands. Act normal. She tries to focus on putting a sentence together, but Mulder is here and alive and why the hell does she have to sit here on this damn couch and pretend like that’s not the most important thing in the world right now?

She licks her lips uneasily. When she speaks, her voice shakes. “You said—you said Alan was responsible for—for saving your life.”

Mulder shifts in his seat, his eyes narrowing, his fingers templing over his mouth. When he trains those profiler eyes on her and regards her intently, she ducks her head, trying to quell the wave of emotions crashing over her. She needs to be alone, she needs to give herself space to process this alone—

Mulder stands abruptly.

Everyone’s eyes lift as he walks past the sofa towards the kitchen. She turns and he glances back at her. With a slight tilt of his head, he gestures for her to follow him.

Unsteadily, she rises to her feet.

“Just need a minute,” she whispers to Alan. He nods tightly.

In the kitchen, Mulder reclines against the countertop, his arms crossed over his chest. She fidgets nervously, wanting so badly to touch him again. But she can’t. Not with an audience just six feet away in the other room. Not with her fiancé around.  

But Mulder inclines his head, signaling her closer, and she can’t resist walking up to him. He doesn’t touch her, but his eyes envelop her with warmth. With him nearby, her heart rate starts to slow and her mind begins to grow calm. Peace washes over her and she closes her eyes, allowing herself to breathe him in, feel the heat of his body, sense the steadiness of his presence. Of course he knew she needed this. Of course he understood. She opens her eyes and finds him watching her carefully.

He's alive.

Without warning, a flood of joy explodes inside her and a grin rises unbidden to her lips. She ducks her head but he reaches out, tapping at her chin until she shows him her face. He laughs a little, a smile catching on his lips, and she’s sure she hasn’t ever felt this relieved.

“You’re alive,” she whispers incredulously. Her eyes rove over his face and body, quickly scanning for injuries and finding none.

“I thought you might need a minute,” he murmurs perceptively, “you know, to check me over for injuries.”  

She laughs wetly. “I could use more than a minute.” She presses the back of her hand to her mouth as happy tears begin to stream down her cheeks.

He chuckles. “So you’re surprised I made it out in one piece?”

She raises her eyebrows. “Yes,” she says, then shakes her head, “and no. I don’t know. I didn’t—I didn’t let myself really believe you’d . . . that you’d . . . .”

He nods and she takes a step closer.

“I can’t believe you were going to pull that trigger,” she whispers, meeting his gaze steadily.

His lips pinch together and he shakes his head as if to say later. Then his arms loosen on his chest until soon, he’s pulling her in for a hug. For a moment, she lets joy and relief overtake her body. She forgets that there are people in the other room; she forgets that she’s going to have to face her fiancé soon; she forgets California and the demands of the real world. Right now, all she feels is exuberance that she’s standing in this kitchen holding onto this man.  

“Gee, Scully,” he murmurs after a moment. “You’re really this happy to see me?” The incredulity in his tone takes her out of the moment.

“Don’t act so surprised,” she mutters into his shirt.

He hums at the back of his throat and she swears she feels his lips press into the crown of her head.  

After a while, he releases her to run a hand gently across her injured shoulder. “Are you alright?”

She pulls away, her lips pressing together. Yes, she wants to answer. Yes, because you’re fucking alive. Yes, because you didn’t die. Yes, because you’re standing here holding me.

But reality is sitting in the next room, and sooner rather than later, she’s going to have to face it head on.

“Seeing you,” she says quietly, “and seeing . . . him. It’s . . . a lot to process.”

He nods, his eyes lingering inscrutably on hers. Before she can speak again, he’s slipping away to fetch her a glass of water. Pressing it into her hands, he smiles.

“You ready?”

[daisychainable]

Shane's High Score

Fix it fic for Shane's 14 heart event! You shouldn't have to stalk your husband!

“You should talk to him.”

Peony blinked. And blinked again. Her hands tightened around the teacup in her hands, the drink still warm. “Excuse me?”

Marnie fidgeted in her chair but maintained eye contact. Her tea sat untouched on the table. They didn’t even get to the normal pleasantries, like ‘how is it going’ or ‘lovely day outside’. No, Marnie continued straight on to, “I know it may be hard to hear, but it seems like Shane is drinking at the saloon again.”

Peony fixed a polite smile onto her face. “Shane has been playing Journey of the Prairie King in the arcade. Abigail beat his score last week.”

“Is he though?” Marnie’s hands fluttered about as she spoke, waving away any arguments like flies.. “Have you gone with him?” 

The tea was honestly nice. Chamomile, from Caroline. Peony wondered how her morning was going. The silence hung heavy in the air as Peony finished her cup. “Marnie.”

Marnie stilled. “Yes?”

“Have you talked to Shane?”

“Not yet, but-”

“Have you seen him inside the bar?”

Marnie straightened as she regained some ground. “Yes. He’s there a lot longer than I am. Gus says he’s there until closing time!” 

Peony’s eyes crinkled. “Where is he in the bar, Marnie?”

Marnie shook her head. “In the arcade, but with temptation so close, do you really think he’s just staying in the arcade all night? Even if it is just video games, it can’t be good for him to-”

The teacup clinked loudly against the platter. The polite smile was gone. Marnie’s eyes were wide. Peony said in a low voice, “Marnie. I trust Shane. Why don’t you?”

A moment of silence. Marnie opened her mouth, then closed it again. After it was clear she wouldn’t answer, Peony reached across the table and took her cold tea. “Thank you for coming over, Marnie. I’ll see you in the shop sometime.”

As she took the dishes into the kitchen, Peony heard the quiet click of the front door, and she let out all the air she had been holding in. She pinched her fingers to the bridge of her nose and counted to ten. The day had been going so well up until this point, but at least in the late afternoon she didn’t have to worry about doing her chores angry. 

The small cuckoo clock ticked away to the next hour. It was a wedding present from Robin. At five o’clock, the little chicken inside popped out and clucked five times. It was a small thing, but it was enough to break a few of the storm clouds above Peony’s head. She shrugged on a light pink jacket and headed outside.

Pelican Town was gorgeous in the fall. The colors took her breath away during her first year, the buttery gold yellow leaves almost too bright compared to the dull grays and brown of the city. Jas had shown her where to find the prettiest purple trees in the forest, and the look on Shane’s face was so openly fond when they came back with arms full of leaves. The clouds above Peony’s head broke completely, and she shook her head with a laugh. 

The saloon was only half full today. Peony waved to Gus, who was doing a pretty good job pretending to be busy. “Another bustling Monday?”

Gus chuckled. “As full as ever. Got any mayo for me today?”

Peony shoved her hands in her empty pockets. “Ah, it seems I forgot. Maybe a free coffee would jog my memory for tomorrow?”

Gus shook his head. “Shameless. I’m being extorted in my own bar.”

Peony jerked a thumb towards the arcade. “Same as usual?” 

Gus nodded. “He got close a couple times, but I don’t think it’ll happen tonight. Make sure he leaves at a decent time, will you? I’m hoping to close up a little early to catch The Bake Off tonight.” 

Peony gave him a two-finger salute and slipped into the hall. The sounds of The Prairie King drifted into the room, and it sounded like her husband was making some good progress. In the dimly lit room, the neon sign cast bright purple highlights on Shane’s tousled hair and focused expression. His practiced hands tapped away diligently as waves of enemies swarmed the little cowboy avatar. Peony hovered a couple feet away and watched over his shoulder. 

“The little spike guys are piling up,” Peony chimed.

Shane hummed. “It’s fine, the time's almost up.”

There was still quite a bit of time left, but Shane’s eyes were fever-bright with anticipation as more of the men swarmed him. Peony leaned against the cabinet. “If only you had some sweet power ups to get you out of the corner,” she said.

Shane shook his head, a few strands of hair falling in his eyes. “Nah, it’s fine. I need that power up later.”

Later would not be coming as they both watched one of the spiked enemies pop down a trap right in front of his character. Shane groaned as the little cowboy blipped out of existence and the score screen flashed, Abigail’s high numbers dominating the top of the list. “Damn it, I was so close!” 

Peony didn’t think he was too disappointed. His smile was too wide, too contagious. “You think there’s any cheats out there for old-school arcade machines?” 

Shane huffed and wiped his sweaty hands on his pants. “There are, but Abigail isn’t using them. I’m gonna beat her fair and square.” 

Peony pulled a quarter out of her pocket. “Mind if I join in?” 

Shane’s bright eyes met hers with so much warmth it almost knocked Peony over. His smile was absolutely giddy. “Sure thing, player two.”

The quarters clunked heavily in the machine, and their little cowboys ran around each other briefly before setting to work. There was a moment of nothing except for the sound of pixel bullets before Shane spoke again. “Did something happen today? Normally you’d be slapping together pumpkin recipes this late.”

Peony rushed in to take care of the spiked enemies while Shane gathered power ups. “Marnie swung by today to chat.”

The enemies gathered around on all sides to corner them. A coffee power up blinked in close by, and Shane made a grab for it to squeeze out of a tight space. “That sounds nice. What did she say?”

A soldier popped in right by Peony’s little cowboy. She had gotten a little too close to the wall. “She thought you were drinking again.” 

Shane stilled for a moment, his fingers pressed down on a button but not releasing it. His cowboy shot aimlessly for a moment before he gathered himself again. “But I’m not.”

Peony nodded, covering for him while he scooped up some coins. “No. You’re not.”

The level cleared, and the shopkeep drifted in with their wares. Shane’s hand gripped the joystick and hovered on the side of the cabinet. His eyebrows creased, and all Peony wanted was to smooth it away. “But what if one day I did? Just, caved in and drank and sat in the corner of the saloon again?” 

His eyes wouldn’t meet hers. His shoulders hunched. Peony covered his hand with hers. They were both sweaty, but neither of them minded at that moment. “Then you would come home. I would ask if you were okay. We would take a shower, or watch that sci-fi comedy where neither of us have to think too much. The next day, we would call the therapist and make an appointment.” Peony slipped her fingers between his, and Shane gripped them back. “We can sit and be sad together. We can get back up and play games together and struggle to name the newest chicken together. Whatever happens, we’re gonna get through it together.”

Shane didn’t say anything, but a soft smile now graced his face. He looked at her with all the love he had in his eyes, and Peony knew hers looked the same. Then he looked at their score, and huffed. “We can’t beat Abby’s score together though.”

“Oh God no, Abby’s an absolute menace.”

[foggyfanfic]

Love and Fury

Chapter Preview: He resisted the urge to apologize to her. He wasn’t used to rejecting offers of friendship, he didn’t get enough that he could generally afford to do so; but, he would not, could not, let himself get close to somebody that had hurt his family. Especially unprovoked like she had.

Ch1 Prev Next Master List

Chapter 4 : Book Club

Leandra had not slept well Monday night. She hadn’t gone into town so she had fortunately been spared Cicero’s company, but she had started to worry that maybe Bruno wouldn’t be there on Tuesday. Maybe Pepa would tell him the truth and he’d be so embarrassed by his (technically justified) anger that he’d avoid her, or maybe that anger would dwindle on its own. He’d put up with years of growing resentment from an entire town of people, how could she possibly compare to that.

If he wasn’t there, there’d be nothing to keep Cicero from harassing her, and who knows what would happen once he realized she wasn’t actually interested. Ay dios, what would he do if he ever figured out she’d been purposefully interrupting his attempts to get other girls alone for a year now?

So, she was as relieved as she was startled when, bright and early on Tuesday morning, Bruno slapped his book down on to the wood counter of her stall and yelled, “Rico is a racist!”

“Wha-,” she was briefly interrupted by a yawn, “What?”

“I reread it, Rico is a racist, he is prejudiced against the people of Nemgo,” Bruno explained, gesturing wildly as he spoke, “he isn’t as overt about it as his friends, but one, all his friends are overtly racist, and two, he laughs at all their prejudiced jokes. And! And he only becomes interested in Ginger after he finds out she isn’t from Nemgo like he thought. Th-that’s why he was too casual with the King of Nemgo and all that, because he doesn’t see the King as a real monarch.”

Leandra blinked at him a few times, the information processing, she grabbed the book and scowled at it, “Nuh-uh, there’s no way, I could swear the central theme was about the evils of unchecked power, and, and the way war disproportionately affects the impoverished.”

“That’s what I thought at first too,” Bruno nodded, entering the stall to sit in his chair, “but the only reason Nemgo and Ahdubhi are so powerful in the first place is because they are both imperialist powers. And they only became imperialists because they were competing with each other. The book is actually about how hatred dehumanizes us.”

She yawned again, then groaned as she folded her arms on the counter and buried her face in them, “Ugh, now I want to reread it but I’m too tired. Couldn’t you have had your brilliant epiphany on a day when I wasn’t up all night?”

Bruno snorted and put on an airy tone, “I’m afraid my genius waits for no one.”

She laughed, but that too turned into a yawn, her eyes watering. She wiped at them as she sat up straight and handed the book back to him.

“You ok?” he asked hesitantly, he knew he wasn’t supposed to care, but Bruno had never really been capable of complete apathy.

“Hmm, better now that you’re here,” she muttered, scooting her chair over so she could lean against the side of the stall, “I was super worried about-. Um.”

Meirda! Where was she going with this? The truth? Bad idea.

“About?” Bruno prompted.

Thinking fast, Leandra smoothly recovered from her slip up, gesturing around herself with a vague hand motion, “This whole, y’know, thing.”

Nailed it.

Bruno cocked his head, also gesturing vaguely around them, “The cheese stand?”

“Cicero,” she said, summoning up a half truth, “worried he’s going to move on to another girl.”

On the one hand she totally wanted him to leave her alone, on the other, as long as he was distracted with her, he wouldn’t be threatening some other poor girl with his tricks.

“Well, y’know,” Bruno replied in a sing-song voice, “if you want to be with Cicero, all you have to do is apologize to Pepa. I’ll get right out of your way.”

She just grunted and rested against the stall, her eyes idly drawn to the book she’d handed back to Bruno. He fiddled with it, running his fingers over the corner of the pages so they made a quiet “fwip, fwip, fwip” sound. She yawned and he frowned at her, she was about to ask if he found yawning offensive but he cut her off.

“Wait, what do you mean better now that I’m here?”

“Hm?” 

“When I asked if you were ok you said, ‘better now that you’re here’, what do you mean by that?”

“Oh,” she marshaled her thoughts, surprised that he hadn’t written the comment off as flirting like most people would have assumed, with a shrug she admitted, “I enjoy your company.”

Bruno’s eyebrows screwed together and his mouth formed a flat line. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking but she figured he either didn’t believe her or was confused by her apparent conflict of interest.

“That’s um, a part of what has me so worried,” she said, realizing as she spoke that it was true, “yeah sure, you’re keeping Cicero away from me, but I’ve never had the chance to get to know you before. Turns out you’re kind of fun to be around. Thing is, Cicero is afraid of you so I can’t be around the both of you at the same time, so when this ends, however it ends, are you just… never going to talk to me again?”

Bruno blinked at her and she stared dully back, leaning bonelessly against the stall, eventually he gulped and reasoned, “I-I can’t really be friends with somebody that hurt one of my sisters.”

“Fair enough,” she sighed, her shoulders drooping. Leandra turned to watch people go by, although Bruno suspected that she wasn’t actually seeing them. Eventually, she sighed again and shook her head minutely.

He resisted the urge to apologize to her. He wasn’t used to rejecting offers of friendship, he didn’t get enough that he could generally afford to do so; but, he would not, could not, let himself get close to somebody that had hurt his family. Especially unprovoked like she had.

“Read it to me,” she suddenly declared.

“Hm- wha-what?” he pulled himself from his thoughts to stutter at her, then waved the novel in the air, “You mean the book?”

“No, I mean the Rosetta Stone. Yes, read me the book, or at least the parts that prove Rico’s a racist.”

“Oh,” Bruno thought about it for a second then shrugged, he could do with the distraction, “Alright. Do you remember everyth- How long ago did you read it?”

“Uh, a few months? Rosalie and I read it together during her third trimester,” Leandra waved a flippant hand, “so it couldn’t have been that long ago. Pretty sure I remember all the important bits.”

“You know, I didn’t realize you were that close with Rosalie,” Bruno opened the book to the first chapter, “how is she? How’s the baby?”

“She’s doing a lot better, turns out she really enjoys weaving. And little Julio is doing really well. Did anyone tell you that he was named after Julietta? She really helped with the delivery.”

“Is he? I had no idea, that’s great,” Bruno felt his face split into a giant grin, “she should bring him by Casita sometime. Mama is always saying lately how much she loves babies.”

Leandra snorted, “Y’know, it’s funny, once I reached marrying age my Papa suddenly started saying the same thing.”

“Oh, you don’t think… oh. I didn’t even notice,” Bruno frowned down at the ornate “One” on the open page. Of course his mother was trying to hint that she wanted grandchildren, that made sense. Too bad Bruno wasn’t likely to give her any.

Or maybe not too bad, on the one hand, Bruno loved kids and he loved the idea of being a father. On the other… any kid of his would probably be labeled as Bad Luck Bruno’s Spawn, and he didn’t want to do that to his children.

Leandra’s foot gently nudged his calf, when he looked up at her she was smiling gently, “You good?”

“Chapter one,” he read, instead of answering her question. She didn’t push and instead settled back to let his words flow over her. As promised, he pointed out all the evidence of Rico’s bigotry to her and by the end of the third chapter she was beginning to agree with his theory.

For most of the morning their impromptu book club was interrupted by the occasional customer, which was fine as it gave Bruno the chance to rest his voice. However, they eventually saw a lull in people and Bruno found himself reading through chapters four and five without a single break. He looked up at the start of chapter six to tell her he’d need some water before he continued, only to find her sleeping against the flimsy wall of the market stall.

Bruno sat completely still for a few seconds as the fact that she was sleeping slowly registered. Should he wake her? No, that’d be rude, wouldn’t it? Except, she was the enemy, he should want to be rude to her. But he didn’t want to be rude, he really just wanted her to give Pepa the apology she deserved. So, he shouldn’t wake her, right?

But what about the cheese? He didn’t know any of the prices. And what was Bruno supposed to do until she woke up, just sit here? He glanced around at the rest of the market, maybe he should go.

His eyes skated past the leather shop, then zipped back to the gauzy white windows.

On Friday she had said that Cicero had sat in there watching her for the first opportunity to talk to her without Bruno around. She might have been convinced that Cicero had her best interests at heart, but Bruno wasn’t so sure. There was something so… unsettling about the thought of that sleazebag sitting behind the curtains of the shop window, watching Reina sleep and hoping that Bruno would walk away.

He scowled at the windows, just in case Cicero was on the other side of one, then set the book aside and instead started petting Leche. He wasn’t about to leave Reina unguarded, even if he didn’t like her.

She slept for about an hour until a loud voice startled all three occupants of the little stall, “Perfect! That’s exactly what I want for lunch, a bit of cheese and bread!”

Leandra blinked around, looking adorably confused, until Osvaldo appeared clapping his hands together with (noisy) enthusiasm, “Senorita Lopez, what do you ha- Bruno?”

“Um, h-hi,” Bruno waved nervously, the last time he’d seen Osvaldo it had been after the local doctor had warned him that he should go on a diet or else risk losing his figure. He had come to Bruno, hoping a vision would prove the doctor wrong, only to see himself older with not just a gut but a slightly receding hairline too boot. He hadn’t gotten angry about it, but he had whined about it endlessly until Mama had very politely kicked him out of Casita.

“What are you doing here? Uh-oh, watch out Senorita! This probably means you’re getting fat,” Osvaldo laughed at his own joke, missing the way Leandra blinked up at him like she wasn’t quite sure if he was real or a weird extension of her dreams. She turned to Bruno with a confused pout and he just shrugged at her.

“I’m uh, we were talking about this book,” Bruno held up the book in question.

“Oh, that one, terrible isn’t it? Chapter ten just comes out of nowhere,” Osvaldo complained.

“Actually,” Leandra paused to stretch, “Bruno noticed that Rico is a bigot, he was explaining to me how that leads to chapter ten.”

“Really? Huh, I never noticed. Let me know when you return it to the library, I’ll have to check it out again,” Osvaldo clapped his hands together again, earning a huff from Leche, “Anyways! What do you have today?”

“Cheese,” Leandra deadpanned.

Osvaldo roared with laughter, “Guess I walked into that one. What sort of cheese?”

Bruno glanced around, “Goat cheese?”

Osvaldo laughed again, “Ok, ok, I get it, you two are a pair of regular comedians. What do you have on sale?”

“Well, we got a few wheels of garrotxa that need to be eaten soon, and a slice of brabander that’s the last of its kind, hmmm, I’d have the pico if I were you,” she hummed, looking over her samples on the counter, “it turned out really well and has been selling fast, but it’s not on sale so if you’re looking for a cheap lun-.”

“Say no more,” he waved his hands, “I’m sold, I’ll take the pico!”

“You got it,” she grabbed a few of the small wheels from the insulated crate and offered them to him, telling him which wheels would most likely be the creamiest, and which would probably have the best flavor. He selected two then wandered off to buy some bread from European Baker.

They watched him go.

“He’s uh, he’s a nice person,” Leandra eventually said.

“Mm-hm,” Bruno nodded, lips pressed together, “very well meaning.”

“Si, si, never an ill-intention in his entire life,” she nodded back and for a second they just nodded at eachother.

“He’s a bit loud,” Bruno blurted.

Leandra sucked a breath in through her teeth, “Si.”

She drummed her fingers on the counter and looked around, glancing from Bruno to the direction Osvaldo had gone and back again, eventually Bruno asked, “What is it?”

“Do you… know why he accused me of getting fat?”

“Oh,” Bruno laughed nervously, “I kind of gave him a vision, um where he grew a gut.”

“Ah,” she nodded, but still felt confused, “like… soon? Is he going to grow a gut in the next couple of years?”

“No, he looked middle aged in the vision.”

“Oh. So why-? I mean, that’s a normal part of life.”

“Si.”

Suddenly, Leandra perked up, “Look Bruno! I can tell the future too!” She cleared her throat, made a big show of sitting up straight and closed her eyes. Eventually, she gasped as if shocked, then turned to Bruno and reported in her most serious voice, “You will show signs of aging when you’re older.”

Bruno couldn’t help it, he laughed, a lot louder than he’d meant to, “Perdon, perdon, it’s just… yeah! That’s it, that’s one of the most common visions I give. ‘Bad news, you will continue to be affected by the passage of time’. And somehow, people are shocked every time.”

“Ay dios,” she giggled, “that must get kind of old after a while. Pun fully intended.”

He nodded, sighing wearily even as his grin persevered, “Si. I-it does. Not that I’m complaining a-about having a miracle or, or anything. I wouldn’t, I know I’m- we’re blessed. I-I wouldn’t want to seem-, I mean, I’m grateful, very grateful, of course.”

“Meh,” she shrugged, “everything has a down side, right? I figure you got a right to complain, especially since people can get kinda uppity about the whole future thing.”

“Yeah, they do get sort of… intense,” he gulped.

There was a thoughtful pause, then she asked, “What sort of stuff do you look for? Y’know, when you get to look for yourself.”

“Oh, g-gosh, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to look for whatever I want,” Bruno hummed, “i-it takes energy you know, I mean some visions come to me, those ones are easy, but others I have to go digging for and that’s- it’s not usually- well it’s kind of a headache. Literally.”

“So why do it?” she asked, “Osvaldo doesn’t need a magic pile of sand to tell him he’s going to grow old, he just needs a reality check. Why put yourself through physical discomfort for something so, I don’t know, obvious, I guess.”

“Mama doesn’t like it when I tell people no,” Bruno shrugged, then realized how that sounded, “I mean, she’s never said as much, b-but-. Don’t get me wrong, if I say no she’ll back me up, unless it’s like, really important. I just, I can tell, y’know. When she’s not happy and she’s trying not to show it, I can tell. She has enough on her plate as it is. It’s b-better if I just do it.”

“Not for you,” she said softly.

He gulped, swallowing everything he wanted to say to that and picking something unrelated to tell her, “I saw Julietta’s wedding.”

“Oh?”

“Th-the last time I looked into the future without- b-because I wanted to,” he explained, “I- it was before her and Agustín started seeing each other, there was this guy she had a crush on. Felix’s little brother, Felippe, do you know him? A-anyways, the point is, I thought he’d make her happy, so I just wanted to see if they’d end up together. I-instead I saw her marrying… Agustín.”

Leandra blinked, her mouth forming a little “o”, then she broke into giggles, clapping her hands together, “Bruno that’s wonderful!”

He shushed her, looking around as if he expected the entire village to be listening in, “I-I probably shouldn’t have told you that, I shouldn’t even know it.”

“Right, si, claro,” she nodded, biting her lip to try to contain her glee, “it’s just… he’s been in love with her since we were kids. He basically worships the ground she walks on.”

Bruno couldn’t help but smile, “Si, he’s a really great guy, I-I’m looking forward to him being a part of the family.”

“Speaking of-. Wait, I maybe shouldn’t tell you this,” Leandra pressed her lips together, then shrugged, “Nah, it’ll be fine. Speaking of wonderful men having crushes on your sister, yes I do know Felípe, and he told me something very interesting about Felix.”

“Oh?” Bruno frowned, he hoped Felix didn’t have a crush on Julietta, that would cause problems.

“Apparently, when Felix found out that Pepa was fully single again, his face lit up like a firefly,” Leandra grinned, “and I can’t help but notice he’s been hanging out with you guys a lot more since she went back on the market.”

He stared at her and bit his lip to keep from saying anything. If it was true that Félix was interested in Pepa, then Reina may have done her a huge favor by getting Cicero out of the way. Félix was a way better man than Cicero, way, way, way better; but Bruno couldn’t just say that. Even if Reina’s actions had indirectly created the opportunity for Pepa to end up with a much, much, much better man, he couldn’t just let Reina off the hook for throwing that food at her.

“That is good news,” he eventually said.

“Right?!” Leandra pushed a strand of hair out of her face, “Honestly, Pepa deserves a sweet guy like him after everything that’s happened lately.”

“Everything being… you humiliating her at a party so you could steal her boyfriend? That everything?”

She swallowed the urge to grimace and just chirped, “Yep! That’s the everything I mean.”

Bruno stared at her, trying to figure out what exactly her deal was. Did she like Pepa? Then why did she attack her? 

“Were, o-on the night of the party, were you drunk?” 

“Nope,” although she was beginning to wish she was drunk right now. She was always a queasy mess when she drank, but at least she was a quiet queasy mess that was too busy trying not to throw up to open her big fat mouth.

“Alright,” he said, drawing the single word out into a long, uncertain question.

They didn’t speak for the rest of the day. Bruno was too busy trying to work out what was going on with Leandra, and she was worried that if she spoke anymore she’d continue to slip up. At the rate she was going she might end up telling him every secret she’d ever heard.

When the day came to a close Bruno was kneeling in front of the stall, petting Leche’s tummy while Leandra packed up her stock. She pushed her wagon around to the main road and waited patiently for Leche. Bruno just happened to look up in time to see Cicero helping his friend open a stubborn window on the ground floor of the leather shop, their eyes met and Cicero blanched.

“I’ll walk you guys to the edge of town,” Bruno patted Leche’s tummy and stood.

Leandra glanced around, then her eyes lingered on the leather shop, she nodded, “Fair enough.”

When they parted ways she handed him a couple of small wheels of pico, telling him it was one of the things his mother bought whenever she stopped by the stall. Indeed, when he handed them to his Mamá, her face lit up and she thanked him profusely.

[banannabethchase]

Matt gets a chance to discover more about his (her?) identity, and a little more about Mox.

~

Monday, December 1st

Matt

Nick and Matt are lagging Monday morning, the chilly late fall air coaxing them back into bed until their mom throws pillows at them.

“If you’re late to school,” she says, poking at Matt’s exposed foot, “I’m not letting you have that big New Year’s Eve party.”

Matt sits up. “I’m awake.”

“Good,” his mom says, patting his face. “Now get yourself together and get ready to go. You have that home game tonight, right?”

Matt shakes his head, yawning as he pushes his hair out of his face. “Tomorrow night. We’re debuting our newest routine then.”

“Fantastic,” his mom says. “Now go get ready and if you are tardy again so help me I will walk you to that door myself.”

Matt laughs. “Okay, Mom.”

“You laugh like you think I’m not serious.”

Despite Mom’s and Nick’s fussing, they’re not late. They walk into class about thirty seconds before the 7:30 bell.

Matt’s attention keeps skipping between Mox, classes, and the games. He fidgets constantly, half practicing the routine.

“Matt,” Kenny whispers, halfway through their AP English class, “dude, you’re singing. Quit it.”

Matt shakes his head. “Right. What are we doing?”

“We’re, like, halfway done with a flash essay comparing the themes in Salome with a media we’re familiar with,” Kenny says. His phone bloops. He turns bright red.

Matt knows who it is. Heck, the whole damned team knows who messages Kenny at all hours of the day. It’s Kota Ibushi, the star forward on the basketball team from the town over. Only Kenny is convinced the two of them are a secret.

“Ignore that,” Kenny says. “Anyway, get moving. Gadreaux is threatening to rescind college rec letters if we keep being, and I’m quoting here, ‘little shits.’”

“Maybe we want to be little shits,” Matt mutters, tossing his hair over his shoulder. But he manages to crank out what he considers to be a decent essay about how Love’s entire character from You parallels the obsession Salome has for Jokanaan, so he considers himself successful for the day.

At lunch, he high fives Nick as the juniors float out after their lunch block, and Adam reaches out ruffles his hair.

“Not the hair!” Matt half shrieks. “Nick, make him stop!”

“Oh, sure,” Nick laughs, “right. Because I can control him.”

Matt pouts as he throws himself into his normal seat. “Jamie, does my hair look okay? Adam messed it up.”

She leans over, appraising. “Looks fine.” She reaches out and brushes something. “There it is. Much better.”

“Adam’s the worst,” Matt mumbles. “Messes up my hair. Meses up my brother.”

“Okay, well, they’re messing each other up,” Britt says. She slides into her seat. “Matt, get your lunch.”

“Right,” Matt says, checking back in to reality. “Ooh, pizza!”

~

Matt’s in the library in the middle of his free period, planning out the next assignments coming up before the end of semester tests, when he hears familiar voices call to him.

“Hey!” Jamie throws herself down into the seat next to Matt, resting her head on his shoulder. “Hi.”

“Hey, James,” he says, snuggling up with her. “What’s up?”

“Guess where we just came from,” Britt asks.

Matt stares. “Um. Mars?”

“Mean,” Britt says, bouncing on her toes. “Jamie, tell him,”

“Well,” she says, “me and Britt convinced Rebel to do our makeup before the first real game of the year.”

“And I’m doing hair!” says Britt, flopping down on the floor next to Matt. She pillows her head on his thigh, like always.

“And we were wondering,” Jamie says, “and it’s totally fine to say no, okay?”

“We don’t want you to feel pressured.”

“It’s hard to feel anything if you don’t tell me what this is about.” Matt closes his chemistry textbook. “What’s up?”

“Do you want Rebel to do your makeup for the game?”

Matt turns his head to see Jamie looking eager, but controlled. Like she’s not sure what he’s going to say. “My makeup?” he asks. “Is – is that allowed?”

“You’re on the squad,” Britt says, like it’s obvious. “Athena’s cool with it, obviously, she likes it when we have the uniforms looking right. And Jamie’s convinced Coach Gunn to let her. I don’t see why you wouldn’t be allowed.”

Matt hesitantly reaches up to touch his lips. “Just the lipstick?”

“If that’s all you want,” Jamie says. “But, if you want, we can do full face.”

Matt feels like he’s about to start shaking.

He thinks about the night his parents were out at a work event and Nick went out to a pasta party. When he snuck into their parents room. When he tried on his mom’s makeup with YouTube tutorials, when he saw the person he knows he is.

And here that chance is being given, to wear it in front of others.

To be…to be herself.

“Yeah,” Matt says, suddenly a little breathless. “Yeah, that sounds fun. Let’s do it.”

“Great!” Jamie says. “It’s blue lipstick with blue and gold eye shadow.”

“Your skin is a little more olive than mine,” Britt says, “we’ll need to get him some new foundation.” She leans in front of Matt’s face. “If you want foundation, that is. You don’t need it, of course, but if it’s something you’d like to try.”

Matt nods. “Yes! Yeah. Sure, I mean.” He takes a deep breath, unsure if he wants people to know how excited he – she – is for this chance. “I’m not quite sure how it works, but yeah.” She hopes the lie doesn’t show on her face.

“Awesome!” Jamie says. “Okay, I have to get to English class. We’re doing a Shakespeare unit and Mr. Herron wants me to play Lady MacBeth since I’m the only one who can pull off an English accent.” She rolls her eyes.

“I wonder why that is,” Matt says. He elbows her gently in the ribs. “Um. Thanks, guys. This means a lot.”

“Of course,” Jamie says. She holds out a hand to Matt and helps him up. “See you at practice?”

Matt nods as she and Britt walk away. “See you later!”

~

Tuesday, December 2nd  

Matt

The rest of Monday and Tuesday fly by, AP French practice tests and a paper in AP English consuming all of his time, until it’s the afternoon and the basketball and cheer teams are called over the announcements to meet up at the buses.

Matt always feels kind of special when he leaves early.

“Good luck!” Kris says, waving. “You’re gonna do great!” She boops him on the nose, his favorite way of anybody doing anything ever, and waves him off.

He tries not to be too obvious with the way he looks around for Mox.

“You want to sit next to me?” Nick asks. “I think Caster and Bowens are being normal about life again. Or Coach has given up.”

Matt’s not exactly sure what to say. “Um,” he begins. “I was. I had an idea.”

Nick blinks at him. “An idea?”

Matt nods.

“Oh,” Nick says, wrinkling his nose. “I know that face. You’re going to try to be all weird and make Mox like you, aren’t you.”

Matt whacks Nick in the arm. “Shh! Don’t make it weird!”

“I’m making it weird?” Nick asks, clearly fighting a smile. “Sure. I believe that. What’s your plan?”

“I don’t have a plan,” Matt admits. He looks around again, just in case. “Just. Maybe he’ll sit next to me on the bus. That’s all I’ve got right now.”

Nick shrugs. “I mean, you can try, but he might not pick up on the hints. Plus, you always sit with me.”

“Not today, baby brother,” Matt says, patting Nick on the cheek.

“I hate when you do that.”

“You love when I do that.” Matt makes his way to the front of the bus and adjusts his bag up on his shoulder.

“You’re being weird,” Britt singsongs as they get on the bus. “Having feelings about riding the bus with the basketball team?” She wiggles her eyebrows. “Hoping we stop at a gas station again?”

Matt pokes her arm. “Did Nick tell everybody?”

“No,” Britt says, sitting behind him next to Jamie, “you’re just incredibly obvious.”

“You two looked all fairy tale last week,” Jamie adds.

Matt shuffles down in the seat. “Oh my god.”

“Hey.”

Matt freezes. Then he looks up. And there’s Mox, big smile on his face. “Mind if I sit here?”

“Yeah!” Matt says. He hears Jamie snicker. “I mean, no. Come sit. Go ahead.”

Nick’s right behind Mox and sends Matt the most annoyed glare he’s ever gotten. Worth it.

Mox sits down, getting comfortable. “Hey. Um, again.”

“Hey,” Matt says. “How, uh. How are you?”

“Glad we get out an hour early from class.” Mox’s smile is so pretty. Matt has to get himself to focus.

“I got out of AP French,” Matt says. “You?”

Mox wrinkles his nose. “English seminar. We’re in the middle of MacBeth.”

“You are?”

Matt turns around to see Jamie pop up.

Britt shoots Matt a look, then yanks Jamie back down into her seat. “Jamie, babe, tell me again about that show you watched the other night?”

“What sh –”

Britt kisses her.

“I like her,” Mox says, nodding toward Jamie as he settles back into the seat. “Cool accent. Weird vibe. My kind of girl.”

Matt feels himself deflate at a speed he hasn’t felt since fourth grade when his dad told him he had to try soccer. “Oh.”

“She and Britt are really cute together,” Mox continues. “I’m glad to see there’s other, like, gay people on the teams.”

And suddenly Matt’s back involved. “You – you’re gay?”

“Bi, technically,” Mox says. He shifts, legs up against the back of the seat in front of them.

Wheeler pops up from the seat and stares at them, pouting. “Your knees are in my back,” he complains.

“You’ll live, Yoots,” Mox says.

“You could sit normally,” Wheeler says, frowning. “Like, knees not in my back, kind of way.”

“And you could move, so we’re both good.” Mox grins at him and Wheeler rolls his eyes. “You know you love me.”

“Oh, shut up.” But Wheeler slides back down in his seat, and Mox turns his attention back to Matt. “But, yeah. I’m bi. You?”

“I’m –” Matt feels the words catch in his throat. He’s gay, he’s always been gay. But…she’s a straight girl. “I like boys.”

Mox is so clearly trying to fight a smile it’s almost endearing. “Yeah?”

Matt nods. “Ever since I was a kid, I knew. Nick has this story he loves to tell of me having a crush on Winter Soldier when we watched Marvel movies as kids.” He sighs. “He won’t let me live it down.”

“You like Marvel movies?” Mox wrinkles his nose. “Those movies suck. Here, let me. I’m gonna show you some real cinema.”

“Real – what? Superhero movies are fun!”

“Fun, yeah. I’ll show you a good movie. It’s called Creed.”

Matt can only watch as Mox pulls out his phone and his headphones. The headphones are old, white ones with a wire, and the phone is a beat to hell Samsung something, one Matt hasn’t seen since middle school. Before he can say anything, Mox is in his space, holding up a headphone. “Come on. Put it in.”

Matt hesitantly takes the headphone from him and puts it in his ear.

The entire car ride he watches Creed with Mox, more interested in Mox’s enthusiastic commentary than the story, most focused on the places where their legs press together than the action happening on the screen.

He finds himself with his head resting against Mox’s shoulder when Coach Gunn yells, “Alright! We’re here!”

Matt jolts up, the sound startling him, and the headphone yanks out of his ear.

“Whoa,” Mox says, resting a big hand on Matt’s leg. “You okay?”

Matt nods, swallowing. There’s so much going on right now. “Yeah, I’m good. I’m fine.” He exhales. “I’m great. Just – didn’t realize we were already here.”

Mox smiles. “Want to sit next to each other on the way back? Finish the movie?”

Matt beams at him. “Definitely.”

~

Matt watches Mox throughout the whole game. He’d feel weird about it, but, as he walks out to the court for the halftime performance, he can feel Mox’s eyes on him too, and it feels a little less weird.

He pulls off a near perfect standing backflip to cheers, and Riho, Britt, and Willow’s stunt work has only gotten more perfect, if that’s possible. Matt thinks the blue, dirty floor mats ruin the aesthetic they’re trying to do, but Coach Rayne insists on them for safety, no matter what the routine is.

“Beautiful, girls,” Rayne says. “Sorry. Girls and Matt.”

“I’m okay being one of the girls,” Matt says, a sparkle going up his spine.

“Yeah, he’s our girl, right?” Willow says, yanking him in and holding him tight. “Babe, that backflip was one of your best ever. You practicing or something?”

“Always!” Matt says, almost offended. “Your back handspring was perfect.”

Willow shrugs, a grin on her face that would be smug if she were anyone else. “Riho’s been helping me with my technique.” She pinches Matt’s cheeks. “You look great with the makeup, by the way.”

Matt feels himself practically beaming at the words. “Really?”

“You do.”

But it’s not Willow.

Willow’s grin goes knowing. “I’ve got to go talk to, uh. I have to talk to Athena about. Things.” She darts away, and then Matt turns to see Mox with a tiny smile on his lips.

“I mean, the makeup looks really cool,” Mox says. “I like the sparkles.”

“Oh,” Matt exhales. He’s probably got the most pathetic little smile on his face, but he can’t care about it. He feels too correct, too right, right now. “Thanks. I do too.”

Mox reaches out and bumps Matt’s hand with his own, and Matt might melt into the floor right here. “Um. Great job. Your backflip things are really good.”

“You played an incredible first half,” Matt says, twirling the ends of his ponytail between his fingers. “Don’t tell Nick, but I think you’ll probably end up winning MVP this year.”

“Oh, god, no,” Mox says, shaking his head. “But thanks. Winner’ll either be Kyle or Nick this year, I think. But I appreciate your vote for me, if that’s a thing.” He reaches out to bump Nick’s hand again. “I gotta go, but I’ll see you on the bus ride back.”

Matt nods. “Good luck!”

As Mox walks away, Matt hears a mocking voice say, “Good luck!”

He turns to see Nick with a weird look on his face.

“Don’t be annoying just because you’re single and nobody’s telling you about how good your backflips are,” Matt says, nose up. “The person who would be doing that is probably petting a goat right now.”

Matt laughs at the indignant noise Nick makes, expecting some sort of comeback, but instead Nick just rolls his eyes and yanks Matt’s shirt. “I do not like Adam.”

“Oh, so you know who I’m talking about!”

“He’s the only one with goats!”

“Gentlemen,” Coach Gunn says. Matt turns to see Gunn with his thumb and forefinger pinching the bridge of his nose. “Boys. Please don’t kill each other. We still have half the game. Also, Nick, Caster is trying to do a rap battle with the other team. If you could gently steer him back to the bench before he says the wrong thing and gets punched?”

“What if I want to see him get punched?”

Matt snorts. Nick’s got that infuriating grin on his face, and starts smacking his gum.

“Nicholas…”

“Okay, fine, I’ll go,” Nick grumbles his way over to Caster.

“And Matt, we love you, obviously, but please stop distracting my players before they get a chance to get their water.” His grin is fond.

“Sure thing, Coach.” Matt salutes and makes his way over to where the cheerleaders are sitting.

Jamie’s expression is impossible to miss.

“Oh,” she says. “You really like him.”

“Stop that,” Matt says, poking her in the leg. “I don’t like him. I just. I like him.” He pinches his lips together.

“That’s the face of a liar,” Willow says, poking Matt in the ribs. Matt squeaks. “See? You like him so much you can’t stop smiling.”

“Because you’re tickling me.”

Willow pulls her hands back. “You’re still smiling.”

“She’s right,” Riho says. “I think you like him.”

Matt buries his face into his pom poms, and wishes he liked his friends just a tiny bit less.

[writtenconsent]

January 2, 2023

Hello 2023. It’s nice to meet you.

For the first time in a long time, I am heading into the new year feeling rejuvenated. Conversations I’ve had in the last few days have provided some clarity and a sense of purpose for the direction I want to take my life, and the adjustments I need to make are clear and direct. I owe a lot to my colleague/close friend Britt for that sense of direction, as she shared with me a tool called the Year Compass which provides an opportunity to reflect on the year behind you, and prepare for the year ahead.

Part of me is still lost (re: my last post), but I’ve been thinking long and hard about what I wrote a few days ago and what led to me having those thoughts. I don’t feel particularly encouraged by the darkness my brain went to that night, but I do think it was an accurate reflection of where my brain is at lately.

When I was working on the Year Compass, it asked me to pick three words to represent my previous year and I wrote disjointed, disappointing, and eye-opening. Writing them down gave me a weird sense of relief, like I was finally admitting to myself that the year wasn’t the best. Which again, feels extremely weird, because on paper I have a lot going for me. I got a promotion and an $18,000 raise, I got to go to Vancouver, LA, Golden, Mexico, and Toronto, I saw a number of my favourite groups in concert, I got to meet Ingerid (FINALLY!) after 10 years and spend time with her, I had really special moments with my family, but when I look inwards, I don’t see that positively reflected.

I gained 20lbs of the 40lbs back that I had lost in 2021. I spent a third of the year sick. I lost my confidence and felt like I wasn’t worth much. I am in love with a man who will never see me the same way, and yet I constantly compare other prospects to him instead of trying to move on. I am 2.5 years single, in debt, overweight, and living at home.

I’m not super unhappy by any means, and I think that was one thing I got wrong in my last post because I *AM* happy. It just so happens I have so much more room to grow.

But the reality is, the only person capable of making those changes is me. And if I want to find that happiness I am looking for, sitting on my ass daydreaming isn’t going to get me there.

I keep waiting for the perfect moment to make changes, like a Monday because it’s the start of the new week, or after a birthday three weeks from now because I know I’ll eat badly on that particular day, or when I’ve lost a few pounds and I can make those changes easier.

But I am starting to realize through my conversations over the last few days that there is no right time for change. Change starts as soon as you are ready to make it, and the only person who can start that process is you. So if that change is on a Tuesday in the middle of the month on a cold rainy day, so be it. There’s no right day for change.

So here’s to a 2023 full of happiness, health, wealth, and the ability to make changes, even when it seems like the hardest thing in the world to do.

Onwards and upwards, as they say.

[gladerwolfstarkimagines]

Imagine having no idea Camilo likes you or that you like him back until he starts dating another girl

The worst word a hard-working student can hear is group project. You ultimately get stuck with someone you either don’t like or who won’t do the work. You and Camilo had been in the same class for years but had only ever gotten put in a group together twice and today wasn’t any different. You both held your breath as the teacher read out names and paused when Camilo’s was called...only for him to be paired with Fernando Martínez. “Damn!” he muttered and you shushed him so you could hear your partner “next y/n l/n will be with Natalia Garcia”. You located Natalia across the classroom and shrugged before you realised Camilo was having a breakdown. “Why is it always Fernando! I hate when teachers put us together just because they want me to get him a good grade, I’m not doing it anymore! I’ve reached my limit! I’m going to let Fernando take the lead on this one and if we get an F then that’s it”. You smiled and patted his back “you do that buddy”. “Now everyone get into your pairs” the teacher called and Camilo clutched your arm “y/n don’t leave me”. “Camilo I have to the teacher just told us to”. “Please I don’t think I can take it, he’s so loud and obnoxious. I don’t care if he’s the most popular boy in school if he tells me one more story about his football squad I’m going to shove a football up his...”. “Madrigal!” a voice boomed and Camilo sighed. “We always get put together isn’t that great?” Fernando asked pulling a chair up to Camilo’s desk. Camilo shot him a look and nodded “so great” he replied sarcastically but of course that went over Fernando’s head. “So the two of you have a lot of work to do so I'll go” you replied unthreading your arm from Camilo’s. “I’ll catch you after class okay” you told Camilo’s puppy dog eyes and with a final sympathetic smile you left. 

After class Camilo was well and truly broken. “I asked him if he was free this weekend to write the report and he said he was busy, he’s got football training. So I asked him when we should do it and he said Monday morning! The day it’s due in. I told him that’s too late and asked if he was free any lunchtime or day after school this week and do you know what he said?” Camilo asked you. “Football?” you guessed and Camilo nodded “freaking football!”. Unlike Camilo you were pretty happy with your partner. Natalia was nice, smart and a hard worker. The two of you had split the work evenly, she was going to work on the first half and then you’d finish the rest. You were meeting Friday night for the handover and it was beyond a dream compared to Camilo’s. 

So right on schedule you walked to Natalia’s house Friday evening and she handed you her finished contribution to your project. You were just a tad smug everything had gone so smoothly and were just about to leave when Natalia spoke again “Erm y/n...I know we're not exactly best friends but we know each other right? We’re friendly?". You turned to Natalia confused where this was heading. "Erm sure? We’ve never hung out before this but we’ve been in the same class since nursery and had no problems if that's what you mean?". Natalia nodded "exactly so I was wondering if you’d be willing to help me with something*". You were still confused but nodded "sure what it is?". "Camilo" she said and you frowned "has Camilo done something to upset you?". "No nothing like that, more the opposite...see I like him but he never notices me, I try flirting with him but it seems to have no effect on him and if he thinks of me at all I know it's as a friend". You paused "I’m sorry to hear that Natalia but how can I help?". "Well I was wondering if you could talk to him? Maybe put in a good word for me?". You laughed "why me?". "Because you're his best friend! The person he trusts most in the world and I think if you even just mentioned me in a positive light it’d really help". You blinked "I...I’m not sure". "You don’t have to do it if you don’t want to and I’m totally embarrassed for even asking but if the topic ever came up and you could naturally mention me I'd really appreciate it". You sighed but nodded "if it comes up then sure I'll mention you" and Natalia grinned "thank you y/n!".

You dropped the project off at home before heading to Camilo’s where you ate pretty much every night (Julieta was an insane cook, you were not going to pass that up). However you weren’t the only guest, Mariano Dolores’ boyfriend was here. They’d only been together a month so they were still pretty enamoured with each other and basically spent the whole time complimenting each other. Camilo shook his head watching them from across the garden "do you think we'll ever be like that?". You shrugged "probably not but that’s not a bad thing. There’s so much more to life than romance". Camilo nodded "that's true" and it made you think of Natalia. What if Natalia was the right person for Camilo? You did like Natalia so thought you should try and work this into the conversation for her. "But I bet with the right person it could happen to anyone" you added. Camilo paused "I was just thinking that" and he glanced at you. You nodded "and there’s lots of great people in our town...your family of course and Valentina". "The postwoman? She’s married" Camilo commented. "Yeah I’m just naming good women!" you said getting flustered "and erm there’s Susanna the police chief she’s pretty cool". "She's also 40 so a bit old for me". "and Luisa" you carried on "my cousin" Camilo commented. "And Natalia" you finished and Camilo paused "Natalia from school? Your science partner?". You nodded "yeah, spending time with her made me realise she’s a great person, don’t you think?". Camilo shrugged "I mean I guess, I've never really given it much thought". "I think you’d like her" you said casually but inside you were hoping Camilo couldn’t see exactly what you were doing. Camilo blinked and looked at you "you think I would? You think she’s the girl for me?". For some reason Camilo’s tone sounded off but you nodded "yeah maybe? I don’t know it's just a thought I had". A heavy silence settled and for some reason it was very uncomfortable. Camilo’s body language was very guarded and he stayed oddly quiet for the rest of the night. When you went home there was some weird tension and you got the sense Camilo was angry at you for some reason. However the next day he was all smiles and the tension was gone so you figured everything was fine again.  

Monday morning was the usual slow start to the week but one thing was different. Now the science project was over you didn’t have to sit with Natalia anymore so you moved back to your old seat but when Natalia entered she made a beeline for you. “Thank you so much!" she cried in greeting and you paused "for what?". "For speaking to Camilo!" she beamed at you "he came by Saturday morning and asked me out! I knew it had to be you so thank you". "Ow it’s nothing" you smiled "glad I could help! I hope you have a good date". Natalia smiled "we will and it’s all thanks to you. She squeezed your shoulder before she moved away and now she’d stopped looking at you, you could stop the big fake smile on your face. Camilo had really asked her out? He’d seemed a bit miffed by your comment but then he went and asked Natalia out anyway? It was so odd but you shrugged, what were you doing trying to work out the enigma that was Camilo Madrigal? So you shrugged off what had happened that weekend and moved on. 

You got through the rest of the week without anything happening and Camilo acted the same as usual so you did too. You always hung out at Camilo’s on a Friday night so you headed up the hill and dropped your bag at the door. Friday nights were the famous telenovelas and you loved them probably a bit too much. Camilo’s Tio Bruno would put on a show and all the cousins would gather to watch, it was a fun family tradition you were lucky enough to participate in. “Hey y/n” Isabela and Dolores called already setting things up “you ready for the midseason finale?”. “You bet!” you grinned “do you need any help?”. “No it’s okay but why don’t you go get Camilo from upstairs? He’s always the last one down and I do not want it to start late again” Isabela sighed. You nodded and rushed upstairs. “Camilo” you called knocking “move your butt or Isabela will hang you out the window again”. You pushed open the door to see Camilo fixing his hair “ow hey y/n, I’m not sure I can make it tonight”. “Not make it?” you asked “but we always watch telenovelas on a Friday night. Then we stay up eating junk food till early in the morning and crash!”. “I know but something’s come up so I can’t” Camilo shrugged but you didn’t believe him for a second. "Ow come on what's better than Bruno’s telenovelas? I know we all only agreed to watch them out of pity at first but now I’m really hooked and I know you are too so don’t pretend you're not". Camilo smiled "no it's not that I...have a date with Natalia". You paused "ow..." and Camilo looked at the ground "yeah I decided to ask her out after what you said and it’s tonight". You hadn’t told Camilo you knew he’d asked Natalia out for some reason and he hadn’t mentioned it all week either. You hadn’t thought it odd before but now you realised it was probably a little weird you hadn’t talked about Camilo going on his first date even once. It definitely felt odd and the atmosphere in the room dropped instantly. You tried to recover and pretend like you hadn’t noticed "okay...well I totally understand then! I hope you have a really good time together". Camilo nodded "thanks y/n" but he sounded odd again. "Bye" he said smiling but it didn’t meet his eyes and he left.

You walked back downstairs feeling slightly deflated and joined Camilo’s cousins and sister in the telenovela room. "No Camilo tonight?" Luisa asked as you took a seat and you shook your head "no he’s got a date". "A date!" Isabela cried "with who?". "Natalia" you said and Mirabel rushed over "Natalia Garcia?". You nodded "yeah...". "Wow how did that happen?" Luisa asked and they all turned to Dolores who was sitting nearby. She rolled her eyes but a smile appeared on her face "okay fine....here’s what happened!" and she explained it all. For some reason hearing her tell the story frustrated you and you were feeling moody by the time the telenovela started. You couldn’t enjoy it because you kept thinking of Camilo and his date. Was he having a good time? Was Natalia his girlfriend now? What would happen if they really were perfect for each other? 

Finally the evening was over and for the first time in your life you were relieved to be leaving the Madrigal house...however you weren’t done yet. As you were leaving Camilo was walking up the path back from his date and you both spotted one another. You could hardly pretend you hadn’t seen each another so you walked towards him smiling “so how was it?”. Camilo looked down, probably to hide a blush, “it was nice” he shrugged “she is a really nice girl”. “Aww I’m so happy for you! You’re right Natalia is super nice!”. Camilo nodded and you both paused awkwardly. “So how was the telenovela?” Camilo asked looking up for the first time “you have to tell me everything”. You smiled and launched into a scene by scene retelling of the midseason finale. Camilo seemed amused by your retelling so you were extra animated and soon the two of you were in fits of laughter and it was as if those awkward moments had never happened. 

You noticed this soon became a common reoccurrence. If either of you mentioned Natalia the two of you would descend into an awkward uncomfortable silence and you had no idea why. However if the two of you just skipped over that and pretended it wasn’t happening then everything was pretty much the same as always. So that’s what you started doing, you didn’t mention Natalia and Camilo never brought her up even though you knew they’d been on a few more dates. If you asked Camilo to do something and he couldn’t because he had a date planned he’d just say “I’ve got plans” and that seemed to be your code word for “a date with Natalia”. You didn’t really give much thought to why things were this way or how it wasn’t normal, you were just relieved you and Camilo had passed whatever that awkward stage was but you hadn’t really, you’d just learnt to ignore it. 

A few weeks after this odd relationship began with Camilo the Madrigals were throwing a party to celebrate the first day of Summer. Mirabel demanded you come early and help her get ready. You were confused why she was being so specific, you were always there a few hours before the party started but then you realised that was always because Camilo would ask you. This time Camilo would likely be meeting Natalia beforehand, if anyone it’d be her that showed up early to help. Mirabel had clearly thought of that was trying to be nice. That made you upset and you wondered if all events would be like this in the future, Camilo would go to any event with Natalia and you’d be sidelined. You’d been seeing Camilo less anyway because he always seemed to have plans and he hadn’t been to the Friday night telenovelas in weeks. So you agreed to go with Mirabel and tried to push your weakening relationship with Camilo to the back of your mind. 

You arrived right on time and spent the afternoon with Mirabel choosing outfits before helping her mother with the food. You had a nice time and when the party started you were in a good mood. The party had been going for about half an hour when Camilo walked in and you had to do a double-take. "Wow Camilo looks nice" Mirabel commented and you paused unable to reply. Camilo did indeed look good, better than you’d ever seen him. He’d left the poncho in his wardrobe and just came in his white shirt which made a big difference. It instantly made him look more serious and mature. He looked very good, there was just something about a smart shirt that looked very attractive. "Y/n?" Mirabel asked and you blinked "yeah he does...they both do" you said spotting Natalia. The two were holding hands and you swallowed. It felt weird seeing Camilo with someone. You didn't like it, it felt odd but you couldn’t explain exactly why. You turned away from Camilo and smiled at Mirabel “come on let’s dance”. 

You managed to forget about those weird feelings and had fun with Mirabel, however she soon got tired from dancing so you found some seating and relaxed. The only problem? Right in front of you was Camilo and Natalia who were also dancing. You saw Camilo put his arm around Natalia's waist and paused. Any happiness you felt before was now drained from you and you were back at square one. You hated how it made you feel. Camilo was your best friend! Why couldn’t you just be happy for him? What was wrong with you?. "I’m going to get another drink" you told Mirabel and retreated to the kitchen.

Camilo’s POV

Camilo had been having a good time but he kept looking for you. He hadn’t seen you around this week to check if you were coming and even though Mirabel promised you’d be here he found he couldn't stop looking for you. He couldn’t seem to focus on anything else and even when he did spot you he felt...odd. He supposed it might be because he hadn't spoken to you in 2 weeks which was the longest he'd ever gone without seeing you. Sure you’d bumped into each other in school or at Casita but other than that there had been nothing and he didn’t like it. However Camilo had no idea what to do about it, he felt like there was this invisible wall between the two of you that he couldn’t break. Sure he’d been a little cold when you first suggest Natalia but he was just so angry and upset. How could you, the girl he’d been in love with for years, suggest another girl to him with no clue how painful that was. It really showed him you didn’t have any romantic feelings for him and that crushed him. So yes he was a bit cold that night but by the next morning he’d decided to not punish your friendship just because you didn’t like him. But ever since he’d started dating Natalia you’d grown distant and Camilo just didn't understand why. He missed you and just wanted you in his life somehow. As a friend or as more he’d be thrilled. So when he spotted you leaving the room he followed.

Your POV

It was quieter and cooler in the kitchen so you took a few seconds to put yourself together. You splashed some water on your face and told yourself you were being ridiculous, Camilo could dance whoever he wanted because he didn’t belong to you and there was no reason to be jealous. However no matter how rational you were you still couldn’t get rid of that sinking feeling in your stomach so you just decided to go get this night over with. You turned to exit the kitchen and bumped straight into Camilo himself. “Woah sorry” he started when he realised it was you. "Hey” he smiled “I wondered where you were! Haven’t seen you all night". You smiled "ow well here I am!". Camilo nodded doing that smile he did when things were awkward. Why were things awkward between you? You’d been friends forever and things had never been awkward before, you’d never been short on things to talk about or unsure what to say. “I actually haven’t seen you in quite a while” Camilo said awkwardly “is everything okay?”. 

You wanted to explode at that question but intstead you just nodded. “Of course it is! Why wouldn’t it be?” you asked a little more defensively than you meant to and Camilo noted your body language change. “Well we’ve been best friends since we were 5 and barely went a day without talking in 10 years so I just think it’s a bit odd that’s all”. You shrugged “well things can’t always stay the same Camilo, people grow up and change”. Everything you said seemed to have a double meaning but Camilo had no idea what it was, so he just asked the first thing on his mind. "Are you seeing someone? Is that why you're shutting me out?". "Am I seeing someone?" you asked in disbelief. Camilo nodded "yeah I just thought that might be a reason why you’ve been distant lately and I heard apparently Fernando’s been asking about you so I thought...". You snorted "seriously? Fernando of all people?". Fernando was the typical good looking jock who flitted from girl to girl, he couldn’t be further from your type and you were honest slightly insulted that Camilo thought a guy like that could make you so flustered. It was 100% him but he didn't see that. 

"So I take it that's a no" Camilo asked and you nodded "of course it's a no! How could you even ask me that?". "I’m sorry it’s just what I heard" he shrugged. "It’s kind of rich coming from you too" you said and Camilo paused "what?". "I just mean you're the one who got a girlfriend and started cancelling all our plans. Friday night telenovelas, hanging out at your house, movie nights each month all of it stopped the moment you got someone else". Camilo paused "I...yes I had to cancel some things for Natalia but you pulled away too y/n!". "I pulled away?” you asked and he nodded "don’t think I didn't notice how you've been avoiding me! You haven’t stopped by the house to see me in ages, when you see me in town you pretend you don’t. Sure I might've been busier than usual but you didn’t just let this happen, you practically encourage it". You shook your head "I can’t believe you’re blaming me". “I’m not blaming you I’m just saying don’t be a hypocrite and why have you been avoiding me? I never told you to stop coming around or that you couldn’t hang out with me and Natalia”. “You think I’d want to be a third wheel? I know when I’m not wanted Camilo”. 

The idea you were the unwanted one was so ironic it actually made Camilo laugh and you didn’t enjoy that. “Look I’m not going to stand here and have you make fun of me. Yes we both didn’t stop it but you were the one who started it and I don’t want to argue with you about it here of all places so why don’t you just go back to Natalia and leave me alone, you’re good at that” you spat. Camilo shook his head hurt by your cold tone “I can’t believe you’re going to throw all our friendship away like this? You really don’t care?”. “I think you’re the one who’s proven they don’t care”. Again the irony struck Camilo and he shook his head “if you seriously think I don’t care about you then maybe I should go?”. Your heart was hammering as Camilo stared at you and you swallowed scared about what to say next. You felt vulnerable and upset so you just shrugged “do what you want Camilo I don’t care anymore”. Camilo looked down shocked and shrugged “fine...” and he walked out of the kitchen without even looking at you. 

After Camilo left the situation caught up to you and you felt like crying you were so emotional and upset but before you could even think another person entered. "Hey I’m sorry I overheard, are you okay?". You looked up to see Fernando himself in the doorway. You wiped at your eyes "I’m fine". "Are you sure? Because you look upset" he said passing you a napkin. You used it to wipe your eyes and Fernando came to stand beside you, much closer than he needed to. "For what it's worth I think Madrigal is crazy, ditching you for Natalia". "He didn’t ditch me for her, I never volunteered to be a choice" you replied. Fernando nodded "of course not, because if you had there’s no way he’d have chosen her" Fernando said brushing a piece of hair out of your face "you're way too hot for that". Your emotions were all over the place but your bruised ego was really liking the compliments. Fernando was saying everything you wanted to hear, pandering to every insecurity and it also helped he was quite good looking. Not Camilo level of course but he was by no means ugly and you liked having atleast one boy interested in you. So you encouraged it. "Really?" you asked and Fernando nodded "I'd noticed you before but figured you were pretty much married to Madrigal...something tells me that's not the case anymore". You nodded "you're correct. I am definitely not with Camilo". "Lucky me" Fernando commented and you nodded "lucky you". Fernando smirked and leaned in. You felt numb but hoped this would make you feel better so you let him kiss you and tried to forget about Camilo Madrigal. Camilo’s POV Camilo made it all the way back into the room upstairs before he paused. He didn't like how things had been left and he hesitated to go back or not, getting halfway there before stopping multiple times until finally he decided he'd had enough. He wasn’t going to let your friendship fall apart so suddenly, he was going to be honest with you about everything and hope you would be too. So he made his way back downstairs and walked into the kitchen to see you kissing Fernando.

Your POV

“What the hell?” you heard and you turned your head to see Camilo stood staring. Fernando rolled his eyes “can’t you see we’re busy here?”. “This is my house and I can go wherever I want!” Camilo cried his voice rising and then he turned to look at you. “So all that earlier...care to explain y/n?”. “Hey why don’t you just leave us alone?” Fernando asked trying to size up to Camilo and you stepped forwards “would you give us a moment?”. Fernando paused “me? You’re telling me to go?”. “Ow come on are you really too dumb to work that out”. Fernando went to grab Camilo and you pushed him back “please, leave!”. Fernando glared “knew you were too hung up over him to waste my time” and he walked out of the kitchen leaving you both alone. 

“So...care to explain?” Camilo asked and you rolled your eyes “I don’t owe you anything Camilo”. “I think you should atleast try and explain why you lied to me? You told me not 10 minutes ago you and Fernando weren’t a thing and I come in here and find him eating your face!”. “Really poetic, is that from Shakespeare?” you asked and Camilo snapped “y/n just stop! What is going on? Why can’t you be honest with me?”. “Because I’m scared!” you replied “I’m confused and irritated and jealous”. “Jealous?” Camilo asked “of me and Natalia?”. You shrugged “I don’t know! All I know is I don’t like seeing you with her. I don’t like you giving her all your time and attention. I want your time and attention”. Camilo shook his head “so you just want me around to fuss over you? To be your cheerleader right?”. “I never said that! You’re putting words in my mouth!” you cried and Camilo shrugged “so what are you trying to say then? Do you want me or not?”. “Do you want me?” you replied and Camilo froze. You could tell by the expression on his face he did and wondered how you never realised that before. It was so obvious and Camilo realised that so he took a breath and stepped forwards. “You know my answer, now what’s yours?” he asked. “I don’t know!” you replied and Camilo shook his head “y/n just be honest it’s a yes or no question”. “Fine then yes! Yes I want you Camilo, does that make you happy?”. “Yes!” he shot back and a silence descended.

The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife. You both stood glaring and panting at one another before you recognised the look in Camilo’s eye. It was the same one in yours and at once the two of you caved. Camilo grabbed your waist and you wrapped your arms around his neck as you kissed one another passionately. You felt utterly exhausted from pretending you didn’t like him and apparently the feeling was mutual. Camilo was kissing you like you were the oxygen he needed to breathe and it was making you crazy. It was way better than the kiss with Fernando and you just wanted more. Camilo must've felt the same because he just pulled you even closer and kissed you with even more intensity. You heard some of the things on the table behind you clatter to the floor but neither of you cared enough to stop. All you wanted was each other and with each second that need grew more and more. You probably would've been locked together in that frenzy of hormones if you hadn't been interrupted. Camilo’s cousins and sister came into the kitchen wondering where you’d disappeared to and they all gasped. You didn’t actually hear them enter, a little preoccupied but finally Isabela called both your names and you both jolted apart. You stared at one another bright red and looked at the Madrigals assembled before you. All the cousins were shocked, Luisa’s mouth was literally wide open and Dolores was covering her eyes. "We erm..." Camilo started when Isabela shot you both a look "if you say it's not what it looks like I swear to casita I'll kill you both, now explain". Camilo paused and looked at you. In truth neither of you knew what this was and the night just kept getting better. "Mirabel have you seen Camilo?" Natalia asked coming into the room. She spotted him and smiled "ow there you are!". You immediately felt so guilty but also a little intimidated. You’d made it pretty obvious to Camilo how you felt and judging by that kiss he liked you too but you’d forgotten about Natalia. You weren’t the only person interested in Camilo, what if he preferred her? Maybe the kiss was just an overspill of emotions and he actually liked her more. Everyone turned to watch Camilo and he looked right at you, he looked totally lost and you had no idea what to do. "Camilo?" Natalia asked "are you ready to go see my family? They've just arrived and they've been asking for you".

Time seemed to slow down as Camilo looked away from you to Natalia. “Yeah I’m coming” he said softly. Camilo took her hand and they walked out of the kitchen together. You stared at the door in shock and Mirabel sighed "y/n..." but you shook your head "no I’m fine but sorry I have to go" you said not so convincingly considering there were tears in your eyes but you rushed out the door before they could say anything.

Isabela, Dolores, Luisa and Mirabel "I knew they liked each other" Isabela shrugged. After you’d run away the Madrigal girls all found a quiet corner to discuss everything that had just happened. Mirabel rolled her eyes at her sister’s comment "sure because you're Aphrodite herself right? You just smell love in the air like its freaking pollen!". "No!" Isabela glared "I use these things called eyes! I mean Camilo's quite obviously liked y/n for years". Everyone went quiet and Isabel shook her head "how did none of you notice it! Just the way he looked at her was so telling and then I always wondered if y/n liked him back but the way she reacted when he started dating Natalia made that obvious too. Typical case of not knowing what you have until it was gone, but I guess in y/n’s defence she didn’t even know she had Camilo until she’d lost him...anyway my point is this was a long time coming and I’m just grateful they both finally know". "They both know but has that really helped?" Dolores asked "Camilo is still with Natalia and Y/n ran out of here heartbroken". "Ow trust me Camilo will choose y/n he just panicked in the situation, he"ll come to his senses" Isabela nodded confidently. As if on cue Camilo appeared "where’s y/n?" he demanded. "She erm went home right after you left the kitchen" Mirabel said and Camilo swore and rushed out the door. "Told you" Isabela smirked and Luisa shrugged "maybe she does know Aphrodite". "At this point I wouldn’t even be surprised" Mirabel shrugged.

Camilo’s POV Camilo rushed to your house and knocked on the door. When he’d done that five times and still there was no response he climbed your fence and made his way to your window around the back. He threw rocks at it and finally your light flickered on. Your face appeared and you hastily opened it when you saw him. "Camilo...what are you doing here?" you asked. Camilo didn’t know how to say everything he wanted to say but he figured an apology was a good way to start. "Y/n I’m so sorry!" he cried "I just left you and went with her and that was so cowardly of me! It's not Natalia I want but you! I like you and I want to be with you". "Camilo you have a girlfriend..." you began but he shook his head "not anymore I broke up with her". "When?" you asked shocked and Camilo shrugged "about 15 minutes ago?". I was in a daze just walking around with her when it hit me. What was I doing? There was one person I wanted and it wasn’t her. So screw appearances, I broke up with her and ran all the way here. Can we please talk?". You were dumbstruck but nodded "I guess...I’ll go open the door” and Camilo nodded “thank you y/n" and he rushed around to meet you. 

You let him in and the two of you stood across from one another rather awkwardly. "So I guess I should explain from the top" Camilo sighed I've liked you for ages y/n". "Really?" you asked and he nodded "years at this point". "So why date Natalia?" you asked. "Well I'd tried making you see me as an option but you never did and so I figured I’d better move on. When you suggested Natalia it hurt I'll admit, to have the girl of my dreams suggest another girl because the idea of me was unfathomable to her...it wasn’t your fault of course but I was upset and so I was a little cold but then I figured why not. Natalia might not be the love of my life but I was only going to get over you by dating other people. So I tried it with Natalia but I noticed how you reacted and how it changed our friendship. I had no idea why, I figured you didn’t like me spending so much time with Natalia or something but I tried to ignore it. I thought I was getting better, my crush was lessening but then I heard the lie about you and Fernando and it made me very jealous...so I knew I wasn’t over you and I hated it. Natalia was great, pretty, smart, funny but all I wanted was you...and that's where I was tonight and why I snapped at you and how we ended up here". You blinked in shock "I...I had no idea you liked me or that I hurt you and I’m so sorry Camilo, I never would've suggested Natalia if I'd have known". Camilo shrugged "it's okay...so what's happened with you? What's your view on all this?". 

You sighed "well I’m still trying to work all that out myself. All I know is when you started dating Natalia I didn’t like it and I had no idea I felt that way until I saw the two of you together. I hated it instantly and I was jealous. I could sense there was something on your side but I didn’t know what it was so I just ignored it...which didn’t work out well. My feelings just festered and I took them out on everyone. I stopped seeing you because it began to be uncomfortable and then when we argued tonight I was distraught. Fernando came in and was telling me how you were crazy and how great I was and I was feeling insecure. I just wanted to forget about you and I thought kissing him would do that". "And did it?" Camilo asked "kissing the most popular guy in our school?"  You shook your head "not at all and that kiss with you...the two didn’t even remotely compare. I like you too Camilo". Camilo blushed and blinked at you "I never thought I'd hear you say that and hearing it...wow" he said gazing at you. You smiled "I just can’t believe I never realised you liked me...I must've been blind". Camilo nodded “yeah but then again I never told you so it's on me too...but you know now". "I do" you nodded and Camilo smiled "I want you y/n". You smiled back "I want you too Camilo" and slowly reached up and kissed him for a second time.

It was a lot less hot and hands-on compared to earlier but a lot more beautiful and meaningful. Still you felt utterly enamoured with the sensation and just wanted more. When you finally did separate Camilo didn’t move away, he kept his arms around you and rested his forehead against yours "I’m never going to get tired of that". "Me either" you grinned and leaned into him. You buried your nose in his neck and just breathed him in "I’m sorry it took me so long to notice but I see it now. I see you now and I’m never going to jeopardise that again". In response Camilo just grinned "you don't need to convince me y/n, I’m already yours".

_______

For some reason I think Pepa’s side of the family is super dramatic and all their teenage years were a mess...and I say that with love.

[greenygreenland]

What I'd Do For You:

-imagine Roy as your adoptive father

-he'd be so flawed but he'd try his hardest

-I write for females because that's what I'm most comfortable with, but it's not too prominent (please don't be offended! It's only what I'm comfortable with!)

Summary: You're feeling down. Roy's here to help.

Today was nothing short of a bad day. It poured as soon as you stepped out of the house, and before you could grab your umbrella, you realised you were going to be late. Not long after, you ran straight into Ed and Al, who both ignored you in favour of chasing some guy down the street.

Whatever, you told yourself. Not like I needed a 'hi' from my best friends anyway.

Not long after, a car zoomed by and splashed muddy water at you. If it weren't for the rain, you'd be caked in the stuff. As you continued down the street, some guy thought it would be fun to mug you. Of course, when he found out you were a state alchemist, he made a run for it. But that didn't make you feel better, not when there were people staring at you like you were a nuisance.

What did you ever do to them anyway? Maybe it was just the fact today was a terrible Monday afternoon.

When you got to Roy's office, your clothes were sopping wet, your hair a matted mess, and your heart, very much hardened and cold. You softly closed the door behind you. There was no point in slamming it when you didn't have the energy to be angry in the first place.

"(Y/n)?" Roy stared at you incredulously. "What happened to you?" You pointed to the window.. The pouring rain and gray clouds were enough of an answer. "Everything happened, that's what." He raised a brow with a short sigh. "'Everything' is quite vague, don't you think?" He stood and made his way to a cabinet. From seemingly nowhere, he found a towel and threw it at you.

"Thanks Roy." You ran it through your hair and placed it on the couch to sit on. It was just as wet as your clothes, but it wasn't like anyone had a blow dryer on hand. Roy took a seat across from you on the opposing couch. "Care to tell me what happened today?"

You thought back to the Elric brothers, then the mugging and everything else you had to go through today. Roy listened intently. "Why did you leave the house so late?" he inquired. "You could have been here at eight o'clock sharp if you hadn't been up all night reading. Then you could have avoided that mugger, the rain, and everything in between." You huffed. "So what? Changing one thing wouldn’t change the day. And besides, it was a good book. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Put it down." Roy plainly offered. "Save that 'last page' for tomorrow, or better yet, sleep before three in the morning." You didn't like the way he was looking at you, as if he were deciding on whether he should be disappointed, frustrated, or annoyed with you. But bad habits died hard. It wasn't easy to break out of those cycles.

You leaned back into the couch. Defeat crossed your eyes, and that was when Roy realized how tired you looked. It wasn't because of your constant travels, or the fact that Edward and Alphonse ignored you completely (he'd give them a piece of his mind later on), but because you were burnt out.

And maybe feeling a bit down.

"You've been studying a lot." Roy stated. You didn't need him to point out the obvious. It was no secret you were doing your best to help the Elric brothers on their journey towards finding their bodies. "Have you found anything useful?" You shook your head with a tight frown. There was so much you needed to work out, so many variables that didn't add up, and so many frauds you needed to uncover.

"Whenever we're close," you mumbled, "our goal keeps getting farther away. Sometimes I feel so useless while Ed and Al go off on their own accord. I just...I don't know." Your shoulders slumped and Roy's heart began to ache. "It's so hard, and I'm really..." A sigh escaped your lips.

"Tired?" Roy finished. He knew that look well, the one where your eyes darkened with clouds and you looked like you wanted to scream when you couldn't. Long ago, he had the same look. Silently, he swore he'd never do it again. At least, not when you were around.

Seeing that same look on your face made him sick to the stomach. "Take a day off," he started. "The Lieutenant is here so don't worry. As for the Elric brothers, I don't think they'll need your help now. They’re fine as is if you ask me." Roy winced at his words. He didn't mean to make it sound like you were unwanted. In fact, he wouldn't do that even if he was paid.

"Maybe I'm not needed by them anymore.” you concluded. “They're busy anyway, so they won't miss me. It’s been weeks since we last talked actually. And besides, Ed’s really great at everything he does. Same with Al. They’re skilled, smart, everything I’m not." You smiled and it was a bit watery.

Roy's lips parted. No, no, no, that wasn't what he meant. The urge to punch himself in the face was overwhelming. Why was he so bad at wording things?

You stood and folded the wet towel. "I'll take the day off. I'm not sure what I'll do though."

"Wait--"

"If you need me, I'll be around the block somewhere." You looked like you were about to cry, and all Roy could do was watch. He wanted to say something, but what if he made it worse? Saying 'Don't cry!' wasn't exactly comforting, and by the looks of it, you weren't in the mood to talk anything through.

A forced smile made its way to your lips. "I'll be back later Roy."

And just like that, you were gone. The door closed shut with a small click, leaving Roy alone in the quiet office. He stared at the phone on his desk tensely. Hughes was good with people, and he knew how to talk to (Y/n) better than most. If Roy called then maybe...

No. Why should he have to rely on Maes? This was (Y/n). He could deal with his daughter just fine. "Teenagers." He found himself making his way to the phone "Why are they so hard to understand?” The familiar beeping sounded on the other end as he dialed the number.

“Hello, could you connect me to Maes Hughes?”

-----

The lone bench you took refuge on was lonely. But you were fine with that. Here, no one could see you through all the pouring rain and darkened clouds. As your tears mixed in with the cold droplets, you stared into the far off distance. The trees swayed in the occasional breeze and you shivered.

Maybe you should have brought a coat.

Suddenly, the rain stopped pounding against your head. Your dampened hair had rivers flowing down it, and the tears that quietly came to a stop left your cheeks with stains.

“So this is where you’ve been,” a voice calmly said. You didn’t need to look up to know who it was. Why, after an hour, did he come looking for you in the rain? It wasn’t like it mattered. Roy settled by your side, the umbrella hovering above. “Here,” he handed you your coat, “you’re shivering.”

You pushed the coat away with a shake of your head. “I don’t need it.” There was a crack in your voice you covered with a cough. If Roy noticed or not, he didn’t show it. Instead, he helped you put on the coat. “It would be inconvenient if you were sick,” he decided. “How are you supposed to help the Elrics with a cold?”

That didn’t matter. The Elrics were busy for all you cared, and it wasn’t like they needed you anyway. “I’m dead weight, dad.” The words made your eyes sting again. “They don’t-t-they don’t need me.”

“And why is that?” Roy’s gentle tone made the tears fall fast. “Because, dad, I’m useless. Edward’s so much better at everything. He--he’s always saving the day and figuring out all of this country’s problem’s. And...and when I try to help, I always mess it up.”

You thought back to earlier today, where you bumped into the boys spontaneously. They might’ve been busy, but they blatantly ignored you. And the fact that they hadn’t called all week made you worry. Had you done something wrong? No, maybe they didn’t care for you anymore because you were so useless.

“I...I don’t know what to do.” With the umbrella over your head, Roy saw every tear as clear as day. He watched your shoulders tense and your fists clench into tight fists. You were trying to stop crying, but the tears kept coming and coming like a river.

How useless of you.

“Come here.” You didn't want Roy to see your face. “Come here,” he repeated. You hesitantly scooted closer to him on the soaking bench. He held the umbrella in his left hand and pulled you close with his other. When was the last time he actually hugged you like this? He couldn’t remember, and that made him feel guilty.

Was it his fault that you thought so lowly of yourself? Maybe he should have been more adamant on showing how proud he was of your accomplishments. Becoming a State Alchemist at this age was more than a simple privilege. It was a precedent that no generation had ever seen in their lives.

“Why do you compare yourself to Fullmetal?” he inquired, rubbing your arm comfortingly. “He’s not you.”

“But he’s better than me and I can’t measure up to him.” Roy shook his head dismissively. For a moment, you wondered you disappointed him. “It doesn’t matter what Fullmetal is, (Y/n). He’s strong, I admit, but the most hot-headed kid I’ve ever met. Unlike him out, you never let emotions blind your choices. That’s something Fullmetal can’t do. As for strength, you don’t need that.”

He smiled a little and it was so warm. It wasn’t everyday you got to see this side of Roy. He was always caught up in paperwork, plans, and looking after what he worked so hard to accomplish. “You have enough wits to outsmart me. Remember that time Fullmetal challenged me to a match?”

You nodded. “I joined because I didn’t think he could handle it. Ed didn’t want my help, but I ended up coming along anyway.” A smug smirk made its way up Roy’s lips. “And who lasted the longest?”

“Me.”

“And why was that?”

"Because I read your attack patterns?" You uncertainly replied. Roy frowned. "Say it like you mean it."

"Because I read your attack patterns." you repeated. An approving look made its way up your dad's face. "Exactly. Fullmetal has wit, but you are a much more terrifying opponent." You sniffled with a huff. "I'm not--I'm not even close to your level."

"You don't have to be." Roy turned his gaze to the pouring rain, as if he were thinking about how useless his alchemy would be. "If you believed in yourself more, then you will advance farther than you've already come."

That wasn't true. How could you believe in yourself when you felt like an absolute failure? It didn't matter how many successes you've had in the past, because what if they were all flukes? Some day, your luck would run out. Then you'd let your dad down, along with Ed and Al and Hawkeye and Uncle Maes and everyone else you knew.

"You're not a failure, if that's what you're thinking." Roy blurted out. "I couldn't be more proud of how far you've come. The day I met you, I thought I'd fail you. Look where we are now." He laughed a little and it made you relax in his hold. "If you were a failure, you wouldn't have become a reowned State Alchemist. You wouldn't have survived in the most dire times either, and you wouldn't have made me so proud of you."

Your eyes widened. Had you heard him right? You had to be hearing things. Roy met your gaze and smiled warmly. "Yes, I'm proud of you. Why wouldn't I be?" For a moment, you remained still. The gears in your head churned like clockwork, dissecting and rewinding the words Roy had spoken. You tentatively wrapped your arms around Roy's middle.

Yes, I'm proud of you.

You buried your head into his shoulder.

Why wouldn't I be?

And then you cried. Today was nothing short of a bad day, but if you hadn't forgotten your umbrella, gotten ignored by the Elrics, nearly mugged, or showed up late, then you wouldn't have been able to hear those words and the silent I love you's.

IF YOU LIKE THIS, PLEASE REBLOG (IT HELPS ME OUT SOOOO MUCH AS A WRITER!)

[theladyofdeath]

I’ll Be Seeing You {5}

Nesta x Cassian, 1940′s AU

Collaboration with @snelbz​​

Summary: After Cassian gets injured in the war, he’s taken to a war camp to be cared for until he gains enough strength to return to his battalion. While he’s there, he falls for a nurse that couldn’t care less about his title and doesn’t put up with his bullshit. Once he’s healed and the years pass by, he finds that there’s only one thing he wants to remember from the war, and she’s only a letter away.

Trigger Warnings: war, blood

Chapters will be posted every Monday.

Word Count: 2429

IBSY Masterlist

Shelby’s Masterlist

Tara’s Masterlist

“How do they look?”

Nesta removed the bandages, slowly, from Cassian's back. They didn’t look great, had looked far better the day before, but they had certainly been worse.

“A little discharge we have to keep our eye on, but nothing to worry about,” she promised. “How did you sleep last night, Major?”

“I can’t complain,” he said, sighing as she began to clean his wounds. “Only woke up a handful of times. I’ve certainly had worse nights of sleep. And you? How did you sleep, Nurse?”

“Well enough,” she said, as she eyed the book that sat beside his cot, the leather band that typically tied his hair back being used as a bookmark a few chapters in. “I see you’re enjoying the western.” 

Cassian’s back straightened. He’d been caught. “It’s….decent enough.” 

“Decent enough?” she repeated, amused, as she dabbed the wound with alcohol. Cassian hissed, even though it was quiet. “Admit that you’re a fan of Alexander Hillsworth.”

Cassian scoffed. “Alexander Hillsworth is a wannabe cowboy. It’s pathetic.”

“Mhmm,” Nesta crooned, continuing to work.

“Daisy, though,” Cassian went on. ��She seems….nice.” 

Nesta suppressed her grin. “She-.”

Her sentence was cut off by commotion going on outside of the tent. Everyone’s attention swiveled to the tent flaps as they were thrown open, and a group of soldiers hurried inside, carrying a fallen man, Madja close on their heels. 

She stood there, frozen for a moment as she took in the gore covering the soldiers, the way the man’s arm hung in bloody ribbons. What was left of it at least. His leg hadn’t been as fortunate.

“Go.”

She looked down at Cassian, who was watching the scene unfold in front of them. She still had the bottle of alcohol in her hand, had barely begun to clean up his wounds, though she’d removed the bandage from his entire back. He jerked his chin towards the battered man they were carefully moving on a cot. “Go. They need you.”

“Your back—.”

“My back is nothing compared to that. That man might not make it the next hour. You need to go help him.”

Nesta nodded, her feet moving before her mind caught up with her.

It never got easier, seeing the blood, seeing the inside of a human being. Nesta didn’t focus on that, though, she focused on the man being laid on the table at the far end of the room. His eyes were wide open, glazed but panicked. 

Nesta stood above his head as Madja and another nurse began to look at his wounds. 

“Soldier, can you hear me?” Nesta asked, getting close to his face, so that she was all he could see. He met her eyes. “Keep your eyes on me, okay?”

Madja began working on the man’s arm while another nurse began stitching up his leg.

So much blood.

Too much blood.

He had already lost more blood than they knew. 

The man’s eyes began to fade, but Nesta shook her head. “You must stay awake, soldier.”

“Nesta, press this against his wound,” Madja said, then hurried away to get the tools she needed from the cupboard. 

Nesta pressed the already blood-soaked rag into the man’s arm, where his wounds were the worst.

It was no use, though.

It was too bad.

He’d already lost too much blood.

Nesta pressed the rag into the wound, though, minimizing the blood loss.

She could feel death hovering outside the tent. Glancing back up at his face, she found the man was nearly unconscious again, but the soldiers who carried him were still nearby. “What happened?” She asked, tossing her head to try and get the loose hair that had fallen out of her braid out of her face.

“Artillery shell,” the oldest of the men said. The other two looked to him, as if he were the leader amongst them. With how young they all were, she assumed he must be.  “Landed just a few feet from where he was laid out. He took a few bad shots to the chest before the shell went off.”

Nesta used her other hand, already covered with blood to move the man’s shirt out of the way. Sure enough, there were bullet wounds in his chest, and not in a place that would heal easily.

Shit. She couldn’t mutter the word out loud, couldn’t let the soldiers think it was something they couldn’t handle, so she chanted the word in her head. Shit shit shit shit shit.

Madja came back with a series of surgical tools and got to work. Nesta remained where she was, rag in hands pressed to the wound that was bleeding out. 

The soldier’s eyelids began to flutter shut again.

“No,” Nesta snapped and got in his face, once again. “No, no, no, no,” she repeated, her voice getting louder with each one that came out. “Madja, he’s fading.” 

But Madja wasn’t moving anymore.

She had stilled.

“Madja!” Nesta yelled. 

Madja slowly set the tools down on the table before her and said, “He’s gone.”

Nesta looked back into the face of the man to find his absent eyes staring at the top of the tent. Nesta’s hands were still pressed into his wound.

“Surely there can be something-.”

“He’s gone, Nurse Archeron,” Madja said, quietly. “You should go clean yourself and return to the patients.” 

She stepped back, nodding, and swallowed harshly. Hurrying towards the tent entrance, she wiped her hands on her apron, removing it and dropping it and the bloody rag into the soiled laundry bin. She heard Madja give the soldiers instructions on where to take the young man’s body, which the younger of the two tended to, while the eldest man filled Madja in on who he was, what battalion he belonged to. She blocked out the answers as Madja asked if he had any living family. She didn’t need to know, didn’t want to know.

Pushing through the tent flaps, Nesta nearly dragged her hands down her face, but she remembered that the dead soldier's blood coated her hands, even if most of it had been wiped off on her apron. She hurried across the camp, to the small area where fresh water was brought for baths every day, and grabbed one of the smaller pitchers, as well as a small pile of rags and a bar of soap that was no more than a sliver. The camp mothers said nothing as Nesta stalked off to a quiet tree and sat down, splashing water onto a rag. It was almost warm after having sat in the sun all morning, but everything felt cold to Nesta as she rubbed the soap over her damp hands and scrubbed. She scrubbed and scrubbed until the blood was gone and her hands were red and raw, but still, she kept scrubbing.

She didn’t stop until a tan, calloused hand wrapped around her wrist, making her pause. After it was clear she was done with the unnecessary scrubbing, he let go of her wrist. Cassian, wearing a loose, cotton shirt, dropped down next to her by the tree. 

“You should be in bed,” was her only words of greeting.

“I’m not tired,” he replied, simply, planting himself in the grass with a grunt.

“You should be in bed, anyway,” she snapped. “You’re injured, you’re in no condition to-.”

“Here,” he said, holding out a couple of cigarettes and one of the small bottles of whiskey that had come from the care packages sent to them a few days prior.

Nesta blinked, her anger fading, just for a second. “What is this?”

“You need it,” he said, outstretching his hand. “Here.”

Nesta stared at his hand for a moment before taking a cigarette and the bottle. She cleared her throat, “Thanks.” 

Cassian nodded and put the other cigarette between his lips. He took out a match and lit the tip, then lit Nesta’s.

“Thanks,” she said, quietly. She took one drag then coughed, quietly.

“Been a while?” Cassian asked.

Nesta repeated the motion, and blew a cloud of smoke. “Something like that.”

Cassian nodded and remained quiet for a moment.  

After a moment, Nesta asked, “What are you doing out here, Cassian?” 

“I’ve done enough battlefield patching up to know how hard it is to lose a man.” He took a longer drag, holding it in for longer than she would have suggested before exhaling. “It’s not easy. And you sure as hell shouldn’t be alone after that.”

She swallowed harshly, but nodded, fighting the tears filling her eyes. Clearing her throat, she said, “It’s something I’ve had to become used to. I suspect it’s something I’ll have to deal with quite a bit more before this war is over.”

He nodded, not saying anything. He knew she was right, no matter how much he wished it weren’t so.

She toyed with the cap of the whiskey bottle in her hands. “I’m surprised Madja let you out of bed.”

“She was a little bit preoccupied when I left. Though I didn’t exactly ask for permission to go anywhere,” he admitted, taking the bottle from her and opening it. The wax seal came loose and he handed it to her.

She gave him a look of pure disapproval before taking the bottle. “You know, there’s a reason we give you specific instructions.”

“You know how I feel about staying in bed,” Cassian muttered. 

Nesta took a sip from the whiskey bottle before handing it to Cassian. He looked at it for a moment before taking it and taking a swig.

His face contorted as he swallowed it. “I can’t wait for a decent glass of whiskey.”

Nesta snorted, even though there was no emotion behind it.

“I guess it does the trick though, doesn’t it?” He asked, handing the bottle back.

Nesta nodded, taking a bigger sip this time. “Yeah, that it does.”

Cassian looked down and froze before he slowly reached over and grabbed her wet, bloodied rag.

Nesta jumped back as he reached for her. “What are you doing?”

“You missed a spot,” he replied, softly, and when he reached for her arm again, she didn’t move.

He flipped her arm over and just below her elbow, Cassian began to wipe off a patch of nearly-dried blood, that cigarette dangling from between his lips.

Her throat felt tight, but she let him clean her up.  It was quiet between the two of them for a few minutes, as they passed that cheap whiskey back and forth between them. Finally, Nesta breathed, “It’s never going to get easier, is it? Seeing… seeing death?”

He looked over at her and for a second, she wondered if he’d even answer. “I won’t lie to you, I’ve been on the front since the day the war started. I’ve seen battles that ended in victories and some that I was lucky to walk off the battlefield. I’ve lost some good friends.” He paused at that and looked out into the trees they were camped in. “I still see the face of every man I’ve lost and every man I’ve killed. Death isn’t easy. I’d be worried if you told me it didn’t affect you. But the fact that it does tells me you’ve got a good heart, and that you’re even here, helping take care of us, tells me what kind of person you are.”

Nesta followed his gaze, over the rolling hills and the gemstone-colored treetops.

“I could see myself loving a woman like you.”

Nesta’s eyes jerked to Cassian, but his eyes were still fixed on the woods beyond.

“You hardly know me,” she said, quietly, even as her heart began to beat a little bit faster.

“I like what I know,” he replied, without missing a beat.

Nesta chuckled, and shook her head. “I think you’re a little drunk, Major. Between the whiskey and those pain meds.”

“You know what they say about the drunk,” Cassian said, and met her gaze, at last. “They say what’s on their minds and they tell the truth.”

Nesta’s eyes narrowed as her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. “Well, I think you’ve been reading too much of that romance novel and your heart is going soft. Perhaps you’re lovesick.” 

Cassian’s grin was heartstopping. “Blame it on Daisy.”

Despite herself and what she had just endured, Nestas head fell back and she laughed. 

“You’ve only just begun reading it!” She protested. “How can you grow to like a character so quickly?”

Cassian shrugged, lighting another cigarette. “I like how she’s described.”

“Mhmm,” Nesta crooned, “and how is she described? Do tell.”

“Let’s see,” Cassian began, looking up at the sky. “Gorgeous, with the voice of an angel. And, apparently, she has quite the wardrobe.”

“She’s an entertainer at a brothel!” Nesta protested. “She’s going to have quite the wardrobe.”

“You just don’t like her because she pleasures men for a living,” Cassian argued.

Nesta laughed, shaking her head. “Oh no. There’s a reason I dislike her and that certainly has nothing to do with it.”

Cassian gasped. “Are you spoiling the book for me, nurse?”

She opened her mouth to reply, but then it snapped shut as she realized that she indeed was about to spoil a few key details of the book. A laugh sputtered out of her instead. She very well may be a little drunk as well, since it had been quite a while since she’d imbibed in the slightest.

Turning to look at him, anything she was about to say died on her tongue as she found him already looking at her. There was something in his eyes, something aside from the glaze of the liquor and the pain meds, that made her chest tighten.

Clearing her throat, she stood, holding out a hand for him. “We should go. You need to be in bed resting.”

Rolling his eyes, Cassian took her hand. The rough calluses felt good against her skin, but he stood and grabbed what was left of the whiskey.

Nesta walked Cassian back to the tent, feeling something that closely resembled peace.

Not quite peace, but close.

She could at least carry on with her day, doing her duty with her chin lifted high.

Their hands remained touching each other’s, lingering, for just a moment after Cassian rose, after they began to walk toward the tent.

Nesta pretended that she hadn’t noticed.

But she certainly had.

~

Cassian had no idea what time he awoke, but it was dark, an oil lamp burning by his cot.

It wasn’t the only thing that was burning.

Cassian was drenched in sweat, his sheets soaked, his clothes sticking to his body. 

As he opened his eyes, a wave of nausea swept over him that had him quickly closing them, once more.

He was going to be sick.

He tried to roll over, tried to pull himself up, but couldn’t. 

His back ached, throbbed, burned as he moved against the sheets.

It had him hissing or groaning or something, he wasn’t sure, but he knew that a noise must’ve come out of him because he felt cool hands against his head a moment later, then hurried, hushed voices saying something that he couldn't quite make out.

He said something.

Her name.

Nesta.

Or, maybe he thought it, maybe his lips had simply moved, had formed her name but hadn’t quite gotten it out.

Either way, it was her face he saw behind his closed lids.

“He’s burning up,” a voice said, and Cassian heard it this time.

He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn’t quite muster it.

He heard someone curse.

That was her.

A filthy word portrayed beautifully from the woman who had captivated him.

He tried to say her name again, but wasn’t quite sure if he was successful or not as he faded into darkness. 

[pigeonp0st]

Hi! Since your taking some request I was wondering if you could do one about Wonder woman x reader where the reader is insecure about her body because she is literally dating a goddess and Diana notice her being distant and always avoiding to look in a mirror. Can it be like super fluffy and all. Thx I am currently binge reading each of your imagines 🥰love you and thx again

Diana Prince x Reader #1

Words: 1918

Warnings:

Self-loathing, Self-harm (not intentionally), body dysphoria , blood. Please don’t read if any of these things will make you upset or triggered!

Notes:

You said super fluffy and my mind didn’t register it holy fuck. Uh...oops? This is really dark and i’m sorry if it’s too far from what you were hoping for. I enjoyed writing it though, so thank you for requesting. (Sorry for spelling mistakes.)

————

You aren’t jealous of her. You aren’t.

It’s just...well...Diana’s a goddess. Literally. Even people who don’t know she’s Wonder Woman would call her that without question, just based on her looks.

And you’re...you're you. You’re you so you get asked often, by dense people not intending to be rude, how you managed to get with her.

You’re you so whenever you’re in a room with her you’re practically ignored. You're you so people’s eyes always widen when you say Diana’s your girlfriend, because HOW.

How, you can tell they’re wondering. Someone like Diana deserves to be with some rich model, not you.

God...you hate this. You hate feeling this way, and you hate that it involves Diana so largely. It’s not her fault the world is the way it is, it’s not her fault you’re the way you are, but it’s hard. It’s hard looking at her and not seeing all of your imperfections mirrored on her loving face.

It’s hard to look at her, and not compare what she looks like with what you look like. It's hard looking at her and not remembering all of the ways you’re undeserving...all of the ways you're not enough.

It’s not as hard as looking in the mirror though. You can stand the sadness when you look at her because she smiles so brightly sometimes, and she’s just so loving that it’s hard to think about negative things when she starts laughing.

It’s hard believing she can’t possibly love you when she’s standing in front of you doing exactly that.

The seconds she’s gone though...the second she’s gone it comes back in full force, and lately you’ve been so overwhelmed thinking about dealing with the ‘after Diana leaves’ that you’ve been avoiding being with Diana as much as you can.

You hate it, and each time you reject her with another excuse you hate yourself just that little bit more too.

—-

You can’t avoid her ALL of the time though, and it’s not like you want to.

Diana comes to your house one day, more unsure of herself than she usually is, and looks around the room like she’s unfamiliar with it.

It hasn’t been that long since she’s been here, you don’t know why she looks so curious about—

“All of your mirrors are gone,” Diana notes, freezing you in your tracks. Then, she glances down to your wrapped hands, eyes wide. “You’re hurt,” she whispers, completely concerned now. She reaches for you but you pull away before she can touch you.

“I’m fine.” You say it through gritted teeth and with adverting eyes, and it’s so clear that you’re not.

It’s so clear that you’re not, but Diana nods her head like she believes you and wraps her arms around herself like the room just got ten times colder.

Everything feels ten times heavier suddenly, too heavy when you’ve been so tired for what feels like ages. Fuck. You just want your girlfriend, you just want your goddess. Why do you have to worry about what the rest of the world thinks?

“Diana.”

She looks up immediately, confusion lined in every inch of her. She’s clearly trying to put the puzzle piece together but she’s missing too many pieces to understand.

You wonder if she’d even be able to understand if she had all of the pieces—if she could see what was happening to you. Could Diana understand something she’s probably never heard about in her island of beautiful women? Something she’s probably never had to deal with?

You don’t say any of that though. You don’t say the words that feel like they’re ripping your insides apart. Instead, you say, sheepish; “wanna watch a movie?” Like nothing is wrong in the world, because maybe if you act like it enough it will become true.

Maybe if you act like it enough you’ll forget last night, the night where you went around shattering every mirror you owned. Some of them with the impact of the floor, and others with your fist.

Maybe if you act like picking which movie to watch is your biggest concern in life, you’ll forget about the medical bills sitting on the counter because some of the glass dug in so deep all you could see was red on your hands, and all you could feel was helpless.

Maybe—

“Sure,” Diana agrees, offering you a comforting smile.

Maybe Diana deserves more than a person that deludes themself to stay tethered

——

You’re an idiot.

Your wallpaper switched from a picture of you and Diana to a picture of just Diana a month ago, but you stupidly forgot that Diana hasn’t changed hers also.

So naturally, since the world hates you lately, Diana’s phone lights up with a call—she completely ignores it while being completely entranced in the movie—and you glance at it to see if it’s someone important, someone Diana would want to answer to.

You pay zero attention to the person who called Diana after you see the picture.

“Diana.”

You don’t register it’s your voice speaking until Diana turns to you. She couldn’t register the sound of her phone ringing but she registers the sound of your voice and you love her, you love her, you—

“Change your background.”

Diana blinks, once, twice, then; “why? I like it.”

“Diana,” you repeat, heart beating a million miles a minute, and voice several pitches higher. “Change your background.”

“Why?” Diana asks again, but it’s softer this time, softer and on the verge of seeing the puzzle even without all of the pieces.

“Because people will—” you pause, your voice hitching, “please...just change your background, please Diana, please, for fucks sakes, please just—”

“Okay,” Diana whispers hurriedly, alarmed by your desperation and quickening breaths, and pulling you into her arms. “Okay.”

But you’re not done. “Not of me, Diana,” you continue, frantically. “Don’t change it to another one of me, okay? Change it to—to something else.”

Finally—finally, Diana tenses under you, hit with a realization that’s larger than her, and larger than her beauty, and something that isn’t really actually about her, something that’s always been about you, that she happens to involuntarily bring out more because of her affect on other people.

She’s hit with the realization on a Monday night, with you still frantic and broken in her arms from just one image. She’s hit with the realization in a home with no mirrors. She’s hit with the realization with a small, quiet mumble of your hardly comprehensible words; “Diana, they’ll think you’re crazy. I don’t want you to believe your crazy for—”

“Why did you get rid of your mirrors?”

It’s your turn to tense and become silent. You even try pulling away but Diana keeps her arms around you to keep you with her (to keep you tethered, because Diana works better than any delusion). “Y/N, why did you get rid of your mirrors?” She asks again, “why are your hands wrapped? Why can we never go out together anymore? Why is your wallpaper just a picture of me and not you, why—”

“I think you should leave.”

“Why aren’t you talking to me!”

Silence. Diana let’s out a stuttering breath and then she’s pulling you closer to her, closer, closer, and whispering over, and over again, “I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to yell, I'm not angry at you, you’re okay.”

And you're shaking in her arms, clutching her coat, wishing for happiness without delusions.

Then...you’re being honest, telling Diana everything between shaky breaths, and sobs.

You’re giving her the puzzle pieces, not expecting her to understand what she’s looking at, but wanting her to care about it anyways, to find it important, and something worth looking at.

Diana lets you speak even though she’s clearly against half of the things you’re saying about yourself because she wants to understand the puzzle you built while she wasn’t looking.

——

When you’re done, and all that is left is dried tears on more than one pair of cheeks, Diana finally speaks. First though, she asks that you don’t interrupt her. You agree.

“Okay,” Diana sighs, “you won’t believe me—you can’t—but I find you to be the most beautiful person in this world, and any other, in these times, and any other.”

Here, Diana is wrong. You don’t believe this to be anywhere near true about yourself, but when you meet Diana’s eyes you do believe that this is something she believes without doubt.

This is something she believes as simply as the sky being blue.

“And that’s because of what you look like on the outside, but it’s also because of who you are regardless,” she smiles at you, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, eyes full of nothing but love and concern, and then pain.

“Believe it or not,” Diana starts, voice soft, “I look at you, and everything you are, and sometimes i’m the one who feels undeserving. You feel...brighter than me sometimes. More...more everything, and I—sometimes I feel like you offer more than I give,”

Diana saying that is humorous because all she has ever done is offer, she offers even now after you’ve shown her cracks she wasn’t supposed to see...you’ve come to realize though that if someone feels something to be true... then it’s true to them, and it will hurt them just the same.

“I can not change the way you see yourself, just as you cannot change the way I see you, but I…” Diana pauses, staring searchingly into your eyes until you have to look away, “I want to help you. I will do whatever I can to make you believe me, i’ll tell you as many times as you need to hear it and…” another pause, this one longer and sadder…

“I want you to look at me love you, and then when I'm gone I don’t want to be a reminder of your unworthiness, but a reminder of the worth you possess, to me—and so many others.”

“Diana…”

“It’s okay,” she assures, “for now, if you can’t believe you're physically beautiful, I'll show you all of the larger, more meaningful things about yourself until all you can see when you look in the mirror is someone who brings light into people's lives, someone who is loved. Someone who is great.”

And you're crying again now, but this time Diana is the one talking. She is reassuring you, and she’s showing you puzzle pieces, except this puzzle is another one, this puzzle isn’t about the way you see yourself, it’s about the way she sees you, it’s about the way people who matter to you see you, and even the ones that don’t.

This puzzle is larger than the one you showed her, and from the pieces you allow yourself to see, the pieces you’re able to accept right now, it’s a more beautiful one.

For the first time in a long time, you can imagine believing all of the things she tells you. You can imagine it, and when you do you’re sobbing even harder, because yes. Yes, that is what you want.

Diana will be there by your side on the journey to love, like she was there to the last ‘love journey’...but this one isn’t about loving her, it’s about loving you exactly as you are.

Who better to get you to love yourself than the person who loves you most?

[cosmicclownboy]

hi- why don't you like Maria?

Oh lord.

Where do I even begin with Maria.

Season 1

Makes a joke about Alex's secret relationship being with Wyatt and finding it funny- (Wyatt who is an abusive racist dude who commits hate crimes and bear in mind she knows Alex was abused for being gay) IT'S GROSS.

Speaks about Alex's secret relationship guy being his home to Alex and literally feels his hopefulness because it is part of her alien ability and continues to pursue Michael in s2.

Maria (straight) outs Michael to Liz. That's not okay on any level.

When Liz tells Maria to speak to Alex before doing anything she ignores the advice and does what she wants.

She's really smug about Michael picking/pursuing her like she won.

Season 2

Pursues Michael at a funeral in front of Alex without talking to him.

Makes Michael's loved ones husband funeral about a relationship status

Slut shames a random woman who makes out with Michael when they were never exclusive

Enters a relationship with Michael where he has to be exclusive but she doesn't because she doesn't believe he could be faithful. That's reeks of harmful biphobia stereotypes.

Ignores Alex the whole time UNTIL she needs something.

When she appears at Alex's door she says they are even. AKA comparing Alex not telling her a secret that wasn't his to share to her pursuing the love of his life in front of him without any empathy and ignoring the whole time.

Bitches to Alex about Liz and wanting fuck all to do with her. Alex has to remind her Liz has a dead boyfriend and is struggling cause Maria only has Maria vision and lacks empathy for her 'best friends'.

Uses her mom's laptop to get the scope on Alex/Michael's relationship which reads 100% manipulative. She even says Michael is pushing you away and then proceeds to encourage the narrative where Michael pushes Alex away because she suddenly wants Michael. And of course Alex is supportive she recognises he lacks self worth and rolls over him.

Beginning of 2x06 she tries to set up Forlex to get Alex away from Michael. Once again manipulative.

Tries to make Alex feel guilty for being gay in 206 because when she was a kid she idealised being with him and had to come up with a whole new plan. He grew up in an abusive household you know that....It's not okay to say that. You know how much internalised homophobia he has.

When saying he's had good relationships provides only examples of relationships with women......................HE IS GAY.

Asks him if he would change being gay.......jfc.

Alex tearfully saying he dissociates with women because he clearly forced himself to out of internalised phobia, Maria takes it to mean she has a chance. She thinks she's the exception since a touch starved abuse victim liked to be touched by her in high school. That doesn't = consent.

When Alex, a whole ass Airforce Captain tells her it's unsafe to stay at the creepo's place she acts all I am feminist about it and this results in Alex being stabbed and Michael getting whacked on the head.

Earlier in the episode she whinges to Alex about Michael kissing another woman in front of her and how cruel it was and then proceeds to kiss Michael in front of Alex KNOWING how he feels for Michael.

In THAT scene it's clear she notices Michael's emotions towards Alex and is insecure about it. She uses Malex's feelings for each other to her advantage. She's chasing the fantasy of getting with Alex. These are two highly traumatised queer men who struggle to say no because they spent their lives in abusive environments.

Neither Michael or Alex were in a position to consent to sex that night Michael is concussed from a whack on the head . Alex has lost a lot of blood and is completely out of it. And neither would ever initiate that situation. Not to mention the assumption Michael would be down because he's bi is so harmful as a stereotype.

"I think she’s cool with her decision. She wanted some answers, so subconsciously there was an emotional comfort she needed. But she also had a little bit of an agenda. She needed some decisions made about the status of their relationships, so she thought, “Let’s throw everything against the wall and see where it lands.” I think she was just wondering if they made any progress on that front. She said it was OK for their feelings to be out in the open, but let’s just voice them for what they are. As we saw, Michael stepped up and was like, “No, I still love you and I’m with you.” Secretly, that’s what Maria was hoping for. By suggesting a threesome, she’s was basically telling Michael, “Make your choice… and I hope it’s me.” this is what Heather said about the scene. So not only was it coercive and such but she used her best friend like that with no care or empathy whatsoever. It's disgraceful.

The next day both Michael and Alex are confused by what the fuck happened. Alex due to his C-PTSD completely dissociates from the situation and Michael attempts to laugh it off despite him being hella confused. The only person who isn't confused is Maria who is listening to them from inside.

When Michael comes in she turns on the tears just in case he does want Alex afterwards. Bear in mind she is a psychic who can feel everything and she assumed Michael was going to go after Alex. Doesn't that say it all. SHE KNOWS MICHAEL IS IN LOVE WITH ALEX AND VICE VERSA. She does not care, because at the end of the day this is what she wants. She wants to win. She wants to treat Michael like this trophy that she can show off to people I got the great Michael Guerin not a relationship guy to date me.

When Michael wants to have emotional conversations she shuts it down for sex. The entirety of the relationship it has to be her way or the high way. She also recognises fairly on his abandonment issues and plays upon it, reads manipulative.

When Michael who has lost his mom and brother in the span of a few months asks Maria to be more careful about her abilities she doesn't listen. And ultimately breaks up with Michael when she can't get what she wants from him which is a yes man who will do what she says and isn't the idealised Michael she wants.

Season 3

Shits on Michael any chance she gets. She's so mean to him and he goes out of his way to look out for her.

Is dismissive of her own health despite the fact that everybody goes out of their way to help her. Liz is in California working on a way to help her. Kyle is risking his job.etc

Is fine with Liz, her best friend losing the love of her life to get a vision to prevent a murder. A vision she's only invested in because apparently in it she blames herself.

Is fine with Max or Kyle dealing with the guilt of her death had Michael not saved her.

Shoves Michael and belittles him because he's stronger then her. Infers he just sits on his ass and does nothing therefore does not care about anything....rude. There's also a weird superiority complex that her power is more important then Michaels or any of pod squad for that matter.

Creates a situation that is so bad that Kyle risks his doctors licence to give her adrenaline. Just take an ice bath or something there are a 1000 ways to give yourself adrenaline without risking your life and risking others.

Doesn't thank or acknowledge what Liz is doing for her honey has spent a FULL YEAR of her life trying to help and your just like yeah I'll let her soulmate die for my visions.

Emotionally guilts Isobel for not hanging out with her despite the fact she's hated her for two seasons and now has just randomly decided she wants to know......okay

This idea that Maria is suddenly lonely when she's the second of the main cast (first being Kyle) to have scenes with all the mains by Monday. Literally everyone is there at her beck and call but Maria is lonely??? IT DOESN'T ADD UP. Everyone's up her arse 9/10 how is she lonely everyone expresses concern and care for her ALL THE DAMN TIME. She's also narratively never had scenes that give the connotation that she is lonely. Michael has scenes that connotate he is lonely. Max and Alex do too. Maria has yet to have scenes that give the connotation of feeling lonely or depressed.

Maria comparing the alien siblings to her and feeling left out when she acts superior to them and they are literally siblings. Literally every character is somewhat left out with Pod Squad they've lived their lives assuming it's just them three against the world it's not a personal attack.

Maria is 1/8 alien at best so diluted genetically it doesn't show up and somehow she believes she has the capability of the aliens who are 100%. Say you have French DNA you don't expect to speak French suddenly.

This whole Maria never does wrong narrative and it's empowering that she's doing all of this just feels like a crock of shit tbh.

She reads like a 2000's movie mean girl.

All of my bullet points are why I don't like h Maria and it's not biased because I'm a so and so fan. Narratively she just wins up doing shitty things to Michael and Alex the most.

[atlafan]

Juvenile and Family Law, is it something that a kid dreams of practicing? No, not really. Is that where the big bucks are if you’re not interested in taxes and wills? Yes, it is. College is expensive, and so is law school; gotta pay it off somehow. It takes a while to build your clientele, a lot of it is word of mouth. You work your way up, and slowly but surely, build a good reputation for yourself. And if you’re lucky, you’ll make partner.

Harry Styles is good at his job, and is on the brink of making partner at his firm. Gallagher, Hilson & Associates Family Law is a great place to work. Isaiah Gallagher and Maria Hilson are two incredible lawyers, and the other associates Harry works with aren’t too bad either. He doesn’t always love working nearly sixty hours a week, and some of the cases he handles have caused him to see the bottom of one too many bottles, but other than that, he’s happy.

Family Law means working all kinds of cases. Custody, spousal support, paternity, and divorce. All of those cases are messy, rarely are they clean cut. Harry happens to specialize in divorce, which in turn can lead to all of the other things listed above. What’s worse is that a lot of his clients will often flirt with him, so he’s started to wear a fake wedding band to ward off any and all inappropriate behavior. It doesn’t happen every time, but it was often enough that he decided to find a way to just avoid the unwanted attention.

Due to how many hours he works a week, Harry’s social life is a little lackluster. By the time he gets home work, all he wants to do is kick his shoes off, plop down on the couch with some greasy Chinese food, and catch up on some television. He lives in a nice enough building in the city. His apartment has one bedroom, and one and half baths. On Friday nights, he’ll go out with some of the other associates for a drink, so he gets a bitof social time in. He’s not lonely, he actually quite enjoys the quiet and solitude. He’s got a cat, Gerry, short for Geraldine that he takes care of. He has what he needs, and he’s perfectly content.

Whenever he dates, people always want to talk about his work. The last thing Harry wants to talk about after a long day at work, is more work. So, he sticks to meaningless hookups, and his own hand, when he needs that type of release.

He doesn’t have too much to complain about. He’s thirty, and massively successful. Some of his friends still live at home while working retail jobs, not that he’s judging. He was twenty-six when he moved out, and he’s grateful his parents let him stay rent free so he could save up for his own place. He doesn’t like to compare himself to others, but it makes him feel good to know he’s all set. He works hard, yes, but it’s all worth it.

//

With how quiet his personal life is, it’s hard to imagine Harry being a shark in the courtroom, but he is. He’s a master in the art of persuasion and rhetoric. Having been a communication major in his undergrad career, and all. He knows how to read a room, and how to read people. The jury is just an audience waiting to watch a live performance. His theater minor also comes in handy here. Being a lawyer is an act, a role he plays. He knows how to play the part when it’s in a large courtroom, or when it’s just a small meeting in a conference room to divide up assets. It’s not always easy, but he makes it look that way. Harry typically wins most of his cases, and when it’s something small, he’s usually able to get his client the majority of what they asked for. Every customer leaves happy.

These skills can’t all be taught and learned. Some people are born with natural talent, skills they learn to hone in on and perfect. It’s a craft that Harry has worked on for years. Again, he’s only thirty, but because he has such precision and talent, it makes him the hot commodity. The office is constantly getting calls for him. It’s why they want him to become the next partner. Having his name on the plaque as you enter would surely put people at ease. Isaiah and Maria saw potential in Harry from the beginning, and they feel lucky that he’s one of their associates.

There other very qualified associates as well, like Niall – who specializes in custody cases – he’s well on his way up. There’s Candice – who specializes in prenuptial agreements – she got into the lawyer game a little later in life, but she’s as sharp as a whip, and shouldn’t be underestimated. And lastly, there’s Byron – who specializes in paternity cases – he thinks he’s going to be the next partner because he’s a bit full of himself.

Harry and Niall are the closest in age, so they hang out more often. They both really like baseball, and will go to a game or two during the season. Candice is the surrogate mother figure. She has no children of her own, she’s the fun aunt to her nieces and nephews, but she feels oddly maternal towards Harry and Niall. The boys often call her “Ma”, instead of her actual name, and she loves it. She looks out for them, and there when they need someone to listen. She’s fifty-seven, and enjoys baking in her free time. She often brings the boys homemade muffins on Monday mornings, and they adore her for it.

Byron…well…Byron is a forty-year-old womanizer who totally clashes with Harry. Does Harry have one-night stands? Yes. Does he ever lie to his partners? No. Byron enjoys playing the game in all facets, and Harry never takes part in it. Needless to say, Harry hates when he has to partner with him on a case, and avoids it when he can.

Isaiah and Maria each have their own executive assistant, or para: Michele and Kyla. They’re both in their late twenties, and rocking it. Harry only interacts with them over email. He, Candice, Niall, and Byron all share the same administrator: Ronnie. Ronnie is twenty-six, friendly, and organized. She doesn’t have time to help everyone on their briefs, but that’s what interns are for, and there’s an abundance of them circling throughout the office.

Harry has a nice office. Plenty of natural light from the windows, he has a desk riser so he can stand up periodically, and he even has his own mini fridge. (He’s often paranoid about people taking his Bubbly, so he just brought in his own fridge.) He’s got a decent enough view of the city; he likes it best at night when the twinkling lights come through. It reminds him of how lucky he is to be where he is in life. He knows he’s more fortunate than others, so he tries to be grateful. He gives back when he’s able, donate to different scholarship funds and whatnot.

Harry is a good man.

//

On a particularly cloudy morning, Ronnie lets Harry know his 10AM consult has arrived. He didn’t know much about his new potential client, but he was always willing to hear someone out. He stands up from his desk, and waits for the woman to enter.

In walks a young woman wearing an expensive, red pantsuit, black heels, and a dark red lipstick. She gives a soft smile to Ronnie before she closes the door. Harry walks over to her, extending his hand.

“Hi, I’m Harry.”

“Mira.” She shakes his hand.

“Please, have a seat.” He gestures to the two seats on the other side of his desk and they both sit. “What brings you to my office today?”

“I heard you’re a pretty good divorce lawyer, and I need a divorce.”

“Is your spouse aware that you’re seeking counsel?”

“No.” She shakes her head and swallows. “I…I’d be putting myself in danger if he knew I wanted to leave him.”

“What kind of danger? If he’s physically abusive, then you need to- “

“He doesn’t put his hands on me like that. It’s…I don’t love him, and I never have. I was essentially…I was sold to him; it was an arranged marriage. I thought maybe I could learn to like him, to love him, but it’s been three years, and I can’t stand him. I need legal help.”

“What do you mean you were sold to him? Were you a child bride? Were you sex trafficked?”

“No.” She chews on her bottom lip. “He made a deal with my father. Thomas got me in exchange for…something. I can’t get into what exactly with you just yet.”

“Does he think you’re happy?”

“Yes.” She nods. “Well, for the most part. I do my thing, and he does his. His job keeps him pretty busy, and I often pretend to be asleep when he gets home. He doesn’t satisfy my needs, so to speak, and I’ve given up on trying. I want to be freed from him.” She pulls out a packet of paper from her purse, and gives it to Harry. “That’s a copy of the contract he and my father signed when they made the deal. I’m not great with legal jargon. I thought maybe if you decide to take me on you could look that over and tell me if there’s any way, I can get out of this.”

“Are you over eighteen?”

“Yes, well over.”

“And were you over eighteen when you were married?”

“Yes.”

“Then how could your father barter you?”

“Where I come from…it can just be like that. The goods we get in exchange for my hand outweighed my happiness.”

“I’m so sorry.” Harry frowns. “My services aren’t exactly cheap.”

“I wouldn’t expect them to be. I can pay top dollar, if that’s what you require. I have money of my own.”

“Alright.” Harry sets the packet of papers onto his desk. “I’ll take a look at that soon, and give you a call.”

“Does that mean you’re taking me on?”

“I hate to see such a nice person be so unhappy.” Harry frowns. “I got into this business to help people, so I’ll help you, Mira.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” She smiles. “There are going to be some things in that contract that may shock you, so please don’t hesitate to call me directly with your questions.” She takes out a business card from her purse. “There’s all of my contact information. If anyone other than myself contacts you regarding all of this, don’t say a word.”

“Don’t worry, I’m good at keeping things confidential.”

“I heard you’re a very trustworthy attorney.” She nods, and stands to her feet. Harry does the same. “Thank you for taking the time to listen.” She extends her hand, and he takes it to shake.

“Of course, it’s what I’m here for.” He smiles and opens the door. He watches her leave, maybe for a little too long.

[DARK SIDED, COMING TO PATREON ON SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2ND @ 8AM EST] [Ask]

[kiribaku-queen]

The Blood King and his Queen [8]

Pairing: Bakugou x reader

Romance, Angst, Drama

Word count: 2.3K

Summary:  From being a mere servant girl to marrying the scariest prince in existence, your world changed right before your eyes. Exchanging places with the princess, you knew, wasn’t going to be easy. But could you have found love on the way? Or was it never meant to be?

A/N: I've introduced two new characters this chapter! Kazuhiko and Katashi, the first born and second born respectively, brothers of Bakugou. If reader thought Bakugou was intimidating at first glace, best believe that these two are even scarier than him.

Also, I've tried tagging some of you but it seems that I am unable to do that. Please make sure that your Tumblr is visible when typing it in the search bar. I think that's the only way I'm able to tag you :) Please enjoy and see you next Monday!

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You were woken up by the golden sun rays hitting your resting eyes. Squinting your eyes to open them up a bit, you saw that you forgot to close the tent completely, allowing the sun to fully brighten up the place. You sighed. You didn’t want to get up just yet. Maybe a few more minutes. You tried to move to get a bit of a stretch before going back to sleep, but quickly realized a powerful arm around your waist prevented you from moving. When your eyes looked up, Bakugou’s face was only inches from yours. Even though it was so early in the morning, that didn’t stop a rush of heat from appearing across your cheeks. And despite his face being so close to yours, you didn’t look away.

This was probably the first time you actually took a good look at his features. He looks so peaceful when he’s asleep, despite the fact that his eyebrows were still angry. His mouth was slightly ajar and you could hear him softly breathing. His skin may look rough upon first look, but when you touched his cheek, was much softer than you thought. You wanted to keep admiring his handsome face. It wasn’t everyday that you could stare and not get caught. Taking advantage of this chance, you snuggled right up to him, sighing in satisfaction.

You heard a deep chuckle and suddenly, your body was even more flushed against Bakugou’s body. He had rested his chin on top of yours and wrapped his arms around you tightly.

“Good morning,” his deep, husky, morning voice startled you.

“You were awake?” you asked, embarrassed.

“The whole time,” he chuckled.

“Why didn’t you say something?” you whined, lightly hitting his chest, making Bakugou laugh even more.

“I thought it was cute,” he admitted.

“Was not. It was creepy!” you disagreed.

“Everything you do is cute, my princess,” he declared. You looked up at him, shocked.

“What did you say?” you asked. He looks down at you with the softest expression and repeats,

“My princess,” he softly says. Your heart wants to leap out of your chest. The way he’s looking at you, the way he’s claiming you as his, and the fact that his lips was only a breath away was making you fall harder. As if that was even possible at this point.

Bakugou stops smiling and suddenly becomes serious. You see his eyes move from yours, down to your lips. As if on cue, yours do the same. Bakugou’s lips were getting closer to yours as your heart does summersaults across your chest. Right as you were about to share your first kiss, the tent entrance opens wide, the sun rays now emitting more light than what you wanted. Standing there, a dorky, smiling Denki Kaminari.

“Gooood MORNING!” he sings with the widest smile on his face. “Oh…” his smile slowly dissipates when he sees Bakugou’s killer glare and your hiding face. From behind, Sero and Kirishima both grab Denki by the face and drag him away.

“You idiot!” Sero scolded.

“We told you to see if they were awake! NOT barge in on them!” Kirishima continued.

“I’m sorry!” he cried. They continued to argue until their voices faded in the distance. Bakugou grumbled, smacking his forehead in annoyance.

“Fuckin dumbass,” he muttered under his breath. He looks to you apologetically, but you couldn’t help but giggle at his friend’s antics.

“What an interesting group of friends you have,” you stated.

“They’re one of a kind, that’s for sure,” he complained even though he was bidding them a compliment. He happened to look back at you the same time you met his eyes. Without hesitation, he leans again but you were quick to turn your head and clear your throat.

“We should uh- probably get ready,” you suggested.

“Right,” he whispers and you quickly get up, exiting the tent to leave the prince behind.

After a quick breakfast that Sero had whipped up for everyone, it was time to head back on the road. But this time, you were enroute back to the palace. The ride back to the palace was more relaxing than before. You were fully calm and comfortable in Bakugou’s arms, despite last night and this morning’s events.

Thinking back to when this trip first started, you were so uptight and tense sharing a horse with the mighty Blood Prince. You couldn’t even breath properly with him being so close to you. Now, you were fully able to relax into Bakugou’s arms. You allowed your back to touch his chest, since you were no longer afraid of the Blood Prince. Bakugou had leaned forward to rest his chin on your shoulder. You two were too digested into your own conversation to see the fond looks his crew was giving them.

He was pointing to different landmarks and areas, able to give you stories about anything and everything. Some were sad, some were adventurous, some were silly, some were dangerous. You were able to laugh with him and his men, not believing that this was the man that everyone feared.

Halfway on the trip, you started getting sleepy, yawning your butt off every few minutes. Bakugou took notice, leaning closer to you.

“Sleepy?” he asks. You only nodded your head, trying to rub the sleep out of your eyes. “You can take a nap.” He offered.

“Is that really alright?” you made sure. He nodded in approval. So you didn’t hesitate to turn your body to the side, snuggling into his body. The moment your head rested against his chest, you were out like a light. Bakugou softly smiled at the sight. Mina and Sero silently fangirled to the side, but thanks to Bakugou’s sharp hearing, he heard them. He glared in their direction causing both of the soldiers to turn their heads and whistle like it was no one’s business. Bakugou then pointed to everyone else, making sure they weren’t loud enough to wake you up. His finger stopped at the electric blonde, extra cautious of his loud ass. Denki locked his lips and threw the key away. Far away. He wasn’t ready to get beat up again.

You fell asleep most of the way back, but his highness didn’t mind. When you awoke, you found yourself back in the palace estate. You stretched your arms out with a big yawn.

“You looked like you got a good rest,” Bakugou joked.

“I did,” you said as a matter of fact, smiling up at him.

The horses pulled up to the front of the palace and other soldiers and maids alike were helping to unpack your belongings. Bakugou had helped you down from your horse and took your hand to head inside. You offered to help bring something in, but Bakugou insisted that you go see someone.

When the doors opened, you were greeted by two masculine figures whose auras emitted such a strong presence, dare you even say malevolent. Kazuhiko and Katashi, the older brothers of the Blood Prince, were there in the flesh. They were much older looking than Bakugou, with even more scars on their bodies. Their build was impressive but the enraged and annoyed expression was prevalent on their faces. Honestly, Bakugou couldn’t compete when it came to how scary and afraid you were on these men.

“Little brother,” Katashi, the second born, greeted mockingly. But that didn’t faze Bakugou one it.

“Where’s father?” Bakugou ignored them. Your eyes widened. Father? As in, the King? Bakugou wanted to take you to meet the King?

“Where he always is. Any reason why you’re asking?” Katashi interrogated.

“I have matters to discuss with him,” Bakugou simply told them. Kazuhiko, the first born, leaned to the side and raised his eyebrows when he saw your cowering body behind Bakugou.

“Ah, what do we have here?” Kazuhiko got closer to you and circled around you to get a good look. “I see you brought something for us to snack on.” He licked his lips repulsively. You shrunk behind Bakugou, holding his arm for dear life. Luckily for you, Bakugou moved to make sure that he was in between you and his brother.

“Be careful with what you say. We wouldn’t want to puncture another eye, would we?” Bakugou threatened. Kazuhiko backed up, covering up his right eye that contained a long scar running in the middle, most likely caused by Bakugou.

“I wouldn’t want to be talking to your future queen like that,” Bakugou pointed out. Both brothers looked at you with slanted eyes as if they couldn’t believe someone like you could be queen.

“Forgive us, princess. We misspoke,” Kazuhiko was quick to bow, but his attitude was more forced.

“Tell us, from which kingdom do you come from?” he asks.

“The Northern Kingdom,” you respond, rather nervously. Katashi raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

“The Northern Kingdom? I thought the King only bore one daughter,” The second oldest questioned. Your heart started to pound and cold sweat was running down your back. You didn’t know what to say. You didn’t know what to do. Were you going to be caught just like this?

“Enough. Tell Father that we are to hold a ball to celebrate our engagement. In a week’s time. No later,” Bakugou spoke up before you could respond. You could let out a big sigh of relief but you’d do that later.

“Go get some rest. I’ll see you later?” Bakugou spoke softly to you. The way he spoke to you compared to his brothers was night and day. You nodded in agreement and Bakugou smiled. His brothers were watching your interaction closely, frowning in dissatisfaction.

“Princess?” Kirishima came from behind you, ushering you to your room. You let Kirishima lead the way, but not before looking back at Bakugou who was talking to his brothers.

“Worried about his highness?” Kirishima asked.

“N-No! I was just…” you tried to make an excuse but failed to come up with one.

“He’ll be fine. There’s a reason Bakugou is in line for the throne and not his brothers,” Kirishima explained. “Despite being the youngest, he is stronger, more powerful, and more ruthless than his brothers. He earned his title as next in line.” Even still, you couldn’t help but worry when you’re not by his side. And Kirishima could see that.

“Now, now. Let’s freshen up for his highness later,” Kirishima took you shoulders and forced you to keep walking, to distract you from the problem.

Bakugou was about to walk away but Kazuhiko stopped him by grabbing his shoulder.

“Oi, you aren’t serious, are you?” Kazuhiko questioned.

“What are you going on about this time?” Bakugou huffed in annoyance.

“You. Have feelings? For that princess?” Katashi doubted like he couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Is that so hard to believe?” Bakugou raised a brow.

“Yes! It is! Come on, do you really think it’s going to work out with her? Do you think we love our wives? No! We are using them, just like you’re about to do. Don’t steer away from the prize,” Katashi tried to manipulate Bakugou, but he wasn’t having it. He swatted him away like an annoying fly buzzing around his head.

“Go back to your own kingdoms and take your shitty ideals with you.” Bakugou dismissed them and walked away, now in a bad mood. Katashi was about to run after him, as he has a shorter fuse than the Blood Prince, but Kazuhiko stopped him.

“Don’t. He’ll come around. There’s no escaping it,” Kazuhiko was convinced and watched as the angry Pomeranian retreated back to his quarters.

Back at the Northern Kingdom, the real princess grumbles as she maneuvers around in her maid outfit, trying not to get caught by anyone. After putting you on that mission, she has been stuck serving as a maid all this time. Day after day after day, she was waiting for the moment you come back and announce that this silly arranged marriage was off, but you had yet to show up. And what’s worse, the brother of the Blood Prince is now requesting to see her. So here she was, waiting outside for this prince to show up.

“Nice of you to show up,” the princess complained when Katashi appeared from the shadows. He chuckles upon seeing what the princess was wearing.

“What are you wearing?” he laughs but the princess wasn’t having it.

“Oh, shut it. What is it you want to say?” the princess snapped, wanting to get straight to the point. Katashi clears his throat, suddenly getting serious.

“You don’t happen to have a sister, do you?” he asks. The princess just rolls her eyes and crosses her arms across her chest.

“Of course, I don’t. You’ve known me how long? You would’ve known if I had a sister. You probably would have slept with her by now,” the princess mumbles. She wasn’t wrong there. But now everything clicks in Katashi’s head.

“Ah, so the princess back with the Blood Prince is an imposter?” Katashi asks in a high pitched tone.

“Not really. I asked her to make the prince hate her so that he could call off the wedding and I wouldn’t have to marry him. When that happens, I’ll be back to my gorgeous dress,” the princess told of her masterplan.

“I don’t think you’ll be having that any time soon. You see, this maid you sent on a mission, is living happily with the prince as we speak. And will be celebrating their engagement within this week,” Katashi said. It took a minute to process what he was saying. The more she understood, the more her blood started to boil.

“What?”

“Oh yes. They traveled the kingdom together and supposedly are very in love with each other,” Katashi spit his poison, whispering these tales like a snake wrapped around her neck.

“That explains why she hasn’t come back yet,” the princess hissed.

“Lucky for you, I am willing to take you as my date to their little party,” Katashi gave a devilish smile. He offered his hand to the princess. “Let us crash this party?”

“Let’s.” the princess agreed, taking his hand, their evil plan now in motion.

A/N: DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA! We live for it!

We are almost done with the first half of the story so... enjoy and be happy while it lasts :)

I'd love to know your thoughts and maybe predictions or wants for the story???? ooh that'll be fun! I love reading every one of your comments and DM's and asks. Don't be afraid to send me something! I'M NICE I PROMISE! Love you all!!! <3 If you'd like to be tagged, please let me know!

Tagged: @superblyspeedydragon @melasnchz-things @animexholic @bkgwrites @sam-i-am-1025 @apexqueenie @katsukibabe @germfart3 @tspice283 @angie-1306 @bakugous-trauma @bakugousmrs @random-fandom-girl-24 @monetfatalia @triviajeongin @readingslumpfanfic @softredrobin @daddy-daichis @stardream14 @spicysherlock @cathwritestragediesnotsins @luvtaromilktea @aaannabbanana @i-ameri-cant @shyonigirichan @aomi04

[itsallyscorner]

Ooooh can I do positions with Sebastian Stan???

Omg hi!!!🖤 Thank you sm for the request, I hope you like it!🥰

Thank you for the requests!! And thank you for the support love! I hope you enjoy this and my other requests (which I need to do soon)!🖤🥰 @its-izzys

💌.

positions

a/n: Decided to switch it up for this one and made the song about Seb’s feelings towards the reader:)

warnings: Some smut for you filthy animals😉

Heaven sent you to me

I'm just hopin’ I don't repeat history

It has been known that Sebastian has poor judgement in romantic partners. Now, that doesn’t apply to everyone he’s dated but there are a few who were just out of line. Everyone knew he wasn’t the best at relationships. His family, friends, heck even his fans could see through the facade of his so called “girlfriends”. He could never tell the difference between someone who’s using him and someone who genuinely liked him. Sebastian was one to be intoxicated with his feelings and loses himself in the moment. Which was probably why he never found anything wrong with the ‘candid’ paparazzi pictures or the constant posting of proof that someone was with him.

You were different from all the other girls he had dated. You were like Spring to his Winter. You symbolized a new beginning for him. Like how Spring would mark the beginning of a new season with its blossoming flowers and the awakening of animals, you brought liveliness to his cold and dark life. You actually terrified him to the core. He was afraid to fall for you because you were well off on your own. In his head you didn’t need him, but he needed you. You kept the grown man on his toes and without you he was not sure how he would survive.

Unlike the other girls, he was scared to loose you. Not only were you the most loyal, selfless, kindest, and caring person he knew. But he knew you genuinely loved him for him. He knew that you could care less about the fame, his social status, or the money. You wanted him for him. You wanted him at his worst, at his best, all parts of him. And it terrifies him that he could fuck it all up in an instant and loose you completely. If that happened he wouldn’t know what to do because he’s never experienced a love like yours. Compared to the others, he wasn’t going to repeat history and make stupid decisions, this time he was going to try and not fuck it up.

Boy, I'm tryna meet your mama on a Sunday

Then make a lotta love on a Monday (Ah, ah)

Never need no (No), no one else, babe

’Cause I'll be

Sebastian would do anything to make you happy. Seeing that contagious smile on your face always gave him butterflies in his stomach that made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

“Hey Sebba?” You asked as you knocked on the wall of his home office one day. Sebastian’s eyes leave the script he had been reading for the past hour and a half as he turned to your figure leaning against the doorframe. You were cladded in one of his sweatshirts and a pair of those biker shorts that made your bum look incredible.

“How was your nap, draga?” He was about to get up from his swivel chair when you motioned for him to stay. You settled yourself onto his lap and wrapped your arms around his neck.

Resting your cheek against his head you began to play with the ends of his hair at the nape of his neck.

“It was good. Except someone wasn’t there when I woke up.” You softly answered as Sebastian pressed light kisses along your neck.

“The bed was cold without you.” You frowned against his hair. The scent of his shampoo filling up your senses.

“I’m sorry, I got excited when the script came and I couldn’t help myself.” He apologized as his squeezed your hips.

“Yeah, I know.” You chuckled as you leaned back to look down at him. He stared up at you with those ocean eyes that you just wanted to constantly dive into.

“Oh! I forgot to ask you.” You jumped in his lap as you remembered the text your mother had sent you earlier that morning. Sebastian nods at you, “What’s up?”

He saw how you slightly shrunk into your body and how your arms unwrapped around him so you can fiddle with your fingers. A little tic you had when you were either nervous or embarrassed. Sebastian comfortingly pressed his large warm hand against your back as the other took one of your hands into his.

“So...um. My mom’s birthday is during the weekend and we’re planning on having a dinner party with the family.” You started as you looked at your and Sebastian’s connected hands.

“My mom said she’d like it if you came along. She wants to finally meet you and she thinks the rest of the family would too.” You finished as you glanced up at him.

You were quick to tell him that it was his choice. You didn’t want to pressure him into suddenly meeting your family. Though it would be nice for him to finally meet everyone, you had to respect whether he was ready or not.

“Yeah! Yeah, I’d love to come!” He immediately agreed, a wide smile on his face that made the sides of his eyes crinkle. Your head snaps up to him in shock. You were expecting to find a playful glint in his eyes but it was nothing but sincerity and joy.

“Wait, you want to meet my family?”

“Of course I do, draga. It’s your family we’re talking about! They’re the most important people in your life and it’d be an honor to meet all of them.” He explained as he gripped both of your hands. Sebastian felt himself smile when he saw the corners of your lips raise to your cheeks.

“You have no idea how much this means to me, Seb. Thank you!” You excitedly wrapped your arms around him again pulling him into a suffocating hug. You felt his chest vibrate against yours as he chuckled.

He hummed as he savored the feeling of your limbs wrapped around him and how elated he felt when you were around him. Wrapping his arms around your figure he mumbled into your ear, “Plus, I should finally thank your parents for creating the love of my life.”

Switchin' them positions for you

Cookin' in the kitchen and I'm in the bedroom

I'm in the Olympics, way I'm jumpin' through hoops

Know my love infinite, nothin’ I wouldn’t do

That I won't do, switchin’ for you

The aroma of spices lingered around the house after the delicious dinner Seb had cooked. You guys decided to have an at home date night since the two of you weren’t in the mood to get all dressed up for a restaurant. Plus Sebastian had just gotten back from the airport after months on end of filming in Atlanta.

The two of you were now out on the balcony of your shared apartment sipping on glasses of wine. The two of you looked out towards the city as you leaned against Sebastian’s chest. There wasn’t much talking, just the sounds of the city and each other’s breathing.

“Thank you for dinner. Although, it should’ve been me cooking for you, because you literally just came back from filming.” You turn around in his arms as you admire the man in front of you.

“No, I wanted to cook for you. You’ve been so understanding with my job and the hectic schedules. Plus we had to be apart for so long, I owe you.” Sebastian explained as he moved a strand of hair from your face.

You shook your head at him, “You don’t owe me anything, Seb. You’re just doing your job and I understand that.”

“No, I do. I get that we had our night time calls and FaceTime sessions but it just isn’t the same as being in person with you.” He started.

“You’ve been so supportive and patient with me. While I’ve left you waiting here for so long.” He shook his head at himself before looking down at you. His blue eyes now dark with longing and lust. He leaned down to brush his nose against yours. His plush lips leaving a lingering kiss on your own.

“Let me take care of you, (y/n).”

Perfect, perfect

You're too good to be true (You're too good to be true)

But I get tired of runnin', fuck it

Now, I’m runnin' with you (With you)

Sebastian laid you down gently on the cool comforter of the bedroom. The atmosphere around you two felt heavy as your lips clashed together with desperation and passion. Though the months of not seeing each other were miserable, it began to all feel worth it when you felt his touch for the first time again.

Your hands roamed his body, only stopping when they were hovering over his sweatpants, where a bulge was starting to form. Sebastian pulled away from your lips and took your hand, placing it to rest along his shoulder.

“No, don’t worry about me. This is about you, I just want to focus on you.” His voice was soft and quiet compared to the events that were about to go down between you two.

He gazed down at you for a moment before his palm came up to rest against your cheek. He latched his lips onto yours, nipping at your bottom lips to grant his tongue access into your mouth. Your tongues poked and licked against each other. The heat below you was getting hotter and hotter, making your heartbeat race and a thin layer of sweat to form on your body.

Sebastian moved on to kiss along your jaw and neck. He stopped at your neck, nipping and sucking on the skin until a mark began to form. He helped you take your shirt off, throwing it aside to land on the floor. He watched as your breasts bounced in your red lace bra as you landed on your back again. He sucked in his breath as he looked at you through hooded eyes.

“Take this off, Sebby.” You voice was low with sultry as your nails teasingly dragged on his abs. He yanked his shirt off and threw it to the side. He dived down to claim your lips again, his hands running down to grip your thighs and wrap them around his torso. He ground down on you causing you to softly moan as his clothed crotch pressed down on your mound.

His mouth teased your nipples through your bra. He grazed his teeth along the lace material before sucking on your clothed nipple. He repeated the same action on your other nipple. You pulled on his soft hair as you watched him concentrate on pleasuring you. Your nipples were now peaking against the lace, wanting to be freed from the material. One of his hands flatten on your back and fiddle with the bra until it comes undone. His warm tongue attaches to your breast as soon as they’re exposed, giving them both the attention they needed.

He helps you take your shorts off before removing his sweats. He shifts himself so he’s laying in between your legs with your soaking heat in front of him. You feel his breath against your core causing goosebumps to form on your arms and legs.

“Draga I could smell you all the way here. I’ve been making you wait for too long, huh?” His voice teased you with hints of dominance. He enjoyed the effects he had on you. The way you instantly opened your legs for him and how he was the only one who could make you dripping wet without even doing anything.

You nodded against the pillow and looked down at him. A smirk was on his lips as his nose swiped along your clothed slit. He pressed a searing kiss above your mound as his eyes remained connected to yours.

“Who made you this wet, baby?” He asked huskily against your heat. He felt you clench around nothing as he kissed the wet lace that covered your pussy.

“You did, Seb.” You breathed out.

“Damn right I did.” He pulled your panties off you, the cold air meeting your heat. His mouth was agape as he was met with your heat glistening with arousal. He moaned at the sight and stuffed his face between your thighs. You let out a moan as your eyes fluttered shut.

His tongue flattened against your folds until he found your bud. His mouth latched onto it, sucking and licking at your clit. You emitted a moan, your back arching, as his mouth helped release the tension that was building up in you. He hummed in approval as he brought his fingers to spread your wetness through your folds. His finger teased your entrance before it smoothly slipped in. Sebastian groaned as he felt you clench down on his finger. He moved his finger in and out until he felt you ease up around him. He added a second finger stretching you out a bit more. He made a come hither motion with his fingers as they rubbed against your walls. When his fingers began hitting a familiar spongy area, your toes curled as you hips rutted against him.

He wrapped an arm around your waist to hold you down. You were a mess above him. One of your hands gripping the sheets as the other pulled on his hair. Your head was thrown back, your hair sticking to your face as you moaned at the immense pleasure Sebastian was giving you.

“I can feel you. C’mon baby, cum on my fingers.” He rasped out before his tongue flicked rapidly at your bud. Your knees had came up to your chest as the tension in your body had reached a peak. With the harsh and fast movements from his tongue and fingers, you came with a loud choking moan as your body trembled above him. Your cum spilling all over his hand. Sebastian licked you clean as you came down from your high. He kissed your thighs before coming up to rest his forehead against yours.

“I missed the taste of you. Missed you so much.” He muttered as he licked his fingers. He left some of your cum on his fingers so you can have a taste of yourself. You sucked on his fingers until they were clean of your juice.

Sebastian pressed a sweet kiss to your lips as he lined himself up with you. One hand interlocked with yours while the other led his cock into your sensitive entrance.

“Te iubesc.” He said as he pushed himself into you. Your breath hitched as your walls hugged onto his length. You were filled with him to the brim. You felt the veins along his length and the weight of him in you.

“Si eu te iubesc.” You whimpered as he pushed even deeper into you. His eyes intensely locked onto yours as his hips rocked back and forth. His cock pushing in and out of you. He was dizzy with the feeling of you around him. You were like a drug and he was addicted to you. Everything about you was perfect. He fit into you like a puzzle piece, like you were meant for him, and he didn’t need anyone else. Just you.

This some shit that I usually don't do (Yeah)

But for you, I kinda, kinda want to (Mmm)

'Cause you're down for me and I'm down too

Sebastian would do anything for you. If he could, he would take you around the world to show you new places that you’ve been dreaming of visiting. He wasn’t afraid to show you off. Of course, he was private when it came to your relationship, but when he had the chance to show you off he always took it. He was proud to take you to premieres and introduce you to his friends and co-stars. Everyone could see how deeply in love he was with you. They’ve never seen him so entranced with someone. From the way he looked at you to how his hand was always protectively on you.

Sebastian thanked his lucky stars as he watched you lean against the balcony railing of the hotel you two were staying at in Paris. You were watching the city below you as the wind blew against your hair. The sun shined on you enhancing your natural glow. You looked so relaxed and carefree as if you’ve never had experience a day of stress in your life. He saw a small smile on your face as your fingers skimmed the rail.

You turned around to see Sebastian sitting on a chair inside the bedroom. He was staring at you, a dreamy look on his face. You smiled at him and giggled.

“Get over here and look at the city with me.” You motioned for him to come over as you held your hand out for him. He got up and took your hand, bringing it up to press a kiss on your knuckles. You turned around to lean against his chest as his buff arms wrapped around your figure. His head rested on your shoulder, pressing kisses against the bare skin every few minutes.

He could stay there for eternity. You in his arms as you both silently watched the hues of pink, purple, and orange take over the sky in Paris. You were all he needed, it didn’t matter where he was, he just needed to have you with him.

draga ~ darling

te iubesc ~ I love you

si eu te iubesc ~ I love you too 

[late-to-the-party-81]

Checkmate Ch 2

AN: I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 and the introduction to this 'verse. This series is not Beta'd. Divider by @firefly-graphics. Mood-board by me, but all photo credits to those who took them.

Song included is Midnight Sky by Miley Cyrus

Series Master list | Chapter 1

CW: Alcohol consumption, Mild Angst, Girls kissing, Flirting & Teasing, Pet names, Grinding, Canon Typical Violence, Swearing, Toxic relationship (mentioned), Alternating PoV

Word count: 3.9k

“Well my weekend was definitely boring compared to yours, Chess.”

Monday morning and Chess was at work, updating her closest colleague, Lisa, about all that had happened.

“And, not being horrid, but I can’t be sad that you and Max have ended, although, obviously it would have been better for it not to have gone down the way it did. I’m sorry, but the guy was a grade-A douche.”

“You only met him once, maybe twice, Lisa.”

“Exactly. You’ve been working here, what, 5 months and how many times have you come out with us? Once. For an hour. And your reason for leaving was that Max wanted you home. And then, come Monday, you told me that he hadn’t even bothered to turn up to your flat that evening, letting you know about some kind of ‘emergency’ the next day. And I’ve lost count of the other times you’ve told me about him standing you up, being late, leaving you to hang out with his friends, when he’s been who knows where. Although, we can now probably guess. He was controlling you, sweetheart, and you are better off without that toxicity in your life. Anyway, I’m more intrigued to hear about Mr Amazing Eyes.”

Chess pinged a rubber band at her across the desk and it tangled in Lisa’s short blonde curls.

“I’ve told you everything. I’ve basically met the man twice and embarrassed myself in front of him twice. I think he’s just a really kind guy, and I wish I could have thanked him properly.”

“’Thanked’ him, huh?”

Lisa teased, waggling her eyebrows and earning her another rubber band to the face.

“Ow! Right, you have to come out on Friday to make it up to me. Please!!! I am desperate to see you live it up for once. Maya, Josh and Tony are coming, maybe some of the others. Heading out straight from here at 6pm. You’ll have to bring a large lunch though, cos once we’re out, eating’s cheating.”

Chess smiled, Lisa’s lust for life was contagious, and despite her initial protestations, she found herself agreeing. And the more she thought about, the more she decided that, fuck it, she deserved a night out. She was willing to admit that there was a ring of truth to what Lisa had said about Max. Since she’d come back, how many of her own, pre-Max, friends had she actually seen? Normally it was just Max, and then some of his friends with their ever changing line-up of girlfriends. They only ever went to his choice of bar or club. And whenever she had mentioned she’d been invited out, he suddenly announced that he had hoped to have her all to himself that evening. She was coming to the realisation that he really was an absolutely narcissistic fucker.

Lisa interrupted her thoughts again.

“Soooooo…a roundhouse kick, huh? Where the fuck you learn to do that?”

“I used to do loads of martial arts in my teens. Came in handy a couple of times I’ll tell you. I suppose it was another thing I dropped when I got together with Max. He didn’t think that it was lady-like, or that I’d need it, because I had him to protect me. I realise now, that it was him being a twat, but at the time he made it seem really romantic. Gaaahhh!”

Chess dropped her head into her hands.

“How fucking stupid was I?”

“Hey, we’ve all been there. Mr Nicey-Nicey, as long as you do what he says. Sad fact is you won’t be the last to fall for that line.”

The rest of the day, and in fact the week, passed in a blur of data entry, stats sheets and the usual software battles where the document she’d spent 3 hours on decided to just disappear ten minutes before leaving time. Friday rolled around. As they were heading straight out from work Chess turned up a little dressier than usual, wet look leggings and a sleeveless, floaty top that was blue/silver in colour. She had a long cardigan to wear over it whilst at work, but that was getting left in the office and swapped out for a short black leather jacket come 6pm. She currently had black pumps on, but her holdall had her favourite mid-heel knee boots in, along with her make-up bag and other items to freshen up with before heading out. She was full of nervous energy all day, clock watching and fidgeting.

“Calm it, woman” Lisa chided. “You’d think that you were heading out on a date, with the way you’re acting.”

“I know, I just feel so giddy – it’s been so long since I’ve been out and I’m worried I won’t be able to hack it anymore.”

“Just pace yourself, we got you!”

By the time they had all packed up and got themselves sorted, it was 6.30pm when they hit the first bar. The girls made an attractive sight, Chess with her auburn waves, Lisa with her cropped blonde curls and Maya with her dark, straight chin length hair.

“Wow ladies,” Josh exclaimed. “You lot don’t half scrub up well. We’ll be the envy of all the blokes tonight, won’t we Tone?”

“There’s some kind of irony there”, Tony replied, before threading his fingers into his boyfriend’s hand. “Please don’t rely on us later to chase away the inevitable dickheads.”

Lisa rolled her eyes at them.

“When have we ever needed your help? And apparently, Chess has a mean round-house kick. We’ll be fine. I’ll get the first round in? Jagers?”

The evening passed in a flurry of laughter. Chess was careful not to over-do it, making sure that every few drinks she made sure that she just had a straight lemonade. But she was buzzing, partially from the alcohol, but also from the joy of being herself for the first time in ages.

Around 11pm they made it to a nightclub. Lights flashed and bass thumped. Chess made a bee-line for the dance floor, feeling high on life, Lisa joining her. The others grabbed a table and some drinks. A few songs later the two girls slid onto the bench seat, taking long drinks from their glasses. Tony slung his arm around Chess’s shoulders.

“Having a good time?”

“Hell yes. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed this. OMG, this is my song! Tony, come dance! Pleeeeease!”

The young man rolled his eyes, but allowed himself to be dragged out into the pulsing music.

Yeah, it's been a long night and the mirror's tellin' me to go home (home). But it's been a long time since I felt this good on my own! Uh, lotta years went by with my hands tied up in your ropes. Forever and ever, no more.

They’d all been worried about their quiet co-worker, but she now seemed to have a new lease of life.

The midnight sky is the road I'm takin'. Head high up in the clouds! Oh!

Josh joined them, the three of them dancing together, uninhibited and laughing.

I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you (by you). Fire in my lungs, can't bite the devil on my tongue! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you! See my lips on her mouth, everybody's talking now, baby! Ooh, you know it's true! Yeah, that I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you (loved by you).

Until Chess suddenly went still in the middle of the floor. Josh turned his head to see what had caught her attention.

“Shit!”

He signalled to Tony and the pair of them hustled her off the floor, one on each side protectively. Lisa met them half way.

“What’s up?”

“Douchebag, 6 o’clock”

Josh inclined his head and Lisa could see Max and his friends sat at a table on the other side of the club, the man in question glaring across the space.

“Na-ah, there is no way we are letting that wanker spoil this evening. Another round of shots please, Tone.”

They sat Chess down, Maya and Lisa taking up guard positions. They spoke to her in as low voices as they could manage over the music, Lisa tying up Chess’ hair to help her cool down. Tony reappeared with a tray of shots, handing them out.

Maya raised hers in a toast, “Up with friends and down with arseholes!” The others echoed the sentiment with gusto, knocking the pungent liquid down their throats. Maya looked at Lisa.

“Code Blue?”

The blonde nodded.

“Sapphire fucking blue!”

She turned to Chess.

“Do you trust us?”

Steeling her resolve, helped in part by the sweet spicy shot, Chess nodded. Lisa leaned in closer, her fingers gently brushing the auburn waves.

“Fancy putting on a show?”

Smile met smile.

“Hell yes, Lees – let’s go.”

The three girls got up, Maya and Lisa on either side of Chess, arms wrapped around her. They strode to the middle of the room and started to dance, pressed close, Chess still in the middle.

She got her hair pulled back 'cause the sweat's drippin' off of her face (her face). Said it ain't so bad if I wanna make a couple mistakes. You should know right now that I never stay put in one place. Forever and ever, no more (no more).

They ran their hands over each other, and lightly ground their hips together. The outside world was forgotten for a while, apart from the thump of the bass which seemed to have settled in Chess’s groin, moving her from the inside out.

The midnight sky is the road I'm takin'. Head high up in the clouds! Oh!

She knew this was mostly all in fun, but it felt so good, to be touched so gently, to feel worshipped.

“He’s still watching…..”Maya whispered in her ear. “And he looks pretty pissed” and proceeded to press kisses down her neck.

I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you (by you). Fire in my lungs, can't bite the devil on my tongue! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you.

“Good” she muttered in reply and leant forward to press her own lips onto Lisa’s.

She knew it was petty and silly but she no longer gave a fuck. She moaned slightly when the blonde opened her mouth for a deeper kiss.

See my lips on her mouth, everybody's talking now, baby. Ooh, you know it's true, yeah that I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you (by you).

And then they were all breaking apart slightly, giggling.

“Oh dear lord, that was, erm, ‘more’ than I was expecting. Nice, but more.”

Then she noticed that Lisa’s eyes had widened at something over her and Maya’s shoulders. It couldn’t be Max, he and his friends were off to the right somewhere. And then there was a firm hand on her forearm, those delicious tingles returning and a voice like caramel asking “Mind if I cut in ladies?”

She turned, and looked up into Loki’s eyes.

Loki had spent five days stomping around. He was in a bad mood and he wasn’t sure why. Okay, that wasn’t true. He did know why, he just didn’t want to admit it. It was maddening, to want a mortal so much. He’d had plenty of affairs and dalliances, he was definitely no stranger to the pleasures (and pains) of the flesh. But this girl, no, this woman, had him on fire and so far he’d only touched her twice on the arm, and she’d knocked him on his ass once. Plus that embrace. He tried to push the memory of that away. It didn’t elicit a carnal response in him, more a response to nurture, to soothe. And that wasn’t him, was it? He was the god of mischief and lies, not the god of care and compassion.

He’d not been as content in his apartment as he usually was. He’d gone out for a walk around the city, desperate to dispel the annoyingly loud buzzing in his head. However, on Wednesday, he’d realised that subconsciously he’d ended up in the same place as the previous two days; sat on the same bench, outside the same sterile office building. Why? And then he realised. The buzzing was quieter here. Not completely gone, but down to a manageable level. What was going on? A movement out of the corner of his eye, coupled with a laugh, had had him turning his head.

He’d inhaled sharply. It was her. She was walking across the pavement with two other women, coffee cups and paper bags in hand. Clarity had hit him; it was being near her that quieten the buzz. Resentment bubbled up. That was not acceptable!

He hadn’t left his apartment at all on Thursday. He would not be ruled by these feelings. He’d paced up and down, muttering to himself, getting angrier and angrier as the buzzing in his head intensified until he was shouting out and realised he’d flung knives into the wall.

Friday he decided he would go for a walk again, but would only go as far as he needed for the buzzing to diminish to a manageable level. He was in control. He…was...in…control! And although it seemed to have worked, by mid-evening he couldn’t take it anymore.

Throwing on some black jeans and an emerald green shirt, he grabbed his leather jacket and headed out of the door. He wandered the streets, somewhat unconsciously, letting his feet take him where it needed to go. His lips twisted when he realised he was outside a nightclub. Not really his scene, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from entering, glamouring the staff so he didn’t have to provide either ID or an entrance fee.

He could hear the music, loud and throbbing, as he made his way through the entrance area. He could smell the alcohol, under-laced with piss and vomit and wrinkled his nose in disgust. It reminded him of the parties his brother used to hold.

He pushed open the door to the main bar and dancefloor area, and despite the volume it felt to him as though the whole world had suddenly gone silent.

Because she was there.

In front of him.

Smiling and laughing as she gyrated against the two other women she was with.

One whispered something in her ear that made her smile, before placing kisses down her neck, and then she was kissing the other woman she was with. Arousal and jealously warred within him. He wanted to race over and pull their hands off her, raze them from the very earth for daring to touch what was his!

He saw them pull apart, giggling and realised something. It was a show. Because there, to the side, sat the ex-boyfriend, glaring at the scene in front of him. Whilst there was an undercurrent of sexual tension between the three women, it was more of a playful kind. He’d seen this dance before, a calculated move to enrage a lover, petty revenge. In his eyes, the best kind of revenge. Well who was he to deny her the opportunity to enrage her ex further?

Before he even registered what he was doing he was striding across the floor. He tried to ignore the frisson of excitement that ran through him as he touched her, and concentrated on cutting in.

How, why, was he here? And where were Maya and Lisa? Her two friends had almost melted away at his appearance. He bent over to talk in her ear, and despite the music she heard him clearly.

“We must stop meeting like this ildflue. Although you do seem to be in better spirits this time.”

His hand was still on her arm, but it slid down to gently grab her wrist, his thumb gently brushing back and forth over the delicate bones.

“Let me buy you a drink.”

She was so shocked by his sudden appearance she could only nod and follow along in his wake as he led her towards the bar. He moved between the crowds of people with effortless grace, and she couldn’t help but admire the way his jeans clung to his backside and thighs.

Get a hold of yourself, woman.

She was brought back to the present has Loki popped two drinks in front of her and held a third lazily in his hand. He’d let go of her wrist now, but she still felt the tingle his touch had elicited. She looked at the drinks in front of her, and then back at him in confusion. He leaned over to her again.

“Don’t worry, my dear, the tall one is just a plain soda and lime. You looked all flushed from your dancing, and I didn’t want you getting too…..what’s the term….shit-faced.”

He smiled at her and she felt herself flush, the tingling in her hand spreading to shoot through her whole body.

“Thanks, that’s very kind.”

“I’m sure you can thank me later.”

That mischievous twinkle was back. Holy fuck, is he flirting with me?

“Erm…um… yeah.”

She felt all tongue tied, and all he did was continue to smile between sips of his own drink. She was almost mesmerised by the way his lips pressed against the glass. She shook her head slightly to try and regain her composure.

“So, what brought you here this evening? Did you come with any friends?”

“It was entirely unplanned. I wanted to get out of my apartment and just ended up here. Fate seems to keep throwing us together it would seem. And you? Were those other ladies your friends?”

“Yes, work colleagues, they and a couple of others dragged me out to take my mind off of Max. Unfortunately, he’s here too, giving me death stares.”

“Yes, I thought I recognised him. He’s an idiot.”

He knocked back the last of his drink and Chess watched his throat as he swallowed. Damn, the man was fine…

She took the final swig from her own drink, the soda having been consumed first, and feeling emboldened blurted out “Would you like to go dance?”

“Well, as you’ve asked so nicely, how could I refuse?”

He gesticulated to indicate she should lead the way.

Oh, I don't hide blurry eyes like you. Like you!

He wasn’t entirely au fait with this style of Midgardian dancing, but from the looks of it, it seemed to mainly be a lot of gyrating. The beautiful creature who appeared to be trying to destroy his mind stopped in an empty space, closed her eyes and with an enchanting smile on her face, lifted her arms and started to dance, appearing to be completely lost in the music, the current moment.

I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone! Oh no! I don't need to be loved by you (by you). Fire in my lungs, can't bite the devil on my tongue, you know I don't need to be loved by you

She was like one of the fae, all grace, magic and sex. Without even realising what he was doing, as she turned he put his hands out to grab hold of her waist on each side, pulling her closer until her back was pressed against his chest, her buttocks almost entirely pressed against his groin.

Norns! It took all of his will power not to throw her down on the floor right there. She was intoxicating. He knew there was no going back for him now, he would have to have her, to get her out of his system.

One hand keep a firm grip on a hip whilst the other danced up and down her other thigh as she swayed against him. Her head had rolled back to lean on his shoulder. Her eyes were still closed and her lips were now slightly parted, periodically mouthing along with the words to the song being played. He stared down at them, watching them move, imagining them forming his name, imagining them stretched around him.

Her arms were lowered now, slightly behind her to place her palms on his hips, making sure his movements were in synch with hers. He was aware that across the room her ex’s scowl had now turned to shock, but that was a minor concern. In fact, it didn’t even really matter at all. At this point nothing mattered but her.

See his hands on my waist, thought you'd never be replaced, baby! Ooh, you know it's true, yeah, that I was born to run, I don't belong to anyone! Oh no. I don't need to be loved by you, yeah!

He spun her in his arms so they were facing each other, and his mouth crashed down onto hers. Her arms moved up to wrap around the back of his neck and his hands on her hips held her close. She continued to move to the music, pushing up against him, the evidence of his arousal obvious. She let out a small moan and his tongue slipped past her lips, one hand moving to cup her cheek. Her hands tangled in his hair, tugging it slightly and his cock jerked in response. He broke the kiss

“I want you ildflue.”

Again she could only nod in response, feeling drugged by his kiss.

“It will not be gentle and it will not be tender. You set me on fire.”

She responded by pulling his head back down for another kiss, but this time she was the aggressor, thrusting her tongue into his mouth and grinding hard against him.

Then she was striding across the dance floor, her fingers tangled in his. She reached the table where her friends were, and with a garbled “I gotta go” grabbed her handbag and jacket and practically dragged Loki towards the main doors.

She vaguely heard Lisa shouting after her “Text me in the morning, or I’m calling the police!” Then they were outside, kissing again as they stumbled towards the taxi rank. Falling into the first one with a giggle, she gave the driver her address. With the hand that was still intertwined with hers, Loki started to rub the pad of his thumb over her palm in circles with a firm pressure. Their eyes were locked together, shifting green-blue against her own blue-silver. They didn’t say a word, but this act felt more intimate than any of the kisses so far.

The taxi ride was mercifully short. Loki extracted a few notes from his pocket and threw them at the driver as Chess pulled him out through the door with surprising strength. They entered the building and she dragged him up the stairs, taking them two at a time until they were outside her door. She fumbled briefly with her keys before they tumbled inside, trapped in another kiss.

You know it's true! You know it's true! (Loved by you)

Chapter 3