#but then his mum lit grabs him by the face and scolds him and lifts him to sit him on her lap and I get it but at the same time

[lovely-jily]

potions and locked closets

hey!! sorry this is such a long fic BUT i just wanted to say that i’m also working on this same fic but from lily’s pov lmk if you’d want that:))) thanks and i love you all so freakin much <3

James tried to steady his breathing. His heart was already beating too quickly for his liking, and he hadn't even seen her yet. He was already surprised that she agreed to be his partner; they both know that it would likely be another hour of pointless bickering but nonetheless. Lily Evans had agreed to partner with James for their weekly project Slughorn had assigned. She finally said yes to something.

"Fine," she had said after he asked her, following it up with, "But I'll undoubtedly need help with Transfiguration this week, so if you swear to help me, then I suppose we can partner."

In all honesty, James wasn't having too much trouble with his Elixer to Induce Euphoria, but he just wanted an excuse for Lily to be with him. And maybe if she saw that he had matured at least a little bit, it would make her start to tolerate him.

If that were even possible.

The dungeons were decently empty, but Lily had intentionally reserved the potions room in advance so no one else would be around. Meaning they would be completely and totally alone.

When he walked into the room, she was fiddling with the size of the fire under the cauldron. She was at the desk she usually sat in, the second row to the left, with her back to him.

"Evening Evans," He said, setting his bag on the table and standing next to her, "I see you've started already."

"Well, I actually want a good score on this," She exhaled through her mouth and flipped through her Potions book, her dainty fingers lingering on the words "Elixer to Induce Euphoria".

"I'm right there with you," he said, rolling up his sleeves. He watched Lily's eyes dart from his arms back to her textbook. From what James could see, she already gathered the ingredients and had them neatly organised in front of them.

"Alright, you can start by skinning these then?" She said, swiftly handing him the Shrivelfigs.

"Got it," he noted the way her eyes darted up to his for a second when she was handing him the Shrivelfigs, their skin touching momentarily. While it was only a second, it was long enough to cause James to hitch his breath in an all too noticeable way.

He started skinning the flower, trying to ignore the way her perfume smelled or the curve of her jaw. She tied her hair up in a low ponytail, pulling out tiny wispy hairs that framed her face. He chastised himself for the dirty thoughts that followed, but, Jesus, he couldn't help his want to do the most unholy things to her when she did that.

She started working on porcupine quills as he attempted to pull himself together.

"I wish we got Amortentia."

James took a sharp inhale, resulting in him coughing on his own spit. She, Lily Evans, the same Lily Evans who insisted she hated every fibre of his being every day since they were twelve, wanted to make a love potion with him- James! James Potter! As in the same James Potter that she would shoot daggers at any excuse, the boy she would scold any second she could, the boy-

"It's just so much more of a challenge compared to this one," she finished.

Right. Of course. That's why Lily wanted to make that potion, no other reason, as much as James wanted there to be.

"At least we didn't get Felix Felicis. That takes a while," He ignored the feeling of his heart sinking and his stomach twisting as he finished up the Shrivelfigs. He should've known that was the reason, but he couldn't help but innocently jump to conclusions with her.

"What did Amortentia smell like for you?" She asked, causing James to start jumping to conclusions again.

How do I answer this honestly without giving away the fact that I smelled her?"

"Fresh bread, rain, and- uh- my mother's shampoo," He mentally kicked himself for bringing up his mother, but it was the quickest thing he could think of on the spot, "What about you?"

She sighed, stirring in the quills, "The ocean, my mum's hot chocolate and a cologne of some kind, but I couldn't place where that one was from."

A pang of jealousy beat along with James's heart as he thought about her smelling another lads cologne. Whoever he was, he was a prick.

She shook her head quickly as she seemed to panic for a moment, hastily saying, "Anyways, I'm sure it doesn't matter."

She fiddled with the ladle, brushing the few hairs out of her face. Her cheeks were bright red.

"You alright there, Evans?" He asked as he turned to look at her. He swallowed what felt like all his dignity and pride but was actually just the extra spit that always was around with Lily.

"Just fine," She cleared her throat and handed him the Sopophorous beans, not looking at him, "Would love it if you could start working on these, though."

"Got it," he mumbled as he started dicing the beans.

"No, Potter," His heart lightened a little at the sound of his name in her voice, even if it was to chastise him, "Those are far too small. They'll dissolve too quickly."

"What do you mean, this is how Slughorn does it-"

"Slughorn always cuts things too small, but he makes up for it by moving a little quicker-"

"Well, that's stupid. What kind of a teacher-"

"James," She looked up at him, sighing, and despite her exhausted expression, his lungs lifted immensely at the sound of his first name. She never used his first name.

"Yes, Evans?"

"Could you perhaps go find more in the Potions closet? I think it'll just make things a lot easier."

"Got it."

The closet was cluttered, full of misplaced ingredients from students whose first priority clearly wasn't organisation. After a solid minute of staring at the mess, he called her in to help him.

"What do you mean 'Can't find them'- I just saw them," she huffed, shoving herself next to him in the tight space. James would be lying if he said he didn't do this on purpose but let the boy live. He would take any excuse to be in close proximity to the girl.

"Not sure how anyone could find anything in here. I feel bad for the poor bloke who has to clean this during detention," He said, hands on his hips as she stood in front of him, green eyes scanning the shelves. The closet door closed behind her, and while they weren't any closer than they were by the desks, it almost felt like she was right on top of him. It was taking his total concentration to not think about shoving her against the door and having a long-awaited snog.

"It'll probably be Sirius," she said, glancing at him, a smirk on her face.

He chuckled as he looked at the messy shelves, suddenly shy from her eye contact, "Probably. Maybe we should leave him a note."

They faced each other, her back towards the door and his towards the shelves of messy ingredients. There was just enough room between them for her to fold her arms against her chest, her smile making James's lungs feel extra airy, "Or we can charm the Wolfsbane to fall off every time he tries to put it away."

James laughed, shaking his head as he looked down at her. Their faces were only inches apart, and his heart was beating so hard he was worried she could feel it.

"You know, for such a stickler for rules, you're quite creative with pranks."

She smirked, "I've learned that you can get away with a lot more if you aren't so obnoxious about it."

James let out a fake, dramatised gasp, "You?! A Prefect breaking rules?"

She just shrugged, a smirk still painted on her face. James took a second to look at her, feeling fortunate that not only was he was in the potions closet with her, but she had chosen to carry a conversation with him. This friendly banter was still a little rare, even though they had been getting a little closer lately. Since the incident at the end of fifth year, roughly nine months ago, James decided to get his act together. Mainly for the sake of Lily, but also the threat of war was becoming more than just rumours, and he knew that a war was no place for an immature bully like himself. He was not a person that he- or really anyone- was proud of, and he wasn't okay with that.

James was about to say something when her eyes lit up at something behind his head.

"There it is!" She said and reached her arm out to grab something just next to his ear.

Under normal circumstances, James would've been disappointed that she found it because it probably meant that his time in a closet with her, the girl he's wanted to shag since he had first laid eyes on her, was now over.

However, when Lily reached forward to grab whatever they were looking for (James had since forgotten. Other things had occupied his mind the past couple of minutes), she had subconsciously pressed her body up against his. In a panic, James put his hands on her waist. They both looked at each other with panicked eyes when they realised what was going on, faces close enough that James felt her heavy exhale as she attempted to catch her breath. Her eyes darted to his lips as he was suddenly aware of how naked they felt without hers on them. He instinctively bit them.

James cleared his throat and politely turned his head away from her, trying to reduce the awkwardness.

"Er-Um-Sorry," He said, taking his hands off her waist and shoving his hands into his pockets. Lily's hand was still grasping the beans behind him, and she was staring at him, seemingly debating something. Feeling shy and awkward as she studied his face, James was staring at her left earlobe, noticing the freckle resting next to her small pearl earring.

"Don't worry about it," She mindlessly whispered, still looking intently at him. She seemed to be deep in thought and was not thinking about the words she was saying.

James was just surprised she wasn't showing any signs of being uncomfortable. He would've guessed that she would be yelling at him by now.

"So-uh- I guess we should get-" James cleared his throat as he reached for the door handle behind her. He was nervous under Lily's stare and was having a hard time keeping composure. He wasn't sure what she was thinking, and that honestly bothered him more than if she was yelling at him. At least he knew how she felt then, but he was entirely in the dark right now, "We should get going. The potion's probably been simmering for too long."

Lily blinked and shook her head as if leaving a deep trance. Suddenly embarrassed and blushing, she nodded her head and cleared her throat.

"Right," She said as James tried the door handle.

It didn't move.

He tried it again.

Nothing.

"Well, shit," James said, trying to jiggle the door handle again with both hands despite knowing it wouldn't work. She probably thought he did this on purpose (Which wouldn't be a terribly bad idea if James wasn't so afraid of her), "It's locked."

Lily's eyes widened in a panic, and she promptly turned around, trying the door handle for herself. When it inevitably didn't work, she turned back around and sighed as she leaned against the door, looking up. She groaned and brushed the hair out of her face.

"I forgot that Slughorn keeps it locked," She said, still huffing, "Normally, it doesn't matter because he just keeps it open, but..."

James felt his pockets for his wand and remembered he left it on the desk, "You haven't got your wand, do you?"

Lily looked down as she felt her own pockets, looking back up as she shook her head.

It was then, at the sight of a dishevelled Lily Evans, that James realised that he was locked in a closet with her, and he had a hard time remembering why this was such a bad thing. He tried to shove out the thoughts that entered at the way she looked dishevelled and breathing heavily. The things he would do to be the one making her look like that...

"Sorry, Evans. I feel partially responsible for this predicament," He shook his head, trying to regain self-control. What was he thinking? This was Lily Evans he was thinking about. The girl who never failed to let him know just how much she wanted to strangle him at any given moment.

She said nothing, instead resumed studying his face. He sheepishly messed up his hair, unsure what to do with his body under her gaze.

"Oh, Christ, James," She said in annoyance, biting her lip softly.

"What did I do? I didn't know about the lock!" James said defensively, finding it odd that she was just now getting mad at him.

She rolled her eyes and just looked at him.

"Fuck it," She said, and before James could form a confused expression, her hands were pulling his neck forward, and her lips were being slammed against his.

"What the fuck?" James said, shock widening his eyes as he pulled away slightly. He clearly was baffled beyond logical thinking and reason because Lily would be shoved up against the door if he were thinking clearly. There was no way that Lily Evans, the same Lily Evans that swore she wouldn't ever go out with him not even nine months ago, had just kissed him. Passionately, at that.

"Are you complaining?" She asked, a soft smirk resting on the lips that James was just kissing.

"What-No? Of course not, I just-"

"Then shut up," She whispered, feeling her way from his neck to his tie, which she pulled him forward with so their faces were close again, "And give me a good snog."

"Yes, ma'am," James smirked and tilted his head, pushing her against the door and kissing her firmly without a second thought.

[janetbrown711]

“I’ve got you. You’re safe” yakko to Wakko after there parents.... um yeah idk like nightmare in orphanage I hate myself

Yakko was eight years old, but somehow he already knew he had seen more than others should in a lifetime. 

Yakko had never liked the idea of war, but his father never failed to reassure him that it wouldn’t come to that. He said wars were better fought with words than death and destruction, and that their kingdom and castle were strong and nothing bad was ever going to happen to them. Yakko had believed him, but asked too many questions. His father had sent him off to play with his siblings. 

His mother had just set Dot down for bed. Wakko was playing in the playroom while Queen Angelina II sat and smiled at Wakko fondly. Yakko had complained when Wakko said he wanted to play with him. His mother scolded him softly, whispering that she’d give him a treat later if he and his brother got along. He had agreed to play, though he had been disagreeable most of the time, though the four-year-old didn’t seem to notice. 

There had been a loud crash, windows breaking. The Queen had jolted to life, having been practically asleep by then.

“What was that mummy?” Wakko tugged on his mother’s sleeve. 

“Yakko, watch over your brother. I’ll be back in a moment, I promise,” She smiled, but Yakko could see the panic and worry in her eyes. His mother hugged her boys tightly and kissed their foreheads. 

“I’ll be back in a moment, I’m just going to check on your father,” She had said, trying her best to hide the negative emotions behind her kind eyes. she turned to Yakko and grabbed his shoulders. 

“If anything should happen, I need you to grab Dot and exit the castle using the servant tunnels underground. Don’t stop until you reach Acme Falls, understood?” She asked. Yakko couldn’t say he really did; She was going to come back, right? Still, he nodded. A tension seemed to release from Angelina and she smiled again. 

She went to leave but stopped hugged the boys once more. 

“I love you boys so very, very much,” She said. She kissed their foreheads again and ran out into the unknown.

Yakko hadn’t liked that. There was another crash, and Yakko heard shouting and fighting. He felt Wakko cling to his arm and look up at him worriedly. 

“Is it okay?” Wakko asked. Yakko cringed. 

“I don’t know,” Yakko admitted. They waited and sat in there for what felt like an eternity. The noises didn’t go away and only got louder and closer. Yakko felt a sense of dread crawl up his spine. 

"I’m gonna check on mom,” Yakko decided impulsively. He hadn’t liked it. He hadn’t liked it one bit. 

“Mummy said not to split,” He pouted, then added- “I wanna see dadoo.” Yakko had wanted to refuse but knew his mother knew what was best and took him along. 

Yakko had only been with Wakko for an hour, and the castle changed into an entirely different place. Broken glass was on the floor, tapestries taken down, muddy footprints were upon the once spotless marble and carpets. Wakko gripped tighter on his arm, and even kept his tongue in his mouth. 

Yakko had heard voices down the hall: angry men. They had someone. The voice was female. They were coming closer, so Yakko panicked and grabbed Wakko and went into where the maids kept the cleaning supplies. Wakko had complained, but Yakko quickly shushed him as the voices got louder. 

“What are they saying?” Wakko asked. Yakko leaned against the door and shook his head. He hadn’t been able to hear from within the closet and the voices were getting farther away. He bit his lip. 

“I’ll be right back- I’m gonna get Dot,” Yakko said.

“Why? Mummy is gonna get Dot,” He frowned. Yakko didn’t have it in him to tell his little brother why he doubted. 

“Just... stay right here. Don’t move. I’ll be back, got it?” Yakko pointed to emphasize the seriousness. Wakko nodded. 

Yakko had crept out of the closet and saw a swarm of men with torches. They were shouting at someone. Yakko took a deep breath and tried to see who it was, but was struck frozen when he saw that they had his mother, just like he had dreaded. 

“I’m not telling you where they are.” Her face was bruised and her fur was disheveled and she was bleeding. Yakko wanted nothing more than to run and to protect her, but he couldn’t move. 

“We’ll find them either way, Angelina, so how about you tell us anyway? We already killed your husband, we can kill you just as easily,” One man pointed a gun right at her head. Yakko had felt the floor drop out from under him. 

Dad. 

Dad was... was...

No. He couldn’t think about that. He had to save his mom. He had to save her. Somehow. 

He looked around for something he could use as a weapon, a sword, a large piece of wood, something. Yakko knew he wasn’t strong, especially not strong enough to take on four adult men in armor. His mind scrambled to think. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t have to. He caught eye contact with his mother accidentally, and the man threatening her noticed and saw him immediately. 

“Seize the boy,” He ordered.

“Yakko, run.” Angelina ordered. Yakko came back to life and booked it down the opposite way. His heart pounded in his chest and wind roared in his ears as he heard shouts and the clanking of armor behind him. He turned a corner and heard his mother cry out in pain, shouting things at the man, and then-

A loud gunshot rang through the hall, and his mother’s voice was silenced.

Yakko felt a sharp pain followed by a wave of numbness overtake his body and he quickly began to cry, but his pace didn’t let up. His mind throbbed, as did his chest as he lifted his heavy legs as he ran. 

He did know one thing: He had to get Dot. But he couldn’t let the men find her or Wakko. 

After running for what felt like miles, he jumped under a table and the men continued running on, even after it was apparent they weren’t chasing anyone anymore. Yakko kept a hand over his mouth and didn’t move a muscle for what felt like an eternity and his mind did it’s best to avoid thinking about what had just happened. 

Gunshot. His mother’s cries. Her pleading-

No. 

He couldn’t think like that. He had to get his sibs. 

Eventually, the hall he was in fell utterly and painfully silent and Yakko ran with all his might back to the closet where Wakko was still waiting, thank god. 

“Yakko! You’re back!” Wakko threw his arms around his older brother and Yakko couldn’t help but hug him back. 

“We have to get Dot and then get out of here,” Yakko said. Wakko didn’t argue, but it was clear he didn’t get it and was scared. Yakko bit his lip, but couldn’t think of anything comforting. He grabbed his brother’s hand and together they walked back, gingerly stepping over torn curtains, broken glass, and other destroyed furniture. Yakko couldn’t get himself to look at the half-burned painting of their family. 

He could hear Dot crying by the time he reached the nursery. 

“Yakko, I want mummy,” Wakko pulled on Yakko’s pant leg as he approached his sister’s crib. 

“Mom can’t help anymore,” Yakko said as he picked up the crying infant and tried to soothe her. 

“Why? Where’s dadoo?” Wakko pressed. 

“I don’t know Wakko. We have to go,” Yakko half lied. It was true he didn’t know his father’s location, but...

“Why?” Wakko frowned. 

“Because we aren’t safe here. We have to go to Acme Falls,” Yakko said. 

“But that’s so far!” Wakko groaned. 

“Then we better get going.” Yakko snapped at him. Wakko froze before looking at the ground and muttering to himself. Yakko had sighed as Dot’s cries ceased. 

“We just... we have to go. It isn’t safe here and mom said we have to go Acme Falls,” Yakko explained. 

“I don’t wanna go. I want to see mummy and daddy...” Wakko sniffled. 

“We can’t Wak... We have to go,” Yakko felt tears threaten to spill, but he knew he didn’t have the time, and swallowed down the pain. 

“Come on... We have a long way to go,” He offered his free hand to Wakko and the four-year-old prince took it. 

The three of them successfully got to the bottom floor of the castle, and got to the servant's quarters without a hitch. They made their way through the dark and poorly lit tunnels leading to Acme Falls, and by the time they reached their so-called “safe place”, it was morning. Wakko had all but passed out the moment they sat down in an ally outside the bakery. Dot had been asleep almost the whole night. 

He still couldn’t get himself to cry. He couldn’t admit what had happened. Even when the townspeople recognized them as the royal children and wondered what happened. Even when the town crier had come the next day to announce that the kingdom and the castle had been overtaken. Even when a nice blonde lady had taken them to the orphanage and they explained to Wakko what had happened. He hadn’t cried. He still couldn’t believe it. 

That’s where he was now. It had been three days since the attack. Yakko was sitting up in his bed, still unable to sleep, his mind stuck replaying what had happened. Wakko was making attempts to sleep and Dot was in a crib next to Yakko’s bed. 

However, just like the previous nights, Wakko had shot away and began to cry. Yakko had been waiting for that, and immediately opened up his arms to his little brother, who hugged him and sobbed into his shoulder. 

“I’ve got you Wak, you’re safe,” He soothed.

“I-i want mu-mum-mummy and d-daddy,” Wakko cried. 

“I-i know Wak... I want them too,” Yakko bit back tears of his own. 

“A-are... are they really gone Yakko?” He asked, looking him in the eyes with his own, which were red and puffy and leaking with tears. Yakko couldn’t look away, no matter how hard he tried. He knew the answer, he had heard her cries and the gunshot. He knew. 

“Yes, Wak. They’re... they’re gone,” He answered truthfully, feeling tears finally begin to stream down his face. Once they began, they didn’t stop. Wakko’s hug tightened around him and the two brothers held each other until both of their tears had run out and reality had truly set in. 

Their parents were dead, their home destroyed, and they only had each other.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

[blu-joons]

Welcoming The Family ~ Lee Felix

“See, perfect,” you hummed as Felix walked into the living room, propping the tree up as best as he could against the fireplace. His expression failed to match yours, you could see perfectly how exhausted he was as he brushed the pine from his hands.

“I perform on stage for hours but getting that through the front door was harder than anything I’ve done before,” he groaned, sitting down on the arm of the sofa.

As he did so, you pulled several boxes from around the sofa, whilst he went to pick up the tree, you went on a trek around your home to find all its decorations.

Felix’s exhaustion was heard as he let go of yet another groan, spotting just how many decorations the two of you had somehow managed to accumulate over the years together.

“Don’t even think about getting yourself comfortable, we need to finish this off before your parents arrive tomorrow,” you scolded, passing him one of the boxes to rip the tape off of and open.

The effort it took just for him to lift his arm was huge as he opened up the box, peering in he spotted all the decorations his parents had sent over for your first Christmas together, each one was still in a pristine condition.

“If we don’t put these ones up, I promise mum will never speak to us again.”

You nodded, placing the box down in your keep pile, whilst you discarded a box of much less appealing ones to send off to the charity shop. In a few minutes, the two of you had managed to sort through every box of what you wanted to keep.

“You know, I’m sure even if we closed our eyes just for a few minutes we’d still get this done today,” Felix whined from beside you, staring hopefully into your eyes.

Your head shook, grabbing his hand and pulling him down from the sofa to continue giving you a hand. “It was your idea to invite your parents, and your idea to leave everything until the last minute, so you’re helping.”

His eyes rolled, feeling the weight of a box crash into his lap. “It’s not my fault I was busy with work and couldn’t get things done, this isn’t fair.”

Whilst he was right, the last minute raid for decorations had been because of how busy he’d been at the studio, it was too late for now for you to get everything done by yourself, and just like Felix, you wanted to make sure everything was perfect for his family.

Felix began to untangle all the knots in the ribbons of the decorations while you started hanging them around the tree, keeping a keen eye on all the colours so there was no mixes or too much in one space.

Felix had always admired your eye for detail, your house was always decorated so perfectly for Christmas, everyone would always compliment what a good job you’d done.

“Are you excited to see everyone?” You absentmindedly asked him as you hung a bauble, glancing down at his face of concentration.

His head nodded immediately, it had felt like forever since he last got to see his family, and even longer since he got a Christmas with them too. As tired as he was, he kept reminding himself that all of this was for his parents who were on their way.

“I can’t wait to give them all a massive hug,” he smiled, pausing for a moment. “I just have such a good feeling about the next few days being together.”

After all the decorations had been placed, you stared down at the knot of lights that you’d also found. Felix was quick to grab it and start untangling it, knowing how stressed these things made you.

“I keep thinking if there’s anything that we’ve missed or that your parents would like,” you told him, adjusting a few of the little bits you’d found around the tree.

His head shook, his family didn’t expect anything from the two of you, they were just thankful that you’d invited them to be with you both and giving them the time to spend with Felix. Anything past that was just a bonus to all of them.

“Nothing is forgotten, trust me, they’ll love what we’ve done with the place,” he assured you, passing you the fixed end of the lights.

“I just want to be sure,” you mused, feeling his arms wrap around your waist as he dropped the lights, scattering several reassuring kisses along your jaw and to your cheeks.

He knew that you felt the pressure to do the perfect job, he was anxious too, but it was Christmas, there was no way his parents couldn’t arrive at your place with a smile.

Once all the lights were untangled the two of you worked together to wrap them around the tree, dodging each of the baubles you had meticulously placed on each branch of the tree.

“Now all we need is a topper,” Felix spoke, reaching into one of the boxes and pulling out the traditional one you used everywhere, “I’ll let you do the honours as most of this is your hard work.”

You took the ornament before stretching up on your tiptoes to place it to the top of the tree. The both of you sighed in relief as finally the job was done, one less thing for the two of you to worry about before his family arrived tomorrow.

“Looks good,” Felix hummed as you both took a step back, “I don’t think I’ll want to take this down at the end of Christmas.”

“It’s bad luck if you don’t,” you reminded him, feeling his arm wrap around your waist, “maybe we just take a photo instead so we can remember what to do next year?”

It was a huge relief for you to get the tree done, you still had a mountain of things that you wanted to sort out, but Felix was right beside you to get it done, even if was absolutely knackered from fetching the tree in the first place.

“You know, I actually bought something else to go on the tree this year,” he whispered to you.

“Yeah? Go on then, show me what it is.” He didn’t move away from you, but stuck his hand into his pocket, rummaging around for what he was looking for. You could hear the money and keys in his pocket too clattering around as he felt around for it.

“We can’t have my family here without a little something for them.”

Your eyes lit up as you watched him pull out a small kangaroo attached to a piece of string with a Santa had sewn to the top of its head. It was exactly what you tree needed as Felix hung it on a small space that he could find that needed filling.

As soon as he saw it in the store a few days ago he knew it would be the perfect addition to your tree, and your parents would love it. You reached across and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, watching as he dimples appeared.

“That’s super cute.”

A light blush appeared on his cheeks, he wasn’t always into grand gestures or anything like that, but when he was, he always managed to take you by surprise in the best possible way.

“The tree’s perfect now,” he remarked, nudging against your side, “I just can’t wait for them all to get here now and really start celebrating Christmas.”

“Less than twenty-four hours left, it’ll fly by.”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep, I feel like a kid all over again having my family back with me,” he honestly told you, resting his head above yours. “But now I’m the grown up one who’s hosting Christmas.”

You chuckled lightly, resting your hand against his chest, “I bet they’re just as excited to be here, and enjoy Christmas without any responsibilities.”

“I’m sure mum will still get involved.”

You knew exactly what Felix’s mum was like, and he was probably spot on. “I’ll probably be thankful for the help; you’ll be too busy entertaining guests to give me a helping hand anyway.”

“Well someone has to make sure that everyone’s drinks are always topped up.”

Your eyes rolled at his comment, but it was that, that so often made you both such a great team. You were always in sync with each other, whilst he did one thing, you did the other, and in that case, everything would work out perfectly. The next week would be no different as you coped with having all his family round.

“It’ll all be alright, you don’t need to worry,” he assured you, feeling your body tense up. “Nothing can go wrong, I promise.”

“I know, I’ll feel better when they’re all here,” you assured him.

“Less than twenty-four hours and they’ll all be here.”

“I know, I’m so excited!”

---

Masterlist

[murswrites]

Full of Life ⎯ Thomas Shelby Drabble

Pairings: Thomas Shelby x Fem!Reader, Thomas Shelby x Daughter, Fem!Reader x Daughter Fandom: Peaky Blinders MASTERLIST Warnings: FLUFF, Soft!Tommy, mention of guns lmao SUMMARY: Tom’s been gone on business and when he finally gets home, your daughter Rose is beyond excited to see her father.

Thomas Shelby was by no means, a loving man. Everyone knew that, well… except for his daughter. She saw a side of him that was only reserved for you for the longest time… but you saw the light in his eyes brighten at when he first set his eyes on your baby girl. How tenderly he held the bundle of joy in his arms like if he tightened his grip, she’d break. Thomas Shelby loved his daughter and wife so very much. 

Young Rose Shelby, is only six-years-old and full of life, your daughter. Her great aunt Pol often commented on how much Rose is like Thomas when he was a child, so curious about everything. Recently, guns had become Rose’s new fixation. Which meant you had to deal with your daughter eyeballing every gun she ever comes in contact with. (not that she’s ever touched a gun)

This now meant that every firearm had to be locked up and no guns were allowed, Rose. Tommy found this hard to agree to since he liked having protection on him at all times. But Rose is at the age where she can reach the drawers in Tom’s desk, hence the installment of locks on everything. Surprisingly enough, your daughter has figured out a way past the locks… by stealing… the keys.

You still wonder who in the world gave her that idea but no one will confess. Rose ran past you with a doll in hand, towards the front door, excited to see her father. “Dad!” Rose exclaimed as the door swung open, revealing the man you loved. His face lit up upon seeing both you and his daughter, dropping the briefcase onto the carpet to lift her into the air.

This was among your favorite sights, seeing Thomas just so happy always warmed your heart. You knew him before the war, very briefly since you were so young, but you saw how it changed him. But it seemed having a child brought some of the light back into the depths of his icy eyes. “What’s mum doing over there, ask her Rose,” Tom pointed Rose’s hand at you.

“Just standin’ there, dad!” Rose squealed and made grabby hands toward you. A chuckle escaped your lips as you crossed the room and picked Rose up out of Tom’s arms, he used his free hands to shut and lock the front door. “Hi, mum.” Rose kissed your cheek sloppily.

“Oi, that’s my cheek to kiss.” Thomas scolded teasingly and in typical Shelby fashion, she began kissing your cheeks much more. He father lifted her out of your arms and tossed her up, catching her with ease. You cringed at the sight and Tom gave you a mischievous look, it was strange… seeing him so happy. Things must have gone well in London.

Your husband pointed at you once again, “She thinks I’m going to drop you, do you think I’ll drop you?” He asked Rose.

She shook her head, “Uh uh, you’re so strong! Like a horse!” Rose laughed at her comparison and so did you.

“Oh, you think that’s funny, eh?” Your daughter nodded excitedly as Tommy began tickling her, “Not so funny now, eh?” Rose squealed before running away from Tommy, beaming brightly. “That’s not fair, running to mum is a sissy move!”

Rose hid behind you, giggling the entire time as she peeked behind your skirts at her dad, “He’s just jealous I don’t yell at you for grabbing me bum.” You joked and Rose just gave you a confused look before screaming when Tom began stalking near, she ran toward the long hallway in fear of more tickles. “You’re worse than her,” 

Tommy smirked at you and placed a kiss on your lips, “But you love it,” You couldn’t deny it as he deepened the kiss.

“Missed you,” 

“I missed you more.” He replied.

The sound of someone gagging made you turn around in Tom’s arms, Rose had a disgusted look on her face. “Ew! Nasty! Mum and dad are licking their faces again, Frances!” She shouted toward the maid who was passing, before Tommy’s eyes narrowed.

“Sorry love, I’ve got a CHILD TO CHASE!” He raised his voice so Rose could hear, she got the memo and bolted toward the stairs. “Be careful, Rose!” Tom announced and she mumbled an ‘I will’.

You shook your head at his antics but nodded, “You go and do that. And while you're at it, get her to brush those curls… she won’t sit still for me.” Tommy nodded and pressed one last kiss on your lips before going to find his daughter who was surely hiding beneath her bed again.

[justthehiddleswrites]

Forever Hold Your Peace | Tom Hiddleston x Cumberbatch!Reader  | Chapter 5 | The Aftermath

Pairing: Tom Hiddleston x Cumberbatch!Reader

Summary:  Tom Hiddleston dated Benedict's little sister (reader) back at Cambridge, after a bad breakup Tom and Benedict are now friends. The reader is now engaged to an American who Benedict does not trust. Ben turns to his good friend Tom to help break up the wedding and win back the girl he never truly got over.

This Chapter:   Six months after the wedding not to be, you are still licking your wounds and hiding out. But an unexpected visitor may change all of that.

Warnings: Fluff, angst, slapping, cursing.

-

Six Months Later

“How’s work?” Benedict asked as you pushed your food around the plate.

“Fine.” you mumbled as you took a bite.

“Are you going to see Mum and Dad this weekend?” he prodded as he stared at you from across the table.

You shrugged your shoulders. “Maybe.” you responded listlessly.

This was the routine these days. Benedict asking mundane questions while you pretended to be interested and pushed food around your plate. Then rinse and repeat.

“Tom’s back from filming…” Ben muttered, glancing up to gauge your reaction.

Your fork rattled as you dropped it onto the plate. Benedict stifled a laugh.

“Oh, oh. That’s nice.” You responded in a calm voice, but your stomach somersaulted.

“He asked about you.”

You leaned in. “Really?” You caught yourself. “Not that I care.” you scoffed.

“That’s what I told him.” You almost spit your water across the table.

“Why in the hell would you do that?!”

“I beg your pardon. Were you not the one who told me ‘no more men’?”

“Yes, I was.” You sunk back into the chair.

Benedict paid for the meal and the two of you walked out of the restaurant.

“Are we still on for dinner tomorrow night?” you asked as you wrapped your coat around you.

“I can’t.”

“What, you got a big date?”

Ben blushed as he adjusted his scarf.

Your eyes widened as you punched him in the shoulder. “You have a date?!? Who is it? Sophie?”

“No comment.” His blush deepened.

“It is!” You danced on the sidewalk. “I knew it!!”

He cleared his throat. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” He pulled you into a hug. “Love you sis.”

“Love you too, brother. Don’t fuck it up, Sophie’s a keeper.” you joked with him.

You headed off back to work, while Benedict headed the other direction, back to his home. He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

Today’s the day. She should be at work for the rest of the day. Good luck! Stay out of her swing range.

It was only a moment for Tom’s response to pop back up.

Thanks, Ben. I will. Talk to you later.

-

The minutes ticked down before the end of the workday. Your mind wandered to the leftover Chinese food in the fridge along with the ice cream in the freezer.

“Another night with the TV.” you muttered to yourself.

“There is a gentleman out in the gallery asking for you.” Your assistant commented as she entered her office.

“Have someone else handle it, Claire.” you waved her off.

As she turned to exit, the receptionist collided with Claire.

“Tom Hiddleston is asking for you!” she squealed.

“What?” You looked at Claire, who nodded. “You should have started with that!”

You smoothed out your skirt and fluffed your hair as you hustled out of the office.

Tom stood in front of a large canvas hanging on the wall.

“You cut your hair.” you commented, your voice echoed in the cavernous room.

Tom smiled as he turned to face you. “So did you. It looks good.”

Your head dropped out of embarrassment. “You flatter me.” Your stomach jumped into your throat.

You noticed Tom stayed about an arm’s length away. “I don’t bite you know.”

“You just punch. Hard. I’m uncertain my poor nose can handle another signature Cumberbatch blow.”

You giggled. “Sorry about that. I can find out the price of that piece, if you like.”

He tugged on the bottom of his pinstripe jacket, tailored to accentuate his slim figure. “I’m not here for the art.”

You swallowed. “Then why are you at an art auction house?”

“To ask if you will accompany me to dinner tomorrow night.”

“I can’t tomorrow, I’m going to dinner with… shit!” You remembered Benedict cancelled. “I just can’t.”

“May I ask why not?” He stepped closer. Your heart beat faster.

“I think you know why, Tom. My heart can’t handle being broken again.” Your face hurt, and tears welled in your eyes.

“I have no intention of breaking your heart. I love you.”

“I’ve heard those words before. From you and William. And yet I still ended up in tears.”

Tom sighed. “I was a bastard and young and foolish. I treated love as something common and plain rather the precious commodity it is.”

You shuffled your feet. “You’re right about the bastard part.”

Tom chuckled. He moved closer to clasp your hands in his. “Then let me show you my love. I realize I hurt you and it scares you. I love you but I will wait until you are ready. But please don’t shut me out.” he pleaded.

His thumbs ran across your knuckles in a soothing motion. You glanced up to see his eyes brimming with tears as well. “Tom…” you started.

“Please… It’s dinner, not forever. You pick the restaurant. You pick the pace. Just say yes.” His voice a whisper but rang loud in your heart. He gripped your hands tight. “Please... say yes.”

You bit your lip as you thought about everything. Tom was not the same person he was in college. Neither were you. Six months had passed. People questioned when you would socialize again. Meet someone. You wanted someone willing to do anything for you. Even take a punch.

Tom sighed as he pulled away from you. “I’ll—” You grabbed his wrist tight.

“—pick me up at 6?” you finished for him.

His face lit up in the biggest grin, and he pulled into the tightest hug.

“Thank you.” he whispered as he kissed our cheek.

“Don’t make me regret this, Hiddleston.”

“Never, darling.”

Six Months After That

“Stop fiddling with your tie, Tom.” Benedict scolded as he reached to straighten the tie.

“I will... if you stop choking me with it.” Tom swatted Benedict’s hand away from his throat.

“And you call our family a bunch of drama queens.” Ben scoffed.

“Well, except for your sister, you are all actors.”

“Exactly. You’ll blend right in.”

The two walked made their way to the front of the church. Tom’s palms sweated. He spied Sophie in the first few rows. Benedict threw her a wink and smile.

“Speaking of your family, when are finally going to propose to Sophie? What has been ten years on and off?”

“No comment.” Benedict sniped back but he gave a knowing smile.

“No surprises, right?” Tom raised an eyebrow at his friend as he looked out into the congregation, looking for anything out of place.

Benedict laughed. “No surprises. Wow, you are nervous.”

“It didn’t go so well the last time I attended a wedding with your family.”

Benedict opened his mouth to protest but then the Wedding March flitted through the air. Tom and Ben turned to the back of the church. The doors opened, and you stepped through beaming.

“She looks beautiful.” Benedict leaned to whisper to Tom.

Tom didn’t hear him as he focused on the sight of you walking down the aisle in your wedding dress. His eyes brimmed with tears of joy.

“You are perfect.” he commented as he took your hand and led you up the stairs.

“You too.” you choked back.

The ceremony flew by and before long, the vicar called out, “If there should be anyone who objects to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

The church fell into an awkward silence as Tom and Benedict narrowed their eyes at everyone. Tom and you let out a sigh of relief and gave each other a little giggle.

“You may kiss the bride.”

Tom beamed as he lifted your veil and wrapped his arms around your waist to pull you close. He kissed you with all the passion and love of a first kiss.

“We did it, Mrs. Hiddleston.” Tom muttered against your lips.

You giggled. “Yes we did, Mr. Hiddleston.” You pecked his lips.

You both turned to smile at your families as they clapped. You walked down the aisle hand in hand. Benedict gave Sophie’s hand a quick squeeze on the way down.

[vangoghmusings]

hi! can I request for todoroki x a gn or fem crush who has a really powerful telekinesis quirk, but has really bad allergies in the summer, so every time they sneeze they accidentally activate their quirk? maybe something within a 2 meter radius of them randomly explodes or floats? and maybe during a spar with todoroki, they sneeze and accidentally blow him away, making them the winner of the fight and then they both end up having to go to the infirmary, where todoroki finally confesses? thanks!

this is such an awesome request! i know its not exact to the prompt, but i hope you still like it!! 

taglist: @mixfi @lilacskyura @katsuhoee @star-mum@moonlightinsanity​ @anime-waifuuu @iiminibattlehero @leeeah-loooser​ @bby-chloe1999​ @verymuchbabey @h0wab0utw3d0ntd0that@unknownweeabo  @cookednoodlez @helloshoutohere @izuku-sakura

allergy season | shoto todoroki x reader 

“ACHOO!” 

The class turned to Y/N, who’s sneeze had caused the desks of the seats around them to float in the air. The moment they apologized the desks dropped down harshly. Aizawa narrowed his eyes at his student for disrupting his end of class announcements. Some of the students snickered before Aizawa shushed them and continued talking. Y/N’s allergies got especially bad in the spring. The pollen irritated them to no end, causing their quirk to activate with even a simple sneeze. Once he had finished, he dismissed the class. Y/N quickly packed their items and scurried towards Shoto. He told them he would train with them after class, and hopefully, their out-of-control allergies didn’t scare him off too much. 

“Todoroki!” Y/N squeaked, getting his attention. Todoroki was almost out the door when he stopped in his tracks, turning at the call of his name. 

“Yes? Oh hey, Y/N.” 

The way his bangs settled over his two-toned eyes so effortlessly it almost knocked the wind out of Y/N. 

“Hi, Todoroki!” 

They hurried over and stood in front of the tall boy. 

“Do you still want to train with me? If so, could we tonight? Before dinner possibly?” 

He paused and nodded. Y/N grinned, not without another sneeze hitting them. They quickly covered their nose with their elbow, but to no avail, Shoto’s book bag began to float in the air. He chuckled softly and grabbing his bag from out of the air and put it back on. 

“Bless you. Tonight sounds good. I’ll see you at the gym at 4?” 

“Perfect! I’ll see you then!” 

Shoto nodded and turned to head to his dorm. He considered Y/N a friend, yet they always seemed so shy around him. He thought it was quite adorable actually. In class, he’d watch as they chittered excitedly to their friends and how their face would fill with passion. The way their eyes lit up with enthusiasm always brought a small smile to his face. But rather to admit to himself the obvious crush he had on his classmate, he considered it admiration. Admiration for their willingness to work hard to be a good hero...and admiration for how cute they were. 

Shoto got dressed in his gym clothes and made his way to the gym to meet Y/N. They were stretching on their legs on the floor while Shoto walked in. They looked up, their eyes meeting. Y/N smiled and waved before standing up. They both walked towards each other, meeting in the middle. 

“Thanks again for coming to help me train!” They beamed up at Shoto. He gave them a soft smile. 

“Of course. So, would you like to start out sparing?” 

Y/N nods and they position themselves. Y/N’s levitation quirk also allows them to levitate themselves, of float up to 4 meters in the air. 

Shoto reached forward attempting to throw a punch. Y/N swiftly lept upwards, activating their quirk. Shoto smirked and launched himself up to their level with his ice. He blinked, noticing Y/N’s face of concentration scrunch up. His eyes widened as their eyes shut tightly. 

Oh no. 

“Ah-Ah-AHCOO!!!” 

The force of the sneeze caused the quirk to launch Y/N backward with intensity. At the same time, Shoto floated in the air, several feet above his platform. Y/N however, had no control in order to land. When they rubbed their nose, Shoto dropped on his platform with ease, but his features filled with horror as Y/N’s body dropped out of the air and fell at full impact against the cement flooring. Landing hard on their back, their head slamming down shortly after. With one cough, blood spouted out of their mouth from the impact. Their eyes fell shut after the back of their head slammed to the ground. 

Shoto froze. He stared as Y/N’s body lay limply, blood dripping out the corner of their mouth. Without hesitation, Shoto slid down the side of his platform and ran towards Y/N. Seeing that they were unconscious, he scooped him up in his arms bridal style and ran to the infirmary. 

He welled up with guilt as he ran. As he looked down at Y/N’s limp figure before him, he cursed himself for not being fast enough. He should’ve known better, especially with how their quirk was reacting throughout the week. It was his fault they were injured in his eyes. 

Shoto brought you to Recovery Girl, where she asked him to place Y/N on one of the beds. Shoto anxiously explained what had happened, tears welling up in his eyes as Recovery Girl wrapped the wound on their head. 

“Don’t be too hard on yourself sonny,” She chimed as Shoto continuously scolded himself. “You can’t anticipate a sneeze like that.” 

He nodded as the old lady waddled away. She told him that Y/N was fine and would wake up eventually. He sat down in a chair beside the bed they laid in. He let out a deep sigh and held his face in his hands, eyeing them in worry. He eyed your hands, a few small scratches and bandages covering their arms. He bit his lip and gently took his hand in theirs. He eyed their oddly peaceful face as more hot tears emerged, rolling down his cheeks. If he was a better friend, he would’ve been quick on his feet to catch you. 

Shoto’s stomach growled and he looked at the time, realizing the cafeteria would be closing soon. He chewed the inside of his lip, before getting up and running to the cafeteria to grab two to-go bento boxes from Lunch Rush. If he was going to take the time to eat dinner, it would be while watching over Y/N. And he knew they would be hungry too. 

Entering the cafeteria he grabbed two to-go boxes. He filled his with noodles, rice, vegetables, and a meat bun. He reached for the second box and paused. He smiled softly to himself, remembering Y/N’s favorite foods to eat from Lunch Rush. A meat bun, tempura, steamed veggies, and udon. He smiled proudly to himself as he closed the to-go boxes. He always paid such close attention to them and what they ate. If they ever mentioned something that was their favorite, Shoto made sure to take note of it. He remembered everything, their favorite flower, cafe, animal, color, vacation- oh no. 

Shoto paused as it dawned on him. He didn’t just remember these things to be a good friend, he remembered because he treasured everything about them. Their smile, especially the way their cheeks glowed when they laughed. The way they drummed on their desk when they were nervous about a quiz. The way they always cheered him on and checked in on him. No, he didn’t treasure things about Y/N, he treasured them entirely. 

No wonder his chest hurt so much when he saw them fall. He feared he had lost them, the person that made their heart swell with every little quirk or habit they did. 

Shoto gripped the boxes, paid, and ran out, back to the infirmity. He stepped into the room and caught his breath as he noticed they hadn’t awoken yet. Part of him hoped they were awake already, but he also wanted to be there when they woke up. He sat back down in the chair beside the bed and watched intently. There were so many things he wanted to say. 

And as if by magic, Y/N shifted, their eyes opening slowly. Shoto blinked realizing his time to express his feelings had come sooner than expected. 

“S-Shoto ?” Y/N croaked, looking over at the nervous duo-colored boy beside them. His face broke into a grin and he wrapped his arms around them tightly. 

“Y/N I’m so so sorry! I should’ve caught you in time and I should've realized your quirk would activate with your allergies and I was so scared and I thought you died and I realized how much I like you and how-” 

Y/N blinked and held a weak hand up. 

“Woah woah woah, what? You, you like me?” 

Shoto froze. He couldn’t explain himself, he didn’t know how to. Instead, he mustered all of his courage and gently cupped their face. Y/N’s eyes widened, that twinkle of excitement that he loved so much shining brightly.  He closed the gap between them and kissed Y/N lovingly. He felt as if they would crumble and disappear in his arms. They set a weak hand on Shoto’s arm, gingerly pulling him closer. The motion caused Shoto to grin against their lips and deepen the kiss. It was if everything he didn’t know how to say was being enacted by the passion in their kiss. 

They pulled away slowly and breathlessly. Y/N’s bright eyes locked with Shoto’s as a cheeky grin spread across their face. 

“I like you too Shoto,” They whispered softly. 

It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He reached in to press another kiss on Y/N’s lips when Recovery Girl walked in. 

“Hey now! None of that in here okay!” 

The two of them pulled away embarrassed, mumbling their apologies to Recovery Girl. After a few awkward moments of silence, Shoto cleared his throat and picked up the to-go boxes. 

“I figured you’d be hungry when you woke up.” 

Y/N thanked him and eagerly grabbed the box. They hummed happily at the smell and dug in. 

“How did you know all my favorites?” Y/N asked with cheeks full of food. 

“I pay attention to you, but it seems I need to more since I didn’t catch you in time.” 

Y/N rolled their eyes and pressed and thankful kiss on his cheek. His cheeks flushed red at the affectionate advance. Y/N giggled and continued eating happily. 

“Ah, young love!” Recovery Girl chirped from her side of the office, causing the two teens to blush and giggle some more. 

[erisfiles]

IG - @kingsbtsffs / Tumblr - @prince13jimin-kingsbtsffs

CHAPTER 3

The Emperor

characters: “The 7” Emperors; Min Yoongi, Kim Namjoon, Kim Seokjin, Jung Hoseok, Park Jimin, Kim Taehyung, Jeon Jungkook. Ahn Y/n. Bang Hyunsik. Soo Jaemin

cameos: Prince Park Jihyun (Emperor Jimin’s younger brother) , Jeon Junghyun (Emperor Jungkook’s older brother, the general of his military, Jung Jiwoo (Emperor Hoseok’s older sister, his advisor), and Cha Eunwoo (a soldier of the Kim’s empire)

word count: 4.02k

Warnings for this chapter: None

genre: fluff, angst, smut, action, emperor au

Author’s note: there will be few sentences in this chapter in Korean, translation will be provided. I thought adding Korean phrases in it would make it seem more interesting. Though, of course, they are Korean and speak Korean in this story

Also, some of you may have been wondering why Namjoon had trusted Y/N that fast as she is still labeled as a parasite. This chapter will answer that question :)

The * symbol indicated footnotes. However, as I post on different platforms aside from Instagram such as Tumblr I will leave the footnotes at the end of the chapter.

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

*This chapter is a flashback!*

Chapter 3

3rd POV

Y/N ran as fast as her legs could take her. Running through the woods was one of her favorite hobbies as she had always discovered something new whenever she came to her favorite place. Her small smile got wider as she heard the running water getting near, hearing where freedom is. The wind made the leaves rustle above her as she walked further and further into the woods. A sudden rustle in the bushes made her stop in her tracks. “Hello? Is anyone else here?” Y/N heard nothing but silence. Assuming she was just daydreaming she shrugged and continued prancing about. “I wish I had friends.” Y/N mumbled, pouting while doing so.

Y/N dipped her hand through the shallow river in front of her. The tingling feeling of little fish swimming by her fingers making her giggle. She discovered this place when she had snuck out even though she was ordered to stay home by her parents while they were away like any other day. Her parents were often gone day and night as they worked in the market as butchers selling meat attempting to earn a living in the Kim Empire.

Y/n lifted her dress up, the hem of it just below her knees as she stepped in the warm running water. She unknowingly lost her grip on her dress, the ends of it getting wet by the water she was in. She had gotten distracted by the scenery happening, to her left the sun was setting, making her eyes glisten as she admired the scenery although she has seen it countless times.

A sudden movement of a dark figure she had seen from her peripheral vision had taken her out of her trance. Y/N looked around wearily at her surroundings fearing that she would be caught by the Royal Guards in private territory. Her heart beating quicker by the second as she heard the bushes leading back into the forest rustling. Y/N quietly gasped avoiding any movement as a bear emerged from the shadows, looking at Y/N curiously.

Y/N quietly gasped, her stare remaining on the bear, eyes welling up in her eyes. She stood completely still not wanting to instigate the bear. It walked towards her on its four legs. Slowly sniffing her as soon as its nose came in contact with her skin. Y/N quietly whimpered wishing at the moment that the bear wasn’t in fact there. She stood as still and as quiet as a kid being scolded. The scenery of the sun setting no longer fills up the empty thoughts of her mind. Instead, it was the fear that she will no longer be able to go home.

Y/N saw another figure move in the shadows in front of her, invoking more fear in her. The shadow emerged from the woods, exposing an archer in armor. He slipped his pointer fingers up to his lips signaling for her to be quiet, slowly and quietly stepping towards her and out of the woods, bow and arrow in low stance. As Y/N focused her eyes on him, more soldiers emerged from the forest with swordsmen and archers with shields.

The bear stopped beside Y/N sensing more individuals in its surroundings. It took one more glance at her and then walked towards the unmoved soldiers. The bear stood on its hind legs and bellowed. The men in armor slowly put their weapons in stance, archers aiming at the bear and swordsmen with their weapon yielded. They, too, were nervous but held their positions. The bear slowly walked towards them with its teeth exposed, kanines looking as sharp as spears.

“No! Please don’t harm it!”

“Prince Namjoon! Don’t go near it, it will harm you!” One of the guards aggressively whispered.

The little boy emerged from the woods just like the rest of the soldiers. Only he was in a hanbok. The little boy, however, did not stop with the elder man’s command. He took a few more steps forward and eventually came to a stop. He looked at the bear with admiration in his eyes and slightly smiled at the noticeably older animal with its scratches and scars on its body. “아무도 당신을 해치지 않을 거예요 괜찮습니다…”* Cooed the young prince. The bear let out a small moan, its fear subsided and instead filled with reassurance that there was no danger once Namjoon had come into its vision. “이제 가셔도 됩니다. 곧 만나요, 친구.”* With none of them moving and with Namjoon’s calming words, seeming as if the bear had clearly understood him, the bear slowly disappeared in the woods, revealing the two cubs that were hiding in the bushes waiting for their mum.

He then averted his attention to the young girl behind the bear, her gaze on him with curiosity mixed with the fear that has not subsided, his as well turned into confusion never has he looked at the girl in the eyes besides his mom his whole life*. He tilted his head in confusion as to why this girl was not afraid to look at him in the eyes like any other would at the palace. He slowly walked to the girl in curiosity.

“What’s your name?” Namjoon looked at the girl with a wide smile on his face hoping to not scare the girl who looked just about his age.

“Prince Namjoon, you are not supposed to approach any strangers at this time!” One of the guards harshly whispered yet again to avoid the girl hearing them reveal the second prince of the kingdom.* The guards quickly walked towards the prince protecting him from the potential danger; the unknown girl. With the raise of a hand, they had immediately stopped with the command from the young prince. Namjoon walked towards her and asked her again.

“Hello! My name is Namjoon! What is yours?” Nmajoon took his hand from his side and stretched it out towards her, his palms facing to the die, not facing the floor confusing the soldiers. Y/N looked at his hands in curiosity, then up to him, noticing his gat. Her eyes widened once she had seen the familiar family emblem. Y/N quickly went on her knees immediately bowing with her forehead touching the ground.

“You do not have to bow to me, I am only a prince, I am not my dad.” Y/N still bowing responded, “You may only be a prince, but in the future you will rule just like your dad. I did not know that there is a second prince but I do know that you will be my future Emperor. At least, that's what my mum had said.” Namjoon kneeled on the ground, bending down until his face was leveled with hers, all of the soldiers’ caught by surprise, eyes widening as the prince was basically bowing to the still unknown girl.

“What’s your name?”

“My name is Y/N, my prince. Daughter of Hansol and Yuna. I am only a town girl. I am not worthy of your time. However, I do thank you for saving me from danger, my prince.”

The prince before her had kindly smiled. He grabbed her arm to pull up from her bowing position, Y/n’s gaze still remaining on the ground below her, cautious to not look into Namjoon’s eyes. “You can look into my eyes, Y/N. I will not have you punished by doing so. Did you know that the bear and her cubs were migrating? Winter is coming soon and it is time for them to hibernate.” Y/N looked at him, him showing her a toothy grin making Y/N giggle and smile brightly at his dorkiness and his intelligence. The soldiers had been taken out of their trance of the interaction between the two young kids and pushed Namjoon behind them, pointing their weapons at Y/N.

Y/N looked at them, tears welling up in her eyes as she thought yet again she was going to get killed.

“STOP! That's an order!”

The guards immediately put down their weapons, looking at the little boy in confusion. Namjoon escaped from their grip, balled his fist and pounded his fist on one of the soldiers’ stomach. “You can’t hurt my friend, General Cha!” The older man bowed his head, “My deepest apologies, my prince. However, I do not think you should befriend someone who is not of royal blood.” Namjoon scowled looking up at the man, “General Cha, i do not care if she is a commoner. Your family used to be commoners too but my grandfather had trusted your grandfather. How is any of that different now?”

The general smiled at the wise little boy in front of him, “Nothing, my prince. It does not make a difference. I apologize for my irrational behavior.” Nmajoon smiled and approached Y/N, taking one of her hands in his. “Y/N! Not only will you be my friend, you will be my best friend!” Y/N’s eyes lit up at the word “best friend.” She has never had any friends as the children in her town did not like her, with his kind words, the little girl threw her arms around him enveloping him in a hug. Namjoon chuckled and hugged her back.

“Do you promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

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

The two little kids ever since then would meet up with each other at the lake three times a week, with prince Namjoon’s guard of course. Slowly but surely their bond had gotten stronger. One time, the 18 year old prince, along with his brother Seokjin who he had introduced to her a year after they had met as kids, had found her with a bloody knee. “Why did you get a bruise, Y/N?” Y/N looked down in shame, fearing that her best friend would leave her and have her arrested for her conniving ways. But, nonetheless she had confessed her long ongoing sin.

“These two men were chasing after me…and uh...I fell.”

“Why? I am sure they have no reason to chase you. Do you want me to have them arrested?”

Y/N looked at her dirtied clothes mumbling under her breath hoping for Namjoon to not have heard, “I stole cows meat from them.” Namjoon and Seokjin smiled at her in sympathy, aware of her family’s current economic position, struggling to earn a living once they had been robbed by visitors from the Bang Empire.

“It’s okay. I understand. No need to be ashamed of it. But, next time you need help, you can just ask us. All three of us are best friends for a reason. Who knows? Maybe I’ll hire you as a spy for when my brother and I rule this kingdom.”

Y/N’s eyes teared up with their kind words and mumbled countless of “thank you’s”

Everyday they had sat on piles of big rocks, admiring the sun setting, parents of both parties unaware of their missing presence at this time, the Royal Army guarding the area and keeping the two prince’s secret of their best friend from the Emperor and Empress. The three teenagers fooled around and humoured each other, this being a part of their favourite moment of the week. The soldiers look after them, not making themselves visible for the best friends to enjoy each other's presence. Suddenly, the eldest of the three had asked a sudden question.

Did you two hear about what happened to the Min Empire?”

“No, did something bad happen?”

“It’s been rumoured that the prince had attempted to murder his mother and father, later failing resulting with a gash on his face through his right eye.” Namjoon and Y/N looked at each other and cringed at the information.

“But the worst is that Emperor Bang had ordered his troops to burn down the town of other Empires along with Emperor Soo.” Seokjin looked at the two with sad eyes as they were not aware of what can and will happen soon and the empire had to prepare for it.

A bow lit on fire startled them as it lande close to them. The Royal Guards ran out from theri positions and took the two royals putting their shields above them, leaving Y/N behind. The three looked confused as to what was happening, fear and confusion evident on their face. “My princes, the town and the palace had been ambushed by Emperor Bang’s soldiers. We need to hide you and get you to safety.” Namjoon and Seokjin had tried ripping the soldiers’ grip off their arm but failed to do so, being pushed by the guards.

“Y/N! Your parents!”

Y/N looked at the two resisting, the soldiers struggling to drag the two men. Her eyes teared up knowing well this might be the last time they will see each other.

“GO Y/N! We’ll be fine. We’ll see each other again, I promise.” Y/N snapped out of her trance, putting her pointer and middle finger to her lips and turned her hand outwards to them, a sign of a promise all three of them will never forget. With that, Y/N ran as fast as she could out the woods into the direction of her parents house.

She felt her heart beating out of her chest,her mind filled with worry, thinking of her parents. She ran past the familiar faces, her chest tightening of the image coming to her mind of her parents not being able to get out their house. The sound of a crying little kid in the middle of the crowd, almost getting trampled, had gotten her attention. She quickly went to him and picked him up, running to the direction of her house.

She put the kid down, her eyes wide and mouth hung open. The fire before her eyes had engulfed her entire house. Memories of childhood and her belongings turning into ashes before her eyes. Y/N had not noticed she was crying until a voice had her snapped out of her thoughts, her aunt.

“Y/N come on! Your parents are waiting for you!”

Y/N tightened her grip on the little boy, looking down at her wrist, a red bracelet matching with the Namjoon and Seokjin signifying their friendship. Y/N smiled, slightly content that she still had a memory to keep with her that she will never forget. She quickly shook her thought and followed her aunt, running as the part of the town they were in was burning down, not looking back.

Eventually finding her parents with their horses, she had put the little boy, who looked like the age of 5, on her horse before she hopped on. She looked to her dad, who was covered in ashes in the result of attempting to save some of their belongings along with her mum.

“Where are we going to go, dad?”

“The Min Empire.”

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

*Flashback to end of chapter 1*

I stood still for a few seconds trying to hear the rest of the conversation, However, I was not able to retain any information as the guard whispered into his ear. I quietly grunted and quickly turned around, only to bump to bump into a hard chest, hurting my nose in the process, making me fall onto my arse.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“Emperor Namjoon.” I immediately got off my ass and bowed to my knees. I looked down on the ground attempting to avoid his gaze. “Get up on your feet,...Y/n.” At the mention of my name I had immediately followed his orders, my gaze still on the ground. I saw him take a step closer to me, my feet automatically taking a step back in response. I felt the tips of his fingertips tilt my chin up making our eyes meet.

He immediately engulfed Y/N in a hug, her reciprocating the action. Namjoon let go of her, his hands remained on top of her shoulders looking at her in worry. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? And how many times have I told you to just call me by my first name?” Namjoon whines, crossing his arms and letting out a little huff. Y/N laughed at him looking at an Emperor acting like a child. “Well, you are one.” Nmajoon side eyed her, taking her hand and dragging her out of the woods. Looking down at her worst he smiled, “Of course she still has her bracelet.”

“Hyung! She’s here!” Seokjin shifted his attention away from Yeontan, immediately smiling once he saw Y/N and engulfing her in a hug just like Namjoon had done. Y/N broke the hug and looked at the two men in front of her, and down to the dog who had walked up to her leg, rubbing its head against her leg making her smile.

“When did you have time to get a dog?” Y/N bent down and started petting the small dog. “Oh...he’s not any of ours. He actually belongs to our little brother.” Y/N stopped her movements, looking up at them wide-eyed, shocked written all over her face. “You have a younger brother?!” Seokjin and Namjoon scratched the back of their neck, now remembering that they had never told her of their younger brother. Y/N crossed her arms, “How many years is he younger than me?” Namjoon smiled and responded, “ He’s only a year younger than me but only 3 years younger than Seokjin hyung. He can introduce himself when we get to the palace.”

Y/N choked on her saliva caught by surprise at the secret they’ve been hiding, “So, you’re telling me there’s three emperors in the Kim Empire.” Seokjin nodded and smiled, “Trust me, you’ll like him. He’s like you! Except well, he’s a boy of course.” Seokjin chuckled and walked away with Yeontan, signalling the guards that it’s time to head back to the palace. Namjoon and Y/N looked at each other before catching up with him.

The atmosphere was quiet, Y/N cleared her throat catching the attention of her two best friends. “So,....how’s the progress with the allies?” Seokjin smiled at her thoughtfulness of their empire although she didn’t live there anymore. “It’s going alright. Four empires joined; the Jung Empire, the Park Empire, the Jeon Empire…” Suddenly he came to a pause and his smile disappeared from his face. “Namjoon, there was this other empire but I...I forgot their surname.” Seokjin looked down in embarrassment, not knowing all of his allies. “It’s the Min Empire, hyung.” Seokjin’s face lit up in realization, “Ah, yes! The empire where Y/N lives now.” Namjoon looked at him in confusion, forcing himself not to laugh, “Hyung, they’ve been our ally for centuries. We don’t have any new allies.” The oldest blushed, feeling flustered, “It’s getting dark, we must hurry.” Namjoon and Y/N laughing as he briskly walked. Namjoon looked at Y/N, a question he’s been itching to ask.

“By the way…you have been getting my letters I presume?”

Y/N nodded, avoiding his gaze.

“Well, did you complete your mission? Did you figure out who the parasite is in our empire? The one who’s undercover from the Bang Empire. If you do, please don't hesitate to tell me. Another government official died today...stabbed 20 times. One of the messengers rode on a horse to deliver the message about an hour before we found you.”

A sudden feeling of uneasiness creeped up into her, knowing Namjoon wouldn’t like her answer.

“Yeah, I did. But, it’s yours, Seokjin’s and Emperor Yoongi’s own decision to trust me.”

“We’ve been best friends for years, I would put my life in your hands. Yoongi knows you’re working for me, we’re allies so technically you’re working for him as well.”

“I disguised myself as one of the maids and wandered off as everyone left the palace. Eunwoo…I saw Eunwoo and his dad murder the man you’re talking about that died today. I did some research and asked around. Their family lineage is from the Bang empire. ” Y/N blurted out. Namjoon stopped, looking at her in disbelief.

“What…? You must have mistaken someone for him, Y/N. His grandfather has worked for my grandfather and our dads-” Y/N cut him off with a scoff, “Do you not believe me?”

Namjoon looked at her taking a deep breath, “Of course I do. But, I still want you to show me the evidence.”

They arrived at the palace, heading to the executioners hall where his swords had been put when not in use. Namjoon walked into the room, the wall occupied with swords of past emperors of the Kim Empire along with his dad’s. At the middle of the room rested three swords, unique to each brother. Seokjin looked at Namjoon, waiting for his next action.

Namjoon gripped the handle of the sword, his heart beating, his mind still denying that Eunwoo was capable of such things. With a deep breath, he pulled his sword from the wooden block, eyes widening and disbelief washed over him as he saw the fresh blood trickling down the sword, Seokjin mirroring his facial expressions mumbling “But Namjoon, you’ve never ordered an execution on anyone.”

“No, I didn’t. But you know who did?” Namjoon slightly choked on his words.

“Eunwoo did ...while we were gone from the palace. Today.” Namjoon butterfly smiled remembering the farewell Eunwoo had given him to guard the palace while him and Seokjin were to be gone from the afternoon until night.”

Betrayal was what he felt. Betrayal from one of the men he trusted the most.

Namjoon looked at Y/N who looked at him with sympathy. He dropped the heavy weapon creating a loud sound making Seokjin and Y/N fling. He walked to the door, needing time for himself. Before the door he stopped and commanded the guards and his personal spy.

“I want you to arrest that tyrant. No, actually, I want him to rot in jail.” Nmajoon quickly walked out the door, Seokjin following him possibly to comfort him.

The soldiers mumbled, “Yes, Emperor Namjoon.”

The only time she had felt empathy for Namjoon before was when his father had died of old age. Nonetheless she responded to his command although he was already far gone.

“Yes, my Emperor.”

FOOTNOTES

—————————

“이제 가셔도 됩니다. 곧 만나요, 친구.”* - You can go now. See you soon, my friend.

“...never has he looked at the girl in the eyes besides his mom his whole life*” - women are not allowed to look at any royal member in their eyes as they, the royals, were seen as too “holy and divine” for them...this, however does not apply to the soldiers of the Royal Army….Not sure if this is true in history btw

DO NOT STEAL/PLAGIARIZE OR YOU WILL BE REPORTED 🚨🚨

[vyther16]

dolls with diamonds stuffed inside

chapter 1; chapter 2

whumptober 2020 theme 7: i’ve got you; prompts 1-3: support, carrying, and enemy to caretaker

Content warnings: (basically a repeat of last chapter) mentions of past torture, noncholance towards character’s own possible death, self-depricating talk, Yan Bingyun is not in a good headspace for this, frank talk about murder, brief mention of aphrodisiacs

Edits October 12, 2020: changed all instances of daoren to the correct daren

Glossary for ppl like my mum:

Ge-- older brother, informal.

Daren-- lord.

Gongzi-- young master, or a slightly more diminutive form of lord

xiaojie-- lady (lit. little big sister; used as lady in this context)

xiao-- little

Guniang--young lady, female counterpart of gongzi.

Lifts almost all dialogue from Episode 39 of Joy of Life, found on youtube. Credit for those words go to the wonderful translators there.

—start—

Yan Bingyun keeps his eyes on Fan Xian, waiting for the other man to turn on him. Haitang Duoduo is driving the carriage for him. The ninth ranked master who stands right hand to the empress dowager of BeiQi is driving the carriage for him, and Fan Xian looks absolutely nonchalant. There’s no way that he could truly be the envoy from DaQing.

Fan Xian’s gaze catches on his staring. “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asks, sounding vaguely affronted.

“Saintess is your helper. Do you really think I’ll believe it?” he replies. He’s not going to break because of a false rescue.

“Aiyo, again?” Fan Xian makes an exasperated sound, shaking his head.

“It’s too strange,” he protests. He means to continue on, but he’s cut off by a cough that rattles everything in his chest, knocking him forward. His ribs ache, a persistent burn that he long ago learned to ignore.

Fan Xian jerks forward, catching Yan Bingyun before he can fall and helping him sit back up. “Just rest,” he says, “don’t think too much.” He wraps his arm around Yan Bingyun’s back, light enough that it only grazes the wounds carved there. Yan Bingyun doesn’t think about how nice it is to have someone helping him sit up, even if that person is a traitor to DaQing.

Saintess calls the horses to a stop, and then someone pushes back the curtains and climbs in the back with Fan Xian and him. Yan Bingyun squashes the brief flair of hope that burns when Wang Qinian settles down next to Yan Bingyun. He reminds himself that Wang Qinian works for Fan Xian now, and Fan Xian cannot be anything but a traitor.

“ Daren ,” Wang Qinian says as Haitang Duoduo sets the carriage off again. “By your order, I went to ask Haitang- guniang for help, and she got you out!”

But Wang Qinian sounds exactly as Yan Bingyun remembers, even looks exactly as he remembers, and he can’t help but ask, “Wang Qinian, you’re really here?”

Fan Xian moves back to his original spot in the carriage as Wang Qinian answers.

“Yan- gongzi , long time no see.” He thanks Yan Bingyun for the information that won DaQing the war again. Yan Bingyun doesn’t know why everyone keeps bringing it up if they’re with BeiQi.

“You’re also with BeiQi now?” he asks, not really sure if he can take yet another betrayal of DaQing, but sure that he has to know.

“What do you mean?” Wang Qinian turns to look at Fan Xian, confusion written on his face.

Fan Xian waves a hand in dismissal. “Forget it.”

“The biggest confusion of the whole thing,” Yan Bingyun says, slowly, because he wants desperately for this to be real, for Fan Xian to really be the envoy, really be here to take him home, and he’s near-begging Fan Xian to prove him wrong, to prove this is real, prove Yan Bingyun is being too paranoid, “is why the Saintess of BeiQi is willing to help us.” If they want him to believe they aren’t with BeiQi, that is the biggest flaw in their narrative.

Wang Qinian grins, then motions Yan Bingyun to lean closer. “No wonder you feel confused,” he says. “Saintess, she is not helping us , she’s helping Fan -daren .”

Fan Xian glares at Wang Qinian as he leans even closer to Yan Bingyun, hiding his mouth as if they are schoolboys sharing secrets. “They serve different countries,” Wang Qinian stage-whispers. “But they do like each other.” Wang Qinian chuckles. “When a girl falls in love, she makes her love very big.”

Fan Xian cuts him off. “I can hear you even at a whisper,” he scolds.

Yan Bingyun considers Wang Qinian’s reasoning. It does make sense. Love can make people want to do foolish things. Though there’s one odd part. “How did they fall in love?”

Wang Qinian brightens. “Their story should be started with the aphrodisiac. Before--” Saintess drags him through the window before he can finish his sentence.

Yan Bingyun turns an incredulous look on Fan Xian. “Aphrodisiac?” he says. He didn’t think Fan Xian would stoop quite that low.

“It’s a mistake,” Fan Xian bites out, then looks away. Yan Bingyun stares at him a minute longer, then returns his gaze to the curtains. He settles into meditation, content in knowing that he’s unlikely to be hurt during the carriage ride.

He shakes himself out of meditation when the carriage stops again. The weight shifts as Haitang Duoduo jumps down, but Fan Xian doesn’t move to get out of the carriage, so Yan Bingyun remains where he is. There’s cheering outside of the carriage, then Saintess pats the side. “Back door,” she calls.

Fan Xian doesn’t seem surprised as Haitang Duoduo begins leading the horses. “There’s a whole line of people waiting to fight me, but they’ve got to fight Gao Da first. He’s been fighting people since we got here, only stopping to eat and sleep,” he explains.

Yan Bingyun doesn’t want to know what Fan Xian did to have so many people want to fight him.

The carriage stops again, and Haitang Duoduo sticks her head inside the carriage. “I’ll help you get him inside,” she says, as Fan Xian climbs out.

Yan Bingyun takes a last deep breath before following. He stumbles as his feet hit the ground, but two sets of hands grab his arms before he can fall.

“C’mon, let’s get you inside,” Fan Xian says, taking the lead. Saintess keeps hold of his other arm, and Yan Bingyun is pitifully grateful for the support. He knows he would fall if they weren’t keeping him upright, and he knows that this vulnerability will be used against him later. Weakness will be exploited. But he can’t bring himself to care.

Then a gaggle of ministers that he grew up looking up to rush over, calling his name. Haitang Duoduo steps back, but Fan Xian keeps hold of his arm.

Yan Bingyun stares at the faces of men he knows would never betray DaQing, then turns to look at Fan Xian.

Was this real the whole time? he wants to ask, but the words won’t come. Fan Xian seems to understand anyway, because he just purses his lips and gives the tiniest of nods.

The ministers crowd closer again, but then Fan Xian steps forward, waving them back like flies. “Enough, that’s enough,” he orders. “He’s injured, send him to my room! Talk later, let’s go.” He sounds so casual as the ministers take Yan Bingyun's arms and lead him across the courtyard. The two men fighting move out of the way at a terse command from Fan Xian.

The ministers carry more of Yan Bingyun’s body weight than his own legs do, and he’s pathetically relieved when they enter the room. There’s a bed in the middle of the side wall; they lead him there, and Yan Bingyun sinks down onto it as one of the ministers closes the door.

He closes his eyes, and lets himself believe, for just a few seconds, that this is truly real.

The ministers leave after a few minutes, letting him sit alone for a few moments before Fan Xian comes in and starts fiddling with the boxes on some of the tables.

Yan Bingyun resettles himself, reminds himself that he is still in enemy territory. “Most of the people here are from the Court of State Ceremonials,” he says. He’s taken off his outer robe, not knowing if he’ll get a new one. He doesn’t want to get bloodstains on his outer robes if he can help it.

Fan Xian sits down in front of a table. “As the diplomatic corps, it’s reasonable to have many of them,” he says.

“Are you really the envoy?” Yan Bingyun asks. That’s the most likely explanation now, with all of the pieces instead of just a few. A man who’d betrayed DaQing wouldn’t have so many state ministers with him in BeiQi.  But that still doesn’t explain Haitang Duoduo’s assistance. Wang Qinian’s love story is plausible, but unlikely. And it doesn’t explain why Fan Xian had to hold Shen- xiaojie hostage to find him, instead of just waiting for him to be returned.

Fan Xian looks up from his vials. “Absolutely.”

“BeiQi agreed to let me go?” Yan Bingyun presses. The only thing they’ve learned from him is that he has a high pain tolerance. They haven’t learned anything about DaQing’s spies. BeiQi wouldn’t have agreed to let Yan Bingyun go so easily.

“We gave them who they wanted,” Fan Xian says, nonchalant.

Yan Bingyun racks his brain for who DaQing would have agreed to give up for him and comes up empty. “Who?” he asks Fan Xian, knowing he’ll dislike the answer, knowing that he has to know.

Fan Xian doesn’t look up from his work. “Xiao En.”

Yan Bingyun shoots to his feet, heedless of the pain it causes. “Exchanging Xiao En for me?” he shouts. “Stupid!” He pauses, chest heaving. His ribs ache. Yan Bingyun is not worth Xiao En, not unless DaQing has succeeded in learning his secrets, which he doubts. Xiao En is even harder to break than Yan Bingyun himself, and not for lack of trying. “Is Xiao En still under our control?”

Fan Xian rolls his eyes, looking back at his table. “To get you back, we gave him to Shen Zhong.”

“Did you know his secrets?” Yan Bingyun presses.

“No.”

“Don’t you know who Xiao En is?”

“Yes.”

“Then why did you return him to them!”

“To get you back!” Fan Xian's eyes flash. “I’ve told you!”

“I can die!” Yan Bingyun shouts. “How could you return a powerful enemy just because of me!”

Fan Xian purses his lips, cocking his head in a way that spells danger. “Your life doesn’t matter?”

Yan Bingyun takes a breath. One he shouldn’t have. “Since I’ve been one of the Overwatch Council, I should know, my life belongs to the state cause.” Everything is for DaQing. He pauses, then adds, “What idiot made this decision?” He isn’t worth Xiao En.

Fan Xian gives him what would be an impressive side-eye, if Yan Bingyun weren’t panicking. “His majesty and Chen Pingping.” He sets the last vial onto the tray and stands up.

Yan Bingyun processes this statement, tries to figure out why the emperor and the director decided that Yan Bingyun was worth more to them than Xiao En. Yan Bingyun, him, who was sent out of the capital in disgrace to be a spy in enemy territory and got caught, is not worth more than Xiao En. He pointedly does not think about the fact that he just indirectly called the two most important men in DaQing idiots.

Fan Xian transfers the tray to one hand, taking Yan Bingyun’s arm in the other. “His majesty said that Xiao En is old, while you are still young. This is a good deal.” He leads Yan Bingyun back to the bed, pushing gently until he sits down with a thump, still reeling from the new information.

Fan Xian stirs some of the medicine as he continues to speak. “His majesty told me to kill Xiao En on the way.”

Yan Bingyun jerks back to his feet, adrenaline dulling the pain of so much movement. “You were given an order,” he snarls. “Why didn’t you kill him?”

Fan Xian gives him a wide-eyed look. “Shen Zhong controls him now. How?”

Yan Bingyun glares. “The Overwatch Council doesn't find it hard to do anything!”

Fan Xian takes a measured breath, looking down. “Listen,” he says. “Shen Zhong is torturing Xiao En all the time. They’re the enemy. Xiao En can do nothing in the future.”

Yan Bingyun’s anger rises, covering the burn in his chest as he breathes and the ache in his limbs as he moves. “His majesty gave you an order. You must kill him!”

Fan Xian’s expression is growing more exasperated. “We’re in Shangjing. Saving you is already an adventure!”

“You’re just going to disobey your orders!”

“I can’t kill him,” Fan Xian protests. “What can I do? How about you go kill him!”

Yan Bingyun shoves past Fan Xian, grabbing for the sword he saw on the shelf.

“Hey! Where are you going!” Fan Xian exclaims, rushing after him. The vials on his tray clatter as he sets it roughly on the bed.

“To kill Xiao En!” Yan Bingyun snarls. If Fan Xian won’t fulfill a direct order from the emperor himself, Yan Bingyun will, even if it kills him. His life is DaQing’s. Everything is for DaQing.

“Are you insane!” Fan Xian blocks the door, arms spread. “How can you kill him like this?” Yan Bingyun doesn’t know if he is sane anymore, doesn't know if anyone could go through what he's been through and come out on the other side with some semblance of sanity, but he knows he must fulfill the orders of the emperor.

“It’s not important if I’m able to kill him or not,” Yan Bingyun returns. “The order must be obeyed!”

“If you go out like this, you’ll die before you find Xiao En!”

“I’ve already been dead,” Yan Bingyun snarls. “When I was caught!”

“How can you say death so easily!” Fan Xian snaps. “Have you thought about your family?”

His family? His mother is dead. His father has given everything to DaQing, including his own son. His family? Yan Bingyun wants to laugh. Not everyone is as lucky in their family as Fan Xian. Everything Yan Bingyun has, including his family, is for DaQing. He hardly thinks before he’s drawn his stolen sword, pointing it at Fan Xian’s neck. “Everything is for DaQing!”

His chest heaves with exertion, at least three of his wounds have started bleeding again, his ribs are burning pains in his torso, and his arms are shaking with the weight of the sword.

“For DaQing?” Fan Xian repeats, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you know what price DaQing paid to save you?” he snarls, gesturing sharply, heedless of Yan Bingyun’s sword.

Yan Bingyun’s eyes widen. They traded him for Xiao En, he knows, but he isn’t worth Xiao En.

When he doesn’t receive an answer, Fan Xian keeps going. “Right now, you just let your life be taken by others. His Majesty said that you must get back to DaQing safely. If you die like this, we’re the traitors to our country.” He looks away, back, rephrases, “You’ll be the traitor. You! Traitor!”

Yan Bingyun’s breath stutters. He isn’t a traitor. He isn’t. He can’t be a traitor. He knows he isn’t a traitor, knows he would never dream of being a traitor. Everything he is is for DaQing. Everything he has ever been is for DaQing. Everything he ever will be is for DaQing.

Everything is for DaQing.

Everything.

He barely notices Fan Xian murmuring “for DaQing,” as he takes Yan Bingyun’s sword. “For DaQing, we should love ourselves very much,” as he takes the sheath.

Yan Bingyun’s breath heaves still, trying to understand Fan Xian’s words over the horror and confusion and anger swirling in his mind.

“Well?” Fan Xian says. “I promise I’ll find a chance to kill Xiao En.” Yan Bingyun barely has time to focus before Fan Xian has moved on. “By the way, the commander of the imperial guards is Shen Zhong. We can kill him together. Let’s make a disturbance in BeiQi. What do you think?”

Yan Bingyun thinks he needs a moment to process, but killing Shen Zhong sounds… nice, and they’ve been ordered to kill Xiao En anyway. He’s not sure why Fan Xian is asking his opinion, but… “How will we kill Shen Zhong?” he asks. He is the leader of the imperial guards in BeiQi. The two of them won’t be able to kill him without help.

“Work with others,” Fan Xian says, digging through the tray of medicines from earlier.

“Will Haitang Duoduo help you to kill a major official of her country just for love?” Yan Bingyun can’t think of anyone else who would possibly help.

“What love?” Fan Xian scoffs. “I’m gonna work with the emperor.”

Yan Bingyun processes this, then moves closer. “The emperor wants to remove subordinates of the empress dowager to gain power?”

Fan Xian smirks at him. “You really are an experienced spy. So smart to see it through,” he says, like he’s complimenting a five year old.

Yan Bingyun ignores this, needing to focus on something. “Tell me every detail,” he says, “of what happened after you came to BeiQi.”

“Alright,” Fan Xian says, not looking up from his work. “Take off your clothes and lie down.” Yan Bingyun hesitates, and Fan Xian sighs, holding up a bandage covered in medicinal paste. “I’m going to apply medicine.”

—fin—

a/n

I’m not quite as pleased with this chapter as I am with the last one, but there’s a lot of emotional whump in this one, so, cheers? I know I barely hit on the actual prompts for today, but Yan Bingyun is supported in walking across a courtyard and into a carriage and whatnot, so I hit the carrying and support buttons with that. Yan Bingyun also believes Fan Xian is his enemy at the beginning, but at the end, Fan Xian is preparing medicine for him and keeping him from running off and dying, so I guess that counts as Enemy to Caretaker. Idk, I kinda stretched it.

Fun story about this one: I edited it during Government class, and boy howdy do I have Thoughts about the governments in Joy of Life, and also the government in my home country of America. Although I will not share them because I cannot put them into eloquent words. Anyway, Yan Bingyun’s head was really hard to get into because I cannot imagine giving everything to my country. I can’t imagine being that patriotic. (See story last chapter about not standing for the pledge and incurring gov teacher's suspicion.)

ao3 link in reblog to main; reblogs>likes

[twelverose]

i once believed love would be black and white, but it’s golden.

One year together measured in the memories lit by golden haze.

Rating: Teen (Implied sexual content)

Paring: Tentoo/Rose Tyler

WC: 6k

Tw: panic/anxiety attacks & drinking/smoking

A/N: a light plot. more of a character study than anything. but like, it was fun to write so. (angst & fluff)

Song: Daylight by Taylor Swift

Read on Ao3

Maybe you ran with the wolves and refused to settle down Maybe I've stormed out of every single room in this town Threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it's morning now It's brighter now, now

__________________________________________________

“He needs you. That’s very me.” echoed through her mind as she watched him sleep.

They were driving back to the zeppelin. Pete driving with her mum in the front seat. They were trying to give them as much privacy as possible. Not that it mattered. The moment they made it to the main roadway, he fell asleep.

He fell asleep holding her hand. Like he was holding onto his promise.

When Jackie realized he was asleep, she went on about Tony. Which morphed into why Pete needed to finish some project that had been sitting in the garden for a month now. Rose pointed out why it had been abandoned. Her mum gave her no mind. Explaining you need to finish what you start. Rose scoffed. Quiet enough to avoid a scolding from her mother.

It took about an hour to get there.

Once they woke up the Doctor- which took a lot more effort than it used to- and made it onto the airship, Rose found herself exhausted. The last 72 hours catching up to her.

72 hours of fixing timelines and finding her universe and saving all of them. An emotional roller-coaster stuffed in for good fun. She wasn’t sure how she felt right now. Everything was foggy- including her vision.

She made her way to her usual seat. The Doctor not trailing far behind. They were pressed together in the seat. Not that they had to be, but it was a subconscious thing. Something they did before everything could give her butterflies all over again.

They listened to Pete’s call to Torchwood. Well, he did more than Rose. The drone of his voice forced her eyes shut. She started to drift off, resting her head on the Doctor’s shoulder.

She was half asleep when he asked, “It’s gonna be us?” in a low voice.

She reached for his new, new, new, hand, “Yeah.”

&&

They were lucky. Lucky to have each other. Rose reminded herself that everyday. But falling into things- things they never did before- was beginning to look more difficult than they thought.

Days full of new aliens and old tropes. Meetings that sounded exciting in theory but when given context, Rose couldn’t process correctly. The Doctor trying to fit into the routine of work and home. Old jealous feelings and new conflicting ones falling out of each other’s mouths. Learning to communicate truthfully.

But they made it work. Just like they always have and always will. Although time decided it would move slow.

It was a hell of a day repairing a fleet of fly-sized spaceships and giving the captains directions to Bangladesh. That’s what the Doctor did. Rose was granted the honour of detailing her most recent experience with the “Original Doctor” and how they saved universes.

There was a heavy dread in the back of her mind. Thinking of all the versions of the people she knew that she failed to save. She never got used to detailing what happened when she jumped. But the dread had become something new now. It was thinking of the day they drag the Doctor into an interview room and drill him on how he’s different. She already was holding a grudge against the stoic people she knew would question him.

She didn’t like them in the first place.

Rose came home late. Annoyed and brain dead by the ten hours of redundant questions. Why had they waited two weeks to ask? She didn’t know. But the thought only annoyed her a little bit more. The Doctor was lying on the couch, watching some documentary. Probably about the universe. She couldn’t really focus on anything either way.

“Rose!” His head popped up when the front door closed. Hair adorably mussed and a bright smile on his face.

She gave him a small smile, “Hey.”

He looked like he was about to ask her questions about her day. But bit his tongue when she gave him a pointed look, “Tired?”

She nodded and fell onto the couch next to him. She didn’t want to explain. She could probably ask Pete for the tapes or documents if he was so desperate for an explanation. But he looked at her with those puppy dog eyes and she caved. Giving him a brief explanation of what she had to say and why it was stupid. It wasn’t much but it was what she had to offer.

“I was stuck on Earth working for U.N.I.T. for five years. Reminded me that I wasn’t a desk jockey or meant to live a linear timeline.” He said matter-of-factly.

Rose snorted, “You’re stuck with both for the time being.”

“Not so bad when I’ve got you.”

The words echoed memories she still considered precious. They happened more often now. Soft moments laced in a golden haze replaying in her mind. They changed her moods completely.

This time, she couldn’t help but lean up and kiss him. Something they were trying to find the natural for. He still let himself go lovesick. Like now, as Rose pulled back with a tongue in tooth grin at his small sound.

He wasn’t entirely ruffled. But definitely dopey eyed when he mumbled, “I love it when you grin like that.”

She hopped up to grab her phone, much to his dismay. And people thought they were attached before.

“Rose, wh-”

“I need to call mum. And order a pizza. You can look for a movie in the meantime.”

“That’ll be at least an hour! What am I supposed to do after I find the movie?”

Rose raised her eyebrows, “Last time it took you almost two hours because ‘Films aren’t the same here!’”

The Doctor opened his mouth to defend himself but couldn’t quite find a good defense. She was happy that he didn’t. Because she was right. he found a movie right before the pizza showed up. It was some sci-fi fantasy that didn’t really interest Rose but she doubted she’d stay up until he found another one.

For a man who was so used to letting things happen, he was picky over the media he consumed.

It was a pretty movie, she would give it that. The colors and framing were nice. But nothing else really appealed to her. After eating and curling into his side, she found herself drifting to sleep. Only opening her eyes when the light was bright enough to wake her up. Or when the Doctor moved because his arm was falling asleep or the dialogue pulled him into the story.

Part of her wished she wasn’t so tired. She loved watching him react to new things. Now they lived in a universe of brand new. It normally included having to hear him complain that she should at least try and enjoy the story. He didn’t protest too much. Just enough to remind her that you could find good in every story. So in return, she’d read a book.

Reading gave her a better advantage of watching him. His eyebrows and lips would twitch, as if he was replying. Or maybe criticizing the character’s choices. His fingers would twiddle and feet would tap. It was almost childish, how much he immersed himself.

She loved it. But she was also happy with where she was- option number two. It was also twice as comfortable.

Before she knew it, she was being lifted off the couch. Rose could feel him strain slightly as he carried her. She tried to hide her smile but couldn’t help but let a small one ghost her face. He tapped the bedroom door open with his foot. Moving as gently and quietly as possible, as if she wasn’t a deep sleeper. He knew that well.

Maybe he didn’t know when she was pretending. It made something catch in her throat. All the times she would pretend to be asleep- most of the time because she was already halfway there- just to spend time close to him. Did he never really know?

When he tucked her into bed she realized that he had yet to spend a night in the bedroom. Sure, he needed a little less sleep than the average human- because he wasn’t average. They shared a bed several times before, but he never stayed with her now. Granted, her bedroom wasn’t an alien jail cell or an archaic guest room.

It was an intimacy they never had without barriers and boundaries. Before, they were too aware of what time and space can do. Well he was. When he kissed her forehead, Rose realized it was something they could throw into the wind.

She grabbed his arm before he moved away, “Stay.”

&&

There was a company party at Torchwood. The Doctor had been around long enough- two months and three days- for people to know who he was. Which meant he and Rose ended up staying for an afterparty. And then found a few.

In theory, it was Jake’s fault. He was the one who wanted to test the Doctor’s limits. They were greater than Rose expected. And unlike previous times, he wasn’t afraid to let it show. They ran around the streets of London. Jake showing them holes in the wall, where to get anything and everything. He broke up around 1 in the morning. Leaving them to laugh when one of them stumbled and hide from her father’s paparazzi in dark alleys. It didn’t do much but make them look worse in the morning.

They didn’t care. Too busy having a good time. There’s no doubt in that. They danced and flirted and had way more than one too many. Stumbled home and…

Rose woke up to a pounding headache. Maybe she was getting too old to have that type of fun. But the moment she had the thought, she decided the hangover was worth the fun. Even if the bed was empty when she woke up.

She got out of bed with a groan and grabbed the first shirt within arms’ reach. Which happened to be the Doctor’s button down from the night before. She brushed her teeth and took a few painkillers before walking out into the living room.

The stereo system was playing music that Rose wasn’t familiar with. But she heard him humming along.

She stopped and smiled as she caught sight of him. Clad only in a pair of briefs, the Doctor was swaying side to side as he chopped something. He was light. Not the tense and straight-backed man who needed to prove he was still worth his title. Hair beautifully messy, a blush spreading over the freckles of his back, and remnants of them from the night before.

He was beautiful. Especially when he let the weight off his shoulders.

She couldn’t help wrapping her arms around him when he was within reach. Pressing a kiss against his spine as he chuckled. Appreciating the heat his body left against her cheek.

“Good morning.” The vibration of his voice made her feel light as well.

She hummed in response. Appreciating the feeling of it all.

“I figured I could make us some breakfast.” He said, his voice slightly hoarse.

“Have you made any tea yet?”

“No.” A tinge of pink gathered on his cheeks, “I waited because it’s better when you make it.”

She let go with an exaggerated sigh and a smack of his bum. Smirking to herself at his quip, which was exactly as she always thought. She made their tea in their respective mugs. Her’s was one her mum painted with Tony, his was the one Tony made for him as a surprise. It was lumpy and chipped and colorful. Rose knew it was the few things that would expand into the sentimental collection he’d grow. It would probably remain one of his favorites.

She sat on the counter next to where he was making their omelettes once the tea was ready. She watched his focus intense when he went to flip them. Tongue daring to peek out the side of his mouth.

“Since when did you learn to cook?” She asked suddenly.

He placed his omelette on a plate before giving an explanation.”

“Oh, er,” His hand went to rub the back of his head, “When you have meetings or something during lunch, Jake has been showing me some stuff. He gets a kick out of it. Finally found something he’s better at than me.”

Rose laughed, “You found yourself a drinking buddy!”

“Oi!” He scowled, she noticed how he barely kept his finger from pointing, “I have not become that domestic, Rose Tyler!”

She couldn’t keep but laughing even more. The image of a Doctor disheveled and only in his pants, making breakfast and trying to defend that he still had an edge. The only thing that could make it any better was a “Kiss the Cook” apron.

Rose made note to get him one for the next holiday.

“Rose!” He whined, “Please, will you let off it?”

She found herself saying, “Make me.”

The Doctor wasn’t having any of that taken lightly, he took the two steps to invade her personal space with zero hesitation. The next laugh got caught in her chest. The smile remained though.

He smirked when the only sounds were their breathing and the music.

“Didn’t have to do much to do that.”

“You wish.” She mumbled, trying not to show how much she wanted him to kiss her.

“You’re wearing my shirt.” It came from deep in his chest.

He kept close to her. Close enough to where she could feel his breath against her lips. She was seconds from giving in. Letting him win until-

“Food’s getting cold!” He made a dramatic spin to grab their plate.

Rose kept in the groan. Feeding his ego was the last thing she wanted to do in the moment.

Which was fruitless. Because he still had sharper hearing. Thus, he easily made out the “Tease.” she let out underneath a loud sigh.

“You can wait, we’ve got the rest of our lives.”

She followed him to the table, “You wouldn’t say the same if I did it to you.”

He set the plates down and turned to face her, an offended look on his face.

“As if.”

She smiled, “As if you haven’t thought the same way.”

“Like…?” He did a poor job of hiding the way he looked at her.

“Well, we could stay inside all day. Just the two of us.” She took a step closer.

“I thought that was already planned.”

She ignored him. Standing on her toes and whispering, “Or the rest of the weekend.” before pulling him into a kiss. Only to push him away when it became a little more than chaste.

“Minx.”

&&

The day she had been dreading came two weeks later. Rose’s ears had been ringing ever since she went by the Doctor’s lab to see if he was ready to go. Only to find a few of his coworkers and to hear that he got taken up for an interview. Jake said he didn’t see him during their breaks.

She called her mum everyday. It was habitual. But today it seemed like Jackie knew what was happening. Maybe Pete told her. Rose didn’t really care. She might later.

Why didn’t they deserve a heads up?

Jackie tried her best to soothe Rose. She could hear her daughter pacing the flat, rummaging through things. Half-heartedly listening to Jackie’s story about Tony and dinner. She was halfway out the door when Rose said,

“He’s home. Talk to you later.”

And he was a mess. Hair messy but not in the way Rose liked. Shirt untucked and blazer unbuttoned. His jaw set. He looked angry. The type of anger that would hide behind his eyes. That made deep brown shine gold if you knew him. She wondered if this was going to be a different anger than before. She heard stories of Donna Noble’s emotional and passionate rants and rages. She saw Donna close to falling apart when she sent her back to fix the timeline.

He looked a lot like both right now. A mix of a wildfire and a downpour.

“Doctor?”

He looked afraid.

“Hey, c’mere.”

His fist clenched.

“Talk to me.”

She reached for his hand and led him to the sofa.

She couldn’t read him. All tempestuous thoughts couldn’t translate the way she was used to. He saw that. So instead he tried to put on the facade of someone who has it together. One that only told her it was worse. Something terrible tugged at something deep within him.

“I didn’t think it’d be that bad.” He cleared his voice, “It actually didn’t bother me until I got home.”

It was exactly what she expected. Everything that made her heart hurt for him.

“It does that, doesn’t it?” She wasn’t sure what to say.

Her mum had always been better at this. She always knew how to get through, to tell people it was okay to say what they needed. Rose was better at feeling the same as them without the words. But she sat in front of a silent rambling man.

“Yeah. It’s a blow to the chest.”

She reached for his hand, interlocking their pinky fingers. There was a static shock when she did. And that seemed to be the tipping point. The shock that told him to let go.

“I need you now.” His voice broke at his attempt to hold back tears, “I don’t know. Before I could go on. I could keep going. But it’s different, isn’t it?”

Rose nodded. Still unsure of what to say, how to help. She understood. Understood so clearly she wondered if he had tapped into her mind.

“Do you think they realize what they say?”

“Yeah.” Rose looked down, “They’ve done it to me and mum several times. Well, mostly me.”

“How did you deal with it?” His eyes were wide. He looked lost trying to navigate what he was feeling.

“I knew I had to get back to you.” It came out simple. Like it was clear. Like she never spent days in bed after these interrogations sometimes.

He shook his head, “I’m not the me that you were trying to get back to. They know that. You know that.”

“I know you’re the same man. One less heart and hair that’s got a streak he always wanted.”

“Now I’ve got a last name and pay rent. Not exactly the man you met.”

“It’s been eight years since we met, for me. We change. I don’t mind, Doctor.”

He grabbed her hand, not taking his eyes off of it, “Some people do.”

“To hell with them. We’re going to live lives they can only dream of.”

A silence settled over them. Rose heard her phone vibrating in the kitchen, but didn’t care. She watched as his eyes traced her face. Curious and willing. Unsure and timid.

“I’m not sure what else is going to happen. I don’t really care,” He took a shaky breath, “All I know is that it’s you.”

&&

Her mum and Pete asked for them to look after Tony for an evening. There was some publicity event or whatever. Jackie couldn’t remember what exactly. Rose never minded. Her little brother was easier to take care of than most would think. Raised just as she was plus a little more expense. He deserved it. The miracle child who kept her company at her worst times. He knows it too.

He also adored the Doctor. For one, he looked super cool and was super cool because he saved the universe and worlds with his sister. Two, Tony could ask him any question and he’d have the answer, the Doctor never dulled it down either. He just would answer the questions that followed. Tony’s favorite thing though, was that they could get into messes and out of them without too much consequence. Rose was sure that if he knew the words, he’d already be calling him a brother-in-law.

As much as they were two peas in a pod, it took an hour of debate between the boys for them to figure out what they were going to do. In the midst of the Doctor arguing the pros of his idea, Rose announced that they would be going to the park.

After a walk around, they settled on a hill. The Doctor laid out his trenchcoat for him and Rose to rest on. Tony left for a few minutes before coming back with a handful of flowers. Handing them to Rose and asking her to make him a crown. Before taking off to find more, so they could all have one.

“Since when could you do that?” The Doctor asked, pulling out a prototype of his sonic.

Rose shrugged, “I taught myself when I’d babysit my little cousins. Muscle memory at this point.”

“You’ve never mentioned it.”

Rose looked up from the braided weeds with a smile and raised eyebrow, “‘Cause you’re not a six year old who needs to be kept busy. At least, most of the time.”

“I’m six months and fourteen days.” He puffed his chest.

Rose rolled her eyes, “Always have to bring yourself into it, don’t ya?”

Before he had the chance to reply, Tony came running up with another boy in tow. Quickly dropping a few handfuls of flowers at Rose’s knees before steering toward the Doctor. People who appeared to be parents a few yards behind. Rose waved, making sure it was alright as the boys focused on the Doctor.

“This is Dr. Noble! He’s my sister’s boyfriend.”

Rose chuckled at Tony’s explanation of him. But the boy held out his hand to shake in a grand gesture. The Doctor took it with the same enthusiasm.

“And what’s your name?”

“Jackson. I’m Tony’s second best friend.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, “Well who’s the first?”

Tony looked shocked, “You are, Silly!”

“Of course I am, Tony.”

Something overtook the playful gleam in his eyes, something softer and touched. Rose noticed that there may have been a tear in his eye. She smiled at the ground, glancing up every so often.

Tony started asking the Doctor to tell his favorite story. The one about what happened at Krop Tor. She listened as closely as the boys, he had never let her hear it in entirety before. Most of it was as it happened, granted, not as grave. There was something he didn’t know, which wasn’t normal. And they got trapped when they went to figure it out. So it goes.

But he changed his tone at the end of it. Lowering his voice when he asked, “Do you want to know the best part?”

To which the boys nodded eagerly.

“Well, I wouldn’t be here to tell you this if it weren’t for someone.” He nodded his head at Rose, “I was just fighting the body. Which is scary but nothing compared to the soul of the Devil.”

“C’mon!!” Tony bounced on his knees.

“She was the one who made the final move. Ready to sacrifice herself and who she loved for the better of the universe,” He started to whisper, “I knew that she was the best. But this is when she became the very best.”

He explained how she shot the window of the rocket. Dramatizing it to make her sound more impressive. Throwing his hands around while talking about the Tardis. Dedicated to giving the happiest ending for the boys.

He did it with a breeze, leaving them whooping and cheering.

They were once again antsy to run around and burn off energy. Rose handed them both a crown, trying to keep Tony’s attention.

“When do you have to be back here, Anthony?”

He scowled at the use of his full name, “Before the sky turns all dark blue.”

“You’re good to go.” Rose laughed.

Tony pulled his friend away. They only managed to get just out of ear’s reach before Jackson came bounding back up.

The Doctor looked up from where he was fiddling with his sonic, “Yes sir?”

“What’s your first name?”

“Doctor,” He grinned mischievously.

“Your last?”

“Noble.” He said it with pride.

Jackson gave him a questioning look but shrugged and ran back to Tony, who was poking at something with a stick.

Rose left the rest of the flowers on the ground and turned her attention to the sunset. Listening to everything going on around them. The phantom breeze in the trees. All the kids calling for each other. Passing conversations.

“What about when we get married?”

It came out of nowhere. She tried not to let her surprise show, “What about it?”

“Our last names.” He looked at her, the wind in his hair reminded her of their time on New Earth, “I quite like Noble and I don’t think you should give up Tyler.”

“What if I want to?” She raised her eyebrows at him.

“Well, I mean-”

“I’m joking, Doctor,” She looked at him, lost in thought, “We could hyphenate them.”

He shook his head in thought, “Hm, but who would go first?”

She shrugged, returning her focus to the sky. Listening as he rolled “Noble-Tyler” and “Tyler-Noble” off his tongue while it turned a brighter and brighter pink.

She swatted at him with the back of her hand when Tony ran back to them. Trying to avoid any conversations that aren't necessary. He asked the Doctor to come play with him because Jackson had to leave. Before he started to drag him away, the Doctor managed to give Rose a peck on the cheek. The six year old was too impatient. Leaving him to yell “I love you!” at her.

Her eye roll was followed with her own shout, “I love you too!”

&&

The Doctor was wearing a tuxedo similar to the one he wore the first time they were here. This time it wasn’t to gain information but to give it. He was to give a lecture on something he figured out in the eight months he’d been here. He argued that it wasn’t that important. That he didn’t need to do it. Pete reminded him that the other scientists working on it eight spent years. Not months.

The Doctor and Donna’s personality had always been intertwined in him. Rose knew it. She first noticed because he was quick to reply to her mum’s quips and actually started to enjoy spending time with her.

He said it was because he’s half the alien he used to be. But both Rose and Jackie beg to differ.

But this was the first time she’s seen the personality merge work against him. He couldn’t just brush off the idea of speaking in front of people who are there to question him. Speculate how he did it. Insecurities bubbled to the surface and crawled into his nerves.

Rose found out through Jake, who had to pull her from talking to people before the seminar. She wasn’t the one resisting. She was tired of questions about this “mystery man” who was “quick to put a ring on her finger.”

Although, the reactions to the fact that she was the one who got down on one knee humored her. But led her to explaining that he got her ring later.

“He’s been pacin’ the room like an animal that hasn’t got enough enrichment.” Jake said while walking Rose to where the Doctor was, “I couldn’t get through to him but we all know you can.”

She entered the room to a speaker being in pieces across the floor. The Doctor sitting in the middle of all the pieces, trying to rig something together. She wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a DADA sculpture or a new invention. Either way, his new anxieties were making him manic.

“Doctor?”

His head snapped up and he gave her a tense grin, “Rose! I was just thinking of you.”

“I don’t think you stop doing that.”

He shrugged and started sweeping all the pieces into a small pile in front of him.

“Doctor,” Rose said it softer than before, “What’s going on?”

“I’m about to talk to a room full of people and I can’t suppress hormones like I used to be able to.”

He said it with a straight face. Leaving Rose to hold her breath to keep from causing him anymore anxiety. She wasn’t sure if her urge to laugh was caused by the point-blank approach of explanation or the fact that he was clearly lying. She didn’t think on it too much. She tried to think about what her mum said and did all the times she was at a breaking point.

The first thing she noticed was how disheveled he was. Only half dressed, though he’d never admit it. Then it clicked.

“Presentation is the most important thing. That’s what I’ve learned from Pete. So let's tidy you back up.” She held her hand out to lift him back up.

She talked about everything except what his mind was so desperate to be focused on. Coaxing the dopey smile and puppy-dog eyes out of him. In the end, it was more flirting than discussing. But it worked the way she needed to either way.

Rose couldn’t help but notice how he focused on her hands when she buttoned his shirt.

“I’ll unbutton them later if you don’t have a heart attack on stage.” She said with his favorite grin.

She couldn’t help but let it slip. And the mischievous look she got in return was worth it. Now that he was dressed, it was time to move onto his hair. Which would only take so long due to the fact he was overprotective and particular with it. This was where she planned to dig back in.

He gave her a sheepish smile as he sat down in front of the mirror, watching her hands start to tease his hair.

“What had you so worked up earlier?” She asked, watching his eyes dart from her to anywhere else in the mirror.

“I started thinking too much. Or- I focused on one thing and wouldn’t think of anything else.” He looked like a schoolboy. Embarrassed to feel things.

Rose thinks this is the most human moment he’s had yet. His superior biology not quite what it used to be.

“What was it?”

“Well, uh,” She swatted the hand that went for the back of his head as he spoke, “I didn’t want to disappoint Pete. or Jackie. Or you.”

His eyes met with hers in the mirror and she gave him a sweet smile, “My mum and I don’t care. You know that. Pete? He’s got PR on standby if necessary.”

“I know,” The Doctor shrugged, “But you’re the ones who let me get here.”

Jake knocked on the door, “He’s got five minutes!”

His spine went rigid again. Rose ran her hand over it in response. She pressed a kiss to the back of his neck, where no one would notice if a lipstick stain was left.

“Just talk to ‘em like you’d talk to Tony, yeah? Go on your big monologue and worry about what’s going on in their heads later.”

When he stood up she fixed the lock of red in his hair to flow with the rest.

“I love you. You know that?”

“Absolutely.” She straightened his bowtie one last time, “You know, you have nothing to prove to me.”

&&

Rose blew air out like a cigarette, watching a cloud too hazy and heavy form. Those days were long gone. She realized they had gone before she met the Doctor. A long memory now, where she lived in a parallel universe with a new half-human, half-timelord Doctor. She didn’t mind, though. That’s life isn’t it?

It was this line of thought that led her into sleepless nights. Comparing lives. Wondering how her old Doctor was doing. Wondering if her Doctor was really, truly, happy. If they’d ever get back the life that they belong in. All this what-ifs and open-ended question that she’d never get an answer for until the moment came. They ran rampant through her head. Like a skipping record.

Sometimes it was tempting to pick up old habits when she got like this. She knew why she didn’t when the door behind her slid open, revealing a shirtless, groggy Doctor.

“Rose, it’s 3 am.”

“I know,” She turned to face him completely, “I couldn’t sleep.”

He hummed in understanding and sat next to her. Looking up at the sky full of stars he’s yet to map. It made a sharp pang go through her chest. To see him like this. So bare in a universe he was ready to make a mark on. Then Rose noticed the goosebumps rise on his arms with a gust of wind. He’s yet to admit that he’s been cold. Even when it’s written all over his face and hands.

She also noticed the way his eyebrows furrowed. As if he was counting each and every star.

“Why couldn’t you sleep?”

She shrugged, “Thinking ‘bout what you said.”

“We’re at the halfway mark. Now is time for her to grow on her own.”

Rose thought back to the shed on Pete’s estate that they spent every free day they had at for the past month. Which meant one of them pulled the other out of bed. Because they had their very own Tardis growing inside, waiting to learn of new skys.

“But will we make it that long?” She felt the fear bubble over into tears, “It scares me. To not know when. Which is ridiculous but I’ve waited so long and I know you’re just as restless.”

He sat there for a second, gathering the right words.

“Rose, you did the impossible once. All on your own. Yeah, you had Jackie and Clive and Pete, but-”

“Now I have you.”

The words hung heavy in the air. Like it was some confession. Admitting something she always wished for had come true. But it wasn’t made up of the dreams she once had. It was messy and real but even worth more than what once was the only thing that let her sleep at night.

“I told you a year ago, it’s gonna be us. I could care less about what else there is.”

Maybe that was the catharsis. The unholy amounts of emotion came pouring out of her. She fell into his arms as she broke into tears.

She had no clue where it came from. Maybe it was stress from work. The clutter starting to build in their tiny flat. Or knowing they were so close. Her heart begging to be reminded of what showed her love in the first place.

“Rose, you golden girl. You did it. You got back to me- or well, I came back with you. Besides the point. You’ve done it once. What’s a second time with the impossible holding your hand?”

He rocked her slightly as she started to calm down. Brushing her hair out of her face and wiping her tears. Pressing kisses against her forehead. Mumbling things she normally didn’t hear.

He pulled her back with a wide grin, “Hey, we still have to get married before leaving. I don’t want another slap from your mother.”

“I think we should do it Vegas style.” it came out as a snotty laugh. And in the back of her mind she wondered if he ever saw her like this before now.

“I don’t care as long as it’s you.” He smiled, “You said it a while ago, ‘Better with two.’”

She giggled, rubbing her eyes one last time, “The stuff of legends, us.”

“Especially in a few months' time.” He said, looking back up at the sky.

“We’re gonna be alright,” Rose pulled him into a tight embrace, “We’re okay.”

[fanfictionaries]

Oh So Many Years: Ch. 3 - Be My Somebody

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley

Summary: 

The events of the Quidditch World Cup seem like a distant memory for everyone. Everyone except Hermione Granger. Night before the group of Gryffindors are to leave on the Hogwarts Express, Hermione Granger finds herself pleasantly distracted from the nightmares she's endured every since her chase in the forest with Frederick Weasley. Who knew Fred could be such pleasant company?

Fred ponders on his second to last year at Hogwarts and his plans for the future, while juggling the complicated relationship he has with Angelina and his ever growing need to figure out the enigma that is Hermione Granger.

Warnings: Swearing, Death, Smut/18+ NSFW

Author’s Note: I will now be updating this story every week before midnight on Sundays (US MST)! Please feel free to like, comment, and reblog! xoxo

Masterlist

<-- Chapter 2

Last night was a record to be broken It broke all over the kitchen floor Oh no, don't you go I'm coming back with a rag To wipe away the haze from the days We've forgotten all about

  The clock ticked but it did not track the time, as Hermione sat in the empty living room of the Weasley home. Lazily, she scanned the pages of the book in her lap, but it was not enough to keep her eyes from drooping with the weight of sleep. It was far past bedtime and everyone else had gone to sleep hours ago. Everyone except Hermione. Instead, she had stayed awake with her charms book in her lap and the looming fear of night in the back of her mind. It had been exactly seven days and six nights since the Quidditch World Cup and for six nights she had dreamed of it. Or to be more exact, she had endured nightmares of it. Every time she allowed herself to sleep, she was plagued by dark hooded figures and swirling green snakes. She tried everything she could to combat it: warm milk, exercise, meditation, she even spent all her time studying just to fill her mind with things other than dark witches and wizards, but it seemed that nothing was going to work. So instead, she had decided to just forgo sleep altogether. Again, her mind was drifting as she read and reread the words on the page in front of her. With a sigh, she closed the book and set it beside her before leaning forward in her seat and resting her face in her hands. She was tired. But she was also afraid, and she couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t like that night had been the first time in her life that she had been placed in mortal danger. In fact, she had probably faced things that many adults hadn’t. Yet, it seemed that her encounter with You-Know-Who’s followers, or Death Eaters as the Daily Prophet had named them in their article on the attack, had been a turning point. She just felt…different. The whole situation had felt different. More real. And she had been left with a looming sense of dread ever since. With a yawn, she stood and headed towards the kitchen. Perhaps a cup of tea would help her stay awake.

Stumbling through the door to the kitchen on weary limbs, she walked over to the kettle and filled it with water before placing it on the stove and reaching to grab a mug from the cupboard.

“Burning the midnight oil Granger?”

The mug slipped from her fingers as she jumped in surprise. Turning she saw one of the twins standing at the bottom of the staircase, looking at her with an amused expression. Slowly he moved further into the kitchen and Hermione identified him as Fred.

“Merlin, Frederick. You scared me,” she whispered harshly, bending to pick up the broken shards of ceramic.

“Allow me—" Fred pulled his wand from his pocket “—Reparo.” The pieces of the mug lifted from the ground and swirled to the air, fusing together until it formed a singular form and landed gently in Hermione’s hand.

“You’re really not allowed to do magic outside of Hogwarts Frederick,” she scolded, staring down at the cup in her hands.

“Thank you, Fred. You’re too kind, Fred—” he mocked in a high-pitched voice that Hermione could only assume was supposed to be her “—That rule really only applies to muggleborns, Granger. It’s hard for the ministry to really know who’s doing what when a house is filled with nothing but witches and wizards.”

“Thank you,” she mumbled, rolling her eyes, and turning back to the counter. She set the mug down gently, careful not to break it once again and closed her eyes, trying not to focus on the irritation that Fred interrupting her had elicited. The last thing she wanted was a rowdy Fred Weasley attempting to play mind games at this time of night. However, this was his home and not hers. He was perfectly allowed to wander wherever he liked, whenever he liked.

“I was just making some tea. Would you like some?” she asked politely, turning back to face the tall and lanky boy. Fred had moved even further into the kitchen and was leaning against the table, looking at her with an expression that she couldn’t quite discern. It was almost like he was trying to figure something out. Wordlessly he pushed away from the table and grabbed a second mug from the cupboard above her. He placed it on the counter beside hers and looked down at her, still with the same indiscernible expression.

“I got it, why don’t you sit down?”

Hermione’s brain skipped for a second at the uncharacteristically kind gesture.

“I’m perfectly capable of making my own cup of tea Frederick, and besides—"

“—and besides, you’re a guest in this house and it’s the hospitable thing to do.”

Hermione looked up at Fred suspiciously causing him to chuckle, “I’m not going to poison your tea Granger. Contrary to what mum says, she did manage to teach George and me some manners.”

Hermione took another second to analyze the risk before she nodded and sat down at the table, watching as Fred grabbed the boiling kettle and tea. She guessed it wasn’t too out of character for him to be kind. After all, the night of the Quidditch World Cup he had been very kind. He had given her his cardigan and he had comforted her when she had been scared and upset. He had even gotten into a fight for her, her second year when Draco Malfoy had called her a mudblood. Hermione figured it was his instinct as an older brother that led him to feel protective of her. She was only two years older than Ginny and a year older than Ron. It was nice to think of herself as part of a family like that. Hermione didn’t have any brothers or sisters and being so far from home all the time, she often missed that familial connection. But she had the Weasleys and Harry, and while she certainly loved them like family she often wondered if they felt the same way about her. 

“How do you take your tea?” Fred’s voice broke through her thoughts and she looked up to see him looking at her again, this time with a more casual and friendly expression.

“Oh, 5 spoons of sugar and no cream please.”

“Bit of a sweet tooth there, Granger?” Fred laughed, causing Hermione to blush slightly.

“Yeah—" she laughed nervously “—my parents are always warning me about cavities, but I don’t really listen.”

“Cavi—?” Fred asked confusedly as he carried the two mugs of tea to the table.

“Cavities. They’re a muggle disease that affect your teeth. It makes them rot out of your head. You get them when you don’t brush your teeth or from eating too much sugar.” Hermione accepted her mug of tea from Fred appreciatively and brought it to her lips, blowing on the hot liquid before taking a small sip. It was perfectly sweet and just the way she liked it. Fred nodded at her explanation and took a sip from his mug as well.

“I like my tea the opposite, milk and no sugar—" he placed his mug down on the table, his large hands wrapping almost all the way around it “—I’ve never been much of a fan of sweets myself. George is though.”

Uncomfortable silence filled the room, as they sat drinking their tea. Both of them unsure of what to say to other.

“I never thanked you for the other night,” Hermione admitted, wondering why that had been the first thing to pop into her mind for conversation. She really didn’t want to talk about what had happened that night, so why had she said that?

“For what?” Fred asked casually, taking another sip of his tea.

“For lending me your cardigan. It was very…gentlemanly of you.” Fred had given her an out and she had gladly taken it.

“Well as long as you don’t go skipping about school telling everyone how much of a gentleman I am, then I guess we’re even,” he gave her a playful wink and a friendly smile. She smiled in return, finding it hard not to when Fred’s was so infectious.

“I’m sorry I haven’t gotten it back to you yet, but I wanted to wash it first and admittedly, it’s quite comfortable. I’ll be sad to give it up,” Hermione confessed.

“That’s because mum made it. Her knitting is the best.”

“Harry and Ron always say that about their Christmas jumpers as well.”

“Don’t you have one?” Fred asked, his voice a tone of surprise. Hermione shook her head, blushing in embarrassment. No, she had not received a jumper from Mrs. Weasley. Something that she tried not to think about every Christmas when Harry and Ron showed her their new patterns and designs. She knew that it shouldn’t hurt her. It made sense. Harry had no family beside his horrid aunt and uncle, and Mrs. Weasley therefore felt as though she were responsible for his wellbeing. Hermione on the other hand had two very loving parents that adored her. She was not left wanting for much of anything. However, that didn’t stop her from feeling a small pang of jealousy every year.

“So, what are you doing up so late?” Hermione changed the subject, looking down into her tea and then back up at Fred. He looked tired, something she had never seen on the jovial face of the well-known trickster. Small bags hung under his hazel eyes and his pale skin looked a tinge grey, or maybe it was just the poor, lamp lit kitchen casting shadows. Fred rubbed his eyes with his hands and took a deep breath.

“I never sleep well the night before the first day of school.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I guess it started the first couple of years just because I was so excited but now it’s almost a tradition. It’s like my body knows, even if I’m not as excited as I used to be—” his laugh had a bitter edge to it as he brought his mug back up to his lips and took a long gulp, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallowed “—What about you? I don’t normally have company these nights.”

Hermione brought her mug up to her lips, taking a sip of her tea to buy time before answering, “I guess I just have too much on my mind.”

Fred let out a barking laugh.

“What?” Hermione asked, wondering what about her answer had been so amusing.

“Nothing, there’s just something really amusing about you having too much on your mind. Is that even possible?” Fred raised an eyebrow amusedly.

“I know a full and active mind is a foreign concept to you Frederick but yes, it is entirely possible,” Hermione wanted to swallow her tongue as soon as she said the words. So far, she had had the advantage of a swift exit every time she had made a joke at his expense. Now, however, with Fred sitting across from her looking at her as if she were a new species he had just discovered, she wasn’t sure if he was going to write extensive studies on her or poach her for sport. All her worries were washed away, however, when Fred burst out into laughter. The tension flooded from her body and she joined him, laughing until her eyes watered.

“That was a good one Granger,” Fred chuckled. “Are you thinking of dropping out of Hogwarts and becoming a comedian now?”

“No, that seems more your speed.” Hermione smirked and placed her mug onto the table, leaning back on the bench and crossing her arms.

“Oh, a clown then. You’ve definitely got the hair for it.”

Usually Hermione would have been irate at his comment but instead she found herself leaning forward across the table and ruffling Fred’s shaggy red hair, “Only if you lend me this ridiculous color. It’s so bright and obnoxious, I wouldn’t even need to put the nose on.”

Fred shooed her hands away as she giggled. “Oh, I’m sure all my family would love to hear that.”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Hermione gasped, placing her hands on her hips and looking down at his sitting figure.

“Alright, you’re right. I wouldn’t, but only because I love them and wouldn’t dream of ruining their perfect image of you.” He placed a hand over his heart in mocking sincerity that only caused them both to chuckle again as Hermione sat back down.

“Oh please, I’m far from perfect,” she rolled her eyes and shook her head at the ridiculous notion, looking down into her tea as the atmosphere around them settled into a comfortable silence. Gone was the uneasy tension from before and in its place was a warm familiarity. She rested her chin on the heel of her palm and quietly sipped her tea as they sat, just enjoying the peaceful kitchen – so different then from the usual chaos it housed. It wasn’t until she felt a warm hand touch her forearm that she realized she had closed her eyes and was dozing. She blinked rapidly, taking in the sight of Fred across the table from her, giving her an amused smile.

“I think it’s time for bed,” he spoke softly, and Hermione nodded in response, standing slowly and heading towards the stairs. She looked back to see Fred carrying their mugs to the sink.

“Goodnight Fred.”

“Goodnight Hermione.”

    “The nerve of the woman!” George cried in outrage as he slid the compartment door open and plopped himself down next to Alicia.

“What’s got your knickers in a twist?” Lee asked, looking through a pile of chocolate frog cards on his lap.

“We had all our order forms made out for Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes, and a sizable inventory packed and ready to take with us, and the vile woman confiscated the whole lot this morning!” George huffed in frustration. “We spent all night getting ready!”

“I spent all night getting ready. You fell asleep early,” Fred reminded his brother, but was ignored as George pouted looking out the window.

“I have half a mind to test out some new products on her.”

“She didn’t get everything Georgie. Besides, do you really think it’s wise to prank our own dear, sweet mum? Especially after she was so apologetic about scolding us for our O.W.L.’s when we got back from the Cup?” Fred raised an eyebrow at his twin and closed the compartment behind him before sitting down next to Angelina.

She flashed him a small smirk and nudged his side with an elbow. Holding out a hand, her offered him some jelly slugs to which he declined politely. Angelina was one of his oldest friends, he had known her since his first year at Hogwarts and they had become close friends through the hours and hours of Quidditch practice that their captain, Oliver Wood, had put them through. So, it made sense that they shared their first kiss in fourth year behind the quidditch pitch. I don’t want my first kiss to be awkward and horrible with someone I actually fancy, she said before she had leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Then, last year, in their fifth year, it seemed like a reasonable step when they lost their virginities to each other too. Why not just get it out of the way? I don’t want to be a virgin forever, she confessed to him one night when they were both up late in the common room. Fred of course wasn’t going to argue with her, his teenage hormones telling him to grasp every opportunity as tightly as a jinxed broomstick. It, of course, had been a mess of limbs and fumbling lips that ended much too early for his liking. Since then, something that was supposed to have been a one-time thing turned into a regular activity.

“Say, do we get any of these brilliant inventions of yours for free? Because, you know, we’re your friends,” Lee asked, putting his feet up in the windowsill of the train.

“Not a chance!” Fred barked, grabbing a jelly slug from Angelina’s lap and throwing it at the boy sitting opposite him.

“Really? Not even for me?” Angelina looked up at him through her lashes, a sarcastic attempt at seduction he was very much immune to.

“Especially not for you,” he all but growled back teasingly. She laughed in his face as she rolled her eyes and snagged a chocolate frog from Lee.

“Hey! I didn’t say you could have one of those Angelina Johnson,” Lee stressed her whole name accusingly, crossing his arms in distaste.

“I didn’t ask, Lee Jordan,” she mocked his scolding tone, causing the whole compartment to break out into laughter – even George, who seemed to be in better spirits as he indulged in the sweets being passed throughout the compartment. While Fred was also particularly angry with their mother, he couldn’t be too angry as she hadn’t done irreparable damage. They had won some money off their father’s friend, Ludo Bagman, at the Quidditch World Cup. It would be more than enough to replace everything she had gotten rid of and then some.

It had been surprising how quickly everything went back to normal after the World Cup. When they arrived home, their mother almost hugged them half to death, going on and on about how he and George could have died, and how she was sorry she yelled at them all the time. She even apologized about criticizing their O.W.L.s, which was surprising because Fred secretly agreed with her about how pitiful they were. That of course, didn’t stop her from searching their trunks and emptying their pockets before they left for the Hogwarts Express, but he couldn’t really be mad at her. She had looked so upset, and he hated seeing her truly upset. George…he cared a little less.

The five of them sat for a while, Angelina and Alicia chatting about some article they had read in Witches Weekly, George and Lee trading Chocolate Frog cards they had collected over the summer, and Fred looking out the window, watching as the scenery passed by. The rushing sounds of the train seemed to blur into a humming white noise that blended nicely with the laughter and shouts of his friends and the other students running through the train. Quickly, he felt his eyes begin to droop and a yawn escaped his lungs. He hadn’t slept at all the night before. He blamed Granger almost entirely for it. He had just gone downstairs to grab a glass of water after tossing and turning in bed for a few hours, and instead of finding the quiet solace of an empty kitchen, she had been there. It should have surprised him to find her standing there in front of the stove, baggy pants and shirt engulfing her small frame almost as much as her big, bushy hair did. Everything about Hermione was big: big clothes, big hair, big teeth, big eyes, big mouth, big brain. In fact, the only thing that wasn’t big about her was her stature, which he found to be quite funny. All those big features on such a small, little girl – it was almost so comical she might as well not be real. Or at least that’s what he thought when he stood watching her from the bottom of the staircase before he decided to let his presence be known. For a second, he had considered just turning around and going back to bed, but then thoughts of her seemingly new brash personality came into mind and he decided that maybe he needed to get to know Hermione Granger a little more.

Their conversation had been surprisingly entertaining. He had never had a better conversation with her – in fact, he wasn’t sure he had ever had a conversation with her, just the two of them. But then again, why would he? However, it was because of this conversation that he found himself in bed later that night, or morning to be more accurate, more awake than ever. If he had just been able to get a glass of water in peace, he would have been able to walk back upstairs and fall asleep calmly, but instead he had been energized by their conversation, even if she fell asleep near the end of it.

“So, how was everyone’s summer?” Angelina asked casually, breaking the silence, and bringing Fred out of his thoughts.

“Well, I spent the whole time helping my mum around the house and helping my dad in the garden. So, just lovely,” Lee replied sarcastically.

“Speaking of parents, were any of your parents acting odd this summer?” Alicia spoke up.

“Odd how?” George questioned, turning to look at the girl next to him.

“Like they knew something about the school year that we didn’t? My dad just kept saying how much fun I was in for and how he wished he were back at Hogwarts. It was really weird,” Alicia admitted.

Thinking about it, Fred did recall the number of comments made by his father about how they were in for a great year and how he wished he were sixteen again. He and George just assumed it was some kind of mid-life crisis, but now it didn’t seem that way anymore.

“Now that you mention it our dad was doing the same thing. Right Freddie?”

“Yeah, and Charlie kept saying things about how he’d be seeing us sooner than usual.”

“And who can forget the way Percy kept walking around with his nose in the air, talking about how he knew some great big secret that none of us knew,” George said, shaking his head.

“Git,” they remarked together.

“What do you suppose is going on then?” Lee asked, lifting his legs off the windowsill and crossing one ankle over the other in front of him.

“Beats me,” Fred and George answered.

“Well whatever it is, I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon enough—" Angelina concluded, pinching Fred’s side inconspicuously “—I’m going to the loo. Be right back.”

Fred watched as the young witch stood and exited the compartment. He sat there for a while, listening to Lee complain about getting Dumbledore again after opening a chocolate frog, before standing himself.

“Think I’m going to go and try to nick some sweets from the trolley, want anything?” Fred looked to his brother who was leaning against the wall next to the window.

“No, I think you’ll have your hands full,” said George knowingly.

Fred smirked and walked out of the compartment. Turning left, he travelled through the train, peeking into the compartments as he walked past them. Groups of unfamiliar first years filled the spaces—some sitting rod straight in fear and some bouncing in their seats with excitement. Traveling further, he saw a group of Ravenclaws engaged in a heated debate, a few Hufflepuff and Gryffindor girls piled over a copy of Witches Weekly, some Slytherins talking idly, and one or two students frantically working on what appeared to be last minute summer homework. All these students, they had so much time left and here he was, approaching his second to last year. Soon he would have to go into the big, wide world. What he wouldn’t give to go back in time and do it all over again. He wouldn’t change anything, but he definitely would savor the experience. He had wandered into the last carriage of the train when he felt hands grab his arm and pull him into a seemingly empty compartment. Soft, full lips enveloped his as he slid the door shut behind him and locked it with a simple spell. What happened next could only be described as a frantic clash of lips, teeth, and skin.

“Well that was fun,” Fred stated casually some time later as he watched Angelina twist her skirt back in the right direction.

“It was. I’ve missed having you around,” Angelina responded genuinely.

“Oh, I see, you just missed having my body at your beck and call Miss Johnson? Well don’t I feel used,” Fred laughed, causing Angelina to roll her eyes.

“Come on then, we should probably get back before anyone suspects anything.” Angelina crossed her arms and waited for the boy in front of her to stand up.

“I wouldn’t be too worried about that—" Fred informed her as he tucked himself back into his pants and zipped up his trousers “—George already knows and everyone else in our group is too oblivious to put two and two together.”

“It’s cute that you think Alicia doesn’t know every single detail as well.” Angelina patted him on the cheek before grabbing the door handle to the compartment.

Upon returning to the others, no one seemed to care about how long they had been gone, or what they had been up to, just like Fred had known they wouldn’t. The train came to a stop soon thereafter and they were again, back at Hogwarts. Fred gazed up at the large castle through the window of their horseless carriage as it pulled them up towards the main entrance, rocking back and forth over the uneven dirt path. Every window seemed to glow a warm yellow despite the cold, grey storm that brewed in the sky. Fred thanked Merlin that Dumbledore thought of everything when it came to Hogwarts, noticing how the carriages had been equipped with roofs this time to accommodate for the rain that was beginning to fall. He pulled his robes closer to protect himself from the uncommonly chilly night and thought of warm things, like dinner in the Great Hall, the fireplace in the Gryffindor Tower, or even the nice clean sheets of his bed.

With all the grandeur, grey stone, and looming appearance that was Hogwarts, it held a familiar and homey feeling to Fred and George. It was their own personal playground, where they could get into a sizable amount of trouble with close to no repercussions. They knew every hide away, every secret passageway, they even knew where Filch and Mrs. Norris would be at most times. In fact, the moments in which they did get in trouble were due more to pure carelessness than ineptitude. When they finally entered the Great Hall, Fred and George were excitedly planning on setting off a couple of Dungbombs in the Prefect’s bathroom later that night. They sat down at their usual place at the Gryffindor table, Fred beginning to recount the last time they bombed the Prefect’s bathroom to Lee, when George broke their conversation to nudge him in the side and point down the table. Hermione Granger was soaked head to toe.

“You’re looking a bit…damp, Granger,” George said suggestively.

“If you must know, Peeves was throwing water balloons outside the Great Hall when we arrived,” the little witch responded, her nose raised high in the air.

“You hear that Freddie? It was Peeves that got her soaked,” George stressed the last word, hoping to get a blush out of the little goody-two shoes through sexual innuendo, but she merely kept her gaze and expression neutral.

“Oh, shucks Georgie, for a second I thought we were the only ones to make our little Granger all wet,” Fred chimed in with his brother and they both snickered. He knew that when it came to the fine art of riling someone up, sexual innuendo was the cheapest way to go. But a part of him longed to push the swotty fourth year as far as he could, to see if there was a threshold to her newly acquired sass. If that meant he had to stoop to cheap tricks, so be it.

He got his answer much sooner than he expected—their laughter cut short when Hermione decided to grace them with her next response, “Please, I do have some self-respect.”

The well-coined response sitting at the tip of Fred’s tongue, fell flat and short the moment his brain processed what Hermione said. He smiled, widely, quirking an eyebrow and nodding once towards his twin and then towards the bushy-haired girl as if to say ‘Touché Granger, Touché’.

Chapter 4 -->

Taglist: 

@theworldisugly-22

@i-d-e-g-a-f

[roseduroi]

Tears, Crumbs and a Cup of Tea

Pairing: Tom Holland x Sister!Reader

Word count: 1.6k

Summary: Tom’s never home, Y/N’s mad, and one night it all just ends with crumbs, tears and a cup of tea (just not the actual one you’re thinking about)

A/N: This is based on a request from Anon right here. I tried to write something quick and simple, but God knows up there, I can’t write good and fast to save my life.

It took me three days to finish the fic, it’s pretty short and simple, and I’m pretty proud of myself.

English isn’t my native language, I’m so sorry for the mistakes.

“Tom?” Y/N grabbed her oldest brother’s attention who had his nose stuck in the phone moments before. The brunette looked up at the 16-year-old girl in front of him and raised his eyebrows for her to keep going. “Do you think we could watch a movie tonight?” She asked him shyly, playing with her fingers to keep her nervousness in check.

“Sorry, little one, can’t. Got plans for tonight.” Tom grimaced; though Y/N had a feeling he wasn’t really sorry for declining. He stood up from the chair, sliding his phone into the back pocket of his dark jeans, he added: “The twins, Harrison and I are going to the movies –” he paused. “– and probably for some drinks later on.”

“Can’t I tag along?” She didn’t even know why she bothered asking, she already knew the answer.

“It’s a boys’ night out, Y/N. You would just get bored.” The girl bit her lower lip; it was another way to say you would just get in the way. “Besides I don’t think you are old enough to drink. But promise I’ll make it up to you once I get back.” Tom ruffled his sister’s hair on the way out of the room, leaving her standing alone in the lonely kitchen, not even sparing her a glance back.

It’s been this way ever since Tom got back from filming. Those last three weeks he’s been home seemed like he really wasn’t. At least, this was how Y/N viewed it. He was always busy when she tried to get him to spend some time with her, to do something together like they’ve used to before, only he always said no now. Tom this, Tom that. Tom busy – Tom ‘don’t have time’. He was everything but free (for her.) Still, she tried. It was important to her, so the girl kept suggesting even when he kept declining every time. She just didn’t want to give up.

Until finally she had had enough.

*

Tom ruffled his wet hair with the towel, yawning in the meanwhile. He was exhausted and all he wished for was jump into bed as soon as possible and let the sleep take over his body. It was past ten when he and the twins got home and now the clock was already ticking eleven.

Damn, time runs fast

But Tom shook his head, brushing the thoughts off. It didn’t matter now anyway, there was the bed and no works left he needed to do, without any disturbance he could finally rest his eyes. And so the brunette threw the towel somewhere on the chair, slumped down onto the bed and fell backward onto the soft mattress beneath his body, his grey comforter falling atop him. But just as his eyes could finally catch that oh so needed rest, Tom’s brown orbs shot open and the brunette immediately sat up straight.

“What the actual f – “ Tom whispered under his breath, running his hand over the sheets. Seconds later a frown formed across his face as he realized his bed was full of crumbs, some were oval and some angled; either big or small, it didn’t matter because it was full of it. And it was cruel. “I’m going to fucking murder her!” He cursed, throwing the covers off his body, running out of the room, not even bothering to shut the door.

The young actor yanked Y/N’s bedroom door open, startling the girl who was peacefully lying in bed and scrolling through her social media. She jumped at the sudden noise a little but dropped the phone in the process. She rubbed her sore nose that the phone had hit and grabbed the device in her left hand, slowly sitting up. The girl didn’t even have a chance to perceive what happened when her brother started interrogating her.

“What the hell, Y/N??” Tom glared at his sister but tried to keep his voice as low as possible, so he wouldn’t actually wake up the whole household. Y/N’s night lamp lit up the room with a gentle shade of blue, lightening it enough for him to visual her facial features. She was frowning; her eyes glistered with confusion and tiredness. She let her legs down on the floor, shuddering at the unexpected coldness, but didn’t move away; instead, she wrapped a blanket around herself and lifted her chin to look up at him.

But his eyes still held sharpness in it. “Scattering crumbs on my bed, really Y/N? Why would you even do that?” The brunette asked her, took a few steps closer and folded his arms in front of himself.

“I’m surprised you’ve actually found time to come here.” Y/N shot back at Tom, glaring. “After all, you’re always busy.” She mocked him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He looked offended, taken aback by her sudden bitterness, but she didn’t back off.

“You weren’t home for months! Working, filming. Touring the world thousands of miles away from London! And when you are finally back, you spend all your time away partying or going out, or drinking!” The girl spat, now standing on her legs inches apart from her brother who scowled at her.

“And that was supposed to explain why you needed to put freaking bread in my bed?” Tom clenched his jaw, his muscles tense as he tried his best not to lash out. “What I do doesn’t even involve you.” He was shaking his head as he talked, not understanding the problem here.

What he did and didn’t do was his and only his business, his choice, and his concern. Why did it even bother her so much that it led to this, he could just gesture to all of it, was beyond incomprehensible to him. Yes, he went partying a few days after he got back, he went out and drank and did so much other stuff out. But he was just catching up with his friends, what was so wrong about it?

He took dad and Paddy golfing just a few days ago, had a nice dinner with mum just yesterday.  He goes to Harrison’s with the twins when they’re all free and visits grandparents occasionally. He does everything in his power to make time for family and friends.  

What he did those past three weeks, the activities he had engaged in didn’t do anything to harm her in any way he could think of. It didn’t even involve Y/N, so why she acted so angry and bitter?

Exactly she wanted to say, but bit her tongue, swallowed all the bitterness and anger, and tried another way. “It does when you feel left out.”  Her voice cracked and she hid her gaze down, too embarrassed to look up.

She was mad, hurt and above all, embarrassed she voiced her mind. Yeah, the activities Tom had engaged in didn’t include Y/N; she didn’t participate there once; that was true. But that’s exactly the reason for anger and hurt she felt. That’s exactly why it involved her. Not being a part of something physically, doesn’t mean not being a part of it at all. It concerns you just as much.

But it didn’t matter now; the cat was out of the bag, and Tom stood there as if he’s seen a ghost, all the annoyance in him disappeared long ago and the lost pieces clicked in that mind of his as he realized what it was all about. And everything made sense now, even that bread in bed – just a hook for attention. Not in a bad way; never in a bad way.  

“I just miss you,” The girl tried to smile, to make it seem what she said wasn’t a big deal, but the tears building in her eyes said otherwise. She bit her lip to stop it from quivering and took a deep breath to steady her breathing, but it didn’t do much as the soft whimper still managed to skip past her lips after all the attempts to hold it in.

Y/N was pulled into a warm hug as soon as the first drop of tear slipped down her left cheek. Tom wrapped his arms around his sister and rested his chin on top of her head, while rubbing small patterns across her back, he slowly started to sway.

“God, Y/N, I’m such a sorry fool.” Her brother whispered after a moment or two of silence. He let her go; brushing away the remains of the tears off her cheeks and looked deeply into her puffy red eyes. “I’m so sorry, I... I didn’t realize. It’s just... Mum always said you liked being alone and, and... God, little one, I’d never wanted to make you cry.” Tom apologized, his heart clenching at the sight of Y/N in front of him.

Instead of scolding the boy as he was expecting, the girl sniffed, blinked a few times and smiled a smile that reached her eyes. “It’s okay; just... don’t you ever dare to ignore me. Ever again,” She ordered him playfully and her orbs twinkled. “Tears ain’t my cup of tea, ya know?”

Tom pulled her into his embrace one more time, squeezing her gently as she returned the second hug that night. He whispered a soft I promise in her ear and placed a tender kiss on the head, realizing that night so many things, only this time it was him who really missed out.

*

“About those crumbs...” Tom mumbled into Y/N’s hair. “You know that means war, right?”

[uppastthejelliclemoon]

SO MY HEART HAS BEEN CRUSHED AFTER I READ YOUR RECENT ONE SHOT ABOUT THE CHAOS TWINS. I DEMAND RETRIBUTION. I DEMAND FLUFF!!! For this prompt, let's have Jubilee tell the twins that she is expecting twins herself! Jerrie is gonna be a daddy and Teazer and her mate Victoria will be aunties!

TIME FOR FLUFF

“Well? Am I sick?” Jubilee asked Jenny and Hestia, looking between the two with confusion. Both queens shook their heads, smiling. “Then what’s going on?”

“Congratulations, my dear. You’re expecting kittens.”Jenny said, reaching out and taking Jubilee’s paw and holding it tightly. 

“You’ve got twins, Jojo!” Hestia said brightly.

Jubilee’s eyes widened. “Really?” Jenny and Hestia nodded, and the Selkirk threw her arms around them, laughing happily. “I’m going to be a mom! And you’re going to be a grandma!” Jenny laughed and hugged her back, and Hestia beamed at her friend’s excitement. Jubilee pulled back and looked at Hestia, happy tears in her eyes. “You’re going to be the best aunt, Hettie.”

“Jojo, you’re going to be an amazing mom.” Hestia said warmly, pulling her best friend into a tight hug. “Now, I think Jerrie’s probably worrying his tail off, so you’d better go give him the good news!” 

Jenny placed a paw on the younger queen’s arm, a smile on her face as she handed Jubilee a small box. “Give him this. I prepare them for all the new fathers in the tribe when their mate tells them they’re expecting.” Jubilee beamed and nodded, running from Jenny’s den to her own. 

“Cheshire?!” she called, rushing in to find Mungojerrie just beginning to settle in. He whirled around with a wide grin. 

“Hey there, Curls!” he said happily. “Teaz and I just got back.” Jubilee threw her arms around her mate, kissing him soundly and making him stumble back in surprise before wrapping his arms securely around her waist and holding her close. As they broke apart, he had a dazed, happy look on his face. “Not that I’m complaining, Curls, but what was that about?”

Jubilee beamed. “I’ve got something for you.” She handed the box to Mungojerrie, and his face lit up. 

“A present? For me?” he asked with a wink, making Jubilee giggle. He unwrapped the box and opened it up, pulling out bits of paper that were shoved in there. He slowly pulled out a toy, a tiny little mouse toy that had a little bell around the neck and was made of the softest fabric. Jubilee watched with a bright smile as the realization suddenly hit Mungojerrie, and he slowly looked up at her, holding the mouse tightly in his paw. “Jubilee. Is this what I think it is?”

Jubilee nodded, tears filling her eyes. “I went to see your mum with Hettie this morning.” Mungojerrie had tears in his eyes as well, staring down at the mouse in awe. “Twins, Jerrie. You’re going to be a dad to twins.” Mungojerrie let out a happy shout and pulled Jubilee into his arms, dancing with her around the den as she laughed. He lifted her off the ground, spinning her around, both cats laughing happily. 

“We’re going to be parents!” Mungojerrie shouted as Jubilee beamed at him. He set her down and pressed his forehead against hers, shaking slightly. “Everlasting, we’re going to be parents.” He kissed his mate’s forehead, pulling her into a tight hug and nuzzling her shoulder. “You’re going to be the best mother in the entire world, Curls.”

“You’re going to be the best dad, Cheshire.” Jubilee replied warmly, and Mungojerrie gave her a loving smile. “Now, we still need to tell Teazer and Tori, since Hettie already knows!”

“Well then, let’s go!” Mungojerrie said, grabbing the mouse and Jubilee’s hand, running out of the den laughing. Jubilee followed, happiness swelling in her heart as they rushed into Rumpleteazer and Victoria’s den without warning. 

“Jerrie! How about a knock or something next time!” Rumpleteazer scolded, annoyance in her voice. 

Jubilee couldn’t help but giggle. “Sorry, Teazer. Jerrie’s just a bit excited.”

Mungojerrie looked at her with wide eyes. “A bit excited? Curls, I’m damn near bursting with excitement!”

“What’s so exciting?” Victoria asked, cocking her head curiously. Jubilee nodded to Mungojerrie, who handed the toy mouse to his sister. Rumpleteazer looked at the plush, and she squealed in delight as Victoria gasped, recognizing what it meant. Both queens threw their arms around Jubilee happily, Mungojerrie nearly vibrating beside them, and as Rumpleteazer released Jubilee to hug her brother, he lifted her up and spun her around, making her shriek. 

“I’m going to be an aunt!” the calico queen crowed happily. 

“Oh Jubilee, that’s wonderful!” Victoria gushed, grasping the other queen’s paws tightly in her own. “Do you know how many yet?”

Jubilee nodded happily. “Twins. I went to Jenny with Hettie this morning.”

“Twins?” Rumpleteazer gasped, and she grinned down at her brother. “We get to corrupt tiny minds!”

Jubilee laughed, and Mungojerrie grabbed her and Victoria, pulling her into a group hug. They were all laughing and happy, the promise of new lives and new stories for the tribe making them all smile.

[theprodigypenguin]

Just a Bad Dream

Ao3 Link

Pairings: none

Summary: When they were younger, Albus always went to James when he had a particularly bad dream. He grew out of it, but in light of recent events, the murders of Craig and his grandparents and his involvement with Delphini, the bad dreams had just gotten worse, and only one person was ever able to help him through those nightmares.

Words: 5010

Warnings: fluff and talk of death and scary dreams

Notes: Woke up at 3am last night because of a nightmare where my family fuckin ditched me to a natural disaster (I think it was a hurricane), so to get the taste out of my mouth I wrote this fluffy family one shot with James and Albus. Might add more, because at the end there I got a small idea to involve Bill, but we'll see. It still hurts pretty badly to write with my finger, even when I'm on my phone, so it takes me a while. I feel like I could've done more with this, but oh well.

~#~#~#~#~#~#~

When James was ten, his Uncle Ron told him a scary story. He remembered sitting on the floor in the living room at the Potter house with a few of his cousins, his six year old sister, Lily, curled up on his lap and watching their uncle enraptured. Fred, sitting next to James, looked unimpressed for the most part as their uncle leaned forward on the seat he'd taken, close to the kids so they could hear him.

"The lake was so clear it was like a sheet of glass, but the moment our hero touched the surface, intending to scoop out water, the small ripple attracted what was below, and a hand shot up without warning to grab his wrist! It was thin, bony, sunken, skin white and translucent to show the bones beneath, and as the Hero struggled to back away, the dark creature followed, rising from the water a corpse, sallow skin hanging from its cheeks and eye sockets empty. Its joints cracked and bent unnaturally as it crawled onto the little island, its brothers and sisters rising and clawing their way towards our Hero-."

Lucy was the first one to scream and started crying, and Ron was left looking startled.

"It's just a story, LuLu, it's not real," he insisted, scooping her into his arms and bouncing her on his knee to calm her down.

"Ron Weasley what are you doing?!" James' mother was in the room now, looking furious, and Ron gave her a sheepish look.

"Nothin, just telling them a story that's all."

"Skeletons, auntie!" Louis yelled from where he was crouched on his knees between Rose and Albus, "They were moving!"

"Skeletons don't move, Louis," Ginny said, and Lily scrambled away from James to run and cling to her.

"I'm not scared!" she squeaked a little, and Ron winced at the glare his sister gave him.

"Aw c'mon, Gin, it's just a spooky story."

"Inferi aren't stories to tell children, Ronald."

"What's a little reanimated corpse gonna do?"

"Up, let's go," Ginny chided him, "You're supposed to be helping with supper."

Ron groaned as he lifted to his feet, making a joke about his body needing to be oiled because he was getting so old, following Ginny out of the living room. Rose leaned over Louis once they were gone, whispering to the rest of them.

"I know what Inferi are. I read about them."

"Of course you did," Fred drawled as James nodded Rose to continue.

"They're reanimated corpses brought to life by dark wizards," she said lowly, "Murdered muggles or wizards. I read that during the war, Voldemort had amassed an army of Inferi, of people he'd murdered and cursed into Inferi. Someone who becomes an Inferi can't ever pass on into the next life, you know? They'll come back with dark magic and be something so evil, so disfigured and disgusting, that even hell rejects them-."

"MUUUUUM!" Louis yelled as he darted from the room, running from Rose's story, and Fred laughed at her as James grinned.

Rose just huffed and tried to further explain what she knew of Inferi, but Fred just got up and left, Hugo was distracted by a book of his own that had pop-up pictures, James thought he was too old for scary stories anyway, and Albus... well, James didn't know what he thought of it.

He appeared disinterested at first glance, leaning against the couch and watching Rose as she focused on him entirely and continued her long rant. James had to commend his brother for managing to deal with her monologues. Even at ten years old, James was bored with them. He loved his cousin, but she could be so terribly annoying.

No one really seemed worried about the scary story. Lucy cried for a little until her father showed up for supper and let her cling to him the rest of the night, even sitting on his lap while eating. Rose continued to pipe out random facts about reanimated corpses, James decided she knew way too much about these things, and Fred scared the daylights out of Louis by draping a napkin over his head and face and hiding behind the doorway into the kitchen, hopping out with a "boo" that had Louis shrieking and running into the table before falling back onto the ground in a panic.

Fred was scolded for fifteen minutes straight after that, followed by Ron's lecture where he sat pouting and trying to justify his spooky story.

"They're kids, there's no harm."

Ginny disagreed, and James was smart enough to notice his father's face growing pale when Ron told him what the story was about. Later that night before bed, James hugged his father a little tighter and a little longer than usual, patting his back the best he could.

"It's okay, da', skeletons don't really move. It's just a scary story."

Harry looked a millions shades of white and red as he buried a hand in James' hair, "That's right, bud. Go off to bed now."

Lily slept between Harry and Ginny that night, saying she wasn't scared she just thought they might be. No one patronized her for it and Harry thanked her for being such a good little protector.

James had no trouble getting to sleep, face half in his pillow and mouth open in a soft, slow snore as he clung to a giant stuffed dog about as big as he was. It couldn't have been morning yet when he woke up, opening bleary eyes and squinting through the dark, lit dimly by the soft glow of tiny golden orbs that Ginny had charmed into each of their rooms (they would disappear during the day and blink to life like stars at night).

"Wha?" James grunted, lifting his face off the pillow and squinting at the edge of the bed.

It took a minute of adjustment for James to make out the form of his eight year old brother standing there, watching James intently.

"Whatdya want? What time is it?"

"I wanna sleep here," Albus said instead of answering, and James felt momentarily annoyed, until Albus whispered, "I had a bad dream..."

James immediately understood, because he got bad dreams too sometimes. He figured Albus could have just gone to their parents, then remembered Lily was with them already, so he scooted to the side, pushing his stuffed toy off the bed and patting the mattress.

"C'mon, then, Al."

He looked grateful and exhausted, climbing onto the bed and slithering beneath the covers, sheets, blankets, and comforter until only his eyes and the top of his head were sticking up, peering around at the glowing lights.

"What was your dream about?"

Albus didn't answer at first, fidgeting and holding the blankets over his nose, staring down.

"Inferno."

"You mean Inferi?" Albus nodded furiously, and James felt the need to laugh, but thought that would be rude.

He would have been upset had someone laughed at his own discomfort, he had no right to laugh at Al's. Instead he did what his mother and father would do when he had a bad dream. Pulled all the covers on the bed up and scooted closed to Albus so they were sharing a pillow.

"You know they're not real, don't you?"

"Yea they are, Rose said so," Albus croaked, hiding his face in the blankets, "I looked it up in da's book, the one he keeps in his study, and they do exist. They look so scary... they're living Halloween decorations."

James couldn't control the laugh that time, but felt bad about it after from the way his brother trembled. He snuck closer and fumbled his arms around Albus, who protested with a single whine but nothing else. He seemed to be shaking more than James realized before, his body jerking and shivering against his chest, and James frowned, for a moment unsure of how to fix it.

He had to try, though. It was his job to always look after his younger siblings, to make them laugh and protect them. His Uncle Bill told him that, a proud look in his eyes as he said it; so proud to be the older brother, so proud to have younger siblings.

"It's exhausting being the oldest, sometimes you grow up too fast and not even realize it, sometimes you'll find yourself angry at them, but they're more precious than anything else in the world, worth more than a hundred thousand galleons. Which is a lot of galleons, James."

"What else did da's book say?"

"The infertile don't like light or fire...?"

"Inferi," James corrected again, "That's easy then! Look, see? Mum put all these fire bugs in our rooms! Inferi won't dare try and hurt you while the fire bugs are here!"

"They're not real though," Albus argued, "It's just a spell."

"But the Inferi don't know that," James reminded, and Albus was quiet for a moment before gaping at James, who grinned and ruffled his brother's black hair, "Don't be scared, Aly. You don't ever gotta be when I'm around, cuz I'm your big brother and I'll protect you from everything!"

"Even Inferi?" Albus asked on a whisper, and James gave a sharp nod.

"I'll fight off all the Inferi with a sword made of fire, and I'll fight off Dementors for you, and mum's cooking, and all the mean people from Slytherin!"

"Really?" Albus looked hopeful at that, "Even mum's cooking?"

"You bet!"

"There are a lot of people in Slytherin."

"I don't care if there are millions, I'll beat 'em all up!"

"But uncle says I might be in Slytherin," Albus whispered, and James patted his head.

"Well Aly I guess that means I'll have to beat you up for you too, if you ever bully my brother, you got that?"

Albus giggled, finally, his shaking lessening until he'd snuggled closer and fallen asleep. He didn't have any more Inferi nightmares after that, but he did have others, James recalled. They were sometimes very strange, like the nightmare where a giant orange Puffskein swallowed up London (Albus refused to get near them after that), while some were more serious.

James spent at least an hour when Albus was ten, trying to calm him down after a nightmare where their parents had yelled at him, told him they didn't actually love him, that they wished he wasn't their kid, and kicked him out of the house, locking the door so he couldn't get back inside. He cried so hard he almost woke the rest of the house up, but James somehow managed to calm him down by promising he would never let something like that happen.

"Mum and dad love us so much, they would absolutely never do that! Even if they did, you know what I'll do? I'll go with you! That's right! I'll go with you and I'll still protect you! Even if they don't want me to! Cuz that's what I'm supposed to do!"

Honestly though, who could have predicted some of Albus' worst nightmares would come true? Sorted into Slytherin, and suddenly James was laughing at the Slytherin Squib behind Albus' back with the other Gryffindor's in his dorm. The older ones especially seemed to take joy out of gossiping about that false Potter and Voldemort's son.

Then the argument that made Albus wake up sobbing so hard he couldn't breathe, the argument he was so afraid of that James almost couldn't calm him down. James heard it when they yelled at each other, at first he just rolled his eyes because Albus was just a moody teenager after all. Then their father said it, wished Albus wasn't his son.

James had a flash back of that night and what he promised Albus, remembered all those times he swore to be on his brother's side and look out for him, but when he stormed down the hall, left the house, James didn't go with him.

He always swore that he would.

When it came right down to it... he didn't.

The rest of the year was utterly miserable. The first few months from the start of term to Halloween had James in a state of near constant panic, because Albus wasn't there, then he was, then he wasn't, disappearing three times. He wouldn't have been as worried if it hadn't been for the professors worrying, if it hadn't been for their father and the Minister of Magic of all people showing up at the school.

Maybe James wouldn't have worried so much if he hadn't found Craig Bowker Jr dead on the Quidditch pitch.

The summer after that year, he had to note how attentive Harry was being to Albus, even though they still got in a number of smaller arguments now and then. He let Albus visit Scorpius, and even invited Scorpius over a few times. It was nice, because it seemed after so long that Harry and Draco had finally made peace with each other, if only for the sake of their sons.

James and Albus didn't talk much after Christmas. Albus seemed to be busy with Scorpius, and James, well, was busy trying to make up for the past four years of not doing what he always promised in protecting Albus. He lost a handful of friends in his quest to get people to stop picking on Albus, the seventh year Gryffindors he looked up to even turned on him a few times, but less people were targeting Albus now, so James didn't mind.

He kept it a secret of course. The last thing he needed was Albus thinking he was trying to get something out of helping, and frankly he didn't want to hear Albus snap, "I don't need your help," at him.

The fact of the matter stayed the same. Albus almost died, and James hadn't been the best brother in the world like he always swore he would be. Now he had to make up for lost time, and damn it if James Sirius Potter didn't absolutely dominate in that. He even managed to enlist Louis and Fred's help, Lily didn't take much convincing.

"Lils do you wanna help-."

"Are we messing something up? Let's do it!"

"- with... Albus?"

"Oh. Oh okay."

James couldn't keep everyone from harassing Albus and Scorpius, but he and his cousins did their best, even reaching out to other houses to insist they leave them be. Most of the time they got dirty looks and scowls, some Gryffindor's called them snake lovers, but most of the Hufflepuffs agreed, looking sheepish, and at least three Ravenclaws actually apologized for any distress they may have caused.

"Don't apologize to me," James had said, "Apologize to my brother."

It wasn't until that summer that Albus finally spoke to James. It was the middle of the night, everyone had gone to bed hours ago, but James had a lot on his mind. He was lying in bed of course, but held open above him was a book he'd never really cared for before. He didn't quite care about his History of Magic classes, though he did fine grade-wise. He'd never really bothered to look into it before.

Ever since Albus disappeared, however, and James found out about Delphini through eavesdropping and sneaking around, he found a new interest in the history of the Wizarding Wars. It was terrifying how so much horror could come from just one dark wizard. If Voldemort could make such a mess that lasted for so long and destroyed so many lives, then what was his daughter capable of?

The little orbs of light had converged around him and his book to make it easier to see and read, cringing when he turned a page to see a picture of Bellatrix Lestrange (she looked disturbingly like a younger Andromeda). This woman who had singlehandedly killed and tortured so many. Professor Longbottom's parents, Sirius Black, Remus and Nymphadora Lupin; killed by Molly Weasley (fuck yea, James thought).

There was no knock, James only just heard the door creak open, turning his head but barely catching sight of Albus before he'd dropped the book onto his face, groaning and cupping his hands over his nose as he rolled over and knocked the book to the ground.

"Oh bloody hell, owe."

"I... I thought you'd be asleep."

"What?" James sat up, pulling away his hands before putting them back under his nose to make sure there was no blood, then gaped over at Albus, who was standing awkwardly in the doorway, head down.

This was the first time he'd said anything to James in months, but why did he have to choose midnight to do so? What, he expected James to be sleeping? What was he planning to do then?

"What're you doing in here?" James asked, and it sort of came out harsher than he'd wanted.

Albus tensed and started to back up, "Sorry to interrupt."

"Whoa, hang on, come back," James pushed his blankets back and turned, ready to jump from the bed to stop him physically if he had to, "Come back, what's going on?"

Albus had paused, tapping the door a few times and glancing down the hall both way before stepping back into the bedroom, shutting the door with a click.

"I'm staying in here tonight."

"You are?" James gaped at him, very confused, watching him grab the Puddlemere United quilt that was folded on the foot of his bed.

He then stole the pillow James had been using and dropped it on the floor next to the bed, lying down there and throwing the quilt over himself, curled onto his side facing the door. It was quiet for a moment, and James slowly leaned over the bed to look down at Albus.

"I... guess you are. That's fine, but can I have my book back? I dropped it."

Albus shifted around and pulled out the book, he must have laid down on top of it, but instead of immediately giving it back, he flipped it open, "What are you doing reading a history book at midnight?"

"What? I'm not allowed to learn?"

Albus had stopped on a page towards the middle, where a photograph of a rather handsome brown haired boy wearing Hufflepuff robes was smiling. James could see his name printed in the ribbon along the bottom of his portrait: Cedric Diggory, 1977 - 1995 (June 24).

"Al-."

"He was seventeen, you know," Albus said before James could get out a full word, "Not much older than you."

"Yea..."

Albus turned the pages back to the same place James had been at, where the photograph of Bellatrix stood there sneering. Albus shut the book with a snap and shoved it up to James without looking at him. James took the book and sat up, feeling even more confused than before as he slowly reopened the book to Bellatrix, and suddenly it hit him, his nose still stinging from when he'd dropped his book.

"Did you have a bad dream?"

"Leave me alone, James."

"Hey, you came into my room, remember. What, were you planning on just taking the quilt and lying down without waking me up or something?" he didn't get an answer, and his heart seized painfully in his chest as he realized yea, that was his plan, "How... how many times have you done that?"

"I said leave me alone."

"You know you could've just woken me up? If you're having nightmares, I don't mind."

"I don't get nightmares, James, just leave me be."

"Again, this is my bedroom," James said simply, but again he got no reply, so he just sighed, scooting to the other side of the bed, "Al, come up here. There's enough room for you."

"I'm fourteen, I'm not sharing a bed with my sixteen year old brother."

"Why? Afraid I'll hog the blankets? Just get up here before I yell and wake mum and dad up. You know I will."

Albus grumbled after a moment and shifted, standing up with the blanket and pillow and flopping none too elegantly onto the bed, burying his face in the pillow like he intended to suffocate himself.

James pulled all the covers back up, taking a moment to ensure Albus was comfortably tucked in before lying down himself and opening his book. For a long time it was silent, James was able to read a few more pages, the little lights dancing around the words, until Albus spoke, his voice muffled in the pillow.

"Did you say something?" James asked, not taking his eyes away from the page talking about the Centaurs and their outrage at shrinking territory.

Albus shifted a bit, head turning so his mouth wasn't shoved against the pillow, staring at the door and the Quidditch poster James had pinned up, "I saw the Thestrals," he muttered, and James didn't seem to comprehend the words at first, giving a hum before pausing, his page half turned.

"Wait..."

"When we were taken back to the train," Albus clarified, "In the carriages. I saw 'em."

"That's not possible you know," James snorted, "Look I know they spook you out, that's kind of my fault, but bad dreams aren't reality-."

"I saw Craig die," Albus interrupted, and James felt something sour settle in his mouth, remembering Craig lying cold and stiff on the Quidditch pitch, "and later I saw... other people die."

"You saw it?" James asked, "Craig?"

Albus nodded, "Scorpius and I saw it. He... got in the way... just like... like Cedric Diggory."

James didn't know what to say, frozen where he was sitting and staring at his brother in a state of confused horror.

"Thestrals can only be seen by people who have witnessed death. I didn't think I'd ever have to worry about it, but you know... I'm not exactly lucky. They're not as scary as I always thought. No, I think... I think I've seen plenty that's way scarier."

"Delphini," James said, and Albus flinched, "That's her name, right? I overheard dad-."

"She killed him."

"Albus, I'm-."

"I did have a kind of bad dream," Albus muttered, not giving James a chance to finish even a single sentence, "Green light. Y'know... I like that color, really, but... suddenly looking at it makes me feel sick. Which is bad, because I'm a Slytherin, and my entire dorm is green."

James had a million questions he wanted to ask, clinging to his book as he took a moment to calm himself down, finally looking back at Albus once he was sure he wouldn't say something stupid.

"What was your nightmare about?"

Stupid, that was stupid, that was one of the stupid things he shouldn't have said-.

"Craig dying," Albus answered, and James held his breath, "I really... get how dad felt now. After watching Diggory die I mean. Dad probably had nightmares too... his life really sucked."

James couldn't hold the nervous laugh, shaking his head, "He's happy now."

"I know," Albus said, "I just... didn't want to be alone right now. Sorry."

"Don't worry about that, I was already awake anyway," James closed his book and set it down, lying back and watching the little lights spread around the room, "Dad probably would understand what you're feeling better than I could," James admitted, "because I honestly don't understand at all. I wish I did."

"I hope you never do," Albus said softly, and James felt his heart jump again, "I know I can talk to dad, but he's not... he's different. He'll try to fix everything, that's just how he is, and there's nothing he can fix with me. It's just a dream..."

It sounded like he wanted to say more, but was quiet or holding back, so James rolled onto his side, reaching out to poke him in the back, "And?"

Albus hesitated and grumbled, "And... you've always been better than me at fighting off the things that don't exist. Like... nightmares."

James felt himself swell in pride at that, at the fact despite everything, Albus still knew he could rely on James, especially about something like this. The situation with Delphini and Craig was so beyond James, but maybe that was why Albus came to him and not their father, because he didn't want to be near what happened right now, he didn't want to be reminded of it. He needed a distraction, needed to feel safe.

"You got that right," he said, grabbing onto the covers and jerking them higher, throwing an arm around Albus, who grunted in irritation as James threw his weight into his brother, "I'm the absolute best at kicking ass that doesn't exist. Remember! I'm your big brother and I'll protect you from everything! I'll fight off every Thestral and dark witch with a sword made of fire."

He squeezed Albus, and this horrible feeling settled in his gut, because Albus watched someone die, watched someone get murdered, and honestly... honestly James didn't know how to help. Albus could have died to. James swore he'd always follow him and look after him if he was chased away, but he didn't, and Albus almost died; because he hesitated.

"I'll fight off Dementors for you... and mum's cooking... and the Gryffindors who keep picking on you and Scorpius... and all the mean people from Slytherin."

"I'm one of those mean people from Slytherin, James."

"Then I'll kick your ass too. Haven't I told you that before?"

"You talk about kicking ass a lot for someone who's only five foot seven inches and gets excited over red plaid."

"Shut up. I am not that short."

"Are you gonna stop hugging me anytime soon, Not That Short?"

"For that quip? Die this way."

Albus snorted hard, hiding his face in the pillow as he chuckled, and James pressed his forehead against Albus' back.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"I'm not," Albus muttered.

"I could've helped."

"You could've died."

"So could you."

Albus didn't answer, but James figured he knew his brother well enough to know what he wanted to say. So he tightened his grip impossibly.

"Mum and dad never would have recovered if you had died, Al. Lily wouldn't have either. Or me. We'd be broken if we lost you."

He could practically feel how much Albus wanted to protest and argue that they would have been fine, James could already hear him.

"A family of Gryffindor's don't need a Slytherin to tarnish their reputation anyway," and, "People don't believe I'm a Potter anyway, just getting rid of an extra," or, "Dad wanted me gone a few months ago anyway, what makes now different?"

"We'd be broken and you can't tell me otherwise."

"I figured I'd broken the family already, back when I got sorted."

"Nope, you didn't."

"Certainly feels like I got broken."

"Yet you still fit perfectly."

"Do I?"

"Yup. The only way you could break this family is by dying on us, so don't ever run off and do something stupid like that again."

"Considering my track record..."

"Fine, then just tell someone when you're about to do something stupid."

"I tell Scorpius."

"And he tags along, that's not what I meant at all. Tell me, okay?"

"You're saying you wouldn't tag along too if given the chance?"

"Well if I don't have Quidditch practice-."

"Never mind I don't care."

James snickered, and after a moment let go of Albus, rolling onto the other side of the bed and watching as the dimly lit orbs bounced along in the room. He was happy to have managed to make Albus laugh, but there was still a horrible pit in his stomach, a voice in his head telling him he could've done so much more, and his uncle Bill's voice adding his input.

"It's exhausting being the oldest..."

It really was.

"Not everything is your job, James, remember that. As the oldest you have every right to look after and protect them, but if something goes wrong, you can't hate yourself for it. You can't predict the future."

Bill always gave good advice, and considering how miserable James was feeling about Delphini and Albus, he decided maybe it was about time to reach out to him for some oldest sibling words of wisdom. With plans made to send an owl the next day, James rolled over and peered over at Albus, who was lying on his back, eyes closed.

James poked him once to see if he was asleep, and after deciding he was, he just laid there and watched him for a moment, ensuring he wasn't having anymore bad dreams.

This used to happen a lot when they were much younger, five year old Albus would toddle into James' room and cling to him because he saw something in his closet, a shadow, or a scary dream. James used to be a super hero who was always there to make Albus smile, and thought himself the greatest big brother in the world, because Albus always said so.

As they got older, though, Albus stopped coming to him for help, and James knew it was normal of course, but he missed it, being able to help his brother through the tough times. Albus was getting stronger, he could deal with a lot on his own, but it didn't matter if he could or not.

What mattered was if he knew he didn't have to, because no matter how isolated Albus made himself or how hard he tried to block out his family due to self internalized hate, he wasn't alone. Unfortunately, he was a teenager, and James had a feeling it would take Albus a long time to accept that no matter what he did, or how many times he may mess up, every time he looked behind him expecting to be alone, he was going to see his family. Hell, even if they did leave, he was still going to see James there, because James loved his family too much to give up on them. Even if they did almost destroy the world.

[freshoutofthegutter]

Jackets

He laughed!

He had the fucking audacity to laugh.

The warm breath from his mouth, forming precipitates as his dusky pink lips grinned.

She didn't even bother turning her head to spare him a mere glance. Another car zoomed past them reminding her of the lack of clothing on her arms.

"I will squeeze your knees", she hissed.

This time he threw his head back and laughed. It was so far back that she prolly thought that he would tip over.

She started her March across the now empty road. Just as the signals shifted.

It took a moment for him to realise that he was alone and the evil vixen had crossed over to the other side. His driver approached him, distracting him. It was in that moment he lost where she was.

"Yes felix", he murmured.

"Car's ready sir". He informed.

"Have a spin then", he gestured spinning his finger as he crossed, j walked across the road. Barely missing a car.

Lifting his hands up in apology but a shit eating grin said otherwise.

"Idiot", she cursed. As she watched him risk his life casually strolling across the road. A kid in the small yet packed cafe was mesmerised by her two tier anarkali dress. As her mum waited in the line for a bite to grab. The bangles on her wrist was what had her hooked. She smiled at kid and hoped that her pursuer had fucked off.

"Are you allergic to flowers?", she asked the kid who appeared to be 7 ish. The kid shook her head which was covered by a neon pink cap.

"Here, you can have them", she smiled taking the jasmine and rose bangles off her wrists.

The kid's face lit up with joy. The mother was keeping an eye on her kid. As everyone was busy looking as the woman in traditional Asian festive drab. After a quick polite conversation the mother and daughter duo were out.

She moved in a corner away from the window. Stealing a glance at the clock it was ten past eleven. She had been in here for the last ten minutes. Reaching for strength the battle the cold weather outside. She dived into the reservoir of anger she held against her parents for what they had said to her this evening. She looked outside and rubbed her arms. That had goosebumps but no hair because of lazer. She Took her time release the veil that she had pinned earlier and placed it around her shoulders well aware that it wouldn't offer any protection from the cold. The front door opened, gush of cold wind and an overjoyed "there you are".

He walked up to her putting his phone in the pocket of his bespoke jacket . Every eye  followed him. Hoping for drama to unfold and drama did he serve.

"How did you find me?". Voice venomous.

"I just asked followed the breadcrumbs, well in your case the smell of the flowers", he. Smiled tilting his head to the side which only provoked icy glares from her.

"Oh, look at my sweet model throwing tantrums",  he teased.

She gave him a puzzled look. A man to her left offered her help if the suit was being bother some. Which she declined with the shake of her head.

" she is my muse. I'd never bother her", his eyes fluttered with mischief. "I was merely hoping that she would return back to me so I could praise and marvel her beauty for the rest of the night", he placed a hand over his chest signet glinting at the faux offence.

" stop it", she warned. Glancing outside.

"Oo. Grumpy. I get it you haven't eaten. I know those pesky photographs dont want you eating during shoots and you dont like to be filmed when eating", he pointed at her. Oozing cheekiness.

"Well, let me rectify that", he murmured turning to the menu being particularly unimpressed. " do you want a chocolate muffin or walnut darling", he inquired keeping his hand on his chin.

He didn't hear a reply.

Someone pointed out to him that she had left. He followed hot on her trail.

"How were you planning on paying?", he called keeping a meter of distance between them.

"I wasn't ordering anything". She called back. He took this as a positive sign and happily walked up to her side.

" really. Not even a coffee?", he was puzzled. "I certainly could use one". He pointed out sliding his hand into his pocket.

" I'm not throwing a tantrum", she spoke.

"Really", he wasn't buying it.

"You have no idea the amount of self control I'm showing not to punch you". She smiled at him. "I deserve a reward". She spoke to herself.

"What time would that be around because I have an invitation for breakfast because I managed to unconsciously impress an uncle of yours",

"Do me a favour and dont go", she commented.

"Only If you invite me to your reward thing". He offered.

"Whatever it's your loss, Probably would want you to invest in a project", she dismissed with the wave of her hand.

"I'll do whatever I see fit", he spoke. Throwing her words from earlier.

"Wow", she mocked. Folding her arms across her front amazed that he would do this.

"Yes you look stunning, dressed in lace and anger. This is definitely working for me". He gestured to her 5'5" hundred pounds frame.

"Why did you come?"

"Because I was invited"

"Next time decline". She hissed. Stroking her arms.

He automatically assumed that she was cold.

"Its amazing how all this anger is keeping you warm. If not hot". He stroked her bare shoulder and unfolded her arms grabbing her hands. Finding them ice cold. He stroked her fingers.

He pulled her closer to him. "Have I mentioned it's working very well for me", he winked. She shivered again. Breaking eye contact.

" next time we will colour coordinate". He grinned.

"There will not be a next time". She clarified.

" there were several of your cousins. I'm pretty sure. One of them could decide." He began.

"I'm next and if not me then Tina", she managed to verbalize as a rush of cold air managed to shake her pin straight hair.

He lost his cheeky edge for a moment. That caused his security to take a step in their direction. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and he stared at her.

"I volunteer". He spoke.

Naturally she punched him smack in the middle of his chest. Now his security was standing to his left as he laughed. And she hugged her hand close to her chest.

" Ivon. She is a foot shorter than me do you really think that was necessary", he scolded.

" fuck you", she hissed.

"Ooo role play in public, I just have to figure how to get under that....." he was practically devouring her. That straight hair and braty behaviour entertaining him enticing.

"Run along Ivon". He nodded to his left.

She was clearly embarrassed to have a witness to this behaviour.

"I'll be....", she trailed off walking into an incredibly pricey high end store. Where only 9 articles were on display.

"You know my employees sign an NDA so you dont have to worry about anything", he stood next to her and settled his hand at the base of her spine.

A platinum blond approached them with glossy smile offering help. She didn't even look at her. He politely told her that they are still looking. She kept her distance.

Stroking the fur of a peach jacket smiled to herself.

"Care to share". His voice floated through the soft notes of the piano.

"Tina always said that stores that display eleven  items always over price". He nodded in agreement as he observed the lack of price tags.

" are these all?" Tirza said gesturing to the rack.

"We have more, these are just our best sellers". The attendant smiled.

" what is madam looking for". She asked trying to get an idea.

" a puffer coat perhaps", she said nodded.

" a silk and wool evening coat with a belt, preferably cream". He smiled.

" right this way", the woman turned on her heel.

"How much do you have on you?" Tirza asked. As she fixed her non functional veil for the third time.

"So you're letting me buy you a jacket", he delighted.

"No. I'm buying myself a jacket and am temporarily borrowing money from you", she clarified. "Black", she said as the woman held up two puffer jacket options.

"I dont see silk or wool in that", Oliver commented.

"One moment please", Tirza smiled quickly at the attendant and dragged Oliver away by his arm.

" look I can't accept an over priced jacket from you that I'll wear for just 30 minutes". She explained.

" it takes 15 to get to mine and 25 if you're walking".

Groaning she cried, " why is this fun for you?".

" because I got to spend a lovely evening observing you, looking absolutely delicious and angelic", his lips hovered over her cheek. " also it was my first time at an Asian engagement party, I throughly enjoyed myself".

" that's a first. I didn't know", Tirza hummed.

"Plus the ladies were pretty to look at". He joked.

" ofcourse", she swatted him on his arm.

" tremendously physical aren't we this evening", he murmured huskly grabbing her wrist.

" I'm just annoyed, itchy and cold", she sighed, " but proud" she added.

" because...." his eyebrows raised.

" because I wore flats". She raised the skirt to show her feet.

" cold I can fix, now where is the itch?". He teased eyeing her.

" no just drop me home", she said rubbing her hands on her arms.

" no. You're coming with me", he spoke sternly.

" Oliver", she warned. He raised his eyebrows at her taunting her.

Fine two can play dirty.

" home", she poked at his arm.

" no", he refused to look at her.

" I need to change out of this itchy top I'm pretty sure my boobs are scratched". She stated looking at his face. Waiting for information to click in.

" pardon", he was pretty sure his misheard her. Did she just say boobs out loud?

" Tirza, are you telling me that you haven't got a thing under that?" He pointed to her front.

"Yes. That's why I needed to get a jacket because I'm cold and you...", she was about to say something that would potentially have them kicked out of the store.

" Angi. I want the champagne silk and wool French style coat with a belt". He stared at her challenging her to defy him.

" but she asked for the puffer Oliver". The woman argued.

" I know what she asked for. But get me what I want. You've been dealing with us for ages please dont let your reputation waver", he almost snapped.

" absolutely, right away". She scampered off.

" cool. She knows your name", Tirza pointed out coolly.

" yes" he looked at her briefly and his eyes dipped south. She caught that. " benefit of being non existent" she joked.

" they are plenty enough for me". He groaned.

" did you know?". She smiled wickedly at him.

" no", he spoke after a deep breath.

"Honestly I didn't notice it until you mentioned so", he gestured to her front.

" because darling if I'd known then there would have been no way that I would have let you parade on the streets in this balls freezing cold".

"I kind of like the cold", she commented. " gives me time to think",

" about being an infuriating tease", he remarked.

" whatever". She rolled her eyes.

" shall we?", he offered her his arm.

"Why thank you Sir", she accepted it.

He directed her to the modern glass counter to pay. Like he did on those rare moments when he accompanied his mother.

The duo stopped before a behemoth mirror that was two stories in length approximately.

He readjusted the jacket and tucked at his collar. " you look fine", she patted his hand. A frown had settled on his brow. " mighty fine I may add and its absolutely working for me", she added using his arm, and her tip toes to reach his ear. But missed by a few inches.  She looked so cute. Tiny and pratically engulfed by the bottom of her outfit. She met his gaze in the mirror. "Okay. I look good too", she said shyly

"Ah, yes. But we could have matched and it would have been ever better". He murmured scratching the very mild beard on his face. " I wasn't even sure you were going to show up", she sighed.

" or else I would have matched my knickers" she blinked innocently at him.

" ofcourse you would have," he smiled sarcastically.

" Angie," he called the woman was next to him in less than  a blink. " I'd like to take the puffer and cream trench coat, do not place that on the family's account but on mine". He slipped his arms from Tirza to pull his wallet out.

" absolutely", she complied giving him a secretive smile.

" baby. we only need one. Tell her to put one away before she tags them". Tirza tried to reason.

" yes. One. You picked and the other I'm buying for you", he spoke placing a kiss on her hair.

" could I please have the bill?", Tirza asked.

The attendee immediately turned to see what Oliver had to say.

With a quick scan of their purchase. Tirza turned on her heal the bottom of her skirt twirling.

" I'm charging this to Tina", Tirza frowned.

" I have a better option", Oliver offered. As he kept her attention on her skin that she wouldn't look at both the articles being packed and halt the process.

" what may that be?", she thought.

"Charge Drew, I'm sure he can handle the damage and I'll tell him I got you something and his Aries ass will want to top that off", his eyes were overflowing with mischief.

"And buy Tina more shite and then they would fight". Tirza completed. Disappointed.

"Thank you Angi", he smiled taking the purchases.

" oh, love do try them on", he offered her the bags.

" everyone is staring at us", she observed.

"So let them", he shrugged taking the cream coat out of its casing.

"Not wearing that",

"But it compliments your dress, that's why I picked it", he explained.

"It costs more than everything in wearing". She cried moving outside.

"Tirza you're awfully upset, it's just a jacket", he tried to calm her. As she started to walk again.

"Jackets, plural", she corrected.

"Fine. Jackets, you know I like to get you nice things", he said offering her the cream coat once again.

" now you sound like a sugar daddy. An investor, and I sound like a brat kept", she exclaimed. On the verge of cryin on everyone. Including myself", she began. Wiping a tear quickly. "I know I should be reasonable and accept the Jackets because its freezing I may end up catching pneumonia and die", she laughed at the end. Quoting Emerson.

His reaction was glacial at that statement but at least she was talking and he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I've turned into this over analysing and controlling bitch just by being with them all for a few hours".

" That's enough, stop belittling yourself", he warned.

" why are you yelling at me?", she spoke through the heavy lump in her throat.

" oh luv, I'm not yelling at you. Please come with me". He begged stroking her cheekbones.

"You should leave before their", she paused and laughed. " my madness spoils what we have, I've turned into this controlling freak and telling you not to go places. I mean we are just seeing eachother". She spoke on a sneeze.

" excuseme", she heard him say. In a tone he had never used with her. Which only made her cry more.

"We have been together...we have been exclusively together....", he corrected himself.

"No one asked you to", she rebutted.

That was his limit. He had enough of this outburst.

" you listen to me Tirza", he transferred the bags to his forearm. With a firm grip on her waist he pulled her to him. " I'm aware that you're upset", he stroked her face. " I'm sorry that people say rude things. But, I'm in love with that over analysing brain of yours", he lifted her chin with his finger and placed a firm kiss on her forehead.

"Your family do have an effect on you, because that's how families are. You have had no one except them. And frankly speaking they guilt trip you into doing what you wouldn't possibly want to do", he signed. As she took a cold breath. Nodding. Casuing the remaining tears to slide down her face.

Which he wiped with his thumb.

" I choose to love you and be with you and this isint because of your family bullying me into loving you, it's how I feel towards you, what i feel is so intense that whatever happens when i meet your family. It will always be greater than them",

" I'm afraid of being the controlling woman", she croaked, "and being selfish".

He had silenced her with a kiss. What a sight it was. A woman  in a fancy garb experiencing an emotional breakdown while a man consolidated her. As his security watched. She shivered in his embrace as more tears flowed.

She needed to be held. And he held her. Completely understanding her. Slowly pouring strength into her along with warmth from his body.

He was aware that she had issues, so did he. But what they had and his emotions towards her were far too intense to be dismissed away.

The woman in his life was having a breakdown of sorts at eleven thirty-ish. He was honoured to hold her broken pieces until she found the energy to mold them back into a stronger version of herself.

She had shivered twice already. A third one that practically rocked his upper body.

"Tirza", he whispered at her crown. Inhaling the scent of her hair, he smiled because he knew that she had a weird habit of putting a small spray of perfume in her hair.

"Hmmm", she acknowledged, practically melted in her embrace.

"Please put a jacket on?", he requested.

She broke from his embrace. He prepared himself for a protest. He watched her turn around. Her back to him. As she gathered the shimmery barely there veil in one hand.

"Well, hurry up", she spoke as another car passing by caused her hair to whoosh.

"Sorry", he murmured, shoving his hand in the bag and pulling out the puffer jacket.

"Which one?", his hand hovered not daring.

"Cream", she managed inhaling sharply.

"Fucking....", he hurried to get the cream and silk creation out.

"Horse cock", she supplied slipping her arms in the sleeves. As he held her hair.

"Thank you Ivon", he spoke making her face heat up. She stopped and turned around to see that his security was standing two feet away from them. Holding both the bags. He had heard her suggestion.

She didn't dare make eye contact with Ivon or glance in his direction.

Oliver had a bloody grin on his face. Yep. He heard her.

'I hate you', she mouthed at him. Tossing him her crumpled veil. He simply shook his head and smiled at her.

She sneezed. Almost folding in half.

"Here madam", Ivon offered her a wipe.

"Thank you", she said quietly before a sneeze.

"Ivon, car", Oliver hissed as he watched her eyes water. Ivon nodded and rushed off.

Oliver tried to grab her hands but she didn't let him pointing out that there were germs involved.

"Fuck", he hissed. Slipping his hands in the jacket to rub her waist. Only to discover that the inner silk wasn't warm yet.

"Bloody hell', he cursed. Tirza looked at him confused as she was about to sneeze again. He wrestled out of his jacket and was no fighting the no good cream and wool devil off her.

"Ooo strip tease", she teased. As she rubbed her cheek against the warm material of his prized Burberry jacket.

"Now the shirt", she laughed as she watched him fold the jacket she had on formally neatly over his arm.

"You should return that, it's done you no good", she winked.

"Never", he practically growled. Pulling her into his side. Rubbing her arm. In an attempt to provide warmth.

"This is the first time a man has given me his jacket", she murmured as she snuggled him. His heartbeat fast.

"Thank you", she smiled. As she placed a small kiss on the skin right above the collar of his shirt.

"I love you too", he spoke in her hair as he held her closer.

"Madam," Ivon held the door open for her.

"Thank you", she nodded at him as she gracefully slid into the car.

The heated upholstery was a luxury that she moaned with relief.

"Where to Sir?", The driver who's name she couldn't recall asked making eye contact in the rearview mirror.

"Where to?", he asked turing to Tirza.

"Hi and hotel please", she smiled at the driver.

"Absolutely". The driver nodded.

"What floor are you on?", she asked as they entered the lobby.

"7th floor", he answered. As they walked to to counter. She looked at him puzzled.

"Key", he explained as he provided his name to the concierge who immediately provided him with an envelope.

" what's bothering you?", he asked.

"Just wondering who is cashing in on the over night stay?", she admitted.

He looked at her surprised. As he requested a few warm beverages and some fresh fruit for them to nibble on.

"Why, afraid you might run into someone?",

She nodded.

"Coffee or tea?", he asked.

"Tea, chamomile If they have it. Please", she requested. He conved it on.

The concierge informed him that his suitcase had already been delivered to the room.

"When did you get the room?", she asked amazed as they stepped in.

"Ivon did, this afternoon", he answered.

"Bath?", he offered.

"Actually a shower", she declined. Shrugging out of his jacket.

"Sure, I need to make a phone call", he pointed to the jacket that she had taken off.

She quickly showered. Relishing the intensity of the water. Upon leaving the ensuite bathroom she discovered him holding a cup of tea. He was still on the phone. So she busied herself with preparing on herself.

She was halfway done with the tea when he ended the phone call with and walked into the bathroom stripping.

She was surprised to see that the closet was already equipped with his clothes.

"How long are you planning to stay?", she questioned eyeing the contents.

"Two days", he answered startling her.

She jumped and her hand immediately went to the hotel supplied robe. While he wore a towel.

"Oh, God", she huffed. As he opened a closet door to pull out a small black bag.

He looked at her thoughtfully and motioned with his head to follow him to the bathroom.

"You didn't have to pick them up", he commented as he observed that she had picked his clothes from the their designated location on the marble.

"I didn't, house keeping did", explained. "I just handed it to her".

"Ah yes. Claire", he nodded. As he placed the contents of the bag on the double vanity. Which she sat on.

"That's a cute bag", she commented.

He shook his head at her.

"What", she cried dramatically. Getting off the marble.

"Stay", he requested observing his reflection in the massive mirror.

She hoped back on.

"You okay?", she asked tiling her head to the side.

"Yea. I might give up while shaving", he admitted. "If you go". He added.

[nhlhoser]

On The Rocks- 22

Part 21 Masterlist

Word count: 2670

probably swearing 

It was about 5 pm when our stomachs decided it was time for food seeing as we've only had espresso and a hissy fit, we were quite hungry. About 3 unsuccessful suggestions of where to go and some feelings hurt on the way, I wordlessly rose of my bed got changed in my closet into actual underwear, my softest gray leggings and old baggy quarter zipper burgundy sweater. My leggings barely touch my ankle because of the length of my legs.

"We are going out," I announced re-enter my room to the lazy looking teen fiddling with my TV remote. He eyes my outfit for a clue of where we are going, me clearly looking just as lazy before just this time my own clothing doesn't give him much of a clue where.

"and where are we going?" Auston humored with an amused smirk on his face.

"Well, first I am gonna see what I have in the freezer and I think I should have gnocchi or lasagna prepped. Then you and I are going shopping," I smiled brightly gaining Auston's attention at shopping but his posture is doubtful in my intentions.

"Two things, where are we going shopping? and Nonna Gnocchi?" Auston's tone changes from scared to excited to hopeful all in one sentence as he slowly gets up from my bed, turning off the TV. I remember Auston being chirped for his love of shopping that has spanned way before he was making the big bucks that he is now, but this shopping won't be to his standards.

"Grocery shopping 'cause I saw your fridge," Smirking as Auston groans falling back onto my bed with a pout on his lips and a blush on his cheeks. "Come on Auston. Didn't you tell us that your Mum and dad are coming in this week or are already here?" I prodded already knowing that his parents are indeed in town because every time they are, Auston goes socially MIA and he hasn't been hanging around with Mitch or Morgan as often.

"Yeah, they're already in town but staying in a hotel. Claiming that 'I need my space for this important time of the season'," Auston drops his voice an octave mimicking what his dad is supposed to sound like probably. "So, I have been taking them to restaurants around the city," He sat up with a shrug.

"Okay but Auston was still going to grocery shopping because this is an important time of the season," I whined grabbing his arm half ass pulling him but he doesn't budge. "Okay, I'm not gonna talk about hockey anymore but you still need food," I pulled more, he smirks at the failed attempts to move him, thinking that I can't lift him.

"How much do you weight?" I asked pulling away from my plans being determined by his next answer as I assess him.

I think I can lift him.

"220, why?" He frowns as I smirked well looks like this gonna be a PR.

I lift 200 pounds in the gym what's another 20? Bracing my legs comfortably, bending my knees I wrap my arms under his and tugging him swiftly off the bed with minor difficulty lifting dead weight. He stumbled before gaining his balance now standing in front of me with a shocked face.

"Great, come on," I stepped abound him about to walk out the door.

"Well, it's rude to ask a lady's weight," I was lifted into the air and flung back on my bed, landing on my back staring wide-eyed at Auston who's smirking.

"Come on," He dragged out as if it was my fault we are still in my room instead of downstairs. Rolling my eyes I huff dramatically taking my time getting off the bed, hurrying past Auston bumping his shoulder as I pass.

"Where's Steph and Mitch?" I wondered aloud confused by the lack of noise in the apartment coming down the stairs into the living room seeing no one either.

"Mitch's parents are treating him to dinner for getting into the playoff," Auston following behind me tossing his body onto the couch with a groan. "Mmm, You also gotta fix ma back," He stretched like a cat before looking for the remote.

"Yeah later," I waved him off going into my freezer looking for food. Pulling out the Gnocchi as the lasagna is way too big for only two people eating it. Switching the stove on, I fill a pot with water setting it on the lit stove to boil. Ignoring the sound of the TV get into my cooking zone, chopping some onion and basil for the red sauce.

I was so in the zone that I didn't notice Auston move from his spot on the couch to on a stool to watch me work around the kitchen. I had just put the pasta into the water and was about to ask Auston to grab the sauce for me when I noticed the vacant couch, his laugh startling me from being right beside me. My hand instantly covered my chest where my heart pounds, I stare wide-eyed as he laughs.

"Jesus, Wear a bell or something," I breathe still shaken up. Auston just shakes his head at me as he laughs some more at my expense but slowly settles for a cheeky grin when I just stare at him.

"anyways, Can you grab a jar of sauce from the laundry room? thanks," It was more of a statement than a question but he gets up and gets it for me anyways. He reminds me of me when I was really young cooking with my Nonna, easily fascinated by anything in the kitchen. His posture is lax as he lazily bends down at the waist to grab the jar, prompting me to look away when I realize I was watching his butt the entire way.

Opting to find my skillet to hide my reddening cheeks, I turn on the spot before he even is vertical. Bending myself because genuinely I don't remember where I put it last, sorting through the various metal pots and pans until I find the cast iron skillet at the very back shouting in victory.

Ignoring the man watching me, I get back into cooking. Placing the skillet on the burner as I wait for it to heat I strain the cooked pasta and blanching it in cold water. Once the skillet was radiating heat I drizzled some olive oil let it bubble a bit before scraping in the onion and basil. Turning away from the stove for the jar this time not spooked by Auston's presence. Grabbing the mason jar sitting in front of him, its already opened. He smiles a contagious smile that makes him look a lot younger despite the growing facial hair.

"Grazie," I laid the accent on thick with a wink, earning a brighter smile and chuckle.

Finishing up the food, Auston works around me to set the table and getting water bottles. I set the steaming bowl of food between us in the center of the table. The scent is mouth water and my stomach ached for it. Wasting no time in dishing out the portions and digging, the only sounds utensils hitting the plates, chewing and moaning.

"My Nona's recipe for the sauce but the pasta is a small Italian place in Markham, definitely not as good as my Nona's," My tone is sentimental as Auston hums his pleasure still stuffing his face. Occasionally taking a breath or a sip of water.

"It's hard to believe it get's, better than this because I have to about 225 now," His words muffled by the food still in his yap.

"Probably helps that its like 6 pm and it's our first meal," I noted finishing off my plate, glancing at the dish debating if I want more or my taste buds want more. Instead of committing to another portion, I steal forkfuls straight from the bowl between us.

"Mmm, I found a solution for my lack of fresh food," Auston gleamed with a devilish smirk pausing for another mouthful of pasta. "You can just come cook for me and then I don't have to order the meal preps anymore," His suggestion is a joke but there is some hope in his eyes as he waits for me to react.

"Sure," I forked another mound of food into my mouth, Auston sat across from me shocked by my ease.

"Wait, actually?" He smiled but was on guard.

"Yeah but I have a price," I added ominously purposely to spook him, which it did because he paused mid-bite to watch me waiting for me to say what the price is.

"Don't hide injuries or I swear to a high power I'll let you starve," I pointed my fork at him for dramatic effect as he slowly nods eyes wide.

"That simple?"

"Can be if you want it to be," I riddle off picking up my plate and the now empty bowl between us and working on cleaning up the kitchen. Auston comes in silently rinsing his plate and putting it into the dishwasher as I handle the pots and skillet, the cast-iron needing different treatment than the other metal pots.

"Deal?" I quirked once everything was cleaned up, turning to Auston my hand outstretched for a shake.

"Deal," shaking on it.

Shopping with Auston is a pleasant experience, he follows my lead majority of the time but will veer off if something catches his eye and returns putting it in the cart. He would pout lightly if it was something unhealthily as if he thought I would scold him for it but I'd shrug and continue pushing the cart down the isles occupationally sneaking things I like into the cart.

"Steak or chicken?" Auston held up the different meats, recipes for both came into the forefront of my mind instantly.

"Both," Auston shrugged carefully placing the meats into the last empty place at the bottom. Continued down more isles filling the cart more, coming to the baking products Auston just by-passes it but I venture down, grabbing the stable; flour, baking soda/powder and bulk of salt. I also grab ingredients for desserts; vanilla, cocoa powder, and chocolate chips.

"Amelia?" I can hear Auston's voice call from a couple aisles over clearly just realizing I wasn't behind him anymore. I see him before he sees me, he's peering into isles. I can't see his eyes from the black hat covering his eyes but I can see the frown on his usually emotionless face.

"Aus," clumsily spinning to my voice Auston relaxes he glares as I approach with the cart.

"where did you go?" He lets up as he looks for the added items in the cart stops and lifts the chocolate chips with a grin. "Okay, I approve as long as these eventually turn into cookies," He tosses the large bag of chips into the cart once again.

"I think we covered everything to last you for the next couple of weeks," I noted as the cart is full to the brim of fresh produce and meats with of course some junk food. Mentally cataloging what's in the cart to make sure we got everything, a quiet voice interrupted my thoughts as a small boy approached with a smile wearing a Leafs shirt and hat covering his blonde locks.

"Are you Auston Matthews?" He whispered scared that he might not be Auston. My heart melted instantly, having a soft spot cutie little kids.

"Yes, I am! What's your name, buddy?" Auston knelt down being way too tall for the beaming boy, he smiles soft as the boy gasps and says his name is 'Spencer'. They became to talk about hockey and the little man looked like he his face was gonna split from smiling so much.

"Spencer?!" An older lady with matching blonde hair but brown eyes, unlike Spencer's bright blues. I wave her over pointing to the boy who's over the moon and safe.

"Spencer, You can't run off like that," his mother scolded out of breathing, bending down to pull her son into an embrace.

"I know ma, but the look is Auston Matthews," he beamed like that was suppose to make up for the fact for giving her a heart attack.

"Who?" The lady not knowing who Auston was but the boy was quick to roll his eyes at his mother confused face.

"He's only the best hockey player, ma" he drew out dully. His mom shook her head at him with a laugh.

"Do you want a photo?" Auston offered standing up to his full height again. Spencer instantly shift his hate and shirt making sure they look good, Auston pulls the boy up into arms resting him on his hip.

 The mom takes mutinous shots as per Spencer's request. Auston continues a quiet conversation with the boy until the boy whispered something into Auston's ear prompting him to look over to me with a warm smile before putting him down, signing his shirt and hat.

"That was the cutest thing ever," I gushed as we got to the car as There wasn't really a time a gush in the store as Spencer was near until we got out of the building and to the car where we stand now loading in the trunk carefully.

"One of my favorite parts of my job are kids like Spencer, maybe some more than others given the situation but it warms the heart and it motivating," He was more relaxed now than before as he shuts the trunk.

 "What did he whisper to you?" I recall the boy's red cheeks and Austons smile.

"Secret can't tell you," he teased getting into the car smirking as rolls my eyes at him, following suit.

This car ride is a lot more pleasant than the ride to my place before, the memory of Austons anger leaves unpleasant feeling sitting on my chest the whole way up to Auston apartment arms loaded with bags. He goes back down to get the rest that we couldn't manage.

Slipping out onto the balcony as I wait for Auston to return, the fresh air is crisp on my overheated face from too much thinking.  Setting myself onto the same couch from the morning tucking my feet under me, I took in the view of Toronto's night lights but this mornings view puts this to shame.

Checking my phone its 8 pm.

Sighing the feeling doesn't let up and only gets worse when Auston returns, putting things away before coming out and sitting beside me saying nothing but he has to be able to sense the tension.

"I'm so sorry for making you feel like I don't trust you, Auston." I blurted out relieving the knot in my chest. "I have a bad habit of sabotaging myself,"

"I'm sorry for being an ass about it, I went the wrong way about it trumping my feelings over yours, you clearly have your reason and I should accept that," he pulled me into his side.

"I've shared more with you in the past 24 hours than I ever did with my old therapist," Auston chuckles but doesn't comment thankfully, just sitting with me.

"I should probably get home soon," I started a bit later when the temperature was too low for me.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" Auston said sporadically, ignoring my comment on leaving.

"Nothing that I can think of," I racked my brain for anything.

"Then stay,"

"Sure, but can we go in? I'm cold,"

Letting someone in is seeming easier as the day goes by and Auston is only making it easier.

It scares me.

But it doesn't scare me how easy it is to eat junk food well watching dumb comedy's laughing our asses off on his couch, or how easy it was to fall asleep again in his arms for the third or fourth time since I met him.

But who’s counting anyways?

NEXT

[4birds-of-a-feather]

Chapter 26 - Man, it doesn’t show signs of stoppin’ [part 3]

Birds Of a Feather

(In the previous chapters: Layla’s stuck at SeaTac and gives a call to WC Boyfriend who, once more, confirms to be the shittiest boyfriend ever; in the meantime, Sara has reunited with her long-lost cat and an acquaintance of her family, but it wasn’t all peaches and dandelions. WARNING: the other super-short update – we know that we had promised you to update sooner, but we were busy with our job, studies and festivities – just in time to wish you a fantastic 2018!)

Sara walked upstairs back to the loft, frantically rummaging in her shoulder bag to find the apartment keys. When she arrived on the landing, she jumped. “Fuck, mr. California! You scared the shit out of me!” the girl angrily shouted, almost dropping her headphones “The fuck are you doin’ out here???” The singer was in fact sitting on the floor, next to the front door – notebook and pen in his lap. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…” he quickly grabbed the objects and hid them behind his back “It’s just that I went for a walk but forgot my keys on the table, and Jeff’s gone to a party, so…” “No problem: Layla left me hers” she made the keys clink under Eddie’s nose, so the singer smiled and stood up while she made the lock spring open. When they went inside, Sara stopped in the hallway to hang her coat, scarf and bonnet, while Eddie was looking at her, scratching his nape. “Weren’t… weren’t you supposed to spend this day with your family?” he finally asked, almost startling her. The girl gulped, rubbed her blubber eyes and put on a rather convincing cheerful voice, trying not to let him notice her real attitude. “Oh, yes, it’s just-I went to my parents’ house and I noticed that my mom’s relatives from Portland were there too… They’re annoying and know-it-all and kind of churchy too… <Why in hell did I mention Portland? Fuckin’ A, Fancini! Congrats!> … So I just drew the attention of my dad, without making the others notice me, and I explained him that I couldn’t tolerate ‘em, so he agreed and made up some persuasive excuse too… I guess my mum will understand, even if they’re her siblings and shit like that” she ended her monologue and finished to hang all her things, while Eddie was still looking at her. “So… this means you survived” he gave her a warm smile and she did the same. “Yeah, I guess so… Man, I fuckin’ hate these festivities! Hypocrisy flows in torrents” “Don’t tell me… The fuckin’ triumph of bleeding hearts, ugh” the singer soon joined her in that anti-Christmas rant and the two of them quickly ended bursting into laughter. “Glad to see another cynical and black soul around here – the world is too full of retarded Santa’s little helpers” “Man, I hate those lil’ fuckers!” Eddie laughed again, then his eye fell upon a packet full of ribbons that was under the Christmas tree – Sara’s gaze followed his own one. “Oh, you noticed Layla’s work of art…” “… How the fuck does she know that yesterday was my birthday?!” he finally exclaimed, making the girl look at him in disbelief. “Wait a minute: yesterday was your birthday?!” “… SHIT” “Why the fuck didn’t you tell us, Eddie??? You really are grown up in the woods, for fuck’s sake!” Sara scolded him, her eyes plopping out of her head. “I don’t know… I just didn’t want to bother, that’s all” he shrugged, not knowing what else to say. “… you really are weird” the girl sighed, shaking her head “Anyway, that’s your Christmas present… Layla always remembers this kind of things so, in your shoes, I wouldn’t be bothered…” “Didn’t she buy you anything?” Ed asked her, noticing that his pack was the only one under the Christmas tree. “Who do you think you’re talkin’ to??? Of course she bought me something, I’m her fuckin’ best friend!” she gave him a little slap in the nape “But I’ve already hidden it… ya know, with that animal of Ament that freely scampers in this loft, you’ll never know what he could do to my wealth” The guy laughed again “I think I’ll take the risk – I’ll leave mine here” “As you wish, mr. California – I won’t be the one who’s gonna stop you… don’t say I didn’t warn ya” He nodded and started to go in his room’s direction, then stopped and looked at her. “I guess I’m goin’ in my room to listen to some records… Wanna join me?” Sara winced a little, but quickly regained her usual aplomb. “Yeah, why not?” she shrugged “Just gimme a minute and I’ll come” “Ok, great – I’ll leave the door open, no need to knock” The girl nodded and made her way to the bathroom, while he stood in the hallway a few other seconds; when he saw the ringlets at the end of her ponytail disappear, he finally went in his bedroom.  

<Nothing happened – you’re perfectly capable to have a natural conversation without embarrassing yourself… you’re gonna fuckin’ own this, you’ll see> Sara splashed her face, then looked at her tired reflection in the mirror: she could still spot some glitter but decided that her cheeks had already been rubbed enough – oh, and her face was the embodiment of misery. <I’m gonna be fuckin’ owned, ugh – this motivational bullshit is pathetic> She took a deep breath and made her way to Ed’s room, stopping just outside: Quadrophenia had just started playing when she peeped out from the doorjamb. “Am I still welcome?” Eddie raised his eyes from the books he was browsing and gave her a smile. “Always – come in!” he went to close the door and gestured for her to find a place to sit; she decided to take a seat on the floor, near the bookshelf where he was standing before. Soon after the guy approached her, waving something with a playful grin: “What did I tell you? Here, see for yourself” He handed her the infamous Polaroid he had taken with Joe Strummer and the girl sneered. “Since a month has almost passed, I thought you had made the whole story up…” she provoked him, without tearing her gaze from Strummer’s autograph at the bottom of the picture. “Yeah, in fact this photo is false as the fact that in 1977 I saw Springsteen and the E Street Band…” he casually added, going to sit next to her. “… you did what???” “… and I also saw The Who in 1979, when I was almost fifteen years old” “YOU LUCKY BASTARD!” Sara kicked him, making him laugh. “Why, are you telling me you never went to a concert?” Eddie mocked her with an evil smile. “Yeah, in fact Fleetwood Mac in 1980, Cat Stevens in 1976 or Led Zeppelin in 1977 were just hallucinations” “HOLY SHIT!” the guy exclaimed, surprised “Wait a minute, Cat Stevens in 1976? How old were-” “Eight years old, and he played divinely” she smiled again “Anyway, I won’t be jealous about you seeing The Who – Moon The Loon was already underground, I can tolerate it” “Shit, you were just a child! And Zeppelin at nine years old – I’m not surprised you turned out like this” Eddie spoke again, then laughed for her second statement. Soon after The Real Me began to play and Sara’s smile turned into a big grin. “The Ox is fuckin’ awesome here – I mean, I can totally say that he’s my favorite bass player without any doubt” “You love Quadrophenia too?” Eddie’s eyes lit up at the thought of a fellow fan of The Who. “Well, that’s not my favorite album made by them, but my second favorite song that they composed is here, so I guess I have to give it some credit” “Just spit out the title” “Love, Reign O’er Me, obviously” “I knew it – sooo, this means that your favorite album’s Tommy…” “Nope – Who’s Next” she gave him a mischievous grin “My favorite song is there, guess it!” The guy mentally listed the tracklist, then answered: “The Song Is Over, right?” “… you’re starting to impress me, ya know?” Sara mocked him, and he laughed. “Sooooo” after a while Ed cleared his throat “what are our plans for Christmas’ Eve?” “Well, since our beloved chef’s not here… I guess we’re fucked, mr. Surfin’ U.S.A.” “Nope, listen: food problem will be solved with pizza delivery… but what about after dinner?” “Why are you lookin’ at me as if I were the life and soul of all parties?!” “Hmm, maybe we could go out and drink somethin’…” he ignored her and went on with his suggestions. “… so then we would be surrounded by stupid people with their fuckin’ stupid Santa Claus hats or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer antlers?! No, thank you!” “Or we could reach Jeff at the party he went to…” “You really want a Seattle remake of Silent Night, Deadly Night, don’t ya?” The guy laughed again, then raised his hands in order to declare himself innocent: “Oook, I get it! How about stayin’ at home and watchin’ some old movie provided by yours truly?” “Are you really makin’ me responsible for our pre-Christmas entertainment?” “C’mon, don’t be too modest! I liked Neighbors and I’m sure-” “Of course you liked it, I kept tellin’ you that you’re Belushi’s alter-ego!” Sara interrupted him, while he stuck his tongue out. “… I was telling ya that I liked Neighbors and I’m sure you’ll do a great job this evening too, that’s all” “… Whatevs” “Great! An Italian one, please” “What? Don’t tell me you’ve ever watched one of them!” “Yep, Miracle in Milan” “NO FUCKIN’ WAY!” the girl exclaimed, sincerely enthusiastic “D’ya know that its last scene inspired the E.T.’s one with the bicycles lifting into the air?” “Shit, that’s why I had a déjà vu when I first watched it!” “Sorry, I’ll stop immediately with my movie geek act – I know it’s weird, I just can’t help it” “No problem, I learnt something new” The girl gave him a grateful smile, then resumed her considerations:  “Hmm, so you watched somethin’ from Neorealism… What about Commedia all’Italiana? Err, I mean, Italian-style comedy?” she quickly corrected herself, while Ed smiled because of those few Italian words. “Yeah, why not? I mean, Neorealism is great, but I’d like somethin’ lighter” “Well, ‘lighter’ is not the word I’d use to describe I Mostri, but it’s an awesome example of how great satire could be” “I’m in your hands, I’m sure you won’t disappoint me” Eddie cracked another smile “Dubbed?” “In your fuckin’ dreams, Vedder! I’ve got the subtitled version, this is no place for heretics!” “Yeah, I thought so… I also bet that on March you showed off the Italian flag when Cinema Paradiso won the Academy Award, am I right?” “… you almost got it” was her embarrassed answer, while the guy laughed and stood up to put his notebook in a drawer. “That’s your holy Bible full of personal lyrics, huh?” she asked him, and he immediately turned to face her, as if he had just received a punch in the face “Because that’s what your songs are… Autobiographic, like a diary” Eddie didn’t say anything and lowered his head, and soon Sara was forced to interrupt that awkward silence. “I’m-I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to sound like a bitch but, well!, apparently that was the final result…” she wrung her hands “Man, I really suck with social interactions” “It’s ok, don’t worry” the guy finally opened his mouth again and went to sit on the floor, next to her. “Did all that stuff happen to you?” she asked, after a while. “Except for the incest, yeah… I have lacked for nothing” “… shit” she took a deep breath, trying to clear her thoughts “I’m-I’m so sorry, Ed” “Yeah, I know you really mean it” he said in a low voice, then brought his knees to the chest. “Would my humble singing your praises make you feel a little better?” “Why, did you really like the songs or are you just givin’ me a lump of sugar?” he abruptly raised his head and shot her a nasty glance. “Fuck, do I really look like a person who gives compliments away?!” she retorted, starting to get worked up. “Are we really assembling a conversation by using only questions?” he went on, finally being able to chuckle, while the girl soon followed him – she mentally thanked him for making both of them a bit more relaxed than before. “Anyway – yes, I really liked ‘em, I think you’re a worthy lyricist… At least, the few times I can understand what the fuck you’re singing” At those words the guy laughed heartily and gave her a playful push, to which she answered with another one, a bit stronger. “But yeah, jokes aside: we can totally say that I’m in presence of talent” she winked at him and he thanked her, a bit embarrassed but pleased all the same. When Eddie resumed to talk, I’m One was playing in the background. “Oh, I was almost forgetting to tell ya that I really like your voice” Sara immediately froze, then slowly turned in his direction. “I beg your pardon, what did you just say?” “I said that I like your voice… I heard you, you sing pretty well” “WHEN DID YOU HEAR ME?!” “Well, a few days ago, when we hung out at that bar and-” “Holy Marvin Gaye, I knew that the whole karaoke thing was a shitty idea!” she facepalmed. “… but I heard ya yesterday too, while you were taking a shower” “Fuckin’ A, Vedder! Since when are you overhearing me?!” the girl asked him, her eyes almost plopped out of her head. “Err, since when you’ve started to sing Elton John out loud…?” “That’s because I thought I was alone! I thought that nobody was at home, except me! And instead you were there, lurkin’ like a vulture!” At that last comparison the singer laughed out loud, making Sara even more irritated. “C’mon, don’t be offended! I just wonder why you’re freakin’ out like that!” he tried to ease the situation, given how she didn’t seem to relax. “Because I don’t want anyone to know it, genius! I don’t like it, it’s just a personal thing” “… a personal thing?” “Yeah, a promise I made to someone – someone really important, but that was just a thing between the two of us” “Hmmm, understood” he thought over something, then resumed to talk “My father… he sang too. I mean, that’s what other people told me – I met him a few times, as a family friend, but I didn’t talk to him that much… And then one day my mum took me aside and told me that who I thought was my father was actually my step-father, and that my real dad was ‘that man that once in a while came to visit us, you remember?’ but he had already died, and I-I didn’t know what the fuck I was supposed to do, or say, or think, or feel, and-” Eddie stopped talking and took a deep breath, probably in the attempt to not cry, but Sara had already noticed his eyes becoming bright with tears. “It’s ok, Eddie, you don’t have to talk about it” she carefully put a hand on his shoulder and softly squeezed it, while he let out a deep sigh. <Am I the first one to hear his story? Well, who cares! I mean, he trusted me and told me all these things –  maybe I should tell him about-> The girl’s thoughts were interrupted by the noise of a guitar’s sound box – Ed had grabbed the instrument and now was strumming it absent-mindedly, trying to tune it. “You play guitar?” “Yeah, a little bit… Well, playing is a huge word: let’s just say that I strum away on it” “Hmmm, I see” “You’re gonna make me listen to somethin’, right?” “What?!” she almost choked “Absolutely not – this is a categorical no!” “I’m sorry but I won’t accept refusals of any type” “… are you blackmailing me?” “Hmmm, maybe… you think I am?” “I think so, Alvin without the Chipmunks!” The guy laughed: “C’mon, just a song! It’s just the two of us – nobody will ever come to know this, I promise” Sara rolled her eyes, so Eddie went on: “Silence gives consent… fine, let’s do this!” He casually plucked some strings, then finally had a flash of inspiration and began to play. “I’m sure you know this one, I saw this album in your collection” “Great! Have you searched my bedroom too?!” she hysterically asked him, but he ignored her. “C’mon, be ready! Your turn is finally coming!” the guy played the last introductory chords and Sara finally began to sing, her eyes still rolling. “Blackbird singing in the dead of night, take these broken wings and learn to fly… All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise…” Eddie smiled to himself and the two kept on performing the song; at a certain point he slowed down the fingerpicking and started to whistle, imitating the birds chirping, while the girl looked at him in a perplexed way – but then burst into laughter. “The hell are you doin’???” “C’mon, try it – be a blackbird too!” he suggested her, still laughing, and when she emulated him he smiled satisfied “See? That was easy” “… idiot” the girl laughed again, and resumed to sing the final lines: “You were only waiting for this moment to arise, you were only waiting for this moment to arise, you were only waiting for this moment to arise…” Eddie finished to play, then smiled at her. “Well, you did learn to fly… Congratulations on your voice” “You’re just a flatterer, but thanks” she blushed, then cleared her throat “Instead, congratulations on your guitar style! You don’t limit yourself in strummin’ away on it… you play it, Ed” “Nope, I’m not that good” “Have you ever considered the possibility of playin’ in the band? Like, for real” “In the band? A band with three guitars?” “Yeah, why not? Kind of a Lynyrd Skynyrd thing, ya know” “Well, I’m just the new guy – I don’t know if Mike and Stone would agree…” he shrugged “Plus, as I said before, I can’t seriously play it” “Hmmm, as you wish… But, in your shoes, I’d give it a try” “Who knows, maybe in the future? Like ten years from now, just gimme enough time to practice…” “Why, are you really believin’ that you guys are goin’ to last that long?!” she provoked him, and the guy laughed. “No, you’re right – but, in the meantime, I’d be really glad to make at least a duet with you at the karaoke” “No fuckin’ way, I’ll never set foot again on that goddamn place, sure as hell!” “Ok, as you wish… but, sooner or later, you will sing somethin’ with me” he pondered “Like a collaboration… I should seriously write somethin’ for two voices” “Don’t you fuckin’ dare, Vedder! This is a secret, I told ya once and I won’t tell you again: keep your mouth shut or there’ll be big troubles!” Eddie pretended to go along with her wishes and gave her a mischievous smile – then his gaze fell on something that was peeking from the pocket of her sweatshirt. “What’s that?” “Oh” the girl suddenly remembered its existence and pulled it out “Just a mixtape I was listening to before” “Can I?” he extended a hand and she gave it to him “Footprints like puddles – strange choice for a title… I like it” “It’s-err… It’s just a silly title, I wrote down random words” “It seems well put together to me…” Ed fumbled with its case and finally pulled out the tracklist. “It’s just a couple of songs for the days when I get the mean reds, nothing serious” “The… the mean reds?” he hadn’t even started to read through the track titles but stopped immediately “What’s that?” “Well… ever watched Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” the guy nodded and she went on “When Audrey Hepburn gets ‘em, she jumps in a cab and goes to Tiffany’s – and it calms her down, just like that” “Ok, now I get it – this right here is your personal Tiffany’s, right?” “It is” “Then it’s better if I don’t intrude” he quickly opened again the case and started to put away the tracklist, but her hand stopped him. “… Go on, I think you could appreciate it” He looked at her, a bit puzzled: “You sure?” “Yep – go on” The guy smiled and finally began to read it. “Let’s see… we’ve got Leonard Cohen – woah, Ella Fitzgerald! – Brian Eno and Tom Waits… you put The Boss too, awesome” “Yeah, Racing In The Street reminds me of the way I feel when I choose not to open my umbrella on rainy days” “I think he’d be honored to know it… well, you should totally lend this to me, there are a couple of songs in here that I don’t know and I’d like to hear ‘em” he stopped, scratching his nape a bit embarrassed “… of course, only if you feel ok with that” “Yeah – err, yeah, that’s fine… I don’t mind” “Great, thanks” “You’ll tell me what you think about it, ‘kay? And I also wanna know if you appreciated the ones you hadn’t heard before my magic tape came to your rescue” “… you just got yourself a deal” “That’s what I like to hear” Sara looked around, her gaze stopping on the surfboard in a corner, the big waves painted on some walls, the books and vinyls piled on the desk and shelves – a few were also scattered on the floor; she found out that the room really reflected Eddie’s soul – at least, for the little bits she knew about him. The girl also found herself really missing her old chamber, the one that was waiting for her in that godawful mess of her loft, with most of all her belongings stocked there and the furniture apparently put in a random way – when in reality it had been carefully arranged by her. Out of the corner of his eye Eddie clearly saw her sigh, so he quickly tried to introduce a new topic in order to offer her a little distraction. “Say… can you play some instrument?” Sara startled, a confused expression upon her face. “Who? Me?” the guy nodded and she went on “Nope – when I was a child I used to play the harmonica from time to time, but it was nothin’ serious” “Oh, I see – and you got a favorite instrument? One that you really enjoy listenin’ to, and maybe you’d also like to learn how to play?” “HA! Lemme surprise you: banjo, mandolin, kazoo – ya know, all those weird things” she listed, all proud  “Oh, and I love bass too… but don’t tell Ament, pretty please!” “Ahahaha, ok! Pinky swear” he laughed, then they entwined their little fingers and the deal was made “But yeah, really unusual choices… I was expecting something entirely different” “Like what?” “Like… I dunno – violin? Piano? Maybe the harp too… You strike me as someone who would enjoy these instruments a lot” “… I strike you as someone this ordinary? Wow, Ed – you really have a way with words” “Shit, I-I didn’t mean that, I just-” “Relax, I was just teasing you!” Sara let out a carefree laugh “I know that on the outside I may give this impression… and let’s not talk about this squeaky, little voice of mine – it’s obvious that you’d link it to a violin instead of a kazoo” The guy laughed and gave her a playful push, then resumed his observations: “See? That’s why a collaboration of the two of us would be so interesting – and stop it, your voice isn’t squeaky” “You’re the one who has to stop it, Ed! Erase this crazy idea of yours right now or-” “Or what? You’re gonna kick my ass? Punch my cute face with those small, childish hands? I don’t think so, Fancini” “VEDDER, YOU’RE SO GOING DOWN” she roared and threw a cushion at him that perfectly landed on his face. “Ouch! How can such a little person be this evil???” he grabbed another pillow and did the same with her. “You’re one to talk! Beware the mighty Big Foot!” “See?! Well, I’m going to expose you in my next song, which is gonna be this caustic piece about how one should never trust Italian girls with big, brown eyes because in reality they’re Satan’s daughters – and, the good news? I’m so gonna force you to sing some lines, the ones with the nastiest insults” he laughed again, avoiding a cushion “I can’t wait to hear your angelic voice singin’ something along the lines of ‘you’re a sewer rat decaying in a cesspool of pride’…” “Angelic my ass! Stop talking about me singin’, nobody has to fuckin’ know it!” Sara gave him a strong push that made him fell legs in the air, her irascibility growing as she heard him guffaw without restraint. “Ok, ok, nobody will ever know this thing! I swear!” he shouted breathlessly among his laughter. “… nobody will ever know what?” were the words that came out from Layla’s mouth, as she suddenly peeped out from the door.