#enters the house'' great!!! where do i sign up to be your roommate again next year⁉️

[succubi-tch]

Thinking about the last roommate I had and how I wasn't allowed to use any sort of cleaning chemical in our dorm because she had some fuckass pet bird that if it inhaled a micron of Human Created Product it would fucking die

And evidently our counters were always dirty (and/or she was a fucking slob, cause her fat ass was) because a few times after I'd put ice in my tumbler for the day. The water would start to fucking taste like onions?? And I thought I was tripping for the first few days

Until I saw her nasty ass cutting up scallions, leaving them on the counter, and realizing one must've gotten stuck to the bottom of my fucking ice tray that I then stacked on top of another ice tray to save space in the freezer for her. 💀

I fished a scallion chunk out of my water tumbler that day. She thought it was hilarious and lost it and I also kind of laughed just so it wouldn't drive me insane, but hindsight? I should have just killed her to avoid literally everything (instigated by her) that precipitated the onion water incident.

[3-pots-of-soup]

lil zoo keeper au fic:D im not great at writing dialogue and such, so apologies if you cringe + any feedback/constructive criticism is appreciated!!

wc: 663

tw: non

ships: non

Pearl’s day was off to an awful start; first she’d slept through her alarm, making her rush through her morning routine, then discovered her roommate and half brother Grian had drunken the last of the coffee. “This day *cannot* get worse.” Pearl said mid traffic jam.

Her day, could, in fact, get far worse.

She arrived to work thankfully on time and began her trek to the invertebrate house, on the other side of the zoo; she was so excited for the construction on the north entrance to finish.

When Pearl finally entered the invert house she was immediately greeted by loud chirping and a very frantic Mumbo “PEARL PEARL!! THE GRASSHOPPERS GOT OUT!!”

“WHAT DO YOU *MEAN* THE GRASSHOPPERS GOT OUT?!”

“I MEAN THEY HAVE ESCAPED THEIR ENCLOSURE AND. THEY. ARE. *EVERYWHERE*.”

As Pearl took in her surroundings she found that her coworker was right. The grasshoppers were indeed *everywhere*. “The zoo opens in under a half hour what do we do?” She asked in a panic.

“Scoop them up?” Mumbo suggested hesitantly.

“And put them where? It’ll take hours if we do it pick them up and put them back in the tank one by one- hold on how did they even get out in the first place?” Pearl questioned.

“Er, I might have forgotten to close their tank properly after I fed them last night.” Mumbo squeaked out.

Pearl stared at him blankly for a few seconds, then spun on her heel and began walking out of the building “Wait where are you going?” Mumbo asked in a panicked tone “Please Please don’t leave me alone with this disaster!!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back in a few, I’ve got a plan!” And with that Pearl bolted out the door

As quick as she could Pearl ran towards the nearest drink stand “CUPS!” She shouted

“What?” Replied the bewildered employee

“ANIMAL ESCAPE I NEED CUPS WITH LIDS!”

The employee, name badge reading ‘Shelby S.’ responded by quickly grabbing a small stack of plastic cups and a small stack of lids for them “this enough?” She asked

“That’s perfect thank you!” Pearl said grabbing the cups and racing back to the invert house. She returned to a sign on the door in rather poor handwriting that read ‘Building not opem’. When she attempted to open the door she found that it was locked, and when she reached down to grab her keys, she found that the carabiner that normally held them, along with her id, was gone “dammmnn ittt.” She groaned, dragging her words, and began to bang on the doors.

It was only a minute or so until she saw Mumbo race over one hand in a gentle fist, hurriedly opening the door to let her in “what’s in your hand?” Pearl questioned once inside

“A grasshopper.” Her friend replied.

“Here” said Pearl, rolling her eyes and placing a cup in his free hand “you can put a few in here, toss the lid on, and once we have a few cups, we can put them back in their tank all at once.”

“Have I ever mentioned you’re a genius?”

“Yes, but you could certainly do it more often; now let’s get bug catching!” With that the duo spent the next hour or so running about catching grasshoppers.

“I really don’t get why they keep the feeder insects in here and not in houses where they’re used.” Mumbo commented from his spot on the floor

“I agree, but I suppose it makes sense to keep all the colonies in one space, and if they have to be kept in one place, I can see the logic behind putting them with the other bugs, still, sucks *we* have to deal with them.” Pearl said, laughing a bit, “now up you get! We have to open this place up, there’s still like,” Pearl checked her watch and groaned “*eight hours* till closing.”

“Alright, alright” Mumbo sighed, pulling himself up “let’s unlock those doors.”

That’s all i have atm, my plan for the au is to write one-shots for various povs:D might have some shipping here and there (mumscarian my beloved) but it won’t be the focus! Again any/all feed back welcome, and thanks for reading!!!!

-🥘

[yourlocalmerchgirl]

Texas Transplant Pt. 1

Paring: Tommy Miller x Reader

Word count: 6k

Part 2

Summary: Tommy is tired of living in Joel's shadow. He feels broken and unloveable, just going threw the motions of life. Then you walked into his life making him realize it is possible for him to be loved and cared for.

Tommy Miller x reader AU (the out break doesn't happen

Warnings: Slow Burn Slow Build Pining Mutual Pining Smut Fluff Tooth-Rotting Fluff Falling In Love I think that’s about it for this part let me know if I missed anything

A/N: I’m so nervous to start posting this story but I’m extremely proud of it! Please let me know how you like it! I’ll be updating it regularly

“Jesus” you whisper under your breath as you enter your apartment, kicking off your shoes and flopping down on the couch allowing your head to fall back.

“How did everything go?” You’re greeted to the nervous ton of your best friend and roommate Stacey. You slowly roll your head to the right to face her and are greeted by her warm smile and a drink when you open your eyes.

“Please tell me that asshole finally signed the papers?” She says handing you the drink and flopping down on the couch next to you.

You took a deep breath and then a long sip of your drink. “Im finally done with this hellish part of my life” you said as you raised your glass and cheers with her.

“We should go out to get some food and drinks to celebrate you getting your life back, plus there’s something I wanted to talk to you about”

“Sounds great, let me get changed real quick” you said jumping up and heading to you room to change.

You guys settled on the little Mexican restaurant on your block, everyone there was incredibly nice and and they always let us stay as long as we wanted.

“What did you want to talk to me about?” You asked inquisitively furrowing your brow.

“Um my uncle Ron passed away a couple weeks ago”

“ oh my god why didn’t you tell me?”

“You were in the middle of the divorce and there’s more too it so i didn’t want to bombard you with stuff.”

“I’m so sorry you felt like you needed to hide it, you can always tell me about anything at any time” you said smiling warmly.

Stacey lets the conversation fall silent while she figures out how to say what she wants to say next.

“So… you remember how you always talk about how miserable we both are here and that once your divorce was final that maybe we’d move away and start a new adventure somewhere else”

“Yea… I do. I don’t know what that has to do with your uncle though.” You say chuckling.

“I guess my family had been fighting over who would get his house and it pissed him off so a few years ago he left the house to me and never told anyone. I got this envelope in the mail a few weeks ago after her passed from the people handling the will.” She pulls a big Manila envelope out of her bag and hands it to you.

“The house is all payed for and was kept up with really nicely. A couple years ago he had the kitchen and both bathrooms completely redone too.”

“Where did your uncle live again, Texas?”

“Yea in Austin, it’s been a long time since I went down there there but I remember the area that he lived in was nice.”

You’re completely shocked looking at the paperwork, your mouth ajar slightly.

“This is our chance to make the life’s we wanted for ourselves and start over.”

“We’d have to figure wor-“

“Funny you should mention work” Stacey says cutting you off with a laugh.

“I took the liberty of asking work about it, and they said they would be more than happy to transfer us to the customer service team so we could work remotely, we would just have to come back a couple times a year for company meetings.”

You laugh “Jesus you really thought of everything didn’t you?”

“I know how you are, over thinking everything” she says teasing “I didn’t want you to have to worry about the details”

You start tearing up thinking about everything, the last 5 years have been hell and she’s been with you every step of the way.

“You really want to share your house with me?” You say your voice cracking slightly.

“It’s not just my house, it’ll be our house. But yes of course I do. Where I go you go and vice versa, you really think I wouldn’t want you to do this without you?”

“No I-I just don’t know what I would do without you. I still haven’t figured out what I did to deserve a best friend like you in my life but man life would be pretty fucking boring without you”

“I know, I’m pretty fucking great aren’t I?” She says dusting her shoulders off grinning ear to ear, before you guys break out in hysterical laughter.

“Screw it! I’m in, let’s do it! What do we really have to lose?”

————————————————-

It took several days and many miles but you and Stacey finally came to a stop in front of your new house.

"My god! Remind me never to get in a uhaul with you again" you laugh as you hope out.

"Well we made it here alive so you can't complain to badly" Stacey quipped

"This neighborhood is really cute"

"It is, it's a lot how I remember it being. Come on I'll show you around the inside so we can pick rooms before we start moving stuff."

You two settled for your taking the master bedroom with attached bathroom and the spare room down stairs and Stacey took the whole upstairs consisting of a large bedroom, spare room and a bathroom.

You guys didn't waste any time starting to move stuff in. Thankfully when packing you two labeled the room each box belonged to so it made the process go smooth and somewhat fast.

"Look someone is moving in next door" Sarah points out as her, Joel and Tommy pull into their driveway.

Joel and Tommy look over to see what she's pointing at when Tommy puts the truck in park.

"I didn't know Ron's house was for sale" Tommy says turning to Joel.

"Yea I didn't think it was"

As they all get out the truck they hear muffled commotion coming from the back of the moving truck.

"Do you have it? Are you sure you have it?"

"Yes I totally have it"

"Oh shit.. no no no, I don't have it"

Can be heard followed by a loud thud and a loud "fuck I hope we didn't break that" followed by laughter.

"Joel it sounds like two girls, maybe we should see if they need help?" Tommy says nervously knowing his brother probably won't want to help them.

Joel let's out a big sigh " ugh I s'pose your right or at the very least make sure they ain't hurt" he says rubbing his face.

"Do y'all need some help?" Joel says as him and Tommy make their way up the ramp of the moving truck.

Scaring the shit out of you both, Stacey whips around to see who the unfamiliar voice is.

"Oh sorry sweetheart, we didn't mean to startle you"

"Who the fuck is that?" You whisper from your position laying down.

"We just heard a little bit of a commotion so we thought we'd offer some help" Tommy says as he steps out from behind Joel smiling.

"Oh no it's ok, just wasn't expecting company that's all, some help would be great though" Stacey says as she smacks you a couple times on the head, motioning for you to get up.

"I'm sorry we were making a lot of noise, we're not always this loud I promise" you say as you sit up putting your arm on the back of the couch and resting your chin on it.

"Jesus I didn't see you there sweetheart, you scared the shit outta me" Joel exclaims as he jumps a little bit. You, Stacey and Tommy all laugh at Joel's expression.

Tommy heard you talking before you sat up, he swears your laugh makes his heart skip a beat. He smiles at the way you blush and turn away when he realizes you were letting your gaze settle on him for an extended amount of time.

"Did you know the family? I didn't realize Ron's house was for sale" Joel asks as Stacey climbs over the arm of the couch to come around the front of it.

"Oh it wasn't, Ron was my uncle, he left me the house when he passed away"

"Oh, I'm very sorry for your loss darlin', your uncle was a good man"

You stand on the couch and move to swing your legs over the back to hop over it when Tommy quickly steps forward offering you his hand to steady yourself with, which you happily accept.

"Thank you" you say offering him a warm smile.

"My pleasure Darlin'" he coos back, his accent thick and smooth sending shivers down your spinespin.

"I'm Tommy by the way, Tommy Miller" he says extending his hand out for you to shake.

"And this here is my brother Joel. We're your neighbors"

"We're there neighbors?" Joel says slapping Tommy's arm

"Ok well he and my niece are your neighbors, I live a few streets over but I'm there all the time" he chuckles.

"I'm (y/n)" you say with a warm genuine smile.

"And I'm Stacey"

You both reach out shaking their hands and offering them warm smiles and greetings.

The brothers make quick work of helping you two move all the heavy furniture, putting it where ever you told them to.

"Thank god for the two of you, I'm not sure why we thought it was a good idea to try to do this all ourselves" you say chuckling.

"Yea it's a good thing we heard you guys or you for sure would of broken this couch" Tommy teases back a small grin on his face

Being dramatic you throw the back of your hand to your forehead pretending to pass out. "Oh my goodness whatever would we of done without you" instantly you both breakout in genuine laughter. Both holding each other gaze for a moment. You both felt that there was something about each other that neither of you could put your finger on. That even though you both had just met , you both felt some kind of calming, comforting presence about each other.

"Are you gonna finish helping me Tommy or are you just gonna stand there fucking around?" Joel huffs from the other room as he's putting your bed together.

"Jesus someone's grumpy" you mumble before you realize what you've said and you hand shot up to cover your mouth.

Tommy grins wildly and snickers quietly at your comment "yea he can be pretty fucking grumpy sometimes" he winks as he heads in to help Joel.

There's a knock at the door and you leave everyone in the kitchen to answer it, wondering who it could possibly be. Much to your surprise it's a young girl probably about 16-17 with full thick dark curly hair.

"Hi, can I help you?"

"Hi, I'm Sarah! I live next door" she says excitedly.

"I was just wondering if my dad was still her?"

Joel hearing Sarah's voice enters the living room.

"Is everything alright? We're almost done here"

"Yea I was just wondering if you had any ideas for dinner?"

You looked at your phone realizing it was almost 7pm

"Let us get a round of pizza as a thank you for you and Tommy's help, it's the least we could do"

"Oh no that's ok sweetheart we don't want to be a bother, you two must be tired"

"Really it's ok, the companies nice" you say your eyes meeting Tommy's for a moment before you smile.

"Really it's the least we could do" Stacey pipes in.

"They're trying to do something nice Joel, let 'em" Tommy says before letting his gaze rest on you. He had admittedly his own selfish reasons for wanting to stay longer. He wanted to stay in you presence as long as he could.

"Sarah these are our new neighbors, this is Stacey and (Y/n)"

"Hi! It's so nice to meet you both!" She exclaims. Joel can't help but notice that as soon as Sarah's there both you and Stacey give her your undivided attention answering all her questions and laughing with her like you had know their family for ever. He was taken by surprise by this and it made it him so happy to see.

"Oh shit" you pause "does the pizza place deliver? I'm just realizing our cars getting transported here and they won't arrive until next week sometime"

"They don't but it's no problem, I can go pick it up"

"I'm happy to go with you to help,Tommy"

"Ok deal" he says a small smile on his face, pleasantly taken aback by your offer to join him.

The pizza was great and the company was even better, it was so nice getting to know the Millers, everything flowed normal like you'd know them for years.

"Y'know, I'd be more than happy to bring you guys to the grocery store tomorrow so you can get some things until you cars arrive" Tommy offers with a warm smile.

"Oh no that's ok, we couldn't impose on you like that. It's the weekend I'm sure you have better things to do then drive either of us around."

"Oh trust me sweetheart he ain't got nothin' goin' on"

"Jesus Christ Joel" Tommy mumbled while smacking his brother. His face turning the slightest shade of red.

"Well if it truly wouldn't be a bother, I'll happily take you up on your offer"

"I'm more than happy to help, when's a good time for you?"

"Let's say like 2pm?"

"Sounds like a plan I'll be here at 2"

Tommy's heart melts at how thoughtful and caring you are right off the bat.

"Well we best be goin' don't want to over stay our welcome I'm sure the two of you must be tired" Tommy pipes up stretching as he stands.

"Well you guys are welcome here any time." You offer with a genuine but tired smile.

"Here you two take my cell number incase you ever need anything I'm right next door" Joel offers.

Stacey walks everyone out while you stay in the kitchen to start cleaning up.

You look up to see Tommy shyly standing in the doorway.

"I-I just wanted to give you my number incase you decide you don't want to go tomorrow you can just text me" his tone is shy like he's half expecting you won't want to go after all.

He puts his number in your phone and hands it back you. "Well I'll see you tomorrow" he says giving you a hopeful smile.

"Well wait"

He turns quickly on his heels back to you.

"Let me give you my number too, um incase you decide you don't have time to go tomorrow you can just text me"

"Your not getting rid of me that easy" he teases

"Jesus Tommy leave the poor girl alone, let's go"

Tommy let's out a groan and rolls his eyes.

"Sorry" he whispers pulling his gaze to the floor. Before he can turn you lightly reach out touching his arm. "Don't listen to him, your not bothering me" you say flashing him a warm smile. His eye light up at your comment "I'll see you tomorrow"

When you hear the door shut you run into the living room locking eyes with Stacey like your both dying to say the same thing.

"Are they infront of the house still?!"

Stacey quickly checks out the window "no there gone!"

"Umm had you met them before?"

"No... but Jesus a little heads up from my uncle Ron that his neighbors were hot as hell would of been nice" she says as you both breakout in laughter.

—————————————————

You hear a knock at the door pausing to look at the time, you realize it must be Tommy.

“Stacey can you grab the door? I think it’s Tommy. I’m just finishing getting dressed” you call from your room, already hearing her footsteps

“Im on it!”

“Hey Tommy, come on in, make yourself at home (y/n) is just finishing getting ready.”

“Sorry I know I’m a little early.”

The tone of his voice made your heart beat faster. Him being early made you smile, you were always early for everything.

“Can I get you anything to drink? Not that we actually have anything to offer you but I can get you some water” she chuckles and shrugs

“ oh no I’m all set thank you darlin’”

Tommy perks up and smiles at the mere sound of your foot steps coming down the hall, this doesn’t go unnoticed by Stacey.

“I’m so sorry I kept you waiting Tommy”

“Oh it’s no trouble really Darlin’ I don’t mind at all, it’s my fault for being early”

He stands as soon as you enter the room and you look up to see his beautiful calming smile, gaze already on you.

You can feel your face heating up but you can’t help but smile just as much back at him.

“You coming’ along too Stacey?”

“No, not today. I’m gonna stay here and work on unpacking, but don’t worry I sent her with a list.” She laughs when you roll your eyes and playfully pushed her shoulder, making Tommy chuckle, he loves seeing a little glimpse at your personality.

You turn to him “sorry looks like you’re stuck with just me today” you tease giggling and shrugging dramatically.

Your giggle and playfulness sends a shiver down his back into a fluttering in his stomach, like there’s a magnetic pull between the two of you. He wonders if you feel it too and little does he know but you do, you also feel it.

“I wouldn’t quiet word it like that darlin’”

Your face turns red and you turn away embarrassed.

“I’m ready to go if you are” you manage to get out.

When you get out to Tommy’s truck he opens the door for you, closing it once you’re situated.

You’re barely out of the driveway when a big loud yawn escapes you. Tommy laughs as your hands snap up to cover your face in embarrassment.

“Am I boring you already sweetheart? We barely made it out of the driveway” he teases as he nudges your shoulder lightly with his hand. You can’t help but smile when he touches you, something that doesn’t go unnoticed by him.

“Omg I’m so sorry that was so rude, I’m just tired. I didn’t exactly go to bed when you guys left last night like I was intending to. And since we have nothing in the house I haven’t had my coffee today”

He can’t help but smile as he catches a glimpse of you stretching and getting more comfortable. Tommy is beaming with pride at the thought that he’s able to make you feel comfortable being alone with him. Trust and making people comfortable are too very important things to Tommy.

“Would you like to go grab a cup of coffee with me?” He says smiling somewhat nervously. Worried about making you feel weird.

“The coffee shop Sarah works at is close, she should be workin’ today plus I haven’t had my afternoon coffee yet”

You can’t help your lips curling into the most genuine smile that you’ve given someone other than Stacey in what feels like years.

“That would be really nice, I’d love too!”you say turning your gaze to him. He pulls his eyes off the road just long enough so he can take in your beautiful smile. Making him smile just as big and genuine back at you. Tommy’s smiles makes your heart skip a beat. There’s just something about him, something that makes you feel comfortable and completely at ease in a way that nobody that you just met ever has.

You guys pull up to the coffee shop and he gets out and opens the door for you, offering a hand to help you slide out of the truck. You give him a warm smile as he does so. As soon as you and Tommy step into the cafe your greeted with a excited “Uncle Tommy and (y/n)!”

Your heart warms that Sarah remembers your name.

“Hey Kiddo” Tommy greets her, turning back to smile at you.

Your mind races my god this man is such a flirt but also the nicest goddamn person I’ve ever met you think you yourself.

“What can I get you guys, it’s on the house” Sarah says genuinely happy you and Tommy stopped by.

“Oh that’s so nice of you, you don’t have to do that”

“Please, it’s my perk of working here, I can treat my family and friends with coffees when I want and I’m excited you and Uncle Tommy stopped in”

You’ve never felt more excepted and welcomed the way the Miller family has made you feel instantly, you already feeling the weight of how special it is to have them all in your life, they are the family you always wished you had.

As your waiting for your coffees Tommy sees the exact moment you realize there’s local art and photographs lining the walls of the cafe. He watches as you make your way around the empty cafe taking time to look at every piece of art work. Tommy finds you radiant in the moment, watching your soft expression as you intently take in each piece, the way your eyes scan over every detail, the way you smile at the ones you like the most. The way your opening up, letting your guard down allowing him get a glimpse into who you are and what makes you tick.

His large hand ghosts over your lower back before settling there, his tone low and soothing “would you like to sit or leave?”

You turn to look at him, his gaze is already intently on you, he doesn’t want to startle you or make you uncomfortable. His features soften into a goofy smile when you meet his gaze with a smile, “Let’s sit” his hand stays on your lower back for a few beats as you walk to your seats and you swear he can feel you’re pulse radiating outside of you’re body.

The conversation with Tommy flows easily and naturally, both of you having no idea that the other is completely soothed and calmed my each others presence.

“Do you and Stacey plan to stay Austin?”

“We do, it’s a new start for us and since her uncle left the house to her we figured this was the place for us. Neither of us have any interest in living back home so I think we’ll be here for the long hall. And our jobs allow us to work remotely so our work was fine with us moving. We just have to go back a couple times a year for meetings.” Tommy can tell that something happened but he won’t push you, if you want him to know you’ll tell him when your ready.

“Oh y’all work together? What do y’all do?”

“Yea, we’ve been friends for years from a job we worked at together and then I left and got her hired there when I got settled. We work for a company that makes mens and womens grooming products. We used to work in their warehouse doing physical hands on work but now we’ll be working on their customer service team fixing problems with peoples orders and answering emails and customer chats. It’ll be a adjustment, they gave us a couple weeks off to get settled”

Tommy admires your job and is impressed that your not afraid to work hard and get your hands dirty.

“What do you do for work?”

“I’m a contractor, Joel and I actually run a contracting business together. We started it shortly after I came back from Desert Storm.” As it slips out of his mouth he panics internally. He usually doesn’t talk about his time in the military with people, hiding that part of his life from most people. He’s really struggling with life after being at war and most people don’t respond well to that so he just stopping sharing.

“I didn’t know you were a veteran, thank you for serving.” You smile warmly at him, sensing that he’s nervous about bringing it up.

“I won’t press you to talk about it. I understand that it’s deferent for everyone. I’m not here to judge you either way. But I’m here if you ever want to talk about it.” You reach over placing your hand on his briefly to comfort him. His dark coffee eyes soften and his face relaxes at the reassurance. You pull you hand away when Sarah approaches you guys. “Hey (y/n) I’m off on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and wanted to see if you and Stacey might want some company and help unpacking?”

“Oh! Sarah that’s so nice of you, we would love some company, don’t feel like you have to help us unpack but your welcome over at our place anytime, both of you really are welcome over well I guess I should say all 3 of you guys always a place at our house.”

“Here’s both of our numbers if you ever need us and feel free to come over anytime after school” you say handing her a napkin with both your and Stacey’s numbers it.

“We should get going, I don’t want to keep you tied up all day” you anxiously express not wanting him to feel your wasting his day off.

“Anything particular you’d like to listen too?” Tommy asks as your getting settled back into the truck.

“I really like a little bit of everything music wise, put on what ever your feeling like”

“Alright well here’s a little bit of Texas’s finest” he says with that cute cocky smile on his face as he hits play and the music fills the truck.

You start grooving to the music as soon as the first note starts, knowing exactly what it is.

Tommy grins wildly when he sees your into it. “You know these guys?”

“Yea I listen to them all the time” you can’t help but smile at seeing this little bit of his music taste, knowing he probably likes a lot of the same stuff that you do.

“So… I’ve gotta run to Target today for some stuff and thought I’d see if you wanted to go, see if you might need anything there. If not no worries I’ll just go after we take you grocery shopping”

You can’t help but smile “ oh no that’s ok I don’t want to take up your whole day” you say trying to decline but the smile remains on your face and he can see it out of the corner of his eye. You can’t help it but let out a little laugh covering part of your face as you face the window.

“What?” He says letting out a little chuckle, which makes you giggle again.

“What’s so funny darlin’?”

You can’t contain the laugh that bubbles out as you start to answer “I love Target” you say barely able to hold back the giggle which makes him laugh at your comment.

“Well that settles it then, we’re going to Target”

You try to respond but he cuts you off before you get any words out.

“I know what your gonna say, don’t worry about me, I’m having a good day”

He says playfully nudging you’re arm as he pulls away from the curb.

“Well good, because I’m having a good day too” you smile playfully returning the nudge.

You and Tommy finally find your way to the grocery store, wandering up in down every isle both with carts when you feel you phone buzz.

You pull it out of your pocket and see that Stacey texted you. You can’t help but let out a loud boisterous as you read your message, catching Tommy’s attention, making him smile instantly at the sound of it. Your back is turned to Tommy as he comes up behind you.

“What’s go ya laughin’ sweetheart?” He says chuckling, His voice smooth and husky sending a shiver down your spine. Your turn your head slightly and notice he’s right behind you, so you hold youre phone up level with your shoulder so he can see. “Oh just got this text from Stacey” you say reading it out loud

Stacey: uhhhh you’ve been gone for hours did Tommy axe murder you or what?

Tommy laughed as your reading, leaning forward slightly brushing his broad chest against your back. He’s surprised your sharing this moment with him but happy to see a glimpse into how the two of you are and how your friendship is.

Y/n: sorry to report I’m alive and well, you won’t be getting rid of me that easily! We are wrapping up at the grocery store. Sorry he also took me to Target so it’s taken longer

Tommy sees your response to her, taking joy in the sense of humor you have.

Stacey: oh shit he took you to Target?! What has he done, he’s never getting rid of you now hahaha….well I went up to the market near the house to get stuff to make your chili recipe and it’s been in the crockpot. He’s welcome to stay for dinner if you want.

He’s still right behind you, chest still lightly touching your back.

“Shes right, the least we could do is feed you after you’ve put up with me all day” you say trying to be funny and keep your cool with how close he is to you.

He finds you’re comment funny but he’s also sensing some truth in your words that you feel like he’s just been putting up with you. Which tugs at his heart because quiet frankly it’s the exact opposite, Tommy couldn’t be happier spending time with you the last couple days. Even though you two just met he feels such a strong connection with you.

“Oh before we check out, do you know what kind of snacks Sarah likes or if she likes anything special to drink? If she’s going to come over to the house a lot I want to make sure theres some stuff she likes in the house”

Tommy melts at how big he’s realizing your heart is, how thoughtful and caring you are. The fact that you’re even giving the time of day to Sarah means a lot to him and he knows it would to Joel too.

You guys finish getting the last few items you need, check out and load everything into the truck.

You return back to your the house and carry all the bags inside, on the last trip out to truck Tommy asks “do you want me to stay for dinner?” His question catching you off guard, Tommy comes off as very confident yet you can hear a hint of nervousness as he calls back to Stacey’s statements.

When you meet his gaze he already looking at you, searching your body langue for something that tells him you want him to stay.

“Because I understand if not, you’ve been dealin’ with me all day”

You’re features soften and smile warmly when you answer. “Of course I do, I’d love for you to stay for dinner if you’d like too. But i totally get it if not, you have been stuck with me all day after all.”

“I’d love too” his features immediately soften, the cutest smile tugs at his lips.

Tommy takes a big bite of the chili and sits back in his chair a little “damn I think this is the best chili I’ve ever had, you made this?”

“Oh yea I put it together but it’s (y/n)’s recipe”

“It’s your recipe?”

“Yea I combined two recipes because I didn’t have everything I needed one time so I’ve just been making it like this ever since”

“Oh she’s being modest, she loves to cook she cooks all the time” she says smirking as she seems you blush a little.

“You’ll have to come over for dinner again one night when she’s is cooking”

You can feel Tommy’s eyes on you as you mumble “shut up” kicking her under the table. Making her giggle a little bit. You bring your gaze up to meet Tommy’s and he has this cocky little smile on his face. “Oh I’d love that darlin’”

You smile, feeling your cheeks heating up.

“So what did you do today while you thought I was getting axe murdered?”

Tommy chuckles at you and Staceys banter.

“Worked on unpacking most of the kitchen”

“Oh! I unpacked some really important stuff!” She exclaims

“Oh yea?” You say pulling your brows together giving her a inquisitive look, not really sure what’s about to come out of her mouth.

“Yea! All the alcohol and mixers, and I got the internet and tv set up so we can start having our famous movie nights again”

Tommy notices the way you light up at her answer. “Whats this famous movie night about?”

“Oh we started this tradition back home since we both really like movies, to do a movie night once a week. We get our favorite snacks and make our favorite drinks and pick a movie or some nights we have a particular theme”

“Jesus, you ladies just keep getting cooler and cooler. These nights sound awesome.” He says his southern accent thick.

“Oh! We should have one tonight to celebrate, you should join us Tommy” Stacey’s says excitedly smiling at you as if she’s reading your mind.

You’re not looking but you can feel Tommy’s eyes on you as your cheeks turn the slightest shade of red, you can see his smile out of the corner of your eye.

Stacey kicked your foot under the table, pushing you to add a comment

God you hate that you get shy and embarrassed so easily.

“You should join us, we’d love to have you” you say sheepishly wanting to crawl in a hole for while and hide.

“Well that sounds great to me, I’d love to join you two”

“I’ll make up the drinks, grab a snack and make yourself comfortable” you say giving him a warm smile.

Stacey peeks in the living room and turns back to helping with the drinks. With a huge smirk she says “I call sitting in the big chair.”

You look at her suspiciously and peek into the living room seeing Tommy sitting on the couch close to the spot where you normally sit.

You turn back to her with a scowl. “Are you trying to kill me?” You say chuckling.

She shrugs teasingly “I think he likes you” she smiles and books it into the living room and following shyly with yours and Tommy’s drinks. You hand him his and sit a couple cushions away from him.

“I’m gonna go change, you two figure out what to watch” Stacey says running upstairs.

He rests his arm on the back of the couch turning is broad upper body to face you, slightly pulling his knee onto the couch “it’s ok I sit on the couch with you right darlin’?” His drawl smooth, tone tender and curious. Your face heating up before you mimic the way he’s sitting to face him.

“Gee, well I guess I can share the couch with you this once if I have too” your barely about to get it out without cracking a smile and laughing hysterically, making Tommy laugh too. He scoots a little closer, reaching out and ever so lightly brushing against youre hand with his. “You really have quite the sense of humor, I enjoy it” he says with the sweetest, almost boyish smile on his face.

“Thank you, I love making people laugh. It makes me happy”

Midway through the second movie you could feel your eyes starting to get heavy. Letting out a silent yawn you scoot down on the couch laying on your side, curling you legs up your side and putting the pillow on the arm of the couch so your kind of in the fetal position to not crowd Tommy. Within a couple minutes of settling in you’re fast asleep.

Tommy’s Pov

I can’t help but notice how cute (y/n) looks all curled up and fast sleep on the couch as the movie ends. I wanted so badly to tell her that she could stretch out her legs or that she could lean on me but I didn’t want to come off as weird.

“Did she fall asleep?” Stacey says chuckling pulling me from my thoughts as she turns the lamp next to her on.

“Yea she’s been out for a little while, should I wake her up?

“No she’ll be alright, she gets a little grumpy sometimes when she gets woken up, nobody wants that” she says laughing as she stands and stretches.

“Do you have a blanket I can cover her up with?”

“Oh yea of course, let me grab her favorite blanket for you”

Stacey’s Pov

I can’t help but be touched by how incredibly caring and attentive Tommy is being with (y/n). When I return with her blanket for him I watch him as he studies it for a moment taking in every detail about it as if there’s going to be a test in the morning. He throws it over his shoulder for a moment as he very gently and softly straightened out her legs and then pulls the blanket over her, tucking her in.

“I just wanted to make her more comfortable so she doesn’t wake up all stiff in the morning”

“Thank you, Tommy. That’s really sweet of you. I know that would it would mean a lot to her, she’ll really appreciate it.”

“Well I guess I should be goin’, thank you very much for having me tonight”

“Your welcome Tommy, it was nice having you over. I know (y/n) really enjoyed having you over too. You two seemed like you had a great day.”

“I’m really happy to have spent the day with her”

I can’t help but notice the way he’s smiling as he’s talking about you.

“Well good night darlin’, could you tell her I said good night too?”

“Good night Tommy, I’ll tell her in the morning” I say with a warm smile sending him off into the night.

[allwaswell16]

{Recently Read 1D Fics}

September 2021

These are all the One Direction fics I read and enjoyed in September. There are 17 recs here in all! You can listen to my podcast to hear me talk about each of these fics as well as an overview of what was posted on ao3 in September including the fics on this month’s fic roundup which you can find here! Please let the writers know if you liked the fics by leaving kudos and comments! Happy reading!

Fanfictional Podcast #29 | ko-fi | fic recs

-Larry-

Hold You Now by @solvetheminourdreams

(M, 131k, ex-fwb, British Louis, American Harry, PR specialist to freelancer Harry, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, consultant to recruiter Louis, travel, slow burn, flashbacks, pining, lack of communication, no cheating, mild smut, a MUST READ emotional journey)

Three years ago, Harry Styles said goodbye to communications consultancy firm McQuiston Worldwide, leaving a life of travel and agency PR behind.

Know a Trick or Two by SadaVeniren / @sadaveniren

(E, 44k, Harry Potter au, magic, mpreg, one night stand, accidental pregnancies, mpreg Louis, mpreg Harry, muggle Harry, wizard Louis, quidditch player Louis, time jump, kid fic, Hogwarts, smut, so much fun!)

the one where Muggle Harry and Wizard Louis have a one night stand and get more than they bargained out of it.

Compass to my Soul by LadyLondonderry / @londonfoginacup

(T, 31k, canon, a/b/o, omega Louis, alpha Harry, touring, angst, hurt/comfort, omega drop, touch deprivation, alcohol, cuddling, miscommunication, nesting, touring, no smut, I cried the whole way through because Louis is so vulnerable and sad, help I'm sad just thinking about it but also I loved it)

Louis Tomlinson, omega, is 1/5 of world famous boy band One Direction. He spends his time hoping his bandmates don’t notice him.

Not Ready for This by @berzerkshires

(E, 18k, kid fic, single parent Louis, single parent Harry, dual pov, summer, secret relationship, smut, loved the dialogue and they were having way too much fun sneaking around lol)

Louis and Harry are both single fathers and their children decide to go out on a date.

Man, Deconstructed by jacaranda_bloom / @jacaranda-bloom

(E, 13k, sculptor Harry, artist Harry, strangers to lovers, misunderstandings, mistaken identity, stress baker Harry, disaster gay Harry, embarrassing situation, meet cute kind of lol, smut, bh, this was absolutely hilarious and embarrassing lol)

the one where a well-meaning best mate, a sculpture-worthy arse, and a heaping dose of misunderstanding combine to create sheer and utter chaos, and also, maybe, the best thing Harry’s ever found.

One Vote Can Rock the Boat by @2tiedships2

(M, 12k, a/b/o, alpha Harry, omega Louis, protective Harry, strangers to lovers, NYC, placing bets, oral sex, knotting, smut, whew this was hot)

the one where Omega Louis shows off his “I voted” sticker as one of the first 100 customers to get a free vibrator. The beautiful alpha behind the counter informs him that he’s customer 101.

My Sun and Stars, Moon of my Life by@ohharold

(M, 7k, Game of Thrones au, arranged marriage, dragons, fantasy, violence, mpreg Harry, smut, never read/saw GOT but this was very cool)

Harry was used to the luxuries of Kings Landing and then Pentos but when his brother is desperate for the crown he is entitled to, Harry must be part of an arranged marriage to a ruthless Khal of a Dothraki tribe.

baby I'll never leave (if you keep holding me this way) by we_are_the_same / @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed

(T, 6k, lockdown au, teacher Louis, baker Harry, strangers to lovers, accidental breaking and entering, motorcycle, fluff, emotional hurt/comfort, no smut, so lovely)

It is singing. Whoever is trying to rob him is in his kitchen, singing an eighties pop song under their breath. And they made cookies?

Call Me, Beep Me, If You Wanna Reach Me by therogueskimo

(NR, 6k, uni au, Brits in the U.S., strangers to lovers, first date, first kiss, embarrassing situation, pining, humor, Siri, so cute and funny)

“Will Harry Styles ever text me?” Louis looked back at Liam and Liam just smirked at him.

Birthday Princess by @kingsofeverything

(E, 4k, bartender Louis, Harry's birthday, alcohol, micropenis, oral sex, meet cute, semi-public sex, car sex, smut, funny and sweet and hot all at the same time)

Harry celebrates his birthday with Blow Jobs (and Slippery Nipples and Sex on the Beach) and drunkenly propositions the bartender in the bathroom.

Scent Partner by amomentoflove / @daggerandrose

(E, 4k, a/b/o, alpha Louis, omega Harry, strangers to lovers, pwp, heat, scenting, smut, meep!)

If both parties agree, they meet at a heat room for the omega’s heat.

The Cake Fairy by @homosociallyyours

(G, 2k, Harry/Louis, baking, flirting, slice of life, baker Harry, fluff, cute and fun!)

When Louis' attempt at making a Barbie princess cake is a huge, messy fail, Liam suggests he call in The Cake Fairy.

truth or dare by @jaerie

(E, 2k, strangers to lovers, truth or dare, alcohol, size difference, micropenis, size kink, smut, woah holy shit lol)

Harry likes small dicks. He finds a stranger that has one.

Take Me Home by SunTomato / @sun-tomato

(NR, 2k, uni au, roommates, banter, ot5, friendship, time jumps, no smut, really sweet)

Moving house sucks. Of course, it doesn’t help that, while the four of them had been trying to divide and pack everything before the deadline this weekend, Louis had spent his time unpacking it again.

The Bachelors and the Bachelorette by @turnyourankle

(NR, 2k, Bachelorette au, fake relationship, ficlet, shower sex, smut, hot and fun!)

With little left to do Harry and Louis both signed up to be contestant on the Bachelorette.

-Tomlinshaw-

the next bit was spanners to my plan by LadyAJ_13 / @ladyaj-13

(T, 6k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw, canon, fwb kind of, casual sex, secret relationship, no explicit smut, communication issues, texting, ah such great Tomlinshaw banter and dynamic!)

Louis and Nick end up shagging on the sly, everyone sends far too many emojis and far too few words, and eventually they're going to have to sort themselves out.

-Zouis-

driver's license by wordsnnotes / @quelsentiment

(T, 6k, Zayn/Louis, enemies to lovers, bed sharing, snow storm, winter, misunderstandings, banter, Canada, Louis pov, alcohol, demisexuality, unresolved tension, no smut, obsessed with this)

Louis is taking the exam to get his driver’s licence for the 3rd time (okay, sue him), and the examiner keeps getting under his skin, until they suddenly get stranded in the middle of a snow storm, and have to learn to cooperate.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Love and Medicine ~ 4

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 4,700ish

Summary: Your new roommates annoy you and Steve presses your buttons. 

(I do not own Marvel or Grey’s Anatomy.)

Val, Scott, and Clint had been living at your place for almost two days, when you woke up to Val standing at the foot of your bed. 

“Aaah!” You exclaimed, jumping slightly.

“Clint’s room is bigger than mine,” Val complained. You got out of bed, quickly tripping as Val continued, “I have more clothes, I should have the bigger room.”

You let out a groan as you picked yourself up off the floor and headed out of your room. Only to be met with Clint as well.

“I got here first,” Clint stated.

“It’s Y/N’s house, she should decide,” Val said. You continued down the hall, heading downstairs to the kitchen.

“My room is like, two inches bigger than yours!”

“You have a bigger closet!”

“So? Why is everything always a competition? I think that you can put your clothes somewhere else!”

“Everywhere else is filled with Y/N’s parent’s boxes.”

“Y/N? What are you going to do with all this stuff anyway?” You entered the kitchen to see that Scott had made breakfast. “Because maybe we can put some of the boxes in storage.”

“Or we could unpack a few things,” Scott suggested, handing you a plate of food and a cup of coffee. “Make this place a little more homey. Maybe some throw pillows and lamps, a few paintings.”

“Oh, paintings would be nice.”

“A quiet morning before work would be nice,” you muttered into your coffee, having sat down at the table.

“Yeah!” Val agreed with Clint and Scott. “You have all this amazing stuff just packed away. In the back hall, I found this box with like a hundred tapes of someone performing these amazing medical procedures.”

“Really?” Scott questioned. “We should watch them. Y/N, do you want to—“ You got up from the table, quickly leaving with your coffee in hand. “Wait, where are you going?” Your roomies followed you.

“Y/N,” Clint called. “We’re just trying to help. We could unpack for you.”

“Yeah,” Val added. “You wouldn’t have to do—“ You slammed your bedroom door in their faces.

“Y/N?” Clint whispered. “Do you want some privacy?”

You sighed as you slumped against the door. You were beginning to regret this whole roommate thing.

~~~

When you interns arrived at the hospital later that morning, you were immediately told to head to the pit (the ER). You were all helping each other suit up (gowns, gloves, etc.) while you talked.

“Fools on bikes killing themselves,” Gamora grumbled. “Natural selection is what it is.”

“So what’s up with Gamora?” Peter questioned quietly. “Is she off her meds?”

“You’ve never heard of the race?” Clint asked. Peter shook his head. “Every year this bar—“

“—The HYDRA Bar—“ you cut in.

“Yeah. Every year, they hold this underground bike race.”

“The race is completely illegal,” Scott added. “And—“

“Crazy,” you interrupted. “A bunch of bike messengers racing against traffic trying to beat each other for free shots of tequila.”

“All-out, no holds barred competition,” Peter said, “sounds like fun.”

“Yeah,” Val scoffed. “You would think that.”

“The race doesn’t even have any rules,” Clint added. “Except eye gouging—no eye gouging.”

“Oh great,” Natasha murmured. “We're going to be trapped in the Pit bandaging up idiots when we could be up in the OR?”

“What kind of people engage in a race that has, as its only rule, that you can't rip out the eyeballs of another human being?” Scott wondered.

“Men, Scottie,” Peter responded. “Men.”

“I need someone to get up to the OR floor,” Gamora stated loudly. “The Chief needs a right hand.” You all shot up your hands. “Clint.” 

“Yes!” Clint exclaimed, rushing away.

“Okay people, the rules of trauma. Don't mingle with the ER interns, they don't know their ass from their esophagus. Sew fast, discharge fast, take bodies up to the OR yesterday. Don't let me catch you fighting over patients. Got it? Come on, let's go.”

You interns rushed into the ER, seeing injured bikers everywhere.

“Oh, it’s like candy,” Natasha commented. “But with blood, which is so much better.”

Val and Natasha quickly started bickering about a biker that was just wheeled in. You looked around, trying to find an interesting case to jump on to.

“Ooh,” you said after seeing a guy with nails in his side. “I’ll take that guy.”

“No, you’ll have to beat me to him first,” Peter responded. You both ran to him, getting there at the same time. Peter pulled the curtain closed between them and the patient. “Heads he’s mine, tails he’s yours.” He fished out a coin from his pocket.

“Why do you get to be heads?”

“Because I have a head, and you are tail.”

“Excuse me! How do you make everything dirty?” Peter flipped it. “Ha. Tails. There are plenty of other cases.”

“So go get one. I was here first.”

“I am not backing down so I can do sutures all day while you're up in the OR. This is a surgical case, and you know it.”

“It's superficial. I mean, it's cool, but it's superficial.”

“How do you know those things didn't rupture his peritoneum?”

“Because he's sitting up, and he's sitting there talking to us!”

The patient pulled the curtain back. “Allo,” he said with an accent. “Excuse me, I was wondering if you could take these out, and sew me up, so I can go and win my race?”

“Well, we can’t just pull them out,” you told him. “I mean, we ought to—“ Peter quickly started ripping the nails out of the mans side. “—do some tests—“

“Oh, wicked.” The man smiled with a nod, grimacing a little with each pull.

“Are you out of your mind?!”

“it’s a superficial wound,” Peter said, handing the nails over to you. “Sew him up, and let him finish his race.” Peter walked away.

“You—you— ugh!”

“Good man,” the patient commented.

“Just, don’t move while I go get something to sew that up.”

“Of course, darlin’.”

You huffed in annoyance as you left to grab a suture kit. Coming back, you realized that the patient had been watching you the whole time, clearly checking you out. Which only made you more annoyed. Not that the guy wasn’t attractive, you just started the day feeling annoyed. You led him to a trauma room and cleaned the wound before beginning to sew it up.

“The name’s Hunter, by the way,” the patient stated.

“Hunter?” You repeated as you tried to concentrate on what you were doing. “Okay.”

“Hey! Don’t diss!”

“Not dissing, just concentrating.”

“Ah, you got a nice touch,” Hunter commented as you pulled another stitch. “And by the way, you are a rocking babe.”

“Seriously, do you actually think you have a shot here?”

“I like to think I've got a shot everywhere.”

“Look, you really have to let me take you for some tests, and a CT. You could have internal bleeding.”

“No thank you. I’ve got a race to get back to.”

You finished up the last stitch and stood up so that you could be face to face with him. “Why? You can't win now anyway.”

“Doesn't mean I can't cross that finish line. There's a party at the finish line. Do you want to meet me there?”

“One test. A CT. I'll have you out of here in an hour.”

“Can't do it, gotta go.”

“Okay, well, you realize that you're leaving against medical advice and I strongly urge you to stay.”

“The frat guy said I could go.”

“The frat guy is an ass. Okay, well, you have to sign an AMA form.” You reached behind you and grabbed a clipboard with the form.

“Darlin', I will do anything you want me to.”

“What is it with you guys and your need to dirty everything up?”

“I don't know. Maybe it's just testosterone, eh?”

“Maybe. You might want to see a doctor about that, too.”

“Come here.” He took the form, quickly signing it. “There.”

He handed the form back before getting up. Hunter took a few steps towards the door before spinning around. He grabbed you and kissed you.

“That was for good luck,” he whispered, walking away backwards. “Don’t worry, darlin’, you’ll see me again.” He left the room.

“For your sake, I hope not!” You called after him.

Shaking your head, you began to strip the bed. You couldn’t help the feeling though, that you were being watched. Looking up, you saw Steve standing outside the door. 

“What do you want?” You asked as Steve entered the room.

“You make out with patients now?”

You looked up at him with a small smirk. “What are you jealous?”

“I don’t get jealous.”

“We had sex, once.”

“And we kissed, in an elevator.”

“And we kissed in an elevator, once!”

“No, seriously, I mean come on, go out with me.”

“No.”

“You know, I almost died today.” You gave him a questioning look. “Yeah, I came like this close.” He gestured with his hands, a small gap between his finger and thumb. “How would you feel if I died? And you didn’t get a chance to go out with me?”

You rolled your eyes. “Get over yourself already.” You headed for the door.

“Come on.” Steve followed you.

You spun around. “It’s the chase, isn't it?”

“What?”

“The thrill of the chase. I've been wondering to myself, why are you so hell bent on getting me to go out with you? You know you're my boss, you know it's against the rules, you know I keep saying no. It's the chase.”

“Well, it’s fun. Isn’t it?”

“Yes see?” You waved a finger at him. “This is a game to you. But not to me. Because unlike you, I still have something to prove.”

You took your leave, hurrying to find another patient in need.

~~~

You were walking past a patient room when you heard Val call your name.

“Y/N!” You rushed in. “He’s crashing.”

“Well, what the hell are you doing?” You asked her. “Call code!”

“I can’t. I’m not supposed to, he’s brain dead.”

“Well Val, if he’s brain dead, you have to let him go.”

“No. It's only been five hours and thirty-three minutes, he's supposed to get six hours.”

“Well, we can't do anything to make him live, it's not our place to make that call.”

“He's a person, we're doctors, we should have every right to make that call. We can't just stand here and do nothing while he dies. He has a right to the next twenty-seven minutes.”

“Screw it. I’ll get the dopamine, you get the blood. We’ll transfuse him.”

You and Val worked together to save the guy, with Natasha coming in to help. After you got him stable, you and Val decided to take a walk.

“He’s stable,” you stated, walking up the stairs.

“For now,” Natasha said, coming down the stairs. “I had a radiologist look at his chest, apparently he has a traumatic aortic injury. He's going to rupture and bleed out.”

“So he needs surgery,” Val said.

“If he's going to remain a viable organ donor, yeah.”

“If he's going to live.”

“Val…”

“No! I’m not giving up on him. He has the surgery, he lives longer, that's the point. So I'm going to help find the family, you guys find a way to get him into surgery.” Val continued up the stairs.

“She’s vice-president of fantasyland.”

“So who do we go to?” You asked. “Gamora?”

“No, we need to go higher than Gamora.” Nat and you followed Val up the stairs.

You came to the conclusion that you needed to talk to Banner. You found him entering the men’s restroom.

“Let’s just wait until he’s done,” you suggested.

“No,” Natasha said. “Just open the door and talk to him.”

“Are you for real?” Natasha and Val pushed you into the door. “Dr. Banner?” You nervously called into the mens bathroom.

“Hello?!” Banner exclaimed.

“Okay…” you quickly closed the door. “Yeah… nope.”

Natasha pushed you aside and opened the door. “Dr. Banner, I know you’re busy, but our John Doe needs an aortic repair.”

“The guy from this morning?” Banner questioned, still doing his business. “Isn’t he legally dead?”

“Well, yeah, he's kinda still around? We gave him two units PRBCs and put him on pressers.”

“On whose orders?”

Natasha shut the door, giving you a look before forcing you to open it.

“Mine,” you squeaked.

“You gave a brain-dead John Doe a blood transfusion without consulting anyone. And now you want me to repair his heart.”

“Well, yes,” Natasha replied.

“You do enjoy crossing the line, don’t you?” Banner moved to wash his hands.

“He is an excellent candidate for organ donation,” you added.

“I am a surgeon. I save lives. This guy is already dead. Now, this is the men's room. Either whip one out or close the door.”

With a sigh, you closed the door and started walking away. As you did so, you got an idea.

“I think I’m going to regret this,” you mumbled. “I have an idea. Just… I’ll page you after I find an answer.”

You quickly left in search of Steve. You found him in a hallway and pulled him aside. You explained the situation, with him actively listening.

“You're asking my advice?” Steve questioned.

“Yes,” you responded with a nod.

“Now who’s chasing?” He teased.

“Not funny. This is important.”

“Okay. You want to get around Banner? You gotta find a way to get the Chief involved.”

“Okay—”

“And agree to go out with me?”

“Nope. Not happening.” You turned around.

“You’ll cave, eventually!” He called after you. “I’ll get her.”

~~~

At lunch, you, Val, and Natasha ran into Clint. He was in the middle of eating a sandwich when the three of you came up to him, standing in a line, staring.

“What’d I do?” He asked, food in his mouth.

“How close a match for the liver is your guy to our John Doe?” Val asked.

“Very.” Clint swallowed. “Same type, same size. UNOS couldn't find a better match, why?”

“And he's the Chief's VIP, right?” You asked.

“Right.”

“How much would you kill to be in on a transplant surgery?” Natasha asked.

“You underestimate me. I'm not a baby, I'm your colleague. You don't have to manipulate me, if you want something, all you have to do is ask.”

“We want you to go over Banner's head to the chief,” Val said.

“Ask me something easier.”

~~~

With a bit of persuasion, Clint finally caved in. Val, Natasha, and you watched from down the hallway Clint stop the Chief.

“Sir?” Clint called.

“Barton,” Fury turned around. “How’s Jackson?”

“Fine. Sir, actually, that's what I want to talk to you about. I-I kind of think that— we— uh, me, and the other interns, we think— we’re— we're not—“

“Barton, I’m not getting any younger.”

“We found Jackson a liver.”

“We are so going to hell,” you muttered. “Banner’s sending us straight to hell.”

“On an express train,” Val added.

“If it works,” Natasha said.

Peter came up to them. “What are you doing?” He asked.

“Nothing,” the three of you responded in unison. 

Peter noticed that you were watching Clint and Fury. So he began watching too. Banner walked past but Fury quickly stopped him, adding him to the conversation.

“Yes,” Val grinned.

Fury left soon after, leaving Banner to give Clint a questioning look. Clint immediately followed after Fury. Banner turned to look at the rest of you.

“Oh, crap,” Natasha muttered.

You three hurried away, leaving Peter. Peter quickly went after Banner.

“Dr. Banner! Dr. Banner!”

~~~

You found out through the OR board that Peter had been chosen to assist Dr. Banner in the surgery. You and Natasha were extremely irritated. You all sat up in the gallery, watching the surgery.

“I seriously hate that guy,” Natasha said.

“Peter is vermin,” you added in agreement. “That surgery is ours.”

“At least Banner is doing the surgery. I don't care about Peter,” Val said. “Clint? You did good.”

“I'm going to have to dodge Banner for the rest of my career,” Clint said, shaking his head. “He could kill me and make it look like an accident.”

“Now that would make an interesting Dateline,” Scott said.

“Really, Scott?” You questioned, trying to suppress a laugh. “That’s the first thing you go to?”

“Hey! You can’t deny that you wouldn’t watch it.”

~~~

After the surgery, it was time to go home. You had just changed out of your scrubs and were grabbing a few things from your locker when Peter waltzed in.

“Oh, I smell good,” he commented. “You know what it is?” He turned to you. “It’s the smell of open heart surgery.” He breathed in deeply. “It's awesome. It is awesome. You gotta smell me.” He came up behind you, leaning into you.

“I don’t want to smell you,” you retorted.

“Oh, yes you do.” He nuzzled into your hair.

You quickly spun around and grabbed him, pushing him against the lockers by his shirt. “You have got to be kidding me! Okay. I have more important things to deal with than you. I have roommates, and boy problems, and family problems.” Peter yawned, glancing around. “You want to act like a little frat boy bitch, that's fine. You want to take credit for your saves, and everybody else's? That's fine too. Just stay out of my face.” As Steve opened the door, you grabbed Peter by the chin, making him look at you. “And for the record, you smell like crap.”

You turn, finally seeing Steve. You go back to your locker. Steve motioned as if to say, what happened?”

“She attacked me,” Peter said, pointing at you.

You spun back around to really attack him.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N!” Steve rushed over, grabbing your arms and pushing you back. He turned to Peter. “You know, you might want to leave. Before I change my mind and let her beat you to a pulp with her tiny ineffectual fists.”

He let go of you to push Peter out the door. As Steve closed the door, Peter pulled a face at you, how mature. Steve sighed. You studied him, getting more stupid feelings for him by the second.

“What?” Steve wondered.

“Nothing,” you shook your head, turning to pull your jacket out of your locker. “It’s just…” You gave him another long look, him nodding encouragingly. “Nothing.”

You closed your locker and made your way to the door. Steve opened it for you. You looked at him again for a few seconds before striding away. He looked up at the ceiling with a sigh.

“I’m telling you, Rogers,” Stark commented as he leaned against the wall across from the door. “Not a good idea.”

“How the hell are you around every damn time?!” Steve exclaimed.

Tony laughed. “Honestly, I think I may have a gift for sensing everyone else’s stupid decisions but my own.”

“Well, can you stop sensing mine?!”

“Sorry, Steve. You’re the only one making stupid decisions currently."

~~~

All you wanted was your bed. And a quiet house. When you got home, Val, Clint, and Scott were already there. They were in the living room, sitting on the floor while going through a box of tapes.

“Ooh, this one is skin grafting!” Val said, pulling out a tape.

“Skin grafting? No way!” Scott responded, taking the tape from her. “I've never seen that done before.”

“Are those my parent’s surgical tapes?” You asked, bring there attention to you.

“We should watch the skin grafting one first,” Clint said.

You looked around the room. There were pieces of furniture and art that you had sworn were packed up this morning.

“Where did all this stuff come from?” You questioned.

“Oh, I unpacked some of the boxes,” Val replied. “I was upset, and when I'm upset I like to nest.”

“Same,” Clint and Scott added. You began taking down pictures.

“Oooh!” Val quickly grabbed another top. “Hemipelvectomy.”

“Let’s definitely watch that one first,” Scott said.

“No. No. We’re not watching my parent’s surgery tapes,” you quickly ripped the tapes from their hands, “we’re not unpacking boxes,” you motioned to the boxes around the room, “and we’re not having long conversations where we celebrate the moments of our lives!” You slammed the tapes on the coffee table. You grabbed the beer bottle that sat on the table and slammed it onto a coaster. “And use a damn coaster!” You turned to leave.

“I ordered Chinese food…”

You marched up the stairs. “I hate Chinese food!”

Here’s the thing… both of your parents were widely renowned surgeons. But they both died in a terrible accident almost a year ago. After that happened, you quickly changed your last name to one of your Grandmother’s maiden names. You didn’t want all the attention. You had already gotten so much through med school and have the accident, you didn’t want anymore.

~~~

You were grateful that your roommates didn’t bother you the rest of the night. And when it came time for work in the morning, you made sure to leave without them. You met up with Natasha in front of the hospital and walked in together.

“They're everywhere. All the time. Scott's all perky, and Clint does this thing where he's helpful and considerate, and Val just, I don’t know is Val!” You complained. “They share food and they say things and they move things, and they breathe.” You let out a little whimper. “They're like happy.”

“Kick them out,” Natasha responded.

“I can't kick them out. They just moved in. I asked them to move in.”

"So what, you're just going to repress everything into some deep dark twisted place until one day you snap and kill them?”

“Yep, basically.”

“This is why we are friends.”

Peter jogged up as they entered the hospital.

“Why is Gamora making us stay in the Pit two days in a row?” He asked.

“Leftovers,” you replied.

“Leftovers?”

“Gotta get the cyclists who were too drunk or too stupid or too scared to get themselves to a hospital yesterday.”

“While meanwhile, she gets to do a freakin' organ harvest.” He motioned to Natasha.

“Oh, that kills you, doesn’t it?” She smirked.

“What?”

“That two women got the harvest.” You three stopped in front of the elevator.

“No, it kills me that anyone got the harvest but me. Boobs do not factor into this equation. Unless you want to show me yours.”

You and Natasha exchanged looks. “I’m going to become a lesbian,” you stated.

“Me too,” Natasha responded.

~~~

You and Peter tried to civilly work near each other in the Pit. As you filed away some patient paperwork, you glanced over at the waiting room. You did a double take after seeing your patient from yesterday, Hunter, waiting.

“What’s Hunter doing here?” You asked.

Peter glanced up at the waiting room before going back to what he was working on. “Probably crashed his bike,” he answered. “Again.”

“How long has he been waiting?”

"Don't know, I'm busy on real cases. He's all yours.”

You walked over to him. “Hunter? Hunter?” You noticed that he was holding his side, the injured side, as you came closer. He didn’t look at you as he started to cough. “Are you okay?” He tried to get up and you ran the rest of the way to him. Hunter fell, unconscious as blood came from his mouth. “Hunter!”

You got down next to him, lifting up his shirt. The stitches you did yesterday were ripped open and the area around them had swelled up. You quickly called for help, other nurses and doctors quickly came with a gurney. They helped lift Hunter on with you jumping on to sit on top of him. You tried to hold his wound closed as you turned at talked to a nurse.

“Call up to the OR and tell them we’re coming,” you ordered. “And page Dr. Gamora.”

“Right away,” the nurse replied, rushing off.

You noticed Peter staring at Hunter, a bit stunned. “Peter! Push the dam gurney.”

Peter quickly rushed into action.

“Clear the way!” The nurse with the two of you called. “Coming through!”

“Somebody get the elevator!” Peter yelled.

“Hurry,” you said. “I don't know how long I can keep this wound closed.”

The gurney is pushed into the elevator. You watched as the doors seem to slowly close. You and Peter watch as the level numbers light up.

“Move faster, damn it,” you muttered.

Finally, the doors reopened and the gurney was quickly taken into the OR.

“Well, this is a new one,” Gamora commented, ready and waiting in the OR. “Somebody get her off my patient.” A nurse helped you climb down. “Y/N, go get cleaned up and scrub in, Peter, get back downstairs.”

“Yeah, but I helped,” Peter defended.

“Helped! They tell me down in the Pit that you only want to take the hot cases. In every pack of interns there's always one fool that's running around trying to show off, and Peter, this time that fool is you. Get out.” 

With an angry sigh, he left the OR. You quickly left after, going to clean up and scrub in.

~~~

After the surgery, you and Gamora were informed that Viper had friends waiting in the lobby for him. You two went out to talk to them.

“This lovely group's his friends. Uh, you all belong to—“ Gamora looked at you. “What’s his name?”

“Hunter” you answered.

“Hunter?”

“Yeah,” a man replied. “We were in the race.”

“How is he?” A woman stepped up. “Is he okay?”

“Is he okay?” Gamora repeated. “No. No, he is not okay, at all. He hurled his body down a concrete mountain at full speed for no good reason. Yeah, I know you all pierce yourselves and smoke up and generally treat your bodies like your grungy asses can't break down to A, you want to kill yourselves, flying down a concrete mountain, go to it, but there are other people walking, people driving, people trying live their lives on that concrete mountain, and one of them got his brains scrambled today because one of you little sniffling no-good snot-rag—“

“Doctor Gamora—“ you tried to stop her.

“Yeah, yeah so no, your friend Hunter, as far as I'm concerned, is not okay.” Gamora stalked off.

“She's, um, really tired, but, uh, Hunter's going to make it,” you said. “He’s gonna live.”

A chorus of “cools” and “thanks” were heard from he group. You stood there, awkwardly nodding for a few seconds too long before hurrying away.

~~~

At the end of the day, Steve found you in the locker room, alone. He came in, shutting the door behind him.

“It’s not the chase,” Steve stated, catching your attention.

“What?”

“You and me. It is not the thrill of the chase. It's not a game. It’s... it's your tiny ineffectual fists. And your hair.”

“My hair?”

“Smells good. And you're very, very bossy. Keeps me in line.”

“I’m still not going out with you.”

Steve smirked, opening the door back up. “You say that now.” 

He leaned over and kissed your cheek, then he left. That man was for sure going to be the death of you. You could feel it.

~~~

When you arrived home, Val, Scott, Natasha, and Clint were in the living room, eating pizza, drinking, and watching a surgical tape.

"Okay, this is the best part, watch, this is where they pulls a block of skin down over the face,” Val said. 

You cleared your throat. “Hi,” you said as they looked at you.

“We were— uh, we were just,” Scott stuttered.

���Natasha made us!” Clint quickly said.

“What are we watching?” You asked, coming into the room more. “Ooh.” You sat down and took some pizza. “This is the one where my mother—“

“Literally pulls this guy’s face off!” Val interrupted.

“Yeah.”

You nodded, looking around at your friends. There might be a small chance that you could get used to this.

next chapter >

NOTES: from now on the taglist when be added by a reblog. I will reblog it using my second account, @just-dreaming-marvel-2​​. Just so that my main page doesn’t get too cluttered.

If you want to be added to the tag list, please dm me or send in an ask.

[cosmiclatte28]

Just Friends (Jeno x you, Chenle)

a/nn : hey there, the ending looks rushed but its coz i wanna try and keep my promise of posting a story this week. I know it's super bad but I am trying to pick my writing nerves back. Pardon me for all stupid scenes but I am trying.. feels like i am back to learning crawling and walking.. but here it is!

warning: friend zone

characters : jeno, jaemin, renjun, chenle

He was always there when you needed him. No matter how sunny or windy it is outside, Jeno always finds his way to come and sit by your side. It’s amazing and wonderful how he always manages to ditch his works for you.

“I’m bored,” you send the short message to Jeno, your best friend. Usually it doesn’t take long before his message will come in with a reply like “Should I come over?” but not today. Lately, he has been acting differently. He doesn’t text you as often and he seems busy. You didn’t fuss over it at first. Thinking that finally Jeno is giving himself some time and is able to do stuff he wanted to do.

You waited for his text but nothing came in, you wanted to call but you’re afraid if he’s still sleeping. After all this is a Sunday morning, he might have played games too much last night and slept early in the morning.

“Were you guys playing last night?” you send another short message to his gaming friend, Taeyong.

Taeyong replied to you quickly “We did, but Jeno wasn’t playing with us. What’s the matter?” Taeyong doesn’t even need you to mention you’re looking for Jeno’s whereabouts.

“Oh, well I am not asking about Jeno, what makes you mention his name.”

Taeyong only replies with a laughing emoji and a “Everyone knows both of you are always together. He always mutes his mic whenever you call.”

You blush at that, something cool about him is that whenever you called to talk about some of your feelings, he could always pick your call up. Although you know he keeps on playing, at least he mutes the mic and he’s listening to you and you feel less lonely.

But you wonder if Jeno is just doing all of this because he is your bestfriend or he likes you. No bestfriend acts this far! They’ll reject your call instead.

Your brother has repeatedly remind you that you shouldn’t fall for his sweet charms. You always deny him and said you are just seeing Jenoa as your friend, but why does it feel different now whenever he picks your call or stops his game for you. He used to do that, but only now did you feel it as something special.

You finally decided to call him since its almost lunch time and he hasn’t replied your text.

You reach his voicemail and that’s something new.

“I’m coming over to your house. Is everything okay?” you send it and quickly dress up.

There’s just something unsettling in your heart to not get any news at all from Jeno.

You arrive at his apartment door right on time when his roommate, Renjun, is entering the building.

“Renjun ah!” you yell and the boy luckily hears you and holds the door open for you. You need access to get into the building, good thing Renjun is here.

“Oh (y/n), what are you doing?”

“Going to check on Jeno.”

“Oh when I left for the market earlier, he’s still asleep.”

You just nod and follow him to the unit. When both of you step in, you don’t see any signs of Jeno at all. So, you knock on his door and push it open only to find its locked.

“Hm weird, he locked the room.” you mutter.

Renjun saw you still in front of the room and asked “Oh it's locked? He never locks his door.” Renjun tries pushing the door but to no avail it's not swinging open.

“It’s okay, I’ll wait.” you knock on the door and finally hear a reply.

Jeno finally appears behind the locked door. His messy hair is still there and he lets you into the room.

“Hey, is everything good?” you ask after sitting on his bed and Jeno grabs a fresh pair of sweaters. He was just in his tank earlier.

He nods, his eyes still closed.

“Were you drinking?” you push his hair away when he leans to your shoulder.

He nods “I’m sorry I forgot to tell you but it was an all guys night.”

You nod “It’s okay, I was never mad you didn’t bring me. I don’t like parties that much after all.”

“My head hurts.” he whines.

You chuckle “Forgot to drink water right?” you push him your water bottle and he chugs it down.

“Have you eaten lunch?” he asks after gaining his soul completely

“Not yet, you want to eat somewhere?”

He stands up and picks his phone, fiddles with it for a while before finally answering “I have something to do tonight. Is it okay if we just eat somewhere nearby?”

Your brow raised in surprise, Jeno has never been this weird. He used to have his own events but he will definitely tell you what it is and not just vague news. But you don’t want to meddle too much with his schedule, so you just stand up and leave him to change.

“Oh hey Jaemin.” you greet the third roommate that lives with Jeno. He too, seems to just wake up from his wild night.

“Where are you from?” you ask the messy looking boy. Well his shirt is super messy.

He just smiles lazily and rubs his hair away “A stranger’s house. Was too drunk to remember.”

You just scoff “Getting laid again?”

The jock just smiles and washes his face with cold water. “Jeno has great self control.”

You just nod. Though Jeno said the party was all guys, you know there’s still chances of the guys bringing girls over and Jaemin is just one of the popular jocks here.

“You should come and join us next time. The drinks are amazing.” he shakes his head after washing his face.

You laugh “You know I don’t like parties, I’d rather watch movies with Renjun.” you plop yourself down on the sofa, admiring Renjun’s busy hands chopping onions as he prepares his lunch.

“Fine, but don’t be jealous if Jeno finds his lover.” Jaemin teases you. You’re used to the guys teasing you that if you don’t claim Jeno soon, he will get a girlfriend eventually and you will be pushed away. You used to think that Jeno won’t push you away if he gets a girl, but now you start to worry what if the girl wants Jeno to stay away from you? Now that is not Jeno’s fault but you will get hurt right?

“Kidding, don’t kill me. Jeno will be mad if he knows I tease you like this.” Jaemin gives you a quick side hug and you just roll your eyes.

“Come (y/n), let’s go.” Jeno appears with a fresh face, looks like he showered quickly before going with you.

“So, what did you do last night?” Jeno asks you when the two of you are already in his car and he’s driving downtown.

“Just in my room, checking on my blog and watching films. Not much fun, but I enjoy that.”

Jeno smiles “Sorry, I will accompany you next time.”

You shake your head “Why are you weird? It’s okay. I never force you to hang out with me because I know you don’t like to watch films.”

Jeno tosses a glance on you “But still, you’re lonely. Your friends are away on their vacation.”

You punch him “What’s wrong! This is so not you.”

He just smirks “Fine, you seem bored to have me around. I’ll go away so you miss me.”

You thought he was joking, so you play along. “Okay then, let’s see who misses who first.”

--

You stare at your phone and blink several times after seeing a text from Jeno saying that he couldn’t accompany you to the market because his girl wants him to accompany her shopping.

You were shocked at the news that he has a girlfriend and he didn’t tell you. And you’re surprised because Jeno never wanted to accompany you shopping, what makes him want to do that for his girl?

Now you understand why the other boys tease you, indeed it's you who is losing if Jeno gets a girl. Even if you get a boy, Jeno won’t bother too much because now you realize you are the one who loves him as someone more than friends, and to Jeno you are just his other best friend.

You grab your phone and begin dialing a number you remember by heart.

After five beeps the sweet voice on the other side greets you “Hello (y/n)! What’s the matter?”

You pull your phone away from your ear, the loud noise coming from the phone was pretty loud for eleven in the morning.

“You’re partying this early? Jaemin, it's not healthy.” you groan but the other guy only laughs “We’re not partying hard yet. Where are you now?”

You smile “Home, why?”

“Not doing anything?” he questions as he takes a look around his surroundings. No Jeno in sight

“Nope. I’m just in my house alone, why?” Jaemin’s breath hitches and he gulps “Oh that’s weird, Jeno is also not here.”

“Where are you at?” your curiosity peaks and the sweet guy replies “Go change, I am having a summer pool party at Jaehyun’s house. Come join us, we’re having barbecues and some afternoon fun and games. Renjun will pick you up in thirty minutes.”

You take a look at Jeno’s text and finally decide that you should just go have fun in the sun.

“Okay, just wait Renjun.Take care and see you!”

You glance at your phone one last time, still no text from Jeno at all. Maybe this is it, the sign and time to finally let go of the “more than friends” feeling that you have on your bestie.

After donning your summer dress and taking a piece of swimsuit, you put your sunglasses on while taking the stairs down to meet Renjun.

“Hello there hottie,” Renjun chuckles when you already sit down nicely beside him.

You roll your eyes “What? I’m here to have fun.” you snicker and Renjun just shakes his head before finally accelerating to Jaehyun's house.

The host greets you nicely and Jaemin greets you to a bone crushing hug. You just hug him back before checking around to see who is here. Some of the guys here are familiar but some of them are also strangers to you.

“Do you know everyone here?” you nudge Jaemin’s elbow and the guy nods while sipping from his red solo cup “Everyone’s my friend here. What? You have an eye on someone already? I thought you’re loyal to Jeno.”

You scoff and hit his back “Shut up. We’re only friends and he got a girl. Now I want to make more friends, who is that guy?” your eyes focus on the young lad who has a black shades on, his fluffy brown hair just flying with the wind and suddenly you know Renjun is talking to him and he bursts into a super loud high pitch laugh. Interesting.

“Oh, that is a student from China, his name is Chenle, come I can introduce you to him.”

Before you can shake your head, Jaemin already drags you to the guy and they seem close because the next thing you know Jaemin is already introducing you to the cute guy.

“I’m Chenle, nice to meet you.” he extends his arm and you grab his palm, shaking it “(y/n), pleased to meet you too. So, can I get to know you better?” you wink and make the guy in front of you smirk.

Behind Chenle you can see Jaemin and Renjun stifling a laugh. The two guys wink back at you and leave you alone with Chenle.

Deep inside your heart you know why Jaemin and Renjun sent you that wink. They know you are moving on to the hot stuff in your sight and slowly forget about the unrequited love you have for your best friend.

After all, the myth is 90% right. When a guy and a girl become good friends, one of them will fall in love and still the best way to keep the friendship going is to keep being just friends.

So, maybe this Chenle sweetheart will be your boyfriend, or maybe someone else. Whichever that is, you have to let Jeno go to his significant others.

end or maybe there will be a part where you get to know Chenle and Jeno is jealous

net @superm-net @multifandomnet

[wylanvnneck]

Hi!! I was wondering if you could write the angst prompt number 1 with jurdan??🥰

Angst Prompt #1: “The worst part is you didn’t even notice.”

Fandom: TFOTA

Ship: Jurdan

Masterlist | Prompt List

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

High pitched giggles peal through the air and the noise makes the 21 year old Cardan Greenbriar wince. He’d been away from his hometown of Elfhame for 2 years now, having happily left it and his controlling family behind after graduation to go live in his dorm room back at Insmire University with his crazy roommates. Yet here he was, back again for a week-long visit in honour of his old friend Locke’s engagement.

He and Locke had never been all that close to begin with, but he had been his oldest friend, and it did seem like a good idea to come back for a bit and see how much things had changed in the years since he’d be gone, which didn’t seem to be all that much. 

Locke was still the same fox-faced wastrel that he had been, except that he was now engaged and the other member of their old gang, Valerian was still as snarky as usual, a perpetual sneer on his face whenever someone attempted to speak to him. Seated at a round outdoors table surrounded by his High School acquaintances, Cardan feels nothing but boredom.

He grips the neck of his wine glass even tighter when he sees the source of the giggling emerge from Locke’s house where his engagement party was being hosted. Taryn Duarte the Bride to Be and her posse of friends strut out into the garden from the inside of the house where they’d been gathered together doing goodness knows what for the past half hour. A glimpse of blue hair catches his eye and he recognises it as belonging to a girl named Nicasia that he used to be friends with back in High School, a million years ago.

Taryn’s six inch heels click against the asphalt of the garden path and the sight of her familiar icy brown eyes and dark hair brings up a volley of almost forgotten feelings within him. Not feelings for the rather cold female before him, but for who she reminded him of. Her twin.

Involuntarily he finds himself scanning the group of women for any sign of Taryn’s sister before coming up short and then chastising himself for looking in the first place. Jude belonged in the past where he had buried her. He takes another sip of the red wine in his hand before shifting his attention back to the conversations happening at his table, a politely unimpressed looking Garrett talked in low tones with his friend Van, both of them engrossed in whatever they were discussing, and a slightly inebriated Valerian was attempting to flirt with the disgusted woman seated next to him. 

Resisting the urge to let out a growl he downs the contents of his glass in one go before standing up to re-enter the house and get a refill, needing some kind of distraction.

He’s just finished pouring some more Merlot into his glass from the otherwise empty bar table when a rustling sound travels from somewhere nearby. He glances up at the staircase by the other end of the room, catching sight of a silky white fabric and dark brown hair before whoever it was disappears from view. Stange, he’d thought all of the other guests were outside. Setting his glass down on the table he climbs up the stairs, curiosity getting the better of him. 

Having reached the landing he searches for any sign of where the person might have gone, walking a little further down the hallway on the left before seeing the big French windows leading out to the balcony flung open, the cool night air drifting in.

Cautiously, he approaches, his body going on high alert when he notices who it is that’s standing out on the balcony, hands loosely clutching the metal rails and face turned up towards the starlit sky. Her chestnut hair is tied in an intricate braid hanging down her back and she’s wearing a slim fitting black top and flowy white pants which sway gently around her legs and she looks even more gorgeous than she had in their High School days. He takes a moment to catch his breath before slowly trudging forwards to join her.

She turns when she hears footsteps approaching, a slight frown marring her expression before she recognises him and it clears. Her gaze is as disarming as it used to be.

"Shit, man, don't just sneak up on people like that," a corner of her lip quirks.

He holds up his hands in mock surrender, "Oops, sorry."

“I didn’t know you were coming.” He catches the questioning lilt in her statement.

“It was a last minute kind of thing, I wasn’t sure if I’d be coming either, until yesterday.”

She nods and he positions himself next to her but at a safe distance, one hand coming to rest carelessly on the balcony rail next to hers.

He watches her let out a soft whoosh of breath, looking down at the garden where people were now dancing to the music that had started playing on the expensive speaker set under the bright fairy lights. There’s laughter and cigarette smoke wafting upwards, but from their little spot up above, everything seemed to be much farther away than it really was. 

Eventually, he breaks the silence. “So, Taryn and Locke, huh?”

“Yep.” She replies. The look on her face is one he can’t quite decipher.

He clears his throat and speaks in a tight voice. “Are you...upset by that? I know you and Locke used to be close.” 

He recalls the rumour that used to fly around during their senior year, people whispering about Jude and Locke having a thing. He also remembers the sharp pain that he’d felt when he’d heard that Locke had asked Jude to be his date to their Senior prom and that she’d accepted. Cardan vaguely remembers asking Nicasia to be his date to that very same prom, but the only thing that comes to mind when he thinks about that night is the haze of jealousy that had clouded his mind when he’d seen Locke twirling a grinning Jude around the dance floor.

“Me and Locke? God no. He was just a friend. Although, I think even that was only because he kept showing up and trying to talk to me in Senior Year for no apparent reason.” 

Cardan feels a surprisingly strong sense of relief wash over him at the fact that Jude was never interested in Locke that way, before his eyebrows knit together a moment later. He’d drunkenly confessed his ginormous crush on Jude to Locke at the start of their senior year, and immediately regretted it the next day. It wouldn’t surprise him if Locke had been cozying up to Jude simply to get on his nerves. It definitely seemed like something the manipulative scoundrel would do.

Not that it mattered anymore. Years had passed and he’d probably lost his chance. If he’d ever had the chance in the first place.

“I heard you’ve been off at uni all this time. Insmire, huh?” Her words are light but he’s slightly astonished that she’d been keeping track of where he’d been for the past few years. 

“Yeah, it was the break I needed.”

“What are you studying?”

“My dad wanted me to do Business for when I inherit his company, but I’m also doing a course on Classical and Ancient Languages, purely because I wanted to.”

“That’s great, Cardan.” Her sincerity is clear. “I remember how controlling your dad was. It’s great that you’re finally getting to be your own person.”

He’s sure that his astonishment at her words is blatantly obvious because a barely detectable flush travels up her neck and she averts her gaze. Not only had Jude Duarte been keeping track of where he’d been, she’d also noticed his strained relationship with his father all those years ago. A thrill rises up inside of him.

“Thank you.” He pauses. “So what have you been up to these days?” he asks, like he hasn’t been checking her social media pages at least once every few months, unwittingly grinning whenever he came across one of her rare posts with her and her few friends hanging out together outside of her own University in Nightfell. 

“Oh, same as you actually, getting a taste of independence at Uni. Doing a course on Criminal Justice.”

“That sounds amazing. Tell me all about it.”

And she does, her eyes lighting up as she talks about a subject that she enjoys studying and half of his attention is taken up by what she’s saying and the other half is just focused on her, on the way the moon illuminates one half of her and how the breeze is playing with a few loose strands of her hair and the way her mouth is moving whilst she speaks. They chat for what feels like ages before the conversation eventually flows to a comfortable halt and they hear the clanging of plates and glasses below as the other guests start on dinner, and he knows they’ll have to leave this place of idyll at some point.

He hates that. That they’re on borrowed time and that they were separated by too many years and very separate lives for their situation to be anything different now. And yet, he needs to tell her, to let her know, even if it can’t change anything.

“You know, back in High School I used to daydream about this. You and I, just talking.” He knows that the tips of his ears are probably flaming red, just like the rest of his head, but he forces himself not to look down and to keep meeting her stare. Her eyes widen when she registers what he’d said.

“I-What?” Her shock is apparent.

He breaks eye contact with her, withdrawing his hand from the spot next to hers on the rail, the disappointment coursing through him undeniable. He’d known that she’d never noticed him, but it still hurt to see the bafflement in her reaction.  

“I had a crush on you for ages, pathetic pining and all, and the worst part is you didn’t even notice.”

She flounders, mouth slightly agape, for once not having a response and the smile that curls his lips is one without mirth.

“Well, it’s been nice talking to you Jude,” he grits out, swiftly turning in an attempt to flee with what was left of his dignity.

He’d made it to the top of the staircase before hearing her voice calling after him. 

“Cardan! Cardan wait, goddammit.”

Reluctantly, he stops, bracing himself for the awkwardness of the next few minutes. She’d look at him with pity, explain to him that she wasn’t interested, or maybe that she had someone else. That last thought lances through him like a punch to the gut. During his self-indulgent social media searches he had never seen any posts that indicated that there was someone special in her life, but that didn’t necessarily mean that there wasn’t anyone. After all, Jude Duarte was a special type of woman, the type of woman that you fought for.

Too bad that he’d figured that out too late.

The sound of her boots clacking on the floor gets closer and closer and he turns around just in time for her to throw her arms around his neck and drag his head down to connect their lips, their noses bumping together in the process. Time stops, and his every High School fantasy comes true when he feels her tangle her tongue with his and it’s a little sloppy at first, especially since she had caught him off guard, but they find their rhythm and flames lick through his entire being. Frantically, he grabs a hold of her waist and pushes her until she’s against the wall, her fingers coming up to tangle in his locks as he strokes her sides.

She pulls away to breathe and they’re both panting harshly as if they had run a marathon. 

“I had a crush on you too. I hated it and I tried to fight it because you used to pick on me in middle school.” 

Had he? It was so long ago that he really couldn’t remember, but he also knew that he was precisely the type of person who’d want to hurt the girl that got under his skin.

“Really?” He grins ruefully.

“Yes, really.” She reaches up and playfully smacks the back of his head before carding her fingers through his hair in the same spot to soothe it.

‘Well, my middle school self humbly begs for your forgiveness.” He leans forward and presses their foreheads together, locking his gaze with hers.

“Apology accepted.”

And then they’re kissing once more. He may not have been prepared for a moment like this, but he was sure as hell going to hold on to it and never let go.

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

Some soft boi Cardan for you lovely peeps. I hope you see this and that you enjoy, Anon. Thanks for the ask!

Tagging: @cupcakesandkittens , @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln, @thewickedkings , @kittkatandbooboo , @min-unicorn, @fangirlprincess09, @thefolkofthefic

Let me know if you’d like to be added to or taken off of the tag list🌻

[heelwriting]

Prompt: We're roommates but we're falling for each other

Fandom: Wrestling, AEW

Pairing: Orange Cassidy x Reader

Warnings: None

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 1,518

Masterlist | Buy Me coffee

Requested by @dancingwithsilhouettes

A/N: I'm not going to lie, this is probably my favorite I've written so far, I put much of myself in it I kind of feel vulnerable, well... hope you enjoy it!

I loved living with James, we've lived together for the past year, he was searching for a roommate and I had just finished my stay at another complex, it accommodated more to my expenses not having to pay full rent and it was a plus living with my best friend. But of course I didn’t know I would get so attached to him emotionally, I started to depend on him for a lot of things. During the morning one would cook breakfast for the both of us, we would go to restaurants together, dinner was almost always pizza or some other delivered food so we didn't get out of the house, we always had marathons of movies, I will be honest, he made me care about Fast and Furious. Lately I've felt small changes, but significant ones, we used to sit side by side on the couch and now he would put his arm around my shoulders or he would rest his head on my lap and I would play with his hair, he started kissing me more often, kisses on the cheek and forehead, he would take my hand if he went for a walk, he always let me decide where to go or what to do, and I know I could be exaggerated but maybe, just maybe he does like me. I got up in the morning and started making pancakes, as they started to cook I feel James enter the kitchen. “This smells great, why do they smell so good? What did you put in them? " He asked as he walked closer to me or rather the plate filled with pancakes, he took the plate and sniffed he almost moaned appreciating the sweet smell. "Family recipe, I can't say" I say as I keep myself occupied, I was trying not to look at him for too long, I always found myself looking at him for long minutes at a time, I couldn't help but look in admiration, it was early in the morning and he looked perfect, his hair brushed to the side, he just put on some sweatpants and at shirt, I could say we were dressed exactly the same but I looked like shit. The lights that came from the window made his blond hair glow, his skin looked pale, his eyes as blue as they ever looked, he was the closest thing I’d seen to an angel. After breakfast we started watching Avatar, the bald kid, not the blue mosters, i love making Cassidy watch kid oriented movies or shows he seemed to be more calm and relaxed when we saw them, he was hesitant at first but with time he started liking them again, I loved the way he concentrated and he would pause the show to ask something if he didnt understand or sometimes he made up his own conclusions to what was next and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. "So is he like the ultimate bad guy?" He asked, as Zuko was yelling at his uncle. "No, his father is, but he doesn’t show up until later" I explained. "Ohh" He said nodding, he kept watching and didn’t say much, only laughing at things Sokka would say or do, I feel like he would take inspiration for Orange by looking at Sokka and his comedic antics. We kept watching for hours, he started reclining his head on my shoulder until he had his head on my lap, he was absently playing with the cordons of my sweatpants as I started brushing his soft hair with my fingers, i knew the show from front to back i wasn’t paying much attention, instead I would watch his features, the long bridge of his nose, the little concave part down the lower part of his nose, I loved that part. His laugh was contagious, it was like fuel to me, I loved the way the lines appeared beside his mouth because he smiled so much, I liked being the reason he smiled so much that’s why I’m always trying to break him especially if he is in character, this days it doesn’t take much, and he is just a very giggly person. That was part of his charm and it was easy to love him. We ordered food not wanting to even move from the couch, we heard the bell ring and we looked at each other. “Rock, paper, scissors?” I asked. “Shoot, two out of three” He answered smiling, he stuck his tongue out while he played, after losing the first two games he got up, resigned, he came back with pizza and a soda from the fridge, I concentrated in devouring the pizza but I felt him staring at me, I almost

chocked, I looked back at him a little embarrassed, I must have looked like a maniac, he smiled and I imitated him. We went back to watch the show afterwards, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that James was watching me, I started biting my lip unconsciously. Out of nowhere he turned off the tv and he sat looking directly at me. “What’s up?” I asked confused, he evaded my face for a few seconds, he scratched the back of his neck, unintentionally my eyes looked at his arms, he may not be the biggest guy but he is certainly more muscular than a regular person. “We need to talk” He said in a serious voice, he didn’t use that tone often so I was scared of what he would say. “Sure… about what?” I said. “I don’t know how to do this” He mumbled to himself, I put a hand on his knee trying to comfort him, but he froze, he looked at my hand and then at my face, his mouth a little open, he lost concentration, I was confused all around. “I… don’t know if I should say it” He said hesitated. “It’s ok just say it” I wanted him to talk, every second I was more and more afraid of what could come. “I love you” He says in shaky voice, he looks at me expecting my reaction, I didn’t know how to react. “I love you too” I say between confusion and without me trying to sound that way, it came out like nonchalant, but I was dying on the inside, he never said ‘love’ before, I started sweating from how nervous I was, he shakes his head. “You don’t get it, I’m in love with you” And there it was, my mouth felt dry suddenly, I could not move I couldn’t think straight, I didn’t say anything and he took it as a sign to keep talking. “I’m not sure when it happened but I am” He pauses for a second, he moves closer to me, taking my hand in his, he locked eyes with me, the shine in them was distracting me, but then his voice brought me back to reality, a reality I didn’t know I could be in. “I love the way your hair smells when we cuddle, I love to spoil you with your favorite dessert, I love watching movies and how you do commentary for them, sometimes it’s much better than the actual lines, I love your smile, I love your laugh and I do everything I can to see it every day, I know we’re supposed to be friends but I can’t fake it anymore I have fallen in love with you and if you are ok with it, would you go on a date with me?” I felt tears almost falling from my eyes, were did the emotion come from? Only he could make me feel like a million bucks, with his thumb he wiped my tears, he kept his hand over my cheek. “Are you ok?” He asked preoccupied, his thumb rubbing my skin lovely, I nodded as I smiled, I hugged the arm that was touching my face. “I think I’m alright, it’s just… I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that, and part of me doesn’t want to wake up from this dream” He smiled. “It’s not a dream” He said. James moved slowly towards me, I looked at his blue eyes as he closed the distance, he looked at me one last time, his lips were parted as he waited one more second before he kissed me for the first time, his lips touching mine as electricity rushed into me, his free hand went to my waist, I kept one on his arm and the other went to his hair, tilting his head to the side we didn’t waste time and deepened the kiss, but it wasn’t long before we had to separate. I looked at the floor for a while, I felt my cheeks burning hot, I felt like a teenager with my first crush again. “Defiantly not a dream” I said joking as I find the courage to look at him, he took my hand and kissed it. “So… what do you say?” He asks expectantly. “I’d love to go out with you”

Originally posted on October 7, 2020

[serendipityunho]

Fire & Flames

× genre: smut, fluff, college au × pairing: badboy!Hongjoong x Reader (fem.) × word count: 5.9k × warnings: explicit language, alcohol consumption, fingering, handjob, oral, clit play, slight choking, pull-out method, hand kink, praising, explicit sex

× synopsis:You never expected to fall into the arms of the notorious bad boy of the campus, Hongjoong, after getting locked out. But yet again, he never expected for you to end up in his arms either. 

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

‘Come to the party’, they said. 

‘It’ll be fun’, they said.

If only you knew you’d be walking home barefoot, holding your heels in your hands in this cold midnight. To begin with, the party wasn’t even that fun. People got high, people got fucked, people got knocked out. When was there anything new?

It was like any other college party, but with more beer kegs this time and Wooyoung didn’t get too wasted, which was an achievement. You never knew how people didn’t get so bored after the first hour of being surrounded by sweaty drunk bodies and actually not worry about being in the danger zone of being vomited on. 

Your best friend had already fucked off with some guy at the party, leaving you with the set of apartment keys since you had dropped them down the drain a few days ago. She was already too wasted to give you a lift home before tending to her businesses with whoever she caught, now you’re shivering down the street with your feet so numb you could barely feel the pain of the gravel stabbing at the bottom of your feet.

The apartment building wasn’t too far from sight, it was only a minute walk before you found yourself standing at the entrance with the flashlight on your phone on as you fumbled with the keys. Wait.

“Fuck!” You wish you were seeing things, anything other than the fact that you were holding the wrong set of keys. None of these belonged to you. 

Your best friend had given you the wrong keys, and you were too homesick to even bother checking them before leaving the party. Great. Now you were locked outside with a nearly dead phone and frozen feet. 

“Come on, come on, pick up” It felt like forever before the robotic voice answered, sending you straight to voicemail as you sighed in defeat. 

5%

You wouldn’t have found yourself in this predicament if only you had listened to yourself and stayed home instead of allowing yourself to be dragged to that god awful party. You couldn’t even think properly with your constant shivering as you sink to the floor, ass getting cold from the pavement. 

There was always Jongho who didn’t live too far. No, he’s probably at a boxing match tonight. Or Yeosang. Eh, probably in a chicken coma with his girlfriend. 

Another sigh left your lips, hot breath evaporating into the cold air as you hugged yourself not that it would make a difference to your warmth. You didn’t want to go back to that party, not when people were finally starting to throw up on each other and couples occupying the bedrooms. 

Everything but the 7/11 beside the abandoned warehouse, and the bar was open, all other warm and cozy places were closed dark. The 7/11 looked empty, and that was the problem. You didn’t want the cashier’s eyes on you the entire night suspecting you of stealing shit. The bar it is.

You lift yourself off the cold steps of your apartment building before patting whatever residue was on your dress. A grimacing look took over as you looked down at your heels. You really didn’t want to wear it again unless you wished for your feet to stop working the next day. At least look decent before entering.

With every step, your feet felt like they were on complete fire. You were bound to collapse at any given moment. 

Just. A. Few. More. Steps.

The neon sign beamed brightly, almost making your eyes ache at the sight as you pushed through the entrance. A subtle buzz surrounded you almost instantly as your eyes land on the pool table then onto the bar with only a few drinking.

It was definitely much warmer than you expected it to be. But it was more than enough. 

“First time at a bar?” Your eyes stopped looking around and shot to the bartender in front of you, wiping the surface with a cloth before swinging it over his shoulder.

“It’s that obvious huh?” You place your clutch onto the counter before taking a seat on the stool, sighing in relief as your sore feet take another break from walking in heels.

“Very. Would you like a drink?” 

“Um, a martini would be nice, thanks” Money shouldn’t be used recreationally right now. But, a drink was needed in order to keep your cool.

“So what’s a girl like you doing here so late?” The bartender didn’t look up as he started mixing your drink, ice shackling inside the shaker.

“I got locked out because my roommate gave me the wrong keys and now she won’t pick up” 

“Have you tried calling her again?”

“No, my phone is about to die” The glass filled with the beverage pouring out from its shaker as the bartender pushed the drink towards you.

“There’s a payphone over there if you have any change left” 

“Yeah, if I had change left, thanks though” 

Another customer appeared in the corner of your eye, sitting down just one seat away from you. You could sense a burning gaze in the side of your head as you kept looking down, stirring your drink with the little toothpick you got with the olive.

“What made you come here?” From the very first word spoken, you immediately knew who it was. 

“That’s none of your concern, Hongjoong” You were met with a well-known smirk the moment you turned your body to the blonde-haired man.

You weren’t surprised to find Hongjoong at a place like this. It fits in well with his rough agenda anyways. That is, being the boy most parents warned their daughters about and the boy many others either despised out of jealousy from stealing the attention of girls they tried too hard to get.

“It’s quite concerning to see you at a bar so late. Did something happen that finally drove you out of the house?” Hongjoong chuckled, tilting his head to the side as he smirked.

“The only thing that drove me out of the house was a promise that my roommate would do all the housework for a week if I went to this party with her” 

“But?”

“But this idiot gave me the wrong keys when I left and now I’m locked out with a dead phone while she’s off fucking some random guy” You scoffed, downing the rest of your drink before fidgeting with your fingers.

“Do you want to use my phone?” Hongjoong reaches for his back pocket, slinging out his black phone before unlocking it.

“No point, she hasn’t picked up any of the other fifty calls I left her” A flash of empathy washed over Hongjoong’s face as he remained silent, nodding his head subtly as you turned back around.

Maybe if you didn’t spend the most of your money on this martini, you’d be able to snag a cheap motel room for the night. Or perhaps some slippers instead of torturing yourself in these heels.

“You could... stay at my place if you’d like? Just until your friend comes back of course” Those were the words you never expected to leave Hongjoong’s mouth. 

“I don’t want to trouble you” 

“Well, where else are you going to go?” Nowhere. 

You were quite surprised that Hongjoong, out of everyone, had offered you a place to stay for the night. Many would think he’d just snicker and walk away from the looks of him. But on this night, he doesn’t look that uptight as usual.

“You’re right. I guess it’s better than nowhere” You sighed before reaching for your clutch, pulling out a few crumpled pieces of cash to leave at the bar.

“C’mon, you look tired as fuck” That was nice to know. 

You followed Hongjoong out the bar, standing in front of what seems to be his motorcycle. It was sleek and black, you saw him ride it to campus every day, zooming out the parking lot in a flash as people admired behind their books.

“Thanks” You take the helmet from Hongjoong’s hand before slipping it over your head, adjusting it before swinging a leg over the motorcycle.

“Hold on tightly” Hongjoong revved the engine as you snaked your arms around his waist.

“You trust yourself without a helmet?” 

“Do you trust me?” Hongjoong turned his head slightly, letting you catch a glimpse of his eyes. 

“Well, I’m going home with you aren’t I?” You wrap your arms tighter around his waist, lifting your feet off the ground as he does the same.

It felt like your heart was about to jump out of your chest at any moment as the wheels on Hongjoong’s motorcycle started moving. You were immediately hit with the cold air once again, goosebumps rising along your arm as you clutched tighter onto Hongjoong.

The neons lights of shops along the street passed by in a blur as Hongjoong sped down the street. It didn’t feel as cold as before, maybe because you were literally hugging someone.

Hongjoong slows down at a set of traffic lights, making your grip on his abdomen loosen as your heart calms down from the adrenaline. Hongjoong’s icy blonde hair glistened under the light, it looked miraculously soft and silky. You lowkey just wanted to run your hands through them.

“Scared?” Hongjoong kept his eyes on the road as he spoke up.

“What makes you think that?”

“You’re hugging me like a koala”

“Okay, maybe a little bit” To be completely honest, you were scared for him too. Riding this death machine without a helmet is ballsy. 

“You can trust me” Now that was another thing you’ve never expected to hear from him.

You were already so used to the cold, your skin felt numb as you grew used to the cold despite Hongjoong lending you his leather jacket halfway through the route. You felt kind of bad seeing goosebumps on Hongjoong’s arms as he endured the cold. 

“You don’t mind loose clothing, do you?” Hongjoong unlocked the door to his apartment, dropping the keys onto the kitchen counter before letting you in.

“Uh, no, anything would do. Thanks” You stepped into the apartment, it was neat and clean with a few pizza boxes on the counter. 

“Are you hungry?” Hongjoong’s face lit up as he pulled onto the fridge door, scouring at what he could find. 

“No, I’ve lost my appetite for the night already” With your sense of smell ruined by the thick aroma of alcohol and whatever at the party, you couldn’t bare to eat without wanting to throw up. 

“Here, you can take this room. And, uh, here,” Hongjoong lead you to a room with a bed freshly made as if no one had slept in it before, handing you what seems to be one of his shirts and some pants. It wasn’t like they were too oversized so you didn’t need to worry. “, the bathroom is right there by the way”. 

“Goodnight, Hongjoong” You flashed a small smile as Hongjoong scratched the back of his head, avoiding much eye contact before inching backwards out the door.

“Y-Yeah, goodnight” You stifled a chuckle before turning back around as the door closed behind Hongjoong. 

The room wasn’t too big or too small. It was just perfect. It was masculine enough not to mistake it for a woman’s room. Maybe this was someone else’s room. It wasn’t a new discussion around campus that Hongjoong had a roommate. But where was he?

It was a relief to finally strip off the party clothes, well, dress. The soft material of Hongjoong’s shirt made you feel at home, a subtle masculine scent lingered on it as you held the collar to your nose, sniffing it before stretching your arms out. A man who smelt nice was always attractive.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

It was a pleasant sleep before you woke up in a cold layer of sweat, gasping for air as you shot up from the bed. You weren’t so sure if you were still dreaming or not, maybe both. 

The only thing you could hear over the ringing in your ear was the sound of your heart pumping loudly out of your chest as you focus on your surroundings. Almost everything was completely black other than the window with the moonlight shining through. 

It wasn’t uncommon for such sleepless nights like this, you’ve had them since you were a child after some rather unfortunate events. Some you could never seem to forget. Since then, you’ve learnt to cope with it. 

It wasn’t much of a big deal as you grew older, nothing an ice-cold glass of water couldn’t fix. That and probably a few episodes of TV that you’d forget in the morning.

You felt gross just sitting in the bed, quite sorry for whoever actually sleeps on here. The red numbers from across the room beamed 3:29am as your feet touched the ground before stepping towards the door.

Hongjoong was probably already dead asleep at this time of night. You’ve never met anyone who sleeps with their door open before. Making your way down the corridor, the wooden floor creaks subtly beneath you as your eyes lingered around the dark space. 

What you didn’t expect to see in the kitchen was Hongjoong himself, making you halt in your spot as he looks up from the counter. Arms rested against the counter with a glass of water in his hands.

“Why are you awake?” Hongjoong’s voice was raspy, probably just woke up not too long ago before you.

“I had a nightmare” You hesitantly make your way into the kitchen, fidgeting with your fingers as Hongjoong hops off the stool.

“Do you usually have nightmares that wake you up?” 

“Only when I don’t have my pillow, childish right?” It was another thing that helped you cope with nightmares. The long pillow that your parents had given you before they moved away helped majorly. You couldn’t have a proper goodnight’s sleep without it.

“Not at all. Actually, I can’t sleep without my pillow either” Who would’ve thought this baddie was actually a softie?

“So, how come you’re awake?” Your eyes flickered from cabinet to cabinet, questioning in your head which one the glasses were in.

“I was thinking” You were about to take your chances, opening up a cabinet only for a glass filled with water enters your view. You gladly take the glass from Hongjoong’s hand as you turned back around, facing him entirely as he maintained a distance.

“You must be thinking about something deep to stay up this late” Your dry throat felt relief after the first sip of water, finally, your body felt like it wasn’t on fire anymore.

“Would you say BuzzFeed quizzes are deep?” Hongjoong chuckled, leaning back onto the counter with his arms crossed. 

“What kind of person stays up at three in the morning thinking about BuzzFeed quizzes?” 

“Me, surprisingly, San too” 

“San, the rich kid, San?” 

“That’s the one” 

By now your glass was half empty, rubbing your thumbs across the glass as you take a seat next to Hongjoong. Your eyes glued onto the scenery outside of the window, moon hiding behind the trees of the small forest next to Hongjoong’s apartment building. 

“How are you not tired?” Even you were tired and you were barely awake for more than five minutes.

“I’m used to getting calls from my drunk friends at this time telling me to pick them up. It’s kind of like a subconscious alarm clock now” Hongjoong slips around the counter, inching back towards the corridor.

“How fun” 

“It’s going to be hard for you to fall asleep, isn’t it?” Hongjoong flashed you a concerning look before leaning forward with his hands pressed against the edge of the counter.

“I normally end up pulling all-nighters when this shit happens” Your finger swipes along the edge of the glass as you make yourself comfortable in your seat, accepting your fate for the night.

“I know I’m no special pillow, but perhaps, I could help?” Hongjoong scratched the back of his head, cocking a brow before pushing himself off the counter.

“What, you want to hold me to sleep? Is that what you’re saying?” It was sweet, really. Just a surprising thoughtful gesture you never expected.

“No- maybe- yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying”

You found it quite charming that Hongjoong had offered you such redemption from tired eyes in the morning. With no further words, you hopped off your stool and brushed passed Hongjoong with him following closely behind. 

The bed didn’t feel icky anymore the moment you touched it again, lying on your side as you wait for Hongjoong. You didn’t see him come in but you knew once the side of the bed dipped and a warmth covered your back. 

“Wake me up if I start snoring”

“You snore?”

“I don’t know, that’s why you need to tell me”

A soft chuckle issues from behind, feeling the wave of Hongjoong’s breath against the back of your neck. You could tell he was hesitant of actually holding you with his hand lingering over your waist. Softly grabbing his hand, you snake his arm around you, holding his hand in yours as you let him get comfortable.

“Can you sleep like this?” With Hongjoong hugging you like this, it wouldn’t take more than a blink of an eye to fall right back asleep.

“Can you?” He did say he needed his own pillow to be able to sleep too. 

“Only if you don’t move too much” You could feel your eyes shutting close as Hongjoong started playing with your hair, growing more comfortable in your presence. 

You never knew how much you enjoyed the feeling of someone playing with your hair until now. The way Hongjoong’s fingers tangled in your hair as his fingertips gently massaged your scalp calmed you, it was like a silent lullaby putting you to sleep.

“This is so much better than a pillow” You murmured, flipping onto your other side to face Hongjoong. His eyes were droopy, close to shutting as he rests his hand at the back of your head. 

“I’m glad” 

“You don’t sound so tired” 

“Because I’m not” Hongjoong chuckles, drawing little circles on your back as you subtly snuggle closer, lifting your face slightly to see him better. 

“It’ll be weird if one of us is awake” You could see the corners of Hongjoong’s lips curve upwards into a soft smile, making you do the same as your fingers trace his jaw.

“Sorry, but I have no more sleeping pills” 

“You need to get tired somehow” By now, your face was just as close to his as your body was against his body. 

“What do you suggest I do?” Hongjoong had stopped drawing his little circles on your back, smoothing his hand over to your waist before rubbing his thumb along the exposed skin his shirt had uncovered. 

At this distance, Hongjoong could probably hear the sound of your heart beating like crazy in your chest. Your hand had trailed down from his neck to his chest, hand cupping over his heart as your eyes flickered up to his. 

“Me” Hongjoong couldn’t mutter another word as your lips locked onto his, kissing him passionately as your arm snaked around his neck.

Hongjoong kissed you back just as hungrily, hand caressing your waist as they moved down to your hips and pushing you onto your back against the bed. Your tongue swiped across Hongjoong’s bottom lip before biting it softly, earning a vivid smirk against the kiss. 

Your legs wrap around Hongjoong’s torso as he pushed his body between your legs, swivelling his hips against yours with the noticeable tent rubbing against your aching heat. You couldn’t help but moan against Hongjoong’s lips as his hands slide under your, or should you say, his shirt, roaming every inch of your skin.

“You look so good in my clothes” Hongjoong growled against your lips before trailing his kisses down your neck, harshly sucking on the skin as he hikes up the shirt right above your breasts. 

“I look good in everything” Your fingers run along the skin of Hongjoong’s waist, hiking his shirt up before letting him pull it over his head. 

“You’re not wrong” A small gasp left your lips as Hongjoong takes a breast into his mouth with his hand cupping the other, squeezing it gently as you play with the hair at the back of his head. 

“Mhm” Your hips grind upwards against his hard-on, desperate for some friction against your throbbing clit and dripping wet cunt. 

You couldn’t help but grip his hair tighter as Hongjoong swirls his tongue around your nipple, sucking on your breast as his hand caresses your waist before hooking under the waistband of your pants. Suddenly, you didn’t feel the need to sleep.

Your legs slide up and down against Hongjoong’s sides before lifting your hips, letting Hongjoong cascade your pants down, throwing it onto the floor as his lips smother your stomach in kisses. His warm breath scattered over your skin as Hongjoong trails his wet kisses down to the waistband of your panties, fingers teasing your inner thighs with harsh squeezes.

Your face scrunches in desperation as Hongjoong pulls your panties down, licking your skin gently before kissing just above your clit, making you clench around nothing yet gushing over the slightest touches. Hongjoong eyes you from below with a devilish smirk, pushing your legs further apart before hooking his arms underneath.

“You look even better like this” Your legs twitched slightly as Hongjoong kisses your inner thighs, blowing softly against your sopping wet pussy, sending your eyes rolling to the back of your head as your hips subconsciously buck up towards his face.

“You’re such a tease” You moaned out, arms stretching above your head as Hongjoong kisses your clit before lapping his tongue at it.

“I know” A breathy moan left your lips as Hongjoong sucked on your clit, swirling his tongue around the bud of nerves as his fingers slip between your folds. 

It was quite a feeling seeing Hongjoong lapping away at your pussy with the glimpse of moonlight shining through the window, highlighting his back as his arms flexed with each movement. You couldn’t hold back another moan as Hongjoong slipped a finger into you, pumping slowly before adding another.

Your face furrowed in pleasure with Hongjoong’s eyes piercing at you from below, lips attached to your clit as he hooked his fingers deep in you. If breathing wasn’t difficult before, it definitely was now.

“Fuck, right there” Hongjoong’s tongue worked faster, fingers coating in your arousal as Hongjoong peppers sloppy kisses all around before reaching up for your lips.

Your knees bent instantly as Hongjoong buried his fingers deeper in you, pumping faster until you could hear the subtle squelches of your juices against his fingers. His teeth clash with yours as your lips hungrily meet each other, moving in sync with your arms pulling him closer.

It felt like a film of buzzing sensations had just washed over your body with each pump growing faster. Hongjoong’s palm rubbed over your clit, making you moan against his lips. Your lips hovered over Hongjoong’s, mouth wide open as Hongjoong’s hand worked faster, fingers slipping out and smearing your juices over your clit before rubbing it.

“Shit- fuck, Hongjoongohmygod” Your abdomen tensed hard as you nerves spark with each rub, close to emitting a firework in the pits of your stomach as Hongjoong’s fingers circle at your clit.

“You like that?” The whisper against your ear made you moan a soft ‘yes’ as Hongjoong’s face dips into your neck, kissing your jawline as you pull on his hair.

“Oh mmphhhfuck” It was only a matter of seconds before you had felt an explosion of bliss triggered by the pace at which Hongjoong was circling at your clit, making your legs tremble as they stayed opened by Hongjoong’s hand firmly planted against your thigh. 

Your brows furrow deeply, jaw clenched as Hongjoong smears your release on his fingers again before bringing them up to your lips, letting you take them into your mouth and swirling your tongue around his fingers making sure to keep your eyes locked on his. A groan escapes from his lips as he admires you from above, lips brushing against yours as he rubs his legs against yours.

“You want more?”

“Please” You bring your knee up to his crotch, feeling the hardened length over his sweatpants before rubbing your knee against it subtly.

“Fuuck” Hongjoong swiftly pecks your lips before standing on his knees, tugging his sweatpants down before throwing it off the bed, leaving him in his boxers.

The moonlight highlighted the crevasses on Hongjoong’s body, from the lining of his back to the lining of his abs. He looks tremendously good at this angle, making you lick your lips in anticipation before standing on your own knees, palming Hongjoong’s hard cock over his boxers.

Hongjoong cups both sides of your face, pulling you closer for a hungry kiss as a hand flies up over his, kissing him back just as passionate. You could feel his cock twitch under the material of his boxers, waiting to be held and clenched around.

Your palm rubs against his clothed dick, making him moan as he bit down on your bottom lip. Hongjoong’s hips bucked forward against your hand, rolling it subtly with the movements of your hand.

Your tongues lapped together as Hongjoong pulled you closer by the waist, cupping your ass before giving it a squeeze. Your head tilts as Hongjoong smothers your jaw in soft kisses before trailing them back down to your neck, making you moan a soft ‘fuck’ as you tug at his boxers, letting his cock spring free as you pulled them down.

“There’s a lot of things I could’ve done to sleep,” Hongjoong runs his hand through his hair, eyeing you down as you lower yourself down on him with a hand wrapped around his dick “, but I never expected this”. 

“Are you telling me you don’t want this?” Your tongue licked a stripe from the base of Hongjoong’s dick to the tip, letting the tip of your tongue sit on his slit as your hand caressed the rest of his dick.

Hongjoong throws his head back with a groan before taking a hold of your hair between his fingers. His face scrunches in pleasure as your lips wrap around his dick, keeping eye contact as your head bops back and forth, swirling your tongue around the base of his cock throbbing in your mouth.

“Mhm fuck-” A breathy moan fell between Hongjoong’s parted lips, brows furrowed deeply as his thighs tremble at the feeling of you slobbering on his dick.

The grip on your hair tightens, slightly stinging as Hongjoong rocked his hips subtly against your mouth. His abdomen tensed hard as a rock the moment you took his length deeper, letting it hit the back of your throat before pumping the rest of what you couldn’t reach with your hand.

You could taste the precum spewing from his dick as your wetness felt like it was about to drip from your pussy. Hongjoong shot you a daring look as he admired you from above, mouth gaping as broken moans fell from his lips.

Your mouth comes off his dick with a pop as you continue to pump his length, running a hand up from Hongjoong’s abs to his chest only to have Hongjoong grab your wrist, spinning you around as you fell on your knees and hands. You smirked as your head turned to the side, seeing Hongjoong caress your ass cheek with both hands before spreading them apart.

“So beautiful” Your back dipped deeper as you push your ass back, letting the tip of Hongjoong’s dick poke at your entrance as he slides it up and down your slit, coating it in your wetness as you crave the sensation.

It was almost a feeling you quite missed as Hongjoong pushed his dick into your hole, stretching it out with a moan coming from the both of you as you take in his length. You almost forgot how good it felt to have someone bury their cock deep in you before rolling their hips. Hongjoong just brought that sensation back to your memory.

“Fuck, Hongjoong” With your knees digging deep into the mattress and arms stretched far above you, Hongjoong grips your hips, squeezing them before rolling his hips into you, just pushing his dick into you deeper than before. 

You run a hand through your hair, pushing it back as Hongjoong thrusts into you, starting slow as your breathing quickens with each hit into your body. You could feel Hongjoong leaning down, pushing your hair to one side before attacking your shoulder with sloppy kisses, hot breath fanning over your sensitive skin.

His hand remained on your hip, squeezing it still as the other travels up from your thigh to your breast, fondling it before reaching for your neck. A quiet moan left your lips as Hongjoong wraps his fingers around your neck, squeezing ever so gently as his thrusts grew faster, knocking the air out of your lungs. 

“Ohmygodnnghh-” It was a hoarse moan thanks to Hongjoong’s fingers pressing down on the sides of your neck as pleasure shoots through your body with each body lurching thrust. 

“You’re right,” Hongjoong plants a soft kiss behind your ear, still holding on to your neck as his hand on your hips moves between your legs, fingertips lingering along the skin before circling at your clit “, you do look good in everything, even with my fingers around your throat”.

“Maybe even better down my throat” You smirked, a devilish grin carving into your face as you turn around, pulling Hongjoong’s face down for a harsh kiss as he slaps his hips in you.

You couldn’t help but push your ass further back, letting Hongjoong slam his cock deeper and harder into you with each thrust. Your mind slowly thickens with lust and senseless thoughts as Hongjoong rubs your clit in pace with his thrusts, making your eyes roll to the back of your head as you grip the sheets tighter.

“Oh?” Hongjoong cocked a brow, smirking with you before flipping you on to your back, spitting at your pussy before sliding himself in again, thumb rubbing your clit as your legs wrap around his waist.

Your breasts bounce with each thrust knocking you up and down with pleasure and nerves buzzing in the pit of your stomach. You entwine your fingers with Hongjoong’s before dragging his hand over your stomach to your chest, grabbing your breast with his hand as the other rubs your clit. 

“Oh fuckkkk mhmm oh god” Hongjoong rolls your nipple between his fingers, squeezing your breast before sliding it back up to your neck, thumb swiping across your bottom lip, letting you softly kiss it before wrapping your lips around it. 

Your eyes only roll back further when Hongjoong quickens his pace, making you tighten your legs around his waist, trapping him as sounds of skin slapping against skin grows louder. Your back arches off the bed in response to Hongjoong grabbing both sides of your hips, rutting himself into you at a relentless speed. 

It was almost as if he was trying to dig deeper, thrusting harder into you as your jaw was left hanging, inaudible moans trying so hard to escape with each thrust sparking something new in your body. All rational thought flew out of your head as your mind was left on nothing but soaking in a puddle immense pleasure and bliss.

“Yesyes- oh fuck yes” Your face scrunches in pleasure as your brows furrowed deeply, cupping your breasts in your hands as you look down to Hongjoong pounding himself into you. 

Hongjoong’s jaw clenched hard, on the brink of breaking as he grunts through gritted teeth, slamming his hips faster into you with his hands keeping you in place. It felt like confetti exploding in the pit of your stomach with each thrust bringing you closer to a high much more than just confetti, nerves buzzing into a firework ready to combust at any given moment. 

“F-Faster mhmmfuckk” Hongjoong shoots you a glaring stare with his hooded eyes, smirking with his parted lips. 

Your legs couldn’t hold around Hongjoong anymore, sliding off like jelly as your toes curl with every passing second. And with each of those seconds, you could feel it coming, the way your heart threatened to jump out of your chest at any moment and the way your back arched with each static euphoria coursing through your veins ready for combustion.

“Yes! Yesyes oh god! Yes- mmphhhmmfuckk!” It felt like you’ve lasted forever until the ball of buzzing nerves in the pit of your stomach finally flooded throughout your body, filling every inch with nothing but toe-curling, eye-rolling blissful euphoria and pleasure. Hongjoong groaned as he felt your warm release around his cock, desperate to chase his own high while fucking you senseless. 

“Ohhhh god- fuckk” Your legs tremble as Hongjoong pulled out quickly, removing his hand from your hip to pump at his throbbing twitching cock above your stomach, gazing into your eyes before landing down for a kiss. 

“Mhmmfuck ohmygod-” Hongjoong groaned against your lips, body twitching as you felt his warm release spew onto your stomach, panting like crazy with each kiss stealing another breath of air. 

“All out, baby, all out” A hand cups one side of Hongjoong’s face as you wrapped your other hand around his cock, milking the rest of his high out as he heavily drops his head into your neck, panting as if it were his last. 

Hongjoong’s cock twitches in the palm of your hands, droplets of cum still dripping onto your stomach as his legs collapse. You smeared the rest of his cum over the tip of his cock, thumb swiping over the slit before Hongjoong lifts his face again.

“You’re fucking amazing” It was a mere whisper but you could hear him clearly over the pounding sounds of your heartbeats. 

“Clean me up before you go complimenting me” You swiftly steal a peck on Hongjoong’s lips before pressing your palm against Hongjoong’s chest, pushing him up onto his knees.

“How is this supposed to make me sleep when I just want more now?” Hongjoong yanks a few layers of tissues from the box on the bedside table, catching his releasing into the tissue before carefully trapping it with another layer of tissue.

“More? Oh god, you’re awake awake” You chuckle, running a hand through your hair as Hongjoong collapses on his back beside you.

“It was your idea” 

“But did it work though?”

“You mean, do I want to sleep now?”

“Yeah, do you?”

“With you? Definitely” Hongjoong opens his arms for you to snuggle closer, fingers drawing little shapes on your shoulder when you lay your head on his chest.

“Snnggff-” It was quite amusing how Hongjoong managed to hide his secret cheesy persona.

“Wait, I can’t. This is weird”

“What’s weird?” 

“This is Yunho’s bed”

_

Copyright © 2020 by serendipityunho All Rights Reserved

[luna-eclipse2000]

How I met your mother Armin x reader, modern AU

*Based off an episode of Criminal Minds where Spencer Reid has to have a normal conversation with someone, causing him to meet a girl in a park

——————————————————————————

Armin POV

“Daddy!” I hear my children call out to me as they run into my office. I put my pen down and swivel in my seat onto have two blond heads of hair jump up, and sit on my lap. “Ok, ok!” I say with a laugh. “Did you make mommy mad?”

“No.” (s/n) says with a shake of his head, causing his hair to move across his forehead. He looks exactly like me from when I was a child, and (s/n) has her mother’s (e/c) eyes. “But we wanna know how you met her!” (d/n) tells me. “You want to know how we met?” I ask surprised. “You won’t find it yucky?”

“Nuh-uh!” They respond in unison. “Alright, but I’m holding your word to it.” I tells them.

~~~

“Armin,” My best friend, Eren, says my name from my doorway. “Do you want to come to the lakeshore with Mikasa and I?

“I have to study for my European geography test.” I answer him from my desk, slumped over my review sheets. “Yeesh, dude. There’s so many mugs in this room, we might get a weather network coming to take a reading soon.” Eren says as he looks around my room.

I have sticky notes of various colours and sizes absolutely everywhere, text books piled high, and over five mugs of coffee- some hot, some cold, and some finished. Mikasa, Eren and I are roommates for college, deciding that renting an apartment would be better for us than on-campus residence.

“Alright, buddy.” Eren says as I hear him enter my room. “C’mon, let’s go.” I feel him start to wheel my chair out of my room. “You need to get out of this room for more than coffee and a piss.”

“Eren! This test is important!” I inform him as we head down the hall. “If I fail, I could lose my chance at being a geography professor!”

“You’ll ace this test just like every other one you’ve ever had in your life. Don’t stress yourself out.” Eren tells me as we stop in the living room. I sigh in defeat, knowing that that fact is correct. “Armin, get changed.” Mikasa orders. “You look horrible.”

“Fine. I’ll be right back.” I say and head back to my room. “If you’re not out in five minutes, I’m coming to get you!” Eren calls after me. I get out my blue sweater, jeans, white button up and socks. I then head into the washroom and cringe at my unhygienic look. “When was the last time I brushed my hair? My teeth?” I ask myself as I apply toothpaste to my toothbrush and start to scrub.

I then brush out my messy hair, and clean my glasses. I then head back to the living room to put my shoes on so we can leave.

~~~

We’ve been out for about an hour and I’m already itching to get back home. “Are we almost ready to go?” I ask my friends. “For the last time, Armin, no.” Mikasa deadpans. “You need to let loose, man.” Eren says. “Maybe you need to... you know...”

He moves his hands to try and emphasize what he’s saying but I don’t understand at all. “Become a mime?” I ask slowly. “No! A girlfriend!” Eren finally spits it out. “Eren, no way!” I disagree. “I’m way too socially awkward to even talk to a girl! Besides, must I remind you about my last date? Grade 11, Marley’s Diner, Annie Leonhart?”

“Oh, right, she threw that milkshake on you and called you a mop-headed idiot.” Eren remembers. “But that was four years ago, Armin.” Mikasa reminds me. “You don’t have any friends outside of me and Eren, so you stay inside and study to deal with your crippling loneliness.”

“I would’ve probably gone softer but, yeah.” Eren agrees and I pout. “So, here’s what’s gonna happen.” Eren starts. “You’re going to stay outside for six hours, I’ll have a timer going, and you’re going to try and have a conversation with a stranger. Have it in the Starbucks line as you wait for your drink, go to a bookstore and talk to someone about how good the one they picked up is, I don’t really care. Just have a conversation.”

“And if you don’t, I’m going to beat your ass.” Mikasa promises. I nod in acceptance because I know she’ll drop me like a hot potato. You don’t become a self-defence instructor for nothing. “Great! See you at 5!” Eren says and walks away with Mikasa as he puts his phone in his back pocket after setting the timer. I just stand there awkwardly for a few seconds before walking towards the street.

“There’s a good bookstore down the street. I’ll just go hang out there for a bit.” I say to myself as I start to walk towards it. “Oh, damnit all!” I hear someone shout. The tone of the voice causes me to search it out and I see a young woman with (h/l) (h/c) hair walk into the sidewalk. “Of course it decided to break down. Can’t have one nice day, can I?”

I feel bad for her so I decide to see if I can help. “Uh... is everything alright?”

She looks at me with the brightest (e/c) eyes and prettiest face I’ve ever seen. “Oh, no.” She dismisses kindly with frustration lacing her voice. “My car decided to break down and I don’t live signing walking distance. Thank you, though.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I apologize. “It’s not your fault, this old fucker was about ready to expire for the past year or so. I just don’t want to pay the towing fee.” She says. “I’m absolutely drowning in student loans.”

I see hear start to tear up a bit as she starts to get a bit overwhelmed. “Hey, hey, hey. Look at me.” I tell the girl softly and she does. “Take some deep breaths, just like me. Watch me.”

I take a deep breath in and then slowly release it. She copies what I do. “There we go. How about you go do something relaxing to get your mind off this for a while?” I suggest. She nods. “Did you want to join me?” She asks me in such a cute voice that I can’t respond. “If you’re not doing anything, of course! You just... seemed to be by yourself, too.”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. My friends ditched me because they want me to get out and meet people because I’ve got crippling loneliness’.” I say the last part dramatically. She giggles at me. “Then let’s be lonely together! I’m (y/n).”

“Armin. It’s nice to meet you.” I say and then we start to walk away from the car. “So, where did you want to go?”

“Well, I’m a bit hungry. There’s a nice bistro down the street next to a cute little bookstore. Wanna have some lunch?” (Y/n) asks me. I nod my head, so we head towards the bistro in a comfortable silence. Once we get a table, I decide to ask her something. “You mentioned student loans, so you’re in college, right? What for?”

“Oh, I’m in for (dream job). I go to Paradis College.” She informs me. “No way! That’s where I go to school! (“Really? That’s so cool! What for?”) Geography. I want to be a professor for it at a private school my parents taught at. I was going to go into history, since I love it, but then I decided on geography because I love it more. I originally wanted to be a history director at a museum on the Titan Era.” I tell her. “Oh, wow! I could never pay attention to that unit I’m high school, I was too scared.” She admits with an embarrassed blush. “Cute.”

“At first, I was the same. It was such a nerve wracking time for humanity. But then I remembered that there were people who swallowed their fear and actually faced the titans.” I say. “True, yeah. Isn’t it funny?” (F/n) asks me rhetorically. “We’ve only known each other an hour at this point, yet we’re talking like old friends.”

I give an airy laugh and nod at her true statement.

~~~

We end up hanging out for the whole six hours that I was bound to the outside world. But I didn’t want to let her go yet, not meaning to sound creepy. “Guess I better call for a tow truck now.” She says as we make it back to her car. I nod and watch her pull out her phone. “Alright, Armin, think! Use that high IQ of yours and think of a way to see her again!... Just ask for her number, idiot!” I come up with my plan as she hangs up her phone. “Goddamnit. (“What’s wrong?”) They say that I can’t ride with them to the auto shop.” She tells me as she runs a hand through her hair. “Well, I can drive you home once they get here.” I offer. “You’re so sweet, Armin. Thank you.” She thanks me. “It’s no problem. I like hanging out with you.” I admit shyly. “So, uh, can I have your number? So we can talk more?”

“Of course! Here.” She hands over her phone to me. “You put yours in mine and I’ll put mine in yours.”

I take her phone and then unlock mine before handing it over to her. “There we go.” I say to myself as I save it and hand hers back. Right as we finish, the truck comes and tows (y/n) car away. “Thank you!” She calls after them. It’s then that I remember that I don’t have a car. “Oh, shit. I, uh... I just remembered that I don’t have a car with me...”

(Y/n) starts to laugh at the situation, and I find myself doing the same. “I’ll call us a cab.” I say through fits of laughter. She nods and wipes tears away from her eyes.

~~~

We get into the cab and make it to her house rather quickly. “Well, I’ll see you some other time, Armin.” (Y/n) says. “Let me get the door for you.” I offer as I leave my side and open her door. “You’re such a gentleman.” (Y/n) says as she exits the car. I take a breath as I come up with a last second effort to get to stay with her longer. “Then would you consider joining me for dinner tonight? I’ll have my car so there won’t be won’t be a cab pulling up.” I ask. She gives me that beautiful smile of here that I’ve melted over every time she’s done it. “What time will you be here and what should I wear?”

On the outside, I’m slightly giddy with excitement, but on the inside I’m celebrating the hell out of this moment. “Does 6:30 work? (“Mhm.”) Want to go to Braus’ Kitchen? The owner’s an old friend of mine, but my roommates see her fairly often.” I suggest. “Then I’ll see you at 6:30, Armin.” (Y/n) tells me and then kisses my cheek before heading into her apartment building.

~~~

“And that’s how I met your mother.” I finish telling them the story. They look in awe at it which causes me to giggle. “Armin! Baby!” I hear (y/n) call from the living room. “Yes, sweetie?” I respond. “No! The baby!” (Y/n) restates. “The baby?” I ask quietly before realizing. “THE BABY! OOOOH KAY! Ok!”

I take the kids off my lap. “I’m gonna call Uncle Mikasa and Aunt Eren- I mean, Uncle Eren and Aunt Mikasa to watch you as I take mommy to go have your new baby sister, ok?” I tell them and then bolt out of my office to get the hospital bag from the master bathroom while calling Eren to watch the kids.

[depressedacadamia]

The Anatomy of the Sun

Chapter II: One more Hour

A/N: Here’s chapter 2! I think I will be updating this around every 1-2 weeks because the chapters are really long. Anyway, here it the second chap, I hope you like it and please comment!

Word count:  17K

Warnings: Kissing (more like making out), a tad of angst, r!pe mention (the patient is a victm), some mental illness references if you squint.

Chapter I

Tagging: @showtunesandsolangelo

It’s all about lines. 

Jason was feeling good, he could feel it- today was going to be great. He finally managed to correct the cute barista who kept on calling him Jack and he had found the perfect parking space. He was excited- maybe he’d even get into an OR today and take back his 007 status. That was until he was almost hit by a motorcycle. He watched as the rider swerved from side to side until finally, they pulled up, leaning their motorcycle to the side as they pulled off their helmet. He watched as Hazel shook her head back and forth, letting her dark curls bounce about as she stretched her neck. She ran past him, shooting him a respectful nod as she entered the hospital with her motorcycle helmet in her gloved hands. 

The finish line at the end of residency.

Roommates. Nico was officially putting up a poster for roommates. He didn’t know why he didn’t just ask Hazel but at the same time, he did. Asking Hazel was a portal into too much family drama than he could handle. Having to attend family dinners with his family was bad enough, he didn’t want to start arguing with Hazel. Besides, he just wanted 2 complete strangers that he didn't have to interact with. He pressed his thumb into the pin, securing the poster.  

Waiting in line for a chance at the operating table.

And then, there’s the most important line. The line separating you from the people you work with.

Juniper was waiting to get the lift, her bag swinging in her hands. She had made a bad impression on everyone so far- maybe it was because she was a model. She couldn’t lie, people had lacked respect when talking to her in particular and she had a feeling that it had something to do with her ex- career.  Finally, the lift pinged and its doors opened, only for it to be full of people. She could tell they were all staring at her, not because she looked spectacularly bad that day (she had not slept properly in a month) but because they clearly all knew of her previous occupation. Juniper mumbled something about taking the stairs and decided to keep her head up high.

At least she wasn't under tons of crushing debt. 

  Hour 1

Nico slipped off his boots, trading them for some worn out trainers that were much more safe. The boots were old but he hadn’t worn them often due to their uncomfortable nature but for once, he had decided to wear them. Did he know why he chose them? No, he had just decided to slip them on.

“I would ask how last night went, but I think I know and I really don’t want to hear details,” Hazel said as she walked past Nico to gain access to her locker, referring to the bruise at the base of his collarbone.

“You’re just jealous that you haven’t scored an attending yet. I’ll bet you I’m in trauma today,” Nico bragged as he pushed his boots into the already overcrowded locker. Hazel rolled her eyes at her brother's typical behaviour.

“You know that he might think you guys are dating?” Hazel added, slipping on her white coat. Nico snorted as he pulled on his scrub shirt over his long sleeved t-shirt. 

“I’ve made it very clear to him that we are  not  dating,” Nico scoffed, “ Now all I have to do is wait for the chase.”

“The chase?”

“The chase, you know? The whole trying to pursue this person you like. It gets to a point where I will have all the power and he will do anything I want,” Nico explained. Hazel raised an eyebrow at his boastful tactics but decided to make no further comment. She did however want to make a comment about the roommates poster he had put up. 

  “What's up with the roommates poster by the way? Since when did you want people living with you?” Hazel asked, slamming her locker shut, just as Nico closed his. Her hair was frantic, similar to her brothers who's olive skin was particularly glowly today- she did not want to know what from.

“The place seems empty and I need other people paying rent to afford it,” Nico complained. Now it was Hazel’s turn to snort. It wasn’t quite as big a knowledge that the Di Angelo’s were also extremely wealthy than it was knowledge to know of their surgical legacy- Well Bianca’s surgical legacy. Hazel, who was not in the mood to have a confrontation with her brother, simply nodded and left.

 “Please! I’d be the perfect candidate! I’m super quiet and I won’t make a mess!” The intern opposite Nico begged as she told him all the things which supposedly made her a good roommate. Nico disagreed. There many reasons that he did not want her living with him but it came down to one which was she was much too young.

“No,” he concluded unsympathetically. He was about to get up and leave when he heard another plead from the intern. 

“But why?”

“Where were you when the challenger exploded?” He turned around, slightly annoyed but nonetheless, still intimidating as usual.

“What?” 

“The space shuttle, Challenger- where were you when it exploded?” he challenged.

“Uh, I think I was in kindergarten,” she looked up, trying to remember.  

Nico huffed out, “Exactly.”

 “Percy! We’re going to be late! We aren't going to be late, we’re  already  late!” Annabeth shouted as she stood by the door in her scrubs, her bag in hand. Percy, with his bed hair, rushed out of the kitchen in his scrubs, grabbing his jacket from the sofa before heading towards Annabeth and placing a soft kiss on her cheek in hopes of lightening up her mood. 

“Come on Wise girl, we gotta go,” he grinned cheekily as he grabbed her by the hand opening the door of their house. Annabeth, unable to stay mad for so long, sighed before giving in and heading to the car.

“We are never having morning sex again if it means we’re going to be late,” Annabeth warned. Percy, feigning mock offence, held a hand to his heart and gasped. 

“Your words wound me!” 

Annabeth slapped his shoulder as she started the car towards the hospital. Percy stopped mucking about and placed another chaste kiss on her cheek to make sure all was well.

Juniper and Jason were both complaining. Nico didn’t think he could handle one of them complaining, let alone trying to deal with both of them- that was a challenge. They were all leaning by the stairs right next to the nurses station which were next to the elevators. 

“But Nicoo, why would you put up a poster for roommates if you don’t want roommates? I swear, I’m a great chef and I clean obsessively!” Juniper argued, slumping her arm slightly on Jason. 

“I do want roommates but we’re working together 100 hours a week, you want to live together too?” he shot back. He held 4 mocha latte’s in one of those 4 cup holders you get at a coffee shop. Without asking, Juniper snatched two, shocking Nico. 

“That’s for not letting us be your roommates,” Juniper pouted as she handed one to Jason who nervously accepted. Jason leaned forward, trying to convince Nico,

“Please, I have to live with my sister and she blasts her music so much. I’m pretty sure my eardrums have popped,”Jason begged. Hazel, in this exact moment, joined them, giving Jason a sympathetic look before noticing the coffee in Nico’s hand. She casually took one from Nico, not caring about his reaction- she had taken his food before on several occasions (although the Happy meal incident did not go over well). 

“Why aren’t you taking one?” Hazel nodded her head towards the last coffee in his grasp as she sipped hers- she frowned. Nico never ordered mocha latte. She had expected to be tasting coffee with way too much creamer or a hot chocolate but instead it was the distinctly strong taste of coffee. 

“It’s not mine,” Nico hummed as his eyes searched towards the elevator, waiting for it to open. Hazel knew that Dr Solace was already here so what was Nico so invested for? It can’t have been Percy but perhaps the resident who would come with him

“Oh, you’re bringing bribes now?” Hazel pointed towards the coffee, thinking of Dr Chase.

“It’s not a bribe,” Nico defended, looking away sharply as he listened to Jason and Juniper continue to slander his name due to his lack of compassion with them living with him.

“Look, I just want to live with two total strangers that I won’t have to talk to or be nice to!” he confessed, throwing his free hand about in exaggeration. Unexpectedly, Dr Chase made her way down the main stairs (which surprised everyone as they expected her to be downstairs not upstairs).  She quickly assigned them all tasks.

“Jason, you’re running the code team* today. Nico, take the trauma pager.  Hazel, deliver the weekend labs to the patients and Juni- you’re on sutures,” She announced before heading back up the stairs, only to be stopped by Nico.  

“Dr Chase, I was hoping I would be able to assist in the OR today, maybe even perform a minor procedure. I think I’m ready.” He thrusted the mocha latte into her direction, “ Mocha Latte?” 

Dr Chase accepted the drink slowly before taking a small sip. It slightly burnt the tip of her tongue but she appreciated the gesture- however, unfortunately for Di Angelo, this did not mean that Dr Chase had accepted his request for surgery. 

“Wait, if he gets to cut, then I wanna cut too!” Hazel insisted.  

“So do I!” Juniper squished in between the interns. Jason, off to the side mumbled something about how it would be nice to get a second shot. However, this simply irked Dr Chase even more. She held her hand up signalling silence- at least the interns got this sign right.

“Stop talking,” she started, “Every intern wants to perform their first surgery. That’s not  your  job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whiny. You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, Having the trauma pages answered, having the weekend labs delivered and having someone down in the Pit doing sutures. No one holds a scalpel until I’m so happy, I’m Mary freakin Poppins!” 

The interns, as clueless as ever, all stood staring at her with hopeful eyes as if they were baby birds expecting Annabeth to just feed them. She climbed a few steps before turning around and calling out,

“Why are y'all standing there, move!”

Quickly, all the interns scattered to their assigned jobs. 

  Hour 2

Will was waiting for an elevator as he noticed a short mop of black messy hair pick up a few files off the floor and clumsily place them on top of the overwhelming pile they already had in their small arms. Nico going to an elevator. Trying to not turn around and offer his help, Will kept to himself, smiling slightly at the small grunts the doctor beside him made. Nico finally managed to take a few more steps into Dr Solace’s eyeline, so he was standing next to him instead of behind. He tapped his foot as he decided to further his plan along.

“New york has ferry boats. There are also ferry boats where I come from. I didn’t know there were ferry boats here,” Nico mused. Will, slightly amused by Nico’s lack of geographical knowledge, retorted.

“New York is surrounded by water.”        

“Hence the Ferry boats,”  Nico concluded before admitting, “Now I have to like it here ya know. I wasn’t planning on liking it. I’m from Italy- genetically engineered to dislike everywhere- except Paris.” 

“I have a thing for Ferry Boats,” Will decided to add, smirking slightly as they entered the empty elevator. Nico being the stubborn person he was, attempted to press one of the buttons with his elbow and Will had to practically force the floor level out of Nico. It involved a lot of bickering back and forth until they finally agreed and the elevator doors closed.

Out of nowhere, Nico quickly said, “I’m not going out with you.”

Will, already wounded that his attemp- could he even say attempts? Nico had cut him off before he had even gotten a chance to say anything but he was determined to get to Nico.

“Did I ask you to go out with me?” He turned around, smiling slightly so he only showed some of his sparkling teeth, “Will you go out with me?”

“I ain’t dating you and we aren’t sleeping together again. You’re my boss,” Nico decided to cut to the chase.  

“I’m your boss's boss.”

“You're my teacher, and my teacher’s teacher,” Nico pretended to resist only resulting in Will mocking him.

“I’m your sister, I'm your daughter.”

“You’re sexually harassing me.”     

“I'm riding an elevator,” Will protested. Nico glanced at the back of Will’s head and thought

  His hair looked particularly neat today- it would be   such  a shame if it got messed up.

“I’m drawing a line. The line is drawn. There’s a big line. Don’t cross the line,” Nico breathed heavily, as if he was holding his breath. Will, still hellbent on teasing the cute intern, turned around, with his arms crossed and his hair as perfect as ever.

“So this line, is it imaginary or do I have to get you a marker?” he smirked, his voice low and teasing- Nico could tell. His crystal blue eyes were going all hazy and his baby pink lips were slightly tilted to the side as if they were just mocking Nicp by being there. They looked soft, no they  were soft- Nico knew that from experience. He could see a small mole on the side of his neck as well as a purplish bruise that he may or may have not left there.

Overcome by his lack of impulse control, Nico flung himself onto Will, dropping all the files in his arms and mashed his lips on his- a gesture that was returned just as harshly by Will. The files flew across the elevator floor as Nico’s hands came up to desperately weave themselves into Will’s hair. They fought for dominance in the kiss slamming each other into the elevator- it was hot, needy and  totally  inappropriate. But it seemed that neither of them cared. Their lips just couldn’t get enough of each other. It was like a fire was getting ignited, a fire that couldn’t be put out. It was in both of them, absolutely raging, uncontrollable. Will was tempted to tell Nico,  mind the hair  but just then Nico slightly bit at Will's bottom lip, pulling it backwards gently and sucked ever so slightly, before returning to the kiss that had Will plastered against the elevator wall.

So you want to play dirty Di Angelo?

Nico was not going to give Will the chance though. Absolutely consumed by the kiss, he slightly pulled at Will’s hair evicting a small, but low, growl out of Will’s throat. Nico wasn’t sure if he heard that correctly but just as he was about to test it again, he heard the ping of the elevator. The fire within was smaller but it hadn’t died.  Nico quickly pulled away and started scrambling towards the floor, trying to grab at the files as the elevator door slowly pulled itself open. Will, still a tad shocked, also helped, trying to organise the files into the right cases before handing them over to Nico. They stepped out of the elevator in sync, just like their pagers. Since Nico was also in trauma, he figured that whatever Dr Solace was getting paged for, he was also meant to be helping. 

“I’ll join after I finish with these files,” Nico called out, as Dr Solace nodded and hurried off. Nico smiled to himself as he noticed that Dr Solace’s hair was sticking up in several different directions.

 As Nico made his way into the Pit, he noticed a large crowd of doctors all looking slightly concerned- he hoped it was not for his patient- the more gruesome the injury, the more surgery required. However, the second he was told that it was a rape victim, he understood the facial expresions- they were disgusted at the crime, not the injuries attained. 

“Dr Solace has gone to prep for surgery along with Dr Jackson,” a nurse informed him as he entered the room. 

“Okay, we’ve got a 25 year old female, found down at the park, status post- trauma. She came in with a GCS* of 6. BP* is 80 over 60. Exam is significant for blunt head trauma, as well as unequal breath sounds, her right pupil is dilated and she’s ready for X-ray,” the nurse recited as Nico entered the room. He scanned his eyes across the room before his eyes landed on something familiar. 

Were those his boots?

No, they were obviously not Nico’s boots, but they were the same boots. He wanted to shudder, knowing a potential rape victim was wearing the same shoes as him the day she got attacked. It was weird right? It felt weird, it was like there was some weird unknown connection and that in a way, these 2 people were very much connected- as if they were the same people who were living parallel versions of each other's lives. During Nico’s quick zone- out session, a nurse continued to try to call his attention- something he only noticed when they snapped  Dr Di Angelo!

He quickly nodded as he grabbed his flashlight from his pocket and pulled her eyelids open, looking for a reaction from her pupils. 

“Call ahead to clear a CT, let them know I’m coming,” Nico commanded, “Load up the portable monitor and call respiratory for a ventilator*. I will get X-rays while I’m down there.”

As he helped wheel the patient out of the trauma room, he glanced back at the boots identical to his. There was a blood splatter at the front of it, the laces where messily undone and the heel was the same height. He wasn't acting paranoid right?  He couldn’t help but think that this was a weird coincidence.

Nico was slightly surprised to see Dr Zhang scrubbed in on the surgery with them rather than Dr Mclean- after all he was the head of Cardio and she was the head of General surgery- but even then, why any other attendings other than Percy and Dr Solace were required, Nico truly did not know. 

“What is she? 5’2, 180 pounds? And she took a beating like this,” Will mumbled.

“They should castrate the guy,” Percy announced from the other side of the table, trying to stop the swelling of her brain

“Look how shredded her hands are, she tried to fight back,” Will pointed out. 

“Tried to? The rape test came back negative, she kicked his ass!” Percy told them. Nico was invested to see how Dr Solace was repairing her hands while the 2 attendings talked about the bravery of the patient. 

“So we have a warrior among us, huh?” Dr Zhang joined in. Nico couldn’t help but feel a tinge of annoyance.  She had a name. She was a person. He didn’t know why he felt so strongly about a patient all of a sudden but he had a faint feeling that it had something to do with those boots. 

“Allison… that's her name…. Allison,” Nico cut in the conversation. All the attendings stopped to look at him. Percy, being as supportive as ever, smiled and nodded before returning to fixing her skull. Will looked at Nico, his eyes calm, like the ocean at rest. To an extent, it reminded Nico of Percy’s eyes- something that could always calm Nico down. He watched as Will’s lips slowly parted as he murmured Allison's name under his breath. Dr Zhang took a pair of clamps from the nurse before slowly pulling his arm back.

“I think I’ve found the cause of our rupture….more suction.”  As he drew his arm back, the surgical interns and residents crowded by his arm to have a look at the cause of the rupture. However, once the foreign object was removed, the surgeons became more and more confused- what exactly was this, a tumor? A mass? 

“What is this?” Dr Zhang turned towards the doctors. They all scooted closer to get a closer look. Nico took a glance for a couple of seconds before opening his eyes wide in horror as he realised what exactly he was looking at. He was in a state of horror and curiosity.

“Oh my god… she bit it off,” Nico started hesitantly. Dr Zhang, Dr Solace and Dr Jackson all looked to him, stopping their individual procedures, waiting for Nico to continue speaking. 

“Well, come on- spit it out!” Percy told Nico. Utterly conflicted, Nico decided to just spit it out- just as Percy had told him to. 

“That's a..that's a…. um that’s a penis.”

Almost on instinct, Dr Zhang called for a kidney bowl and practically flung the castrated appendage away from himself. Will couldn’t tell if he should laugh or be alarmed at how Nico was the only person able to identify the penis.

 Hour 5

The water ran over the surgeons hands as they scrubbed between all the crevices in their hands with soap. In between fingers, around thumbs and nail brushes scrubbed at fingertips. Dr Zhang and Dr Solace both stood side by side as they washed their hands practically in sync- just like their miraculous surgical skills.

“I can’t believe she made it through that surgery,” Will began as he switched off the tap by nudging it slightly with his elbow.

“She has a long road to recovery. Fighting off infection, physiotherapy and not to mention therapy itself,” Frank, in his honest nature, responded. He copied Will, turning off the running water with his elbow as he reached for some paper towels to dry off his hands.

“And she needs to wake up in the next 72 hours if she wants a chance at fighting. She’s a fighter, I believe she can make it.”

“Speaking of making it to places, we should get a drink later and you can tell me the long story of what makes a hot shot doctor leave a big apple for New York,” Frank offered as he threw his paper towel into the bin. 

Will shrugged slightly, “It’s a short story really- your Chief of surgery made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“Chiron asked you to come?” Frank asked, genuinely shocked. 

 “Yeah, why?” Will turned around looking at Dr Zhang. He watched as Frank’s expressions twisted before he shook his head, gave a small smile and mumbled never mind. 

“Do you know what the Code Team does? They save lives- yeah, I know. I shock a heart and another patient gets to live to see another day, pretty cool huh?” Jason slightly bragged, trying to make conversation with Hazel - who he knew was overly competitive. He was leaning over the shoulder of Hazel who leaned over the desk at the nurses station, organizing the patient files and lab results.

“Bambi, don’t say another word until after the hunter shoots your mother,” Hazel’s voice drawled with boredom. Jason practically speechless only managed out a meek,

“I don’t like you.”

Hazel sharply turned around, “You know, I have a BA* from Smith, a PHD* from Berkeley and an MD* from Stanford and I'm delivering lab results. It's gonna take me ages to get through these-”

“-Well then you better get a move on with it,” Dr Chase walked past, surprising the doctor. Hazel slightly intimidated, tried to protest that she wasn’t complaining but it seemed that Dr Chase didn’t really care. A doctor behind her with thick curly hair and a smug expression stood, trying to keep his expression neutral. 

“This is Dr Underwood. Lucky Valdez got to get rid of him so now he’s got Mccaffrey and I’ve got Underwood on my service. Levesque, have him shadow you and show him how we run things on my service,” Dr chase commanded before walking off, slightly sashaying. 

“Hey, I’m Grover Underwood, nice to meet you.” He held his hand out to Hazel who looked at it and recoiled slightly before looking at it in disgust. Jason was still trying to figure out if he liked this guy, he seemed quite polite so far but he truly wondered what Underwood did to get kicked off Valdez’s service- he had heard that Valdez was a pretty chill resident, getting kicked off his service would seem pretty hard.

“You’re the pig who called Nico a nurse.. Yeah, I hate you on principal,” Hazel admitted looking him up and down. 

He did what?  Jason thought as he eavesdropped on the conversation beside him.

“And you’re the pushy, overbearing kiss ass… I hate you too,” Grover grunted.

Okay, I defo don’t like this guy, Jason decided.

“Should be fun then,” Hazel sarcastically smiled as they both set off just as Jason's pager  beeped signalling another Code Blue.

 Jason ran around the corner, nurses following him as he found the patient's room. Immediately, he introduced himself. He had become more and more familiar with this procedure and while it had taught him that Hades was enjoying his job a bit too much, he was also hopeful for the patient in every room he had to run to. 

“I’m Dr Grace and I’ll be running this code. What do we have?”  

“57 year old male with an asystole pulse*,” A nurse from beside the bed answered. Jason ordered the defibrillators to be used as he had another person put on compressions, another on the ambu bag and someone administering drugs.

“Charging to 200, clear!”

 The Pit was quite full as Dr June walked in, searching for her next patient. She picked up a chart from the nurses station that was positioned next to the emergency entrance and flipped the page to see the name.  Mrs Lu, Bed 3

“Hi Mrs Lu, I'm Doctor June. I'm gonna sew up your wound, you’re going to need around 6 stitches.” Juniper turned around to start setting up the equipment from the tray only to hear a frantic cry of words coming from behind her. She only recognised the chinese word for  hurt  but even then, she could not decipher what Mrs Lu was saying. She sighed, wondering how long it would be until she could get a hold of a translator. She was tempted to ask Dr Zhang but she knew it was selfish and plain old rude of her to assume that Dr Zhang would be able to help her. She decided to wait for a translator. 

 Nico and the penis in a box. Yes, you read that correctly. Nico was holding the penis in a box or how he would like to put it, the  forgein object in a cooler. They were making their way towards the office of the Chief Of Surgery. He slightly remembered the walk up to the room, the carpet and walls seeming familiar, like a second home. As he walked into the office, he was surprised to find Secretary Hedge there instead of Chief Chiron. He rapped his knuckles on the door gently, grasping the attention of the man sitting in the chair. 

“Hey, I was told to leave this with the Chief.” He raised his arm with the cooler in his hand. 

“Is that it?” A seriously over eager Secretary Hedge asked. Nico slowly nodded, trying to not fuel the secretaires curiosity. In a complete turn of events, Hedge asked,

“Can I see it?” Hedge watched as Nico struggled to keep his facial muscles under control- laugh or cringe, Nico did not know. Just as Hedge muttered a small, forget I asked, Chiron walked in with his white jacket and a large smile on recognising Nico. 

“Nico! It’s good to see you!”

At this, Nico smiled. He had known Chiron for very long but the mass majority of the time that he had seen him, the attention was entirely focused on the potential for his sister- not much for him. He felt a bit guilty that he was enjoying the shine of her mentor while she was struggling but he finally felt noticed. 

“How’s Bianca? I heard she was leaving the Mayo Clinic. Is she going back to the UN?” Chrion asked almost immediately. Nico could feel all the happiness and life in him slowly drain.So nothing had actually changed. He was still in his sister's shadow despite the fact that she wasn’t even here. Gods, she wasn’t even in this time period! Bianca was in a nursing home thinking she was reliving her surgery days and here was Nico somehow still under her shadow. If Bianca’s mentor wasn’t willing to see Nico’s potential as a surgeon- how many other Doctors thought that he was only here due to his Di Angelo status? Percy? Dr Chase? Did Doctor Solace think that? 

Why does it concern me the most if Dr Solace doesn’t see past my status?

Nico decided that it must be because Dr solace was the head of his favourite department- Trauma. 

“Uh, no. She’s taking time off-”

“-To write another book I suppose?” Chiron cut in, smiling as he picked up some papers off his desk and moved them underneath a folder. Nico simply attempted a smile in return, a gesture that did not alarm Chiron- he had known Nico Pre-Bianca and her alzehmiers. That Nico had been a very smiley person. Nico, who could have sworn his facial muscles were deteriorating as he smiled, decided to move the conversation to the matter at hand- the penis in a bo-

- The foreign object in a cooler .

“Well, I’ve got it,” Nico said half heartedly, lifting the cooler in his hand up slightly. Chiron turned to his secretary, conversing a few words with him, as if Nico had never entered the room.

“Uh, Hedge, how long did the cops say they’d be?”

“You know how slow they always are so he better take it with him-”

“-Take it with me? You want me to take a penis around the hospital with me?” Nico cut off Hedge, with growing anxiety- he did not want to have to babysit a penis. Gosh, being on Solace’s service was meant to result in fun, not this!

“It's the chain of custody rules. All medical matter in a rape must stay with the person who collected it until its placed into police custody,” Chiron ,who was secretlty relived to not have to keep the penis, recited. 

“So I have custody over a penis,” Nico deadpanned. Sheepishly, the secretary nodded trying to not laugh at the poor kids' situation. 

“Until the cops come from it, of course,” Chiron reminded Nico, as if knowing that the police would take their sweet time was any more re- assuring.

“And what am I meant to do with a penis?” Nico frantically asked, his cool persona falling and being slowly replaced by one of panic and desperation. Chiron and Hedge simply gave obscure looks at Nico’s question before looking back down at the papers in their hands.

 Hour 10

Hazel sighed. She had been sighing all day. Every patient either had a benign tumour* or a condition of no interest to her. When was someone going to be seriously ill? They were surgeons for god's sake, not lab running rats! Both Hazel and Grover made their way to the next patients room, seriously disappointed. On entering the room, they both saw the family crowded round the patients bed, holding their hands together like there was a prayer commencing. 

“You have a disorder called multinucleate cell angiohistiocytoma. It's not a cancer or a sarcoma, it's very rare but minor. You will be discharged today,” Hazel, slightly bored, attempted a smile. The family, still taking in the good news, were catatonic for around 5 seconds before all hell broke loose. There was crying, cheering, claps and laughs. Grover and Hazel both looked at each other with the same expression-  Get me out of here .

“Wait wait, does this mean I don’t need surgery?” The patient ,still propped up by his elbows in his bed, inquired. Hazel simply nodded before getting pulled into a bear hug, against her will may I add, and practically almost suffocated to death. Her eyes widened as she stared into Grovers soul trying to get him to help her. Unfortunately for Hazel, Underwood was much more invested in watching her uncomfortable encounters.

Jason was sitting in a chair, letting it spin it around and round. The nurses station was quite empty with only the occasional nurse in and out. He stopped his spinning to bury his head in a very interesting chart that consisted of a case to do with a-

-  Clink!

Nico set down the cooler on the desk with a loud sound that jolted Jasons’s head out of his head before letting his eyes land on the cooler. Jason, curious and wanting to engage in conversation with Nico began questioning the contents of the cooler. Nico who really did not want to tell Jason attempted to warn him

“Ooh, what’s in the cooler?”

“Trust me, you don’t want to know.”

“No.” Jason got up from his seat and came to stand next to Nico, “ No, I do wanna know.”

Nico, who really wasn’t about to greatly resist, decided to tell Jason. Afterall, if it ruined Jason’s day as well, it would mean he wouldn't be the only miserable person moping about in the hospital. 

“It’s a severed penis.” Nico shrugged quite nonchalantly as he gained amusement from the horrified expression slowly growing on Jason’s face. He watched as Jason's expressions contorted between fascination and disgust, trying to figure out which emotion to settle on. He wanted to prove Nico wrong but at the same time didn’t want Nico to not like him.

“I don’t think I wanted to know that.” Jason looked back down at his book, with a meek expression and his head slightly bowed as if he was praying. As Jason entered a world of truly unnecessary overthinking, Grover and Hazel came in arguing, what about, Jason did not know and in all honesty, after what Nico had told him- he did not want to know. Deciding he wanted to shift his discomfort to someone else, he looked to Hazel.

“Do you know Di Angelo is babysitting a penis in a jar?” he pointed towards the cooler sitting on the table top. Hazel, with piqued curiosity, quickly made her way over towards the cooler and opened the lid, taking a quick peek at the bitten off contents before shutting it. 

“It’s a cooler, not a jar,” Nico whined slightly, not really directing his comment towards anyone. 

“Talk about taking a bite out of crime,” Hazel commented as she picked something out of Nico’s hair. Nico didn’t really know whether to thank her or to resist the gesture. It felt weird- right? It was weird that Hazel was filling Bianca’s void. It was weird that Nico first thought about Hazel when people talked about his sister. It was weird that Nico was completely okay with this. He felt it was simply not right but at the same time, he didn’t want it to stop. Was he being unfaithful to Bianca? Was he betraying her? Or would she want him to move on from her, grow closer with his family who were actually lucid.

Jason watched Nico’s facial expressions with intensity- such intensity that had Nico not been stuck in a hole of problems, he a hundred percent would have noticed and even been creeped out by Jason’s intense stare. Despite only knowing Nico for around a month, he cared deeply about him. He wanted to know what was so concerning to him so much that he froze up and his eyes went all glazed like he was on autopilot. Nico was a closed off person who wore all black and covered up his secrets with wicked smiles and sarcastic quips but Jason could see the vulnerable child within Nico. He felt responsible for him and everything that happened to him.

“Hey, are you okay?” Jason asked tenderly, making Nico lift his head- effectively stopping him from daydreaming. For a second, when Nico lifted his head, Jason saw a glitter in Nico’s eyes that reminded him of innocence. Youth, life and calamity- instead of the empty, cold and lifeless onyx eyes that could give even Lucifer nightmares.

“The rape victim I had today, Allison, she had the same shoes as me. And ever since… It just doesn’t sit well with me, ya know? I never wear those boots normally because they’re so uncomfortable And it’s… stupid and I’m tired so nevermind, just leave it.” Nico batted his hand, dismissing the subject. Jason raised his eyebrows at the abrash statement and gesture before attempting Nico’s wicked smile.

“Do you know what you need?” Jason wiggled his eyebrows, letting the secret into the open like a breath of air. Immediately, Nico caught onto what Jason was talking about. He was offended and shocked that Jason had been doing it without him- This was their thing and Jason was doing it behind his back without him? The betrayal was heartbreaking. What next? Solace sleeping with someone else?

“No! It’s sick and twisted and we said last time was the last time,” Nico firmly said. He watched as Jason’s face contorted between guilt and excitement.

“You’ve been doing it without me?” Nico released. Jason shuffled his feet together nefor mumbling a ‘maybe’.

“Do you know what would happen if anyone knew?” Nico huffed out but Jason had made up his mind.

“I’m doing it- you can come with me or you can sit here and be miserable,” Jason confirmed as he dragged Nico by the white collar, which was considerably easy when you realised that Nico was an entire head shorter that Jason- and some would argue even more.

Nico and Jason had their faces pressed up onto the glass staring at the cute babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit or as the doctors would simply call it- the NICU. Nico couldn't help the overwhelming smile that made his way onto his face as he stared at the cute babies as they attempted to talk, throwing their limbs about cluelessly. He listened to Jason who urged them with non-existent words and funky sounds that was considered the universal baby language. Nico looked at Jason- his platinum blonde hair and faintly light blue eyes reminded him to an extent of Will but at the same time- there was a clear difference. Will had faint freckles that decorated his face like a cake being decorated by icing sugar- whereas Jason had a pale complexion. Will’s hair was more of a golden blond and reminded of Nico of sunrise on a summer morning- hot, warm and some may even say beautiful and then there was his eyes-

- Why was he reciting this like he memorised it in the shower for fun?

Nico decided to put Wil- no,  Solace  out of his mind. He listened to the absolutely adorable sounds that Jason was making- he reminded him of Bianca when she used to babysit Estelle- Percy’s younger sister. Estelle was absolutely adorable and Nico considered her to be his younger sister as well, considering the amount of time she spent with the Di Angelo’s- especially during Percy’s med school and residency years when he was meant to be babysitting Estelle and had instead handed her to Nico and Bianca. 

“You are such a softie,” Nico said, giggling slightly at Jason who was still cooing at the babies. For a couple of moments afterwards, Jason froze. Was Nico complimenting him? Or was it an insult? What on earth did the word ‘softie’ mean here? Did Nico like sofites? Or was ‘Softie’ Nico’s equivalent of ‘ absolute loser’? However, before Jason was able to come to any sort of conclusion, his pager beeped, signalling another Code Blue that he had to respond to. 

“Ah shit, I’ve got a code to run, I’ll catch you later.” Jason waved before breaking into a jog and leaving. After Nico said his goodbyes to Jason he continued watching the babies for some more time. He was fascinated- how did humanity get from there to here. The babies were pure and new and hadn’t been exposed to the harsh realities of the world- how will they turn to what Nico has become? How did they get from Point A to point B? As Nico pondered over these philosophical thoughts, he carried watching the babies but something caught his eye. He could have sworn that baby he just saw went blue momentarily. It was crying and thrashing about but maybe Nico was only seeing things. He was tired, sleep deprived and if he had to be honest- this wouldn't have been the first time Nico saw things that weren’t actually there.

He watched it again, more intensely. With an analytical fine tooth comb. There- the baby turned blue again! So he wasn’t hallucinating! He rushed into the room, quickly taking out the chart of the baby and scanning his eyes over the info. He was aware that if he was caught, the consequences would not be great. That was probably the understatement of the year. After finishing with the chart, he set it down and took his stethoscope and started listening to the heart of the baby- something there wasn’t right, Nico could feel it. Nico did not often have such strong feelings but he had learnt that when they occurred, they were never wrong. 

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing here?” a doctor with pink scrubs walked in. 

“There were no tests ordered and the baby has a heart murmur-” Nico began, taking the stethoscope out of his ears. 

“-I know and you’re surgery, you are not authorised to be here. Do you know what could happen if you were caught?” The intern pressed on but Nico refused to step down here.

“Are you going to do any tests to confirm?” Nico asked, his tone clearly one of concern.

“It’s a benign systolic ejection murmur*. It will go away with age.”

“So you aren’t doing any tests.” Nico realised that he couldn’t win this in any way- well for now. He started to make his way towards the door before the intern decided to slam another attempt at a guilt tripping insult at him but in reality just made Nico doubt their abilities. He seriously felt bad for the Valdez resident if these were the meatheads he had to teach.

 Hour 15

Frank felt betrayed. He had to say, he was never truly familiar with such a feeling. He had experienced the odd chance of it but in reality Frank was used to succeeding- in fact he had dedicated all his life to it. Many people saw him as soft, simple and easy to beat opponent but in reality that was one of his greatest strengths- people underestimated him until they met him. To an extent this had made Frank slightly arrogant- but he wouldn’t say it wasn’t necessary. The truth is, every surgeon has to be arrogant to believe that they can cut open another human and somehow fix them as if they were a god like deity but right now, Frank wasn’t thinking that he was arrogant, no. He was thinking that Chiron was being arrogant- believing that he was all so big and mighty and could just throw Frank about with his lies and schemes. 

“Oh Chiron! So you asked Solace to come here?” Frank confronted, his hands resting on his hips. 

“Yeah, Solace was an old student of mine...” Chiron trailed off, unaware of the purpose of the conversation.

“Oh so he left a private practise in Austin, Texas just because  you asked?”

“Yes.”

“No other reason? Just a favour for an old professor,” Frank said with a hint of sarcasm lingering behind the words.

“It will be years before I retire,” Chiron began to reassure, understanding the nature of the conversation of the root of Frank's passive aggressive attitude.

“ Chief of surgery is mine, you told me so,” Frank reminded him.

“It was yours, now I'm not so sure.”

“I am the best surgeon here! I have the lowest mortality rate, you can’t just bring someone-”

“-Ask me why. Ask me why I'm not so sure of you," Chiron repeated, trying to get Frank to understand his motives. Chiron liked Frank, they had done a lot for each other. In fact, it had been Chrion who had helped Frank get over his low self- esteem, something that had bothered Frank for almost his entire life. 

Frank, feeling defeated, almost stormed off. He knew he shouldn’t feel guilty but he couldn’t help letting a bit of it creep in as he remembered how somehow, he led Chiron, his mentor, to believe that his low self-esteem no longer existed. Maybe it was Chiron’s great desire to no longer see Frank suffer that made him see past it but Frank knew better. He wasn’t mad because the job may not be his, no- he had only wanted the job due to the benefits that came with it. Frank was mad because Chirom bringing in another ex-mentee of his simply brought his low self-esteem back all over again.

 It was like med- school except this time, there were actual lives at stake. Did Chiron truly feel that he wasn’t good enough- that Solace would be a better Chief of Surgery better than Frank? He didn’t want to admit it, but Frank knew that he had become somewhat arrogant in an attempt to lie to himself and hide the lack of self esteem. The arrogance had only started when he was in residency but over the years, as he saved more lives, it accumulated. Yet, somehow, Frank still did not think it was good enough. Clearly Solace was. Why else would Chiron bring another threat to Frank’s anxiety if Chiron didn’t believe Frank's anxiety had gone? Surely Chiron wouldn’t do this knowing how badly it would hurt Frank.

Would he? 

 Hazel was bored. She knew it, Grover knew it and so did every nurse in a 1 metre radius of the stretcher that she sat in with the charts of her patients in a stack in front of her. This was New York Presbytarian! They were meant to have the best surgical residency in the country and here she was delivering lab results to over joyous patients- none of which had any sort of interesting condition. You’d think that someone in a hospital would be close to dying but no, it seemed that all of her patients were in ‘tip top’ condition. 

“People need to get sick because I refuse to spend my residency doing this,” Hazel complained as she flipped the pages of the chart. 

“Exactly. How can we be in the OR if people are just gonna live?” Grover agreed. They continued complaining, depressed about their current state. Hazel wanted to get this done and over with. The quicker she finished the job, the quicker she could get into a surgery. She took the 20 case files and separated them into 2 piles, each with 10 files. 

“Here.” She handed one pile to Grover as she got up, “ You take 10, I take 10. We go in, we go out- no hugging, no laughing, no crying. Don’t be slow,” she instructed.

“Slow? If anything you’re the slow one,” Grover retorted as they made their way to the hallway. 

“You wanna bet?” Hazel challenged, stopping a second to look at Grover. He mumbled a ‘You’re on’ before they both ran off, trying to finish first. 

“You literally aren't letting anyone live with you!” The psychology resident complained. Nico turned on them. 

“Favorite 80’s band?” 

“That has nothing to do with this!”

“I’m still waiting.” he tapped his foot impatiently. 

“I don’t know, the Bangles?” They shrugged cluelessly while Nico scoffed. 

“Yeah, absolutely not.” Nico began walking away- he had to babysit a penis after all.

“Is there even a right answer?”  

“AC/DC, The rolling stones, Guns N’ Roses,” Nico called out, not looking back, as he walked away.

“You will be free to leav- OOF!” Grover was cut off by an enormous bear hug from almost the entire family. He wanted to push them all away from him- after all, 3 families had hugged him so far and he had only visited 4 of the 10  patients he had. If he continued at this rate, Hazel was for sure to win. 

“You have a cyst on your lymph node- but tests have confirmed that it was not cancerous which means you probably have some sort of infection- we will put you on broad range antibiotics before discharge tomorrow,” Hazel recited as she dodged a hug aiming for her resulting in 2 family members in an embrace. She quickly slipped out of the room without notice and smiling to herself- 5 down, 5 to go. 

“Clear!” Jason called again, it had been 26 minutes into a code without any reaction to CPR, drugs or shocking. Jason knew what was coming next. He could feel it, like it was hanging over his shoulder waiting for his patients to walk into their arms. Death hung at the shoulder of every doctor as their guardian angel- something he remembered Nico saying. When he had said it, he didn't remember.  He put his arm out, signalling the nurse to stop CPR. He took a shaky breath.

“Time of death, 15:45.”

 Hour 20

Nico watched as the heart monitor stayed stable, reaching the apex before dropping and repeating. Allison. Attempted rape. Boots. Those were the words just floating around his head. Here she was on a vent, alone, like a vegetable and only hours ago she had been alive- smiling, talking,  fighting. 

“I've called every hospital in the country. Sooner or later the guy who did this is gonna seek medical attention and when he does, that penis you’re carrying around is gonna nail him,” a voice coming from behind Nico said. He turned his head slightly to see the golden curls that he had messed up this morning. Nico’s eyes were cast back onto the lonely woman. How could anyone so vulnerable be so alone?

“Where's her family?” The words slipped out of Nico’s mouth before he could stop them. Will shook his head slightly, his hair bouncing slightly from the impact. 

“Doesn't have one.”

“No siblings?” Nico asked, thinking of Hazel and Bianca.

“Nope, both parents are dead. She moved to New York 3 weeks ago. Welcome to the city,”   Will took a bite out of an apple miserably. Nico too was miserable- they both had good reason to do so. What kind of world did they live in where the system was so disadvantaged to anyone who wasn’t white, male, heterosexual and neurotypical? What kind of system forced minorities to work in society's most unwanted but vital jobs? What kind of system forced women to be terrified of walking home alone- day or night? 

“Nico? Are you okay?” Will’s soft and concerned voice broke into Nicos thoughts. The question left him speechless- was he okay? The cynical, sarcastic and natural answer was No- obviously no. But for some reason, Nico did not want to say no, but rather leave his own pain to himself- not burden anyone else with it. 

“Yeah.. I just gotta do something.” With that, Nico ran off looking for Dr Zhang.

 Nico found Dr Zhang climbing the stairs. The hospital had a comfortable endless buzz, something that all the staff were used to- Frank was hoping to get a calm and perhaps even silent moment to himself. Instead, he got an intern. 

“Dr Zhang, there’s this patient. It’s a baby in peds and they had a tetralogy spell with a heart murmur,” Nico started, his legs struggling to keep up.

“Did Ped’s ask for a consult?”

Nico stayed silent, partially because he didn’t want to feel guilty for lying and partially because he did not have a lie on him- not one that he could pull off at least.

“Di Angelo, you’re a bright kid but we can’t just walk in there without a Peds consult. It’s not like I’m the Chief of Surgery,” Frank said sympathetically as he walked off.

 “Hehehee, you’reee hott,” the drunk slurred as they leaned slightly forward in a terrible attempt to flirt with Juniper. Juniper still stood in the Pit, it’s fluorescent lights giving her a headache- along with the noise levels and annoying patients. Slightly disgusted by the stench of alcohol on their breath, she pushed them back gently, making sure they didn’t flop onto the stretcher. 

“You’re drunk,” she deadpanned as she prepared the sutures, “And you also need to hold still.”  

Juniper was sick of the Pit, she was sick of the flourecsant lights that made her skin look like puke and most of all, she was sick of her patients; drunk and disorderly were the mass majority and since the morning, not one major casualty had come through those doors other than the rape case Nico had been assinged to. 

“I know you! You’re that lady from the magazine with the red bikini..” they trailed off, their voice in a musing and questioning tone. Juniper had to physically stop herself from scoffing- It was a pink bikini. She didn’t hate her fans but sometimes people made it weird, especially drunk ones who enjoyed invading her personal space a tad too much. 

“It was a pink bikini.”

 The seats by the hospital doors were the perfect place (other than the vending machines) to hide from your residents- so naturally, Nico and Hazel were there, camping away during lunch. The penis in a box sat in the chair next to him as he nibbled at the rainbow sour gummy strips.

“Watcha doing?” Hazel asked as she made her way towards him. 

“I’m sitting with my penis.”

“Which one?”

In response to this, Nico scrunched up his face in a sarcastic, sardonic smile that read  No <3. 

“I kissed McDreamy...in an elevator. I was having a bad day,” Nico started with his voice relatively quiet. 

“So what do you do on your bad days, make out with McDreamy?”

��Yeah that and carrying around a severed penis just makes everything so shiny and happy,” He retorted in response to his sister. 

“Jason said Allison was wearing your boots.”

“…. It's weird right? “

“It’s weird that you care so much. They’re boots and popular ones too- anyone could have them,” Hazel argued. Nico opened his mouth to respond but in that moment a bunch of frantic shouting cut them off. Behind them, right outside the hospital a man had pulled up. His skin was sickly pale, there was blood all over his legs and groin and he was struggling to move. 

Nico looked at his facial features and did not expect for the man to look… well normal. For some reason, he had envisioned the man to look evil- to resemble hate itself but he just looked normal. That's when it hit Nico- rapists don’t look like rapists. They look like average people because that's what their best advantage is- the trusting nature of humanity. They don’t look evil because they need to fit in, to gain the trust of others and protect their reputation. They look normal because anybody could be a rapist- they don’t wear posters pointing it out and it’s not written on their foreheads. That's what they do best- hide. 

Nico and the transport staff rushed the man in the gurney towards the operating room, their legs moving as fast as possible. The police were going to arrive soon but for now, he would have to be handcuffed to his bed. The rapist was found, Allison was alive, now what? There was no way they’d be able to re attach the penis and honestly, Nico did not want to- in his eyes, the rapist got exactly what he deserved

“Call reception and tell them we need security up here ASAP,” Nico ordered, finally taking charge. As the gurney was charged into the surgical department, Dr Chase caught on. 

“What dya have Di Angelo?” 

“Take a look for yourself.” He nodded towards the middle of the man's body, more specifically his groin. Annabeth quickly lifted up the drapes before letting them drop- here eyes widened and she looked at Nico with disbelief painted across her face. 

“Page the Chief and Solace and tell them we’ve got the rapist,” she commanded as she took Nico’s position on the gurney and continued wheeling him to an OR.

The heart monitor was beeping steadily. The heart was moving- beating. Nico and Hazel, stood side by side watching Dr Chase performing surgery- unfortunately, they weren't assisting however they were still getting tested on their medical knowledge. The OR had it’s regular flicker of lights, the smell of antiseptics and the hues of blue across the room. 

“I saw Allison, you can't believe the beating that she took and then you see this!” Nico whisper-shouted towards Hazel.

“It's like that old saying- you should see the other guy.” Hazel nodded.

“Why aren't we attempting to re-attach the severed penis?” Annabeth's stern but questioning voice cut through their conversation. 

“Teeth tear not slice- you can only reattach when there's a clean cut. If she had sliced it off with a knife, perhaps then we could re-attach,” Hazel quickly recited. 

“And the digestive juices didn't leave a lot of the flesh to work with,” Nico added on.

“So what are we doing?” Dr Chase asked, a hint of boredom lingering in her voice. 

“Sewing him up minus a large part of the family jewels,” Nico snorted slightly. 

“What will his outlook be?” Dr Chase asked while holding her hand out for the nurse to take the instrument out of her hand. 

“He will be urinating out of a bag for a very very  very long time,” Hazel said, slightly pleased. 

“Not to mention he will never be able to have sex again,” Nico said, not in least bit sympathetic. 

“Oh too bad, what a shame,” Hazel drawled. 

“Let's all take a moment to grieve,” Annabeth said sarcastically before immediately asking for a clamp. 

 Hour 25

“Chief!” Frank jogged, trying to catch up with Chiron while waving frantically. He had taken time off and realised if he wanted this, he had to think about everyone- not just himself. He needed to learn his faults and how to get over them. 

“Frank.” Chiron nodded, “Do you need something?”

“Why can’t I be chief? You helped me before, you believed in me, what changed?”

“You really want to know?” Chiron sighed looking at Frank who nodded. “You’re too comfortable in your job. You never go the extra step. Your arrogance isn’t impressive- if you want to be chief Frank, you have to earn it.”

The words knocked Frank back-  My arrogance isn’t impressive? If I recall correctly,    you  told me to be more arrogant and now it’s a problem? You tell someone to do something and then you tell them to do the exact opposite. What in the name of Pluto is his problem?

 The interns were all pretty different but they could agree that they  hated  their job. They were sitting on the stretchers by the vending machine (which at this point had become their hangout away from the attendings) and were complaining- which apparently makes up 80% of all human conversations.

“My head hurtss,” Grover groaned, throwing backwards against the wall. 

“Maybe you have a brain tumor,” Hazel said after sipping some coffee.

“No, you want me to have a tumor.”

“I'd personally rip your face off if it meant I got to scrub in,” Hazel confessed, not feeling guilty in the slightest. Juniper made her way from the vending machine, holding a snickers bar like her life depended on it. 

“I've been suturing all day, my hands are numb and I'm regretting not taking foregin languages in high school,” she sighed as she plopped her bottom onto the stretcher, leaving space for Nico and Jason. 

“At least you’re helping people,” Jason called as he put his hand up the vending machine in an attempt to retrieve his chips which had decided to not obey the laws of physics and get stuck. Nico who stood behind him shuffled Jason out the way, gave the vending machine a violent kick before the packet of chips fell out, directly into Jason's hands- that was until Nico literally stole them from him.

“At least you get to practise freakin medicine!” Grover called out, sick of delivering lab results to patients.

“Mrs Lu, the chinese lady, I had to send her away. I mean I stiched her up but she stayed camping in the Pit- she left in the end though,” Juni said in a defeated tone.

“The police can't send some crime person down so I have to spend the night with a penis,” Nico complained before looking over to Grover, “ Grover don’t make the joke.”

Grover tutted, “It was too easy anyway.”

Finally, Jason cut in the conversation. They were all sick of being used and not actually learning. Gosh, did the hospital not realise that they were also doctors- not useless med students who couldn’t find their heads from their ass! 

“Who here has no idea what they’re doing?” Jason cried. Everyone, except Grover, shot their hands up. Nico was not ashamed to admit he did not know what he was meant to be doing- saving lives or babysitting penises? 

“Are we meant to be learning something? Because I don’t think I'm learning anything!” Jason added as he slumped further in the stretcher that they were all sharing.

“Except how not to sleep,” Juniper retorted. 

“It's like there’s this wall and the attendings and the residents are over there being surgeons and were over here being-” Hazel started passionately but was cut off by her brother. 

“- Suturing, code running, lab delivering penis minders,” Nico finished. 

“I hate being an intern,” Grover concluded. Nico seated beside him grunted in agreement. The interns continued their mindless complaints until Dr Chase walked in, her expression stern and her arms resting on her hips in a manner that screamed  And what exactly do you think you’re doing?  All it took was a raised eyebrow from Dr Chase and the interns were scrambling off the stretcher and rushing off back to their jobs. She snatched the unopened pack of chips that Nico had left on the stretcher and helped herself. 

Nico often made very bad decisions. It was something the people around simply expected of him at this point- if it wasn’t Bianca then it was Hazel or Percy (but normally Percy would also join in on the bad decisions). Despite being warned not to, Nico found himself staring at the baby from the NICU earlier. As Nico looked up slightly, he saw 2 people cooing towards a baby and Nico could only assume that they were the parents. He could feel the dumb and stupid thoughts brewing and bubblinmg in his mind. He tried to stop them, he tried to tell himself to not move towards them but he couldn’t help himself- he never could in all honesty. While Nico was a very patient person sometimes, some impulses just couldn’t be left on stand-by. 

As Nico finished explaining to the parents what he believed to be wrong with the child, the intern in pink scrubs from earlier who had specifically told Nico to leave walked into the communal area. Nico was absolutely busted- car lights on, bambi style busted. 

“I warned you to not come back here,” They snarled before beheading into another room and practically grabbing Leo Valdez by the arm. Leo slowly retracted his arm out of their grasp before dusting it lightly.

“Hi, can I help you?” Leo started, his lips parted in a gorgeous and genuine grin- something that even Nico had to admit was cute. 

“If our baby is sick, we want him treated,” The parents started, their voices thick with worry and concern. Nico could practically hear the tremble in it. 

“Of course, which child is yours?” Leo asked with his professionalist front- he’d have to deal with the interns later. 

Frank hated the interns. He hated Chiron and he hated his life. Not necessarily in that order. He was used to the incompetence of the interns. He was used to them making mistakes or hesitating but the one thing he wasn’t used to was pure disobedience. He had directly told Di Angelo to  not  approach peds or any of their cases. So what exactly Di Angelo was doing with Valdez and his intern talking to a pair of seemingly very concerned parents, Frank honestly did not know and would have liked to have kept it that way. 

“Dr Valdez, can we speak for a second?” Frank asked. He and Leo were good friends, he knew that Leo wouldn’t get offended or turn it into a scandal. 

“Sure, I’d like to know what on earth is going on though. No offence, but your intern shouldn’t be here,” Leo started, his hand brushing his curls out of his face.

“I told you earlier to not come back and look who’s here!” The intern snarked in Nico’s face. 

“The baby had a tetralogy spell* earlier and a heart murmur- they aren't consistent with a benign systolic ejection murmur!” Nico argued. Frank turned to the intern, he could already see them faltering. He wouldn’t call himself scary- it was mainly just him being tall and built like a marine, not that he really cared. 

“How sure are you? How sure are you that it is a benign systolic ejection murmur? 100 percent sure?” Frank turned to the intern. He watched as their face twisted, like they had just realised that they had been a fly trapped in a spider's web.

“Are you 100 percent sure about the diagnosis?” Leo turned towards his resident, a look of hesitation and slight horror creeping up onto his face. His previous interns from the past 2 years were so much easier than this. Everyone listened to him, barely anyone died and there weren’t sneaky, semi- famous italian legacies sneaking into his department. Not that he blamed Nico, in fact he had to admit that he was secretly impressed with the doctors observation skills- especially considering he was an intern. But after all, he was a Di Angelo. 

“I dunno...like 75 percent..” They mumbled towards the floor. Gods, if his intern was wrong, it would be on his ass! How on earth was he about to mess up so badly? This was his 3rd year in residency- he couldn’t afford to screw up. 

“Can I see the patient's chart?” Dr Zhang held his hand out towards the intern who hastily handed it over- as if it was a ticking time bomb. Dr Zhang flipped through a few pages, pretending to read them. In reality, he had already made up his mind and was just humming the tune to  Stayin alive . 

“Valdez, the patient's on my service now. That chill with you?” Frank concluded. Leo gave a thumbs up, slightly relieved to have some sort of work off his back but also slightly saddened that an interesting case was snatched out of his hands by his ignorant intern. 

“I want an EKG*, chest X- ray and an Echo*, let's make it quick, we don't have all day,” Frank told Nico, who nodded before quickly running off.

“He can do that?” They whispered into Leo’s ear with an astonished tone.

“Yeah, he's attending.”    

“So is your girlfriend.”   

 “She is not my girlfriend!” Leo protested as the intern raised an eyebrow. Leo did not have a strong case here, considering Calypso was always seen with him or vice Versa. In fact, they often arrived and left the hospital together, worked on similar cases and they knew each other's coffee orders like the back of their hand. It wasn’t like anything could happen between them. In reality, they arrived and left together due to their apartments being in a close proximity, they had similar cases co-incidentally due to their specialties and well, the coffee orders… Well that was hard to explain- how would Leo say  Oh yeah, I just watch her everytime she orders her coffee because her lips look very very nice and soft and when she takes a sip, her eyes flutter a bit and it makes her eyes look magical and then there’s when she’s getting mad at me because I’m taking ages to leave my apartment and she just looks like she’s about to implode but in a very sexy, cute and beautiful way. 

Yeah, no way was he saying any of that. 

 Hour 30

Was there anything left to do? Juni had been here for so long she could practically feel the fluorescent lights in her head. The Pit was empty, the blue stretchers all cleaned up with no patients walking in. There was officially nothing to do- empty emergency and waiting room. For the sake of checking, Juni walked into the waiting room one more time, looking around for any injured souls- alas, there were none. 

Except Mrs Lu, who stood in the middle of the hallway, waving her hand towards Juni as if she was gesturing for her to follow her. Juni looked around- it wasn't as if there were any patients here, what could go wrong? She tiptoed outside into the brutal thundering of the rain,  which plastered her hair to her face and her white coat to her scrubs. The wind was chilly and strong- whispering to her temptations and desires. The wind was always so ethereal- it could destroy but it could also be beautiful.

“Mrs Lu? Where are you taking me?” Juniper called out as she jogged blind in the dark while the wind whipped around her face. She found herself crouching behind the large industrial hospital bins. A young girl, barely into her early 20s sat there with a large bloody wound across her forehead. On viewing it, Juniper immediately hissed. The gash looked deep and Juni could already see the edges of it forming a scab. There was blood stuck to her face, some infiltrating the tip of her eyelids and the girl herself was trying to not screw her eyes in pain. 

“Oh my gods…What.. What happened?” Juni was speechless.

“A big machine in the factory.. it .. it fall on us,”  the girl explained. Juniper was relieved- she knew a bit of english, enough for Juniper to understand. 

“It’s going to be okay now, you can come inside an-”

“-No! No, no inside. Here!” The girl protested frantically, shaking her head back and forth which made Juniper think  Ouch . 

“But, I need to stitch you up and she went inside.” Juniper pointed to Mrs Lu. 

“She allowed, me not allowed! I will go jail!”

Juniper realised what she was trying to tell her. Mrs Lu was a legal immigrant but the girl was an illegal one. An overwhelming amount of sympathy and admiration surged inside of  Juniper. The amount of bravery this poor girl must have and all the stuff she must have gone through. Juniper knew that if she helped the girl and was caught- everything would be over. A small voice in her head was telling her to help- she was  doctor after all, she took the hippocratic oath which stated I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are required

“The injury is deep but I think I can fix it. I need to go and get some stuff first so you have to stay here okay. Stay here.”

The girl nodded, the corner of her lips turning into a grateful smile, “Thank you.”

As Juniper was about to jog back to the hospital, she remembered she did not have one piece of information that she got from every patient- illegal or not.

“One question, what’s your name? I’m Juni,” She asked. 

“Nuwa. Nuwa Lu,” the girl responded with comfort settling onto her face. 

  Nico didn’t like that he was short. He constantly had to push to the front of crowds, people were often belittling and it also meant he had to walk twice as fast to catch up with people who were like 6’4- Like Dr Zhang. He was not afraid to admit that he was short- he simply didn’t like that for some reason it was a bad thing; if anything, it meant he was an eco-friendly version of a human.

“Dr Zhang,” Nico sounded slightly out of breath, “ What’s the diagnosis?” 

“It was the tetralogy of fallot with pulmonary atresia*. I’m booking an OR,” he confirmed.

Nico stopped walking as Frank stood by the elevator. Normally, Nico preffered to simply nod at people when they expected a thank you. It was just 2 words that he would never expect to come blurting his mouth and honestly he did not expect the words  Thank you   to come out when he spoke to Dr Zhang so of course, he did not say thank you. Yes, he was grateful but  Thank you?  To Nico, that was almost as close to  I love you  on the list of forbidden words. 

“I appreciate you backing me up here-”

“-Nuh uh. Listen kid, you were right one time but what you did, going behind another doctor's back and speaking to the parents, trying to steal a patient from another service. Don’t ever pull that again, you got it?” Dr Zhang reprimanded him. He knew that Di Angelo had a lot of potential but if he was gonna think with his head in his ass all the time, there were going to be problems

Nico knew this was Dr Zhang's version of- you did good but also you did bad. In all honesty, Nico couldn’t care less. In fact, he was so smugly obsessed that he was right that he was very much beyond okay with being told off if it meant he was right, it was worth it. Especially since that smug little intern thought that they were so right in their gloriously pathetic little mind.

 Will did not like feeling like this. He had been lucky to avoid it all his life but for some god forsaken reason, depression had started to chase him. So he took a job where he would have no time for depression- if you’re working 24/7 you don't really ever get the chance to listen to your thoughts. But as he sat down at the desk by Allison trying to focus on his charting, he could feel himself slowly losing all motivation. The beeping on the heart monitor, which normally drew a large smile across Will’s face, wasn’t helpful- it was depressing. The entire room felt bland, empty and he could feel his mind and thoughts going numb. He was trying to hold his head up, trying to be strong for his patient, trying to finish the day without having a slump. His eyes flickered back up towards Allison, whose eyes had remained closed- as if she was vegetable. 

 “Okay, you’re all sewn up!” Juni finished up the last touches of the stitches of Nuwa’s forehead before rolling back the squeaky old chair that she was sitting on.

“Nuwa, you might have a scar and you have to come back in 5 days okay? I need to take out the stitches and clean the wound to make sure it doesn’t get infected. So you need to come back. We will meet here, same place at 7pm. 5 days okay?” Juniper informed, trying to not rush her words all out in a panic. She watched as Nuwa gave a small nod with a shy smile indicating she understood. As Juniper packed up, she realised she had to remind Nuwa of something else. 

“Oh but you can’t tell anybody that I helped you outside the hospital. I might lose my medical license and my job.  Do you understand?” 

“Come back in 5 days and dont tell.” Nuwa nodded eagerly towards Juni who gave her a brief hug.  

 “Dr Chase, do you think I’m too confident?” Dr Zhang anxiously asked. He didn’t think he’d ever have to ask such a question. To him, it seemed obvious- no. Frank recalled all his life, simply never having the confidence to do things and sure, he had boosted it up a slight notch by becoming a surgeon- a world renowned one none the less- but he wouldn’t call himself overconfident. 

“No,” Annabeth answered bluntly but Zhang knew her better than she thought he did.

“Don’t lie,” Frank mumbled slightly. 

“You are my boss,” Annabeth retorted. Anyone who had been nearby would have immediately snorted at such a comment- When did Annabeth Chase actually care about her bosses opinions? 

“Fine, in the next 30 seconds anything you say, I will not take to heart, starting now.” Frank raised his watch before diverting his eyes to his resident who immediately started talking. 

A bit eager, Chase?

“I think you’re cocky, arrogant, bossy and pushy. You also have a god complex,” Annabeth started which caused Frank to frown.  God Complex? Since when?

“You never think about anybody but your damn self- “

“- Hey wait a-”

“-I have another 22 seconds and I am  not done.”

Frank scratched his head while rethinking his life decisions. The most prominent thought at hand was-

  Oh shit maybe this wasn't a great idea

The interns were serving their last hour on call and it had gotten to the point where they were all desperate for their lives at work to come to an end. Jason, Juniper and Hazel were all in the locker room, freshening up and looking forward to leaving the hospital. 

“I need a drink, a man or a massage or a drunken massage by a man,” Hazel mused. A short ‘ew’ came from Juniper as she brushed through her knotty hair. Jason on the other hand, did not respond and instead was violently harassing his teeth with his toothbrush. Hazel took one short glance at Jason before an alarmed look creeped onto her face.

“What's wrong with you?” She asked, slipping on a new scrub shirt.

“I lost 5 patients today and I feel like the angel of death,” he spat his toothpaste out, as if he had a deep vendetta against it.

“Hey at least you're not the actual angel of death. I’m pretty sure there’s a serial killer with that alias,” Hazel responded thinking about her conversation with Nico. For some reason  The angel of death  reminded her of some conversation they’d had. 

“Charles Cullen- convicted of 40 murders, suspected of more- currently in prison on life sentence and is 60 years old,” Nico recited as he walked into the locker room. Juniper and Jason both stopped dead in their tracks, slightly alarmed at the information that was spilling out of Nico’s mouth like he memorized it for fun. 

The best part was he actually did memorise it for fun.

Casting her eyes away from her brother, who in no way surprised her with that information, Hazel sighed, “Jason, 95% of code patients can't be revived. Most are already dead by the time you get there.”

“What! Why didn't you tell me that when I was going on and on about how great it was gonna be!” Jason cried, embarrassed about his bragging. Hazel took a deep breath as she made her way to exit the room.

“Because, you’re Jason and I’m Hazel.”

 Hour 40

Nico was getting really sick about the penis in a box. It literally had to follow him everywhere and worst of all, people asked him what was inside it. What kind of conversation starter was ‘oh, just a bitten off penis’? So when Nico saw Dr Solace still in the room of Allison he felt slightly relieved- at least Dr Solace wouldn’t ask him what was in the box; mainly because Dr Solace was in the surgery where the penis was retrieved. 

As Nico approached Dr Solace, he noticed that he wasn't really there. His eyes seemed less alive, less sparkly and more like the dull blue hues of the hospital. It was just something about the way his hand had propped up his face as if he had no further energy to continue anything that made Nico slightly alarmed for him. 

Alarmed? You’re just worried that he may pass out because then it would mean no more surgeries.  

At least, that's what Nico told himself. Besides, he had other things to worry about- like how he was going to lead Solace on. Afterall, there was a reason he was putting up with him.

“Hey, how’s Allison?” Nico asked, standing directly behind Will. Will, depressed as ever responded in a small tone. 

“So far, nothing’s changed.”

“Have you been here all night?” Nico asked in slight astonishment and borderline concern.

“Yep. I have 3 brothers and a sister. They’re all doctors as well. If I was in a coma, they’d all be here- I’d want them here because having nobody… I can’t imagine that.” 

“I can.”

Nico hadn’t meant for the small comment to slip out of his mouth. Wills face scrunched up immediately as he turned his head to look at the intern. 

“What are you on about? What about your sister?”

For a fraction of a second, Nico was horrified at the thought that somehow Will had figured out that Hazel and Nico were siblings. But then Nico remembered that Hazel levesque was not an infamous name within the world of doctors and Bianca Di Angelo was.The first person to come to mind was Hazel, not Bianca. The guilt was overwhelming- did this mean Nico was forgetting his sister? He couldn’t do that, not when she needed him! Hazel was just a girl who happened to make sarcastic quips like him, who just happened to stand up for him, who happened to be slightly related to him. So what? Did it make them family? No! In Nico’s eyes, they weren’t even siblings. Just 2 people who had to get on with each other for the sake of others around them, Bianca was his real sister.

“That’s true, I do have my sister,” Nico said but even as the words left his lips, he knew he wasn’t talking about Bianca. 

“She’d be ordering surgeons around and flying cowboys* from Prague to do amazing medical procedures,” Will continued as he got up to throw a wrapper in the bin. When he returned, he leaned against the door frame slightly, as if he was a bad boy in one of those high school cliche films. 

“So we’re kissing but we’re not dating, huh?” One of his eyebrows raised slightly resulting in a ridiculous face that Nico believed to be hilarious- not that he’d ever let Solace know that he thought that. Nico fell back into scheming mode- if the conversation was heading where he thought it was, he needed to have his manipulative little plan out and ready.

“I’m all for the kissing. In fact, there should be more kissing,” Will hummed.

“I don’t know how or why it happened,” Nico admitted. 

“Is it gonna happen again?” Will asked before lowering his voice, “ I need to bring some breath mints. Put some condoms in my wallet.” Will winked and Nico could physically feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. He had never blushed this badly in his entire life- not even when Percy winked at him.

Abort! Abort! This was not part of the plan. Why are you blushing you incompetent good for nothing nincompoop!

“There’s this baby upstairs in peds. It’s new and not neglected. It hasn’t been disappointed by anyone or rejected. How do we get from there to here? Alisson is wearing my boots and someone has beaten the crap out of her and here she is with nobody.” Nico was practically counting down the minutes left before he could leave at this point. However, before Will could respond, a rapid beeping came from one of the machines hooked up to Allison. Will scurried forward in a panic. 

“Her ICP* has doubled. Page Jackson and get an OR ready- tell them to prep for a craniotomy*. Hang a mannitol and take a blood gas*!” Will shouted over the frantic beeping of the machine.

 Nico was pacing back and forth. He felt like he was Allison’s mother. There she was in surgery all by herself and he- someone who had never met her- was pacing back and forth like they had known each other their entire lives. His head practically shot up as he saw Will and Percy come through the doors he had been waiting in front of. Solace shot him a sympathetic smile as he walked past- Percy on the other hand had stayed in front of Nico and his expressions looked grave.

How was Percy meant to say this? This was his childhood best friend of his entire life and he was somehow meant to tell him that his patient was most likely now a vegetable. He didn’t know why it was going to be so hard- Nico was someone who knew how to take news. Sure, Nico never took it well and would often just isolate himself until someone forcefully dragged his butt out but he would never break down. Well, Percy had never thought he had. 

“I had to leave a flap of her skull open until the pressure and swelling in her brain goes down,” Percy confessed nervously, ruffling his messy hair that had been matted down under his scrub cap.

In a pained voice, Nico whispered, “She isn’t gonna make it.”

Percy hadn’t heard Nico use such a voice since his mother had passed away. Nico had been a bit different after that- as one would expect- but the tone that he had adapted when the tragedy occurred was a tone that truly inspired fear in Percy. It was the voice of calamity combined with pain. It was like destruction without the anger, it was like love without the trust, it was like a human with no soul. It was heart wrenching. 

“She’ll be fine,” Percy insisted as he pulled Nico into a hug, letting the shorter boy rest his head on his shoulder. Nico wondered if Percy was right. He liked the possibility, the chance that it was true. 

But Nico realised that she’d only be alright if she ever woke up.

Nico and never been happier to sign off the custody of something away from himself. Finally, the penis he had been carrying around owud no longer be his possession- he already had a dick, thank you very much. Just ask Solace.

Will and Percy did not really interact with each other much. It wasn't anything personal but they just both run such busy departments that hanging out was something much easier said rather than done. Despite this, they were together as they stormed into the room of 312. Percy and Will were not violent people- they were surgeons, doctors, sworn under the hippocratic oath to do no harm. But it would be an understatement of the year if one were to say that they did not look like terrifying bloodthirsty hungry beasts as they slammed the light on and snarled as they walked into the room of the rapist.

Will slammed his hand onto the side of the stretcher. Once, twice and a third time. It startled the man in bed to jump awake. Threateningly, Will slammed his hand above the man in the stretcher so he was practically leaning over him while Percy stood on the other side with both hands resting on the other handle of the bed. 

“We have good and bad news. The good news is that my unbiased girlfriend who is also an exceptional surgeon managed to stop you from bleeding to death,” Percy snarled.

“The bad news is we’ve given your penis to the cops. Have a nice life,” Will growled as both men left the room with Will slamming the door so hard, the hinges rattled.

 Nico enjoyed watching the babies. He however, did not enjoy watching the babies with Jason, Juniper and Hazel. Watching a cooing to babies was a very private matter- if word ever got out to his attendings that this happened… well Dr Zhang had already warned him. As he watched them, he realised they get the chance to start afresh. They may have no knowledge but they give people the chance to start afresh, to be something else and change opinions. 

“All right, you guys can move in,”Nico groaned, giving up. Jason and Juniper squealed, jumping up and down celebrating. 

“I can't believe I caved,” Nico admitted. 

Hazel snorted, “I blame the babies.”

 Hour 48

The world felt groggy as her eyelids fluttered. This wasn't her cheap New York hotel room, the lights wouldn't be on. She wanted to breathe but she couldn't do it alone-she could feel something obstructing her throat. It felt like something had been forced down there and immediately memories had come flooding back. The rapist, how she had been forced to her knees, the beating. She realised this must be the hospital and if she could think and her eyes were open, then she must be alive.  She watched as a doctor with curly blond hair looked at her with astonishment before grabbing the arm of another doctor- with sea green eyes and a mop of balck hair on his head. 

The elevator always took ages to arrive and always took even longer to get you to the floor you wanted. Will did not mind this. Nico on the other hand, definitely minded this. He had beds to sleep in and mythomagic cards to nerd out with.

“It's intense, this thing I have for ferry boats again,” Wills voice cut straight through Nico’s thoughts. Nico turned his head to look at the source of the voice. 

Of course it's you

 Nico knew what would happen if they climbed the empty elevator and he was tired. Part of his plan was revived around Will Solace pinning after him and this was the perfect chance to start it. 

“I’m soo taking the stairs this time,” Nico decided. 

“You have no self control!” Will called out knowing Nico’s reason for not boarding the elevator, “ It’s sad really!” 

 Hour 49

“Hey Reyna, pass the coat next to you,” Percy asked as he grabbed his bag off the floor and kissed Annabeth on her head. Reyna tossed the coat towards Percy before grabbing her backpack and zipping up her jacket. The attendings and residents filtered out slowly, one by one leaving Leo in there by himself. Leo didn’t mind being alone. In fact, he enjoyed it. There was something about being able to hum songs while you worked with no distractions that simply appealed to him. He was currently humming a song his Tia Callida had taught him when he was little. 

“Are you humming?” A voice came from behind him. Normally, Leo would have ignored the voice or made a snarky remark but he recognised this voice. 

“What! Uh, no?” He shrugged sheepishly as he turned around to look at Calypso who had her eyes half closed as if she was enjoying the tune. 

“Oh don’t try lying to me  Leonidas . I liked it anyway,” she admitted as she leaned forward to access the coffee machine. Calypso was the only person who knew Leo’s full name and the only person he’d ever let get away with calling him that. Leo could feel a rush of butterflies from Calypso's compliment. While it seemed minor, Leo rarely got compliments- so he appreciated them but he also did not know how to properly take one without blubbering. 

“What are you still doing here?” Leo asked.

“Hoping to get rid of me I see?” 

“No! No, it’s just we came in at the same time and your shift is over so you’re probably tired so you should probably go home and relax,” Leo rambled. 

“You also came in at the same time you know. You shouldn't be here as well.”

That shut Leo up. He sat himself on the sofa, not wanting to move. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t tired and sleep sounded so nice right now but he did not want to go home. Every time he went back to his apartment, the nightmares would come rushing back and he would wake up covered in sweat. It was like he was cursed.

“Are you okay?” Calypso’s voice sounded concerned.

“I should be asking you that mi amor.” Leo winked before mentally slapping himself.  Why on earth did he call her that? Everyone knows that mi amor means my love- it's practically common knowledge!

“You aren’t going to sweet talk your way out of my question Leonidas.” Calypso’s eyes narrowed slightly as she sat on the sofa next to Leo. He sat with one leg slightly bent on the sofa and the other dangling off it whereas Calypso had both her legs crossed as if she was back in nursery. 

“I’m tired Callie. Aren’t you?”

“We’re surgeons. It’s what we signed up for. And I’ve seen you tired before Valdez, you aren’t like this.”

“Like this?”

“So… distant. You’ve barely gone on any rants or tangents since forever. You only order black coffee or an almost suicidal amount of espresso now. Everytime you smile, you only do it because someone just approaches you, otherwise your face is unreadable or miserable!” Calypso cried, throwing one of her arms up. 

“Just because I’m less talkative Callie doesn’t mean there’s something wrong. I need to coffee to stay awake,” Leo defended himself calmly, holding both of Calypso’s hands to help keep her from exploding. 

“What is keeping you up that you need so much caffeine? Is it work, family… a partner?” Calypso’ face physically scrunched up at the idea of Leo losing sleep over doing the deed with another person.

“I...I’m just not getting as much sleep as I should be getting. You know how tough work can be on residents especially because I’m looking for a peds fellowship,” Leo lied through his teeth. He could feel the empty pit of anxiety inside of him calm slightly as he saw the stressed out facial features of Calypso relax. While he felt guilty for lying, he felt better that it wasn’t stressing her out so much. It was only then that he noticed how close their bodies were. They weren’t extremely close but they weren't exactly far away either. 

“I've got to tell you about this couple I had today. So the mother is all excited because she wants a boy and the dad is really really excited because he wanted a girl and they’re both arguing back and forth about which one the baby will be. So I do the ultrasound and guess what!”

“What?” Leo asked, practically smitten with her features. The way her eyes widened with glee as she talked about her patients, or how her smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. Her cheeks had these dimples that would appear every time she spoke but when she smiled, the ones under her eyes would show up and it was always endgame for him then. Her eyes were like pools of honey- sweet, delicate and magical. There was just something about the way her curly hair would always be in a tropical hairstyle as if she was on a beach that made him want to kiss her. 

“They had twins! Yeah, so it was a case of twin to twin transfusion syndrome* and one was a boy and the other a girl. So in the end they both got what they wanted and I got myself a very  very interesting case!” 

Leo chuckled as he watched her rant. As they fell into conversation about their patients, they got closer and closer until they both had their arms leaning on the sofa and were gazing at each other's faces. Calypso’s eyes drifted downwards towards Leo’s rolled up sleeves- as they always did. As her eyes traveled upwards, she spotted something by Leo’s collarbone- like a flick of ink. She didn’t know if she read it right but it looked like it said Bad Boy Supreme with a small fire around it. 

“Is that.. Is that a tattoo?” Calypso asked, her hand reaching forward to pull at his shirt slightly to gain a better view. Caught slightly off guard, Leo froze before remembering that he did in fact have a tattoo. He unbuttoned the first 3 buttons to give her a better view. 

“Leonidas… did you actually… oh my gods.” Her hand had accidentally pressed on Leo’s chest which was surprisingly muscle. Leo looked scrawny, wasn’t the tallest (still taller than Nico) and didn’t hang out with any other people beside his colleagues so Calypso was not expecting a firm plate of muscle to be directly underneath her palm.

“Yep. You said I should get  Bad Boy Supreme  tattooed, so I did,” he said rather shakily. Could you blame him though?  You  try talking normally while the girl you’re in love with touches your chest and has her face up so close against it you could feel her breath. 

“I did not think you had it in you,” she confessed, her face still close to his chest with her finger now tracing the art. 

“ Mamacita , I’m offended,” he huffed jokingly. She raised her head slightly to raise an eyebrow only to be slightly alarmed at how close they were. If she moved one millimeter upwards, their lips would touch. Her hand was warm on his chest and she could feel his heart beating slightly faster as she traced the words of his tattoo. Her other hand was in his hair- the luxurious chocolate curls which obstructed his face bothered her- she wanted to see his eyes. She pushed them back ever so slightly. She was so close to his face, she could see the different shades of brown that pooled in his eyes- in a sort of chaotic manner that made his eyes look majestic. She couldn't help but stare into them and draw herself close to him- his eyes were honey and she was a bee. She dared to move her head slightly higher so that their eyes locked. They knew what each other were thinking. They could feel each other's thoughts.

 Leo kept his gaze on Calypso’s eyes which had darted down to his lips. She watched as he swallowed and his lips parted softly. She raised her head and moved slightly forward and they could each other breath dancing on their lips. Their lips brushed, like a painter's first stroke on a canvas. They were slow, not desperate- it was like they had all the time in the world. Their lips were barely touching like butterfly wings. Leo could feel her warmth and inhale the coffee on her breath. Just as they were about to truly kiss,  Leo’s pager started beeping making them both scramble backwards away from each other.

Without another word, Leo got up and left the room.

All the things that have a little * by it will have definitions down here! Code team: The team on call who are required to respond to a code blue which is when someone's heart has stopped GCS: Stands for the Glasgow Coma Scale. It measures a person's level of consciousness after a brain injury- it measures the function of the eyes, body and speech. BP: Is an abbreviation for the 'blood pressure'. Ventilator: Is a machine that essentially provides air for your body when you cannot do it yourself- often patients who suffer extreme injuries will be put on a ventilator. BA: Stands for bachelor of Arts which is an undergraduate degree- please keep in mind that it's not a literal degree in art, it's just called that. PHD: Stands for Doctor of Philosophy. Once again, this isn't a literal doctorate degree in Philosophy. MD: Stands for Doctor of Medicine- now this is a degree that is literally in medicine. Asystole Pulse: In the most basic way I could put it, flatlining. That means that the heart has completely stopped. Benign tumour: If a tumour is benign, it is harmless or not posing any threat to the body. Benign systolic ejection murmurs: Is normally a harmless condition where the heart makes a murmur because something is obstructing the valves in the heart. Tetralogy spell: When there is a quick drop in oxygen in the body and it makes the skin appear blue. EKG: Stands for electrocardiogram which is when those wires are stuck to your chest so that they can measure your heart's electrical signals. An EKG can also be called an ECG. Echo: An 'echo' is an abbreviation of echocardiogram- not to be confused with electrocardiogram. An echocardiogram is basically an ultrasound of the heart. Fallot of tetralogy with pulmonary atresia: This is a very complicated condition but essentially, it's the result of the 5 defects that this condition causes in the heart. Cowboy doctor: Is a doctor who is so definite in their diagnosis, they refuse to consider any other options. ICP: Stands for intracranial pressure which is just the pressure in your brain. Craniotomy: Not to get confused with a craniectomy, a craniotomy is when a piece of skull is removed temporarily to expose the brain. Mannitol: Mannitol is a sugar alcohol that can be used to decrease the intracranial pressure. TTS: Also known as Twin to Twin transfusion syndrome is a rare condition where twins in the womb share the same placenta- the result of this is one child getting more oxygen and nutrients than the other.

[ambivalentmarvel]

so the story behind this is that @sreppub​ arrived in my dms saying “sitcom starring two uppity, former rich guys and a regular poor college kid who follow up an online ad and become roommates” and i said something along the lines of “your MIND” and here we are. she does the art, i do the fic, and we both yell a lot along the way. read it on here or ao3 and enjoy!!

The Sitcom Supreme

If Peter or Stephen were around to hear Tony tell the story of how they all ended up rooming together, they would have plenty of objections, to which he would call them both dirty liars, to which they would gang up on him because they’re terrible and like that, to which he would probably throw up his hands in exasperation and/or make the mistake of engaging them in a debate, to which they would grin like wolves because, once again, they’re terrible and like that, but Tony’s the asshole who put up the Craigslist ad, so he gets to start—because he’s terrible and like that.

It’s a common trait amongst the three of them, what can he say?

The beginning of the story does not involve either of the other two, however. It begins with Rhodey, who is only occasionally terrible and like that. Rhodey has been Tony’s best friend since the tender age of fifteen. Considering Tony at age fifteen was a greasy little douche bag with too much money and a whole bunch of daddy issues that were somehow more obvious then than they are in the present, this is an impressive feat. 

Where things start, Rhodey and Tony are roommates at MIT, which is Howard’s school of choice to shove his problem child onto. Tony is supposed to get a single dorm room, but there’s a cockroach problem in that building. Administration has to get creative, which is how Rhodey, fresh out of boot for the fall semester, gets saddled with approximately one hundred and fifty pounds of neglected teenage boy who has only kind of gone through puberty.

The first words out of Tony’s mouth are blunt: “Any chance you have plans to drop out?”

And Rhodey looks at him with a raised brow, efficiently unpacked and totally unimpressed with the enormous stack of Tony’s things wavering in the doorway. “You have any plans to quit being annoying?” he retorts, which set the tone for their entire relationship.

Tony loves him to pieces. 

He’s the older brother he never knew he needed, yanking him by his collar from frat parties on the weekends and to his house for holidays because getting swamped by Rhodey’s six younger siblings is infinitely better than having to wear a suit and tie for Christmas dinner with six CEOs and maybe some senators, depending on the year. In return, Tony sees him through every finals week of his collegiate career, during which Rhodey gets so nervous he usually pukes at least daily and pulls so many all-nighters Tony memorizes the exact shade of red his eyes are at the end.

So, it’s safe to say they get along well. They get along so well, as a matter of fact, that when they stare at each other after their graduation ceremony for their Masters—a two-year process for both of them, and Rhodey receives two degrees to Tony’s four—surrounded by Rhodey’s family and Jarvis, Tony’s lips curl in a smirk Rhodey knows spells the best kind of trouble. “What do you say we keep the roommate streak alive, yeah? Howard’s building an office in New York, and I’m thinking of doing a doctorate at NYU.”

Rhodey’s brows raise, but he’s grinning, so Tony already knows his answer. “Depends. Are you still gonna’ snore?”

“Are you still gonna’ have a stick up your a—”

Mama Rhodes shoots Tony a look from where she’s trying to corral the rest of her kids.

“—butt?” he finishes with a sheepish glance her way.

Rhodey does not even remotely have a stick up his ass, but of the two of them, he features in tabloids far, far less, which Tony somehow uses to his advantage.

“You know it,” Rhodey replies, and so they find a fancy penthouse that Tony mostly pays for, with the excuse of Rhodey satisfying his part of rent via generally covering Tony’s ass to the best of his ability. And he has a lot of ability, honed from years upon years of Tony self-destructing at the drop of a hat, but there’s only so much he can do, especially as his military career just keeps flying higher and Howard just keeps pushing Tony harder.

A few sex tapes, especially wild benders, and crashed cars later, when Howard cuts Tony off and tells him, quote, “I won’t speak to you until you learn to do something other than disappoint me”, Rhodey very gracefully still shacks up with him in their considerably less fancy apartment.

This is all important to know, contrary to what someone whose name may or may not rhyme with Tephen Trange might say about Tony’s “long-winded” and “overly-complicated” storytelling tendencies because it explains exactly why Rhodey is a traitor.

Is Carol a very cool lady who could kick Tony’s ass? Yes. Is she sickeningly cute with Rhodey and not just because a smile from her makes him melt into a pile of fucking goo on the floor? Also yes. Does it probably make more sense for Tony to find roommates who will actually be around to monitor his—allegedly—poor mental health and self-care habits? Okay, fine, yes, but the bottom line is, Rhodey is moving in with Carol and abandoning Tony, and nobody said he had to like it.

(This is not strictly true, what with the approximately ten conversations Rhodey and he have had about his happiness and how, if Tony needs him, all he has to do is say the word and he’ll be back, but Tony has always had a flair for the dramatic.)

The whole idea is that Tony will find someone gone less than Rhodey with all his military business to enjoy having around the apartment. It’s technically a three-bedroom, but he and Rhodey use the extra one for storage. Fortunately or unfortunately, that storage area has become a lot of junk they go through before Rhodey makes his grand exit, and Tony suddenly has the option of having two roommates.

The ad is a low point, he can admit that, but there is a flaw in what Tony loudly calls Rhodey’s master plan to leave him alone to wallow in misery: Tony doesn’t exactly have a lot of friends, nevermind people who he’d want to live with.

“Rhodey. Honeybear. Platypus.”

“The nicknames are old, and you need to stop using them around Carol. She called me Platypus last night during sex, and it ruined the whole mood.”

“You poor thing.”

“She thought it was hilarious.”

If Tony has to lose Rhodey to anybody, by God, Carol is his first choice by a long shot.

“Anyway, as I was saying, Sourpatch—”

“I hate you.”

“—how am I supposed to find someone else to live with?”

Tony is thirty-two and regularly speaks out with all of four people: Pepper, Rhodey, Carol, and Happy. Unfortunately, Happy works in Stark Industries’ California branch and has stated rather firmly that he’s not interested in transferring to the city, Pepper wouldn’t live with another person for love or money, and the other two are spoken for.

It’s a terrible situation to be in, honestly.

“Craigslist,” Rhodey deadpans, fighting with some packing tape.

Tony feels his heart stop beating in real time from his place folding some of Rhodey’s clothes into a plastic tub. His head snaps up, and his jaw drops, absolutely affronted. “You would suggest that I, even disowned and stripped of my former glory—” Tony has several million dollars in the stock market, but that’s neither here nor there and isn’t much compared to the fact that he was supposed to be a billionaire. “—would stoop to looking for live-in friends on Craigslist?”

Rhodey looks up to meet his eyes, unfazed. He’s used to Tony’s antics after nearly two decades of friendship. “Well, I’m not moving out until you have at least one person guaranteed to take my place, so unless you have any better ideas, yeah.” He shrugs—just shrugs, as if he isn’t advising Tony to scrape the bottom of the fucking barrel in terms of reliable people to regularly fall asleep around.

It’s insulting.

“I’m not putting out an ad for a roommate on Craigslist,” he protests, shoving the next horribly colored polo into the tub with disdain.

That night, he tears up thinking about stopping Rhodey from being happy with Carol, and the post is up by the time Rhodey gets up—stupidly early, like normal—for his morning run. Along with his contact information and a few blurry pictures of the place, it includes a blurb about the circumstances.

Best friend moving out. Need a roommate or I will die of Sadness. His girlfriend is cool but hewas mind first. Carol, I am watching you. Two rooms open for business. But not sketchy business. You can just lve there. Current resident (me) is cool and very charming. I am a man. No dumb fuck offers. Thanks.

It could use some work, but Tony’s never been great with words, even less so when he’s crying to rock ballads at two in the morning. He edits it when he wakes up, and by noon that day, it’s looking better.

At seven o’clock that evening, he receives one of two messages that actually work out.

Enter the first offender: Peter Parker.

Peter, Tony will learn, is nineteen, attending NYU—like Tony did, which is a sign, really—for a double major in biochemistry and physics, and has the worst luck of anyone Tony’s ever met.

Rhodey’s moving out in a week—he’s been putting off finding a roommate for a while, alright—and Peter has to legally be out of his dorm in three days. That is quite the predicament, and Tony, by nature, is a curious creature. He is not, however, one for beating around the bush. That results in a text that reads exactly this.

Tony: What the hell did you do?

He could hack through the university files, but explanations are always more fun with a personal touch that’s lacking in, say, an incident report. Tony watches a bubble with three blinking dots for a long, long time, and the reply is surprisingly sparse—sparse enough, in fact, for Tony to have more questions than answers when he receives it.

Unknown Sender: theres been a few things but the kicker was the fire

Tony: The fire?

Unknown Sender: i tried to make popcorn and the microwave blew up

Now that is some problematic behavior Tony can get behind. He amends the kid’s previously non-existent contact information.

Tony: How can they kick you out for that? That’s not your fault.

Roommate (?) Peter: it blacked out the power on the entire first floor

Tony: And?

Roommate (?) Peter: last month i got the blame for contaminating half the campus water supply

Roommate (?) Peter: so i was already on thin ice

Tony: Accidentally?

Roommate (?) Peter: idk sometimes things just happen to me

Tony doesn’t know how to respond to that. If Rhodey knew, he’d never let him live it down. He can hear his annoying laugh in his ears like a premonition—“Hah—Tony, speechless?”—but then there are the dots again and a simple message to follow the last, a touch pathetic.

Roommate (?) Peter: please let me move in

Tony likes him.

Peter shows up on the stairs of the complex thirty-six hours after Tony posted the ad with a backpack and a meager total of six beat-to-shit boxes. The backpack holds nearly all of his school supplies, which makes Tony, in retrospect, genuinely fearful for the integrity of his spine, and the contents of the boxes are sorted, as Tony will learn, into three categories that each have two boxes in them. The categories are fairly simple—clothing, necessities, and whatever other shit he could fit from his dorm—and leave Peter with thrilling possessions such as an entire collection of truly atrocious shirts with science puns on them, a gallon of hand soap, and any food he had in his cupboards.

Thankfully, Rhodey is out furniture shopping with Carol when Tony goes out to meet him, which solves the problem of Rhodey going into overbearing caretaker mode at the sight of a beanpole of a kid failing to manage their life successfully. As someone who has been made many a you-haven’t-eaten-a-meal-in-two-days-and-I’m-secretly-a-panicking-mother-hen casserole, Tony counts his blessings.

Tony waves. “Peter?” he asks, reluctantly changed out of his pajamas for the day.

The kid nods. “That’s me. And you’re Tony?”

“Guilty as charged. Want a hand with those boxes?” he asks, watching Peter lift three at a time.

“No, I got it,” he insists, and then the box on top slides out of his grip and onto the sidewalk.

Peter stares at it for a second before he lets out a long-suffering sigh.

“Maybe I could use some help,” he admits, and with much struggle, the two of them, each with three boxes, waddle inside. There is a moment and only one moment where Tony thinks that it might be nice to have some extra assistance, but with another thought of the things Rhodey would do at the sight of a woefully inept college kid, Tony decides it’s for the best.

Tony leads the operation, considering he has the key and also knows explicitly where they’re going, and he would have to say his biggest complaint about the ordeal is that Sam, who lives in the apartment below Tony and Rhodey with Steve and Bucky, happens to open his door as they walk by.

Being an asshole, he has something to say about it. “Need some help, shellhead?” he crows.

Tony wishes he had a free hand to flip him off.

“Watch your back, Wilson,” he growls in return, a continuation of the beef the five of them have maintained since they met approximately seven years ago, when they all moved in on the same day and kept knocking into each other’s shit in the halls.

When they reach the top of the next flight of stairs and Tony starts to fumble with the key, Peter asks about it. “So—uh—who was that?”

“That was Sam. Part of the deal with moving in is that you harass him and the other two idiots who live with him. He also responds to jackass, douchecanoe, or birdbrain.”

“Birdbrain?”

“It’s an old joke. He had a rather—” Tony grunts, forced to set down his load to unlock the door, “—spectacular run-in with some pigeons a few years ago.”

“Oh.”

“They shat on him. A lot.”

“Oh.”

“It’s a good nickname,” Tony assures him, throwing open the door with his arms flung wide for dramatic flair. “Welcome to Casa Stark. I mean, I guess it’s Casa Stark-Parker now, but if we’re hyphenating, my name goes first because I lived here first.” He holds up a finger as if to stall Peter, who has yet to speak from where his mouth is decidedly blocked by the aforementioned three boxes he is carrying. “And I know what you’re going to say��that Parker-Stark works better because it’s alphabetical—but that is where you are wrong because letters have no place in this house. Numbers are much preferred, and we play by seniority here, anyway.”

He gives Peter a meaningful look that he cannot see because, once again, boxes.

“More on that, by the way—”

“Hey, Tony?” 

He cuts him off which is, objectively, rude, but Tony rarely gets along with people who aren’t a little curt with him from time to time. This is a positive sign, really, so he allows it.

“Yeah?” 

“This can be Casa Stark-Parker, but can we get to somewhere I can set these down? My arms are, like, going to give out on me.”

Not even ten minutes in, and he’s already learned the art of bargaining. Tony’s proud, and he ushers him inside without any more monologues and a grin stretched across his face.

Peter, by virtue of moving in before Rhodey is out, ends up with the room that is no longer being used for storage. Tony has several questions for him, beginning with the fact that, despite the six packets of instant noodles he bothered to bring, he does not appear to have a mattress. Or a desk. Or a dresser. Or anything that’s supposed to go in a room.

His solutions for Tony’s concerns are as follows.

In place of a bed, he has two blankets, one to put on the floor and one to cover himself with. He was planning on sitting on the floor to do schoolwork instead of using a desk. And finally, he was going to leave his clothes in the boxes.

This is all relayed to Tony with an earnest gleam in his eyes and a smile.

Tony blinks in disbelief. Then, very eloquently, he says, “Kid, that is the saddest shit I have ever heard. Aren’t your parents helping you with the move to an apartment?”

The kid shifts from foot to foot, shoving his hands in his pockets and glancing to the side.

Tony’s eyes narrow. As someone who is extremely well-versed in avoidance tactics, he feels very confident in saying that is definitely a fucking avoidance tactic.

“About that,” he begins, “first of all, I’m an orphan.” Jesus Christ. “Second of all, my aunt doesn’t exactly—uh—know I got kicked out of the dorms.”

That is all interesting information, to say the least, but luckily, Tony thrives under pressure.

“Alright. I can respect that.”

It’s not like he never hid anything from his parents. Evading his aunt is Peter’s problem, not Tony’s. None of this is Tony’s problem, really, except then he looks around the room and wonders which of Peter’s boxes are holding his two blankets.

Tony was concerned about Rhodey, but he can’t stop himself.

“But I’m also gonna’ level with you—you’re not sleeping on the ground. You can take the couch.”

The until I get you a proper bed frame and mattress goes unsaid, but sometimes things like that are better as surprises. It’ll be a fun housewarming gift, Tony thinks, and by the time the shipment from IKEA arrives containing both of those things and the aforementioned missing dresser and desk, there will be a third roommate to help put it all together, not that either of them know it yet.

That night, Rhodey and Carol show up with enough ingredients for lasagna to serve four, and Tony delights in showing off Peter as they cook because now he has a “super cool roommate too! Take that, Platypus.”

Rhodey glances to Peter. “If you’re being held hostage, blink twice.”

“Hey!” Tony protests. He is a perfectly lovable roommate, thank you very much, and he’s so offended, he’s not even going to let Rhodey know about his mission to furnish Peter’s room.

God bless her, Carol just laughs.

The four of them get along with surprising ease, considering Peter’s only been around for a few hours. Peter even tries to help with the lasagna, but Tony has a near-photographic memory and has not remotely forgotten the popcorn incident, however vaguely it was described.

“You just sit there and be a nicer person than Rhodey,” he urges him, and Peter nods, hiding his grin behind his hand at the argument that starts.

Once everyone is done, he and Rhodey get suckered into dish duty while Carol spirits Peter off to the living room, claiming she has to warn him about what he’s getting into. Tony doesn’t care enough to complain, and when her back is turned, he splashes a plate of suds onto Rhodey’s front. 

Rather than rise to the bait, however, he raises his brows, slipping into what Tony affectionately calls his big-brother-giving-a-stern-talking-to mode. “You have to be a good example for him, Tones.”

Tony blinks. “I’m sorry, did you just say—”

“I’m serious!” They keep their voices mostly down, but Rhodey’s rises a bit with the declaration.

“He’s nineteen—an adult, in case you forgot. He signed the lease all on his own and everything,” he hisses back incredulously.

He thought he dodged the bullet by not disclosing just how underprepared Peter is to live in an apartment, but Rhodey’s head dips. Tony braces himself for the part of his big-brother-giving-a-stern-talking-to mode where he tells Tony he’s making a bullshit excuse and needs to get it together. “Don’t give me that. He’s a baby adult at best, and you know it.”

Yep, there it is.

“That’s still an adult!”

It is! Tony was on his own way earlier than nineteen. This is not a big deal, no matter how outlandish Peter’s circumstances are for moving out of NYU’s dorms.

“Watch his back.”

Tony scoffs. “It’s not like I was going to feed him to the wolves. I’m barely thirty—I’m not his dad.”

“Tony.”

Ah, the final, crushing blow of this version of Rhodey: his name—but with emphasis.

Tony sighs. “Fine,” he acquiesces. “I solemnly swear I will not let him get up to no good.”

A beat. Rhodey squints at him, slowly lowering the plate he’s holding into the sink. “You told me you refused to read Harry Potter.”

Shit.

Back when the books were first coming out, Rhodey was insufferably obsessed with them, and Tony loves him, but emotionally, he couldn’t handle having Rhodey think he was willing to discuss anything having to do with the series for longer than thirty seconds. Thus, he read the books—everyone in the world was doing the same, okay, and he cannot stand being out of the loop—but lied to Rhodey about it.

And now, he’s been made.

Rhodey and he launch into a very spirited discussion that draws Carol and Peter back to the kitchen, and despite the vein throbbing dangerously in Rhodey’s forehead, the promise has been made.

The day after Rhodey moves out, he and Peter manage to flood the bathroom.

In Tony’s defense, he only promised to look out for Peter. He said nothing about curbing his own dumbass tendencies, and it’s not like Bucky’s bedroom is all that damaged by the leak that Tony fixes before it’s really even a problem.

He and Peter settle into a nice sense of camaraderie, and Tony, content with his situation, forgets to take down his Craiglist ad that, logically speaking, someone would have to dig to find at this point, over a week after initially posting it.

Then, he receives a text that is as simple as it is effective: Is there still an available room in the apartment?

Enter the second offender: Stephen Strange.

Ahem, Doctor Stephen Strange, technically, but Tony has six PhDs. Nobody sees him going around making people call him Doctor Stark, and that’s because it makes him sound pretentious and stuffy, both things Tony prides himself on not being. However, Tony likes to push buttons, and very little gets Stephen worked up as fast as someone ignoring his credentials.

It’s a fun set-up, really, but annoying the piss out of Stephen is something that comes a little later—Tony’s not there yet in the story.

He humors the text, and after getting a read on things, he bursts into the living room, startling Peter nearly off the couch. He’s been doing his homework there and on the coffee table in front of it because the Swedish have many things but fast shipping is, apparently, not one of them, not that Peter knows there’s anything to be waiting on, but he’s getting off-topic.

Peter lets out a short yelp and presses a hand over his heart, both things that Tony ignores.

“We have a situation,” he announces.

“I swear I didn’t do it,” Peter defends pleadingly.

Tony is trying to teach him that messing things up is expected and, especially in particularly magnificent cases, admired in Casa Stark-Parker, but it’s a work in progress.

“I know you didn’t—don’t be ridiculous,” he waves his concerns off. “We are talking bigger than setting things on fire by accident. I bring you, my young protege, the proposition of—” A pause for dramatic effect. “—another roommate.”

“Ooh,” Peter says appropriately, setting his textbook down to examine the texts Tony brandishes. He begins to scroll, but while he does, Tony figures he can go ahead and fill him in on the essentials. It’s a very juicy situation, after all, and he can’t help himself.

“His name is Stephen Strange. He’s a neurosurgeon, but he got into a pretty bad car wreck that messed up his hands. He’s trying to save money while he goes to physical therapy—he apparently has a chance of recovery, but it’s a ways off—and that includes downsizing on where he lives.”

“I mean, yikes, but that’s an oddly specific backstory.”

“I’m glad you think that too, but I am intrigued. I looked him up, and he’s a real person—has a basically flawless reputation, or at least he did before his accident. Thoughts?”

Please say yes, please say yes, Tony thinks. The chance of a competent human—not including Rhodey, who looks more put together than he really is next to the chaos Tony perpetually dwells in—choosing to live with him is too fascinating to pass up, and he needs Peter to see that too.

Peter shrugs. “I’m down if you are. How old is he?”

Victory!

Satisfaction floods Tony, but he tries to maintain his cool.

“Thirty.”

Peter blows out a long breath, tipping his head back to look at the ceiling. “I didn’t anticipate moving into a nursing home,” he remarks dryly.

What a little shit.

It’s worth noting half the reason Rhodey left so easily is because he said he trusted Peter to keep Tony on his toes. Then again, that Tony likes being snarked at is a large part of why they get along so well despite only knowing each other for a matter of days.

“You’re the worst, Parker. I’m going to feed you to the hooligans downstairs. Steve has a monster appetite, you know.”

Peter hums, picking his textbook back up. “Not if I feed you to them first. And, Tony?”

“What?”

“Only old people say hooligans.”

Tony thinks about that one book, Give a Mouse a Cookie or whatever. Except in his case, it’s Rent a Teenager an Apartment, and Tony doesn’t have to adhere to the literary equivalent of a G-rating.

His response to the dig is creative and colorful, and Peter laughs.

Four days and a brief conversation at a coffee shop later—a formality he and Peter did not do and probably something Tony should’ve thought of as the older adult before giving him the address—Stephen’s team of movers invade the apartment.

The man himself stands like a drill sergeant at the last flights of stairs it takes to get to the apartment, arms crossed, beard wild, conducting activity.

Peter and Tony share their evaluations, peeking their head out from the doorway when it’s unoccupied by movers and Stephen isn’t looking their way. This involves quite a bit of ducking, but they are very careful not to be caught.

(Someone’s whose name may or may not rhyme with Tephen Trange later informs that “they were not at all subtle” and “were, in fact, very embarrassing”, but that’s how things with the three of them generally are, so Tony figures it was a good crash course to how life together goes.)

“He’s kind of scraggly,” Peter whispers, his head under Tony’s because he’s the shorter of the two of them, something Tony delights in refuting Peter’s quips about his age with.

“Kind of? He looks like a hobo.”

It’s true, okay? Facially, at least, the guy is a wreck. He’s not quite to Einstein levels of bad hair day, but he’s getting there.

“Be nice,” Peter chastises him. He’s gentler than Rhodey when he does it, but considering neither of them ever shut the hell up and they have thus bonded very easily over the course of their short relationship, it’s gotten to feel as natural as most of their interactions.

“All I’m saying is that I am happy to retain my place as the most attractive person in the apartment, okay?”

They’re forced to retreat from the entryway as another load comes through, and Peter looks at him disbelievingly. “Dream on,” he replies bluntly.

Tony gasps in offense.

Peter shrugs. “Look, I’m just gonna’ say it—you knew Rhodey before me, and now that I’m here—” he trails off, looking at Tony in faux-sympathy that doesn’t match the mischievous glint in his eyes.

While it is true that Rhodey is a fine specimen of a man—yet another reason Tony can’t, in good conscience, be truly angry Carol mooched him away from the bachelor lifestyle—Tony can’t cede that easily for the sake of his pride, and he scowls. “I am going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

They’re still bickering as the movers finish up and Stephen enters the apartment, dressed in what Tony recognizes as the latest from Armani and Tom Ford.

He may not get invited to fashion week anymore, but he still has taste, alright, even if Rhodey limits him to one designer purchase a month.

(Rhodey isn’t around to see what packages he orders now, Tony thinks but shelves the thought for later.)

Tony and Stephen met over coffee, and all three of them said hi to one another before the moving business officially began. However, there is a little stiffness in the air, make no mistake. It’s not Stephen’s fault, exactly, because he’s just kind of a foreboding guy, but still.

It figures that Peter would break the ice. As Tony’s found and will continue to discover, Peter is just as talkative as him. Granted, that trait usually appears in the form of rambling about something from class, but it’s not surprising that his natural passion for life comes through with someone about to be very, very involved in it. 

“Hi!” he begins. “Are all of the movers gone now?”

Stephen raises an unimpressed brow. “Yes.”

His reply is seriously lacking enthusiasm, but Tony isn’t allowed the opportunity to jump on that as Peter keeps going. 

“Sweet! Okay, so welcome to Casa Stark-Parker.”

Woah, woah, woah—timeout.

Tony frowns, raising a hand in a motion for Peter to stop. “I thought that was my thing?” he interjects.

“Well, it has my name in it, so it gets to be both of our things,” Peter replies, then furrows his brow, looking to Stephen. “Actually, since you’re here now, I guess it’s Casa Stark-Parker-Strange. Order’s based on who got here first, sorry,” he explains with a smile that Tony, now familiar with the fact that Peter has more to him than meets the eye, notes is a touch impish.

Tony is pleased to see, despite his generally wholesome appearance, the kid has at least picked up on the power of staking a claim.

Stephen blinks. His hands, Tony has noticed, don’t stop shaking, not even when he folds his arm across his chest, like a physical barrier between him and Peter’s excitement. “Okay?” he drawls slowly, confusedly.

“Tony’s rules, not mine,” Peter assures him as if he doesn’t just want the satisfaction of having his name not be the last in the line-up.

Tony scoffs. “Oh okay, so now we’re throwing me under the bus?”

“You have to take responsibility for your actions, Tony.”

“Oh, sure thing,” he replies, tone betraying that he does not, in fact, think any responsibility is at all necessary. He looks to Stephen, rolling his eyes. “Can you believe what I have to put up with? And it’s barely been a week.”

Stephen blinks again. “I see it’s a lot,” he says measuredly.

Peter gasps, unaffected. “Oh my God, we should make a sign for it,” he enthuses. “We can put it up on the door, and we’d be so much cooler than Sam and them.”

To say that Peter rose to the challenge of bothering their downstairs neighbors with zeal is something of an understatement. 

Tony is, honestly, a fan of the sign idea, especially if it were to light up, but that is where Stephen cuts in, his hands still trembling as he gestures. “Can we slow down for a moment?” He looks carefully from Tony and Peter and back again, bearing the appearance of a man in the throes of realizing he has made a bad decision. 

Tony knows that look well. It usually shows up when Rhodey agrees to one of Tony’s ideas and doesn’t realize just how badly constructed it is until it’s too late.

“First of all, I am fairly certain my car is parked illegally, and before we get too far, I need to fix it before I get towed. And secondly,” Tony watches Stephen’s lips curl in a self-satisfied, I-totally-think-I’m-better-than-you-even-if-I’m-not-technically-saying-it smile, “I am not here to be part of any Casa. I am waiting for physical therapy to work for me, and then I will be out of your hair. I appreciate being able to live here, but—”

Yeah, Tony’s had enough of that. Personally, he would like to thank Rhodey, who, in a way, begins and ends the story, and truly is the greatest best friend a man could have for teaching him how to properly deal with pompous rich people.

“Nuh-uh, none of that. If you’re living here, you’re a part of Casa Stark-Parker-Strange whether you like it or not.”

Stephen looks downright appalled that someone would dare to interrupt him, which, Tony knows from experience, is exactly the kind of shock rich people need to go through. He splutters for a second before he manages to get out a reply, “That was not in the lease.”

Tony spreads his hands as if to say what can you do? “And you didn’t mention in your texts that you were going to try to be a bump on a log, but here we are.”

Perhaps sensing the mounting animosity in the room or maybe just as excited as Tony to have someone to bother, Peter takes advantage of Stephen’s overwhelmed and bewildered state.

“First day with all three of us!” he shouts. “Picture!”

And before anyone can protest—including Tony, who would prefer to be documented in something other than a Black Sabbath tee and his work pants—Peter leans in with the camera on his phone ready to capture the moment.

In the resulting photo, Tony looks vaguely alarmed, Stephen looks pissed as hell, and Peter wears a grin that stretches across his whole face. The whole thing is blurry, and they eventually get it framed.

It’s a beautiful and fitting start to their time as roommates, and in the humble eyes of the asshole who posted the Craigslist ad, that is how the story of how they came to live together went.

[beegyuz]

jealousy ♟ beomgyu

genre: fluff ; roommates-to-lovers au ; genderneutral!reader ; slightly yeonjun x reader

warnings: cursing (?) — i mean, it’s just one word so...

requested: yes.

around a year ago, you met beomgyu. he was a surprise from the universe for you, the handsome yet heartbreaker boy of the university who ended up being your roommate. you saw the announcement of a two people apartment, it was cheap, but you weren’t expecting to find the choi beomgyu sitting in the couch when you entered the tiny apartment for the first time.

since then, you discovered a lot of things about the boy: he was way more sweeter than the persona he created for university; he was really funny; he had a great taste of music; he could play the guitar, and was amazing at it; he was even more handsome than you thought, at first.

falling in love with choi beomgyu wasn’t a hard thing, all the girls and boys at school who talked about him knew that. even tho you were hard to impress, beomgyu definitely had a charming personality, and knowing more about him than other people did, didn’t help you.

beomgyu definitely was different from the image he showed up at university. the only thing that didn’t change at all was that he, really, was a heartbreaker (even tho not on purpose as people thought). and he was about to break yours.

“y/n...” the boy whines. “let’s change this fucking movie, i don’t like it!”

“first of all, watch your mouth.” you say. “second, you can’t even appreciate a good movie, why am i your friend?”

he makes a face, “it’s impossible to not fall for my charming self.”

you get flustered, knowing that this joke had a big touch of truth. and then you wonder if he knows anything about your lil crush.

“why are you blushing?” he smirks, and you send him a death glare.

“i am not, choi beomgyu.” you say.

he laughs, and winks at you. you use all your mind to avoid blushing, even tho it wasn’t going to work.

“i’ll grab something for us to eat, i’m hungry.” you say, getting up.

“thank you, my savior! i am starving!” he says, dramatically.

“don’t you live in this house too?” you ask, walking to the kitchen, the boy behind you.

“i’m too lazy to even exist.” he giggles, a cute smile on his face.

you grab some snacks, open the packing, and you both sit on the couch again, beomgyu choosing another movie.

you start eating, the snacks between you both. suddenly, beomgyu makes a sound, making you look at him.

“ah!” he opens his mouth, looking at you.

you furrow your eyebrows, confused about what he meant. the boy looks at the snacks and then back at you, and then you get it.

“you lazy brat!” you say. “i’m not going to feed you, use your hands.”

he pouts, “but i told you i’m lazy.”

“you’re just taking advantage of me.” you say.

the boy giggles, making puppy eyes at you. “i take care of you all the time, why can’t you take care of me too?”

you sigh, grabbing some snacks and stuffing his mouth with it. “now shut up.” the boy smiles, the cheeks full.

the weeks passing by, the summer finally arrived. you were at university, walking awkwardly while trying to find your phone inside your bag, until you bump into someone.

“sorry, i was- ah, beomgyu.” you say, looking at your roommate and friend.

“pay attention, brat.” he laughs, slightly.

“you pay attention, you just ruined my chance to bump into someone and live a romance.” you joke, pouting.

“why can’t it be me?” he asks, a smirk on his face.

“shut up.” you answer, rolling your eyes.

as the last weeks passed, you started to try to cool down your crush on beomgyu. you knew nothing was going to happen between you two, so you decided to open your heart to other people. but you weren’t expecting for it to happen that fast.

after bumping into beomgyu, you went to the university library, hoping to get some study done. you were sitting close to the window, reading over and over again the same sentence, trying to understand what was going on.

soon, your attention is taken away to a hand placing a note on top of your closed notebook. you look at the person, that signs for you to keep quiet, a cute smile on his face. the guy walks away to a further table, letting you confused.

‘hi! i’m yeonjun! i couldn’t help but notice how beautiful you look today! can i ask you out?’

you smile at the note, giggling a little. you look at the guy, and nod at him, who smiles happily. he writes something on another note, walks at you, gives you the note, and goes back to his table. his number is written on the note, so you save it and text him.

you: hi! i’m y/n, and i would love to go out with you.

library guy yeonjun: i’m glad to read this! this saturday?

you: yes! it’s perfect for me.

your date day has arrived. you were nervous, but really excited to have a fun time with yeonjun. you both talked to each other for the rest of the week, he was a very fun and caring person, and wasn’t rushing anything between you two. like you, he was just trying to have a fun day.

“where are you going?” beomgyu showed up at your bedroom, eating some snacks.

“i’m going out with a friend.” you say.

“oh, really?” he asks. “i didn’t knew you had any friends.” he tries to hold back his laughter.

“ha ha, how funny.” you say, checking your outfit on the mirror.

“i’m going to taehyun and huening kai’s apartment, so i’ll probably come back late.” he says.

you nod, “no problem.”

he smiles and goes back to the kitchen. when you’re leaving the apartment, he calls you.

“take care!” he says. “call me if you need anything.”

you nod, smiling, and leave the apartment. as soon as you’re outside of the building, you see the blonde boy waiting for you, the hands on his pockets and the wind messing his hair a bit.

“hi!” you say, when you’re close enough for him to hear you.

“oh, hi y/n!” he smiles happily. “you look beautiful.”

weirdly, you cheeks didn’t blush when yeonjun complimented you.

you smile, thankfully. “you look great too.”

you both walk side by side to an arcade. the night went by fast, you both played a lot of games, got some ice cream, and watched some street performances.

yeonjun told you he was a dancer too, and it was the thing he loved the most.

“you look really amused talking about dance.” you notice, smiling at him.

“i really love dancing.” he smiles. “i should take you to the studio some day!”

you nod, excitedly, thinking about how good he probably looks while dancing.

beomgyu snorts, placing the xbox controller at his side, on the floor. it was the fifth time he died in the game, when he usually didn’t die once.

“what’s up with you today?” taehyun asks, placing his own controller on the floor, too.

“you look like you have your head in the space.” huening kai says.

beomgyu crosses his arms, “i don’t know, i just can’t seem to focus.”

taehyun furrows his eyebrows, trying to think about something that could be annoying his friend. “is there something annoying you? what are you thinking?”

beomgyu looks at the floor, starting to feel embarrassed, not wanting to speak out his feelings.

“why do i feel like this has something to do with someone?”

“eh?” taehyun asks, looking at beomgyu.

huening kai shrugs, waiting for beomgyu to say something.

“y/n went on a date today... i just can’t stop thinking about it.” beomgyu says after some seconds of silence, feeling his ears heat up.

taehyun giggles, “is this jealousy i see?”

“no!” beomgyu says. “why would i be jealous? they’re like my little sibling.”

“they’re not even younger than you.” kai says, looking at the older guy.

“i don’t care, it doesn’t make sense.” beomgyu says, crossing his arms, feeling like his friends were attacking him.

“of course it does.” taehyun says. “you’re jealous ‘cause you like them!”

“that’s not true!” beomgyu says.

but something at the back of his head makes him think about the possibility. you both have been living in the same house for almost a year and are very close, and you’re one of the only that knows him deeply.

“i’m confused.” beomgyu sighs.

“i never thought i would see you confused because of love.” kai laughs. “the heartbreaker of the university has his own heart broken.”

“shut up, stupid.” beomgyu says, making taehyun and kai laugh at his figure. “my heart is not broken, and i’m not in love with y/n.”

after two weeks, you met yeonjun again. you two were having a great time, but also looked more like good friends. you two hadn’t kiss yet, and you thought this actually wasn’t going to happen.

it was a nice summer afternoon, and when you went back to your apartment, you saw beomgyu sitting in the couch, the chin resting on his hand, a confused look on his face.

“what happened?” you ask.

“nothing, i just-“ he starts, but stops as soon as he looks at you, his cheeks getting hot.

“what?” you ask.

“you- you look beautiful.” he says, getting more red by each second. you giggle.

“thank you.” you smile, making his heart jump.

looking at you, wearing a beautiful outfit, in a pretty day like that, a smile on your face, made beomgyu notice that he could, possibly, be falling in love with you.

“what were you thinking?” you ask, sitting by his side.

“nothing.” he says quickly, remembering his thoughts.

you look at him seriously, “if something is concerning you, please tell me, i want to help.”

“are you going out with yeonjun next saturday again?” he asks, all of a sudden, making you give him a confused face.

“what? why?”

“just answer.” he pouts.

“i don’t know, we’ll just see what happens.” you say. “why?”

“do you like him?” he asks.

you blush, “i don’t know. he’s funny, and caring, maybe yes? i’m not sure.”

“don’t go on dates with him anymore.” beomgyu says, a serious look on his face, but his voice soft and gentle.

you could risk say he looked worried about something.

“why not?” you ask.

“because i don’t want you to end up falling in love with him.” he says, looking away. “i’m jealous.” he murmurs.

“you’re what? you’re... jealous?”

“you’re too beautiful, y/n, in and out. and you’re funny and caring, and i know he’s going to fall in love with you.” the boy says, looking at you. “i can’t handle seeing you in love with someone who isn’t me.”

you freeze, looking at him confused. was he confessing? is the choi beomgyu confessing at you in this exact moment?

“are you...” you start.

“i’m confessing to you, dumbass, don’t make this harder for me.” he whines.

“i can’t believe you’re confessing when i’m about to give up on my crush on you.” you say, looking at him unbelievably.

“you have a crush on me?” he asks.

“are you stupid? i thought you knew, you were always teasing me.” you pout. “you made everything hard for me!”

“so you’re confessing too?” he blushes.

“uhm... but what about yeonjun?” you tease him, holding back a laughter.

he gives you an annoyed expression, and holds your arm gently, pulling you at his direction.

“does yeonjun makes your heart beat that fast?” he murmurs, looking at your blushing face.

your bodies close, and your face just inches away from his. the boy breaks the tension between you two wrapping you in his embrace.

“i was waiting to be able to do this.” he says against your neck, hugging you tight.

“you’ve hugged me before.” you say, shyly placing your hand on his head and stroking his hair.

“it’s different, brat.” he says, pulling away slightly to look at you. “can i... kiss you?”

you blush, and nod. “please.”

the boy pecks your nose, and then your cheeks, and finally kisses your lips, a tiny smile on his face. his arms pulling you closer, your hands on his hair.

kissing beomgyu after months of a repressed crush made you realize that it was a little bit more than that. the dark haired boy had the sweetest kiss, holding you close and stroking your cheek.

he pulls away, smiling widely at you. “i never saw you with such a big smile.” you say, giggling.

“it’s all because of you.” he says. “how are people going to see me at university now? everyone thinks i’m a heartbreaker and now i even have a girl/boyfriend.”

“who said we’re dating?” you ask, teasing the boy.

“i mean... i- i though we-“ he stutters.

you laugh, holding his cheeks and kissing him again. “i’m just kidding, dumb.” you smile at him.

he pouts. “you’re already being a brat.”

“you should get used to it, since i’ll be annoying you 24/7 now.” you smile.

“i won’t complain.” he says, pulling you to another kiss.

masterlist.

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

ooo if youre willing you could maybe write about the first kiss or first confession or both (pardon my greedy self) either is fine id love to see more moriarty x reader. THANK YOUU

Im sorry the waiting! Albert's part will be on another publication as it didn't fit inside this one

William

The music and the chatter of the nobles was obnoxious at best and the ship moved a bit too much to your liking

" Could you remind me why we are acting as a couple for this mission? As far as I remember moneypenny could act this part flawlessly and I could be staying home today" you questioned williams while still hooked to his arm

" Miss Moneypenny is a busy person, she isn't available all the time. You on the other hand…" williams didn't seem like he thought too much about your question, mesmerized by the stairs

" Williams james moriarty,Are you suggesting I do nothing all day long?!" You whisper-yelled at him. You weren't in a great mood that day. first, moran dirtied the dress you wanted to use and had to do some needle work with another dress for it to look good enough, but then louis had tripped and spilled tea in the dress you just fixed and had to go buy another dress at last minute with the only person available, williams who seemed specially picky about the dress

" You know that isn't what I wanted to say, why don't you go for a drink?" Williams suggested, hoping the walk would calm you down and you left looking like you were ready to bite someone's head off if they talked to you.

" He is a mathematician"

By the time you reached the table you couldn't hear them anymore but you could see them, the boy seemed like the type to show off often but over all he looked like a good boy. What stung your heart a little were the pretty girls who were by them, even if your relationship was only for this case your crush for Williams was true. When you thought of him falling in love with you it seemed impossible but when you were changed by one of the girls it seemed more likely that you wanted to admit.

" Well, he should get a girlfriend and see if I care" you started drinking from the champagne glasses the waiters were giving ' where did he find such a pretty ring? I know he wants to make this look real but this seems like a bit too much, how much did it cost even?' You thought while looking at the ring in your left hand, a red diamond in a gold band. After finishing one glass of champagne you left it on a tray and grabbed another two.

You were making your way to williams' side " Liam, I brought some champagne, do you want?" You already were extending your arm to give it to him " could you introduce me to your acquaintance here?"

" He is a detecti-" williams said but was cut

" You can call me sherlock young lady~" sherlock introduced himself holding your hand and kissing it and smiling " a single detective who may be looking for a roommate"

"Hahaha, for now I'm an engaged woman" you let go of his hand and got closer to fix his tie"but ask me again and I might say yes, darling"

Williams stepped in separating Sherlock from you " Well detective, I shall also try analyzing you" Williams said bringing a hand to his chin " you look like you play violin, but not necessarily a musician. You seem to be in a good physical state and... prefer hand to hand combat " he stepped ahead to inspect him closer " additionally you conduct science experiment but hate your own drug dependence" williams stared at his eyes before continuing " obviously a graduate from Oxbridge and, by the way you talk as if you know everything, you must be really proud of your background, mother specially"

" How did you know?" Sherlock kept looking in his eyes smiling coyly

"Isn't it obvious?" Shot back williams half smiling then he turned to you " why don't we go for some fresh air? Love " williams wrapped his arms around your waist and almost dragging you outside

"That wasn't necessary, williams" you fixed your skirt " what did you want to talk about?"

" I calculate in 15 minutes the main character will do his kill. As soon as I notify you go look for moran and fred and wait for the body to be thrown , did I make myself clear? You know where they are?" William fixed a hair behind your ear

" Yes, williams" you rested against a wall " but there is still some time, why did you have to whisk me away,I was having fun"

" We are married, those types of comments shouldn't be made in public or in any case should be directed to me" he stood by your side while looking at the moon

" Cut me some slack, he would have taken it as a joke so no harm was made! Plus this marriage isn't going to last longer than this trip" you sighed

Williams looked at you " this trip?"

"As soon as we finish this mission we won't be a pair 'help me kill this noble' you said' you toyed with the ring

" Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. We are married for this case, and the next, and the following, to the end of this year and the next and the following years" he propped on his arm " did I explain myself correctly this time"

" You can't just decide that by yourself "

" But you are in love with me, I didn't think you would have anything against the arrangement. Plus in your diary you didn't seem too disgusted by the idea"

You jumped " you read my diary?!"

Williams laughed softly " not really, I was just theorizing but it seems like I was right" your face felt hot " so? Are you going to accept my proposal this time"

" No" you said sharply

" Do you think i don't like you?"

"Mhn"

"I really like you."

" Yeah, sure" you turned around and entered the ship but he grabbed you by the wrist and kept you close

" I love you. I truly do, from your dreamy eyes in the morning, to your stupid mannerisms when you are nervous or I get too close, how you always make a point to help the others when they are in need." Williams seemed really composed and confident in himself when he started but as he went on his voice slightly cracked.

Williams pressed your foreheads together and you kissed him wrapping your arms around his neck. For a second he didn't know how to answer the unexpected kiss but he grabbed your head to deepen the kiss. After you two had to stop kissing you were trying to catch your breath while looking at each other

" Yo, lovebirds, are you done? The main character already went to his room with the dude"

You almost killed moran that night

louis

"Letter for miss YN" the lady's handmaid stood by her side handing a little envelope closed with a crimson wax seal

"I'm busy right now, put in on the desk"

" You told me to notice you in case of a letter arriving from the moriarty house" YN turned her neck so fast lily feared she would have whiplash "but it seems you are too busy now, i will have to set it aside-"

" Give me!" YN practically jumped over the maid but she dodged the lady " who sent it? What does it say?"

The older woman giggled and turned around" now I don't want to tell you!"

" Lily, you are mean! At least tell me what it says"

The short woman read the letter, it was short and straightforward. "It seems the duke Moriarty has asked for your presence at his manor, the reason is simply put as 'an old business we left unfinished."

" Lily pack your things up, we are going to stay for sometime time"

" As you wish"

And some hours later the two women had each one two suitcases and were ready to board the carriage that was decorated with the noble's family emblem.

" Milady I will have to stop at one business before going to the manor" despite the young lady disliking the formal way of talking towards her she brushed it aside given that the coachman could hear the maid talk in an 'improper' way that could bring her troubles

" You are stopping by the dressmaker?"

" Indeed, I might need a few favors that she owes me"

" Should I send the carriage for you before tea or after?"

"There will be no need, I am going to return on my own accord"

The rest of the trip was dead silent, either of them wished to speak nor needed to, as they understood each other without the need to break the beautiful silence that surrounded them.

They arrived at the first stop, a dirty corner where there are a lot of signs, ones promoting hair medicine, others for brothels and some others about the ale that came to the nearest bar. That lily insisted on coming was making her go crazy

" Are you sure you need to do this now? We could go tomorrow morning at broad daylight" Lily didn't even listen to her Lady's complains as she dragged her skirts out of the carriage and grabbed her baggage

" Madam, I was raised here, nothing bad will happen. Don't worry" her smile and voice was comforting to certain point but it didn't ease the belief that she was lying to calm the younger woman down a little

" Please take care. I'll meet you at the moriarty state"

And so the trip began again and she let herself daydream. wondering why did the moriarty call for her presence, the ways she helped them didn't call for her to be near, did someone catch them and needed to run away? Or to fake one of their deaths? The possibilities worried her to the point of neglecting the reality.

It was a few minutes before the clock striked eleven that the coachman snapped YN out of her trance.

" We arrived" the old man didn't meet her eyes as he announced the end of the trip

" Thank you very much, sir" YN rushed to thank the old man before taking her suitcase and carry the leathery case to the main door

Letting the leather of her suitcase hit the ground she sighed and leaned back looking at the lion knocker and knocking twice. After a few minutes she was getting impatient and took the key from the envelope, good thing they sent a replicate.

Stepping inside and leaving her baggage by the door YN wondered inside the house, the card told her to settle down and choose one room by her own of there was nobody there

" Hello? Albert? Louis? Williams? Is anybody home?" And turning one corner you could see a beautiful flight of stairs

" Oh miss? I didn't know you would be coming" louis was standing on top of the stairway rest with a broom

" I received a letter asking for me to stay for a time" she looked around, wondering if they were alone" Your brothers?"

" They went to arrange the new show, another homicide noble. As always" louis resumed his work cleaning the stairs " please make yourself home and choose a room, all the guest rooms in the left hallway are clean and weren't chosen by anyone yet"

Yn stood at the bottom of the stairs "They left you to clean all of this alone? They are so mean."walking up the stairs to louis and taking the broom out of his hands she smiled at him "You know what? Lily has to arrange some things so let me help you clean"

" You don't really have to, i can take care of this" louis tried to take the broom from your hands but YN hugged it closer to her chest

" It wasn't a proposal. It was a fact" and she turned around leaving her back facing louis

Louis looked incredulous that YN would be so childish given her usual proper behavior " YN I have to clean. Can I-" and he tried to take it away from from her but she hit them away

" No!" And she skipped the steps from the stairway rest to the second floor " catch me if you can~" the woman teased him in a singsong voice before starting running.

Louis was astonished for a second before he began chasing after her " miss! I really want to end the stairs before dinner"

The chase didn't last long as the lady tripped with the red carpet and fell over a sofa. Louis knelt down next to her

" Are you going to give me the broom now? As much as I love you and this game of cat and mouse I have to finish cleaning the stairs. So give it to me"

The young woman weighed her options before smiling devilishly " Let's trade!" And she sat while keeping the broom close to her " One kiss and i return your broom"

Louis sat down and sighed defeated " you truly aren't going to give. up are you?" He was met with a little denial sound

" It isn't as if this was the first time we did it"

" One kiss and you will let me keep doing my job?"

" Yes"

Given the positive he wanted louis got near and grabbed her cheeks. After looking in her expectant eyes, Louis felt his face getting hotter the closer he got. It wasn't until YN could feel his breath on her soft skin that she feared he would pass out from embarrassment.

What seemed like minutes passed by and either of them moved, he was too mesmerized by her and she was taken by the look in his eyes. A few more seconds elapsed before YN started getting impatient leading to her to take the lead, grabbing both of his cheeks and guiding his face to her own.

Her lips brushed against his, softly and slowly before 'changing her mind' and returning to her place, teasingly looking up at him through her eyelashes, waiting for Louis to deepen the kiss. thing that didn't work out the planned way and ended up with louis hitting both of their noses. Louis almost died of embarrassment there

" If you didn't want to kiss just say so" she teased while playing with a lock of her hair, her nose slightly red

" It has been a while since we kissed" louis turned his head so yn couldn't see his blush " I am not accustomed to it"

" Then we should make you get used to it-" Louis was looking like an expectant dog, waiting for the kiss. " Later. I'm going to choose a room right now" and YN walked towards the stairs to go down

" YN" louis called out her name. The woman turned around. This time, Louis grabbed her head and kissed her, way rougher and sloppy than the first one but a kiss at the end.

One of her hands ended on his hair, lightly playing with it, with the other one on his chin, helping him position his head correctly. The kiss was inexperienced and messy but it was their reunion kiss, the first one in two years, filled with joy and relief of finally being together at last

When the kiss ended louis was out of breath and his hair looked a bit unkempt, even when he could barely talk he asked her

" Are you going to leave me again?"

" Louis" YN's eyes were filled with love " i don't plan on going anywhere soon" and she hugged him

He returned the hug with his arms around her hips " good, i wasn't planning on letting you go anywhere either way"

[tarlosbuddie]

CapSwap - Chapter 1

Read on AO3

Summary: Taylor Kelly is back at the 118 and she’s producing a new TV Show where Bobby Nash and Owen Strand will trade places for an entire month. Bobby will fly to Austin to take over the 126 when Owen will be the Captain at the 118. 

Or a dad swap between the two Daptain.

Word Count: 2640

Chapter: 1/?

When Bobby Nash received a call from the fire chief, he expected another suspension. It’s the only thing that comes to his mind now when the highest-ranking member of the department personally asked to talk to him. To be fair, the 118 had its fair share of suspension and Bobby is driving to the fire chief office, wondering which one of his team is going to be benched again. None of them deserve it, but life keeps throwing them curveballs so Bobby is just expecting the next one. They are all doing fine lately, at least at work. Sure, half of them still need some serious therapy to get through their trauma, but Bobby trusts them to deal with it. He is about to enter the office when he sees a small red-haired woman talking to the chief and laughing with him. Bobby can barely see her face, but he recognized her voice and he is annoyed already. She is finally leaving the office and the chief waves at Bobby to enter.

“You remember Taylor Kelly?” the chief asks. Bobby is surprised to see him smiling this way. He knows he should be relieved because it probably means that no one is getting fired, but a reporter is never good news for him.

“It’s kind of hard to forget her and her cameras,” Bobby says. He is trying his best to keep his tone respectful while addressing his superior.

“Her news report about the 118 did great for public relations”, he explains. “The department had to cut some parts they didn’t like, but otherwise it helped with public opinion.” 

“Do you want her to make another video? Because I know you liked her work but I can’t say I was happy having her around” Bobby says.

“You won’t have to worry about Taylor” the chief replies and Bobby is relieved for a moment. But then he opens his mouth again and the relief is short-lived. “You will be going to Austin,” he says and Bobby’s jaw drops. “Miss Kelly had a great idea to improve public opinion. You will swap places with another captain for a month. We already cleared everything with the other department. They are sending their captain on Monday” he adds, leaving no room for argument. 

“Chief, with all due respect” Bobby tries.

“Captain Nash, your station has not the best records at the moment.” he cuts.  “Between your suspension and Mr. Buckley’s lawsuit, you are not in our good grace. Take this as a chance to redeem yourself in the eyes of the public and in my eyes too,” he says firmly. “This is happening whether you like it or not.” 

“My family is here, you can’t uproot me without my permission.”

“It’s only for a month. So I suggest you start packing because you are leaving in a few days. Unless you are willing to add insubordination to your list.”

Bobby is about to walk out of the office when the chief adds “It’s going to be a good experience for you and your team. Don’t see this as a punishment, use it as an opportunity to learn a thing or two. I’m sure AFD will be happy to have you there.”

Taylor is still in the hallway when Bobby leaves the office, but he ignores her and goes back to the station. 

He explains the situation to the team as soon as he arrives. They are all around the table, waiting for a breakfast that wasn’t cooked since Bobby wasn’t there to feed them. Eddie is the first to react to the news.

“Wait, Taylor Kelly is coming back here?” he says much to everyone’s surprise.

“Well, I didn’t think that would be the part that bothers you” Bobby teases. “I’m glad you are not too sad about having another captain here.”

“Of course I’m sad, Cap,” Eddie adds. 

“I’m not excited about this either, but we don’t have much of a choice. The chief sent me the contracts, the cameras won’t be here all the time. They just want to produce an entertaining piece about how a different captain can change things in a station but I think it’s mostly an excuse for Taylor to step up her game”.

“It looks like she already did Cap”, Buck says. “She was always ambitious and that’s one of the things I learned to respect about her. She went from traffic reports to news reports to producing her own show.”

Buck complimenting the woman that went Buck 1.0 on him and leaving him in a parking lot was not something Bobby thought he’d ever seen but he was even more surprised by the murdering look on Eddie’s face.

“What do we know about the new cap?” Hen asks. 

“I’m going to Austin, so I think that’s where the new guy is coming from.” Bobby answers. He sits on the table next to them and handles all of them the contracts to sign. He didn’t really read them in the chief office before being practically forced to sign his copy. But now that he has his in his hand and a hot-barely-drinkable coffee in the other he reads a paragraph that makes him want to spit his coffee. “What the hell?” he screams to himself but everyone raises their head from their reading to look at their captain.

“Everything’s okay Cap? Buck asks, a little worried. The youngest member didn’t even bother to grab his own contract and was reading from Eddie’s as he was close enough to see it. Both his hands were filled with food anyway.

“The Captain of the 118 would live at the Strand’s house for the duration of the contract” Bobby reads, voice higher than he would have hoped.

“Does this mean you will have to live with his wife or something?” Chimney asks, his curiosity is picked and he is dying to know more about what already appears to be a month of chaos and fun.

“His boy,” Bobby says. “It says that the Captain from the 126 added a clause in the contract saying that he didn’t want his son to be alone and that he wanted me to keep an eye on him. I’m going to babysit a teenager?” Bobby assumes. “Thank God the firehouse is the only place I’m exchanging with him because I wouldn’t want to come home to Athena to tell her that some stranger would live under her roof.”

The rest of the shift goes back without any major surprise. Every time they come back to the house in between calls, Chimney is on his laptop, googling things and laughing, Eddie is even closer to Buck, questioning him about Taylor Kelly even as they step into the showers after a call that left them covered in ashes and sweat and Hen is talking to Bobby while keeping an eyes on the boys, already guessing how insufferable the three of them will be on Monday.

When Bobby comes home after a long, mostly boring, shift, he feels anxiety building in his stomach at the idea of having to break the news to his wife and her kids. He waits for the diner to be over to start talking.

“So, the Chief called me into his office this morning,” he says first.

“Everything’s okay? Nothing to do with Buck I hope? I swear, this boy has been giving me more gray hair in 3 years than my kids in a lifetime.” 

“Buck’s fine. His ex girlfriend, though.” Bobby starts.

“Abby? She was a sweet woman,until she broke our boy’s heart.”

“Taylor Kelly.”

“The news reporter?”

“It’s Taylor Kelly, the TV productor now. She pitched an idea to the Chief and he signed for it with a big smile.”

“What idea? She’s not gonna film you again, is she?” Athena says in the same annoyed tone than Bobby.

“I like her” May says before her brother hits her arm for her to stop talking. “What? She’s good. She did some very interesting news pieces and she gave a lecture to my school to encourage young students to go to college.”

“So what did that angel of a woman did for my husband to look so pissed?”

“She’s producing a show called the Swap.”

“I’ve seen an episode” the young woman cuts again. “She had doctors trade hospitals to show how leadership can affect a place. It was great! One of them was super uptight and-” she stopped talking when her eyes met Bobby’s. “Oh shit.”

“Langage!” Athena says. “Is there something I’m missing?”

“She’s doing a firefighter version. And I guess I’m the very uptight one.”

Of all the reactions he imagined all day, the only one he didn’t imagine was the sound of his wife bursting into laughter.

“Sorry” she says, covering her mouth to stop the loud noize coming out of it. “Sorry, it’s not funny.”

“It’s really not” Bobby says.

“I’m just trying to picture you in that show, with a new team. And oh god, that poor captain is not ready to handle the 118.”

“Hey, they’re a great team.”

“They’re your kids, Bobby. You love them and I do too. They are great at their jobs.”

“They’re the best,” Bobby corrects.

“But they are also a bunch of living disasters. How long has it been since one of them ended up in the hospital? I hope the new cap doesn’t like his hair too much, because he’s gonna end up with a head full of gray hair within the first week.”

“I was hoping a little more empathy for your poor husband who’s gonna live in Texas for a month with the son’s captain as a roommate.”

“You’ll do great, honey. I’m not worried about you.”

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away.

“Are you serious, dad? Please tell me you’re kidding me.” TK whines. He places his mug on the sink and walks toward Owen who is waiting for him by the door to go to work.

“It will be a nice change, TK. Plus, the department told me I didn’t really have a choice since they needed the money to pay for the House renovation I ordered. Apparently I went a little over the budget.”

“You spend half the budget on that fancy coffee maker Judd can’t even get to work without your help.”

“Stop complaining and move your ass to the car or we’ll be late. I hope you’ll complain less when the new cap is here cause he’ll be the one driving your whining ass to work.”

“He what?”

So maybe Owen forgot to mention that part. It was the only thing that had him hesitate before saying yes, he promised he wouldn’t leave his son alone after what happened in New York. He tried to negotiate for his son to come with him but the productors insisted only the captain could come, so he only managed to have the other captain to live with his son at all time. He also knew TK wasn’t alone anymore, he saw the way Carlos looked at him the day he came picking him up at the station. He knows he will be fine but he’s not taking any chances when it comes to his boy safety. 

When they both arrive at the station, Mateo has a hot cup of coffee ready for Owen and TK goes to the kitchen to make himself his own cup. Judd is fighting with the machine and holds his hands up in defeat.

“I give up. This thing hates me, I swear.” 

“Someone is in a mood” Marjan laughs from her spot in the kitchen where she’s cooking something for breakfast.

“You’re about to be in a mood when you hear the cap’s latest idea.” TK comments. He’s about to drink the coffee he just poured himself when he sees Judd’s puppy eyes. “Did Buttercup teach you that trick? I’m not rubbing your belly if that’s what you want.” The dog comes to his favorite firefighter and TK gives his coffee to Judd. “Fine, you can have mine, but only because my hands will be busy doing this.” He says while starting petting the dog.

“So, what’s that idea of yours, cap?” Paul asks.

“First, it’s not my idea, it’s the department.” Owen says. “Second, don’t listen to my grumpy son, it will be fun.”

“What would be fun?” Judd asks, definitely not convinced but his captain enthusiastic tone.

“Go ahead, tell them cap, we’ll see if they are all as thrilled as I am” TK says.

“I’m going to Los Angeles for a month.” 

“For a vacation or something?” Marjan asks.

“For a damn TV show,” TK cuts.

“A what?” they all ask pretty much at the same time.

“It’s a captain exchange. I will go to  a new station for a month and their captain will come here.”

“Maybe we’ll get a captain that knows how to read a book” Michelle comments, thinking about the first time they met. He didn’t realise that she had arrived. She has a wide smile on her face and Owen counts this as a sign that she’s enjoying the idea, maybe a little too much. “So, who’s that new captain I’m gonna share the station with?” 

“Robert Nash, from Los Angeles’ station 118” Owen replies and Judd and Paul share a look. They are definitely taking note of that guy name to google for info later. “The cameras would be here a few hours a day so you need to sign those contracts.”

“And if we refuse?” Judd asks.

“From what I heard, it’s not like we have much of a choice. But I’m sure you’ll love the new guy.”

“I’m sure we will. But what if we want to keep him at the end of the month?” Michelle teases. 

“Then I guess I’ll stay in LA, with a team that respects and loves me.”

“We love you,” Mateo says.

“Speak for yourself, probie. I might call Robert Dad within the first shift.” TK jokes.

“Remember everything you’ll do can be caught on camera. I’ll know everything. And I know at least one person will miss me.” Owen says. He walks toward Mateo who’s smiling proudly and puts his hand on his shoulder, before bending to stroke Buttercup “You’re my favorite teammate, buddy.” He says to the dog. The team laughs at the disappointed looks on the youngest member’s face before hearing the alarm.

“Do we know anything about the other firehouse?” Paul asks when they climbed into the truck.

“We? We don’t. But I do. They gave me a file with the resume of each member of the 118.”

“Come on, Cap. You’re not gonna share that with us?” His son says. 

“Nop. That’s what you get from not liking my ideas, son.”

Paul and Judd exchange another look and TK knows that they are plotting something. It’s not like Owen is the best at hiding secrets and they all know that file will be on the second drawer of his desk. They won’t even need a distraction to get it since their captain will spend half an hour in the mirror when they’ll get back to the station after this call.

Marjan is driving toward the emergency they are responding to when all the phones except Owen’s start buzzing.

Paul sent a bunch of pictures in their group chat. Owen knows this chat exists and assumes he’s the subject of half the jokes and memes they are sending but he loves that his team gets along so well so he really doesn’t care about it. This time, it’s not him they are laughing at. Paul just sent them pictures and infos about Robert Nash. TK tries not to smile when he reads the texts.

Paul 🚒:It’s on 😈

Cowboy Judd 🤠: Let’s the fun begins

[axwalker]

Now and Then 1: Beginnings

This will be a mini-series (4 or 5 chapters), and I’ll be using the weekly prompts of the lovely  @emceesynonymroll​  WACKY DRABBLES.

This week’s prompt is  #40: “Don’t you ever do that again” and will appear in bold.

Synopsis:  The story of Alexis’s and Drake’s friendship since they met when they were 10 years old until they become roommates after college. (AU) Fluff with a tad of angst. 

MASTERLIST

Warning: This is a +18 blog. Maybe NSFW in the future 

Pairing: Drake x ?, Alexis x ?

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry

Word count: 1496

Thanks to my beautiful beta reader @pedudley​

Permatag list: @pedudley​ @pug-bitch​ @burnsoslow​ @mskaneko​ @twinkle-320​ @kimmiedoo5​ @ac27dj​ @marshmallowsandfire​ @loveellamae​

One shots: @princessleac1​

Now and Then: @ravenpuff02​ 

September 2005

Lexie O’Brien and Drake Walker’s friendship started when they were 10 years old and she had challenged him and his friends to a soccer game. Lexie was fed up. The boys never wanted to play with her or her girlfriends, but they hogged the school’s soccer field every afternoon. She decided to fix it with a simple bet. If the girls won, the coach would have to create mixed teams.

At the end of the match, they were tied 4-4, but the coach was impressed by them and had accepted her proposition.

That afternoon, Drake found himself waiting with her for their parents to pick them up. Lexie sat with her chin resting on her knees, her orange backpack next to her. Drake noticed that it had a badge of Barcelona’s soccer team.

“Barcelona?” He asked, curious.

Lexie beamed at him. “Best team ever!”

“The best team ever is Liverpool,” he said, smugly.

She stood up excited. “What are you talking about?  Barcelona has Ronaldinho!” She took the ball and tried to dribble, unsuccessfully. “One day, I’ll dribble like him,” she declared in a dreamy voice.

He looked at her stupefied. “You’re really intense.”

“That’s what my mom says.” She shrugged.

“Why isn’t she here?”

“She’s working. My abuelita has a Mexican restaurant. Sometimes they’re too busy so she’s late. And your mom?”

Drake lowered his eyes, embarrassed. “She’s not in Cordonia. I live with my dad.” And he’s always late.

She nodded empathetically; adults were a mystery to her. She kneeled down and put her hand over his shoulder. “My dad left too.”  

Drake didn’t reply. He hated to talk about his family. After a silent moment, Lexie kicked a stone, angrily. They had been waiting for more than 30 minutes.  

She suddenly had an idea, she hoped he’d be onboard, but she wasn’t sure. Drake wasn’t the friendliest boy she had met. “Do you live far from here?”

Drake frowned, she sure was nosey. “Like fifteen minutes. Why?”

“Me too! In Valtoria Avenue. We can walk together.”

Drake was angry with his dad for being late. And leaving would teach him a lesson. But he didn’t want to go with her. She was only a girl.

“I’ll go, but you stay here. Your mom will come soon.” He threw his bag over his shoulder and started walking.

She ran and stood in front of him her hands on her hips. “Hey! It was my idea. I want to come too.”

He rolled his eyes, annoyed. “Whatever, just don’t get ran over by a car or something.”

“I know how to cross the street, smarty-pants,” she sassed, annoying him even more.

They walked silently for ten minutes when her stomach growled. “I think I’m hungry,” she admitted as she placed her hands on her belly.

“Yeh, I’m hungry too.”

“Look, Ben and Jerry’s!” She pipped pointing to their left.

He hesitated for a minute; His dad would be furious if he didn’t come home fast. But she seemed really hungry, and he could bet his entire collection of Pokémon cards that she was going to nag him all the way back to their houses, if she didn’t eat something. He had his allowance money in his pocket, so he decided to go for the ice cream.

They chatted all the way back, mostly about Harry Potter. Both of them liked the books more than the movies but they were both waiting the release of the ‘The Goblet of Fire’ frantically.

Her heart stopped when she saw a police car in front of her house. “My mom called the police. She’s going to kill me.”

Drake felt a knot in the pit of his stomach. “That’s my dad’s car, he’s a policeman.”

She widened her eyes. “Wow! That’s cool!”

“Not as much as you think, he’s never there,” he said with a small voice.

Soon, they saw a fuming Jackson and a furious Elena coming out of the house.

“Alexis! What were you thinking?” Elena was enraged but she hugged her daughter tightly. “What you did is so dangerous, Lexie.”

Lexie blushed furiously; she didn’t want to be scolded in front of Drake. “I’m not a little girl, mom.”

“Yes, you are, mija (my daughter). We’ll talk later. Now, go inside, I have to talk Mr. Walker.”, she said pointing her finger to the house

Lexie was about to protest, but her mother was the only human on earth that scared her. She entered the house obediently.

Jackson turned to his son. “You know how irresponsible this was, Drake?”

Drake refused to be reprimanded, it was his father’s fault. “You were late, dad. Again.”

Jackson knew his son was right, since Bianca had left with Savannah, he juggled to maintain a balance between his work and his fatherly duties. And he had to admit that he wasn’t doing a great job.

“That’s not an excuse, Drake. You can’t leave like that.”

Drake wanted to reply, but Jackson interrupted him, raising his hand. “No excuses. Don't you ever do that again. Understood?”

His son nodded and got in the car.

Jackson turned to Elena. “Is everything okay now, Ms. O’Brien?”

“Everything is fine now, thanks for coming with me to the house. I thought I was going to die when I didn’t see her at the school.” She nodded towards the car where Drake was waiting. “I bet he’s hungry. Poor little thing. You can eat with us. I brought tacos dorados from the restaurant. I don’t like to brag but they’re the best in the city” Without giving Jackson time to think, she went to the car and opened the door. “Come on, kid. Let’s go eat.”

Jackson considered his options. He could serve his son a frozen pizza and a bag of salad, or he could let him eat something cooked for once. “Thank you, Elena.”

Elena took Drake to Alexis’s room where she was still brooding. Her face lit up when she saw him. “Drake! I thought you left!”

“Your mom invited us to diner. Well, she actually didn’t give my dad a choice.” He grinned. “It was pretty cool. Usually, no one tells him what to do”

Lexie smiled, proudly. “That’s my mom. She’s very bossy.”

Drake looked around. Her room was chaotic. His dad complained a lot about his mess, but it was nothing compared to this.

He had expected a room like Savannah’s but, it actually was more similar to his own. She had soccer posters everywhere, of the wrong team, but still. She obviously hadn’t lied about loving Harry Potter, she had Hermione Granger’s and Ron Weasley’s pictures all over the walls.

“I thought you were a Harry’s kinda girl, Lex.”

No one had called her Lex before, but she liked it. “I like Harry, but my fave is Hermione. She’s so cool!”

He teased her, “the best friend? You do know that Harry is the main character, right?”

She shrugged. “I like Harry, but I prefer Ron and Hermione. He’s a good friend and she’s the smartest witch. Plus, I bet they’re in love.”

Drake grimaced before speaking. “The coolest is Sirius Black.”

She beamed at him as she pointed to the wall. There was a framed quote:

‘We’ve all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That’s who we really are.’ Sirius Black.

Drake made the desk’s chair spin as he declared, “You’re cool for a girl.”

She squinted at him. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know, you don’t like Barbies and you play soccer.” He shrugged.

She opened a trunk in the corner of her room. “I do like Barbies. A lot. I just like soccer too. My mom says there’s no girl’s and boy’s stuff. Just stuff”

He sat on the floor, crossing his legs. “My dad wouldn’t agree with that.”

She took out a game of Monopoly. “Is this guy enough for your dad? I have Battleship too,” she said, teasingly.

Drake shook his head; she was a huge pain in the ass, but he kind of liked her. “Monopoly is okay.”

From that day on, Drake and Jackson would often have dinner in the O’Brien’s house. Elena didn’t mind watching Drake when Jackson had a late shift, so the boy spent a lot of afternoons in their restaurant playing and doing homework with Lexie. Jackson took them camping as often as he could. The three of them loved stargazing, so Jackson built with them a homemade telescope to teach them everything he knew about the stars and the constellations. Elena took them to all the Harry Potter movies and book signings. They both loved the sea so one of their parents took them to the beach every weekend. They discovered a hidden cove and named it their place. They used to go there to share their secrets or build forts and sandcastles.

When they were at school, they had other friends as well, but no matter how much Olivia or Liam teased them or how often and fiercely they fought each other, their friendship grew older with them.