#fanfiction update schedules

[nikkicross22]

Hey all!

I'm doing some research here on fanfiction update schedules, and would really love it if you could help me out by sharing this around. I need as much data as possible!

Any reblogs really help me out! Thank you!!

~Nikki

[simplykorra]

Ava’s restless.

It’s late and she just sat through one of the phoniest, most awkward dinners of her entire life. Listening to Mary and Kenny try to make small talk while also not really listening to anything Beatrice said. Even when she attempted to open up about her bookstore and her friends - they always seemed to circle it back around to themselves or what they thought Beatrice might have done with her life.

They always seemed to keep their tones light and gentle, like a joke that only they were in on, but Ava could tell throughout the meal that it wore on Beatrice. It certainly wore on Ava.

Because Ava spent the whole day with Bea and she was a fucking blast. She’s funny in her own, unique way and despite being so serious, she doesn't take herself too seriously. She’s smart as hell and…holy fuck was it hot when she stood up to those cunts at the fancy clothing store.

So yeah, Ava’s restless and a little wound up. She’s been far too stagnant for the last thirty-six or so hours. Ava’s used to moving. To working and dancing and going to the gym. She’s a stripper, her body is her money maker and it’s used to a busy, frantic pace.

When Beatrice said she was hoping to take a bath and relax for an hour or so, Ava totally understood. She resisted every urge she had to offer to climb in with her - because that’s usually what a relaxing bath leads to with her clients, but Beatrice isn’t like other clients and that left Ava on her own and jittery.

What Ava does know is that there is a pool in this house. She saw it on the way out when she was following Bea’s dad outside and it’s been on her mind ever since.

That’s what leads Ava to put on her bikini, throw on a huge shirt she sleeps in when it’s cold and take a few spare towels from a random ass linen closet that looks bigger than her bedroom and sneaks through the mansion in the middle of the night.

There’s a note on the bed for Bea when she gets out of the shower telling her where she is, but Ava’s kind of secretly hoping that Bea will come find her.

Because the truth of it is that Ava really really wants to fuck Beatrice.

[cock-connoisseurs-union]

what is my purpose? why was i born?

twenty minutes into a two hour break from ao3 due to site maintenance and I’m already nursing a cute little existential crisis.

[osamusriceballs]

The Accident - Part XI

Atsumu x fem reader

Warnings: None

Words: ~ 3,1 k

About: A date with Atsumu Miya~

Part I II -> Next Part

The silence is almost intimidating, and you find yourself looking around in silent awe.

Atsumu looks exceptionally good. The red uniform suits him well, and he looks even better and more professional than in the videos you've seen. "I can't believe we're actually here. I didn't want to ask Hinata for tickets because he's been busy lately, but I can't believe Atsumu-san managed to get two tickets for this- in the front row even!"

You nod and gaze at the court thinking back at the sudden message that you had received a few days ago.

Atsumu: "Are you free this weekend, Mrs. Miya?"

You stare at the message blankly, trying to figure out what to say. You had just started your nightly routine, not really expecting Atsumu to send you a message tonight. But here it is, white and blue. With a nickname that makes your heart skip a beat.

You: "Yes! :)"

Atsumu: "Great. Wanna come and watch me play? We can hang out at Samu's or my place after that, if you're up for it?"

You: "Sounds good!"

Atsumu: "I'll save ya two spots if you want to. You can bring your friend; Shoyo-kun will be there too. I'm sure she's interested too."

You: "I'll ask her. Thank you for being so considerate <;3"

You close your eyes for a few seconds, fearing his reaction to the heart emoji.

When you open them, you see his instant reply.

Atsumu: "Of course <3 I can't meet ya before probably, but we'll keep in touch, 'kay?"

You: "See you then &lt;3"

Atsumu: "See ya <;3"

It's a special event, a pre-match before the Olympics fully start in a few weeks. The stadium is only half-full, but the people watch excitedly how the members of the Japanese Olympic team participate in a promotional match against each other. Apparently, a very exclusive event that has not been opened to the public, yet, here you are. Sitting in the first row next to Yachi with a drink in your hands—one that she got for you, despite your protests.

"Look, he is going to serve. That's why they are all quiet. It probably won't be like that during the Olympics; there will be a different audience. Today is a very special event. Randomized teams and starting positions, but look how well they all adapt. True professionals." Yachi whispers into your ear, her cheeks flushed already from her drink. You're just glad that Tsukishima has offered to pick her up after the game, you would have been worried about her otherwise.

"It's so quiet; it's almost intimidating." You whisper back and watch Atsumu. He seems really focused on his set, his expression cold and blank, unlike you've ever seen him before. He's truly intimidating on the court.

He seems very focused when he's taking a few steps back and concentrates on a point in the opposite field. It just takes a few seconds, and then you see him jump, the ball flying towards the field in the fraction of a moment. The loud impact makes you shiver, while you watch the field in stunned silence. When you glance back at Atsumu, you could have sworn that he looked at you before he high-fives one of his teammates. The crowd yells and cheers, and you find yourself clapping and calling his name too.

"Did you see that? That's what the boys had to endure back in high school. And it was just as scary back then." Yachi groans and rubs her bare arms; the goosebumps visible in the brightly lit hall. "He's amazing." You know that you're probably watching him with hearts in your eyes, but you can't help yourself when your heart skips a beat at the way he got even more attractive to you now that you've seen him actually play. You definitely get the fangirls now.

As he prepares to set again, you hold your breath nervously, and this time the other team manages to receive it. You watch with wide eyes how the ball is suddenly on the other side of the court again, a quick attack from someone you recognize as Bokuto, and then it's Atsumu who sets the ball flawlessly, a dark-haired spiker scoring a point. The crowd goes wild, chanting a name that you don't know yet, and Yachi is quick to lean over to you again while you watch Atsumu and the dark-haired player exchange a wordless fist bump.

"That's Sakusa Kiyoomi; him and Atsumu-san make a deadly combo on the court." You nod, your eyes not moving from Atsumu, who suddenly turns to you and grins widely. You shyly wave back and give him a thumbs up and a smile; he winks, holding up another finger and pointing to you and then to the ball. You're not sure you completely understand what he's trying to tell you, but you still nod and smile, hoping it was an appropriate reaction.

You finally get that he probably meant to tell you that he'll do another service ace for you when he nails the serve effortlessly, and you stare at him with wide eyes when he turns to you and playfully winks with a thumbs up. You cheer loudly for him, and Yachi also cheers alongside you, not noticing the silent exchange that had just happened right next to her.

---

The teams bow when they finish the game and wave to the crowd, probably well-aware that some of their greatest sponsors sit alongside there. "That was amazing!" You smile at Yachi, and you both clink your glasses and drink the rest of the drinks.

"Kei will pick me up at the back entrance; is it okay if I leave you here?" She looks at you with worry etched in her features, and you nod reassuringly. "He'll pick me up right here. Don't worry; I'm sure he'll be here soon."

You hug her, and after you promise to text her, you sit back in your place. You watch all the people leave until the hall is almost empty, and then finally, after you played with your phone for a while, the athletes start to stroll in the hall, now dressed normally and all of them looking fresh. You look for Atsumu and quickly spot his blonde bright hair. He is now sporting a pair of dark jeans and a black shirt that tightly fits on his torso, his blonde hair still slightly wet from the shower—he looks really good. He strides energetically towards you, a delighted expression on his face, and he doesn't even hesitate before he pulls you into a tight hug.

"Hey."

"Hey, Atsumu. You were great; congratulations." You mumble against his shoulder, and he squeezes you a bit tighter before he lets you go. "Thanks. I hope you had fun."

"I did! I loved every second; it was really cool."

He wraps an arm around your shoulders while you speak and gently directs you towards the exit. "Just wait till ya see the Olympics, that will be even better. Let's go to my place, huh?" You nod and follow him to his car.

xxx

Atsumu has a really nice apartment. It's rather high up, but the elevator is so modern and smooth that you barely realize how high you drive up. Everything is clean and cozy, and you find several pictures of Atsumu and his family on the wall and a lot of trophies. The TV on the wall is ridiculously big, but the couch is far away from it, far enough for it not to strain your eyes. Atsumu gestures for you to take a seat on the couch in the living room, and you sit down comfortably.

"I felt a bit out of place, though. Everyone was wearing fan shirts. I should probably get one too for the next game." You stare down at your plain shirt while Atsumu takes a seat next to you, still making sure to keep enough distance not to make you uncomfortable.

"You wanna wear a shirt with my number?" He grins at you, his eyes sparkling while he musters you, and you embarrassedly laugh. "I still need to decide about my favorite player. I might favor Sakusa Kiyoomi, he seemed quite impressive too. And Kageyama's sets were amazing as well." He pouts at your words, pressing his hand to his chest as if you just wounded him. You quickly raise your hands and laugh.

"I was just kidding. Of course, I'd only wear your number. I want to support your big dream of becoming a famous volleyball player someday."

He nods approvingly and reaches into his bag. "In that case, I think I have the perfect shirt for you." He offers you a crumpled piece of cloth that you quickly recognize as the shirt he's been wearing during the game. You stare at him blankly, your eyes wandering from the shirt in his hand to his face. "That's your shirt."

"Yes." He nods, still holding the shirt up.

"You will need it for the Olympics."

"Yes."

"Won't you get in trouble for this?"

"It's not like they can fire me at this point." He just shrugs his shoulder, and you finally reach out for it. "Thank you."

"Of course, can't have ya walking around with Omi's number. He is the worst, have ya seen his ugly face and his glare? I dunno why he has so many fans." He fakes a gagging sound, and you giggle while you place the shirt on the couch next to you. You're quite sure that his shirt would sell online for a fortune—especially his worn shirt. Not that you would do that.

"You seemed to get along pretty well with him on the court." You say with a teasing smile, and he rolls his eyes playfully. "He's still an ass sometimes. He's just lucky that he's good at playing. Would have ditched him otherwise. But we normally get along well, I just love complainin' about him."

"He seems... quite intense." You both exchange a glance and nod in silent agreement, and then he clears his throat.

"Uhm.. do ya wanna drink something?"

"Water is good, thanks." You smile, and he is quick to go into the kitchen and return with two glasses and a carafe of water.

"Thanks." you smile and take a sip of the glass he offers you. You both sit there for a few seconds in silence, and you mentally debate if you should suggest for him to turn on a movie or something- or to start a new topic, but he always makes your brain go blank. You wonder if he regrets his choice of inviting you over. He might have been curious about you in the beginning, like you were curious about him, but what does he actually think about you? He's so hard to read, especially since you're having a hard time figuring out if he just has a natural flirty personality or if he just does it with you. You try to stay calm while you keep on overthinking next to him, your hand tightening almost uncomfortably hard around the glass, but then he suddenly interrupts your thoughts.

"Ya wanna play a game? I got this truth or dare on mobile thing. I bought the full lifetime version when I was drunk a few years ago, and I plan to use it to the fullest." His brown eyes are warm when you meet them and you find yourself forgetting about your worries.

"Oh? I think that is a story that I'd love to hear."

"Ya might if ya use a dare for that." He winks, and you feel your cheeks heat up. He fishes for his phone and starts typing your names in the bright and cartoonish-styled app. "Is random mode fine with ya?"

"Sure." You smile and wait for him to set things up, and he places the phone between the both of you an you both look curiously at the screen.

dare for Atsumu:

Show your latest pic in your camera roll.

He pales visibly after reading it and stares at his phone blankly while you eye him curiously. "Can I pass?" Your eyes widen at his sudden static state, and you simply nod. "Uhm... you don't have to do it if you're not comfortable."

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. "I just don't want to make ya uncomfortable."

Now he has really piqued your interest. "I won't be. Promise."

He doesn't seem convinced but opens the gallery in front of your eyes and clicks on the last picture—a shirtless picture of him, probably taken right after the game. He's still wearing the red shorts and very seductively grinning into the camera, his bare abs on full display for the camera. You quickly avert your gaze and clear your throat, feeling like a teenager looking at their crush. You now rub your throat to hide how flustered you feel from just seeing a goddamn picture of him. "I didn't expect that, to be honest. It's - uh- a nice picture, though."

"I didn't plan on posting it; I just like the after-game pump." He is quick to explain, and you just nod with warm cheeks. It's definitely getting hotter in here. The game successfully managed to create tension in the room- something that you didn't expect from a game that looks like a dorky party game. You take another sip and clear your throat. "Uhm... next?"

"Yeah." He is quick to open the app and tap on the screen.

truth for Y/N:

Who is the hottest person in the room?

You laugh and point at Atsumu. "That is quite self-explanatory."

"Ya got an easy one here since it's just the two of us." He complains and looks at you accusingly while you just laugh about his cute pout.

"Make it a bit more demanding then?"

"How about you tell me who's the hottest person in the Olympic team? You've seen all of us play today. Who's your favorite?"

"I haven't seen them all close up," you try to be neutral, but he just groans.

"There was a poll once about hot volleyball players worldwide, and someone from the Argentinean team won. He's close to Tobio-kun, apparently."

"You didn't win?" You look at him surprised. Atsumu is definitely on the hotter side of the team members from what you've seen so far- at least in your eyes. You haven't really paid attention to the other players though, your eyes always coming back to Atsumu.

"Ya seem genuinely surprised; I take that as a compliment. Nah, I didn't win, but I was in the Top Ten." He proudly puffs his chest, and you give him a playful thumbs up. "Congrats. I would have put you on number one, though." You try your best to calm your heartbeat when you see how intensely he looks at you at your words.

He grins and nods before he simply turns on his phone again without saying more about it.

dare for Atsumu:

Take a picture with a person in the room and set it as your profile pic.

"I can't set it as my Instagram pic or somethin' like that, but maybe just my screensaver?" He says as he contemplates his options.

You nod and move closer to him on the couch, until your shoulders are touching and your knees almost bumping together. He lifts the phone for a selfie and tilts his head in your direction while you tilt yours in his direction and you both try to smile brightly.

You look awkward.

That's easy to tell, and he seems to notice too because he's not taking a picture. "Uhm- maybe. We should do it like this."

He wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you closer to his chest, and you hear the click of the camera while you look surprisedly at him- shocked at this bold actin. "Now, look at the camera." His hand comes up to pinch your cheek gently, and you find yourself smiling at his actions. He's probably in a good mood since he won the game today, so you just let him proceed, trying not to think that this had a deeper meaning- because it probably doesn't. He grins too and takes another picture, and you remain in that position for a few more seconds, his pleasant smell invading your senses now that you're so close to him, and you subtly try to inhale deeply again. He feels good against you. Warm and solid, your body almost naturally fitting against his. Even though you'd love to stay, you slowly move back to your place and create some distance between the two of you. His muscles seem even more prominent when you look at his still raised arm and he slowly lets it sink down to his side.

He goes into his gallery again, and you both look at the two pictures. You look like a real couple. With the way you look up at him, pressed against his chest, your expression clearly flustered while he looks down at you with a grin- it's almost too intimate for you to bear. The other one in which you both smile brightly while he pinches your cheek is a rather cute picture, and he hums while he taps the picture.

"I'll take the second one then?" You nod and watch him set it as a background. "It looks nice." You nod again, definitely not trusting your voice. He is perfect boyfriend material.

"Next one then?" He sets up his phone, and you hold your breath for a second when the words show up.

dare for Y/N:

Kiss the hottest person in the room.

You awkwardly laugh and look down at your glass of water, waiting for him to laugh with you. But he doesn't. It's just silent between you now. Atsumu has not shown any reaction, just staying still as he is, still looking at the screen. You look at him with furrowed brows and then again at the screen. Should you-

No. What are you thinking?

You notice that Atsumu's knee has started bouncing, something that you think is his reaction when he's feeling nervous, and you experimentally lean just a bit closer after taking a deep breath and his eyes move from the screen to you.

His gaze flickers from your eyes to your lips when you lean forward just a bit more, and then he is slowly leaning into you too, much to your surprise. Your gaze shifts to his lips, parted just the slightest bit, so kissable-

He is waiting for you to make your move, giving up all control of the situation to let you do as you're comfortable with- and then you realize one thing when your breath meets his lips and your eyes fall shut.

You're about to kiss Atsumu Miya.

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Broke

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~8.8k

Summary: Your first introduction to the serious drawbacks of a relationship with Wanda.

A/N: This three-anon-requests in one drabble turned into a long one. ENJOY

Warnings: angst, comfort, violence and confessions

You frown as you continue to stare at your computer screen like you have been for the last five minutes. You don’t want to do this at all, but you don’t have much of a choice. You have to pay for rent and groceries, and your car needs to be fixed soon… You sigh in defeat as you click the accept button and commit to being even more in debt to the government. The thought makes your skin crawl, but you have no choice unless you want to lose your apartment and not eat for the next few months.

You’d initially tried to take out as few loans as possible because you hated the idea of being in debt. However, given your limited scholarship money and the fact that you were supporting yourself with a part time job and no help from family, you couldn’t help but borrow some. You’d underestimated how expensive this semester would be; however, and given it was your first of vet school you figured it would only get more expensive as time went on. You tried not to stress about this now, but as you borrowed another $10,000 for the rest of the year, you close your computer and bang your head on the table.

“Ow.”

Your shift at the vet clinic starts soon and you look back to your textbooks with a frown. You’re not sure how you’re going to keep this up. Vet school is a lot more than you thought it would be. It’s not just hard, but there’s just so much new information covered every day and the turnaround time for exams is extraordinarily short. You are still suffering whiplash from your first anatomy practical that you failed because it just hadn’t been what you expected. You briefly wonder how long you’ll be able to keep working this semester as you arrive to the parking lot to head to work.

“Hey there.”

You look up in surprise when you hear Wanda’s voice. You hadn’t expected her to be here and it clearly shows because the brunette laughs slightly. She’s waiting in her car for something, maybe you, and your car’s not anywhere in sight. You look around briefly in confusion before walking toward your girlfriend with a smile.

“Hey Wands. What are you doing here?”

You mostly are asking why Wanda’s not at work. She’s rarely free during the days, and she’d told you when you saw her the other night that she probably wouldn’t be able to stop by until the weekend. It was only Thursday. She adjusts her sunglasses slightly as she shrugs and mentions that she’s here to drive you to work. You are only a little surprised by this, but you start to walk around the car to the passenger side to get in. You’re going to be late if you don’t leave now.

“That’s sweet of you, but I could have driven myself. Not that I’m unhappy to see you.”

Wanda smiles as you get into the car, and she quickly leans over to kiss you. You two have been dating for almost 8 months, and Wanda can’t help but hope that the thrill of seeing you will never wear off. She’s had a change of plans today and there was barely any work to do, so she figured she’d try to enjoy her day as much as possible. Even if it meant only taking you to work now and maybe hanging out later, she was glad for a chance to see you. She realizes she needs to take you to work soon or you’ll be late, and she knows all too well how much you hate being late. With this in mind, she pulls away from you with a sigh and shakes her head as soon as she registers what you’d said.

“Actually, detka you couldn’t. I borrowed your car.”

You’re trying to focus on breathing so you miss what she says initially as you look outside the window to see that you’ve started moving. It’s not until you’re almost out of the parking lot that you turn to Wanda in confusion.

“Wait, what? You borrowed it?”

Wanda just nods as she reaches out for your hand and squeezes it with a smile. She hopes you won’t get mad at her for what she did, but it occurred to her the last time you’d gone out that you weren’t driving your car. She’d asked about it and you’d dodged the question before finally admitting that there was something wrong with it. You hadn’t gone into detail, but it was enough for Wanda to realize that it needed addressing. So she’d taken the liberty of having someone she trusted look at it and fix it up. They’d only just taken it and hopefully it would be done by the time that you got off from work.

“I have someone looking at it, so they can get it fixed up for you.”

You can’t help but melt at Wanda’s almost nonchalant statement about helping you out. You know that Wanda has money, and you’d been tempted multiple times to ask for some, but you didn’t want to take advantage. That said, having Wanda surprise you like this makes you feel like you’re the luckiest person in the world.

“Wands, you didn’t have to do that, but thank you.”

You kiss Wanda’s hand as you feel a weight lift from your shoulders at the news that your car is going to be fixed. That’s at least a few hundred dollars you won’t have to spend, and if Wanda weren’t driving almost 40 mph, you’d kiss her right now. You consider kissing her cheek, but you’re afraid you’ll still surprise her and cause her to swerve. This road is far too narrow for that, and you're not in the mood for a swim right now.

Your girlfriend might be absent often and unpredictably, but she cares about you and takes really good care of you. She did subtle things here and there to let you know that she cared. Checking to see if you ate, or making sure you’ve taken study breaks, and that you slept your full 8 hours are all things she's gotten in the habit of doing. You wonder how living with her would be, and you’re still thinking about this when Wanda drops you off at work a little bit later. You’re right on time and you do lean over and kiss her cheek before hopping out of the car.

“Thank you for the ride, Wands. Will I see you later?”

Wanda smiles as she tells you that she’ll be back to pick you up after your shift. You smile widely at this and lean back into the car to kiss her quickly before you near run inside. You’re sure that your shift will fly by now that you know you’ll be seeing Wanda later too. You walk into the clinic with a smile despite knowing how hectic it’s going to be today. It doesn’t matter. Nothing can bring down your mood now.

Halfway through your shift you get scratched by a cat during a nail trim, and you think you freak out your coworkers. When it happens you barely notice, and you’re still smiling as you put the cat, Jonesy back into his carrier. You clean up your arm and resume your day as if nothing happened.

Wanda texts you around 5 to let you know that your car is fixed and you send her almost 7 virtual hugs and kisses. She’s your favorite person today and maybe ever, and by the time Wanda comes to pick you up you’re nearly vibrating in excitement.

“Thank you, thank you! You’re the best!”

Wanda laughs as you near tackle her as you get into the car. You’re hugging her so tightly that you’re sure it’s near painful, and you force yourself to let up as you sit back in your seat and get buckled.

“Of course, Y/n. I was happy to help.”

You remind yourself not to cry again as you immediately grab her hand as she pulls out of the lot and onto the road. You wonder where you’re going now, but you figure you’ll wait until you ask about Wanda’s day.

“What was wrong with it?”

Wanda frowns slightly as she thinks about what she’d been told this afternoon. Apparently, your car was in pretty rough shape, but it wasn’t too unexpected considering how old it was. She’d almost considered buying you a new one when she heard what was wrong, but she’d been assured that it could be fixed. She also figured she needed to check with you before she did something like that. Not only was it a big gesture, but she wasn’t sure if you had any sort of sentimentality toward your car that would result in you being upset if she had it hauled to the junkyard.

“The alternator and transmission needed to be replaced.”

You cringe at this news and at how you would have handled it if you’d been financially responsible for it. That’s thousands of dollars and you definitely didn’t have the budget for that. If it hadn’t been for Wanda, you’re sure you would have gone home without a car. You’d have had to buy a bus pass or a new bicycle to get to class and work.

“Oh shit. That’s major.”

Wanda nods at this as she considers the fact that you’d been driving this car for who knows how long while it’s been acting up. You’d only told her that it ‘rides rough occasionally’ or is ‘slow to start’, and she hadn’t realized what this meant. She had been unaware of what was wrong and therefore oblivious to how dangerous it had been for you to drive this multiple times a week for work. She hates to think that you could have been hurt because you hadn’t been able to get your car fixed.

“It was. I’m glad nothing seriously failed while you were driving it, detka. That wouldn’t have been good.”

You nod at this because it had occurred to you that you shouldn’t drive the car until it was fixed. An unreliable car wasn’t just dangerous, but very stressful for you to drive. You’re eternally grateful to your girlfriend for having it fixed.

“I’m definitely lucky. For multiple reasons. Thank you again, I promise I’ll pay you back.”

Wanda’s already shaking her head before you're even finished speaking. Despite money being plentiful and never having any worries about having enough to live off of, Wanda isn’t frivolous with it. She spends a lot of money, but she tries to keep the larger expenses limited to essential things. She doesn’t mind spending money on you, particularly when its something like this; something you need, and she won’t hesitate to do so. She knows that you’re always worried about money. You’re a student in debt and your family isn’t alive to help support you. You’re doing it on your own with loans from the government and she hates how stressed that makes you.

If she can use her money to help alleviate this stress, and make sure you’re driving a safe car, she’ll do it. She would never hold your lack of money against you, and she doesn’t want you to feel indebted to her in anyway. She won’t accept your money and she wants you to know this.

“Don’t worry about it, Y/n. I’m happy to do this for you, okay?”

You just nod with a dopey smile because honestly Wanda taking care of you like this is something you could get used to. You’re afraid you’ll get used to it if and when it continues, and you sigh as Wanda gets on the interstate.

“So how was your day, Wands?”

As Wanda tells you about her surprisingly normal day, you think about how you can possibly repay Wanda for what she did today. Despite her insisting that you don’t have to pay her back, you still want to do something nice for her. Maybe you can take her out.

“What’s on your mind, Y/n?”

You and Wanda had arrived to your apartment a couple of hours ago. After a quick dinner, you’d started studying on the couch with Wanda by your side. She was free all night and as much as you loved this, you hated that you had to study tonight. She luckily didn’t hold it against you, and she seemed content to just lie beside you and watch as you worked harder than most people she knows. You skip between anatomy, physiology, and a disease course in the span of two hours. You cover a lot of ground and she almost falls asleep with her head against your leg when you sigh heavily.

She looks up at you with a curious frown as she sees that you seem distracted. You just shake your head in response to her question as you look to the clock. It’s nearly 10pm.

“I’m just tired, and I hate that I’m spending my time with you studying.”

Wanda sits up as she shakes her head with a small smile. She doesn’t want you to feel guilty for having to study. You’re going to be working hard for the next 4 years, and Wanda only hopes that she’ll be by your side through it to support you.

“I just want to be with you. It doesn’t matter to me what we’re doing.”

You can’t help but smile at this as you set your study materials aside and shoot Wanda a look. You are done for the night, and you want to do something fun now. Whatever Wanda wants honestly. You’ll just go along for the ride.

“Are you sure about that, Wands? There’s nothing else you’d rather be doing?”

Wanda rolls her eyes and fights a blush at your tone and the teasing smile on your lips. She leans in to kiss it away before she slides closer to you now that your lap is clear. You reach out for your girlfriend and pull her on top of you with a laugh. You kiss her again before she sighs in faux annoyance at your constantly dirty mind.

“You know what I mean, detka. I just like to spend time with you.”

You wrap your arms around Wanda’s waist and hold her close with another sigh. You’re tired but you wouldn’t mind going out tonight. You hadn’t seen Wanda for a while before today and you would love the chance to get out of your apartment. You were getting sick of these walls.

“Would you want to go out?”

Wanda blames her desire to make you happy for her decision to go out to a club with you. It’s almost 11 by the time they arrive and given that it’s dark and loud she feels almost incognito. This is more important to Wanda than you, but you do your best to keep her mostly behind you until you’re among the masses.

“Do you want to get a drink?”

Wanda nods as she follows you to the bar where she has a feeling you’ll be ordering a mocktail. You didn’t like to get drunk at all, but you especially didn’t drink on weekdays. Wanda smiles as you look to her to confirm her order. She usually likes something stronger, and she accepts her bourbon with a smile a minute later.

You two find a table and you sit across from each other despite your desire to hold her close. You sigh happily as you glance around at the other patrons who are dancing, drinking and mulling around with their friends. You’ll consider dancing later, but for now you want to just sit here with Wanda.

“I hope you know how much I appreciate you, Wanda.”

Wanda just smiles at you in admiration before she considers all of the reasons why she appreciates you. You’re smart, you’re dedicated, and you challenge her in ways that she’s not used to. You give her an opportunity to escape her long held role of mobster and become a typical woman in her mid-twenties. She was able to relax with you, laugh, and try new things that mostly went well. She now knows for certain that she hates camping and this is something that she’ll only ever try again with you.

“I hope you know I more than appreciate you too.”

She shoots you a cheeky smile despite the sincerity of her words and you can’t help but roll your eyes. You reach out for her free hand and play with the rings on her fingers before frowning slightly in thought. You’re not sure how to communicate this without sounding ridiculously sappy, but you figure honesty is the most important thing. You just hope Wanda won’t think poorly of you for it, but if history is any indicator, you don’t expect her to do anything other than flush prettily and return a similar sentiment.

“I mean more than just what you did for me today. That meant more than I can possibly say, but I mean the constant support and positive reinforcement.”

You smile when Wanda hides a laugh behind her glass as she looks at you like you’re the only one in the room. In this entire club. You’re the only one she truly cares to take notice of. You drink your mocktail and slide your chair closer to the table so you can be closer to Wanda. It’s not too noisy in here, but you also don’t want to shout what you say next.

“I feel safe with you, Wanda Maximoff.”

Wanda takes your hand and kisses it before she downs the rest of her drink. She doesn’t know how to tell you that you’ve come to mean the world to her. She enjoys a break from her work, sure, but being with you means more than that. She’s found someone who can weather her unpredictability and see past her high-strung nature and understand the anxiety that sometimes overwhelmed her. She wishes she could tell you more about what she does, but she’s afraid of putting you at risk. She’s only slightly less worried about you being scared off, regardless of it still being a possibility. Despite knowing that she’s not on the legal side of things, she can’t be sure that you’d accept that she embodies the illegal side.

Wanda only says a fraction of what she really feels, but she figures it’s enough for now when you smile brightly at her before dragging her toward the dance floor.

“I love that I can be myself with you. There aren’t many people I can say that about.”

Wanda tries to forget her paranoia and just enjoy her time with you as you lead her on the dance floor. You’re trying to get her to relax, but you can tell it’s going to take a little work to get her to this point. You are more than up for the challenge and you pull her closer to you as the music changes to a song that you haven’t heard in years.

“You know the last time I heard this song I was at prom.”

You remember that night not very fondly because you hadn’t really wanted to go. You were only out to a few of your friends so you didn’t feel comfortable skipping prom when you were asked in a very public way. You remember the dread, the horror, you’d felt and you doubt you hid it very well. Nevertheless, you’d gone to prom with him and he turned out to be a nice guy that you spent most of the time talking to about Disney movies and his job in a hardware store. You weren’t compatible, and you’d actually told him the next day that you weren’t interested in him.

You’re pulled from your thoughts by Wanda bringing her hands to your face. You turn toward her and see her questioning look.

“You went to prom? I hope you had more fun than I did.”

This immediately piques your interest because Wanda’s told you very little about her personal life beyond the superficial. She’s mentioned that she has a brother, but that her parents are dead and she has a lot of close friends who are like family to her. She’d mentioned things here and there about her childhood, but nothing very revealing. You didn’t mind but sometimes you wondered why Wanda was still holding back.

You hold her close and sway a little but mostly focus on telling her about your experience. It wasn’t horrible, but you certainly didn’t enjoy it. You never felt comfortable, and you are far more comfortable here with Wanda than you think you’ve been in a long time. You lean in and sigh as Wanda holds you tightly and laughs at your question.

“What about you? Did you enjoy yours?”

Wanda sighs as she thinks back to the somewhat anticlimactic day. She’d only been dreaming about the traditional prom experience since she’d learned it was a thing. She had imagined the type of dress she’d wear and how she’d do her hair. She wondered about her date and her first dance with them. She’d imagined the whole night vividly, and by the time it rolled around she wasn’t prepared at all.

“It was pretty tame. I ended up spending most of the night as a third wheel because my date wanted to hang out with his friends.”

You roll your eyes at the predictable stupidity of a high school aged boy before you kiss your girlfriend’s cheek. She turns to meet your lips for a kiss before your expression turns serious.

“What a dumbass. I would have loved to spend your prom with you. The highlight of mine was walking in and getting to leave.”

As the music changes, you and Wanda are joined by more people on the dance floor and as the crowd grew, you felt Wanda grow tense again. You do your best to distract her, and you even get her another drink that you hold for her as she clings to your waist. You don’t mind as she finishes her drink slowly, and it’s after midnight before you feel her relax again. You kiss her temple before running your fingers through her hair.

“How are you feeling?”

You wait as Wanda smiles slightly before nodding in answer to your unasked question. She learned early on that she couldn’t hide much from you when it came to her feelings. She’d actually worried that she was just terribly transparent and panicked about it for a while before you’d told her that you were just really good at reading people. Mostly because you paid attention to body language. As an introvert you really just spend a lot of your time watching and listening to people, and over the years that’s turned into a very important skill.

You hadn’t truly realized how much this skill would pay off until you started dating Wanda. She was secretive, to an extreme and it usually would have turned you off and made you suspicious of her. You didn’t like secrets, and although you somewhat vaguely understood why they were necessary in this case, you didn’t know how long you could live in the dark about it all. You ignore these thoughts for now as you watch Wanda wrestle with her decision to tell the truth. Even after months of being together, you hate that she struggles with being completely honest with you.

“More relaxed, thanks, but it’s getting more crowded.”

You nod at this because a quick glance around you confirms this. It’s gotten later and people are more drunk and rowdy which you don’t mind too much. You know that Wanda’s never comfortable in public and her coming out with you tonight was to make you happy. You’ll admit it was nice to be out with her, but you won’t complain about however you spend time with her tonight.

“We can leave soon if you’d like. I know it’s getting late.”

You were tired earlier, but you’d gotten your second wind as soon as you walked in here. Being with Wanda in public did that to you because not only did it happen so infrequently that you were always excited, but you knew you always had to be on alert. Wanda was always so observant and careful about everything that you figured it wouldn’t hurt for you to do the same.

She smiles slightly and nods as she looks behind her briefly. She wants to go back to your apartment and fall asleep on the couch watching old sitcoms or a cooking show. She wants to be able to show her affection for you openly without having to worry about anyone seeing. The only places this really happens are the privacy of your apartment or rarely one of your cars.

“I need to pee first, then we’ll go.”

You laugh at this and prepare to accompany her when she stops you. You frown in confusion because usually she encourages traveling together but she just smiles at you and shakes her head as she gestures to the DJ across the room.

“Stay. You can’t leave now; they’re playing your song.  I’ll be quick.”

You want to argue, but then you realize exactly what song is playing and you don’t even bother. You shoot her a questioning look though as she walks away laughing as you’ve already started to dance.

 “Are you sure? Okay, be quick!”

Wanda disappears quickly hoping not to leave you for more than a couple of minutes. If she gets her way she’ll return before your all-time favorite song is over. She does need to run to the bathroom, but she’s more concerned about dealing with the man who’s following her.

She noticed him as soon as you two sat down at a table with drinks. She hadn’t given him much thought, he seemed like a fairly typical, run-of-the-mill guy she’d expect to see here. She hadn’t spared him a second glance until he appeared again, still watching her, as you dragged her to dance before popping up two more times. She didn’t recognize him, and she was already texting Steve as she walked down the dimly lit hallway to the bathrooms. Steve stuck close by her whether she liked it or not, so she wasn’t surprised to hear that he was right outside and on his way in.

“I admit that I didn’t expect to see you here, Ms. Maximoff.”

Wanda stops short as she turns to see exactly who she was expecting. She frowns as she gives him another once over to confirm that she doesn’t know who he is. The more important thing though is that he clearly knows her, and for some reason he’s decided to follow her tonight.

“Cut to the chase, why are you following me?”

Wanda walks toward him slowly as she glares at him expectantly. She doesn’t see a gun on him, but she’s not foolish enough to believe he’s unarmed. She’s not even unarmed, and her clothes are a lot tighter than his.

The brunette shrugs as he moves out of the way for a couple that walk past him. He waits until they’re gone before he responds with a smile that makes Wanda’s skin crawl.

“I was asked to tail you because my employer is looking to exploit your weaknesses.”

Wanda feels her anxiety spike immediately, and she’s kicking herself for leaving you alone. She’s about to walk past him and go find you, but she doesn’t make it very far.

“I’m looking forward to telling her that we found one.”

Wanda doesn’t think twice as she stomps on his foot before punching him in the nose. He curses loudly and tries to grab her, but she dodges him before she kicks him onto his knees. She sees someone rush by the hallway before doubling back a few seconds later. She’s glad that Steve’s here because she really needs to go check on you.

“Here, watch him. I need to go.”

Steve just nods and doesn’t get a chance to speak before Wanda’s gone. He’d told Bucky to come by too since he was already around on business, and hopefully he’d be arriving soon if he hasn’t already.

You were only alone for about 30 seconds after Wanda left. You’d been dancing to your favorite song and not paying any attention to anyone around you. You were happy. You were spending time with your girlfriend, it was the weekend, and you had ice cream at home. You were doing pretty well.

Your eyes open and land on someone standing in front of you. This wasn’t odd because it was still crowded and you almost bumped into people every few seconds. The odd thing about this person though was that he seemed interested in nothing but staring at you which made you frown without realizing it. You open your mouth to ask what his deal is, but he speaks up first and doesn’t make you feel any better about his intentions.

“You must be Y/n. We’ve heard a lot about you.”

Your frown deepens as you stop moving completely and shoot the blonde a look. This better not be one of Wanda’s friends again. You’d already told her that you wanted to be introduced to them like normal people did it, and you wouldn’t tolerate anyone creeping on you. She’d agreed to this, especially after Bucky upset you so much, so you have a feeling this person’s gone rogue, or they’re someone you don’t want to talk to.

Figuring that Wanda should be back soon you decide to buy yourself some time. You look the taller man up and down before deciding that you could probably out run him if you had to. You hadn’t worn your heels tonight and you had very little athletic ability, but running was your thing.

“All good things, I hope."

You’re mostly kidding but when he just laughs at you, you realize you probably should have said something else. You sigh in defeat as you try not to show your nerves. You’re in a public, only kinda dark place, and Wanda’s nearby. You’ll be fine regardless of what this person wants from you.

“Definitely. More than enough to know that you’re exactly who we need.”

There’s very little chance you could have prepared for what happened next. The lights make it difficult for you to see him move until he’s right on top of you, and the music changes just in time to cover up your curse. He grabs your arms and covers your mouth as he hauls you off in no particular direction. You struggle to break free, but only manage to get an arm loose. You elbow him in the back of the head once and he barely even flinches, but as you're about to do it a second time someone grabs you and yanks you backwards.

“What the fuck?”

You shout in annoyance as you're basically thrown to the ground, but you don’t have time to recover before you hear a familiar voice.

“Y/n!”

You look up to see Bucky first, and you figure he must have grabbed you because he’s carting off the now unconscious blonde with barely a look back. You’re so confused and this only worsens when Wanda comes to kneel beside you where you’re still on the floor.

“Y/n, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

You are too stunned to answer but you’re able to climb to your feet with Wanda’s help. You try to regain your bearings but the strobe lights are not helping at all. You’re looking around frantically before you seem to realize that you’re still in the club and that Wanda’s with you. You’re safe, or at least safer than you were before, and you decide you want to leave right now.

“What the hell just happened?”

You and Wanda are sitting in her car waiting until you’re calm enough to tell her what happened. Apparently her friends had shown up in the nick of time to save you from being abducted, and you still have no idea what to think about this.

Wanda shifts nervously as she tries to figure out how to explain this to you in a way that won’t freak you out even more. She’s tried to keep you in the dark about her work, but something like this hasn’t happened before. No one has been bold enough to follow her and target you all at once. It honestly terrifies her and she doesn’t know how to handle it.

Her anxiety definitely makes explaining this to you more difficult and she eventually shakes her head before she starts the car. She makes sure the doors are locked again before she puts on her seatbelt with a sigh.

“Can I tell you back at your place?”

You don’t respond immediately because your brain is running all the different ways that tonight could have played out. You are stuck on an extreme example, but the idea of you being kidnapped and beaten is hard to shake. You look to Wanda with a frown as you try to take a second to figure out what she’s feeling. You can tell how panicked she is, and you’re sure you look it too, but when you set your own fear and confusion aside you realize that Wanda knows what happened.

The fact that it’s already handled and no cops or even employees from the club were involved proves this. She had it covered meaning she must know what they wanted. You don’t understand how this is possible and you definitely want to know. You’re just afraid that Wanda isn’t willing to tell you tonight.

Wanda’s started the car and is about to put it in gear when you speak up. She hesitates because she honestly hadn’t expected you to ask this, and she doesn’t think she has an answer you’ll like. Regardless of her decision to tell you the truth.

“Are you just buying time to lie to me?”

Wanda immediately shakes her head before turning to you with a pleading look. She sighs as she reaches out for you and you just let her squeeze your hand as she tries to explain.

“No, I’m not. I promise. I just…I need to figure out how to tell you this. How to tell you more about what I do.”

You hadn’t been expecting this answer and you don’t hide it well. You eventually just nod before muttering an ‘ok’ and Wanda focuses on getting you home. She struggles with the best way to break the news to you, but in the end she has to be truthful. You should know that you were in danger tonight. You deserve to know the danger you’ll be in if you continue to see her, and that’s what makes Wanda the most anxious. Not only could you want to stop seeing her which would break her heart, but you knowing that you’ll be at risk of something like this happening again—it could be too much.

You have a normal life. You’re in school. You’re going to be a vet in a few years, and after that she’s sure you want a relatively normal life. She always knew that wasn’t in the cards for her, but in the time she’s been with you she’s started to think that maybe it didn’t matter. She could still be happy with someone and not worry about divulging too much of the truth to you. However, tonight proved her wrong and she knows that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. This is why she was so insistent on not being seen with you. She’d hate for someone who was following her to realize who you were and try to hurt you because of it.

She has a feeling that tonight’s going to be an important decision point in your relationship. You need to have enough information to understand the risks, and Wanda needs to give it to you regardless of her own feelings.

She’s terrified because she knows that no matter what decision you make tonight, things will never be the same.

You’ve poured both you and Wanda another drink that you bring to the couch so you both can sit. You can tell Wanda’s on edge like you and you know that this won’t go well if you can’t manage to calm her down. You sigh as you sit and you gesture for her to join you before taking a deep breath.

“Okay, Wands. Let’s just start with what happened tonight?”

Wanda nods as she sits beside you awkwardly. On the way home she figured that the best thing to do is be upfront. You’re going to be worried no matter what, but she could still do her best to manage how you worried. Luckily she could tell you that these two men wouldn’t bother you ever again.

“Someone sent two men to follow us tonight. One was supposed to distract me while the other took you.”

The blunt words confirm your fears and despite wanting to ask a dozen questions you just nod. You take a large sip of your drink before rolling the glass between your hands.

“Okay.”

Wanda takes a sip as well before she tries to steel herself for what she’s about to say. This is the moment she’s been dreading for nearly 9 months. Since she met you and dared to consider a future with you, she’d been terrified of having to tell you the truth about what she does for a living. She knew it was inevitable, and that she honestly should have told you sooner but she was scared. She couldn’t lose you, but now she no longer had a choice in the matter. If she wanted to do her best to keep you safe, she had to make you aware of what you were up against.

 “This will probably make more sense once I tell you what I really do.”

You can’t hide your surprise when Wanda says this and you unconsciously sit up as you look at your girlfriend with wide eyes. Is she really going to abandon the vague references to illegal activities and come clean? You’d be lying if you said you haven’t been waiting for this moment for months. You wanted to know what Wanda did, but you’d also learned to be comfortable in your denial. Sometimes the less you knew the better. At least you thought so before tonight when you almost got kidnapped.

That was still setting in, and you’re sure when you go to bed tonight, you’ll think about it more and freak out. You hoped that Wanda still planned on spending the night because you don’t think you’re going to want to be alone.

“I know I told you I run the family business with my brother, and that’s true. However, it’s more than just shipping and manufacturing things. It’s um…we’re criminals.”

You watch as Wanda downs the rest of her drink before you take a moment to repeat what she said.

Wanda is a criminal. She and her brother are criminals. You’re dating a criminal. That has to be why Wanda hates being seen in public or why she has so much money that she doesn’t hesitate to spend it on you. She’s loaded and it’s from a lot more than what she’s told you, and more than what you’ll ever understand.

You follow her lead and drink the rest of your whiskey before sitting the glass down on the table. You feel your head start to swim, but you don’t think it’s because of the alcohol.

“Okay. So you’re a criminal?”

Wanda just nods slowly as she waits for your brain to catch up and for you to really react to what she’s said. She’d expected you to be a little more upset than this, but she supposes there’s still time for that. She decides to get back to tonight before she gets too ahead of herself.

“Yes. Those men work for one of my competitors, and needless to say she’s not the most ethical person.”

Neither am I.

Wanda realizes this goes without saying when you nod thoughtfully. You try to imagine an organized group of criminals that live and operate in a large city such as this one. You can’t really understand how they all interact without drawing from television or movie portrayals, but little did you know that this is mostly accurate. It’s just a little more complicated than you’d think.

You try to come up with a way to describe Wanda’s dealing so that you can better compartmentalize and start to understand it in the most basic of terms.

“And you’re in charge of other criminals…so you run a gang?”

Wanda can’t help but cringe slightly at this but she nods because you’re mostly right. At the end of the day she knows that the terminology doesn’t really matter. You just need to understand the concept.

“A mob, yes. I have employees who do various things for me, but most of them live at the compound.”

You suddenly realize why all of your two visits to the compound were as short as they were. You only went there twice to meet Wanda before immediately leaving. She hadn’t wanted you to be there and you’d been a little hurt by it, but now it made sense. If her employees were there, they could see you and you could only imagine how fast word spread about the boss dating someone. That would have put you at risk, and something like what happened tonight could have happened a lot sooner.

“Does...wait, so why did someone try to come after me?”

This is the question that Wanda had been waiting for you to ask. She won't disrespect you by lying, and she thought that given how you were handling everything so far, that this wouldn’t be too different. That said, hearing that your girlfriend of 8 months is a mobster and then being told that you were almost taken for ransom are two slightly different things. Wanda knows you're smart enough to come to this conclusion on your own, but you likely just want her confirmation so you can start to put everything in perspective.

“Likely to use you against me. If someone were to take you, they could negotiate some sort of ransom for your safe return.”

Wanda watches as realization of what almost happened to you tonight sets in, and she swears she sees you shiver where you’re propped up against the couch. You shake your head with a frown as you try to figure out how you feel about all of this. Besides the initial terror, you suppose that it makes sense. That someone who followed you and Wanda would realize that she cares for you, and can potentially be swayed to do as they say.

“Why would they use me? Just out of convenience?” 

It’s not until you ask this question that you remember what Wanda’s told you. She doesn’t have many close friends who aren’t also involved in her work. It’s safer that way and the fact that you’re in her life now puts a huge target on your back. Her friends are trained and capable of taking care of themselves. You’re a vet student who’s thrown maybe two punches in your life, and neither of them landed.

It’s not until you look back up at Wanda and see her staring at her hands that you realize how unfair your question was.

Wanda clears her throat as she contemplates giving you an honest answer or the most honest answer. She’s not brave, or drunk enough to do the latter so she just shakes her head before looking up to meet your gaze.

“It’s because I—they know I would give them a lot to get you back.”

You can’t help but smile when Wanda says this, and you slide closer to her so you can grab her hand. You sigh in an attempt to calm down before you kiss her knuckles with a small smile.

“Despite how terrifying all of this is to think about, I’m touched.”

Wanda offers you a shy smile before she waits for your next question. You know the basics at this point. Mobster, competitors, and danger. That said, she’s certain you have a lot more questions, and she’s willing to answer a few tonight. Her anxiety however is starting to steadily climb toward an unbearable level, so she needs to stop thinking about this soon.

You only have one more question to ask before you don’t want to think about this anymore. You need a break and this includes mindless television and cuddles. You swallow the lump in your throat before asking the question you already know the answer to.

“This is why you don’t like going out in public. Any glimpse of us together…in the future could cause something like this to happen again?”

Wanda can hear the hesitation and fear in your voice and she hates that she’s giving it credence. She's aware that even though she stopped this attempt by killing those two men, there's very little stopping other people from trying the same thing. She knows she’s going to have to do a better job of protecting you. She’ll need to assign someone she trusts to tail you and make sure you’re safe. That however is an issue for another night, if it even comes to that.

Wanda’s main concern right now is just seeing if you’re going to say this is too much for you.

You don’t say anything immediately when Wanda nods and tells you that something like this or worse could happen. You try to consider how you can continue to live your life knowing that you run the risk of being nabbed or worse because of your relationship with Wanda. You wonder how you’ll be able to cope with only hanging out in private or not at all in the future. How will you manage a relationship with a damn mobster when you’re going to be a doctor? How can you reconcile this? Better yet, are you okay with everything that Wanda must do to make the money she does?

You’re not naïve enough to believe that Wanda doesn’t hurt people. She probably has to hurt or kill people who get in her way. If she’s really as infamous as you believe, there’s no way to establish dominance in a large city like this without making a name for yourself. This requires money, skill and support from employees. You’re getting a headache just trying to consider how large and intricate Wanda’s mob is, so you just shake your head and go back to the pertinent question.

Are you okay with this?

Do you want to continue seeing Wanda? Yes. You enjoy your time with Wanda and you’ve come to think of her as a permanent in your life. Regardless of how much this changes things, you’re not sure you can end things and say goodbye at this point. You’re too committed and you really do trust her when she says that she can keep you safe. You’re not worried about that, and this is certainly foolish or ignorant, but you can’t help it. You’ve always felt safe with Wanda and you don’t think that this could change. You suppose the issue though is that Wanda won’t always be with you. Like tonight, she left for 30 seconds and someone tried to come after you.

“Y/n?”

You look up from where you’d started to stare off in space to see Wanda shooting you a worried look. You hadn’t realized how long you’d been silent until you’re pulled from your thoughts. Wanda fidgets anxiously with one of the rings on her fingers before she takes a deep settling breath. She needs to say her piece and let you make your own decision. She tries not to cry as she lets you know that the decision is yours to make.

“I promise that I’ll protect you, and that I’ll do everything I can to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

When you see tears start to blur your vision you move so you’re almost in Wanda’s lap before you pull her in for a hug. You let out a breathy laugh before you shake your head. You wonder what you’ve done to deserve this type of dedication. You’re a broke student who has very little to offer someone like Wanda.

“You-you’re so sweet. I don’t even know why you’d go to all of this trouble for me.”

Wanda hugs you tightly before she frowns at your words. In some ways you’re so confident that it’s astounding and Wanda’s envious, but in others you’re just like her and your image of your self-worth is less than ideal. She’s not sure if it’s just been learned over time or you just happen to think this way, but when Wanda first realized how you saw yourself at times, she made it her goal to change your perspective. She promised herself that she’d show you how remarkable you are. How worthy you are of praise, love and happiness.

She speaks before she can stop herself and she feels you stiffen in her arms before you pull away.

“Because I love you, and I would do just about anything for you, detka.”

Wanda’s words make you start in surprise and you have to bite your lip to keep from sobbing. You’ve only felt this way about Wanda for months, but you’d been too afraid to say anything. You always fear that you feel more strongly than other people, and you don’t want to scare them off with your potentially overbearing emotions. However, when Wanda frowns as she sees you crying, you realize that maybe you should have told her sooner.

“God, I love you too. I really do.”

You kiss your girlfriend and feel relief wash over you as she holds you close and you practically melt. You know that there’s a lot to discuss and figure out, but for now you’d like to just bask in the fact that the person you’re in love with loves you too. You can’t remember the last time you’ve been this happy.

“I love you, Wands, an-and I don’t want to leave, but I can’t lie. It scares me to think about something like this happening again.”

Wanda can completely understand this and despite hating herself for it, she can’t guarantee anything. She won’t lie to you and say that she’ll keep you safe and no one will ever bother you again. She’ll tell you the truth and hope that you can put enough trust in her to keep her word. She’ll do her damnedest and if that’s not enough she’ll figure something out.  She reaches out to wipe the tears away before smiling at you softly. You look so beautiful, and she hates that she’s made you cry.

“I understand, but Y/n, know that I’ll do everything I can to keep you as safe as possible.”

She squeezes your hand before kissing your forehead with a sigh. She rests her head against yours as she tries to get used to the idea of taking care of you. If you commit to this, Wanda’s never going to let you go.

“Do you trust me to do this?”

This probably isn’t a fair question because you still only know the bare bones of everything involved, but right now that doesn’t matter to you. You don’t need to know about Wanda’s infinite resources to believe that she’ll do all she can to make sure you’re taken care of. You kiss her one more time before nodding in agreement. You’ll figure out the details later, but right now you’re about to pass out from the flurry of emotions that you’ve gone through. You know Wanda feels the same because when you pull her towards you as you lie back on the couch, she doesn’t protest. She lies down beside you and simply kisses your cheek before closing her eyes. She’ll wake up later and make arrangements then. For now, she just wants to hold you.

“I do.”

Masterlist

[ghost-bxrd]

Last chapter of What You’re Longing For (you claim to abhor) coming this week 💚✨

[doobledabbadoo]

Chapter 7 of Through Smiles and Scowls has released!

ao3 link:

squidgeworld link:

[littleobelia]

New Found Year (4718 words) by banaanipoika Chapters: 1/20 Part 1 of Ikea verse Harry gets a job at Ikea mainly for the discounted Daim cakes, but ends up finding something much sweeter. Louis works in loss prevention, but is helpless to prevent Harry from stealing her heart.

A prequel to Undo This Privacy

[everythingpuddle]

Chapter 18

I finally put through the edits... have a link.

[nite-puff]

(Not so) new fic!

So the gist is that I started sharing a Mondo-centric fic last summer but stopped after 2 chapters because I didn’t like where it was going. I kinda just left it alone since then and didn’t revisit it until ranting about the lack of Mondo representation motivated me into finishing it.

But one thing led to another, and I just scrapped the whole thing and started from ground zero. Which is what you see here now.

I would say check it out if you liked “Stage 3: The Chrysalis” since it explores many of the same themes, just in a Mondo way (if that makes sense), but it’s also being split up into four, much more easily digestible chapters instead of it being an 18k plus word angst-fest.

Enjoy!

:)

[osamusriceballs]

The Accident - Part X

Atsumu x fem Reader

Warnings: None

Words: ~ 2,5 k

About: Dinner at Onigiri Miya &lt;3

Part I II -> Next Part

"So, that's my favorite food. Samu just makes the best Onigiri, I'm not gonna lie about that."

Atsumu grins and gestures towards the plates on the table. "But everything's good, don't worry. I helped Samu with the menu back then after we finished high school. He even added some dishes with extra protein, just for me. Said he couldn't stand how I ate chicken and protein powder all the time."

You frown at the thought of combining chicken and protein shakes, but he just shrugs when he notices your reaction. "Don't look at me like that; I was young then. Well, younger than today. I didn't know better." You laugh when he embarrassedly rubs the back of his neck.

"It's fine! I'm sure you had to watch your protein intake and your vitamin levels. I mean, you started playing a lot more intensely after school, right?"

He nods and takes the carafe of water to fill your empty glass. "A lot has changed since I started as a professional. My schedule's quite tight; I train basically every day, and I have to go abroad every other month for promotions or plays. It's kinda hard to always keep track of my eating habits. I'm just glad that Samu's keepin' an eye on me. Always grumblin' about how it's a drag to do all that extra stuff, but he still has a plate ready whenever I come." You nod and take the glass he's offering you and take a sip of the water. It has a fresh taste with all the herbs that have been added to it; you can even smell a bit of mint and lemon after you place the glass back on the wooden table.

"He sounds like a really good brother. Who's older, him or you?" You ask and look at the raven-haired copy of the man in front of you, who is now behind the counter making Onigiri. He looks good in the Onigiri Miya shirt, the logo cute and simple, fitting the whole ambiance of the restaurant. There isn't much space inside; you're just glad that Atsumu took care of reserving the table because there are quite a lot of customers inside. Yet, it has such a cozy and homey feeling that you relaxed instantly when you took a seat.

"What do you think? Be honest." He looks at you expectantly, and you debate your choices on the inside. On the one hand, Osamu seems like someone who is used to taking care of others, which makes him seem like the older one. On the other hand, you can't deny that Atsumu has a certain sense of dominance that seems like a spoiled firstborn—but you're still clueless.

"Hmm. I think that you're the older twin?" His eyes widen in surprise, and a wide grin suddenly spreads on his whole face. His eyes shine when he bursts out in laughter. "Samu! Samu, y/n thinks that I'm the older twin. Did ya hear that?" He calls for his brother, and Osamu raises his head with a scowl when he realizes that Atsumu just disturbed his peace. "Don't get cocky. She's the first to say that."

"Yeah, but her opinion actually matters. Thank you, y/n." He is still beaming when he turns back to you, the short innuendo with his brother seeming so normal to both of them that you try not to think too hard about it. "You're welcome, I guess?" You nervously laugh, hoping that you made neither Atsumu nor Osamu mad with your words. "You did well. You're my wife after all. So it's only fair that you're on my side." You almost choke on your water when he says that and nervously laugh.

"Oh, okay. Well then. Uhm, I'll start eating? I'm kind of hungry, and the food looks amazing." You still find your heart skipping a beat whenever he calls you 'his wife'—which you noticed that he does quite frequently. He definitely likes to tease you, and you have no idea how you should respond to that. Just the thought of calling him 'husband' makes you feel butterflies in your stomach—you couldn't possibly do that.

You have already snapped a picture of the food to Yachi, who insisted on regular updates of your day. She responded with a salivating emoji and an 'enjoy!' to which you sent a thumbs up, so you're more than ready to eat. "Oh, of course. Just take what ya want. Samu can make us another portion if yer finished with it."

"Thank you." You smile and take a spoon to try the fried rice. The flavor is rich and good; you can't help but let out a delighted huff through your nose while you take another spoonful. "It's really good. Osamu is great at cooking!"

Atsumu has also started eating, an onigiri in both of his hands that now looks ridiculously small. You only now notice how big his hands actually are—probably an advantage when he's playing volleyball. "Told ya. Samu makes the best food." He takes another bite and then a sip of his water. "Let's eat and then we'll talk about the appointment."

You nod and swallow your bite heavily—and you also try to swallow the nervousness while you finish your meal. The atmosphere suddenly had shifted a little after he had mentioned the appointment, the reasoning of your meet-up now apparent. You're both rather quick to finish your food, and you place your napkin on your table and look at him expectantly when you're done.

"So, do you want a dessert already, or do you need a break? Samu has a mean strawberry tiramisu in the fridge. It's not on the menu, but I know it's there." He looks at you and winks, and you laugh while you rub your tummy and lean back in your seat. "I need a short break. But after that maybe? Tiramisu sounds great." You give him a thumbs up, and he nods in response.

"So... let's talk about the visit then. About our options. Wait. Singular. We have one option." He looks at you with a neutral expression, and you find yourself nodding almost robotically. "Yes. We have to wait until the year is over until we can get a divorce."

You both sit there in silence, unsure of how you should continue the conversation.

"I mean, it could have been worse. We're lucky that there were no other grave conditions on the contract. One year will pass really quickly. And then you're free again. I'm also not forcing you to make this public; it wouldn't be good for neither your volleyball career nor my privacy. We could just keep going like this."

He intently watches you while you talk, his chin now resting on one of his palms when he slightly leans forward. "I also think it's smarter to keep it to ourselves for a while. The last name thing, though, is going to be difficult." A groan leaves your lips, and you close your eyes for a second.

"I can't believe that I have to change my last name. This is going to be a lot of paperwork." You groan again at the thought of going to the town hall and contacting your bank—and everything else. You thankfully already had the past few days to get used to the thought of changing your name to 'Miya', but it still makes the whole marriage thing feel so real. This would have a very big impact on your life at this point. All formal letters will be addressed to y/n Miya—which would definitely cause questions that you're not prepared for. But that is a problem for your future self, something you're trying to reassure yourself of to not feel overwhelmed. It will be fine. The lawyers had reassured you that it would only need a few signatures and a small fee, and then you could get divorced after the year is over—and that definitely made you feel a bit better.

"Yeah, sorry for that." He sheepishly rubs the back of his head, probably feeling guilty that only you have to do that, and you're quick to shake your head. "Don't be. I voluntarily agreed to this; this part is definitely not your fault."

He nods and takes the last bite of his rice ball and quickly wipes his hands with his tissue. Noticing that you have finished your meal too, he is quick to wave for the waitress. "I'll ask for the tiramisu. Are you fine with sharing? He said he'll only leave one portion. Greedy bastard," he groans playfully, and you giggle at his comment.

"Yes, we can share."

xxx

The car ride home feels tense.

The evening was great; you had a good time with Atsumu, and the prospect of having to part soon makes you feel uneasy, especially at the prospect of not knowing if you will ever see him again. For all you know, he could simply send you the paperwork via post and never talk to you again.

You get thrown out of your thoughts when he parks the car in front of your house, and you both sit there for a second in silence.

"Uhm... here we are." He finally says, turning off the engine, much to your surprise. That means he intends to stay a bit longer.

"Yes." You awkwardly scratch the back of your head and look at him through the darkness. Only a street lantern provides a bit of light, just enough for you to faintly see his face. He also seems to feel somewhat nervous, his eyes avoiding yours at all costs and looking at the dark screen of the radio.

"So, uhm. I meant to ask. How do you want things to go in the future? We can either keep in touch or meet exactly one year from now to finalize the divorce. What would you prefer?" You can see how his knee bounces up and down, a clear indicator of his nervousness. The words seem somewhat practiced, and you're pretty much convinced that he's been thinking about this moment during the whole car ride. You feel a lump in your throat and somewhat have a hard time coming up with an answer. What if he wants to cut ties with you but is too polite to say it out loud? You definitely don't want to put him in an uncomfortable situation by forcing him to keep in touch with you. It's bad enough already that you have to take his last name, which would probably lead to some questions. What were you supposed to say now?

"I... I don't know. What would you prefer?" You know that it's lame to answer with a question, but you only intend to offer him a way out. Much to your surprise, his eyes flicker to your face, and his knee stops bouncing.

"I would prefer for you to be happy, whatever you decide to go with." He seems so earnest and serious when he says that, that you find yourself flushing—thankful for the darkness to conceal your facial expression. Hopefully.

"Keep in touch, like eating at Onigiri Miya, for example? And texting and calling?"

"Hmm." He hums and suddenly watches you like a hawk, analyzing every single one of your expressions. "We could make that a regular thing. Samu changes the menu often; he could even put your favorite food on it, if ya ask him nicely."

You are stunned at his words. He probably knows fully well that it sounds like a cheap excuse to keep seeing you, yet he still said it.

So you decide to be brave too.

"Sounds great."

xxx

"What the heck was that?"

"What do you mean?" Atsumu rolls his eyes at the car speaker, somewhat annoyed because he knows exactly what Osamu will say.

"I saw you makin' heart eyes at her. And that phone call last week? I didn't say anything back then, but what are you trying to do? Flirting with her and breaking her heart when ya get divorced and you stop talkin' to her? She's too nice for that. Don't do that to her; she's been through enough already."

"I'm not leading her on!" Atsumu almost yells, finding himself wounded at the accusation of not being honest with you. "It's just—I don't know. Easy to talk to her. I just... I dunno. I'm not doing it on purpose; it just comes naturally. Everything comes naturally when it comes to her. Wonder if that's why I married her. Love at first sight, ya know?"

Osamu lets out a heavy and deep sigh, full of frustration. "It's fine. Just take things slow. If you wanna date her, I mean. You both skipped a few steps; I don't know if ya really have a chance."

"I'm not trying to date her. I'm just... I enjoy talking to her and spending time with her. And it's cute to see her flustered. We only got one spoon for the tiramisu, and I offered to feed her—ya should have seen her face, she almost fainted." Atsumu grins at the memory, but Osamu only sighs again.

"You're always causing me trouble. Just—be careful with her, 'kay? We still don't know if she's some kind of stalker trying to get with ya. Remember the last time a fan tried to get close to ya? Didn't end well."

Atsumu's grin slowly fades at the memory, and a deep frown replaces the happy expression.

"I know, I know. But she knows that manager from Karasuno. And Shoyo-kun. She could have met me earlier if she was a stalker. We only decided on the club last week, remember? No way she could have known. She got her hotel room booked a few weeks ago, Shoyo-kun told me that. That's too many coincidences for her to be a stalker."

"If you say so. Dunno, you just always get in trouble."

"Not this time. Not with her."

"Sure. Let me know if ya need somethin'. See ya."

Atsumu hangs up the call, his hands now holding the steering wheel tighter. There is an inner turmoil inside of him, almost the need to see you again, and that's when he forms a plan in his head.

A few minutes later, and he has safely parked the car and fished his phone out of his pocket. His fingers fly over the keyboard, and he doesn't think twice before he hits the "send" button.

Are you free this weekend, Mrs. Miya?

[autumnalmess]

What's this?! A BRAND SPANKING NEW CHAPTER OF TWO PARALLEL LINES??!! No way! And, tension is building just for you! Along with a blend of fluff and angst and sweet interactions between our dear amis. Can you imagine? Oh, you're desperate to read it? I know, honey. Here, I'll drop a cute little link for you ↑

[commehter]

I Was Bored Earlier This Week...

...and instead of doing anything productive, I poked at SToFLO's tags on AO3 for grins and giggles. Then I broke out the calculator because I am a dweeb. Here's some of the more interesting numbers.

The ATLA fandom on AO3 is rather large, of course, but I was impressed with how well SToFLO's stats held up. Top 4% for kudos, top 2% for hits and bookmarks, and, finally, the top 1% for comments! (The last one might actually be cheating a bit. I've had a few long conversations in the comments' section.) Now, to come back down to Earth, what that actually means is StoFLO was on pages 75 for kudos, 37 for hits, 31 for bookmarks, and 20 for comments. Heh, yeah, I don't think anyone will be finding the story without a bit more filtering.

On the other side of the spectrum, the "Ozai Dies" tag (or "Ozai is Deader than a Doornail" on SToFLO) is only 3 pages long with 57 works total at the time of my integer-based tomfoolery. And would you look at that! I managed to find a recognized tag on AO3 small enough that SToFLO is in the top 5 when sorted by bookmarks, kudos, comments, hits, and word count! I find this especially funny because I only added the tag as a clarification that the main character was not actually canon!Ozai.

Jumping back to that semi-inflated comments number, it snagged SToFLO places on page 2 of "Zuko-centric" and page 1 of both "Fire Lord Zuko" and "Fire Nation Royal Family."

Not too shabby, all things considered!

Anyway, when I was done with my nonsense calculations, I cleaned up the tags on the story and took the opportunity to add a few that were missing before. One casualty was my beloved "Updates at the Pace of my Capricious Muse" tag for an "Aiming for Monthly Updates" tag.

I've never actually held to a writing/posting schedule before, but I think it's about time I gave it a try. For a few reasons, not least of which is the sheer discrepancy of the amount I updated SToFLO in its first year compared to its second. I know monthly is a pretty slow update rate, but this is fanfic written in my spare time as a hobby; and, even as slow as monthly is, this last year I've actually been posting less than that. (I suppose if the extras in Folktales and Fables are counted, then it's roughly the same amount of chapters/content for the series as a whole as monthly posts would be, but still.)

I'm hoping to update SToFLO every 28th of the month from now on, so keep an eye out for the next chapter and I'll see you in about a week! Happy reading!

[askblueandviolet]

DF: I think at this rate these two disasters are going to have their wedding/official demonic mates thing when the fic series hits the Bible word count.

We are at 480,000+ words for the series, and the Bible is 780,000+ words. It is, entirely possible, considering my painstakingly slow pace for developing the relationship between these two.

300,000+ more words to go... sighs...

The slow burn hurts me too, believe it or not guys (⁠´⁠；⁠ω⁠；⁠｀⁠). But we'll get there, probably, if I can keep up the motivation somehow.

[creativecuteness]

Fanfiction Schedule Announcement (Trying something new)

Starting February 8th, I will return to posting both new and old fanfic's throughout the year. I feel like I haven't posted as much as I'd like during 2023, and I believe the reason is I feel overwhelmed with the amount of fic's I have both started and even have yet to finish and post. So, I've decided to start an experiment every week I chose a fic and work on it for that week (Though this could change to one fic per month) if I finish a chapter, I post it next month (For EX say I work on the Adventure of a Lifetime January 7th to the 13th and finish a chapter. That means I'd post said chapter on the first Friday of February and so on and so furth.) My goal is to post four chapters a month maybe six to eight if I get enough chapter's backlogged for a specific fic so I can post on Monday's (Hopeful I can get to that eventually.) My goal is to become an author one day and may consider tinkering with Webnoveling as a way to ease me into it (Don't know if I'll go down the web novel route or just write a book and self-publish it. Still working it out.) So, from this point onward I am officially posting on Friday's starting next week. I'll also post chapters on here as well. Along with a monthly update schedule so you know which fic's are being updated or posted. So with that said here's what's coming.

A brand-new fic based on a certain horror AU that is Totally Dramatic (Sneak Peek of said fic will be posted Tomorrow. With the first 3 chapters releasing on Ao3, fanfiction.net, and Tumblr every Friday throughout the month.)

And at the end of the month, I'll be posting a Sneak Peek of another Mystery themed story that star's Emily Jones and her Cyborg sidekick based on the game Master Detective Archives: Rain Code so get hyped for that.

Anyway, I believe that's all I wanted to say get hyped peeps; because I believe this will be my best year yet. Also, it's my fifth-year anniversary this year I've been posting fic's for five years babies. 🥳

[vikingmagic33]

Nah, man. Not funny.