#girl 2 gp is nothing have some respect for yourself

[wearemercs]

"Right now I'm free, so I have a slot for you." by Frederick Francis (FF69)

[wiypt-writes]

Consciousness of Guilt

Chapter 8 Part 1

Summary: Christmas is fast approaching and you and Andy attend your first formal office party together.

Warnings: Language, Smut (NSFW, 18+). References and flashbacks to past abuse (non-con situation briefly described.)

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar the reader and any other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

W/C: 9.5k (whoops)

A/N: Again, we got LOT going on in this chapter, but it all serves a purpose in the bigger plot…you’ll see!

Consciousness Of Guilt Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 7 Part 2

After your parents and sister left, the holiday season was in full swing, which also meant that a certain dinosaur had his birthday coming up within days. You were far more excited than he was and since he'd completely overlooked the day on purpose; his firm quote being 'its during Christmas, never needed to make a big deal over it', you were going to make sure it was one helluva time.

Since the actual day landed on a Tuesday, you planned a weekend with a little Denver getaway and a cooking class for the Saturday night before hand. Come three in the afternoon on Friday, the two of you were outta there! 

The snow had already coated the ground and roads, but that made it all the more cozy as Andy drove your Jeep, given its four wheel drive suspension, into Denver. Your excitement was evident as you kept smiling at him, only to receive a chuckle in return.

"Hey, I just thought, you booked our flight, right?" You asked. "My parents are excited to have us."

"Uh, yeah, I have them written down somewhere in the office. I think we leave like that Wednesday and come home the following Tuesday." Andy answered nonchalantly. 

You didn't push too much on Boston, for you weren't entirely ready for it yourself. It would be a tough for you both and neither you nor Andy were stupid enough to think otherwise. What you were looking forward to was sharing some of your traditions with him and you knew he was looking forward to the two of you having lunch with Joanna. But that's as far as your hopes for Boston went. You shoved it aside for now as you neared your destination. A goofy smile pulling at your lips as Andy followed the GPS to The Ritz Carlton, Denver. 

"Uh, excessive?" He shook his head, not disapprovingly but in a bit of a shock. 

"It's two nights. A quick trip. You deserve it." You said softly and hopped out as the valet opened your door. 

And a quick trip it was. You checked yourselves into a corner city view executive suite for the weekend, and whilst you originally had planned a dinner in the luxurious hotel restaurant, Andy wanted nothing more than to spend the evening with you cuddled up on the parlor couch of your room with room service. It wasn't a bad sounding idea, as your cycle had arrived two days before. So that's what you did, you lounged around in hotel bath robes and ate room service watching Jurassic World 3, a cheap rental off of the room's pay-per-view, until the two of you were stuffed and happily snuggled in bed. 

Saturday you had a lie in until late morning, followed by a stroll through a holiday market in downtown where you and Andy shopped for the girls at work, Ron and his wife, your parents and Penny, even picking up something for Joanna that Andy had chuckled at, declaring she’d love it. After a quick shower to warm up from the chilly winter air outside, you and Andy headed out to cash in on his gift from you- a couple's cooking class. It was something Andy was actually quite excited about once he'd heard your idea so you didn't miss a chance to book the lesson in pasta making and wine pairings. Stuffed full, and aching from laughter in your cheeks and bellies, you headed back for your final night at The Ritz. 

Upon check out, Andy couldn't stop smiling and thanking you for one of the best ways he's celebrated his birthday in quite some time.

Come Tuesday, Andy's actual birthday, you couldn't help but surprise him at the office with a coffee from Patti's. Then later, both of you having to work through lunch, you made a home cooked meal for dinner and to no surprise, a cheesecake from Patti's. But, as Andy noted later whilst you two led in bed, his favourite part of the day was the card you'd given him over dinner. 

It had him first chortling, then sputtering to downright wheezing in laughter.

The two of you carried on in stitches for a good five minutes before he kissed you deeply, and longingly. 

"Thank you, Angel."

All in all, the month started to feel like it was passing quickly. From late nights to long weekends, pressure from all the partners to get some files closed and work finished before the year's end, you and Andy weren't together much and it killed you both. But, lucky for the pair of you, your holidays were about to begin.

It was Saturday, the seventeenth of December and the two of you were finally going to get that time together. It'd been eleven days since you'd last had a date and tonight, it was a big one. It was the office Christmas party. Apparently, each year it was a formal event and it was the first for both of you, Andy having skipped out on the two since he'd been in Colorado as his heart just wasn't in it. 

You'd somewhat enjoyed shopping for a dress and shoes the weekend before with Eva and Amber, spending the day gossiping and laughing, enjoying wine and dinner after you shopped, whilst pushing down the memories of your last formal event. And now, the day was upon you and you had an appointment to get to. 

Andy snored peacefully beside you, he having spent the night after getting in near ten from work and heading straight up to snuggle in with you. He hardly flinched when you pressed your lips to his neck. 

"Andy, I'll be back," you said softly, a scratch to the hairs at the nape of his neck. He muttered into the pillow and you dry chuckled as you left him. 

A couple of hours later, you were back with relaxed hands and feet part and parcel to the fantastic nude coloured manicure and pedicure you'd received. When you stepped in from your garage, and walked through the small hall into your kitchen and dining space, you found Andy on the phone sitting in his usual spot on the couch across the room. 

“Erm… you know what, Joanna, I’m not sure, I’ll ask.” Andy’s eyes flicked to you and you looked at him, questioningly. “Joanna’s booked a table for lunch at a Thai place near the Harbor but she wanted to check you liked Thai food and I realised I don’t actually know.”

"Love it."

“That’s a yes.” Andy chuckled back into the phone. “Sure, yeah looking forward to seeing you too. Take care.”

You joined Andy on the couch as he patted the cushion next to him. "You look relaxed," he commented as you plopped down.

“Well, it’s been a while since I got pampered.” You shrugged, leaning over to give him a peck. 

"I should probably trim up myself," he pondered, rubbing a hand over his beard. His hair was a bit longer than he normally kept it, but you'd grown to like it.

“Want me to do it for you?”

"Hmmmm," Andy hummed. "Okay."

You spluttered, "Jesus, I was only kidding! I'm not fucking that gorgeous thing up!"

"Worse comes to worse, I just shave it off and start over," he shrugged.

“Don’t you fucking dare!”

"It's just a beard."

"Just a beard?" You snorted and climbed into his lap, "oh, baby, it's much more than just a beard."

“Don’t you wanna see what’s hiding underneath?” He cocked his head to the side, his hands rubbing up your thighs. “You never know, you might like my clean shaven look.”

"You shave, what happens when I do this?" You spoke lowly as you cupped his face, pressing your lips to his.

“Having no beard won’t stop me kissing you, Angel.”

"But, what about," your fingers ran through those auburn whiskers as you kissed him again.

Andy let out that familiar noise, half growl, half purr, the one that always went straight to your belly. As you pulled away he gave a chuckle. “Okay, the beard stays.”

"Thought so," you scratched at him again then scooted off his thighs. "Now, we have time before we have to get ready to go.... Movie? Nap? Movie and nap?"

“Are those the only choices?” He raised his eyebrows playfully. 

"I'm open to suggestions."

“Well, I got a good few suggestions I could make, none of them involve a movie or a nap…”

"Slow down Romeo, we've got all night," you teased. "Really we have the next ten days."

"Four." He deadpanned.

"What?" You were confused.

"We leave on Wednesday for your parents."

"And?"

"Yeah, noooooo."

You blinked, “seriously? Oh my God. We have had mind blowing sex twice with my parents and my sister in this house…”

"Yours versus theirs are two totally different.... things..."

"Well, frankly, I'm amazed at your lack of balls, right now." You scoffed.

Andy gasped as if you offended him. "Baby, you know I've got the balls."

“Doesn’t sound like it to me. You know, if that’s how you feel you might as well cancel your flight and I’ll take my battery operated friend with me instead.”

"Wait, your what?"

"You heard me."

A playfully fun growl emitted from his throat as he literally pounced on you, caging you between his arms against the cushions.

"What are you doing?" You giggled with big eyes.

He smirked as his lips brushed your neck, teeth grazing your skin slightly. “Can your battery operated friend do this?”

A low moan left your lips as you snaked your hands around his neck and into the collar of his thermal tee. "Okay," you fluttered, "maybe.... Well…oh hell."

“What about this?” His lips moved to your jaw line and you gave a little whine.

“Andy…”

Your protests died down as his lips pressed to yours gently before he pulled back and looked at you, his eyes shining. And then he burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” You frowned.

“You, do you really think I’m going to be able to spend almost a week with us sleeping in the same bed and not touch you?”

Your eyes grew wide and you gasped, "Andrew Barber!" He laughed as you shoved him in his chest and he sat up, allowing you to prop yourself up on your elbows. “That was a shitty trick.”

He popped a shoulder. "I'm sorry, sorta.”

"For, that, you're going to have blue balls all night." You stood from the couch and walked to the stairs, Andy trying but failing to pull you back. "Think I’ll take a bath. Don't forget to trim."

“Baaaabe.” Andy whined and you smirked to yourself as you headed up the stairs to your bedroom.

You sauntered into your en-suite and started the fawcet. You then grabbed your book and climbed in, smirking to yourself about how you’d just left Andy hanging. First off you took care of a hair wash, plastering on a deep conditioning treatment, before you took a quick shave to neaten your smooth legs and then led back with your book.

You’d managed a few chapters when Andy walked into the bathroom and placed a glass of wine down at the edge of the tub before he stripped off his shirt, those sleep pants slung low on his hips.

“I know what you’re doing,” you smirked.

“I’m trimming up.” He eyed you in the mirror, as he reached for his shaver, his back muscles flexing.

“Whatever,” you laughed, picking up your wine as you went back to your book.

Once you were done, you towelled off and wrapped yourself in a bathrobe, heading back down to find Andy was still lounging around shirtless, flicking through something on his Ipad as he sipped from a bottle of beer. You flopped next to him, the pair of you sharing more jokes and banter.

You were thankful for the playful distraction, for as the time grew near for the party, you grew more anxious. The last formal event you attended, you became a widow. 

You pushed the memory out of your mind and focused on getting ready. As you cleaned your teeth, your eyes watched Andy’s naked body as he stepped out of the shower and towelled off, wrapping the towel round his waist. You swilled your mouth out before he drew up at the sink next to you. Kissing his shoulder, you headed for your walk in, soon coming out with the bag from the lingerie store with your bra and panty set still wrapped up with the tags on it. Another big step in your forward process, buying a nice set of undergarments. 

You left the bag on the bed untouched as you set about with your skin care regiment and finally going back into your en-suite to start your hair and make-up. 

The two of you worked at getting ready comfortably, Andy teasingly walking around in a towel as he styled his hair and worked on his beard a bit more. Then he escaped to the closet for his tux, expertly laying it out on the bed to dress. 

You were putting the final touches to your make up when Andy came back into the room, his dress pants and shirt on with a refilled glass of wine for you and a beer for himself. He placed your drink down on your vanity, kissing your temple, before he headed to the wardrobe to retrieve his dress shoes. “Our Uber will be here in about twenty.” He sat down on the bed, shoving his feet into the shiny black oxfords.

"Thank you," you eyed the wine, then you eyed him. Hair styled, beard neatly trimmed, the deep blue of his tux pants and white shirt making him look handsome as hell.

He rose from the bed and reached for the cufflinks on the nightstand and you continued to watch him in the mirror, unable to stop yourself comparing this to how the last time you’d prepared for a formal had felt. 

You swallowed a long sip of wine and inhaled that calming grooming kit scent that Andy used as it filled the space when he walked by.

"Honey, I don't think you can go in a robe."

“No? Huh. Best re-think my outfit.”

He kissed your unglossed lips, "I'll see you downstairs."

You gave yourself a once over in the mirror. Your hair was down and styled as you liked it, a fresh blown out look to your locks, romantic waves at the ends. Your eyes shined behind a neutral palette of eye shadows and thin liner, luscious mascara filling out your lashes that nearly made you less jealous of Andy's. Your cheeks looked as if they were pinched in a natural tone while your lips were coloured with a smooth mauve shade of lipstick. Your dainty diamond tennis bracelet a recent birthday gift from your parents, glistened in the vanity lights. 

"Okay, here we go," you encouraged yourself. If only Andy knew just how difficult it was for you to go through this process. You looked at the bag on the bed and thought about maybe looking for a suitable set in your drawer. But instead, you scolded yourself and dug into the tissue, pulling a smooth black strapless number out and a cheeky cut pair panties to match. 

Then you, after placing your diamond studded earrings in your ears, slipped into the dress that you spent a lot of time thinking over. The side zip made it easy for you to close as your hips were hugged in the wine coloured satin. You smoothed your hand over the torso of the dress, taking in the off the shoulder straps and the slit you'd second guessed when you'd tried it on, Eva and Amber stunned at how you looked. Without another thought, you slipped into and buckled the nude ankle strapped sandal heels, plucked your clutch from the table by the bedroom door and set foot downstairs. 

Andy was in the living area, sat on the sofa, the now empty beer bottle on the coffee table in front of him. As he heard you descending the stairs he looked up and you saw his eyes widen.

With his usual grace and poise, he rose to his feet and as that gorgeous smile spread across his face as you looked him up and down, taking in his appearance. His suit of choice looked stunning against his blue eyes, the deep sapphire colour making the pools of blue that were his eyes pop even more against the black lapel detail of his jacket and bow tie. 

"Well, blue is definitely your colour, Counselor," you admired. 

Andy smiled as he strode towards you, his arm looping round your waist. He gently pressed a kiss to your lips. “You look amazing.”

You bashfully peered down, "thank you."

At that point Andy’s phone went off and he took it out of his pocket. “Car's here, your coat in the closet by the garage?”

"Mmmhmmm," you nodded. He gave a nod and quickly sped off to retrieve it, only to return with your black woollen pea coat and his own wool coat he'd left on a bar chair. He helped you into yours and then slipped into his before allowing you to close and lock your front door behind you.

Taking your hand, he led you carefully to the car, ensuring you didn’t slip on any ice and opened the back door nearest the curb. Once you were settled, and sure your dress wasn’t in the way, Andy closed the door and made his way to the other side. 

He settled in besides you, reaching for your hand. He raised it to his lips and pressed a kiss to the inside of your wrist.

"Tell me," he said with a soft look.

"How did you..."

He gave you a soft wink instead of interrupting with his words.

You shook your head, giving a soft chuckle. “Am I really that readable?”

"Well, no, not to everyone," he denied, "but I know you."

You looked at him before you sighed and bit your lip. “It’s just, well the last event I attended like this was the book launch on the night Ransom was killed.”

He frowned a little and your eyes picked up on it in the traffic lights. You closed your own eyes as the flashback of that night started in your subconscious, a near moment of how the night began already replaying in your reality. Then you opened them and smiled at him, before you looked out of the window. “I just, well, I guess I’m waiting for the day where I can do things without him constantly being in my head, like this huge dark cloud, you know?” You shook your head and turned to face Andy, “I mean even buying this dress took me far longer than it should have because I wanted nothing like anything I wore when he took me out.” Andy just looked at you and listened. "I spent two hours looking for underwear." You admitted with a roll of your eyes, embarrassed at yourself and such a ridiculous thought.

Andy blinked, “what?”

"I spent two hours in the store looking for the right pair of underwear that didn't make me feel like....like I was less than who I am."

“Less than who you are?” Andy looked at you, shaking his head. “Honey, I don’t understand what you mean but that doesn’t matter. If you’re uncomfortable at any time tonight, just tell me and if you want I’ll take you home. I promise.” 

"Okay," you whispered.

"But back to the underwear...did you buy them? Do I get to see them?" He playfully lightened the mood. For someone who used to be so morose and sad, serious and quite unapproachable looking when you first met, the Andy Barber you grew to know now always was snarky and playful, finding ways to make you smile or laugh, feel genuinely appreciated. It made your heart leap with how much you felt for this handsome man. 

"Andy...."

“Angel, don’t tease me.” He nearly, and lowly whimpered. 

You rolled your eyes, "I'm wearing them."

Andy looked at you, his eyes raking down to your cleavage before they flicked back up to yours. “Well, I very much look forward to-“

“Will you behave?” You shook your head, “you’ve been acting like a horny teenager all afternoon!”

"You started it," he accused. "You rubbed my beard," he whispered in your ear.

You couldn't hold the belly laugh that sprang free, your eyes squinting as you tilted your body back against the seat of the Uber.

Upon arrival at the St. Julien Hotel and Spa, Andy reached over to tip the driver, the fare already covered by his card.

"Wait here," Andy smiled as he climbed out first and made his way around to your door, opening it and extending his hand for you to take. 

He helped you to your feet, never leaving your side nor dropping your hand as you made your way into the hotel and towards the ballroom that had been rented out. You stopped off at coat check, straight away, the man behind the counter taking down your information.  Then, with a hand to the small of your back, Andy guided you towards the doors of the room.

“You do realise that we’re gonna be watched tonight, don’t you?” You turned to him. “Eva and Amber told me we’re still the talk of the office.”

"I don't care," he admitted. "It's been nearly four months, they need to get over it. It's also none of their business."

You took a step into the large ballroom, expertly decorated in the finest and most gorgeous holiday lights and wreaths, a couple of trees in the corners of the room, a live band playing jazz versions of the holiday classics. A photographer quickly stepped in front of you asking for a smile. Andy dropped your hand and wrapped and arm around your waist, his fingers splayed over your hip. As the flash went off, it startled you a little, causing you to freeze in his embrace. Andy went back to taking your hand and he looked down at you, concern in his eyes. You  gave Andy's hand a hard squeeze to let him know you were okay.

Once inside, the pair of you quickly located Ron and his wife, the couple both greeting him and Andy properly introduced you to Giselle, who beamed at you. You found your allocated table for the meal and, after ensuring you were comfortable, Andy headed off with Ron to the bar, purchasing a bottle of champagne. When he returned with it in the ice bucket, Ron carrying the glasses, you simply looked at him and he shrugged.

“It’s Christmas, if you can’t push the boat out then when can you?” He smiled, dropping a kiss your lips.

The food was great, both Andy and you having opted for the scallops to start, followed by a Beef Wellington, and a raspberry pavlova to finish. As the after dinner coffee was served, the other people at the table started to thin out, Amber and Eva wandering over to take up a couple of spare seats. Andy then excused himself to nip to the bathroom, stating he would swing by the bar on his way back as it was his round.

You hadn’t realised how long he’d bene gone until you raised your glass to your mouth, realising it was empty. You pouted a little, and were just about to look for Andy when you heard Giselle snort.

“Oh dear.”

“What?” You asked.

“Seems like Phyllis from accounting has found Andy alone at the bar.”

You turned your head as Amber and Eva snorted.  Andy was indeed stood at the bar, an older woman talking to him. His face was arranged in an expression you knew well, he was trying to appear interested when he was far from it.

“Ron honey, you should go rescue him.” Giselle spoke.

“Nope.” Ron shook his head, “it's a rite of passage that you get Phyllissed at an office party.”

The table laughed as Giselle arched her brow, “Ronald…”

“No way, he left me with Florence from the post room the other day for a full hour, he can fuck off!”

“Well, someone needs to help him, because the poor guy is gonna be bored into a coma…”

“Fine.” You grinned, “I need the bathroom anyway…”

You stood up and headed over, the relief evident on Andy’s face instantly. He gave you a huge smile as you drew up alongside him.

“Hi Angel…”

“Hi,” you took the kiss he offered before you turned to the woman by him. “Hey, Phyllis, merry Christmas. I'm so sorry to interrupt but, I need to steal Andy for a second.”

“Make sure it is a second,” Phyllis laughed.

“Oh don’t worry,” you smiled as you hooked your arm round his, “I’ll bring him straight back.”

“You’re not gonna take me straight back, right?” Andy asked as you led him away.

“Depends if you’re a good boy or not.”

“Why... Why with the teasing?” He whined, and you grinned as you turned to face him.

“Call it revenge for the stunt you pulled before about the fake sex ban at my parents.”

"I hardly think the punishment fits such a crime, Miss Y/L/N. How can I file an appeal?”

"You can take it up with the judge," you winked. "Now that I've rescued you, I'm going to the ladies room, I'll be right back. Wait here, hide out from Phyllis and apparently Florence."

You snuck into the ladies room, Andy keeping by the hall, awaiting your return. The ladies room was empty and you found a stall to do your business in but you struggled a bit to hoist your dress up without having to fully remove the garment. You loved it, but it was a pity it wasn't restroom friendly. By the time you had managed to manoeuvre it enough to allow you to pee, you were almost bursting. As you finished up and attempted to right your hems, you heard giddy laughter entering the room.

"Did you see Barber, my God, such a fox!”

Your hand hovered over the cistern handle as you paused, recognising the voice instantly. It was Candace, one of the junior admin assistants from Ron’s team.

"You know, I can't believe he's seeing her."

You felt a chill rush up your spine, as the second voice you didn’t recognise spoke. Once upon a time you would have thought nothing about stalking out of the cubicle and embarrassing the fuck out of whoever it was but now…

"Standards... Some have them some don't,” came Candace's voice again. 

“Oh, I quite like Y/N.” A third voice, this one belonging to Sally, a finance officer spoke. “I think it’s cute.”

"Cute? He's either in a mid-life crisis or she's a rebound." The strange voice scoffed.

“Don’t be such a bitch, Ellie.” Sally groaned.

"Well, if you ask me, it's a pity party. They're both sorry for the other, his wife died and hers was murdered. Speaking of him, uh hello, did anyone here see her ex-husband? I'd lay down for that blue eyed walking wallet any day." Candace declared. 

You swallowed and sat back down on the toilet seat, taking a deep breath. 

There was a snort as the girl you now knew to be called Ellie snorted, “that’s probably what she did."

"I think you’re jealous," came Sally's voice.

"Of her? Puh-lease."

Having heard enough, you took a deep breath, fuck this shit. You sorted your dress, flushed and then yanked the cubicle door open and stalked into the main bathroom area. 

The look of being caught red handed was on their faces in your peripheral as you moved to the sinks and washed up. Sally meekly said hello and you turned to her, "hi."

You fixed a bit of your make up, dabbing a little more colour to your lips and turned to the bitches besides you. "Excuse me, I have a pity party to get back to."

You exited the bathroom, Andy was exactly where you had left him. He had been joined by Ron and Giselle, and he gave you a broad smile as he spotted you making your way back.

"I was just about to pop in there," he joked.

"It was a little crowded," you shrugged. "A few of the girls were gossiping and standing around." You watched as Giselle gave an eye to the door as the aforementioned women stepped out. 

"Oh," she commented. The pair of you shared a significant look before she snorted, “I try to avoid Toilet Tramps.”

“I was going with Bathroom Bitches but I like your term better.” You bit back the smirk plying over your lips and downcast your eyes to your feet. Andy's hand moved to the small of your back.

“Everything okay?"

“Yeah,” you fixed a smile to your face, not wanting to bother him with what was said, or dwell on it any longer than necessary, “I’m fine.”

He gave a quick flick of his brows and just thumbed your chin towards his face and laid a tingling soft kiss to your lips.

“Aww Ron, I remember when you used to kiss me like that.” Giselle teased and you burst out laughing as Ron gave a groan. 

“Sweetheart,” he gave her a mock stern look and she flashed you a wink. 

“Y/N, let’s go grab another bottle of champagne. I appear to still be out.” She turned to Ron and he rolled his eyes and slapped his wallet into her hand.

"We'll meet you back at the table," Ron shook his head and kissed her cheek.

Andy pecked you again and you left with Giselle, making your way to the bar, scanning for Phyllis since you weren't returning with Andy on your arm. 

“So,” Giselle linked her arm into yours as you walked, “what were the bitches saying? Which poor, unsuspecting soul was the subject of this year’s festive knife to the back?”

"Me," you answered simply.

Giselle stopped mid stride, "what?"

“They were talking about Andy and I.” You shrugged, “and it wasn’t particularly complimentary. Well, apart from Sally.”

"Oh from financial, I like her," Giselle smiled, "look, despite whatever they said..."

"That I was a rebound and only was with my dead ex-husband for his money. Or how about that Andy is going through a mid-life crisis and we are merely each other's pity parties?" You hadn't meant to interrupt her, but it poured out of you.

Giselle just stood, listening, jaw slightly ajar.

"Sorry," you muttered. 

“Hey, don’t apologise.” Giselle shook her head. “That was really fucking rude of them.”

"Well, nothing to be done," you popped a shoulder and guided your steps towards the bar again. "I am not sleeping my way through the office, despite apparent popular opinion and some just don't leave High School after graduation."

“Woah,” Giselle continued, “who thinks you’re sleeping your way through the office?”

"No one, yet," you rolled your eyes as you eyed the bartender.

“Well, ignore them. Stupid bitches.” Giselle shrugged. “They’re only jealous.”

You chortled as she ordered the champagne and looked back at you.

"Andy adores you. We can all see it," she smiled, a soft motherly tone to her words. You smiled back, feeling a slight warmth spread into your cheeks as she continued. “Don’t think on what they said any longer, like I said, they’re simply jealous. Andy has always been the one around the place to make the girls swoon. And he’s not shown a bit of interest in anyone that way until you. So-“ she shrugged a little “-you were always going to be the subject of narrowed eyes.”

"Thank you," your features softened as you smiled. "I like him, too. I just...this stuff is hard, or at least harder than I remember it being."

"Oh honey, you're what, thirty-five? It's only the beginning," she giggled, "but hey, if I were gonna do it all over again, Andy Barber isn't a bad fresh start." She winked and grabbed the neck of the bottle she had ordered, "now, let's get into some trouble."

With a little chuckle you picked up the four clean glasses the bartender had set by the bottle and you headed back to the table you’d sat at for your meal, where Andy and Ron were both sat. You set the glasses down and took your seat next to Andy. He peered at you with a smile and those bright eyes. The tip of his nose a little pink.

“Hey, gorgeous.” He beamed and pressed his lips to yours, his arm laying across the back of your chair. “You good?”

"Never better," you smiled as his finger skated over the area between your shoulder blades, your skin exposed to his warm touch.

“Never better, huh?” Andy grinned, “high praise indeed.”

You winked. It was time to enjoy the night. Or at least what remained.

After the bottle of champagne has been polished off, Andy watched with amusement as Giselle dragged you off, despite your protests, to join Amber, Eva and a few others on the dance floor. With his wife out of the way, Ron took the opportunity to order himself and Andy a scotch, which Andy insisted on paying for this time.

"Enjoying yourself?" Ron asked him.

“Yeah, I am actually. Which shouldn’t surprise me as much as it does.” Andy looked at Ron, chuckling as he spoke.

"Well, then cheers to that," Ron winked.

“I’m going back to Boston for Christmas,” Andy suddenly blurted out, not quite sure why he was telling Ron in all honesty, “to stay with Y/N at her parents.”

"You haven't been back since you've been here, have you?" Ron wondered and Andy shook his head. Then Ron nodded, "I hope you have a really good time. Andy, I'm not going to sugar coat it, you're a damn good lawyer and a good man. I've seen you put in the hours and the long weekends. It's time you enjoyed something for yourself for a while."

“Thanks, Ron.” Andy smiled, before he took a deep breath. “To be honest, I’m a little apprehensive about going. But…” his eyes flicked to Y/N over on the dance floor, a soft smile curling over his face as he watched her for a moment, before he cleared his throat and turned back to Ron, “I’m sure it will be fine. Y/N’s parents are great.”

"Andy, apprehension is all a part of it. Especially when your past catches up with your present." Andy knew all too well what Ron had meant. "But, there's always a side to apprehension that's exciting because there's the unknown. And if you ask me, which you haven't," he didn't even continue that thought for Andy's eyes were focused on something behind Ron, and when the man turned for a quick look, he chuckled. "Oh Andy, you got it bad, buddy!"

Andy groaned, his head hanging a little. “That obvious, huh?”

Ron popped a shoulder, "only because we've been paired up for a while now, I've seen it. And it looks good on you. It's a far cry from the man you were a year and a half ago."

Andy pondered Ron’s words for a moment, and found he couldn’t really argue with any of it. He felt a far cry from the man he was eighteen months ago.

There was still a huge hole in his life, the internal scars that Jacob and Laurie's deaths had left would never heal, he knew that. But the pain was now bearable and he'd overcome the complete collapse of his life. He had a purpose in life, something that kept him going other than his work.

His thoughts were interrupted by hands gripping his shoulders over his white button down, and a soft whisper in his ear, "it's a slow one, come dance with me."

“Don’t think you’re escaping…” he heard Giselle warn Ron, the older man groaning as Andy turned his head to look up at his girl over his shoulder.

“Lead the way, ma’am” he rose to his feet, reaching out to take her hand.

A bright smile greeted him as you grabbed his hand and led him away, the soft sounds of a slow, holiday jazz number playing in time with your step. When you reached the dance floor, Andy's arm wrapped around your back, pulling you in close for a gentle embrace. His free hand held yours out to your side, elbows slightly bent as your other hand reached around to curl at his neck.

Andy wasn’t sure exactly when he’d last danced like this. It had been years, he knew that much, maybe even a decade. But that didn’t matter now. What did matter was he was doing it right there and then, with the woman who had given him another purpose in life in his arms.

Your eyes tilted up towards his and you smiled softly. Your lashes kissed your cheek bones as you met his gaze again.

“What are you thinking about?” You asked him, as he gently revolved you both on the dance floor.

Andy shook his head, "how beautiful you look. How lucky I've been lately."

You gave a small snort, "I think that last scotch did you in, Counselor."

“Hardly.” He shook his head. “I’m not drunk, maybe a little tipsy,” he scrunched his nose and you laughed, “but I’m not past the point of talking sense. I mean it. You are beautiful and I’m a very lucky bastard.”

"I think we share the luck," you admitted. He felt your fingers scratch the hairs at the nape of his neck as you smiled up at him, your ears filling with the sounds of the season.

“One thing I am happy to share.” He grinned and you laughed.

“Unlike your popcorn, huh?”

"Hey," he chuckled.

"You'll share it, just you watch," you winked.

“You think?”

“Absolutely. You see, I can be very persuasive when I need to be, Counselor.”

“Oh, I’m sure you can…” Andy smirked, dipping his head to catch your mouth in a soft kiss. When he pulled away, your eyes darted to the side and you let out a huff.

“We’re being watched.”

Andy's eyes caught what you meant as he noticed the ladies from the bathroom watching you.

“Wanna give them something to look at?” His head whipped back to yours and he arched his brow, bolstered by not only the alcohol but the general buzz of being on the dancefloor at a party.

"Yes," you whispered. "But what...."

With a grin Andy pulled you closer to him and kissed you, the hand that was holding yours let go, and he cupped your face, palm warm against your cheek before it slid round to the back of your head, fingers tangling in your hair. His tongue tickled your top lip and you responded by opening your mouth and allowing him to fill your senses with all of him.

Your hands slipped up his arms, coming to rest on his shoulders as he pressed as far into you as possible before he broke the kiss, his forehead pressing to yours, the pair of you slightly out of breath.

Andy couldn’t help but flick his eyes back to the group of girls who were stood there, still watching. With a deep breath he moved, one arm still round you. He raised the other and wiggled his fingers in their direction, causing them hastily to scatter, looking slightly embarrassed.

“Andy! Stop!” You snorted, slapping his arm.

“What?”

“You’re such a… you know what, I don’t know what you are. But I do know you’re never drinking scotch in public again!” 

With a laugh he pulled you closer and kissed you again.

"Let's get out of here," he whispered.

"Yeah, okay," you nodded.

You quickly said goodbye to Ron and Giselle before you headed out and grabbed your coats from coat check. As you slipped into the winter night, Andy hailed an awaiting Uber. After making sure you were settled, Andy moved round and climbed into the back next to you as you gave your address to the driver.

The driver nodded and punched it into his GPS. You sat back in your seat and turned to Andy with a glint of humour. "I cannot believe you...."

He didn't let you finish as his lips were against yours, his hand cupping your jaw again, pulling you to him. You kissed him back, eagerly, your hands curling round the lapels of his jacket, almost as if you was holding her to him. Not that you had to, he had no intention of pulling away.

His ears perked as you gave a little squeak of delight as you kissed, his weight bearing on his right side as his left continued to cradle you. He felt your hands on the lapel of his coat, sliding up his neck and scratching up his beard.

“Fahk….” He mumbled as yout nails scratched his cheeks and he gave a jolt, his eyes flying open as he glanced at the outside, the various buildings passing them by. It took him a moment to get his bearings, but you’d be passing his place in a couple of minutes on the way back to yours, his apartment was nearer to the hotel than your condo. That said, you normally preferred to stay at yours, having slept at his only a handful of times. Andy had never questioned or pushed the issue, and he had also never taken the step he was about to without asking.

But he also knew he didn’t wanna wait a moment longer than necessary.

“Hey, pal,” he spoke, his eyes still locked on you. “Change of plan…”

He barely registered Reg as you slipped through the doors to his building, Reg's boisterous laugh hitting Andy's ears as you reached the elevator banks. He punched the 'Up' button quickly before kissing you again. If anyone had seen them, they'd have thought you looked like a couple of teenagers on prom night, but Andy didn't care.

The kissing and pawing at one another stopped just long enough for Andy to get the door open and allow you to enter in front of him. Once inside he kicked the door shut and pulled you back to him again, the pair of you fumbling around his dark apartment.

Coats hit the floor haphazardly as did his tux jacket, your clutch landing somewhere between the living room and hall. Your fingers moved over his bow tie, blindly undoing it and allowing the fabric to hang over his shirt as you untucked it and started in on his buttons. By the time you reached the bedroom at the end of the long hallway, Andy’s shirt had been tossed to the floor somewhere along the way.

Andy blindly ran his hand along the wall of his room, finding the light switch. As the small wall lights flicked on, located just over the head of his bed, you both blinked a little at the renewed brightness. The light was soft, however, sending a warm glow over the neutrally decorated bedroom. 

His eyes took in your dishevelled hair and kiss plumped lips, his hands at your waist, sliding up your sides, his thumbs running along your ribs and that zipper seam of your dress.

“Do I finally get to see this underwear now?”

A silly smirk played at your lips, "I guess," you gave a flick of her eyes.

Andy grinned back, and his fingers deftly found the top of the zip, easily sliding it down the side of your body, following it as it stopped just at the curve of your hip. The fabric loosened around you and as you pulled your arms from the off the shoulder straps, it fell to your feet still in your heels.

Your dress pooled around your heeled feet and your hands curled over Andy’s shoulders as you stepped out of it, nudging it away with your foot.

A crooked smile spread over his face as he flicked his eyebrows up, and you snorted. "There, you saw them."

“Would it be uncouth of me to ask you for a twirl?”

You swallowed a little, images of that asshole making you display yourself in such a way flashed into your mind, but no sooner had he invaded your thoughts, he was gone.

Because unlike Andy, he never asked, simply instructed, more often or not with a single gesture of his finger.

“Angel, you don’t…” Andy started but you silenced him with a flick of your eyebrow and a smirk as you gave him a slow, little twirl, showing off what you deemed to be boring, silky underwear.

"Very sexy," he commented.

His compliment made you smile and you moved towards him, your arms round his neck as you pulled his face back to yours. You felt his hands on your body, hot hands at your waist and then down the small of your back and over the round, soft cheeks of your ass.

"Get on the bed," you said, pushing his chest a bit. The look he gave was one of shock and mischief, too.

Your hands slid down his bare chest, your fingers deftly undoing the buckle of his belt before moving to the button of his dress slacks. He bucked slightly as your knuckles dragged against his skin, his mouth open as it pressed against yours.

He toed off his shoes and bent to discard his socks as you waited, slipping your heels off yourself, your eyes watching as he sat on the edge of the bed, the clink of his buckle sounding.

With a sudden burst of confidence you strode towards him, stopping as you stood between his thighs. His hands curled around the back of your knees, fingers softly brushing the skin and then his eyes widened with surprise as you shoved him in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards into the bed.

You kneeled at the edge, your body towering over his thighs. He said nothing, just quirked a brow and smirked as you crawled over the top of him, his hands falling to your hips as he shuffled you both further up the bed. Your legs straddled his hips as you bent down to kiss him, a filthy moan coming from deep in his throat as your hips rotated against his lap.

His hands flexed on your hips, his fingers brushing against both your skin and the silk of your panties, as he pushed upwards, grinding against you.It was your turn to groan as his hardness pressed into your panty covered clit and you reluctantly pulled away. A firey feeling tore through you as you scratched at his beard while you nipped and kissed at his neck. Moving down to his collarbone, your lips parting across the ink to take a lick and another kiss.

You made your way slowly down, lips and teeth tracing a path down his abs and along that strip of hair that ran seemingly all the way down from his pecs and beyond his waistband.

Andy's body was vibrating under yours with each little attention to detail you were giving him. Your eyes looked up from your task, just as you'd reached the waistband of his underwear and what you saw caused a flood to pool in your panties. His eyes were cast down at you, colour blown with lust, his plump bottom lip between his teeth. You flipped the waist band of his underwear down, freeing his hardness from his pants and you heard him speak, his voice ragged.

“Baby, you…"

You interrupted him as you kitten licked his head, collecting that drop of precum that had escaped then took him in your mouth, causing him to shudder.

"Oh…okay," he let out a broken little squeak, "fuck…” he gasped as you took him in your mouth, lips and cheeks hollowing around him, a hand wrapping around the base of his shaft.

You took your time, figuring out what worked for him. He seemed to favour the slow, deep action, especially when you took him as far as you could but then rotated your wrist, causing your fingers to grip and squeeze the bottom of his dick.

His hands moved, brushing your hair away from your face, keeping his fingers tangled in your locks as he rest his palms at the side of your head in a natural, soft way. He wasn't about fucking your face until your jaw locked around him, he was about moving with you, feeling each bob and lave of your tongue to that thick vein on the underside of his cock.

You felt him start to pulse inside your mouth as his breathing became ragged. You wanted to let him have his but you felt the need to be stuffed full, feel that stretch. 

Almost as if he sensed that need, Andy’s hands moved to the underside of your jaw.

“Get up here, Angel, before I lose it.”

Slowly you popped off and as you looked up at Andy, his chest heaved with pleasure, you kneeled up and quickly pulled his belt from his dress pants. 

"No, you get up here," you rasped as you hooked his belt around his neck and pulled him to you, his body bending at the hips to devour your lips in a filthy kiss.

Quickly, he pivoted you both so you were led under him, his hand trailing down your rib cage as he continued to kiss the life out of you. His fingers curled around the hem of your panties and pulled as far as the length of his arm would allow before he broke away from your lips and pulled them the rest of the way down, you kicking them away. 

"Do you trust me?" He panted. 

Your breath hitched and you swallowed, "yes."

Your assurance echoed around his mind and Andy shoved his remaining clothing down his legs, kicking his pants and boxers off the edge of the bed. He then placed both hands on your hips, his fingers curling over your flesh before he moved quickly, flipping you to your front. You gave a little gasp of surprise and he leaned over, his chest brushing against your back, that necklace dragging over your skin, as he pressed a kiss to your shoulders, then neck.

“Okay?” He asked whilst one hand followed up the curve of your ass, over yourr back and to the clasp of your strapless bra. Single handed, he managed to flick the hook and eye. 

“Yeah…” you whispered, your head nodding as you felt the relief of your now free breasts and the thick anticipation of what Andy was going to do. 

His lips moved down over your spine as his fists upheld his weight until he was kissing at the dip in the small of your back. As his lips brushed your skin, he knelt back a little, hands curling once more at your waist as he pulled you upwards and back, so you were presented in front of him. He took his shaft in hand and ran his head along your slit, coating his tip with your slick. He brushed her clit and you whimpered.

With a final glance up at you, to see your face pressed to the pillow, head turned to the right, eyes fluttering open to watch him, he gently moved forward and slid into you in a single slow and deliberate thrust.

"Oh fahk," he stuttered as he sheathed himself inside you. He quickly moved to thrust again, not giving himself nor you the time to adjust. He was solid and needed that steady friction, but he wasn't about to let the night end quickly, despite how badly he'd gotten worked up.

His thrusts were snaps of his hips but there was time between each rut, he wasn't about banging you like a dog in heat, he was about the enjoyment for you and for himself second. His hands kept hold of your hips as he went, eyes shifting between your beautiful face and his actions, watching as he buried himself in you and coming out again. His self-control became unbelievably hard when you started to push back against him, seeking him out, driving him deeper.

As he felt that tightness in his sac grow,  and he hooked his arm under you, his hand slipped between the valley of your breasts, palming one in his hand as he titled you up, and sat back on his heels. The change in pitch had you both moaning as Andy went deeper, his tip sliding along that soft cushion inside you. 

He held you close, your back pressed to his chest, one large hand still kneading and tweaking your breast, the other dropping between your legs as they splayed, knees bent either side of his, your shins resting against the soft grey bed spread.

His hips bucked upwards, again and again, slightly faster than before but still controlling the pace as his fingers gently toyed with your clit.

“Come on, baby…” his lips nipped at your ear as he spoke, your head falling back against his shoulder as you let out a strangled groan. “Let go, come on…”

Your arm slid around behind his neck and gripped at the short hairs there as your whole body tensed around him like a constrictor snake. He felt your walls grip him hard, attempting to pull him in further than possible.

The hand that was on your breast moved upwards and he gently clasped your jaw in his fingers, tilting your face round to his. He pressed his mouth to yours, the kiss sloppy as you trembled in his arms, your release washing over you, almost violently. He came right behind you, his overlapping the last waves of yours as he continued with a filthy, rut riding kiss.

The room became silent as the sounds of groans, moans and skin slapping skin stopped, and instead the sounds of sex were replaced by heavy breathing as Andy held you still. His face pressed into the side of your neck as you both waited for your bodies to even out. Faint kisses covered the column of your neck as he tried to hold up your boneless body with his own. 

Ever so gently, he led you down with him along the bed, still joined inside you until he pulled back the blankets and covered you both up. As you laid your head against his chest, Andy couldn’t help but smirk as he'd just had the best sex of his life, and he wasn't over exaggerating either. 

“Well…” he felt you stir in his arms and he glanced down at you. Although you were exhausted and thoroughly fucked out, your eyes were bright and mischievous as you continued, “my battery operated friend can’t do that.”

He chuckled as he said "fahk."

“Which is a good job, really, as outside reproduction, men would serve absolutely no purpose whatsoever…”

A heavy finger touched your lips, "shhhh," he chortled. "Just stahp," he scrunched his nose up.

You both fell silent for a moment, Andy’s hand softly running up and down your spine. He pressed his lips to your head. “You need anything?”

“No, just sleep.” you yawned.

"Okay," he pressed his lips into your hair, "night, Angel."

“Night bay—-“ you yawned. 

Andy paused “what?”

“I said, night baby.”

“Huh, I thought you said Bee Bee.” He chuckled.

You shrugged and then snorted. “BB, it can stand for Bearded Barber.”

Andy blinked before he shook his head and reached up to flick the lights off. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

“Meh,” you popped a shoulder against his chest, "you love me…” you giggled and yawned again.

You felt Andy still beside you and immediately your eyes jerked open and you could just about make his silhouette out in the dark. But there wasn’t enough light to tell you what expression he wore on his face. And you were worried you’d just pushed it too far, albeit unwittingly. 

“I didn’t… that was just a… erm… it’s just…” you sighed as you tilted your head up to look at him. “Shit, I’m…”

“Hey, its okay.” He shook his head as he took a deep breath. “Y/N…”

“You don’t need to explain...”

“Will you shut up for a minute?” He chuckled, his hand brushing your hair off your face. "You're not wrong. I do love you."

Now you sat up a little, your elbow catching the brunt of your weight as you leaned against Andy's chest, your palm flat between his pecs. Your heart raced as you stared at him whilst he searched for words to say.

"These past few months have been the happiest I’ve felt in a very long time and, that’s down to you.” His hand that rested on your back flattened further against your spine as his other came to cup your face, this thumb running along your bottom lip before he pressed his forehead to yours.  “So yes, I do love you, and if I’m being honest, I probably have for a while.” 

You blinked, his nose sliding against yours as his words registered, a warm feeling flooded your body from your head to your toes as you realised what he’d just said.

He loved you. 

But, unlike the last time you had heard those words, you knew them to be true. This wasn’t lust or a sexual obsession mistaken for love, it came from a place of softness, caring. 

It came from the heart. 

It was a genuine affection that had grown over time through a relationship that held a mutual trust and acceptance. And there was absolutely no doubt in your mind that you felt the same. 

“I don’t expect you to say it back,” he whispered, “I'd never want to pressure you like..."

“I love you too,” you cut him off as you leaned into him, your lips pressing softly, but affirming to his.

*** Part 2

[mosswillow]

Iced Coffee 2 - Dark!Stephen Strange x reader

Series Warnings:

NEW WARNING! Somnophilia 

18+ adult content, Dark, Rape/noncon, obsessive behavior, stalking, doctor/medical themes, needles (chapter one, not sex related), violence, abuse, kidnapping, forced marriage, smut, escape attempt, Somnophilia

Potential warnings, a non-exhaustive list: Oral, praise kink, mild degradation (Will not include whore or slut)  

You can join the tag list here.

Thank you to the unnamed requester and @couldntbedamned​ for this request. 🖤

By Clicking keep reading you confirm that you are over 18 and understand that this content is mature and potentially triggering.

Light from the window slowly crept up towards you as the sun rose. When it finally reached your eyes you turned and groaned, your body still throbbing all over. You managed to make it to your desk and grab your phone. Shit, Coworkers were going to start arriving soon and they couldn’t see you like this, couldn’t know what you had done. You let out a sob as you pushed your body to it’s limit, walking out of the lab and to the elevator. It took everything in you not to trip, ramming your shoulder into the door as you walked through the entrance of the hospital. People were looking at you with concern but you ignored them and kept walking.

You weaved between vehicles, using them to balance yourself as you slowly made strides to your car. Ten more feet and you would be there, you could do it.

“Hey, are you ok,” Stephen stepped in front of you, blocking your way.

“I’m fine, just trying to get home,” you replied. You took a shaky step and stumbled, slamming your side against a minivan. Stephen grabbed your arm and helped you up, his hand remaining even after you were upright, holding you in a tight grasp.

“Woah, I’ll give you a ride.”

“No,” you whimpered as you tried in vain to pull yourself out of his grasp. You weren’t sure he could even tell you were trying to pull away, you were so weak.

“You’re in no position to drive yourself anywhere,” he wrapped his arm around your middle and held you up. You looked at him and inhaled, his concern and determination was evident throughout his entire body. His face was scrunched into almost a scowl and his muscles were tense. He held his breath, obviously ready to argue. He wasn’t going to give up.

“I’ll call a car,” you said, raising your phone up. Your fingers were so shaky that the phone slipped immediately from your hand and to the concrete, making a loud sound that made you both flinch. He leaned over and picked your phone up, holding it away from you.

“It’s just a ride home, please” He urged.  

You took a deep breath and slowly nodded. It pained you to let him help but there weren’t many other options. You weren’t going to make it home yourself, you weren't even sure you could keep yourself up without his help.

“Fine, just a ride home,” you agreed.

His body relaxed slightly as he helped you to his car. He opened the door for you and buckled you in. As soon as the door closed you leaned against it and closed your eyes trying not to cry. You were almost home, you just needed to make it a little longer. You were already feeling better than the evening prior and were sure if you just slept for a while longer the side effects would wear off.

Stephen stole quick looks at her as she slept in his passenger seat. His cock twitched and he shifted, uncomfortable with how turned on he was.  He wanted her so badly, it’s the only thing he could think about. Her under him, face scrunched up in focus as he fucked her. Her body moving with him, reacting to him.  

He wanted to show her how he had changed, wanted to prove something to her and if he was honest with himself he wanted to win. He wanted to be better than her, shift the power she had taken back to himself. He had never been turned away like that and it made him feel hurt and angry. He deserved her love, deserved everyone's love.

He decided then that she was his responsibility. No matter what happened in her life, whether she decided to be with him or someone else, he would take care of her. He owed it to her after what he did all those years ago.

He set his jaw and focused on the road, trying not to think about his intense desire to pull over and fuck her. She was so weak and helpless, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of that addictive feeling, the feeling of power and control, of being the best.

Stephen didn’t want her because she was weak and helpless though, in fact her physical weakness was the only thing he didn’t like about her. He had always been attracted to power and his attraction to her was no different. He wanted an equal, someone just as brilliant and strong as he was.  

It was about the vulnerability for him. She was so strong - so independent and focused. For her to give into him, to argue with her and win, was like nothing he had ever felt. Her helpless body sitting next to him was only attractive because it meant that he won.

She let out a small whimper and he put his hand on her knee, rubbing small circles.

“It’s ok love, I’ll take care of you,” He whispered, knowing she was too out of it to understand his words.  

He didn’t know how to get to her house but even if he did there was no way he would let her out of his sight like this. His girl was so sick, she needed him. If he wasn’t so respectful, so thoughtful of what she wanted he would take her to the emergency room. He knew though that she would be angry, that taking her would push her away from him, possibly forever. He couldn’t lose her, refused to jeopardize the seed of a relationship he was planting.

He parked at his home and carried her to his guest bed, covering her with blankets and setting water next to her bed. His cock throbbed and he brought his hand down and unbuttoned his pants, stroking himself as he watched her sleep. God, she was beautiful, perfect. He imagined pushing her over his desk at work and having his way with her. She stirred and he reluctantly tucked his cock away and left her to sleep, retreating to his shower where he wouldn’t risk waking her with his groans.

When you finally awoke the cold you had felt before was gone, replaced with a different sensation. Everything you touched felt different, it was weird and curious, like another sense you hadn't possessed before. It took several moments to remember what had happened, how Stephen had found you in the parking lot and gave you a ride. He must have taken you to his house instead of yours you concluded.

You stood and walked to the bathroom, feeling much better, almost back to normal. A set of clean clothes were laid out for you along with a toiletry kit. You turned the shower on and looked at your face. You looked just like you did before you had injected yourself with the medicine, not that you expected a  change of appearance. The important part is what it did to you on a cellular level. You looked at the injection site, which had blue vein-like lines extending in a circle around it. You touched it gently and felt a sharp sting. A list of multiple tests started forming in your head. You needed to do them before your lab was shut down, see what it had done to your body. The pain you had gone though would be worth it if it worked. Even if it didn’t work at least you would know.

After your shower you grabbed your phone and called a car to take you back to the hospital. The door creaked as you opened it and you held your breath, tip toeing through Stephens home.

It was exactly what you expected, pristine, immaculate, almost sterile in it’s cleanliness. Your soft footsteps felt loud against the tile floors that covered the entire house and you slowed your walking even more. You could hear him cooking in the kitchen and held your breath when you finally reached the front door.

“Where do you think you’re going,” shouted a sharp voice.

You stopped and turned to see Stephen standing in the breakfast room with a spatula. He held it like a scepter, moving it around as he spoke.

“There is no way in hell I’m letting you out of here before looking you over.”

“I’m fine,” you insisted.

He raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms.

“I’m a grown woman and doctor,” you tried again.

“So you know that doctors are the worst at taking care of their health then, good, come sit over here,” He pulled a chair out from the kitchen table.

You looked at the GPS on your phone, which showed the little car getting closer to the pick up location.

“Cancel it, I’ll drive you after we’re done,” He called from the kitchen.

You hesitated at the door before canceling the ride. You didn’t want to be rude, he had taken you home and let you sleep in his guest bed after all. The least you could do was eat a small breakfast, let him check your temperature and look in your ears.

You sat at the table and he brought you a plate of eggs, fruit, and toast before leaving and coming back with a small black tote. You took a few bites while he dove into his bag and pulled out several instruments.

“Your temperature is very low,” He mused, writing it down in a little notebook.

“I run low,” you lied.

“I’d like to run some tests,” he muttered, jotting down a list in his notebook.

“No,” you said quickly “ I’ll have them done but not by you,” you added when his eyes narrowed.

He sat back in his chair and clenched his jaw.

“Is there information you’re not telling me?”

You shook your head and unconsciously grabbed your arm. He pulled your jacket down suddenly and examined you.

“What is this?” He asked.

You panicked, your heart rate starting to rise.  “A bug bite,” you stammered.

He gave a short nod, his expression the embodiment of distrust, and grabbed your face. He looked at your eyes, ears, and throat, his hand remaining on your cheek after he finished, thumb rubbing back and forth so subtly that you barely noticed.

“You look ok but I’m worried about your arm, promise me you’ll get it looked at immediately,” his voice deepened into a low, commanding tone.

“I promise,” you whispered.

Instead of letting go of your face he leaned closer to you.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” He said, breath hot against your cheek.

He gave you a soft kiss where his breath was seconds earlier and pulled away.

“Eat up,” he motioned to your plate.

You picked up a piece of toast and took a small bite.

“Thank you... for your help,” you mumbled awkwardly.

Stephen looked at you and gave a half smile.

“It’s the least I could do.”

-o-

Series Master list 🖤 Previous Chapter 🖤 Next Chapter 

[a-cupof-jo]

Pitcher’s Plate

Y/n loves baseball. Has since she was a child. After giving it up her freshman year, she never thought she would play competitively again. That is until baseball star and long time friend Jung Jaehyun needs her help.

High School Baseball Star!Jaehyun x childhoodfriend!reader

friends to lovers 

Words: 2.9k

Warning(s): a few swear words, baseball inaccuracies

~~

In through the nose.

Out through the mouth.

Elbow aligned.

Back Straight.

Don’t freeze up.

Just breath.

You wind up, adrenaline running through your veins.

You lunge forward and release.

~

You gasped as the sound went through the park. Jung Jaehyun had never been an idiot. Everyone knew that the school’s star pitcher was smart and quick on his feet. Usually, that knowledge was used more on the field and less in the classroom, but this time you weren’t sure as his bat clattered to the ground. His face twisted with pain as he held his arm to his chest. It’s broken.

That idiot blocked the baseball flying for his head with his arm.

Taeil, the assistant coach, jumped out of the ball pit and ran towards home plate as the umpire called for a time out. Your view of their conversation was blocked by none other than Kim Doyoung. The raven haired baseball captain quickly joined their conversation.

You gave up trying to see Jaehyun and looked out to see the other pitchers team gathered. Kim Mingyu is easily Jaehyun’s biggest rival. Ever since freshman year both Jaehyun and Mingyu had been starting pitchers for their respective schools. Your blood boiled as you saw the smug look laced across Mingyu’s face. Of course he did it on purpose. Bottom of the last inning, down 2 to 3, and our star pitcher, one of our last chances for winning, down and out. You were half way out of your seat when a hand grabbed your forearm.

“Go Jaehyun! You’ve got it.” you glared at Jungwoo and looked back at the park just in time to see Jaehyun throw a single finger jester at us. You thought you heard a couple of girls gasp. Their image of kind, calm star pitcher Jaehyun completely shattered. Doyoung shook his head in amusement. Jungwoo shrugged and tried to hold in his laughter. After knowing the three of them for over 11 years, you knew a little teasing would be fine, but concern slipped back to the front of your mind.

Jaehyun threw his good hand up at what Taeil said. Words spilled out of his mouth and Taeil pointed to the dugout. He continued speaking and threw his hand to first base.

“That idiot,” you muttered as he kicked his bat away and stalked to first base. You watched as Taeil and Doyoung exchanged a look. Taeil sighed and picked up Jaehyun’s bat making his way to the dugout.

Doyoung took his place at the batting mound. While he didn’t seem like the athletic type, Doyoung always surprised others. He wasn’t the best on the team, but he had a natural way of leading others and knew how to play in order to win. There were two people on the bases, Jaehyun and Mark. Doyoung just needed to hit it far enough to get Mark to score a run. They could tie up the game. You watched as Doyoung swung one strike, then a second. Miraculously, the third pitch connected with his bat and the ball was sent flying. The crowd yelled as the players shot across the bases. Mark hit home plate as Jaehyun came around third. The baseball flew back towards infield. Taeil yelled for Jaehyun to stop, but Jaehyun didn’t listen. He raced for home plate trying to beat the ball. Chaos sounded as Jaehyun slid forward and a ball hit the catcher’s mit.  

“Safe,” the umpire called. The crowd went in an uproar, but you couldn’t look away from where Jaehyun lay his arm tucked between his chest and knees.

~~

You stormed through the crowd. “Excuse me,” you heard an indignant scoff from behind you. Jungwoo was by your side. His tall frame looked over the crowd, leading you towards Jaehyun.

“Weren’t we amazing,” you hear Jaehyun crooned as you slip through a gap of people.

Jungwoo smiled and hugged Doyoung, “You were both spectacular."

"I don’t think that’s the word I would use,” Taeil greeted from behind the two. He frowned at Jaehyun. “I’m not happy with the fact that you went against what I suggested.”

“Like you just said,” Jaehyun grinned. “It was a suggestion."

Taeil frowned, “I don’t wanna be the one explaining to your father why you didn’t come off the field.” He nodded as Mr. Jung walked up to talk to the head coach. Taeil sighed as he walked towards the two.

“You know y/n,” Jungwoo spoke with a slight lith. “You should fill in for Jaehyun.” You stood still. The last time you had played competitively was freshman year. You had made it on the high schools varsity softball team as a pitcher. You guys had gone to state, but in the last game you froze. You couldn’t throw a pitch. The team had lost and you walked away from competitive baseball, permanently. You couldn’t join the boys team as a pitcher. Besides, the coach and the boys wouldn’t let you.

“No way in hell,” Doyoung stepped in. “Y/n cannot join the boys baseball team. Especially not as a pitcher."

You started to defend yourself, but Jungwoo had already called over Taeil.

"Taeil, don’t you think y/n would make a great pitcher in place of Jaehyun?”

Taeil stared at you for a second before nodding, “It would be a difficult transition to the men’s team, but y/n has the skill."

Doyoung grunted at Taeil’s words. He went to insert his 2 cents when a voice spoke. "Jaehyun,” Mr. Jung rested a hand on the shoulder of the uninjured arm. “Come on. We need to get that looked at as soon as possible.” Jaehyun’s face fell as he looked down at his arm.

“Hey, chin up,” you grin. “Now you can focus on other things, like your school work. I thought I heard Ms. Joy say something about some missing work from you."

Jaehyun shot a glowering look at you. You grinned and blew a kiss at him. He promptly grabbed it out of the air before throwing it to the ground a grin now on his face. You smiled back at him as he walked away. You turned back to your friends as a look passed between them.

"What?” You tilt your head.

“Nothing,” Jungwoo sang. He wrapped an arm around you before pointing at Doyoung. “We still on for tomorrow?"

Doyoung nodded as he walked away, "I’ll see you both tomorrow.” He turned to walk backwards, “10 am. Don’t be late.”

~~

You loved the small ball park. As a kid, you, Doyoung, Jaehyun, and Jungwoo would come down on Saturdays and practice throwing, catching, and hitting. The tradition continued as you guys got older, eventually Jaehyun and Doyoung started to invite a few guys to play small scrimmages. Jungwoo walked next to you as you entered. Doyoung stood stretching his limbs. “You’re late.”

“Only by a few minutes,” you check your watch, seeing 10:07 flash across. Jaehyun sat on a bench nearby, his arm wrapped in a cast. “Hey, sunshine,” you sit next to him taking note of the splotchy skin and bags under his eyes. “Rough night? How’s the arm?”

“Fractured. Of course we couldn’t figure that out right away because my dad wanted to go to Urgent Care instead of the ER,” he sighed.

“Hey there’s nothing wrong with urgent care.”

He shook his head, “I’m not saying there is, but there is a problem when he gets lost, can’t find it, and refuses to use a GPS. I had to wait another hour and a half after the game to even see a doctor”

You cringe, “I’m sorry.” He gave you a sad smile. A sting came from your back and you yelped, “Hey!”

“Come on, we need our pitcher!” Doyoung stood at the home plate. You glared at him.

“I thought you didn’t want me as your pitcher,” you brought up the conversation from the night before. You wave as you notice Yuta and Winwin standing at two of the bases. It was nice to see some of the team out playing recreationally. “But, now you do? Make up your mind. Am I good or not?”

Doyoung ignored your malice, “You’re not a bad pitcher, y/n. You know that.” He watched you as you stood at the pitcher mound. “I just don’t want you on my team.”

You rolled your eyes. “Just because you’re the captain doesn’t mean you own the team.”

“Can we just play, please,” Jungwoo spoke up from the third base.

You grinned at him. Turning to Doyoung you adjusted your grip on the ball. You could easily strike him out with a few curve balls. It was your best pitch. You’d perfected it at a young age. Since your older brother, Taeyong, also played baseball he took it upon himself to teach you everything he knows, and you’re thankful for it. You knew he was never devoted to the sport like you are, but he had a natural talent for it. Before Jaehyun was the star, it was Taeyong. You loved your older brother. Expectations were high for you. Everyone thought that you were going to be the queen of softball. Between being best friends with Jaehyun and Doyoung, and having Taeyong as an older brother you knew you had to be the best. The pressure was too great and when push came to shove you broke. So, despite your gut telling you to become the next varsity pitcher, you decided not to. You pull your arm back before letting the ball fly. Strike one.

~~

Crushes are weird things. You can never be certain the other person reciprocates your feelings. You also can’t be sure that it won’t ruin a friendship. You’ve known Jaehyun since he moved across the street from you when you were five. Through every period of life you’ve grown with him. When the summer after sophomore year started, so did another period of life. Jaehyun had always been a handsome kid, you’ve thought that your entire life, and the pictures you have from your childhood prove that. When you had entered high school, you noticed that other people also noticed Jaehyun’s looks. It didn’t bother you. Jaehyun could like whomever he wanted. Until, you realized that you also started noticing Jaehyun. Not only for his looks, but also for his kind heart. And how he always smelled so nice.

Why did he have to smell so nice? You tried not to breathe deeply as he stood close to you. “Show me how you pitch.”

“Why,” you broke out of your reverie. The two of you stood in the middle of the playing field after the scrimmage was over and everyone had gone home.

He shrugged, “I just want to show you something.” You frown before preparing to throw. “Stop,” he put his hand on your shoulder. “When you’re preparing to throw you need to make sure you keep your back straight,” he pulled back on your shoulder. “We can’t have you slouching like an old lady.”

“I thought you were trying to help.”

“I am,” he grinned. “Now show me what it looks like when you throw it.” You rock forward to throw it and he stops your arm before you release, “You need to keep your elbow in line with your body. Here,” he stepped up behind you and adjusted your arm. “You’re a great pitcher but your form is terrible. I guess Taeyong can only teach you so much.” he quieted.

“And what does my form have to do with anything,” you asked, standing up straight. “It doesn’t matter if I’m only playing recreationally.”

Jeahyun took a deep breath and stepped in front of you. “It matters because,” he looked you straight in the eye. “I want you to try out as the new pitcher.”

~~

“Don’t you dare try out.”

“I’m having a great day. Thank you for asking.” You close your locker. Doyoung stood next to you.

Doyoung frowned, “I’m serious, y/n. Don’t try out today.”

“How did you even know that I was thinking about trying out today,” you crossed your arms. Doyoung shrugged but his eyes moved down the hall to where Jaehyun stood. “Don’t worry Doyoung I’m not trying to upstage you. I won’t be trying to get into your guys testosterone party.” You turned and walked to your next class. It was going to be a long day. Tryouts were after lunch, which was after this class. Even though you brought your gear you were still trying to decide if you actually wanted to join tryouts.

“I don’t get why he’s so adamant about me not trying out,” you confided in Jaehyun as both walked towards the lunch room. “I know that I can make it through.”

“He does too,” Jaehyun stopped as you opened your locker. “That’s what he’s afraid of. That you’ll actually make the team and then when it matters you’ll freeze.”

“So he doesn’t believe in me,” you turned. At Jaehyun’s hesitation, you felt yourself heat up. Slamming the door shut, you stormed to lunch. It doesn’t take you long to see him. His back was towards you as he conversed with Jungwoo. You saw a variety of emotions filter across his face. He pointed at you. Doyoung turned and stood as you approached him. “I can’t believe you! You think that I’ll freeze up.”

“Who told you?”

You rolled your eyes.

“I knew I shouldn’t have told Jaehyun.”

“So it’s true you think that I’m going to freeze up,” you felt tears sting your eyes. “Screw you, Kim Dongyoung. That happened once.” You turned on your heel slipping past Jaehyun. You rushed towards the locker room. You don’t need his approval. You’re going to tryout if not for anything more than to spit, Kim Dongyoung.

~~

You looked up as you heard people walk in. The current team made their way through the room. Jaemin, the current relief pitcher, stopped as he spotted you, “You’re a girl.”

“What gave it away,” you spat. Jaehyun stood next to you grinning.

“Are you sure you want to be trying out for a guys team?” Jaemin raised his eyebrow.

You glared at him, “What are you insinuating.”

He raised his hands, “I’m just calling it like I see it.” He leaned forward, “And you look like you’re about to be eaten alive.”

You gulped slightly as he grinned and walked out of the room. “Don’t worry about him. All the guys are harmless.” You tried to give Jaehyun a confident grin, but you went so sure. Even Yuta and Winwin, whom you played with on the weekends, seemed intimidating right now. “Just go out and show ‘em what you got.” You stood and wiped your hands on your pants. Grabbing your mit you gave Jaehyun a small smile. He smiled back, “Good luck.”

You kept to yourself as you warm up. Taeil walked by and gave your shoulder a squeeze. “You’re going to do great. You’ve got the former pitcher vouching for. Coach values Jaehyun’s opinion.” You took a breath as confidence filled you.

You stopped as Jaemin moved in front of you, “I’m sorry but I was warming up here first.” You told him with as much authority as possible.

“I’m actually on the team,” he crossed his arms.

You started to tell him off when a voice called out, “Jaemin, come warm up with me!” you looked over to see a shorter tan boy you recognized as the second baseman wave him over. He smiled as he saw you look over at him. Jaemin frowned and stalked away.

You took a deep breath as Taeil called you over. Stepping up to the mound you looked over to see Jaehyun sitting in the stands. Taeil stood ready to track your ball speed.  You paused as you watched Jaehyun give you the sign to throw a four seam fastball. You gave him a confused look to which he re-signed a four seam fastball. Maybe he thought that pitch  was better than your curveball. In this moment, you had to trust. You adjusted your grip on the ball.

Straight back.

Elbow aligned.

Lunge and release.

The ball thudded against the catcher, Kun’s glove.

Taeil stared down at the number. “83 mph.”

That’s fast. That’s really fast. You knew that you had a fast pitch but to be at the top of the average for high school guys.

Shit.

You are damn fine.

~~

Your heart hammered as you walked through the room. The tension was different. After the coach called you last night, you knew that you had to wait to tell your parents. Jaehyun already knew. You couldn’t tell Jungwoo. You weren’t sure if Doyoung knew. The two of you hadn’t spoken a word to each other since the afternoon before. After today, you weren’t sure the two of you would ever be friends again.

You stepped into the light and walked towards the group of boys that stood facing Taeil and the coach. Taeil smiled as he saw you approach. “Okay team, I’m sure you all are anxious to know who your new pitcher for the rest of the season will be,” Taeil glanced down at the clipboard in his hands. “We saw a lot of promising talent yesterday, but had to make a decision. So in addition to Jaemin I would like to introduce the new pitcher. Please make her feel welcome,” he gestured to you. You felt frozen as all eyes turned toward you.  “Y/n y/l/n.”

~~

*Reposted from previos blog*

~~

Tag list: @qianinterprises @stayctday

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

Broken Mirror: Part Three

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader

Word Count: ~2k

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill, and angst

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there is any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated.

Feedback is gold, and it’s the only currency I take

“Everything will be done by Cheryl. Cheryl will gather the money packets. Only she will touch the money. Cheryl will make the drop. If she is wired or if you use a look-a-like, Patricia dies. Cheryl will get in her car. No one is to be in the car with her, no one is to follow her no air surveillance, and no car surveillance of any kind will be tolerated. I will give directions over a cell phone as Cheryl drives. She must make the drop at exactly 3:00 A.M. She will follow each instruction to the letter.”

The unsub’s message was clear, and Cheryl did just that. She packed the money into one duffel bag, making sure to fill it to the brim with every single stack. Just for good measure, Derek and Hotch were going with her to make sure that everything was in place. The unsub might not do what he says or there could be more than one person so it was smart to take the two agents.

Spencer was hooking the computer up to the GPS in Cheryl’s car so he could track it wherever it went, even if she got lost or the unsub hijacks her in any way shape or form. No matter what happens, Cheryl will be covered in every way there is. As soon as the trio left, you called Derek on his phone just to keep in contact with your teammates.

“Cheryl's car has GPS. We'll be able to track her,” Spencer said as you leaned over his shoulder to look at the computer screen. The phone was close to his mouth so Derek heard every word he said.

“The first thing he's gonna do is have her switch cars. Where are we headed?”

“Where are they headed, Spence?” you asked.

“Let's see,” he muttered, typing on the computer until the map popped up. “An address which appears to be a rental car lot.”

“Keep an eye out and be careful please,” you told Derek right before hanging up. Sighing, you fell into the seat next to Spencer and looked at him with careful eyes.

“What?”

“Nothing, just trying to figure you out,” you muttered to yourself, but he heard you loud and clear. All you could do at this point is wait, but you couldn’t help but notice something odd. Evan’s security team was inside the house, but there was one person who keeps missing all of the action.

“What’s wrong?” the doctor asked, noticing the look on your face.

“Isn’t is kind of weird that Vincent is missing all of this? He seems to disappear right when the calls or something important is happening.”

“You’re right. Where is he?”

“That’s what we have to figure out.”

Just like you predicted, the drop didn’t go as planned. Instead of it being about the money, it was set up as a second kidnapping. Cheryl was almost taken from the car lot if it hadn't been for Derek and Hotch there. The unsub got away, and the first thing they did was bring Cheryl back to her house where she was safe. When her father heard about this, he visibly and emotionally freaked out until he could see her for himself.

“Cheryl’s alright,” Derek assured when the trio returned. Evan immediately went to his daughter who held the duffel bag of cash in his hand. It was never about the money. The phone started ringing and you knew who it was and what they had to say. Everyone headed over to the machine, and you made sure the room was silent before pressing the button.

“That was fun, wasn't it? A little running around and getting our pulses racing. Are you there, Cheryl? Are you there?! Tell me you didn't feel a slight tingle, a thrill run up your spine. Huh? But those clever and cunning FBI agents deduced my little plan just in time. They figured it out. If they hadn't, I would have had you both. The whole set. The matching pair,” the unsub laughed. Looking over at Spencer, you noticed he typed ‘collector’ since he was trying to take notes on the unsub the more he revealed about himself.

“Why are you doing this?” Cheryl blurted out.

“Because you asked me to, Cheryl. You asked me with your glances. The way you talk. Those little gestures.”

Reaching over, you pressed the mute button which only confused the young girl.

“What are you doing?”

“Do not answer this man.”

“You asked for this! You asked for it, Cheryl!” the unsub yelled. She jerked away from you and pressed the button to speak. Derek reached out for her, but she managed to evade his capture at the last minute.

“Cheryl!” Derek hissed, but covered his mouth when the call was unmuted.

“What do you want?” she screamed.

“What do I want?! You! It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow but I promise you, we will be together!” he yelled back and hung up. Sighing, you scratched the back of your neck and looked at Gideon for further guidance.

“We can not let Cheryl speak with him any further.”

“Why not?”

“It's only feeding his psychosis to allow your interaction,” Spencer answered. “Was Trish involved in any serious relationships prior to the kidnapping?”

“With the boy that was killed. They were together for 2 years,” Evan answered.

“Trish didn't want me to tell you. They were getting engaged,” Cheryl sighed.

“Well, that certainly could have been the unsub's stressor,” you pointed out.

“What does that mean?” Evan asked, but nobody answered him. “Will someone please tell me what we're dealing with here?”

“De Clerambault's syndrome, otherwise known as erotomania which is the belief that someone, usually of a higher social status but not necessarily a celebrity, is in love with you. Erotomanics believe that the objects of their affection are subtly professing their love for them through looks, gestures, and glances. The unsub truly and full-heartedly believes that Cheryl and Trish are in love with him. They don't tell him this with their voices. No, with gestures and looks. He's obsessed with them.”

“What does this mean?”

“He’s the most determined kind of criminal,” you stated. “Which is the most dangerous since there isn’t anything that they won’t do.”

“Crime of obsession. Your specialty, your lead, Morgan,” Hotch said from the other side of the room. Leaving the group you were with, you approached the other one to voice your opinion on what should be done.

“I think we should recheck everyone on Davenport's staff against the profile of a stalker,” Derek said once you got there.

“No need. Just do one: Vincent. I don’t like him,” you shrugged.

“That may be, but we need to be open minded here,” Hotch dismissed.

“Aren't stalking behaviors pretty diverse?” Elle asked.

“There's overlap. Narcissistic, inflated sense of self-worth, and history of bad relationships.”

“What do we know so far?”

“He's probably white, and obviously male sophisticated speech patterns.”

“Sophisticated, yet bizarre. He rarely uses contractions. It's not ‘you're’, it's ‘you are’. He’s pretentious,” Gideon added in his two cents. “He wants to sound smarter than he actually is. Whatever position of authority or level of success this guy has, he had to struggle for it.”

“We also have to face the possibility at this point that Trish may already be dead,” Hotch whispered so that Evan couldn’t hear him.

“I don’t feel it, though. She’s close, and I can feel her fear, Hotch. She’s not dead… not yet.”

“You know, so far he's called every play. I say we apply some pressure, make him sweat,” Derek suggested.

“Well, there's only one way to do that,” Gideon smiled. As if on cue the phone started ringing, and everyone gathered around it. Gideon was the one who was in charge here, and he let it ring, and ring, and ring, and ring. Evan was getting impatient and went to answer it, but Gideon interjected him.

“Hold on, hold on, hold on,” Gideon muttered, answering the call but hanging up right away.

“What are you doing?” Evan asked. The phone rang again, and you could sense the anger coming from the unsub through the phone. When the older agent didn’t answer, he tried again. “Agent Gideon.”

“Hello?” Gideon asked once he answered the call.

“Tell me there was a technical issue with the line because if you actually just hung up on m--”

“What the hell are you doing?” Evan screeched. Gideon hung up while the unsub was talking which would surely get him angry enough to reveal something important about himself.

“Are you gonna answer it?” Cheryl asked.

“Why is he doing this? What is he--what--you're gonna drive this guy crazy!”

“Just, quiet. Please, quiet,” Gideon whispered.

“Cheryl, he knows what he's doing,” Elle tried assuring her. The phone started ringing again, but Gideon made no move to answer it.

“Somebody has to answer it!” Cheryl shouted.

“Just answer the phone, for god's sake!” Evan yelled, reaching for the phone. Gideon was on him in seconds because it was important that he doesn’t touch the phone.

“Don't touch it!”

“He knows what he's doing!” Derek held Evan back from touching it.

“Davenport residence,” Gideon finally answered.

“Are you out of your mind? You do realize, you do understand, that I'll kill her?! Do you--”

“You're killing my daughter!” Evan cried. He didn’t understand what was going on, and you were kind of overwhelmed by the amount of emotions that were in the room. The phone started ringing once more, and Evan almost lost it. “Pick up that phone!”

“Get him quiet. Mr. Davenport, get a hold of yourself.”

“Answer the phone!”

“Quiet him!”

“Evan! Stop! Trish isn’t dead! Please, let us do our jobs!” you stated, putting yourself between Gideon and Evan. He could only whimper at this point, and Cheryl was a silent mess all on her own. However, she had Elle there to lean on in case she needed to. Gideon finally answered the phone, but the unsub was the one to speak first.

“She is dead! You hang up on me again, and I rip her open!”

“I'm sorry. You must have the wrong number,” Gideon chuckled, hanging up once more. Evan was a crying mess, but Derek helped him try to stay on his two feet.

“Come on, Gideon,” Derek sighed.

“You killed her.”

“No, he isn’t.”

“Oh, yeah? Then what--what the hell does he think he’s doing?” Evan directed his question at you.

“I'm saving your daughter, Mr. Davenport. Have a little faith,” Gideon answered. The phone rang for the last time, and Gideon gladly answered it.

“Put Cheryl on the phone.”

“No, you're finished talking to Cheryl.”

“Listen to that tone of authority. Just like your published work, agent Gideon. Fascinating to hear the same arrogant quality in your own voice. You are a bit of a pedant, Jason, a bit didactic.”

“Well, that's a very interesting conclusion. You sound intelligent, and you certainly sound educated, but we both know that's not true.”

“Oh, I know all about all of you. The ambitious agent Hotchner? Do you wanna be director of the FBI someday, agent Hotchner? Would you step on Jason Gideon to get there? I think you would. Posttraumatic stress is a very good excuse. Even your sick, pregnant wife can't get you to leave your post.

“Jason Gideon, an expert in the criminal psyche yet unable to diagnose the autistic leanings of the very insecure Dr. Reid. Well, maybe he can make money counting cards in Las Vegas. The lovely Elle was promoted too soon. She doesn't have what it takes to make it in the B.A.U. Boys club. Let’s not forget Y/N and that gift she calls psychic when we all know it’s pure shit! She is overcompensating for something truly terrible, isn’t that right? You're no threat to me, you're no threat to anyone!

“And Token Derek Morgan wants to be taken seriously, but he is just a pumped-up side of beef. I know who you are, I know how you think and I know what to do next! Do you?” the unsub finally finished, slamming the receiver down. Everyone was in shock that he knew this much about you which could only mean one thing…

He was one of you, and you were right.

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[peterstanslizzie]

Mulan (2020) Was Such a Cringey Film (Trigger Warning)

My Thoughts On The Live-Action Remake of Mulan

Overall, I would describe this movie as a well-wrapped Christmas present but after opening it, you tell yourself, REALLY?! 

This movie is also seriously giving me ‘The Last Airbender’ movie trauma vibes…

7 NON-SPOILER THOUGHTS

1. This movie takes itself way too seriously. The lack of comedy combined with the emotionless acting done by majority of the cast members felt to me as if I was watching a low-rent dramatic stage play.

2. Liu Yifei, in particular, looked the part but I can’t seem to connect with her emotionally as Mulan. Her portrayal of someone who was supposed to be relatable and rootable to the audience was so underwhelming. It felt stoic, robotic and completely sterile. 

3. There were tons of ICONIC scenes from the original film that were surprisingly excluded from this film. WHY DISNEY, WHY? I will elaborate on this in the spoilers section.

4. The inclusion of new characters like the Witch, Xianniang and Mulan’s sister, Hua Xiu were completely unnecessary. It’s like they wanted to incorporate Gong Li (whom I adore btw) in this film no matter what but couldn’t quite figure out a good way to do that.

5. The fight scenes were pretty good. But they really needed to chill out with the dramatic slow motions and aerial stunts, seriously. 

6. Mulan is such a Mary Sue in this movie, it’s not even funny. What happened to the concept of character development?

7. The film was gorgeous to look at but everything seemed so well-packaged to the point that it sucked all of the heart and soul out of why I fell in love with Mulan’s story in the first place. 

9 SPOILER THOUGHTS (TW TERRITORY)

1. Going back to point number 3 of my ‘7 NON-SPOILER THOUGHTS’, where the heck was that iconic hair-cutting scene when Mulan bravely decided to take her dad’s place in the army? Also, where was the scene of Mulan finding the little girl’s doll in the village rubble? And lastly, why did they change the way Mulan’s true identity as a woman is revealed? There were so many unnecessary changes; It’s like they purposely gone out of their way to make me angry. Not to mention, the film tends to transition between scenes really quickly; Let each scene breathe on its own for like 2 seconds damn…

2. I hate that they got rid of Mushu, Cri-Kee and Grandmother Fa. With Mushu, he was absolutely integral in helping Mulan succeed in becoming a warrior and saving China. But instead, we got a discount (albeit pretty) version of Mushu in the form of a phoenix that does absolutely nothing but serves as Mulan’s GPS. 

3. With the grandmother, I loved her dry and witty sense of humor, which was seriously missing in this film. With Cri-Kee, it was just a cute little character but somehow it got replaced by an actual human character and he was given the name Cricket? Ummm, what? Couldn’t the actor just play Ling or Chien-Po or something?

Another iconic scene left out….ugh

4. Speaking of the trio consisting of Yao, Chien-Po and Ling, apparently from reading up on the film’s cast, they were actually in the film. I literally do not remember anything significant that these guys had said or did in the film. That goes to show how dull these portrayals were.

5. According to the writers, Hua Xiu, Mulan’s sister was included because “this added a broader emotional context and added more motivation for [Mulan’s] character”. I completely disagree; Excluding her wouldn’t make any difference in my opinion.

6. So Chen and Commander Tung were two characters based on Li Shang. I’m always going to like Donnie Yen; So, he was alright as Tung and with Chen, I’m on the fence with his portrayal by Yoson. He gave off an energy that was very similar to what I wanted to see in terms of a live-action Shang but there’s something missing about Chen as a character that I can’t quite pinpoint. Maybe it’s just a lack of prominence, especially in the second half of the film? Or maybe it’s because we didn’t see him having any personal ties to the war unlike Shang whose father died in battle.

7. Mary Sue Mulan. This is my biggest pet peeve about this remake. What I liked about the original Mulan is that she didn’t start out strong; She had to work extremely hard to gain the respect of her comrades. Instead, live action Mulan entered the Imperial army already having the fighting ability since she was more or less born with chi powers. I’m calling BS on that. Disney why? Why do you think that in order to make a female protagonist fight alongside her male counterparts, you need to give her powers? What happened to good old intelligence and hard-work?

8. Is it just me or did it feel like watching Mulan 2020 was like watching an English dub of a period Chinese film? I felt like with some of the characters (for example Jet Li’s The Emperor character), the sounds that come out of their mouths did not match the mouth movements or basically, it just doesn’t feel natural. Is it bad audio mixing or I wonder if a voice over was actually done…

9. Favorite moment in the film? Ming-Na Wen’s cameo in the film. I freaked out when I heard her voice. I was like OMG that is OG Mulan.

[slowly-writing]

I Guess it was Fate

Part 2 of Coffee Shop

Peter Parker x Romanoff!Reader

Word count: 1911

Requested by anon: Could you do a part 2 to coffee shop? I really loved it!!!

After that fateful day you start spending a lot of time at Peter’s apartment. The compound doesn’t allow very much privacy. You have your own room, of course, but you’d have to be crazy to think anyone in that building would allow Peter in your room. Even when they weren’t sure of your relationship status. Half of the agents stationed there remember when you were barely big enough to chase your uncles around, and they still think of you as that little girl.

So now you're here, escaping to Peter’s as often as possible. You know your family knows your exact location, Uncle Tony put a GPS tracker on your phone before it was even given to you, but they respect private property, can’t really have the Avengers being arrested for trespassing.

“Hey, y/n can you pass me my history book?” Peter asks, pulling your attention from the geometry homework you’ve been working on.

“Can we take a break? I have to leave soon and all we’ve done is study,” you beg Peter and he smiles, casting his homework aside to scoot closer to you slightly.

“Of course we can,” a faint blush paints his cheeks as you take his hand, “we can watch a movie or something?”

“Sounds good,” you subtly scoot closer to Peter as he turns on the TV. By now you're practically sitting on his lap, but neither of you mind. Some action movie begins playing on the screen but you’re not paying. All you can focus on is how warm Peter’s hand feels in yours. After a few minutes he gently lets go and you let yourself be upset for a moment until he wraps his arm around your shoulder. You're about to rest your head on his shoulder when your phone goes off, causing you both to jump. You mumble a quick apology before reaching forward to check the messages.

“You don’t have to be sorry. Is everything alright?” Peter asks and you roll your eyes, not at him but at the message.

“Yeah. My moms asking when I’m gonna be home. It’s family dinner and I’m not allowed to miss for any reason,” you say with a sigh.

“That’s sweet. I always wanted a big family to have stuff like that with,” he says with a sad smile and you gently take his hand.

“I got really lucky, but believe me it has its downsides. If I had a small family maybe we’d actually be able to go to my house every now and then,” your laugh draws one out of him as well and you smile.  

“The grass is always greener I guess. I’ll walk you out,” he pulls you up and pauses at his front door.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you say smiling down at your joined hands.

“Yeah, text me when you get home safe,” Peter says and you nod. Before you can step away he leans in, placing a quick kiss to your cheek. You both blush but smile nonetheless.

“Bye Pete.”

“Bye y/n.” After his words you step away, walking towards the stairs. You don’t bother texting anyone, you know your mom is definitely waiting in a car downstairs.

xxxxx

“They keep asking questions,” you say quietly to Peter. The two of you are sitting on the bleachers after school.

“About us?” He asks and you nod. “We can tell them you know? Whenever you’re ready.”

“I’m just scared. You know how crazy they can get. And I’ve never had a boyfriend before. What if they’re mean to you? What if it gets so bad that you don’t wanna be with me anymore,” your eyes are glued to your own hands and Peter gently turns your face towards his.

“Y/n, I promise no matter how they react I’ll be right here. I know you’re scared and I know they’ll probably threaten to put me in some blacksite I’ll never return from, but that doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because I care about you and I want you to be happy. I know this is tearing you up, and I want you to feel better. If that means telling them, then we tell them.”

“And you’ll do it with me?” You ask and he nods, “okay. I think I’m ready.”

xxxxx

“Hey guys,” you say to your family as you walk into the kitchen after school. They’re all gathered around the table going over plans for their upcoming mission, but all sound stops when they see the boy next to you.

“Hey kid, who’s your friend here?” Tony asks and Peter squeezes your hand gently, giving you the courage you need.

“This is Peter. He’s my...boyfriend,” you say softly, waiting for someone to say something. The silence draws out for what feels like hours but is probably little more than half a minute.

“It’s uh...it’s nice to meet you guys. I’m a big fan of your work…” Peter trails off awkwardly as your mom rises from her chair. Even surrounded by men twice her size she’s easily the most intimidating as she steps towards him.

“You better treat her right,” is all she says and Peter frantically nods.

“Yes ma’am. All I want is for her to be happy,” Peter says quickly and you see Steve crack a smile and Clint try to hide a laugh.

“Make sure she stays that way, and we won’t have any issues,” Tony says and you grin.

“Can Pete stay for dinner?” You ask and your mom nods. You turn to Peter and smile, “you said you wanted a big family dinner, get ready.”

xxxxx

“Peter watch out!” You call as you see a spoon flying towards the back of his head. His hand shoots up to catch it before he turns his head and your jaw drops.

“Uh...did somebody drop this?” He asks awkwardly and Clint gives the two of you a sheepish grin.

“Sorry Peter. I was aiming for Tony,” he says taking the spoon back.

“I guess these dinners are wild,” Peter says to you and all you can do is nod. You’re looking at him skeptically, that was a really lucky catch.

xxxxx

“Wanna go hang out on the field? It’s a really nice day,” you ask Peter and he smiles.

“Yeah, lead the way,” you take his hand and start dragging him through the winding halls of the compound. You step out the door smiling at the warmth of the sun. Before you can take another step Peter’s hand is around your waist, pulling you backwards against his chest.

“What the-“ you’re cut off by a drone flying in front of you where you had just stood.

“Sorry,” Peter lets go of you and you turn to look at him.

“How did you see that?” You ask and he shrugs. You notice the way he’s avoiding eye contact and the nervous twitch of his jaw, you were raised by spies after all.

“I don’t know. I saw it out of the corner of my eye.” You want to question him more but Tony is running over to apologize so you have to let it go.

xxxxx

Over the next few weeks you notice some things about Peter. Some similarities to the friendly neighborhood hero who operates near his apartment and never seems to be out and about during your dates.

“Pete!” You call, tossing your notebook in his direction and waiting for him to catch him effortlessly, despite the fact that he has his back to you.

“What am I doing with this?” He asks with that adorable smile and you falter for a second, you didn’t think of an excuse .

“Uh...can you check my science homework? You’re so much better at it than me,” you say after a moment and he furrows his brow. You’re both acing the class but he just shrugs and begins looking it over for you.

“It looks good,” he says, handing it back to you and you smile at him.

“So...have you heard of that new hero? spider boy or something?” You ask as casually.

“It’s Spider-Man!” He says quickly and you can and you see him tense up. “He’s kinda cool I guess.”

You try not to laugh at Peters failed attempt to look nonchalant, “whatever you say.”

xxxxx

It’s been two weeks since that whole spider boy incident and things are just getting more ridiculous. So far Peter has caught the notebook, the backpack, and the soccer ball you threw in his direction. He won’t come clean and you’ve decided to take things into your own hands after this one last test. You don’t say anything out loud, but you're silently praying you’re not wrong, as you toss his desk chair towards Peter. It took quite a bit out of you to throw it across the room but he spins around and catches it effortlessly.

“Whoa. That was a lucky catch,” he says and you roll your eyes.

“Seriously Pete? You’re still on that train?” You say exasperation clear in your voice

“What train? I’m not on a train. I don’t have anything to hide.  Why’d you throw that at home anyway?” Peter starts rambling as you glance around his room. You pick up the baseball bat sitting by his desk and poke at the attic door, prompting a suit to fall which Peter quickly tries to hide.

“What was that about having nothing to hide?” You ask Peter. You’re a bit annoyed but there’s no real anger in your voice.

“I was gonna tell you,” he mumbles and you sigh.

“When Peter? It’s been months,” you take his hand, pulling him to sit next to you on his bed.

“I was! I just had to work all the kinks out. The people you live with? Your family? They’re the big leagues. I didn’t want to say anything to you until I knew I could at least start to measure up to them. I didn’t want you to think it was stupid,” he’s avoiding eye contact at all costs and you gently cup his cheek, bringing his head to face yours.

“Peter I could never think you were stupid. My mom has been training since she was little, and everyone else has ridiculous head starts. You just got into this game, but you’re trying to help people. That’s all that matters. You are using your abilities to change this work for the better, I could never think that was stupid,” you tell him firmly and you can see the tears shining in his eyes.

“You really mean that?” He asks and you nod.

“I do. You’ll get to the big leagues one day. For now just keep on being the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man that I know and love.”

“You love me?” He asks, a wide smile taking over his face. All you can do is nod and try to suppress the blush creeping across your cheeks. “I love you too.”

When you pull away from the kiss you smile, staring into his warm brown eyes. “It is kinda weird.”

“What is?” The nerves are back in his voice but your smile doesn’t falter.

“That the girl raised by superheroes fell in love with one,” you say and he grins.

“I guess it was fate.”

tag list: @rvgrsbrns @rororo06 @freerebel @prizmix-and-friends @m19friend @worlds-in-words @5aftermidnight @riotmaximoff

[jennygirl2014]

Just Deserts-Chapter 2

(It’s finally here!  Sorry for the delay! I didn’t proofread or edit yet, so please don’t hate me, I will fix it up later. I just wanted to get it up.  Thanks for reading!)

Chapter Summary: Tawney goes over to Ransom’s for the first time, hoping to keep it professional.  But of course the arrogant asshole has to try and get under her skin.) Warnings: language, some mild racism.

Chapter 2

“This guy could be a murderer.” Kira’s voice carried over the kitchen.  She was busy getting her station set up for the day, having just arrived.  Meanwhile, even though it was only a little after ten in the morning, Tawney was cleaning up her mess for the day.  “Or a rapist. You don’t know.  Call him up and tell him to shove his deal up his ass.”

“And how else do I pay to have the car fixed without insurance?” Tawney replied as she placed the last of her dishes in the industrial dishwasher.  “He was gonna call the cops!”

“We could have a bake sale. You know people love your desserts. We could raise the money somehow.” Kira walked over, wiping her wet hands with a rag.  

“Cupcakes aren’t going to fix this, Ki.” Tawney finally looked her friend in the face.  “Besides, I don’t even have his number.”

“Even more reason not to go!” Kira fussed, “Seriously.  You’re signing up to be some creepy stranger’s house maid.”

“It’s just cooking and baking.  How else can I pay to have a freaking Beemer fixed?”

“A Beemer?  Fucking rich dickhead…” Kira scoffed.  

“If things get creepy, I’ll leave.”

“You better.  And you better not let him talk down to you.  If he does, slip something extra into a pie or something.” Typical Kira.

              Tawney knew her friend meant well, and she had every right to be concerned.  The truth was, Tawney really was nervous about the whole thing, but she didn’t see any other options at the moment.  After she had managed to get home the night before, she could barely sleep, between the adrenaline, the guilt, the anxiety of the unknown, and also not having a working air conditioner.  She still managed to roll out of bed and make it into work, extra early, at 2AM, just to be sure she could leave to get to this stranger’s house by noon.  Her lack of sleep was likely clouding her judgement as well, but she didn’t have time to worry about that.  She was just grateful that her boss loaned her a spare key and that he had given her permission to go in so early.  

              She had to use her GPS to find this guy’s house, which meant keeping her phone within sight, something that she was terrified over after how using her phone while driving had resulted the night before.  During the drive she was scolding herself for agreeing to this, this guy, Ransom, was a complete stranger.  Hell, he could have been a real perv, especially after how he jumped at the idea of being paid in other forms the night before, something that was not on her mind at all.  But he was a good looking guy, he was likely used to women just dropping to their knees for him.  Well, that wasn’t who she was.  And once she pulled into the driveway and finally saw this guy’s house, she was sure he was used to having all sorts of female company.  He was secluded, his house hidden by a wall of trees, yet practically the whole house was made of glass.  So many windows, so much to see, and like there was nothing he had to hide.  Just stepping foot into this house, she was going to feel exposed.  

              Her car rattled into a spot next to his and she parked it.  The damage on his car really wasn’t as bad as hers had been, and she eyed the scratched up side of his car before she fought with the broken handle to release the door to get out.  Every foot step up to his door made her heart pound harder, and her knife bag felt heavy as it hung from her shoulder.  When she was close enough to press the doorbell, she froze, thinking.  She still had time to run away, she could turn back and race out of there without him even knowing she was there.  How would he know?  How would he find her?  Maybe she could get away with this whole thing, no service required.

              Just as she started to weigh the decision in her mind, the door swung open and there he stood, the same man from the previous night. His blue t-shirt fit relaxed on his broad frame, but it still showed off a certain physique that caught her eye.  Hell, her eyes fell right onto his chest, and she instinctively held her breath.  “Good, you found the place.  I saw you walking up.” He spoke as he opened the screen door and held it open for her. Of course he saw her, all those windows. She still stood in place, like her feet were cemented to that spot on his top step.  She had a sinking feeling about stepping past that threshold, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. “Are you going to stand there, or are you going to come in?” he grew annoyed.  She put her guard up and stepped in past him.  

              Her eyes scanned the place.  Was this the place of a murderer, or a rapist, or a crazed pervert? It seemed more like the palace of a man who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, a man without a care in the world, but all of the expectation.  It was big and spacey, and it made her feel so small, like she was being swallowed up. His furniture was leather, the hardwood was perfectly polished, and the smell in the air, dark and masculine, like pine, fresh and clean.  She did not belong in that house, standing in her already stained chef coat, wearing the sweat and smells of working eight hours in a kitchen.  This was all too pristine, too high class.  She felt vulnerable.

              She turned to him, to see him in his own habitat, and she was slightly alarmed to see him just standing there, eyeing her. She gulped and wet her lips, not knowing what to say, or how to even speak in such a situation.  Luckily, he handled that first awkward moment for her. Not to her surprise, this man likely has no sense of shame.  

“You look like you came from work.”

“I did come from work.” She replied.  

“Oh.” He shrugged it off, like working a full day before going to a second job was nothing. “Come on, I’ll show you the kitchen.” He walked ahead of her and led her into a large open kitchen. The countertops were marble, there was an island range and two ovens stacked into the wall on the far side.  Everything was dark rich tones with pops of stainless steel, perfectly collaborated.  This was her dream kitchen, a kitchen meant for hosting and cooking large elaborate meals, and it looked like it had never been touched.  He had no idea how lucky he was, or how much she envied him at that moment. “My maid, Maria, comes early every morning.  She just left, so, the kitchen is all ready and clean for you.” He informed her.  Tawney walked over to the island counter and set her bag down, looking around a bit more before opening up her bag and unrolling her tools.

“I clean up after myself.” She told him

“Why?  I just told you I have a maid.” He pulled out a stool and took a seat across from her.  

“Because I don’t like having other people clean up after me.” She replied as she pulled out a small notebook and a pen.  

“Suit yourself.”

“So,” she drew in a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves, and then sighed. “What kind of stuff do you like?”

“What do you mean?” she couldn’t believe his casual response.

“Like…what kind of foods do you like?” she paused, “You have had a cook before, right?  I mean, you said that last night.  Clearly they must have had some recipes you preferred.”

“Okay, miss sassy pants,” he took a small jab at her before he answered, “I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  I like my protein.  I’m not a huge fan of vegetables or fish, but I’ll eat them if prepared to my liking.”

“Which means…?” she started taking notes down.

“Nothing boiled.  Sautéed is fine, roasted is fine.”

“Okay.”

“I like a good sandwich for lunch.  Breakfast I usually handle myself, just eggs and toast, so you’re off the hook there. At least for now.”

“At least for now?” she repeated his statement and looked up to make eye contact with him. “What…what does that mean?”

“It means sometimes I might like a nice cooked breakfast.”

“…I have a job, dude.” She reminded him.  “I have to work.”

“That’s not my problem.” He replied with a smug smile. “You damaged my car, which means you work when I need you, or I report it.  I’ll let you know ahead of time, that way you can work something out with your boss.”

“I’ll need twenty-four hours’ notice.”

“I was thinking more like a couple hours.”

“No, that won’t work.” She got annoyed.

“Okay, twelve.”

“Fine.” She gave in.

“And don’t call me dude.” He started to lecture her, “I’m not one of your homies.” That one wasn’t going to fly.

“Okay,” Tawney lifted her pen only to drop it and lay her hands on the marble as she addressed him. She wanted him to know how serious she was. “I may be young, and I may have damaged your car, for which I am sorry. But I’m here now, in a professional manner.  Which means, I show you respect,” she pointed to herself, “And you show me respect. Now it doesn’t take a detective to figure out we’re from different sides of the track, but…you will not talk to me like I’m some girl from the ghetto.  I worked hard to get where I am today.  And if you have any qualms about hiring a black girl, you can go ahead and call the cops about your car and then find yourself another cook because I won’t stick around for it.”

Ransom looked at her with wide eyes.  But then he scoffed and his expression turned to that of amusement.

“Wow.  Okay.  Well as long as we’re laying down rules,” he leaned in, “This is my house.  I don’t appreciate you showing up in a stained uniform, it looks messy.  And if you wanna talk about being a professional,” he tilted his head at her, “See what I’m saying?  So, bring a clean one.  No blasting music, no hanging out on your cell phone, you’re here to cook.  If I had guests over, I’ll let you know, but this contract is extended to them too.  If friends are here and they’re hungry, they’re going to get fed.  Got it?”

“Fine.” She felt like he was just trying to even the score some.  

“And I don’t have any qualms, just so you know.” He tossed that last part out there for affect. There was a moment of silence between them, like they were measuring each other up.

“We got off topic.” Tawney changed the subject back, “What do you like?  As far as food.” She clarified again.

“Italian.”

“There, that wasn’t so hard.”

“If you expect respect, then you’d better start giving it too. Missy.” He warned her.

“My name is Tawney.”

“That’s right, I forgot.” He rubbed his chin, “What kind of a name is Tawney, anyway?”

“Family name.  What kind of a name is Ransom?”

“You know I’m starting to regret not having you address me as Hugh.” He countered as he cut his eye at her.

“So, Italian,” she came back to topic, “What else?”

“Chinese.  Not a huge fan of Mexican.  Never been a fan of collard greens or chitlins.” He started to push her buttons again.  Tawney realized this was going to be a never- ending battle.  He thought he was being funny.

“Dessert?” she refused to let him see her get worked up.

“Oh yeah.  I’ve got a real sweet tooth.” When he finished his statement, she caught his eyes scanning her again.  

“Custards?  Cakes?”

“Cookies, pies, brownies…”

“Is that another cheap shot?”

“What?  Saying I like brownies?” he sat back and held his hands out in defense, but the smile was still sporting nothing but amusement. He knew what he was doing.

“What am I making today?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far.  But Maria brought groceries this morning.  Take a look around and see what you can come up with.” He stood up from the stool.  “Call it an audition.” He turned to walk away, but stopped and turned to her again.  “One more thing, don’t go snooping around the house.  The kitchen is on this floor, there’s no need for you to go upstairs.”

“Why would I go upstairs?”

“Exactly.” He paused, “I mean, unless you’re invited.”

Dick.

“I’m just fine right here.” She abruptly closed her notebook and turned to get to work.

              Ransom walked off into the living room while Tawney marched over to his fridge to figure out something.  She figured she would make enough food for him to last two days, he has said three days a week the night before, so maybe she could get away with not having to come again the following day.  She found some ham and roast beef for sandwiches, different cheeses, some ground beef, a couple tomatoes and a couple other things.  Then she went through the cupboards next, finding pasta, different spices, but not a whole lot.  She wondered what his previous cook had been doing, or how long he had gone without a cook. It was clear this guy wasn’t much into cooking for himself.  Then of course she had to come up with a dessert, since he had mentioned having a sweet tooth, and really, why not do one? There wasn’t a lot available, but she could figure something out.

“When was the last time you had a cook?” she called out to him.

“It’s been like a month I guess.” He replied from his couch, where he was sitting on his phone.  She wondered what rich people did during the day, by the looks of this guy, not much.

“What was your last cook’s name?” she asked another question as she found a bowl in the cupboard and pulled it down.  

“Tim…something…can’t remember his last name.  He didn’t stick around long.” Then he added, “They never really do.” His statement made her heart sink, she felt like her goose was cooked before she even had the chance.

“I’m going to need more things from the store, eventually.  There’s not a ton here.”

“Make a list, I’ll have Maria get them tomorrow.”

“Where does she shop?”

“God you ask a lot of questions.” He turned his head from the couch to shoot her an annoyed look.

“Never mind then.” She retorted and went about her business.  “Prick.” She muttered under her breath.

              Within a couple minutes, she had prepared him a sandwich with apple slices and some chips.  She arranged everything on a plate and called out to him when it was ready. He came over, took it from her, grabbed a can of soda from his fridge and went back to his spot on the couch to watch TV.  She figured if he didn’t like ham and cheese, he would say something, and when he didn’t, she figured everything was fine and she was ready to move on with tomorrow’s sandwich.  She caramelized some onions for a roast beef sandwich with swiss, and she made a garlic aioli and toasted the bread to keep it from going too soggy.  Next came a lasagna, which she threw together with the cans of tomato sauce he had in his pantry, but it was lacking without any fresh herbs.  Ransom saw this as he placed his plate in the sink.

“You’re using canned tomato sauce?”

“Well you don’t have a ton of fresh tomatoes or herbs, so…” she trailed off, keeping her eyes on the meat she was browning.  When she noticed that he wasn’t walking away she looked up at him. “I can’t make herbs appear out of thin air.”

“Just put it on the list.” He quickly reminded her of the list and walked away.  Tawney’s eyes went wide with annoyance, but she maintained her composure.

“How was the sandwich?” she genuinely wanted feedback.

“I like fresh tomato and lettuce on my sandwiches.  I would hope that a cook can dress up a sandwich…”

“I’ll put stuff on the list!” she snapped at him before he could finish.  The man shook his head and walked off.  She puffed out her frustration and rolled her shoulders.  He wasn’t making this easy.  

              The lasagna came out as best as she could manage without the ingredients she would have hoped for.  What was most annoying about all of this was that she knew how to make good food, and she wanted that good food on her own table, but she couldn’t afford to live like that.  The lasagna with canned tomato sauce was something she would whip together for herself, because it was cheaper.  Here he was complaining and it was out of being lazy.  Every minute in that house and every minute in Ransom’s presence reminded her of how different their worlds were.  The food still smelled good, and it would still taste good, but he was just looking to find fault in all of it.  Matters were made worse by the fact that she was exhausted, and that she was starving.  Her stomach was rumbling and starting to hurt.  It was almost like being teased, making so much food and not being able to eat. When Ransom came over to get a glass of water, he happened to hear her stomach growling.  She swallowed her embarrassment and looked away as he eyed her.

“Hungry?” he sounded like he was mocking her.

“I haven’t eaten in ten hours.” She defended herself.  Ransom leaned against the counter with his glass of water, watching as she washed up the dishes she had used.  

“Aren’t you going to make a dessert?”

“Yeah, I’m just cleaning up a little.” She tried not to make eye contact with him, but he lingered there.

“You can eat something if you’re hungry.” He offered.  Tawney was surprised by his suggestion; he didn’t seem the type to allow her to eat.

“I…I didn’t think you would…you know…” she didn’t know how to word whatever it was she was trying to say.

“I don’t care if you eat.” He snapped at her as he walked out of the kitchen.  It was odd, like he was angered by her assumption.  How else was she supposed to interpret his attitude? She settled on eating an apple and getting back to work.  

              The lack of ingredients made it difficult to think up a good dessert, but any dessert would have worked at that point.  She would have to settle for the idea of wowing him with a dessert another time.  The most curious part about making a dessert for this man was trying to figure out why she cared.  He wasn’t the nicest guy, and she was there to settle a debt, so what did it matter? It had to have been her love for baking that made her so consumed with the idea of making something special.  Afterall, she was in her dream kitchen, and not on a time restriction, she had the chance to make something special.  Maybe that was the silver lining in all of this.  Yeah the guy was a complete asshole, but she could really flex her culinary muscles in this kitchen.  She could perfect a couple techniques that could maybe lead to a better job one day.  Maybe it wasn’t all that bad.

              It was about half past four when Tawney finished cooking and baking.  She was exhausted and ready to call it a night, but she made sure to clean up and leave a detailed list on the counter.  As she was putting away her knives and tools, Ransom came back into the kitchen.  He looked around, inspecting the space.  The lasagna was sitting on the stove and a plate of cookies was sitting neatly on the counter.  He then turned to Tawney, as if waiting for her to explain herself.

“The lasagna just needs to be reheated, you can either cut a piece and put it in the microwave or reheat it in the oven.  It’s up to you.  I made a roast beef sandwich for you for lunch tomorrow.  It has swiss and caramelized onions and—"

“You’re not coming tomorrow?” he interrupted her.  Tawney managed the coolest face she could muster at the moment.

“You said three days a week. I made enough food that you shouldn’t need me tomorrow.” She explained to him.  He huffed and turned to look at the cookies. “These are lemon ricotta cookies. I figured there was leftover ricotta, and you had a lemon, and I couldn’t think of much else.  The glaze is lemon flavored with a little zest.” She described the dessert she had made.  Ransom reached out and snatched a cookie up from the plate, and he eyed her suspiciously as he bit into the soft cookie.  Tawney kept her gaze on him as well, trying to get a read on him.  It was like some kind of standoff, like he was trying to think of a reason to make her stay longer or come over the following day.  She was worried he may have hatched something in his mind, but when he looked down at the other half of the cookie in his hand and nodded to himself, she figured that was him expressing his satisfaction.

“Not bad.” He gave the closest thing to a compliment she was going to get.  Screw him, she knew those cookies were amazing.  

“The list is there on the counter.  Anything else?” her tone sounded triumphant, and why shouldn’t it?  She was proud of herself.  

“I guess not.” He sighed, “So Wednesday?” he confirmed.

“Yes, I’ll be here.  And in the meantime, please try to come up with a list of go-to recipes.” She politely requested.  Ransom dug into his pocket and pulled out his phone.  

“I still need your number.”

“Right,” she proceeded to give him her number and he shoved his phone back into his pocket.  

“I guess that’s it.” Ransom excused her, and she wasted no time in grabbing her bag and heading for the door.  She was beyond grateful to be leaving.  The thought of a shower and a full night of sleep sounded like heaven.  She hurried to the door, where Ransom opened it for her, and as soon as she stepped out, he closed it loudly behind her.  

              Tawney managed to stay awake on the drive home, probably because she kept her foot on the gas and the music blasting.  She felt like she could breathe again, like the air was fresher and clear once she left his place.  And she relished the fact that she wouldn’t have to go back the following day. She was hoping she wouldn’t hear from him, that he would just ask his maid to go shopping and that would be the end of it.  Her phone chimed in her pocket, and she was sure it was Kira making sure she was still alive and in one piece, but she wasn’t going to answer it until she got home.  Lesson learned.  Once the car was in park and she was only moments away from stepping into her muggy apartment, she reached into her pocket to retrieve her cell phone and read the text message.  It was from a new number, someone not in her contacts.  

You left some crumbs on the counter. Thought you were going to clean up after yourself.

              She could have thrown her phone out the window. Was this man hell bent on getting under her skin?  She didn’t even bother texting him back, there really was no need to.  He could be mad about it if he wanted to be, but she wasn’t going to waste her time with his nonsense, not while she was off the clock. But still, that message was another reminder of what she was getting herself into, and likely warning of what was yet to come.

“Asshole.” At least she didn’t have to hide her true feelings for him while she was out of his house.

Previous chapter here.

Next chapter here.

[jeonsduck]

Smoke and Mirrors Pt 2

You meet Choi San for the first time. He’s.... a character. 

Today is the 18th. It’s 11:30 AM. At 11:45, a car would be picking you up to take you to the restaurant where you and Mr.Choi will be meeting. He had insisted on sending a car to pick you up (totally not helping his ‘not a mobster’ image). You’d already talked to your supervisor and Agent Heejin and received a rather rousing pep talk from Jacob. 

Your objective for this meeting was just to inform Mr. Choi of the audit, which of his clients were being investigated, and what information you would need from him initially. And you were to, under no circumstances, disclose that this audit was part of an FBI investigation. Simple enough. 

But now you had 15 minutes left until the car was supposed to come and you had nothing to do. It was too early to go downstairs and wait for the car, but too late to go over your notes again. You checked and double checked your briefcase to make sure you had all your warrants and other documents, and all you could do was sit at your cubicle and watch time tick by and get nervous. Sick to your stomach type nervous. You could feel your acid reflux acting up and started rooting through your desk for some TUMS. Did this have to be a lunch meeting? 

You’d communicated with Mr. Choi only a few more times, mostly through email. He’d called you once at the beginning of the week to remind you of your appointment. As if you’d forget, with this case taking up all of your time and focus. The scant correspondences left you with no idea what kind of person Mr. Choi was. Agent Heejin had officers tailing him for the past six months and told you he wasn’t anything to be afraid of. Nothing to shake a stick at. He had a fear of guns, the ocean, and large dogs. He had questionable fashion sense. The file Heejin showed you looked more like a dating profile than a criminal record. If his six friends were the bad boys of their town, Mr. Choi was like the teacher’s pet that kept him out of trouble. Not a very imposing or threatening, dorky, and rather scatterbrained for an accountant of such important people, but his work was quite detailed. There wasn’t a single flaw in any of his work since his graduation from college. It was like he was some sort of math savant. Perfect person to run the accounts of the rich, famous, and politically powerful. 

You looked at the clock again, seeing that five minutes had passed. You supposed it was time to head downstairs. You gathered your briefcase and phone, accepted a final good luck fistbump from Jacob and headed for the elevators. You tried to calm yourself down by breathing deeply and evenly. You were not about to meet some hulking guy in a suit with a thousand-yard stare, the way he’d been described, you were going to meet a little kid in a man’s body. Hopefully, that would hold true.

The elevator dinged, the doors opening on the first floor. You walked out of the elevator and rounded the reception desk, when the car Mr. Choi had sent came into view. A solid black Maserati Ghibli, and two suited men with earpieces, one holding a printed placard with your name on it.

“Hi, I’m Agent Y/N… did Mr. Choi send you?” you ask, timid all over again. Who were these guys?

“Yes, we’ll be bringing you to your meeting.” one said, while the other opened the back seat for you. 

You climbed into the car, still a little blown away by the obvious show of wealth. You were a little nervous about stepping into such an expensive car with your shoes on. The man (bodyguard?) closed the door behind you, and walked around the car to get in the driver’s seat. The other bodyguard(???) got into the passenger side and started programming the GPS. For five whole minutes, the car is absolutely silent. No radio, no talking, no phone alerts, not even the sound of the car, just the silence of luxury. You decided to distract yourself with checking your social media, but after checking every platform you’re on, it’s only been another ten minutes. The GPS is putting your ETA at 15 more minutes. A little small talk couldn’t hurt, right?

“This is a little bit over the top for an IRS agent, don’t you think?” you joked, lightly. 

The driving bodyguard caught your eyes in the mirror while his partner shook his head.

“No, this is standard procedure for us. Mr. Choi has a lot of high profile clients, and it’s much safer for us to come get them than for them to come to us.” the passenger explains.

You quirk an eyebrow at him. “Safer how?”, you prompt.

“Our company cars have a few advanced safety features that don’t come standard. Bulletproof body, tires, and windows, et cetera. Luxury, discretion, and protection.” he continues.

“What is that, like a code of honor or something?” you’re joking, but it appears the bodyguards are not.

“The mission statement for MY Security.” the driver corrects. 

So these men work for Mingi and Yunho, not Mr. Choi? Well, it would be weirder for him to find his security contract with anyone other than his friends. Like buying your Girl Scout cookies from anyone other than Belinda from analysis.

“Ah, you’re from the security firm, so you don’t work for Mr. Choi, do you?” you ask.

The passenger bodyguard shakes his head. 

“We work exclusively for Mr. Choi, and our orders come from him. All of the security personnel for Mr. Choi were handpicked by Mr. Song and Mr. Jung.” the other corrects.

“Hmm.” was all you said in reply, looking out the window. 

It’s wasn’t a crime, not by far. It wasn’t evidence either. It wasn’t even that weird. It was completely normal for people to use their friend’s companies and services. It was also normal to give particularly good service to your friends. It was utterly normal for Mingi and Yunho to not only supply security for their friend, but also to offer him the deluxe package. 

But, handpicking your most talented and trusted staff to guard the man that dealt with your possibly shady finances, was just a little bit suspect you had to admit. 

Ugh, you weren’t even two weeks in and this stupid case was fraying your nerves already. The sooner this was over the better.

~~~

Choi San was, quite determinedly, not a triad member.

You had been friends with people in high school shadier than Choi San. 

When you had arrived at the restaurant, Mr. Choi had also just arrived. And eccentric was a mild way to describe his wardrobe. You had no idea where to start with his outfit. His brown oxford shoes were just about the only solid colored thing he was wearing. His socks had the pattern of public transportation upholstery. His pants were brown with purple(PURPLE?) pinstripes, held up with diamond printed Y suspenders. His shirt was checkered, two different patterns in red and green on his right and left side respectively. The contrast was lost under the most absolutely atrocious sweater vest (who wears sweater vests? Were they ever cool?) you’ve ever seen. The outfit was tied to get with a white (and blessedly plain) ribbon tie. He had a mullet for God’s sake, and those Napoleon Dynamite style glasses(without lenses?!). You were sure looking at his outfit would make you dizzy after too long. And yet. Choi San was one of the most attractive people you’d ever met. How he managed to pull that off looking like a cross between Ronald McDonald, Billy Ray Cyrus and a stock image of an accountant, you’d never know, but he still looked amazing. When he noticed you standing there on the curb, staring kind of slack jawed he immediately walked over and hugged you. Like actually full on hugged you. What even is this guy?

“Hello, Agent Y/N, it's my pleasure to meet you.” he said when he let you go.

He shook your hand as well, ever kissed the back of your palm, which what? You were a bit too shell-shocked to catch up. Wow, his smile was dazzling.

“Oh, yes. It’s a pleasure to meet you as well Mr. Choi.” you managed to reply without your voice breaking. 

Choi San pouts. A grown man, is pouting at you. In public.

“Oh, please, call me San.” 

“Oh, no I couldn’t-” but San cuts your protest off, bringing his hand up in front of your face. 

His hand is folded into a fist with his pinkie sticking out towards you.

“Come on. I promise not to tell on you. The only people who call me Mr. Choi are my employees. We’re more like…. Colleagues aren’t we?” he says.

You look at his hand and pack at his face. A pinkie promise? Really?

You sighed and wrapped your pinkie around his. 

“I suppose we ar, Mr.- I man, San.”

He smiled again, unhooking your hands and gesturing for you to enter the restaurant. One of the security guards that came with him opened the door for the both of you. The maitre’d recognized San automatically.

“Ah, Mr. Choi. Your usual room?” he asks, grabbing a pair of menus.

“Oh no, a regular table will be fine today. And menus for the security detail as well, this is their lunch hour.” he corrected with a smile.

The maitre’d nodded before grabbing a few more menus and leading you to your tables. The restaurant was rather fancy, and you found yourself quite taken with the decor.

“Do you take most of your lunch meetings here?” you ask, attempting to make small talk.

“Oh, no. Just you. My regular place wasn’t available, but honestly, this place is much better.” San replies. 

“Oh, so you come here often on…. social calls?” you say dates, but San understands your meaning.

“I’m a rather busy man. I’m afraid I don’t have much time for relationships. This restaurant belongs to my good friend.” he explained and your eyes widened.

“Jung Wooyoung? This is one of his establishments?” you question, looking around the restaurant with a new set of eyes.

“You know Wooyoung?” San asks, surprised.

“Ah, well Wooyoung is one of the clients I’m auditing. All of them are your childhood friends I believe.” you said.

San nodded his understanding.

“I’m not surprised.” he started, “They’re getting a pretty big, the six of them. It’s not uncommon to audit people like them, suddenly making a lot of money. We get audits like this all the time. But since they’re my friends, you get to spend the entire audit working with yours truly.” he says, flashing you another blinding smile. You’re pretty sure your cheeks are never going to stop being red. 

“Are you still close to them?” you ask.

San sighs, resting his chin on his hand.

“You’ll never be as close as you were when you were kids. You probably had a crew you ran around with in grade school too right? That was us. We managed to stick together through high school, college, even after that. We make time to see each other when we can. But it’ll never be like it was when we were kids again. But, I do see Wooyoung just about every week. In fact, he might be here today.” he said, waving down the waiter.

“Oh, are you ready to order? We can wait a few more minutes if you want.” he said.

“Uh, yeah a couple of minutes? No offense to you or Wooyoung, but this place is stupid expensive. We can just go to Olive Garden or something next time.” you joked, perusing the menu for something that wouldn’t break the bank to order.

“Oh, I forgot! Order whatever you want, I’ll pay.’ he said, waving it away.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t possibly let you do that!” you protested but San arched an eyebrow at you. 

“No, it’s on me. I invited you out, so I should pay. Besides, I can afford it. My services aren’t cheap. Now, let me buy you lunch.” You sigh and concede him. 

“Fine, but the next one’s on me.” you say.

San smiles again, “Of course, Y/N. You know what you want?” he asks.

“Uhm… no actually. Anything you can recommend?” you ask.

“The ravioli is great. And it pairs really well with a dry white wine.” he says.

You look down at the ravioli, and it does sound really good. Pasta and sauce made in house, Italian sausage and five cheeses? That sounds delightful.

“I love ravioli! It sounds delicious too, so I’ll get that. No wine though, I have to go back to work after this.” you remind him. 

San smacks his own forehead and laughs. 

“Of course, silly me. Speaking of work, why don’t we get the formalities out of the way before the food comes? Serve me, baby.” he says, shooting finger guns at you.

The ‘baby’ takes you off guard, but you just shake your head and pull out your briefcase. 

“Here are the warrants. Choi San, you have been officially served.” you said, handing over the documents.

San pulls a monocle out of his pocket (because having prescription lenses in his glasses apparently wasn’t the answer to his bad vision), and squinted at the documents, even holding them up to the light.

“Everything appears to be in order. I will comply with the warrant and provide any financial documents deemed necessary by the IRS.” he said, sounding much more business-like. 

So he did have a serious side.

“Here is a list of those documents, I would ask that you have them prepared for our next meeting.” you said, handing over a mile long list.

“These for all six clients?” he confirmed and you nodded.

“I’ll have them put together ASAP.” he said. 

Then his posture relaxed and he took a sip from his wine glass.

“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s enjoy ourselves, shall we?”

Lunch with San was nice. It was better than nice. It almost felt like a date. He seemed really attuned to you, guessing that you had a cat instead of a dog, Coke instead of Pepsi, coffee instead of tea. He told you a bit about growing up with his friends, talked about what troublemakers they could be. When you’d finished dessert and had your leftovers boxed up, you were regretting going back to work. You had to report back to your supervisor and the FBI agent. You kind of just wanted to keep talking with San all day. 

“Well, Y/N I will see you again soon, and if you see me around town, don’t be a stranger.” he says with a wink, before sliding back into his car. 

The two bodyguards that picked you up drive you back to your office, where you report successfully delivering your warrants.

“And how long until he has those documents for you?” she asks. 

“I’m expecting them by tomorrow.” you reply.

“Good work, Y/N. Follow up with the FBI and you can go home early today.” she said. 

You were feeling great when you called Agent Heejin. Too bad that wasn’t going to last long.

“Yeah, well, just send me over the recording of the meeting.” she said and you cocked you head to the side in confusion.

“The what?” you asked.

“The audio recording of the meeting.” she said again.

“What audio recording?” 

“You didn’t record the meeting?!” she screeched through the phone.

You held the hone away from your ear, ringing with the loudness of Agent Heejin’s voice.

“Why would I?”you asked.

Agent Heejin had not asked you for a recording of the meeting prior to now, so what was all this about?

“BECAUSE I SENT YOU AN EMAIL TELLING YOU TO RECORD THE MEETING!” she yelled.

“Agent Heejin, I never received that email.” you explained.

“Check again.” she hissed, and you opened your email. 

And while you hadn’t recieved an email in any of your primary folders, Agent Heejin’s email was sitting in your Spam folder. Claiming to be from the FBI was a common phishing scheme, so that explained why the email had ended up in junk mail.

Heejin sighed through their nose. 

“Fine, just come over here, we’ll cross examine you. Let me know when you make it.”, she hung up the phone rather abruptly. You sigh and stand up from your desk, gathering your things.

“You got this. Call me if you need me to come beat Heejin’s ass.” Jacob said. 

“Thanks. See you tomorrow.” you said, heading for the elevators again. 

~~~

You didn’t get home that night until nearly midnight. Heejin and another agent had questioned you for any and every detail about your lunch meeting with San. It had gone on for hours and without break to ensure you didn’t forget anything. They even asked you the same questions over and over again to ensure you weren’t making things up or forgetting details. It had been tedious to say the least. You were exhausted. And your cat, Noodles, was hungry. He meowed angrily when you opened the door to your apartment. 

“Sorry dude. Work kept me late, I hate it too.” 

You went to the pantry to feed your cat, and crashed on your bed, still in your work clothes while he ate. Afterwards, he jumped onto the bed, snuggling close to you.

“Thanks, Noodles. Love you too. Goodnight, buddy.”

You fell asleep a few moments later, dead to the world.

[ancientbooshartifacts]

Further Complications (Part 2 of Ways & Means)

Author: Eggnogged

Year: 2010

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Tony Harrison/Saboo/Mrs.Harrison

Tony Harrison has been texting him filth all week. Saboo has done his best to ignore him, hoping he’ll get bored and forget about their ill-advised tryst/wedding, but it’s been several days now and his phone is still beeping on an hourly basis. On top of that, they have a meeting of the Shaman Council scheduled for next week. Obviously he’s going to have to deal with this... situation. No one needs to find out about Saboo’s temporary lapse in judgement; he’d never live it down. If he wants to be able to show his face at the Shaman Club again, he needs a word with Harrison. So he finally texts Tony back to ask for his address, and seconds later his phone beeps again: knew u were just playin hard 2 get u slag no1 can rsist teh H man - We need to talk. I want to resolve this situation in an amicable and mature manner. I hope that isn’t too much to ask of you. dont prtnd yr not gagging 4 it big man me & mrs h r waitin - You disgust me. I’m coming over for a chat and NOTHING ELSE. yeah well see about that sunshine *** Saboo’s first thought upon reaching his destination is that he must’ve got the directions wrong. His GPS always seems to get confused by the fact that he’s using a magic carpet, and it wouldn’t be the first time that he’s made a wrong turn somewhere. It’s already hard enough to believe that Tony actually lives on Earth, but the fact that he lives in a mansion in the countryside, with expansive manicured grounds guarded by a huge iron-wrought gate? That is just ridiculous. The place has got to be worth millions, and by the looks of it, employs a staff of at least a dozen. Meanwhile, Saboo lives in a bedsit in South London. It doesn’t seem fair. Well, there is one way to find out if he’s in the right place. Saboo presses the doorbell and waits. Seconds later, the door is opened by an ancient-looking servant, who looks like a butler straight out of the 1870s. Judging by his wrinkles, stooped back, and glaucoma, Saboo thinks that he may very well be. He gives Saboo a once over, milky eyes settling on Saboo’s hat with mild distaste. “Sir?” Saboo is nothing if not respectful of protocol, and even though he is less than impressed by this butler’s insolent manner, he remains polite. “I am Saboo, I believe I am expected.” The butler nods feebly, “Yes, sir. Mrs Harrison will be with you presently.” He motions for Saboo to follow him inside and then shuffles down the marbled hallway. Saboo removes his hat and takes a moment to straighten its long feather, and before he has time to do much else, he hears the unmistakable sound of high heels clattering up towards him. He looks up just in time to see the stiletto shoes round the corner, and he follows them up to find himself face to face with a woman. A real woman, a human, not a female version of whatever Tony is. And she is no ordinary human woman, either. Her stockinged legs seem to go on forever, culminating in curvy hips and a narrow waist, and she is sporting a massive set of tits. Inexplicably, she’s wearing bunny girl lingerie, with pink satin ears poking out of her shining blonde hair. Saboo stands there by the door and stares openly. “You must be Saboo!” she purrs, leaning in to kiss him on each cheek, and smiling at him with her perfect teeth and perfect mouth. Her perfume is intoxicating, and Saboo thinks he may have forgotten how to speak. Undeterred by his silence, she continues, “I’ve heard so much about you of course, but my husband never told me you were this handsome.” This is the biggest surprise of all. Not the house, or the grounds, or the servants, but the fact that Harrison, a disembodied testicle (and not even a particularly likeable one at that), appears to be married to this buxom blonde Amazon. It defies all logic, it seems astronomically unlikely. Surely Tony’s put some sort of spell on her. A love potion, maybe? Shaman law strictly forbids the personal use of love potions, and Saboo is definitely going to have a word with Dennis about this. “He makes me laugh,” Mrs Harrison says with an affectionate smile, as though she can read his mind. “Well, that, and he’s exceptionally talented in bed,” she adds with a saucy wink before sauntering down the hallway and gesturing for him to follow her. When she turns around, Saboo notices that there is a pink bunny tail pinned to the back of her lacy knickers. He tries not to stare at it, but it’s bouncing up and down in such a hypnotic fashion that before he knows it, he’s followed her down lavishly decorated hallways and up a massive marble staircase, into what appears to be the master bedroom. He takes one worried look at the king sized bed, which seems to take up half of the room, before his eyes wander to the giant oil painting above it. It’s a revolting tableau of pastel hues, depicting Mrs Harrison, clad in an elaborate bejewelled wedding gown and cradling Tony in her arms. The Tony in the painting is wearing a bowtie in the space where his face ends and his tentacles begin, and the two of them are gazing at each other with sickening adoration. Saboo suddenly feels like he’s going to be ill. “Mrs Harrison—“ “Please, call me Cindy.” “Erm, Cindy, I was just hoping for a quick word with Tony, maybe I’d better go wait for him in the sitting room...?” “You make yourself comfortable,” she replies, gesturing towards the bed as though she hasn’t heard him, “I’ll go get Tony, he’s just having a nice bubble bath.” She’s gone before Saboo can argue. He sits down gingerly on the edge of the bed, taking care to face away from the painting. Minutes later she returns with Tony in her arms. She’s cooing at him like he’s an infant or a particularly adorable puppy, peppering his big head with little kisses, leaving red lipstick traces all over his pink skin, and Saboo has to fight down a fresh wave of nausea at the sight. “Ooh my baby’s all clean now, but mommy’s going to get him all dirty again, won’t she?” Cindy brings Tony up to her face and they share a long, messy kiss while Saboo just stares, horrified. He wants to remind them that he’s there because it seems they’ve forgotten, but it seems rude to interrupt. When they break off, both Harrisons turn to look at him with matching seductive smirks. “We’re going to get really dirty with your cute little friend, ain’t we, baby? Really naughty,” Cindy purrs. Tony gives him a lecherous grin, “I dunno Cindy, Saboo said he’s only here to talk.” Cindy laughs at that, a clear, tinkling sound, “But didn’t you tell him that we’re all married now?” Saboo starts to think that maybe it would’ve been a better idea to have this talk over the phone. *** Soon after, Saboo finds himself divested of all his clothes except his hat and slouching against the headboard. Cindy had talked him into doing a slow strip-tease, which had been a bit exciting but mainly embarrassing due to Tony’s catcalls, but after that he’d been directed to sit there and wait, so that’s what he’s doing. It turns out that it’s really difficult not to comply with everything Cindy says. The Harrisons really seem to have forgotten about him now , because Cindy is laying flat on her back with her knees up, fondling her breasts, and Tony is settled between her legs and going down on her with unnerving enthusiasm. Neither of them is paying attention to Saboo, and the air is filled with the sounds of Cindy’s gasps and Tony’s moans. It’s a bit revolting, this whole scene, and Saboo thinks that he should definitely get up and leave. He’s not even that turned on anymore, and he could get all this, minus the freak show factor, from online porn. Any minute now, he’s going to leave. He’s going to get up, walk away, and… Oh god. “What... What’s that all about?” There’s something growing out of Tony’s body, between two of his tentacles. It’s longer, wider and darker in tone than his normal appendages, slimy and kind of horrifying, all strange angles and lumpy little barbs. “Ooooh yeah, you thought you knew all about me, but I’ve got all sorts of tricks up my sleeves!” “You haven’t got any sleeves. You don’t even have arms, you freak.” Tony opens his mouth to retort, but he’s interrupted when Cindy mewls plaintively and pushes him back between her legs, her long manicured fingers pressing into his pink flesh. Saboo can only watch as Tony expertly works his tongue on her clitoris and pushes his swollen appendage and several of his tentacles inside her body. That now familiar feeling of disgust and intense arousal returns and Saboo presses the heel of his palm firmly against his hardening erection, while Cindy curses and sings and gasps and pleads until her toes curl and she stiffens with a strangled moan. Saboo is no stranger to the female orgasm, and while his own performance with the ladies is rightly renowned, he doesn’t think he’s ever seen a woman come this hard in his life. She looks like she’s having some sort of seizure, her eyes wide and unfocused as her back arches right off the bed. Saboo can see the ripples in her stomach and the trembles in her thighs from where he’s sitting, and suddenly her marriage to Tony doesn’t seem all that unlikely. Once it’s all over and that Cindy appears to have passed out from the force of her orgasm, Tony slowly retracts his glistening tentacles and his weirdly shaped genitalia from her body, looking very pleased with himself. “Oooh baby, another job well done. She is out for the count!” “All that time I thought of you as just a pink ball sac,” Saboo says, sounding a bit strangled despite his attempts to be cool and casual, “I was wrong. You appear to be a very elaborate, sentient sex toy.” “That’s right, bow down to the prowess of the H-man!” “That wasn’t a compliment, you bean head.” “I think you’ll find it was, you sexy beast. I ain’t spent yet, I saved some of my best moves for you. I promise you, you haven’t lived until you’ve felt my multi-hexagonal penis all up inside you.” “That’s repulsive, Tony. I don’t want that thing anywhere near my person.” “Ooooh, here we go again, the old denial! Give it up, Saboo, I can see you’re aching for it!” Tony is right of course, and what’s the point of putting up a fight when he’s already naked in bed with this oversized ballbag? Saboo grits his teeth and picks up Tony, settling him on his stomach. “I wouldn’t say no to another lap dance,” he mumbles quietly, throwing a quick glance at Cindy, “but what about your wife?” Mrs Harrison appears to have partially regained consciousness, stretching languidly, but her eyes are still closed. “Our wife, you mean. She’ll join in when she’s ready, don’t worry your gorgeous little head about it,” Tony replies, licking his lips and slithering slowly down Saboo’s body. Saboo closes his eyes in anticipation, remembering the slick pulsating feeling of Harrison’s insides that time in the hotel room, but Tony seems to have something else in mind. He brushes his tentacles lightly against Saboo’s straining cock but circumvent it entirely, slowly inching his way down until he finds himself back on the bed, between Saboo’s legs. “What—That’s not what I—...” “Ooh, I know what you want, you slag. Maybe later. Right now there’s something else I want to do,” Tony says greedily, and suddenly there’s one tentacle wrapping around the base of Saboo’s cock, one gently lifting his balls and yet another sliding between his arse cheeks. Saboo jerks back, banging his head painfully against the headboard and dislodging his hat. “Woah there, Tony!” An alien bumming is not what he had in mind, but judging by the gleeful look in Tony’s eyes and the engorged state of his, er, member, that’s definitely what is going to happen unless Saboo reacts quickly. “Shit, Tony, I don’t...” “Hush, you great prude. Oh, I’ve been after your delicious pumpkin arse for years! Just lie back, relax, and let the H-man take control!” Saboo definitely means to grab Tony by his clefty bonce and toss him across the room; that is the order he sends to his muscles. But, somehow, he finds himself spreading his thighs a bit further to give Tony and his tentacles better access. “Ooh, that’s it, good man! Don’t fight it, my friend, you know you want it.” Thankfully, Cindy chooses this moment to rejoin the proceedings by crawling over the bed, sliding a hand in Saboo’s hair, and kissing him soundly on the mouth. This way he can focus on her plump lips and the feeling of her glorious breasts pressed against his ribs, and he can try to ignore Tony’s lecherous moans and gasps as he pushes one tentacle inside. It isn’t long before Saboo’s lost all sense of shame, whimpering and moaning wantonly as Cindy kisses her way down his body and Tony works his delightfully slick and wriggly tentacles. Saboo knows that Tony only has two or three tentacles at work down there, but it feels like a dozen, fluttering inside him, massaging his balls, running up and down along his shaft, rubbing against his perineum. It feels rather like the entire universe has migrated into his balls, and by the time he feels Tony’s freakishly shaped member pressing against him, he’s practically begging for it. “Shit off! You are driving me crazy, Saboo, you beautiful man. Oooh that’s it, feel my alien penis! Feel me all deep inside you!” Somewhere through the roar of pleasure, Saboo has the fleeting thought that even Kirk would be disgusted by what they are doing, but then Tony rams against his prostate and Cindy wraps her perfect lips around Saboo’s erection, and he stops thinking right away. They go at it several more times over the course of the night in various combinations and positions, like they’re posing for a fucked up version of the Kama Sutra, the Tentacle Edition. Right before he passes out from exhaustion, aching and sticky and still buzzing with pleasure, Saboo thinks that maybe he doesn’t mind this marriage so much after all. *** It’s late morning when Saboo wakes up, his legs tangled into manky sheets, crammed into a corner of the giant bed. He’s cold and uncomfortable, so he sits up and looks around blearily. The Harrisons are still sleeping; Cindy is lying on her side in the middle of the bed, her long luxurious blonde hair fanned artfully over her pillow, and she’s curled up around Tony, hugging him to her chest like he’s a particularly freakish stuffed toy. Tony’s face is wedged in between her breasts, and Saboo sleepily wonders how he can even breathe... but then, who knows how Tony breathes, or indeed if he needs oxygen at all? Before he can start thinking too much about Tony’s internal workings, Saboo extricates himself out of bed as quietly as he can to avoid waking the sleeping couple. He makes a quick grab for his discarded clothes, sticks his feathered cap back on, and tiptoes out of the room. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’s definitely going to sort this mess out.

[treadmilltreats]

I refuse to settle

After years of doing just that,

I have come to the conclusion that I will no longer settle.

I have come way too far in my life to settle for a man that's not perfect for me. Now wait, before you go off on me, I did not say perfect, I said perfect for me, big difference. 

There is no perfect person and I am as far from perfect as they come, and I admit to that all the time. So just so you know, that I am not living in la la land, I am not asking for anything unreasonable, like he has to be 6', blond, 200 lbs, with muscles, blue eyes, make at least 600,000 a year, drive a 750 BMW and be a Virgo. 

Don't laugh I know some women with this list and they will not bulge (well, good luck to them) No, that is unrealistic, but... there are a few things on my list that are non negotiable.

 I will not settle for a man who does not put God first and foremost in his life. I know my religion has saved my life, literally and my faith and my church are the biggest part of my life. I will not sell my soul for a man with money and lose myself, I've been there, done that for 24 years, and that shit will never again. 

I need a man to know this is a package deal, my girls are my best friends and you need to love them just as you love me.

I need a man to embrace my friends and church family as I will never be put in a position to have to chose again 

I will no longer settle for broken, unreliable men. No, I am not here to fix you, you need to work out your issues before you start a relationship.

I took 2 years to work on my issues, I had to own my part in my failed marriage, and figured out what I needed to fix. You must have taken this journey by yourself, don't bring your issues into the next relationship, same problems, same end result. 

I will not be your mother, I've raised two kids and I am not looking to do that again, be a grown up, be a real man.

I will not settle for a lying, cheating or deceitful man. No I deserve to have a man love me enough and love me completely just as I will do that for him.

I will not settle for a man who will disrespect me. Never again, I now know my self worth. I am worthy of being treated like the queen I am, just as I would never disrespect you, you will do the same.

I want someone with a kind heart, that is compassionate, that is close to his family and is there for his friends. Someone who knows his finances and at 50 is not living paycheck to paycheck, sorry I did that at 20, and we are definitely not 20 anymore. 

Someone who is funny, (funny is the new sexy for me) who can laugh at themselves and the world, who has your back and will "let you crash their party" like that Luke Byron song. Someone who would drop everything to be with me, that I come second after God, to him.

Someone who cares enough about himself to be in shape and exercises, enjoys the outdoors, who lives life large and knows how to enjoy being in the moment. I want someone who is a blessing to others, who is compassionate and cares about others and the world.

Is this such an unrealistic list, I ask you?

Isn't this what all human beings should be? 

Not looking to get over or hurt someone else? Am I asking for too much?

Doesn't matter, this is my list, make your own... because I refuse to settle.

I know what kind of woman I am, I will love you until the end of time, I will be your biggest cheerleader, I will have your back, I will fight the world for your honor. I will be there to help you, I would even carry you if you fall. I will be your partner 100%, give my all, care about your feelings, respect you and will always be honest and faithful. 

All I ask is the same in return, that's all and if I can not find someone who is willing to give as much as I am well than I am just fine being by myself because I refuse to settle.

So I am putting it out there, these are the conditions and the deal breakers, so be it!

So today my friends, think long and hard, and ask yourself are you settling because you're lonely? Are you settling because you can't live without someone in your life? Are you settling for half a man or woman who won't or can't give themselvesto you? Take my advice, don't settle, know your worth and take nothing less!

"Be the change you want to see"

 

"And just when the caterpillar thought his life over...he turned into a beautiful butterfly"

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[chubbybiebz]

Maria// Justin Bieber Imagine

Hey can u please do me an imagine where me and justin have a huge fight and I try to leave but he won’t let me, btw my name is emily ? xxx

Found this in my drafts so I thought I'd post it. Part 2 maybe?

*****

“Talking ‘bout at the studio. Are you serious?” You whisper- yell at yourself. “Don’t even have the fucking brain to come up with something better.”

“Y/N, wait on me!” Your best friend, Kylie yells.

“Talking ‘bout ‘Baby, I love you’ but you out fucking some bitch behind my back.” You stomp your foot across the grass with rage. “You’re messing with the wrong girl.”

Kylie yanks your arm. “I bet it’s not what it looks like!” She desperately tries.

“If you’re not on my fucking side, leave.” You yank your arm back and march for the front door. Peaking inside of the little window, the little 2 story house seemed to be empty, but the GPS you put on Justin’s phone is telling you differently. Also, the Smart car outside is a dead give away.

You lift up the matt that says 'Welcome’ and find a little shiny key hiding away. “How basic is this bitch?” You whisper, looking behind to find Kylie struggling in her heels to get across the grass. “If you’re going to cheat on me, at least show some respect and do it in a way I won’t find out.”

When you slide the key inside the lock and open the door, you are met with a simple little house. White walls in the hallway and a black rug laying across the floor. On the wall to the left there is a text you were too angry to read. After softly closing (not all the way) the door without a sound, you stepped foot in to the house. There’s a stairway on your right which you intended to use after you snooped around the living room across the hallway. No one is in there you noticed when walking. But nothing in the living room stood out more than the bright blue tricycle standing near the window. Your heart started to beat faster when you noticed the little kids toys. Books, paintings on the walls, baby clothing. The whole shebang. Your eyes watered and you wiped an escaped tear away. When you turned a around, Kylie was standing behind you, looking at the living room in shock. “I’m sure he can explain.” She whispers and you nod, walking past her, heading for the stairs.

All that was going through your head was 'He has a kid’ repeatedly. What if he does have a kid? Would you help him take care of it? You’re 20 years old, your life is just starting. Hell, you’re not even legally allowed to drink yet so how on earth are you supposed to take care of a child?

All these thoughts were running through your mind before you reached the top of the stairs, Kylie long forgotten. This was the moment of truth.

“Should I put it in there, sweetheart?” Your heart rate raged up when you heard his voice. Your boyfriend’s voice. Justin’s gentle, soothing voice. But he wasn’t talking to you. His voice was coming from a room. A room that says 'Sarah’ on the door in pink decorated letters. And you might have stood there for an hour, staring at the letters, while your heart was breaking and tears were spilling. Contemplating whether you would be able to handle what you are about to see.

Your fingers traced the door knop before grabbing it in your hand lightly. You took a deep breath, closed your eyes and turned it. The anticipation was deadly.

“I don’t think it’ll fit, Sar-” Justin’s voice suddenly caught it up in his throat when you opened the door. When your watery eyes met his hazel ones, his brows furrowed. “Y/N, how did y- I mean what are you doing here?”

It took a while for you to register the sight in front of you. Justin, one hand placed around a Barbie doll and one hand on the back of a young little girl around the age of 5, most likely 'Sarah’. Sarah has a little afro and light skin. The little girl was still busy trying to fit some doll into a doll house before she turned to you, noticing the interruption. Her big doe eyes were shining even though there wasn’t that much light. Her eyes then slid to behind me along with Justin’s.

“Sarah, why don’t you go find your mom for a bit?” Your heart clenched and you closed your eyes.

Sarah nods. You feel Kylie squeeze your hand for a second. “Please tell me it’s not what it looks like.” You plea, looking at Justin pulling himself up from the ground. You looked away from him. Suddenly you noticed the bright pink walls with pictures of multiple woman framed.

Justin sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “It’s not what it looks like, Y/N.” Never have words really made you feel better but the words he uttered next, made your heart skip a beat and lifted the heaviness off of it too. “She’s not my daughter.”

Kylie sighed as well. Minutes tick by. It felt like hours though. Why on earth would Justin go out of his way to hide this girl from you? Why would he say he’s going to the studio when he’s out playing house.

"Justin, who are these two?” A new voice joined in. You turn around and face a pretty black woman with Sarah resting on her hip. The woman has a thick blue robe wrapped around her and bright green fuzzy socks on. Her hair is wrapped up in a cloth. She looks young. Maybe even the same age as you.

"This is my girlfriend Y/N.” Justin speaks with a raspy voice, pointing at you. You smile at her and quickly wipe your tears away. “And this is a friend of mine, Kylie”

"Hi.” You speak, reaching to shake the extended hand of the woman.

“My name is Simone.”

“Nice to meet you Simone. I really have to go now, though.” You hurriedly whisper and remove yourself from the situation. It’s too much. You didn’t understand anything but what you did understand was that you had to get out of there as fast as you could.

You did something you are best at. You ran. Down the stairs and to your car.

[queen-of-deans-booty]

Wendigo- Part 2

Pairing: Eventual Dean x Reader

Word Count: 4,243 (7,474 words in total)

Warning: Typical Supernatural violence, angst (a lot), language, minor character death, blood, you know the usual

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Supernatural. All credit goes to their respective owners. Please, if you want to be tagged for this series, let me know and I’ll add you! If you want to be tagged for my other fics, I’ll add you! I want to hear what you guys think about this. 

Part One

Feedback is always appreciated

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“It’s best to do this in the daytime because from what I gathered, this thing doesn’t like sunlight.” You said as Dean was driving up the road to the spot where they would be meeting Hayley.

“Awesome.” Dean said, seeing Hayley, Ben, and a man you didn’t recognize standing by a red car. You got out of the car along with the boys and looked at Hayley.

“You guys got room for three more?” You asked, smiling.

“Wait, you want to come with us?” Hayley sounded surprised.

“Who are these guys?” The stranger asked.

“Who are you?” Dean looked at him.

“Roy, I’m the hunter that she hired. You’re turn.” Roy glared at Dean.

“Rangers from the Park Service.” Dean said. You watched as Sam walked ahead of everyone.

“You’re hiking out in biker boots and jeans?” You frowned as Hayley judged the way Dean looked.

“Well, sweetheart, I don’t do shorts.” You snorted and snickered from behind Dean.

“Yeah right.” You smirked.

“You, shut your face.” Dean glared back at you. Apparently, he didn’t want people to know just how he spent an entire summer wearing shorts because Kansas got too hot.

“You think this is some type of joke? It’s dangerous out there. Her brother might be hurt.” Roy said with a serious face.

“Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all.” You followed Dean to where Sam was and looked around. This was going to be a long hunt.

“So, Roy, you said you did some hunting?” Roy and Dean were leading the way, looking out for anything suspicious. Nothing had been found for the past few miles and your feet were staring to hurt. You wished you were wearing better footwear for this trip. You would think, being a hunter, you would have grown some tolerance for walking and being on your feet for the most of the day.

“Yeah, more than most.”

“Uh-huh, what kind of furry critters do you hunt?”

“Mostly buck, sometimes bear.” Roy wasn’t even looking at Dean but looking at his surroundings, holding his shotgun as if he would fire at any moment.

“Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?” Dean snickered as he walked past Roy. Suddenly, Roy grabbed the collar of Dean’s jacket and pulled him away from whatever he was about to step on.

“What are you doing, Roy?” You asked, eyeing Roy. Roy grabbed a stick that he happened to see lying around and poke the bear trap that Dean didn’t see.

“You should watch where you’re stepping, Ranger.” Roy smirked and continued to walk, senses on high alert.

“It’s a bear trap.” Dean nodded and looked at everyone in the group. You giggled and caught up with him. He was so damn adorable and he didn’t even know it.

“Hey, you didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers,” Hayley said, glaring at him. Dean wouldn’t stop so she grabbed his arm and whipped him around. “So who the hell are you?” You stopped with Dean and Hayley, watching Roy, Ben, and Sam go by. You knew Sam would be there if Dean needed his help but since you were there with him, he didn’t worry too much.

“Sam, Y/N, and I are looking for our father. HE might be here but we don’t know for sure. I just figured with you looking for you brother, we might help each other out.” Dean sighed.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that from the start?” Hayley looked at you but looked back to Dean with a sigh.

“I'm telling you now. Besides, this is probably the most honest I’ve been with anyone outside of my family. So, we, okay?” Hayley nodded after a pause and hesitantly continued towards the group. Dean was about to head with them but you stopped him.

“So, you count me as family? Just family?” You asked, wondering where this conversation might lead to. “I remember you telling me all of your secrets when we were kids.” You stared up at him.

“Yeah, I remember. You were a terrible secret keeper.” Dean joked.

“Hey, mind you, I can still tell Sam about the time you got rejected by not one girl, but two. Remember that day?” You smirked. You always loved to tease the man.

“Alright, alright,” Dean chuckled.  

“You don’t have to hide yourself from me, Dean. I saw you in shorts, mind you. There’s no going back from that,” You joked with him. He chuckled and nodded but didn’t say a word. “Let’s go back.” You grabbed his hand and pulled him along with you. It felt natural to be with him, like this.

“Okay, this is it, Blackwater Ridge.” Roy said after a few more minutes of hiking.

“What coordinates are we at?”

“35 and minus 111.” Roy said after checking his GPS. Something was wrong. Besides the shuffling around the group was doing, there was no other sounds being made. Come on, this was a forest.

“Hey, you guys hear that?” You whispered to the brothers.

“Yeah, not even crickets.” Sam said quietly. It was dead silent and that wasn’t normal for a forest.

“I’m going to go look around.” Roy said, making up his mind.

“You shouldn’t go off by yourself.” Sam suggested.

“That’s sweet, don’t worry about me.” Roy held up his gun and pushed past Sam and Dean, going off in one direction.

“I’ll go with him,” You looked at the brothers and touched their arms. “Be safe.” They both nodded and you followed the path that Roy took.

“I didn’t need someone going with me.” Roy said once he knew you followed him.

“Yeah but I am. You don’t know what’s out there and you shouldn’t be alone.” You walked with him, looking around, still hearing nothing.

“Darling, I’ve hunted out in these woods before you were even born. I know them like the back of my hand. I know what I’m doing.” Roy sighed. Yeah so does the creature. A few more paces and you came to a clearing. You gasped, seeing a campsite with bloody tents and supplies that were scattered everywhere.

“What the hell?” You carefully stepped closer, hoping that whatever made this mess was gone. “Dean!!!” You called out. Not a minute later, you saw Dean and Sam rushing to find you.

“Oh my God.” Haley said once she saw the campsite. She rushed and set everything down, Ben and Roy doing the same thing. You ran to Dean and Sam, looking worried.

“This is no skinwalker or black dog, I can tell you that now,” You bit your lip, looking past them where you saw tracks as if something dragged bodies through the mud. “Look, see what I mean?” You sighed as Sam and Dean walked over to the tracks.

“Tommy! Tommy!!” Hayley started yelling.

“Sh!” You rushed to her. “Whatever did this could still be out there.” It was silent for a few minutes before everyone heard someone yelling for help.

“Help! Help!” You looked at Dean who began running towards the direction of the voice. Everyone seemed to want to see this and followed. You didn’t have a good feeling about this. Something bad was about to happen.

When you got to the general area from where the voice was heard, it was dead silent as if nothing ever made a sound.

“We should get back.” Sam said. Luckily everyone else agreed and headed back.

“Hey! Our packs are gone!” When you arrived, supplies were flung everywhere, making the campsite look messy but now every single one of the supplies were gone, as if someone, or something must have taken them.

“So much for my GPS and my satellite phone.” Roy sighed.

“What the hell is going on?” Hayley demanded.

“It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help.” Sam sighed, raking a hand down his face.

“You mean someone, some nutjob out there, just stole all our gear?” Roy looked around.

“You two,” Sam said, pointing to you and Dean. “With me.” He walked off with you and Dean on his trail.

“Sam, what’s going on?” You bit your lip and kept following him until he stopped.

“Let me see Dad’s journal.” He asked Dean. Dean took it out of his jacket and handed it to Sam. Sam opened it and flipped a few pages in and turned it around so you and Dean could read it. He stopped on a page about wendigos.

“Oh come on, wendigos are nowhere near this part of the United States. I've never even heard of one this far west.” Dean scoffed.

“Think about it, Dean, the claws, and the way it can mimic a human voice.” You and Dean both knew Sam was right. If this thing was a Wendigo, then you were in deep shit.

“Great,” Dean said sarcastically. He took out the pistol he was using and scoffed. “I guess these are useless.”

“Fire, we need fire. That’s the only way to kill them. Other ways will slow them down or piss it off.” You said. Dean took back his dad’s journal and you watched as Sam walked.

“We have to get these people to safety.” Sam told Dean, his tone accusing. Dean clenched his jaw as his brother walked away.

“Hey, Dean, this wasn’t your fault. You didn’t know what we were hunting and like you said earlier, Hayley wasn’t going to sit this one out.” You touched his arm and then followed Sam back to the camp.

“All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten... more complicated.” Sam started to say.

“What?” Haley looked at him.

“Kid, don’t worry, whatever is out there, I think I can handle it.” Roy said, holding up his gun.

“It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just going to make it mad. We must leave, now.”

“One, you’re talking nonsense. Two, you’re in no position to give anybody orders.” Roy said angrily.

“We never should have let you come out here in the first place, alright? I'm trying to protect you.” That didn’t seem to please Roy because he got up in Sam’s space.

“You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night.” Roy sneered. You stepped in between the two hunters and glared at Roy, trying to size him up, even though his was taller than you.

“I will not hesitate to kick your ass and believe me when I say that I can. I don’t care if you’re older. I’m a better hunter than you are and I’ve hunted a lot of things. I bet you haven’t killed a wendigo.” Dean pulled you away from Roy before you could get the word out.

“Chill!” He looked at you. No one messes with your boys and gets away with it.

“Stop, stop it. Everybody just stop. Look, Tommy might still be alive and I'm not leaving here without him.” Haley said. You sighed and nodded, looking away from everyone and walking to distance yourself from the group.

“It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it; not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves.” Dean said, looking over at you. You were biting your nails, something you always did when you were nervous or stressed.

Dean and Sam instructed everyone to wait until night fall and that is when they built a fire. You were on the outside of the campfire, biting your nails, and over thinking things. It was dead quiet except for Dean talking Hayley’s ear off.

“One more time, what are those?” She sounded confused but you didn’t dare look over.

“Anasazi symbols, it's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them.” Roy started to laugh and turned around, glaring at him.

“How about we leave your ass outside and have you get eaten up. How would you like that?” Roy glared at you but you turned back around, nail in between your teeth. Dean sighed and looked at you before dropping his stick.

“Sweetheart, what’s gotten into you?” He grabbed your hand and pulled it out of your mouth, staring at you.

“Sorry, I just hate how ignorant people get and that we can’t tell them. He thinks he knows everything but why can’t he put the gun down and see we are trying to help?” You huffed.

“I don’t know but all we have to do is kill this thing and then we’re gone. You won’t have to see him again.” You nodded and saw Sam in his own mind, by himself.

“Let’s go see Sam.” You walked with him over to where Sam was.

“You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?” Dean stated. “And don’t say you're fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?”

“Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?” Sam sighed. “We should get these people back to town and let's hit the road; go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?

“Can you even ask yourself that question, Sam? This is what a Hunter does. I remember when we were growing up, you jumped at the chance to kill these things. You never asked questions until your big fight with John. Something snapped inside of you and you haven’t reeled yourself back in.” You tried to reason with him.

“Man, look at the reason we are here. This book,” Dean held up his dad’s journal. “This is Dad's single most valuable possession—everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business.”

“Dean, no, I can’t focus on the job when all I can think about is Jessica’s killer.” Sam sighed.

“Okay, alright, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me, you've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it in; t's going to kill you. You got to have patience, man.”

“Yeah, Sam, there are some hunts where I can’t even see myself doing it but I do because I get to save people and it’s all worth it in the end.” You sighed.

“It makes things a little bit more bearable and I’ll tell you what else helps: killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can.” Sam chuckled, feeling better at the moment. Suddenly, you heard a twig snap and someone calling out for help.

“Help!!! Someone, please!!” You knew it wasn’t a person.

“Everybody, stay inside, he’s trying to draw us out.” You told everyone. The wendigo kept trying to lure anyone out by imitating a human.

“Okay, that’s no grizzly,” Roy gulped when he heard the low growing come from around. He raised his gun and shot, apparently hearing something that you didn’t. “I hit it!” Before you could stop him, he got up and ran after where he thought was a body.

“Roy! No!” You yelled after him. You groaned and started to run after him, a gun in your hand to protect yourself.

“It’s over here! It’s in the tree!” Your eyes widened when you saw the wendigo reach down and snap Roy’s neck. You saw it look at you and snarl. You screamed but that seemed to scare it away for the time being as he took Roy’s body with him.

“Y/N!” You heard Dean yell and soon, you felt hands pulling you back.

“Dean, his neck snapped.” You looked at your green-eyed friend. Roy was a pain in the ass but he didn’t need to die. You needed to protect everyone. No one else was dying on your watch.

“Let’s go before he comes back.” You two walked back to the group and made yourselves comfortable. You stayed like that all night long and not once did the wendigo bothered you. You barely got a wink of sleep and you ended up telling Ben and Hayley everything. They had to know, despite what Dean said.

“I don't... I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real.” You chuckled humorlessly. That’s what you thought decades ago.

“I wish I could tell you different.” Dean said.

“How do we know it’s not out there, watching us.” She looked up and around.

“We don’t but we’re safe for now.” You said.

“How do you know so much about this stuff?” Hayley asked. You looked over at Ben; he wasn’t much of a talker.

“It runs in the family.” That was the best way Dean could put it without giving too much out.

“So we've got half a chance in the daylight and I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch,” Sam said, walking over to the group. He opened John’s journal and showed Hayley and Ben the wendigo page. “'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'.”

“They're hundreds of years old. They were men once before they turned into one of those things.” Dean explained.

“How does one turn?”

“It doesn’t matter who it is because it’s always the same situation. A man would find himself starving so bad, cut off from supplies and the outside world that he would eat what he can. Sometimes, that’s human flesh. He would eat other members of his tribe or camp. A lot of cultures believe that eating flesh gives the person certain abilities like speed and strength. You become one of these things if you eat enough of it. And each time you eat it, you become less and less human. You’re always hungry.” You said. You hunted a wendigo once, by yourself and it was not pretty.

“So if that’s true then how can Tommy still be alive?” You, Dean and Sam looked at each other with nervous glances, not sure how to tell her. “Tell me.”

“More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there.” Dean said.

“So how do we stop it?” Hayley wondered.

“We torch it.” Dean said, holding up a can of lighter fluid, a beer bottle, and a white cloth.

You spent a day and a half, searching through the woods with no avail. No signs were coming up; the only things you found were claw marks on trees and that is what you were following. You were walking ahead with Sam when you noticed something strange. You stopped walking, stopping the tracks of everyone else.

“What is it?” Sam asked.

“See these marks? They are very clear and distinct like they were almost too easy to follow.” You and Sam looked at each other than to the group. Your eyes widened when you saw Hayley with blood on her shirt. She looked up and yelped, moving out of the way just in time for Roy’s body to drop where she once stood. You stopped when you heard growling and you knew that you have been spotted.

“It found us, move!” You looked for Dean and saw him running with Hayley. You knew Sam would get Ben as you ran with the two of them. You couldn’t believe that the group had split up but you needed to go with Dean. He would be too worried about Hayley to worry about himself. You caught up with them but stopped short when you saw the Wendigo snarling at you, advancing towards you. The next thing you knew, you were sucked into blackness.

“Y/N, hey, sweetheart.” You opened your eyes with a groan and looked at Dean who was down from the ties he was hanging on. You don’t remember much, just bits and pieces but you thought you were wendigo food.

“Where is he?” You held your head and looked at Dean. You looked around to see Sam, Ben and Hayley all around you. Hayley looked scared shitless, Sam looked protective of the strangers and Ben was standing there quietly.

“He’s gone for now.” You looked at Sam and nodded, getting on your feet.

“Damn, two hunts in a row. If these how hunts go for me, I won’t have a brain left.” You joked.

“Tommy.” You heard Hayley say and she started crying, going over to her brother who was hanging from ropes. You were too far away to see if he was alive of not.

“I wouldn’t do that.” You warned Hayley when she reached to touch her brother’s cheek. She didn’t listen and did it anyway. You watched to see what would happen and jumped, startled when Tom jerked awake.

“Cut him down!” Hayley demanded of Sam. As Sam did that, you noticed familiar looking guns and smirked to yourself.

“My bottle broke. What are we going to do now?” Dean pouted.

“Will this work?” You held up two flair guns that you found. Sam and Dean grinned, taking them from you. There was one more and you grabbed it. Sam was the one to lead the group down the tunnel that him and Ben came through. You and Dean were behind them, flair guns up and on high alert. You stopped short when you heard growling.

“Looks like someone’s home for supper.” Dean said. He made eye contact with his brother, having a silent conversation. You never understood their connection and it always irritated the shit out of you. When you were growing up, that is how they kept secrets from you and you hated it.

“Alright, listen to me and stay with Sam. He’s going to get you out of here.” You looked at your best friend in shock.

“Dean?” You couldn’t bear to lose him.

“Go, sweetheart. I’ll be okay.” You shook your head.

“No, I don’t want to leave you.” You started to panic inside.

“Sam, take her with you.” Sam grabbed your arm. You looked at him and tried to get him off.

“No, I want to go with Dean!” You looked back to see him gone. “Dean!!” You yelled out.

“Y/N! Let’s go, you don’t want that thing coming here!”  You sighed and heard Dean yelling through the caves.

“Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste good.” You couldn’t hear the rest as he got further into the cave. You let tears fall and followed Sam. You were going to kill Dean when he made it back out alive. You almost made it to the end of the tunnel when you heard growling behind you.

“Go, Sam, I got this one.” You turned around to see the wendigo right in your face. You backed away and raised the gun, shooting but missing because they were so damn fast.

“Let’s go!” Sam said, escorting out the Collins’s with you trailing behind. You managed to get to the end of the tunnel and you stopped when you heard snarls come from behind you. You turned around, Sam effectively blocking the whole family. You were about to shoot when you saw the wendigo burst into flames. You let out a breath of relief when you saw Dean and ran to him, engulfing him in a hug.

“Whoa, where’s the fire, sweetheart?” He hugged you back. You pulled away and slapped his chest.

“Don’t ever scare me like that again! You hear me, Winchester?” Dean nodded and pulled you in for another hug.

“I’m right here. I was never going to leave.” He and Sam led the group out of the cave where safety was.  

“That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds.” Ben explained to the police about what happened.

“Alright, we will go after it first thing.” The officer nodded and left him.

“How can I thank you?” Hayley said to Dean. Dean smirked at her flirtatiously and you rolled your eyes. “Must you cheapen the moment?” Hayley was distracted by a paramedic and you walked over to Sam.

“You feeling better?” You smiled softly.

“Yeah, are you?” You looked over at Dean and saw Hayley kiss his cheek.

“Yeah.”

“I know you like him.” Sam said suddenly.

“What?” You whipped your head around to Sam. “Sam, you’re crazy. I do not like your brother.” You scoffed.

“Sure.” Sam smirked and Dean walked over to you guys.

“I hate camping.” Dean complained. Sam chuckled and nodded, agreeing with him.

“You know we are going to find your dad, right?” You looked at both boys.

“Yeah, I know, but in the meantime, I’m driving.” Sam said, looking at Dean. Dean grinned and tossed his keys to his brother.

“You know, one day I will drive this car.” You looked at Dean, getting in the back seat.

“Sure you will.” Dean smirked.

Masterlist // Series Rewrite Masterlist

Series Rewrite tags:

@helllonearth @amyisabellal @deanwnchstr @caseykitten6 @roxalya19

Forever tags:

@shorter-than-sammy @maddieburcham1 @ginamsmith

Dean tags:

@akshi8278

Other tags:

@jensen-jarpad @jpadjackles @notnaturalanahi @mysteriouslyme81 @deathtonormalcy56 @27bmm

[kristallioness]

A few days late, but as promised, I'm finally answering this. Thanks goes to @hailkuvira and @mindatworkk for tagging me! ^_^

Rules: Answer these 92 statements and tag 20 people

THE LAST: 1. Drink: Forest berry (including strawberry, raspberry and blueberry) flavoured Nestea, yum! A new brand of Nestea that I bought for the first time this weekend. Reminds me of regular berry juice. 2. Phone call: My mother. 3. Text message: Does the messenger on Facebook count? Cause then it'd be a chat about how we're doing with my former classmate, K.H. 4. Song you listened to: "Stay" by Hurts, their last song during the concert at Õllesummer. 5. Time you cried: Last week during a senseless row, after which everybody made up.

HAVE YOU: 6. Dated someone twice: Not yet. 7. Kissed someone and regretted it: No. 8. Been cheated on: No. 9. Lost someone special: Yes, of course - a close family member, a schoolmate from our parallel class, famous Estonians who were and continue to be close to our hearts. 10. Been depressed: I haven't had depression (as in the mental illness that needs medical attention), but I've been through some hard times, sure. 11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: No, and this is something I'm proud of. I've never been drunk and intend to keep it that way because I simply don't like alcohol.

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS: 12-14: Red, blue, black (black especially when it concerns clothing because it makes me look thinner).

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU: 15. Made new friends: Yes. 16. Fallen out of love: No. 17. Laughed until you cried: Definitely, many times! Most likely while watching/reading something funny. 18. Found out someone was talking about you: I don't think so. 19. Met someone who changed you: Again, I don't think I've changed. 20. Found out who your friends are: I've always known who they are. 21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: No.

GENERAL: 22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: All of them I believe, since I don't have many friends and I don't add random strangers who I know nothing about. 23. Do you have any pets: No. I wanted to get a dog or a parrot when I was a little girl though, so whenever we passed our local pet store, my mom and I would go inside to look at those pretty colourful birds in the cages on sale.

24. Do you want to change your name: Definitely not, because it's really beautiful (for a reason)! I'm worried that my future husband and I would have a serious talk about which surname would stay, ha-ha! (Nah, I'm always ready to discuss our options.) 25. What did you do for your last birthday: Just stayed home with my parents, ate some special cake and enjoyed my day.. Wait, WHAT AM I EVEN SAYING!? It was another Kataang Week, for goodness' sake! I was busy participating and browsing through the quality content! 26. What time did you wake up: Today, around 2:45 pm. Just in time to see the start of the Formula 1 Austrian GP. 27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Putting away most of the stuff I brought home from my rented apartment/bought yesterday. 28. Name something you can't wait for: Umm.. Kataang Week (+ my birthday) in two weeks? Also, the first part of "Turf Wars" coming out soon. 29. When was the last time you saw your mom: She's sleeping in the bedroom, so an hour ago. 30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: If I were younger, I would've answered by listing a dozen things. But honestly, nothing, because then it wouldn't be my life. I've learned to accept things as they are and that I can only change them when I do something about it. 31. What are you listening right now: Nothing. 32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: I.. think.. not. 33. Something that is getting on your nerves: The state of the world, the current American President, minorities not being taken seriously (such as the LGBTQ+ community and their human rights; smaller countries and their people not being respected like the bigger ones - what Jean-Claude Juncker said when Malta was handing over the presidency to Estonia in the European Union last week), politicians provoking unnecessary xenophobia or hate towards refugees (the EKRE party in Estonia - gosh, I HATE THESE MORONS!), the political situations in many countries, how our certain neighbour is trying to restore its former glory by occupying small parts of its neighbouring countries (one by one) and we're all LETTING IT HAPPEN IN THE FRICKING 21ST CENTURY!.. Politics in general. 34. Most visited website: Ooh! I have so many: Gmail, Facebook, Neopets, YouTube, Tumblr...

LOST QUESTIONS. I JUST PUT IN RANDOM INFO ABOUT ME 35. Mole/s: I have quite many all over my skin. 36. Mark/s: I have my dad's birthmark on the inside of my right thigh. 37. Childhood dream: To become a doctor. 38. Haircolor: Blonde. 39. Long or short hair: Long, very long. 40. Do you have a crush on someone: No. 41. What do you like about yourself: That I'm well-educated and intelligent, I worked really hard to get a gold medal and graduate with straight A's during secondary school. 42. Piercings: None, and I have no intention of letting any be done. 43. Bloodtype: A+, I think? Definitely A. 44. Nickname: Don't have any. 45. Relationship status: Single. 46. Zodiac: Leo. 47. Pronouns: She/her. 48. Favorite TV show: "Avatar: The Last Airbender". 49. Tattoos: None (yet). 50. Right or left hand: Right. 51. Surgery: Twice - to have my adenoids and tonsils removed. 52. Hair dyed in different color: No. 53. Sport: Chess (I've won a trophy, 5 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze medal from tournaments). 54. (question wasn't here) 55. Vacation: I always looked forward to my summer vacations during school/university. 56. Pair of trainers: Black and white Nike ones, though I have a few more in the cupboards.

MORE GENERAL: 57. Eating: I try to vary my menu, but recently it goes like: main dish, fruit and dessert along with milk, juice and tea. 58. Drinking: Anything non-alcoholic. 59. I'm about to: Finish answering these questions. 62. Want: To find a job, finish my WIPs. 63. Get married: I hope I will in the future. 64. Career: An IT-specialist, my second choice will always be a doctor.

WHICH IS BETTER 65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs. 66. Lips or eyes: Eyes. 67. Shorter or taller: Any height is okay. Though when it concerns me, then I've always liked that I'm much taller than most of my friends. Also, it gives me the advantage to seem more threatening. 68. Older or younger: Umm, both are okay? 70. Nice arms or nice stomach: Probably arms. 71. Sensitive or loud: Sensitive. 72. Hook up or relationship: Relationship. 73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Hesitant.

HAVE YOU EVER: 74. Kissed a stranger: No. 75. Drank hard liquor: Nope, already covered that earlier.. 76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: It's not even possible because I don't wear any. 77. Turned someone down: Yes. 78. Sex on the first date: No. 79. Broken someone's heart: I'm not sure.. Maybe unintentionally? 80. Had your heart broken: Yes. 81. Been arrested: No. 82. Cried when someone died: Yes. 83. Fallen for a friend: Without him knowing and me getting over those mixed feelings - once.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN: 84. Yourself: Yes. 85. Miracles: I suppose in a way, yes. 86. Love at first sight: Yes. 87. Santa Claus: Yes, because I know there is a person like that who lives very near - in Lapland, Finland! 88. Kiss on the first date: Is this really something to believe in? If two people really match so well or have known each other for a long time before even going out on a date, then yes, it could happen.

OTHER: 90. Current best friend name: I don't think I have a best friend (just a lot of close friends), but the girl I met during 1st grade and who was my main deskmate during school throughout the years - J.K. 91. Eyecolor: Light greyish blue. 92. Favorite movie: There are so many! Mostly I like cheesy romantic comedies, plain comedies, good dramas or cartoons. How about "Cars" since its 3rd part is coming out in Estonian movie theatres on my birthday this July? (And yes, I'm thinking of going to see it as a birthday present.)

Tagging: @aconfusionoffandoms @cassidy-alice @chel-burr @cutiecount3 @erinchaaaa @eskalations @feelz-this-moment @interessantisanders @iroh-is-god @jinoras-light @jooliescorner @kataracy @kyeshirosaki @letthepickaxedothetalking @nautiscarader @obbsessedturtle @reducetoabsurdness @satanonatoilet @snotpup @teammeganftw

(Btw, questions 54, 60, 61, 69 and 89 are missing!)

[sugas-kookies]

Cosa Nostra (Pt. 2)

Summary: You were just a girl who took some odd jobs from the Min Syndicate to make some extra cash. When Min Yoongi himself sends a request for you to come to his mansion, any semblance of your normal life gets thrown out the window. What sort of dangers will face you once you become associated with one of the biggest mob bosses?

Mafia!YoongixReader

Angst/Smut/Fluff

Word Count: 4k

Part [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] 

Preparing for the meeting with Min Yoongi was a thousand times more stressful that you could have possibly predicted. At first you had worried about how you were to pay for an extravagant get up for this so called “meeting”, given that you were knee deep in debt. Luckily for you, a random lump sum of cash had mysteriously made its way under the door of your apartment. You didn’t know what was more worrying: the fact that the Min Syndicate knew exactly where you lived, or the fact that they just so casually handed you over five thousand dollars in cash. You didn’t even want to think about how they got that kind of money.

Even with your newfound temporary wealth, you didn’t know the first thing about how to dress appropriately for a meeting with the mafia. Despite your uncertainty in shopping for a formal dress, you managed to pick out an ankle length semi-form fitting black dress. The back of the dress was almost completely cut out, the fabric ending just below the small of your back, and with a slit down the side of the dress to show even more skin. It was a little risqué for your taste, but you figured that this was the sort of thing that mafia people wore to things like this. At this point you were clueless, so you might as well look like a fucking goddess.

Besides shopping for a suitable dress and accessories, the days leading up to the meeting went rather smoothly, well as smoothly as they could with you being paranoid about the Min Syndicate probably watching you like a hawk as you worked your measly coffee shop job.

You sighed for the hundredth time that day, taking off your apron in the employee room since your shift was basically over. ‘I know that they’re organized crime leaders...but are they all this fucking extra?’  You thought, irritated as you hastily waved goodbye to your coworkers and left for your apartment. At least this time you weren’t leaving in the dead of night, so you didn’t have the paranoia of someone following you like a few days ago.

The initial fear of meeting the head of the Min Syndicate had faded after the first day. You had managed to convince yourself that he would have killed you by now if he had wanted to, and you were determined to not come across as a scared little girl when you met him that night. Danger be damned, you weren’t going to bend over backwards just because this mysterious Min Yoongi was a mob boss.

‘I say that now,’  You chided to yourself as you unlocked the door to your apartment, ‘but do I really think I can have a backbone against a mafia leader? He could kill me on a whim…’  You shook your head; having thoughts like that at this point wouldn’t change anything. It would just make you lose that much more control over the situation, and you needed every bit that you could get. You glanced at the oven clock in your kitchen and noticed that it was already 4:30, giving you only about an hour and a half to get ready.

“Shit, why did my damn shift have to run so late?” You grumbled to yourself as you hurriedly began to get ready for the evening. Within an hour you somehow managed to slip into your dress and made your face and hair presentable enough. It wasn’t the best since you rushed yourself a little, but you thought back to the words that the man who followed you said, “You don’t want to find out what happens if you show up late or stand him up.” Even though you didn’t want to be a complete pushover, you knew it was basically suicide not to take his advice.

Grabbing your keys, you hurriedly left your apartment and got into your car, entering the address given to you into your phone GPS. As you had suspected, it was in one of the richest parts of the city. You didn’t expect any less of a crime boss, but the idea of being in such a ritzy area with dangerous people mad you incredibly nervous. Regardless of your feelings, you began to drive to the location, but it’s not like there was much of a choice anyway.

It took you about twenty minutes to get to the location, which lucky enough for you left you with about ten minutes to spare. Even knowing how high end the area was, nothing could have prepared you for just how grandiose the place actually was. If anything it looked like the mansion was ripped straight out of The Great Gatsby, the house just seemed to drip with money as you pulled up the driveway near the huge set of stairs leading to the front door.

You had barely had time to get out of your car before you saw a man walking down the set of stairs to greet you. You stiffened, straightening your back to look taller and a little less fearful than you actually were. As the man approached, you noticed just how handsome he was; he couldn’t have been that much older than you, but with his flawless features you really couldn’t get a good estimate on his age. His wardrobe matched the luxuriousness of the mansion behind him, a sleek black tuxedo fitting to his toned frame quite nicely.

The man gave you a soft smile as he approached, “Hello, I assume that you’re Ms. (Y/L/N)?”

Blinking a little in surprise, you stuttered out, “U-uh…yeah I am. Why does everyone know my name?”

Apparently the guy thought your response was funny, because he let out a squeaky laugh for a few moments before replying, “Ah, since Yoongi is expecting you, naturally anyone of importance was notified. Please follow me inside, I’ll show you to where he is waiting.”

Huffing a little in frustration, you cautiously followed the man inside the house. If you had thought that the outside look spectacular, it didn’t even come close to how the interior looked. It was almost a place fit for a king, not some crime lord in a regular city. You couldn’t help but look around in awe as the man led you upstairs and towards a huge set of wooden doors.

He paused at the doors, his hands resting on the handles, “If I may, I’d like to give you some advice before you go in there.” You turned to him, surprised at his words. At first you thought he was just mocking you, but the look in his eyes showed the utmost sincerity.

“Why would you want to give me advice?” You asked, eyeing the man suspiciously, “I don’t even know who you are, how do I know that you won’t-“

“Kim Seokjin,” the man interrupted you, “But you can just call me Jin. I want to give you advice because you seem like an honest, good person, and I’d hate for something to happen to you because of a misunderstanding or a mistake.” He looked at you with such seriousness all you could do was nod for him to continue, “First and foremost, do not interrupt Min Yoongi, it’s a sure fire way to get him really angry. Second, make sure that you speak clearly when you do speak, because he will take muttering as a sign of disrespect. And last but not least, be as polite as you can, he will more than likely try your patience, but just go along with whatever he says.”

You frowned at the idea of just easily submitting to the man beyond the doors. You didn’t plan on picking any fights, but you certainly weren’t just going to simply comply with whatever outrageous demand came out of his mouth.

Jin saw the defiant look in your eyes and sighed, “I know the situation isn’t ideal but…just try, okay? I’d hate to be the one disposing of your body because you were too stubborn to listen to my advice,” With that, he pushed the doors open and gestured for you to walk into the room, closing the doors behind you.

Your eyes were immediately drawn to the man sitting behind the large desk. He didn’t even say a word or spare you a glance, and yet his presence not only demanded attention but also respect. The man got up from his seat when he noticed your arrival, his face expressionless as he made slow steady steps toward you. You knew it was an intimidation method, and yet you couldn’t help but feel fear course through your veins as he approached. It was like he was a predator circling his prey, completely and perfectly cornered and waiting to be killed. He was dressed in a dark black suit with a vest and a deep purple necktie. You didn’t want to admit it to yourself, but there really was no denying how sexy he looked in that outfit; but even with his handsome visage, his dark eyes seemed to show the devil hidden behind his appearance. This was a man who would do anything to get what he wanted; this was the infamous Min Yoongi, living up to all expectations and then some.

“You’re (Y/F/N),” the man said, more of a statement than a question, “I have to say that I’m surprised you actually came. Usually people try to at least put up a fight coming here…”

Clenching your jaw, you glared him down to the best of your ability, “It’s not like I had much of a choice…why did you call me here?”

Yoongi let out a low chuckle, “You got some attitude in you… I like that. You’re definitely going to need it…” He paced around you, eyeing you up and down in a way that suddenly made you self-conscious of the dress that you chose to wear, “Long story short, I’ve called you here to act as my date for a…special party. Now that you’re here, we can get going.”

He began to move towards the doors when you protested, “Wait! That’s the only explanation you’re going to give me? That doesn’t make any sense, why not ask some other upper class girl or whatever to be your date? You haven’t even told me what I’m supposed to do! Either tell me the information I want to know, or I’m leaving.”

The man froze for a second before spinning on his heel and walked straight up to you, his body almost uncomfortably close to you as he smirked, “It’s truly adorable how you are trying to act like you have some sort of control here, little Miss (Y/L/N),” Yoongi’s smirk vanished as soon as it appeared as he grabbed your arm, his voice cold as ice as he hissed, “Let me make this crystal clear for you: I don’t owe you shit. You work for me and my syndicate, and you’ll do as I say, when I say it. Do you understand?”

You gaped at him, your mind reeling in fear. The grip he had on your arm was firm enough to get his message across but not enough to leave any marks, but regardless he already had you scared shitless. The pressure around your arm seemed to gag you, leaving you to only be able to stare into the deep, dark brown of his eyes that were narrowed in irritation.

“Glad we have an understanding,” His face relaxed back into a bored expression as he let go of your arm and motioned for you to follow him, not even turning around and waiting to see if you actually would.

You reluctantly followed, but with his hand not on you threateningly you gathered the courage to talk again, “I’d at least like to know a little of what’s going on. How am I supposed to do a good job if I don’t even know what the job is?”

“Damn you’re a chatty one, aren’t you?” Yoongi grumbled as you two left his office, motioning for two men waiting outside by the door to follow behind, “Like I said before, you’re going to act as my date at a very important party, so try not to do anything embarrassing. Stay close to me, don’t wonder off, and try not to talk to a lot of people if you can avoid it.”

‘That still doesn’t explain why you chose me…’ you thought to yourself as you followed Yoongi out of the mansion and into a sleek black Tesla. The car was so stereotypical of a rich asshole it took all you had in you to not start laughing on the spot, but you didn’t want to push your luck any more than you already had with Yoongi so you kept silent. As you got into the back of the car with Yoongi you took the opportunity to observe the other two men who filled the front seats.

The man in the passenger seat looked vaguely familiar, and it took you a minute to realize he was the same man who had stalked you on your way to the apartment a few nights ago. Now in a better lighting and a slightly more comfortable situation, you had more time to look at the man. He also looked pretty young to be in the mafia business, and far too happy for it as well with a shining smile seemingly plastered on his face. The guy honestly just looked like your regular happy-go-lucky stranger, save for the fact that from your position you could see the gun hidden in the waistband of his pants.

You couldn’t get that good of a look at the driver of the car since you sat directly behind him, but he seemed to be a little more serious than his coworker next to him. He had short silver-ish hair that was cut into an undercut; the color was unusual to see even on a regular person, much less someone who apparently worked as a chauffeur of sorts for a mafia boss.

Sighing, you nervously settled in your seat as the man drove off, trying to act as casual as you possibly could so that no one would notice how nervous you were to be in the car with three men who just so happened to be criminals. Your nervousness must have shown through more than you thought, because Yoongi side eyed you for a minute before stating, “If you’re worried about your safety, don’t be. It’s just a fancy party, nothing is going to happen.”

His words caught you by surprise. Was Min Yoongi, the notorious mob boss, actually attempting to be nice? You let out a small laugh, “Right, like being associated with the mafia isn’t dangerous to begin with, now I’m forced to party with them.”

The beautiful laugh that left Min Yoongi’s mouth made your heart do a flip, it definitely wasn’t befitting of someone who had a reputation for being heartless. He grinned at you before saying, “Oh you don’t even know, going to these events is the most dangerous part of the job, (Y/n).”

The joking smile on his face and his tone of voice made his statement sound like a joke, but the look in his face and the look on the other guys’ faces made you feel that there was some truth to their words. You nervously fidgeted as you watched the town race by out the window, trying not to think of every possible thing that could go wrong at this party.

You got so absorbed in your thoughts that you didn’t even realize that you had reached your destination until the driver got out of the car and opened your door for you. Reluctantly, you stepped out of the car and looked up at the building in front of you. If Yoongi’s place was a mansion, this place was more like a palace. You weren’t even sure if this was actually someone’s home or whether it was just some sort of public dance hall, but either way you could tell by just one glance that this is where the richest bastards in town gathered.

The driver nudged you slightly, jolting you out of your gawking state. You smiled apologetically as you walked around the car and stood next to Yoongi, wrapping your arm around his. He looked surprised at your forward action, but didn’t say anything as the four of you began walking towards the entrance of the building, the music humming faintly from within. The silence between the four of you was deafening in your opinion and you wanted to break it somehow, but you weighed your options and deemed it best not to say anything. After all, you weren’t here to make friends with them, you were just here to play the part of Yoongi’s pretty little date for the night, and that was it.

The men standing by the front entrance seemed to recognize Yoongi almost immediately, because they opened the doors as soon as your entourage approached. You were surprised a little by this, you would have figured that there would have at least been some sort of security check given that the Min Syndicate was invited. ‘Do they just have that much confidence that a fight won’t break out, or is it just that they don’t know what it is that Min Yoongi does?’ You thought to yourself, but you knew there was no way these people didn’t know just what the Min Syndicate did for a living. If anything it was probably their powerful influence that kept them from being searched like any regular guest.

“Stay close to me so that you won’t get hurt…” Yoongi mumbled in your ear as you entered the party. To you, it looked like any regular formal event that you had seen on television, so you really didn’t understand his cautionary words. Your eyes scanned the large open room, trying to look for any potential signs of danger, but you really didn’t see any reason to fear. Everyone was just happily chatting away or getting drunk on wine that was probably worth more than an entire year’s worth of rent.

Yoongi motioned with his hands in an indecipherable message to the two men who had come here with you. They apparently knew what it meant, because they immediately dispersed into the crowd, blending in so well until it truly was hard to see them. You looked at Yoongi questioningly but he ignored you and held your hand as he pulled you towards the dance floor that you just noticed.

“Whoa, wait a minute,” You protested as he continued to lead you, “You never told me dancing was involved, I don’t even know how to dance.”

“I don’t either,” He pulled you close to him as you both reached the dance floor, “All we’re going to do is just sway slowly like what every couple does at every bullshit dance. Trust me, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have appearances to keep up.”

“Appearances of what, being lovable?” You snickered a little as you rested your arms on his shoulders, your wrists crossing behind his neck as he gently placed his hands on your waist. Yoongi just blinked at you in response, but the look in his eyes told you that you struck a nerve within him. ‘Wow, did he actually just ask me here to make it look like he has a girlfriend? That’s...pretty sad.’ You thought to yourself as you both swayed gently to the music playing softly in the background.

“If I’m being completely honest, I needed a female companion to keep the rest of the females here off of me,” Yoongi shrugged, eyes scanning the crowd as you two danced, “Me being the genius that I am, naturally women are drawn to me. Although I suspect that my wealth has an even greater influence…”

You burst into giggles at his statement, “Wow, you make yourself sound so amazing and yet…so pathetic at the same time.”

The coy smirk he had on his face was enough to make your face flush a little, the close proximity of his face making you realize just how handsome he was, “It’s not every day people dare to call me pathetic, considering I have the power to ruin people’s lives and all. You’re truly a fearless girl, aren’t you?”

“Me, fearless? Nah, I’d say it’s more stubbornness than anything,” Upon his questioning look you elaborated, “It’s because I know you have all these resources and connections that I say stupid shit. I’m determined to not be some sort of little pawn in whatever games you mafia bosses play.”

He let out a low chuckle, the vibrations of which sent small shivers down your spine, “But aren’t you playing the role of one of my pawns now? You practically came running when I called.”

You frowned at him and shot back, “I came because I know when it’s appropriate to make enemies and when it’s not. Besides, it’s not like you asked me to kill anyone or put my life in danger, you just invited me to a party.” Yoongi’s eyes shined in amusement as he hummed in response, but he didn’t say anything more on the matter. Irritation bubbled in you, feeling that he was acting all cocky because he knew something that you didn’t, but you knew you’d never get any hints from him.

Yoongi opened his mouth like he was about to say something when one of his men, the one that approached you a few nights ago, taped on his shoulder nervously. Yoongi immediately let go of you and turned to the guy, annoyance written all over his face at being interrupted.

“What is it, Hoseok,” He said curtly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. The man, Hoseok apparently, leaned toward his ear and whispered something unintelligible no matter how hard you tried to pick up on what he was saying. Whatever it was, it seemed to be pretty big news because Yoongi’s eyes grew wide in shock.

Yoongi quickly grabbed your arm and pulled you to the side of the dance floor, “Something came up, I need you to stay right here for a while. Don’t move an inch, understand?” He didn’t even give you a chance to respond or ask any questions as he briskly walked away with Hoseok, leaving you in the middle of the crowd confused and alone.

“What the fuck was that about,” You whispered to yourself as you watched his figure disappear into the crowd. ‘How the fuck could he leave me in the middle of this party alone? I don’t know anyone, what the hell am I supposed to do…’ You thought angrily to yourself as you looked around for at least a refreshment table or something. What you did find was a pair of beautiful brown eyes staring at you from a distance.

You froze, not really sure what to do in this situation. Should you talk to that guy, should you ignore him completely? Yoongi had made out this place to be relatively dangerous, but you saw no reason to outright avoid everyone. You settled with flashing the stranger with a shy, sweet smile, unsure as to why he was staring you down.

‘Smiling might have been a dumb decision,’ You realized as the man began to make his way toward you. He didn’t looked to be a bad guy though, in fact he looked very young, definitely no older than twenty one years old. You watched as the man approached you, questioning whether you should stay and have a chat or run away and hide. There was really no guaranteed safe spot for you to run to even if you had wanted to and you didn’t really feel threatened by him, so you deemed it best to just stand your ground. You couldn’t help but secretly hope that Yoongi would come back quickly and get you out of whatever it was that you had even gotten yourself into.

[devilontherun]

MY THOUGHTS ON ONE DIRECTION’S FUTURE

Okay so I just wanted to make this post because I’ve seen a lot of people being super pessimistic about the boys coming back, so I thought I’d share my theories with you. Now please keep in mind that I don’t have any insider information or anything like that, I’m just an (admittedly emotionally invested) observer of the situation, so I’m basing all my theories on what I’m seeing. Also, like, if you know me you probably also know that I’m a pretty optimistic person, but most of my optimism (in general!) is based on logic and rationality, so what I’m saying isn’t just overly optimistic wishful thinking, but theories with valid reasoning behind them.

So basically what I believe is that the boys are going to announce their comeback at the end of this year or in early 2018 and go on a reunion tour in 2018. Yes, I know they’re all working on their solo material at the moment, but bear with me for a second, yeah? I’m going to delve into that later on.

The thing is, the boys are SMART, okay, they’ve been working in the industry for quite a while now and they know how it works. At the moment both the fandom and the GP are still showing lots of interest in One Direction, and speculation about 1D’s future is a - I wouldn’t say daily, but definitely weekly - topic of discussion in the fandom and in the media. So if the boys announce their comeback at the end of this year - after a 2 year hiatus - it’ll be THE biggest thing ever. “One Direction reunite after 2 year hiatus filled with solo projects, shocking everybody who believed the band was over” (or something like that lmao I can’t write headlines, don’t hate me^^). Everybody will want to buy their stuff because “HOLY SHIT this is such a big thing now and everybody’s talking about it”, like, everybody will want a piece of the cake. Career-wise this would literally be the smartest thing they could do, at least IMO. If they wait longer (3 years, 4 years,...) the GP and also parts of the fandom (let’s be real, people are going to leave the fandom if it becomes less and less likely that the boys will come back, of course some people will stay and support the boys’ solo projects - including me - but not everyone is dedicated enough for this, that’s just how it is) are going to lose interest in them. If they came back then, the whole thing would get so much less publicity, and they wouldn’t really profit from it career-wise. But if they came back in the near future, they would come back to a big dedicated fandom and get loads of publicity in the GP as well. 

And now about the solo projects: Like a lot of people have already pointed out, them working on solo material is their way of rebranding themselves and making the transition from their “boyband with prepubescent girls as their fans” image to being respected and recognised as serious and truly talented artists, which will basically help them extend their fanbase to a broader audience and gain credibility both in the industry and in the GP, so that’s how their comeback would end up being this really big thing, with everybody wanting a piece of the cake.

I know it seems rather unlikely that they announce a comeback this “soon” because they’re all working on solo material at the moment, but the thing is, each and every single one of their solo careers is shady in some way. (Also quick disclaimer: I do believe that all four of them are going to put out (more) solo music (and I’m super excited to hear all their stuff!!), I’m just pointing out the shadyness of how their solo careers are being promoted etc)

Let’s start with Niall. He dropped This Town last year, obviously a lot earlier than planned, and now he’s working on a solo album that’s going to come out “in the summer” and also constantly changes its status from “writing process is done, it’s just recording now” to “more writing is happening”. If you say there’s nothing shady about that you’re lying to yourself.

Then we have Liam. He announced his solo deal last summer and has been sharing little glimpses of his work in the studio every now and then since then. About the release date of his music he’s been saying “soon” for I don’t even know how long, but it’s definitely been a while. So there. That’s shady as well. And additionally there is the Chiam and baby situation, but since I honestly don’t know if I believe in this whole thing or not and simply don’t have the energy to deal with yet another possible babygate, I’m not going to delve into that. I just want Liam to be happy and as long as he is, I’m happy as well.

Then there’s Louis. JHO was obviously released earlier than planned because of Jay (which is a topic I feel quite uncomfortable talking about because it hits very close to home, so please don’t take me not delving into that any further as brushing it off or something like that, I just can’t really talk about it for personal reasons), but the little promo “tour” he and Steve went on in January/February suggests that it was originally supposed to be released early this year. Now we’ve seen and heard stuff about Louis writing and possibly collaborating with other artists, but at the moment he doesn’t have a record deal, at least not one that we know of, right? (Please correct me if I’m wrong, I find it really hard to keep up with all the existent and non-existent contracts sometimes, so I might possibly be confusing something here, so feel free to nicely (!) correct me if I’m wrong :)) So here’s the thing: I love Louis more than anything, you know that, and I would probably give my left hand for a solo Louis album, but at the moment I’m not sure if he’s even going to put out an actual album in the nearer future. I definitely see him putting out songs in collaboration with other artists, but I kind of doubt that there’s an actual solo album awaiting us any time soon. And, sadly, I do believe that him not having a solo record deal is connected to the stunts he’s still involved in, because the thing is, that when the stunts end his image is going to be controversial. I don’t believe it’s possible to end all the stunts - especially after they’ve been going on for so long now - without him getting negative backlash from the media and the GP. So before he can put out a solo album and promote that properly, the stunts need to end and his image needs a proper rebranding, and that’s going to take some time.

Then lastly there’s Harry. He’s probably going to kill us all on April 7th and I’m not ready at all, but also GIMME THAT SHIT HAROLD. What I find very intersting about his solo stuff now is that he’s releasing it BEFORE Dunkirk promo begins, which obviously limits the time during which he can promote his music, and that honestly just makes me believe my theory about 1D announcing their comeback at the end of this year or in early 2018 even more, because - no matter if we like it or not - Harry is the most famous one out of the four of them and since the solo Harry narrative has been pushed for years, his solo stuff is probably going to get the most attention in the GP and the media, so him having this limited time frame to actually promote his solo material kind of strikes me as an attempt minimise the whole “Harry has left 1D” narrative that we can already see being pushed and that is probably going to get pushed a lot further after April 7th. I also feel like this is one of the reasons why both Harry and his team aren’t very vocal about his solo career. (Another reason is probably that Harry is a dramatic little hoe, and I also wouldn’t rule out his silence being connected to contracts, but that’s another topic.)

So basically what I think is that we’re (obviously) getting solo Harry now, then I actually believe that we’re going to get solo Liam in the summer and solo Niall this autumn, so always about a year after the “announcement” of the solo deals (the Columbia rumours about Harry did start last spring, didn’t they? Or am I confusing something again?). And I believe that Louis is going to release collaborations with other artists over the next few months, after the stunts have (hopefully) ended (I find the theory about the stunts being supposed to end around the time Harry drops his solo stuff quite convincing actually, but I’m not going to get into that now) and while his image is getting a proper rebranding. So that by the end of the year all of the boys have gained credibility and changed their images for the better, so that they can announce their comeback and it’s going to be like the biggest thing ever.

But like I said, this is just my personal theory and to me it makes sense and seems logical but it’s just based on what I’ve observed and I don’t have any insider information, so I might also end up being entirely wrong in the end, so don’t send me hate if things go differently lmao. It’s just a theory.

And I also feel like I should clarify that I’m going to support the boys both as a band and as solo artists and I’m super excited for all of their solo work because it‘s going to be pretty diverse with each of them dabbing into different genres, and my personal taste in music is very diverse as well so I can’t wait for them all to kill me invidually. (But I also can’t wait for them to come back to kill me as a band asfdgdhsjs) I’m here for whatever they decide to do.

And I’m going to stop rambling now lmao bye