#having someones words smooth the corners of a bad day’ do u know how PROFOUND that is. im gonna write that in my sketchbook (which i started

[pepprs]

dear miss tess pepprs there are some aspects of your poetry that i still remember (word choices, rhythms and rhymes that are so Distinct that i still roll them around in my mind like marbles) and i think thats what poetry is all about having someones words smooth the corners of a bad day <3<3<3 thank you so much for writing and sharing all the works you did and if there's ever a chance in the future i would love to read more of your poetry <3<3<3 i hope you find peace and love and love and love and love and that things look up for you soon! you are a sunglimmer and this may be a lonely night but the moon who loves your shine keeps you company and with you in its hands gives you over to the sun a star who recognizes a star who wishes to keep you warm <3<3<3

DEAR ANON!!!!!!!!! IT’S YOU HI HI HIIIIIII THANK U SO MUCH I MISSED U!!!!!!!! ur messages are so sweet and twinkly like windchimes i am so glad u exist and i cherish every single one of ur these that u send me!!! i hope u are doing well mwah 🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰

[fatgirlwritesscenarios]

Achilles Heel

((I am...on a roll? What is this? Are you guys dumbfounded by my sudden activity? Because I am. Don’t get too excited, though. I don’t live to disappoint, so try not to have any expectations of me, lol. Anyway, Joshua! My baby, Joshua. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for him, so I figured it was time and thought this was a cute idea to go with. Enjoy!))

Pairing: JoshuaxReader

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 2,258

Summary: Your weakness is a nurse-in-training with kitten eyes and the sweetest smile who’s willing to stay up until 3 AM to make sure you’re home safe and well taken care of. You couldn’t ask for a better nurse, a better boyfriend, a better Achilles Heel. 

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It was well past 2 AM on a Wednesday morning, but the city traffic remained as busy as rush hour during a Friday afternoon. The black SUV with the tinted windows blended well amongst the other cars, spotless and gleaming from a recent wash, yet plain enough to avoid curious speculation. You still had 15 minutes before you reached your apartment, the throbbing pain in your body making a demand of rest from you that you struggled to ignore, but still succeeded in doing so.

It helped that the driver, a very good friend of yours, was so drunk on the hype of your recent underground brawl, he couldn’t stop talking in that loud, animated fashion of his.

“I can’t believe how badly you kicked that dude’s ass, Y/N! He was a whole head taller than you and had at least, at least, 50 more pounds of muscle than you did!” he gesticulated wildly, giving you a mild heart attack when he took his hands off the wheel and the car drifted a little too close to the other lane.

You smirked and huffed a chuckle, “That’s what made him easy to take down. Big, bulky bears can’t catch hummingbirds.”

“Hummingbirds can’t kick in quick succession like that either, but there you were,” he continued, filling the car with his boisterous laugh, “And that right hook, girl! Whoooooo! That was killer! And don’t even get me started on that leg-lock you had around his neck. We all thought he was gonna die!”

“That’s against the rules.”

“That’s the only rule, Little Bird.”

“No. You also can’t use blunt weapons at The Cage unless it’s No Bars Sunday.”

He cut you an unamused look, “Fuck me, then, I guess.”

Your own laughter spilled out of you, the pain intensifying to the point you had to force yourself to calm down, inhaling slowly through gritted teeth. That bumbling giant you had as your last opponent did quite a number on you, even if you did win the match. His fists were the size of your face and he landed a couple of good blows to your ribs, the epicenter of your pain.

You sat back as the car came to a slow roll at a stoplight, your friend continuing; “How did you know to go for his left side, anyway?” he asked, glancing at you, “What’s your secret, girl?”

Head rolling to look at him, you grinned, “I don’t always go to The Cage to fight, you know? I go to observe and I’ve seen him fight more than once. He’s an ambidextrous fighter ; he can throw an easy punch with his right or left arm because he doesn’t favor either one. Tonight, he kept his left arm tucked in to block and mostly hooked with his right. That’s when I figured he probably hurt himself at one of his last fights and hadn’t healed yet. That was my best bet to win.”

“And you almost killed him! I’m surprised you didn’t break a rib into his lung with that last kick!” he cheered, positively giddy, “What the hell would you have done if he hadn’t been injured?!”

You shrugged, “Gone for his knees.” Your friend just looked at you. “He has bad knees. That’s his Achilles Heel.”

“Achilles Heel!” he repeated, as if it were the catchphrase of the year, “That’s wild, girl! That’s some straight philosophy shit!”

“It’s not that profound,” you said, the light turning green and your friend hitting the gas a little too hard, “Everyone’s got one.”

“An Achilles Heel?”

“Uh huh.”

“Even you?”

You turned to look at him, a secret smile dancing on your busted lip, “Especially me.”

He wasn’t sure what that meant, but he was too riled up to care. The rest of the ride continued in the same manner: your friend recounting certain parts of the fight for the umpteenth time and you trying to breathe your soreness away. The busy streets gave way to more residential areas, the street lights illuminating the path ahead.

At long last, your apartment building came into view and your friend parked on the main street adjacent to it. “Here you are, Little Bird,” he said, grinning wide at you, “Thanks for getting me into the fight tonight!”

“Thanks for giving me a ride back to mine.”

“Are you going again next week?”

You shook your head, reaching down at your feet to get your duffle bag, “Nah, I think I’m set for a little while. I need to give myself time to heal.”

“Whatch’ya  walk away with?” he asked.

A smirk touched your lips, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“Damn, okay. It’s like that?”

Your friend never stopped being funny and even though it hurt to laugh, you couldn’t help it. Opening up the duffle and reaching in with both hands, you shifted around for second before pulling out a little wad of bills. Benjamins to be exact.

You held it out to him, “Here. For always driving me and making sure I’m safe getting home.”

His eyes shimmered with glee, deftly plucking the money from your fingers, “I don’t do it for the money; watching you beat the absolute shit out of a grown man is my favorite thing in the world, but thanks anyway!”

You rolled your eyes with a playful air, snapping your head to the side when a knock came at the window. You and your friend tensed up in that one instant, but soon relaxed when an ember warm voice said, “Don’t panic. It’s just me.”

You would recognize that voice anywhere, at any time and in every way. A voice that reminded you of soft cotton and lollipops. Joshua waved through the tinted window, nice and snug in his favorite hoodie- coincidentally, it was the first hoodie you ever bought for him a few years back when you were just friends, but crushing hard on each other.

Your friend unlocked the door, Joshua opening it and standing in the doorway. His trained nurse’s eye swiftly grazed over the immediate injuries he could visibly detect in the dim light of the car, his brow furrowing for only a second at the bruises and dried blood on your lip. In the blink of an eye, his deep concern was masked and he leaned in to kiss your nose.

“Welcome back, beautiful,” he said, reaching over to unbuckle your seatbelt.

“I didn’t go to war, Josh,” you teased, earning a gentle knock of his knuckles under your chin.

He took your duffle bag from you and pulled it over his head, “You might as well have. I was worried about you.”

The seedling of guilt that lay planted in your chest cracked and rooted itself with its tiny little tendrils. His concern over you during nights like this was both a blessing and a curse. Or perhaps, maybe, it was your love for him that cursed you now. Your relationship with The Cage was a steady one; it had been established long before you even met Joshua. Fighting was your passion and your therapy. You never had the intention of giving it up, not for anyone, but knowing that you caused sweet and gentle Joshua to worry over you on a regular basis for something that you could so easily stop- that’s where the guilt came from.

You apologized a lot for it.

“I’m sor-” Joshua silenced you with a swift kiss, a playful smile tugging up the corners of his lips.

“Don’t say sorry. I’m always going to worry about you, babe, no matter what you do,” he said, chuckling when you leaned up for another, “That’s what you do when you love someone.”

He pulled back and took your hand, helping you out of the car while saying to your friend, “Thanks for bringing her back home safely!”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. I’ll see you guys later.”

You nodded before Joshua closed the door, watching as the black SUV pulled away from the curb, made a smooth U-turn and blended back into traffic. Hands clasped together, fingers laced, you and Joshua began the short trek back to your apartment, the lights gleaming warm yellow from the third floor.

“It’s almost 3 AM, Joshua. What are you still doing awake?” you asked, trekking into the lobby and boarding the elevator.

“Waiting for you to come home, of course,” he answered lightly, pressing the button for the third floor and turning a heart-warming smile towards you, “And studying for an exam I have in a couple of days.”

Joshua was training to be a certified nurse and was two months out from completing the program while also interning at one of the city’s best hospitals with a career ready for him once he graduated. People who knew you and Joshua- and about your weekend trysts with violence and underground criminal activity- believed that Joshua went into nursing so he could properly take care of your injuries after your fights. That assumption wasn’t true. Joshua already had plans to go into medicine and nursing when you met him as a teenager, but you will admit that his resolve to become a nurse strengthened itself once he found out about your pastime.

Perks of being you.

“So how was it?” he asked you once the elevator opened on your floor, guiding you slowly down the corridor.

“Good. Exciting, as always,” you replied, glancing at him, “You wanna know how much I made?”

He hummed for you to continue as you approached your apartment door. “Five grand,” you said, beaming proudly.

Joshua whistled low, pulling the key from his pocket and unlocking the door, “Impressive, baby…but that also means your opponent was bigger…doesn’t it?”

You shrugged, slowly walking past him and heading for the small, square kitchen table in the dining area where you sat down, “It could mean that. It could also mean that my opponent wasn’t shit and everyone knew it, so they bet on me to win anyway.”

“That’s never the case for you, babe. You and I both know that,” Joshua chuckled, setting your duffle bag down on the sofa and eyeing you closely, “Besides, if your opponent were easy, then you wouldn’t be limping, favoring your left side where I’m guessing you were hit multiple times, and you wouldn’t have any bruises at all let alone a ton on your face and a busted lip.”

Damn him and his keen nurse’s eye.

“Fine, you got me. He was a bear.”

“A real bear?” You stared at him flatly, feigning being unamused to which he laughed and moved to kneel in front of you. His eyes gazed fondly at you, roving over your injuries and falling more in love with your perfectly imperfect self. He stroked your thighs idly and tilted his head to the side, “Let’s get you showered and cleaned up so I can treat the wounds properly. Then off to bed, okay?”

“Okay,” you breathed, smiling into the kiss you pressed to your lips.

The shower was heavenly for your sore, aching body and you probably would have passed out right then and there had it not been for Joshua sitting in the bathroom with you to keep you company. Your fights always left you understandably exhausted and after a few incidents involving you falling asleep while standing up, Joshua made sure to be present until you were nice and snug in bed from then on.

The following medical checkup that ensued went rather quickly; there were no major cuts or swelling aside from your busted lip. His main concern were the bruises littering your torso, but he applied icy-hot and a cream to ease the pain. He was nothing but gentle and tender with you, kissing all of your injuries to make them better, whispering praises in your ear for being his strong, beautiful, ass-kicking girl.

Joshua took care of you. After all of the fighting was done, after you dragged yourself home, after facing a world that laughed in the face of a woman’s strength and then sneered when it couldn’t beat her down, he took care of you. He was the only reason that you still smiled and still believe that there was some good left in the world. You wanted to wake up in the mornings because of Joshua- to see the cute curl of his lips and listen to his bashful laugh that he tried to hide behind his hand.

Joshua was your world. You probably didn’t say it enough, but he was. You didn’t care about life without him; didn’t want a life without him. He was your everything. Your strength…and weakness.

“Good thing I have tomorrow off. I can properly take care of you,” he whispered after tucking you into bed beside him, the darkness blanketing the both of you and softening his already gentle voice.

“I thought you made plans to see the guys tomorrow,” you whispered, your eyes closing.

Joshua shrugged as best he could, considering his position, “I see them every other day. I’d much rather spend time with you.”

You smiled a sleepy smile that made him dizzy, it was so cute, “You take such good care of me.”

“Of course.” He kissed your fluttering eyelid, “It’s because I love you so much.”

“I love you, too.” A sweet sigh of a whisper and you were drifting off, Joshua positively melting before following after you.

Everyone had an Achilles Heel- the thing that’ll be there undoing. Joshua was yours and you’re perfectly fine with that.