#he grabs a box of tampons and is all 'huh whats this' and turns the box to read it

[cinnamonest]

Lena thank you for the fucking food (scara post). I didn't even get halfway into the story before I started laughing. Scara entering an early midlife crisis because of reader's colourful pens took me outtttttt like he is such a lil bitch

Other than that, I've been WAITING for a post where Scara goes ham on a darling that technically never did anything "wrong" and always treated him nicely/fairly, with nothing being good enough for him 😭

That's what makes any situation with him so hopeless, there is literally no way out. The man is so neurotic that he will just interpret literally anything you could possibly do or say in a way that fits a narrative he's already constructed in his head. He internally exaggerates everything you say and do so that any negative comment or action is a million times worse than it actually is, and even the nicest of your words have some hidden negative meaning or implication.

Moreover, you don't need to do or say anything at all, just your existence is enough to be annoying and being annoying is enough to warrant a fixation. It can be any demeanor too — he'll find a way to interpret it as irritating, and fixate on retaliating for your crime of annoying him, all while you are barely aware he exists.

And once that fixation is established, because it's based on something so broad yet so vague as your very existence, there's no way to undo it. It's also in large part that specific bitterness guys get where they're attracted to some girl that feels unattainable, so they take the “if I can't have her then she can't be happy” mentality.

But YES he IS suuuuuuch a little overdramatic bitch about everything even vaguely feminine darling does you're so right. For starters he’s a naturally severe case of cute-aggression, so anything perceived as cute automatically earns an intense reaction.

He’s also very much stuck in the immature boy mentality where anything he mentally associates as feminine is icky and dumb. Yet at the same time, he's attracted to it, so being attracted to and annoyed by the same thing creates a lot of internal confusion and frustration, which you WILL bear the brunt of.

Which is so much worse with e-girl darling because you know darling is gonna have the e-girl staple items. The sanrio-themed everything. The cutesy phone case. The cat-ear gaming headset. All the frilly lacey clothes and underwear. Awful. A complete waste of money. Why does it look so cute on you and why does that make him feel like punching a wall.

Even in consensual interactions, he has a comical degree of aversion and repulsion. No he's not sitting on your bed or borrowing your pen or using your controller. It's PINK. Are you out of your mind. Ugh.

[f1stargirll]

Conversation friends • Lando Norris

Chapter One

Word count : 2.150k

Hi guys this is my first time ever writing fanfic. I’ve had this idea for a while now and decided write it! So if any of y’all has feedback/ requests or constructive criticism I’ll be more than happy to listen! (or if u just wanna talk i’m here too <3)

Btw English isn’t my first language so don’t be too harsh on me pls🧚🏼‍♀️

Description : slow burn, college!au (enemies to lovers) and more to come.

I’m gonna make it work. I am going to make this work.

Looking around the tiny apartment I had just collected the keys to, the realization that I was finally here, alone, started sinking in slowly. This was going to be my home for the next year, a tiny apartment in a huge city I barely knew anything about, let alone knew anyone in.

It actually looks cozy, and at least it’s conveniently close to the University.

I really am going to make it work. I started unpacking and realized the need for groceries was imminent so I grabbed my keys and headed for the nearest store GoogleMaps indicated to me.

Strolling around the different isles didn’t feel as unfamiliar as I thought it would, I guess Lidl stores are always a relatively universal experience. But after a few minutes in the store, the bright neon lights and the exhaustion from the flight were seeping into my brain and making me slightly overstimulated.

Okay, got the pasta. Now I need pads and tampons and we’ll be good to go.

Mindlessly putting the cardboard box in my cart, I’m suddenly forced to look up from the huge list I had written on my phone when I feel a finger tapping my left shoulder. I quickly remove one of my headphones and turn around to face the person in front of me.

“Do you mind ?”a boy, around my age but slightly taller than I am, faces me and stares at me with an icy expression.

What’s his deal ? Wait he’s kinda…

“You’re in my way”, he spats.

He’s wearing a simple gray hoodie and sweatpants combo and a black cap hiding what seemed to be loose curls, some of them still peeking from underneath it. His baby blue eyes were piercing through me. He kept his airpods in his ears.

“I’m sorry ?” I responded slightly confused, not really hearing him well above Hozier’s new album playing in my ear.

“Do you not understand English?” He removes one of his hands from the pockets of his sweatpants to point at the box of pasta positioned right behind me, “I said you’re in my fucking way, I’ve repeated it 5 times and you’re still standing there like an idiot,” he mutters through gritted teeth, “unlike you, I don’t have all night.”

Oh, he did not just talk to me like this.

“Well there you go, almighty king of Lidl!” I exclaim while handing him the precious item, "your all powerful box of Linguini” I add, fake bowing down in irony, my face burning in anger. The exhaustion from the flight and the move had already made me easily irritable, but this was just the icing on the cake.

“Are you out of your mind?” he asks, snatching the box away from my grasp, “You just have to make a scene, huh? You’re hysterical” he huffs exiting the aisle, a baffled expression on his face.

So now I’m the crazy one? Unbelievable.

God this was the last thing I needed right now.

I sigh in exasperation, not having the strength to run after him and put up a fight.

This is going to be a long year.

Brushing my bangs slightly away from my eyes, I take a step back in my small bathroom to look for any flaws like unblended makeup or toothpaste stains on my outfit. I tend to have those a lot.

Today is my first day of class and an introduction to the daily life I was about to embark on, so looking and feeling good was quite important.

Taking the small commute to the campus, I sit next to Lola, a girl I met at the bus station earlier this morning. She instantly was very kind and helped me find my way, which turned out to be convenient for the both of us since we were heading towards the same classes. I told her about my trip from Paris and how I was here for a year abroad and she told me all about her dreams of visiting my hometown. We talked for the whole ride and exchanged Instagrams. Lola was a ray of sunshine, a gleam of light in this anxiety-inducing morning.

She also looked like the perfect representation of the sunshine; her hair a polar blond color, eyes as blue as the Mediterranean sea and a porcelain skin adorned with beautiful yet irregular freckles.

Having her by my side for the first classes felt really comforting and I was relieved to find out we shared most of our semester’s classes together. We were both English majors, and since she was here last year she had promised to help me with anything I wouldn’t understand; as I said, a ray of sunshine. We spent the day learning all about this year’s curriculum and all the work we were about to achieve.

Heading towards my last class of the day, the first meeting of what was called “Conversation Friends”. It was a program I had applied to while enrolling here, international students meeting local students once a week to exchange in English or the student’s native language. A program created to help international students better their English and make new connections.

Not knowing anyone here, I thought it would be a great opportunity to make a friend, share a nice moment and discover the city better.

But Lola warned me not to get too excited since most students in the university only did it to gain extra credit or even get a quick hookup out of it. Fine with me, people can do whatever they want, I believe I’ll still get to meet someone nice.

I like to think of myself as a pretty open person so it shouldn’t be too hard to connect with whoever it’ll turn out to be.

Walking into the amphitheater, I decide to choose a seat in the middle row and take out my notebook to write down some notes. Looking around, I can see a lot of different students from every corner of the earth and I suddenly feel a wave of comfort knowing I’m not the only one who left home for this new adventure.

“Is this seat taken?”a boy with a thick Australian accent asks while pointing to the seat on my left.

“Not at all, it’s all yours”I responded with a smile which he returned. And boy did he return it. That man was all teeth, and nose. I extended my hand to introduce myself, “my name is y/n, I’m guessing you’re Australian right?”.

He took my hand and shook it earnestly, “You’re good! I’m Daniel, nice to meet you”.

He sat next to me and we started getting to know each other quickly. Daniel seemed really kind and was really funny. I learned that he was majoring in geography (didn’t even realize that was a thing) and lives in the complex right in front of mine. He also has a passion for karting (didn’t know that was a thing either).

He’s cute. Daniel is really cute. With his little brown curls, sparkly eyes, and his smile, so big it could resuscitate a dying dentist.

He told me a little more about the program too since he had been part of it last year in a university in Montreal. He informed me that our partners were going to be chosen randomly and that we’re not allowed to change if we don’t get along.

That sucks. I hope my partner’s gonna be nice or funny, or both like Daniel. Well not just like Daniel but at least a little like Daniel, why do I keep talking about Daniel ? Daniel’s just really cute.

“So, how do you like it here so far?”he asks, crossing his long legs in front of him.

“Well, I’ve only been here for two days so I really couldn’t tell you much. I yelled at this very rude guy when I went shopping yesterday, all for some Linguini.” He questions my answer with an amused expression in his eyes.”I also met this really nice girl, Lola, she reminds me of you a little bit actually, must be the golden retriever energy.” I smile as I answer his question, feeling grateful for my encounter with the blonde this morning. At least.

“So you’re calling me a dog, after I’ve been nothing but kind, that’s what you’re doing? Wow y/n, wow.” He replies with a dramatic hand on his chest and a goofy smile on his face. “Can’t believe you fought over pasta.”

On the main stage, a professor clears his throat into the mic, telling us that the meeting is about to start. He then takes the first ten minutes to inform us on all the details of the program, like how partners have to meet at least once a week, on campus or in cultural instances like museums, cinemas or parks, some of which will be organized by the university and thus mandatory.

As if you have to ask me twice to go out for a movie, whoever it’s with and whatever the movie is, oh baby I am going to be in that seat eating my sweet popcorn. Except for horror movies, can’t watch those. I’m scared of everything horror or creepy, I can't even watch children’s movies like The Nightmare Before Christmas or Caroline.

The clanking of two fish bowls on the professor’s desks takes me out of my thoughts and I realize that he’s really about to pull out our names and assign us to partners like it’s the sunday lottery.

This is going to be very entertaining.

“Please stand up when I call out your name so your partner can see you as well,“ the professor instructs us.

His hand mixes around the first bowl of tiny pieces of paper and pulls out the first name “Daniel Ricciardo” he says into the mic, looking around for the Australian boy sitting next to me.

Daniel stands up proudly, waving at everyone in the audience like he’s on stage at a beauty pageant. His partner is next, a charming Asian boy called Alex, who was sitting front row and turned around to find Daniel and waved at him aggressively.

These two look like they’re about to have a lot of fun. Lucky Daniel.

Of course my name came up last, because why wouldn’t it ? I stand up as I hear my name being called out and let my eyes investigate the remaining students in the room, until I see him.

Fucking Linguini.

“Lando Norris” I simultaneously hear over the speakers as I see the boy who disrespected me in the middle of shopping yesterday stand up from his seat.

This can’t be real, this is a practical joke.

As his eyes meet mine I can see the smile he previously wore on his face disappear and make way for disgust as his brain processed how I looked so familiar.

The audacity of that man.

“Perfect! Apparently now everybody is paired with their partners,” the professor smiles in contentment, “now if every pair could please make its way to the front of the room to sign the register.”

As I make my way over to the front of the room, I see my so-called partner bolting towards the professor and hear him babbling about how he can’t be my partner and begs to trade with someone else.

“Norris, we both know you can’t afford to miss out on the extra credit, and the pairs have already been established, there’s no negotiation” the professor answers him sternly.

I can’t believe it. He was the one who was bad-mannered and almost verbally assaulted me in the middle of the store for nothing! I was actually considering putting this behind us to start the program on a good note and give him a chance but apparently that would be in vain. If he wants to be petty, I can beat him at his own game, that’s for sure.

Standing in front of him, I tilt my head to the side to meet his gaze “You are just unbelievable! I barely know your name and you’re already making me regret enrolling in this program.”

Looking right at me, he hands me the paper I have to sign without a word.

“You’re actually not going to talk to me? We barely know each other, this is ridiculous!” I exclaim in irritation, snatching the paper from his hands the way he snatched the box of pasta from my hands the day before.

“Can you not be annoying ? Or is that impossible for you?”he blurts out in resentment, “I’m just trying to do this thing and go home, you’ll find my email on the thing or whatever” he says without even giving you the time to respond.

This is definitely going to be a very long year.

[away-ward]

Hey!! One of your anons asked for this dialogue, so here it is, i didn't had a screenshot hope it helps. 😊

“You wrote convos for Jared, Madoc, and Jax having to buy the girls tampons. Will you write one for Devil’s Night?”

I’ve actually never been inspired to, because they’re easy. Kai would do it. Damon would do it. Will would borrow some, and Michael would pay someone to do it.

But…here’s something:

Will: *answers call, puts on speaker* Hey, babe. I’m in the car with the guys.

Emmy: Awesome. They can all hear about how I need you to grab me some tampons while you’re in the city.

Kai: *chuckles to himself*

Will: Huh? Can’t you just Instacart it? Please?

Emmy: The pharmacy here doesn’t carry the brand I like. Just make a quick trip to the one next to Trinity, on Bane Street. I’ll send you a picture of what I need.

Will: You’re serious.

Michael: *laughing, shaking his head*

Kai: Nothing embarrasses you. You’ll be fine.

Will: *to Kai* Text Banks. Have her run some tampons over to my wife.

Emmy: She doesn’t use the brand I like!

Will: What does it matter? I would rather plug you up with my dick for the next five to seven days straight than walk a box of tampons up to a register!

Damon: *elbow propped on door, face buried in hand, laughing so hard he doesn’t make a sound*

Will: Hey, isn’t Athos attending some orientation at Trinity today? See if she’ll grab them for us.

Michael: *drives, dials Athos*

Emmy: I can’t believe you won’t do this for me.

Will: I’m dealing with it. I’ll make sure you get them.

Emmy: By proxy! Can I just satisfy all of my needs by proxy then? Maybe I don’t need you at all. I have vibrators.

Will: You have one vibrator.

Emmy: I have several vibrators!

Will: *gasp*

Athos: Hey, Dad…

Michael: *to Will* Shh! My kid is on the phone.

Will: *whispers to Emmy* God, you turn me on. I want to see them all. I’m so stalking you tonight.

Michael: Hey, kid! Can you pick Emory up some tampons on your way home. The pharmacy next to Trinity has what she likes. She’s going to send you a pic of the brand.

Athos: No.

Emmy: Oh, what the hell…

Athos: I don’t use tampons. They create too much waste. They’re really bad for the environment.

Michael: Well, so are pads.

Athos: Dad!

Michael: I’m sorry. But you wear swimsuits. Don’t…like you want something…like

Kai: Dude, just stop…

Michael: …like invisible, right? I mean, women need something invisible? Right?

Athos: You have me on speaker with the guys in the car right now?

Michael, Damon, Will, Kai: *no sound*

Athos: I use…a menstrual cup. If you must know.

Damon: What the fuck is a menstrual cup?

Athos: Exactly what it sounds like, you weirdo!

Kai: *Googling* It says it’s reusable.

Will: Awesome. *to Emmy* So we never have to buy it more than once. You should start using a menstrual cup.

Emmy: Well, I need something today!

Michael: Can Emmy borrow your menstrual cup?

Athos: Oh, my God! *hangs up*

So in the end, Damon probably walked in and got them and picked out an assortment of what he now deems appropriate for Rika, Winter, and Banks to use now too, Rika gave Michael a stern talking-to about boundaries and conversations girls really don’t like to have with their fathers, Kai deep-dived on menstrual cups and invested in a company, and Will stalked Emmy. Through the whole house. With every vibrator. All. Night. Long. <3

You're amazing! Thank you!!!

[mariamakeslemons]

Drugstore Surprise (Yandere!Melone x F!Reader)

You hate your friends right now. Standing in front of the planned parenting aisle of the local drugstore, staring at the boxes of condoms, lube, and the few personal massager, you contemplate shaking them when you return to the apartment you share with them. After all, you’re the only virgin of the group, not from a lack of trying mind. It just so happens, that every man you’ve been interested in, or had supposingly been interested in you, abruptly leaves you alone. One had even gone so far as to sprint away from you when you had tried to strike up a conversation.

“This is bullshit,” you grumble, reaching for the condom that they had begged you to get for them.

“Oh? What have we here?” a familiar voice coos from behind you, causing you to jump and squeak in shock.

“Dammit, Melone! You startled me,” you huff as you turn to look at the lavender haired man. You met him while acting as the designated driver to your friends during the first week of your stay in Italy. While he was a bit perverse, you had worked as a waitress at Hooters back in the States. You were used to perverse. The man smiles at you before his gaze drops to the condoms in your hand, his smile dropping as well. You blush, realizing the implication of this situation.

“W-wait a minute,” you stutter, “Th-this isn’t for me! It’s for my friend, they’re back at the apartment and begged me to pick some up while I was getting some other things!” Melone’s face seems to clear up, even lighting up happily.

“Oh, di molto!” he cheers, clapping his hands together. You smile and nod, although still wondering why he keeps saying very or much or... Actually, it might just be a Melone thing, you don’t really know. He leans forward, licking his lips before grinning in your face, purring, “Perhaps we can make use of one or two? They won’t miss one or two.” You snort, reaching up and gently pushing his face out of your own with a grin.

“Alright, horn dog, that’s enough,” you scold playfully, turning back down the aisle and grabbing a few other things, namely pads, tampons, and some shampoo. Melone follows you, being a melodramatic prat occasionally, while also helping you pick out the best balance between good quality and cheap price. Arriving at the cash register, you blush a little at the sight of the cute cashier, who gives you a shy smile while scanning your items. Melone is uncharacteristically quiet as you check out, making you glance over at him in concern. Before you could ask what’s wrong, everything is checked out and a line is forming behind you.

“Have a nice day!” you chirp to the cute guy, grabbing the bags and hurrying out of the drugstore. Melone trails behind you, humming thoughtfully and stopping when you stop.

“What happened in there, Mel?” you ask, using the nickname you had given him jokingly upon your first meeting. He relaxes at the use of the name, smiling down at you easily.

“Oh, nothing to worry about,” he waves off, “I just remembered I had a few things I needed to do today.”

“Huh,” you hum in reply, frowning a little bit at not being able to hang out with your Italian friend any longer, before shrugging, “Alright then. I’ll see you around.”

“Of course,” he agrees, grabbing the hand holding only one bag and lifts it up to his lips, kissing it like a gentleman before giving you a little lick like a degenerate. You laugh good naturedly at his pervert act, pulling your hand away from his mouth and jokingly kicking at him.

“Get out of here, you perv,” you tease. Melone decides to do a whole song and dance about how you wound him, how he just wanted to show you his love, etc. Rolling your eyes, you laugh again and wave goodbye to your friend, finally heading back to the apartment.

~~~~~~~

Melone watches as the boy before him trembles in fear, humming idly as he looks over the tools he borrowed from Risotto, carefully choosing his tool.

“You know, I’m close,” he chats with the fool who thought he had the right to even smile at you, “I’m so close to getting her. Of course, I just have to finish making our future home perfect for her, but it’s nearly done as well.” Picking up an empty syringe, Melon smiles at the bastard, who is still wearing the stupid uniform of the drugstore.

“But, idiots like you, idiots who think that they deserve to even breath the same air as her, keep getting in my way,” Melone growls, crouching before the boy. Shoving the syringe into a blood vein, he injects air into his system, complaining, “I can only scare so many of you away from my simpatico topolino before I have to make do with my threat.” He grasps the boy’s face and coos, “I’m sorry, but I need to have an example. Although, you do need to know that you deserve it.” The brat starts to struggle with his breathing, telling Melone exactly where the air bubble traveled. Clicking his tongue in irritation, he stands up and motions for one of his Baby Face Jr. to finish the boy off. Walking off to the side, Melone hums happily as he picks up the photo envelope he had gone to the drugstore for. Opening the envelope, he coos happily at the images of you going about your day. His favorite one is of you walking into your room, wet and naked after exiting the bathroom attached to your bedroom.

“Soon, mia cara, we’ll be together,” Melone promises, even as the cashier screams in pain while blood spills across the floor.

[hoodharlow]

Stuck with Nowhere to Go

El Novio Quarantine Edition: Part 1

AN: This is part one of El Novio week and I'm gonna be posting a new part for this mini series everyday until April 17. Thank you to everyone that has been supporting me and following Cal and Claudia's story. I love y'all so mucha nd hope y'all enjoy this.

Requested?

Warnings: smut, brief quarantine talk, a small arguement. and overall Claudia being h word for Cal

Word Count: 3.1 k

Calum gently pushed Claudia against the mattress, getting in a more comfortable position as they devoured each other. With one hand balancing himself, so he wouldn't squish Claudia, he used the other to unbutton the flannel she wore. He slid his hand inside her shirt and gave her breast soft squeeze before sliding down to her soaked-through panties.

Frustrated with his teasing touches, Claudia tried to roll him onto the mattress. But he wouldn't budge.

"Cal," She whined against his lips, jutting her hips against his to feel some sort of relief.

"Pretty girl, I know, but your parents are across the hall." Calum mumbled before kissing down her neck.

"It's been three weeks. Please," She sighed. "I'll be quiet."

"Fine, but you have to be quiet. For our sake." She eagerly nodded at him before he continued. "I'm only going to eat you out okay?"

"But—"

"Later okay? When we get to our house, you can have your way with me. I promise." He held out his pinky to her.

"Okay." She pouted, wrapping her pinky around his.

Calum sat on his knees and slipped off his shirt. He tossed it to the side before towering over her once more. A giggle escaped Claudia when he sponged kisses all over her face.

Having enough of his teasing, she pulled his lips back to hers. She wrapped her leg over his waist, helping her stay balanced as she grinded herself against him. Claudia was basking in having the upper hand that she didn't feel Calum's fingers slip in her panties.

He skillfully slipped his ring and middle fingers in her, causing her to loudly gasp and stop all her moments.

"What's wrong, pretty girl?" He whispered in her ear, making her whine. “Want these off?” Calum asked her, toying with the waistband of her panties.

“Please.” She nodded eagerly. He gently patted her ass so she could lift her hips up.

Once Calum slipped her panties off, he situated himself in front of her core. “All this for me pretty girl?” Calum asked. He placed soft kisses on the insides of her thighs. She squirmed at the feeling of his lips. They got closer and closer to where she needed him the most.

She let out an inaudible gasp of pleasure when Calum licked her. She tried closing her legs, but Calum’s grip on them kept her in place. He softly moaned at her taste and savored her, taking his time with his tongue. He pushed one of her legs to her chest, giving him better access to her.

He inserted another while he pressed his thumb on her clit. Claudia felt something build up in her. She felt pleasantly overwhelmed with Calum’s fingers and tongue. Calum felt it too. He sped up his fingers and circled his thumb on her clit roughly.

She moaned out, not caring who heard her, but he grabbed a pillow and covered her face. Calum lapped up her release. He dropped her legs down and laid next to her.

“Happy album release day,” Claudia whispered excitedly after catching her breath.

He grumbled his response, making her giggle. He rolled to his side and traced his thumb under her bottom lip, giving her a quick peck. He got up to the bathroom to finish himself off, but Claudia had other ideas.

“No, let me,” Claudia said. She sat up and pulled him back by the waistband of his boxers. She brightly up at him, with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Se me antoja un chorizo.”

“The kitchen is downstairs, Claudia.” He told her prying her hands off him.

“Cal, please let me suck your dick.” She fake cried.

“No, go get ready. We were supposed to be on the road by now. But someone doesn’t know how to keep her hands to herself.” He said before closing her bathroom door. He popped his head out once more. “You better be ready when I’m done.”

***

Calum watched Claudia skip down the steps of Ashton's house when it finally hit him. The last he saw her wear the dress she currently wore was when they went to Coachella the year before. It was probably his favorite dress on her, even if he's only seen her in it once.

"That's the last of them." Claudia said sliding onto the passenger seat. She has baked 'CALM' cakes for the guys in their favorite flavors along with sugar cookies shaped in their initials and in their instruments.

She took off her mask and reached for her now watered down iced coffee. She made a face and set it down in the cup holder. "This is nasty. I fucking hate almondmilk." she mumbled before taking another sip.

"Why are you still drinking it?"

"I have to finish it. It was like five bucks."

Calum shook his head, hiding his smile. He reached for his army green Hydro Flask and took a long sip of water. He capped it and started the car. Pulling the car into reverse, he gripped Claudia's head rest a little tighter as he felt her gaze on him. As he got out of the spot, he watched Claudia shift around in her seat.

"You really have a parallel parking kink." Calum laughed as they left Ashton's neighborhood.

"I do not." Claudia scoffed, crossing her arms.

"Keep telling yourself that. Your tits don't lie." He said, pinching one of her nipples. She smacked his hand away as he checked that there weren't any cars before turning into the main road.

"The AC isn't even on so can't say you're cold."

"Whatever."

Calum shook his head and drove to the nearest Target. When they got there, Claudia grabbed a homemade disinfectant wipe from her bag and cleaned their cart. They went straight to the electronics section so Calum could get a record player for the live stream later in the evening. The needle broke in the one he had and since Ashton demanded that they play the album in vinyls, he had to get a new record player.

Claudia took the cart after he placed the record player in the shopping cart. She still felt awkward shopping for pads in front of him. They agreed to meet in the alcohol aisle after she hopefully found some pads. Tampons weren't an option. Pandemic or not, the only thing she was having inside of her was Calum.

“They may not have toilet paper but least they have White Claws.” Calum told Claudia as two boxes, one of only black cherry flavor and the other variety pack because Claudia only drank tangerine flavor.

"I managed to get one thing of pads, so it's something." She told him, covering the pads with the other groceries. "I'm just lucky my period ended last week. I have a month to worry about getting more. You have dog food right? Because there's none in the aisles."

"Yeah, bought some when we got back from Medelyn's baby shower, water and toilet paper too." He nodded his head over to the shopping cart. "Is that everything? And what your parents needed too?"

Claudia looked over their shopping cart. It wasn't much but it was enough since the stores set limits on how much to buy because of the lack of ability to restock.

"I think we're good. If we need something we can drive back and steal from Ashton's garden." she joked.

While they waited in line, Claudia thought about how quick her life changed in less than two weeks. Her landlord practically kicked her, Dulce and Sara out and wanted them out by the time spring break started because of mandatory stay at home orders. She was lucky though. Calum took her in and for the meantime she was going to live with him. Though just last week Diego told her to come home. It took her a lot of convincing, but Calum ended up going with her too.

"Your total is $132.76." the cashier told them.

Claudia was barely pulling out her card as Calum scanned his phone in front of the pin pad. He thanked them and nodded Claudia to keep up.

"We agreed that I was going to pay groceries since you don't let me pay for anything else." She told him as he put the groceries in his car.

"I didn't agree to shit." He furrowed an eyebrow.

"Yuh-huh you nodded and waved me off."

He stayed silent, trying to remember if he did. Then it hit him. "Was it when we ordered Mikko's? Because I thought you meant you were paying for that."

"Of course you did, your cheap ass doesn't pay for sushi." she mumbled to herself. "Well I'm paying for groceries from now on."

"I don't like it when you spend money for us when I can pay for them. Especially now that we're both basically jobless. You need that money for school, Claudia." Calum said as they pulled up to the In-N-Out drive thru across the street from Target.

"And I don't like you paying for things that I can afford too." She argued back, but Calum ignored her since he was ordering their lunch.

He had his card ready to pay so there was no way that he was going to let her pay. When he reached the window the computer crashed and they were only accepting cash. Claudia pulled out a twenty, knowing that Calum never carries cash on him unless they're outside of California. He begrudgingly took it and gave it to the cashier.

***

Claudia considered herself a patient person. An elderly person taking their time in front of the ATM, no problem. Her getting cut in line at Starbucks because she was answering a text from Calum and not paying attention to the line, not an issue. Where she did lose her patience was when she would get stuck in traffic.

“The San Ysidro border is faster than this.” Claudia groaned, dropping in her seat after poking her head out of the sun roof.

“Well we would have avoided traffic if someone didn’t need to go back our place to get a fucking coloring book.” Calum muttered under his breath.

He had enough of her complaining. Ever since he got on the I5, that’s all she’s been doing. They’ve been stuck for over four hours and it was just her mumbling over and over how she would rather be waiting to cross the border than be stuck in the freeway. Even Claudia during her period was less irritable than this. Before she could get a word in, he turned up the volume on the true crime podcast they were listening to.

Ironically it was about a couple where the girlfriend murdered her boyfriend and disposed of his body by a lake in the very same freeway they were on.

Calum glanced over to Claudia. She was curled up, leaning against the window playing tetris on her phone. He rotated his neck and hands in hopes that he loosened up, but nothing worked. He knew he shouldn't have said that to her. It wasn't her fault that there was traffic.

"Cal…" Claudia said quietly, reaching down to lower the volume.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be getting all irritated when I was the one who suggested that you take me back to your house. Because of me we're stuck in traffic and—"

"Claudia, you have nothing to apologize for. You're not the one who caused the traffic. If someone should be apologizing, it should be me. I'm just stressed out because of the album dropping tonight and I'm taking my nerves out on you. So I'm sorry for being a fucking cunt."

"Apology accepted." she giggled.

Claudia leaned over the center console and kissed his cheek. Slowly, she descended down to his neck And sucked under his jaw, making him jerk the car.

"Ashton needs me alive for at least tonight." Calum said, gently prying her off of him. He adjusted his shorts and looked toward the road.

Not even five minutes later, Claudia was toying with a loose string on Calum's shorts. Her hand occasionally bumped into his crotch. Wordlessly she unbuckled her seatbelt and tried reaching for her purse in the backseat. It gave Calum a great view of the nude lace panties she wore.

Before he tried anything, she sat back down and pulled out some nail clippers. Claudia bent over the center console once more and clipped the string with them. She rubbed his thigh and laid her head in the console. Her fingertips deftly smoothed down his leg hairs.

"What are your thoughts on road head?" Claudia asked. She tiptoed her fingers up his thigh, slowly inching to semi hard on.

"I don't know, never thought about it." He answered her, swallowing hard with his gaze glued on the road.

"Really? Like you never thought of me choking on your dick while you're driving?" She pushed herself up from the console and sat criss-cross applesauce. "I have. The thought of you guiding my mouth over your dick surrounded by other cars, clueless to what we're doing. All I have to say is thank fuck for your tinted windows."

He watched from the corner of his eye. She had pulled down her dress, exposing her breasts and her panties were on the dash. One of her hands disappeared under her dress while the other was tweaking her nipples. She whimpered Calum's name loudly as her fingers sped up.

Calum pulled her hand away and licked her fingers cleaned. He slipped his and continued where she left off. With one hand on the steering wheel he brought her to her orgasm. Her hips chased his fingers as he stopped thrusting them in her and only rubbed her clit. Once her high relaxed, he slipped his fingers out of her and licked them.

He pumped a quarter size amount of hand sanitizer in his hand, cleaning his hands, and kept driving.

He looked over to Claudia and smirked. "Thank fuck for tinted windows, huh Claudia."

***

Claudia was bundled up in her room so she wouldn’t disrupt Calum during the livestream. She went downstairs to get her water and a snack after hearing 'Not in the Same Way.' She bumped into Calum in the kitchen, who was getting another White Claw.

"Hey," she said kissing his cheek.

"Miss you." Calum said in between kisses.

Before she said anything, Michael's yelling that he was a pickle echoed through the kitchen. Calum gave her a look and went back to the living room. Duke tried getting on the couch but failed.

"I leave for a fucking second and you're a fucking pickle." Calum said, trying his best not to laugh.

He picked up Duke and sat him in his lap. Panchito wandered over and hopped on the couch and used Duke's bed as a pillow.

"Uh… this is Panchito. He's the Santos' family dog." Calum said introducing the blue heeler puppy to the 40 thousand people watching. "He's about four months old and just sleeps all day with Duke."

The livestream went on until Michael's phone died and Calum continued with Luke. But just before Michael signed off, he thanked Claudia for making the CALM cakes and cookies. Calum struggled a bit to get Luke connected, but he managed once Claudia hopped in and showed him how. He gave her a sheepish thank you and watched her curl up on the opposite end of the couch.

At some point during Calum and Luke's segment, they strayed off their music and discussed cake flavors. When Claudia heard Luke say that he's not a big fan of red velvet cake, she bit back her comment about Luke eating a few slices of red velvet cake at Calum's birthday party the year before. If Claudia knew how to do one thing, that's bake a good red velvet cake.

By the time Calum finished the livestream and his phone call with Luke, Claudia had fallen asleep. He signaled the dogs to follow him outside so they can do their nightly business before going to bed. He guided them back to their respective kennels and secured the doors, so they couldn't escape to go ruin Soni's plants.

"Claudia," Calum said softly. He gently nudged her awake. "Let's go upstairs."

"Fuck, did I fall asleep?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, surprisingly since you took about four naps today." he teased her.

"Oh shush." she grumbled, folding the blanket she covered herself with.

They quietly went to the guest room where Calum was sleeping to watch a movie. Not even fifteen minutes into the movie, Claudia and Calum were devouring each other. Her hand lazily stroked his length through his sweats as Calum's hands ran over her thighs and ass.

"We should get on the floor, the bed squeaks too much." Claudia said when pulled away from Calum to take off her hoodie.

She got off from the bed and grabbed a duvet from the closet and laid it on the floor. She grabbed some of the decorative pillows and arranged them neatly so they could lay on them. Calum followed suit and shedded off his sweater and sweatpants. He laid back on the duvet and took in Claudia. She sat in his lap in nothing but a light grey bralette and matching panties she got at Aerie. It wasn't an overall sexy set, but it still sent him spiralling.

She leaned down and captured Calum's lips with hers. He let out an incoherent grumble as Claudia rocked her hips against his cock. He slowly inched his hands up her thighs, feeling his way around until he found her ass. He roughly gripped her ass and began guiding her along his clothed cock.

“Can you fucking wait?” Claudia giggled, pulling away from his lips. She sat back up on his lap and took off her bralette. “I wanna take care of you.”

“I don’t want you to.” He said.

“You better remember that the next time you get a stomach ache for eating too many chilaquiles.”

Claudia drummed his chest and got up from the floor. She reached for Calum’s hoodie and tied her hair in a bun.

“Where are you going?” Calum asked her confused.

“You don’t want my help, so I don’t see what I’m doing here.” She shrugged.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and gave him a small salute before leaving his room. She waited outside, knowing he was going to go after her. A few seconds later he opened the door and pulled her inside.

“I’m kidding, I need you.” Calum said peppering kisses all over her face.

“That’s what I thought.” She said, triumphantly. She got down on her knees and tugged down Calum’s sweats. She licked her lips and looked up at him. “Now let me show you how proud I am of your album.”

“What would you rank it?”

“Definitely one of your top four.”

Taglist: @f-mu @another-lonely-heart​ @sunshinebabycal-deactivated2021​   @calumscalm​ @karajaynetoday​ @cherryxwildflower​ @myloverboyash​  @idontneedanyone​ @findingliam-o​ @5-secondsofcolor​ @spicylftv​ @sexgodashton​ @fckingpernico​ @2fangirl4u​ @calpops

[angryschnauzer]

Invite Us In

Summary: You're tired. You're grumpy. You're cramping. And when two of SHIELD's finest Vampires turn up at your door at sunrise, you kind of have to invite them in...

Warnings: NSFW, 18+, Oral Sex, Period Oral Sex, Periods, Werewolf, Vampires, Vampire Bucky, Vampire Steve, werewolf female reader, crack fic, squicks.

Pairing: Stucky x Female Reader

I do not operate a tag list but if you follow @angryschnauzerwrites​ and put that blog onto notifications, you will get an alert whenever i post something new. Oneshots will be posted on Tumblr and AO3, Multichapters will be AO3 exclusives. I do not have a masterlist due to the sheer number of fics i have written, but you can find them all on AO3 link HERE

Invite Us In

The insistent knocking on the door made you groan, you had only just gotten home and the last thing you needed was visitors after the night you’d had. Growling as you grasped the heavy iron lock, you pulled the latch and peered out through the gap in the door, groaning at the sight;

“What are you two doing here?”

Opening the door wider you leant against the doorpost, hooking one leg over the other at your ankles and crossing your arms. Steve and Bucky were standing on your doorstep, beaten and bloody, and grinning like idiots;

“Hey there Doll” Bucky drawled; “We could kinda use some help…”

“Yeah, we got caught up in an all night mission and can’t make it back to base before sunrise… can we crash here?”

Groaning you rolled your eyes at the two doofuses in front of you, it was typical of their behaviour, get caught up in a fight after a mission and only just make it back to base before the powerful rays of sun licked at their pale white asses… considering they had both been vampires for over 75 years, you would have thought they would be able to keep track of the sunrise by now… but it would seem not;

“Really? I have only just changed, i’ve had a hell of a night…”

“Babe… please…” Steve begged, the two of them shuffling a little closer towards you as the rays of light moved along the floor towards them as the morning sun rose; “Please… invite us in…”

Rolling your eyes again you sighed, as a magical being yourself you knew you couldn’t let two of the finest Supernatural fighters poof into piles of dust, so with great reluctance your shoulders sagged;

“Fine… please do come in…”

The two men trooped into your small apartment, coming to a halt when they saw how small your living quarters were; a single room studio apartment, small bathroom off to the side, and the couch pulled out into a bed.

“Cosy” Bucky muttered, toeing his boots off and unbuckling his jacket

Steve nodded, a smirk on his face to which you felt like slapping straight off.

“Hey, not all of us get paid the mega bucks you two do. Plus… i have to spend four days of a month off active duty… like now…”

“Oh… Its that time…” Steve started

“Yes, of the month. Like i said, i only just changed and i was up all night”

You went to boil water for some tea, your back to the two men when you felt the hairs on the back of your neck prick up, turning you let out a yelp when you found yourself boxed in by the two large vampires in your apartment;

“What are you…?” you started, only to be cut off by Bucky;

“We can smell you…”

Groaning you rolled your head;

“Oh man… i even vacuumed, is there dog hair too?”

The dark haired vamp blinked and looked confused;

“What are you talking about?”

“What are you talking about?” you countered

“Your period” Steve clarified. Your mouth fell into a large ‘oh’ before Steve continued; “What do you mean dog?”

“The full moon? Being off every 28 days? You guys haven’t figured it out?” They both shook their heads; “Oh boy… ok yeah i’m on my period… but that’s because i’m a fucking werewolf. Every month i get really fucking ratty because i have to turn into a giant dog for three nights, AND when i change as the sun rises i get the joy of having my period when all i want to do is curl into a ball because of cramps and eat chocolate which makes me really fucking sick because i’m half DOG…”

Both men were silent for a moment, before they moved closer, each resting a hand on your hip. Steve pressed his mouth to one ear;

“We can help with the period cramps…”

“And it’ll help us too…” Bucky added

“What? How?”

“Are we gonna have to spell it out for ya Doll? We’re hungry… and you’re bleeding…”

“Oh. OH”

You turned to Steve for clarification but his mouth caught yours, his tongue pushing and to your surprise you opened for him. Through the kiss you were vaguely aware of Bucky pulling your t-shirt down your shoulder and pressing his lips to your neck, sucking against your skin. Pulling away from Steve you went to warn Bucky against any funny business with his sharp teeth, but any protests were swallowed when his lips met yours. 

In a mass of limbs pulling at clothing you made your way across your tiny apartment, falling into a heap on your bed. Bucky pulled at your panties, and you tensed as he saw your core. Tugging gently at the string of your tampon he slid it out of you, tossing it into the small trash can at the side of your bed. He looked like utter sin, his chest bare, his pants partially unbuttoned as he knelt on the bed and lifted one of your legs, pressing kisses to your skin as he trailed his lips from your ankle to your knee and then further. When his lips touched yours you let out a sigh, your hands scrambling for something to grab onto, and finding Steve at your side. He leant down and kissed you, his sharp teeth rubbing against yours, before he pulled away;

“Does doggy want a treat?”

“Steve… what do you…?”

He unbuttoned his pants and tugged them down, his hard dick springing out and slapping against his stomach;

“A nice meaty treat”

Grinning you nodded at him, watching as he shuffled on his knees and you were able to take him into your mouth, moaning around his impressing length as Bucky’s long tongue pushed into your aching walls, tasting you. He groaned against your lips, sending sensations through your body which in turn made you hum around Steve. Relaxing your jaw you looked up and nodded, working your tongue over him as he started to fuck your mouth. 

You could feel your orgasm starting to grow in the pit of your stomach, Bucky giving out sweet torture between your legs. As his teeth gently scraped against your folds it was the final trigger, and as you started to come Steve reached he peak too, spurting ropes of cum down your throat which you happily swallowed.

Laying back on the bed you sighed, the flood of relief coursing through your body a welcome change from the tenseness that had consumed you for so many full moons in the past. With your eyes closed you were vaguely aware of the two men moving around, before you felt a cool metal hand against your chin;

“Open up Doll, you’ve been such a good girl you can have a second treat”

Opening your eyes you were greeted with the sight of Bucky’s thick and meaty dick just inches from your face, and taking hold of your chin with his metal hand he guided himself between your lips as Steve’s tongue found its way home between your thighs.

Whereas Bucky had a long tongue, Steve’s was wide, and as he opened his mouth he was seemingly able to cover your entire sex with his mouth, his thick tongue lapping at your entrance. The two men soon set to work, Bucky praising you for taking his dick so well, Steve eating you out like he hadn’t had a meal in months. As you came on Steve’s tongue he drank down everything you gave him, Bucky pulling out of your mouth as he fisted his wide girth;

“Open your mouth doll, i wanna see you hold it on your tongue”

Sticking your tongue out you watched as he pumped himself just a couple of times before he was coming in powerful spurts, shooting his cum into your mouth with trigger precision just like the sniper he was.

Laying back on the bed again you were in seventh heaven, the endorphins rushing through your body and the orgasms having gotten rid of your cramps, you could get used to this you thought to yourself. You watched through heavy lids as the two men licked at the others face and chin, catching the last drops of precious blood, and you felt your insides clench with arousal, a small moan escaping your throat.

“Ready for more Doll?”

Spreading your legs you ran your hands along your thighs;

“I’m not gonna say no…”

-

“WOOF” 

Bucky and Steve were woken by your loud bark, looking bleary eyed and crumpled from sleep.

“What the…?”

Another quieter bark as you sat on your haunches at the side of the bed had them remembering what you had told them, before you got up and picked up a note, walking back to the bed and dropped it in Steve’s lap.

“She left us a note…

‘Thank you for an amazing night. If you could kindly let me out when you leave, that would be great’

You growled quietly and the two vamps looks at you and smiled, before climbing out of bed and started to get dressed. 

-

On the sidewalk outside your building the three of you stood and breathed in the cool night air, before you looked up and saw the moon, the urge to run and howl soon overtaking any other thought. As you started to run along the pavement the two men called out in the silent night;

“Hey girl!”

You stopped and paused as Steve spoke;

“You need us to come over again in the morning?”

Trotting back to them you stood as then bent down and scratched your ears;

“Huh Doll, you want more?”

You licked Bucky’s face then Steve’s, the two vamps laughing;

“We’ll take that as a yes”

With a howl of joy you ran off into the night, excited for your midnight run, and even more excited for your morning fun.

[happys-crazy-queen22]

Title: The Sergeants Daughter

Gif credit@marcomardon

Requested on wattpad

Happy Reading Dollies

Hope you all enjoy

Taglist: @nocturnalherb16. @jesseswartzwelder

"Good morning everyone" Antonio cruised into the intelligence squad room with a smirky smile on his face. The smirk that could give anything away.

"Why are you so cheerful in the mornings"? Adam groaned, his hand to his head and a cup of coffee to his lips.

"Just really happy today that's all". His smirk became bigger as you walked up the stairs with a box of donuts in hand.

"Y/N, has donuts. Get them before Antonio devours them all". Adam chuckled. Antonio was thankful Adam thought he was smiling at the donuts.

"Would you like one, Mr.Dawson". You sighed out. You heard what Adam said since he was so loud and it made you snicker.

"Thank you". Antonio signed back, adding a heart at the end.

You rolled your eyes and headed to the breakroom.

"Y/N"? You could hear your fathers voice right behind you. At least he doesnt throw things at you like Justin did when y'all were kids to get your attention. Yes, you're deaf, not invisible.

"Yes"? You quickly turned around, a coffee and plain donut in hand for your father.

"Can you help Antonio out? He's in the interrogation room". You nodded and headed to Antonio.

You knocked on the door and headed in. Antonio was standing on the table, fixing the light.

"You're going to get hurt". You warned him.

"Nah". He signed, but as he did the light fixture came out of the ceiling and hit him in the head.

"Told you". You helped him sit on the table and you looked over his head. Giving it a kiss.

"I'm fine now. Have a great nurse to take care of me". He whispered in your ear. Sending chills down your spine. His hands crept up your thigh.

You smiled shaking your head, no. "Not here".

"Where"? He purred in your ear.

"At your place,only". You kissed his cheek and left. There was other things to do besides watch Antonio electrocute himself.

As the day went by, you started to feel alittle queasy. So you stopped by the vending machine and grabbed a ginger ale to settle your stomach.

"Boo". You felt someone's fingers poke you in the back.

"Antonio. Stop". You say before turning around and finding Justin. A horror look on his face.

"So that's who you been seeing"?

"Kill me now". You mumbled under your breath.

Justin ran up the stairs, grabbed Antonio by the shirt and dragged him into his father's office, locking the door.

"Justin, what the hell"? Antonio fixed his shirt.

"Yeah, what's going on"? Hank questioned.

"He's having sex with your daughter. My sister". Justin blurted out with anger.

"What the hell are you talking about"? Hank gripped his desk.

"I came in to the station and saw Y/N at the vending machine and came up behind her to scare her and she goes stop Antonio".

"Are you hooking up with my daughter"? Hank asked sternly, making Antonio gulped and you as you watched outside the door.

"Yes. We've been seeing each other for about six months now".

"Behind my back. You know how I feel about Y/N dating anyone I work with. I threaten every guy that bats a eye at her".

"I know. I'm sorry for lying to you but I really like her. She's great. I want to keep seeing her. I dont care if you demote me and put me back on foot patrol. I'm being with her".

"You really like her"?

"I do".

"Alright, we'll ask Y/N what she wants to do"? Hank, Justin and Antonio looked at the door. They were thinking you were still standing there but you had taken off when Antonio said yes to liking you. You went to the only other place you felt safe. With Gabby Dawson, she was your best friend and sister to the guy you were hooking up with.

"So he's all in"? She wondered as you explained to her that Hank found out.

"Yeah. I didn't know things would get this crazy all because I'm dating him". You sighed.

"Have you told him"?

"About"?

"You're pregnant".

"How did you know"? You signed.

"The glow, the way you've been nursing that ginger ale and you're not asking for a tampon. We're in sync on our periods. You haven't had yours in two months. So I took a wild guess".

"No, I just confirmed it about a week ago. I'm scared to tell them all. Dad and Justin are going to kill him. I know it".

"He'll be fine. He can take a punch". Gabby laughed. You were so worried that you felt even more sicker.

After a good long talk with Gabby you headed back to the station. Everyone was worried about you. Trudy basically cried when you came back in. They thought you were kidnapped.

"Where did you go"?

"To see Gabby, I had to talk to someone that wasn't going to bite my head off". You informed huh your father and brother who were staring you down.

"Are you and Antonio serious about each other"?

"Yeah, I like him alot. Can we just move on? This is ridiculous".

"Fine. But I'll kill him if he hurts you". Hank warned.

"Alright. Stay here, I need to get Antonio". You quickly walked out, grabbing Antonio by the hand. Closing the door all eyes were on you.

"I need to tell you all something. I'm pregnant".

"You're a dead man, Dawson". Justin lunged at Antonio and started strangling him. Hank tried to break it up, probably to get in some strangling of his own.

"Look at that kiddo, your uncle and grandpa are trying to kill your daddy. Just another day for us Voights". You laughed to yourself.

After some time they all stopped and came around to the idea of Antonio being a member of the family and the new addition. They all became bestfriends and you were now confused. How could they go from wanting to kill Antonio to simply being friends? The mystery is still unsolved. Hopefully the kid has your genes than theirs.

[binniedeactivated]

saint. || soobin (3.7)🌪

pairing: soobin x reader genre: au word count; 2k

“we know it can be hard admitting these things, okay? we want you to be truthful with us. there is evidence that you’ve been taken advantage of at this hotel do you remember?”.

mia gulps as the officer show her the camera footage. she saw three guys go into the hotel first. she then saw another guy and girl enter shortly after. she shook her head slowly, 

“I-I don’t know”. 

“you don’t know those three guys?”.

“I do know them. t-those are the guys that broke into my home”. 

“and what did they do?”.

mia slowly pulled her sleeves over her wrists.”t-they um--”. 

“did they take advantage of you?”. 

“yes”. she answers painfully, not wanting to remember. 

“how did this night began?”.

“I was home a-alone and my parents were at my little brother’s soccer award ceremony. I was in my room and I heard this b-big noise downstairs and---”. 

“mia? this is what happened prior to the hotel innocent?”. 

“t-this is the home invasion”. she stuttered, wanting to slap herself at how shaky she was but she couldn’t help it. the officer sighs. 

“mia. we are trying to get information for the hotel incident. these boys have already been charged for the home invasion”. 

“mia what happened that night? did you go on a date with choi soobin?”. 

“choi soobin?”. she questions honestly, the officer points to the footage. 

“yes, the man that brought you to the hotel”.

they spread out some pictures on the table of soobin, most of which they printed from his social media account. the officer points to his face. 

“do you recognize him?”. 

mia stared at the pictures thinking long and hard. for the life of her she couldn’t grasp who he was. she knew she’d seen him before, but she didn’t get his significance with this case. it was hard for her to remember anything prior to the home invasion due to the high dose of medication she was required to take for her trauma. 

“no I don’t”. 

“so you know these guys but you don’t know soobin?”. 

mia shakes her head, “no”. 

“so can you confirm that those are the guys who invaded your home?”. 

“yes”. mia answered again. 

both of the officers glared at each other before they safely sent mia home. 

╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱

you had no words. no thoughts what so ever. you had to believe taehyun. it would make absolutely no sense for him to lie. and the fact that yeonjun had even said it also, it made you feel stupid and humiliated.

your heart was broken and a million pieces and you couldn’t keep yourself from crying. especially while you were at your locker. taehyun tried to comfort you but he could only do but so much. the person you loved, fell in love with, almost had sex with even-- was a horrible person. and you couldn’t believe even someone like soobin would do something as inhumane as that.

“princess? you okay?”. soobin asked from behind you, you assumed her heard you sniffling. 

“I don’t want to talk to you soobin”. you mutter under your breath. 

“what’s wrong?”. he asks again, honestly concerned. 

“I don’t want to talk to you”. you repeat, feeling the anger build up inside of you. 

“can you please tell me?”. 

you turn around, not being able to take it anymore. “can you please tell me soobin!? huh? can you tell me the truth this time?!”. soobin’s eyes widened at how loud you were, sparking a scene throughout the whole hallway. but you didn’t care.

“can you calm down? what is--”. 

before he could finish his sentence you raise your hand to slap him across his face as hard as you could. it was loud and it sound painful but you didn’t care about that either. he deserved it. 

gasps spread through the crowd around you both, even taehyun and yeonjun.

“you’re a liar soobin!!”. 

he holds his cheek, stinging with pain. he never saw you this angry before. 

“what did I lie about?”. he croaked wanting to cry.

“did you set her up or not?!”. 

soobin swallows, not even being able to fix his mouth tell you the truth. you saw the guilt on his face and it made you even more furious. you slapped him again, way harder than before. taehyun grabs your wrists softly, “I think you should calm down a little before you really hurt him”. he mumbles. 

“no! i don’t care these slaps don’t compare to how much he just hurt me!”. 

soobin breathed with a tear sliding down his cheek. he didn’t know what to do or even say. 

“I cared about you soobin! when the whole school hated your guts! when all these girls just wanted to have sex with you and use you for money and clout, I didn’t!! and for you to sit here and lie to my face about something this serious even after I asked you what really happened?!!”. 

“i didn’t k-know how I was going to tell you”.  he croaked through his tears. 

“I thought you cared about me!”.

“I do”.

“no you don’t because if you did you wouldn’t hide something like this from me!” +

“do you know how stupid you made me look!! I’m fighting for you consistently trying to tell you to get your act together and when I finally think you got it together this comes up and you lie about it!? how can you even do something like that to her?!”.

“I’m not that kind of person anymore please i’ve chan--”. 

“I don’t want to hear it! you don’t ever have to worry about me again. I’m breaking up with you!”.

god, that was soobin’s worst fear. “what? no please no”. he begs while grabbing your wrists while you storm out of the building. “don’t touch me!”. you scream, finally letting your tears fall. you stared into his wet eyes and realized they were just as hurt as yours, maybe even worse. but you didn’t care. you swallow the lump in your throat breathing heavily.

“soobin i hate you”.

and on that note you didn’t stop crying. even when you went home you locked yourself in your room for hours crying into your pillow about what you hoped wasn’t real. but you could tell by the look on soobin’s face that it was true. you couldn’t believe he’d do it. you wished he was a better person than that. your parents consistently knocked on your door and you assured them you were fine, and that you were just packing for the ski trip you were going to be leaving for tomorrow. 

you received another knock at your door though. “I’m fine mom i swear. I’m just packing”. you assured for the last time. “baby you have a visitor”. she informed. you were sick to your stomach just thinking about soobin. 

“if it’s soobin please send him out of this house”. 

“can you come to the door please?”. your mother begged. you hurried and wiped your face but your face ached after crying for so long and your eyes were puffy as can be. you sighed before unlocking your door and swinging it open. 

it was taehyun. 

“he said he wanted to check on your after your episode today. if you aren’t going to tell me what happened can you at least talk to one of your friends?”. she asked kindly before walking away. you sniffled. 

“how did you know where I lived?”.

“you dropped some stuff out of your bag when you ran off”. he handed you a couple of transcripts you dropped out of you bag. 

“thank you taehyun”.

“you’re welcome. are you doing okay? i’m so sorry you’re going through this I’m such a bad friend for telling you that maybe i should’ve just mind my business like you said”. you shake your head no, pursing your lips.

“no you aren’t a bad friend. i’m a bad friend. i thought you were lying to me and just trying to butt into my relationship. I’m sorry i didn’t listen to you sooner”.

“it’s alright”. 

you nodded, not wanting things to get awkward. “do you want to come in?”. 

“i don’t want to make you uncomfortable. you can finish letting out your emotions if you really need time”. 

“taehyun just get in here”. you sniffled, “my mom said I need to talk to someone anyway”. you kind of laugh, it was heart warming to have a someone check on you like this. 

“wow. you have a nice room”. he complimented toying with the knick knacks on your shelf. you laid across your bed. “thanks I guess. it’s pretty average to me but I guess it’s because I’m in here everyday”. 

“nah I like the pink. did you start packing yet?”.

you glared at him with your pink puffy eyes. “does it look like I want to pack right now?”. he purses his lips. “I’m sorry. you should though since we leave tomorrow”. 

“I can’t do anything right now taehyun. I just want to crawl into a hole and die”. 

taehyun chuckles at you being dramatic. “you shouldn’t say stuff like that”. he looks around, grabbing the small suitcase he saw in the corner and started to unzip it. 

“what are you doing?”. 

“since you’re not feeling to hot right now I’ll pack your bag for you. just tell me what to put in it”. 

you sigh, “taehyun you don’t have to do that”.  

“just shut up and tell me. do you need these?”. he suspends a blue box of tampons in the air for you to see. you chuckle. 

“I sure hope not”. 

“what are these anyways?”. you wait for him to slide one out the box and rip off the wrapper. 

“it’s a tampon”. he throws it in horror. “ew!”.

“seriously taehyun why are you even doing this? you still need to pack your own bag don’t you?”.

“my bag is packed already. plus this is just what real friends do”. he says, sliding a small pile of panties into your bag to keep from touching them. 

╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱╲╱❀╲╱

“so? what do we do? mia says it wasn’t soobin”. one officer analyzes. 

“the other three says it was”.

“but we also remember it was the other three who tried to lie on soobin for the last crime they committed. how do we know they aren’t doing that now?”. the other officer analyzes. the female officers sighs. 

“no matter what anyone else says, if the victim says that this wasn’t choi soobin, we cannot press charges”. 

“so what else are going to do?”. 

“we’re going to have to drop the case”.

[elizabeethan]

Try Something New, Darling

Part 3/6 of my season 3 canon divergent series It’s About Bloody Time (AO3) 

Read part 2 (AO3)

Read on AO3

Summary: Emma Swan considers herself to be a fairly intelligent person. She was able to survive on the streets for years as a child and teenager. She was able to support herself after being released from jail at age 18. She sustained a prosperous job as a bail bondsperson. She had a nice apartment in Boston. She broke a damn curse and found her family. So yes, she considers herself to be a fairly intelligent person.

So why has she been acting so stupid?

Emma Swan considers herself to be a fairly intelligent person. She was able to survive on the streets for years as a child and teenager. She was able to support herself after being released from jail at age 18. She sustained a prosperous job as a bail bondsperson. She had a nice apartment in Boston. She broke a damn curse and found her family. So yes, she considers herself to be a fairly intelligent person.

So why has she been acting so stupid?

Early Friday morning after her birthday dinner, when she woke up feeling nauseous again and consequently ended up with her head in the toilet, she did consider going to the doctor. No bout of food poisoning should have lasted this long, and she never had a fever, so it probably wasn’t the flu. But when she opened up the cabinet under the sink to get the mouth wash and saw a box of tampons, it all came crashing down on her at once. The realization that she should have needed to use those very tampons over a week ago. The realization that she still doesn’t need to use them now.

Because guess what? When one takes a week-long trip to a magical realm and forgets to bring one’s birth control with them, one should then avoid having unprotected sex.

Absolutely stupid.

And so here she stands on this bright and sunny Monday morning, in the family planning aisle of the local drug store (please, as if this was planned), hoping to whatever god might be listening that Grumpy doesn’t see her and make one of his famous announcements to the whole town.

(She can picture it now. Terrible news! Terrible news! The Savior got knocked up by Captain Hook!)

Should she have done this sooner? Probably. But she chose instead to spend a week and a half after putting the pieces together hoping that she would miraculously get her period, and all this worrying would have been for naught. Now that her period is very late, she figures it’s probably time to take a test.

She finally opts for a two-pack so that she can remain in denial for a bit longer by taking the test again, then grabs a third just to be safe. False positives are a thing, right? Once she’s been rung out, as awkwardly as possible, she exits the store and shoves the box into the large bag she brought with her before she makes her way to Granny’s. If she’s going to pee on a stick three times in a row, she’ll need some fluids. And if she’s about to find out that she’s been knocked up, she’s going to need some comfort in the form of hot chocolate.

“Hey Emma!” Ruby calls from the kitchen when she arrives, hurrying out to meet her.

“Hi Rubes,” she responds, trying her hardest to plaster on a smile. She’s been chewing on her bottom lip so much lately that she thinks it cracks.

“Hot chocolate?”

“Please.”

“Want me to bring it over to Lover-Boy’s table?” she asks with a smirk, and Emma freezes before turning around in the direction Ruby was facing and sees Hook, dressed still in his modern wardrobe and sitting alone at a table nursing a coffee.

Shit. Not ready. Back up. Abort mission.

Of course, Ruby must have spoken too loudly, because Hook glances up and catches her gaze before shooting her an earth shattering, ovary exploding grin.

The very grin that she’s been evading for over a week now.

Rather than answering Ruby, Emma takes a deep breath and swallows the lump in her throat, then heads over to his table and takes a seat across from him.

“Hi,” she greets shakily.

“Morning love,” he responds, his smile faltering the slightest bit at the tone of her voice, but still successfully killing her from the inside out. “Finally feeling better today?”

Fuck, she thinks. Leave it to him to inadvertently guilt her for avoiding him. Not by accusing her of doing so, but by evidently understanding why she’s been so absent. Now is certainly an opening for her to tell him what’s going on, or what she suspects is going on. (Who is she kidding, though? There’s almost no doubt in her mind that she is currently carrying his child.) “Not that much,” she finally says.

His face falls, brows drawing close together and mouth sporting a perfectly kissable pout. “No? Have you been to the doctor?”

“Not yet.”

“Emma,” he starts seriously as he glances back down at his mug, but whatever he says doesn’t reach her ears. When she looks up, she sees Neal making his way into the diner from the inn and she freezes.

She’s still reeling from last week, and she’s been avoiding him too. The more she looks back on it, the worse she feels. How could she let him do that? She knows that she should’ve been strong enough to shove him away before it became what it did.

It shouldn’t have gotten so out of hand. Does she tell Killian that Neal technically kissed her? It’s not as if it could hardly even be considered a kiss, and it’s not like she kissed him back, but still. Doesn’t he have the right to know?

“Like now, for example,” she finally hears him say.

“Huh?”

“Precisely my point, love, I was just saying that you seem distracted. Emma, something is clearly bothering you. And whatever it is—”

“I’m fine.”

“—whatever it is,” he says more pointedly, “please just know that I’m… I’m here.”

She draws her brows together and finally meets his eyes with hers when Ruby sets her mug of hot chocolate down in front of her with a wink.

“Whatever it is, I’ll support you in any way that I can, however you’ll let me. You can tell me anything.”

Shit.

One glance into his deep blue eyes and she knows that he’s telling the truth.

“Killian…” she starts, sighing, reaching down for her mug and pulling it up to her nose.

While she may have had every intention of talking things through with him, or maybe asking if they can talk in private later, she takes one whiff of her favorite drink and knows that that isn’t going to happen.

Her eyes widen and her face must pale immediately. She feels her whole body start to shake and sweat as bile rises to her throat. She puts the mug down too urgently, sending the hot beverage sloshing over the sides, and stands with such force that the table is shoved towards him before she’s up and running to the lady’s room.

She bursts through the door and doesn’t even have the sense to lock it— in fact she’s lucky that it was unoccupied— before she’s over the toilet and heaving into it, despite her stomach being empty. She knows she should be trying to eat something in the morning, but she can’t stomach anything, and it doesn’t seem to make any sense anyway when she’s heaving up anything and everything less than an hour later.

Once she finally finishes evicting everything she’s ever eaten, she sits back against the wall and closes her eyes, taking in a few breaths before she opens them and reaches for some toilet paper to wipe her mouth and nose. It’s only once she starts blowing her nose that she notices Killian standing to her left behind the closed door.

“Fuck!” she jumps, accidentally blowing her nose with so much force that she can feel it in her eyes.

“Emma, what the bloody hell is going on?”

She slowly and unsteadily stands up and tosses the soiled tissue into the toilet before she quickly moves to flush it in hopes that he didn’t see its contents, then says, “I told you I’m fine.”

“But you’re clearly not fine, love. You’ve been avoiding me. And you couldn’t even smell your hot chocolate without being violently sick.”

“Please don’t say the word chocolate right now.”

“And it looks like the hot chocolate might’ve burned your hand.”

“Killian.”

“Emma.”

“I’ll go to the doctor,” she concedes as her stomach jumps. “I will. I just… I have to do something first.”

She’s never seen him look so worried and defeated. “What can I do?”

“Nothing, you’ve done enough,” she says snidely and then regrets it, knowing that it’s unfair of her to blame him. Afterall, she did tell him that she was taking a magical pill that would make it near impossible for him to impregnate her.

Turns out it only works like magic if she uses it. Curse her evidently insanely fertile self.

He sighs, “let me at least get you some water, love?”

She sighs, too, and a sea of familiar guilt washes over her. Finally, she quietly responds, “that would be nice, thank you.”

She knows that she needs to go to work soon anyway, so when he comes back, she chugs the water and hopes that it’ll go through her by the time she gets to the station.

~~~~

Emma Swan is pregnant. By accident. Again.

At least she’s on the other side of the cell this time around.

She took all three tests, and all three read positive; two produced that second pink line and one clearly read the word pregnant before the two-minute timers she set on her phone even went off. She doesn’t want to leave them in the trash can at the station for fear that someone may somehow find them, so they're sitting in her desk drawer. With her head laying on her crossed arms, she stares so hard that she practically burns a hole through the top of her desk above the drawer that contains them. So far today, she’s gotten exactly no work done.

“Make any headway on that paperwork?” her father asks ironically as he enters the office. She had asked if he could take on patrol so that she could get caught up.

“Kind of,” she answers quietly, fearful that her voice could give out at any second.

“Hey,” he starts, taking a seat at his desk across the room from her. “I wanted to talk to you about… about last Thursday.”

“What about last Thursday?” she asks, sitting up slightly and finally peeling her eyes away from the drawer of secrets.

“I wanted to… apologize. For the way I acted at your dinner. About… about Hook.”

She raises a brow in surprise, pursing her lips and nodding her head lightly. She supposes that this day actually canengender more surprises. “Wow,” she says simply.

“I know I may not be his biggest fan, but Snow and I talked, and we realized that it must be pretty helpful for you to have someone you consider to be a friend right now.”

She nods softly, considering this. “Yeah, it is.”

“I guess you can’t be sharing everything with Neal, huh?” he asks in jest. She draws her brows in now, confusion likely written all over her face. “Just a joke,” he chuckles. “Sometimes it’s hard to tell our significant others everything.”

Woah. She physically backs herself away from him. “Neal? Neal isn’t my boyfriend,” she’s cut off by the ringing phone, which David almost immediately answers, humming and nodding at the person on the other end.

“Another moose in the road,” he eventually says. “You wanna take this one?”

She huffs violently at her inability to fully correct her father but nods, needing to get out of the office and into the fresh air. She can also take the opportunity to go home and get some crackers. She gets up quickly and grabs her huge bag, opening the accursed drawer and using her own body to shield the image of her shoving in the positive tests from her father’s view.

~~~~

The moose found his way home without her help, so she heads back to the loft sooner than expected and finds Mary Margaret occupying it.

“Hi honey,” she says with a sweet smile from the kitchen.

Emma drops her uncharacteristically massive bag on a table by the door before calling back, “hi.”

“Want something to eat?” Emma nods and makes to turn around before her foot kicks into the leg of the table and sends her bag, along with its contents, flying to the floor.

All of its contents. Wallet, phone, keys, and three positive pregnancy tests.

“Whoops! Let me help you get—”

“No!”

She hears Mary Margaret gasp loudly before she shuts her eyes and shoves her hands over her face. She’s suddenly feeling nauseous due to anxiety rather than pregnancy, and she almost laughs at the irony.

“Emma, are you—” she doesn’t finish her thought. She doesn’t need to, because when Emma peeks out from behind her fingers, she sees Mary Margaret holding a test in her hand. The one that spells out the word pregnant, clear as day. “Oh, honey.”

Normally, if she wasn’t full of raging hormones, she would have handled the situation with grace and perhaps a bit of sarcasm. But alas, these are not normal times and she is, in fact, full of raging hormones. So, what does she do? Why, the only thing she seems capable of lately, aside from vomiting a peeing frequently. She starts to cry.

Of course.

She doesn’t move her hands away from her face because she immediately begins to feel the clenching around her heart, her throat practically closing and her eyes burning. Tears begin to fall immediately and she chokes out a sob.

Her mother’s disappointment was clear in her voice, and Emma can’t even think about what she’s doing before she sinks down to the floor, pathetically holding her middle.

“Emma!” she exclaims with a soft chuckle, suddenly in front of her and holding onto her elbows. “Emma, up off the floor! It’s alright, you don’t have to cry!” Emma can’t bear to hear what she has to say, because she knows that she’s being judged for getting pregnant by a man her parents hate.

“I—” she starts, but can’t finish, another sob wracking her body.

“Emma, it’s okay, this is a blessing! You two are going to make fabulous parents together. And Henry will be a big brother!”

“You think—” she chokes, “you think so?” She can’t imagine this to be true. Since when did Mary Margaret start to approve of Killian? Emma supposes she hasn’t been as discreet as she had hoped with all of her sneaking out, because apparently Mary Margaret knew all along.

“Oh sweetheart, I know so!” Emma nods, sniffling and wiping tears off of her cheeks. “Was it… planned?”

“Hell no,” Emma scoffs with a roll to her eyes. “None of this was. It all just sort of… happened.”

“When did it… start happening?”

“On the way back from Neverland,” Emma says softly, pathetically. Mary Margaret nods, a sneaky smile crossing her face.

“Well I just know that you two—” before she has a chance to finish, there’s a crash and a scream outside and she’s cut off.

“Ugh,” Emma exclaims, blowing her nose with a tissue that Mary Margaret had reached for. “I should check on that.”

“Just,” Mary Margaret starts, a worried look playing at her features. “I know you're the sheriff but please be careful. I’m assuming you haven’t been to the doctor yet?”

“No,” she shakes her head, “you're right. I’ll be careful.”

“And take some crackers, they’ll help settle your stomach.”

~~~~

She freezes when she steps outside. And then she laughs at her own little joke, because she’s standing on a narrow sheet of ice that leads in a trail down the street— in the first week of November. And while Maine is pretty cold, she doesn’t think it’s that cold.

She follows the trail down Main Street, sleeve of Saltines in hand, and thinks that it’s leading to the edge of town when she feels the earth tremble. When she looks out by the harbor, she notices a thick white wall rising erratically from the sea. So much for no emergencies in Storybrooke.

“Swan!” she hears, and she turns to see Hook running out of Granny’s towards. “Swan, you alright?”

“Yeah,” she says, turning to the harbor again. “Not sure what’s going on, but I’m assuming something’s happening around the town line.”

“Are you heading out there now?”

“Yeah.”

“Let me go with you?” he asks desperately.

“Killian…”

“Please Swan,” he starts, his eyes doing that thing again where he looks sadder than anyone she’s ever seen. “I just saw your father heading towards the Queen’s office. You need backup, let me help you.”

She rolls her eyes, but she’s also fighting off a smile. “You aren’t even on the force.”

“Make me an honorary deputy, then,” he says with a flirty smile.

“Stop watching westerns. How do you even have access to TV?” He shrugs and she rolls her eyes. “Fine, let’s go,” she responds in haste, turning back towards her Bug.

They spent the ride relatively quiet, and she’s glad that he doesn’t ask her again how she’s been feeling, but she knows she probably should’ve taken the opportunity to tell him what’s been going on. Then again, maybe driving into an unknown and potentially dangerous situation isn’t the best time to tell someone that they're about to be a father.

By the time they reach the town line, she can see the white wall standing tall and preventing anyone from leaving.

“What the hell?” she wonders out loud as she steps out of the car.

“My thoughts exactly, love.”

They walk around for a few minutes, taking in the scene and pretending they know what they're doing. The wall is at least 30 feet high and, while she has no idea how thick it could be, she knows it would likely be foolish to try and get through it.

Kicking a fallen piece of ice, she sighs. “I don’t know.” She tucks her hands into the pockets of her brown leather jacket and pulls it closed over her belly. It’s freezing over here by the wall of ice.

“Aye, love. Very mysterious.” Before she knows it, he’s next to her and looking up, squinting so she can just see a sliver of blue. “Guess I should’ve brought some champagne.”

She chokes on her own breath before looking up at him. “What?”

He smirks. “We have the world’s largest ice bucket here. And I was planning on asking you something.”

She freezes, turning to him and facing him head on. “What?”

“I wanted to ask you,” he starts, stepping closer to her and reaching his hand up to her face and brushing a piece of hair away. “If you would do me the honor of joining me for dinner.”

Wouldn’t it be ironic if she began vomiting right now?

She doesn’t. Although she does feel her heartbeat quicken and her body suddenly feels hot, especially in her stomach.

“Killian,” she says hesitantly.

“I know, I know.” He reaches down towards her collarbone and gently touches the chain around her neck, pulling the dangling diamonds out from beneath her shirt and smiling. “But I don’t think much needs to change between us, darling.” Boy, does he have another thing coming, she thinks. “And I know things are complicated with your family, but you did say that you would consider it, so maybe I just hoped to remind you to. I know what I want, love; I want you. I just hope I’ve made that clear and that you might feel the same way for me.”

And really, it’s not like she could’ve had any other response. He’s made a perfectly worded, perfectly timed speech, so of course her pregnant self starts crying.

“Oh, no love, please don’t cry. It’s alright,” he starts, wiping a tear away as his face falls. “If you—if you don’t want that with me, it's alright.” She thinks she hears his voice catching in the back of his throat and starts crying a bit harder, a sob escaping her lips. “If that’s why you’ve been distant…”

“No, Killian, it’s not that, I just… I do. I want that.”

“Aye?”

“Yeah,” she responds, and she sees his eyes lighting up. “It’s just that… well, there are things that… something happened, Killian, and I don’t know if you’ll feel the same way when you find out that—”

“Emma!”

No.

“Emma? Emma! What the hell?” Neal is shouting as he parks Mary Margaret’s station wagon and gets out. Wait, Mary Margaret’s station wagon?

“Neal?”

“Everyone, remain still!”

Everyone turns to the source of the new voice and jumps. Out of nowhere, a beautiful tall woman with a long blonde braid and an icy blue dress emerges from the ice wall.

Her presence certainly wasn’t very commanding, but she appears to be the one who put up the massive wall of ice around the entire town, based on the trail following her, so Emma figures it’s probably a good idea to listen to her.

“Hello,” Emma says cautiously with a sniffle, backing away slightly and closer to Killian.

“Emma, we need to talk.”

“Neal, does this look like a good time to you?” she snaps.

“Your mom told me.”

She falters, freezing in place again, and it really can’t be good for her body (or for the baby?) for her heart to be stopping and starting like this.

“What?”

“Everyone needs to halt immediately!”

“Emma, love,” Killian starts, and she turns to him with desperation in her eyes.

“She told me congratulations on the baby. Emma, what the hell is she talking about? If we did anything on your birthday, I was really drunk. You need to tell me if anything happened—”

“Baby?!”

“Neal!”

“Stop!”

Before she knows it, the ground is shaking again, and while she initially started to take a step towards Neal, possibly to beat him up, she’s now spun around. She’s heading towards the unpredictably enigmatic woman with her hands up as the terrain continues to shake. “It’s alright.”

“Stay back! Everyone be quiet! I need to find my sister!”

“Okay,” Emma says, taking another step. “We’ll help you.”

“Emma, come back, love!”

“It’s okay,” she starts to say again, but the earth is shaking harder and suddenly she’s being knocked to the ground as another wall is upraised around her.

~~~~

Emma doesn’t quite fall unconscious, but she thinks she might have come close. Her ears are ringing and her head is pounding, but she’s finally starting to see things clearly around her. She’s definitely inside some kind of ice cave, and as if that wasn’t apparent enough already, she starts to shiver. A leather jacket with some leggings is certainly not an ideal outfit for this kind of sudden and unexpected weather change.

She pulls the jacket tightly around her belly again, hoping that she can maybe protect the baby from the cold. Looking around, she sees the woman standing a few feet from her, looking somewhere between angry and scared. “Hello,” Emma starts. “What’s your name?”

The woman startles at the sound of her voice and makes eye contact, and Emma is certain that she can see fear in them. “Elsa,” she answers firmly.

“Elsa, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Emma.” The woman nods brusquely before spinning around nervously. “I just found out today that I’m pregnant.” It dawns on her that the first time she utters the words out loud is to a stranger who could very easily kill her.

Elsa turns back towards Emma, the anger and resolve in her face evaporating completely. “You did?”

“Yes. But the father doesn’t know. Or, I guess he kind of just found out. But I’d really like the opportunity to tell him myself.”

She nods again, her hands ringing together. She’s clearly scared and nervous, and whatever she built the ice wall for was just an act to show them that she’s powerful. “The man in the dark clothes?”

Emma smiles at her and nods, though she’s starting to shiver harder. “That’s the one.”

“Well then what was the other man doing? He seemed angry.”

Emma sighs and rolls her eyes but lets out a chuckle. “He is. He and I were together 12 years ago, and he doesn’t seem to understand that it’s over.”

Elsa rolls her eyes as well. “Most men don’t seem to understand much.” Emma lets out a snort and nods in agreement as her teeth begin to chatter. “My sister was supposed to be getting married. Her betrothed and your husband seem very similar in their nobility.”

“Oh,” Emma says in surprise. “Hook isn’t my husband.”

“Oh, sorry. Well, either way, he clearly loves you.”

Rather than answer her, Emma shoves the thought as deep as she can and chuckles nervously, changing the subject completely. “You said you were looking for your sister?”

“Yes.” The tenacity is back.

“Well, I’m the sheriff here. That means I have resources that can help you. I just need to get out of here first. It seems like you may have trapped us in here by accident, but do you think you can let us out?”

She stills and appears to think Emma’s offer over. “You can really help me find Anna?”

“I’ll do whatever I can.” She certainly can’t guarantee anything, but she’s starting to like this Elsa, in a weird, possibly Stockholm Syndrome type of way.

“Alright, stand back.”

When Emma focuses back on the wall, she can hear shouting. She can only imagine what a mess Neal must have made by now.

Elsa seems to focus too, and there’s suddenly a loud buzzing hum and a forceful light coming from her hands as she points them towards the wall. A hole big enough for Emma to crawl through forms quickly, and she can hear the shouting grow louder.

“Emma!” she hears Killian call, and she walks towards the hole and crouches down before starting to crawl to the other side. He’s crouching too, and once she reaches the outside, she takes his hand and falls into his hold. He breathes out a sigh of relief, as does she, and helps her into a standing position and holds her body tightly to his. She feels warmer already.

“Are you alright, love?” he asks into her neck, and she closes her eyes and reaches her hand up to his hair and nods. “I was so worried.”

“I’m alright,” she says back quietly, taking time to steady her breathing and warm up against his body heat.

He notes that she’s still shivering— she’s surprised that her teeth haven’t cracked from the force of their chattering— so he steps away from her slightly and he removes his own jacket and places it around her shoulders, rubbing up and down her left arm. His eyes meet hers intently and she smiles.

“It would seem—”

“Emma, you okay?”

She groans. Looking past Killian, Emma sees Neal looking both furious and worried at the same time. Killian’s hand slides from her arm, but she catches it in hers before he can remove it from her.

“I’m fine. I’m gonna go to the doctor.”

“Let me take you,” Neal says in a commanding tone.

“No, Killian’s taking me.”

“I am?”

“Yes.”

“But Emma, you and I need to talk.”

“You're right, Neal, we do. I’ll start. I really don’t appreciate you coming over here and screaming about things that have nothing to do with you. Nothing happened on my birthday, unless you count the fact that you basically assaulted me. And even if anything did happen, that was a week ago. Do you even know how reproduction works?” His face is priceless, and she feels a sense of relief wash over her as she finally stands up for herself. “I can’t believe that you came out here and announced my pregnancy before I had a chance to,” she mutters. She feels Killian’s hand tighten around hers for a second before he lets it fall, and when she turns to him, his face is blank. “Killian, I’d like it if you and I could talk in private,” she says to him more softly. “Neal, don’t talk to my mom about this.”

~~~~

The car is completely silent for a few minutes once Emma starts driving. She fights the urge to glance over at Killian several times before she finally gives in, and she immediately wishes she hadn’t. In the second she’s able to look at him, she’s met with his anger and frustration that she knows must be rooted in the regret he feels. She knows this must be difficult for him to process, and now she’s dragging him along with her to see a doctor. She doesn’t even know if he’ll want to be in this baby’s life, so she’s realizing that it’s selfish of her to force him along.

The truth is, she never really thought of her other options. She knows that, realistically, she doesn’t have to have this baby. But the thought to abort or abandon it never crossed her mind. She can’t do to this baby what she did to Henry.

Killian doesn’t have to worry about that, thought.

“Killian—” she starts, but it’s as if the sound of her voice elicits something in him.

“What did he do to you?” he asks. His voice is so low and dark that it makes her feel nervous.

“What?” She looks over again and sees that he’s staring straight ahead at the changing leaves.  

“On your birthday. You said he assaulted you.”

“Oh,” she says, nodding, her feelings of compunction growing stronger in the pit of her stomach. “It’s not really a big deal, I was being dramatic. He was drunk. He grabbed me and then he knocked us over onto his bed and tried to kiss me. But it was only a second, Killian. I didn’t do anything with him, I swear.” He’s quiet for a second, and it’s the longest second of her life.

“Fuck, Emma, what the hell?” He’s looking at her now, and in the brief second that she glances at him, she sees fire in his eyes.

“I’m sorry. But nothing happened, I promise. He just tried to kiss me for a second and I pushed him away.” Her palms are sweating on the steering wheel and her heart is hammering in her chest, her stomach twisted and her head pounding.

“I’m not mad at you, love. He attacked you! How are you so equable over this?”

“It’s like I said, nothing happened. I pushed him, probably bruised a kidney, and I got the hell out of there. I didn’t do anything with him.”

“I don’t care about that, Emma. I’m not mad because I think you did something with him. I can’t believe that you were put in a position where you had to defend yourself like that! And against him!”

“What do you mean?” she asks hesitantly as she pulls into the lot of the hospital and parks her car.

“I mean… I mean he’s the father of your child and he’s behaving in such a predatory way towards you that you felt that you needed to bruise his kidney and flee.” She’s silent. She knows now that he’s angrier with Neal than he is with her, but he sounds so livid that it sort of feels like she’s being scolded.

“I’m sorry,” she finally says quietly, because she honestly doesn’t know what else to say to placate him.

“Please don’t say that, love,” he asks, more like begs, as he finally turns away from the scene ahead of him and looks at her. “I’m sorry that I made you feel like you need to apologize. You don’t, darling, truly.” He takes a deep breath before continuing. “But do you know… fuck. Do you know how many thoughts ran through my head in the ten minutes that you were in that cave?” She knows that he’s asking hypothetically, but she shakes her head anyway. “I’ve never been so scared in my entire life.”

“That can’t be true,” she scoffs. He’s been alive for centuries; she knows he must have felt scared before.

“Of course it is, Emma.” He turns away, his face hardened and his brows drawn together. “Within a span of thirty seconds I find out that you're pregnant and that it might be Neal’s, then you disappear into an ice cave and I have no way to get to you.”

“It’s not,” she starts immediately, stunned by his statement. “It’s not Neal’s.”

He turns again, and she realizes now that she hasn’t actually said the words to him. She hasn’t really had much of a chance to say them out loud at all.

“Emma,” he says, his tone begging again, and it causes her heart to clench so hard that her fingers start to tingle.

“I’m pregnant.” His face nearly crumbles, his brows drawing close together while somehow still looking more worried than she’s ever seen him. “You’re the only person I’ve been with—I mean, you're the only person I want to be with. The baby… it’s… you're the father, Killian.”

He doesn’t say anything, and she thinks she may have done the impossible and stunned Killian Jones into silence. He reaches across himself and picks up her left hand in his right and draws it up to his mouth, pressing his lips to it firmly and keeping them there. She can feel his breath coming out quickly and forcefully, as if he has to remind himself to breathe, and it feels like he’s seconds away from breaking down.

“I realize that this is a lot to take in, and we’ve never had a conversation about whether you're even staying in Storybrooke.” She has to push the words out of her mouth, knowing that they need to be said. “But, if you don’t want to be in his life, then I’m giving you an out.”

“What?” he chokes out. She didn’t think she could watch his face fall any further.

“If you want out, just say the words. I know this wasn’t the plan for us.” He scoffs and her heart drops to her stomach, but she holds herself together in preparation for his words.

“If you think I’m going anywhere without you and this baby, then you are absolutely mad.”

“Really?” she asks tentatively, looking up from their hands to meet his eyes.

“Aye,” he breathes out. “I’m sorry, love, if I’ve ever given you the impression that I would abandon you like that. I was planning on staying here as long as you would have me anyway, before all of this.”

“You were?”

He smiles at her, the kind of smile that she sees in her dreams, and nods. “Did you say his?”

She smiles a bit, too, and nods back. “I don’t know the sex yet, it’s too early. But I’ve always seen myself as a boy mom.” He breathes out a laugh now.

“Mom,” he repeats, squeezing her hand and kissing it softly.

“Dad,” she teases back, and she smiles because now she’s affording herself the privilege of imagining him with a little bundle in his arms.

“You were in that frozen cave for a bit. We should get you checked, aye, love?”

“Aye,” she responds, and he chuckles and kisses her hand again.

~~~~

When they're finally called in, after mountains of paperwork and questions and what feels like hours of waiting, Emma lies down on the exam table while Killian sits stiffly on the chair near her head.

“Bet this isn’t where you thought you’d end up when you woke up this morning,” she jokes, and he lets out a huff in response.

“Certainly not, Swan. You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Mhmm,” she hums, patting her belly lightly. He glances down at her hand covering her belly and she wonders if this is all becoming too real for him, because it certainly is for her. She tries to force away the lingering thoughts that he could still leave them, knowing that the thoughts are born from her own experiences and are not based on his actions so far.

The technician comes in a few moments later and gets Emma ready for her ultrasound. She explains that it’s probably a bit early for an abdominal sonogram, and Killian’s eyes bug out of his head when she prepares for the transvaginal scan. Emma lets out a snort and takes his hand in hers without asking. He squeezes back.

After a few moments of searching and measuring, the technician finally settles in one spot and gestures towards the screen at the black and white mess. She presses a few buttons and takes a few more measurements, then says, “there’s your baby!”

Killian turns immediately, staring over to the screen with a pensive look on his face. The technician points out the head, making mention of the crown rump length and how it indicates that she’s measuring at just under 7 weeks.

All Emma can see is a gray blob within another black blob, that lives inside another gray blob. She’s never felt such an emotional connection to a blob, and she notes how differently she feels this time around.

When she hears the heartbeat, a quick and hardy whoosh taking over the quiet room, she nearly loses it.

Her eyes are stinging when she looks at their baby on the screen and hears the powerful heartbeat, but she starts crying when she glances over at Killian and sees that he has tears running down his own cheeks.

“Your baby is about the size of a blueberry,” the technician says, holding up two fingers to demonstrate just how tiny the blob is. Emma nods, wiping a tear away, then looks back to Killian and squeezes his hand again.

He lets out a tear-sodden laugh and squeezes back, then reaches their hands up so he can wipe tears away. “I can’t believe how much that little bugger has aged me already.”

Emma laughs now too, using her free hand to wipe her own cheeks, and the technician smiles up at them. She prints a few pictures off and tells them that everything looks good, and that the doctor will be in to talk to them shortly.

When Emma’s new obstetrician, Dr. Morgan, enters the room, she greets them happily and congratulates them on their good news. She explains that the baby appears healthy despite Emma’s earlier misadventures and her taking birth control before she found out, and gives them a due date— June 16th, a summer baby.

They’re walking hand in hand out to the car, and they’re both wearing the biggest, goofiest smiles that they can muster. By the time they get back to the car, though, she starts to feel like she’s returning to real life.

“I know that this is a lot,” she starts as he takes her hand again, “and the baby was certainly a surprise, but he’s not a mistake. I haven’t known for very long and I was feeling really dreadful, but now that I’ve seen him… I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything more in my life.”

“Aye,” he breathes again. “I understand what you mean. As soon as Baelfire said baby, I felt like my life changed all at once. I didn’t even know if it was mine or his, but I didn’t care. And now that I know, I realize that I’ve never felt… I just… I love him. Or her. It seems completely mad, but I love him.”

She nearly cries again at the sound of his voice choking and at his own words, but she nods instead, understanding completely how instantly he must have fallen in love with the tiny embryo she’s growing because that’s exactly what happened to her. “It isn’t mad.”

He moves her hand up to his forehead and leans against it for a moment, as if taking space to process things for himself, before he lifts his head and meets her eyes with his.

“Killian,” she says once she has her hand back and is able to start the engine.

“Aye, darling?”

“My mom…” Killian stares up at her expectantly, and he clearly has no idea what she’s talking about as she’s changed the subject. “She thinks it’s Neal’s. I think she might know that I’ve been sneaking out at night, but she must think I’ve been going to see him.”

“I see,” he starts, nodding his head pensively and pinching his bottom lip between two fingers in a way that drives her mad. “What shall we do?”

She hums, considering this. “I think I’m gonna go talk to her. And I think you might need to do some planning.”

“Planning for what love? Surely, we have enough time before the blueberry arrives,” he says with a nervous chuckle.

“Not for that,” she responds with a grin. “For dinner. That is, if you still want to go to dinner?”

His face splits into another grin so bright and vivid that she feels her stomach clench, his eyes squinting and his pearly teeth shining in the sunlight. “The day I answer no to that question is the day I’ve lost my mind.”

She hums out a small laugh and says, “good. And don’t change. I forgot to tell you how much I like your new look.”

~~~~

Arriving at home after dropping Killian off at the docks feels strange. She sits in her car for a few minutes in an attempt to ready herself for confrontation until she has to pee so badly that she needs to go upstairs.

“Emma, hi,” Mary Margaret starts once she emerges from the bathroom.

“Hi,” she says back.

“Neal… well he stopped by and told me that you went to the doctor.” Apparently, she doesn’t need to dance around this.

“Did he?” Mary Margaret nods, and Emma can tell by the look on her face that she has more to say but she’s holding back. “Did he say anything else?”

“He told me I should talk to you. He seemed… angry. Emma, if you told him and he reacted badly—”

“Neal isn’t the father.”

It would appear, based on her facial expression, that Mary Margaret was expecting to hear absolutely anything else come out of Emma’s mouth. She actually stands before Emma with her mouth hanging open and her eyes bugging out as if this was the most phenomenal news she’s ever heard in her life.

Which can’t conceivably be true. She’s literally Snow White. She was cursed by the Evil Queen and didn’t age for 28 years. She sent her minutes-old infant through a portal using a magic tree. This cannot possibly be that surprising.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

She’s still standing there like a trout with her mouth hanging open before she must realize what she’s doing and snaps it shut. Emma follows her with her eyes as she moves towards the kitchen and pulls out another sleeve of Saltines, apparently the only thing she can eat this week, before sitting at the counter, waiting for her mother to break herself out of her shock.

“I thought… Emma, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything to Neal. I thought he was…”

“I should’ve been clearer. Although I thought that I have been clear for the last few weeks that I'm not interested in him and that we aren’t together.”

“No, Emma, I overstepped. I shouldn’t have gone to him about it at all. When he came here and I said congratulations to him, I knew right away that it was a mistake because I could tell that you hadn’t told him. Now… well, now I know why.”

“He came here?”

“He came looking for you. I assumed it was about the crash we heard.”

Emma nods in understanding. Mary Margaret has pulled herself together a bit and takes a seat in the stool next to Emma. “So, when he started freaking out, you let him borrow your car to come see me.”

“Right.” She nods again. “I’m so sorry, honey. I never should have said anything. I was just so excited for you, and when I thought that Henry was going to have a little brother or sister—”

“Henry is going to have a little brother or sister. Just because they don’t have the same dad doesn’t make that any less true.”

“You're right,” her mother sighs. “Of course, you're right. I’m sorry, this is all just a lot of information for one day.”

“For me, too,” Emma agrees. Then she reaches into her pocket and smiles when she feels the glossy paper, pulling out the sonogram pictures. “Wanna see him?”

“Him?” she questions, taking the photo and grinning. She reaches one hand up and places a gentle finger over her blueberry sized blob.

“I don’t know yet, that’s just what we’ve been saying,” Emma says with a grin, looking down at the new picture her mother flips to.

“Wait,” Mary Margaret says, resting the photos on the counter and looking up to meet Emma’s eyes with her matching ones. “If Neal isn’t the father, who is?”

It’s Emma’s turn to drop her jaw in shock, surprised that her mother isn’t able to put the pieces together. “Seriously? It’s Killian.”

“Ki—Hook?!”

“Yeah, Hook. And if you say anything negative about the father of my child—”

“No, no, that’s… I mean… it certainly is a shock… but…”

Emma rolls her eyes now, shoving another cracker into her mouth before getting up for some water. “Is it though? I know we haven’t been that secretive. I’ve been out, like, three nights a week.”

“I know,” she says, confirming Emma’s suspicions that she’s known all along. “I just thought you were going to Granny’s. I didn’t realize you were going to the pier instead. But are you… are you sure about him?”

Emma sits again as she considers her answer to this question carefully. A big part of her is telling her that it hasn’t been long enough to know. However, while she wouldn’t admit it out loud, and while she’s anxious to even admit it to herself, a much smaller part of her knows that yes, she is sure about him. Seeing his reaction to seeing their baby for the first time, to hearing the strong heartbeat, solidified that knowledge into her brain. So she looks over to her mother and smiles, nodding confidently.

Their conversation comes to a halt when David arrives at home, towing Elsa behind him. Emma’s somewhat surprised to see her, but assumes that she and David got to talking and he decided to take her in.

He greets his wife and daughter with kisses to their heads, then turns to Emma with a look that she’s grown all too familiar with: concern.

“Neal dropped Elsa off at the station and she told me all about her sister. She also told me that you two went to the doctor because you got trapped in an… ice cave? Are you alright?”

“Oh, no David, Neal wasn’t the one she went to the doctor with. It was her—”

“Dad,” Emma jumps in immediately, fearful that Elsa may say something that Emma would regret. “I’m fine. I went to the doctor and everything is fine.”

“Did you figure out why you’ve been so sick lately? Weird that none of us has caught it yet, isn’t it?”

“Not as weird as you may think,” Mary Margaret says to him with a smirk shot Emma’s way. “Maybe you should sit down.”

Emma takes the sonogram pictures back from her mother and walks over to the couch, sitting down next to David as Elsa introduces herself to Mary Margaret and heads into the kitchen area with her. When Emma produces the photos and hands them to her father, she can see the shock in his eyes as they immediately glass over and a tear runs down his cheek.

“Really?” he asks, his voice thick with emotion. Emma nods at him, a smile gracing her features as a fresh set of tears make their way into her eyes as well. He lets out a deep breath, running a finger along the blob in the photo the same way her mother did.

“I’m seven weeks along.” He lets out another breath, this one coalescing itself with a chuckle.

He finally looks up and meets her eyes before he says, “Congratulations, Emma.”

“Thank you,” she says back, wiping her cheeks.

“You and Hook must be very happy.” Her face drops in shock, her brows coming together and her mouth snapping shut before she cocks her head to one side. “I started to put the pieces together a bit ago, but this morning when I saw your face light up when I mentioned him, and then when you practically jumped down my throat for calling Neal your significant other, I figured it out. Wasn’t expecting that you two would be… well, expecting, though.”

It’s Emma’s turn to let out a hearty chuckle followed immediately by a sniffle. “How come you figured it out and mom couldn’t?”

“I guess sometimes your dad just knows best,” he responds, grinning at her and wrapping an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a tight hug which she returns fervently.

~~~~

The week that passes sees Emma more nauseous and exhausted than she’s ever been. She remembers being pregnant with Henry quite well, and she never experienced symptoms this strongly, but she supposes that’s because her body was 12 years younger.

Her date with Killian went beautifully. He took her to a nice Italian restaurant, stating that he wasn’t sure what she could stomach, but he knew she could handle the bread. She was just happy that it was something other than Granny’s.

After dinner, Emma asked him to take her back to the Jolly Roger, citing that she can’t get the image of his ass in his tight black jeans out of her head and it’s driving her mad with lust. He chokes on his last sip of water and flags the server down immediately.

On their walk back to the pier, with her bundled in her winter parka and Killian comfortably sporting his modern leather jacket, she could feel the nerves that were radiating off of him and wondered how her pregnancy might change their sex life. They were very active before she found out, after all. She realizes, though, that it’s already made adjustments here and there in that she spent a week avoiding him, during which she was far too nauseous to even consider any vigorous physical activity.

On this night, she felt confident enough in her ability to keep down her bland dinner of penne with butter and dinner rolls, but when they finally arrived on his ship and he nervously helped her down the stairs and onto his bunk, she was asleep before he even had a chance to light a few candles.

She hasn’t heard from Neal, but Henry has been to Granny’s for dinner with him. He’s asked her to come along, and it nearly crushes her to tell her son that she isn’t coming each time, but she can’t stomach the thought of being in the same room as his father. She’s hoping that someday soon she can get past her resentment towards him, but for now, she needs to take space away from him so that she can move on.

She still hasn’t told her parents about what happened all those years ago. She knows that both of them, particularly her mother, are struggling to see the logic behind her choosing Hook over Neal, but she hasn’t found the time or desire to fill them in. And although her mother says she’s fine with the concept of Killian fathering her child, she can tell by the way she looks at and talks to her that she feels uneasy.

So here she finds herself, on a Friday evening laying in her bed at the top of the loft after a long nap— a follow up to a violent vomiting spell— listening in on her parents’ not-so-discreet conversation.

“I’m pleasantly surprised,” she hears her father say from the kitchen. “Although I was expecting the worst. I almost thought she was going to be on her own.”

“He still has plenty of time to leave her on her own, David,” her mother deadpans in response.

“I know, but I don’t honestly see that happening. And if it does, she’ll have us, and I’ll have another excuse to punch him in the face.” Emma finds herself smiling softly at her father’s words, whereas last week they may have drawn her from bed and straight down the stairs to give him a piece of her mind. But she knows now that he’s right.

Killian hasn’t given her any indication that he isn’t all in on this with her, even if things don’t work out between the two of them. He’s taken to reading pregnancy books, and on Tuesday, when she reached 8 weeks of gestation, he happily informed her that their blueberry has grown into a raspberry. She may eventually introduce him to the world of smart phones so that he can download all the tracker apps he wants.

“You're right, you're right. I don’t know why I’m having such a hard time with this.”

“She’s our daughter. No one will ever be good enough for her.”

“I know, but I just felt like Neal was enough. He was her first love… I guess I just thought the two of them would work things out eventually. I know he wasn’t there for her, but he didn’t know about Henry. Maybe if he knew, things would’ve turned out differently.”

Emma rolls her eyes but knows that it isn’t fair of her to be angry with her mother for thinking this way when she knows she has no idea about what actually happened with Neal.

“You have to let that go, Snow. You can’t change what’s already happened. And not everyone can be as lucky as we were.”

“I’m just having trouble trusting Hook. Trusting that he has her best interests in mind.”

“Well, maybe it’s time you choose to trust Emma. She’s a tough kid, has been all her life. She knows how to take care of herself. And she seems to trust him.”

“I know, you're right. I do trust her. And if she trusts him…”

Emma thinks about getting up now, but when she tries to move, she feels exhaustion taking over her again. So instead, she makes a mental note to finally talk to her parents before drifting off into another seemingly endless nap.

@courtorderedcake @kmomof4 @stahlop @klynn-stormz @laschatzi @emelizabeth88 @lfh1226-linda @kday426 @profdanglaisstuff @elisethewritingbeast @timeless-love-story @captain-emmajones

[harrypotter-imaginess]

A/N: unlike most others this is more or less obliviously for a female reader. I can do I male/NB version upon request

- you probably go to Hogwarts and she goes to beauxbatons

- It’s sort of a fast friendship

- You actually probably bond over periods

- She’s standing in a small pharmacy in Hogsmeade, her eyebrows threaded together staring at the tampons.

- You’ve seen her a handful of times around the castle, and quite frankly, you’re incredibly intimidated.

- For one, Fleur is strikingly beautiful. So beautiful, that you’re not quite sure if you can even manage a sentence around her.

- And second, she hasn’t hidden her disdain for Hogwarts or the British ministry of Magic very well quite frankly.

- But watching her so helplessly perplexed as she stares at the feminine hygiene products makes you gather every ounce of your courage.

- “Is there something you’re confused about?” You ask her in a very quite voice, making sure to pick your words carefully.

- She looks at you for several very long seconds, before she finally says.

- “It iz this.” A finger taps on the box of the tampons, and you see that she’s pointing to the picture of the applicator.

- You vaguely remember a trip to France you took with your family several years ago, and how your Mum had complained how she couldn’t find any tampons with a plastic applicator, they were all cardboard.

- “You want one with a cardboard applicator?” You ask and she nods, a little shy.

- “Do you want me to go get an attendant? I’m sure they wo-“ she cuts you off by grabbing your arm.

- “I do not want an’one to know.” She whispers quietly.

- You nod.

- She doesn’t need to explain, she’s already under fierce scrutiny as a contender for the tournament. She doesn’t want another article popping up about her period.

- Something surely none of the boys have to deal with.

- “We’ll just have to read all of these boxes then,” you say, crouching down. “It’s usually in the corner.” You say pointing to the spot on the box where it’s written

- Fleur’s eyebrows thread together.

- “You are ‘elping moi?” She asks, and you just nod.

- “Why?”

- Her shock that someone not from her own school would help her, makes you a bit sad. It’s an unsaid rule in Hogwarts that if at anytime any girl needs something like this, even if she’s an enemy. You help her.

- “Real queens always help fix each other’s crowns.” You say with a shrug, and Fleur smiles.

- It’s not like the haughty smiles you’ve seen before, or the smirk she wore when she was picked.

- This smile is genuine and warm, and you find yourself smiling back.

- You spend the good part of the afternoon going to several shops trying to find a box.

- And afterwards you invite Fleur to get a butterbeer.

- “You know, British food iz very bland.” She says in her heavy French accent, but she smiles at the end taking another sip.

- “But zis,” She motions to the butterbeer. “zis I like.”

- And you’re glad that she’s found one thing she likes about being at Hogwarts.

- She picks you out in the corridor after that day, waving you over to talk to you about his or that.

- She introduces you to her friends, who ask you about all the hot gossip.

- “So, who would you say is the most handsome boy at Hogwarts?”

- “O-oh, um I’m not quite sure?”

- Seeing you’re discomfort Fleur will wave them away.

- “(Y/N) does not ‘ave time for boys, they on’lee want men.”

- At that the other girls coo in agreement and you silently thank her.

- She finds herself at your dorm quite a bit in the next weeks.

- You share smuggled sweets with her, and exchange bits of conversation and advice.

- “Eet iz not that I ‘ate ‘ogwarts,” she says lying on your bed, “eet iz all just so un-“ And her eyebrows thread together, and you know her well enough to realize she can’t remember the word for it.

- “Unfamiliar?”

- “Yes!”

- “You’re homesick?” You ask, and she sighs.

- “Oui.” She nods and you settle beside her. That night you listen to soft French cassette tapes on your Walkman with her, and she feels a bit better in the morning.

- “So what’s up with you and the fairy princess?” Fred Weasley will ask, and you shrug.

- “She’s nice.”

- George clucks his tongue.

- “That pretty face of hers got you too?” And at that you shake your head.

- If anything “that pretty face” was why you kept away from her to begin with.

- “It’s not the face,” you tell them, searching for the right words. “She has a lot of unexpected kindness.”

- You’re there for Fleur when she’s looking for a escort to the Yule Ball.

- “(Y/N), why don’t you go with me?” She asks eyes bright.

- You roll your eyes.

- “What to make the rumors true?” And she rolls her eyes.

- Fleur hasn’t had the easiest time getting along with the students here, and her general dislike for the boys here hasn’t helped.

- And ever since you two had gotten close a small, rather insignificant, rumor had started.

- That you and Fleur were lesbians of course, secretly dating.

- It seemed to explain why she rebuffed most of the boys who approached her.

- “What do I care what othër people think, huh?” She asks, turning in her bed so she’s resting on her stomach. “You would be acc’mpanying me as my closest confidânt”

- You smile when she touches your shoulder, and you give her hand a squeeze.

- “Well Fleur, ya shoulda asked me sooner, I already said yes to George.”

- At this she sits up, and you glance at her from the floor.

- “The one wiz the red ‘air?” She asks, a clearly perplexed look crossing her face. “Wiz all zee freckles?”

- You roll your eyes, you love Fleur but sometimes she can be a little shallow.

- “We’re going as friends,” You tell her, and add “Besides he’s funny, and I actually like his freckles.”

- At that she grins

- “You, how you British say, you fancy him!” And she’s grinning broadly as you hide your face in your hands.

- You’re actually the one to suggest the Ravenclaw quidditch Captain, Roger Davies to her as a date.

- “He’s handsome and fit, if all you need is a date he should do.” You tell her.

- “I s’ppose since you refuse to acc’mpany me.” She says glumly, but you don’t miss the teasing grin on her face.

- A lot happens in this school year, Cedric is gone, Voldemort is back, Harry is the chosen one, and you’ve got no DADA teacher again.

- And to add to it, your best friend will be leaving soon

- “I vil write.” She promises, tears filling in those clear blue eyes.

- She grips your hand in both of hers and you nod

- “You better,” you smile back “just because you can find tampons on your own doesn’t mean you can leave me behind.”

- She laughs and squeezes you hand

- “I could never leave you be’ind.”

- You have to hold back tears as you see the carriages leave.

- But the farewell is not exceptionally long as by the summer, Fleur takes a job at Gringotts.

- “Fleur!” You practically squeal when you see her, and she shouts your name as well and rushes up to hug you.

- She smells like Parisian sweets and a fire.

- “So what made you decide to come back?” You ask her as you have lunch in a French restaurant.

- Fleur shrugs

- “Zee opportunity was good.” She says taking a large bite of her grilled peach salad.

- But seeing your skeptical expression she sighs.

- “When I got ‘ome, I found myself missing p’mpkin juice and butt’erbeer,” And then in a much softer voice she says:

- “And you.”

- Her cheeks have a rosy tinge and you’re sure yours do as well.

- “But also because of Bill.” You tease, and she laughs

- “Yes, maybe also Bill.” She admits

- You’re one of her brides maids, if not her maid of honor, at her wedding.

- Fred and George are two of his best men, and stand on either side as they walk you down the aisle.

- “Blimey that’s a lot of lights.” Fred mutters.

- “You’re telling me, had to stay up until 4 fixing them up there.” You whisper back, barely hiding a yawn.

- George takes a good look at you.

- “That explains the pound of make up.” He grins when you discreetly elbow him in the ribs.

- “You look better without it” He adds, leaving you a little perplexed as you take you place near the alter.

- Fleur is beautiful, and you tear up at their vows

- “If I don’t watch out (Y/N) will steal her away.” Bill teases during the reception, but he’s grateful Fleur came back to London because of you.

- You dance the night away, a handful of times with Fleur, a few with Ginny and several of the other guests, once with Harry and once with George.

- “You want to put you feet on mine and take a quick snooze?” He jokes, and you snort

- “I think I can manage.”

- “You know, eef you we’e to maree one of Bill’s brothers, we could be sisters.” She tells you early one morning over breakfast, a glint in her eye, and you almost scoff.

- “Yes, which one should I pick? Percy who loves his career more than women, or Charlie, who undoubtedly only loves dragons.” You’re half joking, but she falters for a second.

- “I was talking about George.” And the glint is back, and you just shake your head.

- It’s true, you’ve always been on good terms with George, you would even say you were close. But after all that’s happened,with the war and Fred, you bet marriage is the last thing he’s thinking about.

- “Ah,” she sighs, taking a sip of coffee. “I s’uppose we’ll just have to share Bill then.” And you nearly choke on your coffee as she bursts out laughing.

- When they have Victoire, Fleur name’s you the godmother while George is The Godfather.

- She sends a teasing wink, and you nearly roll your eyes.

- “She’s a beauty ain’t she?” George asks as you watch Fleur cradle the baby.

- And you raise an eyebrow

- “Finally under the fairy princess’s charm?” You tease, and George scoffs.

- “Talkin’ about the baby (Y/N).”

- “Ah, yes” you feel yourself flush a bit red.

- George seems to sit up a bit straighter in his chair. And for several long seconds he doesn’t say anything, eyebrows threaded together as if he’s perplexed. You can tell that even though he’s not saying anything, he certainly wants to.

- “Did those rumors back in school actually mean something?” He finally asks, and now your eyebrows thread together

- “What?”

- “Are you in love with Fleur?” He asks bluntly and you burst out laughing. Oh that would be a real treat wouldn’t it? You think.

- You haven’t thought about those rumors in years, with all that’s happened, the war, you figured everyone else had forgotten as well.

- Bill would probably love that, you can’t help but think with a wide grin.

- You’re laughing so hard tears are streaming down your face.

- Several nurses glance at you two. You, who’s laughing so hard you’re hunched over. And George who’s blushing beet red, with the expression of a truly mortified man.

- “You haven’t got to laugh so hard yknow.” He says, slightly annoyed and completely embarrassed.

- “No,” you say finally calming down. “I love Fleur, like a sister, but I’m not in love with her.” You’re still giggling, unable to contain the idea.

- “Well then how about you and I go get a butterbeer sometime?”

- You raise an eyebrow

- “A butterbeer?”

- “You prefer fire whisky?” He asks with a crooked smile, and you smile back

- Maybe you’ll be sisters-in-law yet.

- “Butterbeer is fine, are you free Friday after work?”

- He grins.

- “I’m quite literally willing to be free whenever you want.”

- “It’s a date then.”

- Fleur is already planning the wedding.

- Even after you end up getting married, to George or someone else, the joke that you and Fleur are lesbians persists

- “Mate I think I’d know if my wife was a lesbian.” Bill finally says at a family dinner, laughing as he takes an affectionate glance at Fleur.

- “Oh you laugh now, but just you wait, one of these days you’ll wake up and notice (Y/N) and Fleur have run off together in the middle of the night.” Ron persists, a grin spreading across his face.

- “Oh you’ve caught us, Ron!”

- “Yes, zat was our master plan, I m’rry Bill and ‘ave the beautiful children, and (Y/N) will marry George and get ‘alf of ‘is money.” Fleur teases

- “And then we would run away together, and have the beautiful children and all the money.” You finish, you exchange a look with Fleur and grin.

- “But now zat you ‘ave cau’t us, I suppose we will ‘ave to give up.”

- Honestly everyone’s so shocked that Fleur had a sense of humor, they end up laughing from the surprise.

- Later George will pull you aside, and with a somewhat nervous smile will ask:

- “That was just a joke wasn’t it? You didn’t really marry me to get all my money?”

- You roll your eyes

- “George, some months I made more than you do.” You grin, lightly pushing his chest.

- George nods, you do make more money than him on average.

- “Alright that’s fair.”

- You get to watch your children grow up together

- You get to go through life with your best friend at every step of the way

[grownups-are-the-real-monsters]

Please Come Home For Christmas

Summary:  Carrie giggled, waving her hands to get the girl to stop. The fear of her Mama waking up to a teenage girl serenading her outside was a nightmare she’d like to avoid. She could see Sue’s nose wrinkling from the bitter chill and ached to pull her inside just so the warm air could hug her in a way Carrie herself just couldn’t manage yet.

Fandom: Carrie 

Ships: Carrie White/Sue Snell

Word Count: 3,012

Not a sound beat it’s living heart in the White household on a Saturday night. 

There would be nothing to ease Carrie into sleep until dawn broke and the only ambiance then would be her Mother’s small footsteps atop the lonesome hardwood. But as times turned to Winter and soft flakes of snow hurtled to the ground, Carrie White orchestrated her own performance.

Kneeling in-front of her mirror, she dug a thin brush a bit too harshly into a tube of mascara she’d yet to wear once without crying it off before even leaving her bedroom. Her mother wanted for her to be celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ but the young daughter was just realizing she’d been born with the will to celebrate herself. 

So she sat, blinking her eyes at the glass while allowing herself to admire the reflection. Her head bounced...words coming and going with the same speed as distant hail. ‘Spastic’ and ‘weirdo’. She frowned, clawing at the velvety pink fabric of her shirt. ‘Scary White’.

Carrie flung the tube of makeup against the wall...it thumped but gave her no satisfaction. Her eyes followed it as it rolled back towards he folded legs and rattled there against the skin for a few seconds. Mama remained still in her sleep downstairs. Thank goodness. 

Pebbles hitting the window like a headache to her right temple awakened Carrie from her thoughts. She crawled across the floor and gently threw open the window with something like a smile playing at the corners of her lips. 

A stray pebble came through the corner as she popped up...getting her first peek at the lovely Sue Snell who was bouncing (partly from the cold) to get her eyes on her. But young Carrie’s attention was got from her first tease of Sue’s sweet voice...singing...

“Carrie, Carrie, baby

Carrie baby

Carrie, can you come out tonight?”

Carrie giggled, waving her hands to get the girl to stop. The fear of her Mama waking up to a teenage girl serenading her outside was a nightmare she’d like to avoid. She could see Sue’s nose wrinkling from the bitter chill and ached to pull her inside just so the warm air could hug her in a way Carrie herself just couldn’t manage yet. 

“You stop that!” She tried to hold back her chuckles. “I’ll be down in a minute. That is if you’re singing didn’t wake Mama.” She scoffed as if she were really upset but Sue didn’t buy that and Carrie could tell. 

“Hurry down, fair Carrie!” Sue continued her restless hopping, hands now stuffed into the pockets of her coat. “I want to see the Christmas lights!” Her curly hair bounced high with her. 

The rough plan was to take a stroll around the neighborhood, maybe observe the shiny decorations, and head to the Drive-In for Root-beer floats or something. No big deal but Carrie had been thinking about it non-stop for the days since Sue asked when she’d come home from her college’s Christmas break. That was just something she couldn’t help, being that she was a textbook overthinker. 

But judging the way Sue had arrived exactly on time (not even off by a minute) and seemed awfully fidgety, the girl was probably no better. She stood at the end of the walk-way, snowflakes flying down atop her like a living angel...she was bathed in a white shine. Carrie had no way of knowing that Sue was thinking the very same thing about her...

“Tommy asked me to give you his Christmas gift.” She slipped a shinning slim box from her purse of wonders and waved it out for Carrie. “He’s tragically spending his Holiday studying. You miss him, though. I know, sooo...”

She sped over with a bashful smile and accepted the pure looking gift. For a horrid moment, Carrie pictured a tampon sitting there atop the blue fuzzy bed which was of course, a cruel joke from her own mind because what did lay there was a delicate silver chained bracelet. 

“He got me a matching one.” Sue giggled, wiggling her wrist. “Tommy’s a sweet boy, huh? He thought we can fill them up with charms-”

“Like real friendship bracelets?” Carrie abruptly looked up with watery eyes full of an earnest emotion that was hard to place. 

“Yeah!” She gently took Carrie’s wrist, skin-to-skin, and lined up their arms to show off the whole matching gimmick. There was just 1 charm on each of their chains. A glittering star on Carrie’s & a shining heart for Sue. Carrie turned her wrist slowly to watch the charms soak in the night’s light. “He fell for us both, I think.” 

Carrie snapped her head up at that. “Oh, Sue--I don’t think that’s true-”

Sue shook her head with a smile. “My goodness, Carrie White.” Her giggle filled the space between them. “See that it’s true-” She flicked the other girls star charm and then her own. “Poor thing just never had a shot with either of us.” She hummed, almost sad. “I never could love Tommy the way he deserved. The life I would have had with him wasn’t what I wanted. You know that, I guess.” 

Carrie pursed her lips. Yes, she remembered lovely Sue pouring her heart and soul into the cupped palms of one Carrie White. After the prom, Sue hiccupped everything out like thick blood from her throat.

It was criminally endearing. The way Sue had clawed at the tears on her cheeks, explaining that it was just fine for Carrie to date Tommy. In fact, she had subconsciously wished it would happen that way, Sue did. But Carrie didn’t fall for Tommy quite as hard as she did for Sue that night. 

“I love you, Sue.” Was all she could think to say. 

“And I love you, Carrie.” Her nose wiggled again. “I’m working on loving you the way you deserve.” She shrugged, taking her wrist away and starting on the holiday walk. Her boots thudded against the concrete. 

Carrie nearly rolled her eyes, which would have struck Sue as cute. “You love me like you love me.” She hesitantly took the girl’s cold hand in hers...feeling overwhelmingly warm inside. “It’s just the perfect way to live, Sue. To be loved by you.”

Sue slowed down a bit, a pace where the houses behind her stopped being blurry, and blushed. “You always know just what to say Carrie White.” She paused just to admire the girl. “How do you do it?”

Carrie felt her own blush creep up her neck as she shrugged. “I just say what I mean.” She fumbled on her words, feeling like a little mess but was rewarded with a quick kiss on the cheek. It felt criminally undeserved but she still enjoyed the peck of Sue’s pink lips. Part of her felt so eternally grateful for the girl that she had to hold back tears.

They strolled past lawns of beautiful Christmas decorations, Carrie felt the distant eyes of blow mold Santa’s. A tall brown house eclipsing the moon from her vision had the whole baby in the manger set-up. The baby Jesus seemed to sit up in the wooden basket and she imagined it’s glare directed at her. But when Carrie looked up, the plastic baby was asleep just like any decoration.

She sighed. Not realizing she’d stopped until Sue curled up next to her and gently grabbed her arm. She reached out to brush a few blonde baby hairs from Carrie’s temple, a simple gesture but so filled with love. “Save yourself from wasting your young-adulthood, Carrie...” She whispered against the girls skin. “Think about coming home with me.” 

The falling snowflakes around only them grew fatter and a tiny bit slanted as Carrie snapped her head over to gaze at the girl. Both knew the magical element which lay at it’s cause but neither said anything of it. In fact, Sue opened her mouth to stick out her tongue and taste the fluffy ice. 

It ignited a small fire in Carrie’s chest. “My mom-”

Sue deflated slightly, it was hard not to notice. “She doesn’t deserve you Carrie.” 

The blonde pulled her eyes away from Sue and landed them back on the front of the brown-brick home. Their left window glowed green, the right was a glittery crimson. “I deserve her...” She mumbled, mostly to herself. “I can’t Sue. I’m sorry-”

Sue blinked, letting go of Carrie’s arm to wiped her sleeve under her left eye, attempting to look away but Carrie caught the bit of water leaking out. Her chest thumped with pain. Never in her life did she want to make Sue Snell cry. It stung her with a horrible burning sensation all over her body. “Sue?”

She sniffled. “It’s fine. I’m being a baby, huh?” Her giggle then sounded strained. “I just want you to be happy, ok? I would only try to step in like this if I really thought you needed it.” She looked off again.

Carrie felt a flicker of resentment towards the girl, flashes of the prom night played like an old movie in her head. Flashes of hard reds mixed with the hues of Easter colored dresses. “I don’t need you to step in, Sue.” Her voice twitched in it’s tone, a sign of growing anger that while recognized...couldn’t be helped. “Getting your boyfriend to take me to prom just because you felt sorry for me doesn’t earn you that right.”

Sue didn’t flinch but almost. Instead, the girl just shifted her weight to her right leg to disguise her step back. She wasn’t scared. Just a little disappointed in herself for jerking Carrie around. She turned her attention to the lawn of Blow Molds again, making eye contact with one of the old Santas. Tethered reindeer raising his packed sleigh. He smiled, a grin thick with teeth which were blotted in the red color bleeding in from the poorly painted lips. 

A shiver went down her spine. “I’m sorry.” 

“It’s ok, Sue.” Carrie blew a flying piece of hair away from her eyes and sighed. “I shouldn’t have-”

Sue pursed her lips and shook her head. “Don’t apologize. I do have a history of making you do things you don’t want to do.” 

Carrie smiled gently. “I had a lovely time with Tommy. Prom...” Her eyes glittered a brief reflection of the Christmas lights across the street. “Turned out pretty okay.” She pinched Sue’s arm softly as if to strengthen the point. 

“My boyfriend fell in love with you.” Sue burst into delightful giggles. Carrie couldn’t help but join her. 

“And I fell in love with his Girlfriend.” She added, tilting her chin so as to hide  behind her long blonde hair. But that didn’t block the feeling of Sue’s joy from radiating around her. Thankfully. 

Moonlight bathed the houses in a mystic pale light, leaving Carrie feeling mute and cold in the winter snow. There was a sense of deadened glee there, after the laughs passed, which they might’ve been able to keep had Sue not invited such tension into air between them. Both girls thought, different in each introspective mind, about how to pass go and collect their 200 dollars. 

Carrie sniffled, red nose flaring, and found it in her to smile. “What do you want for Christmas?” 

Sue chuckled, shoving her cold hands back into the long pockets of her coat as they strolled on. They passed more and more glittering houses that screamed of warm cookies and casual family bickering. To Carrie, it looked very beautiful and very neighborly. 

“A Christmas card, from you.” She chose her words carefully, that much was very clear to her quiet friend. “With words straight from the heart, Missy.” She poked at her. 

Carrie shook her head with a tight grin. “To you and all your family, your neighbors and your friends, May all your days be happy with a joy that never ends-” She sang so softly that no one would ever hear but Sue Snell. 

“Oh, stop that.” Sue thumped her arm gently and burst into sweet giggles. “David Cassidy’s words are not what I want from you.” 

“And what do you want?”

Sue rolled her eyes and bent her knees to pick-up a fallen Candy Cane from the next house’s lawn. Her shoes scoffed against the hard flakes of ice but she had no trouble keeping balance. “I believe I said that already.” She flicked her tongue. 

Carrie shrugged, knowing that she’d agonize over what to write for as long as possible. 

Sue stuck the decoration harder into the grass, stepped back and admired her work with a faint mumbling of lyrics pouring from her mouth. Carrie was positive she didn’t even know she was doing it. “Hello world! I'm your wild girl. I'm your ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!”

"Who sings that?” 

Sue blinked a few times before realizing what she’d done. “Oh, the Runaways...” Her smiled refreshed, much brighter, as she waited for Carrie to catch up to her side again. “If you came to live with me, I could show you all my records.” 

Carrie knew now that the battle to shove that conversation down was not going to favor her. “I have missed out on a lot.” 

Sue smirked. “Are you humoring me? Finally.” She sighed happily, dramatically too, and grabbed for Carrie’s hand again. She opened her mouth, ready to list more wonderful things but stopped suddenly. Her hand weakened almost instantly.

She looked up and frowned. “I’m really lonely up there, Carrie.” There was an earnest look of despair that chilled her friend to the bone. “I’m not used to that, I guess. Being one half of a high school sweetheart couple for that long...well, it makes you really dependent.” 

Carrie squeezed her dead palm softly. “Maybe that’s good for you, Sue...” 

The young girl sighed, no dramatics that time, and nodded a few times. “Maybe.”

The epitome of sad...that was Sue Snell.

                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Bells will be ringing this sad sad New Years Oh what a Christmas to have the blues My baby's gone I have no friends To wish me greetings once again...”  

The Drive-in, affectionately known as Bluebell’s, was covered in the perfect sprinkling of dusty snow. Making it a picture perfect enough for a postcard (that is if anyone gave a shit about Chamberlain, Maine). 

Sue Snell pulled her straw in-and-out of her root-beer float and watched Carrie White scoop the frothy ice-cream onto her spoon with eager eyes. It was endearingly sweet. “I think we can be independent together.” 

Carrie swallowed, spoon clinking against her glass. “Doesn’t that defeat the purpose, Sue?” 

She shook her head and took a long sip of the sweet treat. “No.” Her face was neither in a happy or sad expression. “I don’t need to be independent from you, Carrie. Just...from the life I almost had. One where I end up being a housewife.” A huge hunk of ice-cream fell down her chin, which she wiped at instantly. “And you need independence from...” 

“My mother.” Carrie frowned, putting her chin in her hand. 

“I don’t think independence has to come at the expense of companionship...” Sue shook her head again. The girls went quiet again, just enjoying their--poorly decided--icy cold drink in the middle of a chilling winter night. 

“It’s a nice thought.” Carrie mumbled, licking off any ice cream from her lips in a rush as Sue blinked up at her. “But someone needs to take care of-”

“She’s an adult, Carrie.” Sue gently set her glass down on the table, fluorescent lights blinking above her in a off-putting green hue. “Your Mother can take care of herself. You need to start taking care of yourself.” She finished her point by taking another long slurp of her float. Carrie thought she was hoping to hide her nerves.

A feeling of anxiety pounded from Carrie’s chest and sunk down to her gut as she let those words rush over her. Sue didn’t pressure for any sort of response and instead smiled softly, enjoying the Holiday music. “If I was starting to consider the idea of potentially going away, what might you say to me?” Carrie twirled her straw but didn’t look up. 

The girl brightened considerably but remained calm. “I’d say...” She paused momentarily.

“But this is Christmas yes Christmas my dear The time of year to be with the ones you love So won't you tell me you'll never more roam Christmas and new Years will find you home...”  

“Don’t do it for me, y’know? Just because I’ve been...annoying you about it all night.” Sue frowned, looking madly depressed with herself. “Do it for you. Go anywhere. Just don’t stay here...with her.” 

Carrie found them very low in company, the only other customer around was hidden inside their car. She planned to reach over to cradle the girls freezing hand but found that to be even too much for her fear. So she settled for bumping their legs together from under the table, jean-covered ankles finding each other’s warmth. 

Carrie thought briefly about the baby Jesus outside that tall brown home they’d passed on the way. Laying as still as any decoration had to be in it’s wooden basket. 

She reached out for that hand. Sue instantly squeezed back but stayed quiet, possibly letting Carrie now take the lead because she felt badly. Snow continued to fall but they stayed safe under the tiny roof of the drive-in, remaining a delighted audience to the winter wonderland scene. 

There would come a time and a place during Sue’s College Break stay to discuss further but for now, the girls just relaxed. For Carrie had finally been gifted the ability to take it easy, as long as Sue kept tracing circles onto her skin. 

She’d come out tonight without permission from Mama & that was enough to make her smile. If she could make it as far as the drive-in...well, there was a big chance she’d see herself farther. 

[weeklyfangirl]

Frat Boy Pt. 18

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 (1), part 7 (2), part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13 , part 14, part 15, part 16, part 17

NOT having to wait a year for another update?! WHO AM I?!?!! A new woman I tell you. Fortunately (or not) Frat Harry’s the same ‘ol Frat Harry. And this time you let him into your life a little more. But will he stay? Enjoy loves, lemme know what you think ;) 

“So turns out Mike’s bottle of tequila was $350 and John and I had already dank all of it. When Mike told us how much it was, we just had to be the full dicks. You start apologizing at block parties and you lose your edge. Stuff is borderline evaporative!” Father looked around at our unimpressed faces and his red face grew darker, exploding from wheezing laughter. “Oh, come on! It’s funny!!” His wheezing subsided with a toss of his eyebrows. He shrugged dramatically. “Good thing I appreciate my humor.” 

 Paul sat at the head of the table, the top two buttons undone on his blue business button-down. He made eye contact with me, both of our eyes widening. I’d given him a quick side-hug, one of those awkward lean-down-because-the-other-person-is-too-lazy-to-stand-up hug. It’d almost been a year, but it was the same customary greeting we’d developed. Their plates were already stacked in the sink, but my mom had readied plates of mash potatoes, string beans, and steak for Harry and I. 

 They were sprawled out, tummies full, all of them looking like they’d had long days at the office. Father especially. His face was reddened like the whites of his eyes, his hair standing on end. 

 I poked at my steak. 

 “You missed it, Y/N. He’s already five glasses in,” Paul continued. Teasing father was the one thing we could connect on - but he enjoyed it a little more than I. 

 Mom leant over the table, rolling her eyes. “At least. This is his ‘not drinking during the week,’” There was a smile, though.

 Dad held up his hands. “Hey! I haven’t had one sip of tequila. Wine is like water now.” He turned to Harry, as if his frat boy radar sensed a fellow drinker in his midst. “You have that problem…?” He fished for a name. 

 Harry’s shoulders straightened. “Harry.”

 “Harry?” he asked. 

 Before Harry could answer, Paul’s eyes narrowed. “You look familiar.” 

 It was like somebody sprinkled coked-out fairy dust over Mother. She sat up straighter, eyes twinkling, and sprawled her hands on the table as if to reveal the grand hurrah that Harry was the heir to all the land. Which, in modern day Newport, perhaps he was. I tried to come up with something to rescue Harry, but she beat me to it. 

 “His dad’s a doctor here. Coast Shores Medicine. Mr. Styles runs his own practice.” 

 “He can speak for himself,” I grumbled, stuffing my mouth with mash. 

 My mom stirred, voice low, “Honey, I was just letting them know.” 

 My dad’s eyes bulged out of his head before erupting into laughter. “You- you’re-” He pointed his finger, looking between Harry and me. He laughed more. 

 “Dad,” I warned. It’d clicked in his mind. At the end of summer, before I’d even known the Styles legacy let alone seen Harry’s face, we’d walked past the Styles medical office and my dad absolutely BLASTED their ostentatious display. My dad’s boisterous - Can you believe this idiot??! MORON! DIPSHIT! - blared in my mind like a flare gun. 

 Father caught my daggers. “Oh, relax,” he wheezed, settling down. He wouldn’t say anything, for now. “I transferred more money into your account today by the way.” He winked, pointing to me. “I love you.”

 “Love you too.” But I shrunk in my chair. I know Harry wasn’t one to talk about living off family money, but I didn’t want him getting the wrong idea either.

 Completely oblivious, Harry smiled politely, answering Father’s previous question. “We all have our vices.” 

 “Speaking of addicts-” Paul started.

 “Oh, God,” Dad huffed.

 Paul put his hands up with a humorless laugh. “I wasn’t targeting you, but now that you mention it-” 

 “Paul.” I frowned. 

 My warning tone flipped a switch in him. 

 “What?!” It was sharp, full of irritation, and no matter how long it'd been since I’d heard it - I stilled. His eyes challenged me to press him further, but I didn’t. “Can I speak?” 

 “All right,” mom said. “Let’s settle down.”

 “I’m calm,” Paul declared tersely. “I don’t know about your daughter.” 

 I scoffed, fighting the urge to bite back. 

 Harry tensed, and if I was an inch further I wouldn’t have heard his breath get a little deeper. 

 Without breaking his stare, Paul sat back in his chair, pushing up his sleeves. “Okay,” he started. “As I was saying. I don’t know if you guys saw on the news - probably not, but there was a scandal at the company last week.” 

 The company – AKA Rich Silvang Industries. Paul went straight from college and his internship to full-fledged Wall Street investment banking. He was only three years older than me, but he hadn’t lived at the house since he was eighteen. By 17 ½ all his things were in boxes. Meanwhile, I was almost twenty-one and still had half my things in my old room.  

 Mom practically gasped. “Really?” her voice swam with concern. 

 “I think I saw something about that,” Dad mentioned, putting on a serious tone. 

 “Maybe you did hear about it, then. It’s pretty big. The president was caught in his Vegas penthouse suite filled with drugs, and they arrested him for drug trafficking. They’re searching for someone to replace him right now.” 

 My mom’s hands dropped in her lap. “Wow.”

 “Could you be the replacement?” I asked.

 “Ha, yeah. I wish. I’m a few years off from that.” One thing you need to know about Paul - he has a plan for everything. If he wants something, he’ll buy every book to learn the ins and outs before making a move. His career was no different. 

 “What’d they find?” Harry asked, brows stitched in curiosity. 

 Paul puffed out a breath. “Everything. Heroine, cocaine, meth, ecstasy. It was just sitting there, in his suite. His girlfriend’s arrested, too.”

 “God, what a dipshit,” Dad breathed, irritated disbelief. “This guy has all the money in the world-”

 “Three thousand million dollars,” Paul corrected. 

 “Three tHOUSAND MILLION-!” Father squeaked. “God, if I had that money- GOD, why the hell would you piss it away like that.” 

 “Greed,” Mom said. “Is this the same president who donated all that money to helping foster children? The one invited you for a weekend in Aspen?” 

 “There’s only one president, mom.” 

 “Well I hope you didn’t USE anything.”

 Father ran his hands through his hair, still distraught at the impotence of those with money to enjoy their money. “I mean, I’d be fishing on an island somewhere.” 

 “On YOUR island that you BOUGHT,” Paul pitched in. 

 “With three thousand million,” I breathed. “If someone has everything in the world…” my voice trailed. Human nature was a mystery to me. A complete and utter mystery sometimes. Why get involved in drug trading when you had more than you could possibly need. You could fish off your personal island and then declare that island it’s own country if you wanted to. You could give hundreds of thousands of people access to clean water! Education! Tampons!! Essential things!!!

 Harry suddenly rested his hand on my thigh beneath the table, completely silent. My mom caught the action, a knowing smirk appearing on her lips. 

 “Money is wasted,” Father sighed dramatically, placing a hand on his belly. “Oh!! Speaking of, I have an important question for you.” 

 It took me a second to realize he was looking at me. “Yeah?” I asked, skeptical.

 “Can you grab me another bottle of red?” 

 ----

 The hot water ran over dishes clattering in the sink, and I winced, but I didn’t pull away. I could still feel the crusted blood beneath my nails.

 “Quick, somebody grab a camera.” 

 Father stood in the entranceway to the kitchen, hands up, mouth open in a ridiculous pressed circle like an orangutan. “Y/N’s doing the dishes!!” 

 “Haha. Very funny.” 

 Father sighed, running his hands over his face with a tired smile. “God that was a tiresome dinner, huh.” He tossed the empty wine bottle from hand to hand. 

 My eyes widened. “Yeahhhh.” 

 Harry, Paul, and Mother were still by the table, talking on some new financial law. I timed an escape perfectly. So had Father. 

 “Are you staying the night?”

 “Hm.” I hadn’t thought about that. “Maybe.” 

 “Is he spending the night?” 

 I smiled, not sure what he was going to say to a boy spending the night. The situation certainly hadn’t come up before. “I don’t think so.” 

 “I mean, I don’t care. You’re an adult, you can do what you want. Mom might not like the idea.” 

 In any other case, I’d agree. But this was the Styles boy. I think she’d make an exception. As if knowing where my mind was heading, his blue eyes suddenly twinkled with something mischievous. He finished his thought out loud. “Styles, huh... Isn’t that funny. Where’d you meet this kid?” 

 “English class. Small world, huh?” 

 “For how small it is we don’t see Paul too much, do we?” he asked. It was a more serious question than I was used to. One that didn’t need to be answered. 

 My hand suddenly came too close to the metal faucet, burning it, and I quickly turned it off, moving the dishes to the drying rack. An old Patsy Cline song crackled through the old radio in the kitchen. 

 “I don’t see too much of-” you either. But the words died on my lips when I saw Father’s notoriously clear eyes, wet with springing tears. I stood, shocked, not quite knowing what to say. I couldn’t be mad at him. Not for money, not for drinking. Maybe it was the wine getting him emotional. 

 He gave me one of those dad smiles, patting my shoulder. He hugged me, a proper hug, and I stood, stiff, before relaxing, letting myself be held. I hugged him back, feeling like I was six and he’d just told me he was going away for business. “Let’s go to the shake shack soon,” he said, softly, the slight jokey tone trying to reappear. “S’been a while.” 

 Guilt pricked me. Guilt for growing up, guilt for leaving, guilt for something I couldn’t name. “Course, papa.”

 Over his shoulder, I met Harry’s gaze from the kitchen table.

 Later at the door, we stood telling Paul goodbye. 

 Harry stood behind me in a protective stance while Paul adjusted his briefcase. “So what are your plans for the rest of the year? Are you going to add that extra class next semester, finish early?” he asked, the business-technical tone coming back in his voice. 

 “I’m going to finish my internship at the practice.” 

 “Good. Good. Then what?” Only half-joking.

 “I don’t know, I have another year to figure it out. Go to med school, probably.” 

 “Probably?!” He knocked on the door as he started to leave. “Time flies! Better figure it out, Y/N.”

 I smiled, the only thing I could do.

 “At least you’re going into something employable!” he called. The car beeped behind him, and he loaded his briefcase in the car.

 I smiled tighter.

 “She’ll be fine, Paul,” Mother waved behind me.

 He waved back. 

 “Wait!” Mom called. “You’re not going to give us a hug goodbye?” 

 He jogged back up the side-yard to the door, giving them hugs. Harry a handshake. Me, a side-hug. 

 “Will we see you soon?” I asked.

 “Why?” 

 “Thanksgiving.” 

 His brows rose. “Mom didn’t tell you?” 

 I shook my head.

 “This was our Thanksgiving. I leave for Japan next Wednesday.”

 “What?” I knew for a fact Thanksgiving was two weeks out. 

 “Honey..” she scolded. To Paul, “I told her we were going to do it early, she just doesn’t listen.” 

 “I’ll be back after Japan.” He exchanged a look with my father I couldn’t quite decipher. 

 Some vague memory of Mother telling me about an early Thanksgiving was there, buried beneath sororities, and gangs, and policemen questioning me. And beneath a thick layer of pig’s blood. 

 “Sorry, I forgot.”  

 But he was already in his car, closing the door behind him. 

 We stayed until the headlights disappeared, a sharp wind bellowing in and shaking the curtains. Harry didn’t stay to watch Paul leave. When my parents left for their room, I found him by the painted green wood table, picking at the edge.

 “This is from my fourth birthday.” I pointed to a dark circle on the edge of the table. “I ate my cake so fast, the candles knocked over and almost put the whole house in flames.” 

 “You didn’t blow them out?” 

 “There was cake. I didn’t see the candles.” 

 He smiled. “You’ve lived here a long time?” 

 “Since I was born.” 

 “Not bad.” 

 I led him wordlessly through my past, going through the 70s living room over plush stained carpet, down the hallway past family photos. It was a wordless tour. He stopped in front of a gold frame. It was all of us, on the beach in white. Paul and I had our arms around each other, laughing with gaps where our baby teeth had fallen out and the new ones had yet to come in. Our parents stood behind us, trying to wrestle us in their own arms, wind-whipped hair covering half my mother’s face. Taken seconds before we all fell over and Paul kneed me in the jewels, Father liked to say. 

 Harry caught himself staring, easily catching up with me in the short distance to my room. 

 “The grand reveal,” he murmured. 

 I was suddenly nervous. He followed close behind, entering a space of Frank Sinatra and Elvis posters. My old white wire bed frame stood in the middle of the small space, Winnie the Pooh sheets and mismatched purple pillows on top. The rest was taken up by a large pink bean bag that touched the foot of my bed and the mirrored closet with a European travel collage I’d taped together in its bottom-right corner when I was sixteen.  

 He looked up at the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to my ceiling, oddly reminiscent of his sister’s old nursery room. “It’s cute,” he finally said. And somehow when he said it, it didn’t sound condescending. 

 He approached the near-empty bookshelf against the wall, now holding my mom’s arts and crafts and random junk bins. Ever since I moved out, more of her had moved in. She still left the walls untouched, though. Harry plucked at a photo booth strip I’d taped to the walls when I was thirteen. The summer after middle school. Matt and I were smiling, tongues out, sticking up our noses, pretending to strangle each other… 

 He tried to tape it back, but the tape had lost its stick.

 “It’s fine,” I said, taking the photo back. I propped it up against the bins. 

 “Do you have most of your books at the dorm? 

 “Yeah. The rest we sold a while back.” 

 “Spring cleaning?” 

 “Kind of??” I wrestled with whether to tell him the slightly more complicated truth. I’d hesitated too long though, and just came out with it. “Actually no, not really.” 

 He raised his brow, looking at my lips, waiting for me to digress. For some reason, I didn’t care if he knew. Maybe because I knew he had secrets, too. Even if he wouldn’t tell.

 “When we were younger… about four years ago now? It was a really rough time, financially.” 

 Harry didn’t say anything, didn’t move. I continued, “We had to get rid of a lot of things to afford the lease.”

 “You guys have been leasing this same house?” 

 I nodded. “It’s a lease-to-buy option. So maybe, one day…” I let my voice trail off. Maybe we’d own it. A potential dream, pretty impossible on paper. “It’s an old lady who owns this house, really sweet. She rents the house to us for a lot less than she could. I think it’s because she doesn’t want somebody else to buy it and tear it down, and she liked our family, too. She grew up here.”  

 He dusted the spine of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. “That’s one of the few I kept. Cliché, I know, but…” -I shrugged- “Who doesn’t love Mr. Darcy, right?”

 He turned, a softness in his eyes. 

 “We had to sell a lot in the house to make the payment on-time. She’s sweet and has the final say-so, but her family essentially runs her finances. They’re not so sweet.” 

 “You had to sell your books?” 

 “They were nice. Rare. My Grandpa picked them up for me in antique bookshops he’d visit when he’d travel. People sell a lot more than that to make it… like their bodies, their souuulllll.” 

 “Y/N,” he scoffed. 

 “What?” I sat at the foot of my bed, watching a once-again awkward Harry not quite what to do with his body. “It’s better now! A lot better than what it was. We still live here,” I shrug. 

 “Why don’t you live somewhere else?” 

 He didn’t say what he was thinking. Some place we could afford. 

 “My dad needs to live by the water. It’s his lifeline.” I paused. “That, and wine. If he works this hard and dies tomorrow, he wants to at least enjoy it.” 

 “Your brother…-” 

 “Wasn’t always an ass.” I smiled. 

 “I wasn’t going to say that.” 

 “I know.” I lay down, closing my eyes. I sensed him move towards my feet. “I don’t think he’s ever forgiven my dad,” I admitted. I didn’t say what for, but as soon as the words were out of my mouth, the words I’d wondered about for years, I regretted it. That was too personal to share, even to Harry. With the tact of someone who learned not to speak about his past, he noticed. He didn’t bat an eye, didn’t press, just silently accepted. He moved his hands along the only other Austen cover I had. Sense and Sensibility.

 “You know…” he started, voice delicate as silk. “Austen’s dad went to a publisher on her behalf without even telling her.”

 “Really?” 

 He nodded. “He got declined, but- still. He did everything he could to help her succeed with her work, with her dreams.” 

 “Where are you going with this Shakespeare.” 

 “I can see that in your dad. He really loves you.” 

 I propped myself up on my elbows. “You know, for a boy who’s supposedly failing his classes, you’re pretty smart.”

 “Y/N,” he laughed lightly, settling in a strong gaze. “I was never failing.”

 The room stilled. “What do you mean?” 

 “You know what I mean.” He gently nudged my legs over, settling in beside me. I turned on my side, the Austen book cradled in the nicest hands I’d ever seen. “I didn’t know how else to get you alone,” he admitted, a quiet confession. 

 “Josiah de Saude didn’t know how to talk to a girl.” 

 “Oh, come off it,” he laughed, my favorite shiny laugh. And suddenly I was grinning, too. “I used to know what to say.” His eyes ran over my face, lingering on my mouth. “But then you came along, Y/N,” he admitted. His smile faded.

 With a strong gust of wind, the brush outside thwacked against my window. I jumped. It was always eerie, no matter how old I got. Inside, we had blankets, childhood memorabilia plastered to my walls, the steady thrum of a heater that’d just come out of summer hibernation. The outside wasn’t as calm as it was here. Here, in this mix of childhood and whatever it was that made my heart beat wild, we were safe. If only for a little while.

 I almost forgot Harry was next to me before the back of his hand brushed my leg. His fingers stroked my thigh, the skin beneath him tingling. A simple touch was all it took, and suddenly each cell of my body was on high alert, informing me, fairly quickly, that he didn’t let his hands wander. Did he want them to? 

 “They’re coming after me now,” I said, when it was clear he wasn’t trying anything. His eyes were closed, but his nostrils flared when I spoke. The hickey he’d given me was still there, carefully hidden by pounds of coverup. My fingers memorized its spot. It seemed to burn anew, reminding me of its place as its giver’s face shadowed.

 It needed to be said.

 Maybe my paranoia wasn’t just paranoia. Maybe it was my sixth sense. A warning. Maybe they really had been watching me. Maybe they’d memorized his mark, too. I remembered Harry shouting at me before disappearing on the field. If they fuck with you, they fuck with me. Was I just a walking target? 

 “They won’t get to you.” 

 “They could’ve.”

 “They aren’t dumb enough to do something like that,” he glowered.

 “Something like what?” 

 Words stalled at the curve of his lips. 

 “Something like what,” I repeated, slightly panicking. What had these people done before? Wouldn’t be dumb enough to rape me? Kill me? Hadn’t they come close enough?? His chest rose with a deep breath. “Tonight wasn’t a mistake,” I whispered.

 “You’re right, it wasn’t.” 

 “Well then what do they want? Because if it’s money they’re barking up the wrong tree.” I propped myself on an elbow, silently begging him to open his eyes. He did, hand running gently up my spine. “Do you even know?” I asked, suddenly horrified that he might be as in the dark as me.

 He swallowed, hooded eyes darkening. 

 “They want what I have,” he said. “And they’ll threaten me in any way they can until they get it. They’ll fish out any weakness. And then they’ll exploit it.” His voice softened at weakness. 

 Money, then. They wanted money. Unless… unless his weakness was me? I shook the thought away.

 “Why can’t you tell the police? Why can’t you just… tell them what’s going on?” I was becoming the girl I hated in movies. The girl that as soon as something horrific happened, she made an awful decision to try and solve it herself instead of CALLING THE DAMN COPS. Which is what I yelled at the screen, every time. CALL THE DAMN COPS. Which is what my brain was yelling at me, every day. CALL THE DAMN COPS. Neither of us listened. 

 “It’s more complicated than that,” he brushed off. 

 “Does this have to do with your ‘association’ with them?” 

 His voice turned sharp.  “That’s enough with the questions.” A horrific tremble rippled up my spine. The tone, so harsh and authoritative, just like my brother’s, made my skin crawl. He looked at me, sighing. “Please, just trust me on this. The less you know the better.” 

 “It’s a little hard to trust you when you’re the reason I’m a target.” 

 My words lingered for a horrible moment. A long, drawn-out silence. I could practically feel them dissolve into Harry’s skin before he sat up, leaping to his feet.

 I panicked. “I mean, it’s just hard to trust anyone when there’s so much that could happen. Things I don’t even know that could happen to me. Or even my family.” He scratched his collar, looking at our reflection in the mirror. My body scrambled upright, tearing itself from the blankets. “I don’t know what these guys are capable of. If you could just tell me, maybe-”

 “I should go.” 

 “No, Harry- wait!” 

 He stalled at the door. I met him there, tugging at his sweater sleeve. He’d looked so lovely in my room, in a different part of my life he’d only just entered. And now to see him leave my safe place so suddenly hurt me deeper than I thought it would. He turned, begrudgingly. The green ivy of his eyes had cooled, hardened, becoming impenetrable. 

 “Don’t leave. Please. You can’t keep coming and leaving, it’s more than confusing, it’s… it’s completely maddening!” 

 He leaned his head back against the door, practically groaning, but pinched the bridge of his nose instead. He took several levelled breaths. Finally, “You think I want this?” 

 I stilled. “Want what?”

 The horrifying possibility that “this” referenced us, petrified me. But the insecurity that he didn’t want me vanished when he looked traitorously at my waist, strong hands following suit. They gripped my sides, tugging me lightly forward. Suddenly I was drunk off the thought of them pushing me further, enough to make me dizzy... but they didn’t push. Strong hands kept me a safe distance apart, at any second looking like they could pull me into him or push me away. 

 “I want so many things, Y/N,” he breathed. “But all of them seem to do with you. And I don’t-” He seemed frustrated with himself as his brows stitched, trying to find the words. “I don’t know how to handle this. Everything’s so entangled.” 

 A knock at my door made us both jump. It creaked open, Mother poking her head in with a wide smile.

 “I heard it was a good game tonight,” she half-whispered. 

 Harry cocked a smile, and his hands fell from waist. “Yeah, it was.” Guarded eyes look to me. “Y/N went with my sister.” 

 So he had seen. I couldn't tell if there was irritation lacing his voice, but there certainly wasn’t joy. Entangled…. 

 “Oh, that’s fun. We’ll have to go watch you sometime huh honey?”

 I nodded slowly, eyes wide, silently asking what in the HECK are you doing in here?? 

 She drummed her fingers along the door. “Are you staying the night? You’re more than welcome to sleep on the couch. I know it doesn’t look that big, but it’s actually quite comfortable with all the blankets...”

 “You’re so sweet, really,” he started. And Mother believed it. I believed it. His entire look softened. “But I can’t, unfortunately. I have an early practice tomorrow. And I have to get gas on my way home.”

 My heart sank. The car. He needed to move my car.

 “Oh, really?” Mother opened the door wider. “It’s getting late, though. It started raining…” 

 “I’m used to a little rain,” he said, slipping past my mother. I remained behind her, arms crossed. “Thank you for having me. It was a lovely dinner.” He looked to me, betrayed and abandoned, something sad and regretful brimming in his eyes. He lifted a finger to his brow in salute, then turned on his heel, heading down the hall. 

 “Bye Harry!” She called. Then, to me, “Don’t you want to walk him out?” 

 I shook my head, fighting back a slew of angry words as I sulked to my window. I opened it, wide, letting the first sprinkles of rain hit my face. 

 “Oh honey, shut that, you’ll get the sill all wet.” 

 “I just want to feel it for a little while,” I said. 

 “You’ll catch cold!”

 “Mom, please.”

 She flinched. “Okay. Just a little, though. Want me to close your door?” 

 I nodded, a gust of wind blowing and almost slamming it shut itself. 

 “A storm’s coming, Y/N,” she shivered. “Don’t stand there too long.”  

 I wasn’t sure when she left my doorway, but I knew when he left the driveway. An engine roared to life and the rain surged with a frenzy. I listened as the grumbling faded away, down the street and off to somewhere unknown - but not out of my life. That part wasn’t in my control, but there were things that were. I couldn’t stand around and wait for him anymore. Mother was right.

 I closed the window, walking to the foot of my bed. Alone, a soppy looking girl stared back at me from the mirror. She sat on a familiar bed, wet hair plastering her face, droplets hanging from her nose, from her lashes. She looked only partly relaxed, the rest of her poised, tensed, like she could either jump or sleep in any given second. She looked exhausted.  

 But there was something alive, still. Just beyond her eyes, a little ember catching spark.

 I wasn’t going to stand around. The window had already opened. The rain had hit the fan and it’d soaked me through. Nothing was going to change unless I did. Unless I moved.

 Waiting for a boy to verify my safety?

 Yeah, no thanks. If Madame Bovary taught me anything,

 I’d get that myself.

part 19

[emospritelet]

Desperation - chapter 10

24: “You can move closer, I don’t bite”

I think you may have wanted this to be smutty, but I’m afraid it’s just domestic fluff XD

Prompt list here

[AO3]

x

Life at the Golds’ house continued in the same vein for another few days. Bae improved greatly, eating more and looking bright-eyed and restless. Gold was worse, eating little, drinking gallons of water and coughing most of the day. Belle was worried about him, but tried not to let Bae see it.

On Friday morning, they received their first delivery of groceries. Belle had been making a pot of tea when she heard a knock at the door, and she put the lid on the teapot and hurried to open it. A short, stocky man with a bristling black beard and a gruff expression was standing halfway down the path. A beanie hat was pulled down over the tops of his ears, and a thick scarf was wound around his neck. He gestured to the porch, and Belle looked down to see two large cardboard boxes stuffed with food and household items.

“Astrid said to say the medicine’s tucked down the side,” he said. “You tell Mr Gold and his boy to get well soon, you hear?”

“Thank you so much!” called Belle, and the man tapped his forehead with his fingers in a jaunty salute.

Picking up each of the boxes was a struggle; they were both heavy and awkward, but she managed to get her knees under the first and hoist it up into her arms. It was a relief to get to the kitchen and drop it onto the table. She hurried back for the second, and then shut the door again. It was just starting to rain, a fine drizzle coating the grass like dew, and she shivered and locked the door, trotting into the kitchen.

She found the paracetamol and put it aside. There was some cough syrup too, and throat lozenges. There was a four-pack of toilet paper, tampons and pads, some fabric softener and laundry detergent, hand sanitiser, soap and toothpaste, shampoo and shower gel. On the food side, the supplies were basic but useful. Two quarts of milk, a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread. A pack of butter. A block of cheese and a pack of bacon. Boxes of wheat flakes and crisped rice. Canned soup, beans and tomatoes and a package of pasta shapes. There were potatoes and carrots and a bag of apples.

She was pawing through the box when she heard a shuffling noise from the hallway, and glanced over her shoulder to see Bae, swaddled in a dressing gown too big for him with the hood pulled up, sleeves hiding his hands. He was hovering in the doorway, watching her.

“Hey, you’re up!” she said, with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Okay.”

He was shifting from foot to foot a little awkwardly, and Belle beckoned to him.

“You can move closer, I don’t bite,” she said cheerfully. “You want some breakfast?”

“Yes please.” He padded into the room, peering into the box curiously and picking up a box of wheat flakes. “Where did you get these?”

“Groceries, courtesy of the Mayor,” said Belle briskly, taking out the milk and putting it in the fridge. “You think maybe we can find something to tempt your dad?”

“Papa doesn’t eat cereal,” said Bae. “He likes to cook breakfast. He says it’s the most important meal of the day.”

“And he’s right,” said Belle. “But not everyone cooks as much as your papa. I guess they’re trying to cater for all tastes, huh?”

“I have cereal at Neal’s place sometimes,” he said.

“Who’s Neal?” asked Belle.

“Neal Nolan. He’s my best friend.”

“Your dad said he gets wool from the Nolans’ farm,” said Belle, remembering. “Is that Neal’s family?”

“Yeah.” Bae put down the box of cereal and picked up a jar of peanut butter, turning it over with a suspicious look on his face. “His dad has sheepdogs. And cats. The cats had babies just before I got sick. Papa said maybe we could get a couple of kittens.”

“Really? How cool.”

“Yeah, but I don’t know if we can,” said Bae, sounding morose. “I haven’t seen Neal in over a week.”

Belle thought for a moment.

“Well, do you want to give him a call?” she asked. “You could use my phone, if you like. If he has a cellphone, we could do a video call with him. Maybe see the kittens.”

Bae beamed at her.

“Can I?”

“Have some breakfast first, and then we’ll call,” said Belle. “I’m sure he’d love to hear from you.”

“Okay.”

“What do you want?”

“Uh - can I have eggs? Scrambled?”

“On toast?”

“Yes, please.”

“Any thoughts on what I can make your dad?” she asked. “He doesn’t seem to be eating much.”

“He likes sweet things,” said Bae. “Granny’s cookies and cherry pie, and cakes. Maybe - maybe we could make him cupcakes. Do you know how to make cupcakes?”

Belle pursed her lips.

“I bet we could find a recipe,” she agreed. “Let’s try that after you call your friend, hmm?”

“Great!”

Bell made scrambled eggs on toast for both of them, and drank two cups of tea while she ate it. Afterwards, she set up her phone on the kitchen table, propped up on some books, and sent Bae to find Neal’s number.

“It’s his mom’s number,” explained Bae, as Belle dialled.

A woman answered, short black hair above kind eyes and a bright smile.

“Uh - hello?” she said, looking uncertain.

“Hey,” said Belle. “I’m Belle, the new librarian. I’m staying with the Golds during lockdown, and Bae would like to know if he can speak to Neal.”

She moved aside a little for Bae to squeeze into the shot.

“Oh! Sure!” The woman beamed, and called over her shoulder. “Neal? Baeden’s calling you!”

There was a thunder of feet, and the woman disappeared, replaced by a young boy with light brown hair and hazel eyes.

“Bae!” he exclaimed. “Were you sick? Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” said Bae. “This virus sucks. My dad’s really sick.”

“Ugh, sorry.” Neal wrinkled his nose. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“I think so. Belle’s looking after him.”

“Who’s Belle? Is that Belle?” Neal looked interested as Belle waved. “Did your dad get a girlfriend?”

Belle gathered up the breakfast dishes and carried them to the sink, trying not to laugh. She listened to the children chatting as she ran water for the dishes, and trotted upstairs to check on Gold. He was curled in bed, coughing into the sheets, and she shook her head at the sight of him. The room smelled of sickness, stale sweat and the faint whiff of lemon from the drink she had made to soothe his throat.

“Let me get you some more water,” she said, and Gold pushed himself upright, falling back against the pillows with a gasp.

“I need to get up,” he whispered.

“You do not,” said Belle firmly. “You need to rest. Bae and I have everything under control.”

“Is he okay?”

“He’s talking to Neal. I Skyped the Nolans.”

A faint smile.

“That’s good of you. He must be lonely.”

“He’s worried that he won’t be able to get the kittens you promised,” she said, and Gold’s smile widened.

“I’m sure they won’t love him any less for being a few weeks older.” He sat up a little more, raising his arm and sniffing before wrinkling his nose. “I have to take a shower, I’m disgusting.”

“You’ve done nothing but cough and sweat for days, of course you’re disgusting,” she said briskly, and he let out a low, tired chuckle.

“Great bedside manner, Nurse French,” he said.

“I like to think of it as firm but fair.”

“In that case, would you mind getting me some tea while I go and scrub some of the sickness away?”

“You want some breakfast?” she asked. “The groceries arrived. There’s cereal. Peanut butter. Bread, eggs…”

Gold wrinkled his nose.

“Just tea.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll try to eat something later.”

“Good. I’ll bring that tea and some more water.”

“Thanks.” He gave her a tired smile. “Thank you, Belle. Thank you for everything. I don’t know how we could ever have managed alone. I can never repay your kindness.”

“Good thing you don’t have to.”

His smile grew a little, but then his face fell, and he grabbed the blankets, tugging them up to his mouth before another coughing fit racked him. Belle shook her head.

“It’s really taking it out of you, huh?” she said, and he slumped back against the pillows, chest heaving.

“It’s exhausting,” he whispered. “Still, no rest for the wicked. I’m gonna drag myself to the shower.”

“I could change your bedsheets, if you like.”

Gold nodded wearily.

“Clean sheets? That sounds wonderful.”

x

Belle stripped the bed while he was in the shower, balling up the sheets and putting on fresh. The shower was still running, and she gathered up the dirty bedclothes, trotting downstairs to put on a load of laundry. Bae was still chatting to Neal, and Belle left him to it, pouring out a cup of tea and carrying it upstairs. The shower had shut off, and she set down the cup on Gold’s nightstand, turning just as he opened the bedroom door, a towel around his waist and his hair wet. He took a step back, one hand flailing at the door as he staggered, the other clutching frantically at his towel as it started to slip off, and Belle scuttled back out of his way. He was very thin, his ribs showing in faint lines beneath his skin, his chest smooth and his muscles small and firm. She found that her eyes were following a bead of water as it tracked its way down over his belly, and hurriedly swept her gaze back up to find him staring at her wide-eyed.

“Sorry!” said Belle hastily, feeling her cheeks flush. “Sorry. I just - there’s your tea. I’ll get out of your hair.” 

She stepped to the right just as he did, then to the left, and Gold clutched at the door for dear life, shuffling out of her way until Belle could duck through the door. She hurried downstairs, still blushing, and found that Bae had ended his call to Neal and was putting away the breakfast dishes she had washed.

“Right,” she announced, trying to push the image of a nearly-naked Gold from her mind. “Cupcakes. Let’s find a recipe.” 

[hearteyes-for-killmonger]

Dedicated to @princessstevens she had a great idea 👀☻

Waiting to Get Home

Bethany slouched in the black leather passenger seat of her boyfriend's white Porsche Cayenne S, looking out the window at her own flat expression in the side mirror. The car was his baby and he'd just gotten it washed. She could tell he thought he was somebody now.

His hand flexed on top of the wheel, Monaco watch on full display and elbow resting on the door like a.. like a..

Who was she kidding. Like himself.

He thought he was the shit because he was the shit in his coke white hoodie with the white gold chunky necklace on the outside falling on his collarbone. His white skully hid his dreads but showed off glittering diamond studs. His white pants tucked into his white Chelsea boots left Bethany to admire his style like damn.. He wanted to be like her so bad. They were matching today. She clutched her stomach and grimaced, her blush painted almond nails digging into her faux fur white jacket.

"Get your ID out," Erik said.

Bethany continued to hold her stomach. The pain from her cramps had long passed but she didn't like that he hadn't acknowledged the fact that she was in pain and cramping up to begin with. She wanted him to mention it.

"Where's your ID? Come on. Get it out."

Erik turned into the gate, following behind a red Toyota onto the Alameda military base.

"My stomach hurt," Bethany whined, with another grimace, her glossy bottom lip protruding. Erik still ain't look her way.

"I'm sorry your stomach hurts. Get your ID out, okay?"

What? No belly rub?

Bethany frowned at Erik's side profile as he looked ahead and to his own window, driving up to meet the guard. She already had her driver's license in her pocket but had purposely waited to take it out. She had no real reason other than she wanted to... because she could and Erik couldn't do anything about it.

He was looking at her now in irritation, his mouth a straight thin line and his eyes on hers. Finally, some attention.

"Here." Bethany stretched her arm and then her body over Erik's torso as he frowned, accepting the weight on his body. "Erik, move, damn," she groaned, her 20 inch bundles flowing in his face as she pressed down on his thigh for balance. She handed the guard her license and fell back into her seat with a sigh as the guard fought a smile. He wanted to laugh, but he could see Erik's stone face staring forward. Erik's brows then raised toward the guard as if to say "get me out of here" and the guard, nodding him on, handed back the ID's, including Erik's military ID.

Snatching the ID's from Erik's hand, Bethany ignored the quick turn of his head as he nudged the car forward slowly. He was glaring hard at the side of her face, but she was looking at the picture on his ID, unbothered and entertained.

"I don't get why some people gotta look evil in all their photos," she teased, her lip twisting in judgement. When she felt him refocus on the road, she looked through her window again as SWV's Right Here started to play on XM radio.

There were people walking about in tan camouflage and hats. There was even a group on the grass across the street who were doing some sort of military drill.

Erik drove into the parking lot of the commissary and parked in a middle spot, bypassing the disabled parking spaces. He threw it in park and pulled the key out, checking for his phone.

"You gone make me walk," Bethany sighed kissing her teeth. "Fine, whatever."

"You the one who get mad when I park in the accessible space! Where I'm supposed to park Bethany?"

"I said whatever," Bethany snapped. She didn't know why she was being a bitch, she didn't actually have a problem with where he parked, she just felt icky and gross and wanted her period to end.

He sighed staring at the side of her face.

"Ew.. nigga," she muttered almost inaudibly opening her door quickly to climb out. She slammed it louder than she meant to scaring herself because she knew Erik didn't play about his car. She didn't need to look at his face to feel that his eyes were big. She scuttled across the street in her three inch heeled white boots, walking through the store's automated entrance.

She got to the produce section and grabbed the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions before Erik pulled up beside her with the shopping cart. He walked around the basket to stare in her face as she dropped the items in.

"You Gucci?"

"Yeah, nigga! I'm fine," Bethany's head bobbled as her lip twisted. She sashayed away to grab some apples and grapes, turning back briefly. "Push the basket!"

When she turned to grab the bag of grapes, she felt like she was on a high. It was risky to keep going off on her man like this, but it gave her such a rush. Plus, she felt touchy and irritable. He was always a bit more patient when he knew it was that time. She'd never get away with yelling at him like this otherwise.

"Ew, I don't want them bigass oranges get the mangoes," Bethany frowned watching Erik grudgingly put his grapefruits back. He loved them, but Bethany claimed that her nose was sensitive on her period and that the grapefruits stank. "Brand spanking new apartment. Penthouse, nigga, and you wanna bring that shit in and stink the place up."

Erik swallowed his lips causing his dimples to sink as he moved away to grab some capers and salad dressing. He wasn't entertaining her shenanigans.

Watching him stealthily from the corner of her eye, Bethany grabbed for a watermelon making sure it was nice and heavy.

"Eriiik," she whined watching him turn back in annoyance. She pointed to the watermelon and he rolled his eyes but came to get it for her.

She didn't really want it, she just liked to watch him lift things. He did it effortlessly like it was nothing, sitting it in the basket.

She smirked, twisting the sapphire ring Erik got her last Christmas on her finger as she walked toward the next aisle.

"Push that for me."

Surprisingly, he didn't say a word. He followed her with the basket as she filled it with the things they'd need for the next month. Cleaning supplies, toilet paper, a dish brush, aluminum foil, sandwich bags, among other things. "Get it all," he'd said in the car. That was exactly what she planned to do. She grabbed AA and AAA batteries, a swiffer, some tampons.

"What are you doing," Erik sighed as she inspected packages of ground beef.

"I'm just looking." Turning the packs on her hand, she checked the dates.

"Don't neither of us eat beef babygirl. What you doing," he asked again calmly.

"I can't look?.." Rolling her eyes, she sat the package down and picked up shrimp instead, placing it in the basket.

"Yeah you PMS'ing," Erik muttered pulling the basket over to the juice. He loved him some CranApple.

"Don't talk to me like that," she snapped, her hand in the air for emphasis. "Don't nobody say nothing when you bitter and ugly."

"Woooo," he sighed walking away.

He'd be back.

Bethany left the basket exactly where it was for him to come back and push as she went to snatch down some Chips Ahoy cookies, BBQ chips, boxed brownies, oatmeal cakes, and fudge cookies. She dropped the armful into the basket and went back for sour cream and onion chips and onion dip. When that was in the basket, she just needed ice cream.. and whipped cream.. and cake mix, she'd passed that.

"Bethany stop." Erik reappeared almost causing her to jump. His voice sounded tired. He was holding pasta, rice,  beans, and more vegetables, some of them frozen. "You can't eat all that shit, you gone make yourself sick." He dumped the groceries in the basket pulling out her fudge cookies and brownies.

"Uh uh!" She took them back, sitting them back in the basket. "Don't touch my shit," she whispered.

"Betha-"

"Bethany shit. You don't screen my purchases. I'm grown and last I checked, I could afford to buy my own groceries! Do you run my checkbook?"

"Aight," Erik nodded moving the basket to let a family by. The mother was trying to get at the Apple Juice.

"Aight shit. Do you run my checkbook?"

"Watch your mouth," he warned staring Bethany in the eye. There were two children right beside her.

"Huh? No... You don't! I can buy my own damn groceries."

"Bethany," he warned again, eyes stern as he grabbed the basket pushing it to the next aisle in the opposite direction of the kids.

"Eat my ass," she mumbled grabbing the CranGrape before following. He waited until she got close to whisper in her ear, tryna get her together quickly. Usually it would work, but she was on something else today.

"You ain't finna embarrass me in this store," he whispered in her ear before backing off.

"I haven't begunnnn to embarrass you. I haven't starrrrted. I can really do some shit if that's what you wanna see. I'm just here getting my shit. You ain't eating it, what's the problem? All up in my basket like damn. You good? You Gucci?"

"Oh I'm great," he said chin high. "But you finna be crying if you don't calm the fuck down. I suggest you keep walking and chill the hell out," he whispered.

The audience in the aisle gave Bethany something to prove. He didn't run shit, she did. The store was always crowded, but today people were paying attention and Bethany had the time to prove some shit. Stepping forward, she put her fingertip against Erik's temple pushing his head.

"Don't TELL me to calm down like I'm a child."

His eyes widened again and he refocused his eyes on her face, his expression calm with another strong warning. There was unmistakable fire in his eyes though and she saw it clearly, but said fuck it.

"I'm not your fuckin child," she said mushing his head again.

"You making a scene, stop," he mouthed, lip tightening over his teeth.

"I don't give a damn!"

She quickly dropped a big pineapple and a strawberry soda in the cart so they bounced and fell over and she faced him again.

"..You showing out," he mumbled shaking his head.

She didn't even drink sodas, but he was irritating her so it was the principle.

"Okay? And? You ain't gone do shit," she shrugged. "Yeah you!.. Move out my face and push the damn basket, nigga. Tuh," she scoffed swinging her bundles as she turned.

She didn't get two steps away before there was a smack loud enough for everyone in a five mile radius to hear. The crash of it reverberated off the airwaves, like a balloon pop. It was a pop with its own echo. It made everything around her stop, people frozen in their spots staring at her, watching her closely for her reaction.

Her face was hot. She found herself frozen, eyes wet from the fast tears welling up in them. Within a second, one dropped down her cheek. She was fuming, trembling with shock and humiliation. She wanted to go off on everyone who was watching her but she couldn't yell like she wanted. She couldn't even talk or else her voice would break.

"Keep walking," Erik mouthed pointing firmly to the right.

She wanted to cuss him out, her chest rising and falling fast but when she opened her mouth she squeaked, from holding it all in. Her ass was on fire. He'd really spanked her! She was about to cry cry. Turning on her heels, she abandoned Erik and walked into the next aisle.

"So damn dramatic," he muttered.

Pulling the basket, Erik rolled his eyes and put the sodas back on the shelf along with the brownies and fudge cookies before following after her.

"Put it back," he called when she picked up a jumbo bag of candy.

Bethany stomped and crossed her arms over her chest resigned. She wouldn't talk to him any more today, she didn't care what he said or asked.

Sniffling she followed as he pushed the basket getting everything that was on the list they'd come up with together. The whole reason they'd come was to get what was on the list. She knew, but still. She was grown.

In the frozen food section, she looked at the ice cream and opened the glass door to grab a tub of rocky road.

Erik bumped her out of the way and pushed the door back shut with his shoulder.

"You lactose intolerant. Keep walking," he said, a threat in his eyes.

She started to come back at him, but he raised his hand so she covered her ass with her hands and stomped ahead, followed by the basket.

"Get in the line," Erik nodded to the que of baskets. One was called to a register as he rolled up.

Bethany refused to look at him. Instead, she scowled at the magazines and gum.

He didn't try to talk to her again.

"Next," an old Asian lady called from register 7. Erik wheeled the basket down and started unloading the groceries onto the belt on his own bit by bit as Bethany stood with her arms crossed.

The Asian lady only looked at Bethany once before choosing to ignore her.

Erik filled the conveyer with items and waited for it to move before he finished. The young white boy bagging the groceries was quick and stacked them onto a dolly to push while Erik surrendered his military ID and credit card.

As soon as the sale went through, Bethany rushed out of the store, speedwalking back to the car. It was locked and she had to wait for Erik and the white boy to get there with the groceries. Still fuming, she tapped her foot, the heel of her boot impatiently colliding with the ground.

Erik finally emerged from the store and she rolled her eyes at him. He led the boy to the car and unlocked it when they were close.

Without delay, Bethany opened the passenger door and climbed in, purposely slamming the door. She hoped he was mad about it. She had to sit slowly, gingerly because her ass was still stinging. She was still shaking. Her knee bounced quickly, she was so angry.

She watched through the side mirror as Erik tipped the boy after he'd loaded the groceries in the trunk.

Erik climbed into the driver's seat of the car and didn't look at her nor did he speak to her. He simply started the car and backed out of the space looking left and right.

The radio popped back on playing Soul II Soul's Back to Life, but silence stretched between the two partners as Bethany's tears slipped down her full cheeks.

Erik sighed pulling off of the base and turning onto the highway, still staring forward.

Bethany couldn't believe he was ignoring her now. Did he not hear her crying? Did he not see her? She began to sniffle hard again so that he could hear it, her chest raising as she sniffed.

"Keep crying, I'm a give you a real reason to cry," Erik threatened, irritated.

Bethany swiveled in her seat, shook.

"YOU HIT ME," she shrieked, watery eyes wide.

"I did," he admitted. "You were asking for it."

He spoke so matter of factly that Bethany was stunned speechless. She'd been bratty with this nigga for as long as they'd been together and he'd never spanked her. She was just playful! But then, she'd never gone that far. Frowning, she picked up her jaw quickly. He couldn't do this to her. She was the princess. Who the fuck was he?

"Nigga, not even my daddy has hit me," she stressed.

He sighed deeply, patience near gone.

"Well I'm ya daddy now."

Bethany gaped.

"Sit the fuck in that seat and don't say shit to me until we home. I got something for you since you wanna make a scene."

Bethany groaned and tried to the door handle knowing it was locked. No way would she actually attempt to exit a moving vehicle on the highway, she just needed a way to rebel without making things worse for herself.

"Didn't I say sit-" Erik trailed off.

"I AM! Where I'm a go!"

She knew she was digging herself deeper and didn't know how to stop. Sliding back down in her seat, she crossed her arms and whined, her face in a squished pout.

"I'm on my period," she whimpered. He knew she was PMS'ing, it wasn't her fault.

"You still talking," he mumbled.

She gasped, kissing her teeth. She couldn't do nothing without it making things worse.

"Fuck this," she grumbled under her breath, rolling her eyes.

"You got the right one today babygirl," he scoffed.

"OKAAYY! I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!"

Erik didn't respond. That's when Bethany knew she was about to get it like never before when they got back to their new penthouse. She needed to plan her escape.

All that space.. she made up in her mind then that if he wanted to punish her, he'd have to catch her first. Her pussy started to tingle at the thought. It was so fucked up.

She glanced up at him and his face was still stern. She wondered if he was hard.

Risking a glance at his white pants, it was an affirmative. She could tell by the way he was sitting.

She sat antsy in her seat staring out of the window the rest of the ride.. waiting to get home.

The End.

@muse-of-mbaku @imaginewhoever @goddessofthundathighs @panthergoddessbast @thadelightfulone @misspooh @inlovewithmakeupcomicsanimelove @marvelmaree @youreadthatright @forbeautyandlife @theunsweetenedtruth @bidibidibombaclaat @myboyfriendgiriboy @dameshaemonique @blackpantherimagines   @vikkidc @hidden-treasures21 @mysidefanting @hold-me-like-a-heart-beat @syndrlla97 @winteroflife @thotyana-in-this-hoe   @texasbama @gingerylimonte @princessstevens   @magic-madness-heavensin @wawakanda-btch @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @wakanda-inspired @blackgirloneshots @thegucciwaffle @thiccdaddy-mbaku   @drsunshine97 @purplehairgawdess   @indigoxsummers @cccccx1   @dynastylnoire @iamrheaspeaks @blowmymbackout @fonville-designs @they-call-me-le @theblulife   @raysunshine78 @sheisexcellent

[xtrashmammalstefx]

To Love Thy Enemy (Harry x Reader, The Riot Club) SMUT!

Requested & Inspired by: @xcazzax

WARNING: Smut, swearing, angst

He was vile and cruel to me since the day we met. It was like there was not a single loving bone in his body, and in every moment I was miserable he was happy about it. I never did anything to him to deserve such treatment. And yet here we are…

“I swear once we are out of here I’m going to make sure you and your band of miscreants are expelled!” I snapped at Harry as we tried to endless to open the door to the study at his family’s manor ( a door the other members of the Riot Club had locked from the outside).  “FUCKING HELL HUGO!”

“Forget it they’re long gone by now those twats!” Harry said walking towards the liquor cabinet. 

“What? What are you doing?” I asked.

“I don’t know about you but I need a drink,” he said grabbing a glass.

I sat down by the door and sighed. I should have known better than to believe Harry actually wanted to make peace. I should’ve just ignored the text, and deleted his number (which I had saved from an early group project we had to work on) but I didn’t. And now I’m fucking stuck here with the devil himself.

Suddenly there was a glass full of alcohol being waved in front of my face. I looked up and saw Harry holding a second glass in his other hand. “Might as well since we’re going to be stuck here for quite a while.”

“True,” I said taking the glass from him. “At least getting drunk will help us forget.” Harry sat down beside me.

“Oh I’m not that kind of drunk, love,” he said taking a swig of his drink. “I happen to remember everything that goes on while I’m smashed.”

I took a swig of my own drink and found it was a highly potent whiskey. “Jesus!”

“What? Didn’t expect us to have the best?” Harry asked smirking at me.

“A couple more of these and I think I’m gonna blackout,” I said. “Oh God, I hate to think about what you might do to me then.”

“Jesus woman!” he looked at me disgusted. “As if I’m that ghastly of a man.”

“As if your friends aren’t?”

“Well, I’m not like them now am I?” 

“Could have fooled me,” I muttered taking another sip of my drink. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked. I shook my head. “Come on Y/N tell me. What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“That’s the first time you’ve said my name,” I said. “That’s what I mean.”

He sat back thinking… “Until today I was either bitch, love, a fucking tease, frigid, ice bitch, or a prude. Never, not once, has my name left your lips… until now.”

“I-I’m sorry,” he muttered.”I never meant to hurt you so much. It’s just hard sometimes, being me when the club expects me to be well… like them.”

“It things like that make me hate these kinds of family traditions,” I said. “Who gives a fuck about what your father, your grandfather, or great-great-grandfather did? You should be able to be you.”

“You make it sound easy,” he said.

“Because it is,” I said. “I almost liked you you know?”

“What?”

I nodded. “On our first day at Oxford when we were both lost. Before the asshole, we both came to know took over.” I sighed. “There you were this beautiful man, with a kind heart and warm smile. And I kept thinking… if only this could be the start of a fairytale.”

He was crashing his lips onto mine before I could say another word. I should have pushed away, slapped him in the face, or anything to resist but I couldn’t help but feel as though we’d been waiting for this moment forever. He pulled me in close and a shiver ran down my spine at his touch.

“What sorcery is this?” I whispered my lips still close to his.

“I dunno,” he said pecking my lips with his. “Love at its highest form I suppose.” 

He picked me up then and carried me to the nearby couch. He sat down so that I was straddling him. As we continued to kiss I reached down and started palming him through his trousers. He drew his head back, his closed eyes fluttered with pleasure. I took it as a sign and unzipped his trousers. I popped the button open and reached in wrapping my hand around his length. “JESUS!”

I pumped him as I nipped and sucked on the skin of his neck. He writhed beneath me but I had a feeling it wasn’t in a bad way. After a while, he pulled my hand away. “Keep that up and I’m gonna cum.”

“Isn’t that sort of the point?” I smirked.

“I’d rather be inside you first,” he said pecking me on the lips. I kissed him back before standing up. I lifted my jumper over my head and tossed it aside. As I did Harry smiled and started to unbutton his shirt. 

Soon we were both stark naked and I straddled him again. I lined him up with my entrance and slowly sank down onto him. Both Harry and I moaned at the feeling. He kissed me again and held me tight as I rode him. His lips traveled my body; leaving my lips, going down my neck, and down to my breasts. I moaned loudly as he started playing with them with his tongue.

“Huh-Harry I’m…” I wave washed over me of pure mind-numbing pleasure.

Harry flipped us over, laying me on the couch. He pushed himself inside me and started to thrust. 

“Fuck you feel brilliant love,” he groaned as the tension grew strong within our bodies. I clung to him, toes curling, as I came. Covered in my juices Harry’s thrust grew sloppy until… “FUCK!” He groaned as he erupted inside me. Once he was empty he collapsed beside me, breathless. “You have no idea… how long… I’ve been wanting to do that.”

“I might have some idea,” I said. “God I think that was the best shag I’ve ever had in my life.”

“Really?”

I smiled and curled into him but before we could rest we heard a distant *click*. Harry walked over to the door and turned the knob. It was unlocked. He then looked over at me, smiled, and closed the door. 

We spent the rest of the day and night in there; even going for another round once we regained our strength. I thought things would be different from then on but…

“Hey Harry,” I greeted him the next day as I walked passed him and Dimitri. He only nodded and went back to the conversation they were having. I thought nothing of it but he continued to ignore me when club members were around. 

After a while, I stopped acknowledging him completely. 

Two months passed and I woke up feeling ghastly. After throwing up the previous nights dinner I went to a nearby pharmacy for a bottle of Pepto Bismol (thinking I just ate something that was off). While I was there though something caught my eye. There were boxes of tampons and it was then I realized I hadn’t needed them in almost three months. Panicked all of a sudden I got a pregnancy test along with the Pepto.

When I got back to my room I went to the loo and did my thing. I must have stared at the pink plus sign for hours. 

I’d always wanted kids but with the way Harry had been acting, I doubted he wanted them as well. So I decided to make an appointment the following day after I told him (rubbish human being or not he deserved to know what was happening).  So the next day I walked up to where he and another club member were deep in conversation. “I need to talk to you.”

“Can this wait?” he asked.

“No,” I said. 

He excused himself and followed me as I led us to somewhere private. Once we reached an empty bit of hallway I turned to face him. “I’m pregnant.”

His eyes grew wide. “What?”

“I just wanted you to know,” I said. “I’m making an appointment later to take care of it though.”

“Wait a minute. Take care of it?”

I nodded. “You don’t want it, much less me, and I don’t feel quite comfortable raising it alone while dealing with school, so… “

“Who says I wouldn’t want it? Or you for that matter?”

“Seriously Harry?!” 

“What? We made it together didn’t we? We love each other don’t we?”

“Could have fooled me,” I muttered.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You haven’t spoken to me,” I snapped at him. “Not once since that day. It’s like I was nothing more to you than a moment of fun. Like everything we felt that night was a lie.”

He sighed. “Look I’m sorry. It’s like I told you before it’s hard to be me and the Riot Club’s Harry at the same time.” He sounded desperate. “I’ve wanted nothing more these last couple of months than to be with you.”

“Me too but if you’re going to keep treating me like shite then what’s the damn point?!” I cried. 

“I could quit them,” he said. “I could quit it all for you… in fact…” He took out his phone and ran his fingers along the screen. 

“What are you doing?” 

“As of now I am no longer a member of the Riot Club,” he said shoving his phone in his pocket.  “They’re a poison and I much rather have them as far from my family as possible.”

He pulled me in and wrapped his arms around me. “I’m sorry,” he whispered pecking me on the mouth. “I promised to be good for you and our baby.”

“You sure you want this?”

“More than anything,” he smiled.

Our son was born seven months later and by then Harry and I had our own flat and were happily married. None of the Riot Club members were invited or bothered to speak to Harry after he left, except for Dimitri who remained loyal and even became our son’s Godfather. 

I know one day they’ll come after him but Harry and I will make damn sure it doesn’t happen. 

After all, they are the enemy.

And falling in love with one's enemy is something that only happens once in a blue moon.

I should know.

[enkisstories]

Just like them (part 11)

Gavin’s apartment Still November 18, 2038

When Daniel reached into the cage, the mice scattered into all directions. Given a PL600’s manual dexterity, it would have been easy for the android to catch as many of the tiny critters as he wanted, but he found that his fingers were moving sluggishly.

Why am I hesitating? Each mouse I take is one less to get eaten by Reed’s cat collection!

And that was exactly the problem: The mice Daniel chose would escape that fate. But only those! How should he decide who got to live out their rodent days and who would die? By cuteness? Age? Health status? An automated car would have had no problems making the “correct” decision, but for someone who had himself gotten deemed garbage not worth keeping it wasn’t that easy. After a few more attempts at weighing one tiny white furball against all the rest the deviant realized that it was no use. He just couldn’t do it. Daniel could have saved a few at least, could have made a small change for the better in the world and proven that he was more than trash. But that was deviance for you, it made you more than a computer, but in a way also less. The android was only beginning to learn how real persons were governed by forces far stronger than the acclaimed “free will”. Daniel put down the flour box Gavin had handed him and closed the lid with the breathing holes without having stored any mice in it.

“Finished already?” the detective asked.

“Uh-huh. I think I do not want mice, after all.”

Gavin shrugged noncommittally, because wanting or not wanting pet mice wasn’t something that had a strong opinion about.

“Okay, then.”

So Daniel would leave without mice, no biggie. Gavin having made that offer in the first place, however… What had he been thinking, inviting the android into his flat as if it was a friend?! Just because that thing had made a joke about Connor biting the dust!

“You’re a computer”, Gavin said through clenched teeth. “You store data, solve problems, put people out of job, that kind of thing. So if you’re that great, maybe you can tell me, why do I put up with you?”

Daniel, who himself understood well enough why he felt drawn to the detective, shrugged. It was Gavin’s brutal honesty that made Daniel feel comfortable in the man’s presence. The deviant knew beyond doubt that he was tolerated at best, so no unpleasant surprises of the John Phillips kind would drop on him. Reed not sucking up to Connor the Great and Awesome helped, too. But the other way around Daniel had no clue as to what was motivating Gavin Reed, therefore he could only shrug for a second time.

“I haven’t got the fuggiest idea, but you won’t hear me complain. The more positive human relations I can report to my parole officer, the better. - Coffee before I go?”

Gavin wordlessly slumped down on the loveseat. The cats took that as a signal to disperse and do cat things in the apartment, only the calico kitten jumped onto the small table, from where she watched Gavin with a proud owner’s expression.

Meanwhile Daniel found himself confronted with technology surpassing anything he had ever seen. Some people claimed that tea was a form of art, now Daniel concluded that coffee was a science. Fortunately just like the cats the coffee maker seemed to know what it was supposed to do if only Daniel pushed a few reasonably intimidating buttons in the correct sequence.

Gavin briefly turned his head towards the guest, then stared across the room at the opposite wall again. Eventually he gave a snort. “A machine using a machine…”

“I’m not a machine!” Daniel protested. “If you must get existential, then I am an appliance. And far more advanced than this coffee maker than your kind is different from pigs!”

It’s true, right? I mean, okay, I do not understand this thing, but I understand my own inner working even less. And why would I need to? Of the humans only a small percentage are doctors, either!

“Why don’t you have an android for the housework, by the way?”

“What part of “android hater” did you not compute?”

“Except you aren’t”, Daniel claimed while putting down the coffee. “Captain Allen is an android hater and maybe Anderson, too. I cannot quite place that man yet. You, to the contrary, are a human supremacist. That’s a subtle difference.”

“Whatever.”

A short contest between Sally and Gavin ensued, then the detective folded his hands around the cup and drew it towards his chest. The kitten turned once around itself and when Daniel drew back a chair to sit on, it retreated to the safety of the narrow space between the still heated up coffee machine and the kitchen wall.

Daniel tried lifting his new legs onto the table, but the movement wouldn’t feel natural. Although perfectly capable of executing it, Daniel couldn’t bring himself to recline in this position for long. It was a posture the street-raised detective might find comfortable, but not the distinguished upper middle class butler that was  - or had been - Daniel. So the android took down his feet again and instead slouched forward, placed his arms on the table and put his head on top of them. With a “thud” Gavin’s feet came to rest on table right next to the android’s head.

There was the smell of worn socks and coffee, the subliminal noise of some neighbor’s piano playing and a perpetual layer of cat hair that couldn’t ever get cleaned away completely. And although Daniel was processing all of those things numerically only, in their sum they were saying “home” to him, something he’d never have again. With a sigh from his artificial lungs Daniel closed his eyes and then he forgot where he was and with whom and just savored the moment. Gavin, too, felt uncannily at ease in Daniel’s presence, despite being fully aware of the fact that by now he should be fuming. That android slacking on his kitchen table wasn’t one of the inconsequential background devices, neither was it advanced enough to threaten the detective’s career. To the contrary, the simulation it ran was a mirror of Gavin’s own fears: Losing his comfortable home, getting torn from his family and being told to be of no worth. Cyberlife not only put people out of their jobs, leaving them homeless and depressed, now the deviants were filling this role, too. They were the better unemployed, homeless and depressed. Where did that leave humanity? As museum exhibits? Attractions in a zoological garden? Pets, maybe?!

“So what if I did have an android?” Gavin spoke up again. “It’s just a thing, and mine was an AX400, so nothing to brag about. They took Sophie during the Recall, good riddance I say!”

The detective’s words sharply brought back to mind that he hadn’t kicked Daniel all this time. The android’s head jerked up as the realization struck him: This wasn’t normal! Not at all! Something was afoot!

And indeed while the deviant had been resting his mind for a few precious minutes, his unlikely acquaintance had been hatching a plan.

“Still with me, killer, despite my “dead” android? Okay, listen, I’ve thought of something…”

It was common knowledge that Gavin Reed would do “anything” for a promotion. He was taking advantage of others’ work, refused to help his co-workers in any way and made them look bad to Captain Fowler in creative ways, stopping just short of sabotaging their work. All those efforts were accomplishing next to nothing, because professionally Reed already was one of the DPD’s best detectives with little room to improve. The categories he was failing in hard were personal development and teamwork. So any improvement in these areas would skyrocket Reed’s score and that was where this new android came in!

“…so if Fowler sees me pulling an Anderson by going from android hater to best buddie with one… helping a criminal reform in the process… that would go a long way towards that sweet promotion credit!”

“You know, this could work for me, too. Befriending you of all people is sure to score me my checkmark in Self Control. - But we are not really becoming friends, right? We’re only pretending!”

“You got it!”

Daniel grabbed an empty coffee mug from the counter, filled it with water and then raised it in a toast. Gavin returned the gesture, then the mugs connected and thus the deal was sealed.

They both downed the contents of their cups. It came as a small surprise to Daniel that Gavin didn’t comment on him drinking like a human. Obviously the detective was already aware of the fact that androids occasionally added cooling fluid. What else would he know that the average human saw, but never registered? Too much, probably.

“Okay, Gavin, tell me everything about your wife, kids and the in-laws! Oh, and your parents, are they still acknowledging you?”

“What makes you think I’ve got any of that?”

“You don’t?!” Daniel exclaimed, accompanied by an expression of utter incomprehension.

Until now the deviant had assumed that everyone was living in a family unit consisting of a mother, a father, one or more children and a handful of pets. Even those like the detective, or probably especially those like the detective, given the state humanity was in.

“But you’re ancient!” the deviant cried “Older than most androids have the hope to ever get! Aren’t you lonely? No? Not even a little bit?”

“There’s more to life than raising kiddos.”

“No, there isn’t! A family is the most important thing in the world! That’s why you’ve created us to help you with it! To ensure that nothing goes wrong!”

Daniel’s outburst was met with laughter first, at which the android glared back at the human.

“Heh… that’s cute. You’re… I dunno. Your outcry sounded like something they’d program a PL600 to say, but the way you uttered it? One could almost think you really believe it.”

“So, could one? Good for you! Me, I’m coming to doubt I’m really alive. I’ve broken free from Cyberlife, only to get controlled by strange, invisible crap that is somehow also me.”

“Having one of those days of the month, huh? Need a tampon, maybe?”

“Oh, stuff a sock in it!”

“Well, yes, that would be the low-cost alternative. Also fully sustainable, good for the environment.”

There was a moment of silence, then Gavin laughed out loud at his own joke, while Daniel shook his head, but with a smile. It was a first for him. None of the humans he actually liked had ever shared mirth like that with the android. John and Caroline, in retrospect, had laughed at the android, not with him, around Emma everything had to be kept family-friendly, naturally, with the Rasoya Daniel was performing a polite eggshell dance to not lose their support and if he threw insults at Connor he meant everything he said. Only around Gavin Daniel felt comfortable enough to really let go, because with one who wasn’t a friend and never would be, there was no fear to destroy something.

“I know I’m going to rue asking this, but if a family isn’t what you’re about, then what exactly is your life like?”

“I…”

And that was when the doorbell rang.

“Answer the damn door, So…” Gavin started, then cursed under his breath.

“Sorry, no more Sophie”, Daniel sneered, while the human went to search the sofa for his smartphone. “Good riddance, was it?”

Gavin opened the phone app that would show him the picture the door’s security camera was seeing.

“It’s Tina” he announced, before unlocking the door remotely. “Time to acid test our scheme, my “friend”!”

(To be continued)