#he’s getting a plane later today and so was frustrated that I kept asking questions

[exopelagic]

ohhhh my supervisor is so sick of me

[little-boyyyy-blog]

back to america

jessie fleming x reader

when jessie makes the to move to portland, you were the only thing on her mind. yet still somehow. you make the biggest move of your relationship.

“i missed you.” the brunette girl you had missed so passionately whispered against the soft skin of your neck. your arms going and wrapping over jessie’s shoulders as you kept the door open with your foot.

“i missed you more jay”

there was a few bags behind the girl; knowing the the rest were getting flown out later in time. jessie and you had spent months (years) going back and forth over the idea of her making the move back to the states from west london. she had always fallen homesick, missing being so close to her parents and longtime girlfriend.

even while at ucla; jessie causally saw her family and friends. either making the trip up to london, ontario on school breaks or her family flying down on their long weekends to spend time with their girl. jessie and her family were thick as thieves. and she’d been telling anyone who asked that, that very reason was why she wanted to come back.

but she had also missed you. and she had just started subconsciously thinking of you as family.

but long distance had been extremely hard on you as a pair. and after you secured a job that was somewhere you felt like settling down at; at least for a while. you started not being able to take off nearly as much time as you could while finishing your masters and working a small restaurant job.

so once she did decide on coming back to the states, she wasted no time in coming home. and by that she meant you. and your high rise apartment that she loved dearly.

“there’s never been a longer plane ride a day in my life.”

jessie and you had met in a shared 3rd year kinetics and transport in material engineering class. it was one of the hardest classes you both had to face in the first 3 years at ucla. that was until you both had ended up in a group of 6 for your midterm final.

you had obviously known who jessie was, everyone did at ucla. but you also knew you had no chance at the gorgeous girl; subsequently leading to never letting you set yourself up for failure by even starting a conversation.

keeping your head down and your eyes away from the soccer stars vicinity allowed you to miraculously never end up in a position to gain a further crush on her. for three years at that! but once you were placed in the same group as her for your midterm, there was absolutely no point in trying.

“do you think anyone else is actually going to show up for this?” presley asked, is hands on his hips as he looked out the door. “it’s only 5:51, just sit down and relax”

he turned and squinted his eyes, causing you to crack a laugh from your friend. “i hate you.”

“no you don’t.”

“i showed up?” presley’s friend piped off; looking up from his computer to now watch the door. “we knew you would canonn, thank you for being early.” presley rolled his eyes before looking back out into the hall. “oo! jenny is here!”

“jenny?” you questioned.

“short blonde who sits front row? always has a question no matter the situation or subject?”

“ah jenny..” you mumbled. well let’s hope she’s useful. or at least more useful than you and some good ole google.

as the time ticked on further until 6’o clock; you found yourself letting out a small sigh of relief. as frustrating as it may be to have to carry the weight of one person in a group you couldn’t help but find a positive of jessie not being there. you didn’t have to face her. that gorgeous gorgeous face.

it was a matter of time. you knew you’d have to come face to face with the brunette who didn’t even know you existed; but you had felt a small amount of relief at it not being today.

but even without the girl your group started hitting the ground running; you working on your computer as the others gave you the information to type down onto the shared slides. the group had been mostly focused on creating an easily accessible but slightly complex introduction to a prototype for the project.

“-i am so sorry! is this group 3 for dr. kimmich’s class?” your eyes shot up from your computer, only to lock with your forever-far away crush. you knew your lips parted, no words coming out but parted as you stared at the beautiful girl. “yes it is! glad you could join us!” presley shot up from his seat, is coffee in hand as he quickly made his way to the brunette.

the last open seat was placed directly infront of you, so as presley ushered the girl in. you were shitting bricks.

the group picked up right where it left off. and jessie ended up being more useful than anyone else. she was insanely good at any engineering class it seemed; but you had never seen it first hand until now.

you could have caught many flies with the way your lips stayed parted and your eyes fixated on the soccer player. her hair was in a messy bun, wearing a ucla soccer shirt an a pair of grey sweats. she looked other-worldly.

you loved how bright her smile was and how her eyebrows furrowed inwards when she didn’t completely understand something. presley has landed multiple kicks to your shin, giving you the crazy eyes and mumbling under his breath everytime for you to stop staring.

you never really could.

“come on, let’s get your stuff inside” you pulled away from her embrace, stealing a peck from her lips and pushing her off to the side. stuggling but managing to pick up the few (four) duffle bags off of the ground and bringing them into your apartment.

“you say let’s and then bring them all in yourself”

“don’t want my pretty girl to hurt herself”

pushing through your bedroom door and placing them on the foot of your bed. jessie found her way behind you; wrapping her arms around your torso as you quickly unzipped one of her bags.

you were prepared to unpack her things, wanting to set up home base for her to make her feel more peaceful with the big change. and you shamelessly knew she’d find a way to wrap her arms around you as you did such. you both had spent 100’s of trips doing the small motions; and this one felt better as you knew it would one of the last.

pulling out all of her shirts and shorts as she laid kisses on the inside of your neck; whispering her ‘i miss you’s’ on the soft skin. having to resist your girlfriend as she continued even through your groans and teasing comments about her being a horny boy.

actually; that probably was one of the traits of jessie’s. she could easily be found herself getting lost in your neck any second possible; even in very public settings or terrible timed events.

“mm jess, get some hangers please” you pushed her away from you, you hand pressing against her hip and tapping for her to move. “fine.” she placed another soft kiss to your neck before scurrying off.

a small smile coming across your face as you continued pulling out her clothes. laying out the shirts flat on the bed and unfolding her pants/sweats only to refold them in a way that would make hanging them up on the hangers easier.

“where did your clothes go?” jessie questioned as she came out of the closet, arms filled with hangers.

of course she noticed right away.

“they are packed up” you rolled your eyes at your girlfriend, she had never been known for her abilities to pick up on subtle details. but she had to pick on this one?

“going on a trip? for what? a month?” she joked; sighing deeply as you grabbed the hangers out of her hands and started hanging up her shirts. a small smile coming across your lips as you caught the end of a portland jersey inbetween your fingertips. “more so months.”

portland has always loved their canadians; and jessie was absolutely no exception to that. so when she got the offer, there was absolutely no way she was going to decline it.

and trust, you understood why portland loved canadians so much. just look at yours?!

“baby what’s going on? there’s a lot of things missing?”

you swallowed your heartbeat down, feeling the anxiety of the impending implications coming faster than expected. you had secretly prayed that she wouldn’t have started questioning things until maybe a few days in.

you had cleared out space in your shower caddie for her own products, a little space on your bedside table for her things to take up. you had even set up an extra key ring by your door for her to be able to hang her keys up on; a brand new key to your apartment occupied it currently. one that she didn’t even know existed.

you watched as her head started looking through the room, her eyes going from the closet to you, to the bathroom door, the nightstand, under the bed, and moving to go to your armoire.

you placed your hand on the soft skin of her forearm, drawing her attention back to you; stopping her from moving around the room to see what else is missing.

taking a deep breath before you even looked at the brunette-girl eyes. “i love you jess, i have since our first group project junior year..” her right arm going around your waist, holding you as your hand gripped on the other girls forearm.

“..you’ve chased ever dream you’ve ever wanted and truthfully got them. making them more and your own in the process. you’ve shown me incredible elegance and composure in some of the hardest times of our relationship and i truly don’t see myself living this life with anyone else..” jessie’s grip found its way to somehow thighten; holding you almost flush against her as you stared up into her eyes.

your eyes watered at the look of complete awe she happened to hold in her beautiful face, incomparable to any 7 wonder or model you’ve ever seen. “..you’ve made the biggest move; the riskiest move of your career to come and make us work. and i would hate myself for not at least asking. so. will you move in with me?”

her smile reflected the same one you given her the day you said yes to her when she asked you on your first date. her hands now both coming up to hold your face as she looked at you; as if she was completely infatuated with you now.

“no way did you just ask me that?”

growing slightly shy at her gaze , you feel your own cheeks heat up in the hold of the girls rough palms. one of your own hands coming up and lightly clasping around her left wrist. a small nod coming from you as you felt embarrassment start to creep up. the lack of anwser made your brain run wild. “if you feel like it’s too soon or too much change at one time i completely un-“

“too soon? i tried countless times to have you move to england with me. i had hoped to quietly make myself at home but this is even better.” she shook her head at your self doubt. almost in amazement that you could even imagine something of the sort. “yes y/n. id love to move in with you.”

“really?”

“i can’t believe you’re re asking me that. im absolutely fucking sure.” her lips coming down to silence any response you could think of. and let’s just say those clothes did get folded and hung up. just happened to be the next morning.

[ajaviary]

Hi boo! I wanted to take part in your event if that's okay! I'd like the character(s) to be a surprise and I'm also completely open to poly ships, love them, even! I'm Sunny, She/Her. I'm the good student type, very focused on my studies, determined and ambitious, but as soon as I get out of class, I love the unexpected, the unknown, the adventures. As much as I like planning my far ahead future, I really enjoy not knowing what tomorrow will bring, like buying random plane tickets and leaving on my own without a dime in my pocket. I spend most of my time reading, writing, studying, traveling whenever I can. My love languages would be words of affirmation and physical touch. Tell me if you need more info, thank you so much for this event ❤️

MHA Match up - Touya Todoroki/Dabi X Keigo Tamaki x Reader (College AU)

Summary: You’ve been hitting the books a little too hard lately, studying for finals like your life depended on it and maybe it did. Touya was amazingly helpful, being your study buddy throughout the whole ordeal. It helped that he was a year above you, he had already been there and done that with a lot of the Gen Ed courses you were taking. Keigo was far more relaxed about the finals, preferring not to stress over them, but it was easy for him to say, he picked up on things so easily and his photographic memory did him so many favors. It came in handy in other ways too. While Dabi was your study buddy, Keigo was the one taking care of you both, feeding you, making sure you guys did find your way to your bed after you just couldn’t stay up any longer. You wouldn’t have believed that Keigo’s carefree attitude would rub off on either one of you but now that finals are over the three of you were off on a surprise adventure that was all Dabi’s idea.

Word Count: 3282

A/N: Thank you so much for joining my Fall in Love Event! I hope you like how this has played out! I really love the dynamic between them. Thanks again!

|~|

You place your feet on the dashboard, your bare feet wiggling as you’d removed your sandals, this unplanned road trip was just what you needed after the dreaded finals week was officially over! It couldn’t have ended at a better time. You’d been ready to crawl into bed and sleep the moment you returned to your apartment. Those plans were derailed obviously, but you knew something was up as you’d been heading toward the bus stop, you’d left your car because Touya had dropped you off for your last exam that morning before he headed to work. Keigo had been still asleep in your bed when you both had been getting ready. To be fair, that man had the world's worst sleep schedule.

Warm fingers slid into your own, you stopped walking so quickly that Dabi had almost knocked you off your feet, his low growl in your ear as he curled his arm around your middle to keep you on your feet was well worth his irritation as you turned to look up at him. “I thought you were working!” You exclaim not at all bothered by the fact that a few of the college kids leaving have to weave around you both, but you don’t care. Your attention was all for him.

His fingers squeeze your own a little tighter his own way of telling you he’s not happy about the earphones in your ears, it was one of the reasons you hadn’t heard him call your name when you’d left the Science Building. He’d been waiting to catch you, but he’d just missed you having gotten taught up in a conversation with Tomura and Toga, when they had spotted him waiting for you. Getting the petite blonde to stop talking was nearly impossible. Thus he’d cut her off and told him he’d catch them later as he’d seen you leave through the crowd.

Touya was the one always harping on you about being aware of your surroundings. It was a safety thing, he was just trying to protect you. He knew some horrible things happened on College Campuses and he didn’t want any of those to happen to you, it was one of the reasons usually Keigo or himself would meet you outside your late night classes. It also said that he didn’t want to have an argument about them.

“I took a few days off -” He started but was immediately cut off as your hand raised to press your wrist against his forehead, checking to make sure he wasn’t sick. He looked a little flushed along the cheeks as your warm skin pressed against his forehead reminds him of what his mom used to do, when he was little. You’re much more attractive for worrying about him. Not that he doesn’t think he’s mom was cute, he does, but you're one of the ones he wants to spend the rest of his life with, so it’s different. That was another conversation to be had later, but he’d been working a lot of extra hours lately for something special, something you and Keigo weren’t aware of just why he was doing it, but Keigo knew something was up, that golden boy didn’t miss a damn thing and he was pretty sure he was snooping around his room when he’d been out.

“I’m fine,” he told you seriously, the scowl on his lips made you slid up on your tiptoes and plant a kiss on at the edge of his lips, just to hear him give a low growl as he curled his arm around your back and claim your mouth for a proper kiss, swallowing down your laughter and loving the feeling of your fingers in his hair. Yeah this was exactly where he wanted to be.

“Alright, Alright,” You tell him as you break away. “So why the time off?” The two of you had resumed walking as he led you toward his car. “It’s a surprise,” he told her with a grin, watching your face morph into a pout at the fact that he wasn’t going to tell you. Dabi already slid into the driver's seat by the time you stepped off the curb after shooting a hurried text to Keigo asking him if he knew what the surprise was. His only response was a winking emoji face which only caused you to round on the car to the passenger seat with an irritated huff. You hated being out of the loop when the guys planned things without you. It was a great little bonding time for them as they loved to tease you over what you didn’t know. You got them back though in ways that neither would ever forget.

“Don’t pout Princess,” Dabi told you with a smirk as he shot you a glance as he backed out of the parking spot and began to head toward the apartment you all shared. He wouldn’t be the first to admit the relationship the three of you had was a little odd, roommates turned shared lovers was not something that could easily be explained, but you didn’t need any labels, there was no jealousy in your relationship and things were usually open and relaxed, but today was the exception, it had to be as the surprise was for you and he refused to tell you, he was stubborn like that.

You round on him as he stops at a red light, you’d been shooting a flurry of texts back and forth with Keigo, Dabi knew because he could see the way your thumbs were flying from his peripheral. He expected you to start pestering him with questions so when you didn’t, he let his teeth sink into his lower lip, scraping his teeth over his own lip piercing as his fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He didn’t want to fight with you, but the silent treatment was making him antsy. “Baby,” You ask him, as you lean over the console, your hand pressing the rest of your body toward him, this position gives you too much close contact with placing your lips so close to his ear. “Will you please tell me where we’re going?”

Touya shot you a glance with his bright blue eyes slamming to the light as he waited for it to turn green. It would turn green soon, he was sure of it. “Touya,” you ask softly, he can hear the smile in your voice as you know you’re about to get him to crack. His sigh of defeat is music to your ears as you lean back in your seat with a satisfied grin sliding along your lips. “So -” You start, letting the word drag on, as he rubs his free hand along the side of his neck where your breath had fanned over him, you did that on purpose you knew all his weak spots. “Where are we going?” you ask him again, waiting expectantly. There was no way your plan would fail you.

He had just turned into the parking lot of the apartment and pulled into one of the spots as he shut off the car and pulled his keys from the ignition. “Do you really want to know?” he asked you as he clicked the doors to unlock, he cast you a sideways glance, you didn’t catch the smirk that slid along his lips. “Yes!” You can’t help but exclaim as you throw up your hands as if that’s the most obvious answer. “We are going on a road trip,” he kept this voice as uninterested as possible as he got out of the car and closed the door, able to hear your scream of frustration before you had even opened your door. His laughter that you could hear as he walked away, should not have caused you to smile a little, you were supposed to be mad at him!

He wasn’t running from you, but his long strides were taking him further and further away from you. He let his fingers drag through Keigo’s hair as the other had been loading some bags into his SUV. You guys were taking his vehicle because it was going to be far more comfortable to ride in than his two door Mustang. “She’s all yours Hawkeye,” he told him. Keigo curled his fingers into his shirt and hauled his mouth down to his own for a quick kiss, not about to let him disappear that easily. Dabi let his fingers curl along his shoulder before he pushed away from him. “How pissed is she?” Keigo wondered his gaze darting to where you were still sitting in the passenger seat of the car. “Very,” Dabi told him with a chuckle before he disappeared into the apartment to make sure they weren’t forgetting anything and he had some extra things to pack up away from prying eyes.

Keigo watched you for a moment as you slammed the car door shut, only to stare for a moment at your bag on the floorboard and have to open the car door again to get it out, so your attempt at proving your point was lost. He chuckled to himself, his fingers dragging forward through his blonde locks to fix them, as he came over to you, your bag hanging between your fingers. He took your bag and slung it over his shoulder as he curled his arms around you from behind his chin resting on your shoulder as he nuzzled against your neck. “What’s wrong Songbird?” he asked softly, his voice low and soothing, but he already knew, he knew how much you hated not being in the loop.

“Keigo,” you mutter his name, a soft prayer on your lips as you let your body sink against his own, all solid muscle and comfort. “He’s such an asshole,” you grumble and you can feel the Blonde smirk against your neck as he tilts his head, a single golden eye raising to peer up at you. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he tells you with a chuckle, his fingers digging against your sides and he’s tickling you before you can even truly suck in a breath to comment on his obvious bullshit answer. You’re laughter is filling the apartment parking lot and can do nothing more than wiggling against him, attempting to break free, but it’s half hearted as he drags you back against his chest and after a few more moments of torturing you, he’s stopped with the dragging of his fingers into your sides and they instead stroke along your sides in a tender moment of domestic bliss.

“How was your Exam?” he asks gently, enjoying the feeling of you in his arms. He won’t ever admit that he’s been a little left out given all the time Finals have taken up, but he understands; he’s just feeling lonely. Your fingers move to rest atop his much larger ones and you let your thumbs brush over his knuckles and he presses a kiss against your neck as he waits for your answer, his hip shifting to press against Dabi’s Mustang. “I think it went well, but just glad it’s over you know?” you told him and for a moment you let your head fall back against his chest. “Me too,” he can’t help but agree as he shifts your stance; he presses your back against the car as his mouth claims your own, his tongue sliding along your lower lip and your fingers tighten on his forearms as you feel his tongue enter your mouth.

Some time in between the lazy kisses between you two Touya had returned and he stood leaning over the open driver side door of Keigo’s SUV watching the two of you. Some of his friends wondered how his relationship revolved around two people, one of them another guy no less, some wondered how the three of you got along like you did, many wondered if jealousy would have played a role, the answer was no, not really. It might have been if Keigo wasn’t interested in him too. He knew how lucky he was. The love each of you felt for each other was equal, neither stood above the other as it should be. He might have continued to watch the two of you if it wasn’t for the fact, they did need to get on the road. He enjoyed watching the two of you. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t tease you two a little, better him than your damn nosy neighbors. You know the ones who had their opinions ready to pass out, no matter if you asked for it or not. He just didn’t like to share the two of you with anyone.

He whistled, the sound sharp and clear, one of those wolf whistles and Keigo knows it’s him and he’s also one of the more observant, so he’s very aware of the fact that he’s watching them. “Let’s put on a show for him, wadda ya say?” he murmured in your ear. Your low chuckle is the only answer he gets before your arms curl around his neck and press your lips against his own and he hooks his arms easily along your legs and your legs curl around his waist, but your breaking the kiss and resting your cheek on your arm that’s still curled along his neck over his shoulder as your gaze is on Touya’s lingering form.

You stick your tongue out at Dabi, aware by his scowl as his gaze sweeps the apartment lot, that he doesn’t like the fact that you two are being so chummy in public. He’s such a sucker for keeping you both safe, but his protective nature isn’t something that truly bothers either of you. “Do you know where we’re going?” you ask Keigo as he walks with you easily across the lot toward the car. “Not really, but he’s pretty tight-lipped about where, but he told me to take a few days off work about three weeks ago,” he told you honestly. “Wherever we’re going he wanted it to be a surprise,” he flashed Touya a bright grin as he stuck his tongue out at him as he took his time getting to the SUV. “This sort of adventure isn’t usually his thing, I’d wager this is for you,” he admitted to you softly.

Your fingers press against his shoulders as you lean back in his arms, feeling his other hand travel up higher on your back to accommodate your shift of weight without any sign of discomfort. Your men had no issues carrying you at all. He doesn’t miss the way your eyes fill with guilt and regret for getting so angry with him when Dabi had only been wanting to do something nice for you, to surprise you. He loosened his hold on you and you slid to the ground at the front of his vehicle. His fingers travel along your shoulder before he’s disappearing into the back of the car, your bag safely being stowed away. He’s giving you two a moment to clear the air before the trip. That didn’t mean he wasn’t being nosy about it, the blonde was leaning his elbows on the console from the back seat, his shoulders touching the front seats as he watched you move toward their dark haired Prince.

Touya frowned as you moved around the vehicle and ate up the distance toward him. He couldn’t see your face because the wind had blown your hair in front of your face, but he could see the tension in your shoulders, he caught the tremble of your lower lip. He sucked in a breath your name, a soft question on his lips, his blue eyes concerned. You slid your arms around his waist and he curled his arms around you without needing conscious thought. As your cheek presses against his chest, your ear over his heart listening to its rapid cadence. He can feel your fingers curl along the fabric of his shirt across his toned stomach. “I shouldn’t have gotten so mad earlier.” He closes his eyes with a sigh as his arms tighten around you, before he places a soft kiss on your temple. “You know it’s no big deal,” he says gently, hoping to reassure you and when your hold only tightens, he knew he’d have to go another route to get you to see that it wasn’t a big deal. “I love riling you up,” he can’t help but tease with a sexy chuckle, his fingers traveling up and down your back in light scratching motions. “You’re cute when you're angry,” he can’t help but continue, feeling the way your body tenses against his own. As you shove against his chest and his hold only tightens on you as he claims your mouth with his own, his hand cupping your neck as he bends you back as he deepens the kiss and your fingers curl on the fabric of his jacket.

Keigo shifts his body till he’s half way on the console of the car, he’s just as bad as Touya with watching you both. “As hot as this is we should probably hit the road or we’ll never leave the apartment,” he calls out, as Dabi sets you back on your feet, his palm cupping your cheek, his fingers curling along your neck for a moment over your racing pulse. “I’ll give you a hint (Y/N), you’ve been there before and loved it,” Dabi told you before he directed you into the SUV, you were going to go around, but instead he directs you to the drivers side and you scoot over the console Keigo has vacated and slide into the passenger seat, you look down to see your sandals on the floorboard and you smile softly at the gesture as you change out of your shoes and slip on your comfy sandals and expose your painted toes as you lean back against the seat. “I think I’ll let this be a surprise,” you tell them both watching as Touya starts up the car and you lean your seat back a little more your arm stretching up over the head rest and Keigo laces his fingers with yours from the back and you other hand reaches over to across the console and Touya’s fingers curl with your own as he begins the start of your adventurous trip.

[fific7]

Short Term Loss

Billy Russo x Reader

@omgrachwrites 500 Follower Celebration

Summary: Follows on from That Swept-Back Hair and Velvet (they’re tagged if you want to read). It’s 2 months since Billy got out of hospital. He’s got some memories back, but are they the important ones?

Warnings: Swearing, memory loss, angst/fluff mix.

A/N: well this is really late to the party but here’s part 3, final one. Loosely based on S2 Billy, but this is non-canon and exists only within my personal Punisher AU.

(My GIF)

Your plane touched down at JFK about 30 minutes later than scheduled, and by the time you grabbed an Uber and got home, it was just after midnight.

The trip had been a super busy one, and you were totally shattered. The jet lag was gonna be a bitch. At least it was Saturday tomorrow. Today.

With a sigh of relief, you stepped inside your darkened apartment, dropped your suitcase and bag, kicked off your shoes and headed straight for the sofa. It had your name on it, and you were going to collapse on it for at least half an hour before doing anything else.

You gave a small shriek as a sudden movement from one of the armchairs startled you. Billy’s face came into view in the reflected glow from a streetlight outside, and you noticed he was still wearing his black tactical outfit. He stood up and came over to you, sliding his arms around your waist and kissing your neck, burying his nose in your hair.

“Hey, sorry sweetheart... I didn’t mean to scare you. Dozed off waitin’ for you.”

You stroked his jawline, your fingertips feeling the bristly scruff along it.

“Oh, honey, we agreed we’d meet up tomorrow for lunch.... because my flight was getting in late, and you had a job today.”

His face fell, “Uh, yeah... I... kinda thought we had, but I... wasn’t 100% sure.” Inwardly, you felt sadness wash over you. Absentmindedly, he touched a finger to his largest scar, a frown appearing on his face.

You took hold of his hand, “C’mon you, let’s go and faceplant onto the bed,” starting to lead him through to the bedroom. You heard a chuckle behind you, “Okay... if you say so.”

You began to strip off your wrinkled travelled-in clothes, pulling on one of the oversized Anvil T’s Billy had given you, and which had pretty much replaced your PJ’s for sleeping in.

Billy was down to his boxer briefs and undershirt, and as he pulled the white tank over his head while sitting on the bed, you spotted a big purple-black bruise on his side which hadn’t been there when you left for your trip.

You leant down, fingertips touching it. “Billy? Where’d that come from?” He looked down, his own fingers landing on top of yours.

“Ah, that job today. Some asshole wouldn’t do what I told him to.”

You cupped his face in your hand, “When’re you gonna stop going out on assignments, Billy? You know I worry about you.”

You saw his mouth pull into a line, his eyes looking like black flints as he stared at you. He stood up abruptly, facing you, body tensed, “I’m too fuckin’ tired for this shit right now! If you’re gonna go over it again, maybe I better head to my place.”

He stared at you, waiting for your answer.

You sighed, holding out your hand to him, “You don’t need to do that, Billy. I’m too fucking tired for that shit too.”

He grinned at that, relaxing, taking your hand and sitting on the edge of the bed, where he pulled you to stand between his wide-apart long legs, your hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

He ran his hands up from your waist to cup your breasts, lingering for a moment, then moved them back down to your waist. He looked as tired as you felt.

You ran your fingers through his hair, thinking how glad you were it’d begun to grow back at last, although not yet anywhere near as long as it had been. But there was enough there now for you to attempt small tugs on it, which you were delighted to find still had the same effect on Billy that it ever did.

He suddenly lay back on the bed, burrowing under the covers and pulling you right along with him.

“Billy!” “What?” “I need to....” “You need to lay here with me.”

You laughed. “If I wake up tomorrow with panda eyes, it’s on you. And I will punish you.”

He sighed, grinning at you, and let you go. “Okay, okay, I know when I’m beat! But... don’t be too long.”

After you’d done all the necessary girl things which needed to be done, you hopped back into bed with Billy, switching off the bedside lamp as you lay down next to him.

He gave you a long kiss, then you felt his lips softly trailing kisses down your neck.

“G’night, sweetheart,” whispered against your ear. “Sweet dreams, Billy.” You tucked your head against his chest, sighing in contentment, hearing his steady heartbeat.

Soon, his breathing evened out and you knew he was asleep.

Tired as you were, your mind wouldn’t let you sleep. You thought of Billy’s words to you when you got home; he’d forgotten that the two of you were meeting for lunch the next day, rather than him coming over to your place that night. He’d tried to cover it up, but you knew he’d forgotten.

Your heart ached for him. He’d made a lot of progress over the past couple of months, recovering well physically. Psychologically.. well, that was another thing entirely.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

As you’d anticipated, Billy had an exceptionally hard time dealing with his facial scarring. The scars were much less noticeable than they had been, but he had taken to wearing caps and hoodies to hide behind.

You often found him gazing into a mirror, lip curled in distaste as he stared at his reflection. You’d make a point of sneaking up behind him, arms going round his waist, asking him, “Hey, who’s that handsome guy in the mirror, then?” He’d smile and turn round, kissing you softly, totally aware of what you were trying to do.

Once though, he’d blown up, whirling round and yelling at you, “How can you say that?! Look at me!! This...” pointing to his face, “...is a fuckin’ mess!!”

You had placed your palm on his cheek, and he’d calmed down, laying his hand over yours. “Billy, I told you in the hospital that you’re still handsome, and I meant it. Okay?” He’d looked unconvinced and said in a low voice, “I know you say that, but I just don’t understand why you wanna be with me when I look like this.”

And you’d have to try and tell him why without using the L word, as you two hadn’t got to that stage before the explosion, and now was not the time to mention it.

You kept constantly reassuring him, and slowly he began to accept that you did still want him, especially as you two slept in the same bed when staying over at each other’s places. You held each other, just that, and this one simple thing seemed to bring him comfort.

His memory still had a black hole in it, covering the period between the explosion and his last tour in Afghanistan. The memories seemed to start making their way back into his head from there outwards.

He was struggling a little with his short-term memory too, forgetting or mixing things up, hence the lunch confusion from earlier. While this worried you, he was silently frustrated by it.

He now remembered his discharge from the Marines, and that it was his decision to leave. The word Anvil was hovering just at the edge of his memory, present but not fully formed yet. Billy was back working there, but Frank was temporarily still in charge. He could also remember most of what had happened leading up to the explosion, but not the actual event itself.

Some memories came back as tiny fragmented pieces. He would remember a comment you’d made in the past, or the way you did something. You’d walk into a restaurant or cafe with him, he’d stop walking and talking, and you knew it had sparked a memory for him.

An important sense to him seemed to be that of smell. You’d spritz your perfume, deodorant, or body spray around you and his eyes would close, you’d hear your name being said under his breath.

He was forever sliding his nose against your neck or into your hair as if scenting you, through your perfume or shampoo.

But he still didn’t really know who you were.

He heard all about your shared history from you, of course. He didn’t remember anything except random moments of your six months together, and nothing at all about the years of being ‘friends with benefits’ which preceded that.

Frank and Karen had also answered questions that he was wary of asking you directly; how the two of you had been together, how you’d acted with each other, had you kissed, held hands, wrapped your arms around each other in public? Telling you later what he’d asked, and you’d reinforce what they’d told him through actions as well as words.

You were like two strangers, who’d only just met and were getting to know each other. Everything had been a little awkward between you since Billy got home from the hospital.

From the first night he was back, he’d started making tentative, fumbling attempts to have sex with you. It had taken you aback, as it’d been so unlike the Billy you’d known. You guessed he thought it was what you’d expect from him as your boyfriend, and was trying to keep you happy.

So you’d sat him down after a few days of gently warding off these attempts, and had a long talk with him.

How he literally didn’t know you anymore, and that he’d be relearning everything about you. How, until you were truly and completely back in his head, he really shouldn’t rush to try and be a boyfriend to you.

While he protested that he didn’t want to wait, you could tell that truthfully he was relieved. He was trying his best to be your ‘before’ Billy which had been a strain on him, and you’d felt like he was on edge all the time.

But since your little chat, he’d been a lot more relaxed and had been more easily affectionate, in public and private. This had finally resulted in a full-on kiss just before your most recent trip, initiated by him while Frank and Karen were sitting there with you. In itself that didn’t sound earth-shattering, but to you it was a major step forward, as it meant he was a lot more comfortable around you.

The four of you had been in your regular after-work bar, just chatting, Billy listening a lot as usual, just soaking up the details of the conversation and making an occasional comment, or more often asking a question.

You’d just finished recounting a story of an arm-wrestling match between Frank and Billy at a backyard barbecue one time, where the two of them had been so competitive about it they’d ended up rolling around on the lawn, putting each other in headlocks.

Billy had laughed out loud, leant forward, slid his hand around the back of your neck and passionately kissed you. He’d then sat back and taken a sip of his beer, before noticing three sets of surprised eyes on him. “What?” he’d smirked.

“Don’t mind us, Bill, you just carry right on,” grinned Frank, waving a hand in the air.

Billy had looked at you, eyes sparkling, “Huh. Yeah, might just do that.”

Frank raised an eyebrow at him, smirking.

“What can I say,” Billy shrugged, “haven’t felt much like laughin’ lately, and.... and she makes me laugh,” grinning at you.

You’d felt a blush burning its way onto your face, and you’d looked down with a small smile, feeling shy all of a sudden. Karen reached over and put her hand on your arm, a cheeky grin on her face. You knew she was worried about you still seeing Billy, she was scared you’d get badly hurt.

A few days prior, she’d asked what you’d do if Billy never recovered his memories of you, and started seeing other women because he didn’t feel any real connection to you.

Truthfully at first you’d been hurt and offended by the question, and felt that she wasn’t being very supportive of you. But at the same time, you knew that she was a pragmatic soul and was merely trying to prepare you for the worst case scenario.

After letting this percolate through your brain for a few moments, you’d answered, “Well, obviously I wouldn’t be happy about it, and I guess I’d finish with him.”

She’d nodded, seeming to take some comfort in hearing that you wouldn’t cling on for dear life to a non-existent relationship.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Now, as you lay there listening to Billy’s regular breathing, you thought back to what Karen had said a few days ago, her ‘worst case scenario’.

Honestly, right now you didn’t think Billy had enough confidence in his appearance to approach any other women. You smiled sadly; whoever would’ve thought anyone would ever be able to say that about Billy Russo?

But he was slowly regaining his equilibrium, so how long would it be before he decided he needed to look elsewhere for what you wouldn’t give him? Especially if he still hadn’t recalled your relationship and consequently felt no loyalty to you.

You sighed, and Billy huffed in his sleep; lying still, you held your breath, you didn’t want him to wake up.

He still slept, so you released a breath and let your mind start spinning again.

You wondered to yourself... would you really do what you’d promised Karen you would - give up Billy without a fight? Pride and jealousy might get in the way of that. And why exactly were you lying awake torturing yourself over something which hopefully wouldn’t ever happen?

Eventually your tired mind wound down and down, and you slept too.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy had woken up before your jaded jet-lagged self did, and you’d groggily surfaced to the sound of cupboards opening and closing, and the chink of mugs and plates. He appeared a little while later, two mugs clutched in one big hand, two plates in the other.

He’d made coffee and toast, which was slightly burnt but you didn’t mind that, as he’d slathered on lots of butter, just as you liked it. You pointed at it, “You remembered,” smirking.

“Uhuh,” he said, “I did,” looking pleased with himself, putting everything down on the bedside table and getting back into bed. He slid closer to you, hand going round the back of your neck and pulling you in for a slow kiss. He pulled away, smirking at you then sat back up, grabbed a plate, handing it to you.

“Breakfast in bed,” he said, to which you replied, “Crumbs in bed,” grinning back at him. He laughed and poked your side, “Now that’s just ungrateful!”

The two of you lazed around, eating your breakfast and drinking your coffee, watching the TV news as you did.

Suddenly, Billy put his mug down and rolled on top of you, dark eyes gazing down into yours, his fingers tracing your cheek and jaw. He leant in and kissed you. “I’m startin’ to remember, you know, I really am. I can feel what we had between us.”

You stroked his face gently, feeling the ridges of his scars against your palm. “Are you, Billy? Truly? I confess I’d be very happy if you are.”

He nodded, still gazing at you. Then you felt his fingers at the hem of your t-shirt, moving it up. You shot up, Billy falling back on one shoulder.

“Wait a minute! Were you just saying that so you’d get laid?!”

He put both hands up, palms out, “No!!” Then a guilty look crossed his face, “But I can’t lie, I do wanna get laid.”

“Oh, and I’m the nearest convenient woman, right?”

He sat up, putting his head in his hands. “No!” he yelled, looking over at you, “You’re my girlfriend! We should want each other!”

“But you don’t remember that I’m your girlfriend, Billy!”

You felt tears welling up in your eyes, “You don’t remember.”

He reached for you, and you allowed him to pull you into his arms, kissing your temple. “But I’m tryin’ to, sweetheart, I swear I am.” His dark eyes looked into yours, “Because I want back what we had. I see Frank and Karen together, and I want that too. With you!”

The two of you lay back down, Billy sliding his arms round you, lips next to your ear. “I’ll be here with you till I remember, I’m not going anywhere and... I don’t want anyone else.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Things were a little bit awkward between you for the rest of that day, Billy casting anxious glances at you and periodically repeating much the same thing to you, trying to reassure you. He now knew that you were feeling as insecure as he was, but about a totally different aspect of your relationship. He, deep down, still worried that you no longer truly wanted him due to his scars and continued amnesia.

You were worried that he didn’t want you as he couldn’t really remember you, and would leave you eventually. He’d felt helpless, was trying to make you see that he felt the connection between you, was just trying to fill in the gaps, didn’t want anyone else except you. But he wasn’t sure you believed him.

Karen and Frank had suggested meeting for lunch the next day at a local diner and you’d sent Billy on ahead to meet them, as you’d received a query from your Editor in Chief which you thought you’d better answer sooner rather than later.

As you stepped into the diner 25 minutes late for lunch, you spotted Karen and Frank sitting in a booth but there was no sign of Billy. Your stomach dropped, where was he? Did he forget which diner you were meeting in and was maybe wandering about trying to find you all?

Then your stomach lurched again, but for a different reason. Billy was standing at the far end of the curved diner counter, facing you but tucked out of sight of your other two friends, his head tilted over as he listened to a dark-haired woman speak directly into his ear. Her back was to you so you couldn’t see her face, but suddenly Billy grinned and she moved her hand to cover his, rubbing her thumb over his skin.

You felt rage and jealousy boil up inside you, and you took silent swift steps towards the two of them, catching the tail end of what the woman had been saying, “....so just come to my apartment, and we can have some private sessions, okay?” Your mouth dropped open as you continued walking towards them... what the hell??

Billy caught sight of you heading his way, and his face lit up with a big smile. You couldn’t believe it, this woman was blatantly propositioning him and he was smiling at you?! A murderous scowl on your face, you grabbed the woman’s elbow and swung her towards you. Catching sight of Billy’s astonished face, you then quickly looked at her equally startled face.

Dr Krista Dumont.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

“You!” was the first thing out of your mouth. “Consulting in diners now, are you?”

You’d taken an instant dislike to the good doctor when you found her in Billy’s hospital room without permission, feeling that there was something ‘off’ about her. And now you knew why... private sessions? You’d lay odds on those not consisting of psychotherapy. Or not the kind she was licensed to practise, anyhow.

Looking pointedly at her hand on Billy’s, you continued, “Take your hand off Billy, and take yourself out of here... now.” She opened her mouth to speak, but you cut her off, “And if I find you anywhere near my boyfriend again, especially making offers to give him private sessions!... I’ll have you struck off.”

She drew herself up, trying to regain some dignity, but after taking another look at your furious face, she just high-tailed it out of there instead without saying a word.

Billy had watched this exchange between the two of you in complete confusion, but as you switched your attention to him, you saw that he had the ‘Billy smirk’ on his face. He’d just remembered that he loved it when you got feisty. “What are you smirking at? And...exactly what did that woman say to you?”

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “Well, she said she’d been my psychotherapist in the hospital but didn’t think she’d been allowed long enough to fully rehabilitate me, and wanted me to go to her apartment so we could continue having private sessions.” Looking anxiously at you, he asked, “Would it have been so wrong to go?”

“Oh, Billy,” you sighed, it was breaking your heart how vulnerable this trauma had made him. You took his hand, “Come with me, over to Karen and Frank. I want you to hear from them why it would have been so wrong,” you glanced up at him, “in case you think I’m bullshitting you.” He shook his head, intertwining his fingers with yours. “I’d never think you were doing that.” You in turn shook your head, “It’s better you hear it from them.”

You led him round to the booth where your two friends sat, deep in conversation but immediately looking up as you approached. “Hey! Where were you?” grinned Karen, “we were about to send out a search party!” Frank butted in, “Were you two in the bathroom together?” and wiggled his eyebrows at you both. You punched him lightly on the arm, “No, we weren’t! But I walked in on Billy and an unexpected visitor.”

They both looked puzzled, and as you and Billy slid into the booth, you said, “Dr Dumont.” Karen burst out, “What?!!” and you nodded, “Yeah, exactly. Interesting, huh? Billy... tell them what she said to you.” Looking nervous, Billy repeated what he’d told you earlier and saw amazed looks appear on their faces as he recounted it.

“Wow,” said Karen, “Billy, that is not true. Absolutely not true.” She nodded over at you, telling him you’d declined Dumont’s services in favour of Curtis’ counselling sessions, as everyone had agreed that he’d be more at ease in those. “Yeah, Mask Lady is a piece of work, so we heard,” growled Frank.

“And this just confirms it,” agreed Karen. “Billy, no self-respecting doctor runs ‘private sessions’ from their own apartments.” She fixed him with a hard stare. “You can imagine what one of her sessions would have consisted of, surely?”

Billy’s face flushed red, and he immediately looked at you, “Oh shit! I... uh... I didn’t... I never...” shaking his head back and forth, eyes wide. You put your hand on top of his, “Billy, shush... it’s fine. She tried to take advantage of you. In a really calculated manner.”

You stroked the back of his hand. “You’re still vulnerable, and she must’ve asked you little questions here and there to gauge how much you remembered about your time in hospital. When she’d determined that your memory of it was hazy at best, she spun you that tale of being your doctor. She wasn’t. She tried to be, going behind our backs and starting a session with you, but luckily Frank & I interrupted her when we arrived for a visit.”

Karen tutted, “What a creepy bitch!” You nodded, “You know, I’ve got a good mind to go ahead and report her anyway. She might be pulling this same stunt with other vets!” Frank agreed, “I’ll get Curtis onto it, he’s got so many contacts in that sector he’ll be able to put the word out.”

Billy huffed out a long breath, still shaking his head. “I can’t believe I fell for that.” “Billy - she’s a doctor. People believe doctors,” Karen said. “Yeah, well I’ll be a lot more wary of them now!” he replied.

Then his smirk appeared again, and those dark eyes stared into yours, “On a lighter note...” he said, “while you were verbally beating up Dumont, I remembered that I always loved it when you got feisty. And I remembered that it would mean angry sex for me later on!” And he winked at you, making you blush and give an embarrassed laugh.

Once you’d all eaten and were finishing up your coffees, Billy had sidled up to you and nudged your shoulder with his. “Ready to head for the ranch?” As he asked you this, he took your hand and slid it along his thigh, brushing it sneakily past the large bulge in his jeans, watching your reaction. His eyes had a soft, needy look in them, and suddenly you didn’t feel like keeping him at arm’s length any more. You nodded, and signalled for the bill.

Once outside, Karen corralled you slightly away from the men, who were having a conversation in low voices. She gave you a concerned look, “Are you okay after that little shitshow Dumont put on in there? Honestly, I don’t know how you stopped yourself bitch-slapping that bitch!”

You giggled at her, “With great difficulty, I tell you! I could’ve fucking dropped her where she stood to be honest, but I didn’t think that was a good look. Plus then I would’ve ended up in jail and she’d be free to come sniffing round Billy again. She’s so fucking creepy, Karen! She put her hand right on top of his, stroking it, you know? It was so ... euwwww!”

Karen gaped, “Oh I’d definitely have killed her.”

“Anyway,” you confided, “I think it’s time I lifted the sex ban on Billy.” Karen raised an eyebrow, “Oh.... really? And you’re comfortable with that?”

“Well....” you shrugged, “if Dumont thought it was a good idea...?” you said, voice dripping sarcasm.

Karen burst out laughing. Frank and Billy’s heads swivelled and they smiled at you both, happy to hear laughter after the earlier tension.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Back in the apartment, Billy headed straight for the bedroom, pulling you along by the hand, saying you both needed a siesta. You laughed, “We do?” He nodded, “Definitely. Your feistiness, all the remembering I’ve been doin’, all the sexual tension between us,” he grinned at you.

You laughed, shaking your head at him and started peeling off your clothes. You pulled your sleep t-shirt on over your head, lying down on the bed and sighing as you relaxed into the pillows.

Billy, meanwhile, had now finished stripping off down to his black boxer briefs - a delicious sight to behold, you thought as you lay watching him - and joined you in bed, pulling the covers over both of you. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his chest, kissing your temple before kissing you on the lips with heated passion. He pulled back, rubbing his bristly jaw along your cheekbone before just gazing at you for a long moment.

He sighed, running his hand over your hair, saying, “You know that... while I might still have gaps in my memory, and I’ve been forgettin’ things... you do know that I love you, right?”

You’d been watching his sensual lips moving while he spoke. Now you looked up, startled, into his dark eyes, “I..uh.... no, I didn’t know that, Billy.”

His eyes got wide and glossy, “I really shoulda told you that before all this shit happened.” Overwhelmed by his admission, you laid your face against his chest. You heard his heart, it was beating fast.

He spoke again, in a low voice. “Because I know I felt this then, and I still feel it now. More than ever. You’ve really got my back, haven’t you?” You nodded, “Yeah, Billy.” His arms tightened around you, and you felt soft kisses on your cheek.

“You love me?” he suddenly asked you.

Again, you looked deep into those dark eyes of his, “Yeah, Billy.” He gave a low laugh, “You gonna actually say it to me?” You smiled, “I love you, Russo.”

He gently tilted your face up towards his and kissed you, long, slow and full of love.

“Oh... we’re doing last names, huh?” he smirked, knowing he had one more bombshell to drop.

He leant down, and you felt his breath on your ear as he whispered, “Well, I hope you like ‘Russo’, ‘cause it’s gonna be your last name too, someday soon.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Additional A/N: Yes, not me still with the 🥊 on Dumont!

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

[oikawaplssteponme]

Til Forever Falls Apart

pairing: (timeskip!) Tobio Kageyama x fem! reader

warnings: swearing, breakup, timeskip spoilers

genre: angst, established relationship

word count: ~2k

synopsis: A goodbye you always saw coming and the hello you never expected. He was and is your forever, only you weren’t his.

a/n: did i cry while writing this? most certainly i did not... (that is a lie) i love hurting my own feelings so now im gonna hurt yours. i need to stop writing angst for my favorite characters...reblogs are greatly appreciated! enjoy xx

═════════════════

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do.”

“Yes you do.”

“Y/N-”

“Tobio, this is an amazing opportunity. You can’t just say no to the Japan National Team,” you insisted. Kageyama looked back at his laptop. A frustrated sigh escaped his lips.

“But what about you-”

“Please don’t tell me you’re hesitant because of me?”

Kageyama grabbed your hand.

“We agreed that long distant relationships don’t work.”

“I still stand by that.”

“So if I decide to accept the offer-”

“Then we would have to break up. I know that.”

You had imagined this conversation a million times in your head. But now that it was here, it almost felt surreal. There was no doubt in your mind that Kageyama would play volleyball professionally, he was too talented not to. You knew that all along. From your days in high school to now, you knew there would be a point where the two of you would have to separate, but only for a little while.

“I don’t want to have to choose between us and them.”

“I don’t want you to either. I want you to accept the offer.”

You gently cupped Kageyama’s face, trying your best not to show that your heart was breaking by just looking at him.

“If you stay here, with me, I’ll never forgive you.”

“Come on Y/N-”

“Nope, I’m serious. Kags you’ll be miserable. You’ll pout around here and spend your days thinking ‘oh if only I accepted that offer instead of picking my dumb girlfriend’. You’re gonna see pictures of Hinata and all your friends and wish you were playing on the same court as them instead of watching them on a T.V. screen,” you said. Kageyama let out a soft chuckle.

“You’re not dumb.”

“But you are if you think I’m gonna let you stay here,” you smiled. Kageyama removed your hands from his cheeks, kissing them before holding them in his lap.

“I guess I would be pretty upset...”

“Exactly! Don’t worry, I’m always gonna be here. This opportunity won’t be.”

“What if you meet someone while I’m away? Or I meet someone-”

“If I find someone that makes me happier than you ever did, then that will be a miracle,” you chuckled.

“There’s no way I’d find anyone better than you.”

“So there is no need for us to worry. Besides, while you’re away you should be focused on volleyball, not me.”

Kageyama pulled you towards him, kissing the top of your head.

“I promise when I get back, I’m gonna ask you to be my girlfriend again,” he smiled. You giggled.

“I promise to say yes.”

“Can we stay together until I leave though?” He asked. You nodded.

“Sure Tobio. Break up at the airport?” Kageyama gave you a quick kiss.

“Break up at the airport.”

~

It was a few hours before Kageyama’s flight. The pit in your stomach wouldn’t go away, however you refused to show it. You wouldn’t show how much you were going to miss him, because if you did, you knew that he would stay.

You parked in the garage of the Tokyo Airport and began to help Kageyama with his bags.

“Are you sure you have everything?” You asks.

“I’m sure Y/N.”

Kageyama held his suitcase with one hand, and your hand with his other.

You two walked inside the large building. The whole team would be leaving together. You spotted the large crowd of similar apparel to Kageyama’s.

“Y/N! Kageyama! There you two are!” Hinata greeted the two of you excitedly.

“Hi Shoyo. It’s been a while,” you smiled.

“It really has. Kageyama never shuts up about you though so it feels like I see you all the time!” laughed Shoyo. Kageyama gave him a glare.

“At least I have a girlfriend to talk about,” he teased.

“Had,” you whispered. Kageyama’s eyes widened.

“What?” questioned Hinata. Kageyama shook his head.

“I’ll explain later. We’re supposed to be heading to security now,” he explained. You nodded.

“Right.”

The rest of the players began to wish their farewells to their family and friends. You handed Kageyama his final bag.

“So...”

“So...”

“I’m not entirely sure how to do this,” he admitted. You shrugged.

“I’m not too sure either. I’ve never had to break up with the love of my life before.”

“Come on Y/N don’t say it like that...”

“I’m sorry but it’s true...”

Kageyama didn’t know the right words. How do you break up with the love of your life?

He simply pulled you towards him, into the tightest hug imaginable. You buried your face into his shoulder, gripping onto the fabric of his jacket. You refused to cry. Not here.

“I love you,” he whispered. You gripped onto him a little tighter.

“I love you.”

“Alright, we’ve got a plane to catch!” announced the coach. You broke away from the hug, using all your power as to now bawl your eyes out.

Kageyama kissed your cheek.

“Maybe we should hold back on texting for a bit...just to make this a little easier.”

“Y-Yeah, you’re right. Could you at least text me when you land? Just so I know you’re safe?”

“Sure babe-I mean- Y/N. I will.”

“Thank you.”

“Kageyama! Let’s go!”

Tobio picked up his bags, giving you one final nod, before turning around and joining his team.

“I’ll be here when you get back,” you whispered, however he was already too far ahead to hear you.

You felt a hand pat your back gently.

“Oh Akaashi... did you come to say goodbye to Bokuto?” You asked. He nodded, wiping his glasses.

“Yeah. It’s never easy seeing them leave, is it?”

You sighed.

“Not at all.”

“Are you and Tobio doing long distance?”

“No actually, we just broke up.”

Akaashi’s eyes widened.

“Oh my god I’m sorry-”

“It’s okay. It’s for the best. Anyway, I know that when he gets back, we’ll get back together. He promised.”

Akaashi gave you a quick shoulder hug, letting out a sigh.

“For his and yours sake, I hope he keeps that promise.”

You sat in your car. Alone. You pressed your quivering lips together, shaking your head. You rested your forehead on the steering wheel as your teas dropped to the floor. You felt so empty. So powerless. You knew it would’ve been selfish to ask him to stay, but honestly the soreness in your heart made it seem like being selfish wouldn’t have been so bad. You sobbed in the parking lot, hoping no one would see you. Hopefully you were worried for nothing. That these months would pass with ease. That when you see him again, everything would go back to the way it was. You held onto that hope. You held on for dear life.

~

11 months later

“Yes I know-I can’t talk right now I’m supposed to meet Kags at the airport- yes I’ll call once I’m with him-I’m taking him out for dinner tonight so please don’t call- I mean that in the nicest way- okay bye.”

You hung up your phone call before grabbing your car keys. Today was the day. The day where you would see your beloved Tobio again. Where everything would be whole again.

You parked at the airport, funny enough in the same spot where you had dropped him off those months ago. You were so excited. You hadn’t spoken to Kageyama in months, and now you were finally gonna see him face to face. You could barely contain yourself.

You walked up the stairs to the same spot where you said goodbye the last time. You were glad to be saying hello instead.

“Y/N!” Akaashi waved you over. You smiled.

“Fancy seeing you here,” you teased. Akaashi chuckled.

“They should be here any minute now.”

You stared up at the escalators, waiting for him to appear. You could barely hold still. You had dreamed of this moment. When you would finally see him again, feel him again, kiss him again. You missed him more than anything.

You watched as a smiling Hinata waved from the top of the escalators. You waved back. You looked around for Kageyama. Still no sign of him. As more players began to show up, your heart rate picked up. Ever dark haired figure caught your eye, but none of them were Kageyama.

You soon saw a woman step onto the escalators. You didn’t think twice about it, assuming that she just happened to be on the same flight as them. It wasn’t until you saw Kageyama put his arm around her that your heart dropped to the floor.

It had to be friendly right? Maybe she was an assistant coach. That had to be it. You tried to prepare for the worst.

The Japan players greeted their family and friends, the room swelling up with love and anticipation. You watched as Kageyama and the woman walked closer to you. You kept your eyes on him. He finally spotted you. Kageyama’s face turned as white as snow, as if he had seen a ghost. You watched as he whispered something to the woman, before walking towards you.

“Y-Y/N...wow I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said nervously. You tilted your head.

“You didn’t think I was coming?”

“No no I just-here-” Kageyama gave you a quick, but strange hug. Certainly not the hug you had imagined after not seeing him for so long.

“Kags? What’s going on?” You asked. Kageyama scratched the back of his head.

“Listen Y/N...”

“Everything alright over here?”

The woman who walked out with Kageyama now stood behind him, her hand on his shoulder.

“Kags, what’s going on?” You repeated. Kageyama sighed.

“Y/N this is Mei. Mei, Y/N.”

“It’s nice to meet you-”

“Tobio Kageyama what is going on here?” You asked firmly. Kageyama took a step towards you.

“Y/N just let me explain-”

“Who is this bitch?” You shouted. The airport went silent. Mei scoffed.

“Excuse me but I happen to be his fiancé.”

The next sequence of events happened in slow motion. You walked backwards, stepping on your heart as you moved. You watched as Kageyama reached out for you but you shook him away. You turned around and headed for the parking lot.

“Mei wait here- Y/N WAIT-”

Kageyama chased after you. He stood before you, his hands on your shoulders.

“Look I wanted to tell you but I didn’t know how-”

“Bullshit. Don’t you ever lie to me again Tobio.”

“Please Y/N I didn’t expect this to happen but it just did-”

“Oh of course, you just happened to propose to a girl you’ve known for eleven months even though we dated since out first year of high school!”

“Hey you said that if I meet someone else-”

“Oh I know what I said that day- but I also know what you said! You promised that-”

“Y/N we were broken up! We are broken up! That was it! You didn’t actually think I wouldn’t meet someone else?”

You wiped away your tears forcefully, pushing Kageyama’s hands off of you.

“I did actually, I did think that! I thought that you would’ve waited for me how I waited for you! God, Kags we were perfect! We were supposed to be forever damnit!” You shouted. Kageyama clenched his fists.

“Well maybe our forever fell apart, didn’t it?”

You pressed your lips together, sniffling.

“It certainly did.”

Kageyama looked at you. This time, he was the one holding back any tears.

“I still want you in my life Y/N-”

“No. Absolutely not. You do not get to keep me around anymore. You clearly won’t miss me. You clearly didn’t miss me. I wish you and your blow-up doll over there nothing but the best, I really do-”

“Y/N don’t do this-”

“-I wish you both the forever that we never got. The one that we deserved. I really do.”

You began to walk away, watching as all eyes landed on you and Tobio. You stopped and looked at him once more.

“I guess I’m the miserable one now, aren’t I? Well that’s okay. At least I had the pleasure of loving you, I had the best time falling in love with you. I’ll let you know once I land.”

Kageyama began to walk back to her.

“Goodbye Tobio Kageyama. It was fun while it lasted.”

•

[general taglist: @lealofsblog @iwaisa @bakugousmymassa @evivn1 @tetsoleil @bokutory @vangoghmusings @moonlightaangel @misszenin @marajillana @sopesmin @alaina-rose13 @shotoful @katlingclaw ]

[holidaywishes]

then we‘ll start our life together

  Requested: 👍

  Summary/Request: Freddie starts to spend time with Jackson and keeps pressing to tell him the truth; the secret finally comes out to Fred’s parents; (Y/N) has to make a choice.

  Warning: fluff, maybe a tiny bit of angst but I wouldn’t count on it

  Author’s Note: Can I first say how much I love this GIF? He looks so fucking good, I can’t stand it. He’s smiling, he’s got scruff, the maroon/burgundy hat looks A-MA-ZING on him 🤤 Anyway, moving on. This is the last part of the request that @kayleafs221​​ sent me a while back that started as just a two-parter. We worked on part three together and I think it turned out really well but they really wanted the reader and Freddie together -- they just didn’t know how to write it. Enter: me! As much as I love writing angst, and as well as I think I can write it, I’m a hopeless romantic at heart so a happy ending is always in sight when I’m writing. It’s sort of a long chapter because of everything that needed to be fit in for it to be a happy ending without just... cutting to the happy ending. I hope you enjoy it! Stay Golden, my loves! <3!

  P.S. I'm sorry this took SO long to get out. I started writing it a bunch of times and then things happened around the house that took and held my attention. BUT I'M HERE NOW! It's snowing today when it was +20 yesterday and I've got a bunch of goodies to keep me focused on sitting down and writing. It's like being back in University writing my god damn thesis again 😂😂 ENJOY! By the way, this is the dress I was trying to describe, hopefully it came through!

  masterlist

  the other masterlist

xx

Freddie’s P.O.V

  When you found out Jackson was yours, you felt a lot of things. You were mad that you didn’t get to have those first six years, frustrated that (Y/N) didn’t reach out to you to at least tell you that he was yours, but you were also happy that you were able to see him grow up now. When she asked you if you wanted to finally meet Jackson, you nearly screamed over the phone; like a fangirl

  “Relax!” she laughed, “you can’t say anything. I just told him a friend of mine was in town and we were going to meet him for lunch. He doesn’t know anything okay? And you can’t let on about.. anything”

  “I know. I promise I won’t”

  “Oh another thing,” she added, “wear a hat”

  “A hat?” you scoffed

  “He’s a smart kid and if he sees that you’ve got red hair, he’ll figure it out”

  “Fine, I’ll wear a hat” you teased

  “Thank you.” You were sure that you’d be able to keep yourself together but you had downed two glasses of water before (Y/N) and Jackson even got to the restaurant. When the hostess brought them to the table, your eyes went wide when you saw the little strawberry blonde boy clutching the hand of his mother; a perfect mix of you and her

  “Hey,” (Y/N) greeted with a smile, “Jackson, this is Freddie. Freddie, this is Jackson, my son”

  “Hi Jackson” you smiled, standing up excitedly earning a glare from (Y/N) as the little boy hid behind her legs

  “Sweetheart, can you say hi to Freddie?” she asked

  “Hello” he whispered

  “It’s nice to meet you, little man”

  “Let’s sit down, huh?” (Y/N) smirked, directly Jackson and you back to the chairs, “who’s hungry?”

  “Me!” Jackson exclaimed, earning a laugh from you before you all scanned the menu. You could feel (Y/N) watching the two of you as Jackson started talking about his sports teams, going from Soccer to Baseball to Basketball in one breath, his excitement palpable

  “Have you ever wanted to try Hockey?” you asked

  “I don’t know how to skate” he mumbled

  “We live in California,” (Y/N) scoffed, “there’s not a lot of ice there”

  “There are always rinks” you added, catching her angry glare that you knew meant you were getting dangerously close to exposing the secret she’d tried so hard to keep. “I can always help you learn...”

  “No way! Really?!” he exclaimed, leading your eyes to catch (Y/N) biting her lip insecurely

  “Only if your mom is okay with it. And if it’s something you really want”

  “Mommy, please!” he begged, “it’s the only one I haven’t tried! I wanna try! He can help me, mama!”

  “How about we eat first and then we can figure all that stuff out later?” she laughed and Jackson nodded happily, sitting back in his seat. It wasn't long into the meal that Jackson continued to beg to learn how to skate with you and you could feel (Y/N) become more agitated with you

  "Hey, Jackson," you interrupted his excitement, "what's your favourite snack?"

  "Mmm..." he hummed as he contemplated his answer, "black licorice!" (Y/N) scoffed and shook her head before peeking up at you

  "I don't get it," she replied, "no one actually likes black licorice unless they're like a.. grandma or something"

  "I love black licorice!" you exclaimed

  "You do?!" Jackson asked and you nodded. "SEE MOM! I TOLD YOU I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE!"

  "I know you did, baby" she sighed before Jackson excused himself to go to the bathroom

  "He's so cute" you began to coo

  "You're the only other person I know who actually likes black licorice"

  "Should I not have said that?" you winced

  "I don't know... he could think it's just a miraculous coincidence"

  "Look," you smiled, "it's a Danish thing. We all eat black licorice like it's chocolate. Should we tell him that?"

  "I--" she started, stopping only when he came back, "Hey sweetie! everything go okay?"

  "Yeah, mom.." he sneered

  "One of these days I'm not gonna ask and you're gonna miss it" she joked

  "Yeah right," he scoffed. When you finished the meal, Jackson told you that they were heading downtown to go to the CN Tower before you left, "wanna come?"

  "I don't know... what does your mom think?" you smiled and turned your gaze to (Y/N)

  "Mom thinks it's fine"

  "AND THEN WE CAN GO SKATING!"

  "Jackson..." she sighed, shaking her head while the three of you walked through the streets and made your way downtown to the city’s major tourist attraction. The ride up to the top, to the observation deck, was silent as Jackson got as close to the window as he could to look out at the city, letting you and (Y/N) linger near each other with each passing second. "He likes you" she whispered

  "He's a great kid" you whispered back and she smiled

  "He really is"

  "MOM LOOK!" Jackson pointed out to the city and she walked to him, kneeling down behind him so he could show her what he was seeing. You so wanted to be part of it but you knew you had to wait for her to say that it was time; she looked back at you with a soft smile before dropping her head against her sons shoulder.

xx

  When you and Jackson got back to California, he had so many questions about Freddie

  “Why did we hang out with him all weekend?”

  “Did you date?”

  “Why is he so tall?”

  “Is he gonna teach me how to skate?”

  “When are we gonna see him again?”

  You had to take a deep breath to try to answer his questions, telling him that you two dated a long time ago, that you lost touch and that you might never see him again but that seeing him now was enough.

  “But is he gonna teach me how to skate?” he asked again and you chuckled

  “I can teach you how to skate...” you lied

  “He said he wanted to though!”

  “Jackson.. baby, we’re not close to him. Physically. We can find someone to teach yo—”

  “I WANT HIM TO TEACH ME!” he whined, forcing you to furrow your brow at him

  “Jackson!” you tried to sound stern but your surprise kept creeping in

  “I DON’T KNOW WHY HE CAN’T TEACH ME!!! I WANT HIM TO TEACH ME HOW TO SKATE!”

  “JACKSON CALEB (Y/L/N)!” you yelled, “DO NOT YELL AT ME!”

  “I WANT—”

  “ENOUGH!” you shouted, “you cannot whine and yell and throw a temper tantrum and expect to get what you want. If you really want to learn how to skate, we can find someone but do not try to force me to do exactly what you want” you watched the corners of his mouth shift into a frown before his eyes brimmed with tears. “Baby, I’m sorry. I love that you want him to teach you but he’s so busy and he’s so far away, we can’t do it as easily as you think...”

  “Can’t he come here?” he asked softly

  “Sure he can,” you added, lifting him up onto the couch so you could kneel in front of him, “but it won’t be every day. It would only be when he’s here for work and that means he might not have a lot of spare time...”

  “But if we take lessons here then he’ll be able to see my progress!”

  “Absolutely kiddo!”

  “AWESOME!” he exclaimed, jumping off the couch and running to his room. You were left a bit in shock at the conversation but you could feel the need for Jackson to have a father figure creeping closer and closer. When your phone rang, you slumped onto the couch and answered it

  “Hello” you sighed

  “(Y/N)!! Oh my god!” Amalie greeted happily from the other line

  “Amalie? Hi... what’s going on?”

  “I saw the pictures of your little boy! He looks so much like Freddie. How come you didn’t tell us?!”

  “Hold on... slow down, what are you talking about?”

  “Fred called mom and told her the good news. We’re so excited to have another Andersen!”

  “He told you? About Jackson?”

  “Jackson, oh I love that name!” she cooed

  “I’m sorry, what exactly did he say?” you asked, curious how much Freddie actually said

  “He just called mom gushing about how he spent the whole weekend with his son. When mom stopped screaming with excitement, he said that Jackson,” she giggled as she said his name, “is great at sports but he doesn’t know how to skate yet, which my dad was shocked about” she laughed. “Mom had him on speaker obviously, so we all heard as he was talking to her. He was so excited to tell us about him. But, (Y/N)... why did you keep him from us?”

  “What?”

  “Look, no one else seemed to catch on that he was your son and that you and Fred haven’t seen each other in 6 years? But I did and I don’t get it...”

  “Freddie got traded and he had to hop on a plane and forget everything in California. I didn’t find out I was pregnant for another two months after he left so it wasn’t like I intended to... I thought about reaching out to him so many times but his life was so public and I couldn’t imagine putting my son through all of that without a choice”

  “But he’s Freddie’s son too” she countered and you could only shake your head to yourself. You were tired of explaining this to everyone

  “I know but I needed to protect Jackson above everything. Look, Fred and I discussed all this and we’ve agreed to let him get to know Jackson slowly”

  “And he’s okay with that?” you scoffed

  “He’s a little hesitant, sure, but he agrees that this is what’s best”

  “I just don’t want my big brother to get... cheated out of more time with his son”

  “He won’t”

  “I don’t want him getting hurt”

  “Amalie, I appreciate all of this. Honest, I do, but my job is to protect my son and sometimes that means keeping secrets from people...”

  “I don’t know, that doesn’t seem right”

  “I,” you started, calming your tone as you were starting to get agitated, “I have to go, Amalie. Tell everyone I say hi and I’m sure I’ll be talking with you all soon”

  “Bye!” You were almost fuming at the thought that Freddie went behind your back and told his family about your son

  “Hello” Freddie greeted from the other line

  “WHAT THE HELL FREDDIE?!” you shouted

  “(Y/N), what’s wrong?” he replied, playing dumb

  “You told your family???? I thought we discussed this, Freddie!”

  “I told my — I was excited. It slipped, I’m sorry” you dropped your head to your free hand and shook your head

  "I don't even know what to say right now..."

  "I promise Jackson won't know anything until you're ready"

  "Glad to hear it," you scoffed, "look, just run some of these things by me first. I'm not a huge fan of surprises, I'd like to be prepared if I have to defend myself okay?"

  "I get it, I'm sorry. It won't happen again"

  "Thank you" you smiled to yourself before dropping the topic. His voice calmed you down enough for you to take a deep breath and he spent the next 20 minutes telling you how much fun he had with you and Jackson and how he missed you already; you laughed and told him how much Jackson was pestering you about learning to skate

  "I'm sorry" Freddie said

  "No no!" you smirked, "it's okay, he's so excited. It's adorable. He actually yelled at me when I told him you couldn't teach him"

  "Really?" he asked, a lightness in his tone that brought you back to how the two of you used to be

  "Yeah," you admitted, "he really likes you. I think it's actually gonna be really easy to tell him; honestly, I think he'll be happy about it"

  "I'm happy to hear that," he replied, "so when are we gonna tell him?"

  "Don't push your luck, Mr. Goaltender. It's still gonna take some time" you weren't sure how much time but you knew you weren't ready for the truth to come out yet, no matter how well they were getting along.

xx

Freddie's P.O.V

  After (Y/N) found out that you told your mom, who in turn alerted the entire family, that you had a son, you were sure she'd be too angry to let him spend any more time with you.

  "We finally found him a teacher," she said over the phone, informing you about Jackson's time on the ice, "he's a great guy. Really positive with Jackson, really encouraging. J seems like he's having a lot of fun -- he keeps saying he can't wait to go skating with you"

  "That's great!" you exclaimed, "when will you guys be in Toronto?"

  "We won't," she said simply

  "Oh... I don't understand?"

  "Fred, my job isn't like your job. I can't just fly off to Toronto with my son"

  "Even on the weekends?"

  "Yeah, even on the weekends" she scoffed

  "So, what then? How am I supposed to take him skating and see where he's at with everything? How am I supposed to get to know my son when I can't even see him?"

  "Come here," she blurted out, forcing you to keep silent and take a seat on your couch, "whenever your next game in California is, take some time and come see us. We can meet you somewhere, we'd make that work"

  "I don't think I'd have any free time..." you answered

  "Just tell us when you're in town and we'll make it work. Trust me, okay?" she said and you could hear her smile, "I have to go but I'll text you later"

  "Okay" you sighed as you hung up the phone. You thought about how exactly you could make this work, because you really wanted to make it work, but the schedule was packed; you couldn't see a time for you all to get together. You texted her when you were in L.A. and told her that you had some free time over the weekend if she was okay to meet you there and she was quick to agree. When the three of you finally met up, Jackson excitedly jumped onto the ice to show you his skills and you stood behind the glass with (Y/N) to watch him skate a little before either of you joined him. "Thank you for coming out here," you said and she nudged your shoulder before sitting down on the bench to put on her skates, "I'm serious. I know my schedule's always been a little crazy but I appreciate you at least giving me a chance"

  "You know I can't skate right?" she laughed and you realized that she was struggling to tighten her laces

  "Hold on, stop" you laughed, kneeling in front of her to help her

  "This is a disaster," she scoffed, "I probably should just let you guys skate without me"

  "No way that's happening," he smirked, "it's too late for that"

  "You sure no one is gonna find us here?"

  "I'm sure" you replied, looking up at her before clearing your throat and sitting back on the bench to put your skates on. Her arm grazed yours, eliciting a flush of heat from you

  "You have to tell him you're proud of him," she said, laying her head on your shoulder as she watched her son skate slowly across the ice and you looked at her. You kissed the top of her head and just sat there with her for a while

  "I will" you whispered finally, forcing her to take her head off your shoulder and her eyes met yours as she smiled

  "Good" she whispered, her eyes drifting down to your lips as if she was waiting for you to make a move

  "MOM! FREDDIE!" Jackson yelled, taking the two of you out of the moment you were having

  "And... saved by the kid" you joked, dropping your head, preparing yourself to get up but not before she laid a sweet kiss on your cheek.

xx

  “You know, my dad taught me and my brothers how to skate and how to play hockey,” Freddie explained to Jackson as he helped you up from where you fell, “it’s a family tradition”

  “It is?” Jackson’s little voice asked, leading you and Freddie to smile

  “It is!” he replied

  “So why are you teaching me? Where’s your family?” you dropped your head in defeat

  “Uh, well..” Freddie stammered, looking at you briefly before turning his attention back to the boy

  “Baby, why don’t you skate ahead. Fred’s just gonna keep me from falling but we’ll be right behind you” you said softly while you continued to grip onto Freddie’s arm so you didn’t fall

  “I think it’s time to tell him” he laughed

  “He’s gonna hate me” you admitted, revealing the reason you hadn’t wanted to tell him after all these years

  “He’s not gonna hate you. You’re his mom, he loves you” he scoffed, nudging you with his elbow and you had to clutch onto him so you didn’t fall

  “Freddie!” you exclaimed with a laugh, “ugh. I’m gonna die out here, I’m sure of it”

  “We don’t have to tell him here, we could go out for lunch or ice cream. Go to the malt shop at the beach, anything. I just think we should tell him”

  “What happens when we tell him? What if it never.. what if it just always sucks after that?”

  “I’ll be there with you. Every step of the way. I promise, I won’t leave again”

  “You can’t promise that. Your career pulls you everywhere...”

  “But I won’t ever leave you. You can come with me, I would love nothing more, actually” he stopped and turned to you, holding onto your arms. “Live with me, travel with me. Toronto isn’t by the Pacific Ocean and it’s not always sunny but it’s a great place to be”

  “I don’t know... we’d have to talk to his teachers and make sure we find a school, a good school, where he could start at the beginning. You know, not like in the middle of the year...”

  “We can make that happen” he tried

  “What about his friends?”

  “We’ll make sure they all keep in touch. (Y/N), I want this to work. I want to be part of his life and I’ve always wanted to be with you. You know that, right?” your eyes danced between his as you prepared to answer him before you were interrupted by Jackson calling you

  “We’re coming!” you called back and let Freddie pull you toward him, letting you go when Jackson fell onto his knees

  “Alright it’s okay buddy,” Freddie cooed as you slowly drifted toward them, “you hurt?”

  “No,” he said proudly, “but I fell...”

  “Yeah you did,” Freddie continued, “but that’s okay. Sometimes you fall but you got back up, that’s the important thing” you smiled as you heard the two boys talking, feeling a sudden rush of love you had long since forgotten. “Wanna take a break and get some food?”

  “YEAH!”

  “Mom?” Fred asked, outstretching his hand to you

  “I’ll do anything to get off this ice” you laughed. The three of you made your way to a retro-style Diner, complete with red vinyl booths, and waited to order some food; all the while, Jackson was glaring at Freddie, “Jackson!” you scolded, “it’s not polite to stare like that”

  “Why don’t you take your hat off? Is it like permently glued to your head?” he asked Freddie, tripping up on the word he’d heard you say on occasion, earning a scoff from you and a laugh from Freddie

  “No, it’s not glued to my head” Freddie replied

  “So you should take it off. Manners”

  “You’re right” he added with a smile

  “He’s right” you sighed, anticipating his reaction when he saw Freddie’s hair for the first time. As you expected, Jackson gasped when Freddie took off his hat, as if seeing another person with red hair was this miraculous thing — though you always thought there was more blonde than red to his shade.

  “Your hair is like mine” he smiled and all you could do was wait. How do I tell him? you thought to yourself, stealing glances from Freddie

  “You’ve got your moms hair”

  “She always said that my hair was hers and my dads put in a blender” he laughed

  “I did say that, didn’t I?” you chuckled

  “Mom, is Freddie my dad?” he asked, the words hanging in the air as you tried to catch your breath

  “Uhm,” you started, clearing your throat as you watched Jackson keep his head down and eyes on the table, “what makes you say that, sweetie?”

  “Is he?” he repeated

  "Well, buddy," Freddie started, looking at you before you nodded so he knew he could continue, "yeah. Yeah, I'm your dad..." You both waited for him to react but he just sat there in silence, still not raising his head to meet your eyes

  "Sweetheart?" you whispered, kneeling in front of him, "Jackson, can you look at me?"

  "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly

  "She was just trying to protect you, Jackson" Freddie added, causing Jackson to quickly look up at him

  "You didn't know about me?" he asked again and you were finally able to see the tears roll down his sweet little cheeks

  "I--"

  "Why did you keep me from my daddy?!" Jackson yelled

  "Sweetheart, please, calm down" you tried but it was no use

  "NO!" he stepped back and kicking his chair in frustration, "everyone else gets a dad why not me?!"

  "Jackson!" Freddie tried when he noticed you had practically crumpled in your chair

  "NO!" Jackson repeated as he ran out of the diner

  "I'm so sorry everyone..." Freddie apologized to the group before you made your way outside

  "Jackson..." you whispered when you found him sitting on a bench a few feet from the diner

  "Go away" he cried

  "Baby, I know you're mad," you started, sitting down beside him before he moved away from you, "I loved Freddie, your dad, very much and he loved me the same. We met and, immediately, we clicked -- I always wanted to be around him, I missed him when he was gone and I didn't want him to ever leave when he got back. When he left, I was broken. Nothing really made sense anymore and I couldn't forgive him for leaving me like that. But then you came along and you became the most important thing in my life; you really changed everything" you smiled as he nestled into your side. "You deserve to have a dad, you deserve to know your dad, you're so much like him it's crazy" you chuckled before resting your cheek on Jackson's head. "Freddie's life is complicated. It's very busy but it's also very public; you don't have as much freedom to just... be a kid like you do with just me"

  "Is that why you didn't tell him?"

  "Sort of..." you replied, "I didn't think I'd ever see him again and my heart was so hurt but you are the most important thing in the world to me. I shouldn't have kept him a secret from you, I'm sorry"

  "So what now?" he asked

  "Well... I wanted to talk to you about something," you stammered, "Freddie and I have been getting close again, I still really love him. That kind of love is hard to forget, you’ll realize that one day, but he really wants to spend more time with you but his life is in Toronto..."

  "Yeah?" he said

  "Would you want to move there?" you asked, noticing him perk his head up

  "All of us would be together?" he asked

  "Yes and maybe you'll even get to meet Fred's family. Really get to learn the Andersen family traditions, the right way"

  "YES!" he exclaimed before hugging you tightly. "But mom?" he asked

  "Hmm?"

  "Can we call him dad?" you laughed at his question before nodding in response. You headed back inside to where Freddie was and Jackson jumped into the booth next to him

  "Whoa, hey there! So, I guess everything is okay now?" he laughed

  "We're gonna move to Toronto to live with you!"

  "You are?" he asked, looking at you for confirmation

  "Not right away," you corrected, "we have some stuff to sort out first but yes, eventually we'll be there with you. As a family" Freddie smiled in return at the idea of the three of you being a family

  “Perfect” he said and you couldn’t help yourself; that happy little grin on his face made it near impossible not to want to kiss him, so you leaned over your son and pressed your lips to his before your son tried to pushed the two of you apart

  “EW MOM, DAD, DON’T BE SO GROSS!” he whined and you smiled against Freddie’s lips

  “Dad?” he whispered and you could see the pride cover his face

  “Dad” you whispered back

  “I like the sound of that” he smiled, sitting back in the booth and bringing Jackson into his lap and for the first time in a long time, you could picture your life with Freddie and Jackson.

xx

2 Years Later

  “MY BABY BOY!” Charlotte greeted Jackson outside of the large, stone castle that you were to be marrying Freddie in a few hours

  “GRAMMA C!” he exclaimed, running to her so she could pick him up

  “Hey, Charlotte” you smiled, hugging her when she put down your son

  “Hi, sweetheart,” she said in your ear, “how are you feeling? You ready?”

  “Yeah..” you smiled to yourself, “I’ve never been more ready for anything in my life. Nothing has ever felt so right”

  “Why aren’t you upstairs?” she asked and you laughed

  “Jackson kept running around the castle and I didn’t want him to break anything so I told him that you were on your way and we should head out front to meet you,” you admitted, “so we came out here...”

  “It’s okay to be nervous,” she said, directing you back through the large wooden doors, “but he loves you and you love him and you’ve been waiting for this for a very long time. So have we” she laughed, guiding you back inside so you could get ready; draping your beautiful A-line Chiffon dress with a long train and a plunging neckline with a crystal encrusted v-neck back and buttons trailing your lower spine. You couldn’t help but spinning around to test the move-ability of the dress when Valdemar walked through the door

  “Oh sorry,” he stumbled nervously, “I didn’t mean to interrupt, I’ll ju--”

  “Valdemar, it’s alright,” you laughed, “come on in. I was just testing the dress”

  “You look beautiful” he cooed

  “Thank you” you replied

  “I was told to bring you this,” he said as he handed you an envelope, “it’s from Freddie” you chuckled when you finally looked at the envelope, seeing your soon-to-be husband’s handwriting

  “Thank you, Valdemar. Wait!” you said, stopping him before he left, “I have something for him to” you handed him your note and gave him a kiss on the cheek before he walked out of the room; leaving you in a separate part of the suite than your bridesmaids. As you read his note, all you could think was, I should’ve read this before I got my makeup done

  “Ready?” a voice asked you from across the room and you took a deep breath, turning to find Amalie standing by the door

  “I’m ready.” As you walked down the aisle, you noticed a smile glow brightly on his face and the same one was reciprocated on yours

  “We come now to the words Freddie and (Y/N) want to hear the most today,” the Officiant started, “the words that take them across the threshold from being engaged to being married. A marriage, as most of us understand it, is a voluntary and full commitment. It is made in the deepest sense to the exclusion of all others, and it is entered into with the desire and hope that it will last for life. Before you declare your vows to one another, I want to hear you confirm that it is indeed your intention to be married today. Frederik, do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to (Y/N) in marriage? If so, answer ‘I do.’”

  “I do” Freddie smiled and the Officiant continued

  “(Y/N), do you come here freely and without reservation to give yourself to Frederik in marriage? If so, answer ‘I do.’”

  “I do” you whispered back with a smile

  “Frederik and (Y/N), having heard that it is your intention to be married to each other, I now ask you to declare your marriage vows. Please face each other and hold hands,” the Officiant directed, “Frederik, please repeat after me… I, Frederik, take you, (Y/N) to be my wife”

  “I, Frederik, take you, (Y/N) to be my wife” he repeated

  “I will share my life with yours and build our dreams together” the Officiant continued

  “I will share my life with yours and build our dreams together”

  “Support you through times of trouble and rejoice with you in times of happiness”

  “Support you through times of trouble and rejoice with you in times of happiness”

  “I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty”

  “I promise to give you respect, love and loyalty”

  “This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope and made new every day of our lives“

  “This commitment is made in love, kept in faith, lived in hope, and made new every day of our lives.” It was then your turn to repeat the same vows and then continued with the ring exchange until it was finally time to announce your new relationship

  “I am pleased to present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Andersen!” you smiled before you opened your mouth in surprise and turning to Freddie

  “We’re married!” you replied

  “We are” he returned as the two of you made your way back down the aisle into the castle. The reception was everything you didn’t know you wanted and Freddie got all of his Danish traditions that the two of you had discussed during all the months of planning and it was perfect. You danced all night, you drank too much and sang call and response songs with the guests, you spent most of the night in a pair of fuzzy slippers that Freddie surprised you with and you made sure to get as many pictures with everyone as possible; but the most important thing to you was that Jackson and Freddie were by your side

  “My two beautiful boys. My lovely men. I love you both so much. SO MUCH!” you drunkenly slurred as you kissed each of their cheeks

  “I think it’s time you get some water” Freddie smirked

  “That sounds good”

  “Mom?” Jackson asked as Freddie made his way to the bar to grab you a glass

  “Yeah?” you asked, moving his soft hair behind his ear

  “What happens now?”

  “You really like that question, don’t you?” you laughed, just as Freddie returned with an almost overflowing glass of water

  “Here you go, Elske” he said and kissed your forehead before taking his seat next to you

  “Thank you, husband” you cooed, leaning in for a kiss

  “You’re welcome, wife” he smiled before kissing you softly

  “Baby, to answer your question,” you turned your attention back to Jackson, “what happens now is that we start our life together. As our own little unit, our little family. We’ll go on adventures, you’ll go to more games and we’ll all celebrate the wins together and cope with the losses together. It doesn’t matter because we’ll all be together”

  “Does that sound good?” Freddie asked and Jackson nodded. You directed them out onto the dance floor for one final dance before Charlotte and Ernst had agreed to take Jackson upstairs so he could get some sleep. Guests started to make their way to you to say goodbye and, before long, it was just you and Freddie left alone in the ballroom

  “Hey,” you whispered as his fingers traced along your thigh, “wanna dance?”

  “Yeah” he whispered back before bringing your face to his, kissing you slowly but intensely. You tucked yourself close to his body, letting his heartbeat guide your movements before you were left alone in silence, not realizing everyone had cleared out. “Can you believe that we get to spend the night in a castle?”

  “Can you believe we’re married?” you giggled, your head still resting on his chest

  “I can,” he admitted with a laughed, “I just can’t believe it took us this long”

  “Good things come to those who wait” you teased

  “Yes they do”

  “I love you, husband”

  “I love you, too, wife.”

[cobaincreates]

the fuck is a touron?

warnings: language, smut (wrap it you’re smart), 18+

count: 7k+

hehehehehe ;)

part two!

gif cred

— — —

“i was one hundred percent trying to teach him a lesson, but he’s too stupid to realize that you’re not supposed to lend one of my t-shirts to a random girl. god, he’s so dumb.” liza shook her head in frustration, her thumb absentmindedly scrolling along her phone screen.

“didn’t you guys used to be friends?” you asked, picturing the girl in mind. you could’ve sworn you’d seen liza with her at some point.

liza made a noise and bit her lip. “maybe he’s just trying to get back at me for something. i can’t think of anything i did though.”

“maybe they’re just messing with you. you know, because you did sleep with both of them.” liza made another dismissing noise. you took a sip from a glass she had given you from her kitchen. it was just beyond the doors behind you from where you sat on her massive deck.

you had taken it upon yourself to visit your friend before the last few weeks of summer ended. you’d see her back at school anyways, but she had asked you several times to make the trip out to see her. you’d been enjoying the ocean breeze and the hospitality of liza and her dad. it had only been a few days since you arrived; you hardly thought about leaving.

so far you had been biking around with liza through small sections of her neighborhood. she pointed out a few of her favorite spots, mostly trying to pass the days with you here, but also to make you feel welcome. she had taken you shopping off the island today, which resulted in a thousand more steps recorded on your phone and a new bathing suit to wear. you had also found a little lighthouse souvenir figure that you planned to put somewhere in your room once you got back home. you had dinner at a restaurant that liza said was one of her favorites, then you took the ferry back at sunset and now here you were, sharing a whole box of wine.

you snuggled further into your sweatshirt and pulled a pillow onto your lap. you stared out at the ocean in liza’s backyard and imagined how insane it was that she lived right on the beach. a small fire sat in front of you, warming your legs. liza put her phone down and took a large sip of her wine.

“anyone cute here? think i’d be into some east coast beach boy.” you mentioned, squinting your eyes playfully as you looked over at her.

she shrugged with her head on the back of the couch. “i mean there’s a few i went to school with, but you don’t want to mess with them.”

“how come?”

“they’re practically heartless. they’d totally leave you in the dirt.” she said. “well, sand.”

you snorted. “are you speaking from experience? because if so, i’m more than willing to get into a fight in your honor.”

“shut up.” she laughed. “you don’t want anyone from here, trust me.”

“no, trust me when i tell you that i do. i haven’t gotten laid in months and i’m crawling out of my skin.” you admitted as much as you didn’t want to. it had been a simple thought before getting on the plane to visit and you didn’t think you’d bring it up, but you couldn’t stop thinking about it. even while shopping you were mostly on the prowl. they should’ve had a store to buy a one-night stand. you were on vacation, you deserved to indulge.

“i have so much pent-up frustration. i need someone to sex me right now.” you continued, drinking the rest of the wine just to add to your tipsy rambling.

“jesus.” liza stared at you.

“i don’t want to tell you this but i was literally fantasizing about your dad earlier.”

“ew!”

“i’m sorry!” you laughed. “i mean, he’s single so it’s fair game.”

“absolutely not!” she looked at you like you were crazy, and you couldn’t stop laughing as she got up to get more wine, taking your glass too.

back home, there wasn’t anybody you wanted to sleep with. you didn’t really make any friends in high school that you kept into college and it was hard when most of your friends lived in different states. sure, there were apps for hookups and for you to meet new people around you, but you had a thing about technology tracking that made your skin crawl.

liza came back less disgusted with you, handing you your glass. you sipped on it and stared at the fire, not feeling tired in the slightest from how much you walked. beside you, liza picked up her phone again and scrolled, tapped.

“i don’t know why i’m doing this, but there is someone i might be able to set you up with.” she said minutes later.

you perked up with optimism and shifted on the couch. “mhm, give me more.”

“his name’s topper.” she said, her phone illuminating her face with a white light.

���you’re kidding.” you deadpanned, your eyebrows furrowing. you figured she was joking, slipping in a harmless pun.

“i’m not.” she bit her lips together, glancing at you to gauge your reaction.

“what kind of name is that?”

“could not tell you, but he’s super chill and i’m pretty sure he’s newly single.” she said, tapping a few times on her phone’s screen. “he was dating someone from his college for months, but i think they broke up since he doesn’t post pictures with her anymore.”

“i just want to fuck him. what does he look like?”

liza tapped a few more times before shining her phone at you. you squinted from the brightness before your eyes adjusted, took in the photo she was showing you. he was in front of a sunset and you could faintly pick out the dirty blonde locks. liza picked a different one that gave you a better view of him.

you let out a delighted hum, smiling slightly. “he looks like an asshole, but fun.”

“i have his number,” she said, turning the phone back to herself. you leaned your side into the couch, readjusting to keep the warmth. the fire cracked as one of the logs shifted.

“text him.” you prompted liza and scooted closer to her to watch her type on her phone. she found his contact and moved her thumbs along the screen.

hey so weird question but would u be interested in hooking up w/ my friend?

the friend in question is not me i swear

“smooth,” you said as she sent the texts.

“i can’t believe i’m helping you with this.” she locked her phone and dropped it into her lap. you shrugged and sipped from the glass, staring into the fire.

you slipped into a regular conversation with liza while she waited for a text. you weren’t giddy for a reply or asking her to check every ten seconds. it didn’t really matter that much to you if you didn’t hookup with anyone or not, you just thought you’d put it out there.

liza had you cracking up, bent over the couch and nearly falling to the floor when her father came outside onto the porch. you settled as you looked up at him, listening to him ask you both if you were doing okay and needed anything. liza was quick to shut his offer down when you gave her a look, jokingly wiggling your eyebrows at her. her dad noticed, looking between you two as you belted out laughing again, this time landing on the wooden deck. liza tried to keep her laughter in, telling her dad that you were fine and that you both were just a little drunk. he nodded and left you two alone.

“god, you suck.” she said once he was out of earshot.

you were now crying from laughter as you sat up. you wiped your eyes and climbed up onto the sofa, taking your glass from the floor. “i’m glad you invited me,” you giggled as you pulled the pillow back onto your lap. you both continued to shake with the aftershock of amusement.

“he texted me.” liza said suddenly as her phone was back in her hands.

“and?” you asked, leaning your side against the cushions. you propped your elbow on top of them and held your head against your hand.

“all he said was ‘pic’.”

“send him one.”

“okay.” she said and turned toward you, opening her camera on her phone.

“should i pose? how does my hair look?” you asked, brushing the back of it just in case it had gotten messy from falling to the floor.

“do something before i send a blurry one.” liza commanded.

you put your hand back against the side of your face and smiled lightly. liza took the photo without the flash, the fire bright enough. she set her phone down again and hit send as you watched her thumb. you watched her screen for a second then looked away, tilting the glass against your lips.

“he said ‘give her my number’.”

“fuck yes.” you said. you reached behind you for your phone, feeling around for a couple seconds before finding it. “okay, what is it?”

liza read his number aloud as you typed it in. you opened your camera and took a selfie, holding the wine glass to your lips and crossing your eyes. you typed, hiii, and hit send.

after having not touched your phone in the past few hours, you moved out of the conversation with him and replied back to a few of your friends. it wasn’t long before he texted back. you opened the message to find a photo sent back to you, tapping on it with an intrigued smile. he took his own selfie, balancing a beer bottle on his head with his own fire lighting up his face in an orange glow. you saw someone’s back behind him, your eyes trailing down to the drawstrings against his chest at the bottom of the photo.

impressive, you sent.

what’s your name?

y/n! what kind of name is topper?

rich people

thought so, you joked. are you sporting salmon shorts and sperry’s with that sweatshirt?

liza was in her own world as you texted topper. you glanced at her, finding her glass propped on her chest so she could slowly sip it. she was texting like a speed racer.

you looked back down at topper’s new message and laughed.

gray sweats and sandals

socks?

no

thank god

you watched the bubbles pop up almost immediately. they disappeared with no message then came back.

liza said u wanted to hook up?

you weren’t sure what to say back. your thumbs floated above your screen for several seconds before you decided just to be honest with him. what’s the worst that could happen?

long story short i’m needy & haven’t been laid in a while

you down?

sure when’s good for you?

“i’m going to get some ice cream.” liza said as she moved off the couch, throwing her phone down on the cushions. “you want any?”

“sure.” you said before typing.

think we’re going to the beach tomorrow so how about sometime in the afternoon? i’ll text you

sounds good, looking forward to it

“oh my god.” you said loudly, dropping your phone.

“what?” liza called from the open door. you could hear her clinking around the kitchen.

“he just sent an eggplant emoji.”

suddenly the clinking of dishes was drowned out as she laughed louder than before. you covered your face and laughed too.

—

the next morning you woke up already feeling too warm. you winced as you felt the heat radiating through your body and you peeled your eyes open. you were still on the couch outside and the sun was happily beating down on the deck. you moaned and pulled a pillow over your head. you remembered that you had finished the boxed wine with liza last night along with ice cream and decided to just sleep outside. with the alcohol and walking, your legs were not prepared to function that late at night.

you lay there for a few minutes until liza’s foot appeared and knocked right into your nose. you flinched and held it as it throbbed, sitting up to throw the pillow at her.

she jerked awake and grimaced at you and the sun. “what?”

“you just kicked me.” you said nasally. you sniffed and checked your nose as it continued to pulse. liza yawned, stretching and sitting up to look around like she forgot where she was.

“today’s going to be a good beach day if it’s this fucking hot.” she grumbled. her hair was wild atop her head, sticking out in every direction. she looked over at you as she yawned again. “breakfast and then beach?”

you nodded, your hand back in your lap as the throbbing subsided. you picked up your dirty dishes and phone and followed liza inside to eat. her dad was already cooking when you two came inside and your mouth watered at the sight of food on the counter. he provided a whole display of drinks, fruit, bread, and eggs that had you contemplating about never leaving.

liza told her dad of your plans for the day while you ate. you kept quiet as you cleared your plate, normally taking at least an hour to fully wake up in the morning. liza seemed almost too chipper in the mornings from what you witnessed. once you finished up and put your plate in the sink at liza’s dad’s request, you went to her room to fish out your new bathing suit. you changed in the bathroom and brushed your teeth along with the rest of your morning routine. you pulled on a t-shirt and shorts over your suit and tied your hair up just as liza knocked to see if you were done.

thirty minutes later, you were on your way to the beach. you held liza’s tote bag in your lap, full of snacks, waters, a speaker to connect to her phone, and towels. you were anticipating the beach, wanting to just run into the water and swim all day.

which is what you did for the next few hours. you munched on some pretzels, drank a ton of water that you had to pee several times, listened to music, and laid out in the sun. you soaked up more sunscreen than you could imagine, reapplying at least ten times. the water felt good whenever you swam to the sandbar with liza and back to the shore.

liza was on her stomach now, her hair still damp. she closed her eyes against the sun while you sat beside her and people-watched.

“when are you going to text topper?” she mumbled against her arm.

you watched an elderly couple read their respective books while sitting beside each other in folding chairs. they sat under a green umbrella, the one reading a james patterson novel with their toes poking out of the sand and the other reading a paperback of some sort with the cover twisted back and wearing a large sun hat.

“i guess i could text him now.” you said, hearing her question.

“i’ll probably head out whenever he gets here. let you two be alone.” she drawled.

you shoved at her shoulder and reached for your phone. you found topper’s conversation and typed quickly to tell him which beach you were at.

you want me to head over there?

you weren’t expecting him to text right away, but you replied back just as quickly.

yes

you put your phone back down under your shirt and lay on your stomach so you could keep an eye out for him. you looked at where the parking lot was, a large area of gravel and tall grass. people were pouring in and out of the beach, little kids in thick foam flip flops kicking up sand while older adults with mass amounts of luggage followed after them.

liza sat up, looking in the same direction and drinking from her water bottle. you flipped over onto your back and closed your eyes, listening to the crunch of sand, the distant chatter, the hush of waves.

“that’s him.” liza said beside you. you couldn’t tell how long it had been. you leaned up onto your elbows and looked behind you, seeing topper walking down the small crest in a white t-shirt and bathing suit bottoms.

“do i look okay?” you asked her as she watched him under her sunglasses. her head turned to you and you didn’t need her glasses off her face to know the look she was giving you.

“i don’t think you should be worrying about that if you’re just going to end up taking your clothes off in front of him.”

“just say yes and move on.” you said, exasperated.

liza laughed to herself and lifted her hand to wave topper over. you watched as he put his phone back into his pocket, lowering his gaze to his sandals as he walked along the sand. you pushed yourself to stand with liza, trying your best to not fix your appearance.

“hey,” liza said easily as topper came closer.

“hey, how’s it going?”

“good. this is y/n, as you already know.” liza gestured to you.

“hi,” you said and gave an awkward wave. it was only awkward with liza there, but you knew she’d be leaving shortly.

“hey.” he said and slipped his hands into his pockets.

it made you smile when you saw his eyes traveling over you for a split second. liza saw it too. you let your own eyes wander as liza said something; you weren’t paying attention to listen. 

“well, i’m going to head out.” liza said as she bent to roll up her towel. you crossed your arms loosely as you watched her. she picked up her bag and turned to you. “let me know if you need me to pick you up.”

you gave her a nod and watched her take a few steps. she turned slightly to point at topper. “be nice to her.” she warned, making you laugh like she was a parent trying to threaten a boy.

once she was out of sight, you sat down on half of the towel so topper could have the other side. he followed you, propping his legs in front of him as you stretched yours out.

“so, are you just here for the weekend?” topper asked after a few moments. you were trying not to let it become awkward, but he had beaten you to it.

“until next saturday.” you said, glancing at him as you leaned back on your hands. you could feel a shell under your palm, so you moved it to a different spot. “liza wanted me to visit before we go back to school.”

topper nodded, his elbows atop his knees. he glanced at a beach ball rolling by, a little kid chasing after it. “are you guys close?”

“you could say that. you went to high school together?”

“yeah, we kind of had the same friends so we hung out at the same places.”

you hummed as you looked toward the shore. you saw a couple kites over the water, their tails whipping in the wind. “it’s nice here.”

“yeah, kitty hawk is nice. i like to paddle board over at kill devil hills.” you turned your eyes to him, finding him already looking at you.

you smiled lightly and squinted at him. “i’ve never been paddle boarding.”

“really? it’s fun. what about surfing?”

“i tried, but i split my lip. i’m sure if i tried again i’d get the hang of it.”

topper nodded with an identical smile, looking at you a little longer. ten seconds later, your heart lurched as topper reached back and took his shirt off. you glanced away with a slight blush, an inkling of a thought about public sex creeping into your mind. topper then stood and reached a hand to you.

“come on, come in the water with me.” he promoted. you felt your heart settle as you took his hand and he pulled you up.

you spent the next fifteen minutes in the water. you glided your hands along the surface as the waves rolled and topper talked animatedly with you. you were enjoying this part as much as you didn’t want to admit, seeing as that all you were looking for was a hookup. but he was so talkative and curious and hardly ever broke the eye contact. you played with the sand under your feet while he dunked himself under the surface then wiped a hand over his face.

when you got out and dried yourself off with liza’s towel, you wiped your face and looked over the soft fibers at topper. you held the towel out to him, dripping onto the sand. you were partially dry for now and itching under your skin. you looked away as he dried himself off but found yourself looking back as he bent over to wipe down his legs. when he stood tall again, you couldn’t help the way your eyes lingered over his glistening stomach, admiring.

“can we get out of here?” you asked.

topper nodded and handed you the towel. he took it back from you after pulling his shirt on so you could do the same. your bottoms were still wet so you left your shorts off for the time being and grabbed the rest of your things. topper fiddled with his keys, brushing the sand off them as he led you to the car lot. the gravel poked at your bare feet, some pebbles sharp enough to make you wince, but you endured it the whole way to a jeep that topper brought you to. it unlocked with a beep and before you climbed in, you put the towel over the seat and brushed your feet off, not wanting to track sand, dirt, or rocks into his shiny vehicle. it felt too high up for you, like you were sitting on the roof rather than inside it, but you closed the door gently.

—

“oh...wow.”

it kind of looked like a forty-year-old woman threw up. and it was all over the house. every room seemed overly decorated, a bunch of different script fonts with those cheesy sayings plastered everywhere. the house had high ceilings and the paint was pristine. it was very bright due to all of the windows and you wondered if there were any dark spots at all inside the house.

even topper’s room had a hint of a forty-year-old woman in it when you walked in.

“i think your mom went overboard at pottery barn.” you joked. “your dad couldn’t monitor her credit card uses?”

topper closed the door behind you as you wandered in, hands clasped gently in front of you. he tossed his keys onto a dark dresser beside the entryway and paused there at your remark.

“i don’t know my dad.” he said.

you turned then from staring at the light blue walls adorned with framed potted plant prints. “oh.” you said, your stomach aching like you’d been kicked. you knew it wasn’t exactly the nicest thing to say, no matter how you said it. normally you could get away with saying things like that, but you had to remind yourself that you didn’t know topper.

“my dad has a habit of canceling a lot of my mom’s outstanding online purchases so i just thought— i’m sorry.” you shifted on your feet, moving your hands to your sides.

topper only shrugged as you went back to scoping out the room. you tapped your thighs awkwardly as a discarded pair of socks seemed pretty interesting to you. when you looked back at topper, you relaxed since he didn’t come off as uncomfortable. you decided to just forget it and push it out of your head as you crossed your arms and reached for the hem of your shirt.

you left it somewhere on the floor before taking a few timid steps to topper. he stayed where he was against the dresser, watching you closely as you came to him. you leaned in close, bringing your hand to the back of his neck while his hands fell easily to your hips. glancing over his features quickly and landing on his mouth, you smiled softly and asked, “is this okay?”

the tension left your body as topper nodded, staring at your own mouth, before you finally gave him a kiss. another had him opening his mouth wider, and another was a little deeper. you smiled against him.

“what?” he asked, his fingertips poking at your sides, his face close.

“i can taste your toothpaste.”

topper’s cheeks tinged a light pink and he pulled you closer against his body, licking into the next kiss and surprising you. you moaned delightedly and brushed your fingers into his damp hair.

you let your hands wander down his neck, shoulders, and chest. he felt firm in all of those places and his shirt soft. you enjoyed the touch of his hands on your face, exploring a new territory, and holding you close. every cell in your body was cheering with delight, like you’d just chugged a liter of water after a sweltering day. a slight buzz started under your fingertips as a familiar tingling grew in your bathing suit bottoms. every touch had you anticipating the end result.

topper’s skin was warm and taut as you slipped a hand under his shirt and played with the waistband of his bottoms. his tongue was fighting with yours while you were fighting with yourself about whether or not to take his shirt or bottoms off first. you couldn’t decide if you wanted to get it over with or to build up to finally having him inside of you. a moan slipped out at the thought. your finger hooked between his lower stomach and his bottoms when he pulled away abruptly at your noise and reached behind him to tug the shirt off.

as it fell to the floor, his hands returned to your hips to tug you flush against him. you could slightly feel him through his bottoms, the want to stick your hand inside now greater than ever. but he had a tight grip on your hips that showed no signs of letting up.

your breath was heavy with his as he turned the both of you so you were the one pressed against the dresser now. his hips brushed into yours slowly as the edge of the dresser dug into your lower back and you let your head fall as another moan came out.

“shit.” you whispered to yourself, your eyes closing at how good it felt. something so subtle that had your knees growing weak.

topper dragged a hand up to your jaw and pulled your lips back to his as he rolled his hips, this time a little firmer. to only add to the pleasure you were feeling, his hand slipped down to your chest where he groped you gently. he massaged a few strokes as you licked at his lip, begging for entrance. he granted it while he fingers flexed over your breast. you gladly let them wander to your back where he pulled at the strings, the damp silky fabric peeling off like those fake tattoo papers you put on when you were younger.

you pushed your now bare chest against topper’s, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and rubbing the heel of your foot into his calf. he turned you around, his hands rubbing down to your ass as he moved to the bed. you crawled backwards at the same pace he crawled over you, faces still close that you could feel his breath growing heavy.

“stop teasing.” you said through clenched teeth as topper nipped at your neck and rolled his hips into yours.

“where’s the fun in that?” he smiled to himself as he skimmed his nose along your neck.

you wanted to kick him, but instead you settled for pulling him back against your lips while letting your hand rest on his shorts again. his hips seemed to sink lower to you at the feeling and you hadn’t even touched him yet.

your ears perked up at a small noise from somewhere while topper went unfazed and slipped his tongue back into your mouth. you ignored the small disruption and focused on him and your hand, now creeping your fingers along his abdomen. just as you barely got a knuckle deep into his bottoms a sliding door opened and banged. topper must’ve been so lost in where your hand was going that he still didn’t move away from you.

“did you hear that?” you pulled away.

“what?” he breathed.

a chorus of shouts and hollers came through the closed bedroom door. topper stilled and closed his eyes. “fuck,” he said before he pushed himself up and crawled away from you.

your eyebrows furrowed as you watched him get a footing and leave the room. you stared at the open door, partially annoyed at the interruption and the fact that you were left; naked.

groaning, you got up and pulled on your shirt again so you could follow topper. you went down the hall and found him in what you assumed to be the living room, a large tv on one wall and a white couch placed in front of it. the sliding door you heard led out onto a large deck, where you saw a group of guys all standing. topper’s bare back was facing you as he was in the middle of talking to someone, his shoulders tense.

the moment you stepped on the threshold, your bare feet against the cool metal, all eyes were on you. the guy topper had been talking to looked over his shoulder, instant curiosity on already stimulated features. he had topper’s hand in his, his opposite on his shoulder like he was giving him a pep talk.

“who’s this?” he asked, a sick smile appearing like you’d drop down onto your knees in front of him.

you grimaced very noticeably and spoke for yourself. “someone who’s trying to get laid. who the hell are you?”

a few low whistles rang out and you sent glares to the guys behind the one you were originally looking at. topper looked at you over his shoulder and gave you an apologetic look. you were glad he didn’t ask you to leave or wait for him, because you would’ve gladly left. you were starting to feel the irritation bubble and soon you would be leaving.

“got yourself a nice touron, huh, top?” the friend said, his arm looping around topper’s shoulders as he jostled him. his eyes were blown wide and not just from surprise. you grimaced deeper. they all looked like entitled, pretentious asshats and you were starting not to want anything to do with them. liza was totally right.

“rafe, come on, just leave. i’ll text you later.” topper was saying while you seethed at the door.

“don’t be pussy-whipped, topper. just drop the bitch and come try my new stash.”

“excuse me?” you pushed yourself off the doorway and stepped onto the warm deck. topper stopped you, turning out of rafe’s arm to plant his hands on your shoulders.

“woah, woah,” topper said as you sent daggers at his friend. he just laughed cockily at you and rubbed his chin. “can i text you later?”

your eyes snapped to topper’s pensive face in front of you. “are you kidding?” his hands dropped like you singed him. “don’t even bother.”

topper opened his mouth to call after you as you turned and walked away into the house. you shook your head to yourself and muttered as if anyone was listening. you should’ve known better or you should’ve expected less than for someone to put your needs before their own, much less a total stranger.

you wanted to slam a door behind you in annoyance as you went back to topper’s room to get your shoes. you also wanted to yell in frustration when you remembered your phone was still in his truck; you had wanted zero distractions. his keys were atop his dresser and you debated for a second whether or not to take them— you’d just be getting your things and liza’s towel.

just as you snatched your shoes and bathing suit top from the floor, topper slid into the room behind you and blocked the door. “please don’t leave,” he said quickly.

“unlock your car so i can get my stuff.”

“come on, please stay. i want you to stay.” he took a step closer to you, his pleading expression prominent.

“i don’t want to be here with your shitty friends pretending that we might get along when one of them just called me a bitch for no reason.” you countered and took a step to get by him, only to be caught around the waist. he turned you gently, his expression still the same.

“they’re leaving right now, i swear.”

“i don’t believe you.”

“i swear!” he pleaded. “you can go look yourself or you can take my word for it and we can pick up where we left off.”

you held your steely glare, trying not to show that you were reconsidering. you just really wanted to get laid and the situation only added to that frustration.

instead of smacking him with a sandal, you dropped everything in a heap and attached yourself to him again. his fingers worked quickly to pull your shirt back off, running along your sides and planting themselves on your hips. you nipped at his lip, silently begging him to move faster. he seemed to have the right idea as he turned you and pushed you back to the bed. you landed softly, your legs dangling off the edge, as you watched topper stand tall in front of you. his chest grew bigger as he took a breath and bent down to push his bottoms off. you pulled your lip between your teeth, not hiding the way your eyes flickered down to catch a glimpse. your ears grew hot and your skin pricked at topper’s semi-erection, the tip of him glistening. you wondered what he tasted like.

your gaze broke as topper moved to the side of the bed, rifling through his nightstand. you took that opportunity to take your bottoms off, flicking them somewhere in the room with your foot. you flipped over onto your stomach, grinning to yourself at the full view of topper’s butt. taking a nail between your teeth, you bit it anxiously and watched as he found a condom. you couldn’t help but giggle as he looked over the packaging, reading the date. your feet kicked in the air playfully.

when topper went back to the foot of the bed, you looked over your shoulder as he rubbed himself before rolling the condom on. he combed a hand through his hair, pushing it off his forehead.

“good to go?” you smiled.

he breathed in and nodded. “you want it like this?” he gestured to the way you were on your stomach.

you hummed, nodding your head, and moved a little further down the bed so your hips were at the very edge. topper’s hands fell to your thighs and he spread your knees apart, his skin ghosting against yours as he stepped closer. you took a shaky breath in as the anticipation rose higher— god, you couldn’t wait. deep down, you hoped that it didn’t suck. he had worked you up so much that you were sure you’d feel silly if it wasn’t satisfying.

you tried not to show just how desperate you were as the tip of him teased your folds. you licked your lips, biting down on the bottom one and lay flat on the mattress. his hand gripped your hip now while the other guided himself to your entrance. a high-pitched moan bubbled from your chest and slipped past your lips as topper slowly moved himself inside of you. you let out a lower, satisfied moan when he was fully inside, flush against you. your feet knocked into his back as you adjusted to the size of him. topper tried to control his panting behind you, staring down at your ass and himself fully sheathed by you.

“jesus christ,” he said more so to himself, marveling at the way you fit around him. he imagined it would’ve been so much better without a condom, but this was just as good.

just as you were about to ask him to move, he pulled out of you inch by inch. it felt uncomfortable at the empty feeling, but he came back a little quicker with a low noise of his own.

topper kept a steady rhythm, his hold tight on the skin over your hips and his breath blowing across your back each time he thrusted into you. you reveled in his noises, enjoying the low grunts and the occasional moans to mix with yours and the sounds your bodies were making. his skin started to smack against yours, building as your hands tightened over the comforter. there wasn’t much conversation or dirty talk, which you didn’t mind at the moment since you weren’t looking to lengthen this experience out. you just wanted him to give you what you needed. so far, he was doing a pretty good job.

the bed dipped beside your shoulder as topper’s hips still moved. his body moved closer to yours, the heat from his chest seeping into the skin on your back and giving you a pleasant wave of goosebumps. you opened your eyes to find his fist planted beside you, just as his other hand gripped your shoulder. you pushed yourself up to your elbows, stretching your head backwards. topper followed your movements and bent over you, planting a wet kiss to your lips. he continued to move in you, the hand on your shoulder moving to your neck, his fingertips settling on the sides. you breathed heavily into his mouth at the new sensation as a slew of curses rang out in your mind.

topper licked into your mouth, teasing you and playing with your tongue as his fingertips pressed a little more into your skin. you moaned lowly and broke apart from him. he stayed close, reaching down to your ear and nipping at your earlobe. your mouth opened, eyes screwing shut again as you became aware that you were close to your end. maybe if he just squeezed a little more around your neck, you’d go over the edge.

“topper, i’m going to come.” you breathed, feeling your head knock into his shoulder as he still moved. just then his hips snapped forward, hitting you a little deeper, a little harder. his lips moved off your ear, his breath hitting it now. you tightened yourself around him, not knowing that it brought him even closer while you came over him. you held on to the blanket, knuckles turning white while the same thing happened behind your eyelids. your face screwed up in ecstasy as topper pumped into you deliciously, his movements eventually faltering and stopping as he found his own climax. he groaned loudly into your ear, his breath hot, his grip not too tight, and his come feeling warm even through the condom. if only you’d actually felt it.

topper let go of your neck and you lay flat again, finding your breath with a heaving chest. topper watched the side of your face through hooded eyelids as he stayed hovering over you for a moment. the heels of your feet rested against his back; your thighs no longer tight against his thighs as you relaxed now.

your eye lazily opened as the air in the room met your back, topper moving away from you. you could see him out of the corner of your eye as he carefully touched your side and pulled himself out of you. you made a small noise, almost one of disappointment that he didn’t stay there longer. he disappeared from your sight and your legs promptly closed, your feet still in the air even though you ached from staying like that for a while.

when topper came back, condom gone and thrown away and holding a washcloth, he tapped your lower back. you pushed yourself up slowly, wincing at tired joints and muscles, and thanked him before finding your way to the bathroom. you cleaned yourself up inside, peeing quickly and washing your hands. topper was stepping into his shorts when you came back.

“the fuck is a touron?” you asked as you reached for your bathing suit bottoms almost under his dresser.

topper laughed behind you. “it’s a tourist.”

you made a face and pulled your bathing suit top over your head, tying it in the back. “east coast people are weird.”

topper smiled to himself, glancing at you as you pulled your t-shirt on. he was dressed and ready to go when you were, grabbing his keys and letting you lead the way.

once he pulled into liza’s ridiculously long driveway, you thanked him and jumped out, not wanting to make it awkward. liza was in her kitchen when you walked in, hair a little messy but dry.

she looked up at you from cutting some fruit. a curious smile came onto her lips. her eyebrows rose. “how was it?”

you lifted yourself into one of the chairs at the island counter and reached over for a small piece. “i don’t like his friends so i can see why you warned me but i’m letting it go.” you said, popping the fruit into your mouth.

liza blinked at you, not totally understanding but becoming uncomfortable with how chilled you were compared to the other days you’d been her guest. “wow,” she said. “you really had a whole ass iceberg of frustration, huh?”

“i told you.” you shrugged and laughed once you stared at each other for a moment.

you ate dinner that night with liza and her dad, hearing a few stories and sharing your own over wine and lobster. just after you helped clean up the dishes and the kitchen, you felt your phone vibrate in your sweatshirt pocket. pulling it out, you read texts from a number you hadn’t saved.

i enjoyed today

let me know if you’re ever visiting again😉

⭐️taglist of beauties & babes!⭐️

@tovvaa​ @fttayla @dontjinx-it @moniamaybank @drewstarkeygf @cheshirecat107​ @jjmaybankzz​ @obxcunt​ @honeyyhemmings @dvakat @macey730

[supernaturallyobsessedchic]

Emergency! Part 1

Part 1 – Plane Crash

Summary: Dean and Cas are partners at Fire Station 51’s paramedic squad and are responding to their first of many. A plane crashes into an apartment complex, multiple fire stations respond to put out the fire and rescue any victims trapped. But RN, Y/N Y/L/N, happens to live in the very complex involved in the plane crash. Though unharmed, she commits her time to aid and assist in the victims coming out of the building and the plane. The rescue turns sideways on Dean when a beam drops onto Dean, damaging his oxygen tank, he quickly turns into a victim as he quickly succumbs to smoke inhalation and becomes Y/N’s patient.

Warnings: Mild angst (relationship), slight language, fluff?

Square: Firefighter!AU ( @supernatural-jackles​ Tell me a story Bingo)

Word Count: 1,784

Mobile Masterlist

Series Masterlist

A/N: DOA = Dead on Arrival. Y/L/N = Your last name. But I hope you guys enjoy!

~

She got up at her usual time of 5am to be at the hospital by 6:30am.

Not much of a coffee drinker, she just got her a mug filling up with soda, the soda being her caffeine for the day.

She got into her scrubs, grabbing her nametag, pens and her personal notepad.

Ready to hit the road before traffic begins to pick up on the freeway in Los Angeles, she grabs her wallet, phone and keys she locks up to leave for her day at work as a Registered Nurse at Rampart emergency hospital.

Just as she got to the street to her car, there was a loud noise growing louder. She looked in the direction of the noise to see a plane, crash landing into her own apartment complex.

Ducking beside her car at the impact of the plane she was also thankful for her timing.

Quickly she dials 9-1-1.

Dean got up at his usual time of 4 in the morning to begin his 24-hour shift at the station.

Dean is a paramedic and squad member at station 51.

He pulled his truck into the parking lot, still trying to wake up.

His partner was already there.

“Cas, do you ever sleep man?” Dean asked.

“Slept on the couch again.”

“Are you and Hannah okay?”

“No, we had a big fight again last night. I don’t know what I can do for her anymore.” Cas says, defeated.

“Just end things man, you need sleep, and you need some peace of mind. I got room at my house for a roommate if you need a place.”

“Thanks Dean, but I already had plans of ending things with Hannah, last night was just the nail in the coffin of yet another failed relationship.”

“She failed it man, you did nothing wrong.” Dean encouraged.

“Thanks man.”

Dean offered a kind smile and a pat on Cas’s shoulder.

“Ready for another long shift?” Cas asks.

“As ready as I’ll ever be, my dad here yet?”

“Yeah, he’s in the office why?”

“Wonder if he got the invite to Sam and Jess’s wedding.”

“Bought damn time that kid popped the question honestly.”

“I know, he and Jess dated for what seemed like forever.”

“You really think they’re still sore at each other, I mean John of all people should know he can’t control what his kids want to do.”

“Yeah, I don’t know, that’s why I was gonna ask if he got it.”

Cas nods.

“I saw you put in for a three-day weekend, what’s going on?”

“Just wanting to take a trip out to the campgrounds outside of town to the family cabin, Dad says the deck could use some work and I was gonna kill two birds with one stone. Camp out and help dad fix up the deck.”

“That sounds cool.”

The fire stations alarm sounded.

“Truck 27, squad 27, engine 47, squad 47, Engine 51, squad 51, structure fire at Purgatory Apartments 1366 south Millard Ave.”

“Lots of trucks and engines responding, must be big.” Cas states. Jumping into action.

“Must be.” Dean says running to the squad truck, jumping into the driver seat, Cas jumping into the passenger.

Dean turned the keys in the ignition, roaring the Ford Truck to life, and turning on the lights and siren. Heading out onto the road, with the firetruck, Engine 51 following behind.

 “This is RN Y/N Y/L/N, I have multiple victims at 1366 Millard Ave. A plane crashed. 3 already DOA, I need help right away.” She says into the phone.

“We’re working on it; we already have multiple firestations responding to your location. Just keep aiding in the victims as best as you can Ms. Y/L/N.” dispatch for 9-1-1 says.

She continued chest compressions on a victim and did 2 rescue breaths. And checked his pulse, still no change.

She sat her phone off of her shoulder and on the ground, so she could focus on reviving the victim.

One more attempt at cpr, she checks his pulse, still no change. Placing his hands over his chest, she says a silent prayer.

“I’m sorry.” She tells the people watching over her as she worked.

“Where is your help?” a lady asked furiously.

“They’re on the way, LA Is a large ass city, and you know how traffic is in this town.” She says.

She was already frustrated with the losses she didn’t need an attitude from anyone.

The sound of wailing sirens in the distance brought relieve to the nurse as she worked tirelessly on the victims.

Engine and squad 27 and 47 being the first on the scene.

“There are people trapped in the buildings, and there were about 45 passengers on this flight. 4 are DOA so far.” Y/N stated to the captain of the two fire stations as they approached her.

“Alright, I’ll send my guys in.” Captain of station 27 stated.

“I’ll let the other stations as they come in to assist.” Captain of station 47 stated.

Another fire engine’s siren wailed as it approached.

The men jumping into action.

“Winchester!” the captain of station 47 shouts as he approached engine 51.

“What do we got?”

“Unknown number of victims trapped in the complex, 45 passengers or so from the plane. 4 of them were DOA. Oh, and she’s a nurse, thought I’d mention that she could help us out.”

“Right,” John Winchester, captain of station 51 agreed.

“Alright guys, we got to work fast, there are people trapped in these two buildings, we need to clear them out. Tran, get the engine ready so we can use the hose. Gabe, and Michael, work on the fire with the other stations, Benny, Raph, and Charlie, aide the paramedics, either from 27, 47 or Dean and Cas, we need to save as many as we can, alright?”

“Yes sir.”

“Get to it.”

Everyone went to where they were instructed to. Dean and Cas got their equipment from their truck and went into one of the buildings, full fire fighter gear.

“Dean!” John called out.

Dean stops, giving John his attention.

“Be safe in there son.”

“I will dad. Don’t worry.” He says, running in.

There were a good handful of people able to move and get to safety on their own, and another handful Dean and Cas had to carry out of the building.

One woman, sprained ankle from trying to escape hastily, as Cas carried her out she nearly flew out of the man’s arms.

“My daughter, she’s in her room!” she cries out.

“I’ll get her, Cas, get her out of here.”

Cas nods, doing as told.

Dean inspected the rooms, finding a seven-year-old girl, hiding beside her bed covered in a wet blanket.

“Hey, I’m Dean, I’m gonna get you out of here.”

The girls nods.

Dean kept a protective arm around her as they exited her room.

A beam creaked, and gave way above Dean, hitting his back.

He heard a loud pop, like a large pop can exploding.

He found it hard to breathe through his oxygen mask.

Taking off his mask and tank he saw rupture in his tank.

“Shit.” He hissed.

His lungs were quickly taken over by the smoke, he started coughing immediately.

He noticed the girl was already gone.

He tried to get up to hurry and save himself but he felt a sharp pain in the back of his leg.

He looked behind him, he saw the beam pinning him down by his leg.

Overcome by the coughing, his world began to turn black.

 Y/N finished placing a splint on the womans ankle when a child ran up to her and the group of firemen.

“Jamie! Baby!” her mother cried out, holding her arms out to her daughter.

“Mommy!” she cried.

“Where’s Dean?” Cas asked.

“A beam fell down and knocked him down. He’s stuck.” She says.

Without another word exchanged Cas took off to the apartment they rescued the woman.

The fire was slowly getting under control and it was easier to see inside the apartments. Cas was able to spot Dean out in the apartment easily.

He laid on his stomach, still and unmoving. Cas can see the beam pinning against Dean’s thigh.

He saw the beam was not supporting much of anything. He ran out, seeing Michael carrying an axe.

“Mikey, I need that!” Cas shouted.

“What’s up?”

“Dean’s stuck.”

Michael ran towards Cas and he saw Dean, inspected the beam. Saw the same as Cas, the beam not being much of importance to the structure, he begins working on breaking the beam in half.

The wood was badly damaged by the fire, he was able to break it in three strong hits.

Once he was free, Cas picked Dean up and carried him out over his shoulder fireman carry style.

Once he reached the nurse, she prepared an area she could work on Dean.

“Is he breathing?”

“He didn’t have his mask on, the tank was damaged.” Cas answered.

“More than likely smoke inhalation, lay him here and I’ll start working on him.

He did as told, laying him flat on his back.

She checked his pulse, and breathing, matching up to the fireman’s statements. And began chest compressions.

After 35 chest compressions she gave 2 rescue breaths. And checked his breathing, he’s breathing but it was shallow.

She placed on an oxygen mask over his mouth.

After ten minutes or so of the mask being on him, he began having a coughing fit as the air returned back to his lungs.

“He’s gonna be okay but we need to get him to the hospital, need to check out that leg.” Y/N said.

The men and women of station 51 nodded, agreeing with the nurse.

 Later that night as she made her rounds, she walked into Dean’s room.

“Good evening Mr. Winchester, how are you feeling today?”

“Sore.”

“That’s expected having a beam pin your leg down, and the smoke inhalation.”

“You saved my life, thank you, Miss….”

“Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N. And it’s no big deal, all part of the job.”

“Right, saving people.”

“The family business.”

“You’re family work here?”

“Yeah, my mom was head nurse at this very hospital, and my dad was a neurologist here. I was basically born and raised here.”

“Nice, my dad’s captain of station 51.”

“Awesome. But other than that, no pain at the moment, you don’t need anything?”

“No, just a number.”

She smirked, with a nod.

Writing on her notepad, her number. She ripped the paper out, handing it to him.

“Call me sometime, Winchester.”

He held the paper, unable to hide the wide grin.

“Definitely will.” He says as she walks out, continuing her shift.

~

Are you excited yet? I’m posting as I write this, probably a bad idea, but story of my life. Like what I got so far? Let me know, ask, reblog. Feedback is fuel. :3

~

Dean girls:

@pandazombie69​, @luci-in-trenchcoats​, @supernatural-jackles​, @becs-bunker​, @jayankles​, @mlovesstories​, @winchesters-favorite-girl​, @jeaniespiehs20​, @akshi8278​, @lyarr24​

~

Copying and reposting someone else’s content is plagiarism and illegal. This work is property of supernaturallyobsessedchic. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. These works contain material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of these works may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher. An electronic reference link to the original posted work may be provided for purposes of promotion or assistance of publication by the readers discretion, if proper credits are given to the author in the re-post. 3/18/2021

[mytwilightimagines13]

The Lost One (Part Six) (Alec Volturi)

Headcanon requests: Open Imagine requests: Closed Taglist: Open

Taglist: @aro-is-gay-af @vamp-army @raindancer2004 @like-rain-or-confetti @volturidoll13 @kpopgirlbtssvt @avyannadawn @alexavolturisblog @alecvolturiswifeforever @imaginetwilight2704 @develin13 @wallwriterstuff @volturiwolf

(Taglist is open! Send me a message if you want to be added!)

Word count: 1435

Rage. Pure rage was all Melody could feel at this moment. It was burning through Melody as the group of vampires left America in their private jets. She could not believe her allies would betray her and her coven like that. Melody wasn't the daughter of Caius. She couldn't be. And now, she is going to get killed all thanks to the Cullens. Because of their selfish ways. Not only did they go against the nature of a vampire, they also thought themselves all high and mighty because of it. As if they were better than her, all because of their diet and their capability to maintain a large coven without killing or attacking each other over every little irritation. She growled lowly in frustration as she looked out of the window of the jet. Felix, who had been seated next to her, growled in warning at her. “Behave.” “Yeah, yeah. My apologies, Felix, was it?” Melody said before turning her face towards the window. She watched as the plane left the east coast of America and start the journey over the Atlantic Ocean. Many vampires kept on sneaking glances at her throughout the flight, every single one of them wondering if this really was Caius Volturi's lost daughter. Caius and Athenodora were sitting in seats opposite of them (Aro's idea). Caius kept glaring at her while Athenodora kept throwing hopeful glances at her. She looked like she wanted to speak up, but couldn't find the correct words it seemed, so she closed her mouth and simply took a hold of her husband's hand. Caius’ glare never broke away from Melody's form, however, he did intertwine his fingers with his wife's giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

The plane finally landed in Rome after 10 excruciating hours of silence filled with glares from Caius, hopeful and sad glances from Athenodora and the watchful eye of Felix. The group of vampires ran towards their little town called Volterra. Caius walked in front of Melody, his hand on his wife's lower back. He no longer glared at her, nor did he look at her at all. His wife on the other hand couldn't seem to pry her eyes away from Melody and kept glancing back at her. Felix kept a tight grip on her arm while they ran, irritating Melody. She tried to pull her arm away. "I promise I will not run away, Felix. Could you please let go of my arm?" she asked him as polite as she could. It would only do her harm if she angered the giant. Felix doubted her words and looked at his masters. Caius seemed indifferent about Melody's discomfort yet Aro nodded his head, gesturing Felix could let her go. Felix looked at Melody with a look that was filled with distrust, but he let go of her arm slowly, staying close to her to grab her again if she tried anything funny. The vampires continued walking and Melody followed them. She was considering using her mist to get away, but thought against it. Not only would she need to let her mist form go eventually, meaning Demetri would be able to track her again, it would no good to run from the Volturi anyway. Besides, she had waited centuries for answers and she was hopeful she will be getting some today.

After three hours of running, they finally reached the Volturi castle. Melody has been here only once, in her mist form. She had been new, for a vampire, barely 100 years old and just found out to what coven her necklace belonged too. Sadly, it hadn't really gained her much knowledge, only that she was almost caught and probably executed on the spot if she hadn't gotten away in time. The vampires entered the throne room and everyone took their usual spot, the masters on their thrones, the wives besides their husbands and the guards on their spots all around the room, protecting their masters and standing ready to attack Melody if they had too. Melody wanted to run into one of the corners, away from all these prying eyes, she hated being in the centre of attention, or use her gift to just disappear but once again decided against it and remained standing in the middle of the room. No one said a thing, they only kept looking at her in anticipation. It felt like eternity while she waited, only daring to look at her feet. That luring smell only had gotten bigger now that they were no longer in the open air. She really wanted to know who it belonged too and run towards it. It smelled like that person was safe, like he or she would protect her from the harm that was undoubtedly coming on her path sooner rather than later. But she also realised she would probably never figure it out, and that made her very sad. Caius slowly rose from his throne and made his way towards her. His rough fingers cupped her chin and forced her to look at him by lifting her head up. His glare never leaving his face. "Calm down brother. We will find out the truth." Aro said as he too rose from his throne and stood next to Caius. "Hm." was all Caius said while he let go of Melody's chin, clearly not convinced by Aro's words. Aro gave Melody a reassuring smile and held out his hand for her to grab. Melody debated it for a while but couldn't find a valid reason to decline Aro from seeing all her thoughts. So she placed her hand into his, letting him read her mind, every thought she has ever had. "My, my. It seems like she could be her my dear brother. Her memories are quite equivalent. And her birthmark matches the one your daughter used to have." Aro spoke, his everlasting smile on his face. Caius' face showed a slight spark of hope, but as soon as it had appeared, it disappeared. He wasn't ready to believe yet. Athenodora began to make her way towards Melody, only to be stopped by Caius, worry clearly on his face. He was still afraid this might be a trap from his enemies to bring him, his coven and his loved ones down. Athenodora gently grabbed the hand that stopped her and brought it to her lips, gently kissing his knuckles. "It's fine, my love. She won't attack me." Athenodora spoke softly to her husband. Caius slightly relaxed but kept his eyes on his wife the entire time. Any wrong move from Melody towards his wife and she would be ash before she could blink twice. Athenodora slowly moved towards Melody, afraid to scare the girl. She carefully cupped Melody's face into her hands. Melody wanted to take a step back, get away afraid this woman might rip her head off now that she had it in the right grip, yet she didn't, her curiosity taking the overhand of her decisions. Athenodora started humming a very soft yet very familiar melody. Everyone in the castle knew it by heart. Athenodora would hum it every year on the date her daughter was taken from her, almost as a cry out for her lost daughter to one day return home. Melody's eyes grew wide. It was the same lullaby she had known ever since she was a kid. She softly hummed along with Athenodora. Caius' ever cold face broke into one of disbelief. He slowly approached his wife and the girl, and for the first time in his life, ever since his daughter had been taken from him, he smiled a gentle smile. Athenodora slowly pulled Melody into a tight embrace, knowing that this girl was in fact her daughter. Her babygirl. If she could have cried, she was sure she wouldn't have been able to stop.

Caius slowly embraced his wife and daughter, knowing the minute he wrapped this girl into his arms that she was in fact his daughter. Aro gestured for the rest of the guard to leave quietly, leaving the little family alone to bond and make up for the lost time. Melody slowly closed her eyes, finally feeling safe, like she belonged. And she also knew, that she had found her family, her parents. Finally, the question that had been the burden of her existence had been answered. The three vampires remained in the embrace for a very long time, realising their broken family was once again. And nothing, absolutely nothing would ever break them apart again. Caius and Athenodora would make sure of that.

[tngrace]

Bright Lights, Big City

This is for one of my best friends in the whole world. Today is her birthday and I wanted to write something for her. I hope you love it boo, @justkillingtimewhileiwait

read here on A03; 911 LS masterlist

The Strand-Reyes household always looked forward to the two weeks before Christmas. TK and Carlos had kept with tradition even in their newest positions as paramedic and detective and saved vacation for the week of Christmas and New Years. This year they were leaving the day after Christmas really early in the morning to go to NYC to visit Gwyn. It was the first time the family was travelling to NYC and there was a lot of excitement and a lot of anxiety. Carlos had never flown before and he was a little anxious about it if he were being honest. TK assured him it would be fine, but Carlos wasn’t sure he believed him. 

Christmas Day was eventful as always. Gabriel, Andrea, and Owen came over for breakfast and to watch the kids open presents. Later in the afternoon, the rest of the crew and Carlos’s partner came over for dinner and to play with the kids. Carlos and TK took the time the kids were occupied with their aunts and uncles to finish the last minute packing. “TK are you sure about this? Ryder hasn’t been feeling the best, airports are going to be so crowded, it’s snowing in NYC, and what if the flights are delayed or….”

TK cradles Carlos’s face. “Deep breath babe.” They take a couple of exaggerated breaths together. “I know you’re nervous about flying, but I promise it’s not that bad. The kids will be fine. We’ll pack his allergy meds. We got this.” 

Carlos nods as he rests his forehead against TK’s. “We got this,” he murmurs. 

“Maybe I’ll blow you before we get on the plane,” TK smirks as he wiggles his eyebrows at Carlos. 

“And who would watch our children?” he deadpans back. TK laughs at him and goes back to packing. “I can do it tonight once they’re asleep. We just have to be at the airport by four in the morning.” 

“You’re a menace,” he grunts as he shakes his head. “But I love you anyways.” Carlos’s smile is bright as always when declaring his love for TK and TK returns the smile with equal amounts of love. 

Their friends and family eventually leave, and TK and Carlos get the kids in bed. TK makes good on his promise, which does help relax Carlos, but he'd never admit that to TK. They get the car packed and load the sleeping kids. Thankfully, they stay asleep on the drive to the airport and all through check in. Ryder is slightly fussy when he wakes, but TK gets him his meds and juice and he settles right into TK’s chest. Sofia is her normal happy self when she wakes. She’s excited to be going to see her Mimi, but she’s also picked up on her Papa’s nerves about flying. They’ve both done their best to reassure her, but she really feeds off Carlos. The kids are awake for about an hour, when they are called to board. TK sends Gwyn a text letting her know they’re boarding and will see her soon. 

Unfortunately for Carlos, their seats are over the wheels. They’ve switched kids hoping that TK’s calm demeanor will help Sofia stay calm. Ryder is dozing on Carlos, the meds making him sleepy when they start moving. Carlos is doing his best to stay calm, but honestly he’s freaking out. When they start climbing in the air, the wheels come up, and it's loud. Carlos tenses even more as Sofia starts crying. She buries her face in TK’s neck as he tries to calm her. “It’s fine; it’s going to be ok, baby girl. Nothing is wrong. They’re just pulling the wheels up.” He rubs her back as he calms her, and he squeezes Carlos’s hand. “It’s ok babe. Everything is fine.” 

Sofia calms down at TK’s quiet reassurances and thankfully the rest of the flight goes smoothly. Ryder is a little grumpy at being woken and jostled as they get off, but Carlos does his best to keep him happy. They head over to baggage claim, TK letting Gwyn know they were getting their luggage. The kids stayed in their parents arms, both clinging to them at the loud and busy airport. It was a shock to all of them except for TK. “You’ve got to be getting me,” TK groans when he reads Gwyn’s response. 

“What’s wrong?” Carlos takes Sofia so TK can get the luggage. 

“Mom’s at the office. We have to get a cab.” TK’s frustration with his mom is apparent, especially since Gwyn knew they were coming. Carlos nods as they push their way through the airport. “Cab won’t be that bad.” TK gives him the side eye and Carlos just sighs. Before they’re able to flag down a cab, TK spots someone he wasn’t sure he’d ever see again. “TK?” 

“Enzo?” TK asks with confusion. 

“Yea. Hey kid. Your mom said you were coming into town. I thought she was picking you up.” 

“Uh… yea. She was supposed to, but apparently she’s still at the office. We were just catching a cab. Wait… you’ve been in contact with mom recently?” TK was confused because he thought Enzo and his mom were done a few years ago. 

Enzo looks between him and Carlos holding the kids as he scratches at the back of his neck. “Uh… yea. We.. uh… I take it she hasn’t told you?” 

“Told me what exactly?” TK can feel Carlos becoming increasingly more uncomfortable with the situation as people mill around them. It’s hard for his husband to turn off his cop brain, and large crowds tend to put him on edge, especially when the kids are with them. Add that to a complete stranger to him that is putting TK on edge, and Carlos’s patience wears thin quickly.

Enzo seems to want to avoid answering TK’s question. “Why don’t I drop you four off at your mom’s and she’ll explain everything?” 

“Yes. Thanks,” Carlos pipes up. He knows TK would’ve argued until he got his answers, and he doesn’t blame him, but he’d be happier if they got out of the airport. TK gives him the side eye again, and Carlos just shrugs nodding to the kids who have both buried their faces in his neck at this point. TK nods his assent, and they follow Enzo to his car. Enzo helps TK load their luggage while Carlos gets in the back with the kids. They’d brought a car seat for Ryder so Carlos strapped it in while Sofia held Ryder for him. “Thank you baby girl,” he grins as he takes Ryder strapping him in. He makes sure Sofia is strapped in as he settles between them, and TK gets in the front with Enzo. The car ride to Gwyn’s place is silent, and the kids can pick up on the tension. “Papa me want out,” Ryder cries when the tension filled silence gets to be too much for him. 

“It’s ok buddy. We’ll be at Mimi’s in no time,” he tries to comfort him. He gives him his stuffed dog that he absolutely loves, and Ryder settles some. When they get to Gwyn’s TK is out of the car before Carlos can even blink. “TK come on,” Enzo says, getting out following him. 

“No. You don’t want to explain anything so there’s nothing to say. My son’s allergies are acting up, my kids feed off tension, and this is Carlos’s first time in the city. It's not fair to them for mom to be pulling some drama right off the bat. We’re tired. I’ll talk to mom later.” 

“TK…” Carlos gets the kids out as TK slams the trunk shut. 

“Enzo, you’ve always been straight with me. You’ve always been good to me. I don’t want to jeopardize that by saying the wrong thing right now. So I’m going to go upstairs and get my family settled, and I’m sure I’ll see you this week if my assumptions are correct.”

Enzo just nods and steps back. “Nice to meet you,” Carlos tells him as he follows TK inside the fancy apartment building. They get on the elevator and head upstairs. Luckily the bellhop knows TK and lets them into the apartment since TK doesn't have a spare key. Carlos is in awe at how gorgeous it is. The apartment is immaculate, and the view is breathtaking. “Uh.. TK,” Carlos says holding the kids. 

“Yea?” TK asks, giving him a confused look. 

“This place is… the kids will…” 

TK chuckles softly as he walks back over to his husband. “Yea… mom’s place is really nice, but she offered to let us stay here. She knows the kids won’t be perfect. It’s fine. I promise,” TK says, reaching for Ryder. 

“Daddy… me snuffy,” he says, rubbing his eyes and sniffing. 

“I know little man. Let's get settled and get some medicine and juice?” Ryder nods as TK takes him. 

“Papa, can I go look around?” Sofia asks. 

“Yea baby girl. Just.. be careful.” Gwyn’s apartment is honestly putting Carlos on edge because of how perfect it is. 

“Carlos, come here,” TK quietly demands. 

He sits down beside TK on the couch. Ryder has taken his medicine and is content sitting on the couch with them for the moment. “It’s ok babe. I know it looks like a lot, but she’s not going to be mad if they get it a little dirty.” 

“I know… it’s just a lot… it’s just not home.” He gives TK a bashful shrug. He is looking forward to exploring TK’s city, but he feels like he needs some sleep and comfort. 

“I get it.” TK gives his hand a squeeze with a reassuring soft kiss. “So tonight we’re ordering some of my favorite takeout and having a night in,” he smiles as Sofia rejoins them. 

"Sounds good," Carlos smiles. TK takes care of ordering the takeout while Carlos takes a quick shower to wash away the traveling grime. Ryder joins him letting the steam from the shower help his stuffy nose. "Feeling ok little man?" Carlos asks, scrubbing his head with shampoo. 

"Mecine hewps," he grins up at Carlos. 

"It sure does," Carlos chuckles. Once they're done, Carlos dresses in some sweats and gets Ryder in his pj's. Sofia takes a quick shower next and gets in her pj's. By the time that's done, the food has arrived and still no Gwyn. Carlos can tell it's grating on TK's nerves that she's at the office, but he's trying not to let it show to the kids. They're all in bed by the time Gwyn shows up. 

The next morning is rough. TK and Gwyn get into a huge argument before she goes to work. TK apologizes to Carlos, but Carlos assures him everything is ok. They take the kids out to tour the city and all the places TK loves. The kids absolutely love the snow, and TK insists on building snowmen and making snow angels in the park. The kids have a blast, but Carlos hates the cold. Texas usually doesn't get this cold, and it leaves him feeling cold all the time. TK is highly amused at how grumpy Carlos gets when cold, but he doesn't mind the extra snuggles from his husband. 

It took until two days before they're supposed to leave before Gwyn takes time off work and actually talks with TK. Carlos and the kids hung out in the guest room watching TV, and Carlos just prayed the TV was loud enough to drown them out. Her and Enzo reconciled to an extent; they'd been hooking up when time allowed, but she didn't want TK to get his hopes up. TK had to remind her he was a grown adult that lived in another state. As long as she was happy, he didn't care what she did, but he didn't like the lying and secrets. He especially didn't like her working over their vacation when they came to spend time with her and he definitely let her know it. They eventually talked it out, and Enzo joined them for dinner that night at a fancy restaurant of Gwyn's choosing. It was definitely more high end then Carlos would have chosen, but it was nice and thankfully the kids were well behaved. 

Carlos had enjoyed seeing TK's city and where he grew up. He loved seeing his husband in that different light, but he honestly couldn't wait to get back home. The cold weather had not done any favors to Ryder's allergies, and Gwyn spent their last day nagging TK about how they were taking care of him, and what they should be doing differently. Carlos’s nerves were honestly frayed and he knew Sofia was feeding off the tension from him and between TK and Gwyn. "Mom, seriously. Just let us be for the night and tomorrow we'll be back in Austin," TK finally said having had enough. The look of surprise on Gwyn’s face was honestly amusing because she was honestly clueless when it came to TK at times. Thankfully after that little blow up, they were able to pack and get the kids settled for the night. "If we ever come back, we're getting a motel," TK whines as they climb in bed. "I honestly thought she'd be better with the kids. I'm sorry this week has been so stressful," he whispers, kissing apologies into Carlos's skin. 

"Stop. You have nothing to apologize for. This week has been fine, and I've loved getting to see your city. Just maybe… come back when it's warmer." It gets the laugh he was hoping for, and they eventually drift off to sleep. 

The plane ride back to Austin is a little smoother. Carlos nor Sofia like it any better, but they at least knew what to expect. They were all definitely glad to be home, and if it was a few more years before they went back to NYC well they blamed work for keeping them busy. 

[itsmeevie01]

Bio!dad Bruce Day 7-Fashion Show

Marinette laughed as she linked arms with Alix and hurried out of school. Today, the girls had arranged to go out for the evening, and they were insistent that nothing would ruin their fun, even an akuma. As the shorter girls hurried away, Alya watched from where she stood on the steps. When she had transferred, she had hoped that the girl she had made a connection with would become her best friend. Now, as they neared the end of April, she had resigned herself to the fact that she wasn’t part of the other’s inner circle.

Although she was friendly with the entire class, Marinette had quickly proven to be hard to get close to. She had her life out of school, and she had her life in school. They didn’t mix.

Unknown to the rest of the school, Marinette’s birthday was coming up. Every year, she would do something small with Tom and Sabine. Sometimes she would invite a friend over. Mostly, she kept her birthday quiet. The teen knew that if she offered, her class would love to celebrate with her, but she didn’t see it as a big deal. three years earlier, Bruce had asked her if she wanted to do anything for her birthday. When she had mentioned that she didn’t really celebrate it that much, he had nodded in acceptance. Each year, he flew into Paris and took her out for a day of shopping, an amusement park, or a fancy dinner. This year, he had invited her to join him in Gotham so that her brothers could come along. Since the event earlier in the month, Bruce had been more at ease when talking about many of the things going on in his home city. Now that he knew that Marinette was already entrenched in the hero life that he had been working so hard to keep her out of, he had opened up about the times that the family had vanished during her visits.

When Marinette had eagerly agreed to join him in Gotham, Bruce had asked his daughter of she had any preferences on what they did. The girl, as expected, shook her head and told him to surprise her. As long as they were together, it didn’t really matter. Imagine her surprise, when she got home from her late-night movie with Alix, to find her parents waiting for her, both buzzing in excitement.

“Mariette! Oh good, we were afraid that you would be out later. Bruce got in contact with us, he is going to fly you our for the entire weekend, instead of just one day!” While the bakers continued to gush about how wonderful it was for Bruce to fly Marinette out for her birthday, the girl paused. Usually, as much as she enjoyed her brothers, they were very upfront with her. When she had asked if they knew what Bruce was planning, they had been cagey. Now, he was flying her out on a Thursday, and bringing her back on a Tuesday? That was a long time considering she still had school.

Later that week as she packed her carry on, the noirette crinkled her nose in concentration. She had been doing the best she could to figure out what it could be, but she still had found nothing on their plans for the next few days. Once she had finished, she plopped the bag next to her suitcase. Whatever her family had planned, she could only hope that she was ready for it.

The next day at school, Marinette rolled her eyes as Alya started to chatter at her. The girl was nice, yes, but Marinette had seen what had happened when she had started to zero in on information. Alya was not likely to let anything go, which sadly, meant that for the sake of her secret identity, Marinette had t keep her distance. When Nino plopped into his seat in front of her, he turned to flash Marinette a grin. “you ready for your trip, dudette?” Marinette smiled in return,

“So ready! I finished packing last night, so Maman is going to pick me up at noon. That makes sure I have a little under four hours to get on my plane.” Nino nodded in understanding.

“International travel is nothing to mess with. You may be joined by Chloe; she is flying out to visit her mother. Where are you flying into?”

“New York! They said that they would meet me there, and that we would head back after whatever surprise they’ve been planning.” Nino snickered at his friend’s frustration. It was well known within their friend group that the girl liked to know what was going on so that she could plan accordingly. The last time they had tried to surprise her, Kim had ended up with a broken arm, and Alix had gotten enough blackmail to last a lifetime. It was also pretty common for the girl to refer to her family in vague terms. As much as she trusted her friends, her class was more than willing to dig into her personal life in an attempt to force friendship. Because of this, Marinette tried to keep her personal life a vague as possible. In situations like this, she was grateful that Nino understood what she meant, because Alya had caught onto their conversation and started to ask as many questions as she could. Thankfully, Chloe must have gotten the notice from Nino to rescue her, because the blonde swaggered into the room and made a beeline for the duo’s desk.

“So, Mari trash, what this I hear about you leaving the country?” while Alya bristled at the name that the heiress had thrown out, Marinette sent her friend a secret smile. Chloe sent her a nod before returning to riling up Alya until Madame Bustier made her way in, effectively shutting down all conversations.

The girls giggled as they hurried through the airport. When they had realized that they were on the same flight, they had agreed to meet up at the airport and wait out the extra time together. As the duo sat there, they chatted and traded pictures, and discussed fashion. When Chloe mentioned that her mother was taking her to meet a ‘rich client who she wont name. Ridiculous!’ Marinette paused. “Chloe, that’s not the only reason that your flying out, right?” the blond gave an undignified snot.

“Honestly Mari, I wish! She’s dragging me to her ‘secret fashion show for the ages’ as she calls it.” Soon the girls were giggling and discussing the latest trends. When the flight attendants called for first class, the two girls gather their bags and made their way over to the line that was forming. When they had gotten settled (conveniently next to each other, which spoke of manipulation to Marinette, although she refrained from mentioning it to the diva next to her), they each pulled out a book and got ready for their flight. Thankfully, they both made the transatlantic flights enough to know what to expect.

 That evening, when they arrived, the girls hurried to get through security and collect their bags. As they exited the baggage claim, both girls started to scan for their rides. On one side of the airport, was Audrey Bourgeois’ personal assistant. Next to her stood the stately figure of Alfred Pennyworth. While Marinette threw herself at Alfred in a hug, Chloe nodded to the frazzled looking brunette who had greeted them. The girls hugged and parted ways, promising to meet up on Monday if they didn’t see each other before hand.

While Chloe settled in her mother’s penthouse, Marinette was buried in a pile of hugs from her brothers. When they had finally given her room to breathe, her father introduced her to a girl who had been standing nearby. Cassandra (her sister!!) smiled at her and waved shyly. Marinette had sent her a smile worthy of the sun and given the girl a hug in return.

The next morning, the two girls were the first to join Alfred in the kitchen. Was Marinette caught Alfred up on the last few months, she started to help him with breakfast. Cassandra (Cass, Marinette scolded herself) settled on a stool to watch her move through the kitchen with a fluidity that spoke of many, many hours of experience. Once Bruce and they boys had joined them, the group settled at the dining table.

When the food had been cleared up, Marinette turned to her father, “you know, you made it really hard to pack for this trip, when I had no idea what we are going to do!” Bruce smiled at her ire and easily brushed aside her worries.

“it’s a good thing that we’re going shopping then, isn’t it, Marinette?” the way the girls face lit up made Tim snort.

“B, you really shouldn’t have said that, now she’s not going to sit still for the rest of the day.” The teen made a face at the look sent his way and Marinette huffed at her older brother.

“At least I know how to dress myself nicely without having someone pick my clothes out for me!” Dick sniggered at her response before wincing as she directed her fury his way. “don’t think I’m ignoring you, Richard.” The man froze, because his sister had used his first name only once and that occasion was not to be brought up unless the world was ending. “your fashion choices are even worse than Dad’s!” As the family started to argue about the validity of her statements, Marinette slipped away, beckoning for Cassandra (Cass!) to follow her.

Once they were in Marinette’s temporary room, the girl handed her sister (!!) a small wrapped package. “Tim gave me a heads up that there was a new addition to the family, and I wanted to make something for you.” The other girl studied her for a moment before hesitantly ripping the paper. Inside was a small journal that was leather bound and had the name Cass written in an elegant script (A/N Cass is probably the character that I am the least familiar with the origin of. That said, I’m going to run off the assumption that she is learning to read when she is brought to join n the Wayne family. If I am wrong, lmk, for now, this is what we are vibing with). The quiet girl gave Marinette a tentative hug as a thank you before Tim knocked on the doorframe.

“Time to go, ladies. Your chariot awaits.” Marinate rolled her eyes at their brother while throwing a pair of balled up socks at him.

“We’re coming, boy genius. Be fearful though, this is the start of an alliance. Soon, maybe ill be able to finally compete against you boys on game night without rigging the games!” Tim spluttered at her declaration as she strode past him. He huffed and hurried after the girls, bemoaning Bruce for making this trip a ‘family affair’.

Three hours later, Tim and Dick were each carrying handfuls of shopping bags, as the family of five re-entered their temporary living space. The girls were walking together, Marinette explaining some of her ideas for different designs. Alfred smiled at them as they all stood talking together, until an unfamiliar ringtone broke the low ambiance. The brothers looked at each other in confusion, while Bruce raised an eye at his youngest daughter. The girl flushed in embarrassment and dug into her purse for a long moment before pulling out a phone that was very obviously not her own. “hey! Is everything ok?” her immediate switch to French made the others pause and zero in on her conversation. “Oh, you caught it. How much damage was there?” A pause and then, “do I need to- I know I’m supposed to be on vacation but- oh fine! Leave it on my balcony in the jar, ill take care of as soon as I can.” A beat, and the girl made a face at whatever the person on the other end of the phone said. “stay safe, and call me if you need me, yeah?” once she had hung up, the girl turned back to them with a raised eyebrow. “what? Are you saying you don’t have a second phone for emergencies?”

The next day, Saturday, was a whirlwind, as Alfred got everyone up and moving by7 am. When asked what was going on by Marinette, the butler simply smiled and moved to lure Dick out of bed. When the family was once again gathered around the breakfast table, Marinette turned to her father and demanded an explanation at the reason for a wakeup call before what she considered ‘reasonable hours’. The man smiled in return, “Today, Marinette, we are going to celebrate your birthday. As promised, this year, the entire fairly will be able to join in.” the girl protested at his declaration.

“what was yesterday? I thought that was us celebrating my birthday without going overboard!” Dick laughed at her shock before jumping into the conversation.

“well, Net, yesterday was part one. Today is part two…and the part that we think you’ll like the most.” At her confusion, Tim leaned over from his spot across the dining table, pushing a stack of six tickets towards her,

“were going to Audrey Bourgeois’ secret fashion show.” The screech that came from the youngest in the family was well worth the suspense.

As the family approached the hidden venue, Marinette felt excitement bubble up once again. She had spent the day making sure that the entire family was dressed appropriately for the event. Somehow, Bruce had managed to buy a dress on the sly for her, after catching her gazing longingly at it for the duration of their time in the shop. As for the others, for the most part, they had the necessary pieces to put together a look that would be presentable at the secret show. The door was opened once they had handed over their tickets, and the Wayne family were handed a stack of passes that they hurriedly settled around their necks as they were show their way to their seats.

When the catwalk lit up, Marinette sat there, frozen, anticipating the beginning of the show. The lights blacked out, and a spotlight followed the first model on her way towards the middle of the room. Marinette’s breath caught in shock at the beauty of the coat that was trailing down the runway. As the next model made his way out, Marinette lost herself in the world of fashion.

 After, Bruce turned to the girl and raised an eyebrow, “so…was this too over the top for your birthday?” the 14-year-old smiled at her father.

“no,” she breathed, “it was perfect”

whew! that was a long one! obviously, this one is not compleate, but it’s other half is going to be coming soon! any feedback is more than welcome, im going to try to keep these a little longer if i can...

also, what did y’all think of Alya? i’m not her biggest fan, but didnt want to make her a villian? 

[ayellowcurtain]

I can be your lover

chapter 3

Robbe doesn’t think too much about grabbing his phone anymore, clicking on the name, scrolling through the page, clicking on some old pictures just to see him again, watching the new stories, Sander partying with his friends until the early hours of this morning. It’s part of Robbe’s routine to check Sander’s social media like it’s brushing his teeth or skating back home hearing his music.

He brought it to himself so he has to suck it up. Sander is more than well adjusted to his new life, his new friends.

The conversations that used to happen constantly throughout every day changed a few months back and are now just a quick exchange of texts every few days, nothing longer than ten minutes, and nothing too deep inside each other’s lives too. Robbe still misses Sander like he did when Sander first moved away but he doesn’t have the space to say it anymore.

It was obvious that distance would push them apart. They were too naive to think they could beat it.

He missed his opportunities time and time again. The ticket he had to go visit expired a few weeks ago and he knows it was the last straw for Sander to give up on them completely, no matter how much Robbe tried to explain and how many times he apologized for not finding the time or courage to go visit.

Robbe is terrible with words but he managed to say them when he felt it but he’s a disaster with actions and he didn’t take one with someone that’s all about actions speaking louder than words.

“Baby, are you busy today?” He hears his mom’s words like they’re on the other side of a tunnel. He looks up and she’s smiling, repeating her words now that she has his attention.

“No...No, I’m not really busy, why?”

“I was thinking about going to the mall and shopping.” He can feel her excitement in her voice. They don’t do this often: outings that don’t involve their doctors or grocery shopping. And his mom has been doing really, really good and Robbe thinks if he lost one for his lack of attitude, he shouldn’t do the same with his mom.

“Okay. Let me just change.” He smiles back and she claps her hands, leaving his room to go grab her things. The last thing Robbe wants to do is go out but he’ll force a smile on his face and hold however many bags she needs him to hold.

to Jens: Do you want to do something tonight?

I need some beers

He puts his phone inside his jacket to give his mom his full attention for the afternoon, hoping Jens has planned something for them to do by the time he’s back home tonight.

Robbe doesn’t need anything but he lets his mom buy him lunch and when she shows him this perfect black leather jacket that looks a lot like one Robbe used to steal from Sander, he lets her buy it for him too. He checks his phone but there’s no message from Jens yet so he texts Zoe, inviting her for some coffee with his mom before they head home. It’s nice to see her again and his mom loves Zoe so much but Robbe can tell something is up. Zoe keeps looking at him in the way she does when she’s worried. He doesn’t ask because his mom is there and he doesn’t need his mom in the middle of whatever drama Zoe is hiding from him.

On their way back home it’s colder than expected after walking for so many hours inside the mall, the sun is completely gone so the temperature dropped drastically and Robbe finds any excuse to open the bigger bag he’s carrying, putting his new leather jacket on, searching for his phone to put inside the outer pocket. He holds it tighter and the screen lights up, showing the notification of a few new messages from Jens.

to Robbe: No plans but you can come by if you want, play some video game

talked to Jana yesterday

She told me Sander is hooking up with a girl…

Robbe stops walking, carefully reading every message again to make sure he didn’t misinterpret what Jens was saying. He knows he should read this with the biggest grain of salt because Jana has moved back a few weeks ago and she barely knows Sander but in the back of his mind, for a reason Robbe can’t understand, he thinks she might be telling Jens the truth.

to Jens: How does she know that?

He can guess the answer - Britt and her big mouth - but he doesn’t know what to say.

to Robbe: Britt told her that he’s been sleeping with someone for a while now but it’s nothing serious

probably just a fuck buddy

he did repost stories with a blonde girl tho

Robbe leaves to answer Jens later when he’s home, and he opens Instagram instead, Sander’s profile picture being the first one available for him to watch - his favorite hobby -  and he clicks on it without thinking and there it is. Robbe keeps his thumb on the screen to freeze the frame.

It’s a stories of someone else that Sander shared. It’s too fast for Robbe to understand what’s going on but he stops when he sees Sander laughing, with sparkly eyes that are the sign that maybe he’s a little tipsy, always in a better mood after a few beers, his hair messy from what Robbe assumes to be strange fingers running through his locks and the girl finally turns back to look at whoever caught them making out, blushing with the brightest red lips and Robbe takes his finger off the screen and it’s over in the next second.

“Robbe…” Zoe is standing next to him, his mom a few steps forward waiting for them.

“Am I like the last one to know?”

Zoe presses her lips together, trying to justify not telling him about it but Robbe doesn’t really care. It’s his fault anyway. Sander has every right to move on and post it all over social media.

He shoves his phone back in his pocket and Zoe wraps her hands around his arm and forces him to start walking again, acting as nothing happened to his mom while they walk Zoe home and then go home themselves.

He tries to engage in whatever conversation his mom starts about picking which pizza they’ll eat tonight but his brain keeps replaying that quick clip over and over again even though he shouldn’t care.

Sander knows that he saw and he doesn’t text anything to Robbe, as he shouldn’t but Robbe expected him to.

He completely forgets about answering Jens and goes to bed right after eating half a pizza without noticing, turning his phone off, hoping he’ll wake up to some missed calls or texts from Sander, knowing it won’t happen.

The story is still there when Robbe wakes up the next morning. He clicks on Jens’ texts to finally answer him.

to Jens: sorry for disappearing last night, ate some pizza and passed out before I could tell you.

Thankfully, Jens is not online so Robbe won’t have to keep a conversation going when he’s still half asleep and in the worst possible mood.

He pushes himself to lie on his side, staring at the space next to him where Sander would usually sleep.

There were long months of miscommunication, frustration, and excuses because Robbe was too afraid of any change. He finally had the life he dreamed of, and two months after, Sander was moving to another country with no intention of coming back to visit every weekend. That change was big enough to paralyze him, unable to decide for himself what he wanted in their relationship. He thought they could maintain some degree of their relationship online while Robbe worked on himself but it wasn’t enough for Sander, clearly.

And Robbe couldn’t whine and beg for his attention so he kept his neediness to himself while their conversation got smaller and meaningless with time. The few things keeping them close are over now and Robbe can try to hide it all he wants but he knows it won’t be easy.

He clicks on another app that he opens frequently but this one just to look.

The airplane tickets aren’t too pricey, he just has to find one, buy and just fucking go there already! He can’t have another long semester letting the unknown eat his brain out. If he asks Sander he’ll give a too honest answer, cold without thinking about feelings because he’s hurt and he doesn’t care if Robbe gets hurt too because he brought this to them. Sander will be practical and Robbe needs him to be more considerate.

He stops scrolling when he finds a flight to Sander’s new town. His dad sent him his birthday gift in money and Robbe didn’t use much of it yet. Added with all the money his dad sends him every few weeks, it’s barely enough but it’ll work.

He buys the ticket before he can change his mind again and drops his phone on his mattress, looking forward. He has one hour to pack a bag and go to the airport. If he works fast enough he won’t have time to change his mind.

Robbe sits on his bed and grabs his school bag from the floor, unzipping it and turning it upside down on his bed to empty it, leaving the mess for him to deal with when he’s back. He doesn’t know for how long he’ll stay but it can’t be that long that he can’t fit in one bag.

If he tells anyone, as they did to him, they’ll end up telling Sander about his plans. Even Zoe would end up accidentally spilling the news to Jana and she would tell Britt. So Robbe tells Senne that he’ll need him to lie for Robbe for a few days. He needs to pretend he’s sleeping somewhere else so nobody will try to change his mind about jumping on a plane suddenly to go talk to Sander because of a social media post.

He’s the only one that won’t call him crazy or ask any questions.

When everything is planned with Senne, Robbe is finally done packing too, not giving himself even a second to look around and diggest the crazy plan he’s about to do, he’s almost late and the taxi is already downstairs, waiting for him.

He kisses his mom goodbye and quickly tells her he’s going to spend the week at Senne’s because he needs some help with Zoe. He’s out the door before giving a proper explanation or he would get caught in his lie, everything written all over his face because Robbe is that terrible of a liar.

The realization of how fucked his whole plan is only hits him when he’s already in his seat inside the airplane, high up in the sky, being offered some snacks that he declines.  

He looks so desperate, jealous, and thinking sex will fix everything that he ruined. He looks and sounds hot and cold and confusing and Robbe hates the realization while he’s sitting inside an airplane, with no way out to go back home.

If he gets there and Sander is living a married life already with his blonde dream girl, Robbe will have to find a way to dig a hole and hide forever.

He sits forward, finally able to see groups of houses again down on the ground. The pilot tells them they’ll be landing soon and Robbe rushes to the bathroom before he won’t be able to. He washes his face and looks at himself in the mirror. He’s not doing a good job at hiding his nervousness.

He won’t even have time to hesitate while waiting for his bag. Everything he brought is in the compartment over his head. He only needs to get inside a cab and go to Sander’s place. In two hours or so he’ll have to deal with whatever he planned so quickly in his head.

Maybe if he asks what’s going on, it won’t feel so desperate. It’s not unfair to want to know where they stand. Even if it’s a closure that Robbe is not ready to have. He settles for asking, as calmly as he can, what’s going on between them now that there’s someone else again.

The airport is tiny and Robbe is a little bit lost, wandering without knowing where he’s supposed to go to find the taxis. Sander's address is still saved in a print Robbe took of their conversation before they started drifting apart.

Sander had moved to a better apartment that he could only afford because he was sharing with a few of his friends. Robbe remembers typing, asking why was Sander sending him that if they were barely talking to each other those days. He wanted Sander to tell him they were still okay enough but Robbe didn’t send the message, just said the place looked nice, and took a screenshot to save the address.

He asks the taxi driver if it’s a long drive and he shakes his head, looking at Robbe through the rearview, “Five minutes, not much more than that.”

Robbe sighs, trying to make some breathing exercises to prepare himself. Five minutes is not a lot of time, not enough either.

He tries to keep himself from overthinking as he jumps out of the car, putting his bag over his shoulder. The building seems very new, modern even and Robbe wonders how expensive it is to live there.

There’s a guy behind the desk when he walks in and he leads Robbe to the elevator, pressing the button for him, letting him go upstairs by himself. Robbe found a way to mumble, after giving the old man all his information, that it was a surprise so he wouldn’t call Sander. He seemed to get it, smiling and Robbe was giving the directions: on the third floor, the door on his right was Sander’s.

He fixes his hair, adjusts his bag on his shoulder, and stares at the door before knocking, hoping Sander is the one to open it, not one of his friends or the girl. He should have told him he was coming, at least Sander would have time to hide anything he might want to hide but Sander doesn’t seem unhappy to see him at his door. Robbe doesn’t remember what he had planned to say and Sander is quiet too, doesn’t look like he had much sleep time or any sleep for that matter.

He can barely open his eyes, wearing his underwear and a black shirt and Robbe doesn’t wait for another second, putting his hands on Sander’s neck, pulling him down for a heated kiss. He licks Sander’s mouth open, pushing him inside his apartment and Sander slams the door closed behind Robbe, gently taking his bag off his shoulder, finally awake enough to lead the way to a bed.

-

Robbe snuggles closer and carefully lies on Sander’s shoulder. He obviously changed the order of things but there’s no escaping a conversation now while they’re both wide awake, lying in bed together. Robbe wonders if Sander at least changed his sheets. He has to know what Sander is feeling but he’s so afraid of the answer.

He looks up and finds Sander already staring at him, with a hint of a smile at the corner of his lips.

“You know why I came?”

Sander lifts his eyebrows, looking elsewhere now and he sighs annoyingly.

“I’ll be surprised if I don’t.”

Robbe looks down again, at Sander’s hand casually just on his chest, like he’s waiting for Robbe to hold it like he would any other time. He doesn’t because it feels wrong yet but he walks with his fingertips over Sander’s knuckles, wanting to hold his hand, kiss him, tell Sander that there’s no way anyone else is better than them and that’s why he’s here.

“So…is this like Britt all over again?”

He knows it’s not the best way to ask if Sander still wants to be with him and just him but he can’t find another way to do it.

“No. I broke up with Britt right after our first kiss. And I’m not dating anyone right now. So it’s different.”

Robbe looks up knowing he’ll find an upset Sander, he doesn’t ask anything else to not risk his luck. He pushes himself up and looks at Sander face to face, staring at his still reddish lips, and kisses him again, leaving the rest of this painful conversation for later

[lesdemonium]

romtober day 24: running after the plane/train

Rating: T Ship: Geraskier Word Count: 1441 Summary: Before leaving for tour, Jaskier makes things more explicit than their casual "friends with benefits" relationship. Geralt doesn't respond well and has to fix it before he leaves.

read on ao3

"You’ll miss me, won’t you?”

The question hung heavy in the silence. Geralt imagined he could hear the racing thump thump thump of Jaskier’s heart, but he knew that it was only his own he could hear. It sat there, just a moment too late, before Jaskier withdrew with a breathy laugh, soft and hurt. He had been pressed into Geralt’s chest when he said it, Geralt could feel the way his lips moved, but now he sat up, turned away. Collected himself for a moment with the blankets pooled in his lap and his skin shining silver in the moonlight from the window.

“Forgive me, I shouldn’t have--” Jaskier started, only to abruptly cut himself off. Geralt lifted himself to his elbows and reached out a hand to touch Jaskier’s bare shoulder. Jaskier pulled away. “I should go. Before I--well. I should just go.”

Geralt didn’t want that. He sat up as Jaskier bent over the side of the bed, retrieving his underwear and pulling it back on. “Jaskier, don’t--”

“No, it’s fine. I knew what this was. I crossed the line with that question.” He paused, ran a hand through his hair, and Geralt knew he wasn’t imagining the trembling of Jaskier’s hand. “I suppose I… got a little sentimental. Leaving home is never easy; it makes you a bit emotional. I’m sorry.”

Geralt’s heart ached. “You don’t have to leave,” was what he said, but what he meant was I want you to stay. It was a subtle difference, but one Geralt knew Jaskier could reach the depths of. Wanting was so much harder, so much scarier, than simple permission. Geralt did not let himself want for anything, not even Jaskier. Jaskier, who was leaving him tomorrow to play his music for his hundreds of thousands of adoring fans. Jaskier, who had shared Geralt’s bed, Geralt’s kisses, Geralt’s life for the past several years, only interrupted by Jaskier’s tours.

When Jaskier left, Geralt always missed him. Each time, he thought, this would be the last. This time, the goodbye would stick, and Geralt would never get to share Jaskier’s light again. But Jaskier always came back to him. Despite the distance Geralt kept between them, Jaskier always came back.

Something was different, this time. Geralt could see it in the set of Jaskier’s shoulders, the way he was hiding his face from Geralt. This time, Jaskier wasn’t coming back. This time, what they had between them would be lost to the silence Geralt had wrought.

“I’ll get myself to the plane,” Jaskier said, and he took a deep breath. “No need to trouble yourself.”

“Jaskier, you don’t need to go . Your bags are already here, I can drive you tomorrow. Just stay the night.”

Jaskier huffed out another hurt laugh at that, and when he turned to Geralt, his eyes were red-rimmed.

“Don’t, Geralt. I don’t need to put myself up for any more disappointment, here.” He sniffed, then turned away. “I just keep hoping, you know? I keep hoping that eventually this will be more than this is. That you’ll love me the way I love you. It’s unfair to you, for me to keep putting these expectations on you. It’s unfair to me, to keep setting myself up to be hurt. So, no. It’s best if I spend my last night here somewhere else.”

Now dressed, he walked to the bedroom door. There was a long moment when he stood there, barely silhouetted in the dim light. Then Jaskier took a deep breath.

“For what it’s worth, I will miss you desperately. I’d say I won’t write a song about this, but you didn’t figure out all the others were about you, so what’s the difference?”

He left. And Geralt’s bed had never felt colder.

--

Geralt woke up the next morning in a frenzy. He did the bare minimum required to get ready, grabbed his food on his way out the door, and threw himself into the car. He hadn’t woken up early enough, and now he was running late. The only thing saving him now was the fact that Jaskier would be leaving from a private airport, not the big commercial one, and Geralt actually had a chance to get to him.

He called Yennefer on the way to the plane.

“You have to stall,” Geralt said in lieu of a greeting.

Yennefer paused for a moment. “You want me to stall the plane ? Are you kidding me, Geralt? Don’t tell me you’re the reason he’s been in a mood all morning. Why should I do any favors for you when you’ve made my life infinitely more frustrating today?”

“Yen, please. You have to stall the plane, and get me past security.”

“What power do you think I hold in all this?”

“All of it?” He sounded a bit unsure but, really, Yen was in charge of everything when it came to Jaskier. Surely she could delay the plane, give Geralt some clearance to get there, and all without too much effort on her part. She just had to choose to.

She clicked her tongue. “Fine. You have thirty minutes. Not a second more.”

Geralt continued to sing her praises as he was escorted through security, straight to the gate, where Jaskier was arguing with Yennefer.

“--being so cagey, Yen. I get it, you’re in charge, I’m not disputing that, but could you just tell me what it is we’re waiting for? I’d much rather wait on that plane in the comfortable chairs than on these terrible plastic ones and if I have to be a diva about something I think this is a fair place to start--”

He stopped, then, and did a double-take as Geralt walked into the waiting room. Yennefer glared at him and made some gesture that Geralt couldn’t really decode, but he had a feeling had something to do with him owing her. He could think about that later, though. All his attention was on Jaskier, who was now turned to him, with a guarded expression on his face.

“Geralt, what are you doing here?” Jaskier asked, and he crossed his arms. “You’re mighty lucky you caught me. But I have a feeling it didn’t have much to do with luck.” He turned to give Yennefer a suspicious glance, and she only raised her eyebrow in return.

“Yen, can we have a minute?” Geralt asked. She glared at him again, then huffed and walked away, off to do whatever it was agents did. Or she was just going off to complain about them. That would be fair. “Jaskier, we need to talk.”

Jaskier frowned at him and his eyebrows furrowed. “No, you need to talk. I’m pretty sure I did my part last night. Only to be met with your silence.”

“I’ll miss you.”

Jaskier’s eyebrows pinched even further together. “This sure seems like a lot of trouble just to say that. And, Geralt, I’m sorry, but it’s just. It’s not enough anymore. I don’t--I can’t keep coming back to someone that thinks of me only as a bed warmer. You can’t play with me like that. I need more than your scraps.”

Geralt nodded. “You do. I just. I wanted to start there.”

He took a deep breath, then stepped closer, right into Jaskier’s personal space. Jaskier didn’t step back, which was a pause, but he didn’t reach for Geralt either. Geralt reached for him, instead, and took his hips. Still, Jaskier didn’t return the embrace, but Geralt watched as his lower lip pouted out and he blinked, trying to dispel any wetness forming.

“I always miss you when you’re gone,” Geralt said. “I count down the days until you come back, until you’re with me again. I should have told you. I should have told you every time you left, and every time you came back. I want you to stay. I want you to come back. I want you however I can have you, for as long as I can have you. And I do love you as you love me.”

Jaskier’s eyes were wet and red as a disbelieving smile crossed his face. He cupped Geralt’s cheeks and searched him, as if he was looking for any hint of a lie.

“You stopped my plane to tell me all this?” Jaskier asked. “You really mean it? Every word of it?”

Geralt nodded again, and he savored the breathless, happy laugh Jaskier gave him. “I want to start over. Try again, and do it right. When you come back to me. If you come back to me.”

“Always, darling. I’ll always come back to you.”

[captainjimothycarter]

Red Alert

Thanks to @youneedsomeprompts for this prompt! Color Symbols: Angst: Red: Danger On a side note, Tumblr PLEASE stop ruining my formatting from google docs to tumblr.

--

Sam and Natasha both make a suggestion for Steve to talk to a new therapist that might be more on his level of understanding his situation.

--

LINK

--

 There was a prickle in the back of his head that he couldn’t quite shake. An itch that he couldn’t quite scratch. Nothing he did would stop it, even for a second. It practically lived in the back of his head, active every second of the day. It didn’t care if he was on a mission, running drills, helping citizens, out with friends, or trying to relax at home.

   Steve Rogers always felt like he was on guard. That there was constant danger around him. That he couldn’t quite relax fully. That prickle in the back of his head never allowed him to relax either. At the slightest noise, rather it was the ice settling in the freezer, a cough down the hall, or an odd-sounding car passing by his apartment, Steve felt like he had to investigate the noise. He had to check it out and make sure the ice wasn’t a bug listening in on him or the cough wasn’t an intruder trying to attack him.

 It interrupted him at all hours of the day, never allowing him to truly sleep. He slept, a few handfuls of hours here and there when his body allowed it. When he was truly exhausted, when the serum was on its last legs and scraping the bottom of the barrel, Steve found he would pass out for hours. Days even, if he was exhausted enough.

 He couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a true, peaceful night's sleep. Actually, he could. He’d just rather      not    remember it and feel the hallow guilt and pain erupt in his chest. He’d rather focus on the here and now because that’s all he’s had left.

 It’s Sam who approaches him about it when Steve shows up after a group therapy session to join him for lunch. He looks exhausted, he knows he does. There are bags under his eyes, he’s pale, and his focus is waning. He has to force himself to listen to what Sam is talking about, watching his mouth move and taking in the words without truly listening.

 “Steve!”

   Steve jumps as fingers snap in his face, blinking. “I-I was...I was listening.”

 “Uh-huh.” There’s no frustration or anger on Sam’s face, just concern as he settles back against the metal seat. He watches a few people walk by, fingers drumming on the table. “You haven’t been sleeping again, have you? Feelin’ on edge?”

 Steve shrugged, which was his way of saying yes without truly saying it. It was hard to ask for help, but he didn’t need help. He just needed to rest.

 “Figures. You’ve been watching that office window for the past ten minutes.”

 “I...wasn’t,” Steve tried to weakly defend, but it fell on deaf ears. “I was just… There was a blinking light up there. Thought it was…” He shrugged, letting the sentence hang off.

 “Morse code or something? I get it. You’re stuck in danger mode. You’re on edge. You’re strugglin’ with so much, Steve. It’s      okay.”  

 There was no arguing with him, he was right and Sam knew he was right too. Steve just couldn’t think of anything to counter it, to help his friend not worry so much about him. “No, you’re right. I just...I can’t sleep. I can’t relax. I find myself waiting for the danger, constantly on edge. Nat says I had a panic attack the other night when Bruce accidentally flashed a light in my eyes. I don’t remember it.”

 “I can’t imagine what it’s like being you, Steve. You got this...superhuman abilities. Your strength is one thing, but your senses? They’re so advanced and even for back then, all the new sounds and smells and sight. But compared to today where it’s all flashy and you didn’t grow up with it. It’s overwhelming. You’re overwhelmed, you’re…” He paused and looked up at his friend, trying to find the right words before settling on being blunt. “You have PTSD, Steve. We’ve talked about this, remember? Can’t keep workin’ yourself stupor. You deserve a break.”

 PTSD - yeah, Steve knew all about it. Once Sam had told him it, in the kindest manner possible, Steve looked up everything he could. Everything matched - the symptoms, the exhaustion. How he was constantly on edge. He’d talked to a few people about it, even a therapist that Pepper had recommended but how could he get to someone’s level who wasn’t him?

 Who didn’t understand him? Someone who had lived through one of the worst wars in history, who’d lived and lost hundreds of people he considered friends, crashed a plane into the ocean, and woke up in a new century? He’d lost everything. His sense of a home, his friends, his family.

 Nothing could compare to that. No one could get on his level to understand beyond the war. Yet his understanding of war differed from others and while they’d matched on a level about it, it wasn’t      fully.    It wasn’t to a full degree that Steve could latch onto.

 “You know,” Sam was saying, drawing Steve out of his thoughts. “There’s someone in Shield that Nat was talking about that might be able to help you. You might want to ask her about it.”

 “Sam, no offense, but I’m not sure there are many who can help a hundred and one-year-old soldier from World War Two.” Sam rolled his eyes at him and Steve shrugged again. “I just need a break. I need to try to relax. Get out of my head. Get this stupid prickling to stop.”

 He’d scratched the back of his neck raw a few times because of it, just to have it heal over an hour later.

 “The options are there, man, alright? You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Just...just call if you need anything, alright? You gonna be good?”

 There was the concern, the near pity in Sam’s expression as he got up to leave, coat was thrown over his arm. Steve squeezed his hand and forced himself to nod. “Yeah, man, I’ll be fine. Go back to work.”

 Three missions later, two training accidents resulting in him breaking a finger, three sleepless days, and five skipped meals later, Steve found himself staring at an office door with the placard reading      Dr. P. Carter.  

 She came highly recommended by Natasha who refused to say more on the matter of who this P. Carter was. He’d tried to google this Peggy but got nowhere with results beyond obituaries.

 This was ridiculous. There was no way she could help him. Or anyone could. He’d just needed to go, making take that horse tranquilizer Tony was teasing about and go to bed.

 The second he went to turn away, the door opened. Steve almost kept walking until he heard her clear her throat.

 “I was wondering if you were going to come in, Mr. Rogers. If that’s...okay I call you Rogers?”

 The accent is what caught his attention. Enough to make him curious to turn around. Peggy Carter was...gorgeous. Sharp high cheekbones, honey-coated eyes behind black-rimmed glasses, brunette curls running down her shoulders. She looked amazing in her jeans and a white t-shirt - the last thing he expected a therapist to wear.

 “You knew I was out there?” he mumbled.

 That was a stupid question, of course, she did. She possibly had cameras and it’s not like he was a quiet person in this big body. Sometimes he felt so huge in this body, wishing he’d been smaller. Just without the ailments.

 “I heard some muttering and you were my only appointment today. I figured it was you.” She replied gently enough, leaving him a little more curious about her. She didn’t treat him like others had like he was a sleeping bear about to be poked.

 Something about her      eyes    told him she understood him. Or he was imagining it so much because he was desperate to have someone who could understand.

  He had to give his friends credit. They tried. They fully tried to help and he was grateful but if something didn’t work out for him, Steve almost instantly lost hope.

 It was always Cap or Captain. Rarely was he called Steve outside of his friends. Everyone saw him as this guy on the mantle and not himself. Not Steve Rogers, a man who's hurting and doing his best to pack it all in for another day.

 “Didn’t realize I muttered. I…” He swallowed, tongue darting out as he looked her up and down. She was a few inches shorter than him and posed herself in a manner that was inviting. She wasn’t dangerous, but she could be, he figures. “How do you know Natasha? She...recommended you.”

 “Natalia? Oh, she’s a personal friend of mine. We’ve worked on a few cases together.” Peggy’s hand held out to him, an invitation. “I’m Margaret, by the way. But my friends call me Peggy. Would you like to sit down? You look like you’re about to fall over.”

 He could run, he could bolt out to his bike and run for the hills, but he didn’t want to. Strange enough Steve found himself taking Peggy’s hand and giving her a firm shake, just as she did him. “My friends call me Steve.”

 “Well, Steve, it's a pleasure to meet you. Let’s get you to sit down at the very least. We don’t even have to talk. I just don’t want you riding that death trap like this.”

 Steve snorted as he followed her and eased into a comfortable couch in her office. “It’s not a death trap. It’s my pride.”

 “Oh, I can certainly see that. Personal custom work to resemble a bike you must’ve used before? Very rarely do you see that, but it’s still a death trap. Excuse me for liking the cushion of walls when I’m speeding down the highway.”

 Peggy’s red lips twitched into a smile at his snorting laugh, handing over an unsealed bottle of water. Steve took it without question, taking a few sips.

 “No wonder you like Natasha...she says the same despite loving a bike herself.” Steve sighed as he took a few sips, grateful to have something to do with his hands. “Look, Miss Carter...I’m unsure of what Natasha told you or what you want to do with these sessions but they never...end well for me. Sure, the other people are great, but they don’t      understand.    ”

 “Excuse me for interrupting, Steven, but you do make a great point. They don’t understand because they’re not on your level. Your closest group of friends outside of those you serve with are the vets down at the center, right? Men you served with but perhaps were not close to?”

 At Steve’s nod, Peggy smiled. “I’ve been there - I mean I see you there. I…”

 She looked almost frustrated, eyes darting to the window and closed-door before pulling out an old file from her drawer. It was stained with coffee and yellow with age, a familiar symbol stamped on top.      SSR.  

 Steve’s heart leaped to his throat as he looked down at it, but didn’t dare touch it when she held it out to him. “What is...this?”

 “I figured to get you to trust me, we need to be on the same level, correct? I need to be open and honest and while I haven’t lied yet, Natasha and I haven’t been fully honest.” She sighed when he didn’t take the file and opened it up, handing him a page stamped with a date, shortly before he joined the military.

 “I don’t understand,” he mumbled, looking over the information. “You were an SSR Agent, but... you’re…” He waved his hand over her. “You have to be ninety-eight!”

 “Excuse me, ninety-seven, thank you,” Peggy snorted. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to comment on a woman’s age?” Oh, she shouldn’t find that blush attractive, but she did.

 “But to answer your question, Steve, yes, I am...old. I was an SSR Agent. You see, shortly before you joined Project Rebirth, I was the prime candidate. After rescuing Doctor Erskine from Schmidt’s clutches, I received the serum in private. Colonel Phillips, Erskine, and Howard Stark, and I all agreed this shouldn’t be public because we were unaware of the consequences, and well - you know how they saw women in those days.

 The serum, we thought, did nothing. I was shipped off to war shortly after, so we had never met. It seems fate kept it that way, even as I joined Phillips and helped the 107th. I’ve met other Howling Commandos - Dugan, Jones, even Barnes. Yet, somehow never you.

 Still, the serum, before I ramble off. We thought it did nothing until after the war. I wasn’t aging. I could...heal faster than normal, but it wasn’t to your level. I had been shot with one of Schmidt’s weapons, it should’ve vaporized me on the spot, but instead, it activated the serum.

 Then...then you died. Or so we thought. Howard used me as a near experiment to see if you could survive and I agreed because you deserved to be found, dead or alive. You deserved some sort of burial at the very least, but we...as you can tell, it went nowhere.

 So time went on, we went on to form Shield. I left shortly before you were found - as fate would have it seem so we did not meet. I left because...I wanted to do things outside of Shield. I wanted to help people. Of course, if they need me, they call me, but I would rather not play Director at this moment. I enjoy doing my own things - I rather ask for forgiveness than permission. When the Battle of New York happened, I was out of town. Once again, fate decided we shouldn’t meet. When Natasha found me, she wanted to introduce us right away. She thought...I could be of assistance. I could be friends with you but I didn’t want this forced. I wanted to meet you, Steve but I wasn’t sure      how    without fate deciding we aren’t worth it.”

 Steve sat there, stunned, pillow in hand. He found himself kneading it, staring down at the files. Every single thing matched up with what she said. The serum, a more watered-down version. Going to war. He could remember Dugan pouting because some lass named Carter ‘stole’ his whiskey - aka won it in a bet. He could remember Barnes insisting he meets this Carter. He could remember a red dress in a bar, a kiss of fire whiskey on his lips. Her soft body…

 “We had sex,” Steve spat out, blinking down at the paper. He heard choking and his head snapped up, watching Peggy cough into her arm.

 “Excuse me? I think I’d remember if we had sex, Rogers!” Peggy half-shouted, her face turning a shade of red.

 “Apparently not. It-it was...it was before I died. The only time I’d truly slept in years. The night before I died. We met at the bar, but both of us were so tipsy. I’d have...something Howard invented that...that got me feeling a bit tipsy. We shouldn’t have done it, I should’ve said no but your kisses were so addicting. It’s not that I didn’t want you. I just...didn’t want you under the influence of alcohol for us both. I wanted to remember it clearly.”

   Peggy stared down at the cold coffee, red nails drumming on the table in thought. “I remember now. It was your first time. You were so...so awkward. In the most charming manner. I had to teach you everything, including how to undress me. It was...It was charming, Steve. One of the best nights I’ve ever had. If I had known it was you…”

 She gave a weak laugh and shook her head. “You were so loving and careful, especially for your size. I wanted to protect you, strangely enough.”

 Steve found himself standing, the papers falling to the floor. He found himself standing in front of her, mind racing. She understood him on a level he’d thought he’d never find. They were the same, they had the same serum. They’d lost and loved. They just weren’t destined to meet until now.

 “I know this is supposed to be a therapy session,” he mumbled, still standing awkwardly in front of her. “But can we drop that and...and just go talk? Outside of here?”

 “Because you want to nail me on my desk?” Peggy teased, making Steve’s cheeks heat up. That wasn’t a no. She stood and held his hand, being gentle with her touch. “Of course, darling. I think we have lots to catch up on. I’m glad for once fate has decided we deserve to meet and it wasn’t with one of us dying on the battlefield.”

[wonder-kid-pugh]

No Matter What - (Jessie Fleming x reader)

In honour of of Jessie making her (20 second) debut (fuck sake Chelsea) I decided to write this. Now I started it yesterday and it's slightly rushed but I hope you enjoy it!!!

17 years ago

"Don't go too far now Y/n!" My mom shouts as I run into the park. "I won't!" I call back as I keep running. I kick my ball in front of me and chase after it. I start messing around with the ball trying to do tricks. Maybe falling over the ball ever once in a while. I scoop the ball up and try to do some kickie uppies. But I only get to 3 before I kick the ball too hard and sends it flying off to the right through a bush.

I let out a sigh before jogging over to the bush the ball went through. I look to see the ball went through the bush. I push myself through the bush and look around the trail that was hidden behind the bush. I smile as I see a girl standing there with my ball.

I run up to her, "Hey! You found my ball!" She looks up at me and nods while holding out the ball to me. I smile as I take the ball and hold it under my arm, "My name is Y/n. What's yours?" She shifts awkwardly as she mumbles, "Jessie". I tilt my head at her as I scrunch my face at her, "What are you doing back here by yourself?"

She looks down at her shoes as she digs her foot into the dirt, "I was just exploring and I don't really have any friends". I smile at her, "I'll be your friend". She looks up at me, "Really?" I give her a big toothy smile, "No matter what". She smiles while I hold out my ball, "Well do you want to play soccer with me?"

She gives me a small smile and nods, "Okay". I grin as I grab her hand and pull her back towards the park, "Great! Let's go play!"

8 years ago

"Hey Y/n" Jessie smiles as she opens the door to me. But I can't find it in me to smile back as I bite my lip, "Hey Jess. Can we talk?" She frowns as she sees me, "Is everything okay?"

I sigh as I run my hand through my hair, "Can...can we sit down?" She nods as she walks over to the bench at the front of her house as we sit down. She doesn't say anything as she looks at me worried while I sit with my arms on my knees and my head in my hands. Cupping my hands over my nose and mouth I take a deep breath.

She's waiting for me to speak but I can't. Because if I say it out loud it makes it real and I can't take it back after. No matter how much I wish I could change it. "Y/n what is it? Your starting to scare me?" She eventually asks, "what's wrong?"

I can feel her eyes piercing the side of my skull but I don't look knowing it's going to be a hundred times worst if I look at her. I stare at a leaf on the ground as it tumbles past me in the wind, "We're moving away Jess". When she doesn't say anything I chance it and look at her as I see her stare at me in shock with her mouth open in disbelief, "What?" "We're leaving Jess" I breathe out my voice barely above a whisper.

She shakes her head at me as she sits up closer for me, "Is this another one of your dumb pranks? This isn't funny Y/n!" I let out a bitter chuckle as I look away from her, "I wish this was a joke Jess. I really wish it was".

She lets out a shaky breath, "Where?" I run both my hands through my hair as I scratch the back of my head in frustration, "California". Her head whips around at me and I could see the heartbreak on her face. "Dad got offered another job and he wants to be closer to help Grans and Gramps. He's already accepted the job" I explain not being able to bare the silence between us.

"How long until..." She can't even finish her question. Just like how she can't even look at me right now. I play with my fingers as I hunch back over my knees, "2 weeks..."

There's another silence neither of us knowing what to say. What do you say when your best friend has just told you your moving away and you won't be able to see each other.

"Well we'll...we'll get through it. I can come visit you. And we can call and text. And-and we'll see each other at camp. It'll all be fine" Jessie reassuringly. But I don't know who she's trying to convince. Me or herself.

I let out another sigh rubbing my eyes, "Jess....I can't". She furrows her eyebrows at me, "What do you mean you can't?" I bite the inside of my cheek as I look at her who seems to have a permanent frown on her face. I do anything to see her smile right now but I know I have to tell her now or else it would make things so much worst later on.

"Jess I talked with my parents and...we decided that the best thing for me to do is to swap to the American team" I say slowly as if it would soften the blow. But it does anything but, "What?" I go to grab her hand, "Jess you have to understand". But she pulls her hand away from me angrily, "Understand what? That your leaving!" I sigh, "Jess I can't be flying out for every camp". She stands up from the bench as she glares at me, "So your just going to leave me behind? We promised we would make our debut for the national team together!"

I try to reach out for her, "Jess please I wish there was another way but there isn't". "Just stay!" She tells me. "I can't Jess I'm sorry". But she steps away from me narrowing her eyes at me, "So your just going to give up on our dream. Give up on us!" My eyes start to water as I look at her, "Jessie please your my best friend. I wish there was another way but there isn't".

But she isn't having it and instead glares at me, "My best friend would never leave me like this!". I can feel my heart break as I see the girl I so desperately like look at me with so much hatred and anger as she spits out words at me like they're poison in her mouth, "I never want to see you again!"

Nothing could stop the tears flowing down my face as I watch her run into her house slamming the door behind her. I sniffle and wait for a little while hoping that she would come back but I know she wasn't. With a heavy sigh and I turn and walk back to my house.

And she kept her word as that was the last time I saw her before I was on a plane to America heartbroken.

7 years ago

I smile as the final whistle blows signalling the end of the match. I watch as the Canadian players surround her patting her on the back for a job well done. At 15 years old and she already had her debut for the Canadian national team.

The debut we were supposed to make together

I stay for another few minutes before I start to grab my stuff to leave. I just about made it out when someone speaks behind me, "You could stay you know?" I turn and shrug, "I don't want to ruin her big day". Elysse frowns at me, "She misses you, you know. A lot". I give her a small smile, "I miss her a lot too. She seems to be doing just fine".

But she still sighs, "Why won't you tell her your here? She'll want to see you!" The last words she spoke to me ring on my ears as I shake my head, "Like I said I don't want to ruin her big day. She should be happy". "Why did you come then?" She asks.

I sigh as I run my hand through my hair, "Because no matter what I will always care about her. Even if she doesn't want me too".

Present day

I smile in the back of the empty stadium as Jessie celebrates with her new teammates as she holds the community shield which she won from her first match with the team. When I look over at the Man City side I can see Janine already looking at me. Already knowing I was there as she knew I was coming to the match today.

She looks at me and I already know what she wants me to do but I shake my head. I look back over at the Chelsea side one last time before I walk back into the stadium like I wasn't even there.

I had just made it to the carpark when someone shouts my name, "Y/n wait!" My breath hitches as I stop in my tracks as I realise who is behind me. I can hear the clitter clatter of her boots against the stone as she stops behind me. I finally will myself to turn around to see her freckled face and rosy cheeks.

She stares at me lips parted but I can't tell how she's feeling as we both just stand there staring at each other. Until I eventually give her a small smile. "Hey Jess" I breathe out. "Hi Y/n" she whispers. I can't help but look her up and down. It's been years since I've seen her this close up. Sure I've seen her on TV and at matches but we haven't spoken since the day I told her I was leaving.

She was still all decked out in her Chelsea gear. Somehow looking even better than she did all those years ago. It was like the wind was knocked out of me as I meet her dazzling brown orbs which study me as she looks me up and dowm.

"How did you know I was here?" I ask. She looks down and plays with the card in her hand, "I found the flowers you left in my locker. And I knew it was you when I saw this". She holds up the small card that I had sent to her locker along with the flowers. I hadn't signed the card but I knew I didn't need to because of what I wrote.

I always knew you were going to be something great. Congrats on your first very professional game. I'll always be supporting you.

No matter what

I just nod. Honestly I was hoping I would have been gone by the time she saw the card. I just wanted to let her know that someone was supporting her. I knew her family couldn't be here because of the pandemic. And there was no way I was missing her first ever professional club game.

"How...how are you doing Y/n?" She asks fidgeting a bit. I just nod and shrug, "Good. Taking it day by day. Playing soccer the usual". Jess nods quickly before sighing, "Why did you come?" I bite my lip as I sigh. I knew the question was coming and it's been the same even since we were young. But I'm not sure how she would take the truth. So I shrug, "Couldn't miss your Chelsea debut". I could see her roll her to eyes.

"I played like 20 seconds"

I chuckled, "Still played didn't you?" She shakes her lips before staring at me again. "But why?" She presses. I purse my lips and tilt my head at her. She sighs as she closes her eyes and looks at the ceiling before looking back at me, "Why? Why after all these years? After me ignoring you for leaving? Why would you still come and support me?"

I sigh as shove my hands in my pockets and look her straight in the eye, "Because nothing could make me stop caring about you Jessie Fleming. No matter what".

She scoffs, "If you really cared that much you would have stayed". I frown as we're back to this, "Jess it wasn't that simple. I couldn't have stayed with Canada. Travelling back and forth for camps, it wouldn't of worked out". Jess glares at me, "You could have made it work! If it was the other way around, I would have done everything to make it work! Instead you gave up and left me!"

I couldn't take it anymore as I snap at the girl, "I didn't want to leave!" She stares at me shocked. Never in our entire lives have I ever blown up at the girl like this. I barely ever raised my voice at her.

Until now that is

I sigh letting my shoulder slump as I look at the girl, "You weren't the only one who lost someone. Yes you lost your best friend. But I lost my person. The girl who I was in love with since forever". Her mouth drops as she lets out a small gasp at my confession. So I decide to keep going, "I was there for your first cap with the national team. I was there for your first game with UCLA. When you win bronze in Rio. I was there for all of it. Because I'll always care about you Jessie Fleming even when you don't want me too".

Her eyes well up with tears as she sniffs, "I didn't know you were there for any of it". I shrug, "You weren't supposed to". She walks forward so we're now standing closer to each other within arm's reach as she looks up at me, "I'm so sorry Y/n. I was so mad that you were leaving that I didn't think of how you felt. I was just mad because..."

She sighs closing her eyes but I brush a hair behind her ear, "Jessie?" She sighs finally meeting my eyes, "Because I was in love with you too. And I didn't want you to leave". My mouth drops as I watch her fidget on the spot. "Was?" I breathe out as I feel my heart stop briefly.

She looks up at me shyly, "I still am". I can see her glance down at my lips and I waste no time as I cup her cheek and lean down and kiss her. She slowly returns the kiss as she wraps her arms around my neck. The kiss was better than I ever imagined it. My mind was a whirl as I try to comprehend that I'm actually kissing the girl I've liked ever since I was young.

When we finally break apart I lean my forehead against hers as we both breathe heavy. "I've wanted to do that for a long time" I whisper as a small smile spreads across her face. She nudges my nose with her own as she smiles at me, "I love you". I smile as I give her a quick kiss back.

"I love you too. No matter what"

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 24

I should really put effort on summaries, right? Anyways... Enjoy! ❤️

Table of Contents

Going Dark - Part 3

Gary "Roach" Sanderson

MacTavish Residence, Glasgow, Scotland

Roach never would have guessed that MacTavish was a big time. Their 'old' house was already a mansion, complete with guest rooms, extravagant furniture and even an outdoor pool. Roach could stay here forever.

He was laying on a queen sized bed relaxing after a tiring chase earlier when Ghost knocked on his door and let himself in.

"What's wrong mate?" he asked, lifting only his head. Ghost leaned by the door and crossed his arms.

"You know how I got into a little argument with France back in Brazil right? Well, I still regret it ever happening…" he frowned, as shown by the way the fabric of his mask twitched.

"You regret which part? The fighting or the telling her what you feel?" Gary asked, cornering the ever vague Simon. He always does that when it comes to asking for advice.

Ghost ran a hand across his face and groaned.

"Bloody Hell, mate. Why do you have to ask those kinds of things?" he complained.

"So I could be clear as to which one I should recommend you to do." He replied quickly. He was very willing to help, but if Simon refuses to cooperate, then maybe he could handle it on his own.

"There's still one thing… I've been meeting with Alexandra not just for intel… " the tone of his voice was hesitant but he took a sharp inhale and continued.

"... we've also been sleeping together. No strings attached. For her it eases her tension from all the work while I try to forget about my feelings for Francine."

Gary didn't know what to say. Simon wasn't the kind of person to give up easily, and he fully understood the reasons for his latest actions.

"Well, it looks like Francine already made her choice, right?" Gary asked, trying to confirm from Simon that he already lost the battle.

"I'm not quite sure. Everytime I see her, she's physically distancing herself from Soap but later that night, they actually slept beside each other. She's making me confused and it still makes my heart beat for her…" Ghost admitted. As tough as he is on the battlefield, so was his admiration toward Francine. Gary pondered on how to help out his friend in this love triangle situation he caught himself in, but every direction he thought of would result in Ghost actually ending up sad.

The discussion was interrupted when a plane was heard from the distance, as it approached the nearby open area. It looked like the girls made it home.

"Looks like they're here." Roach sounded excited while Ghost looked worried.

~

It was impressive how they managed to bring most of their stuff from Brazil here in Scotland. It wasn't that much but the idea of packing things for six people in a hurry made Roach impressed.

"How did you bring most of this stuff?" Roach curiously asked Maxine as he helped her carry her stuff.

"Well, Samantha asked for help from his Dad and they immediately flew to Brazil." Maxine replied cheerfully, Roach loved how she managed to see the bright side of everything amidst the panic.

"So will Samantha-"

"No. They had a long talk with his Dad and she felt much safer back here with us. Her Dad wanted to offer help now that the New York Attack was over, but Samantha insisted, especially now that they're out hiding."

"Doesn't he have the power to like, pardon us for being wanted? That would make life much more easier for us."

"I thought of that too… but they're seeing Shepherd differently now. He's gone mad. And they want to corner him. Any action involving him may result in a global cripple. And I just heard all this on the plane ride here." Maxine frowned.

"Then that makes our job of locating him all worth it." Roach smiled giving hope to Maxine.

Maxine just nodded, her face was full of fear and doubt. She just wished all of this was over.

With Soap probably asleep, Roach had the liberty of touring the girls around the house, it was huge and spacious that each of them could occupy a room with about two more rooms to spare.

"Man, I could stay here forever." Roach mused as they walked the halls of the second floor. These four rooms are already occupied, most of the empty rooms are over there…" Gary pointed to the other end of the hall. Maxine looked at France and nodded as they both agreed to stay in one room.

"What about you, Miss Samantha?" Gary asked with sophistication, imitating a butler. Samantha giggled and blushed.

"I'll actually be sleeping with Alex, thanks Mr. Sanderson." she replied, playing along with Roach's role play. For a short moment, Roach felt relaxed. He hasn't felt like this for a while and it was too overwhelming. But while the enemies hid in the shadows, he was sure the team would be up for a tough fight anytime soon.

Despite being tired, Roach couldn't sleep. He felt that there was something or someone else he needed to consult. So, he decided to get up and get himself a glass of water down the kitchen. While he could hear himself gulping down a glass of water, he could also hear faint thumping from the basement. With high alert, he began descending down the stairs to investigate the source of the sound.

It was Simon. He was still up and doing sparring rounds with a red punching bag, each of his punches sent the bag swinging violently.

"You okay?" Gary finally asked, alerting Simon of his presence.

"Can't sleep." he said nonchalantly, giving the punching bag another mighty punch. Roach took a minute to admire the huge gym Soap had, each piece of equipment probably spent a fortune. He slowly paced to the small area filled with equipment and grabbed himself some boxing mitts and a protective helmet.

"So, why don't we resume our little talk?" Gary called as he presented himself to Simon on full boxing coach gear. Simon immediately positioned himself and Gary did the same as they began training with the intention of talking it out.

Simon's punches were heavy, Roach could feel a little emotion on each hit he made and it was starting to make him unstable.

"So, anything you'd want to discuss?" Roach initiated, his hands carefully met his punches as they circled around the area.

"I've been trying to ignore her, Gary. You see me try right? But the more I don't think of her, the more excited I get when I accidentally see her. It's frustrating." He explained in between his punches. There it was, the thing bothering him the most.

"What did she say back in Brazil? She probably said something that kept you from moving on. I can't think of anything else that might cause you to feel this way, unless you're lying." Roach tilted his head so he could see Simon's reaction. His punches stopped coming and he just stood there, his hands dropped to his sides.

"She… she didn't say anything… but she distances herself to John while I'm around."

"John MacTavish or John Price?" Gary interrupted, in an attempt to brighten up the mood, but instead all he got was Simon's 'are-you-kidding-me-right-now?' look.

"But when I'm not around, she finds time to see him…" Simon continued. Gary took off his gloves and tapped his shoulder.

"She… she was being considerate." Simon concluded. It looked like Gary did his job. He could feel Simon's shoulders relax upon realizing what was actually going on.

"Despite all that… she sacrificed a little just to not hurt you." Gary added, he had no intention of making Simon guilty but now that he realized it, he was making an impact toward the relationship that was blooming between Soap and France.

"Thanks, Gary. For being a great friend…" Ghost took off his gloves and walked out of the gym.

"... and the worst therapist." He joked with a grin as he walked up the stairs and left Gary in the gym.

"I hope you find your peace, Simon." Gary muttered.

The following morning, the team was already busy walking around the house. Soap was on the phone with a long list of things the girls ordered for their restock. It was planned that for the time being, the team was to stay in the MacTavish residence while Nero and Shepherd were off the grid.

Price and Jack started their own little command center inside Soap's father's office just by the living room. They began creating connections to their closest contacts to track activity from their enemies. Ghost seemed to be not around at the moment and Gary guessed he's still asleep.

Soap nodded a greeting to Roach as he walked by him on his way to the kitchen. Maxine and France were out opening drawers and anything in the pantry to clear up space for supplies. From the kitchen window, Gary spotted Samantha, Alex and Nikolai in front of a truck. Gary overheard that Nikolai wanted to go back home and he guessed today was the day he'd do so.

"I didn't know what kind of sugar you needed so I kinda ordered a bunch of em." Soap announced to the sisters and they laughed.

"The clerk kept asking me of brown, white, confectioners and some other and honestly I don't know which." he shrugged and scratched his head.

"Hey man, I was just wondering… why did you choose the risky life? When you had everything you ever needed here?" Gary asked the question that has been bothering him since he got here.

"I dunno Roach. It's just that I knew it was calling out to me… You also sound like my Mum when I told her I'm joining the force." he chuckled. Gary just nodded but still didn't understand his logic. But he dismissed the thought as soon as Maxine and France asked for his help reaching something by the cabinets.

The rest of the day was busy. Once supplies arrived, everyone else was preoccupied. Lifting boxes, arranging items, looking for intel. It was like they made their own 141 base inside the house.

By the time they're almost free, Roach and Maxine were already in the kitchen preparing for dinner.

"So, any new dreams lately?" Roach initiated as he sliced through the vegetables they're cooking.

"Piece by piece. Last night I remembered having gum stuck on my hair on picture day. I cried a lot." she giggled. Roach smiled, he was glad she's getting her memories back which made him remember of Samantha's case.

"Ow!" Gary winced as he accidentally cut a short scrape on his thumb. He was so busy staring at Maxine that he forgot he was chopping.

"Don't worry. It's just a small wound." Gary assured as Maxine pulled his thumb close to her mouth and blew air through it, just like when you're a kid and you do that to ease the pain.

Gary couldn't help but smile at her immediate action. She also looked concerned and worried about his welfare.

"Hey Max." he whispered, making the girl turn to him, her face was so beautiful in Gary's eyes.

"Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing… It's just that…"

"What is it? You're making me worried"

"I really really like you, Maxine Winters."

Maxine looked at him in the eye, the eye contact they were doing was starting to make the world fade behind them.

"Guys! I have bad news." Soap interrupted, causing everyone to form a small circle by the living room.

"Ghost left. With a note saying he'll try to gather more information on Shadow Company with Alexandra's help. He says thanks and that he'll see us all soon." Soap summarized the note. The room fell silent.

Next Chapter : Off the Grid

Notification Squad my Beloved

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