#hes there to help break the dramatic tension and then he is sprinting away from whatever gay shit is going down

[atthebell-moved]

sorry for being the way that i am (inserting crimeboys into this tntduo fic)

[hoshifighting]

— Synopsis: Where you find out you were a bet. — Preview: "So it was all a bet Seungkwan? Who makes you feel like this, hm?" you taunted, "Who else are you going to find out there that can do the things I do to you?" "That's right," you continued, your voice low and fierce. "No one. No one can fuck you like I do. No one knows your body like I do. No one else can make you beg like this. And you know it!"  — WC: 3.3k — WARNINGS: Smut, RAGE SEX, humping, penetrative sex, angst, hair pulling, riding, possessive words & etc.

For the past few months, you and Seungkwan had been living a secret life filled with youthful exuberance and passion. Despite your differences, there was an undeniable chemistry that kept pulling you back together. It all started innocently enough, with shared interests in theater and park outings, but it quickly escalated into something much more intense.

You and Seungkwan had a routine. You’d meet up after work or on weekends, sneaking off to hidden corners of the city to spend time together. The theater was your favorite escape. There, you could lose yourselves in the drama unfolding on stage, only to create your own dramatic scenes afterward, both playful and passionate.

[...]

One chilly evening, you both found yourselves at the local theater, watching a comedy play. You sat next to each other, sharing a bag of popcorn and exchanging sarcastic comments about the actors’ performances. Seungkwan leaned over, whispering a joke in your ear, and you couldn’t help but burst into laughter, drawing a few irritated glances from other theatergoers.

“Shh, you’re going to get us kicked out,” you whispered, trying to stifle your giggles.

“Oh, please, like you can keep quiet,” Seungkwan shot back, a mischievous glint in his eye.

After the play, you both headed to the park. The night was cool, the stars shining brightly overhead. You walked side by side, occasionally bumping into each other on purpose. It was your little game, a way to provoke and tease.

“Bet you can’t catch me,” Seungkwan said suddenly, breaking into a sprint.

“Oh, you’re on!” you shouted, chasing after him.

You ran through the park, laughing and shouting, until you finally tackled him to the ground. You both lay there, panting and laughing, the world around you forgotten.

[..]

Your relationship was like a roller coaster. One moment you’d be laughing and joking, and the next you’d be bickering like children. Your friends found it amusing, but they also knew it could escalate quickly.

“Seriously, you two are like an old married couple,” Mingyu said one evening, watching as you and Seungkwan argued over who had won the last game of mini-golf.

“Am not!” you both shouted in unison, glaring at each other before bursting into laughter.

Despite the arguments, there was a deep connection between you. When you were alone, the bickering turned into something else entirely. The passion between you was undeniable, each encounter more intense than the last. You’d find yourselves in the most unexpected places, unable to keep your hands off each other.

[...]

One evening, after another heated argument, you found yourselves in Seungkwan’s apartment. The bickering had turned into something more playful, and before you knew it, you were kissing, the tension melting away.

"You're impossible, you know that?" you said breathlessly between kisses.

"And yet, here you are," he replied with a smirk, pulling you closer.

The night was a blur of passion. Your bodies moved together with a familiarity that came from months of secret meetings. You’d always been able to push each other to the edge, and tonight was no different. The intensity of your lovemaking was a stark contrast to the playful bickering that usually defined your relationship.

[...]

But just like you said. It could escalate quickly. 

You and Seungkwan had always been able to handle your arguments with a playful edge, but this time was different. You didn’t even remember what sparked the fight, but the words that came out of his mouth stopped you cold.

“It was all a bet.”

You froze, staring at him in disbelief. “What did you just say?”

Seungkwan’s eyes widened as he realized what he’d said. “No, I didn’t mean—”

“You didn’t mean what? That this,” you gestured between the two of you, “was all a joke to you? A bet?”

“No, it’s not like that—”

“Then what is it, Seungkwan? Explain it to me!” Your voice rose, trembling with fury. “Because right now, it sounds like you’ve been using me this whole time.”

Seungkwan’s face paled. He reached out to you, but you stepped back, your anger intensifying. “Don’t touch me,” you snapped. “I trusted you. I thought this meant something.”

“It does mean something,” he insisted. “I swear, it started as a stupid dare from the guys, but then—”

“Then what? You decided you’d string me along for fun?” Your voice was loud now, echoing through the room. “Do you have any idea how humiliating this is? To know that I was just a game to you?”

Seungkwan looked panicked, desperate to make you understand. “Please, just listen. It started as a bet, but it’s not like that anymore. I care about you. I—”

“Stop,” you cut him off, tears of rage and betrayal filling your eyes. “I can’t believe I let myself fall for this. For you.”

The venom in your words made him flinch. “Please, don’t say that. I care about you more than anything.”

“Caring about me? Do you even know what that means? Because right now, it feels like you’ve just been laughing at me this entire time.” Your fists were clenched at your sides, your whole body shaking with anger.

Seungkwan took a step towards you, his own eyes glistening with tears. “I’m sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.”

"Fuck you, Seungkwan," you spat, pushing him back until he was sitting on your bed. He looked up at you, shocked and uncertain, as you began unbuttoning and unzipping his pants with trembling hands.

"What are you doing?" he asked, but his voice was weak, almost pleading.

You ignored him, pulling your panties off and straddling his lap, feeling his length harden beneath you. You started to grind against him, your movements hard, and fast. "It was a bet, huh? It was all a fucking lie, right, Seungkwan?" you snarled, your teeth gritted with rage.

His hands instinctively went to your hips, but he didn't try to stop you. "No, it wasn't like that—" he began, but you cut him off, swirling your hips hard, causing him to gasp.

"Fuck you," you repeated, your voice shaking. "You think you can just apologize and make it all better? You think you can just say sorry and I'll forget everything?"

Seungkwan's grip on your hips tightened, his breath hitching as you continued to grind against him. "I never meant to hurt you," he whispered, his eyes locked on yours, filled with regret and sorrow.

"Too late," you hissed, moving faster, your anger boiling over. "You already did." You could feel the heat building between you, the wet friction driving you crazy, but you were determined.

Seungkwan's face contorted with a mix of pleasure and anguish. "Please," he begged, "don't do this."

"Why not?" you shot back, your voice breaking. "You did this to us. You made me feel like a fool."

He tried to speak, but you silenced him with another hard hump, making him groan. "Just shut up, Seungkwan. Just shut up and take it."

As you continued to move against him, you could see the conflict in his eyes. He was torn between the pleasure you were giving him and the guilt he felt for what he'd done. It was a twisted form of revenge, but in that moment, it was all you had.

As you sank down on him, stretching yourself to take all of him inside, Seungkwan gasped, the air leaving his lungs in a rush. You gripped his hair roughly, yanking his head back. He hissed, the pain mingling with pleasure, making his eyes flutter shut for a moment.

"Who makes you feel like this, hm?" you taunted, your voice dripping with venom and lust. "Who else are you going to find out there that can do the things I do to you?"

Seungkwan's eyes were wide, filled with a mix of pain and desire. He tried to speak, but you cut him off with a harsh roll of your hips, drawing a guttural moan from his lips, he could only whisper a "No one." his voice leaving weak from the position you held his hair, head back. "Only you. Only you, please."

"That's right," you continued, your voice low and fierce. "No one. No one can fuck you like I do. No one knows your body like I do. No one else can make you beg like this. And you know it!" 

You rode him harder, your movements fueled by a blend of anger and desperation. "Do you regret it, Seungkwan? Do you regret fucking with me?"

His hands gripped your hips, his nails digging into your skin as he tried to ground himself in the storm of sensations you were unleashing on him. "No!" he gasped, his voice strained. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

But you weren't done. You pulled his hair harder, making him look up at you, his eyes glazed with lust and guilt. "Sorry isn't enough," you spat. "You're going to remember this. Every time you try to touch someone else, you're going to think of me. You're going to remember how I made you feel. How no one else could ever compare."

Seungkwan's breaths were ragged, his body trembling beneath you as you continued to ride him with a furious intensity. "Please," he begged, his voice cracking. "Please, I can't—"

"You can't what?" you snapped, your pace relentless. "You can't handle it? You can't handle what you started? You're going to take it, Seungkwan. You're going to take every bit of it."

His eyes fluttered closed, his mouth falling open in a silent cry as he teetered on the edge of release. "Fuck, I'm going to—" he started, but you cut him off again, tightening your grip on his hair.

"You're not coming until I say so," you growled. "You don't get to have that. Not yet."

Seungkwan's body shuddered, his muscles straining as he fought to hold back. "Please," he whimpered, his voice barely more than a breath. "Please, let me—"

His lips parted, a moan escaping as you ground against him, your nails digging into his scalp. "I-I need you," he stammered, his voice cracking with desperation.

You leaned in closer, your breath hot against his ear. "Need me?" you whispered, your tone mocking. "You think needing me is enough? After everything?"

Seungkwan shuddered beneath you, his grip on the sheets tightening. "I'm sorry," he pleaded, his voice a mixture of pain and pleasure. "Please... I need you so much."

"Pathetic," you spat, pulling his hair harder, making him groan. "You don’t deserve me, Seungkwan. You don't deserve this." You punctuated your words with a sharp thrust, making him gasp.

His eyes were wild, filled with a mixture of regret and lust. "I know," he breathed, his voice barely audible. "But please... please don’t stop."

You felt a twisted sense of satisfaction at his desperation, at the way he was unraveling under you. "Remember that," you said, your voice low and dangerous. "Remember who makes you feel this way. Who owns you."

Seungkwan's breath hitched, his eyes wide and pleading. "I will," he promised, his voice a broken whisper. "I promise."

You could feel him getting closer, his body tensing beneath you. "Say it," you commanded, your voice a growl. "Say who you belong to."

"You," he gasped, his hips bucking beneath you. "I belong to you."

Seungkwan was prepared for the best orgasm of his life. He was trembling, his entire body on the edge of ecstasy, every nerve ending alive with sensation. As you rode him with unmatched ferocity, his breath came in ragged gasps, his chest heaving with the effort to keep up.

Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, pleasure and overwhelming emotion. He cried out loud, unable to contain the sheer intensity of what he was feeling. His voice cracked as he moaned your name, each syllable filled with a desperate longing.

His eyes were fixed on you, drinking in the sight of you above him, your body moving with a rhythm that drove him to the brink of madness. He fought to keep his eyes open, wanting to capture every moment, every sensation, every flicker of emotion that passed between you.

His legs quivered beneath you, his muscles straining as he struggled to hold on. But even as his body trembled with the effort, he knew he was powerless to resist. You were taking him to heights of pleasure he had never dreamed possible, and he surrendered himself completely to the overwhelming ecstasy coursing through him.

Seungkwan couldn't hold on anymore. The sensation of you clenching around him, the sound of your voice echoing in his ears, it was all too much. With a final, desperate cry, he let himself go.

His body tensed, every muscle straining as he reached the peak of ecstasy. He cried out your name, his voice raw with emotion, as he spilled himself inside you, the release so intense it bordered on pain.

You steadied yourself on him, feeling the rise and fall of his chest beneath you. Your head rested against the side of his, hiding your face from view as you waited for your nerves to calm down. 

But then it hits you, the reality of what just happened, the anger and hurt resurfacing. You get off him, his cock slipping out of you, leaving you both feeling empty and exposed. Without a word, you start to dress yourself, your movements quick and determined. Seungkwan watches in desperation, his eyes wide with panic as he realizes what you're doing.

Seungkwan, sensing the shift in your demeanor, gets desperate. "Wait, what are you doing?" he asks, his voice tinged with panic. He sits up, trying to reach out to you, but you pull away, focused on gathering your things.

You walk to the living room, ignoring his pleas. "Please, just listen to me," he begs, following you. "We need to talk about this."

You grab your bag and turn to face him, your eyes cold and determined. "There's nothing left to say, Seungkwan," you reply, your voice steady despite the turmoil inside you. "This...whatever we had...it's over."

[...]

On the week, you received multiple calls from Seungkwan—you didn’t answer any. Even his friends—who you suppose to be the ones who participated in the bet—called you, messaged you.

And now you are doing your dinner, didn't even have time to take off your work clothes, when you hear your doorbell. You dry your hands on the dish cloth, to open the door. It was Soonyoung. You frown, Soonyoung had contacted you during the week, but showing up at your door?

You lean on the doorframe, and ask him, "What are you doing here, Soonyoung?"

Soonyoung shifts nervously, his hands shoved into his pockets. "I know I called and messaged, but you never responded. I needed to talk to you in person."

You raise an eyebrow, crossing your arms. "About what?"

He takes a deep breath, looking genuinely distressed. "About Seungkwan. And the whole bet thing. You need to know it wasn't what you think. He didn't mean it like that."

You scoff, feeling the anger bubbling up again. "Didn't mean it like that? How else am I supposed to take it, Soonyoung?"

Soonyoung steps closer, his expression earnest. "It started as a stupid joke, but for Seungkwan, it changed. He fell for you, really fell for you. None of us thought it would turn into something real, but it did for him. He's been a wreck since you left."

You feel a pang of something—not quite guilt, but a heavy sadness. "So he sends you to do his dirty work? Why isn't he here himself?"

"He wanted to come, but I thought you'd slam the door in his face," Soonyoung admits. "He's been miserable. Just...can you talk to him? Please? Hear him out?"

You sigh, the weight of the week pressing down on you. "I don't know, Soonyoung. I'm still so angry."

"I get that," he says softly. "But just give him a chance to explain. If after that you still want nothing to do with him, then fine. But at least you'll have heard the truth from him."

You hesitate, the conflicting emotions warring inside you. Finally, you nod. "Fine. I'll talk to him. But this better not be a waste of my time."

Soonyoung's face breaks into a relieved smile. "Thank you. I'll let him know." He heads toward the door, pausing before he leaves. "And for what it's worth, I'm really sorry about everything. We all are."

You nod again, closing the door behind him. As you lean against it, you take a deep breath, trying to prepare yourself for the conversation ahead.

It didn’t even take twenty minutes after Soonyoung left for another knock to echo through your apartment. You sighed, already knowing who it would be. With heavy steps, you walked to the door and opened it.

Seungkwan stood there, looking disheveled and anxious. Normally, he would give you a hug, but he seemed to sense that this wasn’t the right time. Instead, he stood there awkwardly, respecting your space as you stepped aside to let him in.

You closed the door behind him, folding your arms defensively. “Soonyoung was just here,” you said, breaking the silence.

Seungkwan nodded, his eyes filled with guilt. “I know. He texted me. I came as soon as I could.”

You walked to the living room, sitting down on the couch, and gestured for him to do the same. He hesitated but then sat down, maintaining a respectful distance.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Seungkwan said, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m so sorry, for everything. It was never meant to be a bet, not in the way you’re thinking.”

You raised an eyebrow, still skeptical. 

He shook his head vehemently. “It started as a stupid dare, something the guys and I joked about. But from the very first moment I spent time with you, it stopped being about that. It became real, so quickly, and I didn’t know how to handle it.”

You looked away, the anger and hurt still fresh. “And you didn’t think to tell me? To be honest about it?”

Seungkwan sighed deeply. “I should have. I know that now. But I was scared of losing you. I was scared that if you knew how it started, you’d never believe how much you mean to me.”

The vulnerability in his voice made you pause. “Soonyoung said you love me,” you said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

“I do,” Seungkwan replied instantly. “I love you more than anything. I was an idiot for letting it get this far without being honest with you.”

You finally looked at him, searching his eyes for any sign of deceit. All you saw was regret and sincerity. “I don’t know if I can trust you again,” you admitted.

Seungkwan nodded, tears welling up in his eyes. “I understand. And I’ll do whatever it takes to earn your trust back. Just please, give me a chance to make it right.”

The room fell silent, the weight of his words hanging between you. Slowly, you began to nod. “Fine. I’ll give you a chance. But this is going to take time, Seungkwan.”

Relief washed over his face as he nodded. “Thank you. I promise, I won’t let you down.”

You leaned back on the couch, the exhaustion of the week catching up with you. Seungkwan stayed there, a respectful distance away, but his presence felt different now—more honest, more real.

As the minutes ticked by, you both sat there in silence, the first steps of healing beginning to take place. There was a long road ahead, but for the first time in days, you felt like things could be okay again.

[mimimarvelingmarvel]

time bound part six

pairing: worst wolverine!logan howlett x f!mutant!reader

Part Six - Masterlist

summary: Y/n’s life takes a dramatic turn when the Time Variance Authority intervenes, pulling her from a critical moment in her timeline. The TVA sends her to the void where she eventually meets with Deadpool and a very familiar face. With Deadpool's universe in the balance, alongside his reluctant would-be pal, Wolverine, and the enigmatic time-bending mutant known as the Veil, the trio must complete the mission and save Deadpool’s world from an existential threat.

overall warnings: 18+, Fem!Reader, AFAB Reader, Use of Y/N, Her X-Men name is Veil, She/her pronouns, Swearing, Angst, Heavy Violence, Character Death, Deadpool (he’s his own warning), Hurt, Fluff, Angst, Eventual Smut, Slow Burn, TVA

word count: 1.5k

The three of us walk up a gradual hill, the incline barely noticeable as we climb. I lead the way, trying to discern where we’re headed, but my mind is elsewhere, tangled in thoughts. The air is thick with unspoken tension, and I keep mostly quiet, letting Logan and Wade carry the conversation, if you could even call it that. Their words are strained, almost like they’re both trying to avoid something.

Logan breaks the silence first. “You said Logan was a hero. What happened?”

Wade, who’s been unusually subdued, answers without missing a beat. “He died.”

Logan grunts. “Oh.”

Wade continues, “Well, technically, you were chest fucked by a tree, but really, you just ran out of batteries trying to save someone.”

Logan’s voice hardens. “Who?”

“The shit heels that grew her in a lab, called her X-23. But she was just a kid. A younger, daintier, somehow meaner version of you.” Wade’s tone is lighter than the words he’s saying, but there’s a flicker of something more serious in his eyes. “He died trying to save her and—” He trails off, his eyes briefly glancing at me before he looks away. I frown, feeling the weight of his unfinished sentence. “It was beautiful.”

Logan stays silent, and I can almost hear the gears turning in his head as he processes Wade’s words. The only sounds are our footsteps crunching against the gravel path.

Wade suddenly shifts the tone, his voice adopting a mock-seriousness. “Look, miho, I know you’re hurt. My blind, elderly African-American roommate, Blind Al, always says that pain teaches us who we are. Sometimes we need to listen to that pain instead of running from it.”

Logan stops walking and stares at him. “Holy shit.”

Wade looks at him, feigning ignorance. “Yeah, she’s wise.”

“No, no,” Logan says, shaking his head in disbelief. “That’s her name? You call her Blind Al?”

Wade shrugs, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world. “Well, she’s blind.”

I can’t help but let out a soft chuckle, though it feels out of place in the somber air. Wade’s absurdity is almost a comfort, something solid to cling to in the middle of everything that’s falling apart. But as I glance over at Logan, I can see the conflict in his eyes. We keep walking, but the silence that follows isn’t as comfortable as before. 

I hear a small bark up ahead, and my heart stutters as I look up. A mangled puppy, dressed exactly like Deadpool, sprints toward us. My pulse quickens, not out of fear, but because a part of me dreads that I might have led us straight to the Deadpool Corps. My eyes dart to Logan, who seems just as wary, and for a brief moment, our eyes meet, and I can’t help but feel a pang of something.

The puppy leaps into Wade’s waiting arms, licking his face and even partially getting into his mouth. I gag and look away, Logan doing the same. His disgust mirrors mine, but beneath it, I sense his discomfort—a small, almost imperceptible shift in his posture.

Wade grins, oblivious to our revulsion. “Look at you. She’s coming with us.”

“No, she’s not,” I say, more forcefully than intended.

“Oh, yes, she is,” Wade insists, cradling the puppy like it’s the most precious thing in the world.

“Fuck, no,” Logan says.

Wade doesn’t back down. “Oh, yes.”

As if summoned, a man dressed almost identical to Wade approaches us, though he’s got long flowing hair and an unmarred face. The difference is striking, and I can’t help but steal a glance at Logan, wondering if he’s comparing them too.

“Sorry. Sorry about that,” the man says, his voice smooth, almost charming. Oh, he’s very Canadian.

The man beams at the dog. “Come here, girl.”

Wade narrows his eyes. “Who are you?”

The man smiles, all too friendly. “I’m Deadpool. And I guess you’re Deadpool too. But in here, everybody calls me Nicepool. Oh my goodness, wait till you see Ladypool. She is gorgeous. She just had a baby too, and I can’t even tell.”

Wade snorts. “I don’t think you’re supposed to say that.”

Nicepool waves it off. “That’s okay. I identify as a feminist.”

“Right,” Wade says, eyeing him up and down. “Are those gold-plated, 50 caliber Desert Eagle pistols?”

Nicepool grins proudly. “Of course. To match my ear huggy.”

Wade’s eyes light up. “Can I have them?”

“Over my dead body. You’re fun,” Nicepool laughs, glancing at me briefly before turning back to the dog. “And I guess you’ve already met Mary Puppins, AKA Dogpool. Careful where you put your hand, she’s 90% G-spot, and she’ll let you know it. You let this little flirt out of your sight for one second and she starts shopping for a new papa.”

Wade chuckles. “If you can’t be a responsible papa, then maybe you don’t deserve this little unicorn.”

“Guilty on all charges, Your Honor. Shan’t happen again,” Nicepool says, still grinning.

Wade raises an eyebrow. “Why are you so nice?”

“It costs nothing to be kind,” Nicepool replies smoothly.

Logan, who’s been silent for too long, finally cuts in. “Shutting the fuck up is also free.”

Nicepool gives him a once-over and smirks. “Caliente.”

I glance at Logan, silently agreeing with Nicepool's assessment, though I wouldn’t dare say it aloud. 

Wade, oblivious to the tension, introduces Logan with a smirk. “This is Logan. He’s usually shirtless, but he’s let himself go since the divorce.” My eyes flick to him, Divorce? He only shakes his head at me, seemingly lost to what Deadpool is saying.

Nicepool’s eyes flicker with recognition. “Oh, a Veil. We’ve had one of you. Yeah, I remember her, she was so sad without her little Loggie.” My head whips to him.

Wade rolls his eyes. “Where’s your mask?”

Nicepool laughs, tapping his unmarred face. “Come on, guys.”

Wade just shakes his head, but Logan isn’t here for pleasantries. “We’re looking for the Borderlands. You know where it is?”

Nicepool nods, a sudden burst of enthusiasm lighting up his face. "Borderlands, yeah, that’s 12 clicks due west. I can lend you my ride if you like. It would be my honor."

I narrow my eyes, not buying into his cheerfulness. "I don’t entirely trust you not to kill us." My voice is edged with suspicion, but he just shrugs it off, completely unbothered.

"Hey, you don’t have to trust me," he says with a carefree grin. "But I’ve got the perfect car for you."

I shoot Logan a glance, and I can tell we’re both thinking the same thing—whatever Nicepool considers perfect is probably anything but. Logan huffs, clearly resigned to whatever nonsense is about to unfold. "We’ll take it," he mutters, his voice laced with irritation.

He leads us through a cornfield, thick and dense, the stalks towering over us as we push our way through. The rustling of the corn is the only sound, and it’s almost suffocating how the plants seem to close in on us from all sides. I keep close to Logan, my senses on high alert, while Wade babbles on about something I’m trying hard to tune out.

We finally reach a small clearing where a car sits under a dust cover. With a dramatic flourish, Nicepool whips off the cover, revealing a vehicle that makes Wade recoil in horror.

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, absolutely not. Uh-uh, what the—? No, no,” Wade protests, his voice rising in disbelief.

Logan gives him a withering look. “Just get in the car.”

“This isn’t a car,” Wade insists, throwing his hands up. “This is a Honda fucking Odyssey. Throttle response sucks a cock. Dated infotainment system. When Honda saw that untreated chlamydia was making a comeback, they invented the Honda Odyssey to compete.”

Logan’s patience is clearly running thin. “Get in the fucking car.”

Nicepool, ever the optimist, smiles warmly. “She’ll get you there safe and sound. Betsy always does. You’re gonna have to give me my dog back, though.”

Wade, suddenly somber, lifts up the puppy. “I know, listen.” The dog reaches a paw out to him, and his voice softens. “Yes, child. If you ever wanna give her up, or if she needs a new home, or if something should happen to you, I’d love to be her papa.”

Nicepool chuckles, shaking his head. “Oh, what will ever happen to me?”

Wade looks at him, deadpan. “Lots of stuff.”

I can’t help but huff in exasperation, stepping forward to take the dog and return her to Nicepool. But Wade, ever the drama queen, clutches the dog closer. “No, we’re running away.”

He makes a half-hearted attempt to flee and after a few futile steps, he admits defeat with a sigh. “The corn was too dense, girl.”

Reluctantly, he hands the dog back to Nicepool and slinks into the car. I take the back seat, stretching my legs out along the seats. Wade plops into the front seat, grumbling. “Fuck.

Next Part

A/N: I have plans to make the next few parts very angsty with some sad flashbacks, you have been warned (:

taglist: @oscarissac2099 @somiaw @100percentlazybonez @obsessedwthdilfs @sun7lowxr @corvid007

(lmk if it worked)

[pretzel-box]

—Scenario: You are currently filming a movie called Pressure with your co-star, Sebastian.

words: 1,3k

tags: gn!reader

You were running for your life, your breath hitching as your heart raced. Panic clouded your mind as you forced your legs to move faster. The lights started to flicker above you, a clear sign of impending danger. And before you knew it, the ear-piercing scream echoed down the hallway. You spotted a locker shining under the dim light near the door, sprinting toward it with everything you had.

And then you slipped and fell.

“CUT!” the director yelled, his voice slicing through the tension like a knife. The film crew immediately broke into chatter, some chuckling softly at the unexpected turn of events. Your co-star, Sebastian, walked over, half-dressed in his elaborate costume. His anglerfish lure was still tucked away, and the prosthetic tail was nowhere to be seen.

“You okay?” he asked, amusement dancing in his eyes as he offered you a hand. 

“Yeah, the special effects crew really went overboard with all the water,” you replied with a grin, taking his hand and allowing him to help you up. Your costume was drenched, the fake blood and grime smearing as you wiped at it.

Sebastian guided you to your seats at the edge of the set, handing you a bottle of water and a towel. “Shouldn't you be getting ready for your own scene, Mr. Solace?” you teased, glancing at him from the side as you tried to dry off your costume.

He shrugged, a lazy smile spreading across his face. “I still have a bit of time before they need me in full monster mode,” he said, referring to the process of getting into his character's tail and the other intricate parts of his costume. “Besides, I wanted to make sure you were okay after that dive you took.”

You laughed, dabbing at the fake grime on your face with the towel. “Well, that’s what I get for trying to sprint across a slick floor. I thought we had safety protocols in place for this sort of thing.”

Sebastian leaned back in his chair, his gaze flicking to the crew as they reset the scene. “We do, but I guess even those can’t account for everything. At least you didn’t faceplant—could’ve been a lot worse.”

You rolled your eyes, though a smile tugged at your lips. “Thanks for the encouragement. I’ll try to keep my feet under me next time.”

“Good plan,” he chuckled. “Though if you fall again, I’ll be sure to swoop in and save you. Just like the hero I am.”

“Hero, huh? You’re supposed to be the terrifying sea monster, remember?” you quipped, giving him a playful nudge.

He grinned, showing off his sharp, prosthetic teeth. “Maybe I’m a misunderstood sea monster. One with a heart of gold, who just happens to shoot people every now and then.”

“Every now and then?” you echoed, raising an eyebrow. “That’s quite the statement.”

“Well, they keep telling me it’s all about balance,” he said, feigning seriousness before breaking into a laugh.

You shook your head, enjoying the banter as the two of you watched the crew work. The set was a marvel in itself, a meticulously constructed underwater facility complete with flickering lights, ominous shadows, and that eerie sense of something lurking just out of sight. It was hard to believe that only moments ago, you had been completely immersed in the horror of the scene, your mind fully in character as you ran for your life. Now, though, it was just another day at work, surrounded by talented people who were just as dedicated to bringing this fictional world to life as you were.

“Alright, places everyone!” the director called out, snapping you both back to the task at hand. “Let’s try that again, from the top. And can we get the floor dried up a bit more this time?”

Sebastian sighed dramatically, getting to his feet and rolling his shoulders. “Looks like it’s showtime. I’ll see you on the other side.”

You gave him a mock salute, grinning as he headed off to the makeup and effects team. “Break a leg, sea monster.”

He turned back with a smirk. “I’d say the same, but I think you already beat me to it.”

“Seriously,” he said, his voice low so only you could hear, “you’re killing it out there. Keep it up.”

You met his gaze, and the sincerity in his eyes made your heart skip a beat. “Thanks, Sebastian. I will.”

He gave you a warm smile before heading off to the makeup and effects team to finish getting into character. As you watched him go, you couldn’t help but feel a renewed sense of determination. His support meant the world to you, and you were ready to give the next take everything you had.

With that, he was gone, leaving you to take your place on the set once more. As you stood there, waiting for the cameras to roll, you couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement. Sure, the scene was intense, and the stakes were high, but this was what you loved—bringing a story to life, even if it meant slipping and falling every now and then.

“Action!” the director called, and just like that, you were back in character, running for your life as the lights flickered ominously overhead.

This time, you managed to avoid the slick spot on the floor, skidding to a stop just in time to dive into the locker. Your heart pounded in your chest as you pulled the door closed behind you, the sound of your breathing echoing in the tiny, cramped space. The flickering lights outside the locker cast eerie shadows through the slats, and you could almost feel the presence of something dangerous just beyond the door.

A loud crash resounded from somewhere in the distance, the sound reverberating through the metal walls of the locker. You held your breath, waiting for the next cue, the next scare that would push your character to the brink of terror.

Finally, the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the take.

“Cut!” the director called, and the tension in the air dissipated.

As you emerged from the locker, Sebastian was already waiting for you, now fully transformed into his terrifying character. But the moment his eyes met yours, the fearsome facade melted away, replaced with a proud grin.

“That was perfect,” he said, his voice slightly muffled by the prosthetics but still full of warmth. “You nailed it.”

You felt a wave of relief and happiness wash over you, Sebastian’s words making all the hard work worth it. “Thanks. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

He shrugged, his grin widening. “We make a good team.”

As the crew began resetting the scene once more, you and Sebastian stood off to the side, sharing a quiet moment amidst the chaos of the set. His presence was comforting, a reminder that no matter how intense the scenes got, you were in this together.

“You ready to do it all over again?” he asked, his playful tone back.

“Always,” you replied with a smile, feeling that familiar rush of excitement as you prepared to step back into character.

And as the lights dimmed once more, the cameras rolling, you couldn’t help but think how lucky you were to be working alongside someone who not only respected your craft but also went out of his way to support you. No matter how many times you ran down that hallway, no matter how many takes you had to do, you knew you’d do it all again in a heartbeat—because at the end of the day, it was moments like these, with co-stars like Sebastian, that made it all worth it.

[ivelle-serenity]

Skateboard 5

Wind breaker

fem bodied reader | smut | action | pwp | jayjo/fml | vinny/fml | wooin/fml | joker/fml | hyuk/fml | owen/fml | enemies to lovers | angsty | the other woman (?) | reverse harem | fluff | SLOW BURN! | all characters featured are 18+

author's note: i'm sorry if you're being impatient for smut, trust me, I was too. I just need the fml to interact with the boys. They say slow burn is at its finest.

✧˖° — windbreaker men

✧˖° — mdni, smut, description of not safe for work content.

✧˖° — this is a story not one shot.

Jay followed my instructions, his movements more fluid this time. "Like this?" he asked, glancing at me for confirmation.

"Exactly," I said, smiling. "You're getting it."

For a moment, we were both silent, just standing there, him on his bike and me beside him. The tension from earlier seemed to melt away, replaced by a comfortable understanding.

"Thanks for the tip," Jay said, breaking the silence again.

"You're welcome," I replied, feeling a bit more at ease. "Just remember to keep your elbows wide and your grip firm. It'll help you stay balanced."

Jay nodded.

As we rejoined the rest of the group, I couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Interacting with Jay had been nerve-wracking, but it also felt surprisingly natural. Maybe joining their crew wouldn't be so bad after all.

I bit my lower lip as I realized June, Dom, Minu, Yuna, and Mia had been watching us the entire time. I felt so embarrassed! They must have been surprised, especially after our training where we warmed up with a 180km bike ride from the city to the countryside. It was exhausting, but I enjoyed it with them.

After our training, I noticed Jay practicing the tips I gave him, so I went over to help. But I didn’t expect the rest of the crew to be watching us!

"Wow, you're getting close to the foreigner. How come you always attract foreign girls?" June laughed, crossing his arms. Jay ignored him, continuing to drink his water.

"Damn, good thing Demitra can speak Korean. That blue-haired girl, I couldn’t understand a word she said!" Dom complained while wiping his sweat.

Blue-haired girl? That sounds familiar.

"You know her too?" Jay asked quietly from beside me, though I knew his friends were listening.

"Nah, I don't think so," I forced a smile. He looked at me for a long moment, as if trying to gauge the truth.

Minu cleared his throat. "We noticed you were teaching Jay. It seems you know a lot of biking skills?" he asked. Mia nodded in agreement.

I looked down at my bike, balancing without holding the handlebars. "Just a few," I said. Dom gave me a doubtful look. "I used to love doing tricks on ramps." I added.

"You're talking about the ramps at the skatepark?" June asked, eyes wide with shock.

I rubbed the back of my head, feeling embarrassed. "Yeah, that's my specialty."

Mia's jaw dropped. "If I'm not mistaken, are you one of those bicycle riders who do tricks in the air? Like spinning around?" she asked, stunned. I nodded.

"That's dangerous, right?" Dom asked June, who nodded in disbelief while looking at me.

"But of course, I don't use those in tournaments. Actually, I don't do those tricks much anymore. I'm more into sprint riding, like what Dom does," I explained, looking at Dom. Jay adjusted his posture, clearly interested.

"You also know some techniques for sprint riding?" Jay asked, and everyone looked at him. I laughed softly.

"Maybe a little?"

"You're just being humble," Yuna gave me a sharp look.

"Isn't it unfair that you’re teaching Jay but not us?" Dom said dramatically. Jay avoided his gaze and got on his bike.

"Well, I would love to help you—"

"It's too late. We need to go home now," Jay interrupted, making me widen my eyes.

"What!? Oh come on, man! Don't be so selfish!"

"What do you mean 'we'? Are you taking Demitra with you?" Minu clarified, locking eyes with Jay as if they were having a silent conversation.

I remembered our last conversation before the training session. Jay had offered to help me with my Korean literature studies. I even asked him where we’d study since it wasn't allowed at my place! Plus, I've never brought a guy to my apartment; my roommates might assume Jay is my boyfriend. How embarrassing would that be? Thankfully, he volunteered his place since he’s not allowed to stay out late either.

"He’s going to help me with Korean literature and history." I interjected into their conversation.

Mia chuckled. "You seem to learn quickly, judging by how well you speak Korean! I know you can do it."

"Just the two of you?" Minu asked Jay seriously. Jay looked at him without any emotion, but I could feel a strange tension.

"It won’t take long! Don’t worry!" I quickly added.

"Well, good luck, Demitra! Jay isn't the best teacher, you might give up halfway!" Dom laughed.

I noticed Jay had already started biking, so I hurriedly got on my bike and waved at everyone. "See you tomorrow!" I called out cheerfully before following Jay, who was ahead of me. I pouted. Why was he in such a hurry?

I followed Jay because I didn't know where his house was. He was quiet, but I guess that’s normal for him. I couldn’t believe Shelly liked this type of guy. It was very unusual for her.

I was deep in thought when we arrived at a large house. My jaw dropped in shock at how big his house was. Was this where he lived? Wow, he must be rich.

"Just park your bike here," he said, snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded and did as he said, parking my bike next to his.

Without another word, he walked inside. I bit my lip nervously. Was he not going to invite me in? It felt awkward just walking in unannounced. What if his parents were inside?

I was startled when Jay came back. "What are you still standing there for? Come in," he said before turning away. I pouted.

"Who’s with you, Jay?" I was surprised to see a small boy wearing glasses. He seemed just as surprised to see me, his cheeks turning red. "W-Who..."

"Turn off the TV if you’re not watching," Jay told him. He went into what I assumed was his room, leaving the door open. Was that where we’d study?

"It's nice to meet you, Jay's brother. Hi! I'm Demitra!" I introduced myself, holding out my hand. Jay’s brother just stared at me, his face red. I frowned and forced a smile.

It was so awkward because Jay's brother didn't say a word. He was just staring at me like he was looking through my soul. I forced a smile. "I'll head in now," I said awkwardly before walking into Jay's room.

"Your brother is weird," I said to Jay, setting my bag on the table. I watched as Jay organized his things.

He didn’t respond, instead handing me three books, one of which was a dictionary. I frowned at the books.

"What is this?"

"A dictionary," he said, as if stating the obvious.

"Yes, I know it's a dictionary. What's it for?" I raised an eyebrow. "I’m struggling more with Korean literature and history than the language itself."

His expression didn’t change. "Your Korean isn’t that good," he stated. My jaw dropped. "Maybe that’s why you can't understand our lessons about history."

"Hey, take that back! You understand what I’m saying! Even your friends!"

He shook his head. "It’s lame. I can barely understand you."

I dramatically held my chest. "Whatever, no offense, but Japanese is easier to learn than Korean."

"I agree."

I couldn’t believe this guy! I let out a sharp breath before sitting down. The contents of the books were overwhelming. This was harder than physics. Why did I end up in Korea? I glanced at Jay, who was staring at his phone.

"Are you going to teach me or not?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He looked at me boredly.

"Read that first."

"How can I read it if I don’t understand it?" I said sarcastically.

He stared at me for a moment before sighing and putting his phone down. He took the dictionary from my hands and replaced it with a larger book.

"Start with the basics," he said. When I opened the book, my jaw dropped. It was the Korean alphabet!

"Oh, come on, I already know some of these."

"Some? Then you should know all of these," he said, placing the book on the table. I cursed inwardly.

"Now I understand why Dom said you’re a terrible teacher," I grumbled, starting to read. As usual, he didn’t respond.

"How did you get a girlfriend when you’re this quiet?" I muttered while reading. "Huh?" I glared at him.

"It’s none of your business."

I rolled my eyes. "I heard you’re a player. How come Shelly doesn’t get jealous?" I teased without looking at him.

"Those are just rumors."

I laughed softly and continued reading. I glanced at Jay, who was now looking at his phone. Without his glasses, I realized how handsome he was. His mullet haircut suited him. No wonder many girls liked him.

Besides being handsome, he was good at biking and wasn’t very talkative. Some girls might prefer a quiet guy as a boyfriend, thinking there’s less chance he’d cheat because he’s so reserved.

My heart almost stopped when he looked up, and our eyes met.

"If you keep staring at me, you should just go home."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Is this how you treat girls? So rude," I muttered. "I was just about to ask you something about what I’m reading, but never mind."

He cleared his throat. "Show me. Where are you having trouble?" He must have heard my muttering.

"Forget it. I just remembered the internet exists. I’ll search for the meaning," I said, grabbing my phone.

He was silent for a moment.

"That’s a consonant. It refers to a double s," he suddenly said. My eyes widened when I realized how close our faces were. He had leaned in to look at the book. I could literally feel my heart racing. I was still distracted by how close our faces were to each other, so I didn't even notice what I had searched on my phone.

"Too late, I already looked it up," I whispered.

"You shouldn’t use your phone while studying."

"Well, genius, if you were a better teacher, I wouldn’t need to."

I continued reading, trying to push away my distraction. I couldn't help but feel Jay's gaze on me, and the thought of our eyes meeting again made me too embarrassed to look up. Is this what it's like when you like someone? I sighed and tried to focus on what I was reading.

As I went through the Korean alphabet, it felt more familiar, like I was revisiting what I had studied before deciding to come to Korea. It refreshed my memory. Maybe the reason I struggled with Korean history was that I had forgotten the correct way to read their language.

"Vinny..." My forehead creased at the name. "You know him? You’re friends with the Sabbath?" Jay suddenly asked.

And now I was doomed.

"No, I'm not, especially Vinny. He hates me."

He paused, clearly puzzled. "But he said you’re his friend."

"No, he’s just bluffing," I said with irritation.

"They are dangerous. You should stay away from them."

Well, it's too late. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't just walk away now. Wooin helped with my parents' debt. I can't just abandon him. Even though I'm confused about why he did it, I still choose to serve them.

"Are you saying your friend is dangerous?" I asked seriously.

Jay didn't respond, his expression unreadable. I know he is old friends with Vinny. So why would he warned me from him?

I sighed, feeling the weight of the situation. "Look, I know it's risky, but I owe them. Wooin helped my family when no one else could. I can't just turn my back on that."

Jay's eyes flickered with something I couldn't quite identify—concern, maybe? But he remained silent, his gaze steady on mine.

Finally, Jay spoke, his voice softer. "Just be careful."

I nodded, appreciating his concern. "Worried for me? Aw," I teased. "I didn't expect you to have this side to you." I continued to tease, but he remained serious, shaking his head. I couldn't help but laugh, knowing he was probably feeling embarrassed by my comments.

Actually, studying with Jay isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I expected him to give me a hard time, but it seems like it's just his personality to be reserved. I suddenly paused. What if he isn't really like this, especially with Shelly?

Oh, come on, Demitra. Why should I care about that? I frowned, feeling irritated with myself.

I was jolted from my thoughts by a knock on the door. Jay stood up to answer it, and I almost froze when I saw a middle-aged woman. From her appearance, she looked like Jay's mother! I quickly stood up and bowed.

"Good evening, Ma'am," I greeted her. She gave me a cold look. Now it made sense why Jay always had that cold expression on his face. He inherited it from his mom.

"You didn't eat dinner again?" she said sternly. I looked at Jay, confused, but his face remained emotionless.

"We're studying," he replied shortly.

"You didn't eat breakfast, and I know you didn't eat lunch at school either," his mother said angrily, but she paused when she noticed me.

"Let's talk in the living room."

"I'm fine. Just leave," Jay said.

"Jaehyun," his mother said firmly, leaving Jay with no choice but to get up. I was left alone in his room.

My heart pounded with worry about what I had witnessed. Was Jay going to be scolded? Was it because of me that he hadn't eaten dinner? I hadn't eaten dinner either. Damn, maybe it's my fault he missed his meal. His mother should be scolding me, not him!

[n0wornever]

The Build Up - Luke Patterson x Reader

Could you do a modern day/Alive AU where 5 times Luke and y/n almost kiss and one time they actually do?

It was only a matter of time before Luke Patterson and his best friend cut the tension between them. There were always signs that they’d fall together eventually, but their soft moments were cut short often by those around them.

1: The show

The first time Y/N and Luke almost kissed was  after Julie and The Phantoms’ first solo show. Y/N sat front row, as she always did, bobbing her head to the bass that blasted through the speakers. Her arms crossed at her chest, she let a small smile fall onto her face as she watched Luke pour his heart out in the mic in front of him. His eyes met hers for a moment, sending the next string of lyrics right in her direction. She lightly nipped at the corner of her lip as she held his gaze. 

As the boys ended their set, Y/N scurried past the tightly bound bodies around her to rush backstage. She showed her pass to the guard standing in front of the staircase, shuffling quickly behind him. She walked down the hallway toward his dressing room and knocked on the door. The door opened quickly and a hand pulled her inside. Luke stood in front of her, face beaming with sweat and a smile plastered on his face. 

“You’re like a full-fledged rockstar now, huh?” She said, bringing a smile across her lips. 

“Whatever,” He sighed, shoving her shoulder back. 

“Luke, I’m serious, you guys crushed it out there!”

She jumped up and down on her tiptoes as she held his gaze. He let his eyes wander around her elated face as he took a step closer toward her. He grabbed her waist and brought her into a tight hug, Y/N giggling at the sudden contact.  As they pulled away he studied her face again, letting his eyes fall from hers to her lips and back up. As soon as her started to pull toward her again, the door opened loudly. 

Alex beamed at them as he leaned in the door frame. Luke let go of her hips, running his hand through his hair and letting his eyes fall on his bandmate.

“I was going to say that we were going to get food....but you two look busy...” The drummer’s eyes falling between the two.

“No, let’s go,” Luke blurts, grabbing his jacket. 

He grabbed her hand and let her trail behind him, not meeting her gaze again until the made it to the restaurant. 

2: The Park 

The second time it almost happened, they were alone. Y/N had forced Luke to take a lunch break from studying and eat in the park with her to get some fresh air. 

She interlocked their hands as the walked down the street to the greek food truck. She ordered two gyros for the pair, smiling back at him. He squeezed her hand in response, a smile stuck on his face. She let go of his grip for a moment grab the food. She grabbed it again shortly and led him to a nearby bench. 

Their fingers touched as she handed him his tray and she watched his face grow pink, feeling her skin heat up as well. Y/N let her gaze face forward, her people watching commanding her focus. She felt his gaze on her side and her eyes tore away from the street for a moment with a pensive stare.

“Please don’t watch me eat, you weirdo.” 

But Luke’s eyes didn’t leave hers. He set his food down next to him and she watched as his eyes widened as he moved closer to her. She felt her heart race as he gave her full body a once over. His hand moved toward her face, and her breath caught in her throat. Luke smirked as he brought a tissue up to the corner of her mouth, wiping away excess oil before falling back to his seat.

She felt her cheeks burn as she rolled her eyes at him and kept eating her food. She could hear him chuckle but refused to meet his eyes.

3: Her bedroom

The third time was when they were studying in her bedroom. Y/N had invited Luke over to help her go through the latest chapter of history, a class the two had together. The two laid across from each other on her floor, textbooks open in front of the with highlighters spread around the carpet.

After 15 minutes, Luke’s head fell onto the textbook below him. Y/N looked over at him, shaking her head at the dramatics. He lifted his face to hers with puppy dog eyes, lip jutting up toward her. 

“Can we take a break?”

“We’ve barely started, Patterson.” 

She pressed a finger to the open page and looked at him with pursed lips. He gave in with a grunt and started reading again. Y/N held her finger on a line that she wanted to remember, letting her eyes wander around the surrounding floor for her pencil to jot down a note about it. 

As she searched, a hand came up toward her face. She looked up and met Luke’s eyes. His fingers reached behind her ear, pulling out the mechanical pencil behind it. She felt an oncoming blush as he giggled near her face. Their gaze hung there for a moment in the silence. 

She noted his hands pressing against the floor, moving his body toward hers. She let her eyes fall to his lips for a moment, before she dropped the eye contact completely. Her eyes hurried to find the spot she left off on in her textbook.

“So, anyway what was that about World War II?” 

She heard him sigh above her and smiled to herself as she scribbled in her notebook. 

4: The Lake 

The next almost happened when Julie, Carrie, Flynn and Y/N invited the boys to the lake for a cookout one Saturday afternoon. Julie and Luke’s dads recruited Reggie and Alex to help make burgers, Carrie and Julie helped Luke’s mom cut fresh fruit and veggies and Flynn spun new beats on her portable spin table she brought with her. 

That left Luke and Y/N to entertain Carlos. 

Luke grabbed a frisbee and yelled to the boy to run to the other side of the grass. Carlos obliged, sprinting to the right. Y/N watched the boys with a light smile on her face. Luke nodded at her to come over to his end and she lightly jogged in his direction. 

Luke threw the disk toward the young boy, going right over his head. That didn’t stop Carlos from racing to get it as soon as possible. Y/N brought her hand up to her mouth to mask her laughing as the boy flailed through air. Luke pinched her side, forcing her to meet his smiling eyes. 

The two were drawn away from each other as the noticed Reggie race over to Carlos’ defense. The bassist sent the frisbee through the air and Luke prepared himself to catch it. Y/N took the opportunity to jump right in front of him at last minute and grab the disk before it reached him. She heard a frustrated sigh, and arms wrapped around her tightly, spinning her in a circle. 

As her feet hit the ground again, she spun around to meet his eyes wiggling the yellow frisbee in her hands. He quickly grabbed it from her hand, moving in closer to her face with a scowl across his lips. She rose an eyebrow at him, basking in the closeness. Luke’s eyes fell on her lips once more and she took a soft breath in. Before he could lean any further, he heard yelling from the other end of the lawn.

“ARE YOU GOING TO THROW IT BACK?” Carlos cried, his hand on his hip.

The two giggled as Luke stepped away, pushing the frisbee back toward the small boy before shooting a wink her way. 

5: Julie’s Garage

The last misstep happened during a late night writing session. Y/N had a poetry reading on Saturday she needed to prepare for, and Luke had a song on the tip of his tongue he needed to pen immediately. 

The two sat on opposite sides of the garage as the both wrote silently. Y/N heard the humming coming from his side of the room and smiled, biting down on her pen as she listened. Her eyes rose and she watched him nod his head as he scribbled something down on the paper. 

She lifted herself off the couch and walked over to his chair. His eyes never left the paper as she strolled over to him. Y/N made herself comfortable on the arm of the loveseat, looking down at the boy with a soft smile. After a few seconds, he let his gaze slip over to her. 

“I got curious,” She said, leaning into his arm. “I wanted to see what the powerful songwriter was penning tonight.”

He smiled back at her, placing his pencil behind his ear and leaning back on the chair. 

“Nosey, Y/N you know I won’t tell you that until it’s done.” 

She leaned even closer to him, narrowing her eyes as their faces closed in on each other. She let her eyes fall over his features as a smirk played on her lips, taking in his confused expression. She could hear his shallow breathing as he stared back at her, lips parted and eyes wide.

“I’ll get you to crack one day Patterson,” She said softly, leaning back and lifting herself off the chair.

“I have no doubt about that,” She heard him call after her, bringing a wider smile to her face. 

6: The Dance 

Luke had never been a school dance fan, but when Y/N asked him to be her date, he accepted the offer quickly. She helped him pick out a suit and tie that matched her peach dress perfectly. Luke consulted his mom about choosing a corsage and ordered it two days after she asked. 

The night of the dance, Y/N sat in the mirror, staring at her reflection. She almost didn’t recognize herself under the makeup. She smiled as she touched her cheek softly, basking in the magic of blush. Julie popped in the mirror next to her with a wide smile on her face.

“You look flawless, I’m seriously in awe of that dress right now,” Her friend said, smiling at her reflection.

“Thank you Jules, I don’t know why I’m so nervous. It’s not like it’s our first dance,” She sighed, playing with a bobby pin that was pinching the side of her head.

“It is your first dance with a date,” Julie responded, laying a hand on her shoulder. “A date that we’ve been waiting to happen for like a million years.” 

Y/N rolled her eyes, placing her lipstick in her clutch before turning to Julie. She shook her head and sighed at her friend’s sly grin.

“You know it’s not like that,” Y/N countered, resting her hand on her hip.

“You know none of us believe that anymore.” 

Y/N felt her face heat up under the steady stare, and she pushed Julie forward so that the two could exit the bathroom without any further questions. 

As they walked down the stairs, they met the rest of the group in the living room. Her mom was already capturing photos of the boys, who were posing as each other’s dates for the camera. Alex let go of Luke’s hips and cackled with his bandmates. Luke’s eyes pulled away from the boys as they met hers. 

His eyes widened as he looked down at her dress and back up to her smile. Luke walked over slowly, holding his hand out to her. She nodded, taking his hand in hers and letting him twirl her around. He steadied her again, reaching over to the table to grab the corsage. He slipped it onto her wrist, letting his hand rest on hers. 

“Wow,” He said breathlessly as her bright smile landed on him again. “You look spectacular, Y/N.” 

The two didn't even notice her mom snapping photos of the whole interaction. The girl’s cheeks flushed under his wide eyes and she led him to the rest of the group for more photos. 

As the group dispersed to their cars to head to the school, Y/N took Luke’s hand as he guided her up into his truck. His hands working quickly to tuck her gown in after her. He beamed up at her one more time before shutting the door and moving over to the driver’s side. 

He put the car in drive and sped down the street. As the pair pulled into a parking spot in the school lot, Luke looked over at her again with glossy eyes.

“I mean it Y/N, you look absolutely...incredible tonight. I literally don’t have the right words to describe....” He leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. “Just wow.” 

She didn’t want to know how red she was in this moment, so she waved his gaze off of her, whispering a ‘thanks’ in his direction. Neither of them moved for a moment. Y/N finally moved her eyes back to his, watching as he ran his hand through his hair. His gaze was still set on her as to took off his seatbelt. 

She watched as he leaned closer to her, hovering over her body. She felt her throat go dry at the close proximity they were at in the moment. His gaze shifted from her lips, back up to her eyes and back down. She finally let her eyes fall closed as she felt his hand come up to her cheek. 

His lips ghosted over hers for a moment before they came crashing down. She reciprocated his advance quickly, lips moving in sync with his. As they pulled away, their eyes met again. Luke’s cheeks held a light pink hue as he let go of her face and chuckled to himself. She moved her hand to his lips, trying to wipe off the soft red that had transferred.

“Sorry, I couldn’t take it anymore.” 

She giggled right back, placing her hand on the back of his neck and pulling him in for another kiss. 

.

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[amelee23]

Fool | J. YH

Genre: Fluff

Tags: Best friends to lovers, Suggestive themes and sexual jokes, Wooyoung is an accidental wingman, Nerdy gamers having at it, A lot of Need for Speed references

No. Words: 3.5k

⭐⭐⭐

She always loved when they got completely absorbed in their little bubble - engrossed in what was making them tick in the most passionate of ways. Since Yunho came to pick her up and take her to the dorm, she didn’t even realize when they got there - or even that the house was empty -  because they were too caught in a conversation about the new-coming video games of 2021. The small task of taking off shoes or their jackets, the walk to Yunho’s room and the struggle to get comfortable in the gaming chair; these were not memories in her mind. All she could remember was the way he smiled without stop and the sparkle in his eyes as excitement took over his entire being.

Only after Yunho told her he’s been playing old games lately - specifically racing classics, of the Need For Speed series - had she realized the house was too quiet. Yunho then informed her they all left to eat at a restaurant with the manager team, but he asked to be left behind so he could spend time with his best friend. She couldn’t help the warm smile raising her lips at the sweet sacrifice this man made for her.

A few minutes later and she felt the usual competitive side of her kick in, seeing Yunho with a controller in hand, playing Need for Speed: Underground 2, a game she remembered dearly from her childhood. She couldn’t help but feel she could do so much better than him - and that’s how the challenge came to be.

“Yeah, you want to bet?” Yunho suggested, his cheeks raised in a cheeky smile, but his lips expressed something a lot more smug. 

“2 out of 3: sprint, Street X and drift.” The boy laughed at his best friend’s confidence, finding her determination very charming, like always.

“Deal.” He announced, raising his hand so she could high five the deal to completion. It never failed to amaze him, how gentle her high fives felt to him, even though she’s the only woman he’s ever seen break a controller before. “What are we betting on, money?”

“Money is boring.” Taken aback, Yunho had a healthy laugh at her statement. He couldn’t wait to say this sentence again, out of context, and turn it into both teasing material and an inside joke.

“Okay, then what do you suggest?” He asked, still cackling with a half lidded eye smile.

“Let’s do something more… daring.” Trying to act surprised, Yunho opened his eyes in curiosity and hummed. They both got to thinking for about a minute, then she snapped her fingers exaggeratedly to show she had an idea. “Let’s randomly ask Wooyong to give the loser a punishment!”

“Like, with no context?”

“Exactly! After one of us loses, we ask Wooyong to give out a spicy punishment-! No one would be better than him at coming up with something totally ridiculous that one of us will regret for a lifetime!”

“I mean, you’re not wrong. But I’m starting to think you’re a masochist.”

“It’s a 50/50 gamble, so who knows?” She rebutted, wiggling her eyebrows at Yunho suggestively. He could feel his ears heating up so he pretended to need to face his computer for a while. “So, what do you say?” She questioned him, moving closer to where he was, probably intentionally, because she knew how to tell when he was turning shy. 

“I say you’re both crazy and a genius … a crazy genius. But I’m all on board.”

“Yas, leggo baby!” Yunho shook his head as he took in the image of his best friend leaning back into her chair, controller in hands, legs somewhere in between the right armrest and the air. Her enthusiasm dripped from the way she was grooving to the OST of the game. Warmth and an electricity-like feeling began filling his chest.

It took them perhaps a little too long to decide on the first track to play. Eventually, after long minutes of bickering, they chose a winding long race and swore to not try to mess the other up.

Yunho was the first one to drive, his engine roaring as he continued to hold his acceleration button. He had some lucky escapes from running into traffic - and easily overcame his competition. Now in front, he was taking short cut turns, but to her, they looked too time consuming. Yunho was trying to drive as properly as possible, and it was affecting his time; she couldn’t help but puff up as she realized it would be an easy win against him. With a record of 2:27:34, Yunho rolled his chair away from the screen and let his best friend take over.

Hands grasping the controller, she took a deep breath to overly-dramatize the situation even further.

“Eat my dust.” She mumbled, and Yunho gave her a curious side eye.

Swiftly she overtook all the NPCs, climbing up to first place. She wasn’t even worried about them to begin with. As the turns approached, Yunho realized she wasn’t showing signs of taking her fingers away from the acceleration button - not until the last second, at least. Her turns were either taken with the help of crashing into a wall or into a stylish, speedy drift. Yunho was baffled, thinking that crashing on purpose to finish faster should be considered as cheating. But he accepted his defeat as her time was 2:14:58, over ten seconds less than him.

Cracking her knuckles, she wore a smug smile as she let Yunho choose the next race for them to play. It was 1 to 0 currently, so he decided he should spice things out now - by choosing a ‘random’ Street X race. He probably forgot to mention to her that Street X were his forte in this game.

Yunho put his focus face on from the moment the cars showed up on screen. For most, this Street X race was difficult to even beat on first place - but he knew what he was doing. 

“I hope you had your fun.” He threatened, hands moving effortlessly on the controller to take him through the sharp, abrupt turns which were in Street X - a race type specifically made about taking those turns right, not about speed. Raw talent was dripping off of his fingers, but she didn’t want to feel discouraged just yet. Perhaps her method of using walls to take turns could work here, too-

Now that it was her turn, she realized it wasn’t the case - in here hitting walls was the worst thing you could do. Eyes dashing in between her car and the timer non-stop, she realized she was losing a lot of time correcting her direction if she didn’t brake properly before a turn. By the last lap, she already lost hope, as she reached Yunho’s record and wasn’t done with the race yet. 

“Tight game.” She stated, trying to ease the thick competitive air in the room. Yunho just smiled, a sparkle of something naughty in his eyes.

“Would you like to do the honours?” He asked, referring to choosing the drift track, the last race of their competition. He looked so sure of himself, to even offer that she chooses the track; she couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated by that cockyness. 

“Yeah.” She answered, not even looking him in the eyes. She knew what track she wanted - the one on the actual streets of the city, which had two off road areas - those were bomb in doing drifts over 50.000 points. 

Yunho was surprised she chose such a difficult track, but didn’t really complain. He had recently unlocked this track since he was nearing the end of the game, and so he knew the trick of the off road areas too, especially because he failed them enough times. He collected small drifts here and there on the way to the first special area, then he made sure to catch enough speed to send the back of his car in a beautiful curve, following the form of the turn. He didn’t need to, but he took the risk of connecting that turn to the next one that followed and gathered around 74.000 points in that area only. She was biting her lip, wondering if she still had the nimbleness to beat that.

The next special area gained him about 37.000, and with all the other points collected from smaller drifts, he was able to gain over 130 thousand. 

She was already pinching the bridge of her nose, knowing that she would probably lose. It’s been a while since she played this game, and the special drift areas were always a gamble. Yunho couldn’t help but laugh at the tension in her back, giving her a friendly pat to brighten up.

“You got this!” He cheered, because even if he wanted to win, he didn’t like seeing her so discouraged. He often times also got mad when he realized he was being too competitive and not giving anyone a chance to win against him.

She started out just like Yunho, gaining some small scores on the way to the main attraction of the race. As she saw the goal in her eyes, suddenly she struggled to regain control of her car in the midst of the big drift. She was headed straight for the edge, meaning her score would be neutralized if she hit it - so she was forced to stop her car. The special area unfortunately only brought her 55 thousand, a weak number compared to Yunho. She brushed it off and continued on her way, towards the second special area. She had a better feeling about this one, as her car was being much more responsive, and even if the space was smaller, she gained another 50 thousand there too. 

But unfortunately, as she hit the finish line, she realized - they both scored in the range of 130 thousand - but hers was exactly that number. Yunho was closer to 140.

With a little dance celebration, Yunho announced he was the winner of the tournament. Seeing him act so goofy, she couldn’t even bring herself to sulk. It’s not like it was unusual for Yunho to win their dumb little competitions, but it would’ve been nice to win one anyway.

“I acknowledge your driving skills, Mr. Jung.” She said with a smirk, offering him a hand to shake. 

“You weren’t so bad yourself, well… except the part of taking turns with your face.” Now that the tension was lifted, they were back to being all smiley and supportive of each other.

“What can I say? I like using my head.” Yunho chuckled, grabbing the controller to quit out of the game so he could find some movie to watch while they eat. Remembering that he needed to order some food, he pulled out his phone - and read Wooyoung’s name.

“So… do I need to ask Wooyoung to give you a ‘daring’ punishment?” He used air quotes to express the idea of something naughty. For a while he forgot that this was the penalty of losing, the thought completely slipping his mind as he focused too much on doing well in the game.

“I guess.” She shrugged her shoulders, secretly hoping that he had forgotten and she could’ve avoided doing something so embarrassing. 

Hesitant, Yunho opened the messenger app and tapped on Wooyoung’s name. He didn’t know if he was excited about what was about to come.

[Yunho]: Hey Wooyoung, can you come up with a ‘daring’ punishment a girl could do for a guy for losing a game?

[Sent 18:46]

A thick silence enveloped the two as Yunho stared at the screen, waiting for Wooyoung to see his message. They were both hoping the resident jokester of the group would go easy on them this time.

[Seen 18:51] 

Five minutes later, Wooyoung saw the message and Yunho watched the three dots dance for a very short amount of time. And, as it turned out, Wooyoung didn’t ask any questions - he gave a straightforward answer.

[Wooyoung]: Oral

His answer had Yunho opening his eyes in pure shock. He glanced at his best friend, who was looking at him expectantly, and then back at the screen. 

“Uhm…” He couldn’t even bring himself to mutter such a word to her. Before he knew it, he let his phone down and stared into the distance like a deer in the headlights. 

Yes, asking Wooyoung was a bad idea. 

“Uhm? Did he answer?” She pressed on, and Yunho couldn’t do much more than nod. 

“Look for yourself.” He showed her his phone, and she felt as if she just got hit with a soccer ball in the stomach. Blinking at Yunho in disbelief, she let out a confused puff of air.

“I mean, I expected something like a sexy dance…. But not this. Wooyoung really is another level.” She complained, suddenly looking as lost as Yunho. They both looked like ghosts, the colors drained from their faces. 

In truth, both of their heads were racing at that moment - imagining what could happen if they went through with it. Yunho’s face heated up and his body grew heavy, and she was biting her lip. But a common thought was keeping them both grounded; that they were just friends, and nothing more.

Moments later, Yunho was able to collect himself and focus his vision again. She was in distress, even in a haze. He pulled out his phone again, texting Wooyoung to rectify the situation.

[Yunho]: How about something a little bit… more decent. This is my best friend we’re talking about.

Wooyoung read the message instantly after, his fingers fast on the keyboard.

[Wooyoung]: Oh my God it’s her! Why didn’t you tell me! I thought you were finally scoring a lady with those video games of yours!

[Yunho]: I told you guys I was spending time with her today

[Wooyoung]: You did? OOPS

[Yunho]: Yeah, oops. You almost gave me a heart attack

[Wooyoung]: *boner

[Yunho]: DUDE

[Wooyoung]: Okay okay I’m sorry, but you’re the one who asked me outta the blue

[Wooyoung]: Something a little more tame… HMMM

[Wooyoung]: You’re a tall dude, right? How about you have her wear one of your shirts for the rest of the day… but like only your shirt. I bet she’d look cute ;)

[Yunho]: That doesn’t sound that bad, thanks

[Wooyoung]: I can’t wait to get home :P

She dragged her voice suddenly, bringing Yunho back to reality. He didn’t realize how focused he was in his conversation with Wooyoung.

“Uhm, so, yeah! Wooyoung gave you a more tame challenge. He said you should wear one of my shirts for the rest of the day… like, as a dress type thing.” Yunho tried to explain, but he was still nervous from the previous shock and tripping over his own words.

“So wear a boyfriend shirt.” Yunho felt his being vibrate once again at the mention of the word ‘boyfriend’.

“I… guess so.”

“I can do that! That sounds more like a prize than anything, to be honest. You know I have a fixation for your clothes.” She said with a laugh. She seemed to be back to her cheerful self, already walking her way to Yunho’s closet. “Can I choose any shirt?”

“Sure, go ahead.” Still no intonation in his words, Yunho’s mind was not present in the conversation at all. It wasn’t long before he zoned out again.

He couldn’t possibly be attracted to his best friend in such a way. They had a strong spiritual bond, for sure, but it was never anything physical for them. They appreciated each other for who they are, so he never asked himself questions like these before.

Or at least that’s what he wanted to believe. He heard the door handle move and then saw her come back in, legs bare and sexy, her small frame basically swimming in his large shirt. She sat down on her chair and melted back into it without a care in the world. She looked comfortable, even.

“So, are we ordering that food?” She asked, but in Yunho’s daze, he missed the smirk playing on her lips. If only he knew how much she was enjoying this.

Forcing her to stay put, Yunho was the one to receive the food at the front door. He sighed in relief when he managed to put a blanket over her, as they nestled up in bed to watch a movie and enjoy their food. Out of sight, out of mind, they say.

His torture began again as soon as they got back into gaming -  this time choosing to do their usual foolery - playing Minecraft together, one being in charge of the mouse and the other in charge of the keyboard. No wonder they never made any real progress on their world, since they could never be in sync with each other to actually defend themselves from zombies. ‘

Time flew by as they laughed and played, but the rustle of keys at the front door still managed to startle Yunho out of his mind. Panicked, he got up to throw her pants back at her, words leaving his mouth a little too fast.

“How about you put those back on now.” Cocking an eyebrow at him, she hung them on the chair, clearly refusing to do so.

“Why would I? The punishment says for the rest of the day - or as long as I’m here.”

“Yes, but-” Yunho pursed his lips to the side. He didn’t know how to word his thoughts. To add more pressure, the door to his room swung open and San came inside to throw his phone on the bed. He glanced at Yunho’s best friend briefly and they exchanged hellos before he went back to the living room, where the boys were being loud over something.

Yunho breathed out in relief that San was nice enough not to stare. Something about other men seeing her like this irked him, even more so that she was wearing his shirt. 

“But?” She urged him to continue speaking, getting off of the chair to stand in front of him. Being the tall guy Yunho was, it wasn’t often that she had the opportunity to stare him down like that. Yunho gulped as he felt his throat dry up, taking in the image of his friend - no, an attractive woman - looking at him with such a suggestive expression.

“I don’t want anyone else to see you like this…” He mumbled, the beauty before his eyes already making him breathless.

“Why not?” She teased.

“Because…” There wasn’t any logical answer in his mind, or even a concrete idea. “I think we need to reevaluate our relationship.” Letting out a healthy laugh, she wasted no time to climb in his lap. Yunho was happy, perhaps the most relieved he’d been the entire day. He didn’t know there was such a sexual tension in between them until it finally dissipated. 

“Finally!” She exclaimed.

“You think so too?” She hummed in response, eyes locking with his lips as she did. 

The kiss itself felt good - like two magnets clicking into place. What felt even better though, was being able to accept all the feelings he’s been burying deep inside himself. He was wrong in thinking something more wasn’t possible between them.

A loud knock echoed from the door, and Wooyoung’s voice could be heard screaming from the other side.

“You two decent?” 

“No!” Yunho yelled back. They certainly weren’t a sight he’d want his bandmates to see - his shirt was hiking up on her thighs, their arms tangled around each other’s bodies. 

“What do you mean ‘no’??!” This time it was HongJoong’s voice, and Yunho knew he messed up. Almost effortlessly, he got up with her still around his hips and grabbed her pants on the way to the bathroom. 

“Okay, but seriously get dressed now.” Yunho said, and only got a wink from her in response. He rolled his eyes and went back into the room to let her change. 

He really was a fool to think this wouldn’t work out - he already loved every second of it.

[fanfictionfansmiction]

I Said Your Name

It’s been awhile! Here’s a Fred Weasley X Reader that’s a modern AU where you love him and plan to tell him about it but chicken out and the story follows you at a party. I’m not the best at summaries but I hope you guys enjoy! Also PSA if you have any requests feel free to ask!

Word Count: 1885

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“I’m leaving.” I whisper to anyone who can hear me. Large tears run down my face and blur my vision.

Using all the strength left in my shaking arms I push myself off the fabric sofa knocking into Hermione as I do. She doesn’t notice for once, too invested in what Ron was saying. Her nose pink and her large teeth biting down on her lip in anticipation for climax of the story she’s already heard hundreds of times. I hear Neville say goodbye. I don’t bother to respond pushing myself through the crowd that’s gathered around the entryway. Too frustrated and focused on getting out of there I realise I’ve left my coat in the kitchen. I stop in my tracks because I can’t leave without my coat, but I really don’t want to go into the kitchen where he is.

To be fair I’m not sure he knows what he’s doing. I suppose my anger would seem more justified if I told Fred. If he knew that every time he recommends an old film, I go home and watch it. I should tell him. I really did mean to tell him when he picked me up tonight. Hermione and I planned it out. I was going to invite him in because ‘I just wasn’t ready yet’. We’d be alone in my house and then I’d tell him. That it didn’t matter to me if he didn’t feel the same way but if I didn’t tell him it was going to ruin me. A little dramatic in the wording I know but a feeling like this requires dramatics. A man like Fred is someone I want to be dramatic with. But no. I couldn’t tell him. Tonight, when I opened the door and looked up at him hair damp from the rain and face red from the cold. He took my hands and said, “It’s so bloody cold out there! Feel how cold I am.” I rubbed his red hands in mine trying to warm them up. We just stood there, door wide open laughing. So how did the night end up like this?

Before we left, I made sure that all the windows and doors were locked, more focused on the notes stuffed in my coat pocket than whatever Fred was talking about.

“And then she kissed me!” Fred exclaimed breathless.

I turned my head not realising how wide my eyes had gotten. For a moment I thought Fred looked guilty.

“Don’t looked so surprised,” he laughed my name throwing a toned arm over my shoulder, “I really didn’t expect it though. I always thought she was into someone else.” He said looking down at me. Before he could continue, I asked if we were ready to go. A lopsided grin took over his pink face, “Yeah I think we are.”

The house party was only a few streets away, but the walk felt wrong. Too much tension for a walk with my Fred. I think he could feel it too.

“Someone said everyone from the old days were going to be there.” Fred said bumping into me.

“Well, you know Lily and James go all out with these things. It’s so great that Harry still gets to do these things at their house.” I replied.

“Could you imagine if I asked mum to do something like this.” Fred barked with laughter.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought.

When we entered the warmth of the house hit us. Filled with happy faces and the golden light I always associated with the Potters. A wave of ‘heys’ hit us as we entered. Lily and James weaved their way through the crowd to greet us. Hugging us and informing us of all the free booze in the kitchen. Sending us off with a wink.

“I love it here.” Fred spoke leaning down so I could hear him over the steady thud of music.

When we reached the kitchen, Fred told me he’s sort out the drinks, so I leant against the kitchen counter listening to a work story he was telling me when Oliver Wood sauntered into the room and placed himself by me. Fred attention followed Oliver all the way to empty space next he now filled.

“Here, I made you your favourite.” Fred said handing me the glass and snaking his arm around my waist tugging me a little closer toward him. “How’s it going Wood?” Fred asked arching his brow.

“Oh, you know, the Rugby’s worked out for me I actually just signed my new contract. I did however just break up with my girl,” Oliver looked at me, “you know we just wanted different things. I wanted to settle down get serious. She didn’t.” He said, thinking a moment before continuing, “So when did you two finally get together?” He asked cocking his brow. Fred’s arm suddenly retracted from my waist and a gap began to form between us.

Fred’s face a violent red, he cleared his throat before he started “No mate, we aren’t together. Just friends. I’m actually sort of dating this other girl. She’s actually coming here tonight.” He chugged the rest of his drink actively avoiding my glare. “I need a refill what about you two?”

Before I could answer Oliver slid closer to me and asked, “So does that mean you’re single?”

My mouth fell open, “Um, uh, yeah. Yes, I am single. Actually, I haven’t been on a date in forever.” I said ignoring the burning feeling in the back of my head. Oliver smiled at me like he’d just gotten good news. I felt Fred about to interrupt when the kitchen door opened.

“Freddie!” A voice rang.

“Oh, hey there.” Fred said preoccupied.

Oliver cleared his throat, “Let’s leave these two alone, I think they’re playing drinking games in the other room.” He took my hand in his rough ones gently guiding me away into the dining room.

I played drinking games with Oliver with a few hours until he got called away for some emergency. That’s how I ended up a little too drunk sat on that sofa rethinking everything.

I was sat there for about an hour. At first, I was joining in with the conversation laughing with the others but then on my way to the toilet I caught a glimpse of Fred and his sort of girlfriend. Her face buried in his neck, him laughing holding her close. I locked myself in the bathroom. My heart beating a little too loud. I slump down onto the toilet seat trying to catch my breath. This is not how my night was supposed to go.

After staying in the bathroom for twenty minutes I returned to my seat hoping that it wasn’t too obvious that I’d been crying. I think they noticed. No one said anything but I could tell. The worried glances exchanged by those sober enough to care.

So here I am. Standing in the middle of the entryway. Red faced and a little too drunk. Why should I feel weird? He’s the one who was being weird! Why should I cry over him?

“Everything alright love?” Lily asked softly. I turn to look at her intending to answer before I can she says. “Go tell him.”

I nod at her. If I were sober, I’d feel ridiculous but right now it almost feels like an under reaction.

I storm back through the house the crowd parting slightly as I do. Pushing my way through the kitchen door I see Fred leant against the kitchen island his head hanging down covering his face with his hands. I stomp my way through and snatch my coat from the space next to Fred which causes him to look up.

He says my name quietly. The fury in my veins almost disperses at once. I don’t let it.

“Fred, I need to tell you something.” My voice is a little shaky. I try to continue but Fred tries to stop me.

The kitchen door slams open and Fred’s sort of girlfriend is stood there with red eyes fuelled with recognisable rage.

“Is this her?” She spits eyeing me like I’m prey. She then mockingly moans my name which completely throws me. Suddenly I’m confused what I’m still doing here with the feeling that I should leave immediately.

“You are pathetic Fred. I cannot believe you. Don’t try to contact me we are done.” She declares with venom before gracefully exiting the room. I almost follow her wanting to ask her what happened. My feet move before my mind does, I’m only stopped by Fred tugging at my arm.

“I don’t think she’s going to want to talk to you.” He says with his head down still.

“Why not?” I ask looking up at him trying to catch his eye.

“You don’t want to know.”

“If I didn’t want to know I wouldn’t have asked Fred.” The anger re-enters my body as I yank my arm out of his grasp.

“Not you too.” He whines.

“Yes, me too. You have ruined my entire night! And apparently, I’m not the only one. Look I came back here to get my coat and tell you how I feel but quite frankly I don’t think that’s a conversation I want to have with you right now. I’m leaving. Goodnight Fred.” I declare following the exit of the girl before me.

On my way out I quickly thank Lily for hosting as I walk away, I hear them laugh and the words “He’s such an idiot.”

I stomped the entire walk home trying to shake the foul mood out of me. As I reached the top of my road, I hear Fred call after me.

“What Fred?” I shout back pulling my keys out of my pocket.

“Please wait! I just need to talk to you.” He yelled after me sprinting the small distance between us.

“Can we do this tomorrow Fred?” I ask opening my front door.

“No, we need to do this now.” He announces.

“Fine, come inside.” I tell him.

Before he begins, he says my name softly, “Earlier when I was telling you about the kiss I had more to say. You cut me off.” He says closing the gap between us. He brushes a piece of hair out of my face, from this small action I feel a warmth grow inside me “What I was going to say was that it didn’t feel right. When I was kissing her all I could think about was you. About your lips. About the way you smell. And the way she wasn’t you. When Oliver showed up, I acted like an idiot. Then she showed up and I hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her how I felt. Then I drank a little too much and said your name when I was kissing her. Look I have loved you before I really knew what it meant. I still don’t really know what it means but I don’t want to lose you over a dumb mistake like the ones I made tonight. I love you.” He says softly with tears forming in his eyes.

“Fred.” I say, “I love you too.” I touch my hand to his face.

“Your hands are so cold.” He laughs.

[heyitssmiller]

Clandestine: Chapter Three

The first mission doesn’t exactly go as planned. Also, Logan has a thing for glasses, apparently.

@lumosinlove Thank you for letting me run away with your characters! <3

Again, @donttouchmycarrots is my hero and the best proofreader ever! This fic wouldn’t be what it is without her.

Clandestine Masterlist

.

The bank was quiet, save for the soft murmurings of tellers and customers. Sunlight filtered through the windows of the storefront, light and hazy. The office plant by the front door was growing way too big for its pot. There were a few people waiting in line, absently scrolling through their phones. Others were sitting in the waiting area, mindlessly taking in their surroundings. It was calm, peaceful.

Or it was, until a redhead came sprinting out of the men’s restroom, screaming “Fire!” at the top of his lungs.

The bank then descended into madness.

A man watched from the driver’s seat of his car as people frantically streamed out of the building and onto the sidewalk. He sighed, taking a second to rest his forehead against the steering wheel. “Damnit, O’Hara. This wasn’t part of the plan.”

29 Hours Earlier

“Good morning, cubs!”

“Fuck you, Black.” Logan muttered into his cup of coffee. “It’s too early to be that excited.”

Leo smiled a little and set a paper bag on the table. Logan stared at it. Where had it come from? He hadn’t seen Leo carrying it into the briefing room, but it was too big to stuff into his pockets. He didn’t have a bag or anything – the only thing he was carrying with him was a notebook and a pen. How did he manage to smuggle it in?

Logan was so confused, and it was still too early.

“I brought muffins.” Leo explained, opening the bag and handing one to Finn. “They’re cinnamon swirl.”

“Nut, did you make these?” Finn asked, removing the wrapper and taking a big bite. Leo shrugged.

“I like to cook.”

Black looked up at him in awe. “These are amazing.” He cradled the muffin in his hand like it was something precious.

“I can give you the recipe, if you want.”

Logan grabbed a muffin, looking up quickly at Remus’ snort. “He can’t cook.”

“Neither can you.” Sirius shot back, a little more hostile than his usual teasing manner. Logan glanced back and forth between the pair, tearing off a piece of muffin and popping it into his mouth. Fuck, that was good.

His partners had clearly picked up on the tension, too, but neither of them brought it up. Leo twirled his pen around in his hand, eyes moving from the pair to Finn. He smiled as the redhead enthusiastically grabbed another muffin. Logan snapped his gaze back to Sirius. “Can we get started, please?” He asked pointedly. “If you make me get up this early, we’d better be doing something productive.”

Finn laughed at him, nose scrunching. “Are you always this grumpy in the morning?”

Green eyes rimmed with dark, dark lashes glared back at him. Logan didn’t say a word but took a long sip of coffee instead, refusing to break eye contact. Finn let himself stare a little longer than he probably should have. He wasn’t lying when he told Logan he was a sucker for green eyes.

Sirius finally broke the tension-filled staring competition between himself and Loops and looked down at his files. Remus started the projector without a word, only speaking up when he was ready to begin his presentation. “We’re starting you three off with the easiest flash drives to retrieve – the two in the banks.”

He moved to a picture of the layout of one of the banks, pointing at a small room tucked away in a corner of the building. “So the safe is back here in this room. You can’t get back there without permission or an escort, which makes it a little trickier. The security system is also very high-grade, so I don’t think trying to break in after hours is our best bet here. There’s too many little things we might miss.

“The plan is to go undercover. Leo and Finn, you’ll be infiltrating this bank. Logan, you’ll be lookout. Leo, you’re going to pretend to be a safe specialist. Tell them the make and model of the safe Riddle uses is faulty and the company sent you to see if this one needs to be replaced. I don’t really care what you say, just make it believable.”

“What kind of safe is it?” Leo asked.

Sirius looked down at his notes. “It’s a… Tigerking Digital Security safe. Does that mean anything to you?”

Leo grinned. “Makes my job a hell of a lot easier. They’ve got a weak spot.”

“What am I doing during all of this?” Finn asked through a mouthful of muffin, crumbs stuck to his mouth. He swiped at them with his tongue before speaking again, “Distraction?”

“Yeah. It’ll have to be big – big enough to get Leo alone with that safe. How long do you think it’ll take to crack, Knut?”

He shrugged. “Ten minutes, tops. It’s got this small hole at the back where bolts are fed through. I can get a stiff wire through that hole and hit the reset button. Then I can reset the code of the safe and open it without leaving a trace.”

Finn smiled, mischief in his eyes. “I think I can manage a ten-minute distraction.”

That… that didn’t sound good.

Finn took one look at Logan’s fearful face and laughed. “Relax, it’s nothing too dramatic. I’ll probably just ask for whoever takes Leo back to look at the safe and then throw a fit when they say he’s not available. And then I’ll drag out our conversation to give our dear Nut enough time. Simple.”

“That… actually works.”

Finn scoffed, giving Remus a look. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“Because you’re Finn O’Hara.”

Finn thought about it for a second, then shrugged. “That’s fair.”

“Nut, when you open the safe you need to replace the real flash drive with this decoy.” Sirius said, holding up a blue flash drive. “This op might take weeks or months – if Riddle comes to check on this drive, he needs to see one instead of an empty safe. Now, if he actually checks the information on the flash drives… well, we’re screwed. Hopefully it won’t come to that. He doesn’t usually check the flash drives unless absolutely necessary – it’s too much of a hassle.”

“And I’ll loop the security camera footage when you get there, so there won’t be any evidence of you tampering with the safe.” Remus said. “Get in, get out. Not too hard, right? And we’ll both be with you every step of the way. You’ll have microphones and earpieces so that we can all communicate.”

Finn couldn’t tell if the bouncing of Leo’s leg was his normal restlessness or nerves. His face was a mask of calm that revealed nothing. For someone who didn’t have any previous experience in espionage or conning people, he sure was good at hiding how he was feeling.

Finn handed him another muffin anyways.

The dimpled smile he got in return was nothing but genuine.

***

Remus sat down on his couch with his dinner, sighing to himself as he stretched out his back. It had been a long day, but he finally felt ready for tomorrow. Their plan was solid, the cubs were as ready as they were ever going to be, he had his video loop for the security camera in the safe room, the rest of his tech had been checked over and deemed ready to go. There wasn’t much else he could do besides get a good night’s sleep if he could.

That would be easier said than done, though.

Sirius chose that moment to throw open the door and close it loudly behind him. Remus glared at him. “Is that really necessary?” He asked, but didn’t add anything else on as Sirius slammed down a stack of hand-written pages onto Remus’ coffee table. 

“You want me to open up? Fine. There’s all you need to know about me.”

Remus looked down at the pages and instantly felt guilty. How long had he been working on this? “You didn’t have to-”

“You said you couldn’t trust me.” Sirius interrupted coolly. “I can’t get my brother to safety if you guys don’t trust me.”

It appeared that his brother was his sole motivation. For all of this. Remus could understand that. He’d stop at nothing if the safety of his own brother was put into question.

“Yeah, but you didn’t have to do this.” Remus looked up at him, at the stiff set to his shoulders, the detached look in his eyes. He went too far the last time they’d talked about this, hadn’t he? “Look, we got along for over a week when you first got here. I think we can do that again, right?”

At Sirius’ skeptical face, he sighed. “This is on me just as much as you. I… I don’t trust easily.” He had to laugh at that massive understatement. “Perks of being a spy. But I feel like we can manage learning to trust each other the old-fashioned way.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow. “And what’s that?”

“Getting totally, outrageously drunk and sharing all our secrets.”

Sirius’ straight face only lasted for about a second before he busted out laughing. “You go from wanting my entire life story to wanting to get drunk together?”

“It’s a failproof way to gain someone’s trust.” Remus said solemnly, cracking a smile when Sirius laughed again, incredulous. “But not tonight. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

“This Friday, then?”

He couldn’t help but notice the hopeful look on Sirius’ face. Had he ever done this with someone before? Did he have any friends besides his brother previously? He put up this excitable, outgoing façade, but Remus honestly had no idea what lay underneath. He nodded decisively. “This Friday.”

Sirius hesitated, then spoke again. “Do you think they’re ready?”

“I think so. And we’ll be there if something goes wrong.” Remus met his eyes, trying to instill confidence into the ex-Snake. “No matter what happens, we’re going to do our best to get your brother out safely.”

“And what if that’s not enough?” Sirius asked, eyes haunted.

That was exactly why Remus hadn’t made any strict promises. There was no way to guarantee that they would get Regulus back. If Remus was in Sirius’ shoes, if this this was Jules instead of Regulus, what would Remus most want to hear?

“We’re going to do everything we can, I promise.” He said, soft but firm. “I know that’s not enough, but it’s the best we can do as of right now.”

Sirius stared back, then nodded. “Thank you.” He looked down at Remus’ food. “What’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

Remus laughed, shoving him away. “Get your own, you leech. This is mine.”

“Leech?” Sirius demanded, dramatizing his offence. “I can’t believe you called me a leech. You were the one who offered to house me, after all.”

That was true. Even if he hated to admit it, Remus was lonely. He lived in this apartment all by himself, worked mostly on his own, and his family lived miles and miles away. And being a spy didn’t exactly make it easy to find friends. He was distrusting and cautious by nature, especially after... well. After he left fieldwork and transitioned to a desk job.

He didn’t know why he’d offered to let Sirius stay, honestly. He just got this gut feeling that it was the right thing to do.

And Remus Lupin always trusted his gut.

“Worst decision I’ve ever made.” He quipped, laughing as Sirius threw a pillow at him. Sirius was a horrible roommate. He left dishes in the sink, beard trimmings on the bathroom counter, and his shoes haphazardly strewn about the living room.

But he always had hot water on the stovetop in the mornings when Remus woke up, always let him pick what they watched on tv at nights, and always replaced anything he had used up without being asked. And, if Remus was being completely honest with himself, soft gray eyes paired with an even softer smile weren’t exactly a terrible thing to wake up to.

So far, this whole roommate business wasn’t too bad.

***

Logan hated nothing more than being lookout.

He watched on as Finn and Leo geared up, testing their mics and earpieces and making adjustments accordingly. He was supposed to be watching the entrance to make sure no Snakes entered the building. They were doing the first bank heist while Logan was stuck here, in the car parked on the street, where he couldn’t see what was going on or if his partners were in trouble.

Their first mission, and he was stuck outside.

Ugh.

“You ready for this?” Finn asked Leo as he discreetly tucked a wire under his collar and out of sight. Leo had his eyes trained on the building across from them, wrapped in his coat and a thick scarf, fingers drumming out a staccato beat on his thigh. He didn’t seem to have heard Finn.

“Nut?”

Leo swiveled his head to look back at them. “Hmm?”

“You ok?” Logan asked, watching the blond’s face for signs of nervousness or stress. But his gaze was steady, determined. For someone on their first mission, he was remarkably calm. Either that or a much better actor than Logan had given him credit for. But then his expression flickered and a shadow of doubt crept in.

“I’m fine.” He said, and Logan couldn’t tell if he was trying to convince them or himself. He reached out and gave the blond’s shoulder a squeeze, letting his hand linger before trailing it down his arm and pulling away.

“You’re fine.” Logan reassured with a smile and watched the resolve build back up in Leo’s eyes, causing the knot in Logan’s chest to ease up a little.

That was better.

Finn looked at him for a second, then took his glasses off. “Here, put these on. I feel like your cover story requires glasses.” He gently eased them onto the other boy’s face. Leo blinked rapidly, then squinted and widened his eyes to adjust to the lenses.

“Jesus, what prescription is this?”

“It’s not that bad.” Finn said, ruffling Leo’s hair in retaliation. He took a step back to see the finished product and whistled lowly. “Damn, maybe we should take those off again. We’re supposed to be unmemorable when we’re undercover. No one will be able to take their eyes off you with those on.”

Logan had to agree there. Soft blue eyes blinked back at them from behind tortoiseshell frames, looking larger than they normally did. Leo buried his nose in his scarf in an attempt to hide the blush caused by Finn’s flirtatious words.

The sight did strange things to Logan’s stomach.

Remus’ voice reached them through their com link, startling all three of them. “You guys ready to go?”

Leo took a deep, steadying breath. “Let’s do this.” He looked back at Logan, eyes fierce – a stark contrast to the soft look of only a few seconds ago. Logan sucked in a breath of his own. This kid sure was something.

“See you in a bit.”

“See you in a bit.” Logan echoed, grabbing the car keys out of his pocket and letting his lips twitch up into a smile at Finn’s cheery salute. He leaned against the car door and watched the pair make their way around the corner and towards the bank without glancing back.

He got back into the car and moved it around the same corner before putting it in park. His eyes shifted between the street in front of him and his rearview mirror, a book in his lap to keep from raising suspicions, and settled in to worry and wait.

***

Leo shoved his hands in his pockets to keep from fidgeting and made his way to the front desk. Ignoring his pounding heart as best he could, he locked eyes with the teller and smiled. “Hi there. Is your manager here?” He asked, dragging his accent out slow and sweet like molasses. “I’ve got a few questions about your safes.”

She smiled back. “Sure thing. I’ll go grab him.” Leo thanked her as she left, looking around while he waited and trying his hardest not to squint too much in Finn’s glasses. 

“Nut, between the accent and the glasses - plus your looks in general - I think that girl is half in love with you already.” Sirius’ voice teased, causing Leo to flinch slightly. He needed to get used to hearing the voices of people he couldn’t see during these missions.

“She is not.” He muttered back as he pretended to rub his nose, covering his mouth as he spoke so that no one else could see it. His hand absentmindedly played with the old, frayed bracelet on his wrist.

“You can do better, Nut.” Logan chimed in, voice a little gruff.

“How do you know?” Sirius asked. “You can’t even see her.”

“I’m using my imagination.”

Sirius barked out a laugh while Remus just sighed and requested that they all stay focused. Leo glanced around at the lobby again. Finn was standing in line behind him, looking at something on his phone. He forced himself not to look at his partner too long and kept scanning the rest of the lobby. It seemed to be a pretty quiet day - there weren’t too many people inside. A few people were seated in the waiting area and some were waiting in line behind Finn. Leo saw the teller and a short, balding man who must have been the bank manager making their way back towards him.

Leo stuck his hand out when they reached him, which the manager shook with a fake smile on his face.

“Hi, how are you doing?” Leo asked, withdrawing his hand. “I’m Fred Decker with Tigerking Digital Security. I have on record that you’re currently using one of our safes, is that correct?”

“Fred?” Sirius’ voice asked incredulously. “Of all the aliases you could use, you choose Fred? Nut, you should be ashamed of yourself.”

Remus hissed at him to shut up. Leo ignored it.

“Yes, that’s right.” The manager said, a bit stiff. “What’s this about?”

“There’s a recall on a few of our safes. I was wondering if I could take a look at yours and see if it needs to be replaced. Free of charge, of course. This is an error on our part, and we want to do all we can to fix it.”

The manager hesitated, then nodded. “This way.”

Leo followed the man through a set of doors into a hallway, spotting Finn out of the corner of his eye as he approached the front desk and sent Leo a quick wink. That, more than anything, calmed Leo’s nerves. If Finn was acting like this was just run-of-the-mill and not a big deal, then they must’ve been doing something right. The door closed behind Leo, blocking his vision of the lobby. He took a fortifying breath and followed the manager into the safe room, secluded from the rest of the bank.

“Here we are,” The manager said, then pointed to a safe wedged into the corner of the room. “And there’s your safe.”

“The camera in the safe room is already on a loop, Leo. You’re all set.” Remus’ voice said, steady and calm. Leo looked the safe over, stalling as he waited for Finn’s distraction.

“Fuck,” he heard through his earpiece. “Leo, you’re going to have to hang in there for a few more seconds. The planned distraction didn’t work.”

Leo swallowed, looking back up at the manager. “So there’s these holes in the back, see?” He said, figuring a sure-fire way for him to stall was to talk about the safe. He could keep up a conversation like this for hours. “They’re used to bolt the safes into the wall. A few of our older models have larger holes.”

He grabbed the stiff coil of wire out of his pocket. “Some thieves have learned that you can get to the reset button in these older models if you use a tough wire like this and insert it through one of the holes. Basically all I want to do today is see if a thief could potentially do that with this safe. Is that all right with you?”

“Yes, of course! If there’s a problem, our client would want that fixed immediately.”

“I’m sure they would.” Leo said absentmindedly as he started fiddling with the wire for as long as he possibly could. He straightened it out from it’s coil, looked down it’s length, and then pretended to straighten some kinks out.

Don’t panic don’t panic don’t panic-

Remus’ voice was a little more tense now. “Finn, where’s that distraction?”

Finn, who was in the men’s bathroom grabbing handful after handful of paper towels and shoving them into a trash can, grumbled, “I’m working on it, ok? Sirius was right - that teller definitely has a type, and it sure as hell isn’t me. I had to improvise.”

“What does that mean?” Logan asked warily. Finn could practically see him gripping the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip as he forced himself to stay put. “What are you doing?”

Finn grabbed the bottle of hand sanitizer on the bathroom sink and took the top off, dumping the contents into the trash can as well. He grabbed the lighter in his pocket (he liked to be prepared, thank you very much) and produced a small flame.

“Something stupid.”

He lowered the lighter to the trashcan and prepared to run.

Leo could hear the shouting from Finn’s distraction all the way back in the safe room. He looked up at the manager, pretending to be confused. “What’s going on?”

“I’m not sure.” The manager frowned, shifting from foot to foot nervously as he looked towards the commotion. “I’m going to check it out. I’ll be right back, ok?”

Leo waved him off with a reassuring smile. “I’ll be right here.” He messed around with the safe until the door closed, then hissed, “Finn, what the hell is going on out there?” He moved Finn’s glasses to perch on top of his head and shoved the wire through one hole in the back of the safe. He grabbed his flashlight to look through the hole on the other side, searching for a small red button.

“I might’ve started a fire in the men’s restroom.”

“You what?” Leo demanded, finally finding the reset button and moving the wire steadily closer to it. “You do realize that does the exact opposite of give me more time, right?” Sure enough, the fire alarm sounded, loud and clear.

“Fuck me.” Leo muttered as he jabbed the reset button with the wire. Someone - Leo thought it might be Finn, but he wasn’t sure - muttered something too soft and muffled to be picked up by their mic. Leo didn’t have the time to question it. The safe door opened with a soft click. He quickly switched the flash drive with the replica and closed the door again. The wire got recoiled and shoved back into his pocket, Finn’s glasses returned to resting on his nose. He climbed to his feet and made his way towards the lobby at a quick pace. “I’ve got it.”

“Nice work, Nut.” He heard Logan say, and couldn’t repress the jittery feeling he always got after a successful job. He exited the bank, looking around for the manager. He seemed busy as he talked to his employees in an attempt to get the situation under control. He caught Leo’s eyes and stepped towards him. “Mr. Decker! I was looking for you.”

Leo only just remembered to over-exaggerate his accent. “I heard the alarm and high-tailed it out here. Was it a prank?”

“No,” He said after a beat of hesitation, “Someone actually started a fire in the men’s bathroom. The fire department is on its way. Hopefully it won’t take too long and you can get back to looking at that safe.”

“No need, I already finished. The holes were too small for the wire, so y’all should be fine. Anything thinner than the wire I used will be too flimsy to press that reset button.” Leo glanced down at his watch. “I do have six more banks to visit today, though, so I’m afraid this is where I leave you. Thank you for being so cooperative.” He held out his hand for the manager to shake again and gave one last smile before walking back down the street towards their designated rendezvous, trying to look casual and not like he was running away from the scene of a theft.

Sure enough, a non-descript gray car was waiting for him, right where it was supposed to be. Without a word, he climbed into the back and sprawled across all three seats, throwing an arm over his eyes as Logan put the car into drive.

The three of them were silent for a few seconds before Leo cracked a smile and laughed. “The one thing – the one thing that could get me kicked out of that safe room too fast, and that’s what you decided would make a perfect distraction?”

Finn looked back at the back seat with a grin, which softened when he laid eyes on the blond. His hair shone in the late-morning sunlight, highlighting a streak of gray at his temple. Those long legs of his took up most of the back row, and even then he still had to bend his knees to fit all the way. His eyes were blocked by his arm, but Finn could’ve seen those dimples via satellite image from space. 

“Hey, cut me some slack. I was making it up as I went.” This sent Leo into another fit of laughter, causing Finn’s smile to broaden.

“Besides,” Logan added, “You’re quick with your hands. You didn’t need all ten minutes, you barely needed three.”

Leo shrugged, which looked really strange in his current position on his back. “Got lucky. Found that reset button faster than I usually do.” He adjusted Finn’s glasses, which were still resting on his nose. “Maybe I need glasses, too.”

“Shut up. Those glasses are a statement piece, thank you very much.”

Logan snorted, watching Leo’s hand reach over the center console to return the glasses to their rightful owner. “Maybe that’s why you’re a terrible marksman, O’Hara. When’s the last time you got that prescription checked?”

Finn gasped in offense. Logan glanced over briefly and noticed the tips of his ears getting red. Cute.

“How dare you! I am not a terrible marksman!”

“That’s not what your file says.”

“What?”

“The evidence doesn’t lie.” Logan said, struggling to bite back his grin. Finn was just so fun to tease.

“Screw debriefing. When we get back to the office, we’re going to the shooting range.” Finn crossed his arms over his chest sulkily. “Terrible marksman. How dare they. Nutter Butter, back me up here.”

Leo blinked at the new nickname, but he couldn’t say he minded it too much. Especially when Finn said it like that, with such unfiltered affection. He watched the redhead turn around in his seat to look at him with big Bambi eyes, only then remembering that he was looking for an answer from Leo.

He put on a show of thinking about it, then shrugged. “I dunno, Finn. The evidence doesn’t lie.”

“Et tu, Brute?” Finn whined. “Betrayed by both of my partners. Unbelievable.”

Leo wished there was another word for partner. Maybe he should refer to them as just coworkers now. The term partner was giving him ideas. 

Ideas he couldn’t afford to be having for the first and quite possibly the biggest op of his life.

“Also, you’re one to talk!” Leo looked back up at Finn when he realized he was talking to him. “Have you ever shot a gun before, rookie?” He stopped suddenly, then grinned broadly. “Oh man, please tell me you’ve shot a gator when you were back in Louisiana. That’s so badass.”

Leo arched an eyebrow.

“Just because there’s horror stories about gators doesn’t mean they deserve to be shot.” Logan said, switching his turn signal on and waiting for the left turn light to change from red to green. “They’re a big part of the ecosystem.”

“And they kill people.”

“Oh come on, when’s the last time you heard of someone being killed by a gator?”

“Literally last week, down in Florida.”

“Well, that’s Florida. Crazy stuff like that happens in Florida all the time.”

“Did you hear about that guy from Florida who made a beer run while holding a gator?”

Logan chuckled, glancing over at his partner in disbelief. “What?”

“You heard me! Apparently he walked in, looked around and asked ‘Y’all ain’t out of beer, are you?’ But then the story gets weirder!”

Leo just sat in the backseat and laughed at Finn’s dramatic retelling of Florida news as building after building flashed by outside their windows, feeling lighter than air. His first mission was a success. He grabbed the small, innocuous flash drive out of his pocket, twirling it in his hand. One down, six more to go. If all missions were like this, taking down the Snakes wouldn’t be so bad.

He should’ve knocked on wood after having that thought.

[panda-noosh]

Enemies by Association {Draco Malfoy x Reader}

Words: 7.6k

Summary: Sometimes you don’t really know what you and Draco are meant to be. 

Genre: angst (?)

Notes: support my writing or ask me about commissions! - what the FUCK is this, Aticus?! 

----

  “What the bloody hell are you doing here? 

   The voice strikes you almost immediately like a blow to the back of the skull. Already in a gruesome mood, the shrill tones of Draco Malfoy does nothing to make this night any better.

    Slowly, you turn to face the pale-haired boy now standing before you. It was only seconds before the forest was completely empty, nothing more than you and it’s usual spooky atmosphere, and where once you craved the comfort of another human being suffering alongside you, you now wish for nothing more than a tree to scoop you up and devour you.

    Draco, as per usual, stands tall and bold, even in the most embarrassing of circumstances. He’s wearing his Hogwarts robes, the Slytherin crest unavoidable upon his chest alongside his very undeserved Prefect badge. His basically-white hair still manages to glisten even in the pitch black of night, and that stupid scowl of his is, of course, still very prominent on his features.

    “What does it look like?” is your response to his dumb question. “I got a detention.”

    Draco raises a brow, visible only beneath the torchlight cast upon his lower jaw. “Y/N Weasley getting a detention? Colour me surprised.”

   You scowl and swivel back to face the path you had previously been staring into; still dark, still scary, still very unappealing, but it’s better than dealing with Draco’s sarcasm.

    He steps up beside you, folding wiry arms over a flat chest. “Are you not even gonna ask why I’m here?”

  “I can genuinely say I don’t give a shit.”

   “Watch your mouth, Weasley, or I’ll give you another detention.”

    You roll your eyes. “Fine then. What are you doing here, Malfoy?”

    He’s quiet for only a moment, and during that moment, you can feel his ice-like eyes burning into the side of your head; you want to punch him, desperately and with the force of a thousand waves, you want to punch that smirk off his stupid face.

    “Apparently part of the job of being a Prefect is overlooking detentions.”

    You gasp over dramatically, clapping your hands to your face. “You’re a Prefect? Why didn’t you say?!”

   “Oh, ha ha.” He nudges your arm, nods into the darkness ahead. “Get walking, then. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

   “An hour,” you correct, walking forward with him following close behind; you have to admit, he’s grown an awful lot since the last time you had been cursed with a shared detention with him. That was way back in first year after the two of you had been too loud during an argument in the hallways - hallways you were not supposed to be in that late at night. Filch had come sprinting down the corridors, and it was an instant sentence to the forest. Back then, Draco had basically been trembling in fear as Hagrid led the two of you through the trees, giving his usual promises that everything would be okay. You love Hagrid, would trust him with your life, but you’ve never been able to take his word on what he deems as okay.

    Now, however, Draco walks with his spine straight and his eyes narrowed, looking for the dangers you suspect he thinks he can fend away. 

    “You haven’t even got your fucking wand in your hand,” you point out.

   “Language, Weasley. I won’t tell you again. Even that twin brother of yours doesn’t use such foul language.”

   “Such foul language. Alright, Umbridge, I don’t remember asking.”

    Draco purses his lips. “It’s like you want a second detention.”

  “If it means having to walk through this bleeding forest with you again, I’ll pass.”

    The conversation dips after that. Draco keeps his wand in his hand, seems utterly concentrated on the path ahead; neither of you know where you’re going, but that doesn’t seem like such a bad thing when the tension is so high. 

     And the thing is, you don’t even think you dislike him.

   Draco just has the kind of personality you’re meant to clash with. He’s Slytherin, you’re Gryffindor. You’re a Weasley, he’s a Malfoy. You’re best friends with Harry Potter, and he’s got some kind of vendetta against him, so hating him is just kind of expected.

    But you talk to him a lot more than the others do.

    It’s mainly arguing, yes, but you’re still communicating, and you still go out of your way to sneer at him, and he goes out of his way to sneer right back. You insult him, but you spend ages coming up with those insults and you get excited when you see him and can finally hurl them at him from across the hallway, and you get excited when he throws his own set of insults right back at you. It’s been like that from day one, and you’re not sure what your day would look like without it.

     These thoughts never settle well with you, of course. You take one look at Ron and immediately feel like a traitor, because if he was to hear what was running through your head, he would be most incredibly displeased - and rightly so. The way him and Malfoy get on, it wouldn’t surprise you if Ron turned and ripped your head off for ever expressing even a single hint of fondness for the blonde boy currently strolling alongside you.

     “What are you in detention for this time, then, Weasley?”

   His voice breaks you from your reverie. You glance at him; he’s still looking dead ahead, tracing those ice blue eyes along the ground in search of danger. Part of you is surprised; the fact that Malfoy even showed up tonight is a big deal, considering you wouldn’t be surprised if he simply left you for dead in the Forbidden Forest.

    “McGonagall got mad at me,” you mumble in response. 

   Draco raises a brow. “For what?”

    “For nothing.” You fold your arms over your chest, letting your wand peek from your sleeve to keep the light illuminated on the track ahead. “In my defense, it was entirely Ron’s fault - if he had just let me get on with the Vanishing spell, that table would still be in her classroom and I wouldn’t be here.”

    Draco nods like he understands. “I always said two Weasleys in the same classroom would be dangerous.”

    “Ha.”

    “So why didn’t Ronald get a detention?”

   You scowl. “I bloody covered for him.”

   Draco almost seems to stumble. Your head snaps round to look at him at the exact same time he whirls around to look at you, eyes wide beneath his wand light, his footsteps a little heavier.

   “What’s wrong with you?” you demand, struggling to hide your laughter.

    “You covered for him?” 

   You raise a brow, grin spreading slow across your face. “Of course I did. He covered for me during Snape’s last class, and Snape is ten times worse than McGonagall - I owed him one.”

    Draco continues to stare at you in puzzlement.

   “Malfoy, close your mouth before you attract flies.” You glance into the darkness and shudder. “Or something worse.”

     Draco shakes his head, fumbling to return to his previous pristine posture. “You’re an idiot.”

   “Would you rather be walking through this hell-hole with Ron? Because I’m sure he’d be flattered to hear it.”

   “Absolutely not,” Draco snaps. “I just. . . I don’t understand why you’d get yourself in trouble for the sake of somebody else. Surely you have better things to be doing than a late-night detention with me.”

    “Aw, give yourself more credit, Malfoy.”

   He raises a brow.

   You grin. “Although, to be fair, I would much rather be chewing on leather shoes than walking beside you right now.”

    Draco rolls his eyes, nudges your arm in his attempts to make you speed up. “Say that again and you’ll be back here tomorrow night.”

    And that is enough to shut you up immediately.

   ----

    Professor Dolores Umbridge.

    The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a small woman doused in pink, ruffled with feathers and other fluffy accessories. A woman with a smile and a sweet voice. A woman hiding behind a mask that almost everybody has seen past at this point.

    She’s only been at Hogwarts a handful of months, and already she’s decided she owns the place. You, Ron and Harry scowl when you walk into her classroom to see she has yet to fall into the Hippogriff dens. As per usual, written upon the board in white chalk is the next chapter the class will be forced to read in utter silence whilst their wands are stowed away in their backpacks.

    “I hate her,” you whisper to Ron as the two of you take your seats at the back of the classroom. “Hate. Her.”

  “Keep your voice down,” Hermoine hisses, leaning back so she can talk to you. “You’ve seen what she did to Harry when he spoke out of turn - she won’t let you away with it either, Y/N.”

    You scowl, glaring at the back of her head. “She’s just got something against Harry.”

  “Exactly,” Harry whispers. “And you guys are my best mates, so she has something against you lot, too. By association.”

   “To hell with that. McGonagall surely won’t let her give us a detention just for being your friend.”

   Harry raises a brow; he’s already been through this once with you, but you were too busy arguing with Fred and George about their Nosebleed Nougat to really listen. Nonetheless, you’re aware that Harry went to McGonagall in his attempts to weasel out of his last week of detentions with Umbridge and was told - plain and simple - that she could and would do absolutely nothing to help him out.

    The lesson starts as per usual - with Umbridge reminding the class which chapter they left off at, ordering everyone to open up to the page beginning the next one, and reading everyone that they did not - under any circumstances - need to talk.

    You lower your head to your textbook, skimming the same sentence over and over again. It’s so easy to lose concentration when even just sitting in this room - in silence or not - makes you angry. You don’t want to read, don’t want to learn, don’t want to listen to her stupid, squeaky little voice. You just want to-

     The seat beside you is pulled from beneath the desk. Your head shoots up, eyes widening when you see Draco Malfoy sitting down, pulling his textbook from his bag without so much as a glance in your direction.

   You look up; Umbridge has spotted the latecomer, but merely gives Malfoy a smile that tells you she is in close cahoots with the blonde demons father. You look back up at Malfoy and narrow your eyes.

    “You don’t sit there,” you whisper.

   Draco glances at your textbook, nudging his arm with your own. “What page are we looking at?”

  “Not my problem you were late, Malfoy.”

  He tugs your textbook closer, leans a little further forward to read the page number, and it’s when he does that that you can feel his breath on your lower arm, can feel the warmth of his skin as he gets so close. Your eyes widen for a fraction of a second - you never once believed Malfoy would have warmth. The boy looks too much like a corpse for you to think he has any kind of body heat whatsoever.

   But it’s nice, and he’s very close to you, and you don’t think you like it that much.

   You don’t move away.

    “Half these bleeding chapters don’t even make sense,” Draco mumbles, eyes still scanning the glossy page of your textbook. “I’ve learned nothing since she got the teaching job.”

    You raise a brow. “I could have sworn Umbridge was one of those teachers your head was shoved up.”

    “What made you think that?”

  “Well, she’s a bit of a bitch, isn’t she?” you reply, motioning to the woman sat at her desk, too busy humming away to herself to hear you and Malfoy conversing in the back of her classroom. “I just assumed you liked all the bitchy teachers.”

    “You really do have a foul mouth, don’t you?”

   “You’re avoiding the subject.”

   Malfoy purses his lips and glances at you through the corner of his eye; you, on the other hand, shamelessly stare right back at him, tracing your eyes along his sharp side profile. He really is a pretty boy to look at; the sharp jawline and pointed nose. You always thought he was fairly attractive, despite the amount of times you called him a weasel in your lifetime.

     “I think she’s a lousy teacher,” Draco concludes. “Her policies aren’t too bad-”

  You grunt.

    Draco rolls his eyes. “You only don’t like her because she yells at you all the time.”

   “All teachers yell at me all the time - but at least I deserve it in their classes. She just yells at me because I’m friends with Harry.”

    Draco shifts. “Don’t really blame her.”

  You yank your textbook back to your side of the table, fury suddenly building in your chest. “Oh, go to hell, Malfoy.” 

    This is how it always goes with him - things will be going so well, so smoothly. For a short period of time, you convince yourself he’s a good guy and maybe - just maybe - you’ll be able to get on with him. But then he goes and says something like that, so unnecessary and unjustified that it reminds you how much of a rat he really is. 

     Draco is quiet for the remainder of the lesson, one hand tucked against his cheek as he scans the pages of his own textbook - one he miraculously found just a few minutes after you downright refused to share yours. Although the whole class is silent, it feels a bit more tense where you and Malfoy are sat. He shifts every now and then, and the constant glances shared between you are enough to drive you insane.

    Sometimes you just want him to speak to you, which is weird considering you were the one who shut down the conversation in the first place. Arguing with him, throwing insults back and forth is better than sitting here in this anger-infused silence.

    Class finishes with no slip-up’s between you and Umbridge. She tries to claim you were too noisy when standing up, but whatever punishment she was about to fish out to you is washed away by the crowd of students happily making their way out of her classroom.

     “What did Malfoy want?” is the first thing Ron asks when you finally find each other in the crowded hallways. 

    “Nothing,” you reply. “He was just late and needed a seat.”

   Ron scowls, shooting a glance over his shoulder to where Malfoy and his cronies are standing. “He better not have been causing you any trouble.”

    “No trouble at all.”

   “He wasn’t insulting our parents or anything, was he?”

  “I said he was no trouble at all.” You aren’t sure why you’re snapping; you’re mad at Malfoy, for crying out loud. 

    Ron hauls his bag a little further up his back, still scowling even as he turns away from them. “He winds me up. He’s constantly staring at you. Makes me want to punch him right in his ugly little-”

    “Okay, Ron. I get it. You and Malfoy are sworn enemies.”

    Ron glances at you. “You better be on my side or I swear to god-”

   “Of course I am.” But you’re talking so fast, and Ron knows you better than anybody else. His steps falter, letting you know immediately that he’s picked up on the rush of your tone, the heat in your cheeks, the uncertain lilt to your statement.

    You glance at him through the corner of your eye and quickly mumble, “I’m on your side, Ron.”

    Ron pauses. And then, “Wait till I tell Harry about this. He’s gonna crack up.”

   You grab Ron’s arm when he quickens his pace. “What are you talking about? Ron, stop. Stop right now or I swear to-”

   “You fancy Malfoy!”

    You wince, heart dropping. You nearly stumble over your own two feet in your attempts to slap your hand over Ron’s big mouth, his grin widening beneath your hand. “Shut the hell up, Ronald Weasley!”

    He pries your hand away. “How long has this been happening? And why him? Of all bloody people!”

  “I don’t - I don’t fancy Malfoy!” you hiss, trying your hardest to keep your voice down - Fred and George have a habit of appearing out of nowhere, and this is the absolute last thing you want them to overhear.

    Ron raises a brow, still grinning manically. “Your face right now tells me differently.”

   “He’s a rat. I’ve hated him since first year. Just because I can’t be bothered listening to you rant about him every few minutes doesn’t mean I have a bleeding crush on him!”

    “And here I was thinking you didn’t have feelings.”

    You close your eyes, running your hands through your hair. “Oh, please be quiet, Ron. Don’t make this into a big deal.”

  “It is a big deal. If he tries anything-”

  “He won’t.”

  Ron pauses, clearly unconvinced but too smart to continue his teasing. You open your eyes, shoot him a pleading look to which he simply rolls his eyes and continues walking down the corridor towards his next class. You take a moment to recompose yourself before jogging to keep up with him.

   “I’d rather you didn’t tell Harry or Hermoine,” you mutter.

   “Of course not.”

  “You’re going to tell them, aren’t you?”

   Ron shrugs. “I won’t for a while, but if anything happens between you two, they deserve to know.”

   “Deserve?”

    “They both hate him as much as I do. Just because I’m supporting you doesn’t mean they will.”

    You purse your lips; he has a point, whether you want to openly admit it or not. Your feelings for Draco Malfoy have never been crystal clear to you, and even now as you refuse to deny them in front of Ron, they’re still not crystal clear. He’s attractive, and you enjoy talking to him, teasing him, but saying you have genuine feelings for him does nothing but make you anxious.

    But at the end of the day, nothing can happen anyway. Draco Malfoy is one person who is completely out of bounds to you, too different from you to even think about anything beyond a friendship.

     --- 

   That night, you can’t sleep.

   Your head hurts. Attempts to tackle your mountain of homework failed immensely, giving you nothing but a migraine and a sense of frustration that teachers are still insisting on giving you piles upon piles of work to do after class hours.

    So you do as you always do, and break the rules by getting out of bed and parading the hallways.

    You’ve gotten good at hiding from Filch throughout the years; with the help of the Marauders Map, it’s not difficult to keep tabs on where the little man is. With the help of your older brothers, you’ve also been able to pinpoint all the decent hiding places, one for each corridor, so you’re safe for now.

     You walk, clutching the map in one hand and your wand in the other. In the distance, you can hear Peeves singing to himself, but you don’t worry too much about him - he likes you, says you’re more like Fred and George than Ron is, so he’ll let you off with a lot more things.

     The corridors are always a little spooky at night; already spooky enough during the day, the cloak of darkness and the eerie silence that comes during the night makes it even worse, but you’ve found yourself enjoying it. The feeling of the unknown has always intrigued you; you get it from your father, you think. He’s forever looking into random little things, things he knows nothing about it, risking it all just to gain a little extra knowledge on a topic nobody else cares about.

    You saunter through the halls tonight, running your fingertips along the bumpy wallpaper. You sigh when you turn the corner, eyes nearly closed with the migraine pumping through your skull, hands gripping-

    “Lower your wand right now.”

   You nearly scream. If not for the shock that takes over your body in an instant, you would have bellowed out for help. But you’re left frozen, mouth open in shock, knuckles turning white with your suddenly enhanced grip on your wand.

   Standing in front of you is Professor Dolores Umbridge, a pink dressing gown wrapped round her shoulders, a beady glare on her face. All that is left to top the ensemble is a set of curlers upon her head.

    “What are you doing out of bed?”

  It seems like the most obvious question, but you struggle to find a response. All you can do is stare at the short woman with your mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She raises a brow, tilts her head and motions to your wand.

    “Do you plan on using that against me, Weasley, or will you put it down before I’m forced to take lethal measures?”

    You quickly stow your wand beneath your bed robes, giving her an uneasy smile. “Sorry, Professor.”

   “No, I don’t think you are.” She shakes her head, tutting as she looks to the ground for a reason you cannot pinpoint. “Again, Weasley, with the misbehaviour. Has my message not gotten through to you a thousand times by now?”

    “I have a migraine,” you reply. “I was going to the infirmary-”

    “You should have a note,” she says quickly, not giving you a chance to properly explain your situation; and yes, your explanation would be sprinkled with little lies, but she wouldn’t need to know that. “I’ve gone so easy on you since the start of term, Y/N, and it seems like you’re taking it for granted now. Being out past curfew is just a step too far.”

     You blink. “Uhhhh…”

    “A week of detentions with me it is,” she says, and your heart drops. “I’ll see you-”

    “There you are! Did you get that thing I asked you to get?”

    You spin around. Approaching is no other than Draco Malfoy, and you silently curse whatever deity is looking over you right now.

    He’s got a grin on his face unlike anything you’ve ever seen from him. Usually adorned with a grimace or a scowl, seeing Draco genuinely smile is like seeing light for the first time. Although unusual, it fits his face perfectly and you very nearly have to grab Umbridge’s fluffy arm to stop your knees from giving out beneath you.

    “Malfoy!” Umbridge gasps. “And what are you-”

  “Oh, you got caught,” says Malfoy, sidling up to your side. “Bloody hell, Y/N - I give you one job.”

  Umbridge blinks. “What are you talking about, Mr Malfoy? Y/N here was parading round the hallways of their own-”

  “I asked her to get me something from the Ravenclaw common room,” Draco says. Your eye twitches, mouth opening, but Draco oh-so-subtly pinches your palm before you can speak up and ruin whatever little deception he’s got going on right now. “You’re not giving Y/N the detention, are you? I asked them to get it for me, and I’ll gladly do the detention with you, Professor.” He beams even brighter. You bite your lip, glancing at Umbridge who seems to be growing more and more shocked as the conversation progresses. 

    “This behaviour is - is - it’s ludicrous!” Umbridge exclaims, stamping her foot on the last word to really drive her point home. “Mr Malfoy, what on earth possessed you to think doing such a thing would be wise? You’re usually such a well-behaved student!”

  You snicker. Again, Draco pinches your palm.

    He looks down in faux shame. “I know, Professor. I deserve a detention.”

    You subtly raise a brow, glancing at Malfoy through the corner of your eye; he’s not even looking at you. He’s got his eyes to the floor, a little frown on his face. He’s being awfully convincing.

    Umbridge sniffs, clearly torn at the idea of giving a Slytherin a detention - not her precious Slytherin. You want to draw back and punch her.

     “Very well, Mr Malfoy,” she says. “I’m afraid that’s a week of detention for you. I’ll see you in my room at ten o clock tomorrow night.”

    Malfoy just nods, the two of you watching as Umbridge turns on her heel and starts marching back up the hallway, too flustered to even bother telling the two of you to head back to your dormitories.

    You whirl on Draco as soon as Umbridge is out of ear shot. He’s already grinning at you, putting his hands up in mock surrender as you slap his arm.

    “A thank you, Draco would do the bloody trick,” he hisses, stumbling back at the force of your abuse.

    “What the hell did you do that for?” you bark. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

    “Again, a simple thank you, Draco would do-”

    You groan, whirling on your heel. A noise escapes the back of Draco’s throat as he leaps forward and grabs your hand, forcing you to turn back and look at him. His blue eyes bore into yours, a stampede of butterflies erupting in your stomach; you try your hardest to ignore those, but it’s difficult. Getting more and more difficult with each passing day.

    “So you’re not even gonna tell me what you’re doing out of bed at this time of night?” he asks, raising a brow. 

    “How did you even know I was awake?”

  “It’s my job as Prefect-”

  “You’re a Prefect?”

   “Shut up! It’s my job as Prefect to make sure nobody is out of bed past hours - technically I should be giving you a detention right now.”

  “Oh, look how that’s turned out.”

    “You owe me one.”

  “I owe you fuck all.” You pry your arm from his grip, but instead of walking away, you fold your arms over your chest. “I didn’t ask for your help.”

     Draco rolls his eyes. “You’ve always been such a stubborn one, haven’t you?”

    “And I’ve also always been able to hold my own.” 

    “I never said you couldn’t.”

  You narrow your eyes. Draco narrows his right back at you; there’s so much going unspoken right now, and it makes you uneasy. There’s a tension that you both clearly feel but neither of you want to address because neither of you are completely sure why it’s there in the first place. 

    Draco breaks first. With a huff of air through his nose, he turns on his heel, though he doesn’t start walking until he says, “Get back to bed, Weasley, or else you will get a detention off me.” Then he’s gone, and you’re too tired and too flustered to call after him, to give back some kind of insult.

    So instead you do as he said, heading back to the girls dormitories. Hermoine is still awake in the common room, hunched over a desk with her homework spread out before her; she looks content, smiling down at a book on Hippogriffs with multiple quills laid beside her. You give her a tiny smile as you walk past,  but her bleary eyes and lack of acknowledgement tells you she isn’t really paying too much attention to the fact you’ve just walked in from the hallways past hours.

    You tuck yourself up into bed and sigh into the air; Draco Malfoy will truly, utterly be the death of you.

     ----

    The next time you see him is at lunch three days later.

   He’d disappeared. You tried to keep yourself calm. You pretended you didn’t even notice his absense, laughing along to jokes at the Gryffindor table, joining Fred and George in even more michief just to get your mind off the fact that Draco wasn’t sitting at the Slytherin table, and he wasn’t insulting you, and he wasn’t making you feel special.

    But three days pass, and you finally corner him.

    He’s got his back turned when you approach, but Ron, Harry and Hermoine went down to visit Hagrid, leaving you on your own; if there’s any time to talk to Draco, it’s now. So you take your chance, moving across the hallway with swift steps before you reach out, tap his shoulder, and-

    He whirls around, eyes wild. His hair is sticking up on end, and as soon as he sees you, he stumbles back into the wall and tries to make a break for it.

    Panic erupts in your system for a reason you can’t pinpoint. Your hands snap out, wrap around his arm and tug him back before he can escape.

   He groans, throwing his head back. “Weasley.”

   “Let’s not do this today,” you hiss under your breath. “Where have you been, Malfoy?”

   “Why do you care?”

  “Because-” You falter; you hadn’t planned a response to that question. You shake your head instead, tightening your grip on his arm. “Just tell me where you were. Have you been going to Umbridge’s detentions?”

    Draco’s arm tenses. You glance down, raise a brow. He tugs his arm back. “Yes, I’ve been going to Umbridge’s detentions. No thanks to you.”

   “I never asked you-”

  “You’ve said.” He turns, grabbing his bag as he does so. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting in Professor Snape’s office in regards to-”

    Your eyes drift down. You’re not sure why; maybe the mention of Professor Snape immediately switched your attention span off and the sight of Draco’s hands curling round the strap of his bag was more exciting. But it’s this simple action that helps you see what Draco is clearly trying to hide.

    A small gasp escapes your lips, and he freezes because he knows. He knows you’ve seen them, knows there’s no way to hide it any more. His eyes squeeze closed, his teeth biting together as he whispers, “Please don’t make a fuss.”     Scribed on the back of Draco’s hand are the words I must not break rules. 

   Your mouth runs dry in an instant. Anger claws at your throat. You slowly reach down and grab his wrist, bringing his hand up to your eyes, and he doesn’t even try fighting you off because he knows there’s no point, it’s too late now, you’ve seen the damage.

    “Draco.” Your voice is a whisper, hoarse and clogged with emotion. “Draco, what did she do?”

  He looks to the floor and says nothing. For the first time in the five years you have known Draco Malfoy, he does not have words. No insult, no snide remark, no cocky little statement to make himself feel better in times when the world is ganging up on him - he’s completely silent, mouth open as if the response is hovering on the brink but not quite reaching the surface just yet.

     You flick your eyes up to his face. “Draco, tell me what she did. Please.”

   “It’s my punishment,” he mumbles. “That’s all.”

  My punishment. His. Like he was the one roaming the hallways when he wasn’t supposed to be, like he’s the one who always thinks he can get away with things, like he’s the one who genuinely deserved the punishment. 

    You drop his wrist and spin on your heel. “I’ll kill her.”

    Draco grabs you round the waist and drags you backwards. You grunt, anger flooding your system, released after months of torment from Professor Umbridge. “Let go of me, Draco. Let go!”

     “Stop,” he hisses in your ear. “Look, the damage has been done, alright? There’s nothing either of us can do now-”

    “I’m telling Dumbledore,” you exclaim. “He can’t just let this continue. Malfoy, let go of me!”

    He tugs you even closer to his chest. “You’re acting out.”

    “Oh, I’ll show you what acting out looks like-”

    “Please.”

  It’s that word coming from his mouth that floors you. Your body goes limp. You collapse against his chest, your head dropping, like all the energy you once possessed has been sapped from your bones all because of Draco’s voice whispering that oh-so-fragile word in your ear.

    He gently spins you around to look at him, taking you by surprise when he cups your face and tilts your head back and forth, giving you a little smile that does not reach his eyes but makes your heart clench nonetheless. 

   “Don’t ask me to ignore this,” you mumble. “This is . . . This is just. . . “

    His thumb traces your lower lip; it’s no longer just a casual gesture between friends. Even you - in all your denial - are able to notice this; the way he’s looking at you, the affectionate way he trails his circular nail against your lower lip. There’s no way it’s friendly.

    “It’s nothing I can’t handle,” he replies softly. “I know what kind of temper you’ve got on you, Weasley. It’s much better if I take Umbridge’s punishment than you, or else god knows what’ll end up happening to that poor woman.”

    “Poor woman.” You reach down, winding your fingers through his. “How many more detentions have you got with her?”

    “One,” he replies, running his thumb along the back of your hand. At the raise of your brow, he rolls his eyes and says, “It’s not too bad, Y/N, honestly. I’m braver than you seem to think I am.”

  “You’re a wimp, Malfoy. You probably go back to your dorm and cry after every single one.”

    He scowls. “I’m always so close to giving you a detention.” He leans forward, lowers his voice. “Detention in the library, Weasley.”

    His tone of voice startles you. It’s reflex when you jump back, taking your hand from his and stuffing it inside the deep pockets of your robe, awkwardly coughing into your shoulder. Draco continues to stare, one eyebrow raised, a tiny hint of a smile playing on his face. It’s that same smile that, once upon a time, would have made you want to draw back and punch him, but now does nothing more than make your stomach erupt into butterflies.

     “I have to go,” you say hastily. “I was meant to call Bill a few minutes ago to let him know about all that family drama - you know the stuff with Percy? What a git. Still very mad at him.” You glance over your shoulder. “Uh, so I’ll see you around, yeah? Nice talking.”

    Draco simply nods. You spin on your heel and dart in the opposite direction, heart hammering at a million miles per hour.

   And you’re not bloody stupid - you can recognise flirting when it’s shoved in your face like that. The hand-holding was innocent at first - at least, you thought it was. Yes, it gave you butterflies to feel his skin pressed against your own, and yes, his eyes make your heart melt every time you look into them, but none of that truly means anything at the end of the day.

    However, his tone of voice when giving you a detention was - quite simply - past the point of dishing out a simple punishment, and those are boundaries breached that have been up between you and Malfoy for as long as you can remember.

    You’re not sure whether you want them breached or not.

    ---- 

     Once again, you can’t sleep that night.

   It’s not a migraine keeping you awake this time. It’s not the stress of homework, the dread of seeing an disliked teacher the next day; tonight, sleep evades you because you can’t stop thinking of Draco Malfoy sitting gloomily in Umbridge’s classroom right this very moment, being tormented with a pain he does not deserve, a pain inflicted upon him because he took the fall for a rule you broke.

     You tell yourself that’s the reason you’re getting out of bed; you want to make things right. You’ll go down to Umbridge’s classroom and you’ll tell her the truth, and then you and Malfoy can pretend none of this ever happened. You can go back to insulting each other. You can go back to disliking each other.

     You pull your dressing gown on, quickly check the Marauders Map and head out, ignoring Hermione’s exhausted grunt of “Goodnight” when you pass her in the common room. You double check for Filch or Umbridge herself before heading straight to her classroom, not caring about the noise, or Peeves souring about you, crying out, “Where’s the fire? Where’s the fire?” 

     You reach Umbridge’s door and wrack your knuckles against it. It only takes seconds for the door to swing open and for Umbridge herself to be stood in front of you, her eyes widening.

    “Weasley,” she says, voice high with surprise. “What on earth are you doing here?”

    Malfoy’s own voice drifts from behind Umbridge. “Weasley? Please tell me it’s one of the twins, o-or-”

    “You shouldn’t be out of bed at this time, Y/N,” Umbridge exclaims. “I’m holding a detention right now. Whatever you want to inquire about can surely wait until-”

    “You are one evil little toad, aren’t you?”

    You don’t even know where it came from.

     That wasn’t what you planned on saying at all. You’d approached her door tonight with the intention of telling her it was you roaming the hallways of your own accord the other night; Malfoy had nothing to do with that decision and he has no reason to be sat in her grubby little classroom right now.

    But looking down at her, hearing Malfoy’s voice, knowing what she was doing to him behind closed doors - something just erupts, and you can’t hold it back, and suddenly you’re pushing past her into the classroom where Malfoy sits, straight backed and gaping.

     “Y/N-”

  You march towards him. “Let me see your hand.”

   “What do you-” 

   You snatch his hand up and gaze at the fresh cut scored into the back of it. A fresh surge of anger spears itself through your chest, and suddenly you don’t care about expulsion, or Umbridge’s wrath, or prison - you just want her to pay. You want her to feel pain like the kind she is inflicting upon Malfoy right now. You want her to feel shame for what she’s-

    Draco flips his hand around in your own, grabbing your fingers before you can whirl around and jinx the teacher standing dumbfounded behind you. Your eyes snap to his own, breath leaving you in one clean swoop when you see that foggy essence covering his irises; a silent warning for you to not do anything stupid right now.

    “Draco…,” you whisper.

   He just nods. You don’t know what he’s nodding at, what he means by it, don’t even know if he really knows why he’s doing it, but it creates a sense of calm in your system. You bite your lower lip, trembling slightly as you turn back to Umbridge and say, “Draco didn’t make me leave the Gryffindor dorms the other night.”

  His grip tightens on your hand. “Professor, they’re lying. I told them-”

    “I had a migraine,” you reply. “I leave the dorms all the time to go roaming the hallway - Draco just came across me that night and took the blame. Why, I have no idea.” You shoot him a glare. He glares right back. “But it should be me in here getting them words carved into the back of my hand. Not him.”

    Umbridge’s nostrils flare, truly angry right now, but you can’t bring yourself to care. Draco is running his thumb along the inside of your wrist, this small reminder of his presence being enough to keep you from pulling your wand out and pointing it at Umbridge right this second.

    She flicks her eyes between you and Draco, clearly trying to calm her breathing. You’ve never seen her so angry; part of Umbridge’s “charm” is her ability to say the most hurtful, terrible things in a completely sweet and innocent tone. It’s one of the reasons you hate her so deeply.

    “This is. . . This is . . . unbelievable.” She pulls her wand out. Draco freezes. You closely follow her movements. “Never in my thirteen years of teaching have I come across a Prefect who would lie to clearly to my face.”

    “He was lying for me,” you bark, stepping in front of Draco. “I’m the one who deserves the punishment, okay? Keep him out of this.”

    “DON’T talk to me like that, Weasley, do you understand me?” She thrusts her wand towards you, gritting her teeth. “This is unacceptable. You must think you can get away with everything, do you? Well, not whilst I’m here.”

     She marches past you, snatches the pen from Draco’s hand and flicks her wand; she says nothing, but you can clearly see something shift within the pen. It sparkles a little differently, and when she presses it against the page and starts writing, it’s not her own hand that feels the effects of the spell - it’s yours.

    A sharp pain suddenly sinks into the back of your hand. You gasp, more from surprise than the pain, but the pain sinks in shortly after. Draco stands up immediately, head flicking back and forth as he tries to figure out what’s happening.

     And then he growls, pulls his wand out and yells, “Expellirmus!”

    “Draco, no!”

    Umbridge’s hand snaps backwards so fast you’re almost certain her shoulder has dislocated. She cries out, stumbling back as the pen goes flying through the air, crashes into the wall behind her and splits right down the middle. Ink dribbles down the wall, burning a trail in the paint.

     Draco pants. “Touch Weasley again, Professor, and I’ll have my father in here quicker than you can blink.”

    Umbridge stares. No words. No retort. No decree to pass. She simply stares, and as if the mention of Lucius Malfoy has paralysed her, she does not make a single move. You stand behind Draco, watching the unusual scene unfold until Draco finally snaps, stows his wand back beneath his cloak and grabs your hand instead. He drags you from the classroom, still breathing heavily, cheeks still flushed with adrenaline.

    As soon as you’re both far enough away from Umbridge’s classroom, he pushes you into a side alley and lifts your hand to his face. “Does it hurt?”     “What just happened?”

   “Y/N, does it hurt?”

  “It’s okay.” You glance down at the words carved there: Blood traitor. “She could have been a bit more original.”

    Draco groans, and before you can register what he’s going to do, he’s leaned forward and is pressing his lips to yours. 

    You’re confused and your hand hurts and you still have no idea what you have just witnessed, but there’s something in the way Draco’s mouth fits perfectly against your own that stops you caring for a second. You melt into him, wanting to cry and scream at the same time as the exhaustion and the nights events overtake you, but Draco’s arms around you keep you from completely buckling.

     He pulls away and presses his forehead against your own. “You are the stupidest git I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with, Y/N Weasley.”

    You close your eyes. “Go to hell, Malfoy.” And then you kiss him again, because you can.

   ----

    “I am in love with Y/N.”

    Ron blinks. You keep a close eye on him, one hand placed in Draco’s, the other gripping your wand in case you have to zap Ron backwards last minute.

    Despite Draco’s previous insistance that he doesn’t care what Ron thinks, his palm is sweaty and his cheeks are bright red. He stands straight backed, as if he’s addressing some member of the Ministry, and he’s talking with a formal little lilt that makes you want to laugh.

    Ron’s eyes flick between you and Draco, waiting for a punchline he will not be receiving.

    Carefully, you say, “And I am in love with Draco.”

   Ron’s shoulders slump forward. “So that’s it then? I owe Ginny a fiver?”   It takes a minute for his words to settle. When they do, you reel back like you’ve been slapped. “What?”

   “You two couldn’t have held it off for a little bit longer, could you? At least till after Christmas, for Christs sake.” He shakes his head, stands up and fishes five galleons from his back pocket. “That’s my lunch completely ruined. I’ve only got enough for three chocolate frogs out of the vending machine, and they won’t keep me full through Divination, will they?”

   Draco tilts his head. “Is this serious?”

    Ron points a finger in Draco’s direction. “Whilst we’re on the topic, yeah, you don’t mess about with Y/N, alright? I don’t want to have to comfort another one of my family members; Mum’s enough as it is.”

    “So you’re alright with it?” you say, stepping a little closer to Malfoy; despite having claimed that nothing between you and Draco will change if Ron has a sour attitude, you still stood a little bit away from him just to give Ron the chance to ease into the news. 

     Ron shrugs. “Obviously I’d prefer someone else for you, but I’ve seen how happy this git makes you.” He points in Draco’s direction. “I don’t get it, personally, but that’s none of my business.”

     “You’re right there,” you say, before softening your voice and giving Ron a smile. “Thanks, Ron. I appreciate it.”

    Ron scoffs. “If you really appreciated it, you’d buy me lunch.”

   “No. Get some sweets off Fred and George.”

  Ron looks at you like you have two heads. “And risk suffocating? I don’t think so. I’ll starve, thank you very much.”

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

Shelbys at Somme: Chapter 8

Thomas X Reader

3744

Summary: Tensions grow between Grace and Reader when Grace is informed one of her co-workers is dead. Reader meets Ada.

by @adventuresintooblivion

Grace was due for a rendezvous yesterday, but she hadn’t a moment of free time until the Garrison Pub closed its doors two hours after it was supposed to. She had called into the station, but no one answered, which led to her practically sprinting to the nearest cabby who might take her to see Inspector Campbell.

After an all too expensive ride, Grace strode into Inspector Campbell’s office, clutching her purse between herself and the world. At first he didn’t even look up from his papers. It wasn’t until Grace cleared her throat that he spoke.

“You’re late.” He slowly looked up. Something about his posture had changed since last Grace saw him. While before he had stood tall and proper, now he held a tension in his movements.

Grace glanced down. “The Pub kept me working late yesterday. Everything was closed by the time I was free to contact you.”

Inspector Campbell grumbled, “You could’ve come over.”

She raised her eyebrow. “To your house Sir? Isn’t that dangerous?” 

Not to mention wildly inappropriate?

The Inspector ran his hand through his thinning hair. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. But your father would want me to look after you, so I can’t have you missing deadlines like this.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why didn’t you send anyone now?”

It was his turn to break eye contact. “Something has happened. I’m not sure how big it is, so I didn’t want to endanger your cover just in case.”

“What happened?”

He grimaced, “We questioned that girl you gave us a picture of. We’d been keeping an eye on her, but when she contacted Thomas and stuck around we thought he might be trying to fence the guns through her.”

Grace felt blood rushing in her ears as the world dropped from underneath her. “W...Who did she turn out to be?”

Inspector Campbell shrugged, “Y/F/N. She was an old war buddy of his. Worked in his company as what they called a Runner. Distracted the Germans while they dug.”

“She joined the army and fought?”

The Inspector nodded but didn’t elaborate. He started shuffling through papers until finally he held one out for Grace. When she took it there was a list of names with Y/N’s picture next to it. Each name had a different occupation listed next to it along with locations.

Grace frowned, “Is this all her?”

He shrugged, “Supposedly, though she’s never done jail time for anything. I’m half convinced most of these she just made for fun.”

“So how did you get her to come in? I didn’t think she’d be the type to offer up information for free.” Grace folded the paper and tucked it away in her purse.

Inspector Campbell’s features darkened. “Oh, it wasn’t free. She gave us no choice, we had to corner her. When she tried to escape, she killed Matthew.”

She froze, “Matthew’s dead?”

He nodded. “The funeral is this weekend. Due to your current assignment, I can’t allow you to attend, but we are all pitching in to help his wife and son. At least until she can figure something out.”

Grace nodded and practically threw what little cash she had on hand at him. She’d always liked Matthew. They’d bonded during the late hours working to neutralize the IRA. When Inspector Campbell had offered to take them both to Birmingham, Grace had even helped him pack up his whole family. Now he was gone.

Something about the situation didn’t all she could think about was her friend’s tired smile. “Please tell me you at least got something.”

He paused for too long but Grace was desperate for an answer, “We have a possible location.” 

She nodded. It was all she needed to keep going, to not run out of here right now and give Y/N a sound lashing. 

〜

The next day Grace wiped her hands on her apron, her foul mood having settled in to stay. Her mind kept wandering back to images of Matthew. While Inspector Campbell hadn’t gone into details about his death, her imagination provided plenty of gory details for her to mull over. 

She knew Y/N was upstairs. Hell, the topic of last night’s search party was all she heard about all day. Details were fuzzy at best but from what she could gather Tommy had roused half the Peaky Blinders in the late hours of the night to track her down. 

Grace tried to strike up conversation multiple times with her patrons, but they were all dead on their feet. Several of them went so far as to nap next to the pints they’d been nursing moments before. Even Harry’s stern glares weren’t enough to keep them awake.

Yet Grace was determined. If she couldn’t get information from them, she’d get it from Thomas when he returned.

〜

It was late afternoon by the time Y/N awoke. For the first few moments she lay there perfectly still and enjoyed her last couple minutes of peace. Then she shifted and it was all over. Her muscles spasmed, causing her to lose her breath for the briefest moment.

“Well, damn, I was wondering when you’d join us.” Nearby a woman sat with a book splayed open on her lap.

Y/N slowly sat up, her arms shaky beneath her.

The woman stood suddenly. "Hey now, don't you think about getting up alright? Tommy gave me strict orders to keep you off your feet."

Y/N chuckled, "Thank you for the attention, Miss…?"

She waved away Y/N's feeble attempts to dismiss her, "The name is Ada Shelby."

A smile spread across Y/N's lips. "So you're Ada? I was wondering when I'd get to meet you."

She nodded proudly, "The one and only. Now listen here, missy. You'll not get out of this bed until you're healthy again. You hear me?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Y/N tried to hide her growing smile.

Ada ruffled Y/N's hair. "Don't be cheeky with me. You're the one that got caught by a copper of all things. Now, what would you like to do today?"

Y/N shrugged. "Just grab me a couple books and I'll be fine. If you need to go do something I don't need to be babysat."

"Well, while that might be the case I'm not supposed to really be out and about either." Ada fidgeted with the ties on her dress.

Y/N raised her eyebrow. "I'd ask how come, but it doesn't look like you're comfortable sharing."

"I know I can trust you, otherwise you wouldn't be living above the Garrison right now. No it's just… I haven't said it aloud yet. Not to anyone except Aunt Pol."

Y/N shrugged, "I mean, I'm not really sure where I stand. So really, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

Ada sat back, drawing her shawl closer around herself. After a moment Y/N noticed it was the same as Pol's just a different color. Wonder which one of them knits.

Then Ada spoke so softly Y/N almost missed it, "I'm pregnant."

The words hung in the air allowing their weight to settle as the implications slowly became clear.

Y/N bit her lip, "And you've only told Pol. Yikes."

She glanced down, "Yeah, he's missing too. Do you think.. He’ll come back?"

"I'm not exactly the expert on that. “Y/N paused for a moment. “But I did also come back from the dead. That’s a weird case though, so I’m not sure I’m the best person to ask."

Ada smiled sadly at her. "You really came back for Tommy?"

Y/N blushed, "Don't say it too loudly. You're gonna make me sound like even more of an idiot." 

She burst out laughing, the color returning to her cheeks. "Come on, let's get you some breakfast."

"I didn't get a chance to buy any groceries yet." Y/N bit her lip.

Ada bounced back up excitedly. "Don't you worry about that. I stopped by the market on the way here."

"I hope you're not hurting for money then, because I have absolutely no way to pay you back right now." Y/N felt a pit forming in her stomach. Or pay rent for that matter.

Ada turned towards the kitchenette, the room so small Y/N caught herself checking to make sure the blankets wouldn't get caught underfoot. She rifled through cupboards and moments later the smell of food filled the space between them.

Ada finally answered, "Don't worry about paying for anything, Y/N. Tommy would lose his head if anyone asked you for a dime."

Y/N shifted around until she was sitting at the foot of the bed, closer to Ada. "Yes, making a deal with the Devil is the perfect way to never worry about anything ever again."

Ada threateningly waved a wooden spoon at her, "You calling my brother the Devil? Cause you'd be right."

They burst into laughter, an easy chatter formed between them. Ada remained for a large part of the day. Eventually the sun began to set and the two women were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Thomas waited barely a moment before slowly poking his head in. “I hope everyone here is decent.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. “It’s not gonna be the time you’ve seen me in my underwear, Thomas.”

Ada cast her a somewhat scandalized look but was quickly distracted by Thomas’ soft chuckle. “Yet you looked manlier than most the men you were changing next to.”

Y/N gasped dramatically as she clutched at her heart. Thomas’ chuckle rose into a full on laughter.

“What kind of sorcery is this? I haven’t seen you smile like that since you found out John tried to stick it in the wrong hole his first time.”

“John did what?” Y/N’s mouth fell open in astonishment.

Ada glanced between the two shrugging, “He said his reasoning was that ‘that’s how animals did it.’”

Thomas shook his head. “I still can’t fucking believe-”

Laughter filled the room, however the mood was dampened quickly as Y/N groaned. Thomas rushed forward, kneeling beside the bed while Ada stood nearby frozen as they waited.

Finally, after catching her breath, Y/N grimaced, “Oh stop your fussing. A good laugh is worth a few loose ribs.”

“You’re supposed to be healing,” Thomas growled.

She dismissed his concern with a small wave, “If I spend all my time healing I won’t have any left for living. Stop worrying so much about me Shelby, I’ll be fine.”

He shook his head before turning towards Ada, “Would you mind giving us some privacy? I have to talk to Y/N about a couple things.”

Ada huffed, but soon her steps could be heard receding down the stairs.

Thomas slowly turned back to Y/N. “How are you holding up?”

Y/N shrugged, glancing out the window into the abyss. When did it get so dark?

He took her hand in his, so gently she almost didn’t recognize his touch. “Y/N, don’t spare me the details. I can’t do my job if you don’t tell me how bad it is.”

“What exactly is your job when it comes to me?” Her voice was the barest whisper.

There was a long pause as the answer hung in the air, the one they needed to be said before either of them could move on. It was their last chance to escape from each other; if he pushed her away now, she would leave. Disappear. Once again becoming the ghost of his past.

Thomas bowed his head, pressing his lips to the back of her hand. “I’m going to look after you.”

Only the slightest tremor in her voice betrayed her, “You don’t owe me that, Thomas.”

“Not everything is about payment, Y/N?”

She raised her eyebrow. “Is this the same Birmingham that I left five years ago?”

He released an amused hum from somewhere deep in his throat, finally looking up at her. The dark circles had etched themselves deeper beneath his eyes. A tightness around the corners reminded Y/N of the darkest days in the trenches. Instinctively she reached up to cup his cheek and brush the worry away with her thumb. 

“Rough day, Tommy?”

It was as if the whole room released a deep sigh, “It always is.”

Y/N gestured to the chair Ada had been using, “Wanna talk about it?”

Thomas ignored the chair and sat at the foot of her bed, his hip pressed against her leg and his elbows resting on his knees. Old habits die hard, don’t they?

He gathered his thoughts, but soon he was catching her up on a myriad of events. About the horse and the unfortunate turn of events that had taken place. The guns. Thomas’ meeting with Inspector Campbell and how close he had come to throttling the man. Danny’s head being payment for the death of a man he’d caused during an episode of shell shock.

For the most part Y/N listened, offering advice where it seemed to fit, until he brought up Danny, “They want you to kill him with witnesses?”

He nodded. “I’ve already taken care of that. A casing full of sheep brains.”

Y/N couldn’t stop the smile that played across her lips. “This is why I love you. So do you have a good hiding place for the guns or are they still at the docks?”

Thomas’s mind went blank, then suddenly every thought he’d ever had felt like it was clashing together as he registered what Y/N had just said. His heart was pounding in his ears. The room was too hot and not warm enough all at once. It took every ounce of control he had left to control his breathing enough to speak.

“W...what did you just say?”

“Hmmm? I was asking if you had a good hiding spot for the guns yet.”

“No...Um, before that.”

Y/N furrowed her brow, “I was asking if they demanded witnesses.”

Thomas finally let himself look at her. There was no indication that she was messing with him. No tell tale smirk or signature twinkle in her eye. She just sat there confused on why he was asking her to repeat herself. He ran his fingers through his hair.

His voice was gruff when he finally answered, “No, I don’t have a place picked out for the guns yet.” He honestly already had several ideas, but he couldn’t conjure up a single one right now.

Y/N glanced around the room thinking for a moment. “Why don’t you put them in Danny’s grave?”

“He’s not actually dead. I thought I made that clear.”

“Yeah, but if he was dead you’d dig him a grave come hell or high water. So you’ll have to dig him one anyways so that no one gets suspicious. Plus, this won’t be related to any other contraband that the Peaky Blinders deal with so if someone snitches on you, it won’t be there.”

Thomas blinked slowly before he nodded. “That is actually quite brilliant. I’m a little disappointed I didn’t come up with that myself.”

Y/N shrugged, “One of my many random skills, hiding things.”

Thomas wasn’t exactly sure what to say about that, but he had one last thing to tell her. After her slip-up in the previous moment, the words felt like poison on his lips. “I’ve also asked Grace to the races.”

“Did you just need her for a plus one?” Y/N raised her eyebrow.

Just say yes. 

“No, Billy Kimber owns the race tracks, and we’re expanding. Making legal money and all that.” He pressed his lips against his clasped hands, wishing he didn’t have to answer what came next.

Y/N frowned, confused. “And what does this have to do with Grace?”

Thomas sighed. “Mr. Kimber is known to enjoy sampling the pleasures of women. She asked to work for me, so I plan on offering her up to him as part of the bargain.”

“Did you ask her if she was ok with that?”

“No.”

She smacked his shoulder, a sharp sting exploding from his arm. “Tommy!”

“Hey, don’t hit me, Ms. Cracked Ribs.”

She shook her finger threateningly at him. “It’s Ms. Broken Ribs to you, and I’ll smack you as much as I damn well please. You can’t just go offering up a girl’s dignity like that.”

Thomas turned and grabbed her hands in his, preventing any further retaliation. “She asked to work for me, Y/N.”

Y/N growled, “She’s not from the underbelly of Birmingham. Or any other city for that matter. You can tell from a god damned mile away. Shit like this ruins women.”

He paused. “You may be right, but I don’t have anything else he wants.”

She let out a deep sigh. “What were you gonna offer him?”

He told her, and she nodded. They sat in silence for a while as they mulled over what to do about all this. At the end of the day they both knew if he brought Grace she would end up having to go with Kimber sooner or later. He expected it to say the least. And it wasn’t just Grace, any woman Thomas brought would be offered up as a bargaining chip.

Finally Y/N spoke, “She may have to go with him, but she doesn’t have to stay with him.”

“And break the deal?”

She shook her head, “Save Kimber. Like tell him she has something.”

He smirked at her. “So much for preserving dignity.”

Y/N shrugged. “At least she won’t have to sleep with him.”

Thomas glanced away, “Yeah.”

Y/N glanced down. Her hands were still in his, though his grip had loosened into something more casual. A small thrill went through her as she realized how much smaller her hands were compared to his.

She stammered as she spoke, “It’s getting late.” 

Thomas took a deep breath broken out of his thoughts. “Yeah it is. I’ll head out and give you some peace. If you need anything, come get me.” He stood, letting Y/N’s hands slip from his grasp. 

The air was cool on her skin compared to his touch. She found herself following him with her gaze.“Come get you? I thought you lived at the Shelby house?” she asked.

He paused. “I’m going to be staying in the room next door for a while, until you’re better at least.” And with that he was gone.

〜

Y/N awoke in the late hours of the night. Darkness had escaped it’s daily chains, exploded from every nook and cranny and coated the room in a thick film. It took her a moment to shake off the disorientation before she remembered where she was.

Then she heard what had woken her. Through the wall she heard a cry. She couldn’t tell at first what it was for, but then it came again. Thomas.

She stood slowly, pain shooting up her back with every step as she shuffled out of her room and down the hallway. When she finally reached the rickety door she pressed her ear against it.

“NO...Freddie!” 

That was enough. Y/N pounded on the door. On a normal day with the noise of people, it would’ve been deep and resounding. But now it was so deafening she caught herself wincing as she hit the wood.

A bewildered voice answered, “Wha..Who’s there?”

“Thomas it’s me. Open up.”

A shuffling sound and rattle later the door opened slowly. Thomas blinked at her blearily with bloodshot eyes. Y/N waited patiently for him to come back to reality just enough.

He asked groggily, “Is everything ok?”

“You’re having nightmares.” 

Thomas stiffened, glancing around as if the whole world might be listening. He was about to answer when Y/N stepped forward, gently placing her hand on his chest. 

His skin was hot and damp, the sweat having left a small layer that made him glisten in the barest of light. The air inside the room was hot as it poured through the crack in the door, trying to escape.

He placed his hand over hers. “What’re you doing?”

She looked up at him, somehow finding his eyes in the darkness. “Let me in.”

“She says at the entrance of the Devil’s den.” A soft rumble rolled from deep within his chest, a sleepy laugh.

“If you think I’m not a devil myself then I really need to jog your memory.”

“Y/N.” 

Every ounce of fight in him suddenly dissolved away. After so many years of nightmares. After so long in the darkness. After watching her die a thousand times in his dreams. He had no will left to say ‘No’.

Y/N pushed her way inside, careful not to bump into anything that could make her fall. The room was much smaller than hers, and the window wasn’t open even the slightest, accounting for the heat. 

As she walked inside she let her hand fall from his chest to intertwine with his fingers. Thomas let her lead him back towards the bed. It was actually smaller than the one she had in the other room, but that didn’t stop her from laying down and pressing her back against the wall.

She waved for him to join her, “Come on, Thomas. Before the room becomes freezing again.”

His brows furrowed as he tried to process what was going on. “I don’t think this will help your ribs heal.”

“Just shut up and get in here.”

He crawled in slowly, careful not to jostle her. Thomas paused before laying his head down. Y/N finally got tired of waiting and slid back onto the bed proper and maneuvered him until his head rested on her stomach. 

Her fingers ran through his hair as he mumbled, “This isn’t hurting you?”

“The broken ones are higher up. And while I’m pretty sure any doctor would be shitting themselves right now, I’m fine.” 

“Y/N,” he protested.

“Hush now, and get some sleep.” 

After a few moments he chuckled, “My feet are hanging off the edge a bit.”

She hummed as sleep reclaimed her, “We’ll just have to sleep in mine tomorrow.” 

“The scandal.”

“Damn right.”

[ilovefandoms102]

Part 11- Shape of My Heart

Pairing: Rudy Pankow x Plus Size Reader

Summary: Falling in love with someone you can never have is the worst feeling in the world...

Taglist:

@jeyramarie @drewswannabegirl @sexualparkour @teamnick @jiaraendgame @agirlwholovescoffee @outerbongs @jaxxandcomet @velyssaraptor @baby-pogue @they-write-once-in-a-blue-moon @must-be-a-weasley-92 @kaitieskidmore1 @ma10427 @ifilwtmfc @lasnaro @justcallmesams​ @judayyyw​ @lonely-kermit​ @gviosca​ @iamaunicorn4704​ @jellyfishbeansontoast​ @fernweh-fangirl​ @runway-to-my-aid​ @eb15​ @hurricane-abigail​ @tangledinsparkles​ @fandom-phaser​ @sunwardsss​ @http-cherries​ @bibliophilewednesday​ @evaporatedrosepetals​ @thetomatosaucee​ @tomatosauceagent​ @redosmo​ @ilikealotofpeople-younotsomuch​ @obx-direction-sos​ @mxltifandoms06​ @kindahavefeelingskindaheartless​

Part 10 Part 12

Note: After crying over the last chapter, I was finally able to muster up this one. Also just in case anyone was wondering, we’re pretending COVID19 is nonexistent in this story because it would just ruin everything and I’m not about it!

=============================

It’s been a month and a half since Rudy told me about his short film, our conversations became less frequent which worried me deeply...

I didn’t want to drift apart from him, and that’s exactly what I feared was happening now. I tried to indulge into my school work, but it became harder to focus when I kept checking to see if I had a text or at least a SnapChat from him. I didn’t want to bother him by blowing up his phone either, becoming an annoyance he’d soon grow tired of. I expressed my concerns to both Maddie’s on our daily FaceTime call, hoping to get some reassurance for my MIA boyfriend.

“We’ve been in a lot of meetings with Jonas and Netflix to try and get season 2 of OBX approved, I don’t even know why we have to be there because they don’t really talk to us.” Maddi B commented.

“Plus Rudy has that short film on top of everything, so I imagine all of this is taking up his time. Don’t fret though, he said in our last meeting how horrible he felt that you all couldn’t talk as much with the both of you being so busy. He talks about you to everyone and how much he misses you.” Maddie C inputed.

“Awww, he’s so sweet. Maybe I am overthinking things, when I go to work tomorrow I’m demanding a week paid vacation because I need a break. Midterms are coming up and I’ve barely had any time to study.” I sighed.

“You need to focus on school, that’s the most important thing right now. You know Rudy would say the same, you need to take that week to relax and get everything in order.” Maddie B pointed out. 

“Yeah you’re right, jesus I forgot I have to fucking close at work tonight. I’m going to start applying to different places that actually care about their employees, and will work with school schedules.” I huffed, swinging my legs off of my bed.

“We’ll let you go then babe, love you!” Maddie B called, waving in the camera.

“Love you y/n!” Maddie C said, blowing a kiss in the camera.

“I love and miss you guys, I’ll see you later.” I smiled, hanging up.

=================================

Work was awful, being a shift manager was not all it was out to be. I hated dealing with difficult people and sometimes the other employees. I had just finished have a shouting match with this lady who was down right insulting both me and the other cashier working. I was so glad to be locking up once we closed, practically sprinting to my car, I was stopped by the cashier I had worked with tonight.

“Hey y/n, I-I was wondering you know if um..” he said.

Shit, I knew where this was going...

“Maybe we could hang out some time, I think you’re really pretty and uh...yeah I think we should get together more.” he spoke.

“That’s nice and all pal, but she has a boyfriend.” was heard from behind us.

I froze in my spot, tears coming to my eyes. I whipped around to see Rudy leaning against my car, his blue eyes zeroing in on the guy. He scurried off, leaving just Rudy and I.

“Hi baby,” Rudy spoke, a smile so wide on his face.

He looked different, having grown a mustache and slight beard. His hair was longer too, but still handsome as ever. I let out a watery laugh once I was out of my trance, blinking to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. I dropped my stuff in front of my car, throwing myself in his arms.

“Oh my god, are you real? Are you really here?” I blubbered, pulling back to hold his face. He held me tight against him, combing some stray hair from my face.

“I’m here, you’re even more beautiful than I remember.” he gushed, beaming as he laid his forehead to mine.

“I look like shit Ru, I don’t even have makeup on.” I giggled, feeling his facial hair under my fingertips.

“You don’t need it, fuck I’m so happy to see you. I’m sorry we haven’t talked much, I’ve been so busy in meetings and filming.” he sighed, shaking his head.

“You came just at the right time, I have a whole week off of work.” I said, both of us grinning wide.

“Plenty of time for you to show me around then.” he smiled.

Rudy gripped my face in his hands, crushing his lips to mine. I had craved them for so long, having been deprived of the feeling. My heart went soaring, the feel of his facial hair tickling my skin. He moaned into my mouth, his hands moving to hold my hips to bring me closer. My fingers weaved their way into his now long blonde hair, tugging at the roots slightly. 

I pulled away once I became dizzy, pulling my hands back to caress his face. He gave me little kisses all over my face, fully caging me against him so I couldn’t move away. Rudy laughed along with me, pulling back fully now.

“Guess you’ll be my chauffeur for the week babe.” he smirked, opening my door for me.

I chuckled as I got in my car, Rudy jogging to the passenger side. He held my hand for the drive to my apartment, pulling it to his lips to kiss the back of it. We jammed out to some of our favorite songs, dancing crazy. I had the windows down so we could blast my speakers, probably waking everyone in the neighborhood up. Rudy even pulled out his phone to record us rapping Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice, he got embarrassed after the first chorus though because that was the only part he knew and I was still going.

“Ok show off, trying to outshine me on my own Insta story.” he scoffed teasingly.

“Not my fault you don’t know the lyrical poet Ru,” I joked, sticking my tongue out at him. 

===================================

I threw my bag on the end table as soon as we walked into the apartment, Rudy taking a walk around. He picked up pictures, looked at my bookcase, and even pulled out some of the books I had to skim through. I sat on my couch to flip through some movies for us to watch, not wanting to miss a single moment spending time with him. Rudy walked into my kitchen, opening my cabinets, and my fridge. 

“Baby, why don’t you have anything to like eat or drink?” he called from the kitchen.

“I uh...I couldn’t afford to go to the store this payday. I had to pay my rent and my car payment which is basically my whole check, and the rest is for gas to school and work.” I murmured, knowing he was going to be upset with me.

“So like...what do you eat then?” he asked, peaking his head around to look at me.

I stared at the floor, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I could feel his anger radiating off of him, the tension in the room becoming nerve wracking. I was a poor college student ok, I didn’t have the luxury of my parents buying my way through it. I was lucky some nights to even have stuff to make a fucking cheese sandwich.

“I...I don’t.” I confessed, hearing a sharp scoff come from Rudy.

“Get your shoes back on.” he demanded, snatching my keys.

“Wha-...Where are we going?” I questioned.

“This shit isn’t going to continue, not on my watch. I am seriously pissed you didn’t tell me this.” he snapped, taking me aback for a moment.

“It’s not that big of a deal, you’re being over dramatic! It makes me lose weight so what’s the fucking problem?!” I yelled, Rudy whipped his head around, his mouth hanging open.

“The fucking problem is that I’m not going to sit here and watch my girlfriend struggle when I can help. Let me help you and stop being so stubborn. If you want to lose weight for you then that’s fine, but I don’t want you to have it in your head that you need to do it for me. You’re perfect to me.” he stated, earning an eye roll from me. 

“Alright Ru, let’s get this over with.” I sighed, secretly melting at how sweet and thoughtful he is. 

===============================

Goofing off in the store was all fun in games until I saw him..

Nick.

The guy that shredded my heart, still yet to be fixed. The guy that messed me up so bad I never thought I was deserving of love until Rudy came into my life. Rudy was in the middle of talking to me when I abruptly spun around and high tailed it out of the aisle. 

“What’s wrong?” Rudy asked as soon as he caught up to me. 

“We need to leave.” I declared.

“Babe, we haven’t even made it through half the store I-” he spoke.

“Hey y/n, long time no see.” someone said, my blood turning to ice. I turned around to see Nick with some of his friends, smirking at me. 

“Um..” I stuttered.

“Who’s blondie?” Nick scoffed, pointing at Rudy. 

“I’m her boyfriend.” Rudy said, glancing between the two of you. He must have put the pieces together from the very uncomfortable expression on my face.

“Boyfriend? Really y/n? You’re so desperate you hired someone to be your boyfriend? Pathetic really...” he laughed, his friends joining. I just wanted to ground to swallow me whole, I had to turn my head so they didn’t get the satisfaction of seeing me cry.

“You’re Nick, the piece of shit who thinks he can just toy with women how he pleases.” Rudy concluded.

“Guilty, y/n and I had a good run didn’t we?” Nick commented, going to touch my shoulder.

“You lay one finger on her and I swear to god you’ll regret it.” Rudy said, his voice going an octave lower. 

“Oh please man, you seriously don’t have to keep your act up. How much is she paying you?” Nick asked, tilting his head.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but this isn’t an act.” Rudy hissed.

“Guys that look like us man don’t go for fat chicks.” Nick chuckled.

“The fuck did you just say?” Rudy bellowed, getting in Nick’s face. I had to intervene now, I couldn’t risk a fight in the middle of the store.

“Rudy please, he’s not worth it.” I said, tugging on his sleeve.

“Nice seeing you again y/n, remember what I said last time we spoke.” Nick cackled, leaving with his posse.

“What did that fucker say to you?” Rudy inquired, his chest heaving with anger.

“I’ll tell you when we get back, let’s just go to a different store.” I offered, checking out whatever we had in hand before heading to the car.

================================

Rudy spent way more than I told him he could, but I wasn’t surprised he didn’t listen to me. It took us four trips to carry in all the stuff we bought, I’m sure I’d be stocked up for a year now. I was seriously exhausted, and my mood hadn’t gotten any better since our run in with Nick. Rudy had tried to cheer me up, but I think he knew that my mood wouldn’t be saved tonight.

I planned on taking a quick shower, but I couldn’t stop my mind running through my past. My chest started to burn, my hand came over my mouth to conceal my sobs. I had hoped the water would drown out my cries, but Rudy still heard them. He shed his clothes and jumped in the shower, taking me in his arms. I leaned my head on his chest as I sobbed, his lips moving to kiss my wet hair. 

“I don’t understand! What did I ever do to deserve that!? I did everything for him! I was some sick game our whole relationship, how fucked up is that?” I laughed humorlessly.

“What did he say to you?” he inquired.

“He told me that I would never find someone to love me, that I was undeserving of love, and that I was the ugliest being on this Earth who was stupid to think I ever stood a chance with him.” I recalled.

“That’s fucked up, you should have let me beat his ass.” Rudy muttered, switching places with me so he could wash his hair.

“He’ll get his karma one day, someone will shred his heart beyond repair just like he did mine.” I whispered.

“I’ll have the best time repairing it then,” Rudy shrugged, leaning to plant a sweet kiss to my lips.

“Are you sure you want to go through that Rudy, I-I’m not...I’m not as happy go lucky as everyone thinks I am, I’m broken deep on the inside.” I said, shaking my head as I looked down to the tile.

“I wouldn’t of chased after you if I didn’t want all of you.” he spoke, tilting my chin up.

“Well I guess so but-” I started.

“It’s you and me against the world, no one will ever compare to you y/n.” he inputted. 

I kissed him hard, a moan leaving his lips. He pinned me against the wall, showing me exactly what I meant to him....

[apples-r-rubbish]

John (11 x reader) Part 3

Word count:  3.1k Warnings: Violence (!!!), death mention AN: FINAL PART! Thank you so much for the support on the other parts of this. I have some stuff planned for the future (13 x reader ;) ) but if you enjoyed feel free to follow and request things! Thank you so much hope you enjoy! Anyway, geronimo!

PART 1 PART 2

A smile appeared quickly, then it vanished as soon as it arrived, he cursed low underneath his breath, running across the room to you, concern clear on his face. His hair had already slipped back to the way it was before no longer slicked back, you believed it was a timelord thing.

“(Y/N), what the hell did you do?” He scalded examining your wounds, finally sounding like himself

“Well, we needed a distraction, you weren’t opening the watch anytime soon, we needed to put as much distance as we could between them and-”

“So you decided to use yourself as bait? As a punching bag?” You paused for a second and breathed, he didn’t remember. 

“It’s fine,” you reasoned shortly, trying to diffuse the situation, “we need to go anyway, Rory and Amy are dealing with the remainder of that thing, they ran into the forest, I’ve managed to slow it down enough,” 

You went to run, adrenaline heavy in your veins, an involuntary scream ripped through you. 

“What are you like honestly? Can’t leave you humans alone for 5 minutes, nevermind 6 months,” He said pulling your arm around him so he could support your weight. 

“Doctor it’s been 2 years, didn’t you realise?”

“2 years? I thought your hair looked different or you looked older. Or maybe it could be the air,”

“Aw thanks, I missed you too, and your lovely comments about my appearance,” You said sarcastically.

“How did you get stabbed? Please tell me I didn’t-”

“No one of those things attacked me, because it wanted the chameleon thing. He also tried to strangle me,” You said, dizziness embracing you

“Woah, ok, ok, I’m going to have to carry you because you are not going to make it to them, like that,” He picked up gently, with a surprising level of ease “There we go? Comfortable?”

You mumbled a brief yes, redness clear in your face. “C’mon (L/N), we have to go save the Ponds,”

Amy and Rory were covered in the thick blue liquid and out of breath, by the time you had found them. They’d managed to fight off the older three men and had abandoned what was left of Edward Grey searching for the fake pocket watch.

“John, you’re-” Amy started, attempting to rub some of the sapphire fluid off her face and failing, as it was coated over the majority of her clothes

“Not John anymore,” You cut in, your voice weaker once again, fake confidence vanished

“And what have you been up?” Rory questioned, noticing the blood that had seeped into the doctor’s former pristine white shirt

“Got stabbed, no big deal, don’t even worry about me,” you laughed a fragile chuckle escaping your lips

“Rory, I need you to take her from me, I’ve got to find that child and the thing that caused it and get rid of it,” He stated, darkly. You felt your weight shift between the two men. Then the doctor kissed the man on the forehead followed by a small smile and then he whispered something to him that neither you couldn't hear. He hugged Amy tightly, “I’ve missed you raggedy man, it’s been a painfully dull two years.” She held him tightly for a moment, he kissed her briefly on the forehead

“Try not to get stabbed again, whilst I’m gone.” he said, his lips ghosted your forehead, “right gang, back soon, don’t follow,” He nodded before dashing into the forest.

About 3 minutes later all of you were trailing behind him, still in Rory’s arms, the bleeding becoming less frequent from your fresh cuts. You found the doctor rambling to the boy, his sonic screwdriver being thrown between his hands with increasing anxiety

“I knew you were a Valgun, something about you never seemed right, even as a human though I could never find the right words. I understand my species is a rare one, but to trap me for no reason other than as a experiment simply so you can learn some deep secret of my people is not the way to go,” He paused for breath “To trap me and my friends here for years is unacceptable, to strand them here is soulless, and to nearly mortally injure one of them is something you should’ve never done. I thought the Valgun were supposed to be clever, evidently not as you’ve realised hurting people close to me will not make me give in. You will only succeed in making me incredibly angry.”

“But we got your attention. The oncoming storm, the destroyer of worlds, the warrior,” The boy began, the low voice booming, the child’s mouth hung open like a startled fish.

“Do you want to know how I got those names? It wasn’t by being peaceful, it was from those days where I have seen destroyed planets, watched suns burn, and saved no one. Those days are long, long behind me, are you afraid? If you aren’t, I’d advise you to be. In fact, the only thing that has stopped me from ending you is that fact you inhabit that child.” 

It laughed. You felt your body shift involuntarily, pushing yourself from Rory’s grasp and standing. 

“What the hell is going on? What did you do to her?” The doctor shouted, noticing you all. The voice spoke again  “We guessed you would not follow us easily, we injected her when one of the bodies tried to kill her. Slow acting poison and Valgun DNA. If you come with us she’ll live. If you don’t the following situation will be quite, painful for her,”

“Rory, Amy, run, back to the TARDIS, I can fix this,” He said, fixing his crooked bowtie, as the married couple sprinted away, not wanting to further anger the doctor. He rushed to you, practically falling over himself

“Valgun DNA means we can control her, her final few minutes, however we want. However you want,” 

“Run you stupid old man,” was all you a managed to wheeze out before the boy snapped his pale fingers. Your face contorted instantly, a choking expression clear on your face, falling to the autumn floor, shaking violently. 

“Stop it, leave her alone,” he said kneeling next to you

“Or time lord we can make her fall in love with you. We understand John was rather fond of her” Another snap, your arms were around him, you pressed an involuntary kiss to his lips. He grabbed your arms as gently as he could and removed them from around him

“Stop that. Stop that right now. You want me, fine but do not hurt her. She’s gone through enough. She’s already injured and possibly dying. Let her go!” He snarled anger increasing with every syllable. Another snap, your body jolted back as you lay on the floor panting, desperate to inhale oxygen pressing a desperate hand to your wound. 

“So you have chosen to come with us?” The voice rumbled

“Oh I never said that,” He said, his head cocked to one side in a smug manner “Three things, you must know in this situation.  One, I don’t compromise especially in situations like this. Two, (Y/N) I swear this won’t hurt a bit,” He said pulling out his sonic screwdriver again “Three, there's one thing you never put in a trap if you're smart. If you value your continued existence, if you have any plans about seeing tomorrow, there's one thing you never, ever put in a trap. Me. Geronimo!” 

The screwdriver buzzed. Pain erupted in every nerve, screams tore through you

“No. Stop it! Stop it now! You will die! You will come with us! You will- You will-” The voice repeated, a desperate attempt to save itself. Edward stood there convulsing in agony, he stiffened suddenly against the shaking, his mouth closing and eyes rolling forward. A sharp breath came from his system, before, it steadily disintegrated and became one with the earth. The Doctor paused for a second examining the situation, before rushing back over you, his knees covered in mud not caring about the state of his formerly pristine suit.

“So, that was definitely a lie, about it not hurting then,” You mumbled weakly, a small cough escaping you. 

“Are you alright? Are you ok?” He soothed smoothing your back down

“I mean other than the stab wound, almost being strangled and whatever happened there, I’m fine,” a small laugh breaking the tension. The blood hadn’t stopped flowing from your wound.

“Right, we need to get you back to the TARDIS as fast as we can. Patch up that wound and get that DNA out your system.” He helped you on your your feet, the world slipped slightly and he caught you before you fell flat against your face “c’mon, fight it, stay awake for me, please,”

He clutched you in his arms, as he ran as fast as he possibly could, checking up on you every so often, assuring you were still conscious. 

“What did you say to Rory earlier?” you murmured, vision blurring as you spoke, a final attempt to make yourself look strong

“I told him to run when I said to, I knew you were going to follow me.” 

“Doctor, I-”

At that point, he had noticed you had lost your grip on reality, it had slipped away from you, “No, no, no, no, no, stay with me. I need you to stay. I’ve only just got you back. You need to live, you have to live. When you wake up, we’ll go anywhere you like, anywhere, as much running as you want. As long as you want to, anywhere, just stay, please stay. I can’t lose another. I can’t lose you,” he cried tears falling dramatically, as he speed picked up. He practically kicked the TARDIS doors in, Amy and Rory cursing when they saw you.

You woke up in the TARDIS in one of the few medical bays dotted throughout the ship. Your body ached as you pushed yourself into a sitting position. The room was medium sized, there was a chair next to bed you were in which currently held the doctor, asleep, glasses on, book practically slipping out of his hands. Your stab wound was patched up and most of your bruises seemed to be gone. You carefully got up and slipped out of the room trying to keep your noises to a minimum so you wouldn’t wake up the sleeping timelord. It seems like human habits had taken a toll on him. The console room greeted you with a quiet hum, which you assumed was a good thing. Amy and Rory stopped their conversation when they heard you, you shuffled towards them after picking up your coat from the railing

“There she is, the woman of the hour. Enjoy your three week nap?” Amy asked, giving you a tight hug when you approached

“I was out for 3 weeks? God, I’m sorry I put you through that,” You apologised

“Nah, it’s fine, we didn’t really deal with it. I mean we were concerned, but the Doctor took it particularly badly. He insisted that he stay with you as much as possible. He read to you, insisting something to do with timelord healing or culture or something. He insisted it was his fault too,” Rory said “claiming, that if he hadn’t been that reckless in the first place you wouldn’t have copied him, something like that,” 

“Nah,” You mumbled, stuffing your hands into your pockets and frowning instinctively, “where’s the fun in safety? He shouldn’t blame himself, I took on too much. I mean, I literally got stabbed, that’s quite clearly my fault,” 

You pulled an almost empty pack of cigarettes out of your jacket pocket. 

“(Y/N), please don’t fill your body with those chemicals, you’ve literally just got out of a coma,” Rory frowned

“Let me finish this pack and I’ll quit, cold turkey, I’ve had a rough few weeks and a few close calls I think I’m allowed a cig or two, considering I’ve spent at least 2 years on them,” you shot back with a small smile, in response he simply rolled his eyes. Swinging the TARDIS door open, you observed the view of a star system, a beautiful portrait of a mess of colour and light, you sat down with your legs hanging out the doors. Footsteps could be heard behind you followed by, “You could’ve have woken me up, you know”

“Absolutely not, you looked too peaceful, pretty boy. Also I wanted some fresh air and a view,” You chuckled, not turning your head to face him. “Rory, Amy, can you give us a moment please, I would like to talk to (Y/N) in private just make sure she’s alright,” the doctor said, his voice calmer than previously. The couple nodded and wandered off further into the ship saying they’d speak to you both in the morning. The doctor waited until they were out of ear shot, he flicked a few switches on the console, wandered over and sat next to you in a similar position. “I’m sorry about the forest. I’m sorry you had to get stabbed. I’m sorry they tried to control you. I’m sorry about abandoning you for two years. It wasn’t fair on you, you got reckless at the immediate sign of danger,”

“You can’t put that on yourself. I took the risks, that was my responsibility, and my decision to make. I barely remember the forest thing, I just know at one point I put my arms around you and nothing else. It is not your fault and it never will be.” There was silence after you spoke, as you took another drag from the cigarette. 

“You know those things are awful for you. I doubt your friend would approve.” You froze as he spoke like a deer caught in headlights

“I didn’t think you’d remember and in my defence, it was to get John to back off. And before you opened the watch it was to calm him. It’s better to have half dead men have hope,” You winced at that refusing to look him in the eyes. He paused for a moment, contemplating his choice of words, you took the opportunity to rest your head on his shoulder. It wasn’t the garden, instead it was the universe.

“Humans live incredibly short lives, and 2 years is a long time for most of them. I can drop you off back there if you met someone, or they can come along if you’d like. That Tom seemed nice, seemed friendly, he’d be nice to have around,” 

“He’s dead. He died. He was one of those people that were transformed. I tried meeting people, I tried dating. It didn’t work, they’d get too close and they’d ask questions that I didn’t have answers to, wanted to meet family, that didn’t exist. I had to look out for John, too. Once he even walked in one of the dates, completely ruined it, glared at the bloke the whole time. And at one point I stopped, dragging anyone into life is a potential death sentence. I only stayed with the Ponds and John.” You replied with a slight edge to your voice as you jabbed the remainder of the cigarette out.

“I’m sorry,” The apology escaped his lips before he could think about it

“Don’t be. Even then John didn’t exist. He was just a story, a shadow, a fantasy to keep you safe. He wasn’t real. All his thoughts, feelings, life, memories, they weren’t real. And I fell in love with him, that daft history who panicked at the worst times with his stupid laugh and an ability to dance,” You had started crying sobs ripping through your words, thinking about the man that had confessed his love for you and died seconds after. In an attempt to soothe you his arm wrapped around you in a comforting manner. 

“I’m sure, there’s another John Smith out there, or someone similar. I mean in theory, his feelings weren’t all fake. I can still feel bits of him, his thoughts, his feelings and his emotions, it’ll fade overtime but they’re still there. The chameleon arch, takes a scan of your emotions and implants aspects into the disguise, so it’s not a complete shock to your system. John was in love with you because I was. I was too afraid to tell you, and then I lost you for 2 years in that mundane town where nothing ever happened so close, yet so far away,” He rambled, his voice barely a whisper towards the end tears filling his eyes “and then I woke back up, and you were bleeding, half dead because of me. And then we went into the forest, trying to show off to save you. They could’ve killed you, they nearly did. In your final moments they nearly manipulated your body because they knew about what John had felt. I nearly lost you, another ghost to carry with me and I couldn’t do that.” you held him tightly in your arms, a desperate attempt to hold the pieces of him together, at least for another moment. He continued after a brief pause “Even with the stars with me and the world on my shoulders, I still care about you. And of course I feel the same way, I’m not a complete mad man,” A small laugh escaped his lips. 

“Oh god, you really do remember everything. I’m sorry about the even thing, adrenaline was high and I wasn’t thinking straight and I was trying to calm you down-” You cut abruptly short by a small peck on you lips

“Not even anymore. Anyway, before I became John, being that close to the watch meant I said those words and I meant it. I’ve loved you since I met you, you’re all of those things. Just thought it would be easier coming from John.” He smirked. Adrenaline once again kicked in you kissed again. A smile breaking out from both of you. 

“Anyway, you get to pick the next adventure, anytime, any place, anywhere, for as long or as little as you like.”

“I’ll decide in a bit, I just want this for now,” You said, breathing in deeply, focusing on him and your head returning to his shoulder, your fingers intertwined with his.You stayed that way for a while, neither of you daring to move. It was him this time, and you had the knowledge things would be different. But you had now and all of the universe at your fingertips.

[maybeimamuppet]

hi, me again. i just wanted to preface this by saying this work features cady having a meltdown as a result of sensory overload (i headcanon her as autistic) so if that could be triggering for you please skip this. i based this off a personal experience so if you are a person who experiences sensory overload and things are different for you, kindly Do Not Come For Me. also, cadnis has only been dating for about a month and a half in this one so they’re still deep in it. anyway, enjoy!

——-

“Ooh, Jayjay, what’s that one?” Cady asks, dragging Janis and Damian by the hand towards yet another painting. Janis is honestly convinced Cady is having more fun here than she is; hauling her and Damian around and asking a thousand questions every second, but she happily answers what she can.

“Caddy, darling, you know I love you, but my delicate hands cannot take this kind of manhandling,” Damian whines dramatically, pulling gently out of her grip. “I saw a place that looked like it had food back that way, do either of you want anything?” He asks, already backing towards it.

“I’m good. Cads?” Janis responds. Cady doesn’t, still lost in the artwork around her. “Cads. Caddy. Cady. Baby.” The last name finally gets Cady’s attention as she suddenly snaps back into the real world.

“Huh? Oh, no, I’m good. Thanks Damian,” Cady says, seemingly still in a daze. That’s strange for her, she’s usually much more alert. Janis looks at her oddly but decides not to mention it.

She rolls her eyes as Damian shoots both of them finger guns and continues dancing away, putting her arms around Cady’s waist and peppering kisses up the column of her neck, ending with one on her cheek.

“Are you having fun, Peanut?”

“Uhhuh,” Cady nods, leaning back into her embrace. “I love listening to you talk about this kind of stuff. Your eyes just light up every time you know something I’ve asked about. It’s adorable.” Janis flushes scarlet, tucking her face deeper into Cady’s shoulder.

They stand there a while longer before Cady grabs Janis’ hand again, much gentler this time, and leads them to where Damian is standing dejectedly.

“What’s up, Dame?”

“No food. But I took about twelve maps and some free souvenir magnets instead,” He says, brandishing the maps and fanning himself with them.

“Christ, dude, how did you even- never mind.” Janis mutters, shaking her head at his antics. “Anyway, are you guys ready to go?”

“Ugh, yes, please. This was fun but I’ve had too much Da Vinci and not enough Dicaprio for one day, thank you very much. Also I demand to be fed so we will be stopping by that McDonalds on the way.”

“I’m ready to go too, I left my allergy pills at home and I can already feel the pollen,” Cady says, ending with a violent sneeze that prompts a giggle from Janis. “I brought four different medicines with me in case someone got hurt but left the ones I was most likely to need at home.” It’s nearly April now, so her allergies are in full force and will be for several weeks, much to her dismay.

——-

Cady feels off. She’s much more on edge than she was a few minutes ago, and hyper-aware of everything going on around her. She takes deep breaths and tries to process everything as best she can, realizing she’s over-sensitized from her time at the museum. She’s never been great at realizing when input gets to be too much for her until it’s too late. Luckily, she’ll be home soon. All they have to do is follow Damian through the drive through and then she can go home and spend some time in her quiet room with her weighted blanket.

She’s not expecting Janis to pull into a parking space in the lot at McDonalds, and looks around confusedly before realizing this McDonalds doesn’t have a drive through. This was not in the plan. She doesn’t realize she’s basically locked in her seat until Janis pokes her head in through the window.

“Cads, you coming?” She asks, holding out her hand for Cady to take.

“Can I just stay out here and wait for you?”

“But the line goes on for, like, ages. I don’t wanna be away from you for that long,” Janis whines with a pout. Damn those expressive brown eyes; Cady can never resist her no matter how hard she tries. Shakily, she undoes her seatbelt and steps out, taking Janis’ outstretched hand and trying to hide the tension in her shoulders.

Surprisingly, she makes it about five minutes in the restaurant before it all gets to be too much and she finally breaks. She can feel it building inside her, the buzzing pressure in her chest threatening to burst through her ribs. She’s still trying to process all the input from the museum, now with the added stimuli of the brightly colored booths and menu and the smells of grease and salt and the muffled conversations of everyone around her and the way her hair is down and tickling her face and how her shoes are new and still a little too tight and the pressure in her nose from her allergies and Janis’ tight but gentle grip on her hand and- it’s too much.

She wrenches out of Janis’ grasp to slam both hands over her ears, pressing as hard as she can, but it’s still not enough to block out the noise. She can feel the tears streaming rapidly down her face, which also isn’t helping. Janis turns to look at her, understandably confused. Cady loves holding her hand, loves when Janis touches her, she’s never pulled away before.

“Babe, what- oh shit. Angel, what’s wrong?” Janis asks, eyes full of concern as she reaches out to Cady. She only grows more worried when she lunges away and starts shivering violently, still clutching desperately at her ears. “Okay, no touching. Let me go tell Damian real quick and I’ll get you out of here. You’ll be okay, my butterfly.” Janis rambles, running to Damian a few places ahead in line. Cady watches her tap his shoulder and gesture to her, sees his shocked and worried face when he takes in her current state. Janis hands him her debit card and then comes jogging back to her side.

“Alright Caddy, come on, let’s get you home.” Janis says, holding the door for her. Cady sprints across the parking lot, practically jumping into her seat and slamming the door after her. She’s in such a state she barely remembers to buckle herself in before putting her hands back over her ears and shutting her eyes tightly. She feels Janis slide into her seat and start the car, feels the car back out of the lot and onto the road. She’s nearly home. Home is safe, she’ll be okay there.

——

Janis is terrified. She’s seen Cady sick, seen her cry, seen her scared near out of her mind whenever they watch Janis’ favorite horror movies. She has never seen Cady like this. She has no idea how to help her, no idea how to even approach this.

She did a fair bit of research on autism when Cady had first told her and Damian about hers after they had all reconciled at Spring Fling last year, but everything she can use in this situation varies by person and situation. She thinks it’s a sensory overload, Cady certainly seems to be having an issue with noise if the hands over the ears is anything to go by. She tries to whisper “It’s okay, angel, we’re nearly home,” in what she hopes is a comforting tone, but Cady only sobs harder and clutches at her ears with so much force Janis is worried they might bruise. Wrong choice.

She finally pulls into the Heron’s driveway, not even having time to shut the car off before Cady is ripping her seatbelt off and flying into the house at full speed. Secretly, she’s glad Cady’s parents are out of town for the weekend, not wanting them to think she’s done something to hurt their daughter this severely, especially this early in their relationship. What the fuck, she thinks to herself as she closes the car doors. How did I fuck up this bad?

She follows Cady inside, closing and locking the front door behind her. Damian has the key Cady gave him, he can let himself in whenever he gets here. She decides to check Cady’s room first, it’s the most logical place for her to be.

Sure enough, there’s a little Cady-shaped lump under the weighted blanket on her bed, still shaking, and she can still hear muffled sobs coming from it. Janis sits at the foot of the bed, not knowing what to do other than wait this out and see what happens. Holding as still as she can so she doesn’t jostle her girlfriend too much, she pulls out her phone to shoot Damian a text, letting him know where they are. He answers once he pulls into the driveway that he’ll be waiting downstairs with their food, and to take all the time they need until Cady is better.

She relaxes a bit knowing Damian is there, but still wrings her hands in front of her, scared for her Peanut. She about jumps out of her skin when a small hand suddenly rockets out from under the blanket and starts frantically patting around on the bedspread, seemingly searching for something. Unsure of what to do, she grabs it and squeezes gently, wincing a little when Cady grabs back with a vice grip. The shaking seems to lessen once she does, though, so Janis decides she doesn’t mind the loud popping of her knuckles.

After what feels like several hours but couldn’t have been more than 45 minutes, Cady’s tear-streaked face peeks out from under the blanket and her hand starts making shapes in Janis’ grasp. Cady is fluent in sign language and started teaching Janis a while ago. They started with the alphabet so they could spell things out for each other if one of them ever went nonverbal (and sometimes just for fun). Janis lets go and watches as Cady spells out “hold me?”

As if Janis would ever deny her. She nods and holds out her arms, letting out a soft “oof” as Cady jumps into her, throwing her arms around her neck and legs around her waist, continuing to let out little sobs and whimpers into her shoulder. She tries gently rubbing circles on Cady’s back, but she gives an uncomfortable shudder so she stops almost immediately and settles for just holding her to her chest gently, worried about hurting her.

Cady chokes out a soft “tighter, please,” into her ear, so Janis squeezes, increasing the pressure until Cady gives a relieved sigh. She rocks them side to side gently, which seems to soothe her further. Finally did something right, she thinks.

After a very long, very tense period of rocking and Cady desperately trying to match her breathing, her sobs gradually slow before finally ending with a snuffle. Janis stops rocking but doesn’t move otherwise, content to just hold Cady close for a while.

“I’m sorry,” Cady mutters after several minutes, crying lightly again.

“Oh, baby, no. Don’t be sorry, why would you be sorry?” Janis squeezes her before inching her back so she can see her face, wiping tears from under her eyes.

“You-you just wanted to have more fun and get food with D-damian but instead you had to-to bring me home and then you stayed to take c-care of me-“ Cady sobs out before Janis cuts her off with a soft kiss.

“Princess, it’s McDonalds. I can get garbage fast food with Damian anytime. He brought some back for us anyway, he’s downstairs. I care more about making sure you’re okay and healthy and happy. I want to keep the one Caddy I’ve got safe much more than I want to sit in a loud, garish restaurant and eat shit that’ll clog my arteries anyway. Understand?” Janis says, cupping her chin to look into Cady’s clear blue eyes until she gives a sheepish nod.

“You have questions,” Cady says bluntly after another few minutes, now calmed down again.

“Um, a few, yeah,” Janis responds anxiously, looking briefly at her lap. Cady’s been through the wringer today, she doesn’t need Janis accosting her.

“Go ahead.”

“Are you okay?” Janis bursts out desperately. Cady gives a chuckle and presses a kiss to her cheek.

“I am now, yeah. You helped a lot, actually. This time was a lot shorter than normal.” Jesus. They’d been in Cady’s room for at least an hour, and that doesn’t even include the time in the restaurant or the ride home.

“What happened? What do I need to do if it happens again?” Janis is still near frantic with worry. She hates feeling helpless, and she had no idea what to do for Cady while it was happening.

“That was a sensory overload turned meltdown. I didn’t realize it was so bad until we were in the car, there was a lot happening at the museum but I was focusing on you and the art and Damian. I get overloaded a lot, but I haven’t had a meltdown because of it since I was still a Plastic.” Nearly a year, and she had one because of Janis. God, she feels like such an idiot. Cady seems to notice the guilt in her eyes, because she cups her cheeks and says, “Hey, stop beating yourself up over this, mpenzi. I can see you thinking. This was not your fault, okay? You had no way of knowing, and I should’ve told you I was feeling bad. Once it started you did almost everything right.” Janis gives a weak nod, feeling slightly better and finally grinning widely as Cady pecks her nose.

“As for what you can do, that usually depends on the situation, unfortunately. But, as some general rules, don’t touch unless I reach out or ask you to, and try not to talk. If you have to, just speak softly, don’t whisper. I don’t like the way it sounds even when I’m not overloaded, but when I am it’s like nails on a chalkboard.” Janis nods again, taking in the information.

There is one thing Janis really wants to know. “What-um. What does it feel like?” She asks gently.

Cady thinks for a moment. “That’s a good question, I don’t really know how to explain it without sounding totally nuts.”

“Try me,” Janis responds with a chuckle. She knows that feeling at least, some of the metaphors she’s come up with to explain what her panic attacks feel like have bordered on nonsensical.

“Okay, well, um. Physically all I really feel is a kind of buzzing or pounding in my chest and my muscles lock up. Most of it is mental, for me anyway. It’s sort of like- what’s that game we played with Damian and your sister last time we had game night? With the little blocks? Jungle?”

“Jenga.” Janis laughs, kissing her forehead.

“Yeah, that one! Anyway, it’s kind of like that. Every piece of sensory input is like a block gets taken away. In the beginning it’s only a few, so it’s still pretty stable. But after a while it starts to build up and get more wobbly. That’s usually when I notice what’s happening and most of the time I can do things to soothe myself and get back, but every once in a while something happens that just knocks the whole tower over and I fall apart. Does that make sense?”

“Yeah, actually. It really does. Good job Peanut.” Janis says, slightly stunned. “What about now? Are you still good for movie night or do you want Damian and I to go home...?”

“No don’t go!” Cady yelps, locking tight around Janis again. “I don’t wanna be alone. But I don’t know if I can handle a movie, could we play Animal Crossing together instead?” She murmurs, burying her head in Janis’ hair, inhaling her comforting scent of apples, vanilla and paint. An odd combination, but Cady absolutely loves it.

“Hey, whoa, easy baby.” Janis soothes, easing her back again. “We won’t go if you want us to stay, I just wanted to check. Animal Crossing sounds great, I’ll send Damian to grab some stuff from our houses while we eat. Speaking of Damian, he has been downstairs this whole time, can we go let him know you’re okay?”

“Oh god, yeah. I’m gonna change, I’ll be down in a minute, you go get him. I totally forgot,” Cady says frantically, scrambling off of Janis and rushing to her dresser. Janis laughs at her sudden haste, walking towards the door until she hears Cady call her back. “Janis?” She turns to look at her with a questioning hum. “Thank you.” She says softly, melting Janis’ heart just a little further.

“Always, baby.” She answers with a cheeky wink, closing the door behind her.

The second she hits the last stair Damian is there, frantically pestering her with worried questions. “What the hell happened to her? Where is she? Is she okay? Is she dead?”

Janis bursts out laughing at the last one. “Damdam, chill, she’s totally fine, she’s just changing. She had a sensory overload, I’m sure she’ll tell you more once she comes down.” She hugs him tightly to calm them both before making her way to the kitchen to heat up their food.

“God, thank fuck. She was shaking so hard I thought she’d explode and we’d get done for manslaughter.” Damian jokes as Janis arranges Cady’s chicken nugget happy meal into a smile on a plate before sticking it in the microwave. That’ll cheer her up a little more.

Sure enough, Cady comes padding down the stairs as Janis makes the apple slices into hair, now wearing a soft t-shirt she definitely stole from Janis along with a pair of leggings and her hedgehog slippers. She’s also wearing her clunky, thick glasses instead of her contacts, and Janis has to bite her lip to prevent her lesbian monkey brain from saying anything totally embarrassing.

She shuffles up to Damian for a hug, and Janis watches her lead him to the couch to explain what happened as she grabs Cady’s allergy pills from the counter and pours a couple out for her.

This conversation is much shorter, and after a few minutes Cady takes a seat at the counter, laughing goofily when she sees what Janis has done with her meal. “Alright, I’ll be back in, like, ten. I’m gonna go grab our sleepover stuff. No canoodling while I’m gone.” Damian says, pointing at Janis accusingly, laughing as she raises her hands in surrender.

——-

They’re just finishing eating as Damian comes bursting back in with his and Janis’ sleepover bags and Nintendo Switches. “Your mom and Juliana say hi and they love you, Jan.” He says; heaving a sigh as he puts his bounty down by the door. She makes a mental note to text them before bed.

Cady puts her dishes in the sink and goes to grab her switch, settling in on the couch with her favorite blanket and making grabby hands at the both of them. She’s much more lethargic than normal, having spent a lot of energy during her meltdown.

Janis and Damian take turns changing into their pjs before grabbing their own consoles and settling in on either side of her. Janis had introduced Cady to Animal Crossing around New Years and she had become absolutely obsessed, begging her parents to buy it for her until they finally caved for her birthday. She’s designing her island to be half Kenya and half Chicago, and Janis is frankly amazed at the progress she’s made. Her birthday was only in February.

——

As they run around playing hide and seek on each other’s islands, Cady is secretly deep in thought. She never thought she’d have people she’d be able to trust the way she does Janis and Damian. She’d hoped, obviously, but quickly lost hold of that after her move from Kenya. Once she’d turned full Plastic, it had gone entirely.

But as she sits here, nestled firmly between her two favorite people and falling asleep on her girlfriends shoulder, she realizes she’s finally found her group, her herd, her flock.

She’s found where she belongs.

———

hope you enjoyed this, do please tell me what you thought! i also wanted to make it clear that janis is the one blaming herself for the meltdown. cady doesn’t blame her and neither do i as the author. also, i’m not totally familiar with tumblr yet so please let me know of any formatting things i can improve. (also my works probably won’t be this long in the future. got carried away :/)

lots of love, ezzy 🦕

[wordsablaze]

we might be the outsiders (but the in-crowd is so out right now)

Geralt couldn't care less about the opinions of innkeepers but Jaskier won't hesitate to defend his witcher's honour with every fibre of his being, and it's always a bonus if it leads to improving said witcher's view of himself...

A/N: wrote this a week ago but forgot to crosspost so here it is in case anyone’s interested ^.^ title from outsiders by au/ra x

-

“I’m so ready for a bath, aren’t you?” Jaskier asks pointedly as he and Geralt return from ridding yet another town of yet another monster.

“Of course you are, you smell like the inside of a dead man’s liver,” Jaskier continues as Geralt sighs, almost entirely unbothered by the blood covering his clothes - he doesn’t think he smells much like a liver at all.

But at least Jaskier hadn’t used one of his more creative comparisons, those were usually reserved for swamp-dwelling creatures. Not that Jaskier was often accurate about where to find what in his ballads.

“What was this one called again? A nightwraith?”

At that, Geralt glances at him with a frown. “Does it look like night to you?”

Where most men would shrink away, Jaskier just grins and waves a hand. “Alright, alright, a noonwraith then. At least I got the wraith part right.”

Before Geralt can say anything else regarding Jaskier’s fluctuating knowledge of monsters, Jaskier gasps and all but sprints ahead, then stops and turns to Geralt with a wide smile, something bright in his eyes forcing Geralt to offer him a small smile in return.

“Do you see that, Geralt? The town! No more crops and fields and corpses, we can finally wash away the wraith business!”

“Hmm.”

Jaskier rolls his eyes. “Well, I’m going ahead and ordering us a bath, don’t dawdle!”

As if Geralt would be seen dead dawdling.

Roach is tired and slower than usual though, so he hangs back and walks with her as Jaskier speeds up and makes a beeline for the nearest inn, the smell of honey and lavender fading as Geralt watches him go.

It’s strange, Geralt takes a moment to think, how Jaskier had so quickly made it clear he was sticking around, and how Geralt had almost just as quickly come to accept it. What’s even stranger is how much Geralt finds himself liking it.

The town, as it turns out, is still just as friendly as when they’d begged him to save their farmers, which is to say it’s quite possibly the furthest thing from friendly to currently exist.

Geralt sighs as he leads Roach to the stables closest where he can smell Jaskier, tying her to a post himself and glaring at the stableboy who has the nerve to cross his arms. “Touch her and you lose those arms.”

Sure that nobody will bother Roach, Geralt heads towards the inn, where Jaskier is still talking to the innkeeper. Well, talking at the innkeeper. Actually, it can’t even be called talking .

“-and it’s utterly ridiculous that you would so heartlessly deny the man who just saved your harvest the right to a bath! A simple bath! What kind of establishment is this anyway?”

“We don’t deal with his kind,” the innkeeper all but hisses.

From his tone, Geralt guesses that their conversation, if it can even be called that, has been going on for a while in the same way, with Jaskier being his usual dramatic and defensive self.

Jaskier places his hands on his hips and Geralt can imagine his glare as he inhales sharply. “You, sir, are an absolute disgrace ! How dare you plead with a witcher to come to your aid at a moment’s notice and then act as if you’re any better than him!”

“I don’t need to act, we are better than him.”

The small smile that had started to form on Geralt’s face at Jaskier’s words fades as said bard abruptly launches himself at the innkeeper.

Geralt can hear his nose break.

The inn is frozen as the two men topple to the floor behind the counter Jaskier had thrown himself over. That is, until the innkeeper curses and barks an order that causes commotion in the form of other men diving to pull Jaskier back.

Geralt doesn’t move until Jaskier is hauled upright by the bruising grip of a man double his size. Only then does he move from the doorframe, ignoring the shocked stares and glares thrown his way, focusing on Jaskier and the way he looks ready to both cry and break someone’s teeth.

Geralt can’t blame him, really; he’s tempted to break the hand on Jaskier’s arm.

“Jaskier!”

Jaskier’s head snaps to him immediately, the tension in his shoulders melting away as he looks over Geralt as if checking he’s unhurt, as if there’s any reason for Geralt’s wellbeing to be his priority despite his current situation.

“Take your scum and leave, beast,” the man holding Jaskier snarls, throwing Jaskier forwards so roughly that he stumbles.

Geralt instinctively moves to steady him but he’s wholly unprepared for Jaskier to let out a quiet growl, turn on the spot, and launch a tightly clenched fist at the other man’s nose before anyone can blink.

“He is not a beast !”

And thus, a second nose ends up broken.

“You little-”

Geralt pulls and keeps Jaskier behind him before the other man can retaliate, pushing him aside as he turns to the innkeeper with a glare so powerful it causes the man to step back twice.

He's glad Jaskier had managed to break bones because if he hadn't, Geralt would have broken every single one of everyone's bones for daring to call Jaskier scum as if he isn't the exact opposite, as if he isn't the most precious man in all of existence.

“If I ever hear you or any of your men even thinking about insulting Jaskier again, I will rip your tongues from your mouths and feed them to you as your last meals in this world.”

And with that, Geralt grabs Jaskier’s wrist as gently as he can and leads the two of them out of the inn, back to where Roach is waiting patiently.

“We’re leaving, you can forget about your bath,” Geralt mutters as he unties the ropes, even though he knows Jaskier didn’t really want the bath for himself anyway.

He's beyond angry that they have to leave yet another town in such a way but Jaskier is the one who's slowly changing people's opinions and there's very little he can do to protect his bard from the reactions of those yet to accept witchers. Unfortunately for Jaskier, most people have yet to accept witchers.

Geralt isn't so blind as to say that Jaskier isn't changing opinions, but even his charm can't work on everyone. Not yet anyway.

When Jaskier doesn’t reply, Geralt turns to him in concern.

Jaskier’s seething fury seems to have washed away into a sour sadness.

“Jaskier?”

But Jaskier only shakes his head, gesturing for Geralt to start walking, which he does. They don’t stop until they’re past the gates and far enough along the path for the town to have vanished from view entirely.

Only then does Jaskier stop and fall to his knees, letting his head fall into his hands.

Alarmed, Geralt kneels beside him. “Jaskier? Are you hurt? I don’t smell blood but-”

“They called you a beast!” Jaskier just about whispers, and Geralt realises with a jolt that the salt he’s been smelling is Jaskier’s tears , not remnants of spilled ale.

“It doesn’t matter,” Geralt says, wishing he knew more about how to help because all he wants to do is kill the men who’d made Jaskier cry.

Jaskier lets out a choked noise that sounds suspiciously like a sob. “Of course it doesn’t! They’re all nothing but idiots who wouldn’t know how to recognise a good man if he punched them in the face!”

Geralt blinks. “Then why-”

“I swear to Meletite, if you ask me why I care that they insulted you, I will punch you too.”

Geralt blinks again.

Eventually, Jaskier looks up and exhales loudly, wiping away tears with the back of his hand. “Do you really not understand why I’m so angry?”

Reluctantly, feeling as though he’s somehow disappointing Jaskier, Geralt shakes his head.

He doesn’t have time to figure out an excuse before Jaskier lunges at him, not to punch him as he’d said but to wrap his arms around him and hug him.

“Oh, you beautiful fool of a man, why don’t you see ?” Jaskier asks in a tone that suggests he’s about to answer that himself.

Geralt makes sure the two of them aren’t about to overbalance as Jaskier tightens his grip, his previous concerns about the liver-scented blood seemingly forgotten in favour of erasing any distance between them.

“Don’t you see that people like them only continue to prove that they are never going to be even half as good of a man as you are? That you, dear witcher, are truly kind at heart, so far from the monster they claim you to be? Don’t you see that it hurts when they insult you because I know you and I know they are so very wrong? Because you, Geralt of Rivia, deserve everything they do and so, so much more? Oh, my darling wolf, why don’t you see all of this with those gorgeously enhanced eyes of yours? Why…?”

Yet again, Geralt just blinks.

When he doesn’t say anything else, Geralt lifts his arms from where he’d been using them to balance and wraps them around Jaskier, something fluttering in his chest when Jaskier sighs softly, happily.

He thinks he might prefer this to inns anyway, when it's just the two of them away from the crowds and the chaos, where he can hear the comforting reminder of Jaskier's heartbeat with no interruptions.

“I don’t particularly care what they think,” Geralt admits eventually, “but I do find myself caring what you think, so... if you wish for me to believe you, I’ll try.”

Jaskier lets out a small laugh that may or may not be a sob in disguise but Geralt doesn't comment on it. He lets Jaskier pull back so they’re face to face, surprised when he sees Jaskier beaming up at him through his tears.

“Promise me you’ll keep trying to believe me?”

Geralt isn’t a huge fan of commitments but this one is the easiest he knows.

“I promise.”

The shine in Jaskier’s eyes is worth all the trouble this promise will probably cause him.

Jaskier is worth the trouble.

“Thank you,” Jaskier murmurs with a grateful smile.

Geralt hums, his hand going to brush away Jaskier’s tears before he can stop himself. His chest tightens again at how easily Jaskier closes his eyes and lets the same hands that deal in slaughter touch him.

Something else inside his chest reminds him that really, Jaskier is the only reason he trusts himself to use the same hands that deal in slaughter to do something so gentle, so careful, so soft .

“Thank you,” Geralt murmurs back.

Jaskier’s eyes flutter open again as he hums, encasing Geralt’s hand in his own and squeezing gently.

In that moment, as with countless other moments involving Jaskier, Geralt finds himself seeing what Jaskier does, seeing the effortless trust and respect between them, the connection they share that he has to admit borders on everything he thought he’d never have, borders on love -

Without warning, Jaskier’s face scrunches up as he winces.

“Jaskier? What- Did I do something wrong?” Geralt may or may not panic at the pain he sees flashing in his favourite blue eyes.

He wonders if Jaskier is regretting it after all, if he is simply a brute made only for violence as opposed to something as delicate as caring for Jaskier. He wonders if this is the day Jaskier changes his mind and sees what Geralt sees, if this is the day that everything falls apart-

But Jaskier shakes his head, glancing down at their hands.

“I forgot to protect my thumb.”

-

seriously, this just kind of happened, turns out i’m just soft for these two...

-

thanks for reading! masterlist | witcher sideblog: @geraskifer

[captain-yeet]

Oh No, He's Hot - Ending

Subtitle: Till The End of Time

Summary; The trial is over now, but a new challenge arises. Immortality is a fate Y/N cannot escape from, tensions rise between covens as she has to make a choice, and will a new vampire join the Olympic coven?

Warnings: Swearing, so much angst, tension between some vamps and reader

Word Count: 2.7k words

Author notes: Thank you all so much for the support on this series!  It did take me a while to finish this one but I’m glad I’ve finally written an ending I’m happy with! I have enjoyed writing it, I hope to you readers I did it justice and here’s to more Felix x Reader stories down the line.

A year.

You had one year of mortality left, so it had been decreed. There wasn't any fighting it - after all, your choices were slim. It was that or death, potentially by the hand of your own boyfriend if Caius had his way no doubt.

The movement against your back brought you out of your shell shocked state. You only just remembered that Felix was still standing by your side, and lifting your gaze up to his face you saw that he was speaking.

"... Don't know if I can do it," you caught the last string of his sentence as your senses slowly returned to you.

Who was he speaking to? you wondered. You couldn't be bothered to turn your head toward the other speaker, instead opting to bury your face into Felix's side. The arm around you tightened just a little bit more, his hand massaging your side in what you knew was an attempt to soothe you.

"Y/N?" Felix's concerned voice roused you.

Slowly lifting your head to meet him in the eye, you noted that he wore a rueful smile. A sadness has crept onto his perfect face and you wanted so badly to make that sadness disappear, to bring out that honest-to-all-hell ridiculously handsome smile of his.

"I'm afraid I have to go now," he informed you. As your eyes grew wide he cupped your face with his free hand. "This doesn't have to be goodbye, you hear me? It doesn't have to be at all."

Frowning, your slow human brain processes the urgent words that came from his mouth. "Are you... asking me to come with you?" You stood a little straighter, leaning back a bit but not enough that your embrace breaks. "To Volterra?"

He nodded, affirming the conclusion you were coming to.

 “Like hell she is,” Rosalie glided over to join your side, glaring daggers at Felix. “She wouldn’t be safe.”

 “Are you doubting my capabilities of keeping my mate safe?” he growled back with equal ferocity.

 Rosalie stepped towards Felix, now inches away from his face. Emmett joined immediately and placed a hand of her shoulder. “They’ll use her! You may be part of that coven but you surely aren’t blind to Aro’s eagerness to collect people like her for his own gain.”

Jaw clenched, Felix didn’t give her a response, fueling Rosalie’s fire.

 “Of course you know,” she spat, baring her teeth at him. Emmett pulled her back just a little, rubbing her shoulders. “Look at you, you’re not even denying it because you know.”

 “I... I don’t know if Volterra is a good place for me,” you whispered, barely audible. Shaking your head vigorously, you reached up to cover your eyes. “This is so sudden, so soon.”

A year left to make the most of your mortal life, your humanity. It left you with so many questions running through your brain all at once and with no satisfying answers.

It only made you feel conflicted further when Felix’s face contorted in what you could only describe as pain. “Then... I have to leave.”

 “Can’t you stay?”

 “I wish I could, I wish-”

 “Then what’s stopping you?” you cried, grabbing fistfuls of his clothing.

 “Felix,” another voice interrupted, smooth and low.

You both turned towards the source. The tracker, Demetri, was there looking on with a sad expression.

 “We have to leave now. Aro and Caius are demanding your presence immediately.” He told your mate, sparing you a quick, apologetic glance. “I’m sorry.”

Another separation. Your heart ached and you clung onto your lover’s clothing tighter, unwilling to yield on your hold. Trembling, you steeled yourself as best as you could and fixed a fierce gaze on Felix. “I am willing to become a vampire. I am, I’ve known this would come for some time now. But what I am not willing to do is become dear kindred with your masters.”

Felix took you by surprise by cupping your face with both his hands, stroking your cheeks gently. “Is there nothing I can do to convince you?” he whispered, low enough that the words were on for your ears. “I’ve waited so long for you, I can’t lose you.” He moved one of his hands to the back of your hair, pulling you closer so that there was no space between you two. “I can’t lose us.”

 “Then please, there has to be a way we can go about our lives together.” The tears were beginning to fall freely, the wetness cool against your cheek in the cold winter air. “There’s always a way.”

Felix closed his eyes. Pressing a kiss gingerly to your forehead, he back away, releasing you. As your heart began to break, his parting words mended the forming cracks. “This is not goodbye. I refuse to let it be. I’ll figure something out. I beg you to keep faith in me Y/N.”

Once he and Demetri had vanished, you were frozen in place.

He better not break his word. 

You traveled back to the Cullen’s home with a heavy heart. It was though a black fog had shrouded your mind, your heart, your very being. Of all the ways you expected to be reunited with Felix again, this wasn’t how you pictured it. You pictured happiness, elation, not the angst and dramatics of how you to parted ways.

You stood on the porch of the second floor, watching as everyone below you celebrated. Lost in your thoughts, you almost didn’t even register someone saying your name and touching your shoulder lightly.

Turning your head slightly, out the corner of your eye you saw someone who you didn’t expect to see; Edward Cullen.

 “How’re you holding up?” he asked, a look of genuine concern etched onto his face as he studied you. “Things uh, looked like they got tense for you back there.”

You snorted, unable to help yourself. “You could say that.”

 “I know we may not know each other very well,” Edward began, coming to stand beside you to lean over the railing, “but I just... wanted to say something.”

 “Shouldn’t you be down there with Ren?” you pointed to the little girl who was currently dancing with her mother, giggling away happily.

Edward’s expression softened. “She’s okay, I know she’s safe.” He paused a moment. “I know what you’re thinking.”

 “Of course you do, reading minds is your whole schtick, Ed.”

 “I know you’re afraid, and doubting everything. Your decisions, Felix, yourself even.”

He’s in my head! “Edward,” you warned him, eyes squeezing shut as if that would block him out of your thoughts.

He ignored your warnings, however. “Look Y/N, all I’ll say is this. If that... man, loves you as much as he says he does, he’d do anything for you. I don’t approve of course -”

You interrupted him with a snort. “Oh I’m aware,” you replied, your voice sardonic. “That didn’t stop me from loving him though.”

Edward sighed. Pushing himself off the railing, he opened his mouth to speak when his eyes changed from a look of exasperation to a cold distant stare. 

 “Edward? What’s wrong?” you watched as his nostrils flared and his lips pressed into a tight thin line. 

 “Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear,” he quoted grimly, storming away from you and leaping over the balcony.

You spun on your heel and bolted through the Cullen’s home, sprinting down the stairs and almost skidding on the ice as you hurried to see what ticked Edward off so badly. You saw him with his back to you, standing defensively in front of his wife and child as he faced the forest line that surrounded the house. Night had begun to fall so you could barely make out anything within the trees other than darkness.

Until a figure came forward.

A familiar tall figure, who no longer donned the medieval robes and stepped forward wearing a thick jacket and trousers.

Your body moved before your brain could even respond. Running past the Cullens, you practically threw yourself into the tall vampire’s embrace. “What are you doing here?” your voice came out in a sob, both elated and fearful that he was going to leave again.

 “Taking what’s mine,” came Felix’s reply, arms instantly wrapping themselves around you, holding you tight.

 “Felix,” you heard Edward call out.

Turning around in Felix’s hold so you could look at the golden-eyed vamp, you silently begged him not to make a fuss. To let you go with him without kicking up a storm. I’ve barely been able to even see his face outside of imminent danger situations, Ed. Let me have this.

 “Perhaps I need to remind you that his coven is the reason those imminent danger situations arise,” he snapped, teeth bared, causing Felix to let out a low warning growl that you felt vibrate through your whole body.

 “Oh for fuck's sake Cullen, if I remember correctly that red-headed woman that came for your coven and could have taken her out was not one of ours.”

Felix swearing so crudely took you by surprise. He was always very composed whenever you spoke that hearing him swear like that shocked you... and ever so slightly - just a teensy bit - turned you on.

Okay, focus. Angry vampires. Now’s not the time.

 “What is he doing here?” a third voice hissed.

You turned to see Tanya, Kate and Garrett approach - and boy did the two blondes look pissed.

 “You killed our sister,” Tanya snarled, glaring at the two of you with unyielding hatred. 

 “Your sister got herself killed,” Felix snapped back, “perhaps if she had checked the situation with the half-child herself before coming to the Volturi, she’d be alive.”

 “Tanya,” Edward warned, flitting to the angry blonde’s side and placing a hand on her shoulder, which she shook off. “Bella take Renesmee home,”

Not wasting any time, Bella took her child away from the situation. Ren looked back at you with an unreadable face as she and her mother disappeared into the forest.

 “I’m not here for a fight,” Felix tried to diffuse the situation, “I’m just here for this one.”

 “So you can turn her into a monster like you?” Kate hissed, letting out a bark of a laugh. “How romantic.”

Wiggling out of Felix’s grip, you felt the electricity in your veins rise as you screamed out of frustration. “Enough!”

Thunder clapped out of nowhere above you, making everyone jump. Edward and Garrett frowned as they studied you, watching you closely, one concerned and the latter fascinated. As you stared the opposing vampires down, your body twitched uncomfortably; you felt like a human live wire.

Your powers were growing stronger.

 “I think I can speak for both myself and my mate when I say we do not want to fight, or argue or have any hostility between us - we just want to fucking exist together, damn it!” you snarled the last part of the sentence, your eyesight becoming sharper, clearer than before as the blue hue appeared.

 “Edward! Tanya!”

Carlisle and Esme approached, Carlisle with his hands raised as if he were telling a couple of naughty dogs to sit down. “Let them go.”

 “You can’t separate mates, you know this Sweetie,” Esme said with a sad smile, taking a few steps toward you.

Nostrils flaring as he tried to calm himself, Edward’s face became blank as he stared at you and Felix. Everyone held their breath as he slowly walked towards you; but he ignored you, instead opting to stand right in front of Felix, glaring up at him. “Hurt her, and we’ll know.”

Felix met the glare with his own. “I would never.”

A humorless snort came from Edward. “So it appears. But the warning still stands.”

While their confrontation went on, Esme very gingerly placed her hand on your back and rubbed it. It did soothe you, making your powers ease off, the glow in your eyes fading away. 

With a nod to you, Edward turned his back and left the scene, taking off in the same direction his wife and child did.

Well, that could have been worse. You let out a sigh, running a hand through your hair. At that moment, Rosalie and Emmett came over as the Denalis left.

 “So you’re taking off with this one finally?” she said with a haughty expression on her face, lips twitching to hide a smirk.

You nodded and looked back to Felix, who watched you with a small smile on his face. His posture was still tense but less so now that Edward and the Denalis were gone. “Looks like it.”

 “Hey now, before you scram you better not leave without a hug you little shit.” Before you could respond, Rosalie had embraced you in a tight hug, which you returned.

As she let you go, you felt your feet leave the ground as Emmett scooped you up. “You better be careful out there Thor,” he teased as he spun you around, making you laugh.

Good old Emmett, you thought to yourself, the king of being able to make a tense situation light.

He set you down and you went to Felix’s side. At long last, you were going to get some peace with the one you loved.

 “Felix?” Rosalie called out, gaining the attention of the large vampire. He raised an eyebrow, waiting to hear what she had to say. “Y/N is a dear friend of mine. Hurt her and Edward won’t be who you need to worry about. It’ll be me. Is that clear?”

To your surprise, he chuckled. “Yes ma’am, I’ll remember that.”

The two of you turned to each other. A small smile crept onto your face as you stared into his vermillion eyes. As the two of you shared this moment, the Cullens quietly left you; you barely noticed. 

 “So we’re doing this, huh?” you breathed.

 “By ‘this’ you mean me whiskin you away to begin our lives together, then yes I’d say that’s accurate,” he replied smoothly, winking at you.

You playfully pushed him. Before you could even comprehend it happening Felix swept you up into his arms, holding you bridal style. Your brain felt like it was short-circuiting in response. With a fit of giggles and happy laughter from Felix, he did exactly as he said he would and whisked you away into the forest.

 “You called me your mate.”

Sprawled out in a comfy hotel room bed, you let out a small hum as you curled up against said mate’s chest. You blushed, but you were unashamed. “I did, didn’t I?” 

Turning his body so the two of you were no facing each other, he cupped your face and kissed you, slow and sweetly. He pulled away after a few moments and sat back with an incredulous look. “This feels like a dream to me. A very good dream that I never want to wake from.”

Shaking your head, you snuggled your way back into his side again. “And you won’t ever have to wake from it. Hate to break it to you, but you’re stuck with my ass.”

 “Now that I can’t complain about.” You didn’t fail to miss the flirtatious implications of his tone. 

During this night in the hotel room, you’ve learned two things. One, that whatever was happening with your powers today made you incredibly tired and you just wanted to fall asleep next to your mate.

Secondly, that Felix was the biggest god damn flirt in a bedroom setting ever, holy shit. Not that you minded, but boy he was fantastic at driving a certain part of you crazy despite you being exhausted. You couldn’t wait to be intimate with him - but for now, baby steps.

Big baby steps, as Felix admitted after a rather heavy make-out session that he was afraid of crushing you like a watermelon.

 “You’re a flirt.”

 “You love it.”

Sighing contently, you drifted off to sleep in his arms. Who would have thought a battle against newly-made vampires would gift you with such a blessing as this love you had blossoming between the two of you? Certainly not you. Certainly not Felix either. But here you both are, and now all you can do is ride the waves of life together and simply exist with one another, with full hearts and content souls.