#i *think* it's all from profiles and stories that come with the dolls but oh my god there's so much

[just-someone-online]

Screw it, I've got time to kill. Might as well start watching G1

[slu7formen]

luke castellan x fem!reader

You knew that your friend, Luke, was a tease. What you didn’t expect, was that he was going to be a tease to you.

while I finish writing part two of this story (btw, thank u so much for all the love it’s getting) , I drop this one out here for the wait <3

warnings: teasing, praising, drinking, kinda s3xual tension

reminder: english’s not my first language so I apologize for any spelling mistakes

₊˚⊹♡

The bonfire crackled merrily, casting flickering shadows on the faces of the demigods huddled around it. The air thrummed with the low beat of stolen music from a borrowed radio, a symphony of laughter and easy conversation punctuated by the clinking of ice inside your plastic cups. Exhaustion from a particularly harrowing week of monster attacks had finally settled in, driving the older campers to this clandestine revelry deep within the safe haven of the camp's woods.

Across from you, Clarisse was emerged in a play-fight with his brothers, not truly a good idea based on the drunken state they were in, but who would tell them otherwise? Travis and Connor were huddled together, their whispers punctuated by bursts of laughter that hinted at some upcoming evil plan or prank. You could practically see the gears turning in their heads. Silena leaned towards Katie’s ear, whispering some secret that boys couldn’t know about, her voice barely a murmur.

And Luke Castellan sat next to you, his presence warm and familiar. His profile bathed in the golden glow. You'd known him for years, a bond forged in shared battles and late-night training sessions. But lately, you'd begun to see him in a different light. The way his muscles tensed beneath his t-shirt as he tossed another log onto the fire, the glint in his dark eyes - it all sent a delicious flutter to your stomach.

Reaching for your empty plastic cup, you realized with a groan that you'd polished off your cranberry juice and vodka concoction. Glancing sideways at Luke, you noticed his cup held a suspicious-looking red liquid that gave off a pungent, almost medicinal smell. "Let me have a sip of yours" you declared, leaning towards him without even questioning.

A ghost of a smile played on his lips. Your cheeks, flushed from the alcohol and the warmth of the fire, were undeniably red. Your lips, slightly puffy and wet, was not something his eyes would miss either. But he'd never admit the effect you had on him, not here, not amongst their friends.

"Not sure that's your thing, doll" he pointed out, looking down at his drink for a second. "You won´t like it"

You knew you were pushing your luck, but the defiance simmering in your blood, thanks to the vodka, wouldn't be ignored. "Come on, Luke" you pout, placing your chin on his shoulder. “If you can drink it, why can´t I?”

He chuckled, a low rumble that sent a shiver down your spine. "I don't think you can handle it" he said with a little smirk on his face, the playful challenge in his eyes impossible to miss. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the way he was looking at you, but a spark of competitive spirit ignited within you.

“Oh, yeah?” you challenged. “Just watch me, then” you declared, snatching the cup from his hand before he could protest. You were so sure of yourself. The liquid was a fiery red, the strong scent even more potent up close. You took a tentative sip.

It was horrible.

It was like drinking liquid fire infused with cough syrup. A strangled cough escaped your lips, your eyes watering. Luke chuckled slightly. You sputtered, almost spitting the liquid out in disgust.

Before you could fully react, Luke's hand cupped your chin, surprisingly gentle despite the rough calluses that adorned his palm. His eyes held a mischievous sparkle. "Take it all down now, you told me you could handle it"

Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was the way his words sent a thrill down your spine, but you were determined not to back down, especially not in front of him. Fueled by a mix of pride, the burn of the liquid fire, and a strange flutter in your stomach thanks to Luke's closeness, you took another swig, then another, determined to finish it. You ignored the way your throat felt like it was lined with sandpaper and the fire that seemed to erupt in your gut.

Suddenly, a loud "Chug! Chug! Chug!" broke the silence. Travis and Connor, who had been watching the exchange with amusement, started a rhythmic chant. Silena and Katie soon joined in, their cheers echoing through the clearing. You choked down the rest of the concoction, gasping for air as it burned its fiery path down your throat.

The cheers reached a crescendo as you slumped back, eyes squeezed shut, your head swimming. As the commotion subsided, you dropped the plastic cup with a clatter. You felt dizzy, and your throat felt like someone had lined it with sandpaper, but a sense of accomplishment washed over you. You'd done it.

Suddenly, a gentle touch on your chin startled you. You blinked your eyes open to see Luke leaning in, his gaze holding a playful spark. With his thumb, he brushed away a stray droplet of the red liquid that had escaped your lips during your valiant chugging endeavor.

The simple gesture sent a jolt through you. It was so unexpected that your breath hitched in your throat. Then, in a move that stole the air from your lungs completely, he lifted his thumb to his lips and sucked off the red droplet. Eyes on yours, the whole time.

"Good girl" he murmured.

He turned away then, casually rejoining the conversation with Chris about their upcoming training session. But you couldn't tear your gaze from him. The playful glint in his eyes, the lingering warmth on your chin from his touch – it all played on repeat in your mind.

Gods, you thought, your head swimming from a potent mix of alcohol and newfound desire. You really wanted to be anywhere else right now. Anywhere with him, away from the prying eyes and teasing laughter of your friends. You felt crazy in the matter of just a few seconds. You couldn´t let this slide, you just couldn´t.

You couldn´t deny the wet patch on your panties either.

You stood up, maybe a little too fast for the state you were in, but you managed to look down to Luke, who was already looking into your eyes the moment you stood up.

“I´m going for a walk. Care to join me?”

inspired by this right here, with a little change <3

[lemoncrushh]

Tattooed Heart - Part I

SUMMARY: You are a cocktail waitress at a swanky lounge. Harry comes in one night, and you instantly dislike him. But another encounter eventually changes your opinion.

PAIRING: Waitress Y/N x Artist/Tattoo Artist Harry

TROPES: Enemies to Lovers

MUST BE 18+ TO READ

WORD COUNT: 4K+

STORY PAGE

You could spot the birthday parties from across the room. Beautiful, rich kids and socialites tend to go all out, with the balloons and banners, ordering bottles or at the very least, top shelf cocktails by the dozens. On occasion, you might get a wealthy middle-aged businessman, or some guy who just made his first half-mil in crypto, ready to live it up for the night, but they usually kept a lower profile, not attracting as much attention to their celebration.

Zelda’s was a swanky, high-dollar lounge for the rich and the wannabes. In your two years as a cocktail waitress there, you’d learned how to spot the difference. Those with money knew how to spend it. Those that were only there for one evening of “let’s pretend” spent frivolously, cashing it in before - or sometimes after - going belly-up.

Tonight seemed to be just like every other weekend evening, the corner booths filled with decorations and Gucci-lipped twenty-somethings taking cell phone pics of each other. You gave your best fake smile, ready to serve anyone willing to blow a few hundred on drinks and hopefully dishing out hefty tips.

“What can I get you, doll?” you asked the blond at the end of the half-circle booth.

She gave you a quizzical look at first, as though you had just interrupted a private conversation. Then with a flip of her hair, she smiled at her group.

“Oh, I think Harry was gonna order for us all,” she said. “It’s his birthday.”

“And which one is Harry?” you grinned at the three young men who shared the booth, all dressed in suit jackets with their shirts unbuttoned past their pecs. Everyone at the table pointed to the dark-haired guy who sat in the center with his hands up.

“That would be me,” he remarked nonchalantly in a syrupy British accent.

“Well, Happy Birthday, Harry,” you raised your voice over the loud music. “What are we having for this celebration?”

“Tequila, the best you’ve got,” he replied, his ringed finger gesturing in a circle. “All around. And a bottle of Cristal.”

Two of the girls at the table cheered, clearly impressed with Harry’s selection.

“Sounds like a good party to me,” you nodded. “Be right back.”

Heading over to the bar, you heard the group cackle behind you. Then one of the girls shouted, “Stop it!” When you reached the edge of the bar, giving John, the bartender your order, you snuck a glance over at the table. The girl sitting next to Harry held her cell phone up to take a photo, the birthday boy with his tongue in her ear. Clearly the group had gotten a head start on drinks before they’d ever arrived.

“Another one of those, huh, Y/N?” scoffed John.

“Same shit, different day,” you commented, shaking your head. “Gimme one of the birthday glasses, will you?”

“Ah, which Paris Hilton wannabe is the birthday girl? Lemme guess…the blonde in the silver bandeau top getting her ear tongue fucked.”

You chuckled. “Try the fucker.”

“Oh yeah?” John raised a brow, placing the bottle of Cristal on your tray. “The himbo, eh? Wouldn’t have guessed it.”

“Why not?”

“Imposter Armani suit? I can spot it a mile away, honey.”

You laughed as he finished pouring the tequila. “Guess he’s out of his element. But he obviously wants to impress on his birthday.”

“From the look of the caliber of girls he’s with, I’d say I don’t blame him.”

You nodded, carefully taking the tray. You knew what John meant. Harry may have not been the typical socialite to walk through Zelda’s doors, but the women in his company obviously were. And they expected to be treated as such.

Returning to the table, you gave your biggest smile as you set out the tequila. You noticed Harry eyeing you as the rest of the group claimed a glass.

“This is your best tequila?” he asked, almost in a huff as though you couldn’t have possibly selected the best.

“Definitely,” you replied. “It’s a Siete Leguas.”

“Hmm.” Lifting his glass, he let the liquid swirl before taking a sniff.

“Smells good to me,” remarked the blond next to him. “But I don’t know much about tequila.”

Harry took a slow sip, his eyes still on you above the rim of his glass.

“What d’ya say, H?” asked one of the other gentlemen.

“It’ll do.”

Trying your best not to react negatively, you chewed your bottom lip. “I can get you something else if you like.”

“I said it’s fine.”

Not bothering to mask your frown, you took a deep breath through your nostrils. This was gonna be a long night.

“Would you like me to pop the champagne now?” you asked.

“Sure, go ahead,” Harry gestured with his hand, taking another sip of his tequila.

Taking the bottle, you opened it with finesse, just the way you’d been taught and had been doing since you’d started working at Zelda’s. The girls all cheered when the cork popped. Harry, however, was not impressed.

Grabbing the special birthday glass, you began to pour.

“What the fuck is that?” spat Harry.

“It’s for you,” you smiled.

“I don’t want that. Gimme one of the regular champagne glasses.”

“I’ll take it!” beamed the blond on the end. “It’s cute!”

Harry rolled his eyes before handing the glass to her with a smirk.

“Here, Tawnie,” he said. “Pretend it’s your birthday.”

“Aw, yay!” she giggled with glee.

Trying to keep your composure, you poured another glass of Cristal, handing it to Harry.

“Shouldn’t ladies go first?” he remarked, scooting the glass to the girl next to him.

“God, I’m gonna be so wasted,” she laughed.

Swallowing hard, you knew where this was headed, so you poured champagne for the other two girls, then passed around the remaining glasses to the guys, leaving the last for Harry.

“Happy Birthday,” you said again, this time with no enthusiasm. “Enjoy.”

Leaving the bottle on the table, you turned away, cursing under your breath before making your way back to the bar.

“Jesus fucking Christ, kill me now,” you whined at John.

“That bad, huh?��

“He’s a petulant, disrespectful asshole!”

“The good looking ones usually are,” John sighed.

“You think he’s good looking?” you twisted slightly to look over at the booth. Harry was laughing at something one of the other guys had said.

“Honey, don’t tell me you didn’t notice!” chuckled John.

“I was too busy wanting to pour tequila over his head,” you grimaced.

“Well, try not to let it get to you, hon. Just be your sweet self, and get that massive tip. The night will be over, and you’ll never have to see him again.”

With a nod and a sigh, you took the refills for the next table, handing them out with a bright smile. The older gentlemen gave you a thanks and a wink, one of them patting your behind as you bent over. You hated being fondled at work, but if you had a choice, you’d take that any day over dealing with jerks like Harry.

“Excuse me!” you heard someone shout as you started to make your way back to the bar. Speak of the devil.

“Yes?” you grinned, stepping over to Harry’s table. “What can I do for you?”

“Can I get a glass of wat-” asked a brunette before Harry rudely interrupted.

“We need water,” he said, accusingly.

“Sure, no problem. All around?”

“Of course,” he rolled his eyes. Apparently this man lived to be constantly perturbed.

“I’ll get those for you right now.”

“That should have been like…a given, right?” he remarked. “What waitress doesn’t automatically bring water?”

With a sigh, you slid your tray under your arm, pressing your hand on your hip.

“If you want water…or anything for that matter…you can ask for it!” you barked. “I’m happy to bring it to you. But you don’t have to treat me like an imbecile!”

“Jeez,” one of the other guys muttered under his breath.

“What?” Harry glared at you, his eyebrows knitted together.

“You heard me, Birthday Boy! I’m just doing my job!”

As you started to turn away, you heard him mutter, “Doesn’t look like it,” followed by the rest of the group either giggling or shouting “Ooooh!”

You decided not to delight him with a response. Instead, you strutted to the bar where your darling pal John was already getting water glasses ready.

“Fuck me sideways, girl, that was rough!” he exclaimed.

“I’m done, John! I can’t deal with these assholes anymore!”

“Uh oh, looks like you may have to,” John averted his eyes to the glasses in front of him. Turning to see what he was talking about, you nearly ran into Mr. Personality.

“You owe me an apology,” he growled.

“Excuse me? I think it’s the other way around!” you yelled.

“I’m out with my friends for my birthday,” he explained, gesturing toward the table, “and I don’t appreciate the way you’re treating me.”

“The way I’m tr-” you turned beet red. “How dare you! You entitled, self-centered prick!”

“Easy, girl!” you heard John shout, but you paid no mind. You were ready to have it out with this guy.

“What did you call me?”

“Y/N!” someone else shouted. Looking up, you noticed your boss, a scowl on his face as the entire lounge had turned their focus on your encounter. “What seems to be the trouble here?”

“Are you the manager?” asked Harry.

“Yes, sir, how can I assist you?”

“I’m not sure exactly,” he began, “but your waitress here seems to have a problem with me. I’m here celebrating my birthday with my mates, and she’s gone out of her way to be rude to me all evening.”

“What?!?!” you shouted incredulously.

“Y/N, did you have a problem with this young man?”

“No, sir,” you shook your head, your arms crossed over your chest. “It’s the other way around. He’s been nothing but rude since-”

“She just called me a prick,” Harry interjected.

“Because you’re being one!” You glared at the asshole, shooting daggers at him. You felt like your insides were on fire as you held your hands in fists at your sides.

“Y/N, if you can’t control your temper, I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” said your boss.

“I’m sorry, but he’s so rude, Mr-”

“Y/N,” your boss narrowed his eyes at you, before turning to Harry. “Sir, I do apologize for my employee. We do not condone this kind of behavior at our lounge.”

You watched Harry as his shoulders fell, a breath releasing from his nose. “I should hope not.”

“Now…” your boss added. “What can we do to rectify this situation? Perhaps we can put your tab on the house?”

Harry raised his brows, surprised at the offer. “That would…yes, that would be nice. Thank you.”

Your boss nodded, patting Harry on the back. “No problem whatsoever. I hope you’ll come see us again.”

“Not if she’s here,” Harry scowled.

“I assure you, that won’t happen.”

With a gasp, you watched your boss turn around and face you. “Get your things, Y/N,” he said in the most relaxed voice possible, as though you weren’t just getting canned.

“Are you serious?” you cried.

“We don’t talk to our patrons this way,” he explained. “I won’t allow it. Now, put your apron away and clock out.”

Your jaw set, you tried your best not to cry. No, you wouldn’t allow yourself to. Not in front of him.

“Fine,” you said, untying your apron. You slapped it down hard on the bar, then turned for the back room, but not before noticing the sly, satisfied smirk on jerkhead’s face.

Only when you reached the back room did you let the tears fall. Cursing at yourself, at Harry, and your boss, and at the entire situation, you managed to grab your jacket and purse. You almost forgot to clock out, but you figured you might not get paid otherwise. Sitting on the dark green leather sofa, you waited until you thought Harry and his crew might be gone. Then wiping your eyes, you stood up, nearly bumping into John.

“Oh, Y/N, honey I’m so sorry!” he cried, wrapping you in a big hug.

“What the fuck, John? Why does he get to win?”

“I don’t know. The whole ‘the customer is always right’ thing, I guess.”

“That’s a load of bullshit,” you sobbed against his chest..

“Preaching to the choir, sister.”

“Is he gone yet?”

“Mr. Pretentious? Yeah, he left a few minutes ago. Want me to walk you out?”

With a nod, you let John walk you halfway through the lounge until you met up with your boss again who insisted he be the one to see you out. Just in case you were to cause a scene or some shit. As if you would. Not after that whole ordeal. You felt completely defeated…and deflated. You felt the eyes on you as you made it to the front door. Your boss held it open for you as you stepped into the balmy night air. With a sigh you walked to your car, turning once to give Zelda’s the middle finger.

Fuck that Harry guy. Fuck him to hell and back.

“Are you ready?” asked Shae.

With a sigh and a nod, you grabbed your keys. Last month you had promised your roommate that you’d go with her to get a tattoo. While you had been thrilled then about getting some new ink, after getting fired from Zelda’s, the excitement had worn off. In fact, you’d considered canceling all together, seeing as spending dough on a tat now seemed frivolous, and you could certainly use the money in case you couldn’t find another job soon. But in the end, you decided you owed yourself some kindness. And besides, Shae was chomping at the bit to get one, and she wouldn’t let you live until you went with her.

You drove to Fine Line Ink, just a few blocks from your apartment. You’d driven by it several times, but had never gone inside. Shae specifically requested this tattoo shop because apparently it was fairly well-known on social media. At least your roommate had done her research, even though she had no idea what tattoo she wanted to get.

“I’ll know it when I see it,” she’d insisted.

You heard 90s rock music playing when you opened the door, but saw no one standing near the counter, or even in the waiting area. The front room was dark, but with warm lighting, much like at Zelda’s. You could smell incense burning as you gazed around at the walls decorated in various designs. Wandering over to the glass counter, you inspected the display of body jewelry.

“Hi, how can I help you?” you heard a voice say.

Your body instantly felt cold as you stood up straight. You knew that voice. And it was one you’d hoped you would never have to hear again. Turning around, you caught a glimpse of his tall frame, his t-shirt stretched tight across his chest, his biceps peeking out from the sleeves.

Motherfucker.

“Hey,” beamed Shae. “We’re here to get tats.”

Shae gestured toward you, and your body went numb.

“Oh?” Harry raised a brow, then looked at you. The recognition and disdain both happened instantly. “Oh.”

Turning back to Shae, he asked, “Do you know what you want?”

“Not exactly,” she shrugged. “Nothing too big. But not too small either.”

Harry chuckled. “Alright. I have a book right here,” he pointed to one on the counter. “It’s got some ‘not too big, not too small’ ideas in there, if you wanna take a look.”

“Okay, thanks!”

“Take your time,” Harry grinned at her. “I’ll be back.”

He gave Shae a small wave, but you didn’t miss the way his expression changed when he glanced at you before he disappeared to the back.

“So what are you thinking of getting?” your friend asked as she perused the book. She stopped on a page of flowers, but scrunched up her nose. “Nah.”

“Um…let’s go somewhere else,” you told Shae, practically pulling her arm out of the socket.

“What? No! I wanna get a tattoo here!”

“Well, I don’t.”

“Why not? I heard this guy’s the best. Plus…he’s like hella hot!”

“No, he’s not,” you argued.

“Are you fucking blind?” scoffed Shae. Turning the page in the book, she stopped and pointed at a baby lion. “That’s it!”

“I just…” you stammered, “I just don’t think this is a good idea anymore. I changed my mind.”

“Did you find something you like?” Harry asked from the doorway.

“No-”

“Uh huh!” exclaimed Shae. “This baby lion is so cute. It’s so me. I want him right here on my hip.” She jutted out her hip, slapping her hand where she wanted the tattoo to go.

Harry chuckled again, making your insides churn. You wanted to vomit.

“Alright,” he said, handing her a clipboard. “If you’ll just fill this out for me, I’ll go prepare your stencil.”

You weren’t sure what to do. You’d already promised your friend, and she looked so excited. You knew there were dozens of other tattoo shops you could go to, but Shae had picked this one. Why did it have to be this guy’s shop? Of all the fucking…

Taking a deep breath, you lowered yourself slowly in a nearby chair as Shae filled out her paperwork. Signing her name, she turned to you with a smile.

“Isn’t it cute? I’m so excited!”

With a gulp, you were about to respond when Harry returned.

“Let’s go back here,” he gestured once he’d taken the clipboard from Shae.

“Wait, my friend’s getting one too,” she looked at you. “Aren’t you?”

“No.” Although the sound came from your mouth, you could have sworn Harry’s lips moved too.

“Um…” you cleared your throat. “I can’t.”

“Why not?” Shae asked, confused.

Although you didn’t want to, you gazed at Harry. His frown was so apparent, it almost looked like his eyebrows were sewn together. Finally, he relaxed his expression, pretending for Shae’s benefit.

“Don’t reckon I have enough time, love. It’s only me here tonight.”

You had to hand it to him. That was a good answer.

“Oh,” Shae pouted. “But I wanted to get tats together.”

“It’s alright,” you assured her. “I need to save my money. And I doubt there’s anything here I’d want anyway.”

You had to hand it to yourself. That was a nice dig.

It wasn’t lost on Harry, either. He scowled at you before turning for the tattoo chair, Shae following behind.

“This your first tattoo?” you heard Harry ask as you remained in the doorway.

“Yes. So please be gentle,” your friend replied, obviously flirting.

You rolled your eyes as Harry chuckled. In any other situation, with any other man, not only would you have encouraged the flirting, you might have even joined in. Both John and Shae were right in saying he was good looking…or hella hot as it were. Even you had to admit that. But you hated to. And you also hated how his laugh rang through the shop, like an invisible tattoo of its own, lacing with the sound of the Foo Fighters song that played.

Crossing your arms, you leaned against the door frame, trying to think of a way to get out of the situation. You thought of faking an illness. You did feel like throwing up. But Shae wasn’t having it.

“Come sit over here, Y/N!”

“I’m fine here.”

“Noooo. Come over here in case I need to hold your hand. What if I pass out or something?”

“Do you pass out easily?” Harry asked as he pulled on his gloves.

“No,” Shae replied. “I’m actually not scared of needles. But you never know.”

You caught the grin on Harry’s face as he turned in his chair. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Y/N!” Shae whined. “Please!”

Rolling your eyes, you surrendered, walking slowly toward Harry’s tattoo station. You noted everything he had set out on the tray beside him. At least he seemed to know what he was doing. But you weren’t about to admit that. Grabbing a nearby chair, you took a seat on Shae’s other side, opposite from Harry.

“So, you want it on your left hip?” Harry confirmed.

“Yep.”

“Alright. So I’m gonna need you to pull down your pants just a bit, past your hip, and turn on your right side facing…um…your friend.”

“Yes, sir,” Shae smiled, happily willing to oblige.

You watched as she unbuttoned her jeans, sliding them down as sensually as she could on the leather chair. You caught a glimmer in Harry’s eyes when he noticed she was wearing a thong.

“Seriously?” you scoffed.

“What?” he frowned, looking up at you.

“Do you have to ogle at her for fuck’s sake? She’s getting a tattoo, not stripping for you.”

“You’ve got to be joking.”

“Believe me, joking is the last thing I’d be doing with you.”

Shae stared at you as she laid on her side. “Y/N, it’s okay! He can ogle at me all he wants!”

“Shae,” you narrowed your eyes.

“I think your friend can speak for herself,” remarked Harry.

Making a face, you sat back, crossing your arms and legs. His expression stoic, Harry pushed his chair closer to Shae, lightly swiping her skin with rubbing alcohol. Then he took a disposable razor to gently shave her hip.

“I promise I just shaved this morning,” giggled Shae.

“I’m sure you did,” Harry smirked. “It’s just procedure. We have to thoroughly prep the area before adding ink.”

Taking the stencil, he placed it on Shae’s hip, directly under her panty line.

“Is this where you want it?”

“Yes, that’s perfect.”

“Good.” Harry ran his fingers slowly and smoothly across the thermal paper, and you just had to say something.

“You’re enjoying this way too much.”

Blowing air between his lips, Harry glared up at you.

“Would you stop? I’m just doing my job.”

“Oh, really? Could have fooled me. Looks like you’re trying to feel her up.”

“Y/N, what the fuck?” cried Shae. “Do you have a problem with this guy?”

“Oh, you noticed?”

Shae sat up, looking at you quizzically. “Do you know him?” Then lowering her voice, she whispered, “Did y’all fuck?”

Hearing the question, Harry snorted.

“Yeah, you wish,” you scoffed, giving him the evil eye.

“In your dreams, babe.”

“That’s it, I’m outta here,” you sprinted out of your chair, heading for the door.

“Y/N!” Shae shouted. “What is going on?”

“I’m sorry, Shae, I tried to keep my cool. But I can’t even stand to be in the same room as him.”

“Feeling’s mutual,” muttered Harry.

“Ugh!” you cringed. “C’mon, Shae, pull your pants up. We’ll find someone more competent to do your tattoo.”

“I believe I’m more than competent,” Harry rolled his eyes.

“I’m so lost here,” Shae whimpered, still in her chair. “How do you know each other?”

When you reached the doorway, you turned to face her, your arms still crossed.

“He’s the asshole who got me fired.”

“What?! Are you serious?!”

Adjusting herself in her chair, she faced Harry, waiting for him to retort. But he remained expressionless, his mouth in a straight line. Giving up on getting any response from him, you sighed and gestured for Shae again. When she slid off the chair, buttoning her pants, Harry finally spoke.

“I didn’t mean to.”

“What?” you glared at him.

“I…I didn’t mean to get you fired.”

“Sure you didn’t.”

“I mean it. I was…a complete prick to you…just like you said. And I’m sorry.”

“Pffftt,” you sounded. “It's a little late for that. I lost my job because of you!”

“I know, and I felt bad about it.”

“No, you didn’t!” you spat. “You were ecstatic that you’d gotten your way! You’re an asshole!”

“You’re right,” Harry nodded. “I deserve that. But I hope you know that wasn’t me.”

“Do you have an evil twin?”

“No. I was trying to impress my friends.”

“By being a jerk?” piped Shae.

“Yeah. I know it’s not a good look,” Harry shook his head. He rose from his chair, stepping closer to you. “I was seeing this chick, Nicolette…and she was…used to a certain lifestyle. It felt good to be part of her world for a while.”

“Doesn’t sound like friends to me,” you remarked.

“No. They just wanted to go to Zelda’s and get drunk. I swear, it’s not my scene.”

“You don’t say.”

“Look…” Harry sighed. “I’m not asking for forgiveness because I know you won’t give it to me. I have no real justification for the way I acted. I truly was a prick that night. But I regretted it later. I knew it was wrong of me, and I wanted to apologize but I didn’t even know your name, let alone where to find you. I broke it off with Nicolette, too.”

“Oh, jeez, that makes me feel soooo much better,” you said sarcastically.

Throwing his hands up, Harry turned around and began to gather things from the tray.

“You really have some nerve, you know that?” you added.

Harry spun around, “For what? For apologizing?”

“For everything! For acting like a big shot, especially when you obviously didn’t belong there. For yelling at me in front of the entire bar, including my boss, and for getting me fired. And for being rude to me as soon as I walked in here.”

“Hey, you were rude to me first!”

“I was not!”

“Hey, guys?” Shae interjected. “Maybe we should just drop it. You were right, Y/N. We shouldn’t have come here.”

“I swear, Shae, if I had known he worked here, we wouldn’t have. Let’s go.”

As soon as you pushed the door open, you heard Harry huffing. “Your loss, not mine.”

“Fuck you, dude!” you exclaimed. “And get a life. A real one, not someone else’s.”

FEEDBACK IS LOVE

[thecapricunt1616]

Chapter One The Bear & His Honey

Summary: Carmy + Winnie meet, He obviously tries to weasel his way into her heart by cooking for her.

A/N: Eeeep! I am sooo excited to be writing again, i've written fic's since like 2010 & stopped for quite a while, But Carmen has awoken the beast in me once more LOL !!! It's not without much thanks and love to @daysofyellowroses - Her encouragement & excitement for my ideas has inspired me in the most beautiful way. Give her a follow please! Her fic's genuinely are sososooooooo good that they made me want to start writing myself again, The theme and overall organization of her works is immaculate, I admire her works so much! I highly encourage any Carmy lover to take a look!! She is also such a doll!! And so so sooo sweet!!!

Anyhow, I love longer fics - this chapter is nearing 6k words & it initially started as a one shot, so reader be warned I am very wordy!

Warnings; Cursing, ehh I think thats it? Oh! Smoking Cigarettes & The green stuff, but thats all! *We will be getting VERY spicy, angsty, and sickeningly fluffy in this story - if that isn't your cup, ask me anything if you like my style! I am only writing for Carm at this second, but I will be writing ACOTAR & likely other things as I wet my pallate - it's been years for me, but if you have an idea that you want to throw my way, or just wanna talk (even if you just need someone!) I'm here for you peeps! Without further ado- let the show begin.

(Comments + Reblogs + Kind critiques are not only appreciated, but heavily encouraged!)

𝒞𝒽𝑒𝒸𝓀 𝒪𝓊𝓉 𝑀𝓎 𝑀𝒶𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓉!

-------------------------------------------------------------------

One

I took a deep breath, the dry, late winter air sticking my nostrils together momentarily- fuck. I hate this god-damned weather. I shuffle across the street, my boots mushing through the late-winter Chicago slush. I slosh into the alley, my boots squelching with every step. I trudge across the street, nearly gagging at every soggy step, feeling my socks ever so slowly become wet. 

I sludge my way finally to the (god-blessed, shoveled) alley across the way, that connected The Next Page to the street in front of it, and hear a muttered “fuck” & my eyes lift from the locked spot on my salty, wet boots. They meet the side-profile of an undeniably handsome curly dirty blonde male, my eyes rolling, as he pats his pockets down. I assume he forgot his light. 

As I approached him, I piped up. “Missin’ somethin’?” I flick my pink lighter to life with my thumb, My eyes meeting his large blue ones. He leans forward, gently lighting his cigarette between my thumb and the flame. “Thanks” he muttered, sucking on the cigarette between his lips, his eyes locked on me. 

“Y’ smoke?” he questioned. I shook my head gently, “Not cigarettes, but I’m bout’ to eat, s’why not?” I slipped the small tin from my pocket, pulling a shorty from the box. I put it between my lips, leaning in close, touching the joint tip to the burning end of his cigarette gently, and took a slow drag once it was fully lit.

“Work here?” I motion at the building next to us with my chin, smoke spilling from my lips as I speak. His white t-shirt made me guess he could be a line cook or a bus boy at the restaurant that had been crowding the block the past few months. He nodded, a large puff of smoke leaving his lips, the edges of his lips upturning a bit into a smile. 

“Mhmm, own it.” he said casually, taking another drag, my eyebrows raising. “Hmm,” I hummed, smoke puffing from my nose obviously in the winter air. “Wow, from the shirt- thought you’re a busboy, quite the humble owner mm’?” I teased, a smile dancing on my lips as I pulled another puff of my joint. “Yea- guess so” he teased, shrugging lightly. 

“My boss comes by once in a blue moon, so either you’re a grade-A asshole, or have crippling OCD and you think your business is gonna fail.” I teased, blowing smoke past his left as I leaned against the brick wall. He chuckled, “Alright, well- Sugar says I’m OCD whatever the fuck that means, so you got me” he shrugged. I laughed. “I can so see it, what’s your name?” I asked. 

His eyes flutter to my lips, before meeting my eyes again. “Carmen.” He replied, putting his cigarette back to his lips and taking a deep drag. “Winnie..” I replied nibbling the inside of my lip gently. Carmen. Carmen. Carmen. The word echoed in my mind like an invocation. “Winnie” he repeated, smoke spilling from his lips in tendrils.

“Full name?” He questioned. A heat rose to my cheeks and I rolled my eyes, gaze flicking to my sneakers as I took another drag of my joint. “Winnow. Shut up, if you laugh, I’ll cut off your dick. My parents were never married, not sure what they were thinking.” I mutter, the tips of my ears heating in embarrassment. “Mmm” he hummed.

I look back up at him, “No slick comments?” I asked, genuinely surprised. He shrugged. “Winnow is pretty, people make fun of that?” He questioned, dropping the mostly burnt cigarette to the ground and crushing it with his chef's clog. My cheeks felt like they were on fire. “A dude named Carmen, not used t’ people pokin’ at your name?” my glance meets his.

His arms were now crossed over his chest, his delicious biceps becoming more prominent. “Go by Carm, mostly” he shrugged. Carm. “Hmm.” I hummed. “Carm. Suits you.” I said, my eyes grazing over the tattoos adorning his arms. “Yeah?” his tongue grazed his lips, a smirk pulling at the corners. 

“Mhhmm” I reach out, my finger brushing over the ‘773’ on his arm. “From ‘round here huh?” I questioned, my eyes meeting his blue ones once more. “Ye’, east side” he said, to which I nodded. “Sorry, don’t know too much, from New York.” I said, my arms crossing over my own chest. 

“Yeah? Where about? Did culinary school out there.” he replied. “Rochester” I nod, my accent coming out slightly. “Ah, alright. Like yourself a garbage plate?” he teased. I laughed, a real laugh, something few and far between these days. “Wow, so you really went to school out there eh’? I do actually, know how that came to?” I asked my fingers finding a loose string on my jacket to fiddle with.

“Not at all, thought it was a myth- you really eat that shit out there?” he joked. I giggled. “Don’t make me hit you, Yes! We do, so story goes, frat guys stumble all drunk in to Nick Tahoes, and they tell the line cook to give ‘em the plate with ‘all the garbage’ on it. And so, since it was closing time, they took all the carby leftovers they were gonna throw out, and threw em on a plate- the guys loved it” he grimaced playfully “eugh! Guys never heard of a burger?” 

 I laughed again “there is a burger, Carm! mmm,” I hum my eyes closing and head falling back at the memory of such a comfort meal. “oh my god, mac salad, cold! Has to be cold, Carm, then you do baked beans,” I paused at his brows furrowing “Don’t look at me like that, asshole” I shove his shoulder playfully, earning a chuckle. 

“No- nope keep on explaining your… catastrophe” he teased, I gasped, feigning a shot to the heart. “Wow, Carmy, you know how to flatter a girl huh? Insulting the indigenous dish of her homeland?!” I joked, causing him to really laugh. A beautiful sound I wanted to hear more often. “Ok, ok, so then you add the homefries, then - the house chilli, ohhh my god!” I groaned my head falling back “Soo, so good, then, you add on a burger patty, or a hotdog, or both if you feel frisky” he laughed again, his eyes crinkling adorably.

“How often do you feel frisky mm? Or are you a more tame girl?” he teased. I smacked the side of his jaw gently with a large bashful smile adorning my lips, “Carmen! You do not ask a lady how often she gets frisky!” I giggled, poking his muscular chest gently. “Ok, ok, keep going- or is that the end of the abomination?” he questioned and I dug my knuckle into his chest playfully.

“Nope!! Then you add chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard!!” I grinned and he grimaced jokingly. “Holy Jesus, your breath could knock out an army after that I’d bet” he teased earning another true laugh from me. “I swear, you own his place? If you thought you were busy before- add a garbage plate to the menu, and you’ll be rich, Carmen” I adjusted the Saint Anthony chain around his neck gently, so the pendant was facing front. 

His cheeks got a bit flushed. “Well, i’m makin’ a new dessert menu, if you wanted to come in and check it out, How bout’ I make you a garbage plate, well, the Carmen-Garbage plate, we don’t do chilli here, but I think you’ll like what I pull together” he offered. 

I took another drag of my joint, contemplating. “Alright. Shops been slow today so, Mel won’t notice if I sneak an extra few minutes in” i put out the nub on the wall, before dropping it and crushing it under the toe of my boot. 

“C’mon” he nods, pulling open the large metal door that leads into the kitchen.

Read Chapter 2 Here!

[fran-does-things]

I’m definitely very late to the party, but I’ve finally finished the profile for my @shepherds-of-haven MC! Oh well, better late than never, I suppose. She’s loosely adapted from an old DnD PC of mine from a CoS campaign that I had such a blast role-playing! It took a while to hammer out all the details, but I’m really proud of how she turned out!

Anyway, without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to Cecilia Niriviel, Hero of Haven, and gaslight gatekeep girlboss extraordinaire!

(also, if you saw me delete and then reupload this post like 3 times, no you didn’t <3)

(Warning: The following excerpt contains vague references to events that occur in Chapter 9 of the Alpha build) “On the contrary, my friends, I think this is actually one of the better outcomes that could have resulted from that conversation. As much as it hurts my pride to say this, even I must admit that I’m a bit out of my depths when it comes to all this… old magic stuff. But blackmail?” At this, she smiles; a sharp, predatory smile that would have sent chills down the spines of the toughest of men. “Blackmail, I’m very familiar with. If that woman thinks that she’s the only one capable of playing dirty, then it would seem that her little homework assignment into my past wasn’t as thorough as she thinks it is. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” - Cecilia Niriviel, in a conversation with her allies at the Sun Court.

Some Additional Fun Facts that I Couldn’t Include in the Original Profile

Chase has a whole host of nicknames for her, including, but not limited to: ‘blondie’ (her hair really is very blonde), ‘doll/dolly’ (owing to her large, round eyes), and ‘princess’ (this one comes up often when he’s teasing her for being particularly fussy/diva-like)

Celia has a particularly tumultuous relationship with beauty, like many women do, I’d imagine. She’s always been regarded as very conventionally attractive, which means that, for better or for worse, her looks are often the first thing (and main thing) that people notice about her. This has unfortunately led to her having developed a sense of self-worth that’s wrapped up in her appearance in some pretty destructive ways. A lot of her behavioural quirks are manifestations of this core belief. One of the absolute worst things that anyone, particularly a lover, could do to her is to make her feel as though her looks are the only thing that she is valued for; I think that would really crush her self-esteem and lead her down a horrible self-destructive spiral.

She loves cats. Or any other cute, small animals, really, but especially cats. If she sees a cat, she will immediately drop whatever it is she was doing to either pet the cat or just coo at it from afar if it doesn’t want to be touched. Her very obvious love of small animals is what helped to endear her to Tallys and Shery in the early days of her joining the order, who either wasn’t too sure whether she could be trusted (Tallys) or found her a bit intimidating at first (Shery).

When it comes to her stance on love, she's what I would describe as a 'closet romantic'. After a string of bad experiences, I think she’s convinced herself that she’s just not cut out for all this love business , but deep down she’s always retained that innocent, child-like romanticism. When she was a little girl, she’s always been fascinated by fairytales about brave knights and princesses, of soulmates, and of the power of true love; and I think there’s a part of her that’s still in love with the idea of love and is still waiting for her one true love to show up! (Just you wait, Celia; little do you know, your prince charming is sneaking up on you like an assassin in the dark ;))

She doubled as a black-market informant during the years she spent working as a courtesan, selling information about her wealthy patrons to anyone willing to pay her a hefty sum. Listen: long story short, the girl was stuck in a predatory labour contract, and she needed to make money somehow if she wanted to get out of it sooner rather than later! Occasionally, she would also take on small jobs like stealing, smuggling things, etc… It helped that she had developed a few contacts in the local thieves’ guilds from her days as a street-child who would go on to help her get her foot in the door, so to speak. This line of work has never really bothered her; most of her patrons were, in her eyes, nothing but predatory, hedonistic pigs, though there are some crimes so heinous that even she’s not willing to abet in it, or some people who she just couldn’t bring herself to harm. This is a time of her life that she looks back on with a little shame and remorse, in her later years. Just a little.

Celia was partly inspired by my own struggles with overcoming trauma. I’ve always been fascinated by the ‘femme fatale’ character archetype, and she is, in a way, my take on a deconstructed version of that trope. I think of her journey from ruthless mercenary to renowned hero as less of a redemption story, or of a battle between the good and evil within, but more of a story of healing and growth. A story of someone learning to overcome their maladaptive behaviours and moving past traumatic life events. Learning to stop being beholden to events that have long transpired and to allow yourself to just live life the way you want to live

Her closest friends in the Shepherds are Chase (twin!), Lavinet (bestie!), Tallys (big sister!), and Riel (co-mastermind for world domination!). She also has a particular soft spot for all the female Shepherd captains. I’d say the characters she has the most interesting dynamic with are actually Chase and Briony, but this is a story for another time!

There is betting pool among the officers on who Celia is involved with. Funny enough, for a very long time, Riel is generally considered the top contender, not Blade, which is just hilarious on so many levels. I think a lot of the officers tend to excuse their more suspicious interactions as just... Celia being Celia (read: a notorious flirt) and Blade being Blade (read: a stick-in-the-mud) and can’t fathom the idea of them getting together. On the other hand, Riel and Celia just play off each other really well, so I can definitely see some of the Shepherds extrapolating a romantic connection from their professional synergy. It doesn't help that they’re often seen together on the off chance that they both have some time off, or that they primarily communicate through cryptic looks and subtle eye-glances. I imagine that once Blade and Celia's relationship becomes official/more public, it would cause a mild panic among the recruits because "I thought she was seeing the other commander? Wtf is going on???"

Bonus: In a pre-relationship crushing stage, poor Blade is probably 4th on the officers’ betting list of ‘who is Commander Niriviel secretly fucking’, right below Chase and Briony. Chase and Celia practically invented platonic flirting, and there many who mistake Briony and Celia’s frequent sleepovers/girl-talk sessions as something far less innocent than it really is. At this point, I’m pretty sure she’s been suspected of sleeping with pretty much all of the captains at one point or another. Being the busybody social butterfly that she is, Celia’s definitely heard most if not all of these rumours, but she really doesn’t care enough to do anything about it most of the time, plus she finds some of these rumours to be so preposterous that it’s actually kind of funny.

I had no idea that Celia was going to be a Blademancer, and yet here we are! I really thought it was going to be either Chase or Red, but I think it just wouldn’t have worked out quite as well. The slow burn comes from the fact that both Blade and Celia currently have their heads stuck far up their asses, albeit in different ways. It takes Blade a while to realize/accept that he's even in love, and while Celia is self-aware enough to realize when she's falling for someone, she's not emotionally mature enough to deal with it in a normal way. There was a lot of screaming and cursing and "this can't be happening to me; I don't fall for people!! People fall for me!!!" They both learn to get over their fears and hesitations, however, when they realize just how much life and vibrancy the other brings to their life. I like to think that Celia helps Blade come out of his shell, to learn to be a little more selfish when it matters and helps him enjoy the beauty in life; meanwhile Blade is a grounding force for her; he sees past her smokescreens, reminds her of her goodness, and makes her want to be a better person.

If you've made it this far, thank you for indulging me in my ramblings about a fictional character! There may be more Celia content coming in the future; I've been thinking a lot about the events of Chapter 4 and might write something on that. suffice to say I've honestly really fallen in love with the game and with its cast of characters. I've found myself with a lot of free time this week (clearly) and have finally caught up to the update, and all I can say is that Celia and I are both currently having the time of our lives watching the drama unfold. Can't wait to see what else is coming next! <3

[phoenixcatch7]

Persephone captain marvel au. Hear me out.

Associated with duality, reincarnation, resurrection, childhood innocence (and it getting ripped away by adults), and her 'counterpart' Kore, which is her in her returning aspect of spring, youthfulness, new life... Come on. Is that not the closest thing to Billy you've ever seen in ancient Greece? Where he gets his powers?

It all starts with Teth Adam, and his devastation at the death of his son. He finds the old paths, breaks them open, and storms down into the underworld to demand him back. His is not a new story.

But where Persephone might ordinarily be inclined to ease her husband's scorn, give the troubled mourner a chance, she is speaking to the champion of magic, the world's mightiest mortal. The chance of success is too high. The challenge would not be enough. The death was too high profile and would risk too many attempting to follow in his footsteps. The man is too unstable, too powerful, too close to the heart of magic for it to be safe - for any of him - to grant his wish and risk his false hope.

They deny him.

Enraged, implacable, Teth Adam lashes out. The battle is long and drawn out, neither side tiring even as both weaken, but Persephone, in either form, is not one of war, and she is felled as her curses shatter, her furies tossed aside like dolls. The sound of Hades' scream as Adam's surprise leaves him open flattens the rubble of their throne room.

The wounded champion escapes, hounded by cerberus and skeletons instead of his son's shade, as her husband crashes to his knees beside her. She has not a mortal soul, and thus will be going where even Death cannot reach.

But Adam killed the goddess of reincarnation, and Billy has odd dreams. He's pretty sure he needs to ease up on the stress. He's restless in winter and distracted in summer, he can sleep outside in howling storms as long as he's tucked snug in the boughs of a tree, he's had the luck of never tasting a rotten fruit. Sometimes it feels like there's ghosts in his hideouts and the kids at school try and bribe him to curse their enemies.

When he chosen to be Captain Marvel the wizard chokes on his own speech when the smoke clears. They stare at each other.

"Well," says Persephone, "that was unexpected. Hullo."

"Hello," the wizard replies, "I was under the impression..."

"I don't think the laws of interference quite apply until I'm immortal again," he says.

The wizard's relief is palpable. It's understandable, he looks ready to keel over from old age. "Can I ask...?" he gestures at the new body. It takes a second to understand.

"Oh, I'm a boy now. For a while."

And that's that.

Until green lantern is killed in battle.

[mcx7demonbros]

How Much For The Human?

Minific so it’s gonna be short

Pairings. The Brothers x Elias, Mephisto x Elias

C/W. Some idiotic demon offers to purchase the Brothers’ favorite human. Mephisto being OOC.

Also, I’m nearly done with Elias’s Masterlist & profile when I got the inspiration. Maybe I’ll post it tomorrow.

“Lucifer, may I ask a couple of questions about your recent scandal with Agatha the Golden Witch.” Mephistopheles asked after he entered Lucifer’s study at the House of Lamentation.

“No comment.” Lucifer answered bluntly while asking himself who had let this idiotic demon into the house.

“Don’t you think you should clarify something about the rumor?” Mephisto baited the Avatar of Pride but the latter didn’t even look up from his mountain of paper.

Just when Mephisto was thinking of other taunting words when the door opened and Elias entered the room.

“Here’s your hell coffee, Lu-ahem, I mean, my Lord.” Elias coughed as he noticed the noble before putting the coffee on the eldest’s table.

“Thank you.” Lucifer looked at his beloved and smiled.

Did the Lucifer just smile? Mephisto was quick to catch on that Lucifer’s attitude was different from before. To him, Lucifer never smiled, except in the case of his brothers and Diavolo. The demon never smiled to anyone whom he deemed not worth of his presence, including various demons, much less a human. But right at thay moment, Mephisto gave his human steward a genuine smile.

If I buy the human off him right now, what reaction will he have? As Lucifer’s rival, Mephisto couldn’t help but have a nasty thought.

“Hey human, how much for you and your service?”

Lucifer turned to Mephisto, his eyes looking at the noble like he’s a dead demon. You want to steal what’s mine?

Before Lucifer or Elias opened their mouths, the other six brothers entered the room.

“Oi, Elias is not some random good, what makes you think you could buy Elias?”

“That’s right. Elias is not a figurine.”

“Nor a fashion doll.”

“Yeah, we will not sell Elias.”

“Mephistopheles, get out of here before I get real mad.”

“And never come back.”

“Can’t you unruly demons calm down? And I’m asking your steward here, not you.” Mephisto said before turning to Elias “What do you think? I’m sure I can give you the same thing Lucifer promised you. And you will only have to serve me and my well-mannered brother, I believe that will be much less work for you than working for these chaotic brothers.”

“Sound very tempting.” Elias said as the brothers looked at him with surprise face. They were like “Elias, WHAT!?”

“But I have to decline. You see, I’m currently very happy living here with the Brothers.” Hearing Elias answered, all of the brothers sighed in relief.

“Also, if you really want to buy me off the Brothers, you have to offer more than they can or have already offered. Oh, I forget you can’t do that, because to be able to offer more than the Brothers can, you have to be Diavolo or his father.”

“Bl-blasphemous!” Mephisto shouted before leaving the room, embarrassed.

The Brothers burst out laughing and cackle as Mephisto slammed the door. However, their happiness didn’t last long.

“Now, tell me, my dear brothers, why are you standing outside the room. Are you spying or planning a prank?” Lucifer asked as he took out his torture tool.

That damn human, how could he humiliate a prestigious demon noble like that. Mephisto talked to himself as he left the House of Lamentation. But I can’t deny that’s kind of hot. Mephisto thought about Elias’s “defiant moment” as he blushed.

@sparkbeast20 this is a story with my new MC

[kithtaehyung]

Hello, it’s me again. 📖

I was reading your last update and then went back to read forfeit to check if I missed anything, Yes I have a lot of free time.. my flight got delayed twice already.. 😐

I just thought why not doing this again, so here I am. well I really enjoyed reading the very anticipated TALK it was about time, and glad to see tangerine man got to externalize his feelings finally… and it was fucking great to see reader giving him the push he needed acknowledging his struggles and all. My man finally evolved from sneaky link to partner 😂 he went from having to act all nonchalant and cool to being all clingy and protective. it was funny to read the change and it was very accurate to real life, seeing his change of gears like: you are mine.. now kiss me 😂 accurate as fuck. Also god damn there’s no feeling like hearing that person saying the most anticipated “I’m yours” am I right? Because ladies we also need the reassurance, the feelings, THE TITLE! 😂

I hope brother don’t get all pissy at Yoongi when he decides to talk to him (Because YOU are talking to him right Yoongi? 👀) I think it’s necessary for both of them to have a one on one talk, and I’m pretty sure brother would be ok with it, after all that’s his mate.. yeah he kind off broke one of the rules of the bro code 😂 but come on brother knows Yoongi best, he has to know that he is serious about reader if it’s Yoongi who talks to him instead of hearing from someone else.. not me being all nervous for tangerine man 😂.

It will work out they deserve it.

Great work as always autor. (Feels kinda weird calling you by your name as I don’t really know you so I hope it’s ok for me to call you writer or autor)

Now.. I have a bit of a complaint if you allow me.

It’s about the “Hey doll”.. Alright so I used to call Ki “Doll” before (She has this big round eyes that make her look like a doll, very pretty) and I’m talking about before we got married alright, so let’s say about 3 years ago, so I was first. Last week I got home from work and I don’t know maybe it’s because I had read your story or who knows but I got home and she was in the baby’s bathroom giving him a bath, I got in like always kissed her cheek and said “Hi doll” well.. she looked at me more like glared at me and said “The fuck? Are you Min Yoongi? I don’t think so”

Fuck. I was first ok? And fine i get it I’m like number 9 on my wife’s list, our baby being first, then of course Suga and after that every member of bts so I know my spot (that when the cat doesn’t rank above me) but now.. now I’m also below YOUR Yoongi? 😂 unfair. So I have a request dear autor, make tangerine man a bit unattractive please, do this man a solid would you? 😂

Ok that was all.. sorry about the long message I have been told I talk a lot.

Kind regards, have a beautiful day. ✌🏼

- 📖

P.S. I made my own profile..? Blog..? But I kind of like the emoji system, how does that work? Am I still 📖 or the name on my profile? (Which I was told “Please don’t use your real name, and please don’t use photos with your face in them” 😂) thanks ✌🏼

📖 HELLO!! oh my god i'm so sorry the flight got delayed.. but that does give some free time! love the profile and the 📖 is still very much yours, no worries there. we can stick with that. (also good advice from ki, v v good advice.) response under the cut bc i am still WHEEZINGGG

I just thought why not doing this again, so here I am. well I really enjoyed reading the very anticipated TALK it was about time, and glad to see tangerine man got to externalize his feelings finally… and it was fucking great to see reader giving him the push he needed acknowledging his struggles and all.

tangerine man finally getting to externalize his feelings is fantastic to see. he's put so much damn pressure on himself because of past circumstances and past/current views, but.. to see all of that come forth? and having reader encourage him enough to do that? goddamn.

My man finally evolved from sneaky link to partner 😂 he went from having to act all nonchalant and cool to being all clingy and protective. it was funny to read the change and it was very accurate to real life, seeing his change of gears like: you are mine.. now kiss me 😂 accurate as fuck. Also god damn there’s no feeling like hearing that person saying the most anticipated “I’m yours” am I right? Because ladies we also need the reassurance, the feelings, THE TITLE! 😂

SNEAKY LINK TO PARTNER ahahah gone!! and the sudden switch?? it truly is accurate bc i have seen it myself😂😂 all of y'all that ever question this sudden change in character, take it from us: it happens. and it's the greatest thing to see someone go from nonchalant to being.. well, how yoongi was. we knewwww he was a big softie under all the confidence and fuckboy-ness lol it just took reader to show it :')))

GUYS NEED REASSURANCE TOO i've learned that, as well. reader coming into her own and voicing that they are yoongi's too? yoongi definitely needed that. he's been needing that for quite awhile now, and i've been sneaking that in with all the times he's asked reader what they want.

I hope brother don’t get all pissy at Yoongi when he decides to talk to him (Because YOU are talking to him right Yoongi? 👀) I think it’s necessary for both of them to have a one on one talk, and I’m pretty sure brother would be ok with it, after all that’s his mate.. yeah he kind off broke one of the rules of the bro code 😂 but come on brother knows Yoongi best, he has to know that he is serious about reader if it’s Yoongi who talks to him instead of hearing from someone else.. not me being all nervous for tangerine man 😂.

the callout. omfg. the cALLOUT. yoongi?? you hearing this?? i do agree on the whole them talking one on one about it bc they're them. it's always been yoongi and bro. they're brothers and i just kjfdklf GOD they really do need to (hopefully) have that eventually. will it be messy? civil? little bit of both? we don't know yet, but if it comes down to it, we shall see how all of that plays out. it's completely normal to be nervous for tangerine man, especially if you've been in that position.

It will work out they deserve it.

Great work as always autor. (Feels kinda weird calling you by your name as I don’t really know you so I hope it’s ok for me to call you writer or autor)

thank you so much! it's totally ok to call me writer/author. i don't mind that at all.

Now.. I have a bit of a complaint if you allow me.

It’s about the “Hey doll”.. Alright so I used to call Ki “Doll” before (She has this big round eyes that make her look like a doll, very pretty) and I’m talking about before we got married alright, so let’s say about 3 years ago, so I was first. Last week I got home from work and I don’t know maybe it’s because I had read your story or who knows but I got home and she was in the baby’s bathroom giving him a bath, I got in like always kissed her cheek and said “Hi doll” well.. she looked at me more like glared at me and said “The fuck? Are you Min Yoongi? I don’t think so”

Fuck. I was first ok? And fine i get it I’m like number 9 on my wife’s list, our baby being first, then of course Suga and after that every member of bts so I know my spot (that when the cat doesn’t rank above me) but now.. now I’m also below YOUR Yoongi? 😂 unfair. So I have a request dear autor, make tangerine man a bit unattractive please, do this man a solid would you? 😂

I. AM. CRYING. i was crying when i read this the first time but i'm absolutely bringing the tears back another round reading this through again because LMAOOOO KI!! ki, if you see this: i love you. i love you for all time and for bringing this wonderful husband of yours into the 3tan space because oh my god. y'all just made my entire year😂

i can't promise that i can fulfill your request bc even if i attempt to make this yoongi unattractive he's gonna be like "lol you tried" and it's gonna backfire in my own damn face😂 we're all just gonna have to suffer. i am. so sorry LOLOL

Ok that was all.. sorry about the long message I have been told I talk a lot. Kind regards, have a beautiful day. ✌🏼

📖, this was incredible. thank you for sharing your perspective (and validating!!) because it makes all the writing and thinking and editing everything until my eyes hurt so worth it. this is awesome, quite frankly, and guys read 3tan has quickly shot into one of the top 3 things that's happened in my tumblr years!!

until next time!! y'all both stay safe and so dang cool😂

[chappell-roans]

ive felt similarly bad about emerald fennel because on one hand its great were getting more high profile female writers and directors i just wish they were better 🙃. people already critiqued saltburn for how empty it was and how it lacked depth and promising young women was a mixed bag and was carried by how topical and flashy it was.

I don't think greta is capable of putting out a bad movie but it might just have a lot of highs and lows. Id really love if she payed homage to the og movies and maybe had some cameos but im just hoping for something distinctly stylistic. im not sure what books they're exactly planning on adapting but we might end up getting a lot of unique movies set in the same universe which could be extremely interesting. I love franchises and connected universes I just think it fails when the execs start interfering too much like always lol.

Oh, I feel the same way about Emerald, I didn't really enjoy Saltburn much myself and PYW is... what it is. It had shock-factor more than anything. I agree about Greta, I think she's just idk how to say it but smarter and has more story sense than Emerald does. (Even with Barbie being messy, and I do think there was some interference, given the doll and major motion picture of it all, but who the hell knows and cares at this point tbh.) I feel like Greta already has a really interesting career but it's going to continue being interesting bc I don't think she's going to do just one thing. I mean I guess she's proven that already, her movies are all basically coming of age, but set in different times and even like fictional worlds. Trueee I always forget how many Narnia books there are. That could be very cool! I'm excited to see her dive more into fantasy tbh. Her stories so far have been quite grounded -- even Barbie. So it'll be interesting to see that translate into an actual magical world. (Barbie was, yes, but the real world and satire blah blah idk.)

But yeah. We shall see I guess.

Also can I note that it's interesting that both of these female directors we're talking about started as actors? And then Zoe Kravitz just wrote and directed a movie (Blink Twice). I know there are plenty from non-acting backgrounds, and there are plenty of male actors turned directors, but idk. I'd be curious if that continues to be a trend, whether they return to acting (Emerald has and I know Zoe will; TBD about Greta), because I feel like most do (Jodie Foster directs occasionally, for example). IDK. It just struck me.

[fortuositywritings]

Love Hard

WandaxReader, LoveHardAU, it’s christmas and fake dating, what more could you want

Summary: You travel across the country only to get catfished by Wanda Maximoff

Y/N - Love Actually? Worst. Christmas. Movie. EVER.

Wanda - Hey Y/N. So how do you REALLY feel about my favorite Christmas movie?

That’s how this all started. You swiped right on Wanda thinking she was attractive. Nothing much to it then that. She lives in New York. You didn’t actually think anything would come out of this but then you two started texting and you feel like you finally clicked with someone. 

She almost felt too good to be true. You told your friend Daisy about her and she also couldn’t believe it. She thought you might be getting catfished but then Wanda sent a photo of herself holding a sign with your name on it after Daisy called her and it was enough to satisfy Daisy. 

Soon messaging turned into calls that could last hours. You talked about everything and nothing and it was amazing. 

You hadn’t had luck with love. All the people you’ve met through the app made horrific dates but great stories much to your boss’ satisfaction. 

You have your own column in which you write about these dates gone wrong. Unsurprisingly, people love to read about your misfortunes.

Because you think this is some chance you just can’t miss, you convince yourself with a push from Daisy that flying to New York to surprise Wanda wasn’t so crazy. 

The journey to Wanda’s town is frustrating. Your luggage didn’t make it with you. There is only one person working as a driver for both Uber and Lift. Oddly enough, Scott, the driver, says he knows Wanda. Small town, you guess. He offers you a snack in the car but when you see he’s offering you kiwi, you reject him because you are allergic.

He drops you off at the Maximoff residence. There is an awkward introduction to Wanda’s parents. They seem overly excited to meet you. They seem surprised to hear about you. Wanda’s mom calls for her to come into the living room. 

You are anxious and excited to meet Wanda in person. You wonder if she’ll be just as excited to see you. Your heart beats feel as loud as the steps you hear her take as she approaches. And then suddenly you wish you hadn’t done this. 

You have totally been catfished. 

Your Wanda, the Wanda from the pictures, has short red hair and sharp features and wears tight jeans and leather jackets. This Wanda has long brown hair and softer features and she’s definitely taller. Her winter clothes can’t hide the height difference. Her green eyes are not the same shade you’ve been dreaming about. The only thing in common this Wanda has is an affinity for jewelry, real Wanda sporting rings on her fingers and virtual Wanda has countless earrings. 

Wanda freaks out when she sees you standing in her living room with her parents. She races after you when you rush out the door. 

“Y/N! Y/N, wait! I can explain!” she says hurriedly.

You turn around. It’s so cold outside, you can see the wisps of your warm breath in the winter air as you reply. “I don’t understand. We talked. I made sure– the… the photo! It had my name on it. You wrote ‘Bye, Y/N!’”

“I’m pretty good at photoshop,” Wanda replies awkwardly.

“Oh my god!” You look for the closest thing to throw at her in her front yard. You grab the doll from the nativity scene.

“Okay, let’s take a deep breath,” Wanda suggests. She tries to calm you down when she sees  you grab the doll from the nativity scene. “Not the baby Jesus. Don’t. No, no, no, no.”

You ignore her and begin to hit her arm with baby Jesus. “What kind of psychopath creates a fake profile and then starts a fake relationship online?!”

“What kind of psycho flies across the country and shows up on someone’s front lawn?” Wanda counters.

“You said and I quote ‘I wish you were here with me for Christmas’!” you defend.

“That’s just something people say like, ‘your baby’s so cute’ or ‘my diet starts tomorrow’.” You start walking away, not believing the words coming out of Wanda’s mouth. She keeps talking. “Everybody knows that. Well, apparently not everybody.”

You do a slow 180, giving her a deathly glare. “Are you implying this is my fault?”

“Nobody is blaming anybody, okay? Maybe, maybe you’ve never dated a European woman before and you’re in shock!”

“Yes, I have. She was born in Slovakia and she was amazing in bed,” you disclose. “How could you lie to me? I really liked you.”

Wanda apologizes, “I’m sorry. I…I never meant for it to go this far. Okay? Can we go back inside and–”

“No, I’m not going inside! I’m not going anywhere with you. I never want to see you again. Okay?” You storm off walking down the sidewalk with baby Jesus still in your hand. 

Wanda yells after you, “You don’t know where you’re going!”

You answer back, “baby Jesus will take the wheel.”

You end up at a bar. You take a few shots to try and forget this whole ordeal when you hear a noisy group come in. You look over and your eyes nearly fall out of their sockets when you see your Wanda (virtual Wanda) amongst the group. You rush into the restroom to call Daisy and tell her everything that happened. 

Daisy says you owe it to yourself to approach this Wanda and see where it goes. You tell her you don’t want to further embarrass yourself, to which she replies that your dignity is long gone and that if this goes awry you would have the greatest story on your column yet. 

You are convinced but you need a little more liquid courage before you make your acquaintance. You take another shot, not looking at how the bartender is making it. You throw it back before you go take a turn at the karaoke machine. 

You start off dramatically, back to the crowd. This Wanda gets excited at hearing a song she likes being sung. She eyes your backside and checks you out. Then you turn around and surprise her. You think you are doing great, not realizing this Wanda is having a hard time looking you directly in the eye. 

Real Wanda walks into the bar, figuring you’d be in here if the baby Jesus in the snow outside the door is any indication of your whereabouts. She sees what’s wrong before you do. You put on a whole show until halfway through the song you catch your reflection and see your face is swollen. 

You scream and run out of the bar. Real Wanda runs after you while fake (virtual) Wanda cheers for your performance inside. 

“There must have been kiwi in those shots,” you croak. You’re on your knees on the sidewalk. Wanda hands you your bag and you rifle through it. “Where is it? Where is it?”

“Wha– Where’s what?” Wanda asks, trying to help you.

You claw at your throat that’s closing. You manage to say, “My epipen,” before face planting in the snow. 

“Oh, shit!” Wanda searches your bag frantically. 

You wake up lying on a cold table. 

“Thank god, you’re not dead,” Wanda sighs.

You groan, “Where am I?”

“A hospital,” Wanda answers. You look around and see x-rays of a cat. You narrow your eyes at Wanda. 

“You took me to a vet?”

“The human hospital is thirty minutes away and I didn’t want to risk it. But relax, Dr. Strange is the best in town,” Wanda assures you.

“Hello,” Dr. Strange, you assume, walks through the door. “I’m Dr. Strange. Wow! You look a lot, uh, a lot better. Huh Right? Good thing Wanda brought you in when she did, huh? ‘Cause you were like … Whoo!”

Dr. Strange motions how puffy your face was. “You’re gonna be fine. Stay as long as you like. Couple biscuits under the tree for you if you like.”

You and Wanda thank the doctor and he leaves you two alone. 

“So, you met the real Natasha tonight, huh? Did you really think sexy karaoke was going to work?” Wanda teases. “This is not LA and Natasha is not an LA girl. Hot people hit on her here all the time and they’re all the same. If you want her to notice you, do something different.”

“Oh, she noticed me tonight,” you say sarcastically as you rub your face.

“Honestly, your face was so swollen you looked more like Chucky. I doubt she’ll recognize you.”

“I don’t know anything about this girl,” you say.

“But I do.” Wanda discloses, “Not only were Natasha and I best friends until 8th grade, I have been pretending to be her for the last two weeks.”

“So what?” You wish she’d get to the point.

“So,I know Natasha better than she knows herself. I can help you get him.”

“Why would you do that?” you ask, wondering what Wanda’s angle is.

“Well maybe if I’m helping you with something, maybe you can do something for me in return,” she proposes. 

You immediately take it the wrong way. “I am not having sex with you.”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all.” Wanda adds hesitantly, “I was thinking maybe you can, um, pretend to be my girlfriend until Christmas.”

“Um, why?”

“Did you see how my parents looked at me tonight when they thought you were my girlfriend? Being seen with you? That would be a huge win. I mean, you know, look at you.” She tries negotiating, “All I’m asking for is a week. Then we’ll stage a breakup and you’ll be free from me forever.”

You get a text from your boss saying he wants pages by the end of this week. You’re in a dilemma. This could make for a good story if you stick around. Wanda looks at you with her big eyes, hands clasped tight pleading with you. 

“You’re gonna set me up with Natasha.”

“Yes! You guys will be in love by New Year’s. Have a baby by next Thanksgiving,” Wanda affirms. “By the way do you have insurance? They were asking me that.”

Wanda takes you back to her house and leads you down to the basement where she stays.

“This is where the magic happens,” she jokes. “That’s just something people say. Not a lot of magic has happened at all.”

She shows you around. It’s kind of a mess. She says that it’s temporary because her apartment is under renovation. Wanda says goodnight, getting ready to go to sleep on her bed. 

“Just make yourself comfortable,” she says.

You shake your head immediately. “No, you on the floor now.”

“This is the only Tempur-Pedic in the house and I have a bad back,” Wanda explains, refusing to give up the bed.

“I don’t care if this bed is the only thing keeping you from complete paralysis. We’re not sharing,” you state. 

“What if we put pillows in the middle?” Wanda suggests.

“No.”

“Okay. What if we do like head to toe?”

“Mm. It’s always gonna be no. So, yeah.”

Wanda resigns, rolling off the bed dramatically. 

“We should probably address the catfish in the room. You do realize that at some point, you were going to have to meet me,” you start.

“I didn’t mean to catfish you. It just kind of happened.”

“‘It kind of happened?’” You deadpan.

“I had my profile up for a year and guess how many matches I got.” You shrug and she answers for you. “Three. And one of them was a guy who calls himself Vision. Yeah, Vision. So just as an experiment I thought I could use a picture of a standard attractive woman and see what would happen. I got 85 matches in five minutes. So apparently there are plenty of people out there, they just didn’t want to date me.”

“Are you seriously looking for sympathy right now? There are no words for what you did,” you reply. 

“Well, I would –”

“No words!” you repeat. “But a deal’s a deal so let’s just move on.”

In the morning, you walk into the kitchen in the pajamas Wanda’s grandma left you to wear to find Wanda having breakfast with her parents and grandma. Her mom, Iryna, gets up from the table to usher you in and have you join them for breakfast. 

There are so many options on the table to pick from. Wanda’s father, Oleg, offers you some bacon. At the same time you and Wanda inform him that you are a vegetarian. You thank him anyway. 

Her grandma inquires how you two met and Wanda tells her you met on an app. 

“So Y/N, what was it about Wanda that first caught your eye?” Her grandma asks.

“Gee, I mean, I don’t even know where to start.” You look at Wanda. “There were just so many unbelievable things in her profile. Her photos. I took one look at that hair, her physique, that jawline! I thought to myself, ‘It’s too good to be true.’”

Wanda knows what you are doing, choosing your words carefully. Her mom doesn’t catch on. 

“Oh, no it’s true. She’s gotten a lot more fit in the last couple of years.” Iryna grabs Wanda’s cheek. 

“But it wasn’t just the photos that ensnared me. Her bio. She’s passionate about life, loves all things outdoors,” you add.

“Oh, hey! She mentioned the store,” her father interjects, pointing at his work shirt that sure enough says “All Things Outdoors”. Clever, clever Wanda. Oleg tells you that his father started the store. He runs it now and Wanda works there. Wanda tries to change the topic but you insist on it, laughing when Oleg says the only traveling Wanda does is her run to get lunch at a nearby restaurant. 

You grip Wanda’s shoulder. To everyone else it looks affectionate but the way it hurts Wanda, she knows better. Wanda and you scurry off soon after. She takes you to the store she works at. 

You wander around the store as she tells you what you need to know about Natasha. According to Wanda, Nat likes outdoorsy, adventurous people. Wanda looks for some clothes, saying you need to look relaxed, like you don’t care. She hands you clothes to put on because Natasha is going to arrive any minute. 

She hands you a book as well. You cringe, reading the title.

“Walden? Are you kidding me? Thoreau was an asshole.”

“Pretend you like it because that’s Nat’s favorite book,” Wanda demands. “Also, when you are talking to her, throw in some rock climbing lingo. She loves that stuff.”

You wait for Nat to arrive and pretend to read Walden. You hate the fact you have this book in your hand. She greets Oleg and Wanda. Oleg goes to get something Nat ordered. Wanda leads Nat to you and introduces you as her cousin. 

You and Wanda do not look alike in any capacity and Wanda clarifies that you are related through her stepmom Iryna. Nat notices you holding her favorite book. She’s intrigued and quotes a line from the book. 

You start talking about climbing. You’re totally bulshitting your way through the conversation, throwing in words you read on your quick search on the internet when trying to learn about rock climbing a few minutes ago. 

“You climb?” Nat asks, surprised. 

“Me?” you scoff. “Do I climb? I’ll climb anything that moves.”

You laugh the awkwardness off. You’re doing terribly but you continue anyway. “I climb ladders, um, houses, um, trees, ladders…mostly ladders.”

Nat invites you and Wanda climbing for tomorrow at some place called Rock Ventures. Wanda accepts the invite for you two. Nat leaves smiling. 

You freak out. You don’t know how to climb. Wanda assures you she can teach you. There is a wall at the store. That does not go well. You are not three feet off the ground before you start to panic. 

Wanda helps you down and then tries to show you that the way to conquer the wall is to know the key is to take it one step at a time. 

You ask Wanda what Natasha was like in high school. Natasha was class president, star of the soccer team, nominated prom queen. You ask her why she and Natasha stopped being friends. Wanda explains that Natasha got popular and she didn’t so they grew apart. 

You disclose that you were a late bloomer as well, but she finds it hard to believe. You start climbing the wall again and not ten seconds later, you’re screaming again when you are too far from the ground for your comfort.

At Wanda’s house you find out she has a secret candle making hobby. She confides in you and lets you in on her plan of making scents for men because that has so much potential since most candles are catered for women. 

You wonder why she hasn’t started selling them. Wanda’s excuse is that businesses cost money.

“Why don’t you ask your dad for a loan?” This didn’t seem like such a big deal to you.

“You mean the old Sokovian man upstairs? He’s only interested in sporty, manly things. Plus, he and my brother would just tease me about it.” She puts her candle making equipment away.

“You have a brother?”

“Prodigal son has returned!” you both hear someone shout upstairs. “Christmas may now commence!”

“Speak of the devil,” Wanda groans, mentally preparing to see her twin.

“Pietro’s here! Now it’s Christmas!” Oleg cheers rushing down from the second floor to the living room where Pietro and his wife Monica await.

“Is that my baby?” Iryna greets Pietro, hugging him tight.

“Mom,” Pietro smiles, handing her some flowers. “Look what I brought you.”

Everyone greets Pietro and Monica cheerfully as you and Wanda enter the room, lingering in the background, waiting for him to see you. Wanda has to clear her throat for him to notice.

“Hey, Wands! What’s going on, little sister?” he greets Wanda.

“I thought you were twins?” you ask. 

“I’m 12 minutes older,” he replies with a wink. “And who do we have here?”

“Oh, this is Y/N,” Wanda says proudly, but her smile dies when Pietro assumes you are their grandma’s nurse and then guesses you are in their mom’s book club. Iryna finally interrupts when Pietro figures this is an intervention. 

“No, honey. Y/N is your sister’s girlfriend,” Iryna clarifies. Pietro laughs until he sees no one else laughing. You do not find this amusing.

“Oh, you’re serious. Really?” 

“Really,” you answer.

Pietro further embarrasses Wanda by saying he and Monica were talking about this on the way in the car, wondering how Wanda was still single. “Granted she still lives at home and the eyeliner isn’t doing her any favors. This is a Christmas miracle.”

Wow, this guy is an ass. Pietro goes on to thank you like you’re taking one for the team by dating his sister. He messes up your name too! The audacity. Two can play that game, you think. 

“You know what? The pleasure’s all mine, Peter.” You give him the same fake smile in return, throwing an arm around Wanda,pulling her close. 

Everyone starts decorating the Christmas tree. Of course it doesn’t go without Pietro bragging about how well life is going for him and he making comments to embarrass his sister. He even goes to bring out the ornament that contains a picture of a young Wanda in which she’s got braces and glasses and chubby cheeks. 

She’s flushing red, obviously upset at everyone cooing at the photo. You try to make her feel better by saying you were grateful for your awkward teenage years because it taught you empathy and how to not be a jerk - a total dig at Pietro that makes Wanda smirk and nudge you playfully. Pietro has to ruin it by calling you a ‘former chubster’. 

It’s time to place the star on top of the tree. Pietro snatches it up and is ready to place it, but Wanda suggests you do it because it’s your first year with them and you were their guest. Pietro pouts when their parents agree. He hands over the star but not without playing a discreet tug of war with you. 

You step on the ladder, Wanda’s hands on your hips to secure you, and you place the star on top. You call it a win in this battle you’ve got going on with Pietro. 

“It’s crooked,” Pietro complains to Monica. 

“You’re brother really likes being the center of attention, huh?” You’re looking at the picture frames in the hall. You are waiting for Wanda to head out to go climbing. In all the photos Pietro is in the center with a bright smile and Wanda is always a little out of the shot. 

“Likes to be? Has to be,” Wanda mumbles, finishing up tying her shoes.

“Next time he tries to steal the spotlight, steal it back,” you tell her. Wanda tries to shrug it off but you repeat, showing you meant it. “I’m serious. Steal it back.”

“Alright. Come on. We don’t want to be late. Natasha is very punctual,” Wanda warns, fixing her scarf as you head to the front door. 

“So is the wall we’re climbing like the one at the store?” you ask.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Wanda replies.

Lie. Looking at the wall, you’re sure you are going to faint. Why is it so damn high?

“Y/N, are you coming or what?” Nat says from midway of the wall. 

“Yeah, coming right up,” you chuckle nervously, before turning to Wanda. “You didn’t tell me she was Tom Cruise. I can’t do this. Get this off me.”

You try taking the harness off but Wanda’s hands block you from doing so. Both of you start smacking each other’s hands. 

“Stop. Stop. You got this, okay? Here, put these in.” She hands you some earphones. 

“What? Why?” You do as she says anyway.

“It’ll help you relax. And it’s your favorite song,” she explains. You don’t believe her until the song actually begins to play and you feel yourself feeling better. “Remember, one move at a time.”

You move to the wall. You hesitate to make the first move, looking back at Wanda who gives you a thumbs up in support. You take a deep breath and begin to climb.

You can’t believe you actually make it to the top. You cheer when you climb on top of the wall. “I can’t believe you guys said this was hard…oh.”

You gasp looking down. Nat tells you to come down. You turn your back on them in order not to look down. With a shaky voice you say, “Um, actually, I think I’m gonna stay up here and enjoy the view for a little while.”

You fall to the floor of where you are. Wanda hears the thud and gets into action, putting a harness on and climbing the wall faster than anyone. 

Nat has no idea what’s going on and just cheers Wanda on. When Wanda makes it to the top, she sees you lying down shaking. 

She rushes over to you, falling on her knees and tries to soothe you. “Hey, what are you doing? The hard part is over. Just rappel down.”

“Uh-uh.” There is no freaking way you are ever moving.

“You got through the tough part. It’s nothing.”

“Oh God, this is how I die. I’m gonna die. This is it. This is it for me,” you whimper.

Wanda comes up with an idea quickly. “Okay. Okay. I think I actually know a trick to get you down, but you gotta trust me.”

“Trust the girl that catfished me?” You scoffed.

“No, trust the girl who got you up here in the first place,” she answers. “Look, I know you’re scared but you’ve got this. And I’ve got you. Okay? I promise.”

You choose to trust Wanda. She helps you stand up and has you walk backwards towards the edge of the wall, keeping you distracted with her comforting words and having you keep your eyes on hers.

She asks you to close your eyes and take a deep breath when you reach the edge. And then she pushes you, literally. 

You scream on the way down. You land safely and Nat looks really impressed thinking you just jumped down yourself. You try to play it off like it’s nothing. 

She asks to hang out tomorrow at 9. Wanda gives you a thumbs up from the top of the wall. 

At night, you go caroling with Wanda’s family. You make it to the door of a resident home. When Pietro puts on a performance, he puts on a performance. 

Someone requests “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. Pietro is going to sing with Monica but Wanda decides to take your advice of taking the spotlight back and volunteers you and her to sing the duet. 

You don’t want to sing this song. The lyrics make you uncomfortable. Wanda tells you to sing and that she’ll change the lyrics so it doesn’t sound so bad.

She does an excellent job. You have a great time singing with her and at the end of the song, everyone is cheering for you two. 

Pietro can’t stand not having the attention and announces with Monica that they’re expecting a baby, once again stealing the spotlight. Everyone is congratulating them. 

Wanda gets the bright idea of getting down on one knee, calling everyone’s attention. You know exactly what she’s doing and it’s a little too far. 

You ask her to get up through gritted teeth. She makes a speech about how you haven’t known each other long but when you know, you know. You are breaking a sweat here. 

“Y/N L/N, will you marry me?”

Everyone is watching you. Can someone please get you out of this. 

“She doesn’t even have a ring,” Pietro points out.

For once you find yourself agreeing with Pietro. “Yeah, you don’t have a ring.”

Grandma Maximoff comes to the rescue, taking off her own ring and giving it over to Wanda. Wanda thanks her grandma before looking back up at you, giving you puppy dog eyes. 

You can’t say no and humiliate her in front of everyone. “Yes.”

The second you get to Wanda’s room, you argue. She tries to apologize. “I’m sorry. I got carried away in the moment. But if you think about it, nothing’s changed.”

“Nothing’s changed? Your grandma gave me her ring off of her finger!“ you shout. 

Wanda says you just have to make it until Christmas then she can say you broke it off and went back to LA. There is no way you want to look like the asshole. 

You bring up Natasha. You have a date with her tomorrow. “What if she finds out I’m engaged to my cousin?”

“She won’t. I promise you that. Okay? Everything will be fine. Just trust me.”

“Trust you? That’s literally the last thing I can do.” You start mumbling, “You wanted me to wear a hat. You’re like ‘It’s cute.’ It’s dumb! Now apparently I’m getting married!”

Upstairs, Pietro is googling you. He doesn’t trust you. Something doesn’t feel right and he is going to get to the bottom of this.

You have a nice talk with Oleg, helping him with the fireplace. He tells you about his father.

The next morning, Nat takes you on a hike that you assume is the date. Surprise surprise, she says it’s just the warm up. She takes you bobsledding, but like if bobsledding was on X Mode.

You don’t know how you are going to get through this so you call Wanda to tell you what to do. You find a blunt in your bag. You got through the experience by getting high as a kite. 

You get home to Wanda making some candles. You tell her about the date and how Natasha is perfect. Wanda begs to differ. You think she’s being weird. 

You start taking a whiff of her candles and guessing the scents. There is one Wanda doesn’t want you to smell, so of course you move away before she can snatch it back. 

She says it smells like her grandpa because scents make memories come alive. She’s embarrassed when she says that but you tell her it’s very sweet. 

Iryna calls you and Wanda up to watch Love Actually with the family in the living room. You get to the part of the film where the guy admits he loves his best friend’s wife through poster boards at her front door when Iryna drops a bomb on you and Wanda.

You and she will be in tomorrow’s paper. An announcement of your engagement with your picture together will be printed. 

That’s how you find yourself on a newspaper heist with Wanda throughout town early in the morning. You hide in the backseats of Wanda’s car after getting the last bunch of newspapers. A newspaper boy is looking for you two. 

You two are giggling in the backseats, sitting slouched down so no one can see you. You open up the newspaper to your announcement. Wanda starts laughing at the photo they chose to go with. 

“I mean, I look like a deer in the headlights in this photo,” you comment. Wanda denies it but you insist. “Yes, I do. It’s a pretty decent photo of you, though. Look at that.”

You show Wanda and she mumbles, “Probably the only one in existence.”

“Come on, Wanda. I know a lot of people who’d be very into you.” You aren’t lying. Wanda is cute, you can admit. You don’t know why she has trouble dating.

“Well they’re definitely not on FlirtAlert,” she sighs, talking about how little matches she would get on the app.

You are going to figure out why that is. “Do you still have your original profile photos?”

She stays quiet and you get your answer. “Oh my god. You do. Show me!”

Wanda tries to convince you she deleted it but you know she’s lying. “Please. I know you didn’t. I know you. I know you. Show me the photos!”

You start smacking her arm to annoy her into showing you. It works. She pulls up the app and you snatch the phone from her hands and scroll through her original photos. You see the problem right away. 

“No wonder you’re not getting any matches. Why are you holding a knife in this one?”

“To show that I like cooking. People like dating those that can cook,” she explains, like it’s the most obvious thing.

“It would help if you were in the kitchen and not in your bedroom. This is terrifying.” You go to the next photo. It’s Wanda in the yard, clothes dirty with mud and holding a shovel. “Okay, you straight up look like you murdered somebody in this one.”

“That’s me gardening!” She defends herself. 

“You need to hold a plant or something cause this looks like incriminating evidence.” You laugh and though Wanda knows it’s at her, she smiles rolling her eyes at you. “No wonder you only got three matches. You were hiding your strengths.”

“What strengths are those?”

You turn to look her in the eye. Clearing your throat you start, “For one, you have very nice eyes. You gotta show those puppies off. All these photos are too far away to see them. And your teeth. You have really straight teeth. Like freakishly straight.”

“Five years of braces,” Wanda explains.

“So then smile more,” you demand. She sarcastically smiles, but it works. “There you go! There it is.”

You both giggle. You add, “But more importantly, you’re a good person, Wanda.”

“I don’t know how to show that in a photo.”

“Well, for starters, you have to believe that it’s true. And then once you do, trust me, it’ll show. Promise me that once this is all over, you’ll put up a real profile with real photos,” you ask.

“I promise.”

You smile at each other before someone knocks on the car window. “I know you’re in there! I can see the steam through the car window.”

It’s the newspaper boy! You and Wanda jump to the front seats of the car for your grand getaway, cackling as you drive off. 

You get ready for your date with Natasha. You walk out in a dress that you borrowed from Wanda’s mom’s closet. Wanda’s speechless when she sees you in it. Then she finally has the words to tell you that you look great. 

You mention the name of the restaurant to Wanda and she warns you that it is a steakhouse. You’ll just get a salad. Wanda says Nat likes girls who can eat meat like she does. You think you can forgo your vegetarian diet for one night. 

She tells you that might be a little too far because you are compromising your beliefs. It starts with a little meat today but what would you lie about tomorrow? You take offense because the only reason you are here in this situation is because Wanda lied.

“I lied about a photo.” Wanda doesn’t think this compares to what she did. 

“No. You hid behind a photo. You lied about your identity,” you point out.

“But it was still me! Every conversation we had, every text we exchanged, every laugh we shared. It was me. You liked me. And you liked me so much you flew across the country to surprise me for Christmas,” Wanda snaps back.

“You’re right. I liked you. But you were a lie. A piece of fiction.” You leave with that. 

While you are on your date with Natasha, Wanda and her family are gathered around the table making gingerbread houses. Wanda’s grandma asks where you are and Wanda lies saying you are out tasting cakes for the wedding. 

Pietro finds it odd that you aren’t doing that with you, given that Wanda is to marry you after all. Wanda says she’s happy with whatever you are happy with. Pietro is still wary and lies that he needs more stuff for his gingerbread house. He excuses himself, claiming to go to the store. In reality, he plans to see what you are really up to. 

Pietro does go to the store, but on the way back home, he spots you dining with Natasha. 

You feel uncomfortable with the deer heads hanging on the walls of the restaurant like trophies. You suppose they are because they hunt animals like it’s a game. Turns out Natasha’s family owns the restaurant and one of the heads on the walls is one she shot. 

As you get to talking, you realize you and Natasha don’t have much in common. On the car ride back to Wanda’s, Natasha tells you she doesn’t celebrate Christmas. You ask her to drop you off a block away, explaining you don’t want to wake anyone up. She kisses you and it’s not what you thought it would be. It was kind of disappointing to be completely honest.

In the morning, you try to apologize to Wanda for what you said last night. She shrugs it off. Before you can say anything else, her grandma asks you two to come to the senior living home and help them with online dating. 

It doesn’t go too well when they all start joking about twisting the truth to make themselves sound more attractive online. Wanda stops them and gives them a little speech on how it’s wrong to do that because you’ll only end up misleading people, disappointing them, and in the end getting hurt yourself. 

Unfortunately, they don’t take her speech to heart. However, it does change things for you by giving you a different perspective. You see now that you might be hurting Wanda with all of this. She wanted someone to get to know her and the only way she saw anyone would take an interest in her is by using someone else’s photo. 

She was right. Because that’s exactly what happened. You proved her right and it probably feels awful. 

You and Wanda are trailing behind her grandma on the sidewalk after the whole event. You have to bring it up.

“I guess I never realized. I was so busy being mad at you that I never stopped to think about why you actually did it.”

“Look Y/N,” Wanda stops in the middle of the sidewalk. “The why doesn’t even matter anymore. It was wrong. I should have never asked you to lie in the first place. And I’m just gonna go to my family and come clean with everything.”

“Wait, what? No.” You’ve come this far and she wants to stop? “No, no, no. You can’t do that. Wanda, this isn’t all your fault. I mean besides, a deal’s a deal. We’ve made it this far. It’s only two days til Christmas. Let’s stage a breakup like we planned. Don’t worry. I’ll sell it.”

Wanda isn’t totally convinced. “I don’t know. It… it doesn’t feel right.”

You can’t believe this is happening. Wanda sees her grandma turn the wrong way. She shouts after her. “Grandma, the car is that way.”

Her grandma does not seem to be listening. Wanda chases after her and you follow Wanda. “Grandma, where are you going?”

You and Wanda follow her into a building that has all the lights off. Suddenly they turn on and people yell “surprise”.

They’ve thrown you an engagement party. What’s worse is they’ve chosen Natasha’s family’s restaurant as the venue and to top it off Nat is there. 

Pietro is happy to see your panicked face. He might be the worst but he wasn’t about to let you play his little sister. 

Nat finds you and drags you to meet her parents. People are congratulating you and you lie to Nat saying that you were the millionth customer at a store when she asks why. 

Then you find your boss is here too. Great. Everything is great.

Everyone’s attention is called by Oleg. He’s about to give a speech, obviously to congratulate you and Wanda and welcome you into the family, but you interrupt before he gets too far.

There is no way out of this. It is time to face the music. You fess up to everything. You watch as everyone looks at you disappointedly. You feel especially bad for Wanda, the pitying looks they send her. 

Pietro in contrast nearly cheers at being right about you, but he does feel bad for his sister. Nat is actually the first to storm off, making a good point in saying that you were a hypocrite for getting mad at Wanda for lying to you by pretending to be someone else and then going and doing the same to Natasha. 

You apologize and leave. You grab your stuff from the Maximoff’s place, leaving a note for Wanda and her grandma’s ring on the kitchen table. 

You can’t fly home yet because you can’t get a ticket. You end up staying at the same inn as your boss who still wants a story. 

Wanda enters her house and finds the note you left for her. It reads : A passion whose flame fails to be fanned eventually burns down. Don’t be afraid to be you. -Y/N

The ring lies on top of the note. You’ve gone and this was your goodbye. Wanda picks up the ring and stares at it sadly. 

Her family walks into the kitchen and she tells them that you’ve left. One by one they all hug her. She returns her grandma’s ring. 

Her father is the last to hug her. She asks to talk to him for a minute. In the spirit of being honest, she finally tells him she wishes to make candles and not work at the store with him anymore. 

“Thank god! You are a terrible salesman,” her dad laughs in relief.

He sniffs one of the candles you left of Wanda’s on the table and Oleg immediately recognizes the scent. He’s very impressed with it. Wanda lets out a sigh of relief and happiness. 

You, on the other hand, drive yourself crazy in your room at the inn. You form a single sentence. You stare at a blank document in your laptop for hours. 

You finally breakthrough in the morning and once your hands are on those keys, there is no stopping you. You get to the end and realize that there is no good way to end this. You take a break and open FlirtAlert, the app that started it all. 

You see Wanda came through with her promise and posted good, real, not murder-y photos of herself. There are those eyes you like so much. 

Wait— 

You spring up from the bed. You have an idea of an ending for you. You just hope it works. 

Wanda goes to get the door when she hears the doorbell ring. You are standing in the front yard with poster boards in your hand. You are pulling the move from Love Actually, her favorite movie. 

You apologize to Wanda for not seeing what has been in front of you all along. Her family comes outside halfway through to witness this. You ask for a second chance, holding up a marker for her to write her answer on the board.

She walks up and you are nervous. This can go two ways but you really truly hope it goes the way you want it to. 

It does and everyone is cheering when they read her answer. You and Wanda have a stupid grin on your faces. 

“So what do we do now?” she asks.

Her grandma shouts, “Kiss her, you idiot!”

You laugh and Wanda pulls you into a kiss. This kiss- this kiss felt right. It’s not long before your smile keeps you from kissing her properly. 

You’ve finally found a great ending to your story.

________________________________________________________

If you haven’t watched this movie, you are missing out. It is the right kind of corny and I love it so much. 

taglist: @diaryoflife @olsensnpm @romanoffomixam @anxietyisgreat

[frostironfudge]

Silhouettes In the Spotlight - Bucky Barnes - Two

Summary: Bucky Barnes has worked immensely hard to have a filmography expanding across genres and garnering accolades from critics, peers and fans. Y/N Y/L/N, with her debut novel (fan-fiction turned New York Times Bestseller) has two other best sellers under her belt. Next is her highly anticipated fourth book lined up for release. SHEILD Productions has acquired the film rights to her debut novel and they want Bucky Barnes to play the lead (aka himself) by any means necessary. This story is about angst, lust, heartbreak, and love. After all fairytales only exist in books and movies right?

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing, differing opinions, Hollywood drama, slightly mean!Bucky, allusions of cheating by secondary character (not on the reader), minor chracters have shitty opinions on fanfics which they verbalise, sad + bad home environment of the reader, miscommunication, allusions to body dysmorphia not explicitly discussed by bucky, bucky mentions a change in his diet.

Pairing: Actor!Bucky Barnes x Plus Size!Fem!Reader

Word Count: 3.2k || Dividers: @firefly-graphics

Main Masterlist || Fic Masterlist || AO3

Two Years Ago.

HEADLINES:

Exclusive! Bucky Barnes Inspired Rhys Bass climbing the BookTok and Bookstagram trends as best book boyfriend. 

Read An Exclusive Interview With New Writer On The Block — Y/N Y/L/N

Uh Oh! Bucky Barnes looks every bit angry at Fan Asking For An Autograph On Book Based On Him!

NYT Bestseller Scores Y/N Four Book Deal. 

Bucky Barnes Spotted For The First Time Since His High Profile Break Up, Getting LIT At Loki Laufeyson’s Soirée. 

Bucky Barnes Spills His Guts On The Late Late Show About Ex Flames and His Current Movies and Shows Lined Up.  

Move over Bucky Barnes, Author Y/N Had others She Wrote Fan-Fiction about— read an excerpt of this steamy Loki Laufeyson scene from her old Tumblr.

Looks Like This Author-Actor Duo Aren’t Going To Be Friends! Five Time Bucky Barnes Refused To Acknowledge Y/N!

You smoothen your jacket, a nervous habit before you take the podium. This was the second venue, the crowd much larger than the first one and you did spot a few reporters. 

“You ready?” Yelena gives you a small smile, her phone recording you. 

“I’m more nervous today?” You sort of ask, waving at the camera, she makes a silly face and you laugh. 

“Go on out, I think your nerves will cease to be problems.” She assures, you take a deep breath, Yelena steps behind you. 

The applause rings aloud, a few cheers the smile on your face bright. Yelena beams as well, recording your reaction and the crowd. 

You take your place at the podium, gripping the wood a little hard. 

“I would like to say thank you for taking time out of your day to spend it with Rhys, Doll and I.” You smile pointing at your book’s cut out as the crowd cheers. 

“It really excites me to be here, though I feel nervous, seeing your smiling faces? It is incredible. Thank you so much.” You gush and carefully open up the first ever physical copy filled with your annotations, you clear your throat before you begin to read the  the scene where Rhys and Doll video-call for the first time, for explaining his absence to her. 

People squeal as you read over certain parts, making you laugh and agree with them. It feels so good to have a live reaction to the words you have written. Words so achingly familiar. Words that hold something of your own. 

The reading comes to an end and the question and answer segment is drawn close. 

Yelena steps in next to you to help pick people to voice their questions. 

“I read it when this was the Bucky Barnes fan-fiction! Right from your tumblr days and it makes me so happy you’re published now, I wanted to ask, have you sent a copy of your book to Bucky? Has he responded?” She bounces on her heels finishing the question. 

“I’m so grateful for you to be supporting me since my tumblr days, thank you for sticking by me for so long. I did ask my team to send his team a copy.” You smile, not answering the last bit because there was no response, it had been six months. Maybe he hated it? Bucky is a coveted bibliophile so he may have hated it. You had seen his books he has read list, no way would your work make it, you had accepted that fate.  

“Alright next person, yes you in the grey.” Yelena gestures, they stand and the mic is passed towards them. 

“Hi,” They say, sounding nervous. 

“Hi, thank you for being here, I really like your Loki T-shirt.” You smile as their shoulders loose some of the tension. 

“Th-thank you, um, my question is what inspired to write the story and what was the mindset behind the LDR being there?” 

“That is a really good question,” you don’t let your voice waiver, “initially it wasn’t supposed to be an LDR, but we’ve seen so many pieces of art with long distance being this deal breaker more often than not, which is why I went along with a friendship between the two first as feelings brewed between Doll and Rhys. Inspiration actually was the idea to have these two people, from sort of different backgrounds with different physical appearances find a love that is all consuming, all burning bright, but which bloomed into something more deeper than just a superficial love.” You explain. 

“Thank you.” They smile as they hand the mic back. 

The questions range between light to heavy topics about the verbal abuse your female main character undergoes. 

“Were you abused? Because you know writers write from their own experiences.” A person questions, eyebrows raised and you lose your bearings for a moment. The crowd is silent and your fingers tighten on the sides of the podium. You count your breaths silently.

“That question is very personal—,” Yelena begins, you clear your throat. She gives you a once over and you nod. Agreeing to answer. 

“While writers do draw inspiration from what they have been through, but if that were true I would have my own ex military man standing with me as we shared our story right?” You laugh, hoping your tactic works and the person laughs as does the crowd. 

“The way you made them stand up to the verbal abuse from the dad gave me courage to move out from my own toxic home. It gave me comfort and courage.” One male attendee says, you smile at him. 

“I’m sorry you had to face a situation as that, I’m glad you were able to safely bring yourself out of it. I’m happy my work could be a way for you to find your inner strength.” You smile, they ask for a hug and you accept the request. 

A few press reporters come forward,

“James Barnes recently gave an interview that he thinks fan-fiction is ‘messed up’, ‘an exploration of kinks that needs to be kept away.’ With a book that was a piece of fan-fiction about him with several sexual instances what is your opinion?” She raises a brow. 

“Fan-fiction provided me with a means to return to fiction writing and improve my skills, I never thought I would get published, not in the wildest of dreams. Mr. Barnes is allowed to have his own opinions, I sincerely hope you’re quoting him correctly.” You add in an attempt to stop her from prying further.

“Whereas in a way he did inspire me to write my male lead in my fan-fiction as him physically, but that is where the similarities end. The characteristics of when Rhys Bass was written is unique to Rhys. I can understand where his reply is coming from, I hold nothing against him or his ideology about fan-fiction. I enjoyed reading it, writing it, if I still had time I may still be completing that one long overdue fan-fiction I have left about one of the characters he played or even the one Mr. Laufeyson played.” You chuckle. 

“Holy shit the Mickey Henry one? The Jonathan Pine one was my guilty pleasure!” A crowd member calls out, you laugh, nodding. 

“I still am sorry I left it, one day I will complete it till then the hiatus continues” You assure with a smile. 

“So you think it isn’t weird writing about having sex with celebrities or having them do dark twisted things?” The same reporter presses on.

You take a steadying breath, “There are various forms of fiction, some dark, some light, some a mix of both, warnings are in place for people to not read something that is not their cup of tea or coffee or if it is something that is a potential trigger, recently in fiction books despite the risk of spoilers we put in triggers because as I said earlier reading is an escape. I myself have triggers and I appreciate the warning, I cannot tolerate major characters passing away. I vehemently avoid works as those, unless I know I am comfortable to read something or watch a movie with that,” 

You pause, the reporter looks unimpressed as she jots things down, you’re glad Yelena records everything to put on your YouTube channel. A precaution against being misquoted and a portal  for more interactions. 

“Exploring sex, sexuality or anything through reading or writing is a personal choice, everyone is allowed to indulge in what they find to be a safe space for them. You watch celebrities have sex on screen, fan-fiction writer or rather writers, because it os what it is, fan-fiction we’re all writers,—we just write that in a different pairing. For inclusivity, for maybe wishful thinking, for a world of comfort. If it gets kinky it gets kinky. I didn’t see anyone complain when Fifty Shades came out? Well maybe people did, but that is with everything, you get positive and negative reviews.” You shrug turning towards another reporter. 

“I agree with you, if it gets kinky it gets kinky.” They laugh, you smile, “My question is would you ever write a sequel? It’s just, Rhys and Doll are this pairing that just do so much for each other I cannot get enough.” 

“Ohhh that is a good question, I would given the chance but the plot would need a lot of thinking, I mean they had enough angst.” You laugh, scratching the back of your neck and the crowd laughs in agreement. 

“Do you have your next novel plotted out? We know your publication house has offered an extended book deal.” The last reporter questions. 

Excited squeals echo before you can respond with a subtle nod as the crowd erupts in cheers. Tears brim your eyes at the love being shown towards you. 

“Thank you for coming out, this is all the time we have, the signing will take place after half an hour.” Yelena announces before guiding you back to the small seating area. 

“Bucky!” A number of people call out to him.

“Mr. Bucky Barnes to your right please.”

Bucky turns giving his signature smirk and wink to the cameras. A plethora of hoots and cheers resound in response. 

“Bucky look here!”

“Here!”

“Angle left,”

“Right! Right!”

“Move along, and Vanity Fair wants a sound bite.” Sam leans in to whisper as Bucky walks along the red carpet.

“Bucky!”

“BUCKY I LOVE YOU.”

“Bucky this way.” Sam points, trying to get him to move along, he knew Bucky was one second away from running to his fans.

“I love you too!” Bucky calls out sending a flying kiss towards the section of fans he heard that from there, a ripple of squeals and further excitement as he leaves the marked space for the paparazzi pictures to greet his fans. 

Sam only shakes his head but smiles. Only taking him away at the seven minute mark.

The movie premiere for I, Tonya was going okay, he had dodged questions about that damned book. Was this about his movie or about the fucking book? It was getting difficult to keep the exasperation out of his words.

He stands in front of the interviewer from Vanity Fair a smile on his face.

“Good Evening Everyone, we’re live from the red carpet screening of I, Tonya and I have with me the man of the moment, Mr. Bucky Barnes.” He beams into the camera.

“You’re too kind.” Bucky’s cheeks tinge red.

“Oh, it is the truth, how are we feeling tonight Mr. Barnes? I’m hearing through the grapevine that accolades are coming in.” The interviewer raises his brows.

Bucky’s expression morphs to surprise, “Oh wow, really? I’ve been in press stuff all day and jeez, this means a lot you know the fans they just its all because of them willing to watch me play these characters and people on the screen. Their love is so warm and very, very appreciated. I appreciate the critics too, just, I’m getting speechless.” he smiles into the camera then gives a nervous laugh.

“It is all well deserved, I yet have to see it, but I’m sure my socks will be blown off. Who are you wearing today?” The camera pans top to bottom.

Bucky closes one eye in deep thought, “Hugo Boss, so grateful and we love a velvet moment.” He grins, charming as ever, out of the corner Sam motions for them to wrap it up.

“Alright one more question, we heard you were sent a copy of the book of a certain handsome hunk who was inspired by you, given your love for reading, is it on your To Be Read List? Or is it not your preference.” The interviewer gleams as Bucky gives an half chuckle trying to mask his expression.

Fingers running over his stubble, Bucky considers his words, “The copy is there, yes, however filming and preparing for I, Tonya has just taken so much of my time I haven’t even yet gotten to my set TBR list, and the month is ending in a week, so I don’t even have a video to share!” He comically widens his eyes and extends his arms wide as if to say ‘can you believe it?’ 

In truth, the book was still laying in his office on the fucking table like a ticking time bomb waiting to implode upon him. His professional accolades to all be tied to that piece of fiction giving it the publicity to even be considered for the charts.

“Well thank you for your time, I’m so excited to see the movie and especially you in it.” The interviewer smiles and the actor waves at the camera before moving away.

Bucky grins at his fans, all of them so excited, so very happy to have this film come out. 

Working so hard over the past year, their words of appreciation and encouragement helping him stay above the noise. 

They tell him they love him and support him, he thanks them endlessly taking pictures, signing merchandise, posters and books they bought because of his passion for reading. 

Security steps in telling him the interactions need to come to an end, reluctantly with an apologetic face he pulls away from them, giving more waves and flying kisses as he retreats. 

“Bucky! Bucky! Please!” A voice calls and he looks at one of the fans, surprise colours his face as he jogs over to her. 

“Oh my god, I remember you, Sierra!” He grins, leaning over the barricade to give her a hug, “I still have your sketched portrait.” He tells her and she smiles. 

“I can’t believe you remember me!” She calls out, the people beside her reaching out to hold his hand. He slowly takes everyone’s hands one by one. 

“How can I forget? I’m so glad to see you here.” He smiles as she rummages around her bag pack. 

“Could, could you sign something for me? It isn’t yours but it got me through my last round of well you know,” she shrugs, Bucky nods understanding taking the sharpie out of her hands as she retrieved the object. 

She produces a copy of the fucking book. The stupid embossed cover with the two goddamn flowers. 

Bucky loses his smile, unable to mask his disdain. Biting the inside of his cheek he opens the inner title page, your signature at the bottom with a hand written message. 

‘For Sierra, one of the strongest, funniest and sweetest women I know, it is an honour to speak to you and call you a friend. Lots of Love and forehead kisses x.’

His smile returns in the slightest, he writes his own message and returns the book, hoping his slip up isn’t apparent. 

As he makes his way inside, one look from Sam is enough to let him know the slip up is going to go viral. 

“You can at least act as if it doesn’t bother you.” Sam whispers as both of them smile at the producers while walking towards the bar. 

“I told you I don’t want to be associated with it, already all the interviews are seventy percent ‘try to get a rise out of Bucky for the fucking book rather than his movie’. It is annoying. Blatantly disrespectful and frankly her entire NYT listing is leeching off of this premiere.” Bucky knows he sounds like a broken record or even a rude person, he doesn’t care at this point. 

“I know you had a bad experience in that one interview with this topic of fan-fiction but I did have our team skim the book’s final draft, there is nothing that does damage to you, to who you have cultivated yourself to be.” Sam clasps a hand on Bucky’s shoulder, giving a squeeze. 

Bucky sighs, “I know its just, I’m okay with the fact that fan-fiction is written some of it even exceptional but the way that one interview went, I, I wish I could unread it.” Bucky shudders at the memory. 

“I’ll have you know, Barnes your face is being used as a reaction meme now.” Loki’s smooth voice cascades over the two. 

“Loki!” Bucky turns with a beaming grin, “I thought you were held up in London!” 

Loki chuckles, “And miss this premiere? Not a chance.” They hug, Loki chuckles as he finds Bucky relax further. 

“Cmon, you have to let it go at some point, it’s good press.” Loki shakes his head as they pull away. 

“The movie is somehow overshadowed.” Bucky rolls his eyes, swirling his drink. 

“Mate, your break up over shadowed your TV series, my family crisis over-shadowed my broadway gig, and don’t get me started on how Natasha’s divorce took the spotlight from her at her Oscar nomination and win.” The green eyed man’s mouth twists into a grimace. 

“Exactly, news will follow. How you deal with it is what will further it.” Sam adds to the wise words. 

Bucky rolls his shoulders, the metal arm whirs lightly a soft reminder of things that can overshadow. 

“Besides it was a good read.” Loki adds teasingly taking a sip of his old fashioned. Bucky chuckles shaking his head. 

“It was, I’m not lying.” Loki raises his hands in defence. 

“I’m not into cheesy romances.” Bucky rolls his eyes, grumbling under his breath. 

Sam and Loki stare at each-other for a moment and then at Bucky. Then the two of them begin to laugh. 

“Oh man,” Sam chortles, wiping his eyes. 

“Oh come on Bucky,” Loki runs a hand through his dark hair, “I’ve seen so many cheesy romances on your bookshelf. Even the tattered copies of Twilight. And Sophie Kinsella, which was that first book you read of hers?” 

“Also remember when he cried because of those two characters not realising they love each other?” Sam questions interjecting Loki who nods,

“Of course it was a one hour call on the phone instead of reading further to see that they in-fact do come together.” Loki adds, a laugh still bubbling up. 

“You both swore to secrecy.” Bucky glares at them, downing the remainder of his drink, and pushing away from their shits and giggles.  

As he makes his way over to his co-stars, a familiar, irritating presence blocks his way— Brock Rumlow.

“Well I’ll be damned, Bucky Barnes.” He observes, taking a sip from his flask.

“Rumlow.” Bucky greets tight-lipped, wanting to dodge him. 

“Cat caught your tongue?” Rumlow ebbs, edges of his words slurred.

“What do you want now, Rumlow?” Bucky enquires exasperated, “Or are you in need of a matching bruise?” He gestures to Rumlow’s still apparent bruised cheekbone and busted lip.

“You little fucker.” Rumlow moves to grab Bucky’s suit jacket, he takes a step back.

“Fuck off.” Bucky warns. 

Rumlow has a sickening grin on his face, 

“I think what I’m about to do to you will hurt more than this, weak hit you landed on me.” He watches someone behind Bucky. 

A charming smile on his face, “Dottie.” Rumlow purrs almost, she giggles.

“Hi baby, who are you talking to— oh.” Dot’s face falls then she puts on a smile, 

“Hi Bucky.” She wraps an arm around Rumlow’s waist, head resting against his left shoulder.

Bucky watches, teeth clenched then swallowing thickly; a feigned smile on his own lips. 

“Hello Dolores, nice to see you out and about.” He greets. 

Rumlow can see the displeasure and it fuels his ego, tucking away his flask, he pulls Dot close, kissing her right in front of Bucky. His metal arm forms a fist, Bucky can taste the blood from where he bit into his cheek. It is as if Rumlow begs for another punch. 

Bucky takes a calming inhale then another while averting his gaze, Loki tsks from next to him. 

“Come on, idiots just want attention.” He murmurs, taking Bucky away, leading him to the elevators. The stand listening to the music as they wait.

“Have you read the reviews? Stellar job my friend.” Loki commends, Bucky grins sheepish.

“Worked really hard for this, Lokes.” Bucky smiles as he reads the praise coming in, not only for himself but his cast mates and the storyline, people were even seeing the themed parallels.

“Your hard work is seen Bucky. I’m immensely proud of you.” He adds.

When the doors slide open, Bucky presses the button for the roof. The soft music continues, Loki taps his foot to the rhythm. 

“What is the story about?” Bucky ponders as they prop the roof door open and have it remain open with their shoes and folded jackets.

Loki gives him a knowing smile, “Curious are we? That seems to be Alpine’s job.” 

Bucky shrugs, not giving a verbal answer. He smiles at the mention of Alpine.

“She’s written Rhys Bass without his right arm, I believe that was done to further have the similarity removed. He’s well rounded and fleshed out, learns to live his life without a prosthesis or bionic arm.” Loki and Bucky stare at the black and gold metal as he flexes his fingers.

“He nicknames her, Doll.” His best friend adds on, knowing Bucky hadn’t found anyone yet worthy of that nickname. Dolores was a messy relationship from the get go in his own opinion. When Bucky called Dolores, Doll even thought it was only once, Loki wanted to scream into the void and maybe swat Bucky’s head. Definitely swat Bucky’s head.

He hums in response, mind trying to separate his experiences from the book’s past version.

“What else?” Bucky murmurs almost wondering what took place in the story.

“He finds a niche for himself, a girl, who sees him as him even though he is an amputee. As if he’s not an incomplete man as he thinks. He was in quite a dark place, so I should warn you.” Loki answers the question on his mind, “They have to strive hard for things to work out, it isn’t happy go lucky or an easy, breezy, cheesy romance by any means.”

Bucky gives a humourless laugh, grip tightening on the railing, “When is a love story ever easy?”

Present.

You’re on the floor staring at the ceiling, the cursor stays blinking on the blank document. Well not technically blank, you’ve written two words— chapter one. 

That earned you your well deserved, break on the carpeted floor. It’s annoying— writers block on top of all the other things going on, distantly you can hear your dad screaming away on the phone to his office employees as he prepares to leave for the day. 

You sigh, closing your eyes. The door knob turns you remain on the floor. 

“Are you sleeping?” He questions, you look at your father. 

“No, I just needed a break.” You admit, his eyes narrow and you know you did the heart to heart at a wrong time. 

“A break? Are you even doing work? A break is for those who constructively do something or contribute. Fuck, Y/N are you seriously saying you’re working and deserve a break? Have you seen the pile of bills? Especially your mothers?” He bellows. 

You purse your lips, there is a ding from your laptop indicating an email. 

“Do something constructive, not like you’re going to retain that advance or have this movie even hit the big screens.” Your dad sneers, slamming the door shut. 

You hear the garage door open after a few moments, his car pulls out and he’s gone. A silence overtakes the house. A welcomed one, but it is on a schedule. 

Picking yourself up, you go to check on your mother, she sleeps. You place the little call bell near her hand. Leaving her door slightly ajar and your own, the blank document still sits there so you open your email. 

From: JBB 

Subject: Meeting to Discuss ITIMYIMDO 

Bucky stares at the drafted email. Sam had been curious when he read the location. It wasn’t often Bucky took unknown people to that restaurant. Opting to only go there with close confidants or his most serious of girlfriends which was scarce and seldom done.

He wonders it you would even agree. Despite never meeting he had formulated public opinions on your book despite his words being twisted when presented to you, you never once said anything untoward about him and even had put up a post across socials when his fans came for your throat about the launch date coinciding with the release of I, Tonya. 

Bucky stares at the message one last time before sending it. 

To Y/N,

I’d like to meet with you before all of the official meetings begin at SP-HQ. I understand if you may be uncomfortable, if you’d like I could also have Sam and Yelena arrange something at one of their offices. 

Do let me know if the date works for you. 

I look forward to our meeting. 

- James Barnes. 

“I thought you don’t take just anyone there.” Sam quips, a stack of scripts and advertisement options scattered for them to choose. 

“Well she doesn’t know what it means and I find it comforting to hold a conversation there.” Bucky shrugs, his eyes widen comically at the endorsement being offered for a product. 

“Sam, why are they offering—,”

“No, um that product is a penis pump. One role you do with a talking penis and…” Sam shudders. 

Bucky sets the page aside, his eyes don’t stray towards the mirror at the side. 

“How are you feeling today?” Sam diverts handing a cologne for Armani advert script. Bucky looks over and keeps it in the maybe pile. 

“Okay-ish, diet changed again we’re back on a gain muscle programme.” Bucky shrugs, as if it doesn’t matter. 

“Buck.” Sam’s worry evident in that one word. 

“I’m avoiding mirrors. And no don’t look at me that way, I just, I,” Bucky takes a deep breath the phone chimes. 

He wants to thank his stars when its a way out of the conversation. His thumb hovers over your response. 

“She replied?” Sam questions, he nods, “Open it?” 

“You read it,” Bucky hands the phone to him. 

“Why? You read it you invited her, and you don’t want the paps involved here, correct? This is a low-key meeting.” He confirms, Bucky nods. 

“Never, never ever send anyone there.” Bucky reminds Sam, tapping the email. 

To Mr. Barnes,

Thank you for your email, and for your consideration of my comfort level. The date and location both work, please let me know the reservation details. 

I look forward to our meeting as well.

Best Regards,

Y/N Y/L/N. 

A breath of relief escapes Bucky, he wants to clear the air and understand why you picked him to write about, the copy Sam gave him of your book is full of little post its and annotations written upon transparent post it notes. 

Much to his surprise he couldn’t put it down, each chapter brought out so much more than he expected. The way you wrote Rhys, the way you did not dismiss him or give him an easy way out. 

Loki was right two years ago, it wasn’t a cheesy all happy, fluffy romance. Which is why Bucky went ahead and ordered the other two books authored by you. 

“Well then, seems like you have a date.” Sam teases. 

“This isn’t a date.” Bucky rolls his eyes at him. 

“Sure, sure and I definitely did not find you curled up with the book nor did I see your local indie bookstore’s shipping email with her other books.” He gives Bucky a knowing look. 

“Sam.” He warns, “Do not, Loki already gave me shit for this.”

“Well Loki is your best friend.” Sam shrugs, “He’s onto something.”

“Why is it that any woman, who I am seen with am I shipped with?” The actor runs a hand through his hair, wincing as he looks away catching the skin of his abdomen in the mirror. 

Sam shifts, blocking Bucky’s view by sitting on the wooden table. 

“It isn't about shipping you, I think she is a lovely person. Unlike your previous questionable choices or the certain PR done stunts.” Sam diverts the issue again. 

“Those PR ones are on your firm.” Bucky raises a finger, they stare at each other. 

“Well at least they were slightly better individuals than your well…” Sam trails off. 

“I know, I’ve learned from what took place with Dolores.” Bucky picks at a piece of lint on his jeans. 

“Look the past is just that the past, don’t let it hold you back or damage your present or future.” Sam offers. 

“When did you become this wise?” Bucky teases, eyes shifting to the email again. He did want to get to know you for you, not based upon hearsay.

He only hoped you had the same sentiments. 

Two Years Ago.

HEADLINES:

Brock Rumlow Kisses Dolores At Premiere of Her Movie, While James Barnes Looks Glum.

James Barnes and Loki Laufeyson Set Fire To The Dance Floor At The Afterparty! Pictures Here!

Loki Laufeyson Shares Video From His Bedroom, James Barnes Is All Smiles While Cuddling his Best Friend.

Author Y/N Y/L/N’s next Release Pushed Back.

James Barnes Spotted With A Mystery Blonde. 

Literary Festival Snubs Author, One Hit Wonder, Critics Rip The Pages Apart. Y/N Takes Social Media Hiatus As Bucky Barnes Fans Send Hate After His Response on Red Carpet. 

James Barnes Sought After For Big Roles, Following Stellar Performance, Is He The Next DiCaprio?

Spotted James Barnes and Mystery Brunette, They Have Been On Several Dates Says Source Close To Actor.

A.N.: oooooooooooh who is excited for them to meet properly? i know i am! i hope your weekend goes great also i want to do another follower milestone celebration, i was thinking kinktober? let me know please i'll tag my previous celebration here so you know what i've written prior (mix of fluff, angst, smut)

Taglist is Open comment or DM to be added!

Taglist: @stevesmewmew @elle14-blog1 @crazyunsexycool @sebsgirl71479 @pandaxnienke @slutforsexyseabass @eclecticpatrolroadlawyer @pandaxnienke

[allandoflimbo]

Ashens (Part 24)

Summary: She falls in love with Bucky Barnes from the moment she sees him. Bucky, still in love with a woman from his past, hates Y/N and plans to make her life miserable. To both their dismay, they are assigned together to go undercover into The Capitol for six months. There, they develop a heartbreaking friend with benefits agreement. Dystopian.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 4,700

Rating: M for Mature, E for explicit. Enemies to lovers trope, sharing a bed trope, friends with benefits trope, temporarily unrequited love, heavy and angry sex, heavy on the angst, and very strong language.

Waging wars to shake the poet and the beat

I hope it's gonna make you notice

“…I’m in the military, sir…”

“…James, that’s my father, okay? If anything, let’s just be glad he didn’t kill you. He’s like that with everyone…And the soldier thing, he’s weird about that. I’m not sure why…”

Bucky lies awake in bed, fluffy pillow behind his head and one leg peeking out from the blankets, as random memories knack away at his brain in pulses. They weren’t new memories, but they were memories that he never looked at the way he was now.

He doesn’t know why now, he doesn’t know what triggered it, but they were clicking together.

After years of replaying the same moments in his head, there was a nagging feeling that was telling him that there was something not adding up.

He doesn’t know if it’s because he’s seeing things differently, if he’s feeling things differently.

Whatever it was, he knew there was something…off.

There was something off about Daisy’s story about her dad’s story, something was off about the way he was against Bucky fighting in the military, and her death was coinciding so much with his capture.

He doesn’t like the feeling in his stomach as he remembers.

When Bucky asked about her brother and what that whole commotion back at the club was she was blatantly honest with him.

“My father’s not a good guy. He’s been wanting some something from one of these performers that was suppose to be there last night, but turns out they weren’t even on the set list. He had lied about it, we don’t know where he is.”

Bucky raises a brow at this, “You do his dirty work for him?”

“No, I don’t like to get involved in that. It’s a dangerous lifestyle. I have to think about my future family. I was only there yesterday because my brother wanted to get me out of the house for once.”

Bucky isn’t too gleam on the fact that her family are borderline criminals and that she basically supports it, and for a fraction of a second he almost doesn’t buy it, but he decides to mention this later on, not wanting to ruin their moment.

Bucky shifts his leg as he continues to remember that conversation. Why was he not against it? Why did he never question the crimes? Was he that distracted by her?

Bucky smiles at her comment, but then his brows furrowed together in an adorable way that made Daisy giggle and bring her hand to his cheek, “What is it, James?”

What is it, James?

Bucky looks over to see you laying next to him, sat up with your back against the headboard reading some book with a beige cover.

You hadn’t taken notice of his self discomfort yet, emerged in your reading, tucking your bottom lip into your mouth.

Why was he remembering all of this now? Why was he feeling sick?

When they pulled away she slowly dragged her thumb across his plump bottom lip. He watched her like she was the most gorgeous and interesting thing on the planet.

“James?” He responded with a sound on confirmation and she continued, “do you think we are moving too fast?”

He grabbed her hand that was on his face and for a fraction of a moment she thought that that was it, they were over. This was clearly too unrealistic. But instead he brought her hand up over both his lips and he kissed her gingerly.

“Yes.” He whispered behind her hand, making sure he was making direct eye contact with her.

Her face dropped. “Yes?” Her voice was worried, cautious.  

He started trailing kisses down her hand, her wrist, her forearms. He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck making her groan.

It wasn’t that Daisy didn’t like being pampered but she wanted to take this very seriously. With a reluctant sigh - because what he was doing to her flesh just felt so good - she delicately removes her arm from Bucky’s grasp. He narrowed his eyes as she moved away towards the head board, suddenly wondering if maybe he said the wrong thing.

Her eyes trickled his features and down his perfect little nose.

“I knew it since the moment I laid my eyes on you. That’s how you know it’s real. This isn’t crazy, it’s ludicrous. But it works for us. I want to be with you.”

After his little speech Daisy looked him dead in the eye, not batting one lash.

“Then come have dinner with my family.”

Was it too fast? He had barely known her and she was asking him to meet her family. Criminals.

But why would she give away such dire information if it were true?

Bucky sat up slowly, as if if he were to move too quickly, the bed would collapse underneath him.

His eyes had a far away look in him, and he was as pale as he felt.

You feel him shift and your eyes flicker up to him.

You frown.

Her blue eyes glisten with gentle tears, probably thinking the same exact thing. None of it still feels real.

Her, she, doesn’t feel real.

They spent nearly every night together just talking about what Bucky would do when he came back home after camp. Things like how they would have to go see the stars on the back of an outskirts farmhouse, how they would have to go to every club in the city and laugh their night away, how he would take her to coney island with him and Steve and show her a “good time” on the ferris wheel, and how they would definitely have to meet her family.

“They’re great, you’ll love them.” She had said as they laid in bed together just hours before, merely cuddling with clothes on.

“Oh, come on doll, even your Dad?”

Daisy hesitated for a moment and her hand that was rubbing his chest stopped suddenly.

Bucky noted this and they met eyes.

Bucky feels his heart palpitate and he opens and closes his right hand, sitting up.

“Bucky, what’s wrong?” You ask softly, closing your book.

“Dad has been gone for four weeks and I don’t know why. Jimmy has gone with him- it’s just me and mother. I overheard her saying something about Germany but I’m not quite sure.. Or maybe it was something else. Though none of that matters to me, James- I want you. Please come home to me.”

For some reason, a chill ran down his back as he reread the words “something about Germany”.

Like an awful memory that has never happened, he sees a child in front of him. It was a little girl and she screamed in agony for mercy. She was getting strangled to death by his own hand, a silver glint caught his eye-

“James!”

“Bucky.”

Your voice pulls him out of his trance for just a moment.

He looks up to you, your eyes interlacing in a silent conversation of understanding.

He was revealing something to himself and you could tell that whatever that was it was leaving him overcome by feelings.

At the end of the day, he knows that he’s just insanely protective of Steve. Which is why his arm instinctively goes around him when Rogers almost gets hit by a speeding vehicle that abruptly stops to halt in front of them on the curb. With his mind far away, he hadn’t realized they were already standing on the sidewalk in front of one bright sign labeled Cotton Club.

Had Bucky known better, he would’ve had him on his left.

After that introduction, the two boys look over to the object that almost killed them.

It was pure black, the countless lights coming from the surrounding buildings and cars bouncing off its surface. The rain must’ve made it even shinier, the lights made a reflection so bright that it had everyone staring. Men looked in awe and a young paper boy, standing on the corner working over time, wondered if that would someday be his future.

With a look of disgust, Steve was repulsed by the obscurity of the man’s driving having nearly hit him. He wondered why people had no respect and he desperately wanted to punch his face in. Either that or give him a pep talk about general safety.

“What a twit.” He snarls, dusting off his small suspenders and kicking the invisible debris off his lapels.

Bucky’s face held something different. It explained why the woman staring had looked on in pure jealousy. He stared forward completely emotionless. He was neither annoyed at the fact that he almost just got run over and killed and nor in obsession over the Duesenberg J.

It was the beautiful goddess emerging from the passenger seat that caught his full attention.

On her left hand was a pearl and diamond bracelet and she used it to skim over the top of the priceless car door for leverage to push herself gracefully up from the leather seat. Her other hand was wrapped up in a prestige white glove. It held onto the hem of her silver sparkling gown, a long white cigar between her digits. Her gorgeous dress looked heavy, you could tell it was so properly made and expensive because it must’ve weighed as much as her petite self. The reason being that it hugged her body at just the perfect places, showing off her curves gracefully.

Her perfect blonde hair was pulled slick back by a diamond hair clip to the side in huge voluminous waves. The dress showed just enough back, the material dipping down towards the floor, the dip ending just above her bottom. The entire thing was held by two tiny silver straps on her shoulders.

In a sentimental Mood by Duke Ellington seemed to have played perfectly in sync with the exact moment she shut the door behind her. She looked up to read the sign, her perfect profile looking up in awe.

Bucky stands up from the bed, back rigid and face hard with anger.

No.

It couldn’t be.

He swallows thickly, gaze going towards you again.

He doesn’t know why he keeps looking at you.

Ironically, beneath his anger and betrayal, he also began to feel embarrassment.

He’s momentarily startled out of his trance when he feels a small hand grab his elbow.  He looks down and his eyes meet a small concerned Steve. Well, to be fairly honestly, he looked more pissed than concerned.

Bucky doesn’t feel the patience to deal with talking anything out, he’s too busy thinking about Daisy. But he feels like he should at least say something so he can get everyone off his back, “What is it?”

Steve looks at him likes he’s crazy and then manically gestures towards the entrance of the club, probably pointing to where Daisy just left through.

“Bucky, what the heck was that? Who was that? You know her?”

“I didn’t know her. No.” Bucky doesn’t realize he’s saying it out loud.

He’s shaking his head to himself, mumbling.

“Bucky, who are you talking to?” You’re growing even more concerned by the second now.

The silence was broken by his strong voice.

“You’re real.”

She smiles in a way that makes him smile too. It was contagious and bright. He caresses her skin one more time.

He felt her own hand come over his and she whispers, “I’m real.”

“Not real.”

You are more than concerned at this point.

“What are you talking about?”

“Maybe it was the fact that my body had finally developed into a women’s body. My breasts were now fully perked and my legs were long and porcelain gorgeous; all I knew was they figured I could be put to good use.”

He shook his head and Bucky blinked away heavy tears.“I-“

The pretty woman rolled her eyes and crossed her legs, revealing a long slit that ran up her dress. It was just enough skin for Bucky’s hand to get sweaty.

He waited until the perfect opportunity when the man had walked towards the direction of the stage, making his way into the back behind the curtain.

“It wasn’t real.”

“You do his dirty work for him?”

“It wasn’t real.”

“My father’s not a good guy.”

Bucky remembers them poking him with IV drops and then sticking his head in a blender. His owns screams fill his head. It was so painful.

“Reason unknown, ongoing investigation"

“I wasn’t going to let you keep her. She enticed you. She won you. It was always supposed to be you.”

“…blonde 21 year old was found shot…”

“Daisy,” he whispered. He traced her features with his hand, and just like that the fear escaped his eyes, and instead of scared he was now feeling complete love and he was ready because knew this is what he wanted forever. He wanted her, “Will you marry me?”

“…Her family has been under investigation after her father’s disappearance —…”

“But you jeopardized it, Soldat. It wasn’t real.”

The memories are sucked out of him like a vacuum and his dark eyes meet yours, again, across the bed.

You had never seen his pupils so blown before.

You were terrified.

Your eyes go down to his flesh hand that is twitching against his thigh.

“Bucky.” You say cautiously, one more time. It was almost like you were afraid to get closer to him.

“I—“ his voice was hoarse.

He looks away and clears his throat. He blinks away the heavy daze, allowing it all to sink in until it settles in his stomach in a surprising pool of acceptance.

He sees you again and for some reason he feels okay.

It scares him.

It scared him how you took something that had been bothering him for so long, away that quickly.

In that moment he knows.

“I remembered something.” Your eyebrows came together suddenly. Nearly moments ago he looked heartbroken but now he just looked shocked and angry.

“What did you remember? I thought you had your memories back. In Wakanda.”

“I-I did,” he squeaks out running a hand through his hair, “maybe I’m just remembering differently, or adding pieces together, I don’t know, I can’t tell. It has to be, because it makes sense. It makes so much sense now, and I can’t—and she—”

“Bucky you’re rambling,” he stops and you continue to look at each other. His face drops all traces of anger and it softens, “Talk to me, I’m right here.” You whisper.

Bucky looks down at you and nods. No hesitancy.

“Give me your hands.” You say, reaching for him. He doesn’t hold back from doing so, and once you have his hands in yours, you pull him up onto the bed so he’s kneeling on it next to you.

Bucky takes a few minutes to compose himself before he says it:

“I think Daisy and her family were Hydra.” He says it like he’s afraid of his own words.

As if every word in that phrase was a curse word.

Somehow, it relieves him.

His chest feels light, shoulders worn. He can breathe.

+ + +

“I should’ve known it was too fast. Too perfect,” you’re also stunned as he tells you everything, his hands still in yours, “but—but I don’t think she was always hydra. I think she wanted out when I was captured and they killed her for it.”

You don’t deny it, that hurts. Despite never knowing the girl and secretly holding envy for her, it pains you.

“Oh, Bucky.”

He shakes his head, eyebrows furrowing together.

“But it was a lie. She enticed me, she fucking—“ Bucky sucks in a deep breath, “she was trying to lure me in. There was nothing real about it.” He says the word like it’s venom on his lips.

You feel him rub his thumb over the back of your hand.

“You don’t know that -”

He shakes his head again, “She was Hydra!” He doesn’t say it angrily as much as he says it in a way to announce it to himself.

He needed to say it out loud. He needed to let it sink in.

You watch Bucky as he becomes completely numb, and somehow free, in front of you.

For some reason you expected more heartbreak from him for discovering something so horrible about a woman he claimed he loved so much, a woman he wanted to marry, but instead all you got from him was anger and acceptance.

Little did you know, Bucky was in the same boat as you.

Why wasn’t he as heat shattered as he’d expect?

“I-“ he’s speechless as he looks around, trying to find something, but he does’t know what.

You think you’re more shocked than him and you quickly grab his arm, bringing him against you for a tight hug.

He hugs you back immediately, hand running up your shoulder blade and onto the back of your hair.

Minutes pass by. Many minutes.

“It was all a lie,” he whispers still holding onto. you, “All of it. I really was alone. I thought I finally had someone, but—It wasn’t real.”

You don’t know what to say as you run your hand up the back of his head.

It’s not until you pull him in tighter that he realizes it.

It was you.

You were there reason this didn’t hurt as much as he thought it would. His heart no longer wanted to be with someone who was long gone.

It wanted to stay here.

Here.

He never thought he would ever feel this way ever again, and he never thought he would trust this hard ever again.

Realizing truth relived him of buried pain, and he wanted you to keep holding him, to keep helping him go through this.

He says your name softly.

“Yes?”

“I want to talk about everything.”

You stiffen for a moment as you let his words sink in. You weren’t exactly sure what he was talking about.

“What are you talking about?” You ask.

“All of it. Everything that I did. I need to get it out, I can’t keep doing this, holding it in, keeping it inside —”

The euphoria through your blood is addicting.

“Tell me.”

He loved slow dancing.

He loved the Yankees.

He loved math and Howard Stark.

He went to the Stark Expo every year.

He loved The Hobbit and he loved jazz.

He loved New York City.

He loved Brooklyn the most.

He misses flat hats.

He loved telling jokes.

His mother died when he was young.

His sister was taken away from him.

He cried when he couldn’t see her.

His father died not too long after.

He never enlisted despite his love for the military.

He was drafted.  

He experienced World War II but on the enemy side.

He fought with Hitler’s and Hydra’s men.

He was loved by the KGB.

He loved Prague.

He trained the girls in the red room.

He remembers every young girl.

He was told to kill four kids on a mission once in Bucharest.

He was tormented, beaten raw, and kept in a concrete cell between cryo periods.

He was only occasionally fed, most years spent asleep.

He was treated like an animal. They tied him to the wall once in the cell, with a chain around his neck.

He was brain washed.

He was sexually assaulted by Hydra.

He doesn’t remember if he was raped, which could be his brain’s way of protecting himself from more trauma.

He reminds you that loved Howard Stark.

He killed Howard Stark.

He killed Maria Stark.

He was the one that stole the super soldier serum from the Stark’s and provided it to Hydra.

He was the fist of Hydra.

He killed many other good men. Over two dozen assassinations.

He killed JFK.

He never wanted to do any of it.

He remembers all of it.

They named him a hero on the Wall of Valor before S.H.I.E.L.D fell.

He was taken into Wakanda, freed of his trigger words.

He still loved New York City.

He was pardon him, despite everything.

They named him an Avenger.

He remembers it all.

You’re laying down facing each other and you continue to watch him as he tells you everything.

It’s one of the most surreal experiences of your life and you find yourself in total awe.  

This was the Bucky Barnes you had been longing to see. This was the man you knew was hidden beneath layers of hurt and anger.

You had seen it before he even told you.

The fact that he even trusted you enough to be this transparent with you is what makes you so happy.

His eyes brightened as he played with a string on the blanket between you.

“And Friends,” his voice is small and there’s a little smile on his mouth. Your heart swells as you watch it, “I love Friends.”

You bite your tongue as you smile.

Bucky stared at you, just as amazed at himself as he was at you. He couldn’t believe he told it all to you.

It was as if Daisy’s image had begun to dissolve and he was finally seeing clearly.

He didn’t hate you. He never hated you.

His fingers peak out slowly to take a hold of your pinky.

It was the opposite. He wanted you.

He feels himself breaking when you pull away from his touch. His smile falls.

“I’m proud of you,” you say quietly, sitting up again, “For finally talking about it.” You mean it, “Thank you.”

It takes him a few seconds to eventually look away and he turns onto his back. Bucky drapes an arm over his stomach, letting out a long breath of contentment.

He felt free.

To do what?

He looks over at you again as you pull your book back out.

This. This is what freedom got him. You.

But it you weren’t his. He clears his throat.

“How are things with your boyfriend?”

You don’t like talking about Pietro with Bucky.

“It’s fine,” you answer anyway, “We only had one date. And I got sick, so hopefully the next one will be better.”

Bucky swallows thickly. Why was he feeling like this? He should be happy for you. You wanted this. You deserved this.

“What do you plan to do when it’s time for us both to leave and go back?” He asks.

You don’t miss the way he mentions both of you to leave and your eyes quickly flicker to him.

“I don’t know yet,” you say hoarsely, filled with unexpected relief.

+ + +

Bucky doesn’t remember experiencing this kind of happiness since he was nineteen and him and Steve went to go see a baseball game after scoring a date with two pretty girls on the F train.

He’s happy.

Ashen peaks up at him from behind dark lashes, smiling so hard his eyes peak up at the side, turning them into thin slits. Bucky’s aren’t too far off as he mimics the boy’s laughter.

“Connect four?” Bucky asks, chuckling.

“Yeah, you’ve gotta try it. It’s so fun.” The Ashens says happily, pulling out the little game from underneath his bed. Bucky wants to ask him why he has it hidden, but he doesn’t. He just reminds him that they need to stay quiet, “plus, it’s the only game I have anyway. But it’s fun Mr. Bucky.”

“Haha, alright lets try it.” Bucky says.

They sit across from each other on the floor, setting up the little game and dividing their colored chips. Ashen’s goes first, dropping in a yellow one.

Bucky picks up a red one with his flesh hand and drops it right next to the yellow. They continue for a bit until Ashens notices Bucky isn’t connecting his colors.

“No, you have to try to get a straight line and connect it!” He laughs, “you suck at this."

“Oh, no! What did I do?” Bucky exclaims, laughing.

“You’re not very smart for an Avenger.” Ashens remarks.

“Okay,” Bucky points at him playfully, smiling, “That’s mean.”

“I’m sorry but it is true.”

“Cut me some slack.” Bucky says, smiling.

They play for a little longer until Ashens ends up beating him.

Bucky sticks his tongue out at the boy, but smiles. He eventually caught on to the game and let him win. But he doesn’t need to know that.

“Mr. Bucky,” Ashen says after he slides the game back under his head. He brings his legs up to his chest and hugs them, "Will you tell me now why you are here to save me?”

Bucky licks his lip and sighs. He looks out Ashens' high rise window and then back to him again. “Not yet.”

“Should I be afraid.”

“No. I won’t let anything happen you. I promise.”

Ashens doesn’t say anything as he lets his Mike Wazowski slippers hit each other.

“Do you have any kids? Like my age?”

The question surprises Bucky, and for a moment a feeling of longing hits him. “No. I don’t.”

“Aww okay.”

Bucky stares at Ashens little sad face and his heart breaks.

“I always wanted to, though,” Bucky whispers, “But that was years ago.”

“When you were in world war one?”

Bucky smiles.

“Two, not one, but yeah,” it’s not a lie, Bucky knows that if his loved would’ve went a different way, he would have definitely had kids. To know he could never go back to such simplicity broke his heart, “Something like that.”

There was something, that even so many months later, still bothered Bucky. It was something so small, and it probably didn’t really affect you as much as it affected him, but it was something you said to him.

It was one of your many fights and the way you had spatted at him about buying you plan B after you had sex.

He didn’t want to burden you. What you two had done had been irresponsible. An atmosphere like this was no place and time for an unwanted baby.

You weren’t ready for one, let alone his.

At the time, it wasn’t that he wouldn’t want the baby, if you were to have gotten pregnant, he would have loved that child with everything. He was thinking about you.

He hated to think that he gave you that pill as a gesture to say that he wanted nothing to do with you.

If so, you were wrong.

He wanted you to be happy, just smart.

He cared about you.

And now, possibly more.

As he continues to watch Ashens giggling over his slippers, that feeling of longing washes over Bucky again.

He knows he needs to tell you.

+ + +

You still weren’t feeling well. Maybe it was your nerves. The end of the mission was getting closer by each day and you never expected you’d have to leave with a little kid. You still hadn’t met Ashens, but Bucky says he’s a delight.

Ashens has changed him. You took notice immediately and it made you happy. This whole experience would be good for him.

After Bucky had poured out his heart to you, you knew you needed to get away again. That was the dance now. You get pulled, you take a step back. You couldn’t let yourself go there anymore, no matter how hard it was.

Pietro would be the driving force to help you.

You just wish Bucky would stop doing things that he probably realized he wasn’t even doing. The way he touches your face and your hand, or some times the way he looks at you, was not appropriate for two fuck buddies who stopped…fucking.

You were still convinced that he wanted you two to go your separate ways at the end of this mission. Him indirectly saying he was going to walk out with you made you happy, it could’ve been Ashens that helped him have a change of heart, whatever it was, this thing between you had to dissolve anyway.

You couldn’t keep doing that to himself, even when he would blur your lines.

You really wished he would stop doing that.

That night you after the ball, you were almost sure that he was developing feelings for you - finally - it’s why you tried to get him to finally tell you why the kiss bothered him.

Bucky never told you the truth, and you were too tired to keep digging.

You were glad that was the last time.

It was over. All of it was over.

Your stomach churns again and you decide to make yourself some tea and head to bed.

@snakeeatery17 @utterlyhopeful-fics , @marvelfan1017, @iheartsebastianstan , @annathesillyfriend , @redhairedfeistynerd, @perksofbeingabookworm, @amyrose051, @meegggoooo, @morganclaire4 , @captainchrisstan, @bxndys , @shoesonpointe ,  @writerwrites, @rainbowkisses31, @lindatreb , @littlemissner98 , @dezzylou24, @ayeitslelee , @hardygal69 ,  @emmabarnes , @redbarn1995@thequeenreaders@ilovemysupersoldiers@maximumplaidzonknerd@ceapa-mica @s-trawberryv-eins@buckysknifecollections@sobangie@lindatreb@theseuscmander@nervous-plant @wildmoonflower @aya-fay@appreciating-fanfics@kaitlynisinfinite@justreadingfics@kaitieskidmore1 @mrsdancing​ @everythingiloveandcherish @shinykoalacat�� @dragongirl31 @kaitlynisinfinite​ @alwaysclassyeagle

[doctorstethoscope]

Fighting Crime || A. Hotchner & Reader

Back at it again with another one shot for @ssahotchswife ‘s soft Hotch Saturday! No smut this week sorry folks. 

Warnings: alcohol consumption, canon-typical mentions of kidnapping/violence, pregnancy, suggestive content

Word count: 1.7k

You finished your paperwork first, which wasn’t unusual. Gathering up your files, you trekked up the steps and knocked twice on the door to Aaron’s office before letting yourself in. 

“This is done,” you said, extending the folder towards him. “And luckily for you, I left out the logs of what exactly occurred in my hotel room between the hours of 12:38AM and--” 

“Trust me, my memory is plenty fresh on that.” He smirked up at you. 

“JJ and Penelope have called for a celebration of our heroism at the bar tonight,” you informed Aaron, who peeked over your shoulder at the clock hanging on his office wall. It was 4pm.  “We can have a couple drinks and still get Jack for dinner. It’ll be good to have some non-work related adult time.” You told him, 

“I think that if you refer to the log of what happened in your hotel room at 12:38AM, you’ll find my preferred non work related adult---”

“Aaron!” You cut him off with a laugh, and your smile seemed to relieve some of the tension in  his jaw.

“You go ahead,” he tells you. “I’ll see what I can do here. Either way, I’ll come pick you up and we can get Jack together.” 

“Okay boss,” you smiled, leaving his office to go check on Spencer, who usually finished around the same time as you. 

“I’m going to be a little while longer,” he sighs. “Why don’t you go to the bar and grab our booth?” He suggested, and you took his advice. 

It had been a long case, but a successful one-- the unsub confessed, and none of the hostages were hurt, so it was one worth celebrating for sure. You walked over to the team’s normal spot, enjoying the warmth of the DC sun on your face. Jimmy, the bartender, spots you as soon as you make your way into the bar. 

“Hey, princess!” He calls out to you with a smile.

“Hi Jimmy,” you greet him as you slide into a barstool 

“What are you doing here all by yourself?” He asks as he slides you your usual-- a vodka tonic with lime.

“I’m just getting a headstart. The rest of the team will be here soon, so I’m going to grab our booth before it gets crowded.” You explain to him.

“Okay doll, I’ll be by to check on you in a little bit.”

True to his word, Jimmy swung by with another vodka tonic about fifteen minutes later, and JJ walked in shortly afterwards. 

“Damn, you beat boy genius!” You congratulated her.

“I know, it has to be a new personal best,” she agrees with a laugh as Jimmy reappears, placing two shots on the table for you both. 

“Cheers to a successful case” you smiled, extending your shot glass in her direction. She bit her lip. 

“Oh, I’m not drinking tonight, actually,” she tells you.

“You’re pregnant!” You exclaimed, downing your shot. 

“How did you know?” She asked, laughing as she passes you her shot.

“Well, I didn’t, but it was a good guess.” 

“I’m not really ready to tell the whole team yet.” She tells you shyly, and you’re quick to reassure her. 

“Of course, Jayje. They won’t hear it from me.”

“Thank you. Now take that, because they’re coming and they need to think I drank it.” She says, gesturing to her shot. You downed it quickly before the rest of the team could make it to the table. 

“Ladies, ladies, you started without me?” Derek grinned as he slid into the booth next to JJ. 

You were pleasantly surprised to see Aaron slip in next to you. You took his hand and squeezed it in your own before kissing the back of it. “I thought for sure you’d be holed up in your office to avoid this,” you confessed. 

“Yeah, well, my girlfriend is a cute drunk,” he said, leaning in to press a kiss to your cheek and taking advantage of the proximity to whisper, “and I caught you drinking for two.”

You and Aaron were coming up on a year of dating, and had told the team a few months back. There was a novelty to being a couple in front of the people you loved most, somehow even more exciting than the sneaking around them, that hadn’t worn off yet. Aaron wrapped his arm around your shoulders and you put a hand on his thigh as Spencer and Emily went to get another round of drinks. 

“No one knows yet,” You whispered back to Aaron, but you knew he would keep JJ’s secret. He was good like that.

You attempt to keep up with the flow of conversation, but between the cocktails and the shots, you’re beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, particularly on your empty stomach. Emily and Spencer return and pass you another vodka tonic, and you make a silent determination to nurse this one more slowly. You tilt your chin up towards Aaron, who is listening to Penelope tell Spencer about the new frozen yogurt place that opened up by her apartment.

“You okay?” He asked, lowly, so no one else would hear. 

“Yeah,” you smiled back up at him.

“You’re drunk.” He states, chuckling at you.

“Noooo,” you argued, drunkenly. Luckily, Derek saves you from yourself. 

“Hotchner, you can’t monopolize her just because she’s your girl now. We all remember who took care of her when she first got here.” He teases Aaron, and you laugh. It was true. Aaron had been hard on you at the beginning, but Morgan took you under his wing. He took good care of you. “Come on pretty thing, we’re dancing.” Derek extends his hand towards you, and you see Emily and Penelope waiting for you as well. 

You sat up, untangling yourself from Aaron before giving him a quick peck, grabbing your drink, and practically racing the three of them to the dance floor. It felt like college, in all the best ways. The job was so stressful, and you didn’t let yourself get away from it nearly enough. Throwing your arms up in the air with Emily, letting Morgan catch you when you stumbled, and laughing with Garcia as she brought you another shot of who-knows-what, it felt like the Friday night after you turned in a term paper. Total bliss, fuck the consequences. 

“Guys, we have a case. It’s urgent, and it’s bad.” JJ came to pull you all off of the dance floor. 

Well, so much for fuck the consequences. You put a hand on Morgan’s wrist, a silent sign for him to support you-- you weren’t even sure if you could make it back to the office without stumbling. He placed a hand on the small of your back and guided you out of the bar, where the team was waiting in the street. You reached for Aaron and linked your arm with his. Even with his support, you stumbled at the brisk pace and the uneven ground of the cobblestones downtown.

“You can’t work like this,” he said once you were back in the elevator at Quantico. He wasn’t judging you or being mean-- but as both your supervisor and your boyfriend, he was concerned. “Maybe Jess can swing by and take you home, you can read Jack his bedtime story and sleep some of this off--” He said, as you all stepped out of the elevator and back into the office.

“Noo, Aaron!” You whined. “I want to fight crime!” You protested, pouting. If there was any doubt that you were drunk before, it was gone now. You heard Emily stifle a laugh from somewhere behind you. 

“Hotch, you’re going to send her home just to have her take a nap to sober up and then meet us out there? That doesn’t make any sense,” Morgan argues, but there’s no bite behind it. 

“Yeah, plus you need me to help you fight crime,” You add helpfully as Aaron directed you to your desk and all but placed you in your chair. 

“It’s a four hour flight. She can sleep on the plane,” JJ suggests as she brings you a cup of coffee, which you sip on gratefully. 

You could tell, even in your drunken state, that Aaron was torn, and you felt bad. As your supervisor, he knew he should send you home. As your boyfriend, he would certainly feel better if you were nearby, not to mention the fact that leaving you here meant you’d have to fly commercial to Montana the next morning, not on the safety of the team’s jet. He took a deep breath before making a determination. 

“You are going to eat something now, when we brief, and then you are going to sleep on the plane. You will not go into the field or to the crime scene until I say so. You will go straight to the police precinct, talk to no one, and start on the geographic profile with Reid. Is that clear?” 

“Yes sir,” you squeaked out, and the team erupted in giggles.

“Good girl,” he whispered for only you to hear.

45 minutes later, you had all but inhaled the fast food that Reid had brought you, and you were following Aaron out to the jet. You were the first ones on, and Aaron led you over to the couch, foregoing his normal spot for one where you’d be more comfortable sleeping. He pulled your favorite throw blanket out of your go-bag and covered you up, your head in his lap and your legs splayed out over the other end of the couch, 

“I’m sorry,” you mumbled, and he pushed a stray piece of hair out of your face.

“You don’t have to be sorry,” he tells you. “You didn’t know we would be called on another case.” 

“I know. That didn’t make it any easier on you, though.” 

“You shouldn’t worry about me so much,” he’s quick to correct you. 

“Says the man who’s letting me sleep my drunkenness off on an FBI jet so that he doesn’t have to let me out of his sight,” you teased him.

“Well, you wanted to fight crime so badly. How could I say no?” He smiled down at you. 

“I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart. Get some sleep.”

[dreamwritesimagines]

Twisted 14 - Sinking Deeper [Spencer Reid x Reader]

A.N.: Thank you so much for your wonderful support my loves! Here’s the next chapter, I hope you will like it as well, and please let me know what you think of it! ❤❤ Ily, kisses! ❤❤❤ 

Ps: Special thanks to Bea for helping me!

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Murder, serial killers, violence, manipulation, mentions of sex, drinking, smoking.

Word Count: 4180

Summary: Not every night is for sleeping.

All things considered, you were sure that you were supposed to be more stressed out than you were right now. The FBI still had nothing on the copycat killer that had sent you flowers, or any of the others that were running wild all over the country. BAU was working nonstop because there was more and more pressure coming from the supervisors and higher ups, and Spencer had told you something about the profile evolving but hadn’t gotten into details.

Not that you would ever ask him to, what you heard was more than enough.

Despite all that, whenever you were with him, you managed to feel almost…peaceful. It was so unfamiliar to you that it had taken you a moment to acknowledge what it was.

Happiness. Pure happiness, enough to get rid of the mind-numbing panic and worries about the future.

Or, as your sister had so eloquently put it, you were so, so screwed.

You took a sip of your mimosa, texting Spencer under the table, barely aware of the conversation taking place but you had to look up when you heard your name being called.

“Would you want to, Y/N?” your mother asked and you frowned.

“Hm?” you asked, your eyes stopping on Lily playing with her dolls by the corner of the huge living room before you looked at Mina and Kenzie, “Sorry, what were we talking about?”

“There’s this opera—“

“Nope,” you shook your head fervently, “No way. It’s Mina’s turn.”

Mina let out a whine, “I hate you so much right now.”

“She has a point,” your mother pointed at Mina, “Your sister was the one who came to the charity ball, you can come to this one.”

Mina heaved a sigh while Kenzie reached out to hold her hand.

“Babe come on, it could be fun.”

“Exactly!” your mother said, “Thank you, Kenzie. Besides, Nolan is coming as well, so we will be two couples there. Y/N, of course if you want you can bring Spencer—“

“I’m not exaggerating when I say I’d rather spend an hour in my serial killer father’s cell with Spencer.”

Your mother rolled her eyes and Mina tilted her head.

“Nolan Yates is coming too?” she asked, pinching the bridge of her nose, “I’m spending a whole night with the boss of my boss?”

“You two should get to know each other!” Your mother said, “Besides, there’s no harm in telling your bosses that you should become a partner already—“

“Mom,” Mina cut her off, “We talked about this. I will earn that position by myself, not because of anyone’s influence. Including yours.”

Your mother sipped her drink, “It’s as if you like struggling, Mina.”

Kenzie looked between them and smiled brightly, trying to diffuse the situation. “I’m actually pretty curious about him,” she said, “Since you’re a couple now, I just need to see what kind of a person he is.”

“There’s nothing to see, babe.” Mina murmured, “The guy looks like he spends millions alone on his beard care and wears bowties to bed.”

“Yeah but bowties are cool,” you grinned and a silence fell upon the table.

“I will get back to you sleeping with my boss’ boss in a minute mom but—“ Mina cleared her throat and turned to you, “I’m sorry, was that a Doctor Who reference?”

“Yeah,” you nodded, “I started watching it because Spencer likes it so much. It’s actually pretty fun, he said we could go to Sonic-Con next year if I want.”

“Comic-Con.” Kenzie corrected you helpfully and Mina blinked a couple of times.

“Jesus Christ.”

“I don’t get it,” Kenzie said, “I told you to watch it with me and you said, and I quote It has like one billion episodes Kenz, I don’t have time for that.”

Mina stole a look at Lily to make sure she couldn’t hear you before she turned to Kenzie, “Yeah, the difference is that you weren’t dicking her down.”

“Nobody is dicking me down!” you whispered, and your mother gasped, putting her mimosa glass down.

“Girls, not at the breakfast table!” she insisted, “Not that this kind of language is acceptable anywhere…”

“Yeah Mina, leave her alone,” Kenzie said, “I think it’s sweet.”

“What’s next? You will want to get a doctorate as well because he likes them so much?”

“That wouldn’t be so bad,” your mother mused out loud, “Y/N, I know the lovely dean of—“

“No!” you pointed at them, “No to both of you. And thank you Kenzie.”

Before your mother could say anything, Lily ran to you to climb into your lap.

“Hi there bug.”

“Can we play after brunch?” she looked up at you, making you smile at her before you pinched her chubby cheek, making her giggle.

“Of course,” you said, “Dibs on green unicorn.”

“I like pink better,” she nicked a piece of cheese from your plate, “Are you talking about your prince?”

Mina smiled into her glass, “Something like that sweetheart.”

“Lily, why don’t you ask auntie what you asked me the other day?” Kenzie told her and Lily nodded fervently.

“Can I wear pink on your wedding?”

“Whoa-“ you cleared your throat, “Lily, baby, there’s no wedding.”

Kenzie and your mother grinned at each other and turned to you and Lily but she looked as if she was confused.

“But if he’s your prince…” she trailed off and Kenzie cleared her throat.

“I would like to come up with a tamer version of that question,” she said, “When do we get to meet him?”

“Mom and Mina already have,” you said but your mother shook her head.

“That doesn’t count.”

“Because you treated him like you were going to hire him?”

“Oh you did the same to him as well?” Kenzie asked your mother, “I thought Mina would have a heart attack when you did that to me.”

“I honestly thought you would break up with me after that.”

You fixed the huge bow on top of Lily’s hair while she sat still in your lap, listening to the conversation.

“How about dinner?” your mother said, “It’d help us to get to know him better.”

“Nope,” you shook your head, “It’s too early.”

“Oh come on Y/N!”

“I will introduce him to you guys when I’m sure you can behave.”

“He has spent hours with dad, you do realize that?” Mina asked with a small laugh, “You think he behaves? The guy is a—“

“Mina.” Kenzie nodded at Lily and Mina stopped herself immediately but Lily had already heard it.

“I thought your dad was a bad man, mommy.”

“He is, baby,” she nodded, “That’s why he’s far away, remember?”

“Then why is auntie Y/N’s prince talking to him?”

“Because he catches bad people, bug.”

Lily gasped and looked up at you, her eyes shining with excitement, “Like a superhero?!”

“Mm hm, like a superhero,” you grinned at her and she fidgeted in your lap.

“When will I meet him?”

“Yeah Y/N, when will we meet him?” Kenzie batted her lashes and you pointed at her.

“That’s evil, you know that right?” you asked, ignoring Mina’s laughter, “Low blow.”

                                                 ***

Towards the evening, right before it was time to meet Spencer he had texted you, saying that they would be doing overtime at work. You were bummed, but you still texted back to tell him it was alright, that you would be going home and he could drop by whenever he was done.

After having dinner, you went to the couch with a bottle of wine and turned your laptop on to take a look at the files your assistant had sent you. Campbell wedding was almost done, Vincent had sent you a couple of new ideas to add into the theme, and you had to email back two pastry shops to confirm the wedding cake orders.

You were so lost in work that you had barely realized downing the half of the bottle and it was only when your phone started buzzing on the coffee table that you looked away from the screen of the laptop.

“Hi Lincoln,” you answered the phone, still typing your replies to your assistant and he took a deep breath.

“Hey,” he said, “Are you watching it?”

“Watching what?”

“TV. They’re talking about the copycat killers.”

“What?” you grabbed the remote to turn on the TV and of course, the first TV channel you found was already covering the story.

“The FBI has confirmed that the body that was found dead earlier today belonged to one of the copycat killers that has been—“

“What the fuck?” you murmured, keeping your eyes on the screen and he cleared his throat.

“Yeah,” he said, “I know it’s creepy but I mean…I don’t know, isn’t that a good thing?”

“Someone killed one of the copycat killers?” you asked, “That makes no sense at all.”

“Do you think it’s the same one?” he asked, “From the charity ball?”

“I don’t know,” you muttered, “Jesus Christ.”

“Are you okay?” he asked, “I didn’t know if I should call, but…”

“No no, I’m glad you did.” You muted the TV, then filled your glass again, “What’re you doing?”

“Just leaving work,” he said and you raised your brows.

“Linc, it’s eleven p.m.”

“I had to attend a meeting overseas.”

“Workaholic.”

“I prefer the term hard working,” he chuckled, “How about you? You weren’t sleeping, right?”

“Nah, I was waiting for my boyfriend,” you said, making him pause for a moment, “And checking client files. And drinking.”

“You’re lucky you can deal with your job while drinking, these sharks would pounce on me if they ever saw me like that.”

You took a look at the TV and typed in the copycat killer’s name into the search bar, sipping your wine.

“You’re being safe, right?” he asked you, “I haven’t heard from you for like a week or so, you’re alright?”

You pressed your lips together, trying to decide whether to tell him about the flowers or not, but in the end you decided not to.

“Family drama,” you said, “I’ve been running everywhere, and what with work and everything…Sorry about that.”

“Don’t be silly,” he chuckled, “Just wanted to make sure you were alright, that’s all.”

“I’m alright—“ you started but then looked over your shoulder when you heard the doorbell ring, “Gotta go. I’ll call you tomorrow?”

“Sure thing, see you,” he said and hung up, so you jumped over the couch to rush to the door before you opened it to see Spencer standing there.

“Hey,” you smiled at him, standing on your tiptoes to kiss him, “Long day?”

He nodded silently and wrapped his arms around you, pressing you closer to inhale your scent.

“Hi,” he muttered into your hair, “Yeah. Long day.”

“I have wine?” you said as you pulled back, and closed the door after he stepped in, “I also have a bathtub even you could lose yourself in.”

“It’s fine, don’t worry,” he said and hesitated for a moment, “On second thought, do you have coffee?”

“Are you sure you want to drink coffee at eleven at night?”

“I still have some reports to go over,” he said, stepping into the living room while you put the coffee on and his eyes stopped on the huge screen that was still giving details about the copycat killer.

“You saw that huh?”

“Mm hm,” you watched him as he dropped his satchel and you went to sit down next to him on the couch. “I was checking the other news. That’s why you had to work overtime?”

He rubbed at his eyes and ran a hand through his fluffy hair as if it would help, “We thought the profile was changing but this whole thing just proves someone is trying to keep it stable.”

You pulled your brows together, “What?”

“The victimology didn’t match with the last two victims, and now one of the copycats ended up dead, probably the one who went rogue.”

“How did it not match?” you blinked a couple of times, “They all left a flower in the crime scene, no?”

“Well yeah, but the rest—“ he stopped for a moment, staring at you, “You never actually checked his victimology?”

“I never watched any of those interviews he gave after he was imprisoned, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Yeah, and those interviews are the reason why we still don’t have a specific suspect because everyone knows everything about him, and most of your family life,” he heaved a sigh, “But you know what his victims had in common?”

“They all bled out while he watched,” you crossed your arms, leaning back to the arm of the couch, “I know that. He liked watching that.”

“Your father never killed anyone outside his social circle,” he reminded you, “They were all wealthy and overly successful people, remember? That’s why it took FBI so long to find him, because the previous profile was wrong. They thought it was someone who didn’t have access to the same resources, the same wealth and status, and it was for revenge.”

“Yeah but Spencer, he killed those people because he is evil.”

“He killed those people because in his mind, he was creating this…perfect business environment. Most of the people who got murdered were either failing business people or people who failed to meet his expectations. He was very successful, he expected the same from everyone. That’s his victimology. The flowers on the crime scene, they were just his signature. Well, his signature and his small offering to you.”

You thought for a moment, then went to the kitchen to pour him a cup of coffee before walking back to the couch.

“I still think this is a bad idea professor,” you muttered as you gave him the cup and he smiled at you, then took a sip while you lit up a cigarette.

“So then,” you crossed your legs, “His victims were the cream of society and that means something? Other than the fact that he was a psychopath?”

“That means a lot of things,” he said, “So far, most of the victims had a higher status in society, it means that the copycats actually wanted to continue his legacy from where he left off. Maybe not the people who disappointed them per se, but until these last two victims, they all had higher financial status, either family money or with their own successful companies but last month, someone first killed a bartender and then a social worker. The only thing that told us it was remotely connected was the flower in the crime scene.”

“That’s why the profile was changing,” you muttered to yourself, “Okay. Is that normal?”

“No, not at all,” he shook his head, “It’s very unfamiliar. It did prove our multiple copycat killers theory but other than that, it was going to make things incredibly harder until…” he nodded at the TV and you pulled your brows together.

“Hold on,” you sat up straighter, your mind working nonstop, “Multiple copycats who are trying to continue that monster’s legacy, and one happens to taint that legacy by going rogue…”

“And he gets killed,” he finished your sentence for you, “Exactly.”

“It was one of the copycats who killed him?”

“That’s my theory.”

“So they’re not actually working together then?” you asked, exhaling the smoke, “Or- or- wait, you said there could be one copycat that was controlling the others, maybe they did it?”

Spencer took a sip of his coffee, “It could also mean that the leader wouldn’t want to take chances like this again,” he said, “Someone tainted the legacy, he might begin to believe he cannot trust anyone with that again.”

You let out a breath, stubbing the cigarette, “What does that mean then? For…all of this?”

“It means that someone cares so much about your father’s legacy that they’re ready to kill anyone and everyone over it, even their partners,” he said, “It also means that their whole operation is starting to crack. It’s only a matter of time someone makes a mistake and ends up getting caught.”

You massaged your temples, “Well, at least one of us can see the light at the end of this psycho murder tunnel.”

“You can’t?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “It feels like it won’t stop,” you croaked out, “It’s like… It’s like I can’t wake up without dread filling me. It’s always there, at some corner of my mind. The more I think about it, the more I feel like—“ you stopped yourself and Spencer frowned, putting his coffee down.

“What?”

“You don’t want to hear that, trust me.”

“Try me.”

“The more I feel like it will go on until the day I die.”

“It’s impossible for this case to take that long, Y/N—“

“I didn’t say it’d take long,” you took a sip of your wine and heaved a sigh before you looked up at him, the expression on his face almost hurting your heart physically, “Told you that you didn’t want to hear it.”

“Don’t say that.”

You forced a small laugh and got up from the couch, suddenly restless.

“You said it yourself,” you said, pacing in the living room, “His victimology. He went after the people who disappointed him, right? Can you guess who’s disappointing him right now by not turning into the monster that he is?”

“That’s not what I—“ he shook his head fervently and stood up from the couch as well, “No. No way. It’s his victimology, but none of the psychiatric evaluations or anything on his file, including the list of his victims suggest that he would go after his family. There was a reason why he never tried to hurt you or Mina or your mother even back then—“

“No I’m sure they’re safe,” you said, “But Mina didn’t get flowers, professor. I have.”

“If our theory of him being in contact with the copycat is right, it means that your father is involved as well—hey,” he stopped you from pacing, reaching out to hold your hands in his, “Listen to me. Whoever it is, they will never, ever touch you. I’ll make sure of that.”

A painful smile pulled at your lips, “Spencer, that’s not your responsibility.”

“It is.”

“FBI can’t—“

“I’m not talking about the FBI, I’m talking about me.”

You took a shaky breath and wrapped your arms around his middle, burying your face into his chest as you swayed slightly.

“Is it okay if we stay like this for a moment?” you muttered, shifting your weight from one foot to another “I don’t— I can’t sit still, I don’t know why.”

“Do you want to hear the reason why?” he ran his fingertips over your spine up and down, as if trying to soothe you and you nodded.

“Yes please.”

“You feel threatened, so your brain is trying to understand where the danger is coming from. It’s telling you to either stand or run away, so it’s pumping adrenaline into your system. We call that nervous energy.”

“That could be my stripper name,” you mumbled, making a chuckle vibrate deeply in his chest, “Tell me more.”

“The nervous energy happens when you’re under stress,” he said, “Our primitive brain is used to physical threats and it created this system in order to protect us. The threat you’re afraid of is not here, not physical, but your brain is still sending that energy to your limbs so that you can attack that physical threat, or run away to somewhere safe. It’s all a part of your defense mechanism.”

You hmmed into his chest, still holding him tight as if someone would take him away from you before you sniffled and pulled back to look up at him.

“You know, I think I got something you can’t explain with science.”

He raised his brows, “Debatable.”

“Do you want to bet? If I win, you’ll tell me what you planned for the next date.”

“What if I win?”

You wiped at your nose, “Tell me your price, professor.”

“There’s this conference on smoking and its effects on health next week, if I win you will attend that with me.”

“That’s a very indirect way to say that you hate my smoking.”

“I mean, it’s better if you see the effects in that conference, I think it’ll be good for you. It has five sessions, so it’s around….7 hours, including breaks.”

You blinked a couple of times, then nodded. “7 hours? That’s— okay. Yeah, I’m sure— I’m sure it’ll be fun.”  

A smile pulled at his lips, “Okay,” he said, “What is it?”

“It’s just,” you nibbled on your lip, trying to find the right words, “I was thinking and I realized something. I— I think it’s instinctual somehow, you can’t really explain it with science but when you’re here…” you paused, “With me, I mean, this whole panic dissolves. I feel safe, and it’s so unfamiliar that I don’t—“ you let out a small laugh, “I don’t know how to deal with that. I normally don’t feel safe, ever.”

A small smile pulled at his lips and he tilted his head, his warm gaze focused on you. You scrunched up your nose.

“Don’t tell me science can explain that.”

“Oxytocin.”

“God damn it!” you exclaimed, making him laugh, “Oxytocin?”

“Yeah, oxytocin. It’s a hormone that ensures that you trust people along with everything else. Basically, your brain— when you’re attracted to someone, your brain releases dopamine, so your serotonin levels rise and it produces oxytocin. It’s a big part of romantic attachment, it’s released during sex as well.”

You arched a brow, a small smirk flashing over your face and he pressed his lips together, a look of mischief appearing on his face.

“It strengthens fidelity as well,” he explained, “Seeing your partner as more attractive than others, and preferring to interact more with your partner than strangers.”

You clicked your tongue, “7 hours of conference, here we come.”

“It’ll be fun, I heard they’re bringing a real lung.”

“Can’t wait,” you muttered and entwined your fingers with his, “Well for what it’s worth professor, I have a lot of oxytocin for you.”

He cleared his throat, “Scientifically, one of the most important aspects of it is reproduction, in females it triggers labor and in males it moves sperm so having a lot of oxytocin can be—“

“Spencer, I’m trying to talk dirty in a scientific way!” you groaned, a fire spreading over your face because of embarrassment and you took a step to walk away from him but he grabbed your hand to turn you around and tug you closer to him, making you let out a whine.

“I feel like an idiot,” you murmured and he shook his head fervently,

“No, of course not,” he said, pushing your hair behind your ear, “Hey. I don’t know anything about weddings. So we complete each other if you ask me.”

You scoffed a laugh and looked up at him, your brows furrowed together, “You really think that?”

He nodded and you heaved a sigh.

“Okay.”

“And…for your information,” he swallowed thickly, “I have a lot of oxytocin for you too.”

A giggle you couldn’t stop escaped from you as he leaned in to capture your lips in a kiss, making your stomach do a pleasant flip. You wrapped your arms around his neck, your lungs full of his scent, making you dizzy.

“They’ll take away your doctorates for that joke, professor,” you breathed out as he pulled back, resting his forehead on yours while you raked your nails over the back of his neck gently.

“Worth it,” he murmured to your lips, leaning in to kiss you again, this time pressing you closer to his body and your heart started beating in your throat, a whine climbing up to your throat, desire filling your system faster than any other drug.

“Would you like to stay the night?” you whispered, and his eyes shot up to yours, both of you aware what you were really asking. He looked almost hypnotized by the sight of you in his arms and he blinked a couple of times, as if trying to focus before he nodded.

“Are you sure?” he asked, his voice hoarse and you took a shaky breath.

“Yeah,” you managed to say, your whole being consumed by this moment. “Yeah, I’ve never been more sure of anything.”

You could swear he could hear your heartbeat echoing through the room,

“No scientific explanation this time, professor?” you whispered against his lips and his fingers caressed the sensitive skin of your neck, sending a pleasant shiver from there to your whole body.

“No,” he murmured, leaning in to brush his lips against yours, “Not this time. Not for the lady who imparadises my mind.”

The lady who imparadises my mind.

That was how Dante described Beatrice in Paradise.

You stood on your tiptoes to pull him into a kiss, then tugged at his hand to lead him into your bedroom.

Chapter 15

[munsonsduchess]

Hello there, lovely duchess <3

I'd love to see what you come up with for prompt #8!

Take care! :)

-bee

summary: You and Bucky are FWB and you've been together for a while now but that's all about to change warnings: kissing, fluff, swearing, gambling (don't do it kids), mentions of smut a/n: yeah so this took an age and that's because my motivation went on vacation and i had to wrangle it back through customs

Prompts from this list

»»————-　♔　————-««

You’d met the Avengers when Tony had finally had enough of your constant nagging and had agreed to let you meet the team he always spoke so much about - not to mention you wanted to see the people he couldn’t stop complaining about in the flesh - so he’d finally relented and introduced you to everyone as only Tony knew how. With a party.

You’d been so excited to meet everyone you hadn’t even minded when the dark brooding man at the bar had spilled your drink on your dress, he was too handsome for you to be mad and with the gleaming metal arm on his left side there was only one person he could be,

“It’s perfectly alright Sergeant Barnes, it’s just a drink” you’d given him your best smile and offered to buy him a drink instead but he’d refused and you hadn’t seen him the rest of the night. Much to your dismay, he’d been someone you’d been looking forward to meeting the most.

In Bucky’s mind anyway he wasn’t planning on getting too close to you, figuring that if you were Tony’s friend there was a high chance you were just another upper east side park avenue princess. A socialite who only cared about wealth and who she could be photographed next to in newspapers and he didn’t have time for that anymore. He was a different man now.

Then you were around more often, spending time at the compound with Natasha, getting lunch with Wanda, offering to bank roll the team since you had “more money than I know what to do with” and it didn’t seem fair for Tony to have to do everything when he had a family to support as well.

Slowly but surely you wormed your way into the team’s hearts and it got to the point where everyone was asking Bucky what his issue was with you, why did he not like you? Had he even spoken to you?

Bucky had brushed off every question, he’d just ignored the needling and the nagging until finally he couldn’t. He’d blown up at Peter who’s eyes had gone wide as the teenager stuttered out an apology. Bucky hated himself for it, even more so when everyone was walking on eggshells around him afterwards, even Steve and Sam who knew him best.

He’d gone out to clear his head and off all the gin joints in all the world you had to be in the one he chose. With your warm smile and offering to buy his drinks, telling the bar staff to put everything on your tab despite Bucky’s protests that he could buy his own drinks. You just rolled your eyes at him and moved to sit next to him instead.

It ended up with just the two of you in the bar that night, your cheeks rosy from the alcohol and your eyes glassy with tears of joy as you listened to his stories and laughed at his jokes. Maybe you weren’t as bad as Bucky originally thought but he still wasn’t planning on getting closer than he needed to, until you’d put your hand on his thigh when you settled the tab and offered to split a cab.

You’d both ended up tangled in your bedsheets, laughing and joking, gasping and moaning well into the night. It had been a while for both of you and this release was definitely needed, plus you’d ended up teaching Bucky a few things when the initial groping like horny teenagers had worn off.

You’d also introduced him to the term ‘friends with benefits’ which is where you found yourself currently. Of course you both went on dates separately but you found yourself cancelling plans more and more to spend time with Bucky instead. To be curled up on the couch watching a terrible movie which was usually forgotten about halfway through for other more entertaining activities that could be partaken in on a couch.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Maybe it was silly of you to think you could resist having feelings for someone like Bucky, someone so kind, caring, funny and someone you felt so comfortable around but that’s exactly what happened. You’d woken up one morning with the smell of him cooking in your apartment kitchen with the radio playing something you didn’t really care about. You’d curled up in the blankets on the bed and revelled in the domesticity of the whole situation and it had struck you. You really cared for this man and not just as a random hook up.

The only problem was, did Bucky feel the same? Everyone else seemed to think so, when you’d spoken to Steve and Sam and Natasha and Wanda and even Scott they’d all seemed to think you and Bucky were already a couple. So you’d enacted a plan, was it your smartest plan? Probably not. Were you going to do it anyway? Damn straight.

You’d created a new tinder profile and specifically matched with the most boring man you could find. The poor bastard had no idea what he was in for or why you’d decided to go out with him but you needed him to be the human equivalent of the colour beige for the plan to work.

Bringing the man around the compound to meet the team, telling Bucky you couldn’t spend time with each other sexually anymore since you and … Dave were serious now and it wasn’t right to cheat on your boyfriend.

Bucky to his credit had wished you well and was happy you’d found someone, outwardly anyway. He’d known the ‘relationship’ the two of you had couldn’t last, that of course you’d move on and find someone worthy of your time and attention. Did it hurt? Like a bitch but he was going to be the bigger man.

Or at least he had wanted to be. The more you brought Dave around the more Bucky wondered what the hell you were doing with a man like that, he couldn’t make you laugh the way Bucky could, where your nose would crinkle in the middle and you’d gasp for breath. He didn’t know how you liked your coffee in the morning, iced usually and loaded with sugar. He sure as shit didn’t know how you liked to be touched.

It had come to an ugly head one evening when you and Dave had gone for dinner, in a restaurant you and Bucky would hang out in all the time. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back, that and the asgardian mead that Thor had left on his last visit. Bucky had taken a shot for some dutch courage and driven his bike straight to the restaurant pushing past the staff who tried to stop him,

“Y/N” he yelled, causing you to look at him with wide eyes and a surprised expression.

“Bucky, what are you doing here? Is everything alright? Did something happen to Steve or Sam?”

“Forget them and forget this guy too, you’re coming with me” he reached down to where you were sitting and wrapped his metal hand around your upper arm, “come on”

“Bucky no, I’m on a date I can’t just leave!” you protested, “David, I'm so sorry about this”

David opened his mouth to say something but a glare from Bucky told him that wasn’t a wise move. Instead he seemed to shrink back into his seat under the weight of Bucky’s icy glare,

“Come on doll” Bucky said again, hoisting you up from your seat by his grip on your upper arm, “we’re leaving”

“James Barnes! I am not your property, let go of my arm right now! If you have something you want to talk about we can talk about it later, I am with David and you have no right to barge in here like this!”

“The hell I don’t”

“Leave James, we’ll talk about this later”

Bucky was about to rebuke you again but was interrupted by a man in a fancy suit clearing his throat, apparently you and Bucky had caused enough of a commotion that several guests had complained and now both of you were being asked to leave. Which suited Bucky just fine. He grabbed you and pulled you from the booth ignoring your cries and protests and simply pulled you along with him until you both were stood at his bike,

“Come on”

“No! You do not get to manhandle me like you own me and then act like nothing is wrong, if you had something you wanted to talk to me about we could have done it like grown ups”

“Oh yeah? Like Dave? Is that what you do with him? Talk like grown ups?”

“What David and I do is none of your business Barnes”

“It is my business cause you’re my business, you’re my girl not his!”

You blinked at Bucky a few times before you huffed out a laugh, that was definitely confusing. Why were you laughing?

“Oh my god! You couldn’t have said something earlier? You had to make a scene? How am I supposed to come back here now?” you were still laughing, “not to mention I owe Steve $50 because he bet you couldn’t last the month”

“Wha? You and Steve had a bet goin’ about me lastin’?” Bucky was beginning to get agitated now, what the hell were you and Steve betting on?

“Yeah! I mean honestly Buck did you think I really liked David? He’s the most boring human being alive! I mean yeah he’s nice enough but oh my god of course I wasn’t serious about him!”

“Then why were ya out with him?”

“To see what you would do!” you said exasperatedly. Bucky raised his eyebrow, what the hell did you mean by that? “Oh my god how can you be this dense, it’s you I want to be with Barnes, not David. You! So I picked David to see if you would just let me be or if you felt the same way!”

“Wha? You couldn’t have just asked me?” Bucky shoots back, “you had to make this whole convoluted plan?”

“Right because if I’d asked you you’d have said you wanted whatever was best for me and if I wanted to see other people that would be fine and you’d never tell me what you really wanted. At least now I know” you said batting your eyelashes at him “you like me, you called me yours”

Bucky groaned and ran a hand down his face. He’d been an actual idiot. He’d told himself he was fine with you seeing other people, that this was just how the modern world was like. He couldn’t expect to hold onto someone like you forever. Now he’d gotten you kicked out of your favourite restaurant and had put his hands on you in a way he swore he never would. That being said, none of that would have happened if you’d been honest with him, no matter what you thought he’d say to you. Now here you were batting your eyelashes at him like nothing had happened,

“Don’t you dare give me those sex eyes right now! This is a serious situation, here!”

“Oh shut up and kiss me Barnes”

That he could do. Repercussions from his actions be damned. You were his. All his.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Taglist: @metalbuckaroo @doasyoudesireandlive @spicynudlesoup @calisamcro

[jamiethetrans]

Tell Me Your Story - Ch 7

Alcina Dimitrescu x Gender Neutral Reader

AN: Hey everyone. Thank you for the love. I greatly appreciate it. Thank you for refollowing the other blog and continuing on reading my stories. Means a lot to me! Lots of more to come!

- Jamie

You swallowed hard as you saw the church in your view and turned to Alcina who was already looking at you. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”, she said and you nodded looking into her eyes. Sure it was beautiful, but you weren’t thinking about the church.

“You remember what I told you?”, she asked and you nodded. She gave you a look and you swallowed hard.

“Don’t talk unless spoken to and respect the others, but only take orders from you. Keep a low profile basically”

Alcina nodded in satisfaction.

The carriage stopped and you stepped out of it while Alcina talked to the Duke who drove. You looked at the church in curiosity as you walked around the carriage and opened the door for Alcina without much of a thought and the woman frowned for a moment before smiling, getting out.

“Thank you dear”

You closed the door and followed Alcina towards the entrance. She walked in front of you and you looked around as you walked inside a big hall with chairs and a bench, looking at the architecture on the walls, even some on the floor.

“It’s beautiful”, you whispered and Alcina smiled at you, about to answer when a voice beat her to it.

“Thank you, I get that pretty often”

You both turned to the source and Alcina hardened her eyes. You noticed and immediately knew she was a complete different person around the other lords.

“They were talking about the church you imbecile”, she said, but the man on the bench ignored her completely.

“So you’re the new one my sister has taken such a liking to”

He bend forward to get a better look at you and you felt yourself standing straight. “You must be Heisenberg”, you said and the man eyed you for a moment before laughing out.

“So my sister has talked about me”

You stood still and watched Alcina as she rolled her eyes and Heisenberg smiled at you. “Who’s this ugly thing?”, a tiny screechy voice said and you frowned and turned around only to see nothing.

“Hey dumb shit, down here”

You looked down at your feet and saw a doll standing staring up at you. “You’re even uglier up close”

You would have been offended if it weren’t a doll and you turned to Alcina who stared at the doll. “Where’s Donna Angie?”, she asked and the doll turned to her.

“She’s on her way. She needed to talk to Mother Miranda in private”

You froze turning slowly to the doll, said doll turning slowly to you and your eyes met. You swallowed hard and turned back to Alcina. “She-She… she can talk… without a hand up her butt…”, you said and Alcina chuckled.

“She can”

“Uhm excuse me ugly, I don’t know how much you need to have a hand stocked up your ass before you can go through the day, but I am being just fine without one”, Angie said and that made both Alcina and Heisenberg chuckle while you frowned at her.

“Hello everyone”, another voice said and you all turned to see a man with a big hunched back, carrying plenty of boxes. You noticed he was almost jiggling at this point and none of the others seemed to even consider helping him.

“Salvatore. I see you’ve been busy”, Heisenberg said and the man, if you could even call him that, tried to turn and meet his eyes but suddenly stumbled and you quickly ran over to him, catching him just before he fell.

“Oh thank you, uh…”, the fish-man said and met your eyes as you helped putting down the boxes.

“Y/N”, you told him your name and the man smiled.

“Ah, Mother Miranda did say a guest would be joining us today. Thank you for helping me”

“Sure thing”, you said and walked back to Alcina who gave you the hardest look. Talk about low profile. You walked over and stood next to her which she gave you a single nod for before bringing her hand to the back of your head, stroking you softly.

“Look who’s being mommy’s pet”, Heisenberg said and you swallowed hard making the man chuckle. Moreau walked over and sat down next to him while Angie the doll walked over to the chair by the alter.

Alcina brought her hand down to your back and led you towards a large chair. She sat down and let you stand next to her.

A few seconds later two people walked in and one of them sat on the chair where the doll sat and brought it to its lap. You suspected that must be Donna.

“I see our new guest has arrived”, the other one said and you could instantly hear the power in the woman’s words. Obviously top of the chain.

“Yes Mother Miranda, as you asked for”

You looked up at Alcina who had the proudest smile on her face. She wanted to show Mother Miranda worthy of her position. And that included having the control of her pet.

“And who are they exactly?”, Mother Miranda asked coming closer to you and you swallowed hard, feeling your heart beat faster. The woman was intimidating.

“My pet mother Miranda”, Alcina answered as the other woman now stood directly in front of you. She gave Alcina a look before turning to you fully.

She grabbed your chin with her fingers and you could feel the sharpness of her bird claw rings on her fingers, digging into your skin beneath your chin. She moved your face around, looking you over and let out a hum.

“Definitely a fine being. Human I presume”

“Yes mother Miranda”

The woman nodded and leaned in closer to your face, the nose from her mask, touching your own. You looked into her eyes and it was like the woman was reading you. Taking every information in that she could without using words.

“Divine human you’ve found Alcina. Absolutely divine”

She moved her face even closer to you and you could now feel her breath against your lips. Desperately, you stood and hoped Alcina would stop the woman before she made any further move. And luckily luck was on your side.

“Yes. And not to mention, my human”

Mother Miranda froze for a moment, a soft smirk showing on her face before pulling back. She turned to Alcina and gave a nod.

“You’ve taught them well Alcina. Don’t make me question that judgement. Or you will be forced to see how it truly is to share”

You actually gulped once the sentence was heard and Alcina let her hand cup the back of your head as she gave Mother Miranda a firm ‘yes mother Miranda’

The meeting continued on like usual and Alcina’s hand never left your hair, stroking it softly. It was then you noticed the lycans. Their yellow eyes as they creeped in the dark corners.

They looked hungry and you gulped at the thought of them attacking you. You moved yourself closer to Alcina’s chair and the woman immediately noticed looking down at you.

She watched you squirm and turned to the lycans who were slowly stepping towards you. “Control your beasts Heisenberg”, she said in anger and the lycans instantly froze before turning to their master.

Heisenberg looked at Alcina for a moment, before turning to you who stood with frightens in your eyes. “Ay!”, he called out and they all cowered away.

You felt a hand on the small of your back and let out a sigh of relief at the touch of Alcina.

“Are we quite done scolding our animals?”, mother Miranda asked and you all turned to her.

“Yes mother Miranda. My apologies”, Heisenberg said before turning to Alcina who gave him a hard look back.

The rest of the meeting went quick and before you knew it, Alcina stood from her seat. “Alcina darling, a moment alone please”, mother Miranda requested and you felt yourself freeze. Alcina could see the fear in your eyes and leaned down.

“Just stay here. I’ll be back shortly”

You nodded and watched her walk after mother Miranda into a small room. You swallowed hard before taking a deep breath, forcing yourself to relax.

“Alright Y/N. Only a few minutes and Alcina will be back. Nothing to worry about”, you whispered to yourself.

“Hey uh… Y/N?”

You turned your head and met Moreau’s eyes as he walked over to you. “Yeah?”

“Do you uh… do you like fishing?”

You stood staring blankly back at him, unsure what was happening. You haven’t thought about fishing in a long time.

“Yeah. Yeah I love fishing. I used to fish with my dad when I was a kid”, you said and widened your eyes and smacked your hand over your mouth. You weren’t supposed to reveal stuff like that. But the man didn’t seem to mind at all.

“Great! Do you want to come fishing with me sometime? None of the others want to fish with me”, he said and you felt your heart break, slowly removing your hand from your mouth.

“I would love to”

“Amazing! But maybe ask Alci first. I don’t want to take her pet without permission. I don’t want her to hurt me”, he said and you could see the genuine fear in his eyes. You smiled and clapped his shoulder.

“I’m sure she will let me go, don’t worry about it”

*

“Absolutely not”, Alcina said as she looked out of the window in the carriage.

“Why not? None of you go fishing with him. Why can’t I do it?”

“I don’t want you near him Y/N. His whole place is nothing but virus and acid”, she argued turning to you meeting your eyes.

“So what?! He needs someone to talk to. And I haven’t been fishing since my parents died”

You both sat looking at each other with angry eyes, Alcina refusing to give you permission and you refusing to give in and let her control you.

“You’re not going. End of discussion”

You groaned and turned to the duke. “Stop the carriage”

“What are you doing?”

“I’m walking. I need the fresh air”, you said and got out of the carriage. You smacked the door hard before walking towards the castle. Alcina sighed and punched the brick of her nose before turning to the Duke who gave her a certain look back. She groaned and got out of the carriage, walking after you.

“Y/N it’s the middle of the night, come back to the carriage so we can go home”

“I’m already on my way home”

You knew you were being a brat. But you were done with being treated like one as well. Alcina sighed walked faster, instantly reaching you and she took a hold of you, carrying up towards her. You moved in her arms, desperately trying to get out of her arms.

“No! Let go of me!”

She pulled you close and hugged you tight making you instantly stop moving. You were completely still for a moment before laying your head on her shoulder, her jaw meeting the back of your head. You stood in silence for a while, listening to the birds quipping into the night air, the sound of her breathing just reaching your ears. So soft yet so subtle.

“I do not wish to fight you darling”, she whispered and you nodded in understanding. “I haven’t known you long, but I care for you deeply my human. Losing you would be devastating to me”

You listened to her speech and noticed she was walking back to the carriage. She got in and you sat on her lap as the carriage started moving once again. You rode for a few minutes in silence and Alcina felt her heart break. She didn’t want to make you sad at all. She just wanted to make sure you were safe.

“My dad taught me how to fish”, you suddenly said and Alcina listened carefully. “He told me it’s the most patient hoppy. You can sit for hours without catching anything, and it makes most people quit after only an hour if not less”

Alcina sighed looking up. God she knew she was gonna regret this. “So this… hoppy. It’s important to you”, she said and you nodded your head as you turned your head and your forehead replaced your head and met her jaw. You closed your eyes and inhaled her scent. God how you loved her scent. Everything about her was just perfect.

“Then I suppose go fishing with Moreau won’t hurt”, she said and you nodding with a small smile on your face.

“Thank you”, you whispered and moved yourself closer to her. The rest of the way was ridden in silence and by the end of the trip, Alcina noticed you had fallen asleep, your cheek pressed softly against her heart.