#i nearly slid into a parked car. i slipped a second time where luckily no other cars where around

[tkbrokkoli]

it’s horrible monday monday  😜

[frostedfaves]

Repercussions (4)

Masterlist

Pairing: dark!Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Summary: Natasha gives you a good night that leads to a hectic morning.

Warnings: dark themes, gaslighting, a bit of smut (18+ ONLY)

A/N: idk about y’all but...I am enjoying this so much. I think this series might be one of my favorite things I’ve ever written! anyway please please let me know your thoughts (not to be thirsty but I survive solely on water and your feedback), and don’t be afraid to let me know if I missed any warnings too! I don’t want anyone to accidentally read anything they aren’t comfortable with!

Previous part

-

Opening your eyes felt like peeling the end of a piece of tape from the roll, difficult but satisfying once it happened. It took a minute to adjust to the darkness and you shot up when you did, realizing you were in an unfamiliar room, your body covered in sheets of a bed you don’t remember climbing into.

“Everything okay, printsessa?”

You turned at the familiar voice, unsure if you should feel concerned or relieved at the sight of Natasha sitting up next to you. Her hand gently touched your back and you flinched away, which only made her move closer to you.

“Did you have a nightmare--”

“Where am I?” you cut her off in a shaky tone, and she sighed before reaching over on her side of the bed to turn on a lamp. Your eyes wandered around the room, empty except for a couch, a dresser holding a television and your bag in the corner.

“Baby, don’t you remember?” Her soft tone brought you back to her gaze, green eyes that pulled you in every time. “You told me you were off for a few days and I suggested we spend that time away from the city.”

“I don’t remember anything after meeting your best friend.” You shifted in bed slightly, wincing when pain shot through your lower leg. “Why does my ankle hurt?”

“You stumbled on your way in before I could warn you about the tricky step in the yard.” She chuckled quietly, her smile fading a bit as her hand ran along your arm and tangled your fingers together. “Are you sure you’re alright? You seem nervous.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine.” You took a deep breath and attempted a smile. “I just feel like a chunk of memory is missing, or that I just hit the fast forward button through the rest of the day.”

“How about I turn on some insignificant little show to get your mind off of everything?” 

You nod and she reaches for the remote, turning the television on with one hand and using her other arm to pull you in, securely hooking around your waist as you rest your head in the space between her shoulder and neck. She finally settled on a show and left it on a low volume, returning the remote to the bedside table and resting her hand on your thigh after pulling your leg across hers.

Focusing on the late night comedy became difficult as the hand on your thigh ran higher until it was suddenly under your shorts, gone again before you could react. The hand on your waist reached under your shirt to unclasp your bra, and in a split second you were on your back on the mattress with two of Natasha’s fingers under your waistband.

“I want these off,” she practically growled in a way that made you grip the sheets in anticipation.

She used both hands to rip away your shorts in an aggressive fashion that had your hips lifting to help her on their own accord. Her torso pressed against yours as she leaned in to kiss you, one hand holding your wrists together above your head while the other dipped into your underwear. Your mouth fell open against hers when you gasped, and she wasted no time inserting her tongue and fingers simultaneously.

Your eyes squeezed shut as your hips rocked against her hand, and Natasha found herself pulling away from the kiss to admire you. She smiled at the way your head pushed further into the mattress as pleasure washed over you, hands pushing and fighting against hers and losing every time.

“Open your eyes,” she demanded as she picked up her pace inside of you and you moaned loudly in response. “I want you to look at me.”

You followed her orders, meeting her intense eyes once more that held just the right amount of softness, and a loud squeak escaped you as your release came. She worked you through the sudden orgasm, a tired sigh falling from your lips as she slipped out of your underwear. Your hands stayed pressed into the mattress as they were released from her grip, a light slap felt on your cheek just as your eyes began to close.

“No resting yet, pretty baby. I’m nowhere near done with you.”

-

The next time you woke, the room was lit by the sun. You carefully stretched your aching body as you sat up, taking in all of the little bruises scattered across most of your skin that reminded you of Natasha’s wish to “show everyone who pleases you”. You searched on your side and crossed the vacant side of the bed to check Natasha’s nightstand for your phone, coming up empty handed. It was then that you noticed a silk robe on the end of the bed and slipped it on, opening the door to find your girlfriend.

You smiled as you rounded a corner downstairs and spotted Natasha at the kitchen table, quietly reading a newspaper while sipping coffee. She placed her mug on the table as you approached, moving her arm to leave room for you to climb onto her lap, which you did happily.

“Morning, printsessa. Did you sleep well?”

“Just woke up a little sore, but I feel rested.” You adjusted yourself and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, leaning your head against hers while she grabbed her mug again. “Do you know where my phone is?”

“Did you check your bag?”

“No, it looked empty. But that’s okay, I can find it later.” You twirled a few strands of bright red hair around your fingers as you daydreamed, your eyes drifting over to the newspaper and widening when you noticed the date on the top. “Um, I think I’m going to take a shower. Be right back.”

“Okay, hurry.” 

Her teasing smile pressed against your skin when she turned to quickly kiss your cheek, and you slid out of her lap while forcing yourself to walk away normally. A week had passed since the day you went to the tower and you didn’t remember anything before last night, if it even was just last night. You had no way of knowing anymore.

When you reached the room you moved quickly to look for your phone in your bag, urgently searching every pocket before moving onto the bed. You looked under it and in between the mattress and box spring, shifting toward the nightstands next. Nothing. When you opened the closet doors, you nearly fainted.

It was full of your clothes, shirts and pants that you knew you didn’t pack a week ago. Even dresses you hadn’t worn in months were here, and your entire shoe collection was on the floor underneath it all. Shakily opening the drawers of the dresser, you discovered underwear, bras and sleepwear of yours as well.

You began pulling a few things out to make a full outfit, heading into the bathroom to prep for the shower you’d used as an excuse to escape. Not only did you need to keep appearances before Natasha could catch onto your nerves, but you also needed time to think about what was happening to you. More importantly, what were Natasha’s intentions with you?

You were doing a final rinse in the shower, your mind racing as you tried to remember anything that would help you make sense of what happened, when you heard the bathroom door open. You forced yourself to stay calm when you heard Natasha’s voice on the other side of the glass door.

“Printsessa, I need to get groceries. Should I wait for you?”

“No, I’m still pretty tired. I think I’ll go back to sleep when I’m done.”

“Alright, but I’m making you eat when I come back.”

You counted ten seconds following the bathroom door closing and turned the water off, stepping out of the shower and drying as quickly as you could. Your clothes were on in no time and you ran downstairs just in time to see her pulling out of the garage through the window of the front room. You noticed another car parked beside the one she was driving, and you quickly made your way over to find the keys.

Luckily they were hanging on a hook on the wall, and you snatched them up hastily, pressing the button on the remote and yanking the door open as soon as it unlocked. Within minutes you were out on the road, driving to who-knows-where. You just needed to leave, get as far away from that cabin as possible and find out why you couldn’t remember anything before something worse happened to you.

-

Tags: @littlegasps @imnotasuperhero @nat-km-mh @emilyprentisswife @cherrieloco @fayhar @muted-stoneheart @witchxaf @sakurat123 @bebe404 @its-a-long-way-to-ba-sing-se @trikruismybitch @darkangelxoxo @becka107 @seventeen0 @buckmesidewaysandcallmesteve 

[sirrwritesalots]

Dance With Me? ~ Spencer Reid (fluff)

Pairings: Spencer Reid x Reader [Y/n] Warnings: none, just fluff, and possibly mention of PG-13 (if it's even considered that?) Summary: The team is invited to an FBI gala-type event with food, music, and casual conversation, and everyone ultimately has a good time, especially you and Spencer, who find the chance to have a dance with one another as the air shifts between the two of you. [The imagine is set with all characters -Spencer Reid, Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, Penelope Garcia- and post-Maeve] Word Count: 1871 A/N: I love to write, but for the last few years, I’ve had horrible writer’s block, and I miss writing so much. This is my first imagine/creative writing thing I’ve posted on Tumblr, so bare with me please! I recently started watching Criminal Minds again, and this just popped into my head, so I figured why not? Though, Criminal Minds is not usually my genre, I wanted to give it a try (it might be cringy in some parts, I apologize). I hope whoever reads this enjoys it :)

Seeing as everyone on the BAU team was given a three-day-weekend off to have somewhat of a break, you all agreed to attend the FBI Ball Saturday night, giving you the day to relax and get ready.

That morning after you woke up, you had some breakfast and read a book by the window, followed by lunch and a nice, relaxing bath with rose oil, bath salts, and a lit candle. Once the water had gone cold and you were done with the bath, you decided to start getting ready for the plans you had later that evening, which consisted of blow drying and styling your hair, then applying some light - yet natural - makeup. Slipping into the dark blue evening dress with the strappy, laced-up back you picked out two weeks ago, you looked yourself up and down in the full-length mirror in your room with a smile on your face. It had been a long time since you had the chance to get dressed up and have a night of fun with friends, which is exactly what you were planning on doing; having fun. 

Work had been extremely stressful lately, for everyone - more so than usual, considering your line of work; being in the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, where you work with serial killers day-in and day-out. One case in particular was rough on everyone; picked by the team’s communications liaison, JJ, you were flown out to Omaha, Nebraska to find an unsub who had a wide victimology and almost no similarities when it came down to location or anything else. You were there coming up on two whole weeks, when, after spending nearly forty-eight hours awake studying every detail, Spencer had found a similar signature connecting each murder. It wasn’t previously detected because it was so small it was easily overlooked, that is, until Derek and Rossi revisited every site and concluded that Spencer was right. At each location where a victim was found, a trinket of some sort was hidden, left behind as a sign of remorse. At first it made no sense, because each killing seemed too extreme to leave any room for remorse, not until the idea of a partner in crime was bounced around. Meaning that there were now two unsubs, one who was the alpha that controlled everything, and a second who most likely lured in the victims but only because they were told to rather than because they wanted to. Luckily, all the trinkets had traces of the unsub and their partner’s DNA left on it. That discovery soon led to tracking the unsub and chasing him down, where you and Emily went into the building first, to try and appeal to and reason with the submissive unsub, and would ultimately save the life of their latest victim. The plan went sideways when you two were met with the wrong one, and stepped into the middle of a trap... The unsub wanted a trade - the final victim for the two FBI agents - but the rest of the team, including the police force backing them up, were not about to have that. In the end, everyone was extracted and brought back to the precinct, except for the second unsub, who lost their life in the midst of the fight. 

To say the least, the team needed a break, and to have some fun.

Adding the final touch to your look -- a pair of black heels -- you grabbed your purse and jacket before locking the front door behind you and making your way to the car.

Once you were at the venue, a valet took your keys and parked your car for you. You stood on the curb, looking up at the gorgeous entrance of a high-end hotel. Before you could think about how all-out the bureau went, a familiar, deep voice spoke up on your right, “Damn Mama, I almost didn’t recognize you.”

Turning, you came face-to-face with the most iconic duo of your team, Derek Morgan with Penelope Garcia standing beside him. Your cheeks flushed as you smiled, “You don’t look too bad yourself, hot stuff. Penelope, sweetheart, you look as wonderful as ever.”

“Please, I don’t think anyone here looks as good as you.” She waved her hand, a dismissal to your comment as she noticeably gawked at you.

“Why don’t we find out. Shall we?” You raised an eyebrow at them, tilting your head in the direction of the hotel.

“We shall.” Penelope disconnected herself from her chocolate thunder, and looped her arm with yours with a giggle as the three of you entered the building and followed the signs to the ballroom.

Tables filled with assorted foods line one wall while tables are scattered throughout the front half of the room, a live band played against the back wall, and the floor of the other half of the room was left unoccupied by furniture to leave space for dancing and mingling. You mentally thanked the event coordinator, whoever they might be, for ensuring the lights were dimmer than usual, since it gave your eyes a rest from the usual harsh office lights. 

Your eyes scanned the room, searching for the rest of your team, when your gaze landed on a man wearing a slick, dark gray suit and a maroon tie with his hair flopped perfectly over his forehead yet just out of reach of his eyes. You hadn't realized you were staring until Penelope had to practically drag you to where Emily and JJ were standing while Derek split with you guys to meet up with Rossi, Hotch, and Spencer.

“So, is anyone looking particularly yummy tonight?” Penelope asked Emily and JJ, bubbly before her first drink of the night as her eyes eagerly swept across the room. Typical Garcia. Gotta love her, though.

You laughed and shook your head. “I’m going to get a drink, anyone else want a one?” The girls gave you their requests, and you were off to the bar stationed near the wonderful display of food that you were sure to raid in a matter of time - that is, if your stomach had any say about it. "One-"

A voice interrupted you and finished your order before you could get more than a single word out, "Gin martini with a lemon twist." A smirk formed on your lips as you see who was standing next to you. "Oh! And chilled, but not on the rocks," Spencer added with a wink in your direction, a goofy smile plastered on his face to match your own.

"Spence, you remembered!"

"Y/n, I have an idetic memory; of course I remembered."

You rolled your eyes in response and ordered for the girls before you forgot as the bartender handed you your drink. "So, how's your evening so far?"

"Good. Met a couple of Rossi's friends, one of which was an older woman who touched my arm a lot, though I don't know why..."

You chuckled and shook your head. "Oh, you poor innocent boy."

"Innocent?" He raised an eyebrow at you, faking offense, as he helped you carry the drinks to the table the girls were standing around. "Are you so sure about that?"

"Why shouldn't I be when you make comments like that?" you countered. "Alright," you announced, cutting the conversation short before it can lead to anywhere presumptuous in front of company, you name off the drinks as you and Spencer place them in front of their respective owners.

Spencer took his place by your side, his arm pressed against yours and his gaze fixated on you, waiting patiently for you to notice or make another comment from your earlier conversation. The girls hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, seeing as you and Spencer had become the absolute best of friends in a short amount of time when you first joined the group, which meant the two of you were in very close proximity to one another about ninety-percent of the time. They were also too busy to notice over their ogling of the other attendees.

"You're staring," you murmured over your glass to him as you took a sip of your martini before stealing a quick glance up at him, then returning your eyes back to the crowd forming in the room. Rossi, Hotch, and Derek were still nowhere to be seen from your spot.

"Sorry," you heard him whisper, his eyes still stationed on you for a moment before he looked around as well. 

The live band began to play one of your favorite songs by Frank Sinatra, Fly Me To The Moon, and you couldn't help the smile that brightened your whole face after you took another sip of your drink.

The warmth that accompanied Spencer when he stood as close to you as he had been suddenly disappeared, making your heart unexpectedly quicken in a mix of worry and disappointment at the loss of contact. Then, when a throat cleared, and you saw him still standing next to you only a little farther away than he originally was with his hand extended and a lopsided smile on his face as hope flickered bright in his eyes. Your anxiety calmed, and was replaced with joy.

"Care to dance?"

Taking his hand, you stepped closer to him and replied, "I'd love to," as he led the two of you to the dance floor.

There, he pulled you closer to him, your bodies pressed against one another, as his hand slid behind you to rest easily on the small of your back while his other hand held one of yours, and your other hand took place on his shoulder. The two of you swayed as the music filled your ears.

You felt content in that moment. So happy with your friends, music, and food and drink. You couldn't think of a better way to spend an evening during your weekend off. Hopefully you wouldn't spoil it all by accidentally drinking too much and either a) managing to somehow embarrass yourself before the night is over or b) having to nurse a killer hangover the next morning - the last day of freedom before being called back into work the following day.

You felt Spencer's eyes on you once more. Though it wasn't creepy or unsettling; with him it never seemed to feel that way. Instead, it warmed your body, making your cheeks flush and your chest flutter.

"You're staring again." When he refused to take his eyes off you, you forced yourself to meet his gaze. "You seem to do it a lot. Why is that?"

"Possibly because you always look amazing. Except tonight; tonight you look... radiant."

"Oh, please... you're only saying that because you've never seen me all dressed up like this before." You dip your head rest on the side of his own in an attempt to hide your face, not from embarrassment, but rather to hide how red your cheeks had become in a mere matter of seconds by the few simple words he uttered.

"No, I'm not. Y/n, look at me, please." His voice was gentle yet serious as his fingers gently guided your chin up so you could properly look at him. "I mean it."

[uwua3]

price of being a dad.

🍁💸 furuichi sakyo

summary: you may not have a birth father, but you do have a family.

warnings: abandonment issues, abuse (mentions), angst with happy ending, birthday, daddy/parental issues, food

author’s note: for everyone who grew up with no father figure in their life, a dad who didn’t do shit, or a man who never loved them, this is for you ♡ sakyo loves you! (reminder this is a completely platonic/fatherly figure one shot)

word count: 2,859

music: since the day i was born – lostcrowboy

You wished your father loved you.

Maybe, you stay up late into the night, staring up at the ceiling, wondering why he left. Why did he selfishly pack up and go forever? How come he didn’t want to play the role of your father anymore when you needed him most, sobbing and begging for a second chance even if it wasn’t your fault? Or on the other hand, you may be hiding away in your bedroom, shaking and asking why he stayed. Why would he abuse the entire family with his violent, aggressive presence? How did he have the nerve to put a picture–perfect front in the public with the sting of his hits burning into your cheek?

Did he say he’d come back for you one day? You couldn’t remember anything—not his words or what he looked like. Your dad was gone, it didn’t matter how, he left you. He gave up, he was a quitter.

You said you hated your dad, but you knew, you’d take his love back in a heartbeat if you could.

Especially today, since it was your birthday.

It was another day in your calendar, another day to be alone and angry over something you couldn’t control. You would never admit it, but you wanted a happy birthday for goddamn once. The ridiculously cheesy triangular hats strapped on your head, a store–bought ice cream cake with your name in icing on top, a crowd of your friends and family singing the traditional song off-tune with big smiles. It would’ve been something you wished for, if only you had the appropriate amount of candles.

As you woke up to nothing, you couldn’t help but bear the weight of immense disappointment you experienced every year. For some unknown reason, a small, childish part of you wanted to wake up to a “Happy Birthday!” from your loved ones. It wasn’t their fault, though. You did everything possible to make sure no one knew it was your birthday so you wouldn’t be let down again.

First thing in the morning, and your thoughts already trailed back to your deadbeat father. How nice. You sighed, not exactly having the energy to wake up and face your own fears before a harsh knock sounded at your door. Did one of the boys need help setting up for the latest play or something? You hurriedly rushed to open the door, about to ask what was wrong before you stopped, meeting face to face with a familiar pair of black, square glasses and a blank expression.

It was Sakyo, infamous yakuza with a glare that could kill. He stood before you in his usual black turtleneck and grey suit, his arms across his chest with his foot tapping against the ground, a sign he was growing impatient. Before you could slam the door closed and run the hell away, Sakyo seemed to notice and stuck his foot right between the opening, pinching his nose bridge with a frustrated groan. Of course, the yakuza had quick reflexes for his old age.

“Rookie, learn some proper manners for once!” Sakyo barked, prying open the door against your very insistent will. You eventually let the door slam against the wall, knowing it was a losing battle because once Furuichi Sakyo put his mind to something, he’d always win. With something akin to satisfaction, Sakyo met your eye with a huff, pushing back a strand of blonde hair covering his vivid purple eyes.

“Good. You’re awake, I would’ve had to kill you if you were still sleeping.” Sakyo cursed casually, blinking at your sudden flinch from his words. He paused, before adding a “Nevermind that... Anyways, get dressed”, closing your door quickly and disappearing down the hallway. You took a moment to process what he just said, before quickly preparing for the day with a million questions running through your head.  

Why would Sakyo need you for anything? He was more than capable of ordering Mankai, nevertheless Autumn Troupe, to do the dirty work around the dormitory. After all, no one wanted to deal with the backlash of Sakyo’s (unfortunately correct) criticism about how twenty plus boys couldn’t just live like they were all teenagers. So, why you? You grabbed all your proper necessities for an outing, knowing damn well a job done with Sakyo wasn’t just a short trip.

Reaching the main lobby, you noticed Sakyo pass a list of some sorts to Izumi, who glanced over it and nodded. She was about to say something before her eyes landed on you, sending you a bright smile and waving good morning. You couldn’t help but notice how much they looked like parents sending their children off to school, the observation causing a deep sense of sadness to settle as you looked away uncomfortably.

You missed the way Sakyo’s hand hovered over your shoulder for a moment before dropping it to his side, clearing his throat to get your attention. You turned to him, seeing the car keys already in hand and an itinerary written in his planner. Oh no...

“You’re here quick, good job.” Sakyo mentioned offhandedly, pushing his glasses up with his free hand as he reviewed his own list. You didn’t know why, but you almost felt overwhelmed with being praised by Sakyo so early in the day. A warm sensation of pride filled your chest, replacing the previous melancholy from before. You tried not to make your smile obvious, but Sakyo narrowed his eyes at you.

“What are you laughing at, rookie?”

“Nothing, nothing!”

“That’s what I thought... kids these days.”

(You weren’t the only one who tried to hold in your laugh, though some did better than others. Luckily, you weren’t at the receiving end of a harsh threat from Sakyo.)

Sakyo was only thirty (30) years old, but sometimes, he acted like an old man despite his impressive agility and athleticism that challenged the teens. You admired this as Sakyo ordered for the car keys from Sakoda, catching them smoothly with his hands gripping them without fail. You were certain you would never witness Sakyo drop anything in this lifetime, and dutifully followed him to his car, saying your goodbyes to the rest of the company.

Weirdly enough, Sakoda didn’t follow, but stayed behind with the group who was oddly awake already. You didn’t have the guts to question it, as you moved to sit in the back of the car. Sakyo was about to start the engine before he stopped, looking in the mirror with an almost confused glint to his eyes.

“Why are you in the back?” Sakyo asked, to which you blinked as if it was most obvious thing in the world.

“I don’t deserve to sit in the front.” You retorted immediately and Sakyo frowned, a deep furrow to his eyebrows as you wondered why he reacted the way he did.

“Who taught you that?” You didn’t respond to the question, so Sakyo just exited the car, opening your door with the same displeased look. Yet, it wasn’t aimed at you, it seemed to be distant and cold.

“Get in the passenger side, sit anywhere you want.” Sakyo demanded and who were you to refuse? You slid into the seat beside him and Sakyo drove off, the Veludo Way scenery passing by you. You glanced at the dashboard and of course, he was driving at the safe speed limit. A yakuza who obeyed the law, how uncommon.

Ten (10) minutes must’ve passed before you shifted in your seat, fidgeting with your fingers. Sakyo sighed tiredly, as if he hadn’t slept at all as he slowed down to a stoplight.

“You know, you don’t have to be so uncomfortable around me, rookie.” Sakyo said calmly, tapping his fingers on the wheel with his eyes trained on the lights.

You were constantly being taken by surprise today, all because of Sakyo Furuichi. Before this, you hadn’t shared more than a few sentences at a time with Sakyo. The most you’ve said to him was during a financial budget meeting for the staff, mostly to halfheartedly support Yuki & Tsuzuru’s demands of a larger budget. Yet, here Sakyo was, acting as if you both were... family.

You swallowed down the bitterness from the thought of your actual family, before looking over at Sakyo. Sakyo was already looking at you and attempted some sort of smile. Even though you wanted to laugh at how hard he was trying to appear normal, you appreciated the effort. Sakyo naturally had a dad–like smile, how fitting.

Sakyo’s smile grew genuine at the sight of yours and before he said anything, a car horn cut off his thoughts. You didn’t know when the light turned green, but Sakyo quickly drove off while muttering a curse at the impatient line of cars behind them.

“Sakyo, where are we going?” You asked after you realized the roads were leading directly to the shops. Sakyo pulled into a parking spot carefully, but with the ease of someone who’s driven a thousand times and more. How did he just parallel park like that? You tried to hide it, but you were always impressed by Sakyo.

“Where does it look like?” Sakyo opened his door and slipped out, looking out of place during the daytime. You watched him before snapping out of it, hurriedly clambering after him as he barely looked over his shoulder. Sakyo was already halfway down the sidewalk before you caught up, knowing he must’ve been running on a tight schedule doing god knows what.

“What are you shopping for?” You questioned, trying to maintain your breathing. Sakyo finally looked down at you, furrowing his eyebrows before relaxing his face, noticing your worried expression immediately. You easily read the smallest signals from people, and it wasn’t hard to wonder why.

“We,” Sakyo emphasized, making a point to include you as he stopped, nearly making you bump straight into him. “are going to every store in this place. I need help buying... a gift, for someone. You pick, got it?”

You couldn’t help but imagine a father buying a gift for their child. This was the closest you would ever get to that dream—that dream of being loved in such a parental way. You just nodded, knowing if you spoke, your voice would crack. Sakyo didn’t ask, but his eyes lingered on you for a moment before searching the random assortment of stores.

“They’re like you. I’m sure they’ll like whatever you choose.” Sakyo tried to comfort you, but his tone fell flat and he seemed out of his element. Before the silence got too awkward, Sakyo gestured towards the food court. “Forgot breakfast this morning. Let’s go.”

Who were you to argue with Furuichi Sakyo? You followed him, even if he was a bit lost. Sakyo must’ve avoided the mall for its crowds of people, because he did a full 360 as he read each menu.

“... What place do you like?” Sakyo finally asked, peering down at you to catch the smallest movement. You barely glanced at some breakfast display before he made his way over, ordering for you. For some reason, you were flattered at how Sakyo actually knew your favorite breakfast option. You didn’t even have to correct him, he just knew.

When you both sat down at a table (after Sakyo embarrassingly demanding a wipe to decontaminate the dirty spaces malls offered), Sakyo glanced up every once in a while to make sure you were eating a full meal. Sure, mall food was less than ideal, but you seemed so content that he didn’t mind the overpriced options, surprisingly.

“Thank you for the food, Sakyo.” When you thanked him for the meal quietly, Sakyo felt a pain in his heart from how nervous it was. Sakyo just waved his hand as if to say it was nothing, looking away. Why did Sakyo suddenly feel so proud all of a sudden?

As you stood before all of the stores, not knowing where to start, you heard a sentence you never thought possible from Sakyo.

“Today, price doesn’t matter. Go choose whatever you think is best.”

In fact, today was possibly the worst day to be shopping with Sakyo. Anytime you picked something up, he would attempt to buy it without you looking, thinking mere observation was interest. You had to explain to him that just because you complimented something, didn’t mean you wanted it to be the choice.

“How many gifts are you planning on getting this person?” You laughed, a part of you jealous of this mystery person. Sakyo must’ve really cared about them. Sakyo just shrugged, putting back a shirt you thought was fashionable. Sakyo was truly unfamiliar in this new territory. Sakyo really wasn’t a person who spent money, so being inside a mall was enough to make him on edge at all times. But... Sakyo contentedly watched you as he made sure no one was following. Sakyo would never get used to a mall, but it wasn’t so bad today.

Sakyo breathed a sigh of relief when you finally chose something, most likely fed up with the number of people at any given place. You were surprised that Sakyo didn’t even check the price and swiped his card. Yakuza money must’ve been a different lifestyle, you thought. At the register, the cashier checked the item out and looked up, politely making small talk.

“Are you shopping with your father today?”

You looked around and realized they were asking you. The cashier thought Sakyo was your father. You both froze, shocked at the simple question. You failed to recover, attempting to adamantly deny the conversation with a nervous laugh.

“N–No! Um... he’s—” “Yes, I am their dad. It’s our special hang out this month.” Sakyo replied smoothly, seemingly unbothered by your reaction. The cashier seemed touched by the fact you two went out monthly, sending you both their congratulations. Sakyo took back the credit card and purchase, thanking the cashier for their service as he escorted you to the front of the store.

You were still in shock by the time Sakyo made you sit down on a bench. You couldn’t process the words even if you kept hearing them in your head. Sakyo confirmed he was your father, and although you knew it was a lie, you felt proud. Why did it make you so happy to hear Sakyo say that? Why did Sakyo even say that? Was this what being someone’s child felt like? You couldn’t even remember the last time your father was publicly proud of being related to you. Suddenly, you felt a hand on your head.

Sakyo was... patting your head? Sakyo seemed caught off guard, even if he moved to do so. It must’ve been subconscious because Sakyo took a moment before ruffling your hair, the action unfamiliar to both of you.

“Don’t blank in a public space. It’s not safe.” Sakyo said firmly, looking at his hand. On the same hand, he was wearing a watch. Reading the time, Sakyo’s eyes slightly widened before he stood up, quickly mentioning something about being late to an event. You nodded as Sakyo scrolled through his phone, the buzzing consistent as some sort of group chat was blowing up his device.

“Okay. Let’s go home.” Sakyo casually mentioned but you experienced a warm sensation of pride once more. Home... you hadn’t had a place like that in so long. You followed Sakyo to the car, noticing he checked to make sure you were following this time.

On the way home, Sakyo properly made sure all roads were safe (Sakyo let you turn on the radio this time). When Sakyo pulled in and stopped the car, he pulled the bag from the back of the car and shoved it into your hands. Even though Sakyo pretended it wasn’t a big deal, you saw his embarrassment on his face. Sakyo didn’t give gifts often, but when he did, it meant something.

“This is for you. Keep this, okay?” Sakyo pulled at his collar when you finally smiled, unable to deny it when it was a token of your time spent together. Before Sakyo could leave the car, you pulled Sakyo into a hug with a big grin.

“Thanks, dad.” You accidentally let slip out, but Sakyo awkwardly patted your back. “Of course, rookie. I’ll see you next month for our hang out.”

That was the start of hanging out with Sakyo every month, and it all started on your birthday. When you walked into the pitch-black dorms, all you heard was a “Happy birthday!” from every person in the company. While everyone began singing, You noticed Omi and Izumi carry out a homemade cake with the right amount of candles, the flames dancing in front of you. You blew them out ceremoniously, smiling as Mankai cheered.

(For once, you didn’t wish for anything. You had everything you needed, right here.)

When you spun around, you saw Sakyo wearing a dumb party hat and that’s when you knew: Your home was with your second family, Mankai.

You didn’t have your birth dad, but you did have a family.

[sleepy-exe]

Shapeshifter AU - 7

Iwaizumi x f!reader

<< Part 6 | Part 8 >>

Summary: Y/n goes to the park with Iwaizumi and finds a shapeshifter friend. Mizuki wants to know about this guy Y/n has been spending time with.

Word count: 1.8k

Warnings: none

Genre: sfw (18+ regardless), shapeshifter au, strangers to lovers

Part 7: We Could Be Friends

Y/n and Iwaizumi made plans to go to one of the forest parks nearly a week ago. But due to busy schedules, they didn't have any free days line up until now. This was the first time in awhile Y/n had been to a park in the forest in a long time. Which meant she wasn’t exactly the best guide. Luckily the park had marked paths through the area versus her usual running wild anywhere between the trees. Seeing sunshine through the trees may have been even prettier than the moonlight at night, tucked behind the treetops.

Used to the quietness of nocturnal animals and lack of any people, this area felt like another world even though they weren’t too far off from one of her frequented nighttime spots. Walking alongside Iwaizumi, she found herself almost constantly catching the sounds and movements of birds and small critters that she wouldn’t normally get to experience. She tried not to get distracted too much anytime Iwaizumi started talking. But with the new sounds and different scents through the trees, she couldn’t help but get distracted some.

“I thought you said you’ve been out here before,” Iwaizumi questioned, breaking her trance of the world around her.

“Huh? Oh.” She realized she had really slowed down her pace but quickly sped up again. “Yeah, but it's been a minute. It’s so.. alive here.”

“Alive? Isn’t fall kind of the opposite,” he said, crossing his arms. “And I mean, it's nice out here, but the way you keep looking around.. It’s like you’ve never seen such a place before.”

She laughed nervously. “Well, the last time I was out here I didn’t notice so many animals.”

He looked around, trying to spot something in the trees or fallen leaves, but other than a squirrel and a couple of birds he couldn’t find anything that could possibly be so interesting. But he decided not to argue. “Right,” fingers tapping his left bicep.

Soon they came across a stream off to the side of the designated path; likely the same stream that ran through where she sat with Sakusa a couple of weeks ago. Y/n took it upon herself to lead them off the path towards it. As she sat down in the leaves, Iwaizumi stood next to her, eyes narrowing. “Aren’t we supposed to stay on the paths?”

She looked up to him and smirked before bringing her attention to the water. “So? What, we might get yelled at? It’ll be fine.”

He watched her for a moment, then sat beside her. “I really don’t want to get kicked out of a park.”

She snickered. “Do you think this is any worse than showin’ up after dark? It’s fine! Just sit here and listen.”

He followed her command. “..The birds?”

“Hmm. Yes, but not just those. You can hear the water move, the breeze shuffling leaves, and there’s either squirrels or chipmunks running around the trees and ground.. Just sit here and relax, listening and being in nature.” She looked around to where she heard each sound as she spoke.

But he can’t hear every sound that she can. “Yeah, I guess I can do that..”

She took the chance to stubbly take in the new sights and sounds, getting better attuned with her lively-to-her surroundings. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before she looked over to him and realized he had been staring at her. Her eyes widened for a split second. “Come on.” She shoved his shoulder with a playfully grin before standing and dusting off her pants. “We’re like what, half around this trail?” She grabbed his arm and dragged him back towards the path with her.

They walked along the path for a while. Watching squirrels run about and climb trees, listening to everything Y/n had pointed out.

Her phone started buzzing repeatedly, so she slipped it out of her pocket to check what’s going on.

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “r u out on that date yet?”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “u said that’s today right?”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “when am i going to meet him”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “not a date. i told you that”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “i barely know anything about him n dont even know what he looks like >:(“

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “come onnnnn i wanna see this guy that managed to get ur attention”

She chuckled. “It’s Mizuki.”

“How’s she?”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “as if you and sakusa didnt get my attention”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “what’s wrong with me having a new friend?”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “yeah but sakusa was all but forced into our friendship and i forced my way into your heart so whooo forced this lil friendship-thing? Who do i have to thank for helping socialize our Y/n”

She gave an exasperated sigh. “Apparently dying to meet you.”

He raised his eyebrows and slid his hands in his pockets. “You talk about me to your friends?”

“Mmm.. Well, it's hard to keep things from her. It seems like she always finds a way.” She crinkled her nose as they passed a plant that had a strong odor to her, though Iwaizumi didn't seem phased. “That and she saw me texting ya the other day and had to ask questions.” She shook her head. “The ever curious, Mizu’.”

He laughed. “She sounds.. interesting to have around.”

She giggled. “She’s high energy, but she means well. She’s just curious.”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “wow”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “i am capable of making friends on my own you know”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “uh huh and i’ll get to see him when?”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “why are you hiding him ;P is he that hot that you want to hide him away lol”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “love u”

“Maybe you should introduce us.” He bumped into her, grinning.

“If I do that she might drag you on last minute adventures. Which could range from running around downtown or staying in. But mostly out.” She gave a half shrug.

“That almost sounds like a complaint,” he said.

She waved a hand defensively. “Don’t get me wrong, I love the city and coming out here, but I prefer staying in more than she does.”

“Maybe we should have stayed in then.” He looked her over, noticing she was no longer looking around constantly. “Though you seem.. Not so overwhelmed now.”

She blushed in embarrassment. “Ah- Hmm, I’d say more like.. Deeply enjoying.. This place.”

He looked unimpressed by her poor explanation. “Uh huh.”

She cleared her throat and their conversation paused as they made their way to the end of the path. Enjoying the sights and sounds around them in the process.

“But really, I do love her and love having her around.” She giggled quietly to herself. “There’s not a dull moment with her. I may have to raise her spirits from time to time, but she can do the same for me.”

He smiled softly. “Sounds like you’re good friends.”

She hummed an agreement. “Maybe I will introduce you sometime.”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “love you”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “You became friends in college, right?” He tilted his head towards her.

She shook her head. “Yeah. We were both business majors and had a couple of classes together.. my second year, I think. And well, she has a way of befriending anyone. So next thing ya know, we were friends.”

Approaching the parking lot, they stopped to chat. Not having plans for if their little outing stopped here or not.

“Do you ever do anything other than go for walks or to bars in your free time?”

“I go out to eat,” she said matter-of-factly, then looked around the lot in front of them until she spotted her car. She found Iwaizumi’s green Tacoma several cars down from hers in the process.

He nodded slowly. “Okay.. but if those three things suddenly didn’t exist what would you do?”

She shrugs nonchalantly. “Guess I’d die.” She smirked.

He rolled his eyes and pointed to his truck. “So you don’t want to go to grab a bite then?”

“You have found my one true weakness,” she says dramatically with a hand on her chest and a sarcastic grin.

He shook his head. “Come on, follow me. There’s a little cafe not far from here, if that’s your thing. I can give you the address.”

She happily agrees at the promise of food and they head for her Civic. She drops into the driver’s seat and leaves the door wide open while Iwaizumi gives her the address. Once she has the GPS ready to go, he walks around the car to head for his truck. Kicking one leg outside the car, she texts Mizuki, deciding to entertain her with a selfie of the two from the beginning of their walk.

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “here”

>> To ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “Attachment.jpg”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “ooohh!! owo”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “he is HOT! no wonder you’re keeping him around”

>> From ‘My Best Bitch <3’: “you met at that bar?? damn maybe i should have joined you lmao”

Hopefully that’ll keep her happy for a bit.

“Hmm?” Blur of orange to her right catching her interest. A gorgeous red fox had appeared while she was preoccupied, walking around the open driver’s door. Her eyes widened at the sight. Foxes typically stayed away from her, but she was almost only ever out here as a wolf, so that’s only to be expected. The fox sat on the pavement, giving her a cheerful tail wag. She cooed, “Hey there lil’ fella.”

Immediately the fox’s ears pulled back, and she swears its face scrunched. Not a minute later the fox swiftly hopped into her car and onto her lap, completely catching her off guard.

“Ho?” She squinted. How strange. She would have never imagined such behavior from a wild fox; though there is a shifter that looks oddly similar that probably would crawl in her lap if given the opportunity. He does have the same set of face markings..

The realization of the situation hit her. “Oh! No no, hey! I’m not alone here!” She quietly scolded the shifter in her lap, looking over to where Iwaizumi had parked but she couldn’t spot his truck passed the other cars from here. “Ah shit, do you need a ride home?” She asked the fox shifter just before he hopped into the backseat.

“Okay, uh, hold on.” She quickly dialed Iwaizumi, “Hey, uh, sorry, um.. No, no.. A friend just got a hold of me and needs me to take them home.. Ah, no! He’s fine, just- ..Actually, can we just change locations? ..Yeah, no, he's remotely close to where you live, kinda, so if you want to go anywhere around there, I can meet you when I’m done or something.. Yeah, yeah! I think I know that place..” She peered into the backseat at the fox. Cupping the microphone and sighing, she whispers to the fox, “You’re lucky I love you.”

Back to the phone, “Okay! I’ll see you there! Sorry, again!” Hanging up, she started the car. “Stay down until we hit the highway. Don’t shift yet either.”

Part 8 >>

[snarkwrites]

fake fic title - Glass Houses

Bless you for this title, anonymous. I wanted to say that before I say anything else. Now that I have, I just want to say that my brain wanted to go two totally different directions with this ( and I’m lowkey afraid you’re not in either fandom, but I hope you enjoy it in the same ) so that’s exactly what I did. It’s one title done two totally different ways?

Heads up, the stranger things one is kind of an au of my own au, oops rip me.

Both are kinda angsty. Kinda. There’s also banter.

Tag Squad : ( for the SOA version ) @rampagewriting | @chasingeverybreakingwave | @kyleoreillysknee | @sassymox 

( for the stranger things version ) @rampagewriting | 

[ tag list doc - add yourself or I won’t tag ] | [ masterlist ] | [ keep ‘em comin - these are hella fun ] 

                                  { STEVE HARRINGTON x CHARLOTTE (oc) }

Nancy caught up to me just as I got out of Jackson’s car and started to walk towards the double doors of Hawkins High. She glanced from me to the retreating black Impala and bit her lip as if she wanted to say something. Before she could, Barb caught up to both of us.

“Did your dad get a new car?” Barb asked, letting out a low and appreciative whistle at the car driving away before meeting my gaze.

“Nope.”

“Who was that? He looked like he was at least 21.” Nancy’s question was blunt and filled with concern when she asked it. I shrugged and bit my lip, waiting a second or two before answering.

“That was this guy I met over the summer. His name’s Jackson. He was one of the other counselors at that camp I worked at. Speaking of guys, where’s your new one?” I asked the question mostly to get her off my back, the last thing I wanted this early in the morning was one of her lectures.

It wasn’t like she had any room at all to talk, her letters over the summer had been filled with instances of her sneaking out, sneaking around with some guy. She’d been vague about a name, but honestly, I half expected it to be Jonathan Byers. This sweetheart of a guy in our grade that we’ve known since we were babies… And maybe I’ve always thought Nancy made goo goo eyes at constantly, even if she’d die before admitting it.

Before she ever even got to answer me, Steve Harrington appeared out of nowhere and I swallowed hard, giving him my best blank look for a few seconds. “Are you lost, Harrington? The jackasses and their cackling hens are all that way.” I nodded towards where he’d parked his new BMW, where Tommy H currently stood, exhaling smoke through his nostrils and laughing about it. I rolled my eyes before tearing them away.

“Ouch. I totally forgot how grouchy you are first thing in the morning, Charlie.” Steve mumbled, lazily pulling Nancy closer.

I tried, but before I could stop myself, I was flinching a little. Luckily, no one seemed to notice it because Nancy and Steve were all over one another and that only had me tensing just a little more. Yep. this is going to be one hell of a long year.

“It’s Charlotte. I like Charlotte now.” I licked my lips and finally retorted at Steve as I  shifted my backpack from one side of my shoulder to the other, tapping my foot impatiently against the concrete of the sidewalk.

Nancy looked from me to Steve and when he pulled her closer, I couldn’t help the split second flinch that came. I bit my lip and spoke up. “This is the dreamy guy, Nancy?” I gave a light snort of laughter and blatantly ignored the pout Steve sent my way as he stared at me over the rim of his dark tinted sunglasses. 

What, did she lose her entire goddamn mind this summer? Steve? I’d gotten my hopes up to coming back to find out that she and Jonathan were finally a thing because I just have a feeling about those two.. And I wasn’t the only one, either. One look at Barb quickly told me how she felt about this whole thing and I gave a covert nod, sure we’d both be trying to puzzle it out later between the two of us. I couldn’t wait to hear what Barb had to say about it, actually, because I wasn’t the only one Steve ditched as a friend back then.

“Mhm!” Nancy gave a soft and happy laugh and I had to really bite my tongue. 

,, hello, has she totally forgotten the sleepover in 8th  where I cried because Steve told me he couldn’t be my best friend anymore because it was ‘weird’? She was all about calling him a jerk then.”  I had to literally fight to keep from saying it.

Rather than say any of what I was thinking, what Barb was probably also thinking, I gave a soft laugh and eyed Steve, shrugging. “Have fun with that, I suppose.” was the best I could come up with. Nancy eyed me and bit her lip nervously and Barb tensed, her hand going to her mouth. I literally couldn’t take another second of Nancy and Steve all over one another, so I turned to Barb and asked mildly, “Hey, do you wanna walk down to the girls room with me? So I can show you that thing my aunt got for me?”

“Wh-” she almost asked what thing but I carefully nudged her side and she nodded, the two of us hurrying away. The second the door to the girls room shut behind us, I was pacing and ranting about the whole thing and when I lightly punched the paper towel dispenser on the wall next to the row of sinks, I cradled one hand in the other and swore quietly.

“Feel better now? Did you get it all out? Look… All I’m saying here is that I got over the way Steve  ditched all of us a while ago… Maybe there’s another reason you haven’t?”

“Don’t you dare shrink me, Barbara Holland.” I pouted, going quiet before finally admitting to it quietly. “For as long as I can remember, it’s always been me and Steve. We were so close. So close and I just…”

“You kinda fell for him.” Barbara finished and I sighed, putting my back to the bathroom stall and dramatically rolling my eyes upward. I didn’t even have to nod to acknowledge that yes, she was 100 percent right. Somewhere between kindergarten and 8th grade, even though I know it’s stupid and I realize that nobody knows who they love until they’re much older, more mature.. A small sliver of my heart was Steve Harrington. Then he took it and he broke that sliver that belonged to him and since then, I’ve just kind of… Silently been bitter.

The bathroom door burst open and Nancy stepped inside, laughing and lit up, practically glowing. I shared a look with Barb and prepared myself to put on a tolerant face. A happy face, even. Barb gave me a nod and Nancy spoke up.

“What’d your aunt get you?”

“Oh, uh…” my brain crapped out for a minute, and she raised a brow, looking from me to Barbara.

“She thought she bought it but she left it home.” Barb stepped in with the quick save and I mouthed a thank you to her when Nancy was too busy reapplying her lip gloss to notice. “So, what do you think? I mean, I’m still shocked that he likes me.”

,, you’re honestly not the only one.” the thought came accompanied by an almost crippling wave of guilt, especially in light of what Barb and I just discussed. I was getting the distinct impression that this year was not going to be an easy one at all. 

The tardy bell had the three of us dashing down the hall for class and I slid into my seat with such force that I bounced lightly off of Jonathan Byers side. He glanced up and over at me for a few seconds. 

“Are you okay?” he gave a smirk as our eyes met and he asked the question.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m good.” I said it quickly. Way too quickly. He chuckled quietly and nodded to the textbook I’d just dug out of my backpack. “This is History. Not Biology.”

I locked eyes with him, cheeks burning hot all over. And this literally had me blinking in shock because everything I’d just thought about Nancy being with Steve -and exactly how flustered he’d gotten me in the hallway just popping up like he had, it all came rushing back and I really had to work at shoving it down.

Because I wasn’t like her. I was not going to break girl code. I knew that she’d always kind of secretly liked Jonathan and that most likely, Steve Harrington was just a phase. I also knew that I was totally overreacting and yet...

,, Says the girl whose still being so silly enough to even remotely think she actually loved Steve at one point in time. Or that it matters at all in the grand scheme of life and stupidly refuses to just let go like she needs to.”  

“Thanks.” I muttered, digging around a little more in my backpack. When I produced the pack of cinnamon flavored gum, I caught Jonathan gazing at the pack in my hands almost longingly, so with a shrug, I did my best covert lean-in, holding the pack out to him, giving a playful pout when he didn’t reach and grab immediately.

“Oh come on, Jon. Live a little, doll. The teacher’s old, nearly blind and mostly deaf. He’s never gonna know you’re chewing gum.” I giggled softly. Jonathan chuckled at what I said and he took a stick from the pack. 

I went back to paying attention to the textbook and about halfway during the class, a folded square of paper landed neatly on the corner of my desk. I glanced up and around, and after confirming that the teacher obviously hadn’t seen it happen, I slipped my hand out, gripping the folded square and slid it back towards me, my bracelets jingling and making me pause a second.

The note was from Steve.

I’m sorry. I miss being your friend, okay? I really miss it. I hope this doesn’t get weird...

There were several different ways I could’ve gone. If I bothered responding. But frankly, the fact that he’d ditch me and Barb like we hadn’t been best friends our entire lives… just because he wanted to be popular and we weren’t good enough at the time… I didn’t bother answering. Letting him sweat it out was way easier. 

                                   JUICE ORTIZ x HAZEL TELLER (oc)

“ What’s she doin here, huh?” Juice asked the question to my brother Jax as loudly as possible and I tensed at the chill in his voice, biting my lip. I didn’t turn around immediately because if I did, I knew he’d take one look at me and know he’d hurt me a little. But he was getting good at that lately. So dismissive.

“She’s gonna work the bar for us until she finds a job, man.” Jax exhaled a drag from the cigarette pressed between his lips and finished off the glass of bourbon I’d poured him before the others came in. “Is there gonna be a problem, Ortiz?”

“Just wonderin.” Juice grumbled quietly.

I was finally pulled together enough at this point that I could turn around and face him. With the sweetest smile I could muster, I poured him a glass of his favorite beer and silently shoved it right at him. When a little of it sloshed up over the rim and splattered on the front of his white tee shirt, I shrugged and bit my lip before turning away again.

Naturally, it was Tig who spoke up, clearing his throat. “You two gonna act like this all the time? If the tension gets any thicker in here, I’m gonna bust a nut.” 

“Jesus Christ, Trager.” Jax coughed, glaring at the other man. “That is my sister, man. I don’t wanna think about that shit.” 

I turned and gave Tig a teasing smirk. “What tension?”

Oh, I know perfectly well what he’s talking about. Nobody’s forgotten the fact that way back… before this MC bullshit crept into his life… Juice and I dated. Then when he pledged, we broke up because at the time, I didn’t want the danger and the pain this life has been known to cause.

Not to mention dear old stepdad. It was pretty much either break things off or risk Clay trying to kick his goddamn head in. Or so I thought at the time. Apparently, I found myself thinking bitterly as I wiped down the bar top, I was wrong because here Juice is, a full member of the Sons. 

Obviously, the fact that I’m here and working at the MC would show that my stance on that is changed. And you wouldn’t be wrong, it has. It took me leaving to realize that I threw away a really good thing. A near fucking perfect thing. Just because I was afraid of both letting down my guard and allowing myself to really love Juice Ortiz like he deserved and the thought of losing him due to something happening. 

So, I came back. And naturally, now he hates me.

[atths--twice]

I was asked for an added new year and funnily or luckily enough, I already had written most of the one I was asked after. I tweaked it a bit and made a second chapter. It’s a bit sad and angsty, which was why I chose to leave it out. I do love it and am glad I was asked for more of the story, so here you go. I hope you enjoy it.

A Bitter New Year

A new year begins, but not one that is enjoyed or celebrated. What may have happened after the church scene at the end of Emily.

January 1998

Mulder looked at her sitting beside him in the car. Her cries, though she attempted to keep them quiet, made his heart ache. Wanting nothing more than to alleviate her pain, he reached for her hand and she grasped at it like a lifeline, crying harder than she had been before.

Making a split second decision, he turned left instead of right. No idea where he was headed exactly, he knew if they went west for long enough, they would reach the ocean. He kept a grip on her hand and in about twenty minutes, he saw a sign directing them to a beach.

Following the road, he pulled into a parking spot. As soon as he turned off the engine, she opened her door and bolted out, running onto the beach. He watched her fall to her knees and heard her screaming as the wind whipped her voice back to him.

“Fuck,” he seethed. “Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He slammed his hands onto the steering wheel, breathing hard as he tried not to cry, not wanting her to see and instead comfort him when he knew how she was suffering.

Getting out of the car, he closed his door and hers, remaining on the sidewalk, debating whether to go to her or stay where he stood. Watching as her shoulders shook and her body bent closer to the sand, he no longer hesitated. Stepping onto the sand, he walked through it in his dress shoes, already feeling the gritty grains pushing into his thin socks.

Taking off his jacket, he knelt beside her and placed it on her back, leaving his arm lying gently upon it. He felt her shaking and he closed his eyes, his hand rubbing slowly, hoping it was enough.

“God… why? Why?” she cried and he shook his head, any words he could think to say, sticking like glue in his throat. “Mulder… oh God.” She moved quickly and stood up, his jacket slipping from her back, as she stepped a few feet away from him, doubled over and retched.

When she had finished, she turned and looked back at him. He stood to his feet and grabbed his jacket. Walking over to her, he placed it on her shoulders, staring at her as the tears ran down her face and she covered her mouth. He pulled on the lapels of his jacket, bringing her to him, and holding her close.

She cried into his chest and he said nothing, listening to the crash of the waves, and the sound of millions of rocks tumbling over one another as the water left the shore. She grabbed tightly to his shirt, speaking words he could not understand, as they stood in the sand, mourning a child that was never meant to be.

Her arms moved to wrap around his waist and he remembered another time she had clung so tightly; sobbing as she was now, the bonds that had held her, still around her neck. His heart had broken for her then, and today it did again. Holding her, a hand in her hair, he breathed deeply, the air smelling better than that old house where he had very nearly lost her.

Her grip began to relax, and yet she did not move. He felt her taking deep breaths and then her hold slackened, her head still on his chest.

“I would have loved her so much. I… Mulder… so much.” She shook her head and he closed his eyes, knowing she was right. She would have loved her.

No… not would have.

“You did love her. It wasn’t long enough, Scully, but you did.” She nodded, taking another deep breath.

Pulling back a little, she laid her forehead on his chest and then stepped back. Turning around, she slid her arms into his jacket, sitting back down and watching the waves. He stared down at her and then sat beside her, watching her watch the waves.

“Can we stay here for a bit, Mulder? Do we have time? I don’t… I just need…”

“As long as you like,” he reassured her quietly and she nodded, closing her eyes. He looked at her, the wind ruffling her hair, and again his heart ached for her. He could not fix this, could not help her, and it was killing him.

“I dreamt this,” she whispered, opening her eyes. “The wind, the sand, my cross lying atop it. It was dark, but it was similar. Except in that dream… I was alone.” She looked at him and he exhaled a sad smile. She nodded and put her head on his shoulder.

A couple approached, smiling and waving hello. Mulder nodded curtly, no interest in speaking to either of them.

“Happy New Year!” They called as they walked past and he heard and felt her shudder. He put his arm around her and she took a shaky breath.

“It was going to be,” she whispered, and he closed his eyes, the weight of her words heavy in his heart.

They stayed in the cold sand, the cool air blowing around them as the waves continued to ebb and flow, time unable to stand still, even if they wished it could have.

“Why create her… just to…?” she sobbed out, asking him again a question he did not have an answer to, and he shook his head.

“I don’t know, Scully,” he whispered and she nodded against his shoulder.

They sat in silence, his arm around her until she lifted her head and nodded, though she did not look at him. He sighed and stood up, reaching for her hands. She placed hers into his and he pulled her to her feet.

“I want to do something first,” she said quietly, taking off her shoes and handing them to him. She walked toward the water and he watched her stand at the shoreline, his jacket too big on her as her head tilted back. Turning around to give her privacy, he only moved when she lightly touched his arm.

Placing his hand on her back, they walked to the car, her shoes still in his hand. Opening the door for her, she smiled sadly at him as she sat down, closing her eyes as he closed the door. He got in and started the car, handing her her shoes which she held in her lap.

No words were spoken as they drove to Bill and Tara’s. She did not cry anymore, and he knew any further tears would be shed in private. Now, it was time to put on a brave face, to keep that stiff upper lip.

As they pulled up to the house, she stopped him from leaving the car, placing her hand on his arm. He looked at her as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, opening them as she exhaled. He covered her hand and squeezed lightly, nodding as he did.

Walking into the house, she slipped off his jacket and hung it up before stepping into the living room, while he continued up the stairs to grab their luggage. After two trips, he had her bag, his own, and Mrs. Scully’s. Standing at the doorway of the living room, he watched them all huddled around baby Matthew, everyone ahhing over his sounds and his little body as he stretched.

Mulder watched Scully and saw the sadness in her smile, although no one else seemed to see it. Or so he thought until Mrs. Scully caught his eye. She gave him a small nod and he nodded back, knowing they shared in the pain Scully was feeling.

Leaving them to their family moment, he took the luggage and loaded it into the car. He stayed outside for a few minutes, thinking of the past year. He almost lost Scully. Lost her to a disease that was given to her to make him believe. Believe the lie. His pursuit of the unexplained nearly cost her her life and he would have lost the one person he cared for most in the world. Now, she suffered once again and it was all his fault.

The front door opened and Bill walked out, carrying a bag of trash. He glanced at Mulder and even from some feet away, Mulder saw his shoulders slump as he sighed. He said nothing, but continued across the driveway to the side yard and threw out the trash. Walking back, he did not look his way again, but went inside and shut the door.

“Asshole,” Mulder whispered, but he was not sure if he meant Bill, or himself.

He paced outside, his pent up rage and sadness sitting right at the surface. Going inside would be a mistake. It was safer out in the chilly overcast weather, even if his jacket was currently hanging inside on a hook.

The door opened again and Scully stepped out, her eyes finding his and immediately he felt calmer. She stared at him and then her mother stepped out, followed by Bill and Tara, who held the baby. Goodbyes were said, hugs and kisses given, and then Scully and Mrs. Scully walked toward him, his jacket laying across Scully’s arm.

“Here,” she said softly, handing it to him and he took it with a nod, slipping it on and opening the front passenger door for Mrs. Scully as Scully got in the backseat. They all waved goodbye as they drove away, and headed to the airport.

It was a silent car ride, all of them thinking of the past few days. Glancing in the rear view mirror, he looked at Scully, her head turned as she stared out the window. Mrs. Scully likewise, stared out the window as they entered the freeway for their short drive.

As they stood in line to board the plane, Mrs. Scully stopped and turned to him with a small smile. “You take my seat, Fox. Dana and I are seated together, but I want you to trade with me,” she said quietly and he began to protest. She stopped him with a raised hand and he sighed as he nodded. “Good.” She handed him her ticket and took his instead, Scully unaware of their conversation.

Continuing onto the plane, Scully sat in the window seat of the two seated row. Putting on her seatbelt, she looked up and frowned as she looked past him, not finding her mother.

“Where…”

“She asked me to trade,” he explained hurriedly. “My seat was closer to the bathroom, and she asked if I wouldn’t mind trading. I didn’t really ask for more details.” He shrugged, hoping she bought his lie. She stared at him and then sighed, nodding as she looked out the window and he sat down beside her.

The other passengers boarded and they soon pushed back from the gate. As they taxied to the runway, he glanced at her, but she kept her face turned toward the window, her expression unreadable. When the plane began racing down the runway, she reached for his hand, holding it tightly. He knew that takeoff tended to make her nervous, but this was different, he could feel it.

Her grip slackened as the plane leveled out, but he did not let go, letting her silently know that it was okay. Surprisingly and thankfully, she kept a hold of his hand until the seatbelt sign came on and she released it. He folded his hands in his lap and closed his eyes, the days finally catching up to him.

A hand lightly squeezing his shoulder startled him awake. He looked up and saw Mrs. Scully standing next to him with a sad smile on her face. She was not looking at him however, but at Scully who was sleeping soundly with her head against his shoulder.

“Thank you, Fox,” Mrs. Scully said, squeezing his shoulder again before she walked back to her seat.

For what? He wanted to call after her. For being such a fuck up, your daughter was assigned to rein me in? To shut down “Spooky Mulder” in the basement? For tests done on her body of which she did not give permission? For those tests leaving her barren and unable to have children of her own? For the eggs taken from her to then be used in experiments to create something he did not even want to consider? Or for the cancer that nearly killed her?

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, not understanding how she could thank him after all that had happened to Scully. She should hate him, treat him the same way Bill did, and yet she never had. Shaking his head, he put it to the back of his mind, and instead concentrated on the feel of Scully’s head on his shoulder.

She moved and sighed deeply, her hand landing on his knee. He glanced at her and then gently took her hand, rubbing his thumb lightly across the top of it. Closing his eyes, he fell back to sleep, the feel of her hand in his bringing him calm.

She would get through this and he would be there to help in any way he possibly could.

[redrebecca]

Late

The struggle of trying to wake a certain person when you really need a lift to a lecture.

A/N: I really need coffee, but here’s something i wrote earlier. Feedback is appreciated, have a nice day!

Warning(s): Nope

Words: 1.6k

*

You were late. Really late.

The alarm you had set last night hadn’t gone off so when you had eventually woken up, you freaked out realising that instead of an hour, you only had fifteen minutes. You shoved your sleeping boyfriend’s arms off you- to which he grumbled in response- and got dressed in record time. Racing down the stairs and into the kitchen, you nearly tripped over one of his guitars that had been left haphazardly in the centre of the hallway. You made a mental note to give Shawn yet another lecture about leaving guitars in the centre of the floor as you quickly grabbed a cereal bar from off of the counter top. Sure it wasn’t the most substantial breakfast, but it would have to do

As you jumped into the driver’s seat of your car, you let out a sigh of relief when you read the clock- maybe you weren’t going to be late after all.

But just when things had seemed to get better, they suddenly got significantly worse. As you tried to turn the engine on, your car gave out a pathetic splutter before going silent once again. You insistently tried several more times until, by the fifth, the car made no noise at all. At this point you were ready to rip your hair out in frustration, several curse words spewed from your lips as you tried to think of a solution. Your eyes stopped on the much larger Jeep that was parked next to you. You hated driving it but at this moment it was the only option. Giving your car one last dirty look you unbuckled your seatbelt and stomped towards your apartment.

Huffing up the stairs towards your bedroom, you swung your door open. You saw a Shawn shaped lump under covers, the only part of him that was visible was his chestnut curls that peeked out from underneath the blankets.

“Shawn” you said. Nothing.

“Shawn, I need your car keys” Still no response.

Taking matters into your own hands, you opened his bedside table drawers, rifling through his underwear to find his keys. However before you could grab the glinting piece of metal at the bottom of the drawer, a large hand wrapped around your wrist.

“What are you doin’?” He grumbled in his groggy and raspy morning voice.

“I need your car, mines not starting” you murmured. You moved your free hand to clasp the keys, but once again, another large hand prevented you from doing so.

“Shawn what are you doing? I need your keys” you said exasperated. You could have been nearly there, but instead, here you were.

“You aren’t driving my car, not after last time” he muttered. You watched as his face contorted as he yawned. You remembered vividly the time you had tried to drive his massive car and had nearly hit at least 4 cars. Shawn was even paler than you as he made you pull over on the side of the road so he could drive.

“But I need to leave now!” you explained, you pursed your lips as you got more and more anxious as every second that passed made you later.

“But babe” he groaned, flinging an arm over his eyes as he flopped backwards onto the pillows. It was clear that he hadn’t noticed the signs of obvious frustration coming from you as he closed his eyes, attempting to go back to sleep.

“Please get up Shawn?” You pleaded, desperation seeping into your words. You grabbed his hand that was draped over his forehead and attempted to pull him up. Instead of accepting the help and allowing himself to be hauled out of bed, he made himself as heavy as he could and tugged you down towards him.

This resulted in you falling on top of him and before you could react, he had you trapped in between his arms. Great, you thought as you felt his biceps constrict around you, locking you securely in place against his chest.

“Shawn I-“ You were cut off when he clumsily placed a finger over your lips, his eyes still closed.

“Shhh” he replied, one of his hands travelling up your spine to press your head against his chest as he tried to fall back to sleep.

You quickly tried to think to a way to remove yourself from his extremely tight grip but all options were useless. Except for one.

As fast as you possibly could, you brought up your arms, which were sandwiched between you and his chest, to his sides and tickled him. A surprised yelp flew from his lips as he felt the unexpected sensation which definitely woke him up. Luckily, this loosened his grip marginally and you were able to slip out of his arms without much of a struggle.

He groaned from where he lay when he felt the absence of your comforting weight on top of him. His grabby hands made an appearance as he tried to pull you back to him. But you dodged them with ease, his sleepiness making his actions slower and sloppier than usual.

“S’fine I’ll call an uber. Bye Shawn” You waved slightly, leaving the room before pulling your phone out of your jean pocket. You admit you weren’t surprised as you heard heavy footsteps from the direction of your shared bedroom. You heard the rush of air as the door swung open and revealed a pyjama-clad Shawn.

He swiftly walked up to you and pinched the phone out of your hand, quickly exiting the uber app. He grabbed your hand and pulled you towards the door.

“Shawn y-“

“C’mon babe I’m giving you a lift” He whined, dangling the car keys in front of him to prove his point. At your uncertain impression he tugged your arm with more force, but not enough to hurt you, so that he could get you out of the front door.

You both rushed towards his car and hopped into the seats. His hand instinctively moved to cover your thigh, rubbing circles onto the inside of your leg with his thumb. You placed you hand over his, to which he quickly reacted by twisting his hand to capture yours, bringing it up to his lips and pressing tender kisses across the back of your hand. When he heard your soft giggle, he winked at you which caused you to laugh a little louder. Happiness flooded through him at the sound.

Even this far into your relationship he still hadn’t gotten used to the feelings you made him feel surge through his veins, and he definitely wasn’t complaining.

When he finally pulled up outside the campus gates, you breathed a loud sigh of relief, causing Shawn to chuckle.

“Bye sweetheart” He leaned towards you but you were already turned around and facing the car door to notice.

“Bye Shawnie” You said, using the nickname you knew he hated but you loved (mainly because you loved his reaction whenever you called him that).

However when you pulled on the door handle, nothing happened. You tried again in confusion before turning to Shawn. Sure enough there he was with a large smirk on his face and as your eyes trailed down his out stretched arm you noticed that his finger was still hovering over the manual lock button.

You tipped your head back slightly, groaning. “Shawn please. I need to go.” He chuckled at your expression.

“It hurts me right here,” he said, placing his large hand over his heart “That you think I’m gonna let you leave without a goodbye kiss.”

You didn’t know whether to roll your eyes or kiss him. However, you quickly decided on the latter, leaning over to where Shawn was looking at you expectantly. You slid one hand into his hair, prompting for him to bring his lips to yours, to which he willingly complied. Your lips moulded together perfectly. When you tugged on his curls he gasped slightly, making you smile into the kiss. Being the quietly competitive person he was he became desperate to gauge a similar reaction from you. He broke the kiss and began planting delicate kisses along your cheek, jaw and then down your neck until he reached your sweet spot. As soon as his lips wrapped around the tender area you hissed at the sensation. It was the feeling of Shawn grinning against your neck that brought you back to reality. Despite what your body was telling you, you pushed at his chest once, then a second time- letting him know you wanted to stop.

“You ok?” He uttered when he quickly pulled away from the reddening mark that now adorned you neck. He scanned your face looking for any signs of discomfort that he may have caused.

“I’m great” At his questioning look you elaborated, “It’s just if I don’t go now, there’s no way I’m gonna be able to leave later” You rolled your eyes as his smirk grew once again.

He reluctantly clicked the lock off, allowing you to swing the door open.

“I’ll pick you up when your finished ok? No ubers miss” He said from inside of the car as your feet met the pavement. If he had tried to hide the protectiveness in his voice, it certainly hadn’t worked. You chuckled slightly.

“Thanks Shawn, love ya!” you said as you reached to close the door

“I love you too honey, go smash that lecture” he exclaimed, loving the sweet sound of your laughs that escaped as you threw your head back.

“You know it Mendes” You joked, pointing at him jokingly as you closed the door.

He laughed to himself as you rushed off through the gates and across the campus. In complete awe that the smart, beautiful and talented girl that was now currently 10 minutes late to her class, was his girlfriend.

He couldn’t have been happier.

[kimmyiewrites]

Case Closed ~ Chpt 10

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AN: So let's just say I'll never actually be on a schedule because clearly no matter my intentions, it doesn't work out that way. I've got two more chapters written after this one and a third possibly halfway through. We'll see cause we are truly into following along with the Braindead episodes now. So without further ado, enjoy this next chapter!

Bex traipsed down her stairs, making her way to her car so she could head into work. She had lunch plans with Rochelle to get the evidence later and the morning was hers besides the quick briefing with the team working the case on the inside of the bureau. Dinner with Mike had been amazing. Just reminiscing about it had put her in a good mood once she woke up.

They had decided on something a little more casual which meant they both left their blazers in the car. Mike also ditched the tie and unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt before rolling up the sleeves. Bex honestly could have just dragged him home right then. Instead, she placed a kiss to his cheek before looping her arm with his as they walked into the restaurant.

It was one of the places he frequented before he went back to Graceland. According to Mike, it was the best pizza in the DC area. The moment Bex took a bite, she wholeheartedly agreed. "How did I not know of this place before?" She asked in the middle of her second bite.

Mike chuckled. "Clearly I'm more of a pizza connoisseur than you are." He teased her.

She smiled at the memory and at how before they went their separate ways, he gave her a kiss goodbye that left her both breathless and wanting more. She didn't mind taking things at a slow pace. She enjoyed truly getting to know Mike. Sure the kissing was nice and she'd be more than happy to share a bed with him but her past relationships had been solely for work or purely physical. She hadn't explored a relationship where she had more than that type of connection in a long time and it thrilled her.

Just as she unlocked her car door, her phone began to ring. Seeing that it was Mike, a smile lit up her face before she answered it. "Good morning."

"Good morning." He replied. "I know we just had dinner last night and if we lived lives outside of the Bureau my friends would tell me it's far too soon to call and ask you on a coffee date and your friends would call me a clinger but I would call you anyway like I'm doing now and I'm hoping that you'll still say yes."

Bex giggled. "I still say yes. Where do you want to meet? I'm about to head in, now."

"Well, here's the thing, I'm turning on your street now and I've already picked up the coffee." He sounded sheepish.

That caused her to laugh as she locked her car. "You know, this is getting into stalker territory." She teased him.

"Would you accept that I'm trying to look out for you?" He asked as he pulled into her apartment complex parking lot.

"I would but I thought we had covered how I'm quite capable of taking care of myself." She waved when she saw his car before hanging up.

Once she was situated in the passenger seat, Mike drove off and continued their conversation. "I know. It's just I've heard some chatter and if Onofrio talked to his people about your involvement, I'm just worried about some measures they could potentially take since they can get pretty extreme."

Bex had picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, smiling at how it was her regular order. "Then I guess I can allow it." She reached over and gave his arm a reassuring squeeze. "Thanks for the mocha, by the way."

"You're welcome." He smiled over at her. "So, what do you have planned for today?"

"Briefing this morning and then lunch with Rochelle then my afternoon is open. How about you?"

"I will probably be dealing with the aftermath of yesterday. If you feel compelled to come save me after your lunch I would greatly appreciate it." He chuckled.

She laughed as well, nodding her agreement. "You got it."

Once they reached the Bureau's office building, Bex leaned over and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. "Thanks for the ride."

Mike smiled. "Don't mention it. I'll see ya later."

"Bye." She gave him another kiss before making her way into the office.

She headed to her desk first, putting all of her things down. She then grabbed what she would need for the briefing and her coffee cup before making her way to Marchant's office. "Morning, Director." She greeted as she stepped inside, taking a seat from across his desk.

"Morning, Morris. Let's talk about yesterday, shall we?" He asked, leaning back in his seat, hands folded over his stomach.

"Which part, sir? The one where we nearly used torture on an innocent woman or the fact that high frequency signals can cause senators to run into walls or raise both of their arms?" She raised an eyebrow in a 'don't think I forgot' fashion.

Marchant let out a sigh. "You say innocent but she's been linked to so many incidents."

"Important to the investigation, does not mean guilty and you know it. Miss Healy has some rotten luck but she's further along in the investigation you first sent Warren to look into."

"So what happened at the hearing? And how does that prove our Area 51 case?"

"I honestly think you should just call in one of their agents, director. I'm going to meet with Rochelle at lunch to get all of their evidence. I also need to speak with the doctor they contacted at the CDC. Because what happened yesterday was practically the icing on the cake. They recorded some of the infected persons communication and played it back in parts which caused the running into walls and hand raising. The creatures inside the infected communicate via high frequencies that human ears can't normally detect."

The director pinched the bridge of his nose. "The guys out in Nevada are going to have a field day. So what she said about bug people..." He trailed off, not really wanting to believe it.

"Bugs have eaten people's brains, yeah, and they're causing the head explosions. The bugs were in the meteor and they're infecting people but no one's really sure as to why."

"That's your new objective then. Find out why they're doing this and then I'll reach out to my contact out in Nevada. Keep me updated, Morris. That'll be all."

Bex stood with a nod and made her way to her desk. She didn't want to focus on the craziness that Mike's case was at the moment. She had a few things she knew she needed to wrap up with the case involving her sister's killer. Mostly paperwork so she put on a coffee shop playlist and started typing things up in her report while sipping on the rest of her mocha.

Just as she was about to go to her next page, her phone started ringing. She briefly looked over to see that it was a name on the caller id instead of a random number so she answered it. "This is Bex."

"Hey Bex! Can we reschedule lunch?" Rochelle asked.

"Yeah, sure. Is everything alright?"

"Laurel stopped by and told us that Senator Wheatus saw us leaving the hearing yesterday and Gareth isn't sure what he's going to do."

Bex saved her report and started packing up. Sure, she could probably easily take Onofrio but she would rather not have to deal with HR. "What if I came to you instead? Strength in numbers and all that."

"I'd like that. I'll send you my address. See you soon."

With that they both hung up and Bex closed everything down. As she waited for her Uber ride, she called Mike. "Is my cover blown? Do I need to be on alert too?"

"I would just in case. Oh, I gotta go, mom. I'll talk to you later." Mike hung up practically as soon as Red stepped back into his office.

It didn't exactly put Bex at ease but she was a trained professional. She knew how to defend herself and how to fight. When the Uber arrived, she slid into the backseat, confirming the address and was soon being let out at the First District Apartments.

She went to knock on Rochelle's door when she noticed that it was open a crack. Bex pulled her gun and slipped inside. When she came to the spot where the floor plan opened up, she looked over to the kitchen where she saw Rochelle give the ending blow with a frozen turkey leg to some guy.

The other woman looked up, seeing Bex just as she was lowering her gun. "Call the others and I'll help you get everything sorted. Nice moves by the way." The agent said with a smile, going back to lock the door.

"I don't know if Laurel will be available." Rochelle said as she dragged the intruder over to one of the support poles in her apartment.

"Why not?" Bex hurried over and helped stand the man up and prop him against the pole.

There was a knock on the door then and Rochelle answered as she went to open it. "Because there's a possibility her dad is infected."

Bex shook her head, her heart heavy for the woman. She really was having the worst luck when it came to this whole situation.

The trio soon had the intruder taped to the pole. Gustav placed a helmet on top of the intruder's head to keep him from sending out any communication. Bex was in the kitchen with Rochelle, helping her clean up and tend to the box cutter wound that had been left on her arm. It luckily wasn't deep enough to warrant stitches but with the help of Rochelle's direction things would turn out okay and hopefully not scar.

When Gustav started questioning him and Rochelle checked his ears, Bex stayed back and watched, looking for any signs that he could be lying. Then again she was unsure if the intruder would have any of the same tells if it was true that half his brain was gone. Either way, he was very convincing.

"What do you think?" Rochelle asked as the trio huddled together.

"He's really convincing. I can't say for sure but I can call in my police contact if you'd like to press charges." Bex said. "That's the one thing he's been right about, they probably should get involved. This is starting to go against everything I signed up for when I joined the Bureau."

"Can we try a couple more things?" Gustav asked. "If we let him go and he is a bug person then we might be in more trouble than before."

Rochelle looked at Bex with a look that said what harm could be done. Bex let out a sigh and agreed. Soon "You Might Think" was playing but they put it on backwards. A knock was heard and Rochelle called out that the door was open. Laurel walked in, confused about what was happening.

"What are you doing?" She finally asked.

"It's "You Might Think" played backwards." Rochelle answered.

The intruder looked to Laurel, hoping that she would be sensible enough to help him. "Gustav is seeing what will work on him." She continued to explain.

Laurel looked to Bex. "You seriously can't be okay with this?"

"It's not one of my best decisions, but honestly I think we should call this thing off. It's clearly not working."

Gustav shook his head at Bex's answer, disagreeing completely. "No, we need to figure out what the bug people want!"

"And I agree, it's what I've been tasked to do but this isn't the way to do it." Bex argued.

Laurel sighed and turned to Gustav. "He's denying he's infected, right?"

"Yes, but he would." Gustav answered.

"So how are you gonna get him to talk?" Laurel asked.

"Can we put on some better music?" The intruder spoke up which caused Gustav to jump into action with the box cutter the intruder used before.

All three women raced over to pull Gustav away as he threatened to cut the intruder's fingers off if he didn't give them the answers they wanted. Rochelle and Laurel were on either side of him and Bex came around to get the box cutter out of his hand.

"We need to call this now. I'm going to let him go." She said, stepping back towards the intruder.

"Bex, no, he's not gonna talk to us unless we threaten him." Gustav argued.

"I think you should listen to your friend." The intruder commented.

Bex turned to look at him with a pointed look. "We don't need comments from the peanut gallery."

"Why don't we just find out who this guy is instead? You would need that for a report, right?" Laurel turned to Bex.

"Yeah and there's nothing wrong with doing a little extra research."

"So, see, there we go. Now, about my dad." Laurel said, informing the group what she had witnessed. When Rochelle mentioned him stopping sex, Laurel gathered her things and set out to find her dad's mistress.

Gustav set to digging around in the bag that he had brought over and pulled out a small bottle of three year old whiskey. "Bex, you might want to go somewhere else for this next bit."

"You know I can get you arrested also, don't do it."

"Listen to her please. I'm in AA. I'm two years sober." The intruder pleaded.

"Where's your chip?" Rochelle asked.

"Oh, my sobriety chip, I must have left it in my other clothes." He quipped.

Bex just shook her head. How stupid could he be to answer in such a way? The moment Bex wasn't watching Gustav and Rochelle poured the whiskey down the intruder's throat. Her phone began to ring then. Seeing that it was Mike, she stepped away and answered it.

"Please tell me you're having a better day than I am." He said as soon as she picked up.

"I actually don't know if I can properly answer that question." Bex replied. "What's going on?"

Mike let out a small sigh. "I think Red is up to something. His latest witness for this committee meeting is lying. And I'm beginning to really hate that this is taking so long."

"Have we entered into an alien bug version of Independence Day?" She asked with a small laugh.

Her question got the reaction she was looking for and she smiled when she heard Mike laugh as well. "It certainly seems that way. What have you got going on?"

"A not so legal questioning. I don't know if I'm aiding in it or stopping it because no one seems to be listening to me."

Mike took a deep breath. He had done plenty of not so legal things while out in California but to hear Bex admit it he wasn't sure if he was relieved someone was finally telling him the truth or be worried.

"The person did attack Rochelle and is possibly infected so, I'm not really sure if that helps or hurts my case." She had continued until she realized that Mike was silent on the other end. "Mike? You okay? Should I have not told you?"

That pulled him out of his thoughts. "No, no. I'm glad you told me. I would rather you tell me than keep it hidden honestly." His thoughts drifted to Paige and Briggs. "Should I come over?"

Bex shook her head even if he couldn't see her. "No. Gareth can't really help because he doesn't know yet. Why don't I come see you instead? You should also probably contact Laurel so she can let her brother know about the witness."

"Yeah, I'd like that. See you soon then?"

"See you soon." Bex promised before hanging up.

[queeniewriteshockey]

“i can’t sleep, can i stay here?” with nolan? thank you!

Stay the Night Part 1

Word Count: 1480

I was doing okay with this keeping things short thing and then this asshole comes along and derails that. I really like writing this guy. 

Part 2 Here Part 3 here Part 4 here

The hours ticked by as your tossed and turned in your bed. The noise of the city was too much for you. The neighbor had decided that 1 in the morning was an appropriate time to start vacuuming their entire house and your mind screamed. You felt like a cartoon character; eyes wide, bloodshot and scratchy. Nothing was helping anymore. You couldn’t sleep. There was no godly way to make it work for you. 

The only option was to get up, but your roommate was asleep. How? You had no idea. She could sleep through an apocalypse, though. It wasn’t fair and it made you grumpy. You didn’t much care for her anyway, though you kept that to yourself because you didn’t want to be rude. You especially didn’t like the way she looked at your best friend. Jealousy was a green-eyed monster and she lived nestles deep in your bones. 

The fact that the roommate was asleep left you with very few options. You could plug into your computer, maybe watch something on Netflix until your alarm went off and drag your dead ass out of bed to start your day, or… you could actually leave the little townhouse you rented with her and see what you could find in the dark of the Philadelphia night. 

You’d only been in town for a few months, having moved out there after finding a job. You didn’t tell anyone that the reason you had picked Philidelphia of all places in the world was that of Nolan, but those that knew you knew he was your dream. It wasn’t the job you were chasing. It was stupid and you felt silly, but you couldn’t help it. Especially because Nolan himself was encouraging of you moving out there. He missed you, too. Just not the same way. 

You traded out pj’s for a pair of work out pants and a flyers sweatshirt. You’d lived in it practically every day since you’d gotten it. You had to support your best friend regardless of other feelings that simmered under the surface for him. It was too cold for slides by themselves, but like most athletes, a pair of socks paired with the slides was as good as any closed toed shoes. 

Once you were outside, you were greeted with blissful silence. You had known it was loud within the confines of your townhouse, but you hadn’t realized how onesided the noise was. The cold air cleared your mind and woke you up a little more. It was a nice night, but the feel of the city was off. It wasn’t the nicest of areas, that you lived in, but there were considerably worse areas. You’d picked Fishtown for the hipster artsy vibe, but artists kept shit hours, as you were noticing. 

There was a little coffee shop down the way, right next to Art Machine Productions, but you knew it was closed by now. Really, you had nowhere to go and nothing to do. It didn’t stop you from getting into your car and turning the engine over. If you were being honest with yourself (you weren’t) you already knew where you were going before you put the car in gear and headed down the road. 

It was as if autopilot had engaged the second you hit the main roads out of your neighborhood. You found yourself pulling into a parking sport at Nolan’s within minutes. The engine idled softly as you contemplated your entire existence and more importantly, your reason for being where you were. There was a light on in the upstairs bedroom, which told you he was likely still awake, but you had no way of knowing if you’d be bothering him by just showing up. 

Not that he would ever tell you if you were bothering him. You’d known him for years. The two of you had been through a lot together, there wasn’t a moment in your friendship that you didn’t think you could go to him when it really mattered, but it was different now. You’d finally admitted your feelings for him, at least to yourself. It was starting to stress you out, but, you couldn’t sit in your car all night and didn’t want to go back to your noisy house. 

You were at a crossroads, your head bowed on the steering wheel, listening to the little demons who’d cropped up in your mind. Each one fed you a reason to go knock on Nolan’s door. Followed quickly by one that explained away why you shouldn’t. You nearly jumped out of your skin when something hit your window. You did scream when you realized it was a man but a second later, a peel of laughter, told you it was your asshole of a best friend. 

“What the hell, Nolan!” you asked once you’d rolled the window down in your car. 

“You should have seen your face,” he laughed, “I wish I’d thought to grab my phone. That would have been the best picture.” 

“You’re an asshole.” You were mad at him, your words held heat to them. Your heartbeat far too fast and your cheeks warmed with embarrassment. 

“Yeah, but you love me,” he countered. 

He wasn’t wrong, of course, but you still rolled your eyes at him. “I might be rethinking that.” 

He pulled a face, one you didn’t really understand before he let an easy smile fall on his lips. His hand slid over his heart and he groaned. “You wound me, Y/N.”

The action made you laugh. All you could do was shake your head. “You’ll heel, you’re good at that. Or maybe… what’s her face can nurse you back to health.” Your words, while smooth and easy, felt bitter on your tongue. Luckily, Nolan appeared to be oblivious. 

“Tssh,” he said softly, “we broke up.” 

You hadn’t expected that response, nor had you really expected the way your body had reacted. It was almost like a spike of anxiety burning its way through you. A knot twisting in your gut. 

“But seriously,” he said, not bothering to give you time to respond to the bomb he’d dropped on you. “Why are you here?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” you told him, deciding on the subject change for a moment. “Can I stay with you, tonight?” 

“Of course you can,” he said as though the question was a ridiculous one. 

The fact that he was willing to entertain your request made you both more tired and more wired. You had known he would say yes, but it didn’t make asking any easy. Not anymore. Rolling up the window and shutting the car off gave you the time to at least put yourself back together. You were just tired. That was all. 

Climbing out of the car, it was obvious that you hadn’t planned ahead. You had your phone and purse and literally nothing but the clothing you were wearing. “Thanks, Nolan,” you said as your car chirped with the alarm. 

“What kind of guy would I be if I just left you out here to die? You can always stay with me.” His arm slid around your shoulder and pulled you into him as the both of you headed inside. 

You didn’t answer his questions, instead decided to go back to a topic that he’d tried to drop earlier. “Why did you and that chick break up?” You asked, just as you got inside. It was nice and warm inside his home. Inviting and cozy, albeit a bit messy. 

He shrugged off the question as he let you go. “Turns out I like someone else. It wasn’t really fair to her.” 

That was decent of him, but you weren’t really focused on the niceness of his actions, your mind had gotten hung up on the first part of the statement and it wouldn’t let it go. You hoped against everything, that he wasn’t going to tell you it was your roommate he liked. 

“What do you say we go to bed? I’m tired and you look exhausted.” 

“Nice. Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” 

“You’re not going to tell me who you like?” 

“Nope.” 

“It’s TK, isn’t it?” You joked as both of you headed down the hall to the bedroom. 

There was only one in the tiny apartment, but the two of you were close enough that you’d grown up sleeping in the same bed. It was some sort of pathetic cliche Dawson’s Creek bullshit, but it worked for the two of you. 

“Absolutely,” he said with a laugh before he snagged you around the waist and pulled you against him. His nose brushed the back of your neck causing goose flesh to erupt on your skin and send a shiver down your spine. An involuntary gasp slipped from your lips as he did so. “It’s totally TK. I think I’ll tell him tomorrow over breakfast.” 

-Fin-

[modern-and-married-jeffmads]

New Years Traditions

I’m late on this, but the spirit is still around and I wanted to write a New Years fic for Modern and Married Jeffmads so here it is, so I hope you like it.

Word count: 3314 Warning: Fluff (maybe some pinches here there, but it’s safe)

When it came to holidays, Thomas and James have their preferences. Thomas enjoys mainstream, festive holidays like Christmas and Valentine's days since that meant he could host parties and show off his luxurious tastes in the finer things. James preferred the lesser known holidays that small groups and stores celebrate like National Donut Day or any day that focused on a confectionary. If it meant he could go in a bakery and strike a deal without having to be surrounded by a large crowd, James was there. If there was one holiday that they enjoyed sharing together the most though, it would be New Years.

8:27 a.m.

Thomas laid there in their California King with his arms open and spread across the mountain of pillows. His body turned as he was instinctively ready to grab a hold of his husband, James, and pull him close into his chest. Thomas was a major cuddlier and when he was met with some pillows in his arms instead of a smaller man, his eyebrows furrowed. He wiped the sleep out his eyes before opening them and scanning the empty space next to him. With a puzzling look on his face, Thomas sat up as he ran his hand through his flattened curls. He looks around the bed to see if James had just moved under the sheets to a different spot, but no luck. Jefferson decided it was time to get out the bed and swung his legs over the edge. Stretching his arms and back and letting out a loud yawn to get more of the sleep out of his system allowed a sweet and savory scent to hit his nose. He sat there for a minute trying to take it in and figured out what the alluring aroma was and started putting the pieces together.

Thomas jumped off the edge of the bed, into his slippers, and ran into the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth, wiped off his face with a warm rag, then slipped on his house robe and proceeded downstairs into the kitchen. There he found his lover in the kitchen baking and preparing breakfast. Thomas loved the sight of seeing James in his large royal blue sweater with golden stitching that he got for James two New Years ago. It fell right above his knees and hung slightly over his shoulders where you could see a black tank top under it. James decided to make it a tradition to wear that sweater every New Year’s Eve and Day until he couldn’t wear it anymore. That wouldn’t be for a long time since he knew how to take care of his clothing.

James noticed Thomas’ presence and smiled at him, “Good Morning Thomas”.

“Morning darlin’”, Thomas said smirking as he made his way into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around the smaller man’s waist.

He planted small kisses on his ear as he kept his grip loose to allow James to move as he was finishing up breakfast. The smell of maple bacon, fresh toast, fried eggs, hash browns, and fresh fruit made Jefferson’s stomach growl. He moved as James moved as he watched James stack the plate of French toast a mile high. His focus immediately shifted from the coffee pot brewing to the sight of the oven as James opened it. His gripped slightly tightened as James pulled out a cookie sheet with biscuits on it. Not just any biscuits though, they were Thomas’ favorite. They were cinnamon raspberry almond biscuits.

When James first made these for an office party he had to attend, Thomas took a few and tried them, instantly falling in love with them. James decided to make them on special occasions and luckily for him, today was. He could feel Thomas arching over him, pulling James closer into him as he reached for the tray. James lightly smacked his hand away from the tray.

“Let’s eat breakfast while they cool off, then you can have a few afterward”, James said as he teased Thomas who had a small pout on his face.

“Jemmy, please, just one?”, Thomas asked pleading.

“You know they’re better when they’ve cooled down, Thomas. The bacon is getting cold and the fruit will get warm. I made enough for you to have some this morning then I have some put some away for later. Can we please eat?”, James asked.

Thomas couldn’t say no to those warm, dark brown eyes and planted a light kiss on his nose. “Alright James, I’ll wait, but not forever.”, Thomas smirked as he made his plate.

James put the biscuits on a separate plate before piling his own plate with nearly everything. Thomas held his plate and their cups of coffee as both men went onto the patio outside the bedroom. They sat down on the lush love seat next to each other with their plates in their laps. James placed the biscuit plate and Thomas set down the coffee on the small table nearby before they ate their food as they watched over backlands of the city. They watched in the shadows as the city began to wake up and prepare for the end of the year. Today was a clear day with not a cloud in the sky. There was a gust of cold air that caused James to get under Jefferson’s arm and curl up into his side as he finished eating. Thomas chuckled finding James under him and as he placed his clean plate on the table. He lifted James up and into his lap as he laid across the love seat. James smiled and placed Jefferson’s arms on his stomach as he sunk into the bigger man’s chest.

“James~”, Thomas said intertwining their fingers, “It’s after breakfast”.

James let out a small chuckle then grabbed his cup of coffee and took a few sips. Thomas let out a small whimper before James grabbed a biscuit and held it up to his partner’s mouth. Thomas engulfed the whole thing humming as he let out a soft moan.

“God, I’d take you and these biscuits to bed if we didn’t have plans for today”. Thomas said in between the biscuits James fed him.

James smiled as he dunked a biscuit in his coffee and ate it. This was his second favorite part of New Years, being able to have a calm morning with his husband. He enjoyed how they could just wind down from the stress that built up over the year. The patio was their ultimate place of solitude and cuddles and Thomas knew James loved when they sat outside. James was warm with his partner and his coffee. Thomas, after finishing off his treats, rested his head on his partner's shoulder. He placed small kisses along James’ jaw causing him to blush. James used his thumbs to rub circles into the back of Thomas’ hands before placing a small kiss on his knuckles. Thomas kissed down the curve of his neck and playfully left small bite marks as he nipped the skin. A light moan escaped Madison’s lips as he sat up and turns around in Jefferson’s lap so that they were face to face. Their eyes locked as their lips met in a simple kiss. Thomas wrapped his arm around Madison’s waist and pulled him closer to deepen the kiss. As James wrapped his arms around Jefferson’s neck, they pulled away from each other while exchanging loving looks. Thomas placed his hand on the back of James’ head to lay the smaller man on his chest. James moved his arms around Jefferson’s waist and laid his head on his chest above his heart. The beat was slightly upbeat but solid rhythmic and actually calming. Thomas played with his partner's small curls in between his fingers as James rested on top of him.

1:17 p.m.

James found himself asleep as Thomas light tapped him to wake him up. James let out a yawn before lifting his head and laying chin on Jefferson’s chest to look at him. Thomas was glad he had the chance to see James wake up since he didn’t get to earlier.

“Time to get up Jemmy. It’s past noon and we need to get dressed and get moving”, Thomas said rubbing Madison’s back.

James let out another yawn before climbing off Thomas and stretching.

“You feel rested enough for tonight?”.

James nodded, “I should be fine. Resting on my favorite, most comfortable bed normally gets me energized”.

“You own that one and only Jefferson exclusive mattress”, Thomas smirked as he got up from off the love seat leading them back into the bedroom.

Both men gathered the clothing items James laid out the night before and changed. James slid on some black jeans with match blue boots Jefferson found at a mall in a town over. He wrapped a silver scarf around his neck to help cover his shoulders. Thomas changed in a dark purple silk suit with black slacks. He put on the silver watch James gave him, with shoes to match, then sat in a chair as James helped in combing out the mountain of curls that smelled like lavender. After that fifteen minute task, both men put their rings on before grabbing a few belongings and exiting the room. James took a detour to the kitchen to grab a small container before they left out the house with Thomas locking it up.

They went over to Jefferson’s car as he opened the passenger door. James climbed in as Thomas made his way around the front and got into the driver’s side. As he drove off, James turned on the radio to a Jazz station they listened to. They liked how the beat of the brass matched up with the upbeat feeling of the city as people walked and rode by as they performed their own New Years activities. Thomas found a parking spot downtown that wasn’t too far from the park. He got out and opened the passenger door. As he went and paid for the meter, James climbed out the car and was immediately taken away by the cold air that swirled around the city. Thomas stood next to James as he wrapped his arm around his shoulder as they began walking down the street.

“You are not allowed to leave my side”, James said as he put his arm around Jefferson’s waist.

Thomas smirked while playfully pinching Madison’s cheek, “I wouldn’t dream of leaving my Jemmy alone in the cold like this, especially on New Years”.

James smiled and rested his head on Jefferson’s side as they walked around town. They went into small stores and have a little look around before heading out and visiting the next shop. Some stores caught their interest more than others and they would find themselves lingering a bit longer. James found himself enjoying the different book and shoe stores. James wasn’t a super fashionista like Thomas, but besides sweaters, he did enjoy boots. Thomas enjoyed watching James try on different shoes since it was one of the few times he’d be willing to stay in a clothing store for more than 20 minutes.

“You should try on this one. There’s a lot of fur on the inside”, Thomas suggested as he brought over a couple boxes.

James stood in the pair he was currently trying on, “I don’t know, last time you suggested a boot, it had a heel on it, Thomas”.

“It was a fifth of an inch off the ground, Jemmy. Ya gotta be a little adventurous”.

James shook his head, “I’d like to keep my balance, thank you”. He looked down into the mirror, “and I also like these. I have a sweater at home to match”.

“Whatever James wants, he gets”, Thomas teased lightly pinching his partner's thigh, “and they look great on you, like always”.

James smiled and planted a small kiss on Jefferson’s cheek.

Thomas would continue to help him out while also finding clothes of his own and purchasing three or four outfits at a time. They would take the bags and boxes back to the car, put them in the back, then keep going on their adventure. As they walked down the street toward the park’s direction, you could see many families, couples, groups of friends, and assortments of people walking lively throughout the area. The excitement was really in the air and everybody could feel it. This was Thomas’ second favorite part of New Years, getting to be out in the public with his husband, having fun, and getting the chance to see James really interact with others. James even asked a person passing by where they were getting their hot chocolate from. James never asked strangers for help, but when the person politely pointed him in the right direction and James lead the way, Thomas knew today was going extremely well.

7:17 p.m.

Night had fallen over the city and even though the sunlight was gone, the city lights were brighter than ever. Thomas took a glimpse at his watch before taking a hold of Madison’s hand. James jumped at the surprise but relaxed quickly as he gripped Jefferson’s hand.

“What is it, Thomas?”.

“Dinner time. You don’t want to start the New Year on an empty stomach, do you Jemmy?”, Thomas teased.

James smiled and nodded as Thomas led them to an Italian bistro around the block. It was spotty with some people and couples here and there, but the atmosphere was warm and inviting. They sat in a booth near the door so they could get out easily when it was getting close to time. This gave James the chance to warm up before going back into the cold air. Both men ordered water as they were saving the champagne for when they got back home. Thomas made James point out what he wanted before James started devouring the breadsticks. Thomas got the Chicken Parmesan while getting James the lasagna. It wasn’t long before the piping hot food was served and they feasted while making small talk with Thomas leaning over the table every so often to kiss off some sauce from different parts of Madison’s cheek. A blush grew on Madison’s face every time.

“You look redder than you sauce darlin’”, Thomas teased with a smirk on his face.

James turned his head away in slight embarrassment, “I can’t help it. If you’d let me clean my own face, there wouldn’t be this problem”.

“Nuh-uh, not on my watch. Clearly, I am the best solution for your problems.”, Thomas proclaimed, “as evident by the blush and wonderful smile on your face”.

James let out a laugh that Thomas was proud to have caused.

The men finished their plates, Madison’s nearly crystal clean, before the waiter came over to grab their dishes and asked if they would like dessert. Madison’s eyes lit up at the question then glanced over at Thomas.

“Go on, order as much as you want. You know I don’t mind spending money on you, especially when it comes to dessert.”, Thomas said taking his hand and planting a small kiss on it.

James returned a kiss on Jefferson’s knuckles before order a couple slices of different cakes.

As the waiter walked away, James pulled out a container from under his sweater. “I don’t want to eat sweets alone so I brought along some more biscuits.”

That caused Jefferson to immediately move across the booth and sit next to James, nearly pressing him against the window. He opens his legs and put James in between them before leaving large multiple kisses on the back of the tiny man’s head.

“I love you, James”, Thomas said as he opened the container and chewed a biscuit.

“You love the biscuits, Thomas”.

Thomas wrapped his arms around Madison’s waist, “Hey now, I love you, you just bake the best~ biscuits”.

James smiled, “Did you have to put me in your lap though?”.

“It would have been a crime not to, plus we could have some fun”. Thomas began to wiggle his hips against James as he held him close.

James began to fluster, “Thomas, we’re in an eating establishment”.

Thomas leaned over near Madison’s ear, “Yeah, and you’re my takeout”, he said before nipping his earlobe.  

James let out a very much needed sigh of relief as he saw the waiter come back with a rather large tray of assorted slices. The waiter was slightly confused by the new seating arrangement, but brushed it off and continued working. As James reached for a spoon, he felt his arm get stopped mid-motion.

James looked at Thomas with some confusion, “What are you doing?”.

Thomas grabbed a spoon, “We still have about two more hours before eleven comes around so I thought of a way to use up some time. I could feed you. You could give me some of that sweet Virginian insight like you do you at an art museum, only with cake.”

“I don’t think that will-“.

“Jemmy, if you can talk about a show you hated for two hours, I know you can talk about cake for two hours easily.”

Thomas took a spoon full of a slice and pushed it in Madison’s mouth, which set him off. James took in every bite and spoke on every last detail from how many eggs they could have used to how smooth the sauce was to the presentation. James knew he wasn’t an expert on this stuff like Lafayette, but since they have been around each other for a fair amount of time, he has gotten the chance to learn a few things. Well, a lot of things. Thomas took in every word that came out of Madison’s mouth. He always enjoyed when James went on judgment tangents because James was a rather quiet man, except when it came to his work and certain things he loved. Thomas was right about the time it took to get through everything because it was around 11:20 p.m. when James ate the last piece.

James sighed and laid back for a moment to let everything go down as Thomas reached over and organized the plates. He placed a tip halfway under the tray before sliding out the booth with James still in his grasp. Both men walked out the bistro and headed back towards the park as larger crowds of people began emerging. Thomas placed James on his back to avoid losing him in the crowds before finding an emptier part of the park. It gave them a pretty nice view of the fireworks stands with a large bright red counter on it. The fence of trees around the area made them feel closer and secluded as they sat on a nearby bench. Thomas wrapped his arm around Madison’s shoulder, pulling him close to him.

11:56 p.m. The two men could hear the large crowds excitement as the fireworks display began to rise high into the air. Jefferson could feel the excitement building up in his stomach.

11:57 p.m.

“James, I love you and I’m glad I’m allowed to spend another priceless year with you. You’re the moon to my sun”.

11:58 p.m.

“Thomas, you make each year worth seeing. Thank you, for everything. I couldn’t ask for anybody to be here”.

11:59 p.m.

Thomas and James leaned into each other closing the gap.

12:00 a.m.

A roar of fireworks went off as their lips met to share a deep, sentimental kiss. The glistening flames showed off a rainbow of colors that twinkled in each man’s eyes. They intertwined their fingers as they sat back and watched the New Year come in a with a bright and beautiful bang. It told them that this year was going to be positive, and their love would grow even stronger. This was truly their favorite of New Years.

[radiostationman]

Group Mom-bro

Inspiration for this fic came from this as well as this.

Also because I love Nino, he is my son. He deserves OT4 love, yes he does.

Warning: Kinda NSFW-ish

---

If you had asked him, Nino wouldn’t have been able to tell you how it all started. Sure, he was their friend and it was his job to be there for them… but becoming the ultimate mother hen to four of Paris’ greatest heroes?

How was this his life?

“Come on, he is definitely the better blogger! Just look at his black and white pictures about-“

“Current models dressed as old timey people in old timey clothing? Al, those already exist and are definitely unoriginal.”

Alya grabbed at her chest in mock offense, “How dare you call this MASTER photographers art UNORIGINAL! I’ll have you know that he graduated the top of his class in the navy seals and-“

Nino was quick to cover her mouth with his hand, eyes wide and shoulders hunched in disgust. “That meme has finally died, please let it stay buried and at rest forever.”

He nearly shrieked when a gross warm and wet tongue sloppily licked a stripe up his palm, resulting in him pulling away and desperately scrubbing at his hand with a fistful of napkins. “ALYA!”

All he received was an amused smirk and an eyebrow waggle.

Groaning, he tossed the used napkins onto the café tables surface and cupped his hands around the ceramic mug before him, pointedly dropping his gaze into the tea’s swirling depths and not at the gorgeously powerful woman before him.

“Now now, Lahiffe, don’t give me the, ‘I’m pretending to ignore you but can’t because I’m too nice’ stance. I know you too well for you to get away with it and will tickle you into submission if need be!”

The twitching of his lips was a dead giveaway that her words had taken affect, yet he kept his eyes trained on his green tea.

Alya sighed in mock defeat, holding her hands up in an ‘oh well’ gesture.

“It seems like you have forced my hand. Prepare to be- “

The whole building suddenly quaked, hanging lights swinging and forcing many of the cafés occupants out of their seats, including Alya and Nino. When the shaking had stopped, all went silent, as though no one knew what to do with themselves.

Turning to the blogger next to him, Nino opened his mouth only for a car to smash through the window right next to their table. Alya tackled him to the ground and out of harm’s way just in time, covering him from the shower of glass and the screaming of civilians inside and outside of the building.

As the chaos around them continued, Alya pulled him to his feet and quickly checked him over before giving him an apologetic look. Before she could say anything, he gave her an encouraging smile and tipped his head in the direction of the latest akuma. “Go, and be careful.”

Grinning dangerously, she nodded and ran in the direction of the restrooms, calling over her should as she went.

“Rain check?”

“Rain check.” He confirmed with a warm smile.

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

When Nino had returned home later that night, he flipped his bedrooms light switch on and made his way inside only to stop with a look of surprise on his face. There, standing in the middle of his room, was Volpina. In her arms were an assortment of sweets and delights, as well as a small bouquet of his favorite flowers.

She placed the objects down on his bed before a feral look took over her face, sharp teeth glinting as she trained that look onto him. “Now, about that rain check?”

Nino closed his door just in time for the fox heroine to pin him the wooden surface, her clawed hands smoothing up his thighs to his waist, slipping beneath his t-shirt to turn him into a trembling red-faced mess.

“Yes p-please!”

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

After a week of no akuma’s, he really shouldn’t have been surprised when one showed up at school in the form of an angry janitor seeking justice against the school board. Specifically, their school.

After everyone fled, Nino managed to stay at a safe distance while also keeping an eye on the four heroes. Luckily, after only- he glanced down at his watch- forty-five minutes, the akuma had been dealt with and school was called back into session.

They had ten minutes to sort themselves out and Nino took it upon himself to drag them all to a secluded alley where he handed out the necessities to everyone. Food for the kwami-bros, an emergency makeup kit for Chloe, and some bandages and muscle-rub from the medkit for anyone in need of it.

“Alright guys, we have t-minus eight minutes and twenty seconds to freshen up and get back to class. So, let’s hustle!”

The DJ exclaimed while helping Chloe brush and retie her hair as she applied her makeup as quickly and efficiently as possible. He had two hairclips held between his teeth as he did so, too focused on the blonde’s hair to notice the lovesick looks the other three sent his way.

The four kwami munching on their individual snacks only some feet away shook their heads in bemusement. Their partners were such dorks.

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

“-and that’s why you should totally date all three of us!” Alya exclaimed, hands on her hips and as confident as ever.

Adrien and Marinette stood beside her, clearly nervous but standing strong.

Nino on the other hand felt as if he were dreaming… or about to faint? Probably both from how he swayed the slightest bit, a dazed look taking over his features. Of all the places to ask him out it was after he was already hyped and excited that his favorite album finally came out. He was on his way to get to the store before the crowds came in, only for his three best friends to stop him in the middle of the park and hand him not only said new album on vinyl but-

“Aaaaaand we broke him.”

“Shit!”

Was that Marinette?

Suddenly, petite yet strong arms caught him before he hit the ground.

“Nino! Are you alright?” She asked in a panic, pretty blue eyes staring down at him from above. Wait, above? He shook his head to ward off the dizziness, wondering why everything looked all fuzzy around the edges, before realizing the Mari was dipping him. As if they were dancing and she had taken the lead, that kind of dipping.

“Uhhh…” He blinked, eyes widening in amazement as he snapped out of his stupor.

Marinette, as if suddenly realizing their position, squeaked and turned red. Nino knew he must be matching her with how hot his face felt. Damn him and his thing for stronger women.

With a mental shake, he gave her a nervous smile and murmured a quiet thank you. She had saved him from the hard ground, after all.

Seeming to calm down a bit, she returned the smile and straightened them both.

“Well, that was a beautiful example of a heroine and damsel in distress, eh Adrien?” Nino and Marinette’s heads both snapped in the direction of Alya’s voice, balking at the phone in her hand that was obviously recording the entire scene. Adrien, looking relieved yet also amused, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the mischievous girl.

“Seems like it.”

Nino was thankful he wore his contacts that day, as well as his favorite hooded sweatshirt. Why, you ask? So he could become a literal turtle and hide from the world. He did just that by throwing his hood over his head, as well as his entire face, and making a frustrated (and definitely not a whining) sound.

“Aww, don’t be like that Nino.” A warm hand settled atop his hood covered head, before gripping the fabric and pulling it back down. Adrien’s face came into view and, oh wow he was super close! Noticing this, Nino felt his face heat up all over again, and could tell that his best bro knew just from the way his eyes tailed across his flushed cheeks.

“I can be anyway I want as long as it’s legal and not hurting anybody, bro.” Nino replied, smiling even though he was eyeing the ground as if it was the most interesting thing on the planet.

The model hummed before stepping closer and tipping Nino’s head up with his fingers. Green eyes locked with golden ones for a moment. Instead of feeling awkward, Nino felt comfortable. Sure, he was a little nervous with how close they were but…

Once their lips brushed against one another’s, his hands flew up in surprise to grip onto Adrien’s shirt. He considered pulling away until he felt the other male become more confident in his actions. Thinner lips pressed much more firmly against his own, hands sliding around his waist to pull their bodies together completely. Nino nearly melted at the experience of it all, similar yet completely different to Alya’s ministrations. Hands larger than hers but not any less strong and sure of their place on his body, only staying in one area instead of immediately conquering every inch on his person because this was Adrien; his best and most loyal friend- although the friend part was starting to shift into something more. Sure, he had always had a crush on him, as well as Mari, but he never thought they’d all feel the same.

Yep, he must be dreaming. That’s the only way this could be happening, but he’d be a complete idiot not to enjoy said dream. With a moan he slid his hands up from Adrien’s chest to around his neck and relaxed against him, somewhat deepening the kiss in the process.

The tightening of the arms around him made him shudder, his sole focus on the male before him. They most likely would have continued if it weren’t for the squeal beside them.

Pulling apart in shock, they turned to the currently embarrassed Marinette who had clearly made the noise, if her own hands covering her mouth was anything to go by. Alya, on the other hand, was once again holding up her phone with a victorious grin.

“So we can take that as a definite yes then?”

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

When Nino woke up he noticed it was warm, but not uncomfortably so. He struggled to open his eyes for a few minutes, nearly falling back asleep in the process several times, but was finally able to at least crack an eye open to look at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

In bright green numbers the electric clock flashed 11:00AM. That’s the earliest he’s gotten up in months, considering the fact that his career in the music industry involved a lot of traveling, late nights, parties and random meetings that his agent set up for him.

Sighing, he nuzzled his cheek into one of the many stupidly soft pillows littering the bed and tried to remember what he had to do for the day.

It was Saturday, he was in a large king sized bed (although it seemed bigger), he was alone and-

Wait, if it was Saturday then why was he alone?

With a frown, he racked his groggy brain for answers and after a moment he remembered. He was able to take the next two weeks off before meeting with his new producer in order to finally solidify his presence in the music business. His significant others, who were able to get weekends off depending on the season, mentioned something about a fashion event nearby that they had to attend. With Adrien taking on his father’s business and Marinette beside him as a lead fashion designer, both of them were a force to be reckoned with for sure, and it would be no surprise that they would be attending something so important. Alya was quick to work her way up as an editor to publisher and editor-in-chief of her own websites, magazines, and even channel on tv where she put E! news to shame. So, she would be there to get the latest scoop first hand, considering she wasn’t one to let her own workers have all the fun.

With a sigh he tried not to frown at the thought of his boyfriend and girlfriends being away from him. He was proud of them, and damn it all he would not admit to being the clingy one!

While his thoughts distracted him, Nino didn’t notice the bedroom door opening, nor the slight rustle of expensive sheets behind him. It wasn’t until a warm, toned body slid up against his that he snapped out of his thoughts and gasped, still too tired to react properly.

“Good morning~” Adrien purred into his neck, his hand sliding from the waistband of Nino’s boxerbriefs to his stomach.

With a sigh a relief, Nino relaxed and carefully flipped over to face his boyfriend. “You dork, you scared the heck outta me.” His actions betrayed his irritation as he wrapped his arms around Adrien’s torso and leaned forward to eskimo kiss him.

He nearly grinned when the affection-lover melted against him and tightened his grip around Nino’s waist. Adrien and Marinette were both romantics and went to great extremes to show it. If they loved you then they would make sure you knew it, by nearly any means possible.

“Uh oh, the bed goblin strikes again.”

Pulling back just enough to send Alya a playful glare over Adrien’s shoulder, Nino untangled his hand from his boyfriends torso to flip her off, only to have it grabbed and yanked on. He was stunned to find himself on his back in the middle of the bed, mentally cursing himself for forgetting how strong not only Alya was but his other significant others were as well.

“Really?” He deadpanned, feeling his eyebrow twitch at her growing smirk.

“Really.” She confirmed, pushing his legs up and open to slide in between them.

“Oh wow, I didn’t know we were having a party. I would have brought macaroons.” Marinette smirked as she walked in, untying her ponytail at the same time.

Alya turned to send her girlfriend a grin over her shoulder, “Didn’t you hear? Nino is going to let us do whatever we want to him in order to show how much we’ve missed him while he was away for all those lonely months. He was all alone, with no one to give him love or affection and he is starved! We must fix that at once!”

Nino felt his face heat up, “W-wait- “

“That’s a great idea, Al! We can’t let our boyfriend think he’s unloved and alone, now can we? Right Adrien?” It was Marinette’s turn to send a cheeky grin to their next partner in crime, who sat up with a matching grin and agreed, “Definitely not, my love~”

Suddenly, Nino found himself pinned down by three gorgeous super heroes and tickled mercilessly.

“OH MY GOSH, YOU GUYS ARE SUCH DORKS!”

[talos1guestservices]

Title: I’d Take It All Back Just To Have You

Pairing: Olivia Benson/Alex Cabot

Summary: Thanks to the technological miracle of artiforgs, you can now live virtually forever. Nearly indestructible artificial organs, these wonders of metal and plastic are far more reliable and efficient than the cancer-prone lungs and fallible kidneys you were born with – and Keaton Medical will be delighted to work out an equitable payment plan. But, of course, if you fall delinquent, one of their dedicated professionals will be dispatched to track you down and take their product back.

Until they fall in love with you, of course.

Read on FFN or AO3

The first time Olivia Benson held a heart in her hands, she was 17.  The mass of tissue and metal was warm against her fingers, warmer than she expected it to be, and smooth. She ran her fingertips over the valves and ventricles, traced the aorta down to the right auricle, and stopped at the small barcode and logo there – a black circle with a lightning bolt running through it.

The trainee beside her cleared his throat and Olivia passed the heart on to let him examine the clacking valves of the unit, and she knew then that as immoral and downright disgusting this job is there is nothing she would rather do.

On the morning of her 18th birthday, Olivia’s boss went down to the Records Department where she had spent the last year sorting files and sent her up to Accounts Receivable on the third floor of Keaton Medical’s brick and mortar building in the heart of downtown Manhattan. Truth be told, Olivia had never been above the basement of the building, not even when she had first applied to work there. There was a separate entrance in the rear of the building that led directly into Records and Olivia had never felt the need to travel above that.

A security guard directed her through the maze of cubicles and copiers and shredders to a room at the back. The door was didn’t have a handle, at least not one that Olivia could see, but it did have fingerprint and retina scanners.

“Fingerprints first,” the security guard said, gesturing to the pad beside the door, “then your eye. If they called you up here, it’s ready for you.”

Olivia nodded, swallowing hard. She placed her hand on the scanner and the affirmative beep came faster than she expected it to. The she looked into the retina scanner and waited while it affirmed her identity, which only took a few seconds but felt like a lifetime to Olivia.

The inside of the Repossession Unit was underwhelming, to say the least. An island in the center of the room with two id badge and fingerprint scanners on either side and a printer/scanner in the center of it, a shredder built into the island, four metal folding chairs against the wall.

There was no one else in the room. Olivia picked the chair closest to the door and sunk into it; if there was anything she learned from working at Keaton Medical for the past year it was to keep her hands off anything she wasn’t expressly told to touch – luckily she hadn’t been the one to learn that lesson the hard way, though she suspected Bryan Cassidy didn’t feel so lucky after one of the security guards broke his hand.

The door slid open and a man probably eight years older than Olivia walked in. He was tall and muscular and wearing a navy-blue t-shirt with several small bloodstains on it. There was blood on his chin and he was grinning.

“Sorry I’m late,” the man said, scanning his id card and fingerprints. “My last appointment ran late.” He set a pink sheet of paper in the scanner and leaned back against the island while the scanner did its thing. “Are you Olivia Benson?” – Olivia nodded – “I’m Elliot Stabler. Cragen said you’re my new partner.”

“So I’m being promoted then?” Olivia asked. “I was just told to wait here.”

Elliot shrugged – “Looks like it” – and turned around to see what pink slip the printer gave him. He read the information on the sheet and then handed it over to Olivia. “We gotta stop off at Supply on our way out, get you suited up. Keep up or get out now.”

Olivia followed Elliot out of the room, easily matching his long stride. She was finally able to take a minute to read the pink slip in her hand once they were in the elevator. She let out a low whistle. “Says this guy lives around here,” she said. “Are they sure this is right?”

“Don’t question the intel,” Elliot said. “Accounts Receivable knows what they’re doing.”

“It’s a pricey area is all,” Olivia said. “I'm just making sure we didn’t miss a payment in the mail.”

“Look,” Elliot sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s your first day in Repo, I get it, but they do their jobs and we do our jobs and they pay us nicely to keep our questions to ourselves. I got five kids, Benson, I need this job, so just don’t question it. If they say he didn’t pay, then he didn’t pay.”

The Supply Depository was up on the sixth floor of the Keaton Medical building. The elevator door slid open to reveal two reception desks staffed by two armed guards each and rows upon rows of metal shelving stacked with weapons and tools and uniforms. Olivia handed her id card over to one of the guards and he led her down through the rows of supplies. She was assigned a black duffel bag, three black t-shirts, three pairs of black pants, a pair of boots, a jacket, a Taser, a set of scalpels, a bone saw, a rib spreader, and an assortment of other tools and gear.

Once they were finished and Olivia was changed into her new uniform, she followed Elliot down to his car and they headed on over to Number One Central Park South Unit 2011 – the Penthouse.

The Plaza Hotel, twenty stories tall, and their client, Henry Richard Smith, lived on the top floor.

“The first step to any repo job,” Elliot said, “is to map out the area. You’ve got to know where the client is, and you’ve got to know what else is nearby. How big is the house/office/hut in which he’s staying? Any other people inside? Are they on the phone? Are they armed? Are they on the phone with someone who is armed? That sort of thing.” He pulled his tablet out of his duffel bag and opened up a set of plans. He handed the tablet to Olivia. “These are the building plans: ducts, units, etcetera. This last page is the plan for Smith’s unit. Study these, figure out a way to take our client.”

And so Olivia did.

For three days they sat in front of the Plaza, waiting and watching, memorizing their client’s comings and goings.

And then Olivia said, “We just walk right in the front door.”

Elliot grinned. “We walk right in the front door.”

So that’s what they did.

The doorman didn’t move to stop Olivia and Elliot when they strolled into the building in their Keaton Medical uniforms at noon on the fourth day of their stakeout. He didn’t move to stop them when they boarded the elevator bound for the 20th floor. And he definitely didn’t move to stop them when they bypassed Henry Richard Smith’s security and walked right in his front door.

Not that he would be expected to – most buildings had a policy of allowing the bio-repo men to do their jobs. It was just easier on everyone.

The door opened into a small foyer with a closet and door to a powder room to the left and a stairwell to the right, and the foyer opened into the living room. High end furniture, abstract art, floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over Central Park. Olivia let out a low whistle.

Elliot dropped his bag on the middle cushion of the couch and settled down beside it, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. “Might as well get comfortable, Benson,” he said. “We’re still a couple hours out.”

Olivia nodded absently, barely listening to what he was saying. She wandered around the living room looking over the pictures on the walls. The photographs told the story – they usually do. She could check out everything she needed to know on the sheet – date of birth, marital status, kids, etc. – but the pictures gave the most complete profile. What a person chooses to frame says a lot about them.

There was Smith – middle-age, hair receding, great teeth – next to a woman half his age, both in scuba gear down in Fiji. Another of the two of them on a ski slope somewhere in the Alps. Mixed throughout, photos of Smith and a little girl, aging randomly. In one picture, she’s in pigtails and they’re at the circus; in another she’s dealing with her first bout of acne and the look in her eyes says hurry up and take the picture already. These, combined with the obvious bachelor pad, made it clear: A divorcé with disposable income, choosing to spend his newfound single lifestyle traveling the world and making a general fool of himself with women way too young for him.

After she looked at all the pictures in the living room, Olivia decided to give herself a tour of the rest of the apartment. Off the living room was a kitchen, which was barely large enough to stand in comfortably, but had all brand new, high-tech, unused appliances. The fridge was mostly empty, save for some Chinese take-out and a few bottles of water, and the cabinets had mostly cans of soup and boxes of cereal. Beside the kitchen was the washer/dryer closet, and across from that was a bedroom with an attached bathroom. From there, Olivia went upstairs where there was a bathroom in the hall, another bedroom with an attached bathroom, and the master bedroom with yet another attached bathroom.

How could one person need so many bathrooms?

“Benson,” Elliot yelled up the stairs, “it’s time.”

Olivia hurried down the stairs, taking two at a time. She stood beside the door where Elliot directed her to so she would be concealed when it opened but blocking it after it closed, while he took his place just beside the living room entrance. Olivia switched the lights off just as the sound of inebriated laughter floated through the door.

They came in half undressed. His shirt unbuttoned, her skirt hiked to the waist. Hands roaming everywhere. They stumbled down the hall and into the living room, landing on the couch.

Just before they started their business, Olivia flicked on the lights and Elliot stepped out into the middle of the room. “Hello, Henry,” Elliot said, and the girl jumped so badly she fell on the floor. Henry scrambled to cover himself with any clothing he could get his hands on, leaving his companion to fend for herself.

“Now that’s not very chivalrous, Henry,” Olivia said, picking up some of the clothes and handing them to the girl. She smiled gratefully and moved to cover herself.

Elliot cocked his head toward the door. “You’re free to go, miss,” he said. “You won’t want to see this.” The girl scrambled to her feet and hurried, half-dressed, out of the apartment. Smart girl. “Mr. Smith, we’re from the Credit Union.”

“Fuck. Holy fuck–” Smith stammered, getting to his feet. He grabbed up his pants and rummaged through his pockets, presumably looking for his wallet. “Wait, I can pay.”

“Sorry,” Elliot said. “That’s not our department.” He raised his Taser and took steady aim. “I’m legally bound to ask you if you’d like an ambulance on standby, though you will be unable to secure another artiforg from Keaton Medical in replacement.”

“Wait,” he said again, “don’t–”

That was as far as he got before Elliot’s Taser darts slammed into his chest and released their electricity. He went down twitching, and Elliot stayed clear until he was down for the count.

Elliot nodded and set his Taser down on the coffee table. “Gimme a hand with this?” he said, gesturing toward the couch. He grabbed one edge and Olivia grabbed the other and they moved it back several feet from where Smith was lying motionless on the floor.

It didn’t take long for Elliot to pull out the extractors and scalpels he needed for the job, and he had barely made the first incision when Olivia felt the roiling in her stomach. She swallowed hard and tried to will the feeling away.

“The first one is the worst,” Elliot said, pushing his hand into the viscera of Smith’s abdomen.

The sound was unlike anything Olivia has ever heard before – wet and unnatural – and she jumped to her feet and rushed into the bathroom. She heaved into the toilet for just a minute before standing and staring at herself in the mirror. She needed to get herself together. She signed up for this job. This was her choice. She cupped her hands under the running water and rinsed out her mouth and then splashed some cold water on her face. When she was finished, she rejoined Elliot in the living room.

Knelt down beside Elliot, Olivia watched as he carefully extracted Henry Richard Smith’s artificial liver and then dropped it into her gloved hands. “We’re cutting it close,” he said, placing a surgical covering over Smith’s abdomen. He stood and peeled the gloves off his hands. “The goal is to get it done before the effects of the Taser wear off. Blood is hell on a good shirt. Clean that up and let’s get out of here. I’m gonna call an ambulance.”

Olivia dropped the Keaton LS-400 liver they came for into the stainless-steel sink in the kitchen. The high-pressure faucet nozzle did just the trick washing off the blood and attached tissue, and before long the metallic organ was gleaming in the glow from the overhead lights.

When Olivia entered the living room, Elliot was filling out a yellow receipt. He signed it in triplicate and left a copy on Smith’s body. If his next of kin has any issues with the repo or the aftermath, there were numbers they could call. No one ever did, but they were available.

Olivia was silent on their ride back to the Keaton Medical building and all through the artiforg return process and while Elliot closed up their job in the Repo office.

“You get used to it,” Elliot said, picking up his gear to head home for the day. “The jobs start getting easier after the first one. Soon enough you’ll be able to do it without a problem.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Olivia asked.

Elliot sighed. “Then you’re one of the lucky ones.”

Much to her dismay, Olivia learned quickly that Elliot was right – it did become easier to get the job done. It wasn’t that she developed a disregard for human life, she just grew a thicker skin and learned to separate her feelings from her work. There were still cases that got to her, of course, like the first time they had to take a set of lungs from a child and the woman who asked to stay awake as they took her heart and Olivia held her hand as she died, but she never let herself break, never let herself show any kind of emotion.

Before she knew it, her probationary year was over, and she was able to pick up her own cases. After that, time started to blur together. She regularly pulled doubles, occasionally pulled triples. She typically cleared three cases a night, some nights she cleared up to five. She was on top of the world.

And then it was all ripped away.

[hopeishappinessff]

Chapter 36

I sat in the center of the booth at Kona Grill surrounded by family and friends with an artificial smile that I struggled to maintain throughout the entire evening. I wasn’t nearly in the mood to be the center of attention and luckily, everyone seemed to have drifted off into separate conversations leaving me to mope in peace. Chris attempted to spark conversation, but he was the absolute last person I wanted to speak to and I’m sure my demeanor showed it. With the spectacle he’d gotten me caught up in earlier in my driveway, I was determined to brush him off for the duration of dinner. Eventually, he took the hint and quickly diverted his attention to Rashad and Dontay’s conversation. I inconspicuously rolled my eyes the moment he turned around and of course, caught the curious eye of Destani.

“What’s wrong?” She mouthed from the other side of the table. With a quick glance at Chris, I shook my head and pointed discreetly toward the restrooms, motioning for her to follow me there. “Where are you two going?” My aunt asked the moment we both stood from the table. “To the restroom… we’ll be right back.” I assured her.

I barely had time to cross the threshold into the restroom before her interrogation began “What’s wrong girl? You are not supposed to be looking this damn depressed on your birthday. Who did something because you know I won’t hesitate to kick they ass.” I snickered at the serious expression on her face and shook my head with a sigh “Dez… I’m stuck.” “What are you talking about? Stuck on what?” She asked, brows twisted with confusion. “Like I’m torn… between Trey and Chris.” “Oh Lord bae… what happened?” Before I knew it, I was spilling everything that’d happened earlier in the day to her. From the moment Chris pulled up to my house to the moment I read Trey’s card and everything that it said. It wasn’t until I stopped rambling to take a breath that I realized I could hardly inhale through my nose… I was crying for the second time today.

“Aw, love… it’s alright,” Destani spoke gently as she hugged me close and swept a hand over the curls atop my head, “I knew something like this was bound to happen. You got two different guys falling for you girl… you should be happy.” I drew my head back from her shoulder and hiccupped over my own hitched breath “Wh… why would I be… be happy Dez? I ca… I can’t be happy like this.” “Yes you can Sy… if you got both of these niggas noses wide open for you, do you know what that means?” I shook my head and stared at her as she pushed me back and gripped onto my shoulders to stare directly into my moist eyes, “This means you are an amazing girl! It’s not your fault that Trey approached you that night at the movie theater and fell for you. It’s certainly not your fault that you met Chris ten years ago and he’s been down for you ever since. You can’t change either one of those facts, but you can make the decision of what you want for you. This isn’t about Chris or Trey, it’s about you. So don’t let either of their actions or words break you… you just block that all out and decide who and what is right for Sy’Diyah.” I nodded as I took in every word she said and considered the choice that I knew I’d soon have to make...

--

After cleaning up my face and making myself look as presentable as possible, we exited the restroom and headed back to the table. The moment I slid back into place in the booth, several of the waiters and waitress’s flocked to the table with our waiter leading the way with a red velvet cupcake and bowl of ice cream in his hands. He presented me with the decadent treats and soon they all joined in on a loud rendition of the birthday song before finishing up with a round of applause and dispersing back to their sections of the restaurant.

“Aye Sy, I know you probably wondering how you gonna eat all that by yourself,” Rashad muttered as he gazed at the thick slice of cake, “Let me get like a little piece.” I laughed at his eagerness and nodded which seemed to be all the indication he needed to dive in. He, along with Dontay and Desean, who’d rushed from Tootie’s lap at the far end of the table, bombarded the sweet treat and I made sure to move out of the way so I wouldn’t get trampled. “Uncle C… you want some?” DeSean blurted.

Chris raised his gaze from his phone and peered at Desean then glanced from the ice cream to me “Nah lil man, I’m good.” I quickly shifted my gaze to my twiddling fingers and wondered exactly what was on his mind. I wondered if he felt even an ounce of remorse for what he’d done earlier. Did he even care at all about the awkward situation he helped to throw me head first into? Deciding not to dwell on the thought any longer, I turned my attention to the ensuing battle between the boys to see who could finish off my birthday treat quicker.

By the time we exited the restaurant, I could barely control my laugher as I watched Dontay and Rashad stumble out toward the parking lot. They’d finished off the ice cream so quick, they both managed to end up with brain freeze. Desean, who unfortunately suffered the same consequences, had managed to talk Chris into scooping him up and carrying him out to the parking lot while his mother stayed hot on their trail steadily scolding her son.

“Tootie leave that boy alone.” Ms. Joyce said as she walked along behind her daughter along with my aunt and Ms. Cynthia. “Ma, did you see all that ice cream he ate? He knows better than that.” Tootie glanced back at her mother before looking back at Desean, who’d wrapped his tiny arms around his uncle’s neck and shut his eyes as though he were asleep. “Yes I saw how much he ate and yes he should have known better, but he did it so let the result of his actions be his punishment. I used to tell your brother the same thing, you wanna do something that’s only gonna hurt you, then go right ahead… be my guest. It’ll hurt you more than it’ll hurt me. Then I'll hurt you when you feel better!” She spoke wisely and honestly, causing us all to laugh. I could recall several occasions when we were younger when Chris would hurt himself and she’d simply check to be sure he wasn’t too badly injured, then walk away as though it’d never even occurred. Her motto was always ‘I told your little hard-headed ass not to do that.’

Chris mumbled incoherently and Ms. Joyce swiftly reached out and popped him on the butt as he walked ahead of her, prompting everyone to cackle louder and Chris to frown "Dang ma, what I do?" Once we finally reached parking lot, we all bid our adieus and climbed into our separate vehicles. I climbed into the passenger seat of my aunt’s car and Destani got into the back after letting her mom know that she would be spending the night at my house. We chatted and joked all the way to the house and once we finally arrived, I was completely winded from laughing so hard at my aunt and Destani.

My aunt placed the car in park after pulling into the driveway and I wiped away a few stray tears as a result of all my laughter. “So, did you have a good birthday Sy?” My aunt asked after we’d all settled down. I nodded and stood on the porch beside Destani, waiting patiently as she unlocked the front door “Yes ma’am, I did… and I really appreciate all the gifts and the dinner.” Destani gazed at me and contorted her face into a fake weep “Ohhhhh Sy… I’m so glad you loved everything. I was so worried that you wouldn’t!” “Yes, like Destani said,” My aunt laughed, “I’m glad you liked everything… you deserved all of it.” She smiled warmly before turning and entering the house.

Destani and I headed upstairs after saying goodnight to my aunt, who ventured into her room to prepare for a night shift at the hospital. “Damn, I'm so tired and my feet hurt like hell.” Destani exclaimed as she plopped down on my bed and kicked her heels off. “Well, nobody told you to wear heels Dez.” I said, walking over to my dresser to retrieve my pajamas. “Shut up, I was tryna look cute for the occasion thank you very much. Let me get something to sleep in.” I plucked a spare tank and shorts pajama set for her and a matching set for me. She exited my room and headed down to the guest restroom to change, while I made my way into my own restroom to freshen up and slip on my pajama set.

I finished up a short while later and exited the bathroom after hearing the sound of a light knock on my bedroom door. Assuming it was Destani, I walked over to my closet to toss my clothes in the hamper without even bothering to let her in. “Come in.” I yelled. Turning to exit the closet, I parted my lips to speak and was immediately rendered speechless the moment I laid eyes on Chris. “Hey.” He muttered quietly as he stood there almost bashfully with his hands tucked into his pants pockets. “Hey.” I responded just as hushed as he.

Awkward was an understatement for how I felt standing before him. We both stared down at the floor like two timid children and I wanted nothing more than to turn around and jet back into the closet. The moment he opened his mouth to speak, the bedroom door flew open and in barged Destani “Sy, Aunt Maddie told me…” Her sentence quickly trailed off once she spotted Chris and they both locked eyes before she diverted her gaze to me and cleared her throat “Um… Aunt Maddie told me to tell you to lock up and she’ll see you in the morning.”

With a quick nod, I instantly returned my gaze to the floor… the tension in room was incredibly excruciating and nearly thick enough to suffocate in. “Well, I’m gonna head to bed now,” She spoke in a hushed tone as she cut her eyes over at Chris and smirked, “I guess I’ll see ya’ll in the morning.” His face remained blank as we both watched her exit the room, shutting the door quietly behind herself. Chris cleared his throat and with a sigh, he turned his gaze to me “So uh… how was your birthday?”

Finally gaining enough courage to even look in his direction, I glared at him as I moved toward my bed and pulled the blankets back in preparation to climb in “It was good… very good actually.” “Good.” He nodded and scratched at the back of his neck, evidently sensing every bit of the awkward tension that’d cascaded over the room. “Is that what you came here for?” I asked as I sat down at the edge of my bed. “No, um… nah that’s not what I came here for,” He cleared his throat once more and moistened his lips as he peered around my room, “Earlier… I wanted to talk about what happened earlier.” “What about what happened earlier?” I asked, peeping over at him curiously.

“Well, I mean I wanted to apologize.” “Okay…” The room grew silent, once again, and I discreetly rolled my eyes at the thought of just how annoying this entire scenario was. “That’s it?” He said, sounding faintly astonished. “Yes Chris, that’s it. What else do you expect me to say?” He blinked slowly and parted his lips as if he wanted to speak, only to close them a few seconds later and raise his brows with shock “Well I mean… I just thought you’d be upset.”

“How could I be upset? You kissed me, I kissed you back, and I didn’t make an effort to stop you.” I explained, though I knew I was completely full of anger and rage the moment the incident occurred earlier, “It happened and it’s over now. If I could go back and stop the kiss from happening I would, but I can’t so why sit here and dwell on it?” The look on his face was utterly priceless at that exact moment... his mouth hung open and his expression was that of complete surprise “You regret kissing me?” “Yes, I do,” I said without hesitation, “How would you feel if I forced you to kiss me in front of Daynah?” “What?” The astonishment on his face was instantly replaced by a deep scowl as he took a step toward me, “What the hell does she have to do with anything?”

“Nothing,” I rolled my eyes up toward the ceiling and shook my head, “Look, all I’m saying is, me kissing you in front of Trey wasn’t right and now I’m feeling like crap about it.” “Wait… are you serious right now?” He asked, glaring at me through squinted eyes. I stared right back at him and scoffed as I finally rose from my bed and walked around to stand directly in front of him with crossed arms “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am very serious.” His jaw was clinched tight and without warrant, he turned and plopped down on the edge of my bed “You bullshitting me right now, I know you are. How can you sit here, in my face, and blatantly tell me that you regret kissing me? What the fuck is up with you Hope?”

I sighed and tossed my hands up in the air “Nothing Chris, gosh. Is it so bad for me to regret a simple kiss?” “Yes it’s fucking bad… especially with all the other times I've kissed you and you’ve never once complained. I kiss you one time in front of that bitch ass nigga and now you freaking the fuck out?” “Shut up Chris!” I exclaimed, quickly becoming overwhelmed by his extremely accurate confrontation. I knew every harsh word flooding from his mouth was completely true, but hearing it out loud especially from him was more than I could bear. He was backing me into a corner by calling me out on my recent rapture with both him and Trey and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. “I don’t even claim you and you don’t claim me… we’re not exclusive,” I barked, “So maybe I do like him. Maybe I never did intend for him to watch me make out with another guy right in his face. Why should it matter to you?”

“Because Hope,” He started, pausing abruptly with a sigh then rolling his head back and staring up at the ceiling, “You know what, fuck it. I don’t even know why I came over here… I shoulda known this wasn’t gonna make shit better.” He stood up suddenly and stepped around me then began to walk toward my door. Swiftly, I whipped around and glowered at him “Where are you going?” He froze in his stride and slowly turned to face me “I’m leaving Sy’Diyah. I said what I had to say to you so now… I’m leaving.”

Rather than resuming his determined trek to the door as I assumed he would, he altered his path back to me and leaned in close so his lips were mere centimeters from my left ear “I’m leaving right now because I wanna kiss you so bad, but I can’t do that because I don’t claim you… right?” With that he pressed his lips just barely against my ear, turned swiftly, and departed from my room… leaving me there, dumbfounded and speechless.

[instakpop]

Take my hand - Bambam ending

@ohmyjaebum

Prologue

Previously: “Y/N!” I looked up to see seven hands reaching toward me. I had to think fast. Who should I choose?

Genre: smut

My heart was pounding, but only one of the boys actually calmed me down and made me think I was okay. I reached for Bambam and he pulled me up. He ran with me until we left the house. We slowed down and checked to make sure everyone was out.

“Okay. Good-” JB was cut off by the horrid scream. Bambam wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into him.

"Don't worry, girl. I've got you." He said with a sweet smile. I nodded and we got into the car, one by one. I sat right between Bambam and Mark in the last row of seats. JB and Youngjae stayed up front leaving the other three in the middle row. The street lights illuminated the inside of the car and faded back to black over and over.

Mark fell asleep immediately and everyone else was just listening to the radio. I had an urge to at least touch Bambam's hand to know for sure if the spark I felt was real. I took a leap of faith and opened my fingers, revealing my palm and waited. After a few seconds, I realized how dumb it was to 'signal' him into holding hands with me so I just relaxed. Bambam looked down at my hand and grabbed it before I closed off again. I turned to him, and he stared straight back at me.

My arm was covered in goosebumps, my heart beat fast, I was completely in a trance. Another streetlight passed, lighting up the side of his face. He looked as amazed as I was. His eyes fell shut and he started to lean. I smiled softly and felt his lips crash into mine. Just as full and soft as I imagined. I tilted my head to the side and deepened the kiss. We escaped reality in that one moment. Just the two of us.

Bambam broke away and looked at me with desire in his eyes. Luckily no one caught us in our kiss, so we didn't get hazed. JB dropped off Youngjae first and drove my home next. I kept my grip on Bambam's hand when we pulled up to my apartment building.

JB parked the car and opened the door, letting Jackson and Yugyeom out so he could move their seats out of the way. Bambam got out and held my hand to help me out of the back.

"Are you alright, Y/n?" Jackson asked. Bambam rubbed my back, pretending to comfort me from the “shock” of the haunted house. I quickly shook my head and tried to look as shaken as possible. Thankfully, my acting skills were good enough to fool JB and Jackson. The two gave me a hug and Bambam rubbed my back.

"Could um- Could you stay with me, Bam? Just for tonight?" I asked. He nodded and looked toward JB for permission, but there was no way he could say no to a damsel in distress.

"Take care of her, Bambam. No funny business. I mean it." Jackson warned. I turned to walk toward my apartment, biting my lip. I could still feel the way he kissed me. His full lips felt so good on mine!

I unlocked the door and invited him in. We waited a few seconds after closing the door to make sure JB drove away. Bambam turned to me and I wasted no time. I pulled him toward me and we met in the middle with a passionate kiss. His hands slid down my back, holding me as close as he could. 

My mind got lost in the moment.  His hands slid under my top, lifting it to expose the skin on my back as the goosebumps started to form.

"Bam~" I whispered onto his lips. I could feel his smirk as we kissed. My whole body melted in his hands. His touch made the room disappear into nothing at all. His hand started to rise as he lifted my top to the middle of my back.

"Maybe you should just take it off," I said, teasing him. He took both hands and slipped the material off. He stared down at my bra, smiling to himself.His head lowered at a dangerously slow pace. I gasped when his lips touched my chest with a kiss. When he pulled back I reached for the hem of his shirt and lifted it, showing his abs. He just smirked and took it off completely.

His hands came back to hold my waist and he kissed me again. I thought I'd tease him again and pushed my hip bone against his hard member. He let a small moan vibrate on our lips.

"Follow me," I whispered as I backed away, holding his hands in mine. I lead him to my room and closed the door behind us. I reached behind me to unclasp my bra, but he stopped me.

"I've got it." He said. Bambam came behind me and undid the hooks with a single movement. He lightly brushed the straps off my shoulders before cupping my breasts, massaging them. My head fell back onto his shoulder. His lips trailed down my neck, sucking and nibbling on the skin.

"Hmm. I love your tits. The perfect size for my hands." He said between kisses. I felt my center start to get soaked. I nearly moaned when his hands snuck down my torso toward where I needed him most. He unbuttoned my jeans before pushing them off my hips. His fingers gripped my panties and slid them down my legs. I stepped out of the clothes, completely naked and turned to face him.

His hands gripped my butt, squeezing tightly as he paced open-mouthed kisses across my chest. I needed him so badly, and he knew it. He turned us around and lifted me onto the bed.

"I've waited so long for this~," I said in my daze. His scent put me into a deep trance. I raised my head for another heated his, his tongue exploring my mouth. I held the back of his neck and pulled him in closer. The only thing I wanted most in the world was for him to get rid of his clothes! I tugged at his pants, hoping he'd get the message since my lips were preoccupied.

He broke away from me and slowly stripped down to nothing.I smiled at him as he crawled on top of me, his erection sprouting a tiny glisten of pre-cum. I reached across my bed and pulled out a spare condom, unwrapping it. I took his hard member into my hand, stroking it a few times, listening to his soft sighs before swiping the little bit of cum off his reddened tip. I rolled the condom on quickly and he lined himself up at my entrance.

He stared into my eyes and rubbed his tip against my folds, making me feel the small amount of pleasure until he held my leg up and slid into me with ease. I called out his name

"Bam!" His size was just big enough to stretch me out and cause some friction. I hooked my leg over his shoulder as he thrust in and out at just the right pace. His thick lips kissed my breasts and up my neck before attacking my mouth. My leg fell to his waist, locking in place. I moaned against his tongue, feeling the passion in his touch.

I lowered my hands and rubbed my clit, giving myself a little extra release. Bambam quickly caught on and turned us over. I played out on my stomach, my hips slightly raised. Bambam replaced my hand with his and started pounding into me while vigorously rubbing my bundle of nerves. I clenched my fists in the sheets. It was all too much.

Bambam whispered dirty little secrets in my ear, pushing me closer to my climax. His firm torso pressed to my back while his smooth stroke kept the friction going. His moans got louder, I started to feel a tingle in my palms as he whispered a simple "I'm close."

"I am too! Oh~ Don't stop!" I got up on my shaky arms and pushed back, matching his rhythm. Our skin slapped together, I clenched my walls around him and tried to wait until he climaxed, but I couldn't wait anymore.

"Bambam!" I screamed as my orgasm completely rushed through my veins. I collapsed forward and felt his hard, fast movements fall out of rhythm into a frantic need for more. His fingers still worked my clit. All that time; becoming friends first, getting to know his likes and dislikes, falling in love with him. It all paid off in that moment. Those few seconds of intensity were all I needed to know that Bambam was the absolute one.

His thrusts slowed, his cock softened deep inside of me and I relaxed onto the bed, trying to catch my breath. Bambam pulled out and rolled off of my back before taking off the condom and throwing it away. He pulled the covers over us and pulled me in close. We sat up in bed and I rested my head on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you came out with us tonight." He said with a small smile. "Not just because of this, but because I feel confirmed in my feelings for you. I love you Y/n. You see me for me, not just anyone can see the real me." He looked down at me while I met his stare. I pressed a kiss to his lips and smiled at him.

"I love you too, Bambam. I finally know that now."

THE END

[technicallymilkshakes]

The Choices We Make (Part 2)

Member: Park Chanyeol Word Count: 1842

Part 1 || Part 2

Up to you.

 Yes, perhaps it was up to you, but only in the way the sky or the stars were. A celestial net flung over your head to trap you into reaching for something untouchable. The only way to get beyond it was to keep your head down.

 You looked down at the phone cradled in your lap.

 [3:50 AM] Understood.

 How annoying. It took just one word to succumb to Park Chanyeol.

  You stared up into the shiftless dark, then rolled over and closed your eyes. There wasn’t much of a difference aside from the random sparks of color that you could see more vividly like this. Or maybe you just imagined them to be more vivid. Yes, you were certain that was it. Now that you were concentrating, everything just looked black. But then a smidgeon of something flickered at the edge of your closed-eye eyesight until the spots burst back in fireworks of color.

 Even after opening your eyes to escape the haunt of your imagination, color continued to capture your gaze. The digital green of the microwave clock loomed luridly in the distance as the minutes rearranged themselves from 5:51 into 5:52.  

 Although you could still feel exhaustion thrumming through your body like a minor chord, you swung your legs up and over the side of the bed. There would be no rest now. You had planned an efficient two-hour nap, but listless thoughts had squirreled it away into hidey spots that you would never be able to find again.

 You stared mournfully at the alarm on your phone for 6 AM and disabled it. Moping about it now would be an exercise in futility. You set your phone down, scooted onto the floor, and got out your laptop and USB stick.

 Over the course of your career, you had learned to distinguish between what academia recommended for you in your profession and what actually worked for you. You liked to hold onto articles until the very end, by which point you were so sick of working on them that your deadline came nearly as a relief. But as your word processor finished loading and your document appeared, you had to resist the urge to close your laptop right then and there and miss your deadline for the first time in your life.

 Thank goodness you were a professional.

 Jaw clenched, you purposefully scrolled past the screenshot of a bedraggled, broken-heart-sweater wearing hooligan who had so suddenly made your life more difficult than it needed to be at 6 in the morning.  

 With an editor’s unforgiving eye, you went through your article and cut with surgical precision any mention of quick-to-conclusion idols. The gaps that resulted you carefully stitched together, only a thin scar remaining visible to those who knew how to read between the lines.

 To complete the rest of the review, you pulled up your notes and retrieved a couple episodes of the drama from your USB, flicking to hastily written times you had jotted down alongside brief memory joggers. From this, you constructed your closing argument, methodically crossing off each bullet point from your notes as you went.

 Now you fell into what you referred to as “polishing” the article. Fingers lifting off the keyboard, you read for content and double-checked your numbers. Satisfied everything checked out, you moved onto formatting, a mindless run of attaching links and organizing fonts that was quickly over. From there, you went back and read the entire thing aloud to yourself thrice, assuring that the last two read-throughs were typo free.

 Leaning back, your eyes flicked to the clock on the computer’s toolbar and expelled a breath. 7:22. Not bad. Now for the last thing.  

 You scrolled back up. Back up to that brown haired, pensive face that you were too accustomed to seeing with a smile. You scowled back at it. Because you were faced with a dilemma. Multiple ones, really, but the less you could think about, the better. Would this image violate the terms that Chanyeol had set for you? At this point, the image only served as clickbait. You acknowledged this along with the cold, slimy shudder that crawled its way vertebra by vertebra down your spine and hoped you’d never have to acknowledge such a thing again. You could change the image, restore the rose-tinted view of yourself that would last you until your next deadline. Or you could keep this one and maybe eek a little more traffic out of it.

 You stared blankly at your screen without resolution until you snapped to and looked at the clock. 7:41. Your heart stopped its wild freefall. You were sure that you fell asleep for a moment there. Thank goodness you woke up in time.

 And that ultimately decided you. You sent the article off to your editor before you 1) questioned yourself any further or 2) fell asleep again. Besides, this wasn’t breaking any rules. He said you had to notify him if it was about him. And it wasn’t. You had meticulously gone through the article to make sure it wasn’t. It was just a review about a drama in which Park Chanyeol happened to appear for a few episodes. No need to justify it to yourself.

 You heaved a relieved sigh and slumped sideways onto the ground. It was dusty. You hadn’t cleaned your flat in a few weeks. You should probably do that. Make your space livable again. Do some laundry, clean some dishes. Maybe go grocery shopping. Like a normal person. Or an adult. Two very different things, you thought to yourself and snorted. But the floor was surprisingly comfortable. You stretched, laying a hand on the bare skin of your stomach, and determined to do it all later.

  Later, as it turned out, happened to be after lunch. You could only force your body to nap for a few hours before a stiff lower back woke you up. You hobbled together some lunch, a meager little affair of rice and Spam, and then cleaned out your refrigerator. There wasn’t much that needed cleaning. A few vegetables far past their prime. The questionable contents of a couple of containers. You scrubbed down the shelves and it looked practically good as new.

 You eyed the dishes in the sink with a little more trepidation. You took it as a personal challenge to use the least amount of cutlery and plates possible per meal, so what awaited you in the sink was the culmination of at least a month’s work. In a bid to appeal to both procrastination and laziness, you decided to leave the plates to soak and come back to it later.

 In the meanwhile, you cleaned the countertops, sorted your trash and recycling, picked up your clothes, and swept and mopped. Luckily, only so much space existed in your small studio apartment and you finished while the sun was still high. A pile of clean clothes still lay on your bed, while your dirty ones waited on top of your washing machine. Your laptop and its chaotic company of work stuff lay spread out same as always on the small floor table that doubled as a dining surface. Although maybe not organized, your apartment was at least passably clean.  

 After a quick shower, you slipped into some jeans and a comfortable sweater, then jogged out to the grocery store, disposing of your trash along the way. You had decided to forego the car today. The sight of it would make you too upset.

 The grocery store could be easily overwhelming for you with its press of bodies and colors and delicious things to eat. Tackling it with a list made it more bearable. Ingredients for a simple meal. Maybe doenjang-jjigae. Some ramen. As you pulled items into the cart, you deleted the corresponding line from your phone. A notification appeared on your phone just as you were scrolling to see if you had written down shampoo and conditioner or just shampoo and the message opened before you could register what it was or who sent it.

 [3:15 PM] [Drama Review] Missing…  [3:15 PM] cute [3:16 PM] I especially liked the part where u talked about me w/o mentioning my name [3:16 PM] could’ve used a better pic tho :/ [3:17 PM] overall I’d give it a 6/10

 You halted in the middle of the aisle but couldn’t stop yourself from watching the second dawning of your demise.

 [3:19 PM] btw I got an estimate today [3:21 PM] fyi the headlight assembly alone costs about 1mil won [3:22 PM] not sure tho [3:22 PM] I might want an upgrade~

 Your fingers tightened around your phone and you had to resist the irrational urge to throw it down. It would just be another thing you couldn’t afford right now.

 Managing a deep, calming breath, you slid your phone into your pocket. You would just be playing into his hands if you responded right now. You grabbed a bottle of shampoo and made your way around an elderly couple, who were passively griping about how they needed something but you were in their way, to return a few items back to the shelves.

  You regretted not bringing your car. Although you bought less than you had intended to, it was no walk in the park hauling multiple bags of groceries up to your flat.

 By 4, you were back at your apartment, putting away your groceries. Then you rolled up your sleeves for Round 2. You wanted to be so tired by the end of this that the most rise Chanyeol might get out of you was a sigh. So you did a load of laundry, tackled the dishes in the sink, cleaned the bathroom, put away your clean clothes, and finally, made your bed.

 It couldn’t be put off any longer, however. You opened your messages and stared at them for another dismal moment, and then composed your response.

 [6:38 PM] How do you expect me to pay for upgrades when I can barely afford the base price?

 His text came two minutes later. He must be glued to his phone, you thought derisively.

 [6:40 PM] should’ve thought of that before u went crazy sasaeng mode and crashed into my car [6:41 PM] but [6:44 PM] if youre good

 You waited for the next message. Your phone dimmed and then went black from inactivity. An odd jitteriness overcame you and you had to roll onto your mattress and press your face into your pillow to drown it out. It wasn’t until you were on the cusp of a day dream luring you into a sleeping one that the slight vibration of a message came. Groggy fingers fumbled for the device and brought it up to eye level. Eyes darted over the words, eyebrows furrowing. You set your phone back down and then turned your back on it, a thin sigh escaping you as you closed your eyes.

 [7:01 PM] then maybe we can work something out

A/N: I live! This story lives! Praise be to the Dimpled One!! This was a trial and a half to write. Many apologies.  A/N 2: Re-uploaded, but it still appears as if this fic isn’t showing in tags.