#i saw them live and everything and all my big memories from the ages like 14-16 remind me of this band and vice versa

[yenonnoff]

TEACH ME HOW TO LOVE! 22. 2 people, 1 truth

note: word count is 3.8k :D

“they really are little rascals, especially this one!” atsumu huffed with an orange kitten pressed against his chest. you found him near an alleyway and were currently walking back to april’s store. 

it was a convenience store, and she used the second floor as her living space. after you were banned from eating the snacks at your parents’ place, you started hanging out at april’s more often. she always gave you the snacks for free and you spent most of your childhood there: in april’s store next to her floor fan as customers came and went. 

“you’re back!” april rushed out in a hurry, reaching to pet the kitten still in your arms. “their mom’s in the back with the other younglings so i’ll need to wash them. but before that, tell me how i can repay the two of you.” 

you rushed to decline. “no, no. don’t worry about it, we did this because we just wanted to help.” 

april laughed heartily. “then thank you, darling, for helping me find the kittens.” she smiled towards atsumu, “and thank you… y/n’s boyfriend. looks like i never got your name!” she erupted again in buoyant laughter. 

your co-star returned her smile. “it’s atsumu miya, nice to meet you.” his response garnered an elbow to the side from you. “he’s not my boyfriend, just a coworker,” you clarified quickly.

her excitement didn’t fade, a sly twinkle shining in her aged eyes. she grabbed the kittens from you and atsumu, the two troublemakers tugging insistently at her floral blouse. “we’ll continue this later, they’re really impatient aren’t they?” 

when april left, you and atsumu occupied the bench in front of the store. he stretched and yawned. “what were you saying about your parents before you got cut off?” he asked curiously. 

“oh, my parents aren’t here anymore. we moved to miyagi prefecture when i got to high school, and they stayed there after i moved to tokyo for university.” 

“must’ve been hard when their only child left,” he said, lifting a brow when you laughed. “not at all,” you replied. “i was a handful to them, they were glad i left.” 

growing up, a part of you resented your parents for moving away from your hometown. you dreamt of everything: attending a nearby high school and keeping up with your studies—going home and helping the residents with their tasks around town. it was the perfect harmony, and it was shattered due to your parents. 

you realized later it was because they hated everything the town stood for: peace, gaiety, and the ability to melt your heart. they must’ve hated the cool summers too—the long family walks through town after supper where you admired wildflowers in the sidewalk cracks. they must’ve hated the colorful peonies in the spring and the lively tradition where all the residents came together to have one big picnic in the field. you still remembered it so vividly. each household needed to bring something special (music, toys for the kids, food, or drinks) to be able to participate. once, your parents said you were their special item and the residents exploded in cheerful laughter and agreement. looking back, you wondered how true that actually was of your parents. 

they were bored of the place they grew up in, and they tossed it away without even asking you. they threw their friends away, the memories they made with everyone, and—worse of all—they desecrated your love for the town and its people. 

you’d cried during departure, watching as everyone bore smiling faces in an attempt to uplift yours. you hadn’t cried in years, and you were about to attend high school. you saw them hand you gifts—all the things you loved and things that’ll remind you of your true home. you hoped they knew you weren’t the one who wanted to leave; you hoped they knew it was because your parents hated their kind generosity. 

“i hated leaving my hometown behind. if i could, i would’ve stayed with them while my parents left. i would’ve been okay without them. but when i got to my new school, things started to get better,” you said, fidgeting with the palm of your hand. “i excelled at my classes and made new friends. they filled an empty part in me and i was able to be with them 24/7 through volleyball.” you paused for a moment. “but my parents didn’t like that. they didn’t like it when i went to my team’s matches to support them, they didn’t like that i was barely home with them.”

atsumu remained silent while you talked. his back was pressed against the wall and his shoulder was touching yours. his silence comforted you, his warmth made you continue. “i think they realized it was out of their control now, that when i went off to university, they wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore. i saved up money from my part-time job and moved to tokyo with my friends. my parents stopped calling me afterwards, but i still send money back home to them.” 

you choked back a sob, chuckling at the weird situation: you pouring your feelings out to your attentive co-star. you avoided looking at him.

“what about your aunt april? couldn’t you have stayed with her?” 

you laughed quietly. “she’s not my real aunt, her husband isn’t my real uncle either. they just treated me really nicely, like i was a part of their family. actually, they were my parents’ rivals. the town only needed one convenience store and i guess my parents were the ones who left. maybe they didn’t like how welcoming aunt april treated me, but i knew she never wanted us to leave. and i never wanted to be seen as a burden to them. they already had so much on their plate, i just couldn’t invade their lives like that.” 

atsumu hummed. “but if you had asked, they would’ve accepted in a heartbeat.” you smiled sadly—what he said was true. 

you couldn’t help but imagine what your life would’ve been like if you’d stayed. you would’ve been happy, you would’ve continued to stay in your hometown after graduation, maybe even become a farmer. you would’ve been surrounded by people who loved you and familiar sights. but you would’ve never met shimizu and the others. you would’ve never realized the wonders of living in a big city filled with opportunities. you wouldn’t be acting. you wouldn’t have met atsumu and experienced all of this. 

when you realized that silence took over the conversation, you attempted a weak smile. “well! enough of me—”

“you don’t have to hide it, y/n,” atsumu said. “you can be unprofessional too.” 

your heart staggered. hot tears threatened to fall and you only said, “it’s okay, i don’t want to talk about it right now.” 

atsumu nodded at your response, sitting up more casually. you were grateful when he started talking: “it’ll be unfair if i didn’t tell you about myself too, right?” he stopped briefly to think. “my brother and i were adamant about volleyball during high school. awards, summer camps, interhigh, nationals—you name it. being recognized for your incredible setting skills had its perks,” he winked and you laughed. “i got some modeling gigs and then eventually went into acting.”

you listened intently to him as he spoke. there was always something about atsumu. was it his assertiveness or the way he naturally drew people in? you had a feeling it was both. the more time you spent with him, the more you wanted to know about him. 

“the first time i scored a big role, i was confused by how happy i felt. i remembered the amount of compliments they gave me, not only for my acting skills but for volleyball as well. ‘a real talent,’ they’d told me once, and it made me want to continue acting. i struggled here and there with getting roles, mainly due to my inexperience, but it was a challenge i wanted to overcome. i felt the same amount of frustration when messing up a scene as passing a bad set. i felt the same amount of joy too, so it was difficult to decide which path i wanted to take after high school.” 

you asked when he became silent, “how did your parents react?” 

he didn’t turn to look at you but you saw his lips pulled into a grim smile. “horrible,” he said. “‘samu wanted to pursue culinary arts and i wanted to focus on acting. my parents knew i had some roles during high school but they didn’t like that i wanted to do it professionally. my mom was clinging onto the chance that i would continue volleyball unlike my brother.” atsumu tightened his hands, his expression hard and dour. “but they didn’t realize that i was still playing, just not competitively. i didn’t compromise my love for it, never did.” 

you felt a strange pull of admiration. you could hate atsumu all you want for his actions, but you could never hate the confidence he radiated. you’ve seen it before: at the script read through and on the first day of filming. when he stepped on set, reading his lines with such certainty and zeal, your eyes didn’t want to look away. so this was atsumu miya, you thought. this was the highly praised atsumu—the side he proudly chose to display. 

but right now, he was just atsumu, regular atsumu. he was another person that goes through things like everyone else. you had believed vehemently before that your co-star was only capable of hate and disdain. that he could only conjure up sly, distasteful frowns. now he was more human than you thought. 

“i’m sorry,” was all you could say in response. atsumu shook his head, his eyes downcasted. “it got better eventually, it’s been a couple years and they’ve come around.” 

he continued: “it took a lot to convince them and myself that it was the right choice. i didn’t land any major roles for a year straight.” 

you blinked. who wouldn’t want atsumu on their production? even if this happened years ago, atsumu already had a couple major roles under his belt. you had a feeling it wasn’t him or his skills that were at fault. 

“a fucking year straight,” he spat his words venomously. “i practiced everyday until my body gave up, and for what? some rich insecure pieces of shit to come by and flaunt their money in the director’s face? i didn’t want anything to stop me from acting except my skills.” 

you imagined atsumu practicing his lines over and over again until he was satisfied. you saw him beating himself up for every mistake he would make. to atsumu, it must’ve felt like preparing for a volleyball match: setting and serving until he could no longer—until his exhausted body begged him to stop. it felt vivid to you. after all, you were both hardworking perfectionists, and you were both treading through an industry where the rich reigned and the skilled surrendered. 

for a year straight, atsumu dealt with this. he couldn’t do anything, powerless to change the directors’ decisions.

you stared at him with a pained expression. “bribery,” you said meekly and he nodded. “just like what emma did.”

“so you knew,” he said, low and accepting. 

“yes, i did, about her bribing director sage. but i want to hear it from you, not from a friend or anywhere else.” 

he nodded and you braced yourself for what was about to come. “i didn’t know at first, no one did except for the director and committee team. you wouldn’t have expected her to do something like that: she was nice and endearing, even to the staff members. but i always questioned why director sage was so hard on her. it wasn’t as if she lacked talent. she was good—well, good enough, i suppose. then i realized what it was about her. she had talent but not skills from experience. whenever filming lasted longer than it should’ve due to her, everyone was forgiving. they ignored her issues because she was nice and pretty.”

you swallowed at his words. with money, you could buy opportunities, but not skills and experience that are on par with actors who’ve been doing this for way longer. you couldn’t, unless you knew how to adapt—unless you were a quick learner. emma was none of those things. 

you watched atsumu rub his hands against his face, a sorrowful chuckle leaving his lips. “there were signs and i was blind to them. i only focused on her, thinking how amazing she was. she only had two years of experience so her mistakes were understandable. but this was a director sage film. his standards were fucking crazy. how did she land the main role if not for bribery and blackmail?” 

you had to confess, after returning from the trip to the record store slash beach, you finally watched director sage’s latest film. it aired two years ago but was one of his most popular works ever. emma had the main role but surprisingly, atsumu was only the second lead. he didn’t have much screen time but whenever he appeared in a scene with emma, you felt your heart stop, your breath hitching in your throat. their chemistry was otherworldly, and you understood why the whole internet went into chaos when they broke up. if you had watched this two years ago, you would’ve rooted for them too. 

“oh, but,” he quickly turned towards you, saying softly, “don’t blame director sage too much. it was his choice to make, but there were devastating circumstances. if he didn’t accept emma’s bribe, there would’ve been no film. her father would’ve cut off all the budget, including the ones from other companies. a single word from him would’ve cost director sage his career.” atsumu’s eyes turned dark and discernible. “i’m not saying his choice was right. emma forcibly stole opportunities from other aspiring actors and director sage helped her to do so. but still… he was in a difficult situation.” 

there was affection in his voice when he said the last sentence. you’ve seen them interact many times before, and it always occurred to you how easily atsumu laughed and smiled in the director’s presence. they both adored one another dearly, both having fond memories of working together years ago. 

“don’t worry, i don’t,” you reassured him. “but when i came, you thought i also blackmailed him. you thought director sage was put in another difficult situation.” you weren’t angry at him, you only stated frankly what had happened. but the latter pained atsumu more than the former. he wished you would yell at him or be in a fit of rage again (like your confrontation at the beach) because he knew he was wrong. he messed up and you were the one that was hurt. 

but you didn’t fault him, not after hearing about everything. atsumu was distrusting, both towards you and the acting industry. how could he not? the person he was in love with had betrayed her morals and his trust. 

“you’re right,” he said. “i was too quick to blame you. i judged you without knowing anything and spoke about you badly when i wasn’t any better. you were none of the things i claimed you were. you’re incredible, you know that? you made those four idiots fall in love with you on the first day of filming. you made director sage fall in with you. and you reminded me what good acting was. it was exhilarating to see someone with the same amount of passion as me. i fell in love with acting again just by watching you act.”

your cheeks burned at his words. you’ve received compliments before but it was different when your unapproachable and grumpy co-star said it. 

atsumu shifted to face you, both of your feet pointing in each other’s directions. “so i’m sorry, y/n. i’m sorry for dragging you into this, you were never the problem. what those staff members said were true: i am extremely cocky and pretentious, i’m hasty and reckless with both my actions and words. and i had hurt you greatly. could you forgive me?” 

you felt his vulnerability, his hesitant gaze on you. it wasn’t his fault, you wanted to say. it was okay. 

“i could, and i will. you’re forgiven, atsumu.” you waited another moment to say, “not everything the staff members said was true. you’re not undeserving of your role or fame.” 

“did they say that too?” 

you nodded and his eyebrows pinched together. “they said that because of my relationship with emma. after the film aired, everyone in the industry knew. some felt stronger about it than others; some could care less because it was so normalized; and some even praised her for being rich and having connections. it’s gross. if you don’t have the skills to earn your roles fairly through auditioning, you’re pathetic. instead of using that money to drag the director and your co-stars down, you should be spending it on acting classes.” 

you had to tug on his arm to get his attention. you didn’t mind his rant, but you were too curious about what that had to do with him being labeled “undeserving.” 

atsumu caught your eye and said, “oh, right. emma and i broke up a year after the film. we didn’t tell anyone what the reason was, but the bribery part was only half the story. those staff members were the same ones i worked with all those years ago. they saw how emma and i were—probably thought i was the same blackmailing fox as her.” he let out another low chuckle. “or maybe that i used my connection with director sage to my advantage. or that i already had my chance to work with him, and that another person should’ve gotten the opportunity.”

in your eyes, atsumu was never undeserving. director sage picked him for the lead role because he truly believed atsumu was worthy of it. you’d heard from kuroo that atsumu came out of his year-long break because of director sage. he just wanted to work with his favorite director again. atsumu had the confidence and skills to do so. what was so wrong about that? 

you patted him on the shoulder. “it’s not true, everyone knows it’s not. don’t be so hard on yourself.” your words made him laugh. a genuine one this time, it wasn’t sorrowful or somber like the previous ones. 

“thank you,” he said. “i’ll take it easy. i didn't think this trip would become so sentimental. did i bore you?” he asked mischievously. you shook your head no, the two of you exchanging pleasant smiles. 

you stretched your arms. how long were the two of you sitting on the wooden bench anyway? the sun was disappearing and leaving behind a trail of vibrant vermillion in its wake. it was already five o’clock. 

when the two of you peeked inside the convenience store, you saw april talking with her husband by the cash register. she noticed you two, turning to say, “there they are! did you have fun out there?”

apparently she had finished washing the kittens a long time ago, even having enough time to prepare dinner. a large dinner, enough to feed an army. “we didn’t want to interrupt the sweet moment so we waited,” april beamed while you, atsumu, and her husband followed behind on the staircase. 

atsumu whispered to you, “should i be here?” 

you nodded. after all, april’s homemade meals were the best. no amount of restaurants could compare, you knew he would be missing out if he didn’t give it a try. 

thankfully, dinner wasn’t awkward. april’s husband got along well with your co-star, minus the first interaction when he’d mistaken him for your boyfriend. it was becoming a running joke but you didn’t mind. you finally had the chance to sit down and talk to april and her husband, reminiscing about what happened during the time when you didn’t visit. you mentioned your previous film—vengeance—and the two of them chatted about your amazing performance. apparently everyone in town stopped what they were doing to watch it the day it aired. they were your first ever supporters after all. 

you also mentioned your friends, to which april smiled in relief. then you talked about your new film and gestured towards atsumu, your co-star who was caught off guard with food stuffed in his mouth. you left out all the bad parts in your story, focusing mainly on your “friendly” competition at the amusement park and the fun trip to the record store slash beach. you also mentioned jolie and the others, even director sage and how he looked better in person. 

atsumu got to talk too: about his twin brother and their volleyball experience during high school. atsumu boasted about being the number one setter and april’s husband, who you’ve known since childhood, brought up unexpectedly about how he’d played once as well. 

“captain of my team,” he laughed with his whole body. “that was my prime.”

it got to the point where all the dirty dishes were cleaned off the table and april brought out peeled tangerines. you got to play with the kittens while atsumu and april’s husband continued to converse about volleyball. it was endearing and bittersweet that the two of you had to leave. you wanted to freeze the moment—you’d forgotten how nice it felt to be back in your hometown. 

“must you go already?” april asked, standing at the door of her convenience store. her husband chimed in, “if they don’t catch the train, they’ll be stuck here.” 

she nudged him with an annoyed expression. “that’s what i’m trying to do.” she turned back towards you. “the whole town’s excited for your new film, y/n. we’ll definitely watch it so make sure to visit again. you as well, atsumu.” 

the two of you thanked them for dinner, saying your farewells and heading to the train station. 

“thank you for bringing me here,” atsumu said as you waited on the platform. 

“did i one up you? be honest.” 

he replied hesitantly, “yes. i have to admit your hometown is pretty nice.” 

“then let me borrow your jacket again on the train.” 

“oh? you’re finally gonna go to sleep?”

your eyes widened in embarrassment. “you knew?” he smirked at your dazed expression. “how could i not? kind of hard when you were wriggling in your seat trying to get comfortable.” 

“i will fall asleep this time. today’s been really exhausting.” 

atsumu peered down at you, saying, “good work today, y/n, and…”

he didn’t get to finish his sentence, interrupted by the roaring of the approaching train. you stepped inside, turning to ask, “what did you say?” 

“nevermind,” he smiled. “let’s get to our seats before we both fall asleep standing up.” 

atsumu had told you many things today, but the unspoken ones might’ve been the most important. he wanted to tell you again that he was sorry for everything. and he wanted to tell you that he was glad you were his co-star.

masterlist ⌒☆ previous ⌒☆ next

fun facts:

director sage did NOT like working with emma one bit, but he made sure to hide his disdain at all times.

when atsumu went to audition for director sage's previous film, he went with a friend of his. she practiced for the main role relentlessly but her audition didn't pass. atsumu always held a grudge towards emma for stealing his friend's chance; if it weren't for her, his friend would've gotten the role. she was a better actress than emma anyway.

y/n and atsumu took a million pictures of the kittens. there were five of them! she sent them all to the group chat for them to gawk at.

TEACH ME HOW TO LOVE! ｡ｏ♡ an atsumu miya smau

synopsis: when y/n l/n, a rising actress, decides to star in a romance film that could make or break her career, she’s unable to showcase her skills, revealing her inexperience within the romance department instead. worst of all, atsumu miya, her co-star and the main lead’s love interest, seems to hate her guts! with absolutely, unbearably zero chemistry between the two, an idea was proposed: spend time with one another in the upcoming weeks. will y/n be able to ignore her professionalism and listen to her heart? and will she, a clueless romantic, be able to pick up on the signs her co-star is sending her?

a/n: FINALYL FINISHED UGHHH I SWEAR THIS TOOK AN ETERNITY hoped u liked y/n and atsumu's backstories + his very heartfelt apology + emma being a very bad person

taglist is open! dm or ask to be a part of it! (those bolded were unable to be tagged)

⌒☆ @kqbukimono @empathum @clyver @chosoluv @oceansfloor @sunarots @marga-j @rukia-uchiha-98 @wyrcan @thechaosoflonging @rintarousgirl @ast4rg1rl @seiamor @saiewithakatana @usermins @literally-a-ferret @terrarain @iuspired @haruskatana @wolffmaiden @ris-krispie @vellichxrr6782 @animenaces-world @reignsaway @emii4evr @writing-for-the-hell-of-it @yuminako @tojirin @v3nusplanetofluv @vyvixen @secondary-character-25 @tenjikusstuff4 @444choso @mylahrins @deimmortales99 @hisfuture @staywhelmed8801 @dl-yum @nessaasstuff @milesmoralesluvs @101tsumu @ryeyeyer @cherrypieyourface

[hella1975]

girls will say they’re tough shit until 7 by catfish and the bottlemen comes on

[risuola]

ENTRY #1 ♡ F. READER X GOJO SATORU

My crystal tears and my heart’s beat, And all the pieces of my soul’s depths, I lay my dreams upon your feet, Please be careful taking your steps.

cw: angst-ish, arranged marriage!au, slight age gap (reader's around 22, Satoru is 28), loveless marriage, brief mentions of blood and toxicity — 1,9k words

a/n: starting a new series while two other are hanging in the air and hundreds of wips are waiting for being written? yeah, that's me, but hey, I needed to start something new to get my creative juices flowin'. this one's gonna be a series of entries, a diary if you will.

series masterlist

When you were younger, a girl innocent and little, blissfully unaware of the world around you, you wished to marry a prince. Influenced by tales told by your mother and tv shows you watched with big and curious eyes, you had a vision of the ceremony straight out of a dream. A magical display of love and the path of rose petals and feathers through which you were meant to stride in a dress made of satin and lace – white and elegant. You also saw him, the man that your heart would choose and desire. A prince handsome and kind, who would love and protect you even if by doing so, his life would be on the line. You were too little to be aware of the naivety of the dreamy pictures in your head.

Sometimes you wished to turn back time and once again step into the shoes of the innocent you who never got to know sadness and fear. Sometimes you think of it with a bittersweet smile, reminiscing the way you used to go about your days without care about the world around. With mild regret you reminiscence the moment you learned that everything around you was–

“I’m talking to you. God damn it, are you deaf?”

“I heard you.”

–a lie.

You were a late bloomer but besides the judgmental looks you were receiving left and right from the elders of your clan, you also owe it the beauty of your prolonged childhood. Few years of freedom that you lost the memory of how it tasted and yet, you like to go back to it and drown in the pictures it left in your mind. Whilst all of your siblings were training and learning, fighting and risking their lives against the cursed spirits, you brought shame to your family. There was no place for someone without a cursed technique in a world of sorcery and you were made painfully aware of it at the day of your tenth birthday. That was also the end of your childhood and the day you wish to forget. You remember how the smiles of your parents turned into frowns and the soft, melodic tone of your mother became harsh and never got back to how it used to be. The tales and cookies vanished and what was left was nothing but suffering and degradation.

“Oh, did you?”

It took you six years of training to awaken the technique that later on was called the most powerful in the history of your clan. Six years of days and nights filled with sweat and tears, six years of bloody knuckles and bruises but also, it took six years of your determination to prove all of them wrong. Despite being the youngest of four siblings, you were able to stand against the worst of curses with nothing but a sword and raw power when everyone else relied heavily on the cursed techniques. You were strong and skilled, you were trained and fearless but still, you were looked down. A shame. To your family you were nothing but a shame.

And then, suddenly, you became a pride. You were on everyone’s mouths; you were talked about as if you were the most expensive and rare diamond. Years of harsh treatment you received suddenly became forgotten because once your technique awakened, you became the strongest in your clan, surpassing your siblings, your parents and everyone else who bore the same name as you. Suddenly other clans were talking about you too, with curiosity and fear. Suddenly, you became someone. But somehow, it didn’t make you happy. Once you realized that the world you were born into wasn’t a tale you always thought it is, you lost the ability to enjoy it. Maybe the pain of what you had given to become a true sorcerer rendered you unable to fully appreciate the adulthood, but you found it hard to see the light, when the darkness seemed to embed itself into your soul.

“You know what? Fuck that. I’m leaving.”

Ah yes, the marriage. With years that had passed since you were young and naïve, you stripped yourself of the dreams of sharing a life with a prince, but a part of you still hoped for love and calm. A part of your heart wished to settle with someone you’ll trust and care for. Someone who will ground you in the world of constant danger and for years you thought that you will find a man with whom the stressful life of sorcery will be a little kinder, a little less scary, a little more bearable. It was a child in you, a faint spark of juvenile carelessness that never died down, even in the darkest of days you endured.

You let out a deep sigh and allowed your lids to close. Your head leaned forward, forehead restless against the cold doors of the kitchen cabinet. The loud thud of doors snapping shut echoed in your ears for few moments and then it became silent. An earie cacophony of nothing but your own breath and soft ticking of the clock on the wall next to you. For a moment you thought about how many times you relived this very same situation already. The cold detachment, harsh exchange of words and then he’s gone. A salve of ruthless stabs that never seem to hurt less and the sound of your own voice forming sentences you wouldn’t think of if the circumstances were different.

First time you saw Satoru Gojo was many years before you truly knew who he is. It was a picture that you noticed by accident, somewhere in the papers your parents had spread out on the coffee table. He was a young boy back then. You remember the impression he made on you. He looked cold, intimidating, unapproachable. He looked like someone you’d never think of becoming friends with. You were young, just barely nine years old and he was already fifteen. He was already the strongest and even though you weren’t actively involved in the world of sorcery, you knew his name.

And then, many years later you sat in front of him. While the elders of your clans discussed the importance of the arrangement that was planned within the sorcerer’s society, Satoru was resting on a couch unamused, with his legs crossed and eyes covered by a layer of white bandages. You watched him, analyzed his lack of interest and the veil of cold arrogance with realization that everything you wished for was never on the table for you. During the two long hours of conversations that were about you and yet no one asked for your opinion, you and Satoru didn’t exchange one word.

You heard his voice actively directed at you for the first time during the wedding ceremony. It was small, very private and filled with people that you mostly didn’t know. It was far from perfect, though pretty in a way. Under the cautious watch of the most important figures of sorcery, you said the vows that made you feel nothing and yet meant so much. The words of promise, that for anyone else meant love and safe future, to you meant status and the name. You became Gojo. You became a wife to the strongest man in the world.

Now it’s seven months after the wedding and the day you and him moved together. The apartment you shared was filled with both yours and his belongings and yet it didn’t feel like home. It lacked the atmosphere of love and understanding and on days like this, you were losing hope it will ever feel different than miserable.

That day was nothing out of ordinary when it came to your marriage. Yet another fight, yet another beeline he made to leave you alone in the empty house. You always argue. There was no warmth between the walls of the apartment, there was no care and respect. Instead, there were snaps and insults, there was silence and avoidance. The large bed in what was meant to be a shared bedroom was occupied only by you, while Satoru preferred to sleep on a couch even though his tall frame was way too big for it. Besides one very brief and formal kiss you shared during the wedding day, you never kissed again. There was no holding hands, no incidental touches, no nothing that would convey any sort of feeling and only times your bodies made contact was when he grabbed your wrists in anger or when your shoulder hit his arm while you were passing by.

Truth is, you had no idea what Satoru was talking about that morning before he left. You were lost in thoughts, but you could only imagine he was mentioning the meeting he needed to attempt in the evening. He probably won’t be home until late and once he’ll come back, he’ll be annoyed by elders and for that, you couldn’t blame him. Whenever you face the elders of jujutsu community, your blood pressure raises as well and you’re quite calm by nature. That being said, if unlucky, you’ll be the one to take the hit of his anger.

Your fingers run across the golden band that adorned your finger. It was an absentminded motion that became a habit of sorts, helping you gather the thoughts, calming your mind. The cold feel of metal allowed you to let go of the stress and forced you to suck it up yet again.

Two hours after the morning fight, you found yourself surrounded by the familiar buildings in the Jujutsu tech area, watching your husband from afar. Satoru was in the middle of teaching students, if whatever the hell he was doing could be called teaching. Megumi was resting next to him as some other kids were fighting on the training field. The sound of wooden swords colliding echoed between the woods that surrounded the expanse of the school zones. Gojo was looking as careless as ever, calm and smiling – a sight that you almost never see unless he’s facing someone else. He was chatting with his almost-son, shouting some advice to the sparing students and going about his day as he usually does, but one thing was different.

 “Satoru,” you called his name as you went down the stairs to reach the spot where he was standing. He noticed you, you knew that. He most likely knew about your appearance way before you even got to see him, but now he chose to actively ignore your presence as his light blue eyes stayed focused on the field instead of landing on you.

“What brings you here?” He asked and you could tell how the tone of his voice changed from the friendly sensei to your husband’s rough approach. He wasn’t happy with your visit; you weren’t welcome near him and everyone knew that. The fact of your marriage being arranged wasn’t a secret and it also wasn’t a secret that it was Gojo’s clan decision, not his own. Satoru felt some sort of humiliation that despite him being the strongest, he was stripped of a choice who to spend his life with and you, as his wife, were paying for his resentment.

“I brought you this,” you replied, reaching your hand towards him. His eyes landed on your palm and you noticed a ghost of relief that washed over his features when he took the band of black fabric from your hold. His blindfold, that you realized was ripped – he left at home in the morning. That was most likely what he was talking to you about because once you cleaned up after the breakfast, you noticed the band and his broken glasses left on the coffee table.

“So you were listening,” Satoru said quietly and securely covered his eyes.

“I wasn’t.”

[spiderlyla]

the high school reunion thing is so cute but now I’m also thinking about seeing him as a single person 👀 can you imagine going back to your highschool reunion and your old HS Best friend that you lost touch with after college is now this brooding 6’9 BIG MAN? my god

♤—Miguel O'Hara

—anon ur a genius.

🕸alternate idea to teenage miguel headcanons, you can read the first idea here!

🕸taglist: @general-dweebous , @mamu-writes , @beezblep

you weren't really sure why you attended this in the first place, you didn't like half of these people during your years in highschool.

but you were free for the night, and it wouldn't hurt if you had a couple of free drinks and went home after

you didn't mingle much, just said hello to a couple of friends, catching up and engaging in small talk

it was fun for a bit, reminiscing on your time spent here, but you soon found yourself getting overwhelmed

you stepped out of the gym, deciding to take a breather in the hall, when you bumped into something

hard.

you stumbled a bit from the impact, but two hands rested on your sides, stabilising you

taking a few steps back, you apologised, and excused yourself, a little too embaressed to look up

"Ay, still as clumsy as always. No es sorprendente."

your eyes met his, and memories came crashing down on you

one person you've never expected to run into here, was your bestfriend, Miguel O'Hara

miguel and you met just like this, not too many years ago. you bumped into him so hard the two of you fell on top of one another

after that little event, you found yourself partnered with him for your biology class, and ever since you were inseprable

that was until he completely dissappeared from everyone's lives as soon as he started working for alchemax

those brown eyes you daydreamed about as a teenager were boring into yours, but you could swear they were now a little...reddish? something about him was different.

then you noticed it. everything was different.

you remember miguel as this scrawny, freakishly tall nerd with dark brown bangs covering his forehead, who barely even held himself together

not as...this.

the man who stood infront of you was nothing like you remember. his body has obviously seen some extreme changes—you were certain that his arm was bigger than your own head

it didn't help that he wore a tight black shirt, because you could see the ripples of his abs from underneath the fabric and because it tugged at all of the right places

his face was still as handsome and defined, but he wore his hair back, it was definitely a good look on him

you had always had a crush on miguel, but seeing him like this made your tummy flutter

"Miggy? What...how are you—"

he smiled, and you could swear you could see...fangs? maybe he got his canins sharpened or something.

"You look good yourself...too good." Just like him, you changed alot too, and you did put some effort into how you looked tonight. Just for a faint moment, you saw his ears turn pink, but you didn't think too much about it, there was alot of things to stare at more important than his ears.

"Its been a while since you saw me. Started working out is all. Are you leaving?"

His answer was too calculated. You haven't seen him in ages, but you know him like you know the back of your hand.

"Just taking a breather."

"Had enough already?"

"Oh, you have no idea. Most of them are even more annoying than I remember them."

He chuckles, running his hand into his soft hair. That feeling in your stomach persisted.

"Then do you want to get out of here? I only came because I thought I might see you. We could go to the bar. Talk there."

"What makes you think I wanna talk to you?" You jab a finger at his chest, and wince at the pain. Gosh, his chest was hard.

"We have alot to talk about," He flashed you another grin, "and I think I should buy you a drink. Make up for lost time."

"Oh fine, only if you're paying." You chuckle.

"...and you need to tell me what 'work out' that makes you turn into this."

[thecapybara526]

A Drop in the Ocean pt. 1

Avatar : the Way of Water

Neteyam x reader , Lo’ak x reader

Note : so this is just an idea I had in my head. I hope you enjoy, first time ever posting. This takes place during the “one year later” period in Awow. I also aged up the kids because I feel weird writing them as 13/14 but the story is still the same.Tuk is still the same age though

This is also going to be a lot of background to build the scene.

Warnings : mentions of death ( dw not Neteyam)

You have lived in the forest and heard stories of how strong and fierce your parents were when the Sky people first attacked. Neytiri tells you all the time your mother grew up with her, and we’re very close. Your mother and Neytiri were so close they promised to take care of each other's children if anything ever happened to them. Sadly during one of the first raids against the Sky people, both your parents died.

You were 15 when they passed away. During the 15 years you had together, they taught you everything you needed to know about the forest and were very talented with a bow. Sometimes you practiced with the Sullys, and when you weren’t training, you were still inseparable from the Sully kids. You and Lo’ak are the same age as Kiri. However, you and Lo’ak were always causing mischief and getting in trouble together, and still are now that you’re 16, almost 17.

You and Neteyam have always had a good relationship. He saw you as part of the “triplets,” as the clan called you, Kiri and Lo’ak. For a while, you were just Lo’ak and Kiri’s trouble-making friend until your parents died and a more serious side of you came out for a time. It was weird not seeing you smile, laugh or want to explore as much. He started to miss the things that made you, you. He didn’t realize he noticed so much about you and how much he missed that side of you. What your laugh sounded like, your smile, the way your eyes widened when you realized you and Lo’ak were caught and were about to get in trouble. It made him sad.

When Lo’ak found out your parents died, he didn’t know what to do. How to comfort you, how to act around you, typical teenage boy. He just cared about you so much that he didn’t want to say the wrong thing and upset you. In the beginning, it was awkward, but in the moments when you started to come alive again, his only focus was to keep that spark and make you laugh.

When your parents died, you and Kiri got super close—sleeping next to each other, going on walks trying to make you talk about your feelings instead of holding it in but never really getting anywhere. Except for one night, it was you two in your hut going through all your parent's things, and you cried for the first time. You sat with her in the hut, talking about memories you had with them. Neytiri came in and held you as silent tears rolled down your cheeks while Kiri held your arm. After that, all you wanted was to pretend it didn’t exist, but after a while, it would eventually all spill out.

Present time.

You and Kiri were anxiously waiting for everyone to return from a raid. You sat with Kiri getting things ready just in case they were needed. Kiri noticed your tail and ears constantly flicking with anxiety and your chest rising and falling a little quicker than usual.

“They are going to be alright, take a breath.” Kiri grabbed your shoulders, steadying you. She offered you a small smile. “Ewya is protecting them.”

You blew out a big breath, “I know. I know. It’s just… you know.” You looked at her with a worried face. You get so concerned during raids, especially with what happened with your parents. The thought of it happening again scared you. You can’t endure that kind of pain again, especially with one of the Sullys.

Suddenly Tuk comes running in, “they are here! They have returned.” Your head snaps back to Kiri, both of you with relief but worry in your eyes, and you run out to greet them.

Your heart drops when you see Jake carrying Neteyam. Your panic starts to settle when you see he is conscious and standing on his own but still is bleeding a lot. You and Kiri stand off to the side while Jake yells at both Lo’ak and Neteyam until Kiri and Neytiri step in to treat Neteyam’s wounds.

Neteyam catches your eyes and offers you a nod and a small smile of acknowledgment when you walk by him to Lo’ak.

“What did you do.” Shaking your head and crossing your arms.

“Ditched the Ikrans and went down to the ground.” He mumbles

“Of course you did; listen, I’m all for getting into the action, but that was so stupid.” You pull him into a hug.

He responds and hugs you back, happy, you can’t see his face because he’s blushing. It makes him happy knowing that you care, especially with how tightly you hug him. You wouldn’t say it to his face but you’ve had a crush on Lo’ak since you were little. It was reciprocated and both of you had a feeling the other knew but never acted on it.

From inside the hut, Neteyam was getting attention from Kiri and Mo’at. Neteyam and Kiri had a clear view of the hug you and Lo’ak were sharing, along with the grin on Lo’ak’s face after you hit him on the arm, telling him never to do that again. Kiri could see the flash of jealousy on Neteyam’s face. He couldn’t help but feel silly. Why hadn’t you told him never to do that again? Didn’t you care about him too?

“You’re drilling holes in your own brother's head right now, and I know it’s not for what happened on the battlefield.” Kiri rolled her eyes.

“No, I’m not.” Neteyam quickly dismissed Kiri, “can you just please finish” with that, Kiri flicked his wound, causing Neteyam to whine.

…

It was a new day; Kiri, Spider, Lo’ak, Tuk, and you were getting ready to sneak out to explore. Right before you left to meet up with them someone caught your arm.

“Hey.” It was Neteyam

“Hey, are you going for a ride?” You questioned, he had his ionar on, so you could only assume so.

“Yes, with my parents. I hope you and my siblings aren’t going off to wander.” He was still holding your arm. It wasn’t rough or tight, and it was gentle but still firm, holding you in place. It made you blush a little.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about; we know we aren’t allowed to leave camp right now. How odd of you to ask.” Neteyam would believed you if it wasn’t for your tail flicking giving you away.

“Y/n, you know you shouldn’t be out there right now. Please” his tone was calm, but his face said it all; he was worried.

“What are you going to tell on us?” You teased, getting closer to him. A small smile starts to form on your face as you see him blush and take a deep breath.

“No.. but listen, just be smart, please. Don’t let Lo’aks recklessness influence you, and don’t influence him.” He stared straight into your eyes, meaning every word he said. For a second, you realized he wasn’t teasing you, but he was serious. He was actually worried about you. Since when did he care so much about you? It threw you off. Usually, Neteyam looked out for you, but it felt more friendly, like a sibling. This. This was different.

“Y-yea, we will be good I swear” you nodded and looked away. You turned back to him when he didn’t let your arm go; you looked from his hand to his eyes, and he snapped out of whatever trance he was in.

“Sorry, go now before anyone sees you.” He smiled quickly and walked away. Once you were gone, he stopped and let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was worried about you, but now he was kicking himself for being so obvious. Did he freak you out? Did he cross a line? He just hoped you wouldn’t act differently around him.

…

Climbing along the branches on the hallelujah mountains. You cheered and laughed, everyone, joining in. The day started great, with no trouble until you began to get close to the old shack. Neteyam’s words came into your head, then his eyes, how intensely they were staring at you, the tenderness of his hand. You snapped out of it when Lo’ak calls to you.

“Hey, what are you doing? Let’s go!” He grins pulling you to the old helicopter.

“Maybe… we should start to go back” you stop and pull him back.

“Yea, its almost eclipse,” Tuk says in her cute little voice.

“Since when have you ever cared about following the rules” Lo’ak tilts his head at you with a small smile. Challenging you.

“Since now, how about that. Plus, we have Tuk with us.” you shrug your shoulders. Kiri gives you a look, confused but intrigued by your sudden sense of responsibility.

“She has a point” Kiri backs you up

“Ohh, I know, you’re scared, huh” Lo’ak gets closer to you, and you’re almost touching.

“Me? Scared. I know you’re scared too. That’s why I’m saying to go back” you hold your ground and stare back at him. Those eyes slowly making you melt.

“Well I’m not scared, no one else is. So let’s go,” he smirks, trying to hide that being this close to you makes him nervous. He leads the way as you get closer to shack.

Lo’ak and spider are ahead talking about their fathers when you hear talking. You all freeze, and Lo’ak immediately looks at you. When you see Na’vi decked out in complete gear, you can feel everyone tense. Kiri tells Lo’ak to call this in, and he does. You can hear Jake say to get out of there and not to make a sound.

You’re all moving as quietly and quickly as possible. Tuk starts to say something but you immediately turn your attention toward something moving behind her. You quickly push her away and are then grabbed by someone.

“Nobody move” you feel a knife go up to your throat and yell when you feel a the hand pull your hair.

“Y/N!” You hear everyone yell.

“Let go of her!” Lo’ak yells holding his knife and hissing.

“Mawey! Mawey!” Kiri tries to calm Tuk, who starts to cry.

“Lower your weapons” you hear one of the men say.

Soon enough the Sky people have all of you and when they noticed Lo’ak and Kiri’s hands, the thought of them being in danger sent you into a frenzy. You try to scramble out of your captors grasp kicking and scratching but only end up in more pain.

“Don’t hurt her!” You can hear Lo’ak yell and hiss.

“Cuff them” one of them says.

It feels like an eternity in the rain when you hear a familiar sound. One that doesn’t belong in the forest, only a sound your adoptive mother makes. You all share glances at each other, knowing help has arrived.

As soon as the first arrow was fired you all made your moves, sprinting to get away.

“Who has Tuk!” You yell and notice her with Kiri. As your running you hear a yell and see that Kiri has been caught again but Lo’ak pushes you forward.

“We will get her back, come on” he shoved you forward again. His only thought was getting you and Tuk out of there.

…

Kiri and Tuk are crying, Spider has been taken and the rain feels good on your skin. You feel like you’re on fire with how mad you are. They took Spider and tried to take us. You know this just a taste of what is to come.

Neteyam comes up to you, he grabs your shoulders and scans you everywhere.

“I’m fine, it’s okay” you slowly pull his arms down. He takes a deep breath and shakes his head.

When we all get home, Jake and Neytiri rush to their hut. Everyone disperses but Neteyam stays right next to you. He speaks quietly.

“Do you not remember what we talked about Y/n” his voice sounds strained, not angry but definitely frustrated.

“I do. I swear I said we should go back but..” you trail off

“But Lo’ak. Why, that was so, it was so..” it was your turn to cut him off

“Stupid? Reckless?“

“Yes and yes.” He replies, he shakes his head and stops to stand right in front of you.

“You could’ve been, taken, or worse killed, you’re lucky no one is hurt” the sincerity and worry in his voice hits you hard and makes you feel guilty.

When Neteyam heard his brothers shaky voice over the com, his blood turned ice cold. He imagined you and his siblings. All in danger. He could barely fly straight he was so panicked. He didn’t realize how you in danger brought out a different side of protectiveness.

You place a hand on his shoulder and he looks down at you.

“Listen, I’m sorry. We weren’t thinking and I’m sorry we put everyone in danger. I’m sorry I made you worry.” You blushed at the last part.

A small smile started to form on his face and his cheeks heated up.

“Just don’t do it again” he playfully pushed you and walked you back to your hut.

From not too far away, Lo’ak was watching and a new found feeling of jealously burned in his stomach.

…

That’s all for now! I plan on making a part two but we will see. I hope you enjoyed and please comment if you want me to continue! (PART 2 IS UP)

[marymary-diva17]

Can you do the sully kids x reader? The reader plays violin.

sully kids x avatar reader

The gift of music

avatar masterlist

There was once a life you had lived before you had came to Pandora, giving up your old life for something new. Like anyone else when you arrived on pandora you had brought some stuff with you, that was very personal and special. The stuff you had brought were apart of your life while growing up on earth, and you didn't dare leave them behind when you left your old home for your new home. Even after you had started your new life here you still took care and use of these old items from your life as human. These items had only been seen by Jake and navi but the children had never saw what was in the box, or they might not seen that box at all as you kept in special place in the family home.

lo'ak " I hate being stuck inside all day during rainy days" the sully children were suck inside today as it was raining in the forest, so that meant no adventure outside and being stuck at home all day.

neteyam " it not safe to be out there lo'ak"

lo'ak "I know that but why do mom, mama, and dad get to be outside and not us"

tuk " I'm with lo'ak it not fun being home all day when there nothing else to do, and I miss mama"

kiri " she will be home later she with uncle norm and their friends, repair the humans homes"

tuk " aww why couldn't we go with her and help"

lo'ak " dad said it we can't help this time as it adult work no fair he not even there"

neteyam " dad didn't say it like that"

lo'ak " well it felt like he said it that why"

neteyam " well we can find something to do here that will be fun and keep us all entertained"

kiri " you are bored as well are you big brother"

neteyam " yes I did all could"

y/n " kids I'm home" you soon had arrived from after getting done with helping the scientists and humans.

neteyam " mom welcome home let me take your stuff" neteyam had taken from of your stuff and place them away.

y/n " thank you kiddo well it raining hard out there I'm happy I was able to get home"

tuk " were you able to get your work done mama"

y/n " yes we got everything done so far so what have you kids been up to"

lo'ak " nothing much trying to keep ourself busy"

y/n " why do I feel like there more to that statement of your my son" you are looking at the kids it seems like they were trying to come up, with something else to say to you.

neteyam " we are looking for something"

y/n " what this something my boy you can tell me"

spider " well when I got here they seem to get done voting something, about looking for something in the house they couldn't find"

y/n " what this something"

tuk " well mama I saw you with this unknown boy and you were taking some stuff out of them and looking at it, but I couldn't see what was being looked at mama"

y/n " umm well why don't I show you" you soon walked over to the box taking off the stuff that was on the lid, and soon place the box in the middle.

neteyam " wait let me close the door it getting cold in here" neteyam soon raced to close the curtain door, and he soon joined everyone in the circle.

y/n " well it time for me to show you what has been in this box my children and nephew" the kids were listening to everything that you were saying you soon unlatched the hook on the box, and open the lid.

y/n " well children the team in here are stuff from earth that were very important to be and hold memories of be growing up, on earth from a baby to an young adult"

neteyam " so from the day you were born day to the day you left and came here"

y/n " yes my boy" you soon started placing all the stuff on the mat as the kids were looking with them at awe, they were so amazed by these things they had seen.

tuk " wait mama what is this thing" tuk soon pointed to you violin a instrument you had learned to play, at such a young age and to become your hobby as well.

y/n " this is a violin a musical instrument"

kiri " did you play it mama"

y/n " yes when I was younger and adult I played it and I love it"

neteyam " does dad and mom know"

y/n " yes I played a song for you mom once she really loved hearing the song, I played some songs when you were all small but I doubt you remember it"

lo'ak " mama can you play us a song please" you had smiled towards the kids as your soon grabbed your violin, the kids were looking at you as you are getting ready to play for them.

y/n " it been a while so I hope I'm not that bad"

kiri " you will be good mama"

y/n " thanks you honey" you soon looked at the kid one more time as they look joyful for you to play with them, you soon started playing a song that got their attention. It was such a beautiful song as the kids had all their eyes on you. You soon ended the song and looked at the kids they were looking amazed at you.

y/n " so how was that kids"

tuk " that was amazing mama"

kiri " it was beautiful"

y/n " thank you kids I'm happy you love it"

neteyam " how long have you been playing the violin the right name right"

y/n " yes that is the right name and I have been playing since I was very young"

netyeam " wow that amazing mama"

y/n " thank you"

spider " you are so talent aunt y/n"

y/n " thank you honey" soon the curtain door had open getting everyone attention, it was neytiri and Jake. They had smiles on their faces it seems like they had been listening to the music going on in the home.

neytiri " so you started playing the violin again have you love"

y/n " yes I have it seems like you two were listening in"

Jake " yes we were we had been waiting outside and were about ti say something, but heard you playing and I fall more in love with you" The kids has sighed at Jake flirting comment towards you while, neytiri rolled her eyes at him.

Jake " oh come on don't hate me"

y/n " it okay Jake it love it"

neytiri " it pity love"

y/n " stop it both of you"

tuk " mama can you play us another song please"

y/n " sure honey" Jake and neytiri smile as they place their thing away, they soon sat down on the mat and looked at their wife and children.

neytiri " yes play us another song belove we will love to hear more" you soon smile towards everyone was you are getting ready, to play another son for everyone as well eyes are on you. The kids had asked you to tell them more about your past and you had agreed, Jake and neytiri love hearing you play on your violin and show the kids all your amazing talents as well.

[mazzymoonlight]

Are There Still Beautiful Things?

summary: inspired by taylor’s “seven”, follow JJ and reader through snapshots of their lives together.

warnings: mentions of the death of a parent, mentions of excessive drinking, mentions of abuse

word count: 9.9k

a/n: hellooo & welcome to my first fic :) some of this had been previously posted in parts, but after evaluation i realized this needed to be heavily edited & worked better in this format. this fic has a special place in my heart, so i hope you enjoy reading as much as i enjoyed writing it. (p.s, happy obx 3 eve!)

SEVEN

please, picture me in the trees, i hit my peak at seven feet, in the swing over the creek, i was too scared to jump in but i, i was high in the sky with pennsylvania under me … are there still beautiful things?

JJ Maybank thinks the last time he was truly, truly happy was when he was seven. At such a young age, anything seemed possible. The sky was the limit and the ocean was their backyard. He had his mother and his father, and even though it leaked sometimes, a roof over his head.

And he had his friends, his favorite people in the world. John B, who he had been sat next to on the first day of second grade and was now inseparable from, and y/n, the girl whose mother was his mother’s best friend, who he had known his whole life.

It was always the three of them, getting into trouble together and spending nearly every moment with each other. You rarely saw one of them without at least one other, and even at such a young age, it was clear they had a bond some people spent a lifetime searching for. They were lucky, and people liked to tell them that.

In their younger days, one of the moms (or more often, both of them together) would often take the trio around. Watching at the beach while they learned to surf, the parks while they played until red in the face, treating them to dinners at the local establishments, or ice cream on those extra hot and intolerable days.

But their favorite was camping in the backyard. They would set up a tent and a bonfire, and roast s’mores and stare at the stars.

JJ’s mom had a particular affinity for the mystery that hung above them and would spend hours teaching the kids everything she knew. She loved the moon, she would tell them everything she knew. She liked to talk about the phases and what they meant, what kind of full moons they were in store for soon.

But Saturn was her favorite, she would talk about any chance she could.

Did you know it’s actually a big ball of gas? That it would float in water?

The ring is made up of ice and dirt and bits.

It’s windy up there.

It takes twenty-nine earth years to revolve around the sun.

Time must move slowly up there.

And they let her talk too. And they listened to every word. They listened to the tales and myths and theories of space until they couldn’t fight the sleep back, and their eyes of wonder became sleepy, slowly blinking at the woman in front of them.

“Goodnight,” She’d say to the three of them, and then she would lean in close to JJ, and leave a kiss on his little forehead.

“I love you to the moon and to Saturn.” he would fall into sleep with a smile on his face.

Nights like that were always beautiful. Memories like that were beautiful.

JJ couldn’t help but wonder; without them, was there any beauty at all left in the world?

FOURTEEN

sweet tea in the summer, cross my heart won’t tell no other, and though i can’t recall your face, i still got love for you your braids like a pattern love you to the moon and to saturn, passed down like folk songs … the love last so long.

The summer they were fourteen, JJ’s life changed. His mother passed, and he was never the same after it. It seemed like the entirety of the outer banks was aware of the light that had been lost.

y/n and her parents were right alongside Luke and JJ. None of them knew what was in store without her. Filled with anger, sadness, regret, and guilt, they all knew that she had so much more to give. Life was not kind, life was not fair, and although they all knew it, they never thought that they would get a reminder quite like this.

JJ stood in between his two best friends, y/n’s hand in his, she was struggling too, but she was holding back. She knew she had to be strong for JJ, she had lost someone special, but he lost his mother, and that was something that he would never get back, something that could never be replaced.

That night y/n stays with JJ, and they end up outside the same way they used to, but without a bonfire tonight. Tonight they stare in silence at the night sky, both thinking about all the things JJ’s mom had told them about the stars and planets above.

“I keep thinking she’s on Saturn,” y/n says, suddenly, the thought slipping out before she can think about stopping herself.

“What?”

“I keep thinking about Saturn, how much she loved it.” She clarifies, “And I keep thinking how happy she must be to finally see it.”

There’s more she wants to say, but figures it’s nothing that JJ hasn’t already heard. What can she say, really? When she catches his smile, the first she’s seen in weeks, she leaves it at that. She’s said all she needs to.

“Yea,” he said, wiping a stray tear. “I bet she is. I like that thought.”

And he meant it. The thought of his mom, an angel on her favorite planet, he didn’t think there was any other explanation.

FIFTEEN

JJ’s fifteenth birthday creeps up, and y/n had worked extra to get him a special present. She had seen it in one of the windows of the fancy boutiques on figure eight and immediately ran in to look at it, begging the store owner to hold it for her after seeing the price on the tag. It had to be JJ’s, she knew it the moment she saw it.

So two weeks later she returned with money collected from babysitting and delivering groceries, the proudest smile on her face. Bringing it home and exchanging the chain for a longer silver one before wrapping it up neatly.

Everyone gathers at the Maybank home on the day of. John B and his father, y/n and her parents, and Pope and Kiara, who the trio had recently befriended.

Luke had even put in a little effort, putting up some simple birthday decorations he had bought from the dollar tree. It wasn’t very much, but all JJ cared about was that everyone he loved was there with him. JJ was happy, but there was a lurking sadness in the back of his head. This was his first birthday without his mom. There was an empty space that would never be filled, no matter how hard he tried. And he was trying very hard.

Despite the weight of loss, it was one of the best days JJ’s had in a long time. Luke had set up a slip-n-slide for the kids, really just a tarp with some water and some dish soap but the kids didn’t care. He grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and even stocked up on more sodas than they needed. y/n had made a cake and John B helped her decorate it. It was sloppy, but it was theirs, for JJ.

y/n had waited until later to give JJ his present. She found him still sitting at the outside table with his hand on his chin, looking up into space like he always did.

“There you are.” She says, siding into the seat next to him. She follows his gaze up toward the night sky.

“Looking for Saturn?” she asks.

“Always am.” He answers sadly despite the small smile on his lips.

She doesn’t say anything, only matches his sad smile with one of her own, and holds out the box shyly.

“Happy birthday Jay.”

He takes it gently, looking at her with a look neither of them can register yet. He leans into her a bit, nudging her softly before tearing at the paper.

When he opens the box his smile drops, and suddenly it feels like he can’t breathe, he feels caught off guard as his emotions blindside him. He had no clue what to expect but this certainly wasn’t it.

y/n sees his reaction and it feels like a gut punch. Why had she gotten him that?

She felt so certain it belonged with JJ but seeing him look so upset now she just felt stupid.

“JJ, I’m sorry, I can bring it back, I just thought … if you don’t like it I’ll take it back.” She tries to explain herself and reaches for the box, but he jerks away from her when she tries to take it back.

She freezes, confused now. He doesn’t catch her reaction, still looking at the necklace in his hands.

“I think I’m forgetting her.” He finally says, voice barely above a whisper, like he was scared to say it. Like this was the first time he was admitting it to himself.

“I’m scared y/n, it’s only been a year, and every day I’m scared I’ve lost another piece of her, what if I’m forgetting her?” And then he’s crying before he can stop himself, sobbing almost.

He clutches the box to his chest like he’s scared to let it go, like letting it go would be the end of the world for the second time.

y/n pulls him in, a few tears of her own falling, thinking of all the things she would do and the things she would trade to take away his pain.

“JJ… you’re not going to forget her, okay, I promise you. All you’re doing is healing, trying to learn to live a normal life without your mom, something that no child should ever have to do. You have so many memories of her, you have so many stories and pictures. You're a piece of her. When you’re older you’ll pass the stories on, and people who never got to know her will know her. And when you're older, older, you’ll tell your kids about their grandmother, the woman who was as strong as a hurricane and soft as a butterfly all in one. You won’t forget her JJ, you can’t when you’re part of her.”

She talks him down, and once he subsides he sees the truth in her words, he trusts her so he trusts what she’s saying wholeheartedly.

“You promise me, y/n?”

She holds him tighter

“Cross my heart JJ.”

“Okay,” He says, sitting up from her.

“Okay?” she questions, wiping the last few tears from his face “because you don’t have to be.”

“I know, but I will be.”

She smiles at that, she knew he would be, even if he didn’t fully believe it, he was the strongest person she knew.

She nods towards the necklace “so you like it then?”

He nods. “I think this is the best present I’ll ever get.” And finally pulls the chain out of the box, staring at the clip confused as he tries to figure it out himself.

y/n laughs, making a motion for him to come closer.

“Here, I’ll do it for you.”

She undoes the clasp and wraps it around his neck, closing it again before adjusting, the charm settling just above his heart.

Her fingers linger on the charm, smiling at the memory, the meaning of it.

“Now you have your own Saturn, always with you.”

His hand closes on hers.

You are my Saturn y/n, he thinks.

But instead, he wraps her in a hug, “wanna camp out tonight? I’ll get John B to come back, the three of us like old times.”

She nods in his arms.

“Always.”

That night the three of them all felt like things had gone back to normal, even just for the night both John B and y/n were glad that JJ could feel some type of relief, even if it was fleeting. They knew in the morning things would go back to the way they were, and JJ would struggle a little bit more than the average person, but if they could just give him a couple of hours, it was worth it.

And finally, when they’ve retired to bed and settled in their sleeping bags, JJ and y/n had the same thought running through their minds as they fell asleep.

I love you to the moon and to Saturn.

And JJ swears he felt something press against his forehead that night, exactly like old times.

SIXTEEN

and i’ve been meaning to tell you, i think your house is haunted, your dad is always mad and that must be why, and i think you should come live with me and we can be pirates … then you won’t have to cry, or hide in the closet and just like a folk song, our love will be passed on

The summer they were sixteen was one they had been dreaming about what felt like their whole lives. Finally old enough to roam freely, exploring all the nooks and crannies unsupervised. The trio had now officially graduated to a group of five, and now they took on the world with Pope and Kiara by their sides.

It should have been a dream. Granted, most of the time it was, but there were nightmares constantly lurking in the corner. JJ didn’t want to admit it, but he was pretty sure he had finally lost his father.

Luke Maybank was never the same after his wife died, but for a while, he at least attempted for JJ. He tried, he really did, to be there, and be something for JJ. But he was losing himself, and in the past year, he was slipping further and further away, turning into someone that even y/n’s parents, who had known him for so long, didn’t recognize.

The drinking was getting out of control, and the hitting started not too long after. When he was sober, he was sorry, but eventually, it became a rare occasion to find Luke Maybank sober

So JJ’s normal became sneaking around his own house, avoiding the last of his family, seeing how many family dinners at y/n’s he could get invited to each week, and saving everything he could from his oddball jobs to get out as soon as possible.

He didn’t like to talk about it, in fact, he never did. He let the pogues think whatever they wanted to and never gave them a real answer when they asked. As far as he was concerned, they didn’t need to be concerned about him, he’d be leaving soon anyways.

But y/n knew. She watched like she always did, she was observant. She watched his eyes get that faraway look whenever he rattled off his latest excuse and the way his smile would fall when he thought no one was looking. She watched him and knew he was hurting more than he would let on.

She had gone to his house to find him but only found Luke instead, and what she saw scared her. She did not recognize the stumbling drunk man looking back at her. And he didn’t recognize her either. The girl he had watched grow up next to JJ, the girl he had roasted countless marshmallows for when she was scared of getting too close to the fire. The girl he made pancakes for in the mornings and the girl he lit fireworks for on the fourth of July. None of the memories registered, he had run her off his property like a stranger had just trespassed.

It was when y/n knew that for the second time, JJ’s life had changed. The knowledge tormented her for weeks. She hated the small piece of her that still felt sympathy for Luke, he was a broken man with plenty of reason to be. She was holding out hope, that something good would happen to JJ.

But when JJ showed up with a black eye one afternoon, blaming it on a group of kooks, she knew she had to say something. She spilled half-truths to her parents, although she suspected they picked up on the unspoken story from the tears in her eyes.

“I’m just - I’m worried about him. I just have this feeling that things have been, I don’t know … harder than normal lately.”

Her parents had sensed the shift too, all her confession had done was confirm the suspicion. Her mother told her then that JJ was always welcome in the home, and her father told her he would try to talk to Luke the next day.

And that worked for a little bit, JJ had visibly perked up and for a minute things seemed like they were back to normal, and y/n was waiting for the right to tell him what she knew but it seemed Luke had beat her to it.

She had been waiting for him at the beach, but her smile immediately turned to worry when she saw him storming up toward her.

“What the fuck y/n?” was the first thing out of his mouth, and now instead of worried she was panicked realizing his anger was directed towards her.

“JJ, what-” But before she can get anything else out he’s talking again.

“What did you do? What did your dad do? What’s with all these cryptic messages of watching us and threatening to take me away? I mean what the fuck, what does that even mean? Take me away? Away from what, my home? My father, my only family I have left? How could you do this to me?”

Her face pales immediately, her head shaking.

“JJ, that is not what happened, that’s not what he meant -”

“So then it’s true, he did come by?”

“Yes but he didn’t threaten your dad JJ, he -”

“You know what y/n, I don’t care. I just came to tell you to stay out of it. I don’t know what you think you know, but my dad and I are fine. We don’t all have a picture-perfect family to go home to at the end of the day.”

His words stung, leaving her nearly speechless. “That’s- that’s not fair JJ. You are family.” She chokes out, but he was already walking away.

“What if it was me?” She calls out, frustrated.

He stops, and she keeps going. “If I were you, and my dad was putting his hands on me. If I started showing up with marks and bruises, wouldn’t you do anything to protect me?”

“I don’t need you to protect me y/n.” And that’s the last thing he says to her before walking away.

JJ’s not around for the next couple of weeks, and it drives y/n up the wall not knowing where he was, or what he was up to.

She spends time with the pogues, but she’s never fully there at any time, part of her mind was constantly on JJ. She finally broke one day and told the pogues to please go find JJ and make him go out on the boat with them. They tried to argue with her but she told them that she was pretty sure that if he didn’t blow off some steam soon, he was going to start getting into trouble, and it wouldn’t be good for him.

She gave them space for a few days, and just assumed that they had picked up JJ and got him out of the house for a bit, so she nearly lost it when the pogues finally confessed that they hadn’t seen or heard from JJ since they had been tasked to go find him.

“Are you sure he’s not at the house?” she asked “Sometimes he just won’t come out, or if you ran into Luke then -”

“He wasn’t there, and we didn’t see Luke either. We checked inside.” Pope answers.

She could feel herself panicking.

“Why did you say something sooner?” She stressed, looking mostly at John B.

He looks down, away from her gaze. “You know how he is y/n… and you were already worried enough. We thought he’d turn up soon, he always does.”

She shakes her head, “maybe, but haven’t you noticed that when he does there’s always a new bruise?”

The three of them exchange looks while she closes her eyes, taking a breath and trying to think for a moment.

“Okay, why don’t you guys go check some of our beach spots maybe? There are a few places I can look and just keep me updated if you find him and I’ll let you guys know too.”

They part ways and y/n knows she’s going back to check the house first. Even if he had left, he was never gone from the house long, there was too much to leave behind.

She parks a little way down from the house, she hadn’t been back since the day Luke had yelled at her and if she was being honest she was still a bit scared. She crept up to the house carefully, freezing she hears shouting, the noise becoming clear once the door swings open.

“Boy, I tell ya, that’s just about the funniest thing I think I’ve heard you say.” y/n hears him laughing maniacally.

“You’re not going anywhere, you won’t leave her, you know you won’t. You’re stuck here, just like me.”

Luke stumbles off towards a trail and y/n waits until he’s out of sight before dashing into the house, finding it still and quiet. She wonders for a moment if Luke had been talking to himself the whole time, not finding it entirely impossible considering how drunk he seemed.

And then y/n is suddenly realizing that the last time she had been in this house was JJ’s fifthteenth birthday, and she was suddenly very aware of how empty it felt. It had lost the warmness and comfort it once held, feeling more like a ghost town than a home now. She felt out of place, which was something she never, ever thought she would feel in the Maybank home.

She notices a slightly open closet door at the end of the hallway, and she swore she could hear sniffling, muffled cries like someone tucked away and hiding in there.

“JJ?” she called out, and when it suddenly went silent again, she knew, rushing over to the door and opening it delicately.

And there JJ was, curled up in himself, knees up to his chest and a photograph in his hand. She knew exactly what photo he was looking at, and she immediately dropped next to him. She didn’t know what to do, she didn’t want to scare him, but looking at him broke her heart.

So instead she starts talking.

“I remember that day.” She says. “That was one of the fourth of July parties, we were all there, even John B and his dad. And this was the year the full moon lined up with the holiday, and your mom was so excited, she talked about it all day and got us excited too. Our dads bought way too many fireworks like they always did. And we ended the night with s’mores, of course, because it wouldn’t be one of our nights without them. You always were so messy. There she is again, cleaning you up.”

JJ falls into her then, and y/n catches him like she always does, and always will. She has tears too, staring at the picture of an innocent JJ, a smile plastered on his face, stacked s’more in hand, staring up at his mom who he loved so much, with no idea he was going to lose her in the next few years. And there was his mom too, beautiful as always, her own s'more in one hand and the other attempting to wipe the sticky marshmallow from his mouth, laughing because she knows it’s useless. But she was his mother, so she would try regardless.

She wraps him up in her arms, her grasp firm so he knows she’s there but not tight enough to hurt him.

“I know why you won’t leave. I know why you won’t leave him, why you always come back. You’re holding on to that last piece of normal. It’s okay, it’s okay to hold on, but not when it’s hurting you like this. This house is full of memories, but it’s haunted and full of pain too. I would never ask you to leave what you know, but please just come with me for tonight, maybe a few days at most.”

JJ has always trusted y/n, so even now, when he was upset and jumbled with emotions he trusts her.

She lifts them both up gently. “Let’s get some spare clothes, okay? I can pack them for you if you want.”

They both walk into his room but he makes no effort to pack. Instead, he picks up another photograph that was sitting on his dresser before sitting at the end of the bed. Without saying anything else she grabs one of his duffle bags, and starts putting in a few extra shirts and shorts, and even grabs a pair of sweats and a sweatshirt just in case. When she’s finished he’s still staring at the photo like he’s in some kind of trance.

She throws the bag over her shoulder and reaches her hand out to JJ. That seems to break him out of his state a little, standing up and pocketing the photographs. He takes her hand and they walk out of the house together, out to her car.

She pulls into her driveway, and they walk into the house together and up to her room.

“Why don’t you shower and change?” She can tell he’s still dazed, and she’s hoping a shower will relax him.

While he showers she makes her way back downstairs, her parents are out of town for the next few days, so she figures she’ll cross that bridge when she gets there. She does, however, text the pogues, realizing just how long it had been since they all began looking for JJ. She keeps it simple and just lets them know that he’s okay and with her for now.

And then, she makes two sandwiches, one for herself and one for JJ, because she knew he wouldn’t eat if he thinks she had made something especially for him. When she walks back up the stairs into her room, JJ is already out of the shower and changed. He looks up when she walks in and she lifts up the plates of sandwiches slightly.

“Eat with me?” she asks.

They sit and eat the sandwiches in silence, and when they’re both finished she runs the plates back down before returning with two classes of water.

“Okay,” she says after a few sips. “Just try to get some rest, okay? I’m going to shower, but I’ll be quick.”

Long after the shower turns on, JJ is still hesitating and realizing how stupid their fight was. All that he knows is that he missed y/n, and now he was here with her, everything felt like maybe it would all be okay.

He had just made it under the covers when the water shut off, and a few minutes later y/n came out, not hesitating to lay down in the bed beside JJ. It didn’t matter that they had been fighting, or not speaking, or had not seen each other in the past few weeks. They would always be there when it was needed.

“I’m sorry y/n,” he says suddenly. She had thought he had fallen asleep.

She shakes her head, even though he can’t see her.

“It’s okay.”

He rolls over, and now they’re both on their back, staring blankly at the ceiling as if staring long enough would make it disappear and show them the night sky just on the other side of it.

“But it’s not.” He starts, “You were just trying to protect me. And this whole thing has been so stupid - I’ve been so stupid. I didn’t like that, us fighting, us not talking. It just feels like … a storm sometimes. In my head, and it scares me when I’m not in control.”

His hand finds hers in the dark, “I know you were just trying to protect me. I was just mad at myself because I feel like it’s my job to protect you, and I wasn’t doing that.”

She squeezes his hand. “Maybe it’s not okay…” she starts, “but just know I understand, and that I’m always going to be here.”

She looks at him then, reaching up and finding his chin, turning it gently.

“And we protect each other, okay?” There’s a desperation in her voice that he picks up on. One that he understands, deeply.

He gives her wrist a soft squeeze, “okay.”

Then he’s curling into her, and she lets him. It’s silent for another moment before y/n breaks it this time.

“JJ?” she says quietly.

He’s barely awake but he still answers her with a tired “Mhm?”

She hesitates, “to the moon and to Saturn.” She backs out, but the unspoken meaning is still there.

He smiles.

“You are my Saturn.

EIGHTEEN

please, picture me in the weeds, before i learned civility, i used to scream ferociously … any time i wanted

y/n blinks and suddenly it’s graduation. She’s never been happier, a swirl of excitement and pride all in one stirring in her stomach. For herself and everyone but mostly for JJ. Things had been okay enough, but no one could deny the hand JJ had been dealt. He faced it every day, the sideway looks and the backhanded comments and the flat-out insults. But he had done it, proved them all wrong.

Luke had even made it to the ceremony, sitting tucked away in the back as he watched his son walk the stage, and afterward y/n eyes them as they had a conversation before finally parting ways.

JJ runs over to the rest of the group, scooping up y/n and spinning her around, cheering and causing a scene.

“We did it, we’re done!” He’s yelling, “we’re free!”

They continue to chat for a while and joke around, taking photos until the parents are all satisfied before parting ways with plans to meet back up at the beach later in the night.

JJ goes home with y/n and her parents, where there’s a small celebration set up for the pair. They eat cake and flip through old scrapbooks and photo albums. He’s happy, but there’s a sting in his chest, wishing his mom was there.

He imagines briefly, what it would have been like had his dad never changed, if he would have been there in the living room with them, or if he would have had his own afternoon planned. He decides not to dwell on it, instead, he wraps his arms around her from behind on the couch. He focuses on her, and her parents, the photo album of past memories. He understands he’s still lucky.

It gets later, and before JJ and y/n leave for the beach her parents call them into the kitchen again, they have something for JJ. He blushes at the statement, although he tries to hide it. He’s handed a small box and is shocked when he sees a silver key sitting inside.

“We hope we aren’t overstepping,” your mom starts, “really, it’s a bit overdue but we just thought - we just want you to know you’re welcome here anytime.”

Her father places a firm hand on his shoulder when he sees JJ getting choked up, “just if you ever need anything. Hell, if you ever just want to come bother us. You know you’re family.”

He laughs a bit, trying to lighten the mood, shaking his head, “Aw man, now you guys got me all emotional.”

Then he looks up at her father, “thank you, really.” And then he turns to her mother too, and she pulls him into a hug that he gladly accepts. “This means a lot to me, really… I don’t … I don’t know what I would’ve done without you guys. Where I’d be… just, thank you.” He tells her.

“You don’t need to thank us, honey. We’ll always be here to take care of you.”

The moment passes, he pulls away, clearing his throat in an attempt to hide his emotional state and he turns to y/n. “Alright, soaps over.” He announces, “you ready to go?”

They make their way to the beach, talking about summer along the way. JJ keeps listing all the things he wants everyone to do together before it’s time to part for school.

They find a spot on the beach, sitting and talking about how strange it is to be done with high school, and the future. Everyone is leaving, even John B. But JJ and y/n decided to stay close to home, not ready to leave yet.

“After college,” he says, “that’s when it’ll be time to go.”

“You would leave Outer Banks?” She asks, slightly shocked.

“Yea.” He says, confused as to why she was so shocked at his statement

“I’ve always said that, why the face?” He questions.

She looks down, realizing that he was right, he had always said that. She never thought about it in detail, never pressed him on it. Maybe she thought all this time that he never really meant it. Everyone always says they want to leave their hometown but how often did they really?

“nothing it’s just, something I heard Luke say once.”

She catches the way his face drops and she tries to backtrack

“No, no, it was nothing bad I promise. I heard him say ‘you know you won’t leave her’ and I don’t know, it’s just the only thing I’d ever agree on with Luke. That you wouldn’t leave your mom behind, and I understand that. You could build something better, be something better.”

He has a pained look on his face, his hand reaching up to the Saturn around his neck.

“Did you mean what you said, about me being a part of my mom?”

She rests a hand on his shoulder, “of course I did JJ. Everyone knows. You’re the best parts of her.”

“Then it won’t matter where I go. She’ll always be with me.”

Then the look on his face turns into a smirk.

“Besides,” he starts, “it wasn’t my mom he was talking about.”

y/n pulls her arm back from JJ’s, retreating into her own space.

“Oh.” She says simply, starting to wonder who would keep him tied here.

The only other girl he really had in his life was Kiara, and they had been awfully close this past year. She had even gifted him a locket for his seventeenth birthday and it now sat right next to his Saturn charm. It took everything in her not to ask what it was, her curiosity was killing her but she respected his privacy more. But truthfully, y/n couldn’t blame JJ even if she wanted to. Kiara was special, she wouldn’t want to leave her either. She didn’t want to leave any of them.

And then y/n started to realize that she always thought it would be her and JJ. Whenever she imagined the future, JJ was there too. She was realizing that maybe it was selfish of her to just assume he’d always be there. She knew he had dreams of his own, and who was to say that she was involved in any of them?

“Hey now,” he starts when he notices the change in her demeanor, grabbing at her face and pushing at the corner of her lips, playfully trying to force a smile.

“Why’s my y/n so sad?” He says with a pout, putting on a dramatic voice like he’s talking to a hurt child.

She pushed his hands away, trying to look annoyed but failing miserably, not being able to control the smile that follows her laugh.

“Well I’m sorry, my best friend just dropped a bomb that he has some mystery woman he’d follow to the ends of the earth. I guess I’m just a piece of moldy bread to you now, huh? I’ve been replaced.”

She overplays her sadness, saying it dramatically, but truthfully deep down a part of her is hurting at the thought.

His hands have moved to the side of her face.

“Come on now y/n, you’re supposed to be the smart one.”

She places her own hands on his, turning her head to the side slightly in question.

“Oh my god y/n,” he laughs, “are you going to make me say it?”

She remains silent, her face reflecting her deeper confusion, wondering what he was on about. She honestly felt like she had missed something, feeling like he had moved on to a whole new topic all together.

“It’s you, you big dummy!” He exclaims, shaking her a bit to emphasize his point.

Suddenly y/n is shocked and embarrassed, moving her head down, trying to hide from JJ’s gaze.

He laughs again and pulls her in, “I would never leave you y/n. You’re stuck with me.”

She doesn’t reply, but she doesn’t need to, instead, she lets him tuck her into his chest. Her eyes land on that locket of his, and she can’t stop her fingers from playing with the charm.

Then suddenly his hand is running up her arm and grabbing hers.

“Why don’t you just ask already?” He says and she immediately freezes. “I know you want to know.”

She still doesn’t say anything but she shrugs her shoulders a bit. Yes, y/n was dying to know what was in the locket but part of her also felt it was an unspoken line that she shouldn’t cross. It was Kiara that had given it to him, so it was probably something that meant a lot to the two of them, and she didn’t want to pry at their relationship.

Of course, he would tell her if she asked but she never let herself.

“Just open it y/n.”

She looks up at him, still hesitant. But the look on his face reassures her, so she pinches open the locket and immediately smiles when she sees the photo inside. That photo from that fourth of July all those years ago, sitting with his mom on the banket, marshmallow all over his face. She can’t help the bittersweet tears that prick at her eyes, thinking about all that JJ had accomplished, and wishing more than anything that his mother had been there to see it.

Then silently JJ reaches up and opens the locket the rest of the way, and when y/n sees the photo on the other side it feels like all the air has been sucked out of her. It’s a photo of him and her from when they were little, looking like it’s from the same night. There they were, standing next to each other with wide eyes and beaming smiles, sparklers in hand. Trails of light surrounded the sparklers, the children unable to keep them still.

And that was when y/n knew. She knew that it would always be the two of them, somehow and someway. She knew that she would go wherever he wanted or needed to go at the drop of a hat and that he too would follow her without hesitation. And most of all she knew she was lucky. She knew how lucky she was to have someone like JJ in her life.

She closes the locket with tears in her eyes, and rests her palm on his chest, feeling his heart beat wildly. When she finally looks up she sees him tearing up too. She reaches up and wraps her arms around him, holding onto him tightly and he does the same.

“I love you JJ.”

He squeezes her tighter for a moment.

“I love you too y/n.”

And maybe the words meant more to both of them. It seemed like over the years that the lines between loving platonically and loving romantically had blurred. Best friends, soulmates, twin flames, they were always something to each other. But the one thing that they did know was that they had time. They had so much time to figure it out and neither were in a rush to figure it out. What they were now was good, who were they to question it?

TWENTY-TWO

sweet tea in the summer, cross my heart won’t tell no other, and though i can’t recall your face i still got love for you, pack your dolls and a sweater, we’ll move to india forever … passed down like folk songs our love last so long

It’s Friday night and the Fourth of July. y/n has been cleaning the apartment all day, needing everything to be perfect. Everyone lived busy lives now, but they were coming tonight to celebrate. She even decorated. A few balloons tied to chairs and red, white, and blue streamers hanging from the doorway.

She hears the front door opening but doesn’t look up from the counter she was wiping down.

“Are you still cleaning? It’s just the pogues y/n, relax.”

“I know,” She says, folding the last blanket and placing it on the edge of the couch “I just want it to be nice. It’s all going to be so different soon.”

There’s a beat of silence and a bittersweet tension hanging in the air.

“Why are you home so late?” She asks, changing the subject quickly.

He lifts the grocery bag in his hand, “beer” he says simply.

She rolls her eyes. “JJ, we have plenty of beer.”

She starts walking towards the kitchen and JJ trails behind her, pulling the pack of beer out of the bag.

“Oh y/n, you can never have too much beer.” He places the pack in the fridge and then starts taking out a few more items.

“Plus, we can’t do the fourth without our favorite.”

She smiles at the contents on the counter, “how could I forget the s’mores?”

JJ turns back to her and puts his hands on her shoulders.

“Because you’re in overdrive, and stressing yourself out. Go take a nap before they get here. You’ve been up all day and I know you had a late night, you’re tired.”

“No, I was going to make some snacks and -” She protests.

“You don’t need to make anything, Kie said she’s bringing dinner from The Wreck.”

“Well, what about the fireworks?”

“John B has it covered”

“What about -”

JJ cuts her off again, “everything is done y/n, we’re ready for tonight. Go rest.”

She pulls him in, wrapping her arms around him.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She looks up at him, admiring him for a moment. It was something she caught herself doing often, and if he noticed he never commented on it.

College had been kind to JJ. Once he got a handle on it he thrived in the freedom of it. They were coming up on a year since graduation, and JJ had since shed his childlike habits. He was still himself, the light of the party and loud and still sometimes impulsive but underneath it all, he was a man now. It was evident in the way he carried himself now, broader and more confident. He took his life seriously and was happy to do so.

She smiles up at him, “I’ll take a nap if you come with me.” And when she looks at him with those eyes of hers, JJ simply cannot resist.

“Okay, come on.”

They walk over to the couch, JJ picks up the blanket and unravels it before laying down.

“JJ! I just folded that.” She says, slightly irritated but laying down nearly on top of him anyways.

He only rolls his eyes at the comment, dropping the blanket over them and wrapping his arms around her, y/n melting into him as soon as he does.

Minutes of silence pass, and JJ thinks she’s fallen asleep until she speaks up.

“Are we sure about this?”

“y/n, we’ve spent months talking about this. I promise you we’re doing the right thing, okay?”

She sighs, knowing deep down that he was right, so she lets herself relax and catch up on the much-needed sleep.

-------

Hours later and the night has finally begun. They’re all sitting in the living room, chatting. JJ and y/n exchange a look, and they know it’s time. 

“Alright guys, we have something to tell you all.” Her smile is spreading, but she still turns to JJ for reassurance. He takes her hand in his and the pair turn back to the group.

“We’re moving.” They both spit out at the same time. 

The other four drop their mouths in shock, it wasn’t the news they thought they were getting, but it was still enough of a bomb to catch them completely off guard. 

But the speechless shock only lasts a brief moment before they start bombarding the pair with questions.

“Okay, okay!” y/n shouts, trying to calm all the voices talking over each other. 

“San Francisco, California. That’s where we’re going. I got a job offer and JJ found a few places hiring where he can teach surfing lessons.”

Kiara and Sarah are nearly jumping from excitement, pulling her into a hug. 

“y/n, that’s amazing!” 

“Congrats, baby!” 

“When do you have to be there?” 

y/n’s smile drops and she pulls away. 

“Well, that's the thing…” She starts, glancing towards JJ again, and that’s when he steps in. 

“Our lease for here is up at the end of this month anyway …” 

“You’re moving across the country in less than a month?” 

“We didn’t think it was going to move this fast but things just seemed to line up that way…” 

...

After the excitement and explanation, they’ve migrated into two separate groups, the boys still lingering in the living room. 

“So that’s not the announcement we thought we were getting tonight,” Pope says, nudging JJ. 

JJ looks at him confused, “what do you mean?” He asks. 

“He means,” John starts, sitting up, “when are you gonna ask y/n to marry you?” 

JJ nearly chokes on his drink at that, even spitting a bit of it out. 

“What the fuck are you talking about?” He asks, “we’re not even dating.” 

The other two glance at each other for a moment before back at him.

“What?” 

“What?” The other two echo back, just as confused. 

“And I thought two of my best friends moving across the country was going to be the biggest news of the night,” John says, taking a swig from his beer. 

“What have you two been doing the past five years then?” Pope asks.

“We’re just … She’s my best friend, you guys know that.” 

“But aren’t you guys more than that?” John asks. “You know, you could have told us you’ve been dating since high school and we’d believe it. You really aren’t together?” 

JJ shakes his head, trying to explain what he doesn’t fully understand himself. 

“No, not like that. We’re just… we’re JJ and y/n. Like we’ve always been.” 

The other two share a small laugh. 

“What?” The blonde asks.

“It was never JJ and y/n,” Pope answers. “It was always jjandy/n.”

“Have you guys really never?” He pries. “... At all? Anything? This whole time? Have you talked about it ever?” Pope continues as JJ shakes his head.

“No… we haven’t, we’ve never had to. I just know I’m always going to have her, and she’s always going to have me. We’ve never questioned or talked about how or in what way.”

“But what are you going to do if she meets someone? If you meet someone? Will you move out? Do you two even know how to function without the other?” Pope spits the questions out at a rapid-fire, genuinely curious.

“Of course, we can function without each other, we aren’t codependent.” JJ sighs, taking a breath, “I don’t know what’s going to happen if we meet people, we’ve never had that problem. She’s never mentioned guys past a hook up so I don’t know.”

“And what about you? What if you meet a girl?”

“I don’t know! Good god, what’s with the third degree?”

“You’ve seriously never thought about the future?” John presses. 

“Not in, that sense I guess.”

“Okay, here, close your eyes. Don’t give me that look, come on just close them.”

JJ rolls his eyes but does as he’s asked. 

“Okay, now, imagine yourself five, maybe even ten years from now. What do you see?”

“I don’t know… I just - I just see y/n.” 

…

In the kitchen, Kiara and Sarah are giving y/n a similarly hard time, although it seems to be phasing her a little less. 

“You know we totally thought the two of you were going to tell us that you were finally engaged, right?” 

y/n rolls her eyes at Sarah, jumping up onto the counter to sit, “I’ve told you guys, we aren’t even dating. I don’t know where you keep getting that.” 

“Still?” Sarah nearly shouts, “You guys still aren’t dating?” 

“Ha!” Kiara cuts in before y/n can reply, “You owe me ten bucks.” 

“Oh, so you guys are betting on us now?” 

“Sarah’s betting.” Kiara says, “I’m making a profit.”

The other two are still standing, leaning against the counter inches away from y/n.  

“What have the two of you been doing this whole time?” Sarah starts asking. “I thought for sure after we graduated college the two of you would finally get together.” 

“They’re their own thing, Sarah, I keep trying to tell you.”

“But you guys are basically together, aren’t you? Is it just a ‘we don’t want to put a label on it’ thing?” Sarah presses.

“No, we aren’t together romantically at all. As I’ve said, I don’t know why it’s so shocking to everyone whenever I remind you.” 

“But do you want to be?” Kiara asks, shifting the tone of the conversation a bit. 

“I don’t know.” She says quietly, thinking it over. 

“I mean, Sarah is right you guys have been together for, well your whole lives really. You guys are moving across the country together. The two of you are pretty much starting your lives together. What if he brings someone home? What if you meet someone?” 

y/n just shrugs, starting to feel the tingling of emotions. 

“To be honest with you, I don’t like to think about it. I mean I’ve dated here and there, and I know JJ has too but it never became anything serious for either of us.” 

That day on the beach all those years ago had been enough to hold her over. The thought of always being together in some way, but now that they were getting older and a new part of life was starting, would that hold true? 

“I just know I want him in my life.” She continues, “I mean, I think part of me always did think that maybe we’d end up together but… I don’t know I just, I guess I just want to make sure we’re together because we want to be, not because we’re all we’ve ever known. Sometimes I get scared that we’re holding each other back, that there’s something or someone we’re missing out on.” 

She looks back up at the two girls, shaking her head at her emotions that seem to be building up. 

“But most of all I just want him to be happy you know? I need to be prepared if it’s not with me. I guess I don’t know. I don’t even know what I’m saying.” 

Sarah places a hand on y/n’s shoulder comfortingly. 

“No, we get it. I think a lot of this is just anxiety from the move, from this big life change coming up. I can tell you, the one thing that’s never going to change is you and JJ. You guys are absolutely not holding each other back. Trust me, one of us would have said something if we were worried.” 

“You can’t see it from the outside.” Kiara jumps in. “It’s not always bad to have someone like you have JJ. Never once have either of you held each other back. You’ve always brought out the best in him and he’s always brought out the best in you.” 

“You really think so?” She asks, looking between the both of them. 

They both nod, pulling the girl into a group hug best they can, just as the boys are walking back in from the living room. 

“Hey!” JJ immediately shouts, walking over to the three girls. “Which one of you made my y/n cry?” 

Sarah wordlessly moves from her side and next to Kiara, making space next to y/n for JJ to slide into, sending a look to Kiara at the words my y/n while doing so. 

“Kiara was telling me a story about work.” y/n says quickly. “You know how I get about the turtles.” 

“Oh yes,” He says, lifting a hand and wiping away the few tears, “that would explain it.” 

“What about you boys?” She asks, nodding at Pope and John as well, “What were you all gossiping about, huh?” 

“John was telling me all about the fireworks he brought. You ready to go light ‘em up?” 

She jumps down from the counter excitedly. 

“Yes, let’s go!” She says, grabbing the large plate that contained chocolate and graham crackers in one hand and a large bag of marshmallows and skewers in the other. 

The rest of them follow the pair out, watching as JJ takes the plate from y/n so she doesn’t have her hands full. 

“Okay,” Sarah says, “I’d put money on a year from now.” 

“Oh my god, Sarah,” Kiara says, giving her a playful shove. 

The rest of the night is good, y/n makes sure to take a moment to let it sink in, all their smiles and all their laughs. 

They set off fireworks, and sparklers, throw poppers at each other’s feet, watch the boys run from one another with roman candles in hand, and JJ and y/n eat their weight in s’mores. The night runs longer than intended, especially since the girls decided to bring the alcohol back out. 

Finally, long after the night has settled and everyone has lingered for as long as they can, the group starts to say goodbye to each other. Dishes and trash are brought back inside, excess fireworks and belongings collected, and goodbyes dragged out until JJ and y/n are left in their apartment.

y/n lets out a long sigh, feeling the night and the drinks and the reality of them leaving catch up to her. It felt a lot more real now that they had told their closest friends. 

JJ notices her lingering by the door and tugs her gently on the arm. 

“Hey, you wanna sleep with me tonight?” 

She nods silently, a grateful smile on her lips. 

“Go change and meet me in there, okay?” 

She moves a little bit slower than usual, weighed down by exhaustion, doing the bare minimum to get ready for bed, simply changing her clothes and brushing her teeth lazily before pulling her hair up and walking to JJ’s room. 

He’s just climbing into bed and she follows without hesitation, curling into him. She thinks about how easy it is with JJ, or maybe natural is the better word. Everything just is with him. 

He notices the way she’s holding his hand tightly and to her chest.

“Hey,” he starts softly, “you know if … if you’re second guessing this whole move, just say it and we’ll stay. Or… just tell me and I’ll stay.” 

“No,” she says quickly, holding him even tighter now. “It’s not that…” She pauses, trying to gather her words and her courage. 

“It’s just, you know that I love you, right? But do you know that I love you?” 

JJ thinks he can’t breathe and worries for a second that his heart beating as fast as it is can’t be healthy. He wonders for a moment if he’s already fallen asleep and if this is all just a dream. 

Because this is the moment he’s been waiting for his whole life.

“I’m starting my life with you. Moving all the way across the country… away from our home, our family, and our best friends. But the thing is, as hard as I know it’s going to be … I don’t care. Because I’ll be with you, JJ. I’ll have you. I don’t want anything else. Anyone else. I never have.” 

It’s more of a confirmation than anything else.

There’s a moment of silence, and she holds her breath. Then another, while JJ tries to find his words. His mind races, processing her precious words. Pieces of their life together flash through his mind.

He’s crying before he can stop himself, overwhelmed.

“Just… come here.” He says desperately, pulling her in and locking her into his hold. 

“You’re going to make me cry.” She says, muffled in his chest. 

If it was anyone else, maybe the tears would be alarming. She would’ve read the situation differently, and taken it as a rejection. 

But it was JJ. And tonight is more of a confirmation than a confession. 

He pulls her even closer, tightens his grip in hopes of emphasizing his words, and just how much he means it. 

“I never told you outright, but you had to have known, right?… that it was always going to be you? I’ve never been good with my words but I hope I’ve shown you. I hope you’ve felt it this whole time. How important you are to me. How much I love you.” 

She escapes his grip, pulling away only so she can see his face. 

“I have never felt anything but loved by you JJ.” 

And then JJ blacks out he thinks. Or maybe it was just a mind-numbing rush of adrenaline. Or maybe it was natural instinct that had been lying dormant this whole time, just waiting for the right moment. 

Because one second he was staring at her glossy eyes, and the next his lips had found hers. 

Finally. 

It’s soft and slightly desperate, dizzying and intoxicating. 

A sensation that both of them had been the feeling they had simply been waiting for their whole lives. 

They only break away to relieve the burning in their lungs. 

“Say it,” she begs softly, a little out of breath and a little drunk on JJ. 

His mind is in a haze, a smile still adorning his lips as he tries to get back to hers. “I love you.” 

“No,” She says, pulling on him to get as close as possible, “the other one. Tell me again.” 

He doesn’t even hesitate, knowing what she means in an instant. 

“You’re my Saturn, y/n.” 

She smiles into his chest, “again.” 

His hand finds her cheek, guiding her face to look up at him. 

“You are my Saturn.” 

“Never stop saying it?” 

He kisses her again, then pulls her back into his side, tucking her into the spot that she’s always belonged in. 

“Never.” 

[stardusthuntress]

To Speak Without Words - Ch. 1

Crosshair x female!reader (she/her pronouns for now, might get spicy later) 

Word Count: ~2k 

Tantis Rescue AU! I’ve had this idea for ages, and now that S3 has rescued Omega and Crosshair it dawned on me that I never actually posted this one! Seems like there’s no better time to post it than now! (also: TECH LIVES!!)

Summary: (mini-series) Crosshair starts to fall for the woman he’s rescued with. She has learned to read him easier than just about anyone else he’s ever met. He learns her too. 

TW: Crosshair has PTSD, and Hunter is still learning how to deal with it. Speaking of, it starts with a flashback to a torture scene… while Crosshiar is still in Hemlock’s custody (well, Hemlock thinks it’s more like ownership, but who needs his opinion anyways); I do mention that they both get back in the fight later, but it’s not a big focus, comparitively

A/N: So, I’ve had this for ages, but I thought I needed more to it before I posted it… turns out it’s pretty complete as is! And now that we’ve actually gotten to see the Tantis exfil and Crosshair and Omega return to the gang, I realized I really needed to just post the darned thing! I just want to say, I didn’t change this to fit anything from S3, it’s been written like this for ages, I just fixed some typos before I posted it, so S3 has not been an influence here! 

PS. This is my FIRST Crosshair fic on here!!! WHOOOOOO!!!

PPS. I promise I'll get back to the "Right Attire" posts soon! Just needed to get this one out of my WIPs!

Crosshair banners from @/djarrex, hyperspace banners my own!

He’s barely conscious. Voices enter the room. All are familiar, but not in a good way. But only one has a name he can vaguely remember, something to do with something deadly, like a poison… Hemlock! That was his name. The name sank like a rock in his mind, and took his stomach with it. Nothing good was coming, that was for sure. 

But one was new. A female. She seemed as upset as his stomach felt. But despite how queasy he felt, this he needed to see, to understand why she was here and whether he knew her. 

Slowly, he opened his eyes. At first, everything was a blur… gradually, his eyes focused on her face. He’d never seen her before, but the fear and pain he saw on her features was more than familiar… and then the memory faded…

Snippets of other memories flash through his mind, all out of order. His mind is beginning to block out large chunks of his captivity… 

Hemlock’s voice broke through the haze of it all, “I see those paternal instincts your batch mates displayed still exist, but unfortunately, I need the little girl for another experiment.” He turns to the TK’s standing guard, “Remove her from the room.” Then turns back to Crosshair lying on the table, “Let’s see what other animalistic emotions you tend to display. I know you recently gave up your disdain for, what did you call them, ‘Regs’? How about the civilians you thought you were protecting?” Hemlock once again turns towards the guards in the hallway, “bring the woman in.” 

Flashes of moments of both of their agonies as they both did their best to conceal their ‘animalistic tendencies’, as Hemlock put it, flash through Crosshair’s mind. Doing their best not to become attached to the person at the other end of the table, but the need to protect them was as inevitable as if they had been sharing a bunk. 

She’d been dozing off against her corner of the cold, hard table, sitting on the floor, arms chained to the corner above her. 

Crosshair was sitting across from her, attached to the foot of the table in much the same manner, doing his best to stay awake while she slept. They always took turns, so they’d have warning when Hemlock showed up. 

She woke up with a start when Crosshair nudged her with his foot. She looked at him, bracing for bad news, but he simply nodded towarads the door. 

“Shield!” Crosshair announced, he could see the corridor more clearly than she could from his spot at the foot of the table. 

She reacted instinctively, knowing that word meant protecting her face and neck as best as she could. No sooner had she done so than the wall that had been blocking her view of the corridor was blown away in a blast that rocked the whole room. 

When the dust settled she found a rough-looking man staring Crosshair down. 

Her head was still ringing from the blast, but it seemed like the man was mad at Crosshair. 

Hunter looked down at Crosshair’s battered form, leaning wearily against the wall. “One question for you brother… why? Why did you aim it at me before rescuing the kid?” 

There was a pause, while a disgruntled man with a device wrapping around the back of his head knealt down and began drilling away at the cuffs restraining Crosshair. 

“I could ask you the same question.” Came Crosshair’s venomous reply. 

Both men tensed, like they were preparing for a fight. 

“NO!” She shouted, tugging against her restraints, reaching for Cross with her feet in a meager attempt to shield him from the wrath of the long-haired man. 

“Here, lemme help you, little lady,” a voice spoke up from beside her, and thick arms reached around her and took ahold of the cuffs around her wrists, easily ripping through the restraints anchoring her to the table, snapping the cuffs in half without hurting her wrists at all. But she barely noticed, as soon as she was free she launched herself across the room and put herself between Crosshair and the tattooed man. 

“NO.” She said firmly. “Don’t hurt him.”

“I wasn’t going to, Sweetheart. He’s my brother. Just wanted to knock some sense into him, that’s all.” 

“Don’t. Touch. Him.” She backed up towards Crosshair, stumbling, barely able to keep herself on her feet, until her back bumped his chest. Crosshair’s hand found her shoulder, and she knew it was an attempt to steady them both. 

“I won’t hurt him.” The tattooed man said. “I promise. I’m Hunter by the way. What’s your name, Hun?” 

Crosshair’s grip on her shoulder tightened. A warning. Both to her and Hunter. Reminding them both that she had Crosshair’s protection. 

Hunter raised his hands to emphasize his point, “I won’t hurt either of you. But we gotta get you both out of here, it’s a long way, and neither of you look so stable on your feet.” He held out a hand in offering, but the two clung tightly to each other. Strange. Crosshair prided himself of never needing anyone, even his brothers. Clearly, they were used to only having each other and a hard time. Hunter retracted his hand. “I’ll be with you the whole way, I’ll do my best to catch you if you fall.” 

She glanced over her shoulder at Crosshair. He’d never told her about his squad, but Hemlock had done his best to pry information about them from him. She knew who they were, and that Crosshair refused to tell anyone about them, but she didn’t know why. She didn’t know if he still trusted them. One nod was all it took to confirm that they were ok, but the anger in his eyes, as he stared Hunter down, told her volumes. 

Days later, Crosshair and Hunter end up in a big argument, no one caught how it started or why exactly, but she can’t stand it. She has to step in. 

“But you still don’t SEE him, Hunter!” 

“You wouldn’t know. You weren’t there.” Hunter defends, his words heavy with his own pain. 

“I know— “

“—She knows.” Crosshair’s reply is curt, angry, and pained, and Hunter notices he won’t hold eye contact anymore, but he’s not sure why. He thinks it has to do with that annoying need to get attention only to ignore it when he does have it. 

“Hemlock had security camera footage,” she says quietly. 

Hunter’s cold, angry exterior begins to soften. “I take it he used it against… when he…uhh…” 

“Sorta,” she confirms. 

Crosshair is staring pointedly at one spot on the ground. There’s nothing there. But he can’t look at anyone right now. Not when thinking about what the two of them went through back there. 

She puts a hand on his arm. 

He tenses beneath her touch, but doesn’t push it off. 

She steps forward, slowly, and leans her head against his temple. 

“We’re both safe now,” Hunter can hear her whisper to him. “I’m okay now.”

What was that second thing she’d said? I’m okay now? Hunter’s mind was reeling. That wasn’t what he was expecting her to say. Had he heard her right? For once, he questioned his heightened hearing. 

She turns the conversation back on Hunter to take the attention off of Crosshair so he has a moment to breathe and return to himself. 

“Hunter, listen, I know you want Crosshair to communicate more. But you know Crosshair prefers to use actions to communicate instead of words. And yet when he does use actions to communicate, you ignore them.”

Hunter is stunned into silence. He has no idea what to say nor what to look for. 

She continues, “You said he aimed his blaster at you before rescuing Omega from the wreckage, and yet you did the same thing back in the training room, right before they destroyed everything.” 

She still pets Crosshair’s head and neck, as he hides his face in her neck, “You said Crosshair didn’t care about any of you, even the kid, after he chose the Empire, and yet he still managed to get a message to you, plan 88, remember?… he was caught and tortured immediately after.”

On her shoulder, she can feel Crosshair’s breathing returning to a normal, slower pattern, but he still needs more time, so she continues, “You know Crosshair never misses his mark, he keeps his target in the crosshairs, hence the name. And yet, whenever he found himself fighting against you boys… well, you’re still here. Doesn’t that tell you a lot?” 

Hunter is staring at his brother now, worry on his face as Crosshair begins to surface from the woman’s shoulder, but she’s not done yet. 

“Do you know how long he waited on that platform on Kamino before the Empire found him? Do you know what it’s like to have that much time alone with your thoughts, and yet he still warned you with plan 88. And you weren’t there when he disappeared in the ice and snow on a frozen world, returning a few days later nearly frozen to death with a dying reg on his shoulder, and then ending his commanding officer when the reg died because no one gave him medical care.” 

Crosshair’s eyes were misty and distant as he turned his body towards Hunter, though he still refused to look at him. “He saved me first.” Was all he said. 

Hunter stepped forward slowly, placing a hesitant hand on Crosshair’s shoulder and raising his eyebrows to tell him he did want to hear more. 

“I stepped on a mine. He saved me first. We were the last troops stationed at the outpost.” 

“Just two men to protect an entire outpost?” Hunter asked, trying to understand what his brother had gone through and what the empire’s strategy was in it. 

“Raiders wiped out the rest. Empire refused to send more. I was the last—” but Crosshair’s voice broke on the last word, he couldn’t finish it. 

Hunter stood there, confused and startled. He’d never seen Crosshair like this. He’d seen him mad and upset as a cadet, but never like this. 

The woman gently tugged Crosshair back towards her so she could whisper in his ear. 

“Then it’s a good thing you’re still here to remember him, to remember them all. Even the ones you never met. I know we can’t get them back, but we can remember them and what they mean to us, regardless of whether we tell anyone else about it.” 

He nodded, and once again hid his face in the crook of her neck as fresh waves of emotion silently racked his body. 

Hunter watched, helplessly. He didn’t know what to do. Until she yanked him over by his wrist, and dragged him to sit down on the floor with Crosshair between them. 

Unbenounced to the three of them, the others had been hiding just out of sight, but close enough to listen in. Tech got up from his spot, crouched beside Wrecker and Echo in the dark hallway, and quietly walked over to the tangle of limbs. Without saying a word, he took off his chest plate and sat down behind Crosshair, their backs pressing together. 

Crosshair did not react, nor give any signal of acknowledgment, but he didn’t need to. Right now, he just needed to let it out. 

After a moment or two, Wrecker and Echo entered too, each doing the same as Tech, joining the group without saying anything, just there, leaning against each other. Even little omega emerged from her room and snuggled in between Hunter and cross, Lula tucked in her arms. 

It took Hunter a long while to think through what he could say that would help, if anything actually could… until he finally settled on a simple sentence, hoping it would be enough. 

“I’m so sorry I was so blind to what you were trying to say, Brother.” 

Crosshair’s grip on Hunter tightened. 

Hunter took that as a good sign. 

“I’ll try to do better,” he offered. 

They woke in the morning, still in a giant cuddle pile on the floor of the ship….

Please don’t steal my work! I pour my heart into these so if you like it please reblog to share instead of reposting it! And NO dropping it into an AI to finish it for me! That’s stealing my work and feeding it to an AI without my consent. It is not okay to give an AI something you didn’t write yourself! 

[goldenbuckyyy]

MATILDA

Summary: During the holiday season, Harry helps you realize that it’s okay to build your own family.

Pairings: Harry Styles x fem!Reader

Word count: 3.5kish

Warnings: Mentions of past childhood neglect, slight smut mentioned, angst, crying, anything else?? Let me know!!

A/N: hi!!! Merry Christmas to all of you!! I wanted to post this earlier today, but ended up spending the holidays with my family! I got this request by someone anonymous and I loved the idea!! Hopefully you all do as well. Inspired by: “Matilda” by Harry Styles.

All mistakes are my own. Please do not repost or translate my fics on any other site nor this one.

I appreciate any likes, reblogs, messages, and interactions.

Masterlist

Today is the day before your birthday. 

It’s Christmas Eve. 

And you are not a fan of the holidays. 

You didn’t particularly enjoy any of them. 

Mostly because you’ve never had a chance to ever actually celebrate them. 

You’ve never had an Easter egg hunt on Easter Sunday. You’ve never popped loud fireworks on the 4th of July. You’ve never had a warm turkey dinner on Thanksgiving. You’ve never even decorated a Christmas Tree for Christmas holidays. 

You’ve never even had Christmas presents waiting for you under the tree on Christmas Morning. 

It doesn’t help the fact that your birthday is on Christmas Day. 

Every memory you had of a holiday was tainted with the background noise of your parents fighting and you crying yourself to sleep. 

One of your earliest memories was when you were eight and your godmother, Eva, gifted you a brand new pretty pink bicycle. You loved that bike from the moment you saw it. You remember the way your heart felt so full at that age and the overpowering feeling of excitement overcame you. 

You learned how to ride it with her cheering you on for your birthday, you remember laughing so loud in happiness that your belly hurt, and when you yelled for your mom to watch you… she was reading the newspaper and waved you away with her hand as she said “It’s no big deal.” 

You remember the instant dread you felt in the pit of your belly, the way your happiness was instantly stripped away from you, the way tears immediately filled your eyes which caused your vision to haze, your hands to shake, and it made you lose control of your brand new pretty bike. 

Then, you fell. You scraped your knees which turned into a bloody mess, bruising all your legs and arms, and you spent the entire time crying. Only Eva helped you. You remember hearing her scold your mother, but she didn’t care. 

The tainted memory stayed with you forever. The scar on your knees proves it. 

You never rode that bike again. 

After that, you only focused on school. You remember only focusing on your grades and your after school activities. You wanted to get the highest grades and the highest praises so you could go to the best college. You wanted to do whatever you could do to get away from your family. 

You wanted to get out of this small town in this forgettable state and move far far away from here. You didn’t care about how you did it. You just had to do it. 

Turns out.. you had a hidden talent for singing and songwriting. One hit song when you were seventeen right after graduation ended up landing you the record deal of the year. You had gotten lucky and you felt grateful every day since. 

That song and album won you three Grammys in your very first year in the spotlight. It felt overwhelming. 

Suddenly, you were being pulled in different directions. You had millions of fans. You performed sold out shows in the biggest arenas in the United States and all abroad. You were living the life you had never thought you would have ever wanted. But it made you happy. 

You were the happiest you had been in years. In your whole life, maybe. 

And you never went back home. Especially for your birthday. You didn’t enjoy celebrating it because everything about Christmas time reminded you of your horrible childhood. 

So.. yeah. You weren’t a fan of the holidays. 

And it didn’t help that your wonderful, loving, teddy bear of a boyfriend loved them. He absolutely loved Christmas time. 

He was the type to hire decorators to decorate the outside of the house and then to come inside and go the full nine yards in here, too. 

You admit.. it made you happy seeing him happy. It made your heart tug a little bit and all you wanted was for him to be happy. But this year, you were both going to celebrate in your shared New York City penthouse. 

Harry said Anne and Gemma were aching to spend the holidays up here. 

You had somehow managed to get out of the Christmas holidays the past three years. Always scheduling something so you wouldn’t be home, but Harry begged you to not plan anything this year. That he wanted to celebrate with you and finally be together for your birthday, here at home. With him. You love him and you know how much this means to him.  You want to make him happy, so you agreed. He’s your entire world. 

Harry came into your life like a bulldozer. Fast, unexpectedly, and it was life changing. He had reached out to you back in 2018 during the holiday season. 

You remember seeing “Harry Styles just sent you a Direct Message” on your notification and you about had a heart attack. Of course you knew who freaking Harry Styles was. You had basically grown up with One Direction, but with you focusing on school.. you didn’t really have time to obsess over them. But you did know them and occasionally listened to their music. 

So yeah, you knew who Harry Styles was. Young, devilishly handsome, and surprisingly single. And he was messaging you. Gushing about how much he loved your music and admired the way you carried yourself in your interviews. You had just released your second album at the age of twenty one and were about to start touring for it. He was already touring for his first solo album. (Which you loved) 

He wanted to come to one of your shows. You gave him a seat in the family and friends section and a backstage pass. 

You had been messaging back and forth since his first message a couple months back. You had spent all of your free time texting him and if your timing aligned with his time.. then you’d talk for hours on the phone. 

 It felt almost like you knew him. The connection that you felt with Harry was something you had never experienced before. And it felt crazy to you. This was all new to you and it was exciting. And a little scary. 

And finally, he was able to get away from his own tour to come see you. 

And he met you backstage after your show and immediately pulled you into his arms, praised you with his words, and the way you felt in his arms made you cry. 

It was overwhelming and pretty embarrassing. It felt safe. Harry’s embrace made you feel safe. And you don’t even remember the last time you had ever felt that way. If you had ever even felt that way before that moment. 

When Harry noticed, he immediately ordered everybody in the room to get out and the look on his face… he looked so worried. So sincere. So honest. 

It made you incredibly emotional and you profusely apologized for ruining his shirt with your tears. And he said he didn’t care about his shirt. 

That he cared about you. 

And ever since the day you met him, that’s the one main thing Harry has always made sure you feel. That you feel safe. 

It did take some time for you to open up to Harry about your childhood, but when you did.. you felt grateful. It felt good to finally talk to someone other than your therapist about everything you had gone through. He had always wondered why you never talked about your family or why he hadn’t met anyone other than Eva in the year of you guys dating. And when he finally knew, he held you and didn’t let you go for hours. 

Harry felt like home. 

Now it was the day before Christmas Eve 2021.  You and Harry were cuddling on the comfy gray couch in the living room that overlooked the NYC skyline and the Christmas tree that you had both decorated together at the beginning of December was glimmering in the darkness. All the awaiting presents under it make you smile.

Anne and Gemma had already settled into bed for the night. They stated they needed some more sleep to adjust to the time difference and you couldn’t agree more. You and Harry had decided to stay up a little longer. 

You cuddled into Harry’s chest as he held you while a Christmas movie played for you guys. You guys are watching ‘Elf’ and you admit it’s a good Christmas movie. No wonder it’s one of Harry’s favorites. 

Harry feels extremely warm underneath you and it makes you want to stay here forever. 

He’s rubbing your scalp gently with the tips of his fingers and your hand is underneath his sweater. Gently rubbing your own fingers on his almost non existent little belly. 

But his body always held into a tiny little pouch under his belly button and you secretly loved it. You played with the happy trail there and ran your fingers over his abs slowly as well. 

The atmosphere around you feels peaceful. It feels entirely calm and it’s a feeling that sinks deep into your bones. 

You just weren’t used to this over the holidays and it felt almost weird to allow yourself to enjoy this. 

Suddenly, Harry gets a slight hold of your chin and tilts your head up to meet his lips. His kiss surprises you, but you melt into him. He kisses you softly and lets his tongue slip into your mouth slightly. You smile into the kiss and hum in content when he pulls away from you. 

Meeting his eyes, “What was that for?” You whisper as you wipe his bottom lip with your thumb. 

His eyes twinkle with happiness and his arms wrap around you tightly, pulling you to sit on his lap completely, and he smiles so sweetly. 

You let your hair fall over your shoulders as you look down at him. He’s so handsome. 

“Happy birthday, my sun.” 

You intertwine your hands in his own, glancing at the clock next to you that shows it’s exactly midnight, and you smile sheepishly at Harry. You lean down and kiss him again. 

“Thank you, honey.” 

“Let’s go to bed,” Harry says with a teasing smile as he holds onto your waist with one arm, shuts off the tv with his free hand, and easily lifts you up into the air. 

“H!” You shriek with a giggle as you koala hug him to not fall down. He laughs lowly, “I’ll never drop you, sun.” 

You both giggle until you fall into the mattress in your room, locking the door in a rush, but then Harry takes his time taking you apart and letting you come undone. 

Helping you fall apart with his fingers, his tongue, and then with his cock. 

And when he has to clamp his hand over your mouth tightly to keep you from screaming out during your orgasm, he’ll do that all night long just to make you happy. 

••• 

You wake up the next morning, slowly, and to the wonderful smell of bacon in the air. 

You inhale the scent with a small smile as you stretch your limbs awake. You sit down on your bed, pulling the white comforter over your naked torso, and looking around for Harry. The floor to ceiling windows are cloudy with the Christmas chill, but it sends a wave of comfort throughout the room. 

And it’s as if he knew you were searching for him. 

Because he walks into the bedroom with a bed tray stacked with food. 

You instantly perk up with a smile, “Hi.” 

Harry leans down and kisses you, “Hi. Happy birthday, my sun.” 

You giggle and shush him. “You already wished me a happy birthday.” 

“I’m going to keep wishing my wonderful girlfriend a happy birthday all day long,” he says teasingly with a smirk as he sets down the tray in front of you. 

You adjust yourself in the bed and admire the yummy food in front of you. “Did you do all of this for me?” 

Your heart fills with warm love and your cheeks flush. 

“Mom did. She made all of your favorites.” 

Now his cheeks are flushing bright pink and you’re instantly overcome with a sense of love. 

“She made all of this for me?” You ask in shock as you look at the chocolate chip pancakes, sunny side up eyes, fresh fruit, and amazing smelling bacon. 

“Of course, sun. She loves you,” he says with a kiss to your forehead. 

“Shouldn’t we go eat with them in the dining room?” 

“Nah. You love eating in bed and today’s all about you,” he says as he starts cutting up your pancakes. 

“But—“ 

“No buts.” 

You shut your mouth with a smile as he feeds you the pancakes and takes some for himself with a teasing grin.

“We’re only doing what you love today. That’s all.”  

And that’s how the rest of the day goes with Harry pampering you and only letting you do something if you truly want to do it. 

You felt so lucky. 

Now it’s the afternoon, you’re all gathered in the living room after eating a yummy and fulfilling dinner in your matching Christmas pajamas. Harry bought them for all of you guys and they’re grinch themed. You have to admit that seeing Harry so giddy and excited filled your heart with so much warmth and love. You truly felt so happy today. 

You all had already exchanged gifts with each other. You two had gotten Anne and Gemma a full paid trip to Paris for a little winding down when you and Harry were going to go next summer. And you had framed two of your favorite pictures of the four of you together and gifted them each one. They loved it. 

Anne had gifted you and Harry two homemade sweaters that she had knitted herself and it meant so much to you. Way more than any other money made gift. 

Gemma gifted you a homemade shirt that she had stitched a quote for your favorite show and she had made Harry a matching one as well. 

It was something cheesy, “you’re my lobster” and Harry immediately loved it. You did as well. 

You have to admit that this felt insanely weird. You and Harry always exchanged gifts, but it was never in this type of setting. With his mom and sister. 

It felt so intimate and loving. 

So intimidating that it felt scary, but this was something that you didn’t know you needed. 

“I wrote something for you,” Harry states as he gets the guitar from Gemma. It’s one of his favorites. It’s the one that was gifted to him from a friend. It’s the one with the starry design. 

“You wrote me a song?” You ask with a grin as you grip onto your hot chocolate while you adjust yourself on the couch cushion. 

“Another one?” Gemma says jokingly and Anne sushes her with a jab. 

You see Harry’s cheeks blush faintly as he sits down on a small stool he pulled out from the pantry. 

He slowly starts to make sure his cords are in key and he lets out a shaky breathe. He looks up to meet your eyes. 

“This song… is for you. Completely and utterly for you. I hope you like it, my sun.” 

There’s so much honesty in his eyes that it makes you feel completely warm and full inside. 

He slowly starts to strum his guitar. 

You were riding your bike to the sound of "It's No Big Deal"

A small gasp leaves your lips as your fingers grip into the mug. Instant tears fill your eyes as you hear the first sentence of your song. 

And you're trying to lift off the ground on those old two wheels

Harry gives you a small smile as you stare at him with a wavering expression. 

Nothing about the way that you were treated ever seemed especially alarming 'til now

Your bottom lip is quivering. 

So you tie up your hair and you smile like it's no big deal

You can feel your water line filled with tears and you slowly set your mug down on the side table. You watch Harry intently. 

You can let it go

You can throw a party full of everyone you know

And not invite your family, 'cause they never showed you love

You don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up, mmh

You shut your eyes for a second, allowing his words fill your body, tears slowly start falling down your cheeks, and you allow yourself to feel the emotions. Allowing yourself to finally feel the emotions you’ve been keeping pilled down deep. 

You feel someone sit by you and grip your hand in theirs. You open your eyes to see Anne next to you, smiling so sweetly at you, and hold your hand tightly in her own. Her own tears filling her eyes as she holds you. Her love these past years have shown you what your own mother couldn’t.  

A mothers love. 

Matilda, you talk of the pain like it's all alright

But I know that you feel like a piece of you's dead inside

Harry gives you a small smile as his own tears fill his eyes. The childhood movie you loved to watch fills your mind as it used to help you escape. You frown at the memories and grip onto Anne’s hand harder.  

You showed me a power that is strong enough to bring sun to the darkest days

It's none of my business, but it's just been on my mind

You can let it go

You can throw a party full of everyone you know

And not invite your family, 'cause they never showed you love

You don't have to be sorry for leaving and growing up

Images of the last years rush through your mind. Everything you’ve managed to accomplish. 

You can see the world, following the seasons

Anywhere you go, you don't need a reason

'Cause they never showed you love

You don't have to be sorry for doing it on your own

Harry lets his guitar rest on the space next to him on the floor and he reaches for your hand. You grip onto his hand with your free one and he continues to sing. His beautiful angelic voice filled the entire room. His raw voice fills your ears like heaven. 

You're just in time, make your tea and your toast

His voice cracks and slow tears fall down his cheeks. 

You framed all your posters and dyed your clothes, ooh

You don't have to go

You don't have to go home

Oh, there's a long way to go

Gemma walks out of the room and into the kitchen. 

I don't believe that time will change your mind

In other words

I know they won't hurt you anymore as long as you can let them go

You can let it go

Harry kisses each one of your knuckles and holds your hand against his cheek, his smile wavering as he continues to sing. 

You can throw a party full of everyone you know

You can start a family who will always show you love

You don't have to be sorry for doing it on your own

You can let it go

You see Gemma walking into the room with a beautiful baby pink cake with colorful sprinkles all over the top and matching long candles that are glowing in the dark night. You cry even harder. 

You can throw a party full of everyone you know

You can start a family who will always show you love

You don't have to be sorry, no

Tears filled your eyes as you looked around the room. A wavering smile on your lips as you watched everyone in front of you wearing a giant smile and matching tears. 

And just for a second… it was quiet. 

There wasn’t any loud voices behind you yelling at each other. There weren’t any doors being slammed shut nor glasses being thrown to the floor or the walls. 

All you could hear was the wood crackling in the fireplace, the soft sound of the Christmas music playing on the record player, the small sniffs of the people around you trying to hold in their tears as you let your own fall freely, and you could hear your own heart silently patching itself back together. 

You sniffle as you watch Harry reach for the cake and he proceeds to move the cake at your eye level. 

His beautiful green eyes rimmed red, nose tinted pink, and he’s smiling at you. 

“Make a wish, my love.” 

Anne’s hand lets go of your own and she instead starts rubbing your back in comfort. You wrap your own hands delicately around Harry's wrists as you let the candle's warmth coat your face so lightly. 

“You’ve already made all of them come true,” you whisper as you slowly blow out the candles. 

Your only wish is to only ever feel this way for the next holidays. 

[twinklelilstarkey]

Tutor: Come Over - Rafe Cameron

Word: 3k+ Type: Smut Summary: Rafe comes over. Warnings: Fem!Reader [no mentions of race or body type]. LACK OF PLOT, JUST PORN. The reader is more than intimidated by someone like Rafe, so, mentions of anxiety and overthinking. SMUT [dom!Rafe, sub!Reader, a little of humiliation kink, piv, usage of condom (a miracle x2), possession kink]. Tutor Masterlist (you're not obligated to read the other parts)

I do NOT give you permission to repost my work. If you’d like to read my stories on other platforms, you can find them on my Wattpad and AO3.

By clicking to read more you are agreeing that you are over the age of 18 and mature enough to read mature scenes :)

You’ve been staying inside your empty and silent home for a good few hours now. You didn’t have to tutor Wheezie today, and your parents are out of the island for the night. Your friends made sure to keep you company for the whole afternoon. They even offered to sleep over, but you dismissed all their plans by lying.

You lied for the sole reason that you already have plans for this night. You hate that you have to lie to your friends, and you know that there would be no way of you saying the truth without it being a big problem. All because Rafe is supposed to come over tonight. It had been planned prior to today even. You couldn't say no to him when he asked you if he could, it’s him.

Ever since your friends began to leave your house, you already felt your insides turning. You would be seeing Rafe soon, and your body still reacts as if you’ve never seen him before.

You, unfortunately, haven’t been able to see him as much as you would’ve liked. It’s only been a week and you only saw him once at his house. You were almost done tutoring Wheezie and had run for a bathroom break while she was finishing up with her homework. You weren’t exactly expecting Rafe to be coming out of his room at the same time as you, but it did happen.

You two didn’t dare to say anything to each other. Sarah was in her room, and Wheezie could hear everything from her bedroom.

You simply offered him a smile and walked over to the bathroom. Rafe only had a smaller yet growing grin as he continued to make his way down the stairs too.

Your insides burn at the memories of what you two did the last time you were together. And you swear that these same memories appear in your mind at the worst of times. They're always getting you distracted and making you act awfully quiet in the middle of group conversations or even meals. And you just happen to be awful at hiding the way your sinful thoughts hunt your mind.

You don't know how many times you've dodged questions or any pressuring of your friends to tell them what is on your mind. You swear that you can't hide anything for your life, but you sure are getting better at starting new conversations.

The doorbell rings as you’re just finishing up getting dressed after a quick shower, and you begin to walk towards the door. You pull the hoodie down your figure and grab onto the doorknob. You pull the door open to see no one other than Rafe.

“Hi.” You tell him with a smile.

“Hi.”

You let him in and try not to get distracted with your main task. You keep your eyes on the outside of the house as the door slowly closes before you, doing a once over at every house that could face your entrance.

Your neighbors are the nosiest of everyone on the island. Even yesterday you heard one of your parents gossip about the neighbor's youngest daughter, the one that lives right down the street, and her girlfriend. Everyone knows everything about everyone and you cannot risk anything as big as this ever slipping out. It will be the end of you.

You close the door and turn back around to face Rafe. He's already a few steps away, staring at what’s around him. His eyes are focused on some family pictures that your mom has on the walls. You walk to stand beside him, staring at the ones he’s looking at - and making sure he’s not looking at something extremely embarrassing, aka your baby pictures.

“You were cute.” He comments, pointing at one of the pictures.

“Were?” You ask playfully.

He takes his eyes off the picture to look over at you, you’re smiling at your own joke, still looking down at the picture and completely oblivious to his staring. Rafe admires your face for a little bit, and you catch on to his silence by deciding to look up. You're surprised by his staring, Rafe can tell right as your smile falters slightly, but it comes back even stronger.

Rafe can’t help but smile at you as well. You look away, flustered, and Rafe mimics you, looking down at the pictures again. You follow his gaze again, silently hoping that he stays the hell away from the one at the far right.

His eyes scan through all of them and you tense up as he looks to his right.

“My room’s upstairs.” You tell him, snapping him awake.

Rafe notices as you disappear from his side, walk around him to appear on his other side, and turn back. Your back is facing the stairs and you take small steps, waiting for him to start following you. Rafe uses this as an opportunity to take a good look at you and your body. You’re simply wearing a hoodie and shorts, yet you feel your body burn when noticing him.

Rafe finally begins to follow you, right as you feel as if you’re going to die under his stare, and you turn back around, leading the way.

Rafe’s eyes stay on the back of your head the whole time, staring at you. His eyes move from your hair down to your back and then your legs. He’s almost so distracted and if it weren’t for a quick reflex, he would’ve missed the turn to the bedroom.

His eyes lift from you and he takes a good look at your room. You look around as well, trying to make sure for the hundredth time that you didn’t leave anything behind when cleaning. Your desk might be a little too cluttered now that you look at it, but you were just finishing your homework before you went to shower… You didn’t have time.

Rafe moves as he looks around, he’s just taking in what’s around him. Any posters or books that you have around, soaking in what could be your favorite genres of everything. You watch him nervously, as he does so and you can’t seem to know why you feel such ways toward him. He gets to the end of your bed and looks back at you.

“What?” You ask him.

“Nothing.” He says with a grin, noticing how your nervous mannerisms are showing.

He takes a seat at the end of the bed, and you look down at your hands. Rafe looks at you for a long time, and you finally look up at him. He motions for you with his head to come closer. You do as told and he brings a hand up, laying it over the back of your leg, pulling you to stand in between his own. You look down at him and your hands itch to touch him.

“Why are you so quiet?” He asks, not talking too loud either, not wanting to end that silence for you.

“I feel nervous.” You admit helplessly, laying your hands on his shoulders.

“Why?” He asks with a smile, curiosity bubbling inside of him.

You shake your head, not knowing the real answer other than the clear intimidation you suddenly feel towards him, and he pulls onto your legs, forcing you to sit on his lap. Your legs straddle his and you sit over it slowly. Rafe’s hands smooth down the top of your thighs first, and then they move up and under your hoodie, reaching to touch more of you.

Your hands move to stay on his shoulders and you look at him. His eyes look into yours, and you melt into his touch and under his stare. Rafe, noticing your hesitation, pulls you by your waist, trying to get you even closer to him and your faces stay close to one another. Your lips hover above his for just a short second, and you’re the one that closes the space between you two.

Your lips move against his and one of your hands goes from Rafe’s shoulder to the back of his head. The feeling of your fingers through his strands of hair makes him tighten his hold on you, wanting you close to him as he begins to take control of the once sweet and loving kiss.

A soft moan escapes your lips as soon as Rafe takes over and your hold on his hair tightens. Your other hand moves up to lay over his cheek and your thumb moves across his skin. Rafe’s entire body reacts to your soft touch - the way you caress his cheek - and even how you hold onto his hair. All of it is so soft and so different. 

He grabs onto the hem of your hoodie and pulls away from the kiss to pull it off you, noticing quickly the absence of your bra. You help him get rid of it, and he reconnects your lips. Rafe holds onto you as he kisses you and he lifts you from his lap ever so slightly, disconnecting your lips but leaving a kiss on your jaw.

Rafe makes you get off his lap and lay on the bed beside him. He is hovering over you right away. He grabs onto the shorts you’re wearing and pulls them off your legs, effortlessly. You hold your legs up as he does it, and, soon, the shorts are off and on the ground. You are completely naked before him, right as he stands completely clothed. Rafe doesn’t let you grow in any way uneasy again by connecting his lips to yours again and running his hands down your body.

One of his hands teasingly moves down your stomach and, when at the right position, you sense his fingers tease your slit up and down. You whine against his lips, making him break the kiss to smile, and his fingers finally move in between your folds. He watches as your expression changes and you inhale a surprised gasp.

Rafe’s fingers move over your entrance collecting your wetness before he never moves to touch your clit. 

“You’re so wet, princess.” He says to you, “Who made you this wet? Uhm?”

“You.” You whisper, feeling your body warm at the unfamiliarity of your words.

He lays kisses on your chest, and your hands find their way back to his hair as he moves down with each contact of his lips with your skin.

You pull him up and pull on his shirt, which surprisingly works, making him actually take it off. Rafe gives you a quick kiss and his fingers come back to you, yet, this time, they slide into you right away. You gasp into his mouth again and Rafe smiles brightly at you, feeding off of your sounds.

Rafe curves his fingers as he moves agonizingly slowly and kisses your jaw as you let out small noises of pleasure.

He stands up straighter and looks down to watch how your pussy takes his fingers so well. You feel yourself try to close your legs when you notice, but he pushes them away with his free hand with too much ease.

You watch as Rafe looks down at you as if he’s in a trance, completely lost in the view. He slides in his third finger, and you move your hips, making him chuckle at you. Your body heats up at the noise due to the surprisingly pleasurable humiliation, and Rafe continues to move so painfully slowly.

“Rafe, please.” You whisper at him, not finding your voice nor words, “Please.”

He looks up at your face and stops his fingers, watching you as you whine while looking down at his hand and moving your hips again to try to meet your own pleasure.

“Please what?" He asks you.

“Faster.” You meet his eyes, pleading even with your eyes.

He rebegins his movements and, this time, he actually does move at a faster pace. You meet his eyes as you let your head fall back and a small moan escapes you. He lets you enjoy for a bit, moving in and out of you faster but, still, not at the desirable pace.

Rafe, suddenly, pulls his fingers away, and you whine louder than before. If looks could kill, he knew he would've been 6 feet under at this point.

Your glare eases as you notice that he’s taking his pants off. His boxers soon appear after the first layer is taken off, and Rafe slides them down too.

Rafe's hands come back to you as you continue your staring, and he slides you more over to the middle of the bed. You bring your legs to near Rafe's hips and he brings his hand down at you. Before you can even think about anything, he slides the pad of his finger over your clit and you moan from under him.

He meets your eyes and repeats the action, just teasing you one more time. 

You, with half-closed eyes, finally notice that he has a condom in his hand and watch as he quickly rips it open with his teeth. You watch him put it on quickly and line himself with your entrance.

One of his hands comes to rest just next to your head, and you smile. Rafe can’t help but move down to kiss you before going any further. He's never letting him admit it, but your smiles seem to always work on him.

Rafe slowly slides inside of you and groans in the midst of your own moan with the sensation that he is ready to grow familiar with. Your soaking wet cunt is so tight, and he swears that it can absolutely be the death of him.

He begins to move his hips at a less frustrating pace and one of your hands quickly moves to hold onto his wrist just by your head. You subconsciously hold onto your moans, not wanting to let every sound out, and Rafe notices.

“You can moan, princess.” He tells you, making you meet his eyes again as well as tighten the hold on his wrist, “All you want.”

It takes you a little to be completely comfortable with the possibility of being loud, and that is when Rafe decides to speed up further.

He moves up, hovering with some distance above, watching your body move with his. His free hand comes to hold onto your jiggling tits, holding one of them as his fingers close on your nipple. A smirk grows on his face as you let out a moan at the mix of the pleasure and small pain.

Your moans grow with time, louder and louder, yet they are still so soft and muffled by your own lips, all they do is motivate Rafe to move faster and harder. He knows he will get you comfortable enough one day to not even begin to think about this, but, until then, making you feel good is what he will focus on. After all, it gets the job done too.

Almost as an immediate response to his actions, your hold on his arm tightens, and you cry out a bit against his skin, feeling an orgasm already so ridiculously near.

Rafe’s eyes run through the entirety of your body, and he curses to himself.

“Fuck... My pretty girl.” He tells you.

You look up at him, and he smiles with the way your walls squeeze him. His own pleasure grows at the mere thought of you liking everything that he says.

“You like being called a pretty girl?” He asks as he continues to slam his hips into yours, and you don’t answer, you just whimper, forcing your mouth closed. “Because I can tell you that all day. The prettiest girl in the whole world with her soaked pussy filled with my cock…” He says with a teasing smile.

His words make you even look at him dazedly, not used to being told such things. His free hand holds onto your hip tightly, and you continue to look at him.

“Want me to call you a pretty girl?” He asks, more serious, now, and you shake your head, “No?”

“Yo-” You stop yourself when you feel his fingers over your clit all of a sudden, “Your-”

“Oh, my pretty girl.” He repeats as he does an even harder thrust than before, emphasizing the word loudly, “You want to be mine, princess?”

The circles on your clit fasten, and you lean your head on his arm, feeling the pleasure becoming way too intense as his thrusts never seem to slow down. His dick moves smoothly inside of you, and always touches every part of your insides, finding and touching your preferred spot every time with ease.

Your eyes begin to sting with tears as it gets too much, and your hand comes to Rafe’s, trying to slow him down, even when you deep down don’t want him to.

“Because if you want to be mine,” He starts, grunting near your ear as he moves to kiss your neck, “You have to be able to take a lot.”

His fingers pinch your clit, and you sob onto his shoulder. Through your cries, you swear you never want him to stop what he’s doing. Rafe moves away from your neck and comes near your face, kissing your moaning mouth and your wet cheeks.

“Rafe.” You whisper in the midst of your peak of pleasure.

“You want to?” He asks with a rough tone, right against your lips.

You nod quickly to his words, meaning every movement of your head. You’ve never wanted something so bad as this.

“Say it.”

“I-” You broke into a moan again because of his fingers. You hold tighter into his hand, but he never stops, “I want to be yours. Please.” You sob out your plea.

Rafe smiles maliciously against your lips and works his fingers just a little bit faster. The pleasure finally gets too intense for you and you finally reach your orgasm. You don’t control any of the moans that leave your mouth, and you can’t even hear all of them.

Your hearing is muffled, your body feels numb and your vision is overpowered by dark spots. Rafe watches proudly as you moan with no shame, and he kisses the tears that slide down your face. He leaves soft kisses all over you as you ride out and he, with his hands and thrusts, elongates your orgasm for as long as he can.

Your breathing is heavy when you finally come down, and Rafe stops everything for just a bit. He looks down at you, analyzing your face to look for any sort of negative emotion, but he finds nothing but slight exhaustion from what you just went through.

He moves his hips against yours again, and you don’t hold back on the whimper that leaves you.

“Did you mean it?” He asks you in a whisper.

You let go of his wrist as you have just been holding onto it so tight. Rafe watches as you smooth down the skin, worried about hurting him, and your eyes come back to his.

“Yes.” You answer him with a small nod.

You bring both of your hands to his face, and Rafe is the one that kisses you. Everything that he has ever wanted with you, he now has. He knows that you want him just as bad as he wants you, and that is exactly what he needed to hear.

He rebegins his thrusts while he has you distracted in the kiss, and you moan over how sensitive your pussy feels. Everything he does now, all of it feels way more intense than before.

“Good.” He says when he pulls away, “Because I don’t remember hearing you ask for permission to cum.”

Your heart speeds up at his words.

“Did you?” He asks you, and you shake your head.

Rafe looks down at you and notices the small curve forming on your lips. The beginning of one of your perfect smiles.

“You know what happens next?” Those words break your act, making you smile brightly at him and nod excitingly.

“You’re going to punish me?” You ask, not hiding your excitement.

He smiles back at you and kisses your lips roughly. Your lips clash and your tongues soon do as well. You love every second of it.

Yet, almost as if knowing and reading your thoughts, Rafe pulls away from the kiss and pulls out of you, making you gasp from the sudden movement.

In one rough and quick move of his hands, he holds onto your hips and turns you around, forcing you to lay on your stomach on the bed.

You let out a small scream at the sudden sting that you feel over one of your asscheeks right as the sound of a smack is heard. Rafe then lifts your hips, and you move on your knees, head by the pillows, and gladly welcoming what’s about to come next. 

The silence made pleasure run its course through the entirety of your body as you tried to guess what could happen, but nothing could've prepared you for what followed. Orgasm after orgasm, and edging you time and time again. No matter how many times he caught you crying onto your pillow, Rafe continued until you couldn’t take any more.

You remember the kisses he laid over your spine when you tapped out and he stopped, the way he helped you to the bathroom, and how he kissed your forehead as soon as you were back on the bed. Nothing but sleep consumed you after that, and Rafe watched with a full heart as you slept soundly on his chest, for the first time, as his.

Did you like this??? Pls tell me you did!!

Is there anything you'd like to see next between Rafe x Tutor!Reader? If so, send me all the thots and whatever fluff you want to see next <3

[and-claudia]

Against All Odds (Joel Miller x fem! reader)

wordcount: 2363

warnings: death, blood, cannon typical violence

General Warnings for later on: The main story will have an age gap between Joel and the reader (Reader will be 25 once we get to the main storyline), this will also be your warning that it will eventually be an x pregnant reader (if that's not your jam, I'm sorry) there is also going to be more graphic/trigger parts later on so please always to be sure to read the warnings BEFORE reading. This story will also be 18+ and TO BE ON THE TAGLIST YOU CAN NOT BE AN AGELESS BLOG (i do actually check that) also there first hand full of parts are all prologue so Joel won't actually be in it for a bit

Taglist Sign-Up (read my rules carefully before filling it out)

Ten years. Ten long years in Boston. I couldn’t even tell you what it was like living anywhere else. These ten years felt like twenty and everything before getting here just seemed to melt together. The only thing I could remember was losing everyone. From Ma, Alan, Roy, and Marc on the first night of the outbreak. To Chris in Knoxville. 

By the time they made it to Boston, only Zeak, Scott, Pa, and I were left. How had this happened? It wasn’t even the fucking cordyceps that took most of them, only Ma. And now, it was only Pa and I in our little apartment. 

Zeak got caught up in some illegal shit. Something about dealing pills to someone. He missed a deadline on a payment. I was told they shoved him off one of the buildings. That story spread like wildfire. Even now, 6 years later you can still hear whispers about the poor country boy who got too big for his britches. 

Scott died about a year ago. Our block was notorious for fireflies breaking out in gunfights. Scott got caught in the crossfire. I found him, shot full of bullet holes in the alley by our building. He was only a few feet from the door. He had almost made it. I held him as he bled to death in my lap, knowing there was nothing I could do. Even after his hand that was grasping mine went limp, I held on. He was all I had. Pa still resented me for what happened to Chris, even with his memory failing him, he remembered that much. The nightly patrol found us and took his body from me and escorted me upstairs. 

When I got there, his blood was still all over me. 

“Where the hell have you been, girl?” 

“You’re not wonderin’ where Scott is?” I asked. 

“He’s a man he knows how to handle himself just fine.” 

“Really? You wanna know whose blood this is?” I snapped. 

He stayed silent. 

“It’s Scotts. You hear those gunshots earlier? Yeah, those landed themselves in your son. He bled to death out in the alleyway. He’s gone! He’s dead! Just like everyone else! You happy, Pa? Huh? You gonna blame me for this one too?” 

I did wait for him to answer. I stormed out of the small living room and went into the bedroom.

After that, Pa and I hardly talked. His memory got worse. I swear there towards the end he couldn’t remember why he hated me just that he did and that was that. But we were all each other had left. So when he died, it still hurt. I was now alone.

But life goes on. I found him in his bed yesterday morning. I knew he’d be getting tossed in the burn pit today. Just my luck that is where I was stationed to work. I got up, got dressed, and headed out.

I said hi to the regulars I saw along my route. Despite the events of yesterday, I went on with a smile. No need to make my problems anyone else’s or make anyone feel my sorrow with me. A few of them offered me their sympathy, which I took gratefully. 

I checked in at the workstation and then went to my assigned area. As I scanned the area I didn’t see anyone I recognized. Sometimes that was nice other times it was nice to have someone to talk to, it helped pass the time. 

Work went by uneventfully until I saw him.

 "Careful with that one!" The words left my mouth before I realized it. 

The man that was about to pull my father's corpse out of the truck gave me a weird look. 

"Sorry." I said quickly. 

"You know him?" He asked. I couldn’t tell if his tone was sympathetic or just annoyed. 

"My dad." I said, stepping over to help him. 

He gave a small nod, “Give me a hand then.” 

We hauled him over and tossed him into the pit. I took a deep breath to keep the tears at bay. 

"Don't cry. Not here." The man mumbled, patting my arm roughly and I nodded. 

We continued to work in silence after that. Until we were leaving at least, then I spoke up again. 

"Hey, I don't see you around often. Do you jump jobs or something?" I asked. 

He nodded, "I go for whatever's paying the most at the moment." 

"Well, what's paying right now?" I asked. 

"Why would I tell you?" 

"Look man, we just tossed my father into the pit. I'm kinda on my own now. I need money." I reasoned. 

He sighed and I could tell he was thinking it over. 

"Come on." He nodded for me to follow. 

It definitely wasn’t going to be the funnest job, none of them were, but money is money. 

"Thank you..." 

"Joel." 

"Yn. It's nice to meet you." I said holding out my hand for him. 

He nodded and shook it. Then we went our separate ways.

The next morning I found him fairly quickly as we headed in for our shift. 

"Good morning," I said quite cheerfully. 

He side-eyed me, clearly not happy to be up so early. 

"Why are you in such a good mood?" He huffed. 

"I woke up this morning." 

"And...?" 

"That's it. I'm alive to see another day." I explained.

"You're optimistic." He gruffed. 

I smiled at him, as I opened the lid on my thermos. I took a drink and nearly gagged before holding it over to him. 

“What is that?” 

“Why don’t you tell me.” I nodded to it to signal him to take a whiff. 

His eyes went wide when he smelt what it was. 

“Have some.” 

He hesitated before taking the thermos and taking a drink of it. I watched with a small smile as the coffee visibly woke him up more. 

‘That’s so good shit right there.” 

“My old man had a stash of it that I was never allowed to touch… I hate it. The rest of what I have is yours if you want it.” I offered. 

“What do you want for it?” He asked, clearly skeptical of my offer. 

“Nothin’.” I shrugged. 

“That’s a lie. Everyone here wants something for something. Nothing is free. So what do you want for it? I willin’ to bet I can get my hands on it.” He said. 

“Damn, you’re determined to get some coffee, aren’t you? How about a friend?” I asked. To be honest despite his rough exterior and not knowing him long I was warming up to him. I didn’t really have friends so why not. 

“What?” 

“Look, I don’t really have anyone anymore, so yeah, a friend would be nice right now.” 

His face softened and he held out his hand for me to shake, “Deal.” he said with a small smile. 

I smiled back at him as I took his hand and shook it. 

Our friendship grew from that day on. We worked nearly every day together. And even spent our days off together. One afternoon we were sitting on the roof of my apartment building having lunch when he asked me where I was from. 

“Texas.” I replied. 

“No, shit, me too.” He said with a small smile. 

“I feel like now would be the time where I am supposed to ask what part of Texas but, I honestly wouldn’t know the difference,” I admitted. 

“It’s okay, what part were you from?” 

“Canton.” 

“Oh, I know that place, cute little town.” He commented. 

Things were great, then I met Tess. She didn't like me much and didn’t seem too keen on my joining them outside of the city but Joel eventually convinced her. 

Then about a year after we met things went south for me. My block was taken over by the FireFlies. I got caught in the crossfire. I collected what I could of my belongings, which wasn't much, to begin with. I made it out with a shot to my shoulder. It hurt like bitch but I kept going I made it to Joel's and pounded on his door to be let in. 

He threw it open and his face dropped when he saw the blood seeping through my top. 

"What the hell?" He pulled me into his apartment. 

"Fire Flies." I answered. 

"Gunshot?" 

I nodded and all but collapsed into the chair at the table.

"Hey, stay awake." He said to me before calling for Tess. 

"Why'd the kid bleeding?" She said, almost annoyed. 

"I'm not kid." I shot back. 

"Cut it out you two! Get the tweezers." He said to her, she sighed and grabbed them, getting ready to help me.

Joel began reaching for the hem of my top. 

"I gotta take this off, okay?" He asked gently. 

"Buy me dinner first." I joked, not really thinking about the consequences of my words, but we flirted all the time so it shouldn’t be an issue. 

He laughed a little and slowly and carefully took it off. I hissed in pain. 

"Sorry." He mumbled.

"Where?" Tess asked large tweezers in her hand. 

"Back of shoulder." I said leaning forward.

She went to work and the moment I felt the cool metal touch the raw flesh I flinched. 

"Damnit, stay still, kid!" She reprimanded me. 

"Sorry, hurts." My eyes watered. 

She went in again and I flinched. 

"Okay, Yn, imma hold you down, okay?" Joel asked. 

I nodded lazily. 

"Keep your eyes open." He said, holding me down to the table. 

I felt the cold metal touch my skin once again but didn't flinch this time. 

"Fuck!" I gasped in a breath of air as I felt her pinch the raw flesh of my wound instead of the bullet. 

"That's not the bullet you fucker, that's me!" I said through gritted teeth. 

"Joel, it's wedged in there..." Tess said quietly. 

"Just cut it out. I few extra stitches is better than dying of infection." I said reaching for my knife in my pocket. 

I got it and tossed it on the table. Joel quickly grabbed it and poured some alcohol on it to disinfect as best he could. 

"Can I hold your hand?" I asked, holding out my good arm.

He nodded and slid his hand into mine. I squeezed the hell out of it as I felt the blade cut into my shoulder. 

"Breathe, Yn. You gotta breathe through it." Joel said, taking deep breaths to get me to mime him. 

Focusing on him helped and soon enough it was all over and I was stitched up. 

"There you go kid." Tess said, patting my other shoulder. 

"M'not kid." I slurred as I leaned more into the table. 

"Here go lay down on my bed, you'll be more comfortable." He said, helping me stand.

I stumbled but he was quick to catch me, "Can I borrow a shirt? I got blood on mine." 

He laughed a little, "Yeah I'll get you one in a minute." 

Once he got me into a new shirt and laying down he sat beside me on the bed. 

"Sorry bout the floor. I'll clean it later." 

"Don't worry bout that. Just rest." He said, giving me one last look over before standing to leave. 

“Wait…” I called out and he stopped. 

“Will you stay with me?” I asked quietly. 

Joel stayed silent for a moment, “I’ll be right back.” 

He left and I could hear muffled voices through the walls but couldn’t make out what was being said. Then I heard the door slam and a few moments later Joel walked in. I gave him a confused look. 

“What happened?” 

He shook his head, “Tess left. It’s okay. Get some rest.” 

“You too, come on.” I used my good arm to lift the blanket up beside me. 

I could tell he thought about it for a moment. But a moment later he was shedding his boots and crawling into the bed beside me. From that night on we shared a bed. Our relationship grew more and more and although we never officially defined it, we understood that we had something together. 

A little over a year after that night was my first time leaving the QZ. I was very nervous but Joel assured me everything would be okay and that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me. It was the night before we were supposed to leave. Joel and I were laying in bed together and I couldn’t settle down. 

“Be still.” He mumbled. 

“Sorry.” I tried not to sniffle but failed. 

He pushed himself to sit up and turned on the small lamp beside him, “What’s wrong?” 

I bit my lip trying not to break down, I was embarrassed by how scared I was to leave the QZ. Part of me was still very insecure that I was so much younger than he was. I never wanted him to think that I was immature. I sat up with him and pulled my knees to my chest. 

“I don’t know if I should go tomorrow…” I whispered. 

“Why not? Did Tess say somethin’ to you? Because she’s just trying to get in your head. We’ve never taken anyone out with us before. It’s more risky, but I promise you’ll be fine.” 

“How do you know?!” I snapped at him, “How do you know?” I repeated much quieter as the tears began to fall as the memories of being attacked by an infected all those years ago resurfaced. 

Joel pulled me to sit between his legs as he held me tight. 

“What happened, sweetheart?” He asked gently. 

“On our trip here from Knoxville, we were less than 5 miles away from the QZ, I got attacked…” I continued to tell the story of what happened that day and how Scott had helped me. 

“Sweetheart, I promise, nothing is going to happen to you tomorrow.” He said gently, pressing a kiss to my temple. 

He continued to hold me before I began falling asleep in his arms. Then he carefully laid us back down but continued to hold me close as we both drifted off to sleep.

I had to fix the taglist, if you're tag is not working please let me know.

@sexyvixen7

@joelmillerslays

@elliaze

@strawbab

@little-lovely-darling

@swimmjacket

@watercolorskyy

@mserynlarsen

@sebby-staan

@beelanie

@fan-g0rl

@paige96

@pedropascalfanclub

@ameliadraws

@mavs101

@azerty29

@rileyferg

@belliedellie

@rhaenyrasgf

@imcreepininyourheartbabe

@nani-kenobi

@lunas-sstuff

@holb32

@reidsgubbler

@cleocat246

@novamidoriya

@katmae1997

@dizzywinterdaydream

@mrswidowjohansson

@abzidabzy

@givemeth

@morgaussy

@summerchicken

@kelh27

@ayamenimthiriel

@letmehavemyfictionalmen

[aconflagrationofmyown]

Marie Presley, interview for Rolling Stone Magazine, 1997, introducing her film TLC: The Presley Way

A Sarge & lil Mama blurb, 2nd generation: Marie. word count 2k, PG rating, mentions of divorce

Marie: “You know, I’m used to being asked how it impacted me being the child with the least ‘parental involvement.’ But I really don’t get it, not even when my siblings joke that Elvis was more like Santa to me than dad, a merry-making stranger who showed up once in a blue moon to spread love and cheer before rushing back to the workshop to make more goodies the rest of the year.

“Maybe there’s some truth in that but how was I to know? I didn’t know anything differently than what I had, just like lots of kids you don’t know what else you could’ve had, just like I didn’t know anything different from being very privileged, um, just as my dad didn’t know any different from being very poor.

“But what I do know is that I was very loved, I have been my whole life, and what I have are a treasure trove of memories, extensive amounts of time spent with him at all ages. I look at it this way, we wouldn’t say someone is fatherless just because their dad is gone every day of their life from seven in the morning to six in the evening, that’s a whole lotta time to be gone.

“Whereas I had months on end where I saw Dad from sunup to sundown, slept in my parents bed, ate and played and read with them. Spent time on homework and perhaps most personally impactful, I had my own interests nurtured by them. Dad spoiled me, there’s no question about it, but it wasn’t in the way of rich men giving their kids toys and telling them to then run along, leave them alone.

“Dad engaged with me on everything and anything interesting to me, anything that interested my siblings he would spend hours on it, not even the fun part of say -photography. But the boring details, too. If there was a new camera he would get it for me and together we could figure out how to make it work, how to develop the film, how to get the perfect exposure.

“We’d pour over artists' work and do our best to mimic them. It was play but it was always constructive, and when I think back on those late Vegas afternoons that were his mornings, that he would spend tirelessly engaged with me and my siblings, only to then have to go out and perform multiple times into the night, the adult in me is exhausted and grateful that he took the time. That he did it all so cheerfully that I had no idea how worn out he was.

“The divorce years were hard, I was an eight year old and definitely attuned to the different dynamics in my family. I was very close with my sister Ella who was extremely unhappy at the time, maybe more so than most of my siblings. So her discontent rubbed off on me a little, confused me. But for the most part I didn’t notice a big change, mom and daddy really tried to keep it under wraps, multiple times they insisted there wasn’t a team to pick, and maybe that was too nuanced for the older kids but I got it, I chose not to pick teams.

And before it had lasted very long, we were all back together again.

“Daddy didn’t have a tour, what with Colonel Parker being under investigation, and he stayed home because of Danny, and Daisy and then they got remarried. It was a blip for me really. I got to live with Ella, I got to travel around with Jesse and dad, I got to visit Rosalee out at college. It seemed more like a vacation bouncing than banishment. I was really fine with it, maybe I’m just built that way, it wasn’t as devastating as it might’ve been for another child.

“I do remember my ninth birthday being the single bummer of it all. Or at least, the day started off going decidedly down hill.

“I was the baby who made it after the tragedy of them losing Jo, and you beat believe dad always made a huge deal of my birthday. He’d always tickle the Angel kisses on the back of my neck and remind everyone how Jo and Gladys sent me, mama would recount the story of my birth and my siblings would recall how they laid hands on mama’s belly and prayed I’d come out safe every day for eight months before I was born.

So after nine years of this, when I came downstairs in ‘77 to find that the earth and divorce proceedings hadn’t screeched to a stop just to celebrate me, I was pretty miffed.

I remember just feeling like the vibes were really off at the house, even though dad had come back to celebrate, it was obvious he was very upset with mom. I remember Jesse took me riding on his bike that day, we got out of the house and had fun and I remember when he put me on it, mom and dad were in a deep discussion on the porch, apparently about the fact that I was having a meltdown over not being treated special enough. I've already admitted I was very spoiled, OK folks?

“But the real big thing for me was that by the time I came back from that ride and opened my presents and we ate dinner, things seemed perfectly fine, normal and natural. That night we went through our usual routine and I climbed in the bed with mom and dad like old times. Now that I think about it, that was probably the first time in months that they slept together, and they did that for me. And they did it so naturally and it was really a happy evening, even for them, I think.

“It’s funny how professional you can get at getting along when you’ve had to endure so much like they had, one night of harmony in the middle of a divorce wasn’t a big hurdle for them. There was so much love still there and so much practice, just a lotta confusion. You can see why I wasn’t very surprised when Mama showed up with a baby and a wedding band back on her finger. It might sound bizarre to outsiders, and it’s certainly been portrayed like that by some of our closest friends, but in this film I’d like to set the record straight. It’s what I saw lived out.

Love can be very chaotic sometimes, complex and bizarre but it tries its best. It seeks the good of others. It’s the catalyst for great things and produces generous hearts. And my family certainly did just that.”

Thanks for letting me bug ya with a blurb, and slowly but surely I’m putting faces to the kids, and their stories too. So much thanks goes to my girlies who hash this out with my for hours on end in the chats. The chats are the new trenches, ok? It’s where ya make your Bestest buddies.

@paradsol000

@eliseinmemphis

@prompted-wordsmith

@ab4eva

@foreverdolly

@powerofelvis

@butlersxbirdy

@crash-and-cure

@elvisabutler

@heartbrake-hotel

@stylespresleyhearted

@thatbanditqueen

@crazymadpassionatelove

@myradiaz

@ash-omalley

@arianatheangelgirl

@steph-speaks

@burningloverdoll

@angelface-555

@lookingforrainbows

@missmaywemeetagain

@coolgirl462

@kingdomforapony

@18lkpeters

@richardslady121

@from-memphis-with-love

@lillypink

@artlover8992

@pennyroyalcreep

@notstefaniepresley

@ellie-24

@renaissingle

@waiting4brucewayne2adoptme

@presleyenterprise

@marriedtopresley

@ashtag2887

@dkayfixates

@vampireindistress

@ashtag6887

@i-r-i-n-a-a

@obsessedvibee

@peskybedtime

@goth-cowgirl-03

@stephthestallion

@fav-fanficssss

@loving-elvis

@honeyorangess

@soloangel

@xenaspace3-blog

@60svintage

[irisjaxx665]

in the past couple years, ive been working on getting better with talking about my traumas. at this point the only people i havent talked to about everything are my parents. i dont cry as much now, talking about it though.

before colorado, my parents, their son brett, and i lived in Oklahoma. He, while biologically my full sibling, never acted like a brother towards me. from when i was age 11 til 13 He molested me and threatened my life many times. so i hadnt called Him a brother since i was 10. this, they know and the molestation stopped though the threats and insults didnt until we cut contact when i turned 18. but when i was 7, i met my first and, for years, only friend, who i fell in love with, and who became a better brother to me than i had ever known. i never brought him to my parents house, and this they dont know. His name was Nikolai, he was 11 then. i loved Him with all that i was or ever would be and He saw me as His little sister. so i swore to be the best little sister anyone could have. He loved mardi gras and wanted to go to new orleans when He got older. He taught me kickboxing and russian, i taught Him ballet and what limited german i knew. we talked about everything and nothing, and i felt like someone cared about me, instead of just caring for me. we swore oaths, bound in blood and fire and the passion of innocence. we swore to join the marines when i hit 18 so we could serve side by side. we swore to keep no secrets to each other. we swore that a pain to one would be a pain to both. we swore to name our firstborns for each other, and name the other godparent when we found our loves. we swore to get matching tattoos. we swore to fulfill bucket lists together. to see the world together. He taught me how to clean my wounds when i learned what hate was, aimed towards myself like a grenade with my name etched on its face in every language. He taught me how to protect myself against the animals that roamed our woods and climb trees and swim the rivers around us. He picked me up and cleaned me up after my suicide and overdose attempts in my tween years. He taught me the names of the stars and how to follow their dance. He told me every quote and phrase that has lodged itself in my head and in my veins and on my bones. He let me cry and be afraid and be myself without telling me that i had to be ashamed of who i was, or that i had to change.

on march 25, 2014 i found His body, after getting home from a spring break trip with my parents. since then, the only other real brother ive had has been Caine. everything gets very hard every year, around His death and His birthday in december. in april is when i was raped by the cop. that may is when i found i was pregnant, and got clean of heroin. january of 2015 is when i had and lost my twins. winter isnt kind to me. between my mental and physical health, its taxing.

this year, when Pond and i get home from our honeymoon, ill be 10 years clean almost to the day. the twins wouldve turned 9 this past january. and Nikolai would have turned 27. i still feel so weird knowing im older than my big brother. my one true fear is losing the people i love. and since i was young ive had memory issues. and as every year passes, i can feel im losing a piece of Him. i can barely remember His voice now. i remember His eyes. i remember the feeling of getting to be in His arms, in a hug, sleeping, sobbing, fighting. i remember His scent. He always smelt of the forest and the river and freedom and joy and safety. meeting Caine in colorado, i saw Niki in His heart. i saw Niki in His strength, His peace, His power, His voice, His arms. He taught me how to trust again and taught me not to be ashamed of my scars. because somehow the gods still havent taken me and thats why i wear them. and we talked about everything and nothing. then i met Pond, and in His eyes, i saw Niki again. Pond has Niki’s eyes. rich, deep, honest, loving, passionate, beautiful eyes. and He knows every inch of me. every scar, every freckle and hair of me. and somehow, He loves me. though i could never understand. and these men ive loved in my life mean worlds to me. i just wish i could give them the worlds they deserve. instead, all i can do is all that i can.

[nights-legacy]

Meeting My Hero -- Bakugou Pt. 2

Masterlist ~ MHA Masterlist ~ #2

Part One

1583 Words

Warnings: shitty boss

+ Things go back to normal after the chance meeting with Dynamight except that he can not get you out of his head. You have left a huge impression on him that leads him to find you again. Things slowly start burn between you two. You don't act on it because you think there's no chance, but Bakugou thinks otherwise.

3rd POV

Bakugou couldn't get you out of his mind. Not since the moment he saw you in the crowd. He was thinking about you all through his shift. He didn't understand it. He really didn't understand why panic shot through him when he noticed it was you he saved from being mugged.

"Fuck." He groaned, leaning back in his desk chair. He ran his hands down his face in exasperation. "What is wrong with me?"

"Sir?" Bakugou jumped slightly. He looked over to see his assistant with his coffee. "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Thank you." He took the coffee. He relaxed a bit while drinking the warm drink. His assistant was about to walk out when an idea sparked in his head. "Wait. I need you to do something for me."

"Of course." They came back to his desk as he wrote down some information.

"Look this person up for me please. That's their name, approximate age, and where they live. Find out as much as possible. Please."

"Right away, Sir. Is this person a possible threat Or..."

"No... It's personal." He admitted. His assistant gave him a small, cheeky smile.

"I'll have it by the time you get back from morning Patrol."

"Thank you."

Y/N M/N L/N. Age 23. DOB 07/18. Quirkless.

Parents are both dead, no known relatives. Works full time at Alimusho's Ramen House as a server & host. Lives paycheck to paycheck and barely makes ends meet. Lives alone in an apartment building on Wicks Ave.

Bakugou read over the basics of the report his assistant had given him. He didn't want to read everything about you, wenting to leave that to learn from you. His heart clenched and visibly flinched when he saw a police report for some people attacking you out of pure disrespect from you being Quirkless.

"Damn." He set the papers down, the report bringing back some bad memories. He let his head fall back, taking in everything. He glanced at the clock to see his shift was over.  "Alimusho's Ramen House? I could go for a bite."

Y/N's POV

I took a big breath while trying to hold back tears. My boss was currently yelling at me for not flirting with some big bucks customer for a bigger tip that I wouldn't even get to keep. The man was perverted and had grabbed my ass more times than I like to think about.

"You could have gotten me some cold, hard cash. He was loaded." My boss, Alimusho, yelled in my face.

"He was a pervert."

"There isn't anything wrong with showing a little more skin or letting him get a little handsy, is it? Not when you get the big bucks to make it worth it." He explained as if it were a normal thing. I looked at him in disgust but said nothing for fear of losing my job. "Now get back to work. Damn useless, bitch."

"Yes, sir." I said tightly as I turned to leave the kitchen. The cooks in the kitchen gave me pity looks. I ignored them in favor of just forgetting the whole thing. I stepped out into the dining room and paused when I saw Dynamight in the lobby. He was in street clothes and looked effortlessly amazing.  "I'm sure there are a lot better places to eat tthanhere, Mr. Dynamight."

"Maybe but sometimes there's nothing like a little Ramen shop to satisfy the cravings." He smirked. I laughed before turning to grab a menu for him. I wiped my face free of the tears so he wouldn't see. I turned back and he was looking at me inquisitively.

"Would you like a booth, table, or bar seat?" I asked, ignoring the silent question.

"Bar seat is fine." He said. I smiled and set his place. "What would you recommend?"

"Well, that depends on what you like. Do you want sweet, savory, salty, spicy?"

"Spicy for sure."

"Well then, I would recommend our Love of Fire. It's a ramen soup made with crab, broccoli, and an assortment of spices. You can either get it spicy or extra spicy."

"Extra spicy and water."

"Coming right up." I got him his water, wrote it down his order, and took it to the kitchen. I attended to my other tables before returning to him.

"So, you gonna tell me what's obviously wrong or you just gonna let it stew." He said. I looked up at him stunned but shook my head.

"Nothing's wrong. Just been a long day." I lied.

"Order up." I picked up his soup and set it down in front of him. He raised an eyebrow, unconvinced.

"Nothing's wrong. I prom...."

"Dynamight! Sir! Welcome into my shop." I was shoved out of the way by Alimusho. An annoyed look came over Dynamight's face as he looked at the man. "It is an honor to have in my Ramen House. If I had known you were here, I would have served you personally." Alimusho sent a dirty glare over his shoulder at me. I dropped my gaze to the floor, rubbing my arm in discomfort.

"I'm sure, but L/N was doing a superb job just as well." He said while taking a spoonful of his soup. "Hell, I would say they are the best server I've had in a long time. Until you came butted in here and ruing the vibe." My eyes widened at his statement. None of us were brave enough to speak to Alimusho that way. Dynamight stared at Alimusho down, daring him to challenge him.

"I, um, I..."

"I also think you should treat your employees better. I heard some uncalled for yelling when I came in. Care to share what that was all about?"

"No, um, yes you're right Mr. Dynamight. I will be better." Alimusho shrunk into himself.

"Good. You can start with helping L/N out here on the floor. You have a full house with only one server. A bit of an overload, don't you think?"

"Yes, sir. Right away." He turned and nearly ran into me. "I am sorry, L/N. I'll take over the left side of the house."

"Alright." I watched him scurry away. I stood there stunned before looking back at Dynamight. "Thank you. None of us are brave enough to stand up to him like that. You just...you just did us all a favor. Thank you Dynamight."

"No big. And call me Bakugou." I nodded, containing my excitement. "Oh, and this soup is pretty good. Thanks for the recommendation."

From then on, Bakugou would come to the Ramen House all the time. He sometimes brings some of his friends. Alimusho was ecstatic that he was having so many Pro Heroes in his shop. Red Riot, Chargebolt, Cellophane, even Deku once.

"Ah, Mr. Dynamight. Welcome in. L/N will be right with you." I heard Alimusho say from the back. Since Bakugoo had knocked Alimusho down a few pegs, he has been so much better. Humbled by the experience.

"Thanks." he said. I finished what I was doing and walked out.

"Hey Bakugou! Are you having your usual?" I asked. He nodded. I looked at him for a moment and noticed he was fidgety. He seemed to be nervous and that was out of character. I put his order in with the kitchen. "You alright?"

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm fine. Just something on my mind." He said, unconvincingly. I raised an eyebrow at him but let it go.

"Okay. But I'm here if you need a willing ear." He remained quiet for this visit. He did seem to be getting irritated at whoever kept texting him. I was only able to make a little conversation with him.

"What, Shitty Hair?" I jumped at the sudden exclamation. I turned to meet his eyes. He gave me an apologetic look as he talked on the phone. He talked on the phone for a little while after that. "You Keep me on the phone any longer and I won't be able to, dumbass."

"Here you go." I set down his normal slice of chili mango cake.

"Thank you. Bye, Shitty Hair." He hung up.

"I'm just about down with my shift in a few minutes. So I made sure you got this." I said.

"thanks." He deflated a bit. I frowned before setting my hand on his.

"You sure you're alright? You're not acting right." He sighed and set his hand on Mine.

"I'm just... I want to do something but I can't gain the courage to do it. Which is unlike me. I'm fuckin' Dynamight, I'm known for not being so hesitant." I laughed at his outburst. His eyes watched me intently.

"Well, everyone gets like that. Even the most courageous people. So... calm down and just do it. You'll thank yourself in the end."

"You can go home now, L/N." Alimusho called over to me.

"Alright. I'll see you later, Bakugou." I said before walking away. I grabbed my things and clocked out. As I was walking down the street.

"L/N! L/N, hey wait up!" I turned to see Bakugou running after me.

"Bakugou? What's u..."

"Go out with me." I stared at him, not connecting the dots.

"W-What?"

"You told me to just do it, so here I am. I can't get you out of my head and everyday you seem to take up more room in my head.  So... Go out with me, please."

Tag List: @lilparcheesie @dxnaii-rxse @iris-shihabi @l0vely-lee @keigos-baby-bird

[theogcinnamonroll]

I used to love Harry Potter

I used to love Harry Potter. 

There was a time in my life, where it was one of the most important things. I read the books at least once a year. I’d sit on the couch with my mom and watch the movies with her. I’d spend countless hours on the internet, reading fanfiction, participating in the fandom, and reading every single headcanon and thought I could get my hands on. Although I was too scared to participate, too scared to post my own thoughts and my own fanfiction, it made me feel so welcome. Like I was part of something big. And to someone as lonely as I was back then, that was so important. 

I was smart. Bad with people, but I devoured books like my life depended on them. I felt like I was Hermione. I saw myself in her, and I wanted to be her. She made me feel proud of my wild brown hair. She made me feel proud that I wasn’t like how I saw the other girls. She made me feel proud to be me. She made me feel like I was worth it, like even with all my flaws, even with my lack of looks and social graces, I was important and valuable. 

I lived and breathed Harry Potter. My earliest vivid memories are of sitting at my mom’s feet with my brother, listening as she read the Sorcerer’s Stone to us. And then the Chamber of Secrets, then the Prisoner of Azkaban. I remember how I wasn’t allowed to read past the Prisoner of Azkaban until I was in the second grade. Then I was finally allowed to read the Goblet of Fire, but I couldn’t stop. I kept sneaking the next books, until my mom caught me reading the Deathly Hallows. It was like a drug for me, and I couldn’t stop. I just had to keep going, even though I got in trouble for it. 

And as I got older, that fixation stayed. It brought me to the internet. The first fanfiction I can remember reading is one that was written on gotoquiz.com, a series about Oliver Wood. I stayed up all night reading it on my school iPad after I found it. Until my dad yelled at me because the school sent him an email about how I was on the iPad all night. But I couldn’t stop. An entire new world had been opened for me, and I had to have more. 

It was everything to me. It was my whole world. I dreamed of going to Universal to see Harry Potter world. I dreamed of having my own wand. And even past the age of eleven, I held out hope that someday, my Hogwarts letter would still come, and I could be the witch I always wanted to be. Even as I got older and began going to different fandoms, being drawn into different universes, my love of Harry Potter didn’t go away. It stayed there, always in the back of my mind, affecting who I was, and helping me figure out the person that I wanted to be. 

It wasn’t just something that stayed in the background, it bled out into the life I had. The essay I wrote to try and get into AP English my freshman year? It was about Neville Longbottom, about how his evolution as a character was inspirational. How I wanted to be like him, emulate how even though he was terrified of everything, he still showed bravery when it mattered most. And although I didn’t take AP English, that essay got me into the class. It opened up a gateway that I could have taken. 

But then I found out. It was the summer of 2020, after I graduated from high school. JK Rowling had posted tweets outing herself as a TERF, a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. And it was like my world had just crashed down around me. I was still figuring out who I was, whether or not I was a woman, or a man, or somewhere in between. But I knew that I was queer, and I knew that what she had said was wrong. That what she said isolated a massive part of the community that was so important to me. But I didn’t know what to do. 

At first I tried to pretend that I didn’t know about it. That as far as I knew, none of it had happened. But I couldn’t ignore that sting of guilt every time I looked at the copies of the books on my bookshelf. The twisting in my gut every time I got a piece of Harry Potter memorabilia that I once would have been ecstatic to receive. And eventually, I couldn’t swallow it up anymore, and I admitted it. JK Rowling wasn’t the person I thought she had been, and I couldn’t just continue supporting her anymore. But I decided that I wouldn’t support her financially, and I would inform people of her actions. 

But the guilt didn’t go away. If anything it only got worse. If I was so determined to support the people in my community, why wasn’t I willing to give up Harry Potter completely. And finally… I did. Around the time I officially realized and came out as nonbinary, I gave it up. No more Harry Potter in my life, although I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of the books, no matter the guilt. 

As a neurodivergent person, my hyperfixations are important to me. Especially the ones that last my entire life. But I began to really think about it. Is my hyperfixation more important to me than supporting the trans men and women in my community? And for me… I realized it wasn’t. And that’s what gave me the strength to completely give it up. It’s a wound that still hurts. A gaping hole that I don’t think will ever heal over. And pain that mars some of the happiest moments of my childhood. How could someone who had written these books, created this world that made me feel so safe and accepted, turn out to be so hateful? 

Then I began to listen. I heard marginalized voices speak out about the issues that had been in the books all along, issues that I had never noticed. And I began to feel sick. This hadn’t come out of nowhere, this hadn’t just been something no one saw coming. Hatred and bigotry had been a part of these books since the very beginning, I had just been blind to it. The anti-semitism, the racism, the fatphobia, so many more issues that I could never name even if I tried. They’d been in every single book, they’d been staring at me every time I read those books that had been so important to me, but I had never seen it. Because even for all the ways that I’m marginalized, my privilege allowed me to overlook it. To never even notice. To blindly take the theme of the books, the themes of acceptance and fighting against oppression and hate, and never question them for a moment. 

I still need to question and look at the parts of me that were helped to grow by those books, really look and see what of that bigotry rubbed off on me. To question how much of the books I really let affect me. It’s an ongoing process that I need to work on and I am working on. Because those books did so much for me, but they’ve hurt so many people too. While I felt seen and encouraged by those books, other children felt pain and isolation when they read them. 

My neurodivergency is not a shield. I can’t hide behind it and say that just because of it, I can’t give up something I loved because it hurts people. Something I loved was created by a person who actively uses the platform it gave her to hurt people. And I am one of the millions of people who gave her that platform. Some say that we can speak out against JK Rowling while still loving Harry Potter. But JK Rowling herself has said that she sees the continuing support of Harry Potter to be support of her and her views, and that’s something I cannot live with. Harry Potter meant so much to me. And it still means so much to me, but I have turned my back on it forever. It still hurts. And I still feel the urge to give in, to go back to reading Harry Potter, close my eyes, and continue to participate in the fandom. But if I’m going to be the person who I want to be, I can’t. 

Harry Potter was everything to me for most of my life. While I had other hyperfixations that lasted as long, like Star Wars, there was just something about Harry Potter that was different. It gave me a connection to my family, something we could spend time together with. Something we could bond over. But I just can’t close my eyes and pretend like nothing is wrong.

I used to love Harry Potter. And a big part of me still does. But that love is nothing compared to the love I feel for my community. Trans and nonbinary people are in the middle of a genocide. The world is actively trying to wipe us out, and JK Rowling is part of that. If I close my eyes, I will willingly be taking part in the active drive to kill and erase trans people, especially trans women. The active drive to kill and erase people like me. Because while JK Rowling may say she doesn’t want us dead, that’s exactly what she’s doing. She’s knowingly contributing to a cause that is actively wiping us out. And she considers support of Harry Potter to be support of that cause. 

I love my mother. And I owe her so much more than I could ever possibly say or pay back. But she loves Harry Potter. She still loves Harry Potter, even with everything JK Rowling has said and done. I know she supports me, I know she supports trans rights, but it still hurts that she still loves Harry Potter. I know it means a lot to her, and I’m not going to ask her to suddenly stop loving something so important to her. I know I can’t change the behavior of the people around me, and I shouldn’t ask her to give it up. And I’m not going to ask her to. But it still hurts.

[chaoslynx]

So glad ur back & I hope you’re doing well! I recently have been listening to a lot of Alex G and his song No Bitterness is so ash coded… “my teacher is a child with a big smile, no bitterness”… ash healing his inner child by being a good big brother to Michael :’) could be a good idea for a fic <3 your writing is amazing and I hope life is treating you better!!!!

Ash knows that jaded isn't a bad word to describe him, in more ways than one.

There's the color, of course. Jade. His middle name. But beyond that, Ash knows that he's ... disillusioned, shall he say, with the world around him. Jaded. It makes sense, when you've seen the things he has.

Ash wasn't out of place with this, at least not for a long time. Most of the people around him were also disillusioned. They'd all seen shit in some way or another, though hopefully few as bad as Ash. They saw past the sparkling NYC lights and into the filth coating every inch of the city, no matter how high the tax brackets became in some areas. They saw past the smiles to the teeth, and past the outstretched hands to the claws.

Ash tried to protect Skip's innocence in as many was as he could, but he was always a bit late to that. And Ash got Skipper killed in the end, so maybe he didn't do much good.

Eiji was one of the first people Ash met—past Griff, at least—who didn't share that same jadedness as he did. But there were more, after him. Well, not after, because Eiji stayed by Ash's side. But there were more people since meeting Eiji who also seemed ... hopeful, almost.

Max, stupidly, despite the war he'd been a part of. Jessica, despite the harm Ash just existing caused her. Ibe, who always seemed more than a touch overwhelmed by everything taking place in the States.

And, of course, Michael.

Michael is a little younger than Skip had been, and around the same age that Ash gained his current perspective on life. Ash is determined to not let the same happen to Michael.

When he stays over at Max and Jessica's place, Ash has his own room—the guest room, really, but they always tell him it's his whenever he wants it. This guest room is upstairs in the house, and shares a wall with Michael's room. Ash worries about this sometimes, since he knows his nightmares aren't always quiet. After the time he punched Bones' teeth out when the kid tried to wake him up from a nightmare, Ash made sure the gang stayed away from him when he was asleep, no matter how much pain he seemed to be in.

Max and Jessica told Ash that he was welcome to use the lock on the guest room door. At first, Ash was hesitant. After all, this isn't his house. This isn't his room. How could he lock the people who live here out?

It was Michael, in the end, who changed Ash's mind. Not that Michael actually did anything, but Ash realized that with them sharing a wall, there was a chance Michael would hear one of Ash's nightmares and go to check on him. Ash, of course, couldn't let that happen, so he started locking the door.

It didn't occur to Ash until it happened that he might be able to hear Michael's nightmares through the wall, too.

Stupidly, it didn't really occur to Ash that 'normal' kids like Michael even had nightmares. Not that Michael hasn't had more than his fair share of pain, much of it due to Ash's influence himself. He really should have known better ...

Still, the first time he hears Michael cry out in his sleep, Ash finds his hand reaching for a gun that's no longer there.

"Michael?" Ash calls, cautiously. Is there an intruder?

"M-Mommy," Michael says. His voice is muffled by sleep and the wall between them.

Without another thought, Ash makes his way toward Michael's room.

He might not have his gun anymore, and it might be too late for him. But as long as there's still goodness in this world—as long as there are still kids like Michael, and the potential for them to grow into adults who are better than Ash—

Then maybe Ash can push aside his own bitterness, those past memories that have jaded him, in favor of learning from someone who's never tasted their own blood on someone else's tongue.