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bellaireland1981 · 3 years

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A Gentle Push

Pairings: Chris Evans x Female Reader

Warnings: None- just fluff

Word Count: 3,380

Summary- Your family and Chris’ have been friends forever, which mean you’d been best friends with Chris since childhood. Only problem is over the years you’ve fallen in love with your best friend, but are too scared to risk the friendship. Your families decide it’s time to intervene...

Part 1 of 3!

A/n- This is literally only the second story I’ve ever posted, so please be kind! HUGE thank you to @fluffymisha97 and @denisemarieangelina for reading through, giving me feedback and LOADS of encouragement!

Pictures found on Pinterest and compiled into a collage.

Reblogs are always welcome but I do not give permission to copy, translate or post my work anywhere.

You’ve been best friends with Chris, and a regular at the Evans’ household for as long as you could remember. You’d weathered your first heartbreaks together, spent endless hours at the local theater supporting each other in plays, went as each other’s date to dances so neither of you would feel like the oddball out, you’d been there for Chris when his parents had gotten divorced, and he’d been there for you when your dad passed away. You were each other’s rock, voice of reason, biggest cheerleader. You shared all of your secrets… well except one. There was a huge secret you’d managed to keep from Chris for a very long time. You were in love with your best friend.

Your families are currently planning a ski trip in the White Mountains in New Hampshire during everyone’s Christmas break. Chris had booked a block of rooms for everyone at the Omni Mount Washington Resort for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. You were definitely looking forward to seeing him and spending time with him, as those opportunities don’t come along very often lately, but when you spent extended amounts of time together it was hard to keep your feeling concealed. As it was you were pretty sure your family knew how you felt.

You knew that Scott had for sure figured out you were in love with his brother. He’d cornered you after his mom’s annual 4th of July cookout the previous year. Since then, he’d made it his mission to drop hints and to tease you mercilessly whenever you were all together. Thankfully, it had been a busy year for Chris with films so he was gone a lot.

“So, Flower, how are you going to survive a week of skiing, and being in close quarters with Chris and not let it slip that you’re in love with him?” Scott asked teasingly, as you were settling in for a movie night at your apartment.

“Well, Bambi,” You respond, rolling your eyes, “I’ve managed to keep it under wraps this long, so I’m pretty confident that I can continue to do so indefinitely.”

“That’s flawed thinking,” He replied, “It’s bound to come out and you know it. He’ll either figure it out, or you’ll slip up.”

“I think the odds are higher that you’ll be the one that spills the beans, Bambi.” You said laughing.

“You may not be wrong there!” He laughed, “I don’t understand why you just don’t tell him already though.”

“Because that would ruin a life long friendship and I can’t, Scott.” I said sadly, “I can’t lose him, and can you imagine how horribly uncomfortable it would be when our families were together?”

“It wouldn’t come to that, Flower.” He reassured you, “You’ve got to trust me!”

“Just promise you won’t push it this week, Bambi.” You begged, “It’s been so long since I’ve been able to hang out with Chris and just have fun, I don’t want it to be ruined.”

“I promise” He replied hugging you, “It’ll all be great. You’ll see!”

___________________________________________________________

“Merry Christmas, Sweetheart!” Lisa said, wrapping you in a hug as you stood on her porch.

“Merry Christmas!” You reply hugging her back. “Sorry I’m late, I was finishing a batch of cookies for the boys for the trip.”

“You’re fine! Come in where it’s warm.” She ushered you into the house that had been your second home growing up. “Everyone is in the family room plotting for the week ahead!”

You made your way to the family room where Scott and Chris were on the couch discussing (or arguing rather) who the better skier was. Dodger was laid out on the floor at Chris’ feet but jumps up when he sees you, excitedly coming over to you for attention. You bend down and drop a kiss on his head, giving him pats, and calling for him to come over to the couch with you. You decide to plop down onto the couch in between Chris and Scott, allowing Dodger to jump up next to you. Due to lack of space, he was sprawled half on you, with his butt resting on Chris’ lap.

“Merry Christmas, Flower!” Scott said laughing at you inserting yourself on the couch, “Settle this for us! Tell Chris I’m the better skier!”

“Umm, Bambi, as much as I’d love to help you out here, there’s a reason I call you ‘Bambi’ and it isn’t just because you’re cute.” you reply laughing. The first time you’d all gone ice skating together as kids, Scott had ended up sprawled out on the ice, much like Bambi had in the movie. He just wasn’t always the most graceful. It was part of his charm. “It pains me to say it, but Christopher Robin is the better skier.”

“Wow, I see how it is!” Scott pouted, “Come on, Dodge, let’s go find people who will appreciate us!” He got up and called for Dodger, winking at me on his way by.

“Merry Christmas, Dove,” Chris said, scooting over to you and engulfing you in a tight hug. He really did give the best hugs. “I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you too,” You said hugging him back, “Merry Christmas!” Chris kept his arm around you, hugging you to his side as you sat on the couch. This was pretty much the norm for you both.

“How’s the school year going for you, Dove?” he asked

“It’s going OK.” You respond, slightly distracted by being so close to him. “Definitely need these two weeks to regroup.”

“Carly and Shanna said the same thing” He laughed, “I don’t know how you all do it.”

“The good outweighs the bad for sure. I love my students and wouldn’t trade them for the world.” You reply.

“Well I’m glad I get to spend the next week with you!” He said excitedly, “I’m planning on being very selfish and keeping you to myself as much as possible. Fair warning.”

Butterflies erupt in your stomach at his words. You didn’t mind spending as much time with him as possible, and the fact that he wanted to just have time with you was exciting, but it was definitely harder to contain your feelings when it was just the two of you. You thought about asking Scott to run interference but that was a recipe for disaster, and you really did want to spend as much time with him as you could.

The rest of the afternoon was spent in chaos, as were most get-togethers with your family and the Evans clan. You’d all eaten dinner, played several games, and had even snuck a movie in before the kids were carted off to their beds.

You were helping Lisa in the kitchen with getting food put up and dishes washed, when she looked over at you, giving you the familiar “mom look”... similar to the one you always got from your own mom.

“Are you planning on ever telling him how you feel?” she asked, gently prying.

You stop wiping the pan and look up at her alarmed.

“Tell who how I feel?” you ask, panicked, how did she know? Had Scott told her? You make a mental note to kick him.

“Sweetheart, you wear that heart of yours on your sleeve.” She laughed, “Anyone with eyes and sense can see you’re in love with Chris.”

You look around to make sure nobody else is around or listening in. Thankfully, Chris had taken Dodger for a quick walk so you knew he wasn’t in ear shot.

“Umm, of course I love him, he’s my best friend.” You say trying to hedge. You should have known better that Lisa wasn’t having any of that. And of course Scott picked that exact moment to come into the kitchen.

“Flower, we all know you don’t just love him as your best friend. She’s IN love with him mom.” He said, ever so helpfully. The mental note to kick him just got upgraded to pushing him down the mountain.

“Scott, leave her alone.” Lisa chided him, “Don’t think I haven’t noticed how much joy you take in tormenting the poor girl whenever they’re together.”

“I prefer to think of it as nudging her in the right direction.” He responds laughing, “I’m cupid!”

“You’re a menace” You reply, glaring at him, then turning your attention to Lisa. “Ok yes, he’s right, but I’m not about to ruin a lifelong friendship with the best person I know because I caught feelings.”

“Oh, Sweet girl, I promise you you’re not going to ruin your friendship.” Lisa reassured you, “Trust me.”

“I’ve been telling her that for a year, Ma!” Scott pointed out. “Seriously, Flower, you trust us right?”

“Of course I trust you both,” you replied, “But I can’t risk it. The price is just too high.”

“What price is too high?” Chis asked, having impeccable timing just like his brother.

“Flower has had her eye on something extra special from Santa, but apparently he’s an idiot.” Scott said, popping a cookie in his mouth and making a hasty exit from the kitchen, oblivious to the look of death you were shooting his way.

“What’s caught your eye, Dove?” Chris asked, thankfully missing the cue Scott had dropped. “Santa may be an idiot, but you’ve got a totally amazing best friend that isn’t.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that” You hear Lisa whisper to herself, shaking her head. You glance over to see if Chris had heard his mom, but he was snatching a cookie from the tray and looking at you.

“It’s not a big deal, really.” you replied, “I have to finish packing before we leave tomorrow morning, so I’m going to head out now.”

Lisa stepped around the kitchen island and wrapped you in a hug, “It’ll all be ok, Love” she whispered, “Have faith in him.”

“It’s still early though,” Chris whined, giving you a puppy look, “And I haven’t been able to spend any time with you lately!”

“We’ll have an entire week together,” You reasoned with him, “But if you want to leave early, I have to finish packing and sleep.”

“OK, then how about I come help you pack and then we can watch a movie and you can fall asleep like you always do!” He suggested, looking at you with a hopeful gaze. You really did want to spend as much time as possible with him since it wasn’t often you got the chance lately.

“You’d be doing me a huge favor, Sweetheart” Lisa winked at you, “Take this one off my hands for the night!”

“Ok, it’s not like he doesn’t have his own home to go to,” You laugh, “But, fine, I’ll take him.”

“YES!” Chris exclaims high fiving you, “Let me grab Dodge and I’m ready!” He ran out of the room to collect Dodger and you turned to Lisa shaking your head.

“Why do I always end up giving into him?” You asked, baffled.

“Do you really want me to answer that?” She asked, smiling gently at you. “Relax and just enjoy the time with him… everything always has a way of working out.”

“READY!” Chris yelled, excitedly coming into the room again with Dodger and our coats in tow. “Let’s get you packed, Dove!”

“You gonna follow me to my apartment?” I asked, taking my coat. “Or do you just want to ride with me?”

“I’ll follow you to your apartment, you can pack, and then we’ll take my car to my house because I have to finish packing too.” Chris admitted, flashing his boyish smile at you. “Besides, I have a better TV to watch movies on.”

“You seriously haven’t packed yet either?” I laughed, “And have you even met me? I’ll literally be sleeping within the first 15 minutes of the movie.”

“Even more reason to watch it at my house, it’ll be more comfy when you crash out!”

Chris ushers you out of the house towards your cars after saying goodbye to everyone. Once at your apartment, Chris and Dodger hang out on your bed while you throw your clothes and toiletries into your suitcase. You make a mental tally of everything, making sure you don’t forget anything.

“Bring a dress for New Years” Chris said, “We’re going to go out to dinner and then I organized a small party for our families and the gang’s all drivin’ up to join us.”

“Umm, Christopher, that is not something you throw at me last minute!” I complained, glaring at him, “How fancy is this party? Ugh! I’m going to have to go shopping now.”

“Relax, Dove” He laughed, “It’s not overly fancy, you’ve got a ton of dresses in your closest and you’ll look absolutely beautiful in any of them. You should grab the short, black one you wore to the Infinity War premiere…the lacy, sparkly one with only one sleeve, you looked amazing in that.”

“This one?” You asked, pulling what you believe was the dress he was referring to, but needing clarification from his description.

“Yes!” He exclaimed with a big grin, “I really liked that on you.”

“Thank you” You said, feeling your face heat up, “It’s definitely one of my favorites, but Chris, this is a formal dress, will it be OK for the dinner and party?”

“It’s perfect, Dove” he promised, “All eyes will definitely be on you that night.”

“I doubt that” You laughed, carefully placing the dress in a garment bag to prevent it from wrinkling.

“Ok, let’s grab your gear from your trunk and head to my house. You can help me pick out my New Year’s outfit while I throw all my other clothes into the suitcase and then we can watch a movie...or I can watch a movie and you can sleep.”

Once you got back to Chris’ house, you went inside and Chris got Dodger settled with food and fresh water before you both made your way to his room so he could pack. You plopped down on his bed, making yourself comfy while he drags out a suitcase and starts putting various clothing items in.

“While you finish packing, I’m going to go change and grab some snacks and drinks for the movie.” You said, needing a distraction. “And since all of my stuff is still in your car, I’m stealing one of your t-shirts and a pair of your pajama pants to sleep in.”

“Ok, but I want them back this time, Dove” He teased, “I’ve lost have of my wardrobe to you ‘borrowing’ stuff.”

“I make no promises.” You sassed back, rummaging through his drawer to find a shirt and pajama pants. In truth you’d only actually commandeered a few shirts over the years, he was definitely exaggerating.

You settled on one of his Patriots t-shirts and a pair of blue plaid cotton pants with a drawstring so you could adjust them to fit. You changed in the bathroom before heading to the kitchen for popcorn and drinks.

You’d just finished popping the popcorn, removing it from the microwave when Chris grabbed you from behind and yelled your name, causing you to jump about a mile in the air. Thankfully you’d already set the popcorn down.

“CHRISTOPHER!” You yelled, placing your hand over your racing heart, “You SUCK!”

You doubted he had heard you though, because he was laughing hysterically, a hand over his left pec. He was practically sprawled out on the floor. It was your own fault really. Thirty-five years of friendship, you should know to just expect these jump scares.

“I’m sorry” He gasped, trying to calm down, “I couldn’t resist!”

“You’re not sorry, Punk!” I replied, attempting to glare at him. It was impossible to stay upset with him, even when just faking it, his personality and the boyish looks he gave you always ended up melting your heart.

“I am! I promise, I won’t do it anymore.” He said, as got up off the floor. “At least not anymore tonight?”

“You better not have been recording that or post it to social media!” you said, “Don’t forget that I’ve got a LOT of pictures and videos of you over the years, mister!”

“Fair point” He acknowledged, “I promise, I won’t post it to social media.”

“Grab the popcorn and let’s go watch that movie.” You instructed him, grabbing the drinks.

“OK, but let’s go watch it one in my room, that way when you fall asleep you’re already somewhere comfy.” He suggested.

He grabs the popcorn bowl and you grab the drinks and you both head back towards his room. Chris calls for Dodger to follow. Once in the room you quickly staked your claim on the side of the bed closest to the windows and French doors, making yourself comfy with pillows propping you up. Dodger jumped on the bed and tried to settle next to you, but Chris was quicker and poor Dodger was forced to lay at the foot of the bed.

“Poor Dodge,” You said, pouting, “Did your mean Daddy banish you to the end of the bed?”

Chris laughed, throwing a pillow at you, “Mean, my ass! He’s the most spoiled dog ever!”

“And who’s fault is that, Christopher Robin?” You sassed.

“I believe you had a huge role in that spoiling” He replied, “What do you want to watch?”

“I can’t deny my role in that, but he’s the best boy ever!” You said, leaning over to scratch Dodger’s ears, “And whatever you want to watch is fine.”

“Ok, well it’s Christmas so we have to watch a Christmas movie…” He started flipping through what was available to stream, and after a minute settled on White Christmas.

“How many times did you watch this already this year?” he asked, knowing it was among your favorites.

“This will make four” you replied. “But if you count the times I fell asleep when I started it, it’s the 7th time”

He laughed, then laid back, crossing his ankles and tucking his left arm under his head. “Well come here and snuggle in then so you can go to sleep.” He extended right arm out for me to use as a pillow, pulling me into his warmth. Even with the butterflies erupting in my stomach being this close to him, his body heat and the comfort of his arms immediately relaxed me.

“I might actually make it through the movie…” You said in mock indignation. “Might be a Christmas miracle!”

“You say that, but already you can barely keep your eyes open, Dove.” He reasoned, smiling down at you.

“I can’t help it that you’re so comfy.” You yawned and your eyes drifted shut “And it was a very busy day.”

The opening scene started to play but your breathing had already evened out in sleep.

“Barely made it past the opening credits and you’re already passed out, Dove” Chris whispered, “Sweet Dreams.” He carefully shifted so he angled more towards you and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on your head. “I love you.”

(Part 2 will post TOMORROW!)

#Chris Evans Fiction Chris Evans Chris Evans x Reader

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noramoya · 5 years

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VERY EMOTIONAL AND SAD ! 😢💔😓

“HOW DOES IT FEEL WHEN YOU’RE ALONE AND YOU’RE COLD INSIDE ?” — MICHAEL JACKSON’S TRAUMA , WordPress.com

“The allegations and the accompanying relentless, decades long character assassination (that is still going on after Jackson’s death) took their toll on Michael Jackson’s health and psyché. In 1993, when the Jordan Chandler allegations came out, Jackson was on tour abroad, but due to the stress of the allegations his health deteriorated, he had to cancel shows due to dehydration and several times he collapsed backstage. In the fall of 1993, at the height of the Chandler frenzy, he wrote a song entitled Stranger in Moscow while he was touring the Russian capital. The song was released on Jackson’s 1995 HIStory album. It gives an insight into his state of mind at the time: the sadness, the loneliness, the pain, his collapsing world. As he put it in his lyrics: “Armageddon of the brain” – that’s how being falsely accused of a sexual crime feels like. Eventually on November 11, 1993, he had to cancel the rest of the tour because he developed a dependency on painkillers and he had to seek treatment.

During the 2005 trial we have seen Michael Jackson’s health deteriorate with each passing day and after his acquittal he had to spend some time in hospital to get himself together physically. Emotionally, mentally he could never really heal from the trauma before his untimely death in 2009. In the book “Remember the Time – Protecting Michael Jackson” Bill Whitfield, a bodyguard of Jackson’s, recalled this story from the last years of Jackson’s life:

“He didn’t trust strangers. Whenever he got caught in a crowd, he’d be real frantic and nervous. We were at a shopping mall in Virginia one afternoon. Javon had gone to get the car. I was waiting with Mr. Jackson by the exit with mall security. Somebody had recognized him and a small crowd had formed. He was signing a few autographs, waving to folks. It was a friendly situation, not a mob or anything. As Javon pulled up and opened the door for Mr. Jackson, this guy from the back of the crowd yelled out, “Fuckin’ child molester!” I heard it, plain as day. I looked at Javon; he’d heard it too. We were just praying that Mr. Jackson had missed it. But after we got in the car and drove for a bit, he leaned forward and said, “Guys, did you hear somebody say something back there?” “No, sir,” I said. “I didn’t hear anything. You hear anything, Javon?” Javon shook his head. “No, sir.” Mr. Jackson said, “I thought I heard someone say something very mean. I could have sworn. You guys aren’t lying to me, are you?” “No, sir.” We didn’t want to lie to him, but we knew what would happen if we confirmed it. Hearing someone call him a child molester? That would completely shut him down. He’d close the door and vanish into his room for at least a week, and we didn’t want that to happen. We drove on with nobody saying anything for the next ten, fifteen minutes, and then out of the backseat he said, “I would never hurt a child. I would slit my wrists before I ever did anything to hurt a child.” [1]

Perhaps we can get a little sense of what Jackson went through emotionally because of these allegations from a story told by a couple of his fans, Brigitte Bloemen, Marina Dobler, Stephanie Grosse and Sonja Winterholler, who traveled all the way from Germany to Santa Barbara to support Jackson during the trial. One day while waiting for him at the gates of Neverland, a bus carrying Jackson stopped and they had the opportunity to meet the star one by one inside the bus. Their story reveals an emotionally frail and very much wounded Jackson. It felt appropriate to publish this story on my website to remind my readers that while Michael Jackson might have been different to “normal” in many ways, he was a human being with feelings who deserves a fair and full representation of these cases instead of a verbal lynch mob and a witch hunt, and instead of the tabloid soundbites, cherry-picked out of context half-truths and lies that are often used against him in attempts at convicting him in the court of public opinion.

SONJA : “And there I suddenly stood — right in front of Michael stupidly saying “Hi Michael”. I tried so hard to remember the questions we had prepared and I had written down to ask him if possible, but now in this very moment, everything was gone. The only question that came to my mind and that would also make sense in this situation was “How are you?”— and so I asked him that Michael just stood there and didn’t answer. He didn’t even look at me, but held my left hand with both of his hands very tightly. He then leaned over and kissed me on each cheek, but still he did not say a word. I was a bit confused and didn’t know what to do. So the next thing I asked him was “Are you fine?” He finally looked directly at me and bursted out, “No!” And he continued while squeezing my hand: “I just pretend to be fine, but I’m not – I’m not.” In the same second, he hugged me very tightly and I realized that he was crying. Oh my God, now I began to understand why he hadn’t said anything before. He had tried not to lose his poise and not to cry, but my questions didn’t help…

We stood there for quite a while just hugging each other. Michael sobbed a few times and I felt that he was shaking, although it was quite warm inside the bus. It took me at least half a minute to really understand that in this moment Michael was hugging me, crying and just showing and telling me his true feelings. Until this moment I had thought he really would be that strong and positive about the upcoming trial, like he had shown the public at the first arraignment a few days before. How naive I was! Of course, he was scared and of course he was hurt as much as one can be, facing these terrible allegations, when all he ever wanted to do was to help this kid, as he had helped so many sick children before and after that. Given these thoughts and feeling him shiver, I also had to fight with the tears.”

MARINA : “ I stopped when I saw Michael waiting at the top of the stairs, looking towards me. Sheepishly I said “Good morning, Michael” to him. At first he just looked at me not moving at all. It seemed he wanted to say something but after a few moments, he suddenly took my hands and pulled me up the two remaining stairs, kissed me on each cheek and embraced me tightly. In that moment all the pent-up tension, all the fear and sorrow for him, all the concern, all the sympathy but mostly all the love for him finally unloaded and tears streamed down my face. “I love you so much, Michael!” were the only words that came out of my mouth. Now Michael could not stay composed either, even though he had tried so hard, and so he broke into tears as well, while saying “I love you so much more”. He embraced me even tighter than before, trying to console me by caressing my head and back.

We both couldn’t stop crying and it seemed to escalate more and more. I felt and experienced in those moments, how totally upset, deeply hurt and broken Michael was by all the terrible things that went on in his life. He was not at all confident, as he had tried to show the world a few days earlier at the court building in Santa Maria. At some point Michael began to tremble from top till toe. It was so obvious that he desperately needed people in his life that he could lean on and trust and who believed in his innocence. For quite a while we simply held each other sobbingly, when he suddenly with a broken voice said ,“…you know they hurt me so much with this, they try to destroy me…” His whole body shivered badly as he said those words and I helplessly tried to console him as best as I could by caressing his back, yet found no words of consolation, because I knew the situation he was in was just terrible and to claim anything else would have been a blatant lie. “I know…, I know…” was all I could stammer and again we both had to cry so much, that we could hardly breathe. It felt like Michael was drowning and desperately tried to grasp at straws when he embraced me even tighter, it almost hurt. Yet in this moment of deepest desperation, he now tried to speak again, almost voiceless from all the crying, he croaky whispered in a desperate and beseeching way, “…but we must heal the world and help the children”. The way he uttered those words worried me more than anything, because they held a feeling of “Goodbye” in them, as if he tried to indicate that he would not be here with us for very much longer and needed us (fans) to fulfill his mission. Instinctively I answered: “Oh, we will – but we will do it together with you, Michael!”, trying to tell him that we all need him so much. By these words he literally broke down again and sobbed so badly that I needed to hold him up, in a way, and keep the balance for us both. Again we cried so much and it took quite a while until Michael suddenly found the strength to pull himself together. I tried to follow his example and both still shaking and our faces wet from each other’s tears, we finally said Goodbye to one another, before I shakily went down the stairs again, feeling completely worn out, heartbroken and empty.”

BRIGITTE: “Shyly and slowly I climbed up the stairs towards Michael, still avoiding to look up at him. I did not want to look him straight in the eyes, not to embarrass him and myself, so I just held out my hand towards Michael to say “Hi”. But before I could say a word, he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him and immediately hugged me tightly.

I was kind of hanging there, about two stairs lower than where Michael was standing while he was pulling me closer and closer. There was a small barrier in the bus to define a place behind the driver and prevent people from falling down which also had a handle for people going up the last stairs to hold on. And since I could not climb up all the stairs for Michael had grabbed me before, I happened to have this barrier directly in my stomach which was not very comfortable, especially since Michael was pulling me against it real hard and was not letting go.

Anyway, so early in the morning, being tired, frozen, nervous and confused, your senses are working quite selectively sometimes — so I managed to forget having this barrier pushed into my stomach after mere seconds. It was only after a while that I realized how warm Michael felt and that he tried to warm me up by rubbing my back with his hand. He must have felt me shaking like crazy. The sound that the rubbing on the jacket made finally “woke me up” and I could feel Michael was also shaking a bit and he was weeping on my shoulder. We both stayed like this for at least one or two minutes without saying anything. Then, I heard his voice whispering in my ear: “Go on the internet… ”. As I said before, I was not completely myself then and there, and I just heard something about the internet, and was wondering, what he is talking about. However, after finally concentrating and probably telling my ear to listen, I could hear him go on: “Go on the internet and tell them all, tell all the fans I love them so much and they should come next time to the court! It’s SO important to me!” Having said that, Michael pulled me even harder towards himself. I could barely breathe, but I responded: “l promise they will come – it meant a lot to us as well” (meaning it made us feel better, too, to be finally able to help and support him and to give back to him after he gave so much to the world for years). After that Michael started to cry again. I felt kind of helpless and confused, I was shaking and sobbing, but could not really cry. It felt more like being in shock, I instinctively started rubbing his back as he did before. He hugged and embraced me tighter for a few moments, I could feel him breathing and sobbing – then he finally let go. He stepped back a bit, held his hands pressed together in front of his face and quietly whispered “I love you”. I said “I love you more”, turned around in total shock and almost fell down the stairs I was still standing on. Just before going down the stairs further, however, I saw I still had the three postcards from Munich which we had written to Michael last night in one hand. They were a bit bended since they had been stuck somewhere between the barrier, Michael and me, but I turned around once more, said “oh and this is for you” and gave them to him. He said a quiet “oh, thank you” while still wiping away some tears.”

That cold January morning changed all of us. It was the most heart-breaking, most hurting experience of our life to feel that someone you love so much is hurting so bad, yet to understand that you are unable to truly help, besides supporting him with all your heart and by simply being there for him. But what impressed us the most and made us truly understand who Michael really is, was that even in those darkest and most hopeless moments of his life, Michael’s heart went out to others, to the ones in need, especially to sick and poor children and to our hurting planet! We understood that this is what Michael really was all about! He was about helping and loving and caring for one another! And no matter how many times people tried to ridicule, belittle and hurt him and even, like in the last years, tried to destroy him, Michael never lost his ability to love and care and his deep desire to help others! He simply loved more!” [2]

SOURCES :

[1] Bill Whitfield, Javon Beard, Tanner Colby – “Remember the Time – Protecting Michael Jackson” (2014).

[2] Brigitte Bloemen (Author), Marina Dobler (Contributor), Miriam Lohr (Contributor) – A life for L.O.V.E.: Michael Jackson stories you should have heard before (tredition, August 8, 2013)

CATEGORIES : MICHAEL JACKSON’S HUMANITY ...

TAGS : #child molestation trial, #false accusers, #false sexual abuse allegations, #falsely accused, #Michael Jackson, #sexual molestation allegations, #trauma, #trauma of being falsely accused

THE MICHAEL JACKSON ALLEGATIONS, WordPress.com.

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sadienita · 6 years

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What Is and What Should Never Be

Joshua x reader

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings: Swearing, Very Slight Gore, Death

Introduction

Prequel 09

Now you normally didn’t believe in fairy tales and love at first sight, you never were one for moments that change your life or sudden epiphanies or total changes in perspective. You believed life was gradual. Things happened over time, maybe you noticed them in a singular moment but they didn’t change so suddenly.

That being said, everything had changed when you met Joshua Hong.

Your life had been, less than perfect before he showed up. You were at odds with your family and had lost a lot of friends over a fight within your friend group. You knew you needed to leave your job but you couldn’t find anything better so for the moment you were stuck. You just felt so stuck and you wanted something to change but things seemed to only get worse and worse.

The morning you’d met Joshua you’d been running late. Your alarm hadn't gone off so now you were rushing to get ready and make it out the door. It really was just your luck that these days. You knew somewhere inside that life could be worse, but right now, as you trudged through the rain to get to work, you couldn't really fathom it getting any worse.

And then you tripped and spilled you coffee.

You could have cried. It might have been one small thing but at this point anything was bound to make you sob. You bit down on the inside of your cheek to stop the tears that were threatening to spill over, picking up the cup and carrying it over to a garbage. You snuggled as you turned around to get going, accepting now that there was no way you'd be on time, and almost smacked into a man standing behind you.

“Ah, of course, another thing to go wrong today. Fucking perfect.”

“Hey, are you okay?” He caught you by the arms as you teetered trying not to run into him or fall over. His voice was soft and sweet and full of concern.

“I’m, yeah I’m fine, I’m totally-” you were cut off as a sob ripped itself from your throat. The man pulled you into a hug and led you to sit down. At this point you didn’t care that you’d be late for work. Honestly you didn’t want to go at all.You wished you could just avoid it completely.

He sat you down and put his jacket around your shoulders. You’d gotten caught in the rain along with everything and you didn’t even realize you were shivering until the jacket started to warm you up. He insisted on getting you another coffee and you gladly accepted.

He sat himself across from you and sipped at a tea. “My name is Joshua by the way. I realized I had yet to introduce myself.”

“Well Joshua,” said, sipping at your coffee. “You’ve just made my week about a million times better. I mean I won’t make it to work but I emailed my boss and told him I tried to get there and couldn’t so I’m just not going in today. I need a break anyway.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “Things haven’t been going well then recently?”

You shook your head. “No, they really haven’t. But I’m so sorry, I’m probably oversharing. I just… no one has been this nice to me recently…” You sniffled, trying to hold in tears.

Joshua placed a hand atop yours and you looked up at him. “It’s really alright. I asked because I wanted to know, and you looked like you could really use a friend.”

You sniffed and nodded, taking another sip of your coffee. “God everything in my life has gone downhill. I really can’t seem to catch a break. I just wish I could fix it all and make it better.”

Joshua gave you a warm smile, though there was a mischievous glint in his eyes. “Do you?”

“What? Wish that I could make it better? Well yeah, I wish I got along with my family. I wish I could make up with my friends and have some friends that would stand by me. I wish I got get the job I really want. Heck I wish I wasn’t drenched from the rain and crying over spilt coffee!”

“You know, I think things are really gonna turn around for you soon.”

You didn’t believe in fairy tales and magic and your life suddenly changing before your eyes but maybe you should have. Just as Joshua had predicted your life started to turn around. He spent the rest of the day walking around the city and window shopping with you. The sun began to peek out as the afternoon went on which made you smile.

Over the next few weeks nearly every single thing in your life turned around. You had to wonder if Joshua was somehow psychic. You had no clue how he knew it would get so much better. The week after meeting him your parents and siblings all called and you were able to talk out your differences with all of them. Many of your friends reached out to you to chat and see you. Many of them apologized for abandoning you and for the most part you made up with everyone.

Two weeks after meeting Joshua you got a phone call. An offer for a job you had wanted nearly all your life. You didn’t want to question too much how it how it happened. It was a literal dream come true for you. The needed you to start in a few weeks which was just enough time to give your notice to your old job.

And then there was Joshua himself. The strange man who had come into your life had stayed there. Only a week after meeting you he’d asked you out and you’d started the best relationship you’d ever had. He was sweet and kind, the two of you never seemed to fight, and after two years you moved in together and everything just seemed to get better.

Now you were just passed your three year anniversary with a beautiful new ring on your finger. You browsed wedding websites as you sipped your coffee each morning, admiring the ring. Even his proposal had been as perfect as you could have imagined. Maybe, just maybe, fairy tales were real. If they were, you were certainly living one.

You had planned to spend the day wedding planning but one call from one of your bridesmaids had you rushing over to her apartment to comfort her. She was almost inconsolable as she recounted how her boyfriend of two and a half years had left her so suddenly. You held her and rubbed her back as she cried.

“I’m sorry this happened, but I know you’ll get through it.”

She sighed. “I mean, do you really understand? You’re getting married. You life is so freaking perfect it’s like nothing bad ever happens to you.”

Her comment had you taken aback and it stayed on your mind all day and into the night. Joshua noticed something was off but when you wouldn’t tell him what it was he backed off. You couldn’t very well tell him that your life was too good could you? It’s not that you wanted things to go wrong in your life, but it also seemed a bit weird that for years now things had been going unbelievably well.

Actually since you had met Joshua.

The feeling hung over you for the next week, and then that week turned into two, then three and it became clear you had to let this feeling out or it would never go away. You decided you could tell Joshua since you told him everything and maybe he would be able to calm your fears a little.

You were still nervous to have the conversation. “Hey, can I ask you something?” You tried to sound casual as you dried dishes.

“Of course you can, my love,” he chuckled.

“Do you think our lives are… too perfect?” he looked at you curiously. “I mean we never fight. It’s not that I want to but isn’t that weird? Shouldn’t we disagree sometimes?”

“Not if we’re perfect for each other.” There was warning in his tone, but it was something you’d never heard from him before.

“Josh? I’m not mad or anything it’s just a little weird and it’s been on my mind.”

He put down the dish he was washing and he looked at you with a calculated stare. “Is there anything else that's been bothering you?”

You didn’t like the bite in his tone, it didn’t fit his sweet voice at all. “Well, every single thing in my life got better when you came into it. I get along with my family and I got a bunch of friends back. I got my dream job. Heck even the sun came out that day! I’m just saying it’s strange and I have this weird feeling about all of it. Like it’s-”

“-too good to be true.” He finished.

“Well yeah.”

“Well then you should have been careful what you wished for.” he muttered. “I gave you everything you wanted so I don’t know why you’re complaining. I hate when they fight their way out of the dream state.” You watched him, unsure what he was saying. “It’s really a shame that I have to get rid of you so soon.”

“Joshua, wha…” you watched as your background faded out. Your body felt tired and sore and as you pulled on your wrists you realized they were chained above your head and you were hanging a little off the ground.

“Don’t fight, it’s no use.” he said plainly. You took in his appearance. He had the same face but his body was covered in what looked like tattoos that glowed in the dim light of what you assumed was a warehouse.

“Joshua, what, I-I don’t understand. What’s going on?”

“What’s going on is you ruined the illusion.” He said grabbing a sharp looking knife and stalking toward you. “You should be careful what you wish for, love.”

“But I, we were just-”

“You were right, none of that was real. Too good to be true, wasn’t it. I probably shouldn’t have laid it on quite that thick. Now I have to kill you ahead of schedule.”

Your words got caught in your throat but he seemed to figure out what you were thinking. “I’m not human, you must have figured that out. Some would say I’m a djinn, you might be more common with genies. Either way I was feeding off of your soul and now you’ve ruined it.”

He sighed. “And too bad, I kind of liked that life we had going.” He brought the knife to your throat and before you could say a word he slit it. You tried to scream in pain but only sputtering coughs of blood came out until the darkness pulled you under.

Masterlist

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malloryrunsthis · 6 years

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Race Recap: Glass City Marathon

When I look back at this marathon, most of what I remember is the before and the after.

As we all know--because I have nattered on about it ENDLESSLY--I went into this race feeling under trained and injured. I took off from running for three full weeks to let my hip heal up. I ran six miles the Thursday before and then another three on Friday. I spent endless hours at the pool and in spin class to try to keep my fitness up. In the end, it sort of worked? You tell me.

Because I went in not feeling like I was 100% even going to run, I took a pretty lackadaisical approach to the whole weekend. I barely looked up anything in Toledo other than the address of the airbnb, I sort of threw random running gear into my bag the night before my flight and realized that I had lost my Body Glide and water bottles.”Oh well,” I thought, “I’m sure the expo will have some,” Thank God I had thought to buy gels, “just in case.”

Basically, I turned from a type-A into a type-Z person in the space of 24 hours and it was very weird.

I flew into Detroit on Saturday morning and ubered up to @elkay723‘s parents’ house where I met the lovely @er1nruns and @goaldengoats! Unfortunately for them, I was sort of tired from my early flight so I think I was in a little bit of zombie mode.

We headed out to Toledo in the early afternoon and over to the expo. It was small and cozy but luckily there was a vendor selling Body Glide and a little magnetic bottle I could attach to my running belt! I was saved! It was at the expo where I really decided, “okay, I’m going to do this and just see what happens.” I mean, I was there already, right? And people have run marathons on way less training (so I told myself).

After the expo, we grabbed lunch at a brewery and then headed to the airbnb.

Oh the airbnb. I am shamed, I can never book a place again. It ended up being in a not-great neighborhood which was unnerving. Additionally, the third bedroom had replaced it’s “queen bed” with an air mattress. Which I thought was going to be fine until I tried sleeping on it. Reader, it was not fine. It was COLD and very uncomfortable.

So basically, I ended up compounding a little sleep deprivation from the night before with a LOT of sleep deprivation. But I did get about four hours of sleep before it was time to get up and GO!

I had brought some throwaways with me that I wore to the starting line, including a pair of knee high socks to wear as arm warmers. I ended up dropping my pants and sweatshirt before the race even started and the socks got thrown during my first mile. It wasn’t warm yet but it wasn’t cold enough either.

My race plan was to stick with the 3:30 pacer until I couldn’t anymore. I had trained for a 3:20 but I knew that was totally out of the question given the condition I felt I was in. Even a 3:30 was going to be pushing it but I figured I could at least try to hit somewhere around there and be happy.

The first few miles passed quickly. The pace group I was in was VERY chatty. It was a good distraction although I did wonder if those people were so good they could keep that up all race or if they would eventually stop. I started feeling tired in mile three which was annoying but it was better than feeling hurt!

It was around mile 7, I think, that the split for the half marathon runners came up. I debated with myself if I should take it or keep going. My body was feeling okay though, and I had my phone on my in case I dropped out later, so I kept going.

The course was flat and wound around the nicer neighborhoods before going into a park. Inside the park, we hit a split that said Lap 1 and pointed right with Lap 2 pointing left so I knew that I was going to come through the area again. After the park, around mile 10, we hit an open road and that’s where the headwinds started. It wasn’t bad but it was noticeably harder to keep my pace up which was discouraging as I felt mile 10 was way too early for me to feel like this was hard.

By mile 16 the chatter around me had stopped but I hit a sort of second wind which was nice. I also told myself, just one hard tempo run left! At this point, I felt pretty good, if tired, and thought that I might actually pull off a little bit of a miracle.

Alas, it was not to be. When we entered the park again we hit some sort of slats and did a sort of zig-zagging and that’s when I started fading. By mile 21, my legs were starting to feel really sore and that’s when I knew I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with the pace group anymore.

Those last five miles were some of the longest and hardest miles I think I’ve run in a long time. But I knew, if I stopped, I wouldn’t be able to keep going. I tried walking through aid stations and almost toppled over at one point. So I just had to shuffle along.

The last mile and a half wind you through the University of Toledo’s campus to the finish at the stadium. Of course, you can HEAR the finish line the entire time. I literally considered cutting the parking lot just to be done (I KNOW. I DIDN’T).

As we came up towards the stadium. I did my best to punch up the run a little. Then I heard someone who was already wearing a medal say something like: “don’t try to go faster, you’re almost done, you can’t do anything anymore.” or similar. WTF DUDE. Thanks for your TERRIBLE and really condescending advice?

Finally, finally, I came up into the stadium, heard the announcer say my name and did my best to not walk until I was over the finish line. Erin and Sarah came down cheering and screaming my name and I don’t think I could even talk to them. My legs were stiff as boards and every. single. part. of my body hurt. I just tried to walk it off as best as I could. I forced myself to drink some water but there was no way I could eat.

Unfortunately, my death hobble around made me miss @elkay723‘s PR FINISH! INCREDIBLE! Both she and @er1nruns got to ring the PR bell that day!

(stolen from @goaldengoats)

Once we had all recovered somewhat, we headed to the airbnb to shower and get the hell outta there. Brunch was when I regained my appetite--probably helped by the delicious avocado toast I had there.

Then, the social part of the weekend wound down. Erin and Sarah had to fly back home and I was dropped off at the airport hotel.

After all that, I think I went to bed around 8:30. I had a 4am wake up anyways because of course, I am a masochist and had to make sure I could work a full day the next morning.

It literally took me a full five days to walk like a normal human again. I made my boyfriend carry my luggage up the stairs to the bedroom. I have NEVER been so sore in my life.

In the end, I’m both really proud and disappointed in myself. On the one hand. I can’t believe I pulled off not even my worst marathon time but also a tiny BQ! On the other hand, that was not the experience or time that I had trained for and unfortunately, my time is not going to get me into Boston in 2019.

I don’t want to try to PR again this year. I think NYC is going to be too crowded for a PR and I don’t want to run three marathons in one year. So, the goal is to stop getting injured and try again next year.

Here are the stats!

#glass city marathon #race report #running #runblr

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emweaver · 6 years

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NaNoWriMo - Day 09

Project: Maelstrom Session word count: 1,624 Total word count: 15,525 Notes: Got just a few words written on the main story this afternoon before my brain went bye-bye and started to focus on tomorrow when the plan is to go to the local shelter to adopt a cat.

So, this evening, I decided to focus my writing efforts on that. Cats. Or, a cat. Luckily, there’s a cat named Murphy in my story, so here’s a little side story with her and Sebastian:

Coming home after a long day of getting absolutely nothing on camera, Sebastian wasn't in the mood to do much of anything. And with Paul pulling a double shift at the hospital, he had no reason at all to spend time cooking anything decent. Instead, he stuffed a frozen pizza in the oven and went to turn on the television, slumping on the sofa to wait for his dinner to 'cook'.

A complaint in the form of a loud meow came from somewhere in the vicinity of his right foot, and looking down, he saw Murphy's black and white face looking up at him, her yellow eyes showing what he swore was displeasure. He'd been in the kitchen, after all. So why hadn't he filled the food bowl?

"Oh, sorry, Murph," he said, leaning down to give her a scratch behind the ear before he got back on his feet, trudging back into the kitchen. "So what'll it be? Fish or chicken?" He bent down to pick up her bowl to put it on the counter, then checked the cabinet and got a little portion sized bag of wet food from the cardboard box. "Fish it is." He ripped the bag open to the sound of even louder meowing down by his feet, along with an impatient head bump against his ankle. "All right, all right, have a little patience, sweetie. Food's coming." He dumped the food into Murphy's bowl, squeezing out the whole thing and then replaced the bowl on the floor beside the water bowl, barely managing to get his hand out of the way before the cat was chomping down the little bits of chopped up fish in delicious sauce. "Enjoy."

The scent of his own dinner had started to leak out of the oven, but it would still be another ten minutes until the pizza was done, so he returned to the living room to plop back down on the sofa, picking up the remote to click through channels, finding nothing of interest to watch. Switching the TV off, he got the remote for the stereo and turned on some music instead, sitting back to listen while he waited, eyes closed and his stomach growling. He'd heard somewhere that cat food was perfectly fine to eat as a human being, and he could well believe it, but even being hungry as he was, and even considering how easy it was to just dump a load of wet food into a bowl, the thought of eating Murphy's food wasn't really all that appealing. Not when there was a perfectly good pepperoni pizza baking in the oven. It was just a matter of having a little patience.

Still, as he sat there waiting, he could easily put himself in Murphy's place. Waiting for your dinner when your stomach was doing barrel rolls inside you was almost excruciating. And being able to smell the food being prepared only made it worse. His mouth was watering and his mind was incapable of focusing on anything else. And that was just pizza. Maybe it was a good thing Paul wasn't home, after all. Had that been the case, he would have insisted on cooking something a lot more tasty, but also something that would have taken a lot longer to finished. Of course, had Paul been here, there would have been other distractions.

Sebastian was still weighing the pros and cons of being alone and heating a frozen pizza and having Paul around and waiting for good food when the timer went off. "Finally!" he said, laughing at himself at the way he was perfectly emulating Murphy. Who had already finished her meal when he got into the kitchen to get his pizza out of the oven, and was sitting by the table, grooming herself and ignoring him completely.

The scent of pepperoni, cheese, and tomato exploded as he opened the oven door and hauled the pizza out on its baking tray with the aid of a kitchen towel, dumping it on top of the stove before the heat from the metal burned through the cloth. "Smells good, huh?" he said, looking over his shoulder at Murphy who was wholly uninterested. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Not as good as home made, but it's not terrible." He shrugged, found the pizza wheel in a drawer and cut the pie into four large pieces, dragging one onto a plate, and leaving the rest to keep warm on the baking tray. Finding a beer in the fridge, he took his meagre dinner back into the living room and turned the TV on again after shutting off the stereo, then watched the news as he ate.

After dinner, having finished three quarters of the pizza, he'd gone to lie down on the sofa, watching some documentary on the failed Mars mission, wherein the speculated on the causes of the failure and what had caused the deaths of the entire colony in the span of just a few minutes. But with his belly full and feeling just a little buzzed from the beer, Sebastian wasn't really listening. He was sleepy, and at least somewhat content, and he had a cat lying on his chest purring her little heart out.

It was comfortable having a cat on his chest like that. Sebastian enjoyed it thoroughly, and would gladly accept any opportunity of cuddling with Murphy. He knew Paul didn't feel the same way, and while he didn't outright hated cats, he'd always been more of a dog person. And much as Sebastian was open to having a dog as well, there was simply no way for that to be practical. Not with the way both their careers would keep them out of the apartment for hours on end, sometimes even days. To be quite honest, even having Murphy was a bit of a stretch when it came to the humane treatment of animals.

But there was no way in hell that Sebastian was giving her up. He'd found her in an alley as a kitten, where she'd been abandoned, either by some fucker who didn't want her after all, or by her mother who had been nowhere to be found. Rather than take her to a shelter as he probably ought to have done, he took her home, fed and watered her, and that was that. She wasn't going anywhere and just like that the Redmond-Majewski household had gained a kitten. Her name had come from Paul, who had joked that with cats around; anything that could go wrong would go wrong, and though it was hardly a fair way to described Murphy, the name had stuck.

Now, some four years later, Sebastian had absolutely no regrets about taking the cat home. Especially not on lonely nights like tonight, when Paul was working all night, and he only had Murphy and the television for company. He could, quite literally, spend hours cuddling with the furry creature and not once have to think about work, his boyfriend, or even whether or not he should do the dishes. Paul had once explained that there was research done about the calming effects of cats and how their purring was apparently good for the health. Maybe that was why he grudgingly accepted her presence, but Sebastian suspected that he too had falling in love with her. It was impossible not to, after all.

And as he lay there, after a long day trudging around the city with nothing to show for it, alone with the television running in the background, Sebastian nuzzled Murphy's ear and smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

#nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2017 #day nine #maelstrom #sebastian redmond #murphy #cat #short story #side story

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sordidpassionsandlockedemotions · 7 years

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-This is your angst warning-

It was a dark night,not the warmest but not too cold that being said wasn’t like Alec would notice considering he was wearing his gear. Along with fighting a horde of demons making sure his siblings were alright. Would be darker except for flashes of magic from Magnus every so often targeting something with it.

He released back firing yet another arrow had lost track of how many were left. But his finger tips became aware he was running out faster than he would think. In about 10 minutes he was out entirely going for his seraph blade but not fast enough because a demon charged him. An claw at his throat feeling himself thrown through the air bow dropping out of his hands.

Back thudding into a nearby wall searing pain at the impact and at first tried standing up couldn’t be that bad a wound. His jacket and shirt probably protected him from most of the blow. Demon venom had surely found it’s way into his bloodstream because could feel his strength sapping. Could still fight surely had worst happen in battle in fact way worst. Finger tips found their way to assess the neck scratch surely wasn’t too bad.

But his other hand realized he must have dropped his stele like his bow at some point. And warm,wet blood soaked his fingers along with a searing pain especially at the contact causing white to take over his vision. Could only recognize the spot as his deflect rune no major arteries just one of the runes that he learned to try avoiding getting scratched let alone gouged.

The blood soaking his hand,shirt,jacket,and so on as he crumpled into a ball hand applying pressure shaking because of the pain. But he had to wasn’t like he could just do nothing. Having issues seeing anything because of the pain affecting his vision. Supposed if he had to go out would be one crap way of dying. His head was all over the place worrying about his siblings,wondering if Magnus was running low on magic.

Followed by recalling a mundane could lose one liter of blood and be fine enough,two would need immediate transfusion. Did the same apply to shadowhunters who got a rune damaged or not? Vaguely aware of his own noises of suffering which was annoying. Eyes running with tears from the pain could feel his applying pressure hand slack some but he pushed back down legs kicking out across the pavement before back up to his chest.

By the time it went slack again his ears felt clogged up,sound was muffled as if he had gone underwater. Could only hope everybody else was fine otherwise well would be one really awful night. Vaguely aware of some garbled speech and an arm underneath him propping him up. Then came finger tips gently resting on his hand,and no surprise more garbled speech. But he got the meaning letting his blood soaked hand fall to the pavement,deciding to stop fighting consciousness as the warm blood flowed more freely.

Eyes shutting entirely,he drifted off with the single thought of ‘swear to the angel I better wake up’.

Magnus was focused on what he was doing,and figured Alexander had his own problems handled. If not that all the Lightwoods were covering one another as they probably most always did. Of course there was also Clary fighting as well but primarily was Isabelle,Jace,and Alexander who seemed to be going through demon after demon.

There was the sound of that bow dropping he figured his boyfriend must have run out of arrows. Switched to his seraph blade like Jace and Clary were using throwing another fireball at yet another demon. His magic had it’s limits and surely was getting towards them. Hopefully they dealt with the demon horde soon most of them were running low on energy,and the fight had been taking a long while.

That’s when his ears picked up somebody in pain,not just anybody as his eyes found the source crumpled up on the ground. Far from where he had been last apparently his boyfriend had been wounded. Slowly making his way towards him,much he wanted to just run couldn’t as was still demons around and with Alexander down meant the others were probably getting all the more tired out.

When there he all but quickly knelt down to assess what was wrong. Asking but he really didn’t get any recognition from the fallen shadowhunter. One arm went underneath him to prop him up so as to try see better what it was that had gone wrong. Making out the tear streaked face from what must have been immense pain,and then eyes met the hand pressing down blacker in the night with clearly blood. “Okay you need to move your hand,Alexander.” No response.

Gently his fingers touched the hand figuring he’d get the message which he did but the sight of his hand falling to the pavement,and the flowing blood watched him black out. Immediately his one hand focused on trying to heal what was wrong,more panic set in realizing the deflect rune was more than slashed along with probably demon venom inside.

Eyes glancing to see the demons were luckily near dealt with focusing on his boyfriend. When one came close didn’t even turn around hand glowing bright red obliterating it before it focused back on his boyfriend. From there it was a blur pacing outside the Infirmary at the Institute exhausted but wasn’t going back to the loft. Everybody else got patched up,went to get some sleep and he was alone in the quiet of the moment.

Then tiredly convincing that he could watch after his boyfriend back at his-their place,and make sure he rested. Change the bandages;take after him eventually getting permission. Or really nobody wanted to argue with him because he was so exhausted to not exactly be the nicest. So with more energy than he should spend portaled them back home to bed.

After double checking that the other was fine fell asleep but it wasn’t going to be deep. He really was exhausted but figured he’d recover quicker so not even complaining to himself. Instead tiredly fell asleep makeup,clothes,and all save his shoes that he’d kicked off to the side of the bed he generally occupied.

His eyes slowly opened mostly to test that he was in fact not dead,and to try figure out where he was. Falling on the figure curled up holding tight onto him,looking pretty exhausted even asleep. Aware of bandages on his neck recalling everything in hazy patches. Rubbing the daze from his eyes trying to not wake the sleeping boyfriend that was so close to him.

Wondering how much exhaustion what all the magic he’d seen,and anything afterwards took out of him. But Magnus was tough so probably be fine doesn’t mean he should disturb the other’s sleep. Taking note of the clothes from the night before,makeup,and jewelry before a slight bit of guilt realizing must have portaled them to bed.

Seeing the other’s eyes open gave as best a smile he could manage,”Morning.” Could swear Magnus was close to falling back asleep again despite having seemingly woken up entirely. “I didn’t disturb you-did I?”

“No and before you get concerned think I’m mostly recovered day off work and I’ll be fine.” Alec felt an itch from the bandage reaching for it nobody ever said he was the best with such things. In fact most medics hated him for the ability of his being so frustrating. “Hey hands off you have the day off,and that’s to recover not scratch your skin up.” A ringed hand gently pushed his away before sitting up in the bed.

He put his hands up in mock surrender cherishing the almost smile had to have a good attitude about their tragedies otherwise every near death would drive them into bad spots. Instead Alec sat up too,”Alright fine and great gives you time to rest,actually both of us though do want to know what I missed while unconscious.”

“Let me change your bandages,and I’ll tell you then okay?” Alec gave a nod watching him get out of bed quickly vanishing out of their room. Sitting up more trying to ignore that itchy feeling which was easier said than done. About to resort to sitting on his hands when Magnus sat on the bed next to him.

“I take it you don’t recall me coming to you that much,but after that got you back to the Institute,everybody’s fine and the demons were dealt with.” Feeling the bandage taken off then tossed into a nearby bin. “After I got permission brought you back here medics say you’ll be fine though do need a new deflect rune they removed it but you’ll also be more than healed given a few days.”

Well that was good,or at least could hope so wondering if he was off work that whole time. But then doubted it just closing his eyes almost wincing a bit as something applied stung before those finger tips gently put on another bandage to his neck. “Your summarizing’s good,and if we have the day off I’m saying total lazy day you need it and I do too.” Laying against his boyfriend’s side carefully,”So just how gruesome is the damage?” Actually curious maybe too much so cause got an eye roll.

“If you say so,as for gruesome burned your clothes and my jacket I was wearing.” Alec’s eyes widened but then he nudged his head against Magnus for a moment gently.

“Eh you’ll find another,though maybe should have a funeral for said clothes cause the jacket was actually really great,and actually just your jacket I literally was wearing one of the standard gear jackets with some cheap shirt so not worth the missing.” A grin,genuine spread across his boyfriend’s face and thinking Alec stopped leaning so much into his side kissing his cheek. “Tomorrow though cause if I move at all it’s to the couch at most,and you can’t use magic for till the afternoon.”

Sitting in his boyfriend’s lap kissing him eyes sparkling as they shut focusing on the fact he was fine,Magnus was fine,his siblings,and even Clary. Then rested his head on Magnus’ chest as arms wrapped around him hugging back just focusing on the chest rising and falling with his head resting against it.

#malec fics #malec fic #malec fanfics #malec fanfic #malec #my fanfics #//Couldn't help it this idea came to mind look at the wall of text it provided *shrugs*//#//I post fluff a lot angst is cool too right?//#//This is why I should and shouldn't be a consultant for tv writers//

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rosyredlipstick · 7 years

Text

Rental Love* (6\10)

(*Read Terms & Conditions)

- Male/22/Long Island N.Y.C. Tired of showing up stag at holiday events? Want your family to stop thinking there’s something wrong with you? Just want some arm candy for a work event? Look no further. Your solution is here! I will attend holiday events with you as your paid date. Accepting all genders as applicants. Email [email protected] if interested. Interview & application will be set up there. - Nico di Angelo has been telling Hazel Levesque about his boyfriend for weeks. The bad part? Nico doesn’t have a boyfriend, the holidays are coming up, and not all of Jason’s ideas are horrible. They’re all a bit surprised about the last one. Read Part One Here Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

“I can’t believe we’re doing such a stereotypical Chicago tourist thing. We could literally be doing anything else.”

“Technically, I am a tourist.”

“And,” Hazel pointed out, her movements sure and without hesitation. “We did just go to Christkindlmarket which is, like, prime tourist.”

Nico glared at her betrayal as she finished up lacing up her shoes tight. She tucked the knot in and stood, ignoring his look, and grabbed onto Frank’s hand. “See you on the ice!”

He grumbled under his breath, resisting the urge to flip her off as she took to the ice, smooth as ever.

“Need some help?” Will dipped down, nodding to Nico’s knotted skates. He went to work without Nico’s response, untying the clumpy laces from whatever past schmuck had rented the crappy skates.

Nico scowled, crossing his arms. “Why can’t I just sit here while you guys skate? I’m gonna end up on my ass either way.”

Will gave him a sunny smile, “Because then ~” He dragged the end of the word out, “I wouldn’t have any arm candy, would I? Now come on, don’t be a chicken.”

“I’m not a chicken.” He muttered, standing. He wobbled once, twice, before giving up and latching onto Will’s arm.

“Course you’re not.” Will only happily agreed, letting Nico man-handle his arm into a supporting position.

Nico took a deep breath as they approached the entrance to the ice, his legs already aching. His feet were gonna be in a condition later, he already knew, and not a pleasant one.

They took to the ice, Nico letting go of Will’s arm to desperate clench at the railing instead. Good. He trusted the railing.

A child, clearly under the age of ten, zoomed past him just as he took his first few careful steps forward. Fuck, this was hard.

Will was smiling at him, happy and beaming like the goddamn sun, as he skated backwards to face Nico. The scowl on his face only deepened.

“How are you so good at this.” Nico muttered. How are you so good at everything.

Will shrugged, that ridiculous happy look still on his face. “I go ice skating every year with my sisters.” He snickered as Nico’s skates attempted to slid out from under him. “Which, apparently, you don’t do.”

The railing ended, and Nico was faced with the open ice. He took a quick breath and kept the shifting of his weight smooth and slow. Another kid - a few of them - darted around him.

“I can usually get away with sitting out.” Nico told him through gritted teeth, his arms wind milling around him as he desperately tried to keep his balance.

Will gave him a knowing look. “Ah, but not this year?”

Nico managed to keep himself upright. “Hades thinks the photos will be, and I quote, ‘incredibly adorable’ and then threatened to disown me if I didn’t come along.”

“And you believed him?” Will raised an eyebrow, mirth still playing on his fine features. He, like everyone who had ever witnessed Hades with his children, could obviously see how harmless the threat was.

Will finally seemed to take pity on him, sliding smoothing across the few feet between them to dip one of his shoulders under Nico’s frailing hand. Nico, desperately thankful and thankfully desperate enough, grabbed onto the other boy’s shoulder with a steel grip before his skates could fall out from under him. Will barely stifled his laugh.

“Careful now.” Will’s voice was inflated with hardly concealed laughter. “Don’t wanna hit a kid or anything.”

“I’m going to hit you if you don’t be quiet.”

Will went quiet with the threat. Not because he believed him at all - Nico wasn’t lucky enough for that - but because Will was grinning brightly up at Nico.

“What?” Nico growled after a moment, moving his gaze to his shifting feet on the ice.

“No, it’s just - “ Will chuckled a bit, his gaze shifting away. “It’s cute, is all. How frustrated you’re getting.”

Nico blinked a few times, and then his heart - and ass - fell to the ice.

He stared up at the sky, the cold ice creeping up his back along with an ache.

He could stay here. Forever. The rest of the skaters could just skate around him forever - he’d be an obstacle course and local legend in all.

They say he was once complimented by his fake-boyfriend and fell ass first on the ice. Now he can’t move ever again due to the sheer embarrassment. No, don’t look directly into his eyes - there’s tears there.

Will was already howling with laughter, but came over to him quickly, his hand extended.

“Sorry about that.” Will was still laughing, glancing back to the place Nico’s ass had just firmly made acquaintance. “Must have hit a rough patch, I should have been looking.”

Nico nodded, simply grateful Will hadn’t realized this guy got a compliment and literally fell flat on his ice. Hilarious.

Will held out his hand, looking like every movie star poster rolled in one. Nico gave up on the safe life of ice rink obstacle and took it, heaving himself up.

Will gave him an amused look. “You okay?”

Nico nodded, hoping the blush would stay on his cheeks. His cheeks were a lost hope, but hopefully the rough red wouldn’t spread to his neck and ears like it tended to even Nico embarrassed himself within an inch of his life.

“Your neck’s all red.” Will observed, amused. “You’re fine - everyone has a bad fall eventually.”

Not you and your stupid perfect face he thought a bit angrily.

Nico continued to slip and slide across the ice, Will’s happy eyes too pleasant for such an unpleasant activity. Nico debated punching him, or ‘accidently’ pulling them both to the ground, but eventually surrendered to the thought he wouldn’t be able to do this on his own.

“I’ll go grab us hot chocolate.” Will offered, shifting away.

Nico curled his fingers even tighter around Will’s flannel. Damn hipster.

“Don’t you dare leave.” Nico hissed, pulling the other boy closer. “I won’t last a second on open ice and you know that.”

Will gave him a pitying glance. “You’re going to have to leave the nest someday, Neeks.” He smiled and that, with the addition of Will’s close proximity and the faint smell of the caramel popcorn they had shared on their way to the rink, nearly had Nico sprawled across the ice. Ass flat and everything.

“Are you saying you don’t want hot chocolate then?” Will continued as if Nico wasn’t contemplating death via ice skate.

“Of course I want hot chocolate.” He muttered. “But you’re totally not leaving me out here.”

Will let out a false groan. “Ugh. Fine.” The sparkle in his eye was at full blast. He grabbed onto Nico’s waist, pulling him with him as he started to slid off the ice.

Finally Nico breathed a sigh of relief, his hands still curled into the fabric of Will’s shirt. It was warm, and his fingers were cold. It was only logically to keep his hand there. It was...science. Yes. Science.

Fuck. Nico didn’t know shit about science. He failed freshman biology.

Will glanced back at him, his expression his amused, and his hand tightened on Nico’s waist to start helping him off the ice.

Nico had to mentally crackle, a bit hysterically.

Nico had failed biology, but it looks like Will was determined to make him past chemistry.

Haha.

Kill him.

His skates tried to slide out from under him.

Nevermind, apparently. His own feet are going to do the job for him.

“Hurry up, the line’s getting long.”

Nico grumbled under his breath, but did as told.

“It’s not that bad.”

“It is that bad and this is all completely your fault.”

Will rolled his eyes, taking on a bit more of Nico’s weight. “It’s not my fault you didn’t wear the correct socks.”

“How the hell was I supposed to even know there is a correct kind of sock? How, Will? Please, inform me.”

“You’re so whiny.”

Nico gritted his teeth. “I can feel my peeled skin rubbing against my sneakers.”

Will winced at that, leading Nico over to the couch. “Stay here, I’ll be right back.”

Nico did as told - sitting being the best option for him, it seemed - and began slowly peeling the stiff fabric off his feet. He heard the door click close, from where Will had probably just pressed it down. The dark fabric stuck to his skin - slightly, but slightly enough for Nico to hiss in pain - as he removed the sock. Fuck. That hurt.

There were a few blisters, nothing bad, but the angry sting that left behind was noticeable enough that Nico was already daydreaming about the bottle of aspirin he had shoved in the back of his bedside table. There was a few flakes from the bites of dried blood still on his skin and he used the crumbled fabric to wipe it off. Gross.

Will returned, his hands full, and wrinkled his nose at the small pitiful pile of Nico’s wrinkled socks on the couch. The fireplace was roaring behind him, and Nico wondered who even took the time to light it every afternoon. Surely not his father, but perhaps Persephone. She was one to enjoy the warmth.

He sat down next to him, careful as not to jostle Nico’s ankles resting on the edge of the couch. Nico gave him a curious look as he set out the plush red bag, beginning to set out supplies on the small coffee table.

Will caught him looking. “I know you said you wouldn’t trust me with a papercut.” He teased, the tone of his voice probably having much to do with the lingering presence of Persephone in the tea room. “But I can clean these up pretty well, you know.”

Nico watched him for a moment before kicking his ankles into Will’s open lap. “I guess.” He finally said as Will seemed to be waiting for his agreement. “Don’t cut my leg off or anything.”

“I’ll do everything I can to resist.” Will told him good naturally, sarcasm thick in his voice.

He used a few cotton balls to get the rest of the dried blood on the blisters before grabbing a small baggy of q-tips and a tub.

“This is gonna sting.” Will warned him, the end of his cotton swab layered with clear ointment. Nico nodded, keeping his face clear. He didn’t wince as Will applied the gel, or when Will finished that up and began applying a few tight band-aid looking things, but he did let out a small sigh as Will finished up the process.

Will began packing up his supplies, crumbling the ripped up wrappers in his hand. He stood.

“Thank you.” Nico’s voice was quiet.

Will glanced back to the other boy, looking away as he poked at his bandages. Will had wrapped his feet and ankles with care, much more care than he usually put into such simple task. It seemed important at the time, handling the pale skin, the thin bones of Nico’s feet, with his eyes heavy on Will.

Nico, he noticed, was softer when people took care of him. Will wondered if it was something he wasn’t used to.

“You’re welcome.” And Will didn’t mean to make his voice come out just as soft, he really didn’t, but he found it fit nicely in the dark and warm air.

Nico dipped his face into the shadows, and wished his face wasn’t as bright as it was.

Will vaguely wondered if the blush was due to the active fireplace feet away.

Somehow, for some odd reason, he didn’t think so.

The next morning - after a slow shuffle up the stairs that wasn’t nearly as awkward as it should have been - Will was grinning down at him as Nico woke up, slowly but surely, groaning and popping his back along the way.

“Sleep well?” Will asked, adjusting his weight on the blankets. Nico was still very curled under the warm fabric, while Will sprawled across the mattress next to him, above the blankets.

Nico only groaned in reply. That was good enough.

“What are the plans for today?” Will asked, looking too put together for nine in the morning. Jerk must have gotten up earlier and returned to bed - his bedhead was usually a lot worse. Nothing like the messy perfection Will must have tugged at for a few minutes in the mirror. Not that Nico noticed.

Nico pushed his face back into his pillow, blocking out any of the light. “No plans.” He muttered, his voice only hardly audible. “I think it’s my turn to cook later tonight - I’m totally making you help - but we’re free till then.”

Will hummed in response, flicking through his phone. The glow reflected on his eyes nicely, and Nico really, really tired to ignore that fact. Goddamn Will and his too-blue eyes.

Will’s voice was amused. “Free to sleep in until noon, I presume?”

Nico hid his slight smile in the fabric, “You know it.”

“Persephone said Allegra prepared breakfast with some of the Christmas leftovers.” Will informed him, his voice off-hand. “I was told to let you know something about a, uh, what was it? Forcatta?”

Nico paused in his readjustment of position. His heart froze. “Do...do you mean focaccia?”

Will nodded, a bit embarrassed at his horrible pronunciation. “Yeah! Uh, with some of the leftovers? She said it would be ready when you finally got out of bed.”

Nico was frozen in the moment for a single beat before it finally hit him.

He stumbled out of bed, tripping over the sheets tangled around his legs. He - he had to go, get down stairs - and now that he thought about it he could almost smell it -

Will yelped in surprise, taking a moment before he was following Nico’s example. “What’s wrong? What are you doing?”

Nico shoved on a shirt, “You should have woken me up!”

Will gave him a doubtful look, following Nico’s frantic presence as he near-sprinted out of the room. “And risk death? No thanks.”

Nico rolled his eyes, darting towards the staircase. “Allegra only makes focaccia maybe three times a year - after Christmas, and on our birthdays.” He clenched his teeth as the heavenly fragrance began to hit him as he bounced down the stairs. “And Hazel’s going to eat it all.”

Nico skidded into the kitchen, and was so overcome with relief he nearly cried.

Hazel wasn’t here yet.

Allegra - their main chef and head housekeeper - turned as they entered, and Nico could see the small overflowing plate in front of her, still steaming.

Okay, Nico might have cried a little.

She turned on them, her fists on her hips, and stared up at them. She was small, but her her presence was anything but. Her glare could - and had - bring a strong man to his heels.

“Buongiorno, Allegra.” Nico liked using his Italian with her. She was always quick to denounce him for his horrible pronunciations, despite his words being nearly perfect, and his Italian nearly fluent. It was a nice thing they had between them.

The older woman frowned up at him, seizing him up. “Too skinny.” She finally decided on, as she always did.

Nico gave her a rare, charming smile. He liked to save them for her. “I guess you’ll have to fix that, won’t you?”

She swatted him with her oven mitt, “Making me do all the work around here.” She muttered, already turning to fix up their plates. She was smoothing a thick amount of butter over Nico’s, a scowl on her face. “Boy goes off to school, doesn’t write, doesn’t call, still expects me to remember how he likes his favorite food.”

“I call once a week.” He reminded her, peeking over her shoulder. She was layering a thick amount of her famous cilantro dressing on the bread, still grumbling. That was exactly how he liked it.

She cut her stern gaze over to him. “You could stand to visit more.” She informed him, adding a few bites of grilled meat onto his plate. Looks like he was eating a full-coarse meal. “And where are your manners, boy? You haven’t even introduced your guest to me. Where did all of your etiquette training go?”

Nico gave her a smile, pulling Will forward by his wrist. “This is Will, my boyfriend.” He told her, and her gaze flickered over to the other boy as she paused in her actions.

Allegra was strict, no-nonsense, a bit cruel, and probably the closest thing Nico had to a mother figure growing up.

Her eyes were calculating, considering. “I understand you’ve been seeing each other for a few months now?”

Nico had to suppress his eyeroll but nodded. She and Hades had definitely been gossiping late at night, like they were bound to do. Countless times had Nico waundered in the kitchen for a late-night snack and come across the two, huddled over some report card or newest art piece, laughing and discussing Hazel and Nico with fondness in their voices.

Allegra was the only person who held somewhat authority over Hades too. Older than him, Hades followed her instruction like she was the one in the charge, and not vise versa. It worked well, having someone to reign Hades in. Persephone, more the often, enjoyed the chaos that came with some of Hades’s more....out there plans.

Allegra was still eyeing up Will, the wrinkled on her face pressing back and forth as she considered the other boy. “And you - what’s your business with my boy?”

Will kept his cool, but was visibly thrown off a bit. Everyone had immediately welcomed into the family with wide - too wide - arms. Allegra’s nature was one of suspicion.

“I…” He glanced to Nico, and didn’t have to force the fond look that erupted with the action. “I like him, m’am. A lot. I like being with him. He - he makes me happy.”

“You’re not lying,” She observed, and neither of them wanted to particularly explore that statement at that moment. She turned away, nodding. “Alright. You can stay.”

Will looked thrown, like he didn’t even know ‘not staying’ was an option. With Allegra, and her subtle but loving hold over the household, it would have been. Nico should have introduced him sooner.

Allegra was shoving warm plates into their hands, taking a moment to smooth her wrinkled hand over Nico’s cheek. She patted his skin, a bit too rough, and eyed his long hair. “Cut your hair.” She ordered, “And don’t get involved with trouble. Go eat.”

“Got it!” Nico grinned, taking his plate happily. Allegra’s definition of ‘trouble’ varied from ‘going out after nine on a school night’ and ‘getting involved with the local gang’ so. Nico was probably fine.

Will let out a breath as they disappeared from sight, Nico leading them into the dining room with their plates.

Nico gave him an amused look. “You okay?”

Will blinked a few times, “I think I almost died.”

Nico patted his shoulder. “Yeah, that’s about how everyone feels about meeting her for the first time. She’s great.”

Will didn’t argue, but there wasn’t a noise of agreement. He was probably a bit still in shock.

“Eat your food.” Nico took pity on him. “It’s heaven on earth.”

Will did so, probably just for the distraction, and made a pleasant noise of surprise.

“I know right!” Nico said eagerly.

“It’s amazing!” Will dipped a bit of the bread into the sauce.

Nico nodded in agreement. “It’s not that hard to make - I’ve tried a few times - but no one makes it like Allegra.” He ripped a bite of his own square of bread, loving the salt and oil smell that was so familiar and bound to his childhood. Gods. No one made it like Allegra.

“It’s delicious!” Will was already onto his second bite. “She only makes it three times a year?”

“I could eat it everyday.” Nico insisted, despite the fact that, uh, no he probably couldn’t. It was delicious, salty, and perfectly flakey - but also made with the useage of a small tub of lard. So like. Nico probably shouldn’t.

It’s not like he ate healthy or anything - they all knew about Nico’s secret hot pocket obsession - but that would be a step too far for even him.

They finished their meal, waxing poetic about the golden flakey pieces of heaven before them, making the other snort into their plates.

They washed off their dishes, Will looking a bit relieved at the empty kitchen. It was always nice when people feared Allegra a bit. Nico wanted to be her.

“What do you want to do?” Will checked his watch, because he was the kind of person who actually wore a watch. Nerd. “We’ve got the whole day.”

Nico bit his lip and shifted his weight. “Wanna listen to some music? I mean - um,” He rubbed at the back of his neck, “You said you wanted to? When I got the vinyls from Hades?”

Will blinked at him a few times before grinning widely, brilliantly. “Yeah. Yeah, that sounds cool.”

Nico lead him back into his room, feeling a bit strange. This was the first time they were going into his room for another reason rather than sleeping or changing, just simply hanging out.

He messed with the stereo for a moment, making sure there was no dust on the needle, all the controls were in place, before carefully sliding the record out of the plastic covered case.

He made a noise of appreciation, flipping it with his fingertips. It was perfect, in a way a vinyl fresh out of plastic wrapping could be. Not a scratch or speck of dust anywhere.

Nico carefully placed the vinyl on the player, moving the needle over and setting it down carefully. He fiddled with the buttons and knobs for a second until the familiar - nearly welcoming - crackle started up, and he threw himself on the bed to join Will on the mattress.

The first song - one of Nico’s favorites - started up with a few presses of piano, and he sighed into the calm air.

Nico sang along softly, his voice rough and low, and his eyes fluttered shut with the music. Will noticed this.

By the time Nico had to stand and switch out the records, Will was sitting up, his eyes thoughtful.

“What do you think?” He asked, returning to his former position. Side C began playing with a few low, full notes. In a Week. A song about falling in love even through death. This song always reminded Nico of nature, and being alive, despite that.

“They’re very morbid.” Will observed, his head cocked to the side. “This is their fourth song mentioning death.”

“They’re amazing.”

“They’re very good.” Will allowed him, turning his head to face him. They were laying back in Nico’s bed, the music passing them. Nico had his arms crossed behind his head, staring up at the ceiling, his legs half-hanging off the edge of the bed. Will continued, “I just don’t think they’re my type of music.”

“Clearly your type of music isn’t good then.” Nico muttered, just loud enough so Will could scoff in response. There was a beat of silence before Nico asked, “Well? What type of music do you even listen to then?”

Will happily listed a few artists, his fingers out as he counted them, and it took Nico a long, worrying second of listen to this before he realized.

“Wait.” Nico cut him off, scrambling into a sitting position. He stared at Will with wide eyes. “You like top forty?”

“And showtunes. And Disney.” Will added, his face sunny.

Nico continued staring at him. “You’re a goddamn trainwreck, Will Solace.”

Will gave him a look. “It’s top forty for a reason, di Angelo. People like it. It’s good and fun and I like it.”

Nico stared at him for a long moment before falling back onto the bed. “I can’t believe you like top forty. This is...ugh.”

Honestly, this was probably good. Nico couldn’t like someone with horrible music taste. He couldn’t. This was good. This would help him stop liking Will, or at least stop his heart from attempting a jailbreak out of his chest every time the other boy did something as horrible as smiling or laughing or looking over at Nico with that fond look in his too-blue eyes.

So yeah. This was good.

“It’s good music.” Will shrugged, his voice still happy.. “It’s fun to listen to. And up-beat.”

God. And he was shameless about it. That had to ruin it. It was one thing to listen to horrible music - it was a completely different thing to be proud of it.

“If you call top 40 good one more time in this house, you’re leaving.” Nico covered his hands with his face. “Gods, had I known. Who cares about personal info and contracts - this is what we should have discussed in our first meeting. Gods.”

The other boy barked out a laugh, his head falling back, and wasn’t that fun. Realizing that fuck, his heart was probably flipping off rational thought right about now - the rational thought that Nico couldn’t like someone with horrible music taste, Nico couldn’t like Will - and Nico’s cheeks heated at the sound, filled with color, and his heart was probably laughing hysterically by the turn of events.

Fuck. Apparently -

- apparently Nico could like someone with horrible music taste.

Will began to loudly teasingly hum Justin Bieber, and Nico’s never wished for a sweet, swift death more.

Will ended up falling asleep like the lazy sack he was, half-spread out across Nico’s bed, taking up much too much space. The record came to an end, the sound of the ancient speakers crinkling a familiar take-back to his childhood. Will’s soft snores took the music’s absence in the empty air after a long while of Nico enjoying the silence, staring up at the ceiling, his mind half-thought, half cotton.

And Nico Absolutely Didn’t stare at Will for a long moment while the other boy slept - his eyes fluttering, his breath soft against the pillow - because that would be creepy and weird and they all read Twilight okay, that’s not exactly the picture of normal and sane.

So like. Nico totally, completely didn’t do that.

He pushed himself off the bed, shaking his head and the thought of Will’s slack, peaceful face out of it, taking much too much care in making sure not to jostle the other boy.

He closed the door softly behind him, careful the click behind him didn’t slam, and made his way down the hallway.

He found himself downstairs, drawn to the warmth and light fragrance drifting out of Persephone’s tea room.

He knocked on the half-open door, slightly curious, mostly bored, and let himself in after a moment.

Both Persephone and Hades smiled at him as he entered, both of them folded on separate ends of a shared couch. Persephone held a book in her lap, Hades with some sort of paperwork in his own, with tea spread out on the table nearest to them.

Hades smiled at him warmly, “What can we do for you, son?”

“Bored.” He answered, jerking his chin to the couch across from them. “Can I sit?”

Hades began gathering his paperwork into a loose, messy pile. He let Persephone answer. It was her room, after all.

“Yes, of course.” Persephone folded the corner of her page, not looking over yet. Hades stood, gathering his things. Nico glanced over at the grandfather clock in the corner. It was nearly five - he would probably have some sort of skype meeting soon. Even on his holidays, Hades could hardly get away from the office.

Nico threw himself over the couch, his legs hanging over the arm, and glanced at her from under his messy hair. “Whatcha reading?”

Persephone snapped the novel close, a rare smirk crossing her face. “Just some book about a wife framing her husband for murder. Very informative.”

Hades leaned in to brush a kiss across her temple. “If anyone could do it, dear, it’d be you. I believe in you.” He patted Nico’s head as he past, quick enough that Nico couldn’t dunk out from under his hand. “You and Will are handling dinner tonight, yes? Allegra deserves a break after the wonderful Christmas feast she put together.”

Nico waved his question off. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll figure it out.”

Hades seemed pleased with this - was always pleased when it was Nico’s rare night to cook - and turned out of the room, nearly skipping in his step. “I look forward to it, my family!”

Nico held down a snort. His father was ridiculous.

“Tea?” Persephone questioned, her hands already in the motions of preparing another cup. He nodded, mostly absentmindedly.

She poured him a cup, nudging the sugar cup towards him with the saucer. It was a delicate tea set, fingernail thin china with precisely painted black roses trailing across the glossy surface. Hazel had gotten it for her birthday a few years ago, he thinks, plucked from the antique shop downtown from their L.A. manor.

He nodded as he took the cup from her, holding the glass close and letting the heat leach through. It was a surprising comfort.

Persephone took a small sip of the bitter liquid, always preferring hers plain. “So Nico.” She gave him a critical look, her eyes sweeping over his figure. “What do you want to talk about?”

She was always too good at reading him. What other people saw as a code-encrypted puzzle, double bound shut with redacted lines, she read as easily as an alphabet instructional pamphlet. It was hard to hate that about her. It reminded him of his sister.

He sighed, dropping all pretenses. “I need to talk to you about something. I have a friend. With a problem. And I, I don’t know what to say.”

“A friend?” Persephone raised a knowing eyebrow.

“An actual friend, it’s, um, Jason.” Nico lied, “It’s not me or anything.”

Persephone still had that knowing look in her eyes. “Alright.” She finally agreed, “What does this ‘friend’ need help with?”

Nico let out a small breath. “Okay. So.” He nodded, gathering this thoughts. “Say, okay, say this friend of mine met someone. And even though my friend and this person totally got off to a rocky start, my friend actually really likes them now. Like. Romantically. But the person they met isn’t exactly on the same...page. I guess. They don’t see their relationship like that and my friend totally doesn’t want to ruin that. But they also don’t want to lose these feelings and...yeah.”

Persephone blinked at his sudden ramble of words. “Oh. So, this isn’t you?” She blinked a few more times, “I thought we were going to hypothetically talk about your own problems and both pretend it’s completely hypothetical.”

“When have I ever done that?” Nico asked, even though the answer was many, many times.

Unknowingly, Persephone had helped a lot of his ‘friends’ deflect the law in high school.

“And this is...Jason?” She asked, thinking. Which, crap, Nico totally should have come up with a random name or person that Persephone wouldn’t ever have the chance to talk to. Not Jason, the kid that was basically Persephone’s second son. He’d have to warn Jason before New Years.

Persephone continued, “I thought he was dating Piper? Or was it Leo?”

“Honestly, I don’t think any of them know. Both of them?” Nico shrugged. “I think they’re both dating Jason but Piper and Leo are just best friends? It’s confusing, but they’re always over and eating our food.”

“I should send more fudge than.” She contemplated, her finger to her chin.

Nico held up his hands, “Back to the problem.”

“Back to the problem.” She agreed, already writing out a post-it note that simple read double the fudge, Perse before turning back to Nico. “Jason - he wants to have another relationship? With someone new he’s met?”

Fuck, okay, Jason was a horrible example for this. Sure, Nico was in no position to judge anyone’s dating lives - and he didn’t give a flying fuck what Jason did as long as Nico didn’t have to literally hear it at two in the morning on a Wednesday night - but because he was already in a committed relationship.

It was too late. Nico played along.

“Yes.” He answered, thinking quick. “It’s very new - and Piper and, um, Leo, they know and everything. So no trouble with that. And don’t mention it? I don’t think he wants it in the open yet. Or at all.”

Persephone nodded, thinking. “Why doesn’t Jason just talk to this person? He’s a handsome young man, and he’s never had problems like this before.”

Nico gave her a desperate shrug. “He’s - he’s never really been in a situation like this before?”

“He should simply talk to the person he likes, and get on the same page as them. Then, he can either move on with this relationship or not. But he’ll have an answer, yes? Better than sitting around dreaming up horrible scenarios.”

Nico’s thoughts flashed back to the thou

“So just, like, he should get on the same page as them?” Nico’s cheeks flared up in a blush. “What if it’s not that easy?”

Persephone shrugged. “It sounds like the only one making it not that easy is Jason himself.” She adjusted the book on her lap. “I won’t mention this to him - no one wants a lecture on their love life from a mother - but I do think you should pass that advice onto him.”

Nico didn’t know what he was thinking. This wasn’t exactly a situation he could easily explain, especially so vague. And now he’d have to fast-talk Jason into an update before New Years, and

“I’ll make sure he gets it.” Nico only said, giving her a stiff, barely convincing grin. “Thanks, Persephone.” He cleared his throat, taking a quick sip of the flowery tea. He grabbed onto the first conversational topic he could get, suddenly desperate for a topic change. “So, how’s your greenhouse coming?”

Persephone lit up with the addition of her favorite topic, and Nico only wished it was that easy to solve everything in his life.

“You can…cook?”

Nico gave him an unimpressed look, adding another line of olive oil to the frying chicken. “You sound surprised.”

Will shrugged, his gaze glued to the bubbling chicken. “Didn’t peg you for the culinary type.”

“Nico’s the best cook in the family.” Hazel gave him a bright smile from her place on the counter, “After Allegra, of course.”

“He only cooks on special occasions though.” Frank added, leaning against the cabinets next her. He popped a cherry tomato into his mouth and, with Hazel eating shredded cheese directly from the bag next to them, they were doing a quite horrible job of assembling the salad.

“If I do it all the time it’s just not as special.” Nico told them in a sickly sweet voice, sarcasm basically stenciled across his features.

“Or you’re lazy.” Hazel pointed out.

“I prefer busy.” Nico told her, dipping the pan to evenly spread the oil across the pan. “And Jason and I are perfectly happy with take out.”

“But is your body happy with take out?” Will pushed.

“Happy enough.” Was Nico’s only answer before he was gesturing to the laid out vegetables with his spatula. “Get to chopping, will ya? I’m gonna need to start the sauce soon.”

Will held up his hands in surrender. “I’m quite known for burning water, in my family. For the sake of this meal - and all your healths - I think it might be best I sit this one out.”

Nico gave him a stern look. “I think you’re being lazy.”

“I’d be happy to wash some dishes, or set the table.” He offered, “Even pouring out the wine or something. But me and cooking? I’m warning you. Not a good combination.”

Nico scoffed but didn't push the other boy. "Just sit there and look pretty, I guess." He finally conceded, fully for the benefit of Hazel and Frank only feet away.

Will looked surprised - but pleased - at the compliment. He settled into a more comfortable position leaning against the wall.

"I'm turning on some music, at least." Hazel seemed to decide, walking to the radio in the corner. It was hardly used, either by Allegra's ancient opera CDs, or Hades's sometimes odd music choices.

Hazel turned the knob all the way up, jumping a bit in excitement as the first notes began to start up. She turned to him, a devilish, wide grin in place.

“Dance with me.” Hazel grinned up at him, her bag of cheese abandoned. Low, Dean Martin was playing. Hades’s music choice, then.

“Let’s fly, up into the clouds.” Hazel sang, swaying her hips, her hand outstretched.

He gave her a small grin, setting down his spatula. The chicken needed to cook, anyways. Will gave him an amused, but surprised, look that Nico didn’t see.

“Volare ~” Nico picked up the song, matching her rough note. Neither of them were singers, or dancers, but he grabbed her her hand.

They swayed their hips to the music, grinning with bubbles in their chests at each other, and Nico spun her under his arm. She giggled loudly the entire way, her loose skirt spinning out slightly.

They were a picture, in that moment, their smiles only for the other. Frank was there, against the counter, happy to be soaking in the atmosphere of holiday, family, and good food. The music and fragrance of cooking was almost visible in their mood and grins, and they were a picture in that moment.

And, in the background image of Nico di Angelo grinning widely at his little sister, his lips stretched out into a near barking laugh, Will Solace was staring at the other boy with wide, surprised eyes, his mouth parted, his shoulders stiff.

“Oh,” Will breathed out. “I - Oh.”

His words were said as if final - as if the end of it - but this was far, far from it.

Notes:

SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT IT'S BEEN A BUSY FEW WEEKS IM TRYING also! you got to meet allegra! who i love! and persephone's tea time! i love family bonding so much just give me pure, supporting relationships. AND THE MUTUAL PINING BEGINS NOOOOOOW also! im almost at 500 followers at my tumblr - any ideas how to celebrate? :D thanks for all your reviews. They really do help the writing process incredibly. thank you!!! <3 any christmas\holiday traditions you're dying for the dreamteam to do? lemme know! i'm making it up as I go. sorry this chapter is a bit choppy, but I wanted to post it before the weekend. Thanks for reading, loves!

#solangelo #rental love #my fic #Nico di Angelo #Will solace #rosy writes #wip #holiday fic #fake boyfriends au #fake relationship #rent a boyfriend au #fluff #Percy Jackon and the Olympians #Heroes of Olympus #trials of apollo

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