#i wrote this on vacation and honestly i’m surprised at how good it is | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

moodymelanist · 2 years

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❅ Many Times, Many Ways ❅

Merry Christmas, @talkfantasytome! Tis I, your Secret Santa mwahahah. I was so excited to work on this fic, especially since you wrote me such a lovely one last year, so I hope you enjoy<3

@acotargiftexchange thank you for putting this wonderful event together for the second year in a row!

Summary: When Nesta finds herself without a date to her family's annual Christmas vacation, Cassian agrees to pretend to be her boyfriend for a week. Can they keep up the charade, or will they realize this is more than just a performance?

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Word Count: 15k

Read on AO3 here!

❅❅❅❅❅

Nesta

Nesta was driving home from a long day at her law firm when her ringtone interrupted her Taylor Swift playlist. Sighing at the name on her caller ID, she dutifully hit the answer call button anyway. “Hello?”

“Hello, Nesta,” came her mother’s cool reply. “How have you been?”

“I’ve been well,” she answered. It wasn’t a complete lie, but she wasn’t in the habit of filling her mother in on every single detail of her personal life. “How have you been?”

“Oh, I’ve been alright,” Rhea told her. There was a muffled sound in the background, and Nesta figured her mother was sitting down on one of the large sectionals in their living room. “We’re in full throes for planning the holiday, as I’m sure you know.”

Nesta was honestly surprised it had taken this long for Rhea to call her to ask about Christmas. Every year, the Archerons gathered in their winter home in Connecticut to spend a week together, which mostly devolved into a lot of drinking before the week was up on Nesta’s behalf. In the past, she’d been able to get away with only coming for the weekend leading up to Christmas, but considering her law firm had allowed her to work remotely near the holidays, it wasn’t as ironclad of an excuse anymore.

“Who’s coming?” Nesta asked, drumming her fingers against the steering wheel as she waited for the turn signal.

“So far, your father and I, your grandmother, and both of your sisters,” Rhea answered. “Feyre’s bringing Tamlin, and Elain will be coming with Graysen. Will you be bringing Tomas again?”

Fuck. What was Nesta supposed to do? She hadn’t exactly been thinking about her holiday plans when she’d caught Tomas with the secretary he’d sworn up and down he’d wanted nothing to do with. She’d broken up with him three months ago and hadn’t thought to mention it to her mother – it wasn’t like their conversations were usually long enough to get into the gritty details. And considering her grandmother was coming, Nesta would rather walk over hot coals than show up without a partner when both her sisters were in relationships, too.

“No,” Nesta answered slowly. She already knew Rhea would be making a pinched face under her blunt-cut bangs, but it was best to rip the bandaid off. “We’re not together anymore.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.” Rhea paused before asking, “Will you be bringing someone else instead?”

“Yes,” Nesta agreed far too quickly. Fuck, this was stupid, but she’d certainly come up with worse ideas where her family was concenred. “I met someone and I’ll be bringing him instead.”

“Wonderful!” Rhea exclaimed. Of course her mother was thrilled Nesta wasn’t by herself – nothing was more horrifying than the idea of one of her daughters being single forever to a woman like Rhea, especially considering her own mother’s ideals about marriage. “Alright. I’ll make the proper arrangements. Let me know if anything changes, please?”

“I will, but I don’t expect anything to,” Nesta responded. She turned at the light and spied her building’s garage entrance coming up on the corner. “I’ve got to go, I’m about to get home.”

“Okay. I’ll be in touch.”

“Sounds good. Bye, Mom.”

“Goodbye, Nesta.”

Nesta parked and lightly hit her head against the steering wheel. Where the hell was she going to find a date to her family’s holiday vacation in three weeks?

❅❅❅❅❅

“So you decided to make up a fake boyfriend instead of… I don’t know, telling your mom the truth?” Gwyn asked, confused.

“Nesta has mommy issues like you wouldn’t believe,” Emerie said with a roll of her eyes. “Trust me, this isn’t even the worst thing she could’ve came up with.”

Nesta just scowled at her two friends. It had been hard enough attempting to explain things over the phone last night, but the three of them had met up for drinks after work for a “brainstorming session.” Thankfully the bar was crowded enough from happy hour that no one was paying attention to them – she would hate to end up on one of those overheard in Washington, DC Instagram posts.

“Mommy issues aside, what the fuck was I supposed to do?” Nesta exclaimed before taking a deep sip of her cocktail. “I can’t just show up empty handed! My mother would never let me hear the end of it, let alone my grandmother.”

“I don’t think that’s mommy issues aside, but whatever,” Emerie replied with a knowing look.

“That doesn’t change the fact that I can’t go back now,” Nesta responded with a heavy sigh. “I knew it was stupid when I said it, but I’ll look even more ridiculous telling her sorry, I made it up.”

Emerie and Gwyn exchanged glances before Emerie bit the bullet. “Well… if you’re that worked up about it, I know a guy.”

“Keep talking,” Nesta said while she motioned for the bartender to come back and refill her glass.

“His name’s Cassian,” Emerie told her. “He runs the gym I do my kickboxing classes at. I’ve known him for forever, and he’s crazy enough to be down for your brand of bullshit.”

“What Emerie means to say,” Gwyn cut in, shooting Emerie an exasperated look, “is that Cassian is an open-minded guy who would love a free vacation.”

Nesta studiously ignored the way Emerie tried to kick Gwyn in retaliation under the table. “Let me see what he looks like.”

Emerie pulled out her phone, tapping at the screen a few times before pulling up Cassian’s Instagram and handing the phone over. His bio was short and sweet, listing some MMA championships he’d won and tagging his gym, but the moment Nesta saw his pictures her mouth went a little dry. He was easily one of the most attractive men she’d ever seen, with pretty hazel eyes, dark curls that reached his shoulders, and an eyebrow scar that only added to his appeal. Even though he had clothes on in all his posts, Nesta could tell just how built he was underneath them, and a large part of her wanted to feel those muscles rippling under her own hands.

He could probably bench press her three times over. Nesta wanted to climb him like a tree.

“Yeah, I’ll give him your number,” Emerie said with a knowing smirk. “I know what that face means.”

“Shut up,” Nesta grumbled. She passed Emerie back her phone and pretended like she wasn’t proving her friend’s point.

“Lucky for you, he said he’s free to meet up tomorrow if you are,” Emerie announced after a few minutes.

“Can’t wait,” Nesta grumbled, a little embarrassed by how transparent she was being.

“Come on, we’re just teasing,” Gwyn attempted to placate her with a smile. “And even if it doesn’t work out, at least you’ll have a funny story to tell.”

❅❅❅❅❅

Nesta fiddled with her cup of hot chocolate as she waited for Cassian to show up. Through Emerie, they’d agreed to meet in one of the District’s many coffee shops, somewhere in between both of their workplaces, and she’d arrived a little earlier than the agreed-upon time just to calm her nerves.

It wasn’t working, but at least she’d had time to order herself something to drink and pick out a clean table.

“Nesta?” she looked up at the sound of her name to see Cassian before her in all his glory. He’d unbuttoned his dark coat to reveal a tight-fitting exercise shirt that left nothing to the imagination, and she had to wrap her hands around her cup just to stop herself from reaching out and touching him. He was taller than she’d guessed from his pictures – probably closer to 6’4 – and his cheeks were adorably pink from the cold air. “Hey. I’m Cassian.”

“Hi,” she squeaked out, willing herself not to blush at how much more attractive he was in real life. “Thanks for coming.”

“No problem,” he told her with a grin. “I’m gonna get something to drink – you want me to grab you anything else?”

“No, I’m okay,” she managed to reply without embarrassing herself further. “Thanks, though.”

She used the few minutes he was gone to pull herself together. So what he was even hotter than his pictures? She’d faced scarier things than a man who made butterflies flutter in her stomach, and besides, she knew she was just as easy on the eyes as he was. She forced herself to take a few deep breaths and smooth her hair back, putting on her game face when he eventually returned to the table.

“So, Nesta,” Cassian said after he sat down. “I don’t have that many details, but Emerie said something about a free Christmas vacation?”

“Something like that,” Nesta replied with a heavy sigh. So much for Emerie doing the heavy lifting for her. “I need you to pretend to be my boyfriend for a week during my family vacation. All you have to do is show up and act like you’re in love with me, and once we get back to DC, we can act like this never happened and go our separate ways.”

“Seriously?” he asked, blinking back surprise.

“Seriously,” she confirmed. “I know it’s weird, but my mother asked me if I was bringing someone for Christmas this year, and I may have said yes before I completely thought it through.”

Cassian studied her for a few moments before a chuckle escaped him. “Sorry, I promise I’m not laughing at you.”

“Then what’s so funny?” Nesta asked, scowling. She hated being laughed at more than anything else, and this guy seemed to have picked up on how to push that button within a few minutes of meeting her.

“I just find it hard to believe you’d have a problem finding a guy to date you for real,” he answered. “Or that you’re so against telling your mom the truth that you’d make up this whole big lie.”

“You haven’t met my mother,” she told him flatly. She wouldn’t get into the other half of his sentence – she’d never had a problem finding men who were attracted to her. It was finding the ones actually worth her time that was the problem.

“Not yet, anyways,” he said back, grinning. “Okay, so let’s say I do this. What do I get out of it?”

“A free, week-long vacation in Stamford, Connecticut,” she answered. “All the holiday activities you can think of – snowboarding, sledding, snow tubing, polar bear plunge, you name it. Plenty of alcohol and food, all paid for. Really, all you need to do is show up and pretend you like me for long enough to get my mother off my back.”

Cassian studied her for so long Nesta started to worry he would say no. What if she had to go back to the drawing board? She hated the idea of having to go through this with someone else, of having to explain her situation again and hope to God they actually took her seriously.

Nesta sighed heavily after they’d been sitting there in silence for longer than she liked. “Look, are you going to help me or not?”

“Show me where we’ll be staying?” Cassian asked. She dutifully unlocked her phone and let him scroll through some photos of their family vacation home. The Archerons had been going up to Stamford for summers and winters for as long as she could remember; it was the perfect vacation spot away from their family home on the Upper East Side. “Okay, but only if you say please.”

“Are you serious?” she questioned, snatching her phone back with a glare.

“As a heart attack,” he responded sweetly. “I mean, I could always go and make plans…”

“We’re adults, not kindergarteners,” she hissed. He had to be fucking with her. Right?

He paid her complaints no mind as he continued to talk. “You know, my brother said he wanted to go someplace warm for the holidays this year. The Caribbean sounds way nicer than Connecticut…”

“Fine,” she huffed, defeated. She needed him more than he needed her, so she took a deep breath and put on the fakest smile she could manage. “Would you please, please, pretend to be my boyfriend and save my Christmas?”

“It would be my genuine pleasure, sweetheart,” Cassian replied with a grin, though his was much more smug than hers. “Has anyone ever told you how pretty you look when you say please?”

“You’re insufferable,” Nesta muttered, crossing her arms as she sat back in her chair. She couldn’t believe Emerie had suggested this guy.

“Maybe, but you need me too much to complain about it.” He mirrored her and sat back in his chair, but he winked at her instead of crossing his arms. “Just let me know when and where I’m supposed to be.”

“Thank you,” she told him through gritted teeth. “We’re going from December 23rd through the 30th, so make sure you’re ready to go bright and early. We can figure out our story on the train ride there.”

“Sounds good to me,” he agreed, still smiling. “How long’s the train ride?”

“I don’t know, maybe five hours?” she guessed. It had been a while since she’d taken Amtrak from DC, but that sounded about right. “I already have your ticket, so you don’t have to worry about that. You just have to show up and be boyfriend material.”

“I can definitely do that, sweetheart,” he promised with a wink. He looked like he wanted to say more, but he got distracted by his phone ringing. “Sorry, let me check this.”

Nesta waited patiently for Cassian to read his notification. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just have to head out earlier than I thought I would,” he told her. He fired off a text of his own before turning his phone around to face her, the contacts app already open. “Give me your number and we can talk details later?”

“Okay,” she agreed. She took the phone from him and dutifully put in her name and number before passing it back. “Don’t blow up my phone.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t interrupt your beauty sleep,” he teased. He stood and grabbed his empty cup, taking care to push his chair in. “I’ll see you around, honey.”

Nesta rolled her eyes for what felt like the millionth time that evening. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, sweetums.”

Cassian just grinned and mock saluted her before walking away. If she stared at his ass the entire way out, that was her business.

❅❅❅❅❅

Three weeks later, Nesta rolled her luggage into Union Station and followed the familiar signs for the train to Stamford. Cassian was waiting for her just like he’d promised, looking comically out of place in the tiny waiting area seats, but he perked up when he saw her approaching him. By the time she made her way over to where he was sitting, someone announced that their train was beginning boarding, and he was already out of his seat and taking her bag from her.

“I got it,” he declared, gently taking the bag out of her grip with a rogue grin. “Gotta play the part from the beginning, right?”

“Right,” she replied with a roll of her eyes. As annoying as he could be, she appreciated not having to pull her bag even for the short walk to the train. “Thank you.”

“Anytime, sweetheart,” he responded, looking over his shoulder to wink at her.

They walked in comfortable silence to the train, Cassian having no problem with Nesta picking where they sat. She’d sprung for the business class car, wanting to be comfortable for such a long trip, and considering how much leg room Cassian needed to be comfortable she was glad she’d spent the extra money.

If only she’d known at the time she’d be bringing someone who actually needed the leg room. If Tomas could see her now.

Nesta watched as Cassian effortlessly put her bag in the overhead bin and let her take the inside seat. She murmured her thanks and settled in, sighing happily the moment she was sitting down.

“I have to get some work done, but we can get our story straight once I’m finished,” she said once he’d sat down next to her. She reached down for her briefcase and opened up her laptop, making sure to snag her earbuds so she could have something to listen to while she worked.

Cassian just nodded and put on some noise-canceling headphones while she got to work. Between the gentle rocking of the train and the calming music she was listening to, the time flew by as she finished working on the memo she’d been drafting for one of the senior partners. She was so in the zone that she barely noticed when Cassian got up, only coming back to herself when a to-go cup of hot chocolate appeared next to her laptop.

“Thank you,” Nesta said once she’d saved her document for the last time.

“No problem,” Cassian replied. He motioned to his own cup of hot chocolate with a sheepish grin. “It was complimentary.”

She huffed a laugh as she took out her earbuds, placing them back in the case before turning to face him. “So.”

“So,” he repeated. He slid his headphones off his head and down around his neck. “Where do you want to start?”

“We need to have an ironclad story when we meet my family,” she answered. “To that end, we met through Emerie and have been dating for two months.”

“Two months and you’re already bringing me to meet your family? You must be serious about me,” he teased. At her deeply unimpressed look, he sighed and relented. “Fine, two months. But you’re the one who asked me out.”

“Fine,” Nesta agreed through gritted teeth. “I asked you out and the rest is history. How do you feel about public displays of affection?”

“I’m a big fan of them,” Cassian told her with a smirk, but he quickly grew serious. “I know I joke a lot, but I don’t want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable.”

“I… appreciate that,” she said slowly. It was rare to meet a man so respectful of her physical boundaries — she’d had so many boyfriends tell her how cold she could be that it was a little strange to not have to argue about it. “But I’m fine with showing physical affection. I just don’t want to get too over the top in front of my family.”

“Totally understandable,” he agreed with a nod. “What kinds of affection are you comfortable with?”

“Holding hands is fine,” she answered. “I like little touches like that, and if we want to sell it to my family, we’ll have to do at least that.”

Cassian nodded. “I’m a pretty tactile guy, so that works for me. How do you feel about kissing?”

“Who said anything about that?” Nesta fired back, suddenly flustered.

“It’s what people in relationships do, sweetheart,” he replied slowly, like he was speaking to a child. “If you’re scared about kissing me, don’t be. I’ve been told I’m a great kisser.”

“I’m not scared,” she hissed, suddenly tempted to smack him upside the head. She managed to keep her hands to herself as she added, “I just don’t know what situation will come up when we’ll have to do… that.”

“I’m sure you can think of one in that big brain of yours,” he teased. He was clearly enjoying how flustered she was, but thankfully he decided to take pity on her. “How about kisses on the cheek, and if we have to kiss for real, we’ll keep our tongues to ourselves?”

“Closed mouth kisses are fine,” she agreed after a few moments. “Let’s move on to the personal details. What do you do for work?”

Over the course of the next hour, Nesta learned more about Cassian than she’d ever guessed. He was only two years older than her – thirty to her twenty-eight – and he owned the gym where Emerie attended kickboxing classes. Unlike Nesta, he was native to the DC area, having grown up in Maryland and staying in the area after graduating from college. He’d been orphaned young, but thankfully had been taken in by family friends so close he considered them brothers.

“Everybody always thinks we’re brothers, anyway, so it was just easier to go along with it,” Cassian told her with a roll of his eyes. He pulled his phone out of his pocket to show her some photos, and once she saw the three of them together, she had to agree.

“Yeah, I can definitely see the family resemblance.” She pulled out her own phone and scrolled to find a picture of her own family, careful to pick one from last year’s vacation without Tomas in it. “Since we’re talking about family, here’s mine.”

Nesta took the time to point everyone out – her father was easily identified, but the women in her family needed their own introductions. They looked so similar it could be difficult to tell everyone apart sometimes, but at least they all had different hairstyles. Eira was easy to distinguish with her snow-white hair, and Rhea had always favored a sharp, shoulder-length cut with bangs. Feyre’s hair was almost always braided back out of her face, but Elain was easy to tell apart with her brown eyes and long waves.

“Jeez, your mom’s side must have some strong genes,” Cassian joked. “It’s like your grandma just copied and pasted her face onto all of you.”

“You could say that,” she muttered. Similar faces hadn’t been the only thing to carry over from generation to generation.

Sensing her discomfort, he expertly switched the topic of conversation. “So I told you my life story. What about you?”

“Well, I’m from New York originally,” she began her spiel. “I’m the oldest of three sisters – Elain’s about a year and a half younger than me, and Feyre is four years younger. I’m a double Columbia grad, but I wanted a change after law school so I moved to DC a few years ago. I haven’t looked back since.”

“You being a lawyer makes so much sense,” he said, chuckling.

“I’m choosing to interpret that as a compliment,” she replied.

“You should.” He shifted in his seat to make himself more comfortable. “What do your sisters do?”

“Elain has her PhD in botany, and Feyre teaches painting techniques at an art school,” she answered proudly. “I’m the least interesting out of the three of us by far. What do your brothers do?”

“We’ll have to agree to disagree about you being the least interesting,” he told her with a wink, “but Azriel works in IT. Rhys helps his dad run Night Industries, if you’ve heard of them? They’re big in consulting.”

“Consulting work in DC. What a shocker,” she replied sarcastically. “Good for him, though.”

They lapsed into silence for a few moments before Cassian cleared his throat and broke it. “Well… if that’s everything for now, I’m going to take a nap. Wake me up when we get there.”

“Okay,” she agreed, not put off by the sudden end to the conversation. It was going to be a long week; she supposed they should take their breaks where they could.

The rest of the ride went by peacefully. Once Cassian was safely asleep, Nesta reached for her iPad and went back to the romance she’d started a few nights ago. She wasn’t ashamed of her reading habits, but she certainly didn’t want to give him anymore ammunition than necessary.

Once they were within fifteen minutes of the Stamford station, she gently shook him to wake him. He thanked her and started gathering her belongings, and before she knew it, they were getting up and walking through the station.

Nesta knew it was only a matter of time until they had to really start their performances, but Cassian was already in character. He automatically grabbed her bag for her and let her lead their way outside, his large body shielding her from the worst of the wind.

She hailed a cab and sighed as she shut the door behind her. “Shouldn’t be much longer now.”

“Don’t look so glum,” he replied as he clicked his seatbelt into place. “This place looks nice.”

“Appearances can be deceiving,” she answered.

Nesta told the driver the address and they settled into comfortable silence for the ride. Cassian hadn’t been lying when he said it looked nice — Old Greenwich really went all out for the holidays, and it looked like something fresh out of a Hallmark movie as they got closer to the Archerons’ home on the water.

The drive was over in a flash. Once they’d gotten out of the car and Cassian had grabbed the bags, Nesta led the way to the front of the house. As usual, the house was decorated like something out of a magazine, with lights and garland strung tastefully on the porch. There were flickering, electric candles in all the windows that they could see, and the amount of lights on suggested everyone was congregated downstairs. Great.

“Here we go,” Nesta muttered under her breath before knocking on the door.

“Nesta!” Feyre squealed as she flung open the door. Her sister looked a little thinner than the last time they’d seen each other, but Nesta lost any chance she had to keep examining Feyre the second her sister threw her arms around her. “I’m so glad you’re here. Mom’s driving me fucking insane already.”

“Hi to you too, Fey,” Nesta replied good-naturedly. She squeezed Feyre back for a few seconds before awkwardly patting her sister’s braid, silently asking for release. “This is my boyfriend, Cassian.”

“It’s so nice to meet you,” Feyre said, moving aside so she could let Nesta and Cassian inside. The inside of the house was decorated to the nines already, the gently flickering lights and tastefully placed garlands complementing the similar decorations from outside. “You’re a bit of a surprise, big guy. Nesta hasn’t said anything about you.”

“What can I say? Nes likes keeping me to herself,” Cassian replied with a wink at Nesta. She willed herself not to roll her eyes — they were supposed to be a couple — and instead smiled as convincingly as she could. “Where should I put the bags?”

“You two are in the second room off the right,” Feyre answered, motioning to the stairs behind her. Cassian nodded and gathered all their luggage, and Nesta busied herself with taking off her coat and shoes before Rhea could catch her tracking snow inside.

“Nes?” Feyre echoed the nickname once Cassian was out of earshot, raising both eyebrows at Nesta.

“Not one word,” Nesta demanded.

“I’m just saying,” Feyre replied with a twinkle in her eye. “You must really like him to let him get away with a nickname.”

Nesta rolled her eyes as she let Feyre lead the way to the living room. “What happened to not one word?”

“I never agreed to that.” Feyre grinned brazenly before raising her voice so the family could hear her. “Hey everyone, look who’s here!”

Everyone gathered turned to look at Nesta. Her parents were here, as was Tamlin, Feyre’s on-again-off-again boyfriend. Elain and Graysen hadn’t arrived yet, but Nesta’s grandmother was already eyeing her shrewdly from the corner. She looked the same as ever, not a white hair out of place in her usual chignon, and her back was perfectly straight even though she was sitting in the most comfortable chair by the fire.

“Merry Christmas, everyone,” Nesta said, forcing herself to stand tall before her grandmother could correct her posture. “It’s great to see you all.”

“Don’t tell me you came alone, Nesta,” Eira replied, her lips tightening in disappointment. So much for a normal greeting.

Thankfully, Cassian had the best timing in the world. “She didn’t, ma’am,” he said, sneaking behind her to wrap an arm around her waist.

“This is my boyfriend, Cassian,” Nesta announced to the room at large, immensely satisfied at the way everyone’s stares lingered on him. His personality could be… lacking at times, but he certainly made up for it with the way he filled out that flannel. “Cassian, this is my family.”

Unsurprisingly, her father cracked first, his brown eyes crinkling around the edges as he smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you, Cassian.”

“The pleasure is all mine, sir,” Cassian replied. He briefly abandoned Nesta to shake her father’s hand, moving toward the sectional where her parents were sitting. “Thank you for having me.”

“Just Owain is fine,” Owain said, leaning forward to shake Cassian’s outstretched hand. Her father wasn’t a particularly small man, but next to Cassian he certainly looked it. “And I can’t claim any credit for this. It’s all my wife’s doing.”

“Then I suppose I should be thanking you, Mrs. Archeron.” Cassian pivoted flawlessly to shake Rhea’s slim hand, and Nesta heaved a sigh of relief that he’d remembered her explicit warnings about how to refer to her mother. “Thank you for having me. The house is gorgeous.”

“Thank you,” Rhea responded coolly. She shook his hand once and allowed him to continue making his rounds, but Nesta’s entire body tensed as she caught the look she exchanged with her grandmother.

“Come over here and let me get a look at you,” Eira demanded. Even in old age, her grandmother’s presence was no less fierce, and Cassian didn’t hesitate to shuffle over to where she was sitting. “Mhm. You’re a large one.”

“I come from a tall family, ma’am,” he responded earnestly. She didn’t hold out her hand to shake, but he took it in stride. “I’ll try my best not to bump my head on anything.”

“You do that,” she told him, ice-blue eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ll be keeping an eye on you.”

“You’ve already met me, but this is my boyfriend Tamlin,” Feyre said once Cassian made his way over to the loveseat they were sitting on. Tamlin gripped Cassian’s hand so tightly that Nesta suppressed a wince, but Cassian didn’t falter.

“Nice to meet you all,” Cassian told the room at large. “We’re still waiting on a few people, right?”

“My other daughter and her fiancé should be arriving tomorrow afternoon,” Rhea replied. She cleared her throat and motioned toward the kitchen. “Nesta, come help me get started on dinner?”

Nesta was up and out of her seat before her mother could even finish the command designed as a question. “Coming.”

Feyre shot Nesta a supportive look as she passed by the couch. At least someone here was on her side.

“He’s… different,” Rhea said once they were both inside the kitchen, already moving to take out various pots and pans. “How did you say you two met again?”

“I didn’t, but a mutual friend introduced us,” Nesta answered. She doubted her mother would remember Emerie’s name, and she didn’t want to set herself up for disappointment when Rhea inevitably failed.

“I see.” Rhea moved to the fridge and started taking out what looked like the ingredients for a roast. “And how long have you been seeing each other?”

Nesta reached for a knife and started chopping the vegetables Rhea placed in front of her before her mother could ask her to do it. “About two months.”

“A little soon to be bringing him to a family holiday, isn’t it?” Rhea asked, her voice full of judgment.

“You didn’t seem to think so when I told you I was bringing him,” Nesta replied icily. She was already fighting to keep her cool and they’d barely been here for an hour — what a surprise.

“Well, he’s already here. There’s nothing to be done about it,” Rhea said decisively, shaking her head slightly to get her bangs out of her eyes. She looked over at Nesta’s chopping board and clicked her tongue. “Those are too large, Nesta. I want them diced, not cubed.”

Nesta just sighed heavily and moved to correct the mistake. It was going to be a long trip.

❅❅❅❅❅

Dinner had been positively excruciating for Nesta, but she somehow managed to survive it without clawing her own eyes out. The moment it had been socially acceptable to do so, she’d made their excuses and dragged Cassian upstairs with her so they could get ready for bed.

Cassian showered first while Nesta unpacked her belongings, doing her best to calm down while she had a moment alone. Thankfully, he was a quick showerer, so she got to do most of the calming down under a spray of hot water.

She should’ve known better to expect the peace to last, though.

“What are you doing?” Nesta asked when she returned from her shower. Cassian was spread across one half of the bed without a care in the world, his impossibly long legs covered by a pair of plaid pajama pants.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m too damn old to be sleeping on the floor,” Cassian said with a careless flip of his hand. “What’s sharing a bed between two friends, right?”

“I don’t know if I’d go so far to call us friends,” she said back, throwing a fierce glare his way as she leaned over to plug her phone into charge.

“Sweetheart, you wound me,” he responded. He threw a hand over his forehead and sighed dramatically. “How will I ever recover—”

“Shut up and move over,” she cut him off, pulling back the comforter on her side of the bed. In a flash of inspiration, she grabbed some of the throw pillows and used them to start building a pillow wall between them. “This should do it.”

“Seriously? A pillow wall?” Cassian scoffed, incredulous. “And you said I’m the childish one.”

“That statement still holds true,” Nesta responded haughtily. Once she was satisfied with the barrier between them, she turned off her bedside lamp and got under the covers facing away from him. “Stay on your side of the bed and we won’t have any issues.”

“Aye aye, captain,” he replied. She didn’t need to be looking at him to know he was probably firing off a crisp salute, especially from the noise the sheets made as his arm moved. “Any other requests?”

She pulled the comforter up over her shoulders. “That’ll do for now.”

They laid there in silence for a few seconds before Cassian told her good night and she responded in kind. It was a little weird having someone in her bed after so long sleeping alone — especially someone she hardly knew, all things considered — but as she slowly drifted off, Nesta found maybe it wasn’t as terrible as she’d feared.

❅❅❅❅❅

The next morning, Nesta woke up to a face full of warm, hard muscle. She snuggled in before she remembered just whose chest she was laying on, and then she was jerking backwards so hard she nearly toppled off the bed.

“Good morning to you too, sweetheart,” Cassian said, clearly amused. His voice was groggy with sleep, and even Nesta couldn’t deny how much she liked the sound of it. “So much for the pillow wall, huh?”

“Shut up,” she replied shortly. She wasn’t a morning person by any means, and it was too damn early to be this talkative. “What time is it?”

“Clearly too early for you,” he joked, but he reached for his phone anyway. “It’s 8:12.”

“Too fucking early,” she grumbled. She eyed the sad remainder of her pillow wall and decided it wasn’t worth the effort of trying to rebuild it right now. “I’m going back to sleep.”

“Whatever makes you happy, sweetheart,” he told her, still way too chipper for the time. “Sweet dreams.”

Nesta ignored him and let sleep take her again. When she woke up the second time, Cassian’s side of the bed was long cold, so she shoved her feet into slippers and grabbed a robe before heading downstairs.

Her parents were nowhere to be seen, but Cassian and Feyre were talking quietly on the couch in the family toom. Her sister was still in pajamas, but he’d clearly showered and changed into his clothes for the day. They both turned at the sound of Nesta entering the room, smiles lighting up both their faces.

“Sleeping Beauty awakens,” Feyre called out, voice teasing. “Come hang out with us!”

“I’m coming,” Nesta grumbled. She tied her robe tighter around herself once she reached the bottom of the stairs and made a beeline for the couch. “Is there coffee?”

“I put on a pot when I got back from my run,” Cassian told her, still clearly enjoying how grumpy she was. That explained the shower, but she really must have been out of it if she’d completely missed him banging around the en suite. “It should still be warm.”

Nesta didn’t even bother responding, instead changing her trajectory so she was heading toward the kitchen instead. Just like he said, there was a pot of fresh coffee waiting for her, and she didn’t waste any time making herself a mug. Someone had left out the bagels, so she quickly buttered one and brought it with her.

“…so adorable in the mornings,” Cassian was saying when she returned to the family room.

“What’s adorable?” she replied, taking a deep sip of her coffee before sitting next to him on the couch.

“You, in the mornings,” he answered with a shit-eating grin. She scowled at him as she shoved a particularly vicious bite of her bagel into her mouth. “You’re so grumpy. I was just telling Feyre about how cute it is.”

Feyre’s grin only widened when Cassian casually slung an arm around Nesta’s shoulders. “Okay, you’re officially my favorite boyfriend Nesta’s ever had.”

“Is the bar really that low?” Cassian joked.

Feyre grimaced and looked at Nesta, who was thankfully saved by the arrival of Elain and her boyfriend. Rhea and Owain came through the door behind them, explaining their absence, and suddenly the house was alive with chatter where Nesta wasn’t the center of attention anymore.

“It’s so good to see you, Nesta,” Elain said as they hugged, her face adorably pink from the cold. She lived not too far outside of DC, but she traveled so often for her research that it was hard to pin her down. “And you must be the boyfriend I haven’t heard a peep about.”

Cassian just grinned before sweeping Elain into a hug. “That would be me. It’s so nice to finally meet you, Dr. Archeron.”

“Oh, just Elain is fine,” Elain replied with a chuckle. Once Cassian moved on to introduce himself to Graysen, Elain gave Nesta a we’ll be talking about this later look that Nesta did her best to ignore.

Graysen looked annoyed as usual, but as much as she didn’t care for him, at least he and Nesta were usually on the same page about how annoying Archeron family gatherings could be. Once everyone made their introductions — and Tamlin and Eira joined the fray — they decided they’d spend the day going gift shopping at the Winter Market in town before preparing for their annual Christmas Eve party.

“You don’t come with gifts already?” Cassian asked once they were back upstairs. He was already showered and dressed, so really Nesta was the only one who had to get ready between the two of them.

“For my sisters, yes,” Nesta answered. She looked away from picking an outfit to vaguely motion toward the corner she’d placed their gifts in. “But for everyone else, we usually just buy things while we’re here. It’s usually just better to wait and see who actually shows up.”

“That’s so crazy,” he replied, shaking his head. “In my family, the only way you can get away with keeping your gifts secret is by buying them way in advance. They’re some nosy motherfukers, but I love them.”

Nesta just snorted before heading into the bathroom to take her shower. When she emerged twenty minutes later dressed and ready to go, Cassian slid his phone back into his pocket and motioned for her to lead the way.

“Oh good, you’re ready,” Rhea said when they came back downstairs. They were the last ones to come downstairs, and Nesta was easily distracted from firing off a retort by the feeling of Cassian’s arm sliding across her shoulders. “There’s a lot of us, so we’ll take two cars. You two can ride with us.”

Nesta found herself sandwiched between her father and her pretend-boyfriend during the car ride, and spent the entire drive trying to hold Cassian’s hand like a regular person instead of using his stupidly-warm hand as a stress ball. Being this close in proximity to her mother and grandmother stressed her out like nothing else, and if Cassian had any complaints about how strong her grip was, he certainly didn’t voice them. If anything, he squeezed her hand a few times back in reassurance.

“We’ll meet back at home for lunch, yes?” Rhea said once they’d parked a few blocks away from the market.

“Yes, Mom,” Nesta agreed, wincing at the sudden blast of cold wind. Cassian immediately stepped closer to shield her from it, somehow completely unbothered by the way both Rhea and Eira narrowed their eyes.

“And keep your… displays appropriate,” Eira added, her face tight with disapproval. “There are families here, you know.”

“I’m sure they’re familiar with affection, ma’am,” Cassian responded before Nesta could even open her mouth. He kept his voice light as he defiantly wrapped an arm around Nesta. “We’ll see you all at lunch.”

Nesta was powerless once he started walking, and she threw a half-hearted wave over her shoulder before paying attention to where they were going. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he replied easily, becoming more relaxed the further they got away from her family. “Are they always like that?”

“Pretty much,” she answered. “You see why I couldn’t show up empty handed now?”

“Screw being empty handed, you need a buffer,” he scoffed. “They’re ridiculous. It’s not like we’re fucking in broad daylight.”

Thankfully, they were far enough away from the Winter Market that no one overheard the profanity. Once they got into the thick of the crowd, Nesta let herself be tugged from stall to stall, eyeing the many handmade goods on offer.

“These are pretty,” Cassian said, pointing out some earrings at one of the jewelry stalls. “I think I’ll get something from here.”

By the time Cassian had finished picking out some earrings and bracelets for the women in his life back home, Feyre and Elain managed to find them in the crowd. Nesta sighed in relief at the sight of them, waving them over once she recognized Elain’s familiar puffy hat. “Oh, thank God.”

“The car ride was that bad, huh?” Elain replied sympathetically. Graysen and Tamlin were nowhere to be seen, so at least the three of them could speak freely for now. “I felt for you, I really did, but not enough to offer myself up.”

“Please, you practically sprinted out toward the car,” Feyre shot back with a roll of her eyes.

“I honestly don’t know how I’m going to survive the week,” Nesta responded, sighing heavily. “It’s only been one night and I’m fantasizing about going back home.”

“No, don’t say that,” Elain said. She reached out to squeeze Nesta’s hand with her own gloved one. “I know it’s hard, but I never get to see you two at the same time.”

“I know, I know.” Nesta squeezed Elain’s hand before letting go. “I’ll stick it out. I’ll just hate every minute of it.”

“Hopefully not every minute,” Cassian chimed in from next to her. Nesta turned to see him standing there with a gift bag, holding out his hand expectantly. “I can’t be that bad, sweetheart.”

“I guess you’re fine,” Nesta begrudgingly joked, easily falling into her role. She took his outstretched hand and turned back to her sisters, who were looking at her like they’d never seen her before. “Okay, where to next?”

By the time they made it to the end of the market, Nesta’s credit card balance was considerably higher, and Cassian’s hands were significantly fuller with purchases. She’d gotten a new cookbook for her mother, some woodcutting carvings for her father, and a set of fancy soaps for her grandmother. She’d even felt generous enough to buy Cassian a nice, soft sweater while he’d been distracted talking to Tamlin and Graysen, figuring it was the least she could do.

Besides, she didn’t know what kind of outfits he’d packed for the trip. He’d probably need to wear it tonight for the party anyway.

❅❅❅❅❅

A few hours later, Nesta found herself on one of the second floor balconies, shivering on the small couch as she took a much-needed break from her mother. She’d already been chewed out for somehow not following Rhea’s instructions to the tee, and that had been before her grandmother had a chance to join in. Nesta had fled up the stairs the moment she caught a whiff of Eira’s perfume, mumbling something about needing to use the bathroom, and hadn’t even thought to grab her coat before coming up here.

God, it was freezing. She’d only been up here for a few minutes, but she was seriously reconsidering heading inside soon. She could always hide in one of the bathrooms instead, right? Make her lie more believable?

Nesta turned at the sound of the balcony door opening, sighing in relief to see Cassian standing there with two steaming mugs of what smelled like hot chocolate. “Cassian?”

“The one and only,” he replied with a grin. He gently placed the mugs down on the coffee table and rummaged around one of the storage cubes for a blanket, taking great care to tuck all the soft edges around Nesta’s shivering form. “What are you doing out here all by yourself, sweetheart?”

“Hiding,” she muttered, reaching for the hot chocolate so she could warm herself back up. He’d made it perfectly, and she sighed happily as she took a deep sip. “What are you doing out here?”

“Looking for you, obviously.” He sat down next to her and she almost cried at how warm he was. “I’m just glad I found you before the drinks got cold.”

“I’m surprised my mother let you escape long enough to even make them,” she replied bitterly. Rhea had no qualms about ordering everyone around, even the people not related to her. Last Nesta had heard, Cassian had been conscripted to help bring in firewood for the giant fireplace in the sitting room.

“Well, her opinion doesn’t matter as much to me,” he responded, thankfully leaving the not as much as it does to you unspoken. “And neither does your grandmother’s, if I’m being honest. I know it’s easier said than done, but you don’t need their approval to be the perfect woman or whatever bullshit you had to grow up with.”

“Easy for you to say,” she mumbled. “You’re not related to them, and even if you were, you’re a man.”

“Yeah, but all that means is I recognize a badass woman when I see one,” he told her earnestly. “I’m serious, Nesta. You’re intelligent, you’re successful, and you’re gorgeous on top of it. It drives me crazy that they nag you so much when you’re already so accomplished. Maybe my definition of success is different from theirs, but from where I’m sitting...”

Nesta’s cheeks were burning from all the sudden praise. “You don’t have to make me feel better, Cassian. Nobody’s watching.”

“I don’t care that we don’t have an audience,” Cassian replied, shifting closer. “Maybe I just want to make you feel good regardless.”

She didn’t know what to say back to that, but she could feel herself getting caught in the pull of his hazel eyes. His gaze quickly darted down to her lips, which were parted slightly like she expected something from him, and she tilted her head ever so slightly to make the angle easier—

The sound of the balcony door hitting the side of the house abruptly shattered the moment, and Nesta jerked back from Cassian to see Tamlin standing there awkwardly with an unlit cigarette in hand. “Shit, didn’t see you two out here.”

“It’s all good, man,” Cassian replied easily. He shot an unreadable look at Nesta before standing and offering her his hand, which she took before grabbing her forgotten mug of hot chocolate. “We should be heading back inside anyway.”

He grabbed his own mug and led them past Tamlin, who at least had the decency to shut the door behind them before he started smoking. They didn’t speak until they were back in their shared room.

“I’m… going to get changed,” Nesta said, still not sure how to feel about what had just happened. What had almost just happened.

“Okay. I’ll take these downstairs,” Cassian replied while motioning to their mugs. “I’ll see if I can spike them or something. I’m sure we’ll need it.”

“Wait,” she told him, feeling awkward but deciding to power through it anyway. “I, um… you should wear this. Instead.”

He watched as she headed toward the gift corner and grabbed the sweater she’d bought for him earlier. It was dark green and soft and she hoped she wasn’t imagining the way his eyes lit up when she handed it to him. “Here. My mother would have an aneurysm if you wore plaid.”

“Thanks, Nes,” he replied after a moment, seeming genuinely touched. Then his brow furrowed as he motioned to the flannel he was wearing. “But what’s wrong with what I have on?”

She just rolled her eyes and grabbed her own change of clothes to take with her into the bathroom. “Just put it on, Cassian.”

When she emerged wearing a cream sweater dress and tights he was already gone, but judging by the heap of fabric he’d left his flannel in, he must’ve changed into the sweater she’d given him. The mugs were gone too, but in their place were a pretty pair of gold earrings from the same vendor he’d bought things from earlier.

Nesta didn’t hesitate to put them on, shifting her usual earrings around so the new ones were on full display. She hadn’t expected him to get her a gift, appearances aside, and she certainly hadn’t expected to like it so much.

Just another perk of having a fake boyfriend around, she supposed. She shoved down the very real feelings she had bubbling up from the gift and went back into her closet to pull on the boots she’d brought, taking her time to make sure she was pulled together enough to face Cassian and her family.

When Nesta made it downstairs, it appeared the party was about to begin. Rhea seemed to have gone into full hostess mode, Owain already had a glass of scotch in hand, and Eira was bossing Elain and Feyre around for once instead of Nesta. She didn’t want to get caught up in all the craziness, so she looked around for someone worth talking to and sighed in relief when she spotted Cassian.

He looked handsome in his new sweater, and with the way it highlighted all those muscles, Nesta was grateful to her past self about deciding to size down. He lit up when he saw her approach, his grin softening into something like fondness when he noticed she was wearing the earrings. “Do you like them?”

“They’re lovely,” Nesta answered truthfully, gently touching a hand to her ear. “Thank you.”

“I was going to give them to you tomorrow, but someone spring her gift on me early,” he responded cheekily. He reached for her hand and she let him take it, firmly ignoring how good his warmth felt against her cool skin. “You look beautiful, Nesta.”

“Thank you,” she replied, feeling a bit like a broken record. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”

They were interrupted by guests starting to arrive, and Nesta threw herself into being the perfect, doting girlfriend. It wasn’t that hard when it seemed Cassian was just as eager to pretend, always noticing when her glass was almost empty or she needed an out from whatever conversation her parents’ friends had dragged her into. If anything, it was almost too easy, especially with how easily he touched her — a hand on her waist, the sweep of his thumb against the back of her palm, the way he’d lean over to whisper a joke in her ear.

By the time Rhea had called the room to attention for a toast, Nesta wasn’t anywhere near as on edge as she usually was during these kinds of events. Crowds stressed her out, especially those filled with people whose opinions her mother valued, but even as a fake boyfriend Cassian had been a stable presence at her side.

“Thank you all for coming out tonight,” Rhea began, a glass of champagne in her left hand. She looked beautiful in a dark blue dress that brought out the blue in her eyes and highlighted her slim figure. “I’m always so grateful to have both family and friends by my side each year, and I couldn’t imagine going through life without any of your support. Merry Christmas, everyone! Enjoy!”

“Merry Christmas,” Nesta murmured with the rest of the room.

Before she could take a sip, Cassian clinked his glass against hers with a wink. “Merry Christmas.”

For whatever reason, she couldn’t help but blush, and she quickly looked away from him before taking a sip from her glass. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but between what happened on the balcony earlier and now this, she was feeling all sorts of off-kilter.

The rest of the party passed much in the same way. Nesta felt increasingly off-kilter the longer they stood there and mingled, and with every gentle touch and sweet compliment that Cassian gave her, she only felt even more wrong-footed. What was wrong with her? One almost kiss and she was suddenly falling apart. She needed to pull herself together.

She would’ve been successful, too, if not for the dancing that started about an hour and half into the party.

“We should get out there,” Cassian said during one of their rare breaks from mingling. Feyre and Tamlin had started shuffling around the makeshift dance floor, and clearly Cassian was getting ideas. “Dance with me?”

“What?” Nesta asked, not sure if she’d heard him right. She wasn’t a bad dancer by any means, but the idea of putting herself into the spotlight at a family gathering made her want to curl up into a ball and disappear.

“Dance with me,” Cassian repeated, holding his hands out. “I promise I won’t step on your toes.”

Nesta sighed and set her champagne flute down. “Fine. But if you step on my feet, you’re absolutely sleeping on the floor tonight.”

He just laughed and took her hand, gently pulling her toward the dance floor. She wrapped both her arms around his neck and did her best not to melt into his hands as he gently placed them around her wasit, but it was a losing battle from the moment she felt that warmth through her dress.

“See, I’m not so bad,” he said as they swayed to the beat of the song.

“Whatever you say,” she replied, rolling her eyes. He really wasn’t as bad as she’d feared; so far, he hadn’t come close to stepping on her feet, and she sent a silent prayer up to whoever’d taught him to at least manage a decent shuffle. “I guess we can’t all be trained dancers.”

“Are you saying you’re a trained dancer?” he asked, delight creeping into his voice.

“Yes,” she grumbled, pretending she didn’t notice just how excited he was about it. “Don’t mention it to my mom, I’m sure she still has photos somewhere.”

Cassian’s grin somehow stretched even wider at this new information. “You’re not doing a good job of convincing me, sweetheart.”

“Just shut up and stay on beat,” Nesta told him. It was a hollow criticism and they both knew it, but she needed something to say.

His grin faded into something much softer, and she forced herself to look away from him before she did something stupid. Instead, she let herself get closer to him so she could rest her head on his shoulder, and he immediately shifted his hands to rest more comfortably around her waist.

As they gently swayed to the song, it was like the entire party faded to the background. Nesta’s focus narrowed to the smell of Cassian’s cologne, to the warmth of his skin, and long after they stopped dancing she swore she was still able to feel the weight of his hands on her.

❅❅❅❅❅

The next morning, Christmas dawned bright and early in the Archeron household. Nesta didn’t have the luxury of sleeping in today, and she dutifully showered and made her way downstairs so that she could help Rhea and Eira in the kitchen. Cassian was hot on her heels, not bothering to shower before he could get some coffee in him.

Her sisters were already awake and sitting on the couch, both of them curled up with steaming mugs of tea and coffee while Miracle on 34th Street played on the TV in front of them.

“Look up,” Elain said, giggling as she spotted the two of them standing in the arched entryway to the family room.

Nesta held in her groan as she realized she and Cassian had walked underneath some mistletoe. Rhea wasn’t too crazy about using it in her decorations, so Nesta figured one of her sisters was to blame.

“Well would you look at that,” Cassian replied with a grin. He was far too chipper this early in the morning, and by the way his smile widened, he was enjoying her morning mood way more than she was. “Pucker up, sweetheart.”

He moved slowly enough that she had a few extra seconds to prepare herself to be kissed, but thankfully he remembered their conversation on the train. That didn’t make his lips any less soft against hers, even if it was just a quick peck.

“What kind of kiss was that?” Feyre exclaimed once they’d broken apart.

“An appropriate one?” Nesta replied, using her annoyance to try and mask the way her lips were still tingling. “I’m not making out with my boyfriend for your amusement.”

“No one said you had to make out with him,” Elain tried to reassure her, jumping in before Feyre could open her mouth with a retort. “It was just a little… boring?”

“Oh, we can’t have that,” Cassian said, rising to the challenge. He turned back to Nesta with a challenging gleam in his eye. “Care for a redo, Nes?”

Nesta saw the way her sisters were exchanging glances and knew she’d been outmatched. “Fine. But don’t get too carried away.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he responded.

Nesta squeaked in surprise as Cassian reached for her and dipped her, his hands warm and solid against her back as he effortlessly supported her weight. She tilted her head slightly so their noses wouldn’t bump as they kissed again, this time both of them parting their lips without thought as they put on a show worthy of any audience. It felt so good to kiss him that she even chased his lips for a moment after he moved back, earning a quick peck before he gently pulled her back up to a standing position.

“Now that’s what I’m talking about,” Feyre said smugly.

“Whatever,” Nesta grumbled. She felt warm all over and she needed to remove herself from the situation before she did anything really stupid, like try to kiss Cassian again. “I have to help Mom in the kitchen.”

“And I have to call my brothers,” Cassian said, reaching for his phone.

“Uh huh,” Elain replied with a knowing look at both of them. “Have fun working on Christmas Day.”

“She’ll come for you soon enough,” Nesta told her with a knowing look. “Enjoy your freedom while it lasts, little sisters.”

True to her word, Nesta continued into the kitchen to help Rhea and Eira get started on the cooking. She was usually entrusted to make some of the side dishes, like the mashed potatoes or some of the vegetables, while Rhea and Eira handled the more important dishes. By the time her mother and grandmother put her to work, Nesta had mostly forgotten about the way Cassian had kissed her, and her lips had almost stopped tingling.

That went right up in smoke when Rhea decided to recruit the men to help with collecting firewood. Owain was automatically exempt considering the way his knee tended to act up in cold weather, but Cassian, Tamlin, and Graysen were rounded up and ordered to chop up some of the firewood that had been drying out in the shed outside.

“Oh, I love this part,” Elain whispered to Feyre, the two of them giggling as they worked on making pastries. Elain had decided to make individual creme brûlées this year, and Feyre had been more than happy to wield the blowtorch.

The kitchen had large windows on the far side that looked over the backyard, so all the women had excellent views as the men started hauling over the dried-out wood. Everyone had on coats at first, but by the time the axes started swinging, everyone had shed down to their thinnest layers because of how hard they were working. Nesta wasn’t paying much attention to her sisters’ partners — Tamlin was fine enough to look at, but Graysen was a little lean for her personal tastes.

Cassian, however.

The man was a walking wet dream and he knew it. All that time he clearly spent in the gym showed with every sure swing of his ax, and Nesta was viciously reminded of how badly she’d wanted to climb him like a tree when she’d first seen his photos. When he lifted up his shirt to wipe some of the sweat off his brow, she nearly mashed her own finger into the bowl of potatoes she was working on. Feyre snickered at her near-miss, but how could Nesta help it when her fake boyfriend looked like that?

“Stay focused, Nesta,” Rhea lazily reprimanded her from where she was working on glazing the ham. “Surely you’ve seen it all before.”

“Yep,” Nesta replied, gritting her teeth as she forced herself to look away from Cassian’s gleaming body. She focused all that energy on the mashed potatoes instead, and if they came out smoother than usual this year, who was to say she couldn’t channel her feelings into something productive?

Eventually, all the food was prepared, and the sisters were shooed out of the kitchen so they could all start getting ready to eat. Nesta managed to beat Cassian upstairs in time for a shower, and when she emerged in a cloud of steam, he was lounging on the floor with his feet laying against the top of the bed.

“What are you doing on the floor?” Nesta blurted out, confused.

“Outside clothes on the bed are gross,” Cassian replied with a roll of his eyes. He righted himself and sat up. “You done in the bathroom? I feel disgusting.”

“It’s all yours,” she told him. She had to hold back a squeak as he stood and pulled his shirt off in one fluid motion, all that golden brown muscle suddenly on display nearly sending her into cardiac arrest.

“Great, thanks,” he responded like she wasn’t struggling to retain higher function. He started walking toward the bathroom, and just when she thought she’d escaped, he turned and added, “Close your mouth, sweetheart. You’ll attract flies.”

“Oh, fuck you,” she snapped. He just laughed before shutting the door behind him, and the shower started up a few moments later.

❅❅❅❅❅

Christmas dinner was practically uneventful compared to what had happened this morning. The fire was burning warm and bright thanks to the men’s efforts, and the food tasted delicious thanks to the women’s work in the kitchen. Cassian praised Nesta’s cooking to no end, and she was just as quick to compliment his wood-cutting skills.

Eventually, all the food was eaten and the party moved to the family room. Owain started another fire while everyone started passing out gifts. Nesta was pleased to have received a signed copy of one of her favorite books from Feyre and two tickets to an orchestra performance at the Kennedy Center from Elain. Her sisters were equally happy with her gifts — new art supplies for Feyre, and a book about the language of flowers for Elain — and everything was going well until it came time to exchange gifts with Rhea and Eira.

Owain had been easy enough to shop for; he let out a happy noise at the new wood carvings Nesta had gotten him from the Winter Market. Nesta had kept things simple for her mother and grandmother, figuring she could never go wrong with jewelry, and let out a relieved breath when neither of them made a negative comment about their gifts.

Nesta had been happy enough with the spa day they’d given her together until they decided to open their mouths about it.

“You’ve been looking a little tired, Nesta,” Rhea commented, immediately destroying any goodwill she’d managed to cultivate with that simple sentence. “You’re getting older, you know. You want to make sure you’re aging gracefully.”

Cassian laughed incredulously, somehow managing to miss every single abort mission glare that Nesta was sending his way. “She’s only twenty-eight!”

“Fine lines wait for no one,” Eira responded, pursing her lips. “I’ve made an appointment for you with my esthetician, Nesta. If you act quickly, you should be able to reverse things before it’s too late.”

“I think you look gorgeous no matter how many fine lines you might have,” Cassian retorted, narrowing his eyes at Eira before turning to look at Nesta with a reassuring smile. “Not that I notice those kinds of things. Your face is perfectly smooth.”

“Nice save,” Feyre muttered under her breath.

Nesta’s heart pounded in her ears as both her mother and her grandmother looked at her, and the weight of the judgment in those gray-blue eyes was nearly too much to bear until she remembered Cassian’s words from the other night.

“Thank you, Grandmother, but that’s alright,” Nesta said slowly. She felt like she was going to throw up from how wrong it felt to say no to Eira, but she would feel even worse knowing she’d failed to stand up for herself in front of Cassian. “Besides, I haven’t lived in New York in years. It would be a bit of a hassle for me with my work schedule.”

Eira’s eyes grew even colder as she stared at Nesta. “I see.”

“Who wants more wine?” Elain suddenly interrupted, glancing around the room a little desperately. “Nesta, come help me refill everyone’s glasses.”

Thankful beyond words for her sister’s intervention, Nesta got up and went to help Elain with whatever she needed in the kitchen.

“God, she drives me crazy,” Elain seethed as they went into the pantry to grab more wine. “I don’t know how you stand it, Nesta.”

“I’ve had lots of practice,” Nesta replied, thinking of all the nasty comments she’d been forced to let roll off her back growing up. “It’s fine, Lainey. Really.”

“It’s not, but whatever,” Elain responded with a heavy sigh. “I really like this Cassian guy, though. It’s nice watching him stand up for you.”

“Yeah, he really doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit,” Nesta commented. It was nice, especially in contrast to Tomas, who absolutely would’ve agreed with Rhea and Eira had he been invited on the trip still. “It’s… different, but a good different.”

“He’s even more my favorite now,” Elain said, grinning. She reached for a random bottle of red and grabbed a decanter. “He’s definitely a keeper.”

Nesta just smiled, the only one here in on the joke. “I think so, too.”

Thankfully, once the two of them returned to the main room, the conversation seemed to have moved on. Cassian immediately threw an arm around her and started rubbing comforting patterns into her shoulder, and Nesta learned into him without even thinking about it.

By the time the rest of the gifts were dispersed, she was more than ready to go back upstairs. Today had been a ridiculously long day, and she didn’t know how many more helpful comments she could take from Rhea and Eira without really going off the deep end.

“Are they really always like that?” Cassian asked once they were back in the safety of their room. “I know we talked about this before, but I really can’t wrap my head around that.”

“Yeah,” Nesta answered. She still felt strange after telling Eira no like that, and it was like her body couldn’t handle the change in routine. “They’ve always been… harder on me since I’m the oldest.”

“There’s being hard on your child, and then there’s whatever the hell that was,” he fumed. “For fuck’s sake, you’re twenty-eight. You don’t even have wrinkles for them to be fucking complaining about!”

“Thanks,” she told him wryly. It was adorable seeing him get so worked up on her behalf, and strangely enough, she found herself relaxing the more agitated he seemed to get.

“And even if you did, so what?” he continued, starting to pace around the room now. “You’d still be gorgeous anyway. Wrinkles and lines and all that bullshit are a sign of a life well-lived!”

“You clearly have a different definition of a life well-lived than they do,” she replied wryly. It was honestly adorable seeing him get so worked up on her behalf. “They wanted me to have a very different life than I ended up getting, so… they just try to control me wherever they can get away with it, really.”

“That’s fucked up,” Cassian said seriously.

“Yeah, well.” Nesta shrugged as she started taking off her accessories, the two of them moving around one another like they’d been doing it for much longer than a few days. “We only have a few days left of this and then we can go home. At least now I have the option of leaving.”

“On a scale from one to ten, how bad did they fuck you up?” he asked, aiming for levity.

She rolled her eyes before disappearing into the bathroom to change. “That’s between me and my therapist.”

When she came back out, Cassian had also changed into his pajamas. He slipped past her so he could use the bathroom, and when he came out he raised both eyebrows when he noticed Nesta in bed without the pillow wall. “No pillow fortress tonight?”

“No,” she answered. She took advantage of the way she needed to turn her face away to plug in her phone to charge, hoping that he wouldn’t be able to see her blush. “It’s been a long day, and it’s too much effort.”

“Amen to that,” he replied. He turned off all the lights and managed to find his way to his side of the bed without bumping into anything. “Well, at least the hard part’s over, right?”

“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. Silence fell between them for a few moments before she gathered the courage to talk again. “I wanted to say thank you. About… earlier. You didn’t have to defend me like that.”

“I know,” he told her, the sheets sliding together as he shrugged. “I did it because I wanted to.”

Nesta didn’t know how to respond to that, so she didn’t. She just muttered a good night and rolled over so she could fall asleep without the weight of Cassian’s eyes on her.

❅❅❅❅❅

Now that the main holiday festivities were over, Nesta could focus on taking advantage of the fun winter activities she hadn’t gotten to do since last year. Cassian was more than happy to come with her, and if he looked hotter than usual with his cheeks flushed from the cold, that was between her and whatever god was listening.

The day after Christmas was mostly spent lounging around and enjoying leftovers, but once Tuesday the 27th revealed a fresh coat of snow on the property, Feyre got it into her head that they should have a couples’ snowball fight.

“It’ll be so much fun,” Feyre wheedled until Nesta finally gave in. “Yay! You have an hour to get your forts ready.”

Tamlin just snorted before making eye contact with Cassian. “The things they rope us into.”

“Speak for yourself,” Cassian said back, eyes already gleaming with challenge. “I’ve been snowball fighting since I was a little kid. You two won’t know what hit you.”

Nesta was more than happy to let Cassian take the lead after a declaration like that. He eyed the empty backyard with near-military precision before settling on a corner of the yard with a firm nod.

“You start making snowballs, and I’ll work on shoring up our defenses,” he instructed her seriously.

“Sir, yes, sir,” she replied, snapping up a perfect salute. If she got a little thrill out

He just rolled his eyes. “Get to work, private.”

Nesta rolled her eyes right back but complied with Cassian’s instructions anyways. By the time she’d managed to assemble an arsenal of snowballs, he’d managed to construct a serious looking wall of snow big enough for them to duck down behind once snowballs started flying. Feyre and Tamlin and Elain and Graysen had built similar looking defenses, but Nesta could definitely say none of them looked as good as her and Cassian’s.

“So are you just freakishly good at snowball fights, or is there a reason behind that?” Nesta asked as she made yet another snowball. Thank God she’d decided to wear the thickest gloves she owned; her fingers would’ve frozen off fifteen minutes ago otherwise.

“My brothers and I usually have a snowball fight every year,” Cassian answered, his voice turning fond. “This is the first year I’ve had to miss it in a while. I hope Azriel kicks Rhys’ ass.”

“Oh,” she replied, that wrong-footed feeling suddenly returning. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you miss it.”

“Don’t feel bad, sweetheart,” he said, managing to correctly interpret the way she was feeling with just a look. “I knew I would miss it when I said yes, and it’s just a snowball fight. We’ll just have another one when I get back.”

The snowball fight picked up pretty soon after that, leaving no room for conversation other that didn’t include taunting their enemies. Cassian had a killer aim, but Nesta had the competitive spirit that came with being an Archeron.

“That’s for ruining my favorite jacket!” Nesta yelled as she hurled a snowball at Feyre. Her sister managed to duck out of the way just in time, laughing hard as she nearly brained herself on her defensive wall.

“I never touched that ugly thing!” Feyre shouted back. “Elain’s the one who took it!”

“Nesta, Nesta, I’m sorry!” Elain shrieked with laughter as Nesta completely abandoned their snow fort so she could dump ice down Elain’s back. “Fuck, that’s freezing!”

“That’s the point,” Nesta replied with a smug grin. She flipped Elain off before running back to the safety of her snow fort, Cassian already laughing as she returned.

They all managed to get some lucky shots in, but in the end, her sisters were no match for the team Nesta and Cassian made. He was like a machine as he kept throwing snowballs, and she had no shame in aiming for the body parts he wouldn’t out of his self-described “snowball fight code of honor.”

By the time they all trudged back into the garage, Nesta’s hair was soaking wet from a hit from Elain, Cassian’s front was similarly soaked through from all the hits he’d protected Nesta from, and everyone was red-faced and laughing as they slowly took off their thick coats and snow pants.

“That was so much fun,” Nesta said before they all went their separate ways to clean up. “Thanks, Fey.”

“I’m glad you liked it,” Feyre replied, shooting a big grin Nesta’s way. “And Cassian, you better be back here next year so we can have a rematch.”

“You mean another chance for me to kick your ass?” Cassian shot back with his own grin. “Whatever you say, Feyre.”

The two of them trash talked each other all the way up the stairs, Nesta and Tamlin making eye contact and fondly shaking their heads at the sight. The perils of being attracted to competitive idiots with big heads, she supposed.

Once everyone had showered and changed into warm, dry clothes, the rest of the day went by without too much fuss. Nesta caught up on some work she hadn’t finished on the train ride over in the office, and Cassian pulled out a book to keep her company. The sound of pages flipping was comforting to her as she continued drafting her memo, and she was so in the zone that she didn’t even realize he’d left to bring her some more hot chocolate until he was pressing the mug into her hand.

“Thank you,” Nesta told him absent-mindedly, taking the mug from him. She placed it on the desk in front of her and grabbed his arm, pulling him in so she could press a kiss to the inside of his wrist without thinking.

Cassian made a happy noise before leaning down to press his own kiss to her temple. “You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

She didn’t realize what she’d done until a few minutes had gone by, and then she was panicking. Oh God, he probably thought she was being weird, especially since they didn’t have an audience to put on a show for, but she couldn’t help the way he made her feel warm all over and how badly she wanted—

“Relax, Nes,” he called out softly from his side of the room, effortlessly interrupting her train of thought. “I can hear you overthinking from here. I liked it.”

“Okay,” she eventually replied, her cheeks still burning at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. She didn’t know how she’d manage to get back to work with the taste of his skin still on her lips, but she had to at least try.

❅❅❅❅❅

Wednesday turned out to be the most relaxed day of all. Even more snow came down overnight, so Graysen suggested everyone stay inside for a Christmas movie marathon, a suggestion that their group readily agreed to.

“By the time this week is over, I think I’ll be more hot chocolate than water,” Nesta teased as Cassian appeared with yet another steaming mug.

“Let me enjoy my love language, dammit,” Cassian replied playfully. He took a giant sip out of her mug and made a big show of licking his lips before handing it over. “Mhmmmm.”

“You literally have your own mug,” she told him, rolling her eyes as he sat down next to her. They’d commandeered the loveseat for themselves, while her sisters and their partners were stuck sharing the sectional.

“Yeah, but taking from yours tastes better,” he responded with a wink. He gently placed his mug on the side table and worked to make sure the blanket she’d pulled out covered both of them. “You’re more than welcome to have some of mine if it’ll make you feel better.”

“It will,” she said primly. He just chuckled before handing the mug back over, his eyes crinkling around the edges as he watched her take a sip. “Thank you.”

Feyre cleared her throat to get the room’s attention once Nesta and Cassian were done going back and forth over their hot chocolates. “Okay, so I think we should start with Elf.”

“What about Miracle on 34th Street?” Graysen asked, earning an eye roll from his fiancée.

“We already watched that one,” Elain answered as she squeezed his thigh. “Can we watch Home Alone after Elf?”

“I hate that movie,” Nesta chimed in with a huff.

“We know,” Feyre said, rolling her eyes.

“What about The Grinch?” Cassian suggested. He threw an arm around Nesta’s shoulders before waggling his eyebrows suggestively at the rest of the room. “Reminds me of someone I know.”

“Shut up,” Nesta replied, elbowing him in the side. “I have a heart of gold and I love Christmas, thank you very much.”

“Stop flirting so we can stay focused, please,” Elain ordered with a smile. “We can add all of those to the list.”

“I will exchange Home Alone for The Santa Clause movies,” Nesta grudgingly offered. Elain whooped and clapped her hands together, and before long everyone was snuggled on their respective couches as the first movie began to play.

As the day wore on, Nesta slowly ended up further and further into Cassian’s arms. She dozed off during the first Santa Clause movie, and when she came to during the opening credits of The Grinch, Cassian was absent-mindedly running his fingers through her hair while she used him as a human pillow.

“Sorry,” she whispered. She moved to get up, but his arms tightened around her to hold her in place. “I’m probably crushing you.”

“Don’t move,” he whispered back. “I’m comfortable.”

She took him at his word and settled back down, sighing happily as he resumed carding his fingers through her hair. She hadn’t bothered with her usual coronet today, instead leaving it loose around her shoulders since she knew they’d mostly be lounging around, and she thanked her earlier self for making that decision. She felt so warm and safe in his arms, and the soothing feeling of his fingers easily carried her back to sleep.

When she came to the second time, the sun was significantly lower in the sky and her stomach was growling something fierce. Love, Actually was playing on the screen, but given the empty sectional, the movie marathon had clearly been abandoned for other activities.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty,” Cassian murmured once he realized she was awake. “Or maybe I should be saying good evening?”

“Ugh,” Nesta replied as she sat up. “What time is it?”

“It’s almost six,” he answered. “You’ve gotta be starving. Want me to grab you a plate?”

“Yeah, that would be great,” she agreed. “Thanks.”

Nesta missed Cassian’s warmth the moment it left her, but thankfully he didn’t take long. He made her a huge plate with a little bit of everything on it, and the two of them shared it in comfortable silence.

“Where’d everyone else go?” Nesta asked once her stomach wasn’t trying to eat itself.

“They’re all out to dinner,” Cassian answered. “I told them we’d be okay here. I didn’t want to wake you up, and I figured you didn’t want the third degree from your mom again anyways.”

“Very astute of you,” she told him. She didn’t want to think about how it made her feel that he’d just let her sleep on him for hours, so she changed the conversation topic. “Did you want to finish this movie?”

“Hell yeah,” he said with a grin. “I love rom coms.”

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for the type,” she said back, and then sighed heavily once she realized the opening she’d left him. “Don’t you dare make the joke I know you’re thinking of.”

He just laughed. “Hey, your mind went there first. But what can I say? I’m a romantic at heart.”

“I never would’ve guessed,” she responded dryly. He just laughed again and reached for the remote, turning up the volume slightly so they could turn their attention back to the movie.

Nesta was much more self-conscious about cuddling into Cassian this time, but he made an annoyed noise before bodily moving her back into the position she’d been in before he’d gotten up to get them food. It was a show of strength that really got to her in the best way, but over her dead body would she admit that to him right now. Or ever.

Eventually she relaxed back into his arms, making her own noise this time — a happy one — when he started stroking her back gently through her pajama shirt.

“That feels nice,” Nesta mumbled into his chest. Between the only source of light in the room being the Christmas decorations and the comforting weight of his hand on her, he was making it difficult to stay awake.

“Good,” Cassian replied, amusement slipping into his voice. “You deserve nice things, sweetheart.”

“Yeah?” she responded. Something about the way his voice had gone soft made her look up at him, shifting her attention away from the movie they were barely watching to what she really wanted to look at.

“Yeah,” he echoed softly. His eyes were shining with something she couldn’t quite place, but it only served to make him even more handsome. “Is it crazy that I want to be the one giving them to you?”

“Maybe a little,” she whispered, her heart pounding ferociously in her chest. He couldn’t be saying what she thought he was saying… right?

“I like you a lot, Nesta,” Cassian said after a moment, shifting them so she was still in his arms but they could make eye contact. “I don’t know how you haven’t figured it out with that big brain of yours, but...”

“What?” Nesta replied, continuing to feel like her brain was short-circuiting a little bit. He wanted her? “Since when?”

“Since the first time I saw you?” he responded like it was obvious. “Did you think I was just doing all this out of the goodness of my heart?”

She just stared at him for a few moments. “Yes?”

“You must think I’m a way better person than I am, then,” he told her, laughing as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I like you, and I know you like me too no matter how much you try to act like you don’t.”

“But I’m…” she trailed off, her voice uncertain. There was no way a man like that actually wanted her, especially after what he’d seen this week. “You just spent the last few days learning how much of a mess I am and how much my family sucks. Are you sure you didn’t lose some brain cells during the snowball fight?”

“Very sure, sweetheart,” he replied. “You’re an incredible woman and I’d be an idiot not to be interested.”

“Okay, but —” Nesta began.

Cassian just gave her a look that made whatever argument she’d been about to make die on her tongue. “Can you just accept that I like you so we can do this for real already?”

“Okay,” she reluctantly agreed, that wrong-footed feeling finally going away the moment he touched her and she knew it was real. He looked so handsome silhouetted against the twinkling lights that he almost didn’t look real, but he was — and he was all hers, for real this time. “Fine. Whatever. Just stop talking and kiss me already.”

Cassian wasted no time in sliding his hand up to cup her face and press his lips to hers. His lips were soft and warm against hers, moving slowly like he didn’t want to scare her off. She was tired of waiting, though, so she surged up to kiss him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and finally plunging her hands into his hair to pull him closer like she’d been thinking about all week.

It had been one thing to kiss him in front of her sisters, but this was something else, something only for them. They shifted positions again so Nesta was straddling him, spreading her legs to bracket those powerful thighs, and she gasped once she felt how hard he was underneath her.

“Let’s go upstairs,” she said between kisses.

“Best idea you’ve had all week,” he replied. He shoved the blanket aside and stood up, effortlessly supporting her weight as he started walking toward the stairs.

“Fuck, that’s hot,” she muttered into his mouth. She loved how strong he was, how easily he could move her around like she was nothing.

“I’ll show you hot,” he told her, pulling a giggle out of her, and that was the last coherent sentence either of them were able to string together for a while.

❅❅❅❅❅

The next morning, Nesta woke to a chest full of muscle, but she didn’t jerk away this time. Instead, she pressed a kiss to Cassian’s warm chest, sighing happily when she opened her eyes to see he was already looking at her.

“Good morning,” Cassian said, his voice deeper than usual. He was so adorable that she almost couldn’t believe she got to have him all to herself.

“Good morning,” Nesta replied with a small smile. “Sleep well?”

“Yeah,” he responded with a grin of his own. “This absolutely gorgeous woman managed to put me right to sleep.”

She rolled her eyes, but from the way his gaze went soft, she knew he knew she didn’t mean it. “Must’ve been one hell of a bedtime story.”

“That’s definitely one way to put it.” Cassian leaned down to press a kiss to her forehead, making his way down her face to eventually press a chaste kiss to her lips. “What are the odds I can get a good morning story too?”

“Pretty high,” Nesta responded, squirming as his cool hand found its way underneath her warm pajama shirt.

“It’s a Christmas miracle,” he teased.

“Yeah, well,” she said, managing to steal another kiss as he rolled on top of her, “I hear those aren’t in short supply these days.”

Soon, they’d have to get ready for their train back to DC, and they’d have to figure out what their relationship would look like back in the real world. They’d have to figure out time to see one another around work schedules, family obligations, and whatever else life decided to throw at them. But for now, as they pressed their bodies together while the snow continued to fall outside, all Nesta and Cassian had to think about was how right they felt pressed against one another.

#acotar #acosf #acotar secret santa 2022 #nessian #nesta archeron #cassian #moodymelanistwrites #seasonal prompts

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cherienymphe · 2 years

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I had the craziest dreams last night and most were with rafe ☺️

Dream 1: the pouges were helping me escape rafe. We were on a boat getting away from him and I make it to safety I think. it was like a post apocalyptic garden where some people managed to grow all this food and it felt like a maze. I just remember him saying something about how we can protect wheezie together and I’m like “aww he’s such a good brother!” And then questioning why I’m running.

Dream 2: Christmas time with Rafe’s family and I (parents are friends I guess?) and I’m up at like 4:35 am to get ready cause we’re taking a photo soon. Suddenly Rafe comes into my room and I’m over here like “don’t look at me my makeup is a mess” and he just chuckles, shutting the door behind him. He’s wearing like a cream suit (similar to how you wrote it in the midsummers part of Amnesiac) and walks up to me and just kisses me! We’re full blown making out and I’m freaking out cause why does he like me? My mom then comes in to tell us the photo is being taken and I literally felt my cheeks burning cause I was so embarrassed. We go to the room to take our picture and I could feel him staring at me but I’m too distracted cause surprise surprise, my friends who I haven’t seen in a year are here! Rafe then becomes jealous that I’m not paying attention to him.

Dream 3: a continuation of dream 2 but different setting. We’re at a resort now on a private island and I’m trying to figure out what my friends are planning on doing because I miss them but also I’m trying to get away from rafe (idk what dream me was thinking) I also vaguely remember JJ being there…

But this whole island was cool, there were different houses you can go to where a lot of young adults went to have sex and the back of my head was telling me to with this other guy, rafe didn’t like that. And then there was this cliff jump into a pond or a river? (Is that even possible?) I also remember wearing a swimsuit and feeling insecure that rafe was going to see it but honestly I don’t even think he was in this segment cause I kept worrying about this other dude.

Back at the house, vacation is over and we’re all packing up. I say bye to my friends and decided to go to Rafes room. I think I asked him out.

Dream 4: rafe and i are in a city, like one of those cool walkable ones but also doesn’t make sense cause we’re in a car (not his truck) and it’s night. It’s cold so I’m clinging to him, kissing him and all that. Couldn’t wipe the smile off of me and it was just so sweet. We then pass a gas station and I’m hungry so I ask if we could go and he takes me (he did a u-turn) we get our snacks and decide it would be really romantic to go to a park! So we’re driving and make it to a church (idk why) also suddenly JJ is here again. And rafe doesn’t mind it….weird. We’re about to go into the park when this maniac runs towards us but we realize he’s warning us of something. Then this scary beast comes running out. Rafe decides to chase him and JJ is trying to call the cops. Idk how but they both make it back it the car and are traumatized, I remember JJs head in my lap. We were trying to explain it to our families but wouldn’t believe us.

* now was there no smut? Yes but the sexual tension was high and I think towards the end I was trying to do everything but that fucking beast cocked blocked me. I could still remember the kiss and his touch, ughh I wanna go back, minus the beast and also my mom catching me kiss rafe cause that was too embarrassing. Also rafe was so tall in this! I loved it!

Dream 1 is absolutely sending me where you're like oh he's a good brother so why tf at I running from him 😭

#asks

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stevviefox · 2 years

Text

✨2022 Writing Year In Review✨

I was tagged by @birdkeeperklink Thank you!!

1. Number of stories posted to AO3: Technically 3. The current one has 3 connected parts

2. Word count posted for the year: Rites, Writings, and Ris: 1,977,213 words plus a few for the Appendix and Glossary.

3. Fandoms I wrote for: The Hobbit, Lord of the Rings (with a late adoption of Aziraphale and Crowley from Good Omens )

4. Pairings: Ori/Dwalin, Thorin/Bilbo, Dori/Balin, Nori/Bofur, Gimli/Legolas, Kili/Tauriel, Fili./Sigrid, Bard/Thranduil, Crowley/Aziraphale and many many others.

5. Story with the most:Kudos:Bookmarks,Comments: Rites, Writings and Ris - Hits: 79,051 Kudos: 1,334 Comment Threads: 1,364 Bookmarks: 202

6. Work I’m most proud of (and why): Rites, Writings, and Ris: I’m having so much fun with it! Honestly, It’s coming up on the seventh year I and my co-author @dollypegs-blog have been writing this dwarf soap opera and we both love to hear in our comments that we made someone laugh their ass off or something touched them or they love a new original character. Hell, we both shamelessly admit we’ve taken suggestions from readers (we do try and credit everyone whether in the main story or in the Appendix), we’ve put in ‘red herrings’ to tease certain readers and purposely ended a chapter with a cliff-hanger. WE actually do that a lot as, well, it’s a soap opera, it’s the law.

7. Work I’m least proud of (and why): “Mermaid’s dream.” It’s just kinda dumb. I consider deleting it every now and then..

8. Share or describe a favorite review you received: Heeheehee, Of course the favorites are from Rites, Writings and Ris and from some of our regular commenters Vacation Please, Reb, Blistering Typhoons, Sparklingburgundy to start. We’ve had wonderful conversations with them about the plot or the characters or the really bad puns.

Honestly the one that made both of us laugh like absolute loons was way back at chapter 100 when we were informed “...You're grounded.“ We still giggle over that one.

9. A time when writing was really, really hard: This fluctuates, but is mostly when both of us have shit going on in real life that we can’t actually sit and write. Usually when we’re talking, (and neither of us can shut up!) we’re bouncing ideas off one another and the stuff just grows. The very worst time was back in January of 2019, when my younger sister, who was Dolly’s wife of over 30 years, passed from cancer.

10. A scene or character you wrote that surprised you: The Tiny Castle and Violet. They came out of absolutely nothing and then the whole of Sauron’s wardrobe just exploded outwards.

11. A favorite excerpt of your writing: <<.It was Sauron’s diary. It was about five inches by seven inches, soft pink in color to match the decor, with a sort of lock on an attached strip of cover, to keep it closed. The key to the lock was looped through the strip by a matching pink ribbon.“Should I? Dare I?” Galadriel asked. “Ha! Of course I should!”Galadriel practically squeaked as she unlocked it, and started to read. She hiccuped, fell back into the desk chair, and screamed with laughter. Violet smiled her odd, gaping smile.“Did you read the passage where he was in crisis?” she asked. “H-he l-l-lost control of h-h-his hair!” Galadriel cried.>>

From “Rites, Writings ,and Ris,” Chapter 312 The Royal Tour Part 76.

12. How did you grow as a writer this year: No idea. Maybe my penchant for goofiness exploded....more than usual...?

13. How do you hope to grow next year: I really just hope that the readers stick around and that we can continue to make them laugh. I mean even if we just had one reader, I’d still write but then idea of making a good number of people laugh and give then something to look forward to is fun.

14. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc): Duh, my co-author!!!

15. Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year: If it did, we’d tell you in the Appendix, if not, we’re not telling. ;)

16. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers: Write what you like and have fun with it.

17. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year: Eventually we’d like to actually publish a ‘real’ book. We have a complete one that needs editing and both of us have other ideas sitting in the wings.

18. Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read.

Sheesh! So many!! But just because ‘I’m-like-that’ @dollypegs-blog And... hey, let’s go with anyone who sees this and writes consider yourself tagged!!!

#tag game #year in review #writing #ao3 #archive of our own

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rose-bookblood · 2 years

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3, 4 and 10 for the end of year writeblr asks?

Send me a question from this ask game.

Hi, Brianna! Thanks for the ask!

3. Did you achieve everything you wanted to this year? If not, how will you go about it?

My goal for the first months was to write the last chapters of BBtS, which I did! For the rest of the year, I only had one, looser goal: getting to a good point with RWR and maybe completing the draft. I’m currently halfway through chapter 19 of 22, so I’d say mission accomplished! My hope is to wrap up this chapter soon and finish RWR by the end of January. I’ll be on vacation for the first week of the month and later busy with uni, so if I can complete chapter 20 in 2022, that would be excellent.

4. What is your favourite line you wrote this year?

I honestly don’t know? Prose isn’t a big focus for me, since I’m in too early of a drafting stage. There is nothing particularly poetic I’ve written. Sorry this is such an underwhelming answer!

10. Which character(s) turned out differently from what you had planned? How so?

I think every character ends up being a little different on the page. Since I’m writing RWR at the moment, those characters are fresher in my mind, and all of the ones who have a significant page time managed to surprise me. Sheryl showed a vulnerability I hadn’t planned, especially in some of the latest chapters, while Moren turned out the tiniest bit mean-spirited during the first part, which low-key shocked me. In the brief space she had, Iliria exposed a warmer side of her that wasn’t really supposed to come out.

#end of the year writeblr ask game #end of the year writeblr ask #ask game #asks #wip: bbts #wip: rwr #oc: sheryl ramírez #oc: moren adelos #oc: iliria adelos

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nerdkat81 · 2 years

Text

Searching for Joseph Quinn: The Dark Side of Fandom

Picture it. You’re a young actor, just starting out in your career. You have a few projects on your resume but so far, that breakout role hasn’t appeared yet. You’ve got plenty of time though, and you’re excited about what the future holds. Acting is the only thing you’ve ever really wanted to do. One day, you get the opportunity to audition for a popular series. It’s not a huge part, only one season, but it’s well-written and completely different from anything else you’ve done. So you send in your audition tape. For reasons you don’t completely understand, you get the part. Eventually, you start filming. You make new friends. You give a performance you’re honestly pretty proud of. Then it’s over. You go home and wait for your world debut. To your utter surprise, your character quickly becomes the most popular one of the season, possibly the entire series. You’re invited to comic-cons and late show interviews. Video edits, fanart, and copyright infringing merchandise featuring your character flood the internet. You’re thrilled that a performance you just hoped would be “good enough” has resonated with so many people.

Now, picture this. You’re at home, alone, just relaxing. There’s a knock on your door. It’s a stranger. No. Wait. It’s a fan. Someone has leaked your address on the internet. Not only that, you discover people have identified the Facebook profiles of your family and are sharing your childhood photos with the world. It’s frightening, honestly. Disturbing. Just a little bit sickening. Suddenly, everywhere you go people feel entitled to approach you, ask for a photo, a video. It was fine when you were doing press and interviews for the show, but now it’s every day. Even on vacation, you can’t get a moment’s peace. Your life has changed in a matter of weeks and it’s exciting, amazing even. But also overwhelming.

***

When did fame become synonymous with lack of privacy? Do we blame the paparazzi for supplying us with photos proving that stars are just like us? Or maybe social media is responsible, allowing celebrity content to reach fans worldwide at any time. Experts do say that increased internet dependency may lead to increased parasocial relationships, and I’m sure many of us have experienced increased dependency on the internet in the past few years. But when did we forget that celebrities are just people? I’ve never seen an entertainment contract, but I doubt the fine print includes giving up the expectation to ever have a private moment again. This is a bit of a simplification, but as far as I’m aware the duties of an actor include learning your lines, showing up on set, and doing press once the job is over. There’s no obligation to pose for photos. To record video greetings while on a flight. And recording someone without their knowledge or consent doesn’t make you a fan. It makes you a stalker.

So the next time you see a celebrity on the street, do me a favor. Before you run up to them and ask for a photo and tell them how much you love them and how they “saved” your life, stop and think for a minute. Think about how you would feel if people were constantly expecting you to smile and pose while you’re just trying to live your life. Maybe you don’t really want to have your picture taken today, maybe it’s not the greatest hair day, maybe you’re self-conscious about that pimple that appeared overnight. Maybe flying still makes you nervous and you just want to listen to your playlist and try to relax. Maybe you want to say no when someone asks but you’re just too nice. Maybe you wish that once in awhile, someone would just make eye contact and smile. And then walk away. Please, I am begging you, be that person. Do you think you’ll ever forget making eye contact with Joseph Quinn? You don’t have to prove it to anyone.

Oscar Wilde wrote: “Each man kills the thing he loves.” Although I think the chances of any of us taking our hyperfixation to homicidal extremes is small, we could definitely be guilty of killing the reputation of the object of our affection by falsely accusing them of terrible things. We could kill their relationships by sending their current partner nasty messages or worse yet, death threats. And at the very least, we could kill their willingness to interact with fans at all. So keep appreciating their work and loving the characters they play, keep making fanart. (please be aware though that selling said fanart might get you sued) But don’t forget that celebrities are people too.

They’re just like us.

#joseph quinn #eddie munson #stranger things #fandom #joe quinn #learn some boundaries

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babyboibucky · 4 years

Text

Elevate Thy Hate

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Not a day goes by that you and Bucky don’t argue.

Word Count: 4,642

Warnings: Cliché plot but slight angst, self-doubt and Bucky being a loveable idiot who sucks at communicating

A/N: Surprise one-shot because I just remembered I wrote this like...last year lmfao

MAIN MASTERLIST

You woke up feeling great and excited. The mission was finally finished, debriefings were done and reports have been submitted. Everyone was given an entire week to get some rest and since rest days were pretty rare, you truly looked forward to this day.

Before you could even saunter in the kitchen, you had already heard the chatters from your fellow Avengers. One particular voice irked you though but hell no, you weren’t going to let one Bucky Barnes ruin your day.

A chorus of good mornings greeted you as soon as you walked into the kitchen. Nat and Steve were on one side of the counter sipping their coffee while Sam and Wanda were finishing up their food. Tony and Bruce were out of sight, probably holed up in the lab doing experiments as usual. Bucky didn’t acknowledge you and quickly headed out of the kitchen, thankfully. You weren’t in the mood to pick a fight.

Walking up to the cupboards, you quickly grabbed you favorite cereal and proceeded to pour it out on your bowl. None came out though. You peeked inside bag and saw that only crumbs of it were left.

“Who the—“

Everyone was already pointing at Bucky when you turned around to ask. And of course, Bucky did it on purpose because he stood there at the end of the hallway, watching you with smug grin on his face.

“I hope your day sucks.” He said and flipped you the bird before turning around to walk away.

You groaned out loud, ignoring the amused chuckles from everyone else in the kitchen.

“I’m not stooping down to your level, asshole! I hope your day is average!”

The day was fortunately uneventful, except for your ruined breakfast care of Bucky. You were determined not to let that annoy you for the rest of the day. So far, so good. You could only wish it’d continue that way for the rest of the week.

“I told you not to rush!” Bucky snapped.

“I had him already! If you didn’t throw that goddamn smoke grenade I would’ve killed him!” You explained.

You could see Sam shaking his head in frustration. Bucky always had to blame something on you even though you weren’t the one at fault.

Bucky snorted, “He had a sniper for fuck’s sake! One shot and you’re dead.”

“Oh wow, says the one who got shot before I did.” You rolled your eyes at Bucky.

The two of you continued to bicker until Nat and Steve walked into the living room looking confused as you and Bucky exchanged insults while Sam remained sandwiched between the both of you on the couch.

“Who got shot?” Steve asked, glancing at you and Bucky alternately.

“Did we miss out on a mission or...?” Nat continued.

Sam chuckled, “We were playing Call of Duty and we lost.” He explained, taking the opportunity to get up from the sofa.

Steve still looked lost, something that Nat immediately picked up. “It’s a video game.” She explained.

“You two are fighting over a game?” He asked you and Bucky.

“They fight over everything.” Nat shrugged and walked out of the room with Sam tagging behind her.

“I’m outta here too, I’m so done babysitting the kids.” He muttered under his breath.

It was past midnight when you were in the living room alone, watching television while eating a Whopper. The lights were turned off and it was absolutely quiet in the compound, setting the perfect ambience for the crime documentary you were watching.

Not long after, you heard someone walk into the living room. It was only when your heard the familiar grunt that you realized who it was. Of course, it had to be Bucky.

“Are you eating a burger?” He asked incredulously.

“No, it’s popcorn. Of course it’s a fucking burger, are you blind or just dumb?” You snapped, your eyes still glued on the television.

“Dumbfounded that you’re eating that at this hour. No wonder you suck at cardio.” Bucky said as he sat down on the other end of the sofa.

“Are you body-shaming me?” You gasped.

Bucky snickered, “I didn’t say anything, I just said you suck at cardio.” He said, not looking at you.

You chose to ignore him and brought your attention back to the television. It was quiet for moment. You almost forgot about Bucky’s presence until of course, he decided to annoy you yet again.

“Can you pass the remote?” Bucky asked monotonously.

“No.”

Silence.

“This show sucks.” He commented.

You were focused on the show but noticed that Bucky was staring at you.

“Can you please pass the remote?” He asked again.

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m watching. I was here first. I hold the rights to control the remote.” You deadpanned, refusing to look at him.

There was a flash of black and gold right before your eyes. Everything happened quickly and the next thing you knew, Bucky was hovering above you, trapping you between his body and the arm rest of the sofa.

“The fuck, Barnes?! Get off of me!” You protested and started pushing him away.

“You gotta work on your reflexes, darling.” He said, finally leaning away from you, remote now in his hand.

He grinned triumphantly and switched the channel before placing the remote inside his sweatpants, “Want to switch the channel? Come and get it.” he taunted as he leaned back on the couch, opening his legs wide as he showed off how the remote created a tent in his sweatpants.

That was the remote...right? You mentally slapped yourself for actually thinking about what Bucky was packing beneath those pants and frowned.

“You’re an asshole and a disgusting one.” You told him.

“God, I hate you.” You muttered and crumpled the wrapper of your burger before throwing it at Bucky.

Deciding that you didn’t want to argue any further, you got up and left the living room, but not without telling Bucky again how much you hated him for making your life miserable.

“The feeling is mutual.” You heard him say.

The petty fights with Bucky went on and on during that entire week of rest. Despite the arguments, there were small moments of kindness shared between you and the soldier.

“Where are you going dressed up so nicely?” You asked Bucky upon seeing him walk into the kitchen wearing a leather jacket on top of a black shirt, dark, tight-fitting jeans and a pair of Doc Martens.

It was meant as an insult, of course. You took every opportunity to tease Bucky and his newfound sense of fashion. Said fashion meant his taste for very millennial outfits despite his old age.

“Grocery.” He replied as he went over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of water.

“Ooh, can you buy me Starbucks on your way back? I’ll pay.” You asked kindly.

Bucky just stared at you as he drank from his glass of water. He slammed it on the counter before walking past you.

“Not a damn chance.”

He did buy you Starbucks though. It didn’t shock you that much considering that the both of you didn’t hate on each other all the damn time. But what surprised you was that he brought you your usual drink and your favorite pastry too.

Steve must have forced him to do so, probably told his best friend your usual orders as well so you made a note to thank him as soon as they got back.

And thank Steve you did, but you didn’t expect the reply that you got.

“Oh was that the reason why Bucky kept bugging me about stopping by Starbucks?” Steve asked.

You narrowed your eyes at him, “What do you mean? I thought he told you I asked him to buy me Starbucks.”

Steve chuckled, “I guess now I know why he wouldn’t shut up about it.” he said, amusement laced in his tone.

“I don’t understand, Cap.” you said.

Steve just smiled at you in response before squeezing your shoulder, “Maybe you will understand soon.”

And with that, he left you feeling even more confused. You honestly didn’t understand the context of the conversation so you decided to just ignore it. Steve sometimes would say weird shit that none of the Avengers knew about. You dismissed it and thought that maybe it was Steve being a decade old, it was probably an old man thing.

You decided to make coffee for Bucky the following day, as a simple gesture to thank him for the Starbucks. He didn’t ask you to pay him back so you felt obligated to do a little something for him. You were an asshole to him sometimes, yes, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to give credit where credit is due.

Okay, so maybe you didn’t really hate Bucky. If you did actually hate him, the entire team would probably do something about it. Maybe force the two of you to talk things out. The hatred was all fun and games, everyone seemed to be amused by it too.

You still considered Bucky your friend despite the constant bickering. You had to admit, the arguments were pretty fun.

Although, you were wondering whether Bucky felt the same about considering you as his friend. Sometimes, his attitude towards you confused the hell out of you.

One day he’d eat the chocolate you’ve been saving up for cheat day just to spite you. And it definitely did because you ended up cursing him out loud when you saw him munching on it. The next day he brought you a new one. You were watching Netflix when he waltzed into the living room and threw a bar of chocolate at your lap before walking out without saying a word.

These exchange of small yet kind (and confusing) gestures remained unacknowledged. You didn’t know why but you also didn’t feel the need to talk about them. You weren’t going to lie but Bucky’s random acts of kindness would always put a smile on your face.

The vacation unfortunately came to an end and everyone had to go back to saving the world. All of you were gathered in the conference room with Fury for a briefing about the next mission. It wasn’t as big as the last one but it still required a lot of planning.

After explaining the mission, Fury let Steve take over the meeting to strategize.

Some were assigned to do surveillance around the parameter while some were appointed to do all the groundwork. Steve of course, just had to partner you with Bucky to do the actual infiltration given that your skills complemented each other’s.

You grinned and was prepared to roast Bucky’s ass when you turned to him and was met with a scowl. He shook his head with what you assumed was disappointment and turned away from you.

It was the first time he ever dismissed you like that. Sure, you were rude to each other but the look that Bucky gave you wasn’t a teasing one. He wasn’t mocking you nor frustrated. Bucky seemed to really hate the idea of being partnered with you. It was the first time that the two of you had to work together without anyone else. Usually, Steve or Sam joined but for this mission, it was just you and Bucky. Concluding that he must have woken up at the wrong side of the bed, you chose to ignore your gut feeling and focused back to Steve.

After the meeting, everyone else exited the room and started with the preparations for the mission. As you walked down the hallway leading to your bedroom, you heard some soft chattering coming from Steve’s bedroom.

You were supposed to ignore it until you heard your name, making you stop in your tracks.

“I can’t be partnered with her, Steve.”

Bucky.

“Buck, just go with it. I can’t be changing assignments at the last minute.” Steve explained.

Bucky sighed, “You know I can’t function properly when she’s around, let alone be partnered with her. She distracts me, Steve. Her skills distract me and I swear on our friendship, I would end up dying on this assignment.”

“You’re being overly dramatic, Buck. Just suck it up, pal. Do the mission and get it over with.”

“Steve, you don’t understand. I really can’t deal with her. Especially if it’s just the two of us. You know how much I fucking—“

“Hate me?”

You couldn’t help but interject in their conversation. How could you not? Bucky was complaining about how he couldn’t deal with you. It really hurt hearing Bucky say all those things about you. Sure, you were somewhat new to the team and you didn’t have superpowers nor years of training like the rest. But you worked your ass off to be in this position. And for him to say that he couldn’t function with you being around struck a nerve. The last thing on your mind was to hold back your teammates, that’s why you train twice, thrice as hard.

Steve and Bucky stared at you as if they’ve seen a ghost. It’s as if all their blood was drained out of their body when they saw you step inside the room. Bucky was about to say something but you decided to cut him off, not wanting to hear more about how he doesn’t want to be partnered with you.

“We don’t get along that well, I get that. But I honestly thought that our arguments were harmless. Hell, I consider us friends. I didn’t think that you actually hated me.” Your voice quivered because you were truly, deeply hurt.

“That’s not what I meant.” Bucky insisted.

“You literally said that you might end up dying because of being partnered with me, Bucky! Look, I know that I don’t have a super serum running through my veins. I can’t move things with my mind and I can’t come up with life-changing tech. I wasn’t trained since childhood nor have the perfect aim. But I worked hard to be in this team. I trained hard not to be a burden to anyone and I’m sorry if my skills aren’t up to your standards.”

What did you even do to Bucky for him to hate you this much?

“Don’t worry, I won’t burden you. Once this mission is over, I won’t bother you anymore. Ever.” You said before walking out of the way, ignoring Bucky when he had repeatedly called your name.

The ride to the location was filled with tension. Although everyone else had no idea what happened, they somehow knew that the tension had something to do with you and Bucky.

Thankfully, the quinjet was big enough for you not to end up sitting beside Bucky.

“You okay?” Wanda asked, noticing how restless you were.

What you heard definitely affected you in more ways than one. You kept on double checking your weapons, your gadgets and you even ended up doubting yourself. Were you really equipped to be an Avenger? Steve said that Bucky was merely overacting but what if he was right? What if you weren’t skilled enough to protect him or your teammates?

“That’s not true.” Wanda said out of the blue. “I didn’t mean to read your mind, though. Your thoughts are coming off too strong, kinda hard to ignore.” She said apologetically.

You softly laughed, “I should really be staying away from you.” You joked.

Wanda smiled and placed her hand on top of yours, “I mean it though. You’re amazing at what you do. I don’t understand why you’re doubting yourself about being an Avenger.”

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you offered Wanda a grateful smile. You noticed that Bucky had been staring at you the entire time but simply ignored him. You weren’t going to let him snap you out of your focus.

Once on location, everyone started to split up and listened for Steve’s orders through the comms. You and Bucky managed to get inside the base, all thanks to Nat and the Hulk who handled all the guards.

The building was completely empty when the two of you walked around in search of the hidden quarters where all the intel were kept.

Bucky whistled to get your attention, you turned and saw that he was motioning towards what seemed to be a regular brick wall. However, there were a few bricks out of place and upon examining it, you realized it was some sort of a secret door. You managed to figure out which bricks to push and thankfully, it didn’t take you long enough to open the door which revealed an old, steel elevator.

“We found the entrance, Steve.” Bucky said into the comms.

“Careful in there, there were suspiciously a few guards within the parameters. They all might be in there.” Nat warned.

You heaved out a deep breath before stepping into the elevator with Bucky trailing behind you. There was only one button in the elevator, a red one.

“Can someone scan the elevator and make sure this button won’t set off any boobie trap or something?” You asked nervously as you inspected the elevator for any hidden traps.

The comms cracked with Sam’s voice. “Button is safe although...” he trailed.

“Although what?” Bucky asked, examining the elevator as well.

“You’re in for a long ride.”

You frowned, “How long?” You asked.

“Can’t see. It’s way too deep.”

Sam was able to scan the entire base and true enough, the elevator would lead deep down into the hidden laboratory. How deep into the ground it was, none could tell. Neither Sam nor Tony’s technology could see through due to the lack of signal. Steve said it might be dangerous to proceed given that there were no other ways into the lab except for the elevator.

The lack of signal down there meant no communication.

“Guys, I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue with this mission.” Steve said.

“But we’re so close, Steve.” You said.

“I think Steve is right. It’d be hard to call for back up when things go south.” Bucky interjected, not even sparing you a glance.

You snorted. Bucky sure wasn’t overacting when he was complaining about your skills. He definitely didn’t trust you. You weren’t going to settle for that.

“We won’t need any back up.”

And with that, you pressed the red button and completely ignored everyone’s warnings through the comms. Bucky looked at you with disbelief and tried to press the red button again in hopes of halting the elevator. However, the brick wall had closed and the elevator started its descent.

“Why the fuck did you do that?!” He yelled and tried to search the elevator for some sort of stop button.

“We’ll follow soon!” Steve’s voice was the last you heard before your comms completely lost its signal.

“Christ, we don’t even know whether it’s the lab that’s down there!” Bucky said, continuing his search for anything that would bring the both of you up to the ground floor.

“I’m not as stupid as you think I am. All secret doors lead to a top secret room and no, we won’t be needing any back up because I am totally capable of taking down anyone who gets in the way.” You stubbornly replied and leaned against the wall.

You wondered how long the elevator ride was going to be. At the speed that it’s going, it wasn’t impossible to take at least fifteen to twenty minutes if the lab was really far down into the ground. Bucky’s frustration was evident from the way he kept on inspecting the elevator walls. At first it was easy to ignore but Bucky was becoming more and more desperate to find a way to go back up.

“Your desperation to stay away from me is just...astounding.” You said with a bitter chuckle.

“I’m finding a way to get out of here, not away from you.” Bucky explained calmly.

You shook your head, “You don’t trust me to keep you alive, I get it. But can you tone it down even for just a bit?” You spat at him.

Bucky pressed the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh, “You don’t need to keep me alive.”

“Of course not, you don’t need me to do so ‘cause you’re so capable. How did I not think of that?” At this point, you couldn’t stop the word vomit.

You had tons of things to say to Bucky to prove to him that you were totally good at what you do, that he didn’t need to underestimate you just because you were a new addition to the team.

“That’s not what I mean.” Bucky explained again.

It was starting to annoy you that the more you were becoming agitated, the calmer he was becoming. And he kept on telling you that he meant differently with his statements but he never really attempted to further explain his side.

“Then what do you mean, Bucky?” You pressed. “What did I ever do to you for you to hate me this much? Did I say something offensive? Do I have to train 24/7 for you to think that I deserve to be working alongside the Avengers?” You kept on babbling on and on and on.

Bucky rubbed his face with his hand, “I don’t hate you, okay?” He doesn’t even spare you a look.

All this time, he was looking at anything but you and it was really getting on your nerves.

“See? You keep on telling me that you don’t hate me but you can’t even look at me! I mean, if you really loathe me then own up to it! It hurts me more that you keep on denying it when you can’t even explain a damn thing. At least tell me why!” You were never an emotional person and Bucky knew that, so when he finally turned to look at you, he was surprised to see you on the verge of tears.

“Hey, hey...” Bucky coaxed and tried to hold you but you stepped away from him.

“Just please tell me why, Buck. Tell me and I promise to stay away. If you think I suck at being an Avenger to the point of irritating you, tell me so I can train my fucking ass off until you deem me fit to be an Avenger. If my jokes offended you, I’m sorry. If I—“

“It’s because I like you.”

“...what?”

Bucky Barnes...likes you? It’s as if the silence went on forever inside the elevator that seemed to keep going. How long were the two of you inside it anyway? You couldn’t tell anymore and you didn’t know whether Bucky was simply fooling around with you.

“That’s not funny.” You said.

Bucky shook his head, “It’s not a joke.”

You stared at him doubtfully, “Explain.” You demanded.

Bucky licked his lips and let out a soft chuckle, “I’m an idiot.” He said.

“That doesn’t explain anything. If any, I’d think you’re simply fucking with me.” You pointed out and crossed your arms over your chest.

That seemed to urge Bucky to finally explain. “What you heard in Steve’s room was correct.”

“So you really hate me.”

Bucky groaned, “Let me finish, please?” He pleaded. When you remained silent, he continued to explain himself.

“You really do distract me during missions. Because you’re so amazing and I never doubted your skills. But I also get worried and I hate it when I see you in pain or wounded and it fucking distracts me. I didn’t want to be partnered with you because when I see you, I just...fuck. I like you that much. You kick someone’s ass and I’d end up watching you with awe that it’d cause me my own demise. That’s what I meant. That I’d probably end up dying because whenever you’re around, you have my full attention.”

The anger within you dissipated just like that. You could feel your face heat up from Bucky’s unexpected confession.

“But you’re an asshole to me.” You pointed out.

Bucky laughed, “Because that’s how I get your attention. You walk into a room with a kind-hearted super soldier, a witty bird brain and a few more intelligent men and yet I’d be the first one you’d acknowledge. With a snarky comment but still, attention is attention. It’s the only way I get to interact with you without feeling awkward. I suck at conversations, I mean, you heard me and though I was hating on you when I was merely blabbering to Steve about how much I like you.”

This time, you couldn’t hold back your laughter. All along, Bucky was finding a way to talk to you even though it meant constant arguments over the pettiest things. To be fair though, he really did suck at communicating.

“I’m sorry that it came across like that.” Bucky apologized sincerely. “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us.” He admitted.

You shrugged, “Oh but it does. In fact, it changes everything.”

Bucky’s face fell.

“Because I think I like you too and I kinda want for things to change. For the better of course.” You grinned.

Bucky chuckled and scratched his forehead bashfully, “You think, huh? Not sure?” He asked and turned to you just as the elevator doors opened.

Indeed, it led to the lab where almost all of the targets stayed. The man nearest the elevator had his gun pointed at Bucky but before he could even pull the trigger, Bucky had thrown his knife at him without even sparing a glance and choked the next guy to attack with his metal arm before throwing him towards a group of armed men. He was just gazing at you with a smittened smile.

“Still not sure about liking me back?”

Impressed at his gesture, you smirked.

“Now I am.”

By the time Steve, Nat and Sam walked out of the elevator, the mission had already been done. You walked towards the trio and handed Steve a USB.

“All their data is already saved there. Wiped out their entire system clean too.” You told him, voice chirpy and all.

Bucky was right behind you, a couple of folders in his hands before handing them to Sam, “Lotsa confidential info in there too which includes our next targets.” he said and walked past Sam with a certain jump in his steps.

The three exchanged glances before looking around the entire lab. Men were scattered on the floor, most were dead and others heavily injured.

“What the hell happened here?” Nat asked, avoiding the injured men on the ground as she walked around.

“The mission happened, Nat. All that matters now is that everything has been resolved. I mean, everything.” You said meaningfully and threw Bucky a flirty smile before walking into the elevator.

He followed suit and saluted at the three before pushing the red button. The doors weren’t even closed yet when Bucky couldn’t hold back and quickly leaned to press a soft kiss on your lips. An action that definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the three. You couldn’t help but chuckle when you noticed their reactions before the elevator closed.

Said trio stood there dumbfounded and confused as hell. Early on, the tension between you and Bucky was felt by everyone. The kind of tension then wasn’t even a sexual one. It was so intense that Nat was actually expecting to see you and Bucky at each other’s throats when they got down to the lab.

“Guess that the long ass elevator ride did something. Whatever was in that elevator seems interesting. Wanna go check it out, Nat?” Sam asked suggestively.

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

Nat simply smirked and walked past Sam, “In your dreams, Wilson.”

Everything Bucky Tag List:

@ddowii @jessou893 @stealapizzamyheart @bagelofthelord @mxnt @dontputyourfckingdrinkonmytable @jeeperky @ohladymacbeth @wildflowergubler @supraveng @twinerd14 @buckysmar @bakugouswh0r3

#bbbwrites #oneshots: bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x you #bucky x reader #sebastian stan

1K notes · View notes

spikesbimbo · 4 years

Text

Drunk in Love

Summary: Getting drunk and confessing your love for your “boy” friend and fucking him was most definitely not what you expected to go down on the usual night.

Pairing: Issei Matusukawa x Reader

Tags: Timeskip!Tattoed Mattsun, softdom!issei Hurt/comfort, friends to lovers, smut, fluff, virgin!reader, Unptrotected sex, non-penetrative sex, fingering, oral, pussy/thigh job, clit slapping, sweet dirty talk, praise, drunk sex

Word count: 7.2k

A/N: I heard pussy job and I wrote a whole ass novel

18+ Minors DNI

You run your finger over the condensation of your empty drink, drawing shapes (or what you thought to be shapes, you couldn’t tell at this point) waiting for your dear friend, Makki to bring you a refill of your cocktail.

“Here ya go.” Makki said as he returned with your beloved Malibu Sunset. The smooth coconut rum bringing you back to your first and favorite drink that you ever got drunk on in high school. You smiling at the memory

“Thanks.” you say. Your reply being mumbled by the liquid already in your mouth.

This all started with Iwaizumi calling Mattsun up, you and Makki hearing “You wanna get wasted?” on the other side of the phone. And with pleasure, you two were already packing your stuff up, shoving yalls “pregame” bottles back in the bag. The three of you made your happy way there climbing through the fence of the abandoned skate park you were in. Needles to say it was abandoned for a reason, but what’s life without a little danger.

You three and the rest of the third years have been friends since high school, meeting in freshman year, and now including Oikawa’s girlfriend. You actually didn’t like Oikawa at first, his “pretty boy” demeanor making you internally cringe. But his personality grew quickly on you, being the perfect target to tease you and Iwa clowning him over everything.

Now back to you on your nth drink, complaining about your previous job that fired you because u got injured, even though you know you wouldn’t have lasted long there anyways because you weren’t that academically inclined. Bright? Whatever you wanted to call it.

And as-usual it wasn’t long before your crybaby ass immediately called Makki and Issei and “tried” your best to tell them what happed with your dramatic self-induced tears running down you race, while Makki urged to you to try to calm down and Issei straight up laughing at the state your were in, snot running out of your nose. You recoiling at the thought, hoping they forgot. (Spoiler, they didn’t)

But now you nanny for a rich couple and you get payed good to play with cute babies all day, sounds good to you! Luckily, you had the week off due to them going on a vacation, you think it was France, no, the south of France. Must be nice.

Cue to now, Mattsun chuckling and leaning on you and Iwaizumi; both of you, especially Iwa, being visibly done with his shit. Him reminding you about the times you bought him some random shit, which you went out of your way for since he always payed for you, like that chopper keychain because you said it reminder you of him.

He didn’t know what compelled you to say his 6’2, tattooed built self looked like a tiny reindeer but okay. It still meant a lot to him, hooking it onto his motorcycle keys. But you knew he appreciated it, despite his appearance he’s a softie.

“You wanna try this’” He says gaining his composure offering you one of the shots he got.

You took one of the mini glasses, not being the type to back down and promptly swung the drink to the back of your mouth, quickly coughing before it even reached your throat.

“This shit is fucking gross.” You coughed out bringing the glass down from your lips.

“Imagine being sober. Can’t relate.” He said taking another shot.

“I guess I should do that but ive passed the point of giving a fuck” You said sending yall into a giggling fit while somehow Makki was thrown in to support yall from falling over. You two carry on laughing ignoring everyone’s stares at you thinking about how much yall fit perfectly together.

Makki rearranges himself to sit back in his chair, far away, from the both of you, whispering “Damn. I’m really third wheeling.” under his breath. Getting a snicker out of Oikawa sitting next to him.

“When your best friends are ignoring you. Sad times.” He continues bringing his bottle to his mouth getting no response.

Issei chuckles and gets up shoving his hands in his pocket reaching for the cigarettes. Pulling them out while failing to find his lighter

“Fuck.” He muttered

“Any’all got a light?”

No one responds so you sacrifice yourself “Yeah” you say reaching into your pocket grabbing out your prized possession of a hot pink, bedazzled lighter that you did yourself, reaching out to hand it to him.

“Don’t lose it” you stated seriously trying not to break a smile.

“K’ sweet cheeks.” He said smirking into the butt between his lips as he walked away. Your face now burning up, hoping that everyone would think it was because of the alcohol.

You mind wanders, thinking about the “dates” you two go on, from watching shows you “forcing” him to watch some romantic anime, to going to the skatepark, to playing video games with the rest of the 3rd years (which you don’t really like but you’ll play for him) and him surprising you with takeout, you bringing out candles trying your best to make it cute with him telling u everything you everything about his day.

And you always tried to remain calm, even though sometimes he deserved to get his ass beat, like that one time he broke one of your favorite pair of heels. It honestly hurt him even more, he wanted you to get mad at him but no, you just acted like nothing happened. Making the guilt rise in him. Let’s just say didn’t have to lift a finger for the next few weeks.

You basically babied him, taking care of all his “chores”, mainly making him food when you were at his place knowing he hated doing it. Makki teasing you for acting like his housewife, leading to you slapping the shit outta him while trying to cover your now red cheeks.

You’ve never been so grateful for your attire at the moment, blessing yourself for not wearing your usual outfits of short skirts and cute tops, defending yourself saying what housewife dresses in beat up vans and baggy clothes. You definitely not imaging yourself in that position for the rest of the day.

You expressed that you just liked to take care of people, which was true. You always looked out for them, bringing an extra umbrella, to bringing cookies you made at 2 in the morning to school, always carrying band-aids (yes, the paw patrol ones you took from the kids you babysit).

You checked the time on your phone seeing it was late since the sun at last went down, your lock screen being your dogs to their complaint since they have a group photos of you all from high school as theirs. To which you replied “They’re my babies” getting a groan and huff out of them.

Seeing the notifications of your group chat you grinned at the contact name you and Issei gave each other; yall jokingly call each other pet names, his contact being honeybun and yours being pumpkin, even including Makki in your contacts as pudding bc then it wasn’t weird, right? no.

“What’re you smiling at y/n?” Oikawa cheekily asks teasing you. You turn to him giving him a dirty look, not having enough energy to deal him right now.

“Don’t listen to his bullshit.” Oikawa’s girlfriend says. You’re thankful for her. She was always on your side, being the only other girl in your friend group. To be honest you just wanted her and you to hang out most of the time, but of course to your disapproval her boyfriend and his friends had to join in.

“Fuck this. Fuck you. I’m sleeping.” You say getting up to her objection, the only thing on your mind wanting to retire for the night.

“You sure you’ll be fine? Let us at least walk you home.” She said already grabbing her boyfriend’s arm.

“Nah, im good. I live right down the road.” You try to say not slurring. The last thing you want is him teasing you even more, especially in this state, knowing you, you’d probably start crying at the slightest irritation when youre this drunk.

You started to “walk” towards your house resting your hand against the brick walls to not lose your balance, leading you to run into Issei. You stopped to watch him lean against the alley holding a cigarette between his index and middle finger.

“I’m hiding like a bitch” He says noticing you, resting his weight against the wall.

“Wanna be a bitch with me? He grinned blowing out the smoke out with his words.

You didn’t reply, just walking over to him, just being around him made you feel warm.

"Fuck its windy.” He says trying to light a new cig.

“C’you make me a house?” He asks.

You go up and put your hands around his cigarette, this not being your first time. Your hands wrap a little tighter to prevent the wind from burning out his flame. He joins you with his free hand helping, finally getting his cig to light.

“Thanks doll” He smirks.

“No problem princess.” You reply earning a laugh out of him.

He takes his first hit with his and your hands still wrapped around it. He gets an up-close look at your hands, noticing how tiny they were, seeing all the scars that he never noticed, making a mental note to ask you how you got them later.

His head gets close to yours for the first time in a while due to his height. You glance at his face, noticing his features seeing some stubble growing on his face.

“You ain’t shave?” You ask, never seeing it in the past, while he was moving back up, blowing the smoke away from you.

“What, you don’t like my majestic beard? “He jokes. Making you giggle almost losing your balance before catching yourself on the wall.

“s’too much work.” He starts. “You wanna shave it for me?” he says slightly leaning towards you. Handing you back your lighter knowing you didn’t need him to carry it because your pants actually had pockets in them for once.

You let out a soft laugh not responding again. He catches on, you got quiet when you were tired and he made out that you were walking towards your house.

“You going home?” he asks already knowing the answer.

“Yeah.” You respond more than happy to have him walk you back, him already moving to walk next to you.

He walks you home, you two talking about random shit, both of you forgetting about your skateboards leaving Makki to deal with them. And even though you’re drunk as fuck you’re still in the right state of mind, carrying a normal conversation with him. But just because you’ve built a tolerance doesn’t mean you can do basic tasks, like walk correctly.

When he reaches your house, he types in the keycode, your first dogs birthday, being glad that you, him and Makki have each other’s memorized.

He leads you into you house setting you on the couch, petting your dogs that ran up to him.

“Mommy’s not feeling too good” He said giving them the affection they deserved.

“Yes I am.” You slurred getting them attention on you now.

He walked over to your counter putting on the playlist that you two made together on shuffle, High fashion being the first to play. You didn’t like when it was quiet because too many thoughts would run though your head. You were in no way sad, singing the lyrics while you were laughing barely being able to hold yourself up as proof.

Remembering you were tired, he takes you off the couch and borderline carries you to your room, , setting you on your plush blankets that you had so many of because it was warm and comfy.

“Easy, there. Try to sit up.”He said, trying to ask you what draws your pj’s were in because he didn’t want to snoop around; neither of you being bothered that you were half naked, what’s the difference between panties and a bikini, he thought remembering the times you’ve been to the beach together.

Well it was maybe the fact that you were clinging onto him because u stumbled into him and he was closest stable thing around and you wouldn’t let go because it was cold and you couldn’t stop shaking.

He ignores his thoughts and grabs the shirt he got out figuring you don’t need to change your bra because you told him and Makki that it was normal to keep it on for a few days after they were in awe as you were explaining how expensive they were. You calling Oikawa’s girlfriend to prove your point as she immediately agreed with you…Sometimes you might have got a little too comfortable with them.

You hear the song in the background change to Love Songs, you humming along, “Hope you smile when you listen.”

You were still holding on to him, your boobs squeezing against him, him only being able to put a t-shirt on you, while you looked up at him with your red glossy eyes making him burn up.

You fidget timidly with your face now in his chest while gripping his sweater. Trying to build up the little courage you had. He tilts your head up making you look at him, wondering what you were thinking about.

You try to express yourself, but you can’t get the words out him having no idea what is going on in your head at the moment.

“It’s okay to be nervous sometimes. Tell me” He gently says reading your body language. He was intuitive, so there was no way you could hide your feelings from him.

But you knew you could trust him, him having full self-control, always staying collected and following through on what he said he’d do. He went out of his way to avoid any friction coming between you two, him never raising his voice or starting an argument.

“We need to talk.” You started. “About something important.”

“Ok…What is it?” He questioned rubbing his hands on your back. You were so nervous, were you really about to say this? Confess your feelings that you’ve pushed to the back of your heart for so long?

“I… I l… I love your face. And the stuff in it. and around it.” You spoke, being surprised you did it stutter.

He stood there, hands stopped moving trying to process what you just said.

“Just you, in general…” You finally confess trying to state three things at once barely getting your words out.

But he understood exactly what you meant, or maybe he was warping what you said to fit what he wanted.

"I don’t even know when I started liking you, but this shit won't go away." You restated

Nope. He clearly just heard you say that.

He doesn’t understand what’s so different about today. Yall have been in this scenario multiple times taking care of each other, sometimes including another into the mix.

You didn’t understand either. You just felt like the time was right, even though you know it wasn’t the best idea to confess while you were drunk off your ass.

But you couldn’t help it, your feelings overflowing, which you never until this day let get the best of you, being vulnerable and trusting is not your usual . Youve never even had a crush on anyone, him being to only in your whole life to make you blush.

Who you been vibin' wit and why I can't make you mine?

You should have seen the signs that you feel for him when he helped that lady that lives down the street from him set up her Christmas lights or when he first met your dog that wasn’t fond of men, but it instantly liked him. And you loved his selflessness it was something you admired and applauded.

“y/n” He tries talking you down, making sure you weren’t just saying this because of alcohol, deep down knowing he felt the same, you always being in the back of his mind.

You were generous with your time too, always being there for him. You knew he was softer than he appeared, he was tender, sensitive and vulnerable. He tried his hardest to not get into situations where anyone would get hurt, like breakups, arguments, and so on.

Which is why he won’t make the first move. He pushes his feelings to the back of his head. He values your friendship more than anything, but he can see what develops. If love is meant to be, it will happen.

I told you I am down for the worse or the better. But I keep sticking to you cause them four stupid letters

“You make me so happy. And I’ll always care about you. Okay? He says breaking the silence, trying to reassure you.

“You mean so much to me—something I can’t even put into words because nothing can compare- I’ve wanted you since that day you tripped and bust your ass in the school hallway I still want you even though you drive me insane.”

“Iss-“ You tried to get out only to have him continue talking over you.

"I love that you can’t leave the house without a jacket. I love the wrinkles that appear on your forehead after you call me crazy. I love that it takes you hours to get ready. I love that you always know how to make me feel better. I love that even when you don’t agree with my decisions you always trust me to make them. I love that when I spend a day with you, I can still smell you on my clothes; and I love that you are the last person I think of before I go to sleep at night."

You stood there awestruck for what feels like eternity until you mustered the bravery to speak “I didn’t expect you to feel the same way-” You said, being dumbfounded because from what you’ve seen treats everyone “nice”, were you really getting special treatment?

He tilts your chin up, locking his dark eyes with yours. “Baby I don’t know if your notice but you and Makki are my only people that aren’t my family that call me my first name.”

He has a point. You think pushing yourself more into him, trying to fuse your bodies together to hide, not relaxing what you were doing to him. He tries to nudge your legs to the side but you won’t let go still clinging onto him.

“fuck” He groans. You pulling back wondering why until you looked down and noticed. A smirk appeared on your face as you reattached your self to him like velcro. You were feeling bold, the liquid courage still in your system driving you to slide your fingers down his chest, looking him in the eyes before stopping at his waistband.

He knows what you’re doing, him being in this position multiple times. Does he really want to ruin your friendship like this? He hasn’t even asked you to be his girlfriend. He tries to push you off him already knowing you were gonna complain. But what he didn’t expect was for you to whimper out his name in that pretty voice of yours.

He tried to keep his calm, blood already rushing down. “You know what you’re doing”

“yeah” You start.

“y’don’t want me?” Giving him your pouty face that you know he’s weak for, hoping that’ll work, insecurity piling up. Was it because your boobs weren’t that big or that fact that you were dressed like man? Was he not attracted to you right now, only liking you when you were dolled up?

“Fuck” You think. You should have worn something cute instead of dressing like a whole ass man even with your makeup fully done. Its not like you were supposed to know you were gonna get fucked today.

His were burning holes into you now, thinking of how to say “No, I would be more that happy to fuck you!” to his best friend, soon regaining his consciousness finally speaking.

“Fuck no doll, ive wanted you for a minute. You know me better than I know myself. How did you not notice my feelings?”

You got me singing love songs, love songs, love songs

“You’re really hard to read” You replied trying to maintain your seductive act, resting your hands back on his chest.

“So are you.” He said lowering his head, you still looking up at him, taking in your gleaming eyes.

Sex ain't the only thing that's on my mind But you get me so excited, whoa

Your heart was beating so wildly that you could only take little sips of breath. His hands running down your waist stopping at your hips.

“Can I kiss you?" He asks "...yeah” you attempted to say as confidently as you could, nodding your head along with it.

His face bent down, hot mouth breathing over you. His lips slowly moved, brushing over yours, the liquor on his lips that you hated; only choosing fruity drinks even though you got relentlessly teased you for it. You pushed further into the kiss desperately wanting more. Your teeth clicking his from being impatient, wanting to suck him in. Your hands sliding under his shirt subconscious desires reaching out.

Irreplaceable Tattoos from your neck that drop down to your ankles

“You’re drunk…” he says snapping you out of your trance.

“So are you.”

He dove in for another kiss much more passionate than the previous one, arguably needy, pusing you on the bed to which you more than happily comply. He tugs back not letting his mind get the best of him, disconnecting your spit trial leaving you panting. “You sure this alright?” He says deep down hoping you still say yes.

You pull him back for your answer, your grabby little hands working their way back up his shirt. He gets the hint and pauses your lips rendezvous, taking off the turtleneck that he looked oh so good in, before seeing his unclothed body. You’re admiring his body in a new way, before just complimenting him whenever he got a new tattoo, now up under him tracing them like a lovestruck teenager.

“When did you get this one?” You quietly ask, his ears closer to you than they’ve ever been.

“I got it that day you faked sick”

“What! You said were gonna take me!” You sulked, turning your head away from his as much as you could, crossing your arms.

He let out a slight laugh before gently taking your face in his hands, guiding you back into the kiss.

This is not really what he imagined for your first time. He’s an old-fashioned romantic who likes to take one step at a time. But then again nothing was ever normal with you. That said, when he falls in love, he falls deep.

“You’ve done this before?” You uttered.

“Hmm?” He mumbles, unmoving his lips from you kissing you, moving towards your neck.

“You still with that other girl?”

“No. I broke it off her, everything that came out of her mouth was bullshit, and no she wasn’t my girlfriend.”

“You didn’t trust her? You added. Trying to distract him until you could think of a way you could say “hey in my 21 years of life I’ve never got passed kissing a guy.”

“Our relationship was purely built on lies, I’d second guess everything she said. He replied, wondering if you were interrogating him.

“Why’d you wanna know?” He asked bringing his face up from your skin.

“…No one’s ever touched me like this, fuck.” You bashfully admitted, thoughts racing through your head that he didn’t want you anymore because you weren’t experienced.

But he knew what was running through that pretty head of yours, his fingers reaching out to with your hair trying to comfort you.

“You’re a virgin?” He curiously asked dragging his hand to your cheek, you leaning into it.

“y-yeah” you muttered trying to move your eyes away from his looking down at his body.

“I thought you had a boyfriend before” he said, softly turning your jaw to make you look at him. Your eyes diverted from his arms back to his eyes.

“We weren’t actually dating” You quickly say trying to clear up the misunderstanding. “He was my friend and seatmate that pretended to be my fake boyfriend to get me out of some trouble” you spewed out “and I guess I forgot to tell everyone that it was fake.”

“Even if we were that doesn’t mean we fucked.” You sheepishly replied.

“So… what trouble did your fake boyfriend get you out of.” He questioned knowing how much trouble it must have been for you, miss independent, to go to such lengths.

“Umm, well…this guy wouldn’t stop flirting with me even after I told him I don’t like him, even following me to my other classes.”

He wasn’t surprised, you were definitely a sight for sore eyes, in fact the prettiest thing he’s laid his eyes on, your beaming eyes, your dimple when you smiled, your pretty face, your “ugly” laugh, he could go on for days.

“Why are we talking about this” You whined, reaching your hand back out to him.

He took a hint and continued kissing you, bringing you closer to him while you attempted to take you shirt off. His hands helping you seeing as that you were struggling, being lost in his touch, finishing by moving you up more on you bed, pushing your plushies out of the way, to your protested because “they had feelings too.”

He ignored you, bending down to pull your panties off stopping once he saw the slick coming through them.

“Fuck baby you’re wet” He breathed dragging his fingers across your clothed slit earing a whimper from you, leaving his fingers drenched.

Shawty, you wanna feel good, I wanna feel good too Don't I make you feel good?

“M’always wet.” you responded.

From what? He questions taking off your soaked cotton panties, tossing them to the side.

“From me?” He smirks bringing his hand back towards your heat. You not even comprehending what he just said, just knowing that you’re ashamed of how worked up you were getting.

You were in awe. You’ve always known his hands were big, but in this situation your mind wondered. His fingers were so much bigger than yours knowing you can barely fit two inside your with out it hurting, and not in a good way.

“Do you know how pretty you are? It’s honestly distracting.”. He says kissing down your whole body, stopping at your breasts, licking lazily around and coming back to the nub. The attention on your nipples making you squirm and he finally lets go, you grateful that he stopped or you would have almost cum, how embarrassing.

“I thought you said were gonna get them pierced” He remembered, you going on a whole rant about how cute they were.

“You said u were gnna get em with me” You looked back on, reminding yourself making him promise to get them with you because you were too scared of the pain.

“That was the same day you played sick and I got that tattoo.” He stated lightening the mood, hoping you can calm yourself down before you actually embarrass yourself.

He picks back up and continues kissing all the way down your body, you playing with his hair while biting your lip to muffle your moans and whine until he reaches your entrance.

He parted your legs, your pussy laid out before him, believing you no have reason to be shy about it either. He paused, admiring your swollen cunt and puffy clit, you were beautiful.

The feeling that he didn't want anyone else ever in his position overtook him. He let out a little breath on your clit and you thrashed around. He wasn't going to play. “I’ll take care of you.”

His lips travel over your skin, light and heated before settling himself between your legs, grabbing you by your thighs and dragging you closer. “That tickles.” you giggle, nerves making you kick your legs, almost hitting him in the face before he grabs them. He puts them down locking your legs with his arms, lowering himself until he’s on the ground facing you.

“Does it make you nervous when I stare?” he teases while your covering your face trying to hide the blush he caused. He puts his mouth on you, quickly gripping your thighs, his hands leaving imprints in your skin dragging you even more into him, deprived kisses taking over your body.

“yer so pretty” You purred seeing the sight of his big build between your legs, your fingers grabbing onto his curly dark locks, tugging them.

Issei moans, his voice radiating through your body, forcing out a cry, blessing him with your pretty voice. “I-Issei!” You cry, never feeling like this before, your vibrator and hands doing it no justice.

“Shh, just look at me, doll.”

You can barely make out what he says, so drunk on pleasure. You try your best, doing anything to see the pretty man beneath you. But you get interrupted by your pleasure, your back arching not being able to control your body, grinding down to meet his lips, heat rising in you.

He kisses through your wetness playing with your bud. You choking on your spit, back arching again your body tensing up. “Issei,” You beg, grabbing him knowing what you want but not being able to express it. Luckily he can read you like an open book, knowing what you want, driving you over the edge as he makes you see stars. “Good girl,” he sighs when he feels you let go of his wrist letting him bring you your first orgasm.

“Look at your thighs shaking so much.” He teasingly cooed, wrapping his hands around them, bringing you out of your daze.

Shawty, your body is so exciting

Arching your back into the blankets, letting out a whine “Want your fingers.”.

He lets out a condescending laugh. “You need to learn to be patient. You just came and you’re already so eager for more?”

But by the time he finished your body went limp, you were totally weak, body loose-limbed and pliant. Your mind clouded by lust and deep in your own world. You gasped out a little sob, unable to comprehend anything beyond the discomfort and the need to have it gone. You can’t think straight all you can do is take action, grabbing his arm him easing his fingers into to you.

It’s not too tight, is it?” you ask clenching around his fingers.

“Just relax… let yourself feel it” He says barely being able to move in you. Fuck so were so tight.

“I love the way you look with my fingers inside you.” He added starting to thrust them inside you, making you let out a string of moans.

“Look how good you take it.”

“Fuck, you’re so messy.” He groaned feeling the slick running down his hands, before taking them out.

“Issei-i,” You cried when he pulled away, pleasure leaving you, tears coming back.

He shushes you easily, his fingers wiping your tears. You were so precious to him, your moans music to his ears. He slows down repositioning his fingers, making you let out a whimper squeezing around them. Your brains so crowded you can’t focus, can’t gather the strength to speak when he thrust them faster inside you.

Your eyes rolled to the back of your head as you fell back, fingers curling inside you, chanting his name over and over, incoherent words coming out of your mouth begging for more.

You pussy tightens as you cum, unable to breath, letting out gasps and whines. Him still fucking you, fingers not stopping, pushing them in and out relentlessly feeling both pain and pleasure. You lay there, wet in your own cum not giving yourself a break before you went and got what you really wanted, his cock.

His eyes followed the movement of your hands as they pushed down his boxers, revealing the length of his cock, that jutted proudly from his hips. He was so pretty, so virile and handsome. Wondering how lucky you were to be in such a position with him.

You pushed away those thoughts and focused on him, pulling him forward gently, but he followed his encouragement. One of his hands tilted his cock down toward your lips. “Open your mouth for me, baby.”

You parted them instantly, tongue sliding slightly outward, and then you whimpered as the warm weight of his cock slid into your mouth. You let your eyes flutter closed and swirled your tongue around the tip of his cock not knowing exactly what you were doing, but it was working, tasting the salty tang of the precum that wept from his leaking slit. You moved your tongue as the he put his hand into your hair, gripping the strands and pushing deeper into his mouth.

“You look so good on your knees like that. “He says meeting your eyes once again, almost cumming from the picture below him.

“Slowly, baby, I’m not going anywhere.” He says slowing you down by grabbing your hair, making a pace that you follow.

“Yeah, that’s it, baby, just like that.” Seeing that sinful look in your eyes with your redden swollen lips.

You moan feeling yourself drip down your thighs, getting even wetter giving him head. Trying to ease the discomfort by closing your legs, griding them together, trying to find some friction. Your ears hearing “That’s so fucking hot.” watching the scene unfold beneath him.

Your jaw hurts, trying got make him cum faster using your hands and lips together hollowing your cheeks. “Oh fuck, oh, Jesus, fuck yes, there, just like that, fucking Christ" he groans out, his voice sounded beautiful to your ears, knowing he was about to cum.

He finally lets go cumming in your mouth, you swallowing it all, trying not to wince at the taste. “Did I do good” You ask waiting for his reply. Your doll eyes, so red and worn out looking up at him for approval. Fuck he was whipped.

“Yeah…fuck baby”

I love when you get on top and you ride it

You get back under him, his cock resting on you, drenched and clenching around nothing, resting in your cum. You working yourself up against him.

“What makes you think I’m going to fuck you?” He says to your complaint.

“You’re not ready yet.” he mumbles against your whining. Spreading your legs, slapping your clit a few times before letting his cock rest on your folds. Finally getting “seated” he picks up your legs and puts them both on one of his shoulders your thighs warming his cock, your knees touching his cheek not moving, getting a kick out of how desperate your were for him.

“s-stop being mean” You cried reaching out for him to come closer, needing affection after all you’ve been though.

“Aww, poor baby, you want me to take care of it for you? He says leaning into you, reaching your kiss, tasting the remnants of the cum in your mouth.

He plundered your mouth and slowly teased his cock over your entrance, catching it against your clit and making you whimper into the kiss, clearly wanting to be fucked. Your kiss turned you sucking on Issei’s tongue and lips, biting the swollen pout until his lips were red and puffy. He pulled back and looked down at you, a beautiful mess under him.

His fat cock head pushed between your folds. The moan escaping both of your lips was primal. You were turned on beyond imagination and the way he was thrusting forward, spreading his leaking precum on your wet clit was almost too much. He quickly picked up his pace fucking your folds, his warm head brushing against your clit with every movement, but your greedy self wanted more.

The fact that he made you cum so easily made you proud. Just because you’ve never gone this far with someone else doesn’t mean you’ve never cum, you’ve had a lot of practice over the years, being insatiable, the sheets soaked underneath you from your previous orgasms being proof.

“Keep your eyes open, look at me, baby.” He moans getting your attention him.

You tried, you really tried, but the way he was stroking you, imagining what it’d be like to actually sit on his cock, the lewd sounds echoing in the background leaving you unable to focus.

He taps on your cheek eventually getting you look at him, keeping your mind on him by placing his fingers in your mouth you letting him, hazily sucking on them, not being able to close your mouth.

“Oh, baby, you’re drooling everywhere.” He grumbles. Your spit dripping onto his fingers, the friction of your thighs making him feral, moving at an even faster pace. Your body bouncing with every thrust.

“You gonna cum after I cum on your little clit? Come one more time for me, I know you’ve got it in you.” You sob feeling the puddle beneath you, time slowing, fire pooling in your tummy. Listening to his words you let yourself go. You come with a silent scream as the pleasure ripped through your body, your nails scratching his soft skin. Your vison fading to black feeling him lose his rhythm and moaning a mixture of curse words along with your name, feeling him cum on your tummy before resting his head in your neck while letting your legs go.

“So good for me, look at how much you came.” He says breaking the static. You whining into his shoulder, emotions high, never doing this before.

“I know, baby, I know. I’m right here, just breathe.” He says. You two laying in silence for an unclear amount of time, him rubbing your back while you rest in his chest almost dozing off.

“Are we still…friends?” You croak out trying to hold back your sobs already knowing the answer that you two were defiantly not friends now and never would be just friends again.

“Friends don’t do this type of shit” He maintained grabbing your shoulders to sit you and him up. You were worried, did he only do this with you because he was drunk? You were anxious that you scared him away because you just poured your heart out to him and pushed yourself on him. You left your head down, tears already coming out to your dismay. You moved your hand up to wipe them but he beat you to it.

“Look at me… I love you.” He says holding your cheeks in his palm. You in awe, hoping that you weren’t imagining it, that this was real life.

“R-really” You question making him worry too, preferring to forgive and forget rather than letting this a divide between the two of you in case you went back on your feelings. You were so overwhelmed, never feeling love until this moment, so happy that the person you longed for liked you back. Yours tears running once again.

“Shh, shh, it’s alright...Don’t cry.”

You don’t even know why you were crying, the hangover already getting to you making you get a headache. You groaning in his arms complaining that your head and throat hurt.

“Ill be back” he says detaching himself from you, letting you know he was coming right back.

He walks to your fridge opening it to see every drink but water, having too dig through all of them, especially the absurd amount of apple juice guessing it was your “once a year craving for it”. He finally got you some cold water, putting It in a cup and waked back to your room.

“Issei” you whined not picking your head up from the pillow.

“Shh baby im right here.”

He sat down beside you on your bed lifting your head up. “Here drink this” he reassured, to which you ignored not wanting anything to go in your mouth, just wanting the day, or night as it was now, to end.

“It’s just water, honey, look.” You sat yourself up with his help seeing him in just his boxers, you remembering your still naked, not caring enough to cover yourself. He held to glass to your mouth, babying you, tilting it far back enough to where you could drink it. The water hit the back of your mouth feeling like a shot making you cough.

“I know, it hurts. I’m sorry but we have to” He stated. You continued to drink it, feeling the stinging in the back of your throat, him comforting you, calling you “good girl” which was unsurprisingly working.

He put the cup on your dresser when you finished, climbing back into bed with you leaning your body into his. “Have you ever thought about...us? Y’know, as an...item?” he said causing you to look at him with wide eyes.

“Call me selfish, but I don’t ever want anyone else to touch you.” He insisted making you cheeks flush. You try to think of a way to respond, not wanting to keep him waiting.

“You’re the best thing that has, and ever will, happen to me. Not only am I deeply in love with you, you’re my best friend.” You stammer out, your shaky hands somehow made there way to his neck, letting them fall slowly before he grabs them dragging you in for a kiss before you got to even see his face.

“Everybody has always thought we’re a couple.” He continued taking his time kissing you all over your face. “Then I guess we should be.” You retort, kissing him back before you could see his reaction, not wanted to be embarrassed anymore today. But he caught you, holding you still “Really “y/n? Like deadass?” He asked.

“Yes dummy, I want to be your girlfriend” You say causing him to grin swearing you’ve never seen him smile that big, before he gives you one last kiss.

“I always kiss you on the cheek, why are you blushing now? He teases laying back down, you following along. You just snuggle into him mumbling something along the lines of “m’tired”, he understanding and speaking to you in a soft, gentle voice while helping you to bed, so he doesn’t make it harder for you to sleep by being loud. “I’m here love, I’m not going anywhere.” He whispers into your ear mkanig your heart swoon one last time before you pass out.

“I l-love you issei.” You sleepily mumble.

“Tell me this when you’re sober.” He says stroking your head.

“Just relax, close your eyes...”He murmurs, your heart beating slower every second. Both of you together, lazy, slow presses. Limbs pressed together, chests heaving, fingers trailing down backs, tracing lazy patterns.

“Oh!…” He remembers. “If you really wanna get them pierced, we could get matching ones.”

#haikyuu x reader #issei x reader #matsukawa x reader #mattsun x reader #matsuwaka issei #haikyuu smut #haikyuu hcs #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu headcanons #matsukawa issei x reader #tw drunk sex #tw under the influence

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hookingminor · 4 years

Text

4 times his friends posted you on their instagram + 1 time he did - mat barzal

a/n: I wrote this literally back in july so lets just ignore how idealistic this is regarding quarantine but im a slut for some barzy this is all fluff

word count: 4,733

summary: like the title says, some friends (with benefits?) to lovers + a tyson cameo, fluffy summer quarantine fic

tagging @davidpastrsnack so kate can get on the barzy train

To say the whole quarantine thing was an inconvenience was an understatement. School had ended online, your summer internship was cancelled, and it seemed like your summer would turn into an uneventful couple of months stuck in your apartment in, probably, the worst place to be stuck in during a pandemic: New York City.

Or so you thought.

You’d planned on having the most boring summer ever until your friend, Mat, had invited you to hole up away with him and a few friends in a lake house back in Vancouver. Well, friend was a loose term. The two of you were friends… just ones that kissed occasionally… and sometimes more than kissed. You’d met him about a year ago at a bar while he was out with his teammates after a game. A cliche meeting, but you hit it off instantly. Instead of ending up in his bed at the end of the night (which you would eventually end up at after a couple months), it turned into an exchange of numbers and an invitation to hang out later in the week.

You hadn’t thought anything of it at first, just thinking he was being friendly and wanting to end the conversation, so you were surprised to get a text the next day from an unknown number asking if you’d wanted to go on a bike ride.

Flashforward a year later and the two of you still went on bike rides together. At least, up until the pandemic started.

When the text came telling you to pack your bags for a month or so, you thought he was joking. Surely he couldn’t have meant you to join him in Vancouver over the summer? You were proven wrong when he showed up at your apartment the next day, two coffees in his hand.

“Uh, hi, Mathew,” you said hesitantly, opening your door to reveal your disheveled state, having just woken up.

“Why are you dressed like that? We have a plane to catch in four hours,” he said, pushing himself through your door, uninvited, to set the coffees on the counter.

“What are you doing here? What plane? You’re not supposed to be going out,” you reprimanded him for showing up unannounced and in the middle of quarantine.

“I told you we’re going to Vancouver, I know you read my text. Now let’s hurry up and pack, we gotta get going,” Mat rushed, already on the way to your bedroom.

You followed him after a brief moment once you’d processed what was going on. Mat had already pulled out your suitcase and set it on top of your bed by the time you entered the door. He was in the middle of rifling through your drawers and grabbing random garments to throw into the suitcase when you’d spoken again.

“You’re actually serious about this?”

“Of course I am. What better things do you have to do in a city on lockdown for an entire summer? Honestly, I’m doing you a favor,” he explained easily, turning back to grab more items.

“Oh, you’re doing me a favor? Thank you, Mat, for saving me from a summer of suffering. It’s not like I had other plans to find different internships or focus on my summer classes,” you replied sarcastically.

Mat rolled his eyes. “I am doing you a favor, and you’re doing me a favor by going. I need a hot piece of ass to get me through this, or I will lose my mind.” You slugged him on the shoulder in offense, but all he did was chuckle.

“And anyways, you can still do your classes in Vancouver. Instead of doing them locked in this apartment, you can do them lounged out under the Canadian sun. Preferably in a bikini,” he finished. You slugged his arm again, harder this time.

“In fact, you should take the red bikini, it makes your tits look amazing,” he said, noticing you shuffling through your swimsuits. You rolled your eyes at him but grabbed the red one anyway along with a couple others.

With both of you folding and packing, your bags were ready to go in record time.

“Alright, baby, let’s go.” And so you were off.

A week had gone by in total bliss. As much as you hated to admit it, Mat was right. Vacationing in Vancouver in a secluded lake house was a lot better than being alone in your apartment, even if you did still have classes to do. Mat teased you about it, but he always left you alone for a few hours in the day for you to focus on your work. Unless he really wanted something… like right now.

Mat had joined you laying on the couch while you were in the middle of annotating a book for class. He wiggled his way between your arms, causing you to break your hold on your book. He rested his head on your chest, arms wrapped around your middle, and nuzzled his face into your neck. Joining your hands back to your book and bringing your highlighter to the page, you continued to underline phrases you’d come back to later. A couple minutes passed in silence before Mat started sighing. And then he sighed again.

“What do you want?” you huffed out, closing your book with the pen marking your page.

“Let’s go swimming,” he said, pushing up to his elbows to look at your face.

“I have to finish, like, three more chapters today,” you explained.

“You can do that later. I want to go swimming now,” Mat whined.

“You know you sound like a petulant child right now, right?” you asked, moving a hand to his head, pushing his hair back as he pouted.

“Stop using big words on me. Let’s swim,” he said, rolling his eyes.

You paused to think about it for a moment, “Hmm… okay, I guess,” you said with a smile. Mat returned your smile with one of his own before hopping up to drag you to your room to change. It didn’t take much to convince you to swim. It was a really nice day out, and you didn’t really care to finish reading about 17th century philosophy.

You changed into your red bikini, Mat swapped his shorts for a pair of swim trunks, and threw on a backwards baseball cap. You went out back to join the rest of his friend group, who were in the process of loading up the boat with supplies and equipment.

“Oh, look, if it isn’t Brainiac and the Beast. Are you two finally going to go boating with us?” Tyson shouted from the dock. You rolled your eyes at his nickname they created for you and Mat. It had only been a week in Vancouver, but the chirps about you and school were tired by now.

“Princess here wants to swim in the pool, maybe next time!” you shouted back, pointing to Mat.

They laughed at your response, turning their attention back to the boat and running supplies to and from the house. You turned your attention back to Mat, who was taking off his hat and was about two seconds away from jumping in the pool.

“Mathew, stop!” you yelled out, “Get your ass over here!”

“What is it?” he asked, stopping just short of the deep end. He grumbled before marching over to you.

“You need to put sunscreen on first, dumbass,” you reprimanded. As you turned your back to grab the bottle of sunscreen, he rolled his eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, Mat,” you said sharply, turning back to face him with a raised eyebrow.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, baby.”

You ignored him, opening the cap and squeezing lotion onto your hands. You gestured him to turn around, and you spread the lotion over it, making sure to rub it into his shoulders.

“I don’t see why I have to put sunscreen on. It’s not even that hot outside,” he muttered.

“First of all, you’re a dumbass. Second of all, heat doesn’t automatically mean the UV rays aren’t strong. And lastly, you’re white, baby, you’ll burn like a sun-dried tomato and being in water only increases the amount of sun you’re exposed to,” you explained, reaching up to rub some on his face.

“Sorry, Miss Meteorologist,” he grumbled, clearly not happy he’d lost this argument.

“One of us has to have brains. We can’t all get by on our good looks and skating ability,” you replied, slapping his cheeks when you were done for good measure.

“Okay, well, if you’re finally done,” you nodded in confirmation, “Let’s go.” He picked you up from under your thighs and ran at full speed towards the pool before you could even process what was happening. You screamed his name in protest begging him to put you down, claiming you hadn’t had time to put on sunscreen yet. He ignored you as he jumped into the deep end, dragging you with him.

You emerged from the water clinging to Mat’s wet body, your hair sopping and hanging over your face like you had come straight out of the movie The Grudge. Mat was laughing at your chaotic look, knowing you were well pissed at him. You jumped higher in the water on top of him to dunk his head under and tried your best to drown him.

It wasn’t until you were relaxing on the couch later that night doing your routinely social media scroll that you saw one of the guys recorded your sunscreen interaction by the pool, you calling Mat a dumbass, and him throwing you in the pool onto their instagram story with a caption “all these two do is fight” with some laughing crying emojis added for effect.

After a long day or hiking, you’d immediately crashed on the couch once you’d gotten back to the house, not bothering to walk all the way to your room. It was only early in the afternoon but you’d been out since sunrise, and dealing with people for hours on end had drained you. The group laughed at you as you plopped your body down onto the couch, curling your head under your arm instead of grabbing the pillow two feet away from you. The rest of them gathered in the kitchen, refueling their bodies with assorted snacks as they started popping open bottles of beer, ready to start the night. It seemed that even an entire day on their feet had not emptied them of their, seemingly endless, energy.

“Jesus Christ, we hiked for, like, six hours and you’re all still bouncing off the walls,” you sighed deeply.

“We’re about to go hit the boat and go water skiing, too. I’m assuming you’re too tired to join us?” Tyson teased.

“I will not be joining you because unlike some people, I need a nap. Now get out of here, you’re all giving me a headache,” you said, pinching your fingers on the bridge of your nose to emphasize your point.

They all snickered but kept quiet as they shuffled around, packing up more food to take outside. You heard the sliding door shut and close a few times as they ran in and out before it was finally silent. You let out a sigh of relief as you took solace in the calm quiet.

That was until you felt a pair of arms shifting you closer to the edge of the couch. You peeked one eye open to see Mat rolling your body over to give him some space as he climbed over your body to nestle himself between you and the back cushions.

“Not going out on the boat?” You asked as he tucked a pillow under the both of your heads and pulled a blanket over your bodies.

“No. They’re exhausting. I need some time for myself,” Mat replied, wrapping his arm around your middle to pull you into his chest.

“No offense, but if you’re with me, you’re not by yourself,” you explained, closing your eyes again as you settled into a comfortable position.

“Yeah, but you’re you. You don’t exhaust me,” he said quietly. You didn’t know what to say to that, so you didn’t answer. Within a few seconds you heard Mat’s breathing even out, and you followed quickly behind him into a deep sleep.

A couple hours passed in a dreamless sleep when you heard the sliding of doors and laughter travel through the house. It stirred you from your sleep and you both shifted around, letting out displeased groans.

“Are they both still asleep?” You heard one of them ask from the kitchen. Neither of you wanted to answer in hopes they would leave you two to continue sleeping.

You were sadly mistaken.

“Hey! Sleeping beauties! Time to get up!” Tyson shouted from somewhere above you.

You both groaned out a “Fuck off, Tyson,” without opening your eyes, both of you giving him the middle finger. Tyson laughed to himself and you expected him to keep bothering you, but you heard his footsteps lead away from the couch. You turned over on your other side, tucking your face into Mat’s neck before falling back asleep.

When you woke up later that evening, you checked instagram again to see Tyson posted a new story. It was the video of him bothering you two and flipping him off with a caption that said “I get no respect around here :(“

It had been raining all day. Which meant everyone was stuck inside watching movies and eating pizza. It didn’t take long for you to get bored of lounging on the couch, especially when all they wanted to do was watch Fast and Furious movies. You sat on the loveseat you were sharing with Mat, and you distracted yourself from the boring movie by tangling your hands in your hair, French braiding the strands into pigtails mindlessly. You unbraided and rebraided your hair into a fishtail after the pigtails, and then into a regular braided ponytail after that. You let yourself get caught up in daydreams as you stared blankly at the TV when Mat started tugging on your leg. Dropping your braid, you finished tying it off with a hair tie and turned to look at him.

“Let me practice on you,” Mat said quietly.

“Practice what?” You asked.

“Braiding,” he said, shuffling to sit upright. He tried to gently push you off the couch until you got the hint and moved to sit between his legs on the floor.

“You think you can do it?” You asked, ready to offer him a demonstration.

“I’ve been watching you for the past half hour, I got this,” he replied, pulling out your hair tie. You rolled your eyes at his confidence, but let him continue unraveling the strands.

Every few minutes Mat would sigh exasperatedly before pulling out the twists he’d made to start over. Eventually, he’d almost gotten all the way to the end of your hair before he sighed again, clearly fed up by how long this was taking him. You didn’t say anything as he restarted for a third time, going for a straight back braid instead of a French braid.

After another ten minutes, Mat had finally completed his simple braid, tying your hair off with the tie. He tapped your shoulder to indicate he was done, and you pulled the long tail over your shoulder to look at it.

It was a braid.

An extremely loose one where he mixed up the strand order in a couple places, but a braid nonetheless. You turned around to get back up on the couch, and you were met with his triumphant smile.

“Good job, bud,” you complimented, leaving the braid in as you resumed your previous position on the couch.

You checked your phone to find a notification of a new story tag. You opened the app to see a picture of you on the floor, staring at the TV while Mat had his hands twisted in your hair and a confused look on his face and tongue poking out of his mouth. Next to your instagram tag was “he’s been knotting her hair on purpose for 20 minutes now”

Your final exams for the summer classes you were taking were in a week. Finals stressed you out more than anything else in the world, and when you were stressed, you did a lot of baking. A lot of baking. After finishing your finals study schedule and nearly breaking down almost twice because of the amount you had to get done, you decided to start baking instead of going to sleep. So, at 3 in the morning when everyone was asleep, you’d turned on the oven and brought out the bowls.

It began with a few dozen cookies. You figured everyone could at least enjoy the cookies. Who didn’t like cookies?

Cookies turned into muffins, muffins into cupcakes, and then cupcakes into pies. By the time everyone was waking up, it was nearly eleven in the morning. You’d gone to the store twice and had taken a few twenty minute naps while you waited for your desserts baked in the oven. And right now, you were in the middle of finishing off some cinnamon rolls for breakfast

“Oh my god, what the hell happened here?” Mat had asked with a scared expression, taking note of the disastrous kitchen. You didn’t answer him as you were topping off the rolls with some icing.

A few more bodies had gathered in the kitchen and began to fill the seats at the countertop while they watched you with worried eyes.

“What?” You asked innocently, placing the plates of cinnamon rolls in front of all of them. Their eyes followed you carefully as you pulled more goods out of the oven where you were keeping them warm. Plate after plate you set on the counter, all the cookies and muffins and cakes.

“How long have you been up?” Tyson asked cautiously. You swear you’ve never heard him use a softer voice than right now.

“I’m not sure. I never went to sleep, I guess? What time is it now?” You asked, pulling out glasses for orange juice.

“Nearly noon. You seriously didn’t sleep?” Tyson asked. The others had delved into the confections, eyes bouncing between the two of you as they stuffed their faces.

“She’s stress baking,” Mat replied quietly, helping himself to a cinnamon roll.

“What the hell is tress baking?” One of the other guys asked.

“Yeah she does this when she’s stressed. Usually when finals are coming up,” Mat said, directing it more towards you than his friend. You gave him a sheepish look, deciding not to comment since he already answered for you.

Mat was used to your stress baking as it resulted in you showing up at his place in the middle of the night with bags full of pastries in the late hours of the evening. It was always against his diet and he frequently gave most of your desserts to his neighbor, but he could never tell you no when you arrived with gifts.

“Well, I’m all out of flour, so, I’m going to run to the store again to get some more supplies so I can make a chocolate cake later,” you said hurriedly.

You did a quick double check of the kitchen, flashing all the guys a bright smile before heading out the door with your purse in hand, all of them staring until the front door shut behind you.

When you came back, you found Mat in the kitchen doing the dishes and nearly all the sweets you’d baked earlier were eaten or wrapped and put away. Maybe there was a plus side to being in a home with five other people.

“Mat, you don’t have to do that,” you said, setting your groceries down and hip checking him away from the sink.

“You’re already stressed, I figured doing the dishes would take away some of that,” he said with a shrug. He continued rinsing out some bowls as you gave him a small smile.

The two of you continued to wash the dishes in silence, moving to clean the countertops when you were done. After half an hour, the mess you’d made was gone and any signs of a baking breakdown had been erased.

It was a shame you were about to tear up the kitchen all over again.

“How about this,” Mat said, noticing the frown on your face at the thought of making another mess, “Let’s have a competition.”

You quirked your eyebrow, “I’m listening.”

“You said you were making a chocolate cake, right? How about we see who can make the better cake,” Mat propositioned.

You raised both your eyebrows this time. You both knew you were the better baker by a long shot. You did have this same breakdown at least twice a year. You weren’t even sure Mat knew how to make anything that didn’t come with box instructions or included possible salmonella-inducing ingredients.

You knew what he was really trying to do. He was trying to distract you from all the stress, and he knew you couldn’t turn down a competition. You were just as bad as him when it came to winning. Thankfully, this was something you knew you’d win.

“Fine, but I hope you’re prepared to lose,” you agreed with a smile.

“I don’t know, I have been practicing my cooking skills lately,” he said, grabbing the bowls he’d just dried off.

“Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it,” you replied with an eye roll and heavy sarcasm.

You joined him in gathering all the ingredients and materials on the counter, setting up your respective stations. Mat divided the workspace in half, drawing a line in flour which made you laugh. You split the bowls between the sides and set up the ingredients on the second counter just like an actual cooking show.

“Okay, ground rules first. Half an hour to make the cakes, we bake them at the same time, and then another half hour for decorating at the end,” you explained, tying your hair back in a ponytail. Mat nodded at your statement and set a timer on his phone for 30 minutes.

“Ready.”

“Set.”

“Go!”

After about two hours, your creations were done. Well, they were supposed to be. Mat’s cake looked more or less like a brown lump coated in frosting and stripes. You’d tried your best to decorate yours with small chocolate roses, but you could’ve turned out a plain cake and probably would have done better.

“I think I won,” you stated confidently.

“You’re not allowed to decide, you’re biased! I’ll make a poll on my story,” Mat said, going to grab his phone.

“You can’t do that, your followers are going to pick yours.”

“Fine, we’ll get someone else to do it— Josty! Come here,” Mat called to his friend passing through the kitchen. He hesitantly walked over to where you were, not wanting to come in the middle of whatever you two were shouting about.

“We need you to make an instagram poll to see who’s cake looks better. Oh, and you’re going to taste test them,” you said, picking up your cake to pose for a picture as Mat did the same. Tyson sighed before realizing you two were serious and he opened his app to take a picture.

He added the photo to his story with a poll asking “Which one is better?” With two options, Y/N’s or Mat’s.

After you set the cakes back down, Tyson picked up a fork before stabbing them to pick out a chunk from each. He ate yours first, nearly moaning at the taste.

“Holy shit, this is, like, the best cake I’ve ever eaten,” Tyson said, shoveling down another forkful. You gave Mat a shit-eating grin.

“Okay, okay, try mine now,” Mat said, displeased. Tyson rolled his eyes before forking out some of his.

“Uh,” he coughed, “it’s a little,” cough, “dry.”

“What? No, it’s not! Let me try,” Mat shouted, outraged, and grabbed Tyson’s fork to try for himself.

It took him two seconds before he was spitting the cake into a napkin.

“Fine. You win,” Mat conceded, throwing a dish towel against the counter in mock fury.

You gloated for another 5 minutes, pointing out Mat’s terrible baking skills as Tyson continued to eat your cake and laugh at Mat.

You won the instagram poll too.

+ 1

It was the last week before you and Mat were flying back to New York. The past month had passed quickly, and Mat needed to get back for the start of training camps. As the summer began to end, the whole crew thought they’d spend one last day on the boat before everyone started parting ways.

It’s not like you were opposed to being on boats, but when all the guys did was water sports and no one wanted to slow down to teach you, it wasn’t as fun.

Today, however, had been quite calm as you sat against the front of the boat, a seltzer in hand as you watched Tyson wakeboarding in the back. Mat was curled up behind you as you leaned back against his chest, tanned skin shining in the summer sun. You reached back to grab the baseball cap off his head, placing it on yours to shield your eyes from the sun. You’d forgotten to bring sunglasses, and you figured Mat could part with his hat since he had a pair.

The day passed peacefully as all the guys took turns until it was sunset. Mat had joined you back on the seat, skin wet from just getting out of the water. He wrapped you in his arms before pulling you onto his lap, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek.

“Hey, Tys, take a picture of us real quick,” Mat said, shoving his phone into Tyson’s chest.

You thought nothing of it, you and Mat had taken many pictures together, and this was no different. Mat rested his chin on your shoulder, his arms wrapped around your stomach as you both gave your cheesiest smiles to the camera. A quick shutter indicated the picture was taken and Tyson gave Mat his phone back.

Mat called your name from your bed as you stood in the adjoined bathroom, finishing your nightly routine.

“Hey, do you mind if I post that picture of us on my instagram?” Mat called out.

“The one from the boat? Why?” You asked, drying off your face with a towel.

“It’s a cute picture,” he shrugged when you reentered the room.

“People are going to start talking if you do,” you warned with a cautious tone.

He paused for a second.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Mat asked quietly, looking up to meet your eyes.

You stayed silent as you climbed in under the covers.

“What are you trying to say, Mat?”

He took a deep breath, “I think you’re amazing, you know that. And we’ve been friends for so long, it kind of feels natural, doesn’t it?” His fingers began tapping against the sheets anxiously as he held his breath and waited for your response.

You gave him a small smile, moving your body around to fully face him.

“It does,” you agreed, “But if you want us to be something more, you’re going to have to ask me on a date first.”

“A date? After I’ve already gotten you into bed? What’s the point?” You knew he meant it as a joke since he could barely finish the sentence without laughing, but you gently slapped his head as he began to apologize.

“I’m kidding!” He said between chuckles, “Will you go on a date with me once we get back to New York and it’s safe to go out again?”

“I’d love to, Mat,” you replied, leaning in to give him a sweet kiss.

“I’m still going to post that photo tomorrow, though,” he said after a short pause, smiling against your lips.

The next day when Mat had gone on a fishing trip with the guys, you saw a notification pop up on your phone.

“@barzal97 tagged you in a photo”

You unlocked your phone.

“Isolation isn’t so bad when you have this girl to spend it with”

#mat barzal #mat barzal imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagine #nhl fic #my writing #isles13

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rodr1cks · 4 years

Text

Sick Day | 2.1k

fluff!! you’re sick and rodrick comes to the rescue.

warnings: vomit, being sick in general

All day you had been feeling extremely ill. The nurse at school was being impossible and refused to send you home, despite your pleas.

“Please Mrs. Williams, I feel terrible you have to believe me!”

She was extremely skeptical, “Child, do you know how many times I hear that in a day? You don’t have a fever, back to class.”

And just like that, you were dismissed. Sent to endure the rest of your classes in misery.

The day went by painfully slow after your trip to the nurse. The fluorescent lights berated your pupils making it impossible to concentrate and worsening your headache.

It was sixth period, the last class of the day. Also your least favorite class of the day. You couldn’t stand the teacher. Mr. Wright. He was your classic asshole history teacher.

You were completely zoned out, trying to focus on not vomiting. Your name being called pulled you out of your haze.

“Miss y/l/n? Do you care to answer me? Unless you’re busy of course.”

Condescending bastard.

You held your tongue, swallowing any smart-ass comments that threatened to spill past your lips. You cleared your throat.

“I’m sorry, what was the question.”

He went through the whole “this is a learning environment” lecture after that. Again, you didn’t listen. You couldn’t have even if you wanted to. Thankfully, he left you alone after that.

Finally, the last bell of the day sounded through the school. You lept from your seat and ran to the bathroom. You practically body slammed the door open. Luckily, the bathroom was empty, most kids having already filed out of the main doors, eager to begin their weekend festivities.

You were hunched over one of the white porcelain bowl, tears filling your eyes.

Today could not get any worse.

After taking a few deep breaths, you were able to compose yourself enough to exit the bathroom.

You crossed your fingers, hoping that the halls had been completely evacuated.

You crept through the empty corridors and out into the parking lot. You were especially dreading the walk home today.

You were walking through the parking lot, enjoying the fresh air when you saw him. Rodrick Heffley.

The two of you were best friends in elementary school but you drifted apart after a while. You honestly developed a certain distaste for him, as he had you.

Please don’t notice me, please don’t-

“Y/n!”

Shit.

“Rodrick!” you feigned enthusiasm.

His brow furrowed, “You look… paler than usual?” You rolled your eyes, classic Rodrick. You wanted this interaction to end, immediately. “Yup. Not feeling well.” You deadpanned, providing little detail.

Rodrick hesitated for a moment, “Well, let me drive you home, kid.”

Kid. Who did he think he was?

“I think I’ll pass, weather is nice today.” The weather was far from nice.

“Oh really, the weather is nice, y/n? Where are you right now? Because it’s raining where I am.”

He sighed, “and I also saw that little performance Mr. Wright gave you...”

Oh so he pities me.

“Rodrick, If I get in your van will you stop talking?”

He motioned, pretending to zip his lips up and throw away the key. A small smile spread across your face but you didn’t let him see that.

A few minutes into the drive, you decided you were glad you let him take you home. The sky had opened up and it was storming.

Oh God.

“Rodrick, pull over, now.”

He looked over at you and could tell what was about to happen. He pulled over quickly and you opened the door. You leaned over and vomited right onto the grass patch parallel to the road, in the pouring rain.

Coyly, you returned to your seat in the van. You were unsure if you should apologize, so you stayed silent.

“Y/n, are your parents home?”

He knew they never were. Ever since you were a kid, your parents had been anywhere but home. Business trips, vacations, retreats, you name it.

You looked down at your shoes, water dripping from your hair, and shook your head.

“Alrighty then, change of plans.”

You protested, “Rodrick that’s really not necessary I’ll be fine.” Part of you knew there was no point in arguing. If he was one thing, it was stubborn.

He reached out, placing the back of his hand on your forehead to prove a point, “Y/n, you’re burning up. You’re coming with me.”

You were closer to his house anyways. That’s how you justified it, at least.

His van pulled into The Heffley’s driveway. Rodrick got out and rushed around the vehicle to open your door.

“Come along, y/n. I know somebody who will be very happy to see you,” he grinned.

The front door swung open and you were hit with a wave of nostalgia. The Heffley’s house was always warm and always smelled spectacular. Somehow, Mrs. Heffley was always baking or cooking something.

“Y/n? What a nice surprise this is!” Mrs. Heffley beamed. She had always loved you. “How I’ve missed seeing your face around here!” She said, placing her hands on your checks.

“You’re soaking wet!” You nodded awkwardly in response. “And goodness, you’re burning up! Are you feeling alright?” She felt your forehead and cheeks, then squeezed your shoulders gently.

From a young age, Mrs. Heffley had looked after you as one of her own. Nothing had changed it seemed.

“No, actually,” you smiled half-heartedly. Mrs. Heffley frowned at you. “Rodrick, get her some dry clothes, would you?.” Rodrick nodded, leading you up the stairs.

You stood in his room, obviously uncomfortable. He was knelt in front of his dresser, digging around for something.

“Ah! Here it is.”

Rodrick whipped out a t-shirt for you to change into. He grabbed a pair of black sweats from another drawer as well.

“Here you are, mademoiselle.” He stuck out the wad of clothing in your direction. You couldn’t lie, you were happy to have some dry clothes to change into.

You stepped into his bathroom, taking a moment to examine your appearance. You looked rough. Intense bags hung low under your eyes and you truly did look more pale than usual. Fantastic.

You emerged from the bathroom, Rodrick’s clothing drooping slightly from your frame. Rodrick was sitting on the end of his bed and he patted the surface.

You joined him on his twin mattress, only because you were exhausted.

“Rodrick, why are you being nice to me?”

He looked guilty. “You’ve had a rough day, y/n…”

He sucked in a breath, “...and y’know I’ll always care about you.”

How could he still care for you? You completely wrote him off when high school began.

“Listen, y/n, the past is in the past, okay?”

A genuine smile appeared on your face. Before the moment could become too sentimental, Rodrick interjected.

“Oh! Be right back,” he chirped.

He ran downstairs and came back with an orange soda and some cold & flu medicine.

Rodrick explained himself, “Orange! Like, vitamin C, right?” He looked too happy with himself, you couldn’t bring him down. At least his heart was in the right place.

Concealing your laughter to the best of your ability, you accepted the beverage and medicine from his hand.

You hated this kind of medicine with your whole heart. The orange soda could be useful honestly, just not for its nutritional value like Rodrick intended.

Rodrick measured out the appropriate amount of the medicine for you as you cracked open the can. He handed you the small cup full of the thick, red liquid.

You threw back the grotesque cherry flavored solution, grimacing as it coated your throat. You chased the medicine with the orange soda. See, it did come in handy.

You leaned back into Rodrick’s pillows, trying to relax.

About fifteen minutes later you felt extremely drowsy. “Rodrick, can I see that bottle?”

“Uh, sure,” he said, confused.

You read the bottle and instantly threw your head back in annoyance. “Rodrick this is the drowsy kind!” You continued inspecting the bottle, “and it’s extra strength!”

With each second passing, it got increasingly difficult to keep your eyes open.

Everything was blurry and you were teetering between consciousness and sleep.

“Rodrick,” you slurred. “I’m so sorry I stopped talking to you… stopped being your friend. Felt like I wasn’t cool or pretty enough… didn’t deserve you.”

Rodrick was extremely confused. You thought you were too good for him? He had to hold back a laugh.

He couldn’t conceal his smile, “Excuse me? Y/n, that must be the nyquil talking.” He rolled his eyes and brushed off your comment, contemplating the sentiment for a mere moment.

You eventually drifted off, unable to ward off sleep any longer.

When you woke up, you first noticed rodrick. He was sitting on his beaten up couch with his headphones covering his ears. You could hear the muffled baseline from your spot across the room.

How are his eardrums still intact?

Rodrick had a shoebox on his lap and he was shuffling through the contents, smiling to himself.

You cleared your throat, obtaining his attention.

“Oh, y/n! You’re up!” He smiled at you, ripping off his headphones.

You nodded slowly, knuckling your eyes sleepily.

“What time is it?”

Rodrick glanced at his watch, “It’s only 8:30.” You nodded again, continuing to rub the sleep from your eyes.

Rodrick stood, picking up the box and walking over to you. “Look,” he said softly. You peered down into the small shoebox and numerous photos and letters.

“This one here is my favorite,” he said quietly. It was a picture of you and Rodrick at the roller rink. You recognized the photo immediately.

“Seventh grade kick off,” you smiled. You took the box from his lap and began looking through each photo, braided friendship bracelet, concert ticket.

You laughed as each item brought back memories you had long forgotten.

You stopped at a photo of the two of you dressed up in ridiculous outfits. You wore a sequined hat and Rodrick held his drumsticks in hand.

“Was this when we saw Good Charlotte?” You asked.

He giggled, “It sure was. I remember thinking I looked so hot that night. Guess not huh.”

“What are you talking about, you looked incredible Rodrick. Seventh grade me was dying to jump you right then and there.”

His face lit up, “Really?”

“No,” you flashed him an expressionless look before breaking out into side-splitting laughter. He joined you.

You missed this feeling of pure, unadulterated joy. Rodrick was the only person who you had truly experienced that with.

You sighed to yourself. Come tomorrow, you’d be back to strangers. Tears welled up in your eyes and your lip quivered. Rodrick was oblivious until a single tear drop fell onto the photograph below you.

He immediately tried to comfort you. He placed an arm around your shoulder, dragging you into his larger frame. It caught you off guard but you allowed yourself to melt into his touch.

Rodrick distracted you from your sorrow. “Look at this one right here.” It was a photo of you and the Heffley Family in their backyard. You and Rodrick were around fifteen, if you remembered correctly.

“This was the day that I realized I had a big, fat crush on you.”

He followed up, “S’lame I know…”

Heat flooded your cheeks, this time the heat was not a result of your illness. Was it anxiety? Happiness? Both? You couldn’t decide.

“You never really explained why you stopped talking to me and coming by my house.”

You shrugged at him, feeling like your explanation would make him mad. “Well, Rodrick, you started getting new friends. Friends that were better than me or cooler than me.”

“Y/n that is probably the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I could never replace you. To this day, nobody’s ever come close.”

He gave you a playful smack over the head.

“...anyways, to be honest that crush never really went away?”

Before you had time to process the sentence he was gently grabbing your chin, turning your head.

You were facing him now, your lips only inches away from his.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Y-yeah, yes, I think so, yeah.”

He laughed at you and leaned in slowly. Rodrick used one finger to gently move your hair out of your face.

The kiss was gentle and filled with emotion.

You felt like you hadn’t known what you were missing out on until that moment. You felt completed.

“Oh shit, I better not get sick!”

#rodrick heffley x reader #rodrick heffley #rodrick fanfiction #diary of a wimpy kid #rodrick

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twiceinadream · 3 years

Text

Twice HC- Having Them as Your Wife

Requested: Yup

Request: could u do wife head cannons for the girls with a little nsfw 👉🏾😗👉🏾

a/u: Hey, guys! I’m so glad to be back and I want to thank all of you for waiting for me. I love you all and I hope you enjoy, I’m sorry if it’s a little off, it’s been awhile. And thank you all so much for 2.8k!

Category: Fluff and NSFW

Nayeon

Super playful and would always love doing PDA to make you blush when the two of you were out

Could either be a complete baby or an absolute devil

You were the one who proposed and she cried her eyes out so much that she just kissed you instead of saying, “Yes!”

Was a total Bridezilla, but meant well and the wedding was amazing

And even though she was a menace at times, she really knew you inside and out ;)

Jeongyeon

Prank wars were inevitable in your home

But no matter how much she teased you, she got super protective if anyone so much as breathed wrong around you

Loves to cook you dinner but gets really shy if you surprise her with small gifts or kisses

Had a super small wedding but it was better than you had ever dreamed of

Was so soft and caring when it came to making love, but was one hell of a pillow princess when you took over

Momo

Loved restaurant hopping and night market exploring with you

Completely choreographed your first dance that blew any wedding dance ever out of the water

No matter what, wherever she was, Boo and Dobby had to be there too. Even if it was your guy’s bed

She vowed, literally vowed to you at the altar, that she would teach your kids how to dance (was a bit strange but everyone found it sweet and very Momo)

And later that night she also showed you a special dance she had choreographed for your eyes only, it was a very long and amazing night with two noise complaints in the morning.

Sana

Was honestly the queen of PDA

If she wasn’t wrapped around you like a koala she always found a way to have some form of physical contact with you when the two of you were together

Adopted a shiba puppy after the first year of dating and promptly began calling it your guy’s son

Loved taking you to Japan so she could show you where she grew up, and after 5 years of marriage you finally took the leap and surprised her with a home you bought two houses down from her parents

But don’t get me wrong, clingy, also meant she was very attentive to your every need (if you catch my drift)

Jihyo

As much as she would have wanted to propose, she was still over the moon when you asked her

Your guy’s house was never quiet since Jihyo could never go a second of doing tasks without humming or just singing aloud

But no matter how much you said you’d get a noise complaint from your neighbors, you wouldn’t ever want her to stop

Loves to take you out for spontaneous dates or outings

Would always spoil you both outside and in the bedroom

Mina

Her love language was touch since words weren’t always her forte

Enjoys teaching you ballet, but laughs when you give her over exaggerated performances of what she had taught you

When she got really sleepy she would end up slipping up and talking in Japanese, so you started taking classes so you could communicate with her in her mother tongue (and to make comments about people in public)

For her birthday you and her members rented out a zoo so you could all have the place to yourselves and so that she could meet penguins

Literally lived up to the saying, “It’s always the quiet ones.” Because she could get a little freaky...but in a good way

Dahyun

She surprised you at your guys wedding by playing the piano to a song she wrote about your relationship, and how she couldn’t wait to spend the rest of your lives together

You cried like a baby...and so did Dahyun. It made for a very puffy eyed first dance.

Bought a fixer upper in the quiet suburbs that she planned on raising your guy’s kids in and to grow old with you

Two years after the two of you got married you guys adopted a little girl from Seongnam-si (her hometown) and loved her like no other

Was super shy in the beginning of the relationship when the two of you got intimate but gradually grew out of her shell

Chaeyoung

On your honeymoon she got a tattoo of your guy’s wedding date, and to her surprise you got a matching one with her

Before the two you settled down she took you on a vacation around the world

Would constantly sketch you when you weren’t looking and surprised you with them

Her favorite thing in the world was taking to new art exhibits that opened up around the city and for your guy’s first wedding anniversary you surprised with an exhibit of her own artwork that you and her members put together

She was very attentive in the bedroom and loved to paint on your back for “foreplay”

Tzuyu

You adopted puppies and their mother and surprised Tzuyu with them after getting home from your guy’s wedding

She loved taking you back to her hometown in Taiwan

Taught you Mandarin every chance she got and you would cook her, her favorite childhood foods when she got homesick

Your weekly date nights consisted of volunteering at a local animal shelter then take out and a movie night cuddled together

Tzuyu never got super extreme when it came to sex but she did have a bit of an exhibitionist streak going for her

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well-its-not-human-anymore · 3 years

Note

Hi Hi!!!! So I've been following your account for a little while now and I love every single comedy bomb you drop on what you write so I was wondering....

How would the boys react to their S/O who is usually reserved when at the lair, doing a full 180 when at April's? Like they could be April's roommate or something?....

Like crackhead energy, dishing out memes and vines and literally having a duel with Casey about leftovers in the fridge?... Yeah I know it's very specific 💀

I don't know.....the idea just popped into my head but I lack the creativity and comedy skills for that...so I was wondering if you could do something with this?.....

It's totally fine, if not 😁😁

This is... 100% me. I love this and I'm gonna pour my soul into it. Also I have started mentally referring to these as comedy bombs and I refuse to stop.

Also, I hope you don't mind that I wrote these in oneshot form instead of bullet points. It just made more sense for my brain.

TMNT Oneshots

The boys with a partner whose reserved at the lair but an absolute crack gremlin at home 🤣

Donatello

Donnie may have been a man of science, all logic and facts and numbers and things. But he absolutely believed that everyone had three separate faces, you were direct proof of that theory. While the purple terrapin had known you for nearly a year you’d only started dating a month ago and it shocked him that he was still uncovering new things about you. He loved it, sure, but it had a tendency to give him figurative whiplash.

He’d always known you to be calm and collected, maybe even a bit shy. He swore you’d explode if more than one person tried to talk to you at the same time. So it wasn’t an over exaggeration for him to say that your behavior at home nearly made him break his neck.

He was only there to help April fix a bug in her laptop and to confirm your next date, he was excited to see you since you’d had no contact in person for a week because of your schedules. Just lots of phone calls and exchanged text messages. You both missed each other like crazy and your roommate had neglected to inform you that your boyfriend was coming over.

Hers was already there and he was driving you up the wall, you’d never actually thought about committing a murder but Casey was pushing you very close to the edge of snapping. And he might as well have crane-kicked you off your cliff of patience and into the rushing river of “you little fucking shit I’m gonna piss on your grave” below. You hadn’t even heard Donnie come in through the window much less his conversation with April over her computer.

All you knew was that Casey had come parading into your room like a tyrant eating the leftovers in the fridge that you had specifically put your name on. That did it. Your eyes had skimmed over the top of your textbook to meet the asshole in front of you.

“Casey?”

He couldn’t speak through the mouthful he was trying to chew and grunted in pathetic response.

“Is that my cheeseburger?”

You’d never seen a living person imitate a pug’s facial structure so well, the man’s eyes bugged out of his head and he tossed the takeout box on your desk before turning and bolting out of your room. You followed about two steps behind with a bottle of shampoo in your hand. No, you weren’t entirely sure where you’d grabbed it from, all you knew was that it was your weapon. And it quickly became a very messy problem when it missed your target (Casey’s head) and slammed into the wall, exploding on impact.

You didn’t think you’d thrown it that hard.

“April April help help help helpppppppppppppp-'' The two on the couch had looked up during the chase throughout the apartment, Donnie was mostly curious at what Casey was screaming about. Not a lot usually made the guy make that noise. He was then distracted by April grabbing the laptop and passing it to him, she then clambered over his legs to sit behind him.

“YOU UGLY ASS CROISSANT! FUCKING PANINI HEAD- IT HAD MY NAME ON IT YOU DAFT AVACADO!”

Your boyfriend almost went vertical upon watching you tackle Casey to the floor and knee him in the groin. You shook the terrified man under you and slammed him a little harder into the rug.

“Touch my shit again and I’m gonna make the beaches of Normandy look like a goddamn family vacation.”

Then you climbed off of him and stood, brushing your disheveled t-shirt off with a huff. Donnie caught your attention and you raised your head to grin excitedly at him.

“Hi Dove! April didn’t tell me you were coming over,” you practically skipped over to the couch to peck him on the cheek, “I missed ya, are we still on for Saturday?”

He nodded in complete shock, his gaze flitting from you to Casey, who was still wheezing on the floor and clutching his dick.

“Uhhh yeah! Yeah, yep, Still good for Saturday. Uhm, completely unrelated question, where the hell did you learn to grapple like that?”

You shrugged absentmindedly, already walking to the hall closet to grab cleaning supplies for the puddle of shampoo in the walkway.

“Just kinda picked it up I guess? I’ve watched you guys train enough.”

Leonardo

See, Leo had always known that you were hiding something from him. Be it your true personality or some deep dark secret. He wasn’t really in a rush to find out, you’d tell him when you were ready. The leader enjoyed your quiet disposition anyways, you gave good advice and liked to meditate with him, what more could he ask for? What more could he want?

Well, maybe if you got along better with his family, although he supposed that wasn’t your fault, you always had been a bit shy. Even six months into your relationship with him, Leo only hoped that you’d warm up to his brothers eventually. You seemed to do alright with Splinter, that was a plus for the situation. It wasn’t that you were mean or impolite to the others, you were just… avoidant. Distant, quiet, whatever word you wanted to use. You just didn’t seem comfortable at the lair.

He was excited that April had asked to host a game night though, maybe you’d come out of your shell (haha, see what I did there?) and socialize, even for a little bit. They’d all shown up a few minutes early to make sure April didn’t need help with anything, she’d assured them that everything was handled and made sure to inform Leo that you would be back shortly with Casey from your snack run. Mikey had joked that you’d ditched the get together to avoid them but they all knew it ran the possibility of not being a joke.

You unlocked the door and held it open so Casey could get inside without tripping himself before entering yourself and kicking your shoes off. Leo looked up to meet your eyes and you sent him a wild grin, your entire face lit up with amusement.

“Hi babes! Are you ready to get your ass kicked at Monopoly?”

All the poor turtle could do was nod.

“Good. I did grab drinks by the way, April there should be a mixer in the cooler bag, Donnie there’s some of that lemon lime stuff that you said you wanted to try, Mikey, orange crush as usual, Raph I tried to go for Dr. Pepper but they were out so I figured that root beer was a safe second. And Leo they had a new boba flavor that you haven’t had yet so I grabbed one. If you don’t like it then you can have mine, I just have the peach royal.”

Beverages were tossed and they were lucky that their surprise didn’t throw off their catching skills. You and April shared a quick word in the kitchen as you took your coat off and ran a hand through your hair.

After some arguments team captains were decided and Donnie nearly had a heart attack when you picked him instead of Leo or either of your friends. He even went so far as to point at himself to make sure you weren’t joking. You declared that while you loved your boyfriend his morals were too strong to be competitive, Donnie’s were not, he said so himself.

They were all surprised that you’d remembered that conversation.

It wasn’t until halfway through the game that things started getting heated, you and Mikey were nearly jumping across the table at each other. And it visibly took all of your strength to not burst out laughing when he started yelling.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? THIS IS CHEATING! YOU'RE CHEATING! GET ON TOP OF THE FRIDGE!"

April and Casey were snorting into their arms as you got to your feet and walked towards the kitchen, making a poor attempt at climbing the appliance.

"THIS HOUSE IS A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!"

Raphael

Raph had always been under the impression that you were never really 100% yourself around him, he knew for a fact that you weren’t when you stayed over. He’d never seen someone so aggressively avoid someone, except himself of course. You were his partner of almost a year and it seemed like you were never going to let your true self shine. However you did seem to lighten up when you were alone with him, he supposed that was normal, but you may as well have been a pair of old earbuds that only work when you held them a certain way at the lair.

He honestly hadn’t expected that to change tonight, not given the text that Casey had sent him informing him of April’s recent breakup with whatever guy she’d been dating. So when he climbed in through the window and saw both you and Casey sitting on the floor in front of the bathroom he really didn’t think that the words out of your mouth would be-

“April you’ve got another twenty minutes of this then I’m ripping the door off the hinges!”

Casey shot you a look and you shrugged nonchalantly before getting to your feet and walking over to your confused boyfriend.

“Hey, sorry about this. Casey only texted you as a last resort if he needed someone to stop me from tearing the door off.”

Raph found that peculiar, “Uh, couldn’t he do it himself?”

The man in question looked up from his spot on the floor.

“Nah dude, they’re crazy. Last time I tried stopping them from doing something they nearly knocked my damn tooth out while screaming, and I quote, “If you put your hands on me I’m gonna fucking rip your face off” and quite frankly I don’t have the balls to test that.”

“No no dude, that’s valid. I wouldn’t either. Babe, why are you so-”

You raised an eyebrow at him over a glass of water, “Violent? I’m not Raph. These two just have little bitch feelings.”

He found it hard not to laugh at that and fifteen minutes later when you left his side to approach the door again it sent him reeling.

“This shit’s temporary April. You’ve got nice teeth and a fat ass, stuff your feelings down!”

Michelangelo

There would never be a time where Mikey wasn’t a prankster with you, it was just simply non-negotiable. You were cool with that and he was aware, he was also aware that no pranks were to be pulled at the lair. So he’d reign it in while you visited, just for a short while. But you’d never said anything about the apartment and Mikey was a creature of opportunity.

Unfortunately Leo talked him out of it and forced him not to pull anything while they visited. The leader was already on edge so when he walked in with the others following closely behind you were the first person to see him. Your eyes caught Mikey’s instantly and you might as well have been telepathic at that moment. But you took one look at Leo’s solid, angry face and seized your moment.

They weren’t at all ready for the scream.

“GET YOUR FUCKIN’ DOG BITCH!”

And they also weren’t ready for Mikey’s response of, “It don’t bite.”

And Leo was not ready for the pillow that got whipped at his face at incredibly high speed.

“YES IT DO-”

So when Leo finally realized that they were yelling at him his mood did not improve at all and in fact declined sharply into a pit of “oh fuck”. And that was how you ended up on Mikey’s shoulder getting dragged away from any sort of repercussion for your actions.

These got a little short near the end but I hope you like 'em and I hope I was able to capture what you had in mind! 😁

-Mars 🌠

#tmnt bayverse #tmnt headcanons #tmnt x reader #tmnt leonardo #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #tmnt michelangelo #writing blog #writing requests #ask box #ask response

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dangerouscommiesubversive · 3 years

Note

Song: “Sunset” by The Midnight

Character: main Rider of your choice ^_^

There are several Riders who I feel would fit with this song, especially the line “make our home where we stand, one suitcase and half a plan” so I’m interested to see who you pick! Also I love this song and everyone should listen to it, lol.

Hey, hon! I picked, uh...every main Rider of Heisei Phase 1, Kuuga through Decade. It got a little long.

Readers, please note that these little vignettes are all set after their respective series, and may contain spoilers.

Song: "Sunset," The Midnight (Spotify)

sunset, no regrets

we could run away

The beach is crowded, and Kaoru briefly regrets caving to the affectionate pressure of his friends and booking a vacation in Hawaii. He could have gone somewhere quiet and had time to himself, instead of being in the middle of such riotous noise.

At the same time, though, the sun feels nice on his shoulders, and there’s a good wind. He hasn’t been swimming in years, really. Honestly, he hasn’t been entirely comfortable going to public pools since…he doesn’t go to pools anymore. But the ocean is different. The ocean smells nice, and the sound of the waves is soothing even coming as it does only underneath layer after layer of voices. He can relax here a little. At least, he’ll try to.

After some hunting, he does find somewhere to sit that’s a bit away from the crowd. He spreads out his towel, sits down, and pulls out a novel. Even if he’s not quite ready to swim, he can at least get some reading done.

He’s barely three pages into the book when his concentration is briefly shattered by a chorus of dismayed shouts from a crowd of children down the beach. Some itinerant entertainer has apparently decided to pack up for the afternoon. The children continue to protest and then disperse, in ones and twos and little clusters, and he can return his attention to the page.

At least, for a few more lines, at which point a shadow falls over the paragraph he’s reading and a man says, “Hey, this is an awfully big beach towel for one person, you mind sharing? I forgot to bring mine, would you believe it?”

Irritated, Kaoru opens his mouth to say something and then has to stop as he’s struck by two simultaneous realizations.

The first is, this man is speaking Japanese. Not that there aren’t other Japanese holidaymakers in Hawaii, on this beach even, but it’s still surprising.

The second is—he’s already looking up. He’s looking up, and the sun is in just the wrong place for this, and the hair’s the wrong shape, but the mouth is the same, broad and grinning, the eyes are the same, and he says, “Godai, I don’t believe for a second that you actually forgot to bring your towel, you’re the most prepared man I’ve ever met.”

“Well, yeah, you got me. But it’s all the way over there,” with a vague gesture down the beach, “and you’re over here. So obviously I’d rather be over here. Who finally managed to make you take a vacation?”

“Your sister, actually. I was in Tokyo on a difficult case and I showed up at the restaurant for lunch I think…eight days in a row? She scolded me because I apparently had bags under my eyes, and then she got everyone else to start bullying me too.” He’s not crying. It’s just how bright the sun is that’s a problem. “She was even the one who suggested Hawaii, did you…tell her you were here?”

“I mean, I might have mentioned I was heading here the last time I wrote, I don’t actually remember.” Godai sits down on the towel next to him. “You look great.”

“So do you, you’ve gotten very tan.” He’s not crying. “It’s good to see you.”

Godai just looks at him for a moment, and then shifts on the towel, turns his back, and lies down with his head on Kaoru’s leg, as comfortable as can be. Looking down at him like this, it’s easier to actually see his face, and then he looks up at Kaoru and says, “Good morning, Mr. Ichijo,” just like he did three years ago on a rooftop in Tokyo.

Kaoru stares down at him and is maybe crying a little, but he’d never admit it out loud, and says in return, “Good morning, Godai,” despite it being two in the afternoon.

The grin is blinding. “You can call me Yusuke, you know.”

“I know,” Kaoru says, voice hoarse, “but if I do then I’ll almost certainly cry, and I’d rather not do that with so many people around. Similarly, you can, ah.” A droplet of water falls on Godai’s face, and Godai very politely doesn’t acknowledge it. “You can call me Kaoru.”

“Kaoru. Ok. I’m sorry I’m interrupting your reading, by the way, but you mind if I get some shut-eye? I figure we can catch up later, but I had a really late night, I had to climb a tree. Actually, that’s not accurate, I had to climb…” some counting on fingers, “I think it was three trees? Maybe four.”

“You had to—you can tell me why later. Of course. Rest all you like.”

He half expects Yusuke to get up and head back to his own things, but the sunny, “Awesome, thanks,” is followed by him closing his eyes and promptly falling asleep with his head still in Kaoru’s lap.

After a moment of surprised blinking, Kaoru allows one hand to drift down to rest on Yusuke’s hair, and then goes back to reading.

---

one suitcase and half a plan

The rain is torrential, the wind is high, and Shouichi’s only halfway through the dishes when he hears knocking. He frowns. “Hey, Makoto? Were we expecting someone?”

Makoto leans into the kitchen, also frowning. “I mean, I wasn’t. You didn’t tell Ryou to stop by, did you? Or Mana or someone?”

“No, definitely not.”

More knocking.

“So we should probably see who that is, it’s pouring outside.”

The person on the doorstep is very young-looking, soaking wet, and visibly terrified, and Shouichi gets the door open as they’re raising their hand to knock a third time. They freeze, staring wide-eyed from inside the hood of their sweatshirt, and then say, very slowly, “Are you. Are you Tsugami Shouichi?”

Shouichi blinks. “Yeah, that’s me. Are you looking for a lost dog? I saw one come through the garden earlier but I couldn’t catch it.”

Damp head-shaking as lightning cracks over head. “I. Um. The lady, the lady at—Miss Okamura said come see you.”

A beat, some peering, and then, “Here, you’d better come inside. Hey, Makoto, get a couple of towels, please? And maybe some spare clothes or something? It looks like—what’s your name?”

“Harada Haruko.”

“Haruko is soaked.”

Fifteen minutes later, Haruko is sitting on their couch, practically swimming in some of Shouichi’s old clothes, wrapped in a blanket, and clutching a cup of tea in both hands. Shouichi sits down next to her and says, “You want to tell me what happened?”

She stares into her teacup. “A goose scared me and I yelled at it and it. It d. It died. And the lady at that French restaurant was outside when it happened and she saw and she said I should come see you.”

Makoto catches Shouichi’s eye over Haruko’s head and mouths, “She’s an Agito?”

Shouichi nods back and then says, to Haruko, “That’s my restaurant, Rina works for me. Has that sort of thing happened before?”

“I…I can move things with. With my mind. But don’t ask me to do it now, I can’t do it on purpose mostly except—”

“It’s ok, I believe you.”

She sniffles and takes a gulp of tea before choking out, “I never killed anything before.”

“I’m sure you didn’t mean to do it now.” He reaches out and pats her on the wrist comfortingly, and she lets out another watery sniff. “Most people don’t mean to hurt anyone, it’s just a bad thing that happens. Do you remember when it started happening? Being able to move things?”

“Um. I think. A year and a half ago?”

More than an hour later, Haruko’s drunk two more cups of tea and eaten all of the leftovers from dinner and finally gotten through her halting story, and her energy’s clearly starting to flag. Shouichi peers at her and then says, “Do you need me to call your par—”

She’s shrinking into the blanket and the oversized sweater before he even finishes the sentence, and Makoto says, from the doorway, “I already made up the spare room.”

Twenty minutes after that, she’s passed out asleep in the second bedroom, and Shouichi looks up at Makoto and says, “That was sweet of you.”

“I called the precinct while you two were talking, I think we can, ah, hold off on calling her parents indefinitely. And I finished the dishes.” Makoto glances back towards the closed door of the second bedroom. “I’m almost surprised she didn’t end up at Ryou’s.”

Shouichi sighs. “No, Ryou gets the ones who are scared of everyone else. I always get the ones who are scared of themselves.”

---

first chance

Shinji would live in this tea shop if the old lady would let him.

Honestly, the fact that she lets him set up his laptop in here once or twice a week is a miracle already. She’s not exactly the friendliest person. For some reason, though, she’s decided she likes him. Maybe because he helps with the dishes at the end of the day, and he does make sure to keep buying tea. Plus she always wants to hear about what he’s writing—today it’s an article about locals who say they have psychic powers, she’s going to eat it up.

The tall guy’s back again today too. They’re not always here at the same time, but Shinji can tell whenever he comes in, because of the way his stupid coat swishes when he comes through the door. Today he spends twenty minutes or so talking with the old lady up at the counter, quietly. She starts out looking annoyed, and Shinji almost gets worried, but then the look on her face softens and he relaxes a little bit. Then the swish swish swish again as the tall guy heads back out, with a pause at the door so he and Shinji can peer at each other suspiciously.

“I just don’t trust that guy, Mrs. Kanzaki,” he says as he’s washing plates at close. “Something about him seems off.”

She laughs, the little chuckle that always sounds unhappy to him even if she says otherwise. “Who, Akiyama? You’ll have to learn to get along with him eventually, Kido. You missed a spot.”

“Oh, I did, sorry—why’s that?”

“He wants to buy the place, and I think I’m going to sell it to him.”

“You’re. You’re going to what? Why? And wait, that guy wants to run a tea shop?”

“He’s nicer than you give him credit for.” She glances up at him sidelong. “Terrible personality, but what can you do? He reminds me a little of my late grandson. Anyway, I’m sure you haven’t noticed, but I’m getting old.”

Shinji blinks innocently. “Are you? I thought you were my age.”

She punches him in the arm, but very gently. “Don’t flatter me, Kido. I want to move somewhere warm, and Akiyama’s been moping around here ever since that girlfriend of his broke it off with him, he knows the whole place. He’s got the money and I like him. Don’t worry, I told him you’re a fixture. He’ll have to learn to get along with you too.”

He blushes. “That’s kind of you, Mrs. Kanzaki.”

She snorts. “I’m not kind, I’m selfish. I’m old and tired and lonely and I like having you around the place with those big dopey eyes of yours. Like a puppy, only you do dishes and you can reach higher shelves than I can.”

He sputters for a few moments before managing to speak again. “I’m a—well, I guess it’s good to know what you actually think of me.” A few moments of silence as he does more washing, and then, “I’ll miss you, Mrs. Kanzaki. But if you really want to sell this place to that guy…I guess I’ll have to keep coming by to make sure that he takes care of it right.”

She doesn’t quite smile. She never really smiles, not once since the first time he met her. Her eyes go soft, though, just a tiny bit, and she nods. “Good.”

"So what'd you say his name was? Akechi?"

"Akiyama." She squints up at him. "I'll tell you what, Kido, he's coming by again tomorrow to talk terms, you set up in your usual spot and I'll introduce you."

---

lazarus, we're coming back

Kaido takes his coffee black and visibly steaming, but with about five sugars, and Takumi's tongue is practically withering just from the smell of it. "How can you even drink that stuff?"

"Oh, because you've got such a sophisticated palate," with a raised eyebrow at Takumi's glass of fruit juice. "Coffee's good. Sometimes, if I drink enough of it, it almost feels like my brain is working. Used to go through gallons of it in school."

"That's probably not good for you."

"Whaddo I care? Actually, what do you care? We're both dead anyway. Speaking of which, uh," an awkward pause before, "how are you?"

Takumi shrugs, swallowing his mouthful of sandwich. "Pretty much the same. Squinting a lot. You?"

"I'm...the picture'a health, actually." Kaido frowns fleetingly.

"You're not having…" Takumi also frowns, gesturing vaguely at his own eyes, "problems?"

"Nope. Still living for free, too, I keep waiting for Smart Lady to stop by and kick me out but I think maybe she's not gonna."

"Maybe she likes you."

"With legs like that I kinda hope she does." Another one of those uncomfortable beats. "How's. Uh. How's Mari?"

Sip of juice. "Fine. Lonely." Another sip. "She misses Kusaka."

"She seriously misses that guy?"

"She misses what he meant to her. He was...he kind of, he kept her connected to when she was a kid? Like, yeah, he was a massive creep, and she gets that, but she doesn't have a lot of classmates left. There were never a lot of them anyway." Takumi stares at the tabletop. "Did I mention Mihara died? So it's just her and Rina, and Rina's busy with the orphanage all the time, and Mari misses having someone living with us who she was a kid with."

"Mihara? Delta? He died?"

"Stroke. Apparently the Delta Gear kind of puts a lot of strain on the body."

"Fuck, man, that's grim."

"What isn't?"

Silence, for a while. Takumi finishes his juice, goes up to the counter and buys a sandwich, eats it in slow, contemplative bites. Kaido continues to work his way through his enormous, oversweet coffee. People pass by on the street, come in and out of the bistro and take no notice of them. Just two guys, sharing a light lunch and thinking about death.

Then, finally, Kaido drinks the last sugary sludge of his coffee and says, "You got a dream yet?"

"Do you believe in ghosts?"

"What the hell kind of answer is--no, I don't fucking believe in--yeah. Ok. Yeah, maybe I believe in ghosts a little. Dead man walking, I oughtta maybe believe in ghosts."

"I've been dreaming about Kiba a lot lately." Takumi stares down at his half-eaten sandwich. "I think maybe he's haunting me."

Kaido doesn't answer for a moment, and then says, eyes narrowed, "You liked that guy a lot, didn't you."

"...yeah. Yeah, I did."

"I. Uh. I mean. If it's any consolation, I'm...pretty sure he liked you a lot too. But, but also you know that's not what I meant, asshole, you got a dream or anything?"

"Not really." Takumi shrugs, and then he smiles, just a little, staring off into the middle distance like he's seeing something--or someone--that Kaido can't. "I think that's the only dream I need."

---

they say it's darkest before the dawn

First he had to get money on his phone card, and then it took some work to find an actual pay phone, but at least there's no one else waiting to use it at this hour of the morning. Kazuma stares out at the foggy streets as he listens to the ringing on the other end of the line, wondering if he should stay in Sweden a little longer after he takes care of this or if he should head somewhere else.

Click as the line picks up, and then, "Good morning, you've reached BOARD, office of the pres--"

"Mutsuki. It's me."

Pause. Clattering as Mutsuki definitely drops the phone and then scrambles to pick it back up. "Kenzaki?"

"Yeah." Kazuma grins at his own reflection, imagining the startled look on Mutsuki's face. "I'm in a phone booth in Sweden and it is incredibly foggy here, it's amazing. Is Tachibana free?"

"I, uh, he's on a conference call with D&P right now, but he'll get off that if he knows it's you."

"You know I don't like to interrupt him, but this is actually kind of important, can you go get him?"

"Uh, sure, can I put you on hold for a second?"

"Of course. Although, uh, first--" Kazuma swallows hard. "Is Hajime getting any better at basketball?"

A pause, and then an awkward laugh on the other end of the line. "He's improving, yeah. Still not as good as me, though. And Amane had a growth spurt, she's nearly at his shoulder now."

"Oh wow, that's a lot. Ok, sorry, thanks, could you go get Tachibana for me?"

"Sure thing."

A click as Mutsuki puts him on hold, and he spends a minute or two listening to BOARD's terrible hold music, and then another click and some scrambling and Tachibana's voice saying, nervously, "Kenzaki? Is that you?"

Kazuma grins again. "You sound so nervous about it, who else would be calling this number claiming to be me?"

"You'd be surprised, I was on the phone yesterday with a group called ZECT--never mind that, look, how, how are you?"

"I'm...doing well, you know, considering. Europe is nice. What about you?"

"I think I've nearly succeeded in repairing BOARD's reputation, we just established an archaeology scholarship fund with Jounan University. And I was over at Jacaranda recently, did Mutsuki tell you that Amane had a growth spurt?"

"He did, and that Hajime's getting better at basketball." Kazuma tries to smile, hoping that Tachibana can't hear his voice falter. "Anyway, um, you're probably wondering what's got me calling you from Sweden at two in the morning. I found something."

A sharp intake of breath before, "What kind of something?"

"A statue. It makes my skin itch whenever I go near it, and it looks like...it looks like him. Hajime. Or, you know, the other guy. It's...I spent about an hour just staring at it yesterday. And there's an inscription on the base that I can't read, but I think it has something to do with the Sealing Stone, I'm hoping BOARD might be able to arrange to get a look at it."

Another sharp breath, and then a long exhale. "What do you need from me right now so that we can make this happen?"

Kazuma shifts awkwardly, even though he knows that nobody else is out on the street right now to see him and the only person who might be listening in is Mutsuki. "Well, the statue's in a local museum, and mostly I need to know that I can give the director your name and contact information. And also I need some money so that I can take her out to dinner."

A beat, and then--Tachibana's laughing at him. "You need me to transfer you bribe money."

"It's not a bribe, it's a business dinner."

"That you're going to use to charm this museum director into shipping a piece of her collection to Japan on academically shaky grounds." Tachibana's still laughing. "And you're going to be very earnest about it and she's going to fall slightly in love with you, because you have that effect on people." Kazuma starts sputtering, but Tachibana just continues with, "I'll have Mutsuki transfer you some funds this afternoon. Let us know if you need more."

The tension goes out of Kazuma's shoulders, which is startling, because he hadn't realized that he was so tense. "Thanks, Tachibana."

"It's the least I can do. Ah, do you think you might find yourself in Austria any time soon? I'm going to be flying to Vienna in March for a conference, it would be nice to see you."

Another release of tension, enough that Kazuma finds himself smiling again. "I think I might be in Vienna in March, yeah."

"Wonderful. And, ah, Kenzaki?"

"Yes?"

"Send Hajime an email or something, would you?"

Now he actually laughs."I know, I'm the world's worst correspondent. I'll email him. I promise."

---

follow the words and sing along

"Does it hurt when I do this?"

Kyosuke opens his mouth, clearly intending to give an actual answer, and then cuts himself off abruptly with, "Ow, fuck."

"Ok, yeah, that's sprained." Asumu starts carefully unwrapping the bandage around Kyosuke's ankle, biting back laughter at Hibiki's expression and the sight of Kyosuke very obviously trying not to curse more. "I mean, I can't really confirm that without an X-ray, which I can't do because I'm, you know, nineteen and not even in pre-clinical studies yet, but I know how to handle a sprain just from hiker resc--ok, who wrapped this?"

Kyosuke's mouth sets at the corners, and Hibiki coughs awkwardly. "Kyosuke did it himself. Under my instruction, of course. We were--oh, that doesn't look good."

"Yeah, you can get that striped bruising when you don't wrap it correctly. Like, nothing's actually wrong, it just looks really nasty--come on, Kyosuke, don't make a face at me, it's really hard to wrap your own ankle. Especially when you've never done it before."

Kyosuke's scowl doesn't lessen even slightly, but he does at least have the good grace to blush. "It hurt a lot, it was hard to focus."

"Yeah, that's fair, sprains suck." Asumu reaches for the fresh roll of bandage on the table, grasps at air, and then nods in absent thanks as Hibiki passes it to him. "You actually did a really good job for a first time, like, I've seen people make their sprains way worse before, but this is gonna look gross for a few days." His hands are steady and sure as he begins wrapping the new bandage. "Mostly you need an ice pack and some Advil, but you'll have to take a couple of weeks off from hunting. So what were you guys doing? You said something about...mushrooms?"

Hibiki nods. "Yes, there's a particular mushroom that can be dried and powdered for use against one strain of Makamou, Kyosuke spotted a patch of them and took a tumble down a hill when he was--"

A soft knock on the door frame, and Tachibana Hinaka's stomach precedes her into the room. She's balancing a tray on it, in fact, very carefully, moving at a sort of stately trundle as she steps over the threshold. "I come bearing dango for the wounded warrior and his entourage. You'll have to reach up for it, though, I can't exactly bend."

At her Kyosuke smiles, nose going pink as he reaches up to take the tray from her hands. "Thank you, ma'am."

She grins at him. "You've gotten so polite, I love it. How's the doctoring going, Asumu?"

Asumu's fastening the bandage as he looks longingly at the plate of dango. "I mean, it's more first aid than--fine, it's going fine, how are the twins?"

"Taking up more space than I'd like." She pats her stomach. "I hope you're ready to deliver a couple of babies, I'm really sick of being pregnant. Kasumi's getting sick of it too, maybe you can deliver hers at the same time and the cousins will all have the same birthday."

Asumu turns bright red and mumbles, "I don't know how to deliver a baby, Ms. Hinaka." Kyosuke snorts. Hibiki covers his mouth with a hand and mutters something about not being mean to the boys, and Hinaka snickers and heads out of the room again, as slow and steady as before.

"So," Hibiki says once she's out of the room, "are you going to share those dango or what?"

Kyosuke freezes in the act of reaching for a stick. "Obviously, yeah."

"Wonderful, could you pass me a--thanks, fantastic." A pause, and then Hibiki leans forward and pokes him gently in the ribs with his free hand. "Also, you're backsliding, isn't there something you should be saying now?"

Kyosuke glances sidelong at Asumu, blushes again, and says, "Thank you for taking care of my ankle, Asumu," before passing him a stick of dango.

Asumu grins at him. "Any time."

Hibiki cranes his neck to examine Asumu's handiwork as he's sliding a dango off his stick. "That looks excellent, Asumu."

"Thanks!" Asumu flashes him a smile. "It's because I've trained."

Hibiki and Kyosuke both stare at him for a moment, and then Hibiki breaks into a broad grin and says, "All right, I deserved that," as Kyosuke stifles a burst of laughter.

---

even bad guys know good love

Sou is sitting on a park bench, eating a cup of instant noodles and staring out at the water, when he hears footsteps slow behind him. Slow, and then stop, and there's the prickle of eyes on the back of his neck. He listens, gauging and guessing, and then says, "I'm not a spectator sport, Tendou," and takes another bite of noodles.

A beat before Tendou says, "No, you aren't," and then another pause before, "May I sit with you?"

"Who's stopping you?"

He doesn't look up as Tendou sits, waiting until the man's settled before even glancing at him. Stylish and impeccably groomed as always, wearing a vivid blue scarf that he definitely didn't pick out himself, carrying a reusable jute bag filled with a tasteful selection of expensive groceries. He looks no older, no less poised and collected than he ever did.

"So was there something you wanted, or are you just stopping by to remind yourself of your place at the center of the universe?" Sou takes another bite of noodles. "I should probably remind you that historically I don't react very well to being laughed at."

Tendou stares out at the water. "I'm not here to laugh at you. I wasn't even looking for you."

"But here you are anyway."

"Here I am anyway." And--there's a flicker, a momentary disturbance of Tendou's statue-like serenity. "It has been pointed out to me that I owe you--"

"If you say you owe me an apology," Sou says, not looking at him, "I'm going to punch you in the stomach."

"Not an apology. A debt. For certain things which, when they occurred, I did not care enough to prevent."

"Hm." Beat. "So what'd Kagami do to put you up to this, promise you a treat if you came and made nice at me?"

Tendou makes a soft sound, not quite laughter. "No, actually, he said he'd never speak to me again if I made no attempt to reach out to you. I've learned over the years not to discount the power of his intent."

Sou has to hold back a laugh himself, imagining that conversation and very nearly able to hear the threat in Kagami's voice. "He's an interesting man."

"I often say that myself."

"So there was stuff you could've stopped if you'd given a shit. Why should you have cared? He never meant anything to you."

"No." Another glance shows Tendou staring out at the water still, fingers tightening on the handle of his grocery bag. "But he meant something to you, and to himself, and that should have been sufficient to deserve my care."

"You're wrong about one thing."

"Mm?"

Sou swallows a mouthful of cheap, salty broth. "He didn't mean anything to himself at the end there. But he did mean something to me." Another sip of broth, and the cup is empty; he crumples it and tosses it one-handed into a nearby wastebasket. "And I'm not interested in giving you absolution."

Tendou is silent, throat visibly working in the corner of Sou's vision, and then says, "That is entirely your right. Is there anything that I can--"

"You can buy me a decent lunch."

"I would be happy to make--"

"I don't want to eat anything you've cooked. Buy me lunch and then I don't ever want to see your fucking face again. That's what you can do for me."

"...name the place and I will buy you lunch."

They sit together in silence for a few minutes. The weather is beautiful, the wind is good, the water smells nice, and yet Sou feels like he's looking at it through black gauze, dimmed and indistinct. He hasn't spoken of Hell in some time, since he generally has no one he cares to speak to, but that gauze, that dimness of the world, that's Hell.

Tendou hasn't left yet.

"So what else is eating you? Hoping if you hang around me long enough you'll figure out how to get your win back?"

There's a pause, and an uncomfortable shifting next to him. "My sister will not eat my mapo tofu. She says that yours was the best she's ever had."

That, somehow, makes Sou crack the very smallest of smiles. "Good. I'm not giving you my recipe."

A barely perceptible sigh of disappointment. "I would not expect you to."

---

i'll go with you

"Airi said she'd have dinner with me on Saturday."

Ryotaro blinks, processing this, and feels himself start to smile. "Hey, that's great! Where do you think you'll take her?"

“We had a really good conversation,” Yuuto says, which isn’t an answer. “Do you ever feel weird about the fact that your whole life’s already kind of planned out for you?”

“…what do you mean?”

“You know. The whole…fate thing. I mean. We know my daughter. We met your grandson.”

It takes a moment for Ryotaro to figure out what he’s asking, and then the impact of the thought is nearly enough to make him rock on his heels. Not that he hasn’t considered it before, but it’s so much every time, knowing how much apparently depends on him living his life in exactly the right sequence. Lives hang in that balance, people who may never have the chance to live if he makes the wrong choices, says the wrong things, meets the wrong girl or no girl at all—

Yuuto says, “Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel about it too.” He takes a sip of his coffee, and he does make a face, but he’s clearly making an effort. “I’m not sure I’m the guy that I’m supposed to be, you know? I hardly even know that guy.”

Ryotaro nods. “I know what you mean. People keep telling us who we’re going to be, and it’s not as if they’re just making decisions for us, they know.”

“They know and we don’t.”

“Yeah.”

Another sip of coffee, another wrinkle of the nose, and Yuuto looks older than he did. Not in a bad way, just—aged, not stuck in time. Maybe some of that’s just the way his face works, that he looked so young for so long, but he’s actually starting to seem like an adult. Maybe Airi’s seeing that?

Still, though, he doesn’t look anything like Ryotaro…remembers him looking. Inasmuch as he can remember it at all. Or talk the way Ryotaro remembers him talking. The other him, that is. The other him seems like a different person.

He’s met plenty of people from all over time, now. He’s not sure if he could handle meeting himself.

“Hey, don’t space out, I’m having an existential crisis here.”

Ryotaro jumps. “Right, yeah, the crisis, sorry. I was just, I was thinking about—”

“No, not that crisis, this is a new one, I think I’m starting to like black coffee.” Yuuto stares at his cup. “Next I’m going to start liking shiitakes and Deneb’s going to cry. Hey, look, we’re figuring this out together, right? I don’t just have to work this whole future thing out myself? You’ve also got stuff that you’ve gotta do and nobody’s telling you how to actually do it.”

“Of course.” Impulsively, Ryotaro reaches across the table and grabs Yuuto’s free hand. “We’re family…somehow, right? What’s the point if we don’t have each other’s backs?”

---

taste so sweet it hurts a little

When did the house get so crowded?

Wataru’s lived here for his entire life, and he can’t once remember the house being crowded. He can, when he thinks back, remember the occasional visitor when he was very young, indistinct adults who generally spoke to him little if at all. For most of his life, though, it’s just been Kivat and business visitors—someone from the bank if he needed to draw funds, sometimes delivery people before he was old enough to take things in himself, tutors whose origins he’d always been unclear on.

Then, a few years ago, he’d agreed to take a student, and there’d been Shizuka, and he’d had to speak to her face-to-face without hiding behind the door. And then Megumi, talking to him whether he liked it or not. And now—

Now, tonight, the house is crowded. With Shizuka and her mother, Shizuka playing violin in the living room as her mother sings along in a slightly out-of-practice but still sweet mezzo soprano. With Megumi, who is newly pregnant and twitchy and irritable, and Nago, who is handling Megumi’s pregnancy by looking perpetually dazed. With Taiga, and Taiga’s absolutely terrifying girlfriend Erika, who works for a business acquaintance of his and who ate more at dinner than anyone else while still maintaining an incomprehensible rapid-fire conversation about cosmetics with Megumi. With Maya, who is presiding regally over the gathering, looking pleased with herself.

The house is crowded, and Wataru is hiding in the kitchen.

Well, he’s not…he’s not hiding.He’s just taking a breather.

There’s a faint scratching sound, and then Kivat drifts down from his violin-case nest and says, “Hey, Wataru, aren’t you backsliding a little? Shouldn’t you be out there with everyone instead of hiding in here?”

“I’m not hiding.” Wataru takes a deep breath. “There are just…a lot of people in the house right now.”

“I’d noticed. I want to ask your brother’s girlfriend what happens at Kougami Foundation that she needs to carry a small semi-automatic in her purse."

"Kivat. Don't go through her things."

Kivat loop-de-loops in the air. "How else am I supposed to keep an eye on you?"

"Anyway, it's just, I'll go back out in a minute, but it's. It's really crowded."

He stands over the sink and inhales deeply, breathing in a whiff of varnish from a semi-successful experiment that had nevertheless mostly gone down the garbage disposal. The familiar stink helps to steady his nerves, and to steady them further he starts going through the recipe in his head. Tweak the liquor content, maybe. Using imported bourbon might be a little extravagant, but he's got a good feeling about the color tone he could get—

Someone knocks on the door frame. "Can I come in, or do you need another minute?"

He straightens up. "It's fine, I'm fine now. Come in."

Taiga grins at him, stepping over the threshold from hallway to kitchen with his hands in his pockets and taking a deep breath in, as if he, too, wants to savor the bite of varnish underlying all of the lingering cooking smells. "Too crowded for you?"

Wataru nods. "Still not used to having people in my house."

"Seems fair enough, it's only been a couple of years, you had it to yourself your whole life before that. Mother was asking where you'd gone."

"Which means she wanted you to come get me."

"Pretty much, yeah. Megu's decided she wants to play some kind of game, and once you come back in we'll have an even number of people for teams."

“Oh, good, Megumi wants to play a party game.” Wataru glances at his brother sidelong, feeling himself start to smile again. “You don’t suppose it’s too much to hope for one of our kids from the future to show up with some kind of emergency?”

Taiga grins at him. “Not really likely, no. But we can hope.”

---

last dance

Daiki is teaching Yuusuke how to dance.

They’ve pushed everything out of the way in the studio and put up an old backdrop that Natsumi found, a heavy canvas on which flaking paint depicts a grand European ballroom detailed in scarlet and gold. “It was for some goofy rich couple’s wedding pictures, some actor and his girlfriend,” she’d said as they pulled it out of the storage, “they had a big themed wedding and got this painted specially and then they left it with us and we never used it again.”

Now she’s leaning against the wall and tapping time with her foot and watching as Daiki and Yuusuke spin very slowly around the room, and Daiki’s saying, “Just follow my feet. We’re both doing the same thing, the only difference is I’m moving backwards.”

Yuusuke nods, following Daiki through a turn. “So how do you know how to do this?”

“Oh, you know. I learned it in school.” Daiki’s voice is deceptively light. “Social dance promotes social harmony, and it’s terribly important to promote social harmony.”

Tsukasa, next to Natsumi, raises an eyebrow. “And they taught you how to follow, specifically? Instead of lead?”

Daiki’s mouth twitches, and when he replies this time the lightness is more genuine. “Well, as a rule that was sort of the curriculum, but no, in school I was always paired off with some girl or other and I’d lead. You taught me to dance the other part.”

“…I did? This isn’t you messing with me?”

Another careful turn, and Yuusuke flashes a grin up at Daiki as their movements begin to smooth out. Daiki doesn’t quite grin back, just smiles his frustratingly catlike smile and completely fails to answer Tsukasa’s question.

Tsukasa shifts uncomfortably, and Natsumi glances at him and then reaches over to grab his hand. “Dance with me.”

“You know how?”

“Yeah, that same couple who had that backdrop made had me and Grandma come out to do pictures on their wedding day and the groom’s little sister taught me how. I was twelve or something, but I’m pretty sure I remember what to do.” She tugs him away from the wall. “Come on.”

He may not remember the steps, but apparently his feet do, and that’s enough to make everything work. They don’t collide with Daiki and Yuusuke, either, at least until they do, and then it’s less of a collision and more a change of partners, so that now Daiki is dancing with Tsukasa and Natsumi is dancing with Yuusuke. A few more turns around the room, and then another half-collision, and Daiki and Natsumi are now dancing together quite comfortably while Tsukasa and Yuusuke trip over their own and each other’s feet trying to figure out who’s going to lead. The conclusion is, in the end, neither of them, as they finally fall down and narrowly miss bringing down the backdrop with them.

Daiki and Natsumi stare down at them for a moment and then sit down on the floor at well, trying and failing to conceal laughter.

“I can’t be perfect all the time,” Tsukasa says, with as much dignity as possible.

Daiki grins at him. “I wasn’t going to comment. Maybe it’s time to break for lunch, anyway, we’ve been at this for a couple of hours now.”

Natsumi and Yuusuke make agreeing noises, and Tsukasa glances over at the backdrop hanging motionless on its roller and says, “We might as well take our time with things. We’re not going anywhere today.”

26 notes · View notes

felix21im · 3 years

Text

"Ice Cold", a Leon Kennedy x reader fanfiction

As an Art and Design student all you want to do is just knuckle down and finish that one goddamn piece you've been working on for months. Too bad your time is constantly stolen by your Waiter job with minimal pay, but hey, at least the tips are good if you unbutton your shirt that one more time.

Masterlist

Chapter 8: Alone

You woke up early the next morning. The sun shone through the big window next to your bed and warmed your skin. You slowly opened your eyes and looked over to Leon. His breathing was calm so you figured he was still sleeping. You made sure to get up quietly, making sure not to wake Leon up.

You went to the bathroom to have a quick shower and change into something nice to wear. Since the weather was good you chose a white polo shirt and some shorts. After brushing your teeth and styling your hair you went back to the bedroom and sat down on Leon‘s side. You brushed some hair out of his face and placed a kiss on his forehead. You felt him move and he slowly opened his eyes. “Good morning, Sleepy. I hope you don't mind me waking you up.” Leon covered his eyes with his arms to prevent the sun from shining in his face. He didn't answer you but instead grabbed your wrist and pulled you into his arms. You chuckled lightly as he hid his head in your chest, reminding you of a little kid. You two lay there for a few more minutes before you sat up again next to him. “Come on now, Leon. You wanted to go out to eat breakfast, right? So get up!” You turned around to see him lying on his stomach and hiding under the blanket. You shook your head and laughed as you began pushing him out of the bed until the thud of him falling on the floor was heard, followed by subtle laughter. Moments later Leon lay on the ground beside the bed looking as tired as ever. You were laughing too hard so you didn't even hear him standing up and grabbing a pillow from the bed. The next thing you felt was the soft cushion hitting your face, stopping your laughing. You looked at Leon surprised and opened your mouth to say something but before you had the chance to, another pillow was thrown into your direction. You stood up from the bed and grabbed the two pillows Leon threw at you before. Instead of throwing them at him though, you ran around the bed and started hitting Leon with them. Leon was able to take one of the pillows out of your hand and tried defending himself. At some point you two were laughing too hard and didn't have the strength to continue fighting anymore. You lay on the bed together, legs hanging from the side. You turned and looked at Leon who was now also looking at you. “I love you, Leon.” You said with a smile on your face without even thinking twice about it. Leon looked at you surprised before saying it back after a short moment. He kissed you on the cheek before finally standing up and going to the bathroom. You let out a deep sigh as he closed the door behind him and closed your eyes for a second. You then decided to clean up the mess the two of you created and put the pillows and blanket into the bed again. After you were done you grabbed your phone and fixed your hair again. You didn't have to wait long before Leon came out of the bathroom. He was wearing some dark jeans and a light blue button up. His hair was also looking as perfect as ever, no signs of the pillow fight from before. You grinned at him as you stood up.

“Ready to leave, Buttercup?” He asked as he grabbed his wallet and his fancy sunglasses. You nodded as you put on some sneakers and put your phone in your pocket.

You realized you didn't bring sunglasses so you looked at Leon and pointed at his pair. “You don't have another pair of sunglasses by any chance, do you?”

Leon let out a small laugh and shook his head. “You didn't bring your own? Give me a second, I think I actually have another pair.” He turned around and went over to his suitcase to look for them. A few minutes later he came back to you and handed you some fancy looking round sunglasses. You thanked him as you put them on and opened the door. You two left the room together and walked the long hallway to the front door.

As you left the building the morning sun was already hot and warmed your skin. You took a deep breath as you looked around the front yard.

Your face went back to Leon as you heard him unwrapping a piece of paper. As it turns out it was a map of the city, which made you laugh. “A map? Really Leon? You know we both have working phones, right? If you wanna go somewhere I can just look it up online.”

You went to grab your phone out of your pocket but Leon stopped you. “I want this day to be phone free. I just want to enjoy the time with you. And also using this map feels more like a vacation, don't you think?”

You let out a small laugh again as you nodded and put your phone back. “Alright, whatever you say, Mr. Kennedy.” Leon also smiled now and soon after began walking into one direction. You quickly followed and put your hand in his to keep up.

Leon led you through the streets and as the day started more and more people filled the streets around you. He ended up leading you to a small bakery and brought you to a small table outside. It felt like you had been walking for days when realistically it was only a few hours. “Perhaps some breakfast will help you walk a bit faster?” Leon chuckled as he poked at your slow walking pace.

You rolled your eyes as you sat down at one of the tables outside of the bakery. “Not all of us are superstar athletes, Leon.” He still continued his laugh as he sat down too. “Oooo! Pastries!” You got excited at the selection of foods available, back home it would always be quickly bought junk food as neither you nor your roommate had time to cook.

“You like pastry?” Leon looked up from the menu. “You could have just asked Angel if that's what you ever wanted, we would have bought it specifically for you.”

Your face went hot from the embarrassment. “Oh please no, I’m honestly so grateful when Angel cooks for me, I don't want her to think I’m taking advantage by ordering something specific…”

“How about I ask then?” He smirked as he then looked back down at the menu. “I think I'm going to go for the brioche and some coffee.” He announced as he then tucked his menu back to where he found it.

You smiled at him as you began to read out what you were struggling to pick from. "I’m not sure if I want to go with the pain au chocolat or the cornetto…”

“Well the first one is actually French so that depends on if you want to stick to italian foods or not, but personally…” He scratched the back of his head. “I think both.”

“Both?” You flurried your eyebrows. “I’m not that hungry Leon, a-and these are expensive! Twelve euros for a coffee?!” You whisper-shouted for the last part, sure they were extortionate prices but maybe it was worth it?

“Really, Buttercup? You do realise that money isn’t an issue, right?” He smirked.

“I just feel guilty spending your money, that’s all..”

“Trust me, Buttercup. I like seeing yo-”

“Buongiorno!” A small woman exited the front of the bakery with a notepad and a pen in her hand. “What can I get for the two of you?” She asked as she looked at Leon so he went first.

“Would I be able to get the brioche and a shot of espresso?” He asked politely as he gave her his million dollar smile.

“And for the compagno?” She asked as she wrote down Leon’s order.

Just as you were about to state your order Leon did it for you. “They’ll have both the pain au chocolat and the cornetto, with a moka coffee please.” Leon then turned his head to smile at you as you chuckled and smiled back. The waitress nodded her head and then went back into the bakery, preparing your food. “Now you get to try them both.”

“I have had them both before, you know…” You shook your head at him.

“Oh… Well now you get to try them… Italian style!” He smiled again as he dramatically waved his hands, emphasising the ‘Italian style.’ You simply rolled your eyes at him and smiled. The two of you waited quite a while for your food but it didn't annoy either of you as it simply meant that it was being made fresh for you, besides it also gave you time to look at the view of both the ocean and Leon. Considering you never left the US and you stayed landlocked you've never actually seen the ocean before, sure you saw big lakes and stuff but this was so much more intense. Not only was it humongous it was almost crystal clear. “How about we go snorkeling or something once I'm back?” Leon suggested.

“I would love that.” You nodded your head and just as you answered your waitress came over with your dishes and drinks. You simply squealed to yourself as your senses engulfed the food that sat before you, not even stopping to talk to Leon once. Eventually you looked up at him and you noticed he was simply smiling at you, lost in his thoughts as he watched you eat. “Leon?” You lightly waved at him and you raised your eyebrow.

He then snapped back to reality. “Sorry, just thinking about how at first you said you weren't very hungry.” He chuckled as he took a bite out of his own food.

“I guess pastries just do something to me?” You replied to him as you went back to eating your food. Leon simply took his time, he slowly drank his coffee and ate his bread as he looked at both you and the view on his left.

“Much different than the view at home. Here we get flowers, the ocean and beautiful trees, whereas at home we get a jungle… a concrete jungle..”

“How about in twenty years time when you retire, just move to Italy?” You joked at him in response to his little monologue about the different landscapes. “You can get a beautiful little villa on the mountain side that looks over the ocean, all you would need is three kids and a beautiful wife so that you can have the american, nuclear-family, dream.” You copied his hand gesture from earlier and chuckled.

“How would that be the american dream if i'm living in Italy?” He questioned as he placed his empty cup on the metal table.

“That was what stuck out to you about that entire bit?” You raised your eyebrow at him as you wiped your hands with your napkin. “Are you not going to eat your food?” You asked him as you looked down at his plate, him only being about halfway through.

“Sorry, sorry.” He picked up a piece. “I just wanted to take my time so we could be together longer. Just before we got here I got a text from Chris saying I had to meet him after we ate, thought I could drag it out as much as possible.” As he spoke he held out his free hand on the table, wanting you to place your hand in his. Obviously you accepted and he lightly squeezed it. You let him continue eating his food as the two of you sat in comfortable silence until the waitress came and collected the dirty dishes, replacing them with two new coffees for the two of you.

You took another sip from your mug as you noticed how Leon's eyes scanned the area and he seemed to be deep in his thoughts again. You put your mug on the table again and searched his eyes. He didn't notice you staring and only reacted when you mentioned his name. "Leon? You still there?" You snapped your fingers in front of him, making sure he was listening.

Leon turned his head and faced you. "Oh, sorry Buttercup. Did you say anything?"

You shook your head in response before talking again. "I'm worried about you, Leon. Even though we're here together, you seem so far away. Are you really okay?" You looked at him with puppy eyes and reached out to his hand. He just shook his head and looked away again. You sighed and felt hopeless. It was the first time Leon took you with him on a big mission, so of course you were worried. You always were when he was away, even though it wasn't the first time for him to do this stuff. Whatever it really was that he was doing now.

"Leon, please don't do this now. Tell me what's going on, maybe I can help you, distract you or whatever. Anything to help you, okay?" It took Leon a minute before finally giving it. He sighed as he rubbed his forehead.

"It's just.. this mission is different. I didn't get much information beforehand and I don't know. Something feels odd. And now that you're here, too, I'm just.. worried about you. Maybe it was the wrong idea to bring you with me." He said the last sentence more to himself than you, but you still understood every word of it. Even though he probably didn't mean it like that, you felt hurt. Did he think you were a helpless child who would only cause trouble? You didn't really know what to say but you had to do something about his mood.

"Leon. Listen to me. I don't know what you do all the time when you're gone, but you always manage. I'm sure everything will turn out fine, alright? And you don't have to worry about me. I'll stay inside the hotel or around your big bodyguards, I'm sure they could take care of tons of bad guys." You gave Leon an optimistic smile, hoping he would lighten up a bit.

"Yea, you're right. I guess. I just never.. had someone close to me in this kind of situation."

"Everything that matters now is that you're concentrated, Leon. If it helps you can tell me the information you already have, maybe we can work on this together. And who knows, maybe I'll end up being a better agent than you." You jokingly said and finally Leon let out a laugh as well. As you waited for his response you saw a pen on the table behind Leon so you ran to grab it, getting ready to write your notes on a clean napkin.

"Yea sure, whatever you say, Buttercup." You two continued joking for a while longer before ordering something else to drink. As the drinks were delivered to your table, you noticed someone sitting at a table close to you. You didn't know why exactly he caught your eye so you shrugged it off and continued talking to Leon. Soon he began talking about his mission and all the information he had. Which was, as he said before, really not much. All he knew was that someone in this city intended to initiate a virus-breakout similar to ones Leon had to fight before. You wrote down what he said but it wasn't really the equivalent to much. You sighed as you tried your best to help him out. Sure, he was a professional, but it was worth a shot. Especially if you could make him smile with your stupid ideas. In the end that's all that mattered to you, anyways.

You two continued chatting a while longer before Leon's phone suddenly rang. He excused himself, showing you who called. Chris. Leon stood up and left the table to talk to him in a more quiet place. You watched him walk away as you noticed the man from before staring at you again. He seemed to have seen you noticing since he suddenly looked away. You raised an eyebrow, a bad feeling growing in your stomach. Even though you were worried slightly, you didn't want to tell Leon. Maybe you were just starting to imagine things and you didn't want to make Leon worry any more. Speaking of him, he finally returned to the table. He didn't seem too happy though, so you knew what was coming next.

"Chris is already waiting for me. I guess I really tested his patience today. I'm sorry that it has to end so abruptly, Buttercup, but I really have to go now. We have new information and it seems like quite a big deal." Leon grabbed his wallet and handed it to you. "Get yourself something nice with it if you want. And don't forget to pay for our breakfast. I really need to go now, please be careful on your way home." He gave you a kiss on the forehead but you stopped him before he went to leave. "I love you, Leon. Don't worry about me and please come back soon.." He nodded lightly and gave you another kiss, this time on the mouth. You didn't want this moment to end but you knew there was no other option. You watched him leave and suddenly felt so alone and lost. Sitting down again you waited for someone to bring you the bill.

A few minutes passed until someone came over to your table, grabbing the last dirty cups. You asked them for the bill and after paying a ridiculous high amount of money for breakfast you left the table and went back to the main street. You sighed as you thought about what to do for the rest of the day since it was still not that late. With no destination in mind you just started following the street and seeing where it would take you.

Leon carefully closed the door behind him as he was escorted into the home. “Couldn’t have picked a basic home?” He shrugged as he looked over at Chris who was sitting at a table in the kitchen. “This mansion is fucking huge.”

“The fuck you mean?” He snarled at Leon as he pushed back the chair adjacent to him for Leon to sit in. “We’re in an upper class neighbourhood, it blends in.”

“Where’s Angel and Daisy?” Leon asked as he sat down in the chair and gestured at the two empty ones opposite him.

“Miss Badawi and Miss Chu are doing some recon.” He passed over a singular folder and Leon opened it to the first page.

“You call me by my first name, why not those two?” He always thought it was weird but now that it was just those two alone he actually was able to ask.

“Neither of them have passed the required rank for me to call them my equal, meaning they haven’t deserved the right yet."

“They’ve both saved your life countless times-”

“-Oh please! You think we care about validation from some old white man?” Angel laughed as both her and Daisy entered the room and sat down at the table.

Now that all three of them were sitting opposite Chris he could begin his briefing.

“We’re going to be heading to a small provenance called Valtorta, there’s no such thing as tourists there which means this is a stealth operation. Miss Chu, your favourite.” Daisy smiled and lightly clapped her hands together as she heard about the standards of the operation.

Angel raised her hand. “Miss Badawi?” Chris accepted.

“Where is Valtora?” She asked.

“Near the border of Italy and Switzerland.” He replied as he flicked Angel’s folder to the map page. “Around a two hour drive from Milan which is where we’re going to be starting after a three hour helicopter ride. Which means a five hour trip so that you kids can catch up on your podcasts or whatever it is that you guys do nowadays.”

“I’ve been listening to this really interesting podcast about a woman who kills her boss because he didn't give her a payrise… Pretty inspiring if you ask me.” Angel smirked as she looked towards her boss, Leon.

“Depends on how good you do after this operation, and if you can get some pastries for us to bring back home.” He replied as he looked up from the folder and at Angel.

“I think that’s a very fair trade, croissants for an extra one hundred percent markup on your pay?” Daisy smirked at her girlfriend.

“How about we focus on our jobs rather than the pay?” Chris interrupted them. “So the woman we’re looking for is Leona Capulet.” He placed a photo of the woman holding a small child onto the wooden table. “Forty five, six foot tall and batshit crazy.” He then placed another photo on the table. “For the last four years she’s been attempting to recreate another virus, called the LC-020-Virus. Ever since we found out about it we’ve been calling it the ‘Loco-virus’.”

“Let me guess…” Angel interrupted. “Rather than it turning you into a zombie it just makes you go crazy?”

“Bingo.” Chris nodded as he placed another picture on the table. “Blueprints of the town, and the suspected laboratory Capulet has been working in.”

“How have you got so much information?” Leon asked.

“Inside man.” Chris replied. “Capulet’s son, Valentino, has been helping us. Once his mother tried to use him for a human trial experiment he had enough and tried to shut her down. After failing he turned himself in and he’s been helping us for around four months now.”

“And you trust him?” Daisy asked as she looked at the picture of Leona. “How do we know it isn’t a trap?”

“The boy is a millionaire and he gets nothing out of betraying his family, it's personal to him.” Chris picked up his pictures from the table and placed them back into his folder. “But that doesn’t mean we can fully trust him, we all need to stay vigilant.” Chris stood out of his chair and tucked it under the table. “Our mission is to capture the target Leona Capulet, destroy any trace she has of the virus and figure out where her funding comes from. Any questions?” All three of them nodded their heads as they looked at Chris. “Great. We’re heading out at nine A.M. tomorrow morning, I expect everyone to be ready with a maximum of two standard issue duffle bags with the essentials needed for the maximum of two weeks.”

“A fortnight?” Leon asked. “I was told only three days.”

“A maximum Leon, just in case. If we all work well enough we can be back here within two days so let's all get some sleep so we can make that happen.” Chris left the three of them at the table. Angel and Daisy just began chatting amongst themselves about what they were going to do once they were back and could enjoy their time together in the countryside, whereas Leon was thinking about you. He pulled out his phone and called your number but to his surprise you didn’t answer, he looked at the time and saw that it was around seven at night so he thought that maybe you were in the shower, at home you usually showered at that time. So rather than calling you again he simply sent you a text message.

‘Done with work for the night so give me a call when you can. Leon <3’

The sun began setting as you felt your stomach growl. You've been walking around for so many hours, you didn't even think about stopping somewhere to eat or drink anything. Thankfully, you weren't somewhere in the woods but rather close to the city. Your phone battery died a while ago, so you didn't have a chance to just google where to go now or call a taxi. "I should have taken the map from Leon earlier." You muttered to yourself as you scratched the back of your head. Instead of giving up though you tried to follow the signs all around the streets. Most of them were in Italian but you still managed to find your way back.

Even though it wasn't that late, or so you assumed since it was not dark yet, there weren't many people outside. You hoped to find a store to get something to eat and drink and maybe ask for the time or your current location but it felt like you were going in circles and as the time passed you felt really tired. Suddenly everything felt like too much and you had to sit down. You almost fell to the ground, feeling the effects of not eating or drinking for a few hours in the heat. Your head was spinning and your vision blurred and you just barely saw a silhouette walking in your direction. You rubbed your eyes in hope of seeing clearly again. A young man stood before you, reaching a hand out. He soon seemed to notice that you didn't understand what he was saying, so he repeated himself in English. "Are you okay? You look really pale and I'm assuming you're not from here, right?" You slowly nodded your head and tried forming words in your mouth.

"Water.. Do you have water?", was all that came out in the end. The man let out a small laugh and nodded. He pointed towards a house just on the opposite side of the street before helping you get up.

"That's where I live. There aren't any stores open around here so that's all I can get offer now. If you feel comfortable with it you can rest a while before continuing your way."

You looked at the man and thanked him as he supported you walking. The two of you slowly walked towards his house and you waited in silence as he opened the door for you. You walked inside the small house and looked around. It was something completely different from the hotel you slept in last night, but it seemed very friendly. The man led you into the living room and you sat down on the old couch. He left the room to get you something to drink and shortly after returned with a coke, a bottle of water and some cold lasagna.

"This was my dinner today. I'm guessing you are hungry, the way you look. Please eat as much as you like." He went over to a cabinet and got a plate, a fork and a knife. He placed it on the small table in front of the couch as you gulped down the coke. You already felt better as the sugar spread through your body.

"Thank you so much. Where I come from most people wouldn't care for strangers, like you're doing right now. I don't know how I can repay you." You said as you put down the can and took a piece of the lasagna. The man put up his hands and shook his head. "Oh please, don't worry about it. This is nothing, I'm just glad to be helping." You smiled at him in return and enjoyed the rest of the lasagna in silence as your body finally regained strength. After you were done you leaned back on the sofa and sighed. "Now that was a really good lasagna. I definitely need the recipe!" You said jokingly and the two of you laughed.

You two talked for a while longer before you noticed the time on a clock hanging on the wall. It was almost 11pm. You opened your eyes in shock and stood up abruptly. "It's so late already?! I'm so sorry, but I think I really need to go. Please, if there is any way to thank you, tell me." The man now also stood up and walked you to the front door. "Like I said before, I don't want anything in return. I'm just grateful to be of help." You smiled at him and went for a hug. It just felt right at that moment. He returned the gesture but you soon parted again. You unlocked your now almost fully loaded phone and checked the route to the hotel.

"Thanks for letting my phone charge as well, I don't think I would ever find my way back without it." You laughed as you stepped outside. By now the moon was shining high in the sky, making the night light up.

"If I'm not mistaken your way back shouldn't be too long. Please text me when you're back so I don't have to worry." The man said as handed you a piece of paper with his number. You smiled as you added him to your contacts.

"Oh, I don't think I've gotten your name, did I?" Now it was his time to laugh. "That's right, I believe. My name's Leonardo." You couldn't believe what you were hearing and let out a laugh. "No way. That's kind of a funny coincidence, my boyfriend is actually called Leon."

"Oh, well.. That really is a funny coincidence." Leonardo scratched his head as you two laughed again.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Leonardo, but I really have to go now. Maybe our paths will cross again." You waved him goodbye as you put in your earphones and followed the route that was presented on your display.

As you followed the instructions you felt like you were being watched. You looked around, not seeing anyone. Shaking your head you began walking faster, the feeling of being watched never vanishing. Just when you thought the feeling of being watched had gone you heard some footsteps behind you. You slowly pulled out your earphones and looked back. Nobody. "Jesus.. What is wrong with me?" You could already see the tall building you left earlier this day and felt relieved. Only a few more minutes and you were safe. From whatever it was that you felt afraid of. Not realizing you started walking faster again you suddenly tripped and fell to the ground, your phone sliding away. "Fuck.." You rubbed your knee and felt blood on your fingertips in return. You stood up with a pain filled groan and slowly went over to your phone. Just before you were able to reach it something hard hit the back of your head, sending you in a realm of darkness...

----

Taglist: @trinswhimsys @dixanadu @oppsie--channie

#resident evil #re2 #re4 #re6 #resident evil vendetta #leon kennedy #leon s kennedy #leon x reader #leon kennedy x reader #leon s kennedy x reader #resident evil x reader #x reader #x male reader #x female reader #x gn reader #x gender neutral reader

52 notes · View notes

snlhostharry · 4 years

Text

rose blush

harry styles x reader

4.5k words

you and harry meet in a small coastal town as your both running away from your responsibilities

a/n: this is loosely based on gold rush by taylor swift, but honestly this story is 50% plot 50% vibes y’know. also i’m obsessed with the concept of seeing harry after a long time apart at one of his concerts as he sings the song he wrote about you like that exact concept has been in multiple fics I’ve written so yeah

Coffee shops are supposed to be a refuge from the outside world. Not your usual starbucks, no you mean the small town coffee shop filled with plants and little to know patrons. The bell on the door jingles briefly as patrons come in and out on occasion. Everyone too wrapped up in their own lives and their own coffee orders to notice you: it’s really perfect. As you type aimlessly on your computer. You’re not paying any attention to the people who come in and out of the small shop, your hyperfocused on the computer and the piles of papers and binders set out in front of you at the table.

That is until someone walks in that no one expected to see. A man enters the shop quietly, wearing a black beanie and a gray hoodie with the hood pulled up over his head. You don’t think anything of him until you hear the barista say, “Oh my gosh your-” And then she cuts herself off as the man nods. You find yourself glancing up at him frequently as he stands at the counter waiting for his order. As it turns out, it’s just a black coffee, and as he says thank you for his drink in an accent that might just give him away he passes you to walk out of the shop.

He glances over at you and your piles of binders at your feet, and the strewn papers on your desk as he heads towards the door. His precursory glance makes him curious about you, and his curiosity gets the better of him and he takes a good long look at you. You meet his eyes briefly, the green orbs capturing all of your attention in a moment that feels long more than anything else. You recognize him and pull your eyes away quickly to fix them back on the computer.

He shakes his head and walks out of the door coffee still safely in hand.

You’re looking at the computer, but your mind is going twenty miles a minute. Harry Styles is in Capitola, and that’s okay right? You think then that fact isn’t going to change anything about what you're here to do and what you’re supposed to be thinking about. Celebrities probably pass through here all the time, it’s nothing new, probably. If you keep telling yourself that then maybe it’ll become true.

Harry Styles seems to like the coffee from this place. Day after Day after Day for what you think is a week, he comes in to get his black coffee, The odd thing about it is he always comes in at different times, sometimes at ten in the morning, sometimes at three in the afternoon, and at all times in between. It’s odd for you because you always come in for a set amount of time from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon everyday at the exact times. You’d read an article that routine is key to productivity so you’d decided to stick to it.

On the eight day of making an appearance at the shop, this time at noon exactly Harry stops before he heads out of the door. He hasn’t really looked at you since the first time (not that you were looking at him to see if he was looking at you or anything you’re just looking for a distraction and curious about what he’s doing) but on the eight day he stops fully. He stands there for a moment being very creepy if you're being honest and then he sits down across from you.

“What are you doing?” He says, accent abounding. He flashes a smile at you, and sits his coffee down on the table, a sign you take to mean that he’s going to stay for a while.

You stare at the computer for a bit longer, thinking maybe it will make him go away but he says. You look at him, struggling to meet his eyes for some reason, and then say, “I’m writing.”

He lets out a small breathy laugh, fully aware that you’re not going to give him the answers he wants. “Why do you come here to write?”

“Because it’s quiet, and there are limited distractions,” You tell him. You lean in closer to him and half whisper, “Except of course for the former one direction member who comes in everyday for only a black coffee.” You go back to staring at your computer, satisfied with yourself.

He's interested in you, and if you weren’t trying to ignore him so much you would be able to notice. “What’s wrong with a black coffee?”

“It’s boring,” You say instinctively.

“It’s a classic.”

“I thought the English were more into tea than anything else.”

“I need the caffeine,” He explains.

You hold up your reusable cup, filled halfway with a green liquid. “Matcha tea, it’s caffeinated.”

He wrinkles his nose, “It’s green.”

“Don’t be a child,” You say with a smile on your face. When you realize that your smiling at him, you quickly fix your face and stare back at the document in front of you even though there’s no way that you could possibly get anything done on it now.

“What would you suggest I try then?” He says, trying to get you to talk to him again.

You click your tongue, trying to think of something. “If you need the caffeine why don’t you try a latte? Cinnamon is a good flavor.”

“A latte?” He says, wrinkling his nose again, “That’s not even coffee.”

“It has expresso,” You say, “And it’s not boring for one thing.”

He huffs, “I don’t know if I can trust your taste.”

“Then don’t,” You shrug.

“So you’re just not going to tell me what you're writing then?” He says, “You’re going to leave me wondering every time I walk in here and see you sitting at this same table.”

You smile at him sarcastically, “Yes.”

He stands up from the table suddenly and says, “Guess I will have to get more creative then.” He doesn’t even wait for a response from you as he picks up his coffee and heads out of the door, the little bell ringing again as he leaves. You look up from the computer and across from you at the seat he just vacated. Something passes over you, maybe a feeling of anxiety or somewhat of a realization that someone famous just talked to you, talked to you about coffee and what you were writing. You didn’t expect that to happen, and you’re not sure if you like it or not.

The next day, you're in the same place, with another cupful of Matcha Tea when Harry walks in. You expect him to follow the same routine, order a black coffee and then leave. That day, he changed his order. You almost don't believe your own ears when you heard him say, “I’ll have a latte, cinnamon and vanilla please.” You try to think that it has nothing to do with you, that maybe he just wanted to change his order naturally or he has a friend who wants that order. But when he receives it and comes over to sit across from you again, you realize that he did change it for you.

“What’s in a latte anyway?” He asks with the same smile.

You sigh, trying to seem uninterested, but the sudden feeling is back. “Espresso and milk I think.”

“You think?” He asks, the surprise in his voice evident.

“I’ve never had one,” You try and keep your sudden urge to laugh under control. You laugh, louder than you meant to at last and instead of looking at you with some kind of horrified look he just smiles.

He shakes his head, “You think you’re funny don’t you?”

“I don’t know about that, I just thought you knew I was being sarcastic.”

“I will have you know I took your words as a dare.”

“Why would you ever think that?”

“Because I grew up with an older sister.”

“Well I’m an only child so, you miscalculated, Mr. Styles.”

He takes a sip of his coffee and muses, “Hmm.” Then he seems to suddenly taste the Latte and almost spits it out. A look crosses his face that you wish you could’ve gotten a picture of and then he tries to recover before saying, “It’s good.”

“Really?” You take a long sip of your tea. “Because it looked like you're regretting your decision to challenge me.”

He shakes his head and takes another sip, making the same face. “No, in fact I’m happy that you encouraged me to make this change. This is delicious.”

You narrow your eyes, “Why don’t I believe you?”

“Do you want to try it?” He asks, holding out the cup to you.

“First off, the amount of germs that would spread is astronomical,” You smile at him, “Secondly yes of course I do.” You take the cup from his hands, “How could I not when you made that oscar worthy face while drinking it?” You peel the lid off the cup and take a sip of the drink. The first thing you state is a frightening amount of sweetness, and then the foam gets caught on your mouth. Lastly comes the sudden shot of espresso as the mess of flavors is finished. You hand the cup back to Harry after putting the lid on and say, “Coffee is gross.”

“That’s not coffee,” He offers, “If you were to try a black coffee you would see.”

“Black coffee is gross,” You tell him, giving him your full attention. “I’ve had it and it’s all bitter.”

He tilts his head to the side for a moment, “Can I ask you something?”

“You’re going to whether I say yes or not.”

“Why are you here?”

“You asked me that last time.”

“Not here like, in town.”

You’re surprised, “Oh.” You cough and then say, “I needed a change of scenery.”

“To write whatever you’re writing?”

“Yeah,” You eye him right back, “What are you doing here, aren’t you supposed to be a world famous pop star?”

He leans back into his chair, “I think of myself as more of a rock and roller.” He folds his hands together on top of the table, “I needed a change of scenery too,” He says earnestly.

You click your tongue and turn back to your computer, “Something tells me that’s going to be the only thing that we have in common.”

He shakes his head, “There’s more than you think I’m sure.”

“Oh yes,” You say sarcastically, “Harry Styles and the mysterious girl at the cafe he frequents, i'm sure we have a lot of shared life experience.”

“You’re so contrary.”

“You’re so hopelessly optimistic.”

He taps his fingers against the table, “I don’t think that’s a bad thing.”

“Good for you,” You shoot back. You can’t see it, because you’re trying to focus your attention back on the computer but he’s smiling at you in a way that he hasn’t before. It’s not a smirk, or something sarcastic or even patronizing. If you were looking you would know that he sees something in you, but you’re not looking. When he gets up and leaves you turn to him and say, “Until next time then.”

He looks at you curiously and then nods.

The next day you’re still at your spot but noticeably without your computer or your piles of books. Quite simply you're stumped on your writing, you don’t know where to go to what to do and although you wouldn’t say it outloud it makes you incredibly angry. The reason why you don’t have your computer with you is because you’d gotten so mad at the thing the night before you thought you might break if you didn’t take a beat of separation. Even though the entire situation obviously isn’t the computer's fault, it’s your fault.

So you sit, mindlessly scrolling through tik tok, trying to think of something to do to keep your mind off the fact that this whole trip could've been for nothing and you’ll never get it finished. Unfortunately the best thing you can think of is the thing that you're already doing, sitting in the same shop that you’ve been sitting in day after day. You wonder if the employees have begun to get annoyed with you, or if they talk about you on their breaks and wonder why you’re always covered in papers or why you type vigorously on your computer keys.

Harry walks in and you look at him immediately before just as quickly moving your eyes back to your phone. He does the same thing he does everyday, gets his order (this time the regular black coffee), and then sits down across from you.

“What happened?”

“I seem to have hit some writers block,” You say, “I had to extricate myself from the work or I would’ve committed computer murder.”

“Computer murder?” He repeats with a small sly smile.

“Do you want to get out of here?” You say suddenly, then correct yourself, “Like talk a walk by the beach or something.”

He looks surprised but he says, “Yes,” right away. Then he pauses and says, “But you have to tell me your name, or what you’re writing.”

You stand up from the table, tea clutched in your hand. “I will do you one better,” You hold your hand for him to shake, “I’m y/n.”

“That’s a pretty name,” The smile on his face seems immoveable.

You roll your eyes, “Flattery will get you nowhere with me.” You start to walk out of the door and he follows you right out onto the sidewalk. The town is small, and the main street is very close to the beach. It only takes a minute or two to get onto the beach and when you do you turn to him and say, “I’m writing my graduate school thesis.”

“Huh,” He says, clearly thinking about something.

You shove your hands into your pockets, “What did you think I was writing?”

“A novel,” He answers quickly.

You laugh out loud, “Seriously? What kind of book?”

“I don’t know,” He laughs a little too, “One of those steamy romance ones.”

“Oh my god,” You say, laughing again. “You thought I was writing one of those honry romance books that gets made into a movie that makes everyone uncomfortable? I don’t know wether to laugh or cry that you would think that about me.”

“Well you wouldn’t tell me, so I had to get creative.”

“Just to make sure that you don’t have to get creative anymore,” You start, “I am writing my master's degree thesis on aerospace engineering.”

He stops walking and just stares at you, “Fuck. You’re a genius.”

“If you read the thesis you would not think that,” You shake your head, “And before you ask if you can read it no you cannot.”

He laughs, “Darn.”

“I’m not a writer,” You say as the two of you continue to walk, “I am a builder, and a math person, this is literal torture.”

“So you came all the way out here to-?”

“Try and see if getting away from the pressure helps at all.”

“Is it working?”

You shrug, “Why did you come out here?”

“Writer's block,” He says, and for a moment you think he’s mocking you but then you see the look on his face.

“Really?” You say.

He sighs, “Usually the ideas just come to me, but I’ve not nothing.”

“So you decided to disappear to a small coastal town?”

“Don’t sound so contrary,” He says, “You did the same thing.”

“Is the word contrary on your word of the day calendar or something?” You accuse him, “Or do you just like the way it sounds coming out of your mouth?”

He turns to you, for a moment, doesn’t say anything and just licks his lips. “I think that you like the way it sounds.”

You roll your eyes, “I’m sure that you're used to thinking that every girl you’ve ever met has been in love with you, but for the record I am not.” You continue, “And not in the way that I don’t date because no one has ever loved me before, just in the way that you live a different life than me.”

He doesn’t say anything, he just nods slowly and the two of you walk in silence for a while. After a while, he clicks his tongue and says, “Aerospace engineering, huh? Do you want to work for NASA then?”

You dig your foot into the stand, hands still clenched in your pockets, “I have an offer from them, but I can only go to work with them if I graduate and to graduate I have to finish this godforsaken thesis.”

He stops walking and steps in front of you, almost causing you to run into him. “The only thing standing in between you and your dream is one essay.”

“One monster essay,” You correct him, “One monster essay that then has to go through edits after I finish seventy five pages.” You cross your arms over your chest when it’s clear that he’s going to stand in front of you as he thinks about something.

“That’s something,” He says, and narrows his eyes at you briefly. You wish you could know what he’s thinking about, because you’re not sure what he means by what he just said.

You roll your eyes again, “Nice to know my personal life makes interesting fodder for your songs. Am I going to be the next Carolina?” You turn on your heels and start walking the opposite way down the beach, you start walking pretty fast and it seems like he’s still in thought because it takes him a while to catch up with you.

“You’re reading too much into it,” He says.

“Am I though?” You don’t even look at him, you just keep walking. “It’s your MO isn’t it? You like girls, or maybe you don’t, they fall in love with you and one way or another they end up immortalized for a bunch of teenage girls and the recording academy to listen to.”

“And you think you know everything about me?” He offers.

You spin around and plant your feet in the sand, causing Harry to run right into you. He barrels right into you, and sends both of you falling onto the ground. Suddenly you're in the sand, with Harry on top of you. You very much regret stopping for dramatic effect as you roll out from under him, leaving him face first in the sand. You sit up and dust sand off yourself as you sit on your knees.

“Do you always have to be so dramatic?” He says, exasperatedly, as he sits up and brushes sand out of his hair.

“Yes,” You sigh, “I study engineering, it's pretty much the only entertainment I have.”

“So you were joking? Back there?”

“No, I was being serious.”

“You really think that just because I’m into you I’m gonna go off and write songs about the aerospace engineering major who has stars in her eyes and perfect hair falls into place everyday the same way? There’s going to be a billboard hit about the girl that who drinks the same tea I don’t understand every single day, and pours over her little computer with diagrams of rocket ships trying to will the words to appear?”

You stop and just look at him. He looks back at you with a deer in headlights expression, and lays back down into the sand like he wishes he would disappear. You sit in the sand, as a breeze blows across the beach. The waves behind you crash against the sand with a sound that you just seem to notice, as Harry seems to have his little crisis, you suddenly notice nature all around you. And you notice the fact that you hadn’t paid any attention to any of it, because you were too busy looking at him.

“You have been watching me,” You say suddenly.

“Not in a creepy way,” He says from his place on the ground, “I have just noticed things.”

:”Well I’m not going to go off and design rockets that are shaped like Harry Styles but-” You sigh, “I have noticed things too.”

“By which you mean?”

You get to your feet and walk over to him, holding out your hand for him. Harry looks up at you and takes your hand, using it to pull himself up until you're standing looking at each other. “I mean, maybe the version of you I've created in my head isn’t the real you. And I would be interested in finding out who Harry is.” He smiles, “And also,” You cup your hands around his cheeks and pull him in for a kiss. He kisses you back immediately, and it goes on until you pull away. “I have to get back to work.”

“Oh so now you can write?”

“What can I say, I think you cured the writer's block.”

You spend the next two weeks actually getting to know Harry. He’s a bit like the person the general public thinks him to be, but there are things about him that he’s never shared in any interview or any tweet. You feel lucky to get to know these things, to get to have these little pieces of him to keep. You know the taste of his lips, his exact coffee order, the way he laughs at jokes that are not funny, the little smile that crosses his face whenever there’s a commercial with dogs or babies, and the fact that if left unattended he will wake up and eat leftover cake at two in the morning.

You like him, you like him a lot, but you don’t allow yourself to fall in love with him. Well maybe you do, in the small ways, the ways that are so easy to push down and not think about. Everytime you think about yourself having some kind of future with him beyond the four walls of the apartments you're both renting you think about something else. You think about how you have your own dreams that couldn’t include him even if you tried, you think about all the things that could go wrong and all the reasons why his life can’t be your life, and you think maybe that’ll be enough to stop you from loving him the way you want to.

One of those things you try not to think about? How good you are for each other. You kissed him one time and it was like your brain lit up somehow you had the energy to work on your thesis and get close to finishing it. Harry helped in his own way, he sat with you in the coffee shop and on the couch as you wrote, telling you that it looked good even though he had no idea what you were talking about. And everyday when you were working he would sit on the floor of your small apartment with his guitar, strumming and singing and creating music finally. You didn’t really understand what he was getting at either but you thought it sounded nice anyway and you liked to see him happy.

None of that makes it easy to leave by any means. That’s the biggest reason why you can’t love him, because you know and you’ve always known that you were going to leave. At the end of the month you both pack up your bags and get ready to go back to Washington DC, and Harry gets ready to go back to London. Both of you knew deep down that it was going to be this way, and so you just push ahead. No crying, no confessions, no big dramatic moments that both of you had become accustomed to, you just kiss one last time and head off your separate ways.

You realize once you're on the plane, leaving the whole thing in the past, that you actually don’t mind if he writes a song about you. Something should come of your time together, you decide because it meant so much to both of you.

Almost a year later, Harry has released another album and he’s coming on tour to Washington. Your thesis is done, and you're working your dream job for NASA, helping to design rockets and other technology. You don’t know why, but you revolve to go to the show. Half of it is because you genuinely like the album, and because you’ve heard that Harry Styles concerts are something that everyone should experience, but half because you want to see him in person because it’s been a long time.

You could tell him that you're coming, but you don’t. You don’t know what to say and most of all you don’t know what you want him to do with it. All the barriers to the two of you having a serious relationship are still there, especially now that he’s going to be on tour for the time being. You don’t tell him you're going, but somehow despite all the doubts that appear in your mind the hours before the concert is set to start you make it all the way there.

You actually enjoy the concert like a normal fan, up until the point where he plays Sunflower Vol 6.

You’ve known Sunflower was about you since the album was released. On the day Fine Line was released, Harry sent you a text that said: I know I said that I wouldn’t write a song about you but I couldn’t help it. Don’t be mad. It’s called Sunflower.

You weren’t mad, and you actually ended up loving the song. Hearing it made you a little emotional however, because it just made you think, think about the time the two of you had spent together and how you wished it could've lasted longer.

You don’t know why, but you text him while he’s playing. You know he won’t see it until after the show and that’s kind of the point. You sound great tonight. Sunflower is beautiful.

Eventually the concert ends and you end up staying in your seat for a little longer than everyone else, just to steer clear of the crowds trying to get out of the building all at once. When mostly everyone around you has cleared out you leave your street and start the walk back to the metro station. You’re walking down a long and mostly empty hallway when you suddenly hear the sound of someone running right behind you. You turn around and see Harry running after you, in a way that reminds you so much of that day on the beach.

“Woah,” You say, suddenly. “Where’s the fire?”

He stops a foot ahead of you, out of breath.

“Did you run around the whole venue?” You ask him.

“Not the whole thing,” He says, finally able to catch his breath. “But a good chunk of it.”

“All for me?” You tease him lightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” He asks.

You shrug, “What would you have done if you knew?”

“You could’ve come backstage and met the band and-”

“-and what would you have introduced me as,” You reply, a question that you both know means more than just the words that you’ve said.

He tilts his head to the side and says, “My old friend.”

“Uh-huh,” You say.

“You’re being contrary again,” He says.

“And you're being overly optimistic.”

The two of you stand there for a minute, just getting a good look at one another for what you both think will be the last time for a while.

“I mostly came to hear the song live,” You say, “I’m glad I got to hear you play for real, instead of just on the kitchen floor.”

He laughs, “Personally I think I do my best work on the kitchen floor.”

“We’re going to have to agree to disagree about that one.”

“So you’re just going to go home, then?”

You put your hands into your pockets, and say, “Yeah, I am.”

“Can I at least walk you out then?”

You pause, but then say, “Yeah, you can.”

He smiles, and the two of you start to walk side by side down the hallway.

#will I ever stop writing harry fics based on taylor songs?#probably not omg #especially not if she keeps writing songs that emcompass such specific emotions #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles one shot #my writing

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