#it is mere feet away from my computer I have to see it all. day.

[violetclarity]

in a ~fun~ turn of events I think this year I hate my job not because of the *gestures to conservative catholic institution* everything but because the ratio of direct coworkers whom I like vs. dislike has gone from 2:1 to 1:2 and I am LOSING IT

[spnhunter4life]

Bullets and Ballgowns Chapter 2

Series Summary: In the summer of 1813, the arrival of a new family in Brighton causes much excitement for the townsfolk. Anna Foster is shocked to realize she has already met the elder of the two sons, Dean. As she gets to know the family better, she must fight her feelings for him. Though she finds herself drawn to him, it is impossible that they could ever be together.

Word Count: 3.8k

A/N: Sorry about the long wait for this! I had a fire in my house a month ago. As you can imagine, life got crazy and in the free time I've had I just wasn't motivated to write. I'm finally getting this chapter out there though! I really can't say how long it will be before chapter 3 comes out, but just know that I fully intend on continuing this. Thanks for the patience and I hope you enjoy!

Masterlist Series Masterlist

(header picture here eventually. was on my other computer, so I have to figure out how to get it back)

Two days passed before Anna saw the Winchesters again. Her family and Charlotte’s sat together in the park. Their parents sat together in the shade provided from the tent they had set up. Charlotte and Anna preferred the corner of the blanket, out of the shade where they could feel the warmth of the sun. Between them and their parents a picnic basket full of grapes, biscuits, bread, butter, and jam was laid out, as well as tea.

They were not the only families taking advantage of the beautiful weather. Tents were set up all around them and small groups promenaded together down the cobbled path around the small pond. The two girls had just decided to join them, thinking a bit of exercise would do them good, when the Winchester family arrived.

“We must go now,” Anna informed her friend. “If we have not left before my mother or Mrs. Winchester are aware of each other’s presence here, we shall not be allowed to leave at all.”

“You do not wish to speak to them?” Charlotte asked, but she was already complying with Anna’s request to hurry.

“I would be happy to speak to them, but I daresay there will be plenty of time for that today and I truly do wish to walk for a while.”

They reached the path and linked their arms together, settling into a leisurely pace.

“You never did tell me the story of your first meeting with Mr. Winchester,” Charlotte prompted. Anna looked away from her friend as she deliberated where to begin. “Oh, come now,” Charlotte insisted, mistaking her silence for refusal. “I’m sure it is not so dreadful as you believe it to be.”

“I assure you it is,” Anna disagreed. “Nevertheless, I did promise to tell you. So here it is.”

~~~~~

The sun was setting in the sky when Anna stepped out of the theater. If she wanted to be back to her aunt’s house before dark, she needed to hurry. It had been her aunt’s only demand when she gave her permission to attend a performance by Maria Dickons, something she would not have allowed at all had she known Anna’s claims of meeting a new acquaintance there were false. Anna felt bad for lying to her aunt, but not bad enough to persuade her not to do it. She dearly loved music and could not pass up the opportunity to see an incredible performer like Mrs. Dickons for herself. Her aunt’s house was a mere six blocks away, but she was feeling slightly unsteady on her feet due to a slight overindulgence in wine.

As she walked down the steps, she saw the man who had made her uncomfortable with his close watch on her all evening exiting the building behind her. 

“Excuse me, miss,” he said.

She ignored him. With so many people around it was easy enough to pretend not to hear him or to assume he was speaking to someone else. Undeterred by this, he hurried to move in front of her.

“Miss,” he tried again now that he knew he had her attention.

“I’m sorry, but I really must be going. I am to meet a friend, and he will not be happy if I’m late,” she lied. She scanned the faces of the people passing by, wondering if any noticed her distress. They didn’t seem to.

“Yes, of course, but-”

“Oh, there you are!” Anna cried out happily. She spotted a young, friendly looking gentleman standing by himself and hurried over, praying that he would play along. “I hope you weren’t waiting too long. I was held up by this gentleman here,” she said, indicating the man who had followed close behind. The stranger seemed to catch her meaning and immediately jumped to her rescue.

“Not long at all,” he assured her, moving to face her in a way that placed himself between her and the other man. “I hope the performance was as delightful as you anticipated.” 

The man who had followed her out seemed to take this as a sign that he was unwelcome and left with a huff. Anna let out a relieved breath.

“Thank you for that. I do not know who he was, but he was scaring me a little.”

“No thanks necessary,” the gentleman assured her. Looking closer now that she was safe, she realized how incredibly handsome he was. “That sort of behavior is inexcusable. A lady should never have to fear for her safety.”

“I should like to thank you just the same. I do not know what I would have done if you were not here.”

“Surely there must be someone with you who would have helped.”

“I’m afraid not,” she admitted. “I am visiting my aunt you see, and I simply could not miss the chance to hear Mrs. Dickons. I told her I was meeting a new acquaintance, but I do not know anyone here in London.” She knew she ought not to be telling him these things, but the alcohol loosened her tongue and she found she felt quite easy around the man who had been her means of rescue.

“Then you must allow me to escort you home. I would not want to help you avoid the unwanted attention of one man only for you to fall prey to another later tonight.”

“I wouldn’t wish to trouble you.”

“Ensuring a lady’s safety is no trouble at all.”

“Alright. I suppose I would appreciate the company.”

The walk home was quite pleasant. Anna and her escort spoke of nothing of consequence, but she was delighted to learn that he was happy to discuss this evening’s performance with her. She quite enjoyed hearing his opinions, even the ones she did not agree with. Before she knew it, they were a few doors down from her aunt’s house.

“We are nearly there. I should bid you goodbye here, lest my aunt see us out the window and think something scandalous has happened. I thank you for the company.”

“I thank you for your company as well. It is not often I have such a lively conversation with a beautiful young lady.”

Anna knew she should take her leave of him then, but a strange impulse struck her that she found she could not ignore. With alcohol fueling her bravery, she kissed him swiftly on the mouth before turning and darting towards the house.

~~~~~

“Well… I must admit I am shocked,” Charlotte said when Anna had finished telling the story. Anna felt a curl of fear in her gut that her friend might think less of her. She knew it was no less than she deserved. “But I still believe it is not so bad a situation.”

Anna turned her head to Charlotte, wondering if perhaps she heard wrong.

“After all, you did say he did not seem to recognize you at your parents’ ball the other night, did you not?”

“I did,” Anna agreed warily. “But, Charlotte-”

“Then I see no reason you need fear for your reputation. You know how gentlemen are, even the kind ones like Mr. Winchester. It was no doubt far from his first kiss and therefore, I’m sorry to say it, not particularly memorable to him. You can go on as if you had never set eyes on him before two nights ago. All will be well, I’m sure of it.”

Anna considered her friend’s words for several long moments. “But what of you?” She finally found the courage to ask. “You must have lowered your opinion of me now. I cannot blame you for it.” She could not bear the thought, but knew she must learn to. Actions had consequences after all, and this would be one of them. Or the only one, it seemed. She should consider herself lucky for that.

“Indeed, I have not.” The fierceness of Charlotte’s words surprised Anna. “It was only a mistake. And you will find, my dear Anna, that there is not a person alive who has not made mistakes. It is true that not all of them have quite such a potential for scandal as this, but that does not make you a bad person or mean that I should wish never to associate with you again.”

Was this it, then? Was she truly to suffer no consequences for her most improper actions? A relieved smile gently turned up the corners of Anna’s mouth.

“You are far too kind to me,” she told her friend. “You have no idea how grateful I am for it.”

“Or perhaps you are just too hard on yourself,” Charlotte disagreed. “Believe me, I understand why you are so distressed. I’m sure I would be too if I were in your place. And if it were public knowledge, of course you would have reason to worry. But I am the only one who knows and surely you could not think so little of me as to believe I would condemn you for being brave enough to confide in me.”

“Of course not,” Anna hurried to assure her. “You are too good and kind a friend to ever behave in such a way. I suppose it is less that I expected you to think that way and more that I believe you should.”

“Perhaps society would say that I should. But I find that I cannot. From what you say, it was so short a kiss that it can barely even be counted. And it was while you were under the influence of alcohol, no less.”

“I fear the fact that I was out on my own and not entirely sober does not paint me in a much better light. But I thank you for your understanding.”

They walked in companionable silence for a couple of minutes before Charlotte spoke up.

“There is one thing I would ask you.”

“What is that?”

“What are your feelings towards Mr. Winchester?” Anna’s immediate response was to brush this question off, considering it inconsequential. Anticipating this, Charlotte hurried to continue. “I know what you’re going to say. That your feelings are of no matter when you are already promised to someone. But I wish to understand the situation better. And besides, who can you talk to of any feelings you may have if not to your closest friend? I would imagine it a relief to be able to speak your true feelings aloud, whatever they may be.”

“Well,” Anna began after a few moments of deliberation. “I believe he is the handsomest man I have ever seen. He is kind and gentlemanly. He is very easy to talk to. And he has an appreciation and understanding of music that I have rarely seen.” Charlotte smiled, knowing how appealing this was to Anna. Anna sighed. “I believe if circumstances were different, I would like him very much,” she admitted.

“I believe what you mean to say is that you wish circumstances were different because you like him very much.”

Anna could not deny this, so she kept quiet. They were just completing their first full circle of the pond and about to start a second when they were approached by Sam and Dean Winchester. Bows and curtsies were exchanged before Sam spoke.

“Good afternoon. Would it be alright if we joined you?”

“Of course,” Charlotte agreed, unlinking her arm from Anna’s. “I daresay it would be most fortunate if you would. That way we can continue to enjoy our walk and have no need to return to our tent in order to enjoy your company.” She held her freed arm out to Sam, who was quick to offer his own to her. They began to walk together. Anna took the arm Dean offered to her and they followed a few steps behind Sam and Charlotte, who were already conversing. 

“I hope you and your family are settling in well,” Anna said.

“We are, thank you.”

“Do you plan to spend much of the day here?”

“I believe we will likely stay as long as everyone else does,” Dean answered. “My mother was quite pleased to see so many of the town’s families here today. She is eager to reacquaint herself with old friends.”

“Yes, I imagine she is,” Anna smiled. As they walked, they passed a group of gentlemen standing together in the grass, talking animatedly. 

“I must confess, I am surprised that you and your brother wanted to walk with us,” she said. “I would think you would rather join the other young gentlemen in their discussions and games.”

“I’m sure we will,” he replied. “But is it not also usual for a gentleman to walk with a young lady?”

“I suppose so,” she agreed. She didn’t bother pointing out that they usually only did so with young ladies they were courting, or ones they wished to court.

“Speaking of gentlemen, I do not believe I see Mr. Sanders here today,” he noted mildly.

“Oh,” Anna said, surprised at his choice of conversation. “I do not believe he is here. If he is, I have not seen him.”

“Will he be joining you later then?”

“Perhaps. We do not have any plans of the sort, but I imagine if he should arrive, we will spend at least some time together. Did you wish to speak to him?” Anna could think of no other reason for this line of questioning.

“No. I am merely trying to understand the two of you better.”

“What do you mean?”

Dean sighed. “You did not mention that you were engaged when we danced,” he said pointedly.

“Well, no, I suppose I didn’t. You’ll find I made no mention of it to your brother either. I don’t make a habit of mentioning such things to every man I dance with. I see no reason to unless I know the gentleman in question has a desire to court me.”

He seemed displeased by this response. “Perhaps you are right,” he frowned. “And yet, it does not make sense.”

It was Anna’s turn to frown. “What doesn’t make sense?” She rather thought her explanation was perfectly acceptable. And he had agreed. So what was bothering him?

“I have spent the past couple of days wondering how a man could neglect to ask the woman he is engaged to for a dance until the very end of the night,” he explained. “Or in the case of your Mr. Sanders, it appears he did not just neglect to, but forgot to entirely. I understand that ladies are not always entirely happy about the man they are to marry. It would make sense to me if you had avoided his attention whenever possible if that were the case. But a gentleman has a say in who he marries. Surely if the two of you are engaged, it is because he wishes it. So why was he so neglectful of you at the ball? Why is he not here now, taking advantage of the beautiful weather to proudly walk with you on his arm?”

“Perhaps you are not as wrong in your assessment as you think,” Anna said simply. “Mr. Sanders had no more to do with the engagement between us than I did. It was an arrangement between our fathers. One that he agreed to of course, but then so did I. That is why you do not detect any particular regard from him.”

“I suppose that does make some sense,” Dean agreed grudgingly. “But, still. Regardless of his feelings towards you, he agreed to the marriage and therefore he should treat you as any man would treat the woman he is engaged to. If he did not intend to do so, perhaps he should not have agreed.”

“I thank you for your concern, but I assure you it is unnecessary,” Anna told him. She couldn’t understand why he should care so much. They barely knew each other. And there was certainly no one else so worried about William’s treatment of her. “Firstly, this agreement between us is unofficial. Mr. Sanders still has one more year at university. It will be announced as a formal engagement once he has finished. Secondly, it is still somewhat new. He is still adjusting to the expectations that go along with it, but I do believe he is trying his best.”

Dean seemed to consider her words carefully before responding. “If that be the case, then I suppose you are right. All we can ask of someone is that they do their best. And you believe you will be happy with him?”

She chuckled. “My happiness has very little to do with it, as you well know.” He did not answer, only continued to look at her expectantly. She sighed. “I believe I am quite lucky. Mr. Sanders is kind. As for fortune and connections, we are quite well matched. And as silly a thing as it may be, I cannot help but be glad I shall not be married to an old man. I believe I will be content with him.”

“Then I shall say no more on the subject.”

“Perhaps instead you might tell me if you’ve had time to make any friends yet,” Anna suggested. “I did notice you seemed friendly with Mr. Young. Am I correct in assuming you know each other from school?”

“You are,” Dean answered. “I would not consider us close friends, but he is a decent fellow, and I admit it was a pleasant surprise to see a familiar face.”

“Yes, I imagine it was. What of other friends? There is no shortage of decent young gentlemen in this town. I don’t believe it should be difficult for you to find one or two whose company you enjoy.”

“Perhaps not, but it does not matter if I make any friends.”

“Because you are not going to be living here?” Anna guessed.

“Exactly.”

“I disagree,” Anna said. 

A small smile turned up one corner of Dean’s mouth. “Do you? May I ask why?”

Anna wasn’t sure if she should be frustrated at his obvious amusement or just glad to be getting along with him. She decided on being glad. After all, she had to admit that she was proud to be the source of his happiness. “You may not be living here,” she explained, “but your family is. I imagine you will want to visit them on occasion.”

“Of course,” he agreed.

“And as glad as they will be to see you, they will still have things they need to do. They will not be able to spend all of their time with you. Would it not then be wise to have a friend or two you may visit when your family is busy?”

“I suppose you are right,” he agreed easily. He was quiet for a moment as he scanned the faces around him, pretending to consider his options. “As you said, I already know Mr. Young, so there is one friend. Perhaps you would be my second friend?”

Anna tried to hide her smile. She could feel it pulling at her mouth, fighting to break free. “I think that is a possibility,” she said nonchalantly. She noticed his smile and could no longer contain her own. “Both of our mothers would be quite disappointed if we were not friends after all,” she continued, not wanting to become swept away in the moment. “And besides that, I find you are very easy to talk to. Yes, I think we could be friends.”

“Good. I think so too.”

“Winchester!” Someone called out. All four members of their little group stopped walking and turned to acknowledge the newcomer, George Young. “Sorry to interrupt. Could I borrow your companion Miss Foster? I was just trying to convince a couple of gentlemen of the merits of living in the city over the country, and I would appreciate having a Londoner to back me up. Your brother is welcome too, of course,” he added to Dean almost as an afterthought. “The more people arguing my case the better, I daresay.”

“As long as the ladies are ok with it, I believe we should be happy to join the discussion,” Dean answered, conveniently forgetting to mention that he favored the country himself, Anna noted. Sam nodded in agreement and all three gentlemen waited for a response from her and Charlotte.

“We were managing alright without you before. I think we shall be just fine on our own once again,” Charlotte told them. Anna chuckled.

“Until next time then,” Dean said.

The two ladies continued their walk in companionable silence, but it lasted for only a short time before Charlotte spoke up. “I apologize, my dear Anna. Perhaps it is not my place, but I feel I must say something.” Anna turned a puzzled gaze on her. “I did not mean to listen to your conversation, but walking as close as we were, it was hard not to overhear some of it. Surely you must have heard some of my conversation with the younger Mr. Winchester as well.”

She had, as a matter of fact, and had thought nothing of it. After all, they had been walking close as Charlotte said. Nothing could be expected to be entirely private at that distance. “Whatever are you talking about Charlotte?” Anna asked. It wasn’t like Charlotte to babble nervously.

“Well…” Charlotte hesitated, twisting her hands together. “It’s just that I heard you and Mr. Winchester agreeing that you could be friends,” she finally managed to say.

“Yes,” Anna agreed, drawing out the word a beat longer than necessary. “Should we not have? It is normal to make friends with people who move to the neighborhood you know.”

“Yes, yes, of course,” Charlotte agreed brusquely, “but is it wise for you to be friends with this particular neighbor? Feeling the way you do about him when you are engaged?”

“Oh,” Anna said. A furrow formed between her brows as she considered her friend’s words. “I see what you are saying. But I do not believe it will be an issue.”

“You don’t?”

“No,” she said confidently. “Just because I feel a certain way does not mean my feelings are reciprocated. And he knows I am engaged. He would not be foolish enough to spend time with a promised lady if he felt anything more than friendship for her. I can hardly avoid him without giving him – and anyone else who might notice and question it – a reason. But what reason could I possibly give? Besides, he is only here for a short time. He will be gone by the end of summer. We probably won’t even see each other that much. No, I’m quite certain your concerns are misplaced. I thank you all the same though. You do not know how much it means to me to know I have you looking out for me.”

“You have always been there for me. It is only fair that I do the same for you.”

They walked together for a while longer before returning to their tent. Mr. and Mrs. Winchester were there, and Anna was promptly invited to come along with her mother for tea at their house in two days’ time. She couldn’t ignore a voice in the back of her head that sounded suspiciously like Charlotte mocking her earlier assertion that she would not be around Dean very often.

Chapter 3

Tags:

@123passwort @buckybarnes-1917 @chicken-nuggs-and-cozy-hugs @globetrotter28 @deans-spinster-witch @aylacavebear

[jocherry]

*ping*

yeol 🌳

are you done yet baek?

baekhyun sighed when he read the msg of his bf. its past 11 he was still at his office. he is pretty sure no cab service would be available rn. top of that he had a terrible day at his office all he wanted was to sleep the day off. but he had to send some more emails to the clients regarding their ongoing projects, sleep can wait now.

to yeol 🌳

go to sleep tree I will be there in 30 min

he knew he lied to his bf, he doesn't even know how he is gonna reach home let alone in 30 minutes. he could have asked chanyeol to pick him up, but he didn't have the heart to burden his bf more. chanyeol would be tired too. his eyes would be sore from glaring at the computer screen all day. being a web designer was hard enough, baekhyun wouldn't mind selling his trip home to give yeol his much needed sleep.

cy has left his msg on read which means he is pretty much dozzing off right now. baekhyun thought of chanyeol sprawled on the bed like a starfish with zzar cuddling him like tiny plushie enjoying their bed all for himself. he shook his head in amusement.how much he wished to be a part of the cuddle party but atleast he was glad that chanyeol understood him n his job requirements. he took a deep breathe and got back to work again aiming to finish before midnight so that he could atleast catch the last bus home.

after some time,baekhyun leaned back on his chair with a whoof. Finally he was done for the day (say night). his back begged him to hit the bed already. he ran his fingers through his face in exhaustion contemplating his life decision of becoming an architect.it was tiresome most of the days ngl but he loved his profession nonetheless. he loved the feeling of witnessing people's contentment whenever they witness the output their dream buldings. he will not hesitate to pull a all nighter if he could perfect his job and make the client happy.

bh: damn I feel like borderline masochist

he can't help but to let a sigh again.he got up from his seat and gathered his stuff as quickly as possible. he turned the lights off in his cabin and headed to the entrance of his office. when he hit the road it was eerily quiet. he shrugged it off and he strolled towards the bus stop.of course everyone would be sleeping recharging for the next day.

But here he is totally drained, still not at home. he was few steps away from the bus stop, thats when he saw his only mode of transportation leaving without him. he ran towards the vehicle just for it leave him behind,this day can't be anymore cruel. he was stranded in middle of the road not knowing how to reach home, he felt like crying.

" need a ride back home arch?"

he got startled by the sudden voice. he snapped his neck towards his left to the direction of the voice. A wave of relief hit him when he realized it was none other than his boyfriend. he was leaning against his motorcycle hands folded on his chest, his hair kind of dishelved, he was sporting a smirk his dimples peeking adorably n he was clad in a white tee n sweats which made him look even more soft n cuddly.

baekhyun eyes glistened,he was never been so thankful for a mere presence of someone. he let out a choked sob and took big steps to reach his chanyeol. he literally threw himself on cy, hugged him so tight seeking comfort. chanyeol chuckled and hugged him back slightly lifting baekhyun off his feet. bh nuzzled his face on cy's crook relishing in his earthly scent. cy peppered his lil boyfriend with butterfly kisses on his hair trying to soothe him.

cy: are you okay baby?

chanyeol's low timbre voice eased his racing heart.bh shook his head in no.

cy: bad day?

bh nodded slowly in agreement.

cy: what can I do to make it better, hmm?

bh: you are here, my day was never been better (his voice got muffled on cy's shirt)

cy: awww my poor kitten (he cooed)

he took bh face in his hand, he can visibly see his exhaustion on his baekhyun's face. his eyes were little teary and his mouth in a visible pout. cy pecked his eyelids slowly, caressing his cheeks. he pressed their foreheads together.

cy: you did well today my sweetheart

his endearment pulled a small smile on bh face. he was clutching on his tee like a needy kitten.

bh: lets go home tree I m so tired

cy: yeah lets get this kitten home

cy ruffled his hair and lead bh to the bike. he handed over the another helmet to his boyfie. once they were settled, cy grabbed bh hands and secured it around his torso.

cy: hold on tight princess

bh let out a giggle and tightened his hold around chanyeol. baekhyun always loved bike rides especially during night. the warm press of cy's body, the chilling night breeze hitting his face, its a lowkey therapy for baekhyun if u ask him. he never wanted the rides to end but unfortunately they reached their destination after a short while. few hrs back he was desperate to go home but now he felt a lil sad at thought of ride had been cut short. (they rode for 30 min straight but its still short for him)

cy parked the bike at the basement n they both took the elevator to their floor. bh kept yawning throughout the ride, his eyelids getting heavy each second. cy noticed how bh fighting his urge to sleep.

cy: don't fall asleep byun I m not carrying you home

bh: ( he snickered) I can take myself home thank you very much.

cy stifled a laugh.the elevator pinged indicating the arrival of their floor. baekhyun was about to step off when his bf grabbed his hand. chanyeol turned baekhyun slid his hand under his thighs to carry him like bride. bh gasped as cy hoisted him up like he weighed none. he circled his hand around cy's neck naturally. cy stepped out of the elevator with bh on his arms.

bh: so much for not wanting to carry me around

cy: I know you love to be carried around kitten, its not my fault to be sucha devoted boyfriend.

baekhyun wanted to roll his eyes for chanyeol's remark but he was actually right about his liking so he decided to give this one to cy. he punched the code as soon as they arrived at their doorstep. he tossed the bag on the sofa and removed his shoes at the door while cy was still holding him as oh so perfect boyfriend he is.

bh thought cy gonna tuck him in bed once they arrived but he had different plans. chanyeol placed him on one of the chairs in the kitchen island.

bh: aren't we going to bed?

cy: yes but only after you eat smthn

bh: tree I am so sleepy I don't think I could feed myself.

cy: hold on for 5 min pls I m gonna reheat the dinner hmm?

bh: tree please ffs I want to sleep

he groaned as his bf showed deaf ears to him he pressed his face on the cold tiles of the counter top and tried to get some shut eyes till chanyeol prepared the food.

cy reheated the pasta he had for dinner. he knew bh wouldn't have eaten anything since lunch. he forgets abt everything when he gets immersed in his work. The microwave beeped cutting his thoughts short.

he nudged baekhyun who has been drooling off on the tiled island. bh woke up and tried to recognize the surrounding he was in. cy's voice brought him back to reality. he squinted his eyes at chanyeol before him who have been extending a spoon to his mouth.

cy: baby say ah!!

he lifted the spoon with the dinner and waited for bh to open his mouth. bh ate whatever chanyeol put it in his mouth. It was delicious nonetheless. he was famished but his sleepiness overpowered him to make him forget about the food,but who is he to refuse if his bf gonna feed him like a toddler.

bh: tree its tastes so good ( he cheered)

cy smiled at the compliment of bh

cy: anything will taste good if you're are hungry baek.

bh: no it genuinely taste good

cy : if you say so kitten, now eat up n finish the bowl hmm?

bh hummed in response and continue to munch on his feeding. the bowl got emptied in mean time. chanyeol patted the cheek of baekhyun as sign of telling him good boy for finishing his dinner. he put out the dishes inside the sink and handed a baek a glass of water.

the moment water hits his throat, bh realized how dry they were. He couldn't remember when was the last time he drank water for that day. chanyeol might have read his mind.

cy: when was the last time you took a sip of the water baek?

bh was busy chugging down the water like a man in dessert that he almost choked on cy's question

bh: I can't remember tbh

he put the glass down and stared at the glass on the counter like its some kind of astonishing thing. chanyeol shook his head in disappointment

bh: sorry I was so busy today

cy: that doesn't give you the excuse to not to eat or drink anything

bh pouted at him, giving him his best puppy eyes hoping his bf would leave him off the hook tdy.

bh: I will be a new leaf tmrw I promise now lets get to bed please

cy sighed

cy: I will deal with you tmrw

bh knew he will get a earful from chanyeol. but he loves when cy turns on his mom mode and chiding him to eat well. also he makes his fvrt strawberry pancake feeling bad for reprimanding him. baekhyun is not new for yeol's antics and he absolutely adores his bf for that.

cy: come on baek

bh refused and extended his arm towards his bf. cy looked at him like he didn't have clue abt what he is doing

bh: carry me

cy: what?! bedroom is merely ten steps away baek

bh: pwese

baekhyun managed to pull his best aegyo possible to make his cy carry him. chanyeol has no immunity when it comes to his aegyo n puppy language. especially now baekhyun asking him with atmost cuteness with those little droopy eyes, his pink lips in a fcking pout chanyeol was a gone case. he still wonders how did he ended with this puppy ( no kitten) man.

he took bh hand and lifted him upto his waist again. he tried to act non chalant so bh wouldn't think he got swayed by his aegyo. but bh know better abt his bf weekness

cy: I spoil you too much

bh: n I love being your spoiled baby

cy: baby?! more like brat!!

bh: but yours anyway

cy's heart did a somersault. bh really knows how to fluster him. even after five years of dating, his flirtatious mouth never seen a day off. (baekhyun was about to open the room door)

cy: be quiet baby

bh: why?!

cy: zzar is sleeping on our bed

bh: oh my!!

bh opened it as quiet as possible. once they entered, he switched on the room light to see a white ball of fur in the middle of the bed sleeping silently. bh wanted coo at his daughter. He controlled his urges as it might wake her up. cy put him down and scurried off to the closet to bring him a pair of pajamas.

cy: hurry ( he whispered pointing towards the bathroom)

bh: aye aye captain ( he whispered back giving a mock salute)

bh quickly cleaned himself up and got out wearing his fav pair of pajamas. cy was already on his side of bed laying flat on his stomach petting her softly without disturbing her. ngl it was a really a sight to behold.

he joined them quietly. he layed flat on his stomach too and started petting the big puppy in the room. cy's hair was so soft he felt like he was running his hands through clouds.

cy: she misses you b

bh: I miss her too yeol I couldn't spend more time with her as my work decided to be a bitch

cy: mhmm,eventhough I accompanied all evening, she kept looking at the door to see if you are coming, I could almost sense the longing in it.

bh: gosh my baby ( he leant down and pressed a peck on her head lightly) papa is so sorry

bh: I feel like a bad parent

cy: you are

bh: yaaaa ( he punched his bf shoulder)

cy hissed in pain quite enough not to disturb the sleeping beauty

cy: I was joking you idiot

he spat back and continued to pet her again. bh was picking at the invisible dust on the bedsheet feeling guilty. cy noticed it.

cy: you are not a bad parent baek its not your fault that your works consumes your time. don't worry you will always be her fvrt dad, I was kind of little jealous when she didn't give single ounce of attention all the evening. she loves you so much

bh: awww my princess I raised you well good job!!

now its cy turn to pout.

cy: you both are so mean.

bh giggled at the sight of chanyeol sulking. he lifted his body slightly to peck chanyeol's lips.

bh: and guess what, I love you so much

bh murmured at cy's ears making yeol blush.

cy: I thought you were sleepy

bh: aren't you gonna say it back?!

cy: say what?

bh: never mind

baekhyun mood dampened again. he put a distance between both of them proceeded to lay on his back to get some sleep. chanyeol eyed his bf who was trying mask his disappointment.

cy: let me put zzar back on her bed so we won't accidentally crush her on our sleep.

bh pretended to sleep. cy sighed and carried zzar back to her bed. he switched off the lights the moonlight illuminating the room was enough for him to make it back to bed. bh was facing the other side of the room ignoring chanyeol, when he got back. baekhyun pretended to sleep but secretely he was wishing chanyeol to do something( don't ask him what). the bed dipped on the other side showing chanyeol is on the bed too. there was a pregnant silence for five min,only the sound of fan running around filling the place.

he hears low snores from the other side of the bed which indicates chanyeol is sleeping,baekhyun decides to give up as he realizes there is no point in waiting. he can feel his eyes getting wet, he scoffs at himself for a feeling like a teenager. A weight settles on his chest he hoped it goes off if he slept in.

suddenly a strong arm snakes throw his waist pulling him closer. His back hits with sterdy chest which he is very familiar with. chanyeol throws one leg over bh's legs tangling them together. he nuzzles his face into baekhyun's neck starts kissing his fvrt spot. bh squirms at the contact of lips but he remains silent without uttering a word.

cy: is my kitten mad?

cy's voice near his ears sent shiver down his spine. but still he decides not to react.

cy: you know zzar was not the only one who kept looking at the door, her daddy did too. you have no idea how much I missed you baby.

he gets no reply from the other male. he knows bh is listening. he bites the bh's ear to get a reaction out of his boyfriend. on the other hand bh was so close to turn around and kiss chanyeol senseless. he decided against to see how far his bf goes to pacify him ( he is being a bitch, he knows that too)

cy: babyyyyyy

chanyeol whines.

cy: okay I m sorry I just wanted to tease you alright

still silence

cy: I love you too baek I love you so much I love you like how poets love moon, how sailors love northern star, how waves love the shore, how -

his monlogue was cut short by the pair of lips on his. baekhyun knocked the wind out of chanyeol. the kiss was slow, their lips fitted perfectly like a missing puzzle pieces. they made out for few min and they pulled back in need of air. they stared at each other admiring each other in the moonlight.

chanyeol traced his fingers along the face of bh, like he tried to memorize the every single cell of baekhyun.

cy: I love you like how baekhyun would love chanyeol in every universe.

bh felt like he was going to cry again but this time out of cy's love for him. It was the best confession he had ever heard in his life.

bh: where did learnt to speak like this,huh?

cy: It comes naturally if you live with a baekhyun too.

bh: too bad only you get to experience it in this wholeworld

cy: my goodness, I might have saved people in my past lives

bh snorted at the cy's reply.

bh: okay smooth talker lets sleep we got to wake up again in 6 hrs.

cy: aye sir

bh buried his face in chanyeol's chest, his arms around his torso hugging him like a skinship deprived caveman. cy cuddles him with his face resting on his head. a question pops up in bh mind out of nowhere

bh: tree..

cy: hmm

bh: I rmb msging you to sleep, then why did u come to pick me up? It was such a hassle for you

cy: I really don't mind picking you up from the office, I love surprising you like that and also

( he cradles bh's face in his palms)

cy: the bed was cold without you, how do you expect me to sleep when my cuddle bear is missing huh?

bh was sure he is about combust overchanyeol's sweetness. he secretly thanked heavens for bringing chanyeol to him.

bh: awww my cute tree now your cuddle bear is here, I will keep you warm all night okay!!

cy nods his head shyly.

bh: wait how did you know I have no ride home, I don't rmb mentioning abt it.

cy: you have so much question for a sleepy person

bh: last one I promise

cy: jaehwan accidentally called me instead of you, informing to pick your car up tmrw mrng and when I texted u I thought you would make it before 11, but you only saw my msg around 11.30 so I decided to show up,be your knight in shining armor.

bh: ohhhhh

cy: did u got your answers arch? shall we sleep now?

bh: yeah but thank you tree for coming yk I don't konw what would I've done without you

cy: Its nothing my kitten hmm I would do anything for you, I would -

bh: okay enough mr. monlogue lets fucking sleep for real now.

bh cuddled back again

cy: just because I love you don't u think i will let you off the hook abt skipping meals and water.

bh hummed in response no energy to bite back. he could almost taste strawberry pancake in his mouth. cy smiled at his boyfriend and pecked his hair.

cy: good night love

bh: good night tree

bh fell asleep instantly looking frwd to wake up next to chanyeol already.

(jaehwan- cy's frnd and also the owner of service station)

[fratboykate]

Papicito, we need more of them being apart. The angst must be so juicy when Yelena is in Russia.

Idk if this is “juicy” but it’s...something. Have 3.1k I wrote in like half an hour because it’s been a while and you guys are blowing up my inbox asking for more haha.

///

Kate paces back and forth on the space between her couch and the coffee table. In an attempt to quell her restlessness, she reaches down and kills the half a glass of wine she set down next to her open computer. Once all the liquid is gone, she stares at the empty cup in her hand sullen, huffs, then antsily paces again.

Moments later, the notification of an incoming Facetime call pops up on her laptop screen, along with the accompanying series of melodic dings. Kate freezes and glares at the alert, transfixed by the weight of its meaning. She remains immobile long enough that the call fails. When that happens, Kate snaps out of her trance-like state.

She hastily rushes to the phone that charges atop one of the side tables flanking the couch and sends a two-word, concise text that reads: "Call again."

Soon afterward, another Facetime call alert pops up on the display. Kate initially remains fixed on the spot where she stands, but after a beat of lingering, she rushes to sit across from the computer and clicks the green button right as the call is about to fail again.

Yelena materializes on screen. Despite her hair being in a braid, Kate can tell her blonde locks are longer. The difference in length is significant enough for Kate to know the older woman hasn't had a haircut in the four months she's been gone. However, that’s not the most noticeable change in her appearance. Yelena’s face looks...older. Her features have, without question, aged more than they should have after only not seeing them for a handful of months. Kate surveys her ex-girlfriend intently. The woman staring back at her is indubitably Yelena, but she doesn't look like herself. Even when she was being a curmudgeon, Yelena had a spark. Her spirit was effervescent, but that ebullience Kate has become intimately familiar with is now gone. A piece of Yelena is missing.

After a long, sustained silence where neither makes a sound, Yelena faintly grunts, awkwardly clears her throat, and takes the initiative.

"Hello, Kate Bishop." Yelena utters with apprehension. Kate gapes at the screen, then, after a moment, she rushes to her feet and begins to pace anew, only coming in and out of view as she crosses the camera. "You're going to make one of us dizzy."

Kate bends at the waist, her stoic face ending up an inch away from the camera, effectively filling the entirety of Yelena's screen.

"Don't try to be funny. You don't get to be funny."

"Funny is not what I was going for."

"You left."

"I know."

"You abandoned me."

"I know."

"You abandoned HER. She cried. Every night. For weeks. She refused to sleep because you weren't here to do a story. You could've fucked me over any day and I could've maybe been okay with it, but you hurt her and I can't forgive that."

"I know."

"I can't fucking forgive you."

"That's okay, Kate. I wanted to do this, even if it was so you could scream at me. You deserved that much."

"What I deserved...what she deserved was for you not to bail. That's what we deserved."

"You're right."

Somehow those words exacerbate Kate’s irateness.

"Stop being so fucking agreeable! This isn't you!"

"Everything you're saying is right. There's nothing for me to disagree with."

"Fuck you."

Kate slams the computer shut with fervent spite. She plops onto the cushions, leans back on the couch, and buries her face into her hands. After mere seconds, she reopens her laptop and Facetimes Yelena back. Yelena answers almost immediately.

"You're a piece of shit."

"I am and I'm sorry."

"How long did you know? That you were leaving? How long were you lying to me?"

"I bought and canceled my plane tickets so many times during those months, Kate."

"HOW. LONG?!"

"The last time I bought them? Two weeks before I left."

"Did you ever tell them you weren't going to take the job? Did you ever give them any indication that you might stay?"

"No."

Kate isn’t certain if she should be pleased or upset at the fact that Yelena didn’t hesitate to offer that answer.

"So you didn't lie to them, but you lied to me." Kate scoffs bitterly. "I'm such a fucking idiot."

"You're not."

"I opened up my life to you. Ri's life."

"We knew it was a mistake, Kate. You said we'd cross that bridge when we got there, but we always knew I was leaving."

Kate’s vexation grows exponentially at how blasé Yelena comes across while making that statement.

"You didn't even give me a chance to cross the fucking bridge because you decided to light it on fucking fire!"

"You have every right to hate me."

If Kate were a balloon, all the air would've leaked out of her at the sound of those words. She tips back on the couch and crosses her arms over her chest.

"If I fucking hated you, it wouldn't hurt this much. I wish I hated you. Every day."

"I love you," Yelena remarks without a second thought. 

"Don't say that to me." Kate demands, unflinching. "You lost every right to say that to me."

"I know I did. It doesn't mean it's not true." Yelena takes a beat, then chuckles. "I called your sister. *I* called your sister. Do you have any idea how awkward that conversation was?"

"'Awkward' is not the worst thing you deserve."

"I know."

"Stop with the whole...‘nice’ bullshit. Just stop. It's driving me fucking crazy. Be an asshole. That I know how to deal with."

"I have no reason to be an asshole at the moment."

"That's never stopped you before."

Yelena cracks a smile, but it quickly fades.

"I'm sorry...for everything. I'm sorry, Kate."

"Too late."

"That's fair."

Kate groans, frustrated by Yelena’s newfound affable disposition. 

"I can't deal with this stupid version of you right now."

Kate slams the computer shut yet again, and an instant later, she’s curled up on a ball on the couch, mascara-laden tears staining her forearms and cushions.

---

Days go by. Neither of them attempts to make contact, but this doesn’t mean Yelena isn’t all Kate thinks about. Kate stands by her kitchen counter, absentmindedly staring at the open bottle of wine and the empty glass in front of her. Kate’s mind meanders to one of those mornings when Ereka was away with Tom and Yelena spent hours exploring her body all over this apartment. Kate is regretfully yanked away from the memories of the Russian’s lips roaming her most erogenous spots and back to the dreary present by large, rough hands. The arms snake around her waist and a prickly, bearded face presses against the back of her neck as it peppers her skin with lazy kisses. 

“All her worksheets are done. I triple-checked this time.”

Tom pulls Kate flush against his chest and Kate forces a smile. 

“Thank you.”

Despite her thoughts being elsewhere, Kate’s body betrays her and she instinctively opens up her neck, offering Tom more access to her nape. He gleefully welcomes the reciprocation of affection and leaves a trail of kisses from Kate’s clavicle to her earlobe.

“Dying to be inside you already.” Kate only offers a noncommittal ‘hmmm’ in response. “I love you so goddamn much, KitKat. You make me happy.”

“Did you tell her she needs to take a bath before bed tonight? Non-negotiable.”

Tom nods against Kate’s skin as he continues to press soft kisses behind her ear while he sways their bodies in place.

“She’s picking her pajamas right now. Said she would let me know when she’s ready then we can do bath time.”

“So I’m the only one she gives grief to when it comes to baths. I see.”

“I could do bath time every night if I moved back in.”

Kate forces her head forward, removing his lips from her neck, and endeavors to fill the glass of wine before taking a big gulp. 

“I have to send some emails. Put her hair in a bun and don’t let it get wet. It’s too late for her to have damp hair. I’ll wash it tomorrow.”

Kate tries to extract herself from the embrace, but Tom reels her back, keeping her in place. 

“It’s eight. Why would you need to send emails now?”

“I schedule them for the morning.”

“Or...you could stay right here and send them in the morning.” Kate sighs. Tom spins her around, forcing her to face him. He examines her features intently. “You’re so fucking hot...Hotter than a fajita plate coming out of a restaurant kitchen.”

A faint smile appears on Kate’s face as she rolls her eyes. 

“You’ve been saying that since we were eighteen. You need to find a new line.”

“If it’s not broken, don’t break it.”

Kate exhales and budges, leaning her forehead against his cheek. Tom draws her even closer, pulling her against his toned body before his hands come to rest on her ass.

“A little variety would be nice, tho.”

Tom chuckles and plants a kiss on Kate’s forehead.

“I’ll try to work on it.”

“DADDY! I DON’T KNOW IF I WANT RAINBOWS OR PANDAS!”

Ereka hollers from her room, with a twinge of frustration coating her voice. Tom looks down at Kate. 

“Which one does she like better?”

“Why is she even looking at the rainbows? She hates those pajamas. Thinks they’re itchy and takes them off in the middle of the night, then comes to my bed because she’s cold.”

“DADDY!”

“I’m thinking!” Tom smiles and places a tender peck on Kate’s lips. “Definitely don’t want her in our bed tonight, so...Wear the pandas, bunny bear. That one’s really pretty.”

“OKAY! WE CAN DO BATH NOW!”

“Things she’s never ever everrrrr said to me.” Kate grouses under her breath, making Tom cackle in response.

“I guess daddy has the magic touch because she’s never given me grief about it. I’m the bath time king.”

Kate could refute that assertion by telling him Ereka would go as far as volunteering for baths if Yelena was in charge of the morning or bedtime routine, but she’s not cruel, so she won’t.

“Unreal.” Kate takes a step back and shoves Tom in the direction of the bedrooms. “Go. Go. Before she changes her mind...I need to shower too but I’ll come in for a story.”

Tom nods and steals one last kiss before begrudgingly tearing himself away from Kate and jogging to Ereka’s bedroom. By the giggling and shrieking that swiftly fills the apartment, Kate knows he starts tickling the little girl the moment he gets to her. 

Kate sighs and hangs her head. She’ll never complain about her daughter laughing; she merely wishes the person making her laugh was someone else. Alas, that is an impossibility because that someone is currently thousands of miles away. 

Kate wipes the corner of her eye, removing the stray tear that threatened to escape before it ever got a chance to. Once the tears start, it’s hard to make them stop and her night is not over. She can’t allow herself to go there. Not yet.

---

Tom hovers by the door while he slides his jacket on. His hair is disheveled, his lips are plump from kissing, and that mark on his neck might look faint now, but it'll be decidedly glaring come morning. Kate might have let her frustrations out a little TOO hard on that one.

Tom closes the distance and kisses Kate with abandon. She allows it and Tom seizes the opportunity, stretching the moment out while she doesn't pull herself away. Before long, the intensity starts to escalate. 

"I can come back inside. I want to. I want you." 

Tom mumbles between kisses, but Kate shakes her head then breaks the kiss.

"I have work to do."

Kate takes a firm step back. 

“If you let me stay until morning, I could take breakfast duty off your plate. She loves my pancakes.”

“I’m not having this conversation again.”

Tom tuts histrionically.

“I just don’t understand the rules for when I’m allowed to sleep over and when I’m not. And I don’t get how her waking up to me here is any more confusing than going to bed with me here?”

“If you’re going to do this every time, then bedtime privileges might go away. You can’t be here when she wakes up and that’s always going to be my final answer.”

Tom offers a forlorn sigh and leans to sneak in one last kiss while bringing his hands to his groin to readjust the newly formed erection he’s now forced to go home with.

"Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Yeah."

“I love you, KitKat.”

“Put your gloves on. It’s cold.”

Kate offers an empty smile and closes the door as soon as he’s an inch beyond the threshold.

---

Kate sits in bed with her computer on her lap. Miffed by the poor quality of the work, she selects and deletes everything she’s typed. From the corner of her eye, Kate peeks at the charging phone on her nightstand. She turns her attention to the clock on her computer. 12:47 AM. That means it's almost 9:00 AM in Russia. Yelena is doubtlessly awake.

Kate is unsure of what comes over her, but she pushes her computer away, reaches for the phone, and Facetimes Yelena.

Kate readjusts her hair and shirt multiple times, yet the call goes unanswered. Kate is markedly crestfallen and marginally piqued. She tosses the phone aside and grumbles under her breath. She doesn’t have to be peeved for long, seeing as not two minutes later, Yelena's face pops up on her phone. Kate swiftly answers the incoming call. The brunette is not able to get a word in and downplay her motives because Yelena is talking as soon as the call connects. 

"Hey. Are you okay? Is everything okay?"

Kate picks up on the genuine concern in Yelena's voice and how flustered she looks. It softens her on the spot.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Everything's fine. I'm...yeah...I don't know why I called. Sorry."

"No. No. It's okay."

"I'm sure I interrupted your morning."

"You didn't."

"Where are you? Why are you whispering?"

"Hiding in some cafe bathroom. I was walking to work but walking down the street having a loud conversation in American English right now is...uh...not smart. Especially for me. For many reasons. This was the closest private place I could find."

"So I did interrupt your morning."

Yelena snickers with a smile.

"Minor detour."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think that I might be putting you in danger."

"Don't apologize. Things are just...complicated."

"Are you safe?...Really?"

Yelena ponders for a beat, then nods. 

"I'm not in any immediate danger...That I know of."

Kate’s chest tightens at the idea of any harm coming to Yelena.

"That's not reassuring."

"There are many reasons why it's not entirely safe for me here, Kate."

"And yet you still left." The words come out exponentially more bitter than Kate intended.

"I knew that before I ever got on a plane. It's a choice I made because it's all bigger than me."

"Right. Sure."

Kate and Yelena sit silent for a long moment, neither knowing where to take the conversation from here.

"I have to go, Kate. But I'm glad I got to see you and hear your voice."

"Yeah. I'm sorry I bothered you. Have a good day."

Kate is about to hang up when...

"Kate...Kate...wait. Please. First, you didn't bother me. You're never a bother."

"If the you from a few months ago could hear you now."

They both laugh and for a split second, the heaviness dissipates.

"Okay, maybe 'never' is a stretch, but you definitely weren't a bother today." Kate nods in silence and Yelena dawdles, working up the courage to get to the next thing she wants to say. "I know I lost every right to ask and I'll understand if you don't answer, but...how is she? Is she okay?"

Yelena sees Kate harden, if only ever so slightly.

"She's fine."

That's all Kate offers.

"Okay. Good. She's a good kid."

"She is."

"I really have to go."

Kate hesitates but ultimately relents, allowing her concern to reveal itself for a fleeting second. 

"Please stay safe."

"I'll do my best."

Yelena flashes an honest grin before ending the call.

---

Some sixty hours pass and Kate has not managed to get a second of sleep. The idea of Yelena being in any danger has perturbed Kate to the point of insomnia. Regardless, the exhaustion she now carries down to her bones is not why she hasn’t heard a single word that’s been said in this meeting. The reason is that Yelena’s smile is seared in her mind’s eye since she saw it again a little over two days ago. It’s been impossible to think about anything except wanting, NO...needing, to see it once more. 

Kate is unable to control herself and picks up the phone that sits face down on the conference table to shoot a quick text.

TEXT: "Still alive?"

Kate’s heart rate accelerates when the three dots promptly appear in the app. She fidgets with her fingers as Yelena types whatever response she’s composing. 

Yelena fires back a photo of herself in boxers and a tank top in what must be her new apartment. Everything in the background is still mostly boxed up, but Kate recognizes a few things that aren't. Yelena sits on the floor, surrounded by open folders filled with papers in every direction.

TEXT: "My body? Yes. My mind and spirit? Not so much. Russian law is even more tedious than American. Also, I'm learning that my Russian was either not as good as I thought or way rustier than I want to admit because I waste hours translating things and they still don't make sense half the time."

Kate’s lips inadvertently curve upwards as she studies the image. The smile is still present when she begins to type her response.

TEXT: "Just needed to make sure you weren't dead and buried in some remote oil field."

TEXT: "Still kicking. No one’s going to be using my liquefied remains to power up their post-apocalyptic truck in a few thousand years."

Kate musters up a smidge of self-control and stops herself from replying. At least she's reassured that Yelena is safe and that knowledge alone is enough for the younger woman to feel some of the tension she’s been holding onto melt away from her body.

This exchange is the catalyst for the routine of Kate checking in every day to ensure Yelena is alive. This ostensibly innocuous interaction leads to them talking more and more, which in turn leads to the eventual rekindling of their relationship. 

[purrincess-chat]

Fashion Faux Paw CH3

It’s Monday! Which means it’s time for the next chapter of my BB story ^^ Next chapter will be up Wednesday and include the first art piece for this story by @bootsssss See you all then!

Read on AO3

Chapter 3

“Evening, m’lady. Miss me?”

Ladybug rolled her eyes at Chat Noir’s flirtatious lilt. He leaned in mere centimeters from her face with an impish grin, green eyes sparkling with their usual mischief. Pushing his nose away with a smirk, Ladybug cocked a hip.

“Kind of hard to miss you when you never leave me alone.” She slid open her bug phone, swiping through dozens of texts, selfies, and memes.

“I can’t help it. You’re always on my mind.” He leaned against his staff with a sigh. “I want it to feel like we’re always together, even when we’re apart.”

“I think I could stand to miss you more,” she said.

“Me-owch! Don’t you think about me at all when we’re not together?” he asked.

Ladybug flicked his bell with a smile. “I do miss that dorky grin of yours sometimes. The bad puns I could do without, though.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Though, I’ve been seeing a lot of you on the internet lately. You started helping that baker girl with her blog.”

“Yeah, but don’t worry, buginette. It’s strictly purrfessional This cat only has eyes for you.” He kissed her hand. “But who knows? Maybe if her blog takes off, you’ll be seeing my face on every billboard in town. Wouldn’t that be a dream?”

“More like a nightmare.” She teased. “But I’m sure your little fangirls would love it.”

“Don’t be jealous just because I have more fans than you,” Chat Noir said. “It’s only natural. Everyone knows cats rule the internet.”

“Speaking of the internet, you wanna tell me why #LadyNoir was trending the other day?” Ladybug quirked a brow.

“Oh, uh… I don’t know what that was about. LadyNoir? What’s that? A musical group? Anyway, I’ve never heard that term in my life!” Chat Noir backed away with a sheepish wince. “I think I hear distressed citizens in need of our help! We should probably get on with our patrol. Crime isn’t going to stop itself, ya know.”

Ladybug shook her head as he vaulted off. What was she going to do with that mischievous cat?

***

The following evening, Marinette hummed while putting the finishing touches on her latest design. Activity on her blog was still on the rise, so she was doing her best to keep up with demand. After all, Chat Noir was kind enough to help get her name out there. She didn’t want to waste the opportunity to show off her work to her new audience and risk losing everything.

“Knock, knock!” Alya called, sticking her head through the skylight.

Marinette rolled away from her sewing machine, tilting her head to the side. Her bff crawled down, followed by Chat Noir.

“We just got done filming a new video for my blog, and we thought we’d pop over,” Alya said.

“Alya gave me a lot of advice on how to sweep Ladybug off her feet, so I gave her a ride here.” Chat Noir fastened his baton back to his belt.

“Yeah, no offense, but I think I’ll walk next time. Traveling by staff is terrifying, and the wind is not nice to my hair.” Alya ran her fingers through her windblown curls. “I don’t know how you do it.”

“I have a really good conditioner.” He shrugged. “And my hair is magic. I’m like a Disney Princess.”

“Don’t you mean Disney Prince?” Marinette asked.

“Uh, does Prince Charming have magic hair?” Chat Noir crossed his arms over his chest. “Didn’t think so.”

“Anyway, what do you have for Rapunzel to model tonight?” Alya asked.

“Actually, I’m running out of stuff he can wear over his suit,” Marinette said. “Everything I have left will just look clunky.”

“So, design some more stuff I can wear over it,” he said.

“Well…” Marinette pursed her lips, flicking her gaze to her most recent post pulled up on the computer monitor. “The point of getting you to model for me was to bring more attention to my blog. Now, it’s so popular, and I really want to show off more of my work.”

“Hmm.” Alya surveyed the shirt in Marinette’s sewing machine, drumming her fingers. “What if he wasn’t wearing the suit?”

“Alya, the suit’s made of magic. He can’t take it off,” Marinette said.

“Marinette’s right. It’s like a second skin. The zipper’s just for show.” Chat Noir tugged on it as proof.

“So, just change back to a civilian, and-”

“Are you crazy? He can’t detransform! We’ll find out his identity.” Marinette shook her head.

“Uh, yeah, that’s kind of an important secret for me to keep.” Chat Noir agreed.

“I’m not saying he has to reveal his identity!” Alya rolled her eyes. “What if you made him a black mask to wear along with the outfits? That way he can detransform to model the clothes properly while still keeping his secret identity.”

“That-” Marinette opened her mouth to protest but paused.

Pacing the length of her room, she chewed her nails. It was an option. If anything happened, he could always just transform again in an instant… What was she thinking? She couldn’t ask him to detransform! No, absolutely not. Out of the question! No way! No-

“That could work,” Chat Noir said.

“No!” Marinette blurted.

“Come on, M. There’s zero risk, and he’ll be able to model everything the way it’s supposed to be,” Alya said. “People are really into all of your Chat Noir posts. You can’t stop now. Trust me, girl, the internet is so fickle. If you stop posting pictures with him, your hit count is going to take a nosedive.”

Marinette rubbed her temple with a sigh. If Chat Noir was willing to do it, then she supposed there was no reason not to. Making a mask would only take a few minutes, and she did have quite a bit of black fabric…

Alya clapped when Marinette flopped back in her rolling chair and set to work. Although her stomach twisted in knots at the thought of Chat Noir detransforming in her room, she kept working, reminding herself that everything would be fine. It wasn’t like she was going to learn who he was, though she would have to keep Alya from peeking.

When the mask was complete, Chat Noir disappeared behind the folding screen, and green light briefly lit the room. Marinette chewed her nails while he changed, nearly calling the whole thing off twice. What kind of partner would she be if she discovered his identity on accident? Would she have to tell him she knew? How would she explain how she found out without revealing her own identity? Would it be right to keep her identity at that point? Why did she let Alya talk her into this? What was taking him so long?

“O M G!”

Marinette jumped at Alya’s exclamation when Chat Noir reappeared from behind the curtain. He flashed her a perfect smile, his usual cat-like sclera replaced with two normal green eyes. She’d never thought about what his eyes looked like under the suit. His hair was shorter too — he wasn’t kidding about the Disney Princess thing. That jawline looked familiar. She could have sworn she’d seen-

Ugh! What was she doing? She never should have agreed to let him detransform! She was going to be up all night studying the photos trying to figure out his identity. No! No, she wasn’t. She’d resist. She had to for the sake of Paris. If she found out who he was, then she’d have no choice but to tell him who she was. News would inevitably get out and make its way back to Hawkmoth, and they’d all be doomed. She could do this. Absolutely no thinking about who the boy in front of her could possibly be.

“So,” he drawled. “What do you think?”

Marinette blinked, cheeks flushing. How long had she been staring at him?

“Uh, it’s great!” She bit her lip, forcing her eyes to stare directly at the center of his nose instead of tracing every line of his face. He was Chat Noir, her goofy little cat boy, and nothing else. Although, with just the mask on he was more boy than cat, which was probably adding to her curiosity. “Actually… hang on.”

Marinette returned to her sewing machine, crafting a set of cat ears that she fastened into his hair. Pursing her lips, she stepped back to assess her work. Black mask plus ears equaled Chat Noir. Not some mysterious civilian boy she may or may not know. Chat Noir. Just Chat Noir.

“Aww, that’s cute,” Alya giggled.

“Aren’t I always?” Chat Noir winked.

“Down, boy. Remember what we talked about? Ladybug isn’t into the Casanova types.” Alya gave him a warning look.

“Oh, right. Sorry!”

Marinette rolled her eyes. “Okay, we’ve already spent enough time getting ready, so let’s get this shoot over with and let Chat Noir transform back.”

“I’m not in any rush. Your clothes are way comfier than my suit. The fabric you used is super soft.” He ran his hands down the shirt. “Besides, you can’t rush perfection. I want the photos for your blog to be top clawlity just like your designs.”

“How sweet of you,” Marinette said through clenched teeth. As much as she appreciated his dedication to helping her blog, she needed him to hurry up.

Too nervous to do it herself, Marinette let Alya take the photos, opting to hold the light instead. She kept her eyes glued to the mask, but to her relief, it didn’t budge. Chat Noir took the perfect photos, and after what felt like forever, he finally retreated behind the screen to change again.

Marinette breathed out, relaxing her shoulders until a black blob flashed in her periphery and helped himself to the cheese danishes. Oh no! She’d forgotten about Plagg. What was he doing? He should be staying hidden!

“Whoa, no way! You must be Chat Noir’s kwami!” Alya pushed past Marinette to crouch beside the plate on the desk. She turned over her shoulder and added, “Kwamis are what give Ladybug and Chat Noir their superpowers.”

Of course, Alya knew what kwamis were, but Marinette wasn’t supposed to. Plagg crossed his arms over his chest as if waiting to see her reaction. Ugh, he could be just as annoying as his master.

“Wow!” Marinette gasped. “He’s like a little kitten. So cute.” And so not supposed to be out in the open.

Plagg shot her a smug grin. “It’s true. Chat Noir gets his handsome physique and swagger from me.” He flexed a tiny arm. “It’s a shame we kwamis don’t show up on camera. If everyone got to bask in my glory, your blog would have way more hits.”

“Don’t hold your breath on that one, buddy,” Chat Noir called from behind the screen.

“Aww, I think he’s adorable.” Alya scratched under his chin. “You can eat all the cheese danishes you want.”

“Don’t tell him that, or he will,” Chat Noir sighed. “Then the world will have a cheese shortage.”

“I think there’s a me shortage. Do you know how many cheeses there are in the world right now? It’s a crime I only have one mouth.” He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

Marinette and Alya giggled as he stuffed his face. He shoved the last bite down his gullet as Chat Noir called him back into the ring.

“Sorry about Plagg.” Chat Noir rolled his eyes as he stepped out from behind the screen.

“Are you kidding? I got to see and talk to a kwami up close!” Alya bounced with glee. “Do you think he’d let me interview him if I bring him cheese?”

“Absolutely not!” Marinette chided. At Chat Noir and Alya’s curious expressions, Marinette curled her shoulders. “Uh, well, I mean, wouldn’t it be dangerous to put out information on his kwami like that? What if Hawkmoth saw it and got some kind of advantage?”

“I’m not gonna post about it. I just have some questions.” Alya assured her.

“Trust me, he’ll do anything for cheese,” Chat Noir said.

She never should have let him detransform. If anyone was going to weasel their way into finding out Chat Noir’s true identity, it was Alya. Marinette would have to listen to her conspiracy theories on it for weeks. Was it too late to fire him?

“I can’t wait to see how the photos turn out, Marinette.”

She blinked, wiping the nails she’d been chewing on her jeans. “Oh, y-yeah. Thanks so much for agreeing to help. I never would have gotten this far without you.”

“Nah, that’s not true. I just helped you get there faster, but you would have drawn in a crowd eventually with how talented you are,” he said.

Marinette smiled and stretched up to kiss both of his cheeks. “Thanks, Chat Noir.”

“Need a ride home?” He turned to Alya and offered her a hand.

She shook her head. “Nu-uh. Not again. I’m gonna stay here and help Marinette go through the photos, then I’ll use my legs to get home.”

“Suit yourself.” Chat Noir opened the window and sat on the ledge. “I can’t wait to see what you design for me to wear next, Marinette. See you tomorrow!” He gave a two finger wave and leaned back out the window, vaulting off through the rooftops.

“Show off,” Marinette muttered, biting back a smirk. She closed the window and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ya know,” Alya said. “He looks kind of familiar, don’t you think?”

Marinette turned to find Alya clicking through the photos on her computer.

“No!” Marinette crossed the room in three long strides, swiveling her friend’s chair to face her. “And neither do you. We can’t speculate about his identity! That’s not why we’re here, and it would be a total invasion of his privacy.”

Alya threw her head back with a groan.

“Promise me you won’t snoop.” Marinette held out her pinky.

Alya pursed her lips, nevertheless, twining their fingers together. “Fine. I won’t speculate or pry. I have my own theories anyway.”

“Alya-”

“Alright, fine! I’ll shelf the topic for now.” When Marinette continued to glare, she crossed her arms over her chest with a sigh. “Okay, I won’t snoop period. Happy?”

“Yes.” Marinette nodded.

Her best friend drummed her fingers. “But seriously though, doesn’t he look really famili-”

“Alya!”

[darkness-holds-eternal-light]

So today I came across people talking about the new Harry Potter game "Hogwarts Legacy" here on Tumblr. I was curious, so I watched a trailer on YouTube. And I have to say, wow, this is really beautiful, it is so incredibly well done! I was really impressed by the graphics and the storytelling, the decision for the time that it was set in and the whole magical world that they've created, that is so talented and amazing! My teenage self would've lost her mind about it in disbelief over what is now possible in computer- and video-games! When I remember the Harry Potter computer game that I played when I was about 13! I really love that old game though, I believe it was the game for the "Chamber of Secrets". :)

Anyways, I won't completely rule out that I'll try playing it once but I'm pretty sure that a lot of dark stuff has found it's way in there too, especially seeing that it was created in our current time of so many levels of insanity. I definitely didn't like the part where a large part of this game apparently is that you have to constantly find out how to battle people and whatnot and set them on fire in mid air and sh** like this. It's just not 2002 anymore and we have to keep that in mind.

But mainly I just know that I left the mainstream Harry Potter train long ago because the commercialization got way too crazy and out of hand. I actually turned away from it when they said they were going to build a theme park. Back in our days the mere thought of it would've been outrageous. J.K. Rowling restricted so much what could and could not be done with the books and the characters, it was common sense that it wouldn't be made a hollow commercial spectacle. And I respected that and most people did. Well, things just moved in that direction and I just didn't interact with this stuff much. After all, the theme park is basically a theme park of the movies, not the magical world of the books. I'm sure that it is beautifully done though.

So concerning this new game, I think it's absolutely impressive and it has a lot of appealing aspects. After I had watched the trailer though, I thought how glad I am that I was able to experience the Harry Potter stories from back when there were only just books being published for the first time. And people went crazy to go read them right in the book shops in the night they were published. And they would dress up and have genuine, light-hearted fun with nothing on their hands but the magical things they talked about and read about. I don't want to see and experience Hogwarts through this game, as beautiful as it might have been made. I saw Hogwarts for the first time through the pages of a book that smelled a certain way and I saw it with my own 12-year-old eyes. There is nothing that will ever come close to this and there is no game, no movie, no theme park, no nothing that I would ever want to exchange for that. Ever. That is not even a possible comparison, these things are not the same.

So while I'm amazed at how this game has been made, I want my own world. I have noticed how all the cool products that we can buy nowadays are really amazing but it doesn't come close to the first time reading the books alone in my room for days without barely eating and going outside at all. And it doesn't even touch the feet of me wearing a big kerchief over my back as a cloak and wandering through the garden with the stick in my hand that was my magical wand. If I really want to feel more in the magical world that I knew, I don't have to get closer to the graphics of a computer game, I have to get closer to who I was when I was 12 years old. And create it myself.

[onceandfutureoshainspector]

- not sure if “they” means the military or the hotel, but i’m feeling pretty good about my deductions all the same.

- ...if he’s expecting to be on the run, and this is one of his known haunts, why not tell her to meet him at the boat? coming back here, to this room with only one exit, was a damn fool move. hmm...

    - maybe this guy was more perceptive than i gave him credit for, and this message is a trap for RICHARDSON. maybe that’s why he had his gun so close to hand.

- CAPTAIN WABASH, i salute you.

- while wandering around listening to this, i noticed that there’s actually a blood trail leading to the bed, starting here. so, revised order of events: RICHARDSON catches WABASH on his feet, there’s the whole “give me the keys” “no” thing, etc. he’s been facing the TERMINAL, meaning his left side is facing away from her, and she doesn’t have a direct view of his sidearm, allowing him to get a hand on it without her noticing. they shoot each other, he’s the better shot but she still hits something vital, he drags himself over to the bed and dies of blood loss.

- i think “they” must have meant the hotel, as if this was the military’s private safehouse uncle sam would’ve been footing the bill. i’m almost scared to see how much the computer thinks is owed after all this time lol.

- the bill’s gone beyond the point where it can be expressed by mere numbers, it seems. hangon, what’s that daily fee?

- ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTEEN THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND THIRTY-TWO CENTS PER DAY?!?!???!?!??!???!?

    - according to my calculator, after 210 years and six months (rounded because i don’t know exactly what day i woke up), the bill should total $9,131,194,743.20. that’s nine billion, one hundred and thirty-one million, one hundred and ninety-four thousand, seven hundred and forty-three smackaroos.

[3wisellamas]

Deltarune Halloween Prompts Day 9: Glitch

---

Almost the entire car-shaped Darkner population honked furiously all morning, as they filled the city streets with little hope of moving. Queen's staff had tried to get the warning out early, blasting it on all channels, but evidently it hadn't come early enough, with many people getting stuck mid-commute in the fog.

Low render distance was just a given in Cyber World. Some days, the black fog was light, with visibility for miles, but on others it was thick, objects suddenly popping into place when one was mere feet away, and darkness seeming to close in from all sides.

And then, there was this morning. Neither drivers at intersections nor their cars could see the traffic signals. Pedestrians constantly collided into each other along the sidewalks, and even far out into the fields Darkners found themselves under stray wires only when the sparks hit them. Residents were urged to stay indoors, and to refrain from travelling, moving, or thinking excessively, to help protect themselves and save system resources for where they were needed most.

According to the news, the situation was only temporary, and that the problem would be fixed and Cyber World would be running smoothly again within a few hours. However, across the board they failed to disclose the reason for the glitch, though to any resident over the age of a few nanoseconds it was obvious: Queen.

"Perhaps if we clear your cache again, Your Grace?"

Queen sat silent for several seconds, with Tasque Manager tapping her chin impatiently, her tail wagging furiously. She'd been working with her for hours, closing programs, deleting unneeded data, even overclocking her, but nothing seemed to work; Queen still lagged horribly, her responses often coming well after Manager's questions.

"No I Cleared It Yesterday That Won't Work" she finally said, her face contorting a little in confusion, and Tasque Manager sighed, wracking her processor to come up with a new plan.

"Then...we might have no choice but to try a full reboot. Whatever glitch you've encountered should clear itself."

She waited nearly a minute for Queen to react, and she gasped. "Okay Tasquey But Let Me Save First Or I Will Lose All My Progress"

"Progress?" Flicking her tail a couple times in surprise, Tasque Manager tilted her head a little to the side. "What progress?"

Another several seconds. "My Progress In Minecrap Of Course I Just Found Tons Of Diamonds"

"Minecrap?!" She reviewed the list of active programs running on Queen's CPU; how had she missed that? With it taking up more than 68% of her resources, and Cyber World's by extension? "Your Grace...I need to ask you to save your game and exit the program. Now."

Two full minutes this time. "Fine You Win Please Stand By" Tasque Manager waited patiently, until finally Queen spoke up again. "It Is Now Safe To Turn Off Your Computer"

"Excellent. This will only take...approximately one minute and 16 seconds."

[thegreatclowncat]

we used to have this giant dead tree behind the acre where our house is located.

its wide trunk and single branch reached up to the sky, towering above the brambles of short mesquites choking the ground beneath.

my brother and i ventured out one year, drawn by the sight of its smooth gray bark.

we dressed in our father's old canvas clothes, to protect us against sharp mesquite thorns pressing against our arms and goat heads collecting on our socks.

the trails winding behind our house were not treacherous, but overgrown with dead grass in their fifteen years of disuse. the rattlesnakes weren't out yet, either.

we stood at the back metal fence. the dusty trail on the other side split after a few feet, disappearing quickly into the fifty-or-so leaf-less mesquite trees growing between us and our goal, but we knew the way. we jumped the fence.

he went down the left path, and i took the right. my eyes rarely left the stone-marked path---pale beige in coloring, and dotted with small brown and red rocks. Occasionally I would look around for my brother, but the grayish brown branches were so tightly packed that despite being only thirty feet apart, I was alone.

I crouched to fit beneath the wiry reaching arms of trees, hearing their thin needles scrape against my jacket. Five minutes later, we met where our trails connected.

Before us was a clearing of dead grass. the giant tree stood taller than ever. We gathered rocks in our hands, and threw them into the grass at our feet, then five feet away, then ten feet away. We slowly walked forward, wading through the waist-high clearing.

We reached the empty wash at the other end---our last obstacle. Three feet deep, five feet across. Washes like these frequently revealed ancient bones from extinct species, but sadly ours did not. I climbed through. My brother jumped.

The tree itself was so smooth that we couldn't climb up. It sat between two parallel washes: a space filled with little desert-willows with no leaves yet and a giant fallen gray tree trunk. We never knew whether or not it was part of the same tree, especially since it was equal in size and width.

In a small space behind the tree, I saw a discoloration in the ground. I approached this small smooth rectangle and saw it was an open book's pages barely peeking past the dark dirt. After prodding it with a stick, I found it to be akin to petrified---it was a solid mass of wood pulp, save for its two pages open to the desert sun.

It was formatted like a Bible, with a book name and verses and everything, but after returning to the computer at the house, we couldn't find the name of it's book in the Bible itself.

We returned to the tree once per year to see it change during the monsoon. We walked through the washes to reach it during those rainy times, because the trails were so impenetrably dense with plant matter.

I sometimes wish I could go back there, and find those pretty desert-willows and their blossoms. I wish I could balance atop the fallen tree trunk in the cool of an overcast day and run my fingers across its bark.

We returned to the tree for maybe five years before the fire came and almost claimed our house. It took over mountains and fields, burning for weeks with almost no end in sight.

After two months of being away and traded between different families' spare rooms while the fire died down, I finally walked those back trails again.

I followed the ashy footprints along our back porch that were merely a ghost of the firemen who once stood there. I passed the still-standing metal fence into a field of the burnt husks of mesquite tree trunks, sticking out of the ash like tombstones. For the first time in my life, I could see the entirety of the stone trails.

My footsteps were almost silent. The sheer amount of ash cushioned my shoes. I followed the dark brownish-black trails all the way to where the giant tree should've been. Of course nothing was there.

Now, all the trees have grown back. The back yard looks the same as ever, but I will never get to see that giant tree again. It exists solely in my mind, and that of my brother.

[kaitlynpcallmebeepme]

The Unexpected Hero

The Unexpected Hero

Evan Buckley x reader

Imagine: saving Buck (911) from and explosion and he's determined to find out who you are (from @procrastinatorimagines​).

Requested: Nope.  

Author’s Note:  I’ve been wanting to write this ever since I saw this prompt image.  Also (writing this on 7/12/22), My legs are dead after drumline camp, so I continued writing this on my night shift. Please give me feedback as this is my first time writing for 911.  Was considering asking someone if they want to proof read just to make sure the content is good. Message me if anyone want to.  I also reworked my masterlist so it’s not as crowded.  

Requests are still OPEN.  Feedback is always appreciated.  Also, tell me if you want to be part of a Tag List and I’ll tag you when I upload something new.  Also, I’m tagging @911readercollection​ here.

Warning: I’m not sure fire works how I exactly described it.  Arsonist, bomb exploder/explodes, chase scene, arrests, I very much thought of old action movies when writing this.  I didn’t proofread this.  Athena being a queen. 

Word Count: 1,854

It was another mind numbing day of staring at your computer as statistics went by so you could crunch the numbers for your penny pincher stick up his ass boss.  And just to describe how frugal he is, he chose the cheapest office for his workers while he never showed up himself.  Cheap in LA usually means poor quality, or not in a safe neighborhood.  In this case, it meant both.  You had to bring your own stool because you could not stand one more second of your legs sticking to those cheap plastic chairs that are “usually” used at graduation parties.  At least you were left alone until you had to present your findings to your boss.  However, this meant that your mind got distracted easily and sometimes fell asleep until your eyes and mind processed nothing that was on your screen.   

Your mind woke up out of its stagnant state to that sound. You know, that sound.  The sound that’s been drilled into your mind ever since you were young.  The sound of a fire alarm going off along with its blinking lights.  You were surprised the building even had working fire systems.  But, you did what you were taught and you stayed low to the ground and crawled on your hands and knees keeping your hand along the wall to guide your way.  You found your way to the side of the building out a fire exit.  One of those exits near the trucking docks of your building.  You stopped a mere couple feet from the building to catch your breath, which more ended up like you crouched to cough your lungs out.  This is what you imagined smoking for 50 years felt like.  

You looked up just as a firefighter started coming towards you.  Do all firefighters have to imitate magazines and be super hot in uniform and way out of your league?  He still had his smoke mask over his face and his helmet on, as he should , so you couldn’t make out much of what he actually looked like.   “Ma’am, are you okay?”  

You would have responded if something else didn’t catch your attention.  Behind the fireman’s legs, you could see someone else in a gray hoodie walking away from the scene.  Walking.  As in “cool guys don’t look at explosions” walking, and that kind of walking away from a fire can never be good.  He started to raise his right hand above his head while keeping his back turned toward you and STILL WALKING.   You couldn’t be sure what he was doing or what is intentions are, but you had to take a chance.  

With your strength that you found somewhere, you body slammed the fireman in the hips as hard as you could and that managed to get him, and yourself, to the ground.  His arms encircled around you, out of instinct you think, and you were buried into his firejacket while his back took most of the brute hit from the ground.  The office building behind you exploded like an action movie and you felt the heat from the building behind you multiply by 1000 and a loud noise ring your ears to the point where you could only hear white noise for a second.  

You hesitantly opened your eyes expecting ash to sting them or you see the light of heaven letting you know that you died.  Thankfully, you were still mostly in one piece, but the sight of the person you suspected was responsible running from said exploding building was the first thing you saw while lying on the ground.  This isn’t an action movie, but you couldn’t convince your brain that it wasn’t.  

You got up from the ground and started sprinting after the man, your body and lungs screaming at you to stop and rest, but your adrenaline said ‘no’.  You kept following the man around a few corners, not even stopping to think if he was armed or not when a cop car came from an alley and hit him T-bone style.  It didn’t kill him, but it flung him a few feet in the opposite direction.  He definitely wouldn’t be resisting arrest anytime soon.  

“Hands on your head.” you heard shout in front of you.  You kept yours on the back of your head just so the cop would know you weren’t putting up a fight.  

You took this opportunity to cough your lungs out in the middle of an alley because they were exhausted from being filled with smoke and then asked to run a marathon.  

The cop was quick to cuff the man and lock him in the back of her squad car.  She then came around and stood next to your hunched over figure.  “Just try to breath deeply mame.”  After a few more minutes of coughing your lungs out you finally had the strength to look up at her.  Your eyes were watered and probably red from the smoke, but you could still make out most of what she looked like.  She was a middle aged black woman and had short black hair that swooped to one side.  She still was in her full uniform and a bullet proof vest.  

“Did you get him?”  Why was that the first thing you asked? No thank you, just that?  

“Yes mame, we did.  Your speed and quick thinking guided him right to us.  What were you doing chasing a man like him anyway?”  

You struggled to stand up, but you were able to keep some of your decency before you spoke to her.  “I saw him walking away from my office building that exploded, and no one runs unless they have something to hide, so I just mindlessly chased after him.  I chased him and you T-boned him.  Problem solved.”  You clapped your hands brushing the dust off them like you did a job well done.  

“You were in the building five blocks from here that exploded into flames?”  Have I really been running for five blocks?  Wow.  Might as well act as if you run regularly.   

“Yes, and if the fire inspection comes to it, can I testify against my boss? He’s a frugal piece of shit, so I doubt that the building was up to code.”  She seemed to give me a satisfied smirk.  

“Ok.  I like a strong independent women who knows what she wants.  Come with me and I’ll give you a ride to the station and get a statement from you.”  

“Thank you, Miss…”

“Athena, and if you ever want to be a cop or detective, I’ll put in a referral for you to get started into the training.  We’d love to have you.”  

So that’s how your day ended.  Athena drove you and her suspect to the police station, you gave a statement of what happened and how bad the building you worked in was.  You left your contact information incase they needed anything else or they wanted you for the detective job.  She even gave you a ride back to your, surprisingly, not destroyed car that was parked outside of your office building.  

________________________________________________________________

**Buck’s POV, later that day at station 118**

I walked back up the stairs after a shower to find most of the team in the kitchen.  Bobby was making something that smelled delicious for dinner.  I still couldn’t wrap my head around what happened earlier.  

“Hey Hen, did some lady come to the ambulance at the fire of that warehouse office building today?” I sat down at the kitchen table next to her.  

“We had a couple people there today but no one needed to go to the hospital, just needed some extra oxygen. Why, you recognize someone?” 

“No it’s just…”  Do I say that the muscles of a fireman lost against someone’s adrenaline.  I decide to leave that part out.  “Just someone was running away from the fire and after someone and I just wanted to make sure they’re ok.  I couldn’t find them afterwards.”

“Hey everyone.”  Athena walked up the stairs to the kitchen area and greeted everyone.  

“Hey Athena.”  I didn’t put too much enthusiasm into my greeting.  She went and kissed Bobby really quick and came back to me.  “Why you so down Buck?” 

“He’s trying to find someone who ran off from the fire today.”  Hen answered for me.  

“You mean the one that body slammed you before the building blew up.” 

Well, thanks for saving me the embarrassment Bobby.  I gave him that you seriously just said that look that he’s probably given me a million times.  

“Yes, that one.  She just ran off after body slamming me and it wasn’t a reactionary thing she did it BEFORE the building blew up, like right before.”  Athena gave me a knowingly smile apparently knowing something that I didn’t.  

“Oh yes, I know who she is.  She’s real sweet.  Caught our bomber, gave a statement about what she witness, and was willing to testify.”  She was saying this like it was no deal as easy as asking what you had for breakfast that morning.  

“You know her.  I wanted to see if I could thank her because she helped me avoid getting a face full of flames.”  

“Well, I still have her number.  But Buck …”

“Yes.” Athena always has something up her sleeve. 

“Treat her right.  She talked about the building she worked in.  She deserves something good.” 

“Yes mame.”  That wasn’t even my intention, but Buck 3.0 is the most respectful out of all the Bucks.    

Athena gave me her number and I went to one of the fire department office rooms where it was more quiet and less people would come in to interrupt or tease me for wanting to talk to a girl I barely met.  I type in her number and wait while the ringtones go by.  Then there’s that unfortunate monotone voice of an answering machine.  I decide to leave a message anyway.  

“Hey Y/n, it’s Buck.  Well you don’t know my name yet but I’m the firefighter you slammed earlier today.  Athena, the cop, gave me your number.  I just wanted to thank you for saving me.  You were really brave I heard, chasing down an armed aronsist.  **Hurry up Buck, you have limited voicemail space** I just wanted to thank you and see if you wanted to go out sometime … so I can properly thank you in person I mean.  Well I-.”  The call hung me up.  Hope that got saved.  

I decided to take a walk around the trucks and clear my head.  Before I made even one lap around, I got a text.  

Hey Buck.  Nice to finally know your name.  Hope I didn’t hurt you too bad from the body slam earlier.  My phone’s out of whack and not accepting calls since it got cracked in my street chase today, but I’d love to go to cheesecake factory with you sometime, or even just walking on the boardwalk.  You text me your availability, since I’m out of a job for now. Hehe. -Y/n

Ok Buck, don't mess this up.

[j4y-lvr]

❝are you jealous of my dog,❞

❝Are you seriously jealous of my dog,❞

pairing: sunghoon x reader

genre: angst (not really), fluff

warnings: being jealous of a dog- please do let me know if I should add anything!

wc: 619

"are you seriously jealous of my dog," said sunghoon as he stood at the doorframe. You hmph in annoyance at the question, "yeah, I am," you say snobbily.

"imagine seeing your boyfriend after a week because he's been so busy, and me being considerate, come to see you. And all I get is a hi, and you're off to feed your dog–" you huff out irritated, practically death glaring the dog in question, gaeul.

The boy said nothing in return rather than looking at you judgingly, "and you have nothing to say to that, just wow." You puff out a tch, getting up from your crouching stance and up on your feet before announcing, "i'm leaving," you say with your head held high, sending one last glare the dog's way, and out the doorway, you goes.

That didn't go as intended, as you lay sprawled out in your boyfriend's bed as he sat at his desk, typing away on his computer. Groaning in annoyance, you merely missed him, "are you just going to disregard my presence and type away at your computer all day," you drawl out, finding your patience running thin.

The silver-haired boy sighs heavily before turning back to look at you, sinking his head in his palms, soon, back to hitting away on the keyboard. His eyes skimmed over the text displayed, humming in aggravation at an error, hands advancing to the keyboard to fix it frantically.

Having watched the boy aimlessly stare at the screen for about an hour, laying there still on his bed, waiting for the said boy. You had enough, burying your head in the depths of his pillow, his scent evident, finding tears pooling up in your eyes. You blinked away the tears, helplessly dropping onto the pillow.

Sniffling, you sit up and attempt to ask one final time, with your nose runny and eyes red. "i asked if you had finished yet," you let out quieter than expected, causing the boy to click his tongue disapprovingly.

Pushing his chair away from the desk, he circles in it to face you, solely to be taken aback at the sight of your tear-stained face. Not sure what to do, he sprang out of the chair, eyebrows lifting in concern, taking a seat beside you on his mattress.

He slowly raised his hand, wavering on what to do before letting it stroke up and down your back. "sorry," he mutters, with a fallen expression, pulling you into his embrace, as you let a few tears spill out, staining the sweatshirt he adorned.

His arms hooked around your waist, drawing you closer to his chest. Your head rests on his broad shoulders. "sorry, I wanted to complete my essay, then join you..." he pauses, thinking how to phrase his sentence.

"i didn't mean to make you cry." He states, eyes portraying the sadness he felt at the very moment, his hand caressing your cheek while your head continued to rest on his shoulder.

"i want to give you my undivided attention, and the piece counts for my grade–" he blurts out, "no, I'm not saying you're any less important than my essay, it is simply that both are–" you squish his cheeks together preventing him from uttering any further.

"it's fine, now just stay with me for a bit," you say, removing your head which was nestled at his shoulder, fingers playing with the drawstrings of his sweatshirt. He grins at your cuteness, falling back on his mattress, dragging you with him, snuggling with you.

"your essay can wait, I can't," you teasingly say, a snicker following, the two relishing each other's company, shortly dozing off, the writing left to the side for you.

a/n: totally did not get this idea from being jealous of chenle's dog (not really)🤡and tbh idk how im posting sm, watch me slowly disappear when classes start again— ‍🏃‍♀️💨

anyways ty for reading, reblogs are appreciated♡

[broadwayandnetflix]

i have a request for bo burnham!!:) maybe like the reader and bo watch the special when he gets done editing it and doing all the other stuff he has to do for it, and he records her reaction to the whole thing and that’s how he announces the special?? i know that’s weird but it’s been stuck in my head, so you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to!

Test Run - Bo Burnham x Reader

Warnings: Language

Theme: FLUFF (angst if you like squint)

Word Count: 1.6k

A/N: y’all I wrote this so fast, like kachow. I hope you enjoyed it, and got a break from all of the angst. but angst is still good. but this fic is not me fangirling over inside. never, couldn’t be me. I hope you enjoyed the fic though @bos-a-feminist I had sm fun writing it.

It had been late one evening when Bo had practically burst into the door of your bedroom. You sat puzzled as you gave the man time to catch his breath, as he gave you an eager look.

Trying not to giggle as Bruce yipped at Bo’s feet in pure excitement, it seemed he too was trying to figure out what was going on.

“What? Are we finally gonna have sex again?” you say humorously, causing the man to break composure for just a second.

“No! I mean what the fuck? Yes, yes, and to answer your question, yes. But not right now.”

You giggle as he looks at you with an expression you couldn’t fully decipher. In any constellation, it had been months since you had seen the man this energetic.

Usually, when Bo would come back from his long days in the guest house, he’d tend to be exhausted. Often just giving you a quick kiss before collapsing onto the mattress.

His blue eyes softening towards you as he extends his hand for you to take. Which made you realize that there was an ounce of seriousness in his actions.

Your hands fitting perfectly in his as he pulls you up from the bed, one hand making sure to hold the small of your back.

“Where are we going?” you breathe out.

Bo remained silent, but you found out soon enough as he led you outside to the guest house.

You had stopped dead in your tracks, causing him to do the same. Eyes widening as you realized what was gonna happen, turning to Bo and giving him the biggest grin you could muster.

From the minute he had set foot in the guest house to begin his special, he had been very secretive about it. Something about how it helped him to create something that no one really knew about.

I mean, you had some idea when the UPS trucks kept delivering camera equipment. Or when he had asked if he could take some of your clothes. Other than that, though, top secret.

It had been about roughly a little over a year when he had started the special. A year of emotions and hard work, and by the looks of it.

It seemed as though he had finished.

“Wait are you doing what I think you are doing?” you say, looking at him expectedly.

“Shit babe you catch on quick. Yes, if we are on the same mindset. I think we are, now hush, or I’ll never get to show you it.” Bo instructs before leading you inside.

In all honesty, you didn’t know what to expect. The last time you had seen the guest house had been roughly two years ago. Now? It looked completely different.

Wires and different camera equipment lay waste on the floor, making it almost a hazard. Other lights of various types and sizes filled the room like mini metal trees. It looked disorganized and yet organized at the same time.

Yet Bo walked through the maze of equipment with ease, almost as if it wasn’t even there. You smiled before tiptoeing to the clearing that Bo had made for you.

“Yeah apologies, I wasn’t expecting company.” Bo smirks as you break into laughter.

“It looks…well it looks well used.” you reply, getting comfortable on the chair he had provided.

In front of you sat a projection on the wall of what seemed to be an editing software. You looked back at Bo with an eager grin; he gives you a slight wink.

Anticipation settling in the air as you watched him mess around with the monitor. Until his cursor finally presses on a folder and a video screen pulls up.

You half expected him to sit beside you. Still, instead, he remains behind the computer, amongst his sea of technological instruments and cameras.

“Y/N, I’m showing this to you. Simply because you deserve to see why I’ve been so busy for like a year or more. Plus, you mean the world to me and I wanna know your input.”

Bo says softly. You can detect a hint of nerves in his actions and tone; you practically melt, realizing that was he anxious. Regardless you knew without a shadow of a doubt you were gonna love whatever he puts out.

You open your mouth to reply before he presses play, and an eerie ringing fills the room. Music filling your senses as the special, titled Inside, plays before you.

The next hour or two fills you with a multitude of emotions that you can’t quite place. It seemed like Bo was making you laugh seconds ago, and now you can’t help but feel tears well up in your eyes.

Cinematically it was stunning, breathtaking even. It was hard to believe that Bo had turned the little guest house into a studio. Or at least to the extent that it became, with its gorgeous displays and production.

Performance-wise, it was a completely different ballpark. Bo fucking delivered in more ways than one, whether in humor or just pure raw emotion.

Acting or not, it broke your heart to see the man you loved so dearly in the state that he was in. Of course, you could tell something was up even then when he was filming, but he never gave away the extent of it.

Just hearing him cry made your stomach twist in knots; you wanted to comfort him. Only to be reminded that it was just merely a video of him.

Even at the moment, it took you everything not to look back at Bo; you knew how much he valued your attention. Plus, you wanted to experience the special in full, just as you would if he were on stage.

The special wasn’t the same as his others, but it was well needed for a time like this. It felt personal and introspective, but it was also oh so clever and in-depth. You adored it and the time and effort that he had put into it.

As the credits rolled out and you saw an acknowledgment for your name, your heart soared.

You knew that the two of you had worked hard to be there for each other the past year. Especially with everything that was going on and Bo working most of the time.

To know that you had helped him in any shape or form. It just meant a lot, in more ways than he’d ever know.

The lights in the room flickered on as if he had made a make-shift movie theatre. You wiped away any stray tears, and before he could even say anything, you ran into his arms.

Bo jolting back in surprise before accepting the embrace and holding you tighter into his chest. His head resting gently on top of yours due to his taller stature.

“God I love you so much, more than you’ll ever know. I seriously don’t know if I would’ve made it out alive this past year if I didn’t have you.” he croaked into your hold.

It took you a second to realize that the man was crying, and you pulled away to meet his eyes. Your fingers brushing away his tears before reaching up to give him a kiss.

His figure bending down just a tad to meet your lips as he kisses you back sweetly. It’s light and yet so filled with passion for making up for what time that had been lost.

Yet as he looks down at you, a smile etching across his lips. As he asks you about what your thoughts are on his special, he already knows your response.

Unbeknownst to you, he had recorded your entire viewing experience. Of course, if he were to ever share it anywhere, he’d ask your permission, but it was apparent.

Even as you told him how much you loved it and how much you enjoyed it. You knew that he knew that you understood the special the way he had intended it.

It was one of the many things that made him adore you endlessly. You meant the world to him.

“We should celebrate babe! Maybe order a pizza or something.” you exclaim, arms still wrapped around his neck in your embrace.

“We definitely should, but what pizza places are open at this hour?” Bo smirks as you give him a slight frown.

“I don’t know, that’s a good question.” you hesitate.

“Actually I do know one place that’s really good and delivers.” Bo whispers seductively up against your ear.

You giggle and gesture for him to continue as he swiftly pulls away from your hold. His hand outstretched for you to take once again as he leads you towards the house. Or, more importantly, towards your bedroom.

“Me.”

——————————————————————------------------------------------

Bo sat anxiously beside you as his fingers lingered over the ‘post’ button on his different social media accounts.

The post in question was a video that he stitched together of you watching the special. With your consent, of course.

It had been edited together to be vague enough that he wouldn’t spoil the special. But nonetheless, it was sweet, and he totally made sure to include you tearing up in it.

You made it a priority to tackle him for that one.

The video was sweet and short, but it got the intended message across, and you personally loved it, just like you loved Bo and the special.

“Any-day now Robert.” you tease as you hold his one hand in yours.

“Do you think that they’ll wanna watch it?” he whispers quietly.

“Of course they will, it’s you. Baby you are so talented, your fans will be so excited.” you reassure.

Bo sighs before squeezing your one hand tightly before pressing the button. And letting Inside out into the world.

[sailorhyunjinz]

~ 𝐁𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐚 ~

𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝; SMUT!!! a smidge of angst and a lil fluff, felix x fem!reader. enemies to fwb, bullying!!!, highschool!au, blowjob, pierced!felix, mentions of complicated family relationships/bad economy, felix being rude lmao, PIV, unprotected sex (use protections ffs, this is a bad example), orgasm (m/f), cum, nicknames, shy reader, fingering. 

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝; 6.6 k 

𝙽𝚘𝚝𝚎; Consent is like tea or my personal favorite,,, tea slut HSAHSHA PLEASE im- anyways enjoy both tea and consent, both very very sexy and good for you

also,,, my first kinda long fic?? 

𝘚𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺; Lee Felix. The class bully. Also the son of a wealthy business man. You didn’t have the same privileges, living alone at such a young age. After an arrangement Felix invites you to work at his fathers old tea shop but this relationship turns into something unexpected.

The cold wind blew on your exposed calfs, the skirt of the school uniform fluttering as your backpack was lazily thrown across your shoulder, your head turned to the direction the bus comes from. You were not the only one on that bus stop. Other students standing at least a feet apart from each other, all eagerly waiting to hurry back to their comfortable homes, eat dinner and start on their assignments.

You on the other hand had other plans. 

What was on your computer screen wasn’t the typical essay or sheet of physics questions. It was job applications. And lots of them.

A notification arrived, your phone vibrating in your coat pocket and as the screen lit up you saw a message. 

[ Rent due today y/n, have it in by 8 ]

Living by yourself in a dusty apartment that contained nothing more than a bed, a desk and a tiny kitchen overfilled with noodle packets was nothing to be proud of. You could barely afford that type of lifestyle since you were a student so how on earth were you gonna get rent in to the old lady that served as your landlord? 

You sighed, the packed bus rolling slowly on the way and stopping, there barely being place to stand in the crowded vehicle. 

Your apartment was right above an old tea shop, the owner being a wealthy man that owned several shops on the block. His busy lifestyle including buying and selling properties kept him away from his true passion in life; tea. What scared you was his resemblance to a person you knew. A person you knew too well. 

Lee Felix

His only purpose in life was to have fun. To ruin others. And he had every opporunity to do so. His report card was nothing but lies and money, his fathers wealth being able to buy him decent grades without lifting a finger. There was one, only one, instance where the young boy would try his best and that’s when intimidating others. His best skill. Those piercing dark eyes and knife-sharp jaw could leave anyone shaken for days. 

But do you know who his favorite person to bully was?

You. 

All the hurtful memories eventually started to merge together but one stood out clearly to you. It happened a year ago. You walked into the sunlit classroom, your other classmates sitting around their desks, chatting and showing each other photos, laughing happily. Friends was not something you had, more like acquaintance. The students you would greet and exchange a couple of words with but nothing more. Your assigned seat was in the third row, the one sitting right behind you being Felix himself. With a quick glance at the clock you looked underneath your desk, searching for the book you needed for english class, your eyebrows furrowing as you searched desperatly, turning every book over and ripping open your backpack, did you forget it at home?

“Looking for this?”

The cold voice sent a shiver down your spine, you slowly turning back, afraid of what evil gaze awaited you. You gulped as you saw his angular facial structure, his cheekbones pertruding as he held your english book in his hand, the arms of the white school uniform shirt being rolled up just enough to show off his blinged out watch, veins softly trailing upwards on his flexed arms. 

You nodded to which Felix scoffed. Sighing you stood up, standing at the side of his desk and all of a sudden throwing yourself over it in a quest of snatching it from his grasp but failing epically, you falling down onto the floor, scraping your knees on the rough wooden flooring of the classroom. You try to stand up but was quickly stopped by Felix grabbing your face with his other hand, his wrists decked out with multiple delicate chains, all jingling with his movements. 

Meeting his gaze made your skin crawl, his eyes almost animalistic as he looked deep into your innocent doe-eyes, smirking. His blonde hair falling on each side of his face, framing it like a renaissance painting since his stoic features was art in itself. Your eyes lingered a bit too long on Felix’s making the boy annoyed, before you knew it a clear liquid was spilling down your cheek, that not being tears but instead Felix’s spit. You flinch back as he waves the book infront of your face, tears jerking in the corner of your glossy eyes due to the humiliation, your other classmates forming a circle around the two of you, unable to do anything since that could mean the end of them. 

“You want this, you want it so bad? What’s that angel? You’re gonna cry?”

He crouches as your gaze lowers to the floor, hair hanging infront of your face as a shield from his degrading words as the tears started pouring out of you like water, mixing with Felix’s saliva. He laughs psychotically, the cold laughter echoing in the classroom, tiny specs of dusty floating around like bubbles in a fizzy drink. The bold boy puts down the book on the floor behind him before he raises his hand, you shutting your eyes tightly, expecting the worst but being surprised as his hand laces in your disheveled locks. He pushes a strand of hair behind your flushed ear, leaning in close enough for you to feel his breath hit the shell of your ear. 

“I’m gonna give it to you,,, but I want something in return”

You snap your head up to look at him, your eyes wide open, eyebrows hightened. 

“W-what do you want?” you say, only for him to hear.

Felix hums, running his tongue in the inside on his cheek before speaking in a low voice.

“You”

You choked on your own spit, coughing as you turned away from him. You could hear his laugh ringing in your ears and after your coughing fit you turned back hastily, eyes as big as saucers. This couldn’t be true, this couldn’t be what you though it was. In sheer panic you once again tried to snatch the book, crawling on the floor like a bug in order to snake around his back to have a chance to grab the corner of plastic outside of the textbook but being met with disappointment when Felix slammed his foot on it, you retracting your hand after being mere inches away from his shoe. The boy tsked. 

“I expect you at the school gate by the end of the day and if you don’t show up you’re gonna pay for it, understood angel?”

You nod, just nod. No words or mimicks. Simply a nod. His intimidation wiping the entire alphabet from your mind. 

He stands up, grabbing the book and throwing it at you before exiting the classroom, a evil smirk plastered on his face. The sharp gazes of other students around you made you want to escape but you couldn’t, class was starting in 2 minutes. 

♡ 

The sun shone it’s rays on your face, students exiting through the wide white metal gates. You ran your hand through your hair, pulling the straps of your backpack impatiently at you looked left to right, seeing the flowers blossom out in the rather windy weather. Suddenly your wrist was grabbed by a hand wider than yours.

It was Felix.

His closeness made you gulp loudly, a lump nestling into your stomach as you felt your anxiety rise, scared of what he might do to you even if you did find him strangely attractive even though he was a complete asshole. But who didn’t? The entire school was ready to give up their life in order to even be this close to the boy, girls and boys alike. You shook your head, wanting to get rid of the silly thoughts that clouded your mind. Only after minutes did you realise that your legs moved on their own, you being dragged by Felix, his hand still on your wrist. 

“W-where are we going?” you inquired, the wind blowing on the blonde pierced boy, his angelic hair bouncing with every step. 

“Don’t worry about it” he said, not speaking a single more word during the entire time he held your wrist and walked with you in the spring weather. 

All of a sudden the two of you were standing infront of the tea shop, you lifting your head to glance upwards at your dusty window that was right above the tiny wooden sign that said “Tea Shop”, swinging rustily back and forward. Felix retrieves a key, unlocking the corrodated wooden door, the color matching the sign above. 

“Wh- how do you know-” 

Felix hushes you, closing the door behind you before throwing the keys on the counter. 

“I don’t care about what you have to say. My father owns this place and I usually hang around here whenever it’s closed.” 

“Do you work here?” you asked with a voice filled with curiosity. 

Felix starts laughing his signature laugh, it being laced with nothing but iniquity. 

“Work? Do you think I need to work? I’m the only child of a wealthy family, I’m pretty much settled for life”

You nervously look down at the floor, only being in the tea shop a couple of times before it was closed for business.

“Well,,, I know that your father owns this place, I live in the apartment just above so-”

You were quickly cut of by Felix slamming his hand on the table, standing behind the checkout counter and leaning over it with his two arms as pedestals. 

“Why?”

You looked at him confused before your eyes gazed across the wall of glas cabinets displaying their finest china. Teapots with squiggly handles, painted with the utmost attention to detail, the colors of the scenes painted contrasting nicely with the eggshell white background. Small lamps were installed above each teapot, illuminating the work of art even more. 

“Why what?” you said back, still in trance from the beauty of the teapots.

“Why do you live alone?” His eyebrows raised.

“I never said that!” 

“y/n, that apartment is barely enough for a fucking mouse, there’s no way you could live there with someone else”

Damn, how did he know that? You had no other choice but to nod timidly, curling your hand into a fist.

“Don’t have the best relationship with my parents and since they aren’t wealthy like yours I have to do my best to find a way to support myself” you spat out at him, annoyed at his many questions. 

“Touché” Felix said shortly, shrugging his shoulders.

After a long moment of silence the blonde boy spoke again;

“Let’s make a deal, I’ll get you a job here and I’ll join you but only because you’re stupid and need my help, not because I want to be here”

Your eyes light up, like an excited child you dash toward the counter and place your hands near Felix’s, looking at him with twinkling eyes. 

“Really? You would do that?”

Felix nods.

“But don’t get too excited, you haven’t paid your end of the deal yet”

“Tell me! I’ll do anything, I promise!” you says quickly, smiling widely at Felix’s deadpan face.

“Suck me off”

Your previously bright smile faded in a matter of seconds, now turning into pure confusion. 

“Wh-what? I can’t do that! Are you crazy?!”

Felix scoffs, walking towards the door in a cocky manner with his black backpack over his shoulder, wearing black ripped jeans that were strictly banned in school but no longer warned to Felix by the teachers. The schools logo embroidered on the white flowy shirt that was unbuttoned, exposing his brand name t-shirt. 

Just in time you managed to block the door, his lips inches from yours as he sighed, smirking down at you. 

“I’ll do it! I will do it!” 

You blurted out, you had no other choice but to do it. Seeking other jobs had been impossible since you were only a student without any work experience, not having many other skills other than procrastinating and sleeping. You needed this in order to survive. You needed him. 

The boy pushed you against the entrance door, placing his forehead against yours. 

“Of course you will” Felix whispered in a voice deeper than the ocean, causing you to helplessly gulp and drop down on your knees, them hitting the floor with a thump. His small but veiny hands reached for his belt, unbuckling it in a swift motion, metal hitting each other. You were lost deep in thoughts, simply staring at his crotch whilst rethinking your every life decision. Wondering how on earth you got to this point, soon having your mouth stuffed with your bully’s dick. 

Thank god that he was at least hot. 

Felix popped his dick over the band of his underwear and as if you hadn’t had enough surprises today one last one awaited you. A silver metal barbell lodged right beneath his pretty red tip, his dick already hard as he gave it a couple of pumps. Your mouth fell agape, cheeks heating up as you struggled to keep a straight face. Felix being the tease he is had to comment;

“What? Bigger than you thought?”

You scoffed from his boldness, not believing your ears. 

“N-no! Get over yourself you ass”

“Enough talking princess” Felix said in a deep voice, rubbing the tip of his leaking cock on your plushy lips, them being coated with a layer of saliva from you repeatedly lickning them out of nervousness. 

There was a moment of awkwardness, you not being sure where to place your hands before you grabbed the base of his girthy dick, pursing your lips and latching them onto the tip, sinking down gradually in order to not choke immedietly, not wanting to embarrass yourself even more than you already had. 

Felix let out a strained groan at the sensation, you feeling the cold metal as you flattened your tongue, licking a fat strap on the underside of his cock earning yet another groan. The blonde laced his fingers in your hair, tugging on it slightly in order to control the sinful sounds dripping out of his mouth. You whimpered against his dick, there barely being any room to breath as your nose was hovering just above his abdomen, impressed by your own gag reflex but that didn’t last long, Felix now shoving your head down his length, making you choke. 

“Wow, is there anything you can do right? Can’t even suck me off properly”

You can only hum in response, sending shivers down Felix’s spine from the vibrations, the boy feeling the knot in his stomach tightening. The hair flies in front of you face as you bob your head down his cock that was equally as veiny as his decked out arms, feeling the metal hitting your bottom teeth a couple of times. Tears teased the corners of your eyes as you were throat deep on Felix’s member, your hands slightly sweaty from the butterflies in your stomach. Eventually Felix started to weaken in your grasp, small grunts escaping him as you hollowed your cheeks, mascara staining your heated cheeks. 

“f-fuck,,,yes just like that,,ah-”

Luckily for the both of you the shop was located in a rather desolate area of town therefore no bypassers saw the scandalous view through the door that was decorated with a small foggged window. But did Felix care? Not really, the boy was bold enough to get sucked off in public if the opportunity presented itself. 

You looked up at him with the most innocent eyes you could muster, spit starting to dribble down your chin and landing on your skirt, forming slightly saturated patches on the fabric from the wetness. The blonde boys useless comments didn’t make it any easier to withstand this agonizing process. 

“Ah,,, never thought I would be seeing you like this, thought I had degraded you enough but this is just another level of humiliation, isn’t it y/n?”

The hand that was previously tangled in your hair was now moved to your stained cheek, him carefully swiping his thumb across the warm skin but you furrowed your eyebrows, swatting his hand away causing him to scoff before being interupted by his own loud moan, you pulling off and kitten licking his tip, coaxing his impending orgasm. 

It didn’t take long before the boy was shutting his eyes tightly, his jaw slacking as a last low vibrational growl ringed in your ears, his eyes still piercing yours while the thick white liquid spilled out of him, coating the metal bar and seeped into your mouth, your dry lips now getting a coat of clear gloss, the rest dripping down onto the floor and your dark colored skirt. 

You shook your head as you looked around the shop, not wanting to spit out his salty seed right on the floor but Felix simply shook his head back at you, grabbing your face gently. 

“Swallow”

Goosebumps erupted on your skin from his intimidating voice, as if you’d been cast under a spell you nod, swallowing the droplets of cum harshly, the sound of your loud gulp causing Felix to hum and with a smile, ruffle your hair before zipping himself up and running a hand through his own hair, exposing his forehead for just a bit. You stand up on your own, legs wobbling as you don’t even expect the rude boy to help. 

“You start tomorrow after school, my father will only be happy to know that someone actually want’s to work in this shithole. I’ll join you but once again, not because I want to but because your stupid head will mess everything up.”

You nod, only now noticing how scruffy the rest of the teashop looked, moving boxes piling up like the dust in the windowsills. You jerked your head to the side, eyes wandering all over the place, everywhere from the wittering plants to the miscellaneous stacks of files. 

The both of you step out of the dusty shop, the cool air hitting your cheek, now remembering the makeup that was running down it. Without saying a word Felix tries to escape but you stop him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He doesn’t turn around, staring at the road ahead of him. 

“Thank you”

You whisper out, your hair fluttering in the wind, feeling yourself getting emotional from his seemingly sweet gesture. Felix starts walking, the sound of his footsteps getting fainter as the disappears down the sunny asphalt road, leaving you standing infront of the shop before you go behind the shop, entering your burrow of an apartment.

♡ 

You walk to the teashop in the floral spring weather, wondering where Felix had been all day since he wasn’t in school this wednesday where lectures went in half speed. Arriving at the shop everything was surprisingly closed. You peeked into the window, standing on your toes as if that would improve your vision but gave up quickly after, only seeing the scene from yesterday, the same old piles of rubbish. 

A light tap threw you off guard, you yelping and jerking away before noticing the blonde hair, Felix greeting you with a jingle of keys in his hand.

“Wanna have the honors? I mean, it is your first day after all” 

You respond with a small “yes” before grabbing the keys from his hand and unlocking the entrance to the stuffy teashop, coughing as you step in from the dust that twirled all around the two of you. You walked over to the sad plants that were placed haphazardly in the windowsill, swiping your finger over the leafs and closely examining the dust that rubbed off, blowing it away softly before turning to Felix that was nearing the pile of random files. 

“Looks like we have a bunch of work to do before we can actually brew tea” 

He didn’t smile, visibly annoyed. Felix went into the back, behind the beaded curtain he retrieved a bucket of cleaning supplies. 

“You mop the floors, I’ll clean some of the heavy stuff away” 

Felix said, his voice still in that notorious deep tone. 

“Not fair? There’s not even a mop which means I’ll have to do it by hand?” 

Felix scoffed, throwing a old rag at you before turning around and grabbing a moving box filled with god knows what. You sigh, grabbing the bucket and emptying the contents, the brushes and strangly colored bottles of cleaning solution spreading across the counter before you went behind the beaded curtain, being met by a murky kitchen that hadn’t been cleaned in what seemed like forever. You sighed, looking around and opening cabinets only to be met with half broken porcelain and cobwebs, the shelf at the top displaying a multitude of metal cans filled with loose tea that had probably gone tasteless. With a disgusted face you close the cabinet, instead filling up the bucket with water and adding dishsoap in lack of other cleaning substance. 

Hours ticked by, Felix sighing and huffing out of annoyance when carrying out and sorting through countless boxes while you cleaned the floor and dusted every corner, the shop transforming right before your eyes. The two of you eventually ended up in the kitchen, you observing every cup for cracks and disposing of those that showed just that as Felix was washing those that you thought looked presentable. Felix tried his best to not drop the cups despite his slippery fingers in a pathetic attempt at trying to do the dishes, it was clear that he had never in his life had to do this which made you roll your eyes, thinking about the boiling anger you had at this pompous and spoiled boy. 

“Do you like living alone y/n? ” 

The question was rather unexpected, making you choke on your own saliva. Never in your life had you thought that he cared about you. You shrugged your shoulders, wanting to appear unbothered.

“y-yeah, I wanted to be more responsible, I mean we are adults soon and nothing is served on a silver platter but I wouldn’t expect you to know.”

Felix smirked, seeing right through your lie but choosing to not taunt you. You felt vulnerable from the question but instead of continuing the awkward silence you wanted to get to know him better, maybe he wasn’t such a dick after all, maybe his tough guy personality was only a facade?

“What’s with that piercing?” you said, pointing at his groin with your chin making Felix laugh, getting shy from your question but snapping back to his cold outer self. 

“It was a bet and as you can see I lost” he scoffed before continuing, “wanna see?”

Your eyes widened, cheeks heating up before stammering out;

“N-no, Felix you’re disgusting!” you say in desperation for an answer but Felix only laughs even more, almost annoying you. 

“Well it wasn’t so disgusting when you were sucking me off, have you forgotten babygirl? Maybe I should teach you your place again.”

You gulped, not answering but instead just staring at him, a cup frozen in your hand as Felix locks his eyes with your, tilting his head in a cocky manner. You harshly place the cup down, storming out into the area where racks upon racks displayed the many tea sorts that were stashed away somewhere in the shop, Felix retrieving them earlier in the day. You start sorting through them, seeing a paper with orders on a clipboard and deciding to check the different kinds. Everything from oolong to pu’er to herbal was lined up in both teabags or loose tea leafs and surprisingly Felix did a good job, everything displayed in pretty and uniform lines. Before you could put a dash for a variety of tea that was missing. Felix sticks his head in between the beaded strings of the curtain, his eyes twinkling. 

“Want some tea?”

For the first time he seemed cute. Not scary or intimidating, just cute. By the way his blonde locks fell infront of his face to the way his earrings were jingling, fading out to his angular facial structure. 

You nod shyly, placing the clipboard on a random shelf before scooting over to the kitchen, seeing that Felix had placed out a white teapot with cobalt blue details, a floral pattern that contradicted to the eggshell white base. On the counter stood a small brown paperbag with black tea and right next to it a small tray of white sugarcubes. 

“This seems awfully complicated for making tea” you say, looking at the red kettle boiling on the stove, there not being an electric kettle in this old establishment. 

“What you expect? That I’ll be satisfied with you serving some watered down tea from a teabag? There’s a process you know.”

“Wow, and this is coming from Lee Felix? The son of a rich man and also the schools scumbag?”

Felix snaps his towards you, previously looking at the piping hot kettle. He licked the inside of his cheek, exhaling sharply through his nose, turning his cheek towards his shoulder, a momentary pop being heard before he looked at you with his dark eyes.

“I’m being nice, take that to your advantage and I’ll break your kneecaps”

You nodded and he smiled, astonished by the duality of this man. 

“Are you just gonna stand there? Come closer”

You stepped closer to the counter, your breath hitching when you felt Felix’s chest again your back, his hands leaning against the counter and trapping you between the two. You swallowed harshly, eyes darting over the various equipment needed to make a simple cup of tea. 

“Open the tea pot maybe?”

Felix said, sighing. You feeling his warm breath against the outer shell of your ear, his voice sounding even more dangerous when it was right beside you. You grabbed the blue detailed teapot and opened it, only to see a metal strainer already a part of the pot. Doubtfully you grabbed the little packet of loose leaf tea, removing and placing down the clip that was hindering it’s aroma from escaping the luxurious leafs. The fragrence of the tea hit your senses, the smell almost addictive. 

“What tea is this?” 

You said, turning the bag in you hand, looking for any type of lettering that would bring you closer to an answer.

“Russian earl grey. It contains bergamot orange making it more pungent”

You hummed, being to scared to turn around and face him, you now zoning out whilst your eyes were stuck on the awfully colored tiles on the kitchen wall. 

“You’re supposed to drink it y/n, not smell it”

Felix stated causing you to snap out and notice that you’ve been holding the bag to your nose, scrunching your nose ever so often. 

“Oh yeah,,, right,,, sorry. How much should I put in?”

You say, tilting the bag and slowly watching dark colored particles spill into the metal strainer. Felix slowly put his hand on yours, tilting the bag even more. You could feel your heart in your throat, your hands starting to sweat from his close proximity. His hand was warm for such a cold person. 

“It’s supposed to fill up one third of the strainer, remember that”

You mewled out a quiet “yes” as he put the bag down, removing his hand from yours. The next step was obvious, filling up the tea pot with hot water. Just as you were about to grab the black handle of the shiny red kettle Felix smacked your hand away, him grabbing it instead.

“It’s hot and I can’t trust someone as stupid as you with it”

“I can grab a kettle you know? I’m not that weak-”

“Shut it”

You pressed your lips shut as Felix pressed himself against your back, carefully reaching and pouring in the steaming water and seeing the water droplets diffuse up into the atmosphere. He carefully put the lid back on the pot and backed away as he put the kettle back on the stove, turning it off. 

“What do we do now?” 

You asked, turning around and leaning your butt against the cold counter.

“We wait for 5 minutes, the steeping time is different for different teas, you’ll have to learn them when working here.”

You nod attentively, staring down at your shoes and turning your heels against the dark wooden floorboards. 

“I wanna change the deal y/n”

Your head shot up to the blonde boy, him standing close by in all his glory, not wearing his school uniform but instead a black t-shirt, of course having a obnoxiously loud designer logo in the front just like the belt that was resting on top of his black slacks. His bracelets jingled everytime he moved his hands, this time wearing dainty silver rings to match with his wristwatch and shining piercings. 

“W-what why? Are you gonna fire me?”

Blood was boiling in your veins, not knowing his intentions yet but knowing that they were just as sinister as the boy himself. Before you knew it his lips were attached on yours.

Your heart skipped a beat, knuckles whitening as you held onto the counter from sheer panic. His lips were softer than expected, pressing gently as he tilted his head, his eyelashes feathering over his closed lids. His hands traveled up your clothed body, exploring every inch of you. The soft sound of lips smacking against each other ignited a feeling deep in your core. You were pushed closer to the edge of the counter, his body so close, leaving you with no choice but to jump up on the metal surface. The coldness radiated through the thin fabric of your pleated skirt, hitting your aching cunt that was already dripping from Felix’s simple actions, his daunting aura clouding your mind with sinful thoughts. 

“I’ll raise your pay if you fuck me, please y/n”

He whispers against your plush lips. You hummed, hesitating before slowly nodding, not being able to think clear with your heart beating like it’s about to protrude from your chest. He smiles slyly before reattaching his lips onto yours, his wet and sharp tongue running over your swollen bottom lip, desperatly wanting to taste your tongue. Your lips parted as you moaned into the kiss, giving him the perfect opportunity to pry himself into your mouth, the kiss getting sloppier, Felix growing needier as the seconds on the large clock on top of the door frame ticked. The blonde boy placed himself inbetween your legs, his veiny hands placed on your knees, seperating your already shivering legs. Without knowing what you were doing you cupped Felix’s cheeks, feeling the sharpness of his jaw against your soft hands.

Why did you pull him closer? He’d hurt you so bad in the past, everyday was living hell because of him and his deeds. A lightheadedness hit you as memories scrolled past your consciousness. Memories still painful, tender as open wounds. But for him you could forgive anything. Forget, just to see him smile at you.

His cologne was strangely addictive, the musky smell mixed with the scent of his soft sunkissed skin. You moaned softly against his lips as his fingers traced lightly over your exposed panties, the skirt already folded up your thighs. He hummed in delight, feeling the soaked fabric sticking against your pulsating cunt. 

“I’ve waited for this for so long y/n”

You looked at him with confusion in your glossy eyes. Waited, for you?

Within a matter of seconds his fingers pushed aside the wet patch of fabric shielding you from the cold air, only to insert a finger inside of your desperate hole causing you to gasp. A second finger joined close by and Felix groaned, feeling your tight walls around his glistening digits. You had so many questions but not enough power to say them without stuttering.

“W-waited for,,, m-me?”

His fingers curled upwards as you finished your sentence causing you to grip his wrist, the squelching sound of your pussy pleasing the blonde boy as he pumped his fingers into you relentlessly.

“That’s how I get attention. You aren’t impressed by materialistic things so I did what I had to”

You couldn’t believe your ears. All that to get your attention? He succeeded but he would never understand the emotions you went through because of him. The hatered you thought would never melt away suddenly did, you becoming nothing more but a whimpering mess from his touch. 

A thump was heard from your head hitting the cupboard, the pleasure firing through your body as your small cries echoed throughout the small kitchen. A sudden feeling of emptiness caused you to sigh in both relief and frustration. Your previously shut eyes slowly drifted open, panicked when you see Felix unbuckling his belt, letting both the fabric of his pants and underwear fall to the dim floor. 

Somehow his leaking cock looked prettier this time around, the shiny piercing distracting to the eye. Your mouth watered embarrassingly enough, turning your gaze to the ticking clock until Felix cleared his throat, his adams apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed his spit. He looked nervous which was unfamilliar, the boy always being persistant with his cocky mannerisms. Felix pulled you closer to the edge of the counter, your face heating up as your legs were spread wide open for him. There was nowhere you could hide your flushed face and Felix took this to his advantage.

“Huh? Shy, babygirl?” 

You gulped as you watched him stroke himself, the crimson colored tip disappearing only to reappear seconds later. Your eyes shut tightly as he moved the slick-stained panties to the side, anticipating to be filled to the brim from his impressive size. Mouth agape, Felix pushed into your wet hole, your hands gripping his broad shoulder in order to hinder a loud moan. 

“fuck y/n,,, you’re so tight, s-shit”

You couldn’t answer, still adjusting your velvety walls around him. As the pain subsided your core ached for friction, needing to feel him deep inside of you. Your arms wrapped around the boy, pulling him closer to your heated body making him smirk slyly before carefully pulling away, only his tip resting inside of you. Just as you were about to sigh due to emptiness he slammed inside of you, your entire body shaking from the impact. Panting, you begged for more, begging for him to go faster.

“F-felix! faster,,, please”

Your warm face was buried deep in his shoulder, his slightly cold hands gripping your hips tightly, starting to roll against your throbbing cunt earning small mewls from between your swollen lips. The counter creaked with each thrust that grew louder as his pace got faster, feeling your delicate walls clench around his veiny length, his silver earrings dangling from his lobes. Felix explored parts of your body even you hadn’t felt, his dick prodding you deep enough to make your eyes roll back into your skull, biting down on his shirt. 

The sound of skin slapping echoed in the room, your weakening legs wrapping around his figure, trapping him inside of you but the blonde boy had no plans of stopping. Sweat beaded around his temples, his previously serious expressing turning into a grin as he adored your moans, words falling out in incomprehensible syllables. You were close and so was Felix. 

The pit of fire grew violent deep in your core, holding the young boy tighter to your body, clawing his clothed back. Every thrust had it’s impact, shaking you up and forcing shameless moans out from your throat that were being muffled by the fabric between your lips. The two of you moaned in unison, Felix’s deep mutters getting louder, his vicious thrusts becoming sloppier and uneven, desperate for his sweet release. You clenched around him involuntarily, trying to hold back from screaming, glad that your warm face was between his shoulder and neck so that he couldn’t see your fucked out expression. His name rolled off your tongue like a mantra, mind blank as your eyes were squeezed shut.

“Felix, i-im gonna c-cum! im-m cumming!”

The wall seperating you from your orgasm collapsed, leaving you with a powerful sensation washing over you. Your legs shook, struggling to keep your legs wrapped around him but soon enough you wouldn’t have to. Felix thrusted into you one final time, sending a shiver down your spine and overstimulating you before pulling out, his dick glistening with your erotic juices as he fucked his hand, hot spurts of cum leaking out. He growled, scrunching his forehead as he released on your shaking thighs, one last droplet of cum descending down his shaft and coating the shiny piercing that decorated his pretty cock. 

You panted, still processing what just happened, looking at Felix that unwrapped his hand from around his member, dick turning flaccid. You lifted yourself off the counter, only then realising how weak your legs were, not letting go of the surface you just fucked on. 

“Is this a one time thing or,,,” 

You start, not really knowing what to say afterwards. Felix cleared his throat, putting on his pants as you fixed your dark skirt, back against the boy.

“Let’s be friends”

You turned around, gazing at Felix as he looked down at the grimy floor.

“I’ll stop,,, bothering you, now we’re friends,,, with benefits but it’s a secret, understand?”

Every sentence this man spoke sounded serious with his deep voice but this was serious, for real. 

“Why should I? Why should I agree, Felix? So that you can play around with me even more, make me your little shy puppet? I’m not having it!!”

You yelled at the boy, his expression deadpan as you hit him in the abdomen, instantly regretting it as your knuckles hit his rock hard abs. Frustration clouded your mind, wanting to break every single piece of porcelain in the narrow kitchen. Instead you broke yourself apart. Crying in front of Felix like you’d done so many times before, dropping to the floor and feeling the cold material against your bare thigh. This feeling, so familiar. Felix gazing down on you like you we’re worth nothing more than the ground. 

Only this time he didn’t only stand and stare. 

His arms wrapped around your quivering figure, his embrace warmer than his face. 

“I’m sorry, y/n”

His voice shook as the silence overtook the both of you, the quiet ticking of the clock interupting. 

“Hm? Look at me, y/n”

Felix pulled away from you, sitting on the floor next to you, watching your head hang low as he gently put a hand on your jaw, lifting your gaze up to meet his. 

“I’m fucking stupid, I know. I shouldn’t have hurt you like that but,,, I didn’t know how- how to get closer to you.”

He swiped the rough pad of his thumb across your cheek, wiping your tears. 

“I will never hurt you ever again, y/n. We- we can work here and just,,, do stuff.”

You knew exactly what he meant by “stuff” but somehow you trusted him. You trusted him because you had no one else to trust. 

“But one rule” he said.

You tilted your head, wondering what his rule was.

“No falling in love”

You hummed, nodding as you wiped your tearstained cheeks with the sleeves of your shirt, cracking a smile at your own vulnerability. Felix stood up and you looked up at him, feeling small but not afraid. 

“So what do you say, y/n?”

He offered you his hand, you couldn’t stop looking into his secretive eyes that slowly turned mellow. 

You grabbed his hand, passing it as a yes to his question. 

But the both of you knew that the rule would be broken soon, like the brittle edge of a teacup. 

[imaginativeamateur]

Hey! Congrats on 200 followers! 🎊 you totally deserve it!! I was wondering if you could do a kakashi x fem!reader with 6 in which the reader is a med ninja and are overworking! THANK YOU!!!

[Kakashi Hatake X Reader] A Medic's Greatest Fear

|200 Followers Event|

Prompt: 6 — "You’re not coming home tonight?"

Pairing: Kakashi Hatake x fem!Reader

Note: Hello, I'm back after quite a few days being so inactive :DD Thanks for your request, love. I legit spent so much time... changing the plot :DD This version is very different from the first one that I wrote lol. It's a bit angsty but ends with a fluff note, though. Hope you'll enjoy!

You have been busying yourself with operation after operation. You were not in a good mood recently after you got into a fight with Kakashi, and he then left for a mission. Time fleeted, and the next time you glanced at the clock, it was already eight in the evening. Just when you were packing up to leave the hospital at the end of your shift, a nurse rushed to your office with a bewildered expression on her face.

“Y/N-san,” she stopped to catch a breath, “there are three injured Shinobi.”

“ANBU?” You questioned, immediately dropping your tote to the desk.

“It’s… you should go see for yourself,” she stammered out. There was hesitation in her voice as she spoke, and you felt uneasiness seeping into the pit of your stomach.

You rushed to the reception and spotted a sight that you never wanted to see. Your heart throbbed as the hospital staff rolled a silver-haired onto a stretcher and pushed him into the operation unit. You lost the balance on your feet, if it was not for the nurse to help you stabilize your stance, you would have fallen onto the ground. There was only one person that you could recall having the very hair color in the whole Konoha—Kakashi Hatake.

“What happened?” Your voice was hoarse as you tumbled to the reception table.

“They were ambushed,” the staff stated with a monotone and started to register their information on the computer, “Hatake’s injuries, though, are more serious.”

“Who are on call right now?”

The woman at the desk took a glance at you, quietly signaling you to calm down before she continued to speak, “One surgeon and one assistant as for Hatake. Two Medics are tending the other three.”

Your stomach flipped, “I’m going in with them.”

You spared not even a second after you gave her a verbal note to follow their trail. You bit down on your lips hard enough to draw blood. Seeing your love edging on the thin line between life and death brought tears to your eyes. You greatly regretted the venomous words you exchanged with him before Kakashi left for his mission. You did not mean them to the slightest degree, you did not mean to tell him to stop interfering with your business, you did not mean to call him intrusive and that you hated him for being like that. The silver-haired stopped quarreling almost immediately after you lashed out and closed the door behind his back. You could clearly visualize the distress and sorrow wavering in his eyes when he left, so clearly that it stabbed you in the heart. If only you could go back to that very day…

For the whole duration of the operation, you focused every single cell of your body on the task, straining every muscle to perform meticulous work. But you did not dare to look up at his face. A cursory glance already enabled you to see how pale his skin was. The thin layer of sweat that coated his forehead shook you to the core that you had to instantly glance away. Kakashi was in pain, and you knew that better than anyone, being the person invading his system with your own chakra to heal the damaged organs. The wounds littered across his body were deep cuts, and you winced as your palms moved across his battered body.

At last, it was finally over and he was now bandaged in white cloth, sleeping soundly on the bed. Fearing that the stiff hospital bed would tire his back, you went ahead and took off your sweater and laid an extra layer for him to lie on, leaving you in your thin blouse. It was the end of autumn in Konoha and nights were cooler, but you paid no mind to the skin of your forearms prickling with goosebumps when you moved to close the window. All of your attention was now focused on the resting Shinobi, watching his chest rising and falling with every breath, his brows forming the slightest pinch in his sleep.

You drifted your gaze farther away, thinking of what to say once he would be up. Just then, you head Kakashi mumble, “You’re not coming home tonight?”

You quickly directed your eyes back to check on him, but the silver-haired was still snoring softly under the blanket—he worried about you even when he just merely got his life back from the hands of Hades. And it made you even more upset with yourself. You were totally at fault. He was only concerned about you and your health when you were working days straight without rest at the hospital. He respected your work but was more or less disagreed with how careless you were with your own wellbeing.

With great attention, you reached both hands out toward him and glided your fingers across his cheeks, blinking furiously to prevent tears from strolling down your face. You gently placed a kiss on the shallow crease between his brows as though you were trying to alleviate the pain that he was enduring, “I’m sorry, Kashi. I’m sorry.”

You laid your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as if it was an assurance that he was cradling you to bed like every night. Shuddering, you shifted closer to his body to shield yourself away from the blows that managed to seep through the crack between the door and the freezing tiles. Nights at the hospital were always cold with you drifting in and out of sleep in between calls to duty. But tonight was different when he was with you, you felt at peace.

The morning came and Kakashi was wide awake before the first rays even shone through the glass window. But he did not move a muscle, letting you splay your hands across his chest and hug him with all you might. A frown sat on his lips when he noticed the eyebags underneath your heavily closed lids. Your breathing was ragged as your lips opened and sealed several times, mouthing broken sobs of his name. Kakashi slightly shook your shoulders and you shot up from your position, eyes wide after pulling yourself out of the terrifying nightmare.

“Kakashi,” you burst out and jumped out of the wooden chair, wrapping your arms around his neck, “Kakashi!”

“I’m alright, Y/N,” he embraced you and swayed your bodies back and forth, “I’m here.”

After a while, you pulled away, timidly gazing at your hands like a child at fault, “I’m sorry for the stupid argument. I was wrong for saying such things. I promise not to overwork myself again.”

“I’m sorry too, love,” he stroked your hair, “I shouldn’t raise my voice at you. You know I love you, right? That’s why I didn’t want to see you harming yourself in the first place. It’s necessary to take a break when you’re tired. And just know that I’m always here for you.”

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

Taglist: @dai-tsukki-desu @thenightfallingstar @iam-gaaras-loveintrest @animepickle7 @rinnegankakashi @tirzamisu

[highqueenofelfhame]

rowaelin month day ten

rowaelin month day ten -- single parents. masterlist // buy me a ko-fi // redbubble  

The morning truly couldn’t have been going worse. Aelin had woken up to the nanny telling her she’d come down with the stomach flu. Aelin wasn’t cruel enough to tell the poor girl she had to work through it; instead encouraging her to drink as much water as she could and get some much-needed rest. Evangeline had apologized profusely, but Aelin was having none of it. She reassured her that she could figure it out.

It turned out she couldn’t. Her mother and father both worked sixty hours a week. Aelin knew that her mother would take a day if Aelin called, but she couldn’t bring herself to make the call and disrupt her week. Evie’s father had died in a car crash before she was even born. Everyone who was a viable option worked full-time jobs, leaving her three-year-old in her hands. She could call out, but she had a mountain of a workload that she’d left last night, reassuring herself she would get it done today. Everything she needed was at her office, so working from home was out of the question. All signs were pointing to an impromptu “bring your child to work” day. 

The CEO of the company was a good friend of hers, and Aelin knew that Dorian wouldn’t mind seeing his goddaughter toddling around the office. In fact, she knew that he would eventually steal her away for a snack time at some point so Aelin could get some work done. It would likely be a snack that wasn’t mommy approved, but she would give him a free pass today.

It would be okay, she reassured herself as she struggled to get Evie to cooperate with getting her tiny arms through her yellow long-sleeved shirt. She was mumbling in an indecipherable language as Aelin nodded along, chiming in here and there like she understood every word. The reality was that she only understood a handful of words. One of them was juice, so Aelin made a mental note to make her a full cup of juice for the car ride to the office to keep her happy. 

It didn’t take long to brush her hair into the tiniest pigtails to exist, with two little orange bows holding them in place. By the time she was fully dressed in her fall garb, complete with a tiny gray vest so cute that Aelin wanted to cry, she looked like a baby Gap model. Without a doubt, everyone at the office would be cooing over how precious she looked the second they walked through the door. 

“Where going?” Evie inquired, her little head tilting to the side as Aelin packed her go-bag full of snacks and an outfit change just in case. 

“Momma’s gotta go to work today, baby. You get to come, too. Do you want to see Uncle Dorian?” At the mention of Dorian, Evie’s eyes lit up as a broad smile pushed her chubby cheeks up until her eyes squinted closed. Aelin grinned and kissed her cheeks until she giggled wildly. Thank the gods that Evie was in a good mood today. Some mornings she woke up on the wrong side of the bed, fussy as all get out while Aelin tried to push along their morning. Thankfully today, she was full of smiles and giggles. It would make everything much easier if she cooperated.

After grabbing a sippy cup full of apple juice and shoving the bottle in her bag, making yet another note to put it in the fridge in the break room when she arrived at the office, she swooped Evie into her arms, and they were on their way. 

Upon arriving at the office, Aelin was right. The two receptionists immediately fell in love with Evie’s tiny pigtails and her outfit. They cooed over her bright eyes, twins to Aelin’s own. It took longer than usual to make it to the elevator, where even several men commented on how adorable she was. It brought a smile to her face, but it dropped when she thought of her office neighbor. 

Rowan Whitethorn was the hardass of the office. She was pretty positive that he hated her, and there was nothing she could do to change his mind. They spent their days arguing back and forth about anything and everything. Some days she was sure that he only did it to get a rise out of her. 

Aelin had never seen him smile-- he only scowled. His assistant was constantly rushing around, losing his damn mind trying to meet all of Rowan’s demands in a day. More than once, she’d caught tidbits of his conversations with Aelin’s own assistant, the poor boy begging to swap just for a single day. Aelin could only imagine what Rowan would say about Evie being such a workplace distraction. She was positive there would be complaints about her squeals and giggles that he would hear through the wall. 

There was truly nothing she could do, though. Too much needed to be done at work to take a personal day, and Evie was typically well behaved enough to be occupied until her mom got off work and could pick her up. 

As she made her way down the hall, everyone oohed and ahhed over Evie. Aelin thanked everyone for their compliments, her heart spilling over with joy. Until she saw Rowan in the kitchen while she put away the juice. He was making coffee and, upon noticing Evie in her arms, an emotion she couldn’t quite place flickered over his face. 

“I didn’t know you had a daughter,” he said, eyes going from her pigtails down to the boots on her tiny feet. 

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” She closed the fridge door and left the kitchen, gone as quickly as she had come. When she arrived in her office, she shut the door and put Evie down, watching as she ran straight for the couch and flopped over the side with a giggle bubbling out of her lips. 

The single mother took a few minutes to take Evie’s toys out of her bag, even laying a few puffy snacks out on the table for her to snack on while she played. She went straight for them as quickly as Aelin sprinkled them out of the container. Aelin chuckled as she watched her for a moment, hands on her hips while she decided she was okay to sit at her desk and begin her work. 

Evie was surprisingly self-sufficient while Aelin started her daily tasks. She played with the toys her mother provided and munched on her treats. Aelin heard a lot of babbling and a slew of giggles, a loud squeal pulling her from her work as her door opened. 

Dorian leaned in the doorway, giving her a running start until he followed, darting across the room to scoop Evie into his arms. He spun her in circles with her legs flying behind her. She was laughing in a way that she only did with Dorian. Aelin seldom got that sound to come out of her daughter, but somehow, she wouldn’t change it for anything.

“I heard tales of a little princess fighting dragons in my office,” he said to no one in particular, but Evie seemed to understand that she was the princess. If there was anything that she liked in this world, it was being called a princess. She understood that word more than anything because Aelin read her fairy tales of princesses every night. Tangled was constantly on their TV, only to be replaced by Beauty and the Beast. They utterly enchanted her, and everyone in her life was constantly calling her a princess. She loved it. 

The giggling continued while he tickled her sides and blew raspberries on her belly until the shrieking got so intense he made a face at Aelin and merely brought her into a tight hug as he said, “Sorry. Nanny out today?”

“She’s got a stomach bug. I had no other options; I’m really sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologize. You know I love any chance I get to see her. I’m not going to penalize you for being a mother, Aelin.” Evie was chomping her teeth near Dorian’s face, causing her best friend to laugh and hold her at arm’s length. “I’ll even take her across the hall for a bit so you can get more done.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” she replied, sighing and leaning back in her seat. Aelin really did have so much to do, to the point that she couldn’t even bring herself to tell him he didn’t have to do that. She would take whatever help she could get.

Her door was left open as he took Evie out into the hall, Aelin noticing that they weren’t going in the direction of his office but rather toward the kitchen. Her eyes rolled as she swiveled in her chair to face her computer and really dive into her work, leaning forward and exhaling a deep breath, willing herself to focus. 

Quite a bit of time passed, and she was able to get a considerable amount of work completed. All of her emails had been caught up when Dorian edged into her office and cleared his throat. Aelin looked up, half expecting Evie’s outfit to be ruined by chocolate, but her little ray of sunshine was nowhere to be seen.

“Where is she?” 

“I… may have taken a phone call and looked away for two minutes, and she vanished.”

“What?” Aelin was on her feet in an instant, rushing across her office and out into the hall. “What the fuck do you mean? How long has it been?” 

“Since I lost her and started looking for her? Half an hour. I was scared to tell you.” 

“My daughter has been missing for half an hour, and you’re only just now telling me? What the fuck, Dorian?” She hit his chest rather abrasively as she shoved past him, eyes scanning every room while she ran down the hall. How she was able to do it without toppling over in her heels, she wasn’t sure. All she could feel was the panic from her heart pounding in her chest to the shaking of her hands. The roaring in her ears made everything else sound muffled and distant, like she was standing at the edge of white water rapids. Even with her hands in fists so tight she could feel them shake, nausea building up in her chest. 

“Evie?” She called out, a tremor rising in her throat that caused her voice to sound shaky and weak. Tears were pricking in her ears as she turned to run back to her office. She would call down to security to see if they could scan the cameras, and call reception to see if anyone had carried her out. From there, she would--

Her heart stopped beating when she glanced into Rowan’s office. It was the office directly next to hers, and behind his desk, Rowan held a snoozing Evie. Her little fist was gripping the lapels of his suit jacket, and he seemed relaxed while he flipped through papers with one hand. 

“What are you doing with my daughter?” Aelin asked, stepping into the door. A few tears of relief slipped down her cheeks, and she was quick to wipe them, lest he make an asshole comment about it.

“I told that little shit to let you know I had her,” he murmured, barely glancing up from his papers. “I think that’s the final straw. He genuinely can’t do the most basic of tasks, I--” 

Rowan paused when he looked up from his work. Something soft flashed in his eyes for a split second before he continued, “She was laying on the couch by the kitchen when I found her. She babbled something about Dorian, I think, and when I looked in his office, he was on the phone arguing with someone. You looked busy, and I know you have a lot to do, and when I picked her up, she let out the biggest yawn I’ve ever seen. By the time I’d walked back to my office, she was asleep. I told my assistant to let you know. I’m sorry that he didn’t, and I’m sorry that I didn’t follow up with an e-mail or a phone call. You just seem like you could use the help so you could get work done. I’m sorry.” 

Not only was it the most that Rowan had ever said to her in a single conversation, but it was the kindest she’d seen him be to anyone. He wasn’t complaining about the little bit of drool coming out of the side of Evie’s mouth and soaking into his jacket. He was just holding her like he was so at ease with the situation and truly didn’t mind. 

“You don’t wear a ring, and I’ve never heard you mention a significant other. Divorced?”

“Widowed,” she replied, sitting in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk. Again, his face softened as he looked down at Evie. 

“She looks just like you. She’s beautiful.” Ignoring the implications of that comment, Aelin smiled softly.

“Thank you. She is… everything to me.”

“I… I have a daughter, too. Briar. My wife died two years after we were married. Briar is six now, but Evie is… so much less temperamental than B was.” Aelin tried not to let the shock show on her face. Shock that Rowan Whitethorn was a father and shock that they shared a sad history. The curiosity to ask how she had died was strong, but she wouldn’t ask. Sometimes she hated it when people asked how Sam died. It was like opening a wound all over again. 

“Oh, she has her days. Don’t let this fool you,” she laughed, dragging her fingers through her hair. “I didn’t know you had a daughter, either.”

Rowan flipped his computer screen so she could see it, and she was welcomed by a smiling little girl with stunning green eyes and brown ringlet curls. Her heart squeezed at the image, Rowan holding her in his lap and grinning so wide he had dimples. Rowan Whitethorn had dimples. 

“She’s absolutely adorable.”

“She is.” Aelin smiled again, looking down at her hands and twisting the ring on her left finger that her parents had given her when Evie was born. It was her birthstone. 

“You can keep working if you want to. I’ve got her.”

“She’s not bothering you?” There was hesitation evident in her voice as Rowan looked down at the sleeping girl in his arms. He smiled, brushing a few wild strands of hair back against her head.

“Nope,” he said firmly, looking back at Aelin. “Really. You must have a lot to do if you didn’t just call in a personal day. She’s sleeping. It’s okay. I’ll bring her back when she wakes up.”

“I-- okay. If you’re sure.”

“I’m positive.” Aelin chewed on her fingernail for a moment before she nodded and stood, walking across his office and toward her own. Aelin paused in the door, looking over her shoulder at the man with such a harsh reputation around the workplace. This man seemed entirely different, a man that was brushing his thumb against her daughter's side while she slept with his shirt in her tiny fist. He seemed so utterly relaxed while he adjusted their position in his chair to keep working. It was almost out of character, his offer. But she wasn’t going to complain. 

Rowan Whitethorn may have been the hardass of the office, but maybe he had a soft spot after all. @rowaelinscourt​

[spencersmagic]

a knife twists at the thought - SR

Prompt: a knife twists at the thought that i should fall short of the mark - Arctic Monkeys

Summary: Spencer is new to this, and the poor boy is terrified

Couple: Fem! Reader x Spencer Reid (i picture season 2/3 Spencer but y’all do you)

Category: angst

Word count: 3086 words

Warnings: general criminal minds stuff, mentions and descriptions of torture, descriptions of loss, HAPPY ENDING!!, my 3am writing, tooth rotting love, uhmm spoilers for Orwell’s 1984 (if anybody hasn’t read it), humiliation, Spencer crying and breaking my heart (lmk if you need anything warned or trigger tagged).

A/N This is very loosely based on 2x15 (VERY LOOSELY). I’m quite proud of this one :)

masterlist // 505 series taglist

*****

They say you never see it coming.

When a tragedy occurs, and someone’s life is turned upside down forever, they never see it coming. It just... hits them. Like an oncoming car ramming into a bystander who was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

No one has time to prepare. In our time-starved lives, there is no place for such a warning.

One day, you just wake up. And they’re not next to you. They’ve disappeared, leaving the stickiest, most unforgettable parts of themselves behind for others to grieve to: the smell of their shampoo in the pillows they used to share, the seconds just as you wake when you still feel like you have them - only to gain full consciousness and realise they left you behind - even the fucking jars, which never seem to be open because he’s just not there to do it.

And you feel your heart breaking all over again as your soul sticks to the parts that couldn’t be erased with the rest of him as he left. Because you needed him, you had him, and now he’s gone. No warning, no letter, no signs which could’ve helped you foresee such a tragedy, because how could he? He didn’t disappear on purpose.

She doesn’t understand why he's so absent. So unequivocally missing. And the person she would turn to to ask these riddled questions isn’t there to answer. Because he’s gone.

But they’re not there yet.

And she feels so close to that feeling - the helplessness, the pain, the empty cups next to her bed because he always carried them to the sink when she was finished with her tea the mornings of those rare days they got to sleep in. Those days when they had time. She can practically touch, with the tip of her fingertips, the waves of pain that would surge over her if he was gone for one more fucking minute.

She has to remind herself, over and over again, like a mantra. He’s not gone yet.

The “yet” at the end of her mantra just breaks her all over again.

She was always the one to tell Spencer “if you worry before something happens, in case it goes wrong, and then it does, you’ve managed to suffer twice through something painful for absolutely no reason”. It usually worked. Needless to say, she felt like a hypocrite right about now.

Because Spencer is gone. And she doesn’t know how to bring him back.

She knows only to watch the monitor, never once blinking, taking in everything that happened in that damned livestream - every word, every sound, every reference. She can only try to hear anything over the whimpers and sobs her love was letting out as he’s tortured by that man. She can only hear the cracks of his knuckles against Spencers soft skin, the same soft skin she had kissed mere hours ago before telling him to “be careful”. Her own way of saying the three little words the couple was too young to hear. She can only see his lips parting, sobs rumbling out of his body as the unsub abuses his frame over and over again - same lips which had kissed her forehead before telling her “i always am”.

Then again, she isn’t sure if its his voice which is filling her head with painful sounds or if her mind is playing tricks on her, memorising the horrifying vibrations coming from his chest for her to ever consider anything else. She hasn’t stopped hearing him since she turned on that damned computer.

She isn’t sure she’ll ever stop hearing it.

**

As a man of great intellect, Spencer always recurred to knowledge to understand difficult occurrences in his life. Burying himself in textbooks, novels, poems, and even music to understand pain, and himself having a life filled with it, he was an incredibly knowledgeable man.

He knew much. But right now, he only knew one thing.

In Orwells’ 1984, as Winston was being tortured (much like Spencer is right now), Orwell described the following:

“Never, for any reason on earth, could you wish for an increase of pain. Of pain you could only wish one thing: that it should stop. Nothing in the world was so bad as physical pain. In the face of pain there are no heroes, no heroes”.

And, as a man who had acquired most of his intellect by immersing himself in trivial content in the face of pain, he found himself doing the same thing as the unsub hurt him over and over again, each blow seemingly more painful than the last. As his skin bruised, a causality of his abusers torment, he analysed the seemingly logical quote.

It must depend on the person, he was sure. In fact, a number of factors must be taken into consideration at this statement. For starters, Winston lives in a society incapable of any human feelings. There is only dominance, and those who attempt, in vain, to challenge it. Surely, if he had felt happiness, like the one you feel when the first day of spring rolls around, or like the one that creeps up on you as you look into the eyes of your loved one, surely, he would understand that some things can outweigh pain.

Love.

If Spencer’s mind could make sense of what he was feeling right now, he would understand, something he would figure of were he to leave this damned place, that he was thankful to the Gods, were there any, for having the unsub kidnap him and not Y/N.

Winston hadn’t understood emotional pain because emotions weren’t dealt with regularly. They were discouraged. That’s why he believed that there are no heroes in the face of pain. Because he doesn’t understand emotional pain.

He knew he was suffering. He also knew that Y/N was at the other side of the blinking camera suffering more than he could ever imagine.

**

They say emotional pain lasts 12 minutes. Anything one feels after this would be the aftermath of the cause of the pain in question. Pure emotional pain, the one you practically feel in your chest, the one that says “i can’t think, feel or be. not until this feeling dissipates”.

She had learned this from Spencer.

And she wished it were true. As she watched that damned monitor, she wished that all the venom the unsub was spewing at Spencer, all the verbal abuse, was long forgotten. She wished he could only feel the physical pain. Because the mind is incredibly stronger than the body - it could keep him awake, alive, for just enough time for the team to rescue him.

The entire team had huddled around the monitor around her. She was painfully aware that other people were seeing this. Which meant it wasn’t her imagination. It wasn’t another one of those damned dreams she would have when she slept a little too far away from Spencer’s touch.

They had only been together for two months, but his touch was all that could get her to fall asleep.

She jolted as the unsub landed another slap on Spencer’s cheek, swiftly grabbing his hair for him to look into the camera. He had a cut above his right cheek, just where she would kiss him in the mornings, and bruises all over his neck, jaw and left eye.

“Say hi to your team!” he mocked Spencer, chuckling darkly as he moved his almost lifeless body around for the team to watch in horror. Spencer let out a heartbreaking sob, feeling so vulnerable.

“Why don’t we make this interesting?” he jumped, as if he had gotten an idea. The unsub reached behind himself to grab a pistol, clicking off the magazine safety to put one bullet in one of the eight slots, leaving the other seven free. He pointed it at Spencer’s temple.

Her entire body shook the thought of seeing Spencer’s lifeless body, held up only by the ropes and that sick man’s grip around his curls. The same curls she grabbed as she kissed his face when she wanted his attention.

“I’m going to ask you some questions...” he said, voice dripping with sickening sweetness as he turned the roulette, “and if i don’t like your answer i’ll pull the trigger! Let God decide what I do with you. Sounds good?”. He wanted to humiliate Spencer.

However, Spencer made the mistake of not answering him. He was quickly reminded as the barrel of the gun pointed right between his eyes, pulling the trigger, a loud bang! sound expanding through the barn.

“I asked you a question!” he suddenly yelled into Spencer’s face.

“Y-yes, Sir” he whimpered, shaking at the ease at which the man pulled the trigger.

“Good, you’re learning”.

**

She experienced it by bits. Hotch’s hoarse voice. “Talk to me Garcia”. “We’ve got coordinates”. Everybody rushing to the SUVs. Tripping over her own feet on the way to the car. Morgan’s voice. The iPad, which still carried Spencer’s whimpers and the man mocking tone.

“I’ve got your diary, Spence” his sing-song voice didn’t match the disgusting man she was looking at. Nothing made sense.

“And I wanna know why...” he drew out the ‘y’ as he looked for something between the worn pages between his hands.

Of course she knew Spencer owned a diary. But she was mature enough to keep her hands to herself and her eyes on her own pages as he wrote on his, eyebrows creasing as he recalled all which he had experienced during the day. His face would twitch slightly at the memories, both good and bad, as he basically described his day word by word.

“...why did you wait until you were 24 to lose your virginity?” he asked in a clear attempt to humiliate and ridicule Spencer in front of his team.

“I-I didn't-” he could barely finish a word before a sob wrecking through his body at the humiliation, chest rumbling and voice wavering. “I didn’t want to lose it before, i w-wasn’t in a hurry” he rushed out. The man brought the pistol to his own chin, tapping it as he thought. “Hmm... I’m satisfied with your answer. Let’s dig deeper, shall we?” he asked as he went back into the pages.

“ooh! This one is new” that sick bastard was having fun with this, completely unaware that the team was less than 5 minutes away from their location.

“Care to read what you wrote three days ago? Right here” he turned the pages so Spencer could read them, though he was painfully aware of that entry he was talking about. His body shook violently. “P-please. D-don’t ma-make me do t-this” he whimpered, body feeling defeated.

“Wrong answer” the unsub said before pointing a gun at him and pulling the trigger.

A shriek was heard from the iPad. The SUV went silent.

“He’s alive” she whispered, unable to speak up. “He-” she swallowed. “He’s alive. We’re not there, yet” her mantra became a reminder that she hadn’t been quick enough to help him. She had the tools to save him. Every second she had the knowledge to save him and didn’t was another second she remained impotent at the risk of losing the love of her life.

Spencer’s voice spoke from the iPad.

“C-can you at-at leas-st turn off t-the ca-amera?” he said between sobs.

And it hit her.

What hurt him the most wasn’t the memories he had to relieve, but the fact that the rest of the team would have to hear his most intimate thoughts. His deepest secrets.

He could bare the pain. The humiliation? That broke him.

“Aww” the unsub chuckled mockingly, “are you embarrassed?” he said, slouching down to look into his eyes. “Well too fucking bad!” he screamed into his face, spitting with every word he spewed at him. Spencer’s sobs got louder.

“O-okay okay!” Spencer caved, accepting the journal that got shoved into his face.

“Read, pretty boy” the unsub sang. That son of a bitch was having fun.

“We’re two minutes away, Y/N” Hotch said. Maybe it was he sobs, which were barely audible to herself, having accepted them as second nature after all the heartbreak she was experiencing, but Hotch needed her to be okay.

His own heart thumped into his chest, feeling as helpless as he’d ever felt. Seeing a member of his team - someone he was supposed to take care of, someone he was supposed to keep safe - was sobbing as he was physically and emotionally tortured. But he was painfully aware of the feelings Y/N was experiencing. The sheer fear that was running down her veins at the idea of them running out of time.

After a few sobs, Spencer started reading, interrupting himself occasionally with his whimpers:

“It’s been three months. Today, three months, seven hours and forty-six minutes ago, she did what I didn’t have the courage to do. She asked me out. “I’ve been wanting to ask you pretty much since the day i met you” she had said. Those words keep ringing in my head like a beautifully written symphony, intrinsically designed to make me face my deepest fears. Opening my scars one by one, dissecting them and reaching the simple conclusion that i was a coward.

She didn’t say it, but what she meant was “i’ve been waiting for you to do it, but you never did, so i had to”. We wasted time - a time so precious and sacred - because i was a coward.

I’ve never felt like this before. I never understood a love so deep as to move something so stubborn as the human spirit. I’ve read textbook after textbook, and novel after novel, and still I’ve never learned more than with her. But I was a coward. And i wasted her time. I fear that I still am.

A knife twists at the thought that i should fall short of the mark. It’s impossible for me to ever be enough for her”.

Her heart broke at this confession. Even worse at the thought that he wouldn’t’ve told her, instead inhaling fear and exhaling rejection at every breath he took next to her.

“We’re here” she heard Hotch, looking at her. She grabbed a bottle of water and dropped the iPad, not hearing the teams objections at the lack of vest and preparation and ran into the barn.

She isn’t sure if she’ll ever stop hearing his whimpers. As she runs closer, she hears them louder and louder, decorated with sobs and cries, and small, meaningless replies to his abusers’ mocking words.

She kicked the door down, the loud bang booming across the room, only helping in raising Spencer’s sobs as he feared the sound had been the result of a certain trigger being pulled. As she looks at him, she realises just how much pain he’s been put through.

She remembers Orwells words, much like how Spencer had remembered them mere hours ago. And disagrees, wishing over and over, praying to the Gods that she would be the victim of such atrocious abuse. She wished she could take his pain. Morgan joined her at her side mere seconds later, yelling. “FBI! Put the gun down!”.

Spencer used the last bit of energy to lunge forward, hitting the unsubs stomach with his head, successfully getting him on the floor for Morgan to apprehend. Y/N rushed to Spencer’s side, untying him, as his now nonexistent sobs grew louder and louder, not only at the prospect of getting out of that horrible place alive, but also at the knowledge that Y/N had heard what he had so dreadfully recited.

Spencer collapsed into her arms, crying into her in the same way she was crying into him, and she wondered just how to take away all his pain. So they cried into each other, desperately grasping each others hair, skin, clothes, anything that would make them feel like they wouldn’t have to spend another damned second without the company of each other.

Spencer was the first to break the silence.

“I need-” he stopped, coughing. She reached for the bottle of water she had brought with her because she knew he would need it. She always knew what he needed.

He chugged it desperately, stray drops falling down his chin at his eagerness. He took a deep breath trying to steady his lungs.

“I need to get out of here” he choked out.

She grabbed him under the shoulders, careful not to hurt him - not being successful, realising that there wasn’t much of him the man hadn’t hurt. Y/N pulled him out, sitting down on the grass with him. Their legs intertwined, pulling each other impossibly closer. They kissed, over and over again. Not as an act of any sexual relevance, but as a reminder that they had each other in any way, shape or form. That they weren’t out of time.

The team was certain they would stay there, never letting each other go for another minute.

After what felt like seconds in their time-starved little world, she broke the silence, which had only been filled with their own cries and occasional sobs.

“Spence” she grabbed his chin to look into his eyes. They were dull, red and hooded. He was exhausted. “Mhmm?” he let out, looking into hers. She was his solace.

“How could you ever think you were anything but completely and unequivocally enough?” she whispered the words he dreaded.

But as Spencer looked into her eyes he knew, better than he had ever known anything, that he was enough. And she was enough. He realised that which she had known for the past three months (possibly longer). They fit like two marvellous puzzle pieces.

Her hands grabbed his cheeks slowly, as to not hurt or startle him, pulling his forehead into hers. “Baby, I can’t imagine anybody else waking up to me every morning. You’re so much more than enough”, she planted a small kiss on his forehead before resuming her position. “I’ll remind you every day of the rest of my life if that’s what it takes for you to believe it”.

And with their eyes closed, foreheads and noses pressed together and legs tangled between each other, pulling each other close, closer - around grass and voices and his abuser pressed into the hood of a police car, they only felt each other. With their shaky breaths, even shakier voices, fearing any words that would leave them in case they triggered a cascade of tears down their oh so vulnerable cheeks, they were more than enough.

***

I hope y’all liked it!! Feel free to let me know by liking, reblogging, or sending me a message :) 

super cool kid taglist: @lady-anon-x​ @spencerreid-mgg​​ @eoupe​ @inlovewithbabygirl​ @galaxydefenderjulia​ @username2002​