#it's unreal how it's barely been a month and we already have five parts??

[gubler-me-up]

Big, Open Arms (MGG request)

Request: Hi, a MGG request for you.  You're a famous comedian and are cast as the new agent for CM. The cast/crew all love you, even before you come on set as you're hilarious, especially Matthew which EVERYONE knows about. As a huge fan of the show you're nervous, but you get welcomed into the CM family pretty quickly, and adore them all. You become best friends with Matthew, and after a while he asks you out on a date, and you say yes then after the media get involved, Matthew asks you to be his gf.

A/N: Thanks for the request, anon! This was a fully loaded request, so I hope I encompassed every aspect to your liking! Hope you enjoy!!

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader

Category: Fluff

Content warning: None

Word count: 2.5k

——————–

You were rehearsing your lines before you had to go on set for the day. You had to admit you sucked at memorizing lines, so there were a lot of blooper reals of you stumbling over your words. You hadn’t even been part of the Criminal Minds cast for a whole year yet. Good thing the cast and crew understood how hard it was to memorize masses of technical dialogue.

Your character was named Bianca Johnson, an SSA with a background in technology. She was basically Garcia, but could kick ass instead of petting cute animals. A lot of your lines were heavy technical geek talk, which was hard to say in a scene, let alone the whole episode. Whenever you messed up you’d joked around and said Shemar’s biceps were distracting you from actually getting your lines right.

Your favourite scenes were with Matthew though. He was such a great actor and hilarious as well. When you first introduced yourself to him he told you he thought you were such a hilarious comedian. One of his favourites actually. You told him your greatest joke of all time was landing the role of such a smart character when you only had two functioning brain cells. He let out a hardy laugh before agreeing with you by saying he also had barely functioning brain cells.

Everyone was full of the same excited energy when they met you. It was like having a family gathering every time you were on set. AJ was the sweetest, coolest person you’ve ever met, Shemar was charming, Paget was completely down to earth and Kirsten was such a character. Matthew was the standout cast member for you though. His portrayal of Dr. Spencer Reid was amazing to watch on T.V., but was even more amazing to watch in real life.

He would just spur out lines on lines of facts without messing up once. When he did though it was funny and adorable. You’d try to cover your laugh every time, but he would automatically turn to look at you with a goofy smile. Your laugh would escape immediately and then everyone else would join along.

You looked up from your script as you heard two loud bangs on your door. You looked at the time on your phone and saw it was already 8:55 a.m.

“Y/N, set in five,” you heard the producer yell.

“I’m surprised you’re here early today, Jeff,” you joked.

You heard him laugh. “If Shemar can be early on set anything’s possible, right?”

You gasped. “Shemar’s on set before I am? I have to see this.”

You got up from your chair and rushed towards the door to leave for set. Before you left, you went back to your mirror. You fluffed up your hair and adjusted your breasts. You wanted to make sure you were presentable as possible. For the camera, of course.

As you walked on set you were greeted with a welcoming hug from AJ. She literally gave the most mom-like hugs ever. It was comparable to eating cookies from the cookie jar.

“Happy wrap day,” she said as she let you go.

“I can’t believe we’re wrapping the season already. I feel as if we’ve only been filming for a week,” you said.

“I know, time flies around here. One second you’re in season one and then boom you’re in season 15,” she said.

“If I can look flawlessly good throughout 15 seasons like you I think I can get used to this job.”

She giggled and playfully rolled your eyes. “Are you kidding me? You always look so great. Trust me, a little someone keeps talking about how great you are.”

You looked at her curiously. If she was talking about who you thought she was talking about than you were ecstatic. Shemar, her and some crew members had told you when you first joined that Matthew was a huge fan of yours. Had talked about you quite a few times during the downtime on set.

“More Matthew gossip? I’m in,” you heard Shemar say from behind you.

You turned around and smiled at him. “Well, well, when Jeff said you were early on set I didn’t believe it, but now that I see it with my own eyes I still can’t believe it.”

He chuckled. “Well, baby, here I am in the flesh. If it’s opposite day maybe you’ll have a flawless run with your lines.”

“Good one. Maybe we should trade characters so I can look hot and kick down doors while you talk nerdy to me.”

“You don’t have to kick down doors in your case to look hot, Y/N. I think a certain someone thinks you’re pretty hot as is.”

You gave him a suspicious stare before looking back at AJ. She smiled and looked around the set. You folded your arms as you were waiting for further details to be spilled. They both remained quiet as you stood there waiting. Good thing your attention was soon shifted towards Matthew when you saw him walk on set. You unfolded your arms and softened your face up as you saw how good he looked.

“I guess this is our cue to go, AJ,” Shemar chuckled.

“I agree. See you in the bullpen, Y/N,” AJ said before she left with Shemar.

“Yeah,” you faintly said as you stared at Matthew.

He hadn’t noticed you. He seemed to be looking for someone though as his head continuously darted around the room. When he finally turned your way, his face instantly lit up. He lightly jogged towards you with a big smile on his face. It was as if he was looking for you.

“Hey, Y/N. Happy wrap day,” he said before embracing you in a hug.

You hugged him back. “Happy wrap day, Matt. What adventures are you going to get up to after we wrap?”

“Well, that’s kinda why I was looking for you. I was going to ask you that same exact question.”

“I don’t have anything booked until later next month, so I’m going to be relaxing mostly. Why what’s up?”

“Well, remember when we went to that Arcade Fire concert a few months ago?”

You smiled and nodded. “If you mean the best experience of my life than yes.”

He chuckled. “I’m glad you liked it. Vegas always holds the Life Is Beautiful Music and Art Festival and I was wondering if you were free to go.”

You felt your heart pumping with delight at him inviting you to go to his hometown. The last few months of your friendship were situated strictly in California. You had never really explored Vegas outside of a few shows at hotels and theatres on the strip.

“You wanna take me on a Vegas adventure?” You asked.

“Something like that.”

Before you could say your answer, the set bell rang. Sometimes that stupid bell could be so annoying, especially when you had a moment like this with Matthew. You don’t think there had ever been a more intimate moment between you two.

He smiled. “Think about it.”

As he started to walk off towards the bullpen set, you ran up to him to hug him from behind. He was caught off guard by your hug, but grabbed your hands that clung in front of him. You could say it was the first time you two had held hands.

“I’d love to go.”

“Awesome.”

—————

Going to Vegas with Matthew was such a different experience than anything you had ever done before. Everywhere he took you felt as if it were a new chapter in a life you’ve never lived. You always found Vegas cliche in its gimmicks and exaggerated neon lights. However, Matthew made it seem as if it were a faraway land yet to be discovered.

He showed you to little places outside of the flashy hotels and bright neon lights that filled the strip. You two spent a lot of time at ranches nearby. You told him since the first day you two met how much you loved animals, so going to those ranches was a dream come true.

What you weren’t expecting though was going to the ranch his mother owned. When you two were driving there, you felt your heart beating fast. You had never met his mother before but you knew he was a big mama’s boy. Even with all the nerves running through your body, you felt honoured to be meeting his mother. You didn’t even know whether to consider this whole trip a big first date or what, but it was something you weren’t expecting to happen.

You had a feeling Matthew had a crush on you for a while and the feeling had always been mutual. Guess the both of you had been crushing on each other through a screen for all these years. To be together in that moment was borderline unreal and probably long overdue.

“We’re here,” he said as he pulled up to the ranch.

You looked around the area. It was massive. Just a stretch of land with no buildings in sight. It was beautiful. You looked at Matthew with a huge contagious smile. He couldn’t help smiling back.

“Your mom knows beauty,” you said.

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess she does.”

“I mean if she created you she definitely knows what beauty is.”

He grabbed your hand and squeezed it. It was his fifteenth time holding your hand. Not like you were counting or anything. You blushed as he moved your hand closer to his lips and kissed it twice.

“I’m glad you came, Y/N. I’ve been meaning to ask you on a date for the longest time, but I couldn’t think of the perfect date to take you on,” he confessed.

“Matthew, you literally could have taken me to 7/11 for a shitty cup of coffee and I would have had the time of my life,” you said.

He laughed. “Well, even though 7/11’s cool, I thought you might like a trip to Vegas and concert better.”

“I have to say this is probably one of my favourite first dates ever. I just feel as if it’s missing a little je ne sais quoi.”

“A little je ne sais quoi you say.”

You then saw him let go of your hand and reach for the side of your neck. He brought you in closer as his face moved closer to yours. You hated dramatics, so you rushed in and embraced him with an enormous kiss. You grabbed his face to deepen the kiss. You had never been so excited to kiss anyone in your entire life. The way he kissed you was just different.

You two pulled apart from the kiss before anything went any further. You knew you were satisfied with that kiss but the way Matthew beamed made you believe he was even more satisfied. You covered your face with your hand as you couldn’t stop smiling to yourself.

“I didn’t mean to attack you like that,” you joked.

He chuckled. “No, no, it was great. Maybe we could continue this after we go see my mom.”

You smiled ear-to-ear. “I couldn’t dream of anything better.”

The two of you got out of the car to go greet his mom as she walked out to where he had parked his car. Her smile was just as magnetic as his. You were automatically drawn into her. So much so you found yourself approaching her ready to give her the biggest hug ever. She wasn’t shy to embrace you with big, open arms. It felt as if you were already apart of his family.

————

Back in your trailer to film another season of Criminal Minds and you thought you could get better at memorizing your lines. You didn’t. You swore to yourself you would get better over the summer break, but that plan went out the window as soon as Vegas happened. Matthew had turned what was supposed to be a mundane summer into a long-lasting experience. A long-lasting experience with a lot of making out and wandering hands.

You looked at your watch and saw you had a few minutes to kill before you had to go on set. You tossed your script aside and reached for your phone. The lines could wait a minute or several as you indulged in looking through Twitter.

You scrolled down your timeline, liking and retweeting a few things that caught your eye. One thing caught your eye in particular though. It was from TMZ out of all gossip media showing pictures of you and Matthew holding hands and kissing just a few days ago when you two went to the beach. They must have been hidden well because you knew for a fact no one was around the area you two set up.

Your shock was interrupted when a few knocks were made at your door. You put down your phone and picked up your script to pretend you were still trying to memorize your line. You knew if it was Jeff coming in he’d much rather see you trying to memorize your lines than scrolling through Twitter.

“Come in,” you said.

You saw Matthew come in with a sheepish smile on. You looked at him strange as you had never seen him seem so shy. Then you saw a magazine in his hand. You could only guess what it was. He held up the magazine, so you could see it. Right on the front cover was a picture of you on top of Matthew making out with him on the beach.

You smiled. “At least People Magazine finally put some eye candy on the front page.”

“I didn’t even know they were allowed to publish pictures of soft porn,” he chuckled as he handed you the magazine.

You laughed. “In this day and age anything’s possible.”

“Anything huh?”

He took your hand to take you out of your seat. You gladly got up as you tossed the script and magazine on your vanity. He pulled you in close as his hands moved from your hands to your waist. If this was his way of proposing a quickie in your trailer, you weren’t about to turn him down.

“If anything’s possible, how about we make it official?” He asked.

You would have screamed out of delight, but you were worried he might take it back if you did. You did the next best thing that had come to mind and grabbed his face, so you could kiss him. He wrapped his arms around your waist and embraced the kiss even further. The only reason you two broke apart was because you could hear the director calling everyone to set.

“I guess we should go before this ends up being our last season,” you said as you let go of him.

“I think it might be your last season if you can’t remember those lines,” he joked.

You laughed. “If I can still have you at the end of the day I’d be okay with that. Besides, I think Vegas might have an opening for me.”

—–

MASTERLIST

[rrasado]

No Spider Lilies : I

|| Act 2 of The Snapping ||

A/N: Ara? What’s this? I never thought I’d find myself wanting to actually re-end this accidental series dksjsn but...I wasn’t satisfied and frankly I’m craving an even more sorrowful route. Who knows? After all...this all deviates from the main story line in game. As usual I shall provide any necessary trigger warnings to ensure a safe reading for you all 💙🌒💙. Pleas tell if you want to be part of a tag list for the next parts. I’ll be using my past tag list as basis but if you don’t wanna be tagged next time don’t hesitate to tell me ^ ^.

Tagging: @starshiningsirius @dittoqueeno @thatweirdomidas @bnhastakenover

__________________________________________

And when death do them part…

...would it really fulfill that cruelty?

Storm clouds formed high above, raindrop cascading down on everything on the face of the earth indiscriminately. The residents of that lamenting house deep in the Devildom never really cared for such details lest it concerned them and their doings directly. At least...that was when they didn’t know how to care, so what happened?

__________________________________________

The records...the way the aged parchment felt in the exchange student’s hand just signified the reality of the parchment’s contents. No excuse can dismiss such news, especially one of this degree… They could barely speak in the moment, a few deafeningly silent minutes passed before they peered up at the Devildom prince’s own butler.

“I...thank you Barbatos…”

Their gratitude was much more meaningful than at face value, the scale of the revelation they had just received isn’t something to be taken lightly and since it especially concerns them, well…

“I trust that you’re taking all of it in?... I can only imagine how you feel right after...certain prior events.”

They both knew what the time bonded demon was referring to, after all it was him who escorted them to their new place of residence for the rest of their stay here at the Devildom. Hah..that was already two months ago. Now that they thought of it...Barbatos have always been there for them huh? The reveal...the dorm transfer requesting...and now this. Whether it was due to his time related prowess or sheer coincidence which- they honestly dismissed after everything that has come to play- the human was grateful.

“Yeah...I think...I’m actually thankful for this”

Barbatos blinked for a good few good seconds before arching a brow at their proclamation. Thankful? Does the human not know what the contents make of them? His confusion was brought to a close when MC casually waved the parchment, it’s sounds accompanied by the night wind that whizzed past the two in front of Purgatory Hall.

“I feared the worst, humans tend to...be easily toppled by the unexpected per se...Then again you are the great exception”

“Eheh I’m honored you hold me in high regard. Because it’ll make my next proposal a bit easier”

And yet again, the butler’s confusion returned, proposal? Well after everything that has spiraled leading up to where they stand it honestly wasn’t that far fetched to him, so with an affirmative nod he gestured for them to continue.

“Hearing of it won’t hurt, what is it you wish then?”

He didn’t miss the way MC’s lips tugged upward in subtle relief. The human’s gaze quickly flickered back to the contents of the parchment and without looking up they spoke.

“Can I count on you if I need to make a wretched departure?”

De...parture? He had a hunch but he needs more context…

“In what sense does this departure fall on for you to need my assistance?”

“Hm...a departure that looks grimmer to those you choose to be grim to.”

The two turned their heads to thewhite haired sorcerer. An ever knowing smirk on his expression as he stood there arms crossed. How long has he been eavesdropping? Not that MC minded...after all they’ve grown to actually trust the shady sorcerer along with the other two angelic residents of Purgatory Hall.

“Truth be told, I've been conducting research of my own… and to a pleasant surprise it seems my lead was not entirely off!”

Childish tone aside, his gaze showed no sign of jest nor kid. In one flick of his finger the old parchment apparated within Solomon’s grasp. And if possible the smug aura on his features grew twofold along with an amused chuckled escaping his parted lips. My oh my did he always manage to come so close yet far..

“Would you believe me if I said I was prepared to act on my pact in the making of this negotiation?”

“Fufufu I do believe that we’re still in the phase of hearing this proposal... I have yet to bestow a verdict so you shouldn’t speak so mightily Solomon.”

“And if I may continue..”

..

…

…..

“...I see…”

The sheer collateral damage at stake is something of its own degree when not tended to with precise caution. He's only delivered the news tonight and yet it was as if they’ve been concucting such a proposition for a considerable amount of time. Then again...the sorcerer did mention doing his own antics regarding the subject.

“With all that said...Barbatos, will you lend us a hand or a place at blade point?”

His shoulders rose and fell with the seconds that passed before he gave a slow curt nod at the two humans.

“Hm… if it means something, the young Lord did vow behind closed doors that he shall keep all the exchange students safe no matter what it may cost...and seeing as it will technically align with my duties..”

A chorus of amused laughter spilled from the magicless human, lips curled into a grin whilst the sorcerer could only let out a chuckle or two.

“Barbatos, I thank you. I know you won’t state it as is but, your help is very much appreciated”

“It really is, and it puts me at ease knowing I have you on our side in this whole issue…”

“If I may...I’d like to evaluate this more into much prefaced details. Would it be alright if we were to properly prepare this? After all...this especially concerns you, MC”

Said human gave an affirmative nod as their hands clasped behind their back, fiddling with their own exposed fingers as the late night breeze passed the three of them yet again.

“It’s best we all retire...who knows what’ll happen if we idle out here any longer, an interesting sight to see this particular roster of residents out of premises at this hour noh?”

“Point taken...well we’ll see you next time Barb”

“Yes...I bid you two a good evening and a hopefully peaceful night.”

A wish so innocent yet truthfully hard to attain...especially with the cruel revelation that brought the three of them together in the first place. They should learn to tread carefully from here on out. At least...that’s what Solomon thought. That same night breeze had passed the gardens, among which were multiple blossoms yet to bloom, all but one crimson lily...

__________________________________________

And from a starry night it all flickers to that unforgiving herd of rain clouds, their own right of sorrow spiraling along with those that received their cold moist. If followed...those raindrops fall onto someone crouched form, in front of a chipped tombstone amidst any ordinary cemetery that lays barren with the weather.

A lone umbrella covered the crouched form, rendering any other incoming rain from soaking the tuft of white hair any further. Mammon didn’t need to look up and see who it was offering cover. Levi didn’t care whether he himself got wet and frankly not even the rain water on his skin put him at any ease whatsoever. No one could be comforted at this point… And whatever it was to put the usually bickering brothers in such hushed silence…

“We gotta get going y’know…”

“...five more mins…”

“Lucifer is getting restless the more you push your luck-“

“Then let him dammit”

Levi didn’t even bother questioning his brother's lack of fear for the first born. Normally he would’ve made fun of it but… when his orange hued gaze fell on to what was even engraved on the chipped tombstone. It didn’t sit right with him, heck it didn’t sit right with any of them. And who could blame them...the guilt crawling on their backs never left when they saw them leave the House of Lamentation. At some point they thought of...eventually getting closure, some of them even had plans.

But now they won’t be able to attain such desirable closure, not when...they aren’t there to listen to their pathetic pleas.

A good few distance away from them was the Avatar of Wrath, observing all of his brothers from the side as he always had. His eyes flickered to each of their situations, emerald orbs not letting a single twitch of an eye nor brow going unnoticed. If allowed to be honest, he found them all utterly pathetic… and he’s already filtered out most dark thoughts that have plagued his mind. Besides, they deserved this, this torment didn’t compare to what those on the opposite end of their mistakes felt. He had every right to speak of so. Thankful for the cover the rain provided he took a sharp step to the side, turning his whole body to the other direction that had garnered a scoff of attention from the the laxer twin.

“..where are you going?”

Hearing Belphie’s question had Satan stop monetarily in his tracks, and without looking back at him he muttered a quick ‘somewhere’ before resuming his strides towards the direction of the cemetery gates.

Belphegor watched the blonde's figure go farther from where he stood, turning his attention back to his twin with a numb look on his features.

“It’s odd…”

A brow was raised at the sudden statement, but at the same time he completely understood what the glutton meant.

Their eyes setting sight on the tombstone mammon and Levi were idling in front of… ‘ A beloved friend and family’ written on the very same tombstone. MC’s full name carved elegantly on its face that used to seem so unreal when they first arrived but, the longer the twins looked the more it actually sank into them.

The human is dead.

Lilith’s descendant is dead.

Beel couldn’t even manage to stomach his food, he knew there was something off when he felt a sudden snuff of energy in the atmosphere that day. Not only him but all of them did...and to think it was actually this.

The guilt kept stacking.

But hidden in their walls of guilt the fourth brother allowed himself to be led towards the cemetery gates, left to his own grim thoughts he couldn’t help but to wonder if..all this will be for the better or for the worse… and in a fraction of a second he was snapped out of his thoughts. The flicker of a shadow barely registering in his peripheral vision..

.hah...

...He wished them all goodluck

__________________________________________

Me, a few months ago:

I’m a clown I know-

As always y’all know the drill, just say if any of you wanna be tagged in the next part ^ ^.

[nomunamuinmybrain]

Work you out (M)

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Rating: M

Genre: Smut

Word Count: 2.4K

In collaboration with the lovely @alwaysdarkestbeforethedawn94

Disclaimer: if you are under the age of 18 please know that this contains heavy sexual themes and mature language.

Summary: Working for Hybe has been an experience. Being Jungkook’s manager is another story. His sharp eyes, firm jawline and snarky attitude was a deadly combination to begin with. The guy easily found his way to your heart and you simply couldn't take it anymore.

Thinking back to how I managed to land such an unimaginable employment opportunity must have been a miracle. Unquestionably, working for HYBE had so many benefits; I swore to never leave this place. Sure, I was a simple manager's assistant, but I was by the side of one of the managers that handled the most important talent in the stretch of South Korea, the entire globe to be honest, BTS. I was assigned the position of assistant to the manager of one of the guys, none other than Jeon Jungkook. I really couldn’t believe my luck. Not only was I a part of one of the most skyrocketing influential enterprises in the country, but I also had the chance to meet some of the most inspiring people in the whole world! Who would have thought?!

Did I have a crush on the guy by the end of my first month working here? Yes, but who wouldn't? He is the sweetest, always polite and courteous. I've met my share of self-boasting asshats; this industry is flooded with such. This guy is worth billions and he has remained ridiculously humble. Word got around about him being a wonderful young man and I could positively say he is so much more up close. Jungkook is ridiculously handsome that’s a given already, but his personality was the real deal-maker. He reminds me of a dark stormy thundery night where I cover myself with my favourite warm fluffy blanket starring out of the window a rich flavored hot chocolate in hand.

In general, I quite enjoy working at the company’s principled environment. Don’t get me wrong, nothing in this world is rainbows and butterflies, but overall, I can confidently say that it’s been a mainly positive experience. Thankfully, the department I am in is assembled by kind, funny people who like to get things done. There hasn’t been a day were I regretted coming here. As for my daily duties as an assistant, working for Jungkook meant keeping up with his appointments, helping him with anything at anytime, managing his schedule, making sure it matches with the other guys' and so much more. I was required to work around the clock and as a single independent woman in her late twenties who was trying to figure out the world around her that didn’t sound like such a bad idea, though I digress. Essentially, I was one of the employees responsible for pretty much anything and everything he needed. Our department was at his disposal 24/7 running around, living that busy life.

That's until the pandemic struck. That was the first time I thought to myself that this might be nature’s valiant plan to get back what man so forcefully took from her. Suddenly, everything was canceled; life got put on a hold. My dearest supervisor, Jungkook's manager, had to stay at home because he had kids. In fact, a lot of people had to stay at home. Abruptly, days became weeks and weeks became months. The desperation and frustration we were feeling was like nothing else ever experienced. Truthfully, it felt like something had been stolen from us and we could never get it back. In this manner, when the gears finally started grinding again I was assigned to be the on-site manager for Jungkook. That meant being in direct contact with him more so than before and of course, being responsible for a ton of other obligations.  

Not going to lie, the first months were slightly awkward for both of us and understandably so. We both were used to very different working arrangements. I might have been working behind the scenes before, but now I had to step into the spotlight becoming his own personal shadow, and I am sure he wasn’t really comfortable with that. Taken into account the current situation everyone looked like a volcano ready to erupt.  

Once, I happened to accidentally step in a not so common incident; maybe it was a circumstance I wasn’t supposed to witness. He was on the phone at the time, when I saw him. That’s why I decided it was best if I stayed behind the half closed door of the studio. I couldn’t hear what he was saying and it was none of my business after all, but I could tell by the minute I laid my eyes on him that something was wrong. Something had been bothering him; irritation written all over his face. He was pacing back and forth, phone still on his ear. He was clenching his fist so hard I wondered if his nails cut into his skin. He was breathing heavily, almost as if he would burst and his muscles grew tense.  

Then, in an instant, it seemed that the call ended and as he was putting the phone in his pocket he slammed his fists down onto the table a loud bang echoing in the room. After some consideration, I knocked on the door to make my presence known and he sharply looked at me. Without having the chance to say anything to him he let out a loud growl and left the room leaving me dumbfounded and unaware by the door. Soon after that, he apologized for the way he acted confessing that he had an unfortunate falling out with one of his closest friends and at the time he couldn’t process what was happening. I would never forget that day. It was the day I came across a not so familiar side to him.

From that day forward, things miraculously became easier and Jungkook was way more relaxed around my presence, we joked around often and he even texted me to ask about a variety of things outside of regular working hours. We managed to develop a teasing relationship full of endless borderline flirtatious banter. He had this other side to him that only a selected few got the chance to know. Jeon Jungkook was indeed a comforting raging night, but he was also an infuriating playful mischievous brat when he wanted to be. This in all honesty, made him a hundred times more irresistible in my eyes.

Life was going on smoothly until Jungkook decided that taking after midnight trips to the gym was perfectly acceptable, insisting that I escort him instead of his bodyguard. I cursed every single time but I went anyway. Forty-five minutes after midnight he was lifting weights, unbothered. Taking secret short glances towards him I contemplated what I had done in my previous life to deserve this torment. Don’t get me wrong, I couldn’t care less about the late hour, but to have this view in front of my eyes was causing me both mental and physical pain. The guy was clearly sculpted by the gods. With his broad chest, muscular arms and thick thighs he could have anyone he ever wanted. He even sported an hourglass figure; He is insanely unreal. That’s the main reason why I decided to sit there preoccupied with a silly game on my phone to kill time until the suffering ended. I was barely hanging from a string at the verge of blowing off the barrier between my personal and professional life.

Out of the blue, with a loud grunt, he dropped the weights, drawing me out of my contemplation. He looked annoyed for whatever reason. He tried his best to seem nonchalant but it was obvious, in his beautiful stern eyes. Could he be craving for an audience? Abandoning every rational thought I had, I put my phone away, looked in his direction as I got up to get water. I smirked at his clear annoyance. Surely, we weren't supposed to interact with the artists this way but I am cranky and sleepy, and for the first time ever, he was being kind of an ass to me. Was I perhaps the reason behind his sudden personality change? The thought kept floating at the back of my mind.  

This kept going on for about three weeks or so and I gave him nothing. His annoyance prominent in his expression, more and more as the weeks went by. He was hot but I am sure all he had been seeking was an audience given that he missed it, or so I thought. Thursday evening rolls around and I was particularly iffy tonight ‘because I was extremely frustrated, sexually. This one was making my situation worse, sporting a tight black tank top and skinny grey sweatpants which made him look like a treat. He could easily pass for a bodyguard with those broad well-built shoulders. As my eyes scanned his body I realized this was the first time his tatted sleeve was on display. I couldn’t help but let my eyes wander. By the time I was done his eyes were already fixed on mine and I turned away immediately, embarrassment written all over my face.  

Seeking solace in the women’s bathroom I tried to extinguish this ravenous yearning. The feeling of cold water did nothing to help the burning desire that was building inside me. Without warning, a knock at the door was heard, his sweet angelic voice following "Are you okay?" he asked, the remnants of a smirk could be heard still. "Jungkook you cannot be here, I am okay. I'll be out in a minute." I exclaimed, as calm as I could. "It's been ten minutes. I can't continue unless you're there." He insisted, I heard him chuckle after that.

With that, it was now or never, I pushed the door’s handle and made my way outside rolling my eyes in the process and he caught that, quickly moving closer, clearly annoyed, jaw clenched, eyes taking in my features, making him look not quite intimidating but definitely interesting. No, it was my mistake. Not just interesting, he looked ravishing. "As I said, I'll be out in a minute. Then you can finish up" I argued. But he didn't budge, moving even closer, if that was even possible, he was almost a breath away. "I don't feel like working out anymore" he declared like a child whose toy was taken away from him. As if I chose to play heads or tails with my career, I poked the beast further, "What is it that you want to do then?" I asked making sure he heard the annoyance in my tone. Coming even closer, to the point where he was completely pressed up against me, "You" he uttered calmly yet authoritatively. Before I could process what he had just said his soft lips crushed mine with a vengeance, thirsty. Pulling my lip with his teeth, he kept planting kisses from my lips to my jaw trailing down to my neck and d��colletage; a surprised panting left my lips.  

It felt as if I had involuntarily awakened this beastly hunger within him. His kisses insatiable and his touch was possessive, "I've been thinking about this for so long" he confessed as he took my hoodie off. "Sitting there, not giving a word let alone a glimpse. If you think this is off-limits you're wrong" he growled pointing at himself. "I can guarantee that once we're done here you definitely won't be able to look at me, ever." As he said all that, he managed to get me in a compromising position against the sink, his slim waist in between my legs. He kept my gaze as he lowered his head between my thighs. Little shit kept giving me hickeys on the soft flesh of my inner thighs, so close to my now dripping core. He enjoyed tormenting me and it showed. I was helpless but oh, God was all of this hot. He licked a stripe over my soaked panties, "Oh baby, you smell delicious" and with one hand he took off my underwear completely.

He sank in my folds, letting a guttural moan that I felt vibrating through my core. Not being able to think about what was happening I let myself indulge in my carnal desire my hands tangled in between his luscious hair.  

He loved food and I've watched him eat before, but this must be one of his favorites ‘cause he was doing his best not to let a drop go to waste; he acted like a man starved. His hands held me in place, thankfully, ‘cause everything was too much; nothing could stop me from shaking, feeling everything deep in my core, he was too much. He just had to be good at everything. He kept a torturous tempo, from sucking my clit to his sinful tongue penetrating me, and as tears gathered around my eyes he decided to add his slender fingers in bringing me closer to heaven than I've ever been. "That's it baby, let go. Let go for me" he exhaled and just like that I had the most intense climax. My limbs felt numb, my whole body felt like rubber.  

Before I could register what was happening he was back at it, sucking my over stimulated clit, my thighs unconsciously closing around his head as oversensitivity hit. "One more, please, come on baby, you can do it" he begged. He kept pumping his fingers while sucking my clit, as if it was his only goal in life. My screams muffled through my own hand clamped on my mouth as I reached my high for a second time that night. I felt it take over me with such intensity I didn't register what had happened. He emerged from between my thighs, soaked from me squirting and with a proud look on his face he declared "Now I look like I had the workout of a lifetime".  

He helped me get dressed and pulled me close for a soft peck. He must have noticed my concerned look because he wrapped his arms around me in a warm hug and said "Don't be scared about this, we can work it out. I really like you and I'd like you to stick around". Starring into his eyes, I nodded and he pulled me close for the sweetest kiss, trying to tame my bewildered hair. He helped me get dressed and got out the door first to make sure that no one was around. I waited for a moment and then I got a text.  

[teaandatale]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO @geekynerddemon who so lovingly wished for me to finish Layer on Layer. And though I haven’t been able to do so, I thought I would whet your appetite with a preview of Part 1 of my 2 Part Epilogue.

Please note this is a rough draft & subject to thorough revisions when I get the writing muse under control again.

Layer on Layer: Epilogue- PART ONE

“You see one painting, I see another, […] it’ll never strike anybody the same way and the great majority of people it’ll never strike in any deep way at all but—a really great painting is fluid enough to work its way into the mind and heart through all kinds of different angles, in ways that are unique and very particular. Yours, yours. I was painted for you.” ― Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

Despite the scorching heat radiating from the sudden summer outside, Steve had turned the AC off while the sun blazed in through the windows of the loft’s living room where he’d been painting. He had his music turned up and he was humming as he worked.

Peggy had given him the custom made easel, sturdy, adjustable, gorgeous, no doubt pricey, as a gift. He’d been painting so much that Peggy had deemed it necessary he have an easel at her place, a designated space to work since he spent so much time there anyway. She had claimed is a selfish gift after he voiced concern about her being too generous, assuring him she looked forward to watching him paint from the comfort of her couch. And she often did, taking breaks from her work by watching him mix colors and paint broad strokes.

The first thing he had painted at his new easel was for her, another detailed flower arrangement, just for her.

After unveiling the final product of Ana’s anniversary painting, which reportedly made Ana cry, happy tears Jarvis assured, she had given Steve a tremendous hug and after their double date dinner, they discussed art for a long time, their significant others at their sides sipping tea opting to discuss the dessert spread instead. He’d been so happy and warm to sit there among her friends, her make-shift family, accepting and open to him. How he could possibly love Peggy more he didn’t fully understand other than that he was learning he did it with every passing day.

Not long after that, Peggy started suggesting dates at more art museums and galleries. She watched him paint and encouraged him to do it more broadly. To show his work. To do more commissions. He wasn’t sure about all that, but he did start to paint more and more. He’d started even transferring images out of his therapy journal into oils. He’d done several, even brought one in to show his art therapy group. They encouraged him to make a series, to show his stories on canvas.

Steve swirls his paintbrush into his yellows, ochres melding with browns.

He’s deep in concentration getting her warm brown eyes just right, the right shade, the touch of a knowing glimmer in them. He remembers the first time they locked eyes, across her bedroom, just down the hall from where he stood right then.

He’s so deep in concentration, he doesn’t think twice at the sound of the front door opening and then when he hears footsteps approaching.

“Hey Peg, aren’t you late?” he asks distractedly without looking up.

“She sure is,” a voice that’s not Peggy’s startles him. He nearly drops his palette, tipping it over and paint gets on his bare chest.

He looks up and sees Angie.

“Sorry!” she cries out, and he notices she’s not looking at his face when he sets the palette down, trying to wipe at the pint on his skin. “Wow. This is a look. Go English!”

Steve blushes, grabbing his rag and using it as a make-shift cover for at least part of his bare torso.

“I thought you two were meeting at your hotel for drinks,” Steve said, reaching over to the couch for his shirt. Angie is still staring when he slips it on.

“We were but she was running late. And so when she didn’t show I thought I’d see if we got our wires crossed and see if she was here. Sorry for scaring you. I still had my key, and I wasn’t thinking. I didn’t realize you’d be here.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I’m sure Peggy just got caught up or stuck in traffic. You know how her work is.”

Angie nodded. “Yeah, she’s always going at a hundred miles a minute.” She stepped further into the room until she was right in front of the canvas. “You’re painting Peggy! You’ve been painting a perfect portrait of her half-naked looking like a Greek God. Unreal.”

Steve blushed further. “It’s hot in here but I prefer the breeze and the sunlight filtering in while painting so I turned the air conditioning off.”

“Oh don’t apologize, Steve. This has been the best surprise to walk into. I can’t imagine how Peg handles coming home to this every day.”

“We’re not living together.”

The yet goes without saying.

She giggled. “Yeah and when’s the last time you were at your place?”

“This morning,” he said defensively.

She just smirked and continue to devolve into giggles.

“You’re an amazing artist. That looks just like Peggy, down to that spark in her eye. I might need to hire you to paint me.”

He laughed. “Free of charge Angie. Friends and family plan.”

She grinned. “You’re as sweet as a button, you know that?”

“Can I get you something? Water?” he asked, already headed into the kitchen.

“Water’s good.”

They say down in the living room together chatting.

“How was your flight? Did you have press today?”

“Yup. Did a few of the morning shows. I have a late-night show appearance tomorrow afternoon that I’m pretty excited about. I can’t believe they’re having me on it!”

“We’ll have to record it. Peggy and I have been watching every episode by the way. But we’re a few behind because I have to wait and watch them with her. But you’re our favorite!”

“Aw, shucks. I cannot believe you got Peggy watching network TV.”

He laughed. “No I got her to use Netflix. You got her into network TV. She says you’re the most believable, though she always figures out the plot twists before I do. Are you giving her spoilers?”

“No way! And give away the impact of my performances before she sees them? That’s definitely all English. How’s she been? Super busy?”

“A little, but less so recently. She had a busy few weeks before her conference with the EU but she’s been keeping a regular schedule lately, coming home for dinner most nights.”

“Guess I just got unlucky with my timing,” Angie replied. “But I’m glad Peggy’s been taking some time for herself.”

Steve nodded. He’d seen Peggy in all sorts of ranges of stress in the last ten months. He’d been so glad that she’d been taking more personal time off, delegating, taking care of her well-being, seeking out his support when she needed it. Of course she was a busy woman. That was a given. But she always tried to make time. She always took the effort to stay present when they spent quality time together.

She’d gone out of her way to support his painting. They’d spent so many evenings out, sipping wine and swinging by the latest “hot” opening only for Peggy to proclaim that his work was much better, more moving, worthy of his own showing.

He still wasn’t all too sure about the whole artist career, but he loved how supportive she had been. How much she cared. How much she believe in him. It was nice to know if nothing else, he had a fan in Peggy.

“I’ve been trying to make sure she’s been taking care of herself better.”

“Good. I already know how good you are to her. She’s always happy to talk about you. I wouldn’t have believed it before actually meeting you.”

He shrugs off the compliment, after all he didn’t want the praise for just being there for someone he loved. Besides she deserved it and more.

“Maybe she’s got held up in a meeting. I’m sure she remembers our reservation,” Steve said after another fifteen minutes without hearing from her. “I’ll try to call her again.”

He didn’t catch her, but he did leave her a message reminding her of their reservation and that he and Angie would meet her there. Steve changed quickly in Peggy’s room and then the two of them hailed a cab. Angie filled him in on some L.A. gossip and some stories of her cast mates. He liked how bright and bubbly Angie was. He liked hearing stories of how she and Peggy became friends. How Peggy had always believed in Angie becoming an actress, and how the two always had each other’s backs. He liked knowing there were people apart from himself that cared so much for her.

They were early for their reservation, opting for the bar while they continued to swap stories. He checked his phone once they were seated but there were no messages. Angie convinced him to split an appetizer as she was starving and he hadn’t eaten since lunch.

“Must be some hell of a meeting English is stuck in for her to respond to my texts for like five hours.”

Steve hummed, checking his phone.

“Wait. What did you say? You haven’t heard from her in that long?”

[aesop1]

clumsy [6]

pirate!chanyeol x reader

a/n: i am back, and i am better. i was pretty sad over the past few months, so i’m sorry for my inactivity. but i’m back! this is the second to last part to clumsy, so i hope you all enjoy this chapter, and i will get back to you all with the finale in due time!

word count: 6.4 k

warnings: i’m pretty sure there’s cursing in here.

(i do not own the gif)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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trudging over to the beach was a feat in itself for you, to be entirely honest. from the reluctance stemming from having to meet your lying mother, to the ever comforting warmth which radiated off of chanyeol as he laid in bed beside you, the memories of last night still fresh in your mind as you awoke. 

____________________________

"I..." you breathed out, eyes darting rapidly around chanyeol's face. you wanted to pinch yourself, yet you found that you were frozen in place, mouth opening and closing like that of a fish. it just seemed so... unreal. you didn't even know the man before you, yet here he is confessing to you. you didn't even know him, yet here you are equally as smitten. "I cannot, I cannot." you turned around, pacing away from him with your hands buried in your salty hair. you heard him following after you silently, letting you continue your spiel. "this cannot be real. I get kidnapped by pirates, my mother is suddenly not dead, I am supposedly a deity of sorts, and now a handsome pirate is here confessing to me. this isn't normal, none of this is normal."

"I know you're panicking," chanyeol tried reasoning, keeping his distance from you. "and I know none of this is normal. I am so sorry we brought you in this mess, and you shall never truly grasp the sorrow I hold for you." it was silent for a moment as you considered his words, eyes watering as he spilled his emotions towards you. "but I have never grown so accustomed to someone in the span of my miserable life. I cannot just let you go so easily." at this point, his voice was growing more unstable, the slightest quiver reaching your ears at the end of his proclamation. "surely, there must be something more to us. the love I hold for you, it cannot be explained within the English language, nor the meer human mindset, I..." he paused, drawing closer to you hesitantly. you didn't retract, however, and he took this as a positive sign. "I love you, (y/n)."

those words seemed to be your breaking point. all rationale finally coming to an accordance. why bother running away when you are just as in love with him as he is with you? it makes no sense for you to compare this unworldly love to that of a regular person's love. and so with this decision planted in your mind, you ran into his arms, tears of joy wracking through your body as he held you to him.

"I love you, chanyeol," you whispered into his sleeve, feeling his muscles stiffen beneath you. he pulled away, cupping your cheek with one hand and surveying your face.

"are you speaking the truth?" he asked, a smile already blossoming on his own. with a nod, you reciprocated his expression, standing on your toes and kissing him. this kiss, like the one prior, left you breathless and weak, yet a new wave of comfort washed upon you as you now took note of the underlying passion within the kiss. your fingers gently dug into the back of his neck, grounding yourself to the moment as he poured his heart out to you, holding you closer to him in desperation. 

______________________________

the confession had lead to him dragging you back to his quarters, refusing to let you sleep in the same bed as your former roommates who had let you run free under their watch.

and now here you stand, shoes sinking into the fine sands beneath as the ocean greeted you in loud, raucous crashes. it was perhaps a five minute stroll in these beaches where you stumbled across your mother gazing out into the seas. just the sight of her alone left a bitter taste rolling across your taste buds, a fairly apparent grimace displayed at her bright smile. 

"good evening, (y/n)," she greeted you, tone ever optimistic. you grumbled in response, the early morning sun reminding you that you could very well be sleeping beside your new beloved.

oh, how daftly foreign the concept seemed to you, having never courted anyone before on your small island and now share your heart with a once feared pirate who accidentally abducted you; it seemed straight from a fanciful romance novel of sorts. 

"so, before we begin this... training session," she began, hesitating on what exactly this meet up was to you for a moment. "do you have any questions for me? perhaps any powers you may wield secretly and don't know yet?" oh, the questions you had for her. 

"why did you leave us?" you asked, arms crossing over your chest in a defensive stance. she didn't seem taken aback by your question, and proceeded to answer.

"I had to leave you both." she began, smile fading as she thought back to the dreadful day she was forced to part from her daughter. "that's what us ancestors must do. if we stray too far from our duties, chaos may reign upon the earth and her inhabitants." you were too afraid to ask her to elaborate on that part, and luckily she moved on from it. "as Libra shines above in the night, representing the scale, we stand as a balance for Earth." 

you stood for a moment, considering her words. you didn't really have the jurisdiction to call her claim invalid, as you're new to this whole case, so you accepted her words for the time being. 

"why didn't you tell me?" your voice was much softer than before, foot digging into the sands nervously. she paused for a moment, scanning your face before taking a look at your whole being, as if you were about to disappear on her and she wouldn't see you for another decade or so.

"you were so young," she started, a fresh sheen of tears coating her eyes. "you were just barely in school, and you were already the outcast of the island. I didn't want to set you up for further alienation if you were to find out I'm a goddess. believe it or not, many people do not believe in us ancient souls."

"I hadn't even heard of your kind until yesterday." a breathy laugh left your lips, disbelief riddled your expression. "how do I even know this is genuine and not some elaborate ruse to validate your absence in my life?" 

a melancholic smile replaced her prior joyous one, her patience ever so apparent with your relentless sass. she extended a hand, expectantly awaiting your touch. bitterly, you reached out as well, your desperation for answers much stronger than your discontent for this whole ordeal. her hands were course, a sign of the many years spent toiling on the waters. it faintly reminded you of chanyeol's gentle touch, the gentle scratch of his thumb gliding across your cheeks as he believed you were asleep. oh how the meer thought of him had you calmed down as your mother brought you to the waters. 

"take off your shoes." she instructed, doing so as well and kicking them away from the waters. begrudgingly, you followed her lead. she took a step forward, the water encasing her feet as if welcoming her home; the home she truly belonged to. she never belonged to you nor your dear father. she was just a a pawn of mother nature. hesitantly, you followed along once more and entered the waters. it felt nothing like last night where it seemingly called to you, and you were beginning to believe you had imagined that beckon.

"clear your mind." she pressed, shutting her eyes and breathing in. "the ocean is free and reckless. your mind should reflect that. there should be no obstructions like stresses or worries."

it was definitely easier said than done, especially in your case in which you only ever thought about where life has taken you. the ups and downs, the twists and turns. too much has happened for a cluttered mind like yours to clear away. you attempted nonetheless, closing your eyes and rolling back your shoulders. 

you thought about the first thing that had been bothering your troubled soul: the death of your father. the man who raised you when your mother left, devoting his life to creating the person you are now. you recalled the many nights where he would ask about your day and check your well-being even though he would have a horribly tasking day at the tavern. although he grew older and therefore weaker, he still insisted on carrying the heavy loads as to not hurt you in anyway. he protected you from the dangers of the world until his last breath. until his life was unfairly taken away from him by the pirates who have you now.

your heart tightened, allowing you to fully grieve your father's death. you don't know who killed him, but you do know that rather than seeking vengeance and showing spite to any potential killer, you should be remembering your father for who he was. nothing can be changed, but you can continue living your life the way he would've wanted and still keep him close to your heart.

what a thought. you've been so plagued by the loss around you, you hadn't even taken a moment to grieve and accept everything that's been revoked from you. you just kept moving forward, you hadn't even paused to take a breath. you were filled with anger and confusion, you didn't know how to cope with such an ordeal. you pointed fingers, isolated yourself, held grudges. you were tired. you were exhausted. you were ready to let it all go, and move on. 

you thought about the pirates who took you in. as barbaric as they were, they've accepted you when no one else would. they've become more familiar to you than anyone on that dreaded island ever was. kyungsoo became your closest friend; sehun not only saved you various times, but also entrusted you with his fears; yixing took care of you when you injured yourself; minseok and junmyeon shared their time and stories with you. jongin and jongdae hadn't spared many moments with you, but you saw how they were. they were all humans. corrupt, filthy, ruthless pirates, but they were humans with flaws and passions. they didn't walk about with a chip on their shoulders believing they were mightier than you, because they knew they were flawed and had their own sins to deal with. they all adapted to you so quickly, but perhaps not as quickly as chanyeol. 

chanyeol.

at first, so aggressive and hostile; the embodiment of your childhood fears. he yelled at you, picked at your insecurities and your weaknesses. you had hated him, loathed him, vowed to yourself you would escape from his clutches someway, somehow. and yet, here you are. willingly staying by his side. 

you could've run by now, snagged a fisherman's boat and rowed away with nothing but your will and determination. you'd leave it all behind, start anew on a deserted island. no remorse, no fear. no ties to the past, no promises for the future. you'd be free, and leave all of this behind you. all of these pirates, these surfacing secrets. 

no potential mother. no new comrades. no chanyeol. 

you'd be leaving chanyeol behind. his commanding presence, his need to be leader, his ruthless demands. you'd also be leaving behind his careful touches, his admiring gaze, his heart fluttering kisses. you'd be leaving behind love. your love for him and his love for you. you couldn't abandon that. that's why you're here, drenched in water before even the birds have awoken–

wait. drenched?

opening your eyes, you found yourself in the depths of the sea, water resting peacefully at your shoulders and licking at your neck. turning around, you found your mother waving happily at the shore. she gave you a thumbs up, a proud expression gracing her features. you began swimming back to the shore, bewildered at your surroundings and demanding even more answers for even more questions you've accumulated. 

"that was incredible!" she shouted to you when you were within range. 

"what the hell was that, exactly?" you trudged over to her, tossing your arms downward in an attempt to expel some water from your clothing. 

"did you not feel it?" she began, clutching your shoulders enthusiastically. "the water accepted you, she missed you." you gaped at her, beginning to shiver from the cool morning breeze hitting your now soaked form.

"you're telling me that the water dragged me in?" she nodded, smile not wearying in the slightest. "i could've potentially drowned, is what you're saying."

"no, because as long as you have this," her hand slid from your shoulder to your neck, tapping on a certain spot that you now recall held the shell tattoo which started this all, "you will always be one with the ocean." you stared incredulously at her, still wet and still filled with questions, but now also filled with irritation. you were scared, you were confused, and she wasn't clearing up anything. "whatever you were thinking of opened you up. you were finally free, reflecting the strength of the waters." you pursed your lips, thoughts of chanyeol still lingering in your mind. "you need to keep whatever you were thinking about in your mind, because that's your key to your powers."

"well, what's your key then?" you snapped, trying to divert your thoughts away from the man in your head and to the present. 

"i didn't have a key for a long while." she explained quietly, brushing back your hair. "until I had you. suddenly, the call to the ocean was louder than it ever was. I was stronger than I ever was, and now I feel most powerful when thinking of you." your eyes softened, shoulders going slack at her words. "I'm so proud to have had you. I'm even more proud to see you growing to be such a strong woman. overcoming obstacle after obstacle. I want you to discover what's in you. i want you to grow even more. i want the best for you." she lingered for a moment longer, taking in your features one last time before pulling away. "i have to go soon." 

you paused, blinking away your shock to stare at her. she had a solemn expression, head tilted and eyebrows frowned.

"excuse me?"

"i won't be gone for long. i have to clear out something. i don't want it to haunt me for longer than it needs to, but while I am gone," she stared out to the ocean, eyes wavering the slightest bit, "stay safe. i fear there's something out there. someone who wants to do you harm. do others harm."

"what is that even supposed to mean?" 

"I'm not sure exactly. the ocean wants you to steer clear of this danger, though." 

she turned back to you, holding out her arms before dropping them down towards the ground. with that one forceful motion, the water which lingered on your body followed her movement and joined with the water at your feet. acknowledging your now dry clothes, she bid you one final farewell.

"i must go now. I'll return soon. if you don't stay here, I'll find you. don't worry, darling." one last lingering gaze was directed to you, and with that she turned away, wading into the waters. dunking her head into the waves, she disappeared from your sight, no trace beside her touches on your neck which still held her warmth. 

____________________________

you wandered back into your room, more dejected and confused than you'd been before. what possible threat could you have to face if you're here? this is literally a safe haven for your kind.

you still don't know what you are. sure, you're your mother's daughter. sure, you're basically a demigod. sure you nearly drowned half an hour ago because the water apparently wanted you. add everything up, and what do you get? confusion. 

and for your mother to just leave like that? you were beginning to despise her more than you had before, as well.  what a rude woman. abandoning her daughter after just stating she has danger coming her way. 

"what danger?" you muttered to yourself, crossing your arms and peering out the window to the shore. it was more busy now, a few folks wandering around for a morning stroll. you wonder if anyone had seen your spectacle, but you don't recall anyone being there. "the danger must really be out there somewhere." the water had spoken to her, your mother had explained. how can the water tell what's about to come your way? does it come with the blood connection to the ocean? the water just surveys it's surface area in search of any threats towards your mom and her kin? does she have more kids? no, she can't. she herself had said you were her only strength. as much as you didn't like her at the moment, she was still your mom. she wouldn't chest on your father like that, even though they separated as such. what would've been so bad about visiting sometimes? instead, she faked her death. 

a knock at your door startled you into reality, a sharp gasp leaving your lips as you whirled around and stared at the door. danger? could it be the danger your mother warned you of? so soon? you had no way of fighting it, you didn't know how to fight. you didn't have chanyeol with you either. you could always just dive out of the window and run, but there's no telling whether the person outside can catch up to you. nonetheless, it'll give you a head start and you can–

"(y/n)?" a deep voice rumbled from outside, settling your thoughts in an instant with a relieved huff as you made your way over to the door, opening it to reveal chanyeol. although on shore, he still adorned an overcoat and had his sword tucked neatly away along his hip. he still looked incredibly intimidating in your eyes, yet you couldn't help your wandering hands which twitched to touch his curly hair. "are you alright? i checked the beach a while ago and saw no trace of you or your mother." how could someone as ruthless as him be such a sweetheart to you? he really meant it when he said he had fallen for you so unreasonably quick, and the same goes for you. 

"I'm okay." you whispered out, leaning against the wooden door and peering up at your lover. lover? could you even say that? you've both established your reciprocating feeling, yet it seems strange to call him that. "my mother is gone. she left me once more."

"I'm sorry to hear that, dear." you bit back a grin at the term of endearment, sounding perfect from his lips as cheesy as it had sounded. "may I step in?" 

"it's your room, captain," you giggled back, stepping inside and sitting at the edge of the bed. 

"why is it that you call me captain now that I don't want you to?" he grumbled, sitting beside you with an oversized pout.

"what would you prefer i call you?" you turned so you could face him, admiring his glum side profile. 

"chanyeol, at least," he insisted, "or whatever your heart desires." he turned with a nervous expression to you, causing you to smile more and more along with his request. "but how did the meeting go?"

"i nearly drowned because apparently the water yearns for me." you laughed some more at chanyeol's bewildered face, eyes nearly bulging out beneath his curly fringe. "don't worry, apparently I can't drown. the water doesn't want me dead." he calmed down the slightest bit, a soft sigh exhaled from him causing his shoulders to slump downward. "speaking of which, I'm in danger."

"pardon?" he narrowed his eyes at you, trying to discern whether you were kidding or not. sadly, you were not. 

"the water has spoken, it says there's a danger out there that means to do me harm. my mother responded with leaving me abandoned on the beach."

"as furious as I want to be right now," he started, jaw clenched as he stared forward at nothing. "I'm far too nervous for your well-being to care enough about my rage." he glanced over at you, your eyes shimmering with mirth and cheeks flushing a light shade of pink. "don't worry, my flower, I won't let anything harm you. I'll protect you to my last breath." 

my flower. that's what your mother used to call you when you were younger. her flower. and she abandoned her flower, never to return. until you stumbled upon her in a place you should've never been in. and all she did was leave you during your time of need. two times. 

yet here's chanyeol, the man who's given you his entire heart with no hesitation, treating you as a loved one should. you're his flower. and he'd be damned if he were to let anyone trample on his flower. 

lover. of course chanyeol was your lover. no one was more deserving of that title than he. the thought that he'd put himself on the line for your safety was astonishing to you, so much so that you didn't even acknowledge as a tear fell down your cheek, chanyeol reaching up and wiping it away. 

"thank you, my love," you breathed out, resting your cheek on his hand and shutting your eyes in peace. as long as you have chanyeol, of course you'll be safe.

____________________________

the rest of your day went by rather anticlimactically, just venturing the isle you've all landed on. jinyoung and his crew had guided you all around for a brief while, and you became rather close to jinyoung who lived the same situation as you. it was relieving to learn that he was just as confused as you once, only to now embrace his blood and his power. eventually, they bid you all a farewell as they prepared to leave. 

"let us hope that we shall one day reunite!" jackson exclaimed dramatically, hand thrown into the air in a theatrical manner. as reluctant as you were to actually relate to what you just saw before your eyes, you had to agree with him. you really did hope that you'll see these guys again. although you hated to see them all go, you knew that if it was meant to be, you'd cross paths again. 

"are all pirates as friendly as they are?" you questioned, finally prying your eyes from their retreating ship and over to the man beside you. jongdae gave a brief laugh before shaking his head, eyes still crinkled with joy. 

"no, this is actually a rare occurrence." he explains, also turning to face you. "if you recall, before we found safety here, we were fleeing from a ship?" oh, that's right. that's why you guys are still here and not going to heavens knows where. "well, that crew specifically is one of the most unnecessarily aggressive pirates out there. we're aggressive as well, actually one of the most feared across the land and sea, but they hold no morals." any traces of prior happiness faded at that point. "they have no heart."

"what do you mean?" you dared to ask, already losing color in your face at the prospect of nearly falling into their hands.

"most pirates have ambitions they follow freely, which is why they break free from the constraints of laws and flee to the oceans. some want riches, some want notoriety and fear." he shoves his hands in his pockets, staring out into the ocean as if in deep thought. "some want to just escape. from their own fears, their own persecutions, their anxieties." he tenses his jaw, a stern expression crossing his face. you believe that's what he's out here for: an escape. you realize you never really learned why they were out here, you just assumed they wanted to pillage and ruin lives. perhaps the ruining lives just comes as a consequence to the life they've chosen. 

"but what of them?" you press on, now becoming more anxious as he delays the inevitable. 

"they have no ambitions." he explains, facade unwavering. "they're barely even human. when I first heard of them, it was from a tale of a lone survivor of an island that was completely obliterated. he was too shaken to give any details apparently. the story goes that the only words he could utter were, 'the seven deadly sins.'" you gulped, eyebrows stitching together at that. the seven deadly sins? "they came, they saw, they conquered. most pirates just kill to get the resources they need while at sea, like food or money or clothes. apparently only half of the islands treasury was raided." 

"what?" you muttered under your breath, imagining the wreckage of that island compared to yours. yours was devastating, but imagine an entire island obliterated by just seven men. 

"they kill for sport. there are pirates who have allies and who have enemies, but they don't try to negotiate. no one has ever been civil with them because all they do is attack and kill." he turns over to you, head tilting the slightest to get a better look at you. "chanyeol doesn't try to mess with them, so you're safe with us, of course. but if you were to ever encounter them..." he lifted his hand and placed it on your shoulder, squeezing it to just the point of uncomfortable, just enough to keep you rooted in your place staring at jongdae's serious expression. "... run."

with that, he pulled away, giving you one final look before turning and entering the pub where everyone else was. you turned back to where your comrades' ship had at this point nearly disappeared, gulping as you looked beyond the horizon. maybe if you stare hard enough, you'd find where this supposed demon crew were. perhaps they're a long distance away, having given up when you all but disappeared into thin air. maybe they're still there, lurking and awaiting your return. 

the waves. they seemed to amplify in sound, muting your surroundings and calling for your attention solely on them. their even sloshing lulled you into a state of brief peace before a rather harsh crash against the port had you jumping back into reality. a shiver ran down your spine, the wind from the sea hitting you and cooling your already cold form. you felt afraid, wrapping your arms around yourself as if that would protect you. far away from your spot, you heard the distant roar of thunder. the longer you stood there, the more you realized this was your warning. your mother warned you first, and now the ocean is speaking to you personally. 

run.

with no hesitation, you turned and bolted to the bar, crashing in and pushing patrons as you scrambled around to find chanyeol. it should've been easy considering he was quite possibly the tallest man on the island, yet your frazzled state had you in a frenzy, desperately searching for your protector. you felt you were about to die, your lungs gasping for air even though you had plenty of it, your heart hammering against your ribs even though you ran for a mere 30 seconds at most. as a final attempt to find him, you outstretched your hand outward, closing your eyes and holding your breath. you couldn't take this anymore. you needed to be in the arms of safety you knew so well. and as if blessed by the heavens above, a familiar hand clamped around your wrist, dragging you forward and into an equally familiar chest. 

"what are you doing here?" chanyeol shouted over the commotion around you both. you opened your eyes, tears obscuring your vision, yet you could identify the silhouette of his messy locks. 

"we need to leave," you demanded, hands gripping his shirt in desperation. "we're in danger. we need to hide. we need to prepare. there's no time–"

"calm down," he interjected, hand placed at the back of your neck. "breathe." you did as he said, taking in a shaky breathe and burying your face in his shirt. just being with him was calming you immensely, and you were so grateful to have him beside you. "I'll go gather the boys, we'll call it a day. we'll head back to the inn and stay there the rest of the night. no one is to leave. how does that sound?"

as anxious as you remained, that idea sounded better than nothing and you found yourself nodding furiously. he never let you go. he kept you in his arms as he wrangled up his crew, dragging them all out of the pub and to the inn for the night. since it was still rather early, many chose to stay in the waiting room, refusing to settle down so early.

"yixing, stay alert. junmyeon, alert me if anything happens." chanyeol instructed, hand resting on your back as he began leading you to his room. you wanted to tell him he could stay with the guys, but you needed him by you. you wouldn't be able to sleep if you were alone in that room.

even when you both arrived to the room, you clung to chanyeol like your life depended on it. perhaps it did. your hands trembled against him, and your eyes shut tight in hopes that no tears would escape. all he did was hold you against him. he asked no questions, he knew you didn't want to talk about it. instead, he rubbed your back, detangled your hair with his hands, softly hummed a gentle tune. eventually, you did wind up falling asleep, the last thing you remember before succumbing to your exhaustion being a small kiss against your forehead. 

____________________________

it was dark. even when you widened your eyes, you couldn't see anything in front of you. you couldn't feel anything, your movements sluggish and forced. as terrifying as it was to lose these integral senses, you felt nothing but tranquility. 

you could hear waves. rolling against one another, crashing into the land, stirring to and fro. a symphony of oceanic noises you've come to grow accustomed to, yet this time around, it was different. each individual movement was like a disembodied voice calling out to you, begging for your attention. you were the sole listener, and with every other distraction eliminated, you could hear the voices loud and clear. 

"captain!" a distant cry, muffled to the point that you had to strain to decipher the word itself. 

"captain!" this was much clearer this time around. although, this voice didn't match those of the other waves. what could this be?

"chanyeol!" it felt as if the waves were getting louder, more panicked. it was no longer serene. a cacophony of crashes had you covering your ears, as if a sea storm were taking place all around you. 

"(y/n)!"

____________________________

you shot up from the bed, breathing erratic and a thin sheen of sweat encasing your body. you took in your surroundings. you were in the room, chanyeol beside you. everything would've been normal if it weren't for the frightened man beside you and the cries of agony from outside. 

"we need to go," he explained, tugging you to your feet and rushing out the door. he barreled down the hall, practically carrying you at this point until he reached the end, sehun and junmyeon's shaken forms waiting.

"what's going on?" you asked, peeking out the nearby window to see the familiar red which came with an abundant amount of fire.

pillaging.

"a hostile pirate crew came," sehun explained, taking your other hand and tugging you away from chanyeol. 

"it's bangtan." junmyeon explained, chanyeol visibly freezing at this news. bangtan? that was the crew you were evading from before.

the seven deadly sins. 

"our only hope of survival is escaping." chanyeol explained. "round up everyone. we need to make it out to the ship."

"we can fight them off while sehun takes her to the ship first." junmyeon elaborated, chanyeol already nodding along. 

"sehun, you heard." chanyeol snapped, taking one last glance towards you.

pain. fear. anxiety. you could tell how troubled chanyeol was at this very moment. even he didn't know if he'd make it out alive. 

I'll protect you to my last breath.

without another moment wasted, sehun pulled you onto his back, and with one last nod to chanyeol and junmyeon, took off to the entrance of the inn. you turned around for one last fleeting glimpse of chanyeol who stared back at you. you didn't know if this would be your last meeting. if you'd die, or he'd die, or you'd both die. you didn't have much time to think before sehun stumbled out of the inn. devastation lied everywhere. fires burning buildings, bloodied patrons running about. 

"they're probably distracted killing right now." sehun suggested, eyeing a clean route away from the carnage. "this could be our chance. hold on." he began trekking beneath the shadows, rushing to get to the port yet trying to remain hidden. all you could do was hold on and hope for the best. the further you both got, the more distant the cries got. they seven seemed to be all focused on that one spot. how could seven measly men hold up an actual battle against an island of misfits, pirates, and gods? they were unbelievable. you were beginning to feel worried for chanyeol and the gang attempting to hold back the pirates from you and sehun. "there it is." you spotted the ship just as sehun spoke, as if a beacon of hope. sehun took one last glance around before booking it to the ship, hands grasping your legs wrapped around him to ensure your safety. you were almost there. you could practically taste victory. yet fate always seemed to laugh upon you and your miserable life, because one single gunshot crushed those dreams in a second. 

sehun stumbled and crashed into the dirt, you rolling off of his back rather ungracefully. you scrambled to your knees, crawling over to the boy who was now face first in the dirt. 

"sehun?" you cried, tears gathering in your eyes as you shook the boy. you tried to ignore the blood accumulating beneath him as you shook him aggressively. "SEHUN!" 

"well, would you look at this?" a voice cut through the atmosphere, stalling your movements as you processed what was happening. you could hear the crunching of earth beneath boots as the man took slow strides in your direction. "if my eyes don't deceive me, you have to be the little vixen chanyeol picked up." you stared down at sehun, tears freely falling down your face as you prayed he was still alive. "you must be their ticket in here, huh? for chanyeol to have actually adopted some little nobody into his crew, you must be important to him." a small gasp left Sehun's lips, and even in your situation, you sighed in relief, clutching his arm gratefully, knowing he's still pushing through. "look when you're being spoken to." a cool piece of metal tapped beneath your chin, directing your attention to the man now standing above your seated form. 

he was tall. not as tall as chanyeol, but tall nonetheless. he had sharp eyes, as if already scrutinizing your worth to him. he smirked, pushing the tip of the sword against your throat. 

"my, you are rather pretty." he cocked his head to the side, a slimy smile stretching across his dark features. "chanyeol must also have you as his little toy, huh?" in one swift motion, he leaned down and yanked your arm upwards to have you on your feet. up close, he was even more intimidating. he kicked sehun out of the way, stomping his way over to the dock where you were once headed. you stared longingly at sehun who now recoiled from the pain, holding onto his stomach where the bullet pierced. he opened his eyes, watching you through his tears. the man holding you lifted a dirtied hand to his mouth, an ear piercing whistle causing you to jolt in surprise. "oh, this'll be fun. don't you worry your little head. we're much more fun than your precious exo could ever be." you whimpered, trying to tug your arm free but to no avail. "ah, there's my crew, as diligent as ever." 

six figures leisurely ran over in your direction as if the world around them wasn't on fire. they were all out of breath, sweaty, and covered in soot. 

"why the early callback?" one of them asked, attempting to catch his breath. 

"i have our catch of the day," he pushed you forward, still holding a secure grip on your arm. "this is chanyeol's possession. well, now she's ours, of course."

"oh, how exciting," one of the other ones clapped gleefully as if he were a child given candy. 

"everyone, get on board. it won't be long before chanyeol figures something is askew since I called you all back early." they all began marching towards the dock, their captain grabbing another one's arm to stop him. he shoved you into him, a hard chest catching your fall. "get her on the ship. i don't want the hassle of her kicking and screaming." 

with one curt nod, the man grabbed you and tossed you onto his shoulders like you were a sack of potatoes, his grip relentless as if he couldn't care less about your pain. kicking and screaming you did do, shouting chanyeol's name like a mantra. the louder you got, the more the man's fingers would dig into your legs, sure to leave bruises in their wake. in the distance, you could see another figure sprinting as fast as humanly possible to the ship now already moving forward. 

the captain of this ship headed to the stern of his ship, closest to the shore where the silhouette was running to. 

"get one last look in, pretty," he insisted to you, still being carried by his subordinate. he lifted his gun, aiming it right at the figure who was now clearly chanyeol. "cause this will be the last time you ever see park chanyeol." 

bang. 

you gasped as the gun went off, followed by your heartbroken screeches into the night as your lover fell to the floor a few meters away from sehun who was trying so desperately to crawl over to the dock, as if he could single-handedly save you. the captain turned around, seemingly misplaced, innocent dimples accompanying a sinister and deadly grin.

"welcome to bangtan!" he shouted, stepping away from his spot and passing by you. "the last faces you'll ever see in your miserable life."

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

taglist: @serendibidibidis​ @mrinalexo @softysuho​

thank you all for your patience and loyalty! i’ll try and do better with updating for you!

[eleven-times-lively]

The Twins - Part 1

In which Fred and reader welcome their new bundles of joy into the world.💕 Masterpost

Summary: The first children of Fred and reader are born as the couple beings their adventures in parenting and the first real trial of marriage. With a bit of angst IM SORRY. Word Count: 6845 oops Note: So I kinda forgot I had to do this lol. I wrote this at 1am on Friday cause I had two history essays due that I procrastinated hehehe.

You found him in the kitchen and wrapped your arms around him from behind. “What’s this for, love?” He giggled as he turned to face you. You cupped his face in your hands and looked him right in the eyes, “I’m pregnant.”

The tears quickly began to well in his eyes, his emotions processing before his thoughts. “You’re, pr-”

“Yes, Freddie! Pregnant! We’re going to be parents!” He picked you up into the air like you were no more than a feather. Embracing you in the tightest hug he ever had he nuzzled into your neck. 

“How do you know!? How long have you known? How far along are you?! Did you tell anyone else before me? This is amazing! Are you okay?” The amount of questions--both spoken and underlying--that he was throwing at you was unreal.

“I’ve been vomiting, I’m two weeks late, and yes it is amazing!!!” You pulled him into a deep kiss as you celebrated together.

“We need to tell everyone!”

“Woahhh… slow your roll, Weasley. I think I should head to the doctor first. And besides, you aren’t supposed to tell anyone for a few months in case something… happens.” His face contorted a bit at the last part. He had just found out about the little bean inside of you and he already couldn’t bear the thought of something bad happening. “Here, sit down. Can I get you anything?”

You let out a light chuckle. “Fred I’m not diseased. I can’t be more than a month pregnant, it’s almost as if I’m not at all.”

“I knowww,” he groaned, “but you have our baby in there, and I need to protect you at all costs.”

You blushed at his words. “A cup of tea wouldn’t hurt I suppose.”

***

Three days later you and Fred were seated in the doctor's office, practically vibrating with nerves and excitement. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley! Nice to meet you! I’m Dr. Bloom. Congratulations on the news!” Dr. Bloom was the peppiest woman you’d ever met. She couldn’t have been more than five foot two and her dusty brown curls bobbed about the room along with her. “Now, when did you find out?”

You sat up a bit straighter, matching her warm smile. “About three weeks ago I missed my period, and I’ve been dizzy and nauseous ever since… Although I just put the pieces together a few days ago,” you added with a chuckle.

“Great! So you could be about a month along already! How exciting!” She grinned at you and Fred, seemingly more excited for the baby than you two were. “Now normally we would wait until about seven weeks to do an ultrasound, but because we aren’t entirely sure how far along you are we may as well do one today. Mrs. Weasley if you’d please hop up here and just life your shirt a bit.”

You stood and did as she asked, and Fred gripped your hand once you were settled. 

“Now this may be a bit chilly!” she remarked as she began. Her gleeful face quickly contorted into a cross between confusion and concern. You could practically hear Fred’s heart sink as you both feared the worst. “Mrs. Weasley, how far along did you saw you were?”

“Well I missed my period about three weeks ago, but we did skip protection at the beginning of… last… month…” you’re words trailed off as you realised.

“How fun! Mr. and Mrs. Weasley I’d estimate that you are about six weeks along! Good thing I did an ultrasound, it’s the perfect time!” You and Fred grinned at each other with all of the passion in the universe.

“Could we um… is it too soon to see the baby?” He asked sheepishly.

“Of course not, Mr. Weasley!” She grinned up at Fred… very far up. “Here’s the little bean!” She turned the monitor and your heart melted.

“They’re beautiful,” Fred sighed, the tears welling up in his eyes. “Y/n, love, that’s our baby.” Now you were crying.

“Oh… wait.” Dr. Bloom piped up, except she didn’t sound even the least bit concerned. She turned the monitor back to herself as she searched the screen. 

“Doctor?” Fred questioned, a hint of fear pricking at his words.

She turned back to you, practically jumping out of her seat. “Mr. and Mrs. Weasley you are having twins!!” She practically shrieked as she turned the monitor back to you and Fred. “See? There’s one and there’s the other! Now, it’s too early to tell the gender but you do have two separate amniotic sacs so they could both be the same or you could get a boy and a girl!!”

You and Fred looked at each other once more before wrapping in a tight embrace. “Twins!” You both exclaimed in unison.

“Twins!” Dr. Bloom chimed back. “Twins are quite rare at your age, Mrs. Weasley. Do they run in either family?”

“I have a twin brother,” Fred replied, sounding quite proud of himself. “I can’t wait to tell Georgie!” he whispered to you.

“How fun! Aren’t genetics so interesting!?” She once again grinned up at both of you, both now standing. “Now I should mention that this immediately makes the pregnancy high risk.” Even while delivering somewhat concerning news, she still sounded chipper. “You’ll have to have more ultrasounds, you’ll get a lot bigger, and there is a chance you’ll have to go on bedrest for the last few weeks or you’ll have to deliver early. However, it is a good thing that you two are so young because that reduces all of these risks by a lot!” There were smiles around the room as she handed you the printed picture of the sonogram. “Oh! I almost forgot! Your due date is around early January, of course expect mid to late December since twins are usually born around 36 weeks rather than 38 to 40.” You and Fred thanked her as you headed out of the office.

*** Two months later...early July...14 weeks pregnant.

“Ugh! I look like a whale!” You cried out as you tried to tug your dress on. “Whyyy twins!? I’m barely four months but I look huge already!”

“Nonsense!” Fred piped up from behind you, peering in from the doorway. 

“Honestly I can’t believe I didn’t know until six bloody weeks! I was already showing then I just thought I got fat!”

“Nonsense!” He repeated. “You are bloody stunning, love.” He walked over to you and placed a kiss to your shoulder before crouching down and placing both hands on your belly. “No matter what you look like, you’ll always be gorgeous in my eyes.” He placed a kiss to your belly before standing up again and placing a kiss on your lips.

“Yeah you say that now, but wait until after I have these beans and I’m all saggy,” you chuckled, a tear pricking at your eyes at your true thoughts behind the joke.

“Still beautiful,” Fred kissed you again, laughing. Then he noticed the tear rolling down your face. “Love, what is it! For real, tell me.”

“I’m massive! And these stretch marks! I mean seriously, why do these have to be a thing?! You’re gonna see me after I have our babies and question why we even got pregnant in the first place.

“Y/n! Stoppit, please. These stretch marks are a sign of power and strength. What you’re doing is a bloody amazing thing, especially since you’re doing twice the work. You are the strongest, most fearless woman I know, and no matter what you look like, that won’t change. I can’t stand to see you talk about yourself like that,” he spoke softly, running his hands through your hair as he went. “I’m not walking away until you say that you love yourself no matter how you look. And you have to mean it.” He smiled down at you as he moved behind you to look at you in the mirror.

“I know you love me, Freddie. Thank you. These changes are just...hard,” you sighed a bit as you spoke. “But I love myself, and my body, and all of the amazing things I’m doing right now.” You smiled at him in the mirror. “Happy now?” There was humour in your tone but he could tell you meant what you had said.

“Very.” He kissed the top of your head before he spoke. “Now, we have a busy day. I told mum to gather everyone at the Burrow to share the news, although of course I didn’t tell her that bit. So we are heading there, then we have to take the photos to send out the announcements to everyone else, and then we have our visit with Dr. Bloom later.”

“I’m exhausted thinking about doing all of that,” you added with a laugh. “Can you believe it’s already our third visit? And we get to find out the genders today!” You added with a smile before trailing off, “Of course, only if you want to.”

“I’d love to find out what you’ve got in there, love,” he laughed at his remark, “But only if you do. And I suppose it doesn’t matter all that much in the end, does it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well it’s all up to them anyway. Boy, girl, somewhere in between, maybe it’ll change. I don’t know, I just want them to be happy and be who they are.” You almost burst into tears at his words.

“I love you, Fred. And our babies.”

“Love you, too.” He gave you a kiss as you both headed out of the bedroom door to apparate to the Burrow.

***

You and Fred tried your best to hide the bump as you came up the path to the front door, but of course everyone noticed as soon as you stepped inside and you were met with a barrage of excited comments.

“Fred Weasley I haven’t seen you in mo-, Y/n you’re pregnant!!” Molly shouted.

“Oi! Look at you, y/n!” Ron and Harry said in unison, “Congratulations!” Ginny and Hermione followed.

“Well would you look at that,” Bill uttered in surprise, “my baby brother’s going to have a baby of his own!” You and Fred exchanged knowing glances, wondering if you should tell them the extra surprise just yet.

“And you didn’t even tell me, your own twin brother!” George scoffed, sounding fake annoyed. “Congratulations, mate!” he said as he patted Fred on the shoulder, “and y/n you’re looking radiant as ever.” You just rolled your eyes and laughed.

“Actually…” Fred began, “we have an extra surprise.” This was met with puzzled looks all around. “Georgie, I guess twins run in the family cause we’re having our own!” This only welcomed another wave of excited shouts from the group.

“Twins!” Fred and Geroge exclaimed in unison, sharing the most excited faces you’d seen in a while.

“How wonderful!” Molly exclaimed, lightly touching your belly, “how far along, y/n? Do you know the genders yet?”

“Fourteen weeks, and we find out today!”

“Fourteen weeks!” George gawked, “Happy birthday to you Freddie…” Fred just rolled his eyes at his brother.

“Fourteen weeks and you’re already huge!” Ron piped up, earning a slap from Molly and Fred. “Heavens no I didn’t mean it like that! I just would’ve thought you were a bit farther along. My apologies, y/n. You look amazing.”

“It’s fine, Ron, I know,” you said, genuinely meaning it, “you get a bit bigger with two babies.” you laughed.

You all sat and talked for a few hours. Discussing everything from how you found out, when you told Fred, and how you felt about it. You noticed it was nearly time for your appointment, so you and Fred rose before saying goodbye to the group and apparating away.

***

“Ah, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, good to see you again!” Dr. Bloom said, chipper as ever. You and Fred looked down at her, smiling. “Y/n, you know what to do, dear. Will you two be finding out the genders today?”

You and Fred looked at each other expectantly before pronouncing a resounding “Yes!” in unison.

“Fantastic,” Dr. Bloom laughed as she got started. “Alright Mrs. Weasley, the babies look amazing, perfectly healthy and the size we’d expect for fourteen weeks.” She smiled at you and Fred as she spoke. “Are we ready to have a look?” You and Fred nodded and grinned. “Alrighty, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, you are having girls!”

“They’re both girls?!” Fred exclaimed, both stunned and overjoyed.

“Yes! Congratulations!”

You and Fred embraced, both crying.

*** Three months later… end of September… 26 weeks pregnant

“Twelve weeks to go, love,” Fred said as he rubbed your belly, “can you believe it?”

“I certainly cannot. But I can believe that I wanna have these babies and be done with pregnancy,” you groaned. “I’m so excited to meet our beautiful baby girls, Freddie.”

“Me too, y/n. I’d never imagine you’d be so eager to give birth. I mean you look radiant and don’t all women just love being pregnant?” Fred muttered as the two of you were cuddled on the couch.

“Are you serious?” You asked, looking down at him.

“What?”

“I mean look at me!,” you exclaimed as you stood, looking at his seated figure on the couch. “I’m absolutely massive and I still have three months to go! I waddle when I walk, I can barely go upstairs without having to take a break at the top, my ankles and back hurt constantly because I’ve already gained thirty pounds and I can barely keep anything but toast down!” you continued, practically yelling, “I mean, how in the world could I be happy right now!”

“Cause you’re carrying our children…” Fred said softly, standing up and resting his hands on your belly. “Our daughters are in there, y/n.”

“I know that, Fred,” you sighed, “and I can’t wait to meet them. I’d just rather be done with this pregnancy. It’s been horrible! Does everyone feel like this?”

“I mean I know you’re extra hormonal but I think you’re overreacting just a bit, love.” wrong answer, Weasley.

“Excuse me?!” You shouted, taking a step back from Fred. “You try gaining this much weight, carrying TWO children,and being in constant pain!” You were yelling now.

“Y/n, I’m so sorry, I- I don’t know where that came from…”

“Yeah? Well you said it so there has to be some truth behind it, Fred. This is my pregnancy, not yours. I’m allowed to feel however I want right now and you can’t say a damn thing about it! At least make an effort to understand what I’m feeling.” You walked away and out into the gardens before he could respond.

Fred came outside to find you about thirty minutes later, wanting to give you some time to cool down. He found you lounged on the chair in the garden, a tear rolling down your cheek. “Y/n? Love, I-”

“I’m sorry, Fred.”

“What? Why? You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for,” he nearly whispered as he crouched down next to you and wiped the tear from your cheek.

“I exploded on you for no reason. I hate yelling, especially when it’s at you, especially when I have our daughters in me. I feel bad.”

“Love you absolutely had a reason to be upset, I made a horrible comment cause I wasn’t thinking. I’m so, so sorry, y/n. What you are going through is a massive change, and you’re right, I can’t even begin to comprehend what it’s like. It’s your body, your emotions, your experience and I stepped on that. I’m sorry.”

“I know. I love you so much, Freddie. And you’ve been absolutely amazing throughout these past six months. I couldn’t have asked for a better husband.”

“I love you, y/n, very much and I hope you know that.”

You slowly and painstakingly rose to your feet before taking his hand and heading inside.

*** Three months later… Christmas Eve… 39 weeks pregnant

“Fred!” you shouted from your bedroom at your husband. He was busy getting the gifts together so the two of you could head to the Burrow for the Christmas festivities. You were huge, tired, and pretty miserable given that you were now a week past your due date of December 17.

“What?!” Fred called out when he reached the bedroom having sprinted upstairs. He’d been on edge ever since your due date and every time you yell his name he thinks this is it, I’m going to meet my daughters. “Is everything okay? Is it time!?”

“No, Freddie,” you said slightly chuckling with an apologetic look on your face. “I just wanted to show you my Christmas Eve outfit.” You looked extremely festive in your red sweater, leggings (you had chosen jeans just ditched them for comfort), and little booties, which all came together with the little Santa hat atop your head.

“You look amazing, love. Ready to go?”

“Absolutely!” Fred went downstairs and came back up with the gifts and from the bedroom floor he grabbed your bags to stay a few nights at the Burrow. You didn’t even have the energy to apparate yourself, let alone go downstairs to do it.

Moments later you and Fred stood in the chilly air outside the Burrow. He quickly ushered you inside while struggling to balance the three bags he was holding.

“Freddie! Y/n!” Molly called out. “Here y/n, please sit,” she offered out the stop on the couch she was just in. You sat down rather fast for your condition, grateful to be off your feet. Molly took the bag of gifts from Fred as he went upstairs to put your bags in his old bedroom, which you’d reluctantly have to share with George and Angelina. “So how are you, darling? The kids are all outside gathering more wood for a fire, and probably getting into trouble,” she chuckled, “Can I get you anything?”

“Oh no, I’m perfectly fine thank you Molly.” She seemed satisfied as she hurried away to call everyone else in from the snowy backyard. The once quiet living room where just you and Arthur, who was asleep, sat quickly filled with Weasleys and their companions.

“Y/n! So great to see you, love,” Ginny smiled warmly at you.

“No babies yet?” Harry asked.

“Unfortunately not,” you chuckled. You answered other questions from the many Weasleys as you greeted them all. Fred then came running down the stairs when he heard everyone.

“Georgie!” he shouted, leaping into his brother’s arms.

“Well hello, Freddie!” he laughed as he hugged his brother. Everyone found various seats around the living room as they asked you more and Fred more questions.

“When is your due date, y/n?” Hermione asked.

“Well it was December 17, but as you can see we’ve since exceeded that.”

“Do you know the genders? If so, why haven’t you told me, er- us?” George questioned.

“We do know, and all in due time, brother.” Fred laughed.

“Are you nervous? Scared?” Charlie asked as Bill shot him a look.

“Extremely,” you and Fred said in unison, exchanging glances. “I’m just so scared I’ll do something wrong, you know?” Fred continued, “Like what if I’m not a good father and I mess them up somehow?” he asked, voice shaky.

“Freddie,” you said softly as Molly spoke up.

“Fred, honey, you’ll do great! Your father and I have surely raised you right and you’re a bloody amazing person, dear. You’ll be one of the best fathers out there!” This was met with affirming nods and ‘mhmm’ from around the room. Seemingly calmed down, Fred took a deep breath as Fleur spoke up.

“Do you have any names in mind?”

“A couple,” you responded, “we definitely want them to have some sentimental or family value to them.”

“Little George Weasley Junior!” George exclaimed. “Or Georgina,” he quickly added.

“They aren’t your kids, you git,” Fred laughed. “Perhaps their middle names could be Molly and Ginevra.” Fred quickly realised his slip, earning a death glare from you as he turned pale as a ghost. He quickly corrected himself, “Or maybe even William, or Percy, or Charles, or… uh… um George, or Ronald, or even Arthur.” He was rambling and it was obvious he was only trying to cover up.

“Y/n Weasley do you have two baby girls in there?” Molly asked, grinning.

“Yes I do! But they aren’t identical,” you said proudly. “We were hoping to announce it tomorrow but someone can’t keep his mouth shut,” you laughed. You and Fred were met with more congratulations and excited sentiments, and Ginny looked like she was about to explode.

“Two baby girls!” she exclaimed, “Harry, we may have to have our own soon!” Harry just froze in his spot and paled.

After many hours of conversation between everyone, it was getting late.

“Alright, kids,” Molly spoke up, “bedtime.”

“But Mummm,” George whined, “ we aren’t children anymore.”

“Then why are you whining like one George Weasley?” Everyone snickered as George turned red. Everyone retreated upstairs to their childhood bedrooms.

“You know, Georgie, sharing a room was great when we were kids but now we’re adults with wives and it’s rather unfortunate.” Fred said to his brother.

“I think it’s quite fun,” George responded, “like one last sleepover before you and y/n are boring adults with kids.”

“Hey now Georgie,” you chimed in, “you seemed awfully excited about these babies a moment ago.”

“Well of course I am, y/n! I can’t wait to meet my little nieces, but I will miss my brother.”

“Oh you wish I’d leave you alone, Georgie,” Fred laughed. 

After getting organized and settled you all climbed into your respective beds. At least they weren’t too close to each other. It was quite difficult to squeeze into the twin sized bed with yourself, Fred, and the baby bump. You eventually made it work and found yourselves cuddled closer than ever, though neither of you seemed to mind.

***

You and Fred woke up Christmas morning to an empty room and the smell of breakfast creeping up the stairs. 

“Morning, love,” Fred whispered sleepily. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, love,” you said as you kissed him. He helped you out of bed before the two of you got ready for the day. You and Fred went downstairs and were met with warm smiles from the Weasleys.

“Morning you two!” Molly smiled at you from the kitchen, “Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas, Molly, and everyone else of course!”

After breakfast everyone found a place in the livingroom and around the tree, elated to receive their Weasley jumpers. As she was passing them around Molly whispered only to you, “I made you one a bit bigger. It’s not for pregnancy cause I figured you’d have the babies by now, but I figured it’ll be nice right after you have them.”

You felt a tear prick at your eye, “thank you, Molly.”

“Of course, dear,” she said, then continued at a normal volume, “I was going to knit some for the babies but we don’t know their names yet! As soon as they’re born I’ll get to work!”

Gifts were passed out between couples, in-laws, and siblings as laughs and smiles were traded around the room. You were about to give Fred his gift when you felt that dreaded pain in your lower back and abdomen. You stopped mid-movement to clutch your stomach, clearly in pain.

“Y/n?” he asked. Between your noises in pain and his questioning, you had the attention of everyone in the room and quickly felt yourself turn red. “Is this what I think it is?” 

“Yeah, I think it was,” you responded once the contraction subsided.

“Merlin!” Hermione gasped, and Fred only turned stark white and didn’t know what to do.

“Is it time?” Ginny asked, sounding more than a bit concerned. Her voice matched the face of everyone else in the room.

“No, I don’t think so. That’s the first contraction I’ve ever had. It’s either my body giving me a little ‘preparation’ one or this is early labour.” Fred winced at ‘labour’.

“Could it be false contractions?” Molly asked, placing a hand on your shoulder.

“I don’t think so. Dr. Bloom said that at this far along any contractions are probably real. She also said that I wouldn’t be able to talk through them, which I couldn’t, and that they’d last at least forty-five seconds. Was anyone timing that, by chance?” you chuckled, expecting the answer to be no.

“Actually, yes,” Hermione spoke up, “fifty-two seconds precisely.”

“Do… do we need to go to the hospital?” Fred asked, finally out of his daze and finally able to speak. 

“No, dear,” you and Molly both said. You took a deep breath before continuing, “Dr. Bloom said early labour is confirmed when you have at least two an hour that are forty-five to sixty-five seconds long. And to notify her and get to the hospital when they are five minutes apart and at least two minutes long, or whenever my water breaks.” Fred winced again at that. “There’s still a chance that could’ve just been a… warning contraction,” you said looking around the room, “Even if this is labour, can we please go about the day normally? I’d like to enjoy Christmas.”

“Of course, love,” Molly said, “but you’re going to the hospital as soon as it’s time, Christmas or not.”

About forty minutes later, you had another contraction. You were in the kitchen talking to Bill as he was washing up dishes from breakfast. 

“So have you and Fred gotten the nursery set up? I’d sure hope so considering you’re in labour,” he chuckled.

“Well I may not be in la-” you groaned in pain as the second contraction hit.

“Y/n? Is it-” You could only nod your head in response.

“Well I guess I’m in labour,” you chuckled.

“Forty-nine seconds,” he told you, and you were grateful he had counted. You thanked him and walked off to find Fred after assuring him you were completely fine.

Bill finished up and everyone was in the living room. You came back downstairs to share the news. “Looks like I’m officially in labour, everyone!” You were met with cheers, everyone knew it would be soon considering you were overdue.

As the day went on you kept having contractions, and it was like the world would stop spinning whenever one would hit you. Whoever you were in the room with would stop whatever they were doing, count the time for you, and not resume their actions until triple-checking that you were okay. You had also been keeping track of the minutes between contractions, holding steady at about thirty-five. You and Fred went to bed early that night as you were so exhausted from the contractions. You could barely sleep as the contractions kept coming. You’d hoped that they would just hurry up and get you into active labour, but they stayed at no less than thirty-three minutes apart.

Another contraction woke you up the next morning after what couldn’t have been more than an hour of sleep. You just stared at the ceiling, uncomfortable until the contraction passed. Fifty-six seconds. You assumed it was rather early as Fred, George, and Angelina were still asleep. You wandered downstairs, expecting mostly everyone to be awake, thinking it was a normal hour knowing the twins always sleep in. Instead you were welcomed by early morning darkness, save for Percy and his small table lamp. 

“It’s barely even six, what’re you doing up?”

“Barely slept, didn’t realize how early it was.” He shrugged and put his book down for you. The third-born Weasley was quite a unique being. Priding himself on his neatness, intelligence, and punctuality, he was already dressed in his daily suit. Come to think of it, you weren’t sure you’d ever seen him in anything other than a suit.

“Still only a half hour apart?” he asked as he headed to the kitchen.

“Unfortunately,” you sighed, “twenty hours now, Percy.” He sighed in content as he handed you a mug of tea, which you then thanked him for.

“What do they feel like? Is it terribly painful?”

“Eh, I wouldn’t say painful. It’s more like pressure and squeezing. I’m sure they’ll hurt more in active labour.” And as you finished your sentence a contraction hit you.

“Merlin,” Percy said when it was over, “that was sixty-one seconds, y/n.”

“That’s the longest one yet,” you said, looking slightly concerned, “and I had one when I woke up, which couldn’t have been more than twenty-five minutes ago.”

“Well I guess things are finally speeding up, eh?” You smiled at him as you sipped your tea. You had always taken a liking to Percy. Sure he was nearly two years older than you, but you had always had the most in common. You can recall all of the late night conversations you’d shared in the Hogwarts library when you and Fred had just started dating.

*** 

It was around four that afternoon and your labour was finally starting to move along. You were just so happy to be almost done with pregnancy that it was like a little celebration everytime you had a contraction, although they were getting more painful. You were out in the garden with Fleur when another one hit.

“Exactly! So these rose-” you froze in pain, the worst it had been yet. You could see Fleur counting silently, her lips moving and eyes darting around in concentration. When it was over you let out a tired yet excited sigh. “How long?” you asked eagerly.

“Seventy seconds, mademoiselle!” you had confided in Fleur about your struggles and she was now just as relieved as you were. “How long since the last?”

“Fifteen minutes!” You practically cheered. You had been in labour for thirty hours now, and not even active labour yet, and you were over it. 

The day went on and the contractions got closer and closer together, but of course more and more painful. By eight that night they were nine minutes apart and Molly made you sit on the couch, not allowing you to get up. “I know it’s not time to go yet, but you need your rest, y/n,” she said, “you have a lot of work ahead of you. Let me get you some tea, love.” She gave you a sympathetic smile before walking away. 

Not ten seconds later you groaned loudly in pain as another contraction hit you. Luckily Ron had been in the living room and was crouching at your side in an instant. You whimpered as the pain took over, just wanting it to end. The contraction finally subsided as Ron was running his hand up and down your leg. “Eighty-two seconds now, y/n. Almost there!” He gave his lopsided smile before standing up. “That one seemed bad, are you okay?”

“That one was pretty bad, but I’m fine. Thank you , Ron.” He smiled again before returning to his seat. Molly had been in the doorway and was smiling proudly at her son. She handed you your mug of tea.

“Let me go fetch Fred, love. He’s been outside with Georgie shoveling snow but I’m sure you’d rather have him with you.” She walked off before you could thank her or respond.

Moments later Fred joined you on the couch. Laying back and settling you between his legs so he could place his hands on your belly. His warmth enveloped you and would surely be comforting with the next contraction. “Hi, love,” he whispered, “how are you?”

“Miserable, Freddie,” you answered honestly.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered as he kissed your head. A few minutes later another contraction hit and you tensed against Fred. He gently rubbed your belly and whispered in your ear, helping you through it.

“Eighty-five seconds,” Ron piped up. “Getting closer!”

You smiled at him, silently thanking him. “I think I just want to go to bed now.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, dear,” Molly said, “you’re getting very close and if your water breaks while you're asleep you may not notice.”

“I probably won’t be doing much sleep, but I know I shouldn’t go up.”

“Just relax, darling,” Fred whispered, “I’m right here, you’ll be okay.”

It was now ten thirty, and your contractions were now just under seven minutes apart and very very painful. A particularly bad one hit you as you let out a small scream, you were breathing heavy when it was over. The entire group was in the living room, practically watching your every move.

“Just shy of two minutes, y/n.” Ginny said.

“Thank you,” you said. “You can all go to bed,” you addressed the group, “it’s late.”

“Nonsense!” George said, “We aren’t sleeping until you have those babies.” Everyone nodded and agreed with him.

“I think it’s time to head to the hospital, love,” Fred said.”

“No, Fred,” you replied, a little more sternly than you had intended. “They aren’t five minutes apart yet and they aren’t two minutes long.”

“Love, you’re in a lot of pain and the contractions are barely seven minutes apart any more. That last one was three seconds shy of two minutes.”

“I said no, Fred. I will when they get to six minutes, okay?” He just sighed and placed another kiss on your head.

An hour went by and you were seemingly stuck at seven minutes apart. The pain wasn’t any worse or any better, it was as if you were stuck in labour limbo. You’d been in labour for thirty eight hours now. Various Weasleys had drifted in and out of sleep, but everyone remained relatively alert and they all were at attention when a contraction hit. And after a few more minutes, one did. You let out a louder cry as this one was particularly bad.

“Merlin, that was only six minutes since the last one!” Charlie said, realising what this meant. “Two minutes and two seconds.”

“Love, can we please go now?” Fred asked. “You promised we would when they were six minutes apart.”

“Just a few more contractions, Freddie. They may not stay that close, it could go back up.” Fred only groaned.

“Y/n,” Molly began, “you know I love you but that’s not usually how that works. Speaking from experience, you know I have done this a few times, I think you should go.”

“I don’t want to…” you muttered quietly, but mostly everyone still heard due to the night time silence.

“What’s that, love?” Fred asked.

“I don’t want to go.”

“Well I know you don’t just yet, we can wait a little bit if you’d really like.”

“No, Fred, I don’t want to go at all.”

“Pardon? I don’t think mum would like it very much if you had our babies on her couch.”

“I scared Fred,” you whimpered, holding back tears which inevitably came down. Everyone in the room was looking at you with either concern, sympathy, or both. “I can’t do this… I can’t do this…” you were fully crying now.

“Love, what do you mean? Of course you can do this. You’ve been carrying our babies for nearly ten months now. You’re the strongest woman I know, you can do anything.”

“I know, I’m just scared that something bad is going to happen.” Molly crouched down next to you when she heard that.

“Y/n, I was bloody terrified the first time. We were so young just like you and Fred were. I had all of the same feelings, and believe it or not they all came back again with the twins even though I’d done it three times before. I’ll be honest, having a baby isn’t easy, especially when you do it twice in one day, but I know how strong you are and I know you can do this.” She took your hand in hers and smiled at you. “So would you like to go to the hospital now, love?”

Everyone in the room looked at you expectantly awaiting your answer. You could hear the collective sigh of relief when you nodded your head. The house was quickly alive in an instant. Molly helped you to your feet, everyone put on their winter jackets, Fred called Dr. Blom, and George grabbed the hospital bags. In an instant you had all apparated away to the hospital where you were quickly ushered into a room. The nurse had gotten you situated and into the bed as the Weasley family removed their coats and hats as they found places to sit or stand around the room. Your contractions were four minutes apart now and your water had broken. Fred and George stood on either side of you, squeezing your hands and helping you through each contraction however you needed. Dr. Bloom burst into the room a few minutes later, looking rather peppy for it being midnight, as she began to ask you all the standard questions. You had started to answer, but Fred took over when another contraction hit. Dr. Bloom estimated you had about twenty more minutes to go. Your contractions were now two minutes apart and lasted nearly three minutes. You were showered with words of encouragement from all around the room and George and Fred kept your hair out of your face and rubbed your shoulders. Just as Dr. Bloom has estimated, twenty minutes later she declared that you were ready. “Alrighty! Everyone except the father out!”, a nurse declared as the room burst into a flurry of activity.

“You heard her, love,” Fred began, “out you go.”

You wanted to laugh at his joke but another contraction came over you. “Alright Mrs. Weasley,” Dr. Bloom said, “you can start pushing now!”

About ten minutes of horrible pain later, Dr. Bloom announced, “here’s the first baby, born 12:34 am on December 27, 2002!”

You and Fred both began to cry as the screaming baby was placed on your chest. Sure she

was red and wrinkly, but she was yours. “Ready for round two, Mrs. Weasley?” After a longer amount of time Dr. Bloom spoke up again, “And here’s baby number two! Born 12:50 am on December 27, 2002!” The second baby was placed on your chest and you and Fred were still crying. After a short time, two nurses came to clean the babies up as Dr. Bloom finished what she was doing. Not ten minutes later the babies were handed back to you in their little caps and hospital blankets. 

“They’re beautiful, love. Fantastic job.”

“Thank you, Freddie. But I suppose you had a part in this as well.” You both chuckled as

Fred gently ran his finger over the cheek of the baby closest to him. The girls weren’t identical, but they may as well have been. Every single feature was the same, all except the hair. Both girls were born with a full head of hair, and the only difference between the two was that one had the trademark Weasley red hair and the other had your hair color. The rest of their features were practically a direct copy of Fred. “Would you like to hold your daughters?”

Fred nearly fainted at those words, his daughters, he gently cradled each baby in his arms, whispering to each of them. “Hi, loves. I’m your dad. And that’s your mum over there, she’s the bravest woman you’ll ever meet. I can’t wait to bring you two home.” You practically melted at his words. After a while longer the rest of the Weasleys were brought in and welcomed by you and Fred, who each had one baby. They all remarked over how both girls looked just like Fred, and how the hair was the only difference.

After a moment you spoke up once everyone surrounded the bed and you had their attention. “Everyone,” you began, slightly holding up the red-haired baby in your arms, “this is Cassiopeia Ginevra Weasley.”

“And this,” Fred began with the other little girl in his arms, “is Calliope Molly Weasley.” There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as everyone admired the newest Weasleys.

“You did have the names picked out!” Bill exclaimed. Molly and Ginny were crying the most, looking overjoyed at the babies named after them.

“I love the names, y/n,” Percy said, “you could call them Callie and Cassie for short.” There was a collective ‘awww’ around the room as everyone had realised what you and Fred had done.

After another hour or so of everyone admiring the babies, you started to drift off to sleep. Everyone agreed it was time to be heading home to give you so much-needed rest. You quickly fell asleep, happy to not have to worry about contractions anymore, as Fred set the girls in their little carts before sitting in the chair beside your bed.

“I love you, y/n,” he whispered, “and our new family.”

[lightningbugqueensfics]

A Magical Time of Year

Happy Holidays from we the Supernatural fandom! I present to you a fluffy fic of family, gift exchanges, coming out, and copious amounts of Destiel. Minor angst, because I can't resist, but a happy ending all around.

Destiel, No Archive Warnings Apply, and there are spoilers from the finale.

Thanks so much for the help @themoosegoes-deanicandothis!

Link

“Dean, we have to go,” Cas called out, “Sam just texted me that Claire got here, and we still need to get presents for Jody and Charlie!”

“Alright, let’s just do one last check that we got everything,” Dean said back loudly over the din of the mall. It was December 24, 2020, Christmas Eve, and the pair were finishing up their present shopping.

“Dean Winchester, I have gone over that list five times, we have everything!”

“Humor me?”

“Fine,” Cas grumbled, faking annoyance at his boyfriends antics. Dean really did love Christmas, and was actually enjoying himself in this enormous place. Everything was magical during the Christmas season. There were lights everywhere, everyone seemed happier, and snow made everything unreal. Especially this year, when nothing even resembling an apocalypse was occurring, December was Dean’s favorite month. Even the shopping required by it.

“New hat for Bobby, the blanket with the green creature on it for Charlie,”

“Baby Yoda, Cas!” Dean interrupted, “I showed you the first episode, you know who it is!” Cas smiled to himself. Dean was sure he did that just for his boyfriend’s reaction.

“A silver knife set for Jody,” he continued, “And nunchucks for Claire,” Dean grinned at the last one. It had been his idea, and after extensive convincing, Cas had finally given in and let him buy them. The pros of finally dating.

“We already have the hair products and gun cleaning set at home for Sam, along with Eileen’s new gun, books for Kaia, a new bear for Jack, a pasta maker and hair pins for Donna,” Dean had been particularly proud of Donna’s present. The hair pins could be removed and turned into silver daggers, perfect for hunting, “and that book on mythology and medicine for Alex. And for you a-”

“No, remember Cas, not supposed to tell me,”

“Right. Yours is a secret, but just from you. Are we missing anything, Dean?” he finished sarcastically.

“Nope, we got it all.”

“Good, then let’s get out of here,” Cas grabbed Dean’s elbow as forcefully as an angel could without hurting him, and steered him towards the door.

“Cas, I was thinking maybe we could go grab lunch in the food court before we go?” Dean ventured.

“Dean, I love you very much,” Dean flushed and ducked his head, “but I would rather not spend another second in this godforsaken hellhole.”

Dean conceded, knowing fully well about Castiel’s fear of crowds. It had taken some kissing and pleading to even get him to come today. The hunter nodded his head and threaded his fingers through the angel’s, joining him on their way out.

They left without another word. Dean stayed silent until they got in the car, and let go of Castiel’s hand. He wasn’t quite pouting, per se, but he was very hungry! Halfway home, Cas turned to him.

“We can go get burgers if you’d like…?” A smile broke out on the hunter's face as he jerked the car around. Burgers at the local diner had become the pair’s staple date, so much so that the owner knew then by name.

As they sped off to get their grub, the smile widened on Dean’s face. He reached out and grabbed Castiel’s hand in his own, happy to be exactly where he was.

The enormous metal door clanged open, prompting excited outbursts from Charlie and Donna. The two had taken a surprising liking to each other in the week they had spent together in the bunker, and at this point it was strange to see one without the other.

“Boys!” Donna called out, “Get down here, and tell Jody that the Southern Ocean is totally a thing!”

“The what?” Dean asked jovially. Everything was brighter in the bunker with their family around, the air felt like it was doused in joy.

“The southern ocean,” Jody said, “Donna claims that there’s an ocean around Antarctica called the Southern Ocean, but I know for certain that it didn’t exist when I was in school,” Jody, Donna, Charlie, and Bobby were seated around the war room table. Despite their supposed argument, Donna’s feet were settled comfortably in Jody’s lap, and they were smiling at each other lovingly. Dean would never admit it, but they were a really cute couple.

“I’ve never heard of it,” he supplied as he walked down the stairs, Cas close behind. It earned a “Ha!” from Jody, who pointed at Donna victoriously.

“Jodyo, that doesn’t mean anything! Deano here barely got an education--no offense, sunshine--we should ask a more reliable source!”

“Hey!” Dean called out. He may not have gone to college, but he still went to school. He went unanswered.

“I’ve never heard of it either, and I’ve been around longer than anyone here,” Bobby put in.

“And yet you thought Australia was part of Oceania yesterday,” Charlie said with a cheeky grin. Dean had no clue where all these geography based arguments had come from, but he would be the first to admit they were hilarious.

“Listen here, ya idjit, this ‘Oceania’ didn’t even exist when I was young. Don’t be ageist,”

Charlie scoffed and tried to snark back, but Jody interrupted her.

“Alright, fine,” the sheriff said, “Cas, you’re an angel. Is the Southern Ocean a thing?”

“Yes,”

“See!” Donna exclaimed.

“But,” he continued, “It was only established in the year 2000. So I think you’re both right. Jody didn’t learn about it in school, but it is real,” The women stared at each other, not quite knowing how to react.

“Huh,” Jody said eventually, “Cool, I guess,”

Charlie rose and sidled up beside Cas.

“I tried to tell them that,” she whispered, “Even looked it up on my tablet. But nooooo, they only trust the angel,” she said it all with a smile on her lips, despite the tone of her voice.

After Jack restored everyone and released all his power back into the world, the boys found out he had done them one last favor. Not only had he brought back the Charlie from apocalypse world, he also revived their Charlie, the one killed by Styne. It was awkward at first, but the two actually made fast friends. Apocalypse Charlie had decided to spend this Christmas alone with Stevie, like Patience had with her dad, so it was just the original Charlie hanging with them this year.

“Alright,” Dean said, “As weird and nerdy as this conversation has been, Cas and I have some presents to wrap,” he held up the bags in his hands to prove his point.

“Have fun, boys,” Donna waved them away, and the two headed towards their room.

They stopped in the kitchen along the way, greeting Sam and Eileen who were working on the stuffing, which Dean had assigned to them. He had taken charge of all the cooking this year, working all of their guests to get ready for the feast he had planned. Dean snagged a beer for himself and Cas from the fridge and signed a quick Have fun, Moose Sam’s way before heading out. With Eileen back, the residents of the bunker had all gotten much better at sign language, and Dean was very proud of how far he’d come.

They passed Claire and Kaia watching Home Alone in the Fortress of Deanitude. They stopped by to give them a quick greeting and hugs, but left them to their movie. Claire had said she wanted to educate her girlfriend on the culture she’d missed, but Dean was sure it was just an excuse to cuddle with her. Lord knows he’d done the exact same with Cas.

Jack was wrapping presents in his room, and Dean had to remind him again to keep the door closed while he did.

“But why, Dean?”

“I told you, they’re supposed to be a surprise. That’s why we wrap them, so it kinda defeats the purpose if someone sees what it is before it’s wrapped.”

“Why is it a surprise?”

“Because that’s part of the Christmas spirit. Random things that someone might not even want wrapped in colorful paper stuffed under a dying tree.”

“Okay!” he said with a smile.

Finally, Cas and Dean made it to their room. They had decided on Cas moving into Dean’s room when they got together, considering Castiel spent barely any time in his and Dean’s mattress was better.

They wrapped in silence for a while, before Dean spoke hesitantly.

“I think I’m going to tell them, tomorrow,”

“Tell who what?” Cas turned to him and put down the blanket for Charlie. Dean’s tone was worrying.

“Tell everyone here about us, that we’re dating.”

“Do you want to?”

“Yes.”

“Then why haven’t you told them yet?”

“I’m scared,” Dean and Cas had made a rule the day after they got together. They would be completely honest with each other. Not more lies, tricks, or deception. They were so bad at communication that they pined after each other for twelve years before getting together, and Dean was determined to never let anything like that happen again. Hence the honesty.

“Why?” Cas moved forward, pulling Dean’s hand into his own, “You don’t think they think two men being together is wrong, do you?”

“Nah, of course not. There are more gay couples in our family than straight ones. I’m scared that they won’t want me to be with you because you’re an angel. We’re hunters, babe! Hell, I tried to kill you when I first met you. I know they love you, but what if they don’t think you should be with a human like me?”

“Dean, tell me. What was Sam’s reaction when we told him?” When Dean finally told Sam, a week after Jack brought Cas back and Dean kissed him for the first time, the man’s reaction had essentially been, “finally, you idiots!” It was so much better than Dean’s insecurity had told him that he nearly started crying. Nearly.

“He said we were idiots and was proud of us for finally getting together,” he grumbled.

“And Eileen?”

“She hugged us and gave me a link to something called ‘Archive of Our Own’ that had creepy stuff about us written on it.”

“Jack?”

“He asked if that meant we were really both his dads now,” Dean had actually started crying that time.

“So do you really think the rest of them won’t approve?”

“I know, I know. It’s stupid, but there’s this voice in the back of my head just telling me that they’ll leave me, eventually.”

“It’s not stupid, love, it makes sense. Dean, know that I will never leave you again. And nobody out there will. We love you, we’re your family. Dean Winchester, I promise you that not a single person in this bunker will ever leave you out of choice,”

“Thank you,” the hunter whispered, then leaned forward to kiss his angel softly. Minutes later, after they finally broke apart, Dean made a decision.

“I’m going to tell them. Tomorrow, when we open presents. I love you Cas, and I need people to know that.”

“I’m proud of you, my love,” Cas smiled kindly, cupping Dean’s chin, “Now, let’s finish wrapping these presents, then maybe we can join the girls and watch that movie. I find Marv very funny,” Dean pulled him in for another kiss, then went back to Claire’s nunchucks. He wrapped them in copious amounts of tissue paper, shaping it like a wrapped shirt. Pranks on Claire were his favorites, and tricking her into thinking a weapon was some kind of disappointing Christmas sweater was going to be fun .

The next morning, Jack bounded into their room at six o’ clock sharp. Dean had made the mistake of telling the kid that he couldn’t wake them before six, assuming he would sleep in like every other morning and get them at nine, maybe. Apparently not.

Jack flopped on the bed on Cas’s side that was regularly empty. Not like Dean would ever admit it, but the both of them loved cuddling. It was a rare occasion that Dean woke up without Castiel’s back pressed comfortably to his chest.

Gone were the days when Dean snatched a gun from beneath his pillow if he was startled from sleep. Cas could do that to a man. Today he just grunted tiredly.

“Dean! Cas!” Jack whispered excitedly, “It’s Christmas! Like, actual Christmas, not the one we had with Ms. Butters!”

“Yeah, kid,” Dean grumbled, lifting his head to look over Castiel’s shoulder, “It is. But the sun also hasn’t risen yet, so could you give half an hour?”

“Okay!” Jack said, not fazed, “I’ll go get Jody and Donna!” Dean nodded, brain still addled from sleep. A thought occurred to him.

“Wait, Jack,” he called out, “Be quiet, and only wake up Donna!” Dean had seen Jody in the morning, it wasn’t a good idea to wake her against her will.

Jack nodded, still excited, and rushed out of the room. Dean shoved his face back into Castiel’s neck, breathing in the comforting scent of honey and ozone. He actually wasn’t sure how their guests hadn’t noticed them sleeping together, but they hadn’t mentioned it, so he guessed they just never felt the need to venture to this part of the bunker so late at night.

Exactly thirty minutes later, after Castiel had woken and the two had made no effort to leave their cozy bed, Jack reappeared in their doorway.

“Ready?” he asked, smiling as bright as ever.

“Sure, Jack,” Cas said, very excited for his first Christmas as well, “why don’t you get everyone together in the war room and we’ll meet you out there.”

“Okay!” he said before rushing off again. Dean didn’t know how he had so much energy so early in the morning.

“You ready for this?” Cas asked, giving his boyfriend a peck on the cheek and standing up.

“Yeah,” Dean said, “I actually think I am.”

“Then let’s go,” Cas said determinedly before grabbing Dean’s hand and pulling him up beside him. They headed out the door side by side, clad in scooby doo and bumble bee pajama pants with old band t-shirts on top.

The war room held what Dean thought his heaven must really look like. Sam and Eileen were curled up in one of their brand new armchairs Dean had chosen to sit by the tree, signing at each other with lightning speed. Jody was on the ground with her legs stretched out, Donna’s head in her lap and a cup of coffee in her hands. Claire, Kaia, Alex, and Jack all sat as close to the presents as possible, and Dean didn’t miss Jack trying to peek into a bag with his name on it that Dean had put there last night. It seemed like the girls were trying to explain some of their favorite Christmas traditions to him, but the nephilim just looked lost.

Bobby was seated in the other armchair, and Charlie leaned against its leg. Their family was all here, and it was a beautiful sight.

When Donna caught sight of the pair, a big smile split her face.

“Deano, Angel Boy!” she called out, “Don’t be shy! Come on over here, there’s plenty of room. Maybe Jody’ll even let you put your head in her lap too!” From the look on Jody’s face, Dean didn’t think that was going to happen.

Cas headed in in front of him, and settled himself down right beside Donna. Dean joined Charlie leaning against Bobby’s chair.

“Dean,” Jody grumbled, “that boy of yours woke me up at the asscrack of dawn saying that you told him it was okay.”

“I told him to wake Donna up,” Dean gave a meaningful look at Jack, “because I know she’s an early riser. I specifically told him not to wake you, so I’m wondering why exactly he did?” Dean, Cas, and Jody turned to Jack while he heard something that sounded suspiciously like “Oooooh, someone’s in trouble,” from Claire. Dean shot a glare her way before turning back to Jack.

“I’m sorry, Dean,” he explained, “I was super excited and I really only meant to wake up Donna but I think we talked too loud and woke up Jody too. I’m sorry,” and there were the puppy eyes. Damn kid had learned them from Sam, and who was Dean to resist.

“Alright, Jack, I’m not mad at you,” he gave in, “Just remember to never wake Jody up again. Capeesh?”

“Yes, I capeesh,” Jack nodded, repeating a phrase Cas had obviously taught him. Jody smiled at him kindly, letting him know that she wasn’t still angry at him. No matter how grumpy Jody could be in the morning, she was one of the kindest people Dean knew.

“Not that this hasn’t all been just touching,” Eileen said and signed, “But could we open presents now? I got up this early for a reason, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah, alright,” Dean said, “Go ahead and start handing them out, kid.”

Jack scrambled to grab the first present he could get his hands on, and thus the present exchanging began. Some families did it one at a time, taking a moment for each present. Not the Winchesters and company. They ripped into their gifts at lightning speed, only taking the time to fawn over the present and thank the gifter profusely before moving on.

Kaia loved the books from the brothers and Cas, and squealed when she saw the warding necklace Claire made her, kissing her girlfriend cheerfully. At the same time Donna was thanking Alex for her “#1 Sheriff” mug while Jody protested that she, in fact, was the best sheriff. Their exchange was interrupted by a shriek of “ Nunchucks!!! ” from Claire, which caused Jody to glare at Dean for ten minutes straight. Charlie leapt up and hugged Dean and Bobby when she found a Baby Yoda blanket and working futuristic gun side by side. Bobby loved his new hat as much as Sam loved the beanie Jack got him, and Jody gave Donna a big kiss for her new gun. Alex loved her mythology and medicine book, and Eileen actually got two guns due to miscommunication. She couldn’t have been happier. Cas gave Kaia and Claire an enormous hug to thank them for a new tie, this one stitched with wings and halos. Towards the end, Dean gave Cas a bumblebee beanie and Cas gave Dean socks with pie on them. Dean had to hold himself back from kissing the man on the spot.

Finally, once the present exchange had died down, and everyone was left admiring their new possession, Dean had no more reason to put it off. He had shifted over to sit beside Cas while they all opened their gifts, so he turned to Cas, whispered in his ear what he was going to do, then took a deep breath.

He started to stand up, felt awkward, then sat back down. He cleared his throat, scratched the back of his neck, and couldn’t for the life of him start talking.

“Spit it out, Dean,” Bobby grumbled.

“Heh?” he asked.

“You’ve been shifting around for five minutes like you’ve either gotta pee or you need to say something. I’m betting on the latter, so don’t keep me waiting.”

“Oh, um,” Dean started, his stomach in knots, “Well I do actually have something I need to tell you. All of you. Except for Sam, Eileen, and Jack. They already know, see… And now I need to tell the rest of you because it’s very important but know that I think about it I’d rather not--”

“Dean,” Jody said gently, “You can tell us anything. I promise.”

“Ok, well, um… ok. So, you remember the whole Chuck infinity snap everyone dies thing?”

“Vividly,” Donna said.

“Well we lost Cas right then too. Not for the same reason, that’s a story for another day. Anyway, we lost him, It was…” he started to get choked up. Head in the game, Winchester , he thought, “It was horrible but Jack brought him back and after that the two of us kinda started… dating? Like, we’re together now,” he finished with a grimace, disappointed with his… well, talking skills. Cas grabbed his hand comfortingly, and smiled at him with eyes that said I’m proud of you .

“Uh, Dean,” Claire said, breaking the silence, “We know.”

“Huh?”

“Honey,” Donna cut in, “You two aren’t exactly subtle. To be honest, I thought you two lovebirds were together from the moment I saw you together, and Jody had to convince me you weren’t. Recently though, it’s kinda obvious, sweetheart. You’re both so much happier. You still do the staring thing, but it’s less intense. Castiel’s ASL name for you is literally ‘freckles.’ And you really think we didn’t notice you sleeping in the same room? We thought you knew that we knew.”

“You… knew?” Dean asked, shocked. Donna nodded, “And you’re like, okay with it and stuff?”

“Dean, why wouldn’t we be. I’m dating Jody, Claire’s dating Kaia, why the hell do you think we wouldn’t approve?”

“No, no, not that. It’s just, Cas is an angel. Literally and figuratively. I thought you might not like that we’re not the same… species?” By now Cas’ arm was wrapped around Dean, and he had slouched into his side.

“Well, you were obviously wrong, weren't cha? None of us could ever think Cas is a monster, and you two obviously belong together,” Donna said kindly.

“I'm proud of you, boy,” Bobby added, making Dean duck his head and grin.

“Thanks Donna, Bobby,” he said, “I’m sorry I doubted you. And were we really that obvious?”

“Yes, Dean,” Cas said in his gravelly voice, “I’m fairly certain we were. I thought they knew already at first, but as you are more well versed in human interaction, I trusted your judgement over my own,” at this, Claire cracked up, quickly joined by Alex and Sam.

“Not that this hasn’t been the most awkward conversation ever--except a certain dinner--” Dean and Sam shuddered at the memory, “but I would really appreciate some breakfast. And I was promised pie?” Claire said with a smile, cutting the tension in the room with ease.

Hours later, after breakfast and pie had been eaten, and Jody had already taken away Claire’s nunchucks until further notice, Dean and Cas were left alone in the war room.

“That went a very different route than I expected,” he said quietly, wrapping his arms around the angel’s waist and leading him towards their room.

“That seems to happen often in our lives, Dean,” Cas replied.

“Is it a good thing?”

“Right now, I think it is.”

Dean stopped Castiel in the doorway of the hall, and looked up at the plant hanging above their heads.

“Mistletoe,” he said, then drew his angel in for a kiss.

Christmas truly was a magical time of year.

[illusionlock]

Cornered: A short Security Breach fanfiction.

Hi!! As a foreword, I wanna say that this fanfic draws ideas from this little theory of mine, so if you’re confused by what is exactly going on between Vanessa and Vanny here, I recommend you check that out first. Happy reading!

content warnings: swearing, death threats, unreality

Vanessa jumped and backed up against the wall, her thumb pressing the elevator button once, twice, five times, maybe ten or twenty five times. Her heart pounded and the sweat that rolled now over her face lit up with the pink neon lights. Her vision blurred as a purple tint filled up her vision like a flood, as if someone had messed with the lights of the entire floor.

Graceful, mocking, flickering rabbits danced around her vision and encircled the woman in a rabbit costume in front of her. Like happy bunnies from a children's cartoon approaching a princess. They wanted her to go to her, of course. It didn't matter if she had a knife, long and sharp, glistening in the low light.

Vanessa squeezed her eyes together, hoping to make it all go away. For a moment she saw herself, as if she were in a movie, just another victim in the way, not enough to be the main character, one that put up a worthy fight, only to die at the knife, cornered, screaming. Maybe she would make a real scandal, raising her voice up high, struggling as much as she could, be the perfect movie cliche.

But she could not. Her eyes shot up again, and the rabbits hopped slowly alongside the woman who approached her, confident and slow. She was paralyzed, unable to even utter out a gasp. Of course, whatever had latched onto her, whatever had been messing with her head and body for these past months, would want her to just sit still like a good little sacrifice, as the true vehicle of this demon's will executed his plan perfectly.

All her resistance, her cries for help, her research on how to break free, for nothing. And the rabbit woman was getting closer. Vanessa gave a last attempt at resistance, shakingly holding her flashlight up, maybe hoping to blind the attacker, or even successfully block the knife, enough for the elevator to finally come up, though she knew, the virus had probably already spread to the goddamn entire building complex somehow.

She dropped it. It was barely even a blink, and she was dropping the flashlight to the side with a resounding clank, a slight bounce on the shiny checkered floor. One of the purple rabbits leaped forward with brighter glee, and a sinister smile. The bunny woman, oh, of course, she stopped for a moment just to tilt her head to the side, Vanessa could tell she was beaming behind the mask.

She squeezed her eyes together again, praying for a last second in which the elevator would open, she thought she would have so many thoughts, but now, her mind felt utterly empty, aside from the sinister grin of a purple rabbit, one she had been seeing in her nightmares for so long already.

The knife landed right next to her head. Vanessa's eyes shot open to see the rabbit staring right back at her, up to her face, so close, pinning her against the wall. She couldn't understand, was the attacker toying with her?

"Why are you making this so difficult, blondie? We're two of the same kind!" The bunny woman finally spoke up. Her voice was just as Vanessa expected it to be, mocking her in a sweet manner.

She drew the knife slowly, raking across the wall, a horrid scraping sound that made Vanessa's heart jump.

"It would be just so easy to give in... you don't even have to do the dirty work, honest!"

"W... what?" Vanessa's breath was shaky, she'd been certainly holding it for a while, and as she released it, it all came out heaving.

"Give in... give in!" The words echoed through her mind. The rabbits were climbing over her now.

"I'm not-" Vanessa swallowed, finally being able to speaking, the could touch of the demon seemed to be lifted for a second. "I'm not going to give in. I never asked for this- if you want to do... whatever it is you're doing, so badly, just kill me now!"

She surprised herself by how bodly and loudly she was speaking, blood boiling. It was the first time she felt she could directly speak to whatever had been tormenting her for so many months, making her lose track of her own actions, messing with her thoughts.

She wanted her voice to be heard one last time.

"I'll be of no use to you now, and I'll never be, so just get rid of me and stop trying to get me on your side for fuck's sake!"

The shouting seemed to be effective in at least getting the rabbit woman to back off, and the bunnies glitched and flickered out of view.

And then the woman... laughed? And began to laugh, and laugh, a giggle that turned into a deranged, uncontrollable fit of laughter, shaking and contorting her whole body. She came to the point of bending over, hands on her knees.

Vanessa just cursed under her breath, that seemed to buy her some time, so could that damn elevator hurry up?

"You, you are so funny, blondie. Acting like you're some sort of hero. Like it'll make a difference." The rabbit woman straightened up now, shooting a scarily piercing glare for someone wearing a smiling rabbit mask. "You and I know he doesn't care what any of us thinks. He'll just keep coming back. History is made by the winners, so why don't we get on their side?"

"Because it's not the right thing to do. How do you live with yourself, knowing that this is what he wants?" Vanessa replied. She lowered her head in defiance, gaze still fixated upwards to the woman. "You've seen it, right? The carnage, the torture, the manipulation, those are the things that he wants. How can you work with someone like that? What could you possibly get from that?"

The rabbit woman scoffed, and examined her knife as if she were looking at her nails, twisting it to reflect the multicolored lights. "You don't, like, know me, and you should stop acting like you care. It's too late for me. He chose me to carry his bigger part, to be the leader of the operation. You were just a backup plan, like all the other attempts."

"Fine." Vanessa glared at her. "Answer me this. When you bring that knife down, when you give the finishing blow, when you'll hear that kid's scream, when his blood gushes out and you can't stop yourself anymore, how will you be feeling?"

"I can look away. I'll close my eyes. I'll be a good vessel, at that time." The woman turned her head, gaze now at a distance that was not in this place or time. There was a softness to her voice. "It'll be like falling asleep for a moment, and waking up in the other."

"You can't be serious. You act like you're so high and mighty, the leader of the fucking bunch, but you clearly don't want to do this." Vanessa gritted her teeth now, glaring. She wanted so desperately for this to big her big break, finally getting through to that ridiculous killer rabbit.

The opposite effect, instead, took place. The woman leaped at her, with a sudden speed and strenght Vanessa thought she may surely die from a heart attack before the blade even pierced her, and she found herself pinned back up against the wall. This time, though, the knife was closer, threatening.

The sinister, wide open smile on the rabbit mask felt even more grim now, illuminate with an eerie glow. The purple lights came back on, as the words filled her mind, rapidly coming and going, like loose streams of thought.

"Die."

"Worthless girl."

"Your attempts will get you nowhere."

"I laugh at you from beyond death."

"Your death will be nothing but a testimony to your incompetence."

Dark rabbits in shades of purple and black danced.

For the second time, however, the blade did not come down.

The rabbit's arm shook, and swerved, but it did not come down. From within the suit, Vanessa could hear, a guttural growl, as if the person inside was fighting with all of her strenght to keep the blade in place.

For what purpose, again, did this torture come to be, Vanessa wondered.

As the two stayed frozen in the moment, the swirl of unwanted thoughts within Vanessa's head grew louder, into a cacophony of unpleasant suggestions, all interrupting each other and drowning themselves out in desperation to be heard.

The blade stood still, save for it shaking a bit along with the rabbit woman's arm.

"She's not the target. She is not your target. Killing her will get us nowhere. She is not my target. This will make it more complicated." The woman spoke, but Vanessa could tell, it wasn't to her. “Please, I’ll prove it to you, this isn’t worth it. I won’t forget what you told me. But she is not the target.”

The elevator's anticlimatic ring was what startled Vanessa, and she fell backwards, right into the inside of it. Scrambling back up, she pressed any button to close it as fast as possible and get away from there, before the rabbit woman could even realize what was happening.

Vanessa rode the adrenaline spike as she escaped her attacker, and her thoughts calmed down and gave way into her very own. She'd be safe, for the moment.

[takivvatanga]

homecoming.

Assire is waiting for the phone to ring. She’s been waiting for it all day. 

I’ll call you. I’ll call you on Wednesday night. I promise.

Wednesday night, not Wednesday morning first thing, not Wednesday lunchtime, not Wednesday afternoon. Wednesday night was what he promised, and Jonathan keeps his promises. To her, at least. Until now. Unless… 

An entire day, spent waiting, curled up on the threadbare couch under an old blanket covered in cat hair, willing the time to pass while her nausea ebbs and flows but never quite settles. Assire would like to think that it’s just nerves, anxiety, the effect of his absence, but she knows it isn’t. Not entirely, at least. Never has she felt so alone, despite the fact that Merlin is right there, curled up by her feet, following her every move with watchful concern. The apartment is so empty without him. She is so empty without him. It’s been almost a month now, since he’s been gone. 

It won’t be for long. I promise. 

It’s been too long, and Assire is starting to lose hope. Assire knows about leaving. About what it means. Leaving has to be done for good. Otherwise, what is the point? He’s not coming back. That’s why he’s calling me. To tell me that he’s never coming back. “Oh Merlin, what will we do?” Merlin doesn’t answer, merely brushes his face against her open palm with a low purr. As if to reassure her that he, at least, will never leave her, no matter what. “We’ll have to go on, won’t we? It wasn’t so bad, before. When it was just you and me.” But it isn’t going to be just us, is it now?

It is a problem. How did this even happen? She’s been careful, hasn’t she? Sure, she’s forgotten a fair few pills, but she’s taken them all just as soon as she remembered, it should have been fine. Should have, would have, could have, and nothing is fine at all. “I’ll tell him. Tonight. As soon as he calls. I have to tell him. He needs to know. Maybe it will change something, maybe-” No. That wouldn’t be right. She wants him to come back, to her, out of his own free will, not out of duty. Duty is where love goes to die. “I can’t. I can’t.” Assire buries her face in her hands, retreats to a place where she doesn’t have to think, where she doesn’t have to feel, where she doesn’t have to decide. Merlin chirps at her, softly at first, then more insistent, but she does not respond. Even he can’t bring her back this time. But the phone can. 

Assire sits bolt upright as the first ring pierces through the nothingness in which she floats, suspended in unreality. Her heart is in her throat when she picks up, her hands are shaking, a wave of nausea washes over her with such force that it sends her retching, gasping for air, her eyes filled with tears, the taste of bile in the back of her throat. 

“Hello? Hello?” She doesn’t even try to disguise the panic in her voice.  “Assire.” Her name. “Assire.” When he says her name, she feels herself exist. Speak me. Make me real. “I’m here.” “Are you… are you alright? Is something wrong?” No. No, I’m not alright. And it’s not just me anymore. She hesitates, unsure how to answer. “Yes.” Her voice is so small, and her mouth is so dry, and her chest feels so tight she wonders if she might be dying. “I’m… okay. I’m fine. Are you… what about you?” “I’m alright.” She can tell he’s lying. “That’s… that’s good. Great. Yes, great. I’m glad. I’m glad you’re okay.” She’s lying, too. Pretending that she can believe him. Pretending that she doesn’t know that nothing is alright at all. “Jonathan?” “Yes?” “When… when are you… will you come home, do you think?” “I will.” “I just… it’s been such a long time already and I thought… I think… I worry that-” “Don’t. Please don’t. I know it’s hard, but - I will come home. I promise. But there are still things I have to do, until I can. It’s…” His voice catches, his words die in his throat. Assire feels sick again. If only there was something she could do to help him. But this is a battle he has to fight for himself, all alone. That much, she understands. She knows how it feels. She knows how difficult it is, to face yourself in the dark, all alone. “I know.” Warmth in her voice. Compassion. “I know.” I know, and I’m sorry. I’m sorry that you are suffering. I’m sorry that I cannot take that pain away from you. If there was a way to do so I would, no matter the cost. “You will come home, won’t you? You’re not just...saying that, are you?” Say you will. I’ll wait for you forever, if I have to. We will wait. “I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t mean it.” She should feel relief at that, but she doesn’t. Her dread is just as cold, just as overwhelming, just as real as it was five, ten minutes ago. “Jonathan?” “Hm?” “I… I have to tell you something.” He offers her silence. A chance to speak. She knows that he is listening, by the way his breathing slows. They have always known how to read each other’s silences. “I-”  I can’t. I can’t! Oh, what do I say now, what do I say!?

“The cuttings. The little yellow tea roses. The ones I took from -” From your mother’s garden. She loved those roses. I don’t think you ever noticed just how much she adored them. Come to think of it, there are a lot of things you never took note of. About her. About Mary. But they both noticed your absence. The three of you - you’ve all been grieving for a long time. For your father. For Mary’s little boy. For each other. For the family you wanted to be, the family you should have been.  “The cuttings. They’ve taken. Every single one of them. You were right, you know? I do overwater things.” I care too much. I’m so afraid that I’m not doing enough that I end up giving too much instead. “That’s… that’s great to hear.” He doesn’t believe her. She can tell by the cadence of his voice. He knows that there’s something she isn’t brave enough to tell him. “I’ll send you pictures. And… when you come home, you can see them for yourself.” “I shall look forward to that. To coming home. To you.” “Jonathan?” “Yes?” “Will you stay on the phone for a while? We don’t have to talk. Just...be there while I fall asleep? I’m having a terrible time with that. With sleeping, I mean. Waking up is hard too. I open my eyes and the first thing I think is that I’m all alone. That you’re not next to me. It feels so cold, you know?” “You’re not alone, Assire.” Her eyes grow wide. Assire covers her mouth with her hand. He just said that, didn’t he? It’s just a turn of phrase, meant to reassure her. He doesn’t know. He can’t possibly know, can he now? If he knew, he’d address it, wouldn’t he? Stay reasonable. Stay calm. Stay- “I know. I’ve got Merlin, haven’t I? Yes. Merlin. But… I still feel alone. Without you. Maybe alone is the wrong word. I might not be alone, but I’m lonely. Does that make sense? I never thought I’d feel like this again, Jonathan. I used to be so content, when it was just me and Merlin but then - you… you. You happened. And now I feel like I can’t just go back to how it used to be, all on my own, and be content and not feel like there’s a part of me that’s missing, and it scares me, it scares me to death because I feel like I’m losing you and like I lost myself and I keep waking up in the middle of the night and all I can think is that you’re not there, you’re not there, and maybe you’ll never come back and I wish I wasn’t in love with you because it hurts and - and-” Her eyes bright with panic, burning with barely held back tears, her free hand clenched into a fist. Every thought, every doubt, ever worst case scenario pouring out of her mouth with no way of stopping it. Why does it have to be like this? Why does she have to be like this? Why can’t she stay calm, kind, reassuring? Why does she either feel nothing at all or so much that it overwhelms her? On the other end of the line, Jonathan remains silent. “I’m sorry. Jonathan, I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have said all that.”  “It’s fine, Assire. Don’t worry yourself so much, alright? I’m coming home.” A silence, then again: “I’m coming home.” She can tell by his voice that he is trying not to cry. “I don’t mean that I’m not in love with you. I am. So much. So much, Jonathan. So much, you can’t imagine! But I do wish I wasn’t, sometimes. It would be easier. For both of us.” “It’s not supposed to be easy, Assire.” “But why?” “It just isn’t. But it’s worth fighting for. We are worth fighting for.” Is he trying to convince her, or himself? Assire is quite certain that it is the latter. “It will get easier though, won’t it?” “It will.” “Do you promise?” “I can’t.” “That was honest. Thank you.” Silence hangs between them. Heavy. There’s so much she wants to tell him, needs to tell him. There’s so little she can say. “Jonathan?” “Yes?” I’m pregnant. “I… I’m… I’ll put the phone down now, alright? Next to me, right here.” “I’ll stay on the line for you.” “Thank you. Good night, Jonathan.” “Good night, Assire.” 

When she wakes the next day, her phone is still cradled in her hand, the battery flat. Assire rises from her makeshift bed on the couch, dazed and nauseous, reeling with absence. She brushes her teeth, washes her face, changes her clothes. She eats her breakfast, weetbix and hot water as always. A cup of tea to go with it, strong and black and piping hot. She feeds Merlin. The smell of the cat food sends her retching. Assire vomits. If Jonathan was here, he’d hold back her hair, whisper words of encouragement into her ear: It won’t be like this all the time. The thought comforts her. Assire forces herself to her feet, brushes her teeth again, imagines Jonathan standing beside her. If she squints, if she tries real hard, she can almost see him. “I’m off to the shop. We’re out of cat food. We need some milk, too”, she announces to the empty lounge. She imagines him sitting on the couch, immersed in a book but looking up at her when she speaks, nodding his head, smiling. “I’ll see you soon. When I get home.” Will you come home? Will you come home to me? To us? He doesn’t answer. He can’t answer. He’s only in her head. 

Days pass, turn into weeks. The other tenants in the house are talking. Assire knows they are. She knows by the way the elderly women who live on the ground floor, the ones who like to sit in the entrance hall in their folding chairs, drinking tea from a thermos, fall suddenly silent when she walks past. “I tell you, Violet - he left her. I haven’t seen him for weeks.” “A shame, really. They made a nice couple. A bit odd, but nice. And quiet.” “She must have done something, to make him leave. She’s always been strange. Something wrong with her. I said it way back when she moved in here: something wrong with that girl.” “Shhhh. She’s coming.” She knows by the way the group of young adults on the floor below cast her strange glances. She knows by the way the blonde lady across the hall asks her if she needs anything. Assire shakes her head no. “I’m fine”, she replies in a small voice. “Everything is fine.” We are fine. Nothing is fine at all. 

Assire makes multiple doctor’s appointments, but doesn’t attend a single one. She orders a stack of books - What to Expect when You’re Expecting, A Guide to Pregnancy and Childbirth, Your Baby’s First Year - and returns them a day later, untouched. She spends hours in front of the mirror in her underwear, taking photograph after photograph of herself, scrutinising every inch of her body for evidence of change. She starts taking supplements, but every time the capsules touch the roof of her mouth she feels the urge to vomit. The small flat on the third floor becomes unbearable. Wherever she looks, all she sees is his absence. She gathers his belongings and packs them away in cardboard boxes. She cries. She unpacks his things, despairs when she can’t remember the exact placement of his shoes in the rack by the door. She spends entire days staring at her phone, willing him to call. When he does, she doesn’t answer. She switches her phone to silent. Finally, she turns her phone off. Assire goes for long walks, wandering aimlessly through the neighbourhood. She buys a set of newborn clothes. “For a boy or a girl?”, the bright-eyed young woman at the store asks her. “For a baby”, Assire replies. A few days later, she returns them, her eyes red rimmed, her expression solemn. “I’m so sorry,” the girl tells her. Assire shrugs. Whatever is she sorry for? Every time she comes home, Merlin is waiting by the door. She wishes it was Jonathan who was waiting there for her. Sometimes she thinks she can hear the sound of his keys turning in the lock, his step on the creaking boards of the hall, the rustle of his coat as he hangs it on the hook. She convinces herself that things have moved inside the flat: the reading mark in the book he has left behind on the coffee table, the order of his shirts in the wardrobe, his favourite cup in the kitchen cupboard. Maybe he’s coming and going without her noticing, while she is out walking. Maybe he’s never left. Maybe it isn’t him who is absent but her. Maybe she isn’t real. Assire has a decision to make. She packs a bag and catches a train to the coast. She stays a few days in an old cottage up high on a cliff, shivering in the biting autumn air as the waves crash into the rocks below. She stares down into the churning waters until there is no more grief, no more doubt, no more fear. There has to be something that remains. Somebody has to stay. I don’t know if I can do this, on my own or otherwise, but I have to try.  Assire knows what she has to do.  She barely makes the last train home. The fog rising from the river settles into her hair, into her clothes, into her bones. A single flower from her mother in law’s funeral is still pinned to her coat. A wilted thing, by now. What was once beautiful in its solemnity is no longer recognisable. Assire doesn’t have the heart to throw it away. The streets are eerily empty as she makes her way home from the station, her bag slung over her shoulder. She feels tired. No, more than tired. Heavy. It is probably how she is supposed to feel. It is better than feeling nothing at all. Assire looks up at her apartment building. She doesn’t remember leaving the light on. It’s not like her, to be careless like that. I was in quite a state, wasn’t I? Aren’t I? Aren’t we?  Her right hand settles over her belly. “Let’s go home.”  The apartment building is dead silent. Assire does her best to step lightly on the stairs, uncomfortable with the thought of being witnessed. The one person she has ever truly wanted to be seen by isn’t going to be waiting for her. Merlin, though. Merlin will be there. “And you, too”, she whispers. “You’re here now. You’re here to stay.” She doesn’t turn on the light on the landing, fumbles briefly as she slides her key into the lock. It turns easily, the door opening into the hallway of her flat, faintly illuminated by the light shining through from the living room. Merlin is nowhere in sight. Assire’s heart sinks. Her throat constricts with a sickening sense of foreboding. Not you, too, she thinks. “Merlin? Merlin, where are you?” Why isn’t he waiting for her? He always waits for her, no matter how unpredictable her comings and goings may be. Assire’s hands tremble. She doesn’t notice the coat hanging from the hook, the shoes placed neatly in the rack along the wall, the keys on the cabinet. “Merlin? Merlin!” Louder now. Her voice thick with fear. Her throat is dry, her heart is in her throat. He can’t be gone. He can’t be! After all those years together, all those years during which he’s been her only friend, companion, confidante. If Merlin is gone…  I can’t. I can’t! Not without him, I can’t! Not without Merlin! It’s her fault. It’s all her fault, for leaving him behind like this! How foolish to think that it would be okay to leave him to his own devices for a few days, with the window open and plenty of biscuits and water. He didn’t think I’d come back. He didn’t think I’d come back, so he left. Just like I left, because Jonathan, Jonathan isn’t going to come back either. But I was always going to come home. One way or another. I just needed some time to think! I should never have gone. It’s my fault, my fault, mine!  “Oh, my poor Merlin! You’re probably out there in the freezing cold, hungry and shivering in some horrid back alley, wondering how I could ever do this to you. How I could just leave you behind like this?!” Assire can feel tears rising up behind her eyes, bile rising up in her throat. She wants to cry, she wants to vomit, she wants to scream and rage, rage against this cruel cold world that would give her a glimpse of happiness, of belonging, of loving and being loved in return - only to take it all away again. 

In her distress, she doesn’t notice the slim figure lying curled up on the couch, obscured by heavy blankets. Neither does she notice the small black shape, an almost perfect circle, curled up alongside. She doesn’t notice anything beside her fear, her grief, her anger. Until the small black shape opens its gleaming eyes. Until it stretches and yawns, showing two rows of tiny, razor sharp teeth that glint dangerously in the light of the lamp.  Merlin chirps a greeting, jumps down from his perch. His soft paws make no sound on the wooden floors.  “Merlin! Merlin, you’re home! But… oh!” Something, someone else stirs on the couch.  Assire’s eyes grow wide.  “You came back? You came back!”  He looks terrible. It’s obvious, even in the halflight of the lounge. How his grief, his sadness has diminished him. He glances up at her with his red-rimmed eyes, swollen from sleep or from crying or both.  Not all of you came home, she thinks.  Assire starts to cry, without realising it. She doesn’t know whether they are tears of relief or of regret. Maybe it doesn’t matter. Maybe they simply are. “I promised you, didn’t I?” He tries to smile. “When… how long have you been home?” “Since yesterday. Where were you? I tried to call you as soon as I got back but your phone was off. Still.” Assire winces at the last word. Her phone has been off for some time. How many times has he tried to call? How much worry, how much concern, how much distress has she caused him? “I’m sorry. I-” she takes a small step towards him, then another. Hesitant, as if she was approaching a mirage fully knowing that it will disappear any moment. “I went away. I had to get out of here, I couldn’t stand it. Without you. I needed to just… breathe. Think. I don’t know.” “I understand. We have to do these things sometimes. All that matters is that you came home.” “And so did you.” 

She wants to embrace him, to hold him and to be held in turn, but she doesn’t dare to intrude upon his personal space. He’s fragile, she realises. Barely holding himself together in the aftermath of the battle he has been fighting inside his own mind. Assire lowers herself to the ground next to the couch, as close as she dares to be. Merlin chirps encouragement, presses his warm, silky smooth body up against her legs. Assire runs her hand across his arching back, absentmindedly, soothed by the vibrato of the cat’s purr. “You need to wash your hair.” The touch of his cool hands as he runs his fingers through her hair, greasy and unbrushed as it is, makes her breath catch in her throat. “You know how it is”, she replies, her voice coloured by defeat, “It’s been hard. Really hard. Without you. Jonathan, I thought I was going mad. Maybe I have gone mad. Maybe you aren’t even here. Am I making you up?” “No. I’m here. I’m here, with you. I’m still your husband. You’re still my wife.” “For better or for worse.” Assire smiles. Her hand finds his. It feels right. It feels real, because it is. She turns her head. She is beautiful, like this, her profile illuminated by the dim light of the lamp. She is beautiful, in spite of, or maybe precisely because of the fact that her hair is a mess and that her eyes are red from crying. She is beautiful because she is suddenly real, more real than she has ever been before.  She doesn’t need to ask the question that is on her mind, and Jonathan in turn doesn’t need to answer. She climbs onto the couch in silence, curling up against him, sighing with relief as he wraps his arms around her to pull her closer. Assire marvels once more at how perfectly their bodies fit together. She has missed this feeling, of being safe and secure in perfect silence. Just the two of them. But it isn’t just the two of us anymore. “Jonathan?” “Yes?” “I’m pregnant.” 

[feverinfeveroutfic]

chapter thirty-nine: a hole in the wall

The winter term started for Sam and Marla both, but the former was fixated on her travels with Aurora upstate on the weekends for all the sit ins with Testament and their recording sessions. The latter meanwhile had her hands firmly in the thick of her junior year, such that Sam saw her one time in the duration of that first week, and she looked to be in a hurry as she headed off to her new class. Her iridescent orange hair always glimmered whenever she strode onward on the other side of the corridor.

But Belinda was kind enough to stand in with her, especially since they spent their art classes together, and she had befriended Eric and Greg in particular. She usually had to head on out to Poughkeepsie around Friday afternoons for the glass work, and she proved herself to be quite the friend to Sam in the meantime.

“I had my doubts about you, Bel,” she confessed to her at one point as they drove out to Ithaca on that first Friday. “You seemed a little rough around the edges when I first met you.”

“That's just my sense of humor, though—I've always tried to be a clown of sorts. Marla herself can tell you that, too. Some people just don't get it or seem to realize that some girls like to be kinda out there at times. Marla was one of the few people who understood that.”

“By the way, have you talked to her at all?” Sam asked her with a glimpse over at her.

“Who, Marla?”

“Yeah. I feel like I haven't seen her in a million years.”

“Mar may have switched majors. I haven't seen her on the roster for any of your art classes lately. Well, Charlie's gonna be out here, too, with—what's their new name again?”

“Testament.”

“Testament, that was it. Anthrax are gonna be out here with them, too. We'll have to talk to him when we get a chance.”

“Good idea.” As the words left Sam's lips, she thought about Joey being in the next room from them. She hoped that he would at the very least keep his distance from them, but she also hoped that she could have a moment with him. If there was one thing she couldn't stop think about, it was the fact that he had woken up in a new year with a bad hangover. She was supposed to keep him away from that.

The snow had continuously fallen over upstate New York and in its wake it left behind a thick pearly blanket, as pure white as the full moon itself when it poked its head out from behind the clouds at night. The clouds meanwhile had spread over the afternoon sun and Sam and Belinda found themselves surrounded by a sheer wonderland: the trees drooped a bit from the heavy weight of the fresh snow so they resembled to the drawings one would find in an animation book. Indeed, Sam got to thinking about expanding her art more into the more natural side of things: they were often out in the wilderness, and she could see herself and Belinda going out there even more for most of that quarter. She may as well take her pencils, graphite and colored, and go forth into a trail she had not yet found, and with Anthrax and Testament on either side of her in the mean time.

She peered down at her waist for a moment: she had lost a little weight over the Christmas break but she knew those new gentle curves were there to stay. She couldn't help but think of Joey and that little encounter they had had in his apartment a couple of months before. Even though he wanted to stop those habits, she could see it in his eyes. He wanted more from her, but she couldn't bring herself to it with him.

“So what do you reckon we could cover upon on these more advanced drawing classes?” she asked Belinda when they spotted the signs for Ithaca in time.

“No idea—it's kind of new to me, too, so it's anyone's guess. I'm thinking more technique and expanding more on your styles.”

“Good, 'cause—” Sam stopped as she searched for the right words for herself. “—I'm kind of itching to do more with my art. I feel like I have to expand on it.”

“Well, you got your style—that smooth, weirdly delicate, and real stark style that you can see from clear across the room—”

“I have the technique down—sort of,” she confessed with a shrug of her shoulders. “It'll be covered for this term. By the way, I still owe you forty bucks.”

“Again, take your time. Did you bring your art stuff with you?”

“Well, yeah—you and I are both art students, we might as well bring our stuff with us.”

Soon they rolled into Ithaca, and the sight of the big glassy black waters of Finger Lakes penetrated the blanket of white snow all around them. At one point, Aurora had described the studio of choice as “a hole in the wall”, given it stood off to the side in the heart of those tall trees.

When she opened the door for Sam and Belinda, she had put a handmade sign on the front panel for them to see.

“Welcome to the hole in the wall,” she read aloud.

“It's 'Over the Wall', Aurora,” Eric called from the back of the room. “We've got a song called 'Over the Wall'.”

“It still makes sense,” Sam pointed out as she and Belinda made their way inside. Off to the left side was a small row of chairs: she recognized the slim black haired woman in the one closest to them, even with a heavy puffy jacket in lieu of her drum sticks.

“Hey, Zelda!” Sam greeted her. “What brings you here?”

“I wanted to know what was all the hubbub over here,” she confessed as she adjusted the hood on her jacket, and then she reached down to smooth out the wrinkles in her dark flannel pants. “I literally just got here, too.” Louie stepped into the room right then with his gloves already on his hands. He halted right in his tracks and watched her with his eyebrows raised up.

“Hi,” Zelda greeted him in a soft voice.

“Hi—how are you?” Louie asked her, also in a soft voice.

“I'm doing well—about to fly out to California to talk to Zetro about something. What's all this here?”

“New album, finally. Think we might make some videos for ourselves, too.”

“Cool, cool.”

“How're your girls doing?”

“We just got back from a leg of a tour with Metallica.”

“Awesome!” Louie strode over to her and gave her a high five.

“Yeah—yeah! It was unreal, Lou. And it couldn't have come at a better time for us, either. I thought we were done and then Aurora swooped in with a second chance and she saved our asses.”

Aurora then returned to the room with the clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other. The five of them congregated right before them like a small group of school boys.

“Okay, so final line up for Testament, originally Legacy is Chuck Billy on vocals—”

“Aqui.” Chuck himself shook his dark hair about, one side of which was spread right across his face and made him appear much more Indian than Sam had known, and a bit more than Joey, a half Iroquois man. She wondered which tribe he was a part of as Aurora kept at it with the roll call.

“—Eric Peterson and Alex Skolnick on guitars—”

“Right here,” Eric replied, to which Alex made a pretty little wave with two fingers.

“—Greg Christian on bass—”

“Hi!” Greg himself almost stumbled forward at the sound of his own name.

“—and Louie Clemente, not Mike Ronchette, on drums.”

“Yes'm.” Louie put his hands behind his back, and Zelda set one elbow up on the back of her chair.

“I dunno why they kept telling me it was Mike, but I kept saying, 'no, it's Louie. It's Louie Louie!'” That brought a laugh out of all of them. “Anyways, I'm Aurora Young, here with my assistant Samantha Shelley, who's also a fan club member, along with Belinda Grimes and Zelda Carmichael, the latter of whom is with Rhode Island hardcore band Cherry Suicides. Sam and I are with the label—the producer himself should be coming here literally any minute now.”

“And the two of us have been sworn to secrecy,” Zelda added.

“And Zelda and Bel have been sworn to secrecy to not tell anyone about this new album whatsoever. Friends of the band are always sworn to secrecy. Alright, gentlemen! Get in your positions in the room here and we'll get started.”

Before they could head inside of the sound proof room, Sam tapped on Chuck's shoulder.

“I keep meaning to ask you this, too—what Native American tribe are you?”

“I'm Pomo. Buncha basket weavers all along the coast in Nor Cal. The other side of me is Mexican.”

“Hence the 'Sammich' reference,” she followed along with a nod of her head.

“Right, exactly! Native American like Joey.”

“He's Iroquois, right?”

“That's actually close to being right,” he clarified. “Iroquois is the nation—I think he's either Onondaga or Cayuga, actually.”

“Oh, I see. So even he doesn't really know.”

“I think so,” Chuck confessed with a light toss of his fine dark hair. “But, still. You've got two Native American singers walking on either side of you, dear li'l Sammich.”

That brought a light chuckle out of her and then Eric called him into the sound proof room. Sam watched him go inside there with the four of them, and all she could think about right then was Joey himself. They were going to be another room there in the hole in the wall and she hoped that he would stay with them in there.

Aurora guided her, Belinda, and Zelda to the vast sound board, which was right underneath a wide pane of glass. Louie took his seat behind his drum kit and Greg sat right next to him with a big black bass guitar cradled on his lap: his dark hair spread down on one side of his face as he plucked those big heavy strings for a little bit. Alex and Eric took their seats on stools right behind him, and Chuck stood before a microphone on the far right side there. A bare, wide open room that needed to be separated off from itself so they could clearly record themselves without bleeding of any sort.

“Oh, man, I'm getting so many flashbacks to Stormtroopers right now,” Sam told Belinda. “Except they did that in like a kitchen. Charlie was crammed back into a corner and Scott and Danny were right in front of him, and Billy just kinda sat there with the microphone in hand, and they recorded off an old disc player.”

“Hey, Aurora, you want us to jam for a bit?” Chuck asked her through the microphone.

“Yeah, go ahead!”

“See how we play off of each other in here—”

Louie tapped his drum sticks together three times and he came down on his snare. He led the way for Greg, Eric, and Alex, the latter of whom had put on a pair of matte black headphones and they pushed down his bangs a bit more so they hid his eyes from view. Even with the door closed, the wall of sound could not be contained in there.

“Jesus,” Zelda muttered as she tucked her hands into her coat pockets. “And I thought Metallica were really powerful.”

Chuck held onto his headphones and bowed his head a bit. He awaited his cue. And then his voice seared through the sound proof wall, such that it caught all four girls off guard.

“Oh my god,” Belinda blurted out. He pinched his eyes shut as he shrieked out the vocals: Sam thought Zetro had powerful vocals, but Chuck's were more melodic, but not nearly as melodic as Joey's voice. The perfect balance between the two mediums.

Meanwhile, Louie kept things tight behind his kit, even though his dark hair flew about like the arms of an octopus and his drums sounded like a blacksmith hammer.

Alex moved around a little bit with that white guitar nestled up close to his little body. He couldn't move much because of that big set of headphones and the amps close to him, but Sam could sense that he wanted to move around.

“So much metal that that room simply can't contain it!” Sam joked, but both she and Belinda jumped back again when all five of them yelled out “OVER THE WALL!” at one point. Chuck brought one hand to the side of his head and he still kept his eyes pinched shut. One man had enough power in his voice to bleed through those walls around him. Right over the wall.

“Jesus—Christ,” Zelda stammered.

“Some day, they'll have to show you guys the raw tape tracks for Bonded by Blood—Exodus' album with Zetro,” Aurora told them, completely unfazed by what was going on before her.

“OVER THE WALL!”

Louie and Greg had such a loud bark when they yelled out together. But there was Alex, still with his head bowed down over his guitar. All five of them worked together and yet they were so separate to one another.

The whole entire time, Sam thought about Metallica and she knew they were supposed to leave for their final stint of their tour soon, if they hadn't already. She thought about Jason and if he was doing alright on those brand new dates and in front of all of those large crowds. She had no idea if they had gone off to Europe yet, and if they did, she wondered how Lars was taking it. Those three men needed each other and they needed to play off of each other much like the five of them before her right there.

Alex soon stood to his feet with the white guitar pressed up against his slender little body. That jet black hair shone under the soft ceiling light of the sound proof room: Sam couldn't but see a faint sheen on the right side of his bangs that seemed extra light in comparison to the rest of his hair.

He nodded his head about so some of his hair fanned out from the back. Eric paid no attention to him in the mean time: he followed Greg and Louie's lead.

But Alex stepped forward for his solo, and Chuck backed off to let the boy in.

Louder and much more clear than the first time she had heard him live. His fingers crawled about the fret board like the legs of a spider. If Sam didn't know better, she swore he was summoning a small group of king cobras from the shadows behind him. He did it so effortlessly, as if the guitar was just another part of his body.

“Wow,” Belinda breathed out, and it took a few seconds for Sam to realize that she had been holding her breath the whole entire time. She let out a long low whistle, and she kept her gaze fixated on him.

“Just incredible,” Zelda remarked from right behind her.

“He makes it look so easy!” Aurora added with glee.

“I know, right?” Zelda chuckled, but Sam was silent, and she was silent long enough to overlook the clinkers he had made. Indeed, when he let go of the frets and shook his hand about as if he had been burned, she still kept her gaze fixed onto him.

“You okay, Alex?” Chuck called out to him over Eric, Greg, and Louie, all three of whom were still pulling along.

“Yeah—little too much mustard on that hot dog, though,” he assured him as he shook his hand about again. Chuck laughed and then he proceeded to sing again.

Sam rubbed her eyes and she turned to Belinda, whose face had lit up at the sight before her.

“He's amazing!” she declared.

“He's in a league of his own,” Sam told her.

Indeed, they were there in the hole in the wall all day long: their producer, who was also named Alex, had showed up in time so they could record the first tracks of the new album. It was much longer and far more tenuous than Sam had originally imagined: Louie had to go up first with the drum tracks and given the room was too warm, they had to shut off the heater and open all the doors so all of the warm air escaped. The four girls congregated in the front of the room, nestled down in their coats, right next to Eric and Greg, both of whom had comic books in hand.

“I gonna assume you guys got those from Charlie,” Sam quipped; she remembered what she and Marla had said in that it was another art form.

“Nah, but we're all nerds, though,” Eric assured her as he plunked open the book and lay it over his lap.

“We're going to Alcatraz, anyways,” Greg pointed out.

“...why?” Sam raised her eyebrows at that, and she tried to stifle back a bit of laughter from that.

“Film a video. Probably for that first song you girls heard, 'Over the Wall'. Not sure yet.”

Louie's kick drum pounded away in the room before them and it was all Sam could hear from behind the wall: she swore he would blow a hole through it at one point with that kick drum alone. He was tight and strong like a machine and yet he made such a big wall of chaos. How one guy could make so much racket was beyond her. But there in that front room, they were like a bunch of kids hanging out together, with Eric and Greg and their comic books, and Zelda and Belinda seated next to them with glances over their shoulders; even though they had brought their art supplies with them, Sam still kept her eye on Belinda and her reading a comic book. She could assume it was for inspiration.

Meanwhile, Sam shivered under her jacket and she wondered where Alex had run off to in there.

“We're getting another new band in here soon,” Aurora announced to them. “Guns 'N Roses—they're from California, too!”

“Think I've heard of them,” Eric recalled. “Mainly the Los Angeles area, but I do remember seeing 'em in this dingy little place on the strip called Whisky A Go-Go. Real cool hard rock that's not quite like the big teased up hair that's absolutely everywhere right now, especially out that way. We oughta see them soon, if and when they go on tour themselves.”

Sam rubbed her upper arms to better keep the warmth inside of her, but it was useless. No warmth to felt anywhere.

“I'm gonna take a walk, you guys,” she declared at one point.

“I think Chuck and Alex did, too,” Eric told her as he turned the page of his book.

“I was wondering where those two dudes ran off to,” Belinda quipped, and then she set a hand on his shoulder. “No, wait, I wasn't done with that yet—”

Sam lifted the lapels of her coat and tugged the hood over her head, even though the snow had long stopped. She kept her hands by the lapels as she made her way to the street. A tap on her shoulder, and she turned to the side.

“Joey!”

“Hey, you!” he greeted her with a smile on his face. “Had a feeling that was you.”

“What're you doing here? Besides, the obvious. You guys are recording.”

“Oh, y'know—I was just thinkin' 'bout you. And I was also hopin' that you'd be out here with us, too.”

“Yeah, I'm actually out here with Belinda, and Aurora, and Zelda, too. All five of us girls are out here except Marla.”

“Yeah, I guess Marla's kinda swamped at the moment,” he admitted with a shrug. “You want to grab some coffee?”

“Oh, yes, please. I'm trying to keep myself warm.”

“Can't get warm, can ya?” he asked her, still with that grin on his face and that twinkle in his eye. She almost corrected him, but then she stopped herself.

“No, I can't. Get warm and get together with someone else.”

“Come with me,” he coaxed her, and they doubled back down the street to that one place that Stormtroopers had played on their tour almost two years ago. He shuddered inside of his coat as well, but she rounded to his side so they walked next to each other. She wondered where Chuck and Alex had gone off to there in Ithaca: it wasn't that large of a town, and thus they couldn't have gotten very far from there. She peered down at his waist, still slim and delicate despite the fair of amount of drinking she had witnessed from him. For all she knew, he only drank when they were together and not when he was alone. Maybe he did, but he never smelled of alcohol when she and him came together.

“So how bad was your hangover?” she asked him as they reached the crosswalk.

“On New Year's Day?”

“Yeah.”

“Pretty bad. I couldn't hardly keep my eyes open at one point. But you know, it's one of those things that you ride out and flush out as best as you can, and just heal from that point onward.” She flashed back to when Alex had a bit of acid in the back of their van. She knew that was exactly what he did when he returned home.

“Well, Joseph—I have to hand it to you for taking it in stride,” she told him as they strode across the black pavement. “Just promise me that'll be the last time you'll do it, because I'm starting to worry about you a little bit.”

“I know you do, Sam. It's mainly why I want to stop.”

And it was right then that her thoughts couldn't hardly keep up with her mouth. All the fears she had developed out of Cliff's wake now made their way over to Joey. “Well, I worry about you drinking too much before a show one night and your voice is royally fucked. Or I worry about the worst thing ever.”

“It killing me, I assume,” he said, nonchalant.

“Having it kill you, right. I lost my boyfriend while on tour—I don't want to lose any of my best friends in Anthrax while they're out on tour, whether it's you, or Frankie, or Charlie, or Scott, or Danny.”

He sighed through his nose and he set his hand on her upper back. The very touch of his hand brought the tears right into her eyes once again. She had no other way of expressing it to him than with her hand by her mouth to keep them back.

“C'mon—I'll start this off with a cup of coffee,” he said to her in a soft voice, and he guided her inside that warm room. Chuck and Alex were nowhere to be seen, much to both her relief and her disappointment. They took a seat there at the far end of the counter and he asked for two cups of coffee. Sam tried to lean back and take her hood off at the same time, but she leaned into the wall behind her. Such a cozy corner of the room: she gazed across the floor to the opposite side, where Charlie had set up his drums for Stormtroopers in the two summers before, and she realized that a slight noise barrier formed right there in that little nook. Whoever sat there for that show as well as the ones for the Plasmatics and Motorhead must not have heard much that night.

Within time, they received their big white mugs of rich fresh coffee, and Joey was eager to pick up his and bring it close to him.

“We're in a—a hole in the wall,” he sputtered.

“Just so long as you're not drinking,” she pointed out.

“I won't. I can't drink much anyway—after that morning of New Year's, and I woke up hungover, I thought, 'there's no way I can do that again.' So—” He raised that white mug up to her. “—here I am.”

He took a big swig of the coffee, such that it relaxed her. He closed his eyes, probably to better relish in that beany flavor.

“There it is,” he said in a low voice.

“Happy New Year, Joey,” she told him as she raised her mug to him.

“Happy New Year, Sam I am.”

“By the way, what Indian tribe are you exactly? I know you've said Iroquois before but I recently learned that it's such a wide range of tribes that it's hard to pin down.” She gingerly chose her words for him.

“Oh, I have no idea, to be honest. All I know is my mom's heritage comes from the Iroquois Nation here in upstate New York. Hence why my nickname is usually 'Injun Joe.' It's obvious I'm Native American—just what specifically is another question entirely.”

“'Injun Joe'... remember when we were at the hockey rink and you made a joke about wearing a headdress for a show in the future?”

“Still plan on it,” he said without hesitation.

“Yes!” She clinched her fist and then she reached her mug over to him for an official toast between them.

“To a new era, Sam,” he declared. “A new era of Anthrax and the world of thrash metal, and a new era of you and me.”

[rudemaidenswrite]

Cash Prize

Part 4    Michael Meyers x Reader

By: @pusantheamazonian​ 

Welp we're almost done. So let's kick this relationship up a notch.

Part 1  Part 2 Part 3

Waking up to warmth, you're wrapped like a burrito. Tangled in blankets with his arms locked around you. His arms?

Peering up, you're still in bed atop of Michael. The mask is back on and he is awake. At least he's in the clothes you bought him. That's a plus.

"Morning." 

A hand pats your head. Before he starts to move.

"Mmm you're so warm this morning." Holding on to whatever you can of him. Burying your face in his chest, hoping he gets the message that you want to snuggle some more. Ignoring your demands. He sits straight up and you have to roll off to the side so you don't get smooshed. 

"Okay okay. I'm getting up." Struggling with the blankets you know he's done. How tight did he wrap these blankets?

After breakfast you cozy up on the couch with a blanket in your usual spot and wait for Michael to join you. So you can steal all his body heat. Something is off though. He's usually melted to the couch before you. But right now he's just looming over you.

"What?"

A curious head tilt and several minutes of staring. He holds out the flyer you gave him.

"You kept this?" Surprised that he kept it, a smile creeps into your face. It’s strangely sweet that he kept something from your first meeting. 

The poke to your forehead brings you back to reality. The persistence he has about this is strange. He's definitely using his size against you. Good old intimidation tactic. Staring at the fyler you start thinking about why he's kept this. There's something he must want to know.

“Why? Why did I come to you?” There's a slight nod. “I was in a car accident. I had broken ribs, a bunch of bruises and my car, well you've seen it. But I was off work for a month because they thought I had done more damage than broken ribs, then I could only work part time for three weeks. Bills were pulling up quickly and my insurance didn't cover everything. That's why I needed the money. So I thought what the hell I got nothing to lose.” Shrugging you give him a weak smile. It's sort of embarrassing now when you say it out loud. That your last resort was asking The Shape of Haddonfield for help with your money problems. That you reached a point, where dying would be financially easier.

Taking the flyer back he now hands you the picture from last night. Honestly you're surprised it took him this long to rifle through your things. This is something you don't really want to talk about but you know he's not going to leave it alone.

"You want to know about my family." Sighing you can only stare at it. It's the last picture you have of everyone together. A candid photo from a neighbor's birthday party. Your parents dressed in matching colors, little brother trying to shove a whole cupcake into his mouth and you trying to hide from the camera. You regret doing that now. 

Under his stare he watches you zone out. Your breathing becomes erratic and you're squeezing the picture. Seems like you're trying to hold back a nervous breakdown. He saw the same behaviors at the sanitarium. More extreme but still the same behaviors. Petting your hair is the only thing he knows for sure clams you. 

"You sure are nosey today." Whispering, the soothing touch of his hand calms you. So focused on the picture you forgot about him and what he was asking. "Carbon monoxide poisoning. It was during my first semester of college. I got a call from the police saying they died in their sleep and I needed to come down to the morgue to identify their bodies." Looking away you hand it back to him. "I never enrolled for a second semester. I know it was a stupid move on my part. But I was not in the right mental state to do anything."

Interesting. You're more damaged than he originally thought. Loomis would have a field day with you. The annoying bastard.

When he finally sits down, you watch him slowly scan the room. Honestly it's slightly creepy. 

"I sold everything. It's either here or in the storage locker. If that's what you are wondering."

Answering him, you can see the wheels turning in his brain as he stares at you. Man, it's uncomfortable when he stares like that.

"Well…. This has been a talkative morning. I'm going to go make some cookies." Patting his knee you are determined to leave this conversation. Freeze at his sudden grip on your wrist, you clarify yourself.. "Chocolate chip cookies. So I can put some icing in-between two of them and make a sandwich." Pretending to eat a sandwich, you can feel it. It's going to be one of those days. He's definitely not leaving you alone today.

You are moving too slowly for him. You said that it would only be a minute but it's been over a minute. Grabbing the container, he holds it above your head. Pulling the mask up just enough, he starts eating.

"Michael! If you eat them all we won't have any for later!" Jumping you don't come close to the container. If you don't get that container back there won't be any left for you.

Okay, Plan B. 

Keeping eye contact, you back into the corner and slide the step stool closer. It's times like this your regret only having a one step, step stool. He knows what you're up to. You swear you see a smirk as he raises his arm higher.

Yup. It's a fact. You've discovered that Michael has a sweet tooth for cookies. Which would explain where all the Oreos have been disappearing to.

"Now you're just acting like the Cookie Monster." Pouting you start jumping again. This time on the step stool, hoping it will give you the advantage you need.

You are too easy to mess with. He watches you unsafely and recklessly jump on a moveable plastic stool. As much as he hates to admit it. He did enjoy feeling your soft body pressed to his. Timing it just right, he kicks the stool out from underneath you. Making you fall face first into him. Immediately locking you in place with his free arm.

"I get it. No more jumping on the step stool." Mumbling you try to wiggle out of his grasp. Damn his super strength. In defeat you lean all your weight on him and stop struggling. Only after proving that you weren't going to resist. Did he lose his grip on you, allowing you to shift so you can see him better. 

You don't know how much time passed before he let go but an eternity could pass by and you wouldn't care. As long as you were able to stare into Michael's eyes. The swirling blue void that was always trying to say something but never able.

Damn.

~

You have been planning this all week. Good Lord was it hard with your professional stalker here. At least you were able to put the locker at work to good use. There was no way you would be able to hide his presents at the apartment. 

With him glued to the TV already it's the perfect distraction. Pulling the presents out of your work bag. You hide them behind your back and slowly walk to him. Making him acknowledge your weird behavior as you stand in the way of the TV. 

"So this may be weird." You hold up two small packages. "Happy Birthday." 

You don't know what's more distressing. The confusion or the empty sadness in his eyes. The flickering of his eyes to the presents and the wall calendar have you regretting this idea. 

"Today's October 19th, your birthday and I thought we could celebrate it." It never occurred to you that he may not like celebrating his birthday. He has been locked away for years. Do they celebrate birthdays or holidays at Smith's Grove? "If you want to." Sheepishly you hope he does, even if it's just opening the presents.

Birthday? It's his birthday? How did you know that? He barely remembers when it is and you want to celebrate it? He hasn't celebrated it since he was little. The sanitarium did little for celebrations. Yet you want to, you even have presents for him.

His hands move faster than his brain. As an out of body experience, watching himself take the presents from you. Placing both items in his lap as you join him on the couch with a smile. 

Opening the first present he doesn't know what to expect. Knowing you it could be anything.  Intrigued he lifts up the set of chef knives. Each one has a different brightly colored handle. This is an odd gift. 

"I thought that the splash of color might confuse potential….victims more. It also comes with a sharpener." You struggle for a moment with what word to use but you powered on through it. He'll understand what you mean.

The second present is the one you're the most proud of. It's hard to contain your excitement while he opens it. It took you several days to find the perfect scarf. When you saw it you knew it was the one. A 60x10 inch wool scarf almost the exact same color as his coveralls.

"I know you're a body heater but it's getting colder out. I don't want you to get sick."

Amazing, you found a scarf that's the same blue as his coveralls. The softness is unreal and since when do scarfs come with embroidery?

MM.

Thumbing the white letters, it's easy to see that the letters have been handsewn on. This was an addition. When did you have time to do all this?

"I personalized it by adding your initials to it." Blushing you look away. You don't know why this is embarrassing. All you did was get him something practical and fun for his birthday. 

"So if you're not opposed. I was thinking we could do a cake or cupcakes for later. And you can pick the flavor, I have vanilla and chocolate cake mix."

Quietly you watch him mull the options over. Watching his head slowly tilt back and forth. Apparently this is a fucking hard decision. You've known since you were five years old what kind of cake you want for your birthday. His head tilting stops and gives you a look. Just something about it tells you he decided on chocolate.

"A chocolate… a chocolate what? Cake?" Pulling your own questions out of the air. He perks up a little at cake. "Okie dokie then. Tonight we're having chocolate cake." Smiling and out of an old old habit, you lean over and kiss his temple before getting off the couch. "I better not have paper wads thrown at me while I'm baking." Warning him you try to look menacing as you head for the kitchen. Making a mental note that his mask needs a good cleaning.

What. What was that? Presents? A kiss? Celebrate his birthday with good intentions? It feels like time has frozen again but is spinning out of control. The lack of control has dulled his thinking and made it seem like he was a normal person. Like a normal man with a normal girlfriend. How can you simply do that to him? The voices are irrational in their yelling. Demanding blood, your blood. Eradicating any reason to come back. You're fragile anyways, a simple snap of the neck would suffice. If he did that he would be left to the wild again. Regrettably he has come accustomed to this life with you. Food is easier to find, dry rooms that don't threaten to give out, watching TV to pass the time. 

Before he realizes it he's standing behind you. Watching you pull various items out of the cabinets. What are you? Are you a nuisance or asset? A waste of his time and efforts or his prized possession? He thought he had your place in his life figured out. This confusion must end. The voices or his sanity.

The almost invisible touch on your neck, pushing your hair to the side. Shivering, you quickly turn around in panic.

"Oh it's just you." Sighing in relief you turn back to the counter. It's just Michael being weird. "You surprised me. I thought there was a creeper inside the apartment."

Before you can continue there's a slow drag of Michael's hands. Wrapping themselves around your middle. Taking a ragged breath, you closely watch where his hands are going.

"Um… Michael? Are you going to let go?" Confused, you wait for him to move. His response is to squeeze tighter, pulling you closer to him. “I was about to start your birthday cake.” Looking at him not only do you see but can feel his burning stare. The cake is not happening right now. He wants all of your attention and he wants it now.

“If you're not going to let me go. Why don’t we sit down."

Sitting sideways in his lap, you lean on his chest. This isn’t awkward at all. Wrapping an arm around his, you quietly listen to his heartbeat. His chin rests on top of your head. Strange you would have never expected him to be a cuddler. But everyone likes to cuddle at some point. Besides it's been awhile since you have been held like this.

It's easy to fall asleep like this. His iron grip makes you feel safe. Knowing he has your back and likes you to a point. Is what makes you feel safe. But like all things perfection never lasts. You need to rotate or move because your leg is going numb. But with Michael's iron grip, that's easier said than done. Fidgeting you try to relieve the pressure without bothering him.

"Michael…." Freezing you don't move, holding your breath in case you're wrong.

That's not a knife in his pocket.

May the Lord help you. You are suddenly very aware of how much smaller and weaker you are compared to him. You're not going to say a word. Just ignore the entire situation. You are completely nopeing out of conscious acceptance of his boner. Maybe he doesn't realize exactly what is going on. He's been without human interaction for a long time, this is just a normal reaction. Maybe he's not interested in physical interactions and is asexual. It did take him a long time to show you his face and today is about birthday celebrations. But aren't you two together now? This relationship isn't exactly defined but wouldn't physical intimacy be the next step? It's not like you want any one else and you know any other suitor would be dead by nightfall. God your thought process is spiraling.

As if reading your mind his grip tightens. Curling himself around you. His erection nudges your thigh as he slowly grinds against you. Squeezing his arm in surprise. It's a very sobering fact that Michael is now taking control of his birthday plans. 

"Uh… Michael? I-is there… I mean d-do you want me to help?" You're a stuttering mess. Blushing you can't believe that you just asked him if he wants you to take care of his erection. You can barely hold eye contact with him. There's a burning curiosity and darkness in his eyes. Gulping, you have no idea the chaos you just unleashed. But you're pretty sure you just opened Pandora's box.

[flipomatic]

A New World Chapter 1 - The Usual Place

Summary: With all five of them at the table like this, it felt like nothing had changed. Of course, Lisa knew that wasn’t true. Just for a moment though, just for tonight, she indulged herself.

Or

After graduation, most of Roselia went on to university. The band continued on, reaching for the top. A series of stories chronicling their journey along the way.

__________________________________________________________

Author Note: This is a project I outlined last year, but didn’t start working on until now. Welcome, and I hope you enjoy the journey!

This fic will be a series of self-contained, connected stories.

____________________________________________________________

For the last few months, Lisa felt like she was watching the world pass by in slow motion. Each day felt longer than the last. Studying for entrance exams and applying to universities had absorbed her time, pulling her away from dance and Roselia. Rinko, Sayo, and Yukina had been just as busy, all working towards their own goals.

For the third-year members of the band, Roselia had to be put on hold. They cancelled practices, a solution they all disliked. It was only temporarily, as they prepared for the next phase of their lives, but that didn’t make it any more pleasant.

Lisa still practiced on her own to stay sharp, as the others would too. Roselia was still far from the top, and she would need to be the best bassist she could to get them there.

Unfortunately, there hadn’t been much time to practice. There were always more practice questions to do, more information to cram inside her brain, and more paperwork to be done.

Finally, that ended today.

A few hours earlier, when the sun was still high in the sky, Lisa had graduated from Haneoka. Along with Yukina and the rest of her classmates, she’d been granted her diploma. It had felt unreal, even as the ceremony ended. High school was over, and soon the next phase of her life would begin.

After the ceremony, Lisa left the school for the last time and celebrated with her family. It was nice, spending time with them. She’d been too busy over the last few months, missing out on time with her family in addition to the band.

Later, Lisa left the house. She had promised to be somewhere. It was close enough to walk.

As Lisa checked the time on her phone, 7:55 pm, the flow of time finally returned to normal. She scrolled back up the group text, verifying that the others all agreed to the time.

A cool breeze swept by, the brief chill reminding Lisa that it was still early spring. The family restaurant was ahead of her, the same one Roselia often met at. She peered through the windows, but didn’t spot any of her bandmates. The restaurant had only a few patrons, which was typical for this time of day.

She must’ve been first, Lisa thought as she entered the building. She greeted the staff politely before claiming a booth off to the side. It was close enough to the door that she’d be easy to spot.

With her phone face up on the table, Lisa waited for the others. She cast her eyes towards the window, but they were unfocused. She wasn’t looking out.

No, instead Lisa was lost in her own thoughts.

As of today, she was no longer a high school student. Now she was a university student, at the University of Tokyo. Her hard work studying had paid off when she was admitted to their general studies program.

This degree would open a lot of doors for her if she succeeded. It had a wide variety of topics to prepare her for the working world. The program was going to be a lot of work, but Lisa was up to the task. If she could handle keeping up with Roselia, she could handle attending university.

The university was close enough to commute by train, though it would take a while to get there each day. That was fine, as long as Lisa could stay near the band. She couldn’t imagine living far away from Yukina, not seeing her often.

“Imai-san.” Sayo appeared at the side of the table, with her usual curt greeting. She sat down across from Lisa. Now it was 7:57.

“Hey Sayo.” Lisa smiled warmly back at her. “How was graduation?” Hanasakigawa had their ceremony on the same day.

The corner of Sayo’s lip lifted. “Quite pleasant, Hina gave a wonderful speech.”

“I’m glad to hear it.” Sayo had plans for after high school as well. Soon she would be starting at Tokyo College of Music, studying electric guitar composition. When Lisa had asked her why composition, Sayo said she wanted to develop her own music. “Did you take a video?”

A minute later, barely enough time for Sayo to send Lisa the recording, Yukina arrived. She sat next to Lisa with just a nod, sliding in to sit close to her.

Yukina would be attending the Tokyo University of Arts, studying vocals. Lisa had been watching her sing for years, following in the path her vocals led. She would fully support Yukina in this as well.

At 8:00, just two minutes later, Ako and Rinko loudly approached. “Congratulations!” Ako called as she practically skipped up and sat down.

Rinko trailed after her with a much quieter, “Good evening,” as she took the last spot next to Ako. Rinko planned to attend the same university as Sayo, studying piano. She had confessed hesitation to join the program, but still enrolled in it.

Ako was going to be a second year in high school, still at Haneoka. She had committed to raising her grades and staying on top of her studying even though the rest of the band had graduated.

With all five of them at the table like this, it felt like nothing had changed.

Of course, Lisa knew that wasn’t true. Just for a moment though, just for tonight, she indulged herself.

They ordered a plate of fries for the table, the same as usual.

“Next week we will resume regular band practice.” Yukina, not one for small talk, went right to the topic at hand. “Lisa, what days do we have reserved?”

“Uh, one second I’ll check.” Lisa picked her phone up, before swiping it open and tapping on the calendar. “Tuesday and Thursday from 3:00 to 6:00.” It was a pretty light schedule, but it was the first week back after graduation and Lisa hadn’t wanted to overdo it.

“Can we add one on Saturday?” Sayo asked, a slight frown set on her face.

Lisa nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.” She jotted down a note to call the studio tomorrow.

“I’m so excited to get back to practicing!” Ako hit her fingers against the table as if mock drumming. “I’ve been practicing a super cool drumstick toss.”

“I-it’s very impressive.” Rinko added, she must’ve seen the move already.

Sayo was less easily impressed. “Does it enhance your playing?” She asked, bringing her hands together on the table.

Ako’s toothy grin faltered. “It’s part of my image!” She countered, undeterred by the criticism.

“I’m interested in seeing it.” Lisa cut in, which brought Ako’s smile back in full force.

“It will help us reach the top.” Yukina, who had been listening calmly, interjected. “That is Roselia’s goal.” She spoke levelly as usual, with only slight inflections portraying her emotions. Lisa was used to parsing her words, to listening for those hints.

“Exactly!” Ako harumphed at Sayo, having won the debate.

The arrival of the fries changed the topic, switching to talk about the kinds of snacks they would bring to practice next week. Lisa was going to make a whole batch of cookies, to commemorate resuming rehearsal. Sayo offered to help, so they planned to meet up in a couple days.

The group discussed what songs they needed to rehearse. Some of their newer music was still rough, and taking a break like this hadn’t made it any easier. Sayo had put together a list ahead of time, which she read aloud to the group.

Lisa jotted the songs down on the calendar, so she would know which songs would be rehearsed when. She needed to practice a lot before then, to make sure she could keep up.

The conversation drifted to university, to the studies each of them was about to embark on. Ako listened to them with stars in her eyes.

Soon, the plate of fries was empty. It was time to go home.

The five walked together at first, headed in the same direction. They then split into their usual groups. Sayo split off to go home alone, then Rinko and Ako turned together.

This left Yukina and Lisa, walking the last stretch side by side.

The sun had long set, leaving the moon rising in the distance. The night was mostly clear, with only a few whisps of clouds. The stars were hard to see from under the streetlamps; only the brightest were visible.

Yukina’s hand, dangling by her side as she walked, was only a few inches away.

Lisa wondered what would happen if she took it. If she crossed that wide, gaping space, and intertwined their fingers together. How would Yukina react? With a blush and a smile? Or with rejection?

It was only a few inches, less than half a foot, but it felt impossible. That space was filled with years of friendship, pain, hardship, triumph, and longing. There was no room for Lisa’s hand, no room for her feelings.

As much as she wanted to reach over, here at this new starting point, she didn’t want things to change.

Lisa glanced up from Yukina’s hand, only to find two golden eyes locked on her.

“What’s wrong?” Yukina asked, her voice having risen with concern.

Lisa shook her head, forcing her lips up into a smile. “Nothing, just thinking.” She spun a story, built on the same lie she’d been telling herself for years. “Maybe we should write a new song, since the band is practicing again.”

“That’s a good idea.” Yukina seemed placated, as she now looked thoughtful.

The two discussed the topic as they walked home, through the dark evening light. There was much to do to prepare for rehearsal, and no time to waste.

The hours and days passed by, at their usual pace.

Despite Lisa’s wishes, somehow both slowly and all at once the wheels of change started to turn.

Next Chapter

[loudsuitlover]

Ohana

A/N: New series. I’m super excited about this! It’s a new format to the one I’m used to post in here but I got a few asks about writing in a different person- like not on second person and I decided I would share this with all of you. I hope you guys like it! 

Preview: 

“Okay what’s with you and normal food? There are vegan burgers too if you’re one of those people.” 

“Vegan you mean?” She chuckles. “No, I eat meat is just I wouldn’t eat it at this time of the night.” She says but something tells me there’s more to that than the time. 

“Well what would you have at this time of the night?” I grin because in my head I had pictured her eating something entirely different at this time of the night.

I don’t really know why- I don’t even know this girl- but I’ve been thinking about her like that since I saw her earlier tonight. She was walking next to Gemma and even though she was nodding her head at my sister’s incesant talking, I knew she wasn’t listening. I don’t blame her though, Gemma can be a pain in the ass, and I bet she was telling her about that stupid dolphins show she made us watch in LA anyway so who couldn’t blame her for not being interested? But there was something about her that got my attention. She wasn’t paying attention at anyone at all. Moreover, I had been looking at her for most of the night and she hadn’t realized until her eyes accidentally bumped into me and the moment I looked at her she looked away and never looked back at me. 

I don’t want to sound like a self-centered guy, but I’m not used to having girls look at me once and not make eye contact. I don’t think she’s noticed either how Noah looks at her but I wonder if they have already slept together or he was just doing her on his mind. She just doesn’t seem to notice things. I bet she doesn’t know she frowns a lot when she’s thinking too, but I like her attitude.

Jamie

Leaving Mateo alone is the hardest thing I have done in months. Well, technically he isn’t alone; he isn’t even with just any nanny, he’s with my mum and I can’t think of better hands to leave my son than with the woman who rised me but ever since he was born five months ago, we haven’t been apart for more than an hour. I have decided on breastfeeding him and so far that has given me the perfect excuse not to stay away from him for too long but Charlie is getting impatient- she keeps repeating I can have a baby and still be 21 years old- and because after fifteen years I know better than to fight her, I agreed on going out tonight. 

Jack and Charlie said they would pick me up and give me a ride to a little get together at somebody else’s house where I don’t know anybody other than them. How exciting. I stare at myself in the mirror at my parent’s hall thinking back to when I used to check myself out here every day right after school and I would wonder how many hours I had been with that strand of hair looking like a radio antenna on the top of my head. It almost takes me a while to recognize myself, I haven’t worn any makeup since I got pregnant and it’s like I had almost forgotten how I looked like with it on, but Mum insisted on taking care of that for me while Dad “bonded with his grandson” and looking at myself in the mirror now I almost look like the person I was before I gave birth. I grin, like testing it out, but it also makes me somewhat happy that just some light bangs and some eyeliner can make me look as some random uni girl again. I turn to my side, having a look at my flat stomach. It seems unreal to me that I carried a baby in my belly for 39 weeks. 

“You look absolutely gorgeous, right Will?” Mum asks dad as they both stare at me from the kitchen door. 

I roll my eyes. I could be 41 and they would still act as if I was going out for the night for the first time in my life.

“Guys, I’m just going out with Charlie and Jack. Stop acting as if this was my senior year prom all over again.” I chuckle. 

“We’re not.” My mum defends them both. “We’re just happy you get out of the house. You know your dad and I are always free to babysit our lovely grandson, isn’t that right Will?” 

I share a knowing look with dad. After 21 years of living together, we both know there’s no way one can contradict Alice Johnson so he just nods at her and we both chuckle, making my mum smile excitedly. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon anyway.” 

“I mean you don’t have to.” She smiles, encouraging me to get out and be social and all that shit like she had been doing since I got pregnant. “We were thinking you could even go back to your apartment and we’ll drive Mateo there in the morning.” 

“And leave Mateo here all night? No way. What if he wakes up crying and I’m not here? He’ll feel abandoned and he’s so little, he’s used to sleeping next to me and I breastfeed him every night, he’ll probably cry so hard.” 

“Baby, your mum and I have raised two children. I think we’ll know what to do.” 

My dad smiles at me and I regonize that smile. It’s the same he used to give me when I would ask him why to every single thing on Earth when I was seven years old and only then I realize I am getting paranoid. Again. I take a deep breath. If I can’t leave my child with my own parents then how am I ever going to get a job? I start to feel a tinge of anxiety running down the back of my neck when, as if on cue, I hear a car parking on my parents’ driveway and my phone vibrates on my purse. 

“Okay, they’re here.” I say, more to myself than to my parents and then I give them an awkward smile. “Just... Please call me if he doesn’t go down okay?” 

“We will.” My mum smiles. “Now relax, have fun and” she puts her fingers up in the air as if she wanted to point at the sky and starts moving her hips, I suppose trying to dance, but really she looks as if she’s trying to get a spider off her jeans “blame it on the boogie!” 

I don’t know what she wants to say with that, but quite frankly I’m afraid to know, so instead of asking I try to supress my laughter and walk outside the house while Dad asks her what she’s doing. As soon as I make it outside the house, Jack turns on the main beam lights of his car and almost blinds me as I try to walk towards them. I flip him the bird and get on the back seat as Charlie swats his arm playfully but he keeps on laughing. She turns around from the passenger seat and gave me a beaming grin. 

“Hi, love! You look absolutely gorgeous! We might have to go out after all so guys can see you! Doesn’t she look lovely, Jack?” 

“She does look lovely, yeah.” He smiles. 

“And almost blind, thank to you.” I retort but he just chuckles, not even pretending to be sorry the little shit. “And I thought we were going out?” 

“Well we are going to Chloe’s.” Charlie says as she does her lipstick using the mirror on the gray flap over the passeger seat of her boyfriend’s car. “But don’t worry, babe, there’s gonna be lots of guys.” She moves the flap so her hazel eyes meet with mine through the tiny mirror and then she wiggles her eyebrows making me roll my eyes. “Single and fancy.” 

“I see you’re really up to date on the single guys department, Charles.” Jack jokes making Charlie adorably giggle.

I smile at their interaction, those two are made for one another. I remember  when Jack was head over heels for Charlie and she wouldn’t even pay attention to him. He was the sweetest guy in the whole school but of course Charlie couldn’t see that because that was the time when she was obsessed with Zac- I’m pretty sure it was because his name was Zac like Zac Efron- who was the football captain and a total dick, and it wasn’t until they both got into college that she fell for him too; but ever since then they have been inseparable and if there is such a thing as a soulmate then they are that for one another. 

“You promised you were not going to set me up with anybody tonight. That’s the only reason I even agreed to come out.” I remind her, hoping she wouldn’t lie to me, even though I know she wouldn’t. 

“I know. Relax! I don’t even know who’s going.” She grins. “Entirely.” She adds.

I laugh on the back of their car all the way to her friend’s house and swallow the lump in my throat as soon as we arrive to one of the richest parts in London. I look down at my little black dress and all of a sudden it doesn’t seem to me like something appropriate for this part of town. Anyway I have nothing to fake- I am going to go out tonight with Charlie and her friends and then crawl back to Mateo for another year. 

The three of us stand on the door waiting for someone to open it as Jack keeps messing with my newly cut very-light-barely-there bangs and saying I look just like I did in eleventh grade. God I hope he’s lying. I try to decipher the music they’re playing inside, thinkin it can give me a little clue about what sort of people are going to be sitting past the door. I imagine they might be a bunch of snobs who only listen to Alicia Keys or Adele, but instead this music sounds like one of those bands from the 70s my dad would play as he fixed stuff around the house on the weekends when I was little. 

A brunette girl with thick bangs and a face full of freckles opens the door. Her eyes strick me for I can’t quite tell which colour they are. One moment they seem green and the next I’d swear they are completely brown and then she looks up at Jack and they seem gray to me. She is gorgeous, that’s for sure, and she has one of those smiles that takes a while to forget. I try to smile back as best as I can but I am already afraid all of the girls in this house are going to be this pretty.

“Hi Gemma!” Charlie greets her, giving her a cuddle as if they had known ech other forever before the girl smiles at Jack. 

“Hi, guys! Long time no see! I have to tell you both about my trip to LA!” She sings. “Oh, hi!” Her smile only brightens when she notices me. “I’m Gemma.” 

“Hi, I’m Jamie.” 

It’s funny how our names sound kind of alike, even though it won’t be funny is I spend the whole night thinking they’re calling my name every time they talk to her. I remember in fifth grade there was a girl in my class called Amy and I always looked when the teacher scolded her- cause she also wouldn’t shut up- and I hated it. The three of them chat among them as we make our way towards the living room where I suppose the rest of the guests are hanging out and I appreciate Gemma’s attempts at including me in their conversation. If she’s going to be this nice, I won’t even mind if I get confused when they call her name. She keeps looking at me as she talks about LA and how she has seen stars at Griffith Observatory and whatnot and I silently feel embarrassed to think the only things I know about LA are that most celebrities go there all the time and that they have long, wide roads with palm trees on either side. It even seems funny to me, that one would go to see starts precisely to LA where I would think the light pollution is so high you can barely even see the sky but it seems like I am wrong about that too. 

As soon as we get to the living room I am surprised to see it’s not as big as I thought it’d be. All the way to the living room- and that’s already saying a lot for in my parents’ house it literally takes a minute to walk into the living room from the door; not to mention my apartment, where the door literally opens to the living room, no space in between- but at this Chloe’s house, it all seems to be fancy and expensive- even the paint on the walls seems expensive. But when we get to the living room it seems normal, with gray colour walls, a chimney with no fire on and a tobacco colour couch which seems rather comfy. 

Gemma asks me what I want to drink and I politely ask her for a glass of water, apparently making her frown in amusement before she says she would have to pop to the kitchen for that. I stay there glancing through one of the walls which is made out of glass catching a glimpse of the swimming pool and the balcony right before the London city lights. Okay, maybe thinking this house was normal was  a little silly. 

Gemma comes back carrying a small plastic bottle of water and she gently touches it against my elbow until I face her and she giggles. I thank her and smile.

“Oh, there you are!” 

This time a blond girl with long straight hair walk towards us. She has blue eyes and one of the sexiest bodies I have ever seen. I swear she has flesh everywhere you’re supposed to have flesh and she is slender everywhere you’re supposed not to have any. I think about my thighs touching each other under my dress. 

Charlie hugs her and I notice that compared to this girl’s hair, Charlie’s hair doesn’t even seem blond but rather hazel and she looks so thin. The beautiful blonde gives her a warm smile before she turns to Jack and greets him with the same enthusiasm. 

“Hey Chloe, this is my friend Jamie.” Charlie grins, wrapping her thin arm around my shoulders and pulling me to her side. 

“Oh, hi, Jamie! I love your dress!” 

Despite looking like a blow-up doll, I like her already. 

“Thanks for having me.” 

I catch her having a sip of her champagne flute so she just frowns and shakes her head dismissing my comment as she hums with one finger up as if asking me for a moment while she swallows. 

“No, no!” She says. “Thanks for coming. There’s food on those tables and drinks...” She looks around the room “Everywhere.” She grins excitedly as if she has just realized that, despite it being her house and that make us all laugh. “I guess you don’t know anybody.” She tells me to which I bite my bottom lip.

She must have noticed my anxious expression because she just chuckles and drops it even though I am afraid her real intentions had been introducing me to everyone. She looks like the kind of girl who would just get up in a table and  attract everybody’s attention and say hey y’all, this is Jamie. Well, probably she wouldn’t have said y’all, but in my head she did. She invites me to sit on one of the couches with some of her friends and I just smile at them as they talk to me. 

I am not an anxious person, not even socially awkward- hell, I am a waitress and I recommend plates to strangers all the time; but being the only strange person in a room full of people that know each other wouldn’t be easy for anyone, especially when all those people seem to have so much more money than my entire family combined. 

Chloe asks me if I do yoga, which quite frankly seems like a rather weird question to me, but judging by the way they all expect to hear my answer, it seems to be something these rich people would talk about. I consider lying, a bit of fitting in won’t hurt anybody, but then I realize I can easily get caught if they start talking about those stretches like the lying dog or the fighter frog I have no idea about and to save myself from the embarrassment I go with the truth. 

“She probably said it because your arms look strong.” 

Charlie tries to save me and I end up laughing out loud, not only because she can’t not be awkward for the life of her but because for a second I consider telling all these young people my arms aren’t strong because of yoga but after carrying 15 pounds worth of baby- 15,5 if I haven’t changed his nappy after the night sleep.

Realizing I just laughed at something that wasn’t even funny for anyone else, I look away from the people in my new chat group as if trying to get away for a second and then I notice Harry Styles himself is laughing and talking to some random guys. I recognize him straight away, I have seen him before in his own concert. I went with Charlie over a year ago when I had just found out I was expecting a baby, whom I would raise on my own. Apparently, Harry Styles was giving a concert in London that weekend and she thought it would cheer me up. It’s not like I was a fan or anything- I hadn’t even listened to his last album other than that song they always played on the radio, Sign of the times- but she was right, I did have a good time. Especially when both Charlie and I jumped and danced as he reapeated “I’m having your baby, it’s none of your business” over and over again because for the first time since I had gotten that positive result, I was happy Mateo’s father was out of the picture. 

I try not to look at him for too long, the last thing I need is for him to catch me staring and think I’m some crazy fan who’s planning how to secretly steal one curl of his head but there’s something quite magnetic about him. I can understand how he sells arenas all around the world. There’s something about the way he just stands there, joking and laughing, as if he owned the room but not being fully aware of it. I won’t deny he is really handsome too, especially when he laughs and those dimples dig holes on his cheeks. Without my consent, my eyes travell down his lean figure. His shirt is black but very thin and is barely buttoned up to where his sternum ends so I can see some of his tattoos an my greedy mind immediately imagines how they would look without the soft cover. I swiftly look away the moment his green eyes fall on me, probably aware of my intrusive stare, but even though I don’t look back at him, I can feel him staring at me.

One of Chloe’s male friends asks if he can sit down next to me and I immediately remove my purse as if I am desperate for somebody to take that place even though I’m not. I know I give him a weird grimace because he laughs but he doesn’t mention it which I appreciate. We all chat in a group for a while and I learn that the girl who’s sitting in front of me is called Olivia and the guy next to her, who I think is Gemma’s boyfriend’s name is Michal. My mind might be playing tricks on me, but I would swear Harry keeps glancing my way from the corner where he’s standing. I’m not big-headed. I mean I think I’m pretty, but not even half as pretty as any of these girls are and anyway he’s a rockstar- he would never set his eyes on me- but damn it if he’s not looking at me. I try to ignore him anyway. Maybe there’s something between my teeth and these people are just too nice to tell me. Or maybe I’ve got a booger. Man that would be embarrassing.

Charlie places a daiquiri on the table right in front of me and I give her a questioning look. I haven’t drank since the night I got pregnant and she knows this but looking at her smile I know what she’s thinking. I smile back, the truth is I’m having fun like I haven’t in a long time and I have bumped enough milk for Mateo for another day so I return her teasing smirk and bring the black straw to my lips. She clapps her hands together and does a little dance which makes me roll my eyes but I smile nonetheless.

Right as I finish my second daiquiri, I accidentally wet the knee of the guy who sat next to me about a half hour ago and that gets us talking. His name is Noah and after some light chatting I learn that he’s American- his accent gives him away- and that we actually have some things in common. We soon discover we went to the same uni- even though I dropped out last year but I don’t tell him why- and there’s no shutting us up after that. From the corner of my eye I can see Charlie wiggling her eyebrows like a fifteen years old teasing a friend who’s talking with a crush and I almost roll my eyes at her but instead I chuckle and blush- Gosh, I’m tipsier than I thought- and then I glance back at Noah and bite my bottom lip, as if apologizing for my weird antics. 

“Man” he stifles a laugh “you’re really pretty.” 

I grin like the Cheshire cat in seconds. The way he has said that- and the daiquiris- have me grinning like a teen girl. I hoped Charlie was listening so she cuts the bullshit about my flirting skills; or maybe she would expect me to go home with Noah, and even though he seems nice and he is very attractive- with that olive skin and that wavy brown hair and that childish smile, I am not sure I want to go home with him- or anyone for that matter. 

“Thank you.” I smile and next thing I know I have got hiccup and my eyes widen as I look at him. he threw his head back and started laughing hard. 

I haven’t gotten hiccup in forever, in fact it has been so long I didn’t remember it was so annoying- feeling my chest going up and down on its own. I hold my breath, I heard somewhere it took the hiccup away, because it is too late to lift my arms over my head, you can only go through three hiccups before you do that and my stupid, drunken overwhelm about hiccup has distracted me. As I take a mouthful of air, hoping it would take me through the 30 seconds I had to hold my breath, Noah  laughs harder. 

“So cute!” He chuckles. 

I give him a drunken grin, boycotting my own attempt at land-base scuba diving in the process, before I stand up and prepare myself to find the kitchen. As soon as I get up, I realize I have managed to spend some time without thinking about Harry Styles and I realize too that it hasn’t felt as if he was staring at me. Definitely, it has been my mind playing tricks on me. For some reason,  I search for him, maybe to enjoy some of the eye candy he’s displaying but I can’t find him. For all I know he's gone. It’s like I feel a little disappointed, for some reason I thought I might have the chance to talk to him, but of course guys like Harry Styles don’t really talk to girls like Jamie Johnson.

I jump and bring my hand to my chest the minute I get to the kitchen fot there he is, as silent as a house cat, pouring some gin on a glass. He gives me an amused smile and the air in my lungs is nearly gone. He really is handsome and I’m talking, the overwhelming kind of hansome. His face is just perfect, his got a perfect straight nose and I almost bring my hand to mine because there’s just no way someone has a nose like that, and his jaw is perfectly shaped. I can feel thousands upon thousands of girls screaming for me to do something or say something but I’m afraid even though I’m not I might look like one of those crazy fangirls who would give everything they had just to have him signing their boob. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and rest my glass on the table. I decide I don’t have to talk to him.

“Hopefully that scare took your hiccup away.” He smirks and I chuckle, for some reason somewhat embarrass. 

“Yeah” I still have my hand against my heart and I can feel it beating. “You made me jump.” 

“Sorry about that.” He smiles. His green eyes set on my glass for just a moment and noting it was empty he raises his eyebrows at me and asks “What are you drinking?”

“Uuhh, I think a daiquiri or a caipirinha or something like that. I’m not really sure what it was.” 

He smiles again and makes me smile too- his smile is kind of contagious. I didn’t know he was so smiley, he didn’t appeared to me like the kind of person who would smile all the time, but rather like some sort of dark, interseting indie artis who had too many things on his mind to walk around smiling to people. I’m really bad at assumptions. I notice his eyes are glossy and his skin is a little flushed so I know he is at least as tipsy as I am and I think that might be the reason for his smiling nature. His green eyes linger on my face before he looks at my glass again and stretches his hand towards it, silently asking me to hand it to him. 

“Oh, no, don’t worry! I can make it on my own!” I lie. I have no idea how to make a daiquiri whatsoever but at this point I’m drunk enough to drink any other thing. “Thank you.” 

“Can you please hand me your glass and stop acting as if you knew how to make a daiquiri?” He grins smugly. How the hell did he know that?

“Like you know how to make one?” I tease instead.

He stare deep into my eyes and I know he’s just pretending to be highly offended by my apparent doubts at his ability to make Cuban cocktails. I can feel my lips curl up into a smile before he answers. 

“‘F course I know how to make a daiquiri, angel face.” 

I don’t know why I’m blushing. I guess the fact that some attractive guy calls me angel face apparently can make me blush. Then I remember even though I know his he doesn’t know my name and I think that’s the reason he called me that.

“So” he starts, having a sip of his drink before he starts reading the label of the rest of the bottles “first we need white rum.” He finally choose a bottle and looks at me with a warm smile. “You see? There’s no cachaza, that’s how I know you were not drinking a caipirinha” he smiles smugly, obviously enjoying leaving me looking like an idiot by proving he indeed knows how to make cocktails. I should have known better. “Where’s the cocktail shaker? Please don’t tell me your friend has been giving you cocktails without having the decency to use the shaker...” He shakes his head, smiling playfully as he searches for a cocktail shaker across somebody else’s kitchen and I start to think he’s just putting on a show “Oh angel face... You’ve been drinking shit all night!” 

I throw my head back and laugh out loud as he grins triumphantly. He’s definitely putting on a show. I take it he’s a bit eccentric, not that it surprises me judging by the clothes he chose to wear tonight.

“But we’re going to fix that right now” he wiggles his eyebrows as he softly shakes the cocktail shaker he just found in one of the cupboards “so then, pay attention angel face,” it even sounds natural now, the way he says my new nickname “then you can tell these guys you did it yourself, you squeeze half a lime. It has to be half, yeah? Not more, not less. Then you add sugar and you mix them together and then you add the rum.” 

He starts literally giggling as he pours as much rum as he wants to and I laugh, surprised at his showman skills, no wonder he makes a living out of this.   

“What?” He asks, faking ignorance.

“How much rum are you supposed to use? You get all scientific with the half lime and then there’s no exact amount of rum? Which I reckon it’s the most important part?” 

He chuckles. 

“The most important part? Somebody drinks like a pirate here...” He grins. “No, there is, there is. But, angel face, when you’re a pro at making cocktails like me, you’ll be able to measure alcohol with just your very eyes.” He purses his lips and raises his eyebrows as if that would make him right and he makes me laugh. “Now, you shake it with the ice for 13 seconds” He smiles and I start to wonder if he isn’t making the whole thing up and he has never made a daiquiri before. Maybe this is not how you make a daiquiri at all. “Wanna do it?” 

“Oh, no, please. I’ll let the expert do the honours.” 

“Smart girl.” 

He grins and I giggle during the 13 seconds as he counts them out loud, his defined arms shaking the metal glass over his shoulders, his green eyes set on me. I notice they are greener at this close up distance than they had looked at the concert. 

“There you go...” He hands me the cocktail perfectly poured on my glass and looks into my eyes questioningly “I don’t think I got your name.” 

I knew it. The angel face times are about to end. 

“Jamie.” I give him a smile. 

He grins, offering me his hand to shake and I take it, once again feeling all his fans roaring through my veins. I think it’s funny that out of all the women in London he has come to shake my hand. I almost tell him I know nothing about him, just to make things clear. 

“Harry.” He says. Well that I knew. “It’s nice to meet you.” 

I hear Charlie calling my name from the living room so I turn my head towards the door and raise my voice asking her what she wants. If I wasn’t drunk, I would have probably noticed I am being rude, raising my voice at somebody else’s house as if it was my own, but I am drunk enough not to care about it. Harry is smirking when I turn to face him. 

Harry

Gee, she’s pretty even with her hair all over her face. She turned her head towards the door so fast that I was afraid she had given herself whiplash but she’s smiling back at me now so I reckon that means she’s okay. I chuckle at how excited she seems to be, even though her friend hasn’t heard her yelling. 

“She didn’t hear me.” She points out to me as if I hadn’t been in the room too.  

“Yeah I don’t know how she didn’t.” I tease her, but only because I like to see her blushing. 

I don’t have to turn my head to know the meat pie I popped in the oven is not ready yet but I’m fearing she’s going to say she has to go check on her friend because I don’t think I’m going to get the chance to just walk back towards her without looking like a creep if she goes to the living room before I do. She looks like she’s waiting for me to say something else and the thought that maybe she just doesn’t want to go either for some reason speeds up my heartbeat. We are just smiling at each other. 

“I’m... I’m gonna have to go check on her” she starts and I nod, pretending her words didn’t bother me. “Uh, are you coming?” 

I grin. So she doesn’t want to stop talking to me either. I look back at the oven- 12 minutes left and then my eyes met her hazel ones once again. 

“I am waiting for a meat pie.” I tell her and she scrunches her nose and gives me a weird look. “I am hungry, aren’t you?” 

“Yes but I wouldn’t have a meat pie now.” She says seemingly disgusted at my appetite. 

There was pizza on Chloe’s fridge too and vegan burgers but I’m not into that kind of shit. She had lots of vegetables too but I wasn’t about to cook a wok at 9 am so I decided on one of the many meat pies she had on the freezer. I tell Jamie there’s pizza too in case she’s hungry but she scrunches up her nose once again. 

“Okay what’s with you and normal food? There are vegan burgers too if you’re one of those people.” 

“Vegan you mean?” She chuckles. “No, I eat meat is just I wouldn’t eat it at this time of the night.” She says but something tells me there’s more to that than the time. 

“Well what would you have at this time of the night?” I grin because in my head I had pictured her eating something entirely different at this time of the night. 

I don’t really know why- I don’t even know this girl- but I’ve been thinking about her like that since I saw her earlier tonight. She was walking next to Gemma and even though she was nodding her head at my sister’s incesant talking, I knew she wasn’t listening. I don’t blame her though, Gemma can be a pain in the ass, and I bet she was telling her about that stupid dolphins show she made us watch in LA anyway so who couldn’t blame her for not being interested? But there was something about her that got my attention. She wasn’t paying attention at anyone at all. Moreover, I had been looking at her for most of the night and she hadn’t realized until her eyes accidentally bumped into me and the moment I looked at her she looked away and never looked back at me. 

I don’t want to sound like a self-centered guy, but I’m not used to having girls look at me once and not make eye contact. I don’t think she’s noticed either how Noah looks at her but I wonder if they have already slept together or he was just doing her on his mind. She just doesn’t seem to notice things. I bet she doesn’t know she frowns a lot when she’s thinking too, but I like her attitude. 

“I’d have ice cream.” She smiles. 

Okay, she’s cute. 

“Ice cream? What are you? 5?” 

She giggles before she rolls her eyes at me. I really like her attitude and then I catch her trying to see how much time left we need to wait for the oven to beep. I realize I actually don’t know how old she is. I look at the timer myself.

“There’s seven minutes left now.” 

“That’s barely any time at all.” 

She takes a seat on one of the stools in front of her. I’m glad she decided to stay, mostly because seven minutes more with me means seven minutes less with Noah so I smile at her. I’m so hungry seven minutes seem like a year. 

“Yeah well say that to all those poor people who had to spend seven minutes of heaven with someone with a bad breath.” 

She laughs and I can’t help but grin at my achievement. 

“Has that ever happened to you?” She asks. 

I shake my head. I have never played that game but I know it exists because Kaia has told me. I wonder if Jamie has ever played and for some reason the thought of someone spending seven minutes of heaven with her brings some sense of protectiong in me. I have no idea what’s going on with me. 

“How old are you?” I ask her. 

I know it’s a rather personal question and maybe it’s a little strange to ask such a thing at 12 am in Chloe’s kitchen to a girl I don’t know but I’ve been trying to figure it out myself and I have only gotten to the conclusion that she can’t be older than twenty-something but those are ten years of possibilities and I made her a cocktail so I think I’m entitled to know if I did something illegal or not. She looks at me as if she was weighing whether to tell me the truth or not.

“Twenty-one.” 

I think she’s being honest and relief washes over me the minute she tells me so I catch myself on the lie I just gave myself about wanting to know her age because I gave her alcohol. I can’t believe I’m considering having something with her but I have to admit I wanted her to be legal for different reasons than alcohol consumption. 

“And you?” 

“Twenty-five.” 

She almost frowns and I have to fight the grin that wants to stretch my lips. I might not know her but I know she’s considering whether I told her the truth or not. Why would I lie? She could google it anyway. 

“Do you live here?” 

I’m gladly surprised by her question and I know she’s surprised she asked that too. I would give her a hard time about it for frowning so much if I wasn’t afraid she might think she crossed a line and close off but for now it seems that she doesn’t mind personal and I could use that to my advantage. For a second I don’t know what she means by here because to be fair I am indeed cooking Chloe’s food and making cocktails in her kitchen so she might think I actually live in this house, but maybe she’s just asking whether I live in London and I like that’s something she has wondered because it might mean she’d want to see me again. 

“In London?” She nods. Good. “Uh, yeah. Well I mean, sometimes it’s hard to know where I live” I chuckle “I travel around a lot but... I guess if I think of home, right after Holmes Chapel I would think of London.” 

“So you’re from Holmes Chapel?” She seems interested. 

“Yes” I have a sip from my drink “I was born there but then I started singing when I was sixteen and moved to London.” 

“You moved on your own when you were sixteen years old?” 

She seems horrified by that and that makes me think she is close to her family. She might even still live with them and I find that endearing. I’m close to my family too. I moved away out of need really and I didn’t know how nice it was to live with my mum and sister until I went away. I nod. 

“I like London but there’s nothing like going back home and feel how old I am when I walk down the river where I used to go as a teenager.” 

She laughs and nods her head. 

“What about you? You’re from London?” 

I can tell by her accent she is, but she might as well just have been living here long enough for the accent to stick. I know a bunch of people who do that. It’s like Jeffrey, he starts aspiring the ts and the rs if we spend enough time in Machester. Jamie seems to ponder whether to lie again. 

“Yes.” 

“You don’t look like it.” I say, just to see her reaction. 

She frowns a lot and looks at me as if I had lost all common sense. It’s priceless. She’s so expressive. 

“And how is a London girl supposed to look like according to you?” She inquires, almost accusatorily.

I’m afraid she might give me a lecture about prejudice and stereotypes and how bad is to be biased but I grin and shrug. 

“Like Chloe.” I tell her. 

I love it when she frowns. 

“You mean rich and blonde and pretty? ‘Cause I’m just one of all three.” She jokes cheerfully and I can tell she’s waiting to see if I find it funny. 

I don’t cause it’s true. She is pretty and it kind of bothers me that she would think she could joke about that. I hate it when beautiful girls don’t know they’re beautiful. It’s not about being self-absorbed but rather not pulling themselves down. I’m not saying she’s perfect. Hell, I’m sure she’s got hundreds of flaws but being ugly is not one of them. I choose to tease her instead. 

“Oh, so you’re rich?” 

She rolls her eyes and I chuckle at her reaction but I’m afraid she might go to the living room if she takes it the wrong way. She doesn’t stand from her stool though, not even when the oven beeps and I turn around to open it. She looks at my meat pie with a disgusted expression and I wait for her to sass me after my teasing. 

“You’re not funny.” She shrugs and that only makes me laugh. 

“You’re right, I’m not. I’m just very honest.” I keep it up because I know she’s not taking it to heart. 

I’ve been flirting with her long enough for her to know I think she’s attractive anyway and the fact that she has chosen to stay in the kitchen with me instead of going back to the party with everyone else kind of tells me she might find me attractive too. She hums and nods as if she was waiting for me to elaborate. 

“Really?” She asks when I don’t. 

“Really.” I smile, cutting the meat pie in half just in case she wants some after all. “It’s like” I grab my half and blow on it hoping it would cool it down sooner. I’m really fucking hungry. “If you ask anyone out there” I’m thinking about Noah “if that dress makes your ass look fat they wouldn’t even think about it, they’d just say no so as not to hurt your feelings but if you asked me, I’d tell you the truth.” 

She is smirking at me and I don’t think she’s aware of what that’s doing to me. I don’t know why but I can’t help but smile too, her expressions are contagious. This time I can’t figure out what she’s thinking and man, I would give a finger away to know. I feel a little giddy, almost like a teenage boy, and I bite the meat pie so as to occupy my mouth on something. She just smiles. 

“You’re weird.” She blurts out and I laugh despite the fucking boiling bite of meat in my mouth. Maybe it wasn’t very smart to sunk my teeth that far away on the pie. 

“You’re really not going to ask me?” I laugh. 

“What?” She frowns. 

“If I think that dress makes your ass look fat.”

She frowns again but this time her lips betrayed her and curled into a smile. 

“Mmhmm.... No.” She shakes her head. “I know it doesn’t and you’re just looking for an excuse to check my ass out.” 

I already checked her ass out. Multiple times. But I just grin at her comeback. I guess I underestimated her when she joked about her beauty, she did because she knows she’s pretty and I like that she’s confident. I also like that she’s not afraid of calling me out or give me weird looks and that despite all that she’s staying here with me anyway. I offer her the rest of the meat pie but she just gives me a disgusted grimace.

“Ew, no” She frowns again making me laugh “Plus I know you’re burning your throat like hell with that.” She mentions making me laugh. 

She is smiling at me. She’s engaging without being too nice and I like that. I know she wouldn’t let me walk all over her or impose my interests over hers- she didn’t want meat pie and she said it and she even said she would have ice cream instead. I like that she’s not afraid to speak her mind when she disagrees with me and I know for a fact that she would kick me if I touched her inappropiately, which I would never do; hell, no; but it’s nice to know she’s that kind of girl. Shit, I like her. 

Her phone vibrates against the table and only then I notice it’s been there the whole time. I eat the other half of the pie after making sure she really doesn’t want any and nod at her to attend her phone. She texts whoever it is that texted her and I frown when I check the time. It’s almost one am so the thought of her boyfriend texting her is the most plausible one. 

“Hey” She looks up at me and I notice that amused spark on her brown eyes she just had a minute ago is gone. Damn it, she’s beautiful even when she’s concerned. “I have to go.” She smiles. 

No! I nod. 

“I...” It’s like she doesn’t know how to say goodbye to me. “I’m gonna go tell Charlie.” 

“Do you need a ride?” I offer.

“No” She shakes her head. “I’ll get an Uber.” 

Yeah, at 1 am, alone. No way. 

“No, you won’t.” I smile trying to ease this weird protective instinct that’s taking over me. “I’m leaving too. I’ll give you a ride.” 

“No, really, it’s 1 am, you... You don’t have to.” 

“Precisely because it’s 1 am” I insist “I’m not about to let you take an Uber alone.” She doesn’t say anything but I know she’s thinking of a way to decline my offer. “You can either let me drive you or make me follow your Uber until your house and then drive home.” I shrug. 

She rolls her eyes but I know I’ve won this one. 

“Let me tell Charlie you’re giving me a ride then.” 

I nod and wait for her by the door while I text Gemma I’m going home. God knows I don’t want to go back to that living room and pretend I like any of her friends other than Chloe who I can at least tolerate. I keep my hands on my pocket and rest my head against the wall. 

She tilts her head to the door silently telling me to move when she gets back and I even like that too. I seem to like everything she does. She walks next to me but somewhat far away as we make our way towards my car and I try to hide a smile as I see her looking around the different cars parked out here trying to figure out which one is mine. 

“So” she tells me “where’s your Porsche?” 

I laugh.

“Lamborghini then?” She raises her eyebrows. “Ferrari?” 

I can’t take it. She’s funny. I stop next to my black Range Rover and smirk at her and she smiles. I can tell she likes that I drive this car instead of a Porsche. Don’t get me wrong, I have a Porsche too, I just don’t drive it around London; but I won’t tell her that. 

“Safety over speed.” She appreciates. “I like it.” 

I chuckle as I open the door for her and she purses her lips and tilts her head to the side before she gets on the passenger seat. 

“So” I tell her as I sit on the drivers’ seat and start the car “where are we going?” 

“I’ll give you the indications.” 

I smile. She doesn’t want to give me her address just yet and I respect that. After all, she doesn’t really know me. I’m actually kind of proud that she would take these many precautions. It relaxes me to think she can keep herself safe. 

“Alright.” 

I turn on the radio and let Stevie’s voice fill the car as I take my eyes off the road for a second to glance at her and watch her reaction. None. I like watching her as Edge of Seventeen is playing. I lower down the volume and ask her. 

“Do you know who that is?” 

She looks at me. 

“You mean the singer?” 

I nod. 

“I’m not an idiot.” 

I smile. I like that she’s mouthy and I think her answer makes her all the more sexy. 

“Now turn left.” She tells me. 

I do as she says and keep bothering her. For some reason I want to hear her say her name, 

“So” I query “what’s her name?” 

“You think I don’t know who she is.” She throws her head back and laughs. “It’s not even like I need to know anything about music to know who she is. She’s fucking famous.” She chuckles. 

“You still haven’t said her name.” I grin. I know she knows who she is. 

“She’s Stevie Nicks and you’re an idiot.” 

I laugh at her reply again. I don’t get tired at listening to what she has to say. 

“So you like Stevie?” I ask her. 

If she says yes I’ll ask her to marry me before we get to her apartment. 

“Take the second exit at the roundabout and at the traffic lights turn left.” She indicates and I nod, hoping we’re still far away from her house. “And yes I do.”

“Who’s your favourite singer?” I can’t stop smiling. 

“It’s not you.” She jokes which makes me laugh. 

I didn’t expect her to say it was me anyway even though I would admit I would have loved it. 

“Alright.” I grin at her. “Then who is it?” 

It only takes her a second to answer and that surprises me. Most people always think about it long and hard as if they would ever give a right answer. I think she just said the first singer that crossed her mind. 

“Steve Perry.” 

But Gosh I really like this girl. 

“Uuuuh.” I nod my head. “Fair enough.” 

“Turn left on this next street and then at the gas station turn right. Then it’s all straight until you have to turn left.” 

I don’t recognize this part of town. It’s a residential area for families and I start to doubt whether she has taken me to a fake direction and now she’s just going to knock on some random family’s door so long as I don’t know where she lives. Something tells me she has made me take some wrong turns so I wouldn’t remember how to get to her house, wary angel face. 

“This is my street.” She says. “You can stop whenever you want now.” 

I see her eyes set on one of the house to our right so I drive up there and stop the car. She gives me a smile but I can tell she’s a little freaked out I got her house right. I smile. 

“Well” she starts “thanks for the ride, Harry.” She takes her seatbelt off. I smile and nod. “And for the daiquiri.” 

I laugh. 

“You’re welcome, Jamie.” I grin. “Can I ask you something?” 

“Yes.” She smiles. 

I weigh whether to ask her why she had said I wasn’t his favourite singer or the real question I want to ask her. I go with the second. 

“Do you have a boyfriend?” 

She smirks. I can tell she’s flattered and pleased I asked. I feel my heartbeat speeding up as I wait for her answer. She rolls her eyes and opens the door, getting out of the car.

“If I had a boyfriend I wouldn’t have spent most of the night in the kitchen watching you eat a meat pie.” She smiles through the rolled down window. 

I grin. I want to ask for her phone number but something tells me she won’t give it to me so instead I just wink at her and she rolls her eyes again. 

“Bye, Harry.” 

“Bye, angel face.” 

I can faintly hear her laugh as she walks to the door and I wait for her to get inside before I drive away. Something tells me I’m going to see her again. And if not, now I know where I can have a coffee and wait for her to appear. 

Part 2

[ohtheseboysilove]

Sexy panties to dirty nappies I/? [ Ben Hardy x F!Reader ]

Words : 3,100 K +

Warnings : language, surprise pregnancy

Summary : Reader is eight months pregnant. The only problem ? She just find out. Yep, pregancy denial. Now they only got a month to be ready for the baby. Ready...steady...go !

Note : I get this little idea popping in my head and I couldn’t take it off so, here is it. It’s not an angst fic this time, rather cute, fluff and fun. Ben and Reader gonna be freaking out about an upcoming baby that wasn’t planned at all. Enjoy and tell me what you think lovies !! (If you don’t know what a pregnancy denial is, basically you’re pregant but don’t know that, some women don’t notice until they are literally giving birth !! This is some scary shits, uurk) xx

Masterlist & Requests

@/ none of these gifs are mine xx

“Shit Ben, you’re such a dork” You snorted ridiculously as your boyfriend tried on your brand new pink panties, thigh and way too short on him. “Gimme that I need to get dress” You made grabby hands toward his muscular bottom on practically full display.

“Come and get it” He wiggled his eyebrows funnily, a cheeky grin covering his face.

“Ben...” You warned as you stood up, walking to this idiot, your idiot from the last three years with the firm attention to have back your knickers. “I’m already late Benny, come on” You pouted as he shook cockily his head, grabbing your waist and connecting your mouths together.

You sighed in the kiss, you could never be bored of the softest and sweet taste of his lips. His warm hands squeezed gently your covered butt but you pulled away, knowing where he was going with this not-at-all action.

“I wasn’t done with you yet” He grimaced as you tried to escape his strong arms, his lips travelling on your neck and hips rocking slightly against you, you could feel his bugle poking through your panties. “Stay with me today, I just come back from months away, need you” He whispered with a needy voice to your ear.

“Love, you know I would rather stay with you but I have this fucking important presentation today, I can’t miss work” You whined, his soft caresses making you weak on your knees. He definitively didn't make it easier for you.

Ben groaned against you but let you go eventually, taking off the panties and putting in it your hands, now fully naked. You bit your lips at this incredible sight, Ben was truly pleasant to look at. He caught your flushed cheeks and winked at you before going lazily back in bed. The blond lay down, sliding an arm under his head, showing a muscular biceps and his hard shaft was mocking you, god, you really wanted to stay here.

“Aren’t you suppose to get dress, doll ?” He teased you with a big smile, lazily scrolling on his phone as you stood there, thinking if you really needed this job after all. You sighed and showed him your middle finger before bending to slid your underwear on. A sharp pain hit you roughly in the back and you whined loudly, hand flying to the aching part of your body, jaw clenched harshly. “Your back is still hurting baby ?”

He crawled to you and gently cupped your face, his eyes full of concern.

“I’m fine Benny” You murmured through your teeth and slowly straightened your spine, a low whimper escaping your throat. “It’s nothing”

“You should really go to the doctor (Y/N), I’m serious, it’s been weeks” Ben rubbed softly your back as you slid – not without difficulties – your work pants. “I can take you when I pick you up tonight”

You walked painfully to your closet and picked a white blouse, cursing quietly at every of your movements.

“We not gonna miss our tuesday night for a sore back” You smiled through your pain and Ben rolled his eyes but grinned anyway. “I’m gonna kick your ass tonight love, be ready”

You both chuckled and the blond sighed deeply, coming to you and closing himself your buttons, his noses brushing softly with yours.

“You’re gonna lose tonight, like always baby” He smirked and pecked your pouty lips. “See you later, loser”

He closed the bathroom door as you put your shoes on, the clock ticking as you were running late.

“Don’t forget the shopping list I left on the table !” You shouted. “Love you Benny”

“Love you too !” You closed the front door and left for work. Finally.

You spent the whole drive to work thinking about your evening, tuesday night was the best when Ben was around. Basically both of you eat greasy food – burger or pizza – played video games, fucked then played again, beers and eventually some weed to go through the evening. It was a tradition, you and Ben used to do that when you were just friends – the fucking part aside – and nothing changed after you get together. You were still the same two dorks, but in love now. You really loved the life you had with Ben, you were twenty five and living your best life with someone as cool as Ben. Sometime your mom told you that you needed to grow up but honestly you were still young and wanted to have fun.

You didn’t know yet but your life was about to change brutally within few hours.

Everything was fine, Ben had send you a good luck text for your presentation and until now, you were killing it. It was only nine-something in the morning when the pain in your back came back, more violently than before. You tried to forget it and continued your job but the aching was brutal, tears were flowing down your cheeks and before someone could react you passed out.

When you woke up you were laying in a hospital bed, the annoying sound of a monitor buzzing in your ears. You blinked few times to adapt your eyes to the bright luminosity of the room and rubbed your temples, a headache muddling your brain.

“Good to see you awake miss (Y/N) (Y/L/N), I am doctor Davis” A middle age man with big and round glasses was facing you, his eyes going from the paper in is hands to the screen of the monitor.

“What I’m doing here ?” You mumbled, your throat dry and sore. You could have killed for a glass of water.

“Well, you fainted at your work, not long ago. Do you remember what happened Miss ?” You frowned, trying to clear your mind.

“I was doing my presentation then...my back...yeah my back was really painful then nothing”

The doctor cleared his throat and came closer to you, rubbing his chin slightly. “We found the reason for this pain in your back but it’s going to be...surprising for you”

“What do you mean surprising ? Am I going to die ?” You asked with a panicked voice.

The doctor chuckled softly and put a reassuring hand on your forearm, squeezed it lightly.

“(Y/N), you’re not going to die, I can assure you that.” You sighed deeply but you were still agitated, what was going on ? “Miss, your backache is nothing else than normal...because you’re pregnant”

Your eyes widened and you stared blankly at him.

“I’m pregnant ? But I’m taking the pill since like...forever, it’s–“You closed your mouth and internally freaked out, a baby ? You weren’t ready for that. “I can’t have a kid, I’m– we can’t...”

“I’m afraid, miss, that you have no other choice than to carry this baby until the due date” You frowned and for a second you were sure he was one of these doctor who were against abortion but the truth was even worth. “You did what we call a denial of pregnancy miss, you’re eight months pregnant”

Seeing a pig flying in the sky would have been less shocking than his words. And even making more sense, you know with the science’s progress, why not ? You shook your head and chuckled nervously, there were no chance you were carrying a child for eight months without noticing it.

“No, no, you...it’s impossible” You rubbed your flat stomach to prove your point. “I lost three pounds last month, I’m certainly not pregnant doc. I’m sorry but you’re probably not in the good room” You felt a bit better, yeah he was wrong, periods.

The man smiled softly and pinched his lips together, his voice was gentle like if he was talking to a kid :

“I know it must be a shocking new (Y/N), it’s the first time in my career that I personally work on a denial of pregnancy, I can’t imagined how you’re feeling right now but I promise, it’s real” Your confident smile faded at his very serious tone. “Now that you know about your condition, your body will react to it and probably in few days you will have an eight-months look and all the things which come with pregancy (Y/N). Morning sickness, swollen feet, sudden craving...”

You didn’t listen any other words he said. You eyes were glued to your bare clothed stomach, afraid that it will swollen in a minute. He showed you an ultrasound scan as a proof but your brain couldn’t simply process the information. Eight months pregnant. In less than a month you will be a mom. Hell, you already were a mom, the baby could pop up any time soon. What the fuck were you going to tell Ben ? And your parents ? Friends ? Work ? Fucking hell.

The rest of your morning was completely blurred, only doing tests and analyses, all the checking you were supposed to do during these eight months of pregnancy. And god you felt awful for this kid, you drank, you smoked and not only cigarette, you ate sushi and al these things you were not suppose to do as a pregnant woman...but could you be blamed for that ? No. But you still felt guilty. Most of your analyses came back positives and some others took few more days to have the results but apparently you and the baby were fine. Baby...still so unreal.

When they finally let you go, you found Ben in the waiting room, his face pale like he was about to pass out. But he didn’t know. The doctor swore that they didn’t say anything as it was a complicated situation, so it was your job now to tell him he is gonna be a father well sooner than expected. Sooner as less than a month.

“Baby, jesus christ, are you all right ? These fucking assholes didn’t tell me anything ! I was worrying sick !” He shoved you in his arms, his hands examining every inches of your face to make sure you were alright.”Your boss called me, telling me you passed out during your presentation, what happened ?”

He barely let you anytime to answer, his lips already kissing yours. Ben always been a touchy guy, he loved contact, holding hands, arms around your shoulders, fingers drumming on your thigh when he drive...And when he was worried, he won’t let go of you. Everytime you were sick, he was literally glued to your side, cooing at you like a mother hen or like this time you broke your ankle, he was ready to carry you all around the flat if you would let him. You loved this side of Ben so much but today you were so afraid to scaring him off with this unexpected pregnancy.

“I’m alright, love” You gently caressed his cheek, his face relaxing a bit at your gesture. “But...I have something very important to tell you” He frowned his eyebrows and his worries came back even quicker than before.

“What–“

You put a finger on his mouth, cutting short to his rambling and grabbed his hand.

“Not here, let’s talk in the car” He reluctantly followed you, his eyes burning hole in your head as he stared intensely at you, like you were about to fall dead at his feet in any second.

He opened the car and both of you jumped inside. You looked at your flat stomach, he wouldn’t believe you, how could he ?

“Baby, please tell me what’s going on ? You’re scaring me” He looked at you with pleading eyes and you felt guilty to make him worry like that.

“The doctor found why my back hurt me so much”

 Smooth beginning (Y/N).

As expected Ben’s face lit up with a relieved smile. “That’s awesome baby ! You’re gonna be alright then ?”

“I’m fine, it’s just...I...I’m pregnant Ben” You dropped – only half – of the bomb and watched your very interesting blue nails polish, all chipped. You really needed a good manicure.

“Alright...” Ben shook his head, his eyes wides and almost popping out of his head, doing his best to not completely freaked out. “We...have different options, I– what do you want to do ?” He grabbed your hands and you slowly looked at him, lower lip roughly pinched between your teeth. “If...abortion is still a option but...if you want to keep the baby, I can call my agent and...ask for more free time for you and the baby until–“

“Ben the baby is coming in a month” You stated bluntly. He tilted his head and then gazed at your flat belly before chuckling.

“Yeah sure (Y/N). If all of this it’s a joke I don’t–“

“It’s not a joke Ben !” You shouted, tears gathering in your eyes. You didn’t cry easily , both of you and your boyfriend seemed rather surprise. “Fucking pregnancy hormones” The blond kept his mouth shut, waiting for a rational explanation. “The doctor said I did a...a denial of pregnancy” He scratched his chin, nodding slowly and pretending he understood. You knew him like the back of your hand and his eyes were screaming that he had no clue about all of this. “Basically, my body completely ignored the fact that I was pregnant, still get my periods like everything was normal but in fact, I had a baby inside me for the past eight months, I’m not even a mother yet but I’m already the worst possible mom”

You hid your face in your hands, you felt so guilty about this tiny human, maybe already fucked up because of your actions. Ben’s hands slowly rubbed your shoulder but he didn’t say a word. The shock and fear painting all over his features. He drove both of you, or rather the three of you back home in a thick silence. Your and his mind were blinded with oppressing thoughts, most of people had time to prepare a baby arrival or could even decided about if they wanted a kid or not but you didn’t have this chance.

Ben held your hand as you walked to your shared flat but stayed in a deafening silence.

“Here, it’s the...the picture of the baby. He also gave me an envelope with the sex of the baby inside, if we want to know before the birth” You placed the ultrasound photo in his hands and locked yourself in the bathroom, you couldn’t bear his silence much longer.

He stayed mute. You felt the fear inside you growing even bigger. What if he left you ? A baby-bomb could be a good reason to run away but it was Ben...he would never do that to you or the...your baby. He won’t. He just needed time to process the information. After a long and hot shower, you looked at yourself in the mirror, more precisely to your belly. It didn’t look bigger than before. Or maybe yes. You turned on your side and softly touched it, definitively bigger. It also could be your mind tricking your eyes. It was only few hours since you knew about your pregnancy...but the doctor did say you will have a swollen belly around four days from today, probably. It was fucking scary and your emotional support also know as Ben, was actually out of service. Awesome. You still get your emergency emotional support and this one was always working, get four paws and soft fur, answering at the sweet name of Frankie.

You quietly reached for your room and put a comfy pyjama on then spotted the little fur ball on the bed, chilling like the princess she was. You grabbed her and cuddled her in your arms, her adorable scent of dog comforting you as you made your way to the living-room. To Ben.

He was in the sofa, his eyes glued to the ultrasound you gave him.

“Benny ?” You asked with a soft tone. “Please, can you say something ?” You sat next to him, keeping few centimetres between your two bodies. Something you didn’t do since your first date and all the doubts that go with.

He put the image on the coffee table and stood up brutally.

“I...I’m going to do some shopping. I can use some fresh air” He rubbed awkwardly his neck, looking everywhere rather than to you.

Your felt your heart race speeding up at these words. That was the cue, he was leaving you.

“Ben, please don’t do that” You grabbed his forearm, eyes watering at the though of ending all alone with this baby. “Don’t leave me, I can’t do that all by myself. I need you.”

His eyes widened at your words and his features immediately soften, his warm hands rubbing your wet cheeks.

“(Y/N), my sweet silly girl, I’m not going anywhere” He chuckled softly, his hands shaking slightly against your skin. “Well, I do need to buy some food for tonight, didn’t have the time this morning. Need more beer than I thought and soft drink for you, babe” You sniffled, wiping away your eyes and nodded slowly. “Sorry for my...lack of answer to this hum big new, I’m still processing the whole thing. But we are in this...uncommon situation together alright ?” He pecked gently your mouth before grabbing his keys car and jacket.

“’kay. You promise you will come back ?” You hated your weak voice, that wasn’t you at all but right now all you needed was to be reassured.

“I will” His tone sufficed to convince you. “Any food craving or is it too early ?” Both of your gazes fell on your flat stomach, waiting like the baby will answering by himself to his dad’s question.

“Don’t know for this baby but I wouldn’t object to a veggie pizza tonight” You shrugged. You didn’t fully understand you were pregnant, it was so unreal.

“Alright, I see you later” He smiled softly and disappeared behind the main door.

You slouched down in the couch, sighing deeply.

“Jesus fucking Christ” You rubbed your face roughly, this situation was the craziest that ever happened to you. You couldn’t believe your own body hid from you that you were carrying a tiny human. For eight fucking months.

Your mom gonna laugh so hard. You and Ben, a baby ? You weren’t ready for that, in few years of course but right now ? Not when your biggest achievement of your saturday night was too finish a bottle wine all by yourself without throwing up.

You and Ben had roughly more or less four weeks to be ready for a baby. Easy peasy, right ?

[artificialqueens]

Beneath the Amber Moon, Part 11 (Galactica AU Group Fic) – TheDane & Veronica

Heyyy!! Welcome to Part 11 of “Beneath the Amber Moon,” a group fic set in the Galactica Universe. Click here for previous chapters.

We hope you’re enjoying it! Let us know what you think!

Last chapter: In the midst of a chaotic night out, Bianca accidentally revealed Violet’s pregnancy news to Sutan. Here, the shit show continues...

/////

“Violet!”

Sutan called, his hands cupping his mouth, panic beating away in his chest. Juju had told him that Violet had gone outside, but she could be anywhere.

“Violet, where are you?!

“Here.” Sutan turned around, Violet coming around the corner. “I’m here…”

Violet wiped her eyes with the palm of her hand. She was holding an arm around herself, her lip bitten and swollen, her cheeks streaked with mascara and tears, and Sutan realised that he had seen Violet cry more on this five day trip than he had seen in all of their time in Paris.

“Are you okay?”

“What did she say?”

Sutan felt it like a punch to the stomach. “So it’s true? You’re-?” Sutan gestured vaguely towards Violet’s stomach, and she nodded.

“I’m so sorry Sutan.”

Sutan looked at her, really looked, and suddenly, it all made sense. He had seen the change in Violet, had seen the slight fill to her cheeks, how her ribs were less prominent, but he had simply assumed that Violet had simply eaten a little better, his girlfriend so happy at Dior that he had figured she was just less anxious.

“I didn’t want you to find out this way, I didn’t-”

“Bianca breaking the news was… Surreal.” Sutan raised an eyebrow, the entire situation so utterly bizarre he had no idea how to react, his brain halfway shut down. He knew he had to sound like a robot, that he was zooming in on a detail that didn’t even matter, but he couldn’t let it go.

“Say it.”

“What?”

“Say it. Please. I need to hear it from you.”

“I don’t know if I-”

Sutan reached out, his hands closing around Violet’s elbows. “Please.”

Violet looked up, her eyes meeting his, and Sutan could feel the anxiety radiating off her.

“I’m pregnant.”

His heart skipped a beat, and Violet was crying again, tears falling from her eyes.

“How long have you known?”

“This morning.”

“And you didn’t tell me?”

“I wanted to, I-” Violet grabbed Sutan’s arms, her voice carrying a hint of panic, and Sutan realised she was probably ready to spiral, but he had to know. “I promise I didn’t mean to hide it, I just couldn’t-”

“But you could tell Bianca?”

“I didn’t tell Bianca- I swear I didn’t- She just, I said no to a drink and she guessed and I-”

Violet was absolutely spiraling, his girlfriend breathing faster and faster. Sutan reached out, grabbing Violet’s neck, his palm easily covering the entire back. If anyone watched them from the outside, it probably looked strange, almost threatening, but Sutan knew it was the best way to calm Violet down, the touch grounding her like nothing else.

“Breathe. Baby.” Sutan moved his thumb gently caressing her collarbone. ”Breathe.”

“I didn’t tell anyone,” Violet took a deep breath through her nose, her shoulders falling. “I promise!” Violet grabbed his arm, her nails digging in. “I never meant-” Violet stopped, suddenly remembering something. “I… Actually... I did tell Courtney.”

Sutan felt taken by surprise, Courtney Act the last person he had expected Violet to confide in.

“You went to Courtney before you came to me?”

“I had to tell someone- I swear I- I bumped into her and she’s-” Violet hiccuped, her tears still falling freely. “Sutan I’m so sorry.”

“Please don’t say anything else.” Sutan felt nauseous, Violet’s apologies scratching his ears. His girlfriend was pregnant, and he had found out in the middle of a club. His girlfriend who had told him to his face that she didn’t want kids, was pregnant. The entire situation was unreal, Violet’s nails and the pain he felt from them the only reason he knew he wasn’t dreaming. “I don’t think I can-”

“No.” Violet tightened her grip on Sutan’s arm. “No. You have to, Sutan I know-” Violet took a deep breath, clearly and oh so desperately trying. “I... I should have told you but I don’t…” Violet looked down, her voice impossibly small. “Sutan I’m scared. I’m so scared, and I don’t know what to do.”

It washed over him like a bucket of water. Violet was holding onto him, treating him like a raft in shipwreck, clinging to him, trying not to drown. Sutan wrapped his arms around Violet, holding her tight, letting her seek the comfort she so desperately needed.

“We’ll figure it out.” Sutan kissed Violet’s hair. “We’ll figure it all out. I promise.”

/

Bianca continued to hand out drinks, drunk enough herself to be entirely oblivious to the drama she’d caused. She skipped Jinkx, saying, “I know you don’t want one,” getting a salute from the redhead in response.

Alaska reached forward, snatching one of the shots off the tray.

“I’ll take that!” she slurred.

“Alaska.” Jinkx attempted to stop her, gently touching her arm. “I think you’ve had enough.”

“Oh, have I?” Alaska snarled.

“Yeah, you can barely stand,” Jinkx said, trying not to roll her eyes.

Bianca made no such effort, eyes rolling so hard that it made her head hurt.

“Funny how you have no trouble policing my behavior,” Alaska said, stumbling over her words, speaking slowly to cover her obvious slurring, “But you’re totally fine with Adore over there grinding on that Brazilian slut-”

“Alaska-”

“No, it’s really fuckin’ rich!” Alaska said, throwing back the shot and then pushing away from Jinkx, making her way through the crowd. Clearly on a mission.

“Alaska! Baby! Wait!”

/

They had left the party without looking back, Sutan throwing his jacket over Violet’s shoulders after he had handed her his handkerchief. They had walked together, Sutan texting Raja with one hand to please bring Violet’s things back to the boat, his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. Sutan still couldn’t quite believe what he had been told, even the idea that Violet was pregnant seeming like something impossible to him. He had asked on the walk how it had happened, and Violet had looked at him, Sutan realizing with a woosh to his stomach that she had no idea. Violet was so diligent in everything she did, his girlfriend's attention to details impeccable, so when Violet had told him that she had to have missed a pill, though she wasn’t sure when and why, Sutan had no idea what to say, shame washing over him. It was his fault that they had even gotten here, Sutan merely muttering once that he didn’t enjoy being back to condoms during pillow talk, the simple comment sending Violet on a quest to find a French contraception that didn’t mess with her body. Sutan hadn’t expected it to be something that would take several months, but Violet’s internal system was like a well oiled machine, nearly unstoppable when she was up and running, capable of frightening things when she put her mind to it, but it didn’t take more than a few grains of sand to stop the gears completely.

They made it to the boat, Sutan leading them to their room, his world feeling like he was walking through a haze. He closed the door behind them, and Violet headed directly for the bathroom, the sink running almost immediately, Sutan hearing the sound of brushing coming through the open door.

He hadn’t seen Violet throw up, but he knew there was a distinct possibility that she had. Violet already suffered from anxiety, the diagnosis not one he had shared with his girlfriend, Sutan pretty sure she wouldn’t appreciate it at all. It shouldn’t surprise him that a nervous disposition and pregnancy didn’t mix terribly well, but his heart still clenched for Violet.

Sutan opened the door to the balcony, lighting a cigarette without even thinking. It was dark outside, small lights of ship sailing by moving in the horisont, the world still turning on its axis while everything in Sutan stood still.

Violet was pregnant, and even though she had told him in less than ideal circumstances, it had happened. Violet was pregnant, which meant it was something they had to deal with.

Sutan inhaled deeply, the smoke filling his lungs. He wished he could call his mom, wanted to hear her voice, wanted to talk to her. Needed to hear her advice, since he had no idea what to do, a feeling he wasn’t used to in his adult life.

Sutan heard a sound behind him, and he looked over his shoulder, just to see Violet stand there, her hand gripping the glass door as she leaned against it, her eyes watching him with an expression he couldn’t quite recognise. She had changed into nightclothes, a pair of sheer white lace shorts cupping the top of her thighs, but it was her shirt that made Sutan’s heart skip a beat, her upper body wrapped in one of his shirts.

“Hey.”

“Hey...”

Violet bit her lip, and Sutan smiled, her hesitation to come near so very her. Before they had broken up, it was something that had annoyed him, not often, but it had nagged away when he had wished that Violet wasn’t so... Well, Violet. When he had wished that she was easier to read, that he understood her more, that she could and would ask him when something bothered her.

“Come out here.”

Violet looked at his cigarette, the worry clear on her face, and Sutan was just about to snap at her, annoyance rushing through his body that she dared to judge him in that moment. He knew she despised his smoking, the habit the one that could tick Violet off like nothing else, though she never spoke of it.

Violet hadn’t had a problem the entire trip - had snuggled into his arms, had hidden her face in his neck and in his shirt, had breathed in his scent even if he had just come from outside, and that was when it hit him. The only difference between then and now.

“Holy shit.”

“What?”

Violet looked at him, surprise painted on her features.

“You care about this.” Sutan dropped his cigarette, stepping on it, the sole of his Armani shoe crushing the butt. “You genuinely care about the baby.”

/

Bianca handed more shots to Juju and Patrick, still watching the drama play out, Jinkx following Alaska through the throngs of sweaty dancers. She could see Alaska surprising Adore and Courtney, and their alarmed dance partners, throwing up her hands as she yelled something. Adore reeled back, then Courtney attempted to step in and got shoved out of the way.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Now Adore was squaring her shoulders, shouting back at Alaska, Courtney and Jinkx doing their best to hold them apart.

With one final wave of her hands, Adore stormed away, back towards the group, face screwed up like she was either about to cry or burn down a building in rage. After a few moments, Alaska wrenched her arm out of Jinkx’s grasp and flew after her.

Bianca had never seen them fight like this, and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t concerned.

“Hey, are you alright-” she began to ask her sister.

“I’m fine!” Adore barreled past her.

“Adore, I was talking to you!” Alaska screeched.

“No bitch, that’s enough!” Adore shouted. “We were having a good time, and if you can’t join in, then you can back the fuck off!” She began to stomp away again, with and aggravated huff and toss of her hair.

Bianca could see Alaska about to lunge towards her, and stepped in, grabbing her shoulders.

“Not everything is about having a good time, Adore!” Alaska yelled hoarsely, struggling against Bianca’s tight grasp. “Can’t you ever be serious?! For one fucking minute?!”

Adore whirled around.

“Yeah, I’m seriousabout not wanting to look at your face right now,” Adore said. She turned to Courtney, who was trailing them tentatively, and snapped her fingers. “Come!”

Courtney, ever the ride or die, was instantly at her side, helping her gather their things and then following her back down the steps, stammering out an awkward, ‘Uhhh...happy birthday,’ to Fame in the process.

Alaska began to cry in drunken, angry frustration.

“Let go of me!” she wailed, and Bianca pushed her down onto a sofa.

“Don’t touch my fucking sister,” she said, a her tone heavy with warning, causing Alaska to cry harder.

“She won’t,” Jinkx heaved a sigh, leaning against Bianca with a forlorn expression. “Now would be a really bad time to take my first drink in ten years, wouldn’t it?” she asked, and Bianca let out a loud guffaw.

“Man, what the fuck is this night?”

“I don’t know,” Jinkx said, shaking her head.

“...I assume that Xanax is also off limits?” Bianca kissed the top of her head.

“Yes. Sadly.” Jinkx sat down heavily beside Alaska.

“I’m proud of you, red. It must take an awful lot of willpower to live with those two sober.”

“It’s usually easier. They’re really trying me right now.”

“Well...want a ginger ale?” Bianca offered.

“Not really...but sure.”

Bianca flashed a grin and headed for the bar. After all that, she needed a double.

/

“Honestly, this is getting ridiculous!” Raven exclaimed, stomping over to where Raja and Karl were standing, the two of them bent over Karl’s phone, Raja’s long grey hair free and absolutely delicious. Raven was tipsy, and under any other circumstances she would have wrapped herself around her wife, ran her finger through the hair she so rarely got to play with, tease and taunt Raja until she got fucked in the bathroom, but here and now, she was only pissed.

“What’s getting ridiculous, princess?” Raja asked, sipping her drink calmly, her brow eyes watching Raven with amusement.

“The two of you!” Raven pointed at one, and then the other. “Are plotting something!” Raven stomped her feet. “Tell me what’s going on!”

“It’s really no big deal,” Karl said, shrugging his shoulders though he quickly showed his phone in his front pocket, the position making sure that Raven wouldn’t reach for it, the risk of touching Karl’s dick far too great.

“If it’s no big deal,” Raven hissed, getting all up in his face, her nail inches from his nose, “Then fucking tell me!”

Karl looked at Raja, who sighed and threw her hair over her shoulder.

“Karl thinks that he might be able to get me some modeling offers. But nothing’s sure, so I wasn’t going to say-”

“I fucking knew it!”

“Yeah, because I said it in front of you.” Karl reminded her. “No one is keeping secrets here,”

“Please don’t be mad princess.” Raja reached out, gently booping Raven’s chin. “I just didn’t want to have a discussion until there was a real offer.”

“Which there will be, tomorrow,” Karl said, holding up his hand for a fist bump, his drunken brain thinking it was a genius idea. Raja ignored him, keeping her fingers on Raven’s chin.

“Oh?” Raven moved her head, violently shaking Raja’s hand off of her. “So I retire,” Raven pushed Raja’s shoulder. “have your babies,” Raven pushed her again, “and suddenly you’re back in the game? You’re back to being a fucking model?”

“Baby, what are you-”

“Ugh!” Raven threw her hands up, spun on her heel and stomped away, leaving only anger behind, though Raja was sure she also saw tears.

“What the fuck is her problem?” Karl frowned, clearly not knowing Raven anywhere near as well as Raja did.

“I don’t know,” Raja bit her lip, “but I have a feeling it’s about to be mine too.”

/////

Fame was furious. It was her birthday night, and if there was one thing the night hadn’t been, it was about her. It seemed like everyone had some sort of drama going on, people fighting everywhere she looked, except Juju and Detox, who were disgustingly happy, the two of them slow dancing together on the dance floor, Detox feeling Juju’s ass up without a care in the world. Sutan and Violet had disappeared after Bianca’s little shit show, who had gone from her normal mean drunk with an extra side of bitch, to blackout in the last half hour. If Fame wasn’t already so irritated with her, she might have been worried. Then there was the stupid fight between Adore and the usually well-behaved Alaska, the blonde so out of control towards the end that Fame found herself scanning the club for the nearest security guard. Jinkx had kept it under control, Karl simply watching it all burn and Raven was nowhere to be found either. When Fame had tried to capture Raja’s attention, her friend had barely been able to focus on her.

Another year had passed, and no one had even considered to light a sparkler, sing happy birthday for her, or even order her an extra large, incredibly intricate and fancy drink.

Fame sighed, a headache threatening to burst out of her skull. Sometimes she wondered why she even bothered.

The only part of the night that felt right, had felt right the entire way through, was Patrick, her husband wrapping her jacket around her, kissing her cheek, taking her hand and Fame felt a rush of gratitude as he took her from the club.

/////

Sutan couldn’t really explain how they had moved from the balcony to the floor beside the bed, the whole thing happening so fast, Violet practically crumbling before he eyes the moment he had told her she cared.

“Violet...”

Sutan touched Violet’s back, his girlfriend’s knees drawn all the way up to her face, her arms flung over her legs, holding them tight. She didn’t flinch away, instead leaning all the way into his touch, and Sutan moved her a little, Violet practically falling against his side, her legs falling down, until she was fully supported by Sutan, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I care…”

“What?” Sutan could barely hear her, and he wanted to make sure he had heard right, that he had understood what Violet said.

“I care, but I..” Violet looked up at him. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I don’t either.” Sutan touched Violet’s face, gently cupping her chin. Violet didn’t freak out, didn’t start hyperventilating, and Sutan felt a fraction of the pressure on his shoulders lift.

“I’m scared, and I...” Violet stopped, and Sutan waited, his girlfriend pressing her face against his neck. “I’m scared but I…” Violet gently touched Sutan’s chest. “I’ve seen how you are with..”

“With who?”

“Tanya and Isolde.”

Sutan stopped breathing for a second, unsure where the conversation was going.

“You’re so good with them, and I... I think you could make a really good dad.” Violet pulled back. “You’re a good man Sutan. Better than I deserve. Better than-” Violet bit her lip. “You’re kind, you’re caring, you’re… You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me…” Sutan could see Violet’s face, see her eyes, see the set of her lips and the worry in her gaze, but most importantly, the love. “I don’t know what to do, but I know...” Violet touched Sutan’s leg. “I know that you would be a fantastic dad.”

Sutan kissed Violet’s forehead, his girlfriend closing her eyes. He didn’t know what to say, but he knew that they would figure it out together.

[tommyparkerr]

Promises BONUS I | Peter Parker x Reader

So, it’s not absolutely necessary for you to have read my series Promises before reading this, but I would highly suggest it! (You can find all the links in my masterlist located in my bio!) Plus, I’d be the happiest girl in the world if you did. :) For everyone who HAS read it, I hope you enjoy the first of the many bonuses I have planned. Ask and you shall receive!

Also, I kinda sorta am entering this as an entry to my own writing challenge? I took a prompt from it because I realized this fic had the exact same line, so...yeah. Join my Fix The Endgame Irondad Writing Challenge! I’m in desperate need of Irondad as of late for...*clears throat* obvious reasons. It’ll be fun, plus you get to add to a healthy dose of Irondad if you do! Check out my post for details :)

Prompt: “Take it back.”

Words: 3.2k

Warnings: No more angst, just fluff (hence why I’m writing the bonuses)

-Masterlist-

P R O M I S E S  -  B O N U S  O N E :

Three months later...

“Are you sure you’re ready?” Peter asked you for the tenth time today as he loaded up your things into the car. 

“Peter, we’ve been over this,” you said with a smile and roll of your eyes. 

He pursed his lips. “I know, but...I just wanna make sure, ya know?”

You took a step closer and cupped his face, bringing it down to plant a small kiss on his lips. “Peter,” you said quietly, your thumb stroking his cheek, “I’m ready.”

He nodded with a sigh. “Okay, I get it. I’ll stop asking.”

You giggled and pecked his nose before lowering back down to the ground. “We already told May, hun. We’ve got to tell them before she does or we’ll both be dead.”

“She said she’d keep it a secret!” Peter argued. “Is that the only reason you’re doing this?”

“Peter, honey,” you laughed, “you know your aunt is actually a terrible secret keeper, right?” Peter grumbled in acknowledgment but didn’t reply, leading you to go on. “And no, that’s not the only reason I’m doing this. I want to do this, Peter. It’s been four months now. Besides,” you said with a shrug, “I won’t be able to keep hiding my bump for much longer. I’m actually surprised no one has figured it out already.”

At that, your husband’s face lit up and he moved to kneel in front of you. His hand lifted your shirt just enough to lay a hand on the bare skin of your small-but-there baby bump.

“Hey, baby,” Peter said, his lips parted into a smile. “We’re going to Grandma and Grandpa’s house soon and we’re going to tell them all about you. So please don’t get too scared if you hear yelling or someone you don’t know yet touches you, like Grandma May did yesterday when we told her. They’re just excited, bug.”

As he continued to speak to your baby, your heart seemed to grow and your entire body seemed to warm. You couldn’t help but lay a hand over Peter’s as a smile broke out on your face, too.

“Hey, Peter?”

He looked up finally, his eyes twinkling in pure joy. “Yeah?”

“I love you.”

Peter’s grin grew larger, and he let your shirt drop back down as he stood to kiss you. “I love you, too,” he said just before his mouth met yours. 

After a few minutes of soft kisses, you gently pulled away and leaned your head against his chest. “We’re going to be late.”

“As if Tony’s ever been on time.”

“We are going to his home, Peter,” you giggled. “He doesn’t need to be on time.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Peter sighed, stepping back and moving toward the front door. “Why do you have to be so smart all of a sudden?”

You watched as Peter’s face fell after processing what he’d just said. A sick sort of smugness rose up in you (because years ago he wouldn’t have even realized the weight of his words and now, after spending a prolonged amount of time with you, he so clearly does), and when Peter turned to face you he was met with raised eyebrows and pursed lips. 

“Would you like to rephrase that, honey?” you asked with a small smirk, crossing your arms and tapping your foot for dramatization. 

Your husband swallowed. “You’re the most intelligent, most kind, and most beautiful woman I ever could’ve dreamed of, you always have been, and I’m an idiot?”

At hearing his response, you couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. You attempted to hide it, but maybe it was better you failed; otherwise, Peter may have gone into a stress-induced seizure. 

“Wait—you’re not mad?” the brown-eyed boy asked, blinking in surprise. You just giggled again, going up to him and reaching under his arm to open the door. Peter stumbled after you, locking the door to your apartment and fumbling for the other set of keys stuffed inside his coat pocket so he could unlock the car before you reached the doors. “Were you just messing with me? Y/N? Y/N!”

Your only answer was laughter.

---

“That wasn’t very nice, you know,” Peter grumbled as he parked. “Giving a man a heart attack at the ripe age of twenty-four is neither helpful nor desirable.”

“You’re still on that?” you laughed. “Peter, that was like”—you checked your watch—“an hour and a half ago!”

“What? I’m supposed to recover from a near-heart failure in an hour and a half?!”

You laid a hand on his, shaking your head and chuckling to yourself. Going along with the joke, you said, “Your healing factor will kick in soon enough. Spider-Man, remember?”

Peter grumbled something to himself and got out of the car, coming around to your side to open your door and help you out; your belly may not have been big yet, but it was growing and it was different and it was just enough to sometimes throw your already terrible balance off-kilter.

“I love you, Spider-Man,” you said softly, standing on your tiptoes to kiss his cheek. 

Peter hummed, annoyance apparently forgotten, and pulled you into his side, kissing the top of your head. “Spider-Man loves you, too.” 

You smiled and settled into a comfortable silence as you walked toward the compound. It didn’t last long, however. 

“Well...most of the time.”

He’d said this jokingly, but after being shoved into a nearby wall Peter chose to point out much more seriously how ‘surprisingly’ strong you were for a girl. 

You raised your brows. Peter gulped. 

And thus began heart attack number two for the day. 

---

“How’s work, Y/N?” Pepper asked as she continued working on whatever dish she was making tonight.

Before you could answer, Peter grinned and said, “She got the promotion.”

Pepper dropped the wooden spoon she was using out of surprise. Luckily, Tony had anticipated it and snatched it up before it hit the ground. 

“You what?” 

You bit your lip to hide a large grin. “Yeah. Yeah, I got it.”

Pepper blinked a few times. “But you didn’t even tell us you were applying for it! I mean, you told us about it and you told us that it had a lot of good benefits and you told us you’d be interested in it, but you also told us the position wouldn’t even open up until whoever held the position retired in a few years!” You opened your mouth to try and explain that that particular person had retired early and referred you to take their place, but before you could Pepper shook her head and swept you into a hug. “Nevermind all that—I’m so happy for you!”

You smiled and returned her hug, knowing it wouldn’t be the last emotional one tonight but not revealing anything that would let Pepper know that. Peter grinned from behind you, eyeing Tony and sharing a contented look with him. 

“She said it, kiddo,” Tony said with a surprisingly genuine smile when Pepper stepped away. “We’re happy for you.” You accepted his hug and hair ruffle as if you were his own kid; and, you guessed in the same sort of way that Peter was his son, you were his daughter. 

“Thanks, old man,” you grinned, ignoring the scoff he gave you in return. 

“Well, I just have to let this simmer for a bit, so if you’d like we can move to another room while we wait,” Pepper said cheerily. 

“That’d be great,” Peter quickly accepted, knowing your back was probably starting to ache and comfortingly but inconspicuously rubbing it as he led you to your favorite couch in the sitting room. You held back a sigh of relief as you sat down; you had expected to experience some back pain, as it was one of the most common symptoms during pregnancy, but you hadn’t been expecting to experience it this early. 

“What about you two?” you asked. “Is there anything new with you?”

Tony waved a hand as if to dismiss the topic at hand. “You know, even with one of us being an Avenger slash one of the universe’s mightiest heroes and the other being CEO of the world’s most successful enterprise, we haven’t seen much excitement lately.”

Pepper rolled her eyes. “I think what my husband means to say is we’d love to hear more about this promotion you’ve worked so hard for.”

Peter managed to cover his laugh with a cough, but you couldn’t hide your small smile in time. Tony grinned at your reactions and leaned back into the couch, crossing his arms behind his head. 

“Well,” you started when you were sure you weren’t going to laugh as soon as you opened your mouth, “I do get a lot more vacation time with the promotion, along with the option to work from home on days I’m not really needed in the office which is something I’m really looking forward to. It seems unreal, but I guess with great responsibility comes great power...or something.”

“Yeah,” Peter said, catching on with an eye roll and an amused shake of his head. “Or something.”

You grinned.

“How many days of paid vacation do you get, then?” Pepper asked next, eyebrows furrowed in concern. 

“Fifteen,” you answered. “But I’ve only been working there five years, so when I make it to ten years it then goes up to seventeen, and when I make it to twenty years I get twenty days. But that’s not including the sick or extended maternity leave.”

“Extended maternity leave, eh?” Tony spoke up with a twinkle in his eye. “You’re already figuring out how to cheat the system—I like it.”

This time Pepper pushed Tony aside until he was forced to fall sideways into the cushions, and it’s a good thing she gave that so much attention because if she hadn’t, she and Tony would’ve seen the look you and Peter had shared with each other and put the pieces together before you could reveal it yourselves. 

“We’re, uh, thinking of taking advantage of some of that vacation time here in about six months or so,” Peter started. “I get eleven days a year, so I’d still have some leftover by the time I went back to work.”

“Oh, good!” Pepper exclaimed. “You two deserve a break! Where are you going? New Zealand? I know you’ve always wanted to visit New Zealand!”

“Pep, you obviously haven’t heard the way this kid talks about England—they’re definitely going there,” Tony said, sitting back up.

Ignoring him, Pepper went on. “Or Thailand! I’ve heard you talk about Thailand a lot! And you eat Thai all the time—not that I blame you.”

Tony was about to open his mouth again to probably throw another guess into the conversation, but Peter interrupted before he could. “Actually...we were thinking something a little closer to home.”

“Okay, so Pepper was wrong,” Tony said, acting as if he hadn’t proposed an overseas country as well. “So...what? The Bahamas? Hawaii? Hell, Alaska?”

“No,” you said, taking the lead with a smile. “Home. We’re going to take a vacation at home.”

It was almost comical, the looks of confusion that appeared on their faces. It was something you rarely saw, and rarer more when it came from both of them. 

“Home,” Pepper repeated slowly, testing the word out on her tongue. “Okay, and what exactly does that mean?”

“It means,” Peter said, interlacing your fingers, “that while we appreciate the joke about cheating the system, Y/N didn’t get the promotion with extended maternity leave until after we found out.”

Silence. You gently laid a hand on your lower abdomen where your bump was slowly starting to show for emphasis, in case they hadn’t caught on. 

More silence, and then-

“Take it back.”

“Tony!” Pepper exclaimed, her eyes wide and blown up with mortification as she smacked him on the chest. 

“What? Being a dad makes me old enough, but a grandpa?”

You hid the smile on your face at Peter’s troubled expression. You knew Tony was joking, but Peter was a sensitive person who often took things too literal and everyone in the room (but Peter) knew it. 

“Seriously, Pep! I’m too young for this!” Tony was smiling, laughing at his own humor, but Peter didn’t see. He was too busy looking down at his lap. After that, one look from Pepper got him shutting up pretty quickly. “Kid,” Tony said more seriously now at seeing the look on his son’s face, standing up and taking a few steps forward to clap his hands on Peter’s shoulders, “I’ve never been prouder.”

Peter sagged in relief and threw his arms around his mentor-turned-father-figure. You didn’t even try to fight the hormone induced tears that came with the scene. Pepper smiled at you understandingly and made her way over, wrapping you in a gentle hug and whispering a small but heartfelt congratulations in your ear. 

By the time you broke apart you realized Tony was rambling in the kitchen while ‘cooking’ dinner, Peter obviously not listening to a single word. He was rather watching you with a loving smile and his own set of tears in his eyes, accepting Pepper’s hug and kiss on the cheek as she repeated Tony’s words and hurried to go fix whatever dish Tony was probably on the verge of ruining. 

Peter sat you both down again and scooted close, grabbing your hands and resting your foreheads together. “This is really happening,” he whispered softly in something resembling disbelief. “We’re having a baby.”

“We’re having a baby,” you repeated, letting your eyes fall shut at the odd sense of warmth that ran through you at the words. 

“Kid, are you even listening to me? This is important stuff, I'll have you know!” Tony’s voice floated in from the kitchen, making both of your grins enlarge. 

“Yeah, yeah! I’m listening, Dad!” Peter lied with a laugh as he pulled his head away from yours, letting you rest against his shoulder. 

“That’s what I thought! Now, I better be the only grandpa on this side of the family! You better not be asking Steve to be anything but an uncle; the same goes for the rest of the team! And while we’re on the topic, I still stick with my belief that ‘grandpa’ makes me sound old and uncool. I’m thinking Pops? Is Pops good with you guys?”

You couldn’t help but laugh into Peter’s shirt at Tony’s way of showing enthusiasm.

“Grandpa Pops! Got it!” Peter replied. 

“Watch it, Parker! I will resign from my grandfatherly position, effective immediately, if your kid calls me Grandpa Pops!”

Peter had nothing to say after that, only joyful laughter escaping his lips. You lifted your head and mindlessly brushed a stray curl off of Peter’s forehead. 

“I don’t know,” you quietly said with a small shrug and mischievous grin. “I think Grandpa Pops has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?”

“The day our little girl calls Tony ‘Grandpa Pops’ is the day hell freezes over and he kills us both,” Peter responded with a chuckle. 

“Little girl?” you repeated quietly, your heart skipping a beat at Peter’s slip up. 

Peter blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. “I, uh...yeah.”

A soft smile tugged at your lips. “Did your spidey senses tell you that, too?”

His cheeks turned even darker, but his smile grew. “No,” he replied. “Just a feeling.”

Your heart jumped again and you pulled Peter down for a kiss, ignoring Tony’s one-sided attempt at a conversation. 

“I think it’s a girl, too,” you whispered with a smile against his lips. Peter grinned at that and pulled you in for another kiss, one hand delicately cupping your face and the other resting protectively over the small bump that would soon be your entire world. 

“Hey, as long as that baby’s around we’re keeping it PG in this household!” Tony scolded, and you giggled, pulling away from your husband’s lips. 

You expected Peter to blush and stutter like he always did when you were caught showing PDA, so you were caught by surprise when he instead rolled his eyes, said, “Oh, screw off, old man,” and kissed you again, this time lasting much longer than before. It was your turn to blush, but that soon went away along with Tony’s indignant sputtering as Pepper led him back into the kitchen. 

Now it was just you and Peter and baby—your baby—and with another skipping of your heart, you realized this was your future. Not nervously listening for knocks on the door that would no doubt tell you your husband was dead. Not failing to calm down your crying child because they just wanted their dad and didn’t understand why he hadn’t held them in so long. Not figuring out how to be both a single mother and a widow in mourning.

No—your future was filled with tender kisses and ‘I love you’s and bright smiles in the mornings, fake gags when your child saw your tender kisses, sleepy yawns as they responded with ‘I love you, too’s, and giggles as they ate the Mickey Mouse shaped pancake on their plate. 

“What are you thinking about?” Peter murmured, and it wasn’t until he said something that you noticed you’d stopped kissing him. You wondered how long he’d been watching you. 

“Our future,” you responded quietly with a small smile. 

A smile spread over his lips too as well, and he raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah,” you breathily laughed, looking into the brown eyes you were determined to love for the rest of your life. You raised a hand to brush over his cheek, letting yourself memorize the feel of the smooth skin. “Our future.”

Peter took your hand from his cheek and interlaced your fingers, lowering them down to his lap. He placed a small kiss on your forehead, then on the tip of your nose, then slowly connected his mouth to yours. “Our future,” he whispered against your lips. “I think I like the sound of that.”

“Yeah?” you said with a grin, your eyes fluttering shut. 

“Yeah,” he confirmed, moving your interlocked hands to rest over your stomach. “Our future: you, me, our little girl, and whatever impossible things life decides to throw at us next.”

“Like calling Tony Grandpa Pops?” you grinned

Peter chuckled and closed his eyes, brushing his nose against yours. “I love you, Y/N Parker.”

Even after two years of marriage your heart still jolted at being called the Parker name, and, quite frankly, you didn’t think your reaction would be any different sixty years from now. Because sixty years from now you would still love Peter as much as you did yesterday and still be wondering what you did to deserve such a pure, beautiful soul. Because sixty years from now your children would be all grown up and you’d be left with much, much more than what you have now, and your love for your husband would have multiplied tenfold over the years. 

Because sixty years from now you’d both be in your rocking chairs sitting the same way you are now, saying your ‘I love you’s knowing that each one could be your last but not regretting a single thing. 

“I love you, too, Peter Benjamin Parker,” you whispered, your eyes closing and your hand squeezing his. “I love you, too.”

---

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