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footygirl114 · 5 months

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Soldado (Alexia Putellas X Reader)

One of the prompts inspired me, so here ya go. It's definitely rusty but please let me know what we think!

Prompt: “Don’t just say that and then walk away!”

Walking up to the front door of the Putella’s home was one the most nerve wracking experiences you have ever experienced in your first 18 years of life. This home had become your sanctuary in the last 3 years, the family had taken you in and made sure you were loved and cared for and in return all you did was ruin the best and only friendship you ever had.

You had grown up with an absent mother and a drunk father, to say your childhood had been rough was an understatement. You were able to fend for your self by the age of 6 and you knew to hide whenever your father came home after 8pm. When he wasn’t drunk he was a half caring father, but you could never shake the black eyes and bruises you learned to hide. The only good thing he ever did for you was to make sure by the age of 15 you had been a good enough football player to be in the training with the Espanyol team.

This is where you met Alexia Putellas, she was this young superstar but she still befriended you. It didn’t take her long to see through the lies of where the bruises came from, and one late practice where you avoided going home she got you to spill the truth. From then on she made sure that holidays, school vacations, and everything in between you were invited to stay with her family.

Her mom became like a mother you never had, and Alba was the sister you never had. But Alexia she just always remained Alexia, you never knew what that meant until you turned 18. You had finally realised that she was more than just anything to you, and that you were madly in love with her. Never being able to keep a secret from her, you confessed your feelings to her 3 weeks ago and you haven’t heard from her since she walked away without responding.

Which brings you back to today, trying to work up the courage to knock on the door of the only place you would ever consider a home ready to say your goodbyes to the family you wish you still had. The last 3 weeks have been a whirlwind, and it took your drunk father almost breaking your arm and sending you to the ER to finally realise you needed to get out. You had walked the streets of Barcelona aimlessly trying to find a solution, and when the universe showed you a sign you jumped at it.

Shaking your head you gained the courage to reach up and knock at the door of the house. While you wait for someone to answer you hope that you can get this out without breaking down.

When the door opens you come face to face with Alba and you say softly “Hola, Albs.”

Alba smiles softly and leans against the door, blocking your way in, and she asks “what are you doing here Y/N?”

“I need to talk to Ale” you tell her deciding not to drag this out.

She crosses her arms over her chest and asks “Why would I let you do that? She shut down and hasn’t said anything for the last weeks and we haven’t seen you, you must have hurt her Y/N.”

Shaking your head you tell her “I never meant to do that Alba, but I promise I just need to tell her one thing and then I am gone.” You know you sound like your begging and you hope the desperation in your voice helps.

Before she can respond Alexia shows up at the door behind her sister and says “Alba its okay I got it.”

Alba turns and looks to her and then turns back to you and says “if you hurt her again I will hurt you.” She finishes with a glare and then moves back into the house.

Alexia steps outside on the porch with you and softly shuts the door. You take a moment to take her in, knowing this will be the last time you may see the women who has your heart. She’s in her most comfortable state, a pair of footy shorts, a soft hoodie (you note is one of yours) and barefoot.

You both stand there in silence for a minute and she finally breaks it and says “I am not ready to talk to you about it.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I came here to tell you one thing and then I will be out of your hair, you wont need to worry about avoiding me” you tell her softly.

“what? Y/N whats going on?” she asks softly stepping closer to you.

You take a step back and say “I’m leaving, I quit the team and I joined the army. I know you don’t understand it but I need to not be here anymore, and I need to do something thats for me, and will ensure I get away from him.”

She stares at you and doesn’t say anything but a soft “Y/N.”

“No, don’t do that, this isn’t about you this is for me. I love you Alexia and I will always be in love with you but I cant stay on the side line of my own life anymore, I need to become the best person I can be and get out from this dark cloud that is hanging over here. Its for the best, I cant wait to see you become the superstar I know you will be, but I cant do that here, watching it and knowing that you don’t love me back, that you aren’t in love with me. So this is goodbye Ale”

You slowly move down the stairs and move to wipe the tears under your eyes, and you make it to the end of the walkway when she moves and says “Don’t just say that and walk away from me Y/N! Thats not fair.”

You pause and turn your head towards her and says “what’s not fair is losing everything I have ever wanted because I have never been able to lie to you, I am doing something for me and you have to understand that.”

You don’t let her add or say anything else as you turn your back on her and move to your car, you hop in and start the engine driving away to your new life without looking back.

8 YEARS LATER

After 8 years of being a proper solider and training to better your self, you were finally able to settle down, and of course Barcelona would always have a hold on your heart. During your basic training your superiors noticed how easy it was for you to learn and communicate in many languages, add in that you knew how to fight and take it hit it made you the perfect soldier for a special ops team.

During your 8 years of active duty you spent 3 tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and other War torn countries. And when you were not on tour you were either in the UK or the USA learning and bettering your skills to be a better help for the team. It was a long 8 years of constantly being on the go and when an offer came up to go back to Barcelona and be no longer on active duty you took it.

They wanted your skills to help teach younger inexperienced soldiers and you craved the freedom and your bones ached for a stable home for your self. The Barcelona Police force hired you and were more than happy to have you work for them and also assist the army in their training.

Barcelona was where you had your own personal demons, and you knew after 8 years of running it was finally time to slow down and face those demons head on. It helped you were much stronger and mentally tougher then when you were 18 and you knew you needed to face them head on.

What you didn’t expect was to have to face one of them only a month into your new life in Barcelona. You had been out on patrol with your partner and were called to an assault at one of the smaller beaches in town. You got out of the passenger seat of the car and did a scan of the surroundings and you noticed a small crowd gathered at the edge of the sand and one person lying on the ground.

You met your partners eye and you both walked over, you with your military training on high alert, one hand on the hilt of the gun at your hip, your eyes roaming the surroundings. When you got closer to the crowd you almost stopped, when you noticed who was standing off on the edge of the crowd but you pushed through when you saw the guy on the ground get up and start to run at someone else in the crowd. You and your partner both sprang into action and got in between them and the guy you were holding tried to take a swing at the other and you easily subdued him and had him on his back with his hands locked behind his back in the blink of an eye.

Once he was secure with the handcuffs on your hip you hopped up and hauled him up with you, you turned and met your partners eyes who nodded at you and had his guy also in cuffs. He turned to the crowd and asked for any witnesses to what happened, as you moved your guy to the car and sat him in the back seat.

You sat him down and asked him his side of the story. After listening to his side you closed the door and left him in the car as a second patrol car rolled up for the second guy. You nodded to them and mentioned the guy int he back of your car and you walked back to the crowd. You took a deep breath and readied your self to face the first of your demons.

“Who’s next to be interviewed?” you asked your partner as you walked up beside him, and he pointed to the group of 3 girls to the left.

Moving towards them you introduced your self “Hola, I am Officer Y/L/N and I will need to see your IDs and then I can take your statement.” They all handed their IDs over and as you were matching them and recording their names and information you couldn’t help but take a peak at the women who held your heart.

You hadn’t seen her since that day 8 years ago on her mothers front steps, you had followed her career and you knew she was in the middle of a miracle season and she was on track to win everything. Seeing her on the computer screen through a grainy stream wasn’t the same as seeing her in person. Just looking at her was slowly igniting that spark inside you that you thought you had buried 8 years ago.

“Can one of you tell me what happened?” you ask them ready to take notes and keep this professional.

“so basically, we were lying here and the guy in your car came up and started to give us a bit of a hard time, but were used to it. SO we told him to leave us alone, and then the guy there with your partner walked up and tried to defend us, and the other guy just threw a punch at him.” You had their IDs so you knew this was Maria Leon who explained it.

“they started going at each other and thats when Ale called 911, the commotion drew more people over and they stopped fighting when they had a crowd and then you guys showed up.” Jennifer Hermoso explained the rest to you.

“thank you, so to be clear, the one in the back of the car threw the first punch and harassed you?” you asked wanting to finish this up.

Maria smiled and said “I wouldn’t say harassed, we can take care of ourselves, but yes he started it and threw the first punch.”

“And you both agree?” you ask.

“Yep, he did” Jennifer agrees.

Alexia just nods and remains silent through the whole exchange. You nod and say “okay this clears things up, someone may be in touch but you are free to go.”

The two of them smile and say their thanks and move to leave, but Alexia remains standing in front of you silent.

“ale you coming?” Jennifer asks her and it seems to shake her out of it and she nods and moves to gather her stuff.

You nod at nothing and move to go back to your partner, you both agree you to the statement you got from different people and then you move to walk back to the car together. Before you can get half way there you turn back and look toward Alexia and you meet her eyes, as she’s still watching you.

It takes your partner nudging you for you to break contact and you move to get into the car. before you can fully sit you hear “Officer Y/LN” yelled out behind you and you turn and see Alexia moving quickly towards you, you close the door and step towards her and away from your partner hearing the exchange.

“Yes Alexia?” you ask her softly as she stops a foot from you.

“You’re back?” she asks you to the point.

“I am”

“for good?” she asks you again straight to the point.

“I think so yeah”

“okay then.” she says and moves to walk away.

“thats it?” you ask her confused.

She shrugs and half turns to you and says “How does it feel being on the other end of someone walking way from you? It sucks, being left to wonder what they mean and what they are going to do.”

You can feel the pang in your heart listening to how broken she sounds and you ask her “Can we talk about it?”

“now you want to talk? What happened to talking 8 years ago?” she turns on you half shouting and you know that she’s drawn and scene.

“ale, please can we talk somewhere not here, and not when I am on duty?” you ask her.

She looks around and shakes her head and says “you know where to find me, if you even want to.” As she finishes she jogs away towards her friends and you are left standing there wondering if this is a demon you will be able to tame, or if you were doomed to be in love with someone you can never have.

#woso imagines #woso x reader #woso imagine #alexia putellas x reader #alexia putellas imagine #alexia putellas #espwnt x reader

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anki-of-beleriand · 1 month

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A Heart Made of Glass ch. 18

Summary: Ten years ago you left Wanda and the Avengers to heal your broken heart. You never stopped being a hero, just as you never stopped being in love with her. But life had to go on.

Now, after all that time, she is back and with her is a young woman needing help and an enemy that may not be as afraid as Wanda to lay a claim on you.

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Powered!F!Reader - Scarlet Witch x PoweredF!Reader - Past Wanda Maximoff x Vision - CarolxF!Reader

Warnings: Angst, drama, mentions of cheating, fluff, violence, Switch!Reader, internalize homophobia, hurt, comfort, Wanda being a complete mess, anger management issues, jealousy, Requited/Unrequited love, idiots in love, swearing, mentions of alcohol. More tags as the story progess.

Author's Note: This story is a continuation of Dirty Little Secret I was really surprised at the response I got for the story. Thank you for the support.

Nothing ever eneds, I thank you guys for being with me to the very end of this story, I hope you like this last one!

Please, do remember English is no my mother tongue so forgive my grammar, spelling and funny mistakes.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Epilogue

Epilogue

The first snow of the season broke into the sky without a warning.

America wrapped her coat tighter around her body, she glanced around the hall rolling her eyes when her ears finally caught the sound of bickering down the airport bridge. The hand grasping hers called her attention, and she soon watched the same exasperation in Kamala’s face when the both of them found Yelena and Kate bickering all the way out of the plane with the stewardess watching them with relief.

“Why are the fighting now?” Kamala finally asked dragging America away, “let’s go before anyone here thinks we come with them.”

America chuckled following Kamala down the bridge and into the airport, it had been this way since they decided to make the trip and go to Ulsteinvik for the holidays. Not something Mrs. Khan was happy about, and she had made it quite clear that was expecting a facetime with her daughter as soon as they got home, of this America was to make sure would happen without any delay.

They soon found themselves in a busy airport glancing at the signals around, before going for their bags. It had been almost six months since America had been home, and more than eight years since she had started the Young Avengers team with Yelena.

The world was a better place, but it was always expectant of a new threat that might as well come from the space as well as a different dimension. In all this time, America had lost friends, and had made new ones, she had found loved and had been part of a family that no one thought would be possible in this time and universe.

Kamala ran excitedly after the bags, speaking fast about all the things she wanted to do and see. America had always wondered how someone could speak so fast but she had gotten used to her girlfriend being a chatter more so if she was about to see her two heroes. America smiled happily when Kamala finally realized she had been talking alone while looking for the bags.

“Seriously? You let me rant all on my own so people would look at me as if I’m crazy.”

“I think you’re adorable.” America replied, Kamala rolled her eyes grabbing her hand and dragging her to the rental cars section.

“You’re lucky you can convince me with your sweet talk. Come, I think I hear the bickering from Yelena and Kate down this way.”

It took them at least one hour to get everything ready and to find a car that would take them down the road to their destination.

America glanced out of the window, and as it happened whenever she made the trip, she started remembering that first time Wanda brought her to Norway. She remembered how scared she had been, how lost and angry she felt at that time, and then how she found herself in the midst of more negative emotions that had threatened to just consume everyone around her.

A lot of things had happened since that fateful day and now America couldn’t be happier with the outcome. After a little more than an hour America could see the lighthouse coming into view, her lips broke into a smile and her stomach filled with exited fluttering.

“Gee, I think we made it just on time,” Yelena said glancing out of the window, “it seems as if a storm is coming over.”

“Well, it is just that time of the year, I’m just dying to get home and have bath, I don’t think I have one since we left New York two days ago.”

Kate wrinkled her nose nodding in agreement with Yelena, America rolled her eyes glancing at Kamala before they finally got a sight of the gate leading to the main entrance. America straightened up smiling, the house finally came into view completely and she found the many changes into the property that had happened in the last couple of years.

The small kiddie park to the sight was right now protected with a waterproof tent that protected the full structure and there was a couple of bikes tightly protected into the garage. Yelena parked the car and as soon as America stepped a foot out of the car she was jumped by a bundle of blue that came at her at full speed.

“America!!!” Tommy grinned at her, her arms wrapping tightly around her waist with his hair completely messed up, wearing a light shirt and pants.

“Tommy!!” America grabbed the five-year-old in her arms and lifted him high, he started laughing.

Kamala softened at the sight coming closer only to see another brown-haired kid watching from the entrance of the garage with a frown and a blue jacket on his hand. America carried the kid to the garage, with Billy still scolding at his brother lifting the jacket.

“Tommy! Momma said not out without the jacket!” Tommy pulled out his tongue hugging America tightly.

“Is that all you’re gonna say, little dude?” America knelt down, Billy hesitated before stepping in and hugging America still glaring at his brothers disregard of the jacket.

“Hi.” He mumbled, America chuckled kissing his forehead and pulling him up in her arms.

“It’s so good to see you again, guys.” America entered the place with Kamala and the others following them inside.

America smiled when she finally stepped inside the place she had called home inside her mind and heart. Her nose soon filed with the sweet aroma of fresh cookies, everything inside the house had been decorated for the holidays with a mixture of colours and lights that made the place looked quite homey. Everything inside the house had changed, the pictures that now decorated the main hall and the living room reflected and spoke of the stories that could be told about those changes.

Kamala found herself fascinated by the place, she had been to America’s home only a couple of times but this would be the first time she would spend the holidays with her family. The young woman made her way to the closest cabinet, and her eyes fell upon a picture of Y/N and Wanda smiling into the camera. They both looked completely happy, smiling while showing off the hand wearing the ring in their hands; right beside that one there was a picture of them in the Young Avengers lair with America right after the young woman had graduated from college.

Every single picture was taken at a special moment, and it was a continuity of stories the family had gone through over the years. Kamala let her eyes fell upon the last picture, her smile deepened when she saw Wanda the twins with America and Y/N on each side of the bed smiling tiredly to the camera.

“America?” You came right around the corner with your phone on your hand, your face broke into a grin coming over to the young woman and sharing a hug with her. “Oh, it’s so good to see you!”

America hugged you back, and you felt how the tension from the last couple of days left her body. The twins were talking in fast Russian to Yelena who was kneeling to make sure she did not miss a single word while Kate watched the scene with a lopsided smile. You chuckled turning to the room, your eyes gleaming happily at all of them.

“You guys are earlier! I didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”

“Yes, well, this is my fault, Mrs. Y/L/N.” Kamala said turning around, she blushed under your stare. “I just thought we should come earlier than planned because the weather has been worsening in some parts.”

“Always the thoughtful one, right?” You came to the young woman hugging her as well. “It’s good to see you too, Kamala, how is your mom?”

“She is fine, just a little upset I will be gone for over a month.” Kamal shrugged. “She did tell me to tell you that she expects you will come by next time.”

You nodded knowing how Mrs. Khan could get with the subject of her daughter and the family in general. You went to Yelena pulling her up to hug her before kneeling and grabbing the twins.

“You guys, I’m so happy to see you, now some things first.” You declared calling everyone’s attention. “Wanda is asleep she hasn’t felt well lately, so I expect you to be on your best behavious, understood?”

This time around you looked at Billy then a Tommy, both of them nodded squirming around in your arms until you put them back on the floor.

“Yes, mom!”

“Now, guys, remember what we practice?” The twins nodded their heads, Billy went to grab the jacket stretching his hand towards his brother who made a face but put the jacket on.

“Now, help America, Yelena, Kamala and Kate get into their rooms.”

You stood up winking at the young women, “the twins will help you guys settle down, you know for as long as you guys are here this is your home.”

America came to you giving you another hug, the both of you waited until everyone had gone back to the car and leave the both of you alone. The young woman stepped back, her dark eyes finally analysing the state you were in observing the bags under your eyes and the weak twitch of your lips.

“Is everything okay?”

You sighed shaking your head, “not really, Wanda has not felt well and I am out of ideas.”

America could tell you were really worried about your wife, she placed a hand on your forearm looking around then back at you.

“Have you guys talked to the doctor?”

“Yeah, he made some test and it all comes down to the fact that…” You trailed off shrugging, “they think the way the baby is just like Tommy and Billy.”

“they have powers.”

“Yep, and it seemed whatever powers they had it was taking its toll on her.”

The first time around no one spoke of the complications of pregnancy, no one had prepared you and Wanda to face a pregnancy with a set of twins that had powers whose energy sometimes was too much for Wanda to deal off alone. While it had been difficult, America had never seen the level of concern she was seeing in you right now back when the twins were born. You offered a weak smile shaking your head.

“Don’t worry, go get settle and I will wake Wanda so you can say hi.”

“Nah, don’t worry, I will do so when she is up. Don’t wake her up.”

You chuckled shaking your head, “you really have grown a lot, uh?”

“Of course, now that we are here we can help with the twins.” America heard laughter and something crashing into the ground, she winced turning towards the door. “I better make sure they don’t break anything.”

You watched America leave, standing there for a few moments you then turned around and made your way back into your room.

The place was dark, with a single figure resting on her side breathing in and out evenly. Your face softened almost instantly and whatever tiredness or worry you had felt dissipated when your eyes fell upon the figure of your pregnant wife. When you and Wanda had first come together, you had always wondered if a pregnancy was really possible. You wondered how the miracle worked and if Wanda was ready to face the fact that, perhaps, whatever child that was conceived might not be the same twins she had imagined at some point.

The world, the universe decided to prove you and her wrong.

As soon as you two started worrying about if it was possible or not, the miracle worked itself out and soon Wanda had gotten pregnant. The young woman had been terrified and she had cried her eyes out to Natasha because the last thing she wanted it was for you to doubt what was happening. She was so afraid to tell you her latest mood swing and crazy cravings along with the morning sickness had been an unexpected pregnancy.

Natasha had tried to mediate, but Wanda was terrified, she had tried to gather everything she had done in between the time of conception and the moment she found out about it to ensure she had proof of her fidelity to you.

You approached the bed remembering the day Wanda had told you about the twins. She had cried and you had laughed, you knew it was bound to happen. The other Wanda had told you the story, and all you had been doing was to wait. Wanda had been so relief, she just hugged you tightly promising to you she did nothing wrong and that her babies were yours.

The sleeping form on the bed shifted, you knelt in front of her your hand brushing away some strands of hair.

“Hey, sleepyhead, how are you?” You leaned in kissing Wanda on her forehead, the young woman fluttered her eyes open with her lips curling slightly.

“Hey, what time is it?” She asked groggily, you leaned in kissing her slowly melting into the lips until Wanda was putting you to her.

“America and the others are home.” You mumbled in between kisses, Wanda sighed offering a wicked smile.

“So we have a moment for ourselves?” She wiggled her eyebrows and you couldn’t help but laugh at that, instead of taking into the offer you rested beside her kissing her face and neck.

“Mostly, the twins are in charge of settling them in but that won’t take too long.”

Wanda pouted snuggling closer to you, her stomach pushing against yours making it difficult for you to actually hug her properly.

“I love you.” She said suddenly, looking up at you, you furrowed your brow never growing tired of her words.

“I love you too.”

This time around the kiss was a reassuring touch of lips, a simple promise of comfort while Wanda held onto your form with need. You broke the kiss, placing your hand on her stomach the little life growing inside her stirred restlessly.

“How are you feeling, love?” You nuzzled your nose against hers, Wanda sighed offering a comforting glance.

“I’m okay, just tired.”

“Soon, my love, soon the baby will be here and I will be able to help you more.”

“You’re doing enough, Y/N, stop worrying so much.” Wanda could tell these complications had affected your greatly.

This pregnancy had turned out to be quite the ordeal, Wanda never thought this time around things would be even more difficult than the first time. The baby inside of her had been consuming a lot of energy, and the young woman could sense just how restless the baby could get at times but mostly whenever Y/N was fuzzing over completely concern or helpless to help in the situation. Wanda had tried to ease out your worries, but it was just part of your personality and part of who you were , and for that Wanda loved you even more.

“I worried enough.” You kissed Wanda again, needing for this moment to be special, for her to feel your love through the kiss while making sure your child was also aware of your protective nature. “I worried for you and the baby enough, I don’t want anything bad happening to either of you.”

Wanda cupped your face pecking your lips smiling, “nothing is gonna happen, now help me up because I want to greet America, I really missed her.”

You turned around standing up to give space to your wife, Wanda hid away her winced when she felt a pain on her side. When you turned to her she had already hidden her expression before grabbing your hand, squeeing it lightly putting you to her.

“Thank you.”

You blinked confusedly, “why?”

Wanda leaned back and the smile she offered you as enough to melt your heart all over again.

“For this.” She placed your hand on her stomach, then grabbed your other hand in hers. “For Believing in me, in us, for giving me this second chance. I love you so much.”

You furrowed your brows blinking slowly, your arms wrapped around her placing a kiss on her cheek.

“Baby, are you sure you’re okay?” This sudden outburst of honestly and love was not strange to you, but sometimes hearing Wanda voiced it made you think perhaps something had triggered such a reaction.

Wanda shook her head, grabbed your hand and dragged you to the door of the room.

“I just…I never get tired of telling this.”

You had been successfully distracted, Wanda could see the smile in your face while she tried to hide the pain in her abdomen. Making sure she held onto you she, follow you into the living room ready to greet America and the others while trying to forget her discomfort an enjoy the holidays with her family.

*****

In the next couple of days everyone seemed to fall into a light routine.

You loved having everyone at home, with Billy and Tommy growing up so fast and ready to use their powers, having some helped was always a welcome change. You and Wanda had been working around the baby’s room while making sure everyone was comfortable at home. Kamala and Kate had been ready to help you out while also loving the good share of stories you could share about either Yelena or America.

All in all, the holidays had become a real adventure and you couldn’t be happier to enjoy the time you spent with your family. In all that time, you had noticed Wanda had been quiet with just a few winces that she would brush off to continue spending time with America and the twins. You wished you could brush it off but the fact that Billy had been walking around her with that overprotective glint in his eyes told you there was something else going on.

You dropped on the sofa completely drained; the twins were on the TV room watching movies before getting ready to go to the city with America, Kamala, Kate and Yelena, while Wanda was taking a bath back in the room. You

“Honey! I’m home!!” Natasha entered the place looking around with her arms full of bags, she raised a brow looking around to see you sprawled on the sofa.

“Honey, I’m freaking tired.” You replied eyeing owlish at Natasha, the older woman snorted making her way to you dropping some of the bags on the sofa.

“So it seems. Where is everyone?” Natasha sat to your left, her hand playing with your hair while her eyes flashed concern. “You look sick.”

“Nah, I’m tired.” You replied sitting up while leaning against the older woman, Natasha was not completely sure about your words but for the time being she would let it slide.

“How was your flight?” You asked to Natsha who could only shrugged.

“It was okay, I was actually wondering if I would make it on time.”

In the last couple of years Natasha had been living in France, after he last mission and clear demands for her retirement she had made sure that no one, much less people from any government would find out where she had been leaving after getting off the grid.

“Good, I think you’re just on time, Wanda was getting ready just before we go to the Christmas market.” You straightened up nodding to the different bags now on your sofa. “Let me take you to your room, you can get ready because you are driving.”

“Oh, sure, put me through the torture of driving you and your wife while my sister and America deal with the twins.”

“You know that’s the only reason I invited you guys over, so someone can watch over them while I have my wicked way with my wife.”

You chuckled watching the face that Natasha was making at the moment, she picked up half of the bags while you helped with the other half.

“Please, keep those torrid details for yourself.” Natasha walked right behind you, her mind making a mental note to ensure you would actually have a good night sleep that day while watching over the twins.

“How’s Wanda? How far along is she?”

“She is fine, she just entered the eight month so she is huge and a little cranky about the whole thing,” You stopped death on your tracks turning to Natasha, “please don’t tell her I told you that.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

You sighed in relief resuming your stroll, “I think she has been feeling some discomfort, but she is just to stubborn to say anything about it.”

“A discomfort?” This time around Natasha didn’t hide her worry, the last time had been difficult enough and this time around they had tried to make all the right arrangements to ensure the pregnancy was an easy one.

Tony had helped with that.

“Yeah, I don’t think is anything worth mentioning, but…” You hesitated, your mind was raising red flags, there was something bothering you about the whole situation but Wanda seemed to be fine. “I think the baby is taking up too much energy.”

“So, another powered kid?” Natasha snorted, though her eyes softened lightly. “Are you ready for another one?”

You chuckled shrugging, “obviously, I am not. But I’m just happy to welcome the baby into our lives, I love them already.”

Natasha smiled letting herself be told everything you had done ever since you and Wanda found out about the baby. She was happy to see she didn’t get it wrong the moment Wanda crossed the threshold of that very home to come and ask for help. Natasha had always known the hurt in your heart was deep, and that it would take years to heal, but at the end of the day, your loved for the other woman had been deep and pure enough to just work it out.

And now, after so many fights, so many heartbreaks and misunderstandings, happiness had come alongside peace for the both of you.

“Well, we’re leaving at four, so you ready to make the trip again? I wouldn’t mind if you stay…” You stated watching as Natasha yawned stretching around, the older woman winked at you.

“Don’t worry your little head, Y/N, I’m gonna take a bath and I will be there ready to leave.”

*****

It had become a tradition after the twins had been born.

They had been too small to remember those first times, but Wanda and you always remembered that first time. They were but babies wearing heavy coats and completely covered to protect them from the cold, Wanda had been walking side by side with you, her hand intertwined with yours looking around the town to see the Christmas Market already decorated and filled with decorations appropriate for the holidays. Every year decorations changed, and the Christmas Tree that decorated the main square was usually filled with crazy decorations that brough the attention of the children and everyone in general.

You wrapped your arms around Wanda, the brunette leaned back against your hold her lips curling into a content smile while Billy and Tommy grabbed the hands of Kate and Kamala. Everyone was enjoying the church choir, their voices filling the square with the smell of food and winter.

“Are you happy?” You whispered in her ear, Wanda tilted her head in a way that she could see into your eyes.

Her body relaxed into your embrace with a softening and a gleam you had come to associate with the state she was in. You smiled at her, and soon Wanda was kissing you slowly, the softness of her lips against yours danced for a while until the both of you broke.

“I never thought I would be happy again.” She whispered only for you to hear; you furrowed your brows but your wife eased out your thoughts. “And then you came into my life again and gave me the most beautiful gift ever. So yes, I am happy, Y/N, you are my happiness.”

You nuzzled your face on her hair, your arms tightening protectively around her frame.

“You are my happiness as well, Little Witch.” You pecked her cheek turning your attention to the twins, Tommy was looking back at you two furrowing his brows before turning his attention back to the chorus. “You have given me the most amazing gift anyone can give a person, my family.”

“My wife, such a romantic…” Wanda turned back to the choir clenching her jaw tightly holding her breath for a moment before easing in your arms to try and hide her sudden pain.

While you and Wanda were sitting in the back, America turned to Tommy who was grasping her hand rather tightly. She frowned seeing as the little boy was clenching his eyes close with a stressful expression crossing his young features.

“Tommy, are you alright?”

Billy perked up at the question, he turned worriedly to his brother grabbing his hand frowning at the obvious discomfort coming from his brother.

“Tommy?” Yelena put a hand on Billy’s shoulder to stop him from shaking his brother, Tommy had tears in his eyes lifting his head to America.

The young woman could see the distress behind his brown eyes, his face was contorting into a rictus of pain and confusion.

“Billy…” America started but soon the young boy turned around sharply lifting his hand.

“Mommy!” He exclaimed letting go of America’s hand and running towards Wanda.

The four young women and Billy followed Tommy’s actions, Kamala was the first one to react placing a hand on her mouth her eyes wide open when she realized Wanda was almost on the ground with red mist surrounding her body.

“Shit, what the hell…” America stood up and ran towards them while Kate held onto Billy before he could run towards his mothers.

“Wait, Billy, let’s go slowly…” Kate held onto Billy who was not really struggling against her hold.

Some of the onlookers had also realized that something had happened, many had tried to put their phones out while Kamala lifted a single protective wall around the woman. She and Kate exchanged looks making their way to Wanda.

You should have known that Wanda was not doing okay.

She had erupted into a fit of shivers, before exuding some of her magic and then falling with a hand on her stomach. Natasha was holding her from one side while you were holding the other one; Tommy came right away kneeling in front of Wanda.

“Mommy…” You glanced at your son then at America nodding at her, the young woman grabbed Tommy holding him in her arms.

“Mommy…is fine, baby.” Wanda said through gritted teeth, Tommy shook his head.

“Mommy, the baby…” Tommy started, your eyes open wide in terror when Wanda let out a scream holding her abdomen and crying.

The burst of energy coming from her was almost burning you, Natasha winced almost letting go of Wanda while locking her stare with yours.

“We need to go to a hospital, Love,” You started, Wanda grabbed your hand looking paled.

“Y/N…”

“Mommy!” Tommy struggled against the hold of America, watching with tears as his mom screamed again.

“Damn, I don’t think we can’t move her…” You hesitated lifting your hand, your eyes locked onto your son’s ones. “Tommy, can you help me?”

America put the boy on the ground and he came right towards Wanda, you smiled at him though it came more like a grimace. Tommy didn’t dare to touch Wanda, so he turned to you with big eyes.

“Baby, how is the baby? You can feel them?”

Tommy nodded looking half terrified, half powerless.

“Tommy, is mommy too weak?” You asked again, the boy glanced at Wanda then at you shaking his head.

“Baby, I need you to be strong, you will be with your big sister and your aunty and you and Billy will reach us in the hospital, okay?”

Before Tommy could protest Wanda screamed again, you twitched your hand in the air and the shadows consumed you, Wanda and Natasha. Tommy hugged America tightly, his tears were falling freely getting America’s cheeks and neck wet.

“Mommy.” The little boy whispered, America hugged him tightly lifting him in her arms, she turned to see Billy was now holding onto Kate.

“What the hell happened?” Yelena was as confused as the rest, America leaned back trying to make Tommy lift his eyes.

“Tommy, you know what happened?” America asked softly, the group was already making their way to the car.

“Mommy was sick. The baby was not feeling good.” Tommy mumbled, “she wanted out.”

America stopped death on her tracks, she glanced down at the boy furrowing her brows.

“She?” As far as America knew, you and Wanda had decided to keep the sex of the bay a secret.

No one knew about it, and thus so far all the colours in the room had been neutral colours, or those each one of the family favour. Tommy was crying softly, nodding.

“She is scared, she wants out.”

“You mean, the baby?” America asked once more, Tommy nodded.

“Is mommy okay?” Billy asked, the four women looked at one another then the continued their walk to the car.

“Yes, Billy, she is going to be okay, and your little sister as well.” America tossed the keys to Yelena who wasted not time to go into the car and start the engine.

The hospital was quiet, America and the others came rushing in until one nurse put a finger on her lips glaring at them. America was about to fight, when a hand on her shoulder distracted her. She turned to the source to see Kamala offering a softening stare, America huffed nodding walking towards the reception.

“Hello, good night,” she started in her most diplomatic tone, “I was looking for someone.”

“Of course, tell me…”

“America!” Natasha was coming right in, her pants had some blood on it and the older woman was looking tired.

“Natasha, what happened?”

“Where is Wanda?

“Where is Y/N?”

Natasha lifted a hand, she glanced at the receptionist then back at the women and the twins, she cocked her head signalling a waiting room at the other side of the hall.

Tommy and Billy were holding onto America and Kate respectively, America was comforting the boy in her arms while looking at Natasha waiting for her explanations.

“Well?”

“They are fine, right now they are in surgery.” Natasha explained, she lifted a calming hand to the sudden outburst of inquiries. “Wanda has been feeling the discomfort for quite some time, she didn’t say anything so Y/N or anyone would get scared and Christmas would be ruined.”

“That’s stupid! We wouldn’t care if the baby decides to come first! She could have told us and save us this heart attack.” Yelena crossed her arms looking away. “This is so stupid.”

Natasha let her hand rested on Yelena’s forearm, the young Widow huffed though she leaned closer to the touch. Tommy and Billy were holding hands, the came closer with their eyes filled with tears and their little faces showing the emotions going through them. There was a palpable tension in each and every single person in the hall, the sound of people coming in and out of the hospital alongside the voices of the staff were soon forgotten in favour to Natasha holding the twins.

Kamala grabbed America’s hand leaning against her frame, while Kate hooked her arm with Yelena’s one. The stood there for a moment, America berating herself for not being more attentive and letting those little discomforts pass instead of raised the alarm with Y/N and Natasha and Yelena.

“Is mommy okay?” Billy asked in a thin voice, he cuddled closer to Natasha who nodded briefly.

“Yes, Billy, she is fine.”

“Is her tummy hurting?” Tommy mumbled wiggling the fingers of his hand, “mummy was sad and her tummy was making pum pum pum and not bum bum bum like always.”

Natasha creased her brows at the explanation, she knew Tommy was the sensitive one and he was the one showing magical abilities that would be similar to those of Wanda. You had told her several stories in which the boy would be the first one to know exactly how others feel, and he was always ready to help. He had been the first one to sense something different in Wanda, and was always overprotective of his mother as soon as he found out he was going to be a big brother.

“Tommy, did you see something different about mommy?” Natasha finally asked leaning back, the little boy crossed stares with Billy before nodding.

“Mummy is always shinning,” here Tommy stretched his arms with big, brown eyes, “and she is warm, but…”

“She is gloomy and cold.” Billy ended having heard his brothers theory.

“Is mummy sick because of me?” Tommy’s eyes filled with tears, “I try to be good big brother, auntie Tasha, I swear.”

“Oh, baby no, you’re not to blame.” This time around Natasha hugged the twins tightly. “Mummy is just pregnant and these things can happen to anyone, you did so well protect mummy with Billy.”

“That’s right, Little dude, it’s just that your sibling wants to be born now, it is nothing else.” This time around it was Kate the one saying this, she knelt placing her hand on Tommy’s back.

“You guys are amazing, and right now that baby is going to be the luckiest one having such brave big brothers like the both of you.” Yelena continued placing her hand on Billy’s head.

The twins seemed to calm down under these words, both of them holding onto Kate and Yelena who decided to take them for a little walk to the hospital cafeteria. Natasha waited until they were far away before turning to America, the young woman had the same concern stare as the twins thought she was tyring to hide it behind a façade of faux bravery.

“How are they, really?”

Natasha sighed pointing to the closest chairs leading America and Kamala there.

“Wanda was in pain, her blood pressure dropped and by the time the doctor could do a quick checkup he decided the best option was for a c-section.”

“How is Y/N? Can we see them? What about the baby?” America was bouncing on the chair, her left leg was raising rapidly as she tapped the ground with her heel.

Kamala placed a soothing hand on her leg, leaning closer with her eyes on Natasha. America leaned into the touch dropping her eyes while taking a deep breath, Natasha saw as the young woman started taking deep breaths glancing at Kamala while offering a weak smile.

“Wanda is in surgery right now, they allowed Y/N to be there.” Natasha leaned back, she took a deep breath placing a hand on her eyes. “The doctor said this is normal, and that up until two weeks ago everything was just fine with the pregnancy, I guess having a powered child is really far too much sometimes.”

“Is she gonna be okay? What about the baby?” This time it was Kamala the one asking the questions, Natasha dropped her hand turning green eyes to the young woman.

“They are going to be fine, but we will have to wait.”

*****

It was past midnight by the time you finally could sit down on the hospital chair.

Your arms were holding the small frame of your daughter, a beautiful baby girl that was fast asleep with a crunched-up nose and closed fists. You held the baby closer to your chest, tears in your eyes while Wanda slept; you had never be so scared before that moment. The fact that Wanda had hidden her pain, and then the news that the surgery could be a dangerous ordeal and probably stressful for both, the baby and Wanda, left you powerless to do anything at all.

It had taken less than a couple of hours for you to almost lose your baby and your wife.

Your heart shrank painfully inside your chest, the heavy void that settled in your abdomen was still tingling inside your body.

“You gave us quite the scare, baby girl.” You whispered poking the kid on her nose, softening the moment she wriggled her nose but kept sleeping in your arms.

There was a knock on the door, but before you could say anything at all the door opened and you could see your friends and family coming on. Your eyes lit up watching as Billy and Tommy came to you rubbing their eyes, their steps were tentative and their eyes were searching around until they found the bundle in your arms.

“Where’s mummy?” Tommy asked in a groggy voice, you glanced at Natasha then at Tommy and Billy.

“Mummy is still with the doctor, baby.” You leaned forward nodding to the twins. “You guys wanna meet your baby sister?”

The boys nodded eagerly coming closer to you, both of them leaned forward being careful in their movements. Their eyes went big, and soon their mouths drew a smile while glancing at you and the baby.

“She is too small!” Billy said with his hand twitching at his side.

“She is.”

“What’s her name?” Tommy asked cocking his head.

“Well, baby, since mummy and I didn’t want to name the baby until they were born, we haven’t decided.” You winced sheepishly lifting your face to the adults in the room. “I guess she would be Baby Girl Maximoff until I can talk to Wanda.”

America approached you, her eyes showing not only how tired she felt but the tears she had shared moments ago with Natasha under the stress of the night. You nodded at her lifting your arms, in a silent offer for the young woman to carry the baby. America didn’t waste any time running to another chair and getting ready to hold the baby.

“You guys didn’t choose a name? Really?” Yelena finally asked watching from afar, while she loved the twins and she had helped raised them, when they had been born she had been the last one to pick them up. They had been so small she was afraid of hurting them.

“Well, we did think about it, we just…” You trailed off letting out a heavy sigh, your hand went to the back of your head scratching softly. “I want to do it with Wanda.”

Natasha gave you a hug, whispering in your ear.

“How is she?”

“She was not doing fine, they took her to the ICU for observation. The baby, she was so healthy and so full of energy…” You hugged. “The doctor thinks is because of her particularity, we still haven’t figure it out and he said if we want he could sent some samples to Stark Industries for further investigation…”

“You want them to dig into it?” Natsha inquired but you shook your head.

“I know my babies are special, Tasha, not because of their powers but because they are ours.” You replied looking while the four women all dotted on the baby talking with Billy and Tommy while making fun of America and Yelena’s childish behaviour.

“I guess at some point we will need to find out if it is too much, but for now everything is just as it should have been…Wanda was just spending too much with the baby and since she didn’t say anything…”

“I know.” Natasha hesitated before grabbing your hand. “You can go, I watch over them and the baby.”

Your face broke into a grateful smile, you leaned in kissing Natsha on her cheek.

“Thank you.”

With one last glance to the baby and the twins, you turned around and left to make your way to the ICU.

This was the quietest place in the hospital.

There were cubicles big enough to hold a bed with the multiple machines necessary to keep a person alive. It smelt strongly to antiseptic mixed with blood, the nurse station was lone but you didn’t need anyone giving you directions, you knew exactly where you wanted to go.

Wanda was paled, with bags under her eyes and her hair sprawl on the pillow. She was fast asleep, tired after the ordeal he had suffered early in the evening. You approached the bed, your heart ripping away at the sight; when your hand grabbed hers your blood turned cold. She was freezing.

With fear gripping up your throat, you leaned in placing a kiss on your wife’s forehead.

“Hey, Little Witch, how are you doing?” You held back your sobs, brushing your lips on her forehead. “You were so brave today, love. Our baby girl is so strong, she is with our family and her big brothers right now. We all are waiting for you.”

You lifted her hand to your lips, placing a single kiss on her knuckles you rubbed the single hand in yours trying to share some of your body warmth through the massages. You wished there was something else you could do, that there was something else you could say but at the moment you were just lost.

Never before did you imagine you would see Wanda like this. Bringing over a chair to be as close to Wanda as you could, you placed another kiss on her hand smiling through your tears you started talking to your wife making sure she knew you were waiting for her.

Wanda felt her body stirred painfully.

She knew she should be worried about, though she was not completely sure what it was.

She opened her mouth trying to grasp the air while her eyes were struggling to be opened. There was something holding her hand, it was warm and comforting, she stirred once more and with some effort made herself open her eyes.

“Ugh…” She let out a moan closing her eyes before blinking away the blinding light of the lights above her head.

“Wanda!”

Wanda knew that voice, without thinking too much she opened her eyes and sure enough they you were. Whatever fear or uncertainty she felt moments ago, it disappeared as soon as she registered your voice and saw your frame through blurry glances.

“Y/N…” Her voice sounded rough, unused, and her heart jumped wildly in her chest when you placed a single kiss on her lips.

“My Little Witch, you’re awake.” There was some commotion she could catch with her ears, she wanted to talk and ask what had happened, but the drowsiness was overwhelming and soon she was falling into a pit of darkness.

The second time she woke up, the light of the day was filtering through the blinds. She opened her eyes slowly, first making sure she would not hurt herself or that her body was actually hers and no more side effects of a drug were affecting her senses. Once she had made herself conscious of her body, she went to remember what had happened.

Like a jolt of electricity her hand went to her abdomen and she went to sit up right away.

A pair of hands on her shoulders stopped her from doing a brusque movement, and it wasn’t until then that she saw your face bringing over a peacefulness she only allowed around you.

“Y/N.” This time around the name came dry, but it was clear.

“Hey, Little Witch.” You stood up bringing over a glass of water with a straw. “Here you can drink just a little to wet your mouth and throat.”

Wanda did that, her eyes moving frantically around the room.

“Y/N, the baby…”

She gauged your expression, and while there was sadness there Wanda could tell you were just relief. You grabbed her hand putting some strands of hair out of the way, leaning in to place a single kiss on her forehead.

“The baby is fine, America and the others are watching over her.”

“Her?” Wanda asked confusedly, you nodded and this time around you couldn’t hide your smile.

“We have a baby girl, my love.”

Wanda sighed in relief, she lifted her head and you understood her need right away. When your lips closed around hers your heart soared with relief and love for the woman you thought you had lost. You kissed Wanda with the emotions that had overwhelmed you in the last couple of days.

“What happened? Are you okay? The Twins?”

“Hey, it’s okay, I will tell you everything and it is going to be fine,” you stated raining kisses all over Wanda’s face, “you don’t know just how much I love you, and how happy you make me every day, Wanda.”

“Y/N, what is it? What happened?” This time around Wanda couldn’t hide the concern in her voice, your actions were making her worried but you just kept placing kisses on her while grabbing her hand in yours.

“Just…give me a moment, please? I need to know you are okay, that you are here.”

“I am here, love, I always will be.”

You smiled before wrapping your arms around Wanda allowing the tears to fall, the fears that had consumed you in the last couple of days finally dissipating under the embrace of your wife.

__________________________

New Years Eve came with a light snow, and the glimpses of a cold wintery sun above the sky.

Wanda sat by the window of the baby’s room.

She was sitting on the nursery glider feeding the baby while everyone got ready to welcome the new year. The last couple of days had been a total rush, with everything happening in the blink of an eye without giving time to anyone to process the events. Wanda had woken up in the hospital after being unconscious for a week, the doctor had been monitoring her case and they had made sure she had everything she needed it to improve her condition but, at the end of the day, everything seemed to be up to her to get along with the recovery.

When she finally woke up, she found herself scared for her baby and her family. He could see the devastating effect the situation had on you, the lack of sleep and the deep pain this caused in you was still visible from time to time in your eyes. It had taken some time, bit after a full check-up and two days under medical observation, Wanda was free to go home.

Christmas had already come and gone, and now she was just waiting to start a new chapter in her life with you and her family. Wanda softened her stare when her eyes fell upon the form of her baby girl. She had been a miracle child; a part of Wanda had already sensed just the power residing inside her. It was all consuming at first until it was finally getting into tune with Wanda’s powers and energy. A part of her had always brushed it off mainly because she thought it was supposed to be that way, but after the scared all of them suffered she realized she should have said something about it.

“You’re gonna be a troublemaker, I can see it now.” Wanda whispered poking the baby’s nose lightly, the little girl opened her eyes watching her with innocence before snuggling closer to her mother.

“I surely hope no, I can already see the kind of trouble she will bring when she starts dating.” You were leaning on the wall watching Wanda in silence, the young woman smiled at you.

“Are you thinking about that already? She is just a child!” Wanda giggled when you approached her, your lips had always been a source of comfort and tenderness, your kisses made her heart tingled and her soul soared with love.

“Our child.” You whispered without breaking the kiss, Wanda sighed leaning against you holding the baby tightly. “How are you?”

Wanda could tell the traces of concern shinning in your eyes, she lifted her hand to cup your cheek offering the most tender smile she could muster you with.

“I’m amazing, love, thank you for always worrying about me.”

You mirrored her smile placing a hand on top of hers, “I don’t know what I would do if you were not in my life, Wanda. After we found one another again, you and the children became my everything.”

“I know, love. You are my everything, you and our family.” Wanda lowered her gaze where the baby was fast asleep. “Elizabeth.”

“Uh?” You furrowed your brows turning to Wanda.

“Elizabeth.” She repeated glancing from you to the baby. “A couple of months ago you started talking about baby names, and this one got you so excited at that time.”

“It has a lot of history, you know?” You replied rather shyly, Wanda chuckled nodding. “It is a beautiful name, I just…you meant it?”

“Yeah, you like it?”

You blinked a couple of times before answering, “welcome to the family, Elizabeth Maximoff.”

The baby was still fast asleep, but Wanda felt her heart melting under your words. She could feel your love pouring right out to her and the baby, your lips bringing comfort before you lifted Elizabeth in your arms placing her on her crib. A flash of doubt passed through Wanda’s eyes, but you grabbed her hand putting her to you, your left hand on her hip and the right hand holding her left hand.

“She is going to be okay, I will watch over her with my shadows and we can go and see what you sons have been working on in the last couple of days.”

“Oh, God, Tommy and Billy,” Wanda exclaimed ready to leave but stopped when you held her back offering a comforting smile. “I forgot about them! I don’t think…”

“They are big brothers now, Little Witch, they understand what you have been doing lately.” You nuzzled your nose against hers. “We all understand. They are going to be out there waiting for you.”

Wanda slowed down her breathing closing her eyes while melting away in your arms.

“I don’t know what I did right to be back in your life, but I just…” Wanda had tears in her eyes, you chuckled kissing her eyes softly.

“A part of me knew you were my happiness, Wands. It took time, and heartbreak but…we are here, together.”

“Do you regret it?” Wanda asked out of the blue, you blinked a couple of times before shaking your head.

“I don’t regret a single thing in our past, Wands.” Wanda furrowed her brow ready to argue but you put a single finger on her lips. “I don’t. Whatever happened, however it happened, it brought us to where we are today, if it hadn’t been because of this you and I would have never found our paths again and would have never understood the importance of being who we are, of always being honest…of never give up.”

Wanda didn’t mean for the tears to start rolling down her cheeks, but it happened. You cupped her face in your hands, your eyes completely locked with hers.

“We got together at the right time, and we came back to each other when we were meant to. Now, we have a family, and a life full of love and adventures, a life away from the dangers of the world.”

“I thought you missed it, that perhaps…” Wanda sobbed hugging you tightly. “I love you.”

You chuckled hugging her back, your arms wrapping comfortingly around her. You knew about her fears, she had told you everything about them in her moments of weakness. You were always there listening to her and comforting her making sure she knew she deserved to be happy and that, whatever bad had happened in the past, shouldn’t be replicated it in her future.

“I love you too, Wanda. With all my heart. You and my family are all that matters to me now.”

“You are the very beat of my heart, Y/N. Thank you for giving me my family, thank you for being my family.”

You kissed her with all the love you held for her. Your lips moulding with hers, your hands mapping her form while putting her closer to your body; Wanda smiled into the kiss her arms wrapping tenderly around your shoulders. You pressed your forehead against hers, her eyes gleaming contentedly as they looked into yours.

“Are you planning on the fourth child, Mrs. Maximoff?” You asked earning a light-hearted laugh from Wanda, the woman winked at you breaking the contact while grabbing your hand and dragging you towards the door.

“Perhaps, are you ready for another one?” She asked coyly, you chuckled shaking your head.

“Oh, I am, though I was thinking we could…you know? Have some fun first.”

“Patience, my love, patience always pays, right?”

You grinned nodding, “it always does.”

______________________________________________________________

Author's Note: So, this is the end.

This story was everything to me, and it happened in a moment of my life in which I have to live a lot of things. I grew so much, and I really love the final turn it took. I hope you guys like it as much as I love writing it, and I will see you in the next adventure!

#fanfic #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff #wandaxreader #female reader #imagine wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x female reader

255 notes · View notes

janeyseymour · 6 months

Note

Love Thy Neighbor one shot where ellie calls mel mom for the first time in front of all the abbott family, maybe she gets sick at school and calls for her mom and when reader and mel show up she refuses to got with reader and they realize it’s mel she’s talking about

bestie. i got you.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4. Part 5. Part 6. Part 7. Part 8. Part 9. Part 10. Part 11. Part 12.

Title Change

WC: ~2.65k

Every year, right around the holidays, Ellie gets sick with whatever is running rampant through the school. And every year, you absolutely dread that time. It could be just the stereotypical, run of the mill fever, but it could also be the flu, a stomach bug, strep throat, pneumonia, pink eye… the worst was right before you moved out of Utah and she ended up with croup and in the hospital overnight. You’re pretty sure you’ll never be able to get the images or sounds from that experience out of your head. Seeing your little girl down for the count is so hard for you, and it doesn’t get any easier as she gets older- she’s still the same little love bug that you remember fussing over when her temperature ran a bit too high for your liking and she would fall asleep at a moment’s notice on your chest.

This year, she gets sick without fail, although you hate to admit that neither you nor your girlfriend had picked up on it when you brought her with you to school today. Her cheeks were a bit rosy this morning as you walked into Abbott, yes- but this December has been particularly cold so far and she had insisted on running around in her t-shirt and shorts this morning despite the fact that the living room was a crisp 65 degrees this morning when you woke up. And then on top of that, you were running a bit late and didn’t get your usual parking spot close to the front of the school.

Your little girl had been adamant that she stay attached to Melissa’s hip while the three of you sat in the staff lounge before everyone else comes in, which is not an uncommon occurrence. It’s warm and peaceful until Janine comes in with cookies for her students, and inevitably one for your daughter. Ellie begs you to let her have it, and you chuckle before relenting. It turns out that was the last think she needs because she’s running circles around the shorter second grade teacher within five minutes. Thankfully though, the time comes where the child high on sugar is no longer you’re problem- she’s now her teachers problem. The two of you walk her down to her first grade classroom before the rest of the kiddos trickle in.

“Be a good girl today, little miss,” you crouch down and open your arms.

Ellie’s arms are around your neck and squeezing you tight. “I always am, Momma.”

“I know, but I’m just reminding you,” you chuckle as you kiss her forehead. It’s a bit warm, but nothing that is too alarming. You release her, and it’s your girlfriend’s turn.

“Love you, kiddo,” Melissa embraces your daughter.

“I love you too,” the seven year old sighs as she rests her head on the second grade teacher’s shoulder for a few seconds. And then she’s bouncing into her classroom and greeting her teacher with the gusto that only a little girl who had a cookie at seven in the morning could have. You and the redhead chuckle as you watch before you loop an arm around your girlfriend and walk down to your little corner of the hallway.

“Did she feel a little warm to you?” Melissa asks you quietly.

You shrug. “A little, but she was also running circles around Janine not five minutes ago.”

“I guess,” she says softly. “I just know you said she always gets sick right before the holidays, and with everything going around…”

“God,” you groan. “I’ve had five kids out at the minimum everyday this week. I’m praying to God Ellie doesn’t get sick for break.”

“Knock on wood,” Melissa sighs as she knocks against her door. “But if she does get sick, we’ll be here for her.”

“Until I get sick with it too because she insists on laying on me,” you quip quietly.

The redhead kisses your temple. “And I’ll be here to take care of you.”

“It’s still insane to me that you haven’t been sick in over ten years.”

“It’s one of the few benefits I get for being in this germ breeding ground for so long,” Melissa chuckles.

Your kiddos come in and start on their morning work, and all is fine and normal until your classroom phone starts to ring. That’s unusual. Nobody ever uses the classroom phones because your crew will just call or text your personal phone, or they’ll just make the trip down to your end of the hallway. Honestly, the only people who really use the classroom phones are… the nurses.

“Hello?” you answer, and you pray to God it’s the nurse calling about the student that you had just sent down to the nurse’s office five minutes ago. But June comes walking back into the classroom right on time to confirm that this phone call isn’t about her.

“Hey.” It’s Ellie’s teacher.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to call and ask if Ellie was feeling okay when you brought her into school today?”

You exhale a heavy breath. “She was running around the apartment this morning singing Frozen and ran circles around Janine in the lounge this morning, so I would say so. Why?”

“Poor thing’s been shivering at her desk for the last twenty minutes while we’ve been doing word work,” your coworker says quietly. “I asked her if she had a sweater with her, but she said she left it with you.”

“Send her down,” you tell the woman.

“Will do,” the first grade teacher nods into the phone. “Thanks.”

Ellie appears in your doorway a few minutes later. Your third graders immediately start cooing over how adorable she is.

“Hey, baby girl,” you smile at her from your place at the front of the room. “Come to get your sweater?”

She nods before coughing a bit. You frown a bit, the lines in your forehead etching their way into your face. You tell your students to work through the next math problem while you attend to your little girl.

As you help her pull on her sweater, you whisper to her, “You feeling okay?” You press your hand against her forehead, and then her cheeks, and then her neck. She does feel warmer than she had earlier this morning.

“Jus’ cold,” Ellie mumbles.

“Okay, baby,” you sigh softly. “Well, you tell your teacher if you aren’t feeling well, and I can always take you home, yeah?”

“I’ll be okay, Momma,” your daughter tells you. “I’m tough like… like Mel.”

You chuckle a bit before kissing her head. “Okay, sweetness. But still, if you aren’t feeling well, that’s okay.”

“M’kay, Momma,” you little girl sighs as she holds her arms out to hug you. “I love you.”

“I love you too, little one,” you whisper as you kiss her still somewhat chubby cheek. “Head on back to class, and I’ll see you at the end of the school day, okay?”

She scampers out of the room, happy to have that extra layer on. Ellie really is going back to her classroom, but as she passes Melissa’s door, she can’t help but stop in the open doorway.

Your girlfriend raises her brows at the sight of your little girl. “Hey, El. What’s going on?”

“I had to get my sweater from Momma, but then I was passing your room and I wanted to say hi,” Ellie smiles bashfully from the door. “Can I come in and give you a hug?”

“One quick one,” the redhead sighs dramatically as she opens her eyes wide. Your daughter knows she isn’t one bit annoyed with the big grin that your girlfriend is wearing. “But then you have to get back to your room.”

“I know,” the first grader says as she runs into the room and into Melissa’s arms. “Quick snuggle, and then back to Miss Smith.”

“Right. Good girl,” Melissa praises your daughter before releasing her from the hug. “I’ll see you at the end of the day, okay?”

Ellie hums her response before stretching on her toes and kissing the second grade teacher’s cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too, El.”

“I know!” your little girl grins as she skips out of the room and heads back for her own classroom.

By the time lunch rolls around, you still haven’t heard anything from your daughter’s first grade teacher or the nurses, so you assume that Ellie really is just toughing it out until you all get home for the night.

“Hey,” you greet your girlfriend sitting her place with a kiss to the temple. “How’s your day going so far?”

“I had a little visitor today,” Melissa chuckles. “Oh?”

“Ellie came in wanting a hug after she got her sweater from you,” your girlfriend smiles. “She’s lucky she’s cute.”

“Did she feel warm to you?” you ask her the same question she asked you this morning.

“I asked you that this morning,” Melissa rolls her eyes. “But yes, why?”

“Smith called asking if El was feeling well while I was teaching math and told me that she was shivering for the entirety of their word work time.”

“Poor thing’s probably getting sick,” the redhead sighs as she brings a forkful up to her mouth.

You hang your head. “Great.”

“At least it isn’t during break that she’s going to be sick,” Melissa tries to comfort you.

You nod. “I guess, but I hate seeing her like-”

“I want Mommy!” you can hear your little girl before you can see her. You raise a brow at that though- she never calls you ‘Mommy’. You’ve always been ‘Momma’, from the time that she was born. The staff room door whips open, and there is a wailing Ellie with snot running down her face as she clings to her first grade teacher’s hand. “I want Mommy!”

“Y/N, I’m so-” Miss Smith tries to get out.

You shake your head, refusing her apology- you know how your daughter can get when she’s not feeling well, and it’s quite clear to you now that Ellie is under the weather. You rush over to her and crouch down in front of her.

Melissa raises her brow, and she contemplates making her way over. But you’re always so good with your daughter, and you she figures that you have this one handled.

The rest of the Abbott crew makes their way in, sidestepping around you to get to their own spots. But of course, Ava stops in her tracks.

“Why’s your kid so snotty?”

“Ava,” you scold.

The principal shrugs and bypasses you to get to the coffee machine.

“I want Mommy!” Ellie continues to wail.

You open your arms for your sick little girl to fall into. “Momma’s right here, baby. I’m right here.”

“I want Mommy!” the child refuses and goes so far as to stomp her foot in frustration. That action is not something you would usually condone, but you let it slide just this one time. God, is she so sick she’s delirious and doesn’t realize that you’re right in front of her?

“Sweetheart, I’m right here,” you whisper and you reach out a hand to brush away a few of the hairs that are in her face. You pull your sleeve over your hand and wipe the snot away from her face. “Momma’s right here.”

“I want Mommy!” Ellie shrieks again as the tears pour down her face.

You run a hand over your face before pulling her into your arms. You lift her onto your hip and hold her as she cries, offering the rest of the staff an apologetic look for the commotion your daughter is causing.

“Mommy’s here, baby,” you sigh softly. You take your seat back next to your girlfriend as you try to soothe your daughter enough to be able to take her through the halls to gather her things to head home for the day.

Melissa reaches a hand over and starts rubbing circles on Ellie’s back in hopes of helping to calm her down. At her touch, your little girl’s head pops up from its place on your shoulder, and she immediately reaches for the redhead.

Your girlfriend pulls Ellie into her lap and holds her, rocking her gently.

“Mommy,” the little girl whimpers as her cries and wails turn into soft sniffles.

Everyone’s eyes in the room, including your own, go wide. Melissa’s jaw drops, and she looks to you.

“What was that, baby?” you ask softly.

“I telled you and Miss Smith that I wanted Mommy,” Ellie mumbles as your girlfriend’s warm touch and gentle rocking starts to lull her to sleep. She starts to lazily play with the red curls that are within her reach as her eyes flutter shut. She’s snoring softly against Melissa’s shoulder within minutes.

The silence that has washed over the staff lounge at Ellie’s words is finally broken when the redhead asks softly, “Did she- did she call me ‘Mommy’? Am I ‘Mommy’?”

“I think she did,” Barbara smiles from her place.

“Wow,” Melissa whispers as she looks down at the little girl in her lap. “Wow.”

You also whisper your shock and surprise.

Those green eyes that you’ve fallen in love with look into yours seriously. “Are you- how do you feel about that?”

“Honestly?” you ask quietly.

She nods.

You smile softly, a bit sadly. “I wish it didn’t take her being ridiculously sick for her to call you that… but it feels so right.”

The second grade teacher takes one hand off of Ellie’s back to take your own. She squeezes it gently with tears in her eyes.

“Sorry,” she chuckles as she wipes at her eyes. “I didn’t think I would get so emotional over this.”

You chuckle softly, as does Barbara.

“Well,” the kindergarten teacher looks to the two of you expectantly. “Little Ellie needs her Mommy and her Momma to take her home and look after her.”

You glance to your girlfriend, and she nods without hesitation.

“Even if Ava and Mr. J are our subs?” you double check.

“El needs us,�� Melissa tells you firmly. “I don’t care who is with our kids as long as we’re with Ellie.”

“I’ll get everything together if you want to stay here with her?” you ask.

She nods. “You know where my sub plans are?”

“Of course I do,” you laugh softly as you stand. “Just give me like fifteen minutes, and then we can head out.”

When you return back to the staff lounge, Melissa is still holding your little girl close to her heart and humming softly while glaring at everyone else, daring them to make noise and wake the Ellie.

“Hey,” you lug your bags, your girlfriend’s bags, and your little girl’s backpack in as quietly as you can. “We’re good to go.”

She stands from her place, still managing to keep Ellie asleep on her. You’re both able to get her in the car and back into the apartment while she naps, and once the little girl is settled on the couch and still asleep, you take Melissa into the kitchen. You wrap your arms around her neck and look her in the eyes.

“I love you,” you whisper as you press your foreheads together.

“I love you too,” she tells you quietly. “And El.”

“You’re so good with her,” you tell Melissa softly. “So good.”

She hums before kissing you gently.

“How do you feel about being ‘Mommy’?” you ask your girlfriend.

Your girlfriend’s eyes well with tears again. “Like I’m on top of the world… that little girl of yours… wow.”

“That little girl of ours,” you correct her. “Ours.”

As if Ellie knows the two of you are talking about her, she whines out from her place on the couch. “Mommy! Momma!”

Motherhood never stops, and the two of you head into the living room to hold your daughter together.

TAGS (and lmk if you wanna be added!): @schemmentis @thesapphictimelady @marvel210 @itisdoctortoyousir @morgana-larkin @thesamesweetie @doesthatsuggestanythingtoyou @marvels--slut @gwennybriggs @megamultifandomtrashposts @lemz378 @http-sam @melissaschemmentisbranzino @imaginesmultifandoms @sexysapphicshopowner @lilfartbox1 @maybe-a-humanbean @imlike-so-gaydude @sapphicxrat @a-queen-and-her-throne @sunsol-22 @notinmyvocab @melanielaufeyson

#melissa schemmenti fanfiction #melissa schemmenti #melissa schemmenti fanfic #melissa schemmenti x reader #melissa schemmenti x you #abbott elementary fanfiction #abbott elementary fanfic #abbott elementary

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patito-oward · 4 months

Text

Always Been You

masterlist

Prompt: And the other is about how Pato falls in love with the reader, just how he says "oh yeah she's THE ONE"

since this prompt was pretty vague I took a lot of liberties with it, but I still hope you like it :)

Summary: After being dumped by his long term girlfriend, Pato realizes everything he’s ever wanted in a relationship has been right in front of him

WC: 4.1k

It happened very suddenly. Here’s the thing, Pato didn’t mean for it to happen at all. On the list of things he had planned for the year, this was definitely not on it. A 500 win? Definitely. A championship? Yep. Extending his contract with Mclaren? Right again. But starting the off season by being dumped by his long term girlfriend and realizing he’s in love with his best friend was not anywhere in his mind.

It all started at the last race of the season, Pato was leading the championship, and granted he got a podium on this race he would finally have his championship victory. To celebrate and support, almost everyone he knew came to Nashville. Pato rented out a block of rooms at a hotel, and one of the many people who showed up for him was his childhood best friend, YN.

So maybe it all started in 2008, when YN and Pato were in second grade and met on the playground at recess. YN was sitting on the swings reading a book when Pato approached her, he was new to San Antonio and didn’t have any friends, and wanted to know if they could be friends. From then on the two were inseparable. Pato was a daredevil at heart, and would often hurt himself, and YN would take the delicate time of walking him to the school nurse and kissing his injuries better. Pato always made YN laugh, and made sure she was never sad, no matter what happened in YN’s life, Pato was there everyday to make her smile.

As they got older their relationship changed, it lost a little bit of their childish innocence, but they grew so much closer. YN was at Pato’s first win in karting, and she was more excited than he was. When YN’s childhood dog died, Pato was at her house at 6:00 AM and spent the whole day with her, trying to cheer her up. They’d even started their own holiday traditions, every year on Christmas Eve, the two of them spent the day making cookies together and exchanged presents. YN had practically become family, she didn’t have the best home life, and the entire O’Ward family was so loving that she ended up spending more time with them than her actual family.

The two dated for a few months in eighth grade, and were each other’s first kiss, but when Pato began racing for F4 and was in France every weekend the two agreed it was best they just stayed friends. Since then that is all they had been, things in YN’s home got significantly worse as they went through high school and despite whatever Pato may have felt, he knew she needed his friendship and wasn’t willing to risk their relationship.

With Pato coming up through Indycar and YN being a full time student and having a job, it was easy to assume the two would drift after high school, that was never the case. They still saw each other everytime Pato was in Texas and Pato made sure YN made a couple of races every year. She remained his biggest supporter as he went from her hometown best friend to the most popular driver in Indycar.

Fast forward to now, things were going pretty perfect for Pato. He finally won the 500, he’s about to win the championship, and he’s got a great girlfriend, Maria. He figures he’ll marry her, he does love her, she’s supportive and nice and insanely hot. They’ve been dating for over a year and things have been going really well. The only time they’ve ever really fought is over YN, when she found out there was a “history” between them, and in hindsight Pato realizes maybe he should’ve told her sooner, but he never really thought about it. Yeah they’d dated for a few months a lifetime ago, but she’s always just been his YN, he doesn’t even think of her like that anymore. YN was one of the most sure things in his life, and sure for awhile he always thought what if?, but that was in the past.

All that being said, he didn’t think twice about inviting her to Nashville to watch him possibly win the championship. YN wasn’t able to make it to the 500, or any other race this year, and he wished she was there. She knew more than anyone how much this had meant to him, coming up after losses she was always the person he went to, and he wanted her to see him now that it had all been worth it. YN was reluctant to come, but after a lot of begging from Pato she agreed.

Thursday night he made sure everyone he invited out came to dinner with him at a steakhouse. There were 20 people at the restaurant, but Pato ended up with Maria sitting next to him and YN sitting across next to Elba. Maybe Pato should’ve realized it, the tension in her shoulders and how Maria’s smile tightened as he laughed at YN’s jokes, but he didn’t. So Maria sat there all night, and she really tried to be understanding, but she felt as if she was third-wheeling her own relationship. She had to listen to a million inside jokes she didn’t understand, and watch as his family fawned over YN.

It was at that dinner she realized that she’d spent a year dating a taken man. Pato was too good of a man, she knew he wasn’t doing it on purpose, but it became undeniable. As she watched him, she realized everything she felt for him, he felt for the woman across the table. At first she felt possessive, the need to prove that he was her partner, and that no matter what he’d chosen her over YN, but as time passed she felt less possessive and realized that there was no way to continue the relationship. It wasn’t fair to her, she deserved a man who loved her and only her, and Pato deserved to be with the person he loves.

After the dinner, they headed back to the hotel where Pato, who was utterly clueless of her realization, continued to be the perfect man, only making it so much harder for Maria to leave. She didn’t know how long she should let it go on for, if she broke things off now would she be getting in his head and ruining the weekend for him? Would continuing a relationship she’s already checking out of be just as cruel? Could she stand the rest of the weekend watching her boyfriend making heart eyes at another woman?

After sleeping on it, or rather not sleeping very much at all, she’d come to the conclusion that a clean break was best for everyone. They ordered breakfast to the room and as they sat at the small dinette she knew she had to bring it up.

Pato was halfway done with his breakfast, but she hadn’t eaten much at all, mostly just pushing her food around with her fork. “Pato, I think we need to talk.”

It’s rare that she’s this serious, and Pato knows that can’t be good, his silverware clatters as he sets it down and looks up at her. “Uh oh, what’s wrong?”

She hesitates for a moment, not knowing the best way to start the conversation. “It’s YN.”

Pato’s shocked, he doesn’t know what he expected but it wasn’t that, “What about YN?”

She figures there’s no reason to beat around the bush, “You’re in love with her.”

Pato’s a lot of things, surprised for sure, but also shockingly defensive and angry. “What? Babe, that’s ridiculous. I know you were upset about us in middle school, but I swear there’s nothing going on! I would never even think about cheating on you!”

She rested her hand on top of his, “I know you would never cheat on me, and I know you said there’s nothing and I believe you, but I saw the way you looked at her, and how she fit into your life, and it makes so much sense because you love her.”

Pato doesn’t really know what to say to that, “I love you.”

“But you are in love with her. Listen I love you, Pato, and you’re such a good man, but it’s not fair to either of us to continue this relationship. Not when your heart clearly isn’t in it.” Maria struggles over her words, voice cracking and eyes watering, but a soft smile is on her face as she says them.

“Are you saying what I think you are? You’re just giving up?”

“Pato, I’m letting you free, tell her how you feel, you deserve that kind of love.”

And maybe what she’s saying finally resonates with him because the best thing he says is, “I never meant to hurt you.”

She lets out a broken laugh at that, a single tear rolling down her face, “Oh, Pato, you never could, we aren’t meant for each other, but we still had a lot of fun, right?” He nods at her.

After that she’s on a plane and back to her home before he knows it. Pato’s sad, he feels a little empty, someone who had been such a big part in his life just walked out leaving the biggest mess in her wake. He thought about her words, but shook them off. He loved YN, of course he did, but it wasn’t like that, she was like a sister to him.

Although it’s not his sister he messages asking if she wants to come over. YN is at his hotel room within a minute of him sending the “you busy?” text. YN asks where Maria is, but all he has to say is “gone.” and YN knows to drop it.

YN knows him better than anyone, knows that he has an irrational fear of being destined to fail at every relationship. She knows he has never actually broken up with a girl, only ever been broken up with, and she knows he spent over two years single because he was afraid of being hurt. But she also knows that there’s no way anyone could spend more than an hour with him and not be in love with him, God knows she is.

It’s the way he knows her, inside and out, but it’s also the way he makes everyone around him laugh, and spends hours interacting with his fans to make them all happy, and how caring he is with animals and babies. YN is only human, how is she supposed to feel when her insanely attractive best friend is doting over her niece?

YN puts it all aside because she’s his best friend first, she’d made that promise to herself a long time ago and she’s always kept it. She sits with him and watches Friends reruns with him, he’ll talk when he wants to, but until then she’ll be by his side.

They don’t end up talking, the one good channel the hotel room has switches from Friends to Modern Family, and then Pato has to go practice. A quick google search helps her find the best tacos in Nashville, so while he’s gone she runs out to get them dinner. They had dinner plans with his parents and Elba, but YN texted Elba long ago to let her know that plans were changing. He’s a superstar, so of course he doesn’t let his life affect him and it still the fastest person in the first practice, YN thinks that’s a good sign.

When he returns he seems to be a little better, talking to YN about track conditions over their dinner. YN has had enough of waiting for Pato to bring it up, and she can tell he’s feeling better, so she has to work up the courage to ask him what happened.

“Are you going to tell me what happened with Maria or am I supposed to guess?”

His smile drops, turning into one that’s much smaller and forced. “She just left.”

“No explanation? She just woke up and was gone?”

“Oh, she had an explanation but it was bullshit. She probably just got tired of me, it's no big deal.”

YN furrows her brows at that. “Pato stop it, you’re so great anyone would be so lucky to be with you. Maybe there was some merit behind what she said.”

“Well she said I was in love with you, but I told her so many times we’re just friends and that’s all we’ll ever be.”

YN’s stomach sinks at that, it’s not like she expected him to confess his love, but he didn’t need to friendzone her that hard. “Oh.” Is all she can think to say.

“I mean you’re great, but you’re like a sister to me!”

YN forces out a laugh, “Right.” She also can’t help but feel like maybe it’s her fault this all happened, was her pining really that obvious? “Well then, she’s stupid for leaving because she’s not going to find anyone better.”

Pato’s smile is genuine for the first time since the conversation started, “Thank you, you’re the best friend I could’ve asked for.”

“Right, and don’t forget that when you’re trying to figure out what to do with all your championship earnings.”

He lets out a real laugh at that, a stark contrast to how mopey he’d been the rest of the day. “One, greedy, and two, I’m not buying you anything else. I'm tired of you getting mad when I spend money on you.”

“Pato, a graduation gift is fifty bucks, not a two thousand dollar tennis bracelet.”

He leans back in his seat and shrugs, smirking as he says, “Yet I’ve never seen you not wearing the bracelet.”

YN’s eyes go to her wrist where, sure enough, the bracelet was, just like everyday for the past three years. When Pato gave her the bracelet she refused to take it, saying it was too much and he needed to return it. After arguing for ten minutes she thought he’d finally agreed to take the bracelet back, but found it later sitting on her dresser. “What can I say? You have good taste.”

The rest of the night mirrored the morning, but had a much different tone, the two of them sat sprawled out on the couch quoting the episodes of Friends that were on, having seen them so many times they were known by heart.

When YN went to her own hotel room Pato realized how empty the place felt again, something he hadn’t noticed all day. He chose not to think too hard about how effortlessly YN took up space in his life.

The next morning, Pato had already scheduled to have everyone meet in the lobby so he could take them to the track for the day. YN had clearly told everyone about Maria because despite some odd looks no one asked about her and he was grateful for that. He didn’t think twice when everyone began to split into different cars and he pulled YN along with him, or when they arrived at the track and Pato sent most people up into a suite, but brought YN and his immediate family to the pits. Maybe that’s how it’s always been, and how it’s supposed to be.

Pato gets swept up in work for the rest of the day and YN gets to spend some real time with her second family. As soon as they’re alone, Elba doesn’t hesitate to start interrogating her.

“What happened with Maria?”

“Apparently she told Pato he’s in love with me and just left.” YN shrugs as she says it, still a little puzzled by the whole thing.

“Huh.”

“What? No ‘huh’ I know what that means just tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I just thought Maria knew by now and didn’t care, maybe she’s not as smart as I gave her credit for.”

“What do you mean? Knew what?”

“Come on, YN, Pato’s been in love with you since you were nine, I wouldn’t want to be dating him.”

YN is struggling to process what she’s hearing, and automatically turns to deflection. “He is not.”

“Oh my god.” Elba starts giggling maniacally.

YN has no clue what could be funny, “What!?”

“You’re in love with him too!”

“I am not!” Despite her refusal, YN can feel and Elba can see the heat rising up her neck.

“You totally are! All this time I thought you had to know it’s so obvious, I mean, he follows you around like a puppy, but you had no idea!”

“Ok, keep your voice down.” YN puts her hand over Elba’s mouth really not wanting anyone else to hear their conversation. “Even if I did like him, and I’m not saying I do, he does not feel the same. I mean you should’ve heard how hard he friendzoned me yesterday.”

Elba looks sympathetic then, “Babe, I think my brother has spent so long denying himself what he wants he doesn’t even know what that is anymore. I love him dearly, but relationships are not his strong suit.”

“Then I guess we’re at a stalemate because I am certainly not going to be the one to ruin our friendship.”

Elba’s exasperated, “Oh my god, you two are exhausting!”

By the time Elba finished her intervention, qualifying finished resulting in Pato getting the pole. Mclaren has been dominant the last few weekends, and this weekend is no different with all three cars in the fast six. Pato is in the driver’s lot, getting ready to head back to the hotel, everyone else had dispersed from the track, and Felix has tracked down Pato and is calling after him.

“Hey, Felix! What’s up?”

“Bro, you’re about to win this fucking thing.” There’s nothing but excitement from Felix for his best friend.

“I know, I just hope tomorrow is a clean race and we can bring this thing home.”

“You’ve got this, I know it. Hey, where’s Maria been all day?” Felix says it like he’s just realizing she’s not around.

“Who knows. Yesterday morning she woke up determined that I’m secretly in love with YN and got on the next plane out.”

“So you guys are done?”

“Yeah about as done as you can be.”

“And YN?”

“YN is my best friend.”

“No, I'm your best friend.”

“Sorry, Fro, even you lose to YN.”

“I don’t want to win what YN is winning.”

Pato rolls his eyes and stomps his foot, huffing, “And what exactly is YN winning?”

Felix puts his hands up in self-defense, “Listen, all I’m saying is if you looked at me like you do YN, I think Emille would feel threatened.”

“Very funny.” Pato kicks the ground, staring at his shoe, he thinks about his relationship with Felix versus his with YN, sure it’s different, but him and YN have so much history. “Look, I don’t know what I feel for YN, but I don’t care either because she’s too important as a friend for me to lose her.”

“Mate you’ve been practically dating for years, I don’t think making it official will ruin anything.”

With that last piece of advice Felix takes off, leaving Pato alone with his thoughts. The whole drive back to the hotel and the rest of the night he spent thinking about YN. If everyone closest to him is saying one thing, how could they all be wrong? He thinks about everything they’ve been through together.

His first win in karting when she was the first person he ran to when he got out of the car; how she comes to every family reunion and often traveled to Mexico to spend time with his family; their senior prom when she was sad about not having a date, but she was the most gorgeous woman he’d ever seen that night; except for Christmas mornings when she’s in her pajamas and he gets to watch her eyes light up as they answer presents together. Maybe it’s been in front of him all along. What’s been missing from all of his other relationships has been right there.

It’s a lot to take in, but it doesn’t really matter because, like he told Felix, he wouldn’t risk their friendship if she doesn’t feel the same. He can handle a trail of failed relationships, but he could never handle losing YN. He went to bed that night knowing he had to just focus on the race and on bringing home the championship.

The next morning he’s awoken by a knock on the door. “Patricio! Open up, room service!”

He knows who’s behind the door before he opens it, there’s only one person who cares enough to bring him breakfast. When he lets YN in he sees the bag full of takeout food from a nearby diner. “Breakfast of champions, for the champion.”

Of course she’s already decided he’s a champion before the race. No one has ever believed in him as much as her. “Calm down, I don't want you to jinx me.”

“Au contraire my friend, a jinx would mean you’re winning by luck, and you are winning by sheer talent.”

It always amazes him how smart she is in the morning, he knows no more than 5 words for a solid hour after waking up, and she’s always speaking a million words a minute. “7AM is too early to be speaking another language.”

“Aw, pobrecito, ¿estás cansado?” She knew very minimal spanish, but had picked some up from time spent with his family, and used it pretty exclusively to tease him.

“You’re so not funny my brain hurts.” He is slouched over the table with his head resting on his arms.

She begins to unpack the food in front of him, “Alright, come on, time to wake up you’ve got a big day.”

The smell of eggs and bacon is what gets him to lift his head and start eating. He tries not to focus on the fact that she got him exactly what he eats every race day because that’s a can of worms he doesn’t want to touch. Regardless he eats the meal, and is sad when she pulls out her pancakes and begins to eat with him. She offers him a bite which he takes, but they both know he won’t eat any more than that because he doesn’t like big meals before a race.

After they finish, YN starts picking up their trash and Pato thanks her, “You take such good care of me, can’t believe you brought me breakfast I’m not worthy.” She’s glad for her back being turned to him because she can feel how much she’s blushing.

The rest of the day goes by in a blur, leave it to YN to be the eye in his hurricane, bringing calm before the storm. The race was close, a shitty pit stop meant Pato had to make some big passes to make up position, but Pato ended up pulling away with the final race win of the season and the championship.

YN and Elba leave the suite a few laps early so they can be on pit lane when he gets the win. After his victory lap and celebratory donuts he pulls into pit lane. Immediately his crew is flooding around him as he struggles to get out. Once he does there’s a giant group hug around Pato. Rossi and Fro also both make their way to his pits to congratulate him.

When Felix pulls Pato into a hug he whispers into his ear, “Why haven’t you gone to your girl yet, she’s waiting for you.”

Felix’s words had weight to them, all these people were surrounding him, but none of them had been on this journey with him as long as her. She waited for him for the last 15 years while he chased a career and different women, and now he’s at the peak of his career, having everything he ever wanted, and she’s not the one by his side. It hits him like a ton of bricks how bad he wants her to be the one celebrating this win with him, and every win for the rest of his life. Walking over to YN he pulls her into a hug, hoping that everything he’s feeling can be conveyed through the touch.

YN is in his ear, “I’m so proud of you, I always knew you could do it.”

He can’t find the right words, so all he says is, “I’m so glad you’re here.” he’ll explain later.

Holding her in front of thousands of people, Pato isn’t scared of losing their friendship anymore. He’s not sure of a lot, but he knows they’ll be ok, and that he’s loved her since before he knew what love was.

#pato o'ward #indy car #pato o'ward x reader #pato o’ward fanfiction #pato o’ward imagine

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disneyprincemuke · 9 months

Text

our spot, 2 * ls2

it’s about two weeks since you last saw logan and you find him sitting all alone in the dark

pairings: logan sargeant x fem!reader

warnings: logan is the warning idk

notes: i know it took me forever to write this subpar ass second part but like- i kinda like it because i'm bad with resolutions and making up (i'm single)

also i'd like to have a word with whoever made this gif because it's like so disrespectful like he is so fine why would u do this?

(f1 masterlist)

(prev)

“you’re growing up too fast,” your mother had said to you earlier after you finished packing the last of your boxes. the boxes that would be sent off to new york in a couple of days before you head out right before new year’s.

thankfully, your family agreed on flying over with you to spend the holiday with you. you had spent weeks and months rethinking the choice of your relocation; if you could handle being away from your family.

your father insisted you explore the world without them by your side and you took up the offer. you'd broken up with the guy you were seeing a couple of days ago.

while you had your doubts about where your relationship was going, there was no denying the amount of time you'd spent together. it still stung you quite a little bit to up and leave him. he had asked you if there was any way to make it work, but you couldn't get yourself to say anything.

so, he pulled you in for a hug and wished you well. and then you left, tearing up very slightly on the drive home alone.

it would be nice to start fresh in a new place. your last conversation convincing you to pick up the pieces of yourself and start moving on for real.

though, it seems it would take forever to do that. you hadn’t only lost a romantic connection when you lost logan, but also your best friend.

the first person you called when you crashed your car on the highway when you were 17, the person who stood up to the girl who made fun of you when you were 9, and the only one who knew you better than you knew yourself.

so here you are at 3 in the morning walking the quiet streets of your small town with your hands in the pockets of your sweater. you try to stifle the sniffle that escapes you, having spent the past couple of hours in tears at the thought of leaving behind everything you’ve ever known.

packing up and spending months in new york, then indefinitely in germany made you a nervous wreck. though the company you’re working for has arranged everything for you from the airport pickup to the apartment estate you’ll be spending your days in.

when you left your house, you glanced across the street to disappointment. logan’s truck isn’t parked on the street and his room had its blinds drawn — the way it’s been since you last saw him.

when you first got the promotion, you almost picked up your phone to text logan. but the heavy weight of guilt made you hit erase and put your phone down after a second.

even when you had graduated about 6 months after cutting contact, you wanted so bad to send him a photo of you and your degree together. but, there was something so embarrassing about reaching out and starting a conversation like nothing had happened.

you posted it on your instagram stories, reposting every single tagged picture for days after to hopefully prompt a message of congratulations from logan. but he didn’t bite.

it made you wonder if you’ve truly made a mistake suddenly cutting him off.

you sigh, making a sharp turn after you pass the school. there’s a dark figure up ahead on the playground that makes you question if it’s a mistake that you’ve come here so late at night.

but it’s a relatively safe gated community. you press your lips together as you approach, your breath hitching in your throat when you’re finally able to make out the man sitting at the end of the slide.

“fancy seeing you here,” logan mumbles, throwing the pieces of rubber from the playground floor into the ground. “it’s late.”

“yeah, i just finished packing,” you answer under your breath, passing him to sit at the edge of another slide. “just needed to do some thinking. didn’t expect you’d be here.”

logan grins to himself with a soft chuckle. “yeah, i’m sorry for intruding.”

you hadn’t been here since you last asked him to come here and see you. in fact, prior to that meetup, you’d only been here a total of 5 times since you last talked.

it reminded you too much of the memories you shared with him growing up.

you lie back in the comfort of the slide. “don’t worry about it. i don’t come here often,” you smile to yourself as you confess. "not anymore."

"i can tell," logan mutters. "i've been here every night since you texted me."

"oh." you take a deep breath, not knowing if you'd like the answer to your question. "what for?"

"thinking real hard," he says just barely above a whisper. he turns to you with a small smile. "i was thinking about you. and germany... and how close it is to me."

your breath hitches. you won't admit to him, but you accepted the offer to move to germany to at least be remotely close to him. or to at least convince him to give your relationship a shot.

you've been apart for years. the only way you got to spend time together back then was if you'd make the effort to visit him in the uk, or if he had the time to fly back home. it was difficult to keep finding ways to make the relationship last.

you had to pretend for a while that you never had to end it. but you knew in your heart two years ago that it cannot keep going on like this. you cried and cried every single time at the airport when he would have to leave you behind in this small town.

you knew his mother mentioned to him about the guy you were seeing. because your mother came to you asking questions about the mysterious guy you never even told her about.

every night after that, you thought about calling logan to explain yourself; that it's not what he thinks it is. but were you really in the position where you had to explain yourself?

"i do love you," he says, picking at the rubber grit once more to avoid your stare. "but the long-distance... barely seeing each other for months on end... it was hard. i couldn't give you what a normal guy would. i couldn't keep making you wait around for nothing."

"but that's not up to you to decide," you say slowly, hoping that he would understand where you came from. "it's unfair. i was willing to go through all of that with you. we've been through so much together."

"i didn't want to risk losing you over something like that," logan sighs, looking up at you in despair. there's a sadness in his eyes that you've never seen before. "it was lonely without you. you're my best friend - losing you over something different entirely was devastating. i didn't have anybody else."

you shake your head, unsure of what to say to him. it was lonely for you when you cut him off. you went from communicating everyday to only catching glimpses of his life on tv, instagram and media news sites.

every single achievement you had, you thought about calling him and hearing his proud voice. but you couldn't fully back yourself on the fact that you broke your own heart because he wanted to keep you around.

"i thought of you every single day," logan says. "i'm sorry. i know you've got a boyfriend and i'm sure he's great, but-"

"i told you," you laugh dryly, throwing your head back. "if you just tell me right now... i'll be all yours."

"but i can't do that to somebody else," logan frowns with a shake of his head. he's contemplated a lot over the past couple of days. how appealing your proposal sounds to him, but the fact that you're still seeing somebody has been making him hesitate. "you know what that means."

you press your lips together. logan's always made sure that he was as morally right as much as he could with his decisions. you sigh, a small hesitant smile stretching your lips. "we broke up."

"what?"

"i broke up with him a couple days ago," you whisper, dropping your eyes to avoid his questioning stare. "i just wanted to go to germany with a fresh start."

logan doesn't say anything immediately. and you don't follow up your confession with anything either. so you look up into the sky as you sway your feet left and right as you try to count the stars that illuminate the night sky. your heart pounds in your chest as you anticipate what he will say next.

and you know he's still there, thinking hard because you can still see his shadow against the playground flooring.

"stay the night," he says softly.

you sit up, both of your hands gripping the sides of the slide as you turn to look at him. "what did you just say?"

"come home with me and then let's talk about it," logan smiles, though he still looks just as tired as before. "let's figure it out, you and me; germany. let me make this right."

"you idiot," you laugh, tears falling out of your eyes again as you have another outburst. "logan."

"wait, why are you crying?" his voice is soft and laced with shock, hands held out towards your body. "i thought this was what you wanted? did i cross a line? i'm sorry."

"no, i just," you cry, wiping the tears from your face. "god, i just missed you so much. i'm sorry. it's not you."

he's now gotten up from his seat. he's knelt down next to the slide you're sitting in, trying to reach out and touch your arm. "i'm sorry. i'm sorry it took me this long." his thumbs swipe over your cheeks, wiping away your tears. "please don't cry anymore."

@thatgirlmj @lfm98 @gentlyweeps-world @ladywhistledownx @charli123456789 @lightdragonrayne @k-pevensie28 @angsthology

#logan sargeant x reader #logan sargeant #logan sargeant x you #logan sargeant x fem!reader #f1 x you #f1 x reader #f1 #f1 x y/n #logan sargeant x y/n #formula 1 #formula 1 x you #f1 fanfic #f1 fanfiction #logan sargeant fanfic #logan sargeant fanfiction #disneyprincemuke imagine #disneyprincemuke #disneyprincemuke imagines #disneyprincemuke f1

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blueberryarchive · 1 year

Text

જ⁀➴18+

જ⁀➴3.8k words

જ⁀➴tw; poorly and drunkenly written, monster fcking (long tongue, dub-con, big dck!jimin), monster!jimin, cheating, question mark. scary, question mark.

Your laughter echoed in the room, the high ceiling and the clear windows covering one wall revealing the forest surrounding you. Dark, dense, and covered in raindrops. The storm had stopped a few minutes ago, and you finally woke up from a long nap. The vibrating of the old phone (the only form of communication, due to the poor signal) abruptly woke you up as you lifted your head from the furniture, the wool sheets covering your body.

"But you know you could have come with me if you wanted to." The voice on the other end of the line was soft. He had just woken up just like you.

"You know I don't like those events, they make me nervous." You responded to your boyfriend while playing with the dog resting in your lap. The German Sheperd was heavy, but it comforted you knowing you were not alone in the ample cabin.

Jimin loved nature. He had been talking about getting one in the middle of the forest ever since you met him. There were several opportunities for him to get one near his family, all beautiful. But they did not convince him. A few months ago, an old friend informed him of one in the middle of the forest. The closest neighbor was about forty kilometers away, he had a lake nearby and the house had not been restored since the 50s. Even the furniture you were resting on was from the previous family.

Jimin didn't think twice, in winter he invited you to spend the holidays with him. You couldn't resist the idea of a good fire, the rustling of fallen leaves, playing with sweet Pepper who ran around the house with a blanket in her mouth until she got tired.

Of course, also having Jimin all to yourself was a blessing. You woke up early to watch the sunrise from the window in the attic. Sometimes, you two would go for a walk, he would kiss you against the trunk of a willow tree and tell you the things he loved most about you. It was precious: to see him so calm in his own home, even if you had told him that it was a bit exaggerated to have a place with six bathrooms.

So what? We will fill the rooms over the years, he promised you the night before he left, making love to you fervently until you both fell asleep from exhaustion.

In the morning, around 6, a gray Mitsubishi stopped at the entrance to the cabin. A scandal, something to do with Taehyung going out in Paris and getting drunk. Same as always, Jungkook denied looking at his cell phone, trying to catch up with what they were saying on social media. He held up the device, searching for reception.

"It's useless, you have to go to the road if you want a reception," Jimin responded, hands on his waist, fog rising from his lips due to the morning mist. One of his favorite features of the place.

Jungkook clicked his tongue at him, putting the cell phone in his coat. "We have to go look for Kim, he's going to arrive at the airport in two hours."

Jimin looked back, you were at the front door. The sheets covered your shoulders as you tried to keep out the cold. You greeted Jungkook from afar, sleep still in your actions.

"It'll only be two days, love." Jimin paced back and forth, filling a backpack with essential things.

"I know, you don't have to explain." You looked at him while you were flipping through a 70's magazine in bed. "Besides, Pepper will be with me."

"You can call me whenever you want, no matter what time. I'll have the phone in my pocket." Jimin closed the backpack and turned his gaze to you, something was wrong. His eyes moved erratically over your features.

"Minnie." You called him to wake up from his stupor.

The man closed his eyes and smiled. "Sorry, this Taehyung thing has me stressed."

"Rumors pass."

"Did you go downstairs last night?" He interrupted you and put his index finger on his lips. As if the question had been bubbling since last night.

You shook your head, confused.

"No."

"Haven't you had those…you know, again?" His hands moved, trying to explain your sleeping problem. You had awful nightmares. Sometimes, you would even get out of bed and stare at the wall for minutes. Jimin knew about your issues and was happy that after going to a specialist, your sleeping habits were improving.

"No." You smiled comfortingly. "Besides, if it happens, Pepper will take care of me. I have her for that."

Pepper perked her ears at hearing her name. She was your companion, every time you had a nightmare, she would wake you up by putting her snout on your face, licking your nose and eyes to make you react.

Jimin nodded, thinking back to the topic of Taehyung. His fingers went to his temples, and before he could say anything else, Jungkook made the horn go off. Your boyfriend approached and kissed your forehead, love pouring from his pupils before he left.

He closed the door after giving you one last smile. "Take care, princess."

You spent the morning hours on the patio, finishing reading a book of stories by Borges. You walked a little with Pepper to the lake, where the birds settled on the protruding stones, looking for little fish.

If anything was notable, it was the silence that had engulfed you since Park left. Not even the birds in the pines squawked, nor did Pepper bark at the squirrels, nor did the leaves rustle the way they used to.

You decided to return earlier than ever to the cabin. You fed the dog and lay down on the couch. The light rain turned into a storm and, without realizing it, you had fallen asleep in the living room.

"How are the boys?" You asked, the long cord following your steps as you turned on the lights in the living room. The chandelier on the ceiling bathing the space in yellowish light. The lamps on the walls illuminate the hidden, dusty corners.

"We're resting, we went to eat at the hotel restaurant. Hoseok asked about you."

You smiled good-naturedly, grabbing the phone with both hands. Returning to your position on the couch. Pepper was no longer lying there, you assumed she went to finish what was left on her plate.

"You should invite them for Christmas. To the cabin, I mean."

"Maybe. I'll ask them in the morning." He answered with a sigh, he sounded drained. Your smile disappeared. You watched the flames in the fireplace flicker.

"Are you okay, Minnie?" Your voice was calm and comforting to your boyfriend.

"I just want to go back, I don't feel good sleeping alone… I feel like hotel rooms take the life out of me."

"Don't be so dramatic, I can hear you taking a hot shower." The running faucet rang as he moved the water.

A small laugh before going to silence, and the water continued to fall. Jimin licked his bottom lip before biting it.

"I haven't been able to stop thinking about the video we made last night."

Your eyes drifted to the shimmering embers in the fireplace.

The reflection of the camera shows the silhouettes of both. Jimin pressed your head against the wall as the fire created a halo of heat around your sweaty, naked bodies. You moaned indecently, taking advantage of the fact that there was no one to hear you. Park loved how dirty you were after the stupid excuse that you had a glass of wine. He didn't even have to convince you much for him to put the cell phone on the bed and hit the red button.

"I hope you don't forget to buy condoms again. This is the last time we do it without protection."

There you were, putting on a show. Your skin crawled with every movement of his fingers, curling the index and ring fingers to caress your juicy walls.

"I thought you wanted the rooms to not feel so empty." He laughed. You stayed quiet. A long, eternal silence. He could hear you breathing. "Hello?" Jimin looked at his phone, you were still on the call. "Love?"

You clenched the phone in your hand, static as you watched a shadow: long and thin, like a worn-out umbrella, standing behind the glass of the front door. It couldn't be a tree, because it didn't move with the wind; not a forest animal either, it was too tall. Unless it's standing on two legs.

You don't know how long it lasted, maybe seconds, maybe a minute. The shadow quickly moved away, letting the moonlight come back in through the small window.

"Did you go back to sleep?" The voice tensed your body, your fingers trembling, trying not to drop the phone.

“No,” you stammered, looking towards the kitchen. Where was Pepper? "I saw a shadow outside, I-"

"The trees?"

"No, it's-" Why didn't you just say it? You looked towards the kitchen again. The light was off, but the windows let in the moonlight in all its splendor.

"Hey, what about Pepper? She was left whining at the door when I left this morning." Jimin was talking about how his dog would wait for him. The words dissolved in your ears like water. You got up cautiously and went to the hallway that led to the kitchen.

You heard Pepper's contented gasps, her tail slapping the ground with joy. The chop, chop, chop against the wood table. You approached the archway that led to the kitchen and pressed your body against the wall. You guided your eyes to where the animal was looking.

Your stomach flipped. It was Jimin. His back facing you, wearing the clothes he had yesterday. A tight black T-shirt and dress pants. His shoulders were tense with the repetitive motion of cutting vegetables.

"…I should get Pepper a partner, she's already getting old." He said on the line, the incessant creaking now louder.

"Jimin." You whispered so softly, but the being turned around. Even when you found yourself with only one eye in his sight, his gaze rested on yours with large pupils, distant and feral. The sound of vegetables did not stop when his body turned around. They came from his mouth, the cutting sounding so precise every time he parted his lips. Like a tape recorder with a scratched cassette.

"Jimin," he repeated as he finished turning around. Your voice coming out of his throat.

"Yeah?" Your boyfriend answered on the line.

You took a couple steps back, the hallway becoming longer and darker. The creature that looked like your boyfriend kept repeating his own name, your voice filling the room with an echo.

Run.

You dropped the phone and ran to the living room, a bloodcurdling scream came from your chest, and you ran up the stairs. Your feet getting stuck and falling a few times, you ran with your hands touching the walls, looking for a door. The lights were off, and the black was thick and dissolvable, your eyes trying to adjust to the darkness by sheer force.

The creature came like a scared horse, you could hear the footsteps of four limbs crawling up the stairs. Jimin, Jimin, Jimin, he said over and over. Your voice so anguished, this disturbing feeling of hearing yourself, drowned in thousands of other voices. The stomping stopped for a moment. Silence.

You stopped breathing, your drumbeat heart threatening to burst from your chest.

The hallway lit up with a flash of blue, the sudden lighting let you see a door and you walked softly; You felt the handlebars in the dark, and you rotated it. You entered, locking it.

Your breathing was so erratic and uncontrolled that you were afraid you would faint, your eyes threatening to go black.

If this is a nightmare, I'll wake up soon. Pepper will lick my face, I will hit the wall, and thunder will wake me up. Whatever, you prayed.

Luckily, in that room, there was a telephone that connected to the one in the living room. You took it in your hands, the line sounded strange, far away.

"Jimin, help. Please call the police. I'm going to die." Tears overflowed your face and neck. You whispered, crouched on the dusty floor of an unused office, the musty smell of old books on the shelves and cobwebs floating empty in the corners.

"Love?"

"Jimin. There's someone in the house, help." Your skin crawled as you heard Pepper barking downstairs.

"Hello?"

You frowned.

"Minnie-"

"Honey, hello, Pepper, help." He repeated with different tones, and different emotions, like stations on an old radio about to die.

It was too late when you realized that your right side felt colder, the wind blowing even when the windows were closed. You didn't move, air rushing out of your mouth. From the corner of your eye, you could see how the creature was forcefully morphing into Jimin's face, failing several times and starting again. The viscosity of his body molded to Park's profile.

"Pepper, love, love, love. Help," he repeated like an actor warming up his vocals to find the right tone. You heard a woman crying in their notes, a child, an old man. Their eyes drooped from their sockets and their elongated tongue rolled to the side before they swallowed it and had that of a human.

You moaned in pain, it was torture watching the creature contort in pain to become your boyfriend. You closed your eyes tightly. If this is a nightmare, I'm going to wake up now. Jimin will open the door with a bang and hug me when he sees me sweating. The fall of a tree will scare me so bad that there will be no way for my body not to shake, you prayed again.

Pepper's barking stopped. The cold dissipated next to you.

Risking a look around the dark room, you picked up the phone again. You still had faith.

"Jimin?" You whispered, saliva spurting from your mouth, you wiped away the mucus collecting on your cupid's bow.

"Hello? Jesus, you scared me." Hearing his voice again, you sighed, turning your body into a ball.

"I don't want to die today."

"Of course not, I'm here to protect."

"I want to call the police, but I don't want to hang up."

"Do not." He interrupted. "Is not safe."

Your sobs choked you, the thick drops falling to the ground. You were afraid to lift your head, the darkness felt like thousands of cold needles ready to stab you.

"Open the door."

"What?" Not a second after answering, the door began to shake with each touch. They were short and desperate. The light that filtered under the door revealed a shadow, some feet.

You crawled to the corner of the office, the door slamming again.

"It's me, love. Open up, nothing's happening."

You shook your head vigorously. If this is a nightmare, I'm going to wake up right now and-

"Open up, I'm scared. Please." The tremulousness in his voice chilled your blood. It's like it's really him. Were they imitating your pain?

"There is someone in the house, I'm afraid. Please open up."

"NO!" You bawled over and over again, grabbing your hair in pure psychosis. The door kept shaking.

Silence again.

The handlebars shook a few times, you heard the metal shake. Your heart reached your stomach when, with indomitable force, the creature moved the handlebars to the left. You could hear the machinery breaking under the resistance.

Clack, and just like that the handlebar was completely dislocated until the door was swinging open. It only opened a little, just enough to let one eye peek through. It was stalking you, ready to pounce if you moved.

"Do not kill me, please." You begged, already knew there was no escape.

The creature shook their head and opened the door, their clothes with several tears on their shoulders, barefoot, and messy hair.

"Can I?" He opened the door a little more. Their veiny hands and their black tongue did not go unnoticed. You knew you couldn't refuse, it was useless at this point.

You nodded.

Jimin, or rather The Creature, opened the door. He crouched down to your level and crawled until he reached your face, your noses touching. You clawed at the ground, trying to balance yourself so you wouldn't fall or faint. Jimin looked at your eyes, then at your lips. Seeing how you were breathing, he began to imitate your rhythm. That made you breathe even faster, his eyebrows raised imitating concern, fear.

"Don't kill me, please. Jimin," he repeated taking your voice. But it didn't seem like you were crying, more like you were moaning. Confused, you opened your eyes wider.

He smiled, revealing his perfect teeth.

Without letting you think too much, he grabbed your cell phone from his pocket and looked for you and Jimin's chat, the last thing he had sent was the video that Jimin wouldn't stop talking about. As if to explain his behavior to you, he touched the screen, letting the sound of your moans fill the dark void. He saw your confused eyes again, the light from the screen illuminating his curious, questioning eyes.

You shook your head as he held the phone closer to you, your boyfriend's erotic growls exploding in your ear.

"Get up, come on." said the video and the creature in unison. You obeyed and with brute force he held you by the waist, taking you out of the room and into the attic. You wanted to scream but your throat hurt, your hope disappearing with each kilometer of pure pine that distanced your possibility of being heard.

Jimin dropped you on the bed, his pupils dilated by the fire that had not yet gone out. Your body bounced.

"Clothes, take off." He watched impatiently as you removed your pants and panties.

He couldn't stand how slow you were. He took off his shirt, he didn't have the tattoo on his rib, a sign that it wasn't Jimin but a monster. His hands squeezed your waist until he had you on top of his head, resting on the pillows. You lowered your eyes until you saw his.

He seemed excited, eager.

Even with the pain, with the certainty that it wasn't him, the fear running through your veins…those lips, the pointed black tongue that uncurled, inviting you so vehemently to sit your pussy on it. How could you say no?

He moaned again. He wanted to imitate the video on your cell phone, wanted you to make those sounds again. Just for him.

His hand tightened on your waist, eliciting a squeal from you until he forced you to sit down, his tongue was warm and slimy, strings of saliva hanging from his tongue as he moved from your entrance to your hidden clit. You groaned in disgust at how your stomach burned, pleasure shrinking your chest.

"Mm," he grunted back, frowning, the tip of his tongue entering your pussy, it wasn't possible.

"God. Ji-" You bit your lip, stifling a moan. No. It's not Jimin. You had to remember that this thing was chasing you, it would probably kill you if you refused to do what it wanted.

If this is a nightmare…what then?

His hand ran down your back and tore your shirt until it was exposed, marks from the night before still fresh, pulsing bright red. Your hands dug into his hair that began to sweat, you were on the verge of cumming around his tongue.

"Squirt for me, princess. C'mon." He gushed from his throat, lifting you up to place two of his cold fingers on your clit, moving frantically.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck." You whimpered, legs shaking, the imminent end approaching.

"Fuck," he repeated, smiling, hitting it faster until he felt the droplets fall on his face. His lips parted in surprise, pupils widening as he heard you moan uncontrollably.

You were fucked, he had liked it. The worst thing was that you, too. You couldn't believe what you were going to ask for.

"More." You whispered.

"More." He stated, putting your juicy thighs around his neck and stood up until he threw you on the bed.

With one finger, he lowered the torn shirt until your breasts were visible. His rough hands groped your breasts, and you turned your face to the side, enduring the delicious torture. His tongue curled around your breast and he sucked it until your nipple was hard. The creature just laughed, letting the drool fall to his chin as he released it.

When he went to suck the other one, you felt something hard at your entrance, thick and throbbing. He didn't give a signal, he didn't ask, he didn't say anything when you felt your pussy open with stinging pain to make way for the hardest and widest cock you had ever felt. He gave no sign, he didn't even look at you. He just smiled, idolizing your tits like the monster he was.

You moaned in pain, sweat gathering on your forehead. You put your hands in his hair again, and the monster raised its eyes in surprise. It was his face, it was Jimin's, with his cheekbones and his pouty lips, red and swollen. You brought his face closer to kiss him, and he reciprocated.

With each time you felt the tip protruding into the skin of your tummy, you moaned even louder into his mouth. On a particular thrust, you felt your walls embrace the massive cock that was destroying your insides.

"Cum." They ordered slapping your clit ever so softly until you were a moaning mess under him. His gaze drank you in, you were beautiful: your eyes wide shut, your dry parted lips, the hair covered in sweat. Such a cute human in the middle of their woods.

When you opened your eyes, he was no longer there. You were covered by the bedsheets, and the fire had died a while ago, leaving a wisp of smoke floating. You raised your head, it was already daylight.

Pepper was barking, circling, and wagging her tail. You heard a car door closing. It was Jimin. Thoughts of the night before burned in your memory.

You checked your body: you were still wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and you had no marks or bruises.

"Here you are." You squealed as Jimin hugged you from behind him, his soft hands and warm body. You closed your eyes, smiling. "Did you just wake up?" You nodded. "Did you dream about me, hm?"

"Vividly."

#bts #bts imagines #bts dark fic #jimin smut #jimin imagine #jimin bts #jimin x reader #tumblr #bts drabble #bts fanfic

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brf-rumortrackinganon · 1 month

Note

About Harry's comment that he was "literally" cut off financially -

This is just my speculation, but like you, I also assume that Harry still gets some sort of annual allowance from Charles and that he absolutely lied in the Oprah interview.

What I think he meant is that-

1. Part of their salary, their allowance from the Duchy of Lancaster (at the time, under the Queen) was stopped. Obviously, because they stopped working for The Crown.

2. Their salary from the Duchy of Cornwall (at the under Charles) stopped. Read somewhere that this was in the range of 3 to 4 mil.

3. Their official expenses for their staff, likely being covered separately by the Duchy/BP stopped.

4. Their upkeep expenses like travel, housing etc, being covered by the Duchy/BP stopped.

5. Their official security, being covered by the govt, stopped.

6. Whatever perks their diplomatic status afforded them, stopped. I'm assuming this is what Canada/Trudeau said he won't be covering post March 2020. And so they fled to USA.

7. Private expenses - household, lifestyle etc, being covered privately by Charles via the Duchy stopped. I'm assuming this included clothing allowances, holidays that weren't comped by friends, rentals or lease for homes anywhere other than crown property, like their Cotswold home.

Like you said, I do think Charles privately funds Harry. Either via a trustfund that may have been set up ages ago, and so Harry takes that for granted and it doesn't count in Harry's mind. Or, Charles gives them an annual lump sum.

Of course, he may very well be spending his inheritance from Diana or the Queen mother as well. But both harry and meghan live their life like they don't much care about where their money comes from. They also doy seem to much effort into their Netflix, Spotify deals. We know they don't have any brand deals. So the money must come from somewhere.

And Harry keeps going over the UK every year around the same time each year. It can't be as simple as just a layover enroute to Invictus. My personal conspiracy theory (I have no rational explanation for it) is that he goes to UK, and stays at Windsor, to sign whatever documentation in person, so he can recieve this money from Charles.

Maybe part of the deal is that he comes and sign for it in person. And staying at Windsor makes it easier to meet with the lawyers or staff that handles this for him. He usually comes around April or May. His megxit trial separation review was March 2021. In my mind atleast, his annual trips in April or May along with that review date.

Another thing is that it was around this same time last year, in 2023, that negotiations for Harry's coronation appearance were happening. The result of which was that Meghan was absent (disinvited?) and Harry, quietly, weekly, came and went and did not create much of fuss for the way he was completely excluded from the coronation pomp. I think he may have got some money back then as well, and likely, got a bonus due his dad's promotion.

Old ask from June 2nd

I suspect Harry was given some money around the coronation too, and I feel like there might’ve been a condition that required Meghan to be radio silent for the whole weekend.

We talked about it at the time, but it was *very* strange, and very noticeable, that she completely disappeared for Coronation Weekend, considering that her usual MO is to smother us in PR any time the BRF steps out as a family - like trooping, Remembrance Day, post-summer holidays, the Platinum Jubilee, The Queen’s funeral. (Yes, she papwalked the first second she could, during the coronation concert, but by then most of the official festivities were over and no one really cared.)

I suspect maybe Meghan had gotten some kind of money for the coronation too. Probably a “half now, half after if you cooperate” kind of deal as I think that’s the only way Meghan would agree to anything. Or maybe Charles’s letters she leaked about just before the coronation (the ones where she claimed Charles names the racist royals) actually worked and they paid her for her silence. 🤷‍♀️

But anon picked up something I hadn’t — Harry really does have a pattern of going to the UK in the spring and what if it actually is tied to him getting the allowance from Charles?

Let’s review:

March 2020 - Sussex “farewell” tour

April 2021 - Philip’s funeral

April 2022 - secret Windsor visit on the way to The Hague Invictus Games that Meghan leaked because no one actually saw them. They reportedly wanted a meeting with The Queen, but she required them to meet with Charles and Camilla first. Supposedly they were late and never got to meet The Queen. I think this is the visit where Harry claimed he was making sure The Queen was protected and had good people around her.

June 2022 - Platinum Jubilee visit

September 2022 - Sussex “revenge” tour, overshadowed by The Queen’s illness and passing, royal mourning, and the funeral.

May 2023 - Harry returns for the coronation

June 2023 - Harry returns for lawsuit hearing/trial. Conveniently he’s in the country the same time that Charles is traveling and named Harry as a Counsellor of State.

February 2024 - Harry returns to see Charles after cancer diagnosis. He tries to see Kate but William blocks him.

May 2024 - Harry returns for 10th anniversary Invictus Games service. He doesn’t see Charles because Charles didn’t read Harry’s mind that he wanted to be personally invited by him despite an offer being made through staff. He tries to see Kate again but William blocks him.

I’m going to have to remember this theory next spring to check if the pattern continues.

#brf #Sussexes #coronation #theories #allowance theory

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blouisparadise · 6 months

Text

Today we have the fourth part of our hurt/comfort rec list for you! There are tons of amazing fics on this list that we hope you'll show some love to. If you missed the previous parts, you can find part one here, part two here, and part three here. If you enjoy our rec lists, please be sure to like and reblog this post to help spread the word. Happy reading!

1) Wanna Feel the Edges Start to Burn | Explicit | 6,111 words

Harry gives him a gentle smile. “Feeling a little bit better?” Louis nods tentatively. “I think so yeah. Thank you so much for being so kind, but you really didn’t need to do this.” He lifts his unfortunately still shaky hand and runs it haphazardly through his hair. “It was just a spilled tea, I totally overreacted. I’m a bit embarrassed to be honest.” Harry scoffs. “Are you kidding me? Don’t be. I saw the whole thing, that guy was way out of line. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Louis gives him what he’s sure is a watery smile. “Erm thank you. I wouldn’t normally admit this to a stranger, but you’ve already seen me cry today so what the hell?” He forces himself to let out a weak laugh. “The thing is, my period is due any day now and sometimes the birth control pills make my emotions go a little haywire. I think that’s what happened.”

2) To Love Without Reason | Explicit | 8,894 words

“Come on in, soldier,” Louis pats Harry’s chest and walks away, leaving Harry to follow behind. Harry stands in the living room, looking around at Louis’ dwelling. Family pictures placed high on a shelf, certificates of Louis’ practice, and other trinkets that make Harry entirely too nostalgic. “I have to warn you,” Louis says as he puts the kettle on, the water droplets from his hair trickling down the golden skin of his back. “The door jams if you lock it so you'll have to leave it ajar.” Harry acknowledges with a soft hum, too entranced by Louis’ glistening skin to form a coherent reply.

3) Wanna Do Nothing With You | Explicit | 9,606 words

The accident happens in the stupidest way possible. One minute Louis is demonstrating a skateboard trick he’d just learned for Lottie, the next he’s waking up in a hospital. He’s told that he wasn’t unconscious the entire ride, but he has absolutely no recollection of it. One second he’s fucking around in his own garden and the next he’s being assaulted with the strong sterile scent of a hospital. So. There’s that.

4) Let Me Be Your Good Night | Explicit | 10,520 words

Louis goes on a shit Valentines date and Harry's the cute waiter who takes him home

5) For The Love Of Biscuits | Mature | 16,574 words

Note: This fic is locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

The thing about hybrids is that their animal instincts make them jumpy. And quite often lends them to being owned. Harry Styles wasn't looking to purchase a half-breed. But sometimes things just happen. And owning a fox/human hybrid was something that happened.

6) Works Like A Charm | Explicit | 18,088 words

Ever since Louis joined the team in fifth year, a few facts have become set in stone. One: Louis is the best chaser in Hogwarts. Two: Harry is the best beater in Hogwarts. Three: They do not get along. So it’s really unfair of Liam to think that forcing them to spend time together as Louis recovers from his injury will make them the best of friends. The last thing Louis would do is get along with that git.

7) Soup Of The Day | Explicit | 19,958 words

It had been the single minded goal for them since college and seemed simple enough. 1. Study hard. 2. Open their dream restaurant. 3. Take the culinary world by storm. What could possibly go wrong?

8) Under The Rain Or Under The Snow | Explicit | 20,667 words

Christmas AU where they broke up a month ago but Harry shows up at Louis’ childhood home for the holidays. Louis didn’t tell his mum about their breakup so staying with them is not ideal. Harry stays.

9) Heart Eyes | Explicit | 21,467 words

Harry is a dedicated sentinel with a strong aversion to demons, and Louis is the lovesick incubus who will go to any lengths to win Harry's heart.

10) It Was All By Design (‘Cause I’m A Mastermind) | Explicit | 21,986 words

“You can’t be serious. You think I would be so awful to work for - you would rather quit?” “Don’t be all high and mighty about it,” Harry scoffs. “Surely you would do the same.” “I’m not being high and mighty. It’s called being professional.” “Really?” Harry pushes. “You’d work diligently under me with no complaints? You’d do whatever I asked of you?” “That would be my job, so yeah.” Harry shakes his head. “I’d work you so fucking hard,” he says slowly, “that you’d have to quit.”

11) Thrown To The Wolves | Explicit | 21,681 words

Louis is a human living in the Styles' wolf pack who can't stop getting into trouble, and Harry is the soon-to-be alpha who thinks keeping Louis at arm's length is the safest option.

12) Letters To June | Mature | 41,150 words

It's 1915, Europe is in the middle of the Great War. Omega Louis decides to join the Letter Home Project to become someone’s penfriend. Through this he meets a lovely soldier who hasn't got anyone else to send a letter to. Along with his letter, comes a picture of the most handsome alpha Louis has ever seen.

13) Catch Me If I Fall | Explicit | 47,099 words

Lovers when on the stage but bitter rivals as soon as they step off, Harry and Louis have butted heads from the moment they first met. Locked in a stalemate that they hope to ride out until graduation, things take a turn when Harry learns that Louis is hiding a secret.

14) As We Are | Explicit | 48,268 words

Louis doesn't think much when he's asked to meet up with the alpha of the pack two hours from his own - he figures it's business as usual. But Harry Styles is anything but usual.

15) Once Burnt, Twice Shy | Explicit | 52,644 words

Louis and Harry are polar opposites in every way. Where Louis is a bestselling author from the city, Harry is a small-town firefighter who’s never left his home. Where Louis is spontaneous and spirited, Harry is introverted and calm, never straying from routine. When an ill-fated accident and an exceptionally intelligent tabby bring them together, they are forced to confront their pasts and forge a better beginning for themselves. Will sparks fly, or will it all go up in flames?

16) Of Lost Things | Explicit | 57,890 words

Louis comes with a familiarity Harry has never felt with anyone else before. After their fateful meeting, their chemistry became undeniable, and soon after, Harry had felt like he hit the jackpot when it came to finding the person he would spend the rest of his life with. But all relationships come with their own unique problems, and Harry soon realizes that their relationship is no different. When their problems go from unordinary to nearly bizarre in nature, he takes it upon himself to find an answer to their troubles. What he stumbles upon are terrifying coincidences between his and Louis’ story, and the ill-fated mythological couple, Orpheus and Eury. But it’s all they are; just coincidences, ones that feel as frighteningly familiar as Louis. Except… what if none of this is a coincidence? What if everything Harry has always seen as fiction is true, and myth—or rather, history, is about to repeat itself?

17) Sink Into Your Sunlight | Explicit | 79,562 words

In the grand scheme of things Louis did believe in love, what he didn’t believe was that he would ever find it in his life time for himself. Low and behold he would find it with someone he didn’t anticipate, now it was just a matter of having it work out the way he dreamed of.

18) Invisible String | Explicit | 84,726 words

Louis swears on his life that that man came out of literal nowhere and he thanks each lucky star for having good breaks in his car. This strange alpha also happens to be the most beautiful being Louis has laid his eyes on. For some unknown reason, the omega feels safe around the alpha. It might seem strange, but you can't always explain why or how things are the way they are. All you can really be sure of is that they happen for a reason. There's a higher power (call it what you want) that knows better and definitely knows more than you do.

19) Wind Beneath My Wings | Explicit | 93,131 words

As an omega carer that works at a rescue and rehabilitation centre for feral alphas and omegas, Louis has experienced all sides of ferality. So Harry- a cold, near mute, non-receptive alpha- was a challenging case for everyone at Phoenix Rehab Centre. Louis wasn’t expecting to feel drawn towards an aloof Harry, or to form a slow bond with him. He certainly was not expecting for his entire life to change in unforeseen ways.

20) You Were My Because | Explicit | 109,089 words

Note: Please be sure to read the tags and any warnings.

Louis has battled the demons of his past for years now and has little hope of finding happiness for himself. Especially now that a school reunion is taking place and the memories of his school days are suddenly coming back with full force. But after rain always comes sunshine, in Louis’ case in the form of his old schoolmate Harry. A story about healing, friendship, finding trust and love.

21) Drops of Jupiter | Mature | 121,826 words

In a small, sleepy town ruled by prejudice, Louis Tomlinson runs his grandmothers shop for the occult. He finds comfort in his tarot cards, his friends, and a dog that he doesn't have room for. He thought the worst he'd have to deal with would be bigotry, until a new sheriff arrives with a headstrong little girl that's impossible not to fall in love with. But what happens when a string of break-ins leads to a brutal attack, and the towns' darling is murdered right under their Sunday hats? A murder that just so happens to bear the same modus operandi as similar homicides in neighbouring states. Has the killer been circling Virginia, or is he a local of Lavender Hills? And what will Louis do when the charming Sheriff Styles starts to suspect him of such a heinous crime?

22) Sewn Into You | Explicit | 167,485 words | Sequel

Harry Styles thinks soulmates are a fairytale, or in other words-a lie. He has no interest in entertaining anything that has anything to do with the very name that had been etched along his collarbone since his eighteenth birthday. Louis Tomlinson won't be answering to another alpha for the rest of his life if he can help it. Fuck happy endings, his soul mate can choke on it. Problem is, Harry needs a personal assistant to save his family's business, Louis needs the cash to officially move off of his childhood best-friend's couch. They can manage. Surely, nothing will go wrong.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#bottom louis #top harry #larry #fic recs #blp fic recs #hurt/comfort

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xmasterofmunsonx · 1 year

Text

Got Your Number

Summary: You’re Steve Harrington’s older sister and after a rough and tumultuous breakup, you’re back in Hawkins, Indiana.

Pairing: harrington!reader x Eddie Munson

Author’s notes: Potential S4 SPOILERS! For all intents and purposes of this story it’s September of 1986- Eddie is 21, almost 22, reader is 23. Post season 4, and the upside down did happen but we’re pretending the ending was how we are all talking ourselves into how it actually ended, aka Eddie lives. I started this story about 6 months ago after S4 ended, got extremely sick for a few months, and have had major writer's block over this fic because I was so unhappy with the rushed feeling of it. I hated how I’d thrown random details in there because I hadn’t thought it out well enough. So we’re taking our time the second time around- so if the storyline seems familiar, it is, it’s because it’s me rewriting my own story! Enjoy my rewrite and I appreciate any and all feedback as always ❤️

Warnings: 18+ (Minors DNI!!), language, drinking, mentions of past abusive relationship, possibly triggering bad mother/daughter relationship (comments about weight, looks, etc.), eventual smut/sexual relationship.

Word count: 7k+

You groaned as you walked through the front door of your childhood home, the familiar smell bringing back memories of years past. Your slightly younger brother Steve had flown out to you to help you pack up and drive a moving truck to move back to Hawkins. You arrived back home to an empty house, which was nothing new to either of you. Your parents were due back from a business trip any moment now, and you actually weren’t too upset that they hadn’t arrived yet.

“You remember where your room is?” Steve joked as he plopped one of your suitcases down in the large foyer.

“Hasn’t been that long, Stevie.” You both rolled your eyes at each other and you grabbed the suitcase from him and traipsed upstairs.

Your room had looked the same since high school, the floral wallpaper only dulled over the last five years. You hadn’t been home much since you graduated in ‘82- you had moved away to the University of Chicago and graduated with your high school (not-so) sweetheart Charlie, who quickly became (even more of) a controlling, toxic boyfriend as soon as you were alone with him in the big city. He wasn’t always so controlling of what you did- he limited your trips home to Hawkins to strictly seeing his family only, or just skipping coming home for the holidays completely because he convinced you that your school load was too much for you. Things had gotten worse over the last year as he became increasingly more abusive and violent, and you had to get the cops involved and took out a restraining order against him.

You browsed around your room, not having many moments to yourself to look around the times you had been home and smiled at some of the high school memories that still hung on the walls in frames and in photos.

“I went ahead and trashed the ones of him so you didn’t have to see him anymore.” You turned around to meet the eyes of your brother who shared the same kind eyes as you- he hadn’t always been the same either. You both were kind of jerks throughout high school but you’d heard everything Steve had gone through when he confessed it all to you back in the spring. Scars littered his face, and you felt bad you hadn’t been home for him, but you had to be careful about leaving Charlie.

“Thanks. You can just leave everything else in the moving van, I’ll get the rest of my stuff out tomorrow and we can return the van.” You smiled at him and he dropped the bags you’d packed with your essentials and favorite clothes. You had too much stuff to fly back with, and it was only a three hour drive across the states to come back home. It gave the two of you plenty of time to talk in person, and you were shocked at how well the little town had been put back together after the “earthquake.”

Steve left you alone and you were quick to unpack, wanting to make sure your room felt like yours again as quickly as it could. You had some artwork from your apartment in Chicago you were itching to hang on the walls, but you were going to wait for that until another day.

“There you are!” Your moms screeching voice echoed through your room and you greeted her with a hug- one of the first ones in a year, and quickly gave your dad one too. Neither of them were happy about you and Charlie’s split, especially since you were due to be married in December, but once you spared the details of the relationship they were understanding and welcomed you back home to get back on your feet. Your mom used to be close with Charlie’s mom, and apparently still was, so you two had bickered a few times before moving back saying she needed to understand the severity of the situation and that you were to not have any contact with his family if you could help it.

Being a Harrington had a lot tied to it. You were one of the better known families in the town- your dad was a businessman who dealt in everyone’s business in the town, so in turn everyone knew your business too. You were the pride and joy since Steve had not made good enough grades to attend a better university, but now you knew it was because he was too busy fighting in an underworld dimension similar to that of your Dungeons and Dragons days.

That’s right- you used to be a nerd. Before you were graciously accepted onto the cheerleading squad your freshman year of high school, and welcomed into Hawkins High royalty, you’d been best friends with Eddie Munson, he was a grade behind you but the two of you were inseparable since you were young. The “freak” of the town as he was known now- but you hadn’t seen him since you left, and even before that you two hadn’t spoken much unless it was your old friends, saying mean things and pretending that you didn’t care about him. Your family name pressured you into becoming what you had- a scholar, a cheerleader, and one of the queens of the school. But all of that was behind you now. You barely scraped by your last year of college because of your horrible relationship, and you were back at home living at your semi-absent parents house. You knew they were disappointed in you, but they hadn’t exactly expressed that just yet.

“Dinner should be ready by 6, I’ve just got to throw a few things together.” Your mom told you, you knew she wanted you to come down and help her but after being in a car for three hours, that was the last thing you wanted to do. She excused herself with your dad and left you alone in your room again. You hung up a few dresses in your closet and came across your old cheerleading uniform that was still hanging in the back corner, untouched and still perfectly ironed. You scoffed as you pushed it further back, hating the memories tied to the article of clothing.

“Hey, we’re all going to watch movies tonight at Eddie’s house if you wanna come. Robin’s picking out a few from the store and I said we’d grab some beer on the way.” Hearing his name stopped you in your tracks. Steve had told you Eddie had been in on the Upside Down shenanigans in the spring- told you of how he had almost died, but the thought hadn’t crossed your mind that the two actually still hung out together even though Steve had mentioned it before. You felt sure Eddie wouldn’t want you there, not after how mean your friends had been to him in your four years of high school, so the suggestion made you feel odd about going over there.

“I uh- I hadn’t planned on seeing him, really. Does he know I’m back?” You pushed the empty suitcase underneath your bed and twisted a piece of brown hair around your finger nervously.

“Yeah, he knows. He seems… open to you coming over to hang out. And you need to meet and see everyone because they’re going to be your best friends too.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Pfft, who else do you have to hang out with?” You scoffed at his remark even though it was true. You had no desire to talk or see anyone from your past. Whether it was out of shame or anger, you were not really planning on rekindling any old high school friendships. Once you had some clarity of how much you had changed yourself to fit the Hawkins mold they wanted you to fit, you felt angry that you’d let your parents control that much of who you were despite how little they were actually involved in your life. “Right, so we’ll leave after dinner.” He patted your door frame twice before he trudged back to his room.

Dinner was awkward as expected, your parents were the worst at small talk and even worse at being comforting. You avoided talking about Charlie all together, thankfully, and your parents weren’t rushing you to search for a job anytime soon to give you a little bit of a break after school.

“So you’re going to the Munson’s house?” Your mom asked you with her eyebrows raised.

“Yeah, Robin picked out a few movies to watch like we do every Thursday.” Every Thursday? You eyed your brother and he averted his gaze to the candles in the middle of the table.

“So you see hi-them every week?”

“Week? More like every day. Those kids can’t get enough of Steve. He’s always chauffeuring them around town.” You’d heard about him and the “kids,” but you were still a little shocked to know that your brother was that good of friends with your old best friend who you were pretty sure hated you- he’d left that out.

“Always the babysitter.” Steve muttered to himself as he cleared his plate.

“Are you done yet, sweetie?” Your moms sticky voice chimed in as you looked at your food that you hadn’t yet finished, “you can come to some aerobic classes with me if you want so you can work off that college weight.”

“Yeah, I’m done.” You pushed your plate forward and got up, eating a few bites as you walked the plate to the sink. “Jesus Christ, now I remember why I hated coming home.”

“Yeah, they haven’t changed much. Don’t let it get to you. You look fine.” You knew you did, but your moms comments had always been so negative about your appearance and your weight. Steve definitely got the better metabolism of you two, and your mom tried to control your eating habits all throughout high school the best she could. Charlie was no help either, so when the two of you broke up you had sought therapy and had been working on your own eating habits since you were on your own for a few months after the breakup. It was freeing, so it was going to be hard to be under the watchful eyes of your mom again- when she was home. “C’mon, let’s grab some beer.” Steve grabbed the keys to his BMW and you followed him out, saying a quick goodbye to your parents.

“Fuck them.” You sighed as you buckled your seatbelt.

Steve agreed as he drove to the corner store and grabbed a pack of beer, driving to Eddie’s house.

“So, Eddie and Wayne’s trailer got destroyed in the uh, thing.” Steve haphazardly waved his hand in the air, “and Hawkins basically paid Eddie and Wayne to keep their mouth shut by giving them a new home.” He commented as he drove in a different direction than what you remember his old trailer being. Eddie hadn’t always lived with his uncle Wayne- his mom had died, and his dad was a felon and lost custody of him at a young age. You’d known him before he moved in with Wayne and stuck by him through all of the years he had trouble adjusting, and had grown close with Wayne since you were at their house so much.

You pulled up to a small brick house that looked much homier than the trailer they used to rent, and you could see amber lights glowing from the inside. You took a deep breath before you stepped out of the car and followed Steve to the front door, walking around a few other cars that were parked in the yard.

“He’s not mean and scary- you’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re the mean and scary one to him, remember?” Like you needed reminding- your plan for the night was to blend in and remain quiet, and go as unnoticed as possible.

“HARRINGTON!” The boy’s voice was unmistakable. It was deeper than you remember, but still somehow the same. He greeted your brother with a huge hug and you were unsure of what to do, so you quietly passed by the two guys and stepped foot into the kitchen hoping someone else was in there. Nancy, Jonathan, and Robin were all standing in the kitchen with beers already, and they greeted you similarly with big hugs and smiles. You’d known them through your brother and the few times you had been “allowed” back home.

“How was the drive?” Robin asked you as she took the beer from you and put it in the fridge, but not before you grabbed one for yourself and Steve.

“Not nearly as bad as dinner with my parents.”

“Ugh, I can’t imagine being stuck in a car with Steve for three hours. Working with him for that long is bad enough.” Robin remarked and you all laughed.

“Shut it, Buckley. We work 8 hour shifts together all the time.” Steve brushed through the kitchen to grab a drink for himself and you handed him his as Eddie peered around his shoulder.

“Hey there.” Eddie wiggled his fingers at you in a wave, and you hesitated before you walked over to him to give him a small hug.

“Hey.” Was all you said as he froze before he returned the hug, matching the lightness of the embrace you gave him. You noted that he still smelled the same, except you could smell weed and cigarettes on him now that he was older, and it seemed like he’d tried to cover the smell up a little with some cologne.

“So, I got a few different movie genres for us tonight, come on!” Robin broke the awkwardness and you jumped back from Eddie, avoiding his gaze and followed Robin into the living room where the rest of the kids were already lounging waiting for your arrival. You were introduced to everyone, a few you recognized and a few you didn’t. There was a large age gap, but you knew all their names from Steve’s storytelling, and a few from their faces when you’d been back home briefly.

You felt the tension in the air as you watched the people file into what you assumed were their normal seats until all that was left was a two seater leather chair. Eddie held out his hand for you to sit, “it’s usually mine, but you can take it tonight.” You sat down in it and took a few sips of your beer and motioned for him to sit down.

“I don’t bite, you can sit too.” You continued sipping your beer as the kids sorted through movies and finally decided on a horror film, and Eddie made himself comfortable beside you. You noticed he had tattoos and scars peering out from the sleeves of his Iron Maiden t-shirt as his arms rested comfortably at his sides beside you.

“Long time no see, Harrington.” He said as he shot you a charming smirk, and you were met with the same chocolate brown eyes as you remember from your childhood.

“Can say the same, Munson.” You brought the cold bottle up to your lips and finished off your first beer with a smirk. He grabbed the empty bottle from you and took it to the kitchen, and returned quickly with another one for you- already opened.

“Before the movie starts I’m going to step outside to partake in some real fun. You’re more than welcome to join, or you can stay inside- the choice is yours.” He invited you in his dramatic voice, and you chuckled to yourself as you followed him outside.

“Thought I smelled weed on you.” You muttered as you stepped out onto the back porch.

“Oh, you smoke now?” He smirked as he lit a joint and took a big hit before passing it to you.

You inhaled the weed into your lungs and held it there before you could even think of something to say to him. Do you apologize? Shoot the shit with him? You literally hadn’t spoken a kind word to him since freshman year, so this felt painfully uncomfortable for you to be out here. You were quickly regretting your decision to follow him.

“Yeaaaah.” You took another hit and held it in before passing it back to him. You watched as he propped himself against the porch railing and looked at you with his eyelids hooded, “Eddie, I don’t even know where to start.”

He held his hands out beside him, “I got all night to listen.”

“You’d want to?” You were shocked.

“I mean, I do believe- if I remember correctly, you owe me a bunch of apologies.” He seemed like he was unphased by your presence. You felt more intimidated by him than anything.

“Ha, yeah.” You sat down in one of the porch chairs, “Just so you know, first off, I’m really sorry for how much of a bitch I was to you.”

“Go on.” He motioned to you as he sipped his beer with a proud smirk on his face.

“And I totally understand if you hate me.”

“Well, I don’t, so…” He said through a chuckle.

“I don’t know what got into me in high school. I let myself be bullied into being a bully and I hate that you were one of the targets. You didn’t deserve that. I realized I was being who everyone else wanted me to be and not who I really was, and lost the people that actually cared about me the most. All of those friends were so fucking fake to me- and would you believe Charlie came home on a ‘work trip’ and cheated on me with Grace of all people?”

“I sure would. What a cunt.”

You let out a groan, “I can’t believe I wasted so many years with that jerk.”

“So, what’s your plan now that you’re back?”

You shrugged as you sipped on your drink, and held a hand up to the joint being passed back to you. “I guess just see what I can find to do here with a degree.”

“You always were such a smarty pants. I finally graduated, you know?”

“Yeah, Steve told me.” You leaned back in the chair and looked up at the night sky. “He actually told me everything. Like, about-“

“Oh shit, I didn’t know that.” Eddie moved to the seat beside you, a tiny table separating you two.

“I wanted to come back, and see you and make sure you were okay but Charlie wouldn’t let me. That was kind of the end of it all. I had to push through graduation, get a new place, and get enough evidence on him to get a restraining order against him before I could get all my stuff and go. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to get one when you’re with someone like him.” You let out another scoff, “sorry- you didn’t need to hear that.”

“You can still talk to me.” He kindly smiled at you and you returned one to him.

“I was really nervous about coming here tonight. Thanks for not being a jerk, like I was.”

“I mean, you definitely hurt my feelings some but I knew that wasn’t really you. Been called a lot worse than freak.”

“I can’t believe the whole town thought you were a murderer? I mean- you?”

“You’re telling me. I still don’t know how Hopper convinced everyone it was Jason and got me cleared.”

“I just feel so bad I wasn’t here for everything going on, I always knew this place was cursed. How… bad off were you?”

Without saying a word, Eddie lifted his shirt up and showed you. You could see the scars in the dim light of the moon and the porch light, and you can only imagine the pain he’d been in recovering.

“Bats did that?”

“No, fucking demobats. They were huge. Had these long crazy tails, and I thought I could fight them off to save your brother and the others some time.” Eddie’s voice was not his usual expressive tone, he was more somber and serious.

“You did though.” You pulled your feet up into your seat and looked over at Eddie adjusting his tshirt back into place.

“Yeah, and barely made it out alive. I blacked out and woke up in Hopper’s cabin in the woods. Couldn’t get real help in the hospital because I was wanted for murder still, somehow avoided infection and am left with these killer scars.”

“Pretty badass looking if you ask me.” You said, feeling the beer and weed loosening you up a little bit.

“Eh, I had to take a break from playing for a little. But we’re back at the Hideout now - we got moved to Saturday nights since we draw such a crowd now. It used to be Tuesday.”

“Yeah, I remember.” You said quickly.

“Do you?” He raised an eyebrow at you.

“Just because I was a jerk to you didn’t mean I didn’t know anything about you Eddie. You were my best friend. I kept some tabs on you even though I was in a different crowd. I snuck into a few shows my senior year and hung out in the back.” You blushed at the admittance. “What year was that for you? How did they even let you guys play so young?”

“We were just that good, sweetheart.” He let the nickname roll off his young so easily it caught you by surprise. Wayne used to call you that and you readjusted in your seat at Eddie using the endearing name for you.

“So you’ll be playing this Saturday?”

“Mhm. Got Hellfire Club tomorrow night at the record store.”

“What?! You still play?!”

“Still play? I’m the dungeon master. We have club every week at the record store on Friday nights. I kinda run the store now. Like, uh, that’s my job. I manage it and teach guitar lessons. Just started lessons about two months ago and my afternoons are booked solid.” He was beaming with pride and excitement when he met your eyes.

“That’s amazing. Can I come by? It’s been a while so I might just watch, but I won’t get in the way.”

“Absolutely.” He squeezed his eyebrows together. “You’re welcome Saturday night too.”

“Ah, I may be booked. Have a lot of friends to reconnect with, you know?” You both laughed at your sarcasm and let the silence become comfortable as you both looked around at the quiet piece of land Eddie’s house was on. “Thanks again for not being a jerk. I really do deserve it.”

“No, you don’t. I appreciate the apologies and I missed having you around. Steve’s not my favorite Harrington, believe it or not.”

“I still am?”

“No, your mom is.” He said with a serious expression before he busted out laughing at the shocked look on your face. “Just kidding. I’m willing to put the past aside if it means I can have my friend back. I know a lot of things are different now, but I don’t think you need to be alone right now, you could use a friend, yeah?”

“More than you know. Thank you, Eddie.” You reached out and grabbed his hand, giving it a soft squeeze.

“Wanna join them or just stay out here all night?”

“Honestly I wouldn’t mind staying out here if that’s alright with you.” You spoke quietly as you crossed your arms, the September chill was setting in but you were not going to ask for a blanket, and you were too comfortable to get up.

“I’ll grab us another drink and blanket and we can just stay out here? Don’t go anywhere.” He held his hands out for you to stay put and you laughed at his silliness, his welcoming personality hadn’t changed much and it was just what you needed tonight.

He returned moments later, “your blanket, my kind lady.” He draped the warm fleece over your lap and you thanked him as he opened the beer bottle for you.

You and Eddie spent two hours together talking and laughing, sharing stories and filling in puzzle pieces where your lives had gone different paths. As the night came to an end you realized you weren’t so mad about having to come back home, and you were glad your path had crossed Eddie’s once again.

“So, seems like you two got along pretty well last night.” Steve said as he drove you back home from dropping off the van you had rented.

“Yeah, I guess. He said he’s going to pick me up before Hellfire tonight so we can go get dinner before the game.”

“I’ve got a date tonight, so you think he can bring you back home too? I might be gone all night, who knows.”

You shrugged at your brother, “Probably so. I don’t see why that would be a problem.” You two walked into your house together, the echo of the door shutting could be heard throughout the house. Your parents had already left to go out of town on another business trip, too busy to stay back and spend any time with you - but you honestly weren’t even bothered. It was a relief to know you wouldn’t have to hear their remarks about anything.

The hours passed quickly leading up to the time when Eddie said he’d pick you up, and you heard the front door squeak open and closed again. Heavy footsteps were heard going up the stairs and you tried to pretend like you were still getting ready when Eddie knocked on your doorframe.

“Safe to come in?” He asked, pushing the door open to look inside.

“Wouldn’t matter, you’re already opening the door. Just finishing up getting ready, then I’ll be ready to go. Steve’s in his room if you wanna go talk to him.” You pointed to his room and Eddie stepped inside of your room instead.

“Nah, I’m here to see you.” He walked around your room with his hands on his hips, looking at all of your old posters and pictures that remained on the walls. All of the ones with him in them had been replaced by ones with your high school friends- the fake ones.

“I’m going to get around to taking those down. I don’t need any reminders of the past, Steve already took down the ones with Charlie.” He nodded quietly as he inspected each of them like he’d never seen them before- which, come to think of it, he probably hadn’t.

“You really changed, huh?” He said as he admired your senior prom picture with the group of varsity cheerleaders. You had worn a hot pink dress and your hair was teased to the high heavens. “You look uh, more like yourself tonight.” He motioned to your outfit- some light wash jeans and a fitted black tshirt. You had found an old black denim jacket of Steve’s so you had decided it was now yours since he decided to store it in your closet.

“Feel more like myself now too. You ready to go?” You touched up your light layer of lip gloss as you stood up from your vanity, and little to your knowledge but Eddie had to recollect his thoughts before he could answer.

“Born ready. Let’s go eat. Diner or pizza?”

“Like that’s even a question. Diner.” You said with a smile as you followed the tall boy with crazy, curly hair out of your room.

After you two finished your greasy burgers and fries, you walked to the old record shop. It had survived the town splitting in half, but barely, and it had been repainted black instead of the old ugly brick it used to be. Eddie unlocked the front door, turned the lights on and held his hands out to welcome you to the store.

“Welcome, welcome. If I may be of any assistance to any record purchases, I’m available for help. If not, I’m going to be in the back setting up for tonight. If any of the kids walk in, just send them back here.” You nodded as you found yourself picking through the labels of the records. They’d been nearly categorized by genre, then alphabetical order. You browsed while you heard Eddie rummaging around in the back room, and decided to go watch him.

He didn’t notice you had walked in the room, and you were all but mesmerized by the way he was neatly unpacking and setting up the game table for tonight in the spacious back room. He was talking to himself and checking things off his checklist in his mind, and you thought it was endearing how much thought he was putting into the set up. It had become a lot more complex from when the two of you had first started playing as kids.

“Like what you see?” His voice caught you off guard and you shook yourself out of your trance and walked further into the room. “Wanna join in?”

You shook your head as you felt your ponytail bounce, “no, I’m fine just watching tonight. Maybe another time.”

“Beer’s in the fridge, grab me one too.” He asked and smiled at you as you fetched the beverages for yourselves. He was moving chairs all around, and added one to beside the one at the head of the table, “you can be assistant to the DM tonight- how’s that sound?”

“Perfect.” You sipped on the cold beer and smiled as he handed you the plan for tonight’s game, and you read over the pages containing gameplay details that you hadn’t thought about in years. You looked up from the papers to find Eddie staring at you, and it was his turn to blush- except he held eye contact with you and didn’t look away, which made you blush harder than him.

You didn’t know why Eddie was being so kind to you. He had let you back into his circle again, no questions asked and no hard feelings that you knew of.

“What?” You asked, the room was quiet and he was still staring at you.

“Nothing, it’s nothing.” He shook his curly head of hair and proceeded to go to the front of the store to wait on everyone’s arrival.

One by one the kids all arrived and you were happy to see Jeff and Gareth too- they were hesitant to greet you, but one look at Eddie and they knew you weren’t there for the wrong reason.

You took your seat beside Eddie at the head of the table and listened as he told them about the new campaign they were starting tonight. You were captivated by his deep voice and his animated actions as he told the details of the storyline. He plopped back in his seat as he watched everyone around the table decide on their first move. He had one of those full face smiles on- the type that reached the crinkles in his eyes, and you realized he’d always had those, but they were much deeper now than you remembered.

“This one’s gonna be good.” He turned to you and you nodded, “you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just glad to be back. Feels a little weird.”

His hand patted your thigh with what felt like searing heat, and he rested it there for a few seconds, “Relax. I already told you that it’s all okay. We’re starting fresh, but not really, like we talked about last night, m’kay?” You nodded, and he lightly squeezed your thigh before releasing it and turning back to the table.

The game went on for hours, you were so entertained by the enthusiasm of the kids and Eddie, it was really a heartwarming night for you after the previous night had started off a little awkward and rocky. It honestly felt like so many years had passed.

“You seemed like you were having fun.” Eddie said as he started up his van.

“It was fun to watch again, I seriously don’t think I've played since… well, since I made the cheerleading squad for freshman year.”

“That’s a damn shame. You were always the best.”

“No way! I was only decent. I sucked at cheerleading. I only made it because my parents funded the school’s athletic programs, paving the way for me and Steve to be successful.” You joked, picking at the rips in your jeans. “Thanks for picking me up and taking me home tonight, I really appreciate it. I had fun, the record store looks amazing too.”

You watched Eddie’s face blush pink, “Not a problem. It’s uh, it’s been nice seeing you again.”

“Yeah, it has.” You looked out the window and watched as your surroundings became more familiar the closer you got to your house. The rest of the ride was silent except for Eddie’s radio playing Metallica in the background, and his thumbs drumming along to the beat of every song. When you pulled up, your driveway was empty. You had assumed Steve’s date had gone well. “You wanna come inside and hang for a bit? Steve’s on a date, my parents are on another work trip, and I’m not feeling like being alone in the big house. If you need to get home, I understand it’s late but-”

“I’ll come in. I’ve got nowhere else to be. Wayne’s working tonight.” Eddie turned the ignition off as he parked on the street in front of your house, and you waited for him to round the front before you walked in together.

“Help yourself to a beer if you want another one, dad’s got plenty in the fridge. I’m going to head upstairs and change into pajamas and I’ll be back down.” He gave you a thumbs up and you heard the fridge door rattle as you made it up to your bedroom. You changed into an old pair of shorts and oversized shirt, headed downstairs, and found Eddie had settled onto the large leather couch in the living room with the tv on. The clock read 1:30, but you weren’t feeling too tired.

“Think Steve will make it back tonight?” He asked without looking up from the screen.

“No idea. It’s still early, I don’t know what he can find to do in Hawkins this late but more power to him if he’s out there.” You said as you sat down on the opposite end of the couch, pulling a blanket over your lap. He’d settled on some movie and you were paying attention to it, when he nudged you with his beer bottle and you took it without question and had a few sips, then handed it back to him.

“What’s going on in that head?” He turned to face you and you sighed.

“Not much, honestly. I feel defeated to be back here. There isn’t much here, no offense, and I didn’t see myself ending up here again. But here I am.” You sighed again, a little anger appearing in your chest, “I’m just so mad at Charlie, you know?”

“Are you mad at Charlie, or mad at yourself?”

You shot your eyes at Eddie and gave him a look. “I-I’m mad at…him. He was a piece of shit, Eddie. Everyone warned me. Well, not everyone. But Steve did. You didn’t like him. None of the people with a single brain cell or more liked the guy. I can’t believe we were engaged.” You shivered as if you were grossed out at the thought.

“Engaged?! I didn’t know it was that serious.” He took a swig from the beer.

“I mean, I moved to Chicago for him. School was just… the excuse. I was pretty serious about him, we were supposed to get married in December but I called it off in the spring. ‘Good’ family, reputation, all that shit my mom cares about.”

“But nothing that you care about.” Eddie finished your thought.

“Bingo.” You said as you scooted closer, grabbing the beer from him. “I don’t even know what I care about anymore now that I’m out of the relationship and that shitty situation.”

“A shituation is what I like to call that.” You busted out laughing at Eddie’s joke and it felt good to let go and laugh like that. You hadn’t in a while. Well, you had last night but that was several beers in so you would’ve laughed at almost anything.

“You asked me what my plans were, what are yours?” You turned the subject around on Eddie.

He shrugged, “I hope the band takes off soon. It’s taken me a while to recover from… everything. I still haven’t really come to terms with all of it, so it’s hard to think too far into the future.”

“That’s fair.” You stole the beer and took a sip, then handed it back to him. “What about you and the ladies?”

He scoffed and threw his head back “I mean, it took me three years to finish high school, I play D&D in the breakroom of the music store weekly with kids that still go to high school, I play in a metal band, and my body is covered in scars. Doing really great for myself in that department, Harrington.”

You felt bad for asking as he finished off the beer and got up to grab another, but you genuinely had no idea. After you moved, you hadn’t heard much about Eddie so you really didn’t know. He reappeared with two more and offered one to you with raised eyebrows, and you took it. When he sat down, he was a few inches closer to you and you could feel the warmth of his legs against yours.

“Sorry, I-”

“You didn’t know. It’s okay.” He seemed to have calmed down quickly, but you still felt bad. “There’s been a few, but nothing serious. Not really much to offer here.” You wanted to say there was because you knew Eddie better than most did, but you kept your mouth shut and moved on.

“I can’t believe that there was just this whole other world below Hawkins this whole time… and none of us knew it.” You stared at the coffee table in front of you. “I wish I-”

“No, no, no. Don’t you say you wish you could’ve been here.” Eddie was getting riled up as he readjusted on the couch, “I wouldn't have wished what I saw on anyone. Especially you.”

“No, I mean, I just hate that I left here without any care. I just wish Steve would’ve told me that it was going on.”

“Probably scared you would’ve tried to come back. Harrington's love to try to be the hero, you know that?”

“Yeah, yeah. So I’ve been told.” You let out a scoff as you rolled your eyes.

“Jesus, you two are so much alike.” Eddie commented and you hadn’t realized he was staring at you. “Such an attitude on both of you.”

“Oh, yeah?” You challenged him.

“Yeah.” Eddie tucked a leg under him and turned to face you, scooting even closer. “Big ole heads full of pretty hair, ego, and a whole lot of attitude that comes along with it.” He reached out to push a few pieces of hair behind your ear that had fallen out of your ponytail throughout the day, and drug his thumb across the edge of your jawline.

“But my hair is prettier, right?” You asked quietly, feeling the nerve to see what you could get away with.

“Oh, absolutely. Everything about you is prettier.” His hand lingered on your jaw and he quickly drew it back at the sound of a car door slamming shut outside. He kept his eye contact with you, as if he were timing exactly how long it would take for Steve to walk through the front door and he was spot on as he jumped back and sunk into the couch as if you two had been sitting feet apart the whole night.

“How was your night, Stevie?” He asked with a smirk as Steve shut the door.

“What are you doing here so late, Munson?” Steve asked, annoyed at the presence of his friend.

“Just keeping me company since this house is so empty. Stole a few of dad’s beers, I don’t think he’ll mind.”

He looked between the two of you before he scoffed and rolled his eyes, “I’m going to bed. ‘Night.”

“There’s that Harrington attitude we all love!” Eddie yelled up the stairs and Steve held up his middle finger in response. “I think I’ll head out now.” He announced as he stood up and stretched, his shirt rising a bit above his plaid boxers you’d already spotted a few times tonight during the game.

“See you tomorrow night?” You asked as you walked him to the door.

“Yeah? I’ll pick you up again if you want. I don’t think you want to go there by yourself. Usually Buckley and your brother show up at some point but who knows with the stick he’s got up his ass tonight if he’ll come tomorrow.”

“Sounds good. What time? I’m free…” you looked at your watch, “all day.”

“Well, some of us are contributing members to society now and have jobs so, I’ll come pick you up when I’m off at 2?” You blushed, realizing how eager you were seeming to see him. “Can’t get enough of me, can you?”

“Yeah, uh, two sounds great.” You stuttered out.

“Perfect. We have practice at Gareth’s before, I can have them move it to 3 so I can have time to get you.” Eddie seemed unphased by your nervousness, or at least he was playing it cool and not pointing it out.

“See you then, Munson.” You waved him off and watched him walk to his van.

“Later, Harrington.” He yelled out without looking back at you, just giving a wave to the air.

You shut the large wood door and collapsed your back against it, closing your eyes and sighing. “Fuck.” You were screwed. Since when did you feel like this about Eddie? How did you feel about him? Why did he make you blush, and so nervous?

“No game, big sis. No game at all.” Steve spoke from the top of the stairs.

“Oh my God, Steve. Go away!”

“You’ve got a crush. A big one. Don’t you?”

“Steve!” You yelled his name after you locked the front door and turned the lights off, Eddie’s grumbling van could no longer be heard outside. “I do not.”

“Do too. And he does too.” He pointed at the closed door, “He always has. You’re just blind.”

“What?” You felt like the air was gone from your lungs.

“Uh, yeah?” He raised his eyebrows as you walked up the stairs to your bedroom and where Steve was perched. “I read your old diaries while you were gone. There’s way too much in those about Eddie for you to not have a crush on him. And he, get a couple more beers in him and my God, the boy will not shut up about you. He was non-stop talking and asking questions about when you were gonna be back and what you would be doing and-”

“Okay, chatty Cathy. I get it. But I don’t have a crush on him.” You pushed past him and made it to your bedroom, “How was your date?”

“Not answering that until you confess your crush on Munson. Night, sis.” Steve shut his bedroom door before you could say anything and you followed suit, your hands immediately reaching to feel the blush in your cheeks.

Maybe you did. But that was fast, or was it?

#eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #stranger things 4 #eddie munson writing #eddie munson x harrington!reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson fanfic #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson x you

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trickphotography2 · 8 months

Text

'tis the damn season | Chapter 6

Pairing: Jake "Hangman" Seresin x Julie/Cece (OC, no physical description)

Word count: 5.8K

Synopsis: After six years away from home, Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin was finally going to make his parents happy and surprise his family by spending Christmas in Magnolia, Texas. Introducing his pregnant fiancee to his family is a culture clash, with rural Texas meeting California influencer. Though unhappy in his relationship, Jake knows he has to buckle down and do the right thing with a baby on the way.

The last person he expected to run into was his high school sweetheart and the one that got away, Julie.

The holidays are already going to be hard enough for Julie. Her home baking business, which had started as a fun side project, exploded after a few TikToks went viral. Just when she was getting the hang of juggling her job and business, tragedy struck. Facing her first Christmas as an orphan, the last thing Julie expected was to hear that once familiar nickname - Cece.

After almost a decade apart, Jake and Julie can't help but feel that old familiar spark. Even with the realities of their lives pressing in, they can't help but wonder what might have happened if just one of them had fought for their relationship all those years ago.

Chapter 5 | Master List | Ao3

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Chapter 6

Drew’s hands gripped Julie’s waist as she straddled him on the couch, his hips lifting and grinding deliciously against her.

“Just go out and have fun. Hot, sexy, sweaty fun with the fuckin’ fire captain.”

Lucy’s words echoed through her head as he drove Julie home from Mikey’s, continuing to feel the eyes of the town on her. And if they wanted a show, she would give them a damn show. For two years, she’s been the dedicated daughter - sweet Julie, who had to move back from the city to take care of her daddy. Poor, sweet Julie, who was orphaned so young.

Poor, sweet, naive Julie who thought that she could keep Jake Seresin.

But no. Tonight, Magnolia got to see exactly who Julie was when she wanted to be. They got to see her flirt with a man and take him home. And she… she got to feel desired and free and sexy enough to sleep with the fire captain. So when he walked her to the door and kissed her goodnight, an offer to go up to Oklahoma to his folks for Christmas of his lips, she pulled him inside.

Smiling against his mouth, she felt his hands slide down her body to her thighs, then slowly make their way back up under her dress. His warm fingers curled into the top of her tights, dipping inside to stroke her skin. She could feel his hard cock, the fly of his jeans rubbing just -

“Fuck,” he gasped, startled at the sudden pounding on the front door. “Who - ”

“Ignore it,” Julie ordered, trailing kisses down his throat. But when it continued, his hands slid from under her dress and back to her hips, lifting her off his lap. Gently depositing her onto the cushions, he stood and adjusted himself. “Drew - ”

“Wait there, honey.” Groaning, she let her head fall back against the couch and put a hand over her eyes. The first time she was even close to having sex since coming back, and it was interrupted by some inconsiderate asshole. It was like a giant cosmic joke. Hopefully, Drew could turn away whoever it was fast, and they could pick up - “Seresin? What happened?”

The concern in his voice catapulted Julie off the couch and across the living room. Putting one hand on Drew’s back, she nudged him aside to see Jake on her front porch. Her heart plummeted at the sight of his tear-stained face, bloodshot green eyes shifting from Drew to her. He looked so… devastated. “Jake? What happened? Is everyone okay?” Her mind went to Ally and the baby. If Will was hurt. Were his parents okay?

“Sorry,” he said, voice hoarse. “This was a mistake.” Turning to go, he hung his head, raising a bloody hand to brush the snow from his hair, fingers curling and tugging hard.

“Jake!” Pushing past Drew, Julie stepped onto the porch and grabbed Jake’s arm. The cold hit her, and she shivered, damp soaked into her tight-clad feet and goosebumps erupting on her bare arms. “Is everyone okay?”

“They’re fine, Cece.”

“Are you okay?” He was silent for a long moment, eyes trained on the ground.

“Go back inside. It’s cold. I’m sorry I bothered you.” She glanced at Drew, who was frowning at Jake’s back. His gaze shifted to her, and he raised an eyebrow. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly, watching it mist before her. And, against her better judgment, she slid her hand down his arm to take his wrist.

“Come inside, Jake.”

“‘M fine.”

“I’m not asking.” It only took a light tug to have Jake turn, eyes still on the ground, as he walked the few steps back to the house. Drew stepped back to let them in, and the three stood awkwardly in the doorway. “Take off your jacket and boots, and I’ll be there in a second.” Wordlessly, Jake did as he was told and retreated to the living room. Julie watched him collapse onto the couch, head in his hands.

“Cece?” Drew sighed, glancing at the other man and then back at her. The nickname sounded wrong when he said it. Only one person ever called her that.

“It’s… it doesn’t matter,” she replied, rubbing her forehead. Shaking his head, Drew wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in for a hug, kissing her temple.

“I know you don’t like people talkin’ about the two of you, but this… stuff like this doesn’t help.”

“So what, I’m supposed to just let him leave?” she asked, pushing away from him.

“Yes.” Julie could hear the kindness and attempt at the reasoning behind Drew’s tone, but it raised her hackles. “Honey, he - ”

“Please don’t,” she cut him off, lifting her chin and crossing her arms. “I understand where you’re coming from, but even before Jake and I were anything, we were friends. And I can’t in good conscience let him get back on the road when he’s like that.”

“I’ll leave,” Jake said, pushing to his feet. “I don’t want - ”

“Sit your ass back down, Jacob Thomas,” Julie snapped. “You and I will talk in a minute.” Turning her gaze back to Drew, she let out a slow breath. “Drew, I - ”

“I get it, Jules. Just… Merry Christmas.” Without another word, he reached past her to grab his coat and slipped on his shoes. There was a blast of cold when he opened the door, and she tensed, waiting for the slam that never came. Instead, Drew quietly closed the door, and once she heard his truck start, she let her shoulders fall. Tears pricked her eyes, but she forced them away.

Whatever was going on with Jake was temporary. Ally told her he was planning on leaving the day after Christmas, so she only had two more days to deal with him being in Magnolia before he disappeared from her life again. And then she could fix things with Drew.

With a steeling breath, she turned toward Jake and scrunched her nose at the feeling of melted snow on her feet. Reaching under the back of her skirt, she shimmied the tights down her legs, rolling them into a ball and tossing the black material onto the coffee table before sitting beside him on the couch. Jake’s wet pant leg brushed her skin, making goosebumps rise on her leg as she shivered. Cold radiated off of him when he turned to look at him, tears in his eyes. “‘M sorry, Cece. I shouldn’ta come here. I-I hope I didn’t screw things up with you and the firefighter.”

“I’ll deal with that later,” she sighed, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and draping it over his shoulders. When he lifted a hand to tug the blanket closer, she caught it, intending to examine his bloody knuckles, and hissed at how cold his skin was. “What happened?” she asked, lightly probing his skin. She could see bits of bark embedded and sighed. It had to be bad if he went out and punched a tree - many a night growing up, he’d gotten mad at one thing or another and turned up back at school with a bandage wrapped around a busted hand.

Pressing his lips into a thin line, she caught the way his chin wobbled before he looked down at the floor again. “I’m such a fuckin’ idiot.” She stayed silent when Jake sniffled. “Shayla’s not pregnant.”

“Oh,” Cece breathed, feeling her heart break for him. “I’m so sorry. She…?”

“Lied.

“What?” He shifted, reaching into the pocket of his jeans to retrieve his phone. His lip curled at something on the screen before he tapped it, handing it to her. With elbows on his knees, he hung his head and buried his bloody hands in his hair. Cece read the text screenshots, a hand rising to cover her mouth at the wave of nausea that hit her. “Jake…I…”

“I’m such an idiot.” The couch dipped, and Jake saw Cece setting the phone on the coffee table before shifting closer. Their eyes met briefly before she swept her fingers through his hair, damp with melting snow, nails lightly teasing his scalp and neck in a way he hadn’t felt in so long. Leaning into her touch, his tired eyes drifted closed.

“You’re not an idiot,” she said softly.

“I took her at her word when I knew her word wasn’t shit.” At that, she was silent.

“That’s not…something… people lie about. And if you were…sleeping together, it could have been true,” Cece said after a long moment. “You weren’t an idiot for wanting to do the right thing.”

“I didn’t want to marry her,” he confessed. “But she told me she’d make it hard for me to see my baby if I didn’t.” His tone turned bitter when he scoffed, “And there was never a baby.”

His voice broke on the last word, and Jake cleared his throat. Cece let out a soft hum, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and kissing his cheek. His reddened eyes watched as she laid back, an unspoken invitation in her soft gaze. Turning slightly, he followed her, lying on his stomach with his head resting on her chest. The chill from his jeans made goosebumps rise on her legs when he settled between them, unintentionally pulling her dress higher. His fingers slipped under the sleeve of her dress as he inhaled the lingering remnants of her perfume, his body relaxing against her at the familiar scent.

Cece’s words of comfort died on her tongue when Jake tucked his head under her chin, and she felt him shaking with suppressed tears. So she stayed quiet, carding her fingers through his hair. His eyes fluttered closed when she held him, silent tears slipping down his face.

“I wanted the baby,” Jake said so softly she almost missed it.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered, kissing the crown of his head as her heart shattered for him. His arm slid under her, and he held her so tightly it was hard to breathe, but she didn’t say a word.

Time seemed to slow and narrow to that moment. Jake’s breath on her skin and his weight soothed her. The feeling of Cece’s fingers in his hair and her steady heartbeat calmed him. The click of the heating turning on was the only indication of time slipping past them.

And then there was a buzzing sound, interrupting their peaceful bubble.

“Your mama’s calling,” Cece said softly, her voice rough with fatigue as she forced an eye open.

“Ignore it,” Jake replied, tightening his hold on her and burying his face into her breasts.

“She’ll be worried.” When he made no move to get the phone, she sighed and stretched for it, her fingertips making it spin. Jake huffed when she jostled him, holding tight to the cushion to pin her in place. “Jacob.”

“I…I can’t…” Shaking her head, she ignored his muffled groan of protest when she stretched for it again, hand closing over the rectangle as the screen dimmed. Tapping it, she saw that he’d set the device to silent, the screen covered with notifications. Cece suppressed an angry sound at seeing how many times Shayla had called and texted him, begging him to call her back. Will and Ally had also tried to reach him, and so had his father. Apparently, his mama had called enough times to bypass the setting.

The phone lit up again with another incoming call.

“Jake?” Mama Serein’s voice was frantic when she answered. Cece knew that he heard it from how he nuzzled into her chest.

“No, it’s me - Julie.” There was a moment of silence before the older woman let out a heavy breath.

“Is Jake there with you? Is he okay?”

“He got here a little while ago. He’s…” she looked down at the man lying on her, tears drying on his cheeks and brows furrowed, “upset, to put it lightly.” His hands flexed around her, and she traced the shape of his ear, feeling him relax again. After a long beat, the older woman sighed.

“Did he tell you what happened?” When she hummed, Mama sighed again. “Bill didn’t want to kick the… woman out in the snow since she doesn’t know how to drive in it. She’s leaving at first light. Will and Ally said that Jake’s welcome to stay with them tonight.”

“I’ll let him know,” Cece said, glancing down at him. “I don’t… if he wants to go there, I’ll drive him. I don’t think he’s safe on the road.”

Mama Seresin’s voice was sad when she said, “We can come get him.” Jake’s head lifted, eyes meeting hers with a wordless plea. They stared at one another for a long moment before she shook her head.

“No, it’s fine,” she said, cupping his cheek and brushing away a tear. He turned, his lips caressing the inside of her wrist. “I…he’s…fine to stay here. If he wants some distance.” There was silence on the other side of the line and a cautious ‘Julie.’ “It’s just one night,” she added quickly as Jake resettled on her chest.

I can survive one night, she told herself.

He was such an idiot. A fucking, stupid, trusting idiot.

He should have pushed harder to go to the doctor’s appointments. Should have paid more attention to the fact that Shayla never felt sick. Shouldn’t have accepted her word that she was pregnant when her word meant shit. But he’d always wanted to be a dad, and who the fuck would lie about that?

And now…tonight, Jake had come to the one place in town where he felt safe - other than his own home - and ruined Cece’s night. He shouldn’t have come here. Shouldn’t have dragged her into this.

“I know. I’ll…yes, ma’am. I understand.” Cece’s voice was soft, and he heard his mama’s worried tone. “I will.” The call ended, and she set the phone on the back of the couch, taking as deep a breath as possible with him on top of her. Her fingers lightly traced the length of his neck and slipped under the collar of his shirt. “Your mama wanted me to tell you that she loves you.” He grunted, eyes closing again. “Come on, Farm Boy. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

The corner of his mouth twitched at the nickname he hadn’t heard in forever. Cece had hated it when he started calling her Cupcake in eighth grade and had started calling him that in retaliation. And, while he’d persisted in calling her Cece until she grew to tolerate and then embrace the nickname, his had fallen away to moments she was especially annoyed or quiet moments just for the two of them. “Don’t wanna move. ‘M comfortable.”

“Too bad.” Lightly pushing at his shoulders, she tried to wiggle out from under him. Jake had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from making a sound as she sat up, his head falling into her lap and his nose brushing her upper thigh as her dress rode up more. Pink tinged her cheeks when he finally moved enough for her to stand. After tugging her dress down, she walked down the hallway toward the back of the house, glancing over her shoulder at him and raising an eyebrow.

Groaning, he stood and followed when she stopped outside of the bathroom. She pointed to the sink wordlessly before continuing down the hall to her bedroom. Blood and bits of bark swirled in the sink as he scrubbed away his stupidity, the hot water making his hands throb with pain. He’d just reached for a towel to dry them when Cece stopped him.

“Here,” she said, pulling a rag from over her shoulder. After depositing clothes onto the toilet tank, she set a first aid kit on the counter and nudged him out of the way. Bracing her hands on the counter, she lifted herself up and put on a pair of latex gloves before holding out her hands. “Lemme see.”

“I can - ”

“Let me see.” Biting back a sigh, he held them out. Cece let out a soft tutting sound, taking his right hand and gently probing his knuckles. With his nerves finally thawing, he could feel the throbbing of his broken skin and the pain of embedded splinters. He hissed through his teeth, left hand falling to her knee and squeezing lightly. Her eyes darted down to it, and he quickly moved it away. “Does it feel broken?”

“No.” She nodded, guiding his hand to her knee before opening the first aid kit and rummaging through it. After retrieving a pair of tweezers and cleaning them with an antiseptic wipe, she took his hand again and lifted it to her eyeline.

“I thought you would have learned your lesson about punching trees by now,” Cece said, using her thumb to manipulate his bloody hand before teasing out a splinter.

“I - ow - don’t do it that often.” These days, punching the weight bag was more his speed.

“Good. Wouldn’t want any more reasons for you to go to the hospital again.” Her eyes darted up to meet his before refocusing on her work. Jake’s stomach swooped as he shifted, wondering if she’d heard about his trip to the emergency room for an x-ray the last time he was home. Pops hadn’t been thrilled, filling out his paperwork while Jake iced his hand after taking his anger and frustration at Cece ignoring him in the grocery store out on a tree on the far end of the property.

The fractured knuckles had been a pain in the ass to deal with when he was on the ground and even worse in the air. His XO had debated grounding him, but thankfully, Jake got one of the flight surgeons to clear him to fly. After it healed, his buddy had taken him to a boxing gym and told him to work out on one of the bags. There, he finally learned how to throw a punch and not break a finger and worked out his frustration. After moving to Lemoore, he'd continued that but hadn’t found a gym in San Diego yet.

“You, uh… heard about that?” Jake asked, grimacing when she wiped an antiseptic pad over his hand.

“Hard not to when everyone said I was the reason for it,” she shrugged. Her eyes darted up to meet his, seeing the unspoken confirmation in his expression.

“I forgot how much everyone talks here.” A wry smile crossed her lips.

“You should have seen it when I first got home. Couldn’t go anywhere without people asking why I was back.” Jake could see right through her forced nonchalance and felt a surge of guilt. He’d had some questions from his buddies on base when she left, but Cece… fuck, she faced all of Magnolia’s busybodies.

“Cece…I…” She shrugged.

“Maybe if we give it another decade, they’ll stop talking about us.” There was a sinking feeling in his stomach, and he forced away the image of Cece in the firefighter’s arms. The kids he’d imagined looking like her running to another man.

“A lot can happen in a decade,” he said softly. When she lifted her head to meet his gaze, his eyes dropped to her lips before darting away. They were silent as she started to work on his other hand, her touch gentle as she cleaned him up. “I’m…uh… the firefighter - ”

“Drew.”

“Drew,” he nodded, “said people will talk about me being here. I… I can leave.” Cece didn’t meet his gaze when she nodded.

“Did you hear what your mama said about your daddy letting… her… stay at the house tonight?” He nodded, and she paused long enough to look up at him. “Do you want me to take you to Will’s?”

“Won’t people talk if I stay? I don’t want to make it harder for you here.” Cece was quiet momentarily before setting his hand down on the counter and stripping off her gloves. Tipping her chin up, he could see the conflict in her eyes.

“I don’t care. People are going to talk no matter what. And I… no matter what happened between us, I’m always gonna care about you. So I’m glad that you came here. And if you want to stay, I wouldn’t be upset about the company.”

Jake studied her for a long moment before asking, “You sure?”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t.” Gently, she pushed against his shoulders until he took a step back, and she hopped off the sink. “Take a shower and warm up. I’ll bandage your hands after and drive you to Will’s if that’s where you want to go.”

When she turned to leave, Jake caught her hand. “Thank you, Cupcake.”

The corner of her mouth lifted as she lightly squeezed his fingers. “You’re welcome, Farm Boy.”

YOU WENT HOME WITH HOT AS FUCK DREW PINE?! I need details. All the details.

Julie stared at her phone, debating whether to answer Lucy’s text. An ‘it’s complicated’ could lead to a phone call, and leaving it unanswered would make her think that they were doing… well, precisely what she’d intended when she brought him home.

After liking the message - a happy medium - and glancing at the red notification bubble on TikTok showing that she had over 2,000 interactions with the video she’d posted about the clusterfuck of getting the Mayor’s order together, she plucked the tea bag from the steaming mug. She tossed it into the trash, adding a drizzle of honey to the tea. Turning around and pressing her back against the counter, she stared at her broken oven and tried not to feel a crush of sadness.

She could almost hear her daddy’s voice encouraging her to write her letter to Santa. Hear his laugh when her childish attempts at cookie decorating resulted in her and Mama being covered in frosting. Mama loved baking and made her infamous rum cake and egg nog bread pudding on Christmas Eve. After she passed, Julie did her best to make the orange cranberry scones they’d always had Christmas morning, her parents savoring the biscuits with coffee while she quickly ate it, eyeing her stocking and the pile of presents Santa left.

It was the one recipe she’d never mastered. When she’d decided not to make them last year, too tired from another day of helping Daddy with getting around the house, he’d pushed himself out of the recliner and shuffled to the front door. Only after she agreed to run to the store while he took a nap did he agree to sit back down.

With the perspective of time, Julie appreciated what Daddy was trying to do. Still, at that moment, she’d been so angry. She was tired and hurting, and the last thing she wanted to do was spend more time baking her mother’s specialty in the kitchen, which she had always failed to perfect. But now… now she appreciated him trying to maintain some sense of normalcy for her. He wanted to ensure that the Ryan family traditions continued, even in the hard times. Julie had ducked into the bathroom when she’d woken on Christmas morning to see presents under the tree and her stocking full. She cried in the shower, wondering how Daddy had managed to do it when he had trouble getting out of bed by himself.

And, as much as it hurt to think about doing it now, all the things she needed to make those damn scones were in her pantry. She’d planned on keeping up with the traditions tonight, but life had other plans. Between her broken oven, nearly sleeping with Drew, and her ex-fiancé showing up, Julie’s night certainly hadn’t gone according to plan.

“Hey.” Julie turned to see Jake standing in the doorway, blonde hair damp and sticking up in all different directions. His expression shifted to one of concern when he saw her blink away tears. “You okay?”

“Fine. How’s your hands?”

“I can feel them now,” he shrugged, setting the first aid kit on the counter and holding them up for her inspection. The t-shirt she’d given him was stretched tight across his chest, and the baggy sweats she’d pulled from the back of her drawers stopped at his ankles. “Not sure if that’s good or not.”

“I’ll wrap them, and then you can ice them.” He nodded when she set her mug down and walked closer. She made quick work of it, spreading an antibiotic ointment over his knuckles before quickly looping the bandages over his hands. Jake clocked the familiar t-shirt she’d changed into - a threadbare one she’d bought on one of their Spring Break trips - and shoved away the urge to say something about it.

After declining a cup of tea and grabbing a glass of water, they retreated to the couch. Cece claimed the corner, tugging the blanket over her lap. Jake watched, unsure if she’d welcome him into her arms again, then sat beside her and pulled the blanket over his lap. “You wanna talk about it?” she asked softly.

“No. You?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she replied, picking up the remote and turning on the television. Jake recognized the walls she’d put back up and hated them. After flipping through the channels, she found one playing the original Miracle on 34th Street. She rolled her lips together while tossing the remote onto the coffee table. Her eyes strayed from the screen to her daddy’s recliner, picturing him there. This was her mama’s favorite Christmas movie, and he would try to hide his tears from her every time they watched it.

This year, it was her turn. For all her planning, she’d never expected to spend Christmas Eve with anyone else. Her plan to distract herself throughout Christmas had always ended with spending the evening drunk and lying under the tree. Alone. Allowing herself to think about Mama and Daddy and all those years she’d taken their presence for granted, always assuming that they had more time.

The distraction of the mayor’s party, a night at the bar, Drew’s touch, and Jake’s… being there had forced her into the present, but now, as she watched the movie, those thoughts of how much she missed her parents crept in. Hot tears trailed down her cheeks as she sipped her tea. This was one of the worst things about grief, she’d realized over the last year - how quickly it could sneak up on you. How you could go from feeling fine one moment to wanting to rage and cry about how unfair life - and death - was the next.

Unable to stop herself, Cece sniffled, drawing Jake’s attention. “Hey - ” he said but stopped when she shoved the blanket off her lap and stood. Without another word, she retreated to the kitchen, pouring the rest of her tea down the drain, rinsing the mug, and setting it in the sink. Her shoulders tensed when she heard Jake’s footsteps follow her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Jake sighed heavily. “Don’t do this.”

“Do what?” She turned, startled to see him standing so close. Concern was etched on his face as he looked down at her. Forcing her chin up, she leaned back onto the sink counter and crossed her arms.

“This. What you always do - pretend there’s nothing wrong until it’s too late, and then blow up or walk away.” When she opened her mouth to say something, he raised an eyebrow. Taking a step closer, he settled his hands on the counter, boxing her in. “Talk to me. Please.”

“You’ve already had a rough night. Losing a fiancée and a baby isn’t - ” Pain flashed in his sad eyes, but he shook his head.

“Don’t do that, Julie. Don’t… just talk to me.” His hands slid closer until his thumbs brushed her sides. He watched a tear slip down her cheek and fall to her shirt, chest rising and falling with the effort to contain her sobs. His right thumb rose to gently stroke the soft fabric he’d peeled from her body numerous times. “Please, baby.”

Cece gasped, bringing her hands up to cover her face, and shook her head. “I m-miss my parents,” she whispered.

Hell was seeing her cry and knowing he couldn’t do anything to fix it. Jake felt his heart breaking as he pulled her into his arms, kissing her temple. “‘M sorry,” he murmured. “‘M so sorry, sweetheart.” He could feel her trembling and held her tighter, lips pressed to the crown of her head. When she dropped her hands and buried her face in his chest, Cece’s fingers dug into his back. “I’ve gotcha, honey.”

Jake knew he should have been here sooner. Shouldn’t have waited so long to return home and do this. As soon as he stepped foot back in the US, he should have asked for leave to come back to Magnolia. He shouldn’t have let his hurt feelings get in the way of being there for her when she lost the last of her family.

He should have been there for the girl he’d been in love with since he understood what the word meant.

If he’d done that, who knew what would have happened. Maybe Cece would have ignored him or told him to leave. Or maybe… maybe they would have ended up like this, where she finally let down her guard enough to allow him to take care of her. To be the man he’d promised to be all those years ago when Jake thought girls were gross, but Julie was the exception. When they were naive kids, best friends, pinky-promising to always be there for each other.

And above all, Jake hated that it took them both being in pain to be able to touch her like this. To be able to hold her and be held by her. Because once upon a time, being with Cece had been as easy as breathing, and it had been so long since he’d felt that with anyone.

When she started to pull away, Jake reluctantly loosened his hold. A shaking hand rose to wipe at the wet spot on his shirt, unwilling to look at him while mumbling an apology. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. With a finger under her chin, he tipped her face up and sighed at the sight of her bloodshot eyes. Reaching behind her for a paper towel, he held it up for her. Cece ducked her head again while blowing her nose, forehead resting on his chest. “Better?” he asked.

“Not really,” she shrugged, crumpling the makeshift tissue and looking up at him through tear-spiked lashes. He raised a bandaged hand and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, kissing her forehead as his fingers trailed down to cup her cheek. When he pulled away, Cece swayed into him, her eyes slowly opening to meet his gaze. They stared at one another for a long moment. “Thank you, Farm Boy.”

“You’re welcome, Cupcake. And thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Jake watched her eyes dip to his lips, lowering his head almost automatically. He caught himself as his nose brushed hers, her soft inhale making him pause. Neither moved, waiting for the other to make the first move or pull away.

Heart pounding, Cece rose onto her toes and kissed him. A soft, closed-mouth kiss that conveyed comfort rather than lust. When their eyes met again, hundreds of unspoken words and feelings passed between them.

Jake tasted the cinnamon and honey from her tea and the salty remnants of her tears when he kissed her. His hands slid under the hem of her shirt, but he resisted the urge to remap her curves, content to feel the heat of her skin against his palms. Her body pressed to his when she stepped closer.

Cece smiled against his slightly chapped lips, feeling the scratch of his stubble against her skin. His heart beat against her palm when her hands rose to his chest. No matter how much time passed, that was one thing that never changed. She knew she held a special piece of his heart and had staked her claim decades ago, just as he’d done with her own.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here for you,” Jake whispered against her lips. “Shoulda come home when you needed me.”

“I’m glad you came here tonight,” she breathed. “I hate why, but I’m glad you’re not stuck with that - ” He cut her off with a kiss, not wanting to ruin this moment by thinking about his ex.

Those three words were on the tip of his tongue when Cece’s hand trailed down to catch his own. After tossing her tissue in the trash, she led him to her childhood bedroom, pausing long enough to turn off the television and Christmas tree lights. “Baby,” he sighed as she pulled back the covers. “I don’t think…”

“No,” she agreed, sitting in the middle of the bed. “Just to sleep.” Their eyes met for a long moment before he reached for the back of his shirt and tugged it over his head, dropping it onto the floor. She scooted closer to the wall, giving him plenty of space as he sat beside her and pulled the covers up to his chest.

Jake reached for her, his hand sliding over her hip as he shifted closer. In the darkness, time seemed to slow as they traded unhurried kisses. For a moment, Jake felt like he was thirteen again, stealing kisses and keeping an ear out for one of their parents to appear. Back when kissing was new, and every time, it felt like his heart would beat out of his chest. Cece felt like she was eighteen again, finding pieces of the boy she’d sent to the Naval Academy in the man who had returned, but secure in the knowledge that he was her Farm Boy.

“Goodnight, Jake,” she said softly, eyes fluttering closed as his fingers slipped under her shirt and drew on her lower back.

“Night, Cece.” He kept tracing those eight letters, his unspoken promise, onto Cece’s skin until she fell asleep.

And, as much as his heart was shattered for the future he’d lost, Jake couldn’t help but feel as though a corner of it was already rebuilding.

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

Author's Note: I'm very torn on how I feel about this chapter, but I can't look at it anymore. I had a hard time balancing them both experiencing their grief and wanting to comfort one another, and pushing their relationship forward. Them kissing and sleeping together was more about comforting one another rather than sex, if that makes sense?

Anyway, thank you to @mamachasesmayhem for letting me vent to her about it!

Read Chapter 7

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#top gun fic #top gun maverick #jake seresin #Hangman top gun #soft!Jake Seresin #hangman fic #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin x oc #hangman x oc #'tis the damn season fic

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whispering-about-the-tmnt · 7 months

Text

Current list of my TMNT Fanfics

✅ next to a fic means that it is complete

⏳ next to a fic means it is still being worked on

🔁 next to a fic means it will never be "finished" because it does not require completion (drabble collections, etc.)

I'm dividing these into two sections: fics in my 1970s AU iteration, and everything else.

1970s TMNT AU:

A TMNT Cookbook 🔁

Presented by Michelangelo, King of the Kitchen -- A collection of TMNT-inspired recipes and the very short stories behind them

Rating / Genre: G / Food & Cooking

Size: 3/? chapters (~1150 words so far)

Notes: Ties into my 1970s AU, but works for just about any version

Duck And Cover ✅

January 28, 1977 -- When April O'Neil bought the building where she had spent her early childhood, she knew it was going to be a challenge fixing it up... but she never imagined that challenge would involve uncovering both evidence of the old owner's Cold War paranoia and a group of unusual "tenants" living twenty feet below her new property.

Rating / Genre: G / General

Size: 3/3 chapters (~13,800 words)

Notes: The first story in my 70s Au... centers around how April meets the Turtles

Other TMNT Fics:

A Cup Of Good Cheer ️✅

April is afraid that she got Donnie the wrong Christmas gift this year, but Leo tries to convince her otherwise.

Rating / Genre: G / Holiday, family, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (~3,400 words)

Notes: Autistic Donnie vibes

All The Time In The World ⏳

All Donatello wanted was a little more time to think…

Rating / Genre: T / Drama

Size: 4/8 chapters (~2,900 words so far)

Notes / Warnings: 2003 Universe; explosions, peril, guns, injuries

Displaced ️✅

An unprepared Donatello ends up on a Greyhound Bus to Springfield, Massachusetts

Rating / Genre: soft T / Mild drama, road trip, gen

Size: 6/6 chapters (~18,500 words)

Notes / Warnings: This was my first TMNT fic, which I originally posted some 25 years ago. It was written even earlier, though, right after the 1990s movies came out // Blood, guns, mild peril

Fleeting Thoughts 🔁

A collection of 100-word TMNT drabbles

Rating / Genre: G / Various, gen

Size: 9/? chapters (900 words so far)

Notes: I know it is hotly debated what the length of a drabble should be, but I was always firmly in the 100-word camp.

Just Breathe ️✅

Raphael has a frightening encounter on a chilly winter night.

Rating / Genre: G / Gen, mystery

Size: 1/1 chapter (~1,500 words)

Notes: Fits pretty much every iteration / mentions of suffocation

Midnight On The High Bridge ️✅

The High Bridge between Manhattan and the Bronx has always been one of Michelangelo's favorite places to go for a late night ride on his board; but on this cloudy evening, he finds more than just fresh air and freedom high above the Harlem River.

Rating / Genre: G / M/F, Meet-cute

Size: 3/3 chapters (~8,100 words)

Notes: Brings Oyuki into the 2007 universe; takes place a year after the events of the movie

Passage ⏳

Leonardo has an appointment with death.

Rating / Genre: T / Drama, supernatural

Size: 9/? chapters (~12,100 words so far)

Notes / Warnings: Originally written back in the early 2000s // Death and dying, gore, blood, mentions of religion

Red Dust ️✅

I had a dream last night. It was a long, restless, wandering dream.

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, poetry, gen

Size: 1/1 chapter (~700 words)

Notes / Warnings: Donatello-centric, Post SAINW, originally written and posted back in 2007 // mentions of death and dying

Requiescat ️✅

Leonardo died today.

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, grief, poetry, gen

Size: 1/1 chapter (180 words)

Notes / Warnings: Written a couple decades ago // Death and dying

Second Time Around ⏳

Two years after the defeat and banishment of Krang and Shredder, the Turtles and their human friends now have different, more personal challenges to overcome -- challenges that are made all the more difficult to deal with when Baxter Stockman and Karai pull them into a conflict that involves disentangling the complexities time itself.

Rating / Genre: T / Script, gen

Size: 19/? chapters (~28,000 words so far)

Notes / Warnings : A screenplay for a third Bayverse movie // Character death mentioned

Something Wicked ⏳

He felt movement all around him; something like the wind, though the air was dead still. He backed against the curved sewer wall… holding his breath as his eyes scanned the pitch blackness. The feeling grew closer, touching him… a whisper against his damp skin…

Rating / Genre: M / Horror, suspense, gen

Size: 21/? chapters (~64,200 words so far)

Notes / Warnings: Originally written and posted a couple decades ago, now being put under an extensive rewrite // Blood, gore, possible character death, whump, etc.

Still Waters ️✅

They say I'm the quiet one…

Rating / Genre: G / Introspective, poetry, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (~200 words)

Notes: Also from over twenty years ago. A Donatello introspective.

The Bone Garden ️✅

You gathered up old papers, old photos… and you flipped through them, one by one, remembering…

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, grief, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (400 words)

Notes / Warnings: Originally written on Halloween, 2007 for the 2k3 episode, Same As It Never Was, but now I feel that it applies to The Last Ronin, as well... or really, any story where one Turtle remained after the others had passed on // Mentions of death

The Scent Of Violets ️✅

Donnie and Mike are trapped underground with a memory

Rating / Genre: T / Drama, gen

Size: 1/1 chapter (~1,800 words)

Notes / Warnings: Written in the late 90s, early 2000s // Blood, severe injury

Under The Influence ️✅

Leo is under the influence of… something

Rating / Genre: G / humor, gen

Size: 4/4 chapters (400 words)

Notes: Just a silly little four-drabble story I wrote when I wasn't feeling so well a bunch of years back

When She Loved Me ️✅

She always said that I had his eyes. I don't know if I ever really believed her… after all, I never knew him. But I suppose they must be his. Her own eyes were deep and dark, almost black… reflective like mirrors. Mine are blue… light blue, like the sky. I think that sometimes she hated looking into them, because it was like she was looking at him again… like she was looking at my father.

Rating / Genre: G / Drama, gen

Size: 1/1 chapters (~2,500 words)

Notes / Warnings: Oyuki's backstory as I see it. Originally posted at FFnet back around 2000, though the fic is contemporary with the TMNTA Comics, setting its year at 1992 // Parental abandonment and neglect

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #ninja turtles #tmnt fanfic #tmnt bayverse #tmnt 2k3 #tmnt 2007 #tmnt 2003 #rottmnt #tottmnt #tmnt mm #tmnt mutant mayhem #tmnt 2012 #tmnt 1987 #writers on tumblr #tmnt archie #tmnt archie comics #long post

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kinzis-writing · 5 months

Text

Better than Revenge | Mattheo Riddle [6]

The end of the school year is approaching, and Y/N is trying to make a plan to flee from her house. Where could she go that the death eaters wouldn’t find her? Better yet, how could she manage her relationship with Mattheo.

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle x Y/N Nettleby

Warning(s): a few cuss words, mentions of sexual material, out of character Mattheo, soft! Mattheo, ooc theo. mentions of smoking.

vi. “what if all i need is you?”

Chapter Six

Note: Long time no see! I went ahead and tagged everyone who I had for my list, if you wish for your tag to be removed just let me know! If I forgot someone, just let me know and I’ll fix it. ☺️ I’m finally done with school; I took my last final yesterday. This means that I know have time to update so it should be finished by July! 🫶🏼

Word Count: 4k

*Not proofread or edited* — *Gif Not mine*

It had been a month or two since students came back to Hogwarts from their holiday breaks. Since then, everyone at Hogwarts had noticed a difference between Y/N and Mattheo. Their relationship seemed to flow naturally, and they did not look to be on edge. Everyone knew that things had changed during winter break, even Hermione had figured it out and confronted the Gryffindor group about it in front of the Nettleby girl. Y/N obviously told them the truth about how they had connected over the course of the break and had admitted that everything from two years ago to now was just in their feelings. It was safe to say that Hermione, Ron, and Harry did not approve and had nothing nice to say.

Y/N had taken off and headed towards the library knowing that finals were coming up soon and she wanted to give her friends time to come to terms with her having feelings for the Riddle boy. They needed time to adjust to the information and she was more than happy to give it to them when needed. She truly understood both sides of the people in her life. She knew the golden trio only seen her boyfriend as Tom Riddle’s son, the same way that Mattheo only seen Harry and all his friends as an enemy because of his father. She could see and understand the conflict from both sides, but she hated that she was in the middle of the battlefield.

Y/N was knocked out of her thoughts as a tall figure fell into steps with her, “Been awhile. I almost did not recognize you without your boytoy on your hip.” The voice of Theodore Nott spoke up as he made sure to keep up with her. She was not in the mood to deal with the stuff from her ex-boyfriend, usually she avoided him or let Mattheo handle to conflict as he knew how to take care of his friends. The last time she had seen Theo was when they were at the family dinner months ago.

Y/N Nettleby rolled her eyes and came to a halt to keep him from following her any further, “What do you want Theodore?” she asked annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest as the boy stepped in front of her.

Theodore made sure he was facing her and leaving little room between the two, “a little birdie told me that your relationship with Riddle was a ploy. A way for you to make me jealous.” He spoke with amusement in his voice.

Y/N let out a laugh while looking over her ex, “and you believe that because?” she asked and trailed off for him to answer her question. When he did not say anything, but still held himself with a smirk and arrogance, she knew that he wouldn’t leave without a fight. “Listen, if you’re still pissed about us having sex, get over it. It is MY body Theo and I decide who I want in it.” She snapped her anger growing at the tall boy in front of her. “… and who I don’t.” she added hoping to strike a nerve.

“If you honestly think your relationship with Mattheo is real, you’re sadly mistaken.” Theo replied dangerously low. Y/N could tell that he was angry, but she wouldn’t fear him or back down. She knew how to take on Theodore whether she acted like she did or not. “He told me himself that he doesn’t believe in love, that he doesn’t believe in relationships.”

Y/N shook her head, “People change Theodore.” She stated, knowing that his only fight would be to try and ruin what the couple had built. “The sooner you realize that he’s using you, the easier the heartbreak will be.” The Nott boy muttered to the girl in front of him. “Did he tell you why he dated you so easily, and do not say it’s because he “cares” or “loves” you” Y/N glared at the boy in front of her. What did she ever see in him, she didn’t know. “He wanted to get close to Harry and your friends. He is doing his mother and father’s dirty work, and he knows if he gains all your trust that you’ll give him the information he needs to know.”

Y/N’s heart was thumping, because she knew that Mattheo had his own reason to start the plan and what if her ex was right? It didn’t change what had happened over the break, but to think that she would agree so easily without knowing what he fully wanted made her nervous.

“What the hell did I tell you about staying away from my girlfriend, Nott.” The voice of Mattheo Riddle spoke up from behind the Gryffindor girl. Theo’s smirk never wavered as he took in his ex’s appearance in front of him. He knew that she was considering what he had said. “What do you want with her?”

Theo wasn’t startled by the boy who was talking to him. If anything, he expected it. He knew that Mattheo had feelings for the girl. Mainly because Riddle had never shown any kind of emotion the way he had around Y/N. “Just shedding some light for your sweet little Y/N.” He replied.

Mattheo took Y/N’s appearance into account before stepping in the small space between the two. Her body language was obviously uncomfortable, and her eyes were still glaring into her ex. “Whatever you felt the need to tell her is irrelevant. Leave her alone if you know what is good for you.” Mattheo snarled before grabbing Y/N by the hand and leading her towards the library where he assumed she was going.

The couple didn’t say anything, but Mattheo did take a detour, leading them out towards the black lake. Knowing that they could have alone time there and he also wouldn’t get in trouble for smoking. The couple sat on the ground making sure to face the lake. Mattheo had an idea of what Theo wanted to talk about, mainly because Enzo had come to the boy this morning and told him that Theodore was telling everyone that his relationship was fake.

“It wasn’t your smartest idea to bring me with you when you’re smoking.” Y/N mumbled as she picked at the green grass beside her. Her gaze quickly turning to the calm water in front of her, yet she knew what lingered in there. “Besides I have studying that needs to be done.”

Mattheo blew out a puff of smoke while analyzing her demeanor, “What did he say to you?” he asked softly noticing the way you were acting. It made him anxious, knowing that Theo knew some information that could make you think differently of him. He held out hope that you wouldn’t judge him if you ever found out because for the longest time, he just wanted to make his father and mother proud. Now he could care less.

Y/N’s gaze remained on the black lake while her boyfriend was smoking, “you know how Theo is when he’s jealous.” She shrugged, bringing her knees up to her and tucking them into her chest.

“You don’t have to be hesitant to talk to me.” Mattheo muttered looking away from the girl that he was starting to fall for.

Y/N sighed, “he just said that you don’t believe in love or relationships and that you’re just using me to get to Harry and my friends. He also said that he “heard” that our relationship was fake.” She shrugged trying to make it seem like it was nothing. Most of it was nothing, she was starting to fall in love with the boy beside her and she didn’t really care how it went. Riddle took an inhale of his cigarette before slowly exhaling while he processed the information that he had just heard. “You were the reason I didn’t do relationships.” He spoke softly and quietly. He avoided her gaze as he crushed his cigarette to the ground to stop it from burning. “I have been drawn to you since I met you formally at the Malfoys Christmas party five years ago. It took me almost a year just to start talking to you and gaining you as a friend. Sean had talked about his sister but for the longest time, but I never looked at anyone that wasn’t in Slytherin.” He started explaining and moved his gaze from the ground to the black lake. He could feel y/n’s eyes burning into him. “I liked you before we even became friends, but I felt as if I didn’t know you enough to feel like that, so I pushed it down and then we got close. I convinced myself that I was wrong for you, and you fell into the arms of Nott.”

Y/N carefully scooted herself over, so her side was pressed up against his, “what about after that night?” She asked carefully, wanting to know what went through his mind three years ago. “You avoided me, acted like you hated me, and then I got with Theo.”

The riddle boy wasn’t sure what to say. He understood why he did what he did, but when he thought about it, it was dumb and selfish. “I was worried that you would regret it, and I knew the life you were trying to make for yourself. It didn’t involve my dad’s army and I knew I wouldn’t have a choice. You deserved better and you still do, but I want you to do whatever makes you happy and if that’s being with me then I’m not denying.”

Y/N wrapped her arms around his arm and laid her head on his shoulder, “I didn’t regret it. I love you, Teo. I know that you may not want to say that yet and that’s fine. I just want you to know that I’m not going anywhere, I wanted you instead of Theodore this whole time.” She finally admitted. It felt good to get that secret off her chest, all those times that she had wished she were with Mattheo instead of Theodore.

Mattheo gently placed his head on top of hers, “I agreed to the plan for two reasons. I wanted to show you what being with me would be like and at first, I did think I could get close to Harry. But I wasn’t planning to use you or getting information out of you.” He told her honestly knowing that it was best to tell the truth instead of trying to dodge it.

Y/N gently pulled her head out from his and looked up at him, “thank you for being honest.” She whispered and gave him a small smile. Mattheo nodded knowing that as long as he’s honest with her that they could get through anything. Mattheo carefully leaned forward and captured her lips with his. Wanting nothing more than to be able to feel her next to him.

Off in the distance an angry Theodore watched the couple, knowing that the information about the said relationship being fake was untrue.

A few days later Y/N sat snuggled up on Mattheo’s lap in the Slytherin common room while the couple talked to Enzo, Draco, Pansy, and Sean. A couple of Slytherin’s had joined in on the conversation who everyone called Astoria and Daphne, Astoria was the youngest, and was only in her third or fourth year.

“Y/N, what’s your plans for the summer?” Pansy asked, everyone turning to the girl that hadn’t said much. Sean knew that she was trying to come up with a way to not return to their house. Knowing that the dark mark awaited her the second she stepped into the house.

Mattheo gave her a little squeeze from where his hand was sitting on her side, “I, I was thinking about looking for a place on my own.” She spoke after a few minutes of being silent. “I’m at the age of consent and we’ll be finishing up here soon.” She tried to make her plans sound casual and not like she was in a rush to leave her current living situation.

Just as she was hoping, no one thought much of what the girl had said and went into their own conversations. While everyone was arguing over their life and what they were going to do the next two months, Y/N and Mattheo had managed to sneak off and go towards the dorms.

“I mean this in the nicest way possible, but is Daphne always like that?” Y/N asked as Mattheo shut the door behind them. It felt nice to get away from the Slytherin friend group, while it was nice to see what her boyfriend and brother are up too, she missed her friends and, in some ways, it reminded her of them.

“She’s probably a bit tipsy.” Mattheo replied while shaking his head at his friend’s downstairs. “She’s had a bit of a problem since her boyfriend dumped her.” He added joining Y/N to his bed.

“Understandable.” Y/N nodding knowing that she would probably be tipsy most of the time if Mattheo left her.

“So… about you looking for a place in a few weeks.”

Y/N nodded knowing that he knew the reason, but she had yet to talk to him about it. “Yeah. I know running from my parents isn’t going to work forever but maybe it will for a bit.” She explained. It was going to be hard looking for somewhere to stay, but she knew that it was possible “Have you heard from your family?” she asked carefully, knowing how the boy in front of her hated talking about his parents. He acted cold and distant around school but deep down she knew that he just wanted to keep the intimidating façade up.

“She’s probably with my father.” Mattheo muttered loosening his tie due to him feeling like he’s suffocating just thinking about the plan they’re creating. “Just waiting for me to get home.”

“You don’t have to let them control you- “She started only to be cut off by a scoff from him.

“They’ll kill me, Y/N.” He snapped. He didn’t mean to get hostile but knowing he’d be back to school with the dark mark worried him about her wellbeing.

“You’re their son.” Y/N argued.

“That doesn’t matter, if they don’t want to do it his minions will.” Mattheo argued back with her.

Y/N stayed quiet knowing that he understood his father’s army better than anyone. Since he had stayed with death eaters his whole life. No doubt they were always looking for a way to bring him back. “You’re just going to take the mark? No fights.” She asked knowing that he would obey his so-called parents. Sometimes Y/N wonders how Mattheo turned out the way he did because he did not let his family define who he was. Yes, he acted like a dick around school but how he acts around his friends and the people he cares about was another story. Had Harry not described to her what Tom Riddle looked like in his Hogwarts days, Y/N would guess that his father was someone completely different.

Mattheo didn’t want to answer the question that she had asked him. Did he want to be like his father? No. Would he follow him? Probably. Not because he wanted to but because deep down, he was scared but he would never admit that. “The only thing I am going to promise you is that I’ll try my best to protect you from my family.” He whispered, not even knowing if he could accomplish that but he knew that he would gladly take any blame, curse, or punishment for keeping Y/N safe.

Y/N’s gaze softened at his promise, all her questions about his family gone. Knowing that it didn’t matter what happened, because overall, she wasn’t turning her back on the boy in front of her. “I love you.” She assured him. Again, she knew how hard it was for him to say any words of that sort, so she didn’t expect to hear it back. She just knew that he would need those reminders for the days to come.

Without letting him even consider saying it back, she gently placed her lips on his. One of the first times that she had initiated the kiss first, but she knew that he didn’t mind. Her hand came up and landed gently on his jaw line while one of his moved to the back of her neck and the other one wrapped around her hand that laid on his face. Y/N gently pulled back; her eyes still closed as Mattheo started trailing kisses down her neck. The boy gently pushed her back so she would hit his soft mattress and give him better access to all of her.

Mattheo hovered over her as he connected their lips again. It was clear to Y/N that he needed her in a way that he hadn’t had her for two years. She would be lying if she said she didn’t want him like that as well. During their make out session, she helped him slide his blazer off and untie his tie. She had quickly gotten out of her clothes as well, making sure to be as problem free as possible.

“Good?” he asked carefully. Y/N knew what he was asking, because she knew that he sometimes didn’t get the right words out or he just wasn’t used to saying a couple words. No matter who he had been with, it had been consentful, but he always made sure before they removed the clothes. “Are you sure?” He corrected knowing that being with Y/N made him want to get over what he thought was weakness and showing emotion.

“Yes.” She nodded, being the green light for him to go further. Which was exactly what he was waiting for.

The aftercare had been just as great as the sex, at least to Y/N. She had fallen asleep laying on Mattheo’s bare chest, the sheet and blanket keeping them covered if anyone would dare to enter the boy’s dormitory. Mattheo was awake, smoking a cigarette because he didn’t want to wake her up from her slumber. He had kicked the habit of smoking in the dorm, but he was desperate, and he had waited until Y/N fell asleep because he didn’t want to leave right after.

Y/N had fallen asleep talking to the boy after that had done their activities and he was gently running his hand along her bare back. After taking his last puff of his cigarette, he used his old tray to squish it and quit the burning. He blew out the last of the smoke just as the dorm room door burst open. A Theodore that looked like a kicked puppy entered the room followed by Sean.

“You lose them how you gain them.” Sean told Theo not noticing the couple in bed yet. Theo went to reply to his friend but stopped when he noticed Mattheo’s bed was occupied. Sean followed his line of sight only to quickly cover his eyes even though nothing was exposed. “I’m out.” Sean muttered before turning and exiting the room. “Better not knock her up, riddle.” He joked on his way-out causing Mattheo to roll his eyes.

Theo avoided eye contact, but his eyes were raking over the parts of Y/N’s bare back that was exposed. The riddle boy was growing annoyed having his friends eye wonder over his girl’s body. He had finally gotten her after Theo screwed up and he wasn’t letting her go.

“Can I help you with something?” Mattheo asked in an annoyed tone. He tightened his arm around his girl that was laying on his chest. “I would appreciate it if you stopped loo- “

“Do you love her?” Theodore asked, moving his eyes to meet the one who used to be his best friend before he treated his ex-girlfriend like shit and pushed her into the arms of his best friend.

“That’s between us.” Mattheo stated his anger starting to show.

Theodore shook his head, “If you don’t love her, let her go.” He told the riddle boy knowing, well, thinking that he couldn’t love someone. “I know you like her, but if you can’t love her then she deserves someone who can.” The friend and ex knew that he was pushing boundaries, but he didn’t care.

Mattheo scoffed, “someone like you?” he grumbled.

Theodore shook his head, “No. I couldn’t love her the right way either.” He admitted watching the way Y/N’s breathing was smooth, showing sure signs that she was asleep. “We both know the life that’s coming for us in a few months and she’s the only one I know from a family like ours that has a heart like hers.”

Mattheo couldn’t argue with that, considering her family were purebloods, Slytherins, and death eaters, she had the heart of someone like the Weasleys. She wanted to see the good in many people, but she kept to herself. It was a no brainer as to why the sorting hat chose Gryffindor because she was the farthest thing from her family. She was what they would consider an outcast because she wasn’t like them and didn’t have the wants and desires of her family.

“I do.” Mattheo sighed looking at the boy who he had hated the past couple of months. “I do feel like that towards her, and I just can’t bring myself to say it.”

“It’s because we’ve never fully felt it that way before.”

Once Theodore had left, Mattheo had sat in his thoughts. He knew that his friend made a good point, but he could say that he did in fact love the girl who was stirring in his arms. He did, every time he went to say it nothing came out or it was like his mouth wouldn’t move. Maybe because he had been told growing up that love was a sign of weakness and that Slytherin’s, especially Tom Riddle’s son, does not show emotion.

Whatever the case may be, the boy was knocked out of his thoughts by a low groan, “Why did you let me sleep?” A groggy Y/N mumbled when she woke up. She let out a big yawn before moving her head up to look at Mattheo’s gaze, “I should have studied after.” She mumbled relaxing again at the action of Mattheo running his hand along her back.

“Don’t worry yourself studying so much.” He muttered gently making sure to keep her comfortable. “You’re the smartest girl I know.”

“That’s Hermione.” Y/N argued in a tired voice.

Mattheo didn’t say anything, but he disagreed with her. She was by far the smartest girl that he knew and had he not been who he was, they could have been prefects together with how they acted. The fact that she was in the situation that she was in broke his heart, because he knew that it was his father’s fault. “What was your life like… before you were sorted?” He wanted to know if her parents had always favored Sean or if it was just because their daughter was in Gryffindor.

She sighed, “Not as bad. My parents thought that their kids would be following in their footsteps and when word got around that I was in Gryffindor, they acted colder towards me. My mom told me that I should be glad they have a reason to keep me around because I was an embarrassment to the family name.” She mumbled, her fingers drawing shapes on her boyfriend’s chest to manage her anxiety.

“Hey,” He stopped her hand gently knowing it was an anxiety tick. “No matter what happens we’ll be the last ones standing, together.” He promised. He had no authority to promise that, but he would make it his mission to make sure they were okay no matter what his father’s army did. No matter what they go home too and must turn into.

“I hope you’re right.”

*Not edited!*

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