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masterofmunson · 4 years

Text

bleeding love

Frat boy!Harry x Sorority!Reader

Summary: There’s no way in hell you would give Harry Styles the time of day. At least you don’t until he accidentally gives you a bloody nose.

Warnings: blood, language, drinking, puking, mentions of sex

Word Count: 7.7k+

Author’s Note: Frat boy fic is here! I had a blast writing this! Some bits are a little self indulgent based on my experiences at frat parties and being in a sorority myself haha. If you don’t know what cuff night is, it’s basically where you’re hand cuffed to a frat boy for the night because he asked you to be his date and you have to drink a bottle of champagne or wine together until it’s empty to get uncuffed (at least in my experience). Enjoy and tell me what you think!

here’s the playlist accompanied with the fic

“I’m surprised you’re coming,” your friend Gretchen comments as you and your small group of friends walk to the Pi Alpha Kappa house from your sorority house.

“Why’s that?” you ask her, carefully stepping over a pile of trash left on the street.

She laughs, nudging you gently as you walk. She shakes her head at you, her teased curls hitting you in the face. “Don’t play dumb, Y/n. We all know the reason you don’t go to Pike parties is because Harry’s there.”

You scoff at the mention of his name. You roll your eyes. Just hearing Harry’s name makes you want to gauge your eyes out. You wonder how many times he’ll bug the living shit out of you tonight. “Well, if he wasn’t so insufferable maybe I would come more.”

Your friend Lucy laughs loudly. “You guys should just have sex and move on,” she tells you. “It would solve the disgusting sexual tension you two have going on right now.”

Heat spreads up your neck and across your face. You scoff in disgust and shove Lucy on to the sidewalk. She stumbles and all your friends laugh. “We do not have sexual tension, Lucy. You’re crazy. The only reason I’m coming is because of the theme. I helped Peter curate the playlist tonight.”

“Ah, right, because who doesn’t love a decades themed frat party?” Lucy teases while your friends giggle at your embarrassment.

You nod, “Exactly.”

Walking up the long driveway your friends Logan and Frankie stand up from their lawn chairs in front of the house. Logan hugs you before complimenting you on your outfit, a pair of bell bottom jeans and a yellow tube top. A pair of circular blue sunglasses rest on the top of your head. You walk past him to the back patio towards the garage.

The music rings through your ears as you open the door attached to the garage. You make a beeline to the bar and one of the pledges pours you a drink before you disappear into the growing crowd. You hurry over to where Peter’s standing and he pulls you in for a hug.

“Who knew letting you curate a playlist would get you to come!” Peter laughs, taking a sip of his beer.

You roll your eyes at him, shoving him gently. “That’s what I’ve been told. Thanks for letting me help.”

The song changes and you let out an excited scream. Peter laughs again and the two of you chug the rest of your drinks before you’re dragging Peter towards the front of the garage. There’s plenty of space as the sound of Footloose rings through the speakers. You went to high school with Peter and have been friends for as long as you can remember. You helped each other learn the line dance from the movie when you were 11. It also doesn’t hurt that Peter danced for nearly 10 years either.

Your friends squeeze through the growing crowd to join you and you grin excitedly as you start to dance together. People join in, watching you and Peter lead the dance with your friends beside you. You’re too into the dance to notice Harry watching you with a smug smirk on his face.

When the song ends, your friends all laugh breathlessly and you grin. You make a beeline towards the bar counter again, asking for a beer when Harry approaches you. He smirks and leans against the counter. You know without looking that he’s standing beside you. You know he’ll tease you about what he just saw, but you don’t care. You were having fun. You won’t let Harry ruin your night.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you smile like that,” Harry tells you, sipping his beer. “Especially over a song like Footloose.”

There it is. The small jab Harry always has to sneak in to get under your skin. You won’t let him. Not tonight.

You turn your head to look at him. You fake a smile. You notice that he’s dressed just like Marty McFly from Back to the Future. At least he dressed up for the theme. Of all the times you’ve been to the house for parties, you’ve never seen him dress up for the themes. You wonder briefly if he knows you helped plan the party and the theme.

“I know you mean that as an insult, but I don’t care. I won’t let you ruin my night because you enjoy bugging the ever loving shit out of me, Harry. Go find Chelsea or Caroline. I’m sure they’d be happy to keep you company. See you later,” you tell him with a curt nod before disappearing with your drink in your hand to find your friends.

You find them only moments later dancing and grinding on each other to Smack That. They cheer when you join them and you smile. You and your friends dance together and scream the lyrics to the song. Sweat slides down your face and you take a deep breath before joining Lucy in screaming the song. Her jean jacket is wrapped around her waist as you pull up your tube top. Gretchen laughs, forgoing the curls on her shoulders and throwing her hair up into a bun.

“Harry’s been eyeing you the whole time we’ve been here!” she shouts over the loud music, winking at you.

You shrug. “Don’t care, Gretch!” you shout back, finishing your beer. “I’ll be right back. I’m getting another drink!”

You weave through your friends and walk around the beer pong table to get to the counter.

You never make it.

Instead a hard wack on your nose makes you stumble back and fall backwards on the floor. You scream loudly and the music stops. Your head starts to spin and you immediately clutch your nose. Tears blur your vision. Warm liquid coats your fingers.

“Shit!”

You groan. Of course Harry is the one to accidentally give you a bloody nose. The night has officially gone to shit, and you were having a great time!

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you,” he apologizes, leaning over you and helping you to sit up. Harry helps you to your feet and you grunt. You don’t say anything in fear of getting blood in your mouth.

He holds you by the waist, and normally you would argue if he was touching you, but you couldn’t see and you needed help. You walk past the girls in line for the bathroom and Harry opens the back door of the house. You step inside and he guides you down the hall into the bathroom attached to what you assume is his bedroom. Harry sits you down on the toilet seat and frantically opens the bathroom cabinets for the first aid kit.

At this point, blood starts leaking down your mouth, chin, and through your fingers. You still can’t see and tears still sting at your eyes. You hear Harry sigh in relief when he finds the first aid kit and nearly rips it open. He gently takes your hands away from your face and immediately presses gauze to your noise. You groan and hiss in pain.

“Sorry,” he mutters, “I need t’ put pressure to stop the bleeding.”

“I know,” you grumble, “still hurts though.”

Your head still spins and you feel like you’re about to puke. You can still hear the music from the garage and tears still coat your cheeks.

“I know we’re not friends, but I genuinely didn’t mean to hit you in the nose,” Harry breaks the silence, laughing awkwardly. You can’t even see him.

“I know, Harry,” you sigh as he adds more gauze to your bleeding nose. You wince again and he apologizes quietly. Your vision clears and your eyes meet his. “It was an accident.”

Harry throws the gauze into the small trash bin beside the toilet before grabbing a clean cloth. The bleeding has finally stopped, but the burning sensation you feel in your nose doesn’t go away. Harry gently holds your face in his hands and stares at your nose. You don’t know why your heart starts to race. His fingers gently press into the sides of your nose and you groan.

“Does it hurt when I press on your nose?”

You roll your eyes at him. What a stupid question. It makes you want to smack him. You wish your hands weren’t covered in blood so you could back hand him. “Isn’t it obvious? I just groaned in pain,” you snap at him.

Harry glares at you. “I’m just making sure. I think you may have a broken nose. I’m going t’ grab a bag of ice to put on your nose ‘nd some Advil.”

“What?!” you shout at him. “How do you know that just by touching my nose?”

“I’m a nursing major. Don’t move. I’ll be right back.”

You stare at him in complete shock as he hurries out of the bathroom, shutting the door slightly. You had no idea that he was a nursing major.

You let out another groan. The pain from your nose spreads across your face through the back of your head. You feel like you’re about to puke.

“Oh, no,” you whimper to yourself, sliding off the toilet seat as fast as you can. You spin around and pull the seat up, ignoring the red stain you leave behind. You puke immediately. It burns your throat and you can’t see again. You’re a flaming hot mess with a broken nose.

You start to gasp for breath when you feel a gentle hand on your back. Your hair is pulled out of the way as another way of nausea makes its way through you. Tears burn your eyes and you let out a soft cry. You’re completely embarrassed.

“It’s okay, Y/n,” Harry says softly. It’s the first time you’ve heard something kind come out of his mouth towards you and your head is in his toilet. “Just breathe f’ me. I can’t have ya passing out on me. You’re dehydrated.”

Your breathing starts to slow and you pull your head out from the toilet. You flush quickly with the back of your hand and tear a few pieces of toilet paper off the roll to wipe your mouth. You groan when you notice a red stain as you toss it in the garbage bin.

“Ah, shit,” Harry curses, grabbing the first aid kit from the counter and grabbing a clean thing of gauze. He reaches for your chin and quickly wipes the blood trailing down your nose before holding it against your face. “You puking most likely aggravated your nose. That’s why it's bleeding again.”

You grunt in response as Harry goes through the motions to stop your nosebleed again. He pulls away a few minutes later and tosses the piece into the trash. He stands up, quickly and thoroughly washing his hands before grabbing the cup of water he got you from the kitchen. You take it with a soft thank you. He grabs the bottle of Advil and shakes out two pills. He hands them to you carefully and you pop them into your mouth. You take a careful sip and swallow.

You lean your head back on the bathroom wall and sigh. You set the cup down and Harry gently sets the ice bag on your nose. You wince and he apologizes under his breath. Your fingers brush his as you hold the bag in place.

You’re silent for another moment before you build up the courage to speak. You’re incredibly embarrassed and you know he won’t let you live this down. Harry has never seen you so weak and small. Harry has never seen you cry.

“Thanks for doing all of this for me, Harry,” you mumble quietly as you stare at the bathroom wall. You can’t look at him. You’re too ashamed. “I’m not normally this much of a mess. I’m sorry about all the blood everywhere.”

Out of the corner of your eye you see Harry turn to look at you. He’s smiling at you. You turn your head to meet his eyes. “I know. It’s okay, I’ll clean everything up later,” he laughs, “and you’re welcome. I feel really bad. If you just keep taking Advil ‘nd ice it, you should be fine. It doesn’t look like a severe break so there’s nothing else you can really do for it.”

You hum, fighting back a smile. “For the three years we’ve known each other, I had no idea you were a nurse major.”

“We’re normally too busy bitching at each other to have a civil conversation.”

You bite the inside of your cheek and switch hands on the ice pack. “Right.”

Silence falls between the two of you when there’s a harsh knock on the bathroom door. It’s opened immediately and Peter pokes his head inside. He looks down at the two of you.

“Is everything okay? I heard something about a nosebleed,” Peter asks. His eyes never leave yours and you know without looking that you’re a disaster.

There’s most likely alcohol and puke in your hair. Your jeans are wet and you’re missing an earring. Your makeup is smeared all over your face and blood stains your precious tube top and your hands.

“It’s all taken care of, Pete,” you tell him with a soft smile. You’re grateful to have a friend like him. “Harry’s my personal nurse.”

“Okay, good. I was worried. Let me know if you need a ride back to the house.”

You nod and Peter shuts the door, leaving you and Harry alone again. Harry sighs softly, glancing over at you. “How are you feeling?”

You laugh. “Better, thanks. My nose is numb, but I’m good. I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow since I threw up.”

“Good. I think it’s about time we get ya home now.”

“Yeah,” you murmur, embarrassment washing over you again. Of course Harry wants to dump you off to someone else. You’re not surprised in the slightest. You most definitely ruined his night as well as yours. “If you grab Peter, he can take me back to the house. I should get out of your hair.”

Harry’s brows pinch together in confusion as he stares at you. “I’m taking you home. I would feel better if I did. I still feel shitty about it.”

Oh!

You certainly didn’t expect that kind of a response. You expected him to be thrilled. You would no longer be his problem and he could go find someone to fuck for the night.

“Okay, thanks.”

Harry’s up on his feet faster than you and he watches you carefully as he washes his hands again. You stand up slowly and take a quick peek at yourself in the mirror. You’re absolutely mortified as you take your turn to wash your hands thoroughly. You look like you got hit by a train and a bus and a car all within one fell swoop.

“Oh my god,” you groan in embarrassment.

There would be no way to save your precious and favorite tube top. Yes, there’s blood, plenty of it stained on the shirt, but that’s not the worst part. It’s the puke stain mixed with it. It makes you want to puke again.

Your hair is a mess and there’s a wet spot on your jeans. Makeup runs down your face, nearly all of it wiped off in the process of stopping your bloody nose.

“There’s no way I can go out of your room looking like this,” you tell him. “I look terrible!”

Harry laughs and you frown at him. “You can borrow some of my clothes. I can wash your clothes and give them back tomorrow,” he tells you with a warm smile.

“Thank you. I owe you,” you tell him as you quickly wash your hands. Harry shuts off the bathroom light and you step into his bedroom. The main light is on and you quickly glance around the room. You try not to look surprised. His room is so…. clean. You wouldn’t have pegged him as someone to have a neat room.

You watch Harry dig through his dresser until he pulls out an old pair of shorts and a sleep shirt. He hands them to you and smiles gently.

“I’ll stay in here. You can use the bathroom to change,” he tells you. “Just try not to make more of a mess.”

You nod in return, thanking him for the clothes before disappearing to the bathroom again. You change quickly, getting rid of your stained and wet clothes. You carefully wrap your tube top in your jeans before washing your hands again and open the bathroom door and shut the light off.

“Thanks again, Harry,” you smile softly.

“You’re welcome. You can just toss your clothes into the bin right there. I can clean them for you.”

Your brows pinch together. He doesn’t have to wash your disgusting clothes. You can handle it. He’s already done way too much for you. There’s no way you’ll ever be able to live this down.

“Harry, my clothes are disgusting and stained. I can bring them home. It’s not a big deal,” you tell him.

“I have to do laundry anyway. Just throw them in the bin. I insist. I’m the reason they’re so gross in the first place.”

You sigh. You’re not in the mood to argue. Now all you want to do is go home and sleep off the pain and embarrassment you feel.

Throwing your clothes into the laundry bin, you follow Harry out the bedroom door and close it behind you. You wave a quick goodbye to Peter and ask him to tell your friends that Harry’s driving you back to the sorority house.

Harry opens the front door to the house and you step outside. You walk quietly to his car and open the door without a word. You shut the door and buckle your seat belt as Harry climbs in. He starts the car and carefully pulls out of the driveway.

The five minutes it takes to get to the house are silent. You don’t know what to say and you’re guessing Harry doesn’t either. He pulls to the back of the house and you sit for a moment before glancing over at him.

“Thanks for everything, Harry. I know this isn’t how you pictured your night to go, but I really appreciate it. You weren’t horrible tonight,” you laugh softly, biting the inside of your cheek bashfully.

Harry smiles, laughing with you. “Even though I accidentally broke your nose? You’re an angel.”

You roll your eyes and open the car door. “See you later, Harry.”

You shut the door and climb up the stairs to the back door. You look back briefly and Harry sticks his tongue out at you, waiting for you to get into the house safely. You shake your head before punching the code into the keypad attached to the door before stepping inside. You peek out the window and watch Harry pull out the back.

Walking through the dining area and the living room, you climb up the stairs to your bedroom. You turn on the light, suddenly grateful your friends were still at the frat house. You have the room to yourself for now.

Heading into the bathroom, you brush your teeth and wash your face as gently as possible. You look and feel better now that your face is clean.

Walking back into your bedroom, you turn off the lights and climb into bed. You fall asleep with Harry’s clothes still on your body.

He smells like aftershave and vanilla.

….

You wake up with a raging headache the next morning. You groan loudly and fist at your sheets. Your nose still burns.

You roll out of bed and grab a clean towel from your closet and slip your shower shoes on. You step into the bathroom and lock the door behind you. You stare at yourself in the mirror.

Holy shit!

Your nose is completely swollen. Black and blue spread across the bridge of your nose and towards the corners of your eyes. Now it definitely looks like someone punched you in the face and gave you a black eye.

You sigh, shaking your head. You turn on the shower and take off the clothes Harry let you borrow last night. Stepping into the shower, you let out a blissful sigh. The warm water washes away the remnants of last night’s party.

You thoroughly shampoo and condition your hair before gently washing your face and body. Once you’re finished, you turn off the water and dry off.

Stepping out of the shower, you scoop up the clothes you borrowed and head back into your room. You change into a pair of comfy gray joggers and a shirt that says Florida State Dad that your brother got you as a gag gift for one Christmas.

Reaching for your phone, you check the time. You groan. It’s just past 2:30. No wonder no one’s in the room. You’ve slept the day away. Now you have to stay up late to do your assignments.

Your phone buzzes with a text message and it makes you jump.

Unknown Number: Hey, it’s Harry. I’m outside, can you let me in?

Unknown Number: I have your clothes and a few other things.

Unknown Number: Also I got your number from Peter.

You laugh softly, shaking your head.

Y/n: I’ll be down in a sec, weirdo.

You slip your phone into your pants pocket before heading downstairs. You open the door and your eyes meet Harry’s. You smile and let him inside. You look down at his hands. He’s holding a small white basket.

Peeking inside, you see your clothes. They’re clean and the bloodstain on your yellow tube top is gone. You wonder how long it took to get rid of the stains. Surrounding your clothes are some of your favorite snacks and candies. It makes your heart flutter inside your chest.

“You didn’t have to do this Harry. You’re too sweet,” you tell him with a gentle smile. “Thank you.”

Harry grins, laughing at you. “Do my ears deceive me or did you just call me sweet?”

You roll your eyes and shove him playfully. “Shut up. Don’t ruin the moment.”

You turn and walk into the dining area and Harry follows close behind. He sets the basket on one of the empty tables as you fish around the cabinets for a plastic bag to fill with ice.

“Did I come at a bad time?” Harry asks you.

You shake your head and zip the bag up once it’s filled. You laugh softly. “I slept through most of the day. I woke up about a half hour ago and took a shower. You just caught me in the middle of my hair routine.”

He hums as you gently place the bag of ice on the bridge of your nose. Harry frowns and walks towards you.

“Now it looks like I gave ya a bloody black eye too,” he grumbles.

You laugh at his pout. “It’s okay, Harry. I’m past that now. It’ll heal. I’m fine.”

He sighs. “I still feel bad. Have you eaten anything yet? I was planning on going to Munchies for lunch. Would you like to come?”

Your heart stops and you swallow hard. You did not expect that. Is Harry asking you on a date?

“It would be my treat, because y’ know…”

“I-I, um,” you stutter bashfully, “sure! Just let me go put the basket in my room and get my shoes and we can go.”

He nods and you scurry off, grabbing the basket and holding the bag of ice to your nose. You’re practically running up the stairs. You hurry into your bedroom and set the basket on your bed. You quickly pull on a pair of gently worn gym shoes before making your way downstairs again. You stuff the bag of ice into the freezer so you can use it later.

“Ready?” you ask him.

He smiles and nods as the two of you make it to the front door. He opens it for you and you step outside. You walk side by side towards Munchies Cafe. The two of you make small talk as he holds the door open for you. You thank him quietly.

You’re seated almost immediately and Harry smiles bashfully at you. It makes your stomach flip. It’s so weird and strange and foreign to you. You would’ve never guessed that the accidental broken nose would lead to this.

He’s kind and cordial. You don’t bitch or groan at anything he says. Instead you laugh loud and joyously at nearly everything he says. It makes your cheeks hurt from smiling so much. You had no idea you had so much in common with Harry before last night. It makes you wonder why you never got along before today. You don’t even remember the real reason behind the hate and disgust you had towards each other. Every time Peter, Lucy, or Gretchen asked why you didn’t like him, you never gave a definitive answer.

Your only response was a childish, “I just don’t, okay!”

Now you feel stupid because Harry’s great. He’s amazing. Now you understand why everyone likes him.

You wonder briefly while the two of you are eating your lunch together if he feels the same way about you.

Does he think you’re kind and funny? Does he think it’s cool that the two of you have so much in common? Does he wonder why you hated each other for so long when you couldn’t think of a good answer?

It shocks you that you momentarily care what he thinks of you because you don’t. He’s Harry for crying out loud! He lives and breathes female attention and you’re giving him exactly what he wants. You shake away the feeling. He just feels bad about your nose. That’s all it is. There’s nothing more to it. He’s not getting anything out of this right now, you are. He’s the one getting you lunch because his guilt about your nose won’t go away.

You groan when Harry gently smacks away your hand as you try to put down money for the tip once you’re done eating. “Harry, at least let me cover the tip!” you exclaim, glaring at him.

He laughs and shakes his head at you. “I told you before, this is my treat. Put your money away, woman!”

You roll your eyes. “You already bought my favorite snacks and candies for me. How is that any different from this?”

“Because, my dearest Y/n, I’m trying to clear my debts with you. I know you and I don’t want you to hold this over my head until the day I die.”

You scoff, crossing your arms over your chest stubbornly. You know he’s right. You will hold it over his head.

“Fine, but I’m paying next time.”

Harry raises a brow at you and smiles. “Next time?”

Heat spreads across your face and you bite the inside of your cheek. “Um, only if you want to.”

Harry laughs softly. “I do. You can breathe now, Y/n. I was just teasing.”

You nod, laughing awkwardly at him as your waiter comes to collect the check. You let out a soft breath of air before leaning back into your chair. The waiter returns a few minutes later as the two of you talk and finish your drinks. You watch Harry sign the receipt before his eyes meet yours.

“Ready?” he asks you. You nod and push your seat out. You walk out of the cafe with Harry beside you.

“Thanks for lunch, Harry. I had a good time,” you tell him as you stand in front of your house. “I’ll see you later.”

He smiles warmly at you. “You’re welcome. I’ll see you later.”

You punch in the code to get into the house and turn to wave goodbye to Harry before stepping inside. You shut the door and let out a blissful sigh. You try your best to fight off the butterflies in your stomach, but it doesn’t work.

You let out a girlish squeal before running up the stairs to your bedroom.

….

Your relationship with Harry shifted after you had lunch together.

You don’t bitch and moan at each other. You’re not looking for ways to plot his utter demise. He doesn’t get on your every last nerve like he used to. He doesn’t purposely say or do things to antagonize you.

It’s a weird change, but it’s a good change. You’re glad that you and Harry have moved past the petty bullshit and bickering. You like having him as a friend. He’s funny and kind and he helps you with biochemistry.

With the shift in your relationship, you’ve also come to realize that your friends won’t let go of the idea that you have feelings for Harry. It’s all they talk about and you hate it. It’s crazy talk. You don’t have feelings for Harry. That’s a recipe for disaster.

“Would you drop it?” you snap angrily, glaring at Lucy and Gretchen. You’ve been trying to work on your biochemistry homework for the last 20 minutes in the study room, but you can’t focus with your friends grilling you about your new found friendship with Harry. “We are just friends, that’s it! I thought you would be thrilled to see that we’re getting along now.”

“We are!” Lucy replies defensively. “It just seems as if the two of you are made for each other! You would be so cute together.”

You groan in frustration. “Luc, I don’t have to date every single guy I’m friends with. I’m friends with a lot of guys that I’ve never dated or consider dating.”

“We’re just saying you should keep that option open if something does happen between the two of you,” Gretchen says with a soft smile. “We like seeing you happy, okay?”

“I know. Don’t worry about it, okay?” you tell her, packing up your things. You’re no longer motivated to study, especially with your pesky best friends.

You walk back to your bedroom and throw your bag down before collapsing on your bed. You let out a comfortable sigh and reach for your phone. You grin.

Harry: are u doing anything rn?

Y/n: I was trying to study, but Gretchen and Lucy are bugging me. Why?

Harry: fantastic. come with me to the library instead.

Y/n: okay! should i meet you there?

Harry: I’m already across the street. Come downstairs.

You laugh loudly. Of course Harry was already on his way over. You roll your eyes and respond quickly.

Y/n: ur a stalker, i hope u know that.

Harry: u can’t resist me ;)

His response makes your stomach flip and you quickly grab your backpack and swing it over your shoulder. You slip on your slippers and put your phone inside your hoodie. You make your way downstairs and open the front door, nearly running into Harry in the process.

“Hi, Harry,” you grin at him as you step outside.

“Hey, Angel,” he responds.

It makes you roll your eyes and Harry laughs as the two of you make your way to the library.

When you arrive at the library, you find an empty table easily. You and Harry sit across from each other and pull out your laptops, notebooks, and the textbooks you needed.

You work quietly for a while, occasionally asking Harry questions about a specific problem you were working on for biochemistry. He’s patient with you and works through the problem so you understand it. You’re incredibly thankful for his help.

Once you’re finished with your work, you start drafting an essay for your writing course. Harry gently calls your name. You hum and look at him, looking away from your computer.

“Can you be my date to cuffs?”

Your eyes widen. You always went to cuffs with Peter. Now, looking back, you wonder briefly if Harry’s the reason Peter hasn’t asked you yet. Harry wants you to be his date.

You know the rumors with Harry and his reputation surrounding cuffs night. He always brings a girl that he fucks later that night, at least that’s what Peter told you.

He wouldn’t do that to you. You’re just friends. Friends don’t have sex and tell everyone about it. You don’t see him in that way. Nope, absolutely not.

The thought lingers. The idea sounds fun. You always have fun at cuffs night. You get trashed and Peter is a gentleman and takes care of you. Harry wouldn’t be any different from Peter. Harry’s already taken care of you. You trust him. It would be fun to go with someone other than Peter.

“Sure, Harry,” you respond eagerly, nodding in confirmation.

Harry grins exsatically. He’s definitely thrilled you said yes.

“Great. The theme is famous duos. I was thinking we could do Wesley and Buttercup from The Princess Bride.”

You laugh. “Sounds good. You’re lucky I have a red dress in my closet. Now I know why Peter was taking so long to ask me. You want to take me instead!”

Harry laughs and you feel butterflies inside your stomach. You try your best to ignore it.

You don’t have a crush. Absolutely not.

….

“Harry is so into you!” Gretchen screams, watching you get ready for the party from her bed. You roll your eyes and poke your head out the bathroom door.

“Would you be saying that if Peter asked instead?” you retort, fixing the belt around your middle before returning to your makeup.

“No, because Peter is your friend and you’ve known him since you were a kid. It’s so painstakingly obvious that Harry is into you! You’re going as Wesley and Buttercup for Christ sake! If you went with Peter you’d probably go as mustard and ketchup. If Harry wasn’t into you, you probably would be going as sexy Batman and Robin.”

Heat spreads through your neck and up to your ears. You ignore the warm feeling inside your chest as you apply mascara. You don’t know what to say, so you keep your mouth shut. You don’t want to accidentally admit to your best friend that you may have feelings for Harry. She will never let it go and shit spreads fast inside the house. Everyone would know.

You turn off the bathroom light and pull on your gross frat shoes. You slip your phone into the pocket of your dress and spin around for Gretchen to see the full outfit.

“How do I look?” you ask.

“Smoking hot,” Gretchen compliments, making you laugh. “Knock ‘em dead. Have a blast and I expect a full report tomorrow.”

“You got it.”

You make your way down the hall into Layla’s room. You knock gently before opening the door. You peek your head inside and find Layla fixing her black leather top. Her and Frankie are going as Sandy and Danny from Grease.

“Almost ready?”

“Just about, I just need to grab my phone,” Layla answers, reaching for her phone on her night stand before walking out the door with you.

The walk over to the frat house is fast. You’re both eager to get to the party and have fun. You’re excited to see Harry.

Walking up the driveway to the house, you find Harry waiting for you. You walk faster and grin at him. Harry looks great.

He’s wearing a loose black shirt with strings attached and black jeans. The collar of the shirt is popped. He’s wearing a matching black belt and a fake sword is hanging from his hip. A black mask covers the top half of his face.

“You look fantastic, Harry!” you compliment, taking in his costume. His smile is breathtaking.

“You look absolutely gorgeous, Y/n,” Harry returns the compliment and you grin. It makes your heart race. You hug briefly before Harry holds up the handcuffs. “Gimme your right hand.”

You hold it out for him and he gently cuffs your hand. Harry does the same to his right hand and you follow him to the back of the house. You make a stop inside and he grabs one of the bottles of wine on the counter and he looks over at you.

“Once we finish this bottle, we get uncuffed.”

You laugh, nodding at him. “I know, Harry. I’ve done cuffs before.”

He smiles again. “I know, just making sure.”

You step inside the garage and Harry’s immediately surrounded by his friends and the girls they brought. You take the bottle of wine from Harry and take a generous sip as you stand awkwardly beside him. Peter and Logan are the only ones that acknowledge you and you appreciate it.

“You look hot, Buttercup,” Peter teases, winking at you.

At least he knew who you were dressed as. You laugh loudly. You curtsy in response and thank him. You take another long sip of the wine, ignoring the weird feeling inside your chest as you watch Chelsea flirt helplessly with Harry. You want to dance. You don’t want to be a third wheel, so you poke your head into their conversation.

“Hate to break up whatever conversation you’re having, but I want to go dance. I’m taking my date with me,” you grin at Chelsea before pulling Harry away. Harry laughs and takes the bottle from you and takes a generous sip. Some of it slides down his chin, soaking his shirt.

“Thanks for saving me!” Harry thanks you.

Your eyebrows crease together as you look at him. You don’t believe him. You totally just cockblocked him and he’s thanking you. That’s unheard of, especially for Harry.

“What? I thought you would be mad!” you shout as you move to the music.

“No!” Harry laughs again. “I’m not interested, plus I came with you. I’m not going to ditch you.”

“Awe,” you coo, pinching his cheek, “how sweet of you.”

Harry rolls his eyes at you playfully and you grin. You take the bottle from him again and take another drink. Another song starts to play and the two of you start to dance and sing together. It makes you giggle uncontrollably and Harry throws an arm around your shoulder. You dance obnoxiously, but you don’t care. You’ve never felt this carefree. You would’ve never imagined it was because you were with Harry.

You dance together for what feels like hours. You’re a little buzzed from how fast you drank the wine. You don’t want this night to end, not when Harry’s hand is holding yours. You don’t care if it’s because you’re dancing together.

His hand is soft and warm in yours. It makes your insides twist as he tries to spin you around even though the two of you are still handcuffed together. His arms hold you against his chest as you dance together. Your heart races and you feel like you can hardly breathe. It makes your head spin.

Shit.

You most certainly have feelings for Harry. There’s no point in denying it now with your back against his chest and him breathing down your neck. You’re too stupid to do anything about the sudden realization of your feelings for Harry so you do what you do best, you ignore it altogether.

“Wesley and Buttercup,” Peter greets the two of you as the song ends. He holds up the key to the handcuffs and your mood immediately sours. “I know you finished the wine ages ago. Time to uncuff!”

You resist the urge to strangle Peter. You were having such a good time. Now it’s all ruined.

Peter quickly unlocks the handcuffs and your hand is free. You rub your wrist gently and Harry does the same before his eyes meet yours. His smile is soft and warm and it makes your heart flutter inside your chest. All you want to do is kiss him senseless.

“Harry?” you say his name gently.

He hums in response.

You’re going to do it. You’re going to tell him. You’re going to tell him that you have feelings for him. You’re going to tell him that you want to be more than friends. You’re—

“Yay!” Chelsea screams, running between you and shoving you away, ruining your plans. “You’re free! Do you want to do body shots?”

You’re so frustrated and upset you could scream, cry, or do both. Why does everyone interrupt you? You just want to talk to Harry!

You noticeably frown, resisting the urge to cry. Shit. You’re one of those bitches now, upset over a stupid boy. Upset over Harry, no less! There’s no way he could reciprocate the feelings you have. He’s Harry! He doesn’t have girlfriends. You should’ve never been friends in the first place.

Disappointed and trying not to cry, you turn your back towards Harry and make a beeline for the door. You ignore Harry shouting your name as you step outside. Your resolve is holding on by a thread when you hear Harry yell after you. You ignore him until Harry gently grabs your arm and pulls you back.

A few tears fall down your face. You feel utterly pathetic. You’ve never been this upset over a stupid boy.

But none of the stupid boys before were Harry.

They didn’t help you with your bleeding nose or puke when they accidentally broke your nose. They didn’t buy you lunch in order to get back on your good side after accidentally breaking your nose. They didn’t help you with your biochemistry homework when you struggled. They didn’t make you laugh so hard that you cried. They didn’t make you ever feel so carefree.

Harry is the only one to have made you feel that way.

You want Harry more than you can imagine, but there’s no way he feels the same. He’s only close with you because he sees you how Peter sees you, a friend.

“Angel,” he murmurs gently, reaching to caress your face. The mask he had on is long gone. You look away, too upset and ashamed to look Harry in the eyes. His thumbs brush away your falling tears. “Why are you crying? What’s gotten you so upset suddenly?”

You shake your head. You can’t tell him. Absolutely not. It’ll just make it worse. There’s no way. You don’t want to lose him. You can’t.

“It’s nothing, Harry,” you answer pathetically. “Just go back to the party. Chelsea’s probably waiting.”

“It’s obviously not nothing if it’s making you this upset. I don’t give two shits about Chelsea. She can fuck off for all I care. I’m focused on you, nothing ‘nd nobody else.”

Silence falls between the two of you and you can’t even look at him.

Then Harry speaks again, as if a realization dawns on him. He gently pulls on your chin so you’re forced to look at him. He smiles and brushes the last of your tears away before pulling you closer.

“Oh, darling,” he murmurs softly, “I’m crazy about you, in case you haven’t realized it yet. You don’t have to be sad, my eyes are only on you.”

Your heart stops.

Did you hear him right? Are you hallucinating? Did he just confess his feelings for you?

Harry’s eyes are soft and gentle as you stare at him. His fingers are still brushing softly against your cheeks. He laughs. Your shock must be noticeable.

“You’re so cute. It kills me. I thought I made it pretty obvious.”

You finally find the courage to speak. “Really?”

He nods, pulling you into his chest for a warm and inviting hug. You relax immediately and hug him tightly. He kisses the side of your head.

You pull away briefly and your eyes flicker to his mouth. You bite the inside of your cheek and let out a careful breath. Harry grins, leaning until his mouth is nearly on yours. His nose brushes against yours.

“Can I kiss you?” you whisper softly.

“I thought you would never ask,” he teases, his mouth meets yours in a soft, gentle kiss. It sets fire to your insides, warming you all the way from your toes to the top of your head.

You never imagined kissing Harry like this. It’s sweet and romantic and it makes you want more. His mouth is smooth against yours and the smile you feel against your mouth makes your stomach flip.

His hands hold your face and you cling to his shirt before pulling away. You bite your lip and meet his soft gaze. He presses a gentle kiss to the tip of your nose. You lean into his touch.

“And that’s for breaking your nose,” he laughs, pulling you in for another kiss. “Now it’s healed completely.”

You hum, wrapping your arms around his waist. “Seems fair,” you whisper. “Now I get all the kisses I want from you.”

He smiles pressing kisses along your face and down your neck. “That seems like a win for me too, darling,” he murmurs against your skin. It makes you giggle and you pull him in for another kiss on the lips.

When you arrive back at the sorority house the following morning in another one of Harry’s shirts and a pair of his shorts, Gretchen and Lucy are thrilled to say the least. They never let you forget that your relationship with Harry started because he accidentally broke your nose.

At least you know he’ll always be there to fix it if it were to happen again.

#pls tell me what u think!! i crave validation thx #harry styles x reader #harry styles #harry x reader #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles fanfic #harry imagine #harry imagines #my writing

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andrewmoocow · 3 years

Text

Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 21: Playdate (originally posted on August 2, 2021)

AN: After that really long chapter last week, time for something that's hopefully a lot shorter. And as I write this, I finally saw Space Jam: A New Legacy in theaters, which was a lot of stupid fun in my opinion, so I might have a lot to work with in terms of basketball stuff here. But enough about the movies I've seen, let's see how Spinel is doing.

Synopsis: Spinel comes to Earth to have fun the human way.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Sarah Stiles as Spinel

Patti LuPone as Yellow Diamond

Jim Conroy as Radio announcer

Jeff Bennett as Fanny pack seller

Tom Kenny as Pepe's Burgers cashier

Daran Norris as Basketball Commentator

Kari Wahlgren, Eden Riegel, Erica Lindbeck & Grey DeLisle as Empire City Vipers cheerleaders

Neil Flynn as The Officer

Featuring Hugh Jackman as Beckham Jordan

James Monroe Iglehart as Coach Matt Monroe

Karen Fukuhara as Makoto Fuji

Jeff Bergman as Ben "Bugs" Avery, Referee

Michelle Creber as Chloe

Kacey Musgraves as Yvonne

And Rhiannon Giddens as Herself

One afternoon in Beach City, Steven was once again left alone in the beach house. However, there thankfully was no sociopathic Rutiles wanting to break in and gaslight him into turning against his friends today. Instead, he stood in his room while gazing at a sign that said "Days since Turning Pink" hanging on his wall, with a blank spot that had the number 3 written on it.

"Wow, three days since my last outburst." Steven congratulated himself before patting his shoulder. "Good job Steven, making real progress." However, his pride soon turned into worry as he began contemplating how long it would take before he would explode again. "At least, for now."

Suddenly, Steven heard a loud rumbling sound coming from outside that made everything in his room shake, and he raced outside to find a massive yellow arm descending from the skies and heading straight for him. "Yellow?"

The arm immediately stopped itself before turning over and opening its palm, allowing Yellow Diamond to emerge with her arms folded behind her back and a genial smile on her face. "Good day to you Steven." The Diamond greeted Steven. "I suppose you're probably wondering why I come here today."

"If you're asking for any of the Gems, I don't think they can come today." Steven answered. "They're on the hunt for Black Rutile's current whereabouts, but every time they think they found her, she's always one step ahead of them."

"Everyone on Homeworld is still doing their part to quell her uprising," Yellow responded. "but one of us just wants to see you again." Once Yellow finished speaking, a pink and white blur bounced up from behind her and tackled Steven to the ground.

"Steven!" Spinel cried, wrapping Steven into a tight hug. "It's been so long! How you been buddy?!"

"I'm doing good Spinel." Steven laughed nervously, both at once again hiding everything he's been through recently and at how the last time Spinel's been on Earth, she nearly destroyed it, before disentangling himself from the stretchy Gem's embrace. "So, how have things been going for you on Homeworld? The Diamonds treating you okay?"

"Oh, it's fine Steven, no need to worry!" Spinel assured Steven. "Sure, they do coddle me a bit, but I'm overall livin' the dream there! I get to meet so many new Gems, learn about everything that's happened while I was stuck in the garden, and I also get to use Pink's old room! But I thought it would be nice to get a real taste of Earth without, y'know, trying to destroy it because I was left behind."

"I figured that since I'll be busy all day searching for more Gems allied with Black Rutile, Spinel could use what you humans call a babysitter." Yellow stated. "Would you be willing to watch over her here?"

"Sure, it'd be nice to catch up with Spinel." Steven agreed to the offer before he got an idea. "Hey, I got an idea. Why don't I take you to Empire City?" he asked Spinel. "It's an Earth city not too far from here, and I think you'd really like the sights there."

"Wow, a new place?!" Spinel cheered. "That'd be so much fun!"

"Yes, that would be delightful." Yellow smiled before she retreated into her ship. "Now I'll be back by nightfall, so do come back by then."

"Bye Yellow!" Spinel waved the Diamond goodbye as it flew away from Earth. "So, when can we leave Steven?"

"We can leave right now if you want," Steven answered. "I just gotta get ready first."

"Yay!" Spinel cheered.

A few minutes later, Steven led Spinel into the Dondai Supremo and drove away from Beach City to Empire City, and Spinel was super excited to get there.

"Are we there yet?" Spinel asked.

"No." Steven laughed.

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"How about I turn on the radio to pass the time?" Steven offered before adjusting the dials on the car radio.

"-nd that was Royalty with My Lord." The radio announcer declared. "And coming up next on 13.2 "The Band", we got Rhiannon Giddens with her hit single Wandering Roads!"

"Wandering roads that carry me home, lead me through both right and wrong." Rhiannon Giddens sang over the radio. "I may love and I may lose, still I know I'll always choose."

"What kinda music is this?" Spinel asked Steven while the song continued.

"This is what humans call country music." Steven answered. "Not a lot of people like it very much."

"Well, I like it." Spinel said before she began to sing along with Rhiannon. "Since the day that you were born, footsteps fall on a path well-worn. Strings that pull, you'll never see. Chains that bind you, set you free. All on your journey home."

"I thought you'd like it." Steven chuckled at the singing Gem as they passed a sign saying "Now entering Jersey", signifying that their long journey to Empire City was almost at an end. "Hey, wanna head to a rest stop?"

"Do I?!" Spinel took a break from singing to answer Steven's question. "Uh, what's a rest stop?"

"That's a rest stop." Steven pointed to a rest area that he pulled the car into before the two got out. "I'm just gonna go to the bathroom, be back soon."

"Sounds good to me." Spinel agreed as she leaned against the Supremo while Steven walked away to the restroom. Although the pink Gem obediently stayed behind at the car, her curiosity of the world around her got the better of her and Spinel decided to look around the rest stop.

Touring the oasis around her, Spinel could see many humans milling about the establishment. Some came alone, while others had friends, family, or both to spend time with at the included restaurants, arcades, and gift shops. And there was one item at the gift shop that caught her eye.

"Find something you like little girl?" the burly gift shop owner with a massive blonde pompadour asked Spinel while she gazed at his inventory.

"Yeah, what's that supposed to be?" Spinel inquired, pointing at a white bag with red heart designs in front of her.

"That fanny pack?" the salesman replied. "It can be yours for only $14.99."

"Sorry pal, I don't have any of that." Spinel declared. "What else can I use to get it?"

"You got a credit card?" the seller asked, and Spinel shook her head. "Check?" Spinel shook her head again. "Lotto ticket?" Again. "Any possessions you can trade me?"

"Still no." Spinel admitted. "I barely know what you're talking about, I just want that bag."

Just then, Steven finally emerged from the rest stop bathroom and found Spinel conversing with the gift shop owner, so he walked up to the pair to see what's going on. "Anything the matter here?"

"I want this thing, but I don't got any of what this guy's talking about!" Spinel explained while sticking a thumb out to the seller and the fanny pack.

"She some kinda hobo?" the seller asked Steven.

"No, she's just an alien with barely any knowledge about our Earth currency." Steven said while pulling out his wallet. "How much for the fanny pack?"

"$14.99." the seller answered, and Steven replied by handing him fifteen dollars. "Thank you kid, here's your butt sack."

"Hehe, butt sack!" Spinel giggled at the name of her new fanny pack while she put it on around her waist. "So what do you think Steven," she asked Steven while showing off her new accessory by swinging her hips. "do I make this look good or what?"

"Yeah, it really suits you." Steven answered before the two began walking back to the Dondai Supremo. "But why do you want that?"

"I just thought the butt sack looked cool." Spinel answered. "Plus, that's what I'm calling it from now on, my butt sack."

"Aside from looking cool, the butt sack can also be really useful." Steven said while turning on the car and driving away from the rest stop. "It's basically a bag, but you wear it around your waist so you can carry stuff while keeping your hands free."

"Sounds neat!" Spinel exclaimed. "So, how much longer till Empire City?"

"Not too long." Steven answered while checking the map between Beach and Empire City on his phone. "The trip usually takes around three hours, so we can find ways to spend the time until we get there."

"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's have some fun!" Spinel declared before she switched on the radio to a country music channel and began singing along, and Steven soon joined in.

A few hours later, Steven and Spinel finally arrived in Empire City. The metropolis itself was utterly mindblowing to Spinel, as she saw seemingly endless skyscrapers outside the window and all sorts of humans wandering the streets. Some looked a little like Steven, and others were completely different.

"So this is Empire City?" Spinel asked Steven while he parked the car.

"You bet it is." Steven declared before the two got out. "We're currently in one of its boroughs, Brooklyn. Here you'll find Coney Island, the House of Yes, DUMBO, and many more." He said while gazing at his phone to look up things to do during their trip. "Where do you want to go first?"

"I wanna go to that Coney Island place." Spinel answered as she gazed over Steven's shoulder at his phone. "Are there actual cones there?"

"No, it's only one of the most famous amusement parks in the world!" Steven declared. "I think you'd like it there. Besides, it's only a forty-minute drive."

"Aw, another drive?! But we just got here!" Spinel complained before the two got back in the Supremo.

"Oh, don't get so down," Steven assured as he started the car again and set off for Coney Island. "The journey will surely be worth it."

And indeed, the journey was worth it. As soon as the two reached Coney Island and Steven paid for admission into one of the amusement parks, Spinel raced in to try out as many rides & games as she could and won as many prizes as she could fit into her new fanny bag, and Steven indulged in her excitement all the way.

Unfortunately for Spinel, the fun could only last for so long and the pair had to leave to see some of the other sights of Empire City, but she still found it all worth it for all the fun she had at Coney Island.

Steven and Spinel's tour of Empire City soon took them to the Bowery, where Steven decided that they should take a break to eat at Pepe's Burgers, the same restaurant that used one of Greg's songs in their commercials which made him a millionaire.

"Here you go miss, five triple-decker cheeseburgers and two large fries." The cashier announced while handing Spinel five large burgers & two packs of French fries that she happily took away from the counter and back to the table where Steven was sitting.

"Thank you so much for taking me out Steven," Spinel said gratefully while stuffing her mouth full of burgers and tenderly stroking a stuffed rabbit poking out of her fanny pack. "this is the most fun I've ever had in thousands of years!"

"You're very welcome Spinel." Steven smiled happily. "I'm glad you're having fun here, but me? I'm getting kind of tired. We should probably head back to Beach City soon."

"Geez, no need to be a buzzkill." Spinel complained again while eating another cheeseburger. "But then again, we never did something you wanted to do, this has been all about me today. What do you think we should do next?"

"WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY!" an announcer on a television behind the duo yelled, taking them by surprise. "Hey you, sitting down! You on a trip with a friend and they ask what you want to do?!"

"Why, yes!" Steven answered. "That's a little convenient."

"Well, I know what you're going to do today!" the television continued before cutting to an aerial shot of a massive basketball stadium, the sight of which made Steven excited. "Come on down to Maramba Stadium, home to the Empire City Vipers where they'll be playing their most important game this season! It's ECV versus the Keystone Coyotes! Be there, be there, be there!"

"The Vipers, that's it!" Steven realized happily and burst from his seat. "Come on Spinel, let's go see the Empire City Vipers!"

"YEAH!" Spinel exclaimed as she jumped out after Steven. "Uh, who are the Vipers?"

"The Empire City Vipers are my favorite basketball team ever!" Steven explained while pulling out his wallet to show off a basketball card depicting a middle-aged man with large sideburns dribbling on the court. "Their star player is one of my heroes, Beckham "Muttonchops" Jordan!"

"Nice hair." Spinel commented on Beckham's trademark sideburns.

"Come on, let's go!" Steven said while taking Spinel's hand, but the game would have to wait.

"Hold on a second kid!" the cashier stopped Steven and Spinel in their tracks. "You still need to pay for your meal."

"Sorry sir, got a little excited." Steven apologized as he took some money and left it at the table before getting back to racing out of the restaurant.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and everything in-between, welcome to the grand playoffs between Empire City and Keystone!" a basketball commentator announced at Maramba Stadium, where dozens of excited fans gathered to watch the epic basketball game, Steven and Spinel included. "We're bound to have a good day today folks, so without further ado, your starting line-up for the Empire City Vipers!"

First off was a young man in a blue and yellow basketball uniform with a smug grin on his face who strolled into the arena with a stride in his step. "BEN "BUGS" AVERY!"

Next up was an excitable dark-skinned fellow who put up peace signs for his adoring fans. "DANIEL "DAFFY" JONES!"

A stout and meek man was up next, giving a polite wave to the spectators. "PERCY "PORKY" FRELENG!"

A much skinner guy was up next, excitedly jogging in place with his tongue out. "RORY "THE RUNNER" MCKIMSON!"

Finally, a much taller, hairier, and more muscular man emerged from the corner to join his teammates on the court, waving to the fans along the way. "AND FINALLY, THE MAN HIMSELF! HIS ROYAL SLAM-JESTY, BECKHAM "MUTTONCHOPS" JORDAN!"

"MUTTONCHOPS! MUTTONCHOPS! MUTTONCHOPS!" the crowds began cheering for Beckham Jordan as the Empire City Vipers took their places on the court, standing face to face with their rivals from Keystone. Although Steven was joining in on the chanting, Spinel was left completely lost.

"I don't get it. What's so appealing about this?" Spinel asked out loud. "What is it about these guys that makes everyone so excited?"

"It's the intensity of the game that gets everyone on the edge of their seats Spinel." Steven replied as the big game began. "Two teams of five players compete to see who can score the most points by dunking the ball into either team's hoop."

"So that's it, just throwing a ball around?" Spinel muttered. "Puh-lease, I did the exact same thing with Pink, and there weren't thousands of humans to watch me!"

"You'll learn to like it Spinel, I'm sure of it." Steven assured his mom's old best friend while the game continued, and Beckham quickly scored a point for the Vipers. "WOO, GO BECKHAM!"

As the game went on, Steven and Spinel's reactions were as different as night and day. While Steven continued cheering on his favorite player, Spinel just watched with a mild interest in the event while stroking the head of the stuffed bunny in her fanny pack. "Hey, I got a question. What's with all the funny names these players have?"

"Those are all nicknames Spinel." Steven explained once again. "For example, The Runner gets his name because he's so fast on the court, Daffy is absolutely unpredictable, and Bugs really likes getting under his opponents' skins."

Down below in the grand game between the Vipers and the Coyotes, Bugs Avery demonstrated just how annoying he could be to his rivals while snatching the ball out of an enemy player's hands. "Gotcha doc!"

"Hey, that's my ball!" the Charm City Coyotes' power forward bellowed.

"No, it ain't!" Bugs sneered.

"Yes, it is!" the other player yelled.

"No, it ain't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it ain't!"

"Yes, it is!" Bugs declared.

"No, it ain't!" the enemy player said before he suddenly realized that Bugs had played him for a fool. "Wait, what?!"

"And Bugs employs his classic reverse psychology!" the commentator declared as Bugs made a bank shot, scoring a point for the Vipers. "How despicable!"

"That's Bugs's signature move!" Steven exclaimed. "He doesn't even need to use his hands for that one, just a little way with words!"

Just then, a horn sounded as the score was displayed as 25 for the Vipers and 15 for the Coyotes, and below it was a sign declaring "HALFTIME!"

"I say, I say, time out!" the referee exclaimed while forming his hands into a T.

"Looks like we got halftime, folks!" the announcer boomed while the players stopped what they were doing and returned to their respective locker rooms. "Let's allow our stars to relax for a bit while taking a moment for the ECV cheer squad to take the stage!"

As soon as both basketball teams left the court, a group of young women in midriff-baring tops bearing the colors of the Vipers & blue skirts holding matching-colored pom-poms marched out onto the court and got ready to perform.

"Ready?" the head cheerleader, an olive-skinned Asian woman with spiky red hair in a high ponytail asked her squadmates.

"OKAY!" the other cheerleaders yelled as they began to dance. "Come on Vipers, you can't miss! Show them how you really hiss! Just like a rattlesnake, you know how to make them shake!"

"What are those humans doing?" Spinel gasped in amazement at the cheerleaders as they started stacking themselves into a pyramid.

"That's just the Empire City Vipers' cheerleading team," Steven said. "They're really good at pumping up the crowd."

"Please, I can do better!" Spinel boasted before she took off her fanny pack. "Hold my butt sack." Spinel then started glowing and changed her attire to be an exact copy of the cheerleaders' uniform, though with her heart-shaped gem in place of the ECW on the top, while tying her hair into a heart-shaped ponytail. "How do I look?"

"Uh…." Steven muttered confusedly while Spinel struck a few poses in her makeshift cheerleading costume before she bounced away. "Spinel, wait!" Steven called out to the elastic Gem as Spinel took over the cheer squad's pyramid while turning her hands into pom-poms.

"WOO, GO VIPERS!" Spinel yelled as she stood on top of the head cheerleader at the tip of the pyramid, making everyone go deathly silent. "Hey, come on guys! You all love the Vipers, don'tcha?"

"Who's this chick?" one of the cheerleaders at the bottom of the pyramid whispered to another.

"I think she jumped out of the audience." The other cheerleader replied.

"Okay girls, let me down." The head cheerleader commanded her squadmates to carefully carry her down the pyramid and back onto the floor. "Megaphone." She then asked for a bullhorn to speak into. "Will whoever's watching over this stretchy pink girl please come down to pick her up?"

"Spinel!" Steven facepalmed at Spinel's disruption and got up from his seat. "Excuse me, you guys." He apologized to the spectators he sat between before hopping up in the air and hovering over to the court.

"WITCHCRAFT!" one audience member yelled, inciting mutters of shock and amazement at Steven's abilities as he landed next to Spinel, and some even took out their phones to record.

"Spinel, did you really have to do that?" Steven groaned exasperatedly at the pink Gem, who was looking very apologetic. "You just made a big scene all because you just wanted to show off!"

"I'm sowwy Steven!" Spinel apologized while sounding like a little kid. "I thought we were gonna have fun here!"

"I'm sorry too Spinel," Steven replied. "But-"

"Something the matter here?" the voice of a black man wearing a T-shirt bearing the colors of the Vipers asked as he stepped out into the court with Beckham Jordan.

"Hey Monroe, this girl here just hijacked our routine." The Vipers' head cheerleader said, gesturing to Spinel.

"And I see she's got a friend, Makoto." Beckham Jordan replied as he turned his attention to Steven & Spinel, the former left to gasp and gape in utter shock at his favorite basketball player looking right at him. "Something the matter, sport?"

"Sorry, he's a real big fan." Spinel laughed before slapping Steven in the face, bringing him back to reality.

"Thanks Spinel." Steven said gratefully before his jaw dropped again at the sight of Beckham. "Beckham Jordan is talking to me?!"

"Yes, Beckham Jordan is indeed talking to you." The star player of the Vipers beamed. "This is our coach, Matt Monroe." He then introduced the black man. "And I suppose you're familiar with my good friend here, head Vipers cheerleader Makoto Fuji."

"Nice to meetcha, I'm Spinel!" Spinel introduced herself by shaking Beckham's hand and giving him a big kiss that covered most of his head. "And this is my buddy, Steven! Say hi Steven!"

"Uh, uh, hi." Steven sheepishly greeted his Royal Slam-Jesty.

"Looks like lil' flyboy here's a bit starstruck." The commentator pointed out. "Anyone got anything to say or are we just gonna keep up the silent treatment?"

"Come on boy, say something ya big shnook!" the referee called out to Steven, giving him the courage to properly speak to his basketball idol.

"My name's Steven Universe." Steven introduced himself to Beckham. "I'm a super huge fan of you Mr. Jordan, loved you ever since I watched you with my dad on TV back in 2006, I think."

"Ah yes, the good ol' Jayhawk Pussycats." Beckham declared nostalgically. "Nice place, Jayhawk was. If you're ever in the area, come on down to a little place called Los Pollos Hermanos and tell 'em Beckham sent ya."

"So, are we in trouble?" Spinel nervously asked.

"Naw, it's okay girlie." Matt chuckled deeply. "This ain't the first time it happened this season."

"I still recall when we had to call security on that girl." Makoto added. "Though we did give her a free uniform as compensation."

"Hey, I got an idea." Beckham stated. "Steven, why don't you and Spinel come on over to my place after the game so we can shoot some hoops together?"

"Me, play against you?!" Steven gasped excitedly. "It would be an honor, Mr. Jordan!"

"Pleasure's all mine, little guy." Beckham replied gratefully. "And please, just call me Beck."

"Well, that was certainly the weirdest halftime we've gotten this season!" the announcer boomed over the speakers as Steven and Spinel returned to their seats and Beckham to the locker room. "Not only did we get another cheerleader hijacking, but a flying Beckham fanboy too, and a lucky one at that!"

"You still mad about what just happened?" Spinel asked remorsefully.

"It's alright Spinel." Steven laughed. "Besides, thanks to you, I'm gonna play with Beckham Jordan and see his penthouse!" he added before giving Spinel a big hug. "Thanks so much!"

"No prob Bob." Spinel replied just as happily while wrapping Steven in her extendable arms while the game started back up.

Eventually, the big basketball game ended with the Empire City Vipers winning against the Charm City 55-49, to the delight of their fans. As soon as Beckham Jordan, Matt Monroe, and Makoto Fuji left the stadium with Steven & Spinel in tow, a limousine was there to drive the five away from Maramba Stadium to their destination at Beckham's penthouse.

"Well, here we are you two." Beckham, now having switched his uniform for a T-shirt & jeans, announced as they got off the elevator at an opulent apartment building and he turned on the lights, revealing a grand living room before them all. "Welcome to my pad and our favorite hangout spot."

"Like what you see?" Makoto, now clad in a burgundy sports bra underneath a tank top with a picture of a dancing frog holding a top hat & cane and some spandex shorts, asked the pair.

"Like it? I love it!" Steven exclaimed while looking around at the big screen TV, massive couch, refined kitchen, an entrance to what he assumed to be Beck's training court, and many, many posters depicting his accomplishments, including one featuring Dogcopter that caught his eye. "Wait, is that the Vipers vs Dogcopter movie?!"

"Yeah, good ol' basically a commercial for my line of sneakers." Beck answered. "I was young and needed the money, but I still had a fun time nonetheless." He then motioned towards a picture of himself shaking hands with a man in a suit who was pointing at Beck with a cheerful smile. "And this is me with Secretary of Health Benjamin Rouleau. Real talkative fellow, he was."

"Protein shake?" Makoto offered while getting some milk from the fridge.

"I'll take one!" Spinel accepted. "Gems don't need to eat, but I'd sure like to."

"Don't need to eat?" Makoto gasped after pouring the milk in a blender and turning to get some more ingredients for the shake like fruit, yogurt, and peanut butter. "Wow, sometimes I wish I didn't need to eat either so I wouldn't hog all the snacks!"

"So, a Gem, eh?" Matt asked while fishing a diamond ring from his pocket. "You mean like this?"

However, the sight of the ring made Spinel very confused and start questioning everything. "Uh, where did you get that?"

"I think it's best we don't ask any questions Spinel." Steven declared just as nervously as he sat Spinel down on the couch. "But to answer your question, Gems are not entirely like your jewelry. They're immortal light-based beings that come in pretty much every color you can think of. Their powers depend on what kind of Gem they are. Like for example, Spinel can stretch her body and bounce around since she was made to be a playmate for my mom."

"And I'm going to assume your mom was a Gem too?" Matt asked while sitting down next to their two new friends as Makoto served the shakes.

"Yeah, she was one of the rulers of all Gems, the Diamonds." Steven continued explaining to the trio. "However, she got tired of her life, combined with being mistreated by her fellow Diamonds, so she disguised as another Gem, faked her death, and started a war."

"And left me behind in the process." Spinel added sadly, eliciting feelings of sympathy and curiosity. "I was made to be Pink's best friend, but she started getting sick of me after she got her own colony, which was Earth by the way, until one day she left me in this garden we played in for the next six thousand years while she went off fighting wars to protect Earth. Then when Steven made his little message to the universe, it happened to reach me and really set me off, causing me to come down with a massive Injector to try and poison Earth."

"Parent issues, huh?" Beckham said while placing a hand on Spinel's shoulder. "Kinda reminds me of my relationship with my dad. Well, minus the whole wanting to destroy Earth because you were made about being left stranded for thousands of years thing. He was really harsh on me, sometimes even a little too harsh. I turned to basketball to vent my frustrations, and with help from friends I made over the years," Beck then pointed to Makoto & Matt, who grinned happily. "I was able to turn that anger around and make myself a legend. Just goes to show no matter how garbage your life is, you can get back up no matter what."

"Wow, neat story." Steven said while sipping his protein shake.

"Indeed," Matt replied before hugging Beck from the side. "Beck and I have been thick as thieves ever since he was starting out."

"And I first met him when I wasn't even team captain of the Vipers cheer squad." Makoto added. "I was super awkward and unsure I even had a future in cheerleading, but Jordan was there to pick me up and help me become a superstar."

"But enough about us, let's get to why you wanted to be here." Beck emerged from the warm embrace of his two friends to point at Steven. "You still ready to shoot some hoops?"

"You bet I do!" Steven answered, dramatically slamming his almost empty drink on the table in front of them before turning to Spinel. "And you and Makoto can cheer from the sidelines Spinel, without interrupting anything."

"Sounds good to me!" Spinel cheered as she assumed her cheerleader outfit once again and bounced on over to Beck's personal court.

"This is going to be so much fun." Makoto said while doing some stretches to limber herself up as Steven and Beck took their places on Beck's training court.

"Let's see if you can bend as much as I can, sweetie." Spinel taunted good-naturedly.

"I got some frequently washed yoga pants that'll prove you wrong." Makoto replied.

"Okay ladies, focus on the real competition here." Matt chuckled while getting between Steven and Beck. "Y'all ready for this, boys?"

"I'm so ready!" Steven answered.

"Just give it your all, Steven." Beck told his young fan.

"Now let's slam!" Matt declared before blowing his whistle, cuing the game to start. Steven gunned for the ball first and dribbled it to the basket on the left side of the court, scoring him a point.

"WOO, GO STEVEN!" Spinel cheered while waving her pom-pom hands around.

"Come on Jordan, you can beat him!" Makoto yelled, raising her pom-poms in the air, causing the two to glare at each other.

"Please, I can cheer better!" Spinel bragged to Makoto.

"Wanna bet?" the cheerleader challenged the Gem and pulled her phone from her gym bag to play some music.

"Go go Steven, you're the man! If you can't do it, who else can?!" Spinel began singing while Steven scored another point. "Beckham is still pretty neat, but my pal Steven can't be beat!"

"Come on Beckham, you can do it! You're so good, there's nothing to it!" Makoto began swaying her toned body to the beat as Beckham scored for the first time. "Steven may be your biggest fan, but to me, you are the man!"

"What makes you think he can win this? You are sadly mistaken, miss!" the two began harmonizing. "We could cheer till the end of the night, hope you're ready for a fight song fight!"

"Nice music girls!" Steven called out to the cheerleaders, allowing Beckham to catch him off guard and steal the ball away to score a point.

"Too slow Steven!" Beckham laughed.

"Two to two, gang!" Matt called out. "We're at a tie here, but let's see who can turn this around!"

"Jordan's been doing this for years, and I've been there to give him cheers!" Makoto continued singing as Beckham scored his third point. "Your friend is pretty good little bud, but he ain't got the sweat, tears, and blood!"

"Well cutie-pie, you're dead wrong! Allow me to end this song," Spinel replied while Steven scored his third point as well. "by telling how much Steven can fight! He can take a hit and get up right!"

"What makes you think he can win this? You are sadly mistaken, miss!" Spinel and Makoto declared. "We could cheer until the end of the night, who's the winner of this fight song fight?!"

"AAAAAND the game goes to Beckham!" Matt yelled as his buddy won the fourth point, winning the game. "Good try Steven, but you can't beat the pros!"

"Good game Steven." Beck complimented his young opponent by shaking his hand.

"Yeah, good game." Steven replied, returning the handshake before looking at his watch. "Oh my, Yellow Diamond could be coming back soon! We gotta go!"

"Already?" Makoto said in mock disappointment. "But we were having so much fun!"

"I agree, but I still have a family of my own to come back to." Spinel said. "Hopefully we can do this again someday!"

"Yeah, maybe I could properly introduce you to the rest of the cheer team." Makoto replied.

"By the way, let me get something to remember us by." Beckham said before walking away and coming back with a dirty white & red jersey. "This is my uniform from back when I played for the Jayhawk Pussycats. Be sure to take good care of it, Spinel."

"I will." Spinel smiled before packing the jersey into her fanny pack. "Well, see y'all real soon!"

"Wait, let's take a selfie first!" Makoto offered, pulling out her phone and bringing Steven, Spinel, Beck, and Monroe in for a picture while making some duck-lips. "My thousands of followers are gonna love this!" With that, the selfie was taken.

When Steven and Spinel finally left the apartment building that Beck's penthouse suite stood on top of, night was beginning to fall, yet the city still shined brightly like thousands of lanterns all around them.

"This is so beautiful." Spinel muttered in amazement at the pretty lights around them.

"I know." Steven said, just as astonished. "Now, the Dondai shouldn't be too far. I think it's back at Maramba Stadium, which hopefully shouldn't be too far from-"

"Wait wait wait, you hear that?" Spinel asked, turning her finger into a horn that she put up to her ear as she faintly heard someone crying. "Come on, have a listen!" She then put the horn to Steven's ear, making him hear the crying too.

"I think someone needs help." Steven realized before the two began walking closer to the source of the crying, which turned out to be a little blonde girl playing with a cube while she kept on sniffling.

"Where are you?" the little girl quietly sobbed, not even noticing Steven and Spinel before her.

"I think I can handle this one Steven." Spinel declared before she walked up to the girl and got super close to her face. "Hey kid, can you stop crying and look at me?!" However, the girl yelped in fright and suddenly went quiet. "Oy, eyes up here sport!" Spinel continued with a snap of her fingers, but the girl refused to speak. "Not that much of a talker, are ya?"

"I think it's because you're being a little too direct. Let me try." Steven suggested before he sat down next to the child. "Hello, sorry about my friend. I'm Steven, what's your name?"

"Chloe." The girl said quietly. "Are you here to help me?"

"Of course we are." Steven smiled. "Can you tell me where your mother is?"

"I don't know." Chloe answered. "I only turned around and she was gone, and I have no idea where she is."

"It's alright, just stay calm and let us help you." Steven said before pulling out his phone. "Here, I'll call the police to help us out."

"You rang?" a police officer asked while appearing from seemingly out of nowhere, taking the three by surprise. "Apologies for the scare, I just heard someone say police officer and rushed right on over. What seems to be the matter?"

"This kid lost her mom." Spinel answered the officer. "Can you help us find her?"

"Oh sure," the Officer replied. "Just come with me to the station and we'll get to work!"

"Yay!" Chloe cheered, flapping her hands.

"I didn't know humans could do that!" Spinel said before beginning to flap her hands as well. "Am I doing it right?"

"Doesn't matter." Chloe beamed. "Some people always thought my hand flapping was strange, but my mommy always helped me learn how to be myself."

"Sounds like you got a pretty good mom Chloe." Spinel said before she hoisted Chloe over her shoulders and took her for a piggyback ride. "I know what it's like to be left behind, and I won't let it happen to anyone else."

"Thank you so much!" Chloe said and gave Spinel's head a big hug as the two of them, along with Steven and the Officer, began walking to the police station. "By the way, what's your name?"

"Call me Spinel." Spinel answered.

Later at the Empire City police station, Steven was having a talk with the Officer in another room while Spinel played with Chloe's cube outside, and Chloe was drawing something.

"So what's with this thing anyways?" Spinel asked Chloe. "Why did I see you playing with it?"

"That's my fidget cube." Chloe replied. "My mom got a few of them to help me focus because I sometimes have a hard time paying attention to things."

"Where can I get one of these?" Spinel asked again more eagerly.

"Maybe when Mom comes, I can ask her to give you one." Chloe suggested before Steven and the Officer emerged from the other room. "Anything Mr. Steven?"

"I was mostly just telling the Officer here about myself, since he did meet my friends in Los Diego." Steven answered.

"Now, all we need to do is get your mom's phone number and she'll be right on over." The Officer said as he picked up a phone. "Could you tell us to the best of your ability?"

"Of course!" Chloe said eagerly. "It's 1 (723) 201-1995."

"Nine-nine-five." The Officer repeated to himself and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello? Yes, this is the Empire City Police Department. Are you the mother of a little girl named Chloe?" he asked someone on the other end. "Good, cause a couple of tourists found her all alone and helped me bring her to the station. Can you come pick her up?"

"There, your mom should be comin' for ya tout sweet!" Spinel declared before Chloe gave her a big hug. "Aw, you're so nice."

"How are you able to memorize her number?" Steven asked Chloe.

"I just have a knack for those kinds of things." Chloe responded before a blonde woman, presumably her mother, came barging into the station. "Mommy!"

"Chloe!" Chloe's mother cried as her daughter came racing up to hug her. "Oh, I'm so sorry for leaving you behind like that! I didn't even notice I left you until the police called me!"

"You can thank us for that ma'am." Spinel stated, introducing herself and Steven.

"You truly are a lifesaver." The mother thanked the Gem. "My name's Yvonne, and thanks again for helping my daughter."

"Oh, that reminds me, Mom." Chloe said. "Would it be okay if Spinel got one of my fidget cubes as thanks?"

"I don't see why not." Yvonne agreed before fishing through her purse and finding a pink cube. "Here, I think it suits you."

"Aw shucks miss, you're making me blush!" Spinel thanked the mother sheepishly when she got an idea of her own. "Here, you can have this Chloe." She said, pulling the stuffed rabbit from her fanny pack and giving it to her new friend. "The least I can do."

"Thanks Spinel." Chloe said, swapping her drawing for the bunny before she and her mother began to leave the station. "Goodbye!"

"You're very welcome!" Steven called after the mother and daughter while Spinel gazed tenderly at the drawing of her and Chloe in her hands. "So Spinel, ready to go?"

"Of course." Spinel sniffed loudly and put the drawing and the cube in her pack.

"Well, it was nice meeting you Steven, tell those Gems I said hi." The Officer told Steven. "And by the way, don't start cracking up too much, if you get what I'm saying."

"I'm sorry, what?" Steven asked, but instead of a proper answer, the Officer disappeared like he was never there. "Who was that guy?" he muttered as he and Spinel left to go find the Dondai Supremo.

Soon, the Dondai Supremo finally returned to Beach City, and Yellow Diamond once again parked her ship in front of the beach house as she waited for Steven and Spinel.

"Now what could be keeping those two?" Yellow asked somewhat impatiently while gazing at the night sky when suddenly, she spotted a little car driving towards her. "Oh, there they are."

"Hi Yellow!" Spinel exclaimed, bursting from the car and racing towards the Diamond. "You'll never guess the fun day I had with Steven today! I got a ton of cool stuff from some people we met along the way and learned about human sports!"

"Oh that's delightful, I'm glad you had a good time today." Yellow grinned before becoming more serious. "Now come along, we still have work to do regarding a certain Rutile."

"Okay!" Spinel answered and then turned to Steven. "Thanks for everything today Steven."

"Pleasure's all mine Spinel. Maybe we can do this again someday." Steven said gratefully before Spinel gave him another big hug and then raced back to Yellow's side. "Don't be a stranger you guys!"

"We won't." Yellow shouted back before she and Spinel entered her arm ship and it finally took off into the night sky.

"So, what did you and Steven do today Spinel?" Yellow asked Spinel as the ship cruised back to Homeworld.

Spinel took one look at everything in her butt sack, from the Coney Island prizes to Beckham Jordan's Pussycats jersey, the fidget cube, and Chloe's drawing, before giving her answer with a smile.

"Everything."

And that's enough of Spinel, Pink Diamond's playmate turned near-destroyer of Earth turned companion of the Diamonds, country music fangirl, wannabe cheerleader and friend to the neurodivergent! Well, for now at least, she will be making a comeback in Part 4. And speaking of Part 4, that Secretary of Health that met Beckham will be making an appearance there as well and played by Ryan Reynolds. Yes, THAT Ryan Reynolds, so technically Deadpool and Wolverine met without even needing to speak to each other onscreen. But anyways, we've all had our fun with Spinel, but next chapter is when we start getting into what I call the Tearjerking Three, consisting of Pumpkin Patch, Mr. Universe and Fragments. Your bodies better be ready, because I'm bringing the feels!

#steven universe #steven universe future #fanfiction #steven universe alternate future #steven quartz universe #spinel #yellow diamond

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arthurflecksgirl · 4 years

Text

Mysterious stranger /Arthur being stalked by you

This was a request by someone on Twitter :)

Arthur is being stalked by a pretty girl /YOU

I decited to write from Arthurs view and the girls view.

So it switches.

Arthur and reader

Romance

Warnings: Nothing really, mentions of mental illness,

ENJOY :) <3

ARTHUR I just woke up all sweaty in in the middle of the night one more time. My insomnia was getting bad again. I felt like it has been getting worse since mum was at the hospital. I was worried about her condition. I even forgot to take my meds yesterday, which was bad. The pills helped me to find some rest at night. Without them my mind was racing, keeping me awake. Driving me INSANE. I usually started to write in my journal when I couldnt sleep but without my medication there were just black scribbles all over the diary when I looked at the pages. The last time I was off my meds I wrote the whole night through and when I looked in my journal the next morning,there was nothing but blank pages. Nothing. So, there is a reason I shouldnt forget to take them. But too many thoughts ran through my head yesterday, I just didnt thought of anything else. First of all I thought about Penny and if I was the reason she ended up at the hospital. I felt like I am a burden to her. She always told me I was brought into the world to spread joy and laughter. But she doesnt even think i`m funny. Imagin what a disappointment I must be to her.I was born for a reason and I couldnt even fullfill my destiny. This shit really kept me awake. And some other thing... A week ago I just came home from my therapist. And when I was waiting on the tram station, there was this girl in the middle of the crowd. She just kept on staring at me like... I don`t know. She just did. And it kinda scared me.I wasnt used to peope staring at me like that. Usually I was the one observing things around me. Watching people. I always tried to observe. I need it for my jokes. The best jokes are inspired by real life actions. Stuff you see happening on the streets. I also watched people closely to understand what they are laughing about and how they react to jokes. Sometimes I sat on a table at Pogos and made little notes about what I think is important. I really wanted people to like me. I wanted be a light for them. Gotham needs some light. I wanted to be listened to and I wanted to be seen. I`ve got a lot to say but I`ve never talked to others cuz I didn`t knew how to start a conversation. So I watched and learned how others managed to do that. I realized that my timing is a bit off when I laughed at others jokes. I`m wasn`t sure why. I needed to find out. Anyway, I wasn`t used to someone staring at me. I always wished someone did and when I saw that girl I should have been happy that she saw me but I didnt knew what to do about it. I wasnt sure WHY she was looking at me the way she did. If it was for good or for bad reasons. And I guess thats what made me insecure about the whole situation. As soon as I got in the tram I kinda forgot about it but two days later I saw her again. I was standing in the pharmacy and was just about to pay, when I saw her standing outside the window. She was beautiful. There is no doubt it was the same girl. She was looking at me again. I payed and when I turned around she was gone. For a moment there I was scared it might be another episode of hallucinations. That would be really bad. But it could be. I mean... why should a pretty face like her standing there, staring at me TWICE? I`m afraid this isnt really happening. Dr Kane said I should watch out for more hallucinations, especially about girls. So I will.

YOU This city made me sick. It`s beent two weeks since I moved here and already hated it here. It was grey, it smelled and people were rude. I didnt wanted to become one of the peole here. It seemed like it was a bad desicion to move here in the first place, but I couldnt afford to pay rent anymore, so I ended up here, in this really bad neighborhood. I felt like I screwed up my life. Sleep was something I barely remembered. Every night I was lying awake, afraid of someone might brak into my apartment. Like I said... bad neighborhood.You couldnt trust anyone here. A week ago I got so nerveous while trying to sleep that I got up, made some tea and watched out the window. Even at night people walked down the streets, mostly homeless guys. It was one ugly, rainy, cold night. I sipped on my tea and watched the raindrops falling on the dark pavement. Like the whole city was crying out loud. I burned my tongue on the hot cup . I swear I saw someone standing in the window across the street. But it was no one there. Oh great, I thought. Two weeks here in Anderson avenue and you already start to see shadowns at night. But then I saw it again. It wasnt a shadow. It was a man standing in his kitchen, smoking a cigarette. Oh, just a neighbor, no shadows. Good. I realized that I could see most of the kitchen, his curtains were kinda see though. He turned around so I could see his profile. He had almost shoulder long, bown hair, slightly curly, a beautiful jawline and high cheekbones. I could tell from the distance that he was indeed very beautiful. I turnedmy light off to make sure he couldnt see me standing at the window, looking into his. But he didnt looked out the window anyway. It looked like he was talking to someone, but as far as I could tell he was the only one in the room. I watched him puttig down his cigarette as he took off his dark red sweater. I didnt expected him to be this thin. It seemed like he stopped talking and suddenly he started to raise his hands above his head, moving gracefully. He was dancing all alone by himself. In his kitchen. I couldnt help but staring at him and started to feel kinda bad for watching this behind my curtain. But something about him was just so insanly attractive. i stared at his fragile chest, his bony ribs, his messy bed hair. I guess he couldn`t find sleep, just like me. I wondered if he was sleepwalking. The way he moved was extraordinary. Suddenly he stopped. I almost got scared because I was so drawn to his dance moves, it seemed so unnatural to just stop. I took a step back from my window because he came a step closer to his. But he just leaned over the sink now. It looked like he was crying. Something about this hurted my heart. I didnt even knew him but I couldnt help but feeling empathy for this beautiful, fragile man across the street, He was crying harder now. I felt my eyes watering as he slapped his own face. Why would he do that? Then he watched out the window. I was hiding in the corner of my room so fast I guess my curtains moved. I hope he didnt caught me staring. My heart was racing. Was he still there? I waited two minutes till I watched out the window again. He was gone.

ARTHUR I decited to go through the pages again I had written a week ago. I have to figure out why I remembered writing something that wasnt there in the morning. I skipped though the paged and stopped at a page that didnt even looked familir to me. Little drawings of catladies smoking cigs. i don`t remenber drawing this and start to read. "Insomnia is choking me again. It wrappes its strong arms around my neck, smothering me to death. At least thats how it feels while lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. So last night I wandered around the apartment for at least two hours straight. I smoked two packs of cigs as the music started playing in my head again. There is always music in my head, well, most of the time. Sometimes it gets so loud I can`t ignore it anymore. Its just floathing althrough my body, like energy. It holds me in its warm arms and I have to obey. It wanted me to dance again last night, so I moved around the kitchen to the music and it was so tragically beautiful in between the movements it made me do, that it almost started to hurt my body. So I stopped and wished for the sound to stop but it didnt and I just stood there and started to cry. Watching my tears falling into the kitchen sink, like the rain outside. The music still playing in my head. I slapped my face. Hard. Still noisy. I watched out the window. Gotham was crying, too. The city was just as depressed as I was. I swear I could see a shadow in the window across the street. But thats impossible. The neighbors there moved out some weeks ago. Must be my visions again."

YOU I couldnt stop thinking about the man across the street since I saw him. I watched out the window for so many times but I didnt got to see him for about thee days. But then I saw him crossing the street as I was just about to go buy some food. I know it wasnt the right thing to do but I followed him. I just needed to see him closer. I kept my distance so he won`t notice me. He was walking like someone that just got beaten up, his thin body hidden behind a brown sweater , and a jacket that looked way too huge on his small shoulders. He kept looking to the ground, his brown curls hanging sweaty upon his forehead. Even though his body language looked sad, he still managed to be extremly attractive to me. He was walking to the tram station and waited on his tram to arrive as I tried to be just a face in the crowsd, so I could take a closer look at him. I passed some people standing in the way until I found the right spot. There he was. Just about some foots away from me.And suddenly, as I was staring, he was looking right at me. God, I felt like my heart just sopped. Never ever have I seen more beautiful eyes in my life. So intense, piercing right though me, green but so very sad. I dont know if it was just my mind playing tricks on me but i felt like he caught me staring. I wanted to turn around and leave imediately but his tram arrived and he got in there before I could even react. At night his pretty face appeared in my mind. Againa nd again. I just couldnt get him out of my head.I was closing my eyes, and caught myself dreaming about kissing him. I laughed at myself. Silly girl ! Dreaming about the mysterious new neighbor was such a clishe. But it wouldnt help. I still wanted to get to know him. there was something so mysterious about him. His little dance in the kitchen. The crying at the sink.... his eyes! I thought about ways to just talk to him, I mean we were neigbors, right? I could find a reason to just go to him and say something. But nothing came to my mind. So I decited to follow him one more time. Maybe he would just ran into me and we would talk. Two days later I saw him leaving the house again, so I threw a jacket over my shoulder and got downstairs in a hurry. This time there weren`t much people around so it was even harder for me to follow him without getting caught. Something about watching him started to turn me on.It was fun to fantasize about someone who didnt even knew you existed. But at the same time I wanted him to know that I exist. Maybe not yet but... He went to the pharmacy. I stopped outside. I thought about going in and pretend I wanted to buy something. But I forgot my purse so this would have been embarrassing. I saw him from behind, his blue pants looked baggy on him. Everything did. And just when I thought this was a good situation to stalk him, he turned around again and I knew he saw me. He looked me right into my eyes! I captured the moment he looked at me in my mind and tought about it in the afternoon, when I was lying in my bed, dreaming about touching his beautiful face. Soon he became my fave fantasie. I couldnt even find pleasure in any other daydream anymore. He was my sexy secret and I liked it that way. But I just knew that soon this wouldnt be enough. I had to get closer. I wanted him to see me. Not just from across the street. I wanted to get to know him as a person. I needed to know his story, I needed to know why he was so sad.

ARTHUR I just couldnt figure out my very own diary anymore. Something definitaly went wrong at the moment. I guess all the lonelyness got too much. I mean, I must have been used to this but i wasnt. It got harder every day of my life. I wished for someone to love me so much that I had visions about girls. I tend to get them a lot but then it stopped for a while and now it seemed to start again. I was kinda worried about my condition and took two more pills today. I knew I shouldnt but I thought it would be better than forgetting to take them again. The slight overdose made me sweat a lot so I was in underwear only for the whole day, just lying on the coouch, watching all my fave episodes of teh Murray Franklin show. The only thing that made me stay up was going to the kitchen to make some coffe. I watched out the window while waiting for the water to bowl. There she was again. the girls I saw at the tram stationa nd at the pharmacy. She was crossing the street. I checked my forehead for fever. I was burning up. Must be the overdose. "She`s not really there" I whispered to myself "Arthur, she`s not real, don`t even look". But I looked. And I could swear she was looking up my window before she headed to my house. I blushed. But I guess that was also caused by the fever. God, she looked like an angel. Such a sweet girl. She would never even give me a look in real life. I knew that. And if she did... I wouldn´t even know what to do. I`ve never been with a woman before in my whole life. I never even kissed someone before. I`m just a loner. All I have are my fantasies. And Dr Kane wants to take them away from me,too. Maybe I should just give in and accept them. What if it wasnt a hallucination this time? What if this girl really saw me? What if?

You I did it. I wrote him a postcard. I held the card in my hands for like an hour and stared at it. I thought I wasnt brave enough to actually throw it in his letter box. But I did.I sneaked into the house and when I was standing in front of the letter boxes I wondered which one could be his. Thank god some lady just got out of the elevator and I asked her which letter box belongs to the window with the thin curtain. And she told me that they belong to apartment 8J. It just took me about some seconds to find the right box. P. FLECK. There it was. FLECK. I threw my postcard in without giving it a second thought, otherwise I would have changed my mind. I was heading back home, blushing.

ARTHUR I woke up with a bad headache. Another appointment with Dr. Kane. I wanted to take a bath but I was too lazy and decited to let it be. I just brushed my hair back, lighted a cig and went out the house. I checked the letter box and hoped for a letter from Thomas Wayne, I mean, I knew there wouldnt be one but it would make my mother happy so I still hoped for it. Somehow she was obsessed with Wayne and I didnt even knew why. My heart just skipped a beat as I saw an hand written postcard. Wayne? I started reading it. "Dear mysetrious stranger, You don`t know who I am but I saw you out on the streets some days ago and I think I fell in love with you. I even dreamed about you at night. I really hope you`re doing fine. Kisses The girl who loves you"

I just kept staring at the letters. I rubbed my eyes. the letters were still there. The girl who loves you. I must have blushed. Was this real? I let my fingers slide over the paper. It felt real. I turned the card around. A plain red heart on white background. I touched it so many times and hoped for a proof that this was eighter real or a dream. Sometimes I am not sure anymore. Who would ever send me a card? I searched for a stamp. None. Someone must have threw it in the letter boy by themself. The girl ! The girl I saw on the street. Now it all made sense to me. Was she following me? I smiled. The thought of this pretty girl having a crush on me was wonderful. But I got scared at the same time. I could never get up and talk to her. How could I? I bet she thinks I am some sexy guy who knows how to get it on. She was dreaming about me? What dreams? I imagined her touching herself while thinking about me and I giggled to myself. "Nahh she wouldnt do that" I said to myself. Reading the postcard again "Or would you, sweet strange girl?" I put the postcard close to my heart. Her fingers must have touched the paper all over when she was writing me these lines. Does she want to touchme with those fingers? Oh I would love to touch her fingers. But what if she ever comes up to me personally and I would just stand there, frozen. Not a word coming out of my mouth? The thought of this scared me a lot. My biggest fear was to laugh in her presence.The laugh that wasnt really one. My condition. That would scare her away for sure. I felt my eyes watering and a tear fell on the postcard, right on the word "kisses". It smeared, which made me even sadder. I needed this card to be perfect. I felt the urge to laugh coming up my throath. But then something else came to my mind. What if I showed the card to Dr. Kane? She could proof to me that this card truly exists. The urge to laugh was gone. I put the card into my paper bag and hurried up to see Dr. Kane.

"Hello, Arthur. How have you been thoughthe last week? Any negative thoughts?" Dr Kane was repeating her same old questions again as I smoked my cig. Next thing would be asking me about my journal. BUT I would have something much more interesting with me this time. "I brought something with me today" I said as I grabbed the card. "I wondered if you could take a look and tell me what you think about this?" Dr Kane took the card out of my hands. She read it. "Who gave it to you, Arthur?" "The girl who loves me" Dr Kane gave me that look "Arhur..." "Well... it says `The girl who loves you ` there at the end, right? "Right" "So, you see it too?" "Sure, Arthur" She gives me the card back. I smiled. It was real. The card was real. Which meant the girl was real,too. No hallucinations. No visions. "Good" "So someone send it to you?" "I found it in my letter box, it has no stamp" "No stamp? Are you sure you didnt wrote it yourself?" she looked confused. I bet she couldnt imagin someone falling in love me me eighter. "Dr Kane, you know how my handwriting looks like." "Right. Can I see it again?" I gave her the card back. Her eyes are focused on it. "No typos" she whispered to herself. "Looks like someone really likes you, Arthur. Be careful" "W-what do you mean?" "You know that you sometimes... well... you tend to lose sense of reality sometimes. It could be difficult to meet up with a girl for you". I put the card back in my bag. "You think I couldnt handle it to have a girlfriend?" "Thats not what I said..." "It is exactly what you said" I got up and left the room. "See you next week, Dr Kane. I cant do this today" I got back home and placed the card under my pillow. I wanted to sleep on it. It was the first love note I ever got and felt so special. I grabbed my Pjs out of my wardrobe and looked at the red suit hanging in there. I never put it on by now. I always felt like it is waiting for a special event in my life. But nothing special ever happens. Until now. The card. the love note. The girl. I grab the suit and walk to the mirror. Holding it in front of my body to see how it would look like on me. I felt so insecure when thinking about dating a girl. I didnt knew how to react in front of her. Maybe the suit would help? I shook my head. Nahh. Just a stupid thought. Back in bed I imagined how it would be to have a girlfriend. To go out on dates with her, walking hand in hand across the streets. I bet Gotham wouldnt be half as bad as if its now. Sharing my life with someone. My bed. Having someone to cuddle with at night. Someone to calm down my bouncing leg. Someone to have sex with, It would be sweet. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

YOU Its been a day since I threw the card in the letter box. No answer. Of course not. He didnt even knew who I was. I watched out the window and hoped to see him in his apartment again. I got lucky this time. I saw him lying on the couch watching tv. He wora a cosy PJ and looked so cute in it. Still sexy though. I could eat him up. I wish I could just go over, knock on his door and tell him that i am the girl who send him the card. I wonder if he even got it yet. maybe he didnt open the letter box since then. I saw him smoking, writing down some notes. I tried to see more details of the living room. There was a clown mask and a costume hanging beside a mirror. It seemed like he had a thing for clowns, which made me think. maybe I`ll have a lil surprise for him... I searched through my stuff and found the big, red flower that used to be part of a Clown outfit I was wearing years ago when I dressed up with my best friends. It looked brand new. Maybe he would like it. I put a little note on it and decited to put it in front of his door. Tomorrow. I couldn`t wait. The next morning I got out of bed early, to wait till he got out of the house. When he did I sneaked into the house and waited till someone came out again, which lastet at least 50 minutes but it was worth it. I got in the elevator and walked to the door which said 8J. I hold my breath for a second. That was were he lived. He walked through that door every day. I wish I could just walk through it and go into his apartment.Looking though his stuff. I was a bit shamed of myself for having those kinda feelings. I felt like a stalker. But I couldnt stop my own thoughts from wanting him. I put the big plush Flower down on the doormat and touched the door knob. Just to touch it. To touch what he touched some about an hour ago. It felt sexy.

ARTHUR I just came home from work at Haha`s and felt drained. It was a long day. I got out of the elevator and saw something lying on my doormat. A big, red plush flower. Like one for clowns! My heart jumped when I picked it up. There was a little note saying "Dear stranger, if you want to meet me , I`ll be at the little fountain in the park today at 7 O`Clock . The one with the litlle bird stature. It would be a pleasure to get to know you better. Kisses, The girl who loves you"

I bit my lips. Another note. She wanted to meet me. My hands were shaking while reading the note one more time. I actually was shaking so much I had troubles to get my keys into the lock. I threw my jacket on the couch, sat down and pressed the plushy flower to my chest. It felt so soft to the touch. A present. I never got presents. Not even when I was a kid or on my birthdays. Everything about this felt so special. I wanted to meet her so bad but at the same time I was so scared about meeting her, I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my reflection. I looked tired. Drained. Like someone sucked the life out of my. Heavy bags under my yes, from not getting enough sleep. I brushed my hair back. Better. At least a lil bit. I checked the time and realized it was already after 5 O`clock. I got no time to waste. Should I really go there? Or was Dr Kane right?

YOU I got ready for my potential date. I didnt even knew if he would show up but i hoped so. I dressed up in my usual clothes. I wanted to be my authentic self around him. I was already waiting on the spot 30 minutes too early. I just couldnt wait any longer. I needed to know if he would come. I wanted to get to know him so bad.

ARTHUR Alright, I could never forgive myself if i wouldnt take the chance, so I decited to show up. I took a bath to feel fresh, washed my hair and put on some nice clothes. Not the red suit though. I picked dark red pants, a matching vest and a white shirt under it. I hope I looked decent in it and bought some roses before I made my way to the park. I bought them from the last dollars I had but I didnt cared. I wanted to give her some nice flowers. Gotham looked different today while watching out of the trams window. Less dark and depressing. But I guess it was just me feeling better as usual. I just wanted it to be a nice date. I just wanted her to like me for who I am. I got out of the tram, walking into the park. I saw her from a distance already. There was just one person standing at the fountain, so it must have been her. She was so beautiful, I couldnt belive she was waiting FOR ME. My hands holding the roses started to get all sweaty and I wiped them off on my pants. I stumbled right in front of her as I arrived and the flowers fell out of my hands. "Ooooppps...I`m...I`m so sorry.. I...." my nervousness killed me. She similed at me as I picked up the flowers and handed them to her "I....um....brought you...som..something...um..." I stuttered. She gave me the sweetest hug "Thats so sweet of you...? Um... I don`t even know your name" she was blushing. "Arthur. My name is Arthur." "Hey Arthur. I`m Y/N. Nice to meet you. Thank ou so much for the roses. They`re beautiful". "Yeah... thank you for the notes...I don`t know what to say...you`re beautiful". Y/N smiled from cheek to cheek. "Thank you, Arthur. Would you like to take a walk though the park and get some coffee later? It would be a nice way to get to know each other. What do you think?" "I think this sounds just wonderful". She gently wrapped her arm around my waist as we were walking though the park. It was a late summer evening and for the first time ever I noticed the birds singing. The music in my head stopped. Maybe Gotham wasn`t as bad after all.

#arthur fleck #arthur fleck fanfic #arthurfleckfanfiction #joker #joker fanfiction #dc #stalking #fanfiction #romance #joaquinphoenix

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jmeddows2 · 5 years

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Purple Thunder (Roger Taylor Series) Part 5

(present/old) Roger Taylor x Reader Notes:

as promised, I still made it on time, well kind of.. as this relationships develops I’d be happy to hear some of the concepts you guys have/ would love Reader and Rog do/experience etc. :) I’d be really grateful and excited to hear some of that..

other wise, same old jazz: sorry for grammar/ mistakes, English is not my first language but anyways, I gave it a go. Enjoy and feel free to submit requests, feedback etc. :)

If you haven’t already, please check this out: Introducing: Purple Thunder :)

Warnings: a bit of cursing, cheating, we’ll get to more in time, don’t worry ;)

Words: 2.5k

„How was that?“ your drummer Sid gave you a questioned and expecting look through the glass wall from the recording booth, as he fiddled around with the drum sticks, twirling one in his right hand. Roger was already in the black leather chair next to you, willing to produce the whole new album and of course, he didn’t give you a chance to deny it, or to put it better, he insisted on taking over the job as producer.

“It was good, really good…. but I don’t know.. I feel like we’re repeating ourselves over and over again” your eyes darted from the sound board to your band member. “It’s good, but it all sounds the same. Don’t you think?” You put your elbow to rest your chin in your hand in a thoughtful gesture looking to Roger beside you. His air was a bit messy, but still looked flawless. He put so much work and detail into each song, trying to make little masterpieces out of them, but as much as you appreciated his work, something was wrong.

“I’ll try a new pattern then? To match the tempo you had in mind?” Sid made you beam back him again, already finding a new beat as he was waiting for your answer.

“Have you tried drumming machines?” Roger firstly looked at you, then Sid, then back at you.

“It’s not exactly the real thing but it’ll give you something to experiment with” Roger suggested, lightly scratching his beard.

“Your call, boss” Sid smiled at you , he was indeed excited about Roger’s ‘new role’ in your band, considering that he had been a life - long fan of his, picking up drumming because of Roger in the first place. It should also be mentioned that his parents met at Live Aid back in 1985 when they were just 15 years old, both stood in front row cheering on their favourite band: Queen. Sid especially recalled seeing pictures of Roger in magazines his parents owned, showing a younger Roger wearing some nice suits, having a glass of wine in his hand and always a beautiful young thing by his side. A major part in his decision making on wanting to become THE next Roger Taylor. And he did.. Well sort of.. Sid was someone who enjoyed life… and especially the ladies… He enjoyed it so much that he lost count of the hearts he had loved and left haunted.

“Ok, let’s try it, you guys mind if I go out for a smoke?” you asked as Sid jumped excitedly into the seat next to Roger.

“It’s alright love.” Roger gave you a smile and turned to Sid “Now, we’ll start with the basics, you can imitate any percussion on this, if you just…” Roger’s voice drowned out as you made your way out of the sectioned area you had rented, up the stairs to the roof terrace. After 10 minutes of smoking and collecting your thoughts you made your way back onto the ground floor, passing the counter in the foyer where Laura, a good friend of yours had been working. Dan had declined all calls since his outburst in the studio the other, which didn’t make the situation any easier. Arriving back in the booth the drum backing track had surprisingly fast, already been laid down.

Time went by flying as Roger showed Sid some tricks of his own on the drums, which left him amazed.

“Today’s been great, you’re heading into a kind of different direction in terms of music, I mean your last two albums were excellent, but I think this is going to be even better” Roger smiled adding finishing touches to the mastering of yet another song. Sid had left you two to it again, heading off to meet his parents. Probably also to tell them that he is currently working with rock royalty, but we’ll leave that aside.

“You listened to those? I’m sorry, I’m just.. I never thought someone like you would listen to my kind of stuff” you chuckled.

“Someone like?” he laughed. “Why do you always think so bad of yourself? Those two records were really good! Of course I listened to them, got to know what’s hot in the moment… Y’know.. what the teenagers fancy… or whom. I read all the music magazines.”

“You’re probably the only person who still reads those” you laughed giving him a light pat on the shoulder.

“Hey” he frowned a bit, but a smile appeared on his lips, signalling he wasn’t taking it too seriously.

“You’re growing with your music, it’s a good thing. Without any of the growing and changing part, Queen would have probably never made it. Gotta think outside the box y’know, do what your heart tells you to do.” He touched your shoulder in a loving gesture.

“And if it tells me to quit?” you whispered but it was still audible for him.

“I don’t know if I want to keep doing it. I’m not feeling it anymore, the excitement, the relief, the love…”

“Are you sure you’re still talking about music here?” Roger looked at you softly, trying to test the waters.

“I don’t know... Music’s always been there for me when friends or family were turning their backs on me, or when I was too afraid to ask for help, I’d just put some record on and everything was fine. It helped me cope with so much, you helped me cope with so much.” looking into his eyes.

“Listening to your music was almost like a healing process, I know it sounds weird but it was and still is. I’m just… confused right now. Do I want to continue? Make an album, tour and then end up in the same dark place I had been in two years ago, because absolutely nothing feels right about it? Do I attempt to make my fans happy, but end up disappointing them because nothing feels right? There’s always so much pressure, I don’t even know who we’re doing this for anymore” by now there were a few hot tears escaping your face. You felt pathetic. Pathetic for always crying and being miserable when Roger was around. He must think you’re a fool by now, someone that’s not capable of the spotlight anyway. Someone weak and undeserving.

On the other hand…..

Roger knew what it meant to make sacrifices, also for the sake of his other three band members back in the day. When you’re up against 3 equals, you’re not always able to convince them with your ability or choice. Whether it depends on the melody and musical part of each song or the lyrical choices. Roger often recalls having a song idea, which then ended up being taken apart by his band mates, trying to change every little thing possible.

This happens, especially when each individual has their own favourite type of musical style. The journey of a musician in expanding their horizon ends, with not feeling it inside their heart anymore. Or the feeling being lost, hurt and especially left out. No matter how many people they’re surrounded with.

You two were sitting with him on the black leather couch, one leg on the couch, one on the ground, while he was listening to you ramble on as if was the most interesting thing ever. Comforting you, giving advice, but most importantly not trying to lead you into any direction, which many people have tried before. He was there. He cared. Lost in comfort you pulled up your feet to place them in his lap. “I was too stubborn when I was younger, but I know now! Don’t do what might sound like the best idea. It usually ends up going into the opposite direction. If following your heart means breaking free from everything that’s holding you back now, then you could do that” Roger gave you a sympathetic smile, softly rubbing your ankles. “If it means taking a break from all of this” he made a circling gesture “then you could do that! Don’t feel like letting anyone down, they’ll understand. We used to release an album every year for quite some time, but the fans still continued supporting us, it’s not going to be any different here.” You brought your legs from his lap to the ground scooting closer to him. A failed attempt. “Do you know how to play?” he picked up the drum sticks that had been lying on the little table beside him and you shook your head in response. He got up and walked over to the drum kit with you following closely. “Be ready to learn from the best then” he sat down on the little stool behind the kit, making enough room for you between his legs, patting for you to sit down. You did. You held the drum sticks in both of your hands when he brought his around you, to teach you a simple pattern. “So try hitting the high hat eight times in beat of one measure. Snare comes in at 2nd and 4th hit.” You followed his instructions perfectly earning praise. “Yeah, just like that, keep the tempo. Now try adding the kick drum on both beginning and end of the 1st and 3rd beat.” You followed his instructions again. “We have a natural here” Roger laughed reaching forward to brush the hair out of your face that was sticking to your forehead. “Solo time” it took a few loud clashes on the cymbals to send the sticks flying through the room. “Ooops” you laughed covering your mouth with your hand, your head slightly tilting to one side as Roger laughed into your shoulder. “A true rockstar” you turned your head to face him.

No phone this time, no text interrupting this moment. There it was. Your all or nothing moment.

You leaned forward pressing your lips against his. He helped you turn around to sit in his lap without ever breaking the kiss.

“You’re the most impactful, strong and beautiful woman I got to witness in such a long time” he brought his hand up and brushed a few strands of your hair out of your face. You moved closer to him, pressing your lips against his again and he deepened the kiss. Your heart was racing when your lips touched his, the feeling of his beard tickling your chin as his mouth started to move along with yours, his lips surprisingly soft. You moved your hand into his messy hair as one of his hands moved to your hip, the other cradling your cheek. Sudden realization hit you and you pulled back. Roger opened his eyes at the sudden loss of contact, when he saw you with your head already in your hands as you were nervously pacing around the room. “I really seem to mess everything up, huh?” you mumbled to yourself, not intended for him to hear. “Hey, it’s alright” calming down was the last thing on your mind now. “You’re alright!” “No, nothing’s alright, Roger! I’ve been telling myself that for far too long now.. I get it if you don’t want to see or work with me ever again “you were cut off when his lips crushed against your again, he pulled you onto the leather couch with him, back into his lap. A feeling of safety crept into your heart as he pulled you tighter, kissing along your jaw. Nothing mattered, not the fact that your boyfriend was currently touring the states, avoiding every single temptation on the way, nor Roger’s wife who was patiently waiting for her husband’s phone call from the other side of the world. Your face was pressed against his chest, the scent on his shirt in your nose and it felt like the safest place in this world. He held you as close as possible. “What are we now” “I don’t know. But I hate the fact you’re everything I was looking for, when I wasn’t looking for it.” Roger replied with a hint of sadness in his voice, caressing your hair. “Have dinner with me, I know this restaurant, pretty hidden…” “what if they-“ “Brian’s going to be there. No paparazzi to worry about.” So you agreed. Without having any other conversation your current status, he held your hand. On the way to the cab, in the car itself, earning no suspicious look from the driver who probably didn’t even notice your intertwined fingers. Roger only let go once you entered the restaurant. Brian was already there, definitely not expecting you on joining them, as he had already taken a seat on a table for two. Roger was right, no paparazzi around. A young waitress with long brown hair pulled up into a ponytail, which was about 16 years old, was willing to reseat you. She was nervous and almost trembling, so you suspected her to be star struck by the two rock royalties who you shared the table with.. She came back with a tray of drinks, nearly tripping over own feet when she finally reached your table. Brian was just about to ask her if everything was alright, Roger beside you with a smug smile but it wasn’t them she was interested in. “Actually I’m so sorry it’s not really professional, but (Y/N) I’m such a big fan!! Could I please take a picture with you! I’m so sorry to disturb you, I just can’t help myself” the young waitress bounced nervously from one foot to the other. Roger took a quick picture for the girl, who had now basically wrapped her arms around you, still trembling. It was cute, a small reminder of why you’re still doing this. Making people happy… but somehow always leaving yourself out of the frenzy of happiness. She thanked you by giving you another squeeze and you took your seat next to Roger. “So… how’s the album getting along? Roger told about some complications concerning the guitarist? Did everything turn out alright?” Brian asked, taking a sip from the beer in front of him. You were struggling to answer that question. Your guitarist had basically left, you were far behind in production and material. Yeah everything went great, except for the fact that management was pressuring you, because of the money they were about to lose. Everything was great. Roger noticed the worry in your eyes so he was trying to change the topic. “Let’s not talk about work now, what are y’all having? Bill’s on me” he placed his hand on your thigh under the table, making sure no one would see and gave you reassuring squeeze. It was all you needed in this moment to calm down. Brian was quite suspicious. He had known his best friend for over 50 years now. Even considered him a brother. He knew when something was going on with Roger. And that was a lot in this moment. He saw it, right in front of him. Every single look that was exchanged between you and Roger, every single gesture and the exchanging touches. Love.

Roger payed the bill as promised and wanted to drop you off at your flat. Brian though had other plans, which involved a serious conversation with his best friend. So tricked Roger into the belief that some ‘serious’ problem about the upcoming tour came up.

“What the actual fuck do you think you’re doing Roger?” taglist: @bellamy1998 @oldfashionedlovergirlsblog

#roger taylor #roger taylor fanfic #roger taylor fanfiction #Queen #queen + Adam Lambert #Brian May #old roger taylor #present day roger taylor #roger taylor x reader #present day roger x reader #purple thunder

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talkfastromance4 · 6 years

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In this Moment

So! This is the first part of however many parts this will be (basically when I have an idea I’m going to write it down). This is a bit of a doozy but it’s like the starting base of what I plan to do with this story(?) it’s gonna be more of a multi-shot of single dad Ashton Irwin (swoon).

Summary: Ashton finds out he is a father in the most unforeseen circumstances. But when he stares down at his little girl, everything changes in a moment.

Warnings: none, just really fluffy. And sort of long.

Masterlist

Ashton was jamming with his three best friends when his phone rang, an unknown number appeared on the screen so he decided to ignore the call. A few minutes passed and the same number called again so he just quickly ended it. He was in the middle of listening to Luke’s newest story about Petunia when the same number came through.

“Hang on, this number keeps calling me,” Ashton sighs and pushes himself off the couch to go into the kitchen. Muffled laughter sounds behind the swinging wooden door as he picks up the call. “Hello?”

“Hello are you Ashton Irwin?”

“Depends, who’s this?” he asks.

“My name is Sandy, I’m a nurse down at Ruby Valley Birthing Center and a patient has you listed as her emergency contact,” the woman says on the other end, her voice full of authority. “Do you have a moment?”

Birthing Center?

“Um, yes?”

“Will you be able to come to the Center? I’d much rather tell you this news in person than over the phone, Mr. Irwin.”

“Um, yeah, sure. What’s your address?”

He jotted down the address on a ripped piece of napkin then told Sandy he’d be there in twenty minutes. He stood in the kitchen trying to think of who he would know that would be at a birthing center. And why would they have him be their emergency contact?

When he emerges from the kitchen, his best friends notices the change in his expression and demeanor.

“What’s up?” Michael asks.

“Who kept calling you?” Calum asks.

“Um. . . I’m not sure, but I need to go to a birthing center and talk to a nurse named Sandy. She’s the one I spoke to,” Ashton answers quietly. His mind is still reeling from the bit of information that he got.

“Birthing center? What--?”

“I don’t know. Could one of you come with me? I’m not quite sure what to expect,” he shakes his head then looks up at his friends.

“Yeah, ‘course. I’ll go with you,” Calum nods pushing himself off the couch.

“We can come, too,” Luke offers, his blue eyes soft and full of worry.

“I don’t want to overcrowd whoever it was that listed me as a contact. I’ll call with news,” Ashton says then shakes his head as he retreats to the front door. “This is so bizarre.”

* * *

Ashton’s silent on the drive over, his phone is on the mount for him to follow directions. It’s lightly drizzling and the orange streetlights illuminate the road. He’s tapping his thumb on the steering wheel, the action becomes faster when his GPS says the destination will be on his right in the next 200 feet.

He finds a parking spot near the front entrance, it looks more like a spa than a hospital. He never even knew this place existed. Calum fixes his gaze from the building to Ashton, questions in his eyes.

“I’m ready when you are, mate,” Calum encourages.

Ashton takes a deep breath then exhales puffing out his cheeks as he unbuckles his seatbelt. He doesn’t say a word as he gets out of the car and Calum scrambles after him, jogging to catch up to his friend.

Once inside, soft instrumental music is playing overhead and Ashton makes a beeline for the reception desk. A young woman with glasses and her hair in a twist smiles up at them both.

“Can I help you?”

“Um, I’m Ashton Irwin, I got a phone call from a Sandy. . .?”

“Ah yes, if you take a seat I’ll page her for you,” the receptionist nods and pushes a button on her keyboard.

Ashton and Calum weren’t even sitting down for five minutes when a nurse emerges from the left hallway, a clipboard in her hand.

“Mr. Irwin?” she glances between the two men.

“That’s me,” Ashton stands and takes a step toward her.

“Let’s go somewhere private. If you’ll follow me,” she turns briskly returning the way she came.

“Can my friend come with? He’s here for moral support since I’m not sure what’s really going on . . .” Ashton trails off glancing at Calum who is already moving next to him.

“Absolutely,” Sandy nods. “This way.”

The two men follow the nurse as if they were following a teacher to the principal’s office. Both of them had no idea what they were about to hear, the uncertainty and fear bubbled inside them.

Sandy leads them into a room with a desk, two chairs and a bookshelf filled with birthing books. She sits behind the desk and motions for them to take the two seats opposite her. She laces her fingers over the dark wood of the desk heaving a big sigh.

“Mr. Irwin, do you know a woman named Rose Walther?” Sandy asks.

The name rings a distinct, but distant, bell from a few months ago. She was a friend of a friend of a friend and she and Ashton went out for a while but broke it off due to their schedules not aligning. It ended with no hard feelings and they both went back to their separate lives.

Realization hit and his mouth went dry. In the time they were together they obviously slept together but he always used a condom.

He clears his throat and looks into Sandy’s kind grey eyes. “Yes, she and I went out a few months back.”

“Well, Mr. Irwin . . . I’m sure you’ve figured out why you’re here, of all places. Rose was pregnant, and a few days ago she went into labor and gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Unfortunately, there were complications with Rose’s delivery. We couldn’t stop her bleeding, and a paramedic we have on staff helped out the best he could.

“Rose knew she wasn’t going to make it so she asked to see her baby girl and made one simple request; that the baby will go to you and her name be Sallie,” Sandy pauses letting the bombshell she released to settle.

“Are you saying Ashton’s got a daughter?” Calum speaks up first.

Ashton’s mind is racing. Too much is going on. Too much to soak in. How could this be?

“Yes, that’s what I’m saying,” Sandy nods.

“Are you sure I’m the father?” Ashton asks quietly.

“Rose was 100% positive that you are the father. Obviously, we can do a paternity test to be sure, but she had no other sexual partners when she found out she was pregnant. Rose informed us when she first arrived for an ultrasound that there’s history in her family of complications during birth. During her pregnancy she had a will set up and explicitly states the baby would go to you, the father, and no one else.”

“Um,” Ashton clears his throat and readjusts himself in the chair. “I would like a paternity test, just to be safe.”

“Absolutely.”

“And on the off chance that I’m not the father, what would happen to the . . . the baby?”

“In either instance, you’re not the father or you can decide to put her up for adoption, she would go into the foster system until she was adopted.”

That hit Ashton like a ton of bricks. He leans forward burying his face in his hands as he struggles to breathe regularly. Calum rubs circles into his back trying to relax him. After deep breaths Ashton sits up again staring into Sandy’s eyes. They’re filled with sympathy.

“I’m so, so sorry to be laying all of this on you. I can’t even imagine how shocked you are right now.”

“Where’s the baby now?” Ashton asks.

“She’s being well taken care of in our nursery.”

“What about Rose’s parents? Do they know?” Calum pipes up.

“They passed away in a car accident when Rose was eighteen. Her aunt and uncle raised her but they don’t have the time or the resources to take care of a baby, they’re constantly travelling. We’ve tried every living relative we could find, but she’s got a small family and no one can take her in.”

“I’d like to see her. Can I see her?” Ashton asks.

“Of course you can. Would you like a moment alone?��

“No,” Ashton shakes his head.

“Ashton,” Calum says quietly.

“If I take a moment I won’t get up. I’d like to see her,” he repeats.

Sandy nods and rises from her chair. Ashton and Calum follow her down the hallway. Sounds of other women in different progresses of their labor are heard from the rooms they passed, small cries from the babies can be heard distantly.

Sandy swipes her key fab through the slot, the tiny box light turns green and she pushes open the door into an oval room. Other nurses are there and when Sandy enters the room one of them stands up from the rocking chair she was sitting in.

“She’s right over here, Holly’s been taking care of her since Rose . . . since she was born,” Sandy finishes delicately.

Ashton’s feet feel like they’re lead as he shuffles behind Sandy. His heart is hammering against his chest, it’s pounding in his ears. When Sandy moves out of his way, his breath is caught in his throat when he sees the tiny baby in the nurse’s arms. Tears burn in the corner of his eyes.

He sees Rose’s features in her, but he can see her small dimples, the same ones Ashton has. She’s definitely his, and his heart swells at the sight of her.

“Would you like to hold her?” the nurse holding her---he thinks her name is Holly---asks.

Ashton swallows the lump in his throat but can’t find his voice so he nods and holds out his arms. Holly places the small bundle in his arms, the soft weight feels nice in his arms. The baby squirms in her sleep, her tiny mouth opens in a yawn then nestles her head in the crook of Ashton’s arm.

His tears roll down his cheeks and he just knows that this is his daughter. He can feel it. He rocks her gently sniffling as he does.

“When was she born?” his voice cracks.

“May 2nd, at eight o’clock in the morning,” Sandy supplies.

“And um, what did you say her name was?”

“Sallie, with an –ie,” Holly answers and strokes the baby’s cheek with the back of her finger. “Rose says it means ‘princess’ in the bible and she wanted you to pick her middle name.”

“Right now?” he glances frantically between Sandy and Holly.

“No, no, whenever you’re ready. This is a lot to take in. We’re more than happy to keep her in our care while you get the paternity test or look for someone to adopt her. Whatever you want to do, you have time,” Sandy nods reassuringly.

“Did you see her, Cal?” Ashton turns his body so Calum can get a look. His eyes widen.

“She looks like you,” he breathes. “She’s so small . . . she’s beautiful.”

“Yeah, she is,” Ashton nods then smiles as Sallie scrunches her nose. “Uh, I would like the paternity test, just to be positive, although I’ve got a good feeling she is mine. And I don’t want her to go into the foster system.”

Sandy smiles. “I can schedule for the test to be tomorrow—“

“Can we do it now? I’d like it done as fast as possible,” he interrupts.

“I think we have some cotton swabs lying around, we can do a saliva test. I’ll be right back,” she touches his arm before leaving the room.

“Would you like to sit down?” Holly asks gesturing to the rocking chair.

“I’m fine, thank you,” Ashton shakes his head.

“I’ll be over here if you need me,” she smiles. “Congratulations.”

Calum takes her spot in front of Ashton and peers down at the bundle, she’s so puny in Ashton’s arms.

“I can’t believe this,” Calum shakes his head in awe. “Do you want me to call Mike and Luke?”

“Not right now,” Ashton continues to sway gently, his gaze hasn’t left Sallie’s since he first looked at her. “I want to be in this moment for a while longer. Is it crazy how much I love her even though I never knew she existed until five minutes ago?”

“No, that’s not crazy. I’m still in shock, this is insane. Why do you think Rose didn’t contact you and let you know?”

“I have no idea. Maybe she thought I wouldn’t want to do it? Sandy did say there’s birth problems in her family, maybe she thought it wouldn’t go through or something. I don’t know. We’ll never know now since Rose is gone. God, this is awful. I’m sad Rose is gone but I’m so happy holding her right now.”

“It’s a lot to take in at once,” Calum agrees.

After a while, Ashton sits down in the rocking chair while Calum was on the phone in the hall telling Michael and Luke what was going on. Sandy came in and swabbed his mouth for the test, telling him she’d make it a rush test so they’d have the results in 1-3 days.

Then Ashton was alone with his baby girl once more. He’d already memorized the features of her face but was still in awe of her. He has a daughter, a beautiful daughter that made nothing else matter.

His moment of bliss was shattered when Sallie began to cry, her small face twisted and turned red as she writhed in her blanket, for such a small baby she was really strong. Panic set in and he looked up frantically for Holly and she was already halfway across the room as he stood up.

“What did I do?” he asks nervously.

“Nothing, she’s just hungry. May I?” Holly holds out her arms. “Or you can feed her, if you’d like?”

“Can I watch you? If that’s okay?” he asks nervously and she smiles with a nod.

He watches her as she prepares the small bottle of formula. Sallie squirms once more, her face twisted in a sad grimace and Ashton changes his mind.

“Can I … Can I feed her, actually?” he asks softly.

“Of course. It’s easier if you sit down,” she says and Ashton sits down in the rocking chair again.

Sallie is still wriggling, her tiny face turning red.

“Place the nipple of the bottle just below her bottom lip so she can latch onto it,” Holly directs. She holds the bottom of the bottle as Ashton’s fingers curl around it.

He watches with bated breath and as soon as Sallie has her mouth on the nipple she begins to suckle, her cries silencing immediately.

“Wow,” he breathes in amazement then laughs, “she’s hungry.”

“She’s got quite the appetite,” Holly smiles affectionately.

“Have you been with her since Rose . . .?” Ashton couldn’t bring himself to say she was gone out loud. The whole ordeal was still a shock to him.

“I was with her when she was born. But for the short amount of time Rose had with her, she loved her with all she had.”

“Sandy said she doesn’t have a middle name?”

“Mhm, Rose wanted you to choose it.”

Ashton looks down at his daughter, she’s nearly halfway through the bottle already. Her face is relaxed and Ashton feels an overwhelmingly amount of love.

“Rose. That’s her middle name. Sallie Rose,” he declares.

“It’s beautiful,” Holly smiles. “I’ll put it on her chart and birth certificate.”

---

When Michael and Luke arrive, Sandy ushers them to the room Ashton has paid for until he gets his ducks in a row (he needs to stock up a room with a crib and everything else a newborn needs). Calum slips out unnoticed while the other two friends stare down at the newest little member of their band.

“Holy shit,” Luke breathes, his eyes widening as he stares down at the baby.

“Don’t swear, we’ve got small ears around us now,” Ashton reprimands.

“Sorry,” Luke apologizes. “I just can’t believe it. What’s her name?”

“Sallie Rose,” Ashton grins.

“She’s so tiny,” Michael exhales peering at her tiny face.

“I know, but she’s amazing, isn’t she?”

“You’re sure she’s yours?” Luke asks.

“I’m getting a test done but she’s mine, I can feel it. I know it.”

“I got her a gift,” Calum announces suddenly. He joins the other three and pulls out a small, plush, lavender colored elephant from behind his back. “I named him Peanut because she’s a little peanut,” he explains then places the toy next to Sallie. “I ran into the nurse, Holly, she’s going to make a list of everything we need to get.”

“Really? That’s great. I’ll call my mum tomorrow and fill her in. I’m still wrapping my head around it all,” Ashton says.

“That’ll be a fun conversation,” Michael chortles.

The four of them stared down at her in adoration. In that moment an unspoken vow was set that they wouldn’t let anything happen to their Sallie Rose. Ashton’s heart swelled with an overwhelming love whenever he looked at her, everything prior to her existence seemed rather moot.

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chloes-yellow-cup · 6 years

Text

Nowish - Part 8

Bechloe. Staubrey. Bellas Squared/Stechlobree.

A story in which I convinced myself by accident that this could work. Let me try and convince you too.

Nowish Master Post - Everything on one page.

A Shared Lifetime - All my fics

Recommended Mood Music on Spotify. Artistic license taken with song release years.

Note on the links: The ones about music lead to YouTube vids for fun. Rest are GIFs or links to whatever gift idea I have.

The Party and the Aftermath.

~B~

Saturday, July 1st, 2017

Beca looked around and grinned.

Their backyards were full of people.

Music makers mixed with science nerds mixed with lawyers mixed with dance teachers.

The party had started at noon and showed no sign of stopping. There was so much laughter and yelling over the music that she was surprised her head wasn’t pounding as it usually did in crowds. But the day was so far – and she knocked on the wood of the bench she was sitting on – nothing but net. She frowned, not sure where she’d heard that phrase or why her brain dredged it up now. She was sure it had to do with sports. One of them. Whatever, she was having fun in a crowd for once.

A flash of red caught her eye when Chloe turned around and looked at her as the music changed.

Ok, so maybe Beca was having a lot of fun. In fact, this may have been the third time in the past five hours that “It Was Always You” by Maroon 5 had come up in her playlist. The first time, none of the key people had thought anything of it. The second time, Chloe had given her a ‘look.’ Similar to the one she was giving right now. But now… Now Chloe’s eyes twinkled at her, somehow full of something knowing. Beca could see that she’d figured out it was intentional and what it might possibly mean. Beca winked and could hear Chloe’s laugh over the music.

Today was a great day.

The next time it played, which if Beca was still able to count after everything she’d been drinking, made the fourth time it had come up.

“You must like this song.”

Beca turned around slowly, having learned if she did it quickly, her head felt like it flew fifty feet to the side before settling back on her neck. “What?”

Aubrey shrugged, almost spilling her drink. “I know you have enough music that I could listen to it twenty-four-hours-a-day, for thiiiiiiirty years and not hear a repeat. But I’ve heard this one already today.”

Beca just blinked at her, hoping she looked innocent. “Oh? I hadn’t noticed.”

“I swear, this is like the third time I’ve heard it.” Aubrey closed one eye, peering at her. “Are you drunk?”

“No, you’re just blurry.” Beca cracked up but with her balance gone, she fell to the ground. That was literally the best joke that Jesse had ever said and she loved when she got the chance to use it.

Aubrey closed the other eye and opened it again. “Were you always on the ground?”

“Nope. Help me up.” Beca shot her hand up and wiggled her fingers. Aubrey carefully took it and tugged but Beca overestimated her own force as she pulled herself up and they collided. “Oops.”

“Hey, no mashing of my wife without me.” Stacie frowned playfully as she came over. “Rude.”

“Beca fell over. I helped her up.” Aubrey added helpfully.

“Ah. Water for both of you then.” Stacie stepped over to one of the many coolers sweating around the lawn. She pulled out four bottles and handed them each one. “I’m gonna go find Chlo. She’s usually more sensible… but sometimes not.”

“She’s so smart.” Aubrey sighed as she watched Stacie walk away. “And pretty. Don’t you think she’s pretty, Becs?.”

“Oh yeah. I mean – All of that. And handy to have around.” Beca opened the bottle and downed half of it in one go. She wasn’t sure water had ever tasted so good. “I’m gonna go find out if Jeff’s finished making the burgers. I need to eat.”

“Oooh.” Aubrey’s eyes lit up.

“C’mon, Blurry.” Beca took her hand and they headed for the giant BBQ – once again Beca’s insistence that size matters - that normally no one but Stacie ever used throughout the year.

By the time their guests started yelling for them to bust out the Karaoke machine, Beca – and the rest of her girls, she assumed – had sobered up considerably. She was still drunk, but she wasn’t falling down anymore. Her lips twitched in a lopsided smile as she thought that she’d have to thank Stacie for that one day.

She stepped back once the machine was set up and turned to the group. “First up, my beautiful wife.”

Chloe stepped forward, “Why thank you.” She pushed Beca toward a chair. “I got it. Go sit.”

Beca went willingly to where she’d set her beer while she arranged the machine and settled into one of the lawn chairs littering the area.

Chloe tapped on the microphone to test it then smiled widely. “First I would like to say thank you for everyone who braved the heat to be with us today.” The audience cheered at her. “You guys have all made the 2nd annual Posen-Conrad/Beale-Mitchell – boy that’s a mouthful – 4th of July bash even better than the first.” She leaned over and pushed the button to start the music she’d selected and Beca had to bite her cheek to keep from laughing.

She’d already been snickering at ‘mouthful’ because she was mentally 16 and lived in the gutter when she was drunk. But at the first few notes, she’d started chanting to herself. ‘Don’t look at Aubrey, don’t look at Aubrey.’ She knew she would lose it if she did. She rolled her lips together, trying to hold it together.

Because of course, the first song Chloe decided to sing was ‘It Was Always You.’

Woke up sweating from a dream With a different kind of feeling, oh All day long my heart was beating Searching for the meaning, oh

Then, to Beca’s amusement, delight and, she could finally admit to herself, a thrill of something close to desire, Stacie jumped up next to Chloe for the chorus.

Hazel eyes, I was so color blind We were just wasting time, uh uh babe For my whole life, we never crossed the line Only friends in my mind, but now I realize

It was always you Can't believe I could not see it all this time All this time It was always you

Now I know why my heart wasn't satisfied Satisfied It was always you, you

No more guessing who Looking back now I know it was always you Always you

Beca was looking around to see who else might be paying attention to any special meaning in the lyrics when she caught sight of Aubrey. She had her ‘considering face’ on as Beca’s eyes skated over her, and it caused another bubble of laughter to rise up so she moved on quickly. Which meant she missed it when Aubrey joined the other girls until her voice came through the speakers.

All my hidden desires finally came alive No, I never told lies to you so why would I start tonight

Beca’s eyes jerked back to their impromptu stage, her pulse beginning to race. Chloe stood in the middle, Aubrey and Stacie flanking with an arm around her, using the one microphone. Beca swallowed thickly and fell back on a hopefully less ‘bitch’ variation of her Resting Bitch Face to try and remain calm and cool on the surface.

But underneath… It felt like lightning was flashing up and down her body and she was afraid if she moved, she’d break the spell. Or leap into the middle of them and kiss… someone. Or all of them.

The thought slid slowly through her mind, almost as if her own brain didn’t want to startle her. ‘This may… be too on the nose for such a public space.’

Then she noticed that while Chloe sang directly to her, which was normal as her wife, Stacie and Aubrey appeared to be singing directly to each other. Beca didn’t think the rest of the cheering, and completely trashed, crowd noticed how often the two of them split their attention between her and Chloe as well as each other. Or what their eyes seemed to be promising her when she met them.

But Beca did.

And the way they all looked at her during the last chorus made her feel like she was getting the most public, secret, no-touching lap dance in the world. Her thighs clenched involuntarily and she rubbed her suddenly sweating palms on them. Arousal swept through her, making her breath catch and quicken.

As the song came to an end, she snapped out of her daze and whistled her appreciation while the crowd around them clapped and stopped their feet.

Maybe she should drink a little more after all.

The three of them took their bows and stepped toward her wearing matching mischievous smiles.

Yeah. Yeah, she should definitely drink more.

~B~

Sunday, July 2nd, 2017

Beca groaned and tried to close her mouth; everything hurt, even her jaw and especially her head. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was as dry as her father’s humor. Her body felt like it was under a heavy weight and her limbs didn’t want to move when she tried stretching. She realized why her mouth was parched when her cheek hit the giant drool spot on her pillow.

“Here.” A soft voice said from above her.

Beca felt her hand taken and pills were placed in it. Her fingers curled around them. She’d be grateful if she had any energy.

“Down the hatch. I’ve got water.”

Beca whimpered her thanks and slowly moved her hand and head toward each other until she could scoop the pills in her mouth.

“This is going to be trickier unless you want me to just pour it on your face and hope you get some in your mouth.” The voice sounded amused.

Beca nodded, but she held her hand out and felt a cool plastic bottle settle against her palm. She lifted her head off the pillow and pushed up enough to swallow some blissfully cool water while someone gently helped steady her. She’d been wrong yesterday; this was the best tasting water she’d ever had.

She drained the water and let her head fall back to the bed as the guiding hand took the bottle back. She tried to speak but all that came out was a croak.

“If that was thank you, you’re welcome.” A hand ran lightly over her hair, soothing, as lips pressed to her temple.

Beca nodded and fell back into sleep. She hoped she’d feel better when she woke up again. She’d figure out who the voice belonged to then. They were kind of awesome.

When Beca woke the second time, she felt much better, not hurting as much as before. She experimentally tried to stretch but her body still felt weighted down. She put a bit more force into it and that’s when she realized she was naked and not alone.

‘Ok, that’s not unusual.’

She flexed her legs from her hips to her toes to wake them up, then her arms from shoulder to fingers.

That’s about the time she realized Chloe was lying naked across her back. That also wasn’t unusual. She smiled sleepily as one hand twitched back to awkwardly caress a bare hip.

“Morning sleepyhead.”

Beca frowned, her eyes still closed. That was Chloe’s voice alright. But it didn’t come from above her.

She forced her eyes open and met the twinkling blue ones she loved more than music. Chloe was on the other side of the bed, lying on her side, one hand propping up her head. Fully dressed.

Except that shouldn’t be possible, because someone was definitely draped across her back. Naked. She could feel them breathing. She knew were naked, because she could feel two -

She managed to croak out a quiet “Oh god.” Chloe winked at her.

Then, to make matters truly worse, she heard Aubrey’s dry tone from behind her by the door. “Dirty bird.”

There was a voice in her ear. “Shhh.” A long arm stretched down and pushed its way between Beca and the mattress. “Sleep time, Bree.” Stacie wiggled around until she was on her side and used both her arms to scoop Beca into her chest to spoon her tightly under the sheet.

Beca’s eyes were wide open now, locked on her wife’s, who just smiled wider.

‘We’re both fucking naked. In The Expanse.’ Beca felt her word tip sideways and all she could do was stare at Chloe as she slipped into full panic. ‘Chloe is dressed. Bree is also probably dressed. Oh god. What did we do?’

“If you and my wife feel like it, I’ve got food over at our place.” Despite the pain in her head, Beca craned her neck around to try and look at Aubrey, but the angle was wrong. “That is, if you guys don’t want to have round two this morning.”

Beca’s mouth dropped and stayed there until she felt Chloe slide off the bed. “I got out clothes for you guys, they’re sitting on the dresser. There’s more water on your table.” She headed out the door with Aubrey.

Stacie’s arm tightened. “So much noise. Why so much talking.” She buried her face in Beca’s hair as she shifted her hips closer and tighter into Beca’s ass. “Wha… wait.” Beca felt Stacie lift her head and could only assume she was looking around. “Bree?”

Beca let her head fall back to her pillow and met Stacie’s still dazed and confused eyes. “Surprise?”

Moving slowly, Stacie unwound her arm from around Beca’s waist and pushed the sheets up enough to look down at their bodies. “Beca?”

“Yup. Heh.” Beca used the moment to slide to the edge of the bed.

“Why are we naked.” Stacie spoke slowly.

“Wish I knew.” Beca groaned as she sat up and pushed over to swing her legs over the side. “Almost as much as I wish I knew why my head hurts so much.” She slipped down to the floor and gingerly made her way to the dresser. She pulled on her underwear and shorts first before wrestling herself into the sports bra Chloe had set out. She turned with her tank in her hands.

Stacie was sitting up in bed, the sheets pooled around her waist, obviously not worried about her current state of undress beyond ‘how had this happened.’ “Becs. What… why are we- Where are…?”

That, at least, Beca could answer. She decided to leave out the color commentary though. “They’re over at your place. Aubrey made us breakfast.” A quick glance at the clock showed her it was almost noon. “Or, brunch, I guess. She didn’t really say more than ‘food’ before she and Chloe left.”

“They were here? While we were like that?” Stacie pushed herself to the edge of the bed. “Holy fuck, The Expanse is even bigger from the fucking middle.”

Beca froze with her shirt halfway over her head before pulling it down.

Stacie actually looked abashed. “That may have been a poor choice of words, considering the situation.”

“Uh.” Beca didn’t want to admit to it, but it was driving her nuts. “Stacie. What happened?”

Stacie groaned as she pulled herself to her feet. “I don’t remember. I take it you don’t either?”

Beca shook her head and immediately regretted it. She picked up the other stack of clothes and brought them over to the bed. “Nope. Not a second. Last thing I remember was Bruce singing a bad rendition of ‘I Will Always Love You.’”

Stacie made a face. “Oh. I wish I didn’t remember that instead.” She stood and pulled on the clothes. “Why do these fit me?”

“Because we had a clothing exchange the last time I pushed you in the pool when you slept over. ‘Packing a bag’ seemed stupid when we’ve got a million drawers.” They each had their own drawer and a few hangers in the other house, as well as their own toothbrush. It was just so much easier that way.

“Oh. Right.” Stacie picked up the bottle on her side of the table. “Did you give me ibuprofen?”

“No, it was one of them. I don’t know which, but they gave me some too. It helped, a bit.” Beca walked back over and grabbed the bottle left for her. “They are never going to let us live this down,” she said idly.

“Live what down? If I’m going to get dragged for something then I’d like to remember. Especially if it involves waking up naked in bed with someone other than my wife.” Stacie drained the last of her bottle, thankfully ignoring the scarlet color Beca was sure she just turned. “Let’s go eat and get it over with.”

They took turns using the bathroom before they stood side by side at the sink to clean up. Beca frowned. Her hair was a rat nest and took far longer than it should have to comb out. It didn’t help that each tug felt like it was pulling her brain out through her scalp. That’s when she noticed the large goose egg just beyond her hairline. “What. The. Fuck. Happened.”

Stacie peered at it. “Holy crap, B. I,” she frowned. “I hope I didn’t cause that.”

Beca gingerly felt the bump. “I’ll feel better once we know what the hell happened last night. I hope.”

They felt marginally better with freshly washed faces, combed hair and brushed teeth. They also liberally used Beca’s mouthwash to try and remove the dead animal taste before they tried to eat.

Foregoing shoes, they carefully made their way down the stairs and through the house to the back yard. Beca groaned. “Oh god, they’ve already cleaned up.”

Stacie started to shake her head and stopped, one hand on her forehead. “No, we tried to stay on top of it throughout the day. I do remember that.”

“Oh, right! Thank god. This would be much worse if they’d had to clean up both yards while we were passed out together.” Beca’s teeth clicked together as she tried to bite back the last bit before it slipped out. “Uh.”

“Yeah.” Stacie frowned. “Maybe.”

They both made their way into the kitchen and stopped just past the door.

“That took less time than I anticipated, honestly.” Chloe was just setting plates down for her and Aubrey and waved at the table. “Sit, I’ll get yours.”

“Yeah, you guys look like you’re going to fall over.” Aubrey looked them over. “But still, you look better than you did before I gave you the Advil.”

“That was you?” Beca slid into the chair across from Aubrey as she nodded. “Thank you, “ she breathed out, as heartfelt as anything she’d ever said.

Stacie leaned down, somewhat hesitantly, and went to kiss Aubrey’s cheek.

“What, my lips aren’t good enough for you anymore?” Aubrey’s voice was teasing and Beca felt herself relaxing.

“I… That’s not even funny, Bree.” Stacie scrunched up her nose and kissed her properly. “Not funny at all.”

Chloe set down a plate in front of Stacie then Beca who was relieved to see it was nothing heavier than a turkey sandwich and a salad. “I don’t know. I thought it was funny.” She put her hand on Beca’s shoulder. “This one didn’t even try to kiss me at all.”

Beca’s eyes went wide but before she could leap from her chair, Chloe had leaned down in front of her and captured her lips. Beca let herself sink back again once Chloe let her go. “Oops. Sorry, Chlo.”

“I imagine you’re both still a little…” Aubrey tilted her head from side to side, searching for the right word as she ate a forkful of salad. “Muddled.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Stacie took a bite of her sandwich and groaned softly. “Just the right amount of mayo.”

Chloe smiled from where she was ladling what smelled like chicken noodle soup into bowls. “You’re welcome.”

Beca took a bite from her sandwich finding it both exactly what she needed yet hard to swallow. She kept wondering three things: what had happened, was she about to get yelled at and, overall, how she really felt if what she thought happened had happened. Ultimately, she felt a bit like a dog creeping around with her tail between her legs, waiting to get swatted despite how… unconcerned they both seemed.

Chloe brought over the soup and finally sat down on Beca’s right, her left hand automatically going to rest on Beca’s thigh, like this was any normal lunch. So Beca tried to follow their lead and focused on filling her belly and hopefully soaking up any residual alcohol. Though she didn’t think that’s all that was twisting her stomach.

Stacie finally looked up after they’d mostly finished the meal. “Ok. What happened.” All three of them looked at her. “We - I can’t remember. I’ve tried. How the hell did I end up naked and spooning Beca.”

Beca felt her head sinking into her shoulders, waiting for the yelling. But then the opposite and absolutely last thing she would have expected happened.

Chloe and Aubrey started laughing. Hard enough that tears immediately started rolling down their cheeks and they had to hold onto the table to stay upright.

Beca and Stacie looked from each other to their wives and back, identical looks of bewilderment on their faces, which caused Chloe and Aubrey to laugh harder.

“Did…” Beca cleared her throat. “Did we break them?”

Stacie’s eyes were narrowed. “I’m not sure if I’m feeling better or worse here.”

Beca ignored the laughter beside her. “What do you mean?”

“Obviously we did something that they’re not mad about. Which means…” Stacie actually growled. “That we did something that I can’t remember. We can’t have done nothing, we were naked. And that pisses me off. Not only have I been thinking about what that might be like for years, I have never gotten so drunk that I don’t remember sex.” She sounded so offended and pissed off that Beca felt her lips twitch. Plus, she was a bit flattered that Stacie was that mad that she didn’t remember sex with Beca. And that she’d been thinking about it for years.

There was a loud clatter as Aubrey fell off her chair and rolled onto her side, laughing so hard she’d gone silent.

Beca whispered. “Holy fuck. We did break Bree.”

That’s when Chloe fell out of her chair.

It took a good five minutes for both women to calm down enough to be able to talk. Beca and Stacie had managed to get them up, still giggling, and into the living room. Now they sat, wedged between their wives, waiting them out.

Beca was starting to feel like Stacie, so torn between the infectious giggles they were feeding each other, and being annoyed that something had happened – something she’d maybe sort of finally been thinking about herself – between them and she couldn’t. Fucking. Remember.

Finally Aubrey let out a huge gasp and relaxed against the back of the couch. “Oh my god. That was fucking amazing.”

Beca blinked. Aubrey rarely swore. Her emotions swung back to nervous.

Chloe pulled Beca over and cuddled into her. “Totes.”

Stacie interrupted. “That’s great and all, but… ” She pointed between herself and Beca, “Still in the fucking dark here.”

Aubrey patted her arm and pulled her phone out of her pocket, causing Chloe to let out a couple hysterical giggles. “Beca, can you hook this up to the AppleTV?”

“Uh. Sure.” She gingerly stood and took the phone. She could barely do this without a hangover, even though it was like, only four button pushes, but she muddled her way through and handed the phone back to Aubrey. “You just have to hit play on whatever video you’re about to torture us with.”

“Oh. My. God.” Stacie breathed out, torn between admiration and shock. “You filmed it? Us? It?”

Beca had been in the act of sitting and felt her legs give out. “Holy fuck.” She immediately regretted her choice of words.

Aubrey only nodded. “Indeed.”

Chloe cleared her throat. “So. Uh.” Her voice quavered, “Saddle up.” She was shaking as she tried not to laugh. Aubrey did it for her, high and piercing before she clamped down on it and shook her head as she mouthed ‘Sorry’. “It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Chloe slapped her hand over her mouth to muffle the giggles she couldn’t hold back.

Stacie threw her arm around Aubrey and started laughing. “Oh my god. What the fu… Jesus. Ok. I’m good. Lessgo.”

Beca swallowed for what felt like the twentieth time since she woke up. “Uh. What she said.” She was relaxing though. Obviously whatever it was wasn’t bad if the two of them couldn’t stop laughing. In fact, Bree had tears running down her cheeks again as she found what she wanted and hit play with another burst of hysteria.

The video opened to a wavering shot that Beca eventually recognized as her own living room.

Chloe’s voice came from off camera. “Hurry, you’ll miss them!”

“You can’t rush art, Chlo!” Aubrey was obviously the one filming.

“You can if you’re missing the beginning!” Chloe came into view at the entry to the hall.

The camera wavered, and Beca felt a little ill at the motion, but she found herself forgetting that as voices came from ahead. Aubrey moved into the foyer and panned up to show Beca a few steps up and Stacie standing at the foot, allowing them to be more or less level with each other.

“I… Stace. Stacie. Stace. Staaaaaaaaaaacie.” Beca watched her drunk self pat her friend on the face. “I wanna know what it’s like to be you.”

Stacie snorted. “You are so drunk.”

DrunkStacie took hold of DrunkBeca’s arms. “But.. Becs.” She shook DrunkBeca lightly.

“Ooh, no. No shaking.” DrunkBeca’s cheeks ballooned out a little. “Bad things.”

“Oh. Right. Sorry.” DrunkStacie nodded until she remembered her earlier thought. It lasted a good thirty seconds. “But. Becs.” She leaned forward confidentially. “You’re already hot.”

Beca laughed. “HA! I’m not the only one trashed as fuck!”

Chloe shushed her. “You guys wanted to know, you have to watch.” Aubrey nodded. They both practically vibrated with their failed attempts to stop laughing.

Stacie and Beca looked at each other and said “Yes, dears.”

DrunkBeca shook her head then winced. “Oooh. Bad move. No no, that’s not.” She grabbed DrunkStacie’s face and pulled her close. “I wanna know what it’s like to be talllllllll.”

DrunkAubrey panned over to DrunkChloe, who was using the wall to hold herself up as she laughed. “Shhh. They might stop.”

DrunkChloe shook her head. “Oh no, when Beca’s this far gone, not much will deter her from whatever goal she has in mind.” DrunkChloe leered. “That’s usually trying to find the fastest way into my pants. I kinda like that about her.” Then she winked. “Gets my motor going. And I think you all know what I mean.” She clicked her tongue.

DrunkAubrey laughed. “That’s my line.”

DrunkChloe waved dismissively. “Yeah but you use it after you quote your dad and no one ever understands what your dad means. I just make sex jokes when I say it, so everyone does know what Iiiiiii mean.”

Stacie laughed. “She’s got you there, Babe.” Her attention jerked back to the screen when she heard her voice get louder.

“Beca, that’s… That’s so cuuuuuuuute.” The camera wavered back to the two of them. “Of course I’ll help you be tall!” DrunkStacie turned her back to DrunkBeca. “Hop on!”

Beca found she was holding her breath as she watched her drunk ass try to climb onto Stacie’s back. “There’s way too much air gap between you two, idiot.”

Chloe, who had covered her mouth again, pulled her hand away long enough to say, “Did you just call yourself an idiot?” She put her hand back, eyes wide.

Beca frowned. “What? No, I called…” She pointed at the screen. “Oh.”

She watched as DrunkStacie finally figured out that was never going to work and leaned back to make it a bit easier. DrunkChloe stepped forward, hands out and ready to catch or balance anyone if they started to totter.

Beca watched, fascinated despite the slight embarrassment she was feeling, as she basically jumped onto Stacie’s back so their heads were almost even – with this positioning, DrunkBeca was actually a bit taller. Her arms went around DrunkStacie’s shoulders while her legs went around her waist. Beca was relieved to see DrunkStacie grab underneath her knees to keep her from slipping.

DrunkBeca looked around. “Duuuuuude. Everything is so tiny from up here! How do you avoid stepping on anyone!?”

DrunkStacie took a step forward. “Like this.”

“Woah! Fuck! Slow the fuck down, Gigantor.” DrunkBeca pulled on her shoulders. “Dude. I’m not used to this. Go slow with me, fuck.”

Giggles from both DrunkAubrey and DrunkChloe echoed from off camera before DrunkAubrey’s voice very clearly said “That’s what I said the first time too.” More giggling. “Except I used ‘fuck’ more. Then I asked her to go faster. Much faster. And I’m sure you know what I mean this time.”

Beca looked at Aubrey, mouthing ‘Oh my god’ before looking back at the TV. Aubrey’s face, and Chloe’s for that matter, was contorted and red as they tried desperately to muffle their giggles.

DrunkChloe’s impressed voice layered over DrunkStacie carefully taking another step forward. “Oooh. Stacie is really rubbing off on you, Bree.”

DrunkStacie spun toward them - causing DrunkBeca to let out a screech of terror as she leaned backward with the movement like spinning the Tea Cups at Disneyland - and winked. “Every chance I get.”

DrunkBeca wrapped her arms around DrunkStacie’s head, “DUDE! WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED!?” She gulped for breath. “I’m dying! Help, I think I’m dying! I see spots again, oh god is it because we’re so high and there’s not enough oxygen?!”

Beca buried her face in her hands. “Oh my god. Please kill me now.”

Chloe and Aubrey gave up and covered their mouths with pillows as they continued to laugh, completely unable to stop.

Stacie shook her head. “No way. If I gotta live through this, so do you.”

“Easy for you to say, you’re not watching yourself relive a bear trap.” Beca ignored the literal scream of laughter that Aubrey let out on the other side of the couch.

DrunkStacie let out a yelp, “I’m blind!” Her hands shot out like she was going to run into something while standing still.

“Oh no! What happened?!” DrunkBeca leaned forward, slipping her arms down around DrunkStacie’s neck.

“Oh. No. Must’ve just blacked out for a sec.” DrunkStacie nodded. “I’m good. You good?”

“Dude. Let’s get the show on the road!” DrunkBeca kicked her legs a bit.

“I’m not a horse, Beca.” DrunkStacie sounded insulted.

“But…” DrunkBeca waved a hand at the floor. “Legs!”

DrunkAubrey moved backward as DrunkStacie stepped forward, catching the edges of DrunkChloe standing up and following behind.

“Is it everything you imagined?” DrunkStacie turned to look over her shoulder.

DrunkBeca shrugged. “Eh. I thought you’d be taller.”

Beca let out a bark of laughter. “And Jesse said that line was never used in real life!”

Chloe fell over on her side, clutching her stomach with one hand. “Oh, I can’t. It hurts. Oh my god.”

Aubrey looked over. “And there’s so much more to go.” Her voice sounded like she was holding her breath just to get the words out.

Beca and Stacie exchanged a look before looking back to the TV in time to watch DrunkStacie bounce off the door jamb out of the living room.

DrunkBeca flipped it off. “Dude. That thing just jumped out and tried to trip you.”

DrunkStacie glared at it. “What a dick.”

“Where do you think we’re going?” Beca asked idly.

Stacie shrugged. “Hell, probably.”

DrunkAubrey followed them, and, Beca was pleased to point out, bounced off the same frame they had. DrunkChloe laughed until there was a small thud and an unbelievably adorable ‘Damnit, it got us all!’ from off camera.

Then DrunkBeca’s head bounced off the light hanging in the kitchen.

Beca winced. “Well. That explains the goose egg.”

Stacie whistled. “Shit, it was my fault. I’m sorry, B.”

Beca shrugged and pointed at the screen. “Well, drunk me obviously didn’t see it. She just apologized for running into it.”

Chloe sat up, calming slightly in her worry. “Oh, babe. I didn’t even check.”

“I can tell, drunk you just fell over laughing. You probably got bruises from all that, yourself.”

“A few.” Chloe smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.” She kissed Beca on the cheek.

“Forgiven.” Beca reached over and squeeze Chloe’s hand.

“Hey.” Beca looked up at her drunken slurring voice. “Hey! I got an idea.”

DrunkStacie came to a stop by the dining room table. “Wha’sat?”

DrunkBeca leaned down and whispered loud enough for the neighbors to hear. “I bet you can't buck me off your back like a bronco."

DrunkChloe immediately started singing "Pony" by Ginuwine and grinding her hips as she danced into the frame.

Beca sat up. This sounded… Bad. Well, not Chloe; she looked and sounded hot, as always. And while she made a mental note to have Chloe sing it for her at a future date, Beca couldn't really spare the time to think about that right now.

Stacie muttered a quiet “Oh shit.”

DrunkStacie thought about it for a whole two seconds. “Deal.”

DrunkBeca cheered. “C’mon Bucky, let’s see what you can do.”

Beca frowned. “Bucky?”

DrunkChloe broke off singing and echoed her question. “Why Bucky?” DrunkAubrey immediately picked up singing where Chloe had left off.

The way DrunkAubrey was singing was highly suggestive and made Beca shift subtly on the couch. She looked away from the screen for a second and saw that Stacie had goosebumps. Beca couldn’t stop herself from leaning a little closer to her and whispering "Is that how she sounds around you when you guys are... um... alone?"

But her voice wasn't quiet enough with the sharp ears around her and it was Aubrey who answered. "Wouldn't you like to know. Wait – hold that thought for just a second." Chloe let out another soft burst of giggles.

Stacie only winked at her as Beca frowned and looked back at the TV.

DrunkBeca shrugged. “Seems like a good horse name.”

“Oh.” DrunkStacie looked like she was ready to burst into action when DrunkAubrey’s voice froze everyone as her singing abruptly ended. Which Beca was really kind of happy about, because Stacie actually was Aubrey’s ‘pony’ which made it all the more evocative and distracting.

“WAIT!” It was a voice that had stopped many a Bella in their tracks and Beca snapped her attention back to the TV by pure reflex. “Take this outside into the grass.”

DrunkBeca swayed and pushed until DrunkStacie got the idea and turned to face the camera. “Bree.” DrunkBeca’s tone was the overly patient ‘explaining to an idiot’ that only the truly intoxicated could get. “Stacie’s not a real horse. She doesn’t eat graassss.” She paused and an extremely dirty leer passed over her face.

Beca felt herself flush. She knew that look and it meant she was thinking something truly filthy. She had half a second where she hoped she wouldn’t say it, though she knew it was futile. DrunkBeca totally had a word vomit problem and Beca hated it.

But to her surprise, DrunkAubrey was the one who finished what Beca was likely thinking. “I know that, Beca.” It was the same syrup sweet voice she’d used at the retreat. “She eats me.” The satisfaction in her tone practically dripped through the TV.

Beca fell back against the couch and laughed. “Ok, that was almost worth the price of admission.”

“Bree!” Stacie’s voice was full of laughter. “I’m so mad at myself that I don’t remember this! But I love you two so much for your drunken evil genius in filming it.”

Aubrey held up a finger. “Just wait.”

DrunkBeca’s face was still leering. “I’d like to see that.”

Beca felt all the color drain out of her face. “I… oh.”

Stacie nodded, grinning. “Oh.”

Chloe spoke up. “Wait.”

DrunkAubrey replied, “Maybe if you play your cards right.”

DrunkBeca yelled, “Hot damn!”

Beca flushed. “Oh my god.”

“Are we praying now?” Stacie’s voice was light. “Because this is like my prayers are answered.” She looked around as they all stared at her. “What?”

DrunkStacie crouched down to go through the back door that DrunkChloe had opened. But she didn’t crouch enough and DrunkBeca had gone higher instead of lower and her forehead skimmed off the edge of the frame.

“Fuck. Again?” Beca’s fingers gingerly traced the knot on her head.

“Sorry.” Stacie patted her knee.

“Me too.” Chloe kissed her cheek again.

Once everyone was in the backyard they’d decreed DrunkChloe to be the official time keeper and moved into the grass by the pool. Suddenly the camera lowered, like DrunkAubrey had fallen, and the angle was crooked.

DrunkChloe dropped her arms and looked over. “Bree. What are you doing?”

DrunkAubrey answered like the reason should be obvious. “Artistic framing, Chloe. Duh.”

Beca swallowed her giggle. “I didn’t know you had filmmaker aspirations, Bree.”

Aubrey shrugged. “Stacie keeps telling me I need a hobby.”

“Oh.” DrunkChloe turned back to the drunken rodeo. “You guys ready?”

DrunkStacie nodded, “Yup. Hold on tight, 8 Seconds!”

DrunkBeca threw both her hands in the air. “Wait!” When she started to fall backward DrunkStacie leaned forward to counter balance her. “I said WAIT, Bucky! Shit!”

DrunkChloe began to tap her foot. “Well?”

DrunkBeca started to wrestle with her shirt. “This needs to come off.”

DrunkAubrey moved to a different angle, but still low and ‘artistic’. “Why?”

“Skin to skin contact, duh.” DrunkBeca finally got her shirt off and waved it over her head. “Makes it better.” She seemed oblivious to the fact that Stacie’s shirt was still on.

DrunkChloe sounded confused. “A rodeo?”

“Everything.” DrunkBeca’s voice was dead serious as she nodded.

Beca rolled her eyes. “Oh my god.” She needed to come up with something else to say, but her brain was skipping the tracks. This was just… embarrassing. But Jesus fuck was it hysterical.

“Ok. Whatever.” DrunkChloe’s arms came up. “Ok. You ready?”

DrunkBeca waved her shirt over her head. “Ready!”

DrunkStacie braced herself. “Ok, hold on, 8 Seconds –“

DrunkBeca leaned down and whispered in her ear. “You already said that, Bucky.”

“Shut up.” DrunkStacie cleared her throat. “I’m going to give you the ride of your life that doesn’t involve… uh…”

DrunkAubrey supplied, “A bed?”

DrunkStacie nodded, “Sure, that too.”

DrunkChloe shouted “GO!”

DrunkAubrey tsked. “Not even a countdown, Chlo? It’s like you’ve forgotten everything.”

Beca watched, fascinated, as DrunkStacie took off around the yard, her arms still wrapped around DrunkBeca’s legs so there was no chance she was going to fall off anyway. As DrunkBeca continued to wave her shirt over her head, whooping and hollering, Beca knew she was going to have to apologize to the neighbors at the next meeting.

DrunkAubrey had moved to the side, continuing to find the best ‘artistic angle’ as DrunkChloe shouted encouragement to DrunkBeca. “That’s my girl, ride ‘em cowboy!”

Then the angle changed and the pool came into view.

Beca tensed, though she knew, obviously, that she hadn’t cracked her head open on the concrete.

DrunkStacie tried to cut the corner but DrunkBeca’s weight threw her normally perfect balance off.

Beca’s head tilted in sync with DrunkStacie’s entire body on the screen.

DrunkAubrey scrambled to her feet, causing the worst shaky cam in cinematic history, just as there were twin screams and a giant splash.

DrunkChloe’s voice filtered in from offscreen with a quiet, “Ah shit.”

The video went black.

Beca and Stacie sat in silence, staring at the screen. Chloe and Bree had exhausted themselves and were sprawled on the couch on either side of them like limp ragdolls.

“We didn’t have sex.” Stacie didn’t pose it as a question.

Aubrey bit her lip. “Nope.”

“Then how did we end up naked in bed together?” Beca was still running her fingers over the lump on her head.

Chloe cleared her throat and nodded at Bree. “There’s one more… tiny…”

Aubrey scrolled over and hit play.

Beca sighed. Eventually this had to end, right?

The camera started out focused on the dresser in Beca’s room. “Bree, I don’t know if I’m doing this right.” DrunkChloe was apparently filming this time.

“Kinda got my hands full here, Chlo.” DrunkAubrey’s voice sounded strained. And annoyed. “Why. Are. You. So. Squirmy!” There were some rustling sounds that Beca couldn’t quite place. “Stacie was easier to deal with and she’s all limbs!”

DrunkBeca’s voice crooned out of the speakers as the camera slowly panned over to the bed. “Bree. Aubs. Aubreeeeeeey. Breeeeeeeeeeee.” There was a drunken giggle. “You have the warmest, softest heart. I love you so much. You and Stace. Staubreeeeeeey.” She added, almost as an afterthought, “After my girl, of course.” She sighed gustily. “She’s the best.”

There was a pause before DrunkAubrey answered. “You’re sweet, Becs. But, those aren’t my heart.”

DrunkChloe stifled her giggles as the camera shook, pausing on a section of floor that looked like it had Stacie’s wet clothes and part of Beca’s on it.

DrunkStacie let out a peal of giggles. “Boooooooooooooobs. Bree has the bestest boooooobs.”

The camera finally focused on the bed where DrunkBeca’s shirt was off and DrunkAubrey looked like she was trying to wrestle off her wet skinny jeans. Beca was mortified to see she had her hands on DrunkAubrey’s chest and was smiling blissfully at her. DrunkStacie was lying in her wet underwear on the bed beside her.

DrunkBeca sighed wistfully. “Boobs. I’m a boob man.” She jiggled DrunkAubrey’s chest, paused, and then cracked up as she did it again.

DrunkStacie rolled her head to the side and reached out one hand and poked DrunkBeca in the boobs. “Booooooobs.” She poked again. “You’ve got great boobs too, B.” She turned her head the other way and looked at the camera. Or, more accurately, below. “And Chlo. You’ve got great boobs too.” She sighed lustfully. “I’m surrounded by great boobs.” She looked down and groped herself. “Including mine.”

DrunkAubrey stared blandly at her. “I’m so glad you’re amused with yourselves.”

Beca’s mouth dropped open but nothing came out. She was officially beyond speech.

DrunkAubrey looked over. “Chlo. I think I’m going to need your help getting Beca’s pants off and both of them into dry clothes.”

DrunkChloe jerked and it shook the camera. “Oh. Right.”

Once again the screen faded to black.

Beca exhaled and decided to ignore the fact that she’d full on groped Aubrey. “Actually, that didn’t answer all of it.”

“Well,” Chloe cleared her throat. “I helped Bree get you out of the rest of your wet clothes, because I was not buying a new mattress for The Expanse because your swim ruined it.”

Aubrey took over. “And by the time we’d turned around with your pj’s, Beca was scrambling up the bed like a spider monkey and worming her way under the covers, complaining that she was ‘cold now.’” Aubrey paused. “At the top of her lungs.”

Stacie just raised her eyebrow.

“You, being the good friend you are, told her you’d keep her warm. With your boobs.” Aubrey turned and smiled at Beca serenely, which Beca in no way trusted. “And you - you said she was like a furnace with breasts just before you passed out.”

“Aw. You love me.” Beca choked on a laugh as she shoulder bumped Stacie and let out a sigh of relief. “So… there was no… uh.”

Chloe looked at her. “You should definitely be able to say ‘sex’ by now, Beca.”

“Right, whatever.” She waved her hand in the air. “That.”

Aubrey shook her head. “Nope, no sex.”

“Thank god.” Stacie exhaled loudly. When Beca’s head jerked up she raised her hands. “You have no idea how mad I was that I didn’t remember if we’d had sex.” She looked past Beca and threw a pillow at Chloe. “Jerk, you let me think I banged your wife and couldn’t remember.”

Chloe looked offended. “Just my wife?”

“She was the only one with their bare ass in my junk when I woke up, so yeah.”

Beca spoke up. “Which leads us to: What about you two? Where’d you sleep?”

Chloe shook her head. “Oh, we totally just changed and crawled into bed after you. It was like 3am by the time we all crashed. I was exhausted.”

Stacie perked up. “Oh. We made an early night of it? I mean, compared to last year."

Aubrey nodded. “We’d been up maybe an hour before you, and I gave you the ibuprofen to try and stave off the worst of the headache.” She looked over at Beca apologetically. “You might be kinda doomed, though, with your head.”

Beca shrugged. “It’s actually kind of fading. Could just be I can’t feel it under the layer of embarrassment.”

Chloe kissed her cheek. “I still love you.”

Stacie kissed the other. “Me too.” She did it again. “Bree too.”

“Alright, alright.” Beca slapped at Stacie. “You already had your feel.”

Stacie gasped, spinning to Aubrey. “Did she do the thing?”

Aubrey sighed and made a face. “I owe you twenty yellow.”

“Yes!” Chloe pumped her arm.

“Oh god, we’re still missing something?” Beca groaned. “I can’t take much more of these reveals.”

Chloe was smug. “I bet Aubrey that Stace would ask if you did your sleep groping.”

“Oh my...” Beca closed her eyes and prayed for the couch to swallow her.

Aubrey said, “She totally did.”

“Ha!” Stacie laughed. “And I was naked this time!”

Beca threw out, “Yeah, but you don’t remember it.”

Stacie frowned. “Oh. Shit.”

Beca looked over at Aubrey. “Hey, Aubs?” Maybe she could redeem herself here…

“Yes?”

“So, is it?”

Aubrey’s entire face seemed to frown in confusion. “Is… what… what?”

Beca’s voice was completely blank. “Was that your sex voice?” She truly hoped how much she wanted to know that answer didn’t show. If it did, it could cause her attempt to pay Aubrey back for putting them through all that to backfire.

But to her immense relief Aubrey turned bright red and thumped Stacie’s leg when the brunette opened her mouth. “Don’t encourage her, Stace.”

Stacie pouted. “Aw, but it’s fun!”

Beca sat quietly for a bit, letting the others continue to joke around her. She took careful stock of her body and decided that she actually wasn’t that bad off, it must have been the uncertainty of what had happened the night before that had really been making her feel like crap. Now that she knew nothing actually had, she felt more like herself. Which meant she was rapidly descending into the gutter where she normally lived but didn’t normally indulge in.

‘Until lately, I suppose.’ Now it seemed to be her default setting and Naked Stacie and Sex Voice Aubrey certainly hadn’t helped things this morning.

Her mind unexpectedly returned to what she’d been feeling during karaoke the night before. She had been relatively sober then so every thought, every flicker of desire was there the moment she landed on the memory.

After a few minutes, Beca felt Chloe’s eyes on her and looked over. Beca knew she had defaulted to her less severe resting bitch face of neutrality, but Chloe always was able see through it. Beca flushed when Chloe gave her a knowing grin before turning back to her conversation with Aubrey.

Beca took a deep breath as an idea thread its way through her mind.

Tuning back into the room, she realized Aubrey and Chloe were discussing what they would do for dinner, and Stacie was opting for pizza because it was easy and there were no dishes to do afterward.

“Why don’t we go back home and all of us can freshen up. I, for one, still feel like I need a shower. And maybe a short nap.” Chloe ran a hand through her hair. “We can order pizza and you guys can come over. Say like, 2 hours? 3?”

Beca cleared her throat, wondering if she dared, but what came out of her mouth was “We can watch a movie or something.” They were never going to believe she meant that. Like, at all.

The room fell silent and she could feel them all staring at her.

“Like, on demand. I’m sure there’s something I’ll wanna watch.” She hoped they didn’t notice her breath hitch in her throat when she said it. She hadn’t meant it that way, but her mind had dropped into the gutter like Stacie into the pool.

“Sounds good, B.” Stacie slapped her on the leg. “We’ll make a movie fan out of you yet.”

“I’ve been trying for yeaaaaaars.” Chloe rose to her feet. “Good luck.”

“I think I can convert her.” Stacie sounded confident, and maybe not like she was talking about movies anymore.

“Stacie can wear anyone down, eventually.” Aubrey’s gaze slipped over Beca and she knew Bree wasn’t talking about movies.

“One can only hope.” And Beca, who knew every inflection of Chloe’s voice, had the last confirmation she needed.

Or Beca was under the influence of a concussion and they were just talking about hanging out. In all their clothing.

They said their goodbyes and walked across to their house, Chloe’s hand warm and secure in her own.

‘Now time to see if I can put my money where my mouth is. Oh Beca, don’t start thinking about putting your mouth places.’

Chloe squeezed her fingers and smiled.

‘Oh boy.’

#bechloe fanfiction #bechloe #staubrey #bellas squared #wlw #beca mitchell #chloe beale #aubrey posen #stacie conrad #anna kendrick #brittany snow #anna camp #alexis knapp #stechlobree #Pitch Perfect #bechloe fluff #staubrey fluff #Nowish #A Shared Lifetime

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negans-network · 7 years

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Pull My Hair Part 5 - Introspection and Conversations

Summary: For @flames-bring-a-ton-of-ash and her 2nd Negan Writing Challenge, this is for the hair-pulling kink prompt introducing OFC Susan.

Word Count: 6429 (Sorry, I got carried away)

Warnings: Foul language, Sexual References, Slight Gore, Depressing Thoughts

Author: @genevievedarcygranger

Author’s Note: Sorry for the delay and lack of smut! I always over-do everything and I’m fully fleshing this out even though it’s a smut prompt.

As Dwight and Susan travelled further into the factory, Susan’s escape plan started to be fully formed. Sure, she had her doubts because it felt like she was wandering a catacomb, but Susan was smart and good with directions. That was one of her best skills when she was out in the world trying to survive, because she only got lost twice, and once was when she was ill and the other was when she was starting to go crazy. For the Sanctuary, she could make a mental-map easily enough.

Besides, Susan was very interested in what all this community could offer. This building used to be a factory, and as she passed by some rooms she saw that there was a locker room offering showers. This must have been a chemical or industrious factory to offer that. There were several closed doors marked with numbers, and Susan thought briefly of the red 6 on her own bedroom door. She doubted that these rooms were for the common workers, they probably belonged to the Saviors as part of their perks for the job. It was quiet for the most part, the place smelling of cleaning supplies, a pleasant smell compared to the usual rot and smell of bodies Susan was used to on the outside.

Further in they travelled, and Susan started to lag behind, her heels hindering her progress. She was forced to walk slower or risk tumbling down with a sprained ankle. Dwight didn’t notice, and Susan didn’t say anything, not wanted to come off as a whiner. Thankfully, so far, she hasn’t tripped, though she was starting to miss her old, reliable boots more and more each time she heard her loud heels click-clack on the tiled floor. Her heavy backpack was also slowing her down, but Susan was used to carrying this much normally, so she wasn’t about to complain about that either.

Eventually Dwight slowed down his pace and stopped in front of a door. He looked back at Susan, and waited with a bored look on her face for her to catch up to him. Once she was close enough, Dwight explained, “This is my room, you can just wait outside right here.”

Susan nodded her understanding, and Dwight slipped inside his room. He left the door open, though, and Susan hovered at the threshold. She knew it wouldn’t exactly be wise for her to be in Dwight’s room; and just like earlier where he gave her respectful space by waiting outside her room, she was going to be pay him the same courtesy. Still, she was going to look around his room.

It was interesting, everything he had compiled in there. The room was cozy, with a full-sized bed and cabinets, there was even a fridge. Susan’s beliefs that the Saviors stole furniture from a Rooms-To-Go was starting to solidify in her mind. This furniture wasn’t the cheap kind one could buy from a Walmart or Target and assemble on their own. She noted with interest the mounted bass fish on his wall, something she didn’t think Dwight – or anyone with taste really – would decorate a room with. But she supposed that in the apocalypse, one couldn’t exactly be picky. Dwight had a TV with a VCR, and Susan couldn’t remember the last time she used one of those – probably in elementary school to watch Bill Nye for their science lesson. Out of everything in the room, though, one of the most surprising items had to be the chess board with hand-carved pieces. It was quaint, and Susan was beginning to think that Dwight had hidden talents. He was someone she should watch out for.

While Susan swept her gaze curiously around his room, Dwight had stuck his beer in the fridge and shoved his bag of pretzels in the back of one of his cabinets behind an unopened jar of peanut butter. Once he finished with that, he looked back at Susan, catching her guilty start for looking around his room. He didn’t comment, though, having expected her to snoop. “Let’s go.”

Wordlessly, Susan nodded, but just as she pulled away from the doorframe, she heard a scrape and the definite sound of heavy footfalls from boots. The sound echoed down the hallways, so the origin was hard to tell what direction exactly it was coming from. Dwight’s eyes widened and he frantically pushed Susan out of the door way and slammed his door shut behind him as he stepped out. “Just stay right here, and don’t say anything.”

Bewildered, Susan watched as Dwight collected himself again. Part of her was shocked because that was the first-time Dwight had laid his hands on her. He did it quickly, not too rough, but Susan was under the impression that touching a wife was a definite no-no. If anything, Susan expected him to drag her inside his bedroom to hide; but again, if they were found that way, people might get the wrong ideas. Dwight was taking a risk just being around her, even if it was under Negan’s orders. She had so many questions, but he told her not to speak. Susan had no idea of what exactly to expect. So, when the origin of the noise finally rounded the corner, Susan could do little else but gasp in both shock and horror.

Four men were dragging an unconscious man, bloody and obviously beaten, brown hair greasy and long. He wore a filthy sweatshirt with matching pants, the color once gray but now brown with grime and – orange from paint? The four men each had him by one of his limbs, but despite that his knees and part of his body still scraped the floor, leaving a trail of blood. The man wasn’t dead or surely, they would have stabbed him through the brain by now. No, no, why go through all the trouble unless he was the prisoner. Susan suddenly realized that this was Daryl, and he must have been brutally punished for trying to escape. Even though, it seemed like they made it deliberately easy for him to escape. It was a test.

As the men passed, Susan avoided eye-contact with all of them in favor of looking at Dwight in question. Dwight in turn avoided eye-contact with her, his gaze riveted on the prisoner Daryl, his look flat. He didn’t seem surprised at the treatment at all, and Susan could almost swear that Dwight looked … sympathetic? Pitying? “Let’s go, Susan.”

Surprisingly, Dwight started after the men, and with no other choice Susan was forced to follow, stepping carefully around the fresh red blood trail they carelessly left in their wake. Her heels and Dwight’s own footsteps joined the scraping sound and the clatter of their boots. None of the men were speaking, huffing and puffing. They reached a door with a crude piece of paper attached. Susan tried to read the paper – ‘Dipshit Training Center’ – but then they ripped open the door and tossed the man inside. Susan coughed, the smell of feces, vomit, and urine over-powering her once the door was open, but the men, gagging too, quickly (thankfully) shut the door, pushing the button on the handle to lock it afterwards.

That seemed to be that, and three men dispersed. One of the men, a black guy, stayed. “What are you doing with the new wife, Dwight?”

A little annoyed that he asked Dwight rather than herself, Susan spoke up, “He’s taking me to the laundry. And my name is Susan.”

The man had the audacity to look Susan up and down, uninterested, before turning back to Dwight. “She didn’t need to see this,” he continued to talk about her like she wasn’t there.

“But I do,” Dwight argued, stepping toe to toe with the man. “He’s my prisoner, Gary. Negan gave him to me to break.” Despite Gary being taller, Dwight tilted his chin, unintimidated.

“Negan may have assigned you to the prisoner, but we were the ones to beat the shit out of him – under Negan’s commands. Negan planned his escape Dwight. Clearly you aren’t watching him closely, because you didn’t notice he was missing.” There was biting silence as the two men exchanged glares. Gary’s voice dripped dangerously lower as he continued, “You aren’t breaking him well enough for Negan’s tastes. Take it up with Negan if you have a problem, but I’m following orders.” With that, Gary muscled past Dwight, following after the other men.

At a loss, Susan watched as Dwight took a deep breath in. He glowered at Gary’s retreating figure and then the cell door for moment, before walking away quickly. “Stay right there,” Dwight called back over his shoulder before he disappeared into a nearby room. Susan awkwardly stood there for a moment, nervously eyeing the door. There were going to break that man, but why? What could possibly be the reason for his punishment?

Glancing to see if Dwight was coming back, Susan took a step toward the cell door, holding her breath out of fear just as much as to avoid inhaling the rank smell. She carefully pressed an ear to the door, listening closely. Nothing could be heard at first. Then there was a blast of obnoxious music.

“We’re on Easy Street,

And it feels so sweet,

‘Cause the world is 'but a treat,

When you’re on Easy Street.”

Immediately, Susan yanked herself away from the door as if it burned her, and she nearly collapsed into Dwight. He just gave her a dirty look before he double-checked to see if the door was locked. “I thought I told you to stay right there.”

“You did, but you didn’t say I couldn’t touch anything,” Susan countered, trying to calm her racing heart, “I didn’t go anywhere, D. I did just as you asked.”

“No, you didn’t. I told you not to say anything,” Dwight was outright glaring at her now before he rapidly walked away from her.

“I didn’t want you to get in trouble, and I wanted to be treated with respect. I may be some trophy wife, but that still makes me human. I’m not a thing to flaunt and objectify for the male gaze,” She spouted the feminist manifesto she hadn’t had to use since college in order to keep the frat boys off her ass like the pesky flies they were. Hitching up her backpack and smoothing down her dress, Susan carefully followed on her wobbly heels, not able to go as fast as she wanted without fear of snapping an ankle every time she wavered for a moment, off-balanced. She tossed one glance back toward the door, catching the too-upbeat lyrics as they rounded a corner, leaving.

“Yeah, we got a front row seat,

Oh, to a life that can’t be beat,

Right here on Easy Street.”

Dwight only snorted at her rant, but otherwise didn’t argue with her further. He was back to giving her the silent treatment instead, ignoring how she was once again falling behind. Maybe, Susan’s words expressing her concern about not getting him into trouble really touched him in some way. He made it hard to tell, though.

They lapsed into silence, but Susan found that unlike before, she couldn’t stand it. She had too many burning questions bubbling up inside her throat, begging to come out. So, she asked one. “What did he do to be treated that way?”

Turning to look at her, Dwight’s scarred face and green eyes didn’t reveal anything that he was feeling. Again, Susan was struck by how hard he was to read sometimes whereas other times she could clearly see the invisible weight of – something – of the world he carried on his scrawny shoulders. He surprised Susan when he started to explain, “He was part of a group. They killed a lot of us. So we killed two of theirs – an example. It was originally just supposed to be one, but Daryl, the prisoner, he acted out. Negan warned them not to, but he did it anyway. So, Negan killed another. But he admired Daryl’s anger, so much he decided he would become a Savior. But Daryl is stubborn. We have to break him first.”

Thinking it over, Susan now found another reason she didn’t stay in communities. Group dynamics with other groups never went well as there is a constant competition for supplies, a battle for territory. It’s like the animal kingdom again. “And Daryl’s group?”

“They collect supplies for us now, and in exchange we offer protection.”

“You mean in exchange you don’t kill them all,” Susan clarified, going straight to the point, the truth, the heart of the matter whatever it was – part of her was baffled about why she was asking. Sure, her curiosity was rampant, but why should she even care so much when she isn’t involved?

“No, Negan believes life is precious, a valuable resource. It’s a commodity. We do protect them.” Dwight looks surprised by his own words, and he touches the side of his face that’s burned before he yanks his hand away.

Of course, Susan caught the movement out of the corner of her eye. Though Tanya and Frankie told her that Dwight was threatened with death, it seems like death wasn’t Negan’s first choice anyway since Dwight was branded. Unless, Negan was going to execute him through fire rather than through Lucille. Instead of choosing to comment on the burn, Susan pushed, “Like the mafia offers protection?”

But Dwight only shook his head at her. “No. I’m serious. People are a resource.” It’s like he’s quoting Negan directly, reciting some kind of community motto, but Susan is still unsure about the matter. However, she drops it, not wanting to argue with him any further before he gets really mad at her. They continue to walk, now in silence.

Soon Dwight was pushing open a door that led to the outside, and Susan had to squint into the sun, blinking rapidly so her eyes would adjust to the light. As she stepped outside, the heavy door slamming behind her, Susan’s skin warmed up and she remembered what it was like to be out here again. Instinctively, she tensed up, catching the smell of rot that signaled the Dead, and when she caught sight of them wandering the perimeter outside the fence, she only marginally relaxed. She caught another smell – soap – and spotted what the Sanctuary considered its laundry service.

There were several workers washing clothes and sheets in storage tubs, filled to the brim with water and soap. They had actual washboards and brushes, and behind them a few more workers were hanging the freshly washed clothes on laundry lines with clothes pins. The more laundry they hanged, the less of the Dead that were visible. Despite Dwight stepping outside with Susan, the workers kept their heads down and continued washing. The scrape of their brushes and the splashing of water couldn’t drown out the never-ending groans of the Dead just beyond the fence, though.

It seemed like an oppressing job, if only for the reminder that while the Sanctuary was exactly that – a sanctuary from the Dead – they were still trapped here, working endlessly. Again, though, Susan had to remind herself that it was better to be a prisoner here, in some sense at least (not like Daryl, though), than to be surviving out there. Out there, there was no assurance for anything, food or life itself. Out there, one was only biding time before death would come. Still, Susan knew that she would be going out there again soon. Nothing could change her mind about that. She’d rather take her chances and die out there no matter what because… because… Susan tried to remember her reasoning.

Because inside, in a community, connections to people would be formed and her allegiances would shift and instead of dying on her own terms she’d throw her life away in an instant trying to save someone else who would only die later. Being part of a community was pointless. They were all going to die anyway. Why die for these people? None of them meant anything. Not the workers, not the Saviors, not the prisoner, not Dwight, not even Negan.

Negan.

Inevitably, Susan’s mind turned to him. What could compel this man to create the Sanctuary and bring in these people? Sure, he lived like a king, complete with a harem and everything, but why bother support others? Susan couldn’t see the appeal of owing anyone anything, be it providing service or protection. On top of that, why would he shoulder the protection of other communities? Here, he would know and grow close to some of these people, care about them. But other people? They could be monsters. Like Daryl’s group that killed many of the Saviors. Why bother protecting them when they could get revenge? Seems like they had enough power to subjugate them. Negan was a mystery.

“Susan,” Dwight’s voice broke into her reverie. Susan blinked and looked at him, eyebrows raised in question. Dwight stared at her hard in return. “It’s okay. They can’t get to you.”

At first, Susan was confused, wondering if Dwight was saying something meaningful, saying that no one will matter to her. Then she realized that he was talking about the Dead, reassuring her that she was safe. It was sweet of him, but Susan could handle herself. “Yeah,” she numbly replied, at a loss for anything else to say. It’s not like she could explain what she was thinking. She herself barely understood it as it was.

“Well, we’re here. Give them the laundry, and then we’ll go.” Dwight impatiently shifted from foot to foot, motioning towards the workers. He looked over to the fence, scanning it. Susan looked too, and noticed that there was a woman walking the inside. The woman was short and dark skinned, the ends of her curly hair bleached blonde. She looked tough despite her stature, even without the pistol strapped to her thigh. Susan couldn’t tell if that Savior woman was there to keep the threats out or to keep the workers in.

Pulling herself away from that train of thought, Susan looked back at Dwight. “Which one of them should I talk to? They’re all busy, D.”

With a heavy sigh, Dwight looked away from the woman and headed over to the workers. Again, Susan was forced to follow him. “Gordon,” Dwight barked, and a miserable but otherwise healthy looking man snapped to his feet, still holding a soapy shirt in his hand. “You’re going to wash something for Susan,” Dwight began to order Gordon.

“But after its washed and everything,” Susan cut in and took over, “I want it to be put into the clothes circulation or something. I don’t want it anymore.” As an afterthought, Susan added, “Bad memories.” She didn’t know why she bothered to explain that. It was cryptic and eerie, especially since she wanted Gordon to wash a pair of panties. Besides, everyone has bad memories now in this new world.

But Gordon and Dwight only looked at her expectantly, neither one asking for a further explanation, thankfully. “Give it to him, then, Susan.” Dwight, again impatient and imperious, commanded her this time.

Realizing her mistake, Susan quickly shrugged off her backpack and rummaged through it for the panties. Once she found them, she blushed, wishing she asked Dwight for a female worker. Still, this was who she got stuck with. She quickly shoved the panties at Gordon, and it startled Gordon so much that he dropped the shirt back in the water with a wet plop as he forced to accept the panties.

The water sloshed on Dwight’s jeans, and in retaliation, he snapped at Gordon, “Jesus, be more careful next time!” Gordon flinched away, not saying anything, not apologizing. With that kind of reaction, Susan was expecting Dwight to strike Gordon, but he didn’t. Dwight looked like he was about to say something else, but the distant sound of a woman’s voice called for him instead. “You wait over here, Susan. Don’t help him,” Dwight told her before he moved away to go towards the woman guarding the fence.

Distantly, Susan heard as the woman asked Dwight to cover a shift only for Dwight to ask why she was minding the fence more than the workers. The woman was starting to say something about a weak point in the fence – not enough of the Dead ones to cover the area. Then Gordon unexpectedly spoke to Susan, “You should have never come here.”

Forced to look into his sad eyes, Susan couldn’t find her voice. His statement was just ominous enough to leave her uncomfortable, but it was more than that. Gordon looked like he had his soul sucked out.

“Here, there,” Susan found herself speaking without really thinking about her words, “Makes no difference. Dead outside or dead inside. Dead is dead.” Before Gordon could say anything else to her, Susan moved away deliberately signaling that this conversation – if it could be called that – was over.

She was upset with herself. Despite her words, despite everything that she’s seen here, Susan didn’t think she believed what she said anymore. Now, she had lived in many communities, but this one had the best protection, the best supplies. The people seemed miserable, but Susan believed they were spoiled. In every community, there would be those on top that hogged a few good supplies for themselves, but still anything was better than out there alone. Susan only preferred it out there because she hated people, because…

Because she wanted to die alone, not a burden or a reason to grieve for anyone else. Being part of communities temporarily would only keep her temporarily sane, temporarily alive. But now, this place was different. It forced too much introspection from her whereas with others she was put to mind-numbing labor, and when she was alone she was too busy trying to survive. So much for a vacation.

Just then, Dwight came back. “Are we finished now?”

Looking up at Dwight, Susan nodded, zipping up her backpack and slinging it back on. She didn’t bother to ask about the Savior woman on guard just like she didn’t bother to tell him about what Gordon said either. Just by looking at the broken, soulless worker, Susan could tell he wasn’t long for this world. Early after the end of the world, when people started looking like that and talking like that, they found death somehow. And it was true, they found death, actively sought it. Death didn’t have to go looking for them, they made it easy.

Without further preamble, Dwight headed back inside, and Susan hitched up her backpack and followed after, keeping her head down. She didn’t look back at Gordon or anything else.

As they made their way back out to the main factory floor, Susan concentrated, testing to see if she remembered the way. The further in they got, the more she was reassured that she could navigate successfully. They came to Daryl’s cell, that same song still playing, and it teased Susan with its lyrics.

“It’s our moment in the sun,

And it’s only just begun.

It’s time to have a little fun.”

She walked a little faster, hoping that the beat wouldn’t get stuck in her head, actively trying to not think about the prisoner passed out in his cell. Dwight caught up to her after he checked to see if the door was still locked and Daryl was still there, unconscious. They passed by Dwight’s bedroom, and didn’t say a word about that either. They skirted around Daryl’s blood trails, Dwight muttering something about getting some workers to clean this up. Susan didn’t comment on it. She knew they were nearing the factory floor as the noise level gradually started to increase.

Now it was a matter of seeing if she knew the way back to the parlor where her bedroom was. When she got back, she had plans to sort through her supplies and dine on Jolly Ranchers alone. She didn’t want to deal with the other wives. But she’d also rather not be left alone with her thoughts.

Instantly, though, her plans were foiled because as she and Dwight stepped out onto the main floor they both looked up and saw Negan casually resting his elbows against the railing, overseeing everything. Instantly, Negan saw them both, and Susan was magnetically drawn to him, unable to look away. She was somewhat aware that Dwight was shuffling around behind her, but her feet were leading her to Negan. He was smiling at her again, a beacon of happiness compared to all the misery of everyone else and Susan was attracted like a moth to a flame. Negan was quite the attractive figure after all, just so entrancing, just…beautiful.

Before she knew it, she was beside Negan on the landing, and she had nearly made it into his open arms when her heels stumbled on the uneven floor. Clumsily, she ended up collapsing against his chest.

“Damn, Susan, I know I’m fucking irresistible, but you don’t have to throw yourself at me.” Negan joked, making sure she was steady on her feet before he pressed a kiss to her forehead.

He had one hand buried in her hair, wrapped around the back of her neck. The other arm was slung over the top of her backpack. Susan, happily crushed against his warm chest, nestled her cheek against the soft fabric of his white shirt, thankful that he let his black leather jacket flop open. She could smell the same soap from outside on his shirt, and she forced herself to forget Gordon’s stupid, dismal face and foreboding words. “I missed you,” Susan admitted, and she was surprised at herself for meaning it. She chalked it up to being left alone to her morbid thoughts too much. And, partially, she was missing sex right now, too. That was something that kept her mind too occupied to think depressing things.

Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, Negan chuckled. “You miss my big, fat, fucking swinging dick is all, Susan.” Again, he kissed her, though this time he pressed the kiss to the crown of her hair. “Don’t worry, I miss your crazy, fucking pussy, too. You won’t have to wait that long before I’m buried balls fucking deep inside you again.” He squeezed her to him tighter. “I’m guessing Dwighty boy once again cannot fucking provide for a woman’s needs.”

Unsure of where Negan was heading with that comment, Susan shifted around until she was pressed against his side, both of them now facing a sullen Dwight who stared at his boots. In that moment, he looked like a child in the principal’s office, waiting for his parents to be called. Susan’s heart spasmed, and once again she surprised herself. Out of all the things she had seen today, between Daryl’s bloody body and Gordon’s hopelessness, as of now she really only felt sorry for Dwight. “He was just showing me around, helping me get some things,” Susan explained to Negan, looking up at him. “Look, I got the heels you wanted.” She stuck out one foot to show one of that black, tall heels off to Negan.

Again, Negan chuckled at her. “Yeah, I could see you got the shoes since you can barely walk fucking straight in them.” He bent down and whispered hotly in her ear, “Don’t worry, Susan. After I’m finished with you, it won’t matter if you’re wearing fucking heels or not. You’ll still not be able to walk fucking straight.” Straightening back up, pretending that he hadn’t just whispered that to her, he somewhat innocently asked Susan, “So what other goodies did you get down there? Something for me too, I hope?”

Susan blushed, remembering the yellow negligee, but then she instantly remembered all the other suspicious items she had gathered. “Um,” she nervously laughed, avoiding the eyes of both men, hoping she was coming off as coy, “yes.”

It seemed to work because Negan smiled, accepting her short answer to be out of embarrassment due to present company – namely Dwight. “Well, Dwighty boy, thank you for watching over my Susan today. She didn’t give you any trouble, did she?” Negan’s arm clamped down on Susan tighter, still managing to apply a lot of pressure despite her backpack acting as a barrier.

“No, sir, she didn’t. It was no problem,” Dwight dutifully answered Negan, though his gaze was still directed at the floor. The more Susan studied his visage, the more his face reminded her of Gordon’s; and she didn’t like that.

Satisfied with Dwight’s answer, not seeming to notice the man’s downtrodden demeanor, Negan nodded. “Fucking good. I’d hate to punish her,” he teased Susan, but Susan only looked away, red-faced and too shy to openly flirt back.

“Well, on to other fucking business matters, Dwighty boy.” Negan loosened his hold around Susan, and she took that as an unspoken signal for her to step away while they talked. So, she did. She didn’t go far, just back to the railing, overlooking the factory floor much in the same manner as Negan did earlier. Negan continued speaking to Dwight. “Daryl, he is going ape-shit.”

Nodding shortly, Dwight confirmed, “Yup.”

“And you? You are hustling,” Negan blithely continued, leaning back on his heels.

“It’s working.” Dwight’s tone seemed a little desperate to Susan’s ears, as if he was forcing himself to believe a lie.

“It’s working slow,” Negan amended Dwight’s statement pointedly, “but, hey man, some people are harder to break than others.”

“Yeah, he’s close.” Dwight was still maintaining that desperate tone.

“Yeah, he is,” Negan said, and when Susan side-eyed the two she could tell that that was all Dwight needed to hear for him to relax.

Negan bit his lip before he spoke again. “Since you’re doing such an awesome job, you want to have a little blast from the past with you-know-who?”

Susan’s eyebrows shot up in surprise – Negan didn’t strike her as the type to share unless he had an orgy in mind. She didn’t have to look at Dwight to know that his brow must be furrowed in question, too. Was Negan testing Dwight’s loyalty?

Soon, though, Negan chuckled again, and both Dwight (and Susan who didn’t even register that she had tensed up) relaxed once again. Well, as much as anyone can really relax in Negan’s presence. “I’m kidding, man,” Negan reassured Dwight, “lighten up.” He wet his lips, and then surprised both Dwight and Susan once more. “Pick whoever you want, as long as she says yes.”

Susan couldn’t help but turn around now at this point. Did that offer include her? Negan looked back at her, and again it was like he read her mind because he then answered her question. “Except for Susan here. Susan and I haven’t gotten to know each other fucking well enough before I let another man make an impression on her like that.” He reached out and combed his ungloved fingers through her hair, and Susan leaned into his touch, his words soothing her.

“Hell, I think Susan would be too much for you anyway, Dwight,” Negan bragged. “She’s my dominant girl. Michaela, she’s flexible. Frankie has magic fucking fingers, as you would figure. Tanya is adventurous, open to pretty much anything, even anal, filthy girl that she is. Amber is sweet and innocent, good for cuddling, does whatever you tell her to. Sherry, well, you know how Sherry is,” Negan bluffed about Sherry, and Susan knew just from that that he and Sherry haven’t done anything.

“But Susan here?” Negan whistled lowly. “Damn is she a little spitfire when she fucks, and I fucking love it.” For emphasis, Negan tugged a little on the ends of her hair and immediately Susan’s mouth fell open on its own accord. She didn’t make a sound, but her eyes were rolling back, nearly watering. Susan clenched her thighs together under her dress, a slave to his touch, and she didn’t even care if Dwight was here to witness it. This was just the kind of contact she had been craving.

“You know what?” Negan began as he watched Susan’s cock-hardening reaction. “Maybe I will let you take a fucking roll around in the fucking hay with Susan here. She’s insatiable enough. But only if you let me watch. I gotta teach you about what she likes, right, so that you can satisfy her ra-fucking-pacious needs. Or maybe you’d prefer a firsthand demonstration, Dwighty boy, before I let you have her. Gotta get her all wet and shaking and needy and just fucking ready for you, after all.” While he spoke, Negan gently tilted Susan’s head back, and Susan was surprised to find that his words were getting her wet just as much as the hair-pulling was.

“Well, it’s like I said, you have to be agreeing to it Dwight, and Susan here has to be just as fucking amiable. Seems she’s wet and willing enough now, but what do you say, Dwighty boy?” Negan shot a dark look at Dwight in question, and he tugged just hard enough on Susan’s hair for her to release a low moan.

Dwight, on the other hand, bearing witness to the interesting interaction between Susan and Negan, looked petrified. He had blanched white, not exactly out of horror or disgust, but just something else. The man remained mute, not giving Negan an answer.

Of course, Negan was having none of that. He released Susan, and coolly turned back around to face Dwight fully. “Oh, crap.” Negan rubbed his hand through his stubble before he asked, “Are you okay down there?” His eyes flicked down to Dwight’s crotch and he pointed his gloved index finger at it, too. “Your penis?” He needlessly clarified his question, “I mean, that guy, he uh…” Negan snapped his jaw shut with an audible click of his teeth as he teased seriously, “clomped on it. Or is it…” He made a whistling noise like a deflating rocket falling out of the sky, his finger mimicking the movement, “down for the count?” He laughed again, obviously having fun at Dwight’s expense.

Meanwhile, Susan was using this as an opportunity to recover. Catching her breath, she willed herself to calm down, knowing that Negan would satisfy her needs later. Part of her wondered, though, what it would be like to have Dwight as well as Negan. Immediately, she shook that thought out of her head. That had to be all for show, just another way to dig under Dwight’s skin and get her all hot and bothered in the process. While her arousal simmered down, Susan dimly registered that what Negan was saying, while the teasing a little cruel for Dwight to endure, was funny, and she had to stifle her giggles.

Finally, Dwight spoke up for himself. “I’m fine, but I’m gonna pass.” he didn’t sound too bothered by Negan’s teasing. He was keeping his voice purposely light and level, attempting to be agreeable. “Man, I’m cool.”

Suspicious, Negan tilted his head at Dwight, gnawing at his bottom lip. “Huh,” he uttered as he released it, “Are you cool, though, Dwight?” He stepped closer to the subordinate. “I mean, I just said that it was happy hour at the Pussy Bar and Dwight eats for free.” Jerking his thumb over his shoulder at Susan, he continued in that same dangerous voice, “Susan over here was wetting her panties at the thought of being double-teamed by us, and you’re telling me no? Is that cool to deny either of us like that?”

“I haven’t finished the job,” Dwight explained his reasoning in a quiet sort of voice. At first, he had avoided Negan’s gaze, but now he lifted his chin and looked at his superior dead-on. “I,” He stuttered a bit. “I haven’t earned it yet. Right?” He still sought Negan’s approval.

Bewildered, Negan shook his head. “The hell you talking about? You earn what you take.”

Just then Dwight’s walkie-talkie crackled and clicked as a woman’s voice interrupted them. “We have an orange situation.”

Dwight lifted the walkie-talkie to his mouth to answer, but Negan quickly snatched it out of his grasp. “Gimme that.” He gave Dwight a dirty look, obviously showing that this conversation wasn’t completely dismissed yet. “Arat,” he addressed the woman on the walkie-talkie, “what do you got? Grab-and-go?”

Arat answered promptly, “Yeah, he could’ve only gone three ways: the moth, the angel, or the hard way.”

The walkie-talkie was passed back to Dwight and he quickly replied, “It’s D. I’ll meet you at the gate.” He strapped the walkie-talkie back to his belt, but Negan wasn’t finished with him yet.

“I mean,” Negan started, “I want my shit back, but that is grunt work. Why don’t you have Fat Joey go and do it? God knows he needs the exercise.” Susan shot Negan a look at that. Though her interaction with Fat Joey earlier had been brief, she thought he was too sweet to be bullied like that. Negan, not noticing the look on her face, continued to address Dwight, “You? You don’t have to do it, Dwight.” Negan sounded genuinely confused by Dwight’s actions.

Dwight’s response was only all the more confusing. “I’d like to do it,” he assured Negan.

In response, Negan chuckled, the sound short but real. From where he had been leaning back on his heels, he shifted forward, clamping his hand on the back of Dwight’s neck. Gently, he bumped his forehead against Dwight’s for a moment, tilting down towards the shorter, smaller man. Negan had closed his eyes, took a breath, Dwight unconsciously mimicking the movement. Negan’s nose had crowded out Dwight’s. From where he held Dwight in place, Negan’s fingers flexed, combing through his stringy, blond hair a bit at the ends. All the while, Negan was smiling softly.

The moment was so intimate, Susan felt like a voyeur seeing it happen. Then, Negan pulled away. “Good boy,” he told Dwight proudly, and to reassert his masculinity, he clapped Dwight hard on the shoulder twice, sniffing. Dwight just stood there and took it. And Susan just watched, enraptured with it all.

And in that moment, she wished she was Dwight and that Negan would call her a good girl. More than that, though, Susan unconsciously found herself admiring Negan for more than his sexual prowess. She was in trouble.

#negan #negan's thirst squad #ash's negan writing challenge #NTS #NTS fics #negan fanfics #fanfiction #twd #the walking dead #submission

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