#my ex just admitted in front of everyone and the eyes of god that she has not gotten any since we broke up

[transxfiles]

one of my top 10 hobbies has to be getting added to a large group chat and then people forgetting i am there.

[zepskies]

Take Me Home - Part 7

Pairing: Beau Arlen x F. Reader 

Summary: You are another lost soul at Sunny Day Excursions. You’re aiming to settle in Helena, Montana, where Beau Arlen is the new sheriff in town. But you’ve both got a past you’re running from. 

AN: For everyone who has Easter plans tomorrow (Happy Easter!), I decided to release this part a bit early. And yes, we’re at that part of the season 3 plotline…

Word Count: 6.6K

Tags/Warnings: Major angst, survival situations, violence, hurt/comfort.

❤️ Series Masterlist

Part 7: On the Edge of a Knife

Beau returned home that night with a large pizza for Carla and Emily. He’d already eaten with you an hour ago, but true to his legendary appetite, he still found room for a slice of pepperoni. They got comfortable around the fire out in front of his trailer.

“What held you up?” Carla asked.

Beau sighed and first wiped a bit of sauce from his face with a napkin. He admitted there was an altercation between you and your ex-boyfriend, Michael Hadley. Beau happened to be there in time to settle things down and help patch you up after you fell through a glass coffee table.

“Oh my God. Is she okay?” Emily asked. Beau noted her concern with a smile.

“She’s fine. Some minor cuts and bruises,” he said. “But I had to encourage the guy to leave town. If he’s got any sense, he’ll get gone.”

Emily looked relieved at that. Then she eyed him with a suspicious smile.

“And you just happened to be in the neighborhood?” she asked slyly, voicing the thought that Carla hadn’t wanted to.

Both women watched him closely, but Carla knew the tell-tale signs of Beau covering his embarrassment, giving his daughter a wry look.

“All right, smart Alec. Why don’t you break out the extra sheets I got in the trailer? We’ll set up the bed and the couch.”

“If you can call that glorified bench a couch,” Emily muttered with a grin. 

“Ey!” Beau called after her, though he watched her go in amusement.

After a couple more hours of chatting and catching up, showers taken and plates washed, Emily headed for bed. The adults stayed up for a while, bundled in warm coats as they sat together by the fire.

Beau remembered what Emily told him days ago; that he hadn’t needed to be a perfect man for his wife and daughter. They’d just needed him to be a bit more honest about what he was going through, to let them in. After what happened today with you, your patience and understanding with him…he was beginning to get what she meant.

“I’m really thankful for you helping us,” Carla said. It unearthed him out of his own head.

“Yeah,” he replied with a nod.

Admittedly, he was still a bit distracted. Besides how he left things with you (which still made heat crawl up the back of his neck), he still had Avery and that stolen money to worry about. Otherwise known as the reason Carla and Emily would have to cram themselves in his little trailer.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Carla prodded, laying a gentle hand on his arm.

“I just got a bad feeling about all this,” he confessed. “It’s like in Houston with Randy.”

“No,” she shook her head. “You can’t go there.”

“It’s too late,” he replied. “‘Cause it feels the same. Like something’s…something is comin’, and I’m powerless to stop it.”

“Randy’s death was not your fault,” she reminded him. Just like you had.

Beau looked over at her with a humorless quirk of his lips.

“We both know that’s not true. He was my partner and I let him down. And then…then I wasn’t there for you, or Emily. I don’t blame you for leaving me.”

Carla couldn’t help it, but a part deep inside her had been regretting that choice. Her eyes burned with unshed tears. She managed to blink and keep them at bay, though she let out a shaky breath.

“Well, you’re here for us now,” she said. And yet, she could’ve predicted his next words like clockwork.

“It don’t make up for the way I checked out,” he said.

Carla licked her dry lips and swallowed down the emotion clogging her throat. She didn’t cry often. She could have an ironclad grip on her emotions when she needed to.

It was part of what made her a good lawyer. She knew Beau had sometimes gotten frustrated with that aspect of her personality in the past, because he was the opposite.

The man kept a good lid on things for his job, but at heart, he was driven by his passion, his anger, his love, and right now, his bone-deep guilt and shame.

She knew he’d been drowning in it for a year and hadn’t known how to pull him out. Every time he pushed her away, it had hurt her, hardened her, making her will to try again less and less. So she left him. 

It was the choice she made, and she knew she had to live with it. Just like marrying Avery.

Carla laid a hand on Beau’s over his knee. She made sure he looked her in the eyes when she said this.

“I forgive you. For all of that, okay?” she said. After a moment, he nodded. This time, she felt like he actually heard her.

“But I’m telling you, this thing with Avery…this isn’t over by a long shot,” he told her. “I’m not saying that to scare you. You understand that?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, even though those tears from earlier were working their way down her face. She wiped them away hastily.

“I’m not gonna let anything happen to you two,” Beau said, in a firm, reassuring tone.

It worked, and it didn’t. Carla nodded again. “I know.”

He sighed through his nose and squeezed her hand. His gaze shifted away, back to the bonfire dancing in front of them. His eyes stung at both the smoke, and the emotion rising in his chest. He steeled himself.

“Carla, I’ll always love you…”

She smiled slightly, brushing the remaining tears from her cheek.

“Though I sense a but coming,” she said.

When she said your name in question, Beau glanced back over at her and nodded. Carla had been his first real love, besides Daisy Harlow in the eleventh grade.

But you were unexpected. How quickly, how deeply you’d gotten under his skin was too hard to ignore. And at this point, he didn’t want to.

Meanwhile, Carla stared at her ex-husband in bemusement. She slipped her hand from his and folded hers back in her lap.

“What’s she like?” she asked. Half of her was genuinely curious. The other half would rather not hear his answer, but she supposed it was only fair. She was the one who moved on first.

Still, the flicker of Beau’s soft smile stung, just a little.

“She’s special,” he said. “Resilient, like you. And smart to boot. You know she’s a college professor?”

“Yeah, Emily told me,” Carla said. 

Beau’s smile dimmed when he noted the resignation in her voice. She gave him a knowing look. 

“I have no right to complain,” she said. “And you deserve to be happy too, Beau.”    

He considered that with a nod. He wasn’t sure if he believed her, but for your sake…he would try.

“Can you promise me something?” Carla asked. 

“Name it,” he said.

“I know Avery is in this thing deep. He lied to me and he created this mess. Even when this is over, I don’t know what’s going to happen between us. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but please, look out for him,” she implored. Beau uttered a wry chuckle and rubbed at his chin.

“He is in this deep. And he’s being stubborn about it,” he said. “I might not be able to help him walk it back, but I will try.”  

Carla released another sigh and nodded in response. She supposed that was the best she could hope for. 

A few days later, you walked up and down the grocery store aisles with a basket in one hand and your phone against your ear with the other.

“Okay, I’ve got all manners of junk food and chick-flick movie watching snacks, including Reese’s cups, ice cream, frozen pizzas, and no less than three bottles of wine,” you said. “Am I missing anything?”

“I don’t think so, hun. That sounds very comprehensive,” Denise replied.

She was at work, and you were still getting ready for the fall semester. It was only a little over a month away, which meant you were excited, and also nervous.

You had five classes on your roster. You’d also visited Carroll College yesterday to set up your office with all your books, both textbooks and your favorites in fiction and non-fiction (but mostly fiction). Much Ado About Nothing was front and center in the Shakespeare section of your shelf.

You also wanted to at least try and relax for the rest of your summer. Denise was all too willing to help. You’d always had a good relationship with your aunt, albeit distant, since you’d lived in different states.

Living so close now just made you realize how much you two had in common. It was nice to find a friend in her, not just someone who would try to mother you in your own mother’s absence. 

“Yes! Good. Then get ready to brainstorm what movies we’re gonna watch tonight, and in what order,” you said.

“Oh, don’t pretend like you don’t already have a color-coded checklist,” Denise quipped.

You laughed. Yes, she knew you too well. “Okay, maybe I do, but you still get a vote.”

You turned a corner in the aisles and nearly ran right into Carla, who was pushing a cart. You both jolted in surprise and recognition.

“Oh, hi! I’m sorry,” you said, at the same time she said, “Sorry, I…”

You two did the polite, nervous laughter people did when put in awkward situations. You noticed all the food she had in her cart—enough to feed a family of three for the week.

“Yeah, finally getting around to doing a grocery run,” she said. “Beau’s trailer leaves much to be desired in the form of amenities, so…”

You adopted a more amused smile. “Yeah, he’s not much of a cook, is he?”

“Do frozen fish sticks count?” Carla remarked.

“Only if there’s expired tartar sauce, according to Emily,” you joked. The two of you shared a laugh that was a little more genuine. You chatted for a couple minutes more before you parted with amiable handwaving. Then you realized that your aunt was still hanging on the line.

You sighed and put your phone back up to your ear. “Hey, sorry.”

“Was that who I think it was?” Denise asked. She was probably trying to be cryptic, if Emily was in the room with her.

“Indeed, it was. Doing a nice family-sized grocery run,” you whispered back, to make sure you weren’t overheard. You brought your basket of junk to one of the checkout lines.

“When was the last time you heard from him?” Denise asked. She must’ve heard the heaviness in your voice. You both knew exactly who “him” was code for. Beau friggin’ Arlen.

“Not since we said goodbye last week,” you replied. And the memory of that kiss had been torturing you for days. It had also been the fuel of many…late nights with yourself.

Speaking of which, need some more AA batteries, you thought with a warm blush.

“Okay, forget candy. We should get cheesecake,” Denise proposed.

You smiled. “You know what, that’s a damn good idea. Definitely cheesecake.”

You hopped out of line to do just that. You knew it probably wouldn’t be as good as Chicago made, but you went over to the bakery side of the store and hunted for the most good-looking cheesecake you could find.

“Hey, if you want, stop by here later,” your aunt said. “Em is here. We’ll grab lunch, make it a real girls’ day.”

“Sure,” you agreed. You hadn’t seen Emily in a week or so either. “Where are you thinking? I’ve been wanting to try that Indian place down the street from your office.”

“Sounds good to me. Come over after you drop those groceries off at home.”

“Okay, will do. I’ll see you guys soon!” you said. 

Beau knew that he was going to be working straight through lunch. What he, Jenny, and Cassie had discovered in the past 24 hours was deeply unsettling. 

Not only was Walter Sunny Barnes’s son, but Paige was alive. She’d been found in the foyer of Sunny’s home, brandishing a knife, convinced the married couple were in it together on her kidnapping. Sunny claimed she’d had no idea her husband had taken the poor girl and kept her in a shack for days.

According to Paige’s testimony, Buck Barnes had tried to kill her. And since she was alive, it meant Walter had lied in confessing to her murder. It was also likely that he hadn’t killed Mary or Luke either.

That wasn’t even the worst of Beau’s headache.

He rubbed his face in frustration after getting off the phone with Carla. Thanks to this whole business of Avery’s stolen cryptocurrency, she was being followed. 

Fuckin’ hell, Beau thought. The next time he saw Avery, it had better be with handcuffs, or he was going to start working on his punch list for real. Instead, Beau grabbed his cell and called his daughter.

“Hey, Dad,” she answered on the third ring.

“Hey, honey. You doin’ all right? You good?” he asked. Maybe he was coming on a little strong, but worry was a living thing inside his gut.

“Yeah, totally. Just doing some research…but guess who’s coming to have lunch with us later?” she asked.

Her tone was leading him somewhere, and Beau thought he knew the destination. His lips curved with a half-smile. When he guessed your name, Emily confirmed.

“You’re welcome to join us. If, you know, you wanted to,” she teased.

Beau’s smile twisted with disbelief. Was his daughter trying to set him up? And better yet, it seemed like she liked you well enough to do it. While the thought warmed him, his smile dimmed.

“Wish I could, but uh, I got a lot of work here to do. I’m just…checking up on ya, like dads do,” he said.

As much as he wanted to see you (and he really, really did), he wasn’t lying. He needed to follow up on the man who’d trailed Carla to the drycleaners this morning. And he already had Jenny and Poppernak looking into finding Buck Barnes. He’d fled the scene after Paige and Sunny were picked up at the Barnes residence.

“Well, okay, consider me checked. We can talk later if you want,” Emily said. She sounded a bit disappointed. Beau felt guilty for that, but he’d make it up to her tonight. Maybe he’d bring home some takeout so Carla didn’t have to cook again in his tiny kitchenette.

“All right, honey. If not, I’ll see you tonight,” he said. “Just…don’t go anywhere by yourself, okay? Make sure Denise or Cassie’s with you. Matter of fact, I’ll pick you up from there today.”

“Yeah sure,” she said. Though he didn’t think she really heard the warning in his voice.

“‘Kay. Bye, Dad.”

She hung up, leaving Beau still feeling off-balanced. Until news came in from a fellow officer: while Paige had been brought to the hospital, Sunny Barnes had been brought into the station for questioning about her husband.

“Sorry I’m so late. I started cleaning my apartment and lost track of time,” you said, walking into the office of Dewell & Hoyt. Denise and Emily waved at you from their respective desks.

“That’s okay. We’ve been busy here,” Denise said. You looked at the large pinboard on the wall filled with news clippings and pieces of evidence. Bleeding Heart Killer, read many of the subject lines.

“Ech. Still working on this?” you asked.

“Unfortunately,” said Denise. She grabbed up her purse and went over to kiss your cheek in greeting. “But we might’ve gotten a huge break on it. I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.”

“Get back? Where’re you going?” you asked.

“To get the food! I already placed the orders,” she said, patting your arm. “I’ll be right back.”

You gave her a narrowed look. “I was going to pay for it—”

“No need!” Denise sing-songed on her way out of the office. It had you smiling, shaking your head. You looked over at Emily and tossed a thumb over your shoulder.

“Careful with her. She can be devious,” you said.

Emily smiled and stood up from her desk. She went over to sit with you on the small couch near the center of the room.

“I’m actually glad you’re here,” she said. “I’ve kinda got a question for you.”

“Kinda?” you echoed with a smile, but you pat her on the knee. “What’s on your mind, honey?”

Emily looked a little unsure. It had you giving her your undivided attention.

“It’s about my dad,” she began. Your smile slowly fell, but now you were really listening.

“Okay,” you nodded.

Emily opened her mouth to reply, but before she could, the lights in the entire office went out.

Natural light still came in from the large windows at the front. It was odd though. The weather outside, while chilly, wasn’t cold enough to create an outage. You hadn’t heard anything fizzle when the lights went out either.

“That’s weird—” Emily said.

The back door burst open with the sound of hinges breaking. Both of you gasped and stood from the couch. You slipped a hand into your purse to find your phone, and then the first contact you could think of.

You were about to press the call button when a tall man with broad shoulders stepped through. He was older, balding, and his clothes and neck were stained with blood.

Buck Barnes.

“Buck?” you gasped. “What…what’re you doing here?”

He didn’t look like the easy going, kind-hearted man you knew at the camp. Now, he looked haggard, injured, and dangerous, like a wild animal.

“Hush up,” Buck held up a silver pistol in his right hand. “And drop that phone, nice and slow.”

Your heart was in your throat, but you couldn’t just think of yourself. You subtly tried to pull Emily behind you as you set your phone down on the ground.

“You tried to kill Paige,” Emily accused of the man. It had you turning to her, your eyes going wide. When you looked over at Buck to gauge his reaction, you saw how his lips pursed.

“Sit down and shut up,” Buck ordered, gesturing with his gun at both of you. He drew closer and forced you and Emily to sit beside each other on the couch. There he grabbed a roll of duct tape from his pocket and began taping your shaking hands together.

“Why’re you doing this?” you asked Buck.

“I need some collateral if I’m gonna get the hell outta dodge,” he replied.

“Fine, but let Emily go. She’s just a kid,” you begged, as tears stung at your eyes.

Buck just continued taping you up. Thankfully not your feet, just your wrists. He moved to Emily next. 

“You don’t need her,” you tried again. “Come on, Buck. You really think Beau Arlen’s going to want to work something out with you if you take his daughter?”

“Oh, I’m bettin’ he’ll be more than willing.” Buck grabbed you and placed a strip of tape across your mouth, then on Emily’s. He hooked a large, calloused hand around your arm.

“Now get up.”

“What?!” Beau asked. His eyes widened in alarm. “Slow down, Denise. What’s going on?”

The more he listened, the more his heart plummeted into his stomach. He had to grip his work desk for balance.

It took him and Jenny under half an hour to meet up with Cassie and Denise back at Dewell & Hoyt, along with a forensics unit of officers. There was evidence of struggle in a turned over table and a broken back door lock.

Denise explained that she left you and Emily for just a few minutes while she went to grab a late lunch order. By the time she returned, the power was out, set off by the breakers, and you and Emily were missing.

Jenny found your purse on the couch, while Beau found your cell phone on the ground. He picked it up with a gloved hand. He’d seen you unlock your phone enough times to remember your passcode.

When he inputted those six numbers and unlocked the screen, he found his own name and phone number highlighted there. You’d been about to call him.

He squeezed your phone tight in his hand. He looked up and saw another officer pick up Emily’s backpack.

“No power means no surveillance footage,” Jenny said. “Okay, let’s think. Why take her and Emily?”

“It’s gotta do with Avery and the money he stole,” Beau said, grinding his teeth. “I needa find him.”

“Any idea where he might be held up?” Jenny asked.

“Carla will know,” he replied.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Jenny was quick to offer. She could see his rage bubbling.

“No,” he said, cutting her off with a swift hand. “Get a response team ready, but I don’t want anybody doing anything without checking with me!”

He was out the door before any of the women could stop him. Denise was in tears, both for you and for Emily. Cassie wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“We’re gonna find them,” she promised.

You and Emily were in the backseat of an SUV. Buck was singing along to some country song, driving them down a highway to hell knows where. 

The tears had begun to dry on your cheeks. It didn’t mean you were no longer petrified, but for Emily, to give her support, you’d been able to keep breathing through it. She was still in panic mode, hyperventilating as tears streamed down her face.

“Y’all better quiet down back there,” Buck warned.

You grabbed Emily’s hands and met her frantic eyes with your calmer ones. You were hoping to reassure her, let her know that while you were scared too, you were with her. She wasn’t alone.

She squeezed your hands back, even though it made you wince. Your right hand was still injured. Again, you breathed through it so you could hold her back. You rested the side of your head against hers to try and help steady her further. If you could, you would’ve held her like a mother bear.

Emily leaned against your side and began to calm down, bit by bit. Meanwhile, Buck continued to talk your ears off—about country music, and how this particular song was the one he and Sunny danced to at their wedding. Though frankly, you couldn’t give a shit about anything that was coming out of his mouth.

All you knew was that it was nighttime, pitch black darkness by the time he pulled into a plaza. It looked like a gas station next to a bar.

Only in Montana, you mused. Though you perked up at attention when Buck parked and actually left the car.

Of course, he took the keys with him and put the child locks on the doors, but you tugged at the duct tape Buck put around your ankles when he’d forced you and Emily into this car. If you could get free, then you could shove your way into the front seat and unlock the doors.

Emily tried to help you. You winced as the tape tugged at your skin. At least I shaved yesterday.

She gasped around her gag when she saw a young man coming their way in the parking lot. You joined her in banging on the window, trying to get his attention.

“Oh my God,” you heard him say, muffled as it was through the window. You pointed at the front of the car, trying to communicate to him to break the window open there.

“Hold on, I’ll get you guys out of there,” he said. He went to the front of the car and tried at the door handles, but before he could get very far in his attempt to free you, Buck came up behind the younger man and grabbed him in a chokehold.

You and Emily screamed at him, but it was no use. You did your best to shield Emily’s eyes when Buck snapped the man’s neck.

Bad call, bad leadership, bad police work.

Beau felt the weight of his shame like never before—all while he held Carla and rocked her in his arms. She’d just arrived at the police station, after getting the news that her husband had been killed.

When he learned that Emily was taken, Avery tried to help Beau and the police confront the men he’d stolen the $15 million from, but Avery had gone rogue by bringing a gun into the equation.

Beau had just one chance to pull Avery out and send in his unit of officers on standby. Jenny had asked him what he wanted to do, hoping he would make the right choice.

Beau had been selfish. He wanted to see if the men would give up the location on where they were holding you and Emily, so he kept Avery in play. He’d thought the man would be fine with Tonya and Donno backing him up in the room.

After all was said and done, however, Avery lay dead in a pool of his own blood with a bullet in his chest. The criminals also hadn’t taken you or Emily.

By process of elimination, Beau now knew it was Buck. The man had already killed a hiker on his way out of the woods, where he’d been holding Paige.

Now it was a whole new manhunt.

“Beau,” Jenny said. “We have something on Buck.”

It prompted him to drag himself out of the dark spiral of his thoughts. He let Carla go, but kept a supportive hand on her back. She was still distraught, and understandably so—not just for her husband, but for her missing daughter.

Jenny gave Carla a sympathetic look. She beckoned him over though.

“Come see this,” she said.

Beau comforted Carla one moment more, rubbing her back, but she encouraged him to go with Jenny. She led him into another room where Cassie was waiting for them, and Jenny’s laptop was connected to a smart TV.

On the screen was new surveillance footage of a parking lot, outside a bar a few hours out of town. There was a green pickup truck parked next to a black SUV. Beau couldn’t see you or Emily, but he watched Buck drag the dead body of a man behind the truck.

“Buck was casing the lot for a car to steal,” Jenny said. “We’re guessing this unlucky guy found them.”

“It means they’re still alive,” Cassie pointed out. Jenny drew attention to the keys, or whatever it was that Buck dropped and picked up off the floor. It was hard to make out from the footage.

Cassie agreed to ask Cormack Barnes if he knew what the keys were for, considering he already had the keys to the pickup trick in his hand when he picked up the fallen set. Beau knew it was time to question Sunny Barnes again.

He headed down the hall to do just that, with Jenny on his heels. Soon though, he found himself slowing down in the hall, like his feet were made of rubber. That, and his heart was fracturing. Jenny slowed down with him, giving him a questioning look.

“It’s just…it’s the one thing we’re supposed to do. Protect our kids,” he said. “The one thing.”

“Hey,” she said. Her blue eyes were understanding. “You couldn’t have done anything differently.”

And yet again, they both knew that was a lie. Beau held a curled fist against his lips for a moment, as he tried to swallow down the lump of emotion in his throat.

“She’s gotta be so scared, Jenny,” he said. His eyes stung, but he tried to blink the unshed tears from his eyes. It wasn’t working.

“Both of them,” he said. “They’ve gotta be terrified. And every minute we waste chasing our tails just gives that twisted son a bitch a chance to do something to them—”

Jenny grabbed his arm to steady him. “I still think he’s keeping them alive for leverage.”

“Well, I hope you’re right, because there’s nothing stopping him from making an example from one of them,” he said.

But the moment it escaped his lips, he wished he hadn’t uttered the thought out loud. It was too much.

He felt like a failure of a father. That was already destroying him from the inside out. And though he’d vowed to himself otherwise, you got dragged into this too.

You’d already been through the wringer enough. Beau hadn’t even checked in on you in damn near a week since he left your apartment the last time.

Now, you’d been taken by the very same man who murdered your friend Mary. Beau hadn’t had the chance to tell you…

He hadn’t been able to tell you a lot of things.

And maybe, he’d never get the chance.

The pickup truck Buck stole had a small trailer attached, convenient for stuffing you and Emily in, along with the corpse he’d made of the truck’s owner.

On the long and bumpy ride down the road, you’d been able to search the dead man’s jeans and found a small pocketknife. You pressed a small button to click the blade open. You showed it to Emily, and then tried to cut her bonds.

You only got halfway through when the truck and trailer stopped. Moments later, you smelled gas. Buck was probably stopping for a refill on the pickup truck. You closed the knife and hid it in your hands. That instinct turned out to be a good one, because Buck slid the trailer door open.

You and Emily winced as the bright morning sun hit your bleary eyes. Not only had you not slept all night, but you’d gotten used to the perpetual darkness of the trailer.

“You girls behaving yourselves back here?” Buck asked.

You and Emily stayed quiet, but fearful. He stepped into the trailer to lower your taped gag, and then the girl’s. He uncapped a water bottle to give her some. It was a strangely humane thing to do, you thought.

But then you realized that he just didn’t want you two to pass out of dehydration. He was trying to keep you alive long enough to use you as bargaining chips.

“My dad’s going to find you,” Emily said, staring up at your captor. Buck chuckled at her cheek.

“You want water or not?” he asked.

“And when he does, he’s gonna kill you,” she said. Buck rolled his eyes and gave her a few sips of water. He offered the bottle to you next.

Instead of drinking, you used his distraction and proximity to pop open the pocketknife and jab it at his face. He pulled back fast, but you managed to sink the three-inch little blade into his neck. Buck backhanded you so hard, it made the side of your face crack against the back of the trailer.

Emily screamed and tried to catch you when you accidentally fell on her shoulder. When you recovered after a bit, blinking the black splotches out of your vision, Buck punched at the spot right above your heads and made you both flinch. By then, he’d taken the little knife out of his neck, even though it made a new wound ooze blood down his shirt.

“Forgot to check his pockets,” he gritted out. His anger then bled away, into a dark chuckle. “Gettin’ a little rusty.”

He poured out the rest of the water over your boots, but he didn’t make any further threats. At least, not physically. He stepped away and began to exit the trailer.

“Next time it’ll be gasoline and a lighter,” he warned. “Now both of you, shut the fuck up.”

Then he closed the door, casting you and Emily into darkness once again.

“You okay?” Emily whispered. You could barely make out her face in the dim light, coming from the smallest crack in the trailer door. You rolled your head her way so you could give her a smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” you replied. Truthfully, your head was ringing and aching at the same time. Buck had knocked you out for a few seconds there. Plus, you were exhausted, and hungry, and parched.

“At least the gags are off,” she said. You nodded, letting out a sigh. You welcomed her to rest on your shoulder and tucked her wrapped hands under yours.

“We’ve just gotta keep holding out,” you said. “I’m sure your dad is on the way.”

Emily nodded in agreement. She believed every word of what she’d told Buck. She just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

It was much, much later.

Still, you and Emily were no better off. Actually, you were pretty sure this was worse.

Buck had driven you deep into the woods, then forced you to walk what felt like another half-mile until you reached a dusty old shack. He’d unlocked it and forced you both inside, kneeling in the dirt and dead leaves. Along with the duct tape already around your wrists, he’d tied you both up with ropes around the metal hooks hanging from the short roof.

Even with the gags off, it was hard to breathe in the hot, stuffy woodshed. It felt similar to being buried in a box and left to rot.

You weren’t sure how many hours it had been, but the sun was slowly inching by. If you had to guess, it was around mid-afternoon. You were sweating down your neck and back, now uncomfortable while kneeling in the jeans you were wearing. And sometimes, your vision started to blur in and out.

By now you were beyond hunger. Dying of thirst? Quite possibly.

“How’re you doing?” you asked Emily. She nodded, but she didn’t have much energy to talk either.

So instead, you tried to twist your wrists out of the rope. Very quickly you gave yourself burns, however. Buck had tied your bonds so very tight, not to mention the duct tape underneath.

What a fucking asshole, you thought. He could’ve at least left a bottle of water. Or some protein bars.

“How are they supposed to find us out here?” Emily asked. Her voice was small and coarse with exhaustion. You nudged her knee in comfort.

“The police will get it out of Buck, I’m sure,” you said. “Even if Beau can’t, damn certain Jenny will.”

You gave her a smile. Emily tried to smile back, but she didn’t quite make it there.

“God, I’m so thirsty,” she coughed.

“I know, I’m sorry,” you nodded, letting out a shaky breath. “All we can do is keep trying to get loose.”

You both tried twisting out of the ropes for a while, but it was no use. You were just going to bruise or cut your wrists further through the tape.

You knew that you and Emily had been in the woods for hours at this point, somewhere in the middle of the mountains. You tried not think about how unlikely it would be that someone actually heard you, let alone found you.

You knew you were the adult in this situation. You had to keep it together for the girl beside you, but after a while, a feeling of desperation and despair rose up again in your chest, no matter how hard you fought it all.

Tears welled up in your eyes, though you tried to breathe through it. Emily nudged your arm this time, giving you a comforting look.

“It’s gonna be okay,” she whispered. “I know Dad’s coming for us.”

Your lip wobbled, but you nodded and sucked in a breath. If she could be strong, then you could too…

And that was when you started to hear voices. You knew they weren’t just in your head, because Emily perked up too. You both called out the best you could to whoever was out there.

You squinted watery eyes when the door to the shed finally slid open.

Beau tested the limitations of Jenny’s SUV on his way out from the woods, and then back into them. 

At the very least, Buck was dead. 

Sunny had shot him—before they had gotten a location on you and Emily. Beau had been about to have a serious breakdown before Cassie called him. 

“They found them,” he’d told Jenny, with red and shining eyes. 

In another five miles, they reached the old cabin. Cassie had said there was a woodshed attached on the south side. Beau tore out of the car and sprinted up a hill, through a patch of dense trees, until he found the cabin and the shed. 

Cassie and Cormack were talking to someone just out of Beau’s eyeline, but his gaze focused on his daughter. The moment Emily saw him, she brightened and ran to him. He met her in the middle, grabbing her tight and secure in his arms.

His tears burned in his eyes and fell as he held her, comforted her, rubbing her back. She held onto him just as tightly.

He struggled and failed to keep himself together. Relief wasn’t even the word for how he felt; it was beyond words.

And it was almost unreal to be able to hold his daughter and see that she didn’t look hurt, just shaken.

“I’ve gotcha, sweetheart,” he said. “God, I’ve got you.”

Letting out the deepest breath, Beau’s gaze ventured past his daughter and up ahead. There he found you, being supported by Cassie up the hill. Beau’s eyes widened.

You were rubbing your wrists. They looked raw. Your eyes were also red and watery when they met his. Your breath seemed to catch as well.

Your name fell from Beau’s lips, his voice breaking. Emily looked up at her dad and had to smile. She even made room for you when you came up on his other side. Beau still kept his daughter tucked against him, but he reached for you as well and brought you into his embrace.

He felt your body shaking with quiet, wracking sobs. His heart broke for it, but he soothed a hand over your knotted hair and down your back.

“Shh, it’s okay now,” he whispered in your ear. His voice was choked with emotion. “I’ve got you, darlin’."

Never gonna let you go again, he thought.

You nodded, sniffling, but you kept your face buried against his chest.

Eventually, you lifted your head to meet his kind, if tearful eyes. He was a mess, and so were you. He was right though; you knew that it was all right now, as long as he was here.

You looked over at Emily, who was still hanging onto her father. You touched her shoulder.

“You okay?” you asked through tears. She nodded back at you with a smile.

“Good,” Beau said. “Let’s get you two home.”

You realized then that you were clinging to him like…like he was yours. 

“Oh,” you uttered, releasing his shirt. “I‘m sorry.” 

Beau’s eyes widened at the way you pulled away from him, unconsciously lowering your gaze. He frowned, and he pressed a gentle hand to your cheek, so you’d look at him again. 

“Don’t you do that,” he said, his voice still a bit unsteady.

Almost every cell in his body said to pull you back in. To sink his fingers in your hair, and to kiss you.

But he noticed Jenny, Cassie, Cormack, and even his daughter watching with some kind of smile on their faces. You stared up at him, teary eyed and waiting.

Beau cleared his throat.

He hesitated a bit too long, warring with himself all the while. So he just stroked your cheek and guided you, along with his daughter to the car.

You and Emily were going home.

AN: 🫣 Lol please don't hate me for the little tease at the end there. But how did you like how all the action and drama of the kidnapping unfolded?

Don't think this is the finale though. We've still got some drama and fun things to come. (Also, I think it's funny how this next particular chapter is going to post on my birthday lol.)

Next Time:

“I’m the one who needs you to forgive me,” he said, gently squeezing your arm. “I promised myself I would keep you safe, that I wouldn’t drag you into this mess. And I couldn’t keep my end of the deal.”

“Stop that,” you said. You grabbed the front of his shirt. “How many times do I have to say it’s not your fault before you get it in your stubborn head?”

It came out a bit snappish, but the moment your eyes met his, you both seemed to realize where your passions had led you. Just inches away from one another.

“Maybe one more time,” Beau said, in a quieter, but no less heady voice. There was a hint of humor in his eyes. You couldn’t help but smile back.

You released his shirt and instead, took his face in your hands.

▶️ Keep Reading: PART 8

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[auras-moonstone]

hello there could i request jack x actress!reader where they’re co-stars on a show or film and they obviously have feelings for each other but it’s like “everyone knows about it BUT them” kinda thing lmao they act like a couple but neither of them has brought the subject up

let’s just say they were nominated for an oscar and at the vanity fair after party jack’s talking to a girl when he sees the reader talking dancing a little too close to an actor (who’s literally just a friend) and he just goes up to them like “hey can i steal you for a second? great thanks lets go” and just drags her to a more private part (maybe a romantic balcony?) and he’s like “wtf was that???” and she’s like “well i can ask u the same mr.” and it’s just angry love confession and they kiss (no smut pls!!) please and thank you so much 😁

angry confessions are the best😫 hope you enjoy it! 🫶🏻

you belong with me — jack champion

word count: 1,729

pairing: jack champion x fem!reader

summary: y/n and jack belong together and, while everyone knows it, they acknowledged it. though, at the vanity fair party, the very awaited thing happens.

EVERYONE JUST KNEW Y/N AND JACK BELONGED TOGETHER. And every person who knew them agreed in something—it was very frustrating to see them act like a couple and completely deny there was something going on between them.

The cast of Avatar watched their bond born and blossom. It had been two years since they finished filming that movie, and the cast thought that, by now, they had already admitted their feelings, as they continued to work together after Avatar. And, by the way they were acting around each other throughout the Oscar ceremony, they were sure they were finally a couple.

“Holy shit, Jack, Andrew Garfield is two tables away from us” she said excitedly. “Oh god, is that Margot Robbie? Jack please pinch me I think I just saw Robert Pattinson, also known as the love of my life”.

“I’m not going to pinch you, and your fan girl side is absolutely adorable” Jack said, leaving a kiss on her nose. Y/N laughed and hid her heated cheeks on Jack’s neck.

“I’m so happy for you two!” Zoe told them. The whole table was looking at them as if they were the most adorable creatures in the world.

“What do you mean?” Jack asked confused.

“It was very obvious, you two had always acted like a couple around set. We all knew you would eventually get together” Sam said.

“Oh! No, we are not together. We’re just friends. And we do not act like a couple” Y/N said. The whole table let out a groan.

“I can’t with these two anymore” Stephen sighed.

Jack and Y/N exchanged glances, but said nothing, letting the ceremony continue.

AT THE END OF THE CEREMONY, THEY ENDED UP GOING TO THE VANITY FAIR PARTY. How could they not? Especially after Avatar won an Oscar. They had to celebrate. And above all, Y/N and Jack wanted to get Zoe’s words out of their minds.

“Y/N?” a voice that sounded familiar asked. The girl turned her head around to see one of her ex co-stars, Nick.

“Oh, god. Nick! Hi. It’s been so long” she said excited. He was one of the first people she worked with, and one of her first friends.

“You look amazing!” he said, looking at her emerald dress.

“Thank you, you too” Y/N smiled politely.

“Wanna dance?” Nick asked. Y/N looked around, Jack was supposed to bring some drinks, but he was nowhere to be seen. She was about to decline, when she caught his figure. Jack was talking with a very gorgeous girl, who had her hand on his bicep and was smiling at him in a flirty way.

“Actually, I’d love to” she clenched her teeth, eyes not leaving the scene as Nick led her to the dance floor.

“You okay?” Nick asked. Y/N blinked, finally looking at him. She faked a smile and nodded as they made a conversation.

Hearing Y/N’s laugh, Jack’s head turned around and closed his hand in a fist at the scene in front of him—his Y/N dancing with some boy and laughing at something he was saying. And his hand was on her waist. Her. Waist. Not caring about being polite to the nameless girl—who can’t seem to get her hand off his bicep—anymore, Jack marched towards the dance floor.

“Hey, can I steal you for a second?” Jack asked, not bothering to greet the boy dancing with Y/N. “Great thanks, let’s go” he said before Y/N could even open her mouth.

He led her to the large window at the end of the room, which led them to a beautiful antique balcony. “What the fuck was that?” Jack spat angrily once he closed the door, blocking the sound of the party. The chilly wind of the night embraced them.

Y/N looked at him in surprise, then in annoyance and crossed her arms in front of her chest “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“That… in there” his tone was hard “You were dancing with him, and giggling and flirting… what was that?”

Y/N scoffed “I could ask you the same question, mister. I mean, what was going on there between you and Mrs. Clingy?” her nose scrunched as the image of the girl touching Jack crossed her mind.

“Nothing was going on between me and-” he paused and frowned “Mrs. Clingy? What?”.

“Oh, Jack your hair looks so pretty tonight! Oh Jack, your suit is very stylish and the fabric is so soft! Can I touch it? Oh Jack, have you been going to the gym lately?” she imitated the girl’s pitched voice, while touching his arms “Holy fucking shit, the mice from Cinderella sound less annoying than her”

“That is not what she was saying at all!” Jack rolled his eyes. Lies, that kinda was how the conversation went “What about your boy, then? As if he wasn’t being all clingy, with his arms on your waist and showing you his charming smile, which in my opinion isn’t as charming as the girls on twitter say”.

The girl furrowed her eyes “The girls on-? never mind” Y/N sighed “We were literally dancing! What was he supposed to do with his hands?!” she exclaimed in a loud voice.

“Well, why were you dancing with him in the first place?” Jack asked, his tone matching hers.

Y/N moved her arms frenetically, it was something she did when she got frustrated “He’s my friend! We did a movie together a long time ago, we were catching up”

Jack let out a dry laugh “He sure as hell doesn’t want to be your friend”

“Oh, you read minds now!” she said sarcastically.

“I’m not stupid, I certainly can tell when a guy wants a girl”

“You’re totally wrong, but if he did, what is the problem?”

“There’s no problem!” he forced a laugh. “Why would there be a problem? You can flirt with whoever you want, dance with whoever you want, date whoever you want!”

“Then what is this discussion for?!” Y/N looked at him, she was basically breathing flames when she talked. “There clearly is a problem—you can flirt with girls but for some reason I can’t flirt with boys?? And you have to drag me away to cause a useless fight and can’t even tell me what’s the real reason”.

“So you were flirting!” Jack pointed an accusatory finger at her.

She let out a groan of irritation “That’s what you got from all that?! Really?! Why are you being so insufferable right now?”

“Because I fucking love you!” Jack’s statement was as loud as the beats of her heart when she took in his words. “And I can’t stand seeing you dance with him, looking so fucking angelic. It drives me nuts how he gets to hear you laugh and your sweet voice. I want you to dance with me, I want you to laugh with me, I want the hand on your waist to be mine… and you know what else I want?” he asked, his voice gradually lowered as he spoke, and now it was soft as silk. And his face was only inches away from hers. Y/N was speechless, so she just shook her head “I want to kiss you, and I want everyone to see—especially him”.

“You are so… frustrating” she sighed, now her tone was calmer “He is just my friend, I promise. And I don’t want anyone but you, Jack. Ever since I met you on set, you have been the only boy on my mind. I don’t care how charming his smile is” she said, and Jack whispered ‘not that charming’. “He is not you”.

Jack smiled at those last words. He brought his hand to the side of her face, to pull away a strand of hair that fell from her ponytail “I’m sorry for acting like a jealous boyfriend. I had no right, it just… it pissed me off as much as it scared me”.

“Scared you?” she asked confused, leaning into the softness of his palm.

“The thought of you being with someone else, and losing you before I even got to tell you how I felt… it scared me” he confessed.

Y/N basically threw herself in his arms “I love you, Jack. And I’m sorry too, I also acted like a jealous girlfriend. And if it makes you feel less guilty, I was two seconds away from leaving the place with brunette strands of hair as a trophy”

At that, Jack bursted out laughing “You remind me of that villain bunny from The secret life of pets”

“Jack!” she laughed, pushing his shoulder gently.

“You’re so cute. I love you” he smiled as he left short kisses on her cheeks.

“Just for the record, you are also the least intimidating-looking guy ever. You are literally a golden retriever”

He grimaced “I’m a cat person”

Y/N rolled her eyes, smiling from ear to ear “Just kiss me, dork”.

Jack’s hands grabbed her cheeks as she raised her head to meet his lips. Their chests tightened as they became addicted to the softness of each other’s lips and the taste of cherry that Y/N’s chapstick provided. Her fingertips lost between his long curls as his traced circles on her blushed-covered cheeks.

They cursed the oxygen as they pulled away, breathless and complete mesmerised by the other, as if there were under the influence of some kind of spell. The magic broke with the sound of an opening door, and Y/N couldn’t help rolling her eyes at the sight of the brunette girl.

“Jack! I have been looking for you” her high pitch tone made Y/N’s jaw clench. “Oh, sorry. You don’t mind if I steal him, right?” she asked Y/N, a fake smile plastered on her face.

Y/N mimicked her smile “He’s busy right now. Come back never”

Jack tried not to laugh “Sorry, I want to be here with my girlfriend. There’s a guy on table 5 called Nick who is totally your type, though, you’ll like him”

The girl, clearly confused, turned around and left them alone. Y/N looked at Jack “Can we get out of here? I hate parties”.

“Sure, love. Movie and ice cream?” he asked, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers. Their hands, as always, fitted just right. Like they were made to go together, like they belonged together—just like Y/N and Jack.

Y/N smiled and kissed his knuckles “You know me so well, I love you”.

[ddejavvu]

We're engraved in each other's hearts with Aaron my love :")

imagine bau!reader and everyone in the team just knowing that hotch has a soft spot for the reader 🥺🥺 so everyone always pushes reader to take permission and everything

and oh my god the teasingssss!! well with reader but rossi does tease Aaron for being soft for reader AHHH

have a good day x

come celebrate 5.7k with me!

We're engraved in each other's hearts - send me a scenario and a character and i’ll write about what it would be like! (ex. going to an art museum with spencer reid)

thank you thank you thank you!! you really know the way to my heart, it's soft!aaron <33

--

"I'm sorry to interrupt," You grimace at your intrusion into whatever Hotch and Rossi had been talking about, poking your head into his office, "But the team has a.. proposal.. of sorts for you, sir."

"A proposal?" Hotch leans across his desk, folding his hands on top of the paperwork there, "Go on."

"Reid's really tired from this last case," You hit him with a guilt trip first, "And Prentiss has some sort of weekend getaway that she can't get a refund on," Then you reluctantly admit Derek's reservations, "Morgan said he was planning on checking out the new bar that just opened," But you don't bother stating that he'll actually be checking out the patrons, finally narrowing in on the kill, "And.. and I was hoping for a quiet weekend."

"Are you asking for a mandated vacation, Y/L/N?" Hotch's expression is stern, but amusement peeks out in his dark eyes.

"If that's at all possible, sir! I understand if we have cases or something, or- or if there's extra paperwork that needs finishing," You fiddle with your hands in front of you, missing the knowing look Rossi shoots to Hotch, "But.. but we think it would be really nice."

Hotch stays silent, but stands. Anxiety spikes in your chest, his presence domineering after you'd just asked him for a rather large favor, but he pulls open his door from in front of you, slipping out past you and setting a hand on your lower back as he brushes by.

"Did you all make Y/L/N ask me for a vacation?" He eyes his team suspiciously, and they all continue looking 'casual'. Reid is buried in a book, Prentiss is stirring her coffee, Morgan is whisling, and JJ busies herself flipping through pictures of her kids.

Hotch has his answer, scoffing exasperatedly and turning to you with a sympathetic smile.

"You don't need to be their puppet, you know. Although I admit, it worked."

You let a soft smile grace your face, a light heat rising to your cheeks as Hotch figures out their plan.

"Does this mean we get a vacation?" Reid pipes up, glancing curiously over at you two where you stand in Hotch's doorway.

"Yes." He answers curtly, letting out a near-inaudible, breathy laugh at the blinding grin that you let out. He realizes that his hand is still pressed to your back and he moves it, trailing it up your shoulders and dropping it with a soft pat there. He steps back into his office and immediately Dave's eyes are on him, an amused glint in them.

He barely waits for Aaron to shut the door, "Softie."

"I'm tired too." He protests weakly, sitting back behind his desk and watching you subtly as you rush to your desk, gathering your things, "Y/L/N made a good point."

"They've got you wrapped around their finger and they doesn't even know it." Rossi marvels, "You're pathetic."

[somuchbetterthanthat]

A little Gwen&Alice with heaavy alice/sam, because I needed to write something after that last ep and tumblr ficlets are less intimidating than full fics.

In hindsight, hiding in the loo is dumb. Sam's making her dumb, which is aggravating and bothersome and does not horribly ache like it used to, before, in those last few weeks they'd stayed together in the same flat while Sam prepared his trip abroad. Alice's a Cool Girl. Cool girls don't hide in bathrooms because their best friend who just so happen to be their ex arrived to the office at the arm of another woman with the sparkly bubbly smile that screams I had such a good time this weekend Celia is awesome at sex.

Then again, Alice's pretty sure her Cool Girl's crown's been stolen the moment Celia walked in with those stupid donuts for the first time (and it is painful, in a way, that Celia is cool to hang around with; pretty and fun and chill and blessed with the same ability Sam has to be friendly with everyone she meets immediately).

Whatever; Alice's excellent at building new narratives and looking away to survive. She'll withstand having Sam back in her life and then feeling like she's loosing him all over again like a fucking champ -- but she has to admit, hiding in the loo was just not a good move, 'cause now she's got to not only deny her sad moody depressing feelings, but also the fact that Gwendolyn Bouchard is clearly weeping on the stall next to hers.

"Hey," she whispers, after three long minutes of wondering whether she wants to deal with this, then deciding it's the sort of night where she'd definitely rather think of someone else's problems than her own.

There's mouvement on her left, then a sharp exhale. "What?" hisses Gwen.

"Want to tell me what this is all about?" Alice asks, staring at the door.

"No," Gwen snaps. Then: "We're in a bathroom, Alice, for god's sake, do you have any sort of decorum--"

"Exactly!" Alice cuts her off. "We're in a bathroom. That's basically being in a confessional for us ladies, innit? Sure we're not drunk out of our heads at the club or whatever, but I think this qualifies all the same. Everything you'll say is sacred in here my dear. Any sin is between you, me, and those awful scratchy paper roll that we're always out of. Hope you've got an handkerchief ready, by the way."

It must strike a nerve, because Gwen stays silent for a good thirty seconds before she mutters: "Anyone could come in."

"Oh, please," Alice snorts. "We both know Lena's not human enough to have to use the loo and Celia's too busy getting lost into Sam's eyes, we're fine."

"Why do you say that?" Gwen asks, her tone suddenly more alert.

"...'Cause Celia is getting lost in Sam's eyes? I mean, I know you have your whole thing going on and you're wayy better than us now that you got that shiny promotion you wanted so much, but they've literally been building this whole sickening little office romance just in front of our noses for like, two months, surely you haven't missed that. Kinda surprised you haven't actually told them this was against regulations or whatever."

"No not Celia, I don't care about her, or whatever's going on with Sam (Lucky you, Alice thinks meanly, and has to bite her tongue very hard). I mean about Lena. Do you think she's --" Gwen stops, exhales shakily. "Now, that'd be ridiculous. Obviously. She's nothing like --"

Oh, Alice thinks. Oh, Gwendolyn. She wishes people would listen to her, when she says to look away. Sam and Gwen are similar that way, she notes. All too ready to dig themselves into messes that are much too big for them to take on.

"I was making a joke," she tells Gwen. "I do that, sometimes. Oh, not very often of course, you know me, all too serious for this sort of nonsense, but I have heard before that it can lighten the mood here and there--"

"God, you are unsufferable."

"Is that how you talk to your priest, Gwendolyn? Shame on you."

"I'm leaving now. This is all pointless, and we've got work to do anyway."

"Do we ever," Alice sighs.

"You've been here for like, twenty five minutes, by the way," Gwen adds. "If you want to keep pretending you're not the one mooning over Sam, you might want to come out soon."

[deangirlsstuff67]

Luck of the Irish

Beau Arlen x Reader

Authors note: Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! Just a little Beau fluff before some smutty goodness. This man would be so much fun to have arrest me. Hope you enjoy your day and be safe ♡

Masterlist | Patreon

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

St. Patrick's Day. It's almost as bad as Halloween for anyone in law enforcement. The one day a year everyone believes their Irish, and everyone gets drunk disorderly charges.

This was Beau Arlen's first one as acting sheriff in Helena, Montana. So far, nothing was too serious. Kids partying in the country, couple drunks started early today and were already in the holding cells. Nothing he couldn't handle.

Jenny Hoyt comes into his office, "hey Beau, we got a domestic in progress."

Great. Well, his easy day just ended. Grabbing his cowboy hat off his desk he follows the blonde out to her truck.

"What we looking at Hoyt?"

"Nothing that can't be defused. I know the woman, y/n, she's a local bartender. Sounds like her jerk of an ex has shown up drunk out of his mind, and she's got him standing at the end of her rifle."

Good grief. Some guys need to learn to take a hint. Jenny gives him the low down on their very messy and public breakup. Typical story, he couldn't keep his dick in his pants, and she found out. Now he's back begging for another second chance.

Got to admit, knowing y/n isn't letting him get away with what he did to her shows she's strong.

It's as you'd expect when Beau and Jenny get on scene. A tall blonde, obviously drunk, man is swaying back and forth as he talks with his hands. Trying desperately to get back into her pants.

The woman, who he assumes is y/n, is a beautiful brunette. She's hyper focus on her ex boyfriend. The rifle point straight at the guys genitals.

Beau shakes his head with a smirk when he realizes she's not pulling any punches today.

"Jenny this isn't any of your concern. I've got it handled." Y/N says without breaking eye contact with the blonde man.

"That I have no doubt Darling." Beau's deep voice breaks the brunette out of her focus. Drawing her blue eyes to his green ones. God damn she's beautiful.

Apparently, her ex has finally figured out there are more people here. He whips around to face the two officers, "I don't know who you are, but stop hitting on my girl before I knock your lights out."

Looks like blondy has some balls.

"Hello. Names Beau Arlen. I'm the new acting sheriff at the moment." Beau extends his hand out to shake.

Drunken and disorderly glares at it before speaking, "I don't give a shit who you are, get your fucking eyes off my woman asshole."

Y/N is the first to speak, "Jeremy shut the fuck up you idiot." She shakes her head before addresses Jenny and I, "you have to excuse him, he's apparently left his brain cell at home today."

"Baby don't be like that. I swear I didn't mean it, it was an accident."

"Oh yes, you accidentally slipped and your dick just fell into her vagina right?"

Beau couldn't help but laugh. It honestly had to be the best thing he's ever heard from a woman. Of course, Beau laughing pissed off the man standing in front of him. So much so that he made the mistake of trying to swing at the sheriff.

It took Beau two well practiced moves to have the drunk idiot on the ground with his hands cuffed behind his back.

Jenny took the man to her truck, leaving Beau and y/n alone.

"I had it handled." Y/N sassed while lowering her weapon. Beau couldn't while the smile off his face.

"I have no doubt. But what kind of gentleman would I be if I didn't help a pretty lady such as yourself?"

"Pretty lady hey?"

Beau nodded and bit his lower lip. He knows he should be the attracted to someone he is dealing with in a professional capacity. Something about the fierce brunette has him rock hard in his blue jeans.

No other words are spoken between the two as she walks up to him. Rising on her tip toes to bring her lips to his. The kiss is hot, desperate, and passionate. When she breaks away, he's left craving more.

"Must be luck of the Irish that you were here to help me then, sheriff."

With that she walks back into her house. Leaving Beau wanting more and her drunken ex swearing in the backseat.

[shy-urban-hobbit]

Huskerdust!!

C/W implied suicide via extermination.

Angel took another drag on his cigarette as he leaned his top set of elbows on the wall, the red light that passed for daylight in Pentagram City turning the smoke pink in a way which was momentarily far too reminiscent of Val. He didn't usually come up to the roof but he just needed to be somewhere that wasn't inside right now and Charlie's 'no smoking indoors' rule which everyone usually ignored provided the perfect excuse when the streets were currently more dangerous than usual. 

The atmosphere had been tense ever since the girls had returned from Heaven with the news that the hotel was now target number one for the next extermination but now with just hours left, it had become unbearable. 

The fighting hadn't helped either. Husk had had the nerve to call Angel fake but even a blind man could see the only thing those two could actually agree on right now was the need to keep the hotel safe. Angel never thought he'd say it, but it was unnerving not seeing Charlie and Vaggie presenting a genuine united front on every single little thing.

 

"And here I was thinking this would be the perfect place to get away from you clowns for a few minutes."

Angel rolled his eyes and threw up a one fingered salute he wasn't really feeling, "Fuck you, Whiskers." 

"Maybe if we live to see the end of the week."

Husk leaned on the wall an arms length from the spider, giving him that assessing stare that Angel both loved and hated. It was as gratifying as it was annoying to have someone who could see right through any and all defences he put up, "How you doing, Kid?" 

"Oh, I'm just peachy, can't ya tell? Practically dancin' on the inside." Angel snarked, meeting Husk's gaze in a silent dare to call him out on it. Husk merely stared back (why the fuck did he think it was a good idea to get into a staring contest with a cat?), "Just thinkin' is all."

"What Charlie said about-" Husk jabbed a claw upwards. That had been one of the main sources of division between the princess and her (ex?) girlfriend for days after they got back until they broke the news to the sinner in question. Charlie had been adamant that Angel had a right to know, whilst Vaggie was of the opinion that at this point it was just adding insult to injury with the extermination so close. In the end, Angel had made the decision for them after cornering Charlie and demanding to know why she looked like she was about to start crying whenever she looked at him. Husk had privately been in agreement with Vaggie though - maybe it would have been kinder to let Angel live out what might be his last few days in blissful ignorance of the fact that Heaven would basically rather see him perma-dead than admit they'd fucked up. 

"About me apparently bein' this close to gettin' into Heaven? Nah." Angel threw the remaining half of his cigarette over the edge with an elegant flick of his wrist, suddenly he wasn't in the mood any more, "Can't miss what ya never had, right? Was just thinkin' about how six months ago I wouldn't have given a crap about any of this. The six month extermination, makin' Heaven's personal shit list. None of it." He pulled a fresh cigarette out of the pack in his breast pocket and lit it without taking a drag as he began to pace, giving Husk the impression it was more so he had something to do with his hands, "Even back when I was alive I used to -what'd you call it - self destruct all the god damn time and when I got down here, if it weren't for Val lockin' every soul he owned in the studio durin' the extermination I would've taken my chances outside every time."

He gestured in the air with one of his free hands, "Before this goddamned fucking hotel and every fucker in it, I didn't give a crap what happened to me but now, for the first time in my god damn fucking life, afterlife. Whatever-" he paused to take a long drag, the cigarette trembling slightly in shaky fingers before Angel let out a laugh like the one when he'd torn Husk a new one in the bar that night - disbelieving bordering on hysterical - before looking away like he was about to admit something shameful, "I really. Really don't wanna die tomorrow, Husk." 

"And you ain't gonna." Husk snapped out as his wings spread, causing Angel to startle slightly at the harshness of his tone, the cat demon took a breath to try and calm the swell of emotions Angel's confession caused to rise up, "I mean. I've seen you shoot, you've got some serious skill. Vaggie knows any possible tricks the exorcists might try, Charlie is the literal princess of Hell with all the powers that come with it. Alastor sees this place as his territory now, trust me, if anybody knows how much that creepy fucker doesn't like other people coming after his things..." he gave a small shudder he hoped the other didn't see. 

"...and you?" 

Husk would be lying if he said the question didn't catch him off guard but Angel had been honest with him. Only fair he returned the favour, "I ain't letting any of those winged fuckers touch you."

And there was that smirk Husker hated (loved) so much, "'Cos you wanna be the only winged fucker who gets ta-" 

"Don't even finish that sentence, asshole."

Husk moved to stand next to him, draping a wing over the other to shield him from the wind that had picked up during their talk, "I got your back, kid." 

Angel shifted his weight to lean against the shorter demon, giving a small mental cheer when the other didn't move away and let him kiss concrete, "Back at ya, Husky."

[unabashednightmarepizza]

𝐻𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑌𝑜𝑢 | Morpheus( Dream) x Goddess!Reader

Series Masterlist

"Medusa... You should stop..."

"Shut the hell up, woman, and let me find a way!"

Sighing at the way she was banging on the outer part of your prison, you shook your head at her stubborness but couldn't help the flutter of your heart at how she was casting spells to set you free, or at least make it weak enough for you to get away, but Desire and that nightmare made sure nothing and no one would set you free.

She huffed in annoyance at what they had done to you, but she pitied you too... The last she remembers you, you were so strong that even Zeus and other gods had bowed in front of you, begged you to not kill them. You were merciless, strong, powerful enough to shake the whole universe yet...

You were treated like an animal... like a whore.

And she remembers your joyous, not so much for her, wedding. She could still remember the happy glint in your eyes and how content you were... What hurt her the most was the fact that the being that was blessed to have you seemed like he didn't even care about you, always looking somewhere else and maybe, you saw yet didn't comment on it or was just pretending to be happy but, the sad smile you wore haunted her more than she wanted to admit.

All in all, the one that she despised so much for having you, the one being that left a bitter taste on everyone's mouth wasn't even here to save his own wife.

"And where the hell is that husband of yours? Surely, he must know-" Medusa was cut off from pouring her venomous words when you spoke your next words lifelessly, shocking her and making her heart shatter at how severe this situation was.

"I don't know, fucking around somewhere else or something... probably..." you muttered weakly, not having enough power to talk or argue with your... ex-wife who was trying to save you, who wore a surprised look at how you seemed small behind that invisible wall, someone who used to always tease her and be playful all the time even in serious times.

She stopped what she was doing and just lowered her hands slowly, understanding the meaning and the pain behind your words. She looked you up and down, and bent down to see your eyes. The eyes that held many stars when she first met you at the beach of her home, the eyes that had an excitement not expected from a princess like you.

They were such beautiful days, she thought bitterly. You always achieved to make me feel strong, make me feel beautiful in your eyes. What did he do to destroy all that life you had? All the things you were, Y/N?

"Y/N... Please, look up... I need to see that you're still-"

"People think I'm not aware of my surroundings since I'm captured but the thing is, I've never been conscious of something that much... He is free, and didn't even come to look for me... You were right, Medusa... Happiness is something I don't deserve..."

Feeling the bitterness of her words, the ones she had yelled at you after what happened to her and broke your marriage, Medusa felt her eyes swell with tears and she slithered to where you were hanging and even if her hands wouldn't be able to touch yours, she layed her green and slightly clawed hand flat on the prison that held you. Calling out to you sternly, you were shocked to see that she was smiling with tears inside the eyes you complimented many times.

" What I said that day... Everything I blamed you for, wasn't your fault. It was only that asshole's for deceiving both you and me and I'm so sorry for realizing this after so long we... we..." she gulped hard and laughed humorlessly while wiping her tears.

"I will not give up on you, you hear me? Even if it takes ages, I will free you and we'll talk later... Your soul called out to me and I'll personally face off that supposedly husband of yours and... We will fix everything up, and mourn for our loss..."

The determined look on her face and how her lips pulled up to reveal her reassuring smile, you felt something stir in your chest. To see someone you thought that hated you, someone who you guessed moved on... here, trying everything to free you, to be with you when even the closest ones didn't come...

I should have never left that day... I was a coward and let something as beautiful as her slip away...

Badump...

"So, Queen of 9 Realms, the Goddess of Life and Creation... You better pull your shit up and get ready because when you get out, you will show everyone who you really are!" And the final grin she sent your way and the soft hissing of her snakes set a new flame inside you to fight even more, and to face the ones who betrayed you.

Your brother Hod, your friend Heimdall and... Your husband who didn't come to you even when you asked him to...

You would show him and everyone to why every being would never dare to hurt the Heart of Asgard and face with your wrath.

"How did you find me?"

Hod turned to look at where Johanna was speaking, only to see the same cloaked form in front of him after the human was able to get away from the Dream Lord. He wouldn't say it, but he was impressed at how quick she was on her feet.

"You were dreaming... And the pull I had with my wife lead me here..."

"Yes... The god who was possesing her body. Really, though, don't you feel weird by having a body but also not?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Hod leaned his back over the wall behind him while Morpheus was watching him with careful eyes and a distain only reserved for those who wronged him. "He has no regards to those close to him... He doesn't care about the consequences-"

"I don't remember if she asked you, Dream... And don't talk like you know everything about us." said Hod with a warning hiss while he was looking away from the window in Johanna's room. He felt, caged, like a bird trying and failing each time it wanted freedom. He realized that, with Johanna being rude and watching other humans do any kind of bad deeds, he was right on hating them.

Besides, Johanna was no different than them. She said she cared about those around her, that she wasn't like the others he had seen when she got away from Morpheus and entered her flat.

But he knew what she had done to Rachel, and even if it was to protect her... Little did she know, it all meant nothing.

But hoping that he was wrong for one, at that time, just a few hours ago, he only asked one simple question only for it to be not answered.

"Then why don't you free me?"

Though he understood that he was the one threatening her with killing her and other humans, but the spell didn't contain shackles and he would be just fine inside a circle, just... He just didn't want to remember the painful memories of his childhood.

The ones that included his father beating him and his sister always sticking up for him.

"Anyways, he came for the pouch so... You better give it, Johanna. He has a bad record of people who ended up in a certain place because they didn't do what he asked them."

Glancing between you two, Johanna just sighed and got up to look for it, after Morpheus promising her that the nightmare wouldn't be a problem, leaving both men with each other.

"What have you done to my wife? If there is someone who would know, it's you..."

Morpheus came closer to Hod, your body. Everything was the same with you, same eyes, same look, same nose, same slight freckles-a result of your powers-... It was just the soul that wasn't the same.

Hod gave a slight huff at his question, muttering inside his mind a as if I'd tell you, and just grinned wolfishly at him. "I don't know~"

"Don't you dare lie to me... You and I both know that you are in no shape to stand against me..."

"And? You are forgetting that you also are in no shape to hurt her body, it would bring pain on both of you... After all, when a soulmate is hurt, so is the other~"

Morpheus felt his blood boil at how careless he was, not even worrying about you when he always talked about you as if you were important to him. And by how his eyes were shining with mischief, he just knew that he had a finger on your disappearance.

Before he could have walked up to him, Johanna sticked her head out from the corner, telling them to chill and make Hod follow her to help with looking for the sand when the word "soulmate" peeked her interest.

"Wait, so soulmates are real?"

"Of course they are, though I don't which one is which humans... But the fact that an Endless even has one is a miracle." He scoffed at the look of bewildrement on her but she chose to continue the talk.

"Why though? I mean he is a being too, right? Isn't it normal?"

"It might have, if she wasn't a mortal..."

"What's that supposed to mean? She is a goddess therefore she is... immortal?"

Johanna exclaimed nervously, not understanding what it meant to both the Endless and the god before her.

On the other hand, Morpheus felt his blood run cold at what Hod said with a sad glint in his,your, eyes. He always knew that you were a mortal who just had a longer life than normal humans, and he always chose to believe that it was a blessing. A blessing to love you, meeting you and having kids with you, with all that happened on the way...

But maybe it wasn't as much of a blessing it was to you.

It was no secret that he had previous lovers before you, and he even had an ex-wife. It was all before you were born and reached maturity and as soon as he felt the bond between you two, when you were born, he already committed himself to you fully.

And he remembered the day vividly.

You were sleeping in your crib, letting out soft coos and giggles which brought a soft smile to his cold face and his icy eyes melted at the soft baby that was craddled with the softest silks. He never said it- Lucienne saw him once making grabby hands back at a baby in his realm who was doing the same to him, though he made her keep her mouth shut- but the sight of you, squirming and giggling in your dream made a pleasant feeling spread in his chest, feeling happy that you were happy. He knelt down beside your crib, caressing the soft yet short locks of your hair and the chubby cheeks that seemed so cute, he watched you grab his hand in your sleep which made him coo at your form as well.

Drifting his eyes away from you, he looked at all the lavishing things you had in your room, yet none was enough for you and the precious soul you had. He knew that you were his soulmate, something he thought he would never have, but now that the higher beings granted him, an Endless, with a soulmate to be one with, to rule and love, a great gift that had never been given to any Endless before, he knew he had to give you something that would show every being that you were protected by him all times so, with little to no hesitate, he took out the little ruby necklace he prepared by his hands, the one he crafted with all he had to offer.

Kissing your little forehead and getting up to attend his duties, he shushed your form that was now laying awake and looking into his stormy eyes with a curious tilt of your head. Chuckling at you and becoming one with the darkness, he uttered his final words to you before going back to his kingdom.

"Sleep well, Y/N... As long as I'm here, no harm shall ever come to you..."

"Wait, so... You two are not immortals?"

"Yep."

"And you can die?"

"Yes, happened a few times~"

Morpheus became aware of his surroundings again, after yet another memory resurfacing, and looked back at the stunned woman who was still digging around to find his pouch. But none of the things they were talking about mattered.

He needed to know... He needed to hear that what happened to his previous lovers didn't happen to you too.

"Hod... What did you mean by your sentence? About her... not being immortal..."

Deadpanning at him and how uncomfortable he looked, Hod just gave a flustered sigh and cocked his hip out in a judging way. "What did you think when you married my sister? That she would magically be immortal?"

"She was given the choice, if she wanted... She could and still be immortal..."

"Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to end whatever family drama you're having but... Why is it so important that she's not an immortal?"

Hod chuckled humorlessly at her question, tears slightly gathering at the corner of his eyes while he shook his head in disbeilef... Not because of Johanna, but how inconsiderate and stupid Morpheus was being by not understanding the meaning behind his words.

"Morpheus... Do you know why I did what I did? You know what I'm talking about, don't make me repeat them..."

Gulping down at the voice inside his mind, Morpheus didn't understand why he was being secretive by not talking out loud in front of the human female but decided to listen to him, knowing what he was talking about. All the hurt and hatred he brought onto humans with his arrival on the earth...

"I'll not explain everything to you, at least not right now, but please... I'm begging you to let me go... You don't know what you're ruining by letting her keep me. My sister is dying, and if you trully care about her... do it for her"

Morpheus felt his heart stop at the word "dying", and the desperation in Hod's voice, how a god like him begged to be let go... He, for the first time, didn't know what to do. He was a King and an Endless with many subjects wanting something from him, some he complied and some he refused. But never had he had to decide between what the dangers the universe might face with if he let go of Hod and what he might loose, his precious wife...

He knew Johanna wouldn't let go of him so easily, though the woman had a golden heart that was hidden by harsh attitude. But maybe, just maybe...

Hod, on the other hand, took his silence as yet another selfish act and scowled in anger. If that's what you want, if you wish to hurt my sister further more... Then, I shall destroy you with the painful truth...

"The reason why her being a mortal is important is, dear Johanna, because the Endless is not supposed to be with mortals. Dare they do it, the universe would destroy what that mortal holds dear, as if it was only their fault."

Feeling perplexed at how thight Hod was clenching his jaw, and how Morpheus balled his fist in a deadly aura, Johanna knew that she shouldn't be asking about anything more, even though she was curious to know more about you and your marriage.

Luckily for her, Hod didn't let her ask.

" Remember the other goddesses and humans you've been with... All of them had someone to care, Nada had her people, Calliope had her son and so on. And what's the outcome? Death, tragedy and a literal sun burning innocent people... She didn't have anyone she cared when you married her, she already had lost her people and her whole family. She didn't have anyone except herself to care for... And therefore, prepared her own end. But, she found a new one with you, thought you could be a family to her..."

"But he didn't do any of it and it resulted with her... disappeance..."

Hod gave a surpised look at Johanna who caught on what he was saying faster than anyone, not the one in the other hand of his anger.

He nodded his head at her solemnly and Johanna, even though she never met you, she heard about you and how kind of a princess you were from her grandmother. How you helped humanity in many way. She, for some reasons, felt the pain you must be in but it wasn't that she and you shared the same pain. It was more like her and Morpheus were on the same page, being the ones who inflicted that pain on their lovers.

But looking at him now, how he avoided the two pairs of eyes on him and clutched his hand between the other one, the way his brows and lips wobbled and the way he bit on them showed to her that he felt immense guilt at everything he did and did not do for you.

But of course, it didn't mean everything was good just because he was grovelling.

Knowing that it wasn't her place to comment on this, she opened her mouth to tell them that she knew where the pouch was, but Hod stepped closer to Morpheus who was standing aimlessly and Johanna didn't try to stop him for he had to let everything out to him.

"You killed her piece by piece every day, with every missed meal and every time you acted like she wasn't there. You made her believe that she was nothing but a simple object to stand next to you when you, as a man, as a husband were supposed to take care of her, love her for eternity... I may have a finger on her capture but all I did was to save her from your clutches, so that she wouldn't be one of your victims... but guess what? I was already too late..."

"And I promise you, Dream... If something happens to her, if she dies because of you... If I can't save her, I'll come for you next."

"I never would have thought you'd be such an asshole."

"Well, you know what they say: it takes a bitch to know a bitch..." Hod scowled at the astonished look she was giving him after he told everything to Morpheus, how you overused your powers to keep the Dreaming, Asgard and your children alive which resulted in you, dying at a fast rate.

"I may seem like the bad guy here, but the only way to save her was capturing her and putting her to Y/N's Sleep... But now, I don't know where she is and you'll help me in exchange of me not killing you."

Trying to close that topic for good, he nudged the woman beside him which earned a curious tilt from her. "What about you? It's obvious that the emo cat here has a bad history with love... So don't you have a special someone? Is that the someone who you gave the pouch?"

"I didn't give... I left it, alongside her..."

Raising a brow at how she looked ahead, trying to hide the pain her heart was in, Hod knew that whatever was her story was a complicated one but the story she gave, the one that included her staying for a few months and leaving si ce Rachel thought that they were something...

He didn't buy it.

"For one, It doesn't look like it didn't mean anything to you..."

"How would you know, oh so powerful Hod?"

" First, watch your tongue. Two, if it didn't mean anything, your heart wouldn't be in pain... I can feel it throb inside as if it has several glass shards, constantly cutting and bleeding everywhere... Why did you do it, knowing it will hurt?"

"Because it never ends well, does it?"

"Love shits? No, darling. They surely wouldn't and it seems three of us are losers at love..." chuckling humorlessly, Johanna saw the look of experience and the sad pull of the lips and made a note to herself to ask about it mlre since he seemed more... docile. Deciding to change the topic, since everyone became awkward, she turned to the god next to him.

"So where were you when all of these happened? Before she was as good as dead and everything went downhill I mean?"

"Where was I? Hmm, a good question indeed..."

"You are not going to tell us, right?"

"Nope..." Hod said cheerfully, earning a smack from the back of his head from Johanna. She had enough of him and his shit, even though it was funny to see Morpheus and him bicker like an old-married couple, if universe was in danger and the only way to save it was through you, it seemed that she had to open his skull and make him understand that he needed to trust them.

"Look, I understand your distain to humanity and Morpheus-"

"It's not just distain but if that's how you word it... meh."

"For once in your life! Listen to me! I don't know what exactly happened between them but if you put your hatred aside for a few seconds to really look into Morpheus, you would see that he changed and is feeling immense guilt what he had caused..."

Raising his head at the stern voice of the female who was defending him even though she didn't like him that much, Morpheus smiled slightly at how she was challenging a god, not being aware that he could kill her easily.

He was glad that someone had his back, but now, he understood how he broke your heart over the years and how there was a chance that you wouldn't take him back.

Did you think he left you? Or maybe, his disappearance caused his enemies to come after you? Did they hurt you? Or the children? Did you feel fear, whenever you were running? Or sadness at your failure and how he would react?

"Constantine, he's right... I never was the husband I was supposed to be. I never even looked at her once and there were times I wished she would go away so that I'd be free of the nagging she did but..."

Seeing Hod becoming even more angrier and how he clenched his jaw, Morpheus raised a hand to stop him and looked into your eyes while a tear slipped from his eye. And then another, and another...

"I never knew the God would accept what I said, and bring the worst kind of pain down on me... I know I can't make you believe, neither can I make it up to her but I'll not give up. And I'll win her heart aga-"

Hod was amazed at how his tears kept going even after he wiped them and how he turned his back to let out a shuddering breath while looking up to see the twinkling stars that reminded him of you. Frowning to himself, Hod couldn't help but think... A man, yet alone Morpheus, would never openly cry and weep for anyone... Maybe he really changed? Or is it a facade he wear-

Widening his eyes at the omnious aura the house they had come emiting, he bit his lips hard and turned to the duo waiting for him to say something. But apparently, something was about to go very wrong. Number 1 fact of the list of Why I Hate Humans, they always attract danger!

"Fine, I will tell you all about it but first... It's not ConstanTAYN, it's ConstanTEEN! The poor ancestor of hers spent his entire time correcting people! And two, you might wanna let me go again because there's a-HOLY SHIT IS THAT FENRIR!?"

Hod screamed in worry while gripping his hair in distress at seeing a huge black wolf poking from inside one of the apartments. And if it was was here... Hela wouldn't be so away.

But of course, Johanna had to stop him again.

Having enough of that binding spell, he used all of his powers into destroying the bond and snapped his fingers to free himself and stood before the woman who looked at him terrified.

"I wonder what you will do when you see Rachel... If you will defend him like you do now, or blame him for her downfall...Don't take me as a fool, just because I said I would talk. Now stay back..." said Hod darkly, earning a gasp from the woman in front of him, making her stagger back in shock at how he knew her relationship.

And even though it was a clear threat coming from him, Johanna had to get inside and see for herself that everything was fine...

Which wasn't, and a certain Queen of the Underworld was waiting for them to enter with a noncholant stare at the door.

Taglist: @buckys-pillow @slut4fictionalcharacters28 @daydreamin1220 @diksy1112 @justmasblack @mata0-0mata @poemfreak306 @jesllianaquilesrolon @lyria-skyfall @bucky-thorin-winchester @rosewine-5 @zemotr4sh @munsonmunster @mxacegrey @elraeeee @itshamleth @sailorbananabee14 @lu123sworld @jupiterclipse @intothesoul @lovesickollie @winxchesters @auroraravenclaw1927 @iwantagoodstorytoread @ptitdragondream

[satansapostle6]

Kids | Rodrick Heffley

Spotify Link

Rodrick Heffley becomes obsessed when he finally meets his thirty-five year old band mate, Bill Walter’s, younger sister.

Warnings: Mature themes/language. Sexual content.

“This Night Has Opened My Eyes”

“Losing My Religion”

Sara Walter ran down the stairs with a reluctant weight to her steps; she and Lauren Do had had a sleepover the Saturday night before that involved a bottle of wine, prescriptions that weren’t under either of their names, and Uptown Girls. How Sara wished she could’ve been a Brittany Murphy blonde instead of a Courtney Love blonde.

She all but rolled herself down the stairs and opened her front door, not at all expecting who she found.

“Hey, Sara.”

She was stunned. Flabbergasted. Even a little offended.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she murmured, actually taken aback.

“I decided to leave Boston,” Tyler Hayden announced.

“Yeah, I see that,” Sara said, not giving him the welcome with open arms he was hoping for.

“Sara, I hated it there,” he confessed to her.

“And why’s that?” she crossed her arms.

“I, it just… It was fine. Better than fine, actually,” her ex-boyfriend admitted. “But there was just something wrong with it,” he said, caring a little too much about his little speech.

“What was wrong with it?” Sara asked through gritted teeth.

“I—”

That was all Tyler could say before their conversation was interrupted.

“Oh my God! Is that Tyler?!”

Sara winced with discomfort as Tyler smiled and waved to her mother, enjoying the attention far too much.

“Hi, Destiny,” Tyler greeted her.

He was the only person Sara had ever known who was allowed to call her mother by her name.

“What are you doing back here, I thought you moved to Boston,” Sara’s mother remarked.

“Oh, I decided to come back home,” Tyler stated, glancing over at Sara with an uncomfortable longing, “I… missed it here.”

“Well, welcome back,” Sara’s mother beamed. “Hope I’ll be seeing more of you.”

There was a lot of subtext here. Sara rolled her eyes, knowing her mother never liked Rodrick even though she barely interacted with him.

“That’s the plan,” Tyler responded brightly, once again sounding far too hopeful.

“Well I certainly hope it works out.”

Destiny Sharpe smiled as she walked away up the stairs, and Sara shot him a look.

“What the fuck. I told you if you ever came back not to look for me,” she said with a deep severity.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Tyler apologized, “But I just had to see you… There’s so much I want to say to you…”

This hurt Sara the most because out of everyone she’d ever been with, excluding her ex-girlfriend Nadine, Tyler was the one whose apology would’ve meant the most to her. Had it not been for his own gain. Sara hated looking at Tyler in that moment, with his almost shaggy nineties ‘good boy’ hair, and his almost preppy oversized sweater.

Sara absolutely hated that he looked like Milo Thatch; it was what she couldn’t resist about him. He was the ‘good boy’, despite some of his behavior, and she was ‘bad girl’.

“Then say it,” Sara said painfully, before they were interrupted one more time.

“Hey, Sar, I think you’re out of…”

There was a deafening silence at the end of that sentence when Lauren stopped at the bottom of the stairs, realizing who was at the door.

“Oh, god, I can’t do this, I have too much hangxiety,” Lauren announced, before bolting past Tyler right out the door.

Sara just sighed, wishing she could do the same as Tyler just looked at her.

“Sara, I think you know exactly why I’m here,” he told her.

“Don’t…”

“I’m sorry. I regret how I left. I miss you, I wanna be with you,” he begged her desperately.

“You called me a drug addict!” Sara shouted.

“No, I didn’t,” he said sadly, “It was in the heat of the moment, and I called you Amy Winehouse—”

“That’s even worse, you know how much I love her!” she exclaimed.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” he pleaded, “I never should’ve said those things.”

“Well, you did, and you can’t undo that damage,” Sara stated firmly, “Now, I have a boyfriend, still, I think, who I love very much, so you need to get out of here!”

“I’ll leave if you tell me you don’t love me,” Tyler said dramatically.

She just blinked her eyes in complete shock, unsure of how to even react.

“What?!” she yelled at him more loudly than she had yelled in a very long time.

“If you can look me in the eyes, and tell me I’m not the one for you, that you wanna marry, and have kids with, and whatever else, I’ll leave!” Tyler announced. “Because that’s what you are to me!”

“Okay, fine then,” Sara agreed emphatically, “I don’t love you anymore!”

Evidently, this was not the outcome Tyler was expecting, and he was thrown.

“What?” he questioned.

“I don’t love you!” Sara cried, still flabbergasted. “You’re months too late! This might’ve worked in August, but not anymore! Go away!”

“Are you sure about that?” he asked desperately. “I feel like there was still something between us when I left—”

“Yeah. There was,” she nodded. “And then you left. With no regard for me, or how I felt. I don’t hate you, Tyler, but I don’t even like you. Coming here was a mistake.”

“I don’t believe that,” he expressed.

“That’s what’s wrong with you; you see what you wanna see,” Sara said coolly. “Now, I have a boyfriend, and… I love him. So there’s nothing for us to talk about. I wish you the best. Goodbye. Forever.”

Sara waited patiently, as Tyler Hayden stood at her doorstep, slowly coming to terms with reality.

“I’m gonna miss you, Sara.”

“I spent months missing you, to no avail. Now it’s your turn,” she informed him, before slowly closing the front door on him.

Knowing on some level that Tyler was still standing on the other side of the door, processing at his own speed, Sara exhaled deeply, letting out a pathetic, shaky sigh as she sank to the ground. Unfortunately, this moment was less of a rom-com moment and more of a Girl, Interrupted moment.

Why everything had to be happening at once, she had no idea. She hadn’t expected Tyler Hayden, of all people, to randomly show up back in Plainview on her doorstep. And now that he did, all she knew for sure was that she wanted to be with Rodrick. No one else, ever again, just Rodrick.

Sara sat hopelessly on the ground, struggling to breathe as she was overwhelmed my a mixture of hangxiety and life. Despite what she had said to Tyler, she didn’t know if she still had a boyfriend in Rodrick. She didn’t know if he still wanted to date her, or if he’d forgive her after the way she’d ran out on him without a word this entire time.

She knew, on some level, that most of this was all in her head, and she just needed to go and talk to Rodrick, but at this point, she had no idea how. One little incident, and she’d run off never to be heard from again. This all was too much for her at the moment, but Sara knew that the one thing she could never expect from life was a break.

“Why do you do this to yourself, Sara?” her mother’s voice interrupted her thoughts.

“Do what?” Sara said through gritted teeth, not at all in the mood for this.

“Why do you always make the worst possible choices?” Destiny Sharpe asked her.

“What are you talking about?” Sara stared.

“I’m talking about Tyler. The only boyfriend you’ve ever had who’s worth a damn,” Destiny reasoned. “He just told you he wanted to give things a shot again, and you turned him down?”

“I have a boyfriend, Mom,” Sara said in disbelief.

“A loser who plays in a shitty metal band who can’t even spell isn’t much of a boyfriend,” Destiny reminded her.

“Oh, so that’s what this is. You hate Rodrick so much you’d rather I get back with the guy who broke my heart,” she nodded, enraged.

“At least Tyler can make up for his faults,” she said softly.

“You know what, Mom, Rodrick has done more for me, and you, than you’ll ever understand,” Sara scoffed, standing up. “I’ve only had one boyfriend who’s both accepted me for who I am, and encouraged me to be better. I’ve only had one boyfriend who’s taken Connor to the movies with his friends, or gone so far as to yell at his mom in defense of me, and our family, and it wasn’t Tyler! You take Rodrick for granted! And frankly, so do I these days!” she spat angrily.

“Sara, you can do so much better,” her mother responded persistently.

“You, of all people, have no right to say that to me,” Sara assured her, storming off to her bedroom.

Sara had made up her mind. She’d taken a shower and cleaned herself up to drive herself over to Rodrick’s to apologize. It was all she could think about, consuming her every thought. She had to make things right; she was determined.

The moment she arrived at the Heffleys’, she ran out of the car to the door, sighing to herself and ensuring she was calm enough before she knocked. Unfortunately, she was not in luck when the door opened.

“Oh. Sara,” Susan Heffley breathed, looking as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Hi, Mrs. Heffley,” Sara Walter greeted her awkwardly, not sure of what to say.

“Come in,” the woman said automatically, unsure of what else to do.

“Thanks,” Sara said quietly, accepting the invitation.

She entered the house apprehensively as Susan shut the door behind her, looking around nervously.

“Rodrick’s upstairs,” Susan told her, “I can go and get him if you’d like.”

“Yes, please, thank you,” Sara said politely.

“But… before I do, sweetie, I, um…” the words were difficult for her to get out. “I’m really sorry, Sara. For the horrible things that I said that night, about you, and your family,” she apologized.

“It’s okay,” Sara said quickly, not really wanting to talk about it.

“No, it’s really not,” Susan admitted. “I said before I’d stop judging and respect you and your family. And I certainly didn’t keep that promise. I was rude, and cruel, and extremely superficial. I behaved like a monster, and I’m really ashamed of myself,” she offered genuinely.

“It’s okay… Some of the things you said weren’t that far off,” Sara murmured.

“Oh, that’s not true,” Susan seemed sad to hear her say so. “Listen, you and Rodrick… You do a lot of questionable things. And that stuff will be dealt with. But the way I talked to you… That was unforgivable. Especially considering how much you love Rodrick, and our family. I was unappreciative, and ungrateful, and judgmental. You’re one of us now. And I should have known better, as an adult. I’m sorry, Sara,” she tried to bridge the gap.

Sara nodded slowly, appreciating the genuine effort that she had never put in before.

“Thank you, Susan. That means a lot.”

“Of course,” she nodded, relieved that they agreed. “I’ll go tell Rodrick you’re here.”

Susan Heffley disappeared upstairs for a moment, leaving Sara alone in the foyer. Soon enough, because they were in the Heffley house, someone else came practically bolting down the stairs a moment later.

“Sara?!” Greg realized, eyes wide as he came down the stairs. “I knew I heard your voice!”

“Hey, kiddo,” Sara smiled softly, giving him a gentle hug.

“I missed you,” Greg sighed with relief.

Sara was one of the few people he actually hugged of his own accord.

“I missed you, too,” she mumbled, “More than you know.”

Greg went back upstairs after a minute, and eventually, Susan came back downstairs, just before Rodrick slowly appeared in the hall outside his bedroom door. He just stood there, in his old white T-shirt, beyond relieved to see Sara. It felt like it had been years. His eyes lit up when he saw her, and she was relieved that he wasn’t angry with her.

“Rodrick, I’m so sorry,” she apologized, the saddest look in her eyes.

His dark eyes just locked onto hers as he realized everything was going to be alright.

“It’s okay,” he breathed, coming downstairs immediately.

She didn’t have to say anything else. She sighed exhaustedly as he wrapped her in the most warm, loving hug he could, just like they used to do all the time. Both were just happy to feel whole again as they found their way back together. Sara couldn’t explain what happened in that moment.

It was just a shared moment of clarity; both of them knew then exactly what was important, and what didn’t matter.

-

[morallygreyyn]

a dead man (sanji x fem!reader)

description: after getting your heart broken, you find solace and comfort in your crew mates, especially the blonde haired chef who (unbeknown to you) has had a crush on you for ages...

authors note: got my heart broken recently so who better to comfort me than sanji? sanji would never do me wrong

warnings: some angst ig, swearing, this was literally written to cure my sadness so it’s trash, lots of fluff, so much, oh god, my eyes

word count: 961

requests are open!

You had found a nice, quiet corner of the Going Merry to sob your heart out. Of course you had expected it to happen, but not so soon and not like this. Your ex and you had a rocky relationship to begin with, you finally breaking it off a couple of months ago to join the Straw Hat Pirates. Luffy had extended you an invitation once he saw how useful your fighting style was, giving you the perfect opportunity to escape your town, and ex. However, just when you thought you had gotten over all of your heartbreak, a piece of mail had arrived for you from your hometown friend.

You had made the mistake of opening the letter in front of the rest of the crew. The happy mood you had quickly turned sour once you read the contents. Apparently your friend had found out that your ex had been flirting with other women while you were together, and that he had immediately gotten with one of the women as soon as you left. She apologised profusely for telling you this, but she felt that it was something you had to know.

You felt stupid for feeling as hurt as you did. You weren’t together anymore, so why did you feel so upset? 

“Eh, y/n? You okay?” Usopp had noticed first that something was wrong, quickly followed by everyone else.

“U-uh, yeah. I’ve just remembered that I forgot to do something! Be back in a minute!” You called out as you rushed from one side of the ship to the other. Feeling the tears slip as you ran, that brought you to where you currently were. Letter crushed in your grip as you leaned back against the banister, tears freely falling. You felt like such an idiot for being so upset, but you couldn’t help it.

You were angry, jealous, and hurt. Someone who had said that they loved you had seemed to get over you pretty fucking quickly. 

Suddenly the sound of a door slam open and a frenzied shout brought you out of your wallowing. “Y/N-SANNNNNN!”

Sanji was on you before your eyes even had time to see him arrive. 

“Are you hurt? Injured? Sick? Hungry?” The blonde all but shouted, hands flying over you but never knowing where to land. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m fine, Sanji.” You gave him a weak smile, quickly wiping your tears away. “It’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid if it’s making you cry!”

You had to admit, you were probably closest with Sanji on the ship. Aside from the fact that he really liked women, he was attentive, extremely caring and was always a great listener.

“Is there anything I can do?” He crouched down, eyes filled with worry for you.

Unable to speak but trusting the man before you, you handed him the letter and looked away, ashamed of your reaction. Sanji knew of your ex, and had always openly stated how much he disliked him so his reaction to the letter was expected. He took a minute, probably to gather his thoughts so he was calm when he spoke so as to not upset you further.

“I can never forgive someone who makes a lady cry.” You could hear the anger in his voice as he settled next to you. Sanji balled his fist, letter crumpling under the pressure. “No wonder you’re so upset.”

“It’s stupid.” You scoffed, hating how tight your throat felt. “I shouldn’t feel like this.”

“It’s not stupid.” He wrapped an arm around your waist which you happily accepted. “You have every right to be upset.”

“I just loved him, and I thought that he loved me.” You sighed into his chest, thankful that you had the man next to you. “Clearly I was wrong.”

“You’re better off without that scum.” You laughed lightly at his choice of words, not seeing the way Sanji’s eyes softened. “There are much better people out there for you, who will treat you exactly the way you deserve.”

You looked at him then. “What if I don’t find anyone?”

He pulled you into a tight hug, him conveying a deeper emotion that you didn’t know about. “You will.”

You don’t know how long you stayed wrapped in Sanji’s arms. It was so warm and comforting and exactly what you needed. Eventually you pulled away, feeling bad for leaving the rest of the crew as abruptly as you did.

Sanji looked at you in a way you couldn’t describe, it was almost to much for you to handle. You were about to avert your eyes when he suddenly stood up, one hand outstretched towards you.

“C’mon, I’m cooking your favourite meal.” He smiled, pulling you up to your feet. “And dessert too.”

“Thanks, Sanji.” You looked at your interlocked fingers as he walked you towards the kitchen, feeling butterflies. “Really, thank you.”

“No need to thank me.” He mumbled, the next part inaudible to your ears. “Anything for you.”

He sat you down at the table and began preparing the ingredients. It was quite cathartic to watch him in his element. Your ex was long forgotten at this stage, the only thoughts you had were centred around Sanji and how grateful you were that you had him.

“I’m stepping out for a moment.” Was all you heard before the blonde disappeared. You didn’t mind, you knew he wouldn’t be gone for long and it was nice to have a moment alone with your thoughts.

...

Sanji stepped outside, where the rest of the crew was waiting, watching with curiosity. Holding up the letter, the chef looked into the eyes of each member, conveying his sincerity. “Next time we go to y/n’s hometown, her ex is a dead man.”

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

Let’s say in an AU were you could “recruit” the bishop after you defeated them (Basically what happened to Narinder)

Could you write some Headcanons of Hecket Dating one of the Cult members (reader) who helps her adjust to her new life. Plus, helps her reconcile with Narinder.

OH I love those AUs!! Wish we could have recruited the bishops like all the other mini-bosses, Witnesses, and Narinder

............

When Heket was first dragged into Lamb's cult, you were among the few members to welcome her.

It's a surprise, considering she remembers plaguing you and others with starvation in front of their leader as a show of power.

So it’s a rather tense and awkward first meeting for everyone, especially since Leshy is there too. She started chastising him for his failure, but Lamb put a stop to that.

She quickly realized she wasn’t above this “false god” anymore. Just a servant like you, her brother, and (eventually) her other siblings.

With nowhere else to go, she stayed in the cult and distanced herself from everybody, her arrogance barely waning. 

Lamb healed her throat out of generosity (as they also cured Leshy’s blindness), but she still despised them and barely listened to their orders.

Many were afraid to approach her. That was understandable. Yet you did so willingly, helping her adjust to life in the cult. All you asked for in return is her friendship (which she begrudgingly agrees to).

You’d take her to events in the temple, hanging out near the back. Although anytime Lamb performs the harvest ritual she just scoffs and rolls her eyes, muttering how that used to be her job.

Heket’s never felt hunger like her followers did, so she panics a little upon experiencing this for the first time. But you calm her down by sharing your bowl of food with her.

As much as she hates to admit it, Lamb’s cooking is...adequate.

She gets closer to you more and more, slowly bringing down the walls she built around herself....eventually realizing that you’re the only one in the cult who makes her happy and feel like she belongs.

When she sees a marriage ritual take place, she gets a little jealous of Lamb and their chosen spouse, wondering if you and her could have something like that.

But it’s you who made the first move, asking her out with a bouquet of autumn leaves and mushrooms. She eagerly accepts the confession, barely able to hide her smile of relief.

“Dates” consisted of doing tasks together within the cult, but during missionaries you two will venture through Anura, with Heket reminiscing over the land she used to rule.

Its residents aren’t hostile to either of you, instead bowing in her presence. And in the rooms with her stone statues, she admires them for some time before catching up with you.

Concerning the bishops' opinions on the relationship: Leshy approves 100%, Kallamar was shocked and asked “who are you and what have you done with our sister????”, and Shamura threatened you with “break her heart and I'll make a war break out within your cult”. Regardless, they came around to support you two.

When Narinder arrives on the scene, he’s beyond shook.

“Lamb wtf you never told me about this-”

"My, oh my..so the Red Crown has abandoned you at last, dear brother."

"....watch your words carefully before I cut your throat again..sister."

Yep, these two will bicker nonstop. But you'll do your best to reassure Heket that he won't hurt her again (likewise, Lamb ensures there's no heavy quarrels between the bishops and him).

Heket's gonna BEG Lamb to let them battle it out in a fighting ritual but you stop her from making such a request.

"Not everything has to end in a fight, sweetheart."

"But it's how everything begins-"

"Nope. C'mon why don't we tend to the pumpkin patch?"

"...fine."

Indeed you managed to wrap the ex-bishop of famine around your finger/claw. But she didn't mind it so much.

It's fair to say you're her better half.

[snelbz]

Starting Over {Nine}

Collab with @theladyofdeath.

Summary: Elide Lochan thought she had met the love of her life only to find out that he was not the man she thought he was. After her world starts falling down around her, she makes a move back to her childhood home in hopes of starting over. Although it’s the last thing she expected, she meets a man the exact opposite of her ex. With his help and that of her best friend, Aelin, she learns how to stand on her own two feet and take control of her life.

Starting Over Masterlist

Elide had no idea it would be as tough as it was to find an apartment in the city that fit her budget, was near the gym, and kept her close by Aelin and Lorcan. It hadn’t helped that two weeks after she and Lorcan had officially started dating, her car finally broke down after years of acting like it was on its last leg. Lorcan had told her she could move in with him, as permanent or temporary as she wanted, but Elide never budged.

I have to do this for me, she’d told him. Living by herself had never been a problem before Roland. She wouldn’t allow it to be after him, especially since she hadn’t heard from him since the day he’d shown up at the gym. Lorcan understood, of course, but she knew no matter what, he’d do what he had to to take care of her.

After her car broke down, the money she’d been saving for a deposit went towards a down payment on a car instead, but after two long months of searching, Elide stood outside of her very own townhouse, keys in hand. She’d signed her lease the evening before and had picked up the keys from the leasing office that morning.

A warm, strong hand landed on her shoulder and Elide turned her head to look up at Lorcan. He was smiling down at her, dark eyes soft and full of pride as she smiled up at him. He nodded towards the door. “What are you waiting for?”

Beaming, she made a show of herself walking up the front porch and unlocking the door before making her way inside. Lorcan followed closely behind.

It was quaint, not too big but plenty spacious. The walls were bare and white, and the carpet looked and smelled if it had just been deep-cleaned.

She hated the fact that everyone was about to be wearing their shoes indoors, dirtying up that carpet, but she was also grateful that her friends had come to help her move in.

A place of her own.

“What do you think?” Elide asked, gesturing to the open living room that connected with the kitchen.

Lorcan shut the front door behind him and leaned against it. “I think you look happy, and that makes me happy.”

Gods, he made her smile.

She couldn’t stop her lips as they spread into a grin and she walked to him, palms flat against his chest as she reached up on her tiptoes to kiss him. “Thank you,” she muttered against his mouth. “Now please bring in my heavy boxes.”

“I’m convinced my muscles are the only reason you keep me around anymore,” he mumbled, narrowing his eyes at her.

“They’re very convenient for carrying my boxes and books and new furniture in,” she admitted, as Lorcan ran his thumb along her jaw.

“Your books can wait.” His words were rough and before Elide knew what was happening, she found herself turned, her back against the door and her legs around Lorcan’s waist. 

He kissed her with as much passion as he did every day when he proved how much he cared for her, every night when he showed her what true pleasure was over and over again. Elide clung to his shoulders, relishing in the feel of him pressing into her core, already getting hard—

A knock came from directly behind her and Aelin called from outside, “You two better not be christening the place already.”

Lorcan’s head fell against the door with a groan. “We can’t very well tell them to go away, can we?”

“Not since they’re helping me move,” she replied, threading her fingers into his hair, which was tied back in the little bun she loved so much. 

Lorcan looked from Elide to the door behind her and back again. With a sigh, he set Elide down on the floor and opened the door. 

Aelin stood with a box in her hands, brows raised as she took in Lorcan’s grumpy expression. “Great, now I have you answering the door at two locations.”

Rowan chuckled and went inside, clapping Lorcan on the shoulder as he went. Aelin followed and once they were all in, Elide gave them the tour.

She had only had the tour once herself but it was exactly how she remembered it. The living room, kitchen, laundry room, and a half-bath downstairs, and two bedrooms and a full bathroom upstairs.

The four of them spent the afternoon moving in all of Elide’s belongings. She and Aelin were able to move most of the boxes while Rowan and Lorcan helped move the furniture she had accumulated over the past few months, including the couch, dresser, and queen-sized bed she had just bought from a closing sale from one of the furniture stores in the city that had gone out of business.

As Rowan and Lorcan attempted to put together a bookshelf Elide had ordered, the instructions in a completely different language, she and Aelin drove down the street to pick up the pizza they’d ordered.

“Do I get to decorate the spare room?” Aelin asked, her feet propped up on Elide’s dash, despite Elide’s protests. She clarified, “Since it’ll pretty much be mine and Rowan’s room.”

“I don’t even know if I’m making it a bedroom yet.” She really didn’t. Of course, she’d considered making it a guest bedroom, but she was also toying with the idea of making it a toned down version of an at home gym. Lorcan was in favor of the gym idea, but had also thrown in the suggestion of a massage parlor. It just wasn’t the type of massages she gave at the gym.

She’d quickly and efficiently shut that idea down, promising to give him as many massages as he wanted, without the need of an entire room dedicated to it.

Aelin gasped. “A nursery?”

Elide whipped her head to the side, staring at Aelin in shock, before snapping her gaze back to the road. “Absolutely not.”

Flopping back in the passenger seat, Aelin clucked her tongue. “Damn it, I was hoping you and Lorcan were going to make a tiny, less grumpy version of Lorcan.”

Elide was beyond stunned. “Why— Why would you think that?”

She shrugged like it was obvious. “Because you and Lorcan are perfect for each other.”

Elide was quiet for a second before she asked, “Really?”

She already thought as much, loved how she and Lorcan worked together. Every day their relationship got better, even when Elide thought it wasn’t possible. But, it was nice to hear that someone else could see it, too, how much they meant to each other, how well they worked together. 

“Yeah,” Aelin said, eyes remaining on the road in front of them. “It’s no secret that Lorcan and I have had quite the past, but with you he’s just so…” she shook her head and chuckled. “In love.”

Elide felt her cheeks turn pink, her entire body going lighter at the thought. She and Lorcan had yet to say those words to one another, but the feelings were definitely there.

“Well, I can assure you, it won’t be a nursery,” Elide said, turning into the lot and parking by the door. “But if it does become a guest room, you can pick out the bedding.”

“Yes!” Aelin was out of the passenger side and hugging Elide as she rounded the front. She linked her arm through Elide’s as they headed for the pizza parlor and groaned. “I’m going to miss having you as a roommate.”

Elide snorted as she pulled open the front door, the delicious smell of pizza hitting them. “No, you aren’t. You and Rowan are finally back to having the privacy you deserve, and not a moment too soon.”

Aelin couldn’t deny that. The wedding was only a couple months away and despite their constant reassurance she was welcome, the countdown was becoming…tense. This was all thanks to the fact that Aelin had asked Rowan if they could abstain from sex for the last three months before the wedding. He’d laughed at first, but then he’d realized she was serious.

It had only been three weeks and Elide was more than happy to no longer be their buffer.

“Pick up for Aelin,” she told the guy behind the counter before turning to Elide. “We have the rest of our lives for that privacy. I loved having you there, especially after not seeing you for so many years. We’ll have to make it a priority to see each other on a regular basis.”

In a rare moment, Aelin’s voice had gone soft. She reached out and squeezed Elide’s hand. A sudden rush of emotion swept over her as the guy placed their order on the counter. 

“Of course,” Elide promised, and the guy had to clear his throat to bring them back, to get his payment.

After they paid, they stopped at the liquor store and bought everything needed to celebrate the first night in her new home. Once they got back, Rowan and Lorcan had finished putting together the book shelf and were sprawled out on the couch. 

Aelin rolled her eyes as she walked through the door. “No one said you two could take a break.”

Lorcan narrowed his eyes but it was Rowan that said, “Can’t work on an empty stomach. You took too long.”

She shot him a vulgar gesture that only seemed to make their three months of abstinence harder. He really did love her crude nature.

It was just after eleven when Rowan and Aelin left, promising to be by around noon with the last few things of Elide’s that were still at the apartment. Lorcan shut the door, locking it behind him and headed up the stairs to where Elide waited in the master bedroom.

Her bedroom.

He was so damn proud of her, for overcoming the fear that Roland had instilled in her, for pushing herself to get this place, for never taking the easy way out.

When he topped the stairs, he found she wasn’t waiting in bed like he’d hoped. She was in the bathroom, likely washing her face or brushing her teeth, so he would wait for her. It had been a long day, and he expected that she would be tired. He knew he sure as hell was.

After stripping down to nothing but his boxer-briefs, Lorcan climbed into the bed and started scrolling through movies, looking for something to turn on while they fell asleep. He’d turned on one of Elide’s favorite movies and was watching the opening credits when she appeared in the doorway.

He dropped the remote and forgot all about the movie.

Elide had worn lingerie for him once. It had been a red, lacy, little thing, to celebrate being together for a whole month, and Lorcan had been a puddle at her feet.

But standing in front of him, wearing a matching bra and panty set, a garter belt, and god damned thigh highs? He was ready to offer her his soul.

She must’ve seen the light in his eyes because a sultry grin greeted him as she meandered toward the bed.

“What did I do to deserve this?” He asked, finally having found his voice as she stood at the foot of the bed. Lorcan was crawling towards her.

“Your treat for doing all the heavy lifting today,” she crooned, “and for being so supportive. And wonderful. And ungodly handsome.”

His lips quirked up as he sat at the foot of the bed and took her hips in his hands. “I like those reasons,” he murmured, running his thumb along the skin just above that damned garter belt. “You look…”

Elide waited, her fingers weaving their way through his hair as she waited for the words to come to him, fully aware that she looked, and felt, phenomenal in her current attire. 

Lorcan laughed quietly and shook his head. “I can’t come up with a word that’s good enough to describe how fucking gorgeous you look.”

“Fucking gorgeous works,” she said, straddling his lap. His hands slid down to her thighs and back up to her ass, where they stayed. “I know you wanted me to move in with you, but I need to do this for myself first, to have my own space. Not away from you, but just to…be me again.”

“You don’t have to explain it, babe, I get it.” He leaned up, pressing his mouth to hers. “I’m so proud of you.”

“You helped me do all of this,” Elide said, cupping his face in her hands. “You helped me realize my strength, my worth. You kept me from drowning in my own darkness after everything that happened and I… I love you, Lorcan.”

His hands stilled where they’d been squeezing the curve of her ass. His eyes widened in surprise and Elide had a split second of fear as she wondered if she’d misread everything, all the feelings she had and had thought Lorcan shared. But then his lips were on hers and he was standing and turning. Elide’s back was pressed into the mattress and Lorcan’s hard body was over hers. The kiss took her breath away and when Lorcan pulled his lips from hers, his voice was breathless, too. “I love you, too, Elide.”

She’d longed to hear those words from him for weeks, maybe longer. Finally hearing them, in her own home, with a bright future ahead of her, in the arms of the man she loved?

Elide wasn’t sure if she’d even been happier.

……………

It had been nearly a year since Elide had moved into her townhouse and it had been the best year of her life. Living alone had given her more strength than she ever could have thought, more courage. She had woken up every day with her head held high, feeling confident and worthy, no fear, ready to take on what the day ahead of her held. 

She hadn’t heard from Roland again, not once, not since he stormed into the gym and had expected Elide to go with him. It seems he had gotten the hint, thank the gods. 

She no longer felt him hiding behind every corner, no longer jumped every time her phone rang, no longer feared going out in public. Instead, she was able to live her life to the fullest, and that was a blessing in itself. 

Work had been her newfound love, thanks to Sellene, who had taken her passions and brought them to life. Between physical therapy and massage therapy, and the few clients she had kept as a personal trainer, Elide was working long hours but loving every second of it. Lorcan was incredibly supportive, but he was always supportive of everything she did.

He was her number one in everything. They grew together, their relationship stronger than Elide could have ever imagined. He treated her like a queen, and she spent every minute she could convincing him that he was everything she had ever wanted, had ever needed.

They hadn’t run into a single bump in their relationship and Elide often felt like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Aelin, in a rare show of being the voice of reason, told her to quit worrying problems into existence.

So she didn’t. She lived every moment as if there wouldn’t be another and loved Lorcan just as fiercely as he loved her. They didn’t worry about what if’s and they didn’t worry about the past. They were each other’s future’s, and that’s all that mattered.

Lorcan was cooking dinner when the door from the garage opened up. A crisp wind blew in, the chilly weather of fall moving in much earlier than normal this year. Elide hurried in, her gym bag over one shoulder, her phone and what was left of a white chocolate mocha clutched in the other hand.

“It’s the middle of September,” she announced, as if he’d somehow missed that fact. “It should not be this cold.” It was then that she noticed what he was cooking. “Is that lasagna?”

“Maybe,” he said, taking her bag and setting it in the laundry room. “How was your day?”

“Great, but I’m starving.” She headed for the fridge and got a bottle of wine out, pouring a glass. “I had two training appointments, one of which was Manon, so that kicked my ass and I had a new therapy patient start today. She actually seems like she wants to get better, so that’s an improvement from some of the last few.”

Elide had a string of patients who gave up, hadn’t cared whether or not they really got use of their bodies back or not, and it had discouraged her. She had known she was capable and it wasn’t a reflection on her, but she was worried Sellene might see otherwise. Lorcan had reassured her that regardless of whether these people accepted her treatment or not wasn’t on her, it was on them. Sellene, of course, had told Elide she was being silly when she’d found out. 

She took a drink and hopped up on the island. “How was your day?”

Lorcan lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “It was pretty good. Stopped some bad guys, saved the day, normal cop stuff.”

He was convinced he felt the earth shift on its axis Elide rolled her eyes so hard.

She was scrolling through her emails from the day when she gasped. Lorcan was immediately on high alert. He was in front of her in an instant, hands on her thighs. “What is it?”

Her eyes kept reading across the email, but finally, she looked up at him. “My landlord is increasing my rent by three hundred dollars.”

“Three hundred dollars? That’s ridiculous,” he said, reading through the email after she handed him the phone.

Three hundred dollars was a lot when you had so little to spare every month. Elide was great about budgeting, but to pull an extra three hundred dollars out in thin air…

“I like this place,” she said, at last, with a frown. Lorcan had set the phone down and was giving Elide his full, undivided attention. She nibbled on her bottom lip. “I don’t think I can afford that, though. I might have to look for something else.”

“Look for something else?” Lorcan murmured, his hands running up her thighs. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”

“Not necessarily,” she said, shrugging. “But I can’t…” she trailed off and took a deep breath. “I hardly have enough to spare as it is. Putting an extra three hundred dollars towards rent means major sacrifices.”

Lorcan lifted her wine glass off the island beside her and took a sip for himself before holding it up. “Like wine?”

Elide laughed and snatched it from him. “Yes, exactly.” She took a drink then slid her arms around his shoulder. “I don’t want to worry about it tonight, though. I’ll save it for tomorrow. Tonight I want to spend time with you, and tomorrow…tomorrow I’ll think about my lease. It renews next month, anyway.”

Lorcan watched her for a moment, admired her as he ran his hands behind her and kissed her, softly. A moment of quiet passed before he said, “Don’t renew your lease.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow, Lor, but I have to have somewhere to live.”

“And you do,” he said, framing her face in his hands and then stepping back to encompass the room around them. He tugged her off the counter taking her hands in his. “Elide, you’ve always had a home here and you always will. Wherever I am when I’m you is my home.”

Her eyes softened. “And you’re my home, Lorcan, but—”

“Then I have a third option to consider,” he said, his hands traveling up her arm, resting on her shoulders.

“Third option?” She laughed, shaking her head. “What are my first two?”

“Your first option is to shell out another three hundred dollars to your sleazy landlord who stares at your ass whenever he comes to fix something,” Lorcan replied, holding up air quotes in response to the random visits he makes to repair things she hadn’t even known were damaged.

“And give up wine and other fun things that I love,” she added.

Nodding, Lorcan went on. “Exactly. Option two is looking for another place in your price range, that’s close to the gym. Based on the scowl on your face, I don’t think you’re looking forward to that.”

Narrowing her eyes, she reached for her wine and took a drink. “Point taken. What’s option number three?”

“You move in with me and we get married.”

Elide went still. For a moment, she thought that she hadn’t heard him correctly, but then his words finally registered and she found herself stuttering before him. “I’m sorry…what?”

Lorcan took both of her hands in his and looked down at her. “Move in with me, El. Marry me.”

A thousand emotions hit her at once and she had no idea what to say, not because the words didn’t come but because too many words came at once. 

Before she could muster up a response, Lorcan was down on one knee, her hands still in his. “I don’t have a ring,” he confessed, and Elide laughed quietly as he continued, “and maybe this isn’t the right way to do this but I don’t care. I love you. I am so ridiculously in love with you that it pains me. I love waking up with you every morning and falling asleep with you every night. I love living life with you, both on the good days and the bad. You make me a better person and, gods Elide, I don’t know what the fuck I was doing before you came into my life. You’re everything to me. I had a plan to ask you this on a different day, when I had planned some romantic shit that would have blown your mind, but…right now feels right. So, don’t renew your lease. Instead, move in with me and let’s spend every day for the rest of our lives together. You’re the love of my life and I would be a damned fool if I didn’t ask you to be mine forever.” Elide was crying by this point . She knew it, and she didn’t care. “Marry me, Elide. Please. Be my wife.”

The laugh that came from her surprised Lorcan. “Rowan threw Aelin a party and you don’t even have me a damn ring?”

Lorcan hesitated, realizing he may not have thought this through very well, but then Elide was bending at the waist, kissing him. “Of course, I’ll marry you,” she said, tears still running down her cheeks. “Of course, I love you so much.”

Lorcan stood then, taking her face in his hands and kissing her until she was breathless. When he pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers. “So which option do you pick?”

Elide threw her head back and laughed. “Three,” she sighed as he picked her up and set her back on the counter again. “I pick option three.”

He kissed her again, wine and dinner and leases forgotten. It was just the two of them and the future that lay before them.

[veritable-trash]

Orange Daydream

head empty just neck neck neck neck neck

Pairing: Santiago Pope Garcia x F!Reader

Words: 5K

Warning: none! just santi being sexy and me not knowing how to get to the point and needing to world build like nobody's fucking business.

A/N: HELLO, alright yall sorry for not being up and about but I've been struggling to find time to write because I GOT A JOB YAY. this was really fun to write i love santi as a character and oscar isaac is just sexyyyyyyyyy so of course i'm gonna write some joyful relationship development! i got an ask in mi inbox that i'm currently working on(hint hint my eddie munson fixation is coming to a head be prepared) so i'll hopefully have that done soon. anywayssssss i'm taking any requests if people are interested honestly open to anything just trying to get more writing going in my life ok well love you all hope you've had a fantastic week and i hope you enjoy this! ALSO tommy isn't tom from TF but i thought it was funny so there ya go :)

a part two is possible but i got so many ideas swirling it's not the priority but it could be if people are like really fiending just let me know :)))))) <333

masterlist weoweoweow

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your ex was here. Milling about in Santi’s backyard blissfully unaware of your laser eyes trying to melt him to the ground from the kitchen window. 

Hiding.

Praying that he won’t notice you, that you can just stay here in anonymity for the rest of the evening or that, despite all the odds, the lasers you’re imagining shooting out of your eyes will become real and actually disintegrate him. 

A girl can dream. 

Santi was going to pay for this. You were going to make him get down on his knees and fucking grovel for at least 3 to 5 business days for putting you in this predicament. For letting that slug of a man traipse around your (Santi’s) backyard and ruin this lovely August evening with his bullshit and fuckery. 

Though to be fair it was partially on you but Santi was the one in charge of the guest list, so in reality it was completely his fault and he would be in the doghouse for this. For maybe the rest of his life, the jury was truly still out. 

It was hard to think about Tommy. He had been the love of your life(hah) for three years. You’d met Santi, your supposed best friend, through him. Had settled into this town, found a job, felt like you were creating a home. 

It had been almost painfully perfect. All your best friends called you relationship goals, the perfect couple, the envy of all single people near and far. 

And then he cheated. And not something simple like making out with some stranger at a bar.

No. Tommy had always had a penchant for the dramatic, so he ended up cheating on you with one of those aforementioned best friends. AND to make matters even worse, they were now engaged. Slapping their love and perfect relationship all across social media for you, the spinster, to tear apart with your gnarly, knobby fingers like some wicked witch planning to poison someone with an apple.

It had crossed your mind once or twice. It would be fitting retribution, Tommy and you had only broken up three months ago. 

You were living in hell. 

Now all you had left in this town was the knives littering your back and heart and in some twisted turn of fate Santi. Though for some reason he'd still let that motherfucker into your(Santi’s) house which was going to be quite a conversation when you got Santi alone. 

You heard her before you saw her. The squeal of elation made you want to claw your skin off. There she was rounding the corner and practically throwing herself into Tommy’s arms like he’s been away at war and she’s been staring out the window every day for months awaiting his return. 

God how fucking embarrassing. Just throwing their love around in front of everyone without a fucking care in the world. You’re surprised no one heard the banshee scream echoing around in your skull. 

Though that was how you and Tommy used to be. It hurt to admit that to yourself, could almost feel one of the knives lodged between your upper vertebras twisting viciously, tearing you apart as you remember exactly what it felt like to be spun around in his arms. Remembering so vividly how secure you had always felt with him, how safe.

Go fucking figure I guess.  

“If you scrub that plate any harder I think you’ll rub a hole in it sweetheart.”

Santi’s voice comes across muffled though you chalk that up to the living nightmare you're currently in and how you can’t seem to escape it. 

You turn to him, laser eyes now honing in on your new target and you swear you see Santi flinch a bit at the malice laced in your gaze. 

“You know Santiago I thought we were friends, best friends even. Yet here I scrub, looking out this window and who do I see? Oh that’s right, my villain of an ex and my villain of an ex best friend being all lovey dovey in our backyard. I can’t seem to even comprehend a good enough reason for them to be here other than you wanting to torture me, which I will admit would be something you would do.”

He chuckles at that, lips quirking ever so slightly up at the corners as he sidles up next to you at the sink. His hip bumps yours and his fingers wrap around the plate your viciously attacking and gently places it on the drying rack. 

“Honeybee come on, you know it’s my birthday and you know Tommy also knows it’s my birthday. He was always going to be here and though I wish he wasn’t here and I wish I could have told him to fuck off and never return again, you and I both know I can’t do that.”

Though the facetious pet name makes you want to grumble and spit and fight him, his arm gently wraps itself around your shoulders to tuck you into his side and as always he eases an ache in your chest and the fight in you dies out. Unsticks your lungs from your ribs so you can finally take a breath you didn’t even know you were desperately needing. His eyes trace your face, a gentleness there that you swear he only ever shows you.

Fuck Santi and his ability to distract you, allow you to breath even when it feels like your lungs are collapsing. It was why you guys had instantly clicked when Tommy introduced you two. 

He had flirted with you without a shred of modesty and yet made you feel like you could say absolutely anything without a second thought. It was the strangest combination but it just worked. That was just you and Santi, hot and cold, push and pull, fighting constantly but bonded by something cosmic. 

And you knew Santi was right. Tommy and him had been friends for years. Tommy was friends with Will and Benny, and even with you now usurping him in the friendship hierarchy with the boys, Tommy was always going to be a presence in this town, with these people. 

Though you did hold onto one victory and that was that Frankie had always had a problem with him. That’s why you loved Frankie the most out of the four of them and you made sure that Santi was well aware of it. Santi seethed at that fact. 

“Don’t call me that you know I hate it.” Your words are muffled into the soft cotton that wraps around his shoulders, no longer able to stare out of that godforsaken window and prolong your torture. “I ju-I don’t know I just wish he could disappear and that he never existed and I never had to see him again.”

You drag in air, the sound almost pitiful with the hurt laced through it and Santi’s other arm on instinct cages you tight against his chest. His temple settles against the side of your head and you swear you hear him intake a deep breath against your hair but you’re too distracted by his scent drowning you to really make heads or tails of anything. 

Cedar, mint, orange. Braided so delicately together you could miss all the different notes if it weren’t for the fact that you had it practically memorized it somewhere deep in your skull.  

You inhale another deep breath hoping to trap some of his scent in your lungs so you can tap into it later when, knowing your luck, you’ll be trapped alone with Tommy and his new fiancee. The joy.

Christ on a fucking cracker. 

“Are you really gonna stay in here for the rest of the party? Come on, it’s my birthday and the birthday boy wishes for you to at least try and socialize. For me. Please? Pretty please? Don’t make me beg now, though you know I do look absolutely fantastic on my knees.”

“God Santi you are such a fucking tramp! I can’t with you, you menace.”

But now you’re laughing and Santi’s eyebrows are waggling at you like this was his plan all along. To get you to laugh for just a second to stop your brain from descending into the ether of hate you’d been stewing in for months. 

Your eyes lock as you both settle back into the quiet of the kitchen. Benny’s laugh can be heard above the light commotion outside. The 80’s jams that Santi makes everyone listen to every year on his birthday trickle into your ears through the glass and walls, and you can smell the grill roaring, can practically see Frankie with his apron on and tongs in hand being a dictator about the right charcoal choice for the perfect smoky flavor. 

But you like it right here. Standing across from each other in the kitchen, talking but not talking, knowing but not knowing, just letting the sun filter in. His curls are like a prism for the light. Shades of black, brown, some chestnut and gray catching with every wave. 

God you love him.

Fuck, wait, not like love love him, you know just like love him. Like a best friend, like your confidante, like your everything-

“I’m-uhm I’m gonna head back out, ya know how Frankie gets if you leave him at the grill for too long-”

“Dictator Francisco Morales hailing from the Land of Grills, ya of course you gotta go save the general populous before he smokes them all out. I’ll try to get out there in a bit, I think that plate needs another solid scrub, swear I saw some barbecue sauce stuck to it.”

Santi’s eyes lighten and soften again, turning almost mahogany as the light catches them just so and before you can blink his lips press to your cheek and his scent washes over you again. 

“Don’t hide for too long, ok? I’ll be waiting for you outside. Just give me a whistle and I’ll come save you, pinky promise. I won’t let Tommy corner you, he’s gotten enough of your time already.”

The words are a whisper across the skin of your cheek and your heart stutter steps when his hand comes down and his pinky locks with yours in a quick squeeze.

And as quick as he came he’s gone and you can’t stop the faltering step you take forward, trying to chase down his touch. Your fingers graze the spot his lips just branded you and you swear there’s a residual heat that you can't decide is from his lips or your blush. 

Your hands snatch up the plate you were assaulting earlier, nails digging in as your eyes wander back up, back to staring through that cursed window. But it doesn’t feel as cursed this time around. Tommy is nowhere to be seen and your focus immediately lands on the brightest light outside. 

Santi is like a beacon to you now, your eyes immediately zeroing in on him walking back out into the yard. He beelines for Frankie jostling his shoulder with a strong hand and some whispered words that leave Frankie scowling and Santi laughing. 

These secret moments are few and far between, so few times do you get to watch, to be greedy about Santi without anyone knowing. Get to soak up every drop of him without needing to make sure no one can see how deep you may have fallen. 

Key word may!!!

But it was hard to pretend Santi wasn’t turning into something deeper, burrowing under your skin and planting himself on every nerve ending so that every touch somehow reminded you of him. You can’t stop staring at him because in these secret moments, when you let him, he consumes you. 

He’d been there for you like no one else ever had when Tommy decided to turn into captain douchebag and destroy your life. Had held your hand and stayed in with you even when all the boys were trying to get you to leave your dungeon of gloom, claiming a night out would get you out of this “funk”. Yet Santi knew exactly what you needed, and it turned out it was him, ice cream, and movies nonstop. And then somehow so slowly, so sneakily it turned out you just needed him.  

His head is thrown back, a laugh rippling up his throat, and there’s that prism again, like a halo around his head. Catching the sunlight just right to make him look almost angelic, every curl perfectly in place, tousled like some fucking cologne ad model. His neck is a crime against humanity, strong and tan and your mind starts to wander down south and at this point you’re too mesmerized by him to stop yourself. God what an absolute tool, you can’t stand him and his stupid beautiful face. 

Like clock work though, his head falls back down and his eyes instantly find yours in the window. He cocks his head just so, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening as his beam simmers down to just a gentle lift of his lips and his eyes dance with secrets promises. Your heart squeezes so tight you have to look away, back down at your reflection in the crystal clean plate before he reads your thoughts in your eyes. 

They’ve been getting a touch too loud recently. 

~~~~~

You’d held up your end of the bargain.

You’d ventured outside. Socialized even, though you mainly stayed glued to Frankie’s side by the grill, hoping against hope that he would be the most effective shield against Tommy and those incessant giggles you swear are somehow being directed directly at you. 

It’s like their fucking bats with echolocation pinpointed on you. Fuck if you know if that’s how echolocation works but that’s definitely how those giggles feel. Like they're vibrating in your skull hoping it’ll shatter like glass when an opera singer gets too close.

And honestly Frankie was doing a bang up job. He’d been there a bit in the aftermath of your breakup. Had done movie nights with Santi and you. Had bought you beers as you teared up in the booth you and Tommy had met in. That was the first night you'd left your house and to say it was atrocious would be showing restraint. Honestly it was a dark and mildly pathetic time but now Frankie was your boy, a friend that you knew wouldn’t leave you in the dust.

Until right now where he is actively leaving you in the dust, apologies seeping out of his eyes as Benny drags him away to the fire to chat “girls” and Tommy decides this is the absolute perfect time to approach.

While you are at the grill.

Alone. 

Sweat coats your palms and you almost knock your beer off the table as he shuffles up to you like you’re some scared deer. He even looks 5% apologetic which was more than you were expecting from him. Your hackles rise higher. 

“Hey, I uh saw you earlier and wanted to talk but wanted to catch you alone. You know so we can talk.”

Your brain takes a beat to catch up as you take Tommy in for the first time in almost three months. For some reason his face doesn’t make your heart stumble like it used to. You can only faintly remember the way you gritted your teeth as you stalked his Instagram page, cutting deeper with every post you looked at, every comment you read. And yet now all you can think is, jesus what had you seen in this dude?

He looks like you'd kicked his dog and ate his lunch and as if you should feel bad for him. Like you should be careful because he’s sensitive and you could hurt his feelings, even though he cheated on you! Threw your heart on the pavement and stomped all over it just for good measure. And is now echolocating his new love, star crossed lovers, bullshit fucking giggles straight into your brain.  

To hell with this dude. 

“You know what Tom-“

“Hey man thanks so much for coming! I truly didn’t think you were gonna be able to make it but you know Tommy, you’ve always been great with surprises. By the way I think your girl is looking for you inside, thought I heard her calling for ya.”

Orange. Just peeled, sticky sweet and beautifully tart and sharp. That’s what Santi smells like most at night. Like the sun has burnt away all the other notes throughout the day so you can smell what Santi is at his core. And to you he’s always smelled like oranges in the summer. 

His arm wraps around your shoulder again and his eyes are full of warning and mischief as if he knew exactly where that unfinished sentence was going and he wasn’t about to let you tear Tommy’s head off in front of an audience. Though he might let you do it in private. Santi did love a bit of gore. 

“Oh shit ya I totally forgot I did tell her we were gonna leave soon though I guess now’s as good a time to head out as any. Happy birthday man it’s always so good seeing you, and uh you know I’ll see ya around.”

Tommy’s just a blip now, a nonentity, basically an NPC at this point, good riddance, because now you get to be right next to Santi where you’ve been aching to be since he left you at the kitchen sink reeling.

“I think I swooped in right on time with that one because I have a feeling you were about to kick poor Tommy straight to the curb and maybe then some. I could practically see you winding up your swing. You are a terrifying woman to behold.”

He grabs your beer and his and without even looking back starts walking towards the now empty fire pit. Will and Benny and Frankie are obviously all still here, no way they leave before 1AM, the proverbial witching hour, but they’d all sequestered themselves inside to watch the game highlights with the rest of the late night stragglers. 

It was only ever you and Santi who wanted to brave the outdoors, no matter what time of year, just to get a little bit of peace, maybe even just a little bit more time for just the two of you, but no one had to know that.

“I would just like to let the record show that everything my brain was cooking up, he more than deserved to hear. I can’t believe he came up to me looking like I had somehow been the one in the wrong. Like I’m sorry but if I remember correctly, which fun fact I usually do, you cheated on me! I have a great fucking memory, you can't fool me this time!”

The sentence ends with chuckles shared over the fire and you’re both shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee, the chairs the only thing separating you two from each other. You’d lie and say you’re huddling for warmth but it’s the middle of the summer and it’s balmy and beautiful out. 

Sometimes there stops being a point to all the lies. 

Your head rolls onto Santi’s shoulder a puff of mint hitting you as you settle, your eyes tracing the constellations painted across the darkness high up above. He shifts down in the chair just a bit letting your head drop just that little bit more and it feels like two puzzle pieces clicking together. His cheek presses into the top of your head and you both inhale in sync, the exhale of breath just stirring your hair.

“You don’t think I’m actually terrifying do you? Not that it matters but you know, am I? Scary I mean because I don’t want to be but sometimes I feel like I am and I don’t want anyone to be scared of me.”

Santi pulls back, eyes searching your face, a level of worry etched in them. His lips are curled in a light smile but you can tell he’s picking apart your last sentence, seeing what’s between the lines. The insecurities that you know you don’t need to hide from him but still do. 

“Of course that’s the one thing you pick up from all the things I’ve ever said about you. Literally the single sorta bad thing and I didn’t even mean it in a bad way because of course I’m not scared of you. Sweetheart I could never be scared of you. Why would you ask that?”

His pinky latches onto yours, pulling your hand away from picking at the frayed edge of your shorts and placing both your hands on his thigh. Though you are very much in the middle of a mini melt down, the feel of his thigh under your hand makes you almost black out with how many emotions hit you at once. 

He’s devouring all your senses and it’s getting almost to the point of suffocation, yet you lean into him further, your forehead pressing into his shoulder like you’d done in the kitchen not too long ago. 

“I don’t know I just feel like I push people away? Or I’m seen as cold and mean and so people don’t really want to be around me? I mean Tommy used to kinda say stuff like that and how I have a resting bitch face, which you know sorta valid, but I ju-“

“God Tommy is such a fucking tool. Remind me to never allow him in my house every again. I can’t believe he said that kind of shit to you.”

The words are a whisper, an exhale against your temple so full of something that almost sounds like yearning and something even deeper than that. It’s terrifying, the silence starting to penetrate every corner of this moment you both seem suspended in. 

Santi’s lips press against your hair and then words tumble out into your tresses. 

“He’s an idiot, honestly has always been an idiot, and I wish he could disappear too so that you wouldn’t be hurting the way you are. Because you don’t deserve to be hurting and stressed and angry because he should be feeling all of those things instead of shoving his disgusting relationship in your face, which by the way, I just have to say gross because they were gross.”

And again he’s making you laugh, forget, live to be right here with him where nothing else fucking matters. Your head finally leaves the safety of his shoulders to look at him and it’s only at that very moment that you realize your faces are inches apart.

If that.

Your breathing shuts down and Santi seems to realize at the same time as you of the predicament you’re in. But he doesn’t pull away. 

His eyes flit back and forth between your own and he squeezes your pinky again as if he’s reminding you to breath. You release a breath and it’s too loud, too obvious, too revealing in this moment of some unspoken emotion but Santi’s lips pull up a bit, eyes colored with something akin to understanding. 

He’s always seen you, inside and out and right now is absolutely no different. 

“Sweetheart I’ve just gotta say something before I loose the nerve because I’ve been running around in circles in my head all day just thinking about you and I can’t keep a lid on it for much longer.”

Your lips part as you suck in another pitiful breath and Santis eyes dip slowly to your lips in a way that makes you want to eat him alive. Bite into his neck and mark him so that everyone knows he’s yours. His eyes seem to be on a similar train of thought. 

“Fuck I just can’t keep pretending you’re not all I think about. That I’ve been waiting for you to move on from Tommy so that I could finally say this because I’ve been waiting since I met you. Tommy was always in the fucking way and now he isn’t and now the way you’re looking at me is fucking dangerous territory because all I want to do is kick everyone out of my house and finally have it just be us.”

He’s both rambling and yet so sure, like he’s been practicing how to make this all seem spur of the moment even though you know for a fact Santi hates spur of the moment, would rather cut off a limb then live by the seat of his pants. It makes it all the more endearing. 

“I-I wow ok well let’s just see now because I am hearing that you are like into me into me, you know, like that and I don’t, you know, want to be too obvious off the bat but I have, you know, possibly been feeling a similar sort of emotion bu-“

The kiss has to have been ripped straight from your fantasies. Santi is actually just a figment of your imagination that you've manifested into the real world and he is the perfect kisser because there is no way kissing someone should feel like this.

You can taste the mint now, his scent no longer just in your nose but on your tongue, his kiss pouring more of him straight into you. It’s all encompassing, too many things happening at once that your brain feels like it might be melting out of your ears. 

His hand cups your jaw, fingertips pressing just below your ear in a way that seems benign yet sends ripples of heat down your spine. His tongue licking against the seam of your lips and then sweeping against yours that leaves you arching into him, a whimper sneaking its way up your throat and onto his tongue. His pinky still latched with yours squeezes tighter and tighter as if somehow that touch is what’s holding you both together. 

You’re both panting when you finally break, his nose skimming your cheek bone as he presses a fervent kiss to the corner of your lips, your jaw, just below your ear. Your eyes stay shut, basking in the sparkles that are flitting behind your closed lids with every press of his lips. 

He pulls back slightly to look in your eyes and you whine, eyes still shut, still needing more of him, more of that overwhelming, drowning, flying, sinking feeling that his lips give you. His chuckle ghosts over your lips and you swear he’s just fucking with you now. 

Your lids finally peel open and you can’t believe you left them closed for this long. Stopped yourself from seeing Santi looking like every wet dream you’ve ever had in your entire life all wrapped into one magical person. 

His eyes are black, blown with lust from the kiss sent from heaven, yet they’re sparkling like polished obsidian, a joy and contentment so clearly flowing out of them. He’s this enchanting mixture of unadulterated lust and sex appeal crossed with a deep ingrained affection and adoration all pinpointed on you and it’s a heady mixture you’re finding hard to withstand. 

“What are you thinking about honey?” The words are pressed from his lips to yours, a soft brush of air coating you in the sweetness of this moment with him. You can hear and feel the smile that he isn’t even trying to restrain and your own smile feels like it’s splitting your face in two. 

“Honestly, I was thinking about how mad I was that Tommy was here and that you were letting him in my-your house, your house, but now I’m just thinking about you. It’s been only you for a minute now.”

The next kiss catches you off guard, Santi no longer able to restrain himself from touching you. It’s more bruising this time round, claiming and needy. Santi groans against your lips and your fingers finally tangle into the curls of your dreams and it’s all just seeming to be getting more and more perfect. His arms snake around your body like they’ve been doing all night, yet this time there’s an urgency to his hold and he’s pulling you out of your chair and into his lap and you’re breathless and lightheaded all over again. 

His lips fall to your neck, licking at your pulse before biting down and sending you careening into an unbridled want. Your whimpering and moaning as he feasts on your neck, teeth clamping down just so pulling noises out of you that with anyone else you would be a bit embarrassed about. 

But with Santi it’s just perfect. 

“I’ve never told you this but I love it when you call my house yours. God it fucking drives me crazy when you tell me you want to go home and you mean here, with me. That you feel like you own me in some way, because fuck you do, god you do.”

The words are branded into the skin at your throat and your yanking his hair before you even know what you’re doing and sealing your lips against his again with a sigh and a moan. He responds in kind, an almost purr of content vibrating against your lips and tongue.  

“Well I’m happy you like it so much because now that everything’s on the table, you’re definitely mine and I’m also gonna be here way way way too much, hope you’re ok with that.”

He’s gazing at you with moons in his eyes and shooting stars in his heart. His smile is almost dazed and he looks so soft and warm and like your Santi. You run your fingers through his hair and that purr returns as his dark lashes flutter closed.

“I don’t think I’ll ever let you leave my house again because all I’ve ever wanted was to be in the backyard like today and to be able to see you in my-our kitchen window and know that it’s always gonna be us against the world. Always.”

reminder requests are open using anything that's tagged as writing for prompts and honestly any character is welcome i'm down to at least take a stab at most things ok love you guys kisses smooches the whole shebang

[she-karev]

Out of Nowhere

Age Rating: 12+

Chapter: Five of Six

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

AN: I hope you guys are liking this chapter. Let me know what you think and like and reblog. The gif above is Amber at her most violent and hopefully it satisfies you as you read on.

Summary: Amber helps Jo get Jenny away from Paul with help from Andrew who confronts him. Her friendship with the interns grows stronger at the end of the day as they help her when Paul confronts her.

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Protective Boyfriend, Family, Domestic Violence, Satisfying Punch, Friendship.

Words: 4117

Jo and I stand discreetly behind the stairs in the lobby waiting for Paul to be lured away from Jenny by Dr. Robbins. We came up with a plan to get Paul away from Jenny so Jo can talk to her and get her to admit Paul is hurting her and get her to leave him. I got Andrew and Qadri to stand out in the hall and distract him so we can have more time and text us if he’s coming.

“I know we can trust DeLuca but are you sure about Qadri?” Jo asks me, “Did you give her the details?”

“Just that you were helping a woman get away from her abuser.” Jo still looks worried, “Don’t worry she’s one of the good ones we can trust her to do this. I’m saying this as the good one.” I say with a grin and Jo grins slightly, “Are you sure he’s hurting her? I mean what if you antagonize him for no reason?”

“I know what I saw.” Jo says with conviction, “It was like looking in a mirror seven years ago. I’m doing what I would want someone to do for me when I first dated Paul and save me years of pain and misery. I’m doing that for her so she can see what took me years to see.” I nod understanding that she has more insight into this than me, “You don’t have to stay you can go.”

“Hell no.” I say bluntly, “I’ve been waiting to pull one over that piece of shit.”

“You know I’m starting to see the similarities between you and Alex.” I catch Arizona and Paul walking away leaving Jenny.

“Heads up.” She turns around and we approach Jenny together who looks at us confused.

“Hi. We need to talk and we don’t have a lot of time.” Jenny looks confused but follows us to the waiting area. Jo and Jenny sit across from each other on the couch and I sit in the armchair.

Jenny can tell what this is about and clarifies, “Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of Paul I don’t need help.”

“Did he tell you to say that?” I ask Jenny who looks at me confused.

“I said the same thing when I was with him, but I was lying. I was lying to myself. I was lying to everyone around me.”

Jenny scoffs in disbelief which I expected of course, “Oh, my God. He told me you were crazy, and I thought that's just something people say about their exes. In your case, he was clearly right.” Jenny tries to stand up but Jo gently brings her back down.

“You know, Jenny, it's okay if you don't want to talk to me. You don't have to say a word. Just please listen.” Jenny listens with a dismissive look, “There was a dinner party with his colleagues. I talked too much to the man sitting next to me. Paul said that I made a fool out of him. I laughed because it seemed so I laughed. And his eyes went dark, and that's the last thing that I remember before waking up the next morning with my eye swollen shut.” I look at Jo in sympathy as she continues to tell her story, “I thought it would be the only time. I'm sure that you did the first time, too. But he just got smarter after that. He made sure that no one could see the bruises. He would apologize and then tell me it was my fault all in one breath, and he was so persuasive. He told me I was wrong so many times that I believed I was wrong. He told me I was crazy so many times that I believed that I actually was crazy. The last time, I woke up to him kicking me in the back because he'd read my e-mail and saw the name of a man that he didn't recognize. He kicked me so hard; he broke my ribs and almost ruptured my kidney.” Jenny looks frightened by Jo’s story and I tell her about my own.

“Jenny where was Paul last night?” I ask calmly, knowing the answer.

She turns to me and swallows before speaking, “We were at the hotel.”

“Was he with you all night? Around midnight last night was he with you or did he step out?”

Jenny pales at my question, “He…He said he was getting some air.”

“Did he rent a black Lexus when you got here?” Jenny’s eyes widen confirming it, “Was the license plate beginning with F56?”

“How do you know that?” Jenny asks in a hollow voice.

“Because he followed me in his car and drove behind me to see where I lived.” Jenny’s breathing turns shallow, “After that he called and texted me from an unknown number and followed me around the hospital and harassed me.” I pull out my phone and showed her the message board causing her eyes to widen in shock, “Look at the times and tell me if he left you during so he could take pictures of me to try to scare me.”

Jenny looks up at me after seeing the messages and asks, “Who are you?”

“I’m the sister of the man who fell in love with Paul Stadler’s wife.” Jenny looks at me clearly rattled, “And I can tell by your expression that it means I’m a new punching bag of his.”

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

Andrew waits outside the lab several feet away waiting for Paul to exit so he can distract him enough for Jo and Amber to retreat. It’s taking all he can not to go in there and punch him for scaring Amber to near death but he reminds himself that’s not what she needs right now. They’ve only been dating for a month but the thought of Amber being in danger makes him nauseous with worry. He wants to help her and if distracting him is the way then he is happy to do it. Just then he sees Paul exiting the lab with an impatient face clearly ready to leave. He takes a deep breath before putting on a bashful grin and approaches him.

“Hey, Paul Stadler?” Andrew tries to sound like a usual fan boy, “Are you the Paul Stadler? The guy who revolutionized fiber optics?”

“Yes I am.” Paul says with a slight annoyance, “Listen I appreciate the praise always happy to meet a fan but I gotta go somewhere.” Andrew blocks his way.

“Well actually I have a question for you about your research.” Paul exhales irritated but doesn’t show it, “There’s an innovation surgical contest coming up and I would like to compete with my focus being on minimally invasive general surgery and that’s just your area. If you have a minute I would-”

“I don’t have a minute.” Paul says sternly, “Now look you can email my resident at Orlando Medical any questions you have but my fiancé is waiting for me so if you’ll excuse me.” Paul tries to go around him but Andrew stops him with a flat palm against his chest. He lightly pushes Paul back who looks at him confused.

Andrew lets his true face show and it is one of anger but he speaks to him in a low and cold voice, “I know who you are Paul. I know what you did to Jo Wilson and what you’re doing to Amber Karev. And I’m here to tell you that you are extremely lucky it’s me in front of you and not Alex Karev because you would be eating through a feeding tube. Trust me I know better than you think.”

Paul still feigns innocence, “I’m sorry I don’t know who you think I am but I’m not-”

Andrew has none of it, “Drop the act Paul it’s just us.” Paul stops and his face shifts to that of cold malice as he stares down with DeLuca. Andrew grins satisfied that he’s facing the real guy behind the act, “Yeah there it is, there’s the guy that Jo ran away from. She told me about you, she said you would hit her in her face if she bought the wrong item or did something else that made her run away and change her name.” Paul’s eyes narrow as he reveals this, “You know this martyr act of yours? It’s not fooling anyone, not me and not Amber. What are you doing following her? Are you afraid to face Alex? Or is scaring women what you call foreplay?”

“…DeLuca, is it?” Paul asks coldly, “I know all about you. Tell me how much did it hurt when you first woke up after your whore girlfriend’s brother almost beat you to death.” Andrew inhales sharply while Paul grins as he struck a nerve, “Because I gotta say your chart gave me nightmares I can only imagine what it was like for you.”

“You think you can provoke me?” DeLuca asks knowing his move, “Bring up my past trauma, make me attack you and you look like the victim. I’m able to control my emotions Paul you should learn to do that.”

Paul doesn’t back down, “I’m sure you would’ve appreciated Karev learning that before he bashed your face in and almost ended your career.”

“Keep bothering Jo and Amber and you’ll know firsthand what that was like for me.” Paul shakes his head dismissing him, “You think you’re so invincible but I got news for you Paul. In this day and age guys like you are exposed for the shriveled-up women beating cowards that you are. And the jury always believe the women over you.”

“You know it was difficult for my PI to get your girls records from before she started high school.” Paul explains, “I mean she took care of that with the name change but once he looked up Amber Stevie Evans, he found a treasure trove on just how much of a mess your ghetto trash girlfriend is.”

DeLuca’s anger rises at the mention of how much Paul invaded Amber’s life before he got to Seattle. He tries to keep calm and speak in a low voice to not attract attention, “You know if I didn’t know who you were I would think Amber should be worried but looking at you right now and hearing just how pathetic you really sound. I see it’s you who should run for his life instead.” Andrew informs him, “She’s not some defenseless girl you can beat down Stadler. She will hurt you and I’ll stand by and watch her beat the crap out of you like you did to Jo. And if you keep talking about a girl, I care about like that I’ll-”

“Oh, what would I talk about?” Paul says smugly, “Would I talk about the sealed juvie record? Or do you want to go back further to the abusive deadbeat dad?” Andrew inhales sharply as Stadler continues, “Or how about the brother, the other brother because that is a story I would love to tell.”

DeLuca steps closer and faces Stadler with a vengeful look, “You keeping a dossier of every moment of her life is just more proof of what a sick bastard you really are. Are you sure you can sway a judge then?”

“I’m a well-known physician.” Paul says confidently, “My family is full of surgeons and I have a sparkling clean record. Your girlfriend on the other hand is the lowest of the low and not just in hospital ranking.” Andrew curls his fist to keep from punching him, “I don’t know what she told you about herself but let me tell you as someone who married a street rat. When it comes to messed up broads.” Paul whistles under his breath that pisses DeLuca off, “You won the freaking lottery my friend.” Andrew looks at Paul with a murderous glare, “Now get out of my way, my fiancé is waiting for me.” Paul pushes past DeLuca and walks down the hall only for Qadri to step in front of him and play the role of fangirl to keep him busy while DeLuca pulls out his phone to text Amber.

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

My phone beeps and I look to see Andrew texted, ‘He’s coming.’ I turn to Jo and Jenny who is still in denial, “He’s coming back we need to go now.”

Jo looks scared and pulls out her business card, “You know what?” She writes her info on the back, “This is my cell phone number. You call me day or night, and I will get you out of this.”

I stand up and look at the hall in anxiety, “Come on we gotta go, let’s go.” Jo finally stands up and follows me to the hall behind the stairs just as Paul comes out of the lab hall and approaches Jenny. We stand and watch with Meredith, Arizona, Andrew and Qadri as Paul and Jenny calmly leave the hospital arm in arm. Andrew puts his arm around my shoulder reassuringly and I exhale in relief and lean against him.

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

After handling the patients in the pit and transporting them I thank the surgical gods when my clock out time comes. It’s almost sundown when I enter the locker room exhausted and I see that Helm, Schmitt and Qadri are also there to get a drink of water. The power and AC were turned on a few seconds ago to our relief.

“Figures the power comes on just as we’re about to leave.” I put my combination in, “Rough day?”

Helm groans while sitting on the bench, “Remind me why I decided to go to med school.”

Qadri takes a sip of water leaning against her locker, “Yeah I know, where was I on career day?”

I notice that Schmitt is sitting on a bench drinking orange juice with a IV pole right next him and saline attached to his arm, “What’s up with him? Did Glasses get overheated?”

“Glasses is now Blood Bank.” Helm informs me with a smile, “Grey’s patient was crashing and needed blood the banks were locked so Schmitt transfused the woman directly in the middle of surgery.”

My eyes widen at that badass story, “Damn look at you being the hero Blood Bank.”

Schmitt groans clearly feeling the aftereffects, “I’m happy to help.”

I grin at his state and face my locker getting my clothes out. I put my shirt on when Qadri approaches me and whispers, “How did it go? Did you talk to the fiancé get her to call someone or go to a shelter?”

I take my scrub bottom off and respond in a low voice, “I think she was more scared of us than of him but hopefully it made a difference. You didn’t tell anyone it was Stadler you were stopping right?”

“No, I didn’t even though I’m curious on how you know a well-known surgeon is beating up his fiancé.” I put my jeans on and ignore her question, “Do you know him or something?”

“Or something.” I grab my purse and close my locker, “Are you guys good without me?”

Helm rolls her eyes, “Unlike some residents She-Karev, we don’t need you occupying our space.”

I scowl at Helm’s comment and decide to fight back, “At least I have someone to occupy my space instead of wasting my time being a jealous virgin.” Helm scoffs and stands up to go to her locker. Qadri’s eyes widen at the insult but I ignore her, “I��m going home.”

I walk past Qadri and make my way to the door but a scary presence stops me dead in my tracks. Paul Stadler is standing in the doorway with Jenny by his side. He has a grin that puts chills in my spine. I walk backwards till I’m back in my previous spot with Qadri, Schmitt and Helm watching me warily until Paul comes to view and they stay silent.

“Hey.” Paul starts with an alarmingly calm voice, “I heard that you were with Jo when she talked to Jenny. She gave me Jo’s card.” Stadler flaunts the card with Jo’s information in the back and I stop breathing at the horrific sight, “She told me all about it and she told me the lies you said about me, about how I followed you last night and today.”

I look at Jenny who looks down in shame but I’m angry at her for betraying me, “I tried to help you.” I inform her coldly, “We both did and you set us up for this psycho.”

“I’m the psycho?” Paul asks incredulous, “Are you really calling me crazy here after the stunt you pulled to force my fiancé to lie about me too?”

Qadri gets in front of me in a protective stance, “Dr. Stadler you need to go right now.”

“She put you up to it didn’t she?” He asks Qadri who looks scared as well not that I blame her, “It wasn’t a coincidence her boyfriend and coworker stopped me from getting to my fiancé in time before your sociopath friend tried to poison her against me was it?”

I pull Qadri behind me and pull my pink handheld taser out of my backpack, “If you touch either of us my 21-million-volt taser will turn you into a goddamn rotisserie.”

“Whoa what’s going on?” Schmitt asks standing up and going to my side.

Helm also stands by us and I would be shocked she wants to protect me after our row five seconds ago, “Amber?”

“I’m just trying to have a conversation with your friend here.” Paul says acting like he’s not verbally attacking us, “She just snapped and decided to threaten me.”

“Really?” Qadri asks not buying it, “Do you normally corner people you want to have conversations with and point fingers at their friends?”

“I don’t socialize much but I’m pretty sure you made all the wrong moves here.” Helm says in my defense.

Schmitt stands up straight and speaks to Stadler, “The ladies told you to go so go.”

“No she is a liar. She wants to put me jail so she paints me out to be this stalker in her sick delusion.” I scoff at Paul’s claim but he continues “She is crazy but I guess it’s to be expected with parents like hers am I right?” I start to feel uneasy at that little tidbit and my friends are still standing there but they look at me confused. Paul smiles in a way that makes me want to punch him, “They don’t know do they?”

“Shut up.” I say in a low angry voice.

“See this is what I mean.” He faces all of us, “You say she’s your friend but how much do you really know about her? Better yet does the chief of surgery know she hired a girl who’s genetically predisposition for schizophrenia and addiction?”

I don’t have to look to see the slightly shocked faces my peers have right now, “I said shut the hell up you cold hearted son of a bitch.” I say louder but he ignores me and continues.

“How old were you when you realized your mother’s sickness was genetic huh? I mean it happened to your brother unless there was another reason, he tried to kill his teenage sister. On the other hand, you might get lucky and just end up shooting heroin like your old man.” My eyes water at my bloody past being revealed by this psycho asshole who keeps going and walks closer to me with a vicious grin, “Paranoid schizophrenia can get you to make up fantasies like that and be convinced their reality. Yeah, she walks around like she’s Cinderella in scrubs but she’s really just a crazy little whore like her mother.” My vision turns red and suddenly I can’t take it anymore. I punch him as hard as I can in the face causing Qadri to gasp and Jenny to shriek in shock. He stumbles backward and I can see his nose bleeding. He looks up at me in mild shock like he expects me to go along with his verbal assault, I guess he mistook me for the rest of the women in his life.

Speaking of his fiancé bends down to check on him, “Paul are you okay?”

“Shut up!” He yells at her and stands up looking at me like he wants to murder me but I don’t back down. I turn my taser on and hold it up in his direction causing him to freeze in shock.

I breathe heavily and look at him like the trash he is before telling him the cold hard facts, “You think you can scare me with some pictures and my fucked-up past? Think again!” His eyes widened at my statement, “It’s gonna be your word against mine and who do you think their gonna believe? I’ll make it so you’re gonna get what you dished out to Jo and Jenny from your cellmate.” I chuckle darkly, “It’s foreplay for you right?”

“You dumb bitch.” Paul says in a low and cold voice looking at me with pure hatred and I roll my eyes at his insult, “My record is clean unlike yours. She went to juvie too did you know that? An officer will look at that and believe me.” He grins at me victoriously even with his nose still bleeding, “What could you possibly do to me?” Suddenly he’s pulled away from us to the ground and I see that Casey walked in most likely when he started his rant and decided to intervene. Jenny looks at Paul in shock as he’s on the ground and looks at Casey in fury, “What the hell?!”

“That.” Casey answers his question, “I can do that to you.” He turns to me with concern, “Are you guys, okay?” I’m shocked by what just transpired but I nod and Casey glares at Paul who stands up and hovers over Casey who doesn’t back down, “Get out right now or I’ll call security.”

“She attacked me!” Paul said frustrated but Casey doesn’t flinch, “All of you saw her punch me when I didn’t lay a finger on her.”

“Maybe not physically but I could get your license taken away after I tell the police you got someone to hack into her records.” Paul’s eyes widen at that and Casey continues, “I worked in cybersecurity in the Air Force. Unlike you I know that juvenile records are sealed when you turn 18. The only way you can get into those is with a warrant or a black ethics hacker. I’m not sure intention to harass gets you access the legal way.” I look at Parker impressed and slightly scared that this usually sweet guy turned into The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, “Now you have ten seconds to get out or I’m gonna explain all of that to the FBI right outside, one…”

Paul fumes but leaves the room dragging Jenny roughly by her wrist. I exhale in relief that he finally left and sit on the bench. Qadri sits with me and holds me rubbing my arms. I’m not usually rattled by a toxic alpha male but in this case it’s an exception. I just had my horrible and ugly past exposed to my peers; my worst nightmare came true. I expect them to run away like the others did but they don’t. Instead, Qadri is holding me, Schmitt has his hand on my shoulder, and Parker is looking to see that Stadler is leaving. Helm is busy holding and looking at the taser I dropped on the ground after Paul left.

“You carry a taser with you?” Helm asks me in genuine curiosity. Maybe I’m overly tired but that strikes me as ridiculously funny for some reason. A giggle escapes my throat, first one then another. I’m all but rolling on the floor as I laugh uncontrollably, no doubt looking insane in front of my peers.

I calm down but still grin as I explain, “I’m sorry I’m tired and I get really weird in serious moments I’m sorry.” I exhale to control my breathing and the gravity of the situation hits me as my grin falls. I close my eyes, lean against my knees and let my tears stream down my cheeks. I would’ve fallen apart but being here, surrounded by my friends who never left my side and helped me. I think for the first time I feel like I can count on these guys and strangely it makes me feel stronger.

[celticsorcerer1]

“Aisling McKeen vs Her Outdated Ideals”

—-

(Spoilers for “Scott Pilgrim Takes Off”)

Roxanne “Roxie” Richter happily hummed the Hamster Dance as she skipped through Toronto. She was on her way home from helping her friend and former member of the League of Evil Exes, Todd Ingram work out and get back on track with his vegan lifestyle. He had been making good progress.

As Roxie slid on an ice patch just outside St. Mary’s Parish, the doors opened and Roxie spotted her adorable crush, Aisling McKeen. The Cape Breton native wore a blue parka, black jeans, and Ugg boots. Her eyes were cast upward as her mouth moved.

Roxie smiled warmly. She’d had a crush on Aisling since they bumped into each other completely by chance a few weeks back.

The problem was that Aisling still hadn’t accepted that she liked girls. Something was holding her back.

And it was Roxie’s self-appointed mission to help her over that hurdle. Then go out with Aisling.

Roxie used a smoke bomb to vanish, then reappeared in front of her crush. “Hey, Ash.”

Aisling smiled. “Good morning, Roxie. How are you today?”

“A little hungry, actually. I know this amazing cafe that has really good French Toast. Care to join me?” Roxie requested.

Aisling considered the offer. “You mean… as friends, right?”

“With benefits?” Roxie asked eagerly.

“No benefits,” Aisling gestured toward the Church. “Sacreligious.”

Roxie deflated. “Worth a shot. But, yes, just a friendly brunch. I… recently went through a hell of a battle and could use some normalcy to ground myself.”

Aisling giggled. “How normal can our lives be when you have ninja powers and I’m a Cleric?”

Roxie shrugged. “Nothing tries to kill us today?”

“Fair.” Aisling replied.

—

At the small cafe, the two young women sat across from each other. “So, why did you leave Cape Breton?” Roxie asked.

Aisling sighed. “Partially because I wanted to travel and see where my talents would be most needed, but mostly because… I wanted to distract myself from my past. See, Cape Breton is small. Everyone knows everyone. They know you. All your business. And when someone caught me staring at a fellow female Cleric with… more than just curiosity, it got back to my father… the Chief Cleric…”

Roxie frowned. “And… how did he take it?”

“I don’t know. I left before he could summon me.” Aisling admitted.

Roxie winced. “Oof… sorry, Ash,” she reached across the table and took Aisling’s hand. “Is that why you’re… trying to deny that part of yourself?”

Aisling pulled her hand away. “It’s not me. It was… Satan’s influence. It had to be. It’s not… natural to be attracted to the same sex.”

Roxie sighed. It was worse than she thought. She looked at Aisling with pity. “Honey… don’t Catholics believe that God makes each of us the way we’re meant to be?”

“Well, yes, but…” Aisling trailed off.

“Look, God made you gay. And He didn’t do it to punish you. He did it for a reason. A good reason,” Roxie reached for Aisling’s hand again. “If people tell you that’s wrong, they’re the problem, not you. It’s okay to like girls, Ash.”

“But… if I’m in a relationship with a girl, I can’t… get married according to Catholic rite… or have children.” Aisling countered.

Roxie laughed. “Whoa, slow down, girl. You’re not dating anyone yet. Don’t worry about that stuff. Live in the now.”

Aisling glared at her. “You’re not even Catholic. How can you know God’s will? His plan for me?”

“Because, religious or not, having trouble with coming out is fairly common. Sure, some have it easier than others, but sometimes, coming out can be a real nightmare. And the possibility of that nightmare becoming reality is what can stop us in our tracks,” Roxie smiled and squeezed Aisling’s hand. “That’s why you need to surround yourself with people who will love you for you.”

Aisling looked away. “But if you’re wrong… and God doesn't want me to like girls… I’ll lose my powers.”

“No, you won’t.” Roxie declared.

“How do you know?” Aisling demanded.

“Because you still have them despite the way you looked at that Cleric. Despite the way you blushed when we first met,” Roxie leaned in close. “You’re gay and I like that about you.” She kissed Aisling. It was a quick kiss, no passion.

But from the moment Roxie’s lips touched hers, an electric spark raced from Aisling’s lips down to her heart. She suddenly felt a surge of power race through her.

Thou hast discovered thy true self, Daughter. Your magics are now +5 Healing, +4 Accuracy, +5 Mana. Use them well for my Glory.

When the kiss parted, Roxie smiled. “So? Did you see sparks too?”

Aisling blinked. “Uh-huh… and I think… I’m a stronger Cleric for it too.”

“Cool,” Roxie sat back, resting a hand on her cheek. “So, what now?”

“Well, we eat French Toast… ooh, with blueberries… then… I dunno, maybe I call my folks and tell them I’m okay,” Aisling smiled warmly. “That I’m loved.”

“Solid plan.” Roxie smiled back.

[dinogoose]

you put me on (and said I was your favorite)

“Eddie, us getting a divorce was not a failure. It was two people realizing they are better apart. And we are! You said it yourself, you feel happier.” She gestures to him, waiting for a sign he’s listening.

“Yeah but I-“

“No.” She cuts him off, “Love is terrifying, and heavy, and honestly makes living harder, but and that’s a big but,” Eddie snorts, she ignores him. “It’s worth it. I promise you that, and you have this great thing in front of you. So please, for me, for Christopher, for yourself, tell Buck you love him.”

(or shannon lives, eddie and her are the best co-parents, and eddie loves buck)

Every Sunday Eddie and Shannon go out for lunch, while Chris gets some one-on-one time with his Abuela.

They use these lunches to talk about all sorts of things, silly inside-jokes from their childhoods, gushing over Christopher, and occasionally deep secrets. Secrets that take a lot of courage to admit.

A few months ago, her and Eddie were just making small-talk after placing their orders. It was awkward, almost painfully so. Which was very worrying, things hadn’t been this uncomfortable since the divorce dinner.

“Eddie… is there- something wrong?” Shannon asks carefully, not wanting to spook him. He finally meets her eyes still fidgeting with his hands.

“I- Uhm- I need to tell you something.” A million thoughts rushed through Shannon’s mind. Was he taking Christopher away? Was he leaving? Re-enlisting? She takes a deep breath.

“Okay, I’m all ears.” She can’t help the way her voice trembles. She grabs her water and takes a long gulp.

Eddie looks like he’s psyching himself up before he says, “As you know I’ve been going to therapy. Healing, trying to get better for myself.” Shannon nods, she knows this, and is very proud of him. “While I’ve been going… I learned a few things about myself. I- God this is so stupid- I’m gay.” Shannon is just blankly staring at Eddie, as he picks at the table cloth.

Huh. Eddie is gay. Part of her wants to laugh, not to make fun of him, but because this was not what she expected.

Thinking about it though, Eddie being gay isn’t completely out of left field. She’s not about to list a bunch of gay stereotypes he exudes, but more of she can just see it. The way he used to double glance at attractive men. How he never once had a celebrity crush. How utterly close he is to his one coworker.

Oh.

“Thank you for telling me. Not to over-shadow your coming out story, but I’m bisexual.” Eddie laughs, and the tension in his shoulders finally leaves.

-

After that, they became much closer. No topic was off-limits, no matter how strange or inappropriate.

Today's lunch consisted of them gossiping about everyone, playing rock-paper-scissors to decide who has to attend another child’s birthday party, and strangely enough, discussing their love lives.

Currently (despite Eddie’s protests) it’s his love life they’re talking about now. Or more specifically who they’re talking about now.

“You should do it! Come on, he so clearly loves you. That boy follows you around like a lost puppy.” Shannon says, waving a potato wedge at him to enunciate her point.

“Him ‘following me around like a lost puppy’,” Eddie gestures his fingers into air quotes. “Doesn’t mean he loves me too. So, no, I won’t do it.” He crosses his arms, huffing slightly.

Shannon gives him a very unimpressed look. A part of her does feel guilty, she probably caused this insecurity in him. She knows their divorce hurt Eddie, of course it did, it hurt her too. But, it was the best thing for them. They are better off as friends and co-parents.

Shannon takes a deep breath. “Eddie. You deserve happiness, and I really think telling him could bring you that.”

Eddie sighs, shaking his head, “I can’t Shan. I already had my chance at love, and I failed.”

She blinks slowly at him, contemplating smacking her ex-husband.

“Eddie, us getting a divorce was not a failure. It was two people realizing they are better apart. And we are! You said it yourself, you feel happier.” She gestures to him, waiting for a sign he’s listening.

“Yeah but I-“

“No.” She cuts him off, “Love is terrifying, and heavy, and honestly makes living harder, but and that’s a big but,” Eddie snorts, she ignores him. “It’s worth it. I promise you that, and you have this great thing in front of you. So please, for me, for Christopher, for yourself, tell Buck you love him.”

Rolling his eyes, Eddie continues to eat his food, not answering. However, judging from the small smile on his face, Shannon can tell she got through to him.

*

Eddie has decided, on his own, without any outside influence, to confess to Buck. Just don’t tell Shannon that.

After discussing with Karen, Hen, and even a lightly vague conversation with Bobby, he has decided to do it at home.

He’s going to cook a meal, set up a romantic dinner, and make his big speech. Hopefully Buck doesn’t run screaming for the hills. Not that he ever would. Buck is so incredibly kind, even if he wasn’t interested he would let Eddie down very gently.

But Eddie is about eighty percent sure Buck feels at least something for him. And he likes those odds, so here he is, trying to ask Buck out.

“Buck, hey- uh- do you want to come over for dinner today?” Eddie does his best to maintain eye-contact, but the way Buck looks, shedding his shirt to change into his civvies, is killing him.

Buck smiles, his crow-feet coming out. “Sure! You’ve been getting so good at cooking lately, I’m so proud.” He puts his hand over his heart, batting his eyelashes. Eddie doesn’t know if he wants to hit him or kiss him. Probably kiss him.

“Okay. Cool. I’ll see you at seven?” Buck has a hopeful look pass through his eyes, but it leaves just as quick as it came.

“Yeah- I- Yeah.” Suddenly Buck seems a little nervous, but Eddie brushes it off as projection. He just tells Buck he’ll see him later and heads out.

Oh my god, he did it. He asked Buck out. Now he has to successfully cook a meal without burning it (he’s proud to say his new record is four) and not screw-up his confession.

He’s got this.

-

He most certainly doesn’t ‘got this’.

His outfit feels wrong, sticking to his body in all the wrong places. The meal just isn’t where he wants it. The table he set feels stupid, and cheesy. To put it all simply, he’s freaking out.

Maybe this was all in awful plan- and execution. Maybe Eddie isn’t deserving of Buck’s love. Of Buck’s soft gazes, gentle touches, his warmth. All the good he exudes. Who is Eddie to try and claim that for himself? He doesn’t deserve that, Eddie-

Ding Dong

Oh shit.

“Coming!” He scrambles away from the table, careful not to knock over any candles. Because a firefighter lighting his house on fire is humiliating, and ironic.

Opening the door, he is greeted by a fantastic looking Buck. He’s wearing jeans that hug his thighs perfectly, a red maroon sweater, and his hair has no product- making it look impossibly soft.

Eddie has to clench his hands to stop from touching him.

“Wow- I mean- come in!” Why is he being so awkward? He has no clue. He steps aside, letting Buck in. Buck looks around then finds Eddie’s eyes looking confused.

“Are you having someone else over?” Eddie just stares at him, now also confused.

“No… just you. Why?” Buck looks away.

“Because of all,” He gestures to the table. “This. It’s just- uh- very romantic.” Buck stuffs his hands into his pockets, drilling a hole into the floor with his eyes.

Eddie comes to a startling realization, Buck doesn’t know this is a date. Eddie almost bursts out laughing.

“Romance was the goal I had in mind. Should we eat?” Eddie can practically hear the cogs turning in Buck’s head. It’s kind of adorable. Eddie pushes out his chair, gesturing to it like a gentleman. This seems to boot Buck back online, as he snorts and sits down.

“So… you were asking me on a date earlier?” Buck asks after Eddie sits down.

“Yes Buck. I’m sorry if it wasn’t clear enough,” He runs a hand through his hair. “I always thought I was pretty obvious with how much I- you know.”

Buck shakes his head, a small fond smile on his face. “I had thought I was being obvious! When you asked me out earlier, I thought I was just looking too deep into things. Hen told me I was being stupid.” Buck laughs and Eddie joins him, reveling in the sound.

“You were being stupid, but you got there.”

They both enjoy the meal, Eddie actually ended up making something delicious. The conversation is just as smooth as always, even with the newly added intimacy, it’s still them. Buck and Eddie.

They’re sitting on the couch a few hours later drinking beers when Buck says,

“I think I started falling in love with you after the earthquake.” He mumbles it into his bottle, but Eddie hears him crystal clear. He turns to him with wide eyes.

“That quick?” In Eddie’s wildest dreams, he had never expected Buck to be in love with him, let alone for that long. Buck just shrugs.

“After the shooting, you were teaching Christopher how to make spaghetti sauce. And man- I just knew. I had been in love with you for a while but that was the moment it finally clicked.” Buck takes his beer and Eddie’s, placing them on the table (on the coasters he bought Eddie). Then he turns his body so he’s fully facing Eddie.

“Eds, are we doing this?” His eyes are bright, full of hope, but bits of insecurity are shining through. Eddie places a hand on Buck’s jaw, attempting to ease his worries.

“If you want to. I think we’re both in good places. I’m back at the 118, I’m going to therapy and I love you so-”

Buck interrupts him with his mouth crashing down onto Eddie’s. Eddie gets with the program pretty quickly, deepening the kiss. Buck’s hands land on Eddie’s hips as he pulls him closer, nearly into his lap. They pull back, panting.

“In case I wasn’t explicitly clear earlier, I love you.” Buck says leaning in to place kisses on Eddie’s jaw. Eddie tilts his head up letting him.

“I love you too. Obviously.” Buck laughs, the air tickling Eddie’s neck.

The night ends beautifully, with Buck giving a speech about wanting to do things correctly, so he leaves with one last filthy kiss.

Eddie cannot believe he gets to have this.

He also can’t believe he has his ex-wife to thank for all of it.