#my grandparents had the plates from it I remember

[legendaryjarcollection]

I crave her (the gröna anna porcelain set)

[rafeandonlyrafe]

pizza night

words: 2.2k

warnings: mentions/implications of sex but no actual smut, best friend!rafe, jealousy, angst but happy ending, friends to lovers, rafe with another girl, reader sleeps with kelce

“PIZZA NIGHT!” you shout, rafe letting out a whoop as you carry in the two boxes, plain cheese for you, and a mess of toppings for rafe.

“was worried you weren't gonna show up.” rafe glances at the clock. you're only about five minutes late, only running behind because the pizza place was busy and your order wasn't ready on time.

“as if i would miss our weekly pizza night.” you roll your eyes. you've had to shift times around occasionally to make sure you get the pizza night in, like for rafes football schedule, or you having to help your parents out at a fundraiser. for the past three years, it's been every thursday night, even both getting pizza from your respective locations while you facetime when you're not both in the outer banks.

“come here.” rafe opens his arms up to you. you step into his familiar hold, strong arms wrapping around you, tugging you against his chest. you inhale his scent, so uniquely rafe.

he's been your best friend for as long as you can remember, your parents being friends when both became pregnant around the same time. you did everything together. pizza nights started as plum puree, as your mom loves to joke.

“what do you wanna watch tonight?” rafe asks, knowing whatever you put on will soon become background noise to your chatting, rafe happy to listen to any gossip you have to say.

“umm…” you tap your finger against your chin as rafe plates your pizza for you, loading his plate with three slices for himself. you know he's already got your preferred drink sitting on the coffee table. “mulan.”

“sure.” rafe nods. he used to argue when he was younger. you'd want barbie swan lake or a romcom while he prefered superheroes and action. he learned throughout your friendship to just not fight it.

you immediately start to tell rafe the latest gossip, filling him in on everything he's missed since you saw him last, even though it was only two days ago.

“oh and you'll never guess!” you squeal. “callie, my friend from florida?” you see if the name jogs rafes memory, which he quickly nods. how could he forget. the one other friend that competes with him, despite you only seeing her for weeks at a time when you went to visit your grandparents in florida. “she's coming to the outer banks! she's gonna stay with us for the summer while her parents travel.”

“oh, nice.” rafe nods. he's happy for you, he really is, but he hopes she's not going to get in the way of his time with you, especially pizza night.

--

“girl, why didn’t you tell me rafe is hot as fuck?” callie giggles, looking out the window where rafe and a couple of his friends are chatting on the patio.

“ew.” you scrunch your nose up. you mean the criticism about callie finding him attractive, not about rafes looks, but callie doesn’t take it that way as she rolls her eyes.

“seriously, he’s so fine.” she slices into another lemon, handing one half to you as you squeeze it to make fresh lemonade.

you just frown. you don’t want callie to find rafe attractive and you’re not sure why the jealous feeling builds in your gut, so you quickly change the subject.

“wanna come to a party friday night? at kelces.” you question.

“oh my god, yes.” callie nods, helping you carry out cups while you bring out the pitcher of lemonade, pouring a glass for yourself and whichever one of your friends also wants one before sitting next to rafe.

callie takes the open spot on the other side of him as the conversation instantly strikes back up. you remain quieter than normal, eyes flicking between them as you watch them interact. you’re glad they’re getting along, truly, but you feel like gouging your eyes out when callie laughs and places her hand on his bicep.

“you okay?” rafe asks after everyone else had gone home, callie having taken your car back to your place to shower while you plan on asking rafe to drive you home.

“yeah.” you put on a wide smile. “whats up?”

“you just seem quieter than usual.” rafe watches your face carefully, noting the way your face falls before you perk back up with a shake of your head.

“nope, im fine. just glad you're getting along with callie!”

“speaking of…” rafe pulls his phone out, handing it to you. “can i have her number?”

“oh… yeah.” you nod quickly, grabbing his phone and typing in her number. you have it memorized along with rafes and your mom and dads, the only ones you’ve typed in enough to know by heart. “why do you want it though?”

“i thought i’d get to know her a bit.” rafe shrugs. 

“okay.” you force a smile on your face before standing up. “im gonna walk home. see you thursday for pizza night!”

“y/n, wait-” rafe tries to call you back, but you’ve already disappeared into the house.

--

you struggle to knock on the door with the pizza boxes in your arms. usually its unlocked, or rafe is there to open it for you the second your car pulls in the driveway.

“shit.” rafe opens the door, his face pale.

“what?” you shove past him, needing to set the cardboard boxes down.

you walk into the kitchen, going to place the boxes down on the counter when you realize there is already a box sitting there, opened up with a couple slices missing. you carefully slide the boxes out of your arms onto the marble before looking at rafe.

“i-i forgot-” rafe says as you look into the living room, seeing callie sat on the couch, her eyes on the television screen as she takes a bite of pizza. 

“you forgot about our pizza night?” you question, not even trying to hide your tears this time as they form in your eyes.

“i just didn’t realize it was thursday, y/n i-”

“its fine.” you shake your head, heading towards the door. you need to leave before your emotions explode. 

“y/n, please.” rafe grabs your hand right as you reach for the doorknob.

“no.” you turn around to look at rafe, knowing that there are tears streaming down your cheeks, yet you still attempt to force a smile. “no, go. have fun with her.”

you pull out of his grasp and leave, rafe standing on the front porch watching you drive away.

--

“coming to the party?” callie asks, wearing a tiny dress with high heels, showing off her flawless legs.

“nah.” you shake your head. “im feeling kinda tired.” 

“alright.” callie frowns, but doesn’t push you any farther as she walks towards the front door, looking back once before leaving. 

you are genuinely tired. you stayed up all last night waiting to hear callie arrive back at your house from rafes. she didn’t get home until 10 in the morning the next day. you know rafe has slept with girls before, but usually when he’s way too drunk after a party, and never with a girl you considered your friend.

you turn the tv on to a random channel, just needing something to distract yourself and stop you from crying again.

hours tick by as the sun sets, your eyes burning from staring at the television and holding back tears when a sudden knock on the door makes you jump.

you stand up, hoping its rafe, hoping he’s coming to apologize and to put all his attention back on you. you feel bad when you open the door and see its topper, your face no doubt giving away your disappointment.

“y/n, are you okay?” he asks. “you aren’t at the party.” he states the obvious as you stand in your sweatpants and a flimsy tanktop.

“just not feeling it.” you shrug. 

“is it… callie and rafe?” topper asks. he doesn’t need you to confirm as tears well in your eyes.

“i-i like him. i didn’t even realize until i saw them together.” you finally admit it to yourself why you’re so upset. 

“shit.” topper pulls you into a hug as you cry into his shirt, glad for his comfort as he rubs his hand up and down your back, hoping he can help you feel better.

“i shouldn’t be telling you this…” topper sighs. “but kelce has a crush on you. if you want to go to the party and… i don’t know, make rafe jealous back.”

“he won’t get jealous.” you shake your head. “he likes her.”

topper just stares at you with a look of pity. so in your head about your friendship that you can’t even put together the pieces that rafe likes you back.

you look down at your outfit. honestly, you can’t even manage to put on anything other than your crocs, you’re not going to change into a dress and heels just to dance up on a guy you don’t even really like.

“just come wearing that.” topper says, sensing your apprehension. “im serious, you look good. it’ll show how different you are then all the other girls there.”

you look back into your house at your couch, the tv still turned on before looking back to topper. he nods at you with encouragement.

“i need to get drunk immediately.” you tell him as he laughs, pulling you out the door.

--

you let out a groan as you turn over, snuggling into water warm body is wrapped around you as sleep slowly clears from your head.

“good morning, beautiful.” kelce says, making you blink your eyes open as the memories of last night come back, of ignoring rafe and callie dancing together as you move to kelce. topper was beyond right about the outfit as you captured the eye of most of the guys there, especially rafe as he tried to get your attention, but you were up in kelces room before he could steal you away.

it felt good to sleep with kelce, but not completely right.

“morning.” you smile. kelce is handsome, especially with the warm morning light shining in on the two of you, but your heart hurts as you wish it was rafes face you were looking into.

“can i have you again?” kelce asks, reaching down to grab your ass.

“yeah.” you nod with a smile. another distraction won’t hurt.

--

“where were you?” rafe asks as you arrive home, not expecting to see him snuggled up to callie on the couch.

“sleeping with kelce.” you say with a shrug. if rafe isn’t gonna hide his relationship with callie, you certainly aren’t going to hide what you were doing either.

“he doesn’t care about you, y/n.” rafe stands up, callies face shifting to one of worry as she looks between the two of you, realization sinking in. “he just wants to sleep with you.”

“okay, and?” you laugh, a bitter, spiteful laugh. “he’s got a big dick, and maybe i just wanted to sleep with him too.” 

you stomp away towards your room, blaring music from your speaker the second you’re inside. you don’t want to hear any noise rafe and callie might make as you flop down on your bed, quickly falling asleep despite the blaring music.

--

the music being turned down wakes you up as someone sits on your bed. you groan and turn onto your back, expecting to see rafe.

“callie?” you question, glancing at the bag slung over his shoulder and the suitcase sitting in your open doorway. 

you sit up quickly. “are you going to stay with rafe?”

“no.” she says with a gentle laugh and shake of her head. “im going back to florida.”

“what?” you question. 

“i didn’t mean to come between you and him. i thought you didn’t like him. i… i don’t want this to ruin our friendship, so i’m leaving. he was fun to be with, but it was never serious for either of us. he’s serious about you.”

the words sink in as you look to her with hope in your eyes. “you talked to him about it?”

“i did.” she smiles with a gentle nod, glancing towards the clock on your nightstand. “the taxi is waiting outside to take me to the airport.”

you shoot forward to wrap your arms around callie, pulling her into a tight hug. “thank you.” 

“of course.” she holds you back just as tight. “come visit me in florida, okay?” 

you nod enthusiastically before she gets up to leave. 

--

“finally.” topper sighs with relief as he opens the door to tanneyhill. “i’ve been trying to get him to go over and talk to you for the past four hours.” topper pulls you inside before you can even react. “seriously, you guys just need to date already. he slept with callie, you slept with kelce, and now you’re even. go make out.” topper shoves you into the living room before fleeing.

it takes a second for rafe to look up, his eyes red with tears.

“i had no clue.” rafe shakes his head. “i had no clue you liked me. i never would have done anything with callie if i knew. i thought i’d never get to have you, so i thought settling for your friend would be the next best thing.”

“i don’t like you.” you say before quickly clarifying. “i love you, rafe.”

rafe is standing and making his way towards you so quickly that you don’t even process his movements until his lips meet yours in a fierce kiss.

you hesitate for a moment before kissing back, feeling his arms wrap around your body, holding you tight to him, not allowing you to escape or leave ever again.

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[cameronspecial]

A New Kind Of Normal (Part 5)

Pairing: Dad!Rafe Cameron x Reader

Warnings: Relapse

Pronouns: She/Her

Word Count: 3.5K

Summary: After a fight with his dad, Rafe makes another mistake that could cost him everything.

Masterlist

Stella spots her dad easily in the crowd of parents and runs toward him. He picks her up, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “How was daycare, little witch?” Rafe asks. She moves in his arms to look at him, “Good. It was my turn to feed the fishy today.” For the past few weeks, Rafe has been picking up Stella at daycare and dropping her off at the diner. It was tiring at first to drive back and forward from the Outer Banks to the mainland every day, so he rented an apartment close to Y/N’s house to make the journey shorter. Ward wasn’t too pleased when Rafe started working remotely, but Sarah talked to Ward about it. “That’s sounds fun. Are you still mad at Sabrina?” he asks while buckling the little girl. She finds his eyes through the rearview mirror, “Yes, she stole my boyfriend.” “That’s okay, you’re too young to be dating anyway. Boys are yucky,” he laughs at the pouty face she gives him.

——

Y/N is refilling the sugar container when Rafe walks through the door. Her surprise is written on her face because Stella is at her grandparents’, so he doesn’t need to drop her off this evening. She sets the sugar down, “Hey, is everything okay?” “Yeah, just didn’t really know what to do with my time since I’m not dropping Stella off. I thought I’d keep you company,” he states, sitting down at the counter. She laughs, “I remember the first time my parents took her for the weekend. I had a lot of time on my hands and I didn’t know what to do, so I rearranged my spice cabinet three times.”

“That sounds fun. How did you arrange them?”

“By country of origin, and then by taste, and then by alphabetical order, which is how I already had it. So I’m glad to be your spice cabinet for this evening.” 

Harvey comes out from the kitchen and sees Rafe at the counter, “Hello, Rafe. I’ll be with you in just a moment.” “It’s okay, Harv. I’m going to the kitchen to get something to drink. I’ll put in his order in. You can head on your break once you serve your table,” she informs, putting the sugar back under the countertop. Patty receives his order and Y/N heads back out to stay with Rafe. “How has your day been?” she asks, sitting on the stool across from him still behind the counter. He looks up from his phone, “It was a little disappointing. Work was the same as ever and I didn’t get to see my little witch. Seeing you is the best part of my day. How about you?” Her heart flutters and she uses a cough as an excuse to hide the sparkly in her eye. “I like seeing you too,” she says, focusing on the countertop. He gives a little chuckle, “I was asking more about your day, but it’s good to know you appreciate my company.” 

He knows she turned him down for a date and it hurt at the time, but Rafe hasn’t given up hope. She said that she liked him and timing was the only issue. He just has to show her he can stay sober and be in a relationship with her. Her eyes shy away, “Now, I feel stupid. My day was not bad. Business is better than usual, which means more money for me.” “Don’t feel stupid, Buttercup. It’s a simple mistake. I’m glad that business is going well,” he comforts. 

The two engage in smile talk until Patty comes out to give Rafe his food. “Patty,  I could’ve brought out his food,” Y/N protests, moving out of the way so Patty can slide the plate directly in front of him. Patty gives him a warm smile, “I know, but I just love seeing this handsome face.” “Aww, Patty. I love seeing you too. If only I was a few years older,” he plays along. She shakes her head, “If only. I would never dream of taking you for Y/N/N though.” “Patty, he isn’t mine. He is free to do whatever he wants,” Y/N interjects, disappointing Rafe. He turns his attention to Y/N, “There isn’t anyone else that I want other than Stella.” She looks at him with shock, understanding the hidden meaning behind the look in his eyes. “Stella is one lucky daughter,” she states while breaking their eye contact. Harvey calls Y/N over to ask her a question and this ends their conversation. “You love her,” Patty remarks. Rafe nods his head, “I do, but she doesn’t love me.” “Just you wait. She’ll come around. You’re already on the right track. Stella is definitely the way to her heart,” Patty returns to the kitchen. 

——

With Stella away, Y/N decides to give Patty and Harvey the rest of the night off and she would close up shop for the day. What she didn’t anticipate was Rafe staying with her until she closed. He spent eight hours with her at the counter. About three hours in, he commandeered her laptop to keep himself busy as she took care of the customers. He would tell her random facts to catch her attention and tell her a joke to hear her melodic laugh. He would steal glances at her every so often. Unbeknownst to him, she would steal some right back. She told him multiple times that he didn’t need to stay, but he insisted he needed her company to fill the hole of Stella being gone. The last customer leaves the diner and Y/N locks up behind him.

She turns toward Rafe, who still hasn’t left, “Do you want something to eat? You have been here for eight hours.” “I could go for some fries, but only if you eat something too. You haven’t eaten since I got here,” he points out. Right on time, her stomach growls in a long low tone. She didn’t realize she skipped dinner and felt butterflies at the fact that Rafe was keeping an eye on her. “Okay, I’ll be right back.” 

Around fifteen minutes later, she returns with a place full of fries and a burger. She rounds the counter to sit beside Rafe and puts the plate between the two of them. “Do you want to watch a movie?” she questions, pulling her laptop to her to open Disney +.  His hand finds a fry, “Sure.” He lets her pick Ratatouille since it feels like fitting with them being in a restaurant and all. Y/N inspects the fries on the plate and before she can take the fry she decides on, Rafe mindlessly grabs the one she wants. The fry is near his mouth, but she grabs it out of his hand and shoves it in her mouth. “Hey! I was going to eat that, Buttercup,” he complains. She shrugs her shoulders, “I like the crunchy ones, Button. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let you have this crunchy goodness.” 

“That’s awfully selfish of you. How are you going to make it up to me?”

The pair had unknowingly gotten closer to each other. Their faces are only about three inches away from each other. His breath finds her lips and it takes everything in him not to bring them to his. She stares into his eyes, trying to figure out what he wants her to say. “Well… I don’t have much, but how about I let Stella sleep over at your place next weekend? Does that make you feel better?” she genuinely offers. Upon seeing she is serious, his face turns to joy, “I would love to have her sleepover. I have to get the spare bedroom ready. Maybe get her a few toys and some-.” “Woah, slow down there, Button. She is only there for a night. You don’t need to do too much for her,” Y/N stops his tangent. 

“I know. I just want her to enjoy her weekend with me so she’ll want to come back. So I can prove that I am a good father.” 

“Rafe, no matter what you do, she will want to be with you. You are her father and that’s all she needs.” 

Her right hand finds the side of his face and she plays with the bottom of his earlobe. He leans into her touch, letting himself be comforted after he is a little vulnerable with her. Her eyes flicker down to his watch and she notices the time. “Damn, it’s late. I should probably start walking back home,” she worries, scrambling off the stool and cleaning up their late-night snack. He looks at his watch, “You are walking home? What happened to your car?” “Joshua asked to borrow it and since Stella is not with me, I said it was fine,” she notes as a matter of fact. He helps her clean up and takes out his car key, “I see. I’ll drive you home then.” “Rafe, you don’t have to. You know it isn’t that far for me to walk,” she tries to refuse. He shakes his head, “Y/N, I’m not letting the mother of my child walk alone close to midnight. So, don’t worry about it and let me drive you.” She stops arguing and gets to work quickly cleaning up.

Once she closes the diner, they walk side by side to his car. He notices the goosebumps running up her arm and shrugs off his grey North Face jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders. She whispers a thank you. They get into the car and make their way to her house. He walks her to the door with his fingertips itching to touch hers. At the door, they turn to each other, looking into each other’s eyes. He takes a tentative step forward and she doesn’t move back. He is about to take a chance and lean in for a kiss when the door flings open to reveal Benedict.   

“Finally, you’re back. You sure took your sweet time with closing. Hey, Rafe. Y/N, do you have any mayo? I feel like eating just straight-up mayo,” Benny interrupts, walking away from the door to the kitchen. She pulls away from Rafe and follows her brother inside, devastating Rafe. He slowly enters the house after a few seconds to see the siblings bickering about Benny eating only mayo. The domestic sight makes him feel left out, so he bids goodbye to the pair. He is almost to the door when Y/N catches up to him. “Button, wait,” she calls out, gently grabbing his arm above his elbow. “I wanted to say thank you for keeping me company tonight. And for taking me home. I know you didn’t have to stay and that part of the reason you did is because of me. So thank you.” He looks back at her with a soft smile, “No problem. I have to protect the woman I lo- I have to protect the woman who gave birth to my baby girl.” She caught what he was about to say, nails finding their way between her teeth. “Right, well… goodnight,” she mutters, stepping back into her house. He moves back towards the sidewalk, “Goodnight.” Y/N waits for Rafe to be out of sight before closing the door.

——

Rafe opens the door to his apartment to find Ward Cameron waiting with an annoyed look on his face. “What do you want?” Rafe grumbles, leaving the door open and walking away from it. Ward enters the room, “You can’t keep living here. You need to come back to the Outer Banks.” “No, I don’t. I’ve been keeping up with my work and going back when we had a meeting. So I don’t see a problem,” Rafe argues, going to the kitchen to pour himself some water. 

“When are you going to realize that you are just playing pretend? That you are eventually going to get tired of playing family. It’s better you realized that sooner rather than later.”

“You have no idea what you are talking about. I’m not going to leave my family. You always say that family comes first and that’s what I’m doing.”

“Listen, Rafe. I know you and the only thing that you can stay committed to is coke and the family business. So stop kidding yourself.”

Rafe shakes his head in frustration, “Well, I’ve changed. I want to give my daughter the support you never gave to me but you gave to Sarah.” “When you realize this is all a mistake, don’t come crying to me to fix this problem. I already told you to sign a paper saying you’d only give child support,” Ward warns, heading back out the door. Rafe yells in frustration, throwing a water bottle at the wall. He doesn’t understand the point of his father coming over just to tell him he is going to end up abandoning his family. It drives Rafe crazy that Ward thinks he knows everything about his son when Ward barely takes the time to talk to him. His feelings for his dad come cropping up and he needs something to relieve the stress. 

A knock on the door causes him to stop his tantrum. Shit, he forgot he is supposed to have Stella over for tonight. A second knock comes when he is splashing water on his face to calm down. At the third knock, he opens the door to see an excited Stella and a nervous Y/N. His daughter walks into the apartment as if she lives there while Y/N notices Rafe’s emotion. “Are you okay? She can sleep over next weekend if this is a bad time,” Y/N says. He doesn’t want to talk about it, “I’m fine. She can stay. I could use her company.” She isn’t sure if what he says is the entire truth, but she trusts him to know what he needs and if he needs his daughter, she won’t stop him. “Okay, well call me if you need anything. I’ll be at home all night,” she informs, heading inside to give Stella a kiss before she leaves. Rafe sighs once the door is locked, turning toward his daughter with a fake smile. “What do you want to do, little witch?” She gives him a massive grin and pulls something out from her bag, “Can I practice my face painting on you, Daddy? I can make you into a monster.” “Doesn’t that sound like a great idea? I would love to be your model.”

——

The evening he gets to spend with his daughter is the best he’s ever gotten to spend. They went on a Target run and got a variety of stuff. Toys. Clothes. Food. Board Games. Accessories. Anything she wanted found its way into their cart. He didn’t care about the looks he got for wearing skeleton makeup that Stella put on his face. It may be June, but it is never too early to celebrate the spooky season. They got back home after the shopping spree to make all the food and play all the board games they bought. He had just put her to bed when the bad thoughts started to creep back in. The doubts he is feeling about being a father start to seep through. So far, everything has been great. They always have so much fun. But what happens when the real struggles of parenting start to begin? When Stella won’t simply go to bed because he told her so. When she starts to resist his authority because the newest of having a dad is over. 

His hands are going crazy with fidgeting with his watch. The leg bouncing up and down is the only thing emitting a sound throughout the living room. He goes to call Diana and is sent to voicemail. He wants to call Y/N but thinks twice about it because he doesn’t want to worry her. He knows he shouldn’t but he needs to stop the voices in his head. The DVD case in the TV centre is calling to him. His feet lead him closer to what he shouldn’t be close to. He gets out the case and opens it up to find the little bag of powder. Before this day, he forgot he had stashed it there and that is why he hasn’t got rid of it yet. It’s okay if he has a little bit though, just a little. Maybe if he knows he should control himself, then it will be better than using more. He just needs a little something to stop his brain. 

He forms one line. One line should be enough. The relief he feels, once he snorts the line, begs him to do another. One more couldn’t hurt. He doesn’t realize he has gone through the whole bag until he can’t make any more lines. The energy he feels gets him up and moving. He cleans up the mess they made while cooking and organizes the board games they played. After a while he starts to crash, so he lies down on the couch to try and get some sleep but the coke isn’t letting him. He stares at the ceiling for hours until eventually, the mindlessness of sleep overcomes him, forgetting to clean up the evidence of what he did. 

——

Y/N taps the door as lightly as possible to hopefully not wake up Stella. She wants to help Rafe get breakfast ready for the little girl. The knock goes unanswered, so the next one that comes is a little harder. Rafe opens the door with a confused look that turns to panic when he sees who it is. “Hey, Button. Sorry to wake you up so early. But I thought I could help you make Stells some breakfast. I hope you have some eggs because I was thinking about making some eggs benedict,” she explains, heading toward the kitchen to place down the tote with the food she brought. Rafe scrambles to block her view of his coffee table, “Uh, yeah. The eggs are in the fridge.” He was too late. Her eyes are already narrowed at something in the living room and he knows she saw his last night late activities. 

She heads toward the table to make sure she is actually seeing what she thinks she is seeing. “You relapsed,” she mutters to herself in a calm and worrying tone. Rafe runs to her side, gently turning her to look at him, “Buttercup, I know I did. But I promised it wasn’t that much. I just needed something to stop my thoughts.” Her head starts to shake violently as she yanks her hand out of his hold and walks back slowly toward Stella’s room. The anger she feels is now showing, “If it wasn’t that much, then how come the bag is empty, Rafe? How much was in that bag? HOW MUCH COCAINE DID YOU DO WHILE MY DAUGHTER WAS UNDER YOUR CARE?” The blow comes in twofold. The first, she didn’t call him the playful nickname she always does. The second, she called Stella her daughter instead of theirs. 

“I know I screwed up, Buttercup. But I promise, she wasn’t awake.” 

“You don’t get to call me that right now. I don’t care if she is awake or not. I’m upset at the fact that you did drugs while she was in the house. That she could’ve woken up while you were sleeping and had access to the mess you left. Or worse, you died on the couch because you overdosed. ” 

“Of course, you are allowed to be upset. But it was a mistake. I’m sorry. It will never happen again. Y/N, please.”

“I can’t Rafe. I know that relapsing is sometimes a part of the journey to sobriety and I can forgive that. I can’t forgive putting Stella at risk.”

Y/N walks away in the direction of Stella’s room. All he can do is wait there as he hears the door open. “Stella. Baby, wake up. It’s time to go,” Y/N murmurs, kneeling beside the bed and running her fingers through Stella’s hair. The girl gently stirs, “Why, Mommy? I haven’t had breakfast yet.” “Because, Baby, Daddy needs to go somewhere so we have to go. We can make breakfast at home,” the mother explains, helping her daughter put of the bed. She knows Stella wants to debate more, but isn’t allowed to because Y/N is packing Stella’s stuff as fast as she can. 

Rafe is still standing there when Y/N comes back out with Stella in one arm and the little girl’s bag over the other shoulder. This makes him rush toward her, “Y/N, please. Don’t go. Please.” She ignores him and walks out the door, leaving the food she brought. He can hear Stella demanding to say bye to her Daddy and it rips his heart out as he hears Y/N firmly say no. He slams the door shut, screaming into the oblivion of his pain. 

Taglist: @loves0phelia @thelomlisrafecameron @wickedlovely121 @thepatriarchykeychain @drewsmusee @starkowswife @maybankslover @forstarkey @loving-and-dreaming @drewstarkeyswifehoe @kisstaya @magicalyoura @mp-littlebit @loverfu55ii @dark1paradise @sublimepenguinpeach-blog @alyisdead @emeloyy @js-a-writer @kisstaya @optimisticsandwichgladiator

[billskeis]

heyyy how are youu? can you do 2009tom x reader fluff,where tom meets reader’s family for the first time,he meets her niece and nephew,also her brother and etc🥹

ᡣ𐭩 tom meeting your family

“come on tomm, it’s really cold..!” you exclaim to your boyfriend as your shivering in your spot at the front door of your parent’s house.

“wait babe i gotta grab the cake i bought,”

he slammed his car door to reveal a somewhat fancy paper bag that presumably carried the cake he was talking about.

“you bought cake? you’re so cute, they’ll definitely love you with or without it though,”

“i know—i just—first impressions y’know?”

you kiss him on the cheek to watch his face turn a rosy palette, knocking on the front door the both of you await for someone to let you in sooner than later.

as the door swung open, you were immediately met with your loving mom.

“hey baby—mwah—” as she kisses you on the cheek, “this must be tom! hello hii welcome to the fam it’s so nice to finally meet you!”

“it’s great to finally meet you too..”

“call me mom!”

“o-okay..! i bought a cake, i hope it you’ll like it,”

“oh how kind of you sweetie, i’ll take that from you! come in come in you guys must be so cold,”

the two of you enter the house you once remembered to love so dearly before you moved out with tom. looking in his direction, you can see him smile ear to ear as his cheeks tint a nice pink.

he’s shy, and nervous, but secretly so happy over the fact that your mom already loves him.

as the two of you converse, you find that tom get’s along with everyone. he met your dad, loves him. your brother and tom both play the guitar, tom offering to even give one of his own to him to which your brother jumps in joy.

aunts and uncles and grandparents treat him as their own, pinching at his cheeks, spoon-feeding him, giving him immense amount of compliments, hugging him as if he were their own blood and the overall coddling of your 20 year old boyfriend.

however, it seems as though one particular individual isn’t so fond of him.

“who the heck is this!? and what’re you doing with y/n??” it appears to be a small boy, probably around the age six or seven, gap toothed and seems to be in a sour mood at the appearance of your boyfriend.

“sammy, this is tom! my boyfriend!”

his face contorts in disapproval, tom pouting to retaliate your nephew’s foul mood.

“no—i don’t like him..”

“hey! you don’t get to talk to my boyfriend like that..”

“tch, whatever.”

you click your tongue and decide to just go prepare and grab plates of food for tomorrow and yourself to eat.

you had to leave before you actually strangled the kid.

“i’ll be back baby i’m just gonna go grab us something to eat ‘kay?” tom nods as you kiss his cheek to leave him in the room with sam.

silence. absolute silence, as they both stood there staring at each other.

“do you love her?” sammy asks.

“i do love her.”

“what do you love about her?”

“everything. she’s my whole world to me, i was hoping to get along with her family, she says it means a lot to her that we do,”

sam twiddles his thumbs within his hands, had he made y/n upset? was he being immature?

one cannot help but feel protective over the aunty that cared for her since he was born.

“you like—really really—love her??”

“really really, sam,”

“ew don’t say my name, but i guess.. i guess i can get to know you,”

“yeah?”

“yeah.”

“but if you ever break y/n’s heart.. i’ll come for you,”

“alright big man, whatever you say,”

tom holds out a fist, sammy hesitates to reciprocate the gesture, with a big cheeky smile, the little boy punches tom’s arm and runs off to god knows where.

“ow..”

as tom rubs his arm to relieve himself of the pain, standing alone, he feels a tug on the jeans he calls pants, way too baggy for him to even touch his legs, but enough that he felt the sensation of pulling at the bottom of them.

he looks down, he spots a little girl, seemingly younger than sammy. in pink frills and two low pigtails, she looks up at tom with beady eyes.

“well hello there child,”

she doesn’t respond. not yet verbal enough to actually make out the words she would’ve wanted to say to him, if there were any at all.

letting go of the pant leg, she makes grabbing motions at tom. to his surprise, it seems as though stranger danger isn’t really a concept to her as it is for sammy.

picking her up in his arm, he carries your niece holding him up to his chest as she sit on his forearm comfortably.

he jumps her up and down in his arms to see her smile, also smiling on his own.

“why aren’t you cute??”

he coos, holding out a finger in front of her, for her to wrap the totality of her hand around his index finger.

tom could feel his heart melt at the sight of how adorable she was.

coming back, you hold two plates in both hands to witness the site of your boyfriend getting along with your niece.

“aren’t you two the sweetest?? seems like you’ve meet lily!”

“she’s so.. cute!”

the little girl cannot help but shy away, hiding her face in tom’s neck.

it doesn’t explicitly show, but it seems as though your niece has taken a very big liking to tom, she definitely thinks hes the cutest boy she’s ever seen.

“hey! don’t go stealing tom from me now, that’s my boyfriend,” you rush to put the plates full of food on the table to tickle at your niece.

she giggles and jolts in tom’s grasp as he attempts to securely hold onto her, lily wrapping her small arms around his neck.

you sulk and cross your arms, she won the battle, but you also cannot help but gawk at the sight of seeing tom hold your niece so lovingly.

“she stole my boyfriend from me,” you scowl as you playfully hit tom’s arm.

chuckling, tom cannot hide the wide grin plastered on to his face, smiling ever so brightly.

“jealous?”

“…yes”

“awww don’t be like that, you’ll have enough of me later,”

your mouth agape as he smirks at you, clearly intending something behind that, you feel anxious, but impatient.

you need to give him a child.

[watsittoyah]

Along Came A Spider…2099

Warnings-Sexual content, time travel, oral sex, rough sex, fang play, size kink, breeding kink and slight blood play. Some talks of suicide..

(My Spanish isn’t great, so I did use google translate to help…)

Chapter 5- The Skeletons In His Closet..

“Everything needs to be perfect. Erica do you have the ice?”

“I’ve got the ice.” You check that off the list. “Jerry, do you have the paper plates?”

“I got paper plates, and I got napkin.” You check those off the list. “Monica-”

“I have the baked Mac and cheese and I have the hot links.” You check those off of the list and you look at your friends. “As you all know, this is the annual Valentine family reunion. I invited you all because my grandparents adore you. Now, we need to make a signal so if any family member catches us off guard the others can swoop in and save the day. Any suggestions?”

“Oh! We can fake a yawn.” Jerry suggests. But Monica shakes her head. “No can do, we did that last year and Great Aunt Ethel made Erica sit on the bench with her so she could rest it out.”

“Ear tug.” Erica says. “Yes! That’s perfect. Alright let’s get the stuff in the car.” As your friends heads out of the apartment you stay back and call Miguel for the tenth time. It goes to voicemail which doesn’t surprise you. He’s been late to a lot of functions lately.

“This is Miguel leave a message.” It beeps and you pace the apartment. “Baby, we’re leaving the apartment. I was hoping you’d be here so I can prep you but obviously you’re not answering. The cookout is at my grandparents. I’m sure you remember the address. Just please don’t be too late, a lot of my family wants to meet you, okay? Lo-later.” You hang up and tell Milo to be good…

When you park the car, you see balloons all tied up on the front porch. “Remember the plan, we stay for a few hours and if any of us need saving, tug an ear.” You all get out of the car and start to unload the stuff.

Erica pulls you to the side and whispers to you. “Where’s Miguel?” You huff and shrug. “I don’t know, but if he is late he is going to get an earful.” You say as you tie your headscarf tighter.

“Is that little Tommie?” You turn and put on a fake smile as you see your Auntie Vivian. “Hey Auntie.” You lean over and give her a hug. “Girl look at you! Looking like a little African queen. And these hips! Lord have mercy I know these boys go crazy over you.” You feel awkward and clear your throat. “Auntie, you remember my friends right?”

“Of course I do. Hey guys.”

“Hey.” They say in unison. “Auntie where can we put the ice and food?” You ask. “In the kitchen. Now don’t stay in there. If you do they’re gonna make you help with the fish fry. And it’s already hot with all these black folks.” You all laugh and start bringing the stuff inside.

“Hello.” You call out as you walk into the house. “Tommie! Is that you! Come here let me get a good look at you!” Your Auntie Bonnie calls out as she dries her upper lip with a napkin.

“We’ll put this up.” Jerry whispers to you as they walk past. “Baby go and put that ice in the cooler out back.”

You walk over to your Auntie Bonnie and she looks you over. “Girl you look like me back in the day. I swear I had about six boyfriends and three men trying to marry me when I was your age.” You laugh at that and she gives you a hug. “How you feeling?”

“I’m okay. Really.” You lie. “Mhm, if you want to lie, lie to your boss not to me. But I won’t push, now where is this man, Barbra was telling us about.”

“Miguel will be here soon. He’s just running a little late.”

“Tommie, come here and help me with this fish.” Your Auntie Meryl calls out. “Oh! Uncle Pete said he needs help with the grill I’ll be back.” You run outside and see Erica and Monica over by the drinks.

“Where’s Jerry?” You ask sitting down taking a bottle of water from the cooler. “Your cousins snatched him up so he’s playing double Dutch with them.” Monica points across the yard and sure enough Jerry was turning the ropes with one of your little cousins.

“TT!” You feel a pat to your thigh and you turn to see your baby cousin, Oliver. “Hi baby!” You pick him up and give him a great big hug. He holds your face and leans his head on your shoulder.

You sit there with him in your arms and hear his mother calling him. “Oh, I should’ve know you’d be with Tommie. He isn’t causing you any trouble is he?”

“Not at all, right Ollie?” He just sits there holding your face. “Ollie, do you want to show your big cousin your new toy?” Vanessa asks him. He nods and he jumps off of your lap and goes running. “Ollie no running you’ll hurt yourself. That boy is going to keep me young running after him. How y’all been?”

“Good.” You say wondering where Miguel was.

“I’ve been alright, but you know where the harder stuff at?” Monica asks. “Go to Uncle Pete, he got some mikes hard lemonade in his cooler.”

“Say less.” Monica leaves and Erica follows. “You want one?” You shake your head as they walk off. “How’s Ollie been adjusting?” You ask Vanessa. “He’s been doing great. He still doesn’t talk much but he likes his new school.”

“That’s good. Maybe I can see if there are any more grants you can apply to for him.” She nods and Ollie comes running back. “TT!”

“Look at that! It’s a dinosaur! Do you know what sound a dinosaur makes?”

“Roof!” You shake your head. “No that’s a dog. A dinosaur…roars. Like this, ROAR!” You tickle him and he laughs. “TT!” He tugs you along and you follow him. He points to the hula hoop and you pick it up. You show him how to hula hoop but he doesn’t get it. Which was fine because you just wanted him to have fun.

After playing with Oliver for fifteen minutes he was passed out in your arms. You bring him to his mother and she takes him inside to sleep on the bed with the other babies and toddlers.

You decide to make yourself a plate and you get in line. “Tommie, when are you gonna get married?” Your little loud mouth cousin, Tiffany asks. “When you stop minding my business and mind your own.”

“Oop, not too much.” You roll your eyes but laugh together as you make your plate. You get a few things on your plate and you’re about to reach for some chicken when you feel a pair of arms wrap around your waist.

“Hola, mi amor.” You smile from ear to ear as you turn to Miguel. “Hello to you to-what happened to your eye?” Your boyfriend had a big black eye and you were concerned. “Nothing, it’s just a small bump on my face.”

“Small bump? Miguel it’s looks like some one put their whole fist in your face!” You snap at him. “Geez! What happens to you?” Tiffany asks. You ignore her and grab Miguel’s hand, dragging him into the house.

“It’s nothing really.” He tries to tell you. “Nothing my ass. Sit here and let me get you an ice pack.” You go into the fridge and take out one, then you grab a dish cloth. You wrap the ice pack and you place it on Miguel’s eye. He winces in pain and you cross your arms over your chest.

“I know you’re upset.”

“I’m not upset, concerned yes. I’m curious as well. How is it that my boyfriend came here with a black eye? What happened?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was a door?” He says with a smirk. “Now is not the time to joke, Mr O’Hara!” You glance over and see your Aunties were pretending not to listen. “Come with me.” You drag him to the side porch and close the door behind the two of you.

“Miguel, how?” He sighs and moves the ice pack. “I got into a little fight, it’s no big deal. Honestly the other guy looks worse.” You sigh because there isn’t anything you can do. He is here and that is what you had wanted. “Is that why you’re late?”

“Y..yes. Amor, I am sorry. Let’s go back out there and you can introduce me to your family.” The hesitation in his answer doesn’t go unnoticed but you let it slide for now.

“Right, well I hope you’re hungry because there is a lot of food and there’s a lot of people who want to meet you.” You cup his face in your hands and you kiss his bruised eye. “I promise you Miguel you better had beat them to a bloody pulp for giving you this black eye.”

“You know I did.” He says with a smirk. You lead him back to where your family is and you make him a plate.

••••

After watching Miguel interact with your family for a few hours you felt relaxed. “Baby cakes, come help me with this pan.” You head into the kitchen with your grandmother and she lifts up a pan for you to bring outside.

“No one is gonna take him from you, you don’t have to stare too hard.” Your grandmother teases. “It’s just, he seems so relaxed like he’s met them before.”

“Isn’t that a good thing? Miguel just fits in with the rest of them. And don’t think I haven’t seen the way that man watches you. He stares at you as if you’re his entire universe.” You look back at Miguel and see him playing with Oliver.

“I say by the end of this year you two will be married and expecting.”

“Grandma!”

“Girl don’t grandma me. There is no way that man is going to settle with being your boyfriend. A man like that ought to be a husband.” You sigh and continue to watch Miguel play with Oliver.

As you watch him you get an odd thought. In the thought you see Miguel getting down on one knee and he’s proposing to you. You look down at your hand and you swear you see a ring. When you blink the ring was gone.

You feel dizzy and you almost trip. But you put the pan down and you catch yourself. “You okay baby cakes?” You nod. “I’m okay, I just need some water.” She gets you some water and you look back outside to see Miguel staring back at you.

What the hell was that?

•••

You were sitting on the back porch with Erica and Jerry watching the older folks dance to old school jams. Monica was playing spades with your aunties and Miguel was playing with the kids. “I think this cookout was perfect.” You announced. “Got that right, my stomach is full all I need is a man to cuddle with.”

“Jerry then why fuck are you looking at me?” Erica says narrowing her eyes at him. “Because with those broad shoulders you look like a man.”

“Oh bitch those are fighting words.” They get up ready to play fight but your grandmother gives them the look. “Behave yourselves.” She calls to them. “Yes Mrs. Valentine.” They say in unison as they walk over to grab some more drinks.

You sit back and look up at the stars, feeling happy. “Is that seat taken?” You look over to see Miguel and you smile at him. “Come.” You motion him over and he sits between your legs. “Did you have fun today, mi Corazón?”

“I did actually. And my family loves you. Especially Ollie. He doesn’t take to strangers well but he warmed up to you just fine.”

“I’m glad they like me. Hopefully next year….” He stops talking and you wait for him to continue but he stands up. “Come dance with me.” You take his hand and Stand by me by Prince Royce plays.

“You trust me?” He asks as he sees you’re nervous. “Yes.” You answer him without hesitation. Miguel then places his hand on your lower back and he tells you to follow his lead but don’t watch his feet.

You two move together and you still feel nervous. “Close your eyes and think of a happy place, amor.” He whispers in your ear. You shut your eyes and think for a moment.

When you have the happy place, you move to the beat of the song and Miguel guides your hips. You open your eyes and he was smiling at you as he sang the song to you. You smile so wide, it’s shocking that your face didn’t split in half.

Miguel spins you around and then dips you. As he pulls you back to him, you can’t help but feel your family watching the two of you. You do a move you didn’t know you could do, but it feels like a reflex.

Miguel lets you go and you dance by yourself, moving your long skirt to the beat of the music. You look at him and move your hips as you go to him. To you Miguel was the only thing that mattered to you in this very moment. When you finally go to him the song ends.

“I love you.” You say without hesitation. You then realized what you said and you start to take it back. “Yo tambien te quiero mi amor.” Miguel says with love in his eyes. You hear your family in the background cheering you two on but that doesn’t matter. You get on your tippy toes and you kiss him. He holds you and kisses you back as your family hoots and hollers at the two of you.

Yes this night was perfect…

After you had dropped Jerry and Monica off at their place, you and Erica were walking back into your apartment, with Miguel following behind you.

“How about I spend the night at your place for a change? It’ll give Erica a break from hearing us.” You say as you lean against the door frame. “I’d like that actually. But before you come over let me just go clear up some stuff.” Miguel kisses your lips several times, which makes you laugh. “Baby, go.” You push him back and he takes a small step back. “I love you, Tommie.”

“I love you too, Miguel.” He walks into his apartment and you walk into yours. You sigh like a love sick school girl and bring your leftover plate to the kitchen. When you enter you see Erica standing there reading something.

“What’s that?” You ask putting your plate in the fridge. She turns to you and pretends she wasn’t reading something. “Huh? Oh nothing.” You give her a look. “E, what is that?” You ask again. She sighs and hands you the paper. You read it and it’s about Miguel.

However there is barely anything on the paper. No mentions of his family. No mentions of his birth place. It mentions an ex or two but they had little to no information on Miguel.

“This is a good thing right? He has a clean record.” You try to be optimistic but Erica gives you a sad look. “T, my cousin is the best on getting dirt on anyone. But from what I read, Miguel is a total stranger. Just who have you been dating for the few months?”

You feel a knot of anxiety at the pit of your stomach as you wonder for yourself. “I’ll be right back.” You march out of your apartment and you knock on Miguel’s door.

He answers it after your third knock. “Amor I was just about to come get-what’s wrong?” You enter his place and you take a deep breathe.

“Miguel, be honest with me.” You say to him. “Of course, amor. I’ll always be honest with you.” You give him the paper and he looks it over. He looks up at you in confusion. “You had someone watching me? Why?”

“Because Miguel, even though we’ve been together for months, I really don’t know who you are. And there’s more. When you got hurt back at the restaurant, you had gotten cut badly and I know you did because your blood was on my hands. But a few hours later you were with me and you didn’t have a scratch on you. When I ask about where you grew up you say in Nueva York but you don’t tell me the location. You haven’t told me how you have those fangs and when I try to ask you about your past you change the subject.”

“Tommie, I promise I’ll tell you when the time is righ-”

“No! Tell me now! You show up late to things I invite you to and all you can do is say I’m sorry! What are you hiding from me!”

“You aren’t ready to know!”

“Fine! If it’s going to be like that then maybe we should take a break.”

“No don’t-don’t leave me.” You hear Miguel speak but you already have your hand in the door knob. You don’t want to leave but you need to know why he is acting this way.

He grabs you from behind and you feel his grip tighten on you. “I don’t want you to leave me, when you find out the truth.” You close your eyes and turn with your face in his chest.

“Please, Miguel. Just tell me the truth.” You open your eyes and see those sad hazel eyes looking down at you.

He lets you go and he takes several steps back.

“I should start from the beginning. You know about my work. How I am a scientist and I dabble in gene splicing.”

You suddenly don’t like where this story is going.

“Well, about three years ago, I was working with someone I thought I could trust. He had made many promises to me and I believed every last one of them. However he was dabbling in pharmaceuticals and had released it to the poor part of the public. He had created this…drug called rapture. If you have too much of it you can become addicted to it. I got wind of this and I didn’t want to be part of his company anymore so I told him that I was leaving. He didn’t like that. And I should’ve been smart enough to know he wasn’t going to let me leave so easily. So he had invited me out for drinks and he kept on giving me drinks. But in those drinks he had laced them with ten times the dosage of rapture and I was instantly addicted to the stuff. He told me that if he couldn’t keep me then he was going to ruin me. But with the knowledge I had with my research. I knew how I could break the addiction. I had done the tests on multiple animals, so why wouldn’t it work on a human subject?”

“Miguel, what did you splice your genes with?” You ask with a shake in your voice. He crouches for a second and in a blink he was on the ceiling, crawling around.

You fall flat on your ass and he taps his smart watch that was on his wrist. With strange technology, you watch as a suit molds to his body. He then lands in front of you and you gasp.

“You’re Spide-there’s not fucking way you’re him!” He taps his watch and his mask recedes from his face. “Amor, I am Spider-man. That’s why I’ve been late to a lot of your get togethers. I’ve been well you know.” You blink several times and just stare at him.

Miguel reaches out to touch you but you flinch from his claws. He jerks his hand back. “I apologize, but just know I would never hurt you.” His claws molds back into his fingertips and you slowly stand up. “I should go.” You blurt out. “Wait, Tommie I can understand that this is a shock to you.”

“No, this is more than a shock and I’m about to have a panic attack. Are the walls closing in?” You feel dizzy and he holds you up. But you move from his touch. “Amor, you don’t look to good.”

You feel like you’re about to throw up but you keep it together. “I need to get out of here.”

“But you said you wouldn’t leave.” You can hear the panic in his tone and you want to understand but the panic attack is stronger than your logical mind.

“Miguel, I’m sorry. I have to go.” You manage to open the door and leave his apartment in a rush. “I love you.” You hear him say after you. Before you knew it you were crying as you slammed your apartment door behind you.

“Tommie! What’s wrong?” Erica yells after you. But you ignore her and run to your room. You dive under the covers and you scream into your pillow.

You felt overwhelmed, anxious, and most of all hurt, because if he could hide something that big from you, then what else could he hiding?

The skeletons in his closet were just too much to handle.

••••

You’ve never done drugs before but if you did, then you’d be having withdrawals. You knew he was watching you because there were traces of him around you. When you were at work, you’d see finger prints on the outside of your window.

When you left your apartment, you could smell his scent by the door.

You’d dream about being in his arms, and this was driving you crazy.

Just go back to him!

Your brain was screaming.

But your body was hesitating. Why?

It was after work and you were staying in for the night. Milo was no where to be found and you were sitting there watching Anastasia. Technically the movie was watching you.

You were staring outside, thinking about Miguel. Wondering if he was okay. “This is stupid, you can just go over there and talk to him, Tommie.” You tell yourself. In your mind, you were already at his apartment, telling him how sorry you were for acting the way you did.

You look at your phone and you see he hasn’t messaged you in the past week.

The phone goes both ways. His words ring in your head and you decide to message him.

I’m sorry for the way I acted, I guess it all just became a lot for me to handle. I guess you were right when you said I wasn’t ready.

You erase that and type again.

I was stupid, will you forgive me?

You erase that message as well.

BABY PLEASSSSE!

You roll your eyes and erase that.

As you go to type something better, Miguel’s name pops up on your call screen. You answer it immediately. “Hi…” You breathe into the phone. “Hi, mi corazón. I didn’t think you’d pick up.”

“I didn’t think you’d call. Listen I’m so sorry for the way I acted. You told me something very important and I treated it very childish.”

“No, amor. I should have told you sooner. I apologize.”

“How about we both apologize, and you come over because I’m lonely and Milo is hiding.” Miguel gives a husky laugh. “I will come to you in a se-” You hear a loud crash in the background and you sit up. “Miguel! Miguel are you alright? Answer me!”

“I’ll call you right ba-“ The phone goes dead and you quickly turn to the news. So far nothing had popped up. That’s good news right? That means it’s nothing major. You try to tell yourself.

Dread hits your chest when you see a 'this just in' headline across the screen.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, as you can tell there has been a prison outbreak on the upper west side. Some of the inmates have taken over the jail and a few have escaped….huh? He’s here?”

You see in the far background, Miguel was was swinging into the prison and you were at the edge of your seat.

“Miguel, please be safe. Please be sa-” You see what looks like lights flashing in the prison and you think the worse.

“Baby, please be safe. I need you to be safe.” You pray as you continue to watch the footage.

“A source has said that the escaped prisoners have been located. They were encased in webbing. And-” The news reporter goes silent and nods.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to inform you that, Spider-Man has gotten the situation under control. I repeat, Spider-Man has gotten the situation under control. The warden as well as staff are all safe and there are no casualties.”

You let out a breathe you didn’t know you were holding and jump when you feel Milo’s little paws on your toes.

“Milo! He did it! My boyfriend did it! Oh my god, I’m dating a super hero! I’m dating Spider-Man! Wait I shouldn’t say that too loud.” You jump up and down with happiness and you give Milo a big kiss on his head then set him back down as you go and take a quick shower before Miguel comes over.

•••

You were freshly showered and wearing a silver night gown as well as a grey headscarf. As you sat in your room with your lap top adding clothes to your cart. You swear you’re going to buy the stuff this time. You then hear a tap to your window.

You look over and you see him, hanging upside down. “Miguel!” You hiss as you run over and open the window down him. He crawls inside and he lands on his feet, towering over you.

His suit recedes off of him and he was your Miguel. “Hola hermosa.” He keeps still and you take a step forward. “Hi, you did good out there.” You say as you place your hands on his chest. He takes them and he kisses them. “That is my other job, amor. I hope you can understand that, if you still want to be together that is who you’ll be with as well.”

You give a sad smile. “I can handle that, though I’ll probably worry about you ten times more than I usually do. And what do you mean if? I still want this to work, you’re not getting rid of me Miguel.” He smiles and he leans down kissing you.

He then rests his head against yours. “Good, because keeping an eye on you has been torture for me. Always being close but never being with you. That hurts me more than getting punched in the face by Vulture.”

“So that’s who punched you? God I heard about him, doesn’t he…eat people?” He nods and he gently moves the lace strap off of your shoulder. “Is this new?” He asks.

“I got this a while ago, I figured you’d like it….” You’ve definitely said that before but when? “I do like it…I’ve missed you. I know it’s only been a week but I’ve missed being this close.” Miguel cups your face and he kisses you deeply.

You’ve missed this as well. His taste, his touch. God you’ve missed this man and your body was finally getting its dose of dopamine.

You break from the kiss first. “Promise me, that you’ll make sure you’re safe out there.” Miguel eyes saddens but you shake your head. “Please promise me.” He sighs and nods. “I promise, amor.” You kiss him and he lifts you up off of the floor bridal style and he places you on the bed.

“Te necesito, I need you so badly it hurts.” Miguel strips off his shirt and tosses it somewhere in your room. You help him with his pants as he kicks off his shoes.

Once he is completely naked, he helps you out of your night gown. You lay back down as Miguel lays on top of you and kisses your neck. “Tell me about your day, amor. I’ve missed your voice.” He whispers against your right breast.

He sucks that breast and you run your fingers through his hair and moan softly. “Today…was tough because I missed you…” You get distracted by the way his tongue rolls over your nipples but you get back into focus in telling him about your day.

“….but I…mmm, I got a lot of work done. I…oh please keep doing that. I checked the calendar and I’m due for a va…vacation, Miguel I can’t keep talking when you lick me like t-” You cut yourself off as watch Miguel crawl back between your legs.

“Fair enough, amor. Then I’ll tell you about my day. But first.” Miguel moves so both of you are laying side by side, but you’re in front of him and he has your leg partly lifted up.

“My day was miserable because I didn’t wake up under you this morning.” Miguel says as he slowly slides inside of you. You arch your back and touch his face as you feel your walls mold around his dick. “Eres tan apretada mi amor. So tight. Mmm, I had saved a woman from being robbed. I made sure…I made sure I kept an eye on you at work, oh shit, make it tighter for me, Tommie. I had lunch on the Statue of Liberty’s crown and I saved a prison from being taken over. But you know what made the day worth it?” He asks as he keeps his slow pace.

“What baby?” You moan as he keeps going in and out of you. “Being here with you. Being with you in this moment…being deep inside of you.” He slows down and he kisses your neck. You lean your head back against him and you feel his fangs gently trace the veins down your throat.

“I love you, I love you so much, Tommie.” He moans as he grips your hips and goes a bit harder with his thrusts but he keeps a slow pace.

“I love you too. I love you too, baby.” You moan out breathlessly. You lift your legs a bit more and feel him go deeper inside of you. You feel him reach down and rub slow circles around your clit and you let out a groan. “Baby, go faster. Please go faster.” You moan out.

“No, no, no, amor. You can take it at this pace. I know you can. I haven’t had this pussy in a week, fuck, I’m going to savor this pretty pussy for a while. But you can take it right? You can take daddy’s dick.” You go stupid for a second and forget how to speak as he keeps the same pace.

The pace he’s going was making a slow and hard build up for you, which made you grip your walls around him. Miguel grips your throat and kisses you deep. “You know exactly what you’re doing with this little pussy. If you keep that up, I’m going to come, amor.” Miguel moans as he starts to pick up the pace. “Please do, please come deep inside of me.” You moan out as he switches positions.

He was now on top of you and he was gripping your headboard as he did deep strokes. You place your hands on his chest and you reach up to pull him close to you. You tug at his bottom lip and your nails finds a way to his back.

Miguel starts to pick up the pace, causing the bed to shake. You start breathing heavy as you feel yourself about to climax. “Ven por mí, princesa. Come for me.” He thrusts harder and you start to stutter out his name. “I’m coming, I’m coming.” You groan as your walls pulse around him. Your nails dig deep into his back and he grabs a hold of you and he does two last stroke before he pumps you full.

You both still as you both come down from the climax high. He stays inside of you and he balances on his elbows. “You are amazing. Tan asombrosa.” You smile and kiss his lips. “You’re the amazing one. You are a super hero. I bet you’ve saved a lot of people.”

That comment made him frown.

He slides out of you causing the both of you to gasp. He then lays beside you and you turn to your side. “What’s wrong?” You ask him as you run a finger over a scar you hadn’t noticed before.

He gently moves your hand from his chest and he holds it. “My job, is just like anyone else’s who has to deal with the public. I have good days and I have bad days. In your eyes I am this amazing person, but amor. There will be days that I will come home to you and I’ll have to have let someone die. This job isn’t full of rewards.”

“Do you want to talk about it? I figured you don’t have anyone to talk to about this.” You offer. “You don’t have to amor. I don’t want to bring you such sadness.”

You sit up and sit criss cross. “Miguel, I have my sad days. Just like you. If there is one thing I can tell you is that, I understand loss. I love my grandparents, I do. But I’ll never have my dad walk me down the aisle. I’ll never have my mom guide me into motherhood. It took a few years of therapy and counseling to tell me that it wasn’t my fault that they passed. Even though I thought it was….” You look down at your fingers and let out a breath you know you’ve been holding since your were thirteen.

“…I was so angry with my parents. Over a missed event, over some play I don’t remember. But I remember that I was angry with them because they told me they wouldn’t be home in time to be with me. I went to bed angry. But when I woke up, my grandparents had told me the news. I felt that because I went to bed angry it was my fault that they were gone. I had so much…anger inside of me. That I had came to hate myself. And you know what they said when you’re an intelligent person. You tend to know how to do dangerous things.”

You look up at Miguel and you close your eyes. “My grandfather found me and I was rushed to the hospital. They had pumped my stomach and I got lectured that my parents wouldn’t have wanted me to take my own life. And I’m not telling you this for sympathy. No, I’m telling you this because I know what it’s like to have bad days, and I was happy later on when I had someone to talk to about it. So, Miguel let me be that person for you. Don’t bottle it up, if you have a bad super hero day then tell me. If you need a hug then my arms are always opened for you.” Miguel sits up and he pulls you into his arms.

“Thank you, Tommie. This helps.” He kisses your temple and you let a yawn escape. “Let’s get some rest.” You nod and grab the sheets and pull it over the two of you.

Miguel pulls you on top of him and you let your head rest on his chest. “Baby, what spider did you splice yourself with?” You ask feeling sleepy.

You feel him stroke a hand against your shoulder and he looks down at you. “If I tell you, you’ll have nightmares. Just know that it isn’t deadly. Well it’s only deadly when threatened.” He gives a soft chuckle and you rub your face into his chest. “Good night.” You whisper as you take a deep breathe and fall asleep in Miguel’s arms…

Previously, Next

[loveyhoons]

MY DEAR ໒꒰ྀི´ ˘ ` ꒱ྀིა | l.hj

pairing: lee hyunjae x f! reader

genre: best friends to lovers!

synopsis: hyunjae was not expecting to confess his feelings for you at his older sister’s wedding

word count: 3.5k words

warnings: mild cussing, mentions of alcohol, hyunjae being a bit too tipsy, kissing, our two leads being a bit oblivious (someone pls help them)

author’s note: hi everyone :D i finally finished this after a month of it sitting in my drafts, i hope you enjoy reading this little one shot <3

If love was a losing battlefield, that is what Lee Hyunjae pictured it to be.

The young man in his mid-20s had no idea how he kept his bottled-up feelings for his best friend L/N Y/N for so long. Everyone would make bets of when the other would crack or confess. But whenever you would hear of these silly bets or predictions, you would laugh it off, saying that you two were just best of friends.

Little did you know, those words would sting Hyunjae like a bee. And little did you know, he had a crush on you from the moment you both met as mere toddlers.

Hyunjae vividly remembered sipping on a juice box waiting for class to start, scared. He had an attachment to his parents and older sister at a young age. Whenever he was left with his grandparents or his aunt, he would start to look for them, crying out of fear.

He immediately started to sob as soon as his mom unbuckled his car seat.

Surely but slowly, making it into the classroom and out of the school parking lot, his teacher offered him an apple juice to calm him down and distract him from his mom leaving to go to work.

Hyunjae sat still, feeling nervous as soon as he found out his juice box was empty. As he put juice box down, he started to look around the classroom, trying to calm himself down. Once he saw you walk in the classroom with a big gap in your top front teeth owning a big smile and a contagious giggle, he knew from there on out that you would be his best friend for life.

And from there on, you two were peas in a pod.

No one could separate you both even if they tried. It got to the point where you were always at his or his always at yours. Your parents would always set an extra plate down at the dinner table and vice versa. It was a reoccurring thing and even your families treated you both as having an extra kid in the household.

Even at family outings, he would always tag along or you’d always tag along on his. There was never a dull moment whenever you guys were together and your families secretly swore to each other that you both would get together in the future.

Things slowly then started to change as you both reached middle school. As soon as you started having sporadic crushes on boys in your grade, Hyunjae started to feel irritated by every boy you mentioned.

Hyunjae recalled when you had a crush on the golden boy Kim Younghoon in the 8th grade. You would go on about how smart he’d be in their science class or volunteer in math, every time your teacher would ask the class to solve a problem. Hyunjae felt irritated but dealt with your yapping because after all, you are his best friend.

No matter how many times he’d be exhausted from you going on and on, he’d still listen because he cared a lot about you. He liked hearing about things that excited you- even if it was about a boy that was not him. He liked seeing you happy, it seemed to be all he cared about.

When the annual school field trip to a science museum came, Hyunjae remembered how he felt seeing you get put into a group with Younghoon.

He felt those nervous jitters he felt, the first time he saw you back in kindergarten.

He remembered, holding his hand to his chest on the ride back to the school campus, confused by all the mixed emotions he was feeling.

And that is when he realized, he may of had feelings for you that entire time. He remembered muttering to himself on the bus, leaving his best friend Juyeon concerned whether he was okay or not- thinking he was dehydrated or had a bad headache.

Scared of ruining his friendship with you, Hyunjae kept his feelings to himself. He thought they would just magically disappear like a magician saying abracadabra in their little magic tricks. He thought suppressing them would be better and it would be best to just let things be.

Those suppressed feelings worked for a bit while the both of you managed to get into your first relationships with other people throughout high school. It would all change once you both got into the same university and broke up with your partners.

And yet until the present time, the both of you still ended up single.

As the both of you then graduated, you both started your respective careers, always meeting up with your circle of friends once in a while and of course, always being together in your free time.

Sometimes Hyunjae would hang out at your apartment and sometimes you’d hang out at his.

Hyunjae realized that during all of this maybe his feelings never changed since then.

Maybe, he never did get over his feelings for you.

Now here he is, sitting at the closest table by the concessions stand of his sister’s wedding, taking another shot of God knows what with his best friends Juyeon, Kevin, and Jacob.

“Man, slow down, your sister is going to beat your ass,” Kevin muttered as Hyunjae shook his head.

Hyunjae’s older sister Yoonah was finally getting married to her boyfriend after 5 years. He was happy for his sister but as soon as he heard Younghoon was invited (his older sister so happens to be the same age as Yoonah), he felt like he was about to lock himself in his bedroom and roll into a ball. He did not know if Younghoon had a girlfriend or not- heck he never spoken to him since middle school. As soon as he saw Younghoon walk into the entrance of the city hall earlier, he felt like he was about to pull his hair out.

As he drank the remaining alcohol in his glass, he remembered Yoonah and their little conversation whilst shopping for her wedding reception.

“My baby brother, when will you admit it, you’re not getting any younger.” Yoonah sighed as she looked through the variety of utensils and plates. As she picked up one of the silver spoons, she glanced to Hyunjae who was looking away, pretending not to hear anything she said. He whistled a tune of the song he heard from Yoonah’s playlist in the car earlier, crossing his arms.

Hyunjae unwillingly agreed to help Yoonah out with the wedding ceremony preparations. As Yoonah’s best friend Naeun had a last-minute errand to run, she immediately asked Hyunjae to go with her. With Hyunjae only having one day off this week due to a large project at the office, he was exhausted, to say the least- but he could not pass on the offer of Yoonah treating him to lunch.

The two were now walking around an events coordinator's office, looking for inspiration for the wedding reception. Yoonah decided with her fiance, that it would be best if the wedding would take place half a year from the proposal. Even if it seemed like it would be far away from the current date, they wanted to prepare early and make sure everything was perfect.

“Noona, I did not come here to answer those questions.” Hyunjae sighed as he walked beside her toward the next section.

“When did you become so grumpy, you used to cling to Mom, Dad, and me all the time?” Yoonah pouted as she jokingly pulled on Hyunjae’s cheek.

“Stop it!” Hyunjae sighed as he looked around. He did not like when Yoonah drew attention to them, especially in public.

Yoonah chuckled. She shook her head, walking towards the other side of the store. “I’m just telling you, everyone knows except her.”

“You’re lying.”

“Why do our moms always talk about your guys’ future kids and their names then?”

Hyunjae looked at Yoonah in pure confusion. “They do that?”

“Well of course when you aren’t there dummy.”

Yoonah then glanced towards the different colored threads, trying to find perfect accents for the reception. She looked back to Hyunjae as she let go of the thread she held. “I’m serious though, how would you feel if she told you she met someone?”

“It’s been years Noona, plus she’s work-oriented you know her.” Hyunjae disagreed. He felt a bit uncomfortable, knowing he was just pulling excuses.

He recalled when you first told him someone asked you out on a date. It was the time when You recently just moved into your place and just finished settling down. He felt his teeth grinding on each other, giving the biggest smile. Of course, he was happy that You were ecstatic about getting asked out, but at the same time, he was dishonest with himself, wishing that it was him instead.

“I’m just telling you, you never know what could happen.”

“And what if we don’t speak again, I can’t lose her.”

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Yoonah’s lips turned into a little smile. She then smiled. “I’d love her as a sister-in-law though.”

“Okay, I think it’s time to get lunch now Noona.”

Hyunjae glanced towards you as you were sitting by the terrace with Younghoon. You were catching up with him, reminiscing about the old times in middle school and talking about the encounters you both had even if it was just a small hi or hello.

He felt like that conversation with Yoonah was now biting him in the butt as if it was destined to happen.

Hyunjae focused on how your lips turned into a wide smile every time Younghoon would talk or how your right dimple poked out whenever you’d laugh. He hated that you were laughing with someone else- that was not him. He put down his empty glass, asking the waiter to give him another.

“Now, I know why he’s drinking.” Juyeon nudged both Kevin and Jacob, eyeing you with Younghoon.

The two then looked at you and back to Hyunjae, realizing what was going on.

“Bro, you’re an idiot.” Jacob sighed.

“Guys, let me be.” Hyunjae muttered.

“It’s your sister’s wedding, shouldn’t you be happy right now?” Juyeon asked.

Hyunjae shook his head, letting out a dry laugh. “I’m happy I promise.”

“Jae, we all know that you’re dying on the inside knowing Y/N is talking to Younghoon after so long. You’re scared aren’t you?” Kevin asked.

Hyunjae glared at Kevin and shook his head again. He laughed and thanked the waiter and took another sip from the glass.

Juyeon then tapped Kevin and Jacob’s shoulders, huddling with them behind Hyunjae. “Guys, I may have a plan…” He muttered softly.

“Huh?” Jacob asked.

Kevin sighed, crossing his arms. “What did you have in mind?”

Juyeon smirked. “You guys do know Younghoon has a girlfriend right?”

Everyone was busy partying on the dance floor as Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars started to play. With strobe lights glistening and loud music blaring throughout the reception hall, it seemed not to bother Hyunjae much as he was stuck in his own little world.

Hyunjae was unaware of how many drinks he asked the waiter for. He did not realize that his friends were dancing on the dance floor and left him alone to his own devices.

Little did he know, Juyeon went up towards You and Younghoon, interrupting your small talk. After he pointed towards Hyunjae, showing you what happened, you sat your glass of Champagne down.

You said goodbye to Younghoon and told Juyeon a quick thanks, telling him you would take care of Hyunjae. You knew your best friend better than himself and that him and alcohol did not mix well.

You walked quickly to where Hyunjae was and sighed. He had his head down, facing the other side, already asleep. You shook his shoulder a little, trying to see if he was conscious or not.

Hyunjae sat up and turned towards you. He muttered a hi and smiled a little. He felt a bit tipsy from whatever he drank but could somewhat still tell what was going on.

Somewhat.

You rolled your eyes, a bit annoyed with Hyunjae. Out of all the times he decided to drink, it had to be right now at the reception hall of his sister’s wedding. “Jae, what happened?”

“Can we get some air please?” Hyunjae asked softly. “I just need air right now.”

“Can you even walk?” You asked.

Hyunjae stood up from his seat, wobbling a little. He gave you a little thumbs up as he walked and stumbled a little to the side entrance. You put his arm around yours for balance as you both walked out.

The both of you then sat on a bench right by where the large fountain was. It was a nice little seating area that had a path that led straight to the parking lot. It was quiet and peaceful out here with no one around. All you could hear was just the trees swaying in the wind below the night sky and the water sprouting out from the top splashing down to the bottom of the fountain.

The music was blaring still but it was now a bit muffled as the side doors to the reception hall was closed shut.

“Y/N, I need, I need to tell you something.” Hyunjae stammered a little.

“And what is that?” You asked.

“Do you like Younghoon again?”

You blinked your eyes rapidly, taken aback by Hyunjae’s question. You know Hyunjae did not take his alcohol well but never was he that blunt to ask such a question.

“No?” You replied in confusion. “He has a girlfriend Jae.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear. Good for him.” Hyunjae’s lips formed into a smile as you laughed to yourself.

“Why did you ask?”

“Maybe it’s cause I hate to see you with someone, that’s not me.”

Your breath hitched a little. Taken aback by Hyunjae’s words, you looked intently at him. You knew alcohol could be someone’s worst enemy and it seemed to be your own best friend’s right now- revealing something that you could have never imagined. “Can you, can you say that one more time?”

Hyunjae felt himself wake up little by little. He did not know if he was dreaming or not, but if he was, he decided it was now or never. Because frankly, when would he even admit to his own feelings?

“Y/N, I don’t want you to laugh with someone that’s not me. I don’t want you to see you smiling with someone that’s not me. I want it to be me.” Hyunjae said as he turned his head towards you. “All these years I wished it was me Y/N.”

“You’re my best friend,” You said under your breath. “I never thought you’d see me in that light.”

“Wasn’t I obvious Y/N?” Hyunjae asked. “I don’t know but ever since we graduated, I think I just fell more in love with you. Our lives now, it’s as if we’re together, don’t you think?”

You gulped a little. It felt like your little conversation with Younghoon was about to come to life in just a snap of a finger.

“So, are you and your best friend a thing yet?” Younghoon peered his eyes in Hyunjae’s direction. You glanced towards Hyunjae who was drinking with his best guy friends.

You looked back to Younghoon and shook your head. “Oh, Hyunjae and I? We are just best friends. Always have and always will be.”

“Are you sure about that?” Younghoon laughed. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. “I see your Instagram stories once in a while, you guys are always together.”

“Let’s just say we never really thought of each other in that sense- I mean I’ll admit there was this one point in college when I started to question my feelings for him but I just let it go.”

“And why did you?” Younghoon sighed. “I remember in the 8th grade this one time, you remember that field trip we went on right?”

“Oh yeah, that, what about it?”

“The way he looked at me from afar,” Younghoon said. “It looked like he was about to fight me or threaten me. I never seen him so mad in my life.”

“Huh?” You asked in confusion.

“Y/N, you’re a bit oblivious. I do think deep down you like him, you just don’t want to address that elephant in the room.”

You let out a laugh. “Younghoon-”

“Y/N. I’m serious. I know you liked me but don’t get me wrong, a few boys did like you too.” Younghoon sat up. “We knew we’d never stand a chance next to Hyunjae. That’s why I was surprised when I heard you had a boyfriend that wasn’t him in high school through a mutual friend.”

“Oh,” You replied.

“That’s beside the point though. Maybe it’s your guys' turn to admit to each other’s feelings.”

“This is funny hearing it from a guy I used to like.” You laughed awkwardly as Younghoon shook his head. “I am very flattered Y/N, but I really do wish you and him the best.”

You snapped out of your thoughts and back to Hyunjae who was staring right at you with his cheeks as red as a tomato. You blinked your eyes rapidly, feeling your heart race.

Were you too blinded by the fact he was your best friend? Or were you too scared to lose him?

“Jae, I think you just need some air-”

“Y/N please, please listen to me,” Hyunjae replied.

You start to think again about you and Hyunjae and these past few years and how,

you both never resorted to dating ever since the both of you dated your exes.

How you both were always at each other’s places no matter how hectic life got.

How you both were always reminded of each other wherever you went.

How you both always ditched the others at dinner to get ice cream at the nearest parlor near your apartment.

How you both had each other at your beck and call whenever you or he needed someone.

How you both fell asleep in each other’s arms during your late-night talks on his couch.

How you both never once left each other not even once since the day you both met.

You took in a deep breath, feeling tears form in your eyes. You felt overwhelmed, to say the least, that maybe after all this time, you did like Hyunjae. Maybe it was the fear of losing your best friend that made you never want to admit your feelings.

“I never realized it. I’m so sorry Jae, I really am.”

Hyunjae started to regain his composure little by little. Realizing what he just said, he gulped. This was no dream, it all was happening in real life. He felt his heart beat even faster, perplexed by how straightforward he was. He can’t believe what he just did- he never thought he had the courage to.

As soon as he started to see tears form in your eyes, he opened them wider, in panic. “Y/N, wait-”

“Why did you have to do this at the wedding?” You asked as he put his hand to your eyes, wiping the tears away. You pouted, “Ugh, Jae my makeup.”

The both of you then smiled as he shook his head. “You’re beautiful Y/N, have I told you that?” You let out a little laugh, never seeing your best friend this smitten over you. He then glanced towards the side doors, shaking his head. “I’m going to beat their asses later.”

Hyunjae sighed, as he referred to his guy best friends whose little plan seemed to be working in their favor. “Y/N-”

“Jae, did you like me all this time?” You asked softly.

Hyunjae took in a deep breath. There’s no going back now, he had to admit to it. “Yes. Yes, I held it in. I didn’t want to lose you. I was scared because we’ve been in each other’s lives for so long, I don’t know what I would do if I lost you.”

“Oh my Jae, I’m so sorry I never realized it. It’s my fault.” You choked a little as Hyunjae shook his head. “No, it’s both our faults for not owning up to anything.”

“What do we do now?” You asked, letting out a little sigh.

“Are you okay with me doing this?” Hyunjae asked.

You nodded your head as he put his lips on yours. He held your face softly as a tear then escaped your eye. As you pulled away, you bit your lip a little. “Jae...”

“Hmm?” Hyunjae hummed softly.

“Thank you for never giving up on me.”

“Anything for you my dear,” Hyunjae whispered. “Thank you for being my best friend and now someone I could love dearly with all my heart.”

You both smiled in silence, as he pulled you in again for another kiss.

Little did both 6-year-old You and Hyunjae know that their future was already written the moment you stepped into the classroom that one sunlit day.

© loveyhoons , 2024

landing page | masterlist

[tiredofthehumanlife]

Our children yearn for the waterpark

part one

barbie dolls: Jegulus x you

word:3.9k

summary:James takes you and regulus (along with your children) to a waterpark

warnings: your son is named Elliot, also you're referred to as Ren and Rena like the gn term for your parent so just yk it's not an oc i promise, pushing the trans James agenda, James is a baker and regulus is a stay at home dad/writer you’re a teacher just so you know, modern au I'm SORRY, James’ parents are alive, Regulus has freinds, Regulus hates the public water, Allusions to poc Luna harry and james, your race and elliots race is not menntioned everyone is welocome, you dont get in the water, Regulus is a sunscreen god he loves sunscreen so much, Harry is mentioned to have moms theyre giving divorce core mom and dad’s house, james drives a minivan, allusions to autistic reader and Elliot but its not specified, your swimsuit is not mwntioned or described so again everybody welcome, i hate typos oh my god

You liked dating James and Regulus. Your relationship was still very fresh, but their effect was hard to miss. They made you laugh all the time. James was very energetic, matching your kids well. Regulus was blunt and it relaxed your nerves of missing a hidden message in a conversation. And they were both great parents. Your kids already loved each other and they got along well.

School was out. Meaning both you and Elliot had loads of free time on your hands. With summer in full swing, you set up frequent playdates with Elliot’s two best friends. You wanted him to keep his strong bonds with them and it definitely wasn’t because you missed Regulus and James. Regulus was really self-employed. He stayed at home to raise Luna and to write his books. He could easily add a playdate to his schedule. James however was a baker with hours he had to meet. So he didn’t always have a clear schedule. Harry would stay with his grandparents, Euphemia and Fleamont, while James was at work. Harry also spent a lot of time at his Moms’ house. So making a playdate with all three children involved was harder than expected. Elliot still liked hanging out with Luna, and sometimes even Harry too on certain weekends.

Your phone rang as you were cutting up celery for Elliot. He was going through a peanut butter phase, eating it on everything. You picked up the call, holding the phone with your shoulder and the side of your face.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Pretty. It’s me.” You smiled at James’ voice. Just as you were about to tell him hi again, he started talking. “Lemme add Regulus.” You stayed silent as his side went quiet. You heard Elliot in the other room, clacking his toys together on the dining room table. You snagged a pretzel from the small pile on his plate. Soon enough James and Regulus both joined.

“Are you guys busy this weekend?” You scoffed at James. You heard Regulus sniffle a laugh on his line.

“James, baby, we’re always free. Do try to remember our professions.” You said as you smeared peanut butter onto Elliot’s celery.

“Right yeah, well I just accidently bought exactly six passes to this really cool waterpark,” James said, whispering the last word. You oooed while Regulus snorted.

“James, do share with us how you accidentally bought exactly enough passes for all of us and our children.” Regulus pressed. You heard Luna in the background let out a yell filled with laughter.

“Was that Luna?” You asked. Regulus explained that her uncles were over and attacking her with tickles. Regulus returned the conversation to the waterpark passes.

“alright fine, you caught me. I missed you guys. I’ve been so busy with work, I feel like I haven’t seen you all summer.” You cooed at James while Regulus let out a whine.

“He cares.” Regulus mocked.

“How adorable.” You joined in making James groan loudly. “What day were you planning on going to the p-a-r-k, James?” You spelled out where you were going so Elliot wouldn’t overhear and get excited. You turned around to the color-coordinated calendar on the fridge. It was mostly empty, you and Elliot preferred the company of each other than strangers. Though you had a really exciting playdate with Luna planned next Thursday. What a wild life you lived.

“This Saturday if that works for you two.” You glanced over at the empty box.

“Yeah, I could squeeze you in.” You muttered into the microphone as you turned back to Elliot’s plate.

“Lemme check my planner.” Regulus waited for a second. “Oh that’s right, I hate human beings. I'm completely free.” James let out a sigh of relief. You picked up Elliot’s plate, walking it to the dining room. Elliot was sitting in a chair, his little arms just barely reaching over the edge of the table, smacking two toy cars together. You set his plate in front of him. Elliot thanked you, shoving the peanut butter-covered celery into his mouth. You kissed his forehead, ruffling his hair before pulling back. You noticed his bare legs.

“Baby, where are your pants?” You tilted your head. Elliot pointed to the bathroom.

“Hamper,” Elliot answered.

“Well, good job putting them in the hamper but why aren’t they on your legs?” You asked.

“Didn’t wanna wear ‘em,” Elliot said, his mouth full of celery.

“Can’t argue with that, make sure you chew all the way okay.” Elliot nodded as you left to go clean the kitchen.

“One thing I will say though, I’m not getting that water. Do you realize how filthy those things are?” You tuned back into the conversation listening to Regulus list off statistics of how gross waterparks are.

“That’s okay, I’ll be in the water so I can make sure Luna doesn’t swim away or anything,” James said, clearing up the problem. You nodded.

“I’ll dry off Luna if you don’t want to touch the water on her, and we’ll lay a towel over one of those chairs that are shaded so we know it's clean. If you feel lonely, I'll sit with you and James if you feel tired we can swap places.” You offered, wanting to fill in any potholes in your plans.

“You are very kind, darling,” Regulus muttered. You cooed at him as you shoved the peanut butter back in the high cabinet so Elliot wouldn’t eat it all in one sitting and hurt his stomach.

“You guys are nasty. I was thinking maybe we carpool so nobody gets lost and it saves gas.” James said. You hummed while Regulus made a disapproving sound.

“James, there’s like twelve of us. Are you driving a bus?” Regulus said, poking holes into James’ ideas. If you were looking at James you assumed he’d be rolling his eyes.

“I have a big van. It has enough seating for us, I counted to make sure.” You hummed.

“Okay, baby, whatever you want.” You agreed, putting the celery into the refrigerator. Regulus sighed.

“I suppose that could work.” You snorted at Regulus’ faked disappointment. You heard Luna call for Regulus on his side.

“I’m being called for Yeti in my Spaghetti, I have to go.” You all said bye before hanging up.

Saturday came faster than you thought it would. You were packing a big bag of sunscreen and towels, in no time. You told Elliot he didn’t need to wear his goggles before you even got in the car but he was excited. You let it slide, you’re only seven once. You were a little anxious about the whole thing, you worried one of the kids would splash Regulus. You were worried they would slip on the wet concrete and crack their head. You worried Elliot’s goggles were too tight on his head. You heard an engine approaching. You looked out the window to verify it was James. Definitely his red minivan, bumper stickers littering the back. You turned around to Elliot.

“You know who’s in the driveway?” Elliot jumped up off the couch, bouncing on his feet.

“Harry and Luna?” You nodded. Elliot bolted towards the door. You were opening the minivan door in no time, a wave of hello’s meeting you and Elliot. Luna and Harry were next to each other in the back row.

“They wanted to sit in the back because they’re spies.” You hummed at Regulus’ explanation. You were able to fit Elliot’s booster seat in the back, next to Luna. You pushed the seat in front of them back, sitting in the row in front of theirs. Regulus was in the passenger seat, tilting his head back to see you. You smiled at him warmly as you buckled your seatbelt. James’ face appeared next to his, looking at you.

“Hi,” James said, a light air to his greeting.

“Hi.”

“Okay, waterpark here we come!” James said, loud enough for the back row to hear. The kids all squealed, thrashing their legs and arms around. Your trip to the waterpark calmed your worries. James and Regulus’ presence already working numbers. James apparently made a summertime fun playlist specifically for this. The kids seemed to enjoy it. Luna made her doll dance and Elliot made his car dance. Harry just made himself dance.

You six easily made it through the gates. You were holding hands with Regulus on one side and Elliot on the other. When you look back to see Elliot holding onto Luna’s hand and Luna holding onto Harry’s hand, you had flashbacks to watching ducks cross the road. James was in the front leading you all to his Harry’s favorite part of the waterpark. Regulus narrowly avoided a small kid with Nemo arm floaties splashing. You rubbed his arm in sympathy.

“I'll dry you off if you get any water on you, and I have hand sanitizer and butt wipes in my bag. Regulus knocked your cheek with his head in a thank you. James ran ahead, snagging a sunlounger for Regulus. You pulled a towel out of your bag, handing it to James. Regulus settled onto the chair, digging into his own bag. He motioned for Luna to come over, squirting a mountain of tinted sunscreen into his hands. Regulus smothered Luna in sunscreen, making sure she was covered entirely.

Luna had on an adorable bright orange swimsuit with ruffles around the edges. She had matching arm floaties that she talked Regulus out of, pinkie promising to stay in the shallow end. You knew that within an hour she’d want to go into the deep end and Regulus would have to talk her into a life vest and arm floaties. Luna was free though, slipping her Tinkerbell flip-flops off and splashing into the shallow end. You were in the kid's area so there wasn’t even really a deep end but you could easily imagine Luna tricking someone into taking her to the lazy river.

Harry was next in the sunscreen line. Harry had on a long-sleeved swim shirt and Lighting McQueen shorts. James had on just red shorts. He had already tossed his coverup tee off. You didn’t want to oggle him. James had antler tattoos following the path of the scars on his chest. Regulus’ shorts were blue, you expected him to stay under the shade the whole time.

James pulled his spray can of suscreen out of his bag. Regulus looked aghast at James even thinking of covering a human in that. Regulus slapped it out of James’ hands, using Luna’s sunscreen on Harry instead. Regulus forced James into using Luna’s sunscreen as well. Regulus smothered some over James’ cheeks. It made James fluster, giggling and needing to turn around to take a moment to himself. After Regulus smothered James and Harry in sunscreen, he pulled Elliot over.

You sat next to Regulus as he rubbed sunscreen into Elliot’s skin. You held onto Elliot’s hand, he was squeezing the life out of it. Elliot hated the texture of sunscreen but he liked playing in the water more than sitting in the shade. He just needed a little bit of comfort through it and he was okay. After Regulus was done Elliot moved into your arms for more comfort. You hummed, squeezing him tight. You rocked him gently, giving him all the praises he needed. Elliot eventually pulled back, leaving his shoes next to his friends’ and joining them in the water. You smiled at him splashing with his friends, the three of them flinging water at James, who pretended to die and crash into the water.

You turned back to Regulus, happy you were all together. Regulus was staring at you with a deadly serious look in his eyes. His palms were pointed towards you, you glanced down at them. Your smile slightly fell when you realized they were coated in sunscreen.

“Oh Regulus, I actually put some on at ho-“ Regulus shut you up by smothering your face with his hands. He removed them, smearing his hands down your arms. You sputtered, he avoided your eyes and mouth shockingly. Regulus returned his hands to your face, now gently rubbing it into your face. You understood now why this flustered James. Regulus had both hands on your face treating your skin with such love, making sure you were fully protected. He eventually sat back, adding more to his hands before looking up at you.

“Can I do the rest or do you want to?” You shrugged.

“I’m cool with whatever you want, babe.” Regulus sighed. He hated when people made him make decisions.

“I'll do most.” You hummed in approval. He rubbed sunscreen into most of your skin, handing you the bottle to finish. When you were done you squeezed some of Regulus’ sunscreen into your hands, facing him with the same severity. He looked up from rubbing some into his arms. He raised an eyebrow at you.

“I'll get your back, baby.” Regulus squinted his eyes at you. You grinned.

“Are you trying to steal my job?” You shook your head moving to sit behind him. You applying sunscreen devolved into you just rubbing the tension out of his shoulders. Regulus dropped his head back against you. You wrapped your arms around his shoulders, lightly pecking his cheek on the way. You both watched as James picked Harry up by his ankles, wrapping his arms around Harry’s legs, and swinging him around. It made Harry giggle loudly, squealing and swinging his arms around. James gently set Harry back on his feet, splashing all three of your kids with a large swing of his arms. James left the water, squeezing his shorts out. He slumped down into the sun lounge chair next to you that you claimed with your bag.

He pulled his arms under his head, sighing. You admired the way the sun warmed his skin. You were not checking him out you were just checking for sunburns. Regulus pressed a kiss to your arm, leaning out of your hold. James opened his eyes, looking over at you both.

“So I was thinking, maybe we go out to eat after this.” You hummed nodding your head.

“You pick, I hate making decisions,” Regulus muttered. You patted his shoulder.

“Parenting must be hard for you.” Regulus nodded at you. He looked up when he heard Luna scream. Harry was splashing her. Elliot was near them staring at the lost water shoe sitting at the edge of the shallow water.

“Elliot, leave the shoe alone.” You yelled over at him. His head shot up, caught. He stood up and pointed down at it.

“Rena, it has no brother. Where’s the owner?” You shrugged at him.

“I don’t know, baby. Leave it alone, you don’t know what somebody could’ve stepped in.” Elliot pouted at you. Your yelling caught the attention of the other two. They stood around the lost shoe staring down at it. You stood up, joining them so now all four of you were standing around this lost shoe and inspecting it. You told them not to touch it running over to the nearby snowcone stand asking for napkins. You picked the shoe up with a napkin. The three children follow you to the trashcan. You set it on top in case the owner came back, and looked for it. You tossed the napkins into the trashcan, turning around to your little huddle of kids.

“Why can you touch it but we can’t?” Luna asked, staring up at you.

“I had napkins, and I’m an adult so I can make my own decisions about my health.” Luna pouted at your answer.

“That’s unjust,” Luna muttered under her breath.

“Can we have napkins?” Harry asked. You shook your head. Elliot scoffed.

“This sucks, you took away my shoe.” You dropped your shoulders.

“I’m sorry hun but you can’t have that shoe. it’s not for you.” You looked around the huddle to make sure they all understood. Luna pushed her wet hair away from her face. Elliot turned around and left, the other two following after him. When you returned to James and Regulus, you noticed how much Luna was fighting with her hair. It kept sticking to her face and annoying her. Her eyebrows were pushed together and she looked close to drowning her mermaid doll.

“Regulus, could I put Luna’s hair up? It keeps getting in her face.” Regulus shrugged. He reached over to his bag, pulling two hairbands off a key chain and handing them to you. You asked Luna if she wanted her hair up. She said yes and settled in front of you on the chair. You had James run to the snowcone stand and ask for a cup of water. You made sure her hair was damp, so you wouldn’t hurt it. You gently pulled her hair up into a ponytail, using the hair ties Regulus gave you to hold it. You patted her arms when you were done. Luna turned around and gave you a tight hug.

After another hour of the kids and James being rowdy, you were all tired. You stayed true to your word, drying Luna off with her towel while Regulus packed up his bag. With everyone buckled in the car, James started towards whatever food place he picked. The ride back from the waterpark was much calmer and quieter than the ride to. The kids were tired, you were tired, the car was tired. You glanced over at Regulus when you heard him mutter something. You noticed James’ hand resting on Regulus’ thigh. You smiled at that, glad you were all close. James smiled brightly at Regulus, making the car heat up with his joy.

“Well thank you, I like your swimsuit too.” You glanced at the backseat making sure all three kids were asleep.

“Oh, that’s why you invited us to the waterpark. To see me and Regulus half naked. I get it now.” James looked at you through the rearview mirror.

“No, I wanted you guys to have fun, don't soil my good name like that,” James said, giving you a playful glare. Regulus ignored you both, resting his head against his arm on the door. You noticed James’ thumb swiping back and forth in a soothing manner. You smiled at him before returning your attention out the window.

Eventually, you were gently rocking the kids’ knees so they would wake up. When they realized they had the prospect of chicken strips and french fries, they were scrambling out of their seats. You were sat at a round booth. It was more of a fast food than a restaurant place so your wet swimsuit coverups weren’t really a problem. You helped Elliot pick out his meal as James helped Harry. Luna apparently already knew what she wanted, busying herself with the sugar packets.

Your food arrived and you cut up Harry’s chicken strips while James caught you and Regulus up with what was going on with him. You slid Harry’s plate back to him. Elliot handed you the small bowl of ketchup like it was going to bite him.

“Nasty, Rena. I don't want it.” You nodded, taking it away. You set it between you and James so Elliot wouldn’t have to look at it.

“Oh thank you.” James dunked one of his fries into the bowl. You weren’t going to correct him and tell him you didn’t do that on purpose so you just smiled. You checked on Elliot, seeing him chomp into his chicken strips, tearing it away. He rawred before chewing properly. You put together that he was probably pretending to be a dinosaur. His favorite was a velociraptor. He liked that they looked like ‘stupid chickens’. You glanced over at Luna. She was chowing down on her burger. She ordered for herself. She did a great job too. Luna was very well-spoken, she seemed to have a big vocabulary. It probably had something to do with living with a writer. Especially a writer like Regulus.

You tore off a corner from your paper napkin. You rolled it into a ball before chucking it at Regulus. It hit him square in the forehead. Regulus set his fork down, looking down at the paper ball in his lap. He looked up at you and James both smothering your laughter. He reached over and covered Harry’s eyes before flipping you off. Elliot was luckily under the table getting his crayon off the floor. James dropped his fry. Regulus picked up his fork taking a proud bite out of his own fry. You ignored the fact he was eating fries with his fork and that he passed it to Luna.

“What about Luna?” James asked. Regulus removed his hand from Harry. Harry glared at Regulus before picking up another chicken strip.

“Oh, I already sawed that. Uncle B said it means I love you but Uncle Rosie told me the truth. Uncle B likes partial jokes.” Luna said, matter of factly. She kept her eyes on her burger before taking a bite. Regulus nodded at her.

“Practical, not partial. You used the phrase practical jokes correctly though. Good job, Lue.” Luna smiled with her cheeks full at Regulus. You understood why her vocab was so big now, it was Regulus. Elliot rawred again, making three claws with his fingers to pick up his chicken strips.

You were all strapped into James’ minivan and on the way back home, in no time. The kids were entertaining each other in the backseat. James had his playlist softly playing in the background.

“We should get together just us,” James said. Regulus looked away from his window raising an eyebrow at him.

”Is that not what we just did?” Regulus asked. James shook his head.

“No I mean like we should go on a for real date, not a playdate that we happen to flirt in the background. We go out just the three of us. Maybe not the waterpark though.” James explained, keeping his eyes on the road.

“I want to but it’s kinda hard getting a babysitter.” You said, looking between them. Regulus turned around to make eye contact with you.

“Elliot could spend the night at my house, I have like a thousand free babysitters,” Regulus said, waving his hand through the air.

“What will Uncle B teach my kind how to say fuck in every language?” You teased. Regulus pressed his lips togehter.

”He’s actually not that bad, he’s really good with kids. He just also has an odd sense of humor.” you squinted at Regulus. ” It's alright if you don't want him to babysit I can have Evan and Dorcas babysit. Evan is just as insane as Barty but he lowers it while around children. Barty doesn’t. Docas is super cool, she’ll probably teach Elliot how to sword fight with wrapping paper tubes.”

“Docas does sound sick.” You muttered. James cheered.

“See we can go out for real, Regulus you do the planning this time.” Regulus nodded at James.

“I actually really like planning, I wish I had my joural. I would’ve taken notes.” Regulus sadly muttered. Once you were back home, Elliot passed out on the couch. You smiled at him clutching his car to his chest. You were excited for Regulus to call you and start his planning process.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

would I be an asshole if I stopped hiding my tattoos from my grandma?

I (19X) have two, in my opinion, tasteful tattoos and am planning on getting more. I have a shark above my knee and a whale and squid on my bicep I can hide both of them with ease and often do. (ignore the crocs please it was a long car ride)

I, personally, don't care if my grandma knows if I have tattoos. my other grandmother (dad's mom) knows and sees them often. she isn't over the moon about them but she doesn't really care enough to say anything about them unprompted.

when I got the shark in spring, my mom told me not to tell her mother, which I had no issue with as I live over 250 miles (~400 km) away and only really see her over facetime.

but my mother accidentally showed her a photo of me where the shark is very visible and told her it was a stick on from the aquarium we were out and has even asked me to edit them out of certain photos, which I have. a lot of lies.

the reason she doesn't want her to know isn't necessarily because it would upset her, but because she would "complain about it for two years again"

my older sister got her septum peirced a few years ago and my grandmother did complain to my mom about it, mostly about how she could let her do that, even though she was an adult who paid for it with her own money and didn't even tell my mom she was getting it.

my mom is mostly in charge of caring for and supporting my grandparents so she would not be able to just avoid my grandma.

not to sound grim, but my grandma is in her mid-late 70s, and isn't the healthiest woman and isnt doing well right now, so I don't know how long she'd have to hear about it or if my grandmother would even remember for long. (I also don't have the best relationship lol)

on one hand, I don't really give a shit if I upset my grandma or annoy my mom for a few hours maybe twice a week because its annoying to need to go find a sweatshirt or long pants evrytime i get a FT request. on the other hand, I don't want to add on more to my mom's plate and put more strain on her and her mom's relationship

What are these acronyms?

[swaps55]

Sparrow

For @dinchenrockt, who imagined Sam and Kaidan having pancakes on a nice day. I just added a little drama, because this is Sam we're talking about. Read on Ao3

The second batch of pancakes is starting to bubble when Kaidan’s skin tingles in the presence of Shepard’s biotic field. Shepard himself peers at Kaidan suspiciously from behind the archway into the kitchen, like he’s doing recon and Kaidan is an unknown element.

 “Hey, you,” Kaidan says with an amused smile. “Good morning.”

“It is morning by my standards. It is ass o’clock by your standards. Why are you awake?”

Kaidan gestures towards the open window, where sunrise hasn’t quite surrendered to daytime and some enterprising birds are getting a jump on things. “It’s a beautiful morning. Thought I’d spoil you with a nice breakfast.” 

Technically true, on both counts, even if it doesn’t really answer the question. Shepard narrows his eyes, perhaps suspecting there’s more to it, but Kaidan heads off further questions by plucking a piece of bacon off a plate and holding it up.

“Burnt it just for you.”

Shepard makes an interested sound and fully enters the kitchen, snatching the Distraction Bacon and popping it in his mouth. Bacon shouldn’t crunch like that unless it’s in a salad, but relationships require compromise.

“So, bacon. Pancakes.”

“Bacon in the pancakes. With bacon garnish.”

“Fancy.”

“Also blueberries,” Kaidan says, gesturing to a bowl. “And, uh, I was going to make some eggs but I accidentally just made more pancakes.”

“True to your nature.” He kisses Kaidan on the temple. “I’ll get plates.”

“One step ahead of you. We’re eating outside.”

Another suspicious look.

“It’s nice outside, remember?”

“I will concede it is tolerable outside, because I love you. But breakfast made, table set, and it’s what time? How long have you been up?”

Kaidan shrugs a nonchalant shoulder. “I said I wanted to spoil you.”

Still not an answer, but he hands Shepard the blueberries to give him something else to focus on and flips the remaining pancakes onto a platter, next to the pile of bacon, all nestled onto a blue and yellow tray that had been gathering dust in the back of a curio until Kaidan stumbled upon it last week looking for decorative pitcher his mother had asked about. After flipping the griddle off, he leads them to the front porch and sets the trays down on the small table next to the porch swing.

Shepard observes the spread. “Orange juice. Cloth napkins. The ‘good’ silverware. By the way, I still do not understand the silverware hierarchy.”

“My mother will happily show you next time she visits.”

Shepard snickers as he takes a seat. “Well, whatever. You pulled out all the stops. You are spoiling me.”

Kaidan makes a pleased sound as they fill their plates. They’re the same blue and yellow as the platter, with a sunflower in the center and a painted band around the edges. He’d forgotten about them completely until finding the platter. His father used to break them out when they had big breakfasts in the summer. He traces a chip in the paint. Where had they even come from in the first place? His mother? Were they just inherited with the house when his mother took it over from Kaidan’s grandparents? He’d never asked. Maybe she knows.

“Look at all this burnt bacon, just for me,” Shepard says, with a soft smile.

“Just for you.”

No reason to mention that it got burned because Kaidan was too locked in his own head to notice until he damn near set off the smoke detector.

But the pancakes are good, quite frankly. The blueberries are ripe, picked from the bushes out behind the barn just yesterday. The breeze is cool but not cold, the sun pooling at the edge of the porch steps, warm and waiting.

A far cry from the days that weren’t beautiful.

He releases a long breath and forces his mind back to the present, where Shepard is drowning his pancakes in maple syrup because moderation is not a concept he has ever developed a relationship with.

Echo whinnies from the field down the hill, head raised, ears pricked, looking right at them, as though now that she’s noticed their presence she’s offended she wasn’t invited to breakfast.

“Later,” Shepard hollers back at her. “I’m getting spoiled.”

Kaidan rests an elbow on the table – his mother would be so aghast – and chuckles into his hand.

When had he stopped getting up in the mornings for those breakfasts his father cooked? Breakfast had been his forte. The only way he outshined Kaidan’s mother in the kitchen. But that last summer before BAaT he’d stopped getting out of bed for them.

Should have gotten out of bed.

Shepard’s eye is on him again, as he saws into his pancakes and fails to spear a piece of bacon along with his next bite because it’s so brittle it just breaks under the tines of his fork. Once he’s subdued the bacon he nudges Kaidan’s knee.

“You’re awfully quiet for someone who just put out such a magnificent spread.”

Kaidan waggles an eyebrow. “Resting on my laurels.”

Shepard knee stays at rest against his, and Kaidan leans a little more into it. The weight of it, the presence is…reassuring.

The sparrow that wings in from the roof and alights on Shepard’s stack of pancakes is less reassuring.

Read the rest on Ao3

[heavyhitterheaux]

Favorite Son-in-Law

First Lady of Private Garden Fic

Gif by @jackharlowgifs 💕

AN: First Lady's family absolutely adores her husband

Synopsis: First Lady's parents explain why Jack is their favorite son-in-law 🤭

Pairing: Husband!Jack Harlow x Wife!Reader

Requested by: a beautiful anon 💕

First Lady of Private Garden Masterlist Part 1

First Lady of Private Garden Masterlist Part 2

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

“Baby! You almost ready?” You heard Jack ask you from the bedroom as you were in the bathroom trying to finish curling your hair.

“Give me five more minutes!” 

Just then Jack came into the bathroom behind you and wrapped his arms around you and then leaned down to kiss you cheek which you gladly accepted.

“I’m not rushing you mamas, but you told me to give you five minutes twenty minutes ago. I could have been eating you out for all that.”

“Jackman! Behave!”

“I am behaving! We were supposed to meet up with everyone at 2 and it is now 3:15.”

“Pookie.” You said as you turned around to look at him since you had finally finished putting the last curl in your hair.

“Yes, princess?”

“How long have we been together?” You asked while placing your arms around his neck.

“Umm ten years.”

“And you know your wife is black, correct?”

“What? Where are you going with this?”

“Since when has my family EVER started anything on time? Trust and believe that my parents will be pulling up at the same time we do.”

“I-.....”

All you did was look at him and smirk as he was trying to come up with an answer for when your family had been on time for a function.

“Exactly. Now give me kisses so we can go.”

“Now, don’t start anything you can’t finish.”

“We’ll finish when we come back! Kisses please!”

Jack leaned down to place several kisses all over your face and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Now it’s time to go see my favorite in-laws.”

“Jack, baby, they’re your only in-laws.”

“They’re still my favorite.” Jack answered you while shrugging before leading you both out of the bathroom.

The two of you were now walking hand-in-hand in Cherokee Park to the spot where your parents told you everyone would be. You quickly spotted them along with your grandparents, Dani, Drama, all of Private Garden since your parents considered them their sons, and a lot of your aunts, uncles, and cousins.

“It’s about time you two got here!” 2fo said while walking up to the two of you while eating with his plate in his hand.

“You know what they were probably doing! We actually started at 2:45 this time!”

“Shut up Urban! Or should I say Big Whore!” You exclaimed and he made a face at you.

“Hey! Don’t act up in front of company!” He responded and all you and Jack did was shake your heads.

“The princess took an hour curling her hair.” Jack muttered and you pinched his side. 

“Jackman, don’t start.”

“It looks pretty on you though.” 

“Aww, why thank you, baby.” You said while reaching up to kiss him. 

“See? That’s the type of shit that made yall late in the first place.”

“AHHH! Is that my baby and my favorite son-in-law?” Your dad exclaimed while making his way over to the both of you. He quickly embraced you and then hugged Jack.

“HE’S YOUR ONLY SON-IN-LAW DAVID!” Your mother Ivy said and you couldn’t help but to laugh.

“Is that? Is that what I think it is?” He asked and motioned to the bottle of Hennessey in Jack’s hand.

“Of course, I know it’s your favorite.” He said while handing it over to him.

“Baby girl, keep him around FOREVER. Now I have to make sure your Aunt Cassie don’t see this. I know you two remember what happened last time.” He responded while eyeing the two of you. 

“Daddy, I am so done with you.” You said as you simply shook your head and all Jack was doing was laughing next to you.

“Y/N! Why you always keeping Jack from us?!” Your Aunt Keisha asked as she quickly walked up to hug you both.

“Because yall are embarrassing and I can only take yall in doses. 2FO! THAT BETTER NOT BE THE CHEESECAKE MY MOM MADE FOR ME!” 

“I SAW IT FIRST!”

“Not the white boy bringing the Hennessey to the black function.” Shloob said and immediately busted out laughing.

“I thought it was understood that he was just light skinned! He’s been around us since he was fourteen!”

“Wait, Jack’s white?” You heard your grandmother ask and you looked at her in disbelief.

“What the? Yes nana! My husband is white!” You said while laughing and shaking your head.

“Oh, I thought he was a rapper?”

“Jesus, have mercy. He is nana!”

“You know I heard that First Class song on the radio the other day. Maybe Jack can do a collaboration with him one day.”

“NANA, THAT IS JACK! THAT’S HIS SONG!”

“SINCE WHEN?!”

“I-... baby come on so we can get food because I CANNOT with them.” You said while grabbing his hand again and leading him towards the food.

The both of you made your way over to where your Uncle Julius was on the grill while you saw your Uncle Jason, the youngest of the triplets that your grandmother had making his way towards you.

“Oh shit.” Jack muttered because he immediately knew what was about to happen.

“Ignore him and maybe he’ll go away.”

“JACK! BABY GIRL! LONG TIME NO SEE.”

“Mm hmm.” Both of you said as your Uncle Julius simply handed the both of you plates and went back to flipping burgers.

“Aye! Let me hold something! I got yall the next time I see you! Oh wait, actually Jack lemme get them New Balances off your feet. Those the new 550’s ain’t they?”

“JASON! Get away from my babies and leave them alone! You always acting like a damn fool!” Your mom exclaimed while reprimanding her younger brother while you and Jack stifled a laugh.

“I just need twenty dollars! Oh better yet, Jack can I give you my mixtape? Been working on a few things.”

“Then get a job! And no he doesn’t want to hear your dried up crusty ass bars! You’re over 60! It’s time for jazz music now. The rap career as a goal ship has SAILED!”

“IVY, you always been a damn hater!”

The two of you piled your plates high before making your way over to your best friends and sitting down with them while your parents, sister, and Dani were at the opposite end. 

Urban was currently talking to your younger cousin Demi while 2fo had gotten his fourth plate, Quiiso was talking to your cousin Cierra and you’ve been trying to hook them up for the longest, and Shloob and Ace went to go play basketball with your old ass uncles and put money up to see who would win.

“Now, Demi, go to your grandma Kat and ask her for an eight and give her this entire thing. Don’t short change her now. I’ll give you ten dollars when you come back.”

“Okay, be right back.”

“URBAN!” You exclaimed while shaking your head in disbelief.

“What?!?! Your grandma got some of the best weed I ever smoked in Kentucky! I’m not messing up this business deal.”

“I… I gotta agree baby.” Jack said as he took your soda can from you and opened it and slid it back since he knew you would have trouble doing it with your long nails.

“Yall are a hot ass mess and fit right in with my family.”

“OH LOOK! IT’S MY FAVORITE WHITE BOYS, JACK AND URBAN!” Your Aunt Marisa said while coming over to the table and all you could do was laugh. 

At the other end of the table, your mom was watching the two of you with nothing but admiration in her eyes as the two of you were feeding each other and Urban was making gagging gestures before you threw a spare fork at him which hit him on the forehead. 

“At least one of our kids had a successful marriage.” Your mother said as she eyed Dani and Drama.

“Mom, seriously?” Dani asked as she took another bite of her food.

“Yeah seriously and look how well she turned out. All thanks to me and your dad. Because if it was left up to you, she’d probably be doped up somewhere.”

“Now Ivy…” Your dad David started to say but all she did was shrug.

“Don’t Ivy me. She’s successful because of what we instilled in her and I damn sure will never let you two take credit for it. We raised her, not you.”

“I-...” Drama started to say but was immediately cut off by Ivy.

“Now don’t either of you start with me. I said what I said and you two need to come clean to her because I can already sense that this is about to turn into a shit show. Been telling you two that for years and now the girl is 24.”

“We will when the time is right.” Drama said while looking at them.

“There isn’t ever a right time but she needs to hear the truth and hear it from the two of you. And you know what this means right?”

“What? What does it mean?” Dani curiously asked while glancing at you and seeing you laughing at something Jack whispered in your ear.

“I highly doubt that she’ll ever forgive you two for this.”

Marisa was telling you her latest products that she was selling and Jack was listening to her intently while you were intrigued.

She’s been selling sex toys and anything that has to do with sex for as long as you could remember. 

“So, it’s like the rose toy? Jack bought me that already.” You asked her and she shook her head no.

“No, it’s even better. Rose toy takes about what? Three to five minutes for you to hit your peak? I give this one two minutes and don’t let Jack be in you too, bitch you will see HEAVEN, okay?!”

“Now Aunt Marisa…” You said while trying not to laugh but Jack was all for it.

“How much?!” He eagerly asked and you looked at him like he was crazy.

“You’re my favorite nephew and niece so it’s on the house, just leave a good review for me. You two won’t be leaving the bed the entire night.”

“They don’t do that anyway.” Urban added as Demi came back up to him with his weed in her hand.

“Demi! My girl! Okay, here you go.” He said while handing her a ten dollar bill.

“Grandma Kat said the price went up but since you’re one of her favorite customers, she’ll keep the price the same.”

“Damn bestie, I love your family.”

“I do too even if they are a bit crazy.” You confessed. 

The day was winding down and the sun was starting to set since it was now around eight and your father had gathered everyone around as he was sipping from his Hennesy bottle.

“Now Jack is my favorite son-in-law ever and baby girl, you aren’t allowed to marry anyone else, okay? We just had to make sure that was clear.” Your dad said while throwing his arm around Jack and you knew he was tipsy.

“I just wanted you two to know how proud I am of the both of you and that I admire the way he takes care of you and you do the same exact thing for him. I never worried about you growing up, but that Danielle? Whew, story for another day. Anyway, Jack you better not hurt my youngest and baby girl you better not hurt Jack, understood? Because you damn sure not moving back in with me. Whatever goes down between the two of you, you better fix it! No take backs Jack! You snuck and married her so now you’re stuck with her!”

“What the? DADDY!”

“And since you two finally got caught! Been married since you were nineteen!” Your mom exclaimed while eyeing the two of you.

“But that was URBAN! His fault!”

“I didn’t say I do like the two of you!” Urban said while sipping on his beer. 

“Might as well had, since you are definitely a part of that relationship!”

“But on a serious note, we love the both of you so much and can’t wait to see the success that will come. The way you two love each other is evident in everything that you do and I know this marriage is meant to be.” Your mom said and the both of you went over to hug her.

“Appreciate you saying that, mom.” Jack said and all she did was nod and you knew for a fact that she was about to cry.

“Now… I want my grandbabies so get a move on!”

“I’m trying, but I swear your daughter is dodging me!”

“I am NOT!”

“Then let me get you pregnant!”

“Give me another year!”

“See what I mean?!” Jack said as he threw his hands up in disbelief and all you did was laugh.

Your Grandma Kat then came next to Urban and motioned for him to open his hand.

“Got another eight for you and don’t you go telling all my grandkids. I don’t like them the way I like you, Jack and baby girl. Tell them I’m out if they ask you.”

“If I was older we would have definitely been married. You stay looking out” Urban said while quickly slipping it in his pocket.

“If I was thirty years younger, I might just take you up on that. Just don’t let my husband hear you say that.”

“GRANDMA KAT! STOP TRYING TO SHOOT YOUR SHOT AT URBAN!” You yelled while looking over at them in disbelief.

“HE DID IT FIRST!” 

“I do like cougars though. No shame in it.” Urban said while shrugging.

“Like I said before, all of you fit right in with my crazy ass family.”

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[its-in-the-woods]

Coyote Head - Part 4 - Dinner with Family

master list

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Pairing: Cooper Howard x Lucy Maclean 

Alternative Universe where I make things up cause I can

Synopsis: Sit down at a family dinner, and sleeping in are good for Lucy for now

MINOR GET OUT. Rating/Warning:  Animal/people death, blOod/G0re, nightmares, Alternative Universe, Slow Burn, Death, Aging, Family Feuding, Eventually: Older Man/Younger Woman, Horror themes, long form fic,

Note: that I will not be spoiling any of the reading. So you have been warned. I will keep my tags relevant without spoiling what is happening in the story.

The gravel crunches under the tires as they all pull in, kids in the back jumping over seats as Lucy and Cooper open the doors. Old trucks parked in the drive, besides Margie’s new SUV. One thing about Harris: he always made sure Margie had exactly what she wanted.

The sprawling log home stands proudly among a mix of pine, poplar, and spruce trees. The home had been built from the trees on the property, a red tin roof on top. Big wrap-around porch that had equally as large windows on each side. The place was a carefully crafted piece of art that the Maclean’s had built many years ago. Long before the land was farmed, logged, and changed to what it currently was. The Maclean was an old family, and many of the log homes in the area were built by the family. It made Lucy miss the log home she had grown up in. 

Inside the home, a smell of fresh bread, and chatter of laughter echoed in the living room. Margie standing in the kitchen popping bread onto metal racks. Two large dishes of lasagna sat out, a big caesar salad in the middle. Lucy’s second cousins Tracy and Bert were over with their spouses Reg and Stephanie respectively. Their six kids hang out in the big living room with Cooper’s two. Some elaborate game of cards was going on, what the rules were was anyone’s guess. Seeing the kids laugh and giggle at their made-up game made Lucy’s heart swell. She had never thought of herself as a Mom, life and whatnot;  but something about being around the littles always made her wonder about the ‘what if’s’. 

“How can I help, Aunty,” Lucy asked as Cooper went and started putting plates out on the dining table. She watched the man move, he was both graceful and room-filling. 

“Well don’t touch any of the cooking, 'cause we want it to be edible,” Margie jokes, Lucy smiles. She’d never been much of a cook. Lucy, Norm, and their Grandparents had lived off many frozen meals during planting and harvesting. Shirley could cook fine, but her cooking took time and a whole lot of cutting. In the winter it was stew, roast squash, baked potatoes, and local corn. Lucy had never had much time to learn to cook. 

“Well now that I am round more, maybe you can teach me a few things,” Lucy smiles at her Aunt helping her to place each dish on the big dining table. 

“Better make sure I got the ‘tinguisher on hand, maybe a few extra blankets,” Margie jokes some more, winking at Lucy. She meant no harm, Lucy had burnt just as much food as she had undercooked it in her time.  

Lucy chuckled, grabbing glasses and a few pitchers of juice. The place was set up, some budded willows graced the center of the table. Getting the kids to sit was another matter, but the promise of haskap pie and ice cream had them in their places. Harris said grace as was a custom, Lucy noticed that Cooper, who had sat beside her, didn’t repeat the words. She didn’t have much thoughts on religion, Grandpa Tim had always read the bible before bed, usually sitting at his dining table flipping through the rice paper thin pages, while he jotted down notes in a big notebook. You’d never see him at church. Nor would you see him preaching to anyone. He never even really talked about it with her either. She couldn’t remember Grandma Shirley mentioning it either. On bad days she would sit with a rosary, light a candle or two. Lucy had never really thought it odd till now. Their whole family had always gone to church, but not them. 

The wooden house was full of loud voices, laughter, and the click of knives and forks. It was the most lively Lucy had felt in a long time. Even despite the little to no sleep she had gotten.  Cooper was telling stories of wrangling cattle and bison in the south. Harris was talking about fighting fires in the north, running machinery right into blazes to save houses. The large meal of lasagne and fresh bread was mostly picked over. Some vanilla ice cream and fresh pie are being served now. Tracy was bugging Margie about getting the recipe from her. Her Mom teased about how it was nothing but store-bought. Everyone at the table knew that was a whole load of scabbie potatoes.

“So what did you all see along the forest line,” Harris asked, wringing his hand, as coffee and tea were placed on the table. 

Cooper and Lucy had scooted down the table to sit closer to Harris. Lucy’s cousin doing the same so that all the adults were more huddled for any story. 

“Ahh well we saw a few things out there,” Cooper says, voice strained, looking back at Lucy for input. 

Lucy put her spoon down a little louder than she intended, the adults turning to look at her. She felt like a bird caught in a cage, trying to find its way out. 

“Sorry,” Lucy said, “We only got about half of the place looked at before we came.” Lucy wondered how she could explain what they had seen. “There was a stump stripped of all its barks and -” She looked to make sure the kids couldn’t hear,” There was a fresh coyote head sitting on top of it.”

Silence fell at the last words, the others exchanging looks. Lucy’s stomach-turning, the image of the poor critter’s head on a slab was not a favorite. Her mind wandering back to the shadows she had seen less than twenty-four hours ago. Was it all connected somehow? 

“We didn’t get close to it. So we kept walking to where the ATV trails are and, umm, we saw some tracks or maybe an animal digging” Lucy looks over at Cooper, hoping he could maybe explain what they had seen a bit better than she did. 

Cooper digs his phone out, “Yeah these,” He flips open his camera and pulls up the photos. The phone is passed around to each person. Uncle Harris pulls out his reading glasses zooming in on the picture. 

“How big are these tracks?” Harris asks, looking up over his glasses. Concern filling everyone in the room as they looked back at the two. 

Cooper looks at the man, furrowing his brow as he thinks, “Maybe a foot and a bit? Maybe less”

Lucy nods, “Center is probably twice the size of my fist, and at least as long as my forearm and hand. Maybe a little wider where the three points are.”

Stephanie looks it over, her eyebrows raised. “Can you send me this Cooper? I know a few folks in fish and wildlife that can take a look. Maybe come out and look at the head?”

“Yeah, I can send the photos,” Cooper replies, turning his phone off and putting it in front of him. 

“If y’all want to come over that’s fine, the place is a little bit of a mess.” Lucy sighed, fiddling with her fingers, “But, if you think you might have an idea what it is, I am all ears.”

Stephanie looked over at Bert, who had gone to pick up a very sleepy-looking toddler, “What do you think honey?”

Bert smiles, clearly not having heard much of what has been said, “I am sure we can figure something out, maybe we should talk to–” He ponders for a moment, looking for the name, “ Betty, right?”

“Yes, Betty would know. She’s been around her longer than the dirt,” Stephanie grins back at Bert grabbing the little one out of his arms. “Unfortunately I think we got to get our kiddlets back home. Lisa here is exhausted, and Thomas has school in the morning.” 

Margie is up out of her chair, “Let me grab a pie for tomorrow,”

Tracy has come back from putting on some cartoons for the kids, some ridiculous jingle now covering up their conversation. Reg rubs her back as she sits down, 

Bert comes out of the living room with another sleeping child, an older boy who has drool and snot running down his face. “Lucy, make sure to get our numbers from Harris. So we can keep in touch.” 

Lucy nods, “Yeah that’s a great idea, I will keep you updated if anything pops up.” 

Bert and Stephanie wave goodbye as they make their way to the front door with a large bag of various foods from Margie. Margie coming back into the kitchen, she goes into a cabinet and pulls out a bottle of whisky along with several glasses.

Tracey clears her throat, “Do you think it could have been a person? Maybe? Trying to scare you off the land or some such thing?”

Sighing Lucy happily accepts the glass of whisky from her Aunt, “Besides those tracks, and the coyote head. Everything is pointing that way.” 

“Maybe there is a reason Uncle Tim didn’t want the forest around his land messed with,” Tracy added her hand covering Reg’s hand, as she looks at Lucy, an unreadable expression on her face. 

Harris coughing at the head of the table, everyone turning to look at him.“I doubt Lucy would mess with anything Tim had.”

“Nope, haven’t really ventured into the forest much at all. But that might have to change. Make sure no one has been coming onto the land without my knowledge.” Lucy spoke, it was always in the back of her mind that someone could be hiding in the woods without her knowledge. The place was mostly fenced, but would only stop honest people. 

“Do you think someone is camping on the land?” Tracy asks, looking at her relatives. Taking her glass from Margie and sipping on it. 

“Don’t know about that, didn’t see any signs of anyone walking around.” Lucy sighs, looking over at Coop when his thigh touches her. She pushes back against it, letting a small amount of comfort in.”Know that Henry was not happy about me getting the land. None of them were happy actually.”

“Henry has the money. Probably hiring someone to scare you off,” Margie added, her brows knitted together, as she brought some tea to her lips. 

“Well he can do what he likes, not much is gonna stop me stayin’ there,” Lucy says, her fingers rubbing over the rim of the glass. If someone had asked her that question several hours ago, she may have had a different answer; but right now, in the safety of her Uncle’s home, she felt confident she could say. 

“Besides you got us, we'll make sure that no one will mess with ya,” Cooper adds, rubbing one hand over her shoulder. Lucy really wishes he would keep his hand on her.  

Lucy nods her head, it was reassuring to know that she had all of them on her side. The table going silent for a moment as they sip their drinks. The sun was nearly down, bathing the room in a soft golden light. Lucy trying her best not to let her mind run over the whole day again. She could feel her own exhaustion tugging at her mind. 

Reg let out a yawn, Tracy rubbing his arm. “We should probably get our own rugrats, go to school, and all that.”

Tracy nodded, “Have Sunday dinner this weekend? You both should come over too,” She nods to Cooper and Lucy. 

Lucy, put her cup down, nodding her head, “Yeah, I would like that, be nice to have regular get-togethers.” 

“That would be wonderful,” Reg says, scooping one of his kids up. “Maybe once things have calmed down we can come by. The kids always loved Uncle Tim’s farm.”

“Uncle Tim’s dead,” Reg's son spoke from behind his leg. The little guy peering up at Lucy. The kid had silver blue eyes, and nearly white-blonde hair, standing just below his Dad’s hips in height. His eyes were wide as he blinked a few times, tears forming. 

Cooper ducks down beside him, “Hey, Kiddo. It’s okay.” The little man let out a muffled sob as Cooper scoops him up, the little kid hanging off the adult. 

“Oh sweet Freddy. Got all the big emotions and nowhere to put him.” Tracey coes, before offering to take him out of Cooper’s arms. “Time for sleep.”

Lucy felt her stomach turn as she watches the family of six walk towards the front door. It was hard to see the little guy upset over the loss. It made her uncomfortable not knowing how to help him.  Little Freddy was still crying against his Mom’s hair, the three older girls filing behind. They all had brown hair, and brown eyes, all looking to be a few years apart. The older two could have almost been twins. Hugs were traded and promises of Sunday dinner were planned before the clan took off into the night. 

Coop comes over, covering his two kiddos with a blanket and turning down the cartoon jingling away. He came back, his hand running over Lucy’s shoulder before sitting down. 

“Probably should be going soon too,” Cooper sighs, having another sip of his drink, “Make sure Mom and Dad are okay.”

“How are your folks doing?” Margie asks, adding a bit more to his glass and Lucy’s. 

“Dad’s rough, Mom-” Cooper shifts in his seat, looking down at his glass, the dark look crossing his face again. “She’s doing the best she can considering. Doctor says maybe a year or two.”

Harris rubs at his eyes a little, Lucy watching him compose himself before speaking, “Whatever you need, you let us know." His voice shook a bit as he spoke, "I know your family is tight, but we all need to look after each other. We are all family here, okay?”

Cooper nods a tight smile on his face, “Thank you, Sir. I really appreciate it. We can use all the help we can get.”

Lucy reaches over and squeezes his hand, “ Like you said we are just a phone call away.”

***

Waking up soaked in sweat was the last thing that Lucy wanted to do. She was bolt upright in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, with the fading nightmare of headless corpses hanging from trees dancing in her vision. Deep ragging breaths echoed in the small space, and the familiar sound of frogs and crickets echoed outside the open window.   

“You are in your Aunt and Uncle's house,” Lucy breathed out, closing her eyes and taking a sharp inhale. “It was just a dream, there is nothing coming to get you.”

Flipping a layer off the bed Lucy felt around for her phone, it was four-thirty in the morning. In a few more hours the sun would be up, and the world would have light again. She grabbed a sip of water, turning off her phone, and trying to get comfortable. As her eyes closed the visions of the bodies danced into her mind again, like some kind of horror dance party. Groaning, she rolled over, willing the images out of her mind. 

“Happy thoughts, Lucy. We cannot lose any more sleep over this,” Lucy murmured, trying to come up with something more soothing. An image of Cooper staring at her, popping into Lucy’s head. Her eyes shot open, her face going pink. "How old are you, Lucy." 

She thought about it for a moment, was it really the worst thing that she could think of? Yes, the man was older than her, had kids, and had lost his wife. Lucy cringed at the last thought, she rubbed her forehead. What was she doing, lying here thinking about a man she barely knew? Who had flown to her aid, and stood beside her despite the dead animal head in her backyard. 

Rubbing her eyes Lucy debates getting up or letting her half-asleep ass dream about someone who wasn’t interested in her. Remembering how he had leaned his knee against her, rubbed her shoulder, and let her hold his hand as he talked about his father. 

“Ugh, stop. No more death. At least for this instant,” Lucy mumbles quietly into the empty room, trying not to let her thoughts spiral out of control. 

Closing her eyes she decides to indulge herself a little, after the mess she had gone through what was a little fantasy. Letting herself think about them walking through a not haunted forest, maybe holding hands, going camping with the kids. She didn't hold back the smile as she let herself drift, after all, it was only a dream.

***

A knock on the door awoke Lucy out of a dead sleep, she blinked at the light shining around the window. Her fuzzy brain trying to put two and two together, remembering where she was. How she’d gotten there and why someone would be waking her up. 

“Lucy, sorry to wake you,” Aunt Margie calls, her voice just loud enough to hear through the wooden door. 

Grabbing her phone she realized it was past ten in the morning. She cussed, upset that she hadn't set an alarm last night. Normally she would have been up at the latest eight, groaning as she sat up, swinging herself onto the edge of the bed. 

“I will be out in a few Aunt Margie!” Lucy calls out, grabbing her clothes. Once again shaking her head at forgetting something fresh. Oh well, she'd have to change at home, and a good shower too. The thought of hot water spurred her on, as she groaned, body stiff from the long sleep. Setting the bed, she grabs her phone and races out the door. Margie stands at the counter, a fresh pot of coffee in hand.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” The woman smiles at her, handing her a cup of hot coffee. Before going over to the stove.  “I got coffee and put on a couple eggs for you.”

“You are too kind to me, Aunt Margie,” Lucy replies, eagerly grabbing the hot cup of coffee. “I am so sorry that I slept in. Usually, my alarm goes off automatically.”

Her Aunt waves a hand, scooping eggs and toast onto a plate for her. “Nonsense, I am so glad you were able to sleep in.” She hands Lucy the plate. Going around the counter with her cup of coffee to sit at the makeshift bar. “I have a feeling you haven’t been sleeping well.”

Lucy sat down using her toast to break the egg yolk and dip it in. “Oh boy, that would be an understatement. I don't really know why, but, I’ve been waking up in the middle of the night.”

Margie sat down beside her, eating her own toast with jam. “Nightmares?”

Lucy nods as she works on swallowing her food, “Yes, actually, how’d you know?”

Margie hums for a moment taking a sip of her tea, looking out towards the tree line outside. “Oh you know, new house, moving back from the city. Can take a little getting used to is all.”

Something twinging in Lucy, as she watches her Aunt. She sips on more of her coffee, trying to will the feeling away, why would her Aunt not be honest with her? 

“Yeah, I am sure that’s it,” Lucy says with a fake smile, as she finishes up her food. “I should probably be on my way-” The realization that she didn’t have a vehicle hitting her. “Oh, I didn’t bring my own car.”

“Oh, Cooper said he’d come by and pick you up,” Margie says, somehow the tension is leaving between the two of them. 

Lucy blinks a few times, wondering if she could possibly walk back home. “Oh, he didn’t need to do that.”

“I think he was looking forward to it if I am honest Lucy.” Margie winks at her, “The man has been alone, with his kids and dying Father for six years. I am sure he enjoys getting to spend some time with another adult that isn't family.”

Trying to choke down some more coffee to hide her face, it is most certainly bright pink. “Yeah, I don’t mind the company.”

Margie gives Lucy a knowing look, raised eyebrows and all. She goes to speak when a knock on the door stops her. She squeezes Lucy’s shoulder as she goes to get it. Lucy sitting a little straighter in her chair as she hears Cooper’s voice. 

“Hey,” Cooper says, he almost looks nervous, fiddling with his hat in his hand. “Was wondering, if you’d be okay if we went to check on the cows this morning before I bring yah home of course.” 

Lucy smiles back, she can’t help herself. Getting him all flustered was going to be a new favorite pastime of hers. “Yah, pretty sure I owe you on that one.”

Part 5

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

** If you enjoyed the fic let me know! Likes, reblogs and comments are always appreciated.

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** Most of my fics will be updated once a weekish possibly more often depending on how much writing I can get done! Want to keep the quality and make sure I am putting out my best work.

[witch-oftheflowers]

How the boys react to altars?

(Ximena x Simon.{COD} Morgana x Marc y Altars.{Moon Knight} Enjoy this multi fandom chapter I wanted to see how this went!)

Simon x Ximena Riley:

The crisp air hit Simons face as he returned home. Seeing his little house covered in yellow and orange flowers

Marigolds

His brown eyes looking to the driveway. Loose petals leading to the doorstep. A tradition he has grown used to around this last week of October.

His wife coming from a small town in Mexico. Still celebrating day of the dead. Seeing it the first time was confusing. He got used to it as the years have came.

He grabbed his bag, and a few bouquets of flowers he got on the way home. Holding the large bag in his arm as he walked inside.

Seeing garlands of flowers coating their living room. Hallways to the bedrooms the same.

But the living and kitchen-

He smiled a bit. Locking the door behind him as he took his boots off. Setting his bag down.

Looking around as the house was empty. But the pathway of flowers lead outside to the garden.

He set the flowers down. Remembering to tell his wife when he finds her.

The house had candles around. Not yet lit.

Bread was on plates. Multiple meals cooked, many he likes or haven't tried yet. His eyes landed on the photos.

His eyes shaking for a second as there was many of his own on there. His whole family

Besides his sperm donor. Thank god-

"You're back early."

His head turned to met her. His eyes soften as he smiled to her. Ximena was in a simple white dress. Her flat ballade sandals on. She had twin braids down to her knees.

A kinder smile to her lips as she grabbed a tray. Setting the food on it.

"I was hoping to have this done. Surprise you even. Kiddos are outside setting up and having fun. Luna's with them too." She was softly speaking. Grabbing some of the pictures.

Even the one of her father that passed recently.

Her eyes stilled as she set it on the tray. A small tear slipped as her smile softly faded.

Simon walked over as he gave her head a gentle kiss. Pulling her in by the side

" 'M home. That's all that matters luv. And what surprise?" He asked her as he peer down at her.

"I was adding your family for this years altar."

His eyes met hers. Seeing the kindness she had for him. He never took her up on the offer. Scared if he'll disrespect his family. Or if waking them from their deserved rest was selfish for a few nights

He learned a bit of the holiday with his wife. And her loving family. He felt at ease as she wanted to do this small act for people she met a few times. Because she understood how much they meant to him

" Such a lovely idea my luv. Need any help?"

"Can you bring out the candles? I'm almost done."

He nods his head as he grabbed he ones from the kitchen she had set.

Walking out after her. Seeing their garden to life even as the sun was setting.

The stringed lights flickered on. Lanterns set in the pond, the garden had fireflies floating around. The many plants they had for fall flourishing in the still warm night.

Anna was playing with the twins keeping the toddlers distracted.

Johnny was helping his mum. Setting the photos on as they chatted a bit.

Simon smiled as he walked behind hearing his wife chatter on as she taught her kids about the tradition

"Once a year our ancestors visit us. For a few nights they come and enjoy the company. They're our family, so we cook food for them they loved while alive. We put their favorite things like bread or trinkets, or anything really"

She spoke on and on as they finished the most. Taking the candles from her husband as she set one each with a photo.

Most of them filled with her family. Aunts he met a few times. To her godparents, to her tia's and tios. Even her grandparents.

On the top of the tiered alter, her father sat. And then his mother. Underneath was his brother and his family. And her brother with his daughter.

A few years dripped, her hand shook as she finished lighting the last ones.

Stepping back she stood there admiring the table theys set.

Johnny grabbed his mum's hand. As she softly cried at the sight.

Simon came besides her as he squeezed her shoulders. Giving her a kiss on the head as he smiled.

"They would love this... Thank you for taking the time." He whispered as he gave her arms a rub. Letting her cry a bit.

He knew why she was crying more. It's only been a month since her own father untimely passing.

The girls came over as they admired the alter. Giving their mum a hug as they smiled.

"It's ok mum. They're visiting us tonight." Johnny said as he beamed with his sweet smile.

Making Ximena chuckled as she gave a kind smile back.

"Yeah.. they're always with us mijo~"

Morgana x Marc and the boys

Steven came home first before his wife and kids. The young man fidgeting with his backpack as he hanged it up.

He was tired from their trip back from New York. They had a few months out there dealing with Khonshu's deeds.

"Blood hell. Those stupid wankers in New York." He mumbled a bit as he noticed how the usual cleaned Victorian house looked.

Clothes and robes everywhere. His eyes flicker to his wife's library of books being litter on the floor.

He noticed even her crystal ball. Usually covered and tucked away was smashed on the floor.

The mirrors she had hung up were smahed and broken.

"Lads- You gotta see this." His voice was a bit shaky as he let Marc front. His eyes flickered as he stood straight. His hands flexing as he took it in.

Marc's eyebrows furried in confusion as he looked around the rest of the house.

"Girls! You're not home right?!" He called out trying to make sure none of his family was home.

Thankfully it was quiet.

Besides the bird coming in as he noticed his avatar being deranged

"What are you doing?" Khonshu's voice boomed as Marc sighed

"Can't you see I'm dealing with something? And you!" He pointed his finger at the god

"Can't be inside this house! Or aren't supposed to be!"

"Whoever or whatever did this. Broke her protection circle and her work. So I'm here now." He sassed the human as he stood in a corner. The bird looking around at the damage

"Someone knows what they were doing."

"Well that someone is gonna be murder if she comes home to this."

Khonshu laughs as he sneer at his avatar

"You fear that woman?"

"Fear? God no. But I do know not to piss her off. Have you seen what she can do? She took me out one night because a civilian was hitting on me."

He stared at the god as he stared back

"She banished me from your house"

"She really hates you. You should know that after what five years?" He gave him attitude back as Marc started to clean. He flinched when he felt a small burn.

"Ow!"

Khonshu walked over as he used his staff. Nudging the broken mirrors.

"Someone was here. Smarter than you even. Cursed all her objects. Only she can fix this. Or her gods."

Marc held his hand as he groaned. Knowing his wife was gonna be a storm to handle.

As the time did arrive. Marc cleaned what he could. But all her magical objects were out of his field

Morgana came home alone. Wearing a long frilly dress. She had meetings all day with the other clans -

"Marc Specter!"

Here it goes.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was gentle as she rushed into the kitchen. Seeing her husband as she noticed all her items broken

"I'm fine. How was the meeting?"

"It was a trap."

He moved and shook his head at her declaration.

"What?"

"Clearly it was. Because I know you value your life more than break my items."

Marc gentle nods his head as he sipped his espresso. A wince in his face as he hated the taste alone.

His eyes flicker as Steven came forward. Finishing the cup as he set another to brew

He smiled as he walked to his wife, grasping her hand as he spoke

"I'm terribly sorry my love. Those wankers deserve whatever you serve them back."

She smiled gently as she looked up to him. Her waves swirling as she stood on her tippy toes. Her little fangs brushed against his lips as she gave him a kiss.

"And that's why I love you boys. Always good at keeping me calm."

"I say other reasons too"

Her eyes widen as she wiped her head to the dreadful bird

"You're not supposed to be in my house!"

Khonshu sighs as he ran a boney hand down his beak

"Your protections got destroyed!"

"I know! No get out you good for nothing bird!" Morgana sassed him as she tapped her foot. Her house swirled and spun as the bird was thrown out

The broken items swirled as they picked up. Restored even as they set her things to their rightful spots. She was calm again. Her curls landing flat against her back. She brushed a few strands out of her face.

Everything was fixed. Her protections, her items, and her house. But she would have to find out who did this.

"I'll be in the attic. The girls are coming home with Adrian later. He took them out for dinner."

She seemed peeved, as she ascended the stairs. Her steps seem more eerie as she was out of sight.

All three knew something was wrong.

Jake pulled to the front as he told the others to shush

"I got her~"

Marc rolled his eyes at him as he sighs

"Oh you got her? What about us?"

"You two haven't seen... Everything she can do."

As Jake walked up the stairs. The attic seemed cold, he got a glimpse in as his wife was lighting her candles. She was in a black fluffy robe. Her hair in braids as she wrote on the floor in chalk.

Marc and Steven peer with Jake as they saw how cold she seemed.

"It's her worship room... Usually I don't bug her. Unless she needs help with something."

"What kind of something?" Steven asked as he noticed Jake scratched his cheek

"Sex rituals."

"And she's only asked you?" Marc asked as he seemed upset.

Jake smiled as he shook his head.

"Hey you two would freak out from the things we've seen."

The trio got silent as they noticed the room shaking. Morgana was moving with the air swirling around her. Her eyes shut as she was thinking.

Her hands ran through the chalk ward she made as she chanted

"Gods above. Gods below. Come and aid this witch. Come from sea and off the mountain peaks. I becon those I seek to aid me in my defeat"

Her eyes flickered open as she smiled. Seeing her two favorites floating besides her.

And Jake just watched. Seeing the gods in view.

Poor Marc and Steven were slightly confused why they could see them.

"Why can we see them???" Steven asked as he watched his wife talk.

Persephone and Hetec

The pair eyeing the woman. But small smiles to their lips as they took her offerings and her speech.

"Those clans should know better than to cause distrust with the Aradia clan. They left their own clues to know who it is child. Seek those clues. Find it and they'll reveal whom you seek." Hetec was calm as she gave her piece.

"If they seek to start a war. Knowing those other groups. All acting like children during these trying times for our kinds. But if they seek a war. They will receive one" the goddess vanished.

Leaving Avatar with her goddess

Persephone beamed as she floated over.

"I'll need a better offering child. You know the kind. And I think your husband's do too. But hear my words. If they believe a war is important during these times. They're mistaken. As fall creeps in, they might think this is the best time to strike. Keep a keen eye on your enemies my child. Anything can happen~" the goddess gave her a cryptic speech. Leaving her be as she floating away.

Morgana sighed as she didn't get what she expected. Her eyes flickered to the doorway as she noticed Jake

"Come here my love. We got some offerings to make~"

[allieebobo]

Eid Mubarak :)

I'm so sorry this is a little late, but Eid Mubarak to everyone who celebrates! (And Selamat Hari Raya to folks who come from where I come from! <3)

Here's a little snippet of Rayyan and MC back home, celebrating :)

Part I.

Rayyan's family have just gotten back from their neighbourhood mosque, and now they're busy with the finishing touches to the meal preparations.

Little Mahaila is still a little too young to help out, but she doesn't wanted to miss out on all the fun, so Rayyan hoists her up to the kitchen counter, and Mahaila keeps up a constant stream of chatter directed at MC, while Rayyan and their mother busy themselves with the cooking.

Already the counter is laden with huge colorful dishes, and the smell is to die for. Mahaila's pointing out each of the dishes to MC one-by-one, and Rayyan and their mother occasionally chime in with details and little family anecdotes and recipe instructions.

There's Mahshi—stuffed peppers with tomato sauce, her grandparents' favorite, Batatis bil frakh—potatoes with chicken, her dad's favorite, and Mesaka’a—oven roasted eggplant with ground beef, which is Rayyan's favorite. Rayyan no longer quite remembers how it had tasted, back in Cairo, but ever since they'd moved to Seattle, the dish has become a family specialty, mostly because all the ingredients can be easily found in the grocery shops in Seattle.

Part II.

Rayyan's mother holds a spoon out to Rayyan. "Come, help me taste the Molokhia," she says. "Does it need more cilantro?"

Rayyan takes a big mouthful of the thick green soup which always tastes a little too healthy, in their opinion. They scrunch up their face, swallow, and nod—a little weakly.

Their mother smacks them on the arm and snorts. "I don't know why I bother," she says, shaking her head and bustles over to offer it to MC instead.

The shock of the taste makes MC blink, then breathe out softly, before allowing it to swirl around their tongue, delightfully distinct from anything they've ever tasted. They detect chicken broth, which forms the strong, comforting base, then the delicate and familiar layers of cilantro, garlic, salt and pepper, but there's another taste—strong and clean—cutting through everything else. "Wow," they breathe, genuinely astounded. "It's amazing. What is it?"

Rayyan's mother beams at MC. "I think what you are tasting is the leaf of jute tree. I am happy you like it. It is my favorite too." She nudges Rayyan in the ribs. "We have good taste. Unlike this one."

Rayyan makes a face at you. "Suck up," they whisper, for your ears only, but even their usual knitted brows can't hide the big grin that's spreading across their face.

Part III.

A loud clatter interrupts your conversation, and Rayyan looks up in alarm, still swiping at their mouth with an arm. Ishaq, one of Rayyan's twin brothers, pauses guiltily mid-stride, about halfway to the kitchen door. You hadn't noticed him come in. In his hands, there's a big bowl of kahk—nut cookies dusted with sugar. A bunch of cutlery lie on the floor, knocked over in his rush to escape with the loot.

Mahaila, beaming, lips also stained with the evidence of powdered sugar, helpfully points a finger at her brother.

"You already ate like five of them," Rayyan's mother scolds, taking the plate from Ishaq and placing it firmly on the table. "Shoo now! Before I ban you from kahk for life!"

His jaw drops, and he quickly scurries away obediently.

Rayyan snorts at you, and sees you eyeing the cookies curiously. They pick one out of the plate, then close the distance between you, smiling. "Would you like one?" they ask, voice dipping low as they lean in closer to you.

Part IV.

MC's heart flutters, and they hop off the counter, face now inches from Rayyan's. "If it's as sweet as you are," MC says, grinning, "then yes."

Rayyan bring a hand up, then pop the sweet treat into MC's mouth, studying their expression closely.

There's an immediate burst of rich, nutty sweetness. MC lets out a soft groan of appreciation.

Rayyan laughs, then brings their thumb up to wipe the sugar from MC's bottom lip, green eyes sparkling. MC catches their hand. That's when Rayyan leans in for a quick kiss, tasting the sweetness of soft sugar on MC's lips. When they finally step back, there's an infuriatingly smug smile on their face. "The cookies are good this year, aren't they? I helped make them."

[schemmentisjacket]

Chapter 10 - Sad Cowboy pt 1

‘That was real nice hun, and I don’t say that about just anyone’s cooking, ask Janine.’ Melissa said, pushing her empty plate away and taking a drink from her ice water. ‘A glass of wine would have gone down nicely too.’

‘Maybe next time. When you’re not concussed. I’ve got some nice stuff in the wine fridge. Shall we move to the lounge? I’ll wash the dishes later.’

‘Really treating me,’ Melissa chuckled, the medication was beginning to kick in and the pain in her head subsiding, a light warm feeling coming over her instead.

They headed into the living room, a large clean room, a plush corner sofa with a coffee table in front, a reasonably sized tv, nothing crazy, an acoustic guitar on a stand and a couple of pieces of art on the wall.

‘Do you wanna watch something or just have some music playing and chat?’

‘Are you going to play for me?’ Melissa asked cheekily as they sunk into the comfort of the sofa. Melissa pulling her legs up and tucking her feet underneath to the side. Charlie leant back in the corner section that was almost a chaise lounge, legs stretched out in front of them.

Charlie blushed the tips of their ears turning red, ‘How about I tell you more about myself? You seemed interested earlier?’ They said deflecting the question.

Pulling out their phone, some quiet music began filtering into the room, filling it with soft country.

‘You really like country music huh?’

‘So I grew up on a ranch up north. A pretty successful family one. I was in college studying when my parents and grandparents were in an accident on the way back from a vacation. I’d never really had an interest in taking over the family business, so they had plans in place. The business was sold, but all the employees stayed on as part of the deal. I didn’t want anyone to lose their jobs or livelihoods. I kept a small cabin down by the forest and lakes that belonged to my grandfather’s family. Then once I’d finished my studies I started looking for places to live. Philly has a lot of stuff I like, hockey, food, a little taste of the city without being too crazy. The neighbourhoods that need help also remind me of home. There’s wealth but also those less fortunate. It’s not pity. It’s just wanting to help those how I can, I remember being different and not always meeting societies expectations. If that makes sense.’

Melissa smiled, tilting her head sideways against the back cushion of the sofa to look at Charlies profile, ‘I’m real sorry you lost everyone. Sounds like you picked something that called to your heart.’

Charlie avoided eye contact, but Melissa could see the misty look take over their eyes. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever really opened up to someone about it all.’

‘Well thank you. For telling me. Usually most people are intimidated by me. I mean usually thats the vibe I give off. But with you I guess you gave off some intrigue. All hidden and secretive.’

A watery laugh came from their mouth, ‘I don’t cover up like that outside of work. I guess I wanted to make a good impression and seem professional. Especially with you know Barbara being religious and stuff like that.’

Melissa let out a bark of laughter, ‘Barb ain’t that strait laced. Hell you should meet sea barb sometimes. She comes out at Pesca. She’d probably be more upset you thought you couldn’t be yourself around her.’

‘I’ll think about it,’ Charlie hummed, ‘I get worries people will get the wrong impression of me, that I’m some sort of wrong un or thug.’

‘When you’re just a sad little cowboy.’

‘Yes Ma’am.’

[xcherrypie]

Doesn’t she

Summary: you and Sam are off for a date night alone without your daughter.

Words: 0.7k

“Daaaaad” your four year old little girl called through the house. “Yes baby” Sam replied, walking through the door of your kitchen, he can’t help but smile at the sight of you and his baby girl sat at the dinner table a plate of pasta and vegetables separating the two of you. “Mummy said I have to eat my broccoli” she huffed in response causing Sam to chuckle. “Well mummy is right” Sam replied, placing himself on the other side of his daughter. She was such a daddy’s girl and always tried her luck with him when she didn’t get her way with you.

You leave the pair to it and make your way to your bedroom to get ready for your date night with Sam, pecking gentle kisses on their heads as you walked past. Turning on the shower you sigh as the warm water hits your back. You can’t help but smile to yourself, it was your favourite sight ever seeing Sam and your baby girl bond so well, like two peas in a pod, your little family is all you’ve ever dreamt off.

You step out the shower, humming along to the music playing from your phone when your interrupted by a little knock on the bathroom door, “mummy I need to brush my teeth” your little girl calls through the wall. “One second baby” you respond, wrapping a towel around your body, opening the door to see her cuddled into Sam’s hip.

Sam carried her into the room, placing her on the bathroom counter whilst you put her toothpaste on her little pink toothbrush for her, Sam takes it from you placing it in her mouth whilst pecking a kiss on her cheek. “Remember princess, brush for two minutes” Sam reminded her whilst moving over to you, rubbing your shoulders. “We better hurry up and get ready, me mam will be here soon” you hum leaning your head back into Sam’s shoulder, realising you only have thirty minutes until your mum arrives to watch y/d/n for the next couple hours. However you could of stayed like that forever. “You mean you better get ready, All I’ve got to do is get changed” he chuckled in response causing you to roll your eyes as you left the room to finish getting ready.

Despite having a child with Sam and being with him over six years you still got those butterflies around him, and they were in full effect as you headed downstairs, excited to spend some alone time with him for what seems like the first time in months. Your little girl was sat at the table with her dad drawing however Sams attention shifted to you the second you stepped foot in your living room, his lips instantly turning to a smirk at the sight of you. You wasn’t overly dressed up, your blue mom jeans fitting your curve’s perfectly whilst your satin shirt shew of your soft collarbones.

“Woahhh” your little girl says running upto you, reaching her arms out for a cuddle. “You look so pretty mummy” she continues. Sam gets up from his seat walking over to his girls smiling. “Doesn’t she just” he says under his breath, darting you a look of lust. “Not as pretty as you baby” you reply to your daughter pecking a kiss on her cheek and rolling your eyes playfully at Sam’s comment.

“Now nanny’s going to be here in five minutes okay and she’s going to look after you and tuck you in bed” you say, trying to prepare y/d/n for the fact you and Sam are heading out. Not that you had to worry, she adored her grandparents so much and knew you and Sam would always be there in the morning when she wakes up.

“Okay but can we have one big cuddle before you go, with daddy too” she responds. Before you could reply Sam had scooped her up and sat with her on the sofa, pulling you into them both by your hand. “Of course we can” Sam beams, showering your little girl in gentle kisses. She giggles uncontrollably as his stubble tickles her face. “Hey, what about mummy’s kisses” you pout at both Sam and your daughter. “Don’t worry you’ll get plenty of them later” Sam smirks in response pulling in closer to his shoulder.

Notes: hey guys! Sorry this is kinda short however in the midst of writing a fairly long angst! Hope everyone is well x

[jungle-angel]

farmer’s market prompt, my beloved!! lmao could we possibly get 2, 18 and 19 with the floyd bunch, please? 🧡

Ooooooooh my God yes!!! My mouth is watering at the thought honey!!! (lol).

The smells of apples, cinnamon and pumpkin made your mouth water as you, Bob and the rest of the Daggers all worked at the stall, selling whatever had grown on the Floyd land along with a ton of baked goods that Bob's mother and grandmother had made. You hadn't eaten anything all day and still had a baby and two older children to feed which would most likely be sooner than later based on the way four month old Deidre, stirred in her little wicker sleeping basket under the counter.

"Baby?" Bob asked when he noticed you rubbing your temple. "You ok?"

"I need something to eat really badly or I'm gonna pass out," you told him.

Bob held up a finger, signaling for you to wait while he ran to the next stall over where Mr. and Mrs. Alessi were busy selling hot lunches, big pots of pasta smothered in marinara sauce, bowls of steaming hot wedding soup, grilled fish and meatballs that were as big as a fist.

"Hey Vinny," Bob greeted.

"Bobby! Bobby my boy!" the husky New Jersey man greeted cheerfully, kissing Bob's cheek. "Mio figlio, how are you?"

"Couldn't be better," Bob chuckled. "I came to see what was on the menu for today, we're starving over at our end."

"Ah you're in luck kiddo," Vinny told him. "Remember when you were a kid and you'd stop by the restaurant after school?"

How could he forget? Vinny Alessi had taught Bob everything he knew about the kitchen, second only to his own grandparents.

"I put it on the menu especially for you and (y/n)," Vinny told him, handing Bob two small boxes. "Made the Pizza Napoletana fresh this morning."

"Oh Vinny you're a lifesaver, I owe you," Bob told him.

"You don't owe me nothin," Vinny insisted with a wave of his hand. "Although, now that I think about it, I'll take some of your gram's and your ma's fresh apple donuts when you get a chance."

"Will do Vinny," Bob answered. "How many?"

"Baker's dozen if you can swing it," Vinny answered. "We've got the grandkids for the day and they haven't eaten either."

"I'll take two dollars off," Bob said. "That ok by you?"

"Perfect!" Vinny declared proudly. "You get on back over there. You're wifey's probably lookin for her lunch."

Bob bid Mr. Alessi farewell and returned with the lunches, the pizza fresh and steaming out of the little oven. While you ate yours, Bob packed up a little brown box full of apple cider donuts for Vinny, taking two dollars off the order as payment for lunch.

"You doin better baby?" Bob asked.

"Now that I've eaten I am," you answered.

The whimpers that came from your waking daughter signaled that it was lunchtime for her as well. "You mind taking over so I can go to the truck and feed her really quick?"

"Don't mind at all baby."

You gave him a quick kiss and thanking Bob before gathering your daughter and heading off to the truck to feed her. By the time you came back, Bob had a little plate of apple cider donuts and a mug full of hot, fresh cider waiting for you.

"Oh baby thank you so much," you said, placing your daughter back in her little basket.

"No worries my sweet," Bob said, kissing your lips.

You and Bob went about your day, selling the goods and bartering for others in return. You couldn't have imagined a better day than this and getting to spend it with the ones you loved the most.