#my mom loves taking walks around the neighbourhood and every time i go with her we go to the river and we find new stuff

[muirneach]

mom and i found a bunch of walnut trees near the river so that’s exciting for fall we get to have walnuts my favourite nut. also check this out when u put bleach on the otherwise yellow stain that unripe nuts have it turns red isn’t that wild

[dira333]

Not needed - Itoshi Rin x Soulmate! Reader

Requested by the lovely anon who sent in many amazing Requests (You know how you are) - tagging @shoulmate because she's been begging me to write something for Rin

“Oh, is that your soulmark?” Bachira leans in, far too close for comfort. 

Rin pulls his shirt down and takes a step back. “Why do you care?”

“Well, duh?!” Bachira tries to pull the fabric back up, but Rin’s hand’s close around his like a vice. “It’s none of your business.”

“Whatever?” Bachira grins and steps back as far as he can, pulling his hands back as soon as Rin’s grip loosens. “I’m sure I will catch it some other day.”

Rin scowls but Bachira just laughs. Looks like a normal Tuesday after all.

-

Isagi hasn’t found his soulmate yet. Bachira’s pretty sure his is the cute girl from his neighbourhood. Reo keeps talking about his even though everyone’s tired of it already - his parents found her right after he was born and made sure she got the best education possible, after all, she was going to be his wife one day.

No one seems to care that Rin’s going to kill them any second if they don’t stop bringing up this topic. Who cares about Soulmates? They’re here to play soccer!

“I don’t need one!” He snaps at Chigiri when the guy has the audacity to point out something about his soulmark. “If I ever happen to meet them, I’ll make sure to let her know.”

-

“Oh no-” Rin hears just seconds before he gets drenched in something ice cold and sticky. Isagi’s sitting across from him, hands pressed against his mouth to keep the laughter in. Bachira has less control over it, his laugh bellowing out and pulling all the attention. Great. Just what he needed on this short break from training.

He turns, ready to rip the head of whoever is responsible - but the words die in his mouth.

You look like you’re ready to cry, wringing a single napkin in your shaking fingers. “I-I- I’m so sorry, I just wanted some… That was my last-”

Somewhere in between your stuttering, he catches on that you’d had a horrible day and this should have been the thing to make it even, a little treat for all the suffering. But said treat is sticking to his skin, turning his previously white shirt an ugly shade of brown.

“Come on,” he barks, moving to pull you away from the guys but stopping at the last second. He can’t just drag a girl around, especially one he doesn’t know. His parents raised him better than that. “Follow me.” 

Somewhere on the short trek to the front, you must have mistaken his grimace for an inviting smile, because you haven’t stopped talking, telling him everything he could have wanted to know about the week you’ve had. 

“Order,” he barks out, softening his tone when your eyes turn wide. “Please.”

Your order is impressively long. He’s only ever ordered black coffee. No wonder his shirt feels this sticky. When it’s time to pay, you turn and blink up at him.

“I spent my last money on that drink,” you point out, nibbling on your lower lip - it’s a little distracting. 

“Fine,” he huffs and pays. 

It’s only when he’s back at his table that he realizes that this went totally wrong. Weren’t you supposed to pay for his drink? As an apology for drenching him in coffee? But he can’t very well get up again, not when Bachira’s pointing out how cute you were and Isagi’s snickering every few minutes. If he’d be here with less perceptive people, he’d dare to turn his head just a little, to look over to the corner of the café where he knows you went. But he isn’t and so he doesn’t.

-

“Oh God!” The words are muttered, but Rin still hears them, curses his good hearing when the words are followed by a shrill squeak only seconds before you tumble down the stairs - and right into his arms.

If he were anyone else, he’d probably admire you - unable to walk down a flight of stairs yet sticking the landing perfectly, arms flung around his shoulders like you’re from one of the movies his mom loves to watch.

“Hi!” You squeak when he lets you down right away, hands burning from where he’d held you. At least no one saw. 

-

Rin doesn’t know how it happened or what’s more surprising about it, but he finds himself in a friendship group that contains not only him but you too. He might have gotten it wrong in his head, but he’s pretty sure you knew Chigiri from before Blue Lock. Or was it Kunigami? He’s never too sure with these two.

Maybe he’s being too poetic about it, has been too influenced by his mother's taste in movies, but you remind him of the sun, warm light flooding every room you step into. He dares to tell you once, embarrassment clamping his mouth shut when your response is a shy smile and wide eyes. Never, never will he tell you that he feels like the moon in your orbit - yes, he knows the moon orbits the earth, it’s a metaphor! - only able to light up the night because he’s been in your presence.

You’re too clumsy for your own good, too good-hearted for being friends with rascals like these. You never catch it when Bachira nudges you into helping him out, don’t realize when Nagi uses you as a headrest or a means to get from one place to the other. More than once Rin has to step in, teeth bared when Chigiri grins and asks “Are you her bodyguard or what?”

-

“Do you have a soulmate?” Isagi asks one day after training when all of them are draped across the tables in the little café down the street, their muscles resembling cooked noodles more than anything.

“Of course!” You smile and wave your straw around, almost taking out Kunigami’s left eye in the process. “Why are you asking? You already saw!”

Rin tenses. He can feel it before it happens, how his spine stiffens and his back turns ram-rod-straight. He forgot. He forgot that those still existed. Isagi throws him a smile that could mean everything and nothing at all. Rin pushes himself up from the table, grumbling something under his breath that could mean “I have to use the toilet,” as well as “I’m going to run the world.” 

He’s en route to the barista when he realizes that he’s left his wallet back at the table. He does the only reasonable thing and walks out of the café.

The cool air lifts some of the tension and the fact that he’s out of sight of his friends - if he can call them that - helps as well. Here, where he can feel like he’s almost alone, he can think.

Not that he wants to think.

Thinking just leads to realizations. Like the fact that you’re not his. That he’d want you to be his. That the stepping stones turned into something he could almost call friends. 

“Rin?” Your voice pulls him out of the moment. You pull the door close behind you, shiver in the cool air. “You forgot your wallet.” 

“Thank you.”

You smile. “It isn’t like you to forget something. Am I finally influencing you?”

“Like you could,” he huffs, but your smile only widens.

“Bachira told me that you’re probably upset because you’re the only one who hasn’t seen my Soulmark yet.”

“I’m not-” He starts but stops when you roll up your sleeve. His mouth’s dry and the words die on his tongue.

There, in the crook of your elbow, is the same mark that sits right above his hip bone. 

Rin can’t help but think of his own words, his own vows. 

He doesn’t need a soulmate. Just like friends, they’re nothing but a hassle, a weight holding him down. Or so he thought.

You blink up at him and he wonders if you know what’s going on inside of his head. 

“Do you wanna get something to eat?” He hears himself ask, his hand reaching out for yours. Your skin is warm under his touch. You take his hand like you’ve never done anything else.

“Are you paying?” You ask, smile doing that little quirk he’s grown to look for.

“What?” He asks back. “Are you offering?”

You giggle, shaking your head. He knows you too well. 

When you pull him forward, he doesn’t hesitate. 

He might not need you, but he sure as hell wants you by his side.

[magewritesstories]

[ ꜱᴀᴛᴏʀᴜ ɢᴏᴊᴏ ] ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇɪɢʜʙᴏᴜʀʜᴏᴏᴅ ᴍᴏᴍ ᴀꜱꜱᴏᴄɪᴀᴛɪᴏɴ

summary: just a simple one-shot of your life before Megumi went to Jujutsu Tech tw: implied fem!reader but no pronouns are used note: listen, gojo has a chokehold on me but domestic!gojo? ooohh boy words: 811 (it's pretty short) jujutsu kaisen masterlist

YOU BROWSE THE ISLE BOREDLY. Some old Ed Sheeran song playing over the low-quality speaker of the grocery store as your eyes scour the colourful array of cereal boxes in front of you.

It had been an annoying experience this morning, waking up to find not only all the Captain Crunch cereal but also the instant coffee gone.

Usually Gojo does all the grocery shopping (which leads to an unequal ratio of healthy- to junkfoods.) But he's out on a mission and you can't survive without coffee.

So, here you are, trying to find a good cereal.

You could just get Captain Crunch, but Megumi complained about it last time so that was a no-go.

"You should get that one," A feminine voice spoke up as you were reading the label of a bright pink box.

You turn around to face the unfamiliar voice. "Excuse me?"

An elder woman, maybe ten years older than you, holds up a dark green box with what seems to be the picture of a monkey and chocolate shells.

"This cereal—it's more nutritious but my kids love it because it tastes like chocolate."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" You question, a little taken aback. The woman's smile falters a little and suddenly you think you've made a mistake. Had you met her at a parent-teacher conference, maybe?

But thankfully she quickly reassures you. "Oh, no sorry, I'm Saori Aino," She introduces, maneuvering past her cart to shake your hand, "I live in apartment 107. I suppose I got a little ahead of myself there."

"Ah, okay, it's alright," You reply quickly, smiling somewhat awkwardly as you shake her hand, "I'm Y/N L/N."

The woman nods as she hands you the box of cereal, letting out a soft giggle. "Oh, I know. My son goes to the same middle-school as your daughter—tells me how Tsumiki can never shut up about how amazing you are."

The comment makes you go a little red as you smile, "Really?"

"Oh yeah, honestly we're all dying to meet you—you should swing by a PTA meeting some time," Saori replies, "I know all the other parents would love to meet you. Bring your husband too!"

Before you can reply that technically Satoru isn't your husband yet, Saori continues excitedly. "Actually, the spring dance is coming up, and we need volunteer chaperones."

"Oh, uhm, I suppose I could check my schedule..." You reply, sheepishly rubbing the back of your neck.

"That's great!" She replies, clasping her hands together excitedly before checking her watch, "Ah, I should really get going and make dinner but think about what I said. And don't be shy to ask for a favour every now and then, we parents should stick together, right?"

Saori doesn't give you the time to reply as she quickly walks off with a small wave. Leaving you standing there with a box of cereal in your hand, wondering what had just happened.

You're lazing on the couch—halfheartedly listening to the protagonist of the movie monologue—when Satoru get home that night.

He leans over the back of the couch, watching along for a couple of minutes before jumping over it and plopping down next to you.

You quickly wing your legs over his lap as he takes of his blindfold, tiredly resting your head on his shoulder.

"How'd the mission go?"

"As always, it was a walk in the park."

You playfully roll you eyes at his bragging tone. "How was it here? Anything exciting happen?" Satoru asks, wrapping an arm around your shoulder as he relaxes.

"Nothing special, just ran some errands, helped Tsumiki with math—at least I think I did, pretty sure we were both crying about the primitive at some point."

Then you suddenly remember your interaction at the store. "Oh, and I think I'm officially a part of the neighbourhood mom association."

Gojo peels his eyes away form the glowing screen, "What?"

"Yeah, I was grocery shopping today—because somebody finished all the coffee and didn't bother to restock—" He feigns an innocent face at that—"And one of the moms that lives in the building walked up to me."

He raises a brow at the statement. "She started talking 'bout how the PTA would love to have us join them, they need chaperones for Tsumiki's spring dance, and how we shouldn't be shy and ask for help if we need it, etc."

"Congratulations," He replies sarcastically, grinning at the proud smile on your face. You nod, "I think I deserve to be recognized as a parent after putting up with you and Megumi."

Satoru just rolls his eyes playfully.

"Oh and by the way, everyone thinks you're my husband."

He lets out a laugh at that statement, placing a sloppy kiss on you cheek, "Yeah, I should probably get on that, huh?"

"Probably."

[themultifandomgal]

Hey!

I have a Matt Casey request for you.

What if Casey was together with Kelly severide’s little sister who also is the PIC for ambo 61 and her partner on ambo is Gabby Dawson.

Y/n and Casey have decided that they want to adopt Louie and they are trying to do this, but it is hard when they are basically just dating and they aren’t married or even engaged.

After the celebration of 100 years anniversary at Molly’s, Casey and y/n decides to get married at the courthouse and of course everyone from the firehouse are at the courthouse to see everything and even Benny Severide is there to see his daughter getting married.

A few moments between y/n, Severide and Louie.

Moment between y/n, Severide and Benny.

Moments between Louie and Casey.

And moments between Casey, y/n and louie.

Something that’s based on season 5 episode 8

Matt Casey- Courthouse

How are we at Mollys celebrating 100 years of Mollys, well the bar. I hold my boyfriend, Matt, hand while standing next to my older brother Kelly. He's the reason I became a PIC for ambo 61 and the reason I met Matt. That's was a few years ago. I'm also holding on to the little boy I saved on my hip named Louis. We've both fallen in love with this little chap and so are currently fostering him, with the intent to adopt but it's looking to be a challenge because Matt and I aren't married or even engaged. I would be seen as a single mom.

"Ok" Herrmann grabs all of our attention as he stands on a chair "everybody, uh listen. 100 of anything is impressive but uh, 100 years for a bar that is down right magical. Back then there was no television, radio..."

"Well if we want to be specific radios we're actually invented in 1895 making them over a hundred years old"

"Who invited the history nerd" Hermann points at me making us all laugh

"Sorry. Continue" I tell him

"There was just neighbourhood with hard working people who needed a place filled with family"

"As long as Capone wasn't around" Mouch comments

"That's what this building is about" Herrmann continues "this place was built on Chicago soil and the original soil was rough and bloody, but Mollys, Mollys foundation is built on love" I can already feel tears starting the threaten "I don't care if that's corny. But it's built on love and you can feel it every time you walk in here. So heres to the next 100"

"Let's get married"

"What?" I frown looking at Matt

"Let's get married. Right now"

"Let's go" I smile feeling giddy

"Come here bud" Matt takes Louis from my arms and kisses his forehead

"Where are you guys going?" Herrmann stops us before we leave

"We're going to get married" Matt replies

"What? Guys they're finally getting married!" Herrmann shouts at the top of his lungs

"Not without us" Sylvie

When we all arrive at the courthouse I see mine and Kelly's dad and also our half sister Kate. I frown looking at Kelly confused

"What's dad doing here?" I ask

"I called him and Kate. Thought he'd want to see at least one of his kids get married" Kelly says "and well I know you and Kate talk all the time so"

"Thank you Kell"

"Let's do this!" dad yells clapping his hands. Kelly picks Louis up

"Hey little man. Ready to watch mommy and daddy get married?" he asks Louis who claps nodding his head. I take our dads arm while Kelly stands at the front with Matt

"We don't really need to do this do we? It's not like it's a proper wedding"

"Hey this is a proper wedding. It's your wedding" dad says. He walks me to Matt who takes my hands in his "you look after her"

"I will don't worry"

"Because if he doesn't he'll have me to deal with" Kelly says making all of us laugh.

The minister does his thing, we say our I do's and then we're pronounced husband and wife. We all head back to Mollys to celebrate. I watch as Louis is dancing with Matt

"So, that's going to be my grandson then?"

"Yeah" I give dad a smile "well as long as the adoption papers go through. We're doing them first thing in the morning"

"They'll got through promise" Kelly gives me a nudge "how couldn't they. Louis is so loved and safe with you and Matt. Hell Louis has the whole of the firehouse, PD and Med that will look after him"

"I'm proud of you YN. Both of you" wow dad actually is being super nice. Maybe weddings really do bring people together

"Mommy, dance" Louis says holding his hands out to me. I get up from my seat and join him and Matt dancing together

"You know we love you Louis, we both love you so much" Matt says hugging both of us.

The next day Matt and I walk into the firehouse with Louis holding both our hands

"You two going on a honeymoon?"

"No they are not. We all know what happened on a honeymoon" Kelly responds to mouch

"Shut up" I roll my eyes at my brother "Louis let's go and get some breakfast" I pick him up and take him to the kitchen, sitting him down on a chair

"Cheerios again?" Kelly walks in ruffling Louis hair

"He loves them"

"So when do you find out if you've got Louis?"

"In a week or so" I place the cereal in front of Louis and sit next to him. Kelly sits the other side

"You are going to be one loved and luckily boy" Kelly says to Louis "I've always got yours, your moms and dads back. That's a promise"

[specialagentlokitty]

Saul silva/ Farah x Student!reader - not so lonely with you

Or a student reader who sees them as parental figures as hers aren't the best/aren't alive? - @casserole-from-dads-asserole 💜

Sitting on the steps of your parents house, you stared out into the street as you sighed, looking at all the neighbourhood children running around, laughing and playing.

They were loving their winter, having the best time of their lives and you wished you could go back to that.

Standing up, you walked back inside the empty house and looked around before making your way to your parents bedroom and sitting in the stairs.

It hasn’t changed since that day, sure, you’d clean it, but that was it, the sheets were the same fresh ones they had put on, your dad’s favourite hoodie laid out on the bed because he was going to wear it.

He never got the chance to, you debated letting him have his send off with it, but you didn’t want to leave it.

You heard your phone chime, so you got up and walked back to your room to see a few missed messages from your suite chat, and one from your headmistress.

Miss Dowling: your homework is overdue, are you able to send it in?

Looking at the message you put your phone down and started at the laptop in front of you.

You had your homework up, but you just didn’t want to do it, you didn’t want to talk to your suite mates, you didn’t want to work, you didn’t want to do anything.

You hated this time of year, despised it.

As you wondered around this empty home, it reminded you of what you were missing, so you pulled on your jacket and left.

Wondering into the snowy streets as you just started to walk around without any destination in mind.

You went to a few shops, and walked back with a bag in your hand only to stop when you reached your door.

“Bloom?”

“Hey, sorry, I know you don’t want to see anyone, but I thought I’d give you this.” She smiled.

She held a small present out for you and you took it, setting it carefully into the bag.

“Thank you…”

“Uhm.. also Dowling and Silva are coming here..”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, they asked for your address. I hope you don’t mind, and mom said you can come over anytime.”

You just nodded and went inside the house and she sighed, leaving you alone since she knew that’s what you wanted.

It’s all you wanted around Christmas, was to be left alone.

You sat on the living room floor, you took everything out of the bag.

Setting Blooms present for you on the table, you looked at the other two, carefully wrapped thanks to a helpful man at the store.

You picked them up, and got up, walking to the table in the corner of the room, you carefully set them down in front of the two pictures.

“I’ll bring them to you on Christmas..” you whispered.

Walking away, you tried to find something to pass the time, cleaning, taking a short nap and finally cooking something to eat.

That’s when there was a knock on the door and you got up, walking over to open to.

“Hello.” You greeted.

“Good evening (Y/N).” Farah smiled.

“Do you mind if we come in for a talk?” Silva asked.

You stepped aside to let them in and closed the door, locking it.

“I’m making dinner, so you want some?” You asked.

“That would be nice, thank you.” Farah nodded.

They followed you through to the kitchen and looked around the home while they did.

“Is everything alright?” Silva asked.

“I suppose. Why?”

“Everyone’s concerned for you, your suite mates haven’t heard from you, and every attempt to contact you has failed. We just wanted to check in with you.” Farah explained.

You dished up the food and carried their plates to the table before bringing your own through and sitting down.

“The holiday cheer isn’t my thing.”

They looked up from their food.

“You don’t like Christmas?” Silva asked.

“No. Sometimes I go to blooms on Christmas Eve, but that’s it.”

The two teachers shared a look.

“So.. you just spend it alone?” Farah asked.

You nodded your head, silently eating your dinner.

They were aware that you lived alone, but that was as much as they knew.

“Why not spend it with friends? Family?” Farah asked.

“Aside from bloom all my friends live either in solaria or England, and I have no family. If you’re here for the homework I’ll do it, but I guess I could use some help since your both here.”

“Of course.” Silva nodded.

You all finished eating, you took their dishes away and went to get your laptop and you all sat in the living room while they helped you with all the homework you hadn’t been doing.

It took a while to do, and when late night rolled around you had finished.

“You can stay here. There’s a guest room and someone can sleep on the couch, but I don’t have any spare clothes.”

“That’s fine, I’ll take the sofa, thank you.” Silva smiled.

You nodded, leading Farah to the guest room, and after showing them both where everything was you went to bed.

Morning came around, and you woke up late, going downstairs you thought the two teachers would be gone but they weren’t.

Farah was washing the dishes while Silva was making breakfast.

“You can go.”

“Well, we don’t actually have any plans for Christmas, so we’re going to stay here.” Silva smiled.

“Why?”

Farah turned around, drying her hands.

“We just don’t feel right leaving you in your own. Christmas is clearly a hard time for you, so we’ll stay. Maybe you can show us around?” Farah smiled.

You shrugged a little, stuffing your hands in your pockets.

“Okay.”

And you did, you showed them around, showed them places you used to go as a child.

They told you what they used to do for Christmas and you did the same thing, telling them what you used to do.

And when Christmas rolled around you got ready to go out.

“You’re going out?” Silva asked.

“You can come if you want.”

“Give us a minute.” Farah smiled.

You nodded and waited for them, then you adjusted the bag on your shoulder and left the house.

The streets were quiet and they did question where you all were going but you didn’t tell them, you kept wondering until you came across the gates.

“Merry Christmas kid.” The man smiled.

“Thank you sir, can we go in?”

“Of course. Here.”

He opened the gates for you and you walked in, following the path you were so used to until you stopped and took your bag off.

Silva and Farah shared a look but stayed quiet as they watched what was going on.

You crouched down, opening your bag you pulled out the two presents and set them in the snow, and wiped the headstones.

“Merry Christmas mom.. dad..” you whispered.

You sat down in the snow and started to talk to them, and the two teachers crouched down behind you, both placing a comforting hand on your shoulder.

And you reached up, putting your hand over your own as you smiled a little bit and carried on talking

[druidx]

Her Countenance was Light - Chapter 29

CW: Blood, Injury, Implied child abuse AO3 ; Chapters: 01. 10. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. Tag list (ask for +/-): @aquadestinyswriting, @hannah-heartstrings, @jacqueswriteblrlibrary, @babyblueetbaemonster @mr-orion

"Hi, Mom," Elo says to the short, dark-haired, nondescript woman who answers the door of the nondescript house on this nondescript, not-quite-suburban street. Elo watches her Mother's expression as Oakrose takes in the state of her erstwhile foster daughter, with a gaze that swiftly travels from surprised joy to deep suspicion and finally ends in parental dismay. "Oh, Love. I think you'd better come on in," her Mother says with a sigh.

Elo follows her Mother through the dark and narrow front corridor, past the huge coat rack filled with every conceivable boot, jacket, outerwear accessory, bag and Personal-Protection-Equipment that could be thought of, and into the central hallway beyond as her Mother bellows for the first aid kit. Elo narrowly avoids tripping over an abandoned toy train, only to knock into the tall filing cabinet and be attacked by the spider plant that lives on it, as her Mother yells for a child to come clear the train and its tracks away. Then they pass the telephone table, with its pot of half-dead pens, hair ties, treasury tags, and stack of notepads, and into the kitchen.

Her Mother pulls out a chair and bids Elo sit, as a young girl with long brown plaits, freckles, and huge brown eyes walks in slowly, holding a red box out to Oakrose like it's a shield. "Thank you, Dimple," Oakrose says to the child as she takes the first aid kit. Elo makes a pained noise peeling her ruined jacket off, and the child scampers back, hiding behind the burnt-orange door frame. "Dimple's new," Oakrose says to Elo, then to the child, "This is Elowyn. She's one of my oldest kids. Don't worry, she's nice. Come in and say hi." Elo gives the child a lopsided smile and tries for brightness as she says, "Hi there." "Hello," the girl whispers from behind the door frame, eyes wide and wondering.

The smell of freshly baked cookies eases Elo's spirit as her Mother bustles around, making demands: "Take off your shirt. Raise your arms. This is going to sting, so don't flinch– I said don't flinch. This is a bit more than 'first aid', my Love. Really, you need to go back to hospital, I reckon… What in the name of the Green Goddess did you even do?" "Fell off my bike," Elo says, hedging the truth so as not to cause more worry. "I guess I pulled the stitches, huh?" "And then some," her Mother murmurs. "You can fix them, though?" Oakrose snorts. "I've been patching you and half the neighbourhood up since you were just a wee little thing like Dimple. You really should go to the hospital." "I can't. My health package won't cover it." Her Mother raises an eyebrow. "Child, you will be the death of me. Tell me you didn't come all this way for free medical treatment?" "No, I did this on the way over. I left a message I was coming?" "Which kid?" "Ishaan, I think." Oakrose clicks her tongue and mutters, "Boy needs a reminder on telephone etiquette." "I came to look for some old notebooks. I need them for a case." "Ah," Oakrose murmurs. "Something to do with little Evie Strucker's murder, I'll wager." "Sharp as ever, Mom," Elo replies.

Then there's no time for more talk as Oakrose sets to repairing the damage done by that damned Continental. Without the strong painkillers from the hospital, her Mother's stitches hurt more than the doctor's, and Elo bites down on the more vitriolic curses, shouting the names of vegetables instead. By the time Oakroase is finished and handing Elo a shot of something strong and alcoholic, all the other children have fled outside. All except for little Dimple, still hiding with wide eyes behind the door frame.

"That sounded like it hurt," Dimple whispers, as Oakrose putters about, tidying her equipment away. "It did," Elo says. "How do you not cry?" the girl asks. "I cried every time my bad mom hit me. Sometimes it made her hit me more." Something pinches in Elo's chest at Dimple's words. "I shout and curse instead," Elo says. "But that's just me. There're a lot of different ways to let pain out. Crying is one way, and so's shouting. And that's fine. Different people need different things." She wants to make a point to this timid little thing that Dimple isn't broken for crying. Maybe Elo's also trying to make a point to herself that she's not broken for not crying. "We all deal with things in our own way." Elo shrugs, aware that their foster Mother is watching the exchange with a careful eye. Dimple creeps out from behind the door frame and to the edge of the kitchen. "I saw your picture in the newspaper," she says. "Oakrose says you helped a lot of people." "Yes. That's my job." "Is it hard?" Elo thinks about it – thinks about the Master of Commerce, and about Snotgrut and Legnok. "Sometimes," she says. "Sometimes there are people who don't seem like they deserve your help. But they do. Sometimes they need it more than others." "Oh." Dimple chews her lip, staring hard at the ground. Then she looks up and takes another step into the kitchen. "Do you get hurt a lot, as a policeman?" "Specifically me, or policemen in general?" Dimple raises one shoulder in a slow shrug. "Generally, no. As long as you're careful and have a good partner, it's reasonably safe." Dimple stares, as if expecting Elo to say more, but Elo is not about to admit her reckless self-endangerment to a child. Behind them, Oakrose closes the bin with a touch more force than might be necessary. "Dimple, can you put the first aid kit away for me?" Dimple edges forward and comes up on her tippy toes to grab the red box from the table. She stops on the way out of the kitchen, turning back with seriousness in those wide brown eyes. "I think I want to be a policeman too, when I get older," Dimple says with such quiet conviction that Elo feels that nameless something pinching in her chest again. "It's lots of hard work, and you have to be all kinds of smart, but I bet you'll be great at it," Elo says, and wonders if this is how Alexis felt the first time they met, and Elo pronounced her vengeance for all to hear. "All right, Dimple," their foster Mother says. "Sergeant O'Toreguarde has work to do. Run along now." Dimple gives another one of those serious nods and walks, quiet and unhurried, back into the house to put the first aid kit away.

Mother and daughter watch the child go, and then Oakrose hands Elo a black t-shirt with some band name emblazoned on it. Elo's shirt is already in a basin of cold water and lemon juice, her suit jacket at the top of the laundry pile. The shirt probably can't be saved, but if not at least her Mother will have some new rags. "It's Lieutenant now, by the way," Elo says as she pulls on the t-shirt. Oakrose gives her a careful smile. "Congratulations." It comes out as a hesitant question. "It's okay – you can be proud," Elo says with a chuckle. "Everyone seems convinced it's supposed to keep me out of trouble, not get me into more." And then her Mother beams at her. "I am very proud of you, my darling. But if they think an increase in rank and responsibility is going to keep you out of trouble, well." She shakes her head. "They've clearly never met you." "Thanks, Mom," Elo says with a roll of her eyes. "I should go make myself look a little less banged up and call a tow for my bike."

Elo's getting off the phone with Evans at City Hall about retrieving her bike when the doorbell goes. She hears her Mother cry out with joy and assumes that Farren and Irvine have turned up. By the time she's finished, her Mother's settled the two men around the kitchen table with a coffee and a slice of spiced apple cake. There's one set out for Elo as well, and really she's too impatient to eat, but she'll never turn down her Mother's cooking. "So where am I likely to find my notebooks," Elo asks, ignoring the way Farren is considering her attire. Oakrose taps a fork to her lips. "Probably the shed. We had to clear out a lot of stuff when I converted the attic and basement into more rooms. A lot of things got bundled into boxes and moved down there." She eyes Farren and Irvine. "I've been meaning to sort through them for ages. Maybe you boys can give an old woman a hand?" "Of course, ma'am," Irvine chirps. Elo has to cover a snort at the way her Mother is hamming it up, which turns into a cough as she catches Farren's grinning eye roll.

The day is still fair as they make their way down to the shed. The children are scattered on the large lawn; one is holding a tea party, offering mud pies and pretend tea to various dolls and stuffies. Elo tips her head in thought. If it stays nice, perhaps she can take His Nibs for a picnic…

Then Oakrose is unlocking the shed, and Elo is the first to step inside. It is an old, dusty thing. Still sturdy and watertight, but most things in here have seen better days; a mower upturned with no blades, a bike with no tyres. Elo winces as she leans over the bench to pull open the window shutters, as Farren follows her and gives a questioning frown. Dust floats in the air, picked out in sunlight and raised on small updrafts of air. The light reveals yet more clutter and confusion – forgotten pickles, yellowed and stained newspapers, a handful of miscellaneous fixings scattered over the bench. "Start with those crates in the corner there," Oakrose says, pointing. "I could do with those tarpaulins, too." Farren passes Elo the tarpaulins. "I didn't know you liked Cryptic Goat?" Elo swallows. "I like their inventive use of industrial furniture." And it's not technically a lie, because Maddy's played her enough of the band's music that it's a genuine opinion. Farren harrumphs and turns away to start hauling down crates.

The tarpaulins are spread out on the lawn, and Elo unpacks each crate, methodically searching for her notebooks. While she's unpacking, Oakrose starts sorting the contents into piles of similar items so she can repack them and label up the crates. As they work, Elo shares her idea for the picnic with her Mother and the two women scheme.

By 11:20, all the crates have been turned out and they still haven't found the notebooks. Elo is starting to despair of finding them before she must go home for a fresh suit and collect King Storri for lunch. Oakrose, as patient as ever, digs out some clothes for Elo to borrow. Elo takes herself up to her Mother's room to change. The blouse is a bit more bouffant than she would pick, the jacket tight around her arm muscles and the trousers a little too short, but she's sure it'll be fine. Her eyes wander the room while she fusses with the collar. Her distracted gaze settles on the little set of shelves next to the bed. A clumsily crafted cup, made by her in-another-world-twin Ashbury. Wickerswitch's archery trophy. A giant manual on home brewing, owned by Grandpa Birchwick. Ten small journals, decorated with flowers and leaves. A tall, slim reference guide on local flora from her Mother's old friend Turnip. Wickerswitch's trophy for a prize-winning marrow. Elo's Police Academy graduation photo. Elo blinks. Ten small journals, decorated with woodland motifs. With a whoop of delight, Elo collects them up and pounds downstairs.

"Farren, Irvine! I found them!" she calls, coming into the back garden. "Hurrah," Irvine says, smiles all over as he comes out of the shed to put the next crate away. "Finally," mutters Farren, stubbing out a cigarette. "Where were they?" "In Mom's room." Farren gives Elo a long look, considers his cigarette, and relights it. "I'm sorry. I would never have guessed they'd be there." He looks again like he's about to ask after her change of attire, but Irvine is already plucking a book from her hands and opening it. "My gods! Your handwriting is terrible!" Irvine says, holding the book out, twisting it as if that will make her writing legible. "Yes, thank you, Cobbleskater, I am aware," Elo snips back. "But how do you even read this? It's like a half-dying spider drowned in ink and pulled its way over the page to-" "Thank you, Cobbleskater!" The little man blinked. "I only mean to say, Lieutenant, how did you pass through the academy with your handwriting this bad?" "I worked very hard." "But–" "I taught myself calligraphy, if you really must know, and applied the principles of that to my police work." "But why is this so bad?" "Because I spent seventy per cent of my time writing in glyphs, not the Latin alphabet." Irvine looks from the page of glyphs to the page of translations. "Ah, yes, I see." "If you're done, Cobbleskater," Farren says, "our LT's got someplace to be, remember?" "Well done for finding them, love," Oakrose says, coming out of the house. She hands Elo a list. "I've got most of what we discussed sorted, but I'll need you to pick up a few bits." "Thanks, Mom." The two women share a short embrace and then Farren is loading her and the journals into his car.

With Irvine ensconced with the journals on the backseat, already absorbed in learning the translations she has highlighted, Farren glances at Elo as he drives. "So what happened?" "I swear I was being careful." "But?" "Some asshole tried to run me off the road. Trashed my bike in the process." "You get a plate?" "No–" "Let me guess – distracted cuz you popped your stitches?" "It was a dark blue Lincoln Continental with tinted windows and probably a wrecked undercarriage, considering it drove over my bike. I'd know if I saw it again." "D'we need to divert to a hospital instead of the market?" "No. Mom fixed me up." "Cuthbert's Scales, Bug…" "I said I was being careful, didn't I? It's not my fault the universe has it out for me." "I'm sorely tempted to take you back to the station and stick you in lockup." "And you'd start another international incident with the Icelanders. Just go to the market."

[sprnklersplashes]

time won't fly (9/?) ao3

this was the very first page (not where the storyline ends)

Martha isn’t expecting much from today.

Which is a silly, self-pitying thought that she should push from her head and move on. She doesn’t know why she had expectations, other than she had a lovely night last week with Veronica. And yes, maybe some part of her-a very naive part of her-thought that they were going back to the old days, to Veronica-and-Martha, where every weekend was theirs, but that’s on her for not knowing better. If she refuses to let the past go, unrealistic expectations will plague her until after college.

With a heavy sigh, Martha drops her cereal bowl in the dishwasher and slams it closed. So much for not thinking about it. 

The house is empty; her mom is working the early shift today so she woke up to a note on the fridge signed off with ‘I love you’. It’s times like this the house feels a lot bigger; two floors become twenty, square feet become acres. When she could simply appear on Veronica’s doorstep, it hadn’t felt quite as lonely. A safety net always existed down the block for her. 

Earlier, Martha had asked Veronica during study hall, tentatively, if she wanted to do something today, but she had shaken her head, mumbling about a doctor’s appointment that morning. Which makes sense; twice now Martha has seen Veronica emerging from the bathroom, face pale and hair limp, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Most of the time, Heather Duke trails after her, contempt in her dark eyes. And much as she tried, she couldn’t help feeling uneasy at the sight, a two-pronged fork poking her in the gut. One; someone was helping Veronica and it wasn’t her. And two; Veronica was staggering out of the bathroom with red-rimmed eyes and a bulimic of two years beside her. It’s awful, judgemental, to put those things together and yet she did. 

Martha shakes the thought from her head, scowling. She grabs her backpack from the table and storms into the living room, floorboards creaking beneath her steps.

So, at 9 am on a Saturday, Martha curls up on the couch, flips on daytime TV, and takes out her homework. She has a short essay on The Tempest to start and while she’s been in the class and made, she couldn’t recall the plot of that play with a gun to her head. 

At around halfway down the page, there’s a knock at the door. Martha’s head snaps up. It comes again, quick and dainty against the wood. It’s unfamiliar to her, and for a second she considers pretending she didn’t hear it. Then the instinct fades and she pulls herself up, and discards the blanket before she makes her way down the hall. She does her best to appear happy and welcoming but then she opens the door and she can’t quite do anything. 

Because Heather Macnamara is standing on her doorstep. 

Martha blinks fully expecting to wake up in her bed. In what version of reality would Heather Macnamara be on her doorstep, smiling at her like there’s nowhere else she would rather be.

“Heather,” she says, having taken far too long to find her voice. “Um, uh… hi?”

“Hi.” Heather beams at her, perfect white teeth in her perfect cheerleader’s smile. Her hair is held back in a loose bun, tucked under the same white beanie she had the last time she was here. “I was in the neighbourhood.”

“You were in the neighbourhood?” Martha repeats. She wasn’t aware their neighbourhoods existed on the same planet. 

“Uh-huh,” she says. “I mean, well, I was walking Lola here and I remembered how nice your block was and I thought I’d take her down it.” 

“Lola?” Martha asks. It’s then she glances down and sees that Heather is holding the lead of a very fluffy grey-and-white puppy whose tail beats a steady rhythm against the ground. “You have a dog?”

“Yeah,” Heather says. Of course she does, loads of people have dogs. That is not something to be confused about. “Normally my dad or my sister walk her, but I thought I’d take her down here for a change, and then I saw your house cause I remembered it from the last time I was here, and I thought maybe you’d want to come and walk her with me?” As if on command, Lola lets out a bark and begins sniffing around Martha’s sneakers.

Martha braces herself. Ram’s party bursts across her mind; all dimmed lights and a strong vodka smell, eyes of the world on her. Her hair rises on the back of her neck, waiting for the cheerleading squad to burst from her bushes.

Martha never used to be cynic. But now, she’s pulling away from Heather and getting ready to slam the door.

“So let me get this right,” she says. “You came all the way from your house to mine, which is at least fifteen minutes, to ask me if I want to walk your dog with you when there is a park five minutes from you?”

Heather’s face falls. It’s such a sight that Martha stops short, her breath sharp as she inhales. And then comes the guilt, cold beneath her skin, because this is why no-one likes you Dunnstock-

“I… I did not plan on you knowing all of that.”

“You live near Ram right?” comes her response. In contrast to her previous rant, this one is soft, careful, accompanied by a shift from one foot to the other. Heather nods, and doesn't meet Martha’s eyes.

“I didn’t mean it to be like that,” she says quietly. Her gaze moves up; she takes in the whole of Martha’s small house. The smile on her face is oddly subdued. Martha remembers the Heather who came to this house last week, sheepish and awkward, shivering in her long coat. “I don’t know what I meant, really. Guess I was just…” She shakes her head. “Nevermind. I’ll-I’ll see you around, Martha.” She turns on her heel, not so quick that Martha can’t see the red on her cheeks. Martha stands rooted to the ground, watching her leave. Then something emerges from the back of her throat, and without thinking she calls “Heather wait!” just before she reaches her gate.

When she turns, it’s one swift motion, pink lips parted.

Her hand tightens on the doorframe, the voice in her head whispers to stay put because she’ll end up regretting this.

“Let me get my coat,” Martha hears herself say. “I know somewhere we can go.”

The ‘somewhere’ in question is a woodland not too far from Martha’s house. Well, woodland is a little generous, it’s more a stretch of uninterrupted grass with clusters of trees round it. It’s not quite pretty enough to call woodland, and the stretch of highway in the distance ruins the image a bit. But it’s open and in the fresh air and Lola seems perfectly happy, straining against the leash as she tries to explore.

“She’s cute,” Martha says, nodding at her. “Didn’t know you had a dog.”

“I got her a few years ago,” Heather explains. “She’s a good girl. Most of the time.” A small smile tugs at her lips. “She doesn’t normally get to play like this. When my dad walks her he just takes her to whatever client he’s meeting up with that day and ties her to a railing while they walk.”

“Poor pup,” Martha sighs. Ahead of them, Lola jumps at a tree trunk, fascinated by a squirrel up in the branches. For a second, Martha laughs, caught up in this very strange moment, until she looks down. 

“Oh, hey,” she cringes. “Sorry I should’ve-your shoes are covered in mud.”

“Are they?” Heather stops, seeming to panic for a second. She follows Martha’s gaze and looks down. Sure enough, the pristine white of her boots is now streaked with brown, little jagged clumps nestled in the soles. Martha hadn’t thought of it when she took her out here. Her own sneakers are wrecked too, splatters of soil across the faded rainbow stripes.

“S-sorry,” she says again. “Maybe we should’ve just-”

“It’s fine,” Heather interrupts. She shakes her head once, twice, pink lips turning upwards. “It doesn’t matter. I can clean them later.” She resumes her walk, stumbling a bit as her dog pulls her forwards. Martha picks up the pace and scrambles to her side, slightly bothered by the pain in her hips.

Steadily, she breathes out. She can handle it, at least for the next hour or so.

“So…” Heather begins. “Were you in the middle of anything important?”

“Oh, no,” she replies. “No, just uh, getting a start on that English assignment.”

“The English assignment,” Heather sighs, teeth gritted. It’s there where Martha begins to see the Heather she recognises; steel beneath the yellow satin. “Don’t remind me. I think I just wrapped my head around it.”

“Well, we’ve got time,” Martha says. “It’s not due for another few weeks.” She pokes at a leaf with her foot. “To be honest, I’m still getting to grips with it.”

“You are?” Heather asks. Martha freezes, her cheeks burning. The admission had slipped through her teeth, undetected and unintentional, and now Heather Macnamara has it in her hands. She wills herself not to look at her, and steadies herself in preparation for the onslaught that’s about to come.

Only when she does catch sight of her face, Heather’s eyes are blown wide, her mouth hangs open, pink glows in her cheeks.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that,” Heather insists. “God, I’m-I’m so sorry I did not mean it like that. I just meant that like- well you’re so smart and you get such good grades, I guess I… I didn’t think you could find stuff hard.” She swallows, stuffs her hands in her pockets. “School stuff, I mean.”

“I… I do,” she mumbles. “Sometimes.”

“I feel like I’ll never get any of it,” Heather sighs. “English isn’t… so bad. Not all of the time. Neither’s history.” She huffs, a short and bitter sound. “It’s Math that’s getting me. None of it makes sense, you know what I mean?”

“Sure,” she nods, even though she doesn’t. Math comes pretty easy to her; it’s really just a set of patterns that she can memorise, but Heather is on a roll with something and the ache in her leg is making itself known. Heather can take the reins right now.

“I mean, I know you’re in a different math class to me so I don’t know if you’re doing this right now, but we’ve been doing surface area for weeks and I’ve had it explained over and over and I still don’t get it,” she goes on. Frustration trembles in her voice. “And it’s not… like I look at the numbers and they just don’t make any sense, you know?”

“Yeah,” Martha breathes. “Yeah, I know.” And she does, a bit, but right now the steadily growing pain in her side is taking over her thought process. Before she can think to stop, her hand is pressed to her side, her breaths become shorter, quicker. Heather slows to a stop, her eyes inescapable.

Get it together, the voice in her head whispers. Stand up, you’re fine, be normal.

“Martha?” she asks. All of the anger has fled her voice, replaced with a worry that Martha would be cautious of in other circumstances. She takes a long, slow breath, in through her nose, out through her mouth.

“I think…” she begins. “I think I need to sit down somewhere.” And the admission is humiliating, shameful, she’s handing Heather all the ammunition she could ever want. Forgive her language, but she is so sure this will bite her on the ass.

“Oh…okay,” Heather says. She looks around, fist pressed to her mouth. “I think… there’s a log over there? We can sit there.”

“No.” Martha shakes her head. “I mean… I know somewhere we can go.” She takes another breath and straightens her spine. The pain is still there, but she can bear it, she will. Perhaps if she were on her own she’d collapse on a log, but she’s not about to make Heather sit on a piece of fallen tree. Another breath. “I know where we can go. It isn’t too far. It’s inside. And there’s cake.”

“Oh well, if there’s cake,” Heather replies and inexplicably, Martha grins at her. Grins. At Heather. “You’re sure you can make it?” Martha sets her shoulders. When she was a kid and having panic attacks over going to school, her mom always told her, just make it to the door. Then the car. Then the front gate. Just one step. 

It’s the same thing here. 

“I can make it,” she tells her. She looks down and finds Heather’s free hand half-extended to her, another crutch. Her heart pounds, matching the ‘what on earth’ ringing in her head. She declines the offer though.

Before she turns, she sees Heather’s curl inward, then slowly and limply fall to her side. 

With slow and careful steps, Martha walks Heather down and along a backroad that takes them into the little park near her house. There, she leads the bemused Heather Macnamara and the still-excited Lola down a narrow path to a little white, rectangular building. The cafe’s been here since before Martha was a kid, run by a constantly changing group of local kids and college drop-outs, plus on elderly lady who’s worked here since before Martha was born. For all she knows, she probably built the place.

In the short walk here, the pain in Martha’s bone had sharpened so much that her breath is coming in short, swift gasps.  Her vision blurs at the edges, a familiar heat prickles at the back of her eyes. When they enter the cafe, it takes all of Martha’s self control to not completely collapse into the chair, and if Heather’s expression is anything to go by, she’s not hiding it nearly as well as she hoped.

“I’m… I’m okay,” she pants. It’s far from true, but she grips the side of the table anyway and braces to rise. “Anyway, what do you-”

“Oh my gosh no!” Heather replies. “No. I can order, what’s your usual?”

“it’s fine, I can-”

“Martha!” Heather snaps. “Listen, the fact that you made it here in one piece is a miracle, so I am going to order you a drink and you are going to sit here and maybe play with my dog if you want to!” Heather exhales, a short puff of breath, and then she smiles. “Please. Because if you pass out I will have a nervous breakdown.”

Martha freezes. Her mouth hangs half-open. At the very least, there’s something familiar in having Heather snap at her, her heartbeat spiked out of habit, but the request is so far from expectation that she can’t even formulate a response, let alone say it.

Heather waits until she croaks out that her usual is a vanilla latte, then she smiles and flounces off to the counter. Tiny flecks of mud fall from her boots as she goes.

If this is indeed a dream, now would be the perfect time to wake up. There’s no way it can get stranger than this. 

Martha runs a hand through her hair and lets out a long exhale. Around her, the few patrons in the cafe still watch her, evidently interested in whatever just happened. She wants to tell them that she doesn’t know what just happened either, only that the most popular girl in her school-who used to enjoy making her life hell-is waiting in line at the counter and her dog is rubbing her head against Martha’s leg, nuzzling and demanding pets. Martha gives them, because the motion is the only thing tethering her to Earth.

Good God, what exactly were her plans for today? They sure as hell weren’t this but  as she sifts through the confusion, she finds she’s not really complaining. There’s some part of her that’s enjoyed today. If nothing else, it’s better than sitting in her house.

She leans back in the chair. The pain in her side slowly recedes, and she allows herself a smile as Lola tries to stand on her hind legs. Martha contemplates calling over to Heather and telling her to grab some dog treats from the counter, until she turns her head at the exact time and sees a familiar car round the corner.

And maybe it’s fate or maybe it’s a coincidence, but as Veronica’s mom’s car slows to a halt on the road outside, Martha feels a shiver pass through her. A glance at the clock tells her it’s a little past ten, meaning Veronica’s appointment has likely been and gone. Should she be hoping everything went okay? Should she be calling her or chasing down the car? She can see Veronica, for a minute, jumping from the car and rushing inside. She unloads all her troubles onto Martha, just like she had a hundred times before, and Martha feels whole again.

Then, the light turns green and the car is gone. Veronica didn’t even know Martha was here.

“Okay, two vanilla lattes!” Heathers slides into the chair opposite her. Martha turns back just as she slides her cup across the table. “And they even gave us little cookies too! God you were right, Martha, this place is adorable! I should come here more often. They even gave me dog treats because I told them about Lola!” She giggles, her nose scrunches, and she bends down to feed Lola. “She didn’t give you any trouble, did she?”

Heather looks up, blonde curls falling in front of her face. Her blue eyes are bright, sparkling, there’s a pink flush on her cheeks and Martha realises that Heather is kind of beautiful. It’s always been a fact, but it’s never felt as real as it has right now.

She is also aware that Veronica is driving down the road to her house because of a doctor’s appointment Martha doesn’t know about. And that she’s been keeping something from her for weeks. Something happened to her at the pep rally and Veronica won’t tell her what. Since September, the person she thought was her one constant has been drifting further and further away from her. 

And she can’t solve that. But she can solve this. 

“Martha?”

“Why are you here?” she asks her. Heather’s face falls. Slowly, she pulls herself upright, her hands rest on the table.

“What?”

“Why are you here?” she says again. “Why are you with me? You have any number of people you could hang out with today-why the hell are you hanging out with me? Are your friends busy or is this some kind of ‘let’s hang out with Dumptruck’ joke like inviting me to Ram’s party was? Because if I’m honest Heather, at least the party invite made sense. That had a punchline. And it didn’t ruin your shoes, so what’s the point this time?” She laughs and it sounds wrong. It’s cold and bitter and all the things she isn’t. “What gives, Heather?”

Now it’s Heather’s turn to be surprised. Martha doesn’t look away as she squirms. She avoids Martha’s gaze, pulls at her sleeves, looks at the floor. Maybe Martha should be uncomfortable with how it makes her feel. She is not a spiteful person and yet for a precious few seconds, she’s watching Heather Macnamara become small beneath her gaze and doesn’t dislike it.

Until Heather answers.

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “I don’t know why I’m here. When I went out today I did not plan on going near your house.” She looks down at her hands. Her fingers clasp and unclasp. Resigned, she heaves a sigh and slumps forward. “But when I was out… I could just feel everything and everyone. And I couldn’t stand it and next thing I knew I was on my way to your house.”

“Why?” Martha asks. Her voice is barely even a breath. “Why my house?”

Heather shrugs.

“I… I wanted to go to the last place I felt safe. And that was… that was that movie night you and Veronica.” She glances up, her eyes shining. Martha’s breath catches. “You were the last person to make me feel safe. And I don’t know why.” She shakes her head, huffs a breath. It’s almost self-deprecating.

Not almost. It is. Heather Macnamara is crying and self-deprecating right in front of her. 

And she doesn’t enjoy it now. It pierces her chest, as easily as a knife would.

Wood scrapes on wood, and Heather is pushing her chair back and standing up.

“I can go. It’s fine, I can-I can go. Thank you for-for today. For everything really I-” She pauses, presses her hand to her mouth. “I didn’t mean to treat you like I did. I didn’t mean it Martha. And I’m sorry.”

Heather goes to untie Lola’s leash, but this time Martha is faster and she grabs Heather’s hand. The contact is so sudden that Heather gasps, muscles tensing beneath Martha’s hand. Martha realises she is standing too. Her heart is pounding and pounding and pounding. Heather’s hand is beneath hers/

And Veronica is still down the block. And yes, it’s driving her crazy but Heather is right here.

Heather’s hand trembles. Martha didn’t think that was possible.

“I said there’d be cake,” she says weakly. It takes a moment for the words to register. She watches as the realisation dawns on Heather’s face. Cautiously, like she’s expecting a trap, Heather sits back down. 

“Okay,” she says quietly. 

They order a slice of vanilla cake and share it between them. 

[timextoxhajima]

EMPATH [2]: Home Away from Home

EMPATH Chapter Navi

୫ Pairing: Empath! [fem] reader! x ex! Jake Sim x best friend! Park Sunghoon

୫ Genre: Slice of Life | Ex2F | F2L | Comedy | Angst | Suggestive Material | Supernatural

୫ Word Count: 4.2k words

୫ Taglist: @ac-ewow @i2gyus​ @sseastar-main​ @majesticallymark​ @moonchus @from-xero​ @hoonberrie @sleepingrenjun​ [please use this link to submit your user to stay on this taglist!]

୫ Synopsis: A strict household. A single, closed-off workaholic for a grandparent/ guardian. You had curated the perfect habit of keeping to yourself, cementing an unbreakable wall between you and the rest of the world. However, you’ve been bestowed with a gift - the gift to feel other people’s emotions. 

"y/n!"

"Yeah?" You shove the last of your clothes into your duffel, waiting for an answer.

Nothing.

"Yeah?!"

"y/n!"

Genuine agitation sucks your lungs dry. But you're almost out of here, just hang in there for a little longer. You dump your duffel down to the floor and walk out your room, the wooden flooring thunking with every step.

"Why do you walk so aggressively?" Your grandmother questions once you've gotten within her sight. "Are you unhappy?"

She was sat at her table, glasses perched on the tip of her nose with a stylus in her hand. Sometimes, you wondered how she had managed to get by all these years without dying from a heart attack, especially since her temper wears so thinly that you breaking something would piss her off through and through.

The frustration is amplified when you step into her office.

"What is it?" You suck in a deep breath and look around, already searching for a bag of trash to throw or a used mug she would've wanted you to wash for her. "I'm leaving soon. Sunghoon's mum is coming to give me a lift."

"Sunghoon's mum?" She frowns and drops the pen, leaning back in her seat. "Well, why don't you take a taxi? Why'd you make her detour here? We're not convenient to get to, you know."

"He told me his mum offered and of course I said yes, what's wrong with her wanting to give me a lift?"

"Well, it's not like we're broke or anything. You have more than enough in your bank account, don't you? Have you been spending the money on other useless things like clothes or accessories?"

Deep breath. Deep breath.

"What is it you called me here for?"

She pulls her glasses off and crosses her hands over her stomach. "I just wanted to ask if you were all packed and ready to go."

"I was literally doing that, and I'm gonna be late when Sunghoon's mom comes to fetch me."

"Well, it's just that... you're travelling across the country, so I thought I should check in on you before you leave, anything wrong with that?"

She says it with such poise, it annoys you.

She had worked every day of her life since she was 17. Even when she met my grandfather, it was under working circumstances. They were colleagues and then positioned as partners in a joint business programme - you could say she fell in love with the perfectionist, becoming one herself in the process.

Even when she was pregnant with my father, she took exactly 24 hours off after labour before she was back in her home office.

I haven't really heard much about her. Well, how could I, when the one person who knows the most about her isn't with me? I suppose that's the reason why she was completely okay with my parents leaving me with her to have their own corporate adventures - because she would've done that too.

She isn't your neighbourhood friendly grandma, I think that's pretty obvious. She owns a good variety of branded goods, ranging from bags to make up and shoes and she has a routine of visiting a celebrity salon every month to get her hair permed and dyed a beautiful silver, as if her hair isn't already a soft white.

She works from home most of the time now. Only going to the office whenever there are big conferences with long-time partners or big-named companies but otherwise, she uses me as an excuse to stay at home.

But it's not like she spends that much time interacting with me.

"Thank you... for your concern," With a slow, deep breath, you acknowledge. "But I have a couple more things to pack and check before I go so... if you'll excuse me."

Rotating around on your heels, you turn your head first, trying your best to break the direct communication line with her. The longer you stay in the room talking to her, the more it worsens the weight of her frustration and slight annoyance and passive aggressiveness on your chest.

There's a gentle clack as she picks her glasses up from the table and resumes her typing on the keyboard. "You had all week to pack and yet you're rushing right now?"

Deep. Breath.

"It's stuff that I've been using the past couple of days like my laptop and my iPad and my chargers," Calling out behind your shoulder, you slowly but surely walk away from her office.

Finally, she relents.

The house falls into silence. For a split second, the five-hundred-grand statue in the corner of the hallway looked tempting to shove over onto the stairs.

You were struggling down the steps of the main hall's staircase with your duffel and haversack when the front door rings, and the sigh of relief to know that it was Sunghoon let out was too fast - your grandmother's going to come out and chat him into tea or something.

"Why'd you ring the doorbell?" You whisper harshly, quickly handing him the heavier bags. "You know she's gonna come and poke her nose around!"

"Whaaat?" He whines, obediently taking your duffel bag and haversack. "My mom's right outside, you think she'd let me go without a smack or two if I didn't greet your grandmother?"

"Hi, y/n! Excited?" The driver's window rolls down, and his mother leans over into the passenger's seat with a wide grin on her face.

She's too far for me to read.

"Where's your grandmother?"

"She's just a tad bit-"

"Is that Mrs Park?" And the gentle smacking of her home slippers come down the same flight of stairs into your little bubble where nobody should step into.

"Hi, Mrs l/n," Sunghoon greets first, immediately lowering his head. "Sorry, we're late."

You frown and squint at him, away from her sight, then you immediately turn to her and smile through the pride that was holding her chin high. "He's not late."

"No, of course, of course!" She waves it off. "Exciting time, isn't it, Mrs Park? Thank you for offering to drive her. I would've just gotten her a taxi instead of having you make a detour here."

"Not at all! Think Sunghoon would feel a little lonely if he didn't have a friend by his side on his first day."

"That sounds so much worse than it actually is," He rolls his eyes, lifting your duffel and bag off the porch, hoisting it down the steps and dumping them into the boot of the car.

"I'm sure y/n feels the same!" Your grandmother found the need to chime in. But you walk down the steps, a safe distance away from her.

"Okay, we're set," Sunghoon walks around the car to the other side. "Bye, Mrs l/n!"

"Oh, bye bye, now! y/n, text me whenever you're coming home!"

"'Kay."

"I'll see you soon, Mrs l/n!" Sunghoon's mother bids her farewell once more before rolling up the windows, and the car finally moves off with the scent of his mother's perfume wafting about in the vehicle.

Sunghoon's mother is a lot more arrogant and needy than you think she is. The first time I met her, she was so filled with disappointment that I wasn't strikingly gorgeous or a scholar student, it was almost funny.

And yet all I saw that day was that beautiful service smile plastered into her face.

And then the first time she met my grandmother, she was so eager to prove her worth like she was kowtowing to some higher deity. It was horrible to watch. To Sunghoon, it was a parent-meet-guardian session.

To me? Any lower, and she would've been kissing my grandmother's feet.

"Nice, we're in the same building," Sunghoon looks at his room number and yours. The unit numbers were printed on the keycard given to each of you.

"I'm not travelling to go to yours so you better come to mine," Pulling your bag straps around your shoulders, you bend down to pick up your duffel. But Sunghoon beats you to it, brushing his air-conditioner-frozen-fingers across yours.

"Jeez, was it that cold in the car? Come on, give me that," You frown slightly, trying to take the duffel from him.

"Nah, my fingers get cold easily. It was already a problem when I was skating, don't worry about it," He shakes his head and his hair bounces on his forehead. There was a little smile on his lips that you didn't miss, and for a split second, that warmth engulfs your heart.

But you ignore it, choosing to let Sunghoon keep his manlet pride and leave him to haul your bags to your room.

“Oh, by the way! I got you a doortag,” Sunghoon leaves your bags on the floor and scuffles through his own. “Cute, right?”

It’s a palm-sized wooden plank with your name written in calligraphy style on it, surrounded with stickers and smiley faces. 

“Aw, thanks,” Taking it from him, you feel a grin bearing your teeth. “I’m sorry I didn’t get you anything. I would’ve if I knew we were.”

“Nah,” He shrugs it off, turning around and walking to the windows to open them. 

I don't know why it hasn't crossed my mind to tell Sunghoon, though he's as good as being considered as my best friend now. Though it has been a little more than 2 years since we met, I just... never thought I would tell him about this godforsaken ability.

I mean, what for? He can't change the fact that I have it, nor can he control what people are feeling, and therefore, mine.

Besides, don't think Sunghoon would really give a shit. He's too occupied with trying not to fail his first semester in college.

Instead of unpacking your room, you really spend the time on your bed, staring at the ceiling and enjoying the comfort of being with yourself. The only reason you didn't choose a room with a roommate is just so you could be alone.

That doesn't come often nowadays.

The room smells musty, but not too overwhelming. The bed is old, but at least there aren't any holes. There was a surprisingly pretty view out the window, and just in the distance, you could make out the coast where the students here were known for throwing beach parties and events at.

Unfortunately, this place was nothing but a brand-new slate with the same problem.

Sunghoon had walked you to your first class on your first day because it was on the way to his. He knew you were antsy, but he didn't know that it was because you were feeding off him and everybody else who walked past you.

There had been little glances at Sunghoon from the students that walked past, hints of surprise and speculation when they think "I've seen this guy before somewhere, but where?"

You should've expected it when you found out Jake was coming to the same college as you. You had overlapping subjects you were interested in, and that raised the chances of being in his classes; being in the same groups as him; even getting dumped in a spot right next to him in a lecture hall.

But not because the lecturer still gave a shit about seating arrangement, but because Jake is a pesky little parasite that wouldn't avoid you. He still treats you like a friend, like someone he knew, and Jake Sim would never treat a friend like he or she were invisible.

"Thought I'd see you in this class," He strides up the lecture hall stairs and stops at the row you were sitting in.

"It's a big class and a common module, don't get too ahead of yourself," You squint and twirl your pen around your fingers.

"I assume Sunghoon doesn't take the same course as you?" Jake doesn't bother to be subtle - he walks towards you and squeezes his way between your knees and the seat infront of you to the one next to you, thighs brushing against you through your jeans and his ripped ones.

"No, he's in Sports Science," With a sharp glare, you pull your knees back and let him through.

"What about dormitories? Do you stay near each other?"

"Same block," The entire row of seats creak and weigh backwards when he dumps himself in the seat next to you. "Why are you being like this?"

"Being like what?" Jake looks up through his fringe, puppy eyes tearing through you.

Memory involuntarily flushes through you. You were once in love with those puppy eyes. You'd do anything for him, and he'd do anything for your cold, emotionless ones. The weight in your voice and attitude towards him now is uncalled for but it's a sure-fire way to keep him at bay - you have more than enough on your plate right now.

"Like this. Like we didn't date. Like I didn't yell at you for not being able to understand."

He's stunned, for he keeps his silence for a few moments, puppy eyes fading into deep, thoughtful ones. For those few seconds, he looks a little more mature than the flirty, playboy he is now.

"You give me very little credit for being a forgiving person."

"I've never doubted that," Your own honesty surprises you. "It's the fact that you're talking to me like you forgot it happened."

Jake's gaze is too hard to hold, so you look away first. Your heart hurts. It's a reminder that Jake is probably feeling the same, and yet you can't take the burden of it.

If it's anybody's heartache you'd want to take, it would've been his.

You know Jake is still looking at you, at a loss of words. Maybe he isn’t, but he can't say them. You spend the entire lecture in silence, and before he could bid you goodbye at the end of it, you choose to run off into an endless ocean of feelings that didn't belong to you.

Knock knock.

Knock knock.

Knock.

"y/n! Are you in there?"

The muffled voice drags you out of your afternoon slumber - or at least what started out as one. The sun had set and the room had fallen into a dim shade, with the sky outside a wondrous mixture of blue and orange.

Knock knock. "y/n, wakey wakey!"

With a gentle grunt, you slide yourself off the bed and ruffle the hair on the back of your head. Eyes squinted and feet cold, you pull the door open and let the corridor lights blind you for a second.

"Day one and you've already passed out?" Sunghoon has his bag over his right shoulder, fingers wrapped around the strap.

Your blurry vision travels from his Converse-covered feet to his face, where the lights behind him were still rendering the sight of him darker. But you can see that his hair was slightly out of place compared to when you first saw him this morning. The hairspray had worn off and little locks of fringe were beginning to cover his forehead.

"I'm tired, leave me alone," You turn on your heels, leaving the door open. Sunghoon follows in behind you, watching you head for the desk light.

"So I'm thinking... we could go to the beach and see if there's anything to eat for dinner."

Your butt sinks into the spring of the mattress, hair still in a mess and your fingers are getting tangled up in them as you comb through the strands.

"Or we could just order in, I don't-" A yawn. "I don't think I wanna go out."

"Aw," There's a spark of disappointment that sinks in your chest, like a little firework that failed to shoot off into the sky. Sunghoon takes a seat at your desk. "But we were so excited about the beach."

"Beach isn't going anywhere," You tilt your head and study him for a moment. There's a tiny pout on his face that doubles as a gentle nudge for you to rethink your decision, but above that, there's a little jump in your chest when you lock eyes with him.

Sunghoon has always been a silent persuader. The kind that spoke with his eyes and his feelings. He sulks when he doesn't get what he wants but he only sulks in front of certain people. I was one of them.

"Are you buying me dinner?"

His eyes light up upon the thought of you agreeing, but his shoulders slack and he sneers a little. "Depends on what it is."

"How's your bank looking?"

Sunghoon leans back in the chair and supports the back of his neck with interlocked palms. "Hm, I think I can do ten to fifteen bucks."

A moment to consider the pros and cons. Sunghoon turns his head just to look at you through the corner of his eyes.

"If you don't wanna hang out with me, just say so," He squints and almost rolls his eyes. "I have other friends."

"Oh, do you?" Now, your interest is piqued. It's fun teasing him.

"I do, yeah," He insists, this time, getting off the chair and taking his bag along with him. "Now, you have one minute to get out of bed and get changed for a ten-to-fifteen-buck-dinner or else I'm gonna go find my other friends."

With a light chuckle, you give in, the childish pout on his face difficult to resist. "Okay, okay, give me at least five, would you?"

Sunghoon snorts, swinging his bag out of the way so he can pull out his wallet and phone. "That's what I thought," He pauses, holding your gaze and slowly blinking at you. The moment feels a little surreal, like the kind that would feel like a fever dream in retrospect. Something in his eyes glimmer, and for a fleeting moment, there was a dying urge to take a small step toward him, close the distance between the two of you.

Nothing but a fleeting moment.

"Five minutes," With a slight eyebrow raise, Sunghoon blinks away the extended eye contact and turns away first. "I'll go check if there are any nearby cars for rent."

"What? Why do you need to drive?" You call out after him, who pulls the door open and walks into the hallway, leaving the door closing slowly behind him.

"Just 'cause!"

Sometimes I wish I hadn't met Sunghoon. Not in a bad way, but in a 'so I can't hurt you' way. People always talked about how great it'd be to read minds and know what someone's thinking about, but they don't consider the dilemmas and thoughts they'd conjure if they did.

The fear is there, that something would happen between Sunghoon and I, something I can't control, and that I wouldn't be able to do anything about it.

Being hurt on my own is one thing, but feeling someone else's pain, at the depth they do? Not fun.

Imagine what would happen if I can't process that amount of pain? Do I keep it to myself? Do I share this burden? Do I let it back out and let it ricochet off each other like a fucking Ping-Pong ball?

"Hold it," Sunghoon holds out the paper bag of burger and fries to you.

"How confident are you about the mat being clean?"

Sunghoon flaps open the picnic mat and sets it down into the sand. He found it in the boot of the rented car, but God knows how long it's been there.

"I'm not," He shakes his head, not even bothering to look up at you.

You sigh an uncomfortable sigh, watching him weigh down the corners of the mat with his bag and his shoes as he stumbles into the middle of it.

He stretches for the bag of food so you can remove your shoes, and by the time you've settled onto the mat, Sunghoon was already halfway through his burger.

"Could've told me you were hungry."

"Mm," He shakes his head, mindlessly munching on his dinner. "I wasn't. I just saw the food and got hungry. Here, take yours."

In the distance, there were still hints of the sun in the navy-blue sky. Dark, mandarin strips cutting through the slightly heavy clouds, where the moon was just barely visible in its crescent shape.

"How were your first classes today?" Sunghoon picks out a couple of napkins from the paper bag and tosses them into your lap.

"Fine," You pick up the napkins and gently fold them.

I met Jake.

"Make any new friends?"

"Does it look like I did?" You raise a skeptic brow and glance at him.

"I don't know, you're unpredictable sometimes," He shrugs.

I'm unpredictable? I literally reflect the feelings of whoever it is I'm talking to.

A smile unconsciously surfaces on your lips as you bite into the burger.

"Do you remember Jake from Jay's party?"

The smile slowly fades.

"Yeah, why?"

"He's in one of my classes. Saw him walk in with Jay and they said hi from afar."

"Ah, so he didn't come sit with you?" You pick out a sachet of chilli and squeeze it on a napkin for your fries.

"Nope, but they might next class."

"Are they your 'friends'?"

"Back off," Sunghoon giggles and gentle pushes you by the shoulder. 

His little giggle sounds like music to your ears. Sometimes, you can’t really get enough of him, though sometimes difficult to pry open. But you knew you were the same, so you’re in no position to criticise him for it. The friendship might’ve been short - if you even consider a 2-year-old best-friendship short. But if you had to choose someone to tell your entire life’s secrets to, it’d be Sunghoon. Sometimes, you wished that it wasn’t the case, because since day one, you hadn’t believed that this friendship could’ve stayed platonic. 

One of us would fall eventually. 

Little airplanes in the sky emit blue, white and red blinking lights like strange, moving stars in space. If you listened hard enough, you could hear the engine roaring through the clouds. 

Out in the corner of your eye, Sunghoon leans back, resting his weight on his arms as he gazes out into the water. 

“The water is so satisfying to look at,” He quietly comments. Humming in agreement, you turn to look at him - only to find him already looking at you. 

“What?” The little annoying things in your stomach called ‘butterflies’ suddenly take flight like a child chasing a flock of birds. 

Sunghoon takes a moment, searching your face as if you had something on it. 

“What? Is there something on my face?” You pick up your phone and turn the camera on, squinting in a bid to find any hint of chilli or cheese on your face. 

But you’re greeted by a little chuckle from Sunghoon, before he grabs your phone and opens Instagram instead. “There’s nothing on your face, don’t worry about it.”

And with that, he holds up the phone with the selfie mode on, and snaps a picture where you were clearly unready. 

Later, back in your dorms, you have tears in your eyes as you hold your phone out to Sunghoon, a stupid TikTok playing on your screen. He’s laughing too, eyes disappeared off his face and his hand covering his mouth as he snorts and chokes on his saliva. 

But you turn around the corner and your laughter stops upon the sight outside your room. 

You abruptly halt in your footsteps first, then Sunghoon, who looks up at the somewhat familiar face, then at you. 

“What are you doing here?”

Jake blinks, looking between the two of you as if Sunghoon wasn’t just holding onto your shoulder, trying to catch his breath, walking you back to your room.

“I...” There’s a folder in Jake’s hand. “You left really fast today- from class- and the professor forgot to give something out, so I said I could get it to you. It’s just...” He points his thumb over his shoulder to your doortag hanging from the handle. “Wasn’t that hard to find you.”

An unexplainable weight rests on your chest. You’re about to take a step forward and take it from him, tell him to leave before it gets awkward - but Sunghoon beats you to it. 

“Jake, right?” Sunghoon holds a hand out. “I’m sorry we had to meet under such immature circumstances at the New Year’s party the other day.”

There’s a hint of confusion, then a hint of determination, and you’re even more confused when Jake looks confused. 

“I... yeah, Sunghoon, right?” He takes Sunghoon’s hand. “No, don’t... don’t sweat it. It was fun.”

Sunghoon smiles, turning just enough to lock eyes with you. 

A look you cannot read. 

“Thanks for delivering this,” He proceeds to receive the folder from Jake. “I didn’t get the chance to ask this the other day, but how do you know y/n?”

A frown forms on your head.

“Uh-” Jake clears his throat. “We were friends from awhile back.”

“Ah,” Sunghoon nods, looking down at his feet and rubbing his nose. Then, he looks up, eyes clear as crystal. “Nice to meet you. I’m Sunghoon, y/n’s boyfriend.”

[ncitygirls]

dance - jeno x f reader

fluff, smut, 2.1k

jeno knows it’s bad, but he can’t help but reminisce on how this all began. he likes to torture himself by reliving the first night over and over. it always starts with the drunken taunts from his teammates, sullied further by his dismissal. ‘no way,’ he’d said. ‘i can’t go there.’ he remembers seeing your roommates hyping you up, followed closely by your misguided steps. even after his earlier reluctance, he still regrets not beating you to the jump, his friends’ clearing their throats, trying to act natural as you approached their booth.

he hated the setting: a grotty sports bar a town over from his college campus. it sold stale, cheap beer, triple vodka sours and served well past three am. this may not sound like the typical start to a love story, but it was a start all the same.

‘do you wanna dance?’ you asked in a painfully small voice, your emboldened strut paling in complete contrast to your timid yet gleaming gaze. jeno still can’t say where he found the courage to agree, but agree he did, nodding behind his beer before following you up to the sticky floor. somewhere along the way you had taken his hand in yours, in fear of losing him in the sea of sweaty bodies. in the musty wave of noughties hits with tacky modern spins, jeno managed to lose himself anyway. he hadn’t a clue where to put his hands, his eyes searching yours as you giggled up at him, cooing at his bewilderment.

so you led. placing his hand on your exposed waist, your top riding up as it hugged the skin beneath your rib. he felt you shiver under his touch, his fingers clenching minutely at the feeling. ‘is this okay?’ he’d yelled, though it came through as more of a whisper under the music. you didn’t respond, instead reaching for his other hand, squeezing it over the denim on your hip. jeno was spinning. not from dancing, and not from the amount he’d drank. he knew it wasn’t down to that, nor the dizzying motion of the lights, the thickness of the air or the pounding of the music. jeno knew it was you. your chest pressed flush to his, your eyes boring into his. he didn’t know when you’d started swaying, his body leaning, moving in time with the music and the others on the floor. he could hear the songs changing, feel the bass beneath his feet. there wasn’t much he could do but enjoy it.

much like he still does. as he drags you close to him, the rosie organza pleated around your chest pressed right up to his satin lapel. his confidence then pales in comparison to now. it only took a few months to see the change, one you nurtured in all the ways a man like jeno needed. in soft assurances and gentle praise. in delicate touches and the softest embraces. in ardent exchanges and steamy quickies.

but the trouble began this past winter. well, technically well before. as a child, jeno had spent his summers visiting his cousin jaemin in his hometown from before he could remember. there the two had fortified a friendship, a real brotherhood that jeno never would have gotten to experience without being cast away to the country every solstice. it was there he met his cousin’s neighbour, mark lee. mark lee, a kind kid with wide eyes and a wider smile, was the kind of kid everyone looked up to. he embodied what jeno typically thought to be an older brother. and he was. to his step sister and cousins, to kids in his neighbourhood, to jeno’s cousin jaemin and eventually to jeno. it’s why, this christmas just gone, when mark had approached jeno, with giddy eyes and a giddier smile, to ask him to be one of his groomsmen - not just due to the refusal of a painfully introverted jaemin - but because of a genuine brotherhood formed between the two, jeno’s big hearted self could not refuse.. bringing us back to where the trouble began.

‘so, are you bringing her to the wedding?’ mark questioned suddenly, his arm pushing through the sleeve of his tux. ‘you definitely shou- it’s a bit tight at the elbow, can you see?’

jeno still curses jaemin for opting out of being a groomsman, leaving jeno to deal with the trivialities of wedding prep. not that he has a real problem with it all. it’s just a fitting, he thought as he walked in, his eyes landing on the black silk hanging off the changing room door. it wasn’t until he realised it was just he and mark - the rest of the groomsmen opting to come on a later date - that he was regretting the decision. because even though no one would admit it to his face, mark was a bit of a groomzilla. less for the usual reasons. he wasn’t rude, short or angered by little inconveniences. he was just a man of superstition, faith, and insurmountable dubiety. he wanted everything to be perfect. he wanted to do as much of his part as he could for his wedding day. jeno thinks his fiancée had been right to leave him the task of the guest list. mark easily knew more people, so was naturally inundated with acquaintances. it was a great idea, jeno thought.. until mark kept- on- pushing- ‘i’ll even relieve you of your duties early, let you go off with her-’

‘thanks man,’ the younger tried, watching the tailor pinch the jacket at his waist. ‘but really, i don’t think i will. i’ll just bring my mom or something.’

‘your mom’s already invited man, you know that.’ jeno huffed at that. of course she is. mark did take his duties seriously after all. ‘couldn’t have her going off on me like jaemin did-’

‘are you comparing my mom to jaemin?’

‘i’m just saying-’ mark paused to thank the attendant, slipping back out of his jacket as he walked up to jeno, squeezing his shoulder. ‘you’ve got nothing to be nervous about, jen. you’re like a brother to me. you should bring her, i’d love to meet her.’

jeno flinches just thinking about it, his spine straightening as mark turned to him fully. jeno manages a shrug, turning back to the mirror just for a second before deciding that, no. no, it wouldn’t be a good idea to introduce his girl to his best friend on his wedding day.

because the issue wasn’t that he wouldn’t invite you.

‘you met her at college, right?’

the issue was that he couldn’t.

‘maybe y/n knows her?’

the issue is that you’re already going.

‘you know what my sister’s like, she gets on with everyone.’

“jen?” you pant, his name falling off your tongue as he bounces you quickly in his lap. “come back to me.” he smiles at your sweet call, your teeth catching his lip between them before slipping your tongue into his mouth.

the ceremony starts in ten minutes, though guests are still pouring into the church. it’s what actually convinced him. that and you, your manicured hand stuffing your damp panties into the pocket of his fitted tux. it had been his undoing, your sweeping frame gliding into a small side door a few feet from the altar.

the clock is ticking but you pay it no mind, your hips halting their rise and fall as you dig your heels into the masoned floor, grinding your hips back and forth as you ride him. you feel his nails dig painfully into your skin, his tongue wrapping around yours, swallowing your gasps as his other hand gathers your dress, the layers of delicate organza billowing over his knee. when your nails find his nape, careful not to mess up his perfectly styled do, you suck on his ear lobe, forcing him to thrust up into you.

“fuck-”

“shh!” you hiss, rushing to stuff the same panties you gifted him in his mouth. you hear his muffled groans, his cheeks hollowing as he sucks the essence of you onto his waiting tongue. he feels you clench harder around him, his eyes smiling in place of his occupied lips. he lifts a brow when your rocking falters, your eyes darting around his perfect face, incapable of taking in anything but him and how he makes you feel. there’s a question in his gaze, forcing your head to bob. “yeah- i’m close-”

he abandons your dress then, letting the material pool around you two as he presses his palm to your neck, bringing your mouth to his. it’s a quick and steep descent to your release, your thighs burning as he slams you up and down on his cock, your skin clapping against his as he abandons all reason. he’s kept it quiet for so long, at times he thinks it might consume him from the inside out, all this love he has for you. all jeno really wants is to scream it out from the highest mountain top, tattoo it to his forehead, paint it on the fucking moon. hell, he would pay anyone to listen. he didn’t care who. he’d tell anyone who’d listen that he, lee jeno, was in love with y/n y/l/n.

“i love you too,” you almost cry, jaw unhinged as you feel the effects of his thrusts and affection rip through you. it spreads through you like wildfire, setting every nerve in you alight before it finally consumes him. your heat pumps and pushes him past his release, his heavy load pouring out into you. you milk him through it, your temple pressed to the crown of his head.

it’s the church bells that rip you apart, your whole body cringing as realisation hits. you cringe further as his flushed face fills your vision, his hands gathering your dress again before further staining your panties as he wipes between your legs. “don’t look at me like that.”

“like what?”

“like it’s worse for you than it is for me.” you’re about to ask how when he moves away from you, closing his eyes as he wraps it up before shoving it back in his pocket. “i said don’t.”

“fine, i won’t-” your surrender is cut short when knuckles strike the door three times, jaemin’s sign to wrap it up. “shit, let’s go-” you try to leave but can’t. because suddenly he’s stopping you, his warm hand loosely wrapped around your wrist.

“let’s tell him.”

“tell who what-”

“mark.” jeno used to hate acknowledging the striking similarities between you and your step brother. much like the unwon battle of the chicken and the egg: which came first? which of you taught the other that when your eyes enlarge, rounding into porcelain saucers, two full moons nearly eclipsing him, that he’d give you anything?

“today?” when he nods, you want to laugh. but he looks so confident. so sure. “jen, are you sure?”

“i am,” his affirmation makes your heart swell, even before he continues. “i’m sure about you.”

he knows where your uncertainties lie. but you affirm it too. “i’m sure about you too.” you both seem to forget the wedding in that moment, both neglecting the importance of your bridal party roles in favour of basking in one another for even a second longer. “only if you save me a dance?”

“always.” so much so, you don’t register the sound of the confessional door swinging open when jeno leans in to kiss to your forehead, his bitten lips pressing to the skin as his eyes land on a pair not too dissimilar to the ones he’d just poured his heart out to.

mark seems to short circuit for a second that seems to last hours. “mom’s looking for you,” he announces, spluttering around the words as you immediately grab jeno by the hand and drag him out the confessional. you both duck your heads as you shuffle past jaemin, who looks beyond pissed you didn’t heed his earlier warning.

when you both disappear, your brother turns on jaemin, eyes wide as full moons. “you knew!” it only angers him more when jaemin nods, unflinching when mark starts slapping his arm. “he told you and you didn’t tell me?”

“nuh-uh,” the younger defends, straightening out the groom’s lapel as he reverently shuts the confessional door. “i figured it out.” mark looks bewildered at the notion it had been so obvious. jaemin has to remind himself it’s mark’s day and not to be too harsh. “come on, hyung. he wouldn’t tell us her name, wouldn’t let us meet her.” mark still looks stunned. “don’t get me started on how many times they pulled this shit last christmas-”

and to think. it all started with a dance.

[tobitofunction]

The Witch and The Maniac Part 5

Canon divergence didn’t like the blog ending so I changed it,extremely long, hopefully, it makes sense @oyasumimosura​ @shamelesschristian

You awoke to someone’s hand gently rubbing your back,” That feels good, please don’t stop” Eren chuckled making you smile and luck up at him,” Morning”,” How long have you been awake?”,” Not long didn’t want to wake you, looked too cute to disturb” he said making your cheeks heat up, you wanted to say something to Eren when a call from your name made you stop, it was Wanda and she sounded confused. You and Eren headed downstairs when you saw a grey-haired male by the door,” He little sis, long time no see, who's the guy behind you?” the guy patted your head,” Pietro?”You mumbled,” The one and only,” he said proudly,” Y/N? Can we talk?” Vision said,” Actually I was planning to take Y/N out for breakfast or should I say brunch,” Eren said holding your hand,” It won’t take ages Eren. It must be important” you kissed his cheek and followed Vision to the kitchen,” I think your right about Wanda. I was talking to her last night after you went to bed and she went off at me” Vision said making your eyes widen,” that confirms it that Eren must have been away from her to distract me” you said looking at Eren who was being grilled by ‘Pietro’,” but why did she bring back wrong faced Pietro. Like I know he has been dead for a while but you just don’t forget how your twin looks” you said looking back at Vision who just shrugged,” Do you have a plan Y/N?”,” Well, there is a base built outside of the hex-” he lifted a brow,” Darcy one of the only one with a brain there said it, but it doesn’t matter for now. People trying to stop Wanda but she’s too powerful for them. I guess we stop her from the inside but she has everything she ever wanted here. Kids, you as her husband and father of her kids, Pietro and me…. And I have the Eren I wanted” you sighed and looked at Eren, the fake Eren, your head waged with the options live a fake perfect life at the cost of civilians or having your old life back with the civilians free,” You know this is wrong? Even if I’m dead in the outside world. I don’t want my life to be the reason people suffer from mind control” Vision said, touching your shoulder,” You're right, but I want to spend some time with Eren. Before he disappears with this version of the town” Vision nodded and gave you a smile.

“How do you find it?” Eren asked as he was chewing on some eggs,” Good, delicious even” you smiled,” How do you find it?”,” Good as well... I know this is random but how much control do you have of your powers?” Eren asked putting his fork down,” Why?” you asked cautiously,” Just wondering” he shrugged, he took your hand in his, they were so soft it made you feel like you were holding a Child's hands, someone who never was faced with any type of horror,” I can control it quite well. Eren, do you see yourself having a family with me?”, a smile grew on his face, something which you rarely saw but loved every time you saw it,” Of course, one from each, will be great. My mom would love it” he said making your heart sink,” So would mine” you said sadly, Eren squeezed your hand,” Let’s take a walk”.

You and Eren walked around the neighbourhood when he suddenly stopped in front of Agath’s house,” Is everything okay?” you asked touching his arm, but he didn’t say anything but just started to walk towards the house,” Eren, you can’t go in there” you hissed but he ignored you as if he was in some type of trance. You followed Eren inside the house,” Eren, how would we explain why we are here?” you said, he just turned to you and gave you a soft smile before continuing to walk this time he walked into the basement. You groaned a bad feeling started to erupt inside of you,” What the hell?” you mumbled, the basement was weird, it had arches made out of stone wrapped in moss and the roots of trees, shelves filled with glowing liquids and a desk stacked with ancient-looking books, weird-looking ruins were carved into the stone,” Look who we have here?”,” Agatha, I’m sorry Eren-”,” Good work boy” she smiled patting Eren’s head like he was a dog, Eren meanwhile stood motionless, he was gazing into nothing,” I don’t understand?” you mumbled,” Oh honey, and I thought you would be smarter like that. Oh well, let me explain, I want your sister's powers but I need her vulnerable and you are in my way, yes I would take yours too but you seem too much in control and mental saner than her. So I went inside that little head of yours and extracted him, not perfect but good enough for you to get doubts and now your here” she said,” Why my sister?”,” She’s the Scarlet Witch, a being made from chaos and you are something too but I don’t care enough to research” she laughed making your roll your eyes,” I won’t let you hurt her” you lifted your hand but nothing came out,” Ohh I forgot to tell you, see those symbols on the walls? This means only I can use magic here little witch and I will send you back where you came from. Thank me later?” her fingers tips turned black and purple-black smoke wrapped around you.

“Y/N?, Y/N? Please wake up” you heard someone say,” Maybe get off her so she can breathe Sasha?” Connie? you thought,” What if she is dead?” Sasha said,” Dead people don't have a pulse stupid,” a voice which defiantly belonged to Jean said and you could hear the eye roll, you slowly opened your eyes and were faced with Sasha, how Connie said she was on top of you, her hands were holding tightly to your clothes, tears were in hear eyes,” What’s going on?” you mumbled making everyone's attention snap towards you,” You are alive” Sasha gasped hugging you tightly,” Not for long if you don't loosen that grip” you gasped,” Oh sorry” she got of you and you sat up and looked around, you didn't recognise the place you were in, you looked at around and saw Sasha, Jean, Connie and Mikasa, “ Why are you dressed like that?” you lifted a brow, they were wearing something you only saw in extremely old movies but nothing that they would wear in Paradise,” We could ask you the same and where you have been for nearly a year,” Mikasa said, you looked down and saw that you are still wearing 80s clothing,” It’s a long story but where is Eren? I need to talk to him” you said, Mikasa didn't look at you she was staring at the floor,” We don’t know, he just disappeared, since you dissapeard he was acting so strange, he was more distant, we all thought you were dead” Mikasa said wiping a tear from her eyes,” We suspected the worst when Eren said he couldn't find you after you broke up” she hugged you tightly, “ I’m so glad you are alive, where were you all this time?” she asked, you sighed and looked at your friends,” I explain everything, but maybe it’s the best if Hange, Armin and Levi are there too” you said,” I bring them to you, it’s probably more comfortable there than here on wet piece of stone” Jean said.

“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Connie said pouting,” I was worried that you might find it too weird and be scared of me,” you said,” We probably would have been but we would have gotten over it, you are our friend after all,” Jean said making everyone nods,” Now, it’s your turn. Where are we and were is Eren,” you said after a while,” This is Marley, we left Paradise soon after you went missing, the last we saw of Eren was at an assembly.... however we weren't contactless, we received this letter a couple of months ago, it’s from Eren,” Mikasa said handing you a letter, you quickly read through it,” Are you going through with this?” you asked handing Mikasa the letter back, Eren’s plan in the letter was different to the plan he told you about, did he change his mind? Or is this plan just a diversion of his actual plan, the latter is probably the truth” We need Eren back, so we don't really have a choice. Paradise can't win a war against Marley, we are way too behind to stand a chance” Jean said,” Armin will you be okay with killing people with the colossal?” you asked the boy,” I don’t know but do I have a choice?”,” If you are thinking of writing back to him, don't include me being back. I want it to be a surprise” you said.

Chaos, blood, death, and destruction that was surrounding you right now. Eren transformed in the midst of a war declaration against Paradise. He might have killed a bunch of soldiers but he also killed civilians and children. You watched Eren getting attacked by the War Hammer when you decided it was time to finally intervene, you used your powers to stop the hammer from hitting Eren, and the red glow shined on the white material, the war hammer seemed rattled by this which gives Eren the opportunity to pull the shifter from her place, she was inside the same crystal as Annie is. “Goddamit Eren” you mumbled as he began bitting into the crystal, you shoved the war hammer titan away from Eren,” Eren, don't,” you said landing on his shoulder, this head turned to you,” Y/N?” you looked behind you and saw Eren, his hair was longer than the last time you saw him, he grew a small chin beard, his green eyes were dull, no life were behind them,” Ere, please stop this. Stop this massacre” you kneeled down in front of him, cupping his cheek,” Please” you begged,” I’m not going to let them take away my freedom,” he said.

 You couldn't stop Eren from eating the war hammer, he was with Levi and his brother. You stood with Sasha,” It’s not your fault that Eren ate the war hammer” she tried comforting you,” I could have stopped him, but I didn't” you sighed,” Did you hear that?” Sasha said randomly, you looked around and saw a little girl with a gun,” Sasha watch out” you said as the girl pulled the trigger, you pushed Sasha out the way with your powers, and she crashed against the went with a heavy thud, the bullet hit a random soldier making him fall to his knees as blood gushed out of his side,” Crap” you mumbled as his friends rushed to his aid. Meanwhile the other rushed towards the girl and another child who appeared,” Don’t hurt them. We bring them to the Commander and Captain” you said pushing past them and grabbing the kids from the grasp of the angry soldiers. Some of them gave you dirty looks,” Why should we listen to a freak like you?” one asked getting face to face with you,” Because, I could kill you with a flick of my finger. So move or you will be moved” you hissed pushing the kids past the soldiers,” How is Sasha?”,” She will be fine, just with a major headache” Jean said as Sasha tried to sit up,” Sorry about that. Didn’t mean to be so harsh” you cringed,” She’s alive that’s the most important” Connie answered for her.

They threw Eren into prison and brought Zeke somewhere with Levi. Hange gave you permission to talk to Eren but only for 10 minutes.” Hey Eren” you said, he looked from the mirror to you, he was clean-shaven and had his hair in a bun,” Don’t you want to put on a shirt? It’s quite chilly here” Eren chuckled,” Don’t like the view?” he teased walking over,” Where have you been?” he asked reaching his hand through the bars, his rough hands cupped your cheek, his thumb stroking the skin,” Westview, it’s a long story with no end so far but someone, my neighbour and a fake you send me back here” Eren furrowed his brows,” Told you it was complicated”,” You didn't stop me from killing the people in Marley, are you on my side now?” he asked hopefully,” No, I don’t know why I didn’t but-”,” Because deep down you know I have point”,” You're probably right but you killed innocent people, children” you gently took his hand from your cheeK,” And that’s where I draw the line. Eren please don’t go-ahead with your plan, there must be another way” he shook his head,” I don’t like Zeke’s plan either.... I might have one,” you said making lift a brow,” Give me 2 days, to set this plan in motion and if I fail...., I help with the execution of your plan” Eren face light up,”Deal” he said,” Can I ask what the plan is?”,” What do you think of exploring my world? You be free there. I find a place where the people of Paradise can live in freedom”,” If you could manage that, it would be perfect” he said cupping your cheek again,” I missed you Y/N, so much... can I kiss you?” he asked, you smiled and moved closer, your lips grazing against his when the door swung open,” Times up love birds” Hange said,” 2 days” you said pulling away from him. You felt Eren’s eye bore into you as you left,” Hange, call a meeting. I have something to say”.

“Why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Hange asked in disbelief,” I’m sorry, I just hoped that... I don’t know but he gave me 2 days to set this plan into motion” you said,” 2 days isn’t a lot” Jean said,” I know but if I’m able to contact my sister, we can work from two fronts, it will make things easier” you shrugged,” Just make sure that Eren keeps his side of the promise, and even if he breaks out to make sure he doesn’t meet Zeke”,” Fine, we can do that” Mikasa said,” Also I need a lot of candles”.

“ Wanda? Can you hear me?” you said, you wear floating in the middle of a circle with candles the red of your powers was floating around you,” Please answer me. it’s important”,” Y/N? Is that you?”,” Yes, it’s me”,” Where are you, you just disappeared,” she said sounding worried,” Back where the time stone send me. It’s called Paradise and it’s in danger of being destroyed by its oppressors, I need your help saving them” Wanda didn’t say anything,” Wanda?-”, “ I lost my children and Vision, I will help you but with the promise of you helping me getting my children back”,” You lost the twins? How?”,” Agatha.. she showed me the damage that I was doing in my grief... I hurt people as I didn't get the life I wanted. I’m fine without Vision but I need my children, please help me-”,” I will”,” Thank you, the only good thing which came out this situation is that I have a book.. it can help with anything. You are in a different universe all we have to do is teleport the people from your place to here..... but we can only do a select view. Don’t forget that the world is trying to rebuild itself with little resources”,” Yeah, I…. Let’s go through with it. If Eren awakes the Titans in the wall, people of the island will die as well, man I sound so selfish”,” You want to protect your family, sometimes other people will come last”,” Getting Eren away from here will also be the only option to save the others from this world”,” If you're still for it, I will be here” you stayed silent for a while,” Let’s do it. I need to talk to the rest first. I will be back” with that you opened your eyes and landed back on the ground. The second your body touches the ground, the candlelight died.

“That’s not fair. The other of this isle deserve to be free as well” Jean said shaking his head,” Well my home is already suffering from overpopulation and lack of everything adding a whole island won’t do any of them good. Either that or 80% of the world will die” you said crossing your arms, it was quiet for a while,” If this the way to save the rest of the world from Eren’s plans than so be it…” Hange said pinching the bridge of their nose,” Do you want to tell Eren the news of just hitting him with that?” Hange asked,” We have two days and the day is nearly over, I contact my sister just keep an eye out on Eren and make a list of people you want to bring, keep it small-“,” Jaeger escaped,” a soldier said bargain in,” Seriously? How horrible is he with time” you pinched the bridge of your nose,” Find and make sure-“,” He doesn’t meet Zeke,” everyone said together.

Sasha stayed with you, in case you needed help. She was chewing on a potato, while you were lighting the candles,” Do they have good food?”,” Yes, we have so many different variations of food. You can even make money from it. Either through being a good critic or by eating in front of a camera. I explain once we are there. You will be awesome” you smiled as Sasha's eyes lit up,” Are you as advanced as Marley?”,” Even more”,” Wow. I hope this works all out” she said,” Me too”.

“ This is more complicated than it looks” you mumbled,” Concentrate” Wanda hissed sounding slightly annoyed,” What do you think I’m doing? Fingerpainting? Keep in mind you are the only one with a book,” you said opening your eyes seeing a concerned Sasha,” You okay?” she mouthed, you took a deep breath and nodded,” Any word from the others?” she shook her head and peaked between the blinds,” It’s a bloodbath out there Eren is transformed but no sign of Zeke. You sure you still want to do this? Eren broke his promise,” she said,” I’m doing this for the rest of the world not for Eren. I have until the end of tomorrow, even if he meets Zeke, he promised me not to activate the rumbling until than” you close your eyes again,” I might have found something. Concentrate as I’m trying to show you what I’m seeing and than we actually start this”.

Did Eren feel bad about breaking his promises? Yes of course but he needed to keep going in case you fail. He doesn’t want to waste a day, as every minute wasted is a minute that Marley is planning against Paradise . He does in believe in you though, this is just in case. Eren didn’t even feel bad about killing the Marley soldiers, squashing them like bugs under his feet, they have caused too much pain and death for him to feel any remorse. He only feels bad for the children but that feeling won't stop him from achieving his goals of freedom. You however do care and started to show, your skin seemed to be empty from any colour, Sasha started to worry but didn’t want to intervene,” Wanda, I don’t know if I can handle this-”,” Don’t, we promised each other. I want my children Y/N and if you pull out-”,” I won’t, I’m sorry... I will be fine” you said continuing,  red orb started to grow in the room,” Y/N, I think it’s working.... the red orb is part of it? And should be growing right?” you didn’t say anything and curiosity got the better of the foodie and touched it making her disappear. Sasha landed with a thud on a hardwood floor,” You must be the girl who was talking to my sister” Wanda said moving her head to the side, the orb in front of her was growing,” I’m Wanda, don’t touch anything until I’m done” her eyes glowed red making Sasha nod,” Your friend is here” Wanda said focusing back on the orb,” It’s working, let’s continue don’t lose focus or stop, I don’t want to this again. And time is ticking for you” Wanda said,” But, they wanted to tell me who-”,” It doesn’t matter, focus on the people who you want to bring. They are the ones who will see this and the second they touch the be here. Easy as” she said,” Okay... I guess I have no choice” you took a deep breath and focused all your power on the orb, you felt tired and your eyes were heavy, you needed the close for better concretion but even if you wanted to open them you couldn’t. You thought of the people you wanted to have by your side, Jean, and Connie was the first to pop up in your mind, followed by Mikasa, Armin and of course Eren but the memories of Reiner, the cart titan, Annie invited your mind even the jaw how he attacked Eren. Those two kids which nearly killed Sasha popped into your mind as well, you furrowed your brows trying to get them out of your mind but more people joined in Nicolo and Onyankpopon were the only positive memories of people joining in at the end. But the worst face which you could have popped up Zeke,” No, go away. You don't deserve it, none of you besides my friends, go get out my head”,” Y/N concentrate. I know you are under pressure but you need to keep your cool” Wanda said sensing your distress, the orb in front of her grew bigger at an alarming rate, Wanda couldn’t do anything, you were always the one in control of your powers, something which she was jealous of but never would admit but now feeling your distress scares her, a sense of guilt filled her,” Is it supposed to grow this fast?” Sasha asked,” No but if were you duck as it will be pretty full here soon,” Wanda said as the red energy filled the room.

You felt a hand touch your cheek,” Y/N? Please wake up” it was Wanda, you groaned and slowly tried to open your eyes,” Mmmh, I’m tired” you mumbled,” I know but I just wanted to tell you, we did it... I think.. I don’t any of these people “Wanda said which made your eyes shoot open, the first person you saw was Wanda,” Nice outfit” you said, her hair was curled and she wore a red crown which matches her outfit (her outfit from Multiverse of Madness),” I could say the same to you” she teased, you looked down and saw basically the same outfit just with long gloves and no shoulder top instead of her long-sleeved outfit (WandaVision outfit). You looked away from her and saw your friends,” Can’t wait for you to show us around Y/N” Jean said looking excited,” Can’t wait to eat the food here” Sasha said turning to Nicolo who smiled softly,” What are they doing here?” you hissed seeing Reiner and Annie with people you don't recognise,” The spell affected everyone who you were thinking of while it's being cast” Wanda said scrunching her nose,” Can we send them back” you asked,” In your condition no. You need to eat, drink and rest” Wanda said helping you with the help of Connie,” What about Mikasa and Armin?”,” They went looking for Eren” Reiner said,” You don’t have talking privilege” you hissed making his shoulder slump,” I need to see Eren-”,” Zeke is here” Jean said,” What? She deserves to know”,” He will defiantly be send back” you hissed at your sister,” We can think about it once you can stand on your feet by yourself”. Wanda turned to your friends,” Find the others and tell her she’s awake, I bring her to bed and cook something-”,” I can do that, I was a cook back in-”,” the other universe?” Nicolo nodded,” Fine, I don’t have much but it should be enough”.

Eren sat on the grass in the midst of a bunch of cherry blossom trees, the petals flying around him, the sun hitting his face and the wind blowing around the hair which fell out of his bun. “Is this freedom?” Eren asked feeling his friends present behind him,” Don’t know we just got here” Armin said sitting beside him, Mikasa did as well,” It feels peaceful. It feels safe” she smiled,” I’m sorry, for going too far. I just wanted you to be safe” he said,” It’s fine-”,” Y/N is awake. She was asking for you” Jean said making Eren shoot up,” Bring me to her”.

You laid in Wanda’s bed, she handed you a glass of water, the cold water felt great in your dry throat,” Y/N” Eren said barging in the room,” Eren” you said,” I’m so sorry, I should have waited.... but you did, I’m so proud” he cupped your cheek,” The WestView one smelled better” Wanda whispered in your ear, scrunching her nose,” Let’s leave them” Wanda said pushing Mikasa and Armin out the room.

“How do you like it so far?” you asked playing with your fingers,” I’m free, and so are my friends, even though I saw Reiner and Co outside and I saw Zeke ruining to the mountains” you chuckled,” We find him, maybe it’s not so bad he’s here” Eren furrowed his brows,” Having Wanda take care of me, it showed me how important it is to have your siblings, and Zeke is your only blood relative, I know you have Mikasa and Armin but-”,” I will try it with him, maybe your right, but for now I just want to spend some time with you,” he said before pressing his lips to you,” I will fix the curse next,” you said between kisses,” I love you so much,” he said making you smile,” I love you too”

[smutbymia]

hiiii can i request a smut with ex bf turned fwb jaehyun where he still loves y/n thats why he agreed on that setup but he gets y/n pregnant along the way djsjajhaa thank youuu it could be fluffy at the end thankbyooouu ❤️

You pushed through the front doors of a restaurant bar, scanning the space for your high school friends. It had been a few years since you first graduated and even though you kept in touch with them it wasn’t easy for all of you to meet up due to your busy schedules. 

You saw a few hands waving you down from across the room and walked over, smiling. 

“Great, you all got here at the same time,” said your friend Lia. You were confused at her comment until you turned around, only to see that there was a group of guys behind you that had entered just after you did. And one of the boys in that group happened to be someone you were very familiar with. 

Going to an all-girls school was supposed to help you focus more on your studies and have less distractions but that was all useless considering the fact that there was an all boys school right across the street. You remembered the days when droves of school kids would hang around the entrances trying their best to look nonchalant while they whispered amongst their friends about the boys that they found attractive until it was time to head home for the day. 

Most didn’t dare approach the opposite sex on the other side of the street,  except Lia’s cousin Johnny happened to be a student at the boys school and so he would often use “picking her up from school” as an excuse to hang around the front gates of the girls academy. Lia’s parents traveled a lot for work and so during the school year aside from some weekends, she would stay with Johnny, her aunt, and uncle since her family home was in the next town over. 

That was what led you to meeting your ex-boyfriend Jaehyun. He was handsome and cute all in one and even back then the girls would drool over him, however he was extremely unapproachable in the eyes of many. The day you met, you had gone to the convenience store near school with Lia. The two of you sat outside on top of one of the tables with your legs outstretched as you typically did. Lia was ranting about a drama she had been watching and eating ice cream and you were scribbling clothing designs in the mini sketchbook that you always carried around when Johnny turned the corner with a group of his friends following closely behind.

“Look who it is,” he said as he threw his backpack onto the empty benches you rested your feet on. The rest of his friends followed suit throwing their bags as you and Lia shrieked, lifting your legs out of the way just in time as they made their way into the convenience store. Except one boy walked calmly towards the door, dropping his bag on the table next to you without even looking up once from the book he carried in his hand. 

That day they hung around eating snacks and causing a ruckus but Jaehyun was very easy going. You couldn’t help but steal glances at him as he ran his fingers through his hair and skimmed through his textbook which happened to be about computer programming. He suddenly glanced up and realized the two of you were the only ones sitting around the table while Lia and the other boys all fooled around nearby, gaming on their phones and dribbling around a basketball. 

He yawned and shut his book as he leaned forward on the table, eyes glued on yours as you felt heat rush to your cheeks.

“What are you doing?” he questioned, gesturing towards your sketchpad. 

“D-drawing,” you stammered embarrassingly. The corner of his mouth raised into a gentle smirk as he caught onto the nervousness in your tone of voice. He scooted over next to you and you could feel the air leave your lungs. 

Just as he leaned over to peak at what you were drawing, you slammed the sketch book shut, not wanting him to see the sketch you had drawn of him reading.

“Are they... naughty drawings?” he teased.

“No, no of course not. Not at all!” you protested getting more and more embarrassed by the way he smiled at you. You slipped the sketchpad into your bag, and got up from your spot next to him. You turned to Lia.

“It’s getting late, I should go,” you said to her. She instinctively started to collect her belongings too but Johnny stopped him. 

“Jaehyun lives on her street so he can take her. I need you to come with me to the store. Mom’s birthday is this weekend and I have no clue what to get her,” he whined. Before you could get a word in, the group had split and gone their separate ways leaving the two of you alone. 

Living on the same street is what brought you closer. Jaehyun started walking you home whenever you happened to hang out with Johnny and his friends and the two of you would sometime stop on the way home for bubble tea, or at stationary shops when you needed art supplies. Eventually he started meeting you at the end of your street each morning before school and even on the weekends at the park in your neighbourhood. Eventually the two of you started to secretly date and were known as the “it” couple between the all boys and all girl school once your secret got out just before graduation.

You maintained the relationship through your last summer before going your separate ways once university started. You still remembered sharing so many of your firsts with Jaehyun. Your first date, your first relationship and your first kiss. 

And now here he was years later sitting across from you like he did back in high school. It would have been awkward had your friends slowed down with the drinking. Instead, after a few short chats about what everyone was up to and a bunch of shots later they were all stumbling out into cabs or moaning at the table about missing each other. 

You and Jaehyun had always been the tame ones out of the bunch so the two of you took turns getting the remainder of your friends into cabs until it was just the two of you left. You stood outside the bar with him after getting Johnny into the last cab and sending him off. Jaehyun sighed as he stood next to you on the sidewalk. 

“They’re such a handful,” he complained. You chuckled softly in agreement. 

“Yeah, they totally sobered me up,” you whined, “what a waste.”

“Well it wouldn’t be fair for us to go home sober, would it?” he asked with that same mischievous smirk he always pulled out. 

That led to the two of you going to the nearest convenience store which coincidentally happened to be the one near your old schools, taking shots of soju outside on the dining tables. The two of you reminisced, while avoiding the topic of your former romance until you both decided it was time to head home.

Both of your families had moved from your old neighbourhood but you did still live nearby after finishing school. Jaehyun offered to walk you home despite your refusals. He insisted. And of course, as if it was planned by the Gods themselves, just as you arrived it started to rain. You knew it would be rude to leave him drunk and alone to hail a cab and so you reluctantly invited him into your place to wait until the rain eased up a bit more. 

A mixture of the alcohol and the tension between the two of you that had been building all night led to you pressed against the door of your apartment which you locked behind you, and Jaehyun hovering in front of your face. 

“W-we shouldn’t right?” he started in a whisper, “because...” 

His arms gripped your waist and you watched as he tried to focus on thinking coherently instead of letting the alcohol scramble his brain as his eyes scanned yours for a reaction. It looked like he needed you to finish the sentence because he was struggling to find a good reason as to why he should stop himself from taking your right there in the entrance of your place. 

You couldn’t lie to yourself. You were dying to get a taste of him. He had matured nicely, his muscular frame filling out his clothing. You ran hands over his arms, 

“Fuck it, J-just this once,” you said quietly as you trailed your hands up to his neck and drew him in for a kiss. You could feel Jaehyun relax in your embrace as his lips met yours softly. There was no urgency in his actions. He parted his lips and slipped his tongue into your mouth, deepening the kiss. He kissed you like he had been yearning to do so. 

As much as the romantic mood touched your heart, you needed more to be satisfied and so you took it upon yourself to intensify things. You captured his bottom lip between your teeth and tugged softly. You caught him by surprise as he momentarily opened his eyes. You could see his gaze transform into something a little darker before trailing kisses down his neck. Jaehyuns breathing grew heavy as he flattened the palm of his hand against the door behind you to steady himself. He pushed his hips forward, letting you feel how excited he was, drawing a low moan from his lips. 

“Bed,” you gasped as Jaehyun let his hands wander across your body gripping your ass and making their way back up as he explored every curve he could reach, “now. Before we do anything else, I need you in my bed.”

Jaehyun smirked at the desperation in your voice as you two rushed to kick off your shoes. You walked briskly through your apartment towards your bedroom. Jaehyun however lingered, taking in the space, stopping to look at artwork on the walls and look at photo frames. 

“Jae,” you whined as you paused at your doorway, frustrated that he wasn’t right behind you. Jaehyuns heart fluttered from hearing the nickname you called him after such a long time as he put down a frame he had in his hands. 

He laughed as he approached you, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on your lips before catching himself. He stood tall again, letting out a deep breath.

“Sorry,” he said as he stepped into your room, lifting his shirt above his head and turning back around to face you. You stood frozen taking in his muscular frame with your mouth frozen in a gasp. 

“You- you really matured well,” you said as you crossed the room to place your hands on his chest. His dimples became visible as he moved to stand behind you. He lifted your shirt over your head and unclasped your bra from behind, looking over your shoulder down your chest as the garment fell to the ground to expose your bare chest. He wrapped his hands around your body, squeezing at the soft flesh as he trailed kisses down your neck and pressed himself against your behind. You gasped softly at the way his fingers ran back and forth over your nipples, sending electricity racing through your body, letting your head fall back to rest on his chest. 

Jaheyun moved his hands down your stomach until he reached the waistband of your jeans, undoing the button and lowering the zipper, not waiting any longer. He slipped his hand into your underwear, dipping his digits between your folds as you cried out his name in satisfaction from finally being touched. 

You gripped his thigh behind you, steadying yourself as you shifted your legs to open them up wider in order to give him more access to your core. You could feel your knees buckled as he drew circles under the hood of you folds directly over your clit. Jaehyun adjusted his grip on your body, holding you up when he realized you were growing weak under his touch. He was impressed at your ability to hold back your pleasure.

“That’s my good girl. You’re doing so well. I need you nice and wet,” he cooed as the sound of your wetness echoed with every occasional dip of his fingers towards your entrance before he drew your juices back up to wet your sensitive bud. 

“I can’t last much longer,” you whined. Jaehyun slowed the assault on your clit and instead flattened his hand between your legs, gripping your entire core without moving as he allowed you to regain your composure. You couldn’t help yourself as you slowly rutted against his hand. He chucked softly behind you. 

“Hey, don’t cum yet,” he whined back as he squeezed at your center, slowing your ruts and making your mind go fuzzy, “I want to feel you first.” 

You couldn’t believe this was the same sweet but mischievous boy you had known for so long. He slipped his hand back out from between your legs and pulled your pants down from over your hips until you had undressed entirely. He motioned for you to get on the bed as you watched him undress, pumping his length between his fist as he hovered over you. 

You sat up on your legs, spreading them as you reached for him wanting to take him into your mouth. Jaehyun stood rested a knee on the bed as he stood, letting you lick softly at the head of his dick as he grunted, just as you covered it with your mouth and felt him jerk forward into you. You whimpered softly feeling him push himself back and forth over your tongue as you hollowed out your cheeks and pumped along his shaft. He grew harder with every stroke until he couldn’t take it anymore and gripped your chin as he slid himself out from between your lips. 

“Fuck,” he gasped as he let himself fall onto the bed beside you, propped up by only his elbows. You took the opportunity to climb on top of him, straddling his hips as you hovered above him, dropping your head down to kiss him and silently guiding him to lay down. 

He ran his hand down your sides and over your back as you felt him fumble with himself before positioning himself at your entrance, letting you sink down onto him. The sound the two of you made as your bodies connected at their cores had you whimpering along with the sensation of being filled up completely. 

Jaehyun brushed a strand of hair behind your ear as he gripped at your face, cursing as you took more and more of him into you. 

“Are you sure you can take it all?” he murmured, planting kisses across your cheeks. You nodded shakily, focusing as you felt your abdomen grow tighter the further you sunk down, feeling as though you were running out of space until you felt your rear end finally make contact with his balls. You let out a shriek as Jaehyun let out a dreamy moan, head falling back into the pillows as you settled comfortably around him. 

“Shit, that feels so amazing,” he whimpered. You planted your hands firmly on his chest, sitting up and rotating your hips slowly on top of him as you adjusted to his size. Curse words fell from his lips as he gripped at your hips, slowly and gently fucking up into you every time you circled your waist. 

His thrusts grew more frantic as you started to lift yourself with each rotation of your hips, letting yourself slam back down into his thrusts. The two of you grunted, quickening the pace. As you both grew more desperate, Jaehyun repositioned himself, wrapping his entire arm around your waist as he propped himself up with the other so that he was in a seated position. He bent his knees slightly, planting soles of his feet against the mattress to steady the both of you as he used his strength to jerk his hips right up into your opening so you didn’t have to exert as much energy, and allowing him to control the pace. 

The combination of his thrusts along with the way your clit conveniently brushed against his his lower abdomen sent you into a spiral. You fell apart instantaneously. The feeling of your body clenching around him had Jaehyun releasing himself into you as your name spilled from his lips. The two of you could only keep your eyes open long enough to clean yourselves up a bit before you both fell asleep in your bed. 

The next morning wasn’t awkward at all, thankfully. The two of you woke up and showered, and decided to go out for some coffee and breakfast at a nearby cafe before taking a walk at a park near your place. The conversation was easy. It was officially the weekend and so neither of you were preoccupied with many other responsibilities. Despite the very intimate sex, things otherwise seemed normal. 

“I should probably go back to my place,” Jaehyun said as he gestured towards his clothing. You had already spent a few hours together and had totally forgotten about the fact that he was still wearing last nights clothes. 

“Oh... shit, yeah. I lost track of time,” you said sheepishly. He smiled sweetly. 

“Me too,” he responded hesitating before continuing, “about last night...”

You could feel heat spread across your cheeks. 

“Don’t worry. It was nothing,” you said quickly out of embarassment. 

Jaehyun looked perplexed, then a bit frustrated. You knew him well enough to know that you had ticked him off. Just as he opened his mouth to tell you off, you interrupted him.

“Wait, no! What I meant to say was that it was amazing but I also totally understand that it was a spur of the moment thing,” you said as you grabbed one of his hands to grasp in between yours.

Jaehyun nodded, letting out a sigh and trying not to let the disappointment show too much on his face. 

“Text me so I know you got home safe,” he said as he removed his hand from your grasp. You nodded, and said your goodbyes as the two of you went your separate ways. 

You’d be lying if you said you weren’t thinking about that night since it happened. A week had gone by and even though you and Jaehyun kept in loose and casual contact through text, you still couldn’t stop thinking about him. You couldn’t satisfy yourself either. Nothing felt quite as satisfying as his touch and it was starting to wind you up. 

You were getting ready for Johnny’s birthday party when there was a knock at your door that you weren’t expecting. 

“Oh, hey...” you said. 

You were very surprised to find Jaehyun standing on the other side. He already smelled of alcohol but didn’t seem to be too wasted. 

“Sorry I was going to call but my phone died when I was out with my coworkers,” he mumbled, “do you mind?”

He held his phone up and you stepped aside, letting him enter your apartment and lending him your phone charger.  He was also going to Johnny’s place later for his party in a few hours and according to him he was in the area. He sat quietly in the living room for most of the time. As you were finishing up your makeup, he knocked softly on the bathroom door. 

“What’s up?” you asked in a monotone voice as he opened the door. You were focused on your own reflection applying your mascara. 

“Hey, do you have anything to drink? I think the party already started and everyone already started drinking so I thought it would be a good idea to start now so that we could catch up,” he said as he scrolled through his phone texting what was most likely the boys’ group chat. 

“Yeah, check the cabinet above the fridge,” you said. Jaehyun hovered in the doorway watching you for a moment.

“Is everything okay? I spoke with Lia earlier. She said you’ve been a little... bratty this week,” he said. You turned to glare at him but he raised his eyebrows, challenging you to kick an attitude with him. If there was anyone who didn’t tolerate your moodiness it was Jaehyun. 

“Did something happen?” he asked. You shook your head no. 

“I don’t know I just feel a little.. tense, I guess. It will pass,” you mumbled as you touched up your lipstick in the mirror next. 

Jaehyun stepped behind you, catching off guard. He stood close to you as he locked eyes with you in the mirror. You watched as his hands disappeared behind you before you felt him pull the zipper of your dress up. You had forgotten to do it up earlier when you first put it on. 

“Maybe drinking will help. C’mon,” he started as he took the lipstick from between your fingers and closed the lid before resting it on your counter and pulling you out of the bathroom, “you already look perfect.” 

The two of you took a few shots in your kitchen. The alcohol did help a bit but not entirely. You rotated your head, stretching your neck out as you sighed deeply. Jaehyun was buzzed and in a much better mood than you were, he knocked back another drink before moving behind you and massaging at your neck. 

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong now?” he asked. You took a deep breath as his fingers worked against your skin and you leaned back just slightly into him, closing your eyes. 

You shook your head. He continued to massage out the kinks in your neck as he watched the tension slowly slip away from your face, smiling. It wasn’t until you started to let soft moans slip from your mouth that he froze momentarily. 

“Jae, don’t stop,” you whimpered, “please.” 

He felt himself harden just from the tone of your voice. He had to catch himself when he found himself instinctively leaning down towards your neck to drag his tongue across your skin. 

Your eyes fluttered open as you craned your neck to look up at him, wondering why he had stopped his massage. His eyes were glazed over and you felt that tension ease its way back. 

“O-one more time” you whispered. 

“What?” he question, not understanding what you were referring to. 

“For fucks sake, Jae!” you groaned. Turning around and pull him closer to you as your lips hovered in front of his.

“I can’t be drunk around you like this without caving and literally nothing satisfies me anymore after last week so let’s do this one last time and then you have to promise not to come back here again,” you said, words spilling uncontrollably for your mouth as you began unbuttoning his shirt.

He stopped you, gripping your hands. 

“Wait, is that what’s been bothering you all week? You needed sex?” he asked, baffled. You felt your cheeks heat up, suddenly feeling a bit ashamed. 

“Y/n... look at me,” he said as you lifted your gaze to meet his. He slipped his index finger under your chin. 

“If that’s all that you need to feel better then you know you can call me anytime, right?” he said, smirking. His heart tensed up a bit when he put the offer on the table. You nodded, head spinning from the alcohol. 

“Alright, we’re already late,” he said as he abruptly lifted you up onto the kitchen counter behind you and hiked up your dress, slipping your thong down past your ankles and discarding it onto the floor.

He pulled your mouth to his, not wasting time letting his tongue massage into your mouth as he let his fingers work at your clit the way he knew would have you dripping in just a few seconds. He unzipped his pants, pushing them down just far enough for him to free himself. He was already hard enough to push into you, slipping easily through your folds and deep into your entrance. He drew a high pitched moan from your lips as he thrusted into you quickly. 

Even though it was much easier to take him this time, you still were very taken aback by the way he made you feel so full. 

“Anytime you want, anywhere you want,” he grunted as he slammed his hips forward, palming your breasts through your silk mini dress, “And however you want! I’ll take care of you” 

You felt a weeks worth of frustration build up in your core as you felt your orgasm approach you. You gasped for air, slapping your hands against his shoulder to get him to slow down as you pleaded, “f-from behind. I need you from behind, please!”

Jaehyun didn’t miss a beat. He lifted you off of the counter before slipping himself out of you just long enough to turn you over and bend you over the same counter before snapping his hips back into you again. 

“Harder,” you begged and he complied. You felt him tighten his grip around your waist and rope his fingers into your hair as he jerked his hips forward, not slowing as you came, soaking him from the inside. You screamed out his name as he kept up his pace. 

“Be a good girl and hold on a little longer, okay? I’m almost there,” he said through gritted teeth. Every thrust left you tingling as your walls squeezed around his cock, just as you felt him release into you and collapse onto your back as he caught his breath. Your moment of bliss was interrupted by the ringing of Jaehyun’s phone. 

“Shit, our uber is here,” he chuckled. The two of you cleaned up as quickly as you could before heading out to the party. You touched up your hair and makeup in the car, cursing Jaehyun for ruining your hard work even though he insisted that you looked totally fine. 

That was the beginning of what became a really rewarding arrangement. Jaehyun kept his promise. He would come by your place after work some days, and did a great job of keeping you satisfied, going down on you in the middle of netflix marathons or fucking you against the wall of your shower. He even picked you up from your office, slipping his fingers into your undies and making you cum on his fingers behind tinted windows in the middle of traffic. The best days were the ones where he would sleep over at your place. It was nearly impossible to have a bad day when it started off on such a positive note and there was a noticeable shift in your mood. Until... something happened. 

Your vision was blurred by your tears, as you swiped at your eyes. You desperately wished that you were dreaming. You stared at the pregnancy test you held between your fingers as you sat on your couch sobbing at the results. You had really fucked up this time. All the constant running around and travelling between your place and Jaehyun’s had caused you to accidentally forget to take your pill one day. You had gotten back on schedule but it was too late. The test in your hand proved that it was a big enough mistake for you to end up pregnant. 

You were so shaken up that you called out of work for a week very suddenly. You ignored calls from everyone, including Jaehyun and even lied to Lia about being under the weather to keep everyone from reaching out. Jaehyun kept his distance at first. You both had kept your arrangement secret from your friends and so he wasn’t exactly in a position where he could ask around too much about you. After not hearing back from you after a few days he couldn’t take it anymore and showed up at your doorstep. 

“Y/n,” he pleaded through the door, “don’t do this to me. I know you’re in there. Just let me in so I can at least see if you’re alright.” 

You hesitated before opening the door. He stormed in right away. 

“What the HELL has been going on? You know how worried I’ve been?” he asked. He was raging. You knew ignoring him would most likely lead to such a reaction but you could barely cope with your current situation. 

“I can’t even ask your friends about you because you wanted to keep this a secret. Why haven’t you at least aswered my texts? Even Johnny hasn’t mentioned anything. I’ve been losing my mind trying to get a hold of you,” he scolded. 

You sat next to him on your couch before bursting into tears, sobbing your eyes out. Jaehyun was so startled he immediately moved from his seat to crouch down in front of you. 

“Oh my God, y/n,” he said, reaching out to hold your hands, “What’s wrong? You know you can trust me with anything. Whatever it is, I’ll --” 

You interrupted him, “I’m such an idiot. I thought it would be okay but I missed a day and now - now i-- i’m so so so sorry” you sobbed. 

“What... what do you mean?” he asked, confused. 

You took a shaky breath before whispering, “I’m pregnant.” 

The silence in the room was deafening. Jaehyun had all but collapsed to the ground into a seated position, breathing deeply. 

“Oh, thank GOD,” he said when he finally found the words to speak. 

You couldn’t even believe what you were hearing. 

“So you’re okay then? Oh, thank God,” he said as he let out a sigh of relief. 

“N-no, i’m not okay Jae!” you yelled, tears filling your eyes, “I don’t know what to do, I-i don’t know if I can be a mom! We were supposed to just be messing around... why aren’t you freaking out.”

Jaehyun’s heart sank and you watched tears fill his eyes next. 

“Aren’t you scared too?” you asked him as you broke down, sitting in front of him on the floor. 

“Actually... I-i’m really happy, y/n,” he began, getting choked up.

You threw yourself into his arms. “I’m sorry. I know you’re just saying the right thing. Neither of us planned on this happening. I’m just in shock,” you said. 

Jaehyun wrapped his arms around you, stroking your shoulder as you rested your head against his chest. 

“I’m really excited to be a dad. If you want to go through this, at least,” he said. His words resonated with you deeply and for the first time you imagined what it would be like. 

“Do you... really want to do this? I just feel awful. It’s all my fault” you whispered.  

“Listen to me, y/n,” he said. You nodded, trying your best to look strong as you wiped tears from your eyes. 

“I’m having a baby with the love of my life! I think this might be the best day of my life,” he said as he flashed a dimpled smile. 

Your mouth fell open at his sudden confession. 

“Oh please, don’t act all surprised,” Jaheyun said as he sprinkled kisses over your face, making you laugh for the first time in days.  

“I love you too, Jae. You’re going to be the best dad,” you said as he violently attacked your face with affection. 

He froze, holding your face between his hands. 

“Does that mean we’re really doing this?” he asked excitedly. You nodded your head, smiling back at him. 

“I hope it’s a girl,” he blurted out. You both bursted out into laughter before he continued quietly, “... and then two more boys, then another girl, and then...” 

“Oh my God, Jae...” you groaned as you swatted at his chest. 

He reached out to run his fingers across your belly though it was way too early for you to show. 

“Sorry, I just can’t believe I really did this. Filled you up so much that I actually get to have a little one,” he muttered as his hands started to wander again. 

You felt your body heat up as he closed the gap between the two of you on the floor and drew you in for a deep kiss. 

“This is exactly what got us into this mess in the first place,” you joked. 

“Yeah well since we’re already here we may as well make the most of it for the rest our lives, right mama?” he said sweetly. 

And as expected, Jaehyun kept his promise. He stood proudly by your side through everything from telling your friends, to breaking the news to your families. As days went on you became increasingly excited about the future and felt so lucky to have ended up in such an interesting situation with the perfect man. 

[whisperlullaby]

Concentrated Sunlight

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings: Fluff, some angst (?) maybe a curse or two

Word Count:  1362

Summary: Steve Rogers owns a flower shop and is smitten with a regular customer. What happens when he finds out she has a boyfriend?

A/N:  This was done for @syntheticavenger​‘s challenge! It was a lyric prompt  “ If I told you that I loved you, tell me what would you say?” (The Neighbourhood ‘The Beach’) And I made up a little flower shop AU to go along with it! I want to thank @syntheticavenger​ for reading my story and @river-soul​ for hyping me up to post this! This is my first EVER fanfic for any fandom and the first time I am publishing my work anywhere. If I forgot any warnings let me know!

Friday, 4:00,  like clockwork you walked into Steve Rogers flower shop. The sunflowers always seemed to lean into you when you passed their cooler. You had been coming every Friday to pick up what you called “weekend flowers” for 6 months now and simply knowing you were coming seemed to make the weeks go by a lot faster. 

“Hey Steve! Got anything fresh this week?” you teased. You knew he went to the wholesale market daily to make sure each arrangement held the freshest flowers. You had asked about it the third time you came into the shop and he made it a point to tell you about his daily trips to the wholesale market. What he didn’t tell you was that he made a point of going 6 months ago when you started coming in, just in case you needed flowers any other day of the week.

“Hey doll, got some orange dahlia’s that look pretty good. Wanna take a look?” He moved towards the cooler that held the special find. Orange was your favorite. He noticed how you always seemed to pick out orange day lilies, poppy’s, marigolds, and orange Gerber daisies. There weren’t many impressive orange flowers so when Steve found eye catching ones at the market he would always buy them out of stock.

“No, actually, I’m not picking up flowers for me today.” You paused and looked at Steve who seemed to stiffen. “I’m meeting my boyfriend's family for the first time tonight and I think they prefer white flowers with lots of green filler, maybe roses? I don’t know though, do you have anything a bit more traditional?” You shifted around to where Steve stood at the cooler a bit nervously. You loved his flower shop and didn’t want to go anywhere else, but admitting to needing something to bring to another man's family seemed unsettling. 

Steve’s face visibly dropped and his hand white knuckled on the cooler door. You had a boyfriend. Of course you did. You were concentrated sunlight, even the flowers noticed. Each bloom always opened up a bit more when you were around. He knows he sure as hell did. “You have a boyfriend? How long have you guys been together?” His voice threatened to break, and his grip on the coolers handle somehow tightened. 

“Not long really, about a month? My co-worker kind of set it up, thought we would be a good fit. I’m not sure though it seems to be going a bit fast. Isn’t it a bit soon to meet the family? We’ve only been on a handful of dates. I'm not even sure why I agreed to it.” You mumbled while chewing your lip raw. Your eyes were looking all around the shop until they finally landed on Steve. “Are you okay Steve? You seem a bit flushed. Maybe you should sit down.” You moved to grab Steve's hand off the handle. He immediately relaxed at your gentle touch. You led him to the back office where he could sit while the color came back to his face. “Can I get you some water? Or do you have anything to snack on back here?”

“Don’t go. Tonight. To meet his family.” Steve spat out breathlessly. He couldn’t let you go. You said so yourself that it was only a handful of dates and you thought it was moving too fast. Surely there was a reason you hesitated, right? He had to say something, anything to get you to get your orange dahlia’s and stay for a few hours. He loved your Friday afternoon conversations and the thought of those coming to an end made him nauseous. He didn’t enjoy anyone’s company more than yours, you had to know that by now.

“Steve what are you talking about? I already agreed to go, what will they think of me if I cancel at the last minute without a reason?” You were fidgeting with your hands unsure why you cared what they thought of you. You knew very little about the guy as it was, he wasn’t much of a talker. He wasn’t much of anything really, but he was polite and punctual. When he asked you to go to dinner with him at his parents house you felt your brain start to cloud over. You had just taken a sip of the bitter coffee he had ordered for you when he dropped that bomb. What were you going to do, say no? You were caught off guard! He was a perfectly lovely person. Just not the one you had your eye on.  

Steve could see your hesitation, he knew you were uncomfortable. He saw the way your eyebrows knit together and how you were fidgeting with your fingers. You only did that when you were unsure about something. You did the same thing when you were trying to decide between the peonies and the anemone’s after you had a hell of a week at work. He knew that you thought buying flowers for the weekend gave you more time to enjoy the colors. He knew that you moved here after cutting off ties with your family, looking for a fresh start you said. He knew you preferred tea to coffee but he knew you wouldn’t pass up a peppermint latte during the holiday season. He had to tell you how he felt, he couldn’t let you start this relationship with this guy without having you know how he felt about you. 

“If I told you that I loved you, tell me what would you say?”

You stared at Steve in shock. Your mouth hung open with a gasp. You had a huge crush on the town's florist but thought he was way out of your league. After that revelation you finally caved and said yes to your coworker’s attempt to set you up. You always did have a problem saying no to people and now it was biting you in the ass. Steve made your Friday flower shop visits the highlight of your week. He taught you so much about each flower and the day he told you that you reminded him of a peony in bloom you could have kissed him right there. You knew he preferred coffee to tea after the hour long debate one afternoon ending in you storming out only to bring back a chai tea for him. He said it smelled like bells of Ireland and you had to agree. You knew he was taking care of his mom after her stroke and he had a best friend named Bucky who used to get him both in and out of trouble. You stared into his crystal blue eyes full of hope and adoration. You brought your hand to his face and he sighed leaning into your warm touch.

“I would ask you what took so long.” You teased as he smiled. He grabbed the hand that was resting on his cheek and pulled you into him. You felt his soft lips kiss the top of your head and you let out a breath you didn’t realize you had been holding. 

“So, how about I wrap up some orange dahlias and bring them by your place tonight.” You looked at Steve confused. “What? I don’t think you’re still planning on going to meet that guys family tonight and I want to take you to dinner. Call it a date”

You laughed incredulously shaking your head, “Ha I guess you’re right. Should have known it wouldn’t work out when he got picky with the flowers.” You spot a pen and paper on the desk and scribbled your address on the page. “Pick me up at 7:30 and don’t forget my weekend flowers.” You pulled away from Steve and headed towards the door.

Steve stared as you left his office with a cheshire cat grin. He walked back into the main store and grabbed every  available orange dahlia he had and closed up shop. He had a date to get ready for. 

[starsstruck]

cloudbusting; part six.

a classic coffee shop story. harry is a painter that quickly becomes a regular at his neighbourhood cafe, and it just might have something to do with a certain barista. midnight confessions, cozy closing shifts, and new lovers. 

pairing: harry x reader warnings: language, mentions of anxiety, sexual content words: 21.3k

series masterlist

art by holly warburton. (i have no vision for the mc of the fic, people in the images of paintings i use are purely because this is how i envision harry’s art to be)

a/n: thank you for everyone’s patience as i wrapped up the series 🥺 the final part is here ! very bittersweet for me, i am both very nervous and excited to share this with everyone ! tina @sunflowers-styles i truly cannot thank you enough for everything you’ve done to help me out ily to the moon ! 💞❤️ as always please share and let me know what you thought ! happy reading to everyone 🍊💞

The last time you spent a long time analyzing paintings was when your mom came to visit you in the city and the two of you went to the MET together.

There were walls and walls of art that you didn’t really know the context to – ranging from the medieval period to the surge of postmodernism – things that you had remembered but didn’t really know what they meant. At the time, your mother had been the one excited to go, but the more hours you spent at the museum, the more you found a liking to the art.

That said, that was the last time you really went to a gallery. That was until this past month.

You didn’t really know how long you had spent inside the small gallery.  

Harry lingered by your side for a bit, telling you that if you had any questions about the art or if you wanted him to stay by your side, he could do just that.

You had told him not to worry about you, luckily just as Aleena came by your side and gave you enough of a reason without telling him to go away.

You didn’t want him to go away, you actually did want to stay by his side. But you felt so incredibly guilty and overwhelmed that you knew that you would babble all of this in one breath if you were to stay by his side.

So instead, you stayed at a safe little distance. Walking around the space of the gallery, taking in every small detail of his work. There were sunrises and coffee cups, brushes of fingertips and shut eyelids – everything was so intricate and so beautifully planned that if you weren’t in a room full of people you would probably cry.

You always seemed to be not that far from Harry, once and a while catching his eye from across the room. Time seemed to have flown by, and as the night slowed down and people filtered out, you soon started to realize just how late it had gotten.

Harry had told you after, after what? You felt almost silly, waiting around. You didn’t even know what you were really waiting for.

“My husband is coming to pick me up,” Aleena squeezed your arm from where she stood next to you. “Did you want a ride as well?”

She watched from next to you, as your lips were bit together with nerves that never really seemed to leave your system. After thinking over her offer for a second, you smiled at her. “I’ll be okay, thank you though.”

“Okay,” she returned that warm smile she always had, offering you some ease. “Let me know when you get home, yeah?”

Just as you were nodding and promising that you would get home okay, you saw Harry with his eyes focused on you and a quick pace in his step as he walked towards you.

Nerves bubbled over inside of you, grateful that Aleena hadn’t left just quite yet as he turned to talk to her. “Have you had a good evening?”

Aleena’s eyes drifted over to you, where you stood more or less frozen with your hands woven together, trying to not think too much about how intoxicating it was to be standing close to Harry once more.

“I have – thank you for inviting us,” she shot you another look before turning back to Harry. “Everything looks great.”

Harry nodded with a smile playing on his lips, a little humble nod of his head as he accepted the compliment. He seemed to be about to say something else, when Aleena’s hand gripped your arm once more as she glanced down at her phone. “Oh! My husband is here – I’ve got to head out.”

She pulled you in for a little side hug, waving goodbye. Once again reminded you to let her know when you got home safe and her eyes flicking between you and Harry as she spoke wordless things to you.

As she walked away with her coat hugged around her frame, a small moment of silence passed between you and the honoured artist of the evening before you even dared to look at him again.

“Did you have a chance to look through everything?” Harry directed all of his attention to you once you did look at him. You laced your fingers together nervously and played with the ring on your pinky. The both of you knew that you had seen everything twice, but he needed to say something.

Nodding, you cleared your throat. “I did.”

“And?” He had his own hands fidgeting with each other behind his back as he watched you.

“I love it. All of it.” You offered him a smile. You saw a light pink tint his cheeks, eyes flicking away from yours for a moment.

“Did you have any questions, or…?”

You paused at his question, looking around the emptying room. “I mean just,” you met his gaze once more. “How?” The word was a breath of air past your lips, as you were still so completely incredulous as how he had done all of this. “How – how did you do all this?”

One side of his lip curved higher in a smile, dimple popping as he watched you sheepishly. “Spent a lot of time at the café, sunshine.”

Your heart sped up at the use of the little pet name he had graced you with. “We need to talk. I – I want to talk to you about everything.”

The words were blurted from your mouth, drawing his attention to focus solely on you as his chest visibly expanded with a deep breath. “Yeah, we do.”

“Okay,” you nodded your head, voice dropping. “Good. I – I wasn’t fair to you Harry.”

He was quiet for a moment, nearly a moment too long but he looked at you with that little half smile and gave you a little hum, before nodding his head at painting to your right. “Which was your favourite?”

You were a bit caught off guard from the way he changed to conversation, but you felt yourself melt a bit closer to him. He took a step towards you to stand next to you, both looking at the paintings in your vicinity.

“All of them,” you said quietly, a truthful answer to his questions. “All of them are my favourite.”

You felt his gaze on the side of your face, meeting his eyes when you looked back at him. His lips were drawn into the biggest smile you’d seen from him all night, a breathless laugh emerging from you at the sight of it. “Not too good at making decisions, are you?”

“Not usually,” you hummed, all the ‘I don’t know’s’ that you’ve spoken coming to mind.

“That’s okay,” he murmured quietly, eyes catching with someone as they waved goodbye to him from across the gallery before he looked back at you. “Can I show you my favourites?”

You smiled. “I thought you said that this one –” you pointed to the smaller frame you had both worked on, “– was your favourite.”

“Mhm it is,” he hummed. “But there are just too many of them that I love.”

A small laugh sounded from you, nodding before he motioned for you to follow him. “I really like this one,” he angled his head to a canvas filled with warm tones, brushing of fingers and peels of mandarin oranges littering the surface.

“I started eating so much more citrus fruit after I met you – is that weird to say?” Harry laughed, a bit nervously in your opinion, as you joined his light humour at the confession.

“I don’t think that’s weird,” you told him, observing the painting again.

“Good,” he mumbled, only briefly stopping with you before he started to move across the gallery once more to another painting.

“This was one of the first one’s I made,” he explained, stopping in front of a large work. There were only unmarked figures and bright spots of colour over the frame, warm toned browns and oranges overpowering the entire thing. As you looked closer, you saw the majority of these unknown people were interacting with each other: small shows of affection of held hands and arms over shoulders.

“It was after sitting in your coffee shop for so long the first time. I knew I felt warm, and comfortable there – just didn’t fully realize why yet. Went home that day and started this one.”

You had no idea what to say. He had started these the first time he had gotten coffee at your work? You wanted to wrap yourself in the canvas and live in the peaceful world he had created within the frame.

“I love the way you paint the café, makes me want to live there.”

“Me too,” he laughed, his arm nudging yours lightly to keep guiding you along. It was the first real touch he’d given you all night.

“This was the first time I painted you,” he stopped in front of a medium sized canvas, splashes of blue mixed into his usual warm tones as a seemingly far way figure was mostly turned away from the viewer.

Although there were no distinct features, there was a certain likeness to yourself that you had no idea how Harry had managed to capture. You looked as if you were almost floating above, other figures around you not as detailed or pronounced.

“I didn’t realize…” you spoke, more so to yourself as you leaned in closer towards the thick canvas.

“Me neither,” Harry admitted. “I didn’t realize it was you that I was painting at first. I finished it the day after we kissed.”

He turned back to face you. “I could talk about these,” he motioned to the room around, “all of these, forever. Just want to show you some of my process – how this all came to be.”

“I know I’ve said this already but it is so breathtaking,” you spoke truthfully.

Harry smiled dreamily at you, a small flush of pink on his neck as he nodded at the compliment. “And I know I’ve already said this, but it’s all you.”

Your breath stopped momentarily in your throat, as Harry was looking at you like you were the only person he ever wanted to see.

Though something pulled his attention away for a moment, and he was soon clearing his throat and glancing around the room before he spoke again. “We should be getting out of here soon – it’s just past eleven o’clock.”

Was it? You had no perception of time since you’d step foot inside the room.

“Do you think, um,” your lips were tight between your teeth. “That we could go somewhere, walk around…”

“I’d love that,” Harry responded nearly immediately, the nerves in your stomach settling just the slightest bit.

He needed to grab something from a room in the back before you left, and he was soon by your side with his familiar bag slung over his shoulder as he guided you out the door.

You didn’t know where you were walking really – if there was somewhere he had in mind or if you were mindlessly wandering. You didn’t care that much though, you trusted him, you knew that much.

There was a cold bite in the air, enough to make you shiver as the wind picked up the slightest bit. You were hugging your arms to your chest, feeling almost weird walking with the distance that was between you and Harry.

There were a good five minutes in complete silence, before you couldn’t bear the quiet anymore. You slowed down slightly to catch a quick glance at him, taking a breath.

“I’m so sorry, Harry. You don’t deserve this. I owe you an explanation.”

“What happened?” He asked quietly, your name low in his mouth. “I thought that we were…” he trailed off, letting you finish whatever thought he had.

You sighed, having planned so many things to say to him but at the moment it all left your head. “I got scared. I um, got insecure,” you laughed nervously. “It’s dumb, really.”

“It’s not,” he shook his head. “Your feelings aren’t dumb.”

You had both stopped walking by this point, stopping by a little park near the water and finding an only slightly damp bench to sit on. You kept your eyes focused on the ground, before braving a glance at him and bearing your heart.

“I really started feeling something for you – more than I thought I could in such a short time. It’s kind of… terrifying to me and unknown and just. I found any thread to pull at to let everything fall apart.”

He was quiet, watching you intently with the little furrow between his brow as he listened. “I get … anxious over every fucking thing.” You spoke in a long breath, blinking quickly. “And I let myself – I get in my own way all the time. Overthinking, finding any small reason to pull back, pushing you away when I really didn’t want that.”

“I feel so lost, most of the time,” you kept speaking. “And you’re like, this big ball of light that came into my life and I didn’t… didn’t feel like I deserved it.”

“It’s okay to not know what you want.” Harry said softly, only briefly cutting in.

“Still,” you exhaled. “It doesn’t excuse the way I was so shitty to you, and,” you took another breath. “I didn’t mean what I said last time.”

“I um, I realized that I really like you. And I don’t feel like that very often – there’s a reason that I haven’t ever really been in a long-term serious relationship – I scared myself into thinking that you maybe didn’t feel the same…”

Harry was still quiet from next to you, and you dared to cast him a glance after your confession. He had a smile building on his lips, one that you weren’t expecting to see. “You were worried I didn’t feel the same?”

“Well…”

“Ate you out on the floor of my studio – don’t just do that with anyone.” He spoke softly. You felt yourself warm at the way he spoke, eyes briefly tracing the pattern of leaves splattered across the ground. “Spent all my free time in your café, all my free time just bugging you while you were working. Painted an entire show just about you –”

He cut himself off, taking a breath as he quietly murmured your name, getting you to meet his eyes again. “Haven’t been able to get you out of my head since the moment I met you.”

Harry fell quiet for a moment again. “I forgive you – and I hope that you can talk to me about everything. Anything that makes you anxious, any reason you doubt yourself – I’m here for you.”

Your heart grew ten times in your chest. “I don’t deserve you…”

“You really need to stop doubting yourself,” his tone was light, eyebrows raised as he watched you with a smile pulling at his lips. “You deserve everything.”

“Harry –” you inhale deeply, insides feeling warm and fuzzy at his confessions. “Thank you. For everything. I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Again, he fell quiet with his eyes flicking around the two of you before he leant back on the bench a slightest bit. “You never answered my question, you know.”

“What question?” Your confusion was clear on your face.

“From that night – after we painted,” he paused, watching your brows fall closer together in your confusion. “I asked if you thought things happened for a reason.”

“Oh,” you said quietly, the memory of the question barely there. “Why’d you ask?”

“I like to think that things happen for a reason,” he mused, not really answering your question either. “Not that we’re all born with a written path, but that you stumble upon people and opportunities based off of the decisions you make.”

“What do you mean?”

“Can’t really put it into words,” Harry mumbled, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s like because of the decisions you make, it kind of … guides you in a certain way.”

You thought over his words, slowly nodding. You agreed that you didn’t think everything happened for a reason, with a planned path for everyone. Though you had never really thought about it in the way that Harry had just described it, and you found yourself agreeing with him.

He kept speaking in your silence. “Like, you don’t have a planned path for you but maybe just a small one. One that changes at every decision and turn in your life.”

“I like that,” you quietly spoke, bottom lip between your teeth.

“Like…” his hesitation made you look up at him. His expression was light, small crinkle in his eyes that held a smile, while he rubbed his thumb over his bottom lip.

“Like how I walked into your coffee shop because I like the colour tangerine, and then I met you.”

His words made your heart leap in your chest. Any thought left your head, the only thing coming out of your mouth was a breathy puff of air.

“I remember thinking,” he kept speaking, confessions tumbling from his lips. “That it was a bit of a silly name ‘Tangerine Coffee’, made me curious. But… it brought me to you.”

You didn’t know how to properly respond, no one ever telling you anything of the sorts that made you feel the way you did – that made you feel like you could give yourself completely to this person without a doubt in your mind. You wanted to wrap your arms around him and kiss him senseless, until you were both gasping for air.

“That’s,” you cut yourself off, starting over again. “Harry ���”

“Listen,” he rushed. “I like you, so much so if I haven’t made that obvious yet. I want you, in any way you’d have me.”

Your legs felt like they melted into puddles, taking a breath before telling him. “I want you too – I never wanted you to go anywhere.”

His expression softened, and you saw his hands lace together with his fingertips fidgeting with each other as if he wanted to reach out to you but was restraining himself. “I hope that I make you good, I don’t want you to feel afraid – about anything.”

His words sat heavy in your head. You once again found yourself with so much you wanted to say to him and return his affections but didn’t find the words to say them.

“Do you think we were meant to meet?” You said instead, voice slow as you tried not to let your breath stop in your chest.

“I don’t know,” he spoke honestly. “But I know that now that I have, I can’t imagine my life without you.”

His words warmed your heart. “Me neither.”

Now that you had started, you couldn’t stop. “Harry I can’t apologize enough for how I panicked like I did. With past relationships, they’ve never really gone anywhere – I never really felt anything. Nothing past initial interest or attraction. And then with you… I didn’t realize what I was feeling and then when I did, I let it fall apart.”

A burst of wind passed through you again, and as you hugged your arms around your chest tighter, Harry’s shoulder pressed against yours.

“I’ve only really been in one serious relationship,” Harry started. “When I was twenty-one. Lasted for a couple years, but the longer it went on the more I realized it was more so just… easy to stay together. I had just left school, and wanted to move out here. She didn’t – it didn’t end really well.”

“I moved out here, started over. Felt like nothing was really going to ever work out, but slowly it does. It’s odd – when you’re in your mid-twenties you feel like you need to figure out how you’re going to spend the rest of your life – as if you don’t have your entire life. Looking back, I was much more hurt, and lost, than I realized. I thought… that I wouldn’t feel that strongly for anyone again. But I’ve realized that that can easily change…”

His words calmed you. You held your tongue for a second, before asking. “What about Rory?”

Harry laughed. “Why do you ask?”

You were nearly embarrassed about the confession. “I don’t know. I was… jealous of someone who gets to know you like that.”

“You’ve got nothing to be jealous about, sunshine.” He said, tone light. “We were just friends who dated and it didn’t work out. I’ve seen her, I don’t know, three times in the past year.”

“Oh…” you softly said.

“When I say that things can quickly change, I mean how quickly I started to like you. What I’m trying to say is that… it’s okay if it takes you a few tries.”

He made butterflies erupt in your stomach as you told him. “I also thought I could never, um, like someone as much as I have.”

He turned his head so that his gaze never lifted from yours. “Can’t get enough of hearing you say that.”

You held his gaze, watching the quirk in his lips as he brought a hand up to your cheek. You hadn’t realized the way you had missed his touch, until the few quick brushes that night. Feeling his bare skin against yours again just felt right.

Turning your face slightly while you moved closer towards him, you quickly glanced at his pretty pink lips. You didn’t really know why you felt nervous about kissing him again, but after telling yourself a quick fuck it, you leant forward until your mouth pressed over his. 

His hand easily slid from your cheek to wrap around the back of your neck, drawing you in closer as his lips easily accepted your kiss. You felt yourself both calm down and erupt in excitement as you kissed again.

Although, the moment found itself short-lived.

The first drops of rain always seemed anticipated. First a wet spot on the cement, and then a drop hit your nose.

The third drop to hit you is when you start to realize that you are outside without a cover, without an umbrella.

“Fuck,” Harry muttered, head titled up as he glanced at the drops falling from the sky. His hand retreated from you, disappearing into his big ivory tote bag and pulling out a folded black umbrella. “Don’t have an umbrella, do you?”

“No,” you brought a hand to cover your head, a makeshift cover for yourself as the rain picked up. You couldn’t help but laugh slightly, at the interruption of your moment.

“Here,” he unfolded the barrier against the rain, lifting it up over both of your heads. Extending his bent arm that was holding the handle out to you, silently inviting you to loop you own arm in with his.

Accepting the invitation, taking a step closer to him as your side pressed against his. Your arms tightly woven together, he tugged on your arm lightly as he glanced at you under the umbrella.

“I really don’t want to call it a night…”

“Did you want to,” he continued, pausing as he bit his smile down. “Come back to mine? To keep talking,” he quickly added. “We can have some tea if you’d like, warm you up.”

You laughed lightly, nudging him with your hip. You felt a rush of tingles down your spine, a rush of excitement rather than a rush of anxiety. “I’d like that.”

There was something so cheesy about walking arm in arm under the umbrella with someone in the rain, with someone who liked you and you liked just as much. Something so cheesy, something that would happen to Bridget Jones, something so small that you were so overjoyed about having that you squeezed his arm just a bit tighter.

You had no idea what time it was, and you didn’t care. Getting on the train together, watching Harry under the harsh fluorescents as he sat next to you with his thigh pressed against yours.

He was glancing at you from the corner of his eye, a light smile seemingly permanently etched across his lips as he watched you yawn. “Tired?”

“Not really,” you said truthfully. “Well maybe a bit, but not tired tired. Just relaxed.”

He let out a sigh, smiling with you. “Me too.”

The journey wasn’t very long. Sharing the umbrella once more as you walked side by side to his place, feet splashing in the growing puddles that lined the sidewalk.  Part of you always loved the city at night when it rained – everything was still so bright as the lights reflected off the wet road.

It wasn’t long until you were walking up to the familiar building, letting Harry lead you up the stairs and into the warmth. His place was just as you remembered, seemingly cozier at night with the warm dim lighting coming from his lamps. You followed him inside, kicking off your shoes and heading to the kitchen with him.

Eyes darting around his place to take in the place as you’d only really seen half the place last time while Harry walked to his kitchen, part of you eagerness to have a look around also due to the little cat that you hadn’t gotten out of your head.

“Oh!” Exclaiming maybe a bit too loudly in the otherwise quiet studio, at the sight of the little calico that was lightly running towards the two of you. “Where have you been hiding?”

Bending down to trace your fingertips over her back, reveling in the way she rubbed her head over your leg. “You’re just a little baby,” you cooed, ecstatic when she let you pick her up. Holding her small frame against your chest, watching her enjoy the way you dragged your nails behind her ears.

“Not so much a baby anymore – she’s nearly ten,” Harry chuckled near you, grabbing his electric kettle and bringing it over to the sink to fill with water.

“Really?” You directed your question to Harry, not his cat. “She’s so small, I thought she was a kitten.”

He smiled. “She’s just little. Actually is a bit of an old lady.”

“No,” you looked back down at the little calico. “You’re young at heart, aren’t you?”

Harry laughed at your conversation with his cat, turning on the kettle and pulling out two mugs from the cupboard. “When’s her birthday?” You continued with your questioning, lightly placing her back down on the ground when she started to squirm.

“Not too sure,” he hummed, leaning back against the counter to face you. “She was a stray – there are ways you can test all that but why go through the trouble, you know? Fairly certain of her age and I like to think her birthday is in the fall.”

“I get that,” you agreed. “How long have you had her for?”

“About three years now,” he said, as the kettle got louder. “She’s fairly independent, likes to do her own thing but also loves attention.”

“Have you ever painted her?”

Harry laughed, shaking his head. “I’ve tried a few times, yeah. Could never quite capture her though, I don’t know. I’m bound to try again soon, though.”

“Would love to see that,” you hummed. The click of the electric kettle letting you know it was done, and Harry turned to riffle through another cupboard.

You watched him pull out two little tea bags, placing them in the mugs and twisting the strings around the handle of the mugs. You smiled to yourself, noticing he did the same thing you did when you made tea at work. 

He handed you one of the mugs, leading you over to the flower-patterned couch he had on the adjacent living room. You held the mugs between both hands, the hot ceramic instantly warming you.

Easily falling back into conversation with him, talking until the tea grew cold and forgotten by the edge of the coffee table. 

“Your coworker, I realize I don’t know her name – the one you brought to the show with you tonight.” Harry asked, after he told about the various times he had come into your work a few months ago but you were not there. 

“Aleena,” you told him, smile on your lips.

“Yes, Aleena. She would always bring you up when I came in and you weren’t there. Somehow – she always talked about you with me.” 

Small groan leaving your mouth, recalling the various conversations you’d had with her about Harry. “That sounds like her,” you warmed under his light stare. “I did talk about you with her…” 

He shuffled on the couch, eyebrows raised with a silly little grin on his lips. “You did?”

“Well….yeah I did. Talked about you a lot too – even with my brother out of all people and I never tell him anything.” 

“You did?” He pressed, moving a bit closer to you as his hand nudged over your forearm. You glanced away from him, shaking your head with a smile. “Didn’t realize you had it that bad for me.” 

“Shut up,” you tried to push him away, not doing a good job of it and not really caring all that much. 

“Only teasing,” he hummed happily. “Like getting you flustered.” 

You looked back towards him, trying your best to bite away the smile growing at your lips as he did often in fact, make you flustered. 

“Are you not very close with your brother?” He asked after a moment, voice soft once more. 

You shrugged. “I don’t know. We’re just … very different people I guess. I feel bad sometimes, that we’re not really close, but I don’t think we have a bad relationship or anything.” 

“That’s okay,” he said, hand on your forearm now tracing light patterns over your exposed skin, with the sleeve of your sweater pushed up. 

“We’ve tried a bit harder in the past couple of years, especially since my parents split. We both saw how it affected them.” 

“Affected how?” 

“Well like my mom specifically just… seemed so heartbroken for a long time. Even if she wanted the divorce just as much. It’s hard, seeing a parent like that.” 

He nodded, eyes focused on the movement of his fingers of your arm. The little calico cat had made its way onto the couch as well, demanding your attention for a moment as she tentatively placed a paw over your bent knee. 

“The period of grief,” Harry started after a moment, pulling your attention away from the cat that was resting by your leg. “Any kind of grief – it’s hard but it’s important, you know?” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well like – it shapes you. Like I wouldn’t want to go back to the person I was before. It’s good to let yourself look back, it helps you move forward. But you should be focused on only moving forward, if that makes sense.” 

You didn’t like the idea of Harry having been in pain. 

“Yeah that makes sense,” you nodded after a moment.

He continued. “I think I do that – when things aren’t going well I think back to a time that was better in the past, even if it wasn’t really that much better.” 

“I hope you feel happy now.” 

He glanced back at you, meeting your eyes. “How could I not?” 

A moment passed. A moment where if there wasn’t a cat sitting between you, you were sure that you would topple over him and make sure to never leave him. And with the way he was looking at you, you were certain he was thinking the same thing. 

“I don’t mean –” he paused, fingertips still dancing over your forearm. “Did you want to stay the night? It’s late and raining, and well, you can if you’d like.”

You thought it over for barely a second, every fibre in your body jumping at the suggestion. He was right that it was late, it was likely past midnight. It’s not that you lived that far off, but it would be a small pain to have to walk home in the downpour.

And plus, you very much liked the possibility of ending up cozied up with Harry under the warm covers.

With a short nod and the inside of your lip between your teeth, you glanced at him. “If it’s not too much trouble…”

He nearly sprang off the couch. Holding out a hand to you, you let your palm fall against his as you stood to your feet. He brought you around the corner, to where his bed sat in the back of the studio. Just like the rest of his place, it was warm and inviting.

A dark brown dresser next to a closet had some clothes sitting on top of it, that he quickly grabbed and put them back in their place inside one of the drawers. The tones all around you were deep browns and oranges making you feel cozier just by being in the secluded space. You were busy looking around, at the little images he had on the walls and over the pictures you assumed were of his friends and family.

“Did you need something to change into?” His voice brought your attention back to him, where he was still standing by the dresser and digging through one of the drawers. You glanced down at your sweater covered dress.

“Yes please,” you smiled. “Anything is fine, a shirt or maybe a hoodie? I get cold easily...” you trailed off lightly, eyes meeting his and his expression was the cause for your loss of words.

You didn’t really know why, but he just looked so soft and pretty and so happy to have you with him it was leaving you for a slight loss of words.

He nodded, turning away from you again as he looked for something for you.

“Is this good?” After a second, he passed you a light gray sweatshirt, the fabric soft under your fingertips.

“Should be,” you spoke softly, unfolding the material. You placed it on the edge of the mattress beside you, eyes meeting his for one more brief second before turning away from him completely so that your back faced him.

As if some sense of privacy since you weren’t facing him, although you knew that wasn’t the case as you could feel the burn of his gaze on your back. Biting away a smile even though he couldn’t see the little smirk dancing on your lips, you tugged off your heavy sweater and let it drop next to the sweatshirt on the bed.

Next was the dress, fingers pulling at the zipper until the material was loose enough to fall off your form. Leaving you in nothing but your navy-blue underwear that left not much of your bum covered, you could feel the hot stare Harry had on your bare back as he remained quiet behind you.  

Grabbing the sweatshirt from the bed, pulling the thick fabric over your head in a quick motion and settled it around you until your arms were through the sleeves and the bottom hem covered just enough. It smelled like him, it wrapped around you so nicely you didn’t think you’d want to take it off.

Turning around, you lifted your eyes until they landed on Harry’s face. His gaze shot up to yours, before dropping down once again as he made no move to hide the way he took in your appearance in his baggy sweatshirt.

“Right,” he coughed. If you squinted, you could make out the little red tint on his neck, even in the dim light. “I think I have a spare toothbrush somewhere.”

He led you to the small washroom, walking through the open door and bent down to search in the cupboard that sat under the sink while you watched from the doorframe.

With a small ‘aha’ muttered past his lips, he rose to stand in front of you with a green toothbrush in its cardboard and plastic packaging. He wordlessly opened it for you, tearing the cardboard from the back until the brush was free and ready for you to use.

“Did you need anything else?” He murmured, shifting forward so that he was practically pressed against you in the doorway of the washroom.

Wordlessly shaking your head, your gaze locked with his until he stepped past you so that you could further enter the room and shut the door.

You easily found his toothpaste next to his brush that sat in a little ceramic cup on the counter. After brushing your teeth, you casually searched through his drawers, picking up miscellaneous objects and placing them back in their spots until you found a little pot of moisturizer.

Washing your face and patting small dots of the cream just around your eyes, you glanced over the rest of his possessions in the washroom with a little casual snoop.

The countertop had a few items spread across the surface; a cologne that you brought under your nose, some hair styling product, a little bottle of light purple nail polish, and a little dish that had a couple rings sitting in it.

Realizing you were probably taking a bit too long, you shot one last glance in the mirror before heading out from the bathroom.

You found Harry picking up some stray clothes from on top of his dresser and folding them back into the drawers. He turned around at the sound of your footsteps on the floor, lips turning into a smile as you neared him.

“Good?” He checked, as your fingertips wove nervously together.

“Yes,” grinning back at him, “thank you.”

His turn in the washroom, you didn’t know what to do while you waited. Obviously sliding into bed was the answer, but for whatever reason you felt it best to wait for him to come back. Instead, you walked around the space near his bed, looking at various things he had on the walls and resting on his shelves.

Head tilting to read the titles of the books sitting on his shelf, finding primarily books on artists – some you had heard of but most you hadn’t. Fingertips skimming over the spines of the books, plucking a thin one with a title you were fairly sure was in French. Delicately flipping through the pages, pages of small bits of texts surrounded with little black and white drawings. Everything was in the foreign language to you, though you stopped on a page when you caught the little scribble of English words on the page.

“…they go even farther perhaps, towards the unknown, into the light and joy.”

You didn’t know what to make of it, not having the context of what the rest of the words were saying but you simply enjoyed this phrase paired with the sketches of a couple and dark waters.

“What ya’ looking at?” His voice behind you caught you a bit off guard, feeling as if you had been caught doing something you weren’t supposed to do.

Turning around, you held up the book still in your hands. “Sorry,” you weren’t sure why you were apologizing. “Was just looking at your books.”

Harry walked over to where you were standing, taking a look at the book that you held. “It’s nice, no?” He hummed, taking hold of the book when you extended it out to him. “It was a gift – feels a bit lost on me though since I haven’t had the time to flip through and translate everything. I do really like these artists though.”

“Who wrote it?”

“An artist from the twentieth century – or actually parts of it were written with their partner too. It’s essentially all about the story of their love. I’ve looked up translations for a few things here and there, this one here,” he pointed to the page you’d opened it on. “I really like it.”

You nodded with a small hum, squinting to re read the words on the page once more.

“It’s just – beautiful, y’know? Going into the unknown, with the one you love.”

Still staring at the book in his hands thinking that he was going to speak again, you looked up at him when a silence fell through the room. He was already looking at you, standing closer than you’d previously realized. He had his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes clear as they seemed to scan your every thought.

Something about standing in a warm cozy room while the rain poured outside, reading stories of love with a man who had recently declared his affections for you. Something about it that made a warmth spread through your chest, and a peace that you had never felt settle over you.

“Did you want to go to bed?” The question was quiet, Harry’s voice subtly cracking is if he hadn’t used it in a while.

You were on the verge of making a joke about him being presumptuous, but you were glad that you held it in as a part of you revelled in the way that a thick layer of anticipation seemed to settle in the air around the two of you.

“Yeah, I do,” was all you said instead.

Harry moved first, placing the book back on the shelf where you’d found it, and made his way over to the bed that sat on the other side of the room. You had only just noticed that he’d changed since you last saw him, long legs nearly bare as his bottom half was only covered by a pair of briefs and a teeshirt over his chest.

With his back turned to you as he turned off the large lamp on the other side of the room, the only source of light now coming from the dim lamp on the bedside table. You couldn’t help the way your eyes dropped to his backside, black fabric hugging over the curve of his ass – impossibly attracted to the man before you.

Eyes falling to a newly exposed tattoo to you as he turned around, not missing the slight bulge in his front before your eyes darted back up to meet his gaze. He had obviously caught you staring, a smirk on his lips that he was doing a terrible job of hiding.

He wordlessly walked over to the edge of his bed, pulling up the covers before sliding his legs over the mattress and settling in underneath the duvet. He looked at you expectantly, patting the spot next to him with his palm smoothing over the pillow.

Silently following his motions, lifting bare legs over the mattress to fall in opposite of him. One of your legs hit his under the heavy blanket; neither of you moved. You were on your side, daring to face him as he peered down at you.

You weren’t close together, but you weren’t that far away either. If you reached out you could easily brush your hand across his cheek, and he could lift his arm around you to pull you in closer. A thick beat of silence passed, gaze only breaking with the occasional blink of an eyelid.

You took a step into unknown waters. “I’ve never felt so comfortable anywhere or… with anyone. So, thank you.”

His lips curved in a dreamy smile. “Why’re you thanking me?”

“Just,” you bit your lips together, voice quieter than the pouring rain. “For making me feel that way.”

“’Course,” the word was so quiet, deep from his chest. “I intend to make you feel all kinds of good things.”

A breathy laugh at his words, paired with a little shake of your head. Though you felt the eruption of butterflies through your stomach, they weren’t nerves and rather were warming your body and making you feel even better than before.

“I’m serious!” He urged at your reaction to the slight innuendo. Lifting himself so that his elbow was tucked under to hold himself up to hover closer to you, leaning forward to press a loud kiss to the side of your forehead.

Turning your head at the action, faces mere inches apart. Letting your eyes dance over the line of his nose, to the dip of his cupid’s bow, until they were tracing the soft curves of his lips.

“You make me feel the same, for the record,” his voice had dropped to a whisper, as you watched his mouth form the words.

Momentarily realizing that you had only gotten one quick taste of his lips that night, that it had been weeks since you’d properly kissed him, you were overcome with the strong urge to kiss him until neither of you could breathe.

Your hand moved on its own accord, reaching across the miniscule space between you until your upper body was somewhat twisting so that you could thread your fingers through Harry’s hair. A light touch against him, curls slipping between your fingers as you saw him lean into your hand.

He seemed to be thinking the same thing as you, as his hand raised to hold a light grip of your forearm and pulled himself closer to you. Leaning down until his nose brushed over your cheek, you let your eyes shut while your mouth parted open.

You raised your head off the pillow, lips puckering and landing a kiss to the corner of his mouth. The hand in his hair was pulling him closer to you as he captured your mouth with his. A feather light touch of smooth lips on top of yours, his hand on your arm sliding until it slipped down to rest over your hip. He was pulling you up with a light pressure to draw you in closer, until you were fully resting on your side as well.

“Sunshine,” Harry called against your lips, a quiet hum in his voice. His forehead rested against yours, while you folded your legs towards him to rest more comfortably as you laid propped up on your side.

Then he kissed you, making you forget any fear you’d ever had. His lips moved with yours, not so much with hunger but with desire, wanting nothing more than to feel as close to you as possible. You felt him lick over your lips, easily complying to him as your tongues met with hot need.

His hands were quickly on you, one trailing over your cheek to hold you firmly over your jaw while the other landed against your middle to tug you over towards him. Mouths parting with a hot breath, barely a second apart before they were pressing messily against one another again.

He was pulling quiet gasps from the back of your throat, swallowing every noise you made against him to hold them to memory. Your hand in his hair scratched along his scalp, freely pulling at the soft strands and repeating the action when you felt his chest vibrate with a muted moan.

While your swollen lips pressed hotly together, you felt his hand slide over your hip, resting heavy there for a second with fingertips treading lightly as if considering whether or not to venture lower. Apparently deciding a yes when you whimpered over his lips, his palm smoothed over the curve of your bum and gripped tightly into the skin, the action causing your lower half to push further against him with need.

Tense air of desire surrounded the two of you, actions growing heated while your breathing grew heavier. His hand couldn’t stay in one place, pinching your skin between his fingers as it moved down to your bare thigh. He hooked it in the fold of your knee and pulled your leg up over his own so that you were partially over top of him.

You let out a whine at the feeling of his touch on you, his hand resting where it was for a moment before trailing up north once more. He pushed his palm against the curve of your ass, your hips rubbing onto his thigh in a small motion.

Your leg over him was tightening around his hips as if holding him in place, while his fingertips played with the edge of your underwear and snapped the band over your hip before they were digging into your skin again.

Your mouths parted for a moment, your tongue tenderly licking over his lips as he raised his head towards you to search for more. A soft moan was heard from the back of his throat when your lips fell from his mouth and moved down his jaw, starting a series of feather light touches before your teeth nipped the skin under his earlobe.

His hand smoothed over the top of your hip, edging up under your sweatshirt and over the small of your back. He was gripping you tighter as you kissed down his neck, licking over the sensitive skin. You felt his stomach clench under you, a whimper of your name past his lips when your nails dug into his scalp.

“God, you’re unreal,” Harry panted from above you. “Make me feel – like never before –”

He cut himself off with a groan, while you moved one of your hands along his chest to venture lower and lower with your nails scratching over the fabric of his shirt. You were kissing up the column of his neck, edging the fabric of his shirt up until your fingers met his bare skin.

His lips slid along your temple, own hand leaving from under your sweatshirt and taking a light grasp of your hand just as your fingers edged around his hips and closer to the elastic of his briefs.

“I…” he paused, stopping your hand while you looked up at him in his hesitation. “Fuck I’m sorry – I can’t now, if that’s okay,” he groaned low against you. You saw him squeeze his eye shut, blinking a few times before meeting your eyes.

“I want you,” his voice was raw, and he pushed his hips against yours to accentuate his point as you felt his hardening length through his clothes. “You have no idea how badly I want you. It’s just – been such a long day – I wanna be able to give you everything you need.”

His words sent a rush down your spine, eliciting a little unintentional whine from your throat as you rested your chin on his shoulder and watched him speak. “And ‘m worried I can’t right now –”

A yawn interrupted him and stretched out his jaw, as if his words brought the display of tiredness along.

“Fuck,” he laughed through the yawn. You pushed yourself up a bit, face hovering close to his with a smile pulling at the corner of your lips. “See? I don’t want to fall asleep on you.”

You kissed his jaw, with a quiet whisper. “It’s okay.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, watching you shake with a little laugh. “I… I’ve never wanted anyone more,” he whispered hotly against you. “I just…”

“No need to be sorry,” you murmured, capturing his mouth as your teeth grabbed his bottom lip and your hand cupped the side of his face. When you pulled away from his mouth, you nearly missed the small breath of a whine that was sound from the back of his throat.

Brushing your thumb over his cheekbone, you moved your head just far enough away so that his features weren’t blurry to you anymore, while you kept your eyes locked with his. “And I really want you too.”

The weight of his hand left your waist, skin feeling cold without it but instead he wrapped it around the back of your neck, pulling you back in. His fingertips scratched lightly over your scalp, a soft contrast to the way his lips so greedily caught yours.

“You have me,” he whispered, teeth clashing when he spoke. “All of me.”

A whimper echoed past your lips at his words; at the feeling of his mouth on yours, and the way his legs tangled between your own. Mouths slowing against each other, a nearly lazy kiss while you both tried to catch your breaths once more.

You took a breath, wanting to give him as much as he was giving you but not finding the words.

“We can… we can just kiss, yeah? I don’t want to stop.” You mumbled against his mouth while his hand smoothed over your cheek.

“Yes,” he moaned into your mouth. “Just want to hold you close, and…” he never finished his sentence, true to his word and held you close against him and kissed you deeply.

Continuing like that for you didn’t know how long, quiet moans and heavy breaths being the only sounds in the room, hands still gripping each other tightly.

After a while, you felt a small bit of exhaust yourself. The light movements of Harry’s hand running over your arm and up to your neck were starting to calm you down in a way that had your eyelids growing heavy.

Lips slowing over his, you planted lazy kisses over the corner of his mouth and over his chin, while he cupped your jaw to gaze down at you. Eventually, your lips brushed over the column of his neck until you rested your head over his shoulder with a content hum.

Both with swollen lips and heavy eyes, you lay quietly together as sleep slowly took over. His hand kept moving in soothing motions from the curve of your shoulder to the bottom of your scalp, the slow and gentle motions starting to lull you to sleep.

“Long day for you too,” he hummed quietly, words lacing together and his chest vibrated from under you. “You worked today, no?”

Gently parting your eyes at his words, titling your head up so that you could look up at him. “How did you know I worked today?”

A light smile grew on his lips when his eyes met yours, his lips skimmed over your forehead. “Coffee lingers on you.”

“You can smell it?” you giggled. You could always smell it on your hands, your clothes and your hair. But you never knew anyone else noticed.

“Mm I can,” he inhaled exaggeratedly. “Smells good, sunshine.”

You turned your head towards him, pressing a kiss to his shoulder with a laugh. “I’m glad.”

Resting your head against his shoulder, lips puckering to press a soft kiss over his neck before you settled back down over him with a little hum as your eyes fell shut.

You started to slip your leg off of his, but a hand on your thigh quickly stopped you to keep you in place. “Stay right here.” The words were whispered over your forehead, quiet command that had you easily complying.

A peaceful silence fell over the two of you, the only sound coming from the small breaths leaving the two of you. The patter of the rain seemed to have quieted down, and part of you secretly hoped that it would pick back up soon so that you could lounge around the following day without any guilt.

The feeling of his chest that rose and fell under you, paired with the steady beating of his heart and the soft strokes of his fingertips against your skin was soothing you in a way you had never known. “Goodnight Harry.”

“’Night, sunshine.” His voice was barely audible, fingers gripping you just a bit tighter as sleep seeped through your body, an overwhelming sense of peace surrounding you as you rested pressed together. 

The heavy rain was the first thing that you recognized in the early morning. The second thing you felt was the warmth all around you; there was the heavy duvet paired with the familiar and calming noise of a heater going off. The third thing you noticed was the man pressed against you, a thigh between your legs and a hand wrapped around your middle.

You peaked your eyes open, trying to gage what time it was simply from the blinds that had never been closed. The dark grey – nearly black – sky wasn’t giving you too much of an indication but you knew it had to be very early morning.

You were almost in the same position that you had fallen asleep in: on your stomach with your head over Harry’s arm and your hand wrapped around him. You gently moved your head, tilting it up to look up at the presumed still sleeping man by your side. Harry looked so peaceful, eyes shut and lips only slightly parted.

You took a moment to think over everything in the past twelve hours, everything from the night before that had you positively melting in the best way possible.

With the calm that surrounded you, you jolted in his grasp when suddenly he shuffled and his raspy voice sounded in the air. “Morning,”

Head lifting a bit more to get a better view of him, you watched him turn his face as well so that he could peer down at you. “Did I wake you?”

“Been in and out of sleep,” he hummed, his tired eyes glowing when he met your gaze. “You’re awake early.”

“What time is it?” You yawned, moving your hand from where it rested on his chest to rub at your eyes.

“Just past six-thirty,” his eyes never left you, as you felt his hand over your sweatshirt move in small circles.

“I’m used to waking up early – and hey you’re up early too.” The small hint of a laugh sounded through your tone and you felt yourself waking up.

You saw his eyebrows furrow. “Do you have to get to work?”

“No,” you shook your head, content smile gracing your lips at the reminder that you in fact did not have to go into work. “I’m off today.”

The crease in his brow disappeared, a mirror of your smile on his own mouth. “The whole day?”

“The whole day,” you confirmed.

He shifted, keeping you close while he rolled over to his side and helped you do the same until you were both lying facing each other. Limbs were still tangled, one of his hands keeping a tight grip around your back and he had a leg still between your own. Your arm was reached between the two of you, moving to brush along his neck while the other one rested underneath your head.

“And any other plans for the day?”

“None,” your voice dropped back down to a whisper, his gaze intent on yours as you felt his hand slide lower over your back. “What about you?”

“None,” he mirrored, voice still carrying a slight rasp. Silence fell over you again, this time only the rain against the window filling in the gaps.

You were about to speak again, when a slight move interrupted you. A slight move of his leg between yours that caught you off guard when his thigh brushed over your covered centre in a motion that could be seen as accidental but with the way he was looking at you, you were sure he had every purpose in the world.

“D’you have any dreams last night?” He spoke quietly, voice low for a reason you were sure to be other than the fact that he had just woken up.

“No, I – I don’t think so,” you hummed, feeling his thigh move once more to rest easily against your underwear covered heat, as if taunting you to rub over him. “Did you?”

“Mm I thought I did,” he said slowly. His hand stopped at the small of your back, applying a steady pressure to nudge you forward; both closer to him and over his thigh. “Thought for a second that last night was a dream.”

“It wasn’t,” you whispered.

You saw his eyes glued to your mouth when you spoke the words. Watching his eyelids briefly flutter closed, your head moved over the pillow just the slightest bit as if moving in to kiss over your jaw but he stopped himself.

“Certainly wasn’t,” he murmured, gripping your lower back tighter when he pushed you over him with a little more force. A whine from your lips was barely audible when your centre rubbed over him with a bit more pressure.

“How do you feel?” His voice seemed to drop even lower, smooth in your ear. “Still tired?”

“No,” you whispered, a growing ache dropping through your stomach and straight to the spot between your thighs at the growing tension. “You?”

“Wide awake,” he breathed out, a slow blink before his gaze met yours once again.

It was as if unspoken words were shared between the two of you, conversation from the night before of “not right now” fluttering through both of your heads. Was now the time? The anticipation was slowly driving you crazy. You certainly wanted now to be it, and with the way he was looking at you, you found it safe to assume he felt the same.

He brought his hand that wasn’t against your back to the bottom of your jaw, somewhat tilting your head up so that your face was angled towards his.

“I’d really like to kiss you again,” he hummed softly, eyelids still heavy as his thumb brushed gently over your skin. He looked at you in a way that made you feel like you were on fire, a way that would normally have you avoiding his gaze but right now all you could do was stare back at him with hopefully just as much intensity.

“Then do it.”

You caught the way his eyes fell down to your lips when you spoke. You wrapped your arm further around him, pulling yourself closer over the mattress until your chests were nearly completely pressed together. Pressing down just the slightest bit over his thigh, enough to have him grip you tight and he didn’t waste another second before he got everything out of you he wanted.

His mouth landed along your jaw, a series of loud pecks in a line leading to your chin. His shoulder against yours, he twisted his body until he was hovering over you and pushing you onto your back. Supporting himself on his elbows, he took a second to gaze down at you as one of his hands cupped the side of your face.

His thumb made contact with your mouth first, softly tracing the outline of your lips with the pad of the finger before his mouth captured the trail he had just drawn.

Every kiss with him felt like the first time, like every nerve in your body was alert and that Harry was the only thing occupying your mind. His mouth moved languidly on yours, soft strokes of your lips sliding together. His tongue easily slipped into your mouth, smooth licks over each other in slow movements.

His chest pressed against yours, half his body resting over you as his chin bumped yours as the soft kisses deepened. He was giving you everything he possibly could, wanting to savour every moment as the soft mutterings of “we have all day” rang through his ears.

A hum resonated through your chest, the feeling of his hand smoothing over your neck warming your skin. He repeated the motions, holding a grip to your jaw. He seemed unable to hold you in just one place, touching you, feeling you wherever he could.

His other hand had slid between your bodies, gripping into the material of your (his) sweatshirt tightly. The fabric had ridden up on your thighs, the hem of it sitting right below your stomach and your bare legs tangled with his. The blanket over the two of you was falling off to the side, neither caring all that much as heat was coursing around you.

Breaking apart for a moment, both of your breathing growing heavier and you could feel his heart beating faster against you. Your eyes parted open, meeting his gaze while the lip that he had bit into was then tucked between your own teeth.

You felt a laugh slip past your mouth, chest lightly shaking and you saw his mouth widen in a dimple popping smile. You didn’t know why you were laughing, just feeling so light and at peace in that moment that you couldn’t help the little giggle of bliss.

He leant back down, teeth clashing in another elated kiss. Picking up right where you had left off, smiles slowly falling as a subtle intensity grew. Your soft chuckles being replaced with quiet moans, hasty fingers gripping at each other as if the other were about to disappear.

Heavy tension floated between your bodies, unable to help yourself from the small jolt of your hips over his thigh. He urged you to repeat the action, pushing against you hotly while your mouths greedily indulged the other. You could feel him resting hard against your leg, the thought of having been the one to get him there just further turning you on.

Both your arms wrapped around him, one holding into the thin fabric of his shirt while the other was laced through his hair. Your tugs in the strands were growing tighter when he drove his hips forward. You felt one of his own hands venture lower under the duvet, meeting the bare skin of your hip and grabbing into the skin. Pulling your leg around him, allowing space for him to settle in between your legs.

His head hung in the crook of your neck, peppering pecks over the curve before he was sucking soft kisses over your skin. Moans no longer being muffled by his mouth over yours, he quietly urged you on with a never-ending series of kisses.

“Really gonna kill me,” he muttered, the hint of a smirk evident in his voice.

A breathy laugh was all you could muster, focused on the way his hand was edging under your sweatshirt and feeling over the warm skin of your tummy. He pulled himself away, chest heaving in the air as he moved down to press a heavy kiss over your mouth. His tongue moved slowly over your lips, pulling away with a tug of the sensitive swollen skin.

Harry sat up on his knees, shifting over so that he was by your legs with his hands still holding you. The action had caused the blanket to nearly fully fall off, now only barely covering half your legs. Your eyes skimmed over his form, dark shadows beneath every dip in his body. You couldn’t help but stare at the clear as day outline of his length in his briefs, seeming painfully hard and heavily restrained by the thin fabric. You had to bite back a moan at the sight.

He was leaning forward again, his other hand pushing up under the shirt that was riding high on your middle. His eyes followed his motions, the heavy silence interrupted when he cleared his throat.

“Can I undress you?”

His sultry tone and heavy gaze had caused goosebumps to rise on your skin, no matter the heat that surrounded you. “Yes please.”

A hand on either side of you, hem of your sweatshirt hitting his wrists as he pushed up slowly over your chest. His fingertips trailed over your skin as they did so, trickling up and over the swell of your breasts. Soft graze over your nipple had a little gasp emitting from the back of your throat, your eyes flicking up to his to see his gaze glued to the new skin exposed to him.

“Gorgeous,” he mumbled, as you lifted yourself up a bit to help him push the shirt up and over your head, before it was completely forgotten and tossed aside. He hovered closer to you, hands following the line of your shoulders before dropping down to palm over your breasts.

Massaging them in both hands, fully cupping over them as he felt their weight in his palms. He wasted no time, dropping his head lower until his lips met the skin he was so enamoured by.

Hot lick over your nipple, lips circling around the skin as you felt a hum of vibrations when he moaned around you. Both hands were all over you, as if he was unable to stop his indulgence in his admiration for your chest. You gasped into the air when his teeth grazed over your overly sensitive nipple, leaving it nice and wet before he watched the nub harden once more in the cool air.

A trail of his mouth along your upper chest, stopping with swift nips at your skin followed by soft sucks. He was no doubt leaving a few marks to keep an impression of his mouth on you. Giving the majority of his attention to your other breast, hands still occupying as much space on the soft skin as he possibly could.

The sight of wet patches over your chest had you let out an involuntary moan, the feeling of his mouth over you driving the ache between your thighs to a nearly unbearable pressure.

“Harry…” you whined, hand trailing over his neck and to his scalp as you called his name once more.

“Completely fuckin’ breathtaking,” his voice vibrated over your skin, as he pressed a loud kiss over your sternum. “My sunshine,” his lips moved over your collarbone, “angel,” a kiss to the column of your neck. “My tangerine orange.”

His mouth was over your jaw, as he fell back down to his side to rest over the mattress. One arm supporting himself so that he could lean over you, the other still resting at the underside of your breasts while his thumb rubbed small circles into your skin.

“A tangerine?” You giggled around the words, unable to help but sound breathless as your head was spinning over the attention he was showing you. He lifted his head to meet your gaze, pupils a bit blown and a lopsided grin on his mouth. “You’re going to peel me open and eat me?”

You didn’t realize the innuendo behind your words until they left your mouth, the sudden memory of the way Harry had made you cum on the floor of his studio causing the heat between your legs to grow. A silly little smirk grew on his lips, a soft hum from his throat before he spoke again.

“Yes, exactly.” His chest shook with a laugh, lips puckering to land a kiss over your skin.

“You’re so sunny,” he whispered, hand venturing lower over your hips.

His tongue licked over your skin, “taste delicious.”

The hand on your hip slid over to your thigh, pinching your skin as it slid to the inside of your leg. You parted your legs instinctively, allowing him more space. “Want to spread you open.”

Your eyes briefly fluttered shut at his words, just as his lips fell to your mouth, kissing you deeply. The action nearly distracted you from his hand that was still sitting low, massaging into the skin of your thigh.

“You have to –” he took a heavy breath, your eyes opening to meet his when he spoke. “You have to tell me what you want, okay? Need to make sure you feel good.”

“Okay,” you breathed, promise in his words heavy. “You too.”

“What do you need right now, sunshine?”

His fingertips were so close to where you longed to feel anything. You found yourself at a loss for words for a second, hyper focused on the feeling of his hand tickling your inner thigh. “Can I?” He brought your attention back to his words whispered over your neck. “Tell me if I can.”

“God, yes,” you moaned into the air, arm around him gripped him tighter just as his fingers grazed over your covered clit. His thumb started with small circles over you for a brief second, reveling in the way your legs shook with the pressure that he had been building.

“Feel that…” he groaned, when his fingertips slipped past the elastic. He pushed your underwear aside for two fingers to slide through your wetness.

Your legs parted unprompted, making space between your thighs for his hand as he felt his way through your slit, no doubt soaking his fingers on you before pressing over your clit. He breathed a quiet curse, withdrawing his fingers from you to push your underwear down. Peeling the fabric off your lower half, you lifted your hips up into the air to make his job easier.

The garment easily forgotten, you kicked it off by the end of the mattress and focused on the way Harry’s fingertips circled over your clit. His head lifted from where it was hanging by your shoulder, feeling his hot breath hit the side of your cheek. You turned your head on the pillow, eyes meeting his.

You think you felt yourself grow wetter just by the way he was watching you so intently, as if he was silently demanding that you keep your eyes locked with his. His beautiful eyes watched every reaction you had and every sound you made due to his hand between your thighs.

Drawing him in closer with the arm you had around his neck, he complied and landed a kiss to your cheek. Moving to the corner of your mouth, before fully capturing your lips with his in a deep kiss. His tongue slipped into your mouth, just as his fingers slid over your slit until one was pushing into you. A whimper resonated through your chest, the feeling of his finger slowly dipping into you already had you clenching. He bit down on your lower lip, sharp inhale at the feeling of your warmth around him.

Unable to kiss him properly as heavy breaths left your mouth, he dragged his lips down your jaw until they were latched to your neck once more. You brought your other hand to his chest, nails digging into his skin as your back arched with the slow and steady feeling of his finger inside of you.

Pushing your hips onto his hand, his palm pushing against your clit as you did so. You couldn’t help the moan at the feeling, paired with his teeth nipping and lips kissing over the sensitive skin of your neck. As he laid on his side, you felt his length push against your hip with small nudges into your skin.

His lips slid lower, just as he pushed another finger inside of you with a slow motion. “Good?”

“So good,” you responded quickly. “Don’t stop.”

“Don’t intend to,” he muttered, listening to you with his fingers pushing in and curling against the spot that had you bucking up to meet his movements.

His lips kissed down the swell of your breasts, mouth circling over your nipple with a soft hum from his chest. Teeth grazing over the sensitive spot, pulling whines from your throat as he continued to tease you.

The deep pit of tension from the bottom of your stomach was building, as you felt yourself craving to feel come undone below him. You could hear his fingers move in your wetness, the obscene sound somehow turning you on even more as your arousal was evident.

His mouth left your skin, lifting himself up slightly so that he could watch you. Your hips were pushing up trying to find a rhythm with his fingers, his palm tight against your clit as you couldn’t get enough of the feeling. You were shamelessly chasing your high, already feeling edged closer and closer to it after the long-built anticipation.

His thumb brushed your clit, the pressure as he worked to push you towards your high. Your nails were digging into his chest, gripping him tightly from the side as you pushed your back into the mattress with an arch to spine.

Euphoric sensation floating through your veins, heading straight to your wet centre where his fingers were swiftly working you over. Pumping the two inside you in fast motions, hitting the post along your walls that had you biting your lip so hard you were sure to taste a sting of blood.

“I’m gonna cum,” you moaned, voice breaking out of a whisper as you couldn’t help the raise in tone. You felt good, overwhelmingly so and you wanted nothing more than to feel yourself come undone over Harry’s hand.

“Please, do” his voice was low, hoarse. “I wanna feel you.”

You whimpered at his words, eyes shutting tighter with moans leaving your mouth at the pleasure shooting down your legs and up your spine.

A hum was sound from his throat, he spoke a small “love” in an attempt to grab your attention.

“Look at me.”

Complying at the roughness in his voice, your eyelids parting open to watch him with parted lips and clammy skin. His eyes were dark, intent on your every breath. Arm flexing as his fingers quickly fucked you, while your hand grabbed his bicep tightly when you felt you couldn’t hold it in anymore.

His pace was quick, deep and calculated, noticing what moves he did that made you moan. It was so intensely attractive to you, how closely he watched and wanted you to enjoy yourself.

You could hear mumbling incoherently, unable to decipher or even try and listen to what he was saying as the pressure built and built until you were coming undone around him.

Hips jolting up as he curled his fingers, rubbing over your clit while you choked around your moans. You held him tightly, nails digging into his shoulder as you felt like you needed to hold on to him, onto anything otherwise you would drift away in your pleasure.

He breathed heavily while he watched you, falling back down to his side with his face resting in the crook of your neck. His fingers slowly withdrew from you, still pressing light touches onto your sensitive clit causing your legs to twitch at the feeling. “Harry.”

“Dreamt of you like this,” his words laced together, muttered against your skin. He gave you loud smacks of kisses onto your shoulder, along with his soft mutterings. “Real thing is so much better.”

With hot cheeks and swollen lips, you lifted yourself up on one elbow to hold yourself up and face him. He fell onto his back, just as you were positioned seconds ago and withdrew his hand from between your thighs. Wet fingers raised, slipping them past his lips to taste you with a low hum from deep in his chest.

Gripping your jaw with said hand, pulling you in for a deep kiss. As much as he kissed you this morning, as much as he kissed you in the past day, you could not get enough of the feeling of his mouth. Your own hand lingered over his chest, tracing uneven patterns over him.

You dug your nails a bit harder into his stomach, feeling it clench from under you. Almost as a soothing action for yourself as you settled from your high, you ran mismatched patterns over his front. Dipping lowered and teasing the band of the briefs that he was still wearing, your nails dug into his skin just as an audible groan left Harry’s lips.

He muttered a quiet “killing me,” over your mouth, his hand leaving your jaw and landing over your own hand that rested on his chest.

His fingers laced with yours, and he carried your hand with his and placed it directly over his bulge. Squeezing your hand in his, matching whines from the two of you at the action. Yours at the weight of him in your hand, and his at the feeling of finally having your hands on him.

As if you had switched positions, this time you held yourself propped up on your side so that you could hover over him. His hand left yours, soft groan as you freely palmed over the very defined bulge in his underwear. You kept your eyes stuck to your motions, not even realizing the way your lip slipped between your teeth at the feeling of him.

Pushing yourself up on your hand, sitting up with the rest of the blanket falling off your body. But you didn’t care, you didn’t need the extra heat.

You tugged at the elastic that sat tight against his hips, fingertips slipping under it and over the hot skin. Casting him a quick glance, seeing his eyes locked on your hands, chest rising and falling with a small furrow between his brows.

You pulled down his briefs to the middle of his thighs, watching the way his hardened length rested against his skin. One of your hands trailed up his thigh, resting just under his hipbone. A sharp breath on Harry’s part was heard as your other hand firmly gripped his length.

Circling your fingers around him, a soft stroke until your palm became sticky with his precum. Moving your thumb over his tip, applying more pressure as you saw the way his stomach clenched and his legs jerked with a bend in the knees.

Your silent gaze landed on his face, just as he looked up to meet your eyes. Withdrawing your hand from him, you pushed your thumb past your parted lips to wet it nicely. His eyes greedily watched the way you sucked, moaning your name as a beg while his hand gripped yours on his thigh.

Bringing your hand down to circle your wet thumb over his tip again, giving him slow tugs while you listened to every noise he made. Every small pant of your name and whine into the air. You had never felt more turned on by someone else’s reaction to you than right now.

“You look,” you bit your lip with a smile, looking for the right words as you slowly pumped your hand around him, “really sexy.”

He tried to let out a chuckle, the sound being cut with a moan when you circled your thumb over his tip.

Bending down, you pressed a kiss at the underside of his navel while you worked over his length. Kisses pressed following the trail of hair that led south, before Harry grabbed your shoulder to stop you. “You can’t…” he choked as you sat up straight once more, withdrawing every inch of skin from his so that you were no longer touching at all. “I’m already bursting for you, I don’t want to –” he paused, “– I mean, do you want to have sex?”

You leant forward, palms over his chest once more as you found yourself unable to go without touching him. “Yeah, I really do.”

He pushed himself up, sitting closer to you. “Okay,” he rushed, one hand running through his hair. “Okay.”

You couldn’t help but laugh quietly at his flustered state, watching as he yanked his briefs off the rest of the way down his legs, letting them fall to the floor. He pushed himself up more until he was sliding off the bed, your hands falling from him once more while you watched him stand. “I know I’ve got condoms somewhere –”

And then he was walking away from you, with a quick “stay where you are!” called over his shoulder. You did just as he said, falling down to your back and rolling over to your side with your head resting on your hand, watching him disappear around a corner.

He was back moments later, from the washroom you presumed because you didn’t know where someone would keep condoms other than by their bed. You watched him stand at the edge of the mattress, head dipped down as he threw the wrapper to the ground and rolled the condom over himself.

He took a heavy breath, lifting his legs to kneel over the mattress as he reached out for your legs. Large palms over your calves, he slid them up with soft circles of his thumbs into your skin before he spoke a low “can I have you on your belly?”

Easily complying, you fell forward so that your chest was pressed into the mattress and your cheek against the pillow. You felt his hands slide up your legs, over your thighs until he was gripping the swell of your bum. First you felt his breath hit your skin, then his lips kissed over the skin with a light lick on his tongue. Continuing the motions as he moved up, from the bottom of your spine until he was laying on his side right next to you. Touching you all over, you felt one of his hands graze over the soft skin of your stomach and pull you up, so that your back was pressed firmly into his chest in a spooning position.

Adjusting yourself gently, bending your knees so that they could support you over the mattress. You shifted your lower half, his cock pushing right against your bum. You felt his lips glaze over the crook of your neck, face buried in your skin and he peppered the surface with kisses.

“Are you okay like this?” His voice was muffled by your skin. “We can do it however you’d like…”

Twisting your head so that your eyes could meet, you shot him a reassuring smile. His gaze was heavy on you, desire written all across his features as he followed the small nod of your head. “More than okay.”

He leant forward, forearm wrapping around you to grip your jaw and press his mouth hot and hard over yours, just as a moan of your name resonated through his chest. You could feel him pushing against your bum, the anticipation of feeling him inside of you causing the ache between your legs to become nearly unbearable. His mouth parted from yours, hot promises of making you feel good pressed against your jaw before your cheek was resting against the pillow once more while you were silently begging to feel him inside of you.

A hand was between your bodies, he was gripping his length to push over your folds and get himself wet over you. A quiet moan at the feeling, you couldn’t help but nudge your bum back to rub over his cock. He repeated the action, quiet curses leaving his mouth as his tip found your entrance and he slowly but surely edged himself in.

The intense feeling of him filling you had you gasping out his name. You were certain it was a combination of the closeness of the position and simply the fact that it was Harry behind you, as you’d never felt yourself melt completely into another person like this.

His hand circled around your side, parting your legs a bit further while you pushed back into him. He didn’t stop until his hips were pressed tight against your backside, and a low exhale fell over your shoulder.

“You feel,” he stuttered lightly, firm grip of his hand over your hip.

“How does it feel?” You breathed, turning your head around once more to gaze up at him. He moved his hips, painstakingly slow for the both of you as you moaned at the feeling of him inside of you. His head fell down to brush his mouth over your jaw, hot breath fanning over the expanse of your neck. “Feels incredible,” he babbled. “You’re so fucking… feels amazing.”

Your cheek fell back over the pillow, eyes falling shut and he started to pump his hips into you at a steady pace. You could feel him everywhere around, hitting so deep within you. Soft moans of praises were freely falling from his lips, never seeming to go that long without skimming them along your skin.

His hand slid up from your hip, resting over your lower stomach to guide you over him while he pushed quickening thrusts into you. You let out a heavy pant at the feeling of him rubbing deliciously against spots that made your vision blur. Your hands fisted into the pillow, moving your hips in small rolls to push back on him.

He pumped into you harder, hitting dipper as the pleasure within both of you grew. You moaned when one of his hands slid up your tummy to grip your breasts, massaging the sensitive skin in a way that had you clenching around him.

Your name fell from his lips, kisses planted on the nape of your neck. There seemed to be virtually no space between both your bodies, connected so closely it was making you dizzy.

His fingers pinched over your nipple, eliciting a sharp inhale from your before he moved his hand up to grip your jaw. Titling your head towards him once again, not wasting a second before he leant over and connected your lips. Kisses were rough and messy, licking over lips and hot moans pressed together.

He trailed wet kisses over your jaw, and to the bottom of your earlobe. Muttering hot praises into your ear, telling you how hot you felt and how much he wants to feel your come undone for him. His hand skimmed back down over your neck, blindly grabbing at your breasts and sliding down your stomach.

The sounds filling the room were filthy, paired with the heavy rain outside and the occasional loud motorist. It was something out of a dream, the serenity of your surroundings paired with the euphoria you were feeling.

In a steady rhythm, hips snapping in time together as Harry’s teeth tugged on your earlobe. He was making every delicious sound possible, losing himself in the feeling of you. Shallow breaths hitting your skin as the feeling of his forehead resting over your shoulder weighted over you.

You hummed, lifting your arm around so that you could stroke your fingers over his cheek, pushing through his hair.

“Can – can we switch positions? I wanna see you…” you called, feeling his hand over you stop moving.

“God,” he said quickly, words hitting the back of your shoulder. “Anything you want.”

He slowly withdrew himself from you, both letting out small pants of the feeling of no longer being connected to the other. You pushed yourself up, sitting on your legs as you turned yourself to be able to properly see Harry.

His hair was falling wildly over his forehead, lips deep pink and eyes dark as he watched you move around him. His hand was still on your hip, pressing against your skin as if to push you to lie down on the mattress, but you softly shook your head.

“I want to be on top,” you whispered while you lifted a leg so that you had a knee resting on either side of his hips, your hands landing on his shoulders to help him fall against the mattress. You lowered yourself to sit just at his hips, hovering over him with a kiss planted directly on his mouth. Kissing him deeply as one of your hands rested between your bodies, blindly wrapping your hand around his cock.

“Anything,” his voice was hoarse as he returned your affection. “Tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you.”

“I want,” your hand squeezing him lightly in your palm. “To make you feel good – want to make you feel the way you make me feel.”

You moved your hips over him in a slick motion. He groaned against your mouth, lips easily parting and unable to focus on kissing you back as the feeling of you touching him the way you were was driving him absolutely crazy.

You lifted on your knees, chest leaving his when you sat up straighter. Bowing your head to watch the way he entered you once again, sinking back down around him. Heavy eyes flicking back to his, seeing him just as enthralled with the way the two of you connected.

His heavy hands were gripping onto your hips, a shaky breath leaving his lips as you bottomed out over him. “Don’t know how much longer I’m going to last…” he whispered, eyes meeting yours as one of your hands moved from his shoulder to brush over his jaw.

“That’s okay,” you breathed, swivelling your hips over his. His palm slid over the curve of your ass, fingertips digging into the skin when you moved again. The feeling caused a rush of heavy desire to course down to your heat. “Me neither.”

He was moaning when you started to move your hips on his, sliding over his length as you searched for a rhythm. He felt just as deep like this, just as snug inside of you and you couldn’t help but call out his name while you pumped your hips with his.

“Fuck me,” he groaned, eyes falling over your frame, from your chest to the space where you connected as he watched you move over him. “You look so fucking good like this I –”

You trailed a hand down his chest, fingertips falling over your own lower tummy before they were sliding down your wet clit. He watched you greedily, unable to tear his eyes away from the way that you started playing with yourself.

Rubbing light circles over your clit, heat in your belly burning once again. The combination of the deep strokes of his cock inside of you that was hitting against spots that made your vision blur, and the added pleasure of your own fingers over your wet clit, you were being sent closer to another orgasm.

Harry’s hand circled around your wrist after a moment, tugging your arm towards him until he was slipping the two fingers that had been wettened by your cunt into his mouth. You fluttered around him at the sight of him sucking on your fingers, your thumb pressing firmly on the underside of his jaw when you pushed your fingers further into his mouth.

Feeling his tongue swirl around the digits, you rocked your hips faster over him and you moaned at the view of the man below you. Your hand fell from his mouth when he let go of your wrist, wet fingers sliding over his neck before you were holding his shoulder tightly once again.

A surprised squeak was sound from your mouth when Harry pressed a hand into the mattress behind him and raised himself to a seated position, causing you to fall back against his thighs. You held onto his shoulders, an incredulous laugh sounding past your mouth at the fast motion that had you briefly fearing that you would topple over backwards.

“Alright?” A small chuckle laced his word, although when you shifted over him so that you were properly seated on his thighs with your knees still planted into the plush mattress, his voice caught in his throat.

“Yeah,” your own voice was feeble, airy.

It was the closest you’d ever felt to another person, his chest grazing yours with every heavy inhale as his head dipped down so that he could kiss over your shoulder. His hips started moving up to meet yours, quick thrusts into you as the both of you neared your climax.

Needy for his mouth, you pushed a hand through his hair as you searched for his lips with half closed eyelids. As you tugged on the curly strands, he quickly accepted your kiss with one hand on the small of your back to keep pushing you down over him in tight motions. Chests now pressed flush together, you were moaning into his mouth while he murmured small praises.

“Please,” he begged, unsure of what he was asking for, just knowing he needed something. “How is it – do you feel good? Please …”

“So fucking good,” you moaned around the words. Eyes opening, pulling at his hair so that you could gaze up at him. Desperate eyes watched him, watched the furrow pull in his brow as his hips pumped with yours with quick snaps, wanting nothing more than to have you come undone around him once more. “I’m so close –”

“Please,” he repeated, one of his hands moving from your backside and snaking around your front, shoved tightly between your bodies as he blindly searched for your clit. Rubbing quick small circles over the sensitive bud. The feeling paired with the pleas of having you cum around him that were kissed over your neck, being just what you needed to push you over the edge.

You pressed your lips to his when you came, lips wrapping around his bottom lip as your teeth pulled on the sensitive skin. Calling out his name into his mouth, fingernails digging deep into his skin. You saw the moon, you saw the stars, and most importantly you saw nothing but Harry.

Your hips lost their rhythm over his when you squeezed him tight, grinding down onto his pelvis as a moan was sound from deep in your chest. You tugged at his hair, begging him to kiss you again while your hands desperately gripped at his skin.

He kissed you fiercely, tongue sliding over your lips as you barely had the ability to kiss him back. His hips were still jerking against yours, motions growing more and more frenzied as he bit onto your lips, low mutterings of praises and whines of wanting to cum.

And he soon did, pushing everything he could of himself as he came into the condom. His hands never stopped tracing over your spine, giving your backside sharp pinches as he moaned deeply. Twitching against you as the two of you came down together, his head resting over the crook of your shoulder while he took deep breaths through his nose.

He kissed along your shoulder, mouth wet over your skin. Your fingers traced over his neck, every nerve in your body feeling sensitive as you started to shift over him. You were both quiet, other than heavy breaths and fast beating hearts.  

You didn’t know how long you stayed like that, but after a while the throbbing in your legs died down and you were able to swing a leg over and slide off of him. You fell over on the mattress with a breathless laugh, a content feeling seeping through you as you laid back on the bed.

Watching Harry push his hair from his face, biting his swollen lips together as he watched you with hearts in his eyes. “How are you?”

You hummed, dreamy smile on your mouth. “I’m good – best I’ve been in a while I think.”  

He smiled as he leaned down, pressing a soft kiss over your temple with a muttered “me too”.

Butterfly kisses over your skin, a soft “give me a sec,” before he lifted himself up and swung his legs over the mattress, sliding off the bed and rounded the corner away from you.

True to his word, he was back seconds later after presumably disposing of the condom and cleaning himself up, and he pulled on a pair of shorts that hung low on his hips. “Did you want shorts, or pants to wear?”

“Maybe some pants?” You hummed from where you sat on the mattress. He nodded, handing you a pair of pastel multicoloured sweatpants.

You lifted  your hips from the mattress, pulling the pants over your bottom half before you settled back down. Harry grabbed the blanket from where it had fallen off the bed, laying it over you before he slipped in as well.

You shifted closer to him, accepting his arm that wrapped around your bare stomach and pulled your chest against his. You settled in deeper into the pillows, smiling contently as you felt yourself starting to grow tired.

He watched the way your eyelids started to flutter close, pulling more of the blanket over your back. He pulled it off of where it fell to the ground, draping it over you and the bed before sliding in next to you. “Get some rest – we have all day, yeah?”

You hummed into the pillow, feeling him tighten around you as your breasts pressed into his skin. His other hand was smoothing over your neck just as it was when you fell asleep together last night, the action slowly and surely lulling you to sleep.

Harry watched you as he felt sleep overtake him as well, he watched the slow and steady rise of your chest. He could feel your heart beating against him, resonating with his own heartbeat as if the two had fallen in synch. 

Hours past before you woke up again. The sky was a bit lighter than previously, hard rain still hitting the window from outside as it never seemed to let up.

Your bare chest was tight against Harry’s, skin sticking together. Soft exhales were coming from his parted lips. He had an arm wrapped around you, the occasional twitch of his finger as he moved in his sleep.

Moving over on the mattress, slowly waking up as you raised yourself on your elbows to gaze down at Harry. Leaning over him to kiss over his closed eyelid, gently removing his arm from your middle before sliding off the bed. You easily found the abandoned sweatshirt from the morning, tugging it over your bare top half.

Remembering where his washroom was, you took a quick glance to see the pouring rain outside before flicking on the light switch to the room. Uncapping the toothpaste that rested over the counter, grabbing the toothbrush that you used the previous night.

Due to the briefly running tap, you hadn’t heard the rustle in sheets and feet on the ground that was coming from the adjacent room. Harry was soon poking his head in from the parted door, tousled hair falling over his forehead as he shot you a lazy smile through the mirror.

He hesitated by the door frame for a second, then taking a few steps towards you so that he could stand behind you. Wrapping both arms around you with his chest pushing into your back, he titled his head to kiss over your jaw.

“Morning again,” he murmured, teeth teasingly pulling at your earlobe.

You couldn’t respond with your mouth full of toothpaste, keeping your eyes on him through the mirror. His grip around you loosened a little when you bent down to spit out the toothpaste and rinse out your mouth.

“Hi,” the word whispered as you turned in his grip, raising a hand to scratch over the thin layer of stubble that lined in jaw.

“Want to make something to eat?”

You nodded, mirroring the smile on his mouth as you traced the dimple over his cheek. “Music to my ears.”

Following Harry to his kitchen. It was small, not much counter space you noticed but he had a little table up against the wall that held bowls of fruit and a cutting board. He opened up the cupboard, tapping his fingertips against the wood while he gazed at the contents. “I do have the fixings for pancakes if you’d like…” he moved to the fridge, opening it up, “or eggs…”

He turned back to you, gaging your reaction. “What sounds good to you?”

“Whatever is easiest,” you smiled, leaning back against the counter across from him.

“Not whatever is easiest – what did you want to eat?” He laughed lightly, facing you.

You paused, biting your smile back as he urged you to make a choice what you liked best. “Pancakes.”

“Perfect,” his smile grew, as he turned back to the cupboard he had just opened. “Some fruits too?”

“Yes please.”

He pulled out the mix he already had to make pancakes, grabbing a bowl and a wooden spoon to start getting everything together. You went to see what kind of produce he had, picking out some apples and oranges that sat together in a bowl.

He saw you searching through drawers, clicking his tongue. “Have a seat, I can do it.”

“Okay, okay,” you laughed, taking a seat on one of the wooden chairs by the little table. You grabbed your phone from where it had sat all night by the counter, scrolling through recent notifications before opening up your Spotify to play some music while you prepared your meal.

Choosing one of the playlists you usually played at work, a soft hum of Nancy Sinatra coming through the speaker as you placed your phone back down on the table and watched him quickly work around the kitchen.

“Do you have coffee?” You asked, eyeing the French press sitting in the corner.

You saw the bag sitting next to the press before he answered your question, as you rose to your feet again to grab the paper bag and twist it open, smelling the ground beans.

“Yes,” he answered, turning around to see you having already found it. “Is it… good?”

You laughed breezily at his nervousness over the coffee he had bought. “I’m sure it’s perfectly fine.”

He had already turned on the kettle, you realized, and you grabbed the French press from where it sat ready to make the two of you a morning cup.

“Hey,” Harry brought your attention to him as you eyeballed the amount of coffee you were putting in. “I can do that – let me make you coffee for once.”

You bit back a smile, filling the press with the amount of coffee you liked before sitting back down. “It’s all yours,” you said, as the kettle clicked.

He turned away from the orange he was peeling, grabbing the kettle from where it sat to pour the hot water into the press.

You held your tongue, for about two seconds before clearing your throat. “A good way to make French press coffee is to pour a little bit in first – just enough to soak all the grounds and then pour the rest.”

He silently nodded, doing as you said and waiting a bit before pouring the rest. “You –”

You cut yourself off, watching as Harry lifted his head up to glance at you when you spoke, tousled hair falling over his forehead. “Hm?”

“It’s good to pour it a little slower…” you started slowly.

He laughed, loud from his chest. “Did you want to do it?”

“No, no! It doesn’t make that much of a difference, just some tips.” You let him finish making the coffee while you searched through some more cupboards for mugs.

Pulling out two ceramic ones, walking over to the fridge as you looked for anything to put into the coffee. Finding a small jug of oat milk, not surprised at the find as you took it out and shook the container a bit out of habit.

“I’m going to assume that you don’t take anything in your coffee…” you peered over at him as you poured some oat milk into what would be your mug.

“I don’t –” he cut himself off, as if about to ask why you would assume that but stopping himself as he remembered that you make him coffee multiple times a week.

He let the coffee in the press sit as he finished preparing the fruit, turning back to where you were leaning against the counter with an orange slice in hand. He wordlessly lifted the slice up towards your mouth, taking several steps forward until he was close in front of you.

“It’s not a tangerine, but…” he mumbled, a little smile playing on his lips as you met his gaze. Opening your mouth to accept the fruits, circling around it along with the tip of his fingers that you easily sucked into your mouth.

For some reason anytime he mentioned a citrus fruit you got butterflies in your stomach. You chewed the fruit as his hand fell from your mouth, thumb swiping under your bottom lip. The sweet flavour filling your mouth as his gaze never left yours. His hands fell to the counter on either side of you, boxing you in closer to him.

You raised a hand, taking hold of his jaw between your index finger and thumb, and pulled his face towards yours. His lips parted as did yours, your tongue licking into his mouth as your hand held him firmly. He tasted the citrus in your mouth, sharing the flavour of the fruit together as you kissed.

A hand wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer to him as you slipped your fingers across his jawline until they were tugging in his hair.

He took another step forward, one foot resting between your two with his hips pushing against yours. He was holding you like he thought that you’d disappear if he let go, as your arms wrapped around him in the same way.

He’d already gotten you worked up, and you would let him take you right there if he wanted.

Fingertips poked under the sweatshirt over your body, nearly feigning innocence as his hands held the skin on your sides, before they were smoothing up until they were holding your breasts. Fingertips massaging into the skin, thumbs rubbing over your nipples in a way that made goosebumps erupt under the sweater.

Edging the article up higher on your body, exposing more of your skin until the underside of your breasts were visible.

“God,” he muttered against your mouth, lips sliding over your jaw as he hung his head lower. “Think I’m obsessed with you.”

Your hand followed the move of his head, as he dipped down lower so that he could press his mouth over your newly exposed chest. Sucking into the skin, hot licks until his teeth grazed over your nipple and you were pulling at his hair a bit tighter. He still cupped his palms around your breasts, enamoured with the way he maneuvered them and the way they felt in his hands.

Mummering his name, you pulled his attention back up to your face and he peered at you with heavy eyes. “Hm?”

“You should push down the press,” you angled your head to where the French press sat still on the counter across from the two of you.

His eyes held a laugh, as his hands fell from your skin and he nodded with a bite of his lip. Turning around from you only for the brief moment needed to slowly push the filter through the coffee before he was facing you from across the kitchen once again.

You followed, bypassing him and grabbing the two mugs that you had prepared for the coffee. Taking hold of the press, you poured two steamy cups of coffee. Silently handing him the one without anything in it, you tried to hide the way that your lips curved upwards by biting your lips together.

Harry grabbed the mug from your hands, bringing it up to his lips and took a small sip after blowing lightly over the surface.

“Careful,” your voice had fallen to a whisper in your proximity.

He only hummed, exaggeratedly smacking his lips together while placing the blue mug down on the counter next to him. “Best cup o’ coffee I’ve ever had.”

You let out what could only be called a giggle, unable to hold back your smile any longer. His hand looped around you once more, fitting into the small of your back to pull you close. Careful not to spill any coffee in the mug that you were holding, doing the same as he had and securing it down on the counter.

“Something tells me that might be a bit of an exaggeration…” you trailed off, free hand now resting over his shoulder.

“Hm,” he shook his head. “That’s where you’re wrong.”

His mouth sought out yours once again as you laughed under in his grasp. He pressed a peck over your mouth, staying close as he seemed to hesitate. “Did you want to spend the day?”

“Yeah,” you responded quickly. “If it’s not too much.”

“Can’t be,” he hummed. His head hung low between your neck and shoulder, butterfly kisses over your fabric covered skin. “Can’t ever have too much of you.” 

You locked the doors behind you, shaking the handle slightly to make sure it was truly locked before walking across the floor once more to head back behind the counter. Harry still lingered just at the unmarked line that separated the customer area from the staff area, leaning over the counter.

It had been almost a week since the night at the gallery.

Your days off had been spent with Harry, as he was true to his word and never seemed to be able to get enough of you. And the same sentiment was returned back to him. He had finally put his number in your phone, something the two of you had found funny about the fact that you went this far without even exchanging numbers.

Now, he kept you company as you closed up the café alone.

The fall rain always caused a small dip in customers, the shop never too busy, especially in the later hours of the afternoon.

“Do you have much left to do?”

You neared him by the counter, stepping past him and into the back. “Not too much – all of the main cleaning is done.”

“Can I help?” He had shut his little black sketchbook on the counter, pushing himself up from his elbows to near you.

“If you want…” you hummed happily, seeing him edge closer past the counter and into the staff only area. “Come on,” you giggled, tapping his arm for him to follow.

“Is this allowed?” He hesitated, making you turn back around.

You shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, I know my boss trusts me.”

That seemed to be enough for him, as he trailed behind you towards the espresso machine that you hadn’t finished cleaning.

“Tell me what to do, boss.”

Nudging his hip as he hovered near you, you shook your head with a laugh while reaching to grab the basket that had yet to be cleaned.

“You need to unscrew,” you spoke through your actions, grabbing the little flat screwdriver, and leaning down so that you could see under the grouphead on the machine, “the filter. To clean it all out.”

Grabbing the still hot filter with a rag, putting it in hot water. “And then you put this,” you spooned a small pile of cafiza into the flat filter in the basket. “And put it on a cleaning cycle. That’s kind of it…”

“What can I do?”

“If you want you can keep an eye on this,” you pointed to the lit button. “When it flashes you need to put it through the rinse cycle – just press it and it’ll go through.You could also pour hot water through the bottom, just to get everything inside rinsed out.”

Harry was quiet from next to you, nodding his head. You handed him the metal kettle, showing him where to fill it with hot water as you went to clean out the brew coffee pots. You worked through everything on autopilot, having gone through the same routine over and over that it came with no thought to you.

Keeping an eye on Harry with a smile tugging at your lips, watching as his brows pulled together as he tried to not spill any water other than where he needed to. Rinsing out the old coffee from the pots, you took a step away as the sink filled them with hot water.

“I had an idea…” you started, pulling Harry’s attention to you for a second.

Joining his side once more, you put your hand over his forearm. “I think that’s good,” you hummed. “No matter how much you clean there will always be grounds that find their way back – don’t worry.”

He nodded, putting down the little kettle as his back straightened with a twitch of a smile. “Anything you say, boss.”

You smiled through your words, giving his arm a little shove. “You got the paintings back from the gallery, right?”

Nodding, he kept his gaze on yours with curiosity in his eyes. The show (your show, as he called it) was a short-lived one, all the paintings were back in his apartment as he hadn’t put any of them for sale.

“Well I was thinking – and this is completely up to you – but what if you put one of them up in here?”

You saw his eyebrows rise in interest. “This wall here,” you motioned to the one behind him. “Is always empty. And it’s big and pretty uninteresting, so I was thinking if you wanted… you could but one of yours there.”

“For how long?”

“However long you’d like – it’d be like the café has it on loan.”

His smile grew. “And that would be okay?”

“I checked with the owner, she said that I can decorate the place however I’d like so…” you quickly leant over to the sink, shutting off the tap before facing him again. “It’s up to you.”

“You’ve already checked with her,” Harry grinned cheerfully, moving closer to you. “Thought this through, have you?”

You bit back a smile. “Yeah, I have.”

“I’d love to, I think it’s a great idea.”

“Really?”

He nodded enthusiastically. “I really do. Did you have one in mind already?”

“Well…” you paused. “I do – the big one of the café. With the yellow and the orange. I think I’d be perfect.”

He turned around, arms crossing over his chest as he faced the off-white empty wall. There were a few coffee stains towards the bottom that no one would notice unless they knew they were there.

“I think so too,” he nodded, glancing at you from over his shoulder.

You smiled widened. “Yeah?”

“Do you think I could go get it now – that we could put it up tonight?”

“That sounds perfect. Would you need help carrying it over?” You asked, as Harry was already walking around the counter to grab his jacket.

“It should be fine, I’ve carried it before.”

You nodded, watching as he grew more excited and ready to bolt out the door. “I can finish up closing here while you go get it.”

“Should I grab screws or tools or anything?”

“I’ve got some here – we have a little tool kit.”

He patted his pocket, grabbing his phone that was on the counter. “Lovely. I’ll be back before you know it.”

Before heading out towards the door, he moved around the corner of the counter so that he could grab a firm grasp of your jaw, tilting your head up to him. Leaning towards you, mouth hovering by yours as lips were barely touching. “Amazing idea, sunshine”

You nudge forward the slightest bit, fully connecting your lips in a lasting kiss before he headed into the cold air outside.

Finishing up your closing duties while he was gone, turning off all appliances that needed and screwing back in the filter once everything had been nice and soaked. You had already started to count the coins before closing, so the final cash out didn’t take too long.

You were doing some extra tasks to help out the opening staff for the following day, when a rattle of a knock was heard on the glass of the front door.

Jumping in your skin at first at the surprising noise, quickly calming down when you saw Harry waving at you through the window. Fast step over to the door, you propped it open for him so that he could slide the bigger than you remembered canvas inside.

He had it wrapped in brown paper to protect the outside, leaning it over the wall by the door as he ran a hand through his hair that had fallen over his forehead.

“That was fast,” you said, making sure you re-locked the door after letting him in.

“It’s close by,” he shrugged, grabbing hold of the wrapped canvas once more as you helped him bring it around the counter. “Are you all done with everything?”

“Yes – and I texted my boss and she said it's no problem to stay a bit later to put this up tonight.”

You grabbed the small folding step stool from the back, along with the tool kit that you hoped contained everything that was needed.

“Here we go,” you placed the box over the counter. “What did you need?”

“Screws, if you have them.” He hovered close next to you, watching as you rifled through the various things. “They’re better at holding up canvases – more stable.”

“Aha,” finding a little bag that contained a couple dozen screws, all of various lengths and sizes. Harry fished out a few of them, deciding that three should be enough for the frame to hang off of.

You watched as he vaguely measured out the wall and where to place the screws, promising that he knew what he was doing and wouldn’t end up with unnecessary holes in the wall.

Lifting yourself up to sit over the counter as he got the screws into the wall, occasionally leaning forward to hand him whatever he needed. Once he was done getting the wall ready, you watched as he hoisted the painting up in order to hang it up evenly.

“Does that look good?” He called with a glance over his shoulder, prompting you to step back and see if it sat leveled over the wall.

“Move it over a bit to the left,” you called, seeing as he followed your suggestion. “That’s good.”

He hopped off the short step ladder, joining your side to check how the painting looked on the wall. “It looks really good up there.”

You simply nodded, admiring the way it already made the space warmer. It was large, covering a good chunk of the otherwise bland space.

“What gave you the idea?”

Falling to the side to rest your hip against the counter, Harry followed your motions as if you were tethered together and he couldn’t stand being too far away.

“It’s kind of a full circle – no?” You hummed, resting a hand over the counter that he quickly picked up in his, mindlessly playing with your hand as you spoke. “I mean the first time you came in, you asked me how to get your art up there. And now…”

Trailing off, the thought finishing itself as you had gotten one of his paintings on the walls indefinitely.

He was quiet for a moment, a moment long enough that it had you glancing over at him. He had his eyes trained to the side of your face, a dreamy look in his eyes.

“What?” You mumbled with a little laugh, when he didn’t say anything.

He shook his head, eyes flicking between yours and the newly hung painting. “Nothing, it’s just, I – I adore you, you know that?”

You sighed blissfully, a smile playing on your mouth. “Hm.”

“Hm?” He repeated back to you with a laugh, turning around you so that he could face you. His hips bumping with yours, he made it impossible for you to avoid his stare. “What do you mean by ‘hm’?”

He was invading your every sense, a welcomed invasion to you. Dipping his head down to skim his nose over your jaw, letting your hands fall to their place over his shoulders.

“How do you feel?” He breathed against your skin, lips nudging over you. Your hand pressed over his chest, pushing him back the slightest bit so that you could see him.

You played with the hem around the neckline of his shirt, looking into his heavy gaze. “Can’t get enough of you.”

He blinked slowly, forehead resting against yours. “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” you hummed happily, palms sliding over his shirt covered chest. “I don’t want… any more miscommunication, you know? I wanted to know, just how things are with us…?”

A smile teased his lips. “Are you asking me if we’re together?”

“Well…,” you hesitated, before straightening out your spine. “I am.”

“Do you want to be together?”

“You’re really good at turning questions back on me, you know that?”

He laughed, forehead moving from yours as he brought hand to cup your jaw, thumb brushing over your cheek. “You do it more than I do, know that?”

He followed his words with a nudge of your nose with his mouth, quick lick over the skin.

“Stop that,” you mumbled, turning your head away from him but not having much room to do so as he kept a grasp around your jaw.

“Stop what?” He brushed over your cheek, teasing you with light kisses over your face.

“Just,” you dug your fingers into the fabric of his shirt, nudging him against you as he pulled his face away from yours for a brief moment. “Kiss me.”

His lips curved upwards once more, eyelids fluttering as he leant back in. “Whatever you say.”

Slipping your hands around his neck, pulling him closer to you as your smiling mouths met. He easily held you against him, free hand wrapping around your back. Lips easily parted as soft kisses were shared. Breaking apart for a brief second as he nudged your upper lip with his before firmly capturing your mouth.

Nails tapping along his jawline, pulling him as close as possible as your mouth followed the path of your fingers. Tips of his hair tickling your nose, your teeth grazed his earlobe before whispering. “I’m yours.”

A shaky breath was heard from his still parted mouth, moving his head back so that he could meet your eyes. “Everything –” he said “– the world is yours, know that? Including me.”

He didn’t waste another second, mouth trapping yours once again after your shared confessions. He pushed himself oh so close, drawing out a quiet whine from your throat as his lips grew greedy.

Peppering kisses to the corner of your mouth, teeth grazing over your chin before making a line of wet kisses over your jaw. A Kate Bush song played on the speakers, you didn’t have the capacity to remember it at the moment.

Eyes briefly parting open, remembering where you were. “You know everyone outside can see us, right?”

He paused at your words, glancing up at the slightly fogged windows that covered the front of the café. The sky hard turned a dark shade of blue, bright lights coming from inside of the café meaning anyone walking by outside could see you. “Not too worried about them.”

You shook with a quiet laugh, a brief shove to his chest as he kept you hugged to his body. “Plus the counter hides our bottom half anyway so –”

“Harry,” you laughed louder now, shaking your head. “My boss could check her security cameras at any moment.”

“Fine, fine” he stuck his bottom lip out.

Your fingertips traced mindless trails over his neck, pressing a lasting kiss over his mouth to keep him quiet.

Harry fell from your front, keeping an arm around your back with his side still pressed close to yours. “Looks good up there,” he hummed lightly, nodding his head towards the painting.

“You painted it.” You followed his eyeline, glancing up at the large canvas.

“But you inspired it – really mean it you know.”

“Mean what?”

“The world is yours.”

Your head fell against his shoulder, taking a moment to rest together as both of you faced the painting. Arms crossing as you held each other close, the warm light of the café flowing through the windows and to the street outside.

The two of you nearly mirrored the painting that hung proudly, soft touches of affection that could only be seen from outside if someone was really paying attention. If one were to be walking past on the street, they would see nothing but a warm reflection of growing love. And just as the title of the painting: you could stay there for hours. And you did.

la fin. (for now).

thank you to everyone who has read and enjoyed my little story, it really means the world to me💞  come by and chat if you’d like, and until next time !

[spine-buster]

peaceful easy feeling ft. b.boeser | three

A/N: Thanks again for your positive feedback on this mini-series!  Please keep those canon questions coming as you guys know I loooove answering them to help build the canon!  This one is a short one but it will be made up for by the last two chapters.

CONTENT WARNING: parents with disease/sickness (Parkinson’s); swearing; sex; alcohol use; lots of emotions.

                                                                 *     *     *     *     *

Brock and Grace were having fun.  Actual, genuine, real fun.  Whenever they were together, they were smiling and laughing and kissing and having a good time.  They’d go out to eat at Vancouver’s best restaurants.  They’d take walks in parks or along the seawall.  They’d get coffee at cute little cafés and munch on bespoke cookies or donuts that would make Brock complain about extra hours in the gym.  They’d invite Elias and Svea with them and it would be great, because they were great, and they’d all just be constantly laughing.  Grace and Svea got closer – much closer.  Elias and Brock were tearing it up for the Canucks.  Grace and Svea would go to bars for a glass of wine before going to games together.  They’d cheer and clap and sing along with all the songs being blasted throughout the arena.

Fun.  Life was fun.  

***

“How do I bite it?!” Brock was incredulous at the size of the cupcake Grace got him.  It was bigger than his jaw could open.  Elias and Svea were already ready with their damn phones to film him.  “I can’t…” he tried to bring it up to his mouth.

“Just put the whole thing in your mouth!” Grace exclaimed.

“That’s what she said,” Elias mumbled, only to garner a disapproving mother look from Brock and a slap on the arm from Svea.  “What!  Isn’t that the joke?!”

“Don’t be crass,” Svea chastised before focusing her attention back on Brock.  “Just bite the thing, Brock.  Just…just stuff it in there,” he pretended to do the motion herself.

“Again, that’s what she said.”

Grace hit Elias too this time.  

***

“You can get us reservations to Hawksworth?” Svea asked in shock.  

Grace nodded casually, like it was the easiest thing in the world to get a reservation at Vancouver’s best and most exclusive restaurant.  “The Gillespie’s own the Rosewood Hotel Georgia.”

“You do?”

Grace nodded again before sucking back on an oyster.  “When do you want to eat there?”

“Oh, I – I don’t know.  Can I get back to you?”

“Of course!  Just let me know.”

“Wow Grace,” Svea said.  “You really do have the world at your fingertips.  Vancouver especially.”

Grace shrugged her shoulders.  “It’s a blessing and a curse.  I can’t go anywhere without running into someone that knows my dad or knows who I am and thinks they know me.  It’s even worse when they knew my dad a long time ago and only ask about how he’s doing with his Parkinson’s now.  Most of the time they don’t even truly care.  And I’d trade it all in, every single penny, if it meant my dad never got Parkinson’s.”

Svea couldn’t imagine living that kind of life.  She didn’t know how Grace did it – or Brock, for that matter.  She would be a sobbing mess on the floor every single day.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to be insensitive when I—”

“Oh God no.  No no no – you don’t need to apologize.  I just…” Grace paused, trying to collect her thoughts.  “I know how fortunate I am, believe me.  I just don’t think people know that – that I know I’m fortunate.  But Parkinson’s – any chronic illness – it really humbles you.  Most people don’t know what that’s like.  And like, thank God they don’t.  But they think they know.”

All Svea could do was nod her head and listen.

***

Whenever Brock sent a text that said ‘come over and watch a movie’ Grace knew what that really meant.  But instead of finding it lewd, she’d slather on some raspberry chapstick and be on her merry way to Brock’s apartment.

When they were done, and lying in bed together, with her head on his chest and her hair sprawled everywhere, that’s when the talking would begin.  “How’s your dad doing?”  “Are the new round of meds working?”  “Is he having more trouble getting up now?”  “What are the doctors saying?”  “How’s his memory?”  “How’s the swallowing?”  “Are the doctors recommending speech therapy?”  

“When I quit dance, my dad was so disappointed,” Grace revealed one night as Brock was running his hands through her hair.  “It was the only thing I was ever really, really good at.  I wasn’t the best in school.  I just didn’t get things the way other kids did.  And when I told him the reason, he made me promise I’d keep doing dance in some capacity.  I maybe wouldn’t do it super-competitively anymore with him driving me all around BC and flying me all over Canada and the US to attend competitions, but I’d still do it.  That’s why I teach at the Goh Ballet.  Like…I know I’m not the smartest girl in the world, but I like to think I have a big heart.  And I just hope that people see that.”

“I wear number six because it was my dad’s number,” Brock revealed too, one night when they were alone.  “I wanted…I wanted to make sure that if he wasn’t around, my career would still honour him in some way.  I want that to be my legacy…like, everything I do, I do for my dad.”

Grace nodded.  She completely understood.  “I don’t think I’ve ever met a person who knows and understands exactly what I’m going through,” she said.  “Do you think it was fate that brought us together at that meeting?”

Brock found himself nodding his head automatically.  “Of course,” he said softly.

***

“I’m sorry we couldn’t have you at the house for dinner, Brock, but our chef is on vacation,” Eliza Carmichael, Grace’s mom, smiled from across the table as she sipped on her glass of wine.  From beside her, her husband, Grace’s step-dad James kept perusing the menu, as did Grace’s two step-brothers, Jasper and Theo, who were seated at opposite heads of the table.  

“Oh that’s no problem at all,” he smiled politely, grabbing Grace’s hand underneath the table and squeezing it gently before putting it in his lap.  “I actually come here with the boys sometimes.  The food here is amazing.”

“It is, isn’t it?  James knows the head chef,” she said.  “Grace tells me you’re a hockey player.”

It was at that point that James put down his menu.  “Honey, he plays for the Vancouver Canucks.  We’ve been over this.”

Eliza rolled her eyes playfully before picking up her menu.  It was only at that point that Brock noticed the giant rock on her finger.  It was the size of his eyeball.  “Grace tells me you live in Shaughnessy,” he said, trying to make polite conversation.  “I hear that’s a beautiful neighbourhood.”

“Oh, it is.  Perfect place for the quiet life hockey player’s lead,” James joked.  Brock forced out a chuckle.

***

“I love this song!!!” Grace exclaimed as the DJ began to play some old school Rihanna.  She downed the rest of her drink and slapped the glass against the bar before grabbing Brock’s arm with one hand and Svea’s hand with the other, knowing that Svea would, on instinct, grab Elias’s arm and drag him to the dance floor too.

The club was completely unstuffy.  There were no girls dressed to the nines, no four-inch stiletto heels digging into Grace’s feet, no people showing up just to be seen in booths with bottle service.  It was completely unpretentious and that’s how Grace liked it.  Considering her lifestyle and her wealth, it was actually how she liked everything.  So when the DJ began playing pop songs, she couldn’t help but start dancing uncontrollably.  To his credit, Brock did too.  It was like he lost all his inhibitions and began moving his body in tune with the music.  Even Elias and Svea did, and Grace knew how…well, quiet they were.  This wasn’t their scene at all but they were having the time of their life dancing with each other, spinning each other around and moving to the beat of the music.  

For at least a night, Grace could forget.  She could forget how her parents used her to get back at one another during an awful divorce.  She could forget her mom re-married an equally as nice guy as her dad but became more pretentious as the years went on and the wealth accumulated.  She could forget that she made the decision to quit dancing professionally.  She could forget her dad had Parkinson’s.  For one night, everything was perfect.  Everything was fun.  Everything was how it should be.

***

“Fuuuuck, baby,” Brock groaned as he watched Grace climb on top of him, leaning forward so she could press his breasts up against his face.  He immediately took the opportunity to place wet, open mouth kisses all over her breasts, kissing down to her nipples before taking them in his mouth.  He could feel her grab his cock and lower herself onto it, sighing at the feeling of him filling her up.  “Feel good?”

“You always feel amazing,” she smiled, her hair falling around her face.  “That’s why I can’t stop fucking you.”

Brock chuckled, a cocky smile on his face as he reached up and brought Grace’s face down so he could kiss her and stick his tongue down her throat.  “Ride me, baby,” he mumbled against her lips.

Grace began rocking her hips back and forth, her body moving so expertly and so in tune with Brock’s.  Almost immediately, she began to moan, and Brock grabbed her hands and intertwined their fingers so she’d have something to brace against.  Brock was in a trance – as he usually was when Grace was riding.  He was completely and utterly transfixed by her in every sense of the word, and in every way; from the hair on her head to the red nail polish on her toes.  

“God, I fucking love you, Grace.”

The words had barely escape Brock’s mouth before he realized the magnitude of what he said, how he said it, and when he’d fucking said it.  God, he was such a fucking idiot!!!!!  During sex?!  Really?!  Way to live the cliché Brock Boeser!  Way to be a fucking idiot and—

“I fucking love you too, Brock,” he heard Grace say, a smile adorned on her face.  The both of them giggled, and couldn’t stop giggling for a while even though she was still riding him.  It was miraculous.  “Way to say it for the first time while I’m riding you,” she joked.

“I couldn’t help myself,” he said.  

“You’re lucky I love you, because that’s such an amateur move, Brock.”

[libraryofloveletters]

The Boy Next Door

Eddie Diaz x Reader 

Warnings: mentions of divorce, step-parents, a little bit of arguing, alcohol and consumption of, like one swear word, mentions of sickness

Category: fluff 

Word Count: 2.3K

Author’s Note: ahhh okay hi! this is my first 911 fic, idk it’s mostly self indulgent because I can’t get this idea out of my head, so here we are :) also for the purpose of this, Eddie never got married nor did he have Christopher 

Italics are flashbacks 

----

To say you were average was the understatement of your life, you weren't special nor were you awkward or shy, you were just average. You had always been the average person, in an average neighbourhood with an average life. 

But the boy next door, there was nothing average about him. 

The first time you met the boy next door was when you were 14, you had just moved into the neighbourhood with your father and his new wife. There was still lots to be done, the air conditioning was broken and your father seemed to misplace his toolkit during the move. He left you in the smouldering heat and ventured off to find a toolkit. Not only did he return with a toolkit but visitors as well.

“y/n!” your father shouted from the bottom on the staircase, “what?!” you shouted back. “Come down here!” you groaned as he called for you again, what could he possibly want now? 

Your father stood there with a man and a boy who you could only assume was his son. “Y/n, this is Ramon and his son, Eddie. They live next door and Ramon was kind enough to loan his tools and help me out.” you smiled at them from the top of the stairs. 

“Come down and get Eddie something to drink” your father said, you resisted the urge to roll your eyes and made your way down the stairs. 

“Would you like some lemonade ?” you asked, walking past him to the kitchen, he followed you. “Please” he leaned against the wall watching you move around the kitchen. 

“So, I hear you have a step mom?” he asks, you could feel his eyes burning into your back as you got the lemonade from the fridge. “Unfortunately” you mumble and pour some of the liquid into a glass, Eddie made his way over to the counter, he leaned up against it. 

“Do you know how to stand straight ?” you glance at him up and down, he laughs and shakes his head. 

“Why is it unfortunate that you have a stepmother ?” taking a sip of the lemonade, his eyes fixed on you. “Have you ever seen Cinderella ?” you asked, hopping up on the counter and picking up the other glass, Eddie nods. 

“Imagine living with Cinderella’s stepmother but times 100″ you groan, Eddie had a smile on his face. 

“You’re joking”

“Wish I was” 

“Well that sucks” he gave you an apologetic look

“Big time” your eyes are on your legs which were swinging back and forth. Eddie grabs your leg suddenly, “what the hell!” you jump, he laughs again. 

God he has such a cute laugh, wait what ? Stop he’s your neighbour, you barely know him.

“How’d you get that?” his thumb rubs over a scar on your leg by your ankle. “Bike accident when I was younger. It just didn’t heal right and left a scar, also because there was a giant gash there for a few weeks” you shrug. The two of you were in the kitchen for a few minutes, Eddie’s hand was still wrapped around your leg, neither of you saying a word to each other. 

“Eddie! Time to go!” Ramon shouted for Eddie, he let go of your leg. “See you around ?” he asked, you nodded, “yeah, see ya” Eddie smiled at you and you smiled back. 

You rarely saw Eddie after that day, he had been helping his father at his shop all summer so you never got a chance to hang out. When school started, you had a few classes with him, he occasionally asked for the answers to the homework after his practices ran long, which you gave to him. 

Somewhere deep down, you had a soft spot for the boy next door. 

Your friendship, if you could even call it that, was built solely on the fact that he lives next door and went to the same classes, if it weren't for that, you’d never speak to him. He wasn't a popular kid per se but he had a solid friend group and played sports, so in his own way, he was a popular kid. You were the kid that had your head down, did what you were told to do and left. 

High school flew by and you were glad. The whole “your high school years are the best years of your life” was bullshit, if anything, you ended up coming out more confused than you went in. 

The second time you spent time with Eddie was at your graduation party. The graduating class had arranged a grad party for yourselves in the neighbourhood. It consisted of loud drunk teenagers and their tipsy parents. By midnight, the street began clearing out, you hung back simply because you didn’t want to go home and deal with your stepmother and your father. 

Sitting on the curb at the end of the street, you could see the entire street. There  were still a few kids, a group of boys playing football terribly, a couple making out in the corner and some girls posing for pictures by some car. 

Eddie’s shouting broke your thoughts, “Papi I'm going!” It sounded like something had shattered, perhaps a bottle. You got up and slowly made your way over. “You want to throw away your life? Stay here, get a job Eddie, I won’t allow you to do this!” his father shouted back at him. Eddie began walking away from his father, Ramon grabbed his hand. “Do not walk away from me!” he shouted again. 

“You made up your mind and so did I. I'm going.” Eddie said sternly and walked away. He walked past you on his way to wherever he was going. He didn’t stop, he didn't talk, he just pushed past you and left. 

Eddie left home a few weeks later. You kept up with his parents, stopping by for dinner every once in a while. His father didn’t talk much about him, just that he was good and that’s all. Once his father left, his mother told you about what actually was going on, how Eddie felt as if he had found a purpose there. She shows you letters that he had sent and a picture he had sent her in his uniform.

“Doesn't he look handsome ?” she smiled, showing you the picture of Eddie. “Yeah, very handsome, Mrs. Diaz” you smiled back. 

“Do you know when he’s coming back?” 

The smile dropped from her face. “He- uh, reenlisted” she mumbled. “Ramon doesn't know” 

You nodded, “I won’t tell” 

“Who’s not telling what?” his father came back in for a moment, you smiled at him while Mrs. Diaz turned her attention to the sink. “Oh just that Mrs. Diaz is helping me with dinner for my grandparents tomorrow” you pick up the bowls on the counter, “Thank you for dinner, I'll see you guys around ?” 

“of course, thank you for coming over. it’s nice to have you around” his mother gave you a hug. 

You spent a lot of afternoons with his mom, just helping her out around the house. It wasn't until 4 years after that night that you saw him again. A few bruises and bumps, a couple scars and broken bones you were sure of, but he was back in one piece. In true Diaz fashion, his parents insisted on throwing a party for him. It was supposed to be a small party, just a few neighbours and family. By the time Mrs. Diaz was done inviting people, there was triple the amount of people coming. 

You headed over with your father, he had gotten sick recently and required a bit more help now. Truthfully by 25, you had planned to be living on your own but with your father getting sick and your step mother bailing, you stuck around. Once you got him situated, you found Mrs. Diaz in the kitchen. 

“Hey” you smiled at her, taking the bowl from her hands. “Hi mi amor, how are you ?” She smiled at you, you rested the bowl on the table across from the two of you, “I’m okay for now.” 

Eddie’s laughter filled your ears, that was a sound you didn't hear often but one you loved nonetheless “It’s good to have him home” his mother smiled, watching her son from the window. Mrs. Diaz gets pulled off by someone leaving you alone in the kitchen, turning to the fridge, you look through for a beer. “hey, pass me one too” his voice called as he watched through the backdoor. You pulled two out and handed on to him. 

“Thanks” Eddie leaned against the counter, you couldn't help but chuckle. “What?” taking a sip of the beer, his eyes meet yours. “Nothing, just noticing your habit of leaning on things” you stood across from him. 

“Sorry, but do I know you from somewhere ? You seem so familiar” his brows furrowed, tongue running across his lip. “I’m y/n, we’re neighbours” you told him, his eyes flickered up and down you, your name leaving his lips. 

God, your name never sounded so good. 

“Y/n...” his eyes ran over your body once more, his eyes locking on your foot. “Ankle Scar” he smiled, you nodded as your lips curled into a smile. “God, I'm so sorry I didn’t rememb-” “don’t worry ‘bout it, I'm not really anyone worth remembering” 

Eddie’s smile dropped, a pout visibly on his face. “Don’t say that, I'm sure you are.” 

“Is that why you didn't remember me ?” you teased

“We went to high school together” he took another sip, you nodded in agreement. “We’ve also lived next door to each other since we were 14”  you smiled at him. Again, the smile vanished from his face, “okay, now I really feel like shit. God, I'm sorry” “It’s cool really” you gave a smile once more. 

“Don’t you have a party to get back too ?” 

“Eh, not to fussy about parties to tell you the truth. I might take a walk around the block, care to join me ?” 

“Actually, yeah, I’d like that” 

Eddie opened the front door for you, letting you step out first. The two of you headed through the front to avoid everyone in the back, you walked down the street together, the dull streetlights lit the sidewalks, beer in your hand. 

“What have you been up to?” Eddie asked you, “Well, I'm a nurse but only part time. My dad needs me around.. now that he’s sick” 

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that, your dad’s a cool guy” 

Scoffing, you take a sip of your beer, “yeah, you’re the only one that’s ever thought that” your statement making Eddie chuckled. “If you don't mind me asking, what happened to the wicked step mother of the west?”  he looked over at you as he walked along the curb of the sidewalk, his arms out to balance himself. 

“She bailed when he found out he was sick.” 

Eddie stopped walking, “seriously ? that’s a bitch move” “yeah, tell me about it” 

Taking a seat on the curb, Eddie sat down too. The street was quiet for the most part, the only noise coming from down the street at Diaz’s place. Your fingers tapped against the beer bottle in your hand, aimlessly trying to keep up with the beat of the music. Eddie’s hand on your ankle startled you, causing you to drop the bottle. “Seriously ?! Again?” you shout, Eddie put his finger over your lips. “Shh! you’ll wake up the neighbours” he muttered, you rolled your eyes at his statement. “Tell me nurse y/n, how does one not ‘heal right’” he laughed, his thumb rubbing against the scar and causing you to roll your eyes again. “surely you can tell me that, Sergeant Diaz” 

Eddie looked shocked, “how did-” “your mom, she never stopped talking about her son, the army sergeant medic” you teased, he shook his head, laughing. “I know you’ve only been back for a few weeks, but what’s next ? Are you going to stay ?” 

“If I have a reason too, I will but I- I don't know what’s next” Eddie sighed. 

“Perhaps a change in scenery ?” you asked, he looked over at you with a questionable expression on his face. “I'm moving, to California in a few months” you told him. 

“Oh? What for?” 

“A change in scenery” you laughed and he smiled at you. 

“I haven't thought about moving, maybe it would be nice. A break away from here, not that I don't love it here, I love my parents too but-” he stopped talking, he realized the more he went on, the deeper a hole he dug. 

“You know, I hear the LAFD is always looking for recruits. I’m sure they wouldn't mind having an army medic on the team” you glance over at him, there’s a pause in the conversation. 

Eddie looks over at you, “that’s not a bad idea” his arm wraps around your shoulder, pulling you into his side, your arm his rested on top of his knee, 

“What do you say to a road trip and a roommate ?” he looks down at you. 

You look up at him, “I think I'd like that”  

---

tagging: @ssa-volturi​ @geeky-son-dr-reid

[creativeashproductions]

Shattered Hearts // Luke Patterson

Summary: The teenage years are supposed to the best time of life but not when fate has other plans for Sunset Curve. Not feeling well reader stays home while Luke prepares for the performance of his life at The Orpheum. Shit hits the fan hard and the fallout ensues.

Warnings: Swearing, death, hospital, cancer (type is not detailed) angst, and fluff.

Words: 2.3k

Requested: @lolychu​

A/N: I didn’t go into detail about the kind of cancer because I didn’t want to, I want it to be as general as it could. I’ve never gone through it or had someone close go through it so it could be wrong and I apologize for that. Broken heart syndrome is REAL by the way.

Masterlist

Los Angeles, 1995

There are articles of some medical mysteries that can’t fully be scientifically explained, such as when someone dies in excellent health following the death of a loved one. The scientific term is takotsubo cardiomyopathy, but the world knows it merely by Broken Heart Syndrome. It was a day that was supposed to be the greatest of your teenage years, but the day couldn’t have gone any worse.

First, you woke up with an incredibly high fever and newfound bruises. Pain in a wrist out of nowhere but you wrote it off. You had plans, and illness wasn’t scheduled for the day. Your boyfriend and his band had gotten their big break, well their almost big break. Today was the day Sunset Curve would perform at The Orpheum, and you were gonna be backstage cheering them on.

Luke made his appearance at your house in the morning before early rehearsal, and you managed to convince him you were feeling okay. He went on to their studio, and your mother drove you to the hospital in fear.

Life was an asshole. While you waited for test results pale against the hospital sheets, an ambulance rolled in. Carrying three bodies that would go to the morgue for positive confirmation of death. You wouldn’t know for a full day, Luke’s parents too grief-stricken to call you and that’s okay. 

“Mom?” You asked as her form caved in on the floor near your hospital bed, “Mom!”

Her eyes filled with so much pain brought you fear and concern. With a struggle, she came closer to hold your hand tightly and spoke brokenly the fate that would snatch you.

“Baby, you don’t have the flu.”

“That’s good? So just meds and we can go home?” You asked heart clenching as her eyes closed tight and you knew whatever the doctor had told her after pulling her out of the room wasn’t good.

Couldn’t be good with the slump in her shoulders, the pain in her eyes and the guilt coating her every word. Mom wasn’t a housewife; she wasn’t a flower in need of protection, but she never kept something from you. Always said it straight and as it is.

“Sweetheart, they’re gonna move you to another ward.” You knew deep in your heart the news had to be the worst because Mom wasn’t telling you the whole story. Finally, she broke down, “The doctors got the results back as soon as they could. The fever, the bruises, and the broken wrist have a reason. You have cancer.”

Cancer. A word that sealed your fate. It left you reeling in shock. It shattered your dream with just one single name. Couldn’t be seen but made its presence known. The coming hour was spent with the specialist detailing the type and a tentative treatment plan he wanted to initiate immediately.

A nurse escorted your mother out as the orderlies and nurses prepped you to be moved to a new room. Knowing you were in good hands, your mom walked to the main doors for fresh air only to be astounded at the sight of Mitch and Emily Patterson. Equally shocked, they came together.

“Emily?” Your mom spoke, looking carefully at the parents of your boyfriend. She wondered how the Patterson’s had found out, “Did someone call you?”

“No.” Emily spoke with a numb voice. Your mom took a step back, understanding that one could only react that way for one thing. Something had happened to the Patterson teenager.

 “Luke isn’t here, is he?” Your mom asked, turning to look up at the tall building of the hospital, “Y/N, hasn’t had a phone. She only found out, but Luke hasn’t been with you-“

“The cops came,” Mitch spoke tucking his upset wife into his arms. He was equally as grief-stricken and bitter, but he had to be calm for his wife. They wouldn’t get anywhere if one of them couldn’t get answers.

Your mom gasped, “No.”

“I always knew that band-“Emily’s own sob cut her words off as her knees threatened to buckle. Your mom helped lead Emily into the emergency room before she jogged off to join you but not before turning to the Patterson parents.

“We’ll meet up. Discuss why we’re all here.” 

Being told you had cancer and then informed your boyfriend died all in one night was the most painful thing you had to live through. It was weeks of screaming, invasive procedures and therapy sessions. Your father came from his business trip to Dubai as soon as he could and didn’t leave your side.

A painful six months rolled with cancer stealing your hopes and a fucking bad hotdog taking your dreams away. Nothing made you curious. Nothing felt worth living for.

Not the realistic watercolour tattoo your parents let you get of Luke’s blue guitar you loved so much. It seemed to have a terminally sick child made it practically impossible to say no to, so you got a tattoo of your favourite lyrics of Sunset Curve.

In pretty font, it said ‘When all the days felt black and white. Those were the best shades of my life’ just like it said in Now or Never. One of your favourite songs, you got the privilege of watching Luke create.

“Mom, can I have a popsicle?” You asked from your bed. Eyes barely open as she nodded off her chair, “My mouth is dry.”

“Of course.” She nodded, leaving the room with a kiss on your forehead. Both of you mumbling I love you just in case. You felt like your clock was close to the end, so every word had meaning.

It was a good day so far; you hadn’t had to press for more pain medication like the last couple of weeks. You had managed to turn to stare out the window at the pretty sky. Your eyes fluttered shut completely content that this was it.

Your mom returned to a room with doctors and nurses trying to resuscitate you with your father screaming. No one could figure out if it was the cancer or the broken heart syndrome that killed you first. Your death was a double blow to Luke’s parents the most, along with Reggie and Alex’s own parents. 

Los Angeles, 2020

So much had changed since you died in 1995. Phones had changed, and buildings were torn down. You changed as well too. In relief physically, you had changed from the gaunt, skinny, pale patient to the girl you had been before the diagnosis.

Your hair now looked as healthy as it had been before you had cancer and you weren’t gaunt looking. You were looked just like you did a few months before you got diagnosed and you hoped so since you were dead. It would have sucked to be dead and beyond ugly.

“Do you think she went on to have a family?”

You kept your attention on the waves crashing the beach content to watch the waves doing the same movement they had since the beginning. You paid no attention to the group walking by. Not until one tripped over you landing in an awkward heap.

“Ouch!” The voice hissed. Your eyes flicked down to Reginald fucking Hastings’s blue eyes in pure shock. You scrambled away from the teenager with a sharp scream that pierced the ghoul group.

“Jesus.” You grumbled pushing the little sand that had stuck somehow to your body made of air.

“Oh my god. I think I just summoned Luke’s girlfriend.” Reggie hissed towards the equally astounded members of former Sunset Curve and current Julie and the Phantoms bandmates.

“No, you idiot we’re dead.” You spoke, taking a deep breath in, “After not seeing you for five years I thought you passed on. I’ve been travelling around America and Canada. Something felt like I needed to come home.”

“When did you die?” Alex questioned sadly when you were quiet. His sad blue eyes unable to leave your expressive face, he hoped somehow you had lived to your 90s and died to come back youthful.

“It’s wasn’t harm-“

“No, Luke. I don’t think I’ll ever positively know what happened, but the night you guys died my life ended as well.” You revealed sitting back, letting the three boys join you for an intriguing story to them. Luke wasn’t hesitant in grasping your hand in his, “Funny enough your bodies were being unloaded in the morgue while I was being told by my Mom, I had cancer. The battle was hard but short.”

“Cancer?”

“Our love story was destined to be tragic, whether it be cancer or a hotdog.” You told the teenage guitarist to experience in the afterlife to be gentle about it. The three boys flinched from the indifference, “Have you visited your parents yet? My parents are home for a few weeks.”

“My neighbourhood was torn down. Alex doesn’t know about his and-“ 

“-I’ve seen my folks once so far.” Luke finished playing with your fingers, “You say our love story was tragic, I say it would be tragic if we hadn’t had the chance in life that we did.”

You nodded your head, “Where have you guys been?”

All three boys took their chaotic turn in describing their last meal to Reggie tripping over you with the belief of walking through you. They were in a band with a lifer who made them visible to the public when playing music together. You told them that your parents would choose a destination from your dream travel journal; you would follow them on the adventures.

Slowly you met Julie who put up a distance as she acclimated to having the girlfriend of her crush around always. Julie couldn’t help the feeling of jealously when Luke focused on the teen ghost girl. She couldn’t even hate you! You were so lovely and welcoming to the girl with respect for boundaries, in fact, you were exactly the girl she would have been friends with. Julie loved Flynn, but she could be over the top and dramatic sometimes.

“Good rehearsal. I’ll meet you outside.” Luke spoke, pressing a kiss to the side of your head. You nodded before walking through the white, painted barn doors.

Everything put away properly; Luke was quick to meet up with his girlfriend for their date. Alex noticed the stare by Julie. He had seen it for the past few weeks since you were introduced to the passionate musician with a beautiful voice.

“I’m really sorry, Julie.” Alex softly told the sad Puerto Rican girl yearning to hug the teenager but alas his ghostly body couldn’t allow it.

“Did I have an honest chance before she came back?” Julie asked. Her doe brown eyes bringing Reggie’s attention to the conversation at hand. 

“No.” Reggie answered this time solemn with his blue eyes holding no mirth or childlike glee, “Luke’s been in love with her for years. She’s his all or nothing.”

“I didn’t have a chance between them, and I don’t want you between them either. It’s not a nice place to be even if I was mutually breaking up with his as well.” Alex soothed the live girl yearning to physically comfort her but alas that damn hotdog ruined everything.

“Luke also said when the first big payment came, he would marry her. He wanted to give her the wedding of her dreams.” Reggie unintentionally rubbed the salt in Julie’s wound on the topic of her tragic love story.

Julie learnt to deal with the pain of seeing Luke, so in love and happier than before you had reconnected. In her fashion, she had hidden a new box for her thoughts that was so well hidden the boys would never find it. It was filled with papers that progressively got less romance angst.

“I’m just saying,” Alex spoke, raising his hands in the air after another one of Luke’s emotional rants on the loss of things in death. Such as marrying you.

“Dude, we’re dead, and our ghost connections happen to either be our band, Willie or a very questionable sketchy vintage magician.” Luke snapped slouching on his couch sulking as you were spending time with your family no matter how oblivious they were to your presence.

“I’m ordained.” Willie supplied sitting next to the blonde drummer who had easily swayed from Caleb to the good side again. At the group’s looks of disbelief, he continued, “I was bored! Took some art classes too. It won’t be the average wedding, but you could still call each other spouse.”

“I can check local clubs for wedding dresses. Flynn can easily put together music and Alex can find a venue.” Julie piped up, avoiding the sympathetic look from Reggie, who still thought the teenager had feelings for his bandmate. She no longer did. 

“You can use one of your rings on a chain as well. Maybe hold off on getting a ring until we get money from the band.” Reggie gave his input, earning himself a proud expression from Alex; an expression the drummer rarely was able to give his friend.

“I guess I’m proposing.” Luke beamed already thinking of ways to make his proposal special, not like being ghosts wasn’t already impressive enough. 

It wasn’t the ideal wedding, but it honestly didn’t matter as long as the two of you were able to vow yourself to each other. It no longer mattered on the details other than you two.

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