#n as she was telling this story she was stopped by sudden barking noise. sounds like smol dog fr another room but i had 2 pause the vid cos

[bubblyhoney]

sarah i have thought of another fic request or like a cute idea i guess! i didn’t have anyone in mind when i thought of it so you can write it for whoever you want honestly :)

okay so the reader is a streamer but streams games like animal crossing, standew valley, etc. then (insert who you’re writing for) says they don’t like that game, but later ends up buying it and the reader is like “i thought you said you didn’t like this game” and they’re like “well i like you” and they confuses their feelings and they end up playing the game together and reader gives them a tour of their island or farm

i feel like this request isn’t good, but the scenario seemed cute and i wanted to share it. sorry if this is confusing or just too specific cuz i know it can be hard to write requests like that! but yeah i hope it gives you inspiration and you like the request <3

new horizons

warnings: language, a Marvel reference (hint: natasha said it about tony), stupid idiots who don’t realize they like each other, use of pet names, Uno rage, Hasan Piker's presence

words: 1473

tags: sapnap x gn!reader

A/N: i’ve been trying to catch up a little on my requests (i’ve only got a couple so i’m not super overwhelmed) but school and outside life has been taking up most of my time so this one took me a while to make! tbh— ive never played animal crossing so i did google some of the game mechanics and i apologize if anything is inaccurate about the game…. but i liked relaxing and writing this cute one so thank you for requesting hails :3

requests/inbox status: open

-

“This game is trash.”

Your head quirks, fingers stopped on the screen. You’re in the process of giving your character a cute new nickname; it’s kind of hard to decide between “awkward dude” and “elderly skater”.

“Excuse me?” Your chat comes alive with emotes and ‘KEKW’s, obviously entertained by you and your almost-more-than-friends-friend.

There’s a story for that later.

Sapnap’s rough laugh comes through your headset and he audibly swallows, the sound of a water bottle dropping onto his desk echoing.

“I’m just saying—it’s boring. It’s like Minecraft but you don’t like… do anything.” The grainy image of his bearded face shifts and you see him pull out his phone.

“It’s— you can’t even compare it to Minecraft! It’s a completely different game system—you actually interact with other people live in the game.” You huff out a dramatic sigh, slumping in your chair with a pout. “Just because you go into this lucid state where all you know is ‘touch block, hit George’ doesn’t mean this game isn’t fun.” (He scoffs at your awful impression of his voice. Your viewers love it.)

“Jeez,” he mumbles, fumbling with the cap of his water bottle. “Touched a nerve there, bud.”

You roll your eyes, getting back to the village in the game.

“Don't ‘bud’ me.”

The call falls comfortably quiet, the sounds of him tapping obsessively on his phone and you clicking away filling the silence. A gentle bedroom-pop YouTube playlist remains in the background, prompting you to hum along and glance at the chat to see a flood of “check twitter” and “Y/N TWITTER!!”.

“What happened on Twitter?” You mumble, confused, and pull the website up on another monitor. Sapnap just makes a curious noise, swinging back and forth in a circle. “Oh my God,” you say to yourself, fingertips brushing your parted lips.

“What?”

“Hasan Piker just followed me and retweeted one of my not even remotely political old tweets. Like from a year ago.”

“That’s— wow. Congrats?” Sapnap’s voice cracks, and his ears flush pink the tiniest bit when you glance at his face on Discord.

“I’m gonna go on record and say that he could get it.” You shake your head in disbelief.

Sapnap falls uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal, so you look past the frenzied chat and to his screen— wait. He muted and turned his camera off.

“Um,” you start, furiously typing question marks in your private chat. “Where’d you go?” You mute and turn screen share off for your stream, concerned that he might’ve fallen off his chair and broken his neck and needs you to call the ambulance.

The characteristic ding of a twitter notification sounds through your bedroom, and you look at your phone quickly.

“That’s where I went.”

Sapnap Tweeted: “all Y/U stans can choke on my dick”.

“Jesus, Sapnap,” you say, and rapidly refresh to read the replies. This tweet was deleted. “That’s so— that barely makes sense, bro. Why— literally what?”

His snicker floods your ears and you relax in your chair. Crisis: averted. “Don’t fucking— what’s wrong with you?”

“I thought it would be funny,” he offers, shrugging, and fiddles with the straw in his water bottle, smile fading. “And also Hasan pisses me off.”

“Why, ‘cause he wants a piece of this? Jealous?” You think back to your viewers, knowing they’re probably spamming question marks and coming to ludacris conclusions about both of your absences. No offense to them. You remember your stan days very vividly.

“I mean, kinda.” He rubs once at his nose, glancing at the camera (and what feels like you) before taking a sip from his water bottle.

“Wow.” You watch one strand of his hair fall from beneath his hat and brush against his full eyebrows. “I’m uh—I’ll get back to my stream. You coming? Or is it time for a Sapnap-snack?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” He snorts and leans his chin onto the balance of his arm.

“That means you like to take a little snack break mid-stream and come back approximately nine hours later and you didn’t even eat.”

“You know what— fuck you.” He flicks the camera as you laugh at the look on his face.

The teasing mood is easily kept as you switch games from Animal Crossing to Uno, all the while slamming Sapnap with +4’s and skipping the newly-arrived BadBoyHalo at any chance you can get. It unironically pisses him off and he has to take a Sapnap-snack break midway through (only a fifteen minute break this time, during which you and Bad take a “What Kind of Bread Are You?” quiz). The rest of the night is filled with devious cackles (you), loud and sudden bangs that sound suspiciously like someone hitting their desk in anger (Sap) and the stupid barking of Rat, AKA Lucy (Bad). She’s cute but a menace to the sound quality of Bad’s microphone. You sign off stream around 2 a.m. with various forms of thanks and kisses blown to the camera. It’s been a refreshing night, actually; you’ve been busy organizing a partnership stream all week and all your friends have been busy filming or editing or what-not. Quackity had time for a little Roblox every couple of days, though. He’s got your back.

The next time you see Sapnap is after a two hour stream of him try-harding in Valorant and you finishing responding to an email from your partnership in the VC.

“Okay, I’m back.” You hear him shift in his chair and click a couple more times on his keyboard. You perk up in your chair, closing the email browser you’d been looking at.

“Do you want to play anything else? I’m down for anything.”

“Absolutely not Uno. You can go to hell for giving me 6 cards that one time,” he jabs. You scoff, crossing your arms and leaning back in your chair.

“Okay, the +4 was on me but it’s Bad who gave you the last two. That’s not my fault, sweetie.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he mumbles, trailing off as the clicking of his keyboard stops. “Hey, um—Guess what?”

Your heart beats loud in your ears at the tone of his voice. He sounds nervous; that’s never good.

“I’m scared to guess,” you try, playing with a little Minecraft dog figurine you have on your desk with fidgety fingers. “What?”

“I bought Animal Crossing.”

Silence. You stare at his discord icon blankly, trying to reroute the wires of your brain.

“Tell me you love it.”

“Well… I haven’t actually played it— but you said you liked it, so.”

“So,” you repeat him, ears warming but continuing on. “Is that what you tell all your friends when you buy something they like? That it's because of them?”

He seems to choose his next words carefully, pausing a beat to consider your questions.

“Well, I don’t have a crush on all of my friends.”

“You—what?” You stutter, caught off guard and stumbling. What did he just say? “Don’t tell me you mean you have a crush on me.”

“I’m almost positive I just did.” His discord icon stares right back at you, taunting.

“You know, you’re very casual for someone who just admitted they like-like me.” Your cheeks flush pink and you have to press a hand to your chest to keep your breathing sounding stable.

“Yeah, I’m kind of cool like that,” he offers, a huff of a laugh punctuating his statement. The conversation moves into a lull that you can’t help but know is because of you. He must expect you to say something about it, right?

“You are very cool, Sapnap.” You tilt back in your chair, sucking in a breath to prepare yourself for your next words. “And—Isortakindofhaveacrushonyoutoo.”

He must understand you, for you can hear the grin in his voice when he asks “Really?”

“Y-yeah.” You feel like a preteen again, all shaky and giddy in front of the boy you just asked to a middle school dance.

“Um, alright. What do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” you answer genuinely and swing in a happy little circle in your chair. “We could play Animal Crossing.”

“I’m down.”

You swear you’ve never heard more beautiful words.

He keeps his camera off for most of the time you two play, too focused on creating his island and asking you questions about how to fish to turn it on. He silently flips it on when you help him decorate his lawn, needing to show you in real-time the decorations he has bought and where you think he should put them. He looks cute. I mean, of course he does. He always does.

You tell him goodbye late in the night, eyes saying a little more than just “see you tomorrow”.

You like him. He likes you.

It’s even better when you two have matching gardens.

-

A/N: anybody and everybody (especially my precious hailey) let me know what you think!! :]

[theright-sideofme]

Mate. C. San. [Part 2}

Werewolf!San x fem!reader WC: 1.9k Warnings: implied mentions of abuse. let me know if I missed anything.

series masterlist | main masterlist Previous Part | Next Part

“So what are we gonna do with her?” Yunho asked as he looked over at you, who sat patiently in the living room, curiously looking around at the electric room. “We can’t just send her back home, she ran away” San was quick to point out. Hongjoong let out a stressed sigh, looking over you while in deep thought.

San was nervous as he watched his alpha wage a mental war on what to do. Of course he wanted you to stay, you were his mate and having you around would be heaven for him, but he didn’t want you to stay just for his selfish reasons. He was worried about what would happen to you if you were to go back. In the months he would watch you from afar, one of the first things he picked up on was your fathers explosive temper and he would be damned if he sent you back knowing what was waiting for you.

“Your mate, your choice” Hongjoong finally said, looking at San and San only. It had caught him and everyone else off guard, not expecting an answer like that from their alpha. “If you want her to stay then she stays, but she’s your responsibility.” “I’m not a dog” you said in a hushed voice with a pout. The pack quickly turned to you, a sudden realization that you could hear them blatantly talking about you washing over them.

“I didn’t mean it like that” Hongjoong said with an apologetic smile, “I just need San to know he’s responsible for taking care of you while your here- wait that still sounds bad- I-” Hongjoong was cut off by the sound of your angelic laughter. San could feel his heart swell at the beautiful sound, watching as your eyes crinkled with laughter, a beautiful smile taking over your face. After you stopped laughing, you looked at San, a bright smile still on your face as you spoke, “I’m not asking for you to take me in, that’s too much of me to ask of you. I will just go down to the village, and-” “No!” San blurted out, “I mean, it’s not too much, we’d love to have you stay, right boys?” The rest of the pack was quick to nod with reassuring smiles. They knew how much this meant to San, despite not knowing what it was like to have a mate yet, they knew having you close was important to him.

San took a step forward, a small smile on his face as he took your hand. The small action had your heart fluttering and your head swirling. What was with this guy? “Stay, please.” It was a soft spoken request, one of genuine meaning, and you couldn’t find it in yourself to say no.

That was two weeks ago. You had spent two week living with the pack and you had enjoyed every second of it. The boys were very welcoming, San the most so, and they made you feel right at home, more than you had ever felt when you were living with your family. It was a bit odd living with werewolves at first, only knowing what you had been told from ghost stories, and you were quick to learn that everything you did know was false. They boys were very patient with you, answering any questions you had and explaining anything you didn’t understand. One thing that was never brought up though was mates. San knew he should tell you, and the sooner the better. He was just worried about how you would take it, worried about if you would accept the bond or not.

“Hey San” you spoke cheerily as you skipped into the kitchen. “Hey Y/n- whoa, what happened to you” he asked. You were covered head to toe in dirt, your hair practically fit to be a bird's nest, and a small cut on your cheek. San was in front of you in a second, hand on your arms as his eyes scanned you up and down for any more cuts or possible injuries.

“I’m fine” you dismissed, ignoring the way your heart fluttered at how caring he was towards you, swatting him away with a light laugh but it did nothing to ease his worry. “No you're not- hey! Get back here! You need to clean up that cut or it’ll get infected!”

He followed you as you went over to the pantry to look for a good snack, after all the roughhousing you did with the boys, you were whipped. They had asked for a simple race at first, effectively pulling you away from your book. One race turned into three and after the third you insisted they were cheating, using their werewolf powers and what not. Well apparently Wooyoung doesn’t take kindly to being called a cheater, (softly) tackling you to the ground which quickly turned into a group wrestling match, hence your current state.

Before you knew what was happening, you were being pulled away from the pantry, being tossed over San’s shoulder like a rag doll as he carried you out of the kitchen. “Hey-” “go clean yourself up and I’ll make you soup.” You paused your struggle for a moment, soup did sound good. “...What kind of soup” “chicken noodle” “deal.”

San gently placed you down in front of the bathroom door, leaving his hands lingering on you arms for a moment. He allowed himself to admire you in that moment, even in this disheveled state, you were still the most beautiful person he had ever laid eyes on. His intense gaze was met back by your soft eyes staring up at him with absolute adoration. An eruption of butterflies bursting into your stomach as you grew shy under his gaze, something that has never happened to you before, ever.

Quickly advertising your gaze, you rushed into the bathroom as heat rushed to your cheeks. “I’m expecting the best soup Choi” you tried your best to play off your embarrassment. You shut the bathroom door before he got the chance to respond. He stood there dumbfounded with a goofy smile on his face as he realized, he just made you blush. A sense of pride ripped through his chest and an almost childlike giggle left his lips. “Of course Y/l/n” you could hear the smirk on his lip, which only made you groan in embarrassment. What was happening to you?

--

A few days later, you sat under a tree near the house with a book Yeosang had recommended to you. It was quite good, not something you would’ve picked up on your own but you certainly weren’t able to put it down. It was nice and peaceful under the tree, it was familiar yet so different to when you used to sit under your tree back home. Back then you were trying to escape the hectic world you lived in, now you were simply soaking in peace and enjoying life the way you were meant to. It was nice to have a truly relaxing moment, not feeling like you had to always look over your shoulder to make sure you were alone.

San stood, leaning against the doorframe as he watched you with a smile. It was nice for him to see you so relaxed, and his heart swelled knowing you felt so at peace at his home- well it was technically your home too now. Just another reason for San’s heart to fill with joy. God how he loved you, he just wished he could tell you… What was that?

San’s thoughts were cut off when a chorus of barking sounded through the forest. Hounds. His eyes widened at the realization, rushing to get you into the house. “San- what’s happening, is everything okay?” You asked as San carefully pulled you up, pulling you hastily into the house. San didn’t respond, too wrapped up in his own head to hear you right now. His only thought was keeping you safe.

“San'' You called out again, stopping as you two reached the living room, forcing San to stop too. That’s when he snapped out of it, turning to you with the best reassuring smile he could muster up, but you could tell something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” San let out a shaky breath, looking into your eyes just to calm himself down. “I heard hounds…” Hounds? Oh no. Your face soon morphed into one much similar to San’s when he had first heard the noise, eyes wide and fearful, mouth parting in shock. “O-okay, what do we do? '' You asked despite your fear, trying your hardest not to freak out, that was the last thing either of you needed right now. Before San could answer Yunho and Yeosang busted through the door, looking around frantically before their eyes landed on you. “You need to hide, the hounds-” “We know Sang. Did you ever fix the ladder to the attic? '' Yeosang nodded quickly, taking that as his cue to lead the both of you upstairs.

“Just up here” Yunho said as he pulled the hatch and stairs down, leading you forward. You looked back at San for a second and he felt himself wanting to pull you into his chest at that very moment. Your eyes full of fear, your shaky hands holding on to the ladder as you looked to him for comfort, for reassurance that everything would be okay. It hurt when the only thing he could do was give you a smile and nod. Strangely, you felt as though it wasn’t enough, wanting him to come with you and hold you until everything quieted back down. Despite that, you turned back around, crawling up into the attic with a terrible feeling in your chest.

“What do we do now?” Yunho asked after shutting the hatch to the attic, keeping his voice low so that you couldn’t hear. “We go warn the other, and be ready for when they get here” San said, his eyes not moving from the hatch where you just disappeared. “We- we won’t have to fight right?” “Hopefully not…”

--

After they had warned the others, Hongjoong was quick to come up with a plan in true alpha fashion. Everyone was to stay inside and just go about their business. If the hounds did end up at their place (which was highly likely) Hongjoong would talk to whoever was in charge and try his best to defuse the situation. Violence was the last resort, it always was and Hongjoong made sure everyone knew that.

San physically could not sit still while they waited. All he could think about was you up in the attic all alone. All he wanted was to be up there with you, but if something bad were to happen, he needed to be down here, with his pack.

The hounds were now right outside, many scratching at the door to get in. The room stank of anxiety and it was evident on everyone's face. San nearly jumped out of his skin when the distinct, loud knocks came from the door. “Don’t worry” was all Hongjoong said before nonchalantly opening the door.

“Sir Wang” Hongjoong greeted the fancily dressed guard almost as if greeting an old friend. “Hongjoong, it’s been awhile” “that it has. May I ask why you brought a barrage of hounds to my home? Did we do something wrong?” “Well you tell me. We’re looking for Lord Y/l/n’s daughter, Lady Y/n. You wouldn’t happen to know where she is, would you?”

taglist: @itsyaapollochild @sunsethw4

[domesticblisss]

What If It is Not Meant for Me?

Jay White x Female Reader Requested Prompts: “can you write anything with jay. It can be fluff, angst!” Rating: PG-13 Word Count: 1397 Warnings: Uhhh, not much? Maybe a little angsty fluff? Probably some self doubt and some pinning. Summary: Jay has a new neighbour. A/N: My dear requester let me free ball it and I am on my monthly “Don’t delete the kisses” bullshit soooo, hope y’all like it.

Jay has a hard time accepting the good things that appear in his life.

His routine took a turn after she moved to the only other apartment on the floor of his condo. The once lifeless and bleak hallway now always smelled like pancakes and flowers, faint sounds of dog barks could be heard, accompanied by calm music and the sweetest voice he had ever heard. On fridays the voices multiplied, laughter was constant and the music was a bit more agitated. Clinking of wine glasses, toasts, and the occasional sound of glass breaking filled his ears.

If you asked him to be honest, he would tell you he envied her.

They met a month after she moved in. The elevator was almost closing when he heard someone shouting “no no no” and when he looked up, Jay was graced by the vision of her running towards him, her baby bull terrier on one arm and the length of her flowery sundress being held by the other hand as she ran, her boots making squeaky noises as the soles touched the smooth floor. He quickly stopped the door and moved to the side so she had more space for the ride.

“Thank you so much!”

“No problem.” Jay’s voice was quiet, almost monotone, a drastic contrast to the cheery one owned by his new neighbour.

She noticed that the twelfth floor’s button was highlighted and decided on introducing herself. “I moved in around a month ago. Are you new here too?”

“I”m Jay, and no, I’ve been living here for a couple of years now.”

“Oh, that’s nice! It’s always so quiet on your side that I thought I was alone.”

“I’m always travelling.” He keeps his words short and a low tone of voice, trying not to give in how the thoughts were running a million miles per hour on his head.

The elevator stops, the robotic woman’s voice announces they had arrived and the doors open.

“It was nice meeting you, Jay. See you around! Come on, let’s go Kobe.”

Jay stayed on the elevator a little longer, watching the woman race her puppy to the door. 

He finally smiled.

Jay has a hard time accepting the good things that appear in his life.

After their first encounter, they started bumping into each other more. Late night cardio sessions in the condo’s gym, pool meetups and even a “grabbing the same cart” situation at Whole Foods.

He made sure to change his schedule, always doing things in the oddest hours but they always ended up bumping into each other. He almost started believing in fate. 

She noticed he wasn’t much of a talker and Jay was thankful she didn’t push him. She kept it simple, a good morning/afternoon/evening, telling him to watch out for something or if she had found a good deal at the grocery store. 

The next forty days he spent in Japan were clouded by thoughts of her. His friends noticed the changes in his humor. He wasn’t as hot headed as usual, the young lions didn’t suffer as much and he opened up more.

It was after one gruesome match, when he and his stable mates went to the closest club to unwind, that Tama decided to ask what was going on. The man wasn’t drinking and going after girls like he used to and his friend noticed. So he told him. Told him how he felt, how he missed her and how he didn’t know what to do with his feelings.

“You gotta let the good things come to you, man. I can tell this girl is good just with the way you talk about her. Your eyes are glowing and I haven’t seen you give a normal, sane man smile in almost a year. Stop depriving yourself from experiencing love because there’s a little bug inside your head feeding you lies. You are a good dude, an amazing guy and you deserve good things, open yourself for them.” Tama’s words echoed on his head the whole week. 

It was on a hot early summer evening when they saw each other again. Jay had just gotten back from a 17+ hour flight from Tokyo and the first thing he sees when he comes out from the elevator is her surrounded by several grocery bags, struggling to find her keys. 

“Hey, welcome back!” her still so cheery voice greets him as soon as she hears the ding of the elevator. 

“Hi! Let me help you.” Jay grabs most of the bags and enters her apartment, setting them down on the kitchen counter like she asked. The apartment is exactly how he pictured it would be, plants and flowers crowded the place, mixed with a minimalistic yet cozy decoration. Kobe ran to him, licking the man’s hand asking to be picked up. 

“He really likes you, that’s new. Kobe is not that into other guys, you know?” she laughs and continues “Thanks for the help.”

“It’s no problem, really.”

“Mmm, I don’t want to overstep your boundaries and I know you will probably want to sleep all day tomorrow, but I’m having a little dinner with my friends, if you want to, you can come.”

“I would love to!”

“It starts at seven…”

“Great, I’ll see you then.” 

Jay has a hard time accepting the good things that appear in his life. But he was starting to like them. 

He arrived at 7pm sharp on that first friday. She was alone, still cooking. As usual, music played in the background, her lips were wine stained and her right cheek was smudged with focaccia flour. Jay sat by the counter listening to her talk. The look on his face was the same Kobe had when he was afraid of a new object. 

“What is it?” Her sudden laughter startled him. 

“You look like a lost, scared puppy, Jay. I’m talking your ears off, eh?”

“No, it’s fin–“

“Tell me about yourself.”

“Like what?”

“Whatever you want me to know.” she smiled. 

So he told her. He told her how he came from New Zealand to pursue his wrestling dream, how he had traveled the world, how he now works in Japan and he is on the run to become their new champion, how much he loved dogs. He almost told her how he feels about her. Almost. 

Her friends arrived one by one and Jay became the centre of the attention, everyone sat around him wanting to hear his stories, curious about his life. 

That one friday became every friday. He made sure to always arrive at 7pm sharp, so he could have her undivided attention, even if it was for only a little while. 

“It’s just us today.” That’s the first thing he hears when she opens the door after two months apart. “Hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not.”

That night was different. They sat side by side on the floor, using her coffee table for support. She was closer than usual, listening intently to what he had to say. As always, she was curious about his matches, wanting to know every move, wanting to know how it felt to hold a belt. 

“You wanna see it?” Jay asks shyly. 

“Of course!”

He comes back almost five minutes later with a black velvet bag on his hands, carefully taking the belt out of it and gently placing it in her hands. 

“Gosh, it’s so heavy.” she tells, mesmerised. Her delicate hands trace the words announcing he was the IWGP NEVER Openweight champion. “It’s beautiful too. Put it on.” 

Jay channels the persona that presents itself on that ring almost every night and makes a show of it. 

“Yep, you were made for it.” her statement makes him blush.

Two bottles of white wine, four legs intertwined and a whispered conversation later, she kisses him. 

The world stops for Jay. It was all too fast and too slow. Her breath smelled like the sweet wine  they had been drinking and his lips tingled from her touch. Pressing her forehead to his, she smiled, leaving him breathless.

“You should pay more attention to the signs, Jay.”

Suddenly, everything made sense.

“I’m getting more wine, do you want some?”

Jay had a hard time accepting the good things that appear in his life. But he sure as hell loves them now.

[onlysarah235678]

A Little Bit Part 20

Pairing: Billie Dean Howard x female reader

A/N: 🙃 Hi. I hope everyone’s had a nice weekend. Here’s more of your favorite medium, but first, look at this gif.

Warnings: angst and mention of dead animals

The rest of your time at Billie’s had been more enjoyable than you could have hoped for. The two of you spent a lot of time together, with Milo too of course, and you even risked going out again. Luckily you had been able to enjoy your time together without incident and you were reluctant to go home the next morning. You would have loved to stay with Billie for longer, but it was time to go back to work.

You and Milo had finally returned home on Sunday, and you’d immediately realized how much you had to do before work on Monday. You’d gone shopping, did laundry, cleaned a lot of your apartment before collapsing at 10. You wake up Monday morning torn between excitement and dread about going back to work. You are excited to be busy again, and to see all of your patients, but you aren’t excited about potentially facing the media and tiring yourself out.

You didn’t bother texting anyone to see if the reporters are there because you doubted anyone would be at work yet. You lock your door behind you before leading Milo down the hallway. You stifle a yawn before leaning against the wall while you wait for the elevator to reach your floor. You consider texting Billie but it was really early, so you decide to at least wait until you got to work.

You are leaving a little early because you want to have time to catch up on what you missed, so you and Milo arrive a whole hour before opening. Most of the assistants aren’t even here yet, but you hadn’t run into any reporters so you’re happy. Since you are here so early, you take Milo upstairs with you and after putting his bed back under your desk you both settle in.

When lunch time rolls around, you are grateful of the fact that Dr. Stewart put breaks into your schedule this week. You’re feeling okay, but your headache is starting to come back. You’re stressing about how much you have to catch up on when your phone goes off. You sigh before realizing that it’s Billie, and you smile widely as you read her message.

You know she has a busy week, but that doesn’t start until tomorrow, so you are going to take advantage of any free time Billie has. It doesn’t even seem odd to be so excited to talk to the blonde again. It’s barely been 24 hours since you’ve seen her, but you’re quickly responding to her message. You’re not really free, but you figure a few minutes on the phone won’t hurt.

You glance to the schedule before you skip ahead a week to double check the time that you had scheduled all seven of the cats to come in. Before leaving Billie’s yesterday, Bit had escaped outside and neither you nor Billie had been in the mood to run after her. Milo had of course, but luckily he had already been attached to his leash so he didn’t get far. You had joked that whenever she came back, Billie would have to bring her in to get spayed. She could get into a lot of trouble relatively quickly.

You had been kidding of course, but then you’d actually talked about it for a while before Billie decided that she wanted it done ASAP. So now you had Bit’s surgery in the morning, and Billie’s appointment with the other cats late enough in the afternoon that she could just take them all home at once.

Guess who made it home?

Billie had attached a picture of Bit sitting in the living room grooming herself and you laugh. You ask Billie if she wants to keep her appointment before turning your attention to lunch. You leave your office and walk down the hall to the kitchen so you can grab your lunch. You’re glad that you went shopping yesterday because you really don’t want to chance an encounter with reporters this week. You sneak a peek at the boarding cats before heading back to your office with a sigh. You sit back down before turning your attention to your computer when it chimes at you. You answer some emails before you finally get to you lunch, and at that point you remember to check your phone.

Yes, please.

You smile before asking how her day has gone so far before returning to work. You’re typing up a medical record while eating your sandwich when your phone lights up again. You’d turned off the sound because it had been aggravating your headache. That said, you don’t realize that you have a new message until you have two and you curse under your breath as you grab your phone.

How has your day been, sweetheart?

You’re on lunch now right?

You respond by telling Billie how your day has been and that you honestly are ready to go home. You talk for a while before you have to get back to work, but you ask Billie when she’ll be free. You are already dreading the idea of having to go back to your apartment alone tonight, but you suppose that’s what you get for spending so much time at Billie’s.

Billie spent most of the morning figuring out her week. She talked to Michelle for a while about the many things she had planned and how she was going to be kept busy up until her show aired. Billie was conflicted because she was glad to work, but she was also exhausted. She wanted a break, and she certainly didn’t want to deal with more assholes like she had on Friday. She and Michelle had talked about this a lot and the solution you’d both come up with was deceptively simple.

Just stick to the same story every time, and don’t crack under pressure. Billie still hadn’t told you about what Dave had asked, and she wasn’t sure if you’d bothered to look it up. This meant that she hadn’t been able to ask you about what she could say on TV. You had agreed to her telling the basics about you, your job, recent move, and all of that, but nothing about your personal life.

You certainly hadn’t mentioned your dad which is why Billie was trying not to either. That said, it was only working so well when people zeroed in on that one article or anything else they could use to bring him up. She knew you hadn’t gotten over his death yet, for several reasons, but she didn’t want to be the one to bring it up again. Billie knew that you had to come to terms with it on your own time, but it just made things difficult for her. Well, she was the one making things difficult for herself by refusing to talk to you about it. She didn’t want to risk you asking about the interview, so Billie was sticking to her ‘nothing more than the basics’ for now and hoping that it didn’t backfire again.

After Bit had returned from her sudden, albeit brief escape, Billie had tried to look her over. She wanted to make sure she hadn’t gotten hurt or too dirty while out there, but she’d had limited success. She only got as far as scratching her head and reaching for her stomach before Bit hissed and fled upstairs. Billie didn’t bother trying to stop her, she seemed fine enough, and Billie spent the rest of the morning alone.

It was odd having the house so empty. After you and Milo had stayed for a nearly a week, it was difficult to get used to the silence. Neither of you had made much noise honestly, but even just the sound of you shifting on the couch, or Milo’s collar clinking made Billie smile. She’d grown to like having the two of you here, but still she’d let you leave.

It was too early in your relationship to think about that, so Billie just pushes the thought to the back of her mind. Maybe in a few months you two can talk about the idea of moving in together.

You and Billie text for a little while longer before you have to go back to work. You’re glad that your afternoon is full of wellness visits, and as you get ready for your first appointment, you wonder if that was intentional. You don’t think about it long before you are meeting your assistant for the afternoon to get a history for the next patient.

You’re seeing an older dog, Rudy, who is relatively new to your practice. He’s a very sweet dog, but his owners are a little odd. Maybe you’re just too introverted for them, but you think that even an extrovert would find their questions a little invasive.

Luckily, it’s a quick visit and they don’t even mention your relationship which is a relief. The focus is on Rudy, as it should be, and you are grateful that no one seems to really care about you today. In between appointments you’re drinking water and working on medical records. You occasionally check your phone to see if Billie’s texted, but you have no new messages. You frown slightly before forcing yourself to get back to work.

The end of the day sneaks up on you, and you have maybe half a dozen records to finish when Dr. Hahn tells you she’s leaving. You curse under your breath after she leaves as you look at the clock. You need to feed Milo, but you still have maybe an hour of work to do. You sigh before jumping up and taking the stairs two at a time. You smile at Mina before running into the kennel to  get your dog.

“Hi Milo. Do you want dinner?”

Milo of course just barks and spins around until you let him out. You smile before scratching his head and waving him along. You feed him before letting him out in the yard for a while. You didn’t give him as much time outside today as you usually would and you feel a little bad about it. For this reason, you end up sitting with him for nearly 15 minutes before you remember you have work to do still.

You lead Milo back inside and up the stairs to your office. You don’t like leaving him in the kennel after hours, and since he’s good and just sits at your feet you let him stay with you. You’re yawning by the time you’ve finished the first couple of records, and you are tempted to leave when your phone goes off. You sigh and force yourself to finish the section you’re typing up before looking to see what Billie says.

No one else has texted you today, so you assume it’s her.

You’re right and you smile when you realize that Billie is checking in on you. It’s almost 8 and you groan when you realize how late you’ll be here tonight.

Are you still at work?

You respond saying that you are and will be for a little while before putting your phone back down. You glance down at Milo, confirming that he’s asleep and snoring before you start typing again. Billie is in the middle of trying to wrangle the kittens when your reply comes in. Since you and Milo left, she realized that it was safe for the kittens to roam around supervised. She was downstairs with all of them now, and definitely regretting her decision to do this.

As Billie holds Mickey in her sweatshirt pocket, he was almost getting too big for it, she hurries to pick up two other kittens that were at her feet. She was attempting to get them all back to the laundry room after being out for a while, and it was proving more difficult than she imagined. She sighs in defeat as she watches the other three attempt to jump on the furniture, or bother Bit. She was going to need a drink after this.

She had underestimated how tiring it would be to spend time with them like this. One hour had quickly turned into two. It was adorable watching them all wobble around, and clumsily chase clumps of Milo’s hair that they found on the ground. They were all getting so big that Billie wasn’t sure how she’d manage to get all of them to the vet next week.

Her main concern right now though was getting them all back into their room. She knew she had to spend more time letting them out like this, but she was going to be busy for the next few days. She had a couple of meetings with her producers and Michelle in addition to another couple of interviews. Billie opens the laundry room and sets the three kittens on the ground before going back to get the remaining three.

She tries to chase one down, and he or she, she’s not sure, runs into the kitchen and Billie sighs in defeat. She follows the little one to the back door and watches as she jumps up and puts her paws on the glass.

“Come on little one.”

Billie reaches down and grabs the kitten, smiling slightly as it purrs so loudly that Billie feels the vibrations. She turns to go track down the other two when her phone goes off again. She smiles until she realizes that it isn’t you, and she leaves it be for now before going off in search of the last two stragglers.

You finally finish working around 9, and you’re exhausted by the time you finish locking up. You take Milo’s leash in one hand and grab your things with the other before heading to the parking lot. You don’t even spare the rest of the lot a glance, not caring if they’re there before you throw your things in your car. You get Milo situated in the back and pretty soon you’re on your way home.

You stifle a yawn as you turn onto the road with an exhausted sigh. You’re not looking forward to going home despite feeling like you’re going to fall asleep the second your head hits your pillow. You get home in record time too since there isn’t much traffic and you sigh as you pull into the closest parking spot you can find. You sit in the car with the engine off just staring off into space before you’re interrupted.

“Shit, Milo stop.”

You push Milo away as he sits up and licks your face to get your attention. He just whines when you tell him to sit, and you only get another few seconds reprieve before he’s pawing at you. You groan in defeat before getting unbuckled and opening your door. Milo isn’t going to let you delay this any longer, so you don’t bother even trying. You get him hooked up to his leash before grabbing your things and leading him inside. You make it to your apartment quickly and you close the door behind you before watching Milo run to the couch. You look around with a frown before heading toward the kitchen. You drop your things before opening the fridge for a drink. It’s late and you should just go to sleep, but you don’t want to.

Instead, you sit next to Milo on the couch with your phone and a glass of wine. You sigh as you look to your phone with a yawn. It’s late, but you are sure that Billie is still up. You want to at least say goodnight, or let her know that you’re home. She had asked you to check in after all.

You didn’t expect her to pick up on the second ring.

“Hi, Y/N. Are you finally home?”

You smile before nodding to yourself with an exhausted sigh. You tell Billie how you just got back and that you are tired enough to crash. You hear her laugh at this and you can’t help but wonder what she’s doing right now. You turn to Milo before patting your lap, and you smile as he hurries to lie down on you.

“What are you up to, Billie?”

Billie smiles as she turns to Mickey who is bouncing around on the floor at the end of the bed. She’s watching him from where she’s leaning against the headboard with a glass of wine in one hand. She mentions what she’s been up to for the past 15 minutes and you laugh when she mentions her kitten adventures from earlier today.

“Really? All 6 of them? How did that go?”

You laugh as Billie groans under her breath. She was glad that she’d been able to give the kittens some much needed play time, but she was exhausted. She was close to crashing despite not having worked much today, but she’d wanted to wait at least until she heard from you.

“It was hectic for sure, but they were so cute. I wish you could have seen them.”

Both of you smile at the thought before you’re nodding in agreement. You scratch Milo behind his ears, your smile widening at how cute he looks as he just stares at you.

“Me too.”

The two of you sit in silence for a little while just lost in thought before Billie finally speaks up. You’re looking at your empty glass on the table in front of you while Billie’s picking up Mickey to take him back to his siblings and Bit.

“I miss having you here, sweetheart.”

You smile at Billie’s words blushing slightly as you lean against the couch with a sigh. “You do?”

Billie just nods before she returns to bed and sits down with a frown. She looks to the empty side for a moment and wonders how a few nights of sleeping in the same bed with you did this to her.

“I do. I wish you were here with me.”

You picture Billie lying in bed as she says this, and you can’t help but want to be there with her. You just know that when you go up to bed you will miss being near Billie. You’ll miss her presence, her warmth, and you will especially miss the feeling you get when she holds you close. You don’t realize that you haven’t responded until Milo snaps you out of your reverie with a loud yawn.

You smile and Billie chuckles before you manage to find your voice again. You try not to sound too much like you’re pouting when you speak up.

“Me too. We need to have another sleepover, Billie Dean.”

Billie laughs before agreeing with a wide smile. The two of you talk for almost an hour before you aren’t able to stop yawning. You don’t want to, but you end up hanging up and heading to bed. You tell yourself that you can wait until Friday rolls around to see Billie again, but you’re not entirely sure. It’s going to be a rough week not only because you’re easing back into things, but because of your impending birthday. It will definitely be on your mind, and not in a good way.

You try not to worry about that now as you get ready for bed. You go through your normal routine and half an hour later you crawl into bed. You watch as Milo does the same at the other side of the room, and you just sigh before turning off the light. You close your eyes and groan in defeat as you roll over and hide your face in your pillow. You turn again until you’re staring at the ceiling, and your mind begins to wander to a certain medium.

You close your eyes again and the first thing that comes to mind is Billie Dean’s charming smile. You imagine her smiling at you, and you can practically smell her perfume as you picture being pulled in for a hug. You smile at the thought of her laughing at one of your dumb jokes, and you are eventually able to fall asleep at the memory of Billie lying beside you.

Billie on the other hand was not asleep yet. She was tired enough for sure, but she couldn’t relax enough to lie down. She was on her second cigarette when she decides to look at her phone for a while. Mindlessly scrolling sometimes helped her sleep, but tonight it was stressing her out. It just made her think about everything that she had to do tomorrow, so she put it down quickly before heading downstairs.

She gets another stronger drink before heading back upstairs. She doesn’t make it back to her room because Bit is yowling and needs to be let out before she wakes the neighborhood. Billie sighs watching as Bit runs down the hall and down to the first floor before she sticks her head in the laundry room. Most of the kittens are sleeping, but of course there was one straggler.

“Mickey.”

The kitten turns, either at his name or Billie’s voice, and hurries over to her. She smiles as he comes to a clumsy stop at her feet and she laughs before picking him up. She holds him close and lets him play with her hair, but when he reaches out for her drink, she shakes her head.

“Not for you, little one. It’s time for bed.”

After she gets Mickey settled, Billie heads back to bed. She’s already finished her drink watching Mickey, so she leaves the empty glass on her bedside table before heading to the bathroom. She needs to get to sleep soon. She’s already going to have one hell of a week. The last thing she needs is to be sleep-deprived.

Billie isn’t convinced that this won’t be the case whether she sleeps or not. Last night she’d had difficulty sleeping, and she doesn’t want to think about why. Instead, Billie sits in bed and finishes off her cigarette, dragging it out for nearly a half hour before she falls into a fitful sleep.

You’re so deep in sleep that you don’t hear the series of knocks at your door the next morning. It’s almost half an hour before you alarm is supposed to go off, and you do not want to get up yet. Milo; however, hears them and he sits up before looking at your door. He starts growling as the knocks continue before he stands up and heads out of your room and downstairs.

He yawns on his way to investigate when the knocking stops. There is nothing out of the ordinary, and Milo hurries to the front door to sniff around. He smells something on the other side of the door and he starts pawing at it insistently. He whines as he tries to stick his face under the door, but not even his nose will fit. He lies down on his side and sees that there is something in front of the door. He tries to reach under the door but his paw is too big and he just whines again before scratching at the bottom of the door for a minute.

Eventually he gives up and just stares at it from the floor. About twenty minutes later he hears something shift from behind the door and he sits up suddenly. His ears twitch and he starts to sniff again before he hears the sound again.

He barks a couple of times before he runs back upstairs to your room. He barks again, startling you from your sleep, before jumping on you with a series of loud whines. You groan in annoyance as you roll over and try to push him off of you.

“Milo go away! It’s only 6!”

You honestly consider giving Milo to the next person you see when he pulls the covers off your bed and leaves you cold and very much awake.

“Milo!”

You sit up and glare at your dog who just drops and steps on all of your sheets before coming back to jump on you again. He whines as he tries to grab onto you, but you’re not really wearing many clothes, so he gets skin and you curse under your breath. Clearly he wants your attention.

“Alright, Milo. Stop! What is it? What do you want?”

Milo jumps off the bed and runs to the door before looking back at you. He barks and you groan loudly before following him down the hallway.

This better be good.

You follow Milo downstairs to the front door thinking that he just wants a walk. He jumps up on the door and claws at it and you quickly push him down with a scowl.

“Milo, no! Go get your leash.”

You are surprised when he doesn’t listen and instead just whines and tries to open the door again. You sigh before moving him out of the way before you unlock the door. You are about to step out into the hallway and see what has him so riled up, but you don’t make it that far. You nearly run into a box that was placed right in front of your door. You frown as you look down at the sketchy cardboard box in front of you.

You’re reluctant to open it, but Milo doesn’t give you much of a choice as he comes up behind you and practically shoves his face into it. You move him away before you peek in and you nearly curse as you realize what is in it.

“What the…?”

Billie Dean is already at the studio getting ready for her next interview when her phone rings. She had only gotten 5 hours of sleep, and she’d had to ask Michelle about a half dozen times who she was being interviewed by. Billie was on her third cup of coffee and she nearly spills it on herself when she jumps in surprise as her phone vibrates.

She curses under her breath as coffee spills on the floor, and she’s more than a little annoyed when she grabs her phone. When she sees it’s you; however, her frown turns to a smile and she answers quickly despite the fact she doesn’t have but maybe a minute to talk.

“Good morning, Y/N.”

You don’t respond immediately because you’re too busy staring at the box you’d managed to put on your counter. You didn’t really want it there, but Milo kept trying to get to one of the kittens inside.

Yes. Someone had left kittens at your doorstep. The first and hopefully the last time someone did something so cliché and quite frankly cruel to you. There had been five kittens in the box but only two were alive by the time you got to them. You had checked three times before separating them from their live siblings and hurrying to get dressed for work. You couldn’t help them much here, but from what you could tell they were in decent condition.

You’d wrapped them up in towels and piled them back in the box before realizing that there was a note at the bottom of it. You held it in your hands, and were still staring at it when Billie picked up. You open your mouth to say something, but you can’t find the words.

“Y/N?”

You had almost forgotten that Billie was supposed to be at an interview now, or soon, you weren’t really sure what time it was. This had thrown you off so much you honestly didn’t know if you’d walked Milo yet. Luckily he was just sitting by patiently, watching you and sniffing for the kittens that were almost as young as Billie’s had been when she’d first brought them in.

“Hi Billie. Uh-.”

You trail off as you try to figure out how to explain this. You read the note one last time before throwing it on the counter with a sigh.

“Something’s happened.”

Billie is still a little distracted when the interview starts. She had only been able to talk to you for a few minutes before she had to leave. You had told her as much as you could before apologizing for interrupting her morning. You had to get to work anyway, but you couldn’t help but wonder what the hell was going on. Rather, who the hell had left you a box of kittens and a creepy ass note?

You make it to work on time, somehow, and despite your hectic morning you smile at the first person you see as you enter the building. Erin. You had already put Milo in his kennel after giving him a little extra breakfast for making him wait much longer than usual, so you are only holding the kittens when you greet Erin.

“Good morning, Erin.”

Erin smiles as she sticks her phone and keys in her pocket before doing a double take. She wasn’t sure what you were holding, but as she gets a little closer, she sees that the box is not a box of donuts like she’d originally thought. You notice her looking and you’re quick to explain the odd arrangement in your hands.

“Morning Dr. Y/L/N. What do you have there?”

You sigh as you put the box down on the treatment table. You really had wanted to get a different one because this one was falling apart, but you’d already been running late and you really didn’t have a suitable alternative, so here you were. You watch as Erin peeks into the box before repeating what you’d told Billie. Minus the cursing of course.

“Five kittens were left in this box in front of my door this morning. Only two were alive, and they seem pretty weak.”

Erin frowns as you say this, and she reaches into the box to pet the smaller kitten that is still wrapped in a hand towel. You don’t mention the creepy note. You’d only told Billie because you were a little freaked out. However, she’s managed to calm you down and say that it was probably some random creep from your building, not Doug.

You push these thoughts to the back of your mind before you nod at what Erin says next. You were only half listening but you hope that you assume correctly.

“That’s so sad and messed up. Who do you think left them?”

You sigh in defeat as you take the three dead kittens out of the box and set them on the table. You want to make sure that they’re taken care of before your first appointment.

“It really is. I’m not sure who left them. I honestly don’t know many of my neighbors.”

With Erin’s help, the two of you take care of all five kittens and figure out what you’re going to do with them before your first appointment. You know that they need to be taken care of and checked on frequently. You can’t ask any of the technicians to do that because they already have their hands full with surgeries this morning. So you spend all of your free time in between appointments taking care of them when you can and feeding them formula.

Your boss isn’t in today, but almost everyone knows about the kittens’ presence before lunch time. You know it is a lot of responsibility, taking care of practically newborn kittens, so you aren’t surprised when no one jumps at the chance to take them in. You are already thinking of places to call when your phone starts to vibrate from your pocket.

You put the kitten in your hands, you’ve named them already despite your better judgement, back in the bed you’ve made before you reach for your phone. You see it’s Billie and sigh before looking at the time. You are done with appointments for the morning, all you really need to do is walk Milo.

“Hi Billie.”

You answer the phone as you walk to the kennels to grab Milo. You can’t really hear what Billie says immediately because it’s a lot louder than you thought it would be. You grab Milo quickly before retreating to the yard where the labs are already playing. You smile at some of the assistants sitting on the benches before heading out further into the yard.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?”

Billie had returned home a little while ago, and she had decided to check in on you since you should be on lunch. You had told her about the kittens and the note, but she’d literally been on her way to the interview so you hadn’t been able to really discuss it. She realizes that you are outside with Milo because she hears barking and traffic, but she doesn’t get to ask before you’re speaking again.

“Shit, I forgot. How was your interview this morning?”

You’re wandering around the yard, making sure not to step in any mud puddles or anything other than grass. You glance over to your dog who is running back and forth between dogs trying to steal a tennis ball, before you focus back on Billie’s voice when she speaks up.

“It was fine, Y/N. Not nearly as exciting as your morning though.”

You smile at this before you shake your head in disagreement. You weren’t sure why Billie never seemed to want to talk about her interviews. You always assumed that they were more fun than she made them seem, but you knew now wasn’t the time to talk about this.

“So you talked about your show?”

Billie sighs more to herself than at you as she takes another drag of her cigarette. She was exhausted already, and it was barely noon. She had a lot more to do today, but she definitely wasn’t in the mood. She would much rather help you take care of these new kittens.

“We did. Only a couple of weeks before it airs.”

You smile at this before nodding to yourself. You pet Milo as he comes to say hi to you, and you take the ball that he offers you with a smile. You look at it for a moment before you realize how covered in mud and saliva it is. You groan under your breath and chuck it across the yard before responding to Billie.

“That’s so exciting Billie. I can’t wait to watch it!”

You mean this and you smile wider when Billie laughs in return. You two talk a bit about how you are going to watch it together as soon as it airs. You throw around ideas and you’re already looking forward to a night of cuddling on the couch with Billie.

Eventually you change the subject to the kittens that you need to check on again. The smaller one that you’ve dubbed Charlie wasn’t doing so well. He, or she, you honestly couldn’t tell, wasn’t eating as much and barely moved. The other kitten, Bo, was bigger, more active, and would definitely be trouble. You could already tell from how much he moved around and refused to listen to you. Not that you really thought either of them understood much at their age.

Billie laughs at the news of the new kitten’s names. She wasn’t sure why she thought you wouldn’t have names for them yet. You had only told her about half a dozen times how you made sure every single animal you met had a name.

“You said Bo was the troublemaker?”

Billie’s putting out her cigarette as she watches the clock on the oven. She only has a few minutes before she needs to be on a conference call. You laugh before telling Billie a little more about the kittens. You are already head over heels for them, but you really can’t keep them. You sigh as you say this to Billie before throwing the ball for Milo one last time.

“They’re adorable, but they’re a lot of work as you know. I don’t think I can do it on my own.”

You have a full-time job that you may not be working full time at right now, but you will be once you recover. Milo is honestly the only pet you can have right now, but you can’t just dump the kittens on someone else. You just have to see what you can figure out. Make a few calls and hopefully find these two adorable gray kittens a good home.

It’s only 6 hours later that you are on your way home with Milo and two kittens. You aren’t surprised that you ended up in this situation. Despite all the effort you put into finding a shelter, foster family, literally anyone else to take these kittens, you had come up with nothing. Well, that wasn’t true. You came up with a possible lead that someone needed to check on, but that would take at least a couple of days. You weren’t sure that it wouldn’t fall through and you were already preparing yourself to take care of these kittens until they were, well as old as Billie’s cats were now.

You sigh as you open the door to your apartment carefully. You watch as Milo walks in first. You honestly hadn’t bothered putting his leash on because you had your hands full, but he was good and stuck by your side. This was mostly because he wanted to play with the kittens, but you would take what you could get at the moment because it seemed like you were getting very little.

You shut the door behind you with a sigh before locking it and heading to the kitchen. You’d gotten rid of the dirty old box from this morning and now had a small litterbox that was going to house the kittens until you bought a more suitable alternative. You look under the blanket that you had laid on top of the kittens and you smile as you watch them squirm. They are just waking up and you set the blanket back on them briefly before you put your bags down.

You brought home a lot of things for them and you were just now realizing how much as you set it all down in front of you. There was formula, more blankets since you didn’t have a bed for them, and an assortment of bowls. You cursed your inability to make decisions before you got to work making the kittens’ next meal.

Milo just watches as you run around the kitchen and feed the small mewling furballs. He tries to jump up and get a better look once you put them down, but he stops short as you grab the box they’re in and head to the living room. You sigh as you look around and try to figure out what to do next. How the hell are you going to make this work?

Billie is finally done working for the day. She is just about to check on the kittens for the last time when you call her. She’d asked Michelle to buy a pen that she could keep downstairs so they could spend more time outside of the laundry room. They were really starting to spend more time awake and it was entertaining to watch them sometimes. Billie returned to the kitchen for her phone before she headed toward the kittens. She saw it was you and smiled before answering.

“Hi, sweetheart.”

You smile despite how tired you are before collapsing on the couch with the kittens in your lap. Well, the box is in your lap and you just stare down at them as you sigh in exhaustion.

“Hi, Billie. How was the rest of your day?”

As Billie tells you about her busy day, you just watch the kittens squirm around. They aren’t very active, which isn’t surprising, but you still feel the need to watch them closely and make sure they don’t get into trouble. You don’t realize that Billie has stopped speaking until she calls your name twice. You cringe at the fact that you spaced out and missed who knows how much before you sigh again.

“Sorry Billie. I just got distracted by the kittens.”

Billie frowns slightly at this and she glances to her own kittens who are bouncing around excitedly. Mickey is tackling one of his siblings, and Billie swears her heart melts at the sight.

“You weren’t able to find anyone to take them off your hands?”

You shake your head before thinking back to what Mina had said. You relay this to Billie before you have to stifle a yawn. You don’t do a very good job though because Billie clearly hears it.

“Not yet. Mina might know someone, but she’s got to get in touch with them first. For now, they’re with me.”

Billie’s frown deeps as she thinks of all the reasons why she doesn’t like this. You’re still supposed to be taking it easy, and she knows firsthand how time-consuming taking care of kittens is. You sound exhausted and Billie is already thinking of different ways to help you out.

“I hope she finds someone for you soon, Y/N. You already sound exhausted.”

You know that Billie is only concerned about you, but you frown in annoyance because you don’t really have another choice. You’re going to take care of these kittens whether you really want to or not, but hopefully it won’t be for more than a couple of days.

When Thursday rolls around and you still have the kittens, you realize how naïve you’d been. The first couple of days were hell like you thought they would be, but there were little reprieves throughout the day while at work. Someone else would check on Bo and Charlie, everyone loved their names, or a cancellation in your schedule gave you more time to play catch up.

However, Thursday morning you’re not even at lunch yet and you have a raging headache. You’d stayed up late last night taking care of the kittens because when you went to check on them before bed, you noticed that Charlie wasn’t moving. You had hoped he was asleep, but he was actually blue and barely breathing. You had done what you could before rushing to the hospital where you stayed until only a few hours before you had to go to work.

Now you were falling asleep at your computer while you tried to work on a medical record. You reached for your water bottle since you couldn’t take any more pain meds right now, but you miscalculate and it tumbles to the floor spilling water everywhere.

“Shit!”

You hurry to pick up the bottle you stupidly left open and looked around for something to clean it with when there was a knock on your door. You turn, abandoning the mess for now, to see Mina standing in the doorway with a concerned look.

“Everything okay?”

You just nod before getting off the floor and sitting back in your chair. You cringe slightly as you nod which undermines your response but that’s okay for now. Luckily Mina has some news for you.

“All good, thanks. What’s up?”

Mina smiles as she tells you about her friend’s friend that finally figured out how she could take the kittens.

“She says that her parents will take her dog for a couple weeks so she can keep them until we can adopt them out.”

You sigh in relief before smiling widely at the news. You shoot Mina a grateful look before feeling yourself relax. The tension and stress that has built up for the past couple of days leaves your body and you feel lighter.

“Thank you, Mina. That’s great news! Do I need to meet them somewhere?”

Mina shook her head and said that she could take them to her after work today. You were tempted to hug her, but you had a lot of dog hair on you and probably some water, so you held back. Still you were smiling as you thanked her again. You were ready to sleep through the night again for sure.

“Thank you so much. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you.”

The rest of the day goes much better for you because simply knowing that you will sleep better brightens your mood. You still have your damn headache, but even that gets better after the first couple of afternoon appointments. It’s not until the end of the day, that you realize you have to say goodbye to the kittens. At least for the next couple of weeks. You wander back to isolation where they’re being kept with a frown. You watch them just sleep and occasionally squirm for a few minutes before you realize that you’re no longer alone.

You move out of the way so Mina can join you in the small room before asking despite already knowing the answer.

“Time to go?”

Mina has all of her things and she just nods before moving to collect the kittens. They mewl a little at being disturbed and you smile at the adorable sight before holding the door open for her. You follow the brunette out and sigh as she turns to leave.

“See you soon kittens. Please thank her again for me?”

Mina just nods in agreement before she heads out to the parking lot, and you sigh again before remembering that you have your own things to collect before you can leave for the night. You don’t work tomorrow or this weekend, so you have a nice long time to catch up on some sleep.  You’re so eager to get home and sleep that you forget your phone upstairs, and you’re so tired you consider leaving it there. Deciding against it, you hurry to your office to grab it before running back downstairs to where your dog is whining impatiently. You silence him with a quick scratch before heading for the parking lot. You put your phone in your pocket without bothering to check it, so you miss the fact you have a couple of missed calls and two new text messages from Billie.

Are you still at work, sweetheart?

Do you want to come over after?  

Part 21

TAGLIST ❤: @madamevirgo​, @illuminated-blue​, @delias-bitch-craft​

[n0wornever]

Feelings Change Like Seasons - Luke/Reggie x Reader

I have an idea...the reader likes Luke but Reggie likes the reader but then the reader one day realizes that she only sees Luke as a brother and truly likes Reggie.

I tweaked it a little bit so the brother part might more vague, but yeah!

He watched as she looked at the brown-haired boy as he strummed on his guitar, his teeth gripping on his bottom lip as he concentrated on the melody. She let her cheek rest in her hand and let a small smile begin to appear across her face. 

“Hey ‘heart eyes’ have a second to talk to me?” Reggie said, waving a hand in her face and smirking down at her, a piece of notebook paper in his hand. She shook her head, not responding. Reggie took the silence as an invitation and sat down next to her. He placed the piece of paper on her lap for her to look over. 

“Jules and I roughly sketched out an idea for a band gig poster to put up on social and in coffeeshops around town.” He started, pointing down at the drawing.

“It’s not great, but that’s what we have you for,” He nudged her arm, she rolled her eyes in response “Do you think you could take a look and sketch a more polished copy for us to look at?”

She nodded “Of course Reg, you know I got you guys.” 

A hand fell onto her shoulder and she turned to meet Luke’s smile. “Hey, Y/N, can you listen to something I just thought of. I want your opinion!” 

She jumped up right away “Sure,” she said, following him over to the couch. Reggie watched her move across the room, analyzing her smile and giggles as his bandmate played his new solo for her. He watched her eyes swell as he began to sing and sighed. 

“You know, you could just tell her. Creepily watching her interact with Luke is going to get you nowhere.” 

Reggie jumps at the sudden noise, looking over to see Julie staring at him with a sympathetic smile. Reggie rolled his eyes at the girl, shaking his head. 

“It’s not like that...”

“Reg...” 

He sighed again, throwing his hands up in defeat “Okay, it’s like that. How can I compete with Luke? I mean, you see the way she looks at him...”

She watched as Y/N pushed her hand against Luke’s chiseled chest, head falling back with laughter. Reggie placed his elbows on his knees, leaning his head against his open palm. He felt Julie’s hand touch his shoulder, patting it softly.

“She just hasn’t seen you show any interest! You need to wedge yourself in there.” Reggie met Julie’s gaze and she smiled “You can be smooth Reg, I’ve seen it. You just need to test the waters.” 

He stood up, slinging his guitar over his shoulder before moving to his band position. Luke, Julie and Alex soon joined him. Y/N kicked out her legs and started her sketching process as the band moved forward with practice. 

As the music started to die down, Y/N started to pick up her stuff. She looked up when she heard a familiar female voice enter the room. She sighed as she watched Carrie gravitate toward Luke, her arm sliding through his. Ever since Julie and Carrie became friends again, the girl had been slowly inching her way toward him.

Reggie was startled by Y/N’s abrupt movements as she stood and swung her backpack around her shoulders. “Guys, I’m heading out” she said, throwing up a peace sign and avoiding Carrie’s gaze. As she moved toward the door, Reggie found himself reaching out to grab onto her forearm. 

She turned around fully, facing him. He rubbed his hands together as he began to talk to her. 

“Hey, Y/N, before you go...I was just curious what you were doing tomorrow?”

She cocked her head in confusion before answering “Nothing, why? What’s up?”

His smile grew a bit wider, taking a step closer to her. “I was hoping that you and I could hang out? We haven’t really done anything, just the two of us, in awhile....we could also go over your sketches maybe?”

She gave him a small grin “That sounds great Reg, meet me at my place at like 11?” 

“Cool,” He responded, feeling his anxieties melt away. 

She looked at her arm, still stuck in his grip and back up to his eyes. “So...could you let me go so I can get home before then?” 

He let go immediately, lowering his head to hide the growing pink cascading over his face. “Sorry.” 

She giggled “No worries, see you tomorrow?”

The next day

Reggie knocked on her front door. He heard a dog bark and some loud hushing before she appeared, smiling at him. She was dressed down, her glasses on and hair up with a Phantoms t-shirt she designed and some joggers. She moved to invite him in.

“The sketches are at the table if you want to look at them!” She called from the staircase “I just have to grab my phone real quick.” 

He walked over to the kitchen and looked through the scattered papers. He was always so impressed with her art. She took details to the next level, and always made the band look more professional than they really were. He touched the line work of her logo drawing as she appeared next to him, cheek leaning against his arm.

“They aren’t too bad, are they?” 

He peered over in her direction with furrowed brows “Too bad?! Y/N these are next level!” 

She bit down on her lip, smiling at him “You mean it?”

He nodded enthusiastically, his fingers grazing a few other drawings “The hardest part will be narrowing it down to just a few options!” 

She giggled at his wide eyes, taking a seat at the table. She opened her phone, clicking on the Instagram app and snapping a photo of him while he wasn’t looking for her story. She captioned it “hanging out with my biggest fan @RegTheMan.” She scrolled through her timeline a bit, eyes widening at a particular photo. It was a candid of Luke and Carrie, her kissing his cheek and his eyes squeezed shut with a big smile on his face. She sighed loudly, turning off the screen.

“What’s up?” He asked, looking over the table at her pursed lips. 

“Nothing....”

His look pressed her and she finally continued “I just don’t see what Luke sees in Carrie, that’s all.”

Reggie nods, walking across the table to her. He sits down in the seat next to her, taking in her side profile as he forms the next statement. “Honestly, I don’t know what you see in Luke!” He joked, giving her a small smile

She giggles at that, pushing back his shoulder “I don’t know...” She chews on her lip “It’s honestly a long overdue crush, but I can’t help but think about him sometimes.” 

His smile drops as he takes in her tense features. He feels a knot begin to form in his throat as forms the next sentence. “Yeah, I totally get what you mean.” 

His double-meaning was lost on her as she leaned forward into her hands. He kept his focus on her as she continued.

“But how do you compare with Carrie?” 

He scoffed at this statement, putting his hand on her shoulder. “You’re kidding me, right.” 

She sat up straight, finally meeting his gaze. “What do you mean?”

He shook his head at the girl, retreating his hand to his side. “Carrie has nothing on you, Y/N. You’re so talented, and artistic and kind....”

She gave him a brief smile, rubbing her hand up and down his arm. He felt a shiver at her touch, but tried to avoid being obvious about his racing anxiety. 

“You have to say that, you’re my friend...” 

He rolled his eyes at her “I don’t have to say anything. I mean that.” 

The room went silent for a moment before she whispered a thank you over in his direction. He saw her shoulders begin to shake and sprung forward, when he met her eyes they were welling with tears. 

He started wiping her tears away with his thumbs “See, even beautiful when she’s crying.” 

His statement made her laugh through her heavy breathing. He let his hands fall to her thighs as she composed herself. 

“I’m sorry I’m such a mess, I must have been holding that in for awhile.”

“Never apologize for feeling.” He tapped her legs with his hands. 

She let her gaze fall onto his again as they sat in the quiet. His eyes fell to her lips quickly before springing back up to her face. Her soft cheeks had splotched with red and her eyes were bloodshot, but he still couldn’t help but smile at her. 

“What?” She said, bringing her hands to her cheeks 

“....Nothing, just looking at you.” 

Her cheeks burned pink again as he held her glance. She moved forward and kissed his cheek quickly before looking back to her work, holding up pieces for him to evaluate. He sighed to himself as he realized how long of a journey this would really be. 

Reggie showed up at the next rehearsal early, helping Julie set up the space. Julie went right for the kill as she moved the mics to their spots. 

“So how did it go?”

“What?”

Julie pursed her lips, rolling her eyes at him. “You know what I’m talking about.” 

Reggie laughed to himself, picking up his guitar and wrapping it around his torso. He strummed for a second before responding. 

“It was fine. We went over artwork and she...well...she kind of confided in me about Luke.”

Julie’s mouth opened “Oh? And what happened with that.”

“She basically said that she liked him, but knew she had to get over him because obviously he and Carrie are a ‘thing.’

Julie clasped her hands together, bringing them up to graze her cheek. “And you were there to comfort her. Oh how sweet.” 

Reggie rolled his eyes at her “stop Jules, it wasn’t like that..” He diverted his eyes, focusing on his strings. 

Y/N entered the room and he brightened up immediately. She smiled as she met his eyes, coming in for a hug. He wrapped his arms around her and they stood there for a moment. She looked up at him, chin grazing his stomach. “Thanks again for yesterday.” she said before breaking apart and moving toward the couch. 

Julie looked at him with a raised eyebrow, but he shooed her eyes away from his quickly. Luke walked in with Carrie on his arm and Alex trailing behind them. Reggie looked between Carrie and Luke before asking the question everyone was thinking. 

“So....is this...an official thing now?” 

Luke’s whole face went red as Carrie moved quickly to kiss his cheek. They both nodded, Luke hugging her closer to his side before placing a kiss on her head. 

“I’ll see you after practice?” Carrie said, looking up at him with her hands on his chest.

“Of course,” He leaned down to place a kiss on her lips before she ran out of the garage, the bandmates howling after her. 

Reggie’s eyes immediately went to Y/N, her eyes was focused on her sketchbook. Luke walked over to her, placing his bag next to her and ruffling her hair. “Hey kid.” He said, Y/N slowly shrinking as he walked away. 

Luke rejoined the group and the band started rehearsing. As the evening ended, Reggie moved over to the couch, sitting down next to her as she packed her bag. 

“You okay?”

She looked up with puffy eyes. “Yeah, I’m alright.” 

He gave her a questioning look, standing and holding his hand out to her. He grabbed it and he brought her up to meet him.

“Let’s go on a walk?”

She nodded, placing her backpack around her shoulders and trailing behind him out the door. He ignored Luke and Julie’s wandering gazes as the pair walked past them. 

When they were finally in the cold, crisp air he let go of her hand, staying close enough for their shoulders to brush as they walked down the street. They stayed quiet for a few blocks before Reggie spoke.

“You deserve better.” He said, exhaling sharply after the words left his mouth.

“What?” She said, inching closer to him, hooking her arm around his. 

He cleared his throat before continuing “You are such a catch, Y/N, Luke is just too vapid to notice it. You deserve someone who sees how incredible you are.”

Her giggle vibrated against his arm “Let me know when you find him, I’d like to talk.”

“I think I know a guy actually...” 

She went quiet for a moment before she halted her movements. His heart began to race as he wondered if he went too far. However, his intrusive thinking was stopped by Y/N grabbing his hand and pulling him to the left.

“Where are we going,” He breathed heavily, trying to match her pace.

She didn’t respond, pulling him forward until they made it to the school’s open field. She led his hand to the middle before dropping it and laying on her back in the grass. 

“Didn’t they just water this-” 

“Reggie don’t be a baby, get down here,” She patted the section of grass near her and he gave in and laid next to her. 

They sat in the quiet for a moment. Reggie moved his gaze from the stars to her, watching as she beamed at the open air. She eventually must have felt his gaze, because she turned to the side and met his eyes with hers widened.

“WHAT?!” 

He laughed at her aggression “I told you, I just like looking at you.”

She shook her head, holding back a grin as she took in his dark eyes in the dim light. “Why do you like looking at me?” She finally said, fully leaning on her side to face him.

“I’m not sure if I could fully tell you that, all I know is that I’m afraid if I don’t, I won’t get the chance again....and I don’t like those odds.”

He smirked as he watched her face overcome with blush. She bit on her bottom lip. “You’re too sweet.” 

“You deserve it.”

She exhaled heavily, letting out a short laugh “You just have an answer for everything.”

“Maybe so.” 

She looked at him again, taking in everything from the crinkles near his eyes, to the slight freckles on his nose. She was overcome with how soft his eyes looked at her. She let her eyes fall toward his lips and back up to his eyes. She leaned forward and heard him gasp before she connected their lips for a split second. As she pulled back, she smiled at his dumbfounded response.

“Well...” He started, heat racing to his face “Maybe I don’t have an answer for everything...because....wow.”

She laughed again, snuggling into his side as they watched the moon. 

.

.

.

.

Tag list: @marinettepotterandplagg​, @lukeys-giggle​, @joshy-obx, @epikskool, @daisiesforlacey, @bestdressedandstressed, @txrii, @musicconversedance, @dasexydevitt13, @bathtimejish, @xplrreylo, @lovesanimals, @kiss-themoongoodbye

[brianc521]

Red Light | CEO Peter

Everyone knows now. 

It wasn’t totally your intention to tell his whole family and your parents, but with the situation it was inevitable.  

**

// 3 Hours Earlier // 

You were headed to the DMV, excited about why you were going. Sure it meant a lot of paperwork, but in the end it would make everything officially Mendes. Your ID, your passport, the likes of things Peter requires you have so he can whisk you away whenever he feels the need too. 

It was such a nice day outside, it was a bit chilly, but the sun was out and there weren’t that many clouds in the sky blocking out the gorgeous blue. 

Everything stopped. There was sudden white noise ringing in your ears. The ringing was loud, and disorienting. Everything was blurry and it took forever for your eyes to focus. Blinking helped but also made it worse. 

“Mrs. Mendes!” 

You wanted to tell Bailey to stop yelling so much. When did you have a headache? Why hadn’t you noticed it before you left the house? You're so good about keeping your headaches in check. 

“Mrs. Mendes!” 

Bailey was waving his hands in front of you, and your eyes physically widened when you noticed the blood trailing down the side of his face from his forehead. 

“Ba-” You coughed, reaching out for him. Your body ached, everything felt like it was being weighed down. In slow motion almost, like you were running through water. 

You flinch when someone grabs your head, holding it still. Something was then strapped over your body. You could hear someone crying, repeatedly saying sorry, and again Bailey called your name. 

What in the hell was going on right now? 

“Mrs. Mendes?” A soft feminine voice called. 

It was bright, white bright. But the noise stopped, and the throbbing in your head had you wincing. 

“Mrs. Mendes can you hear me?” 

You nodded slowly, trying to ease your head out of the dull throb. 

“Good that’s good. Does your head hurt?” 

“Yes.” You hiss, trying to reach for your head, stopping short when your arm hits the strap they’ve fastened around your arms. 

“Okay, they’ll take a look at that when we get to the hospital.” 

“Hospital?” You stare at her, taking in her soft features. She’s got gorgeous brown hair, hazel eyes, and a freckle on her left cheek.

“Do you remember what happened?” She asks softly, applying more pressure to your leg. It was then that you noticed the sharp pain in your leg. 

“No. It was so nice out, we were headed to the DMV.” 

“Mrs. Mendes, the car driving you was hit by a truck that ran a red light. The truck hit your side directly, and we had to cut you out of the car.” 

You stare at her in horror, and look around, finally taking in your surroundings.

“You’re in an ambulance with me and my partner Dean, we’re taking you to the hospital.” 

“Bailey? Where’s Bailey?” 

“Is Bailey your husband?” 

“No he’s my husband's driver.” 

“The man with you is fine, and being checked up at the scene. We need his statement for the accident.” 

“Peter?” You look at her. Her eyes snap to you and she raises an eyebrow. 

“Who’s Peter?”

“My husband, where is he? Is he coming?”

“The man you were with told me to tell Peter as soon as possible, I’ll contact him when we get you checked in.” 

**

“Mr. Mendes office, this is Stan, how may I direct your call?” 

“I need to speak with Peter Mendes please.”

“May I ask who’s calling?” 

“This is Sarah Paulsen, EMT, with truck 6, I need to speak to Peter Mendes regarding his wife Y/n Mendes.” 

Stan just about drops the phone. “Let me transfer you.” 

He transfers the call, then proceeds to storm Peter’s office. Peter looks up with a hard glare at the disturbance. He’s in the middle of a meeting with a potential client, one that’s really on the fence. 

“Stan!” Peter stands up, hands going to his hips. “Someone best be dead.” 

Stan gulps, tears stinging his eyes. “Don’t say that Sir.” 

“Stan,” Peter warns. 

“Line one, Sarah Paulsen needs to speak to you.” 

“Who is Sarah Paulsen?” 

“She’s an EMT, needs to speak to you about Y/n.”

His whole world crumbles. He physically feels the blood drain down to his feet. He looks at the phone, at that damn blinking light. His client looks up in worry, and watches as Peter sinks into his chair and grabs the phone with a shaking hand. 

“Peter Mendes.” He answers.

“Hello Peter Mendes, I’m Sarah Paulsen an EMT with truck 6. I’m calling to inform you that your wife Y/n Mendes was in an accident this morning.” 

“Oh my god.” 

“She’s conscious, and asking for you.”

“Where is she?” He stands, snapping at Stan then pointing to his keys on the hook by his door. 

“Sacred Heart Medical.” 

“Thank you.” He slams the phone back on the cradle and sprints out the door, snagging his keys from Stan on his way out. 

**

His office is a solid hour away from the hospital. He curses lunch hour traffic as he weaves in and out of lanes. His dash lights up with a call from his mother as he stops at yet another red light. 

“Mom?” He croaks out. 

“Oh Pete,” She sighs.

“What?” He barks. 

“She’s okay.” 

“Fuck Mom! Don’t do that.” He breathes easy. 

“Don’t you curse at me Peter Manuel.” 

“You just went ‘Oh Pete’ the same way you did when Papa passed when I was 10. You scared me. Don’t do that.” 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. You just sound so afraid.” 

“I’m sorry for cursing.” He mumbles. “She’s okay?” 

“She’s getting a CT to check for brain bleeds, but they’re not worried about them.” 

“If they’re not worried about it, then why are they checking?” 

The cackles and suddenly it’s quiet around his mother. “Bailey requested them.”

He sighs, foot on the gas as he revs into the parking garage. “It’s not his fault.” 

He’s already been told the story, Raul was on his way out the door from suffering a cut during his shift when he heard her name in the ER. He called when they were transferring her up into a room. Told Peter everything he knew. 

Bailey accelerated at a green when a dark green toyota truck blew through a red and hit the back passenger door. Right where you had been sitting. 

“He’s scared Honey, he was driving.” 

“Hold on Mom, I’ve gotta park, I’ll be up in minutes.” 

**

The sight of him is the sight of a desperate man. He’s still in his work clothes, light blue button up, black suit slacks, dark blue tie. His dress shoes slip on the tile as he runs down hallways towards your room. 

When he made it to the check in counter in front of the waiting room he was stopped by a security guard. “Name and room number.” 

“Y/n, 2307.” He pants, trying to catch his breath.

“Your name?” The guard looks up. 

“Peter.” 

The man blinks at him twice before looking back at the screen and slowly clicks the mouse. 

“Listen dude,” Peter leans forward. “My wife was in a car accident and she’s back behind those doors so you’re going to open them with your keys and you’re gonna let me through.” 

“Wife?” His mother stands, followed by his brothers. 

“I don’t have time for this, take me to my wife!” He slams his hand on the counter. 

The door opens and your mom walks out, “Oh Peter, thank god. She won’t stop asking for you.” 

“Where is she? Is she okay?” He follows your mother, ignoring the calls from the security guard telling him he can’t go back there without a tag. 

He just about falls through the door of your room when he pushes the door open. His whole heart shatters at the sight of you. You’re laid up in bed, cast over your left foot, bandage on your forehead, bruising running along the length of your left cheek. 

“Baby.” He sighs, walking to your bed. 

“Peter.” You cry, reaching out for him.

“I’m here Baby.” He sits at the edge of your bed, hugging you close to his chest, being careful not to put too much pressure on you.

“I was so scared.” 

“I’m so sorry it took me so long to get here. Fucking traffic slowed me up.” 

“It’s okay.”

“Are you okay?” He asks, pulling back to inspect you again. 

“Yeah, they just took a CT of my head. They said they didn’t need to but someone urged them to do it just in case, I thought it was you.” 

“No,” Peter shakes his head. “Although it would’ve been if I’d been here. But Bailey requested it.” 

“Peter you can’t fire him!” You whine as you look up at him. “It wasn’t his fault, the poor man is beating himself up. I overheard him tell your father that he was ready to hand in his keys when you arrived.” 

“He won’t be doing such a thing. I can not believe that’s what you're worried about right now. That I’m gonna fire him.” 

“He was in the accident too Peter. He’s just as scraped up as I am.” 

“He’ll get medical leave, but he’ll be back when he’s healed.” 

**

After the read of your scans and some pain meds for your leg it’s been settled that you’ll go home tomorrow. Peter’s laying with you on the bed, holding you close as you snuggle into his chest. 

“Feeling okay?” He asks, kissing the top of your head. 

“Yeah.” 

“Good enough for my family to come in?” 

“They’re still out there?” You ask, sitting up, but being pulled back into his chest.

“They wanted to see you before they left.” 

“Bring them in.” 

He presses a few things on his phone and then there’s a quiet knock on the door followed by Karen and Manny poking, Shawn, Raul and Aaliyah shuffling in behind their parents. 

“Hey Fighter, how are you doing?” Manny asks, standing at the foot of your bed.

“Better since they finally gave me some ibuprofen.” 

They all chuckle and find places to take a seat next to your bed. 

“I hate to do this when you’re in here, but does someone want to tell me what the hell you meant when you said Wife this afternoon?” Karen gives a pointed look to Peter. 

He sighs, hiding his face in your hair. You giggle, looking up at him. He suffered telling your parents, guess it's your turn to tell his family. 

“We got married a month ago.” 

“Peter Manuel-”

“No,” He looks to his mom. “You used my middle name earlier, you don’t get to use it twice.” 

“Like hell I can’t. What do you mean you got married?” 

“We’re still doing the big wedding we’re planning.” You tell Karen, getting her to look at you. “We just, we just couldn’t wait that long to actually be married. So we had our own wedding, the intimate one for just us that we’ve always talked about.” 

“Then what’s the point of the one we’re planning?” She asks. 

“Because I still want my dad to walk me down the aisle. I still want Aaliyah to be a bridesmaid, and we still want to promise ourselves to each other in front of all of you. We just wanted to have our own first.” 

You explain it all, telling them how Peter planned it. How it was a dream come true and showed you how you truly wanted one with everyone else too. By the end of the conversation Peter was more in love with you then he has ever been before, and his mother was talked down from her rage. 

When they left the room for the night, leaving the two of you alone for the first time since morning, Peter kissed you fiercely. 

“I love you so much.” 

You grin, “I love you too.” 

“I mean, fuck, you’re in a hospital bed and you’re still protecting me.” 

“She wasn’t about to beraid you for marrying me when she didn’t fully understand it all.” You shrug, snuggling deeper into his chest.

“You scared me today Mrs. Mendes.” He whispers, hitting the button on your remote to turn the lights down. 

“I was scared too.” You respond sorely. “I just remember it being so nice out, and thinking that I could not be happier with my life, and the next I know I’m in an ambulance.”

Peter shuts his eyes, hiding himself in your hair and breathing in your scent deeply. 

“I didn’t like getting call saying you were here. I mean I think I totally lost my shit when Stan walked in the office almost crying.” 

“Stan was crying?” 

“He was scared too. You mean so much to mean and to everyone in my life. Today was a scary day.” 

“I’m okay.”

“I know, but the thought of you not being with me anymore, is the most scary thought I think I could ever have.” 

“Stop.” You lean up, wiping at the lone tear that dropped to his cheek. 

“I love you Y/n Mendes, please don’t scare me like that again.” He whispered, blinking the tears from his eyes.

[thepeacetea]

Broken Angels Ch. 2

Hi everyone! First off, I want to say thank you to everyone who liked, commented, and reblogged this story. I never thought that it would get that big of a response. Thank you!  Now I tried to tag everyone who asked and if i missed you, I am sorry. Just send me a message and I’ll get you in the next chapter. Anyways, I tried my best with this chapter, so I hope you guys enjoy! (The bold lettering is French) Again, if you have questions, comments, or suggestions please let me know. Peace!

There were few things that take Jim Gordon by surprise anymore. After being a cop for thirty years, chief commissioner for ten of them, he had seen it all. Villains come and go, heroes rise and fall, comrades fall in service, dirty cops, political corruption, nearly dying multiple times, his daughter nearly being killed by the Joker. You name it, he’s seen it. So the sight of a tiny girl running through the streets of Gotham wasn’t something he would’ve taken much notice in, he shouldn’t have, really. But the fact that this tiny girl was effectively shoving aside people twice, if not three times her weight as if they were nothing, did. Angry shouts followed the girl, but she was either ignoring them, or she couldn’t hear them. When she came in contact with him, the force behind her shove nearly sent him into the wall. But he caught a glimpse of her face. She looked . . . panicked. He could barely make out the tears before she was gone. Bolting straight into traffic.

The angered shouts instantly turned panicked when the crowd saw the truck fly around a blind corner, heading straight for the girl.

“KID, LOOK OUT!”

At the exact moment that was shouted, the driver slammed on the breaks in a desperate attempt to stop. The sound a squealing breaks filled the air just as the girl looked up and froze. For a moment, time seemed to stand still as everyone realized that the truck wouldn’t stop in time. Allowing them time to  mentally prepare themselves to witness the crash.

Gordon wasn’t aware when he had started moving. He honestly didn’t. All he knew was that he was running faster then he had ever ran in his life. For him, it was as if the world was moving in slow motion. He could clearly make out the second the driver’s face shifted when they knew they couldn’t stop. He saw, heart twisting in panic, as the girl’s body stiffened, bracing for impact. How her eyes, blown and filled with panic, stayed fixed on the truck. Gordon swore he felt his heart stop the moment he tackled her, the truck clipping them, sending them both spinning. Turning their bodies mid-fall, Gordon took the brunt of it before they rolled to a stop.

Ears ringing and heart in his throat, Gordon slowly uncurled himself from the girl. Scanning the streets, he was thankful to find all traffic had stopped, though burning rubber penetrated the air. Ugly, black tire tracks lead to the truck that had stopped about fifteen-twenty feet from where the had been standing. Turning his attention back to the girl, Gordon found her still curled in a defensive ball, shaking.

“Miss, its ok. You’re alright. Your safe.” Gordon said, trying to keep his voice as low and calming as possible.

When he didn’t get a response, he tried again. This time, gently laying his hand on her shoulder to shake her. Still no response. By now, the crowds had gathered, all with phones out, presumable recording, and Gordon’s concern had spiked. Slowly rolling her, the first thing Gordon took notice of was the rapidly rising hand print displayed on her right cheek, accompanied by a busted lip. Next was her eyes. Big, blue, and completely dilated with panic. He wasn’t even sure if she knew what was going on. Finally, and most concerning was her breathing. The pattern was sporadic, coming in short bursts, and much to fast.

“Miss, listen. I need you to calm down. Your hyperventilating. I need you to take slow, deep breaths. Do you understand?” Gordon said, trying desperately to get the girl to focus on him.

“Je . . . Je . . . n-n-ne peut pas respirer. Je ne peux pas respirer!” She manage to choke out, tears steaming down her face as her hands flew to her throat, grasping at her necklace.

Gordon hadn’t spoken French since high school. Even back then he was never good at it. And this girl kept repeating that same phrase over and over. The crowd wasn’t helping, the noise they were making only seemed to drive the already panicked girl deeper into her panic attack.

“Give the girl some space! Anyone who doesn’t know how to speak French I need you quiet! You’re only making her panic attack worse!” Gordon shouted, his patience snapping at the crowd before turning on his comm. “This is Gordon. I need a crew down here with a medical team stat. Minor was almost hit by a car. Suspected abuse on the minor. I also need a French translator.” He barked, turning his attention back to the girl, trying desperately to remember what little French he learned.

“C’est bon, c’est bon.” It was the only thing he could remember.

The girl seemed to snap out of whatever world she had locked herself in when he whispered those words. Her eyes cleared a little, showing understanding. Suddenly, Gordon found his arms full as she launched herself at him. She was even smaller then he had first thought. This kid weight almost nothing. Small arms anchored themselves around him as she buried her face into his shirt. Her body jerking violently with sobs. Streams of broken French spilled out in-between the tears, but it was so choppy that Gordon had no hopes of understanding. The girl felt like she was breaking apart. Like she could shatter at any minute. So Gordon did the only thing he could. He held her, slowly rocking her as he stroked her hair. Continuing to whisper that one phrase over and over.

He wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that. It felt like hours, but he knew it could have only been minutes until he heard the familiar wails of sirens. Soon two crews were pushing the crowds back and clearing a path for the medics.

“Commissioner, what happened?”

Looking up, Gordon found the familiar face of Montgomery Hill.  At the sound of the new voice, the girl tried to grow smaller as the grip on his jacket tightened.

“I’ll explain later. Do you have the translator?”

“I’m right here.”

Turning in the direction of the voice, Gordon saw a young man, twenty-four if he had to guess, push his way through the thickening crowd. The guy was tall, well built, messy brown hair that was windswept, and mismatching eyes.

“Commissioner, this is Mark Spencer. He works at the airport, we pulled him from the security team.” Hill explain, waving the medics over to assess the girl.

But as they tried to puller her away from Gordon, she let one of the most desperate screams Gordon had ever heard. One that began nagging at his mind. He had heard it somewhere before. He knew he had.  The sudden commotion caused the crowds to press in again as the medic pulled his hands away.

“Spencer.” Growled Hill, spurring the young translator into action.

“Miss, it’s ok. They’re medics. They just want to make sure your ok. That your not hurt. It’s ok. They’re not going to hurt you.”

The girl just stiffened at his words, but she stopped screaming. Gordon caught Spencer’s eyes.

“Ask her name. Introduce yourself. You need to get her to calm down.” Gordon instructed, his hand still running through the girls hair.

“Miss, I’m Mark Spencer. I work at Gotham International Airport as a translator. Can I know your name?”

“M - Ma - Mar - inette”

“Marinette. That’s a very pretty name. Can you tell me your last name?”

“. . .Du - Dupain-Ch - Cheng.”

“Ok, that’s good. Where are you from Marinette?”

“P-P-Paris. My . . . my class is h-here on a s-sch- school t-t-trip.”

“Paris. Wow, you’re a long way from home. Alright, Marinette. We need you to let the medic’s look at you. We need to make sure your alright. They are not going to hurt you, I promise. Me and you friend are going to be right there with you alright. But I need you to let go, ok.”

Gordon watched as the two of them talked, almost wincing at how broken the girl, Marinette, sounded. She was silent for a few moments, just staring at Spencer before she slowly loosened her grip on Gordon. Both Gordon and Spencer gave her encouraging smiles as she let the medics look her over.

As Spencer translated for them, Gordon studied the girl. Now that he could see her, he could only curse silently at the person who had put her in that state. The entire right side of her face was swollen, the hand print still very visible. Her bottom lip was busted, if was from the slap or from him tackling her, he couldn’t tell. But it was Her eyes that worried him, they were still dilated, the blue only appeared in a small ring around her pupil. Their eyes met for a moment. As sharp baby blue collided with cloudy bluebells, Gordon felt a jolt run through him. He had seen those eyes before.He didn’t know how or when, but at some point in time he had looked into those eyes.The longer he studied her, the more sure he became.

As she offered him one of the saddest smiles he had ever seen, Gordon swore he was going to find out what happened to her. Catching Hill’s eye, Gordon knew he wasn’t alone in that thought. Whoever was behind this was going to have a lot to answer for.

Turning his attention back to the crowds, Gordon let out an exhausted sigh. This was going to be a long day.

@mystery-5-5   @captainmac6  @you-will-never-know-how-I-think  @mochinek0 @sonif50 @zalladane @thebananathatwrites @schrodingers25 @kuroko26 @miraculousbelladonna @souleaterlicestein @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @ijustwannabecanadian @ellerahs @ranger-paladinikoe @xxmadamjinxx @derpingrainbow @sassy-spocko @vixen-uchiha @mooshoon

[nony314]

And They Were Roomates : chapter 1

(A/N: I have no idea if inserting a read-more is possible on mobile and I don't have a desktop at the moment so I truly apologize if this is just a wall of text. If you know how to do this, let me know? Thank you!)

This day had started out with so much promise, Kagome thought with a heavy heart. She was standing on her new balcony-- that is, the balcony of her new apartment-- with her cellphone pressed to her ear. 

"No, no… really, I understand!" She insisted again.

"I'm so sorry Kagome! I swear I would never even consider it, unless it was something incredible..."

"Stop apologizing, Sango! This is huge! You should be celebrating, not apologizing." Kagome pressed her lips to prevent a quiver. She was happy for Sango, but she couldn't help but be disappointed for herself. They were supposed to share this apartment together, until Sango landed her actual dream job. Taijiya Games had offered her a developer position on their newest title, and although Kagome barely knew what that meant, she knew Sango had all but given up on getting a job that good until now. There was no way in hell she'd make Sango feel guilty for taking the opportunity, even if she had to go to the UK for it. "You're going to be great! Even I'll play your game, I swear,"

Sango sniffed, and chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Thank you so much for understanding, Kagome. The second I get back to Tokyo we'll go--" the line cut out, and Kagome pulled her phone from her face to find the sign off logo filled the screen. The battery was dead. 

She stood alone on her balcony, watching the sun set over the city. This view was beyond gorgeous, which only made all of this harder. She'd saved up as much as she needed for her own half of the rent, but without Sango's half, she wouldn't be here long. It'd be faster to sub-lease it instead of finding another roommate, and that's what she'd start on tomorrow. For now, she just enjoyed the view, although it was a little blurred with tears. She wiped them away, but paused when a strange noise came from inside her empty apartment.

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<p/> Looking in, there was almost nothing but stacks of boxes against every wall. The sun had just dropped below the skyline, casting the entire room in eerie shades of blue and purple. The sound happened again, and this time she thought she knew what it was. The front door was being opened.

She held her breath as she watched through the sliding glass door, mentally retracing her steps back to when she definitely locked it, when she heard the door open, then slam shut. She jumped when a shout came from within, sounding something like a name, then just incomprehensible slurring as a pile of boxes tumbled over. She realized all at once that someone must have seen her moving, and broken in. First Sango, and now this.

She cursed to herself in a panic, whirling around to find something to defend herself with. Her panic only rose when she realized she had nothing except a few plastic plants and a folding lounge chair at hand. She shot a glance over the edge of the balcony in hopes of maybe escaping that way, but it was a straight drop ten stories down into the busy streets below. She looked to her phone, trying to turn it on for just a few seconds longer to call for help, but it was completely drained. She pinned her eyes back on the door when the person within made another noise, and appeared in the  entryway. Kagome was paralyzed in fear as she watched the stranger steady himself on the nearest wall, digging inside his jacket pockets for something. 

As she remained pinned in pure terror, she noticed how the stranger swayed, and grumbled to himself, and how frustrated he was with jacket pockets. He looked like he was constantly one second from stumbling over, but somehow managed to stay upright. There was a word for what he was. Drunk. Very very drunk. More importantly, he was totally oblivious to her presence. Hoping to keep it that way, she ducked down against the railing, sitting on her knees and keeping her head just high enough to watch him.

He called out that slurred name again and waited, but obviously there would be no answer. She realized with some relief that since he was calling for someone he thought lived here, he probably wasn't there to rob her, but in fact had chosen the wrong apartment due to being so drunk. He was most likely a neighbor, not a burglar. She jumped again when he suddenly barked out a laugh of triumph, having successfully pulled whatever he'd been looking for from his jacket. He sauntered over to the glass door of the balcony, and Kagome silently fell back on her butt, pulling her knees up to her chest in defense. That was when his eyes finally glanced up, pausing on none other than a horribly confused and frightened Kagome. 

“Oh… shit, erm… h’llo.” He mumbled, pushing off the door frame and swaying his way over to the railing, which he leaned on with some force. She gasped and reached out when it looked for a moment like he might tip over it, but he quickly steadied himself, sticking a slightly bent cigarette between his teeth. She eyed the crumpled pack in his hand and decided that must have been what he'd been searching for. Next she noticed his jacket-- red leather with something she couldn't quite see embroidered on the back. The pockets did not look all that complicated to her. His hair was very long, straight even though the rest of him looked a little disheveled, and even more interesting, it was snowy white. Her eyes froze when they raised higher, spotting what looked like animal ears on top of his head. 

Overall he was about as strange as any stranger could have been.

He looked down at her as he started a new search through his pockets, eventually pulling out a cheap plastic lighter. 

“Well… Fuck," His low voice rumbled as his amber colored eyes looked over her, sending a chill up her spine. "Ain't you a pretty ‘un.” He laughed once to himself as he flicked the lighter, once, twice, three times before getting it lit. He held it to the tip of his cigarette and took a long drag, the orange glow lighting his face. He was handsome, she realized then, although his habits were anything but attractive. He puffed out a plume of smoke and made a sound like a sigh before finally losing balance and dropping down to the ground beside her. If the movement hadn't been so sudden, it almost might have looked like it was on purpose. 

Kagome thought about asking if he was okay, but he didn't seem to be hurt as he propped his back against the railing, letting his head rest on the metal. He took another drag from the cigarette before turning his face to give her a very focused look. “You wit’ uh… Koga n’ them, or what?” He asked casually. Kagome blinked, lightly clearing her throat as she thought of how to respond to that.

“Um… I think… you may have the wrong apartment.” She said delicately, hoping this revelation wouldn't throw him into some kind of drunken rage. He turned to look around, seeming to weigh the likelihood of that statement before resolutely shaking his head. 

“Uh… no-pe. This’ where I live ‘m pretty sure.” He sorted another laugh, like she was the ridiculous one here. Kagome inched away a little further, wishing she hadn't talked to Sango quite so long.  

“Well… no, you see, this is actually my apartment, so… if you wouldn't mind…” She pursed her lips as he narrowed his eyes at her once again.

“What're you talkin’ about ya crazy broad? If this’ Your apartment, ha’come I got a… a, uh… where the fuck d’I put that damn thing…” He rummaged through his pockets again while Kagome waited. He bit the cigarette between his teeth to free up both hands, concentrating very hard on the task, before finally producing a keychain. “Ah! Uh key! Howcome I gotta key, huh?” As he spoke the cigarette fell from his lips, and he dropped the keys on the ground before her to pick it back up. Once it was retrieved, he took another drag, glancing between her and the keys with a raised brow. With an inward sigh, she decided she could at least direct him to the correct apartment if She knew what number he was in. Kagome hesitantly picked up the keychain, turning through the keys until she found the familiar one, labeled 5J, otherwise known as the very apartment they were both sitting in. 

“Seeee?” He sneered with a smile, “S’my apartment.” He leaned closer to point at the key in question. “Five-J.” He read aloud. Kagome was hit by the smell of liquor and inched away again, offering the keys back. 

“Well… that is a key to this apartment, but I assure you, I live here, not you. See?” Kagome produced her own keys, pulling up her own 5J key and holding it out. He glanced at it and rolled his eyes dramatically, heaving a loud groan.

“That fuckin’ Koga! I keep tellin ‘m not ta give out the damn key to every-fuckin-body, but here we ‘r. I don't give a fuck how fuckin sexy ya are, ya can't liv ‘ere… Gonna mess up th’ whole thing we got goin with the band 'n all them-- fuckin yoko-ono n’ shit, you know what I mean? Keh!” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand in her general direction. No, no she did not know what he meant. From what she could understand most of his vocabulary seemed to be the f-word. She could tell, however, that she wasn't going to get him to leave without calling the police, and her phone was dead. As she shifted her gaze towards the apartment, she realized she didn't have the faintest idea where a charger might be, either. The situation was looking bleak, and after all that had happened that day, it was just a tad too much. She sniffled once, then twice, and a couple small frustrated tears filled the corners of her eyes.

“Awe damn it, don't-- come on!” Protested the drunk stranger. “No crying!”

“Oh, should I laugh!?” She shot back, wiping her eyes for the second time that night. He didn't react, other than snubbing out on the concrete. She noticed through her teary gaze that there were several black marks there, and she absently felt annoyed she'd have to clean the marks off.

“No, you should shut up and…" He trailed off when she gave him a look like daggers. "Uh… go ‘t sleep with me?” He asked, giving her a daring smirk that was way too charming for someone so very intoxicated.

"I have pepper-spray, and I'm not afraid to use it." She threatened seriously. He barked out another laugh.

“Fine, s’wortha shot…” He fumbled onto his feet, adjusting his jacket before sauntering off towards the door. Before he made it all the way there, he half-stumbled into her lounge chair and tumbled into it. He looked like he might try to stand up again, but evidently found the cushion to be pretty comfortable. Instead of correcting his course, he sprawled out, mostly on his stomach, and promptly passed out. 

Kagome blinked, watching his chest rise and fall for a moment before pulling herself up on the railing. She moved as silently as a shadow across the balcony and darted through the glass door, carefully but quickly closing- and locking- it behind her.  <p/>

[thefanficmonster]

Guidance For The Lost

Emily Davis x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Mentions of death, Dealing with the loss of loved ones, Grieving, Alcohol Abuse (Mentioned)

Genre: Angst, Romance

Summary: How much does a person have to lose before they are finally shown the light that’s supposed to lead them to a better place? Y/N and Emily never knew they were even looking for that guidance in their life until they lost everything but that one need - finding guidance, finding closure, finding who they are and embracing. Preferably together.

Requested by my dear Until Dawn Genius Anon. You are the absolute best. This idea is golden and you take all the credit for it, darling. (Unless the fic is bad, then blame it on me 😋) Hope you enjoy, XOXO

Sorry I went overboard again. I just love writing for this fandom so much 💙

Once upon a time I was happy. I had it all.

A best friend who was always by my side. A best friend whose family accepted me as one of them.

A girlfriend that nothing and no one can compare with. It would be inaccurate of me to describe her with words. The English language doesn’t have adjectives I could use to paint you the picture of who she was and how I felt and still feel about her.

But I can tell you our story, at least the ending portion of it. I can’t recall the beginning cause it will hurt too badly. I can’t bare the pain nor the guilt of being so helpless. 

So here’s how our story ended.

“Where did everyone go all of a sudden?“ I ask no one in particular as I finally look up to take notice of my now vacant surroundings. The living room was buzzing with Josh’s friends just minutes ago, their chatter and laughter not bothering me while I read some interesting Blackwood Pines facts from a booklet Beth showed me.

“No idea!“ I hear my girlfriend call out to me from somewhere near by. “Probably upstairs, no one’s dumb enough to go outside in this weather.”

I get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen where Josh and his best friend Chris are passed out on the kitchen island.

“Dumb and Dumber are out, huh?“ I shake Josh’s shoulder but he doesn’t budge.

Beth is by the kitchen sink, doing the dishes. She turns to look at me, a bright smile on her face, mesmerizing me. “Surprised it took them so long. At the very least they are unconscious so they won’t cause troubles.” Her eyes suddenly widen, “Shit! The others could be destroying the upstairs rooms!”

I frown and shake my head, “They weren’t that drunk when I last saw them.“ I try to assure her.

“The atmosphere can get you carried away and I don’t wanna take any risks.“ This is Momma Beth speaking. Her and Sam are the most responsible of our bunch. They can go from partying to parenting in the blink of an eye. I find it adorable when Beth does it.

“Ok, ok, I’ll go check on them. You stay with these two just in case they wake up.“ I walk through the wooden doors to the staircase area of the lodge. I’ve been here countless times now and I still only know the main points - kitchen, bathroom, living room and the bedroom I always stay in. The rest is a maze if you ask me.

I hear a commotion upstairs and quicken my pace. I follow the voices, not really sure where I’m headed when I see Hannah running in my direction. She looks like she’s been crying and her shirt isn’t completely buttoned up. My mind races with the worst of scenarios, a pit opening in my stomach.

“Hey! Hannah, what’s wrong?!“ I call after her when she passes me without even sparing me a glance.

I’m about to go after her when the rest of the group catches up, all of them running as well.

“Guys, what’s going on?!“ I’m getting kind of scared now, seeing as how all of them have worry and something alike guilt painted on their faces.

“I’ll tell you later. We need to get Hannah.“ Matt tells me as he briefly slows his pace to answer my question.

I stand there confused, but only for a second. Next thing I know, I’ve already outrun the group and I make it outside the lodge first. Well, not really first. I can barely see Beth because of the color of her jacket, the pink dot in the white ongoing snowstorm slowly fading as she keeps heading further into the woods.

“Beth, wait!“ I try to yell but my voice is muffled by the raging wind.

“It was just a prank, Han!“ I hear Emily’s voice, but don’t plan on sticking around to find out what prank she’s talking about.

Just as I’m about to take off after Beth, a hard grips my arm tightly. 

“Where do you think you’re going? We don’t need another person running into the storm.“ Emily says in her typical bitchy way, her tone suggesting how dumb my move would’ve been.

“What if they get hurt, huh? You thought of that?“ I bark at her, narrowing my eyes and shaking my arm out of grasp.

“Oh, you’ll protect them?“ She scoffs, “Give me a break.“

“Guys, cut it out. This is the worst possible time to go at each other’s throats.“ Sam scolds us, breaking up our disagreement.

“What did you do?“ My gaze travels to each of the six guilty and worried faces in front of me. Well, four. Jess and Emily don’t seem too concerned.

I still can’t believe it. A prank. A goddamn prank is the reason why my girlfriend and a really good friend of mine are missing and presumably dead. These people apparently don’t have a shred of a conscience. Not all, but I’m surprised by how easily some took the loss of two friends of ours. 

It’s more than obvious Matt and Ashley will regret participating in that ‘prank’ for the rest of their lives, but Mike, Jess and Emily aren’t too troubled. Then there’s Sam...she regrets not preventing it. Josh regrets not being in the state to run after his sisters and protect them. I regret letting Emily keep me in that spot I was about to take off from to go after Beth. 

We all have regrets. We’ll all carry this and let it weigh us down cause we know how much we could’ve done but didn’t. Or...for some, how wrong much they did.

Believe it or not, it gets worse. And the guilt just keeps piling up. It doesn’t stop hurting, I’m afraid it never will. It. Keeps. Getting. Worse.

“It’s all over now. But it wouldn’t have even started had I spoken up about how uneasy the whole thing made me and everyone else feel. If I had just told him.....if I had just tried to stop him from.....non of this would’ve happened.”

I am being interrogated about the events of the most terrifying night I have ever and will ever experience. I can’t recollect what’s real and what’s not. For all my mind can comprehend I’m still in that lodge. Or I’m dead and this is my brain projecting the moments I thought I’d live through if I survived.

“He would have been ok. All of us would have been ok. I wouldn’t have lost him.“ I don��t try to stop my tears. Why would I? I’m not even sure these are real people in front of me. I’m not sure any of the past 24 hours is real. I’m not sure the specific reason why I’m crying either. It could be because my best friend is dead. It could be because I wasn’t there to prevent it from happening. Or maybe because I didn’t prevent anything. Had I just convinced, or at least tried to, we wouldn’t be here. Nor would we be like this. Broken. Petrified. Traumatized. “He’s fucking gone and I fucking let it happen! It’s all my fault!”

I believe that. It’s the truth that will forever remain an open wound for me. The crack in the broken mirror I’ve turned into.

I lost Beth. I lost Josh. I lost Hannah. All on the same date with just a year difference. I lost the people that defined who I am and who kept me together, reminding me that loneliness is temporary and curable. The cure? - good company. They were my company. They were my family. And now, the affliction is back, ready to kick my teeth in.

Worst part is - I could’ve done something. I should’ve done something, anything to at least try and prevent it all. 

It’s been about two hours since Ashley and Sam left my apartment. I haven’t stepped foot outside since we got back from the mountain which was a month ago. They come and check on me about twice a week to make sure I haven’t died of malnutrition or in my sleep after drinking too much.

I’m not exaggerating. I often forget or just don’t feel like eating. My body is 70% alcohol at all times. Sam, Ashley and Chris thought that if they refused to supply me with my only support I’d stop relying on it. The sad truth is - an addict always finds their way to the substance of their addiction. My neighbor is an addict so he understands me which is why he runs to the convenience store to get me a fix whenever I ask him to. 

Why I don’t leave my home? It’s a ridiculous and unsupported theory, but I’m afraid I might lose it and break down. I have small sprinkles of memories with my Josh and Beth all over the place, not only at home. I mean, I still sleep in the living room cause I can’t go in my bedroom. 

When I bought this apartment I got most of the décor with Beth’s help. I was actually planning to ask her to move in with me when on her birthday, after we got back from the getaway. I did, she didn’t, and despite living alone for the past four or so years, my apartment has felt empty ever since. When I told Josh that I didn’t like sleeping in my room because of all the flashbacks, he offered to help me redecorate. Now that has backfired as well.

I feel too exhausted to attempt redecorating again so I just keep out of my room unless it’s absolutely necessary. 

As I’m reaching for my cheap liquor in the kitchen cabinet the doorbell rings, sending a shock throughout my body that causes my arm to jerk away from the bottle. I’ve become a lot more responsive to sounds - even the tiniest noise gets me on edge and has me looking around like a terrified animal.

“Nice one, guys.“ I mumble to myself as I walk over to open the front door. It’s so much like Sam and Ashley to do a double visit to make sure I’m not half gone in a matter of two hours.

The big surprise I come face to face with is Emily standing on my doorstep. Emily of all people. 

If it’s not yet clear, we aren’t too fond of each other. I’m still holding the incident from two years ago against her. I try to steer clear of her and be as passive aggressive with her as possible. I know that if I spend too much time around her, paying attention to whatever bullshit comes out of her mouth I’ll lose my passiveness and turn to straight aggression. And I don’t wanna be that person. I mean, I am that person, but I don’t wanna act on it. It’s more real if others see how I feel.

“Hey...“ she says, shifting from one foot to the other awkwardly

“What’s up?“ I ask in my monotone, I-don’t-feel-like-talking voice. Honestly, I would’ve put in more effort if it was someone of the gang I’m actually close with, but Emily isn’t getting a crumb of enthusiasm out of me.

“Can I come in?“ she asks hesitantly, pointing at the hallway behind me

It’s an odd move on her part - both out of character and with an odd timing. Though, I don’t have a valid reason to say no. What can I say? ‘Sorry, no. I’m busy getting drunk so I don’t cry.’

“Um, sure.“ I shrug and step aside, allowing her room to pass by me and enter my apartment

She nods and walks in the living room, putting her jacket over the backrest of my reading chair. 

Emily in my apartment, especially on her own, is a bizarre sight. She’s only stepped foot in my place once and that was on the housewarming dinner party I held when I bought it, aka three years ago. 

As though she has read my mind, she says, “It’s been a while since I’ve been here. Not much has changed.”

“Yeah, I don’t like redecorating“ A pang in my chest makes me wince almost obviously. “Have a seat. Want something to drink?“

She shakes her head, settling down on the couch. “No, I’m good. Um...” she pauses. I can tell she’s struggling to say whatever’s troubling her. I can’t guess what it might be, but the least I can do is give her time to put the words together and then spit them out. Her nerves are clearly in overdrive as evidenced by her fidgety hands and lip-biting. “How are you holding up?”

Understanding aside, I feel a dose of anger start coursing my veins. My passiveness is giving way, I guess. Without it as a neutralizer for my powerful rage mixed with grief and guilt, I am a senseless person. I’m afraid of becoming that person. I can truly hurt someone and that’s the last thing I ever wish to do.

I shrug, “Better than Josh.“ The words are cold, giving off the vibe that I’m no longer bothered by any of what happened. We both know that’s not true. It’s just my way of getting the angry message across.

I notice her get even more nervous, her body stiffening. “Um...I know how it is...” My grip’s starting to slip. I can no longer contain it. All that’s been piling up, the water’s rising, spilling over the top of the dam that’s my composure. “I remember what you said...”

Momentarily, my nails stop digging into the flesh of my palms, my brows furrowing in confusion, “What did I say?”

“Uh, I...um...overheard what you said to Chris while we were in the basement.“ She stutters.

Oh, now I remember too.

“How are you keeping it all together?! How are you so calm?! Why aren’t you panicking more?!“ Chris is freaking out, his calm exterior is finally crumbling after so many long hours of terror. I’m surprised he has held onto his sanity for this long. But he’s finally snapping.

“Barely, Chris. Just barely.“ I grab his wrists, hindering him from yanking on his hair any longer. He lifts his head, looking at me with tired eyes. I somehow find it in me to give him an encouraging nod and smile when I say: “Believe me, when all this is over, I’ll be the one crying the hardest.“

“I was. I was crying. I was crying to the point of exhaustion. But no one was there which is just the way I like it. Guilty people cry on their own cause they know they don’t deserve to be comforted! I’m fucking guilty! And so are you! I wouldn’t be dealing with all this bullshit! My girlfriend and best friends would still be alive if you had just been a decent human being! Decent enough to leave the poor girl alone and not play with her emotions when you knew how strongly she felt about Mike! Decent enough to let me go when I wanted to go after them! You were probably right, I would’ve probably been just as helpless as them and died right then and there! But I would’ve been there! Beth wouldn’t have felt that fear without me! I wouldn’t have to go on without her! And now Josh is gone too! All because of what you, Jessica and Michael did!“ I feel blood oozing out of the small cuts I’ve created on my palms, but I don’t care. “You say you couldn’t have known that would happen, and even though you’re right, you’re far from being justified! Friends don’t do that to each other! I’m mad on mine, Beth’s, Hannah’s and Josh’s behalf! And I think I forever will be!“

I open my hands to see the bloody mess they’ve become as a result of the overwhelming emotional pain. Something a lot like adrenaline is preventing me from feeling the stinging I should be feeling but I hate that I can’t feel anything. I want to feel physical pain, it’s better than emotional. That one you can’t bandage up and call it a day.

I look up at Emily who looks like she’s reliving everything just by looking at me and my bloodied hands. I can’t find it in me to apologize, especially not right now. Maybe in an hour or so when I will be able to hear my rational thoughts over the heart’s violent thumping. 

Tears roll down her cheeks as she reaches for my hands over the coffee table between us. I want to pull away, but the comfort I feel when her fingers make contact with mine is something I’ve been longing for, I can’t act on my instinct.

“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry, Y/N. I can’t begin to imagine how empty this world feels to you now. Non of us can even try to fill the void Josh and Beth left behind in your life. But....there’s something I want to do for you. Something I think will help you.“

I can’t look at her. It kills me knowing I’m the reason behind her tears. I keep my gaze on our touching hands instead. “What could possibly help me?” I let out a choked whisper. Pretty sure I’d be crying right now, but I have lost the ability to do so.

“I-...I didn’t tell you back at the lodge, but I found Beth’s body in the mines. I mentioned it in my interview after we were rescued. I was convincing enough to get them to agree to go and investigate. I heard back from them two days ago...“ she stops to sniffle and wipe her eyes, “They indeed found her body. They made her a proper grave close to where the lodge was. You can go say your goodbyes now. It may not be how you’d want to, but it’s better than nothing.“

A tear falls from my arm directly on a scar I have on my arm. A scar from that night. “I don’t think I can. I can’t go back there. I can’t say goodbye. I knew it was empty wishing, but I had the tiniest hope they’d be found. Saying goodbye will confirm that I’ve lost her. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

Her grip on my hands tightens, “You don’t have to do it alone.” something about the way she says that forces me to look up and meet her eyes. “I’ll be with you every step of the way. It’s the least I can do for you.”

I shake my head, “Don’t feel like you owe me anything cause you don’t, Em. If anything, you owe it to Beth, not me.”

“I don’t feel like I owe you.“ I haven’t seen her this vulnerable and this humanly fragile before, “You mean a lot to me, Y/N. More than you realize. More than I realized. I want to do this for you because I care for you deeply. Y/N, I...“ her words die down, replaced by a sob, “It’s overwhelming. A lot like falling in love, but I don’t wanna call it that. I don’t wanna scare you or push you away. Not now that I’ve nearly lost you so many times.“

My chest tightens. There’s a lot less space for the air my lungs are desperately trying to grab ahold of. There’s only something similar to what Em just mentioned - the fear and excitement of slowly falling for someone. Not just anyone. Someone you never thought you’d fall for.

“I need time, Em. I can’t guarantee that even time will change much in me. I hope you understand and not expect much from me cause I can’t promise anything anymore.“ 

“I don’t need you to promise me anything. All I’m asking is for you to let me be there for you, now and in the long run. And...let me come with you when you say your goodbye. I don’t want you feeling so much sorrow on your own. Know that no matter what you’re feeling, you can always give half of it to me so it doesn’t break you.”

I have a tough time wrapping my head around the fact that this is the same Emily I wanted to scream at and smack across the face just ten minutes ago. Or you know, the whole time I’ve known her. But I’m a believer in chances and the power they have when it comes to positive change in a person.

“That I think I’ll be able to do.“ I nod, giving her the same smile I gave Beth, Josh and Chris back at the lodge. The ‘we’re sinking, but at least we’re not sinking alone’ smile. She gives me a similar one in return and I know my message has been sent across clear as day.

[chimmyboii]

The Story of Us - Part 1

Masterlist 

Summary: He was a bright orange flame and I was the moth attracted to his light. 

* D/N = Dad’s name!

AN: So this is a fic i’m currently working on, not really sure how many parts there will be but stay tuned!! Feedback and criticism is welcomed!! :))) 

Enjoy!

Part 1

The sound of the TV blaring was enough from me to know something wasn’t right. I took off my shoes quickly and peeked my head through the crack of the living room door. Dad was laying passed out on the couch, snoring like a pig. Empty beer bottles were scattered on the coffee table, one had fallen on the floor spilling on to the carpet. Sighing, I entered the room and walked to his sleeping figure, I tug the remote from his grip gently as I could in hopes of not waking him. I press the red button, shutting the TV off.

Just as I’m about to grip the empty bottles, Dad sits up with a gasp. His blurry eyes look at me, his lips turn down in a frown.

“What are you doing?” I inhale slightly, continuing to tuck two of the bottles under my arm before I grab the rest.

“Cleaning up,” I answer before walking into the kitchen and placing them into the bin.

“Well leave them,” he slurs out, taking the remote and turning the TV back on. I growl under my breath. I go back into the living room and go to grab the rest of the bottles when Dad grips my arm, I wince.

“I told you to fucking leave them, what part of that don’t you understand Y/N!” I pull my arm from his grip; tears slip from my eyes. I hurry back into the kitchen out of his way. I hear him stomp up the stairs to the bathroom. In the kitchen, I let out a sob, rubbing at my arm that I’m sure will bruise. Sniffing, I decide to make myself something to eat, grabbing a lot food to hide in my room to avoid coming out. As I’m cutting my sandwich, Dad comes stumbling into the kitchen. He ignores me and reaches into the fridge and pulls out another beer.

“Dad, you’ve got work tomorrow,” I remind, gently. He barks out a laugh before slamming the fridge shut, causing the contents to rattle inside and me to flinch. “That fucking Joe prick fired me this morning,” he laughs bitterly, “thinks I’m not capable for the job,” He walks over to the drawer and pulls out the bottle opener.

“What?” I whisper, my palms become clammy. “But we’re already late on this months’ rent,” Dad ignores me and continues to struggle opening the bottle. I grip the counter tightly as I begin to feel breathless, a surge of panic overwhelms me. “What are we going to do?” I ask him, voice high. Dad finally pulls the metal cap from the bottle and shrugs at me before taking a large gulp.

“Fuck ‘em,” he slurs walking back into the living room. Tears slip down my cheeks once more.

I stand there for God knows how long, just inhaling and exhaling. The tears had finally stopped. I reach and pull out my phone, looking at email of acceptance from the University, I sniffle before typing in the contact number. It rings four times before a female voice answer.

“Hello, I’m Y/N L/N, I’m calling to withdraw my application,” my voice croaks. The phone call lasts all of three minutes. It took three minutes to cancel my dream. I cry as I look at the mess of the kitchen, my blurry eyes look to the living and see my drunk Dad singing tunelessly to the music on the TV. This is my life now; I’m trapped here with this.

- I walk to the supermarket in town, since we don’t own a car and I don’t have enough money for bus fare. It takes me half an hour to get there and I’m sweaty from the walk. Smoothing back my hair, I walk in and go straight to Customer service. The woman behind the counter eyes me for a moment, taking in my flushed complexion and old clothing. I see the pity in her eyes.

“How can I help you, sweetheart?” I clear my throat.

“Are there any jobs going here?” I ask, trying hard not to sound hopeful. She shrugs.

“Not sure, honey. Hold on while I phone the manager,” I nod rapidly. She punches in the numbers on the phone before pushing the phone against her ear.

“Hey Bob, I got a kid here looking for a job. Can you come down?” She ‘uh-huh’ a few times before she turns to me. “How old are you, honey?”

“18,” She tells this to Bob on the phone. She mutters a few sentences which I don’t hear then hangs up.

“Bob will be with you in a moment,” I nod and move to the side, allowing customers to be served.

A bald man with dark glasses comes down the escalators, he holds a clipboard and I assume he is Bob. I stand straighter as he comes towards me. He smiles politely at me and reaches out a hand to shake.

“Hello, I’m Bob Young. So, you’re looking for a job?” I nod eagerly, Bob looks back at his clipboard. “Well we have some job openings; did you bring an application form?” I reach into my bag and pull out my CV. Bob reads it over. “Well you have good grades, all As and Bs.” He hums for a second. “You don’t have any experience though,” I feel a surge of panic.

“I’m a fast learner, I promise. Whatever job you give me I promise I will do my best and more!” I burst; Bobs eyes widen at this.

“I see,” he says almost wearily. “We have a job opening for 8 hours,”

“Umm… are there other jobs going with more hours?” I interrupt, Bob stops and looks at the clipboard once more.

“Well there is a job that just opened yesterday with 25 hours a week but-”

“I’ll take it!” I almost squeal. Bob lets out a chuckle and considers me a moment.

“25 hours a week is hard work, kid, are you sure your up to it?” I firmly nod. “Okay, well the job requires you to; stack shelfs and serve customers. However, I must tell you these shifts are night shift only.” Night shift is perfect actually, I’ll be gone when Dad arrives home hammered from drinking in the pub.

“That’s fine,” I confirm. Bob talks me through the rest of the responsibilities and tells me I’ll be required training which will start next week. I feel excited for the first time in weeks. He then gives me a tour of the shop, showing me where the fire exits are where the employee cloak room is.

“This is a bit informal,” Bob admits, “Normally, people apply for the job online and we reply via email for a job interview. But I know who you are kid, you’re D/N’s* daughter.” I look down feeling ashamed. In this small town, everyone knows your business. “I’m guessing your dad lost his job?”

“Yeah,” I whisper and Bob nods.

“Well, welcome to the team, Y/N,” He pats my back and flashes me a bright smile before leaving.

-

The till training took an hour and consisted of shadowing another member of staff. I was then placed at the customer service desk, ironically and this has been my position for the last two weeks. Since the supermarket is open 24 hours, it’s important to have staff on at the desk throughout the night. However, at night the shop is quiet and boring; there are barely any customers out after nine o’clock. I lean against the desk, doodling on a piece of paper. It is just me at the desk, my colleague Heather had been asked to give a hand stocking shelfs. I bin the piece of paper and lean my head against my hand, looking out at the dark car park. The desk is situated right by the main entrance which allows me to watch customers come and go. I watch as a black pickup truck pulls up outside the car park. Squinting, I spot what appears to be four boys jumping on the cargo bed. I watch as the boys jump from the back of truck and more exit the vehicle. They make their way into the supermarket, whooping loudly and pushing each other. I cringe at the sudden loud noises. There are seven of them, I note. Security is going to have fun with them. I continue to watch two of the boys laugh and push each other, when a bright flame comes into my view. He looks over at me and I see his lips curve into a small smile.  

His hair is bright orange, hard to miss. The turquoise leather jacket he wore complimented his hair, surprisingly. We continue to stare at each other, his smile growing wider until one of the boys nudges him which causes him to look away. I pull out my phone from under the desk, ignoring the boys completely as the walk past the desk into the aisles, disappearing from my view completely and a small part of me feels deflated. I continue to play the game on phone when a bang is sounded in front of me.

“Shit!” I yelp, almost dropping my phone. In front of me, the orange hair boy pushing a blue basket of shopping towards me. He has a large grin on his face, and I notice one of his front teeth is crooked. I gulp, placing my phone back under the desk. I take a bottle of Coke from the basket and scan it under the red light until it beeps.

“Hello,” he greets, his voice is smooth and has a nice pitch – its sweet and low at the same time. I nod at him with a small smile. I grab a bag of sweeties next and scan them. “How are you?” he asks.

“I’m fine,” I mummer, feeling a bit shy under his gaze, the smile still on his lips but has grew softer. I grab another bag and scan it, but it doesn’t scan, I try again still nothing. I look at him, “umm…just a second,” He nods, and I move over to the other till to see if it scans there and it doesn’t. I curse quietly under my breath, unsure on what to do.

“Maybe try putting in the barcode manually,” the orange-haired boy suggests. I frown at him, walking back over.

“What do you mean?” He smiles softly at me and reaches his hand out for the bag of sweets; I give them to him. He points to the barcode at the bottom of the packet.  

“See these numbers?” I nod, he continues, “You should be able to type them on the till.”  I let out a ‘ohhh’ before taking the packet back and began to type the numbers on the till, when I press enter the name of the sweets came up along with the price.

“Yes!” I exclaim and the boy let out a laugh. I giggle slightly out of embarrassment, “Sorry, I’m still learning,”

“Ahh, you’re new,” I nod, cheeks feeling hot. “When did you start?”

“Two weeks ago. They never told me I could type the barcodes though. How did you know?” The boy points his thumb behind him, I spot the rest of his friends outside by the truck.

“One of my friends works in retail. He broke the scanner, so he had to type manually for a while,” I smile at him before grabbing the rest of his items without a problem. The last item was a bottle of soju.

“Umm… c-can I see some ID, please?” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone, he rustles around before letting out a sigh.

“I’ve left it in the truck, can you give me a minute?”

“Yeah that’s fine,” He shoots me a smile before rushing out the door. I watch him quickly dive into the front seat, his bum wiggling slightly as he rustles though the truck. One of his friends kicks his butt which causes the orange haired boy to reach back and rub the area. I let out a laugh at the sight. I frown confused when I see him lean over the dash and from what I can see, scribble something down a piece of paper before slipping it in his turquoise jacket. I jump when leaves the truck slamming the door and running back into the store. Looking at the till, I pretend I’m looking over the items.

“Here you are,” he announces handing me his ID.

Name: Park Jimin Date of Birth: 13 October 1995

He was older than me by two years, I notice. I nod happy he was the legal age and hand him his ID back. I scan the soju and click enter on the till; I turn back to the orange haired boy – Jimin. I open my mouth to speak but he beats me to it.

“My name is Jimin!” he blurts, “You already knew that because of my ID…uhhh shit,” he whispers shaking his head and I giggle. He was cute, I’ll admit.

“I’m Y/N,” I tell him, reach my hand out for him to shake. He clasps my hand and shakes it, the smile back on his face. “Do you need bag for your items, Jimin?”  

“Yeah, please.” I nod and begin to bag his items when Jimin hand shots out, pushing a piece of paper under my nose. I frown at it but take it away. The paper is receipt from somewhere and has a number written in blue ink on it. I look back at Jimin whose cheeks are flushed pink, he runs his hand through his hair.

“I-I was wondering i-if you would like to go out sometime…umm, with me?” he stutters, and my eyes widen. “That’s my number,” he nods to the receipt I’m holding.

“Oh,” I mutter looking down at it. My heart is thumping loudly in my ear. “I-I can’t, I’m sorry,” I watch Jimin’s face fall, his brown eyes make contact with the floor. “I’m flattered, honestly, but I’m just not interested in a relationship,” I lie and Jimin just nods. I go back to packing the rest of his items before looking at the till. “That’ll be 24.25, please.” Jimin pulls out his card and taps it on the contactless screen before grabbing the bag and speed walking off.

“Wait!” I yell, Jimin stops abruptly and turns to me. I grab the receipt that has printed off and wave it at him. “Do you want your receipt?” Jimin shakes his head before practically running out the store.

I sigh as I look the receipt which had Jimin’s number. He was cute, I thought with a small smile. I eye the paper once more before folding it and tucking it in the pocket of my trousers.

[sweethazzababy]

Not So Professional- Chapter 2

Plot: Y/N gets the job as Harry Styles’s personal assistant. Working for him, she deals with the ups and downs of his career ranging from difficult breakups to music celebrations and everything in between. How will her and Harry’s relationship develop?

CHAPTER 1

A/N: YOU. GUYS. It has been very long since I’ve posted, and I feel so bad for leaving everyone with just one chapter up. Life got in the way lol and I honestly lost inspiration to write. Recently, I’ve been wanting to and I had some of this written already. I can’t promise you I’ll update every week or something, but I want to develop this story. Thanks guys :) 

P.S. I apologize for any typos...it’s 1 am as I’m finalizing and posting lmao

                                                    Chapter 2

Nervously typing each digit one by one, I anticipate the dreaded phone call with my mother. Her and I never really saw eye for an eye. We have completely different ways of viewing life, which always results in many arguments and pointless bickering. At the youthful age of 18, I had decided to move out after graduation and figure out life for myself. She of course, was absolutely livid. Ever since then, there’s been a lot of unspoken tension and distance. However, I miss her sometimes. She’s my mom, and although we have many differences I constantly wish we didn’t end things the way they ended those years ago. The only times I see her is for holidays, and every blue moon she’ll come to the city for lunch. Other than that, we don’t speak much at all.

But this news is something I have to tell her, especially since I’m going to be traveling the world assisting the world’s biggest heartthrob. Reluctantly, I take a breath and hold the phone up to my ear. Out of an anxious habit I tap my nails against the counter while rolling my ankle as my elbows rest on the granite. It rings a few times, and I start to pray she doesn’t answer. Until the ringing cuts and I hear a sigh.

“Y/N?” She sounds surprised. Shocked that I’m calling her at such a random time. My heart sinks at her tone and I realize how long it’s been. My mouth is dry and my mind is reeling, words jumbling in my head not knowing what to say back.

“Hi Mom. I-uh..I am calling um..because tomorrow there will be a uh, a big change.” I stumble, taking big gulps as I speak. My voice is trembling just a tad, and I know she can feel how nervous I am through the phone.

“What do you mean?” Her volume lowers, her voice timid. My fingers grasping my phone start to ache and I realize how tightly I’m holding it, knuckles turning white.

“I got offered um, a very, very large promotion… One I never expected and uh I was told today, but I’m leaving tomorrow… to London.” My rambling picks up as I speak, just wanting this conversation to be over. My eyes wander the room as I start biting my lip gently waiting for her response. I can tell she’s speechless, not knowing what to say.

“Oh wow…Y/N that’s, that’s amazing.” She breathlessly responds, a hint of pride in her tone. A small smile creeps onto my face, not believing this. She’s happy for me. Never in a million years did I think she would be proud of something I’ve done. She’s been holding a grudge ever since I left, ignoring every accomplishment I’ve had. But this time, she cares. And she’s proud. A few lone tears prick the corners of my eyes. Rolling my eyes at the ridiculousness of my emotions, I wipe them away quickly.

“Thank you Mom…I’ll be assisting Harry Styles. I’ll be…traveling the world. This is something I have dreamed about.” I start getting more comfortable, telling her how excited I am.

The conversation continues on for only a few minutes, but my heart warms at the way it turned out. We said our goodbyes, she wished me luck and to send her pictures of the places I see. She finally sees that I’m successful and doing just fine on my own, even though I left her at such a young age. And that’s all I could have wanted from her.

                                               ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It’s about 6:00 now. I’m sitting on my bedroom floor with clothes and other miscellaneous objects scattered all around. Having to leave so last minute is incredibly stressful and I find myself not knowing whether to pack one item over another. Groaning in frustration I decide to get my Bluetooth speaker. Maybe playing some music will make this a little bit more enjoyable. As I’m scrolling through my lists of playlists on Spotify, a thought popped into my head. Rather than choosing one of my playlists I go to the search bar and type in “Harry Styles”. 

Curiously scrolling through his 10 songs, I click on the song Only Angel. Immediately a choir blasts through my speaker and it’s almost like a sense of euphoria is washing over me. A little bit of piano comes into play making the beginning even more dreamy. As I’m getting used to the angelic sounds, all of the sudden a shriek of some sort interrupts. My heart feels like it’s about to break from my chest, and I jump from the unanticipated change of sound. What I thought would be a relaxing tune, turns into a rock song. When he starts singing my breath start to hitch in my throat. I’m quick to notice the rasp in his voice, like I’m wanting more and more as he sings so passionately within the first verse.

Open up your eyes, shut your mouth and see That I'm still the only one who's been in love with me I'll guess I'll be getting you stuck in between my teeth And there's nothing I can do about it

The attitude radiating from his lyrics is oddly attractive. I’ll have to admit that this is a lot different than his One Direction stuff, and like it even more. It’s refreshing to see a former boyband member go in a different direction other than pop. It tells me he appreciates really good music that actually uses instruments. I continue to listen to the album as I pack and can’t help but fall in love with his music. Sign Of The Times is a tear jerker. Once the chorus hit me, I felt like I was frozen in time. The production, the raw emotion in his voice, his gorgeous vocals. It all hit me like a bus and the next thing you know, I have tears running down my cheeks.

 But then I listened to From the Dining Table. Acoustics so soft and melancholy, his voice so low and quiet. The vulnerability and loneliness I felt from his lyrics took my heart and dropped it to the pit of my stomach. The hopefulness from the bridge as the melody and harmonies pick up that soon turned back into sadness as if all that hope vanished, left me absolutely breathless. The kind of pain he experienced, I hope he never has to go through again, oddly enough. His music makes me feel instantly connected to him, a power not many artists have. He’s an incredible musician, and I’m disappointed in myself for never realizing it earlier. I think back to the picture I was shown and my heart flutters again. With a voice and looks like that, let’s hope his personality is decent too.

                                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Beep…beep…beep. My blaring iPhone alarm disrupts my sleep and my first instinct is to grab it and chuck it across the room so I can fall back into a slumber. I groggily turn over on my stomach shoving the pillow over my head, groaning hoping it would stop on its own as if it’s alive. Having enough of the disrupting noise making my ears bleed, I bring myself to roll on my side and grab my phone from my bedside table. While pressing the stop button I glance at the time. 7:00 AM. I know that it’s not super early, but on days I normally have off I developed a habit of sleeping in till 12. It’s like my body knows what day it is. My plane leaves at 1. I should leave my apartment by 11:45 to get to JFK and give myself some time before my plane boards. These thoughts are running through my head, as I’m trying to have some sort of plan for myself.

Mapping out my day in my head, I reluctantly get up and walk straight to the kitchen starting up my Keurig. Coffee is an absolute essential in the morning, or at any time for that matter. You don’t want to talk to me when I don’t have caffeine in my system. Luna comes trotting into the kitchen, her little legs moving at a fast pace giving me a bark good morning. Smiling, I pick her up in my arms and gently pet the top of her head as she licks my hand. My mom reluctantly agreed to take Luna while I’m away… to my surprise. It’s going to be hard not having her by my side like always.

After eating some breakfast and giving Luna her breakfast as well, I finish up the last of my packing. I throw on an oversized white sweater after my quick shower, feeling comfy for the long plane ride. I pair it with black leggings and throw on my black slip on Vans. Pulling my damp hair back into a French braid and putting on a little bit of makeup, I sigh realizing how soon I’ll be in a whole other country. At this point, it’s already 11:30. Before grabbing all of my bags, I give pick Luna up and cradle her into my arms. Holding her against me, I give a kiss to her head and I hug her a little too tight. My heart sinks at the fact that she has no clue what’s going on and she probably thinks I’ll be coming back after work like I usually do. I left a spare key for my mother so she’ll becoming by in an hour or so to pick her up. Opening my door, I give a last and longing look at my apartment and take a deep breath. Onto a new chapter in my life.

The airport is complete madness. I’ve always hated airports. The smells, the loud noises, people running to make it to their terminal while alsorunning into other people. Many times, I had to dodge myself from another person coming at me full force with a panic-stricken face. It’s about 12:45 so my plane could be boarding any minute. To occupy myself in the time I’ve been here I got myself another cup of coffee and read some magazines. There was an article about Harry Styles actually. Intrigued, I read it wanting to know more about the person I’m going to spend all of my time with. Something about a new fling. This boy is in the tabloids so much I wonder what’s true and what isn’t. No doubt, he’s a lady’s man.

Love on the Weekend, a song by John Mayer is playing through my headphones. The soothing tone of his voice and the calming melody helps keep me sane in the midst of such a fast-pace and crazy environment. Everyone else’s stress, stresses me out. As I’m reading through the magazine I hear the intercom notify us that my plane is now boarding. Grabbing all of my bags in my hands, I make my way onto the plane. London here I come.

                                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The sudden bump of the airplane wakes me, along with some woman shaking my shoulder to tell me we’ve landed. Squinting my eyes because of the brightness I take a look out my window and see it’s pitch black. Oh. Right. It’s about 1:30 in the morning now.

I make my way off the plane into the UK airport. Jeff mentioned something about a car service coming to pick me up to take me to a hotel. Standing in front of the terminal my eyes are in a frenzy as I frantically look for a sign, anything, to let me know who is here for me. After about a minute of searching, I see a sign that reads “Y/N, Y/L/N”. Letting out a sigh of relief I walk over and shake the man’s hand. I have never had my own personal car service before so I’m pretty star-struck by all of this.

 “Good morning Ms. Y/L/N.” The kind man greets me with a pleasant and cheeky grin. I chuckle to myself realizing he said good morning. After all, it is 1am.

 “Good morning to you do!” I laugh, feeling a sense of comfort which is good since I’m in a huge country by myself

 After exchanging some small talk with my chauffer, we get into the vehicle. Completely forgetting how I’m in Europe, he opens the driver side door which happens to be on the right side rather than the left. Glancing out the window I try and see what’s outside, what London looks like. The blackness of the early morning is preventing me to see nearly anything though.

We finally pull up to the hotel, and I thank the driver while giving him a generous tip. This hotel is absolutely gorgeous. My eyes wander the room in awe. I walk inside with my bags and right away, a bell hop helps me out and gives me a cart to push everything. I walk up to the front desk and give them my name. Jeff also said he already booked about two weeks for me. I can’t be anymore grateful for everything he and his team have provided to make sure I’m comfortable. Eventually I’m going to use my savings and the money I make to pay for it myself and hopefully rent a small apartment here in London. I retrieve my room key and make my way up the elevator towards my room. After getting settled in, I lie in bed on my laptop. I received a few emails from Jeff informing me of the address and time I need to be at the office by. Seeing the time, I decide it’s probably a smart idea to get some sleep and turn off the light, close my eyes, and nervously await the next day.

                                                   ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Stepping foot out of the car, I take a look at the building in front me. It’s quite small, definitely not as big SONY back in the States. I was told this was a casual meeting, so I wore a pair of dark skinny jeans, a nice blouse that shows off a tiny bit of cleavage, and black heels. I tried my best to look good since I am meeting Harry today. I just can’t get his face out of my mind. The way he smirks, his dimples peeking through completely erasing the intimidating look only to make him seem absolutely adorable. Shaking the thoughts from my head, I tell myself that this is a job. Professional.

 I walk into the building and meet up with Jeff. Finally meeting him in person, he has dark hair and dark eyes. Scruff on his chin and around his face forming a little bit of a beard. He has a youthful and relaxing glow to him, calming my nerves. There’s no need to feel so uptight

 “Ahh finally I meet the famous Y/N!” he gives me a big cheery smile and pulls me into a hug. I let out a giggle and return his hug.

 “I can’t believe I’m finally here…it’s so surreal.” I say breathlessly. He smirks, looking down at his feet and clasping his hands together.  

 “I know but trust me it’s an opportunity you wouldn’t want to miss.” He leads me down the hall and into a room with a few couches and a table. “I figured it would be a little bit more comfortable and casual to meet Harry in a place that isn’t a business room.” He explains to me, shrugging his shoulder.

 I feel the sweat on my palms start to kick in and rub them along my jeans. The nerves start to settle in at the thought of meeting Harry. Jeff and I talk a little bit before all of the sudden there is a quick knock on the door. My heart feels like it’s beating outside of my chest, assuming Harry Styles is standing on the other side of that door.

 “Yeah!” Jeff yells casually as he scrolls through his phone.

My eyes are peeled on the door when it opens, my teeth gently biting into my bottom lip. Harry walks in with that damn smirk on his face. He’s wearing a plain white t shirt, his tattoos running all along his left arm. My eyes try and keep up with all of them, trying to decipher each one. The swallows on his chest near his collarbones are peeking through the top. His pants are not what I expected from him. They’re black, high-waisted, and are extremely flowy and loose around his legs. I’d be lying to myself if I said I didn’t want a pair, noticing how comfortable they look. He has a pair of black sunglasses on the top of his head, pushing back his locks in the front. Curls are peaking through near his neck, behind his ears. So endearing.

He’s even more lovely in person.

Then finally, he sets eyes on me. His blue-green irises meet with mine and I feel my breath leave my body for a split second. As he’s staring at me, I notice his eyes glance down at my top, setting on the cleavage I’ve shown. He bites his bottom lip as he looks at me, and I can’t help but blush and look down at my feet. This interaction only lasted about 2 seconds, but it felt like it was moving in slow motion. He strides over to me and puts his hand out for me to shake

 “Hello. My name is Harry.” The deep and husky tone rumbles through his throat. He speaks at a slower pace and his eyes are even more mesmerizing close up. He gives me a little smile, dimples on full display, crinkles by the corners of his eyes. I grab his hand and return the shake, his palm engulfing my small one. The warmth radiating from his hand is a comfortable one, and it sends shivers down my spine. He has multiple rings on his fingers, something I find very attractive. After shaking hands, I immediately wipe my clammy hands against my legs once more.

“Hi. Y/N Y/L/N, your new personal assistant.” I say with a friendly tone, giving him a smile back. I tuck a loose strand behind my ear shyly. He takes note of it and gives me another smirk, chuckling to himself at my awkwardness.

 “Here, have a seat while we chat a bit.” His British accent is a little more obvious this time around. Jeff tells us he has to take a few phone calls and leaves the room. Harry sits opposite of me, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. The metal of the rings are glistening in the light, catching my eye. He has a ring shaped as an H and one as an S right next to it. Peering my eyes away, I try not to make my curiosity too obvious. The fact that he has personalized rings like that, makes me wonder how much money he actually has. I can tell he noticed my gaze, a small smirk forming on his face. But he doesn’t acknowledge it and continues with the conversation. We already have a nonverbal understanding of each other and I just met him.

 “So, tell me a bit about yourself Y/N. Obviously, we’re going to be workin’ with each other every day, so I figured I could get to know yeh now.” Harry rambles on, clearly unsure of what to say.

“Well, I-uh, I’m from New York City. I originally worked at the SONY headquarters, but obviously I’m not anymore.” Harry jokingly rolls his eyes and laughs at my comment. “Um, I have a dog named Luna, but my mother is taking care of her while I’m gone, and uh yeah.” I finish not really sure what else to say. I’m sure he can feel my awkwardness from here and my cheeks heat up at the thought. Why am I so embarrassing?

 “As entertaining as that was, that’s not what I meant.” Harry replies cheekily, a small chuckle leaving his lips. Blushing, I glance down at my shoes wanting to avoid his gaze because of my embarrassment.

“What are some favorite things of yours? Maybe we’ll find common ground or somethin’. I don’t know…like, your favorite ice cream flavor, or favorite movie. Both very important questions f’me if I’m honest.” Harry explains with a playful tone and I struggle to find the answers before I respond. I just feel so overwhelmed at this entire situation, and I think he can feel it too. “I want to get to know Y/N. Not Y/N Y/L/N from SONY.”

Harry looks into my eyes and gives me a comforting smile. He gives off such a calm and collective vibe that suddenly makes me feel a little less overwhelmed. I appreciate that. He makes it easy to talk to him. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for my answer. I giggle at the unprofessional and light-hearted reality of the situation.

 “My favorite ice cream would have to be either cookie dough or mint chocolate chip…” Before continuing on I observe his facial expressions. At the mention of cookie dough his eyes light up but right when I mention mint chocolate chip, he scrunches his nose in disgust which makes me giggle. “What, you don’t like mint chocolate chip?”

“Toothpaste doesn’t belong in ice cream.” He quickly insisted.

“I don’t think so either.”

“Then why do yeh like mint chip?” His confusion is so adorable, but I try and keep a straight face.

“Because… it doesn’t taste like toothpaste. Mint and chocolate is such a good combination, you’re really missing out.” The fact that we’re having a serious debate over ice cream is so funny to me, but it makes me excited to work with him.

“Nope, not at all.” He scrunches his nose once more, and my heart flutters at the cuteness. “Okay enough about ice cream, favorite movie?”

“My favorite movie? That’s such a hard one, I mean I love so many movies I can’t pick just one.”

“Sorry love, yeh gotta choose. For my sake.” He light-heartedly says,,

“If I had to choose, oh God this is so embarrassing…the Little Mermaid. It’s been my favorite since I was little and I idolized Ariel” I giggle at my ridiculous answer. I’ve always found it childish and a little bit embarrassing to say that my favorite movie is some animated Disney movie, but it was a huge part of my childhood and I still love it.

 “That’s actually quite cute that’s your favorite movie. But idolizing a mermaid? How’d you react when yeh found out they aren’t real?” Harry amusingly banters back. He runs his hand through his hair, lifting his sunglasses as he does so only to put them back on his head. Such a simple gesture, but it has me staring at the way his fingers glide through his locks. 

Easing back into a more comfortable position, he rests his arm stretching it along the top of the couch and lifting his leg to rest it across his thigh. His casual form makes me self-conscious about my professional appearance. Harry also seems to be enjoying our conversation, and that eases my subtle nerves. Butterflies form in the pit of my stomach at the sight of him.

“Really? Everyone always makes fun of me for it since I’m 24 and admitting my favorite movie of all time is a fucking princess movie.” Harry chuckles, crinkles by his eyes forming. “I also was devastated when my mom broke the news. 10 year old me was mourning over the fact that mermaids don’t exist. I felt like my whole world was crashing down.” I reply with a grin, a more playful tone in my voice. He lets out a burst of laughter, his smile so wide and contagious it makes me break into a bigger smile. 

“I’m curious, what’s your favorite movie?” I switch the roles, asking him. Giving a deep sigh Harry answers.

“The Notebook or Love Actually.” He says hesitantly. My jaw drops a little bit, surprised. His cheeks start to turn a shade of dark pink, expecting my surprised reaction. He lifts his hand and runs his fingers through his hair again, I’m assuming it’s a nervous habit.

“That makes me feel a lot better about my answer.” I joke with a laugh. “I can’t believe the famous Harry Styles’ favorite movie is a rom-com.”

“What can I say, Ryan Gosling is just too irresistible.” He jokes back, his eyes sparkling as we speak. I roll my eyes at the comment, shaking my head at the silliness of the conversation. The ease of our banter doesn’t go unnoticed and I can tell he’s thinking the same thing. It’s like we’ve known each other for years.

“He is, isn’t he?” I sigh, the image of Ryan Gosling in my head. I never expected Harry to be as playful and amusing as he is. The tabloids make him out to be this intimidating popstar, but all I see is a normal guy with a witty attitude.

“Okay so as much as I love this conversation, I have to lay down the procedures and rules of the job.” Harry states, rolling his eyes. Already, I know he’s going to be pretty laid back about it. “I’m not gonna be one of those guys that order you around asking you to fetch me a coffee, or a muffin, or anything ridiculous like that. You’re a friend not an assistant. Just helping me along the way”

His sincerity is something I’m already admiring. Not to mention his complete and utter kindness. For someone so famous, I’m surprised at how humble he appears to be. Jeff walks in as we speak some more, shoving his phone in his pocket.

“How’s it going?” He asks, plopping down next to me. A small smirk is on his face, eyes wandering from me to Harry.

“Great! Should be fun.” Harry replies, but he keeps his eyes on me with a devilish smile, dimples appearing at each corner. Blushing I tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. 

This is gonna be a ride.

A/N: Again, thank you for your patience! Let me know what you wanna see as I develop this story, I’m open to plot suggestions :) Also, let me know what you think in general, my DMs and requests are always open. Love you guys!!

If you haven’t yet, read Chapter 1 here

[web-of-fics]

Going Up

Requested by: anon (“can you do a peter x reader stuck in an elevator trope pretty please?”)

Starring: Peter Parker x reader

Fandom: MCU

Warnings: none unless you’re petrified of elevators

Words: 1170

✎_____________________________________________________________________

“What floor?”

“Seventeen. Thanks.”

You press the elevator button and release it when it lights up. You vaguely recognize the kid in the hoodie from school, but his face is concealed as he turns to face the elevator doors, bobbing along to whatever was playing through his earbuds. He doesn’t acknowledge you further so you don’t say anything more.

That is, until the elevator halts with an awkward jolt and a loud clicking noise followed by a metallic groan. 

After a moment, you press the open door button. Nothing. You press another floor. The elevator doesn’t budge. Your classmate watches with disinterest.

“What are the odds we get stuck in this thing?” You say in an attempt to laugh off your rising panic. You tug at the collar of your shirt.

He pulls out his earbuds and lets them dangle from the neck of his hoodie.

“What?”

You point at the doors. “What do you think the odds are of us getting stuck in here now?” You realize your laugh sounds more anxious than bemused. 

He shrugs. “I don’t think I’ve ever been stuck in an elevator. I’m sure it’ll move in a minute,” he says casually, replacing his earbuds.

You glance at your watch. It’s already been two.

As the minutes continue to pass, you seriously consider hitting the call button.

“Hey, don’t we go to school together?” He says suddenly.

You’re relieved to hear him ask first. From the moment he stepped in the elevator you weren’t able to come up with a less awkward way to say “Hey we know each other. Except I forgot your name. What is it again?” 

This helped.

“Yeah, I’m y/n,” you reply, grateful for the distraction of small talk.

“Peter,” he smiles.

You smile back and look back at the doors. Unable to think of any other basic conversation points, you start pressing random buttons on the panel.

“Wonder what’s wrong with this thing,” you say. 

Peter’s about to say something when a concerned but calm voice barks from the call box. After letting them know you were both doing okay so far, the speaker promises the elevator should continue moving shortly. 

You’ve barely sighed with relief when a faint creaking sound emerges from above. 

In the following moments, several things occur simultaneously. The elevator screeches against the side of the chute and it begins to descend without the regular control of elevator cables. Peter jumps toward the ceiling, punching through a lit ceiling panel and hoisting himself onto the top of the car in a swift motion. 

You grasp at the flat wall behind you and fall into a sitting position as the elevator comes to a sudden stop mid-descent. Your body shakes all the way from your ragged breathing to the tips of your fingers as you scramble to your feet, unsure what to do. You certainly didn’t possess the same gymnastics skills as he did. Or whatever they were.

Peter’s face appears in the square hole. He extends an arm.

“Come here. Hurry!”

Without time to think, you grab his red-gloved hand, wondering how you didn’t notice them before. He yanks you up after him and you land hard on your back. Gazing above, you notice white ropes sticking out at different angles from the other elevator cables supporting the car. You notice Peter throw a similar rope at a pair of doors a few feet above you. It sticks and he forces the door open.

He crouches beneath it and links his fingers into a step.

You shake your head. “You go first, I won’t be able to pull you up!” You say, wishing desperately you also had a gymnastics background. Or any sport, really. 

“It’s fine, I can jump,” he replies eagerly. 

You laugh. “Uh huh.”

The elevator groans again and Peter projects another rope through the opening. How did he seemingly conjure it out of thin air? 

It sticks once more and he climbs it with ease, reaching the opening and leaning back down toward you. 

You wave away his arm, extended for the second time and grab the rope just as he did, determined to show that you could help yourself just fine. You place both feet on the chute wall before realizing your hands are completely stuck to the rope. The elevator begins screeching and pulling away again. You look up at Peter, panicked. If you lose your hold, you will surely fall.

He throws yet another rope down. This one covers your hands and you realize with horror that it resembles a spider web. A very large spider web. You try not to imagine the size of a spider that would make such a web. You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to block out your spiraling thoughts. 

“Walk!” he calls down, giving the other end of the rope an emphatic tug that forces you to take two vertical steps. You keep up with him as he continues pulling the rope until you are within arm’s reach.

His touch startles your eyes open as he grabs your back and pulls you onto  horizontal flooring. You could kiss it with relief. Or him. 

Groans and screeches echo periodically from the elevator shaft. Still clutching each other, you back away until it is more or less out of sight. 

Peter looks to you, realizes he still had you locked in his grip, and lets go. 

“Are you okay?” he asks. 

A maniacal giggle escapes your lips.

“I am now!” 

He nods seriously. “Come on.” 

You follow him to the staircase. 

“Where are we going?” you say as you follow him down, although both your floors were above you. 

He gives a small smile. “We have to tell someone we escaped that death trap.”

“Ah,” you nod. “H-how exactly did we escape it in the first place?” 

“What do you mean?” he says as you round a corner and continue your descent down another flight. 

“Are you a cowboy?” you joke. 

“What?” 

“Because you practically had ropes coming out of your ass,” you laugh. 

He laughs back, although there is an indiscernible edge to it. 

“No,” he says plainly. “Any other theories?”

He’s stalling.

“Hmm,” you could stall too. “Maybe. But that conversation will have to wait.” At least until you could rule out a secret giant spider sidekick. 

You reach the front desk and recognize the woman’s voice from the callbox. She is positively relieved to hear you both got out safely. First responders and the building engineer are on their way, so she tells you both to stick around so you can relay your story to them. 

You sit together on a leather couch across from the desk.

“If you don’t mind,” Peter says quietly, “I think the easiest way to explain our situation is if we tell them Spider-Man was here.” 

You open your mouth to reply, but as his words sink in, your jaw remains slack. 

“He really was here, wasn’t he?” you realize aloud as everything suddenly clicks together. 

Spider-Man grins.

_______________________________________________________________________

Just one more before bed? Click here for a masterlist of my fics!

[the-mangled-readings]

CyberPunk Love - Part 4

A/N: Sorry it took me a while but I had some things going on and I had to take care of them, hope you enjoy this one!

Pairing: Connor x FemaleReader

Story Summary: After 8 years the Reader comes back to Detroit and engages with her old Parter Hank and his new sidekick Connor, investigating new homicide cases but Connor begins to suspect she’s hiding something.

Chapter Summary: The reader and Connor have to face a big decision that could change everything.

Warnings: None.

Word Count: 2,081

Tag List: @lamnothome  @margaret-mortem   @pymmsolstice  @bee-wrecker @rainbowsithlord @damaris109 @lunadea-nox-arcana @khaleesi-of-assassins

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 ( Coming Soon )

( Y/N’s View )

9: 45 AM

The sunlight shined through the clear curtains from your borrowed bedroom. Hank’s snores had gone down, meaning that he was getting ready to wake up at any moment. You were sitting down in your bed, staring at your hands, letting the sunlight hit your now bionic hand, remembering what Connor had said earlier:

“I think they’re beautiful ... I think you’re beautiful, with or without the synthetic skin.” 

“Connor … Kiss me.”

You sighed deeply at the thought, running a hand through your face.

“Jesus Christ ... How cliché.” You said as you threw yourself back into the bed. “What was I thinking ...” 

( Connor’s View )

“Okay ... this should do it. Hank will wake up within 5 minutes, and ... so will (y/n).” Connor said to himself as he took a deep breath looking down at his first time ever made breakfast; Fluffy pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs, and sausages, with Hank’s usual morning coffee.

“Wow ... smells amazing.” He snapped from his thoughts at the sound of your sweet voice. “Holy shit Connor, this looks amazing, I didn’t know that making breakfast was part of your program.” She praised as she began to walk to the counter and pull out a child-like cup, pouring herself some coffee. 

“It isn’t, I just downloaded some typical breakfast recipes this morning, I thought you and Hank would enjoy it.” He said with a warm smile, as he pulled the chair in front of him, waiting for you to take a seat. “Well, I wouldn’t mind waking up like this every day ... Hank is very lucky to have you.”

“OH, MY GAWD ... what’s that sweet smell ... Holy shit Connor, I didn’t know you could cook.” Hank’s voice was still tired but his eyes were scanning all around the table. Connor noticed (y/n)s eyes trail off from Hank to him, with a quirked eyebrow. She chuckled, quickly catching up Connor’s real intentions while serving herself some of the food. 

Connor watched Hank and (y/n) eat and began to wonder, what would it be like to be able to eat ... to be able to taste things, was it just like when he analyzes blood samples?

“Whatcha thinking about Connor?” 

“Nothing important, (y/n), more coffee?” He smiled while pouring more into her small cup. “Yes, thank you.” She smiled warmly at him.

Software Instability ^^^

“I see that the two of you are getting along pretty well ...” Hank teased, making her blush a little. “Oh Jesus, Hank ... Really?” She laughed while getting up from her chair, not long before Connor got in front of her. “Don’t worry about them, I’ll wash the dishes, while you guys get ready.” He smiled, as he took her plate and cup away from her.

“Okay, well, I’m a go ahead and shower then.” She said, turning on her heel and quickly walking to her room. 

“You know son ... She’s one of the most important people in my life, she deserves a lot. She needs someone that will be there for her, ‘cause honestly, I’m getting too old, and I won’t always be here to protect her.” Hank stood up and began to walk towards Connor. Placing a hand on his shoulder. “So you got to try a little harder if you want to be that someone in her life.” He winked at the puzzled android, before walking away. “I need some air ... Sumo, get over here.” He ordered the big St. Bernard, earning a bark in return. “Good boy, I won’t take long.” 

Software Instability ^^^

( Y/N’s View )

Knock Knock

“Yes?”

“It’s me, Connor, may I come in?”

You rolled your eyes, as you looked down at yourself in the mirror. 

“Yeah ...” The door slowly opened, but quickly closed. “I’m sorry (y/n), but I need to talk to you about ...” You turned to see Connor, who was covering his eyes while standing by the door awkwardly. “About?” Crossing your arms, you began to walk towards him, startling him for a second at your sudden moves. “About your condition.”

“What’s to talk about, I’m a Cyborg, there’s nothing that can be fixed, I basically lost my arms and legs, I can’t get new ones, Connor.” You puffed out, kinda offended. “I didn’t mean to say it like that, it’s just that Hank needs to know, I know how much he cares about you and this is something that he should be aware of.” He said finally looking at you. “Wow ...” His eyes scanned you from head to toe. “What type of clothing is this?” 

“It’s a special bodysuit I made while I was back in San Francisco, helps me move better.” You teased, turning away from him, and walking once more towards the mirror. “I needed something that would help me along the way.” 

“Along the way?” He asked curiously.

“I did a couple of things back in San Francisco that might of have upset a few people.” Taking a deep breath you turned to the puzzled android. “I guess I got a lot of explaining to do, huh?”

“At least not to me.” He smiled warmly at you, giving you a weird sensation in your stomach. “Well, I’ll let you shower while I do the dishes.” And with that, he turned and left you alone in your room. You were about to head out too when you began to hear a low static noise.

"(y/n) ... Ar-there ... we ne- bac ... up - Ple... Answer!”

You began to hear a familiar voice inside your backpack. Quickly searching the noise, you founded a small hearing device and instantly inserted it on your right ear.

“Vic?? Are you there??” You pated, desperately, but heard no answer. Tears began to fall into your cheeks, and anger quickly grew into your core. “Fuck ... I shouldn’t have left. Fuck.”

( Connor’s View )

As Connor was finishing up the dishes, Hank entered the house again, smiling at the large St Bernard, and slowly turned to Connor whose expression was blanked but had his LED yellow,  making Hank frown a little. 

“Everything alright son?” He asked leaning on the counter, making Connor blink a few times, and changing his LED to blue. “Yeah, I was just thinking ...” Still not convinced, Hank insisted again. “Did you upset her?” Connor immediately stopped his actions and was about to speak when (y/n) stepped into the kitchen, already dressed and with a different attitude from earlier. “Hope you guys don’t mind ... but I’ ma head out already, I need to take care of some stuff before we go to work.” Quickly turning away and slamming the door behind her. 

“WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO NOW?!” Hank yelled angry at the poor android, making his LED turn red. “I have no idea why she’s upset, she was fine when we talked ...” He began, not really knowing what was going on.

“Well, you must've had said something that pissed her off, what were you guys tal...”  “I’m afraid that’s something that needs to be discussed between the two of you.” Connor quickly cut off Hank in midsentence, pissing him even more. “What the fuck is that even supposed to mean?”

“I can’t tell you, Hank, by doing so it would go against (y/n)’s --” “I don’t care.” 

Connor took a deep breath and looked into Hank’s eyes, almost pleading him. “Please Hank, don’t make me say it.” Making him scoff at the android's words. “But I can tell you for sure, that I have honestly no idea of why she’s upset.”

“Does it had to do with San Francisco?” Hank asked, crossing his arms while he looked at Connor’s face, he might still be an android, but he slowly started to develop small expressions, human-like ones, and with that, Hank was able to tell whether or not Connor would be lying to him at times, and this was no different than those times. “Connor ...”

Connor’s expression began to frown, his eyes never leaving the floor. “Yes.”

“Did she mention a guy?” Connor’s eyes immediately went back to Hank. “No.” 

“Good.” Smiling suspiciously, Hank began to walk away, leaving Connor more confused than ever. Did she leave Detroit for a guy? Who was this guy? Is he the reason she ended up like this?

Software Instability ^^^

( Y/N’s View )

“I had a dream last night That I was piloting a plane And all the passengers were drunk and insane”

The Rolling Stones song Doom and Gloom was blasting through your helmet as you passed every car that was on your way. Your mind was at the verge of exploding, you were desperate to know what was going on back in San Francisco. Was everybody okay? Were Victor and Eric okay? Did the Hunters finally found the Equinox? Could it be a trap? How was she supposed to go back when she just got here?

FUCK!

You screamed into your helmet accompanied by a loud roar from your motorcycle, as you quickly turned into an old exit, just outside Detroit, changing from concrete into dirt, your bike began to move a little, but you could care less, all you wanted to do was get to your destination. After driving what seemed forever, you finally reached your destination, an old abandoned building. 

“Here goes nothing ...” You told yourself, as you got off from your bike. Your hand quickly moving to your side, ready to pull your gun, in case of anything. The inside of the building was as expected, empty, but something inside of you told you that it wasn’t. “Hello? ... I’m looking for Olc. I need help.” 

No response.

“I don’t mean any harm, all I want to know is if my friends were attacked. I received a call this morning from ... FINE.” Giving up, you began to take off your jacket, exposing your arms, which quickly changed into your bionic ones. Making the entire building go dark, and within seconds, you were surrounded by both androids and cyborgs, who were pointing at you with their own guns. Scoffing at their first instinct, you rose your hands into the air. “I believe I said I didn’t mean any harm. Where’s Olc?” 

“Who gave you our location?” One male android stepped up from the circle and asked you firmly. “And how do we know you’re not one of them?”

“My name is (y/n) (y/ln) ... I’m the CyberPunk of Detroit.” Everybody began to lower their weapons after your words, making some startle. “I’m sorry, Miss (y/n), we didn’t know, we been attacked before, and we didn’t want to run any risks, my name is Adam, welcome to Solstice.” 

“Please ... Call me Cyber.”

( Connor’s View )

Connor sat quietly on the way to the DPD. Hanks tunes were softly playing on the background. The air felt thick and awkward. Hank didn’t know whether to say something or just keep quiet, he needed Connor to speak up but he also didn't want to make it obvious that he was still into what had happened earlier. Just before he was about to give up ...

Software Instability ^^^

“Hank ... Can I ask you something.”

“If it has to do with (y/n), maybe you should ask her personally.” Connor quickly picked up where this was going. He turned to face Hank, who had his eyes fixed on the road. “I understand you still want me to tell you what we had talked about, but I can’t tell you, Hank.” 

“Well, then you might as well wait till we get to the Station so you can ask (y/n) whatever you want to know.” Hank teased, he knew Connor wasn’t going to last any longer, maybe in the past, he would of, but now he began to grow impatient when he needed to know something. “I mean, you can always tell me whatever happened, and we’ll call it a day.”

Software Instability ^^^

“You really want to know?” Connor sighed at his words.

Something inside of Hank instantly lighted up, making him smile cockily. He won after all.

“Yeah? How bad can it be?” Hank joked but was quickly taken back by the android’s troubled expression. “Connor ...”

“Hank, I need you to promise me that you won’t see (y/n) differently after this ...” Hank began to regret this, whatever it was, it was serious, and it made him feel uncertain. “Hank, I’m afraid that (y/n) is ...”

[marshmallow-phd]

Where Waves Meet the Shore

Genre: Neighbor!AU

Pairing: Jongdae x Reader

A/N: And now... another little story inspired by @xui-n-soowillbethedeathofme‘s moodboard featured above. Because she’s just too good at what she does. 

**

You didn’t hate your neighbor, per se. But if he suddenly up and moved away, there would be no tears from you. It’s not that he was rude or obnoxious. Since the first time you’d met him, he’d been friendly and nice. He was just. So. Loud!

Spending the summer relaxing by the beach sounded like paradise, but while you were enjoying the laid back isolation, your neighbor – who lived there all year round – apparently didn’t like to be alone. Friends were constantly over, throwing bonfires until well after midnight with music blaring and laughter and screaming. It was like he didn’t realize that other people might actually want to sleep at night.

With the sun setting in the west just above the shimmering water, you were settling down for the evening. A freshly poured glass of wine was resting on the side table next to the couch and you were flipping through the pages of your latest novel to find your previous spot. It was quiet and you were looking forward to the chill evening. Unfortunately, that only last about half an hour.

At first, it was just the music. That didn’t bother you too much as it was at the right volume to be simple background noise. Easily ignorable. Then the shouting started.

You weren’t sure how many of them it took to be so obnoxious while whooping and hollering, but tonight – tonight you were not going to just let it slide.

Slamming your book shut, you jumped up from the couch and stormed out your back door. The sand under your bare feet was still scorching hot from being beat down by the sun all day, but you pushed through it until you reached the rowdy group down by the water. A medium-sized bonfire served as the center of the chaos, surrounded by lawn chairs and coolers. One of the men noticed you standing there a few feet away with your arms crossed. He nudged the arm of the target of your wrath, who turned around and had the nerve to beam at you.

“Hey, neighbor!” Jongdae greeted with a wave. “Decided to come out and join us for once, huh?”

“No,” you snapped. “I came to ask you to please keep it down. I can hear both you and your music all the way in my living room.”

Jongdae just laughed. “Oops, sorry. We’ll try to keep it down.”

“Thank you.” Spinning on your heels, you started back up the beach.

“It wouldn’t kill you to have some fun, though.”

And that made you screech to a halt. Excuse me?

Turning back around to face the jerk. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Jongdae opened his mouth to elaborate on his comment, but one of his buddies stopped him.

“Just let it go, dude.” He was one of the shorter ones, with curly black hair and sharp eyes. You noticed that he kept a safe distance away from where the water met the sand. “Sorry, ma’am, we’ll keep it down.”

“I appreciate that.” You headed back to your home before Jongdae could let out whatever snide comment he was holding back.

Once you were standing in your living room again, you sighed deeply.

Peace and quiet.

**

For the past couple days, that silence from your neighbor had continued and they were the best nights you’d had in a while.

Coming to an oceanside villa for a month or two was exactly what you needed. After the rough year you’d had, getting the chance to not have to worry about work or anything else that could send you into a sour mood or a downward spiral. This little place you’d discovered randomly in your research was simplistically perfect, you were almost tempted to stay here permanently.

Another little activity that you actually enjoyed in this place without rushing or stressing out was grocery shopping. The seaside town was small and rather than a large chain store, your source of perishable items for cooking was a small mom and pop shop. And you loved it. Nearly everything sold in the store was fresh and local. You could wander up and down the aisles without worrying about being in the way or having to choose through a dozen different brands.

With a half-filled basket hanging from the crook of your arm, you inspected the different oranges for any bruises or other signs of impurities. The citrusy smell was clinging to your fingers, making you smile.

“Howdy, neighbor.”

And your good mood slumped.

Finishing off the bag of oranges in your hand, you tied it up and placed it your basket before turning to Jongdae.

“Hi,” you replied in a monotone voice.

He raised an eyebrow at you. “Bad day?”

“No,” you scoffed. “I was having a nice day until you appeared.”

“Now that’s not very nice,” he pouted.

You threw him a look before continuing down the aisle. “Bombarding my nights with your noise out on the beach constantly isn’t very nice, either.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Hang inside your house all day.”

“I do not hang out in my house all day!” you barked. The poor old lady behind the register leaned over the counter to check on the disruption. You mouthed “sorry” to her before turning back to Jongdae. In a quieter voice, you argued, “I leave my house quite often. I go out with friends and obviously I’m standing in the middle of a grocery store at the moment.”

“But you are in a villa on the beach,” he whined. “You should be enjoying the sunsets and seeing more of the sand than your morning jogs.”

You gaped at him. “You’ve been watching me?”

“You jog past my place at the same time that I’m eating breakfast on my back porch every day,” he explained. “Kind of hard to miss that pattern.”

That argument just pulled a heavy sigh out of you. “I enjoy my morning runs. From there, I spend the day with my friends. Sometimes. Other times… I just want to stay inside.”

A group of your friends were staying in a hotel a little over half an hour away for a water park and they’d graciously come to visit you a few times on their own vacation. You just didn’t hang out with them as much as you were implying at the moment.

“Why?” Jongdae challenged.

Your arm was going numb from the basket hanging from your elbow. Shifting the basket over to your other hip, you narrowed your eyes at him. “I don’t know. I guess I just like the lack of expectations when I’m alone.”

Instead of arguing with you, Jongdae nodded in understanding. “I get that. There’d be no expectations if you wanted to join our little get togethers. We just hang out and do whatever. You can drink or not. You can go into the water or not. It’s all up to you.”

“Maybe I’ll think about it next the time you get together.” Surely it wouldn’t be too long until their next bonfire.

“The boys are coming over tonight if you want to join.”

Why were you not surprised?

“I’ll think about it,” you half promised.

Slapping the container holding the lemons, Jongdae’s face broke out into a million watt smile. “Great! Hope to see you there!”

As you watched the boy walk away and out of the store, your heart did a little skip.

What the hell was that?

**

Were you actually going to do this? Were you actually going to join in the chaos just outside your door?

Apparently, the answer was yes based on how you were dressed.

It was simply your swimsuit under a tank top and and shorts, a pair of flip flops adorning your feet. You were currently staring out your back door, fighting with yourself on whether or not to head to the beach. The group did look like they were having fun….

Screw it.

Shoving your back door open, you headed out, telling yourself that if you didn’t like it, you could always leave.

When you reached the group, you froze, unsure of what to do from there. At least eight other boys made up the party and Jongdae was currently chasing one of the taller boys around the fire. Until he noticed you.

“Hey, (y/n)!”

Forgetting all about his pursuit, Jongdae ran up to you, grinning from ear to ear.

“You made it,” he huffed excitedly. Taking your hand, he pulled you towards the group. “Hey, guys! This is my neighbor, (y/n).”

Everyone waved to you and Jongdae, finally letting your hand go, but swiftly moving it to the small of your back, went around and introduced you to each of his friends. Then he gestured to a low-sitting lawn chair.

“You can sit down there, if you want,” he offered. “I’ll grab you something to drink.”

You’d barely sat down in the chair before Jongdae was gone and back with a cold bottle of light-colored beer. You muttered out a small “thanks” as you took the drink.

Rather than hover over you, Jongdae ran off to talk Minseok and Chanyeol who were kicking a soccer ball back and forth. Unable to help yourself, your eyes lingered on your neighbor. How could he make a loose white tank top and a pair of light-washed skinny jeans look so incredibly good?

Damn it, you could feel your cheeks heating up by the second.

“So, what did he say to get you to join us?”

You jumped at the sudden presence setting a chair down in the space to your left. It was Yixing, one of the quiet ones.

Shrugging, you took a sip of the beer. “You know, I’m not exactly sure. Maybe it was just the outright invitation?”

Yixing nodded. “Jongdae has a way drawing people to him. He’s very kind-hearted.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” you chuckled.

“He was really excited when he told us that you might show up.”

You perked up at that new piece of information. “Really?”

“Uh-huh.” He flashed you a cute little smile. “He was practically jumping up and down. When you first moved in, you were all he could talk about. Actually, he still talks about you a lot.”

You didn’t know how to respond to that other than clearing your throat and scratching the space behind your ear.

“Oops,” Yixing chuckled. “I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that.”

You stayed quiet, sipping away on your drink.

Several times throughout the evening, Jongdae came over and made sure that you were okay and didn’t need anything that he could provide. About three beers and a sunset later, most of the boys were packing up and heading home for the night.

Sehun was the last to leave. You were debating whether or not it was time for you to go back to your villa as well when Jongdae dropped into the chair beside you.

“Did you have a little bit of fun?” he asked.

“Yeah,” you nodded sincerely. “I did.”

The whole group was a hoot, constantly dragging each other through the dirt in a very brotherly way. You’d never been so entertained in your life. If anyone were to ask, you were sure your abdominal muscles were going to be hurting tomorrow from laughing so much.

“Good, good.” He side-eyed you with a mischievous glint. “Glad to know the stick isn’t stuck in the mud.”

Oh, that was rude.

Scoffing at his insult, you reached over to the cooler that was in arm’s reach and grabbed a handful of ice. You threw it right at his chest. A big wet spot was now clearly visible on his shirt, making you giggle.  

“Hey!” Jongdae jumped up from his seat to get the ice off of him as soon as possible. Then he narrowed his gaze at you.

Crap.

You scrambled up to your feet and ran for your life. The sand and your flip flops made it impossible to get anywhere fast. Jongdae caught you in his arms, sending you both down to the ground. He landed on top of you, barely missing knocking his head against yours.

“Oh, man, (y/n), are you okay?” He pushed himself up to his elbows, eyes searching you for any injury.

“I’m okay,” you whispered.

That was lie. You were certainly not okay. His close proximity was sending your nerves into overdrive and your eyes were lingering on his lips no matter how much you fought it.

With his right hand, Jongdae brushed the sand that covered your cheek before cupping the back of your neck. Slowly, he lowered his head until his lips brushed up against yours. It was just a tease, but it didn’t last long.

Jongdae pushed down more, turning the brush into a full, deep kiss. His lips were hesitant, giving you all the time in the world to pull away. But you didn’t. You brought your arms up, locking them around Jongdae’s neck to keep him in place as you eagerly kissed him back.

What the hell was happening? This neighbor that you insisted annoyed you was suddenly making your heart race and you didn’t know what to make of any it.

Reluctantly, you broke the kiss, needing air to refill your lungs. Jongdae was smiling down at you, giving you one last kiss to your forehead.

“So,” he chuckled as he sat back, “I’m not so bad.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. Lips still tingling, you sprung up, taking a seat in Jongdae’s lap with your legs wrapped around his hips. “No, I guess you’re not too bad.”

“Can I take you to breakfast tomorrow?”

Chewing on your bottom lip, you couldn’t hold back the smile. “I think I’d like that.”

But right now, you wanted desert.

With your fingers tangling in his thick black hair, you started the kiss up again. Jongdae held you steady with his arms around your waist, happy to continue what he’d started.

The setting for this strange turn of events couldn’t have been more perfect. As the fire crackled beside you, it sent little sparks up into the night sky that faded before they could hit the stars. Waves met the shore with a crash, pulling back before rushing forward again. While you’d expected a peaceful and ordinary time by the beach, it seemed life had decided to take you on a different trail. And you weren’t sure how long this would last, but for a little while, at least, you would certainly be grateful for the unexpected twist.