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wosoamazing · 2 months

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Against All Odds

Summary: You find yourself with a career ending injury, but Beth and Viv, your guardians and Leah are there for you. Based on this request.

Warnings: Death (mentions of fact Rs parents are dead), allusions to cancer, very bad knee injury, hospitals, paramedics, passing out, one section contains talks of Leah’s endometriosis, a bit sad -> Let me know if there is anything else.

A/N: I really liked this when I first wrote it, but I don't know anymore, maybe just because I hate editing so I was projecting my feelings about editing onto my fic. But anyway I hope you like it.

You were part of the AWFC and the Lionesses, however football wasn’t the only sport you played in at a professional level, you were also a Track and Field athlete, you were a youth world champion, but not many people knew, the Soccer seemed to outshine the Athletics, so no one found out. It was getting close to the stage of having a discussion with the British Olympic Association about whether you were going to do both Football and Athletics at the olympics or whether you could only do one, and if you could only do one whether you got to make the choice or if they did. But that conversation was no longer needed. Team GB wasn’t going to be at the Olympics for Women’s Football so you only had one choice, and that was Athletics, however there wasn't really the question of whether you would qualify or not. It was a certainty now that you were going to the Olympics, considering the fact you were running sub 10.6 for 100 metres. You actually qualified for the 2020 Olympics but you were only 13, so it was decided you weren't going, even though you were faster than some of the athletes you were just too young.

You were one stride away from the finish line, you had done it, shown that even despite your age you deserved to be at the olympics, that last stride would cause you to have run sub 10.7 at the qualifiers, which was a good time, since you hadn’t trained in 6 months, due to the World Cup and England Olympic qualifiers. However that last stride went wrong, you still made it across the finish line, but something went badly wrong, a shooting tearing splitting pain went through your knee as your body collapsed onto the ground, tears were streaming out of your eyes, your surrounds were a haze, heaps and heaps of bright yellow people surround you, they were paramedics you think, they were asking you questions, but it hurt too much to process anything. Your brain was also preoccupied with the fact that you would most likely not be going to the Olympics this year, or maybe even never. You weren't dumb, you couldn't actually process what the paramedics were saying, nor had you seen your knee, but there was no way this was a simple injury, your knee felt like it had exploded, a bomb had gone off, this was a big injury, if the pain causing you to be on the verge of passing out wasn't enough to tell you this, the immediate arrival of like 10 paramedics was definitely enough to tell you something really bad had happened. Your world was literally crumbling around you, you needed football and track, you didn’t want to face the fact that you might never get to be a pro again. You thought you heard someone say something about moving you onto a stretcher and to the ambulance before you passed out.

_____

“Viv, has she sent you a message? She isn’t replying to any of mine, she should be here by now.”

“Maybe it's just run over time and so she is still racing.” Viv replied, trying to comfort Beth.

Beth and Viv were two of the three teammates who knew about your athletics. You couldn't really keep it from them, considering you did live with them, the trophies, the photos, the ‘shrines’ you had. Leah also knew, as you went to the same school and due to the schools sport buddy system she was your sport buddy, you messaged her almost daily since you were 10 and looked up to her so much, she was an inspiration to you. However, Leah never realised how much you actually did idolise her until she saw said ‘shrines’ when she came into your room the day you were setting it up, to give you a present. She looked around the room, above your desk she saw your Mum’s last olympic Jersey framed, with photos of you and her at the track surrounding it in a heart shape. There was also a single photo in the middle of the heart of you and her, you were holding a massive trophy and a huge grin was plastered on your face, but she couldn't help but notice how weak your Mum looked she was in a wheelchair, then it clicked that was the last time your Mum saw you run. You had just won your first junior athletics championships, in that photo, it was a week before your Mum died. Leah knew that because you told her one day, when she asked you which sport you would choose, you said you would forever do both. She then saw the photo from your Dad’s military honour funeral, along with his cap hung next to it, above your dresser which was placed just next to your desk, another heart surrounded it, but this time it was photos of him and his platoon wearing their Y/L/N bibs watching your races at the championships while they were deployed, a photo of him in rehab, kicking a ball to you after he lost his leg and was learning how to use to prosthetic one so he could go back to duty, the photo of your Dad’s platoon surprising you at on of your competitions just after you Dad had died on duty was also there. Between the two hearts was a family of the three of you, you were only small, it hurt her to think that was most likely one of the last family photos you had, you were just so young. She then turned to see what the third ‘shrine’ you were in the middle of making was. She saw you placing framed letters, certificates, medals, and photos in a heart shape around yet another item and photo of someone who helped you massively and inspired you, expect this time she felt her heart grow warm, it was her england debut shirt, she had signed and gifted to you, along with a photo of you mid jump into her arms, after the 2020 Euros Final, celebrating her win with her. You saw your so called shrines your three lifes, your Athletics life which was inspired by your Mum, your everyday life which you attributed to your Dad, and your Football life which was inspired by Leah.

There was also another reason Beth and Viv knew about the athletics and that was because you had no other family, and someone had to sign permission slips, and when you moved in with Beth and Viv and they become your legal guardians according to the state, meaning that they were the ones now required to sign permission slips, so they knew everything.

—

“Viv, I’m going to go call her,” “Okay,” Viv said as she saw Leah walking towards her.

“How did she go?” Leah asked Viv, “We don’t know she hasn't replied to us.” Viv said as Beth started walking back over.

“She wont answer,” “Shit” the next three minutes Beth and Viv continuously called you.

“Beth we need to go now,” “What why,” “She got hurt badly, she is in surgery currently,” “Why didn’t they call us, to get consent for surgery. Shit, it's bad, let's go.”

They rushed off from training, and drove as fast as possible to the hospital. Leah stayed to inform Jonas and finish training before she quickly found herself, driving to the hospital, knee bouncing, hoping you were semi okay.

_____

When you woke up from surgery Beth and Viv were either side of you, holding your hands in theirs. A doctor walked in shortly after you woke up, to update you on your condition.

“Split Patella. Torn MCL and meniscus, partially torn LCL. Patella ligament was torn slightly in half vertically due to the separation of the Patella. Pins in the patella, sutures in the LCL and Patella ligament, meniscus was cleaned and sutured. In the end we went with a graft to fix the MCL in hopes to have a better recovery. No one actually can figure out how it happened, but it’s lucky your didn't tear your ACL or PCL.”

“Yeah but everything else is torn or split, would prefer just an ACL”

“Sorry about that, she comes with a bit of an attitude,” Beth said, as Viv glared at you, you just glared back, you were right after all, he was making it seem like nothing, when literally everything was stuffed.

He just dismissed it and continued “You’ll be lucky to walk normally again, let alone run or play football again. And even if you do somehow ever get back to running or playing football it will never be anywhere near the professional level.”

“I want a new doctor please,” You said to him blankly

“Hey, that's not very nice” “Yeah well I’ve seen what happens when doctors don’t have hope. I don’t want this halfwit in charge of my recovery, if it was up to him he would probably just put me in a wheelchair and be done with it. People come back from injuries that seem impossible to come back from. People lose limbs and still go back to war, it’s not impossible, as long as you’re not lazy. Just someone get me a new doctor. And you can go, I can’t believe you even got to operate on me.” He scoffed and walked out. You were fuming, your breath increased, your face turned into game mode and your nostrils started to flare, Beth and Viv knew that had to do something, so they tried to comfort you.

“Hey it's okay” Beth said as she rubbed her thumb on the back of the hand she was holding. You turned to her and glared at her before yelling at her. “No its fucking not, this isn’t okay, nothing about this is okay or fair or fine. Just leave, I want to be alone.” They both slightly jumped before quickly getting up and leaving. You felt your response was a bit harsh, but it was nothing compared to how you were actually feeling in this moment.

After 5 minutes the door slid open and a body slinked into the room, and sat on a chair near the end of your bed. It was Leah. She just smiled at you before she looked down at her phone. You felt a small tear roll down your cheek, the first one since your surgery, you quickly wiped it away and sniffled, however that caught the attention of Leah, and soon your single tear turned into more tears. She didn’t say anything, you didn't know if that was because she didn't know what to say, or if it was because she knew nothing she said would help. She did however get up out of her seat and walk towards your bed. You tried to shuffle over but your leg was holding you in place, you looked at her longingly. She looked at your knee and back to you, checking if thats what was the problem, you nodded. So she ever so carefully shifted your leg as you moved and then climbed onto the bed. You immediately moved closer to her, so that you were almost on top of her, and just melted into her comfort, as she held you tight.

After a while Beth and Viv walked in. “I’m sorry” you mumbled, feeling bad for pushing them away.

“It’s okay, you’re in a lot of pain both physically and emotionally, but we want you to know we are going to be here for you every step of the way. Okay.” you nodded, Viv sat down in the chair and beth sat down in her lap.

_____

When the fourth new doctor of the day entered the room, you jumped the gun, speaking before he could speak. “If you’re going to tell me I’m never going to play again or if you are a phycologist or some shit you can go, I don't want to hear it. Untill this hospital can find me someone who isnt a fucking sissy I won’t talk to any of you, and if they cant I’ll go somewhere else, another country if I have to.”

He sat down on the ‘doctor’ stool before wheeling himself on the chair closer to your bed, he leant forward slightly, and looked you directly in the eyes before he started speaking. “Well, I’m here to tell you that my team and I can get you back to playing pro. I’m not going to lie, its not going to be easy, its going to be fucking hard, harder than anything that has ever happened to you, everything combined. But we have done some research on you and had some conversations to people and we believe you can do this, we believe you are the right type of person, that you have the right support system and most of all have the determination, to not only now prove that dumb doctor wrong, but to show the universe that you won't break, nothing they throw at you, will cause you to break. So what do you say?”

You nodded slowly, looking at him before looking at Beth and Viv, almost seeking permission or maybe just reassurance, they both smiled and nodded at you, Leah squeezed your upper arm with the hand she had wrapped around your shoulders. You turn back to the doctor.

“I think like you,” “so is that a yes” “yes”

_____

He wasnt wrong, this was fucking hard, you were in agony, your face was scrunched up as tears streamed down from the first minute of rehab. You were told that you could stop if you needed to, but you weren't going to, you wanted to keep going, you needed to keep going, you needed to get back to playing.

Beth had been watching your first intensive rehab session from the window along with Viv and Leah. 10 minutes into the session she couldn't bear to watch, she walked away from the window before she broke down, she couldn't bear to see you in such agony. She was second guessing her choices, maybe you were pushing yourself too far, maybe they shouldn’t have signed the consent forms, after all you were only 15. Viv and Leah followed her, Viv wrapped her arms around her and tried to comfort her.

“Maybe we take away the consent forms, she shouldn't be doing this.” Beth said, as she started to calm down slightly.

“No you fucking wont. She needs this, you may not entirely understand but she does, this is her absolute world. You don't get it.” Leah snapped back at her.

“Oh. So I don't understand what it's like to have a serious injury that takes you away from the thing you like doing, and I don't understand what it's like to lose a parent.”

“That's not what I mean Beth, and you know that.”

“Oh so what do you mean then.” Beth replied snarkily.

“You don’t understand the uncertainty of whether you will get to play or not, you knew you were going to come back, she doesn’t, she won't ever know until she gets there. You don't get what it means to know you are going to miss out on something that is 100% a given, well something that was 100% a given. She said to me when she was 10, that she was going to win an olympic record for her Mum, and that is something that was almost guaranteed to happen this year, she was going to become the youngest person to hold an 100 metre olympic record for her Mum and now she might never win an olympic record let alone go to an olympics. I was going to captain my country in a world cup that we had a very good chance at winning and that was taken away from me, that certainty, the thing that shows who we are and what we have strove for just gets taken away from us. And yes you did miss out on the world cup too beth, but this is different. Your injury meant something different with your Mum too. Your injury gave you time with your Mum. Her injury is taking her away from her Mum.”

Beth just nodded at Leah, not knowing what to reply, Leah was right, but it didn't make seeing you like that any better. Leah walked away and opened the door, joining you in rehab, she sat on the side of your good leg, speaking encouraging words to you the whole. Which admittedly did help.

_____

Beth and Viv came to some of your rehab sessions, but they struggled watching, they couldn't deal with they were the reason you were in pain, it's what you wanted to do, but if they didn't sign the consent forms you wouldn't be in this much pain, but they knew deep down this is what was best.

Leah was there for you every rehab session she could be, she was in a different position, she understood how Beth and Viv felt and would feel the same if she was in that position, but she wasn’t. She felt differently about this because she was in that position and so she was determined to be your constant through this. She was so insistent on that, that when she had an endo flare-up really bad you had to instruct her to stay home, she tried using the excuse that because you were in pain and still doing rehab she should too, you told her that was dumb, and you had to be in pain to get better, she needed to rest to get better. The main reason was that the past few days you had started working on walking without assistance, and if you passed the tests today you would be able to, well more like strongly encouraged too, walk without assistance in small intervals, it would only be max 30 mins a day in total currently but it was something. But you didn't want Leah to know this. You wanted to surprise everyone.

You did exactly that in their next training session.

“Are you sure about this?” Viv asked you concerned

“Yes, are they all in there?” you replied.

“Yeah Jonas said we had a meeting to be there by 8:10, we messaged and said sorry we will be 5 minutes late.” Beth replied and you nodded

You crutched your way into the centre and gave Viv your crutches just as you neared the dining room entrance, Beth went ahead of you as you walked, albeit very slowly, behind her into the dining room. All heads turned to you, no one expected you to be there, you hadn’t had a day off from rehab since you started, and as you were doing external rehab you hadn’t seen much of the girls.

“Oh we thought you were Jonas, do you know where he is?” Kim asked.

“Yeah he is just behind u-” “Wait Viv, why are you holding crutches that are definitely not your size” Steph asked.

“Holy fuck kid, you’re walking,” Katie said when she finally realised that you were walking, once everyone realised that you got your crutches back from Viv, standing without your crutches was painful, everyone came up and hugged you and congratulated you, except for one person, the one person that you really wanted to surprise. You continued looking around the room thinking you just missed her or something but your search was interrupted by a hand on your shoulder, “She isn't in here kid, she is with the medics. I can take you to visit her if you want.” Lia whispered in your ear, you nodded your head.

“Beth, Viv, I’m just going to take Y/N/N to see Leah,” Lia told them, they nodded their heads.

“Leah, I have someone who would like to see you,” Leah chimed through the door,

“What Lia, you can't say that about yourself,” “No, it's not me who would like to see you, it’s someone else” and with that Lia opened the door for you and you walked into the room cautiously, Lia followed behind you holding your crutches.

“OMG Y/N/N you're walking” you just grinned and nodded at her, she went to reach out to you for a hug but before she could she winced in pain and retracted into a ball.

“Le, I think you need to go home, I told you, you shouldn’t have come today,” Lia said as she walked to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder.

“Can Y/N come?” Leah asked timidly, “I’ll check with Beth and Viv first but yes.” Both you and Leah perked up at that

–

You entered the house a while after Lia and Leah, considering you had to get up the stairs which wasn’t the easiest task to do with crutches, but you managed it. You walked into the living room, and saw a photo, a photo you had hanging on your wall, it was bigger on this wall though, and sat next to what you could only assume was Leah’s Euro Final Jersey framed and her medal. You thought that it was sweet she had hung that photo of you up. You decided to sit on the couch and wait for Lia or Leah to come back out and talk to you, however you quickly fell asleep. You had basically been sleeping, eating or rehabbing since your injury so it wasnt out of the ordinary. Lia came out to check on you but found you asleep, so she decided to leave you asleep.

_____

You were lying in your bed, when Beth and Viv returned from their game, you were now getting a day off rehab every week, to slightly allow your body to rest. You had begged your rehab team to let you go to the game, but they said no, but they did mention maybe next week, so you were determined for that to happen. But currently you were in your bed tearing up at the thought of playing football, you were so determined to just get back you had forgotten about why you wanted to get back to it so much, the family feeling, the feeling once you scored a goal, the feeling of winning with some of the closest people in your life, the feeling of being free, having nothing else on your mind other than the game. You were in sobs by the time Beth and Viv had opened your door.

“Oh Baby, what’s wrong?” Beth asked as she went to sit beside you on the bed.

“I-I’m s-so-sorry,” you cried out, Beth pulled you into her side, wrapping her arms around you, you buried your head in her chest. Viv walked around to the other side of the bed and climbed in next to you, before she started to rub your back.

“There is nothing to be sorry about, it's okay to cry, what you’re going through isn’t something small, and isn’t something easy.” Beth reassured you.

“No. I’m sorry for yelling at you the first day in the hospital, and for being mean to you both when you’re just trying to help me, and that you have to look after me.”

“It’s okay, we’re here for you Kleintje, this injury hasn’t been easy and won’t be, so if you need to get mad at us sometimes that is okay. And we will always look after you, we love you, we wouldn’t want to do anything else than help you when you’re sick or injured.” Viv replied.

“But you shouldn’t have to look after me, it's not your fault I dont have parents.” Beth was surprised it took this long for the emotions of your parents not being able to look after you to hit, she felt it while she was recovering from her ACL and she didn’t have her Mum. The date also hadn’t slipped her mind for the entire day. She felt as though this conversation, this set of emotions, would be something you would prefer to have with just Beth, someone who understood in what you felt, she was older so it was easier on her in some way, but it doesn't make it hurt any less, it just meant she understood what was happening to her Mum where you didn’t. She looked up to Viv, and gave her a soft, sad, warm smile. Viv picked up on what Beth was silently communicating. Beth had a small tear roll down her face before she looked up at the roof, Viv wiped the tear away and kissed her quickly before she got up and headed to the door.

“I’m just going to have a shower, let me know if you need anything.” Viv said, she really didn;t want to leave you two but knew she needed to.

“Thank you,” you mumbled before she shut the door, she knew that it wasn't just for helping you, but for leaving, even though it went against everything in her being.

“I-I’m sorry,” “It’s okay Vivy understands. Can you sit up for me quickly?” You did as Beth said, she sat more upright resting her back against the pillows on the headboard, before pulling you onto her lap, you sat parallel to the headboard leaning your side into her, resting your head against her shoulder. You pulled your good leg into a ball, trying to feel safe. Beth wrapped her arms around you tightly, and started slightly rocking side to side. She kissed your forehead before she started talking again.

“Y/N, it's okay to be upset, every date is just as important as the other. Today means something, every date means something. Today marks the start, and that’s just as important as the end.”

“It’s hard Beth.”

“I know it is, but you’ve got this, I’m here with you, I’m here for you, I understand, you never have to explain anything to me, I get it, but just know that she loves you, and she would be incredibly proud of you.” You felt a drop of water hit your shoulder, Beth was crying now too.

“I-I love y-you, th-thank you.” She nodded, you knew she wouldn’t be able to talk, you were struggling to talk, your tears choking back your words. She unwrapped the arm that was in front of you and you saw her moving her hand towards yours, you quickly grabbed it and held onto it tightly. You sat there soaking up Beth’s comfort, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

_____

Commonwealth Games 2026

“We’re here trackside with Y/F/N Y/L/N who at just 17 years old has broken 4 records today, 3 officially and one unofficially. She has just finished her first competitive 100m back since her career ending injury, with an absolutely insane time of 10.45. Giving her a second gold medal of the day.”

“An absolute masterclass out there Y/N/N, how do you feel?”

“Honestly amazing. On a high. I-I can’t believe it. Let alone find the words to express it” you said puffing.

“How’s the knee feeling? Recovery mustn’t have been easy.”

“Yeah no, the knee is feeling great, recovery was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, but I had some fantastic people surrounding me and helping me and guiding me through it all. And I just wanted to give a massive thank you to Tim and his team. Without their belief, fantastic skill set and unbelievable knowledge I probably wouldn't even be here competing today, let alone standing here with a gold medal. But also to all my teammates, and to my parents who made me who I am, I love you both.”

#woso #woso community #woso fanfics #woso x reader #woso imagine #arsenal wfc #awfc #awfc x reader #arsenal women #beth mead x reader #vivianne miedema x reader

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theemporium · 6 months

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Hiii!!! This is my first request but I love your writing so I know you won’t lead me astray!! Im thinking about 💰 with sugar daddies Charlos who maybe find out reader has needed something really badly (maybe something like school textbooks or the like) and instead of asking them, she has been saving up and stressing about it or even looking for grants/scholarships and they find out and are like ☹️ “why didn’t you tell us???” And it’s just really fluffy and sweet!!

(ALSO,,, pleaseee when the proper time comes and if you want to, write the werewolf!lestappen request!! It sounds so good!!)

Thank you loads xx

thank you for requesting!🫶🏽

You were going to turn yourself grey with the stress this paper was giving you.

The whole class had been taking over your life in the worst way possible. It had a low pass rate, the paper was worth a majority of your grade and the professor that already seemed like a dick seemed to have it out for you—or at least that's what it felt like with all the feedback you received from her.

It was overwhelming and frustrating and it seemed like no matter how hard you tried, it wasn’t getting any easier.

Your tipping point had been when the professor announced a massive essentials reading list that you had to complete before you started the paper, along with the announcement that she expected to see each one in the reference. The kicker? None of the papers or textbooks were available in the library or free online. It seemed like you had to pay for it.

And if being a student with crippling debt wasn’t enough, the price of academic textbooks could have sent you to an early grave.

You had resorted to picking up a job with crappy shifts at a bar on campus. The hours were horrible, the manager was an asshole and the customers were anything but polite (mostly consisting of cocky frat boys and trust fund babies who flaunted money like it was enough to look past fake IDs). Between the hours you were pulling and the hours spent studying in the library, you barely had time to sleep—let alone keep a thriving social life.

You hadn’t even realised you had been ignoring Charles and Carlos’ messages until you opened the door to your flat and found them waiting inside.

“Oh.” Your eyes widened, a feeling of dread washing over you. “Did I forget something? Is there a gala tonight?”

Carlos frowned, a hint of concern in his eyes. “You weren’t answering our messages.”

“I’m sorry,” you sighed, your cheeks flushing a little in embarrassment. “I didn’t take my charger to the library and then it died during my shift—”

“Your shift?” Charles repeated, his brain wracking around to figure out if he was misinterpreting your words. “What shift?”

You fell quiet, realising you had slipped up.

Carlos stepped forward, his fingers pushing your chin up when you tried to look away. “He asked you a question, amor.”

“It was just a few shifts at the campus bar,” you murmured with a sheepish expression on your face. “It was no big deal. It was just so I could buy–”

“If you needed to buy something, you tell us,” Charles said, almost looking like a kicked puppy when he spoke. “That was our deal, cherie.”

“Yeah but,” you started but even you weren’t sure where it was going. “I thought that was for gifts and stuff…like materialistic things.”

“Whatever you need, we want to provide,” Carlos corrected you, his large hands cupping your face whilst you stared up at him with wide eyes. “Whether it’s textbooks or vacations or a car.”

“Please don’t buy me a car,” you murmured.

Charles snorted. “We won’t, but we can. If you need it, we will.”

“I just feel bad asking,” you admitted shyly. “It’s different when you give me things compared to when I ask.”

“Well, get used to it because I don’t want a repeat of this,” Carlos said with a frown as his eyes glanced over your face. “You look exhausted.”

“It’s been a very stressful few weeks,” you told the boys and you watched Charles’ frown deepen a little.

“Then let us help you destress,” Charles said before nodding towards your bedroom. “Go get changed. We are taking you out.”

“Charles—” You started but he cut you off.

“You’re ours to take care of, physically and financially,” Charles said, taking one of your hands in his as he pressed a kiss to your knuckles. “We will call your job and tell them you’re quitting.”

You rolled your eyes. “Please don’t say anything stupid or dramatic.”

Charles grinned. “Me? Never, cherie.”

“I’ll make sure he behaves,” Carlos told you with a smile. “Now go get ready, amor. Let us take care of our pretty girl.”

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cheriecelestial · 1 month

Text

Angel Pt.II

pairing*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ Red Hood!Jason Todd X fem!reader

disclaimer*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ fluff. suggestive content. swearing. 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 ™️. not proofread !

a/n*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧ So here’s part 2. I’m aware of the poll results, but I had already planned to go against the consensus beforehand (cuz ain’t nobody tells me what to do). So smut in pt.III I promise. pls don’t be mad. Comment, Reblog and Like（╹◡╹）♡

╰ ┈➤ Part I

One of Jason's most cherished aspects of his Red Hood helmet was its ability to allow him to doze off undetected. He was curious how Y/N would react if he fell asleep at her place. He knew many people often tried, and foolishly so, to take off his helmet when he was asleep to try to find his identity. Despite his affection for her, he felt the need to ensure her trustworthiness because he knew he wouldn't be able to bear if she betrayed him. If she were to betray him, he reasoned, it would be better sooner rather than later. Feigning sleep, he waited. For a while she just sat and watched him. And not in a vigilant or cautious way, atleast it didn't that way to him. He hoped she would remain that way, but fate seemed to have other plans for him. He heard her retreat to her room, the smallness of her apartment allowing him to observe almost every movement. Maybe I'll buy her a nicer place, he thought to himself.

As she approached him, she checked once more, hiding something behind her back. She wouldn't try to take off his helmet, would she? A profound sense of dread and apprehension gripped him. She was the last person he wanted to betray him. Soon he found himself questioning his own judgment and the authenticity of the relationship. What did you expect? A sinister voice taunted him.

He felt his brain cloud with a whirlwind of emotions such as shock, disbelief, sadness, hurt, and confusion. When her fingertips grazed his helmet, it felt like a deep, agonizing wound piercing to his core. Initially, there was disbelief—a refusal to acknowledge that someone he loved and trusted could do that. He could feel the pit rage resurface, fierce and consuming, directed at her and perhaps even at himself for allowing himself to be vulnerable enough to be wounded in such a way.

He anticipated her lifting his helmet, only she didn't. She withdrew her hands and let out a tiny giggle. He was struck with the realisation that she didn't try to take his helmet off, rather she placed something atop it. It was out of his field of view so he couldn't quite tell what it was. From the corner of his eye, he noticed her take out her phone and snap a picture. Unfortunately for her, she forgot to switch off the flash. Jason took the opportunity and in the blink of an eye, her grabbed her wrist and flipped her over his shoulder, slamming into the couch. He pushed his forearm against her throat with his other hand pinning her under him.

“What do you think you're doing angel ?” He growled as his thumb trailed from her bottom lip to her cheek in a gesture that was equal parts sultry and sinister. Her eyes widened like saucers as cold sweat started to form on the side of her forehead. Her body might froze momentarily before trembling with fear. He didn't realise just how small she felt against him until he was on top of her. Akin to a quivering rabbit ensnared in a hunter's trap. Truth be told, the analogy wasn't far off.

"I-I'm so sorry I didn't mean to. I swear it was a prank —" She tugged at her restraints with tears forming at the corner of her eyes, her breathing becoming shallower and rapid but Jason didn't budge. She felt all too aware of the situation she was in. His proximity so close that she could feel so exposed under his gaze. It was intimidating yet so intoxicating, the feeling of being enclosed by him, the scent that was so intense and virile was enough to make her head spin. She could hear her heartbeat resonating in her ears and it was clear that he could too. Needless to say, Y/N L/N messed up big time.

"What was ? Hmm?" He leaned in closer to her face until his helmet was mere centimeters away, relishing in the sadistic pleasure of watching her teary eyes as she whimpered and muttered incomprehensible apologies. Seeing her struggle to form words, he picked up her phone to view the picture she had taken. It was him with what seemed like — a fuzzy bear ears headband? He plucked it from his helmet, staring at it incredulously. You have got to be kidding me.

"You're so fucking adorable, you know that ?" He let out an airy chuckle that was felt more than heard as he shakes with a silent laugh. "You're not mad at me ?"Y/N's voice sounded so desperate like a broken whimper. Her pretty eyes still wide and a little teary and red at the ends, a visible look of confusion etched onto it.

He wanted to stroke her cheek again, but he feared he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going further. "I don't know. Should I be?" He chuckled, and while he was mostly teasing, he couldn't help but marvel at her.

Despite his experiences with many women, he had never encountered someone so captivating. Just by the virtue of being pinned under him, she looked just so impossibly inviting. Jason found himself rendered breathless as his mind wandered into the realm of the most salacious thoughts.

"But this warrants punishment. Does it not?" He watched her breath catching in her throat, her cheeks and the tips of her ears flushing with heat.

Y/N swallowed hard," Punishment ?" She nervously peered at the man, a a slight shiver running down her spine as she could almost feel his piercing cold gaze from behind the red helmet. She understood her predicament and knew she shouldn't be enjoying it. It could take an unfavourable turn at any given moment and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Suddenly, he released her hands and leaned back. Despite feeling a little disoriented from his sudden absence of his towering self, Y/N sat back up. Jason held up the headband in his hand,"Do you have more of these?"

"A few. Yes" she replied.

"Go get them." he said nonchalantly. Y/N blinked at his request, feeling a hint of disappointment creeping in. As she rose slowly and made her way to the dresser, she scolded herself internally, Jesus get your brain out of the gutter Y/N. Not wanting to keep him waiting, she gathered all the headbands she had and dropped them onto the couch. "You have quite the collection," Jason chuckled, examining a headband. "Mostly from previous Halloweens and costume cafés I used to work at." Y/N explained. Jason's gaze settled on a particularly intriguing headband - white floppy bunny ears with pink bows. He tossed it onto her lap, grinning,“Put this on.”

Y/N complied without question and looked at him expectantly. Jason whipped out his phone and aimed it at her,“ Strike me a cute pose angel." Her eyes widened in a mix of surprise embarrassment," Wait what ?”

"Well you clicked that picture of me so it's pretty fair trade if you ask me." He reasoned, attempting to maintain a neutral tone, though secretly relishing the moment thoroughly. He maintained composure, not wanting to risk scaring her away. He eagerly snapped photos as Y/N reluctantly donned the headband and flashed a small peace sign, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. He could feel his own heart racing in his chest and his face growing warm.

"Please don't show it to anyone. It's embarrassing," She pleaded. Jason acknowledged her request with an absentminded nod, slipping his phone into his pocket. He hadn't quite reached the stage of covertly taking pictures and plastering them on his walls like a stalker, but he reasoned that photos she consented to were fair game. Plus that was more Tim's thing, Jason liked shooting his shot up front or atleast that’s what he told himself. He casually grabbed a pillow from the couch and placed it on his lap so she wouldn't have to see his raging boner.

"Now how about we fire up the console. Video games you said?" Jason suggested holding the dvd in his hand that Y/N had completely forgotten about. She eagerly grabbed the controllers and settled onto the couch, anticipation sparking in her eyes as the previous tension eased. Jason stared at the game dvd and couldn't help but feel a sense of déjà vu. "Do you play video games often ?" Y/N asked him with a smile. "Only when I'm with the boys at the batcave or with Ro – ahem I meant Arsenal. Starfire is temporarily banned because she's burnt too many controllers out of excitement." She laughed at his words, almost imagining the scene.

"Well I'm sure you dominate in physical fights. Let's see how you hold out in a virtual one. I hope you're ready." Y/N challenged, a competitive gleam in her eyes.

"Bring it on angel." Jason replied, his fingers already poised over the buttons. Before they knew, they were completely immersed in the game, their laughter and exchanging banter and competitive jabs filling the room. Whether they were working together to overcome a tough level or engaging in heated competition, their bond only grew stronger with each passing minute.

"Oh come on ! You've won like the fourth time in a row. This thing has to be rigged !" Jason accusingly jabbed his controller at the screen in frustration, eliciting laughter from Y/N at how worked up he got over something insignificant like a video game.

"'ll let you in on a little secret. I'm a bit of a pro. Back in college, gaming was like my side hustle," she whispered with a mischievous grin, leaning in closer. Jason's interest piqued at her revelation. He couldn't deny his curiosity about how she had been these past few years. Despite his thorough investigations, he knew that no amount of research could uncover the personal intricacies of her college life - the moments of joy that lit up her face, the frustrations that weighed heavy on her shoulders, the solitary hours spent, the struggles she endured, and the victories she celebrated. It was a side of her story that remained untold, a mystery he was eager to unravel.

"In college, I used to dress up real cute and go to frat parties and challenge guys to play with me and if they lost they'd have to pay me." Y/N continued. It sounded like a perfect plan on paper. Deceptive disguise, psychologically analysing targets and exploiting their weaknesses against them, strategic thinking and meticulosity. But her explanation wasn't enough to satiate his curiosity. "And what if they won?" The most important part of any good plan was enticing bait. A part of him knew the answer but still wanted confirmation. "Something no college frat boy would reject. I said I'd blow their dick." Y/N grinned causing Jason to visibly freeze in disbelief. "I know how it sounds, but don’t worry l've never lost. Ever," she assured him quickly. After a pause, Jason's voice wavered at the start of the sentence as he spoke up, "How much did they have to pay you if you won?" Y/ N furrowed her eyebrows slightly, trying to recall the details from the past events. Amidst the long hours of studying in med school and her meager earnings from a part-time job, she had resorted to more crafty ways of earning money and gaming happened to be the most lucrative option to make more in less time.

"Well, most college students couldn't afford to pay much, so it was ten dollars per game," she explained. Jason nodded, retrieving his wallet. "You beat me four times, right ?" With determination, he placed four hundred-dollar bills on the coffee table before her, his next words filled with unwavering resolve,"Play your game with me angel.” Y/N's eyes widened at the sight of the money on the table, and she took in a deep breath, contemplating his offer for a moment. What could she possibly have to lose?

“It's okay Red. You tried.” After two more rounds of competition, Jason suffered a devastating loss before finally realizing why he felt a sense of déjà vu— it was the same video game he, Duke, Dick, and Tim had played a couple of months ago. He vividly remembered losing his temper, nearly throwing hands when Tim used underhanded tactics against him and Dick violated every rule of sportsmanship and sacrificing every last modicum of decency over the game and Damian scoffing at their "immaturity" like he always did while Duke tried his best to pacify the conflict. The reason he didn't recognise this before was because him and Y/N were playing in a different mode than this. "How about we switch up the mode?"

"Sure let's do it."Y/N grinned confidently. The two sat side by side, eyes fixed on the glowing neon screens in front of them. Their fingers danced across the controllers, every move was calculated, every strategy meticulously planned as they vied for dominance. The room was filled with the sound of intense concentration and occasional bursts of laughter or frustration. The tension in the room was palpable, as neither of them were willing to concede an inch in this high-stakes competition. With every round, the stakes rose, and the intensity only grows as they pushed each other to their limits in pursuit of victory.

"You have got to be kidding me." Y/N breathed out as the letters "GAME OVER" As the defeat screen flashed before her eyes, she recoiled in shock, her mouth agape in disbelief. Her eyes widened in astonishment, unable to comprehend how her skill that she believed to be unparalleled had fallen short. Her hands, which had been gripping the controller tightly, now hung limply by her sides, fingers trembling with a mixture of disbelief and resignation. Jason's heart raced with exhilaration, his body shaking with the rush of victory. With a triumphant shout, he leaped from his seat, pumping his fists in the air as a grin stretched across his face. "NOW THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT !! LET'S FUCKING GO !!!”

Y/N felt a lump form in her throat as she comprehended the implication of her loss. Her cheeks flushed with a faint blush of embarrassment and she averted her gaze while fidgeting nervously in her seat. Her tongue ran over her lips as she avoided meeting Jason's eyes. He noticed this and remembered what the winning condition was. He straightened up and cleared his throat, regaining his composure," You know it was just a silly game, you don't have to do that. I won't force you into doing anything you're not comfortable with." Y/N managed a small relieved smile," Thank you. But you know a bet is a bet. So how about a kiss instead ? Wait you’re over 18, right ?"

"A kiss ? Oh cool. Yeah we could do that and to answer your question I’m legal. I’d show you my ID but that kinda defeats the whole purpose of the secret identity thing." Jason scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. Despite how he composed on the outside, he could almost hear his 10 year old self rejoicing at the prospect of finally being able to kiss his first love. Ever since the warehouse incident, he had buried that naive part of himself, believing it to be dead along with other redeeming qualities, at least according to those around him.

He knew he wandered down dark paths, driven by desires of revenge, bitterness and reckless impulses. But when he looked into her eyes, deep within him, he felt that there was a flicker of hope, a belief that redemption is possible. He knew he wasn't deserving of someone so sweet and pure, but perhaps just this once, he would allow himself this one indulgence.

"So should I like bring out the scarf ?" Y/N asked. Her heart, which was felt unstable and claustrophobically confined inside of her, hammering against her ribcage as if it sought to burst out and soar away. "Don't bother." Jason interjected, producing a small black box from his jacket pocket. "I've been meaning to give you this, but never found the right moment." Y/N opened the box and found a silk blindfold which was black on one side and red on the other, the same shade of red as his helmet. As her fingertips glided over its surface, it felt like touching liquid satin. There's a distinct sensation of coolness and silkiness that enveloped her. It was like touching a cloud or being embraced by a gentle breeze. “What's this for ? Don't trust my scarf enough ?” Y/N joked. Jason shrugged his shoulders and answered casually,“Well yes and no. Your scarf is made of scratchy fabric and you have sensitive skin so I thought —”

“How do you know I have sensitive skin ?” She couldn’t recall sharing that detail, finding it peculiar that he knew. Jason bit his tongue, regretting his slip-up. It was one of those things he remembered about her from years ago. When they were younger, she would often complaint how her work uniform was really scratchy and how she hated it against her sensitive skin and he would always say that when he grew up he would buy her the nicest and softest of clothes. But of course given their current circumstance, he couldn’t tell her that.

Jason pointed to the bottle of lotion sitting on the dinner table. “That. It says for dry and sensitive skin.” Y/N turned in the direction he pointed her astonishment rendering her momentarily speechless, her mouth agape, unable to comprehend how he pieced together such intricate details. Her eyes widened with admiration, reflecting a mixture of awe and reverence for his uncanny ability to observe so keenly, she commented,“ You know everything about you is such a suspension of disbelief kinda thing. Like I’m sure you could tell me the craziest things and I’d go ‘yeah sure that makes sense’. ”Jason chuckled awkwardly, relieved that he had quickly found an explanation for his slip-up and diverted her suspicion,“Well you know being around batman, the detective shit rubs off.”

Y/N raised the blindfold to her eye level and with deliberate movements, she tied it securely around her head, feeling the darkness engulfing her vision. The fabric is incredibly fine, almost weightless against her skin. The smoothness of silk glides effortlessly against the skin, created a feeling of luxury and indulgence effectively making the moment much more sensuous than it was supposed be. With the blindfold tied securely around her eyes, a hush fell over her surroundings, amplifying the sound of her own heartbeat.

A sense of anticipation filled her, as if the world had suddenly become a mystery waiting to be explored solely through touch, sound, and intuition. She couldn’t deny the excitement coursing through her veins, feeling herself surrendering to the unknown, willingly relinquishing the sense of sight for a deeper, more visceral experience. As darkness enveloped her, her other senses heightened, attuned to the subtlest of changes in the environment. Y/N let out a soft gasp when she heard his helmet being set down on the table with a quiet thud.

“You know we don’t have to do this. It’s okay if you want to back out. I —” Jason began tentatively, carefully watching her for any signs of discomfort. She reassured him calmly, “It’s okay. I’m okay.” He slowly cupped her face and leaned closer. She could feel his warm breath on her face. Jason’s lips brushed against hers, uncertain and almost fearful. “Y/N I—” he stilled against her, waiting for her reaction. He knew this was one bridge that once burnt would either leave him at the edge of the abyss or paradise and needless to say, he couldn’t blow this. “Just shut up and kiss me Red. You earned it.”

“Yes ma’am,”Jason let out a breath of disbelief. The world around him seemed to melt away and all that existed was her and the euphoric feeling of her warm and pliant mouth on his. The beast inside him thrashed against the iron bars of his cage of self control, its roars echoing within him — wanting nothing but to sink his teeth into Y/N’s supple and inviting flesh and ravage her. His fingers cupping her face twitched with the need to touch more of her. Before he knew, his hands slid up of its own accord and tangled themselves in the soft locks of her hair.

Jason spent a lifetime honing his self control. Batman had drilled its importance into his system but as of now could feel every last ounce of self control he possessed slip through his fingers like sand. But he forced himself to focus. A part of him felt guilty for feeling the way he felt about her, his need for her — it was desperate, perverse, wrong even because Jason knew that if she realised that who he was she might never look at him the same way again but he couldn’t get himself to let go of something so damnably intoxicating. Y/N was the first one to pull away, her breath came in ragged gasps, her chest heaving as if trying to catch up with her sprinting heart. She could feel him grin against her lips.

“Good game Red.”

“Does anyone else feel like she's finally lost it, or is it just me ?”

"I can hear you, Stephanie," Y/N huffed, rolling her eyes. In retaliation, the blonde high schooler blew a raspberry at her co-worker, causing Y/N to shake her head in resignation. "That's why I said it. Babs back me up," Stephanie retorted.

“Please. We have enough crazies in Gotham as it is, there’s no need for any more.” Barbara Gordon was another one of Y/N best friends along with Cass Cain and was the daughter of the GCPD commissioner and the girlfriend of Dick Grayson. She was a couple years older than Y/N and most of all, the mom friend and pacifist of the group.

"But you know you have been acting strange. You've been touching your lips every five minutes and zoning out like right now —" Cass trailed off, sipping coffee from cup. Not realizing that she was doing that right now, Y/N jerked her hand off as if caught while stealing. The second the words left Cass's mouth, a realization dawned on the trio simultaneously, as if a light bulb had illuminated above their heads.

"What ?" Y/N muttered feeling oddly cornered. Trying her hardest to ignore the elephant in the room, she went back to working. The three friends exchanged glances, silently debating who would broach the subject with Y/N. Eventually, Barbara rolled her eyes and took charge, as neither of the younger girls seemed willing. "Y/N, I'd like to order," Barbara declared, wheeling her wheelchair closer to the counter. Y/N shifted her attention to her, nodding as she grabbed a pen and notepad, ready to take Barbara's order with practiced efficiency.

"I'd like to order tea," Barbara stated.

"Sure. So, would that be Earl Grey?" Y/N asked with a knowing smile.

"Nope."

"Assamese?"

"Not that either."

"Darjeeling ? Jasmine ? Matcha ?" Y/N proposed, offering a variety of tea options in an attempt to pinpoint Barbara's preference, her brows furrowing in confusion as to why she wasn't ordering her usual. “Then ?” She tilted her head in questioning but Barbara just smiled back and winked playfully,“You know, tea, piping hot if you know what I mean.”

“Uggh fine you win. So there's this guy,” The h/c haired woman started slowly and the three women groaned in unison. This was a common yet much disliked drill. The atmosphere shifted and a heavy silence settles over the group. Cass's eyes widened, a look worry flashing across her face. She exchanged a quick glance with Steph, who mirrored her expression. Barbara, ever the voice of reason, remained composed but her concern was evident in the slight furrow of her brow,“ We’ve talked about this.”

Y/N, the one who had made the revelation, shifted uncomfortably under the scrutinizing gazes of her companions. She could feel the weight of their judgment bearing down on her, and it made her regret ever bringing up the topic. “Okay just hear me out —”

There was a moment of hesitation, as if each of them was struggling with how to respond to this. Finally, it was Steph who broke the silence, her voice edged with frustration.

“No there will be no ‘hear me out’s. Look Y/N Imma be honest with you. You’re legit nicer than 99.99% gothamites and in all honesty the only thing I hate about you is your fucking taste in men. Every seven months you come with hear me out on men who are leather wearing alcoholics and are always gaslighting, lying, cheating, abusive bastards or just straight up criminals !” She whispered in a tone passionately incredulous, drawing attention from other cafe patrons. Cass remained silent, but her expression spoke volumes. It was clear that she shared Steph's apprehension about their friend's poor taste in men.

Barbara chose her words carefully. “She’s right, you do have a bit of a problem. We just don’t want you getting hurt over guys like that or worse them hurting you and I don’t mean just emotionally.” she spoke gently, her tone laced with genuine concern.

“It’s not even that bad —” Y/N started. “Well you did date a two bit drug dealer.” Cass muttered quietly. “How was I supposed to know that ? It’s not like he offered me to do cocaine on the first date plus Orphan did save me in the nick of time so no harm done.” Y/N huffed in defense.

“Why don’t you try dating someone who’s actually nice for a change?”

“Sure, like who?” Y/N chuckled sarcastically.

“Maybe someone who’s like Dick?” Steph suggested. Dick Grayson was the epitome of the popular charismatic jock kid at school. It wasn’t hard to understand why he was so liked — with his sanguine personality, witty puns, kind hearted and generous personality he was pretty much the shining paragon of an upstanding citizen and your boy next door. Unfortunately, such traits rarely aligned with Y/N tastes. “I mean he’s very attractive of course but he’s just not my type you know. He’s too —”

“Nice ?” Barbara guessed.

“Yeah, that. But if he has a brother then well—” Y/N trailed off, half-jokingly.

“No!” The three exclaimed in unison, catching her off guard. Their eyes widened as if she said something really offensive.

“Whoa what was that about ?” Y/N asked. The three exchanged glances, and Barbara cleared her throat before speaking up. “Well, Dick does have brothers. Two of them are minors, so that’s an immediate no, and the third one— he’s not a bad guy per se. He would never hurt a woman, especially someone as sweet as you, but—”

“But?” Y/N raised an eyebrow and shook her head, urging her friend to continue.

“He’s got issues. Like a boatload of them,” she finished, carefully articulating each word.

“What sort of issue ? Daddy issues ? Mommy Issues ? Parental Issues ? Parental Issues - Orphan Edition ? Step parent issues ? I’ve dealt with them all before you know.”

“More like all, in that order.” Cass muttered.

“Wow this guy sounds like a party. You should introduce me to him sometime. Him and I would definitely hit it off.” Y/N joked.

“Please don’t come up with any more of those ‘I can fix him’s. You’re a barista not Handy Manny.”

Y/N shrugged nonchalantly, attempting to brush off their concerns. “You know what I usually mean by I can fix him is that I can made him tolerable till I get bored of him and dump him. Sure, I’ve made mistakes but this one is different,”she insisted.

“Different how ?” Barbara raised her brow skeptically.

Y/N’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she regaled her friends about the events of the video game bet, conveniently leaving out the details of Red being a vigilante and that prank incident — they didn’t need to know that. Her friends leaned in, somewhat captivated by her animated storytelling. Gasps of disbelief and amazement erupted from her friends. Their curiosity evident as they leaned in, eager to soak in every detail of the story.

The tension in the air had eased as the group exchanged glances, each grappling with their own thoughts and feelings about the situation. It was clear that this revelation had thrown them all for a loop, leaving them unsure of how to proceed. But one thing was certain – they would stand by their friend, even if they didn't particularly agree with her choices.

“You know only I was of legal age, I’d wife you up so fast it’d set world records. That ways we wouldn’t have to deal with this.” Steph lamented, earning a smack from Y/N. Despite her sassy quips and teasing, Stephanie Brown was never shy to be vocal about her affections for her favourite barista. “Unfortunately for you, I’m not into kids. Also aren’t you dating Tim ?” Y/N asked.

“Well yeah. But he’s not like my boyfriend boyfriend. He’s like my pet ferret than my boyfriend.”

“I was so sure I got promoted to pet guinea pig last Monday.” A voice piped up from Y/N’s side. She let out a small scream, her body tensing up in pure terror. Her heart raced as she spun around, eyes wide with fear, her hands poised to defend herself, only to find Tim Drake with an expression of mock offence on his face and Dick next to him with his head propped on top of his fist, listening intently with a smile on his face.

“How long have you been standing here ?” She exclaimed, putting her hand on her hip, her voice a mixture of surprise and reproach. Dick’s mischievous grin faltered slightly as she held up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Oh don’t mind me," he said, trying to suppress a giggle. "I’m just here for the girl talk."

“Dick I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again. You aren’t allowed when we’re having the girl talk.” Y/N jabbed her finger in warning at him, her tone tainted with a hint of genuine irritation.

“What ? Why ? Ever since I first watched Mean Girls I’ve always dreamed of being a part of a girl clique. You can’t do this to me.” Wearing a mock expression of sadness and offence, he pouted like a five year old child, crossing his arms.

“Well you can’t sit with us detective.”

“Why not ?”

“Well because this is a girl clique. Duh.” Steph sassed back. Dick raised his eyebrows, feigning disbelief,“Discrimination, plain and simple. I demand equal rights for guy friends in girl cliques !”

Y/N rolled her eyes, fighting back a smile. "Nice try but no. You're always welcome for skin care and movie nights. But girl talk is strictly off-limits. And no don’t look at Babs, she can’t and won’t help you."

Dick’s shoulders slumped dramatically, admitting defeat. "I guess it's just one of life's cruel ironies. But hey, I can still be an honorary member, right ?" He gave her a hopeful grin, knowing fully well that his charm wouldn't be enough to sway her strict rules.

“Just give up man. Winning isn’t in the cards for you. Now, scram. Y/N should please continue.” Tim shooed Dick as if he were a stray dog. “Tim you too.” Cass deadpanned.

“Why ? I’m not like him ! Pretty sure you girls can make exceptions for bi guinea pigs.” He retorted.

“Ferret,” Steph corrected,“ You ate my turkey sandwich last Tuesday so you got demoted to ferret.”

“Only if you’re ready to forfeit your right to a free coffee refills after five paid cups a day.” Y/N chuckled, shaking her head. Tim’s expression twisted into sheer horror, as if she had threatened his very existence. Given his caffeine addiction, it might as well have been a threat on his life.

Tim cleared his throat and began with a disapproving look, "Ahem. Richard, isn't it utterly disgraceful for esteemed gentlemen like us to eavesdrop on ladies like that? Shame on you. What would Alfred and Bruce say ?"

“Who are Alfred and Bruce?” Y/N inquired. Tim immediately regretted his words, closing his eyes briefly. “Oh, just seniors at work,” Dick hastily replied with an awkward laugh. “You two should probably head out,” Barbara interjected with a pointed look. Tim and Dick hurriedly departed without any sign of resistance. As Y/N turned, she noticed Cass had vanished, and Steph had returned to her tasks, leaving her to process the recent events alone. Huh. Weird.

As Y/N’s weary hand reached for the brass doorknob of her house, she felt the exhaustion of the day to loosen its grip on her, replaced by a sense of relief. The metal of the doorknob offered a stark contrast between its own cold surface and the warmth of home she longed for beyond the threshold. With a familiar click, the door swung open and she hung her bag and scarf on the hat stand. The second she stepped through the threshold, a pleasant aroma of spices and the sound of someone humming to a song floated through the air. The scent was homely and comforting. Wait. I live alone then who’s cooking in the kitchen ? Puzzled and scared, she dropped her keys on the table and cautiously made her way towards the kitchen. With every step, the sound of sizzling and the clinking of utensils grew louder. Tiptoeing to the edge of the kitchen wall, she peered around the corner.

“Red ?” Her eyes widened as she stared at the most unlikely scene she could’ve ever imagined in her life. The vigilante Red Hood — Prince of Gotham, Scourge of the Underworld, the Wraith of Gotham, the Renegade Knight — stood in Y/N’s normal sized apron that looked comically small on him, stirring pasta sauce while listening to Taylor Swift. She stood frozen, unable to process the sheer absurdity of the scene in front of her.

“You’re back !” She could almost see him grinning from behind his signature mask. She blinked several times, thinking all of this was some sort of wishful thinking induced daydream. But the smell of simmering marinara and the faint sound of Taylor Swift's voice confirmed otherwise, effectively shattering any semblance of normalcy in the room leaving her to wonder how could this larger-than-life figure, feared by criminals and revered by the city, be standing in her humble kitchen cooking pasta ?

Yet, there he was, a paradoxical blend of hero and something so curiously domestic. As she watched him, a mix of amusement and curiosity washed over her. “What’s going on here ?” Y/N asked, gesturing to the kitchen in general. “Oh this ? Um it sort of happened,” Jason replied casually, as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world for a vigilante to be whipping up a meal in someone else's kitchen.

“It just happened ?” Y/N repeated dumbfounded. She leaned against the kitchen counter, still trying to process the scene before her. Looking around, she noticed the counter cluttered with groceries she didn’t recall purchasing. Opening the fridge, she saw that her once-empty fridge was stocked with gourmet items she had only seen on upscale cooking shows. “Well I came to see you but you hadn’t returned from work. I got up to get a glass of water from the fridge and saw that there wasn’t anything in it so I —”he began, attempting to explain the situation.

“So you bought me groceries ? And the pasta ? That also just happened ?” she asked, her interest piqued. "Um yeah. It did," he admitted sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. “It was on a whim don’t think too much of it.” Jason glanced at her, hoping she would find his gesture too strange. His eyes flitted to the clock on the wall before landing back at her,"I figured that it’s already dark outside so it’s not safe to go get stuff. Plus, I make a mean pasta," he quipped, flashing a hint of pride in his voice.

She couldn't argue with that. As she watched him continue to cook, a sense of gratitude washed over her. Despite the reputation he amassed, he was here, in her home, bringing solace that no one had in a very long time. Her world felt harmonious, as if every piece fell into place effortlessly. In that moment, Red Hood wasn't just a feared vigilante—he was a friend, albeit an unusual one, who had somehow found his way into her life and her kitchen and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“By the way,” Jason began, wiping his hands on the apron and shifting his tone to seriousness as he turned towards her, “I wanted to ask you something. Where did you get that?” He gestured towards the felt clipboard hanging on the opposite wall. Y/N followed his gaze, seeing the map of Gotham he had given her along with the necklace the week they met. It had really helped her avoid dangerous parts of the town after dark. But why was he asking about it when he was the one who gave it to her? “What do you mean? You’re the one who gave me the map,” she said, tilting her head in confusion.

“Not the map. The batarang. I don’t recall leaving any of those here,” he clarified. Y/N’s eyes fell on the sleek metal batarang pinning the map to the clipboard. Her mouth rounded in an ‘o’ when she pieced it together. “The batarang ? Red Robin gave it to me.” she exclaimed. Her words clearly struck a nerve because Jason felt completely silent following her words. “It’s a funny story actually. You know I work at a café. This one night I was closing up and Red Robin came in asking for a coffee refill. I had almost closed up the shop but the poor thing looked like he had been through hell so I refilled his coffee. He tried to pay but he couldn’t find his wallet so he paid with a batarang.” She quickly added, hoping to diffuse any building tension.

Jason wordlessly walked to the clipboard and effortlessly retrieving the batarang before swapping it with his own from his pocket. “Better.” He muttered with satisfaction, addressing no one in particular. “Hey give that back !” Y/N tried to take it from his hand but he held it above her head where she couldn’t reach it. “What do you even need it for ?” He asked sounding somewhat annoyed. “It was an experience souvenir, you can’t take that !” She tried to reason despite knowing there was no point. “Well I’m sure Red Hood cooking dinner was you is beats refilling coffee for some drenched beaten up rat any day.”

Y/N’s eyes fell on the Red Hood’s batarang that was now pining the Map of Gotham to the clipboard instead of Red Robin’s batarang. It was similar in shape and size, resembling a bat's silhouette with pointed wings extending from a central handle. Except his batarang sported his signature red hue with black-rimmed edges. On closer inspection, Y/N noticed it had the words “Property Of Red Hood” scrawled on it in near illegible handwriting with a permanent marker.

“It’s already in your colours. What’s the point of writing your name on it ?” Y/N asked, her curiosity piqued.

“Because there are little shits that like to take my stuff without asking. So it’s a reminder that if they do, I will find them and after than no one else ever will.” He replied vaguely.

“Thugs ?”

“Worse. Siblings.”

“That sounds… tough,” Y/N remarked. She could only imagine what it would be like dealing with having vigilante siblings and the unique dynamics they have with each other. “You have no idea,” Jason replied in a wry tone. “But y’know ohana and all. Can’t get rid of them even if I wanted to.”

“Then what do you hold against the poor kid ?”

“Look it’s not that. Everyone thinks I hate him but I don’t,” Jason countered, pausing before continuing, “Okay maybe a teeny tiny bit but that’s beside the point. It’s just… it’s just I just hate him with you —”Jason caught himself before ending up saying anything that would just come to bite him in the ass. Y/N’s eyes widened a fraction in realization before smiling. “Are you jealous ?”

“What ? No !” He swiftly shook his head, dismissing the suggestion despite the faint blush creeping up his neck,“ I’m not jealous. He’s just trouble and I don’t want him being near my —”He attempted to maintain his composure, but his defensive tone betrayed a hint of insecurity. Y/N titled her head, studying his body language carefully and asked,“Your what ?”

“My – my person.” Jason finished softly, his gaze dropping to the floor, uncertain about his choice of words. His heart racing as he struggled to find the right words to convey his feelings not wanting giving too much away nor did he want to invite misunderstandings by using the term ‘friend.’

Y/N let out a small chuckle,“ What ? So just because I work for you means I can’t interact with any of your sibling ?”

Jason raised his head in alarm,“ That’s not what I meant !” He clarified hurriedly. Oh ?

“Then what did you mean ? Hmm ?” Y/N inched closer to him, a playful smirk dancing on her lips. It had been exactly five days since he had kissed her, kissed her with insatiable hunger as if he intended to swallow her whole. Glancing down, she noticed his hand clenched around the material of his pants so tightly she feared he might tear a hole into them. Slowly, she trailed her hand up his arm, offering her sweetest smile. She felt his muscles tense under her touch, as though he was fighting - resisting. Y/N knew that teasing him might as well be biting off more than she could chew but Y/N 'life is all about taking risks and new experiences' L/N was willing to bet on her luck.

“The pasta is getting cold. You should —,”Jason's throat tightened as Y/N’s hand reached his shoulder, he couldn’t help but shiver slightly — his resolve wavering under her touch. He swallowed hard, trying to regain his composure, but her closeness was making it increasingly difficult to think straight. He watched as she looked right at him and then lowered her gaze to the part of his mask where his lips would be for a split second and then flit back to his eyes with a teasing mirth dancing in her eyes. Fuck. This woman is driving me crazy.

“— e-eat it before it gets cold,” he stammered, his voice barely above a whisper. As a part of training, Bruce had taught all the Robins the psychology of seduction so that they could identify it and evade it and as of now, every fibre of his being screamed warnings. Her actions were daring, albeit innocent. But they weren't even half as blatant or polished as the seasoned honeytrappers and seductresses he had encountered, but they still stirred something so primal deep within him, tempting him to abandon caution. The part of his arm her fingertips grazed felt like it was on fire. No scratch that he had experienced what it was to have his skin on fire. This was exponentially worse.

Ever since Y/N re-entered his life, Jason Peter Todd was experiencing what one would call selective erectile dysfunction. Consumed by thoughts of Y/N, he found it impossible to concentrate on anything else. So a few weeks back, he sought to blow off some steam and divert his mind from the thoughts of Y/N overwhelming his system. Jason considered himself fairly easy to satisfy since all his encounters had been transactional, outlets for physical release and nothing more.

However much to his bafflement, his dick refused to react to anything for the past few days and embarrassingly so. There were plenty of flavours to choose from at the iceberg lounge but instead Jason jr. decided to give on the silent treatment instead. It was being a dick, literally. After the whole Lazarus pit shebang, whatever toxic shit he got tossed into as a part of some supervillain’s dastardly schemes, prescription meds he got talked into taking for quote unquote “mental health” — He was no stranger to bodily side effects but this was completely different.

This whole thing reached its height when Jason jr. refused to entertain the advances of a perfectly attractive busty blonde despite the fact that it was dying from sexual frustration and Jason was so ready to get over it. Under normal circumstances, it would be up and ready for action however it decided to stay completely and utterly indifferent — bored even. Effectively forcing Jason into non-consensual celibacy.

The only time it did react in his time at the iceberg lounge was when a model who had conspicuously similar hair colour and face shape to Y/N approached him with flirtation in her eyes. Jason jr. almost got hard, key word almost, when it made the important distinction that she was not Y/N and absolutely didn’t want her lips wandering anywhere his frustrating self. And by selective, he meant that Jason jr. developed a will of his own and turned into one of those overly enthusiastic parents cheering for their kids at school plays, not that Jason had experienced it personally, but that’s besides the point. The point being it would tent up and twitch uncontrollably begging for attention the second he sensed Y/N L/N’s presence in a mile’s distance. At the peak of his condition, Jason couldn’t so much as glance at a surface without his brain conjuring obscene images of how she would look pressed down against it, writhing and moaning his name.

As an avid reader, Jason was something of a hopeless romantic man and he knew that a couple’s first time was an important milestone in their relationship and could most definitely not be done on a whim. He had it all planned out, scented candles, silk sheets and all. It had to be special — touching, sweet, loving and most definitely not some lust-fueled spur of the moment thing his dick was pushing for right now. So there wasn’t much he could do, except sit in abject misery and hope to weather through the storm.

Okay, Jason. You survived being blown up by the joker. This is just another challenge. Focus on something else. Jason motivated himself with his voice of reason sounding suspiciously a lot like Nightwing and took a deep breath.

His eyes wandered till they found their way back to Y/N. She was wearing one of her typical sundresses with pastel floral patterns adorning it with a navy blue cardigan draped around her shoulders and the golden necklace resting on her neck. Her hair was fashioned into a high ponytail with loose strands framing her face.

Based on what he had observed she seemed to have a penchant for sundresses, which Jason believed complemented her overall personality quite well. He often found himself mesmerized by the way the sundresses accentuated Y/N's features, the dress hugging her curves perfectly and the fabric flowing gracefully with each movement. She almost looked like she had walked out of a cottage fairy tail. I bet I could shred it like tissue paper. Wait what ? Where did that come from ? Okay let’s try again. He turned his focus back to her. Most of her makeup had worn off from the day’s work, except for the eyeliner and the faintly sparkling light pink lip gloss on her lips, which seemed to have been touched up a few times. I wonder what she would look like on her knees, with her lips wrapped around my cock and that pretty mascara running down her cheeks.

Jason shot a glare at his pants. "Can you please shut up for just two goddamn seconds ? I'm trying to be respectful here," he muttered under his breath, hoping for a moment of peace. At this rate he contemplated the need for an exorcist to exorcise these insistent demons out of his system. He glanced up to find Y/N watching him. "Did you say something?" she asked but he simply shook his head in denial. Though she appeared skeptical, she chose not to press further. Moving to the cabinet, she requested, “Could you please grab the glasses? They’re in the third cabinet on the left,” while she fetched plates for serving and set them on the table. Jason obliged, retrieving the glasses, and as he placed them on the table, his hand inadvertently brushed against hers. Y/N glanced at him and flashed a gentle smile.

He could swear he felt his dick twitch. What are you some sort of pitiful depraved virgin ? Get your shit together. This is downright embarrassing. He scoffed at himself. Amid his current inner turmoil, he had become hyper aware of Y/N’s every micro movement from tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear to adjusting her ponytail or stooping to retrieve a fallen fork. Jason’s breath caught in his throat as he watched her bend down causing hemline of her dress to lift up, revealing a scene that would surely haunt him on his nights alone. No no no dont even- think of the lord Jason. What would Alfred say ?

Our Father who arth in heaven,

Hallowed be thy Name.

Thy kingdom come.

Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.

“Mmmh this is so good !” Y/N moaned in delight as she took the first bite, her eyes widen in amazement, savoring the flavour dancing on their taste buds. Jason felt his throat dry up. Oh of course, she just had to make that sound. The universe was really against him today, more so than usual. With two dicks talking to him, he just had to figure out which one to listen to.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our — wait how did that go again ?

Despite Jason's best efforts to maintain composure, Y/N's every movement seemed to unravel his resolve further. As she savored each bite, he couldn't help but be captivated by the way her lips formed around the fork, her eyes alight with pleasure. With each passing moment, his internal struggle intensified, torn between the desire to avert his gaze and this magnetic force of a woman. Her presence seemed to envelop him, every sound she made echoing in his mind, her every gesture etched into his memory. How could he resist the temptation when she was right there, so effortlessly bewitching ?

Y/N placed her hand on his and he pulled away instinctively, the smile on her face faltered but she didn’t say anything. Jason made a mental note to bash his head into a wall hard later for hurting her feelings but as of now he was in no position of making any sort physical contact with her. “Won’t you be eating ?” she asked, attempting to diffuse the tension. “I don’t eat before patrol,” he replied, his response came out colder than he had intended it to be. “It’s best to patrol on an empty stomach because it’s not exactly pleasant.”

“Oh.” Her brows furrowed slightly at his icy response, but she nodded, accepting his explanation. His words hung in the air, thick with an unspoken tension. Y/N bit her lip, her gaze flickering between him and the plate of pasta. Feeling a pang of guilt, he tried to ease the atmosphere, though his attempt felt feeble. "But maybe I'll grab something later," he added, a touch of forced warmth in his tone.

“This is really good, you know. You should tell me the recipe sometime,” she suggested. "Nah, I can whip it up for you whenever you want," he replied nonchalantly. Y/N blinked in surprise. "No, I couldn't possibly—"

"Yes, you can," he insisted, pointing at her necklace. It had been over two months since she started wearing it, and thankfully, she hadn't needed to use its emergency SOS feature. Her thumb traced the disk-shaped pendant of the necklace. “Whatcha smiling about ?” Jason asked. “No nothing,”she replied, shaking her head. Not believing her, Jason tilted his head and urged her to continue. “Fine. So, in this K-drama I watched a while back, the female lead had a powerful mythical creature protecting her like sort of a guardian angel, and she could summon him whenever she lit a match. It just reminded me of that.”

“What creature ?” He asked with intrigue. Jason had always been more inclined to reading rather than watching in nature so he didn’t really have much experience with k-dramas but seeing how interested she was, he was more than willing to give it a go.

“A goblin.”she answered taking another bite of the pasta. “I’m not sure how I ought to take that —” Y/N’s eyes widened in realisation because she knew that goblins in western media were depicted as short ugly green monsters with horrible attitudes. “Oh no no ! Not like the DND ones. Korean ones ! He was really hot,” she clarified frantically. Jason chuckled,“Well then I guess I’ll humbly accept the compliment.”

"Maybe we could watch the show together next time we hang out you know," she suggested shyly, not wanting to appear too upfront with her invitation. A small smile played onto Jason’s lips, every single romance novel he had ever read had prepared him for this moment. He had often wondered what it would feel like to experience such a situation. Sure, they had watched random shows like ‘The real housewives of Beverly Hills’ and ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ before, but this invitation felt different, more deliberate. She specifically asked for this. This wasn’t just ‘got nothing to do so let’s just turn on the tv’ kinda hangout, this was special. Jason's heart skipped a beat as he considered her invitation. The subtle nervousness in her voice only added to the charm of the moment. It was as if the universe had conspired to create this perfect opportunity for them to connect on a deeper level.

"Yeah, that sounds great," he replied, his voice betraying a touch of eagerness despite his attempt to appear casual. Deep down, he knew that this was a significant step in their relationship. “But it’ll have to wait. I’m leaving Gotham,” he added with a sad sigh, remembering the reason he had come to see her in the first place.

“What? Why?” His sudden announcement caught Y/N off guard. Did something bad happen ? “Sorry angel, it’s confidential,” he replied briskly. It was in her best interest to keep her as uninvolved in his world as possible, knowing the risks involved in pursuing a relationship with a civilian.

As they sat in uneasy silence, Jason couldn't shake the weight of his own discomfort. He knew he had been too harsh with his response, but the walls he had built around himself were hard to break down, even with someone as kind-hearted as Y/N. Despite his efforts to appear unaffected, he couldn't ignore the concern in her eyes.

Y/N’s mind raced with questions, but she could sense Jason’s reluctance to divulge further. She bit her lip, grappling with a mix of concern and frustration.

“Red did something happen ?” she implored, her voice tinged with worry. “Is it something dangerous? Are you in trouble?”

Jason met her gaze, her expression a mixture of worry and sadness. He hesitated, torn between his desire to confide in her and his commitment to keeping her safe. “It’s just a mission. I’m sorry I can’t tell you much,” he admitted, feeling a sense of regret. “But trust me, it’s better this way. I don’t want you getting mixed up in my business.” Of course it made sense. He didn’t owe her an explanation, knowing there were lines she shouldn’t cross was one of them. This was a world of vigilantes and villains and as a civilian she couldn’t possibly fathom the complexities of his profession.

Y/N reached out, gently placing her hand on his arm. “I understand,” she said, her voice soft but resolute.“You’ll be back right ?”

“Wouldn’t have given you that necklace if I wasn’t going around for my angel. It might take a couple months, maybe three or four. I don’t know. But I’ll be back.” He squeezed her hand reassuringly and continued,“ And still if you get into trouble, you can still use that necklace. I called in a favour from nightwing and orphan.”

“So what did you ask them to exactly ? They get an alert and they’re to drop everything they’re doing and come save me ?” Y/N asked jokingly.

“Well yeah. You get hurt while I’m gone and they’ll end up as fish food in the Gotham Harbour. Y’know they're like my insurance policy for you," he added. "But hopefully, you won't need to cash it in. Just stay safe and out of trouble until I get back."

Y/N nodded, a playful glint in her eyes. "I'll do my best. But you know all that aside, cooking a girl dinner and introducing her to your family, and here I thought we were taking it slow.” Jason paused, caught off guard by her comment. Was that how it appeared ? Her playful expression suggested she was merely teasing him, but what if she was genuinely reciprocating flirtation ?

“You’re a really cruel woman you know angel.”Y/N leaned forward on the table and folded her arms infront of her subconsciously pushing her breasts forward, a coy pout forming on her lips ,“Why do you say that ?” She was fully aware of her effect on him, wasn’t she ?

Jason chuckled softly, his gaze meeting hers with a mixture of amusement and admiration,“No need to worry your pretty head with that.” With a quick flick of his finger, he lightly tapped her forehead, a playful retaliation for her teasing. She let out a surprised yelp, rubbing her forehead in mock indignation.

“I should get going before Starfire and Arsenal lose their shit thinking I’ve gone MIA. Again.” He said, rising to his feet and straightening his jacket. Y/N too got up and kept the dishes in the sink. Jason turned to leave from the fire exit but he felt Y/N hold his jacket. “Be careful out there Red.” She smiled softly at him and Jason could feel his heart melt into a puddle. “Can’t promise but I will try.” His words came out with softness he didn’t know he possessed, he squeezed her hand gently before reluctantly letting go. With one last lingering look, he turned and disappeared into the fire exit.

Outside, Jason took a deep breath, the cool night air soothing his nerves. He glanced around, making sure the coast was clear before slipping into the shadows. As he moved through the darkness, he couldn't help but replay their interaction in his mind. Her soft smile, the way she held onto his jacket, and the genuine concern in her voice lingered in his thoughts.

Pushing aside his thoughts, Jason focused on the task at hand. He moved swiftly through the alleyways, his senses alert for any signs of trouble. The city whispered its secrets to him, a constant reminder of the darkness that threatened to consume it. The weight of his responsibilities as Red Hood pressed upon him, reminding him of the dangers lurking in the shadows of Gotham City.

Yet, in that fleeting moment with Y/N, he felt a sense of peace that he hadn't known in a very long time.

A/n: Jason Todd live reaction

Ngl I was in a very silly goofy mood when I wrote this.

Tags : @thisisafish123 @ceramic-raven @millyhelp @blamedbisexual @trunkswithlonghair-blog @jasontoddthings @deans-spinster-witch @12134z03

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bangchansgirlsblog · 5 months

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another random idea.. Fem 9th member maknae reader who secretly smokes and gets caught by one of the boys who later snitches and tells chan. Reader and Chan fall out and she storms out of the dorms and ends up staying in her apartment instead to let off some steam. She realised how bad the smoking was for her health and how much it impacted her social life so she first to JYP and they send her to rehab + puts her on hiatus for two months because of rehab. Chan thinks it’s his fault for the hiatus as none of the members were told that she was going to rehab. They later find out and when Reader returns back from rehab/hiatus they all tell her how proud they are of her?

(sorry for the LONGGGG paragraph, i didn’t intend for it to be this long🧍‍♀️)

My biggest problem.

Okay maybe I got carried away a little and changed it a little but yeah forgive me 😜

Enjoy

-🩷

Y/n started smoking when she was 15.

She didn't know that she was eventually going to be a trainee the year after.

It was never part of her plan but when they scouted her when she was at the mall with her mum, it was a new chapter in her story and her mum begged for her to try it out. As her training days began and she tried to quit she found that she couldn’t go a day without smoking.

She was already addicted to it.

Her habit became stronger and stronger as the days got harder.

6 hours dance practice, 4 hours vocal and 2 hours media training. She found her self sneaking out for smokes during short breaks or before leaving the dorms for any type of schedule.

It sucked that she couldn't get out of it and it was affecting her.

At this point she didn’t even want to stop because if she did her body would fail.

1:45 pm, New York City.

"Alright people let's get started shall we?" The instructor walked onto the stage and stood at the edge waiting for everyone to get in place.

Y/n put her water bottle down and walked over to the group to get into her place so they could start practicing for the show that would happen the next day.

"Y/n and I.N I want more energy from the both of you please," Chan told the two maknae's. He was stood in the back analyzing everything to make sure it was on point.

The two nodded and stood ready to start. The sound of Charmer filled the whole stadium and their bodies started to move with the music. Their vocals being on point and their dancing being better than the last.

"What do you think?" The manager asked Chan. He was now stood down off stage looking at a different point of you. The rest of the band gasping for air.

"It was okay, I liked it but the lighting crew need to do better because I can barely see Felix in the back." He pointed and waved as he spoke. Trying to show the manager what he was imagining.

Y/n saw this as an opportunity to slip away for a bit for a short smoke break. She needed it. Her hands were shaking and her body couldn't really function due to the fuck she was going through withdrawals.

"Chan, may I use the washroom?" Her voice was timid but Chan was used to it and was able to hear her over his earpeaces.

"Yeah you can, five minutes yeah?" He replied. "Do you need one of the boys to come with you-"

"No no no it's fine," she replied fast, way to fast for Chan's liking.

"Okay," he squinted his eyes in suspicion but let it go.

She grabbed her bag and made her way through the different hallway. Making sure no one was in sight, she slipped through the backdoor to the back way alley.

It was quiet. No one was there and she was glad. She let go of the sign that lingered in her chest and pulled out the pack of cigs that laid neatly in her small pouch.

Her hands shook as she grabbed one cigarette and put it between her lips where she lit it and took a big puff.

Her body relaxed as the smoke filled her lungs. Her brain that was going hellfire was now calm and relaxed as well.

She thought she was safe when she reached for the second one. None of the boys had called her phone and it had been about 5 minutes.

"Just one more," she thought to herself.

"Y/n?" a voice called right by her ear causing her to jump and drop the pack of cigs.

"What are you doing?" She turned to look at Hyunjin who was visibly angry.

His eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were sealed tightly together.

"Hyunjin what are you doing here?" She asked as she got on her knees trying to collect the cigarettes that were now scattered all over.

"What do you mean what are you doing here? What are YOU doing here Y/n? And why are you smoking? Have you gone mad? Does Chan know about this?" He questioned standing there in shock.

"No,no Chan doesn't know about this and you're not telling him," Y/n hushed him trying to stop him from shouting and yelling.

"I think you've actually gone insane! Ofcourse I'm telling Chan,” he grabbed the cigarettes from Y/n's hand and threw them back to the ground where he stomped all over them.

"Inside. Now." He said through gritted teeth. Y/n was scared, it was visible. She grabbed her back and slowly made her way inside the venue. Her lips quivered.

"Hyunjin please don't tell Chan, please I'll do anything," she begged.

"I have to Y/n. I'm so disappointed in you. We trusted you and you do this?" His eyes couldn't meet hers. His body was tense as they walked backstage to the rooms in the back. The hallways gettin busier each second. The employees questioning why she was crying.

"Are you okay-"

"Yes she is please go along with your work," Hyunjin snapped at one of the ladies. Y/n looked up at him frightened because he was always nice to people, he never once raised his voice at an employee.

When they arrived in the room. The boys were sat on the couches or having lunch. Chan was texting on his phone when he looked up.

"Y/n? Why did you bathroom break take so long?" He laughed and looked at Hyunjin who wasn't smiling.

"I caught her smoking Chan, she reeks of cigarettes" her head fell and she looked at her new trainers that one of the companies had sent her for promotion. It looked so intriguing all of a sudden.

"You caught her what? Hyunjin your joking," Chan laughed, "please tell me your joking," he paused and looked at the serious Hyunjin.

"Tell him, tell him now." He slightly pushed her in front of him so they could be face to face.

"I-I can explain Chan,"

"No way Y/n please tell me you're joking," his voice became harsh. The boys all turned to Y/n. They were all shocked at this because she was the last person to ever do such a thing.

"What the fuck?" Changbin's voice sounded. "You've been smoking?"

"Only a little," her voice was small. Timid almost.

"Don't lie, please don't fucking lie right now Y/n." Chan says walking closer to the younger.

"Sit down, now." Leeknow says standing up and dropping his chopsticks.

"Your only 19, I get your all 'grown' BUT your still so young. You're an idol. An idol!" Chan's hand smashes against the table making her jump in her sit.

"Okay then if you think I'm an adult I should be able to smoke or drink or-"

"Are you out of your mind momo?" He snapped back at her, "Do you know what it does to you?"

"But Chan-"

"Quit Or I'll make you quit," was all Chan said before he stormed out the room leaving her with the boys who looked very disappointed.

"I get it, you don't have to look at me like I'm some monster," she wiped her tears with her sleeve to clean the tears that run down her cheeks.

"I just don't have words for you right now, your irresponsible, selfish and careless," Leeknow's words were harsh. So harsh that even Hyunjin cringed and felt bad.

"Then kick me out the band if it's such a big deal," was all she said before she got up and run out the room down the hallway past Chan who was standing by the doors while a manger tried to calm him down and out the stadium. It was cold and she had left all her stuff inside so she was forced to run down the busy streets of New York, freezing.

Chan following after her trying to figure out what was going on.

Her body was shaking from all the tears she cried.

But she continued to run.

She was able to disappear from Chan’s sight. Now Chan was really angry and worried. He'd lost his youngest in the busy streets of New York. She was new to the city and she was an idol. Anything could go wrong. Anything could go extremely wrong.

His heart was beating out of his chest. He grabbed his phone out of his picked rushing to call his manager then leeknow and the boys.

He found himself back in the changing rooms surrounded by everyone. Trying to calm him down.

"I'll go back to the hotel just in case she's back there," Felix assured Chan while he packed up his stuff.

"I'll come with you Lix," Hyunjin grabbed his bag aswell making sure to grab her stuff from the ground. He opened to make sure all her stuff was inside but the site wasn't pretty at all.

Underneath everything he saw 4 more packs of cigarettes causing him to gasp horrendously.

"What? What is it?" Bangchan's neck snapped to his direction. Hyunjin had no words so he just passed the bag to Chan who was now terrified.

"Is she addicted?" Was all he asked before handing the bag to leeknow who was curious aswell.

Chan's hands run through his hair as he was thinking of all the possible ways he could find her in the whole of New York City. He felt guilt. He felt like if he had maybe approached this in a nicer way they could have worked through it but now his anger was just blinding him.

"Okay, police were informed and we're about to go driving around to see if we can somehow spot her," their manager tells them (he was also panicking low key but he didn’t want them knowing) , "do you guys want to join?"

"I'll come with you," Leeknow says quickly.

His hands were shaking and he felt so much guilt aswell. If anything happened to Y/n it would be all his fault and he wouldn't forgive himself.

"Same Hyung," Han jumps in.

They all grabbed their bags and the three (Han, Leeknow and Chan) quickly rushed out right behind their manager.

The rest of the boys cleaned up and quickly left to go to the hotel hoping to find her there safe and sound.

It took 5 hours. 5 hours before Felix had decided to go to the cafe by the hotel to grab drinks for everyone and he had found her sat in a coffee shop, she was shivering and cold but Felix didn’t care because he was angry and Felix was never angry. Without hesitation, Felix dragged her out and back to the hotel even if she was kicking and screaming. He didn’t care. At all. He ignored her pleas and cries.

The lecture she got from Chan and all of them was hot and mean and ruthless but at the end of the day they gave her a choice to either quit or go to rehab but she chose to quit. She “promised” them.

After an hour of grilling her for answers she finally had admitted to everything that was going on and how she felt and how she was battling her own self.

Chan was beating himself up for not noticing and Leeknow was beating himself up for not being there for her.

She was so vulnerable. They all knew her secrets and her problems. She felt like a show everyone was just watching and waiting to break.

6:20, Japan

The first time the boys had noticed her odd behavior was starting up again, was when they had a sign meet and a concert right after. She hadn’t been able to go for a smoke in hours, her body was now trembling and she was sweating a lot. She could barely get through anything and nausea started to grow string in the pit of her stomach.

“Hey, you okay? You kinda look pale love,” Han was sat next to her getting his makeup done and so was she. He had notice she was fidgeting a lot in the chair. Her eyes were red too.

“Yeah just really tired,” she lied and gulped down thick saliva trying to get rid of the nausea but it completely failed.

“I think I’m going to be sick-“ she got up from the chair and run through the corridors to find the bathroom and once she did she through up, but it was good it was just mucus. Her head was thumping and her throat ached.

A hurried knock made her stand up and flush before she opened the door and collapsed in Han’s hands. He was worried for his younger and now he had to curry her to the rooms.

“Hey, stay with me okay? Don’t close your eyes,” he softly said while he blew air into her face to keep her cool.

When he had walked in and found leeknow sat on their changing room couch he let out a sigh of relief.

“Leeknow help me please! It’s Y/n,” he said panicked. Without hesitation leeknow stood up quickly and took her from Hans hands and put her on the couch to lay down.

Han had run down the corridor to get medics as leeknow woke her up from her faint state.

“Momo? Can you hear me? It’s leeknow,” a soft groan left her lips.

“Would you like some water?” She nodded her head and leeknow was on it. He got on one knee and started to feed her small sips of water.

“Tell me what hurts,” he softly said and played with her hair to calm her down.

“Everything,” she softly said and it aches Leeknow’s hurt.

Y/n knew the only way for her to get out of this state was to smoke but how?

“Leeknow, I- I need to use the bathroom,” she groaned and held her hand against her head.

“If you need to puke i’ll get you a bucket love,” he assured her. He didn’t want her waking and being left alone right now. He wouldn’t allow it.

“I need to pee,”

“Okay can you wait until the medics are here?” And right on cue the door opens and a frantic Han walks into the room with a few people behind him. Then Chan and Hyunjin walked in right behind.

“What happened Y/n?” Chan asked straight away and knelt beside her while he rubbed her hands.

“I don’t know Oppa, I was just not feeling the best,”

“You should have told me my love,” he softly said as he watched the medical team examine her.

“I thought it wasn’t this bad,”

“Now you see what it has done,” Hyunjin joint the conversation. “Look how tired you look, have you eaten anything all day?” He asked her.

“I had the lunch Changbin braught me,”

“So if we called Changbin right now he would agree?” Hyunjin furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms. Disappointed.

“No-“

“How bad is it?” Chan asked the man in uniform.

“Not bad, she’s just really dehydrated. We’ll fix an IV on her arm and she’ll be good to go, also may I speak to you outside in the corridor,” Leeknow looks at Chan worried and they exchanged the same expression before Chan head out with the guy.

“I need to pee really bad,” Y/n whines and complains.

“Okay you can go, I’ll come with you,” the lady medic says and slowly guides her to the bathroom. Y/n grabs her lighter and cig and started to smoke it. The feelings make her body slowly awaken and then gain energy. She smoked one more just incase and then washed her hands and made her way back to the last medic.

She was able to walk on her own but just to make it not look suspicious she held onto her and then finally she sat on the couch and got the iv in her arm.

Chan was back in the room and he was examining her. Trying to look for something and once it caught his eye he looked over at the rest of the boys nodding and they all just stare at eachother.

They knew. They knew she was smoking again and it hurt Chan for what was about to come was not going to be pretty.

10:55, south Korea

The paparazzi lights started to increase when She stood up in the podium. Her eyes were red and she had eyebags from the lack of sleep she was getting.

Her hands shook as she grabbed the microphone. The boys stood right behind her. Their head looking at the ground trying to avoid her shaking body.

"Goodmorning, my name is Y/n Y/l/n and I'm a member of strays kids. I didn't want this to happen. Trust me I didn't,"

She took a deep breath looking at the manager that were sat in the front raw. Judging her and giving her a disgusted look.

A sob Left her mouth and she put the microphone down. Trying to get herself together before she spoke again.

"To all the stays out there, I want to say I love you and I hope you guys can forgive me for this. I will be going on haitus for a while," the room is filled with gasps as the flashlights now increase even more.

"I pray that if I do come back I will be better and stronger for you guys and that I will make my group and team proud. Thank you for loving me and i hope to see you guys soon," she bowed before taking a step back and wiping her tears.

The boys all stood around her to hide her body from the camera. Han rubbing her back and whispering something in her ear.

She didn't care though, she was upset. She was so upset with herself but she still managed to blame the boys. Her reasoning? Because she felt like they were giving her up and sending her away.

"Alright, are you all packed?" Their manager stood outside her room.

"Yeah" she softly said rolling her bag out and handing it to the older man.

"Alright the boys are down stairs if you want to say bye, I'll be waiting in the car," he nodded and left her to close her room and head down the steps to her band mates.

They all looked upset, there was no lie there. There were all stood by the door giving her a sympathetic smile.

"I'm going to miss you," Chan steps up and pulls her into a hug. She didn't want it though. She shrugged it off and stood there looking at him with teary eyes.

"Chan please don't do this,"

"You know I want was best for you-"

"But Chan I'll change I promise just give me a chance,"

His eyes were soft and filled with tears. Guilt was eating him up. He so badly wanted not to send her away but he didn't have a choice.

"I'm sorry," the sound of a honk interrupts them and she knew it was time for her to go.

“I hate you,” she sobbed. That was the last thing she said to him and without looking back she left the dorms. Hoping that somehow she would make it out alive.

Breaking news, strays kids maknae Y/N Y/N/L and group manager in have been left in critical condition after a fatal car crash. Was it a set up?

I’m not doing a part two🙈

#skz imagines #skz comfort #skz x reader #skz angst #skz drabbles #skz fluff #skz stay #skz x y/n #skz x you #stray kids drabbles #stray kids as boyfriend material #straykids x reader #stray kids angst #stray kids fanfic #stray kids x y/n #stray kids fluff #stray kids imagines #stray kids scenarios #straykids

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silvervioletvalentine · 3 months

Text

‘I know I've got a big ego, I really don't know why it's such a big deal, though!’

Pairing : Lewis Hamilton X FemOC Candy!

Summary- in which she’s a spoilt , Primadonna girl and Lewis will do anything to get her to be his girl.

Candy didn’t know when this whole thing had started, what it was about her that had him so hooked and so obsessed with the idea of getting her to become his girl , to let him be her man.

She had done everything she could to deter him , she turned up to a high class bitchiness level that she had never even reached before . More cunty and more cruel than her friends could believe , getting great amusement out of putting one of the hottest , arrogant men down a few pegs every time she seen his pretty face .

But sometimes he got beneath her skin and wormed his over the top affections , his poetic words and endless promises of the a luxurious life he could give her.

Candy was certain that he would give her his kidney If she so much as hinted at wanting it, his promise of never ending supply of love and gifts never did fade .

Even when she thought that maybe , just maybe he had finally grown sick of chasing after her like a dog after his favourite ball.

It had been quite for the last three weeks , far more quite than she had grown accustomed to over the last year of knowing Lewis.

It unsettled her , a weird ache settling between her chest as she contemplated the fact that maybe he really had grown bored with her silly games , of her constant mean rejections and petty excuses to deny his affections time and time again.

And candy thought that she would be fine with this , that it wouldn’t bother her when things came to a still end like they always did with men’s attention waned on her after time had passed .

But instead of the indifference that she expected to feel , she just felt like a hole had been run right through her .

A frown settling over her pretty face the last few weeks when she realised that Lewis really wasn’t reaching out anymore . He usually never went a couple days or more without some type of communication .

It bad her rattled and she didn’t like it at all.

So she picked up her phone and dialled his number before she could find the reason in her brain telling her not to .

She was almost surprised when after only a couple of rings , he actually picked up. But she was too annoyed and too keyed up to even think of why he sounded so amused when he sang a pleased hello.

She cut straight through him without even wasting a single breath .

“Have you been in a terrible accident ? Have you lost your legs? Your voice? Have you sudden developed amnesia and forgotten who I am?” She bit out at him , offended by his lack of attention these past three weeks.

Despite the way that the last time she had seen him, she had told him to shove his designer gifts for her where the sun didn’t shine and to leave her the fuck alone.

To be fair , she had been on her period . Pissed off from the constant pain and moody from her suffering . And secondly , she hasn’t expected him to actually leave her the fuck alone.

This wasn’t how their game went at all. He should have been here with some pretty , sparkly things while telling her how much he had missed her.

What the hell was he playing at , ignoring her like this?

“Missed me sweetheart? I thought you didn’t want to see me? Changed your mind again?” He teased her , a giddy tone in his phone at the thought of her missing him so much.

It had been torture for him not to be Constantly on her ass and around her like he usually was , but he had just wanted to see what would happen if he really did follow through with her demands to fuck right off.

Half expecting Her to never reach out again, he was pleasantly surprised to hear her furious voice shouting at him again. It made his body relax and a smug grin settle on his face .

Candy let out a infuriated noise “no I didn’t! I was actually - I was actually just calling to let you know that I’ve moved on! adiós to you!” She shrilled.

Picking up her fluffy cat and hugging him to her chest with her free arm for comfort , the same rag doll that Lewis had gotten her for simply looking pretty this summer.

Lewis let out a chuckle , knowing her like his favourite well read book.

“Oh yeah? And who’s the lucky guys name? Anyone I know?” He played along. Putting his phone on speaker as he drove along the familiar road to her home .

Candy scowled to herself , angrily pacing her room at how amused he sounded . Her eyes traced the framed pictures on her wall, landing on one from her favourite band .

She blinked .

“No you don’t know him. His name is - his name is axl. The hottest man I’ve ever seen, we’re in love.” She blurted out wanting to make him as upset as he had made her these last few weeks of ignoring her .

Lewis was clearly grinning , she could hear his smug , beautiful grin through the damn phone .

“Cool name . Well If you’re happy…” he trailed off .

Candy was officially enraged “you don’t care?!” She almost screamed angrily. Tears filling her eyes .

His voice was careful as he replied smugly “do you want me to care sweetheart?”

She paused , sniffled then huffed loudly . “No. I don’t care if you don’t care!”

Lewis grinned to himself “okay cool. So just to be clear , you’ve moved on with some guy named Axl and you don’t care that I don’t care?” He teased.

Candy put down her poor cat and threw herself down onto the couch with a scowl on her face , wrapped herself in a blanket and tried not to cry.

“Correct.” Was all she hiccuped “well then- I’m glad we’ve cleared this up asshole. Thanks for not caring!” She made sure to get the last word in before she angrily hung up the phone .

Then she screamed into her pillow .

Only Abruptly pausing her long scream halfway when a loud knock echoed on her door.

She quickly straightened up and threw on Lewis’s hoodie that he had left last time he was here annoying her . Stomping to the door with the sourness of someone who felt like she has been dumped even though she wasn’t even in a relationship to start with.

What was her life?

She threw open the door ready to grab whatever parcel was being delivered , then froze as she came face to face with a grinning Lewis at her door.

Dressed in a beautiful dark red tracksuit set , skin glowing and hair braided back perfectly . Candy suddenly felt self conscious as she became acutely aware of her messy bed hair and mascara rimmed eyes , dressed in nothing but pj shorts and his hoodie .

“Hey baby.” He simply said after a few seconds of her gaping at him with wide eyes. Then he casually shuffled past her body, his band grazing her hip gently as he stepped into her apartment like it was his own.

It took her a few moments to gather her bearings before she was slamming the door shut and turning to him with a mean glower on her face . Heart racing in her chest at his sudden arrival.

“What are you doing here?!” She exclaimed shocked , and annoyingly relieved that he was finally there with her .

She kicked his foot , hard. Angry with him.

Lewis just smiled , leaned forward to gently run his fingers through her hair affectionately.

“Came to see you and your new boyfriend Axl.” His eyes darted to her picture of Axl rose on her wall as he said it.

Candy swallowed leaning into his touch for a moment before coming to her senses and batting his hand away.

“You just missed him.” She lied.

Lewis chuckled , amused ? knowing that she was lying and knowing that she knew that he knew that she was lying too.

“How convenient.” Was all he replied before taking a seat at the end of her couch, sitting on the arm of it . He looked up at her with his smile softening into something more warm and lovely .

“I’ve missed you. You look as beautiful as ever.” He told her softly , taking a hold of the hem of her shorts to tug her closer between his legs .

She let him. Cheeks flushing lightly as she gazed into his warm eyes , feeling her body turned to mush.

“Really?” She wondered then looked around him with a slight frown “where’s my gift?”

Lewis let out a loud laugh at how spoilt she was, though he supposed it was partly his fault. He never did arrive without a gift for his sweetheart after all.

“Don’t I get a hug first? I know you missed me.” He teased her, trailing his hand up to her waist and gently rubbing her soft skin beneath his hoodie .

She let her arms rest over his broad shoulders , pouting down at him.

“You said you didn’t care that I moved on.” She mumbled annoyed with him still.

He chuckled , hugging her to him . Resting his chin on her stomach as he peered up at her beneath his dark lashes .

“What? Moved on with Axl rose your imaginary boyfriend? Don’t be silly baby. You know I’m the only one for you.” He told her softly , smiling up at her with affection written all over his beautiful face.

Candy frowned down at him , playing with the diamond stud in his ear .

“I don’t like you.” She reminded him just out of habit by now.

Instead of getting upset , he just giggled at her stubbornness to Admit what he already knew. “Then why were you upset that I didn’t care?”

“I wasn’t upset and I don’t care that you don’t care Lewis. I just think it was mean to abandon me like that for three weeks . I thought you were dead.” She dramatically snapped .

She had watched him at his races . She knew that he was perfectly fine. Which only upset her more because then what other excuse did he have for ignoring her like that then?

Death was the only reasonable excuse to do that!

He rose a brow at her , lifting her hoody to look at the sparkly diamond H belly stud that she had on. The same one he had given her last time he saw her.

He bent down his head and gently kissed it, smirking to himself as he felt her whole body shiver against his lips.

“Don’t like me ignoring you? Now you know how I feel. Isn’t nice is it?” He mumbled against another soft kiss on her belly . Only pulling away when she slapped his forehead not so gently .

He looked up to see her glaring down at him, furious.

“I do not ignore you like that!” She denied.

He rolled his eyes “you told me to go fuck myself the last time I was here. Then refused to pick up my calls the rest of the week.” He reminded her.

She just scoffed “I was upset! I was bleeding from my vagina Lewis! Not everything is about you! I wasn’t in the mood for your games!” She argued.

He paused, then tilted his head with a slight frown. “You could have just told me that. I would have gotten you a heating pad and some chocolate. You didn’t have to be so mean baby.” He said.

She just sniffled at him , gently rubbing at the back of his neck with her fingers absentmindedly. “I’m not mean.”

The look he gave her was full of disbelief “no? Then why aren’t you my girl then?” His question had her stumped.

She spluttered for answer , blinking rapidly . “Well- cause I’m not impressed.” She answered him shortly.

He barked out a laugh “no?” He grinned looking up at her with eyes full of amusement .

“The jewellery and the clothes weren’t enough? The cat , the paid of loans and your car? Still not impressive enough?” He listed off all of the things he had gotten her this past year . Growing more amused by the second as he watched her stubbornly shake her head at him.

“Nope.” She muttered arrogantly .

“Then what would it take for you to be my girl?” He wanted to know.

She searched her mind for something “a mansion like yours. With a king size bed. And - and your Ferrari.” She said the most ridiculous thing she could think of. Something he couldn’t give her.

His eyes searched her face for a long moment before simply humming . “Will you stay at mine tonight with me? Roscoe misses you.” He said already getting to his feet .

He grabbed her phone and keys from the table , not even waiting for an answer before heading to her door. Knowing she would follow him.

She did .

“What will we do? I don’t want to bored all night.” She huffed as she followed him out.

Letting him lock her door, absentmindedly grabbing his hand as he lead her down her apartment stairs . Missing the way he smiled down at her , shaking his head fondly .

They were almost to the car when he finally responded , making her skin flush red and knees weaken as he bluntly told her

“I’m going to fuck you so hard till you know no other name than mine . Then I’m going to eat you out for however long it takes for you to realise that there’s no one better for you than me baby.” He kissed the side of her head before pushing her down into the passenger seat casually .

Candy just blinked up at him in shock , face red and belly fluttering . “Oh. Okay.” She weakly spluttered in response .

Lewis just smirked and flicked her chin lightly before closing the door shut, jogging around to the drivers side quickly .

And Lewis never broke his promises. And by the time the stars were twinkling bright , his name was all she could scream .

When candy woke up the next morning , it was to the sound of Lewis ‘awwing’ loudly at something .

She grumbled to herself as she pushed herself out of his bed , blushing at the fact that she was wearing nothing but his shirt .

Lewis having put It on her while she exhaustedly let him look after her and tuck her into his chest , kissing her head gently as she drifted off to sleep.

Yawning loudly , she stomped her way down the fancy stairs of his home . Grumpy from being woken up .

“What the hell are you awwing at you weirdo?” She called out to Lewis the moment she caught sight of him in the hallway.

He looked over at her with a bright smile on his face , beckoning her over for a hug. She immediately fell into his chest , still tired as she lazily hugged him back.

“Roscoe loves kitties . It’s so cute.” Lewis casually told her , stroking her hair away from her face as she tried to wake up properly.

“Huh?” She let out confusedly wondering why he looked so smug and amused . Then she turned her head and froze as she saw roscoe cuddled up with mr snuggles , her cat .

She blinked at her cat in Lewis’s home , with his dog. Wondering if she was still dreaming .

Then She glanced over to the front room and saw her Tiffany lamps and her cushions on his couch , glancing down at the carpet to see her heart shaped rug there too.

She gasped loudly in shock “what the fuck?!” She immediately turned back to Lewis with wide eyes, gaping at him.

“Why are my things In your house? Why is my kitty here? What the fuck?!” She shouted in absolute disbelief .

Lewis just smiled at her serenely , clearing pleased with himself . He leaned down to stroke her cat when he walked over to him purring , leaving Candy to just blink at him in disbelief .

“You said that the only way you would be with me is if you had a mansion with a king side bed and well…” he pointedly looked around his mansion and the king sized bed she had gotten out of . Grinning proudly at her as he did so.

“What’s mine is now yours baby. And also…” he dug his hand into his hoodie pocket and pulled out some keys .

He opened up her placed and gently placed them in her hand. “There’s my keys to my Ferrari that you wanted as well.” He said.

Candy felt like she was going to pass out .

Gaping at this insane man that was more than happy to give her everything he had. She felt her heart swell in her chest, briefly looking down at the Ferrari keys in her hand and all her things in his home .

She spluttered “but-what? I can’t just live with you! That’s insane!” Her hands were trembling

around the keys at his casual devotion to giving her whatever the hell she wanted .

Lewis just shrugged casually , walking over to her slowly like she was a spooked animal. And maybe she was , she sure felt like a deer in headlights then.

What the fuck was her life?

“Why not? I’m in love with you and I’m pretty sure you’re in love with me. I want you by my side , always. And what better way than living with you?” He simply explained like it was that easy. And maybe for him it was .

Candy just looked at him like he had grown a third head.

“That’s pretty arrogant to assume that I love you Lewis!” She snapped at him stubbornly . Blushing red. “What if I hated your guts? This would be real awkward for you!”

Lewis just laughed at her attitude “oh yeah? So the ‘please Lewis! Fuck me harder Lewis! Just like that baby! all that was because you hated me was it?” He smugly copied her high pitched voice screaming last night .

Making her quickly slap his bicep with a embarrassed gasp, face feeling like it was on fire.

“Lewis!” She shrieked while he just giggled harder

“shut up! I do not sound like that! How dare you?!”

Lewis rolled his eyes at her fondly “how dare me? How dare you! Why are you being so god damn stubborn? Why can’t you just admit that you love me? We could be married by now if you just stopped being so mean!” He exclaimed right back at her in exasperation.

But never angry, no, not with her. He loved her

Too damn much after all.

“I’m not mean! Fuck you!” She yelled back.

“You already did and will again after you just admit that I’m right!”

“Oh you’d like that wouldn’t you? Mr always right!” She sarcastically shouted back.

Lewis snorted a laugh “so you don’t want me then? Don’t want to live with me and drive my Ferrari?” He challenged her.

She paused , then fidgeted with the diamond tennis bracelet that Lewis had gotten for her , on her wrist .

“I didn’t - I didn’t say that-“

He grinned smugly “admit it then. Go on.” He gave her a nudge , utterly beaming by now .

Candy huffed like a child and rolled her eyes at him . “I just - are you serious?” She eyed him like he was playing some nasty , elaborate joke on her . Waiting for him to shout ‘gotchu girl!’.

Lewis squinted his eyes at her in disbelief “are you serious?” He returned the question to her in slight annoyance at her doubting him after everything .

“I’m obviously very serious baby , my god! Your cat is in my house and I just have you my Ferrari! What a weird, expensive joke that would be!” He exclaimed.

What a strange woman he was in love with he thought , so suspicious of him , Jesus!

Candy sniffed , clutched her diamond necklace on her neck (another gift from him) and slowly nodded her head.

“right . Well..” she uncomfortably cleared her throat , not one for being sappy or emotional over a man but damn , her heart was about to burst right now.

“Thanks babe.” She settled on lamely instead.

Lewis looked at her grimacing face then burst out into hysterical giggles . “You’re so welcome sweetheart. Come ‘ere” he tugged her over to him by her folded arm, grinning into her hair as he hugged her tightly to his chest .

His stubborn , spoilt girl.

Candy hugged him back without any hesitation, squeezing his waist tight . Sighing in content , she planted a gentle kiss on his chest .

“Lew?” She spoke up after another minute of just standing there cuddling in the front room while their pets stared at them like they were watching a entertaining show .

His smile was evident in his voice “yeah baby?”

She sighed in defeat , too happy to care about her pride anymore . “You’re so right by the way.” She admitted to him quietly .

He hummed smugly “yeah?”

She nodded with a huff “yeah.” She pulled away slightly to look into his eyes , he was so fucking beautiful it made her want to cry.

All mine. She almost growled , kissing his mouth just because she could . Lewis sighed against her lips happily

“Say it baby. Come on..” he whispered against her mouth , lips curling into a grin when she just sighed again.

“I love you. So much. And I missed you so don’t do that shit to me again. I’m not one to be ignored.” She told him sternly , pointing a nail into his chest.

He giggled and kissed her again “noted. Do not ignore my girl again.” He murmured then “and I love you too. You stubborn, mean girl.”

“Babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I have your Mercedes too? Just for Wednesdays?”

A pause , then “why Wednesday’s?” He asked amused.

She shrugged as she let him pull her down onto the couch to continue making out , side eyeing her blanket on his couch.

When the hell did he even do all this? She wondered? Still In disbelief that he had all her things moved into his home (their home now?) while she was asleep.

Was a sneaky little guy.

“Just to shake things up a little.” She replied simply.

Lewis didn’t even hesitate to agree.

Maybe she’d buy him a vegan waffle for dinner to repay him, she thought with a grin as she accepted his Mercedes car keys too.

She needed some new keychains , she thought mindlessly . Imagining the looks on her friends face when she rolled up in his Ferrari for their weekend brunches .

If this was a game , she had totally won. She thought to herself contently as she felt Lewis trail kisses down her neck.

A new mansion, two new cars and Lewis fucking hamilton as her man.

Oh yeah, she had totally won in life .

#lewis hamilton imagine #f1 imagine #formula one imagine #f1 fic #f1 oneshot #formula 1 imagine #lewis hamilton oneshot

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upsidedownwithsteve · 4 months

Note

Hi!! I missed you and your writing a bunch and never got the chance to congratulate you on the wee babe! So happy for you and your partner ❤️

If you are willing to do any Eddie blurbs, maybe you could do a kind of slow burn, sexy lil one for the Eddie girlies (me) 😂 I know the blurbs are quite short so obviously a slow burn isn’t meant for that but maybe just something that is full of some delicious/thick sexual tension!

I know I’ll love anything and everything you’ll write so I can’t wait to see what you come up with 😘😘😘😘

thank you my lovely! I wasn’t sure if I hit the brief here, so I hope you like it! 🧡

It was ridiculous, you knew that.

An entirely, enormously ridiculous way for someone your age to act. But Eddie Munson was far prettier up close and he was softer than you’d imagined, a little clumsy and funny even when he didn’t mean to be.

And he was friends with your friend. You’d watched in awe one day when he pulled Robin into a one armed hug outside of the town library, his arm slung familiarly around her shoulders and when she introduced you with your name and a nudge to your ribs, Eddie Munson turned his wide smile onto you and you suddenly realised there could be things that were brighter than the sun.

It was an awful, pretty thing, to have a crush.

A cloying, silly thing that made your body flush with heat and your stomach feel too tight. It made your to tongue too big for your mouth, it made you tear your wardrobe apart looking for the perfect outfit, just on the off chance of getting to see him. And when someone mentioned his name, your breath would catch in your chest and your heart threatened to explode, to shatter your ribcage and announce itself to everyone around you by throwing itself dramatically onto the floor below.

You think Eddie knew. He had to. Either because you were awful at hiding it or your friends couldn’t keep their mouths shut. He didn’t tease, not really. Eddie had found out rather quickly that you weren’t as used to being teased in the way he did with Nancy, or Steve. So he was so much more gentle with you, but god, you noticed the way he grinned a little too much when he leaned down to talk by your ear, watching for the parting of your lips at his proximity, the way your hands would curl into your pockets.

So he took to trying out something new each day, a slow but sure thing. He promised you shotgun when the rest of the kids moaned and had to clamber into the back of the van, throwing you a wink and a little bow as he held the door open for you.

One day he brought pizza for games night, five boxes of it stacked in his arms on top of a monopoly case. And when no one else was looking, he produced some twizzlers from his pocket, easing them into your hands and whispering that they were “just for you and him, alright?”

Another wink, another grin, another thing to set your body alight.

Then during movies, he made sure to steal the seat next to you, sinking down into Nancy’s couch cushions, pretending not to notice how his body melted into yours. He was a solid wall of heat, much softer without leather and denim but when his bare arm touched yours, your body turned electric, your brain buzz and fizz.

And when it got dark enough and everyone was too busy arguing over the best Star Wars, Eddie’s hand moved from his own lap to lay next to yours on the sofa. His pinky finger touched your own, something you would’ve thought was an accidental touch if it hadn’t happened twice.

When you found the courage to peer at his face in the shadows, his straight nose and flushed cheeks highlighted red from Darth Vaders lightsaber, you saw the twitch of his mouth, the beginnings of the smile he could never seem to contain.

He kept his hand there all night and magically, amazingly, touching the courage to do the same - even if your ribcage was taking a beating from the way your heart pounded against your bones.

You were sure you were permanently scalded from being around Eddie Munson.

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson fic #Eddie Munson fanfiction #Eddie Munson blurb #eddie munson imagine #Eddie Munson oneshot #Eddie baby blurb

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streaminn · 11 months

Text

There was something heavy in Enid’s mind as she awoke but even then, the tell tale of someone tracing a finger on her skin was obvious.

She didn’t need to think of who it was before she spoke. There was no way it could be anyone else.

“Willa… What are you doing?” Enid grumbled, eyes hazily opening to see the God leaning over her.

Wednesday tilted her head as her fingers played with the tips of blond hair. She twirled it as she continued to stare. The ends are faded, Enid notes. Hard to keep an eye on dying her hair when there’s better things to focus her money on.

Maybe she can save up in a month or so. Money is easier now that she doesn’t have to worry much on what to spend on food.

“Observing, dear,” the woman says, tilting her head and Enid watches the way her fringe sweeps across her face.

She’s pretty.

In reply to that, Enid just garbled a noise, not even attempting to question why. It was too early for her to be awake so she simply chalked it into being a God thing. Weirder things have happened after all.

She falls asleep with a hand combing through her hair and light caresses near her neck. It’s comforting and if she turns to nuzzle closer into that feeling that’s her business.

The next time Enid wakes up again, she’s a lot more lucid but it didn’t stop her from feeling the sharp shock of someone straddling her.

There’s a haze still in her mind, so all she could do is let out a lil groan as her body ached.

“What did you do?” she mumbles as her eyes carefully rise to meet God’s. The light stern tone has Wednesday’s lips pulling into a look.

Fuck.

A glint of too early to comprehend glows in those gold irises and there’s a smile stretching across her face as she leant over the lying blond and- God, now isn’t the time to realise something Enid!

Wednesday may have disguised herself as some lovely woman but she’s crazy - absolutely batshit!

Something shot through her brain as Wednesday’s once casual tracing against her skin dug deep. It says something when instead of screaming like a normal person, Enid just hums and squints.

She’s going crazy.

She’s getting way too used to this insane person.

“Are you insulting me in that pretty head of yours, Cara Mia?”

Enid’s answer was a sharp hissing through her teeth as the nail went deeper. She already knows the right answer to that.

“D-” her breath hitched when Wednesday pulled her finger away to pop the bloodied digit into her mouth.

Aight okay, adding vampirism into the mix. Interesting.

“Duh!” Enid cheers, her lips pulling into what she hopes isn’t a grimace. “Simply thinking of how absolutely horrific you are at times.”

Wednesday looked pleased at that, head tilting in a way that quite reminds her of the crows that tend to follow her around. The sight has Enid properly allowing herself to let out a shuddering breath as the pain ebbed into a small throb. Only Wednesday would think an insult would be a compliment.

Enid doesn’t know how long they stayed like this. With her staring until her eyes hooded and the last thing she sees is the God shifting even closer.

Finally, the next time Enid awoke, she found herself in an empty bed.

It felt a little weird for a moment. To not feel that familiar presence of somebody by her side but then her rationality kicked in.

Not letting go of such an opportunity, she stumbles into the bathroom for some peace and quiet as she goes through her routine.

She wonders a little on why she is letting this stand.

But as her eyes trace the little marks marring her skin she can’t help but sigh. They always heal over, so all that’s remaining is either recently healed skin or some sort of bruise. It’s a reminder that she wasn’t just dealing with a random woman but a God.

Then the smell of delicious food wafts into the room and Enid couldn’t stop herself from perking up.

Well, it isn’t so bad.

She’s a little weird and she clearly bites and scratches but it’s like having a cat.

A not so big and inhuman cat.

The lil thought makes her laugh a bit. Yeah, because for a God she sure is short.

But, something catches her eyes as she rinses her mouth and so Enid pulls a little bit at her collar to stare at the written lines that scar her skin.

XIII

What the fuck.

#Devotion au #enid sinclair #Wenclair #Writing #Wednesday addams

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softestnatalie · 8 months

Text

Abandoned corridors of the heart

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x female!reader

Timing: Season 1

Chapter Summary: There are a few complications on Merle's rescue mission. Your group is forced to leave the camp as chaos erupts.

Warnings: swearing, mild language, blood, gore, character death

Autor's note: School's starting again in a week and I'm NOT ready. I'll have much less time to write :( so updates will proably take a few more days as soon as I have classes again, hope you can understand. Also, reader crying because of Daryl got my heart aching :( And the reader gets to see sb she thought she'd never see again ;)

Chapter 3: Everything changes

You're stronger than you think.

That's what your mother used to tell you whenever you needed to hear it - whenever something was putting you down. And right in this moment, you were trying so much to hold onto her words, an axe in your hands and a geek on the ground, a few men of the camp beating it up. Still, no matter how many punches they delieverd, it didn't die. You didn't exactly know how to help, but you did remember the moment you saved Daryl - he shot it right through the eye as soon as he'd been able to grab his crossbow. After that, it didn't move anymore, so you assumed the head was the important part.

You were just waiting for the right moment to interfere and when Rick hit the geek with a pitchork, the spikes piercing it's abdomen and forcing it to stay on the ground, you quickly pushed the other men out of the way, raising your arms high above your head before bringing them down with as much force as you could, cutting it's head off in a swift movement.

All of you were breathing heavily, drops of sweat running down your foreheads. Rick looked at you and nodded, saying thank you for your help. You nodded back and drooped the axe right next to the bodyless head, blood leaking from the open throat.

"That's the first one we had up here," Dale spoke after a few heavy seconds of silence, "They usually don't come that far up the hill."

"Maybe because the cities are getting empty," you decided to speak your mind, "I mean as far as we know, they bite humans - we're their food - they're searching for more," your eyes trailed to the poor deer laying on the ground, it's neck wide open and chewed up. Your heart ached for the animal, which had to give his life for no reason at all.

You jumped when you heard more rustling from the woods, grabbing Rick's arm - since he was closest to you - and hiding behind him. He turned his head to you and raised an eyerbrow, making you lower your head in embarrassment.

Shane raised his gun instantly, pointing it at the forest and waiting for the creature to show itself. You grabbed Rick's arm a bit harder when the rustling got closer as you held your breath, body tensing. You relaxed though, when you realised who it was.

Daryl stopped in his tracks, looking at the gun in shock before his eyes trailed to the dead deer on the ground, geek laying next to the animal. His shock turned into anger, "Son of a bitch," he walked closer, "That's mah deer. Been trackin' it fo' miles."

The geek's head started to move again, making you cringe and Daryl scoff, "Don' ya know anythin’, people? Gotta be the brain," he lifted his crossbow and just like the first time you'd met him, he shot an arrow right through the eye.

Your group decided to leave the deer for safety reasons since nobody knew if it was still edible after it got bit. And you really couldn't say you were disappointed about the news, you probably wouldn't have eaten it anyway - your guilty conscience way too big. Though, the squirrel Daryl brought back with him wouldn't be any better.

But before you went back to the camp, there was one thing you desperately wanted to do; bury the deer. You wanted to give the poor animal at least a little bit of peace. So, you begged Shane - since he was always the one to make desicions - to help you. And after a few minutes he actually agreed, shoveling a grave before laying the deer inside.

After you were satisfied, you made your way back inside the camp, Shane following behind you. And the first thing you saw was Rick arguing with Daryl, and you could only imagine what the argument was about.

Daryl was rubbing his forehead, his eyes narrowing in anger as you and Shane walked closer. It probably wsn't the smartest idea to interfere in what was happening but you were curious and you did want to know how Daryl would take the news about his brother.

"Hold on, lemme process this," Daryl turned away from Rick, rubbing over his eyes with his elbow - and you thought he looked close to crying by the way his face twisted up for only a second before he turned to face Rick again, "Ya sayin' ya cuffed mah brother to a roof," his voice raised in volume, practically screaming, "And ya fuckin' left 'im there?"

Rick put his hands on his hips - a move he seemed to be doing a lot, you noticed - and nodded, "Yeah," unlike Daryl's, his voice was calm.

A 'pfft' left Daryl's lips and he pursed his lips, pressing them together and trying to supress his upcoming rage. It didn't seem to work though as he grabbed the rope hanging on his left shoulder and threw the squirrel he'd caught into Rick's direction.

The situation escalated even more when Daryl pulled his knife out of the holster he had on his left hip, swinging his arm around widly, trying to hit Rick with the weapon. Luckily, Shane was able to put Daryl down before he actually got to hurt anyone.

Soon after, they decided to go back and get Merle and for some weird reason Shane decided to send you with them. He came up to you while the boys were preparing the truck, you about to go back into your tent when he spoke to you, "Think you should go with them."

You turned around and your mouth opened in shock when you realised he meant you. You. "Wha- why me?"

Honestly, the last thing you wanted to do was to go outside the camp because, really, you didn't have a death wish. Moreover, you had close to no experience killing geeks and the others having to look out for you constantly would just slow them down.

Shane shrugged, his left eye twitching a little, "You were doing a good job earlier, you know, helping us with the geek."

You shook your head quickly, a confused chuckle escaping your lips, "Shane, I had no idea what I was doing," you pulled the hair tie Lori had given you only a few hours ago off your wrist and put your hair up into a ponytail, "Really, I'd be more of a problem rather than help."

You tried to talk your way out of it but by the way he was looking at you, you knew there was no chance of you staying at the camp, "You're going," he walked away and continued talking with his back to you, "I'm sure it'll be okay."

And then he was gone. And you were left standing there, your eyes trailing after him until he disappeared from your sight and if looks could kill, he'd have died on the spot. His words didn't make any sense to you.

You've done great.

You surely hadn't done great. You had a conjecture and acted on it, basically trying your luck without knowing how it would go. And it's not like you actually killed the geek - Daryl did.

I'm sure it'll be okay.

You wondered how he could even say that after the situation which had happened just a day ago. The last group to leave the camp was faced with death and almost didn't make it back - and you were sure they were far more experienced than you. You were also sure about one more thing; you really didn't like Shane.

You were standing beside the truck when you had prepared yourself to go - and with prepared you meant getting a knife from Dale. You were still hoping someone would come and safe you from having to go since you were sure the four men would be fine without you, and there really wasn't any reason for you to go. Again, you questioned Shane's intentions.

"Oh," you lifted your head at Glenn's suprised voice, Daryl standing next to him, making you even more nervous. The absurdity of the situation wouldn't allow you to give the young man a smile. You. Going on a rescue mission to safe the brother of a man who acted like he despised you.

"Yeah," you muttured, nodding your head.

Glenn seemed to realise you didn't really like the idea of going with them - and he could understand, of course - so he didn't answer anymore, just nodded and gave you a reassuring smile as he opened the back doors of the truck to let you inside.

The ride was awkward. Glenn was driving the truck, Rick siting next to him in the passenger seat. Daryl and T-Dog were in the back with you, each one of you sitting in a different corner. None of you said a word.

It didn't take long before the vehicle stopped - the brake squeaking - and Glenn turned around to face the three of you, "We'll walk from here."

Daryl was the first to stand up and jump outside while you and T-Dog started at each other before he slowly stood up as well. You allowed yourself a few more seconds to take a few deep breaths, rubbing your thighs with your shaking hands as Glenn reached out his hand in order to help you out. And, honestly, Glenn was about to become your favorite person and, hopefully, a good friend over time.

The walk was short and only took a few more minutes until you were standing in front of a large building, the sun blending you when you looked into the sky to see the roof as best as you could. You just wanted to get Merle as fast as possible so y'all would be able to go 'home'.

But to everyone's suprise, the roof was empty, only a bloody and cold hand was left behind.

You covered your mouth as your eyes widened and a gasp left you, staring at the limb before you looked at the redneck when he started to scream for his brother. And you were almost scared he would attract geeks with how loud he was being.

Your group followed the trail of blood in hopes of finding him somewhere inside the building. But it didn't change anything.

Merle was gone.

"I lost my police bag when Glenn saved me," Rick said as he stopped Daryl from searching for his brother on his own, "We can go and get it. It's full of weapons - guns, lots of guns - and then we can look for him together."

Daryl stepped away from Rick's touch and thought about the spoken words before he gave a curt nod, "We can do tha'."

And so it was decided. Your group made a plan how to get the police bag first and for that plan to work, you had to be in pairs. And, of course, just your luck, you were paired with Daryl. While Glenn would be the one to run and get the bag, Rick and T-Dog would wait around a corner while you and Daryl would wait around another corner to be able to help Glenn if anything went wrong.

And, oh, a lot of things went wrong.

Before you could react, there was a boy standing in front of you, screaming in a language you couldn't understand - but you assumed it sounded like spanish. Daryl raised his crossbow but before he could do anything, two older men came running towards the three of you, pushing Daryl to the ground and giving him a kick in his side.

Right in that moment, Glenn returned with the bag and a hat in his hands, looking at Daryl before his eyes trailed to you. His expression matched yours; mouth opened wide just as well as your eyes.

You ran to get Daryl's crossbow, which was laying a few meters away from him, as soon as the men's attention was on Glenn, sprinting over to him. It was heavier than you thought and your arms burned a bit when you picked it up and gave it to Daryl, who managed to shoot an arrow into one man's ass.

The next thing you knew, you were picked up and thrown over a shoulder before you got pushed inside a car, Glenn right after you.

"Daryl!" you screamed a few times until the car started moving and there was nothing the redneck could do to safe you. The car was small, you and Glenn sitting shoulder to shoulder, so he could feel your shaking body right next to him.

"We're gonna be all right," he whispered but it did little to calm you. And you loathed Shane for forcing you to go on that stupid mission, all you had done was give Daryl his crossbow, so why were you even there?

It took at least an hour until your kidnappers reached their destination. One of the men opened your door and grabbed your arm, pulling you out and leading you and Glenn inside what looked like a hospital.

"Ese," there was a light voice calling and the man behind you turned around, looking at the source of the noise, "What?" the unknown man lifted his arms, pointing them in your direction and having a look of utter confusion on his face, "Who are they?"

You lowered your head as the two of them started to discuss about you and Glenn, rocking back and forth on your feet. You were scared of them and what they would or could do to you. Nobody would be there to help.

"I said grab the bag, not bring two strangers with you!"

The voice pulled you out of your thoughts and only a few seconds later were you led further down the white corridors. And the sight you were met with almost eased your fear just the tiniest bit. Old people. A lot of old people. They were sitting in their chairs, just enjoying their time and it almost looked like a retirement home.

"You can just sit down if you want," the unknown man said, pointing at a few empty chairs. You and Glenn looked at each other and you raised your eyebrows as if to ask him what he thought, him responding with a little shrug and a nod. So, the both of you walked over in small steps and sat down.

That was pretty much how you spent the next few hours, just sitting there and watching the old people talk, occasionally standing up to change position or help somebody. At some point, you were brave enough to start talking to Glenn, not being all too scared anymore.

It was pretty late already, the sun starting to go down when the man from earlier walked in again but this time with a familiar face.

Rick.

You nudged Glenn with your shoulder as soon as you saw the member of the camp, nodding into his direction so that Glenn could see him as well. Daryl and T-Dog followed soon after, looking around skeptically.

"I thought you two were bein' eaten by dogs," T-Dog said when he saw you and Glenn walking towards them. And you almost laughed when the korean man raised an eyebrow and turned around, looking at the three tiny chihuahuas as they started barking as if they could understand our words.

You and your group got pulled into another room to talk about the situation without the seniors having to hear.

The unknown man - what seemed to be the leader of that hospital - explained their story. They didn't mean any harm, didn't even plan on meeting other people on their way to get the weapons. They were just as scared as you were.

Rick decided to give them a few of the guns and ammo we had inside the bag, showing his understanding. Still, he kept most of the weapons to himself and saved them for the camp. After the conversation, your group could go 'home'. The leader of the Vatos - that's how they called their group - said a big 'thank you' before he led y'all out.

But, of course, the relief you felt didn't last very long. Because when you and your people walked outside, the truck Rick and the other two had came with was gone.

"The hell is the truck?" Daryl asked at the same time Glenn spoke, "Who'd take it?"

"Merle," Rick pursed his lips as he seemed to realise Merle wouldn't want anything positive for the people who had left him behind - even if it was by accident. And if he found his way back to the camp, nothing good would happen.

And since y'all didn't have any other options, the streets being empty and no other car in sight, you started jogging towards the camp, trying to be there as soon as possible to prevent anything negative from happening.

You didn't think it'd be that bad.

The five of you could hear the screams from a distance and you could feel your heart sink once you knew they were coming from your camp. At first, you thought Merle was the reason for the loud noises, you didn't expect to see the entire - once peaceful - camp filled with geeks.

All you could hear was the screams of the people living here and the loud gunshots as they tried to defend themselves. It was dark by then but, still, you could see a lot of blood on the ground, coming from the people who had got bitten already.

You thought about running away, somewhere safer than there, but everything you had on your mind left you at once when you looked into an all too familiar face. It wasn't as beautiful as it once was, the skin being a light shade of gray and the teeth hanging out in an unnatrual way.

You took a step forward, almost as if you were in a trance, but jumped when another gunshot sounded and the face you couldn't seem to stop looking at fell backwards, blood spraying from the bullet wound.

"No!" you screamed, the tears that had been welling up in your eyes finally rolling down your cheeks. Your body reacted before your mind could as you got on your knees and crawled over to the body on the ground.

The others killed the rest of the geeks as you sat on your knees, practically sobbing at this point, tears blurring your vision, "Mom," you whispered shakily, touching her hair carefully.

You didn't even realise how quiet it got as your screams echoed around the woods, holding your mother's cold hand tightly. You didn't think you'd ever get to see her again and you were just trying to accept that, but seeing her like this put you at least three steps back.

Please don't leave me, I need you, you thought, your eyes wandering around the group for the first time since your parent got shot. And only then did you realise you weren't the only one crying. Amy - the girl you had tried to comfort just a day ago - was lying on the ground, her neck wide open and bood all over her. It was obvious that she got bit.

How ironic. Amy had been so worried about Andrea's well being, scared they'd get seperated way too soon and now it was the other sister laying motionless on the ground.

The sight made you cry even more. So many lives. And they got taken away as if they didn't matter at all. The others were darting their eyes back and forth, looking at you and then at Andrea.

You looked back down at your mother, your tears wet her white and dirty shirt. Your story wasn't supposed to end yet, you wanted a happier ending for her.

You sat like that for the rest of the night, the sun raising after a few hours and you thought the worst part was sitting there the next morning, realising she was gone for good. That morning, you felt physical pain for the first time - a deep ache consuming your whole body but mostly your heart - without actually being hurt.

Daryl came over to you after some time, sitting on his heels next you and your body tensed uncomfortably.

"We gotta-" he started to talk but you didn't even let him finish his sentence.

"Stop," you spoke curtly, shaking your head at whatever he had to say, "I wanna bury her," you waited for a response but when you got none you allowed yourself to look at him. His eyes weren't as hard and cold as they usually were - still distant but not cold. Maybe because he could actually understand you considering the current situation involving his brother.

He nodded softly and stood up, grabbing your mother by her shoulders, making you tense up even more, "Hey, hey! What are you doing?"

He stopped his actions, looking at you again, "Help ya dig a grave."

You stared at him for a few more seconds before you eventually decided you could use the help, so you let him continue, "Okay," you whispered.

And it was all going okay until Shane thought he had to tell his opinion even though nobody asked for it, "Hey," he called, walking over to you and Daryl, already beginning to shovel the grave up again, "We don't bury geeks. She wasn't one of us."

Daryl scoffed at him, his eyebrows furrowing into a glare as he stopped shoveling, "Ain't yer business."

Shane shook his head and licked his lips, "Sure is," he tilted his head a bit to look at you still working to close the grave, "We don't bury them."

You shut your ears after that, focusing on your task since you really couldn't care less about Shane in that moment. And you honestly couldn't even explain how much you hated him. The argument between Daryl and Shane got more heated and at some point it just kind of escalated.

"Hell with y'all," Daryl exclaimed, waving around with his arms, "Ya had this comin'," he pointed at your mother's grave with one hand before slowly gesturing to the other bodies as well.

And this got your attention.

You had this coming.

How dare he say these words? Innocent people died. And he has the audacity to act as if they deserved it? And point at your mother - the mother you'd just lost a few hours ago - while doing so? His words hurt and they cut deeper than a knife ever could. Did she deserve to die? Did you deserve to see her like this?

Too many questions you didn't know an answer for, but you did know one thing; You didn't want to see Daryl anymore.

"Go," you suddenly spoke up, "Both of you, I can do this alone," your voice cracked towards the end, your face twisting up in pain, showing how much Drayl's words actually affected you.

The redneck started talking again, seemingly realising his hurtful words, but you didn't let him finish, raising your voice instead and telling him to fuck off. Both men left eventually, leaving you alone to do your work.

Only a few hours later did your group decide to leave the camp behind in order to find help for Jim since he got bitten. So you packed your stuff just as well as the rest of the group to head to the CDC - hoping to get a cure and save Jim.

You said goodbye to your mother before you left, sitting at her grave for some time before eventually moving towards the van. You were hoping your group would be able to come back as soon as Jim got the help he needed.

You didn't think about a lot of things when the van started moving, but in the end you realised something.

Everyone leaves at some point.

Tag list:

@goth-cowgirl-03 @paintlavillered @hotgirlsshareaccounts @tiedyedghoulette @alialiclouds

#daryl dixon #daryl dixon x you #daryl dixon x reader #daryl dixon twd #daryl dixon fanfiction #daryl dixon smut #daryl twd #the walking dead #the walking dead fanfiction #merle dixon #rick grimes #lori grimes #carl grimes #shane walsh #carol twd

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flutterbyoz · 3 months

Text

More Hetty/Trevor musings

This post is a little long and I probably shouldn't be looking so deep into this but it's something that's been on my mind for a while and though I'm not great at explaining or deciphering scenes, I needed to write it down. Other people may interpret the scene differently but this is my take on it.

One of my favourite H-Money scenes is in 'Alberta's Descendent' when Hetty finds out that Trevor has given up his room to Nigel. Whether the writers meant this scene to be anything significant or to mean something or not, I think it is quite an important moment for both Trevor and Hetty.

For Trevor, it's a selfless act, he knows he won't gain much, if anything, from it, especially as at that point he's already called things off with Hetty. He's also made it pretty clear that sleeping in the library isn't something he want's to do but he does it, for her.

While it could be argued that maybe he does it to try and get back with her, I don't see it that way as he was the one who broke it off in the first place and he asks her to leave rather than trying to get her to stay. For me, what the scene is showing is that Trevor is a good guy, he cares about Hetty and puts her wishes above his own. Even though he doesn't really care who finds out about them he wants to prevent her from having to experience the embarassment of their secret getting out.

The other reason this scene gets to me is Hetty's reaction, it's almost as if she's realising that some of the assumptions she had of him previously were wrong. I don't think she expected him to do what he did after calling off their affair as I highly doubt Elias ever did anything like that for her in life so to have a man do something so selfless for her, especially with their liaisons, at that point, being over, is likely not what she's used to. Her expression when she turns to leave is, to me, not only showing some realisation that maybe he isn't the kind of man she thought he was but there might be some regret there too. She doesn't want this thing with him to end but I don't think she a, knows how to tell him, or b, is really sure she knows what it is she does want.

Everytime I watch it, which is quite often, I just can't help but think that IF, and that's a very big IF, they did turn this into something more than friends with benefits then this scene could potentially be a small part of explaining why. I think what happened in that episode made them both think about things a little differently than maybe they had before and Hetty opting to out them on her own was a big thing for her to do. And though as we see a little later, their attempts at a public relationship don't exactly go well, it doesn't stop them wanting to be together despite it being an ideal time for the writers to break them up properly if they wanted to. It makes me think they have something planned for Hetty and Trevor, what that is I've no idea and I could be completely off with all of this but it's fun to speculate.

Afterall, they are so interesting and so ridiculous that they keep me glued to everything they do, they are taking up the majority of my brain space at the moment. I just need season 3 to hurry up and get here so that I can not only see what else they get up to but also have more scenes to forensically analyse and obsess over!

#cbs ghosts #hetty x trevor #h money #tretty #trevor x hetty #h-money #hetty woodstone #trevor lefkowitz

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tokkias · 1 year

Note

Hi for a fic idea how about Natsu accidentally lost the engagement ring the day he wants to propose meanwhile half the guild are trying help search for it while Lucy has no clue what’s going on, please I thinks it’s a funny/ cute idea ^^

sometimes i get requests that just stick in my brain and nag me until i write them and this was definitely one of them. i had so many thoughts and ideas for it that what i originally anticipated was going to be a 6k fic turned into nearly 20k words. dies.

this one is a big boy, there's lot of characters, there's lots of scenes and it's a long read. i put a lot of hard work and effort into this so i'd appreciate if you read the whole thing <3

as always thank you to @nalunalu for getting me through this, i probably would have given up at 10k if it weren't for you.

ao3

"It was right there yesterday. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Well, it’s not there now."

"I can see that."

Stressed and frustrated bickering filled the otherwise quaint and quiet home, tucked away in the outskirts of the Magnolia Forest, as Natsu and Happy both scrambled around the house to find a very important item before they could head out to the guild for the day.

"Are you sure it was in here?" Happy asked, looking inside the drawer where Natsu had claimed he had left the ring, but came up short.

"Yeah, I’m sure."

"Then where is it?"

"I don’t know!"

While Happy was simply sitting on the table and scanning the area, Natsu was conducting a much more thorough search, crawling around on his hands and knees on the floor, trying to locate the small ring that had, to his knowledge, been here just before.

"Is there anywhere else you could have put it?" Happy asked, realising that their efforts searching in this one spot would be futile.

"I don’t think so," Natsu replied, brows furrowed in thought, trying to recall if he had moved it at some point.

"Maybe you took it to the guild and left it there?" Happy suggested.

Initially, Natsu blew his idea off, but the more he thought about it, the more it felt like it was a very real possibility, and panic began to set in.

"Shit," he hissed. "Maybe I did."

He shot a concerned look at Happy, who returned it with one of his own.

Natsu wasn’t usually this careless, especially with something as important to him as the ring he was going to use to propose to Lucy, but somehow, some way, it has escaped his possession. Had someone stolen it from him? It was worth a pretty hefty sum of cash, and he’d picked up countless jobs just to be able to think of affording it. That being said, his house wasn’t exactly a prime target for a robbery, and he’d know if someone had slipped by and taken it.

That only left one other option.

"I guess we’re going to the guild hall."

The guild doors slammed open with such force that they swung back around almost instantly before Natsu stopped it with his hand. His overly dramatic entrance caught the attention of almost everyone lingering in the guild, though he wasn’t interested in any of them. His eyes scanned the hall to see if Lucy was here, or perhaps more accurately, to make sure she wasn’t here.

For someone who wasn’t known for sticking to a plan, Natsu had planned the entire proposal out pretty thoroughly, and he wasn’t going to let that work go to waste by spoiling the surprise because he’d lost the goddamn ring.

He couldn’t seem to spot her in the crowd, but deciding it was better safe than sorry, he marched over to the bar to make sure she wasn’t going to be hiding anywhere in earshot when he announced his great fuck-up.

"What’s got your panties in a twist, dumbass?" Gray spat once he was in direct earshot.

"Has Lucy been by today?" Natsu practically demanded, ignoring Gray’s provocation altogether.

"Can’t say I’ve seen her," Mira replied with an apologetic smile. "Why? Is something wrong?"

He sucked in a breath, out of relief or fear of what he was about to say; he wasn’t entirely sure.

"I’ve lost the ring."

The room around him fell silent in a moment of confusion as everyone tried to process what he meant.

"The ring? What ring?" Gray asked, breaking the silence before realisation finally struck him. "Oh my god. You’re a fucking idiot."

"Yeah, I know that, dipshit, you don’t need to remind me," Natsu hissed back, his mood very clearly soured from having searched for it all morning to no avail.

"Every time I think you couldn’t fuck up any more, you outdo yourself," Cana drawled from her designated spot at the bar, drink already in hand despite the daylight hours.

Despite the immediate negative reactions, the inadvertent announcement of his intention caused a more optimistic reaction from the romantics in the room.

"Oh my gosh! You’re going to propose?" Wendy exclaimed, her eyes lighting up in delight over the romance of it all. "That’s so great! Lucy’s going to be so happy!"

"Juvia agrees! Lucy has told her all about how she’s been waiting for Natsu to propose," she gushed. "Juvia thinks this is very exciting news."

"Yeah, well, I can’t propose without a ring," Natsu spat, growing more and more irritable for each moment that passed without the ring in his possession.

"Hey, calm down," Lisanna said, her hand resting on his shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. "You’re not going to find it by snapping at us, so how about you take some deep breaths and maybe give us some information that might help us find it. When was the last time you saw it?"

Taking her advice, Natsu sucked in a long, deep breath to calm himself down, feeling the worry begin to wash away bit by bit.

"I had it yesterday."

"And what does it look like?"

"It’s about this big," Natsu said, holding his thumb and index finger in a circle to emulate the approximate size of the ring as he recalled it.

"Well that’s not very helpful," she replied. "What colour is it? How many stones does it have?"

"It’s gold, and it’s got three red gems in it," he described. "Two little ones on the side and one big one shaped like a star in the middle."

"That’s a start," Lisanna hummed. "Is there anywhere else you think might have left it?"

Natsu furrowed his brows in thought for a moment as he tried to recall where he had been and what he had done since the last time he had seen the ring.

"We went to Lucy’s place yesterday; I guess I could have left it there."

"You don’t think Lucy’s already found it, has she?" Happy asked hesitantly.

Natsu’s face dropped at the suggestion, all of the worry and panic that had just left him now bubbling back to the surface and threatening to burst.

"If she found a random engagement ring at her apartment, you don’t think she’d have come and told us about it already?" Gray refuted. "She hasn’t been by all morning, and I doubt she’d just keep that to herself."

Natsu relaxed slightly at his affirmation, but the stress of not knowing kept him tense, which showed in every part of his body.

"When do you need it by?" Wendy asked in an effort to distract Natsu from his worried state.

"We’re supposed to be meeting back here at six," he explained, nerves quelled slightly, but his gaze kept flicking to the guild doors, clearly growing more and more antsy with each passing moment. "I have to find it before then."

All eyes moved to the clock that hung up on the wall behind the bar to note the current time, finding the small hand creeping ever closer to the two on the face.

"Well, it’s two o’clock right now; that gives us four hours, which is plenty of time to find a ring," she added, optimistically.

"So you guys are gonna help?" Natsu asked, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eye.

"Of course we’re going to help," Mira smiled. "We’ll find the ring, don’t you worry!"

For the first time since he walked through the guild doors, his shoulders relaxed, and he let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding in.

"All of us searching in the same spot isn’t going to get much done, so how about we split up?" Lisanna suggested. "Natsu, Happy, and I can go search their place again, another group can go search Lucy’s apartment and everyone else can search the guild hall."

"I can check at Lucy’s place," Gray offered. "I know the place pretty well. If flame brain left it there, I’d probably know where to look."

"Juvia will come help!" She volunteered, latching herself to Gray’s arm with a look in her eyes that said she wasn’t in this for Natsu or Lucy’s sake.

"You’re gonna help?" Natsu asked again, a disgusted gaze shot in Gray’s direction, his tone thoroughly unimpressed, leaving no room for speculation about how he felt about having him join the search.

"Hey man, don’t be a dick, I’m tryna help you out," Gray spat back. "I’m not doing this for you anyway, dipshit, I’m doing this for Lucy. You can look for it yourself for all I care, but I’m not gonna let Lucy go sad because you’re a dumbass who lost the engagement ring."

"Um, I’ll come too, if that’s alright with everyone," Wendy offered, interrupting the impending feud between the boys. "I might not be much use, but I’d really like to help Natsu out."

Her words worked to sufficiently distract the boys, who seemed just about ready to jump each other, perhaps for reasons unrelated to finding the ring.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Gray agreed. "You could probably use your dragon slayer senses to sniff out the ring or something, right?"

"I can try my best!" She replied, looking more enthused now after his suggestion, her hands held in determined fists before her with an adamant look on her face.

"But what about Lucy?" Happy chimed in. "You won’t be able to search her apartment if she’s still there, and we won’t be able to search the guild if she’s here either."

"Don’t worry about Lucy, I’ll take care of her," Erza announced, standing tall and proud and looking very, very determined to play her part.

"You’re not gonna kill her, are you?" Natsu asked, a little hesitant from her choice of words and her penchant for solving problems with a very sharp sword.

"N-no! That is not what I meant by take care of!"

"I’ll join you," Levy announced, lifting Yajee off of her lap and transferring him to Gajeel’s. "You can take care of the twins for the day, can’t you?" She asked, turning to her partner.

Gajeel merely let out a gruff noise of acknowledgement that she took as his agreement.

"But don’t expect me to do none of that searchin’ shit. Salamander’s on his own there."

"Great!" Levy exclaimed, clasping her hands together, "In that case, Erza and I will go-"

Levy’s plan was cut off, and as if on cue, the doors to the guild hall swung open and the woman of the hour entered. All heads whipped around to look at her, any and all conversation about the ring came to a screeching halt.

"Good afternoon, Lucy!" Mira chirped, filling the new void of silence that had washed over the guild.

"Hi Mira," she replied, looking a little confused by the weird behaviour that was seemingly brought upon by her entrance.

"Hey, Lu-chan!" Levy called out, beckoning her friend over to the table where she and Gajeel were seated.

"Hey, Levy-chan," Lucy greeted cautiously. "Is something going on? Do I look weird or something? I feel like everyone’s staring at me," she murmured, not wanting to draw any more of the unsettling attention to herself.

"That’s just because you look really pretty today, Lu-chan!" Levy affirmed with a smile.

"You think so?" She replied, a gentle smile and blush crossing her face. "I tried something new with my hair this morning," she explained, her hand moving to twirl a strand of it around her finger bashfully. "Natsu and I are going out tonight, so I thought it would be nice."

Levy made eye contact with Natsu as he, Happy, and Lisanna all snuck behind Lucy, trying to make their exit without being noticed. Levy offered a confident smile, expressing that Lucy would be in good hands until the ring was located, and Natsu silently nodded back before the three of them scurried off in a hurry.

"I’m off of mom duty today, so Erza and I were going to get our nails done. If you’re going out with Natsu tonight, why don’t you join us?" Levy offered, an eager look on her face, hoping that Lucy would accept without much trouble.

"You and Erza?" Lucy asked, a little sceptical about the unusual combination.

"Mmhm!" Levy confirmed. "Erza and I grew up here together, you know! But it’s been a while since we caught up," she added, sensing her friend’s apprehension.

"R-right!" Erza confirmed, caught off guard by the sudden plan but scrambling to feign confidence.

"Come on, it’ll be fun," Levy pleaded, leaning over the table to grab Lucy’s hands in her own.

"I mean… if it’s okay with Erza," Lucy replied, turning her gaze towards the woman in question, a little nervous about being invited along without her input.

"Yes!" Erza replied, perhaps a little too eagerly, before noticing her mistake and trying her best to rectify it. "I mean, I would be happy for you to come along."

"Great!" Levy cheered. "That settles it! Let’s get going then!"

"Wh- Right now?" Lucy exclaimed before she was pulled to her feet by Erza, her grip firm around her wrist. "Hey! I wanted to see Natsu before we left!"

"Natsu can wait!" Erza declared. "Today is a girl’s day!"

"I didn’t realise Levy was so fast on her feet," Gray commented, as those remaining watched Erza practically drag Lucy out of the guild hall with Levy following close behind.

"Having kids’ll do it to ya," Gajeel replied. "Ya get real good at distractions, and Levy’s great at ‘em." He began to bob Yajee up and down on his knee as Jutla started to cling onto her papa’s arm, all but begging for his attention. "But today I’m on double distractin’ duty."

"Now that Lucy’s gone, it should be safe to check her apartment, right?" Wendy said, pulling the attention of her new teammates towards her.

With a mutual nod of understanding, the three of them went ahead to make their exit before Gray promptly froze.

"We don’t have a key," he realised. "Lucy probably locked the place when she left, and Natsu’s already gone, so we can’t use his."

"No worries!" Mira chimed in, holding up a ring of keys that she jingled in front of them. "I have a spare!"

A sigh of relief was let out amongst the Lucy-apartment-trio, knowing it would be an easy break and enter, though upon closer examination, Gray noticed another familiar key dangling off of the ring.

"Hey, is that the spare key to my place?" He asked, his brow raised in confusion.

"No time for questions! We have a ring to find!" Mira diverted, placing Lucy’s key in his hand and hurrying them off.

Lucy honestly couldn’t recall the last time she had stepped foot in a nail salon. In fact, she hadn’t even known there was one in Magnolia at all until Erza and Levy had physically dragged her to it. She was more of a do-it-yourself type of girl, but the idea of taking the day to be pampered for a bit (and not getting polish smudged around the nails of her left hand) was too pleasant an offer to say no. It wasn’t exactly how she had imagined her day to play out, but Erza and Levy would hear no complaints from her as the trio sat around to pick their colours.

If Lucy hadn’t been to one in years, Erza probably hadn’t been in her entire lifetime, based on the stressed expression on her face as she stood before the wall of every nail polish colour under the sun. Though Lucy probably could have guessed that by her chipped nails, calloused hands, and the dirt that seemed like it had been under her nails since she had met her.

"Not sure what colour to pick?" Lucy asked in a hopeful attempt to try and lighten her mood.

Erza remained silent, instead merely shaking her head as her gaze remained stuck on the colours.

Lucy held out a deep red colour in offering to her.

"This one matches your hair," she suggested in an attempt to be helpful.

"Um… I think that’s a bit bold for my first time," Erza managed to stutter out, confirming Lucy’s earlier thoughts.

"Okay, well, how about a more neutral colour then?" Lucy asked, putting the red back on the shelf.

Levy took another off of the shelf and held it by Erza’s hand to see how it might look on her.

"Brown?" She suggested. "This one would look pretty with your skin tone."

"I’m not sure," Erza frowned, not looking entirely sold on the idea. "I thought I might like something more… exciting."

Exciting but not bold, Lucy thought. It seemed like an oxymoron, but she wasn’t about to criticise Erza’s choice of words, lest she be beheaded in a nail salon. She scanned the wall once again to see what her options were.

"You could go pink," Lucy offered, more for her own amusement than anything else, not expecting anything to come from it.

"Pink. I want pink."

"What? Really?" Lucy asked, taken completely off guard by her response.

"What’s wrong with pink? Do you not think it’ll look good?" Erza replied, looking worried and a little flustered by her friend’s reaction.

"No! That’s not what I think at all," she assured. "I just didn’t think you’d go for it, is all."

"How about a peach shade?" Levy suggested, much to Lucy’s relief, as she provided a distraction for a stressed-out Erza. "It’s a pretty colour, but it’s not too out there either."

Taking her suggestion, Erza directed her attention to the pinks and picked a light, almost nude pink.

"This one," she said, turning around to face Lucy and Levy and holding out the colour for their approval.

She held her options in one hand, letting the glass of the containers clack against each other as she compared them. She had managed to narrow it down to three so far: an eggshell blue, a rosy pink, and a metallic gold. Any other day she might have picked the blue without hesitation; it matched almost every outfit she liked to wear, so she wouldn’t have to think about it too much, but thinking forward to her date with Natsu, Lucy thought it might be appropriate to switch it up a little.

Perhaps pink would be too on the nose for a date, but the shade matched Natsu’s hair so perfectly that it made her heart thrum with excitement over the mere thought of him. Her face flushed red slightly when she caught her thoughts running away from her. She’d get her time with him later, but right now it was a girl’s day, and her full attention was going to be on her friends.

"Do you think you know what colour you want?" Levy probed, looking over Lucy’s shoulder, having already picked out a soft orange for herself.

"I think I want the gold," she finally decided, placing the two rejected options back in their designated spots.

Remembering Natsu’s description of the ring, Levy had to bite down on her lip to suppress the massive grin she would have otherwise broken into if she hadn’t physically stopped herself.

"That’s great, Lu-chan! It’s really pretty," she smiled, trying her best to hide the excited jitters that were beginning to build up in her chest.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve been out here," Lisanna commented as the familiar sign came into view.

It had been several years since she had last come by, but from the very moment she stepped through the door, it was as if no time had passed. The place looked exactly the same as she remembered it, which would have made for easy searching if it weren’t also as messy as she remembered it.

"Still as untidy as ever, I see," she observed.

"Hey! We just cleaned the place!" Natsu shot back.

"You call this clean?" Lisanna retorted, stepping over a stray pile of unclean laundry that had clearly been tossed there without much thought. "No wonder you lost the ring when your house is in this state."

"Lucy’s not gonna be happy you called it untidy after she just cleaned up," Happy commented.

Lucy being the one to have cleaned up most recently made a lot more sense, and yet somehow, she was not surprised that Natsu and Happy had already made a mess of it. Lisanna couldn’t help but think what a saint she must be to willingly volunteer to clean up a place like this, even more so to see it and still keep Natsu in the running for potential life partner.

"And how long ago was that?" She asked, kicking a dirty sock out of her path as she moved deeper into their home.

"I dunno, like a couple months ago?" Natsu shrugged, not seeing any issue with the discrepancy he had just created.

"That's not recent at all," Lisanna pointed out.

"Sure it is," Happy brushed off. "We only have to clean it once a year."

She grimaced slightly at his comment, regret slowly creeping up on her for agreeing to help out as she thought about what kind of gross, nasty things could grow in a home that was only cleaned once a year. If it were anyone but Natsu, she would be out of there immediately, but unfortunately, she had long since deemed their friendship too important to let him do this on his own.

"This is where I left it," Natsu called out, snapping Lisanna out of her thoughts.

He had pulled open a drawer, which, when she peered inside, seemed to be empty aside from a few miscellaneous papers that had been haphazardly shoved in there, perhaps never to be seen again.

"So you think it could be around here?" She asked as she proceeded to shut the drawer and look through the ones surrounding it.

Natsu sighed and shrugged slightly at her query.

"I thought so, but I’m really not sure anymore."

Lisanna furrowed her brows as she searched through the final drawer, only to come up with nothing. She hadn’t expected it to be easy when Natsu arrived at the guild looking as panicked as he did, but this was going to be more of a difficult task than she had anticipated.

Natsu was messy, but he wasn’t incompetent; she was certain he had already done a somewhat thorough search of the area he thought he had left it in, so there would be no point combing through it again. Instead, a more cohesive plan was needed. She scanned the room and pursed her lips as she thought through what the best course of action would be.

"How about you and Happy clear up some of the stuff from the floor, and I’ll take a look on the shelves," she decided. "Maybe you’ll find it in a pile of something on the ground."

"Aye!"

Eager to get going and find the ring, the three set off to attend to their respective jobs, but not before Lisanna got in one last word.

"We’ll find it," she assured.

"I know." Natsu nodded. "Thanks."

When the door to Lucy’s apartment swung open, Gray mentally thanked his past self for volunteering to come here. Lucy’s apartment was a much smaller space than the guild hall, and between the three of them, they would be able to cover plenty of ground in a fraction of the time while missing out on the chaos that was sure to ensue back at the guild.

That being said, they had come without a clear plan in mind, which left them with a very important question.

"So where do we start?" Juvia asked, her gaze passing across the apartment, examining the search area.

It wasn’t a large space, but going in without a plan felt like setting themselves up for failure.

"The ring would probably smell like Natsu, right?" Gray suggested.

He looked over at Wendy, who wordlessly nodded at his comment, not needing him to elaborate any more for her to pick up what he was suggesting. She inhaled deeply, taking in all of the different scents that lingered in the air, trying to spot that familiar smell to give them their first lead before letting out a defeated exhale.

"I’m sorry… it all just smells like Natsu," she said, an apologetic smile on her face.

"Juvia supposes that makes sense," she mused. "Natsu must spend a lot of time here if he wants to marry Lucy."

It was a disappointing start to the search, but they had been through much worse than something as trivial as searching for a ring.

"Can you pick up where his scent is strongest? Maybe we can start looking in those places," he offered.

Nodding, Wendy gave another good sniff, the scent now fresh in her brain as she tried to locate where it smelled the freshest. She wandered around the room a bit, trying to get a better feel for the layout of it. After a moment or two of tracking, Wendy thought she had a good hold on where the strongest scent was.

"The bed, the couch, and-" Wendy began to list, pointing at each of the items before making her way over to the dresser and opening a drawer that had a particularly strong smell. In her curiosity, she opened it, only to be met with Lucy’s collection of risqué panties. Her face now bright red, Wendy slammed it shut and turned on her heel to face Gray and Juvia. "That’s it! Just the bed and the couch!"

Gray and Juvia shared a sceptical look but otherwise didn’t press her on it, both having a vague idea of what she had just seen.

"Juvia thinks those are both good places to start," Juvia affirmed. "It’s easy to lose small things like Natsu’s ring in places like that."

Wendy quickly recovered from her brief traumatic moment in response to Juvia’s agreement.

"I can search the couches then!" She eagerly offered.

"Juvia and I can check around the bed then," Gray suggested, to which Juvia nodded in agreement, perhaps a little over enthusiastic for the cause.

"Try not to get lost between the cushions," Juvia giggled, much to Wendy’s dismay.

"I’m not that small!" She squeaked as she tried her best to pry the tightly fitted bottom cushion, which was almost as big as she was, off of the seat.

Wendy had said the bed had smelt freshly of Natsu, and knowing his penchant for popping over to Lucy’s for a quick midday nap, Gray couldn’t say he was surprised. If Natsu had it on him, there was a very real chance that he could have dropped it in or around the bed and it would have gone unnoticed. Unfortunately, searching the bed posed a glaring problem.

It had been made neater than he could ever hope to make it. There was no way he was going to be able to remake it to Lucy’s standard and leave it looking like he hadn’t been searching through her sheets afterwards. Deciding it would be best to leave it as is for now, he ran his hand across the sheets to try and feel if there was anything poking out from the surface. His hands confirmed what his eyes could see – no ring.

He lifted up the pillows to check under there before shaking the pillow case in hopes that maybe it would fall out of one of them. A small grunt of frustration escaped him when nothing came of it, but he reminded himself that at least Lucy had left the place neat and tidy for them to search.

"Lisanna really pulled the short end of the stick by volunteering to search Natsu’s place," Gray commented as he lifted the mattress off of the bed frame to check underneath. "At least Lucy’s place is well organised, and we don’t have to sort through trash to look for it."

"Gray-sama has been to Natsu’s house?" Juvia asked, shutting the drawer of Lucy’s nightstand to proceed to check in the next one.

"Yeah, just once, a long time ago," he replied. "Place is a pig sty. It’s kind of a miracle that Lucy’s apartment is this tidy when he spends so much time here."

"Lucy is very good for Natsu," Juvia commented. "Natsu is a better, more mature person around Lucy."

"You’re tellin’ me," Gray grumbled, dropping the mattress back onto the frame after not having found anything under it.

"Juvia wouldn’t be surprised if Lucy’s tidy habits have rubbed off on Natsu," she added.

"I wouldn’t go that far," he scoffed.

Natsu had changed a lot since Lucy had come into their lives; he had grown a lot as a person, he was more mature, he thought more before he said or did things, but Natsu was going to live and die a slob, no amount of Lucy would change that.

"Gray-sama is putting a lot of effort into helping Natsu," Juvia observed, the implications of her words not needing to be spoken aloud for Gray to pick up what she was trying to say.

"He’s like a brother to me," he admitted. "A dumb, stupid, idiot of a brother, but he’s still my family."

Juvia let out a murmur of understanding as he spoke, a smile making its way onto her lips as she listened to Gray get sentimental about the person he frequently and publicly claimed he couldn’t stand.

"And being with Lucy makes him about a hundred times more tolerable," he continued. "I don’t know what she sees in him, but whatever makes them happy, y’know?"

"From what Juvia has heard, Natsu makes her very happy," Juvia hummed, continuing her thorough search of the nightstand.

"Yeah," Gray mused, recalling the way Lucy always seemed to feel more at home with Natsu around. "He does."

"Alright, let’s make a plan then, shall we?" Mirajane announced, gathering a group of guild members by the bar who were lured in by her authority. "Natsu tends to get himself into tussles around the whole guild, so there aren't many places we can rule out," she observed.

She tapped her finger against her chin, lost in thought for a moment as she examined the search area and devised their plan.

"I think we should split up," Mira decided. "We can have one group search upstairs and everyone else look down here. If he dropped it, it’s probably on the floor, so be sure to check under chairs and tables." Murmurs of understanding were passed around the group, enraptured by her uncharacteristic authoritative presence. "I’ll be searching by the bar; someone can go check in the supply closets as well," she added.

"What? Why the supply closets? Does Natsu even go in there?" Freed asked, brows raised in doubt at her suggestion.

"Of course he does," Cana chimed in, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. "With Luuuccyyy~"

Alzack quickly covered Asuka’s ears with his hands at Cana’s implication, much to the young girl’s distress.

Bickslow let out a loud cackle as her joke registered in Freed’s brain, and the immediate regret of asking overcame him.

"Volunteering for sex room duty, are we?" Evergreen asked, a smirk growing on her face.

"That is not what I meant when I asked that, and you know it!" Freed spat back, his face growing a deep red in embarrassment, which only made Bickslow laugh even harder.

"Great! Freed is on sex room duty then!" Mira chirped, an oh-so-innocent smile on her face that could almost make one believe that she wasn’t joking.

"No, I am not!" He protested as Bickslow absolutely howled in laughter, slamming his fist against the bar top, tears beginning to roll down his face.

His protests were cut short by Evergreen’s grip on his wrist as she pulled him over towards the nearest supply closet.

"I do not want to go anywhere near where Natsu and Lucy have had sex!" He cried out, struggling to get his hand back from a deceptively strong Evergreen.

"Don’t be a baby!" She spat back, tightening her hold on him as she tugged him to the nearest supply closet.

"Aren’t you going to help Freed?" Bisca asked Laxus as the remainder of the group watched him be pulled away by his teammate.

"What am I? His babysitter?" He scoffed. "Ever’s put him through worse than dragging him into Natsu’s sex room."

"Okay, I think we’ve talked enough about the sex room," Alzack interrupted, gesturing with his head towards an upset Asuka who was trying to pry away his hands from her ears.

"I do not want to be here," Freed reiterated as he unwillingly followed Evergreen into one of the guild’s many supply closets.

"Oh, calm down, would you? They haven’t actually had sex in here," she assured. "Do you actually think someone like Lucy would do that?"

"Then why are we searching in here?" He asked, still a little bitter about the scene that was made at his expense.

"Natsu came in here yesterday because Master made him and Gray fix the barstools’ they broke in a fight yesterday," Evergreen replied matter-of-factly.

Freed didn’t reply; he simply raised his brows at her explanation.

"I saw the whole thing go down," she elaborated, noting his surprised expression.

"I didn’t realise you paid attention to those sorts of things," he observed.

"It’s hard not to when they cause such a ruckus," Evergreen replied as she began to move some of the cleaning supplies out of the way to search one of the shelves. "Is it so surprising that I want to help? They’re still our family," she said in response to his silence. "Natsu never stopped defending Laxus after Master kicked him out of the guild, and Fairy Tail would still be disbanded if it weren’t for Lucy. If looking for this ring is what it takes to thank them, I don’t mind doing it."

Her explanation practically stunned Freed into silence. Sure, he knew Evergreen well, they were a team—a family—but rarely did she let herself show a more compassionate side of herself, even to him.

She was right, of course. If it weren’t for Lucy and Natsu, they would still be back at Blue Pegasus, and though he had found himself fond of the friends he had made there, nothing could compare to the home he had found in Fairy Tail. To help in this search was the least they could do for them, and little more than a drop in the bucket in showing just how thankful Freed was to be reunited with his family – his whole family.

"And if Natsu can propose then maybe Elfman will finally grow a pair and pick up the hint," Evergreen added.

Freed chuckled lightly at her addition, feeling as though that was the most Evergreen thing she could have said in that moment.

"Now would you quit standing around while I’m doing all the hard work?" She complained. "We have a ring to find, you know."

"Of course," he smiled.

Lucy felt completely at ease as the woman sat across from her clipped, buffed, and prepped her nails. She practically melted into the plush chair beneath her while she, Erza, and Levy chatted idly about everything they hadn’t had the chance to talk about until now.

Levy gushed about the twins, and Erza told stories of her recent solo jobs (to which Lucy and Levy both teased her relentlessly at the mere mention of Jellal’s name, causing her face to flush as crimson as her hair). It had been a while since she’d had some real girl time with Levy or Erza, and even longer since she’d been pampered like this.

A content hum escaped her lips as the gold polish went on, the metallic finish shimmering in the artificial light. There were no nail polish smudges around her cuticles like when she had to do it herself with her left hand, or perhaps more commonly, when she forced Natsu to do it for her. The bright shimmer wasn’t something she’d have chosen for herself on a normal day, her own collection only being made up of more muted tones, but she supposed the day warranted it.

As she admired her manicure, she couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness overcome her as she noted how bare her fingers looked. The only thing that decorated her fingers were the scars that held precious memories of her adventures, which she held close to her heart, but she still couldn’t help the longing she felt to have a ring on her finger.

She and Natsu had been dating for years now, had been best friends for even longer, and Lucy had long since thought it had been time for him to pop the question. Maybe it was because she hadn’t been forthright enough on the topic or hadn’t made it obvious enough that marriage was something she wanted. She had dropped a few hints here and there, though maybe she shouldn’t be surprised that someone as direct as Natsu might not have picked them up.

It had crossed her mind that perhaps she would have to be the one to ask, but she couldn’t shake her longing for a more traditional proposal. In her dream proposal, Natsu was the one to get down on one knee and pull the velvet box out of his pocket before revealing the dazzling ring inside.

She scoffed lightly at the thought. Natsu was not the romantic prince charming that she had always envisioned herself with growing up, but she was content with that. He wasn’t one for candlelit dinners or grand gestures of love, and Lucy had long since made her peace with that. In fact, deep down, she prefered what she had with him to anything she could have imagined as a child. He was not her storybook lover, but he put more into their relationship than any other guy she had been with before him, and she valued that more than any cheesy, romantic scenario her imagination could conjure up.

Even though she didn’t expect a fancy, traditional proposal from someone like him, Lucy was still surprised that he hadn’t ever brought it up himself. He had told her that they were always going to be together, and she wholeheartedly believed that he was going to follow through on that, but she supposed that was never a promise of marriage; they weren’t even together at the time.

Closing her eyes, Lucy let out a sigh, which caught the attention of Erza next to her.

"Is everything okay, Lucy?"

"Yeah, I’m just thinking about something," she admitted.

Erza looked at her as though she wanted her to elaborate, but Lucy wasn’t so sure that this was something she wanted to talk about right now. It was supposed to be a nice outing with her friends, she didn’t want to drag the mood down with her relationship woes. So instead, Lucy waved her off and offered a smile in hopes of moving on.

Much to her relief, Erza promptly dropped it, and the conversation quickly picked back up as Levy began to recount another story about the antics Jutla had dragged Yajee into as of late.

"Have you found anything?" Wendy called out from across the room.

"Nothing yet, but if we do, we’ll let you know," Gray called back. "How about you?"

"Just this," Wendy replied, holding out a handful of bobby pins and coins for them to see. "No ring, though," she added before trying to fit the cushions back on the loveseat. "Sorry, I’m not being much help…"

"Wendy is being a great help!" Juvia reassured, to which Wendy responded with a relieved smile.

"If you’re done over there, I could use some help checking under the bed," Gray added, kneeling at the foot of the bed and glancing underneath it. "I don’t think I’m gonna fit under here."

"Oh, of course!" Wendy replied, placing her couch haul on the coffee table before eagerly bounding over to the other side of the room.

It was a bit of a tight fit, even for Wendy, but she managed to wiggle her way under and get a good look. It was kind of dark too, but enough light streamed in from the room that she could still get a good look at what was under there. It was pretty clean, save for a few dust bunnies that indicated that Lucy hadn’t cleaned under there in a while and many, many hair ties.

"Anything?" Juvia asked, feeling herself get a little antsy in anticipation after a few moments of hearing nothing from the girl under the bed.

"It doesn’t look like it…" Wendy called back, loud enough that hopefully both of them could hear her.

Once she managed to pull herself out, Gray noticed the slightly dejected look on her face.

"Don’t beat yourself up about it, alright? It’s not your fault it wasn’t under there," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"That just means we have to check elsewhere, right?" Juvia added.

"Right!" Wendy agreed, not letting herself get down after another failed search.

Lucy’s apartment wasn’t that big; there were only so many places the three of them could look, which should have made this an easy search in theory. Truthfully, Gray had expected them to be in and out quickly, to find it wedged between the couch cushions or down the side of her bed, and then be back at the guild within the hour. As the clock ticked on, that expectation was seemingly becoming more and more unrealistic.

Knowing Natsu and his careless tendencies, there was nowhere that they could truly rule out as a possibility. There was no place that they could find it that would surprise Gray, he had simply accepted the fact that Natsu was stupid enough to lose it anywhere, which simply meant they had to check everywhere.

Examining the room, Lisanna immediately noticed that Natsu’s board of many memories had grown substantially since the last time she had seen it. She chuckled lightly to herself at how much of it came back to Lucy. Pictures and notes littered the board with Lucy-this and Lucy-that. The occasional job flyer, photo, or souvenir with notes mentioning other guildmates were scattered across the walls and shelves, but it seemed like nothing when put next to the sheer number of memories he had kept with Lucy. She was certain that he had kept a photo from every date the two had been on in the entirety of their relationship and tacked it onto his wall with a note recounting a summary of their day together.

Natsu loved his friends perhaps more than anyone, Lisanna was acutely aware of that, but that love paled in comparison to that he held for Lucy. She hadn’t been around when they two met, but she had seen how much meeting Lucy had changed him for the better. She’d simply assumed that his newfound maturity (by his standards, anyway) was simply chalked up to age and life experience, but if the stories told around the guild about the pair were anything to go by, Lucy was a big part of making him into the person he was today.

While she could have been content to admire Natsu’s dedication to his collection, Lisanna was well aware that she had a job to do. Between all the knick-knacks and tchotchkes that Natsu had accumulated over the years, she wouldn’t be surprised if the ring popped up somewhere on the shelves between them. It was difficult to find where he might have placed it recently given how surprisingly neat his collection was, clearly having been dusted frequently and taken good care of. Not wanting to leave any stone unturned, Lisanna checked every shelf, between, and under every trinket, mindful to be careful with everything she touched, not wanting to sour Natsu’s mood any more than it already was.

Natsu had always been pretty temperamental growing up, but he seemed to have vastly improved on that front over the years. That was why it had come as such a surprise to her when Natsu had arrived at the guild in such a shitty mood, unprovoked. Granted, she couldn’t find it in herself to blame him when she found out why.

A gentle smile crossed her face as she thought about it. Sure, they weren’t as close these days as they used to be, but that didn’t stop the joy and fondness that filled her heart at the thought of her childhood best friend getting married.

Finally, after all these years, Natsu, of all people, was going to settle down. Well, as much as someone like him could settle down, anyway.

Even then, Lucy was filled with just as much vigour and fondness for adventure as he was, that was just one of the things that made them a perfect match. The two of them were inseparable, partners in crime, never one without the other. Together, they had been on more adventures than anyone else could dare dream, and now Natsu was about to take her on a whole new adventure.

The sentiment was so sweet, it could almost make Lisanna cry.

It was like she was watching a storybook romance play out in front of her eyes, only instead of words on a page, this was a real, lived experience from her real-life family.

Holding back tears but failing to suppress the wide smile on her face, Lisanna lifted up one of Natsu’s many trinkets, this one seemingly hollow on the inside, to check if there was anything accidentally left underneath. She didn’t get much time to examine the space beneath before her thoughts were cut off by Natsu’s voice from the other side of the room.

"I’m sorry."

Placing the item down, she turned around to face him, her head tilted slightly in confusion at his sudden apology.

"For what?"

"For bein’ a jackass back at the guild," Natsu admitted, his gaze cast down and away from her as he spoke. "Everyone was just tryna help, but I was bein’ a jerk because I was stressed out."

"It’s okay; I understand," she replied. "If I were in your position, I would probably be a little snippy too."

He still didn’t look up at her, even in his apology, but she could see the way his expression changed, easing into a softer, more gentle look.

"Thanks for helping me out," he added. "It really means a lot."

"That’s what friends are for, right?" She smiled. "I know you’d do the same for me."

By now, Natsu’s smile had fully returned, much to Lisanna’s relief.

"Only I wouldn’t lose the ring," she added, a cheeky look on her face, to which Natsu didn’t respond well.

"Hey! Shut up," he grumbled, throwing a balled-up shirt in her direction, missing drastically as it hit the wall a few feet away from her before pathetically dropping to the floor and earning an amused chortle from Lisanna.

For as much as he’d grown, Natsu really hadn’t changed one bit.

Erza’s eyes were firmly stuck on her hands as the three of them exited the salon, narrowly missing walking straight into Lucy in her trance, who thankfully stepped out of the way just in time.

"Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen your nails look so clean," Lucy commented, taking one of Erza’s hands and holding it in her own.

"Yeah, me either," Erza replied, brows furrowed as she closely examined her other hand.

While Lucy was distracted, Levy pulled out her communication lacrima in hopes that she would be met with good news, but instead her home screen remained devoid of any new messages. Quickly, she flicked over to her messaging app to make sure, only to find no updates since they had left. She tapped on Mira’s contact, figuring that if anyone would know what was going on, it would be her.

SMS Levy Any updates on the ring?

SMS Mirajane nothing yet :( we r going to keep looking :) will let u know :)

With a slight frown, Levy put her lacrima away and tried to give Erza a look to indicate that they would need more time.

"This was really fun," Lucy mused, looking content with the outcome of their outing. "I suppose we should head back to the guild now. I didn’t get to see Natsu before we left earlier."

"N-no!" Erza cried out abruptly, to a look of confusion from her friend, before she realised how suspicious she sounded. "I mean, your date isn’t until six, right? That means there’s plenty of time before we have to make it back," she managed to stutter out as she tried to correct her previous mistake.

"How did you know what time my date was?" Lucy asked, surprised that Erza had known when she had never brought it up herself.

"Natsu mentioned it at the guild this morning!" Levy butted in, much to Erza’s relief.

That wasn’t technically a lie, they were simply omitting a key piece of information, but Lucy didn’t have to know that.

"And Erza’s right. You practically live with Natsu these days, and I never get any time to myself with Jutla and Yajee, so what do you say we make this a real girl’s day?"

Lucy’s gaze flicked between Levy and Erza, both of them practically pleading her to stay with their eyes alone. That was all it took for Lucy’s resolve to fizzle away entirely. It had been entirely too long since she’d had a day out that didn’t somehow involve Natsu or Happy and she had admittedly been having a lot of fun with Levy and Erza.

"Okay, you’re right," she agreed. "It’ll be fun."

"Real romantic for Natsu to propose tonight, wouldn’t you say so, Al?" Bisca commented, drawing out her last syllable as she referred to her husband, giving him a sly look that didn’t quite match her words.

Alzack shrank slightly under her words, hearing the implications of them loud and clear as he and Asuka crawled around on hands and knees, searching the floorboards underneath the tables in hopes of seeing the glimmer of the golden ring underneath one of them.

"Yep, sure is," he meekly replied, trying to divert away from the contentious topic.

"I wonder what it’d be like to be proposed to," she continued. "Well, at least one of us knows, isn’t that right, Al?"

He tried to shoot her back an unimpressed look but ended up looking a bit more like a kicked puppy as she bought up his proposal, or more accurately, lack thereof, earning a laugh out of her.

"I was nervous!" Alzack defended, trying his best to sound assured in his words, though he was given away by the crack in his voice. "I was afraid you were gonna say no…" He added, his voice little more than a mumble.

"Oh, come on, I’m only teasing ya," Bisaca laughed, giving him a gentle nudge in the arm that nearly shoved him on his side.

"Something tells me that this isn’t just teasing…" he murmured, trying his best to get back to the search.

"It’s kind of strange, isn’t it?" Bisca added suddenly.

"What’s strange?" He replied, turning his head to look over at his wife, taken off guard by the sudden jump in subject.

"It seems like it was only yesterday when we were all teenagers, growing up alongside Natsu, doing all the stupid things that teenagers do, but now we’ve settled down with a family but they’re still making up for lost time."

Alzack frowned slightly as he processed what she was saying. It wasn’t something he ever gave much thought to, but she was right. He, Bisca, Natsu, and Lucy had all been the same age once, in the most literal of senses. They should have all lived through the same milestones together, and yet now, through the cruel hand of fate, they had several years on them.

It simultaneously felt so recent but also like a fleeting memory.

That was over a decade ago now—to them anyway.

"Do you think that if it weren’t for those seven years, they’d already be married?" He asked.

His question caused her to pause and consider for a moment. For as much as she saw the guild as her family, she was never all that familiar with Natsu prior to the events of Tenrou Island, even less so with Lucy. In a way, the Natsu and Lucy she knew were always going to be the ones changed by the events of Tenrou, the Grand Magic Games, the Eclipse, and every subsequent challenge they had to face together so young. The Natsu and Lucy, who were barely adults by the time she and Alzack had figured out their lives, the Natsu and Lucy who were deceptively good babysitters, and Bisca was sure they would make just as good parents if they ever chose to be.

"I don’t know," she answered honestly. "But there’s no point dwelling on the past though, is there?"

Alzack looked at her with a deadpan gaze, recalling how dwelling on the past was exactly what started this conversation, but Bisca merely returned it with an innocent-looking smile that her husband could see right through.

"Daddy! Stop talking with mommy and help me look!" Asuka demanded with a determined look on her face, sounding very unhappy with her father’s lack of contribution to the search effort.

Bisca did nothing to suppress the laugh she let out as she watched her husband be bossed around by their daughter. She couldn’t exactly blame her, though. Asuka was right; they had a job to do—a friend to help—there was no time for slacking off on the clock.

"Any updates?" Happy called out from among the pile of dirty clothes he and Natsu had accumulated during their search.

The floor was mostly clear, save for a few items scattered across the floor, albeit ones that didn’t necessarily obstruct their search, but they had still come up short, no ring in hand.

"I’ve checked all the shelves, but I haven’t found anything," Lisanna updated.

Her eyes scanned the shelves once more for any places she hadn’t already checked, but at this point she was almost certain she had been about as thorough with it as she could be. If she was certain about anything, it was that the ring wasn’t there, and they would have to focus their search elsewhere.

It was beginning to get dark outside, and those four hours that had once felt like plenty of time were now beginning to feel incredibly insignificant. The thought that he had lost the ring somewhere else entirely had crossed her mind plenty since they began their search, but she had always nipped it in the bud before it overcame her. Now, though, as each moment passed with no ring, Lisanna began to worry that maybe that was the case.

"Maybe you have to postpone it," Happy reluctantly suggested.

"No, I have to do it tonight."

"Why does it have to be tonight?" Lisanna inquired.

"It just has to," he replied. "I’ve planned everything out, and it’s gotta be perfect, and that means asking tonight."

The room fell quiet for a moment, and Lisanna took that time to examine the expression on his face. He had that serious look on his face, the one she hardly ever saw on him, even rarer outside of battle. She already knew that this was something that was important to him, but perhaps she hadn’t understood just how serious he was about it until now.

"Okay," she conceded. "We’ll keep looking then."

"Thank you, Lisanna."

His voice was full of such sincerity that she couldn’t believe that giving up on the search had even been in the cards. In response, she flashed him a reassuring smile to let him know that she wasn’t about to concede any time soon.

"No problem, Natsu."

The rest of their afternoon was spent roaming the streets of Magnolia, window shopping, looking in stores, and treating themselves to lunch at a quaint café just down the street from Lucy’s apartment.

The sun had begun to threaten its fall over the horizon with no news on the ring, but keeping Lucy occupied didn’t prove to be much of an issue when she was happy to stick around with her friends until the end of the day. The three of them walked side by side along a street in the shopping district, peering through windows as many of them closed up shop for the evening, until Levy noticed that Lucy was no longer at her side.

Panicked, Levy looked over her shoulder only to find that she had stopped in front of the display of a shop that was still open despite the approaching evening hours. As she walked back to her friend’s side, she noticed the almost mesmerised look on Lucy’s face as she admired the dress that adorned the mannequin at the very front of the window display.

"It’s really pretty," Lucy breathed.

"Yeah, it really is," Levy agreed.

"Why don’t you go in and try it on?" Erza suggested as she approached the two from behind.

"It probably closes soon," Lucy frowned, clearly disappointed to turn down Erza’s suggestion.

"Closes at 6," Levy said, pointing towards the listed opening hours by the door, hopeful that this would allow for another distraction while they waited on news on the ring.

Lucy still looked reluctant.

"If I go and try it on, I think I’ll be tempted to buy it," she chuckled nervously.

"Girl’s day treat?" Levy suggested, wrapping her arm around Lucy’s, trying her very best to sound convincing.

Lucy remained quiet for a moment, her eyes still glued to the display in the window, examining every inch of the dress, from the silken straps all the way down to the very bottom stitches of the hem. It seemed as though Levy didn’t need to do much convincing of her own when Lucy had already made up her mind.

"Girl’s day treat," Lucy replied, a keen smile adorning her face.

With Lucy busying herself in the changing room, Erza and Levy were left on their own as they waited for her, and a silence befell them, neither knowing exactly what to say to the other now that the girl who connected them was no longer part of the conversation. It was comfortable, if not a little awkward, as both searched for something to occupy the quiet between them. It wasn’t until Levy finally spoke up that the ice finally shattered between them.

"Erza, can I ask you something?"

She was a little taken aback by Levy’s sudden request but obliged nonetheless.

"Of course."

"If you’re so nervous about hiding the proposal from Lucy, why did you volunteer to distract her?" She asked, head tilted to the side slightly in curiosity.

"So it seems you noticed…"

Levy bit her tongue to keep herself from telling her that she was certain everyone had noticed and simply nodded along.

"It’s a bit embarrassing, really…" she began, her cheeks lightly flushed but a fond smile on her face. "I don’t get to spend a lot of one-on-one time with Lucy, and I thought perhaps this might be our last chance before she gets married."

Levy’s expression softened at the unexpectedly heartfelt response. Erza had always been so stoic, so put-together. She seemed like someone who had no need for companionship; she was strong enough on her own. But she was only human. It only made sense that she still craved that platonic intimacy, and perhaps it made even more sense that she craved it with someone who would be more than willing to indulge her in her more feminine side, especially having grown up in a guild dominated by such masculine energy.

"So you think she’s going to say yes?" Levy asked, a smile on her face and her curiosity sated.

"I’d be a fool to think otherwise," Erza replied. "I’ve never seen someone look at another with as much adoration in their eyes as Lucy does at Natsu."

"I’m sorry for hijacking your plan," Levy apologised, feeling a pang of guilt go through her after hearing her reasons.

"Don’t apologise. You were only doing what you thought was the right choice in the moment, and it was the right choice," Erza assured with a kind look on her face. "If it were up to me, Lucy and I would have spent all day looking at new armour until I lost track of time, but I’m not sure that would be her ideal day out." Her gaze flicked from the dressing room, where Lucy was currently changing, back to Levy. "I’m enjoying myself."

"I suppose this means we’ll be competing for the maid of honour position," Levy teased, poking her lightly in the arm.

"I suppose we will be," she smiled back. "But beware; I do not intend to lose," she added, her expression darkening.

"I was just joking!" Levy squeaked out in clarification, holding her hands out in front of her in a placating gesture.

"As was I," Erza replied, the frightening look on her face having since softened into a gentle smile.

The sudden adrenaline spike prompted by Erza’s joke eased at her words, and Levy smiled back.

"I think I’ve got it," Lucy called out from behind the curtain.

"Oh! Let us see!"

Pushing the curtain aside, Lucy stepped out, revealing herself in the dress that had once been worn by the stoic mannequin in the window display. It was a pure white sundress, the skirt falling with gentle ruffles just above her knees, and the bust held up with ribbon tied in cute bows on her shoulders. Lucy did a small twirl to show off the way it flowed, and Levy and Erza clapped and cheered in excitement.

The colour, the fabric, the way she was showing it off for them, and the cheerful smile on her face all made Levy think that Lucy would make the perfect blushing bride. Based on the way tears were beginning to roll down Erza’s cheek, she could only assume she was thinking the exact same thing.

"Wh- Erza? Why are you crying?" Lucy questioned, worry growing in her chest over the unexpected reaction.

"You just look so beautiful," she sobbed, tears now flowing completely freely down her face, having found herself in the troughs of emotion.

"I don’t think that’s anything to cry over…"

Before she could even think of how to comfort her crying friend, she found herself pulled into Erza’s arms, holding her tightly to her chest, and rather than argue, Lucy could only bring herself to wrap her arms around her too. It didn’t take long for her to feel Levy’s arms snake around her back, and suddenly the three of them were holding each other in an unexpected embrace.

"I’m just so happy to have you in my life," Erza said, her voice muffled in the hug but clear as day to Lucy.

Her words were beginning to cause tears to well up in Lucy’s eyes too.

"I’m so happy to have you too, Erza."

She squeezed her two friends closer to her chest, causing Levy to squeak slightly in protest.

"Okay! Too tight!" Levy complained, trying to wiggle her way out of their grasp and eliciting a flutter of giggles from the other two girls.

Lucy would never take moments like these for granted.

"You should buy it," Levy hummed.

"You think so?"

"If it made Erza cry, who knows what it’ll do to Natsu," she giggled.

Turning back around to face the mirror in the changing room, Lucy examined her reflection once more. Erza was right; she did look beautiful.

She hadn’t put much thought into what she was going to wear on her date with Natsu this evening, and as the night approached, Lucy wasn’t too sure she would have adequate time to make it home, get changed, and meet Natsu in time. Even if she did, somehow everything she had back in her wardrobe seemed to pale in comparison to the innocent beauty of this dress.

It was almost as though fate had decided to deal her a perfect hand.

Besides, she deserved to treat herself today, right?

"You’re right," Lucy agreed, a giddy smile evident on her face as she made her decision.

Deeming their search in and around Lucy’s bed unsuccessful, Juvia scanned the room once more, looking for a new place to scavenge. Recalling Wendy’s strange reaction to Lucy’s dresser, Juvia wandered over there with the thought that perhaps he had misplaced it in one of the drawers somehow. At the beginning of their search, it might have felt like a stretch, but the rest of their attempts to check in the obvious places had come up short, and she felt as though they were running out of ideas.

Opening the drawer she had remembered Wendy reacting to, Juvia grimaced slightly as she came to face Lucy’s panty drawer. Deciding better her than Wendy, she began to pull out the garments to search the bottom of the drawer where she assumed the ring would have fallen, only to quickly find herself distracted by examining the risqué garments that Lucy owned.

"Juvia didn’t know Lucy wore this type of thing…" she murmured. "And Juvia didn’t know Natsu was into it…"

Her face held a deep flush to it as she inadvertently thought about all the indecent things Lucy would do in undergarments like these, but her morbid curiosity outweighed any hesitancy she had about looking through her panty drawer. There was more lace in there than Juvia thought she had seen in her life, along with fabric so sheer that she wondered how (or if) they covered anything.

"Any luck over there?" Gray asked, his voice enough to snap her out of the panty-induced trance she had accidentally found herself in.

"N-no! Nothing yet!" Juvia squeaked out, suddenly very aware of what she was doing, before she shoved them back into the drawer and slammed it shut, deciding her time was better spent searching elsewhere.

Wendy, on the other hand, didn’t reply to his update request, instead, his answer was met with nothing more than silence.

"Wendy?" He tried again, worried by her lack of response.

This time, the only sound she let out was as she sucked in a breath, trying to hold back the sobs that threatened to escape her.

"Wendy? Is everything okay?" Juvia asked, noticing the way her breathing had changed suddenly, becoming shallow and jagged.

"What if we don’t find the ring?" She managed to choke out. "What if- what if I didn’t search good enough? And then Natsu won’t be able to propose because we couldn’t find the ring."

Her panicked response caught Gray off guard almost instantly. No matter how old she got, no matter how much she had grown, Wendy was always going to be his baby sister, and seeing her tremble and sniffle like this had his brotherly instincts kick in almost instantly. His hands rested on her shoulders, holding them with a firm grip that made her lift her head up to meet his gaze, where he could see the tears that were already beginning to form in her eyes.

"We’re going to find it, okay?" He reassured, giving her shoulders a light squeeze in an attempt to ground her as she started to sob.

Moving a hand up to her eyes, Wendy wiped away her tears and nodded slightly in understanding.

Gray was going to be damned before he let Wendy cry because Natsu was a moron.

They had searched pretty much everywhere there was to look, but they couldn’t simply give up on it when they still hadn’t heard anything back from the other groups. So long as there was even the smallest chance that the ring was here, they had to keep searching.

"We’ll find it," he repeated.

"Okay," Wendy whispered. "You’re right. We’ll find it."

"Laxus, could you please actually help instead of doing whatever it is you’re doing now?" Mira asked.

"What? I am helping," Laxus argued. "See, I’m looking on this bar top," he added, gesturing to the empty bar top where he was sat doing not much.

Mira didn’t reply, she simply looked at him with a deeply unimpressed look on her face.

"Why are you getting on my case when Cana’s just sitting there doing nothing as well?" He spat back, clearly not happy that he was the only one getting heat for not crawling on hands and knees on the filthy guild floor.

"Hey, I’m not doing nothing, I’m searching for it in the bottom of this barrel," Cana chortled, clearly already inebriated despite the afternoon hour.

The unimpressed look that had once been directed towards Laxus was now being shot at Cana, who shrank a little under her gaze.

"Fine, you want me to help, I’ll help," she conceded, deciding to contribute in the best way she knew how.

Mira’s eyes lit up as she watched Cana pull her cards out of her back pocket. Her hands expertly shuffled the cards promptly and fluidly before splaying them out in front of her and flipping over a select few of them, one by one. Mirajane and Laxus both watched intently, waiting for any change in her expression that might indicate what her cards were reading, but she remained completely stoic. Both flicked their gazes between the cards and Cana’s face. Laxus’s previous disinterest now turned to intrigue as they watched the master at work to find them an answer.

She flipped one more card over, and for a split second, Mira could swear she saw Cana furrow her brows as she examined the new addition to the cards she had pulled. That split-second hope for a helpful answer was quickly dashed when Cana finally broke the silence.

"Natsu has the ring," she stated plainly.

Her reading was met with a let-down sigh from Mira, who had decided that it was entirely unhelpful.

"If the idiot had the ring, then we wouldn’t have been dragged into this crap," Laxus replied.

"The cards don’t lie," Cana shrugged. "I’m goin’ back to my drink."

Realising she wasn’t going to make much progress with these two, Mira decided a more productive use of her time would be to look elsewhere and left the two of them to tend to their drinks alone.

"Levy-chan, I have to go."

"Come on, it’ll be really quick," she assured, trying to keep Lucy from leaving and finding the crazed search back at the guild. "In and out, I promise!"

Lucy shot her a sceptical look, which Levy returned with pleading eyes. Her gaze flicked from her friend to the book store behind her. It was oh-so tempting—shelves and shelves lined with books of every genre for her to flick through the pages of—but six p.m. was rapidly approaching, and she wasn’t sure she would be able to cut it in time.

"Okay, fine," Lucy gave in. "But it has to be quick. I really don’t want to be late."

"It will be! Promise!"

The moment she stepped foot in the shop, any and all of her worries about the time were dashed. It was just her and the shelves of books before her, and suddenly Levy’s promise of in and out was becoming less and less realistic, but as she perused the selection, Lucy couldn’t find it in herself to care that much.

Taking one off the shelf, Lucy flicked through the pages and enjoyed the new book smell that wafted from the pages. It was as though all time had stopped as she read through blurb after blurb, flicking through the first few pages of each book she picked up, having to physically hold herself back from taking up residence on the floor for a full read-through right then and there. She hardly noticed the reassured look on Levy’s face as she slipped another book under her arm and moved on to find the next one.

"Have you read this one?" Levy called out from across the store, summoning her even deeper into the aisles.

Taking the book out of her hands, Lucy examined the cover to be met with what she assumed to be a traditional fantasy novel based on the dragon and gold embossed text adorning the cover until she flipped it over and read the description on the back. She could feel the blood rushing to her face in embarrassment as she read an incredibly not-safe-for-work description of a romance between a girl and a half-human, half-dragon and realised that what Levy had handed her was not, in fact, fantasy but an erotica novel.

"Remind you of anyone?" She teased, watching the moment realisation hit her friend.

"L-Levy!" Lucy sputtered out.

"It’s really realistic~" Levy replied, enjoying the way Lucy seemed to practically glow red in mortification.

"Oh, have you found something good?" Erza asked, peering over her shoulder, causing Lucy to pull the book to her chest in a bid to keep her from catching a glimpse at it.

"Nope! Nothing interesting!"

Erza gave her a look that was somewhere between shock and confusion, but Lucy didn’t give herself much time to analyse as she tried to hide her face and quickly move on, trying not to draw any more attention to herself as she slipped the novel in between the ones she was already carrying and shuffled away.

Lucy busied herself looking through the shelves to hide her embarrassment, trailing her finger across the spines that lined the shelves until something caught her interest. One by one, she amassed more and more novels for her collection, all self-restraint thrown out the window, until she simply could not carry any more in her arms and decided that she needed to make her purchase or she might never leave.

As she made it to the counter, Lucy caught a glimpse of the clock over the shoulder of the shop attendant.

5:52

She sucked in a breath as she realised how long had passed since they had entered the store. If she ran, she would maybe be able to make it back to their meeting spot in time.

"I’m sorry, I have to go," Lucy declared, dropping her books on the counter and making a mad dash out of the front door.

"Lucy, wait!" Levy called out as she ran after her friend.

"Levy-chan, I’ve really enjoyed our day together, but I’m already running late," she called back over her shoulder.

The composure that Levy had been able to maintain the entire day so far was suddenly beginning to wane. They still hadn’t gotten word on the ring, and they couldn’t let her go until they had found it, but she was running out of ideas, and Lucy was adamant.

She couldn’t tell Lucy what was going on, that was simply out of the question, but there was nothing she could do now that would keep her distracted without also giving away that something was up. In a moment of near-defeat, she shot Erza a worried look, though it seemed like she was already far ahead of her.

Erza took off after her, her pace far exceeding Lucy's, and it did not take long for her to overtake their friend. Before Levy could understand what her plan was, a blinding light overtook her vision, and suddenly in front of Lucy stood Erza, wielding a sword in each hand, looking more determined than she had seen her in a long time.

"I’m sorry, Lucy, but I cannot allow you to go on that date," she declared, pointing the very sharp tip of one of her swords in Lucy’s direction in threat.

"W-what?" Lucy stuttered out, her expression somewhere in the mid-point of confusion and terror.

Lisanna checked her communication lacrima, hoping that some news had broken about the location of the ring and she simply hadn’t heard it go off. She bit her lip to keep the defeated sigh from passing through as she found no new updates.

"I still haven’t heard anything from big sis," she said, trying to hide the twinge of disappointment she was feeling.

"We’ve combed every inch of the house, and we still haven’t found it," Happy complained, not at all trying to hide the exasperation evident in his voice.

"Are you sure there’s nowhere else it could be? Is there anywhere we haven’t checked yet?"

Her question was met with silence, completely uncharacteristic for those she was with, and concern began to bubble within her.

"Natsu?"

She turned around to see what he was up to, only to find him sitting at the kitchen table, holding his head in his hands.

"We’re not gonna find the stupid ring."

His voice held a sense of defeat and sorrow that she had never heard in it before and the sound of it was disconcerting and made her heart ache in her chest.

"Natsu, I am not letting you give up on finding this ring. I’ve never watched you give up before, and I’m not going to let this be the first time."

"We’ve been looking for hours and we still haven’t found it," he said, turning his head to the side, wherein she caught a glimpse of the blank, defeated look in his eyes that looked so uncharacteristic of him that it almost made her feel sick.

"You said it has to be tonight, so it’s going to be tonight, okay? There’s got to be some place that we haven’t thought of."

"We’ve literally checked everywhere," Happy emphasised.

"We can’t have checked everywhere if we still haven’t found it," Lisanna replied, not wanting the mood to get any lower than it already was. "Have you checked in your pockets?" She suggested, in a hopeful attempt to try to get them to refrain from giving up at the very last second.

Natsu shoved his hands in his pant pockets, still looking slightly defeated and not expecting anything from her suggestion, until he felt something in there and froze in place.

"Natsu… please don’t tell me-"

"Have I ever told you that you’re the best ever?"

Before she even had time to respond, Natsu had her in a bone-crushing hug, her feet having left the floor as he picked her up in delighted celebration.

"Woah-!" She cried out in surprise before laughter overcame her. "You might have mentioned it once or twice," she teased as she felt her feet touch solid ground once more.

Once he had set her down, he held out his hand to show off the very ring they had been searching for all day, as it had sat dormant in his pocket the whole time. It was something more elegant than she ever thought Natsu would pick, and she could only assume that he had had more than a few hands in helping him choose.

"Lucy’s going to love it," she hummed, admiring the way the stones glimmered as the light hit them. "Now hurry up and get changed! You don’t want to be late for your engagement."

Though Mira hadn’t expected the search to be a prompt one, the way the light streaming in from the windows was beginning to dim as the sun began to dip over the horizon had her worried that it wouldn’t be successful either. A quick glance around the guild hall indicated that others were feeling much the same way. Even little Asuka, who had been so gung-ho about the search at the beginning, was now beginning to bore of it, her eyes growing droopy as she clung to Alzack’s arm to keep herself from nodding off completely.

Erza and Levy had been doing their best to buy them time all day. Natsu, Lisanna, Gray, Juvia and Wendy hadn’t given up on their search yet, and neither would she. This was a group effort, and she was going to play her part.

She pursed her lips together as she tried to think of all the places they hadn’t already searched. She’d already searched every inch of the bar top and every inch behind it. Maybe she’d have better luck searching on the other side, beneath the barstools. She could recall serving Natsu a drink the day prior, so it wasn’t a stretch to think he could have dropped it there.

Leaving her post behind the bar, she began to search beneath any and all of the unoccupied barstools. Now that she was mostly alone, Mira didn’t try to hold back the exasperated sigh that passed her lips. After designating herself as the leader of the search, she tried her best to keep up a confident and assured façade, but even she could see that things were looking a little hopeless.

Her quiet moment of searching was cut short when she noticed her communication lacrima buzz on the counter top and strode over to check her new message.

SMS Lisanna <3 we found it! i’m sending natsu over now

She sucked in a breath before subsequently letting it out with a squeal of excitement.

"Natsu’s got the ring!" Mira called out across the guild hall, capturing the attention of all who still remained in the evening hour.

Raucous cheers promptly broke out throughout the hall, both in early celebration of Natsu and Lucy’s impending engagement and in gratitude that the search was finally over.

"Someone go tell Freed, he’ll be happy to get out of the sex room," Bickslow cackled, earning him a half-hearted smack on the arm from Laxus.

"WE DID IT!" A familiar voice called out from the middle of the guild hall, drawing all attention to Makarov, sitting on one of the tables, his face a deep flush to match his deeply inebriated state.

"But you didn’t do anything, Master," Mira pointed out, though her corrections were quickly brushed off in favour of more slurred celebrations.

"Three cheers for Fairy Tail!"

"You really think you should be drinking that much, old man?" Laxus asked, not at all sharing his enthusiasm.

"I gotta if Natsu’s gettin’ married," Makarov slurred back. "‘Cuz that means soon we’re gonna have a bunch of mini-Natsu’s runnin’ around, and I’m not sure I’m ready for that," he justified before letting out a small hiccup. "I just gotta make sure I retire before then," he tried to whisper to Cana next to him, though his words evidently came out much louder than he intended.

Laxus gave him a vaguely sceptical look before shrugging and taking another swig of his drink, deciding that this wasn’t his problem.

"Fair enough."

The moment of quiet that fell across the hall at their Master’s words didn’t last long; after all, their Natsu was getting engaged, and that was plenty reason to celebrate.

Any and all concerns about keeping Lucy’s room as tidy as they found it had long since gone out the window, along with perhaps their sanity, as the group ravaged her apartment in search of the ring. All of the couch cushions had been pulled off of the couch and left in a pile on the floor, not at all dissimilar to the pile of bedsheets that had accumulated in Gray’s second search of the bed. Juvia’s section of the room wasn’t in much better shape, with Lucy’s clothes in piles by the dresser as well as seemingly thrown onto every other piece of furniture in the room.

Another pile was added as she emptied another drawer to search the bottom of it for the ring, hoping that maybe she would hear the clink of it hitting the floor between the garments. She hadn’t seen anything in her first search, but maybe she just hadn’t been thorough enough. With a frustrated grumble, Juvia began to search through the garments to ensure the ring hadn’t gotten caught in any of them before tossing each to the side once she came up ringless.

Wendy, on the other hand, had relegated herself to searching Lucy’s desk in complete and blissful ignorance of the absolute carnage behind her. She carefully rummaged through the drawers, going so far as to avert her gaze when she found an unfinished manuscript sitting at the bottom of one of them. Her brows furrowed slightly in concentration, focusing all of her energy on feeling around for the ring.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, that drawer was a lost cause, as was the one below it, and the next below that, full of nothing but books, letters, and stationery. Letting it slide closed, Wendy decided her attention would be better spent looking on top of the desk; after all, if Natsu had carelessly placed it somewhere, it was more likely on something rather than in something.

Her desk was probably the messiest place in the whole apartment, with papers and notebooks strewn across the surface. The ink on them still smelled fresh, indicating she had just left them there this morning, so it wasn’t a stretch to think that perhaps the ring sat under the papers and Lucy simply hadn’t noticed it was there.

Or at least, that’s what Wendy had hoped anyway.

Carefully, she gathered up the leaves of paper, wary not to smudge any wet ink as she glanced underneath. In her search, Wendy carelessly knocked over a pen stand that she hadn’t noticed sitting there until it was already knocked on its side, pens and pencils now strewn all across the desk.

"Oh no! Lucy’s pencils!" She exclaimed, panic beginning to take hold as she watched the pens roll off the edge of the desk.

She scrambled to pick up the stationery that had been scattered across the desk and place them neatly back in the little pot that she had knocked them out of.

"I’ve made such a big mess," she murmured, paying no mind to the real mess being made behind her.

As she placed each item back in the pen holder, a brilliant idea struck her. She looked inside the container, hopeful that maybe the ring had found itself at the bottom of it or perhaps hooked around one of the pencils, but alas, she had no such luck. A sad sigh escaped her as she placed it back on the desk with a small clink, disappointed that her mess hadn’t brought any success with it.

Juvia bit down on her lip as she looked into the empty bottom drawer at the end of her search. Although perhaps it seemed unrealistic, she had still been hopeful that maybe, by some miracle, she would find the ring safely tucked away beneath one of Lucy’s shirts, and they would finally be able to put an end to their search. Unfortunately, it seemed as though it simply couldn’t be that easy.

She glanced over at Gray and then Wendy to find both of them still searching, indicating that neither had found anything either.

Hoping that perhaps the third time was the charm, she began to dig through the pile of clothes once more. She searched through pockets and shook each garment in hopes of it miraculously dropping out of it before tossing it to the side when she inevitably came up short. With every passing moment, it was becoming more and more likely that they weren’t going to find the ring today. Trying to keep her hopes up, Juvia shoved her hand into the pocket of a pair of shorts before she felt her communication lacrima buzz in her own.

Placing the shorts back down, Juvia pulled her lacrima out while keeping her hopes low, at best expecting the search to be called off and postponed for a later day. They’d been at the search for hours, it was creeping closer and closer to their cut-off time, and there was only so long Erza and Levy could keep Lucy occupied for.

Opening her messages, Juvia’s heart skipped a beat as she read the three new messages.

SMS Mirajane natsu found the ring! :) you are free of your ring searching duties now :) you should get out of there before the happy couple gets back teehee ;)

She nearly dropped the lacrima in joyous surprise as she reread it. They had been searching for so long that part of her was worried that they simply wouldn’t find the ring today, so a feeling of relief washed over her, knowing that they hadn’t somehow missed it in their search.

"Ah! Natsu has found the ring!" Juvia cried, capturing the attention of the others in the house.

"Really?" Wendy called back, dropping the papers ungracefully on the desk.

"Really!" She replied, holding her lacrima out for Wendy to confirm herself.

Gray threw his head back and let out a sigh of complete and utter relief upon hearing the news.

"Took him long enough," he commented, glancing over at the clock sitting on Lucy’s nightstand and noting how close it was to six. "Guess that means we can finally get out of here."

Juvia murmured in thankful agreement. Lucy had a nice place, but staying there for this long, doing nothing but frantic searching was beginning to drive her to the brink of insanity, and she was more than a little thankful to finally make their exit.

"This is the longest Juvia has ever been in Lucy’s apartment," she mused on their way out of their friend’s home.

"What about the Christmas party?" Gray asked, brows raised over the discrepancy.

"This is the longest Juvia has ever been in Lucy’s apartment sober," she corrected.

Gray let out a short breath of amusement at her comment, though before the mortification of the memories of that night could kick in, the sound of Wendy’s voice coming from behind caught his attention.

"Um… Gray? Juvia?"

The two turned back around to face Wendy after hearing her call out to them.

"Do you think maybe we should clean up before we leave?"

Looking back into her apartment, Gray and Juvia noticed the absolute state they had left it in. It looked like they had absolutely ransacked her apartment, which, in fairness, they very much had, but the thought of cleaning up after themselves had completely slipped Gray’s mind until now.

"Yeah, I guess we should," he reluctantly agreed.

If Gray had known how much of a pain in the ass it would be to clean the place up back to Lucy’s standard, he wouldn’t have made such a mess in the first place.

And all for the ring to not even be here.

Even still, he couldn’t find it in himself to be mad at Natsu for the waste of a day. Outwardly, he’d keep up their façade, he’d chastise him, he’d make fun of him, he’d make sure that Natsu would simply never live this down, but if it were to happen again, he would still help him in a heartbeat.

Maybe it was the thought of the impending proposal and wedding that had him feeling particularly sentimental on this day. Gray was never one for romance, but then again, neither was Natsu. Somehow or another, just the thought of that idiot finally giving Lucy what she had been not-so-subtly begging for for months at this point and all the celebrations that would ensue in its wake was enough to have Gray smiling even as he fitted the sheets back on Lucy’s bed.

Weddings were meant to be the joining of families, but they were both already family, weren’t they?

That’s why he felt so compelled to lend a hand in the search—because they were family.

He could already imagine the ear-to-ear smile on Lucy’s face as she showed off her new engagement ring, the tears beginning to form in her eyes again as she recounted whatever ridiculous plan Natsu had come up with for their proposal. She would go on and on about how it had been the best day of her life (so far, the wedding was still yet to come), and Gray could be content knowing that he had done his part to put that smile on her face, even if that part hadn’t been all that useful in the end.

His job at remaking her bed certainly wasn’t as neat as Lucy had left it in the morning, but he just hoped that she would be so elated with the events of the night when she arrived home that she simply wouldn’t question it.

All the clothing that had been thrown in piles around the apartment was now neatly put away in her dresser, and the documents stacked up on her desk looked even more organised than when they had entered.

Pleased with their clean-up, the three of them were more than happy to take their long-awaited leave.

"Oh! Just before we go," Wendy chimed out, capturing their attention one last time before tottering over to Lucy’s nightstand, where she placed the hair ties’ she had collected from under her bed. "Okay! That’s all!"

She hurried back out into the hallway where her companions were waiting for her before shutting the door behind her for Gray to lock before they set off back to the guild, where celebrations were no doubt already ensuing.

Heeding Lisanna’s advice, Natsu scurried off to the bathroom, grabbing his change of clothes on the way before slamming the door shut behind him in his renewed vigour. From behind the door, Lisanna heard a clatter of multiple items falling off of the countertop before a loud thud rang out, followed by a loud expletive.

"Shit!"

"Are you okay in there?" She asked, trying to suppress a laugh at how much trouble he seemed to be having in his rush to get dressed.

"Yeah, I just—god fucking—" He paused for a moment and let out a frustrated grunt. "I can’t get these stupid pants on."

The image of Natsu struggling to get into his pants (no doubt because he probably forgot to unbutton them before pulling them on) made her giggle, but she quickly held her hand over her mouth to hold it in before it escaped.

"Do you need some help?" Lisanna offered, feeling bad for merely standing by the door and

"No, I-" His reply was cut off by another frustrated grunt before he finally called out in success, "I got it!"

He came out wearing something much more dapper than Lisanna ever expected him to own—a pair of neat dress pants and a deep red button-up that he surprisingly managed to get buttoned up entirely on his own without misaligning any of them. There was no tie or blazer, though she suspected maybe that was a bit much to ask of Natsu.

"You look very handsome," she smiled.

"Ya think?" He asked, already tugging at his too-tight collar, before giving in and unbuttoning the top button entirely, letting it fall open in a way that looked much more in character for him.

"I do think so," she hummed. "Lucy’s gonna be really happy that you put in the effort."

At her praise, Natsu broke out into a pleased, self-assured smile.

"Got the ring?"

To her question, he confidently pulled the ring from his pants pocket, and Lisanna could rest easy knowing that all of their searching hadn’t been for nothing.

"I gotta go," he said, shoving the ring back in the pocket, confident that he wouldn’t lose it this time. "Can’t be late, or else Lucy’ll get mad at me."

"Hey, before you leave," Lisanna called out before he could make it too far.

Natsu turned on his heel to face her, and Lisanna responded in turn by dusting off his shoulder and adjusting the collar of his shirt, making sure he looked his very best for Lucy when he arrived.

"Now go get ‘em, tiger!"

For the first time that day, Lisanna saw that signature Natsu grin spreading from ear to ear, and suddenly all that effort became worth it.

"Right!"

He left no time to exchange goodbyes before he was off, for real this time. His face had a familiar look of determination on it.

"Thanks for all your help!" He yelled out before he could get too far out of earshot.

"You’re welcome!" Lisanna called back, and before long he was on his way.

As he sprinted back in the direction of the guild, Happy and Lisanna lingered behind, content to take their time in returning, not wanting to accidentally bump into the happy couple lest they accidentally ruin the surprise.

"You think Lucy’s going to say yes?" She asked, looking over to Happy, knowing that he knew Lucy infinitely better than she did.

"I think Lucy’s gonna cry like a big baby," he replied, earning a soft chuckle from Lisanna. "And then she’s gonna say yes."

"Yeah?" She hummed, earning a confident nod from their exceed friend. "I think so too."

Lucy’s brain was telling her to run, but her body stayed frozen in place in fear. She’d been in plenty of fights over the years, but she’d never fought Erza, and she was not about to now.

"H-hey, we can talk this out," Lucy tried, wary and confused by the sudden change in her friend’s demeanour.

If she fled, she would no doubt not make it more than maybe a few metres before she found herself skewered, which was less ideal than being late for her date, but she had made a promise to Natsu that she would be there at six, and she was less than keen to break it if she could help it.

Her gaze flicked between Erza and Levy as she tried to send her a silent plea for help but was met with no action from her friend, who simply stood and stared, seemingly a little in shock herself.

"Levy! Help!" She cried out in a desperate effort to get herself out of this situation.

Levy was about as taken aback by the whole scenario as Lucy was, but she, on the other hand, was less inclined to stop it. It wasn’t ideal, but it was working, and really, Levy had no better ideas that warranted the intervention.

So long as Lucy made it out intact, she would let Erza distract her by whatever means possible. Instead, she nervously shrugged in Lucy’s direction as if to say she didn’t know what to do either.

"You will not go on that date, even if it means I have to use force," Erza interrupted, pulling both girls out of their panicked trains of thought.

"Okay! Please just… put the sword away," Lucy pleaded, raising her hands to show she meant no harm.

She was at a complete loss of what to do, aside from plead for her mercy, but even that didn’t seem to work, with Erza still holding her weapon up in threat. Her brain could hardly comprehend what was going on—the day had been going so well; they’d laughed together, cried together, Lucy hadn’t felt this close to Erza in months, but now she was only feeling close to the lethal end of her weapon.

"Erza, please, whatever’s going on, I’m sure we can talk it out," she tried again, hoping that her words would break through to her.

A group of onlookers was beginning to gather at the unusual scene unfolding in the middle of Magnolia. Chatter began to spread through the audience, with many making note of the Fairy Tail guild marks that indicated that this was simply another of the local guild’s shenanigans rather than a threat to anyone’s safety.

Levy was thankful that the scene hadn’t caused any panic from onlookers, but she still wasn’t particularly keen for this to go on much longer. At this point, all they could do was bide their time and keep Lucy occupied for as long as they could without either spoiling the surprise or maiming her in the process.

Erza hadn’t moved an inch since drawing her sword, and thankfully, neither had Lucy, but the two could only stay locked in a standstill for so long. Watching it only served to make Levy antsy.

Someone needed to find the ring. Fast.

Almost as if someone had heard her prayers, Levy’s lacrima buzzed in her pocket, and she eagerly scrambled to check it, hoping that they could finally be free from this unusual standoff.

SMS Mirajane natsu has the ring! :) he is on his way back to the guild now :) feel free to send lucy back :)

Levy read the message. And then reread it. And then read it a third time, just to be sure.

She could have cried with happiness at the words on her screen, knowing that after this unusual experience, tonight would be Lucy’s night. Instead of dwelling on that, however, Levy slipped away somewhere out of Lucy’s line of sight but still within Erza’s to let her know the good news. The large crowd and her small stature made it difficult to get her attention without calling out to her, but as she waved her arms, she noticed Erza’s gaze flick up to her.

Levy held her hand up, pointed to her ring finger, and furiously nodded in hopes that she would get the message. With the way Erza’s stiff demeanour seemed to ease at her gestures, it seemed that she understood.

"Never mind," Erza said, sending her weapon back to the pocket dimension with a bright flash as though nothing out of the ordinary had just occurred. "You may go on your date now."

"What?" Lucy cried out, perhaps more lost than she was when Erza had first drawn her sword.

"No time for questions! You don’t want to be late, do you?" Levy diverted, trying to usher her back to the guild quickly.

"But what about-" Lucy began, only to be cut off by Erza.

"If you run back, you’ll make it there in time."

Lucy’s brain simply could not compute what had just happened, but her feet moved in time with Erza and Levy guiding her back to her meeting spot with Natsu.

"Run!" Levy shouted.

Heeding her advice, Lucy pulled off her heels, stumbling as she did so, before sprinting down the stone pavement towards the guild.

Before she could get too far away, Lucy looked over her shoulder to see her two friends watching her as she ran, smiling at her as though nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

"Thank you for today!" She called out to them, deciding to ignore the unusual blip at the end. "I had fun!"

"We did too!" Erza shouted back, both of them waving their arms at her in goodbye.

"Have fun on your date!" Levy added.

"I will!"

Lucy was almost certain she was getting stares as she bolted towards their designated meeting spot at the guild. It wasn’t every day you saw a girl sprinting through the streets of Magnolia in heels as though her life depended on it, but it was a town that was full of surprises, and this was one of the milder ones compared to the things the guild tended to get up to.

She paid no mind to the looks being shot her way as she dashed through the streets along the familiar path to the guild hall. Even as her chest began to ache and she began to heave for breath, her legs continued to carry her until she spotted a head of pink hair standing right at the place they had promised to meet.

She watched his face light up as he spotted her, and suddenly nothing else mattered.

He held his arms out for her in anticipation, and she took full advantage of it, throwing herself into them and nestling her face into the crook of his neck. He stumbled back slightly, taken aback by the force with which she launched herself at him, but he quickly regained his balance and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey," he murmured into her hair, lips grazing her scalp as he held her tight against his chest.

"Hi," she mumbled back, her voice muffled against his skin. "I’m sorry I kept you waiting," she apologised as she pulled back slightly, trying to keep her breath steady and even as she tried to hide just how much she had overexerted herself on the way here. "I’ve had a weird day."

"Yeah? Me too," he replied.

She cocked her head to the side, waiting for him to elaborate, but nothing came of it.

"Don’t worry about it," he brushed off. "I’m real happy to see you."

"I’m happy to see you too."

Reaching up on the tips of her toes, Lucy rested her hands on his shoulders and placed a gentle kiss against his lips. When she pulled back, she found a grin on his face accompanied by a light dusting of pink on his cheeks that made her heart race in her chest. It didn’t matter how many times she did it, Lucy would simply never get over how she could make her big, strong Natsu blush with little more than a kiss.

Seemingly unsatisfied with her light peck, Natsu’s hands cupped her cheeks and pulled her in again before running his tongue along the seam of her lips. A small squeak escaped her in surprise, which was promptly swallowed in their kiss. Once the shock of the kiss wore off, her arms came to rest around his shoulders, and she let him take the lead as she melted into his touch.

He barely managed to pull himself away from her lips, his nose grazing against hers when they parted as he leant over slightly so his forehead rested against hers.

"You look really pretty, by the way," he breathed, his words grazing hot against her lips.

Lucy let out an airy laugh at his words, amused by his sudden, unusual affection.

"What’s got you so sappy today?" She asked, pulling away slightly to get a better look at him, her arms still draped loosely around his neck.

"What? Nothin’. I’m not bein’ sappy," Natsu defended. "What’s so weird about me callin’ you pretty, huh?"

"Nothing’s weird," she hummed. "You look really handsome today, too."

He broke out into a grin at her compliment, which elicited a laugh from Lucy.

"I look pretty cool, right?"

"The coolest," she assured with a smile. "So, where are you taking me?" She asked, plenty ready to head on their way for a hopefully relaxing date after the day she had just had.

"It’s a surprise," Natsu grinned.

"You’ve been saying that all week," she pouted, clearly unhappy to hear the same answer he’d already given her each time she asked.

"That’s ‘cause it is," he said. "It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you."

In response, Lucy stuck out her bottom lip even further, hoping that maybe her pouty lips and glistening eyes would finally convince him to spill the beans, but he merely laughed at her expression.

"You’re weird."

His hands moved up to her face, squishing her cheeks together and pushing both lips out.

"There, now you look like a fish," he laughed, much to Lucy’s dismay.

"You’re sho annoying," she whined, her words distorted by the exaggerated Natsu-induced pout on her lips.

Natsu didn’t reply; he simply grinned down at her, happy to bask in her presence after a day spent apart, even if she was currently shooting him a very unhappy expression.

"You wanna get going?" He finally asked, letting his hands drop from her cheeks and down to her hands, where he intertwined her fingers with his own.

"Yeah, I would like that."

Truthfully, Lucy didn’t know what she had expected Natsu to come up with for tonight. Rarely did Natsu plan their dates, even rarer was that he insisted on planning their dates, so she really had no frame of reference for what he had on the agenda.

She just wasn’t expecting an hour-long hike out of Magnolia.

"Are we nearly there?" Lucy asked, trailing behind him, unable to keep up with his pace in her shoes.

"Almost," he called back.

"You said that twenty minutes ago," she whined. "And now my feet hurt."

"You shoulda worn more comfy shoes," Natsu retorted.

"Maybe I would have if you had told me where we were going," Lucy huffed as she stopped to slip her heels off. "I thought we were going to a restaurant or something, not a hike in the woods. You’re certainly not dressed for it either."

Upon noticing that Lucy had stopped behind him, Natsu followed suit and turned around to face her.

"You’re gonna love it, promise."

Lucy fell silent for a moment as she looked him up and down. Natsu knew her better than anyone, sometimes even herself, and he’d never taken her on a bad date before now. She didn’t know what was up his sleeve, but if he said she was going to love it, then she was sure he was right.

"Okay," she conceded. "But can you please hold these for me?" She added, holding out her shoes to him.

"Sure," he agreed, and before Lucy could even understand what was going on, one hand was under her arms while the other hooked under her knees, and she was swept up off of her feet and into his arms.

"The shoes! Not me!" She cried out, clutching onto him in shock.

Natsu simply grinned down at her, not phased by the prospect of carrying her the rest of the way.

"You’ll complain less this way."

Lucy hadn’t paid much mind to the passage of time, content to rest her head on Natsu’s shoulder and listen to his steady breath as he trod along the forest floor. Her eyes had fluttered closed long ago, and she was teetering on the edge of sleep, lulled in by Natsu’s familiar and calming warmth as he held her close. It wasn’t until she heard him murmur a few words to rouse her from her slumber before her feet hit the ground that she knew that they had finally arrived.

"We’re here."

She took a few moments to rub the sleep out of her eyes before she could fully process where they were. When she looked up at Natsu, she noticed foliage still behind him, though the moonlight shining upon them indicated that they had made it out of the forest. He was still grinning at her, giddy, waiting for her reaction to what he had been planning for her for weeks now.

Curiosity piqued, Lucy turned around to see what he had been so insistent on keeping a surprise.

Behind her sat a cliff that was little more than a backdrop to the view of a sky that was undisturbed by civilisation. Gorgeous shades of blues and purples melted together into the galaxy, dotted with stars as far as the eye could see, shining like glitter against the backdrop the sky provided them.

She had never seen anything like it before.

"Wow."

"Awesome, right?"

Awesome would be understating it.

It was incredible. Breath taking. Extraordinary.

No words in her vocabulary could even begin to encapsulate the true beauty that stood before her.

She felt so small under the stars, but so alive.

"It’s not as good as Stella, but I thought you’d still like it," he said, arms snaking around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder.

"Natsu this…" Her breath hitched in her throat, unable to muster up the words to describe how she was feeling. "This is amazing."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Part of her wanted to turn back to face him, to kiss him senseless for bringing her out here, but the other part couldn’t bring herself to tear her gaze away from the sky. Only when she felt his arms leave her waist did she finally look back over at him, only to find him making himself comfortable on the grass, waiting for her to join him.

She practically dove onto him, letting them both fall back onto the grass as she pressed her lips to his, kissing him with as much passion and fervour as she could muster, which he responded with just as much. Lucy was entirely out of breath by the time she pulled away, but that didn’t stop her from littering his face with kiss after kiss after kiss, ensuring no inch of skin was left untouched.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," she murmured between each kiss.

"No problem, Lucy," he smiled before cupping her jaw with his hand and easing her down for one more kiss.

Once he pulled away, Lucy rolled off of him onto the grass beside him before sitting up and pulling her knees to her chest, where she rested her chin to admire the view, a dreamy sigh passing her lips as she did so. That position didn’t last for long, however, before she felt Natsu’s hands on her and was pulled into his lap.

"So you don’t stain your new dress," he reasoned when she let out a confused squeak.

"Huh?"

Lucy looked down to recall that she was still wearing the dress she had purchased mere hours ago.

"I didn’t realise you noticed," she sheepishly admitted.

"Course I noticed," Natsu replied. "Like how I noticed that you curled your hair and painted your nails different."

She had barely managed to keep herself together thus far, but hearing him say that made her feel like her heart was simply about to burst.

Now it was her turn to cry.

Her eyes grew glassy as tears began to form. No longer could her emotions be contained, and suddenly the tears began to flow freely down her cheeks.

"Lucy? Oh god, Lucy, is everything okay? Did I-"

"I love you so much!" She sobbed, throwing her head back to rest on his shoulder and bringing one hand up to tangle in his hair.

Her sudden declaration caught him off guard, causing him to stiffen for a moment before he finally relaxed, knowing that she wasn’t hurt or upset. He lowered his head to place a tender kiss to her bare shoulder.

"Yeah, I love you too."

A few sniffles and sobs later, Lucy finally felt as though she had finally gotten all her emotions out. She brought a hand up to wipe away her tears and restore her foggy vision so she could truly admire what Natsu had brought her out here to see. She felt him nuzzle his nose into the spot where her neck and shoulder met, no doubt preparing himself to spend the rest of the night out here with her as she pointed out each constellation she could spot and recounted anecdotes about stargazing with her mother as a child.

His arms were warm, fighting off the cool night chill as a gentle breeze passed them by, and she snuggled even further into his embrace. She didn’t even mind the cool air hitting the exposed skin of her legs and arms, definitely not dressed for the occasion, but then again, neither was he.

She didn’t get much time to mull it over before something much more enticing caught her attention.

"Natsu, look!"

Her finger pointed up towards the stars, following the train of a meteor that ripped across the sky, followed by another, and another, and another, until falling stars were all that the eye could see.

"Did you know this was happening tonight?" She asked, whipping her head around to face him.

He didn’t answer her, didn’t need to. The wide smile plastered on his face was all the answer she needed.

"You gonna make a wish?" He simply asked.

Lucy turned her gaze back to the sky, watching the shooting stars pass them by.

A wish…

She didn’t need a wish.

Everything she could ever want was right here with her.

"No, I don’t think so," she breathed, content to simply be here, to exist with him.

"Really? You’re not gonna wish for anything?" He replied, his tone almost a little disappointed by her response.

"Do I have to?" Lucy asked, a little caught off guard by his tone.

"I guess you don’t," he mused. "But it probably would have made this a lot more romantic."

He left her no time to guess what he meant before he held out in front of her a dainty gold ring, embellished with three red stones at the top, and for a moment, Lucy swore the world around her stopped.

Her jaw dropped open, words caught in her throat as she sat there gaping at the ring.

She knew exactly what she wanted to say; she’d practically rehearsed it, but now that she was sitting here, Natsu holding the ring expectantly for her, she was too overwhelmed with emotion to spit it out.

Suddenly, all the tears that she thought she had cried out threatened to break through, and Lucy did nothing to stop them.

"Y-yes!" She finally managed to sputter out, answering a question that he hadn’t even asked.

Through her tears, she could barely manage to make out the ear-to-ear grin on Natsu’s face, but she didn’t need to see it to know. Instead, she simply held out her left hand for him, and he slipped the ring onto her ring finger, where it fit perfectly snug, and Lucy had to wonder just how much help he had gotten to make that happen.

With both of their hands now free, Lucy moved to straddle him, resting her arms around his neck as he began to wipe away her tears. As his hands moved to rest on her cheeks, she leant down to feel his lips against hers once more.

She didn’t know how many times she had kissed him tonight, but she did know that it would never be enough.

"I’m so happy," she choked out once they parted, their lips barely millimetres apart.

"Me too," he breathed, his hands still cupping her cheeks. "I love you," he repeated, his voice barely a murmur against her lips.

He closed the distance between them once more, and then again, and again, and again, barely letting her breathe between kisses until she was a giggling, sobbing mess.

Her heart was well and truly full.

She’d dreamed of this day for so long, her mind had conjured scene after scene of how it would happen, but nothing she could have come up with was as romantic as sitting here under the stars with her best friend and the love of her life. If they could stay like this forever, she would be content with that.

Forever.

Yes.

Forever sounded nice.

#fairy tail #nalu #lucy heartfilia #natsu dragneel #fan fiction #fanfiction #fanfic #mya writes things #dies this took 3 weeks of writing every single day #im so glad thats over lmfao #long post

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