#she’s so good at building the right amount of tension I love it

[jobean12-blog]

Aftermath

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x female reader (Mob!Bucky AU)

Word Count: 2,318

Summary: Bucky has kept you safe for as long as he's had you but the first time you don't follow his orders is definitey going to be the last.

Author's Note: These new pics are giving lots of mob/mafia vibes and I love it! Thank you all so much for reading! Much love always! ❤️❤️❤️Divider by the lovely @firefly-graphics thank you Daisy! 🥰

Warnings: some angst in the beginning and illusions to violence, mentions of a gun, Bucky is soft and there are lots of fluffy moments but he's pissed you didn't listen and he needs you.

You pinch the bridge of your nose, sighing heavily when Nat doesn’t pick up the phone. She only called you two minutes ago. Right after she sent you a text telling you she needed to talk. Under any other circumstances you would never leave your perch at the bar. Never leave the safety of Bucky’s club and go against his orders.

However, your best friend needs you. She just had a bad break up and things are still rocky so any time she calls you were sure to be there for her. So here you are, standing on the sidewalk outside Bucky’s nightclub, phone pressed to your ear and your foot tapping rapidly against the concrete.

Bucky told you about the heavy tension building between him and a rival boss trying to impede on his territory. He told you that your safety was his first priority. That’s why you were with him at his club right now. He didn’t want you out of his sight.

But you were only just right outside the door…

You’ll try Nat one more time then go back inside and wait for Bucky like he asked.

The phone starts ringing and you hold your breath, hoping she’ll answer. Just as you hear her voice on the other end a car pulls up at the curb and with one glance the occupants have you swiftly turning on your heel and heading back toward the doors of the club.

“Nat,” you say quietly. “Are you ok?”

“I’m having a rough night,” she sighs. “I need your opinion on something.”

“Of course.”

You’re walking at a brisk clip, realizing that during your musings you had wandered farther from the door than you intended to.

Nat is still talking but the sound of your blood rushing through your ears starts to drown out any other sounds.

Four men get out of the car, none of which you recognize. You need to get inside quickly. One of them, carrying a baseball bat, twirls it lazily in his hand as he saunters closer, looking you over appreciatively.

Apprehension shoots up your spine, intuition guaranteeing that they’re here to start trouble.

“Nat I have to go. Call Bucky.”

She starts to reply but you hang up before she can, hoping she heard the trepidation in your voice and does as you asked.

Before you can reach the entrance, two of them lunge in front of you and block your progress.

“Where are you goin’ so fast beautiful?” One of the men asks.

“Excuse me,” you say.

A third man circles up behind you.

“Let me by,” you tell them.

The man holding the baseball bat ignores you.

“You belong to Barnes don’t you?”

Your suspicions are right. These are bad men and they are definitely looking to cause some trouble for your husband. And you.

You shrink back on purpose, appealing to their inflated arrogance and hoping they will underestimate you.

“Please. Just let me go.”

The man with the bat laughs as he runs the coarse wood along your bare calf.

“Think your man will miss you?”

Before the bat reaches your thigh you smack it away. Even though the attempt is most likely useless you’re hoping to pass more time. One of the men behind you snakes a hand around your elbow and yanks you toward him.

“Get in the fucking car baby,” he sneers. “It’s for your own good.”

The fourth man, still in the car, pushes open the back door and lets out a whistle.

“Come on gorgeous. I’ll keep you warm for Barnes.”

You take a deep breath as they propel you toward the car and only put up a small amount of resistance. As soon as you sense they are under the false impression that you’re coming willingly, the hand on your elbow weakens and you act.

With sharp and quick movements you reach for the baseball bat now dangling loosely from the leader’s hands and grab it, swinging it in a large arc to buy yourself some room.

Two of the men jump back, having been caught off guard, but it connects with the leader’s rib cage and he let’s out a vile curse, falling to his knees.

You back up as the other two men approach. Unfortunately, it’s in the direction away from the doors.

“He should have locked this one up,” the man closest to you laughs. “She’s full of fire.”

“And I’m going to enjoy that,” he leader says as he stands, still holding his ribs.

You bring the bat down hard as he lunges for you, but he dodges the weapon and barrels himself closer until he can wrap a strong arm around your waist.

The bat is ripped from your hands and your back is plastered against the man’s chest, his hand creeping up between your breasts to wrap around your throat.

He squeezes hard, tight enough to cut of your air and reflectively your fingers claw and try to pry his hand away.

You try to focus, getting ready to go limp and convince him you’re out cold, so you can somehow disable him.

Just as you’re about to put your plan into action the front door of the club flies open, hitting the side of the brick building with enough force to crack the metal.

Through your dimming eyesight, you can make out several men, including Bucky, before his ferocious growl of denial echoes through the air around you.

It startles the man choking you enough that he eases up on the pressure, allowing you to suck in precious oxygen.

Guns are drawn just before your knees hit the concrete and your stomach twists with renewed fear.

“Bucky,” you whisper, getting to your feet and stepping closer to him.

His haunted gaze makes you swallow hard and you can see the emotional battle written all over his handsome features. With his long finger poised on the trigger, he clearly wants to end the man who had his hands on you.

Without a word he tears his attention away from you, indicting your captor with a nod of his head.

“Steve.”

Steve, his own gun held in a tight grasp, moves in front of Bucky and toward the other man.

“He doesn’t go anywhere,” Bucky seethes.

The other two men from the rival group, still outside of the car, lower their weapons, watching with no emotion as Steve wrestles their leader to the ground with the gun to his head.

Finally, they let out a string of curses and hop back into the car, leaving their ‘friend’ behind as they peel away from the curb.

Bucky motions to Clint and Sam. “Follow them. This ends tonight.”

As Clint and Sam rush off to follow Bucky’s order he slowly saunters forward, the open collar of his shirt blowing wider in the light breeze.

He picks up the bat with a nonchalance that contradicts the tightness of his body and swings it deftly in his metal hand. When his fingers close around the handle you hear the wood crack under the pressure.

Bucky comes to a stop directly over the left-behind leader, and his gaze meets yours for a brief, heavy second, before he raises the bat high and brings it down with enough force to make you gasp.

Your heart races out of control, breathing shallow in your ears. The bat connects with the sidewalk next to the man’s head, sending shards of wood in every direction.

Your relief is short lived.

Bucky crouches down and looks the cowering man straight in his eyes.

“You. Are a dead man.”

Slowly and purposefully he rises to his feet and holds his hand out for you. You swallow the hard lump in your throat and place your fingers in his. In a split second you’re swept into his arms and tugged against his hard chest.

He drags you toward his car and tucks you into the passenger seat, buckling your belt and then slamming the door shut.

Through the closed window you can still hear him shout to Steve. “You know where to take him. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The silence stretches long and thin through the car and you can almost feel Bucky’s rage. You open your mouth to speak but promptly shut it when you hear his huff of warning.

He hates the feeling of fear so instead he welcomes the anger, focusing on it, wishing it’s enough to block out the image of you being choked, your feet scraping at the ground and hands clawing at your neck.

If he dwells on it too long his whole word will collapse and he has to get you home. To safety.

At the reminder of what he saw as he walked out of the club, his grip tightens on the leather steering wheel, almost making the car swerve.

When he pulls up in front of your house he checks his surroundings before driving in through the gated driveway. He looks to you, a silent demand to wait, before he gets out of the car and does another sweep of the area.

Once he deems it safe he opens your door and helps you out of the car.

When you’re safely inside the house he leaves you standing just inside the door, inside the large and opulent foyer, as he flies around the nearby rooms and checks every window and lock.

Your gaze follows him the entire time, trying desperately to draw him in and away from the rage. He staunchly defies it and after he feels satisfied the house is safe he takes you by the arm and leads you toward your shared master bedroom.

He walks to the nightstand and opens the drawer, reaching deep into the back to retrieve a gun.

“Bucky, please. Will you just talk to me?”

He can feel you standing close.

“You will stay in this room, with the door locked, until I come back. Anyone tries to get in that isn’t me, you shoot them. Understand?”

When your silence becomes too much he turns to you, keeping his eyes steady as he pleads.

“Tell me you’ll listen. That you understand.”

You take a deep inhale but still don’t speak.

“I’m waiting for my answer doll.”

You move closer and everything inside him tenses up.

“Don’t,” you whisper.

You lay a hand on his chest, immediately making him tremble from head to toe. His eyes close defensively as your hand moves higher and sneaks under the open buttons of his shirt then to his neck and finally into his hair.

Your lips press to his neck.

“Please Bucky. Don’t leave me. Stay.”

He shakes his head, unable to speak and it only makes you drag your lips higher, along his jaw until they hover just above his mouth.

A groan leaves his parted lips before he can stop it.

“I’m scared. I need you.”

Your lips brush over his, once, twice. The hand in his hair runs smoothly along the back of his neck and then coasts over his broad shoulder and down his chest.

“I have to go doll.”

His words are gritted and tortured before his name leaves your lips in a soft whisper.

“Where are you going?” you ask.

“You know where I’m goin.’ Don’t make me say it.”

When he notices the glossiness of your eyes it strips him bare and he falls back a step, ready to fall to his knees for you.

“Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?”

He’s shouting now.

“If I hadn’t gotten to you in time? One minute later, baby. One fucking minute!”

Your fingers tremble as you reach for him.

“I know, I…”

“You would have been gone. How can you expect me to survive that.”

He breaks off, not able to put the horrifying thought into more words.

“Fuck. I’m so mad at you doll. So mad. But all I can think about is how I need to be inside you. Need to feel you wrapped around me. Feel you everywhere.”

You tightly grasp the lapel of his jacket and drag him closer. He comes easily. Willingly.

“Bucky,” you whisper. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just thought I’d be outside for a second. Nat needed me…I never thought…”

Every word you speak continues to topple the reinforced barrier of anger he’s built. The only thing keeping it standing is that there’s still some physical space between you both.

But then you take a step closer and curl your fingers in the hem of your dress to draw it up over your head, the whole time letting your knuckles and hands brush along his heaving chest and every ounce of his self-control vanishes.

His heated gaze rakes over you and his hands fist at his sides.

You press yourself against him and deliberately untuck his shirt, slipping your hands underneath the lush fabric and running your fingernails up his rigid stomach. His muscles contract beneath your fingers.

“I need you baby doll. So badly.”

You unhook your bra and drop it to the floor, tingles racing over your skin as his jaw grinds with his devouring stare. You lower your hand to palm and squeeze his straining arousal.

“You can have me now Bucky. Now and always.”

His expression softens long enough for you to catch the brightness in his eyes and then his mouth is on yours, his hands frenzied as they grasp and smooth over every inch of your bare skin. He never breaks the kiss as he walks you backward toward the bed, letting you gently fall to the soft mattress before he settles himself between your spread legs.

“I can’t touch all of you at once and it drives me crazy,” he whispers against your lips as his hand slides down between your legs. “I need everything, always.”

@hiddles-rose @blackwidownat2814 @buckysdollforlife @lizette50 @randomfandompenguin @goldylions @kmc1989

[scribere-flores]

Sabo x Reader

~Just as a hypothetical question~

Part 4. Other Parts

Word count: 4,5k words

Short summary: Reader spends her morning getting whiplash. Sabo is a touched starved mess.

A healthy amount of fluff and spiraling dirty thoughts in this part. Things get a little heated at one point, but nothing graphic yet. (Love building up the tension)

MDNI 18+

___

This must be the most wonderful dream.

Y/N was laying with her head against a chest, a strong arm gently wrapped around her back. She didn’t dare to open her eyes, afraid the wonderful dream would end if she did it. A comforting warmth embraced her whole being, as she carefully traced small loops on the soft skin.

She couldn’t find the right words to describe what the wonderful dream made her feel. Secure, or maybe cared for? Whatever the name of the feeling was, it made her whole body tingle, filled to the brim with warmth.

For some reason, Y/N imagined that her head was resting on the handsome revolutionary. The man that had comforted her last night when she slipped up. Had that really happened, or had that also been part of her wonderful dream? Whatever happened, the weird punch-drink was surely to blame for her mistake.

Her hand moved upward, her fingers tracing a path from the neck to a strong jawline. Was this what it would feel like to touch him, even if it wasn’t a dream? Her thumb touched something soft, lips maybe? She could feel how the mouth parted, a hot puff of air grazing over the upper part of her hand.

Suddenly she could feel something bite down on her thumb. Which was strange, since if this was a dream, she shouldn’t be able to feel any pain. Y/N reluctantly began to open her eyes.

And to her surprise, she saw Sabo with a smug grin across his lips. Biting down on her thumb.

Oh Dear God… this is not a dream. Abort, abort abort!!

“Please, don’t stop on my account.” Sabo said, making a wave of embarrassment wash over her.

Y/N jumped back, moving away from the handsome devil. Dear God, had she really just done that? She could feel her heartbeat quickly picking up pace, a hot feeling spreading through her body.

She looked around in an attempt to get some grasp on her current situation. She was in Sabo’s room, now sitting on the end of his bed. Far away from him, but not far enough. Dear God, don’t tell her he was completely naked under that blanket.

At least Y/N saw that she was wearing a large oversized button-down shirt and no pants. The shirt smelled like him and felt soft against her skin. She was wearing underwear, which was good. And the shirt looked kinda cute too… AND THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT STUFF LIKE THAT!

Had she changed clothes herself last night, or had he undressed her? Dear God, had he seen her naked?! She couldn’t for the life of her remember what had happened after they had left that lake. Why was she in his bedroom? Had they done something during the night?

Y/N felt like she was starting to get dizzy from all the questions in her head, and from the fact that she had shamelessly let her hands travel all over him just moments ago. Her slow descent into madness was interrupted by Sabo’s laugh filling the room.

“You really are too fucking cute when you’re flustered” Sabo wiped a tear from his eye.

“I- How?- What…” Y/N tried to ask him what had happened, but all she managed to say was incoherent words put together in a jumbled mess. She took a deep breath and tried again. “My clothes?”

“Oh, you probably don’t remember anything after you fell asleep last night, right?” Sabo asked, and Y/N nodded in response.

“First off, I did not change your clothes. You did that on your own, even though you were half asleep when you did it. And I had my back turned the entire time. So, don’t worry. I wouldn’t do something like that unless you wanted me to.” He explained as he gave her a kind smile.

Y/N let out a sigh in relief. That was good to know. At least now she didn’t have to worry about the possibility that she had also stripped down in front of him. This situation was already bad enough.

The feeling of shame slowly faded away when she heard another small laugh escape Sabo’s lips. You gotta be kidding? She was practically dying from embarrassment, and he was amused?

“Why am I in your room?” Y/N asked, seeing a satisfied smirk spread over Sabo’s face right after.

“Well, you were clinging onto me like your life depended on it and refused to sleep in your own bed. Something about my bed having a nicer scent?” Y/N could feel the blush spread over her cheeks. “To be completely honest, I was kinda surprised when you blatantly asked me to sleep together. Didn’t mind it though, you were acting fucking adorable. Practically begging me to hold you and-”

“CAN YOU PLEASE STOP!” She exclaimed, hiding her face in her hands.

She could hear a small chuckle escape Sabo’s mouth. A blanket was draped over the lower half of his body, bare torso on full display. He somehow seemed to be totally relaxed with this situation, sitting with his legs stretched out and hands behind his head.

Like he wasn’t bothered, flustered or even embarrassed about the fact that Y/N practically had her thumb in his mouth less than five minutes ago.

“Sorry, I may have overexaggerated a little, but you’re too fun to tease. So please, don’t be mad at me.” Sabo said, giving her that kind, dangerous smile. “Truth is, you were pretty upset last night. And it was kinda my fault for pushing you too far, so I didn’t want you to be alone if it got worse during the night. I know what it’s like, or at least I understand why you were sad.”

Y/N felt her heart flutter.

This was not fair. How was she supposed to keep her distance from him, when he kept saying and doing stuff like that.

Sabo was a revolutionary, a man that was supposed to despise the Noble class and anyone from it. She was 90% sure he had figured out her background already, and that he had known the moment they met.

So why did he not call her bluff out? Why did he treat her with such kindness at times? Why did he want to comfort her when she was sad? None of it made any sense.

And all of it made her confused. Her emotions felt like a jumbled mess, and he kept stirring them around with every teasing remark and caring word. Y/N didn’t know what to expect from him any longer.

But somewhere, buried deep inside her, she hoped that his words were true. That he didn’t just do this to play with her for his own amusement. That the stupid feelings she had started to develop wasn’t going to make her feel like a fool later on.

“I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable. It wasn’t my intention to make you upset, so please don’t cry.” Sabo said as he gave her a worried look, suddenly moving closer so he was sitting face to face with her.

“Cry?” Y/N asked, as she brought her hand up to touch her cheek. It felt wet. “Oh… I didn’t notice. Sorry, don’t let it bother you. I’m fine.”

“Stop saying stuff like that.” Sabo sighed, before grabbing hold of her hands and giving her a serious look. “It’s normal to be sad at times, you don’t have to hide it. I don’t mind and I won’t ever be bothered by it either. It’s my fault you’re upset, and I apologize for making you feel this way. So please, stop saying you’re fine, when you’re not.”

Oh no, he completely misunderstood her tears…

Y/N felt her heart picking up in pace. She looked at her hands engulfed by Sabo’s, his hands felt warm. The same comforting warmth she had felt in her wonderful not-a-dream this morning.

She didn’t want him to think he’d done anything wrong, when he hadn’t. He had only wanted to comfort her when she was sad last night.

And Y/N felt grateful for that. It wasn’t anything she had experienced before. Sabo was the first that had ever wanted to do something like that for her.

“But, I am fine… I think I’m just happy you wanted to do that for me.” She admitted, rather sheepishly.

A relieved smile spread over Sabo’s lips, as he let go of her hands and fell back on the bed.

“Thank fucking God! I don’t think I could’ve lived with myself if I made a cute girl cry twice. Well, at least if she cried for the wrong reason.” He chuckled, fully back to his normal, unserious self within seconds.

“The wrong reason? You make it sound like there’s a right reason to cry.” Y/N asked, moving closer so she could see Sabo’s face.

“Oh, there’s definitely a right reason… Curious?” He asked with a wide grin.

“Well, maybe a little? I can’t think of anything that would make me-”

Y/N pondering was cut off by a hand pulling her arm. And a moment later, she laid on her back, pinned under Sabo and confused beyond belief.

She could feel a warm flush spread through her, as she saw the bare, toned body over her. At least he had underwear on, which was good. She would probably have passed out if he had been completely naked.

Sabo wasted no time pinning her arms over her head with one hand, as he gently placed his other hand on her waist, giving her no chance to escape. The concerned eyes she had seen just moments ago were now filled with a mischievous look.

Whiplash. That was the only word to describe this feeling.

“Tell me your name, and I promise I’ll have you crying for the right reason within an hour.” Sabo whispered into her ear, hot breath tickling her neck.

This position, this situation, everything about this! It was far too intimate and out of nowhere. Y/N wasn’t dumb, she knew what Sabo meant by that.

It wasn’t like she disliked it, in fact she even felt a little excited. His thumb made small circles on her stomach through the fabric of her shirt. His touch felt warm and comforting, yet at the same time, expectant and demanding.

But everything was happening way too fast. How could he be so comfortable doing this when they hadn’t even kissed? Unless…

She took a deep breath, sparking a curious look in Sabo’s eyes, as she mustered up the courage to ask the embarrassing question that desperately needed an answer.

“Last night, did we, you know… I mean, I would have liked it if it was with you- I just want to know before-” The words rambled out of her mouth, a bright red blush spread over her face.

It looked like Sabo froze for a second, before he leaned back so he was sitting on his knees over her hips. He moved the hand holding her wrist, placing it over his mouth.

“She’s even admitting to wanting it now…” He said under his breath, barely loud enough for X to hear it.

“S-Sabo?” She stuttered.

She could see a soft pink tint on Sabo’s cheeks as his eyes roamed over her body. A small gasp escaped her lips when the grip on her waist tightened.

“God, you look fucking lovely when you say my name…” He sighed as his hands started to travel over her body. Not touching anywhere inappropriate, but close enough. The now familiar knot in her stomach was back, the knot she got anytime he touched her.

“Do you know how hard it was to hold back when you kept touching me like that this morning? You looked so goddamn cute, it took everything in me to not rip that shirt off you and kiss every inch of your body. I wanted to touch you so fucking bad, see you twitching under me. Hear you moan my name over and over until that was the only sound your pretty mouth could make.” His voice sounded like honey, somehow making the dirty words sound gentle.

“And now you’re telling me you want to? Do you even know how frustrated that makes me, when all I want to do is bend you over the nearest surface and fuck you oblivious.” Sabo’s lewd explanation was beginning to make her head spin.

Y/N hadn’t noticed when it happened, but Sabo was now leaning over her, one knee pressed in between her thighs. One of his hand was traveling up and down her leg, bending it and squeezing her bare skin. Every greedy touch against her body, left a hot feeling in its wake.

An involuntary moan escaped her mouth as she felt a palm against her throat.

“But noo, I can’t do that. Because I don’t even know what your goddamn name is. And just the thought of not knowing is driving me fucking insane and-”

Sabo stopped, looking like he just caught up with what he had been saying and doing for the past few minutes.

Y/N’s body felt hot and tingly, and it felt like the knot in her stomach was about to snap. Heavy breaths escaped her parted mouth as she looked up on the handsome man towering over. One of his hands still pressed against her throat, the other placed under her thigh.

Did he really want to do all that to her? She didn’t even know what half the things he said meant. Twitching? Oblivious? What did he even mean with those words?

Sabo still looked a little lost in thought, but seemed to snap out of it when she moved his hand away from her throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Just give me a moment.” He said with a closed eyed smile, before he got off the bed and walked to the bathroom.

Y/N sat up on the bed, utterly confused as she heard the tap on the bathroom sink turn on. A moment later, a muffled scream came from behind the door. It sounded like someone screaming under water.

Then there was silence for a minute before Sabo walked back into the bedroom, giving her the same closed-eyed smile, but now with water dripping from his hair.

Whiplash, again.

“S-Sabo?” Y/N stuttered, not sure how to react. “W-why are you wet?”

“Don’t worry about it. I just needed to cool down a bit.” Sabo said with a kind smile, as he pulled a pair of trousers over his legs.

“You were- And then- But now- I’m so confused…” She sighed, rubbing the area between her eyes as she tried wrapping her head around what just happened.

“I know, and I apologize for my behavior.” He answered in a calm voice as he put on a blue, button up shirt, before sitting down on the bed. “You’re just so fucking cute sometimes, it’s a little hard to hold back. But don’t worry, nothing happened last night. And nothing will happen, at least until I know who you are. After that… Well, I can’t make any promises. I would never do something unless you want to, that goes without saying. But I like you way too much to not at least try.”

Sabo’s blatant confession made her heart skip a beat.

How could he say those things in such a calm manner? Did he really like her? And was it the same type of ‘like’ as she was starting to feel for him?

What was she even supposed to say after hearing that? It felt like he was being honest with her right now, so maybe it would only be fair if she was honest too.

“It’s okay, I mean, about what you did earlier. I- I kind of liked it and-” Y/N’s flustered mess of words was interrupted by a hand over her mouth. She looked at Sabo and saw his eye twitch.

“Please, stop talking. You’re literally torturing me right now.” He said with a strained smile and waited for Y/N to nod in response before moving his hand away.

“Look, I really, really, want to know who you are. But I don’t want to push you about it and make you upset again. So you can tell me on your own, if you want. Which you won’t, because you’re stubborn. But don’t worry, I have other ways of finding that information.” Sabo said, giving her a reassuring look.

It felt good hearing him say that. Y/N still didn’t want anyone to find out who she was, or were before running away. She was ready to leave that life behind her and start over.

But she could tell Sabo wouldn’t give up either, even if he stopped pestering her about it. Maybe she could make him drop it if she pressured him a little.

“Why are you so obsessed with finding out who I am to begin with?” She asked, thinking this was a good place to start.

“You mean beside the fact that I want to know your name before I turn you into a cute, moaning mess?” He answered, grinning as something flickered in his eyes.

Whiplash…

Y/N nodded with a forced smile.

“Well besides that, it’s kinda my job as the Chief of Staff to know stuff.” Sabo said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Chief of Staff? For this base? Isn’t that a lot of responsibility? And in that case, shouldn’t it be Koala’s job?” She asked, hearing a small chuckle from Sabo right after.

“No, not just this base. For the entire Revolutionary Army, and yes it’s a lot of responsibility. Koala is my partner, she can really be a godsend at times. The other’s say she keeps me in check, and they're kinda right… But don’t get me wrong, I’m good at what I do.” He explained.

“What do you mean ‘the entire Revolutionary Army’?” Y/N said, even more confused than before.

“Hmm, how can I explain this?” Sabo pondered for a moment, before he went and got a notepad from the desk, drawing something on a plank page. “It’s a big organization, so I’ll try keeping it simple. These five people are the Army commanders, they are responsible for overseeing the Army in one different area of the world each. They also have partners like I have Koala.”

He pointed to five blobs on the page that she guessed were supposed to resemble people.

Sabo was bad at drawing. That was kinda cute.

“I don’t really like using the word ‘above’ when talking about myself, but for this explanation I think it’s the easiest word to describe it. So, above the Army commanders is me. And above me is Dragon. Even you must know who he is, right?” He pointed with a pen, moving it up on the paper as he went along.

“Yes, I know who he is… But I’m still not following.” Y/N sighed.

“Dragon holds the highest authority in the Army. The one with highest authority after Dragon…” Sabo stated, then a bright smile spread over his face as he pointed to himself. “Me!”

“Y-you?” She stuttered, feeling a shiver run down her back.

“Yes, I’m the Second in Command within the Revolutionary Army. Pretty impressive, right?” He had a proud look in his eyes. “Oh, you can’t tell anyone though. My identity is kind of a secret to outsiders.”

Danger.

Alarm bells started ringing in Y/N’s head. The handsome, blond man that smiled at her so brightly was not just a regular revolutionary. He wasn’t someone who followed orders and just happened to treat her with kindness.

He posed a real threat to her. Sabo was the Second in Command over the organization that took pleasure in torturing Nobles. There was no way someone with such a high position would let her be, if he found out who she was.

A cold sweat made her shirt cling to her back. Sabo was giving her a confused look.

“Hey, are you okay? You’re not sick, right?” He said as he put his hand against her forehead, making X flinch.

This man was dangerous. He was probably manipulating her into a false sense of security, playing on her emotions. And after he was satisfied, he would most definitely drag her to the guillotine.

Not a thing Sabo had said was true. The Revolutionary Army hated Nobles, despised them in fact. That was the undeniable truth, even if it made Y/N’s heart break.

She had been such a fool, believing that he was different from what she had been told about the Revolutionaries. Believing that he really liked her, that he cared for her.

She needed to get away from this base, from him. She just needed a little time to plan her escape, and until then, she had to avoid him at all cost.

Y/N stood up from the bed and turned towards the door, hair hanging over her face. She knew escaping was the logical thing to do if she wanted to leave with her life intact. She knew that was the only way.

So, why did it have to hurt so much?

“I’m gonna go now.” Y/N said, quickly running out the door.

She didn’t want to give Sabo the chance of stopping her. If he did that, she might not be able to stop the tears that desperately wanted to fall from her eyes.

None of this was fair.

___

“Hey, wait… And she’s already gone.” Sabo sighed as he fell back on his bed.

What the fuck happened?

One moment they were having a normal conversation, and in the next one Jane Doe was running out of the room. He thought back on their conversation, trying to figure out what he could have done to make her do that.

Was it because he had said he liked her? He couldn’t think of anything else that would make her run away. She was embarrassed and probably felt a bit shy, there was no other explanation.

“She’s so fucking cute.” He whispered to himself as the memories from the night started to come back in his mind.

Sabo liked the mystery girl. He liked the sound of her voice. He liked how easily flustered she would get. He liked the feeling of her cuddling against his chest. He liked how stubborn she was. He liked the warm feeling he got in his chest when he was around her.

And he fucking loved her smile. Anytime she smiled it felt like the world surrounding him became ten times brighter.

So yeah, Sabo definitely liked her. There was no use denying that anymore.

Not after he spent the entire night planning how to keep her with him for as long as possible. He wouldn’t describe himself as a scheming person, but it was always good to have a plan. And a backup in case the first plan didn’t work out.

He felt a desperate need to have her near him, to keep her safe. Sabo knew how dangerous the world could be, and he didn’t want anything to happen to her. She had already been through enough, growing up around people who treated her like that.

Bringing him to the other thoughts that had occupied his mind during the night. How was he going to make sure those disgusting bugs never came looking for her again? Sabo had thought about it a lot, and still wasn’t sure what the best way to go about it was.

A revolution was a delicate thing. And a provocation (like crushing some noble’s skull, for example) at the wrong time, could cause their enemies to seek revenge. That would most likely put a lot of civilians in the crossfire, and Sabo wasn’t willing to let innocent people get hurt for his personal gain.

The problem would solve itself after the revolution was over anyway. When they won, the noble class system in this country would be abolished, the ruling class would most likely be put on trial and sentenced to at least some years in prison. Or maybe they would be exiled from this Island. Whatever happened was up to the people to decide. And the outcome would serve as a means to protect the lovely angel he had held during the night from being found.

All Sabo needed to know was her name, and everything would be fine.

Maybe it was better if he just patiently waited until the girl told him. She would tell him at some point, if they kept getting to know each other.

He didn’t want to keep anything hidden from her, he would tell her anything she wanted to know. It didn’t matter if it was a question about his job, or why he pinned her to the bed with a desperate need to touch her.

If she wanted to know why he did that, and the reason was because he liked her so much he was slowly going insane, he would tell her. It was just dumb to hide it, when she had such a cute reaction when hearing it, running away to hide her adorable, flustered face.

He was sure that was the reason she left in a hurry.

Sabo just needed to be a little bit patient.

Only problem was that it was becoming increasingly hard to hold back around her. When in reality, all he wanted to do was mark every inch of her body, leaving proof of how much he craved to have her near.

Earlier, when Sabo pinned her under him, he had really planned to only tease the poor girl a little. But then that cute blush spread over her face and those sweet words left her mouth.

‘I mean, I would have liked it if it was with you-’

He nearly lost his fucking mind when she said that. Before he even knew what he was doing, lewd, airy moans kept slipping past her lips as his hands roamed over her body. She looked fucking angelic in that moment, and it took everything within him to stop himself.

And then, that angel told him that she had liked it. He could have sworn his heart stopped beating for a second.

But he held back. Sabo had promised himself he wouldn’t sleep with her until he knew her name.

And how he desperately craved to know that name…

“Fuck… Maybe waiting will be too hard.” He sighed, as he touched the place on his lips her thumb had pressed against this morning.

It wasn't a delusion, that girl liked him too.

And it wouldn’t be fair to keep her waiting too long, right?

___

[simphornies]

Hello! Could I please request a Vox x GN! Reader where his crush/ or significant other is very similar to Charlie and how he deals with that? And by similar to Charlie I mean very happy go lucky, chatty, and sometimes just bursts into song for no reason? Maybe even how the other VEEs respond to it too could be mentioned? Thank you!~ :3

A/N: Decided to mix these two requests together since it worked together

Word count: 1.5k (1,546)

Smile! [ Vox x GN!Reader ]

You were constantly the smiling upbeat one in the entirety of the VVV building. Your presence lit up a room as soon as you skipped in them. Every employee looked forward to seeing you everyday and ever since you became an honorary “Vee” the productivity went up greatly. Many compared you to Charlie Morningstar in terms of personality. In fact, the two of you got along well when you met before you worked for the Vees. You were both ecstatic upon realizing how well you two mixed, like soul siblings.

Every single day you’d have little sticky notes with cute drawings on them of the Vees. They would be plastered in the offices and became a sign that you were around and about. It became a little collection hunt and you had even implemented a little game that inspired sinners to make sure they were always doing something. You made sure they’d get a little treat (varied honestly, you once gave a brand new VoxTek phone away) if they collected a certain amount and they’ve reached their quota.

To the Vees, you were too cheery, too kind and too optimistic. They actually hated you at first. You always interrupted anything they were doing and talked for hours. Velvette and Valentino were wary of how “weak” you seemed. But they grew to like you.

Valentino enjoyed how easy you made everyone to control. All he knew was that everyone seemed more compliant after you talked with them. You helped him get more souls and employees. He was the second one that had gotten used to you. He never asked how you did it because he knew he’d be late to another shoot if he talked to you.

You helped Velvette keep her employees in a good enough mental state to really rock the runway the way she wanted them to. You eased their tension with praise balancing out the strict, harsh nature of Velvette. Like Valentino, you helped make them more compliant by talking to them. Velvette liked the songs you’d burst into when you’re inspiring the models right before a show. She was the hardest and last one you impressed. But as soon as you did, the two of you would talk non-stop about all the latest drama in Hell.

Vox was the first one you impressed. The main reason you even started working to begin with. Vox’s sales went up with your charisma. He didn’t really question how you weeded out the worst workers, he never asked. They always just disappear after you talk to them. He never showed it but he loved listening to you talk about anything and everything. He loved hearing your voice, as annoying it was at times when he needed to do work but he loved it. Loved your energy. Everyone eventually did.

So when there weren’t any sticky notes and when the halls were quiet, everyone was on the edge. Velvette tried to talk to you, but you kept walking as you shrugged her off while you were muttering to yourself. Valentino was going to rant to you but you didn’t even spare him a glance.

“Y/N! How are you this fine, hellish morning?” Vox laughs, stepping in front of you. “You don’t seem like yourself today, what’s wrong?”

“Vox. Do you remember our business in the greed ring with Crimson?” Your voice was stern.

“Uh…” He paused to think, “The little red one? With the hat? What about him?”

“Well, he attempted to scam us out of payment and he is here now to negotiate terms.” Your voice shook slightly with anger. “I’m on my way to talk to him.”

“I’ll come with you! I’ve always been curious how you get them to listen more.” He steps aside, clearing your path.

“If you say so.”

He was right behind you as you opened the door.

“Oh finally! Welcome! I’m not in a rush or anythin’.” Crimson said, squinting.

Vox saw your eye twitch.

“Lovely morning, Crimson!” You smiled, sitting across from him. You set out some papers on the desk, sliding it over to him. “You know what you’re here for.”

“Look. I said I’ll pay but I neva said when.” He laughs, “Money’s tight in the family.”

“Ah of course. I understand. Greed Ring and all, however.” You get up, “You’ve been due for at least one payment for the last three months. Those cameras aren’t cheap.”

“Look.” He crosses his arms, an imp behind him wearing a cowboy hat moving up closer behind him as if ready to attack. “You’ll get ya payment when ya get it. You think some overlord and his little pet is gonna scare me? Do you know what happens to anyone that crosses me?”

You cracked your neck and continued to smile sweetly at him.

“Holy rope. Angelic dagger. And I bet you carry six rounds of angelic steel bullets in that gun.” You hum, “Striker, was it? Your little pet’s name? See, here at VoxTek enterprises, we don’t like our funds going into anything that we can’t get our pay back for. You promised us a book in exchange for support, however you haven’t even been close to touching it.”

Vox sipped on his coffee, kinda wishing he had some popcorn.

“Yeah? What’s it to ya? You’re basically a fuckin’ blue blood.” Striker hissed.

“Flattered! But no. Just smarter. And quicker.” You snapped your fingers and shadows held the two imps in place. They immediately resisted to no avail. “Careful! They’re connected to the outlets! Unless you want a couple of fried limbs, I don’t recommend moving too much. The electricity might slip through the hold. Oooh like that!”

A jolt went through them, making them scream. “See. I was just like you. So low in power. But I was smarter. I made a deal. A deal that shared Vox’s power to me.” You giggled, one of your eyes spiraling as you stared at them. “Weapons on the table please.”

Without hesitation, weapons clattered on the table. “Lovely! Thank you. Now, please hold a hand out, both of you.” They mindlessly obeyed.

“You’ll start to pay off your debt. You’ll give me your soul. You’ll never set foot in here again unless you’re summoned. And you’ll never do business with us any longer. Deal?” Your upbeat voice made Vox start to question where you got this behavior from. “It’s a deal or you die, simple choices honestly.”

They shook your hand as a chain wrapped around their necks. They snapped out of it as soon as the deal solidified.

“Wh-what the—” Crimson felt the tug at his neck and growled at you, “You little shit what did you do? Some cheap blue blood magic bullshit?”

“I’m just smarter, quicker. But oh!” You clapped your hands together, “Thank you so much for agreeing to the deal! How lovely of you to cooperate! Now please get the fuck out of my sight!” You grinned.

They were thrown out by security and Vox just looked at you like you were crazy. I mean, you were, but he wasn’t really expecting that. He was intimidated, slightly aroused and even more in love with you.

“When did you—Is that what you do? Where did you learn that from?” He questioned, a little intimidated. "I can't deny that was...kinda hot."

“Oh! I learned it from Alastor, Charlie and Vaggie! Charlie told me to always be kind!” You nodded in approval of her advice, “Vaggie told me to never take shit! And Alastor—”

“Alastor?”

“Yes, Alastor. Alastor taught me to take what I need no matter the cost!” You held your head up high proudly.

“When the fuck did you talk to Alastor?” He glitched.

“Oh like a while back. He mentioned you like once, I looked you up, I thought you were hot. He made fun of me for thinking you were hot. I punched him, and survived somehow. Met you. Made a deal and now we’re dating!”

“Okay okay. Pause. Go back. You learned from Alastor, and you NEVER FUCKING told me?!”

“Oh. Yeah! I tried to tell you once but then you went all singing mode and you’d go on a little rampage or whatever. It got repetitive so I just never told you. Oopsies. Haha. Anyways that’s done! That’s all for today! Don’t forget you only smiled at me like 3 times today!”

You skipped out of the room after giving him a kiss as he was rebooting in the meeting room. You continued your day as always, as if nothing ever happened.

“Ugh what’s with the looks? Why is everyone so tense and uncomfy? Go go! Keep working! You know you guys are gonna get in trouble if you don’t work! You guys know what happens when we don’t meet quota!”

Employees scrambled around to continue what they were doing. Vox was the first one to meet you and he was the first one to find out you didn’t ease the employees’ nerves, you scared them into submission and he honestly doesn’t even know how many souls you have. He didn’t wanna pry too deep into it. Velvette got word of your tactics and wanted you to show her how it’s done, so you accompanied her to her next meeting.

[websterss]

NEVER ANGRY — ANTHONY LOCKWOOD

REQUEST: Hi could I request an Anthony Lockwood x reader where after a particularly hard case reader gets hurt protecting Lucy Lockwood fumes and they both argue for a while because the reader insists she did the right thing and Lockwood just yells out “I can’t lose you! Don’t you get it? I love you.” And the reader just stops yelling pulls him into a hug tells him she loves him too and they just spend the night in each other's arms

WARNING(S): angst and fluff

WORD COUNT: 2,881

PAIRING: Anthony Lockwood x fem!Reader    

A/N: Hope you enjoy it! Feedback is always welcomed!

MASTERLIST

You didn’t know what brought you more discomfort. The aching burn of your open wound or the eery silence that fell over the car ride back to the apartment. Your eyes fell upon each individual member, trying to grasp what each was feeling at that moment. Lucy was slumped against the seat, eyes watching the buildings and road flood past as the car moved. You assumed she was neutral, perhaps thankful as one being saved could get. You turned your head to watch as George fiddled with the zipper of his jacket. He too avoided the deafening lack of noise within the car but visibly seeing his shoulders tensed up had you assuming he didn’t want to disrupt the peace, wanting it to last a little longer. Though you didn’t mind it that much. You were grateful for the silence. Taking advantage of it because once the car stopped moving you’d all be graced with the burning rage that was radiating off of Anthony.

Now as for Lockwood. The rapid tapping of his foot and the very obvious vein popping against his forehead were enough to display his lack of impatience. He’d bolt the second he saw the steps of the apartment. You assumed as much since you were the cause of such smoke practically fuming out of his ears. The dreaded scolding and berating was something you weren’t at all looking forward too, but you very much expected it to happen. You of all people tonight did not hesitate to put your life on the line for the sake of the others. Preferably in Lucy’s case. Almost on the verge of being pummeled had it not been for the shove your gave her. She graciously thanked you with tears spilling past her waterline, scolding you for such rash behavior, all within the time span that you felt something pierce your abdomen. The visitor having thrown sharp objects your way. It hardly hurt the more you thought about it. Though you feared that that wasn’t entirely a good sign especially since blood seeped through your not so white shirt. At least you came out heroic! That had to count for something right? Right?!

You flinch as you, Lucy, and George walk in after Lockwood who had burst in. The swing of the door collided harshly with the wall creating a dent. You could hear as more doors slammed against their thresholds, causing a series of flashbacks to flood your mind. None worth remembering. None you wanted to flee your mind instantaneously.

“Maybe I should go talk-“ Lucy begins.

“No, he’s mad at me…I think it’d be wiser for me to face him.” You shake your head at Lucy.

“You sure?” You can see traces of worry within her.

“Yeah. I’m sure…I’ll be fine.” You force a smile hoping it’d look convincing. The last thing you wanted to do was worry her. You're aware of the fact she doesn't believe you, neither do you believe yourself since your own eyes were locked on the staircases that lead up to his bedroom. You can only imagine the amount of damage that he's caused in there.

You take a deep breath and climb up the stairs. You clutch at your side, trying not to gather more attention on yourself.

The closer you approach the doorway to his room, the louder the faint sounds of his voice and muffled smashing of objects grow. Anthony’s room was located across from the first landing. Thankfully the door itself remains closed. You can feel bits of tension and anger radiating from within the room to the point it’s almost palpable. You almost don't feel like knocking.

But you do knock, knowing the faster you got his confrontation created from your stupidity out the way, the quicker you could dress the wound. You raise your knuckles to his door, knocking three separate times. The noises from within the room cease and only silence lingers. The sounds of Anthony’s footsteps can now be heard, growing louder and louder.

It’s almost surreal how fast your mind goes from racing a thousand words a minute to an eerie and almost deafening silence. As his steps get louder so does your pounding heartbeat in your ears, a strange sinking feeling rising up your throat. You try your best to hold in the urge to feel like you’re about to throw up and instead stand your ground outside of his closed door. The doorknob jiggles.

The door hinges scream as the door opens. Anthony’s face appears in the doorway. You instantly notice how flushed and red his cheeks are. His brown eyes glare at you intensely. A vein pops in the middle of his forehead, anger radiating off of him like waves of heat.

"You going to let me in, or am I going to remain bleeding out here all night?"

“Don’t start with me.” He growls, his hands balling into fists before he steps aside and allows you to come in.

He opens the door wider, allowing you to enter the mess of a room. The walls are peppered with dents, along with the mirror by the front of the room as well as an antique clock. His nightstand has been flipped over and shattered onto the floor. The sheets of his bed are rumpled, and blankets are scattered around the room, you were surprised it wasn't worse off.

"Redecorating I see?" You breathe out. He glares at you before he turns around, and walks over to his dresser. He opens his drawers and grabs a medical kit.

“Shut it.” Anthony mutters as he sits down on the edge of his mattress.

He gestures for you to sit down, though you feel like doing so would only escalate the situation as you can already feel him glaring daggers in your direction. You feel yourself grow more weary by the second, you were pretty sure the adrenaline high from earlier was wearing off.

"I think you could do with a new lampshade. Maybe even a new color for the walls. I was thinking forest green but if you-" You ramble off, only pissing him off further on purpose.

“You’re infuriating. You know that?” The young man’s gaze narrows, his eyes boring straight into yours. "Never do as you're told..." He leans closer to inspect the wound, his brows furrowing into a scolding frown.

"I've had great influence." You muster a teasing smirk.

“Just for that, I should leave you here to bleed out.” Anthony mutters a dry remark before he leans in a little too close for your liking and gently begins lifting the hem of your shirt.

"You'd never gather the courage. You'd hate yourself for it. Don't worry your gorgeous head Tony a little wound like this can't get rid of me that easily." Your laugh turns into a groan as he presses a wet cloth with disinfectant pray on it.

A string of curses come out of your mouth before you can halt them. The smell of the disinfectant burns the inside of your nostrils, causing your face to screw up involuntarily. He presses a little harder with the cloth, not seeming phased by your reactions.

You can feel your cheeks heat up as you grit your teeth and try to hold back the pain and not squirm around.

"Well…that didn't cheer you up." You wince.

“It’s not really a happy occasion,” Anthony mutters as he continues to press the cloth against your wound.

The pain was still there, but you felt like it was diminishing a little. Or maybe you were just growing accustomed to it. All you could smell was the antiseptic burning into the wound.

"I'd have expected a smile of some sort at least." You shrug as you fall back on the bed.

He raises an eyebrow at you as he finishes cleaning out the wound and begins to sew it. “How could you be reckless?” You hear him ask with an exasperated tone.

It took every ounce of willpower for you not to flinch or make any sudden movements, the pain from your wound made it difficult to stay still, but if you moved around too much, he might apply more pressure than necessary.

"I prefer the term heroic…God!" You groan as the needle pierces through your skin.

“Heroism is being reckless, and you almost got yourself killed because of it.” He finishes stitching up the wound. You can see the slight relief on his face as he leans back on his heels.

He then places your right hand over his so he can press down onto the wound. You almost let out a moan when he does this, the sharp pain sending a jolt through you all over again. You try your best not to react to it.

"A-Alright, next time, it's Lucy's turn." You roll your eyes.

“There shouldn’t be a next time.” He snaps back, but the pain he sees in your eyes makes him pause. His eyes quickly soften a little and he removes his hand from where he previously pressed it down. “How’s it feeling?” His eyes search yours for any sign of discomfort.

"Like I've been stabbed." You deadpan.

He can’t help but let out a dry scoff before he lets out a tired sigh. “That tends to happen when you throw yourself in front of someone.” His eyes shift back to your wound just to make sure it’s fully closed up. "Seriously, do you need anything from me, and don’t give me a sarcastic remark.” He adds as an afterthought.

"I-I need you not to be angry with me…" You struggle to sit up. His face falls as he goes to stand up. "Anthony please!"

He pauses for a moment as he watches you try to sit up. His face is still lined with frustration. The anger within his eyes lingers.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack.” He asks as he helps you gently sit up. "I heard Lucy scream, and it felt like the world stopped. How could you be so stupid!"

"Stupid? I was saving our friend!" You snap.

“By recklessly jumping in front of a visitor!” Anthony shouts. “You could’ve died if it managed to get the drop on you. You could’ve been possessed if it had turned out to be a Poltergeist. And don’t even get me started about what would’ve happened if it were to ghost-lock you. You’d have been gone before we even managed to reach you.”

"I'm fine though, nothing happened!"

“Nothing happened?” Anthony asks incredulously. He repeats louder as he looks down at you. “You got stabbed! You lost a fair amount of blood. “Nothing happened?!” He throws his hands up, trying not to show the intense worry he is feeling. Nothing happened?!” He snaps, his voice cracking. “And the fact that you’ll just say so, so calmly?!”

"Yes nothing more- God what do you want from me? I was only trying to save her-"

“I can’t lose you! Do you not understand that? I love you.” Anthony pauses, staring at you as the anger fades from his eyes, his gaze shifting to the ground. He’s now at a complete loss, not knowing what to say. He wants to be angry at you for being foolish and reckless, but seeing the way you’re looking down as if you feel regretful, makes it difficult.

"You love me?" Your voice cracks.

“I love you. The thought of losing you is unimaginable.” Anthony whispers. It’s the first time he’s ever uttered those three words directly to you. As if this whole argument were simply a ploy for him to finally admit it. "Is that okay?"

You can't muster your laughter. You close your eyes in disbelief at his silly question. "Just as long as it's okay for me to love you too?"

“You’ve always been so annoyingly good at getting under my skin and turning my questions around, but this one time…I’m okay with it.” He replies. It’s a strange sensation. To feel the weight of the words slip off his tongue. To finally admit all those stupid little arguments you always have meant something. "More than okay with it." He breathes out.

"Good. I'd have been very upset if you didn't think so." A smile grows on your lips.

Anthony stares at you, his eyes searching yours. He wants to get closer to you, to kiss you, to pull you onto his bed, to never let go. All the things his stupid heart and brain are telling him to do, and yet there’s this immense feeling of hesitation.

He knows what this means for both of you. He knows what happens next. But he can’t seem to bring himself to do it, to take the first step. The fear of rejection is making him feel foolish by this one moment of hesitation, and he knows he’s got to get rid of this insecurity.

“Stop it.” He mutters as he reaches down to caress your cheek with his hand. “I’m supposed to be the one angry with you.”

"I don't think you're capable of remaining angry for so long…" You lean into his hands.

He lets out a small breath. “No, I don’t think I am,” Anthony whispers. He’s got to be close enough that you could feel the warmth of his breath as he leans in closer.

Anthony’s heart starts to speed up at the idea that this one single motion could change everything between them. He lets his fingers trace from your cheek down to your jawline, trailing softly along your skin. His body leans forward ever so slightly until his nose almost touches yours. He wants this moment to last forever. To freeze time and have you right here with him.

But instead, all he can do is whisper a soft, hopeful, “Please.”

You spare him the wait and tug him closer by his locks.

His eyes widen when you finally take the initiative. He brings his other hand to your other cheek and cups it as you pull him in. Before he knows it, your lips are pressed together in a heated kiss. Your bodies mold together as you both press close against each other. The kiss becomes intense, and all he can think about is the heat in his stomach, and how the moment feels too good to be true.

You're too lost in the kiss, you forget the reason why he was angry to begin with. Yet when your stomach brushes against his own and before you know it, you wince, pulling back gently from his lips.

Anthony notices the sudden change in your demeanor. He pulls back with a concerned expression on his face. Your pained reaction is enough to pull him out of the passion-filled moment.

"Slow." He breathes out and rests his head against yours. He raises a hand to touch the outskirts of your wound as if he needed a reminder. "We need to go slow about this until you're all better."

"I don't think I can wait that long." You shook your head.

"You'll have to." He replies. He knows it's not fair, that you have to wait for something that he so desperately wants too. "I don't want to risk the wound opening back up." He adds, hoping you'll understand.

"I know…" You look back up at him.

He stares at you for a moment more, his eyes scanning your face as if he wants to remember every single detail before he pulls away from you. He gives a gentle smile before brushing his thumb against your face, and letting his fingers brush through your hair. He leans in to place a kiss on your forehead, the softest kiss he’s given you yet. "How about we exchange kisses for some much-needed sleep?" He smirks.

You hadn't even fully registered the toll and lack of energy you were experiencing. That was evident. The adrenaline high from earlier was wearing off, and you were now experiencing the aftereffects.

“Sleep will do us both some good.” He breathes in deeply, closing his eyes and allowing his hand to drift down to your neck which he rubs softly with his thumb. You can already feel your body start to relax, but you can’t fight the tiredness building up inside you anymore. “After the whole fiasco, nearly losing you, I'd like to simply hold you.” Is all he mutters.

"I'd like that…" You sigh as he wraps his arms around your shoulders, pulling you closer to his chest. It’s not long till you pull away.

You toe off your shoes and jacket, then allow him to lead you onto his bed.

Anthony pulls the blanket over him and you both, making sure you're warm. His arm wraps firmly around you as he holds you close so that you are completely cradled in his embrace. All the tension from the fight having faded away by now, replaced with a deep sense of security and peace.

You feel your body relax into his as your eyelids grow heavier and heavier. You feel yourself start to slip, slowly drifting off into oblivion as Anthony pulls you even closer, the warm breath of sleep drifting between you both. The last thing you feel is a sweet kiss pressed against your temple.

[albinokittens300]

I know this goes against the more popular opinion, and for good reason. But I do think the whole doomed by fate, tragic pinning that doesn't amount to anything is the most boring way they could go with Timebomb, for me personally.

Before I get the instant response of 'well you picked the wrong ship!'....you are right. You are entirely right probabbly and I own that. Still doesn't make the idea of the two of them just loving one another but the past being to much and creating a rift they can't bridge any more interesting to me. To me that is SO anticlimactic, so much build up for nothing if they show these two DO have lingering feelings but it amounts to just angst. That to me as a viewer is just so uninteresting.

But I KNOW that for some people that is oposite. To some people that tension and angst is why they like these two and that is completely valid. It's just not true for me. And that is entirely okay. I'mma be SO happy for those fans if that's how things shake out.

To me the more interesting way for Timebomb IS that theme of forgiveness. Seeing Ekko find his previous best friend within the person she's become and for Jinx to have someone see that part of her despite how radically she's change, THAT is what gets me hype for these two. The idea of that connection drawing them both forward into whatever is gonna be happening between Zaun and Piltover and Noxus is just. THAT is my hope, and what I would be most thrilled with.

But that is just me even if I am off my rocker hoping for that much.

[princessbunnib]

Adulture

Levi Ackerman |Attack On Titan|

Summary: Breaking the rules isn't so bad when the person you're breaking said rules with is just as shameless about it like you are.

Pairing: Levi Ackerman X Fem!Reader

Warnings: 18+ Smut MDNI, Switch Reader, Switch Levi, Marital Infidelity, High Tension, Little To No Talking, Sex In Livingroom, Sex On Table, Sex On Floor, Missionary, CowGirl, PullOut Method, Oral |F| Receiving, Sex Standing Up, Unhappy Marriage, Negative Talk About Having Children, Nipple Play, Slight Choking, Intense Intamcy.

Author's Note:

The build-up is long for this one but I assure you that it is definitely worth it.♡

I always snap when I write for Levi, idk why but I literally get so creative when it comes to him. Anyways enjoy Bunni's.

PT2 IN THE WORKS

____

"Y/n! what're you looking at? Hello? Am I not speaking to you!?" Your husband yelled at you while you were scrolling on your phone at the dinner table. The both of you were set out to go on a double date with his co-worker and his wife. You weren't enthusiastic about going, spending a longer amount time with your husband makes your skin crawl every time.

"Stop fucking yelling at me, I hear you but I'm busy right now. Am I not on the phone!?" You snapped back at him. "Oh? Busy? With what... making another nail appointment since all you do is spend money and sit around?"

"Oh please. It's not like I'm spending yours, remember that I have my own will you? There's no point in getting upset when your pockets are perfectly fine." You said and got up from the table, slamming your phone on the glass surface while making your way down the hall to the bathroom.

You've been unhappy in your marriage for as long as you could remember. It wasn't made on the sense of love. Just a legal arrangement to make more money as a unit. You married him at a young age. Early twenties to be exact. Now that you're halfway through the ages that would make 'your prime' you were tired of seeing his face everyday and needed a change of scenery. He didn't love you, both of you spent most time at eachothers throats. Arguing until one of you stormed out of the house before things got too heated.

He wanted you to do more for him when you felt that you were doing just enough. For one, he wanted children. He wanted you to retire as a buisness women and just be his pregnant wife for the rest of the marriage. You didn't want to be a mother. You saw how parenthood forced people apart and knew that you didn't want that for yourself.

Children were a commitment you're not willing to sign up for. You already signed up for marriage. Only difference was for marriage, you could sign some papers- go to court and be done with the legal relationship with the other person. But if you had children? You'd forever have that burden following you around. The memory of birth burned into you mind, making it impossible for you to forget that you're even a parent in the first place.

You didn't want to have someone else to take care of. Spending money on yourself and yourself only was perfectly fine with you. Oh- do you want to get your hair done? Just make an appointment. Did you want an at home message? Hire somebody to come over and take care of it for you. You'd rather spend money on what you loved instead of diapers formula and 'back to school' supplies.

Not only all of those factors. You valued peace and quiet. When you have children every ounce of quiet goes down the drain. Who cares about those blood sucking snot nose brats. There are many other people in the world who loves and wants those things. The population wouldn't crumble to bits just because one women doesn't want to be a mother.

While you were in the bathroom fixing your makeup your husband walked in and stood in the doorway. Glaring at you and rolling his eyes. "Let's go already, Levi and his wife are probably at the restaurant already. They've also been planning on a baby so why not get in good with her. Hopefully she could talk some sense into you."

"Oh yeah? I'll pass... I told you I didn't even want to do this anyway. I'll play nice with her but I won't kiss her ass just because. She's not going to be a little friend of mine." You scoffed with an obvious eye roll.

"Tsk. I know she won't. All your friends have to be men... like to have your options open huh?" He said before walking off.

Who cares what he thinks. You can't wait to get those divorce papers on Wednesday. That would make the perfect birthday gift now wouldn't it.

"Happy birthday honey, I want a divorce!♡"

____

Levi didn't think his co-worker was the best guy in the office. Y/h/n was a jerk. Not to him of course but to the other people around him. He was also a big flirt for someone who wears a ring and makes it a point that he's married. He coincidently hits on the new comers, the least they knew about him the better of a target they'd be for 'workplace fun.' He was a loud mouth bastard who overcompincated to be liked. His attempts to be charasismatic always come on as a facade.

He's gained an opinion over Y/h/n just by being observant. The most you stay silent around people, the quicker they'll think they can be comfortable around you and let their slip hang. Because of this, it was easier for him to find out the dirt on everyone. Just because a man leaves the house with a clean suit on dose not mean that he doesn't get his hands dirty.

"Levi! Come on, we have to go. You said that Y/h/n and his wife are already at the restaurant right?"

He was in his office seated at his desk when Yuki walked in with her hands busy as she put in her pearl earing that had fell off for the third time. "Why are you always in here? It's so dark too." She questioned while flicking the light switch and walking over to his desk, making her way behind it and turning Levi's chair so he could face her. "Doesn't everyone enjoy peace and quiet sometimes?" He simply said desiring to keep the conversation short.

"Well yeah but you didn't hear me calling you? Anyways come on. We should go, ugh you just look so handsome." She smiled as he stood up, he laid a kiss on her cheek before walking passed her. "You look nice too, the purple really compliments your skin." He stated and held his hand out for her to grab.

They both walked out of his office and made their way outside. Levi held the door open for her like usual and waited for her to be seated so he could close the door and enter the driver's side.

He felt a cloud of looming dread follow him around. He wasn't sure where it was coming from or why he was even feeling that way in the first place. His marriage with Yuki was average. There were rarely any fights and even an even less amount of conversation. He was the problem. Levi has always had a hard time keeping himself open to others instead of acting as if he was the only person on earth. He liked being alone but that all changed once he found himself proposing to Yuki. And now with them trying for a child, he thinks this is the way his life will be from now on.

At first he didn't think he'd make a good father. He had no idea what the definition of a 'good father' was anyways. His childhood was rough. So how would he know every way to not fuck up the childhood of a newborn. Yuki was a good women. Always egging him on to be better, telling him that he wouldn't be alone in parenting and they'd both do a good job. Even with her words of uplifting, he still had doubts. Parenthood can't be for him, he's too broken to even look into the eyes of a child and feel any desire or love to have one of his own.

When he was in the moment of proposing to Yuki he didn't have a guess of what the future would hold. If anything the fear didn't set in until he was finally standing at the alter. Everyone staring at him as she poured her heart out to him. The audience filled with her family, not even a crumb of his own in sight. He was scared of saying those two words. Before he could even fully decide, he agreed. Maybe marriage wouldn't be too bad and maybe this feeling of regret would slip away.

To his demise it never did. And now that he's been married for almost ten years... he is just a dead man walking.

"So what's his wife like?" Yuki asked as she glanced at him, waiting for an answer.

"Who's wife- oh... right." He trailed off but quickly remembered who she was talking about.

"Are you okay honey? You seem like you're out of it tonight. Should we call and cancel?"

"No I'm fine. Just a bit tired is all, work was tiring. And you know I don't sleep much so... it just goes hand in hand." He deflected, coming up with a quick lie and shrugged off his response.

"Oh alright... did you hear my question atleast? I asked what is Y/h/n's wife like."

"Y/n? I'm not sure. He doesn't talk about her much other than what her name is. I don't know her that much if that's what you're asking."

"I see... a man who doesn't talk about his wife at all is a complete jack ass then."

"Yeah... that's his middle name alright. I hope he doesn't drink too much, the guy can barley hold a stapler without losing an eye. When alcohol is in the mix he's almost no good at anything."

"If you know so much about him that makes him seem insufferable to be around then why do you tolerate him? Don't you think going on this date would be stressful as is?"

"Yeah... you have a point but- actually I don't even know why I'm doing this. I would've said no if I wasn't thinking it instead of actually speaking it. To be frank it be better off reading a book at home right now."

"It's only a few hours Levi, I've seen you hold a conversation with my mother and she is the most insufferable person I know. You got this tonight, I'm sure it won't be that bad either. Surely he can't be a piece of work when his wife is around, she has to balance him out some way right?"

"I guess."

____

You were sitting at the bar when Y/h/n walked up to you with two people behind him. The strangers were holding hands so that told you that they were the couple your double date was to begin with. You grabbed your drink from the bartender and turned around in your seat. Flinging your leg over the other as the slit of your dress opened to reveal more of your smooth freshly waxed legs that you spent an hour doing just for tonight. Luckily you moisturized just enough so you wouldn't be itching all night.

You for sure felt cold. But with alcohol so close to being in your system, you'd surely warm up faster. "Y/n this is Levi and his wife Yuki." Y/h/n said as he put on a fake smile towards you. You mentally rolled your eyes and got out of the stool chair. Levi quickly coming towards you with a hand to help you down so you wouldn't fall.

You weren't aware of who was helping you as you grabbed the soft but rough hand and focused on making sure your dress didn't get ruined by your heel. You looked up finally and nearly dropped your glass. Levi Ackerman... you've definitely heard of him, not only has Y/h/n mentioned him many times, you've also saw that many everyday objects have 'Ackerman' written somewhere on it.

You kept eye contact with him short and sweet, taking your hand from his and smiling at the both of them. His wife was gorgeous, the prettiest eyes you've ever seen. They were a bright green. Plump lips that were dabbed with a little blush red color that matched her cheeks. A full set of crystal clear teeth. Long lashes that seemed to be natural with a slight flare of mascara.

You were slightly more interested in her for a breif second until you realized that you probably should start talking right now.

"Hi! I'm Yuki- uhm I mean you already know my name but still hello!" She nervously smiled and held your free hand with both of hers. Looking at you with a gleam of admiration as if she's been dying to meet you her whole life. You smiled back at her and set your glass down. "It's wonderful to meet you, wow- you're so gorgeous..." You said halfway losing your train of thought.

She laughed lightly and brought her hand up to her mouth to not come off as too 'teethy' she then held onto Levi's arm and glanced at him. "Thank you! This is Levi- he's not much of a talker but I assure you he is nice too."

You broke eye contact with her and looked at him. His glare was peircing into your eyes as you tried to break away from his gaze to continue eyeing his wife but you couldn't. His skin was so pretty, blemish free and flushed with red at the cheeks and very tip of his nose. His lips soft and well taken care of. Eyebrows just the right amount of thickness and cleanliness. His dark eyes dilated once he raised his head just a bit to have a clear look at you. A smirk formed on his face, he quickly changed it to a smile as he most likely forgotten where he was at right now.

Strands of his hair were in his sight of vision hiding the view of where his eyes were traking to, leaving your husband and his wife utterly oblivious to his greedful gaze.

This moment seemed to last forever for him. He hadn't seen you at all in person but your name was burned into his memory. If he had known that Y/h/n had a wife like this by his side, he would've showed up to every single dinner party he invited him to just to steal a look of you.

There wasn't particular parts of your appearance that he could point out to consider above all attractive, he was staring at all of you. Your intrigued expression kept him hooked onto you. You were caught off guard by the extra people walking up to you. He wondered why the hell did your husband think this was the perfect time to ambush you with guests. By the looks of your drink, you weren't planning on being so friendly tonight either.

"Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you, Y/h/n has spoken so much about you." He lied with a smile and a gentle low nod to you out of respect.

Shit. Why were they both attractive? Are they swingers? Was this just some ploy to get you to swing with them? You wouldn't decline if it was. You didn't know which one you wanted more. Her, or Him... although Levi had a problem with his eyes being on you the whole introduction. Even when your husband brought the conversation to him, Levi was still staring.

In high fashion, his eyes made you worry about your appearance. Was your hair okay? What about your makeup? Did you have something on your teeth and that was why he was staring at you?

The four of you eventually made it to the table after minutes of pointless idol chit chat. You sat next to your husband, across from Levi while Yuki sat across from yours. He had his arm around Yuki's shoulders while she held his hand with hers. Their body language was something you craved. The most touch you and your husband were participating in was a simple knee touch under the table.

Your hands were clasped together in your lap under the table. Fingers twiddling with eachother as you payed as best of attention to the conversation as you could. You were mentally absent, it didn't take Levi not even ten seconds to figure out.

Guessing by the body language you and Y/h/n were presenting. You two didn't have any ounce of physical love for eachother. No wonder why when you'd pretend to fix your hair, your eyes would land on his when you thought he wasn't paying attention to you.

The funny thing was that you were the only thing he could focus on. The only time he broke a gaze was when Yuki would boast about their relationship and want him to look at her. He even went out of his way to steal a few kisses from her to make her claims of their love legit.

You coughed into your arm as you watched Levi's head turn. His jawline was so potent and sharp. The perfect slimness to still be seen but not be too much. His hair was freshly cut too, a crispy undercut. You glanced at Yuki, her hand lifting to hold Levi's shoulder as she kissed him softly. They giggled with eachother and whispered sweet nothings inbetween aswel. You needed a drink. Bad. The strongest drink you could ever have too. You glanced at the bar and noticed that you left your cup over there from earlier.

Shit. Would it be bad if you slipped away right now to get it? Hopefully Levi and Yuki won't think that you're leaving because their public affection was making you sick.

You glanced at your husband. He was busy looking at the menu rather than paying attention. With the conversation dwindling away he eventually put his attention somewhere else. You turned your body to step out of your seat but stopped and stared much more intently at Yuki. She kissed Levi for one last time before breaking her lips from his to ask him for something. He nodded, his veiny hand lifting to kiss her ring finger softly. "Sure. Give me a moment." He stated softly to her which made her bite her lip gently and run her finger through the back of his hair.

Your mouth was watering now. Not only you desired the taste of alcohol on your tongue, you also wondered how good she felt to know that she had the right to run her fingers through his undercut at any point. Dammit, get it together. Stop staring at them like this. You look like a pervert.

Yuki's eyes glanced at you once Levi turned around to get up from his seat. You stood up quickly and froze for a moment. She smiled at you while mouthing 'sorry' apologizing for her and Levi being 'too close' thinking maybe it was awkward for you to see. You nervously laughed and nodded at her then proceeded to walk away.

Your body told her that you were already on your way to get up so she didn't think much of you and Levi heading in the same direction. She then moved her hair out of her eyes and opened the menu to see what to order.

____

That was close. You almost lost it back there. Your glass from earlier was gone because the bartender cleaned it up which meant you had to order another one. What did you have again? You didn't even know. You ordered that drink so randomly that you didn't care to memorize the name so you could order it again if you liked it.

As you leaned on the counter a man walked up next to you, a stool was in the middle of of the both of you for space. You glanced over and it was sure enough Levi. He saw you and made a double take. Wondering why you were even up here. Before he could say anything stupid he realized that you were waiting at the bar. Clearly you were up here for a drink like everyone else.

"Hello again. Are you going to order first?" He asked with a concerned tone. The bartender was staring at both of you, their hands on the table as they waited for direction. "Who me? Oh no no I'm fine. I don't know what to get." You shrugged.

Who me? Yes- of course you. He's only staring at you right now. Who else was he talking to? A fucking fly on the table? Dammit your mind is foggy right now. You can't think straight and it's his and his wifes' faults.

Levi then ordered for himself. You didn't hear him considering you weren't paying much attention again. You watched the bartender bring up three glasses from under the table and line them in order. "Three rounds of Shōchū, third round done heavy coming right up." The bartender said.

"Third round heavy? Who's that for." You asked. He chuckled and turned his whole body towards you, leaning on the counter just like you and speaking up. "It's for you. I can see a stressed out person who needs a drink from a mile away. I'm the same way, guessing by your hands right now. You're extra nervous." He said.

Yeah no shit man. It's because you and your wife are very sexy together and apart.

"Really me? No I'm fine. Honest!" You laughed him off but he didn't budge. "It's fine. You don't have to lie. The drink is on me. In fact-" He turned to the bartender briefly. "Make the first just as strong as the third, thanks." He said clearly then turned to you once more.

"You keep saying that so your brain will believe it, yes? You don't have to do that with me. I get it. Public spaces make me feel on edge too." He shrugged still trying to get his point across.

You sighed and glanced at the table where you were sitting. Both yours and Levi's partner busy with eachother in conversation. You then glanced at him and sat in the bar stool chair, making sure to not fall thus making a fool out of yourself. The drinks Levi ordered were done and was slid over to him, he held the first cup and slid the third to you as he sat down in the chair next to you.

"I've never tried Shōchū, I'm more of a Sake person or I'll just drink beer- although that's rare of me because it's hell trying to find the best beer vender." You said while staring at the brown liquid in the glass, unsure if you should take the gulp.

"I don't even drink that much. I have black tea mostly. I only ordered myself a shot because you look like you need a drinking buddy- Yuki usually gets this." He shrugged and held the small glass out to you for a cheers.

"Yeah... you don't look like a drinker either." You said as your eyes glanced at his fingers, ignoring the golden band on his ring digit out of reflex. Such strong hands... Jesus... what a man he is...

"Oh? So you've been thinking about what I look like? Didn't think I'd be in your mind that quickly." He smirked while lifting a brow. Fucking tease. What is he smirking so many times for? You brushed off his statement and clashed your glass against his. Then cocked your head back and gulped the strong shot in less than a minute.

He drank his shot along with you and felt the sting of alcohol touch the back of his jaw. He winced along with you and felt his lips burn with numbness. His mouth watering as the taste was stronger than expected. He coughed a bit into his arm and cleared his throat. Glancing up at you to see that you were licking your lips, feeling the liquid on your bottom lip and taking the buzz with pride.

"That's so strong- I can't even fathom the taste..." You mumbled lowly but felt your nerves settle as your stomach burned with warmth that spread through your arms and legs, bursting out of your finger tips. Oddly enough the buzz transform inbetween your legs. Great- you forgot dark liquor arouses you over time depending on how much you drank. Your eyes met with Levi's as he wiped his mouth with a napkin and crumbled the tissue up. You stared at his lips for a moment, then at his hands. This time staring at his ring.

He noticed your eyes and trailed down to your clevage that was on full display in your dress. His lips pressing together and hand lifting to hide his growing smirk that was followed with a pleased 'Damn...' your finger traced the rim of the glass and brought attention to your hand. He saw your ring and memorized every detail in it. Your name was engraved in the silver band. He remembered his and set his glass down to tug at his own ring, making it seem like he was rearranging the tight fit but in reality. He wanted to take it off.

"Refils please?" You said to the bartender. Glancing at your cup along with Levi's. They gladly obliged and gave you two the same refill with the exact amount of strong dosage.

You then lifted your cup to his and smiled at him, uncrossing your legs and bringing your right one over the other instead. This movement brought attention to your soft thighs until you cleared your throat. "Cheers." You simply said which made him mindlessly bring his cup to yours. The small clink of glass was a nice sound you were familiar with hearing. Both of you took shots and quickly enjoyed the sting together. You were disgusted by it at first but now that you were relaxed, it didn't feel as bad.

You stared at his throat as he took the last gulp. His adams apple was strong and perfect. A deep sigh left your lips as you slammed your cup down, sliding it to the bartender needing another shot. Your brain was fuzzy with thoughts you should be ashamed to have. This moment was pleasing in many ways, not only you had Levi's attention on you and nothing else. You got to check him out in peace without being careful to not gaze too hard. You glanced at the table again and saw that Yuki was gone. Most likely at the bathroom.

"What did you cheers to?" He asked while clearing his throat again. "To luck. In hopes that both of us get really lucky tonight." You said keeping your meaning vague and hopping out of the chair.

He watched you as you walked off heading to the table again. Your hips swaying side to side, bringing attention to your body. He pulled on his tie thinking it was too tight and coughed lowly. Was it getting hot in here or was he just working up a sweat.

Get lucky? What did you mean by that? And why did he want to find out, badly.

____

It was hard for you or Levi to focus on the double date by now. You were over sitting here acting as if you didn't want to tearl him apart and rip his clothes off. You didn't care about anything else, just him and the burning pleasure blooming behind your clitorus. Your thighs squeezed together as you sighed and poked at your food. Enjoying what you had ordered but not going out of your way to eat it. You wanted something else in your mouth rather than this meal.

You watched Levi as he sipped his wine and licked the excess away. Bringing his fork up to his mouth and taking a bite of his steak. Yuki was closely knit by him, her fork making it's way onto his plate and taking a nice cut. She smiled at him and took the bite, he used his napkin to wipe his mouth but dropped it. He didn't want to be the customer that left a mess for the staff to clean up when he was able to clean it himself. He then ducked under the table and looked around to grab the white ball of tissue.

Just when he was about to reach out. You uncrossed your legs, revealing that you were wearing royale blue panties. He stared for a second longer then froze once you extended your leg out to brush up against his under the table. You brought your foot up and down his leg two times to make your pass more obvious to him. He then brought his head up from under the table and groaned while clearing his throat again. He put on a fake yawn and tossed his napkin on the table. Seeing you take a bite of your food and make a statement to your husband to tell him how you enjoyed your meal. Acting as if you didn't just make a risky pass at him.

Yuki then set her fork down and opened the menu again. Her eyes staring at the dessert section of the book. "Oohh Levi we should take some desert! What would you like?" She asked with a smile.

"Thank you for the date... you're such a good man~♡"

Levi heard you mumbled praises to your husband along with Yuki's question. He didn't want to answer her because he was too busy on hanging on every word you said. He turned his body to Yuki and placed his arm on the back of her chair. His eyes glaring at you though as you turned Y/h/n to face you, initiating a makeout session with him, sloppily kissing him and gasping into his mouth. Wrapping your arms around his neck as he caressed your arm, humming a response and chuckling at your sudden act of affection.

What was this feeling Levi was experiencing? Was it. Jealousy? Why? He can't feel jealous, you're married. Wait- HE'S married. And his wife is sitting right next to him. Why is he more focused on you than anything else. And how did you know? Your eyes opened as you stared right at him, giving him a look out the corner of your eye and stopping the kiss to smirk, allowing your husband to make kisses on your neck.

"Levi? Do you want carrot cake? That's your favorite still right?" Yuki asked making a suggestion. "Hm? Oh yeah- sure carrot cake... you know Yuki I'm exhausted... I think I'm going to call it in for the night." He said while fully looking at her.

She nodded in understanding and flagged the waiter that walked by. Asking him to get them dessert for to go and turned back to Levi. She remembered when he told her that he was tired earlier, he must need to lay down now then. "You know tonight was really nice. It was a pleasure to meet you two and Y/n! We should get to know eachother outside of this little meet up. You seem to be very sweet. Levi's tired and I'm almost getting there along with him." She said while placing her hand on his chest and caressing the back of his neck.

"Oh? Leaving so soon? You know what Y/h/n, we should go too... I have a long day tomorrow now that I think about it."

"Shit yeah- it's late. I have a meeting to hold tomorrow aswel."

Perfect timing. Now Levi could get a breather, he couldn't be in this restaurant anymore. Especially not with you eye fucking him from across the table while having a smile on your face.

____

When you got home Y/h/n was still lagging behind at the door. You kicked your heels off and unzipped your dress while looking in the mirror on the wall and uncliped your bra. A deep sigh leaving your lips as he rolled his eyes, stuffing his phone in his pocket and spoke up. "I got to go to the office, they need me to do some paperwork I dunno how long I'll be." Your interest was peaked, another night where he'd be somewhere else? Leaving you to be in your own bed?

"Can't you say no?" You said with an annoyed tone. "If I could I wouldn't even have told you, what do you care? You want me to stay here so we can argue? I'll pass." He said with a scoff.

"Whatever, just go if you're going to have a stick up your ass." You crossed your arms and placed your bodyweight on your left leg.

"I have that pain because of you."

"Well atleast one of us is having some company." You mumbled to yourself.

He didn't have time for your attitude so he left quickly and slammed the door behind him. You rolled your eyes and walked up to the window, watching him get into his car and pull off since the car was still on. Good ridense, the less you have to see him. The better.

You followed his car with your eyes. Making sure he was gone for sure. If he was going to pull back in it would've been right away. He was gone though, you were finally alone and knew it would be the same thing like every other night. You then grabbed your heels from the floor and walked upstairs, holding onto the railing tightly to successfully make your way to your room. That was until you heard a loud knock on the door. You turned around, dropping your shoes and heading back down.

You didn't even look out the window to see who it was. You opened the door and there stood Levi, his suit still on but tie ruined as he was struggling to take it off. He stood in your doorway, heavily breathing and staring into your eyes. His car was outside, he drove here that quickly? Whatever. Who cares about the logistics of the situation.

He stepped into the house without asking. You backed up, waiting for him to be inside so you could close the door. Once the door was closed you turned around again but this time was grabbed and pinned to it. Levi groaned and held your wrists over your head while tightly squeezing your jaw to turn your head so your neck was exposed. You whimpered at his assertiveness and started to yank at his suit jacket.

He allowed you to undress him, your dress was lazily on your body since you already unzipped it. Although he could have took it off correctly, his mind was making things hard for him to comprehend. He needed you and didn't care how hard he had to work for it. So he ripped off your dress and tore it from your body, leaving you in just your panties he saw earlier in the night. You pulled his tie, popping the buttons to his shirt and watching it fall off of him as there was nothing keeping it together.

Both of you managed to take things to the couch. He allowed you to push him down and get onto his lap, straddling him while you undid his belt while biting down on your lip and tossed the name brand piece of leather somewhere in the room. His eyes were glued to your bare chest, he quickly thought next and wrapped his dominant arm around your waist. Bringing his lips to your nipple and sucking on it intently while groaning, his tongue flicking up and down, side to side and in circles. He grunted loudly and used both hands to hold your breasts, bringing them together and flick his tongue inbetween them. Letting out a prideful moan and feeling your hips buck onto his lap as you held the arm of the couch.

You whimpered loudly and pushed his head down for him to stop. He allowed you to be rough as you got off of his lap, grabbing his hands to make him stand up. He groaned and held your jaw, bringing your eyes up to his and crashed his lips into yours while plopping down on the couch with you right alongside him to get his pants off. He watched you as you hurried up to get him undressed. Your fingers slipping passed the waistband of his breifs, your eyes looking at him hoping he'd allow you to go further. He nodded and moved his hips forward, a tent was forming by now. He wanted you to see what you did to him.

He needed you to see every inch of his body. This whole night was intense, he couldn't hold it back anymore. He needed you more than he wanted to and he had no regrets about what he was going to do. All he could think about was you.

You brought down his breifs as he raised his hips off the couch, planting his feet into the floor and watching your intrigued expression as his erection swung up hitting him in the stomach. You held his thighs and licked your lips, feeling the desire to have him in your mouth. This is much better than what you had at the restaurant. You held his inches in your hand and planted a kiss on him, he moaned lowly and held your hair in his hand so he could keep full eye contact with your lips as you showered his cock in wet prideful kisses.

You continued on for a moment until he grew bored and wanted the real thing. He lifted your head up with force, yanking your hair and making eye contact with you. Holding his erection in his hand at the base, slowly stroking himself while you nodded to him. Biting your lip and brought him into a makeout session while simotainiosly pulling your panties down from your hips. You straddled him once more, his hand holding your hip and inching down to give your ass a harsh slap. You moaned with a smile, wrapping your left hand around his neck and using your right to align him with your entrance.

He groaned while pushing his hips forward, his pulsating tip stretching you apart with every inch he slid inside of you. You moaned and nodded again, holding back words knowing they would be filled with lust. He threw his head back and slammed down your hips so you'd take him in completely. Both of you chocked on words and stayed still, attempting to fathom the act of becoming one. You moaned and grabbed his hands with yours. He watched you while carefully keeping his hips still. He stared at your hands as they held his. Your ring was on the same hand as his. He broke the hold with you for a moment and tugged at his ring like he did earlier in the night.

This time not ashamed to take it off instead of pretending like he was 'fixing the hold' of it. He tossed his ring on the coffee table, leaning forward but wrapping his arm around your waist to keep you from falling. You held his broad shoulders, staring at him the same way you were all night and wrapped your arm around his neck. He looked up at you, making vivid eye contact and biting his lip.

"Take it off." He simply stated and stood up, his hands scooped under your knees with a tight hold as he changed his footing to prepare himself for how he'd do this. You nodded with no questions and pulled your ring off aswel, tossing it to the floor rather than the coffee table. You looked over to the floor, seeing that the impact broke your diamond making your ring fall in two pieces. Levi then grunted and began to bounce you up and down his shaft, his hips thrusting forward in a steady rhythm to bring moans out of you. You whimpered while wrapping your other arm around his neck, throwing your head back and nodding.

You let out moans faster than you'd like to. Your fingers locking together on the back of his neck as he groaned with low moans while staring down at his hips as they slammed into yours, your clit brushing against his pelvis feeling his pubic hair brush up against you just right. Making you moan again and cry out loudly.

"Fhuuckkk MeeEee~"

Your words egged him on as you tightened around him. Your walls sucking on his shaft and squeezing pre-cum out of his tip. His hips thrusting faster now fucking the liquid up against your cervix. He threw his head back, becoming more loud with his sounds of pleasure and egged you on with his words. He sounded like he was taunting you rather than encouraging you. You didn't care what he meant, his voice was so sexy. You couldn't stop wanting him to be louder. "Uh-huh... aghhfuckkk~ take me all the way in that pretty pussy. You love it don't you? Yeah?" He questioned with his ego taking more control over him. You nodded and clenched around him again. "Yess yes! Huhhhh~ ughh yess! Right there- L-l-l-leeevvv-vii~♡"

He nodded and groaned loudly. His legs were giving out already, he then stopped and changed places to bring you down onto the coffee table and held your waist in his hands while you made sure to keep your legs open wide. You moaned while rolling your eyes back and held onto your ankles, now biting your lip and bringing your gaze back to him. He lifted his head up to stare down at you while letting out sloppy moans and random sentences. You smiled up to him, using your elbows to prop yourself up to stare closely at him and rest your legs on his shoulders. He then leaned into you, pressing his forehead on yours and staring much more intently at you to keep the eye contact. Your moans forcing his hips to penetrate you deeper and much more close to the back of your urethra.

"You're so tight- god dammit- and so fucking wet... aghhh thaaank youuu~♡" He whimpered uncontrollably while unable to break eye contact with you. You held the back of his head, running your fingers through his hair and of course feeling the stubble of his fresh undercut. Funny how you were thirsting over the simple thought of how it must've felt and here you are hours later experiencing it for yourself.

Your clit wouldn't stop throbbing. You felt too good. With the liquor still roaming in your system and him penetrating closely to your g-spot quicker than your husband ever could. You definitely felt words that you shouldn't say festering deep within you. You threw your head back to break eye contact, knowing that you couldn't keep this up. Those eyes... those same eyes from earlier that he used to examine every part of your face and truly see into you, not just what was outside but what was inside too. You didn't want him to look inside you, you knew that you were definitely a piece of work on the inside.

How much of a good person could you truly be? You were committing the worst crime a person could ever commit. Adultery... in which a person who is married goes against the contract of marriage and has sexual activities with another that wasn't the one they were wedded with.

You moaned again as you tried to stop thinking about the future of your choice. You didn't care but deep down knew that you should. Levi then slowed down his thrusts, yanking your hips off the coffee table and bending you halfway. Keeping your legs on his shoulder and lowly groaning while giving you deep, slow, sensual, and Intimate thrusting strokes. He had found your g-spot and didn't stop stimulating it. He wasn't thrusting into it, more so brushing up against it with the curvature of his shaft and using his tip to dig inwards. Stimulating your body in ways you didn't know possible.

Your nipples and clitorous began to tingle in unison. You couldn't deal with this pleasure but your body wanted more of it. Your blood was warming up and heartbeat was racing. As your clit tingled your legs extended out while still on his shoulder, making him chuckle as he grabbed them and pinned them to the table. Scooping his hands under your knees once more like before and picking up speed just a bit, you were moaning but you also were trying to hide how good you were feeling. Purposely placing your hands on your mouth to muffle your sounds as your eyebrows furrowed and eyes were little to closed.

"Say my name. Fucking moan my name Y/n." He demanded with a groan.

You denied him and shook your head in disagreement. You couldn't moan his name again, if you let out anything else you knew exactly what would come after. You can't... don't say anything to him... don't look into his eyes- don't moan his name- Don't Give In.

He threw his head back and groaned. Using his right hand to apply pressure to your stomach and continuing to stroke your g-spot but with a much more consistant steady speed. He knew for sure that his deep strokes from earlier would make you scream, but you're too busy acting like you can't. "Say my fucking name. Say it... what's my name? Tell me?" He repeatedly said with a light tone instead of demanding you. His hips rolling into circles to message your deepest hard to reach areas. You began to cry, he watched your eyes well up with tears as he thrusted. A smirk on his face by now taking pride in himself. "Say my name. Go on, say it... who's so deep inside you that you're on the verge of sobbing out of stimulation? Don't you feel it?-" He then pressed into your stomach more than once. "I'm so deep inside you that you can feel me in your stomach. I'm not stopping until you tell me what my name is baby."

You finally moved your hands from your mouth and allowed your tears to fall. Where was he all those years ago when you were about to get married? Why show up now when you could've been the one who was his wife. You could've had his last name instead. You wanted to be his wife, you wanted to be his everything. Your emotions were making this much more important for you. You needed him. You needed him... you needed-

"Levi! Levi!Levi!Levi!Leviiii! Leviiii! I Need Youuu Leviiii!~"

Tears rushed out of your eyes as you couldn't think anymore. Letting go of the guilt and remorse you held onto from a few moments prior. You felt your orgasm creeping around the corner. You knew it would be a big wave of arousal, you couldn't fight it. You wanted him to make you come. You were going to come weather you wanted to or not.

A few more strokes to your g-spot had your mouth open agape. You were about to let out another shameless moan until he brought his hips back and slipped out of you. A groan and slippery popping sound filling the room. Before you could react to him with annoyance that he stopped, you felt his tongue swipe on your clit.

You stared down at him and saw his head resting inbetween your thighs as his tongue did all the work and flicked back and forth. Making slippery licks on the sensitive bundle of nerves that felt like it was going to explode. You moaned again, both of your hands on the back of his head as you forced more of your clit into his mouth. Head thrown back and hips raising from the table out of reflex. Your toes curled as he lapped up his tongue on every inch of you instead of just your clit alone. He sloppily licked and sucked on your entrance, using his fingers to spread you apart and keep you exposed so he could devour every part.

"Hmmlsshhhhh sshhoo wheehhttghh~ anthh hwtheett~" He spoke into you while bringing his eyes up to yours, glaring up at you while you cried out his name again and pulled his hair in your hands.

("Hmmlsshhhhh so wet~ and sweet~")

"I'm coming- I think? Ughh I don't know anymore... thaannkk youuu~♡"

With those words Levi then proceeded to lift his head from your thighs and brought his tongue out to lick his lips until he stared at your expression. Needing to have his lips on yours no matter what. He called out your name which made you look at him with a dazed expression. He held your face and brought his lips onto yours, forcing you to taste yourself and in fact confirm that you were sweet. You moaned into his mouth while placing your hand on his chest. Other hand wrapping around his neck again to bring him closer.

The kiss broke eventually and there the both of you were. Out of breath, sweaty, utterly turned on, and almost at the edge of orgasm. "I need you." You whimpered, holding his face with your right hand hand and caressing the apple of his cheek with your thumb. "I need you too... I wanted to fuck you ever since we started talking at the bar."

"I wanted to fuck you since the first time I laid eyes on you... you turn me on so much Levi~" You encouraged and brought both arms around his neck to keep him close. He kissed your neck on the same spot your husband did. For some reason his lips felt much better, his canines dragging across your skin as he wanted to bite you and leave a hickey but knew that would be risky.

You moaned and felt the back of his neck again, whimpering his name and begging softly into his ear.

Your words encouraged him to take you off of the coffee table and onto the floor. He laid on his back while having you on top of him. Your arms still hugged around his neck while he aligned himself back up to your dripping used entrance that was pulsating and clenching around nothing as you desired to be stuffed again.

"Look at me. Just like that baby. Rock your hips for me- aghh fuck- Nghhhh... j-just like- thaaatt~"

You leaned upwards and placed your left hand on his knee for support while your right one was placed on his chest. You moaned loudly while throwing your head back and bouncing yourself up and down his shaft while allowing your entrance to meet at the base of his cock. This time he moaned and whimpered for you to keep going. His head thrown back as he tried to keep his eyes open so he could focus on your perfect body. Your breasts were his favorite part of you. He couldn't take his eyes off of them even if he tried to stare at the bulge in your stomach as you rode him. He softly whined but covered his mouth. Trying to hold onto his composure until you grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the floor on both sides of his head. You made eye contact with him while rotating your hips in circles and nodded down to him while placing your fingers in his mouth, encouraging him to suck them.

You bounced your hips up and raised them all the way until his tip was inside, then swirled your hips in a circle before sliding back down and grinding your hips in various ways. Levi groaned and sucked your fingers, he felt ashamed by doing this but the greedfull smirk you gave while looking down at him felt- rewarding?

"Ughhh-hhhhaahhhff~ s-st-stop~♡" He gasped with a whimper while feeling a pleasured tingle in his balls.

"You feel so good inside me~♡ don't you love how tight I am... speak up for me Levi~"

His ego wouldn't allow him to be submissive towards you. But he was already drunk off of you. Tasting you early in the way he did and managing to get you to moan his name made him proud. He desired you the more he watched you ride him.

"Fffuck m-mee... please- f-fuck me..." He begged while getting out of your hold and snatched your hands up into his. The two of you made eye contact once more. Low soft moans left your lips as your hips came to a stop, giving him the opportunity to thrust into you while letting your hands go and placing his hand around your throat, gently squeezing while you nodded and leaned upwards once more. This time throwing your head back and bucking your hips back and forth, in a circle and clenching yourself around him.

"I'm closeee~ haaaahh~"

"Mhm... I want you to come on my dick... can you do that? Please come on my fucking dick baby~" He whimpered uncontrollably and squeezed his hand tighter. You held his wrist gently and nodded, letting out small moans.

The eye contact you two kept was intense. Not only you were feeling it, he was too. All he could think about was you. Just seeing you and feeling your insides was all he wanteded this whole day. He knew from the moment he laid his eyes on you that he would risk everything going for him just to have atleast one night with you. He didn't care about his marriage or the life he'd have after, according to him this was heaven.

You moaned again but this time stopped your hips. You moaned softly while leaning down to him, holding his face with you right hand and having your other hand pressed on the floor. Both of you paused for a moment, his arms wrapped around your waist while you bit your lip and laid a soft kiss on his lips. You were an amazing kisser, he could taste your juices along with the strong alcohol you had earlier in the night. He kissed you again, this time pulling your bottom lip in his teeth and tilting his head to the side for better leverage. You ran your fingers through his hair tugging lightly and feeling his stubble.

You broke the kiss for air and held the side of his face once more. He pressed his forehead onto yours to continue eye contact and soon leaned up while having his arms around you. "I don't care about anything else but you right now." He lowly spoke to you in your ear and held your ass in his hands. Bouncing you up and down and groaned. You put your hands on the floor for support while he picked up the pace, thrusting faster into you with force and moaning loudly. "Yeah? Mhm... you make me feel so fucking good... I'm going to come soon-"

"Good... keep looking at me until you come- your eyes are so beautiful. I can't look away from them. I don't want to look away."

Levi glanced over his shoulder at your ring. It was broken from when he told you to take it off, he groaned in annoyance as he thought about how your husband treated you all night. He didn't even look at you or talk about you once. You clearly were being neglected in your marriage with him and it pissed him off to know that a women like you wasn't being taken care of.

That feeling of jealousy tried to resurface but then he remembered that he was the one inside of you right now. Making you moan his name and feel good all throughout your body. Y/h/n didn't deserve you, he did. You shouldn't have to be drinking everytime when in public with him to get through the night. You also shouldn't be in the arms of another because he wasn't doing his job as your husband.

Yuki didn't cross his mind at all. He glanced at his own ring but felt nothing towards it. If anything he was relieved to not have that charm of regret on his body. He wasn't thinking about the future, just you and him. How good you felt around him and how you had your hands on his chest, nails slightly digging into his skin as you softly whimpered. "Leviiii~ I'm so close~"

You turned his head so he could face you, finding his lack of eye contact a bit annoying. He brought you back down to the floor and wrapped your legs around his waist, now deeply stroking your g-spot like before and groaning loudly while staring into your eyes again. He buried his face into your neck and moaned your name while rutting his hips into you knowing that he'd finally come. Your legs locked him in place, back arching and head throwing back as you moaned his name for the last time.

He grabbed your hands and squeezed them again. His knuckles turning blush red as the pleasure running through his body was overflowing. "I love you! I'm coming! AghhFUCK-"

Woah. You hope he knew that you wouldn't be saying that back. Although it did make you feel good to hear him say it. Along with the fact that he said it first.

He continued to tell you those words like a broken record while his thrusts became sloppy and undone. You moaned for the last time as a knot formed in your stomach and exploded faster than you could take your next breath. That same warmth rushing through your body like before and bursting out of your finger tips. You cried out his name once more before wrapping both arms around his neck to keep the closesness.

Levi groaned and pulled out of you, his cock bursting with come and instantly covering your stomach. The cold air engulfing his sensitive, dwindling erection draining and slowly while also becoming soft. Heavily breathing until you looked up at him. You allowed him to bring you into his arms and hold your face, sloppily kissing you while you came down from your high, whimpering into his mouth and taking your legs off of his waist.

____

You and Levi didn't depart ways just yet. Instead the two of you laid together on the couch while you had the faux fur throw blanket over the both of you. His arm was around you while you rested your head on his chest, playing with his left hand hearing his calm heartbeat in the process.

"So what now?" He said breaking the silence and glancing down at you.

"I don't know. That was- something..." You leaned upwards and watched him as he grabbed his ring from the coffee table. Staring at it with a look of disgust and sliding it back on his finger. "Guess it's back to reality then. Look- let's keep this between us alright?-"

"Yeah of course. What? Did you think I was going to tell Y/h/n the second I saw him? He doesn't have to know." You dryly said then got off the couch, using the blanket to cover yourself up while Levi grabbed a throw pillow to place on his lap. He watched you in awe as you grabbed your ring, sliding it on your finger and picking up the diamond as it broke earlier.

"Shit. I'll have to get this fixed." You said with an annoyed tone.

The silence was starting to become unbearable. 'Back To Reality' he says... it's easy for him to say when there's actually love and physical attention present in his marriage. Reality set in that Levi didn't truly belong to you. Instead he was Yuki's husband. Just seeing them sitting across from you was heartwrenching, it made you jealous on many levels. You wanted to experience love while being married. You hadn't felt that in a long time and the lack of affection was making you bitter and cold.

Both of you were already married to other people and this little rendezvous was over. Sex with him was actually amazing. But you wouldn't tell him that at all. You just wanted to be in his arms forever, but you can't... because He's Not Yours.

You looked at Levi as he was face-palming by now, pinching the bridge of his nose in stress and glancing up at you. "I called in a favor at work so he'd be out of the picture tonight. I didn't want things to end without me seeing you... especially after what you did at the end of dinner, all night... I couldn't just shake you off you know." He stared at the floor once you turned around to try eye contact with him. He didn't know what he was saying or why he was even saying it.

"All that just to have sex with me? Don't you think you doing that would be suspicious if this ever got out? And what about your wife. If I was her I'd be up at any hour to see you walk through the door." You shrugged and wrapped your body up with the blanket.

"Why won't you divorce him? Aside from what we did- it's clear that you aren't happy with him. He's a jackass, I saw it the whole night... you were eyeing Yuki and I everytime we'd share a kiss or anything remotely intimate." He called you out because he had to know why on earth would you settle. It angered him slightly to know that you put up with him.

"I don't know. Levi you should go, he could come back and your car is outside still. It's time we get back to reality remember?" You deflected while watching him fiddle with his ring again.

"I want to see you again." He asked, his voice softening with his words.

"We're married. We can't see eachother openly, don't go falling in love with me now. This is a one time thing."

God damn you were in denial. You knew this wasn't going to be a one time thing. You craved the level of intamcy Levi provided for you. Why won't you admit it already. "I'm not falling in love with you. But you know that this won't be a one time thing. I should go now... I have work, I also hope that tomorrow is one of those days that you choose to show up and remind everyone that Y/h/n is married. Certain people seem to need a reminder."

You didn't say anything as he grabbed his clothes and quickly got dressed. He sighed heavily and stepped into his shoes while looking back at you. He was about to say something but you weren't looking at him to notice. You were too busy having a mental fight with yourself. Stop being so dry and atleast hug him before he leaves- you do want to smell his cologne... and second thought... he smelled amazing the whole night.

You then walked up to him and placed your hands on his shoulders. He wrapped his arm around your waist and lifted a brow, wondering what you were going to do or say. You landed a kiss on his lips, holding his jaw and turning your head to the side. Your tongue slipping into his mouth slightly before he turned towards you aswel and leaned back onto the wall. His hands attaching onto your waist, tempted to take the throw blanket off of your body.

Your hands slid down to his chest again. You pushed him away from you so you could breathe and also gain composure again. Levi pressed his lips together feeling the desire to kiss you again and not stop. He bit his lip slightly and chuckled while running his fingers through his hair, remembering that he had to go. "Goodnight to you too Y/n..."

[cwritesforfun]

The Bear: Carmen 'Carmy' Berzatto x Fem!Reader: Crush

You work at the Bear as the hostess when Sugar needs help and you're close with Carmy, Sydney, and Marcus. You like everyone else, but you're just closest with those three. Richard keeps trying to force you and Carmy to be alone together, so he annoys you right now. (YES, the plot has changed.)

Y/N = Your Name

Your POV

You open your phone bright and early to see a text from Carmy: Call me if you get this before 5:30 or before you leave. You click the call button next to his number and wait for him to answer.

****Start of conversation Y/N - Hey Chef... what's up? Carmy - Richard said you live near me. Could you drive me to work? Y/N - Yeah, uh can you send me your address? I just finished breakfast and I just need to get my shoes on. Carmy - Yeah, okay I sent it. Y/N - You're only a 5 minute drive from me. I'll be there soon. I'll text you when I leave. Carmy - Thanks Y/N... Thanks, Chef. End of conversation****

You wait in your car for Carmy and see him exit his building. He climbs into your car and you let him buckle his seatbelt before driving off.

As you drive, Carmy says, "So... uh my car... it uh broke down yesterday. Richard doesn't have his license and he didn't want to risk driving me to work. I think he just didn't want to drive me because he drives me around all the time. He told me you lived closer to me than he did. So I called you. Thanks for ... thanks for driving me." You exclaim, "It's totally okay. I don't mind. I like getting to work early and you live very close, so this works out for us both. Do you need a ride back to your place after work too?" He answers, "Yeah if you don't mind." You reply, "No, I don't. I can drive you until you get your car fixed. It's cool. Do you want a homemade protein bar?" He answers, "Sure... I guess." You reply, "You can say no, I don't care. It's the only way I can survive working these shifts. It has peanut butter, maple syrup, protein powder, oats, and that's it. They're delicious and they fuel you until the next meal." He replies, "I'll try one, then. If you care about it this much and you made them, they have to be good." You keep driving and you hear Carmy say, "Fuck, these are good. I could eat a whole tray." You reply, "Thanks."

We park, you hand out the rest of the protein bars to the rest of the staff, and you help set up and clean the dining area once more. You then help Marcus with desserts. You used to always say that dessert was your favorite meal, but now it's tied with dinner. Pasta and garlic bread together could kill you, but you'd be okay with it because you'd die happy. Making desserts brings you so much joy because there's something so amazing about the process of picking the right amount of ingredients to decorating them before customers eat them.

Your shift starts and it's packed. It's Saturday and there are tons of people hustling in. You even fill the bar with walk-ins. Richard runs the dining room with ease and you can tell he's at home here. At a quiet moment, he slides behind the hostess stand next to you and asks, "So, how was the ride this morning?" You answer, "Carmy and I talked. He liked the protein bars I made. It was good. He thinks you had an ulterior motive for not driving him." He smirks and replies, "I did. I want one of you to cut that sexual tension and confess your feelings." You laugh and say, "He's my boss and I like this job." He replies, "We both know you're just passing time here because you love the people. You make way more at your weekday job. You could easily quit working here and date him." You reply, "I could. I don't know. I am not quitting." You hear, "What's this about quitting?" You see Carmy standing there looking between the both of you. Richard says, "I was just telling dear sweet Y/N that she could quit working here. She makes more during the week. She doesn't need to overwork herself." Carmy turns to you and asks, "Are you overworking yourself?" You answer, "No I'm not. Thanks for your concern." Carmy says, "Yeah no problem. It's time for your 15-minute break and I was wondering if you wanted to take it with me. Richard can handle it out here." You answer, "Sure, yeah. Richard can handle it." Richard says, "I hate you when you two gang up on me. Just date already and make me happy." Carmy and I both shove Richard who says, "That was scarily in sync."

Outside, you eat a donut that was messed up by Marcus and Carmy smokes by your side. Carmy exclaims, "I know you don't have to come in on weekends and you shouldn't feel obligated because Sugar asked you to. I don't want you to overwork yourself and not have time for yourself because it's important to care for yourself. I don't want you to not be okay. I just... I care about you." You reply, "I care about you too and don't want you to overwork yourself either. You work as much as me, Carmy. I don't feel obligated to work because of Sugar or anyone else. I like working at the Bear because I love the people here. I have Sunday off every week and usually I get to work from home at least 2 days a week, so the work week feels less stressful. I will let you know if I ever need a break." He nods and says, "Good good. I want you to be able to come to me if you ever need anything." You reply, "Same to you. I'm here if you ever need anything too. Speaking of, I'm making dinner for Marcus, Sydney, and I tonight after work? Do you want to come over too?" He asks, "Are you sure? I wouldn't want to mess up your plans together." You answer, "It's all good. We just eat, drink, and either play games or watch tv. It's really chill and nice." He replies, "Ok, as long as you let me help cook." I reply, "Sounds good. I could always use the help."

When you told Sydney and Marcus that Carmy was joining for dinner, they were so happy. They also want you to tell Carmy that you like him. Why does everyone want you to? chill...

Carmy gets in your car after work and says, "Sorry that you had to wait. I had to make sure things were all set for tomorrow morning." You reply, "It's okay. Do you need anything from your apartment before we go to my place? I can stop." He answers, "Yeah I do, thank you."

You drive to his apartment and wait for him in the car. He tells you that he is going to take a 5-minute shower and then he'll be down.

You drive to your apartment when Carmy gets back and park in your spot in the garage. Carmy asks, "Do you have to walk in this garage every night?" You answer, "Yeah, why?" He answers, "I just want you to be careful." You reply, "Awww you're very caring today. It's sweet." He replies, "I don't think anyone's ever said I was sweet unless it was as a joke." You reply, "Carmen Berzatto, you're genuinely one of the kindest people I know. You go out of your way and show people you care about them despite all you've been through. You always make me feel cared for and understood. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise." He replies, "Thank you." You reach over, squeeze his hand, and say, "I meant every word." He squeezes your hand back and smiles.

After getting to your apartment, you give Carmy a quick tour of the place. You have a 2-bedroom apartment with your best friend from college who is visiting her boyfriend out of town for the week. It's small, but it's yours and it's great.

You put music on your speaker then head to the kitchen. Carmy asks, "What can I do to help?" You answer, "I'm making chicken, fried rice, and stir-fry vegetables. It's essentially just chicken fried rice. I made dessert last night too that I can break out later. Do you want to help chop vegetables?" Carmy answers, "Yes Chef. It sounds like it will be a good meal, have you made it before?" You hand him vegetables and say, "Yeah it's one of my favorite things to make for people. Marcus requests it at least once a month and Sydney requested the dessert." He takes the vegetables as you set out knives on a chopping board for him to start cutting stuff. You have just enough time to start the rice when you hear the doorbell ring.

Sydney and Marcus walk in. Sydney says, "I present you with tonight's wine and beer of choice. We got dry Riseling wine and Pilsner beer to pair with our dinner. Then, we brought vodka for the dessert cocktail." You cheer and say, "I'm so excited. This'll be great." You go back to prepping the meal to see that Carmy is working fast. You should've known he'd be quick. He's a chef for a living. Sydney asks, "Y/N, do you want a glass of wine or a beer as you cook?" You answer, "Beer please." Sydney asks, "What about you, Carmy?" Carmy answers, "Yeah, I'll take a beer, sure."

Sydney and Marcus stand by talking to you and Carmy as you cook. The cooking time flies by and it's time to eat. You put the dessert in the center of the table for after dinner. You made red velvet brownies.

At the dinner table after everyone is served, Marcus exclaims, "And today, we thank the world for bringing Y/N to the Bear. Without her, I wouldn't have a dessert buddy or this chicken fried rice." You laugh and Sydney says, "I can't wait for dessert. I'm gonna need the rest to-go. Don't eat too much boys." Carmy asks, "Why aren't you a chef? This is fucking delicious." Sydney says, "Woah there Carmy. Save some compliments for the rest of us, buddy." You laugh and say, "Thank you all for the kind words. I have some already packed to-go for you, Sydney." Sydney replies, "And this is why I love you!"

Soon enough, the beer and wine are finished. And the cocktails begin... they work tomorrow, which is wild how much they're consuming. We're sitting on the couch now. Carmy is next to you and his arm has been wrapped around your shoulder for most of the night. You don't mind at all, but will he regret it? I guess it's not a kiss.

After you all watch a movie, Marcus announces to everyone he needs sleep. Carmy seems confused when Marcus pulls out a blow-up mattress and starts to inflate it. Oh, guess you forgot to tell him that they usually spend the night. You should never drink and drive, so Marcus brings an air mattress. Sydney sleeps on the couch. You make breakfast for them or have something prepped to take on-the-go for them in the morning depending on how much you drink.

You exclaim, "Carmy, uh... could you help me carry the stuff on the table into the kitchen?" Carmy nods and he helps you bring stuff to the kitchen before he asks, "Why are Marcus and Sydney getting ready for bed here?" You answer, "Right, yeah I forgot to tell you that. They spend the night if they drink a lot or if one of them isn't the designated driver. I even make them breakfast in the mornings too. I just want them to be taken care of and safe. You're welcome to stay the night too...or I can call you a cab. The only place is in my bed if you're okay sharing." He asks, "Only if it's okay with you? I don't think I would make it back to my place honestly." You answer, "It's all good. There are extra toothbrushes and stuff in the bathroom closet that you can use." He replies, "Yeah I'll go get ready for bed then. Will you be coming to bed soon?" You reply, "Yes, I just want to make sure both of them are all good before I go to sleep." He nods and walks off.

You go to make sure that Marcus and Sydney are taken care of. Sydney pulls you to her and says, "OMG! So are you and Carmy like dating or something?" You ask, "Why would you think that?" She answers, "Dude, he had his arm around you, he was positive, and he complimented you. If you're not having sex to make him happy, I'm seriously questioning his mental state." You reply, "I feel like that's rude to say. He is allowed to be happy." Marcus replies, "And you are too, you know? With or without him, we support you." You reply, "That's so sweet, Marcus. Thank you both. Now, what do you guys want for breakfast? I have stuff for burritos, pancakes, or overnight oatmeal." Sydney says, "We want burritos. I can guarantee you that is what Marcus wants." Marcus laughs and nods. You talk with them a bit more before you lay out some stuff for breakfast then head to your room. You need to shower so badly...you stink so much from work.

Carmy is staring at your bed when you walk in. You laugh and say, "The bed won't bite, Carmy. You can take either side. I sleep on the side where that book is if you don't want to take my side. I'm going to shower, but I'll be back soon. Feel free to read any of the books or look at anything. I trust you and I don't care." He nods and you go to the bathroom. You then throw on your matching set of pajamas. You leave the bathroom to see Carmy looking at your book and photo collection. You ask, "See anything you like?" Carmy answers, "Yeah actually I'm really impressed with your photos. Did you take all of them? And have you read all of these books?" You laugh, stand next to him, and answer, "I have read the top two shelves. That cart is books I need to read still. The photos are all mine, except the ones I'm in. Those were mostly taken by family members. I can always take more of the Bear if you guys ever need any promotional content." He replies, "Thanks, I might just take you up on it. Your bed is comfy by the way. I uh... I didn't know how comfortable you were with me sleeping there so I waited for you." You sit on your bed and pat the space next to you. He walks over and gently sits next to you. You say, "See, that's not so bad. And, I don't care that we're going to share this bed. I feel safe around you and I trust you. It's all good." He asks, "Why do you always compliment me? I mean, everyone at work hates me during work hours because of how much I scream and the standards I hold people to. But you... you just see the light in me." He looks so broken. It's truly sad he doesn't see what you see. You put your hand on his shoulder gently and say, "Because of what I see in you, Carmy. I see someone so kind and safe and trusting and hard-working. Yes you can scream, but we all can and that's the way of the kitchen. You do apologize when you're in the wrong and that's what counts. The standards you set are the reason that the Bear has such delicious food and has a steady influx of customers. You wanted this place to be successful and you had a dream. People just need to see what you see and once they know the standard, it's golden. So yes, I will compliment you when I want to." He puts his hand on the one on his shoulder and says, "You're so perfect... listen, I heard you all talking in the living room. If everyone thinks we're already dating, why don't we give it a try?" You answer, "Sure, when we're both free next, we can go on a date." He asks, "What would you say if I took off tomorrow and we just spent it together?" You ask, "You are going to take off tomorrow. I don't believe that for one second." He smirks and replies, "Richard and Sydney can handle it. I have a date I need to go on." You smile and say, “If you take off, I will gladly go on a date with you tomorrow. And if you don’t take off work tomorrow, I’m free after 5 every night this week and I’m off on Sundays every week.” He replies, “I’ll call Richard right now. Here we go. I’ll even put him on speaker phone so he behaves.”

You laugh.

**** Start of conversation Richard - Is something wrong, Carmy? You never call me this late. Carmy - Everything is fine. Look, I’m with Y/N right now. Richard - Define with. Are you dating her now? Why are you at her house late? Did you get laid? Give me more. Y/N - Chill, Richard. Richard - Oh hi … wow Carmy wasn’t lying that you were there. Carmy - I’m at her place, moron. Now listen, I’m taking off work tomorrow all day so I can go on a date with Y/N and spend the day with her. Richard - Holy shit you’re not coming to work! Y/N really has changed you. This is blowing my mind right now. I should’ve bought a lotto ticket tonight. Damn it. Carmy - Cousin, shut up. Tell me, can you handle tomorrow? Richard - Yes I can. The staff and I can. I know how everything runs and I will call you after closing to tell you how it goes to make you happy. Although you will probably be getting laid, so you’ll already be happy. Y/N - Please shut up. Carmy - Yeah Cousin, there is a lady present. Bye and thank you. Richard - Use protection kids. End of conversation ****

After hanging up the phone, you ask, “How does it feel? You’re going to get to sleep in and you’re going on a date tomorrow.” Carmy answers, “Honestly, I’m excited. This might be the best day of this year for me.” You laugh and lean your head on his shoulder. He cuddles close to you and says, “I wasn’t really nervous about sharing a bed with you … I was nervous about telling you my feelings and then you rejecting me or just wanting to be friends. I've been overthinking how I should tell you my feelings and when. Richard has also been pushing me about it and I knew deep down that he was right.” I laugh and say, "Don't let him hear you say that. I do have to get up to make breakfast for Sydney and Marcus in the morning, but I will go back to bed after." He says, "Wait one second, I'll be right back." He slides out from under me and walks out my room. OK?? What??

Carmy returns looking confused and weirded out. I ask, "Where did you go? You have a weird face right now." He gets in bed, opens his arms for me, and says, "They were just drunk and were happy that I asked you out. I forget how honest people are when they are drunk. It was weird. I just went to ask them if it was okay that you didn't make them breakfast because I wanted you to have sleep and to sleep in with me. I hope that's okay. I just heard you talk with Richard about how you don't want to overwork yourself and I want you to have rest for the week." I kiss him on the cheek and say, "You're so sweet. I'm not mad. I'm very glad you were looking out for me."

PART TWO

[chaotic-super]

The Vampire Woman - Chapter 26

AO3 Link

As it turns out, sharing privileged information about vampires is a dangerous affair.

None of them could have expected this, not when they’re in Lena’s apartment, one of the safest places on the planet, and none of them know how someone has managed to get to them.

As soon as Sam had opened her mouth to start answering some of Kara’s questions after she had woken up, something hit them. Lena, Sam and Kara keel over, their hands clutching their ears in an attempt to block out the agonizing noise attacking them.

Kara drops to her knees, the least experienced with her advanced hearing, thus unable to try and cut off the incessant high-pitched ringing that is assaulting her from seemingly every angle.

Soon enough, the noise turns to words, or rather, one word.

“Hush.”

The way one single word can make a vampire’s already cold blood turn to ice is horrifying, terrifying, and everything in between.

Lena and Sam’s eyes lock onto each other as the noise stops, freeing them from the prison of pain they’ve found themselves unexpectantly trapped in. For the most part, Kara is just trying to catch her breath, stunned by what just happened and barely holding herself together as the fear catches up with her, her brain processing that she was just in a considerable amount of pain, and now she’s not.

“What the fuck?” Sam had just about curled over out of the chair she was sitting in when it happened, and now, she leans back, making a conscious effort to rid herself of the tension that wound up around every muscle in her body.

Seeing Sam compose herself and ease the strain out of her stiff shoulders, neck and spine, Lena follows suit. With the tightness there, she almost wonders if she got rigor mortis a few centuries too late.

“We need to move somewhere else, somewhere safer.” Lena pants out, barely catching her breath.

“Like where?”

“I’m not going to say, clearly, we’re being listened to,” Lena says, not bothering to lower her voice. It won’t do any of them any good.

Kara is still on her knees, her eyes firmly fixed on the carpet, her mind reeling. Her panic, anxiety and fear are scuttling around under her skin like a thousand tiny bugs burrowed away inside her. It makes her itch but she can’t seem to make herself move; she doesn’t have the energy after that.

Alex rushes to her side. She and Ruby were giving the three of them some space by sitting in the kitchen while the vampires and hybrid have their discussion, but upon hearing the pained gasps and grunts, they gave up on their stations in favour of making a beeline for their loved ones.

Dropping down before her sister, Alex’s hands brace along Kara’s jaw, cradling her head in her soft, worried embrace. “Kara? Kara, are you ok?”

Kara nods weakly against her palms, very obviously not ok.

“We can’t go anywhere yet, it’s too light out. What do we do?” Sam asks, her eyes darting between Lena and Ruby. “If it’s not safe here, I don’t want Ruby here. Maybe you can get Frank or Jess to come and get her so we can send her somewhere she’ll be better protected.”

“Sam, nothing is going to happen to her. We all know that a hundred vampires could break in here right now and nothing could come remotely close to hurting her because we would rip them to shreds if we had to. Besides, for us to be heard, that means another vampire knows where we are, and they must be strong. However, no vampire can walk in the light of day unscathed.”

Sam shakes her head before pointing at Kara, raising an eyebrow at Lena.

“No, a hybrid wouldn’t have enough power to hear us from the ground, and there’s no way they’re inside the building; the security is too tight. I built this place, and I have safeguards in place to prevent outside ears from listening in. I have no idea how they got around it, but I need to figure out how they did it so I can stop it from happening again.

Alex manages to shuffle Kara up and get her on the couch. It’s clear she’s not doing well, and while she’s doing her best to remain stony-faced, unshed tears are making her eyes glisten and her clenched jaw gives away just how disturbed she is by what just happened.

Her breathing is ragged; Lena can hear it clear as day, and her hands are clenched into fists atop her knees. Lena reaches out to unclasp it, hoping to relax her somewhat, but she tears herself away, stretching her back out until it clicks and shrinking in on herself.

“Kara?” Alex tries again, and seeing the way Kara winces at the sound of her sister’s voice, Lena realizes what’s happening.

“She’s overwhelmed. I fear the audio attack we’ve just faced may have momentarily tipped her over the edge. There are headphones on the nightstand in my room. They’re noise cancelling and should help her regain her senses once again, would you mind fetching them for her?”

Lena barely gets her question out before Alex is on her way to get them. She’s grateful to be given a task, something to do to make her feel useful because, quite frankly, she hasn’t got a fucking clue what just happened. All she knows is that they’re being listened to and that means she has to be careful with what she’s saying. Given that she doesn’t know what is classified as dangerous, she’s opting to say as little as possible.

She grabs the headphones and rushes back to the living room to fit them over Kara’s head, ignoring the blonde’s hands as she reaches out to take them from her. Once they’re firmly in place, she tucks a few stray curls out of her face and sits beside her, her brow furrowed in worry.

“I don’t have a clue what is going on but I need answers as to what just happened and I need to know that you’ve got a plan.” She stares into Lena’s eyes for a brief moment before moving over to lock eyes on the chestnut brown ones of the other vampire, who has her daughter tucked beneath her arm protectively, the younger girl’s head resting against her arm.

“You’ll have to let me figure that one out for myself before I can answer that, Alex.” Lena huffs, annoyed that she’s out of the loop. If there’s one thing she hates more than being threatened by a mysterious voice that is paired with the audio equivalent of being stabbed in the ears repeatedly, it’s not knowing something. Lena has to figure this out.

-

Lena’s senses are going crazy as she ushers everyone into the back of Frank’s car, and she has no doubt that Sam is just as on edge as she is.

They have been waiting all day for the chance to leave, waiting for the sun to go down just enough for them to get out of the apartment and get to L-Corp. At least there, they’ll know they’re safe. The only problem with that is their relative certainty that the person who sent them that message is a vampire too, a strong one at that. That means they could show up at any time, and all they can do is cross their fingers and hope they can get to L-Corp without meeting them.

“Frank, don’t dawdle. Take the fastest route and be on guard. If you see anything suspicious, you must let us know.”

“Of course, Ms Luthor.” Frank drones, his foot hitting the gas pedal before they’ve even had a chance to put their seatbelts on.

A horn sounds from behind them as they cut off some poor soul who’s probably on their way home from work. Kara flinches at the sound, and Lena pulls her into her side more firmly before making sure the cups of the headphones are over her ears properly. “Keep them on. You’ll be on edge for a while so it’s best to leave them on until we at least get where we’re going.”

Kara presses herself into Lena’s side more firmly, taking comfort in the tight grip she has around her shoulders. It’s steadying and makes her feel like nothing can touch her. Her right hand reaches over to grab Alex’s, who looks just about ready to jump into Sam’s lap with how wide her eyes are, constantly searching for the threat they can’t see. The only reason she hasn’t already done it is because Ruby is huddled so tightly to Sam already, Kara’s certain.

Frank makes the judgment call not to take the fastest route but the most populated, figuring that if someone or something is after them, then it’s best he uses the public as their safety blanket. No vampire wants to be exposed to the world, and no vampire is going to risk attacking them on Main Street, he’s pretty sure of that. Not unless the vampire is dumb or overly cocky anyway.

Lena takes note of Frank’s choice but doesn’t say anything. She understands why he did it, but she would still prefer it if he followed her instructions. Fighting over it now isn’t going to help anyone though. It’s already tough keeping everything moving smoothly when they’re all on edge. If she makes a fuss about it, that will scare everyone even more.

Closing her eyes, Lena listens out for any sound that could be coming from someone who wants to hurt them, her ears working overtime to try and find footsteps that aren’t matched by a heartbeat or the telltale sound of some supervillain cackling malevolently in some dark, abandoned building.

Frank pulls up around the side of L-Corp, bringing them to the same side door that Kara was first brought through by him long ago when Lena had him bring her to her. This time, nobody needs to get threatened by a gun to go inside, although Kara wishes she had one stuffed in the waistband of her pants so she could whip it out like she’s in an action movie and get her revenge on Frank.

They all scuttle through the door, their heads swivelling as they duck inside, trying their best to spot anyone down the alley.

The door clangs shut behind them, but none of them lose any tension from their shoulders. None of them release the breath they’re holding. Something doesn’t feel right.

“Everyone get down to the lab,” Lena demands, her ears straining to find anyone who isn’t meant to be here and coming up empty. Diving for her phone, she calls up the new head of security, someone she hired after Vasquez was murdered. She’s not sure if she likes her just yet but doesn’t get any negative feelings from her. “Ms Lane, I want a full head count and a list of everyone in the building please. Anyone who isn’t security is to be taken to the second-floor conference room. Once I’ve reviewed the list and checked on the staff, I’ll decide on further steps.”

“Of course, Ms Luthor. Is there anything you’d like me to prepare for?”

“Just be ready. We might have to move fast.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Lena shuts the lab door behind them firmly before heading straight for the safe room. “I know it’s not your favourite place in the world, but please just go in here for now. I’m not sure what’s happening, but I’ll be able to handle it better knowing you’re safe.” She swings the door open and gestures inside.

Ruby is the first to pass through the door after a not-so-gentle nudge from her mom and Alex is right behind her, quickly followed by Frank.

“You too,” Lena says softly, squeezing Kara’s hand. “You’ll be more protected from an audio attack in there, and I’ll feel better knowing there’s someone powerful in there to protect Ruby. I know Sam will too.”

“I will,” Sam confirms.

“Is Jess still here?” Kara asks, backing into the room. “Are you going to bring her down here?”

Lena’s eyes widen. “Oh shit. Sam, can you go and get her? I imagine she’s either already been rounded into the conference room or at her desk.”

Sam takes a second to enter the safe room, duck down to press a kiss to her daughter’s forehead, and then whisper a gentle reassurance to her before she darts off up the stairs, much quicker than the humans in the room were expecting, all of them left shell shocked by the causal display of power.

Kara moves into the room and waits just inside the door. “She should be back in just a moment, right? No point in shutting the door until Jess is here.”

Lena nods but looks around nervously. “I guess so, but it’d still make me feel better.”

“We all saw how quickly Sam just ran off, she’ll be back in no time.”

“They’ll be longer than you think. The day Jess lets anyone make her move that quick is the day a janitor is mopping up her puke from every step in the stairwell. It’ll be like a breadcrumb trail, except it’s just the regurgitated sub she had for lunch.”

Kara pinches the bridge of her nose between her fingers, wincing as she tries not to picture that. “Yep, thanks for that.”

“You’re welcome,” Lena smiles playfully, although it doesn’t feel completely genuine, the unease in her eyes overtaking the brief moment of joy.

“It’ll be ok.” Kara tries reassuring her but knows her thunderous heart is giving her away. She almost died the last time they were in a situation like this. Now someone else is threatening them, and she’s got to somehow not freak out.

Sam comes barging down the stairs at full speed, practically throwing Jess into the saferoom before barging Lena into there too before she slams the door shut behind them, locking them all in.

“What are you doing?” Lena exclaims.

“Shut up.” Sam commands, barely glancing back at the group, which now includes a very green-looking Jess. “They’re here.”

“What?” Lena whispers, almost inaudibly.

Not a moment later, a long, deep scratch can be heard from the other side of the door, trailing across it with a noise that makes them all raise their shoulders up in an attempt to protect their ears.

Alex notices Ruby quivering against the back wall and tucks her arm around the girl, noting how she immediately clutches her arms around her waist and buries her head into her chest.

Jess takes the other side of Ruby, joining in on the impromptu hug, a familiar figure for her to draw comfort from.

Frank just huddles in the corner, his necklace pulled out from under his shirt, the little cross held tightly between his clenched hands as he mouths the words to a prayer that won’t protect him.

“I hear you.” A dark voice sing-songs from outside. “I can hear your fear.”

Lena turns to everyone, a finger pressed to her lips to warn everyone to be quiet.

“If you think this adorable little room will protect you, you’re wrong. I know who you’re hiding in there. I know what you’re hiding in there. A beat. “Hybrid.”

Kara’s eyes are so wide she’s confident they might just roll right out of her head. Her hands clutch at the headphones, and to stop herself from accidentally breaking them, she shoves them back onto her head, regretting ever taking them off when they got down here.

Lena holds her hands out to her, holding her palms out flat to reassure her that everything is fine. She’s not going to let anyone hurt her.

“Give me the creature and I’ll leave. Nobody has to get hurt here.”

A snarl rips itself free from Lena’s throat, her protective side coming out in spades as she thinks about what someone could possibly do to Kara. Obviously, whatever she is planning isn’t good. Nobody who has good intentions with someone calls them a ‘creature.’

“Ah, so someone in there has a pair of balls. I like that, and I’d recognize that sound anywhere. You made that sound back when we first met too. So feisty, Ms Luthor.” A sinister laugh travels through the door, muffled by the metal but no less terrifying. “Or should I say, Lenetta Kieran? I bet you don’t even remember; you low-levels never do.”

Lena’s lip curls dangerously. She knows that was her name. Her first name. It’s changed many times across the centuries, often whenever she moved from city to city, or even across the minimal number of countries she’s been to, but that’s one she’ll never forget.

Only one person she met during that time was a vampire too. One person who definitely shouldn’t be here. Someone that she was sure died so long ago. Someone who paid the ultimate price for their crimes but apparently managed to duck beneath Death’s scythe.

“You know me, don’t you, Lena?” The voice taunts, and all of a sudden, Lena is back in her chambers in England. She’s human again, her last moments of being a normal person. The final moment before her life is robbed of her.

Lena’s hand moves without her consent, reaching forward to open the door.

Sam grabs her wrist, fighting against her, shocked by the amount of strength Lena is using to reach forward. “Don’t you fucking dare.”

“Open the door for me, Lena. You know you want to.”

Kara wraps her arms around Lena from behind, trapping her arms at her side as much as she can, knowing full well that this isn’t a fight she can win. Lena has to resist for them to win this battle.

Sam clings to her wrist, a flame burning deep inside her. She won’t let her do this, not when Ruby’s safety depends on it.

“Don’t make me stop you, Lena.”

“Lena, open the door.”

Lena feels as though something has nestled deep into her brain, changing the wiring and drawing her closer to the person on the other side of the door, pulling her like they’re magnets attracting. She has the desire to resist it but also feels like her wants are not her own. A part of her wants nothing more than to open the door while her logical brain screams at her that it’s a trap.

“Lena, don’t,” Kara mutters in her ear, her arms pressing deep into her stomach as she pulls back on her. Her warmth is steadying against her back and helps guide Lena through the fog.

“I won’t,” Lena says, her tone lacking its usual bite. “You might as well go, you can’t hurt us in here and we’re not handing anyone over to you.”

A cackling laugh travels through the thick metal of the door. “Interesting. You’re stronger than I imagined you to be. Nowhere near strong enough, but you’ve got a little bit of bite to your bark. I like that.”

“Just go!”

“I can’t do that. Give me the hybrid and I won’t harm the humans you’re hiding. That’s the deal. I can smell them. I can smell you all. You have three…no, four. There are four humans in there, two vampires and the hybrid. One in seven isn’t a bad loss. Hand it over.”

Kara bites her lip and winces as nails once again scratch against the door, causing an obvious amount of damage. The door won’t hold forever. Lena made this one of the safest places on the planet, yet here they are, sitting piglets as the big bad wolf slowly taunts them as she blows their house down. “Maybe I should just—”

“Absolutely not.” Lena cuts her off, turning around in her arms and taking her muscled arms in her hands, holding her tightly as though she’s about to open the door after begging her not to do it just moments before. “You’re not doing that. We’re fine, we’re safe in here.”

“Not forever.” The voice singsongs. “How long do you think it’ll take for me to get through this door? A few minutes? An hour? A day? I can wait you out. I have nothing but time.”

“Are you a vampire?” Lena asks, unsure if she actually wants to know the answer, but in a much better state of mind than she was before, clearly the woman has stopped controlling her for now.

“You could say that.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Telling me.” Lena smiles through the darkness, pulling out her phone and tapping the screen with her fingers faster than the flap of a hummingbird's wings. She then shoves it back in her pocket and presses Kara’s headphones against her ears more firmly. “Sam, Kara, this is going to hurt. I’m so sorry.”

The loudest, most ear-piercing ringing booms through the entire building, ten times worse than the audio attack they suffered at the hands of the mysterious woman and strong enough that it knocks not only the vampires to the floor but also causes the humans to cover their ears. It’s not enough to hurt them, but it’s not comfortable.

They hear a piercing scream on the other side of the door, demonic sounding undertones to it reaching forth and battering the lab. They hear the faint smashing sound as beakers and test tubes shatter from the mixture of the scream and Lena’s defence system.

It pauses, and all goes silent.

They relax against the floor, loosening their stiff limbs from their foetal positions. Lena swallows harshly. “It’ll just keep going. The system will take short breaks every so often. It’s random too. It gives anyone affected a chance to leave. I’ll leave it on for as long as necessary. We can endure longer than you. We’re more protected in here than you are out there. We have the upper hand. Get out while you can.”

“No!”

The noise starts up again, and Kara cries out in anguish, the least able to deal with it out of all of them. Lena knows that, at least she does when she’s not also being assaulted by the noise. She just hopes that the woman doesn’t call their bluff. If she does, they really are screwed.

They tighten back up into their foetal positions, their hands covering their ears, and their eyes slam shut.

Another scream from outside the door.

Silence.

“We can do this all day if we have to. We’re not opening the door.” Lena pants. “Give it up.”

Silence.

“You can’t win.”

Silence.

“Why do you want her so badly that you are willing to endure this pain?”

“I’m not. I’ll be back, don’t worry. I’ll find you again, not that it will be difficult; your name’s on the building.”

The door slams.

Silence.

The screeching starts up again, and as much as Lena wants to text security and have them shut off the noise, she can’t make herself move at all through the assault. They have to wait for the next break in the noise.

It does come eventually, but it feels like it takes an eternity. As soon as it stops, Lena dives for her phone and submits the order. It’s over for now. If she’s really gone, that is.

They all unravel from their positions, slowly sitting up.

“Is everyone alright?” Sam asks, her eyes pinned on her daughter. “Ruby?”

“I’m ok, mom. Is she gone?”

Sam turns her ear to the door, listening for the woman.

Silence.

“She’s gone.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asks, her eyebrows furrowed and fear written across every inch of her face.

Lena wraps her arms around Kara’s shaking body. “We’re certain. I think you should stay here while Sam and I go out there and secure the building properly. We’ll come and get you once we’re sure that’s done.”

Nobody puts up a fight. Nobody wants to leave their little sanctuary, fear still coursing through their veins and taking over them.

-

Kara is still shaking over an hour later and it has everyone worried about her. She’s sure it’s just adrenaline, but Lena and Alex have forced her to lie down on a gurney—a new one. Lillian really did a number on the last one when she escaped from being bound to it.

“I’m ok.”

“I’m sure you are, but you’ve been through a lot today, and you were practically tortured by not only her but also my defence system. We believe we only got one over on her today because a person like that doesn’t think that people below them can have similar ideas to them. I installed the frequency emitters after the Lillian thing. I wanted to be sure that I have something to rid the building of vampires should the need arise.”

“Smart.” Kara shifts, moving to take the headphones off.

Lena gently bats her hands away, keeping them in place and instead connecting them up to her phone and offering it to her so she can play some music instead. “Find something relaxing, maybe try to rest for a while. Even if you can’t sleep, you should just try to relax your body and close your eyes.”

“What about you?”

“I have work to do.”

“You should at least take half an hour to yourself, maybe sit down and try meditating or something. You can’t think if your head is everywhere at once.”

Lena leans down and presses her lips to Kara’s forehead softly. “I’ll be fine. I’ll rest once my work is done.”

Kara sighs. She already knows she’s not winning this one right now, so she turns her head until she spots Jess. “Hey! Can you make sure she rests soon, Jess?”

“You got it.” Jess gives her a thumbs up, pausing her sweeping to do so before going right back to cleaning up the broken glass.

“Thanks,” Kara calls out as she settles back down, turning on some soft music and trying not to think about how there are six people milling about the room around her.

Lena shakes her head at her softly, amused but also slightly annoyed by her actions. This woman is something else. Even after suffering through something that is definitely traumatic, she’s still trying to make sure she’s looked after too. If she could blush, she would be beet red.

“She’s not so bad,” Frank admits from his place on a random stool near to where Lena is standing.

“She’s not bad at all, and I’m just happy she didn’t try to have you kicked out of the room before she settled down.”

Frank hums softly. “She doesn’t like me very much.”

“That’s the understatement of the century.”

“I stand by what I did.”

“I know you do, but you cannot deny that what you did traumatized her deeply, just as my actions did the same to her. Our relationship has flourished since then, but it has not come without its trials and tribulations, of which I’m certain are not completely finished.”

Frank nods slowly. “I know what I did. I know what harm I caused. I know it’s not rational that I dislike her for not wanting to help you that day; she had every right and reason to refuse, but I care about you. I’ve been your driver for years, and you’re like family to me.”

Lena looks down, forcing herself to hide the tiny smile the old man just forced onto her face. “You’re like my family too. I just…can you try and get along with her? She’s lost a lot because of me and having you guys at odds just adds unease into her life that she shouldn’t have to deal with.”

“As you wish.” Frank nods. “I’ll be nice to her.”

“Thank you, that’s all I ask.” Lena squeezes his arm gently. “Now, why don’t you go and get Jess to find you somewhere to lie down too? You can call your family and let them know you’ll be home late and try to relax. At your age, you have to take it easy after something like what happened today.”

“Cheeky madam. I’ll be fine, but I suppose I should let Mandy know.” Frank grins at her before standing up and shuffling over to Jess, who eases the broom down before leading him upstairs so he can rest and call his wife.

She moves to her station where she was working on the synthetic blood, eager to see if any of her experiments she was working on have garnered any results, but her cold, unbeating heart shatters as she takes in the sight of it all strewn across the station and ground broken, her notes ripped to shreds. Whoever that woman was, she doesn’t want her to be working on this, and if she could tell what the experiment was just from her notes and the experiments, then she’s smart. Smarter than Lena would like her to be.

“Shit.”

“What’s wrong?” Sam and Alex both wander over to come and look over her shoulder.

“Oh crap,” Alex mutters. “Is that the artificial blood experiments?”

“Yep, I guess this means I’ve got to start all them over again. Fuck. At least I remember what was in the notes, so I don’t have to start completely from scratch.”

Sam squeezes her shoulder reassuringly. “I’m sorry, Lena.”

“Me too, but it’s not the end of the world.” She ducks her head. “I’d rather it just be this than any of you.”

Sam nods. “Me too. Need a hand cleaning up?”

“No, I’m good. Why don’t you and Ruby go and hang out in my office? Ruby can nap there if she wants to. I’ve got this covered.”

“Translation: you want us to scarper so you can try and make sense of everything that happened.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “Yes, that. Now scram.”

“You’ve got it.” Sam turns on her heel and eases Ruby up from where she’s sitting to take her upstairs and away from here.

“Oh, and Sam?”

“Yeah?”

“There’s another safe room in my office; use it if you have to.”

Sam nods at her one last time with a reassuring smile before the mother-daughter duo leave the lab, leaving only Lena, Alex and Kara.

Alex finds a box of gloves nearby, washes her hands and snaps a pair on before helping Lena clear up the mess left all over the place.

“You don’t have to.”

Alex shrugs, not stopping for even a second. “I know, I want to. You protected us today and this is what I can do to thank you. I don’t know what that woman wants with my sister, but I know you’re not going to let her do anything either, not to Kara.”

Lena’s lips quirk up. “That’s true. I won’t let anyone hurt Kara. However, I do have to figure out who that woman is. She had a hold on me that I’ve never felt before, and I need to know exactly how and why she was able to do it.”

“That sounds smart.”

“It means I won’t be able to work on my artificial blood project though. I can’t do both, but I need to.” Lena sighs. “If I don’t work on the blood, the supply will run low again.  I can’t risk becoming as starving as I was when I met Kara. If I work on that and put the research into this woman on the backburner then I’m opening us up to an attack. What do I do?”

“You’re a billionaire, right?”

Lena frowns, pausing to look over at Alex in confusion. “Yes, why?”

“Just pay someone to do it.” She shrugs. “You have a load of scientists in this building during the day. Just get a few to work on the blood.”

“But I can’t let anyone know I’m a vampire. That’s the problem.” Lena shakes her head.

“Do you really think only vampires need blood?” Alex laughs, amused. “The hospital is always in need of donations. Believe me, I would know.”

Lena’s eyes grow wide. “Oh, shit. I forgot you’re a doctor. How are you having so much time off?”

“They’ve been trying to get me to take my vacation time for years. So has Kara for that matter.”

“Sounds like something Kara would do,” Lena admits.

“Yeah, but as much as I like resting. I love the feeling of helping people and saving lives. Sometimes, I like to work with patients, and sometimes I do lab testing. I love it.”

Just like that, a metaphorical lightbulb shines brightly over Lena’s head. “Lab work, you say?”

“Lab testing. It’s different.”

“But you’re familiar with bloodwork?”

“No. Nope. Not going to happen. No.” Alex shakes her head. “I like my work at the hospital.”

“And you can still do that, I will just have you come here and also be part of the team working on this.”

Alex sighs. “How big would the team be?”

“Two?”

Alex’s eyebrows raise so high they almost merge with her hairline. “Are you nuts? Only two people?”

“Me and you.”

“Definitely not. The hospital needs the extra help with the testing, so I won’t stop doing that.”

“I’ll start up an initiative to train and send some more people their way then. That means you’ll have time to come over and help.”

Alex shakes her head at Lena. “Why do you want me so bad?”

Lena ducks her head, shuffling her feet against some broken glass. “Surprisingly, I trust you and know I can speak openly around you. I don’t have that a lot of the time and I’ve never had the opportunity to work with anyone in the lab on something so personal. I’d like to know how it feels to work with a friend.”

“We’re friends?”

Lena clears her throat. “Not to make it weird or anything. I just…you’re my girlfriend’s sister, but I also kind of like you. You’re not bad for a human.”

Alex smirks at her, her hip propped against the nearest surface. “You’re not too bad for a vampire, I suppose. You should definitely roll out that initiative for the hospital.”

“You’ll do it?” Lena’s head snaps up. “Really?”

“I’ll think about it, but helping the hospital is a great way to inspire me to agree.”

Lena grins. “I look forward to working with you.”

“Yeah, yeah. Hurry up and clean, then we can get some of these experiments going again and you can rewrite those notes.”

Lena lifts a few of the ripped sheets of paper and tries to jigsaw them together. “Do you think that if we get some tape—”

“Rewrite them.” Alex cuts her off. “You’re going to be a pain to work with. I can see it now.”

Lena smiles up at her smugly. “Yep, but you can’t back out now.”

“Of course I can.” Alex disagrees.

“Nope, because I’m going to tell Kara you said yes, and you can’t say no to Kara. That would be like kicking a puppy.”

“You wouldn’t dare.” Alex glares at her.

“Probably not, but it’s a good threat.”

Alex’s shoulders slump. She hates that she actually kind of likes Lena now. She still gets the odd spark of rage when she thinks about Lena back when she first met Kara and the harm she caused her, but seeing the pair so lovey-dovey and the way Kara grins when Lena’s around has done wonders for making her come around to the vampire woman.

“I hate you.”

“I know.”

They silently keep cleaning, Lena getting tired part way through and using her speed to run through the rest of the lab quickly.

Alex shakes her head at her, but it doesn’t last as her eyes focus on her sleeping sister. “Promise me you’ll focus on that woman. I’ll handle the blood; you just keep her safe.”

“I’ll do my best. I promise.”

“Thank you. That’s all I needed to hear.”

“Just for the record though, I’m not leaving the blood just to you. I trust you, but not enough for you to do it alone.” Lena bumps her shoulder into Alex’s, almost sending the redhead flying.

“Asshole.”

Read the next chapter early on Patreon here!

[fandom-go-round]

To Be a Songbird: Part Three

Summary: Arranged marriages are wonderful when they work and disastrous when they don’t. The funny part? You never thought that you’d be in this situation. You had always wanted to marry your betrothed and now you’re single. What a joy.

Vil x Reader x Leona

Part One , Part Two , Part Three (Here!), Part Four (Coming Soon)

Hello everyone! Forgive me for being late on part three. This part is mostly focused on some world building and future plot. This story is going to be a lot bigger than the original four parts. Not a huge surprise there lol. I hope you enjoy and let me know if you have any questions!

Warnings: Arranged Marriage, Insecure Thoughts (Reader), Political Drama, Relationship Breakup, Implied One Sided Affection

            You let out a sigh of relief as you walked into the castle, tension bleeding out of your shoulders. You had a surprising amount of fun in Sunset Savanna but the late summer heat was killer. Leona had been relentless about mocking how easily you got exhausted and you threatened to knock him into a snow pile.

            The ride home was long but fairly easily, sticking to main roads and trails. You would get scolded later for not bringing a carriage but it was too much hassle in the mountains. Your mother had responded well to King Falena’s letter, sending you a private letter as well. She was worried about you jumping into things but wasn’t going to stop you. That was another conversation you would have to have.

            The servants in the foyer greeted you warmly and you responded in kind, making your way deeper into the castle. You would have to go find your knights later but all you wanted to do right now was eat, bathe and go to sleep. A loud ‘whoop!’ made you pause on your way to the kitchens and you turned towards your brother’s wing.

            Charlie was your younger by two years and the perfect example of a modern guy. He loved gaming and everything online, happily buying new and old systems alike. He was smart when it came to numbers but people were always a struggle. You were thankful that he had some good friends, even if politics were difficult for him.

            “Are you sure you’re not a noob?” Your brother’s voice was teasing and you poking your head into the gaming room, smiling to yourself. Charlie’s head of platinum blonde was easy to spot and so were the bright blue flames. Idia turned to Charlie with a smirk, sharp teeth on display.

            “Oh ho! Got some fighting words now huh? You got lucky last round, see how a master does it.” Charlie laughed off the taunt, sitting up more in his beanbag chair.

            “You were going easy on me? Could have sworn I saw you sweating.” Idia scoffed and they continued their banter, loading up another screen. It looked like a fighting game but you didn’t know more than that. You enjoyed playing sometimes but nothing like that.

            “Welcome home!” Ortho’s voice startled both the boys into turning towards the door. The youngest floated over, lights happily flashing. “Charles informed us that you would be coming home soon but you are 2.5 days early!”

            “Thank you Ortho, I’m happy to be home.” You gave Ortho a smile and waved at the boys. “Hey you two, I’m back.”

            “Welcome back!” Charlie was happy to see you and Idia looked a little embarrassed but waved back. Idia and Ortho were like siblings you never had; you weren’t as close to them as Charlie but you had an obvious soft spot.

            “I hope you two are behaving.” You teased and they both smirked, sharing a look.

            “Something like that.” Idia snickered and you laughed.

            “I can’t ask for anything more. I’ll leave you to it then.” You gave one last wave and turned to go, Ortho speaking up.

            “Oh! Congratulations on your new engagement!” The gamers froze, two pairs of wide eyes staring at you.

            “E-E-Engaged!?” Charlie’s voice echoed off the walls and Idia looked stunned.

            “Ortho went right for the crit, ouch…” Idia’s comment got glossed over but you heard it, giving Charlie a confused look.

            “I thought mom told you?” Charlie shook his head so fast at your question you were sure it was going to fall off.

            “No! Engaged to who!?” Ortho answered his question before you could, hands clapped together happily.

            “Leona Kingscholar! They just entered the courtship phase so it’s still very early.”

            “How do you know all that?” Charlie asked while Idia made gagging sounds in the back, nose wrinkled up.

            “Kingscholar? Talk about a major jock. No thank you, 0 out of 10.” You gave an exaggerated sigh, giving them all a deadpan look.

            “Thanks so much for your support guys, really appreciate it.” Your brother frowned, putting the controller down and walking over. Idia and Ortho shared a look but said anything.

            “Are you sure that’s what you want to do? Doesn’t it seem a little soon?” You frowned, reminding yourself that your brother cared and was asking from a place of concern.

            “It’s been 6 months.” Was how you responded and Charlie wasn’t having any of it.

            “And you were engaged since you were five. I thought you didn’t like Leona?” You sighed at the question, pulling one of the chairs out so you could sit. The boys moved to sit around you, Idia pretending like he didn’t care but listening intently.

            “Leona can be full of himself, sure. But he’s smart and proposed the fairest terms that I’ve ever seen.” You gave a snort, shaking your head. “I don’t know if it’ll go all the way to marriage, mostly I think he wants to get out of Sunset Savana and away from his brother.”

            “I don’t blame him, the king is a total prep.” Idia chimed in, giving a nod. “Who wants to be by all that positivity all day? Hard pass.”

            “We still have to figure out courtship rules and all that so I don’t expect anything to change quickly. This was just the initial contact and paperwork.” Charlie frowned but gave a slow nod.

            “What’s Vil going to say?” Your heart clenched at your brother’s question and you shrugged, trying to play is off but failing.

            “Hopefully nothing. There aren’t lingering terms about him being able to deny me courting and I’ve waited the ‘correct’ amount of time.” You let out a bitter laugh, a sneer coming onto your face. “Besides, he hasn’t talked to me since everything was finalized.”

            The room feel into an uneasy silence, the boys looking at each other but not knowing that to say. None of them were engaged and politics were outside their wheelhouses. Finally, Idia opened his mouth but a knock on the door stopped him. All of you stood as your mom walked into the room, everything giving a bow.

            “There you are dear, I was looking for you.” Your mom gave everyone a smile and you smiled back, giving her a hug as you walked over. “Welcome home.”

            “Thank you.” You ignored her advisor, James, standing in the hallway. His face was completely void of emotion but you were sure that he’d be cornering you later for a lecture. “How are you? How has everything been?”

            “Everything has been fine, nothing to report.” She waved off your questions, tucking your arm into hers and tugging you towards the door. The boys snickered as she began to drag you off and you gave them a wave as you followed after her. “I want to talk to you about your letter.”

            “I’m very popular today.” You gave a mock sigh and she laughed, squeezing your elbow.

            “Indeed. It’s not every day one of us gets engaged.”

            “Far too early, might I add.” James’ voice was heavy with disapproval and you sighed, glancing over your shoulder at him.

            “Not according to the betrothal terms.” James opened his mouth to speak back but your mom held up her hand, looking between you.

            “Don’t start you two, not until we have tea and snacks. I want the entire story.” Her tone was more serious than before and you knew you were speaking more to the queen than your mom. You nodded, shoulders straightening up without thinking.

            “Of course.” You mourned the missed opportunity to take a bath but at least you’d be able to eat. Hopefully the conversation wouldn’t take all night.

♥

            The conversation took all night and even into the early morning. You were done recounting everything by dinner (James kept interrupting) but then your dad returned from his town visit and wanted to hear everything. The boys came in and out of the dining room, catching snippets and offering unhelpful advice.

            The consensus, by the end, was to let the courtship move forward. You hadn’t been worried but James, as always, wanted to bend your mother’s ear. He was a firm believer that your bother should take over the throne and while you appreciated someone so dedicated in your bother’s corner, it was annoying how often he made it seem like you were trying to steal power.

            “Clearly this is a move to get the throne.” James said for the third time and you sighed, rubbing your eyes. Your parents, James and yourself had retired to your dad’s study and all you wanted to do was sleep. Arguing with James was the last thing you wanted to do and you gave him an unimpressed look.

            “I don’t desire the throne James, you know that.” He didn’t respond to your words, a deep scowl on his face.

            “Aligning yourself to another Kingdon so soon after an annulled betrothal? It’s a political move for power.”

            “Is it so hard to believe that I found the terms agreeable? And maybe, just maybe, I want to watch Vil squirm a little bit?” He scoffed at your question, giving a small shake of his head.

            “Petty revenge for Your Highness? That I can believe.” You scowled and sat up in your chair, going to say something but your mom spoke up.

            “That’s enough James.” The advisor bowed and stepped back, your mom continuing. “Everything is in alignment and I have no issue with this going forward. It will be up to you and Leona Kingscholar what this develops into, if anything.” At your nod of understanding she smiled and stood, everyone else standing with her. “Now, I believe its far past our bedtimes. We can discuss this more in the morning but I am content where things are.”

            You gave a grateful sigh and wish your parents a goodnight, James getting a head nod. He didn’t return it and you ignored him; he had been like this ever since you could remember.

           Sleep came quickly and easily and the next few days were spent getting back into the rhythm of the castle. Most of your duties were things that could be taken on the road but there were a few that were impossible. Things relating to Lantern Blossom, the largest city in the Land of Lights and the capital.

           It was refreshing to get back into your normal work, meeting with advisors and the city council. You spoke to the mayor and checking in on shipping routes, making sure everything was running smoothly. Your brother rolled his eyes and called you a workaholic and you ignored him. Thing would be busy until mid-Fall and by then the prep for winter would be done. The Land of Lights didn’t close for the winter but it got close for the northern most cities, Lantern Blossom being one.

           Privately you were wondering what was going to happen with your courtship. Leona had agreed to send letters back and forth while you worked out the details and so far he had been, surprisingly, consistent.

           The letters were fairly short and never gave too much personal detail but they were written in his looping cursive. He was trying to get permission to come visit in the winter and you were debating. You tried to tell him that he would be trapped with no where to go once the snow hit but he was insistent. That way Cheka wouldn’t be able to visit.

           It wasn’t a horrible idea. Leona would either fit in or make everyone miserable for three months. It was more trial by fire than you were initially thinking but you couldn’t shake the idea.

           Vil would visit the Land of Lights when he had to but no more than that. More often than not you were in the Shaftlands. He never said it out loud but the older you got, the more you realized that he didn’t enjoy your homeland. It wasn’t a requirement, of course, but it was hard to justify spending every waking moment out of the castle. Leona coming to visit would be a change of pace.

           And he knows it. A part of your mind chimed in and you hummed, thinking it over. So far Leona was being agreeable, almost too much so. You’re not naïve enough to think he liked you, not by a long shot. At least not yet, part of you hoped. Leona had been paying attention politically and using that to get in good standing with you. And you’d let him. For now.

           You gave a sigh, rubbing your temple as you wrote Leona back. Your parents had agreed to house him for the winter and you were going to let him know. Charlie was going to be leaving on a diplomatic visit to the Scalding Sands come mid-Fall and it worked out. One heir always had to be in country and now it was your turn to sit tight.

           You knew, privately, that the only reason Charlie was willing to go was because of the errands you would be sending him on in Briar Valley. Your brother was strangely fond of the dragon heir and you weren’t going to discourage him. A tiny part of you was jealous but you pushed it down; there were no signs things were like that between them. At least not yet.

           Letter written you decided to relax, watching the sun set on the mountains. You smiled to yourself, imaging pushing Leona into a snow pile. You’d have to see how well his fur withstood the cold. You wanted this to work out more than you thought. Closing your eyes, you hoped he would accept. Both the invitation and you.

            You snorted, giving a wry smile. What a romantic. Gross.

[dianneking]

Happy Birthday, Blondie - Larissa/Melissa

Hello hello! For the first week of Back on The Writing Horse (you can find the original post and masterlist here) I am using prompt 2553 by @promptsforthestrugglingauthor

"Are you going to just spend the day alone?"

"That's what I do most days. It doesn't make a difference to me."

Thank you to @scream-queenlover for picking that prompt out for me and making this lovely cover art to go with the fic, as well as the closing one.

Fandom: Wednesday (2022) and Abott Elementary Characters: Larissa Weems / Melissa Schemmenti Tags: Friendly banter, Dare I say it's fluff? (it's fluff), Food, Mentions of skipping meals. Words: 1497

Happy Birthday, Blondie (link to AO3)

…Kind regards

Larissa Weems, principal of Nevermore Academy.

Larissa sighed in relief after clicking the send button on the latest email. Today had been quite the whirlwind of phone calls, emails and meetings, and it was still only lunchtime, who knew what the afternoon would entail. She closed her eyes, massaging her temples to try and stave off the tension headache she was starting to feel building up. She loved her job, and she loved Nevermore, but there was just something about this sort of days that really took a lot out of her.

The door to her study chose that moment to slam open, noisily hitting the cabinet at the end of its run. “Well, if it isn’t our principal caught dozing off at work!”

There was only one person in Nevermore who had the guts to barge into Larissa’s office unannounced and insult her work ethic at the same time. Larissa refused to give her the satisfaction of opening her eyes.

“What is it, Melissa?”

“Oi! At least look at me when you sigh my name. That’s a privilege not many people have, if you usurp it, I’ll have you move back to using Miss Schemmenti.”

“And we wouldn’t want that.” Larissa deadpanned. But she did crack open her eyes. The fiery head of her coworker was almost too bright in the sunlight that streamed in from the tall windows of her office.

“For sure not today of all days!” The smug grin on Melissa’s face told Larissa that the redhead knew she had won this round. Damn it.

“And what’s so special about today?” Asked Larissa petulantly.

“Are ya kidding me, Blondie?” Melissa looked at her as if she expected some sort of trick from her. Or a smart remark. That was their thing after all. A constant banter, prodding at each other trying to find the right button to push to make the other concede a point in their match of wits.

Larissa liked that. She had been too used to people in awe of her, or too scared of her power (both the political one and the actual shapeshifting) to pose much of a challenge for her. When Melissa joined Nevermore, Larissa had at first balked at what she had perceived as blatant disrespect from the latest addition to staff. But after a while a sort of understanding had formed between the two women, a sort of mutual recognition of kindred spirits (aided by a couple of heart-to-hearts brought along by copious amounts of wine, but they didn’t talk about those too much).

Melissa must have read that she was still missing the point, because she lifted her eyes to the ceiling, as if to ask the heavens to grant her patience, and strode forward to place a cafeteria tray on Larissa’s desk. Larissa blinked at the plates: on one, a heaping portion of lasagna that looked way too good to be standard Nevermore fare, and on the second, bigger plate, a whole chocolate cake, complete with a dripping layer of decadent ganache and a wonky writing that recited: Are you a natural blonde or did you dye for attention?

Larissa tried to avoid drooling at the sight, while her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had skipped breakfast, again, this morning.

“Happy birthday, Blondie.”

Oh. Was it today? Larissa could’ve sworn today was still Thursday and her birthday wasn’t until…

…her eyes fell on the stylish calendar perched on the side of her desk.

Friday, February 16th.

Whoops.

“You can’t be serious. You had to check the calendar to be sure it was your birthday?”

“No!” Larissa lied quickly. “I just hmm…I wanted to check something, that’s all.”

“Sure, sure, whatever makes you sleep at night. Eat up, you don’t want my lasagna to get cold.”

Larissa picked up the fork. That was Melissa’s cooking. That’s why it looked – and smelled! – so absolutely divine.

“Thank you by the way, you didn’t have to.”

“Oh please. We both know that you skip more lunches than the ones you actually eat. At least on your birthday you should enjoy some good cooking.”

Larissa dipped her fork into the lasagna, inclining it sideways to slice a bite off of it and scooping it up to bring it to her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed in pure bliss as she chewed. It was an explosion of flavors and textures, perfectly balanced and delicious in every aspect. The fullness of the meat, the tangy and yet sweet tomato sauce, the sheets of pasta cooked to perfection, all enveloped by the smooth embrace of the bechamel sauce…it wasn’t just a lasagna, it was a masterpiece.

“Wow.” Was the only word that she could form before she dove back in.

She heard Melissa’s throaty chuckle, and knew without raising her eyes that there was another self-satisfied smile adorning her lips. Well, Larissa could allow her this one. The lasagna was really something else.

They sat in silence for some time while Larissa ate, Melissa having slouched in one of the armchairs in front of Larissa’s desk, as perfectly at ease as if she was in her own living room, before the redhead spoke conversationally.

“You know, I am glad I dropped by at lunch break, so I managed to remind you in time to get ready for whatever you have planned tonight. Not attending your own birthday party would be kinda lame.”

Larissa took her time swallowing the bite before she replied.

“Oh, that’s kind of you, but I don’t have anything planned for tonight. Just a quiet evening in, you know?” Actually, the more this conversation went on, the more Larissa was looking forward to curling up on her couch with a bottle of wine and some good music. Maybe read a bit, too? She almost didn’t remember the plot to the novel she was reading, so long it had been since she last had time to open it. Was that lame? She had just turned 46, she was allowed to wallow a bit and not go out and celebrate if she didn’t feel like it. Right?

“Oh come on. You’re not gonna spend your birthday evening here in your office, are you?”

“Why not? It’s a very nice study, I spent years decorating it just like I want to.”

“Yeah of course. I mean what’s a better birthday companion than a stuffed raven, after all? But seriously, Larissa,” Melissa’s tone turned serious, and the fact that she used her first name instead of a ridiculous nickname signaled that this was not a question Larissa could brush off flippantly, “are you really going to just spend the day alone?"

"That's what I do most days. It doesn't make a difference to me." Larissa shrugged, cleaning the last bit of lasagna sauce off the plate with the side of her fork. She had never been a huge fan of birthdays anyway.

“Absolutely not! I will not allow that.”

“I…beg your pardon?”

“You may beg all you want but you won’t get out of this. Be all ready and dolled up at six this evening. I might not have as many resources here in Vermont but the ex-husband of my second cousin owns the most disreputable dive bar in Williston. We’re going.”

“Melissa, there’s no need to…”

“No no. You misunderstand. This was not a question. You’ll be coming with me to party on your birthday night whether you like it or not, Miss Weems. And you’ll have the time of your life doing so.”

Larissa met her eyes, her bright green eyes looking up at Larissa as if challenging her to disagree, and all it did was make a lovely warmth spread in the taller woman’s chest. She shook her head, an exasperated smile climbing to her lips. 

“Alright, alright, you stubborn woman. You win. We’ll go celebrate my old age at your shady bar. But you’re offering the first round.”

“Ha! As if I’d let the birthday lady pay for her own drinks! I’ll have you know that my nonna raised me properly!”

They made eye contact across the desk, blue meeting green with an intensity that was new and warm and exciting. Larissa tried to convey in that gaze how much Melissa’s actions meant to her. Not just the cake and the birthday wishes. Hell, not even the invite to go out together. It was the fact that Melissa was there for Larissa in a way nobody had been in a very long time.

“Thank you, Melissa.” She said, frustrated at herself for being unable to say more, and yet charging those two simple words with all those untold things.

She was able to see the blush crawling up the other woman’s cheeks at her gratitude, and couldn’t help but think how adorable it made Melissa look. Clearly embarrassed, the redhead ran a hand through her locks and spoke in a gruff voice.

“So are you just gonna stare or are you gonna try the cake?”

The End

For anyone wondering, this is loosely in the same universe as my other Larissa/Melissa fic, New Teacher In Town. You can find more of my fics in my masterlist

Next fic in the challenge >

[coldfanbou]

Milan Trip

This time, a shorter piece, some rough sex, anal, cheating, and breastfeeding.

Length 1.2K

Sana X Mreader

Previous Part

It was the first time in months that you had seen her properly; while she was pregnant, you would visit her and her husband’s home. Anytime he would step out for a moment, you would eye each other, lusting after each other. At every opportunity, when he would be away for a couple of minutes, you would take the opportunity to use her mouth or, later on in her pregnancy, drink her milk straight from the source. Half a year after she’d given birth Sana decided she needed to take some time for herself. Being the good boss you were, you let her husband go and work from home, relaxing any deadlines he might have. Sana would head out to Milan for a nice getaway, she always wanted to go there, and you just so happened to have a business trip at the same time. Her husband knew this, of course, so he came to you to ask if you could make sure she was alright and that she had a good time. “Of course, what kind of friend would I be if I couldn’t make sure your wife wasn’t enjoying herself?”

You and Sana would spend most of the days fucking each other’s brains out while on this trip. In secret, the two of you had planned out this little getaway so you could finally fuck, the sexual tension between the two of you had been building for months, and soon enough, blowjobs weren’t enough for you, and she needed you. 

Right now, Sana stood before you, looking out onto the streets below as you took her from behind. “Fuck, I missed your cock. I needed this so badly,” She says between moans. Her walls were clamped around your cock as it stretched her pussy to its limits; Sana was as tight as ever. Every thrust you took pressed her against the window of her hotel room. She loved the idea of someone being able to watch her be fucked. You felt Sana get tighter around you as she soon came, her juices spraying out onto the floor below. Her knees buckle, and you’re forced to hold her up.  “Oh fuck baby, I’m sorry for cumming so early, but your cock is just so good, and I haven’t been fucked in so long.” You press her engorged tits onto the window and keep bucking your hips. 

“That’s alright, Sana; I’ll just make sure to retrain you.” Sana smiles upon hearing this.

“Do it, baby, train my slutty pussy again.” she pleads. You lift one of her legs so you can go deeper; Sana’s moans fill the room as you continue to fuck her. Grabbing one of her tits with your other hand, you squeeze down on her nipple, causing her to shoot out a small amount of breast milk. “Fuck, that felt good; do it again. Use my body.” You continue to play with her nipple as you fuck her. This time when she nears her orgasm, your close as well. You grab onto her hips and slam her down on your cock as you thrust up. Sana starts to scream out in pleasure as her walls squeeze down around your cock. Her back arches as you impale your cock into her pussy as your cum floods her pussy. As you pull out of Sana, you take her to the bed and throw her on top. Sana smiles back at you, loving when you do that. 

“Time for another picture Sana.” Sana spreads her pussy lips with one hand while squeezing her tit with the other. Your cum started to leak out of her as she waited for you to snap a picture. She wanted to take pictures to show her husband she had a good time, but you thought it would be an excellent opportunity for her to remember the time you spent together. Grabbing her phone, you take a few pictures of her and a short video. You hold her legs and pull her towards you when you're done. Her legs rest on your shoulder as you align your cock with her pussy, and you push back in. Sana’s moans fill the room as you start to move again. You press your body against hers, and Sana’s legs end up by her head. Sana moans out your name as you continue to pound away; you take a nipple into your mouth, suckling on it. As you drink from her tits, you hear Sana say she loves it when you suck on her tits. “Do you let your husband have a taste of your milk Sana?”

“Never; I haven’t let him touch me since I got pregnant. You’re the only one I want sucking on my tits, the only one I want fucking me.” You lean forward to kiss Sana and feel her tongue try to make its way into your mouth. Sana desperately wanted more, and you would give it to her as a rough pounding as you continued to impale her on your cock. The only sounds in the room were her moans and her bodies colliding. As you near your next orgasm, you start pulling away from Sana, confusing her. 

You flip her over onto her back, “One load for your pussy and one for your ass, Sana.” you say with a smile. Sana looks a little nervous at this idea. You continue, spreading her ass apart; you see her puckered asshole. Pressing the head of your cum coated cock against her asshole, Sana grips the bedsheets awaiting your cock. Slowly but surely, you put every inch into Sana's asshole. 

“Shit, you’re going to break me!” She screams.

“Good, you’ll be my personal fucktoy from now on. You won’t be going back to your husband after this.” You don’t give her a chance to rest as you immediately start thrusting; Sana’s asshole basically crushes your cock, as it squeezes your cock. You love the feeling of Sana’s ass and keep moving at the quick pace allowed by your slick cock. 

“Fuck, Fuck, Fuck me!” Sana came around pretty quickly to her asshole being used. “Fuck my ass! Use me like a fuck toy!” Hearing Sana be so enthusiastic, you start to go faster soon, and you feel yourself about to cum. 

“What happened, Sana? You looked like you weren’t enjoying this.”

“It doesn’t matter what I thought; I’m just your little fuck toy, baby. Use me in any way you want, anywhere you want” You feel yourself coming closer to your climax, hearing Sana agree to be your fucktoy from now on.

“I’m going to cum, Sana.” 

“Do it! Fucking, cum inside this whore!” You ram your cock back into her asshole one final time before you unload yourself. Sana goes limp on the bed as you slowly pull out of her. Grabbing the camera again, you take a picture of her gaping asshole leaking cum.

“If you’re really going to be my fuck toy, why don’t you send one of these pictures to your husband?” 

You hand Sana her phone, and without hesitation, she sends the picture of her spreading her pussy to her husband. “I’m all yours now, baby.” She says while looking at you. Taking her phone back, you turn it off; you don’t need any interruptions.

[thecynthh]

Gift — M.S.

synopsis • matt gives y/n a present since she passed her exams for the term

warnings • cotton candy fluff, my shit writing

notes • college setting, f!partner, matt n u r dating

author chats • this is my first ever fic !! please give feedback i need validation

also i’ll write a pt 2 with smut in it if yalls like this one 🤗

——————————————————————————

——————————————————————————

i want to wear his initial on a chain round my neck, chain round my neck

not because he owns me, but because he really knows me

Y/N’s POV

heavy tension finally clears from my shoulders as i take a step out of the thick classroom door. my feet automatically start my treck to a local coffee shop near my building. barely taking a few steps out the door my phone begins to buzz with excitement.

matty b❣️

the nickname flashes on my screen as i pull out my cell phone from the back pocket of my cargo pants. clicking the screen immediately after processing who it was.

“hello?” i say whipping my phone up to my ear.

“hey pretty girl” matt replies to my initial greeting. “so tell me, how’d it go?”

“personally i think it went phenomenal and to make it even better i KNOW it was super amazing” i explain absolutely thrilled by my amazing scores

unlike matt going through school was a necessity. i needed to succeed and i’m glad i had as great as a support that matt has been for the past year. my dream was so close all thanks to him, if he didn’t pull me out of that anxiety slump and put me back to work so soon i would’ve failed this exam.

i soon make it to coffee shop after asking matt how his day went and then getting greeted by the same barista whose been working there since i started at Eastwood.

“by the way i just made it to the cafe, im just going to pick up my coffee then i can head to your place to hang out” i tell my phone. the barista asks if my usual is good in a hushed voice seeing my phone up to my ear. i nod to him while walking over to the pick up side of the counter.

“actuallllyyy you can go straight to your apartment, i have a surprise for you” matt says showing excitement for what he got for me.

“matt, you can’t do this to me, im gunna cry” i reply with a fake teary voice.

a small chuckle echos through my ear. “you deserve it princess, all of it.”

“okay i’ll be home soon, i won’t make you wait much longer, love ya.” i snatch my drink and take a peak outside, snow fell from the coveted sky. matt would love how pretty this weather is.

Matt’s POV

“i love you too-“ that was all i could squeeze in before she hung up on me.

right now i just made it into y/n’s apartment waiting on her to get home, i bought a bouquet of red roses, which were here favourite, and i saw the prettiest necklace and i knew i had to get it for her.

it was held in a small velvet box waiting for its owner to claim it. opening it caused a small showcase light to illuminate the silver “m” that was a matching silver chain.

i thought about her when i saw it on the small mannequin. the only thing that played through my mind while i purchased it was that one taylor swift song she loves. i know swift isn’t really my vibe but she won a bet and got the aux for the car ride, it was catchy but i’ll never admit to liking taylor swift.

soon after fixing the bouquet i hear the lock on the door click and unlock. i hold up the flowers standing near the door with the necklaces box burning a hole through my jean pocket.

the door swings open revealing my girlfriend. my lovely girlfriend. her eyes lit up with glee as she looks at the bouquet in my hands.

Y/N’s POV

all i see is matt with a large bouquet of flowers in his hands and sweet smile drawn on his face.

i yank the large amount of red roses from his hands placing them down carefully on the coffee table near us and dive into his arms.

“thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.” i blurt out between each peck on his face. matts face lightly covered in a deep red lipstick he still just stands there waiting for me to done.

“of course princess, im really proud of you for finishing that exam.” he says to me pulling me in even closer.

“but to make it even better….” he trails off while sneaking is hand into his jean pocket. out comes a small jewelry box, he opens it presenting a necklace with his initial on it.

“i remember that song you like a lot, i don’t remember it all too well but i knew it meant a lot to you so-“

“i love so fucking much matty. you have no idea” i rest my forehead against his and slowly connect our lips.

he returns the kiss slowly with his hand snaking around the small of my back tugging me a little closer.

i’ve never wanted to be anywhere else in that moment.

[lonelylonelyghost]

Reason 1 of why I liked Blossoms in Adversity -

- Romance

I didn't hear particularly great things about this aspect of the drama, but the way that it was talked about paradoxically made me sure that I would end up liking it. And I was right. Yey me.

And the reason for this was my probably not the most relatable quality. Because - hi, hello, I'm ace as hell. Nice to meet you.

One of the main reasons of why I can't finish many (especially het) dramas that have lots of romance in it is because in my opinion very few of them manage not to fumble the romance part. If the progression of events or characters doesn't make sense for me, then I just completely lose any interest in the story, even if the rest of it is immaculate. If the couple throughout the beginning is at odds with each other for legitimate reasons, how can they sleep together and declare undying love to each other after spending just one day frolicking outdoors? And they didn't even talk much about their issues while on the trip? I mean good for them I guess, but I don't get it.

So, the way that the relationship between Gu Yanxi and Hua Zhi was described by others (or maybe my ace senses were tingling idk), I just headcanonned them as an ace couple.

And it was awesome! They are both smart, strong and independent, they build their way into romance from a place of genuine friendship and actually liking each other as people, they have an ungodly amount of communication skills. They respect and treat each other as equals. They spend around 3 years together, some of it while being friends and helping each other with their respective problems, and the rest of it dating (going on dates, unraveling conspiracies and adopting almost the entire Imperial Family, one sad child at a time).

They don't have this awkward tension like some of the shows have, where the show is trying to desperately convince me by telling me that they are "so in love" without actually showing me why they are in love.

I love me some messed-up dynamic occasionally, but especially in m/f relationships what I love the most is seeing them as equal partners, a power couple if you will.

That's not to say that there is no drama between this two! Healthy does not mean boring

And yeah, I know that this is unrealistic, the way that Hua Zhi is so powerful in a period patriarchal China, how she treats everyone with respect despite their status, how she's even allowed such freedom, etc.

But I don't watch dramas for their gritty realism, I'm angry and resentful at this world enough as it is. Dramas are my escapism, the stories give me hope, and they are one of the very few reasons why I'm still alive.

And if the reason for me to feel good requires me to watch a a young woman in a historical settings in charge of her enormous family gaslight-gatekeep-girlboss her way into being adored and respected by the whole world because of how amazing she is, and a young man in charge of a terrifying organization breaking away from his toxic family situation and finding his peace and his people while helping the love of his life to dig out 17 (or 18) jars of wine, then so be it

[leiawritesstories]

Stick Season (Part 1)

Rowaelin Month 2023, Day 1: Song Fic

inspired by "Stick Season" by Noah Kahan (giggles in Frederick) I've had so much fun writing this and I am beyond excited to share it with all of you! happy Rowaelin Month once again! <3

Word count: 2,480

Warnings: swearing, bad decisions, heartbreak, not-great parenting, angst, simmering sexual tension, pining idiots in love but they won't admit it

Enjoyyyy! (yes there will be more, i promise)

@rowaelinscourt

Prologue

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

Downtown Orynth, Vermont, still looked exactly the same as it always did when Aelin paid her occasional, brief visit to her hometown. Same “cozy” wooden buildings, same storefronts lining Main Street, same pine boughs wrapped around the light posts, same dusting of snow brushed across the rooftops in a postcard-picture kind of perfection. Same kindhearted shopowners waving at her as she strolled down the cleanly swept sidewalk. 

If she smiled hard enough, maybe she could pretend there wasn’t a gaping hole in her heart. 

Three years since she cut the other half of her soul out of her life, and no amount of friendship and laughter and girls’ nights could fill the empty chasm that leaving Rowan left in her. 

“Aelin?” The voice came from her left as she passed the local bookstore, a place where she’d spent some of the happiest hours of her youth. 

She turned. “Philippa!” A genuine smile curved up her lips. “I didn’t think you were still working here all the time.” 

Philippa waved off the mild protest with a flippant hand. “You know how busy it gets at this time of year, my dear.” She pulled Aelin into a warm hug. “It’s so good to see you again!” 

Aelin melted into the older woman’s motherly embrace. “Want to know a secret?” 

“Is that even a question?” Philippa laughed, opening the bookstore door and nudging her inside. “I live to collect secrets.” 

“Of course you do,” Aelin chuckled. “Well, here it is: I wasn’t planning to be back home this year. Or next year. Or anytime soon, really.” She blew out a short, sharp sigh. “I’m only here because…well…” She trailed off, not fully ready to voice the reason she’d returned. 

Philippa patted her arm. “It’s alright to let yourself grieve, dear. Your mother’s passing was a shock to all of us.” 

“And something of a relief,” Aelin mumbled under her breath. 

Ever tactful, Philippa pretended not to hear. “Will you be here through New Year’s?” she asked, smoothly changing the somber subject. 

Aelin nodded. “Yes. I’ll drive back to New York sometime around January fifteenth, unless Dad needs me for longer. I’m working remotely until then.” 

“Thank goodness for modern technology, right?” 

“Right.” She half-grinned. “I don’t suppose you’re still resisting that modern nonsense, hmm?” 

Philippa pretended to hide. “You caught me.” 

Aelin fake-groaned. “How many times have I told you that it will help the bookstore grow? Think of all the customers you could reach with something as simple as a website and maybe an Instagram profile!” Pasion seeped into her words, coloring her thoughts with excitement. “And you could easily keep up with the online orders–that crappy old monitor you have barely runs basic word programming, let alone internet.” 

“You be nice to Mort, now,” Philippa teased. She’d named the bookstore’s ancient computer Mort in honor of the many times it had brushed with death. 

“Mort deserves to be laid to rest once and for all,” Aelin laughed. “Are you trying to keep me in town or something, asking when I’m heading home?” 

“Maybe.” The older woman’s laugh lines crinkled as she grinned. “Or maybe I’m just planning to offer you a job here while you’re in town.” 

“You know I work in publishing, right?” Aelin raised her brows. “I’m pretty sure that’s enough books and book stuff for one woman.” 

“How long has it been since you remembered why you work in publishing in the first place?” 

The question made Aelin stop in her tracks, mind whirling as she sifted through years of memories. “I…years. God, it’s been…years.” For a moment, yearning flickered across her face. “Maybe not since the last time I volunteered here at Christmas.” 

“Exactly.” Philippa gave Aelin’s hand a motherly squeeze. “Christmas season is far too busy for one old woman to handle alone. So…will you help me?” 

A fond smile curved Aelin’s lips. “Of course I will.” 

~

Snow-dusted evergreen boughs adorned the lampposts of downtown Orynth, weaving their crisp pine breezes through the early evening air. Hands tucked into the pockets of his quilted flannel jacket, Rowan strolled down Main Street, determined to avoid being sidetracked into one of the golden-lit shops that smelled invitingly of cedar, maple sugar, pine, and spiced cider. Christmas scents always had been his weakness, despite the pain he couldn’t separate from the holiday. 

A single paper bag dangled from his left wrist, the only sign that he’d been out shopping for the holidays. His entire brood of cousins was about to descend upon Doranelle, the next town over, for the next few weeks, so he’d come into Orynth to pick up a few things. He refused to admit that the massive canister of peppermint hot cocoa mix was an impulse buy–it had been on sale, and he knew how much his relatives adored all the sweet holiday treats. 

It had nothing whatsoever to do with peppermint hot chocolate being Aelin’s favorite. Nothing.

“Whitethorn?” The call came from his left. 

Rowan turned towards the voice. “Who–” 

“Whitethorn! It is you!” Aedion Ashryver stepped out of Staghorns Tavern, a popular local brewery. “Come inside, man, have a drink.” He pulled Rowan into a brief, back-slapping hug. “Good to see you again.” 

“Good to see you too, Ashryver.” Rowan returned the hug but hesitated at the offer of a drink. “I dunno about the drink, though.” He raised his shopping bag. “Gotta go home and prepare the place for the Whitethorn horde.” 

Aedion snickered. “You’re still letting them crash at your place, huh? Thought you would’ve liked the house to yourself every once in a while.” 

Rowan shrugged. “It’s a big house, and I live alone all the rest of the year.” He flashed Aedion a smirk. “Besides, Sellene and Enda would just barge in anyways, so I might as well allow it.” 

“Fair enough.” Aedion glanced into the brewery, waving off someone inside. “You sure you don’t want to grab a quick drink? I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever.” 

“Yeah, give me a rain check on the…” Rowan trailed off into silence, his brain stalling at the sight of Aelin Galathynius opening Stag’s door and grabbing her cousin by the arm, halfway through a teasing jibe about Aedion wasting his body heat trying to warm up the December chill. 

“...not worth it to–oh.” Her wide-eyed turquoise gaze slammed into Rowan with all the force of an avalanche. 

“What are you doing here?” The question, though whispered, tore out of him with the force of a deafening scream. 

Aedion brushed a protective touch over Aelin’s shoulder, murmured something softly into her ear, and slipped back into the brewery, wisely leaving the two of them alone. 

She swallowed thickly and steeled her spine, meeting his stare head-on. “I’m home for my mother’s funeral and the holidays.” Her tone was cool, detached, nothing more than an old acquaintance responding to a casual question. 

“I–I had no idea,” Rowan murmured. “I’m so sorry, Aelin.” 

“Don’t be.” She snorted quietly, her shields snapping back into place as swiftly as they’d fallen. “About Evalin, Rowan. Don’t be sorry.” A pause, a crack in her controlled exterior. “I can’t say I am.” Her expression sharpened. “Can I ask what you’re doing out here…um, by Staghorns?” 

He read the unspoken question, finding himself surprised that she hadn’t asked outright. “I was in Orynth to pick up a few things before my cousins get here tomorrow, and I was heading down towards the parking lot.” Downtown Orynth was strictly car-free, so the town had built parking space by the edge of the no-traffic zone. “Your cousin saw me, so I stopped for a bit.” And held off the alcohol, he added, silently. 

She nodded in understanding. “I…I should go.” She turned. 

“Wait!” Unexpectedly, he reached for her hand, stopping himself with bare millimeters between his skin and hers. “I…when are you leaving?” 

“After New Year’s.” The words were clipped. 

The shields encasing his heart slammed back down with finality. “So you’ll just up and leave again, no warning, not telling anyone?” He laughed, a sound as brittle as the winter air. “I don’t know why I expected any different.” 

“Some things never change,” she whispered, half to herself, her voice teetering dangerously close to anguish. Without another word, without a backward glance, she yanked open the brewery door, walked in, and vanished into the crowd packed into the bustling space. 

His heart a tangle of stormy emotions, Rowan turned on his heel and strode down the rest of the street, not stopping until he reached his pickup. There, he dropped his shopping bag in the back seat, leaned himself against the truck’s battered old green frame, and breathed as deeply as he could. Eyes screwed shut, he allowed the flood of memories to wash over him, sinking into the aching familiarity of her golden hair and wild laugh, her burning resilience and unwavering strength. The watery croak of her voice when she told him she was sorry three years ago. The tsunami of anger and rage and grief and torment that had ripped through his whole being for weeks after that afternoon.

Then he locked those precious, shattered memories back into the dark recesses of his mind, swung himself up into the truck, and drove off into the December night. 

~

Three Years Ago

Rowan pulled into his driveway in shell-shocked silence, muscle memory guiding him out of his truck and into the house. He kicked off his boots in the mudroom, shook the loose snow off the soles, and placed them neatly on the rack. Numbly, he shed his thick winter jacket and hung it on its peg, made sure he was free of tray snow and ice, and walked into the warmth of the wood-paneled house. 

A beer bottle shattered at his feet the second he came through the door. 

“The hell y’been, boy?” His stepfather’s slurred words were barely distinguishable. 

“Work, then the store.” Rowan had learned years ago to keep his words as brief and subdued as possible, lest he face another of Arobynn’s famous eruptions of drunken wrath. “Picked up another six-pack.” He placed the case of beer bottles on the kitchen counter. 

Arobynn squinted at the six-pack. “Leas’ y’did one thing right,” he sneered. “Clean up the fuckin’ floor, boy.” He grabbed two bottles of beer and stumbled back out into the living room, where he collapsed into his reeking, tattered old leather recliner and lost himself in his usual world of alcohol and blaring television. 

Rowan clenched his fists and jaw and picked up the broom. He made quick work of the broken glass, dumped it in the trash bin, put away the broom, and grabbed some food as he hurried off to his room. Arobynn’s alcoholism was a blessing, in a way–he confined himself to that side of the house, not moving much between the den, the kitchen, and his bedroom and bathroom. It meant that Rowan could stay in the master bedroom, which was at the other end of the house, and keep the rest of his family home as clean as possible. 

Every time he looked at the single portrait of his parents that adorned his bedroom wall, he swore he could hear their sorrow at the state of their once-beautiful home. 

That goddamn crash had taken so much from the Whitethorn family. 

Rowan was only a child when he lost his dad, and his mother had been so buried in her grief that she’d failed to see the giant blaring red flags of the first man that showed her any affection. She’d married Arobynn Hamel partially out of what she thought was love and partially out of necessity; the property needed another pair of adult hands to maintain it, not to mention another income. It was only a few months before Arobynn’s true colors showed themselves. 

For five years, Rowan’s mother had stayed strong, protecting her son by sacrificing herself. She’d protected her son from his stepfather’s fits of drunken rage, from the anger that reverberated through the house, and even from the knowledge of her medical diagnosis. When he lost her, too, Rowan lost all hope that his life could be anything but alcohol and anger and abuse. 

Then he went away to college and met Aelin, and her warmth rekindled his frozen soul. 

Watching her drive away from him mere hours ago had ripped the fragile, carefully patched scraps of his heart into bleeding shreds. 

Fuck it. If he didn’t blow off some steam now, he’d do something he’d regret later.

As silently as possible, Rowan slipped out of the house, crossed the snowy yard to the barn, hauled open the door that desperately needed some oil, and flicked on the overhead lights, illuminating the large, chilly, wooden-beamed space. He’d slowly transformed the barn into a gym over the years, picking up old equipment at estate sales and local gyms who were remodeling or getting rid of old machines and other stuff. Right then, he only had eyes for the punching bag–his favorite way to release the pent-up anger his fists itched to rain down upon Arobynn’s worthless face. 

He took off his jacket and sweatshirt, pulled on his well-loved boxing gloves, and strode over to the punching bag. With a grunt, he launched into a punishing round of strikes and punches, pummeling the taut leather sandbag with enough force to send it rocking on its chain. That first volley loosened the knot of tension in his chest, opening the floodgates, and every tangled, indecipherable, raw emotion he’d bottled up came pouring out in the erratic rhythm of his gloved fists (and occasionally his shoes) against the punching bag, interspersed with hoarse yells, broken shouts, curses, groans, and grunts. He lost himself in the slap of leather on leather, barely remembering to draw breath, slapping and punching and kicking until the flood of grief and pain and rage had subsided enough for his head to clear. 

Chest heaving, rare tears seeping hot and salty down his face, Rowan sank to the weathered wooden plank floor, buried his head in his hands, and felt the crushing weight of abandonment, an old familiar companion, press down upon his shoulders once again. 

Although he didn’t know it, Aelin was curled in the same position on the floor of her childhood bedroom, her face buried in her hands, tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks. The same anguish tore through her ruined heart, a white-hot knife of grief and guilt piercing her to her core. Leaving him was the last thing she ever wanted to do; it was like splitting herself in half. Yet she had left him, tossed him to the snowy curb without a backward glance. Leaving him shell-shocked on the edge of the highway, heart in his throat and the winter wind whistling through his empty hands.

~~~

TAGS:

@live-the-fangirl-life

@superspiritfestival

@thegreyj

@wordsafterhours

@elentiyawhitethorn

@morganofthewildfire

@backtobl4ck

@rowanaelinn

@house-of-galathynius

@tomtenadia

@julemmaes

@swankii-art-teacher

@charlizeed

@booknerdproblems

@chronicchthonic14

@earthtolinds

@goddess-aelin

@sweet-but-stormy

@clea-nightingale

@autumnbabylon

@darling-im-the-queen-of-hell

@llyncooljones

@silentquartz

[twstbookclub]

Words of Love

Summary: Ace could be better at a relationship. How could it be? He never learned how. Instead of being taught, he was attacked by his ex-girlfriend's friends for not doing something. It'll be different this time. You'll make sure of that. Pronouns: Gender Neutral POV: 2nd Admin/Writer: Kai⚔️ Tags: Ace Trappola, Slight comedy, Romance, Fluff, First date with Ace, Ice skating date, Ace is still a little shit Word Count: 1,041

A/N: Man... The amount of trouble I had writing a smitten Ace who didn't want to admit his feelings was like whiplash. I thought I knew how to write the boy, but I was wrong. Honestly, this could've been done better, and maybe I'll rewrite one when I can, but I am still satisfied with this one. Thank you for reading!

Ace was a good person, and it was surprising to see him come up to you to ask you out. Though, as soon as you said yes, he ran off while trying to act all cool? Then he would give you a winter hat and a pair of gloves, only saying, “Make sure to wear them to our date” and leave it at that. You did like him, that part was admittable, but as for the reason why—

“Good Seven, I can tell why his ex-girlfriend was into him… But I can tell why she left him,” you whispered while watching Ace grab food from the building’s cafe. He’s a sweet kid, really, but…

GEEZ, THE AWKWARD TENSION IS UNBEARABLE.

You sighed and looked towards Ace, staring briefly before smiling and looking down at the ground. The atmosphere was filled with screams, laughs, and the scraping of blades against ice, since Ace decided to surprise you with a date to an ice skating rink on your day off before winter break began. It was his way of spending time with you, but how could you blame him for trying?

He’s such a mess, and he can be too blunt for one’s comfort—not to mention a slacker… but he’s cute.

What? Gotta give credit where credit is due, right? Anyway…

“Oi, how are you feeling?” Ace asked while walking back to you and setting down the food on the table, then he fixed his scarf that was hanging off your neck. He felt cold to the touch, but how could he not? He sacrificed his warmth to give it to you, then he let you fall on your ass right after. How fun.

“Hmm… I’m warmer than I was before, but I’m still in pain thanks to someone letting me fall,” you responded sarcastically, knowing it would strike a nerve within the boy. After that, you took a fry from his meal and ate away, as if indifferent to his offense.

“Hey! I said I was sorry, and I’m buying you food. Is that not enough for forgiveness?” He spoke with that look again—the sharp edges of his eyes softening, brows furrowed, and lips pulled into a frown. It wasn’t the usual harsh scowl, but it was… more gentle and hesitant.

It was something he had done quite a bit tonight.

You snapped your head at him and raised an eyebrow. “That’s the bare minimum, Ace! Is this how you treated your girlfriend from middle school?”

He went quiet, but not from anger. He started thinking, really. The fact that he had to think about it was concerning enough as is.

“Honestly…” He said, still pondering. “I never really did this kind of stuff for her.”

“Oh. My. Seven.” You could only sigh from disappointment, wondering how such a good guy could be so… clueless. You ran a hand through your hair, before standing up and giving him back his jacket.

“Ace, you’re a great person. You know that, you even boast about it sometimes—which kudos to you for that.”

Ace raised an eyebrow at your words since he was only hearing compliments. This made him shiver in his timbers, for a lack of a better word in this description. “Buuuut…?”

“Get yourself together!” You yelled, giving him a bonk on the head afterwards for dramatic effect.

“Ow! Fine, geez.” Ace sighed, putting his jacket back on you again and fixing your hair. “Yeah, I’m pretty clueless on this relationship and romance stuff—”

Oh really? Didn’t know that.

“—I rarely took my past girlfriend out on dates or hangouts, not even to walk around. You’re different,” Ace said with a sincere look in his eye, but his view wasn’t directed at you. It was towards the floor. You could only sigh and move your hand to hold his. 

“Ace…” You started, took a breath, then looked at him with a small smile. “You're a great guy on your own. I don't need you to impress me in some way just because I'm someone you want to be with.”

“I know, but you're different from others who've confessed, different from my middle school relationship, and I… really want to be with you,” he said carefully, giving your hand a squeeze for his own reassurance. The love in his eyes just made the moment a lot sweeter.

You felt your heart begin to melt. You knew having a crush on him was so right, but you just needed to find the reason why. You move your other hand to his cheek to make him look at you directly.

“Then, just do what you think is right. Go with the flow and we can figure the rest out together. I'm not going anywhere.”

Your words and touch made Ace relax, and he slowly gave you a snarky grin. “What I think is right, you say?” His tone was mischievous, and before you knew it, he pulled you back onto the ice rink.

“Hey–! What are you doing!? Ace!” You yelled, seeing him start to move around with you on the ice. He laughed at you and moved slowly so as to not hurt you, even keeping you close until you could get the hang of it.

“Come on! I took you out to have fun, so fun we'll have!” Ace said with a laugh, keeping you close while pulling you with him.

The ice made the place cold and the spins would make you dizzy, but it couldn't compare to the warmth you both began to feel for one another, like hearts intertwining into one.

After the date, he was walking you home, hand in hand, unable to look towards your direction. You noticed this and smiled, wanting to tease him about it.

“Look at you… All smiles. I've never seen this from you before.”

“I've never had someone tell me I could be myself. My ex was wanting me to change for her, but where's the fun in that?” Ace said, making both of you laugh.

Finally, he let you go before you got to your door. He watched you again with those eyes, the ones you grew accustomed to in those few hours. Who knew words would have meant so much?

[booasaur]

avatrice is just so perfect so good. it makes so much sense that after all the cruelty she experienced ava would fall for bea who's so methodical and patient, bea who's so deliberately thoughtful and kind and compassionate. and after so many year of practicing control bea would fall for someone who lives so unrestrained with so much joy and curiosity. ugh just meant for each other. and a bit of a queen/knight thing going on too

Oof, anon, that's so well said! They match sooo perfectly, it really couldn't be anyone but Bea for Ava and Ava for Bea. The parts that contrast, the parts that complement, the way they like each other as people even outside all that.

It had to be Bea who first pointed out to Ava to think outside of herself, but so fairly and gently that then she was the one Ava turned to for comfort, earning her trust that quickly and keeping it. And it wasn't a one way thing, their relationship isn't just Bea being the cool, infallible one who helps Ava, when Bea was struggling with being gay and the perception of it, it was Ava who was so accepting it prompted that frankly super romantic "It was everyone but you."

What's more, even as they keep these core tenets of their personalities, you can see how each affects and slowly changes the other. Bea absolutely grounds Ava and has taught and trained her to be more mature and patient and a better leader, but also provides stability and a home base, a partner she knows she can count on, invaluable after everything she's gone through. Bea is more willing to try new things, more open to what might make her happy instead of living only for the church and accepting their harshest judgments.

This has been the culmination of decades of subtext f/f ships that seemed so perfect if only the writers would go there, best friends, enemies, rivals, partners, narrative foils of all kinds, and every time we'd say "if that were a man and a woman they'd go there" but they weren't and they didn't, not until now. Finally it feels like what we're seeing and that the writers are writing is on the same page.

I'd also like to give credit to the three things that for me were so necessary to this ship's success. First, it's main character/main character. I've always talked about this, right, the trajectory of canon f/f over time, starting with temporary sweeps stuff, then guest stars, then side characters, and even when including mains and leads, often the love interest was still a side character who might leave at any point. But this is as main/main as you can get! And doesn't it show? The amount of time, story, development? Whole plot decisions hinging on their feelings for each other? It's incomparable.

Second, the fact that they did a multi-season slow burn. I've talked about this before as well, the vanishly small number of shows where characters who were introduced in one season get together in another. Even smaller when both the characters were in the first episode, indicating their importance to the show, being a pivotal character from the start. It pays off in such a rewarding way when we get that anticipation and building of tension and speaks to the commitment and patience from the writers in doing it over such a long arc. Everything we know about these characters and their relationship we were allowed to observe over a significant amount of time and get truly invested in. Not to criticize those that write the full arc within a season, especially in these cancel-happy times, but y'all can't tell me this didn't feel AMAZING.

And lastly, for the most part this remains a very character-first kinda show, and I have not a single criticism for how they handled Ava, Bea, or Avatrice (though I'm not happy about certain other aspects). What we know about Ava and Bea, their traits that you can list so clearly, they're such fully formed characters and their actions feel so organic and rooted in what we already know about them. That's been so vital in appreciating their whole romance, it's always just made so much sense.

Oh, the queen/knight thing! I didn't even think about that but it's definitely there, and my favorite kind, where the knight character is awesome and protective, but the queen is fighting for the knight just as hard in her own way (see also: Dani/Grace >_>).

This turned out to be truly special, really hoping the show gets one more season at least to cap things off.