#sincerely hope no one has done this yet if you have I’m sorry

[robartzombart]

omg guys! theyre both cats AND trans!!!

[versadies]

this time (alhaitham x gn!reader)

SALUTATIONS. this time (part two of next time)

ADDRESSED. alhaitham (w/ gn!reader)

STAMP. in which things have never been the same since your lover found you after you’ve been kidnapped, and tries to win your heart once more as well as for your forgiveness. (this is mostly on alhaitham’s pov after saving you)

CONTENT. angst/with-comfort, slight spoilers to sumeru archon quest (3.2), mentions of kidnapping, mentions of violence, reader now has a vision and is slightly traumatized, grammar errors, ooc alhaitham (only skimmed through his lore while writing this fic)

POST-SCRIPT. yipeeee it’s finally done !! special thanks to @crowbird who sent an ask about this fic, it’s acc what i was going for as well (but ive made reader suffered enough so i didnt go all out)

LINKS. masterlist \ taglist

How long has it been since Alhaitham has been waiting outside of Bimarstan? 

He couldn’t recall, but neither did he care about that. What he cares more is what’s happening inside the hospital where you’re currently treated.

As soon as Alhaitham’s done with his part on the mission, he didn’t waste any time to start looking for you, his heart beating faster than ever from his worries of what the Akademiya has done to you. 

Whatever they did, he hoped that you were okay. 

With the help of Cyno and some of his friends, he managed to find out that you’re located in the desert, but not in a state he had hoped he’d find you in. 

It took him two days until he finally found you in an abandoned hospital, only to see you standing in the middle of the room with a hollow look on your face, surrounded by fallen eremites and other people who are working for Azar–

Not to mention.. A vision in your hand, one that holds the symbol of anemo. 

What happened?

Alhaitham paid no mind to the unconscious bodies on the ground, his focus is on you – who remains unaware that you have other company besides your captors. 

“...( Name )?” He cautiously called out. 

You immediately turn around when you heard a familiar voice, only for your eyes to widen at the sight of your lover standing not too far away from you, his weapon in hand–

Oh gods, what have you done?

It begins to dawn on you when you realize what you just did, causing you to start breathing heavily. “I… I didn’t mean to–” You look down at your shaking hands with wide eyes, “I didn’t mean to knock them– th-they tried to take me away, to some… to some guy who goes by the Doctor and I-I was so scared, I was freaking out and, and one of them was about to hit me and suddenly everyone’s jus–” 

You find yourself falling onto your knees with a sob, the fear and anxiety you tried to hide for the past two days as you were pushed and dragged through the sand and heat slowly started to come out in the open. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” were all the words you could muster at the moment, not noticing how Alhaitham starts walking towards you.  

It was only when you felt something warm beginning to wrap around you when you realized your lover’s hugging you in a comfort embrace, causing you to let out a shaky gasp.

“I don’t care what you did to them,” Alhaitham tells you, his heart shattering at the sight of you being frightened with yourself, “I’m just glad you’re okay now. You’re safe, ( Name ).” 

He closes his eyes shut, not intending to let you go just yet. “I’m… I’m sorry for everything. I’m sorry for leaving you. I regretted leaving you out of the dark with what I was doing and… I just wanted to keep you safe, but it seems it only made things dangerous for you instead.” 

You couldn’t help but be taken back from how his words sounded so sincere, so genuine – you knew how your lover is with these kinds of things, so you knew just how much he means it when he apologized. 

You couldn’t help but break into tears. 

“It hurts so much…” You hiccuped, hugging him back as you sob. “I thought… I thought I did something wrong that made you–”

Your breath hitches when he holds onto you tighter. “This is never your fault. It’s mine alone for never considering how this would affect us badly. You’ve been nothing but an amazing person in my life and I took it for granted.” He said, angrier with his foolish self for making you feel this way for all this time. 

“I… When I found out that they took you, I felt like I.. I’ve...” He struggles to find the right words to tell you just how scared he was when he found out about you being held captive by the Akademiya. 

He relaxes when you start moving your arms around him. “I know..” You whispered reassuringly, as though you read his mind. “Just take me back, ‘Haitham.” 

–

“Mr. Alhaitham?” Alhaitham’s thoughts are cut away when he hears the familiar voice of the doctor who took charge of healing you, causing him to stand up when he sees him walking out from the door. 

“How’s ( Name )?” The scribe asks. 

“They’re doing well. They just need more food, water, and plenty of rest and they’ll be okay. Though, we need to keep them under our watch for the rest of the week to check up on their major injuries now and then.” Zakariya then let out a sigh. “I just can’t believe their captors are heartless enough to not feed them well, not to mention the injuries inflicted on them. It was fortunate enough that you’re able to find them before things could’ve gone worse for your lover.” 

Alhaitham’s heart feels broken once more when he hears about your condition, making him all the more angry that he wasn’t fast enough to find you (and the fact that Azar and his pathetic followers’ punishments aren’t enough). 

“May I visit them now?” He asks. 

The doctor nods in response. “I believe so. They were looking for you when they woke up.” 

That was enough for Alhaitham to immediately come inside the hospital (not without thanking Zakariya, of course) and visit you, bringing your favorite meal that he made beforehand as well as flowers. 

It reminded him of back when he was on his way to take you out on your first date together, with him always fixing his outfit (despite the fact that you’ve seen him wear it everyday) and checking if he has everything – as though he was a bit nervous. 

By the time he eventually arrives to where you are, you notice his presence immediately, causing you to turn away from the view of your window and look at your lover. 

The two of you stare at each other in silence, not knowing what to say. 

Alhaitham decides to break the silence. “...How are you?” 

“...Never been better, I suppose.” You respond quietly, looking down at your hands. “I mean, my lover’s finally talking to me after so long and I’m no longer blind and tied up for two days straight; not to mention how I didn’t kill anyone when I received my vision so… that’s good.” He winces from your words. 

You then look up to where he is. “I can’t… forgive you so easily for what you’ve done as much as it sounds selfish of me.” You confessed.

Alhaitham shakes his head. “No, it’s alright. I expected you to not forgive me straight away.” He says reassuringly. “All I ask is if you could give me a chance to make everything up. Let me make up for the time we lost.”

You frowned. “Then what? Will you suddenly get busy again and ignore me for the next few months? A year maybe?”

“I won’t repeat what happened last time.” He said. “Not when it almost cost me to lose you.” 

Your eyes soften. “I’m too scared to take the risk and experience the same thing all over again.” Deep down, you were touched when you heard from your nurse that your lover did everything he could to find you and get you back, as well as how he waited for a long long time until he was allowed to come inside the hospital and see you again – without reading a book even. 

But you knew that you can’t just let what he did slide so easily. 

“Trust me. Just one last time.” Alhaitham asks, almost in a desperate way. “If I mess up again, and I’ll make sure I won’t, then you can leave me.” He wanted to come closer to you, to sit down on the edge of the bed and place his hands on your wrapped hands in a reassuring way, but he didn’t want to overstep your boundaries. “If you still want to leave me without a chance, then that’s alright.”

You quietly think about what to do. As much as you’re heartbroken that your lover had ignored you for such a long time, you still unfortunately love that man, but you can’t forgive him just yet. 

You let out a sigh. “I’ll give you one month to make it all up to me, then I’ll decide if I leave.” You said, causing his shoulders to relax. 

“I won’t let you down, ( Name ).” He declares with confidence. 

You smile lightly, now noticing the things he’s been holding throughout the whole conversation. “You do know that giving me my favorite food and my favorite flowers today isn’t enough to make me forgive you, right?” 

Alhaitham hums. “I’m aware. I’m guessing that the hospital didn’t give you any food that you’re craving, so I thought about making it for you before I visit.” 

You know he was right, although the hospital did give you food to eat, it didn’t match the sweet taste of the ones you’ve been longing to eat, such as the foods that your lover always cooks for you whenever he can just for you. 

“Pretty sure they cooked better than you though.” You joked. 

His lips slightly move upward. “Oh? Won’t you try and see if you’re right then?” 

You scoot over a little, a small invitation for him to finally come up to you. “Only if you hand-feed me.” You said, thinking he’d refuse and make you eat it yourself.

To your surprise however, you underestimated just how much that man loves you. 

“If that’s what you wish then.” Without hesitation, he instantly comes up to your bed and sits down next to you, putting your flowers next to your bed and unpacked your meal (you didn’t bother to point out how he looked so eager to do so). 

As you eat your meal that he made, you can’t help but reminisce about the times when he used to do this to you. Particularly when you get sick and he has to take care of you, something that he always reassures you that he’s completely okay with it and willing to do it as long as it’s for you. 

“I’ll have to cook meals for you everyday then if it makes you that happy.” He suddenly says as he feeds you, making you realize that you’ve been smiling the entire time. “What do you say about curry shrimp tomorrow when I visit here?” 

“You’re going to visit here again?” You ask in a surprised tone. “Don’t you have things to do with the Akademiya?” 

“Even in different situations, I’d still put everything down just to take care of you.” Alhaitham explains. “Don’t worry about my duties in the Akademiya, I’m sure they’ll be doing alright without my presence for a while.” 

You hummed. “Alright then.” 

–

Alhaitham is one dedicated man, you’d admit. 

Everyday, he’d always come and visit you with a meal in hand, as well as things that could make you no longer be bored from lying down on the hospital bed all day. On some days, the two of you would play TCG (with Cyno, Kaveh and Tighnari whenever they visit you), read books together silently, listen to music together with his music player that he personally made when he first became the scribe, and even take a stroll around the street together. 

You’re still reluctant with his company, but nevertheless, you didn’t feel uncomfortable from it. 

Of course, there were other things you’d do whenever Alhaitham is away. Sometimes you’d be found helping the doctors and nurses taking care of the patients, taking care of all the flowers he gifted you, and so on. 

Your injuries were slowly getting better, much to everyone’s relief, and you were no longer as shaken up as before from the incident that happened on the day Alhaitham found you.

Not that he asked you about it. Now that you think about it, not a single person dared to ask what happened to you during your kidnapping, nor did anyone ask how you got your anemo vision, excluding some clueless people who were unaware of what happened to you. 

Cyno did a good job in making sure that it looked like the eremites and Azar’s subordinates were ambushed by him and Alhaitham and not you, not wanting you to get in trouble for simply defending yourself from your captors. You’re grateful that he never questioned you about what happened.

It was hard to get used to the vision that reminded you of what happened, but with your friends’ help, you managed to slowly live with it as well as learn how to use it to protect yourself better. 

By the time you were released from the hospital, you’re surprised that Alhaitham’s still continuing to do the same thing he’s been doing for the past week. 

During your meals, it was Alhaitham who’s been doing the cooking instead of you, with Kaveh whining about why he doesn’t get the same treatment. He also made sure to always kiss you goodbye before he sets off to tend to his duties in the Akademiya, something that you missed for so long. 

For someone who has an unpredictable schedule, he always makes sure to make time for you, for what is freedom if he can’t enjoy it without you?

Slowly and surely, you begin to forgive him and find yourself smiling every now and then.

Sure, he’d sometimes come back home late, but it was never like last time. Sure, he’d sometimes be too focused on his work in his office, but it was never like last time. Unlike last time, you finally feel like you’re living with a lover and not a stranger. 

Whenever you could, the two of you would go out in the woods and train your skills with your vision, something you’re grateful for since using a vision isn’t as easy as you thought it would be. 

The kidnapping still haunted you with nightmares that made you lose sleep as well as some things that reminded you of it, but with Alhaitham, you feel less scared and more comforted from him, who always made sure to stay by your side and be with you when you needed it. 

He’s more considerate than before, you’d admit.

Of course, you made sure to show your gratitude by visiting Alhaitham in his office in the Akademiya like you usually did before, secretly surprised with how he’s always found in his office despite the fact that he’s usually everywhere but there (it’s as if he’s been anticipating you to visit him), and give him a meal that you made before going your way to the Grand Bazaar. 

Until one day, Alhaitham requested you something. 

“When you come and visit me at the Akademiya…” You slowly waited for him to tell you to not come there, only for your eyes to widen at his next words. “...Do make sure to bring two meals so we can eat together.”

You processed what he just said to you. “You mean… eat our meals together? You and me?”

He nodded in response, looking as though he’s unbothered with what he said. “Who else if not you?”

You try to hide your smile before obliging his request. “I’ll keep it in mind then.”

Since then, you find yourself eating your meal with your lover whenever you come and visit. 

You never dared to point out how his lunchbox is always clean and empty whenever he’s done with it.

Sometimes if time allows it, he’d also visit the Grand Bazaar to watch you perform on stage with Nilou, who’s shocked to see the scribe himself – especially with a fascinated look on his face as he watches you perform.

After your performance, Nilou couldn’t help but carefully ask him about his presence in a place such as the Grand Bazaar. 

The man could only huff. “Am I not allowed to support my lover?” He comments. “Don’t mind my presence and go enjoy what you love just like what I’m doing right now.” 

“Watching your lover?” She questioned quietly, looking back at where you are, who’s currently helping one of your colleagues with another task. “You must really love ( Name ), huh?” 

“Not just love.” He clarifies, crossing his arms. “They’re my freedom and eternal oasis.” 

Nilou feels touched by the scribe’s words. She could see now why you’re so willing to give him another chance. 

“( Name ) feels the same way, if you’re wondering.” She said with a soft smile. “I hope you’ll continue to make them happy like they are now. It’s been so long since the Grand Bazaar’s last seen ( Name ) being this happy.”  

“I’ll make sure of that.” Alhaitham assures the woman, his eyes softening at the sounds of you laughing at whatever your colleague told you. “I’ll make sure they’ll be happy, even if we’re no longer together like now.” 

Even when you’re still hesitant to forgive him in fear that it’ll happen again, Alhaitham is willing to wait for you and prove to you that he won’t do the same thing ever again no matter how long it takes.

Just like how you waited for him to come home when he was nothing but distant, he’s willing to wait for you the same way.

PENPALS. @scaraslover @saving-for-xiao @dawgimsohot @kazu-topia @chiruru @aqualesha @renamichii @mrkamisato @shenhesl0ver @serami00 @serenareiss @hiqhkey @emperatris-rinaka @bystander36 @irisxiel @ladycoleigh @034ven @dear-dairiess @owozi8 @hadesaedes @chiro-chiro-kun @hersscherofyatta @mariusvonhangme @yuzuricebun @hoshikistarlette @solaaresque @crowbird @lordbugs @flowersforayato @headintheclouddd @estelwrld @giyusimpsassemble @irethepotatosblog @moonlightaangel @alice0blog @shotosbrainrot @sniffoat @chihawari @mxsomn @kuni-kuzushii @jiminscarmex @mitsukii14 @nejibot @ylimeprive @sachispet @loreleis-world @sn-owo @starforecasts @someonetookmynamelmao @ceylestia @astrequa @ymikkos @reallysporadicarcade @melodyyamino @dudufodd @somberrock @yevenly @lemontum @nghing @shaiah @aintafraidtolove

[angelsheartts]

hiii idk if requests are open so either have this as a silly little thought or a request <33

lucifer and (ideally gn/male) reader have been flirting for a little while and then one day lucifer finally asks reader out, but they reject him

he’s super confused thinking he may have misunderstood their whole dynamic until he overhears reader telling someone at the hotel the reason he rejected lucifer is because reader feels like lucifer would never be able to love them as much as he loved lilith/doesnt want lucifer to use them as a rebound

overall i was hoping for hurt/comfort but whatever rows your boat, love your stories and i hope to see more of them in the future !! have an amazing day <3

.° ༘ THE OTHER WOMAN ᝰ.ᐟ .

#pairing: lucifer, x gn reader.

#cw: angst, fear of being the second choice, lucifers backstory with lilith, starting something new, accepting that relationships come to an end, happy ending 'cause im not that mean hehe (at least not yet).

#note: I LOVE THIS REQUEST SM, i haven’t wrote any angst in my blog BUUUT i love it, this request is mwuah.

everyone at the hazbin hotel knew that lucifer had been courting you for the past few months, everyone except you.

or, well, that’s what the sinners at the hotel thought, at least. you obviously knew that the king of hell had been flirting with you, and at the beginning, you almost fell head over heels for him, until indecisive thoughts started to fill your head.

"was he REALLY flirting with you?", "why would he still be wearing his WEDDING ring if he had been flirting with you?", "will he ever LOVE you like he loved lilith?", "will his daughter even ACCEPT your relationship?"

as soon as those thoughts started appearing, you started distancing yourself from the fallen angel, sadly for lucifer he had already started to get the courage to officially ask you out on a date.

the king of hell wasn’t an idiot; he noticed how you started to make up excuses to not talk to him alone or how you weren’t really responding to his flirting anymore, but decided to be stubborn and brush those thoughts off.

-

as soon as you received a text from lucifer saying he would pick you up around eight, you knew he was planning something, and as soon as you saw him all dressed up, nicely done hair and his prideful smile showing on his face, you knew what was coming, but who were you to not appreciate his efforts? if you knew that it was going to end someday, why wouldn’t you enjoy the moment? yes, you were being a fool for accepting his offer, but having a tiny crush on him wouldn’t hurt you, right?

after having a nice and really luxurious meal at a restaurant in hell, lucifer guided you to an actually peaceful spot where you could see all of the pride ring. ironic. who would even think that hell has a peaceful place, one where you should feel relieved, but why weren’t you feeling that way? was it because you knew what was to come?

"(name), is everything alright?" lucifer interrupted your thoughts with his angelic voice, or could you say demonic? at the end of the day, he was still an angel, just a fallen one. "mmh? yeah, i was just..lost in my thoughts i guess" you answered, admiring his glowing red eyes shining in the dark. "oh, okay" he said, letting a nervous laugh come out. "i think there is something i need to tell you, (name)" lucifer said, this time his voice had a serious tone. "i thought that after lilith I couldn’t get to love again, but heavens was i wrong. i had the chance to get to know you this past months, and…you've changed my life in that short time." he started, giving a sincere smile "would you want to be my partner?" he asked, fidgeting with his fingers as you stared at him.

oh, well, that question made you nauseous. "i-, i don’t think i want that, lucifer" ouch, that hurt his pride."I think it’s time for me to go, i’m sorry" you said in a quiet tone, standing up and leaving him there, and as much as you didn’t wanted to look back, you did, but the only thing you could see was lucifer in the same position as when you stood, this time though, he was hugging his knees staring at the view you both were looking at just a few minutes ago.

-

since his confession about his feelings towards you, he hasn’t been in the hotel, and the cast started to suspect that it has to do with the date you had with him. charlie was the most preoccupied, since she had been the one to encourage his dad to finally ask you out. she tried texting his dad to ask him about your response, but the king of hell just responded with a "it didn’t go as planned, but don’t worry about it, char-char."

after that text charlie obviously knew that his father was feeling bad about whatever happened that night, and would isolate himself from the others, so for her attempts to not let that happened she kind of tricked you into visiting him, she asked you about the date, and since you kind of lied to her by telling her that the date went as normal as a date should go, she then answered by saying something along the lines of "if that’s so, would you mind reminding him that he needs to come to the hotel?"

you could write lucifer a text message telling him to come to the hotel, but since you literally ran away that night, you forgot that your cellphone was laying somewhere near to where you both were sitting, so yeah, you did in fact lost it.

-

going to his mansion was a really weird feeling, what can you even say after rejecting someone? would he even open the door? as you were lost in your thoughts again, you heard the front door open, and as you made your way into his house it wasn’t really hard to find his bedroom.

as you knocked before opening the door, the first thing you noticed was how lucifer had his bedsheet covering him, it made you smile since you noticed how charlie did that too, so you could guess she got that from her father.

there was a silence as you both stared at eachother, until lucifer decided to interrupt the silence. "i-, i-i’m sorry about what happened, i think i might had misunderstood our relationship" he confessed, his messy hair and dark eye bags made you worried "it’s okay lucifer, and about that night..there is still something i haven’t told you about my answer" you declared, making him look at you with such hopeful eyes, oh hell, how can such a prideful fallen angel have so much faith in what you were going to say. "i said I didn’t want to take it further, since i still believe your heart belongs to lilith, and because of that i thought that rejecting you would be the best option." he opened his eyes at the mention of his past lover. "but, me and lilith haven’t been dating since seven years, (name) what me and her had is long gone" he reassured you, while signaling you to sit on his bed, the king bed who looked so comfy yet so empty. "lilith still is an important person in my heart, she has been with me since beginning of humanity and is the mother of my daughter, but the persons who’s my heart belongs now is you, my love" after hearing those words you could feel your eyes fill with tears, of course lilith was gonna be an important person in his life, but why would that stopped you from being in his heart as well, were you being selfish all this time? wanting to be the only person who’s important to him?

"and, this time i haven’t been at the hotel, i thought about why you said no, and i think i may have noticed something" he said, getting out of his bedsheets and caressing your face, you could feel your face burn at his touch, yeah, you really have missed him, "you were always staring at my wedding ring, weren’t you?" he asked looking at you with a glum face, yes, you do recall looking at his wedding ring while he looked at you with loving eyes, the ring that made you doubt so much about his feelings towards you, "i was a fool for wearing my ring while flirting with you, and if my ring has made you have those doubts about our relationship, you should know that i had decided to take it off" after hearing those words, you noticed that he was right, you haven’t noticed until now, you didn’t feel that cold ring against your face. "and if you still willing to try, i’m sure that soon enough i will be using a ring who will be showing who my heart really belongs to"

"that’s so cheesy" you answered chuckling, you tried to jokingly ignore the fact that he just said he would propose you, because if you took it serious you were sure that your face would be as red as the famous apple, actually, you were sure that if he offered you the 'fruit' you would have accepted, wait, were you even thinking about a fruit? but anyways your angel needed reassurance from you, that in fact, you liked his cheesy words. "yes, i still want to have you in my afterlife, lucifer" "well, if that’s my future’s wife/husband wish, then, who am i to object?" the fallen angel winked at you before starting to teasingly kiss your whole face, the moment he started doing this, you noticed something you didn’t thought you could, you felt like his first option, not just a rebound.

and yes , it will be a long journey until he really overcomes his past relationship with lilith, but since he's willing to do as much for you as you would do for him, you both will soon overcome your fears of past experiences.

[haykawas]

✩•̩̩͙*˚ BLOSSOMING LOVE ROUTE – SWEET ENDING

this is one of the possible endings to a story! lost yourself? begin here!

Sweet and soft, was it? Coming right up! – wc : ~ 700.

He asks what you want, yet you don’t need to say a thing. He knows you just want to be held, to feel his touch soothe you and his heartbeat against yours.

Just like that, he pulls you flush against him in a bear-crushing hug, breathing in your scent. He strokes the length of your spine and kisses your forehead, before descending to plant a feathery kiss on your shoulder, – and you can definitely feel him smile against your skin.

“Are you always gonna be this clingy?” You tease, lightly shoving him in an attempt to free yourself from his embrace. “I should just leave you here…” You say, and it’s all an act. You don’t even try to escape his hold, not when you’ve never felt so comfortable in your life. 

Being like this with him feels so real.

It’s precious. It’s different. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Love is swelling your heart like it never has before and you don’t know if you’re fit for this.

“I just want to stay like this for a moment.” He says, and the softness of his voice makes you melt. “Please?” He bats his eyelashes at you, and you can’t help but roll your eyes, hiding your smile in his chest.

“Ha! Are you laughing? Did I make you laugh?” Satoru exclaims, and he tries to get you to look at him with a finger under your chin, to no avail. “You’re so in love with me it’s insane.”

“What?” Your head snaps up, “Says you!”

He laughs, “Yeah? And what if I am?”

You’re caught off guard, not expecting this answer, and your cheeks warm up under his scrutinizing gaze. 

“Oh.” You avert your eyes, and wet your lips before answering. “Sorry, there’s already someone I like.”

“And do I know him?” He teases with a grin, enjoying the fact he’s making you all flustered a little too much.

“He’s my best friend.”

“Oh?” His smile grows, “Tell me more.”

“He has long black hair, you might have seen him around. Quite the catch, actually.”

His smile falters and his mouth drops in surprise.

“Oh, now you’ve done it.”

Satoru lunges forward, trapping you between his body and the bed as he starts tickling your sides in a frenzy.

“Ahhh! Sa–Satoru! Please, sto–, stop!” You squeal between breathless giggles, trying to wriggle away from his hands. But he’s strong, and you can’t even move a muscle of him away from you. His fingers dance along your sides, tickling mercilessly, and your jaw starts to hurt from how much you’re laughing.

“I’ll stop if you admit you love me.”

“Okay, fine!” You exclaim, breathless, “Maybe I like you. Just a bit.”

Your eyes widen when you see his hands come closer to your sides once again, and you quickly yell, “Alright, alright! I’m in love with you!”

Satoru’s eyes crinkle, before a wide grin splits across his face, “Really? Well, guess what? I happen to be head over heels with my best friend, too. Lucky you.”

“Suguru will be pleased to hear tha–” You joke, but he cuts you off with a roll of his eyes and the press of his lips against yours.

It’s a passionate, yet tender kiss. Soft and sweet, so much you have to refrain from melting against him. He’s showing you everything through this kiss, promising you all of him and more if you’ll accept him. You feel the sincerity in every gentle press of his lips, every lingering touch of his fingers. Your chest tightens with emotion.

You want to tell him everything. Rip open your chest to show him your heart, the depths of your affection. Express your undying devotion towards this man you love so deeply your heart hurts.

You want to scream. You want to tell him that yes, you’ll have him, now and forever.

And maybe one day, you’ll get to say it to him in a more meaningful place.

Satoru smiles knowingly into the kiss. You don’t have to say anything at all for him to read you like an open book. After all, best friends know best.

You've reached your happily ever after, congratulations! So, was he everything you hoped for? Or.. maybe not? You can always go back to him if you have regrets...

rbs are much appreciated <3

[raven--bones]

I'm really loving your incubus au! I am excited and horrified to see what happens to our summoner next. And I'm really interested to see how the rest of the boys (especially Dream and Blue) get roped into these shenanigans.

ask and ye shall receive <3

incubus nightmare/reader part 2! (part 1 here) characters: nightmare, gender neutral reader word count: 1946 summary: there is an archdemon in your living room.

The archdemon looms above you in the dark, his unbroken horn nearly brushing your ceiling. He has to be well over two metres tall. 

“Hello, little mageling.” His voice is intoxicating; deep, alluring, and warm like mulled wine. He speaks calmly, softly, with utter confidence. He doesn’t need to raise his voice to command your attention. 

You don’t dare look away for even a second. You feel like you’ll be eaten up by the darkness if you do. You can feel cool, shadowy tendrils stroking along your legs already, keeping you held in place on the floor. 

“Do you know who I am?” 

Your voice is dead in your throat. Your mind is racing, desperate to place his appearance to the archdemons you know… but you can’t. You’re not that far in your studies yet. You’ve only barely started to research the minor demons for your courses. You weren’t meant to be summon demons with names, let alone archdemons. 

You’re trapped with an uncontained archdemon in your living room and you don’t even know which one it is. You can guess, but to be wrong is to risk insulting something powerful enough to consume your soul. 

The archdemon slowly lowers into a crouch, his robes shifting in colour like an oil slick. The movement reminds you of a tiger preparing to pounce. Even like his he is so much bigger than you and no less intimidating. The tentacles at his back curl and weave around you, boxing you in. You lie there frozen in his shadow. “No? My, how very reckless… using an incantation outside your comprehension.”

He reaches forward slowly. The tip of one massive claw rests gently against your throat, then slowly slides up until the point presses, dangerously sharp, against the soft skin under your chin. The touch ignites a frigid chill of fear down your spine and a spark of warmth in your belly. The archdemon’s grin widens and the shadows clinging along your legs constrict. “Tell me, sorcerer. Are you aware of what you have done?”

You still can’t speak. The air is heavy with cold, dense magic. It feels like you’re slowly choking.

The archdemon hums; a low, dark sound that you can feel in your bones. “I see.” He pulls his claw back from your throat and you gasp for air when you can suddenly breathe, the pressure of the magic around you released. The atmosphere is still thick with mana but at least you can breathe. 

You struggle to catch your breath despite it. Your heart is pounding in your chest. 

The demon awaits your answer.

When you finally find your voice it sounds weak and hollow. It wavers with your fear and trepidation. “I-I don’t know. I’m sorry, I… I didn’t mean to summon you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what I was doing.” Your voice breaks with every apology. All you can do is hope that your sincerity earns you mercy, that your desperation overpowers whatever it was that had earned his curiosity. If he loses interest in you maybe he’ll grow bored and leave you be. 

“Allow me to enlighten you.” He reaches down and taps a claw to the little incubus’ drawing. “This is one of the first summoning circles your kind created. Barely strong enough for even a lowly imp. And this…” He holds up your notecard now, your handwriting barely visible for the moonlight through the window. The incantation you’d copied. “This is a spell, older than your little human civilisation, to summon me.” 

But that… that doesn’t make sense. Your gaze drops to the dozens of papers scattered around you as though they hold the answer. None of this is making any sense. You can’t combine incompatible circles and spells, they’re complimentary to each other. The matching ones have to be used together.

The cool, slick end of a tentacle finds its way under your chin, tilting your face up to meet the archdemon’s again. 

“Come now. Surely you can put the pieces together.” 

The spoken spell is the catalyst, the instructions you’re trying to give the magic. The rune circle is those instructions translated into something your mana can focus through, with the added bonus of amplifying it with the ambient mana around you; without a circle a human’s intent is too fickle and fleeting to be used.

No mage you’ve ever heard of can do magic with only the spoken component.

This is bad. This is very bad. There’s something weird with your magic, clearly, but this archdemon knows what it is… and it’s only making him more and more interested in you. 

“You are a clever thing, aren’t you.” He’s watching you like a cat with a canary caught in its claws; like he wants to rip you apart and consume you in equal measure. “Tell me your name, little sorcerer.” 

All you can do is obey. Maybe if you play along you can get out of this unscathed. You tell him your name. The archdemon echoes it back to you and something about the way he says it feels like a vice around your heart. Constricting and final. 

He seems pleased by your compliance, slowly standing to his full height with an amused hum. “I am known by many names.” You’re pushed to your feet by the tentacles around you. Your knees are weak and as you falter a tentacle winds around your waist to keep you upright. Another loops behind your shoulders, walling you in until all you can see is the demon before you framed in darkness. “Ephialtes. Incubus.” It’s never a good sign when a demon has multiple names, or is significant enough to be named after the type he is. Unless– “I believe your kind presently know me as Nightmare.” –the type is named after him. 

The first incubus.

Your understanding must be written on your face. Nightmare’s grin is like a crescent moon, pale and contrasting against his otherwise dark form. “You realise, then, the situation you are in.” He pulls you towards him; his tentacles continue to slither about your form until your arms are pinned to your sides and you’re nearly pressed to his chest. You’re so close you could count the delicate silver links that make up his necklaces, or each cuff on his ribs. “Summoning me is not without consequence.” 

A demon that is summoned without the proper containment isn’t bound by any rules. They are free to wreak havoc until they’re dismissed with the proper ritual or decide to leave of their own accord. You are in no place to even begin dismissing him– even if you weren’t being held captive you aren’t trained to get rid of anything more powerful than an imp. You have no idea what a demon as powerful as Nightmare will want to do before he decides to leave.

“It has been many centuries since I have seen a human mage with mana anywhere close to half of yours, and even then… the focused intent required to summon me without the use of a circle is unheard of.” His claw finds your chin again, turning your face from side to side. “And all while not understanding the spell that you are reading. How long have you been studying?”

You can’t do the math under this kind of pressure. You flounder for a moment, trying to calculate something that normally you can just say off the top of your head. “I-I’m just an apprentice. I still have- I have to take the advanced courses. I have years to go before I’m licensed, even more while I, um…do internships for- for practical experience. This is the four- fifth summoning I’ve done.” And only the second unsupervised. You’ve ruined your perfect track record.

“Hmmm... Is anyone aware of your abilities?” 

You shake your head. 

Nightmare’s claw moves up to your cheek, lightly tracing down it. It follows the curve of your jaw before he places it above your heart. 

“Perfect. You will not speak of your magic talents with anyone but myself.” The command settles cold and heavy in your chest. A curse. “I propose a deal, mageling. I will share my knowledge of magic with you. In exchange you will be bound to me.” 

You stare at him, voice once again lost. 

“You may decline, of course.” He says it like it’s the easiest thing in the world to refuse him. As though you’re not currently at his mercy. “But you will forget this meeting and what you have learned about your magic. In addition I will seal your mana at normal levels. You will not be able to make the same mistakes again.” That doesn’t sound that bad. You’ve gotten by this far without knowing the extent of your skills. Losing something you didn’t know you had isn’t a terrible price to escape your current predicament. But… the allure of being taught magic by someone as powerful as Nightmare... 

Many mages have made deals with demons in exchange for knowledge and power. Historically, they’re the most notable ones. It’s taboo but their contributions to magic can’t be understated. You’re sure many of the other fondly-remembered historically significant mages just managed to keep their dark dealings a secret. 

You can’t believe you’re considering it.

“What would… being bound to you entail?” That’s the only caveat, you should know what you’d be getting into.

Nightmare seems pleased. His voice dips into a purr that makes your stomach flip. “You will be claimed as mine. You will never have to fear the threat of another demon– none would dare to accost someone bearing my mark. I will be able to find and come to you no matter where you are. In turn, you will be able to call for me.” You furrow your eyebrows. That sounds an awful lot like– “Yes, little bird. A bond of the soul.” 

That’s a lot. That’s a massive commitment. Not the worst thing he could ask for. But… why would he want to be bonded to you?

You’re incredulous. Curiosity and confusion momentarily overpowers your fear. “What would you get out of something like that?” 

Nightmare’s gaze is unwavering and intense, the bright cyan light in his socket keeping you transfixed. “You.” He pulls you closer. “You are far more valuable than you realise. I want to make you mine.”

He wants you as a tool. A weapon. 

But you would learn so much. You could become the most powerful mage in the world. Your potential is more than you ever conceived. Are you willing to lose that, now that you know just how far you could go? 

Are you willing to give yourself to an archdemon to achieve it?

“Your life will remain largely unchanged. You may continue your tutelage with your mentors. I will give you access to tomes and scrolls you would otherwise never obtain, and visit on occasion to teach you what cannot be learned from self-study. You will still be free to do as you wish.” His eyelight glints mischievously. “Mostly. I will require you to fulfill some tasks every now and again.” 

You bite your lip. You’re still considering it. Even after knowing the consequences. 

Forget everything or become bound to an archdemon forever. 

“The bond. How would you…” You trail off, cheeks warming somewhat. You’re not even sure how to phrase the question. You’re almost afraid to ask.

“Ah.” Nightmare traces your cheek again. You can’t help but enjoy the cool feeling of his bones on your flushed skin. You resist the urge to lean into it. “I am Incubus, little bird. That seems fairly obvious.” 

Your face erupts into a furious blush. That’s what you thought. You can’t say the thought is unpleasant. The opposite, even. You ignore the way your thighs press together the more your mind wanders down that train of thought.

“I… can I have time to think about it?” Your mind is racing. There are so many things to consider.

Your options are limited; accept or forget and have your potential limited. What are you willing to do to become more than you’ve ever thought yourself capable? Are you willing to be stifled to return to the status quo?

“This is not an offer I will make more than once. You must choose now.” Nightmare unwinds his tentacles from around you, gently setting you on the floor. They remain curled around you—you’re under no illusion of real freedom—but you’re no longer constricted. He holds out a hand to you, palm upwards, silver rings glinting in the soft light of the moon. “What is your answer?”

[alcoholfreenayeon]

What about some Jihyo x actor fem!reader fluff please! Maybe there’s been rumors that the two have been seeing each other for a while after meeting at an event. Pictures of the two taken from a far hanging out and eating at restaurants. Then the reader is in an upcoming major film and one of the premieres is in Seoul and Twice is invited to attend. Just some cute stuff like the two making small gestures like eye contact and smiling at each other across the red carpet or being seen taking photobooth pictures at the after party. Please and thank you hehe :)

AN: sorry for the long wait anon. Hope you like this!

Jihyo x Actor Fem!Reader

Caught in the Act

It’s always a good day when you are on a date with your lovely girlfriend especially when she’s none other than Park Jihyo herself. Add to that the pleasant weather and the good food that’s about to be served, life doesn’t get much better than this really.

So, how’s your day been darling?, “Jihyo interrupts your thoughts, her cute smile sparking with curiosity.

“Well, you know the initial reaction to the movie as been much better than expected from the critics so I think this might be it, my introduction to the world.” You couldn’t help but feel extremely proud. This was your potential breakthrough after all. You hear your phone go off a few times but ignore it and continue, “Then there’s the premier coming up in a few days and as you would have found out yesterday, Twice are invited!”.

Jihyo smiles sweetly and proudly as she listens to you be so happy. “Yea I got the invitations yesterday, why didn’t you tell me about that before!, she pouts.

“I wanted to surprise you”, you tease, glancing at your phone again as another bunch of notifications pop off.

“Ah well it was a very pleasant surprise!” Jihyo almost squealed. “I’m so happy for you”. She paused for a moment as your notifications went crazy yet again. “Ooohhh, the premier hasn’t even happened and miss y/n has become such a busy star already.” She teased with a wink.

“Ugh I’m so sorry about this”, you say sincerely deciding to check what the issue is, “I don’t know why……oh….no…..”, you mild annoyance slowly turns to dread as you look through your notifications. You’ve been tagged in social media posts, your manager has been messaging you, media agencies have been messaging you, fans have been messaging you with the only common denominator being some pictures. Pictures of you and Jihyo from yesterday, last month and other times when the two of you met recently. Your eyes scanning the same words in all of the messages

Caught

Dating

Exposed

Scandal

Your hands start to shake as you realize the ramifications this could potentially have. Suddenly the relaxing atmosphere of the restaurant felt very tense, the glass walls made you feel exposed and the other people here made you nervous. You felt absolutely terrified, your personal life, your career and your girlfriend’s career were all at stake here. As scared as you were right now, it was important to begin damage control as soon as possible. You look at Jihyo who was resting her head in her hand glancing at you seriously while using her phone presumably waiting for you to be done. She probably knows by now as well since she’d likely have been contacted as well.

Taking a deep breath, you grab her hand and quickly drag her, away from the windows, away from the people to the closest secluded area you could find…which happened to be the bathroom. Pushing Jihyo inside, your close the door, wait a few seconds and peek out to see if anyone saw you two come here.

“We need to hurry, someone might come in”,

You nod in agreement and sigh in relief to see no activity you turn back to Jihyo only to see that she has lifted up her top, her breasts exposed and was in the process of pulling down her pants, her cheeks slightly red and her face full of excitement.

“What the HELL are you doing????”, you ask in astonishment.

“What do you think love”, Jihyo flirts squeezing her tits together with a wink.

“Jeez! That’s not why I brought you here!”, you reply, your cheeks flushing. “Put your clothes back on! Someone might walk in!”

“Ahhn what’s going on with you”, Jihyo protests, feeling confused and a bit disappointed.

“They found out.”, you say grimly. “I’ve been getting a lot of messages and there’s pictures circulating and everyone is talking about a potential scandal and-”

“Whoa whoa, calm down. What are you talking about? People found out?”

“I don’t know how? I’ve been receiving so many messages and….didn’t you see it?”

“I keep my notifications off….”

You show her what you’ve found out and Jihyo looks worried now.

“Im surprised, I thought we were quite careful. Maybe we got a bit sloppy recently but for now…..Ok, I think we go back home for now, talk with our companies and then see if we need to address this publicly”, Jihyo says seriously.

You take a deep breath and nod. You let Jihyo leave first and wait about 10 minutes before you go back as well. You didn’t have the courage to check your phone again and were fearing the worst.

On your way back, you called your manager to ask what was going to happen and were a bit relieved to find out that all mostly speculation but the fact that two of five pictures had captured Jihyo and your face cleanly and it was obvious that it was the two of you. Your manager informs you that as of now it would be viable to keep quiet and then the company can say the two of you are friends hanging out, but this stance could change depending on the reaction of the general public. It was too soon to gauge the true reaction of the people right now and it would take a few more hours to assess the situation more accurately.

You spent the next few hours watching some Netflix, trying to distract yourself from the drama till you got further news from the agency. It wasn’t very effective though since your thoughts kept drifting back to it. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity you got a call from your manager, no, it’s Jihyo. You take a deep breath and answer the call,

“Hey”

“hey….”

“did you see it?”, she asks with a hint of excitement in her voice.

“what? See what?”, you question back, confused.

“Open your socials, see what everyone has been saying”

You do as she says and immediately come across a barrage of negative threads about the two of you which only reaffirms your fears but as you keep scrolling through you are completely surprised to find out that despite the initial outrage the fans and public are actually overwhelming supportive of you and Jihyo.

“I never thought Y/N had rizz like that to pull Jihyo!”

“Jihyo is so real for going for Y/N”

“Just based off the photos I can tell these two are so cute together”  

“NOW I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THEM AT THE PREMIERE”

You didn’t know how to react now. People were seeming for rooting for you both but what does it really mean you and Jihyo got away with it? That there wouldn’t be any real consequences? It seems too good to be true.

“Hellooo are you still there Y/n?”

You were so relieved that you had completely forgotten you were on a call with Jihyo. “Y-yeah, I’m still here.”

“Everyone from my side thinks that everything will be more or less alright since people aren’t very angry about it.”

Hearing Jihyo say those words meant a lot and you felt a lot less tense now and were a bit more relaxed. “That’s so good to hear. I still haven’t heard anything from my side, so I hope they tell me the same soon.”

By the next morning your agency had assured you that everything was fine and there would be no major problems. With only two days left for the premiere, time seemed to fly by. Mostly due to how hectic and busy things had been for you but also partly because you were quite nervous about it all.

Finally, the day of the premiere arrived, the whole morning was nerve wrecking, you just kept thinking of all the ways that things could go wrong. Thankfully you managed to get it under control as the day went on until it was actually time for the premiere. When you arrived at the red carpet the first thing that you noticed was the sheer number of people present. Were they all there for you? That seemed entirely insane to you, maybe your driver messed up and now you were at the wrong place and now you were going to get embarrassed when you end up missing your own premiere. However, as soon as you got out of the car, you were absolutely hounded by the crowd of people. They seemed to be speaking in sync, but you couldn’t make out a single word with all the noise. After the initial excitement wore out you could finally make out some of the questions and began to answer them.

Just as you were beginning to get comfortable, the crowd goes wild again as someone else arrives at the carpet. As the car door opens, time seems to slow down and steps out Jihyo looking absolutely gorgeous, her hair perfect, her smile making you feel weak even if it wasn’t directed at you. She greets the crowd as the rest of Twice step out. You were still mesmerized when you snapped out of it realizing that a lot of eyes were still on you. Your cheeks began to flush a bit as you tried to act like it was nothing. Some people in the crowd seemed to have caught on and you could hear a few ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’. Pretending like you didn’t hear them, you decided to move on.

As the rest of the cast turns up, time seems to fly by and before you know it, it’s time to watch the premiere. Everything was going well, in fact every time you appeared in a scene a certain section of the crowd a few rows behind you seemed to cheer loudly. Only when the interval began, and the lights turned on did you realize the loud section of fans were sitting near Jihyo. You didn’t really know how to feel about this. It was kinda sweet maybe-

Your thoughts were interrupted as she made her way towards you flashing you a quick smile before heading to the snack bar. Even though you were quite relaxed on the outside, that small smile from Jihyo made you feel really warm and fuzzy on the inside. You followed her to the snack bar, greeting some fans along the way before stopping next to her. The two of you looked at each other for a moment, smiled and then turned away ordering snacks.

Of course, you wanted to kiss her, but this was NOT the place for that despite the fans seemingly egging the two of you to do something. Coincidentally you both ended up walking back together which caused some whooping from the crowd causing both of you to blush a little while making your way back to the seats.

The rest of the premiere went quite smoothly, and the people absolutely loved it, and you couldn’t be prouder of your work. You ended up taking pictures with each fan in the premiere. While you were about to exit, you were pulled in by Jihyo who told you to keep quiet and that she wanted you to follow her out the back.

“I want you all to myself for some time now”, Jihyo says endearingly. You have no complains, in fact this was exactly what you wanted as well. While the rest of Twice and the movie cast were a bit confused at the disappearances of their members, both groups were busy enough to not put two and two together.

[shikai-the-storyteller]

For everyone asking "What do you MEAN Cucurucho might've been reset / replaced / had his memory erased?!?!" we actually have strong evidence that this has happened at least once.

Roier had a very close playful relationship with Cucurucho in the beginning of the series. However, on Day 4, Roier and Cucurucho have a fight and Roier (half-jokingly) says “You know what Osito Bimbo, you know what? I’m tired of you treating me badly. You and I are no longer friends,” and dramatically logs out.

This is the last time we see "our" Cucurucho.

On Day 5, Cucurucho left Roier this message:

Translation: 0037 [Roier's ticket #] Through this I want to express my most sincere apologies for treating you as a slave. We are sorry for any discomfort I may have caused you. We hope you continue to enjoy the island at its best. You won’t see me, but I will see you. Best regards, Federal QSMP Commission

There are a few things weird about this message, namely the fact that it's signed by the Federal QSMP Commission. (It's worth noting that upon seeing this message, Roier says “No! No!!! I want to keep seeing you Osito!” and responds to that message with "Hello my dear Osito Bimbo :) I like you, please keep showing up. And that’s all, uwu."

Day 10:

Cucurucho comes back, but he isn't the same. Cucurucho keeps his distance from Roier, refusing to answer his questions or acknowledge why he hasn't been visiting like usual.

Roier: Do you not like me anymore?

Cucurucho: …

Roier: Do you not like me anymore? I thought we… I thought we were buddies.

Cucurucho: Maybe. I don’t know.

[ A short time later, Roier sings and does a little dance for Cucurucho that he's done before ]

Roier: – And that’s how it went. Huh? Don’t you remember? How come you don’t remember? Those were good times, when we spent time together! How come you don’t remember? Remember!!!!

Cucurucho: I don’t know. (It repeats this several times)

Roier begs him not to leave again, refusing to abandon him even when Cucurucho fires several warning shots. Eventually Cucurucho runs off where Roier can't follow.

Day 32:

Roier encounters Cucurucho, and yet again asks Cucurucho why he stopped visiting. [Timestamp: 2h 41m]

Roier: Where were you all that time? Why did you stop talking to me? Why did you leave my life?

Cucurucho: Classified.

Roier: Cucurucho, Cucurucho, Osito Bimbo, why did you stop talking to me? [...] Did you leave because you had to, or did you leave because they made you? What happened?

Cucurucho: …

Roier: I already know what happened, I know what happened. It was Mariana, Mariana bothered you and told you, “YOU LIKE ROIER, you like him, you like Roier!” Right? Was that it?

Cucurucho: [ Turns away and hangs its head ]

When Cucurucho starts to leave at the arrival of Bad and Dapper, Roier says: "If you want to leave, you can leave if you don’t love me anymore, it’s ok."

But Cucurucho stays (that is, until Bad starts being a "nosy gossip" and tries to get too close to see what's happening).

Day 34:

Roier has a private conversation with Bobby sharing his thoughts on the sudden change he's seen in Cucurucho. [Timestamp: 3h 57m 45s]

"I think Cucurucho is sad. It’s just that, I remember I used to hang out with him a lot when I first came to this Island. I hung out with him a lot. He always came to see me and help me. But from one moment to the next, I realize that he had changed. He stopped being so kind to me."

A lot of people theorize that the inhabitants of the Island have missing memories because of the Federation (which has been more or less confirmed since so many of them can't remember things that happened before coming to Quesadilla Island), and with this information, I think it's safe to say that they aren't the only ones whose minds have been messed with.

So the question is: is this really our Cucurucho, or has he been replaced? Or has he merely had his memory wiped over and over again? And if his memory  was wiped: why? Is it because he upset an Islander, or is it because he's becoming too fond of Roier, and the Federation is worried that might affect Cucurucho’s ability to do his job?

If you're interested in learning more about the strange interactions Roier has had with Cucurucho, look here! I've compiled all of them since Day 1.

[oohnotvery]

Edges of the Night (Chapter 16)

**tw/cw implied suicidal thoughts**

Thank you so much for keeping up with this story   I loved writing that last chapter but truthfully, I haven’t had the stomach to read the comments yet because I’m scared!

In other news, one of my favorite characters to write is angry, outraged, incensed, deranged Scully. I think those were Gillian’s best moments on the show, and I can just picture her seething and frothing with fury here. I hope you enjoy my iteration of Angry Scully.

She didn’t mean to do it.

She didn’t mean to fall asleep.

She knew better than to let her guard down, not while Mulder was spouting off crazy things like your life will be better without me. But he had settled them so comfortably in the bed, forehead to forehead, and his arms had felt so good around her shoulders, and his breathing was so slow and steady in her ear, and her body was so exhausted from fighting for so long . . .

The moment she opens her eyes, Scully knows what he’s done.

She sits up so fast her vision blurs. She whips around to the other side of the bed, finding his place empty, gone cold many hours ago.

Panic, then fear, then anguish hit her like tidal waves, and then she’s sprinting through the upstairs rooms. He’s not anywhere to be found, so she flies downstairs, tripping over the last step. Alan appears out of nowhere and reaches out to steady her but she shakes him off.

She zeroes in on Frohike, who looks awfully suspicious leaning against the front door.

Indignation swells in her chest and she storms over to him, reaching out to yank him away. Her fingertips are just brushing the edge of his jacket when Byers throws an arm in between them, blocking her. Without thinking, her hand flies out and she smacks him across the cheek. Byers stumbles backward in shock and she gapes at him, surprised by her own actions.

A long moment passes where the entire room falls still with anticipation. Scully’s gaze locks onto Byers’ bewildered look, and as a red mark slowly starts to bloom across his cheek, she blinks.

“I’m so sorry,” she breathes.

He shakes his head slowly and raises a palm to his face, as if to check whether she really did slap him. His eyes turn somber. “No, we’re the ones who should be apologizing, Agent Scully.”

She glances around at Frohike and Langly, who are studying her with awkward, guilt-ridden looks. Sensing Alan and Skinner nearby, she twists around, seeing them standing shoulder-to-shoulder like a pair of soldiers. A low, boiling sensation curls hot in her belly.

Each and every one of these men betrayed her.

Each and every one of these men helped Mulder leave her.

“You have to tell me where he went,” she warns them all darkly, her voice trembling with rage. If Alan is put off by her intensity, he doesn’t show it.

Byers shakes his head remorsefully. “We don’t know.”

She turns on Frohike, stabbing a finger at his chest. “You have to know. If he were going to tell anyone where he was going, it would be you.” Her chest heaves and she sees a flutter of acknowledgement in Frohike’s eyes. She seizes on it. “You do know where he went, don’t you?” Her eyes turn feral, accusatory. She steps forward, pushing Byers aside. “Are you going to tell me, or am I going to have to shake it out of you?”

The little man looks momentarily alarmed, but then his face assumes a mask of composure. “I—I don’t know where he is,” he says weakly, “and I would do almost anything to take this pain from you,” he adds with sincerity. His brow creases in agony. “But I—I don’t know . . . .”

“You’re lying.”  

He shifts uncomfortably and she wonders if she really has it in her to hurt him, if she’s really willing to do that to get to Mulder.

“I won’t—I can’t—I don’t know where he is,” he repeats defeatedly, but he is unwilling to meet her gaze.

“Then you are dead to me,” she spits. Frohike’s eyebrows shoot up and she steps in closer, lowering her voice. “You think you know what’s best for Mulder? Or for me? Do you think Mulder gets to decide what’s best for my life? When am I going to get to make my own goddamn choices?” She whips around to face the rest of the room. “When are any of you going to realize that my life isn’t yours to manipulate?”

“Dana,” comes Alan’s soothing voice, and she draws in a lungful of air, willing herself to breathe. But there’s no air in this room. No air, no life, no hope. She turns over her shoulder to glance back at Frohike, whose face has turned pale with shame.

“I don’t know, Dana,” he finally whispers, and a flicker of doubt slides down her spine.

If Frohike isn’t lying—if he really doesn’t know where Mulder is—then there is no hope of ever seeing Mulder again.

Despair slips into her bones, begins to paralyze her muscles. Her vision spins and she takes a staggering step forward, pushing past Frohike to open the front door. Wintry air blasts her face as she stumbles down the porch steps and into the shelter of a grove of pine trees. She glances up at the darkening sky through tired eyes and prays for night to consume her. And then she turns her back on the house and throws up.

**

The plan is simple.

Skinner delivers the details to her a few hours after she storms out of the house, but only after trying and failing to get her to eat. He doesn’t bother apologizing or even acknowledging her anger. Instead, he is all FBI boss, briefing her on the facts and only the facts.

In the morning, he will drive her and Alan to the nearest regional airport, where they will board a plane for San Diego and, as Skinner shares through gritted teeth, “return to your normal lives.” To appease friends, family, work, the media, and the shadowy cohort of villains that has done this to her, Scully will sit for one short press briefing about her recent experience. She will tell the world that Fox Mulder kidnapped her and that once he was apprehended, he took his own life. If asked about her own gunshot wound, she will say Mulder inflicted it upon her.

She closes her eyes at this detail. It is beyond excruciating to think about publicly blaming Mulder for her suffering.

Skinner, she learns, is expected to return to the FBI as if nothing happened. He doesn’t offer up the details of his own experience and she doesn’t press.

She doesn’t really care, not about him, and certainly not about the Gunmen. When they try to bid her goodbye the next morning, she refuses to acknowledge them beyond a curt nod. She knows she should thank them for saving her life, for helping them get to safety, for providing a safe house in Montana, for coming to her rescue in the hospital . . . but she can barely look at them, much less speak. She’s afraid if she does open her mouth, it’ll be just to blast them all with another angry tirade.  

But she’s operating on pure tunnel-vision. All she can see is Mulder, alone in this great vast world, alone in his suffering, never to see her ever again.

**

It’s Scully’s fifth time going down to the beach this week. She’s exhausted and her body needs rest, but she every time she closes her eyes, she sees Mulder. It’s been a week since she left the house out in West Virginia, a week since she and Alan flew back to San Diego.

Her life has been intolerable since returning: an unbearable press conference followed by a visit from her mother, an awkward phone call with her boss about taking leave. Oh, and then whatever happened last night.

Alan has visited her apartment every day since they returned to the west coast. He’s been good to her in a way that she hadn’t anticipated, especially since her behavior has been objectively unpleasant. First, the poor man was an unknown onlooker during her heartfelt reunion with Mulder; then he witnessed her enraged outburst at the house; and now that they’re back home, he’s got a front-row seat to her complete physical and emotional withdrawal.

But it hasn’t stopped him from bringing food over every night, or from running to the store for pain meds when her shoulder injury brings her to tears, or from filling her prescription antibiotics, or from driving her to the press briefing, or from changing the channel anytime the news mentions Mulder.

He hasn’t pressed her for anything, not for reciprocity, not for physicality, not for intimacy, not even for conversation. She assumes he’s anxious to return to the way things were between them, but her body feels more closed off than ever. Every night after he leaves, she cranks up the shower and slips inside to cry. Alan hasn’t so much as touched her hand since they left the home in West Virginia.

But tonight as he was preparing to leave, he took a step into her and gave her a quick, friendly parting hug. Their bodies didn’t even touch; just a brief touch of his arms around her shoulders. But it startled her so badly that she jerked away, and then watched with a sense of uncertainty as he apologized, then left.

Simply put, she isn’t ready for another man to touch her body. She’s relieved he hasn’t tried to kiss her. Even though she knows it’s absurd to want this for the rest of her life, she wants Mulder’s lips to be the last hers ever touch.

After Alan leaves, she debates slipping into the shower and giving into the desire to purge her emotions with a long cry. But tonight, the hug seems to have left her bereft, and a shower sounds emotionally exhausting. Instead, she tries to sleep, but like every night, rest doesn’t come easy. She’s considering taking a dose of the sleeping pills she used to rely on so heavily, but something about the prospect of drugging herself has been off-putting since she returned. So instead, after an hour of tossing and turning, she slips into sandals, loose pants, and a sweater, and heads down to the beach, just like she has every night for the past few days.

Her emotions confuse her as much as they overwhelm her. She knows, logically, that her brain is trying to process trauma. She recognizes the symptoms, knows that this vacillation between numbness and hyperarousal is normal. She recognizes that the ping-ponging between disconsolate grief and gut-wrenching anger is also normal. She also recognizes that her anger feels better than her grief, and so she nurses the anger whenever it comes up.

As she stomps down the sand towards the ocean, she feels overcome with fury. Fury towards Mulder, who once again decided he knew best. Fury towards Skinner and Frohike for the same reason. Fury towards Alan for touching her tonight. And most agonizingly, fury towards herself for falling asleep the day Mulder left.

Here on the beach, her muscles tense as that fury washes over her, as it burns through her system. It leaves her gasping aloud and clenching her fists so tightly that her skin breaks under her sharp nails.

The fury sings through her so fast and so feverishly that she keels over, clutching at her aching stomach. She knows she can’t go on like this. The rage inside her is exhausting.

She’s staring down at the waves lapping at her feet when it hits her—for the hundredth time this week—that she may never see Mulder again. That, even if she spent the rest of her life searching for him, she may never find him. As this thought overwhelms her, her anger slowly starts to morph into agony. She pushes at that feeling—no, go away—because while the anger is exhausting,the heartache is literally unbearable. She knows she cannot let herself give into her anguish. But before she can tame the thoughts and feelings whirling in her mind, her body catches up to her grief, and sweat breaks out along the back of her neck. She collapses to her knees. Waves crash around her legs and waist and saltwater stings at the small cuts on her palms. Her eyes burn.  

How is she supposed to go on? What does life even look like without Mulder?

A strangled laugh escapes her. Hell, just a few weeks ago, there was a perfectly clear, perfectly pleasant answer to that question. Life without Mulder looked like Alan, and beach life, and a stable job, and California. Life without Mulder looked like sleeping pills at night, a mental blockade in her mind, and a heart that was partially stonewalled.

And then Mulder re-entered her conscious mind, and now here she is, as bereft as a grieving widow, lonely, heartbroken, angry, disconsolate. A large part of her wishes that he had never tried to save her life in the first place.

What is my life without him in it?

Scully stares out at the sea and her thoughts drift to another lifetime, to all the times she watched her mother valiantly hold back tears as her father sailed away. Her father dictated her mother’s life and emotions for so long. He called the shots with his comings and goings. And Maggie Scully was always expected to accept his choices.

A wave laps at her wrists and Scully’s mind starts to shift, to turn. Why is she, too, letting these men control so much of her life? What if she told them—all of them, Skinner, Mulder, the Gunmen, the super-villains who wanted Mulder dead—that her life is her own? That her choices are hers to make? That she’s in control of her own narrative?

Fuck you, living out the “normal life” that Mulder so desperately thinks she needs.  

Fuck you, California and Alan and a prosperous career as a doctor.

Fuck you, a life built on choices other people made for her.

She stares out at the deep, dark, ocean, and begins to imagine the weight of the waves gliding over her body, begins to fantasize about the calm, peaceful pull of the sea as she slips down, down, down.

She could do it, right here, right now. She could wade out into the ocean and make her own fate. This time, the choice could be hers. Slowly, she rises to her feet and takes a step deeper into the sea. The waves pull at her knees, like they’ve heard her thoughts and relish the idea of this sailor’s daughter joining them in the saltwater depths.

How else can she take back control? she thinks erratically. Is this really the only way?

She stands in the breakers for a long time, so long that the moon rises above her head and tiny fish start to nip at her ankles. Everything and nothing pass through her mind. The hopelessness of her future, the grief that will follow her wherever she goes.

Will her life be bearable?

Grief is a noose around her neck, dragging her deeper into the water. And then, out of nowhere, she feels it. The tiniest, most insignificant trickle of hope.

Because Mulder isn’t dead, nor are they estranged. He’s out there in the world, alive and in love with her, and that means she can find him. As long as she’s alive, she can spend the rest of her life looking for him. And for a few critical moments, this faint sliver of hope is enough.

With one last look at the sea, she drags her feet out of the heavy, wet sand and slowly, resolutely walks back to the beach.

[pimosworld]

The ties that bind

Pairing-Dave York x f!reader x Frankie Morales

Series summary- Dave is a private investigator who tracks down soulmates. He’s tasked to find Frankie’s, but what happens when he finds you and wants you all to himself?

CW-18+,MDNI,NSFW, angst,fluff,(m) masturbation,talks of loss of a parent and spouse, kissing,lots of music references, PTSD,slow burn

WK-7.9k

A/N- If I knew what was going to happen with Dave and Frankie I’d tell you but I don’t yet. Santi and Alicia (that’s all I’m going to say). Reader has some tough decisions to make.

[Series Masterlist][Main Masterlist]

Not beta read

Chapter IV

You were starting to worry that Dave hadn’t contacted you since your lunch date. He didn’t really owe you anything. As much work as you’ve done on yourself you can’t quell those thoughts that run wild. What had you done wrong? He seemed genuinely interested in you, but maybe you were reading too much into things. 

  Your shirt clings to your sweaty skin, another unbearable hot and humid Florida day. The only difference is the store ac went out again and the repair man won’t be able to come in for a few days. 

Your current predicament is the only distraction from your own mind threatening to drive you crazy. 

  You contemplate closing the store for the day as you stare up at the poor excuse for a ceiling fan. Slowly whirling the warm tepid air amongst the room. The sound of the soft crackle of the speaker can be heard signaling the record is done but the back of the store might as well be a mile away. 

  Your phone buzzes and you glance down seeing Dave’s name on the Lock Screen. Part of you wants to ignore it but you told yourself you would work on not getting upset over trivial things. 

  “Hello.”

  “Hi hummingbird.” He sounds a little distressed and you prepare yourself for the let down. “I’m sorry I haven’t called…or texted.”

  “Mmm.” 

  “There was an emergency and I had to go home. I know that’s no excuse but I want you to know that I’m sorry and I’d like to see you again when I get back.” It’s all rushed out like he’s out of breath but he sounds sincere. 

  You were honestly expecting him to ignore you and the apology is something foreign to you. Taking accountability is admirable….but. 

  “Did Mrs. Dave need you home with the kids?” You hate the bitterness in your tone but the heat and your emotions are running high. 

  He sighs deep on the other end. “I know you have no reason to believe me. I’m not married and there’s no one waiting for me at home.” As much as it hurts to say out loud it’s the truth. “My last name is York by the way.”

  “I’m sorry.” You let out an exasperated breath. “I don’t mean to be so crass. I really like you and that scares me because I know next to nothing about you.” 

  “If you give me a chance I promise I’ll tell you everything.” You can sense the desperation in his voice. “I actually have something planned for you if you’d like to spend some time with me tomorrow night?” 

  It’s sweet that he’s already thought of you. You really want to see him again and you know Alicia will be busy with Santiago anyway. You hope what you’re feeling are the good kind of butterflies at the prospect of spending more time with him. 

  “Okay…I like surprises.” Your voice perks up a little at the end. 

  “Great, I’ll meet you at the store at 7. It’s not a far walk from there.” 

  You’re curious and excited as to where you’re going. You find yourself nervously fidgeting with the hem of your shirt as you wait for one of you to hang up. 

  “I’m gonna hang up first so we don’t end up doing the thing.” You hear him chuckle on the other end with a faint ‘bye hummingbird’ before you end the call. 

  ****

  Frankie has had a day to calm down and clear his head. He decided against Santiago being his lookout for Dave. He wanted to have this experience all on his own without the threat of an altercation or further involving Santi who is now majorly distracted. 

  Santi and his connections called in an anonymous tip about Dave’s house being compromised which will surely put him out of commission for a few days. 

  Plenty of time for Frankie to swoop in and have you forget all about Dave. 

  It’s really so simple…he just needs to tell you who he is, how he met Dave and leave the ball in your court. Things aren’t ever really that simple. 

  It stings a little as he exits route forty one and sees the ‘Welcome to Naples’ sign. You were right under his nose but you might as well have been on the other side of the world. What were the odds that he’d ever find himself here let alone walking into the place you worked. One in a million he thinks. 

  He cranks up the ac in his Jeep as if that’s going to quell the heat trying to penetrate his skin through the windows. He probably should’ve done his hair instead of wearing his hat but now his sweat soaked curls are trapped underneath. 

  He subconsciously brushes his thumb along the roses where his ring used to be as he sits on the street where you work. His fingers tapping some song that’s been stuck in his head against the steering wheel as he practices what he’s going to say to you. 

  Fuck it just go

  The sun beats down on him as he slams the door to his Jeep and crosses the cobblestone street. He takes a few deep breaths not quite the way his therapist instructed but close enough as the window with the plants comes into view. 

  He had a plan to peruse the store if you were busy with other customers. He had a general outline of how he would approach you if you were alone in the store. He was however not prepared for the sight of you standing at the window as you flipped the closed sign. 

  ****

  You can’t take this anymore, it’s too hot and no one has come in for hours. Your boss can shove it for all you care. He can’t even be bothered to check in once a month. Closing up shop and going to the beach with Alicia sounds like a much better way to spend your afternoon. 

  You peel yourself off the chair at the front desk and grab your purse. As you flip the closed sign on the window you lock eyes with a rather handsome and distressed looking man. 

  He looks like he’s seen a ghost as he scrubs his hand behind his neck nervously. You’re not sure when the record store became a beacon for hot middle aged men but today was certainly not the day to entertain anymore. You hastily fix your hair and smooth out your shirt, while trying to put on your brightest smile. 

  “I’m sorry, we’re closing early. The ac is on the fritz and I just can’t sit here anymore.” You’re not sure he heard you as you wait for him to respond. “If you…want to come back tomorrow I can set something aside for you?” 

  “You’re so beautiful.” He says like he’s in awe as you give him an inquisitive look. 

  “I think we have that one,it’s just not available as a single. You’d have to buy the album.” He laughs as he realizes what he’s just said out loud. 

  “I ugh…sorry. I meant…never mind.” Fuck he’s totally bombing this. “You know I can take a look at it if you want. I’m pretty good with my hands.” That sounds worse than he intended but he can’t stop the words before they leave his mouth. 

  You glance over your shoulder at the empty store as you bite your lip. 

  He seems to notice your apprehension. “I’m not a creep or anything.” He takes off his hat running his fingers through his gorgeous curls. 

  “Hmmm, that sounds like something a creep would say.” You grin at him and lean back against the door signaling for him to come in. “I would appreciate it honestly, I have no idea when they’ll be able to come take a look. Then I’ll have to wait for approval to have it fixed and it’s just a whole thing.” You stop your incessant rambling when you see him taking in the surroundings. 

  His hands are on his hips as he stares at the posters on the wall. He’s broad and his shirt stretches taught along his back. He rolls his shoulders and turns to see you still standing in the doorway gawking. 

  Now who’s being a creep

  You clear your throat and fix your face to a neutral expression as you gesture for him to follow you toward the back. 

  Goosebumps trail along your arms as you walk in front of him, it’s assuredly not cold enough to cause such a sensation. His cologne and sweat is flooding your senses… perhaps you’re ovulating or something similar to desperation. 

  “You’re gonna have to talk handyman, I can’t stand the silence.” You tease as you peer at him over your shoulder. “Or maybe I can put some music on. What’s your preference?” 

  He tries not to focus on the way your hips sway when you walk and of course any music he’s ever listened to has left his brain entirely. 

  “Queen.” He blurts out and you laugh. It’s so disarming he relaxes his shoulders a bit. The letters of the cities are hard to make out on the back of your shirt but he can tell it’s Queen from the design. 

  “You cheated handyman.” Your voice drops to a flirtatious tone that he can’t ignore. You lift the dust cover and place a gently used record into a sleeve of The Essential Mozart.

  He leans on the table next to you, so close his breath ghosts over your neck. “So you're a classical gal.” 

  You snort as you raise your eyebrows. “No one’s ever called me a gal. And yes I enjoy the occasional Mozart, Debussy, Bach—.”

  “Okay now you’re just showing off.” You notice the dimple in his cheek when he says it and the way his arms look as he fold them across his chest. 

  “I’ve gotta put this useless music degree to some use.” You absentmindedly thrum through the records on the display until you find the one you want. “ aha…Queens greatest hits.” 

  He scoffs as he takes it from your hands. “I would hardly say it’s useless by the collection in your store.” He flips it over and gives you a questionable look. “And I would hardly call these the greatest hits.” 

  You snatch it back as you narrow your eyes. “Not my store. Although I’ve dreamt of running my own.” 

  Noted 

  A momentary glossy expression crosses your face as you carefully place it on the cloth. He watches as you delicately handle each piece like you’re plating a five star meal. You gingerly place the stylus on the edge as he hears the  familiar sound of record buzzing just before the music starts. 

  Is this the real life?

Is it just fantasy?

Caught in a landslide no escape from reality 

  You turn to him, arms crossed mirroring his stance as you lean into the table. A bead of sweat glides down your neck as he follows it to the v in your top before his eyes meet you again. 

  Open your eyes

Look up to the skies and see

  He throws his hands up in mock surrender. “Fine, I stand corrected. But you have to admit there’s a few questionable picks here.” 

  You brush past him and he gets a whiff of something strawberry, maybe your shampoo. “I’ll admit it when you fix my ac handyman.” You wink and he’s no longer disguising that he’s checking you out because you’ve been shamelessly checking him out since he stepped foot inside. 

  He follows you into a small stock room, mostly empty boxes and a shelving rack with old paint and a few picture frames. He can see the old unit in the corner as you bend over to open the side panel. Fuck. You’re making it very hard for him to keep his mind in an appropriate place as you stand and wipe your hands along the back of your jeans. 

  “I’ll be honest, I have no idea what I’m looking at. I’ll get out of your way.” It’s too small in here as you awkwardly maneuver past him and he brushes against you murmuring apologies as you hold your breath. 

  He somehow already found a flashlight amongst the odds and ends on the shelf as he crouches down to take a look inside. You watch the way his shirt lifts up slightly revealing a small sliver of skin on his back. 

  “Now who’s being quiet.” His muffled voice comes from inside the unit. 

  “I just didn’t want to be a distraction while you’re working.” You hear an uncomfortable grunt as he sits back on his heels. He smirks at your stance as you lean casually on the wall with a perfect view of his ass. 

  “Mhm I’m sure…” He turns his hat around and it somehow gets impossibly hotter. “Listen, you can distract me all you want if you happen to have a screwdriver?” 

  You chew on your lip as you think and then start rummaging through the shelves when you find one amongst an abandoned project. 

  “Will this work?” You hand him a flat head and he looks particularly pleased as he takes it from you. 

  “This is somehow exactly what I need.” He resumes his work and you wince as you hear some questionable noises coming from within. “There’s just some ice build up on the evaporator coils.” His voice raises a little so you can hear him over the sounds of ice chipping from metal. 

  “Whatever you say handyman.” You pull out your phone to check the latest text from Alicia. You’ve been giving her subtle updates just in case he decided to turn into a weirdo. 

  “Francisco.” He says as your finger hovers over the send button of your last text. You watch him rise and lift his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. 

  You’re staring at the way his soft belly dips into the front of his jeans. You wonder what it would feel like to run your fingers along the seam of his boxers. 

  “Breaker?” The corners of his lip curl up into a smile as he catches you mid thought. “I need to see if this worked.” 

  “Sure ya…right over here.” You stammer out as you point him to the small box on the wall. 

  He flips a few switches and the sound you make when the air comes out of the vents is bordering on sinful. 

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” You’re ecstatic and he’s got that satisfied look on his face with just a tinge of pride. 

  It’s a flicker of a moment as he hands the screwdriver back to you. Your heart feels like it’s going to beat out of your chest when you see it. 

Distinctly your hummingbird tattoo on the inside of his right wrist. There’s no way he can’t know. Things were too easy with him, it’s almost laughable that it feels just like they said it would. 

  You turn to leave and stumble searching for the door handle, he pulls you back just as you're about to faceplant. “Slow down there. I can’t fix you if you break.” His voice in your ear and his hands on your waist…it’s all too much. 

  “Sorry I’m a little clumsy at times.” You grip the handle with an unsteady hand as you step out into the hallway. “There is a bathroom at the end of the hall if you need to wash up.” He offers a polite thanks as he takes in the concerned look on your face. 

  ****

  He stares at his reflection in the small bathroom mirror wondering where he went wrong. Everything was going so well. It was almost too easy. Maybe he was coming on too strong. He takes off his hat and splashes some water on his face. He’s looked better, but he’s definitely looked worse. 

  Get it together Morales

  He sees you when he returns seated in the lounge chair. The music has stopped and your foot is nervously tapping on the floor as you finish texting and place your phone face down on the table. 

  Your face is expressionless as you look up at him. “Have a seat please.” 

  He’s trying to think of something to say but he’s lost for words. 

  You cautiously grab his hand as he sits in the chair next to you. “Can I see?” He nods and holds his breath as you turn his arm over. Goosebumps raise on his skin as your soft hands trace the patterns of the wings on his forearm. Your breathing hitches as a small jolt of electricity runs through his veins. 

  He notices the roses on your ring finger. Roses meant for someone else, yet they look so perfect on you. Like they were destined to be yours.

  “Why roses?” You say, your voice barely above a whisper. 

  He clears his throat and shifts in the chair. “They were my ex-wife's idea. I didn’t dislike them.” He sees your shoulders drop a little at the confession. 

“Why a hummingbird?” 

  He sees you smile then, while he waits for your answer. “My mom…she always said I had endless amounts of energy.” You tilt your head and point to his other arm. “What’s with the hawk?”

  He tenses a little and his fingers flex in your hand. “Sorry, if this is too much.” 

  “Don’t be.” He quickly interjects “I’ve wanted to know for so long…everything about you.” 

  “I don’t even know who you are.” You try to keep your voice steady as he stares at you with those deep brown eyes. “You don’t even know my name.” 

  You tell him then…he has to pretend it’s a name he hasn’t heard before. 

  How does he even begin to tell you? Telling you about Dave would ruin everything. 

  You stand from the chair before he has a chance to start. “Do you maybe want to talk about this over some drinks? I owe you at least for fixing the ac.” 

   He relaxes at that as the air of flirtatiousness returns to the room. “If you think I’m letting you pay you are sadly mistaken.” 

  In the few brief seconds you had to yourself, Alicia practically screamed at you to go for it. Her tone let on that she may know more than you think but you shelved that for the moment and decided to be spontaneous. 

  You hold your hand out. “Let's go handyman.” 

  He snickers under his breath. “How long are you going to keep calling me that?” 

  Your hand in his feels right as it should, when you lead him to the front of the store. Dropping it briefly to grab your purse and keys to lock up. 

  “I doubt Francisco is your real name, so we’ll see.” 

  ****

  After the initial shock wore off of learning that Santiago was the one who tipped him off to you, you settled into the idea of how nervous he must have been to approach you. 

  You’ve got a crash course over the last hour in Francisco Morales. He prefers Frankie and you think that suits him better. He was a helicopter pilot in the military but now he flies commercially. His apprehension when you first mentioned the Blackhawk tattoo was something he wasn’t sure he was ready to address with you. 

  The way you listened so intently to his story of how proud he was when he first joined, he left out some of the more gruesome details of his time in the service. When he retired he wanted to commemorate it somehow and you were the one that ultimately helped him with his decision. 

  Your hummingbird was your first tattoo, your mom actually let you get it when you were seventeen. It was one of the last things you did with her before she passed. Frankie wanted to match. The guys gave him shit for it but seeing the way your eyes lit up when he told you made it all worth it. The whole ‘birds of a feather’ sealed the deal. 

  This isn’t quite how Frankie thought he would be spending his afternoon. He followed you out the store as you confidently led him to one of your favorite spots along the beach. A small bungalow bar overlooking the shore. Despite you having told him you weren’t from here, you seem to be a regular. The older red haired waitress Trudy gestures to your usual spot that's open and sends a wink your way. 

  You ran through all of the stereotypical questions, favorite color, favorite movie, favorite food. Hobbies, dreams and aspirations. He didn’t laugh when you mentioned you were afraid of the dark. You didn’t laugh when he said he was afraid of the rain.

  You talked about your dream of owning your own music store, getting to curate things to your liking. Much like you did at your current job…but it didn’t belong to you. 

  Frankie didn’t necessarily give off rich guy vibes but he let on that money was no longer an issue. He recently became part owner of the company he currently flies for. 

  It’s so easy, like long lost friends catching up. The way you listen so intently as you rest your head on your hand. He catches you often looking out into the water like you’re waiting for something. 

  Maybe he’s trying to make up for lost time or perhaps he wants all his cards on the table in case you determine that his baggage is too much. You don’t really think it’s baggage when he tells you that he’s in recovery and his ex wife left him for her soulmate. He’s been putting in the work to better himself, and if she hadn’t left you would’ve never met him. 

  In between the plate of shared nachos and beers the conversation shifts to you. You decide since he’s shared such intimate details about his life that it’s only fair you return the favor. You tell him about your mom…the reason you believed in soulmates in the first place. Your mom and dad, highschool sweethearts. Somehow destined to spend the rest of their lives together. When she got sick it all happened so fast, too fast for you to come to terms with the fact that your dad had already moved on. 

  The idea of soulmates left a sour taste in your mouth after you moved out of your dad and step moms home to go to college. It’s why you think you were so inclined to not find yours. People fell in love everyday and lived happily ever after without theirs. 

  You and Frankie’s stories are so similar in some ways. 

  You signal for the bartender to bring you another round before you tell the rest of your story. A comfortable buzz runs through your veins as your foot brushes the inside of his calf under the table. 

  You gasp as he grabs your ankle and places it in his lap. “Ticklish?” You shake your head as he raises an eyebrow at you. His fingers trace the gun tattoo and your body betrays you as you nearly kick him in his stomach. “The jury's out, maybe I should keep testing.” 

  “No please.” You giggle and his hands travel further but stop just before the crook of your knee before he gently sets it back down. 

  “So…what kind of gun is that?” You ask cautiously as you tilt your leg to the side. 

  He sighs deep. “It’s an M sixteen…it was a dare.” He hangs his head a little, knowing how that must look on someone like you. 

  “Oh right of course.” You say sarcastically as Trudy drops your drinks off at the table. 

  “Can I get you two lovebirds anything else?” She clicks her pen to the pad as you both lock eyes and burst into laughter.

  “No Trudy, we're fine, thanks.” She sends you a mischievous smile as she tends to the other patrons. 

  His eyes widen as you take a rather large sip of your drink. He can tell you have something to say so he waits patiently as he takes you all in. The way you squint your eyes when you’re thinking, the way you tap your foot when you're nervous. How bright your smile is and how everyone you seem to cross paths with has a special connection with you. It’s why he’s not prepared when you tell him about your ex. 

  “The gun was the last straw.” You trace the lines of condensation on your glass. “He couldn’t take anymore reminders that I wasn’t his.” 

  “You don’t belong to anyone.” His voice is stern as he takes your hand. “I would say sorry but…it’s his loss.” He gently presses his lips to your fingers and you have to fight to keep yourself calm. 

  “Ya…hers too.” 

  You squeeze his hand as you take in a sharp breath. He sees it then, the thing you were waiting for. As the sun sets through the palm trees and the yellow bleeds into red and orange. It’s a task not to watch you instead of the aquamarine water and the gentle waves kissing the shore. 

  Something so simple, that so many people take for granted and he thinks this may be the most perfect day he’s ever had. 

  Without second guessing himself he leans in close. “It feels wrong if I don’t kiss you right now.” 

  Your face is mere inches from his and you’d be a fool not to admit that you wanted to kiss him in the stock room earlier. “What are you waiting for?” 

  His lips are soft against yours, it’s like he’s breathing you in with each passing second. Your hand plays with the curls at the nape of his neck as he cradles your jaw. You don’t care if anyone’s watching right now because you’ve dreamt of this moment a thousand times. It’s electric, sending a shiver down your spine and he groans as you pull away biting his bottom lip. 

  Your forehead rests against his as you catch your breath. “I didn’t want to give anyone a free show.” 

  He chuckles and pecks your lips one last time. “We certainly wouldn’t want that.” 

  ****

  The walk home felt like you were floating. His hand in yours as he tugged you close. Stealing kisses whenever he could. The heat of the day was long forgotten as the gentle breeze rolled in with nightfall. It scared you a little how fast you fell into this domestic bliss with someone you just met. But isn’t that how it’s supposed to feel? Isn’t that why people are made for each other? 

  As you approached your apartment you could see from below the light was on, no doubt Alicia waiting up for you to hear all about Frankie. 

  “Well this is me.” You point up to the loft as you await the dreaded conversation that you’ve been wanting to avoid all afternoon. 

  He can sense your shift in mood as you rock back and forth on your feet. 

  “Frankie I…really want to see you again. I want to see where this goes.” You sigh as you look down at the pavement. 

  He grabs your hands in his as he steps into your space. “But?” 

  “But I met someone recently. I’m supposed to see him tomorrow.” You shrug as you look up at him. “I’m not the type of person to just abandon something, it’s not in my nature to be that cruel. I want to at least see it through, even if that means I’m letting him down easy.” His face is unreadable as you wait for his response. 

  He swallows thick trying not to let on that his blood is boiling. He can’t tell you who Dave is, he’s too far gone. 

  His hands drift from yours as they travel up your arms, your heart rate picks up and your eyes are wide with desire. His large hand cradles your face as he caresses your jaw. “Like I said…you don’t belong to anyone. You’re free to do what you want, all I ask is that you give me a chance. Do you think you can do that?” The way he asks you and the look in his eyes you would say yes to anything. 

  You nod your head in his hand as he licks his bottom lip, still tasting your chapstick from earlier. “I wouldn’t mind something to think about on my date.” 

  His eye twitches slightly at the word but he quickly recovers. “I was hoping you’d ask.” His lips meet yours again and the way your body fits against his is almost too much. Your hands grasp at the back of his shirt as he consumes you. You can’t help the moan that escapes your lips as you feel the obvious bulge in his pants, a little overwhelmed at how quickly he’s got you falling to pieces. 

  “Get a room!” He inhales sharply as you laugh against his lips. Your laugh grows at his obvious confusion because of course you recognize the voice of your best friend. 

  “Ignore her please.” You half whisper as you kiss the small patch on his cheek where the hair is missing. “I don’t know how Santiago is gonna handle all that.” You gesture up towards the open window. 

  “Oh I’m sure he’ll find a way.” He pulls you into one last hug and reluctantly steps away. You have to distance yourself from him or you just might invite him up right now. “Don’t have too much fun tomorrow.” He says it in a teasing tone as he walks backwards, not wanting to tear his eyes from you. 

  “I’ll try.” You wave at him as you hear Alicia buzz you up to your apartment. 

  ****

  “How.could.you.keep.that.from.me.” You mercilessly hit your friend with a pillow as your crowd over her on her bed. 

  She laughs as she blocks your futile attempts at causing any permanent damage. “Once he told me it was too late to let you know.” She tilts her head feigning innocence. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m so sure.” You huff as you roll over laying next to her. “I’m so fucked.”

  “Not yet.” She laughs and dodges your last blow with the pillow. “I’m just kidding. I’m glad we can finally go on some double dates…maybe tomorrow?” She wiggles her eyebrows at you playfully. 

  You sit up against her headboard as you tuck your legs beneath you suddenly feeling a little ashamed. “Well…I’m actually going out with Dave tomorrow. I told Frankie and he seemed to be okay with it.Now saying it out loud it sounds a little ridiculous and to be honest with you, I have no idea what I’m doing.” You facepalm as you throw your head back ending your rant. 

  She sits up next to you and gently pulls your hands down, giving you that look that only you know a friend would give. She knows your mind is running a million scenarios of what you should be doing and how you should be acting. Trying to be ten steps ahead of every situation so you don’t find yourself in the one that landed you here. 

  “Listen to me.” She rubs your hands softly grounding you. “You don’t have to figure it all out yet, you’re just going on a few dates. As long as you’re upfront with your intentions with them, and they agree, what more could they ask for?” She sees you staring off into space not quite grasping her words. “Babe, you just met Frankie.”

  “Ya and I let him stick his tongue down my throat. In public. Twice.” 

  “No one said you can’t have a little fun. And just so you know, I’m very jealous and very happy for you.” She nudges you slightly as you sink back under the covers. She rolls over to her bedside table and turns off the light. “I take it you’re sleeping here again.” 

  “Your bed is so much more comfortable than mine.” You whine as she laughs and gets under the covers. 

  It’s quiet for a moment as you think over everything you learned about Frankie. How fiercely he loved his friends. How passionate he was about his work. How he loved so deeply despite being hurt. How easily he opened up to you and how comfortable he made you feel. You trusted him with things you hadn’t told anyone but Alicia after just a few hours of knowing him. You also can’t stop thinking about his lips, and they felt against yours. How you fit perfectly in his hold like you were meant to be there. 

  The phone on her nightstand buzzes illuminating the dark room. She laughs as she stares at the text and sends a quick message back. You’re trying not to eavesdrop as you move your head on the pillow trying to make out some words. 

  “Santi says hi.” She says as she turns toward you with a smirk on her face. 

  “Oh…he’s Santi now? Well tell him I said hi.” You reply half in a whisper. 

  She clears her throat. “He also said you might need Frankie’s number if you want to see him again.” 

  You groan as you roll over realizing both of you forgot to exchange information in your haze of the whirlwind afternoon. 

  ****

  “How do I look Fish?” Santi holds his arms out with a stupid grin on his face. 

  “Like an asshole.” Frankie grumbles on the couch with his arms crossed in defiance. 

  “Look hermano it’s not my fault you didn’t tell her.” Santi grabs his keys from the table and Frankie looks on at him wide eyed. 

  “How is this not your fault? What was I supposed to say!”  He stands and Santi holds his hands up trying to calm his friend. “Oh hi…I’m your soulmate. I hired someone to find you for me. They did, and now you’re sort of daring them.” He rips his hat off aggressively, running his fingers through his hair. “Fuck.”

  Santi regards him cautiously. “Sorry Fish, I didn’t mean it like that.”

   Frankie sighs heavily through his nose as he plops back down. “I know Pope…I'm sorry. You like fine by the way, I hope you have a nice time.” He grits out the last part. 

  Santi punches him lightly in the shoulder “I know that was hard for you to say so I appreciate it. Plus you said so yourself she really likes you. Don’t think about it too much.”

  ****

  Easy for him to say. He was about to go on a date and Frankie was gonna sit here and try not to stew. 

You’ve consumed his thoughts over the last twenty four hours. He knew meeting you would be overwhelming but he did not anticipate falling head over heels, rom com, quintessential love at first sight, completely crazy for you. The thought of Dave being anywhere near the parts of you he wanted to explore made his blood boil. His mind ran wild last night with the scent of you still on his clothes. The way your body felt pressed against his, the way you said his name Francisco like some forbidden secret. 

  His hot shower ran cold as he stroked himself to thoughts of you. Imagining the way your lips would feel wrapped around his cock. The way your breast would feel on his bare chest as grind down on him. The soft moan that escapes you when he bit down on your lip and how you would sound if you didn’t have to be so quiet. 

  You awoke something in him he hadn’t felt in a long time. 

  He can’t think about it anymore sitting alone on Pope's couch half hard. He needs to go home and hope sleep comes easy tonight so he doesn’t have to think about the prospect of losing you before he’s even had a chance. 

  ****

  The last two hours have been chaotic to say the least. You both needed to get ready at the same time so of course the hot water ran out. Alicia blew a fuse in her bathroom trying to blow dry her hair so now she was in yours while you sat on the floor in her room in front of her floor length mirror doing your makeup. 

  Judging by the pile of clothes on her bed you don’t think she was planning on bringing Santi back to the apartment. Perhaps she wasn’t planning on returning either as you notice a small overnight bag placed next to her door. 

  She rushes into her room and grabs the bag before placing a kiss to the top of your head. “I gotta go hon, he said he’s coming up but I don’t want him to think I’m messy.” She wildly gestures to the state of her room as you meet her eyes in the mirror. 

  “He’s gonna have to figure it out at some point.” You state dryly as you finish your mascara. 

  “Not tonight though.” She fixes herself once more before addressing you. “Please try and have fun tonight. Call me if you need anything, you know I’ll be there in a heartbeat.” 

  “I got it Alicia.” You laugh as you wave her off. 

  “Oh and don’t wait up.” She yells out over her shoulder before slamming the front door. 

  You breathe a sigh of relief  that you’ll at least have a few moments to yourself before meeting Dave at the store. You loved your friend but you could tell her nervous energy was bleeding into your mood. So many emotions were running through your head. This would be your first real chance at getting to know him. You were giddy at the thought that he had a surprise planned for you. In the five years you spent with your ex he’s never once planned a surprise. It didn’t really bother you but it was just one of those things you assumed you would never get to experience. Looking back on it now you realize it’s a blessing in disguise that he broke up with you. You had put up with so much apathetic behavior that it became second nature to put yourself last. 

  Your phone pings on the floor beside you and you glance down to see Dave’s name. 

  Dave: Can’t wait to see you hummingbird 

  You sit for a moment trying to come up with a clever reply when another text comes in. 

  Frankie: I hope u have a nice time tonight 

  This can’t be your life right now.

                          can’t wait to see you too 🥰

  You double check that you sent that text to the correct person.

                   I promise I won’t have too much fun 😘

  There’s a feeling you can’t pinpoint at the moment. You’re not sure if it’s even right that you’re feeling this way. To be the object of two men’s affection is a situation you never thought you’d find yourself in. It would be a lie to say that you’re not riding this high. The end game however is something you haven’t quite worked out. 

  ****

  The sun is just starting to set as you make your way down the familiar street towards your work. Checking your reflection in every car parked alongside it like it’s somehow going to drastically change. He didn’t really give you very many details so you opted for a long black sundress and some strappy sandals. Your phone and lipgloss tucked neatly into the brown cross body purse Alicia got you for your birthday. 

  His back is to you when you see him, his hands in the pockets of his tight blue jeans. Almost sensing your presence he turns to you with that devilish smile on his face. He’s in front of you in a few brief steps, his woodsy cologne invading your senses and a hint of aftershave. The black short sleeve button up pulls taught along his biceps and you have to stop yourself from reaching out and grabbing him. 

  As if on cue he pulls you into a tight hug, you wrap your arms around his waist feeling his muscles flex in your grasp. He sighs long and deep like your embrace was the only thing keeping him from losing his sanity. He doesn’t say anything for a while as you both just sway for a moment, like two lovers who’ve gone weeks without seeing each other. It’s so comforting you almost forget about the impending doom of having to tell him about Frankie. You decided on the walk over that you would be upfront with him from the beginning. Just in case he wanted to call things off. You didn’t want to come off as some girl who wanted a free date from him just to break the news to him at the end of the night. Ultimately you would leave the decision up to him and go from there. 

  “Hi hummingbird, I missed you.” He speaks softly into your hair as you try to stay on your feet. 

  “I missed you too.” He pulls back slightly to look into your eyes. It feels wrong but it’s true, you did miss him. 

  “I hope you like what I have planned for us tonight.” His eyes twinkle when he mentions it again but you can’t quite meet his gaze. “Something on your mind?”

  You take a deep breath and put a little more space between you as he holds your hands in his. “I have a lot to say before we go on our date so just give me a moment okay?” He nods once acknowledging what you said. 

  He’s stoic on the outside but internally he’s starting to panic. You didn’t say you didn’t want to go on the date but there’s clearly something wrong. 

  “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you and getting to know you better, but I have to be clear about some things since you’ve been gone. I’ll spare you all the details but…I met my soulmate yesterday.” His hands tighten their grip a little but you don’t seem to notice. “I know this may sound confusing but…I’m not going to just drop you for someone I just met. At the same time, I feel like it would be crazy to not give my soulmate a chance.” 

  You stare down at the ground hoping it will stop your rambling and give you the words you practiced in the mirror that are coming out all wrong. “I understand if this is too much-“

  He cuts you off as he tips your chin up with his finger. He’s comfortably stepped into your space again and you wouldn’t know by the look on his face that he’s seething. 

  “I haven’t felt this way about anyone in a really long time, and I’m not about to back down from a little friendly competition.” Your eyes are challenging him when you don’t pull away. He leans in, his lips barely ghost over yours like he’s waiting for permission.

  You’re not sure what reaction you were expecting from him but it certainly wasn’t this. You’re sick of trying to predict what your life is going to do and instead decide to go with the flow. 

  You kiss him first. 

  It almost knocks you off your feet how different he is from Frankie as he takes back control. He’s more sure of himself like he’s kissed you a thousand times. His hand travels behind your head, while the other grabs your waist. You gasp at how close he has you pulled into him as you taste the hint of mint and something else that’s entirely Dave. He chuckles a little at how he’s already got you so worked up. If it’s a competition you want then it’s a competition you’ll get. 

  “It’s not really customary to kiss before the date.” He’s a little breathless and you laugh as his muscles twitch beneath your fingers. 

  “I don’t think anything we’re doing is customary.” He huffs at that, yet you have no idea the full weight behind it. 

  “I’m just glad I haven’t lost my touch…it’s been a while.” He laces his fingers with yours. “I hope you like what I have planned.” 

  “Oh I’m sure I will.” 

  ****

  You don’t care how ridiculous you sound as you scream the lyrics to don’t stop believing at the top of your lungs. It’s just one of those songs no matter how many times you hear it or how many times it gets overplayed, you can’t help yourself. 

  Dave is doing his best to hide the fact that he’s been singing every song word for word as he hovers close behind you in the crowd. 

  He was a little nervous at first when you arrived at the venue…picking a concert for a first date was a bold move. He’ll be replaying the excited jumps you did on a loop in his head when he revealed it was a Journey cover band. He remembered from the first time he walked into your store and somehow got lucky when he saw a place on the waterfront hosting the special event. 

  You’re a stone's throw from your impromptu date with Frankie the previous night. The setting is much similar as you look out onto the water. Your stomach does a flip every so often when he possessively shields you from someone getting too close, or the way his hands instinctively wrapped around you during the slow songs. 

  Thankfully he made time before the show to get some dinner at one of the many food trucks outside the venue. You’re excited giggles when you said you wanted to try everything so that’s exactly what he did. You both shared a little from each one and of course donuts for dessert. You also shared a lot with him about your life. No doubt hoping he would reciprocate. 

  He rarely if ever talked about his wife with other people and most wouldn’t consider the topic a great first date conversation. Except for you. The way you made him want to open up and be better at sharing. It wasn’t awkward at all, in fact it felt a little freeing. If only he could tell you that’s how he found you. Resigning his life to helping people find their soulmate, it’s really his karma that he’s now competing with Frankie. He did this to himself and now the question lingers in the air of how he found you and why don’t you know about who Dave really is. He’s not sure what kind of game Frankie is playing but it’s making him uneasy. 

  His phone vibrates in his pocket as he glances down to see the aforementioned name. 

  Francisco: I hope ur having a nice time let’s talk soon

  He hears a small gasp from you and immediately breaks out into a cold sweat. He tucks his phone into his pocket hoping he hasn’t been found out this way. 

  You’re staring at him with those sad eyes half pouting and it’s quite possibly the scariest and most adorable thing he’s ever seen. “It’s the last song.” 

  His eyes tell a different story than yours as he takes your hand. “We’ll just have to make the most of it then.” He spins you in his arms and you feel a bit like Cinderella, you’re time at the ball running out soon. 

  When the lights go down in the city 

And the sun shines on the bay

  It’s hard to enjoy your favorite song when he’s singing it so sweet in your ear. His face nuzzled in the crook of your neck as he sways with you. Your stomach is doing flips for an entirely different reason now because you know at the end of the night you won’t be calling it off with Dave. 

Prev/Next

Comments and reblogs are much appreciated

Taglist- @missladym1981 @legendary-pink-dot @brittmb115 @christinamadsen @heavennumber2 @anoverwhelmingdin @guelyury @hannahkatharine @heareball @vabeachazn @frogjumps-world @jessthebaker @littlenosoul @adriennemichelle98 @syrupsstuff @pixielou5

[mcyt-parodies]

could you do Sincerely, Me (from Dear Evan Hansen) as maybe Grian and Joel? :>

Here we are! I hope you enjoy! Halfway through I started thinking of a way I could add Jimmy as Connor but I couldn’t come up with a good enough scenario so what we have is Joel and Grian “corresponding” to have an alibi for a prank? I’m honestly not sure. The intent behind the letters is supposed to be Joel is worried about fitting in and Grian is talking him through it. I do hope this is what you were looking for!

Sincerely, Me (A Joel and Grian Parody)

[Joel]

Dear Grian MC

We’ve been way to out of touch

Things have been crazy

And it sucks that we don’t talk that much

But I should tell you that I think of you each night

I remember Bread Bridge and explosions

And start laughing in delight

[Grian, spoken]

The Bad Boys were pretty fun

[Joel, spoken]

They were, weren’t they?

[Grian, spoken]

But that’s beside the point, if we want a sound alibi for these pranks these have to be perfect. Just- I’ll do it

[Grian]

I’ve gotta tell you, life without you has been hard

[Joel, spoken]

Hard?

[Grian, spoken]

Has been bad

[Joel, spoken]

Bad?

[Grian, spoken]

Has been rough

[Joel, spoken]

PG!

[Grian]

And I miss talking about life and other stuff

[Joel, spoken]

Very specific

[Grian, spoken]

Shut up!

[Grian]

I like the hermits

[Joel, spoken]

Oh come on, give me a little more credit Grian

[Grian]

I love the hermits

Each day is an adventure

If I stop killing people

Then everything might be alright

[Joel, spoken]

But I like PvP!

[Grian, spoken]

Just fix it!

[Joel]

If I stop missing Lizzie

[Grian, spoken]

Oh Joel, Really?

(Joel gives Grian a thumbs up)

[Joel]

If I stop missing Lizzie

Then everything might be alright

I’ll take your advice

I’ll try to be more nice (he makes a gagging noise)

I’ll turn it around

Wait and see

'Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention

It’s easy to do if you give it your attention

All you gotta do is just believe you can be who you want to be

Sincerely, Me

[Joel, Spoken]

Are we done yet?

[Grian, spoken]

Well we can't just give them one book. I want to show that we were actually talking and, like, being good friends, you know?

[Joel, spoken]

Oh my god.​

[Grian]

Dear Joel Beans,​

Yes, I also miss our talks

I’m sorry you miss your wife

Just try to take deep breaths and go on walks

[Joel, spoken]

No.​

[Grian]

I'm sending pictures of the most amazing trees

[Joel, spoken]

No!

[Grian]

You'll be obsessed with all my landscaping expertise

[Joel, spoken]

Absolutely not.​

[Grian]

Dude, I'm proud of you

Just keep pushing through

You're fitting right in

I can see

[Joel]

You can see!

[Both]

'Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention

It’s easy to do if you give it your attention

All you gotta do is just believe you can be who you want to be

Sincerely, Me

[Joel]

Your brothers’ hot

[Grian, spoken]

What the hell!

[Joel, spoken]

My bad.​

[Joel]

Dear Grian MC,​

Thanks for every note you send

[EVAN]

Dear Joel Beans,​

I'm just glad to be your friend

[Both]

Our friendship goes beyond

Your average kind of bond

[Joel]

Maybe because we're gay

[Grian]

Maybe because we're gay

[Both]

We're close, might be in that way

But still platonically

[Joel]

Well anyway!

[Grian]

You're doing better every day

[Joel]

I'm doing better every day

[Both]

Keep doing better every day

Hey hey hey hey!

'Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention

It’s easy to do if you give it your attention

All you gotta do is just believe you can be who you want to be

Sincerely, Me

Miss you dearly

Sincerely, Me

[Grian]

Sincerely, Me

[Both]

Sincerely, Me

Sincerely, Me

[anonymouse5]

could you do a james potter X misophonia!reader

i have misophonia and have been struggling recently due to it,

if your not sure on what it is it’s where certain sounds trigger you, for example eating or pens tapping. Maybe a fic where he comfort her, normally when i’m triggered i either end up crying and walking away form the situation or i flip out at whoever is triggering me

ITS okay if not !! THANKYOU BBY

hey, sorry this took me so long to get to! writing this was an interesting experience. not sure if i want to do reader fics often but i'm not fully opposed to them either? anyway, i hope this brings you some comfort and is accurate(ish?) to your experience :)) sending lots of love <3

(feel free to send more requests if you like this!) (also feel free to send feedback!)

here you go:

Hogwarts had been busier than usual today. If you had been at home, maybe you would’ve just slipped on some noise cancelling headphones. But that isn’t really an option here, so you deal with it the best you can, hiding it out in your dorm on most days. Again, not an option today. You had way too many classes and clubs to go to. In the few minutes between, you go to the library. It literally has to be quiet there, right?

Of course, this is the one day James Potter and his friends finally decide to study (for once in their lives). You’re friends with Remus, and he seems alright. James— well, you try not to think too much about James. Thankfully, they aren’t making much noise, probably already having gotten a warning from Madam Pince.

It’s alright for a few minutes. But then you hear someone’s wand—

Tap. Tap. Tap.

You look over to the boys’ table. James, looking extremely focused, is tapping his wand on the edge of the table. He does look really busy. Maybe he’ll quit in a minute.

Nope. It just gets worse.

You feel a pressure in your head every time he taps his wand until it gets overwhelming. And then you snap.

“James, would you stop that?” you whisper-shout at him.

But you know it’s useless. You can’t study anymore anyway; you’re too overwhelmed. You pack your things and leave. You don’t notice James following after you until you’re outside the library and hear him shout after you.

“Wait,” he calls.

Despite yourself, you turn to him.

“Did I do something wrong?” James asks.

You bite back your immediate “yes”.

“The tapping was bothering me. It’s not your fault, though. I just—” you trail off, afraid he’ll laugh at you.

He’s got this weird look on his face, like he might.

“Remus hates it when I ‘chew loudly’,” James says. “Is it like that?”

“I guess? Listen, James, I just really want to be left alone right now.” You sigh.

“Ok, but before you leave— I think I might have a spell for you. We can go somewhere quieter?” James offers.

Reluctantly, you agree. James takes you to a spot on the Hogwarts grounds you haven’t seen yet. It’s a nice spot beneath a tree, with just bare grass and flowers blooming. You both sit down, and James points his wand at you.

“Woah, what’re you doing?” you shout.

“Just trust me,” James says.

You almost point out the obvious dangers of pointing a wand at someone’s head, but James seems so sincere and like maybe he’s done this before, so you let him.

He mumbles a spell and waves his wand in an unfamiliar pattern. Suddenly, it feels like your wearing your favorite noise-cancelling headphones, but so much better. You can’t even hear the light buzzing that you normally do.

“You have to teach me this spell,” you say enthusiastically.

The spell makes it a whisper to you, but the way James scrunches up his face tells you that maybe you were a bit loud.

“It worked then?” he asks.

You give him a thumbs up.

He takes out a piece of parchment and a quill and writes something down:

You know, I’ve been wanting to talk to you for a while. Go to Hogsmeade with me next weekend?

There’s two checkboxes underneath: yes or YES

You smile and check the YES box, adding a smiley face next to it.

The two of you sit at the peaceful spot until the sun starts to go down. You start to come with him here often, and he teaches you the spell right after your Hogsmeade date.

[gatheringbones]

[“The focus is the mental and emotional state of the victim, not the boxes that a perpetrator needs to check in order to be let off the hook. Is the person who was hurt feeling better? Have they gotten what they need, emotionally, spiritually? If not, why not?

Perhaps it’s clear why amends happens first—what are you apologizing for, exactly, if the other person still hasn’t been cared for, attended to? Action first. Words later.

An apology, here, does not consist of the words “I’m sorry,” though that statement might be part of it. (It is certainly not “I’m sorry that you were hurt by this perfectly reasonable thing that I did.”) And, as with making amends, a real apology is not aimed at the person who has been hurt, but rather is given in relationship with them. It requires vulnerability and empathetic listening; it demands a sincere offering of regret and sorrow for one’s actions. It requires understanding when approaching a victim might harm them further and navigating that with sensitivity.

The goal is not to do more harm, but to do work that is healing, repairing. This means that the victim’s needs must be centered in the process, always. In subsequent chapters we’ll explore some of the more complex questions around apologies and forgiveness—what to do if approaching the victim may in fact inflict trauma, what it means if the victim is dead and cannot forgive, what it means for the penitent if the victim is not willing or able to be appeased, and the nature and limits of forgiveness.

It is important to note again that, here, repentance and forgiveness are not as tightly intertwined as they are considered to be in contemporary culture. That is to say, from a Maimonidean perspective, repentance is about righting as much of the harm as can be done, and this involves knowing what parts of the process are out of one’s hands.

The work of pacifying, appeasing, and begging forgiveness can feel fraught for some people. It may seem uncomfortable and scary, or embarrassing. It may feel guilt-inducing to own one’s mistakes, selfishness, lack of impulse control, or cluelessness. And yet, the penitent person has already been on a profound journey by the time they arrive at this point. They have had to understand the harm caused, to acknowledge and seek to be accountable for it, to begin working toward deep transformation related to the issue in question, and to invest concretely in reparations. In this way, approaching the victim to try to appease and soothe the wounds one has inflicted may be a natural, organic next step. It may feel like the next obvious thing left to do. By now, the perpetrator’s remorse might be so strong that the apology flows from an open heart seeking change. That is the hope.”]

rabbi danya ruttenberg, from on repentance and repair: making amends in an unapologetic world, 2022

[lemoncrushh]

The Entertainer II - Track 15 - We're in This Together

Summary: What if it wasn’t the end? What if Sky did actually see Harry at the Forum in the early 80s, and he saw her too? What if fate took hold of them both, and they realized their journey was not over? Set in 1981, Harry and Sky’s story continues with more music, more romance, and a few more twists and turns.

STORY PAGE

Track 15 Word Count: 4.3k+

Read The Entertainer

I awoke early, the first time I’d done that on a Saturday in quite a while. My mind raced as I stared at the ceiling, playing the conversation in my head that I’d yet to have with my parents. I’d called them earlier in the week and finally announced that I had been seeing someone, his name was Harry, and it had gotten serious. My mother reacted with both astonishment and glee, declaring that she was excited to meet him. We’d made plans for dinner this weekend at my folks’ house, my mom insisting she cook for us.

When I’d told Harry, he’d beamed at me, telling me he was excited to meet them as well, before ultimately making jokes about how all parents loved him, and he would win them over in the first ten minutes.

“We’ll just see about that,” I’d remarked, earning myself a pat on the behind.

Watching the morning sunshine threatening to break through the curtains in Harry’s room, I wondered if he was right. He was quite charming. Everyone I knew that also knew him seemed to adore him. Still, I couldn’t deny I was very nervous about revealing my plans to my parents. Though I’d been on my own since I was nineteen, and we’d certainly had our disagreements over the years, I still loved and respected them. I really did want them to like Harry, and to understand why I had to go on tour with him, and that I wasn’t just following some rock band on the road.

I felt the bed shift, and I turned my head to find Harry looking at me. His beautiful mouth grew into a smile as he reached for my hand.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout, baby?”

His voice was deep and raspy, the sexy sound I loved from his first words in the morning.

“You,” I smiled back.

“Oh,” Harry raised his brows. “Well, I’m right here, babe.”

He pulled me to him, kissing me softly. I sighed as his hand found my thigh, and he situated himself between my legs. His eyes still sleepy, he gazed at me.

“So, tell me what you were thinking. Maybe I can make it real.”

I couldn’t help but bite my lip. I shook my head as I ran my hands down his chest. “It wasn’t that.”

“Oh. Bugger.”

I sucked in my lips at his adorable pout.

“You may not believe this, Harry, but not all my thoughts about you have to do with sex.”

“I should hope not,” he commented, which made me chuckle. “One of us has to be the smart one. Otherwise, we’d never leave this bed.”

“You’re horrible,” I scoffed, poking him in the side.

“Hey. That’s not what you said last night,” he cackled.

Rolling my eyes, I sat up in bed. I ran my hand through my hair as I stared at the door. I wasn’t trying to be a wet blanket, and I did enjoy our banter. I just had other things on my mind.

“Hey, baby, I’m sorry…” Harry said behind me. I felt his hand on my back. “What did I say?”

“Nothing, Harry,” I shook my head. “I’m just-”

He remained silent, waiting for me to finish my sentence. He continued to stroke my back, which felt good. Finally, he spoke.

“What is it, love?”

I shrugged. “It’s stupid.”

“No, it’s not. But I can’t help you if you don’t tell me.”

Turning my head, I saw the sincere look in his eyes. With a sigh, I laid back down beside him, and he quickly wrapped his arms around me, a comfort I did not take for granted.

“You love me,” I whispered. Not as a question, but a statement.

“Mmm, with all my heart,” he said, kissing my forehead.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Help me convince my parents.”

“Oh,” Harry sounded. “That’s what this is about.”

I cringed as I shut my eyes tight and nodded.

“I already told you they’re gonna love me.”

“I’m serious, Harry,” I whined. “I haven’t always been the most reliable daughter to them. I think my dad once called me flighty. I need them to know this isn’t just some whim.”

“I get it, babe. But this isn’t really the kind of thing you can rehearse. They’re either gonna like me, or they’re not. You just have to go with it.”

“I just want them to understand.”

Harry was silent again for a moment before I felt him lean back and pull my chin up to look at him.

“Sky. You’re not asking for their permission. Are you?”

“No, I-”

“I mean…you’re still coming with me, right? Even if they have a problem with it.”

“Of course. I just…I guess I just don’t want there to be any tension. I want them to know I’ll be gone, but also be okay with it…at least a little, you know?”

“Do you think they won’t be?”

“I dunno…” I shrugged again. “I honestly don’t know.”

“Then…all we can do is try,” said Harry.

I looked deeply into his kind eyes and smiled. “Thanks for doing this.”

“Of course, babe,” he murmured, pulling me in for a kiss. “We’re in this together.”

The house looked smaller than I remembered as we pulled into the driveway, even though I’d just been there a month before. Maybe it was because of Harry’s fancy car. Or maybe it was because for the first time in my life, I was seeing it through adult eyes, and not through the memories of the nineteen years I’d lived in it.

I stared straight ahead as Harry put the car in park and pulled the key from the ignition. Though I felt his gaze on me, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he sat back and let me have a moment. Looking down at my hands in my lap, I grinned sheepishly.

“The last guy I brought home to my parents was the boy who took me to the prom.”

I heard Harry’s hummed breath before he reached for my hand.

“Sam Bloomfield was his name,” I added. “He brought me a…a pink corsage. And we stood right there on the front stoop while my mom took pictures.”

“Did she like him?” Harry asked softly.

“I don’t remember if she said,” I replied. “I just remember he…he smelled nice. Probably some cheap cologne, but not too strong. He drove an Oldsmobile that used to be his parents’, but he’d installed an eight track player in it. He bragged about it. We listened to The Who on the way to the prom. And when we got there, he only danced a couple dances with me before he found out Sheila Ramos had come alone. And he ditched me.”

“Ditched you?” Harry knitted his brows. “You mean he left you there?”

“I don’t know if he left the dance with her, or just went somewhere to make out. But I wasn’t about to go find him and ask him to drive me home,” I explained. “I’d kind of already known that he liked Sheila anyway. I think I was his second choice. So I called Halo from a payphone and she and her boyfriend came to get me.”

“Halo didn’t go to prom?”

I shook my head. “No. She wasn’t into the high school stuff anymore. She was dating some guy in a band by then. I forget his name. But he took us to get burgers and then drove me home. I never talked to Sam again.”

“I’m sorry, baby,” Harry cooed as he squeezed my hand. “I can’t imagine you being anyone’s second choice.”

I looked up and smiled at him. “I remember thinking on the way home that I should have paid more attention to the Who song.”

“What song was that?”

“‘Won’t Get Fooled Again.’”

His mouth widening into his dimpled smile, Harry pulled me into an embrace. Then kissing my forehead, he whispered, “You ready to go in?”

I nodded silently before opening the car door. Harry held my hand as we walked up the front steps, and taking a deep breath, I rang the doorbell.

My mom opened the door with a smile, but as soon as she saw Harry standing next to me, I caught the look of both shock and disappointment on her face. My stomach instantly twisted into knots, though my mother was quick to mask her reaction, giving a dazzling smile and inviting us inside.

“Mom,” I said when she’d shut the door behind us. “This is Harry.”

“Hello, Harry,” she beamed at him.

Reaching his hand out, Harry didn’t miss a beat. “Lovely to meet you, Mrs. Jones.”

“Oh!” my mother gasped, a new reaction when she heard his accent. “Please, Harry, call me Judith.”

“Alright,” Harry nodded just as my dad entered the foyer.

He quickly introduced himself to Harry, shaking hands like business colleagues. When he invited us all to follow him into the living room, I felt Harry’s palm on my back and my tension began to ease.

“Have a seat,” said my dad, gesturing toward the sofa. He took one of the armchairs across from us while my mom remained standing.

“Dinner should be ready soon,” she announced. “Can I get anyone something to drink?”

“Nothing for me, thanks,” Harry declined.

“I’m fine, Mom.”

“What about you, dear?” she asked my dad.

“Only if Harry here will join me,” he replied.

Harry’s eyes widened as he looked to my dad and then to me.

“My dad drinks bourbon,” I explained.

“Oh,” said Harry. Then with a shrug, “I wouldn’t mind, sir.”

I watched my mom turn for the kitchen as my dad addressed Harry.

“So, what do you do, son?” It was just like my dad to ask about work straight away.

“Oh um…” Harry cleared his throat and sat up. “I’m a musician, sir.”

“Is that right? What instrument do you play?”

“Guitar…some piano…but mostly I write songs and sing.”

“A singer, eh?” remarked my dad.

“He’s very good, Daddy,” I piped up, my hand on Harry’s arm. I didn’t want to mention Harry’s fame without consulting him. I figured if he wanted my parents to know, he would say.

“That so? Are ya on the radio?”

“Yes, sir. I was in a band called Wildfire, but now I’ve got a new band.”

“Wildfire…” my father mused. “Don’t believe I’ve heard of them.”

Before Harry could retort, my mother returned with two rocks glasses, filled halfway with ice and bourbon. With a smile, she handed one to Harry who accepted it graciously. Once my dad had his glass, they both sat back and took a sip. I watched as my dad sighed and Harry grinned at me. I courageously placed my hand on his thigh which he covered with his own.

“So how did you two meet?” my mother asked, taking the other armchair next to my father. No surprise that would be her first question.

I eyed Harry. “Should I tell?”

Harry nodded. “Please.”

“Well, believe it or not,” I began, “we originally met five years ago. Harry’s band Wildfire was just getting started then. But…they left to go on tour, and we lost touch.”

Harry’s gorgeous eyes urged me to continue.

“And um…well, remember that concert I told you I went to right before Thanksgiving? I just happened to run into Harry there. And well…”

“We picked up where we left off,” Harry finished.

“Oh, my goodness!” my mom exclaimed.

“That is quite a story,” my dad chuckled.

Just then, the buzzer went off in the kitchen, and my mom popped out of her chair.

“That would be dinner!” she announced emphatically. “Mary Lou, will you help me?”

Cringing at her saying my full name, I followed her into the kitchen. Expecting her to give me her babbling opinion of Harry right away, I was surprised when she turned quiet, her back to me as she busied herself on the stove.

“Can you get the roast out of the oven?” she requested.

With a frown, I grabbed the oven mitts. The knots returning to my stomach, I wished for Harry’s comfort. Placing the roasting dish on the counter, I broke the silence.

“So…what do you think of him?”

“Well, I…” my mom hesitated. “You didn’t tell me he was a rock and roller.”

“A musician, Mom.”

“I thought you were over that phase.”

I scoffed, tossing the oven mitts aside. “What phase?”

“The rock and roll thing.”

“It was never a phase, Mom. I’ve always liked music, and I always will.”

Turning off the stove, my mother dished up the greens from the pot, placing them in a large bowl.

“I guess I just thought you’d met someone at work, or through a friend.”

“What difference would that have made?”

“None, honey. I just hoped…you’d met a nice young man…”

“I did,” I spat, my hands on my hips. “He’s very nice.”

“I guess I…was just picturing something else, that’s all.”

Grabbing the bowl, my mom passed me on her way to the dining room. I turned and watched her set it on the table.

“Sorry to disappoint you,” I said, my throat on fire. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to cry or scream.

“Oh, Mary Lou,” she sighed. “I’m not disappointed in you. You’ve always been…a free spirit. Your dad and I have never understood it, but we accept it.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. It’s just who you are.”

She walked around me taking the mitts and grabbing the roast.

“I love him, Mom,” I declared.

Stopping in front of me, she sighed, her shoulders dropping. Then without saying a word, she walked around me again to place the roast in the center of the table.

“And he loves me,” I added. Swallowing hard, I stepped around the table so we were eye to eye. “Can you at least get to know him before you judge?”

Lowering her eyes, my mother nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that I don’t believe you. I’m just your mother and…”

“And you want what’s best for me,” I finished, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms over my chest.

“Well, yes.”

“You want what you think is best for me. What about what I think is best for me?”

“You’re so young, Mary-”

“I’m an adult, mom! I’m already older than you were when you had Jacob.”

“Times were different then.”

“Exactly!” I exclaimed. “Back then, women weren’t as free to be who they wanted. I’m from a different generation. And women of the eighties are more independent.”

“It’s only 1982…” my mother pointed out.

I chuckled, shaking my head. Walking around the table, I took her hands.

“I’m in love, Mom,” I said again. “I’m happy. Please be happy for me.”

Her face softened, and my mother lifted her hand to my cheek. “I am, baby. I’m happy if you’re happy.”

I heard a laugh coming from the living room, and I raised my brows. Pushing open the swinging door slightly, I caught a glimpse of my dad showing Harry some photos on the shelf.

“Dad seems to be getting along with him,” I commented.

Coming up behind me, my mom whispered, “He is very handsome.”

“Isn’t he?” I blushed.

“I like his accent, too,” she added. “And I may not condone the long hair, but at least it’s very clean and soft.”

I couldn't help but snicker. I’d take what I could get.

I helped my mother with the rest of the food, and then we announced it was time to eat. I watched my dad as he took Harry’s empty glass, and when he turned for the kitchen I met Harry at the shelf where he was still inspecting photos.

“This is you?” he pointed at a picture when I was about five.

“Yep.”

“And this…”

“That’s my senior picture,” I confirmed.

Harry lifted his hand, tracing my long seventies hair with his fingertip. “So pretty,” he whispered. Then he pointed at a photo of a boy and a girl. “Your brother?”

“Yes,” I nodded.

“I don’t think you ever told me his name.”

“Jacob,” I replied. “He was eight years older than me, but we were always close.”

“So, your mum’s Judith. Your dad’s John, and your brother was Jacob. How did you wind up Mary Lou?”

I made a face. “Apparently it’s a family name. Some great aunt I never met.”

“C’mon you two!” my mom called from the dining room.

With an easy grin, Harry took my hand and let me lead the way. I was slightly surprised when he pulled the chair out for me. I knew he was polite, but I figured he was also trying to score points with my folks. When I told him thank you and adjusted myself in the seat, my diamond necklace swung forward, and I heard my mother gasp

“Mary Lou, what a beautiful necklace! When did you get that?”

I beamed with pride. “Harry gave it to me for Christmas.”

“Well, I must say, that is quite a gift!”

“I told you we were serious about each other,” I said, looking at Harry and back at my mom.

“Only one kind of diamond more serious than that,” my father remarked as he dished himself some potatoes and passed the bowl to my mom.

I blushed, not sure how to comment. As it was, I was still unsure how to bring up the subject of the tour, especially after the discussion I’d just had with my mother. I smiled at my lap, however, when I felt Harry slide his hand up my knee underneath the table.

Once everyone’s plates were filled, we did our best to make small talk. Harry asked my dad about his job, which he was more than happy to talk about. My mom shared news about a couple of our old neighbors, whom I did not remember, but she insisted I did.

I knew sooner or later it would be our turn. And when my father asked Harry if he was a traveling musician, I nearly choked on my water. But it was Harry who saved the day.

“Actually, I’m glad you asked that,” he said courageously. “I’m going on the road with my band in a couple of weeks. And I’d like Sk-…erm…I mean, Mary to come with me.”

“With you?” my mother squeaked. “You mean to travel with you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“For how long?” asked my dad.

“Six months.”

“But…” my mom looked from Harry to me, her eyes wide. “But what about your job? You told me you were happy there.”

“It’s just a job, Mom,” I said. “I’d rather be with Harry.”

“But Mary Lou, you can’t just go flying off with some…musician! That’s not- what would that look like?”

“I don’t know, Mother, what would it look like?” I scowled at her.

Her face turning red, her eyes shot daggers at me. “My daughter does not go traipsing off for months with a boy in a rock and roll band!”

“Judith, get a hold of yourself!” argued my dad.

“You can’t seriously be accepting this, John! You said yourself that Mary Lou’s easily influenced.”

“With all due respect, ma’am,” Harry interjected, “your daughter is a grown woman. I love her, but I’m not making her do anything she doesn’t want to do. She can make her own decisions.”

“You know what happened the last time we let her make her own decisions?” my mom asked Harry, as if I wasn’t even in the room. “She moved out! She decided she was a woman and didn’t need us anymore, so she and her friend Haley decided they’d just get their own apartment. Didn’t even consult me and her father…”

“Mom, that was nearly ten years ago!” Boy, could she hold a grudge.

“Seems to me she turned out just fine,” Harry remarked, giving me a weak smile.

My mother sat back in her chair, her arms crossed. My dad scratched his chin with a sigh.

“What will you do for money, Mary?” he asked.

“John! I-”

“Hush, Judith! For once, just be quiet. Let’s put our emotions aside and look at the facts.”

“I um…I have some money saved…” I began.

“But she won’t need it,” said Harry, reaching for my hand under the table. “I’ll take care of anything she needs.”

“You can do that, son?” asked my dad.

Harry chuckled, taking my parents by surprise. “Yes, sir, I can.”

“Oh. Hmm.” My dad looked at my mom who still had her defenses up, but I could tell she was weakening. She hadn’t expected Harry to have money.

“Look…Mom…Dad…” I squeezed Harry’s hand. “Harry and I are in love. His job takes him away. And I want to be with him. I don’t understand what’s so wrong about that.”

My parents were both silent, so I continued.

“I fell in love with him several years ago, and he went away. I thought I’d never see him again. I don’t know if it’s kismet or…destiny…or some heavenly angel looking down upon us…” I swallowed, “but somehow I did, and I can’t bear to let him go. If somehow I can be with him, I’m gonna make it happen. Whether you approve or not.”

Harry squeezed my hand back, and when I looked over at him, he gave me a soft, reassuring smile.

“No matter what you may think,” I added, “I’m not doing any of this to defy you or prove some point. I’m only following my heart. Because I believe in it.”

“Well…” voiced my dad. “I guess that’s settled, then.”

I let out a breath, relieved to hear him say that. But when I looked at my mom, she still seemed hesitant.

“You’ll call?” she finally asked, her voice shaky.

“Yes, Mom, of course.”

“Even if it’s collect, okay? Or if something happens and you have to come home…”

“Mom. It’ll be okay.”

“Where are you headed first?” asked my father.

“Florida,” Harry answered.

“You’re flying?”

“Yes, sir.”

My dad nodded, seeming to accept the result. My mom wiped a few tears and let out a loud sigh before grabbing her glass of tea. She didn’t say much for the rest of the evening, but I figured it was just her way of coming to terms with it.

After dinner, Harry offered for him and me to do the dishes. I think that earned him a few points with my mother because she gave him a big smile and a thank you, patting his arm on the way out of the dining room.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered when I handed him a dish to dry.

“What for?”

“For dragging you into this. That was exactly what I was afraid of.”

“You didn’t drag me into anything,” argued Harry. “I told you we’re in this together. Besides…I like them.”

“Are you kidding me?”

Harry chuckled. “What? They’re a nice couple. Your mum is just a bit…overprotective.”

“That’s putting it mildly.”

Harry was quiet as he dried the next plate, setting it on the drying rack.

“You’re her only child now. It’s understandable.”

I nodded, handing him the last plate. “That’s part of the reason I had to move out when I did.”

Harry looked at me. “That’s understandable too.”

We said our goodbyes around nine o’clock. My parents walked us to the door, my dad wishing us well.

“Thank you, sir,” said Harry. “And thank you, Judith, for the wonderful dinner.”

“You’re welcome,” my mother smiled.

I gave my mom a hug, promising to call when we got to Florida, so she’d know I was safe. Then she surprised me by stepping up to Harry and holding out her arms. Harry grinned, graciously accepting the hug.

“Take good care of her, Harry,” she whispered.

“I promise.”

On the way home, I was quiet in the car, gazing out the window. When I felt Harry reach over to take my hand, I looked over at him.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Mmhmm. Thanks again for doing that. I think you may actually have a way with parents.”

I caught the dimple in his cheek as he turned onto the next street.

“I love you,” I said.

“I love you more.”

“Impossible.”

Harry lifted my hand to his lips and kissed the back of it. I sat back in my seat, listening to the song on the radio.

“And as my head was spinning around I gazed into your eyes And thought, ooh, I want you Thank you, babe, for being a friend and shining your light in my life 'Cause, ooh, I need you…”

Harry continued to caress the back of my hand with his thumb in rhythm with the song. I thought about how far we’d come in such a short time, how he was truly the love of my life. I had no doubts or reservations about it.

When I heard the opening chords to the next tune, I sat up. It was a Wildfire song. Beaming at Harry, I began to sing along. He grinned at me, giving me a wink. My insides fluttered like butterflies as I began to anticipate what was to come.

“I’m excited,” I finally declared aloud when the song ended.

“About the tour?”

“About everything. About…getting to enjoy all the big and little moments with you.”

“Baby…” Harry sighed. “Me too.”

Even though he was still driving, I reached over and kissed his cheek. He smiled, throwing his arm around me as I wrapped mine around his torso. I remained in the awkward, yet satisfying position until we pulled into Harry’s driveway.

The album was set to be released on the fifteenth, just less than a week away, and the tour started on the twenty-third. I planned to give my notice at work on Monday. Now that I’d told my parents everything, there wasn’t much left to do but pack. It was really happening. I was going on tour with Harry.

Songs mentioned:

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again

Climax Blues Band - I Love You

Taglist: @fkinavocado, @daphnesutton, @freedomfireflies

MASTERLIST | KO-FI | FEEDBACK

[volterran-wine]

Hi Nat!

I saw you had said to ask away and that many people don’t ask about the history about the Volturi. I have always been curious about their history.

Like how did they all find each other? How did they decide to become kings? How did they decide that what the Romanian Coven was doing was dangerous to vampires and they needed order? How did they decide on a law? How did they get word out about that law? Is it really just the three kings and their spouses (Mainly Aro and Caius?) making decisions?

I just want to know so much about them. I really wish that there was a book diving into the Volturi. I really want to know more about each and every one their personality who they really are. If you don’t mind maybe diving into this? I know you said you’d like more people to talk about their history and I’m not sure if this would back in to that. Also what year was it they became a Coven. What year did they go to war… the same possible war that Didyme died in? I just have a list that goes on and I’m sorry if this is way to long I also want you to know that I am thinking of starting my own Fics about the volturi and they’re history just with a little twist that will dive into when Didyme was still alive and human… all the way ti the events of breaking dawn… it’s already breaking my heart that your leaving. I didn’t know until I got on tumbler today and yes I’ll be sad because you are an amazing writer I do understand that health comes first and I know sometimes writing can be a burn out. All the best ❤️

I am eternally apolegetic for not getting to this sooner.

It also needs to be said that I have seen your other questions as well, life took it's turns, and I knew this reply would be a long one. Or at the very least, I would have to use more of my brain capacity than usual.

By leaving them so blank, the author did us both a service and disservice. Though I am happy to be fleshing out the lives of the Volturi Coven. At this point I do not want a book about them, for I believe the fandom has shown them far more love than she ever will.

I am excited to hear you want to write for them! The endless possibilities of who, how and when is partially to blame for my initial interest in The Volturi. Enough so that I picked up writing again after over ten years of not putting pen to paper. If you have/will write, please send it my way, I love reading other people's interpretations of the character.

The last couple of days I have updated AO3 three times, something I have never done... it feels good to write again.

I sincerely hope I will be able to get to all the things you questioned me about. Some of the answers can be glimpsed here and there already, but I do think my anthology fanfic will be the place I delve into a lot of the smaller, yet important moments of The Volturi.

Wish you all the best.

― 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝑁𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑒

[skylarmoon71]

Amazon (Smallville) : Short Story - Chapter 5 -Final

Diana had decided to take the following day off and spend some time with you. Possibly discover what other abilities you might have. She’s talking, but you can’t quite focus. Because the thought of kissing Clark again seems to be the only thing on your mind.

“Are you alright?”

You flinch, nodding quickly.

“Yes! I’m sorry. Go on.”

Diana narrows her eyes with a playful smile.

“I’ve never seen you like this. Does it have anything to do with a certain boy?”

You frown, because you supposed this is what you should expect from an older sister.

“It’s nothing Diana.”

You try to brush it off, but from the look on her face, she’s not going to let it go until you tell her. If you’re being honest you have no idea what to do. You’ve always been careful about keeping that distance. You can cripple a man with your bare hands. Safe to say you haven’t been out there pursuing relationships. It’s also still a bit weird considering that you spent most of your life on an island with only women.

The opposite sex has always been a minefield and the ones you typically run into usually are the ones you want to punch in the face.

The knock at your door interrupts you, and Diana stands, heading for the door. The moment she opens it, you can almost see the smile from across the room as she speaks.

“It’s Clark.”

You wish you could just become invisible.

Maybe that’s one of your powers.

She welcomes him in, excusing herself with a playful smile. You roll your eyes, clearly displeased with her lack of tact.

Now that he’s standing right there it just makes it harder.

Clark looks just as uncomfortable as you. Dropping your head, you sigh.

“I’m sorry for running.” You mutter.

More specifically, flying right out of his barn window.

Of course he predicts the apology.

He decides to take a seat in hopes that it will help him feel more settled.

“It’s okay. I guess I would have done the same.”

He laughs, but it’s a bit awkward. There’s no way to talk about this in a way that it’s not. Truthfully you’re just curious as to why. He knows practically everything about you yet he still kissed you.

Logically, that doesn’t make sense.

At least not to you.

“Doesn’t this..bother you?”

You can’t help but ask the question.

Clark is far from normal, but even he should have reservations about your situation.

“You mean because you’re a demigod?”

“Yes.”

“Why does it matter?”

You stare at him in disbelief. He’s talking as if it’s a condiment on your food or a rock in someone’s shoe.

Clark tries to move closer, and it’s almost your instinct now to flee. Because around him you can’t seem to control your emotions. He pauses, noticing your need to keep a distance.

“Do you care that I’m Kryptonian?”

“Not really.”

That doesn’t really matter.

“Then why would it be a problem? Shouldn’t I give you the same benefit that you’re giving me?”

His rationalizations make sense. You know that. But it still feels like a lot.

“I don’t care about any of it. You’re the only thing that matters.”

The sincerity behind those words actually make you blush.

You look away.

“This is..strange..”

You’ve never really met a boy that you didn’t want to punch.

Clark smiles at the little furrow in your brows.

“You’ve never been kissed before, have you?”

You bit your lip, shaking your head, refusing to look at him.

“I’ve never had a desire to but that day I…”

Your hand moves to your lips.

“I liked it.”

You admit bashfully.

He’s happy with that statement.

“Do you want to try again?”

It’s a bit of a whisper and you swallow, looking up when he’s managed to close the little distance. He’s right in front of you. His arms settle on your shoulder, and this time it’s much harder to get rid of the redness of your cheeks.

“I-I don’t know how to mph-”

He kisses you softly, and you let out an involuntary moan. Clark smiles against your lips, pulling you close. You love it. The feel of him, of this. It’s amazing. Otherworldly. You never realized how good such human activities felt. You always just summed it up to their often primitive behavior. But you never considered a lot. Like how similar you are to them.

Control is not your strong suit either.

Clark parts after a few heated seconds, and you’re left trying to even your breathing. He hasn’t fully pulled away.

“I can teach you everything..”

He whispers against your lips.

You gulp.

Surely you have a lot to learn.

[niceboyeds]

be patient with me (e.m.)

eddie munson x reader

contains: language, fluff, let me know if i missed anything.

word count: 375

a/n: just a short lil thing i wrote before bed tonight ft. sweet and comforting Eddie. i do have a longer Eddie piece coming out later this week also so keep an eye out for it xx

nav

~~~~~~

“Eddie…” you sigh, pulling his hands out from underneath your shirt and moving your lips off his.

“shit did i do something wrong??”

“no! not at all! it’s just… i-i’m sorry.”

“sorry for what?”

“i’m just…” you cover your face, trying to hide your embarrassment.

“hey hey hey, what’s goin’ on?” he places his hands on yours, gently prying them away from your covered face. “there you are.”

you groan, getting off of his lap and moving to sit next to him on the couch.

“sweetheart, did i do something to upset you?”

“no, it’s me. i’m sorry.”

“why do you keep apologizing? you’ve done nothing wrong.” he turns to look at you, his eyes soft and sincere.

“i got you all… excited…” you glance down at his crotch to point out his obvious boner, “but i just don’t think i’m quite there yet.” you whisper the last sentence, turning away from him and hoping he won’t be mad at you.

you remember the last time you were dating someone, only having been together for a short time before he wanted more. he said you had to since you caused his erection. and being naive, you allowed it to happen.

some tears slip from your eyes as you recall the events that took place that night. you didn’t say no, but you knew you didn’t want it. not like that, and not with him.

and now you’re embarrassing yourself, crying on the couch next to a guy you’ve been seeing for less than a month. you’d been able to avoid intimate situations until now.

“baby you don’t owe me anything.”

you feel at ease immediately. you know he’s not your ex, he has never pressured you into doing anything and he never will.

“just be patient with me… i’ll get there eventually.”

“whenever you’re ready. on your own time.” he promises, reaching over to hold you once again. “i will never make you do anything you’re not one hundred percent comfortable with.”

“but what if all i’m comfortable with right now is like… making out and cuddling while watching movies.”

“then i better buy some popcorn.”

“how’d i get so lucky?” you smile, leaning your head against his shoulder.

“i ask myself that every day.”