#slept in this morning (necessary since we didn’t sleep until after 4 am)

[kiegotakami]

last night was so wildly cathartic I’m still feeling it

[comehomeducklings]

Present [Part 1] (Obsession)

A/N: Please don't copy, redistribute, and/or post my work on this site or any others. This has taken my time and creativity to come up with the story's characters and plot.

Also, I swear my writing gets better. It's a little rough right now but I'm planning on rewriting them.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Tom Riddle's Moodboard

Main Character's Moodboard

~////////////////𓆙////////////////~

1943 ~ 6th year

No sound above whispers could be heard throughout the great hall. The food on the table hasn't been touched by a single hand. The very thought of eating churning all our stomachs. Not during these times. Our heads turn every now and then, afraid of what might sneak up behind us. The death of Myrtle and others has shaken the entire school. A murderer is among us, trust is such a foreign concept now.

Dark purple eye-bags lay beneath every single student's eyes. No one is allowed to go home for the holidays. They aren't allowing us to leave, we are stuck in this cloud of darkness and uncertainty. No owls are supposed to be sent out. As the head girl, I'm responsible for every student's life and responsibilities. I have to know where everyone is at all times. It gets tiring at times, but necessary nonetheless.

A nightly routine consisted of all my dormmates huddling around each other. No sleep would come to us all night. We wouldn't move from the same spot until light shown from the windows. Our beds are all pressed together in the farthest corner of the room from the door. Our wands never leaving our hands in case of danger. Every little sound made from the outside provoking us. Even to the point of going mad. Potions used to stay awake, slowly wearing off as the morning arose. No sleep, we can't afford that luxury anymore.

I would leave the dorm to wait at the portrait for our assigned house professor to come. They would tell me it was safe for everyone to head to the great hall to get breakfast. As soon as they were done I quickly went to everyone's dormitory to wake them up, if they even slept at all. I would then inform them that it was safe to step out of their dorms. After everyone got situated I would have the students form a line and lead them towards the great hall. 1st-3rd years would occasionally hold the folds of my robes. Fearing that when they blink I would be gone. Leaving them alone to deal with the dangers that lurk in the school.

Not once have I lied about how they are going to be all right. That would be cruel. These students don't seek pathetic nurturing words, they want a protective force watching over them. So many clubs and activities have been canceled. Hogsmede and quidditch proving as a prime example. No one complained though, quidditch players too afraid to even step out of the castle's walls even if they were allowed.

Back to the present, I hold my good friend's hand as she slightly shakes from anxiety. I can see it in her eyes, the doubt of making it alive eating away at her brain. The spark once present in her shiny green eyes being blown out. Amelia, her name being. She's been biting her nails again, to the point where it had bled. This can be backed by the dried-up blood that is present at the tip of her finger's nail.

A booming voice can be heard, "You are now being dismissed to head to class, your houses head girl and boy will be assigning the group you'll be heading off with."

First period has been removed from every perfect and head's schedule. During this time we search the whole castle for any wanders. We make sure everyone is where they are supposed to be. If someone got lost or went to the wrong class we escort them to where they need to be.

After every class, students have a limited amount of time to get to their next lesson. Although, perfects and heads get more time to make sure everyone is where they are needed quickly. Then we hurry to our class after scanning the halls swiftly.

The once safest school of the wizarding world giving birth to the dark ages. More bodies have been found littering the schools. Most of them not found until their ghosts appear before us. Every single one not knowing how they died. Like the murderer is invisible upon meeting the victim. I originally suggested it could have been done by poison. When the bodies were checked, no traces of poison had been traced.

Professors have been waiting for the person who is responsible to slip up, to give us a clue. I don't think that will happen though. The process of these killings has been too thought out and well planned. I wouldn't be surprised if these mass killings have been planned months before, even maybe years. I've been talking to the ghosts to try and gather all details, even the potentially useless ones. When our headmaster made us heads keep tabs on everyone, the killings stopped for a short amount of time. It was like the mastermind was creating a way to best us, to get past the "little inconvenience." It didn't take long for them to find the weak parts in the plan.

What we have got though, is that every single student killed has been a muggle-born. A classic case of an unfair stigma around the poor wizards and witches. They never were able to catch a break. Amelia, one of my close friends in the friend group. She's a muggle-born, hence the shaking of her hands. I've been keeping a closer eye on her, she doesn't leave my side. She comes on my patrols so I can keep her in my sights, with of course the permission of the teachers. There are only two times that I can not watch over her. Those two times are covered by my other friend Devyn, a pure-blood. She also helps keep her safe, not letting her go anywhere by herself. The two times are because she's in two different classes than I am. One of them being a study hall.

~////////////////𓆙////////////////~

"Professor, how will this class help us now? Reading teacups for predictions should be the least of our worries right now," a student at the back of the room exclaims.

"The said predictions could lead us to the future before it happens. Our worries lay exactly what will happen in the future. If anything, this is one of the most important classes we'll take this year," I say, continuing to read the teacup.

"Precisely, thank you. Now go back to studying, I'll be coming around to view your interpretations."

My tea leaves look more like a blob with a cross going through them. A weirdly shaped blob. I already know there is a cross, but what about the blob? I tried shaking it a little, looking at the leaves from different angles. I already crossed off a club, falcon, and the sun. It could be an acorn, but I see a slight hole in the blob.

Could it be...

"A skull that is." I jump at the sudden voice near my ear. My teacup almost falling from my grasp.

"Pardon, a what?"

She points towards two holes in the blob, one of them I just mentioned, "I saw you already found one hole, there's the other. How it's shaped could be a little difficult to see since the cross is through it, but it's there."

The professor takes the cup from my hand and lays it on her desk. Some of my classmates look at me in curiosity, but they soon lose interest and go back to their own tea leaves.

A cross and a skull, that sounds about right to how my school year is going so far. I scan my book to see exactly what they mean.

A skull, danger in your path.

A cross, trials and suffering.

"What d-did you find?" A Hufflepuff boy to my right asks.

I don't want to scare the poor boy, he's already frightened enough as it is. If my future got around to the school, everyone would start being concerned about me. I'll barely get any of my duties done if I didn't already get it taken away for my safety. Last thing I need right now is even more panic.

"Nothing much, the future is still a little foggy."

"That's, um, good. I couldn't really read mine either," he chuckles lightly, almost seemingly forced.

Our professor claps her hands together, "Class is dismissed, read up about your predictions if you haven't already. No homework today."

I gather my books and push in my chair. Right before I could reach the door where other students are waiting, the teacher stops me.

"I'll have to tell the headmaster about this, I shouldn't keep it a secret."

"No, please don't. If you must, only tell Albus. I can't have this messing anything up, I'll become vulnerable."

The professor looks around the room, her eyes wandering franticly. I'm sure I am asking a lot from her. I really need her to keep this a secret.

"Oh alright, you're my best student. I just would hate to see anything happen to you. I'm informing only Albus to see if he can keep an eye on you."

"Thank you so much, I swear I'll be careful." A huge weight is lifted off my shoulders. I can't be worrying about my future when I have to worry about everyone else's.

I leave the classroom and start heading to my next class. Potions have always been one of my favorite classes. Mixing a bunch of toxins into a pot is a specialty of mine. I'm quickly scanning the halls for any wanderers, making sure everyone is at class. My feet take me to Potions in a hurry. I don't want to miss much, trying to make the class as informational as possible.

"You shouldn't be running, you still have 3 minutes of checking the school."

It's always him, I even tried changing routes to avoid him. His idiotic smirk, thinking he actually did something. All he did is waste my time and train of thought.

"I'm allowed to run Riddle, it's not a rule. I already checked the halls I was assigned, did you?" I really have no energy for this.

Tom peers down at me, somehow still wearing that infamous smile. Eyes bright, filled with mischief and knowledge.

"I have, double-checked as well. I'm sure you only checked once. Such irresponsible actions, I still wonder how you nabbed the head-girl spot."

I choose not to answer, not giving in to his baiting. Does he think I'm that stupid? That easily bothered by a simple test of my patience.

"You could have just said you wanted to walk me to class Riddle. No need to be shy with me."

"Shy, a concept I would not know of. Might as well bring you to class, since I'm heading there myself. Wouldn't want you to be in danger, since you consistently prove you can't handle a simple check of the hallways."

"I told you Tom-"

"Once is not enough, you should know that by now," he interrupts me, feigning a sudden serious facade on.

We start heading towards Slughorn's room. I'm a little behind his figure. Mostly looking down to make sure I don't step over his feet and fall. He sometimes walks with me, very confusing if I may say. Hating my skills, probably still hates me. You can often find us arguing if we are ever partners in class together. The usual game we play, how many questions can we get right by the end of class. Last time he won by one point, my sour mood not helping the atmosphere.

"You look rested, more than me at least," I smile tiredly. My whole body slightly sagging forward from exhaustion. He looks as proper as someone could be. His skin is a little pale though, brighter than usual. Almost like he was sick, his eyes look darker too. More sunken in, the shape of his skull more prominent. His looks still annoyingly well presented.

"Yes, you do look rather tired. I see other things have prioritized above your looks."

This man, the audacity of this man. The only reason I'm not at the top of every class. Our number 1 student count being evenly split. I have to bite down on my tongue forcefully to not say anything back. I'm too tired to truly come back with anything witty, so I choose to save myself from the embarrassment. Instead, I slightly step on his robe on the ground causing him to trip up a little.

He quickly sends a warning glare my way and then continues walking. I smile slightly, knowing even if it was petty, it was worth it.

Riddle doesn't even hold the door for me when we walk in. Causing it to slam dangerously close to my face.

"There you two are, I was afraid you weren't going to make it," Slughorn exclaims excitedly. "Turn your textbooks to page 246, we are going to learn how to make a Polyjuice potion!"

I glance at Tom, his eyes only focus on the words before him not realizing my gaze is on him. I wonder if he'll make this a competition as well. Knowing him, as well as me, anything but competition is out of our character. He looks up catching my eyes, I tilt my head. Trying to silently communicate from afar.

His head turns to Slughorn, then back to me. He nods his head and that's all it takes for both of us to come to an understanding. Whoever can answer the most questions, and create the best potion gets bragging rights.

I don't intend to lose.

[blonde-in-charge]

Wildcard, Chapter One

** Hello everyone! My name is Kat, and this is the first imagine I have ever posted! I am still really new to the posting process so please stick with me. Anyways, I hope you enjoy **

Summary: Steve Rogers found you on the side of the road after a mission involving Hydra and convinced the Avengers to take you in. You have no name, no memories, and no idea of what you are capable of. All you know is that you are a super soldier with more hidden abilities than you care to admit. The first step to finding answers was to train you. Nobody, including you, knows what is up your sleeve. 

Characters: No Pairings(yet) Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanoff, Tony Stark, Sam Wilson

Warnings: Tiny bit of cursing, Loss of memory, Mentions of blood/violence, Scars

Words: 3.3k

Waking with a start, you groaned at the action of shifting your legs between the scratchy sheets. Your legs tightened and strained from the previous day, making you unable to move comfortably. Sitting up, you hiss as you strained to throw your legs ofthe side of the bed. It was quiet, for once, in the tower. On any other normal day, you would hear the group you lived with from down the hallway, chatting loudly over breakfast and laughing. You glared over at the angry red numbers projecting themselves into the air. 

4:45am

Shit.

Pulling your arms up over your head, you stretched your aching muscles until you heard the satisfying popping noise come from one of your elbows. You pushed yourself off of the bed and sighed as your legs took on the weight of your body. You ached like never before even just standing still. You felt up your nightstand in the dark, knocking over random half drunk water bottles in the attempt to find your glasses. Satisfied when your fingertips took hold of the lenses, uncaring of the fingerprints you knew would bother you later. The door automatically slid open as you walked towards it, slowly and not picking up your feet. One of the perks of living with Tony Stark was that you never had to open a door on your own, the downside was you had the misfortune of walking into non automatic doors on the rare occasion you left the tower.  

The halls were silent in the tower, making the shuffling of your feet seem louder than they should have been. As you walked past the doors of your colleagues you could hear soft snoring from one of the rooms and louder snoring from further down the hallway. You smiled to yourself, knowing your friends were getting what you couldn't, sleep. It wasn't like you tried to get less hours of sleep than everyone else, your mind and body have not let you rest since you have joined the team. 

-Eight Months Ago- 

You sobbed, curling yourself as tightly into a ball as you could, holding your hands to your chest as your hair whipped through the air. You had secluded yourself into the corner of an abandoned gas station in god knows where. You had no idea where you were, how you got there, what was happening, or even who you were. You had woken up on a cold metal table in a concrete room wearing nothing but a sports bra and tight training pants that stopped at your ankles. You don’t remember how but you broke the cuffs holding down your wrists and ankles, leaving bloody gashes in their wake. 

Your attention was drawn to the sound of heavy footsteps nearing you as you pushed yourself into the wall, begging to just disappear through it, “Please don’t take me back” you sobbed, hot tears rolling down your face, “I don’t know anything just let me go!”

Uncovering your face you looked up into a man's face. He looked relatively young with his blonde hair but the worry lines he was sporting upon looking at you aged him. 

He knelt down in front of you keeping his distance, “Shhh, I’m not here to hurt you, I’m here to help you. What's your name, kid?” He studied your face with kind blue eyes, his gaze felt instantly calming.

“I- I don’t- I don’t know,” you stared at him in disbelief, how could you not know your own name? The man looked at you and nodded before looking behind him and speaking so someone you could not see

“Guys, I found a girl about 10 miles out from the compound, she is in pretty rough shape. Have the quinjet meet at my coordinates ASAP,” He spoke softly around you but in a commanding tone until he nodded, apparently getting answers from the voices you could not hear. His eyes trailed back to your eyes, searching you. His eyes then trailed down to your hands clutched at your chest and they filled with worry. 

You looked down at your own hands stretching them in front of you, there were deep cuts on either one of your wrist running all the way around until they met in a circle, and they were bleeding profusely onto your exposed stomach. You looked back up at the man, suddenly extremely light headed and you watched his figure fade away into darkness as you passed out. 

-

The coffee maker trickled the dark liquid slowly into the pot, a sound that soothes your nerves every early morning. You wished you could go back to sleep but everyone would be getting up soon anyways, and coffee was calling your name. Whatever that was. The minutes ticked by as the coffee pot filled up and you realized you had stood there unmoving, staring at a whisk while trapped in your own mind. You reached up into the cabinet for your favorite mug and hissed as your muscles protested the sudden movement. You felt the presence of someone behind you as you poured the fragrant liquid into the mug. 

“Didn't we have that talk with you about announcing your presence in rooms when you entered, Buck?” You held the mug in both hands and turned around to lean against the countertop.

The brooding soldier stood before you with his resident scowl on his face and long brunette hair sticking up in every direction. Your eyes scanned over the man sporting black tee shirt and sweatpants, the circles under his eyes matching his outfit. He looked as if he slept as well as you did. He studied you for a second, his eyes questioning why you were awake.

You watched him carefully, “Bad dream,” was all you offered to him before he gave a knowing nod before looking away from you, his actions told you he was up for the same reason. He took a seat at the island in the middle of the vast kitchen and rubbed his hands up over his face as you made him a mug of coffee. Bucky took his coffee black, with one sugar, while your coffee had to be the color of your sheets with at least four sugars. Like the bad ass you were. He gripped the mug with his flesh hand, allowing himself to feel the heat of it before he sipped it. You two sat together in a comfortable silence that was familiar with the both of you. Your relationship with Bucky was the strongest of any relationships in the group (besides yours with Steve) despite your lack of communication. Both of you had seen the same hell and understood each other on the deepest level. Bucky never looked at you longer than necessary, even when speaking he kept his head down, he only ever looked at you when you weren't looking, to study you. Everyone in the tower treated him as a time bomb, except for you because you understood the trauma he has experienced. You had been in the tower long before Bucky had joined. The reason you were found was because they were looking for Bucky. 

A new set of footsteps caught your attention and pulled you out of your thoughts of the dark soldier. The familiar and heavy footsteps rounded the corner and met your face with a refreshed smile. You gave him a half smile, “Morning Capt.” 

Steve smiled at you over his shoulder as he opened the fridge, “Good morning, kid. Good morning, Buck,” He started pulling out different ingredients for the breakfast he was planning on making, but every morning you take over that process because Steve hasn't cooked ever in his life. As he pulled foods out, you pulled out pans and made your way over to the stove

You busied yourself with making scrambled eggs and bacon while letting your mind wander. Your relationship with Steve was strong, you had been inseparable since he brought you to the tower because of the sense of comfort he gave you. Steve had been extremely protective of you when it came to the other team members, he was always worried you would get over-stimulated or someone would cross a line with you. He was the best friend who let you sleep in his bed when you had nightmares but also would hold you down when your line of sanity breaks. That was another thing you and Bucky had in common, everyone was waiting for you to snap. If the power went out in the tower, your room and Bucky’s room would be the only two doors that lock and stay locked. You were also suspicious that Tony’s interface, Friday, sends Steve notifications of when you leave your room at night or if your heart rate elevates unexpectedly, because Steve always was there out of pure chance. 

“She's doing that thing again,” The voice snapped you out of your deep thought and you looked up into the face of Sam, “Mornin, Hot Stuff,” He grinned at you, the stupid grin that he did when he referred to you as one of your ever changing nicknames, “How did you sleep?” 

You finished plating the mountain of bacon you had made while distracted and ignored the question, “Would you like a cup of coffee, Sammy?” you asked as you turned around to face him and place the food on the island as the rest of the Avengers seemed to file in. 

You weren't surprised to see Bucky had already escaped the kitchen quietly, he never sat in one place for too long. Steve had watched you with concerned eyes, which made you realize he caught the part where you ignored Sam’s question. You shrugged to yourself, I can survive on two hours, I’ll be fine. Natasha came and touched your shoulder, “Gym in an hour, resuming our session from yesterday.”

You sighed, you were still so sore from yesterday's training. You could barely sit in a chair without your muscles locking up so how did she expect you to train again? Yesterday consisted of 100 weighted squats, but your weight was Steve Rogers. Nat really liked to make you work on the thing you struggle with the most, your strength. When you first came to the tower, you had broken the bathroom door, actually you didn't break it, when you tried opening it, you basically threw it across the room and broke a lamp. Your current favorite mug is the 12th favorite mug since you have been here and Sam refuses to give you a fist bump because you broke his hand the last time, you cringed at the memory. You made your way to your bedroom and pulled out a sports bra and leggings. Most of the clothes you owned were either Natasha's or free Avengers merchandise. You made your way to the bathroom and removed your glasses to put your contacts in, you wondered if you had always had trouble seeing distances, not that you could remember. You looked at yourself in the mirror, the (y/e/c) eyes staring back at you looked so tired and unfamiliar. You brushed down the wild mane that was your hair and pulled it into a tight braid. You opted to wear a long sleeve tee shirt to cover the nasty scars that littered your body from your rescue, you knew no one cared but you did not need a reminder. 

-

Natasha was ready before the hour was up and you knew it. You always met her early in hopes of ending the session early, but that never happened. The training room was located three floors down from you and it took up the entire floor. Nat was standing in the sparring ring in the center of the room with Tony and Steve.

“Do I have to squat both of you?” the whine was evident in your voice and Steve chuckled

“No, we are going to help you learn to control your powers,” He gave you a slight smile and you could sense the anxiety in his voice

“Which ones?” You raised an eyebrow at him and he looked at Tony

Tony cracked his neck, “The ones we know of, hopefully those are the only ones but you have been known to surprise us,” Tony sounded slightly annoyed, you knew he was not your biggest fan, “but I came prepared.” He slapped the fire extinguisher at his side like a new car 

Natasha looked at you sensing your discomfort at the situation, “where do you want to start?”

-Eight Months Ago-

You woke up with a start, one second you were in front of this man and the next in a bright room. You blinked rapidly to adjust your eyes to the light as you sat up to take in your surroundings. You were in a small room of glass that separated you from a larger room that looked like a medical office from the future. You felt your arms and looked down to see deep white set scars that circled both of your wrists. You looked up and made eye contact with the man that saved you before as he made his way to your room and stepped in. He had a soft smile on his face as he glanced at you, “Mind if I sit?” he asked, gesturing to the chair at your left you didn't even realize was there. You nodded at him silently and he took his seat while watching you examine your scars, “I hope you got some rest, you have been through a lot the last couple of hours.”

Your head shot up as you looked at him, you opened your mouth to speak and let out a barely audible, “Hours?” You remember the slices in your wrist, they were so deep, how could this heal in hours? You looked at the man for some sort of explanation but he offered none

“My name is Steve, I was the one that found you last night. Do you remember that?” You nodded your head once again, “That's good, do you remember how you got where you were when I found you?”  

You were a million miles away trying to remember anything. You remember the room you woke up in, the way you tore yourself off of the table, the blood, and then all you could remember was fire and the howling of the wind in your ears as you ran. As if he read your mind, Steve nodded at you and combed his fingers through his hair. He stood up and left the glass cubicle for a second to speak to a woman outside. The woman then followed him in and started to unhook you from the various monitors around you before she stepped out of the room. Steve looked at you questionably before offering his hand and asking, “Do you think you can walk?” You nodded and slid your legs over the side of the bed and pushed yourself up onto your feet, holding Steve's hand for balance. He watched you take a couple of steps before he was confident you would be okay, “Follow me.”

-

You huffed out a breath that made the hair hanging in front of your face jump. Your body was screaming at you to let it rest but Natasha’s training was resilient. Tony had resorted to putting on one of his iron suits to protect himself from you. You looked at Nat and she simply nodded, “Again.” You sighed loudly and used all of your might to focus on the suit in front of you. Fire suddenly engulfed your hands and reached up to your elbows as well as your feet up until your knees. Your eyes had turned into flames that flickered out of the socket as you made a fist and punched Tony’s suit in the center of the chest, where his power source was. The lights in the suit flickered out as well as the flames engulfing your body. You looked over at Nat expectantly and she nodded in approval. You huffed out a sigh of exhaustion and doubled over with your hands on your knees. Your vision was spotty from the amount of power you put into the set but Natasha and Tony were relentless. “Stand up, we are moving onto the next set.”

“I’m fucking tired,” You hissed as you stood up straight, “Give me a second.”

Natashas stone look reamined, “You won't have a second if Hydra comes after you again.”

You flinched at the name, Hydra. No one has spoken that word around you since you joined the tower and rightfully so, the name burned through you and you felt your body start to heat with anxiety before Tony cleared his throat, “Look power puff, lets just get the next set finished and you can go back to hating the world after, yeah?” He clapped his hands together and faced you while ignoring Nat’s glare from the corner. 

You pushed the hair back from your sweaty forehead, “Fine, which set?” You took your stance across from the suit with your hands out in front of you, ready to wield whatever he asked for. 

You could hear the smirk in his voice, “Surprise me.” You shut your eyes to concentrate, then you felt the power creep up your skin from a dark place within you, causing goosebumps to rise. Your eyes opened and locked with the target in front of you. You swirled your hands around watching as frost covered the floor, creeping its way towards Tony before it encapsulated the feet of the suit with thick blocks of ice. The suit itself did not completely freeze over on the outside, you were forcing your abilities inside the suit, trying to force the millionaire out. The suit cracked in some spots and opened as a safety precaution to a worried Tony Stark, who was shivering enough to shake the ring. You barely hear Natashas voice as you watch the ice creep slowly up Tony’s body, his wide eyes staring at you with fear. 

“y/n!”

Your name snapped you out of the trance you had been in and you focused on the situation. Tony was almost completely trapped in a frozen block and Natasha’s feet were frozen to the floor of the ring, both of them staring at you with wide eyes. You turned around to face Steve as he stared at you with concern written all over his face. Your words caught in your throat, “I didn't mean- I’m- “ You turned back towards Natasha and Tony and forced the ice to creep back from them. Tony fell out of the suit onto his knees with a gasp, holding his arms and shivering violently. 

“Tony, I am so sorry, I don't know what-” Tony held a shaking hand up to you and you looked down at your feet.

“S-save it, k-kid.” He looked at you and leaned back to sit on the ground, “This is what I get for helping train th-the new kid.” He sighed and closed his eyes before laying back against the ground, “No hard feelings, Frozone. Just give me a minute and take the day off.”  

You watched him with worried eyes and turned back to Steve, who was mirroring your expression but not for Tony. You shrugged your shoulders and walked over to him, hanging your head low. He reached out to touch your shoulder but you flinched at the sudden movement. Steve stopped his hand and then dropped it, letting it hang limply at his side while studying you. You gave him an apologetic look before walking away towards the elevator. 

[buriednurbckyrd]

The Breakup Box (4)

Afterwards she was exhausted.  Over a week of restless sleep, overexertion, and emotional distress had left her completely drained. As much as they wanted to continue the discussion Bucky and Steve could see Y/N was running on fumes.  She tried to insist she was fine, but they walked her back to her room, placed gently kisses on her forehead and told her they would talk after she got some much needed rest.  Since her mind was fuzzy after everything that had happened she didn’t put up any fight.  The last thing she remembered was falling into her bed.

She slept soundly until morning.

She woke with a soft groan, realizing she hadn’t moved an inch since she fell asleep and it was after eight o’clock.  She stretched like a cat to loosen her cramped muscles.  Absently rubbing at the back of her neck she wondered if Steve would work the knot out of her shoulder. Steve.  Bucky.  I told them I’m in love with them.  And then they kissed me.

She touched her fingertips to her lips and they curved into a smile as she remembered the feeling.  Knowing they still had a lot to talk about, but surely that was a good sign.  Right?  Happier than she could remember being in a long time she slide out of bed to dress for the day.  Heading towards the kitchen she picked up her phone and sent off a text to Bucky.

Pancakes?

Knowing they were one of his favorites, she started pulling out the necessary ingredients.  She’d made them so often for him and the rest of the team she no longer needed to look at a recipe.  When his reply came through his enthusiasm made her giggle at her screen.  

Bucky: Yes pls!!! Be there in a min Steve says I have to put on pants.

Chuckling to herself, she put some bacon in a pan and started a fresh pot of coffee.  The breakfast felt important some how.  A little bit of a continuation of her apology, but also the first morning after putting all her cards on the table. A part of her still worried she would wake up from the dream or they would change their minds and shun her.  Suddenly her throat felt like it would close up and the doubts would swallow her whole.  

“Stop overthinking whatever’s going through that brain of yours,” Bucky’s voice was still slightly rough from sleep.  “You have worried face.”  He smiled at her.  

“’Morning Y/N, Bucky said you’re making pancakes?”  Steve poured himself a cup of steaming coffee.  Dropping a kiss on the top of her head he peeked at the stove.  “And bacon?  You’re too good to us.”  

“Honestly it’s kind of part two of my apology,” she turned the strips of meat so they wouldn’t burn.  “I wanted to do something nice for you both.”  

“Hey, we’re good,” Bucky took her hand and rubbed his thumb over the top.  “You don’t owe us anything.  Not that I’m about to turn down breakfast.”  

“Still, I really made a mess of everything.”  She poured batter onto the griddle.  “And clearly there’s more we need to talk about. Cooking is a good outlet for my nervous energy.”  

“Why would you be nervous?”  

“Because- wait.  Let me finish this.”  She shot them a timid smile.  “Maybe you could set the table?  These won’t take long, and the bacon is nearly done.”  They shared a look but nodded and did as she asked. Y/N tried to keep her mind on the task in front of her.  Even though she had woken up feeling happy and hopeful, now she couldn’t help but wonder if she had read everything wrong.  She flipped the last few pancakes onto a platter and carried it over to the table. Bucky’s eyes brightened and he immediately slide some on to his plate.  Y/N only watched the two men dig into their food, finding her stomach was unsettled again with anxiety.  

“Aren’t you gonna have some Y/N?”  Steve asked her, looking concerned.  

“I don’t think I could tolerate food at the moment,” she tried a reassuring smile.  “I’m okay, I’ll eat in a bit.”  Bucky dropped his fork and frowned at her.

“Talk to us, sweetheart.  I thought we cleared everything up yesterday.”

“Did we?”  She picked at her nails.  “Because all I remember is telling you that I’m in love with both of you, kissing both of you, and being sent to bed.”  Her face burned.  “God, why is this so awkward?”  Steve reached out and took her hand.  

“You were exhausted,” he said gently.  “But I’m sorry we didn’t do more to ease your mind.  We’re here now and we’ll do our best to make sure we’re on the same page.”  

“I guess I just want to know where we stand?  I never imagined I would ever admit any of this so I have no idea what happens next.”  They shared another one of those infuriating looks, one that she just knew was a whole telepathic conversation in a few seconds.  

“We talked a lot last night,” Bucky said after their interlude and looked at her apologetically.  “Not to shut you out or anything, that was never our intention.  And well…”  

“We owe you an apology too.”  Steve finished.  

“Huh? For what?”  

“We haven’t been honest about our feelings either.”  Bucky told her.

“Maybe if we had, none of this would have happened.”  Steve’s expression was heartbreaking.  

“What do you mean?”  

“We mean the feelings are mutual, Doll.”  Bucky grinned.  “I’m in love with you right back.”  

“Same for me, Y/N,” Steve added.  “Probably from the very beginning.” When she couldn’t find words he slipped from his chair and knelt beside her.  “Back in during the war, when I watched Bucky fall,” he paused to swallow the lump in his throat.  “I thought that was it, I’d never get the chance to tell him how I really felt.  I never thought any of this would happen.  Crashing into the ice, getting unfrozen, finding Bucky again, getting him back…  I got my second chance.”  He looked up at the other man, who had moved to stand behind Y/N, resting his mismatched hands on her shoulders. “None of this should be possible, but some how it is.  I felt like the luckiest man in the world and then you walked into our lives and I couldn’t fathom how much fortune I was having just poured on my lap.  You wound around my heart the first time I heard you laugh and I didn’t reach out because how could I dare to wish for more love?”

“Steve,” she was crying again.  “You deserve all the love in the world.” He wiped the tears on her cheeks.  

“I realized that I truly am the luckiest man in the world,”  his own eyes filled.  “The moment you told us how you felt, because I’m getting the chance to love two of the most amazing people in this whole messed up world.”  Bucky pulled her out of her chair and cupped her face in his hands.  

“I spent seventy years in cold and darkness.  After all the things I’ve done, I didn’t think I deserved any of this.  As long as you and Steve let me, I’ll do whatever I can to prove I am.”  

“Always.” She whispered.  “Til the end of the line.”  This time she initiated, her arms went around Bucky’s neck and she pulled him down as she went up on her tip toes.  His lips were salty, from her tears and his, but it didn’t matter.  She registered the sensation of his hands stroking down her back, gently gripping her hips.  A second set of arms went around her middle and another pair of lips trailed over her neck.  

“Does this answer your questions?”  Steve murmured in her ear.  “Clear everything up?”  

“Almost,” she turned and tugged him down to her.  “I just need to check one more thing.”  He grinned and nipped at her lips before sinking into the kiss with a soft sound that might have been a groan.  They gently broke away and she swore her lips were buzzing.  

“We know you’ve had a rough go with guys planning dates for you,” Bucky nuzzled against her neck.  “But we would really like it if you would let us take you out.”

“Will you trust us to plan something special for you, please?”  Steve kissed her knuckles.  

“I’ve trusted you both with my life more times than I can count, of course I do.”  Unable to resist any more she buried her face in Steve’s chest.  “I missed this.  I missed hugging you guys.”  

“Never gonna let you go again.  You’re stuck with us now.”  Bucky poked her in the side where he knew she was ticklish.  She let out an undignified squeak like he knew she would.  “I can’t wait to take you out on a proper date.”  His voice had dropped an octave, rumbling through her body.  “We’re gonna show you how you should be treated, Doll.”  His promise was made all the sweeter by the dark suggestion of his desire.  When she flicked her eyes up to meet Steve’s, she saw raw need in them.  Things were definitely crystal clear.  

next

[buckyscrystalqueen]

Unlikely Parents: Part 3

Pairings: Negan x reader (Jane the Virgin AU), Hotel owner!Negan x Parolee!Reader

Warnings: Artificial insemination, Swearing, Angst, mentions of torture, abuse, violence, murder...

Word Count: 6,738

A/N: Yea, this took on a life of its own…. Not sorry.

Part 1 / Part 2

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I wont be gone long, just gotta take care of some shit outta town.” It had only been two weeks since Negan had been gone, but you were in absolute hell from the moment he left, until you saw him again. You worked open to nearly close for two weeks straight, but you didn’t dare open your mount to complain to Lucille, who made the schedule, out of fear that she would call your probation officer and send you back to jail. So you bit your tongue, got up at 4:45 every morning to open, and busted your ass until 9 at night when your curfew mandated you be home, only to battle crazy heartburn and insomnia until you had to work again. 

“Incoming.” One of the guys that worked as a waiter around the pool said as he stopped flirting with the girl that was running the register with you and went back to get more orders from the pool patrons. You continued to clean off tables, not wanting to deal with the wrath of Lucille again, and you jumped about a foot in the air when a hand touched the small of your back.

“Hey, what time...” Negan started, making you turn toward him. You could almost feel his stomach drop as he looked at the dark circles under your eyes and the exhaustion you couldn’t keep off your face if you tried. “When was the last time you fucking slept?” You shook your head and glanced down at the table you were cleaning as you honestly tried to give him an answer.

“What day is it?”

“Alright, you’re fucking done.” He barked as he pulled the rag from your hands and tossed it toward the bar.

“Wait, I’m not done...”

“The fuck you’re not.” He said as he took ahold of your arm and lead you away from the table you were cleaning. “I’m giving you the rest of the fucking day off. No, the rest of the fucking week off.”

“No, Negan, it’s fine.” You tried as you walked with him in shoes that had started to give you blisters days before because of how swollen your feet were. “Negan, please...” He didn’t say another word as he lead you back into the employee locker room while pulling up the last two weeks schedule on his phone, and he gestured for you to sit down on the bench and wait for him as he stormed over his soon to be ex wife’s office.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” He roared as he ripped open her door. “You’ve had her working open to fucking close for two fucking weeks straight when she’s fucking pregnant!”

“She wasn’t open to close.” Lucille tried as you scooted down the bench a bit to put your work shoes in your locker and grab the paper like slippers you had gotten from one of the ladies in the spa.

“Six in the fucking morning to fucking nine at night is open to fucking close, Lucille! You’re fucking done! I want you outta my fucking hotel now! You’re fucking fired!” You startled the slightest bit when he slammed the door, and you looked over at your boss as he came back over to escort you upstairs. “The fuck are those?” Your eyes dragged away from his sluggishly to look down at the slippers he was gesturing to and you shrugged your shoulders.

“My feet hurt.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” He muttered as he pulled you to your feet. “Come on, let’s get you upstairs.” With a nod, you let him lead you to the elevators like a lost puppy and up to your suite. You almost wanted to cry when you looked at your neatly made bed, and as if he read your mind, he gave you a gentle push in that direction. “Get changed, and take a nap. I’ll wake you up for dinner, OK?” Tears welled in your eyes in gratitude as you stepped out of your slippers and looked back at him.

“Will you just... can you stay? You look tired too.”

“You have no fucking idea, but...”

“Please?” That one simple word was enough to make him cave, and he nodded his head and toed off his shoes with a sigh.

“Don’t get fucking used to it.” He huffed as you grabbed a nightgown from your drawer and shuffled toward the bathroom.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” You change into your pjs in a matter of minutes and left your bra and your dress on the bathroom floor, so beyond functioning anymore than the most basic tasks. The high thread count sheets felt like heaven as you slipped between them, and you scooted across the king sized bed to the middle where you liked to sleep best.

“I am so fucking sorry, sweetheart.” Negan whispered as he laid down in front of you and slightly hesitantly rested his fingertips on your bump.

“I would have been OK.” You sighed as you moved and flattened his hand on your stomach. “‘S’like being in prison again.”

“Yea, that’s exactly my fucking point.” He grumbled as he shifted to get comfortable, subtly making his hand slide to your hip. A small smirk pulled at the corner of your lips and you took the risk to scoot forward so you were up against his chest. He let out a slightly defeated huff, but still pulled you impossibly closer to his chest and kissed your forehead. “Sleep.”

“I’m sleeping, I’m sleeping.”

——

You had always known you talked in your sleep from years of dealing with various cell mates, but when the hot dream you were having spilled out into reality, you were yanked from your nap by blunt nails digging in to the back of your hip and shoulder and Negan’s warm breath on your forehead.

“I need you to fucking stop saying my fucking name like that, baby girl.” He growled, which only made you impossibly more horny as someone that hadn’t been with a man in almost eight years could possibly be.

“Negan...” You whined on a breath as you reached up and touched his scruff covered cheek. He didn’t even try to fight you as you captured his lips with yours and he willingly let you roll him onto his back so you could straddle his lap. You smirked against his lips when you felt his length pressing against your core, which immediately made you forget how tired you were and made your confidence sky rocket.

“Oh...” You cooed with a smirk as you pushed yourself up by his chest so you could sit up and look down at him. “Did you miss me?”

“You’re worth missing... God fucking damnit.” He groaned as you pulled your nightgown off and tossed it across the room. “Fuck, baby girl. Will you fucking look at you.”

“I’m a peach, what can I say?” You teased as you ran your fingers from your hips up your tattooed sides, and through your loose hair. 

“Oh, one fucking gorgeous peach.” He agreed as he pushed his hips against yours and pulled you down toward him by the arm. “Fuck, I wish I had met years ago. Coulda saved you...” Your lips froze on his neck, and you almost instantly lost interested in what you were doing as you sat back up to look at him with your eyebrow raised.

“Saved me from...?”

“From having to live with your fucked up family...”

“OK, my mother wasn’t fucked up, thank you.” You snapped as you put one hand on his chest and the other on your 15 week along bump to get off of the man in your bed. “We did just fucking fine...”

“OK, hold the fuck on.” He said as he quickly jumped up and grabbed his jeans. “No, you’re not shutting me out.” He nearly lost his fingers in the door to your bathroom when you tried to slam it closed, but he still pushed it open and leaned against the frame to talk to you. “Look, If you haven’t fucking figured it out by now, I really like you. Fuck, I’m falling for you hard.”

“You don’t fucking know me... stupid baby bump...” You grumbled as you tried unsuccessfully to hide behind a hotel towel. 

“OK, here.” You scowled at him and took a step over to you to slam the door closed to lock him out, but he stuck his arm in the opening and pushed it back open to hand you his dress shirt. “Rude.”

“Necessary.”

“I’ve kept my fucking distance from you since the day I met you in a last fucking ditch effort to save my sham of a marriage with a wife that fucking hated me. But there is no fucking point in that anymore. And while I was fucking keeping my distance, I read the court records from your plea. You didn’t fucking traffic those drugs to get out, did you?”

“Shut up, Negan.” You tried to step around him to get out of the bathroom, but he side stepped in front of you to keep you were you were.

“Your father made you move those drugs, didn’t he?”

“Negan, just stop talking...”

“He made you sell those fucking pills...”

“And he would have killed me if I didn’t fucking listen!” You screamed as you looked up and met his eyes with so much anger and sadness, Negan could almost feel his own heart shatter. “My mother is spending life in fucking prison because that’s what he did to her. I had the fucking chance to get adopted by a good fucking family when I was six, but I had to go back to my family because my dad said he’d kill my new family if I didn’t. No one could have saved me, Negan. Not you, not DCFS, not the people that tried to adopt me, not even the kid that killed the grocery store guy accidentally when he tried to get us enough money to run away when my dad was passed out after beating me with a bar of soap in a sock so it wouldn’t leave bruises. No one could save me. So don’t fucking stand there and think you could have done better by me, what, because I’m pregnant with your kid now? Because you realize that I’m actually a decent person that has no fucking choice but to live a shitty life. 

I’m not stupid here. I know that my dad gets out of prison in three years and he’s coming for me when he does for fucking up his run. And I know I’ll lose my daughter to you when he gets out because I won’t let her grow up anywhere near him because I can’t leave the fucking county for the next four years... as long as I’m a fucking good girl that is. But that won’t fucking happen because my dad is a fucking tool and he’ll figure out how to use me to do his bidding, probably by threatening you or our child, which he will do since he used my mom to get me to do it in the first place and me to get her to do it, too. And I’ll end up right back in the fucking system to save you. There’s no saving me, Negan. Never has been, never will be. So just let me get what love I can from my kid before I have to turn my back on her to save her life. No, stop let me go...”

“No.” He said as he wrapped you in a hug and held on tightly. You yelled his name and tried to pull back away from him, but he simply stepped impossibly closer and shook his head against the top of your head. “No.” You fought for a moment or two longer before you finally broke down into loud sobbed tears, intermittent by screams. 

“It’s OK.” He whispered softly against the crown of your head as he ran his fingers through your hair and down your back. “It’s OK now.” He held you until you were shaking so violently, you could barely hold yourself up, and at that point, he simply picked you and carried you back to bed, where you cried yourself back to sleep. He knew there was nothing at all that he could say to make this situation better, so instead, he called Beth on her day off to find out some of your favorites, and ordered a pizza, and every single kind of dessert the room service menu offered. As he waited for your dinner to arrive, he called the first and only lawyer he could think of, a man that had gotten him out of a DUI many years ago, and brushed a few unsavory looking deals under the rug for him (even if he wasn’t happy about doing so and was only in it for the money.)

“Hershel, you gotta see this fucking case file. Her fucking state issue lawyer just let her take the fucking plea, and he would have annihilated this case...”

“Negan, please leave it.” You sighed, half awake, as the smell of pizza pulled you from your nightmare.

“Her fingerprints weren’t on the bag, her dad’s were.” Negan continued as he stood at the end of the bed and called you forward with his finger. A small smirk pulled at the corner of your lips and you playfully shook your head and curled up under the blankets. “She didn’t go to trial, didn’t even leave the precinct, she just confessed because her dad threatened to kill her if she flipped. Now she’s fucking pregnant... yea, she’s the one that works with Beth...” His eyes narrowed at you and he continued to call you forward as he listened, but you pulled the blanket over your head so that just your eyes and your nose was showing. 

“Your other daughter’s met her, too. Look, you know I’m not usually an advocate for fucking felons, and sure, this one is different because she’s the mother of my kid, but we’re gunna fucking help her, if it costs me every penny I own, and if it’s the last thing you do... What, am I fucking feeding you in bed here, what?” Your smile grew and you nodded your head, which made Negan shake his head ‘no’ as he wrapped up the conversation. “OK, so your son-in-law then. Look, I’ll send you the case file. Just look it over for me. I’ll double your fees if you agree... Thanks, Greene. What the fuck are you doing to me?”

“You made me cry. You bring the food to me.”

“That’s not how this fucking works.” He laughed as he put his phone on your dresser, and grabbed the room service cart’s handle. “You don’t get rewarded for yelling at me.”

“I get rewarded for growing a baby.” You pointed out as you finally came out of your blanket cocoon and sat up. “And for not walking out the door right now since you don’t wanna listen to me when I tell you to leave my fucking case alone because you don’t know the fucking door you are opening.”

“Eat your pizza.” He said as he put two slices on a plate and passed it over to you, before making his own plate to sit on the bed and eat with you. “You’re always going to make shit harder, aren’t you?”

“Pretty sure that’s because of the tits.” You pointed out before taking a huge bite out of your slice with a smile.

“Fuck you’re gunna be the death of me.” He groaned as he leaned back against the headboard next to you. “And fuck am I glad that I met you. I’m never letting you go.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You have no idea what you have done.” You muttered in Russian like a broken record as you walked into the county sheriff’s office with a heavy, dirt covered, black trash bag in your arms beside Negan and behind your new lawyers, Beth’s dad, Herschel, and Maggie’s husband, Glenn. Your head shook back and forth like it had all morning, as you thought about exactly what was in the lock box that you and your mother buried by a lake in your apartment complex.

“In here.” Hershel said as he gestured you into a large interview room, where the DA, Michonne Hawthorn-Grimes, her husband Sheriff Rick Grimes, and your probation officer, Daryl Dixon were waiting. You stopped in the doorway as you realized that the one thing you feared more than your father was actually happening, but before you could step back, Negan grabbed your upper arm and pulled you into the room.

“Alright, so what are we here to talk about?” Michonne asked, but you shook your head and stayed in the corner by the door.

“If I put this bag down on the table.” You started as you looked at her and only her. “You will need to get my mother and a Russian translator. I can give you solid, undeniable evidence of six murders, and proof that both her and my confessions and crimes were done under duress. But I won’t do it without her, and she won’t speak to anyone about it unless I’m in the room. We agreed decades ago that if we were going down this road, we’d go down in flames together or wait until the other person was dead. And some of the things I have in here will only be hearsay without her.” The room was quiet for a moment as the three people sitting on the far side of the table, who hadn’t already heard your spiel, exchanged looks and had a silent conversation, weighing the pros and cons, before curiosity got the better of Michonne and she nodded her head.

“Let’s make that happen.” She said as Rick took a step toward the door.

“Just... have the CO tell her that I said it’s time to smoke. I promise it’s not a code for anything bad, it’s just a Russian phrase we designated when we talked about this moment. ‘Dyma bez ognya ne byvayet.’ ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire’. This box is the fire.”

“We Googled it on the way here.” Glenn told him as he set down a yellow legal pad on the table in front of him. “It’s the proper translation.”

“OK.” Rick said with a nod before he turned and headed out the door to make some calls.

“OK, put the bag down now.” Negan said before you started your pacing again while you waited.

“I can take it.” Officer Dixon tried as he took a step toward you.

“No, you can’t.” You countered quickly as you turned away from him. “My fingerprints have been on these bags for years. Yours have not. I will not let anything ruin this case, because my mom and my life literally depend on it.”

“OK, then let’s set it down in the middle here.” Negan said softly with a small, reassuring smile as if he was trying not to frighten a scared cat, showing a softer side that none of the people in the room had ever seen of the semi-shady hotel owner that could never be caught. “It’s not good for the baby to keep holding on to it.” With a numb nod, you finally stepped away from the door and placed the bundle on the edge, before taking a step back to start pacing the length while you waited. With a slightly content and yet still very concerned sigh, Negan grabbed a chair beside your lawyers to wait until you could get the show on the road.

“She’s making me nauseous.” Daryl said at the one hour mark as he, like everyone else in the room watched you wear a path in the linoleum.

“She should be here any minute.” Rick, who had come back after making his calls, said as he leaned on the wall beside a two way mirror and next to a video camera he had brought back in with him.

“I know you’re nervous.” The translator, a woman name Andrea, said softly in Russian, which was almost as much of your first language as English was, in an attempt to get you to calm down anyway she could. “But it’s going to be alright. We will protect you...”

“You cannot protect me if this doesn’t work.” You told her with a shake of your head as you turned around to head the other way. “If this evidence doesn’t count, there will be no stopping him.” You came to a dead stop when the door to the room was opened, and tears instantly welled up as your mother, Masha, was lead in in chains. “Mama, I’m sorry.”

“No, no, my love. It’s alright.” She responded in Russian as well as she cupped your face in her hands, while the translator started doing her job. “It’s time. This fire has smoked long enough.” You nodded your head in agreement and closed your eyes as she pulled you toward herself so she could kiss your forehead. She stayed there for a moment as her tears fell softly into your hair, since it had been nine years since she saw you last, and there was a chance she’d never be able to see you again. “Oh, it’s been too long, my love.”

“I’m sorry, we are on a bit of a time crunch here.” Michonne interrupted a little impatiently. “We can give you a couple minutes when we are done...”

“Thank you.” You said with a sniffle as you forced yourself to step back so that the officer that brought your mom in could take off her handcuffs. You told her quickly what Negan was helping you both with lawyers so that everything stuck, and she nodded her head as she reached out and gently touched your bump with an award winning smile. She shuffled over to the table in her shackles and took a deep breath as you both stopped side by side, looking at the bag.

“Burning roses.” Your mother said with a glance over at you. With a nod of your head, she reached out and pushed the two trash bags down to reveal a waterproof lockbox that held so many secrets. You helped her pull the box out, set it down in front of you, and pushed the bags out of the way as your mother started the story of your father. 

“In late 1986, early ‘87, a prostitute was picked up from Miami Beach, and she never saw the light of day again.” She set the box’s lock down on the table and flipped open the nearly full box to grab a the first stack of Polaroids that had been collected over the years, while you started going through the box of cassette tapes to find the one that went with this part of the story. “She was beaten, raped, tortured, partially dismembered, burned, and sodomized in a shack in the Everglades, that would eventually be burned to the ground.” Neither you, nor your mother could spend more than a second looking at the photos as they were laid out on the table for everyone to see, so she just kept going as gloves were passed out to the people that needed them so that evidence wasn’t contaminated any more than it already had been.

“She was then dumped.” Masha continued as she continued to lay out photos your father had taken for whatever stupid reason he had had back then. “In a 55 gallon drum of sulfuric acid, while still alive, and left to die a horrible, painful death. I was never told where the barrel was, and as far as I know, it was never found. I met Richard Mason (Y/L/N) in the summer of ‘88 when he came in to the physical therapy center I was a receptionist at for a leg injury he sustained at work. His left lower leg and ankle were crushed by a steel pipe that fell off a truck on the job site, but today, I believe it was self inflicted. He was never able to walk right after it, one way or another. Unfortunately, I fell in love with him, but he only saw a free meal ticket. We started dating, and shortly after, got pregnant with (Y/N), and I thought it would be a good idea to get married to be a family.

I found those photos when I was helping him pack up his apartment to move into mine, and I knew I had to confront him about it. But I also knew that I needed proof to take to the cops. So I hid the photos so he wouldn’t know I found them and went out and bought a tape recorder. This is the confrontation.” You hit play, gently set the tape recorder down on the table, and reached over for your mom’s hand.

“Richard? What are these?”

“What are what?”

“These Polaroids I found in that shoe box in the closet. They’re... really grap...” Your mother’s words were literally choked off before a loud bang rattled you to your very core and made you close your eyes as tears started to fall on your bump.

“Now you listen here, cunt.” Your father growled in a tone that you were so used to hearing but still sent shivers up your spine. “Don’t ever, ever fucking touch my shit again. Those photos? I fucking did that shit because that fucking whore thought she’d be fucking smart and tried to get mouthy with me. Now you’re fucking lucky. You suck my dick a hell of a lot better than her, and you don’t fucking fight when I fucking ‘play rape’ you or whatever fucking bullshit you wanna call it to make it all better in that thick fucking skull of yours. So do me a fucking favor, put the fucking photos back in the fucking box, shut your Goddamn mouth about them, and pretend you never fucking saw them or I will cut that fucking monstrosity out of your fucking belly, shove it in a fucking blender, and force it down your fucking throat. Are we fucking clear?” You heard your mothers choked ‘mmhmm’ on the tape and you launched out of your chair as she quickly hit stop. Negan had maybe a second to hand you a trash can before you started getting sick, and the rest of the room sat in disgusted, and stunned silence.

“We’re only just getting started.” Masha said with a shake of her head as she grabbed the next stack of polaroids from the box to keep adding fuel to the fire to guarantee it would either stop your father... or be the nail in both of your coffins and hopefully a quick death (which you both knew wouldn’t be the case). “We still have 20 years of shit to get through.”

“I think we need to call a few more people.” Rick said with a slow shake of his head as Negan pulled his chair over to sit behind you and your mother with a new trash can Glenn had grabbed from the hall. 

“I think you may be right on that one.” Michonne agreed as she started writing notes at lightening speed.

——

It took fourteen hours to go through everything you and your mom had collected throughout the years as leverage over your father. Fourteen hours of listening to cassette tapes and then cell phone recordings, fourteen hours of watching slightly obstructed videos of the beatings you both took over the years, fourteen hours of translating coded notes of memories of incidents you had both tried to push out of your heads but were never completely able to do. It took fourteen whole hours to relive every horrifying, traumatic moment of your life, but at the end of those fourteen hours, all of it was completely worth it.

You and your mother spoke to three judges, four prosecutors, and multiple city, county, and state police. You spoke to the DEA and the FBI, reopening cold cases and putting them to rest. You spoke to the states attorney and even the governor about everything. You both gave sworn, videoed confessions of your parts in crimes you had committed over time under your fathers orders and threats, and you were thankfully pardoned in all cases. The judge that sentenced both you and your mom to prison nine years prior, and the states attorney happily vacated your conviction, letting you walk out the door after a free woman, and had your mothers sentence reduced from first degree murder, to justified homicide, since there was a video of your father holding a knife to your throat in your living room until she agreed to kill a man that owed him money, and he and the governor both agreed to seal your records, to give you some semblance of closure to your past. 

Multiple people that met the pair of you agreed that her nine years spent behind bars was enough, but since she did actually kill someone, it was agreed that that two years of minimal, unofficial, and sponsored probation would be the final step. She was to report directly to officer Dixon every Wednesday at exactly 5pm, she would still have to pass a urine test, and she still couldn’t leave the county without permission, but other than that, she was also free to go.

“She’ll be out of the system by morning.” A now nameless to you officer said as he pulled out handcuffs to take your mother back to jail.

“She can just stay here.” Rick said as he scratched at the scruff on his cheek.

“There’s no point in making her suffer in prison another night. I’ll have the paperwork sent through first thing in the morning so she can be released.” Michonne agreed as she collected her notebooks and paperwork as Rick’s officers boxed up all of the evidence on the table to store until your father’s trial began. 

“Let’s get you home, baby girl.” Negan said softly, but you shook your head and stepped closer to your mother as she was unshackled.

“I’m staying with my mom.”

“No, sweetheart, go sleep in a bed.” Your mom tried, but you shook your head.

“нет.”

“We have room in the crib.” Rick said as he walked you all out of the interrogation room.

“OK, well I’m not fucking leaving you here alone, so you got room for three?” With a sigh, Rick nodded his head and gestured for you to follow after you said goodbye and thanks to your lawyers. You could feel yourself slipping into exhaustion as you were led back to a room with metal bunkbeds, and when you sat down on one of the bottom bunks in the middle of the room, Negan helped your mom scoot another bed closer before taking off your shoes so you didn’t have to bend over around your growing bump.

“So tell me all about it.” Masha said with a smile as she sat down on the bed across from you and pulled off her blue prison top and set it aside. “How did you two meet?”

“I was… no, come back…” You started but whined when Negan went to grab his own bunk. “It’s cold.”

“You’re always fucking cold.” He huffed as he took off his jacket and dropped it over your shoulders.

“I blame your son.”

“Yea, it’s always my fucking son when it’s pissing you off, and your sweet daughter every other time.”

“That’s the way it works.” Your mother laughed as she looked at the pair of you with a smile that threatened to break her cheeks. “It will always be your child when he’s bad, and hers when it’s good.”

“Great.”

“I think it’s a girl.” You said as you laid down on the bed in front of her and leaving enough room behind you so that Negan could lay down on the small bed too. “She was an accident. You remember that woman that came into the prisons…”

“Which one?”

“Suchka s temnymi volosami, kotoryye puskali vodku v tvoyu kisku kazhdyy raz, kogda tebe prikhodilos' yeye videt’.” Your mother smirked at your description of your old OB, and nodded her head as all three of you laid down for a few hours until she could leave.

“She did like to breathe her alcohol on your pussy.”

“She artificially inseminated me ‘on accident’.” You continued softly in Russian out of habit, since her first language was the language she had taught you as a baby when your dad wasn’t around so you could talk to her secretly when he was around, as Negan pulled his jacket around you a little more and put his hand on your hip. He kissed your shoulder and laid down behind you as you smiled at your mom like a happy kitten. “He wanted a kid but he had cancer and a low sperm count. So he froze a sample to use with his ex wife, who has made my life a living hell for the last two months because he’s divorcing her, falling for me, and I’m pregnant with ‘her son’. He gave me a place to live when he found out because I was gunna give him the baby… and then I heard her little heartbeat and… well we’re keeping her. I’m keeping her. I’m working at his hotel and he’s keeping me housed and fed for now. And then this girl from work said I could move in with her if I needed to when she’s born. So we’ve just been talking and working it out day by day. No rush, just getting to know each other… and then this shit happened.”

“He’s a cute one.” She sighed as she stretched her hand out for yours. “Kind eyes. You can tell it all by a man’s eyes.”

“I need to get to know him more still.” You said with a smile as you laced your fingers with hers.

“Never stop getting to know each other.” She cooed to both of you as she closed her eyes. “And allow yourself to fall in love.”

——

“Hey, baby girl.” Negan said softly as he came in to the bathroom, where you had been standing pin straight, staring at the edge of the tattoo on your right side after your shower. He touched your shoulder, which made you startle the slightest bit and look over at him in the reflection. “What’s wrong? You’re been just fucking standing in here since your mom went to bed.”

“Have you ever seen a tattoo like this?” You asked as you turned to face him and held your arm up so he could see it completely in the mirror.

“I mean, I saw it on you the other day…”

“It’s a Russian symbol.” You said as you ran your fingers over the tattoo of your mom’s face to the rose and dagger she was holding. “My mom has the same one on her arm but with my likeness. It’s an oath for revenge. I got this tattoo done when I was fourteen years old by someone my mom knew, after my dad locked us both in the closet for a weekend so I wouldn’t go on a school trip to the aquarium while he went on a bender. That weekend, my mother told me everything she had been keeping and recording all my life. And she told me that life was not a bed of roses, but it was up to us and only us to stay alive no matter what.” You shook your head and put his hand on your bump where your daughter kicked for the first time about twenty minutes prior when you were in the shower, before running your fingers across the ink on your skin. “I can’t believe it’s happening… no, don’t move, just wait.” You said as you finally pulled your eyes away from the tattoo to look over at him.

“Is he moving?”

“She kicked when I was in the shower, and now I’m just waiting for her to do it again because I know I can feel her, but I don’t know if you will be able to or not. So now that you’re standing in here with me as I try to sort through this shit in my head, and you can wait with me to see if you can feel it or not.”

“OK.” He said with a nod as he pat your bump with his fingertips. “So we’ll wait together.” You nodded your head and looked back over at your tattoo in the mirror, as Negan laid both hands on your bump with a sigh. You hadn’t felt so weightless in your life, but it didn’t seem real at all. You couldn’t believe that your mother was out of prison and in the next room, and that she was free and would never be beaten or abused again. You couldn’t believe that your father was finally currently housed in a six by nine holding cell in the Florida State Prison, where he would spend 23 hours a day, with no visitors, and no human contact the rest of his life.You couldn’t believe that you had gotten your revenge… and it didn’t seem real. You were free to make your own decisions without worrying about the impact they would have on your mother. And like her, you would never be physically hurt again.

“(Y/N)… I am so, so sorry.” Negan whispered, pulling you out of your thoughts once more. “I didn’t realize…”

“Thank you.” You whispered as you found his eyes in the mirror and then turned toward him completely. “Baby… thank you. We never, ever would have had the courage to stand up to him. Why did you do that?”

“Ummm do what?”

“Why would you save us like that?” You asked as you reached up to touch his jaw.

“Because I needed to.” He smiled as he stepped closer. “Because there is something about you that makes me want to be a better man than I have been the last ten years. Because even though it scares the fuck outta me, I fucking love you.” You smiled, which grew even more as he gently squeezed your bump to pull you forward and your daughter finally kicked back at him.

“We love you too.” You whispered as you reached up and cupped his jaw in his hand. “I love you, Negan. And I don’t and never will deserve you.”

“Yes you do… I’m the undeserving one…”

“No, no your not…”

“Well how about we both be undeserving then?” He asked as he used the heel of his palm to try and get his son (since he refused to get off that train) to kick back again.

“You are always going to be difficult, aren’t you?” He nodded his head as his son kicked back once more, and he slid his hands to your hips to pull you even closer.

“For the rest of your damn life, baby girl. As long as you’ll have me.”

“I’ll have you.”

“Come to bed. You’ve had a long two days.”

“Well that’s your fault.” You huffed as you followed him out of the bathroom to get dressed for bed. “You are just stressing me out and making me lose sleep.”

“Oh, here we go.” He laughed as he got into the bed. “I’m regretting moving you in here with me already.”

“Look. I asked you if three weeks was too short to move in and you said no. I asked you if it was too soon since you just separated…”

“Hey (Y/N)…” Negan said as he held up the blanket for you to get in. “Get in the fucking bed. I want you here…”

“Well who wouldn’t, I’m amazing.” He groaned and rolled away from you for a half second as you got comfortable in front of him to be the little spoon with a giant smile on your face.

“Fuck, you’re gunna drive me fucking crazy…”

“I’ll at least make it fun.” He hummed in agreement, and nodded his head as he pulled you closer to his chest.

“Yea, don’t fucking doubt that.”

[mcwriting]

Starstruck (6)

IT’S FINALLY HERE! After revision after revision, I’m done with ch 6! Thank you to everyone who has been soooo patient with me! I’ve finally found a groove with this story and am super motivated to finish. I promise the next chapters will actually include more of Tom and get us into the story resolve!

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9

Fandom: Tom Holland 

Ship: Tom Holland x Reader

Setting: LA area

Word Count: 1863

Warnings: some “bad” words as usual

Rating: Meh. K+

                            __________________________________

Days later you finally drove yourself to dance, even though it was only a short walk from home

It was a necessary evil to avoid the paps trying to harass you.

The studio would be full today, but you couldn’t keep skipping class. You talked to your instructor privately to ask that she help keep the class from getting “distracted” by your situation.

You were there pretty early and entered the large room to pick a spot on the barre and start warming up. As the time for class neared, students trickled in.

Some of your friends came to give a hug and say they were happy to see you, but the others just wanted to grill you. You ignored them and stayed silent, exchanging awkward looks with your closer friends. 

Class went somewhat smoothly, if you forgot every time someone tried to pull you aside during a water break to squeeze info out of you. 

By the end, you were tired and drained and ready to go home.

It wasn’t until you’d already begun to step out the door that someone tried to warn you about the paparazzi and journalists outside. 

You were immediately overwhelmed by people rushing forward, shouting out questions and statements. Shocked, you stood completely still as cameras snapped and microphones were shoved in your face. 

Obviously, someone had told them you were here, and unfortunately you knew they would be able to follow you home. 

Parents, teachers, and classmates kindly came to your aid, surrounding you to help push through the crowd to your car. 

You dreaded walking towards it and willingly giving away what your vehicle looked like to them because if they happened to capture your license plate number (which was very plausible) they could find you easily. 

As the people supporting you tried moving you forward, you finally sucked up your fears and stepped with them, head held high. You wouldn’t let yourself get caught looking dejected over a stupid, selfish celebrity.

It took a while to drive out of the lot because you had to avoid the sea of people. It wouldn’t look great for you to hospitalize a reporter because you ran over them.

Even if it was their fault for stepping in front of me? you asked yourself.

YES

Cars were tailgating you, as some of the people had been smart enough to hop in their cars when you did so they could follow you home. A sense of panic tightened your chest when you realized how dangerous this might be.

You wanted to call the cops but figured nothing could stop these story-hungry maniacs from trying to dig up the smallest speck of dirt on you right now and running to the police would make you look weak. 

Surely this media storm would end as soon as Kendall Jenner did another Pepsi ad or some rapper got arrested outside the US, right?

Wrong, of course.

Two days later, the tea was that Tom was going from LA to Seoul, and he had been bombarded at LAX with fans and journalists, while others still followed your every move, even going so far as to watching your parents go to work and back. 

Tom had pulled the same stunts as you, practically bending over backwards to avoid answering the difficult questions of what had happened. You had to give it to him, he knew what he was doing, but you couldn’t help but feel a fire in your body every time you caught a glimpse of his management team in the background of pictures. 

It had been so tiring being silent about the matter that you felt like you were bursting at the seams, and you did the only logical thing you could think of:

Pack a backpack and drive straight to b/f/n’s house. 

The only warning you gave was a text saying I’m ready, and I hope you are too. 

She responded with the okay hand emoji and you took that as the “good enough” signal to head over.

                             __________________________________

You knew people had followed you to her house and you would have to apologize for that later, but now you were on the doorstep, nervous to knock. 

Before you could reach your hand up, however, the door swung open. 

Standing before you was your best friend in the flesh for the first time in the longest week of your life. 

She looked at you seriously and then glanced behind you, raising an eyebrow. A small grin crept up your face.

“Sorry about them. They don’t really understand when to leave,” you blurted.

She looked you up and down for a moment, calculating a reply before a smile rose to her own lips. 

“Come on, let’s get you inside before they invite themselves in too.”

She shut the door behind you and locked it, and as soon as she turned around you both embraced in a long, much needed hug. You teared up 

You were still holding each other when a male voice called out. 

“Is that y/n?” her dad asked from the couch. 

You pulled away and sniffled. 

“In the flesh!” you called. 

“Come on, let’s go talk in my room,” b/f/n said, pulling you that way. You waved at her dad and sister as you passed the living room.

Boy did it feel good to be in that house again.

                             __________________________________

Both of you sat on the floor, backs leaned against the bed, sharing a bowl of chips.

You finished summarizing what had happened from the day you went to the premiere until Tom left the city and you were waiting for her to respond. She had been silently listening the whole time, and now you were silent in your wait, except for the occasional crunch of chips.

It had been a few minutes when she finally turned to you.

“Y/n… why didn’t you tell me?”

Your stomach dropped. Of course she would ask you that. You sighed and leaned your head back.

“I know it was wrong, and I’m sorry for that but, b/f/n, I was scared. I know how much you love Tom and I didn’t want anything to go public… even though that ended up failing. I never wanted to be in the public eye and I was afraid that if I told you, you might accidentally let it slip on twitter or insta.”

“You didn’t think you could trust me?” she accused, rightfully. You turned your head to look her in the eyes.

“It’s not that you aren’t trustworthy, I mean, you’re my best friend, I tell you everything. The problem is that this was the biggest secret… ever. No one could know, not even you. The only people who knew the extent of what happened were me and Tom. I don’t think he even told his brothers or best friend everything.” 

You both sat quietly again, studying each other’s faces.

“So when I came over last week? You lied to me about the car picture?”

You cringed a little, but had to tell the truth.

“Yes. You had just missed him leaving the house, too. That was the morning after he stayed the night.”

“WHAT!” she exclaimed. “You’re telling me I could have met him for real and you’re just telling me now??”

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

“I guess if I would’ve just let you meet him I could’ve prevented this whole situation, huh?” you joked.

“Honestly, yeah,” she replied with a smile.

“I’m really sorry that I lied to you and hid all of this.” 

B/f/n sighed this time.

“I know I should be mad, but I weirdly understand. If I’m being honest with myself, I probably would have done the same thing. Let’s just promise to be real with each other from now on.”

“Yeah, I like that idea.”

You both leaned over in a hug.

“So, since I need to know everything… where did Tom sleep that night, and are you the reason he liked my post.”

You pulled away.

“First of all, rude that you would ask me about that in my time of need,” you joked, “and secondly, yes I told him to like your post. I told him allllllll about you. Also... we both may have fallen asleep on my bed.”

“YOU SLEPT WITH TOM HOLLAND??” she basically screamed.

You started giggling as you slapped a hand over her mouth.

“Shhhhh! If you aren’t careful there’ll be even worse rumors about me!”

You both spent the night recounting your night with Tom and the other times spent with him, only leaving the room for dinner and more snacks. After your time apart, it was like you were attached at the hips.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, you finally slept soundly, not tossing and turning with the anxiety of days past.

                             __________________________________

You sat at the dining table with b/f/n, laughing like things were completely normal again. 

“Hey I’m gonna grab some more juice, want anything?” you asked, standing up.

B/f/n shook her head and you headed out of the room, beelining it to the fridge. 

In the kitchen stood b/f/n’s older sister, Caroline, who was serving herself some pancakes as you pulled the juice bottle out.

“So… Crazy week I presume?” Caroline questioned.

“Like nothing you could imagine,” you replied.

Caroline was only a couple years older than you and b/f/n, but she had been a confidant for you many times when it came to things like relationships or just more mature topics. She also was getting her PhD in psychology, which came in handy for advice and discernment about different situations.

“Yeah, I’m sure. So do you actually hate him or are you secretly in love with him now?” she deadpanned, causing you to almost spill the juice.

“What?” you asked back, flabbergasted.

What kind of question was that? Was this girl out of her mind?

“Oh come on. It’s like the biggest fanfiction cliche of all time, ‘enemies to lovers’? Don’t think that we didn’t all notice that he had been crying in that live. Also you blushed when I said it.”

“Well obviously any normal person is gonna blush when someone says something embarrassing about them!”

“What does he smell like?” she interjected, and this time you were completely taken aback.

“I- WHAT? How is that relevant?”

“Answer the question, y/n.”

“Fine. He wears this Calvin Klein cologne. Hah, my whole room smelled like it for almost a week... Now tell me why that’s relevant.”

“Your eyes lit up and you smiled when you mentioned your room smelling like him. And you blushed again.”

Do I really? you thought. Sure he’s good looking and we had a great time together, but he was such a dick. He broke my heart and ruined my life. How could I like the guy that did that to me?

“I hate psychology.” you eventually replied, earning a laugh from Caroline. 

I’m gonna have to do some more thinking on this later you admitted to yourself, carrying your beverage back to the dining room.

                            __________________________________

Part 7 is done and hopefully coming soon. It’s looking like this is gonna be a 9 or 10 parter. Love you all!

Taglist: @marvel-lously, @jackiehollanderr, @one-big-fangirl, @dreamyvans, @lisannehus, @honeymoonpeter, @shootingstarsaretearsofheaven, @chenellearose 

[hypnodesires]

What if I hadn't waited?...

I often look back on my life, on all the crazy things I have done in the past that I know for a fact, I could never do at my age now (I'm making myself sound like I'm 80 but trust me I'm way younger than that)….  For me at least being a first-time mom took a lot out of my body and mind (along with the damn drama going on in my family is not helping), so I can't see myself getting it on in the back of a movie theater or a quickly while the family is in the next room or out in a park…. Fuuuuuck that shit, I have had my fun but in all that time I never told anyone about hypnosis or my love for it….. I can't even imagine what someone would have done to me if I had shared it with the wrong person… (keep in mind I lost my Vcard at age 14 freshmen year) and that guy played me for a fool… of course I fell into it, I didn't feel loved in my own home. Everything and anything that happen was always blamed on me… and all the house duty fell onto me as well, while my younger sister was clearly the favorite and got away with it all. I made lots of bad choices just because I wanted to be love, Not to mention the body-shaming my mom put me through that still effects me and my sister to this day….. being told no one would love me being as big that I was (keep in mind I was 150 compared to what I am now 223 lb or my biggest that I ever was 265 lb) but After falling for that fuckface with a small ass dick who played me, I knew then that I couldn't let it happen again.

I don't know what others would do if they went through what I did, the rest of my relationships following that event had to wait more than 6 months to get any action from me….. And for a teen girl or boy that shit was hard lol (I was a good ass tease though wink*). I wanted to know that the next person was into me as a person and not just wanting sex, I kept my true kinks to myself and if asked I would say "3sum, roleplay, etc" even in roleplay I would never bring up hypnosis, none of the men I was with ever mention it…… but if they had ooooo I was going to have a good time, I mean it was role play, why waste it right, not like they would know. After I dated fuckface, I dated a metalhead for 2 weeks… he left me only to date another girl the next day….. my only guess is that she was willing to put out the same day, in a way it just reinforced my mindset on making men wait (trust me, ladies, the payoff is glorious) but I know not everyone has the same will power but I have my weaken too, I am only human after all haha. I was single for a short time after that metalhead, where I soon became the target of a dirty (I mean never took showers) white guy, An old friend of mine told me he never took showers until he started to ask me out over and over. In high school, I would get there an hour before classes just so I could eat with my friends before school and one day he showed up along with some other guy who I thought was much cuter but was gay sadly, we'll call the gross guy Jim. I don't know what he saw in me that he just could not leave me alone, I had turned him down twice but I'm guessing he got some of my friends to get me to give him a chance….. How I wish I hadn't, this guy was so pushy about wanting to do stuff and my no's fell on deaf ears. Asking people to help him but my good friends stayed out of it (you could warn a bitch damn lol) inner thoughts, I was approached by two teachers at different times while I was with him. I was told by one that Jim would throw fits like a toddler in class and scream if things didn't go his way, they just wanted to make sure I was ok and he wasn't doing anything to me (not at that time) but after the second teacher confronted me about him, I was already seeing some signs….. he wanted to follow me into the girl locker room until a teacher kicked him out, he would run to my last class of the day just so he could walk home even though we lived in a different direction, the thing that creeped me out was when he called me while I was out at the movies with my friend but I never told him what movie I was in and 20 min into the movie I hear the theater door open all hard and when I turned there he was looking around to find me….. and he did. I found myself wanted to get away from him but I still stayed up until he moved away….. Well, even then I still stayed… I'm not proud of it but I was young and dumb plain and simple, I know that if I would have left him while he was still in the same city I would have ended up on the ID channel (google it if you don't know ). I can't even imagine what he would have tried to implant into my mind had I ever told him…. I shudder to think. I was in my senior year of high school and still with Jim, he would text me all day and once home I would hope on yahoo massager and we would talk the rest of the day…. But I met my main man that year in my second semester, we became friends through a mutual friend of ours, he knew I was with Jim but told my love I was single. In a way I'm glad he did that, I don't think I could of left Jim on my own. As time went on I knew my love had the feeling for me and so did I, I woke up on Feb 14, 05 at 5:00 am out of a deep sleep full of energy blurting out "he is going to ask me out today!" something in my gut was screaming at me that it was going down, I worked up the courage to break up with Jim….. yes on that same day…. I was scared… I called and prayed he wouldn't pick up…. I pulled a Mosby (how I met you mother reference) I left a brake up voice mail and before any more of you looks down on me, ANYONE and EVERYONE is allowed to break up with a CRAZY/UNSTABLE person over the phone that is the only exception that is appropriate and not to mention its much SAFER.  The day went on and I kept checking my phone surprised that he hadn't blown up my phone yet, my love asked to walk me home and he did. While we walked I kept checking my phone but not a word from Jim, we made it to my house and my love gave me some candies, a beautiful card with his feeling written down inside… at that moment I had forgotten all about Jim, forgotten my fear, my dread. Looking into the eyes of my love I felt safe & that I found someone who truly loved me, to this day I still can't fully explain how he made me feel in that moment all I know it was a beautiful feeling... All I know is that no one ever made me feel that way since. Of course, once he left and us being a couple now, I was on cloud nine…. It would be short-lived. Once I hopped onto yahoo messager I made sure to stay invisible as to not be seen, Jim was on and had already sent me a hello message… I was surprised he was so calm, surely he'd already heard my voice mail?…. I had sent it first thing in the morning but it was already 4 pm, I switch to online and asked him if he wasn't mad?  He said mad about what? I then told him I was sorry but my voice mail would tell him and I "log off"  1 min goes by and I got call after call from Jim. He left voicemails with each call he made and there was a pattern, first message he left was him crying "please Quinn pick up, I love you don't do this to me" next massage in a raging voice "I'll fucken kill you, pick up your phone you stupid bitch" next message "I'm going to kill myself plz Quinn PICK UP!" and start all over with the sobbing and begging for me to comeback…… I did pick up the phone after he left over 50 voicemails and told him "you need to stop, I can't do this anymore and you are scaring me…." Before I could continue Jim said, "please talk to my mom PLEASE!" I agree and while on the phone with her, I could hear Jim screams and his mom yells out to her husband "get the pills away from him! Jim, you need to stop!.... sweetie what going on?" I told her I was scared of her son and that I was no longer going to move up there with them, she understood and told me "you know that ring Jim gave you? it's my engagement ring, could you send it to me. I gladly agreed and asked her to mail me back some of my stuff Jim had taken from me and she did, though not all of them, I was happy he was no longer in my life. He did continue to call my cell, my sister cell, and my grandparent's house phone just to talk to me, until my dad picked up the phone and asked him to pass the phone to his dad which he did & that was the last time I heard from him over the phone, he did try a few months later but I never picked up… so I think he gave up.

I was with my love for 3 years until I ended it due to, growing apart and I didn't like being put down or made to feel bad just cuz I didn't want to do something. We met in 05, the same year that How I met your mother premiered, and got back together the same year the show ended in 2014. my reason for leaving him, to begin with, was the fact he got too comfortable just taking off and sayings things like "I guess they're not much for me here then, I'm all done here then" and he would just leave if I didn't put out for the night?! our break up was necessary for us to make the changes that ultimately made us stronger. I was a freak in the sheets it was his fucken loss, he knows that now and say he will never let me go. I know we did a bit of role-playing of my kink when we were first together, but he never took it seriously and I never made a big fuss about it…. but it was hot. Then I was with Kyo (it was my pet name to him because he didn't like his name) I was with him for a while and I fucked up…. WE both fucked up, meeting him online and being apart I had a relapse and slept with my love….. I know why would I sleep with him if I left him in the first place…… no one is perfect but I made it clear that this was NOT going to continue, I felt extreme guilt and told Kyo…. He forgave him as we still had not even met yet, but little did I know he was still talking to some women he had been seeing and fail to tell me he hadn't ended it with her….. but once he moved in with me it was over but something inside me was telling me to look through his laptop so I did, I found he still had photos of his ex... nude photos of her… including emails of him making it seem like he was still with her but he told me they broke it off and he deleted everything. From the start I should have known this wasn't going to work, we all make mistakes and I have defiantly learned from it. But as time went on Kyo discovered he was into cross-dressing with the help of my best friends, I encouraged him to be himself and that was the only time I saw him happy…. We would give him dresses, do his makeup, wax his whole body, and take him to the clubs to strut his stuff. At the end of the night, we'd go home and enjoy some sexy time and he loved being in his outfits while we got it on and I loved it as well…. With many outing that we have done, I decided to finally tell him about my kink…. Keep in mind I did what I could to get him off whatever he wanted I tried, he likes it when I would jack him off with my panties, blow jobs, and doing it while dressed up…. So when I brought it up, he was like "that weird" (really guy?!?! I'm weird! Get your bitch ass out of here with the panties jerking and cross-dressing) I was hurt…. I had welcomed all he wanted and never made any faces or made him feel bad about it cuz there is no need to kink shame, but he couldn't do the same for me? He barely gave it a try. More time went on and my love for him had faded away, I didn't feel loved by him…. I had done so much to make him feel welcome with all my friends and showed him how much I cared but I never felt like his #1, I felt like an afterthought with him… like I'll get to you when I can…. I knew that if we didn't last, his childhood friend would hop on that dick when I left him. He took it hard and called him mother to tell her everything….. we both made mistake but I'm sure I was made the main villain, Kyo kept telling me he wanted to try again and he still loved me but he was joining the marines. I had told him before he ever thought of joining that I could never be with someone who joins the marines/army/etc, etc… and I kept good on that but my best friend called him out on his bullshit about "loving me" as he had shown her photos of him at base camp but failed to remove the nudes photos of the girl I knew would take him once I was gone, my friend just told him "you love Quinn huh? You can cut the shit you have moved on, so stop acting as if you miss her".  From what I know he is married to her, she doesn't like his cross-dressing and won't sleep with him if he does dress up cuz it makes her feel "uncomfortable"…. He told me this on the last conversation we ever had, I could hear his sadness but I could hear him try to play it off like it wasn't hurting him or bothered him…. How could it not? For almost 4 years he had encouragement, support, and lots of love from a woman who fully accepted every part of him to a woman who thinks it's weird…. How the tables have turned.

I didn't stay single for long as I reconnected with my love and soon started dating again, since we last were together  we sure did a lot of growth in that time apart. It made us even stronger, I honestly can't see myself with anyone else (maybe Johnny depp lol) a girl can dream right hahaha I can feel my love's eyes rolling back hahaha. When I first told him about my love for hypnosis his reaction was the best, with a calm loving look he says "oh that's new" since then we have had our fun with it, even tho its more for me then it is for him. he is coming around to it so that makes me happy. 

i’m happy with how thing have been going on in our sexy time department, getting our kinks out and what not. i’m just glad i don’t have to worry about someone fucking up my mind, its mine! ya i want someone to play with it and get freaky with it but at the end of the day i’m still me! and not with abuser or crazy person. so watch your mind ladies and gentlemen not everyone is going to care for you so choose wisely we only have one mind, so dont loss it!

[jade4813]

Temptation, Chapter 4

Title: Temptation

Rating: NC-17

Synopsis: Iris West is a famous supermodel who has been getting a string of death threats. Barry Allen is the bodyguard hired to protect her. A Westallen AU. Gift for @andie1223​ in appreciation of her grand prize-winning contribution to the 2019 Westallen Sock Drive!

Chapters: 4/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Barry felt all the air leave his body in a whoosh as he watched her. Her smile grew taunting as she crouched next to the water, swiping her hand across its surface to send droplets of water his way. He straightened, shoving his hands in his pant pockets in a futile attempt to hide his body’s reaction to her. “Iris, I -” he somehow managed, but his voice trailed off when he realized he didn’t have the first idea what he’d been about to say.

“Yes?” she asked, feigning innocence as she stood and turned toward him. “Are you saying you don’t want to go swimming with me, Barry Allen?” she teased.

“It isn’t…I’m not…I-I can’t,” he finally managed, the strain evident in his voice. “It wouldn’t be…with my job…”

She sighed, and he couldn’t help but watch the way her muscles stretched under her skin as she moved. “That’s a shame.” Stepping over the dress that lay discarded in a pool of fabric on the ground, she walked towards the doorway, forcing him to step out of her way.

“You’re not going swimming?” he asked, more from a contrary desire to stop her from leaving than out of genuine curiosity.

Iris shook her head. “That wasn’t the workout I had in mind. Night, Barry.”

Calling himself seven different kinds of fool, Barry watched as she disappeared into the house. Then, blowing out a sharp breath, he walked forward, not even pausing to take off his shoes before stepping over the edge and falling into the pool. As the cold water swept over his head, he already knew it wouldn’t be enough to calm his racing blood. No doubt it would be some time before he would be able to get the image of her naked body out of his mind. Not to mention his dreams.

The next morning, Barry arose early. He’d been unable to sleep much the night before, unable to stop thinking about Iris. He tried everything he could to keep his mind on the job. He was being paid to protect her, nothing else. At the very least, it was unprofessional of him to imagine running his tongue over her body, checking to see if the rest of her tasted as good as her kiss. But try as he might, as he stretched out in bed, he couldn’t keep from imagining if she slept in anything more than she apparently swam in.

Rubbing a hand across his tired eyes as he stepped out of the shower attached to the guest room, Barry grabbed his phone and hit the button to call his team. He had to find a way to get Iris out of her mind. He couldn’t afford to be distracted by her. And if he was to remain sharp, he couldn’t afford many more sleepless nights spent thinking about her.

“Hey, boss,” the warm greeting pulled him out of his thoughts. “You’re up early.”

He tried to keep the frustration out of his voice as he replied, “It’s that kind of job.”

“Yeah, I’ve been doing some digging since your call yesterday. Looks like she’s a pro at driving off security staff. She giving you a run for your money already?”

He sighed. “It isn’t like that, Sara. She just doesn’t like having her privacy invaded. And I can’t say I blame her.”

“No, but it is part of the job, and we wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t necessary.”

“That doesn’t mean our clients have to like it.”

“I guess,” she replied, her tone clearly indicating she didn’t buy it for a minute. Sara was very good at her job, but she wasn’t known for her patience with other points of view. Her stubbornness had gotten on the wrong side of more than one client over the years, but her quick thinking and physical prowess made her the best person to have watching your back in a fight. She might have angered several clients, but none had ever been injured or killed on her watch. At the end of the day, that was what mattered to him. “Are you sure you don’t want me to step in on this one? I’m sure I could handle one runaway model.”

For a moment, he was tempted. He couldn’t get Iris out of his mind, and he knew that wasn’t the best thing for the job. But he knew Iris wasn’t thrilled about having a new security detail at all. Her cooperation seemed tenuous at best, and if Sara came in to relieve him, he suspected Iris would balk.

Of course, part of him knew he simply didn’t want to be away from her, and he was trying to rationalize an excuse to stay.

“I’ve got it. For now. Did you make any headway on the list I sent over last night?”

She sighed. “We’ve been working our way through them, but we haven’t come across any likely suspects. What about boyfriends? You didn’t flag any names on the list.”

He grimaced. They usually started with lovers – or ex-lovers – for a reason. “I’m still working on it. I assume you’ve been doing some digging online?”

“Of course. We’ll keep at it and let you know if we find anything.”

It had been too much to hope the case would be wrapped up that easily, but that didn’t stop him from being a little disappointed it wasn’t. “Thanks. I’ll check in later.”

Glancing at the clock as he ended the call, he noticed it was almost seven. Time to start the day. After throwing on some clothes, he headed out of his room, intending to track down some breakfast. He smelled coffee and heard someone moving around the kitchen, and his traitorous heart leapt at the realization that Iris was up already. Was it wrong of him to hope she’d had as much difficulty sleeping as he’d had?

He was so focused on thoughts of the woman he was about to see that it took a fraction of a second longer than it should for him to register the sound of someone moving around inside Iris’s bedroom as he passed by. Pausing just a moment to confirm that he heard two distinct sounds of people moving inside the house, he crept toward her bedroom door and opened it silently, hoping his suspicions were correct and it wasn’t Iris he was about to surprise. Just because she’d stood before him in the nude last night didn’t mean she’d welcome him imposing upon her today.

But he needn’t have worried. As he shoved the door open, he saw a man standing next to the bed, his back to the door. The stranger was naked but for a pair of boxers, and Barry saw red. Without even stopping to consider the best course of action, he charged forward. The man let out a squawk of surprise as Barry tackled him from behind, driving him to the ground. Before the intruder could react, Barry twisted his arm behind his back, putting him in a joint lock as he drove his knee into the man’s back. “Don’t move!” he barked. Then he yelled, “Iris! Call the police!”

“Wha – who the hell are you?” the man demanded, his voice slightly muffled as his cheek pressed into the carpet. This close to the man, he noticed that the stranger’s hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just stepped out of the shower, and he wondered at the stalker’s nerve. How had Iris not heard the sound of a shower running? Then again, perhaps she did while she was in the kitchen and she assumed it was him.

“Barry, no! Wait! This isn’t what you think!” Iris yelled as she raced into the room. “I let him in!”

“What?” Barry asked, shooting a glance up at her. That was when he noticed that her hair was also damp from the shower, falling in a riot of curls that framed her face. Had they showered together? At the thought, he unconsciously tightened the joint lock a fraction until his captive let out a yelp.

“Barry, this is Eddie. I-I invited him over. He isn’t the guy you’re looking for. Let him go.” Her voice was soft but firm.

“I – You invited him in? When? It isn’t even seven in the morning!”

“I – um – I invited him over last night. After you went to bed.”

That meant he’d come over some time after two in the morning. Unable to bear thinking about the implications of that, he tried to focus on his responsibilities, instead. “And you didn’t think to tell me?” he asked in mild indignation, trying not to notice how adorable she looked when she was blushing.

In response, Iris raised her chin and glared at him. “I wasn’t entirely sure it was any of your business.”

“Not any of my business? Iris, do I really need to tell you why this is exactly the kind of thing I should know about?”

“Can you guys talk about this later? After you let me up?” the man – Eddie, apparently – grumbled from the ground.

Hesitating only a second, Barry begrudgingly stood, releasing his hold. Then, turning his attention back to Iris, he resolved to ignore Eddie entirely. “So is he your boyfriend?” he asked, somewhat more harshly than he’d intended.

She crossed her arms over her chest and threw him a defiant look. “Are you asking because it’s your job? Or because you’re jealous?”

Barry tried to hide his automatic reaction, gritting his teeth to bite back the words asking her if her boyfriend knew about what had happened – or almost happened – the night before. “I’m asking because it’s my job. I asked you yesterday if you had any boyfriends we should be looking into. I’d say he applies.” He gestured vaguely in Eddie’s direction.

“He’s standing right here, you know,” Eddie interjected, sounding somewhat offended to be so ignored. “And Iris isn’t – ”

“Don’t, Eddie. This doesn’t really concern you,” Iris interrupted him.

“It kind of concerns me,” he grumbled. “I was the one on the ground a second ago.”

“Eddie –” she growled. Then she paused and sighed, throwing him a rueful look. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I should have told Barry you were coming over. I should have realized what he’d think when he caught you here. But, Barry, really, you have to believe me. Eddie isn’t the guy you’re looking for. He’s completely harmless!”

“Hey! I am not!” Eddie blurted indignantly. As Iris and Barry both looked at him in surprise, he explained sheepishly, “I mean, I’d never hurt Iris, of course. Or anyone. But you don’t have to make it sound like I couldn’t hurt someone if I wanted to. I have some skills! I studied martial arts for three days when I was prepping to audition for Never Surrender!”

Catching the expression on Iris’s face, he grimaced. “You know what? You guys clearly have some things to talk about. I – I should go. I’ll – I’ll just go get dressed. Thanks for letting me stay last night. If you ever change your mind about my offer, give me a call.”

Barry wondered if Eddie knew how close he came to eating more carpet when he leaned down to press a kiss against Iris’s cheek. But he didn’t take his eyes from Iris as Eddie grabbed his clothes from a chair and slunk off into the hall, looking for a private place to get dressed.

When they were alone, Barry sighed. “Iris, I don’t mean to invade your privacy. But you know as well as I do that your stalker could be someone close to you. If Eddie is your…if he’s someone close to you, I need to check him out.”

“Eddie isn’t the stalker. You have to trust me on this. You can check him out if you want to, but you’re wasting your time. Eddie and I aren’t – we aren’t together anymore. We used to be. A long time ago. But now…it’s complicated. We let the papers believe we’re together sometimes, because it’s good for business. But we’re just friends. He may be many things, but an obsessed stalker isn’t one of them.”

Though he knew he shouldn’t care what Iris and Eddie were to each other, he felt the muscles in his shoulders relax at her words. Cursing himself silently, he hoped she couldn’t read his feelings on his face as he nodded. “Maybe not. But I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t make sure.”

“So that’s really all it is? Just a job?” At his confused look, she lifted her shoulders in a slight shrug. Her expression sheepish, she admitted, “I guess I had hoped you were maybe a little jealous. That isn’t why I invited Eddie over. He called me when he was leaving a party nearby, and he’d had too much to drink so…it doesn’t matter. But I…well, I thought I made it pretty clear to you last night that I’m – that I’m attracted to you. When you turned me down, I wondered if…well, I had hoped the attraction wasn’t entirely one-sided.”

He knew the smart thing to do would be to let her believe he wasn’t interested. It would be easier for him if he let her walk away. But having her so close, he didn’t have the strength to do it. He’d turned her down the night before, and she’d haunted his fantasies ever since. He didn’t know how long he would be able to convince himself that keeping her at a distance was the right thing to do, but he knew he couldn’t let her think he simply didn’t care.

“Damn it, Iris,” he growled, framing her face in his hands. “Of course I’m jealous.” He shouldn’t be jealous of Eddie. He didn’t have the right to be. But he was.

Then, before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled her hard against him and captured her mouth in a kiss.

[mymelodyheart]

Forget Me Not Chapter 4 ~Something About Jamie~

Jamie hadn't slept a wink. He had tossed and turned in his bed, unable to relax and unwind, his body and brain in perpetual, heightened alertness. Not even the previous sleepless nights anticipating Claire's arrival, and downing more whisky than he should before he went to bed, helped him sleep. An image of his foster sister snuggled against him, her arms draped upon his waist and her warm breath on his chest, rose unbidden in his thoughts. Although the gestures were innocent, his fancy was more of a sensual and sultry kind. He tried to push the images out his head thinking if he didn't curb his imagination, he would either need to go for a long jog in ungodly hours of the night or to immerse himself in a cold bath. The fact that Claire slept in the bedroom next to his didn't help ease the predicament he was in. When the sun finally streamed through his windows, he heard her alarm clock go off and the sound of her movement in the next room. Jamie knew in a short while, Claire would be off to meet Frank for coffee. He needed to do something about Frank, but what? But first things first - a very cold shower was of paramount urgency.

..........

Claire had woken to the sound of her phone alarm, tinkling wind chimes that became louder until you hit the snooze or stop button. Remembering her coffee date with Frank, she smiled as she stretched like a lazy cat on her old bed and reached out to turn off the chiming sounds. It was a good thing she had the mind to set the alarm before seeing Jamie last night, as the last thing she remembered, she was nestled against the crook of his arms falling asleep to the steady rise and fall of his sturdy and muscular chest. That thought made her smile too as it had felt so right, so good and so much more. Realising the bawdy picture starting to form in her mind, she shook her head forcefully, trying to erase the "so much more" part.

"Think Frank!"  she muttered mentally. It was Frank's name she had engraved on one of the trees near Lallybroch, and it was his name she had scribbled in most of her notebooks ever since she had reached puberty and fallen in love with him. Although her heart didn't kick into a gallop as it used to when she met up with Frank at the pub, she couldn't help but feel a slight satisfaction in suspecting he was into her. Handsome as ever, he was the epitome of her ideal man; tall dark and handsome. 

But why did her thoughts keep wandering to images of Jamie; tall, coppery and devastatingly masculine. It wasn't right and appropriate to think of him in that light when all he had ever been to her since she came to Lallybroch as a young child, was a caring, protective older brother. There was much at stake, and she wasn't about to jeopardise that special bond and closeness they had, by acting on her attraction towards Jamie. Ultimately, there was Frank, and after all these years of being in love with him, she finally had his attention, and they were meeting for coffee in a short while. 

Twice she stuck her head out of the door, wondering how long more she needed to wait until Jamie was done in the bathroom. Claire knew it was him in the shower, as everyone else in the house were early risers, and she heard the rest of the family congregating in the kitchen earlier. For the love of God, why the hell is Jamie taking so long? I'm going to be late!  

Unable to wait anymore, she burst in, a hand over her eyes, with just enough gap between two fingers to see his naked silhouette turn abruptly in her direction. To her relief, Jamie was still in the shower. "Don't mind me...I'm not looking. Carry on what you're doing!" Claire announced as free fingers groped for the sink. Safe in the knowledge Jamie was still behind the shower screen, she put the hand down from her face and concentrated as best as she could at the task at hand, opening cabinets to retrieve toiletries she needed.

"What the fuck!? Christ Sassenach, couldn't ye wait for yer turn? I'm still in the shower!" he barked, his guttural tone making Claire wince.

"Sorry Jamie, I had to; otherwise I'll be late. You're taking so damn long. I just need to brush my teeth and quickly shave my legs..." she explained sounding breathless. The shower was to her right, and from her peripheral vision, Claire could tell Jamie had turned his back to her, cursing under his breath. Unable to help herself, she took a quick peek, and the sight of his arse made her mouth go dry. Quickly averting her gaze to what she was doing, she clumsily squirted far too much toothpaste than necessary.  Sweet mama of Christ, I'd give that 100 out of 10.

"Why do ye need to shave yer legs when ye're just going out for coffee with Frank?" he asked, trying to sound stern as he quickly rinsed off the suds.  Shave her legs?!? Wasn't that what girls do before sex?

"For your information, I regularly shave my legs. I felt I had stubbles..." Claire hurriedly explained as if she was able to read Jamie's thoughts. "If I was running any later, I would have joined you in the shower and done my business in there. I guess I'll have to do it in the sink..." Claire's voice trailed off as she started to vigorously brush her teeth.  Why the hell did she say that for?

Glancing at her, still wearing his T-shirt from last night, Jamie groaned as he thought of Claire sharing a shower with him. He was half tempted to walk over to her and yank off the oversize garment she was wearing and see what was underneath. "Sassenach! Get the fuck out. I've nae clothes on!"

"Well, it would hardly be called having a shower if you did have clothes on. Besides, I see heaps of naked men all the time. Surely your anatomical make up isn't much different to the rest of the male population."  Oh boy, am I so wrong. That arse is one of the finest I've seen!  Thank God for Geillis and her love for ogling at naked men on the internet. She was her constant source for naughty staple venture whether Claire welcomed it or not. "And what's the fuss? I've seen you naked before..." Claire made circular motions with an index finger in his direction without looking at him, as she continued to brush her teeth.

"What do ye mean ye've seen me naked before?"  What did she mean she'd seen heaps of naked men before.

"We used to bathe together... can't you remember?"

"For fuck sake, Sassenach, we were bairns!"

"Well, not much should have changed except...well... maybe just in size... bigger..." she gulped, almost swallowing the froth spuming in her mouth. "...and hairier."

"Sassenach!"

"What?"

"GET OUT!"

Quickly rinsing her mouth with mouthwash, Claire didn't bother with shaving her legs and ran out of the bathroom. Once in the safety of her bedroom, she quickly dressed in jeans and sweatshirt eager to leave the house before Jamie made an appearance downstairs.

..........

Christ!  Why did he have to shout at her? She was merely sharing the bathroom with him like old times. Except, when he wasn't naked in the shower and had a semi-arousal on, he reminded himself. She had walked in, face still puffy from sleep and her hair wild, loose and long. If he hadn't been feeling horny, he might have found the whole picture adorable and cute, except, he thought she looked so damn sexy, and his mind strayed to images of the types of undergarment she could be wearing under his shirt. Or maybe none at all.  Ah Dhia!  Although the glass screen was splattered with rivulets of water from the shower, he had noticed Claire taking sideways glances in his direction and mused if she liked what she saw. She did admit to having seen many naked men before, so why was her face so beet red. He didn't like the idea, one bit, of her looking at other naked men's arses and wondered if she had any intention of looking at Frank's. Swallowing a surge of shame and guilt, he rubbed himself dry with a towel until his skin chafed and to his dismay, he noticed the cold shower had not helped at all. He had a lot of pent up energy to unleash. Maybe checking up on the hotel restoration would be a great idea, and the construction workers would probably be only too happy to have an extra pair of hands assisting.

..........

Frank was already in the cafe when Claire finally arrived, out of breath. She couldn't decide whether her state of breathlessness had anything to do with seeing Jamie naked earlier in the bathroom or running from the car park to the cafe. Either way, she was grateful for the cleansing crisp air she inhaled, and she hoped there was no telltale sign of the heat that permeated her face since leaving the house.

Frank was sipping his cappuccino when she walked into the coffee shop, and the moment he saw her, he immediately stood and strode towards her before enfolding her in an embrace. 

"Good morning, lovely, you look absolutely beautiful," he whispered in her ears before pulling away to guide her at their table. "How was your first night back in Lallybroch? I hope you slept well."

Looking around, Claire saw a few familiar faces from school, who nodded and smiled at her in greeting. She was amazed by the attention one garnered when no longer labelled as an outsider and shunned for her quirks and awkwardness. Feeling all of a sudden conscious, she hurriedly sat down on the chair offered by Frank.

"Thank you...I slept like a log. I must have been exhausted from the journey and the excitement of seeing my family..." Her thoughts wandered to last night, her ensconced in Jamie's arms and how wonderful it felt to fall asleep against his warmth.

"That's a somewhat secretive smile," Frank said, arching a brow in curiosity. "What's on your mind?"

"Oh..uhm...my mind just drifted off to yesterday and how happy ma was, to have us all under one roof," she lied, trying to refocus her attention back to Frank, mildly annoyed with herself for fibbing.

"I'm so sorry to leave all of a sudden yesterday. We had a bit of a family emergency last night. Dad's car broke down, and I had to take him to the airport."

"That's alright, Frank. Like what I said, I was tired and..."

"Claire..." he interrupted and leaned closer to her. "Let me cut to the chase. I really want to see you again. Having coffee with you wasn't my idea of a first date, but I would love to take you out...somewhere nicer and maybe more private."

"That would be lovely. I like that."

Frank thought he saw a fleeting doubt reflected in her eyes. He wanted to reach out and take her hand but refrained from doing so, thinking it was too soon. "Claire, I know I've been a total arse when we were in school. I truly regret that. I was young and stupid..."

Claire smiled in spite of memories of let-downs and disappointments came flooding back. "Yes, you were an arse. What changed your mind now? Is it because I look different without my braces and glasses? Not once did you acknowledge me back then although we've sat across each other so many times at the dining table in Lallybroch when you came for dinner with Jamie," she said softly. It wasn't meant to be a cutting remark but an honest query.

Grimacing, Frank cleared his throat, looking down into his coffee cup as though the answer resided there. "Ouch, I deserve to be reminded of that. I must have been really horrible."

Claire knew she wasn't helping matters by putting him on the spot and thought, she was rather ungracious with all his efforts to expunge his bad-boy image. Feeling remorseful, she smiled softly at him. "Look let's forget about it, alright? I'm sorry I even mentioned it. Past is past...let bygone be bygone."

He sighed, looking relieved. "Alright...let's start again. How about dinner tonight?"

"Sorry, Frank, not tonight." Vaguely remembering Jenny's Italian dinner arrangement, Claire explained why she couldn't go.

"Mmm, sounds like a threesome date," Frank teased, and Claire couldn't help but notice the mild jest belied the seriousness of his remark.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Frank. I'm with my brothers and sister," she asserted, not wholly convinced the surety of her statement.

"They're not really your siblings, you know, and you're not related by blood. And if I recall, I may be right in assuming that Jamie has been carrying the torch for you for as long as I can remember."

She stopped and stared at him. "That's absurd, Frank. Jamie has been brotherly to me all his life." Frank's blunt unbosoming of his thoughts about Jamie was unexpected and had taken her by surprise.

"Is it really that absurd?" This time Frank held her gaze, searching for clues for any inkling Claire might have. "He's my best friend in case you've forgotten. I've seen the way he looked at you plenty of times when we were in school. Even though he never mentioned anything to me, his actions spoke louder than words."

"Yes, utterly absurd and you seem to forget the fact, I grew up with him. Surely if that's the case, I would have known." 

"If you say so." Frank relaxed and smiled, leaning back against his chair. "Sorry, Claire, I just wanted to know how many competition I am up against."

"I can assure you there's no competition," Claire said firmly, convinced she was right with her supposition.

"Great... dinner then, next weekend? Let's make it Saturday night. Maybe we could drive somewhere further away or somewhere you've never been to before."

"That's absolutely grand... I'm looking forward to it!" Claire put on the brightest smile she could muster and wondered why she wasn't inwardly celebrating for bagging a date with her dream man no matter how much she pushed the thoughts of Jamie away.

Two coffees, a bottle of mineral water and a piece of tomato and basil bruschetta later, Frank walked Claire to the car. Before she could hop in, he gently touched her elbow. "Claire, before you go...I have something to ask."

"Mmm?" she asked.

"May I kiss you?" Frank was posed ready to swoop down for a kiss, his gaze on her lips, waiting for her verbal consent.

Claire swallowed, panic eddying in the pit of her stomach.  Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ, I'm going to embarrass myself.  Instead of answering, she stood on tiptoes and kissed Frank on the cheek before quickly hopping into the car. Before turning on the ignition, she poked her head out of the window. "Let's leave the kiss part until Saturday after the date, shall we?" she said, trying to sound cool-headed.

"As you wish..." Frank smiled before tapping the bonnet of her car. "I shall see you Saturday then. Meanwhile, drive safely and enjoy your night out with your siblings."

..........

Claire arrived at Lallybroch and was grateful there were no cars parked in the driveway.  Nobody home...great!  Just what she wanted. She knew Geillis would be in as Willie planned to pick her up and show her around the hamlet. Claire had 45 minutes alone time with her to discuss her problem.

"Geillis! Where are you?" Claire called out as soon as she let herself into the house.

"Up here!" Her friend shouted back.

Claire ran up the stairs taking two steps at a time, nearly stumbling when she reached the top. As soon as she opened the door to the guest room, she blurted. "Geillis...I need your help!"

"What's the matter? Are ye alright?" Her forehead pleating neatly above her brows.

"Yes, yes I'm great but promise me you will not laugh...," Claire laughed nervously, wringing her hands and leaning back towards the hallway to make sure no one was about.

"Christ Claire...spit it out!" she said bemusedly, a look of mild concern in her eyes.

"Frank asked me to kiss him...but I have a problem." Claire squeezed her eyes tight and swallowed hard before continuing. "I've never kissed a man before. You were always talking about French kissing in the past. Now, I want to know everything about it before Willie comes to pick you up. So tick-tock...start talking!"

Geillis' face cracked into a huge grin, her dimples on the cheek deepening and her cornflower blue eyes lightening up. "Oh my God, Claire! Ye've never been kissed? I had a hunch ye might still be a virgin, but tae reach the age of twenty-three, and tae n'er have been kissed...good Lord, ye've certainly missed out a lot in life."

It was the last thing Claire needed to hear, but she had to show restraint where her temper was concerned as Geillis was the only person she could confide to when it came to French kissing. "I know...I know...so are you going to show me how or will you be making a list of all the things I've missed in life," she retorted exasperatedly, closing the door behind her.

Still smiling, Geillis sat on the floor and crossed her legs. "Come here, Claire and sit down," she instructed, patting the rug opposite her.

Claire sat in front of Geillis, feeling on edge as she crossed her legs and waited apprehensively for what's to come next.

"Right...this is about trust, ok? Do ye trust me?" Geillis asked, reaching for both Claire's hands as her face took a turn for a more serious look.

Claire nodded eagerly before she could change her mind.

"Ok, before we start I want to ask ye first, would ye like to practice with my mouth? Or, if you're no' comfortable kissing me, ye can kiss the hole of yer hand when ye form it in the fist. Problem is, your hand won't kiss ye back," Geillis explained, and Claire could tell, her friend was trying to suppress a giggle.

Straightening her back, Claire shook her shoulders and spun her head in rotation, attempting to calm her nerves and relax. "Alright, we will practice with each other's mouth as long as you're alright with it. I guess I'm alright with it too," she said firmly trying not to sound petrified.

Geillis smiled mischievously before giving her a wink. "I'm cool with it, and I love kissing women...they're more soft and pliable."

"Geillis!" Claire's eyes nearly popped out in shock. If Geillis was trying to shock her, it was definitely working.

"Ok, ok here goes...first ye need tae know yer target, ok?" Geillis started, this time, her voice firm and resolute. "You wouldna want tae stick yer tongue into Frank's nostril or his eyeballs."

"Geillis!" 

"Ok...gee! Loosen up will ye! So...ye lean forward slowly...very slowly like this..." Geillis angled towards her, her voice barely a whisper. "Ye wouldn't want tae bump foreheads and noses. It could be quite a painful experience, ye ken."

"Right...slowly," Claire replied, clearing her throat.

"Now lean forward to me, gradually and wet your lips. Before you slip your tongue into your Frank's mouth, you should slowly, gently part your lips, so he knows what to expect. No one likes a tongue ambush."

"Uh-huh." Claire closed her eyes and leaned towards her friend. She could feel Geillis' warm strawberry breath fanning her face. 

"Ye should start by putting just a teensy bit of yer tongue beyond Frank's lips," Geillis murmured, her eyes half-closed watching Claire's lips part.

So intent they were with each other, neither of them heard a car parked outside nor the heavy footsteps climbing purposely up the stairs nor Jamie's voice calling out. He knocked twice before opening the door to Geillis' room. The girls didn't hear. 

Jamie walked in and staggered to a stop, his eyes bulging out, his mouth opening and closing before settling for an open-mouth look. He saw both girls, sat cross-legged, knees touching as they leaned towards one another. It took around 10 seconds before Geillis realised he was stood there, while Claire's face was still in animated suspension, eyes closed and lips parted.

"Och, look at the time, Willie must be downstairs," Geillis suddenly announced, making Claire jump out of her skin.

When it finally registered to Claire that Jamie was stood there looking at them, one hand flew to her mouth, her amber eyes bright and wide and her face a shade of dark crimson.  Oh shite!

"Don't look like that Jamie...I was just teaching Claire how to French kiss. Did ye know that she's never been kissed before? She wanted lessons before she kisses Frank. I was just in the middle of explaining when ye barged in..." Geillis grabbed her handbag before walking up to Jamie, one hand going under his chin to close his gaping mouth. "See ye later guys, I'm off to see the local delights." She smiled and winked naughtily at them before heading out of the room.

Oh for the love of sweet Jesus, what now!  Claire's heart began to hammer painfully against her ribs as she tried to avoid Jamie's eyes. Nobody said a word initially, as she kept her gaze fixed on the rug. When Jamie finally moved towards her, he stopped and held out a hand. "Sassenach?" She looked up, and taking a deep breath, she placed her hand in his. She fought to breathe as his hand firmly closed around hers and pulled her up from the floor.

"So ye've never been kissed?" he asked huskily, his eyes overwhelmingly vivid and dark, as he took a step forward. They were merely inches apart.

Claire could only nod in answer, as she stared wide-eyed into his blue. She blinked a couple of times as she smelled sawdust, sweat and masculine smell emanating from him.

"Why did ye no' tell me?" His eyes were caressing her face before finally resting on her lips.

Claire shrugged. Her heart started to dance the rumba...or was it merengue?

"So, Geillis was explaining to ye how to French kiss...is that right, aye?"

Claire nodded as she glanced at his lips.

"Weel, I'll do you one better, I'll show you," Jamie whispered, his voice sounding ragged, as his face came closer until only a hairsbreadth separated them.

Claire's eyes widened as the moisture in her mouth evaporated. Her brain was shouting no, but every other part of her being was frolicking giddily. She felt one callused thumb pressed against her chin, gently parting her lips.

"I'll be damned if I allowed Frank to be yer first kiss," Jamie muttered, before grazing his tongue between her lips.

Jesus H.Roosevelt Christ!

[guccisvt]

Stealth and Smoke pt 2

Genre: || Romance || Action || Humor || Drama ||

Word count: 5395

Warnings: Violence and swearing

Summary: The SVT gangs reign as the most notorious gang spanning across all of Korea wasn’t for nothing. But no one really knew the mastermind behind the gang, except for those within it. As a new gang member, your job was to hold a gun, fire when necessary, and keep your mouth shut. This operation was different, placing you as 1 of 4 main members in a rather risky heist that couldn’t just land you in big trouble…it could land you 6 feet under.

A/N: I remember reading a post about how people hate having to scroll through really lengthy stories on their dash so, i am adding vvvv so others won’t have to scroll through the whole story. Also, feel free to comment if there are any mistakes or if something is off. Enjoy!

The sound of your alarm rang throughout your room, earning a monstrous groan from you as you turned onto your back and grabbed your phone, shutting off the alarm instantly.

You hesitated to open your eyes, finding it too tiring to even do that much.

But, you said you’d get coffee with Jihoon...and you’ve got a mission at noon.

You sighed heavily as you pushed yourself up from your bed, your eyes still not open, you run a hand through your messy bed head and snicker to yourself.

You were a complete mess, but you were a cute mess.

You pulled your blanket off your legs and shivered at the chill of the early morning. You could see the dusty blue light of the early morning shining through your curtains, making you smile at the aesthetically pleasing visual. Of course, the sun was only just poking its head out.

You finally pulled your legs over your bedside edge and hopped up, stretching your arms over your head as you made your way to your bathroom. 

A quick shower before going to see Jihoon.

As your morning routine went on, the Sun's rays slowly intensified until they were completely bright. By the time you finished, it was very quickly turning to 9 am. You neatly fixed your hair and smiled, finally you grabbed your gun holster and gun, hiding it under your shirt. You grabbed your casual Brown backpack and packed only your essentials. You know, your phone, headphones, a hat, your wallet, two knives and 6 vials of poison....for protection.

You closed the door behind you, locking it before activating a small camera you had installed at the entrance of your door. With that, you went out on your way. You pulled your cell phone and headphones out of your bag quickly before taking the case of it off, showing a small piece of paper.

Jihoon’s number.

You held the paper carefully, almost as if you feared you might lose or tear it. You looked down at your phone and then at the piece of paper again.

You turned your phone on and pulled up the keypad, eyeing it carefully before dialing the number. As you approached the end of the 8 digit sequence, you could feel a bead of sweat roll down the side of your head. Why were you nervous? You didn't have to be nervous. It was just….coffee….like friends. Or something.

No, you had to be professional about this. You didn't need to be getting in trouble for strolling into Jihoon’s life.

With a firm nod, you put the paper into your pocket and continued to walk, pressing call as you did so.

“Hello?”

“Jiho- Ah, Woozi. It’s (Y/N). Um...I just, hah.” You felt confident when you pressed call, what was choking you up?

“(Y/N)...Hey.” The roughness of his voice and the soft whisper behind it put you off. Had he just woken up?

“Oh. Sorry, sir, did I wake you? I didn't mean to-”

“No, thanks. I suppose my alarm clock didn't wake me up. Is it 9 yet?” He asked casually, a shuffle behind his phone made it seem as if he was just shuffling out of bed.

You blinked in confusion and honestly tried a little to not chuckle. You looked back down on your phone and checked the time. 8:54 am.

“Well sir, You’ve got six minutes till it'll be 9.” You replied simply, hopping down a few flights of stairs as you did so.

“Okay, I'll go pick you up.” He replied, earning a scoff from you.

“Sir, you've for six minutes. If you got ready that quickly, I'd be concerned about your forms of hygiene.” It wasn't until your comment left your mouth that you finally processed what you had said.

“...Are you saying I'm Dirty?” Jihoon asked calmly, his voice rising in pitch now that he was properly waking up.

“...NO. I-I’m saying that, if you got ready to go on a date so quickly, I would be seriously wondering what sort of magi-”

“Date?” He stopped you, almost making you stop in your tracks. Thank goodness you hadn't, or else that would have been a long fall down the stairs.

“Date? Did I say that? I don't think I said that you must have misheard me or something.” You covered up quickly, earning a light chuckle from the male across the phone.

“Sure. Okay. Well, fine, I'll see you in fifteen minutes for our not-Date. Bye (Y/N).” He replied, his amusement almost hidden, but you caught just enough to have you smiling. With that, his line cut.

You looked down at your phone and smiled, staring at the number that now resided in your phone. Jihoon’s number. Oooooh. You didn't know if you were starstruck or nervous as hell but, seeing his number there only had you in smiles.

Finally putting your phone away, and allowing the previous conversation to sink into your psyche you ran your hands through your hair as your face began to heat up. 

“I totally did not just call our outing a fucking DATE!” You exclaimed at no one but, it very clearly echoed throughout the stairway. You sighed, trying your best to just let it go. Jihoon isn’t the kind to rub that sort of stuff back in your face, like Soonyoung. 

But still, Maybe...Just maybe...This could be a friendship. A REAL one. Well...You shouldn't get your hopes up, after all...He is the Captain of the Stealth unit. A cold-hearted killer.

Jihoon took a little under fifteen minutes to find you. You lived rather far from the base so, just the thought of him finding you in so little time had you wondering if he lived close to you. Or had just tracked you.

When he pulled up, you didn't recognize the car one bit. It wasn't the black car he had had last night. Instead, it was replaced with a beige and brown convertible with its top pulled back. Inside, Jihoon sat with a pair of glasses and in casual clothing. You took in what you were looking at and laughed audibly, shaking your head.

“Good morning, (Y/N).” Jihoon called, nodding his head as a greeting.

You smiled and walked over to the car, looking at it back and forth. “Good Morning, Sir.” You replied before pointing to the car. “Is this really yours?” You asked, almost playfully.

Jihoon pushed his glasses up and smirked, “What, do you like it?” He asked. It was almost like one of those scenes in a greaser movie.

The cool guy pulls up in his nice car, looking hot as heck.

Except, Jihoon just looked like a guy who worked in a shop down the street in his attire.

You snickered and pulled the car handle and hopped in beside him, placing your bag between your legs before closing the door and fixing your seat belt.

You looked at him with a friendly smile, “So, Captain, where are we drinking?” You asked casually before he turned back to the wheel and drove out. “First off, don't call me Captain. I don't run a ship.” He replied casually, earning a nod and an airy laugh from you.

“Okay, Noted.”

“Secondly, We're going to a local coffee shop. An old friend of mine has his cousin running it, so I know it. Unless you have some other place in mind?” He asked, glancing at you momentarily. You shook your head and looked to your other side, taking in the sights‌ ‌and‌ ‌shops of your neighborhood.

“(Y/n)?” He called, turning your attention back to him. “Yes?”

Jihoon slowed his car at a red light before looking at you, eyeing you up and down. “Where are your weapons?” He asked openly, making you subtly panic.

“U-Uh...Sir...we are in pub-”

“Jihoon. Just call me Jihoon. I don't know why you feel like it's suddenly important to call me by an honorific.” He cut you off. Okay, that cutting off thing was starting to get on your nerves.

“J-Jihoon. We are in public. Should we really be discussing that so...openly?” You asked, gritting your teeth almost.

Jihoon sighed and turned his attention back forward, “...Okay. Well, What sort of small talk do you suggest?”

“That was your attempt at ‘small talk’?” You replied, shaking your head in disbelief. 

“Well, what do you suggest we talk about then?” He replied.

“Well, Normal people usually ask...How did you sleep? Or, How is your family? You know, basic simple things.”

Jihoon raised a brow and looked at you, almost as confused as you were with him. “...Okay….Well, How did you sleep?” He asked hesitantly. You smiled a little, you didn't really expect him to ask. “I slept fine. I had a weird dream, but that's about it. How about you?” You continued, but Jihoon wasn't about to let you speed past what you had just said.

“Weird dream? What happened?” He asked, just as he was pulling into a small shopping mall. You didn't know if you should tell him what really happened since your dream wasn't weird. It was...awful.

Jihoon pushed a button allowing the cover to come over the top as well as pulling up the windows. He turned the car off and looked at you as he pulled out the key. You had stayed silent to his question.

“..(Y/N)?” He pestered you once again.

You grabbed your bag and slipped it over your shoulders before scoffing.

“I'll tell you when I've had my morning boost of energy.”

Jihoon shrugged and pushed out of his car, fixing his outfit.

When you walked over to his side, you took in his outfit.

A casual white t-shirt and a pair of jeans with a black belt tucking in his shirt. Along with his glasses, he looked like a casual College or High School student. Well, compared to you at least.

For the first time, you were seeing your scary superior as a more vulnerable human. In fact, his small frame was startling. After all, this man could take out a whole squad of men by himself but he could barely reach your shoulders.

You hadn't even noticed how spaced out you were until Jihoon waved his hand In front of your face. You blinked suddenly and shook your head, returning to reality.

Jihoon stood in front of you, hands on his hips, with a small smirk. “What is going through your head, (Y/N)?” He asked, almost like a rhetorical question, not actually expecting a response.

You grinned playfully before walking ahead of him into the nearby shop, taking in the air conditioning and the soft smell of coffee beans. The people at the front cheerfully greeted you before asking who would be with you.

A waitress showed you two to your table, leaving a small menu of the coffees’, cold drinks, and teas they served. Honestly, the shop was much nicer than any other coffee or tea shop you had been to. You looked down at the menu, settling for a simple Mocha Latte while Jihoon set his mind on the peppermint hot chocolate with cream.

As your orders were sent in, Jihoon turned his attention back to you.

“So….You were talking about some dream…?”

You pulled your bag off and scoffed, hoping he would have forgotten but...eh, guess not.

“Heh, well. It wasn't very interesting. It was just about some past places I've been to. Some places are new or like...forgotten?”

Jihoon leaned back into his chair, staring at you intently before crossing his arms. “I’m listening.” You bit your lip as you tried not to show just how irritated you were. Did you REALLY have to tell him?

You scoffed and nodded, glancing down at your hands before looking back at Jihoon. “I dreamed about my older brother. He and I had a special friendship and...” You found yourself pausing.

“And?” Jihoon repeated for you, causing you to shake your head. “I had a dream about him and me in our old home. That’s all.” You finally said, leaning back into your own chair.

Jihoon finally shifted, pushing himself from his chair so he could lean on the table, his palms acting like his shelf to rest his head as he spoke, “Now, don’t go telling other people.”

You looked at him with shock, a question mark rising in your head as he continued to speak. “You’re an easy target.” He said, shaking his head. Your eyes widened a little in realization. You had told him about your brother. He may not know him but, now he k n o w s you have a brother.

“Why?” Jihoon asked, continuing his conversation. You already knew what the answer was. “Because...Now you know I have a family. It makes them and me easy targets.” Jihoon smirked and nodded. “Correct. Honestly,” he continued just as your drinks were arriving. The waitress placed the drinks down and Jihoon thanked her before she once again left. 

Jihoon waited for her to be a safe distance away from you two before he continued. “I always thought you didn’t have anyone.” He said before working on sipping away at his hot chocolate, careful to not get any cream on his nose.

You fixed your eyes on the cup of coffee in front of you, feeling a little on edge. “Are you always so delightful?” You asked sarcastically, finally picking up your own drink to sip.

“Only when I’m on the job,” Jihoon replied nonchalantly. You scoffed loudly, “We have two hours before we have to be on the job. Why are you testing me on a da-” You cut yourself off from your statement.

Jihoon placed his drink down and crossed his arms again, raising a brow. “Do you want this to be a date?” 

You felt yourself freeze for a moment.  

This scenario is a bit like a date when you really thought about it. “The...basic principles of a date are here but-”

“So why not call it a date?” Jihoon added, cutting you off for the umpteenth time. You looked around nervously and chuckled, “Sir, I don’t think that’s quite appropriate. You’re my superior and-”

“But we’re not on the clock, remember?” Jihoon replied, a smile growing on his lips. You chuckled, raising a brow at him, “Are you trying to date me?” You asked jokingly. Jihoon’s response is what really caught you off guard.

“Would it be a crime if I said I do?”

Your silence was definitely the last thing that Jihoon expected. 

You looked down into your coffee cup and a million thoughts ran through your head, last night’s mission, how today’s might be, the past and the future all jumbled up in your head and you found yourself feeling only one thing, shock. 

Jihoon sighed loudly and leaned back into his chair, crossing his legs before looking away from the table. “Listen, it’s not a life or death question.” Jihoon finally said, clearly sounding a little bothered. 

“You can say yes or no, it won’t hurt you or me.” He concluded, picking up his cup of hot chocolate and sipping it again. 

You gripped your cup a little less now, still not looking up at him. “I….” 

Jihoon groaned, rolling his eyes at your reaction. He leaned onto the table so that he was only a few inches away from your face. He carefully slipped your cup out of your hand and placed it aside. He folded his hands in front of him and he looked directly at you. 

“Look at me.” He said firmly, finally causing you to look at him, meeting his dark eyes. You breathed out a stifled breath you didn’t know you held and for a long moment, you felt your shock fade away, “I’m not going to hurt you. I won’t hate you. And I definitely won’t put you out of a job.” Jihoon explained flatly, your attention still on him. “All I’m asking is that you take me up on a proper date. One where we won’t have to look over our shoulder.” His voice lowered a little along with his gaze. 

You gulped down hard as you nodded, listening to him carefully. You didn’t HAVE to say yes. You could totally leave him with a no. But...something in your head told you you should. He had risked his life to protect you and he arranged a coffee meeting which was way more than any other guy had done for you, even Soonyoung had never properly asked you out. 

“Hah...alright, fine. I accept.” You replied, finally breaking your shocked cocoon and instead smiling at him. 

Jihoon’s own expression changed, giving you a very soft smile. Something so warm, your coffee probably felt cold compared to it. “Great. Hah, G-Great, yeah.” He replied, stuttering over his words. 

The atmosphere went awkward very quickly as he sat back, nodding at your response. It looked as if he was trying to process that you had actually said yes. 

As the atmosphere grew even more uncomfortable, you found it almost second nature to take out your phone and check the time. 

It had only been about 20 minutes in total. Incredible, truly. 

You put down your phone and looked over at Jihoon, his eyes now catching yours. “What?” You asked. 

“Nothing, Nothing. Just trying to think of some conversation topics but, I’m….not very good at the whole…’ small talk’, thing.”  He replied before going in for his drink. 

You snickered softly, “Ah, well, that makes two. But, here, I’ll start. So, are you excited about work later?” 

Jihoon scoffed at the question, shaking his head, “Excited for what? To watch ugly men unnecessarily assert their masculinity over trivial things? Hell no.” 

Not expecting that answer, you couldn’t help but throw your head back in laughter. Who could have thought Jihoon was actually quite funny. 

“Oh man, that had me floored.” You replied between short chuckles. “Ah, I didn't think it was that funny but, I guess,” Jihoon replied before sipping his drink again. You settled yourself, also sipping your drink before you each looked back at each other. Although you both had eye contact, it wasn’t quite as uncomfortable. 

“So….what, are you excited about the job?” He asked, leaning back into his seat again and crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Me? I mean, it’s not the whole team for this job. Whenever we don’t have everyone, I do get a bit...um, I don’t know if ‘excited’ is the right word I’d use to describe how I feel about it.” 

“Apprehensive? Anxious? Bloodthirsty?” 

The last one had another chuckle come from you, along with a smile from Jihoon. 

“Ah, I don’t know about that last one, but yeah, Anxious and Apprehensive can sum it up well.” You replied. Jihoon shook his head again, “You’ve got no reason to be. If you feel so nervous, maybe we should ask Seungcheol if he’ll take you out.” He replied, but you were quick to speak. 

“Um, no? Why would we do that? It’s not like I’m going to chicken out at the last minute, that’d be ridiculous!”  

Jihoon raised a brow, “If you’re nervous, you’ll react like you did last night.” 

Suddenly, you felt your whole stomach in your chest, or maybe, the other way around? Either way, it was like just saying that had completely guilted you into feeling sick. 

“Ah...Last night…” 

“I’m not saying it will happen every time but, we couldn’t risk losing someone like you from the team. If anything, staying behind might be best for you. You clearly don’t trust the team enough to still be scared after all this time.” He replied, almost as if spitting facts. 

You looked down into your drink, staring back at yourself as if expecting something. 

You furrowed your brows as you continued to look down. 

‘No, that’s not it.’ You thought before looking up at Jihoon. 

“My anxiety won’t get in the way again. I’ve seen too much to still be affected by it.” You replied firmly, but Jihoon only sighed. 

“Well, regardless, you shouldn’t be so nervous over today’s job. We’re only delivering, we’re not risking too much here.” He replied simply before leaning forward onto the table, placing a hand on your shoulder. 

“Trust me and trust the team, we’ve always had each other’s backs. It’s not like we’re gonna stop anytime soon.” 

Your chest and stomach found a new home in your throat rather quickly as you took notice of Jihoon’s laid back and (dare we say) warm approach to this type of conversation. 

“I-I will! Of course, I will, I trust you with my life!” You exclaimed quickly, causing Jihoon to move back with a half-smile. 

“I’m not sure if I’m glad or not,” He replied, sipping down his last bit of chocolate. “Regardless, I am happy to see you’re fired up. Maybe save that fire for later tonight, I’m sure Seungcheol has the ‘party’ planned for tonight.” 

You nodded sharply before returning to finish your own drink. 

As soon as you gulped the last of your mocha, you two made your way to the base. Obviously, as soon as you walked in, there was dear Soonyoung to kiss your feet (not literally). 

“(Y/N)!” He called out before jogging up to you two. “Good afternoon! I’m glad to see you’re one of the first ones here!” 

“Yes, and if it wasn’t for Jihoon, I probably would have been late.” You replied simply, which caused Soonyoung to eye Jihoon. “I see. Good afternoon Woozi, how ya doing?” Soonyoung asked, placing a hand on said person’s head before ruffling up his blonde hair. 

You felt all the hairs stand up on your body as soon as Soonyoung finished. If you didn’t get hurt or die from this small job, perhaps you’ll be injured or added as an accidental casualty to Jihoon’s list. 

Jihoon looked up at Soonyoung with a scowl, “I was just fine before I got here. (Y/n) and i had a very relaxing morning together.” He replied and judging by Soonyoung’s barred teeth, he wasn’t too happy to hear Jihoon had been with you.

“I see, so what information did you extract from them?” He asked with a low tone. “Or perhaps you tricked them and got more than they were expecting?” He said slowly, his eyes narrowing in anger. Jihoon’s own eyes narrowed as he starred up, ready to bark back.

“He didn’t extract jack squat from me Soonyoung, just leave him alone.” You cut in, placing yourself between the two. 

Soonyoung stepped back with shook clear on his face. 

“You two clearly have somethings you need to settle but don’t make this about me. Go get some guns and blow each others brains out or something!” You exclaimed, huffing at both of them. 

By their expressions, they both seemed rather shocked at your outburst, but...you were so tired of Soonyoung always harping at you like a dog does to meat. And Jihoon? G/d knows he believes he’s such hot shit that he can say anything to anyone. 

“I don’t want to see or hear from either of you for the rest of this job or so help me I will shoot you both myself.” You barked once more walking away from the two, leaving them shocked, speechless, and gawking. 

They had really done it this time, pissing you off like that. I guess you were getting more comfortable with Jihoon since you clearly grew a pair so big, you actually threatened Jihoon. You know, leader of the stealth unit? The living, breathing embodiment of death? Yeah, that guy. Still, you didn’t waver in your thoughts at all as you took a seat in between two of your members. Thank goodness your good friend Joshua was to your left. 

“You seem tense.” He cooed sweetly as if he hadn’t just heard your whole outburst. 

“Ugh.” Was your only reply before throwing your head forward on the table, but not before Joshua could add his hand to soften the landing. 

“Thanks.” You said quietly into the table. 

“Don’t thank me, just talk to me when we get the chance, alright?” You looked up at him from the table with a confused expression but, judging by Joshua’s gentle smile, he clearly just wanted the details on the tea. 

It’s not like you weren’t going to tell him anyway.

[blankdblank]

My Pearl Pt 13

Tags –

@himoverflowers, @theincaprincess, @aspiringtranslator, @sweeticedtea, @ggbbhehe4455, @thegreyberet, @patanghill17, @jesgisborne, @curvestrology, @alishlieb, @jogregor, @armitageadoration, @fizzyxcustard, @here2have-fun, @lilith15000, @marvels-ghost, @catthefearless, @imjusthereforthereads, @c-s-stars,  @evyiione, @deepestfirefun, @queenoferebor, @thestorybookmistress, @abiwim, @here2have-fun, @onewithleaf

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 - Pt 7 - Pt 8 - Pt 9 - Pt 10 - Pt 11 - 

… bit emotional and heated in the start, trip to Rivendell ...

…

Cross legged atop your bed Thorin found you resting beside your sealed suitcase staring at it aimlessly while stroking the ankle band with your thumb. At the dip in the mattress from his sitting beside you your head snapped up to give him a gentle grin, “I’m finished packing.”

A grin flinched on his face in return then he asked, “Where were you, just now? Is this about this morning?” Your lips parted for a moment then closed, “It’s okay if it is. That was a heavy weight for you to take on, and then to go on through the show-,”

You shook your head, “It’s, just.” Wetting your lips he nodded at your eyes meeting again, “It’s terrible, but for so long I questioned everything.” At your voice cracking he inched closer, “That I did something,” his arms smoothed over yours with lips parted guessing what you could mean, “That it was something I ate, or I worked too many hours, or I didn’t sleep enough.” Pulling you closer he folded you against his chest tightly in his arms closing his eyes in the pressing of his lips to the top of your head at your soft sniffle. “Is it bad, that I feel-,”

“Relieved?” You nodded unable to say the word, “Not in the least. You are so strong, and have carried this weight for so long. It was not your fault, never was, I do not doubt Naule would have been very much loved and provided for. Same with any future children you may be blessed with, I couldn’t imagine a more determined mother,” with a smirk he added, “My own relatives excluded.”

Softly you giggled and he let out a weak chuckle and you drew back wiping your cheeks through another soft sniffle, “Thank you.”

“No thanks necessary.”

Wetting your lips you peered up at him easing your hands over his thighs, “I don’t believe I ever got the chance to thank you properly.”

“For?”

“For giving me a chance at that sink.”

“You didn’t-,”

“I do, need to. I know you all would have preferred me waiting tables. I’ve done that before. To be honest I had ulterior motives on insisting on the sink.” Making him smirk, “I hoped I could catch on, and manage to dazzle you with how easily I picked it all up.”

Again he chuckled raising his hand to cup your cheek, “And dazzle you did, you in all your sudsy whirlwind glory.” Making you smirk in return, “And those potatoes, sealed it. I can’t place the exact moment I was yours, but somewhere between that first knife you passed me and your helping on the show in that yellow shirt of yours,” the growl inching into his voice made your smirk deepen, “And that beaming smile of yours that foolish Elf chef so undeservedly gained from you.”

You rolled your eyes, “Lumo was reminding me of his cousin I met in Gondolin, Wile. We used to get into such trouble. He used to try to slip random ingredients into my recipes and I kept retaliating by swapping out his.” Making Thorin chuckle only to smooth his hands over your arms as you said, “I just hope I can pay you back one day.”

He shook his head, “You already have. You are brilliant inside and out of the kitchen, all you needed was a nudge and look at you now. Your own dessert menu, reserved dinners lined up for months in advance, a spot as lead baker on our show, and that is just career wise. Look at the leaps and bounds you’ve grown at home, long lost relatives falling from the sky, you have grown so much past a woman in need of a helping hand. When, honestly, given just a bit more time I am certain you would have gained it all without my claiming you.”

You nodded, “I suppose I owe it all to the man who flipped that table then.”

He rolled his eyes, “We owe him nothing.”

“That was the first time since the pot incident you had touched me.” Making him smirk again, “I recall you being surprisingly gentle for your size.”

Lowly he chuckled, “I was concerned. And curious.” Your brow inched up, “I caught a glimpse of your tattoos, wondered what sort of bird was at the end of those feathers and what flowers you had chosen.”

Rocking your shoulders teasingly he grinned raising your legs onto his lap to stroke them up to your knee under the elastic band on your sweats there, “And here I was wondering what tattoos you had hidden yourself.” Deepening his returning smirk, “Just off of Dwalin’s arms alone I might have let my imagination get away from me.” With a giggle you shifted your legs to straddle him luring his hands to smooth across your back under his baggy tank top while your hands smoothed over his chest and shoulders, “I almost dropped a pan myself hearing you barking out orders across the room,” making him chuckle.

“Used to hear Fili and Kili grumbling about some stories here and there about your helping to raise them while Vili was going through school. Sort of made it hard to be afraid of you after hearing about you dressing up like a lion for their first play.” Making him laugh and glance away only to into the forehead tap you had given him in his glance back again with a grin smoothing his hands across your skin, “Do all Dwarves want boys too, or is Bombur the luckiest alive with nine girls out of 14?”

Thorin chuckled lowly rumbling back, “I suppose it depends on the Dwarf, though daughters are cherished, and yes, Bombur has been very blessed.” Inching his head back he looked over your face, “Just curious, do you have a preference?”

You shrugged, “Depends if they have facial hair of not,” making him chuckle again as you giggled out, “I think your boys with the mustaches are adorable.”

“They are, and they love bragging about them.” His fingers rose to brush your hair behind your ears, “Personally, I think your ears would be adorable on an infant.”

You rolled your eyes, “Elven infants can go days without sleep.” Making his brow inch up and you nod, “We would need reinforcements.”

Thorin chuckled, “No doubt Feanor would be moving in.”

“I don’t doubt it, along with the majority of my brothers I’d wager. The baby having babies, no less than astounding bringing them all in droves. What they tried so hard to do last time.” After a pause you said, “I do hope it stops being a mood dulling subject someday.”

He shook his head, “No dulling here.” He said inching you closer to his chest claiming a tender kiss, “And I hope I’m not adding any pressure by saying I had hoped one day to rival Bombur and his brood.”

Giggling again you nuzzled your head to the side of his neck, “14 babies, hmm. I can’t imagine beating Feanor with his eight unless I manage to have a few sets of twins thrown in there.” Easing your arms around his back his eyes shut in folding around you, a deep sigh left you at his warmth wrapping around you lulling you to snuggle more against his chest, “You are wonderful you know that, you would be an incredible Adad.”

“All that can wait. For now, we should get dressed. You remembered your dress and fur?”

Inching back your fingertips slid down his back inching out his grin that dropped in the stealing of another kiss, “Of course I remembered the full outfit of your envisioned moment.” Making him chuckle again, “No doubt you’ve chosen a stunning suit.”

He nodded, “Yes, which compliments yours perfectly. Nice and comfortable for when you take the limelight away from everyone.”

You rolled your eyes again and cupped his cheeks leaning in for a quickly deepening kiss that muffled your eventual giggle at his rolling you over in your stripping fumble for a quick tumble before the long flight.

.

Comfortably dressed in jeans, a stolen sweater matching Thorin’s for your hand in hand stroll through the airport joining the lines of people for your tickets, then security shortly after which led you to your gate where you spotted a few more Dwarvish chefs also taking the flight out to the award show. This year Thorin’s show hadn’t been up for an award, but Frerin’s had, and in their normal fashion they preferred to swap places to accept on the other’s behalf with equally as embarrassing acceptance speeches they had written on behalf of the other. Even you had been roped into the show with a couple last minute presenting offers for you as well. The long flight was perfectly used for a snuggling nap Through which Thorin was grinning the entire time at being able to hold you again while you slept.

Upon landing you both waded through the flashes of the greeting cameras capturing the glowing necklace resting across your chest especially matching those of quite a few of the other guests. Lines of cars sat outside and with your bags in hand you joined the others to your assigned cars for the ride through the waterfall filled kingdom straight to one of the best hotels in the Elven kingdoms. Each of the top chefs and their dates lined up to accept the packets with keys enclosed for their rooms. Giggling to yourself you squeezed in against Thorin’s side between the other chefs, who all slipped into the same contagious set of giggles at the large number of you crammed in around the single luggage cart wielding bellman trying not to chuckle himself.

Freed onto your floor you each leaned in like a bunch of children ooing and awing at each until you were the last couple eying the final door which when opened for you nearly made you gasp as you entered. The serene room with a view overlooking a waterfall feeding into a calm pristine pool in the distance behind the sheer curtains billowing inwards from the balcony you walked to. Looking you over Thorin grinned thanking the bellman, who turned his head with a grin of his own at your peaceful glow in the pale moonlight luring him to join you at the locking of the door behind him.

Against your back he folded with arms easing around you as his lips pressed against the skin under your ear then he hummed lowly, “Do you like it here?”

“It is a lovely place to visit.” He chuckled as you added, “Though I would miss your pirate ship terribly.”

Kissing along your neck he hummed, “Our.” Tilting your head your shoulder drooped granting him more space to kiss lower.

“I think I heard something about a bed.” He hummed contently in his next open mouthed kiss ending abruptly at your turn to face him.

Open mouthed he gasped only to smirk against your lips that crashed hungrily onto his, in a blind fumble you brushed his hair over his back looping your arms around his neck at the planting of his hands on your lower back. A sudden lift from you drew a muffled chuckle from him as your legs folded around his hips dropping his hands to your thighs. Turning around the doors were managed shut and in a few parting glances around the room between the continued fevered pecks across one another’s skin and lips found you planted into the bed. Melting together the kiss deepened again mingling contented hums from the both of you at his tightening your hold on him. Relishing each moment you had together until the sure to be heavily publicized award show marking your first official public couple outing.

.

Naked across the top layers of the plushy comforter you turned onto your back with a curious furrow of your brows in a searching squint for the source of the noise pulling you from sleep. Sitting up you continued to search until you spotted a pair of birds on the balcony, one male circling the female in an awkward dance making you giggle and turn back to Thorin. Laying flat you nestled against his side easing your arm across his back to start stroking your fingers across his broad shoulders stirring pleased hums from him as his body nestled more into the comforter. Small circles grew to larger ones and spirals across his back and down to his hips, which caused him to turn over earning a giggle from you at him sudden place above you to kiss down your back after pinning you on your stomach.

Warmly his lips traveled lower and then up again at your right leg shifting outwards stirring a smirk onto his face. His right hand lowered to plant on your knee traveling upwards making you arch more under his touch until your soft gasp at his easing inside you. Stolen glances backwards brought his lips to yours each time. Against your left leg his hand planted to inch you higher for what you thought to be his planting you on your knees for a quickening of pace only for his right arm to fold across your chest raising you upwards against his chest to sit on his lap. Stretching his finger upwards it trailed along your jaw turning your head easing his claim of another kiss in his first move to guide you in rocking above him at his fingers trailing downwards to cup your breast as the other eased closer to stroke you teasingly down your navel to your core.

A backwards arch against him in the climax he brought on left you and in keeping his subtle strokes right where you needed him to keep you on that cloud your body slumped forward in his shift to all fours holding you up against his chest. Trembling in his arms he continued to tease your folds in his thrusts that steadily pressed deeper and firmer shoving you towards a second climax at his clueing pulses inside you marking his place right after you towards that ledge. A final press of his hips to yours in the calming spasm of thrusts at his finishing he laid out above your back panting as you tried to calm your own breaths. Tenderly his hand trailed along your right thigh at his lips planting between your shoulder blades retracting for him to purr, “Let me know when I can pull out.”

Softly you giggled making him chuckle and inch up to kiss your lips in your glance back at him. “You can, I’m not that sensitive.”

He chuckled and nipped at his lip easing out in a trail of his fingers across your back, though in his move to kiss your lower back you turned onto your side at the knock on the door. Chuckling again he pulled the comforter over you purring by your ear, “I ordered breakfast for us last night. I’ll get it.” Hopping out of bed he found his pants he pulled on and smoothed his fingers through his hair on his way to bring the food in.

Breakfast led to more snuggling and then onto the inevitable shower and primping stage. Anxiously Thorin waited, hearing the blow dryer switch off and the shifting of the hair pins you had chosen for the evening coated in shimmering stones forming tiny clusters of flowers shimmering the brighter in your pitch black hair. In a series of braids you wove the ends back into a twisted bun topped with the pins leaving your bangs to sweep back behind your ear in adding your makeup.

Simple yet elegant, a swoop of black liner across your top lid under the neutral colors and after a nip at your lip you chose between two shades to pick the deep maroon stain. Perfectly it matched the look and inhaling steadily you raised your dress from the counter to step into it and wiggle it up enabling you to add your arms and close the zipper up the back as far as you could manage after.

Stepping out with it locked just below your shoulder blades you caught Thorin’s sharp turn with brows raised taking in each detail of you at your asking, “Could I borrow your hands?”

Nodding in his rush over to you a giggle escaped you as you turned until his lips met the side of your neck at the hiding of the raised zipper. Stepping back his eyes raked over you in his low purr of, “Marvelous, my Dearest.”

You giggled again resting your hand in his offered palm to guide you to the bed where he had set out your heels and fur wrap. “Thank you, you look quite dashing yourself.”

Dropping to his knees he purred back easing his fingertips along the back of one of your legs in lifting that heel, “I am not here to dazzle.”

You giggled again, “Oh yes, simply to fade into the background and embarrass Frerin in the speech you planned, should he win.”

Thorin chuckled, “Oh he’ll win. Always does.” Pressing his lips to your knee when the straps across the top of your heel were secured before moving to claim your other foot, “Excited for your presenting tasks?”

You giggled again at his next peck to that knee when he secured your heel and remained on his knee to keep peering up at you a few moments longer as you smoothed your fingers over the necklace across your chest after having left your grandmothers with Naule’s tag at home. “I just hope I don’t fumble or trip.”

Rising up he reached out raising the wrap he eased around your shoulders in a loving gaze locked on yours, “You won’t.” Sealing the securing clasp he grinned easing his fingers along your arms that rose to adjust the yellow tie standing out against his charcoal suit and dark grey shirt. Folding his hands around yours he kissed the knuckles on each and nodded his head, “Come on. Let’s get to it.”

Releasing your hands you turned feeling his arm ease around your back guiding you into the hall to join the line of immaculately dressed Dwarves and their partners. The Dams especially wearing furs larger than yours over their longer gowns making your stomach clench as if you weren’t dressed up to par.

.

The long lines of cars let out their passengers to join the long lines of famous faces. The wave of white in your first exit welcomed you among them and as it died out you caught glimpses of the Elven guests stealing glances back your way. More than a few with more sentimental grins as they folded their fingers around the necklaces you had ensured were returned to them through Feanor. The Dams you share a floor with seemed to not be the standard for dress greatly easing your worries in the path towards the door. A few pausing stops for more pictures and interviews for Thorin later and you were shown into the sea of seats.

A wave of cheers followed your separate presenting spots that eventually returned you back to your seats again. Just in time for you to fold against Thorin’s side and clap for Thranduil at his being named as winner for his own award. Eagerly he chuckled in a smiling glance at you in his trot up the steps onto the stage towards the mic adjusting his mother’s pendant draped across his chest.

Holding the mixing bowl shaped trophy complete with multicolored glass whisk pressed into the side with orange faked mixture inside for the category he glanced to you again and said after a short list of people to thank. “I was asked when I first started to cook on screen who my greatest inspiration was for my so called fearless mixture of flavors and tastes. And I was unable to give the proper answer at the time, so I will try to keep it short, but I would like to share the answer I couldn’t give then.

Many of you know I was born and grew up in Doriath, but out of all the chefs I knew, my greatest influence was my best friend. My tiny fearless best friend. As two of the only children born after centuries of war there was a lot of reminders for our little town on just how we could instill hope in these twins. Now as the grandchildren of an infamous Chef cooking and baking was a given, with a surplus of chefs and bakers to aid in their studies. One of them being the head Professor from Gondolin. Now Jay, he was automatically promised a spot if he wanted it, and when Bunny asked what she needed to learn to gain admittance she was told on the spot that women weren’t allowed to attend.”

Gasps from the Dwarves rippled through the room as the Elves began to grin as you tried to bite back your brewing giggles as your fingers curled in front of your lips making Thorin smirk and ease you more against his side. “To which she promptly declared herself a Pirate, and that she would claim a spot by force if necessary.”

Earning chuckles through the crowd as a blush spread across your cheeks, “It wasn’t much longer after the stunned Professor had left that people suddenly started to be roped up and drug off the streets.” Lips parted through the crowds until he added, “Where they were promptly tied to chairs and force fed the Pirate’s creations, including the fearsome Feanoreans, who at the staggering age of 43 gave the pair a matching set of honorary Sils. Long story short, after centuries of loss and not knowing if my best friend survived the endless war, I can finally say she is safe and is back to her conquering ways. If it wasn’t for our fearless Pirate I wouldn’t have had the courage to try half of what I had. So I owe everything to my best friend. Thank you.” His eyes settled on you with your hand stretched across your face as you giggled to yourself widening his grin in his trot backstage for an interview.

Leaning in Thorin purred his joking comments making you giggle more until the next category was called and you were escorted back again to present another award, through which you spotted Thorin’s trot up onto the stage to accept the award with a widening smirk. His reaction stirring expecting grins on the faces of the other Dwarves knowing the game the brothers played at these events contrasting their serious façade. A few minutes was all it took and his grin doubled at the eruption of the crowd as your hands covered your face to muffle your own loud laughter that made others laugh at the adorable squeaks following each gasp for air muffling in Thorin’s path to you for a stolen kiss before heading to the waiting cameras.

Celeborn, Elrond, Celebrian and more joined the others in showing off their returned jewels and managed to lure you both into a group dinner to celebrate their wins and nominations once freed from the final obligations of the show.

Pt 14

[sugarcookiesandsins]

Failing Sirens

Word Count: 2.1k+ Warnings: negative body-image, negative self-confidence, strained family relations, self-destructive behaviors

You sat home alone, as you had done for the last couple days since the boys were on their Japan tour, with a glass of wine in you hand. It was a weak attempt at flushing thoughts from your system, hoping that along with the contents of your stomach, the contents of your mind would be flushed down the toilet. Yet, each evening was like the night before and you went to sleep with ruby eyes.

The whole issue had started when you decided to ignore the warning signs in you belly and attend a party that your sister was holding in honor of her recent success. Of course your family would be there, and any reunion with them never seemed to turn out the best as they never missed an opportunity to compare you with her. 

You didn’t understand exactly what made this time worse. Was it the fact that you were entering that time of month which predictably resulted in your skin looking less attractive or which expanded your waistline a couple inches? Was it because the boys were hundreds of miles away so you couldn’t curl up with someone and disappear for a few hours in their warm embrace? Or was it the photos?

They had started out as innocent diversions, things to laugh over as they would deny the ships the fans came up with and spilled the tea on why not. But lately, it seemed that either the skills of the fans had grown exponentially or the photos weren’t edited. Any outsider looking on could obviously point out the flaws, but to you, half under the influence of the bottles smashed on the kitchen floor, they spoke the gospel truth.

Stumbling over the three coffee tables that you could have sworn weren’t there when you sat down, you made your way back towards the singular bottle on the dining table. It only had a little left, but it was still your last hope. It would be your last glass before the boys came back tomorrow and you had to pretend that you hadn’t spent the past week cutting your feet open on the shards that littered the hardwood of the apartment.

So you cradled the last glass like it was the solution to all your problems before downing it in one swallow, too lost in the mirage that the Malbec presented to you. Then, you trudged to the bedroom in grudging acceptance of your fate and lost yourself to your nightmares

The next morning rolled around and you greeted it with the same enthusiasm as the day before - absolutely none. The entire morning you spent preparing for their arrival, which basically meant wrapping the cuts on your feet and cleaning up the offending glass. By mid-afternoon you had finished and hid the fragments under your bed to take out on a day that the boys had practice and you were alone.

Then you sat and waited - after all, Yoongi had already texted you that they were on the way. And judging from the sound of running from the hallway, there were here already. A small smile escaped your depressive state at the sound of Tae’s deep tenor as he yelled at Namjoon for being too slow - even when you couldn’t see them, they still managed to make your day brighter.

You walked towards the entrance to let them in, when the door seemed to vanish before your very eyes only to replaced with your seven dwarves. Their eyes lit up as your sweater clad figure filled their eyes, looking more soft than they had every seen you with pajama shorts and the cutest fluffy socks. Your face looking childish with a cherry blossoms blooming over your cheeks and that millimeter smile on bubblegum lips that they knew like the back of their hands.

Forcing the urge to cry into the dungeons, you faced them with a laugh and tackled the nearest one in an act of desperation. Jin seemed to be the first target as you nuzzled into his chest, perfectly content with his broad shoulders shielding you from the truth hiding under your bed. Thankfully, you retained the mental faculties to shower before they got here so when he took a deep a breath of your hair he smelled not the entirety of their wine collection but the soft fragrance of citrus from your favorite shampoo.

The rest of the boys took their turns with you, relishing feeling of being home in the purest way possible. Not just that they were back in their apartment, but they were back with you.

As you got passed around, you watched their expression for something, anything that evidenced your nightmares were a reality, but you saw what you always did, fairy lights. So, you laughed with them, still unsure and still tempted to sneak another bottle tonight.

Than night you should have slept soundly, fenced in on either side by Hobi and Yoongi as they joined you in your dreams, but you didn’t. Submitting to an insomniac’s fate, you untangle yourself from them and made your way towards the kitchen pantry, where your resident stock of alcohol lived.

Success was in sight as the gleam of the yellow light reflected across the bottle in front of you, but then your plan was ruined when a sleepy, “Kitten,” echoed loudly against the marble of the dark kitchen counters. Changing the direction of your hand, you pulled out a packet of hot cocoa. Hiding your frustrated expression, you hid a longing glance towards the wine rack with the door before turning to face the intruder. 

Taehyung stood there, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with sweater-paws. You didn’t expect him to be up, normally he slept the heaviest out of all the boys, his 4D antics during the day exhausting him of all energy before his head hit the pillow.

“Hey Tae.” You sent back a soft smile, heart melting at the sight of a overgrown child in animal pajamas. You made yourself the calming drink and sat next to your lover on the breakfast stools that entertained Jimin beyond measure. You recalled the first day that you had got them and the bright smile on his face as Jungkook and Tae spun him in circles on the chair. It was an amusing sight, that was until you were placed in the seat of honor and taken on the ride of your lifetime. You were brought back to reality with the feel of soft curls brushing against your cheek. Cupping the mug between your own sweater hands, you leaned against him, forgetting for a moment the luggage of your mind.

For a moment, you were in utopia. That was until, the all-too familiar sound of glass assaulted your ears, like nails raking over a blackboard. “Baby? What are these?”

You recognized that voice, how could you not? It was a rare sound out of the sunshine male, but when it did come out it was something no one was likely to forget. You felt Tae turn to watch Hoseok, assuming correctly that Yoongi was also there standing in the entryway. You also felt him tense beside you as he realized the items that his hyungs held up. You didn’t need to turn.

You already knew what it was.

True, you could throw a fit about why they went snooping into your room, only if there was plausible cause for accusing them of that. If there was one thing that you know about your boys, it was that they never snooped where it was not necessary, or ever really when it came to her things.

This time it was Yoongi who spoke, voice commanding an answer from your body. “(Y/N) What are these?” His tone told you that he was not taking a no for an answer.

“They’re nothing Yoongs. I invited Juhi over and we had fun.” You shrug non-committedly. It wasn’t a lie. You had invited your best friend over to take away the loneliness and you have both shared a bottle of wine, but that was only one from 20.

“That’s one or two at the most. Not 20.” Now Taehyung was involved and the situation came crashing down. With Yoongi and Hoseok, they were far away. But with Taehyung you could feel everything from the rumble of the words in his chest to the breath that fueled his words.

“Kitten! Tell me the truth.” You winced at his raised volume. Yoongi seemed to be the calmest one, but he was subjected to high tensions more so than the average person.

“Quiet down! You don't wanna wake the others.” You told yourself that the less people that knew the better. You would let this blow over tonight and then wake-up to a world where everything went back to norm-.

“Too late. He work us up before he came to you.” You hated Namjoon’s voice in moments like this, oldened with age he sounded like he was scolding a child. Never once did it waver or break as you stared at the other 4 who revealed themselves within the kitchen. All of them looked more awake than they should be for the time being 2 am, leaving you to take refuge behind the only thing you could, the hot cocoa.

Taking a sip to calm your nerves, you looked back at the boys.

“Well? Are we going to get an explanation?” Jungkook. Another man who ran solely on emotions.

“It’s nothing. How about we-.”

“Bullshit! I always told you that calling me out was the best thing you ever did, now it’s time for me to return the favor.” Jimin. The sweetest soul that did not deserve all that he has been through.

Then you collapsed. It became too much, the weighted stares, the voices in your head that abandoned evidence to poison your mind, everything. Like a subsequent domino, the mug in your hands fell as well, the shattering of the material providing the soundtrack to your own body as it splintered.

Before you could comprehend what was happening, you spilled everything to them. The reunion with you parents. The dress that you didn’t fit in anymore. The photos that you had seen on the internet. Everything.

As you laid your heart on the floor to them, they just stood silently watching. They too felt the need to break down. The problems that you unleashed latched onto the unlucky seven as they blamed themselves for everything that you were going through.

You were this goddess that had blessed their lives, yet here you were with tears running down you face and blood staining your downy skin.  

In the next moment, you were being lifted of the stained floor and into someone’s arms. Jin probably. The boys knew exactly how much comfort his embrace could provide, having been subject to it many time throughout their career.

As you were taken into the bathroom for a patch up, you forgot about your socks and the reason you had them on in the first place. Only until it was too late, did you see Jungkook, kneeling reverently at your feet to caress you feet, whispering soft apologies to the cuts between every brush of his lips. Your tear stained eyes looked down at him and his heart ached at the darkness in your eyes, silently screaming at him. Jin hugged you a little tighter, the only force still keeping you together at this point as he too showered your skin in soft petals.

After they finished wrapping your wounds, then brought you to the living room where the rest of the boys were waiting, surrounded by their luggage that they had been too lazy to unpack the night before. You were transferred into Hoseok’s embrace as Yoongi and Taehyung sidled up alongside to worship their goddess. Their lips like ice against your fiery hot skin.

“It seems like someone needs to be taught a lesson.” You looked across the circle at Taehyung. Since the start of the siege, you hadn’t looked at him, but now you saw him in his entirety. If you thought Hoseok was scary when mad, then you hadn’t seen Taehyung. There was something inherently wrong with seeing that marble face wrought with grief and rage.

He crawled across the circle towards your form. Raising a hand, he caressed the cheeks that had caught his attention since the first day he met you. They glowed like they always did, that glow that only emitted from your soul and painted you in rose petals.

Someone sounded their agreement and slid around Taehyung before crawling into your arms. Jimin’s head popped up and smiled at your expression. “How can we tell the world ‘Love Yourself’ if we can’t make you do the same thing.”

Namjoon stood up first, taking you into his arms, before walking with sure steps towards the bedroom. The rest followed, and looking back over your shoulder, you saw everyone following, eyes on nothing but you.

[anon-luv]

I’ll Never Be Her(4) [Jimin X Reader]

Pairing: Jimin X Reader

Genre: Angst/ Romance

Summary: You loved him with all your heart, but he could only give you half of his.

Jimin was the love of your life, your night in shining armor when she wasn’t around.

She was his ex girlfriend,  his first love, actually she was his many firsts and she kept coming back.

He had warned you she was his weakness, but you didn’t listen, because to you having him even if it was only partially was better than not having him at all.

At least for now.

Rated M: Sexual Scenes and Languages that might not be appropriate for all ages.

Word Count: 4.1K+

Author’s Note: Sorry it took so long. I have a new job and I am going through orientation and that takes a lot of my time. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. I overthought the world like I always do, but I am hoping it is of your satisfaction.

You know how much I love receiving your comments/messages/asks/reblog tags

I look through every single one of them :D and I will try my hardest to respond to them as well.

Let me know what you all think. There is only one chapter left and an epilogue ;) are you all excited??

I am so nervous to post this haha. LEAVE SOME LOVE!

I want to thank all my readers and mutuals for their support.

Specially @b-angst-tan who has been a lovely editor/ beta love her!!

The dim lighting in the narrow halls along with the stale smell of cleaning supplies had you on the verge of waddling back to the safety of Jin’s car. The squeaking of your shoes echoed loudly on the barely inhabited waiting area. The dull sickly shades of green intimidating the living daylights out of you, as you made your way towards the nurse station and registration area slowly, wary of tripping and eating shit, which to be honest with your luck nowadays it wouldn’t come as a surprise.

“Hello, Darling! May I help you with something?  You look a little lost there.” An older looking lady with peppered hair said giving you a small smile.

You nodded as you rubbed your belly, a weird feeling erupting from the pit of your stomach, making it feel a bit sensitive and stiff as if you were flexing. You took a deep breath and quietly cursed your body’s onset timing for what you had concluded were Braxton Hicks. You smiled back ignoring the weird sensation, “Yes, I came to visit a patient.”

“That’s great. What is the patient’s name? Are you a family member?” she asked as she started clicking away on her computer.

“No...I am not...actually…” You started only to be interrupted by a familiar, deep honey-like voice.

“Y/N?” a familiar deep voice questioned as he came into full view.

He looked different than last time you saw him. His usually bleach blond locks were now dyed a dark brown that matched perfectly with his brown orbs. He smiled at you, the familiar gummy smile that you had grown to love and now associate to a brotherly figure.

“Yoongi!” You said smiling widely at him, the sorrow and pain associated with Jimin’s abandonment forgotten for a brief moment as you were engulfed in a warm hug, “I’ve missed you so much. It’s been way too long!”

He chuckled as he ruffled your hair, “Yeah I know. Last time I saw you, you didn’t look like you were hiding a basketball underneath your shirt. I am wondering how you haven’t fallen face first with that cute belly of yours. You are definitely glowing and look absolutely stunning, Stef was right.”

Your face paled at the mention of her name as Yoongi’s bright smile turned into a grimace.

“Yeah, Stephany….How is she doing??” You asked trying to sound unaffected as the light tremble of your voice gave you away.

Yoongi reached for your hand, squeezing it reassuringly, “She is doing good..actually, I was going to ask you.. is it okay if we have a coffee and maybe talk??”

You nodded, “Milk and cookies and you have a deal.” Another awkward cramp shot up your back making you squirm in place, “Is there a cafeteria or something. My pregnant butt needs to sit.”

Yoongi nods happily, “Yeah, it is right over there, let me help you with that.” He said taking the damp umbrella and purse from your hands.

You waddled next to him as he glanced at you every once in a while with a small smile on his face.

You plopped down happily at the first table you found, not even giving Yoongi the opportunity to seek out another one.

“I’ll be back,” he said as he walked towards the small serving area. The cafeteria was for the most part empty other than the bored looking teenage cashier who you were more than sure was more focused on the pink cell phone on her hand than her surroundings.

Yoongi placed a warm cup of milk and a bag of chocolate chip cookies on the table, displaying it as a beautiful buffet for your weak for munchies ass.

“So what do you want to talk about?” You asked as you eagerly opened the bag in front of you and plopped a whole cookie in your mouth successfully.

“I want to say I am sorry.” He said no longer looking at you, but instead focusing at the gray, dull coffee mug in front of him as if it was an intricate piece of art, “I called Jimin…..I told him to come.”

The hunger that had been pestering you since you had left your apartment, evaporated into nothingness with that lone sentence. Your belly contracted a bit more painful than usual as you wiggled yourself repositioning to hopefully soothe the dull tightness.

“How?” You asked quietly as you stared up into his eyes, your own already tearing up from all the emotions you had bottled up all these years, “How..how..how can you do it? How do you just sit and watch, as you watch her walk away into someone else’s arms, arms that aren’t yours? How do you go to sleep and wake up without knowing if she is going to be there in the morning? How do you numb yourself knowing that you might not be her first priority? How…..do you make it stop hurting? Does it hurt you as much as it hurts me? Cause….fuck ….excuse my french…..The only thing that comes to mind is ‘that fucking bitch’ when I hear her name coming from his lips. And it sucks because I know Stephany. I have grown close to her in ways I probably shouldn’t have. I love and care for her as well, but I am not okay with it..especially when it comes to Jimin’s love. I can’t stand watching her dance around boundaries she shouldn’t be crossing in the first place”

Yoongi ruffled his hair, the sadness in his eyes clearly noticeable, something you had never witnessed personally, “To be honest...I hate it....but at the same time….. I have come to realize that the only reason why I have put up with it in the first place is because I am fucking selfish.”

“Wait… How are you selfish? If anything Stephany is the selfish one. I don’t deserve this... You do not deserve this” you asked puzzled at his response.

“Look..” he said ruffling his hair nervously with one hand, “Stephany is my world. From the very first time I laid eyes on her, I knew she was the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. We have gone through so many things together, and I was there to pick up every piece whenever she would fall apart in my arms. When we found out about Nataly she was ecstatic, everything was getting better and then…. As I held our little girl in my arms I noticed something was off. Stephany seemed fine for the first few weeks, until one day she locked herself for three days in her room with our child refusing to come out unless it was absolutely necessary. She wouldn’t eat, she would barely talk, and she rarely slept. She had become so absorbed in her own little world, that she panicked if I even got near Nataly.” Yoongi sighs, but continues explaining himself.

“Then one day I ran into Jimin, I had not seen him in a while, and after exchanging numbers I was on my merry way. Stephany deteriorated and I took her almost forcefully to the doctor. That is when she got diagnosed with Postpartum Depression. I reached out to various resources trying to figure out how to help the love of my life, and after several therapy sessions and group talks I found out that sometimes an outlet or maybe revisiting things that had made her happy in the past can help to break the wall she was building around herself. I remembered how much she talked about Jimin and the adventures they would have when they were young. And that is when I decided that maybe meeting up with him would be a good idea. I wrote down his information on a sticky note before work hoping she would find it since she refused to acknowledge me on her low days. Before I knew it she was gone... And then... she left Nataly at his door... and I knew I had fucked up. From then on she did it several times... She would run from me and go to him..but she always comes back and I much rather have that and know she is safe even if it is not with me than have her leave and never return...”

You wiped the tears away from your eyes as you saw Yoongi fall apart bit by bit till he was a sobbing mess, you reached out your hand to grasp his tightly, “Yoongi, I know... With me and Jimin... it is not the same but I have had to share too and it is not healthy Yoongi. I have excused this behavior for years now and now that it will not only affect me but my babies as well. I’ve come to realize that sometimes you have to set your foot down.”

“I love her... And she’s not well... I feel like it is my fault... I am so sorry (Y/n) I didn’t think it was going to get this bad. I love you and even though he can be an asshole at times, I love Jimin as well. You have been such a great help with Nataly and Stephany. I am so sorry I didn’t talk to you about this before. I was scared. I thought if I didn’t address the problem it would just disappear... and it just got bigger and bigger. I know about everything (Y/n)... The kiss they almost shared and every time she would invade both of your lives and I am so sorry. I am going to make this okay and be stronger for her. That is why I am taking her away. Once she gets better... Maybe we can try this friendship thing again... Maybe, if you don’t hate us too much. It was not Jimin, (Y/n) I was the one at fault… I should’ve told her not to go. I should’ve taken care of her better so she wouldn’t have to seek anyone else but me. I am so sorry. Jimin really does love you (Y/n), he was just helping Stephany….us out.”

You gave him a side smile as you wiped the tears from your face. “Sure... that sounds good. And don’t be silly... We are always going to be friends.” you said as you grasped his face in your hand and wiped a tear away... Now let’s stop crying and start eating. My kids need to grow.”

Yoongi shook his head disbelievingly as a choked up sob came out mixed with a laugh, “Thank you, you are honestly one of the most amazing and understanding people on the world. Love you.”

“Love you too, Yoongi.” You said as Yoongi grasped both your hands in his, “You can do this Yoongi. You take care of your girls.”

He gave a gummy smile, “Thank you (y/n), I will.” He said as he stole a cookie from your hand.

You scowled at him playfully, “That, though...I might not forgive.”

You walked the hallways alone. The voices and whispers around you made your growing anxiety click like a bomb waiting to explode as you searched the room number Yoongi had written on your hand. Yoongi had left you on your own to head back home and continue packing. You had assured him you would be fine over and over again before he relented and went on his way.

Your phone vibrated in your hand a notification popped up showing Jin’s name.

I hope everything is ok. I am still outside just in case you need me. I will be waiting for you.

Jin 4:05pm

I am okay Jin love. I should be out soon. Just saying bye.

(Y/n) 4:06

You placed the phone back in your pocket, and out of nowhere, a familiar laugh sounded through the halls. Your pace quickened as you finally met up with the number you had been searching for what it felt like forever.

Your feet traveled towards the door that was left slightly ajar.“Nataly, you know that pink isn’t my color!” You heard Jimin say dramatically, as you peeked in through the door quietly.“But the ponytails look great on you and I ran out of blue rubber bands!” Nataly replied as she leaned in placing a smooch on his cheek.

Your breath hitched as you took in the sight of Jimin kneeling on the floor, as Nataly sat on the edge of the bed doing his hair. Stephany sat on a bed with a wide grin on her face as her hand rested on Jimin’s. If a stranger would come in they would assume they were the happiest of families. The giggles inside the room were filled with pure happiness.

Stephany looked small in the medical bed, her usual full blond hair looked frizzy and unkept, her blue-eyed pools that could drown you were more of an icy gray, and her usually rosy cheeks looked gaunt and pale. Even in her current condition, she looked absolutely gorgeous, like a fairytale princess. Your stomach clenched again as you took an instinctive deep breath to soothe the uncomfortable pang.

A flashback of Yoongi’s voice resounded reminding you of how frail and delicate the woman you had believed was strong truly was.

Yoongi’s watery broken eyes staring straight at you flashed in your brain taking over your senses, “She took pills (Y/n), I got there just in time... But I almost lost her...”

Jimin stood up from his previous position and sat next to Stephany on the bed. She ran her small hand through his hair as he leaned into her warmth.

“You’re like a puppy Chimchim!” She said giggling as he stuck out his tongue playfully. Nataly quickly sat on his lap as she licked his cheek, “I wanna be a puppy too!”

You smiled at the scene unfolding as you rubbed your stomach that was once again cramping. You sighed sadly as you took a step back.

You couldn't do this. You didn’t want to interfere. They looked so happy and at peace. Maybe Stephany wasn’t the problem...maybe it had always been you.

Jimin leaned in to place a soft kiss on the crown of her forehead, the same kind you had felt every night you had spent in his arms as you crossed the threshold to dreamland. His soft plump lips blessing you with sweet dreams through the night.

You turned away from them and back to the door you had come from, throwing down the white towel...you had given up.

The rain poured relentlessly as you exited the building, camouflaging the tears that were falling down your face. You grasped your purse tightly against you as if it was a stress ball, turning your knuckles white.

It hurt, it really pained you to leave the man you loved behind. You were weak, you couldn’t do this.

Stephany didn’t have to leave. You did. They needed him. He had known this, but your selfish self had been reading way too much into it.

Nataly’s glimmering eyes as she stared at Jimin as if he was Superman himself.

You could stay…. You could bare it through at his side until Stephany got better… but when would that be?? Would it be a year from now??? Maybe 10???

The ongoing battle in your mind had caused another onset of cramps as you slowed down in place.

“Fuck...” you said out loud, as the cramp got more intense.

“(Y/n), are you okay??” You heard Jin say as he stood in front of you with an umbrella that was now covering you. The water was dripping against his forehead as he shivered.

“Seokjin, what are you doing outside?” You said trying to get closer to him so the umbrella could cover him as well.

“I told you I would be waiting for you silly.” He replied rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, I know dork, but what are you doing out in the rain??” You asked as you brushed away a raindrop on his eyelash.

He gave you a nervous smile, “I was debating whether to go in or not… You were taking too long and I was starting to get worried.”

You shook your head with a small smile, “Jin, I really don’t deserve your ass!”

“You don’t, but I am here so.... how about we go back to the car? It’s starting to get chilly.” Jin replied as he wrapped a strong arm around you, “You are okay though, right?”

“Yes I am fine”

You lied.

There was something about Jimin’s eyes that had always captivated you. They were brown, the color of an old oak tree you would climb during the hot summers of your youth. Home, that is what his eyes would take you back to, in them you drowned and reminisced of the times where your biggest worry was learning how to tie your shoelaces.

His warmth was addicting. Being near him had always put you at ease no matter the situation. The way his strong arms would wrap around your waist pulling you into a tight embrace, flesh against flesh. A feeling that would borderline trigger your claustrophobia had become your favorite sensation.

The way his fringe would fall against his brow as he leaned down to capture your lips as he thrusted into you throughout the night, making you come undone over and over again, the both of you becoming one, would be an image embedded in your memory. A treasure you would admire from afar, too precious to touch.

The smile that had made you fall in love with him was not only reflected on his mouth, but also within the crinkles that appeared right beside his eyes. The contagious happiness that spread all over your body with every giggle and smirk that was thrown your way… There was nothing that would ever compare to that.

Just like in tug a war, as soon as the rope commences to burn along your skin and a light prickle of a sting awakens the trigger to drop it and give up, sometimes in life you must learn to let go.

Stubborn Love had held your hand and walked you all along the way, only stopping where you were at now, but your overly conscious insecurities and consistent state of neediness and selfishness could no longer bear the weight that had fallen upon your relationship from the very beginning, as the weak foundation it had been built on was hanging on by a thread, threatening to collapse at any moment.

Jin’s fingers tapped softly yet relentlessly along the steering wheel. You could tell he was anxious to question what had happened, but he knew better. Jin knew you. You sneaked glances his way as he focused on the road. Jin was handsome and strong, he had always been your shoulder to cry on and your personal diary; the only one who truly knew how you felt about Jimin and Stephany’s relationship. There were times where you wondered why hadn’t you fallen in love with him instead. From the beginning, you had never had doubts about your friendship or his loyalty. He knew your likes, dislikes, and where to set his boundaries.

The car stopped suddenly breaking you away from the thoughts that had been clouding your mind. He took a glance your way, catching your eyes with his brown ones. He tilted his head as he leaned in to wipe a tear that had been trailing along your cheek. You laid your hand against his letting it rest on your cheek. Your lips kissed the sensitive skin of his wrist as more tears traveled down your face.

“(Y/N)”, he whispered as his own voice was wavering slightly with emotions. You looked up to meet his eyes and you noticed they now looked pink and swollen, “I’m sorry…. I am really sorry about everything. I am sorry I pushed you his way. I didn’t know. I should’ve…”

You shook your head as you let go of his hand and it fell against your lap, “You have nothing to be sorry about Jin. You have been nothing less than wonder…ful. Sorry, I am having those fake contractions or whatever….they’re just uncomfortable.” You said, rubbing your belly.

“Let’s get you to bed.” He replied as he got out of the car quickly and ran to your side to help you out. You walked next to him as he held your hand all the way to your shared apartment with Jimin. You paused every once in a while to rub the cramp out of your belly.

The place felt cold and empty as you walked inside, the framed pictures taking you back to a happy place for a few seconds before reality came crashing down once again.

“(Y/N), I think you should lay down…. I’m starting to get worried about those cramps you are having.” Jin said as he took off his wet jacket. The rain had done a number on him as he made sure to cover you entirely with the umbrella leaving no room for himself.

You walked up to him and wrapped your arms around him tightly giving no fucks about the cold rainwater that was now soaking through your shirt, “Thank you Jin. Thank you so much. You deserve the world… scratch that, you deserve the whole fucking galaxy at this point.”

Jin chuckled lightly as he returned the hug and ran a hand through your hair. You felt a warm kiss against your head that had you looking up at his tall frame. He was close, so close to your now blushing face. His warm peppermint breath fanning against your skin. At this distance, you could make out every single eyelash, and can now perfectly memorize the pink that laid upon his plush lips.

“(Y/N),” he whispered softly enough to have you wondering if he had truly said something or it had just been a figment of your imagination.

You hummed questioningly not backing away.

“You are my galaxy,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss your forehead quickly about to back away from you as to not invade your personal space. Before he could take a step back your hands reached out to grasp his collar tightly.

His pupils dilated with mixed emotions you had never been able to decipher before, but now were as clear as day.

A second. That is all it took for you to completely erase every thought, memory, and guilt. That one second is all it took for you to fuse your lips against Jin’s blurring out the world. His lips were sweet and warm. They felt safe. They felt like they could be home. He responded almost automatically holding you closer than before, but then as you felt him ask for entrance Jimin’s face popped into your mind. The way Jimin’s hands held your face as he deepened his kisses as his thumb caressed the back of your ear soothingly as opposed to Jin’s, that were holding on to your sides with trembling fingers, wary that you would push him away. Jimin nibbled on your bottom lip softly whenever he would ask for entrance causing your core to explode with heat that could overpower a volcano anyday. Jin was careful and soft, licking your bottom lip before you allowed him to take over. Jimin was rough and passionate. Jin was soft and careful. Jimin was dangerous and unpredictable. Jin was safe and cautious.

Jimin…..

A warm liquid traveled along your leg. At first, you thought it was the rainwater dripping from Jin’s soaked clothes, but the drip turned into a continuous leak and the contrast from the cold water falling from his hair to your face was quite obvious.

Jin backed away before you could react. His face went into panic mode as he looked down, the clear evidence of the unknown liquid all over the floor and his pants.

“Did I make you pee yourself??” He asked in a small, confused voice.

You remained quiet and stunned as you looked at your belly.

Jin caught onto your line of sight staring with wide eyes and open mouth gaping at your belly.

Frightened, you stared up at him, “Jin, I think my water broke...”

Before you could react Jin had already picked you up in his arms cradling you easily against his body. Your instincts kicked in as you kept in mind the birthing classes you had forcefully attended.

“Wait, what the hell are you doing??? You know I can walk right?? Just go get the two diaper bags next to my bed and let’s go to the hospital. Everything is going to be okay. Look at me.” You said grasping his face in your hands as soon as he set you back on your feet. Jin’s face was red and you could tell he was borderline hyperventilating. “I can’t have you pass out on me, so follow along to my breathing pattern…. In …...out…….In ….Out. Better??” you asked as he nodded quickly, “Okay, it’s time to go.”

[snowdice]

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 25]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

I have to go to bed soonish, but I’m doing a bit of editing... so...

Chapter 10

Patton spent most of the day setting up the closet into a makeshift bedroom. They moved the clothing that had been in that closet to a storage area in the potion’s lab, and Patton fussed over the arrangement of the pillows and blankets for far longer than necessary. Now he was putting up little decorations on the walls. He continuously asked for Virgil’s opinion, and Virgil always seemed startled by that fact. Logan observed them sitting halfway into the closet while fiddling with the star shaped lights Patton had wanted him to make.

 He figured Virgil would appreciate having the option of multiple light settings for the lights since they’d be above his head all night. Logan had only ever made them with on and off settings before, so he’d grabbed a few of his books; he currently had one in his lap. While he’d already figured out how to make preset settings and had programmed four: off, 100%, 50% and 25%, now he was working on the possibility of making a sliding dimmer. It was a bit more complex of a task, but it should be doable.

“There!” Patton said. “Nice and comfy!”

 Logan glanced up to see the way Virgil’s head tilted like he was trying to puzzle Patton out. Patton just smiled at him. “Go ahead and test it out!” he said. “We can switch things around if you want.”

Virgil obediently crawled into the closet and onto the makeshift bed Patton had made.

“Lay down and make sure it’s okay,” Patton coaxed.

Virgil did, laying down on the pile of pillows and blankets and laying his head on the pillow that had been reserved for that purpose.

“Is it okay?” Patton asked.

Virgil blinked long and slow like he was very much contemplating going to sleep right then and there. Logan wondered if the potion was still affecting him or if he was just still exhausted from before. Perhaps it was both. “Yeah,” he said softly.

 Patton turned to look at Logan. “Are the lights done?” he asked.

“Not quite yet,” Logan said. “They will be ready before it is time to sleep.”

“Sounds good!” Patton said. “We should probably think about dinner soon.”

Logan hummed in acknowledgment and waved his hand over the light he’d been working on. It lit up dim and then slowly increased in power as he moved his hand. Perfect! Now that he’d figured it out, it would not take long to get the rest of the lights working properly. Then he’d just have to install them.

He was just about to shut off the first light when there was a soft knock at the door.

 “Patton,” Patton’s mom’s voice called.

Logan shared a panicked glance with Patton. “Just a second,” Patton called back. “I told her you were sick,” he whispered just loud enough for Logan to hear him.

Logan jumped into action. He shoved the unlit lights under his desk along with the books and lobbed the lit one towards the closet. It missed and bounced on the ground, but Patton seemed to get the idea and picked it up, handing it to Virgil. “Sorry, sorry,” Patton said to the boy. “Just be quiet please.”

Logan hurried over to his bed and pulled the covers up over himself. Patton was there in the next second tossing a cloth over his forehead; hopefully she wouldn’t notice that it was not wet.

 Then, Patton was zipping to the door. He glanced back at Logan when he got there who nodded, laying back. He pulled open the door. “Hi Mama!” Patton said cheerfully.

“I brought you boys up some dinner,” she said.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that,” Patton said sweetly; for someone who always preached the virtues of truthfulness, he was an awfully good fibber. “I could have come down and gotten us something. I was actually thinking about it right before you knocked.”

“It was no trouble,” Patton’s mom said. “I brought chicken and noodle soup for Logan since he wasn’t feeling well.”

 She looked over at Logan and smiled. “How are you feeling, sweetie?” she asked.

“I’m doing better. Ms. Heart, thank you,” Logan said.

She pushed a small cart past Patton loaded with food then and brought it to his bedside. “I brought chicken and noodle soup, some bread and butter, and a few apples from the garden for you two. Do you want anything else?”

“No thank you, ma’am,” Logan said.

“This is great, Mama,” Patton said. “Thank you.” He seemed to be subtly angling to hurry her out of the door, but she did not leave right away.

“What did you two do today?” she asked.

 “I mostly slept,” Logan lied. “And I read a bit.”

“I mostly just read too and helped Logan out.”

She continued to talk to them for a few more agonizing minutes before standing to leave. “Are you staying with Logan again tonight, sweetie?” she asked.

“Uh huh,” Patton said. “If that’s okay.”

“Of course,” she said. “I’ll come check on you both in the morning.”

They both smiled and nodded as she left the room. Patton slumped against the bed when she was gone. “Hiding an assassin in your closet is stressful,” he said.

“Indeed,” Logan agreed, sitting up in bed.

 Patton got off the bed and went back over to the closet. “Sorry about that,” he said. Virgil was still sitting in the closet with the light in his lap. “But we have dinner! Want to come eat?”

He nodded immediately and crawled out of the closet. His bracelets vibrated slightly when he crossed the threshold and they shifted from the mode that let him move freely to the one that made him move slowly.

They split the dinner. Luckily, Patton’s mom always provided more than enough food so there was plenty for each of them. Virgil seemed content with all the food but seemed particularly fond of the apples. Between that and his reactions to the honey and pancakes, Logan wondered if he had a secret sweet tooth.

 After eating, Logan quickly finished up the other lights and worked on installing them as Patton went poking around in Logan’s other closet and drawers for something Virgil could wear for sleeping and possibly a change of clothing or two for future days.

“I’m going to go get some stuff from my room real quick,” Patton said once they’d found suitable clothing. He set the clothes in the closet next to the bed so Virgil could change in privacy later. “Will you two be okay?”

Logan hummed his assent, continuing to work on getting the lights in the exact right place.

 Once he was satisfied, he motioned Virgil over. “These are your lights,” he explained. “You can control them with this panel I set up.” He pointed to it and then flicked through the four preset light settings. “You can also customize how much brightness you wish to have by waving your hand over the panel slowly.” He demonstrated. “You should be able to reach it fairly easily with your right hand when you are laying down.”

Virgil nodded and then tilted his head up so he could look at the lights on the ceiling. Logan had set them to 25% intensity.

 “It’s the sky,” Virgil said awed.

Logan smiled, please that he’d noticed. “It isn’t completely accurate, but I did my best, at least with the brighter ones.” Virgil looked over at him and for the first time, Logan thought he didn’t see any fear in his eyes. “Is it adequate?”

“It’s great,” he breathed. After that brief moment of calm, he seemed to remember himself, growing wary once again. The contrast between his usual countenance and the one from the moment before inexplicably saddened Logan.

“You must have watched the night sky many times if you can recognize it in a glance,” Logan said.

 “Yeah,” Virgil said. “I did every night at the orphanage in the summer. There was a book on constellations that I found. I don’t remember them all, but I remember a few.”

“Which is your favorite?” Logan asked.

“I really liked the one of the Girl Who Sowed the Forest.”

“I made that one,” Logan said. He leaned over and fiddle with the panel a bit, causing most of the stars to dim except for a dozen.

Virgil smiled at it, and even held up a finger to trace the design of the girl with her basket.

“Do you know the myth behind that constellation?” Logan asked.

 Virgil shook his head.

“It’s about a young girl,” Logan began, “who lived in a town at the edge of a forest. Her exact age varies in the retellings, but usually she is somewhere between 10 and 12 years old. She loved the surrounding forest and would spend hours in it some days picking berries, watching animals, and just exploring. One day, there was a fire. In some stories, a group of soldiers came through and set it; in other’s it was a god who was angry at them. Yet, in most it was a member of the village who was careless and accidently set their village on fire during the night. The village burned down, and the fire spread to the forest. It killed most of the people in the village and burned for weeks. Eventually, it was put out by a rainstorm. The girl was taken by the surviving members of her village somewhere else to finish growing in a less baren place. Years passed until she hit adulthood. Her people sent young men and women on soul searching trips when they came of age. She did not mean to return to her old village and the still destroyed forest, but she stumbled upon it anyway. She looked upon the landscape that had once been her home. The land had not healed since she had left. It was still all ruined and it made her heart ache. She decided then and there that she would take it upon herself to heal what had been broken. She remembered from her childhood what plants and trees used to grow there and went and found seeds from other places and people and brought them back to her home. She spent the rest of her life living in a house she built in her old village, planting seeds, and helping the forest grow once again. By the time her life came to an end, the forest was returning. They say when the trees of that forest finally grew tall enough, years after her passing, they themselves placed her image in the sky.”

 “Wow,” Virgil said. “I didn’t know the myths were that complex.”

“I also enjoy watching the stars,” Logan said, “and constellations are good for navigation. I’ve found the stories people have made up about them more often than not are meant to help one navigate life.”

“Do you know others?” he asked tentatively.

“I do,” Logan confirmed. “Would you like to hear another?” He nodded, and Logan reached over to turn all of the stars back to 25%. “Which one would you like to hear about next?”

When Patton returned, he didn’t disturb their conversation. Instead he just sat down silently next to him and listened to Logan tell the stories.

 Virgil started to droop part way through the third story, and Patton suggested he lay down. He tucked the boy in as Logan continued the story. Eventually he fell asleep, face lit lightly by the hanging stars.

“Okay,” Patton said when Logan ended the story and Virgil still didn’t stir.” I think it’s probably time for us to go to bed too. Logan nodded and they both stood. Logan quietly shut the closet door and checked the binding spell around the closet’s exit to make sure it would hold. Then, he and Patton got ready to go to sleep themselves.

  Chapter 11

Over the course of the next three days of Virgil’s captivity, Virgil would come to the conclusion that his captors were idiots.

This thought flickered to life once again as Logan leaned into the closet to point out another constellation on the ceiling, tottering unstably on his knees as his weight shifted forward and distracted by his enthusiasm.

They were alone in the prince’s room. Patton had left only a few minutes before to help his mother in the kitchen (less because she needed help and more to not make her suspicious about why he’d spent so much time away in the last few days).

 He wouldn’t be back for a while and Virgil had full mobility in the closet. With Logan leaning over the threshold like that, it would be easy to kill him or even just incapacitate him. One rough yank on his arm would have him completely in the closet. Virgil had no question that he could pin him down so he couldn’t activate the restraints, and even if he managed to do so, he’d have been drawn close enough that Virgil could use his legs. He could either force him to take off the cuffs or, since they automatically went to the second setting when he left the closet, just deal with it until he managed to get away.

 It would just be so easy. Yet, he did not. He just watched Logan as he leaned stupidly over an assassin while info dumping about stars.

This was the first day that he hadn’t felt at all tired when he’d drank the provided nutrition and healing potion, though it had never affected him quite as much as it had the first day. Logan said that meant that his injuries must be healed. It was a weird feeling. He didn’t remember when the last time was that he wasn’t damaged in some way. Even before his grueling training, there’d always been bullies at the orphanage and he’d been the youngest and smallest in his age group.

 He was also more well rested and fed than he had been in as long as he could remember. He felt better then he knew was possible today, and he suspected that he would only feel better after a bit more time under their care.

He told himself that is why he didn’t lash out now. He was waiting until he was as strong as possible to make sure his escape went as well as it could, even if it was a risk. They’d mentioned that the king would be gone for three weeks. After he returned, Virgil would surely be turned over to people much more capable of actually keeping him well trapped and less likely to feed him well, give him a nice place to sleep, and leave him without injury. It was a gamble to stay, because it was possible that he wouldn’t find another opportunity in time and would get handed over to his fate. Really, if he was being reasonable, he should get out now while he felt good and had a secured opportunity.

 Still, he did not. He had not any of the times they’d given him the opportunity in the last few days. Logan finished his sentence and leaned back out of the closet to safety. He still was speaking though in that soft happy tone. Logan liked the stars. He liked to talk about the stars, and Virgil found he liked to listen to him. They tended to end up in this position whenever Patton was away, just talking as Virgil laid in his closet.

Eventually, Logan’s latest story tapered out. There was silence then for a few moments. Virgil stared up at the fake stars on the ceiling. The stars that Logan had made for him when he really did not have to. Virgil had not been expecting lights in the closet, let alone ones so beautiful and thoughtful. Not ones with stories behind them. Just days ago, if someone had told Virgil the prince would be keeping him in his closet for the next few weeks, Virgil wouldn’t have expected a blanket let alone all of this.

 He turned his head to look at Logan. “What?” Logan asked.

“Your magic’s very beautiful,” Virgil said.

Logan seemed pleased by the complement, lighting up almost as much as the stars he made. “Well, it’s just a basic light spell,” he said, “though I did make some adjustments to them and the dimmer was a bit more difficult. Anyone could do it with practice.”

Virgil shook his head. “They’re special, I think,” he said. “Your magic’s different than most people.”

“How so?” Logan asked curiously.

“It’s gentle,” he said. “Gentle and warm, like eating the warm soup you fed me a couple of days ago.”

 “And other people’s magic feels different?” he asked.

Virgil nodded. “I’ve met a lot of magic users, but it always felt bad. Usually it hurts or makes you feel sick or just makes you uncomfortable. Even healing magic always felt like bugs nibbling at my skin, but the potion you’ve been having me drink in the morning feels… safe. It doesn’t hurt or make me want to cry. It’s just good.”

“Magic often has much to do with the caster’s intentions,” Logan said.

“I think you could poison me gently.”

Logan made an odd expression. “That…” he said, nose scrunched. “That is a strange thing to say.”

Virgil cocked his head. “Is it?”

 “Yes!” Logan said, shaking his head. “You are far too comfortable with the concept of death for your age.”

“I’m fourteen,” Virgil argued. “That’s old enough to be sent on missions without a blood compulsion!”

“…A what?” Logan asked.

“A blood compulsion,” Virgil said. “You know, with a multrum.” Logan was frowning at him. “One works in your gardens and you’re a prince. You had to at least have seen one or two. They take a bit of blood and multrums process it into a little bead. Then you’ve got to do what your told or it hurts a lot.”

 “I know what a blood compulsion is,” Logan said. “I am simply wondering who would put one on a fourteen-year-old.”

“They don’t,” Virgil said. “They stop putting them on people when they turn fourteen.”

“And exactly what is the age range for it?” Logan asked. Virgil was almost startled by the way his tone was quickly hardening. He’d never heard him be that harsh even when he’d first woken up in his custody. It made Virgil tense up.

“They take kids usually when they’re about 8 and it’s a year of training before your sent on a mission so 9-13,” he said.

 “That’s horrible,” Logan spat so violently that Virgil flinched. Logan didn’t seem to notice. “They force children to kill under a blood compulsion?”

“Well, no one really wants to do it without one when they’re that little. They get scared, and usually try to chicken out so…”

“So, they torture them unless they kill someone.”

“I mean… it’s not. They have to agree to the deal.”

“And if they don’t agree to it?” Logan asked.

Virgil thought back to the second time they’d made him get a blood compulsion. It had been with the multrum before Janus, a girl by the name of Alina. He’d made the mistake of hesitating on his first kill and faced the consequences before finally giving in and doing the job. When the second mission had come around, Virgil hadn’t wanted to accept the blood compulsion.

 That had been the first time they’d made him drink a binding potion. Logan seemed to be able to get an idea about it by the look on his face.

“So, your options were to be tortured, be tortured in a different way, or murder someone.” Logan looked at him. “You said your fourteen. Have you ever even killed of your own volition?”

“I… no,” he admitted, but quickly added, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t. I know what I’m doing.”

“That explains a lot about your personality and reactions so far.”

Virgil rankled at that for some reason. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

 Logan just stared at him for a long moment. “What they did, what they are doing isn’t right you know?” he said.

Virgil blinked at him but said nothing. He became more and more uncomfortable in the silence that ensued.

“Would you like to learn more about magic?” he asked. “There are many uses other then to hurt. I can teach you a few basics if you like.”

Virgil was confused about the topic change but was relieved about it. “Uh,” he thought. “Sure. That would be… interesting.”

Logan smiled at him. “I’ll set up something and we can work with it in the next few days. What would you like to learn?”

“Um, I have no idea. What is there?”

Logan considered it for a moment. “We could do a hair color changing potion. Or perhaps a small protection charm or I can teach you to make fire shapes.”

 “Protection charm,” Virgil said without hesitation.

Logan gave him a sad smile. “Of course. I’ll start showing you how to make them tomorrow and we can actually make some the next day.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed.

“Would you like to hear more about the stars?” he asked. Virgil nodded. He once again leaned into the closet to point and Virgil once again did not move to attack. Nor did he attack when that afternoon Patton turned his back on Virgil for far too long when they were alone. Nor did he when they settled him to bed once again in the closet. He told himself it was strategic, but he knew it wasn’t.

  Chapter 12

Logan had needed to spend some time performing royal duties today which left Patton and Virgil alone after breakfast. Patton had started out trying to teach Virgil different board games. He’d seemed intrigued at first, but after a few games of checkers seemed to grow bored. Patton had gotten a blank stare when he’d asked if Virgil had any ideas about what to do for fun, so now he was trying to figure out something else they could do. He cast his eyes around at what Logan had in his bedroom.

“How about I read you a book?” he suggested.

 Virgil seemed very intrigued by that idea. “Sure,” he said.

“Okay!” Patton said cheerfully. “He popped to his feet and glanced through the small shelf of fiction books Logan kept in his room. He decided to choose one of the lighter ones that Logan and he had liked to read when they were younger. “This one is called The Never-ending Garden,” Patton said. “It’s about a group of four children and their adventures in a garden. It’s full of magic and adventure and friendship! Is that alright with you?”

“It sounds good,” Virgil answered.

Patton happily walked back over to sit next to him. “It is!” he said.

 First, he showed Virgil the picture on the cover of a wild looking garden with four kids roaming through it. One of the children was in a little red wagon being pulled by another one wearing a fancy hat. One of the others was walking, looking at a map while the last had a wooden sword. After giving Virgil a couple of moments too look at the picture, Patton cracked it open.

“We start with Lydia’s perspective,” Patton said. “She’s one of my favorites!” He pointed to a picture of a girl in a raincoat at the beginning of the chapter and Virgil leaned slightly closer to see. Then, Patton cleared his voice.

 “It had been raining that day,” Patton began, “but Lydia had been so bored that she still begged her father to go out and play when the storm lightened into a sprinkle. He made her change from the yellow dress she had been wearing into the one she often used to help him garden because he knew she was certain to get herself muddy. Her younger brother Marcus asked if he could come too and though part of her wanted to say no because she wanted to explore on her own without her baby brother slowing her down, her father had taught her to be a good big sister, so she agreed to let him come.”

 Patton watched Virgil out of the corner of his eye as he read about Lydia meeting up with the neighbor boy, Al, and the three children started to explore the garden in Lydia’s backyard. Virgil leaned in slightly to look at the pictures and listen to the story intently as the three children traveled deeper and deeper into the garden, but never made it to the back fence. They’d just made it to the part where they heard rustling behind the blackberry bush which Patton knew was the last main character, Melly, when Patton felt the need to adjust his posture a bit. Virgil moved in kind and ended up leaning further into Patton.

 Without even really thinking about it, Patton brought his arm around to touch the top of his head. Virgil flinched the second Patton made content and Patton drew the hand away immediately. “Sorry,” he said with a wince. Patton was a naturally touching person and he’d been having trouble battling his instincts to cuddle everyone and everything while around Virgil, but he knew most touch was not welcome. The poor thing startled every time Patton went to touch him unannounced and even sometimes when he’d said something before doing it.

“I-it’s okay,” Virgil said.

Patton gave him a tight lipped smiled and turned back to the book.

 He stilled a second later when Virgil leaned back in and their shoulders brushed. He blinked over at him. “Oh,” he said softly. “Do… do you want me to touch your hair?”

Virgil curled up into himself a little bit but then nodded.

“Okay,” Patton said. “I’m going to put my arm around you and do that then, okay?” He drew upon his years and years of convincing easily startled cats to allow him to give them pats as he slowly moved his arm back to where it had been before and gently touched the side of his head. He tensed, but didn’t startle this time, and so Patton gently ran his fingers through the hair a couple of times. Eventually, the tension bled out of him and he sort of slumped against Patton’s shoulder. Patton just barely restrained a coo before going back to reading. He continued to stroke the side of Virgil’s hair as he described the gang meeting up with Melly and them being told she was a fairy that lived in the garden.

 He'd only gotten to the part about them finding the wagon when Virgil started to shift a bit uncomfortably, his neck craned in an awkward angle. Patton kept reading as he brought the hand in his hair down to his shoulder and pushed lightly. There was the slightest bit of resistance as Virgil didn’t know what he was trying to do, but then he allowed Patton to move him. Patton leaned back a bit and picked the book up off his lap before continuing to push him down. Virgil did not help at all, seeming confused about what was going on.

 Patton had to poke him around until he was on his back laying across Patton’s lap. He grinned down at the boy who was looking at him in blatant bewilderment and propped the book up on his chest. He held it there with one of his hands and stretched the other out to resume messing with his hair. Virgil relaxed into the new position after a few minutes of reading, eyes shutting as he enjoyed the attention. His eyes would flicker open every time Patton moved to show him a picture, but other than that, he seemed content to not move.

 Eventually, he stopped responding when Patton moved to show him the pictures.

“Are you asleep?” he asked quietly. When he didn’t get a response, he bookmarked the last picture Virgil had responded to, and then continued reading to himself.

Eventually, there was a knock at the door. It was the one he and Logan had decided on to tell the other one that it was just them and not to panic when the door opened. The door opened to Logan a moment later.

He paused, taking in the sight of the assassin sprawled across Patton’s lap like a sleepy kitten. He shook his head fondly and walked over to them on silent feet. He bent and pressed a hand to the top of Virgil’s hand. Virgil stirred just barely, but didn’t open his eyes, pressing into the touch a bit.

Logan smiled. “He wanted to learn how to make protection charms today. I assume you’d like to join us?” Patton perked up and nodded happily, making Logan chuckle softly. “I will go set it up then. Would you like another book for the time being?”

“Just the one I was reading last night would be nice,” Patton said.

“Of course.” Logan stepped away to grab it and handed it to him. Then, he disappeared into his potion’s lab. Patton smiled down at Virgil’s sleeping face and settled the new book onto his chest to replace the children’s book. He didn’t even stir.

  Chapter 13

Logan was able to quickly set up the station for making protection charms. Patton had always liked making them, though he often used his more as fun accessories than for protection. The one he was going to show Virgil how to make was a very simple low level one used for little more than to keep bugs off of yourself and, in the event of a well made one, alert one to imminent danger by changing temperature. It was a nice thing to hold in the middle of the night if one was frightened by real or imagined threats. It would be warm to the touch when your environment was safe; he thought Virgil might appreciate it.

 He and Patton decided to wait until Virgil woke up naturally which only took about 30 minutes. Then, Logan brought him to his set up supplies. He explained briefly the process for making a protection charm. “I will be the one performing the enchantment for today,” he told Virgil. “I will show you how to make your own later, but I thought seeing how to make them would help with the learning process.”

“Plus, it’s fun!” Patton said.

Logan flashed a smile at him. “And that as well. I’ve prepared a small number of possible pendants for you to choose from. You can choose the shape and color, then we will put on a custom engraving, as well as decorations.”

 “Glitter! Glitter! Glitter! Glitter!”

“Yes, Patton, everyone knows you’re going to choose glitter,” Logan said, amused, “but why don’t we let Virgil decide for his own pendant?”

“Fine,” Patton said, “but mine will be glitter.”

Logan grabbed the box of blank pendants and offered it to Virgil. “Choose whichever one feels right,” he suggested. Virgil moved forward and looked over the box. “You can touch them,” Logan said. “In fact, I would suggest it as it is meant to be held when it’s done and you may as well get a feel for it.”

At his prompting, Virgil did. He reached into the box and shifted a few to the side. Eventually, he started picking a few up. “I like the crescent shape for holding the most he said,” holding a blue one up, but I don’t know.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Patton asked.

“Oh, um,” he mumbled. “I dunno.”

“Well here,” Patton said, reaching for the box. He dug through it and pulled out every single crescent moon shaped pendant and lined them up. “What do you fancy?”

Virgil considered them all for a long moment and then tentatively pointed the purple one out.

“Great!” Patton said. “Then, we’ll use that one.”

Virgil nodded and Patton picked up the pendant to drop it into his hands. His fingers curled over the shape and he seemed satisfied by the choice, so Logan turned to Patton. “Your turn,” he said.

Patton happily grabbed out a heart shaped blue one, but then paused and exchanged it for a purple one. “We match!” he said.

Virgil smiled slightly at his enthusiasm, and Logan dug out a blue crescent moon shape for himself. “Now that you have your base, you get to choose the engraving.” He opened up the instruction book to the correct page and showed it to him.

Virgil looked over the two pages of designs with carful focus. He wavered between the spiral sun and the flames for a moment, but eventually settled on the flames. Patton chose the interlocking hearts design as anticipated; it was his favorite, and Logan chose the spiral sun design for himself.

“Now, I’m going to engrave this design onto yours,” Logan said getting out the thin pen like instrument and dipping it into the slightly glowing bottle of potion he’d set out. “In the meantime, Patton will show you what we have for decorations.”

He was careful to get the symbol as perfect as he could and then started on Patton’s. Patton apparently managed to corrupt the boy because both of them came back with brushes and glitter to add as decoration.

Logan shook his head and handed them their freshly engraved pendants. “Apply the glitter how you like,” Logan said, moving on to his own engraving. Once he was finished, he selected some glow in the dark paint to decorate his own.

 Once he’d finished decorating his own pendant, Logan looked up. “Are you finished?” he asked.

“Yep!” Patton said, shoving his pendant at Logan while Virgil nodded. Virgil had been far less enthusiastic than Patton, having carefully brushed glitter into the flame design only whereas Patton had haphazardly covered his own all over with glitter. Logan took both pendants.

“This,” Logan said, bringing over a different potion, “is used to make sure the decorations never fall off. It basically allows the other substances to become a part of the stone. “It isn’t too dangerous, but I’d suggest you stand back for the moment.”

 Virgil stepped back farther back than was strictly necessary and gave the potion bottle a wary look. Logan moved all three pendants to the prepared surface (else they ran the risk of also getting stuck to the table) and put on gloves, having learned that magically gluing rocks to ones hands was not fun years ago. Then, he carefully drizzled a bit of the potion onto each rock. The rocks fizzled loudly, and Virgil gave off a startled yelp before toppling over flat on his face with his wrist glued to his sides.

“Oh no, honey,” Patton said immediately crouching next to him. “I’m sorry. We should have warned you about the noise.”

Logan wasn’t sure what type of action he’d tried to take when the sound started up, but whatever it was, it had caused him to move his arms fast enough that he’d activated the binding potion and it snapped his wrists to his side, overbalancing him.

 Patton’s hands hovered over the startled boy, but he didn’t touch. After a few moments, it was clear that the magic keeping Virgil’s hands at his side released because his hands slowly crept forward to push himself up, so his face wasn’t planted against the ground. His eyes still looked incredibly startled.

“Are you alright?” Patton asked.

Virgil blinked. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he said.

Logan took his words as permission to move without risking startling him more. Virgil’s eyes bopped back and forth between him and Patton a few times as he crossed to his wall of potions and grabbed one.

 He also selected a clean cloth from a basket on his way over to them. “A light healing potion,” Logan explained as he knelt in front of Virgil. He uncorked it. “May I?”

“I’m fine,” Virgil said with a frown. “I’m not even bleeding. It’s barely anything.”

“Which is why it’s a light healing potion,” Logan said. “You are sure to bruise with the way you hit. This will prevent it and make it stop hurting.”

“Okay,” Virgil agreed after a moment. Logan dribbled a bit out onto the rag. After a moment of thought, he touched the damp part of the cloth with his own finger, just to quash any fears that it would harm him.

 “It will tingle slightly,” Logan warned. Virgil tilted his face to let him dab it onto his nose and the light scrape on his face. His nose scrunched up and he moved to rub the sensation away quickly only to have his arms slam back to his sides.

Patton caught him so the sudden involuntary movement didn’t cause him to fall back, and then giggled when Virgil titled his head to what could only be described as pout back at him.

“Aw, poor thing,” Patton cooed, reaching forward to rub a hand across the top of his nose and then his forehead where the potion had been applied for him.

 “Better?” Patton asked.

“You’re really bad at this being captors thing,” Virgil commenting, willingly leaning back into Patton. Patton just smiled happily.

Logan took the bottle and got to his feet, before returning it, and then glanced at the pendants as Patton helped Virgil to his feet. The pendants had stopped fizzing, so Logan felt okay reaching in and grabbing them all.

He handed both Patton and Virgil their pendants when they walked closer to the table.

“And now for the actual enchantment,” Logan said. “For today, I already prepared the potion up to the last step as it has to sit for a few hours, but I will show you the last step and eventually teach you everything if you are still interested.”

 Virgil nodded, but said. “No more noises?”

Logan smiled. “No more noises,” he confirmed. Then he pushed forward all of the ingredients he was about to put in the pot for Virgil to study one by one before putting them each in it in the correct order. Then he demonstrated how to stir it correctly and told him how many times, though he doubted he’d be able to retain all of the information from this one demonstration. “There,” he said, setting down his spoon. “Now we just all put our pendants into the pot, and they should be ready in 25 minutes.”

 Logan showed Virgil around his potion’s lab while they waited, explaining what certain pieces of equipment did and a bit about his organization system. Virgil followed him around, looking at the things he pointed out curiously. He, however, got very distracted when Logan showed him one of the experiments he’d concocted. It was a thick liquid that was super attracted to itself and would form a small ball that could be disturbed by touching it. He seemed to like the sensation of squishing it down onto a table… over and over and over again.

“We should get him a ball of yarn,” Patton said out of the corner of his mouth. He may have been enjoying watching Virgil play with the substance more than Virgil was enjoying playing with it himself. And that was saying something.

21984

Eventually, however, the pendants were finished, and he dragged Virgil away from his new toy to show him the finished product.

“What do you think?” he asked.

“Is it supposed to be warm?” Virgil inquired.

“Yes,” Logan replied. “It’s temperature changes based on if the magic on it senses a threat or not. Warmer temperatures mean you are safe.

“Oh,” Virgil said softly, hand squeezing around it. “I like it.”

Logan found himself smiling. “I’m glad. It’s yours.”

“Thank you,” he said.

“If you would like, I’m sure Patton has some suggestions if you’d desire a way to keep it attached to your person. He in particular likes to make them into necklaces or clip them to his clothing.”

Virgil looked over at Patton and nodded shyly. Patton immediately perked up. “I’ll go get some supplies!” he said.

[winryofresembool]

Love Can Melt the Ice, ch 14

Aka EdWin ice skating AU continues.

Summary: Ed and Winry’s friends relentlessly teasing them x)

A/N: I don’t really know what I should say other than that this is just a silly little (or not so little, as it’s somehow the longest yet) chapter before the most important part. Getting back to sports again in the next chapter (I’m excited and frightened). Still a few more chapters left, stay tuned :3 Once again, please enjoy and Review!

Previous chapters:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Companion pieces (note: these are all post Olympics happenings so reading the main fic first is recommended): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Next chapter: [x]

Words: 3100+ (what is life?)

Genre: cotton candy, humor in this chapter

Warnings: swearing, some suggestive themes (tried to keep it p clean tho. DON’T GET TOO EXCITED! It’s not what you think it is) 

The locker room was suddenly empty. Ed could have sworn his teammates had been there a moment ago, but now they were nowhere to be seen; not even Mustang, who was always the last to go, being the life of the room. Before he had time to start looking for them, though, Ed heard a door opening and saw a familiar blonde-haired young woman approaching him. She was wearing her usual outfit, jeans and a white hoodie with Amestris’ logo on it, and her hair was in its usual ponytail. Something still seemed different.

Winry was smiling in a way Ed didn’t remember seeing earlier. Warmth rushed all the way to his crotch when he wondered what it might mean, and he tried to quickly focus on something else, failing badly. How hadn’t he noticed earlier that she had the cutest lips, pink and soft looking, demanding to be kissed? And her eyes sparkled like two sapphires?

“Hi,” she greeted him a bit shyly, stopping in front of his locker.

“Hi. What are you doing here? I thought no outsiders were allowed inside?” Ed asked, still a bit distracted by his earlier thoughts.

“I don’t know about that.” She shrugged. “But I know no one was there to keep watch. As for why I’m here… I guess I just wanted to see you.” She blushed cutely and Ed had to resist the urge to kiss her then and there.

Suddenly the girl took the jersey Ed had left lying on the bench and put it on her.

“What do you think? Doesn’t it suit me?” she spun around in it and made a graceful curtsy when she stopped, reminding Ed of the move she had done when he first saw her at the Olympic venue.

“It… looks nice.” Ed resisted the urge to rub the back of his neck, feeling a bit awkward.

“Thank you.” Winry smiled brightly and bowed down to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. “You look so cute when you blush.”

She poked his nose lightly and moved her mouth close to his ear, so she could whisper:

“Would you like to know what I look like when I wear nothing but this?”

“Winry!” Ed yelped in shock. Since when had she been so straightforward? They weren’t even dating (or that was at least what he kept telling himself), why did she suddenly act like that? He would have been lying, though, had he claimed a part of him didn’t enjoy this side of her.

“I… I think I wouldn’t mind that,” he added quietly when she kept staring at him, looking slightly disappointed. Her expression brightened, and she told him to wait for a moment before disappearing from his view…

But he never got to know what for, because a voice woke him up.

”Morning, sunshine.”

Ed slowly opened his eyes when he heard a female voice talking next to him. His heart rate suddenly jumped from 70 to 150 when he registered that he was sharing a bed with a woman. And not just any woman… the same woman who had just been very cute in his dream. He tried to remember if they had done anything other than talking and sighed of relief when he realized he still had his T-shirt and boxers on. Good. They probably hadn’t done anything. He couldn’t let himself get that out of control, although he had to admit it was getting harder and harder to deny he was damn attracted to her. His dreams were getting more intense as well, and he hated himself for it.

“Morning, gearhead,” he answered, rubbing his eyes before getting a better look at the person next to him. She was sitting on the other side of the bed, already wearing her day clothes (the very same hoodie and jeans as in the dream), ready to go to that meeting of hers she had mentioned the day before.

“Did you sleep well?” she asked nonchalantly while brushing her shining blonde hair. “I thought I’d wake you up before I leave but it turned out to be harder than I thought.”

“Yeah, I did… Actually, I don’t remember…”

“Remember what?”

Ed hesitated before answering, blushing slightly. “When was the last time I slept so well… I usually wake several times a night.”

“Oh. Well, I slept pretty well myself.” She didn’t add she had been even more reluctant than usual to get up when it was way more comfortable to rest there in his warmth, listening to his heartbeat and soft snores. Sure, her shoulder had been sore from sleeping in such position, but who cared? It had felt right, and she would be lying if she claimed she wouldn’t want to repeat this in the future.

The thought ‘you never know what might happen to you tomorrow’ had crossed her mind too many times after her parents’ accident, but waking up next to Ed, she realized she wasn’t scared of it anymore. She was looking forward to finding out even more about this mysterious man and spending more time with him. She only hoped he wouldn’t freak out if she admitted it out loud.

Thus she simply answered: “Good.”

There was an awkward silence, neither knowing what to say next. They knew they should talk about last night, about how this would affect their relationship… but it was so hard to bring up.

“So, I’ll probably be gone for a few hours, but would you like to get some lunch later today?” Winry finally asked.

“Al said he wants to hang out with me today, but you can of course join us later on if you don’t mind. We’re also gonna go to the game this evening.”

“Of course I don’t, he seems great! By the way, he told me some awesome stories about you yesterday.” Winry winked, letting Ed know exactly what kind of stories those were.

“That asshole! He’s gonna get his ass kicked today, you can trust me on that.”

“How do you plan to do that with a broken leg?” She asked innocently.

“Oh, ha, ha, are you taunting an injured man?”

“What if I am?”

Winry climbed on the bed and pushed him down to the laying position, sitting on his lap dangerously close to the area Ed was trying to avoid her seeing (a result of the dream he still hadn’t gotten in control).

“You are playing dangerous games, woman,” Ed growled, pretending to be annoyed.

“You think so?”

“Mhhhm”

“Well, I admit I can play!” she exclaimed and “attacked” Ed with her fingers. However, he wouldn’t have been Edward Elric if he hadn’t fought back as well as he could his hands finding her sides. Both of them tried to tickle the other, squirmed and laughed until finally got tired of the game. Winry rested her head against the crook of Ed’s neck for a moment, taking in the earthy scent. For some reason it felt very comforting, she admitted in her mind. Ed stroke her hair absentmindedly, smiling softly at the girl despite still feeling slightly uncomfortable. Just as Winry was rising for her spot, they heard the lock of the door making a ‘click’ sound.

“Winry, are you here?”

Gracia Goode wasn’t prepared to see what she found on Winry’s bed. What she saw was Winry kneeling on top of Ed, their hairs messy, clothes disheveled, cheeks blushed and eyes guilty when they turned to look at her.

“This… isn’t what it looks like!” Winry said immediately and stood up as fast as she could.

“Oh? Then what is it?” Gracia asked teasingly.

“Ed accidentally left her card key with his teammate Havoc last night so he spent the night here… you know, since you don’t sleep here,” Winry babbled faster than necessary, the red spots on her cheeks brightening with every word she uttered.

“And that’s clearly the reason why it’s necessary you guys were in the same bed, doing something that clearly looked like…”

“Um… we… we were just having a tickling contest.” Winry mumbled.

“Besides, you came here without a warning,” Ed added, still upset about the interruption.

“Ed! You don’t have to be rude. Technically, this is her room too,” Winry scolded angrily.

“It’s OK,” Gracia shook her head, “Don’t worry Ed, I was just teasing you guys.” The playful smirk returned to her face soon, however. “You should have seen yourselves, though, you are just like I and Maes were a few years ago…”

The two youngsters groaned and hid their faces into their hands in embarrassment. Finally, Winry remembered to ask:

“Why did you come here in the first place? Did you forget something here?”

“Oh no, I just came to see you, thinking we’d go to the meeting together. Maybe get a chance to catch up, and stuff. You did remember about the meeting, right?” She eyed her messy look suspiciously.

“Of course I did!” Winry said defensively. “I know Garfiel would kill me if I missed it.”

“He wouldn’t do that to you, he’s completely smitten over you. I swear, when we are alone, he always praises you to the moon and back.”

“Oh? I didn’t know that. Uhm, guess I’ll brush my hair and… then we can go. Edward,” Winry turned to him seriously. “I don’t mind you staying here after I go but if I ever find out you’ve touched any of my stuff… you’ll regret it.” “Wouldn’t dream of doing anything like that!” he grinned innocently and earned a light punch on his shoulder. “What? I’m telling the truth!”

“OK, OK. I trust you.” Winry sighed and straightened her hoodie. “I’ll text you when I’m done with everything.”

“Great. Later!” he waved his hand lazily, settling back into Winry’s bed once he heard the door closing.

One part of him wished, the other part didn’t, that the earlier dream would return…

“Winry, your doctor just dropped in and said he wanted to make the final check-up before the big competition. How’s your foot feeling right now?” Garfiel asked when the women showed up at the arena where the rest of their figure skating team was already waiting.

“It’s much better now, I don’t really feel anything weird in it anymore,” Winry reassured him, making some moves with it to prove her point.

“That sounds very promising! If the doctor gives you a green light, you might even get to practice a bit before the short program.”

“Awesome! I can’t wait to get back to the ice,” Winry said with excitement. She felt a tiny twinge of guilt when she remembered that Ed wasn’t as lucky, but she had learned to read him well enough to know he wouldn’t want her to worry about him when she was about to compete in her biggest competition yet.

“Hey, how did things go with your little boyfriend last night?” Paninya asked when Garfiel left the room for a moment to get something.

“He’s still not my boyfriend, Pan, but I’d say the things are… progressing.” Winry’s face went adorably pink when she remembered the moments they shared in her room.

“What do you mean? Please tell me you guys have smooched already.”

“N-no, we haven’t! But I think there were a couple of moments when he was going to…”

“I think Maes needs to have a little talk with him. The boy slept in your bed and he still hasn’t kissed you?! Tsk tsk,” Gracia gave her input.

“Gracia! Like I said, it wasn’t what it looked like! He just… comforted me because I was upset about something and then we just sort of… fell asleep… in my bed… and we were just goofing around before you arrived… Gosh, that sounds so bad!”

“Winry, what have I missed?” Paninya asked immediately. “Why was he in your room?”

“Paninya, please, keep quiet! He was in my room because he had left his card key with one of his teammates and I wouldn’t just leave him there in the hallway.”

“But what if he had taken advantage of you or something?”

“He has a broken leg, do you think I wouldn’t be able to deal with him if it came down to it?” Winry pretended to be offended that her friend had so little faith in her. “Besides, he’s not like that… I trust him. He wouldn’t do anything like that. I was telling the truth earlier, he hasn’t even kissed me even though I’ve been giving him signs.”

“Is it just me or did you just sound upset when you said that final part?” Paninya continued her taunting. She hadn’t ever seen Winry this into someone and she wouldn’t waste the opportunity to tease her. Winry had done the same to her when she had had a huge crush on Rose but neither had dared to make the first move.

“Uh… don’t be ridiculous, Pan. I respect his choice and won’t rush him into anything.”

“You still want to get into his pants. Oh man, I hope he’s gonna make his first move soon because you look like you are going to explode from all the tension any minute now.”

“Can we please change the topic now?” Winry pleaded, raising her hand in the air in defeat.

“Give her a break, Pan,” Rose, the only person would get her quiet, finally said. “Hey, let’s talk about the Olympics instead. I overheard Mei Chang talking with a reporter the other day, she seemed really confident about winning a medal in the individual competition.”

“Huh, that little brat? Winry, you have to promise you’ll beat her, I can’t take another fourth place like in the team event… She beat our Gracia by only 0,1 points!”

“Paninya, you are over dramatic. I’ve talked to her a few times and she’s fine. Her team was simply better this time. As for the next competition… I’ll do my best. But so will you! I don’t understand why you all are raising me on the pedestal when you guys are just as good and have been able to train unlike me!”

“Pffft, you know you are better than us, there’s no need to pretend.”

“Nope.” Winry refused to accept Paninya’s compliments. “Repeat after me: I will do my best no matter what, and I will not compare myself to others.”

“Fine. I will do my best no matter what, and I will not compare myself to others. But you owe me now, you’ll have to tell me all the juicy details about Edward afterwards.”

“Pan!!!”

“Hey, Mustang, have you seen Havoc?” Ed asked when he and Al showed up in team Amestris’ locker room later that day.

“Think he’s loitering in the coffee room, he was just complaining about a huge headache or something.”

“Leave it for him to get shitdrunk a night before the important match…” Ed sighed. “If you guys are ever gonna throw me a party again, either don’t invite him, or at least make sure it’s not right before you’re supposed to play team Xing.”

“Duly noted. Although I seem to recall your preparation for some of your previous games wasn’t always the epitome of professional either.”

“Hey! At least they weren’t the Olympic games! I take this stuff seriously, Captain Bastard.”

“Chill out, Fullmetal. Why did you want to see Havoc anyway?”

“I left something with him last night…” Ed didn’t want to reveal anything about the night with Winry to him, but he should have known he wouldn’t get off with it so easily. Especially not with Al around.

“Brother, you’re hiding something. What did you leave with him?” the younger brother asked curiously.

“Just my card key!” The “just” in his sentence didn’t sound convincing at all.

“OK? But… how did you get into your room then?” Al asked.

Ed cursed himself for not making up a story about the hotel receptionist giving him a spare one or anything like that. Now it was too late to do that. Al could see right through him. Besides, Gracia knew, and if Gracia knew, it meant also…

“Yo, Edward! I heard you had some lady company last night!”

Ed swore that the stitches in his leg were ripped open in that moment simply from the shock. Maes looked extremely happy, Roy looked like he was about to burst any minute now, and Al was having that mischievous smile of his that never knew anything good.

“Gracia told you?” Ed mumbled through his hands, trying to cover his embarrassed face.

“You have a good taste Ed, figure skaters are fantastic in…”

“STOP! I don’t want to hear any more!” Ed yelled before Maes managed to finish his sentence.

“Wait a second…” Roy finally found his voice. “Did I understand correctly that you spent a night with the lovely Ms. Rockbell?”

“So what if I did? How many times do I need to tell you it’s none of your fucking business, Mustang?”

“And how many times do I need to tell you to watch your language, Edward?”

Al finally saw his chance to participate in the discussion: “Brother, I didn’t think you’d have it in you. Congratulations! One question, though: how the hell did you woo her?”

“I didn’t ‘woo’ her, we didn’t do anything!”

“Just when I thought you had gained some balls… Disappointing, Fullmetal.” Roy shook his head.

“Ugh, can I explain what happened? We were getting into our own rooms when I noticed I was missing my key. I had forgotten it with Havoc who had used it earlier to get my crutches. I knew there was no way I could have contacted him at that time, so Winry suggested I sleep in the extra bed in her room since Gracia doesn’t use it.”

“Bleh, I don’t believe that’s all there is to it. You did get into her bed, didn’t you?”

“And why the fuck does this interest all of you?”

Ed seemed to be very close to throw his crutches to the closest person’s head so Roy decided to calm the situation down.

“I’m gonna be honest, for once, Ed. I really don’t want to hear what happened between you and Winry. It’s just too much fun to see you that flustered. But believe it or not, I am happy that you are making progress with her because I’ve seen her make you smile during this short time more than you have smiled in probably ten years. Tell her my regards to keep on doing whatever she’s doing with you.”

“What’s going on here? Why is everyone being so loud?” Havoc entered the room, still holding a bag of ice on his head.

“Look, it’s our hero, Jean Havoc, whom we can thank for Edward’s latest adventure.” Hughes laughed.

“Huh?” the blonde-haired man asked in confusion, having not heard about what had happened to Ed yet.

“Edward spent a night with a lady friend thanks to you having his key.”

Havoc burst out laughing and only stopped to say:

“That almost makes this headache worth it!”

[chanyeolisbeautiful]

Reunited Part 6

Previous         Next 

Taehyung and Jin headed up the stairs of the main house and toward Namjoons office.

“Do you want me to tell him?” Taehyung asked, looking at his friend.

“Thanks man, I appreciate that.” Jin said, sighing. He ran his fingers through his hair. “He needs to hear it from me though.”

Taehyung nodded as they approached the door, knocking twice.

“Come in.” A voice answered. They opened the door, Taehyung was surprised to see Hoseok behind the desk rather than Namjoon.  

“There you are, Jin, where have you been?” Hoseok asked, looking up from the computer. “Namjoon was trying to get a hold of you.”

“Yeah, I’m looking for him too.” Jin answered, “Where is he?”

“He just left a couple hours ago.” Hoseok answered, “He went to go check out that new arms dealer he was looking into.”

“No,” Jin said frowning reaching into his pocket to check his phone, Namjoon would have said something if he were leaving. “That meeting is next week.” Jin cursed when he realized his phone was still off. After turning it on 4 messages came through.

Namjoon 4:05 PM

The time of that guns meeting got changed, flying out tonight, Hoseok’s in charge while I’m gone. call me

Namjoon 4:33 PM

Where R U? Want to go over some stuff before I leave. U still on surveillance? Thought U were done at 2?

Namjoon 5:13 PM

Where R U?

Namjoon 6:07 PM

Boarding plane now, I left that paperwork on my desk, let me know what you think. Text me im starting to worry.

“What?” Hoseok asked, noticing Taehyung and Jin’s exchange a worried glance.

“We’ve got a bit of a situation…” Taehyung started rubbing the bridge of his nose. Just perfect. What awful timing for Namjoon to be on a plane across the country.  Hoseok’s usual smile faded from his face as he crossed his arms regarding the men before him.

“We found Y/n, Namjoon’s sister, the Nox have her, and a hit has been taken out on Namjoon and I.” Jin told Hoseok quickly, pacing back and forth in front of the desk.

“What?!” Hoseok asked shocked, “His sister died years ago Jin, you were there. And who ordered the hit?”

“That’s what we thought too, but Jin saw her.” Taehyung explained, leaning forward in his chair, “As for the hit, we think it came from the Raiders.”

“The Raiders?” Hoseok repeated stunned, “That makes no sense; we don’t even deal with them. And that’s impossible, she’s dead.”  

“Did Namjoon go alone?” Jin asked, suddenly uneasy.

“No, Jimin, Yoongi and the new guy went with him. He should be okay, there is no way the Raiders could have known about the meeting, let alone the change of time.”  Hoseok answered. He was right, Namjoon wasn’t in danger. Only Y/n…

“We have to move fast, we don’t have time to wait until Namjoon is back. Y/n is being married off to Chul-soo of the Raiders. We don’t want any more people involved in this than necessary.” Jin told Hoseok.

“Jin, we can’t make a move like that without Namjoon’s say so.” Hoseok said startled.

“Bullshit!” Jin yelled whirling to face Hoseok. “You know damn well that as soon as he hears he will want every effort put into getting her away from the Nox and as far away from Chul-soo as possible. There is no time to wait. We need to move now! “ Jin slammed his fist on the desk.

Taehyung stood up surprised, Jin was never this easily riled up.

“He’s right, Hoseok.” Taehyung said calmly, “We don’t have time to wait for Namjoon, this has to be your call.”

“Fine.” Hoseok snapped, “Tell me everything you know.”

*****

In your dream you were running down the hall of your childhood home, trying to get away from the flames sobbing. As you ran towards the stairs you realized they were engulfed in flames, you were trapped on the second floor of the house. You could feel the heat everywhere, coughing, you turned, running into your bedroom and slamming the door behind you. There was no way out you realized, panicked. The smoke was so thick it was hard to see, you coughed and coughed until your lungs felt raw inside your chest. You tried to make it to the window but everything was moving in slow motion, you were so lightheaded and dizzy, the smoke was burning your eyes, burning everything.

You woke up gasping for air and covered in sweat, bolting upright.

“Just a nightmare.” You told yourself, rubbing your eyes and trying to catch your breath. “It’s fine. You’re fine.”

But it wasn’t fine. You were trapped in this house and were going to be married off to some nasty old man, you remembered grimly. Nothing was fine. You let out a frustrated sigh as you swung your legs off the bed. You would never get back to sleep now, so you headed down to the kitchen to make yourself some coffee feeling oddly numb.

You passed a few men dressed in dark clothes, judging by their exhausted expressions you decided it must be early in the morning about time for shift change. Glancing at the clock you discovered you were right, it was 4 am, when the men guarding the property switched off. Some of the men nodded to you as you passed, others ignored you. You counted that you had slept about 3 hours.

As you sipped your coffee you wondered where Jungkook was, whether he was still up or if he was in bed by now. You hoped he was sleeping, knowing the last few days had been long with little sleep for him as well. Your mind started to wander as you became more alert, thanks to the caffeine, trying to decide what your next move would be. You needed to leave, and soon, you knew that much. You didn’t know when your uncle planned on having you marry Chul-soo, but you didn’t want to stick around to find out. You would need money if you were going to be on your own… but since you were always trapped here you had none. You were sure that your parents had left you some, but your uncle must have been keeping it from you. You knew Shewan had stashes throughout the top floor of the house, the only floor that was off limits to everyone unless they were personally invited by Shewan. It would be incredibly risky to sneak up there and try and steal from your uncle… but you really didn’t have another option. You didn’t like the idea of taking money that wasn’t your, but you pushed that thought away.

You sighed, glancing at the clock again. If you were going to do it, now would be the time. Your uncle slept like the dead and would be fast asleep at this time. You gulped down the last few sips of your coffee and quietly climbed up the 4 sets of stairs, hesitating before carrying on to the 5th floor. Looking around you, you saw no one else was up here, all either already fast asleep or working. You took a deep breath and hurried up the stairs, heading first towards the study, the stash farthest away from your uncles bedroom.

Once inside you moved around the desk to the bookshelf on the other side, moving quickly you reached for the large book you knew was hollow. Opening it you were relieved when you saw 50 and 100 dollar bills stacked neatly. Your uncle hadn’t changed his hiding spots, and you’d memorized them all when you had first been moved in here, mostly out of boredom. You grabbed a few bills before hurrying to the next locations. You were growing more paranoid by the moment, not wanting to be caught you took a few bills from all the hiding spots and hurried back down stairs, breathing  a sigh of relief when you were back on the 4th floor.

“What are you doing up here?”

You almost screamed as you spun around to face the voice, coming face to face with Jackson, who was eyeing you suspiciously.

“I um,” You stuttered, “had to use the bathroom.”  Jackson raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms.

“And why didn’t you use one of the three bathrooms on the same floor as your room?” He questioned, his eyes darting towards the stairs to your uncles floor. Oh god, you thought trying to remain calm, he must have seen you.

“They were all occupied.” You answered, crossing your arms and trying to match his intimidating posture. He noticed this and his eyebrows moved even father up his forehead, disappearing under his hair.

“Sure.” He sighed, his eyes softening a bit, you could tell he didn’t believe you but it seemed like he was going to let it go. “How’s the face?”

“Oh, not too bad…” You trailed off, surprised that he was asking. “Thank you.”

“Don’t sweat it.” He said, his eyes scanning the hall and both sets of stairs. “Want me to walk you back down to your room?”

“No, no, that’s okay.” You answered; the money in your pockets feeling like it weighed about a hundred pounds. “Thanks though, good night.” You said over your shoulder, already halfway to the stairs, you looked back to see him shaking his head and walking towards his room.

Once back in your room you counted the money, you had gotten $3,250. That should be enough to buy food and a hotel, possibly a train ticket. You still had no idea where you were planning to go, just knowing that you needed to go.

***

“You know something!” Jungkook accused his father who was standing a foot in front of him, just outside one of the back entrances of the house. “Why Chul-soo? Why is he doing this at all?”

“Let it go, son.” Lee sighed, crossing his arms. “It’s done.”

“It doesn’t make any sense, Shewan doesn’t need the money, the alliance with the Raiders won’t benefit him, he doesn’t need to do this.”

“He’s got his reasons.” Lee said sharply, narrowing his eyes at his son, “And his not your place to question them. It’s above your pay grade, leave it alone.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jungkook spat. “I’m your son, doesn’t that mean anything to you anymore?”

“You’re a grown man now, Jeon Jungkook, start fucking acting like it.” Lee growled, “My advice to you is say your goodbyes, it’s happening soon, whether you like it or not. You might still see her every now and again, who knows. But she’s not your problem anymore, now you’ll get to go out full time like the other guys, that’ll come with a raise. You should be happy.”

Jungkook shook his head in disbelief. “He’ll kill her, you know it’ll happen eventually, you’ve known her since she was sixteen years old, how can you just be okay with this?!”

“It’s done.” Lee said turning to leave.

“Why won’t you fucking talk to me?” Jungkook yelled, grabbing his father by the shoulder and spinning him around to face him. Lee brought his fist up before Jungkook saw it coming - a result of him being so upset- and punched him square in the face, knocking him onto his back. Lee pressed his knee into Jungkook’s chest leaning in until his face was inches from his sons.

“I said leave it alone, boy.” Lee spat. Jungkook shoved him hard so that he fell sideways off of him, they both stood up quickly.

“I don’t even know who you are anymore.” Jungkook told his father, wiping the blood from his nose onto his sleeve; he turned and walked quickly away into the yard. He needed some air, needed to calm down before he decided what to do next. He was acting irrationally, Jungkook knew that. He needed to pull himself together or else he was going to make a stupid mistake. In his line of work stupid mistakes could easily get you killed, and after the conversation with his father, he knew it wasn’t just himself he was going to need to make decisions for.

You needed to leave, that was the only way Jungkook could see you getting out of this, he thought to himself as he walked the perimeter of the property.

*************

Thanks for reading, hope you guys are enjoying :)