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freakynct · 3 years

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「 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝟐 」

— 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏 | 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟑 —

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: church boy!mark, exhibitionism, degradation, praising, fingering and masturbation

“you really had to wear such a short dress, y/n?” your mom said with an angry look to her face as she rubbed her hand through the dress, trying to fix it and pull it down.

“mom will you stop? it's not even that short.” you fought back, pushing her hand away from you with an annoyed grunt, rolling your eyes.

the sky was blue and clear but the air felt dry and intensely hot, burning on your legs and arms. luckily that was the last thing bothering you right now as you scanned through all the people waiting outside of the church, engaging in cheerful conversations and adorning big smiles on their faces. all but you. you had been waiting for approximately 10 minutes but you couldn’t seem to find mark anywhere. you even noticed some of the friends he normally hung around with talking next to the stairs but he wasn't anywhere near. you were starting to get disappointed since the only thing that made these masses interesting was mark. and you would be lying if you said you hadn’t been extremely horny these past few days thinking about last time you were with him.

“y/n!” your mom called ahead of you. “you always got your head in the clouds, c’mon, the mass is starting.” you rolled your eyes and walked behind your family, dragging your feet until you were inside of the tall cold building where everyone was taking their seat. “you’re sitting with us today.” your mom spoke again, grabbing your arm but you were quick to set it free.

“no! i always sit with my friends.” you talked back, annoyance evident in your voice but your attitude was pushed back as soon as you saw your dad appear behind your mom.

“that’s exactly why. you always sit in the back and you spend the whole time talking and never pay any attention to what the pastor is saying.” his voice was low but stern and all you could do was cross your arms in disagreement and divert your gaze away from him. “so drop that attitude and don’t talk to your mother like that. now sit.” was the last thing he said before he sat down on the wooden bench but suddenly a familiar voice interrupted the heated family discussion.

“y/n can sit with me.” you almost froze at the voice right behind you, feeling his body dangerously close to yours. “i’ll make sure she pays attention and listens to everything my father says.”

you finally had the courage to look and face the boy standing behind you. his eyes that were once focused on your parents slowly looked at you and you noticed a small smile forming on his lips.

“oh lord, no.” your mom said, her expression completely changing and a nervous laugh falling from her lips. “that’s not necessary and we don’t want our daughter to cause you any trouble, mark” she patted his arm friendly but he just continued smiling at her.

“it won’t be any trouble at all, mrs. y/l/n. i insist.” you noticed you had been silent this whole time, quite frankly not even knowing what to do or say and you decided that was probably the best thing to do.

“well... if you insist then i guess there’s no problem. right y/d/n?” she turned to your dad for his opinion and he just nodded and smiled back at mark.

“sure. mark is a good kid and he’ll make sure she listens this time, won’t you son?” your dad said vividly.

“of course, sir. and i already know what sermon my father will give today so i can explain and help y/n if she doesn’t understand something.” you almost jumped when you felt mark’s hand on your lower back, and despite the simple touch, shivers went down your body all the way to your core.

“then go ahead, son. the mass is about to start.” was the last words your dad spoke before both your parents sat back down and mark pulled you with him by your waist.

he kept his hand firmly against your back and at this point none of you had spoken to each other yet and the silence was killing you. he brought you all the way to the back and to the last benches, away from everyone, and you finally set down as his dad took the stand in front of the church and the loud angelic music started echoing through the thick walls. you finally found the courage to look at him but his gaze was fixed on the ceremony, however you still noticed the slight smirk on his lips. you looked down at your hands that played nervously with the hem of your dress until your attention was brought back to mark.

“you’re not gonna say anything?” he spoke low, his eyes still not looking at you and although the temperature inside the church was cooler, you still felt your body burning inside.

“why did you wanna sit with me?” you whispered, focusing your gaze on the small little mole on his neck.

“you always make the most obvious questions, baby.” he chuckled and you felt your heart beating faster at the sound of the petname but you couldn’t help but look away embarrassed. it was obvious. you kept your eyes down and suddenly his hand appeared in front of you, a piece of white fabric sitting between his fingers and your eyes widened as you realized what that was. “you still want this?” you quickly looked at him and this time he was staring back at you, the smirk on his lips more prominent this time and you could tell he found this amusing. you tried to grab your panties from his hand but he was quicker to move them away, shoving them back inside the pocket of his jeans. “they’re mine now.” he licked his lips and gave you a cocky smile, staring back at you. “and i’ve been having a lot of fun with them.” you felt your cheeks burning and you were suddenly too shy to look at him. you heard him softly laughing to himself at your reaction and you couldn’t help but feel your core throbbing at the thought of mark using your panties to help him masturbate which only added more to your embarrassment.

you focused on the pastor but not on his words, you tried paying attention but all you could hear were mark’s words echoing inside your head. you almost jumped when you felt his hand being placed on the inside of your thigh, warm and soft.

“did you think about me too?” you felt goosebumps all over your body as mark whispered in your ear, so close that you could hear his breathing, a lot more steady than yours at this point. you felt his hand moving higher on your thigh. “did you touch yourself thinking about me?” his voice was raspy and his lips that were once close to your ear now moved lower to place a wet kiss on your neck and you couldn’t help but close your eyes at the feeling. “i know you did.” he placed another kiss on your cheek. “you’re a little slut and that’s what sluts do.” he whispered back in your ear and you clenched your thighs together in impulse, subsequently causing him to chuckle, his hand now squeezed between your legs.

“mark…” you whispered and it was obvious how weak your voice was compared to his, and you still couldn’t force yourself to look at him.

“shhh.” was all he said. “open your legs, baby.” he whispered and you looked around you first. everyone was still looking ahead, too focused on the mass to even notice anything going on between you two, the closest people to you sitting about 2 benches over.

you felt nervous with so many people around you but you couldn’t ignore the burning feeling between your legs any longer and something about this was exciting and new. you felt mark’s hand squeezing your thigh and that was your queue to slowly part your legs.

“open more.” he whispered again and you nervously looked at him but his smirk was gone and a more stern expression now took place in his face. “do it. now.” his voice was steady and strong although his words were only audible to you. you did as he said and you parted your legs even more, your dress coming up with it. “good girl.” it didn’t take long till his smirk was back on his lips, his hand moving slowly up your thigh and getting dangerously close to where you wanted him more. your eyes closed for a second as his fingers brushed over the fabric of your panties ever so slightly but it was enough to make you crave even more.

“please…” you begged quietly, your hand now holding his arm.

“please what?” he asked as his fingers brushed against the fabric one more time.

“please touch me.” you were starting to feel impatient, your fingers squeezing his bicep in frustration but he just laughed it off and you almost let a moan escape your lips as he started working circles on your clit through the fabric.

“i am touching you, princess.” he said back, his face still close to you, his breath warm against your ear.

“no.” you whined. “i want your fingers… inside me.” you whispered, your head falling on his shoulder as you kept your eyes shut, focusing on not moaning out from the pleasure but your breathing was starting to get heavy.

“right here? you want me to finger you in front of all these people, hm?” you didn’t need to look at him to know he had the cockiest smirk on his face right now. his finger pushed your panties aside and you almost whined as you felt him finally touching your skin, going back to drawing circles on your clit. “you’re so wet, baby. you wanna cum so bad, don’t you?”

you quickly nodded your head, whispering an almost inaudible “yes” as he started moving his fingers down your core and soon enough he was pushing two of his fingers inside you. you moaned against his shoulder and your thighs clenched around his hand which made him stop his movements.

“you have to be quiet. you don’t want people finding out how much of a slut you are, do you princess? or is that what you really want? people to see you cum around my fingers? hm?” even tho you shook your head no, mark could still feel you clenching around his fingers and that amused him. “look at me.” you slowly raised your head and your eyes stared back at him shyly, almost closing as he started moving his fingers inside you again, a gasp falling from your lips. “are you gonna be a good girl and keep quiet?” you nodded your head and your teeth sank into your bottom lip and this time you couldn’t look away from him, his brown eyes hypnotizing you somehow as his fingers picked up pace, and without even noticing your own hand went down to circle at your clit which caught even mark by surprise but he wasn’t disappointed. “fuck, you’re so hot.” he whispered and at this moment it was as if even mark lost control of things, his lips meeting yours in a passionate and messy kiss, causing you to let go of a quiet moan and it was as if that brought mark back to life again, his eyes scanning the room to see if anyone was looking.

“m-mark... i’m gonna c-cum.” he looked back at you again, his bottom lip stuck between his teeth and he moved his fingers faster, looking down and watching as you moved yours on your clit and he couldn’t ignore the pressure in his pants anymore, but that would have to be dealt with later.

soon enough you were throwing your head back on mark’s shoulder and he was quick to place his free hand over your mouth, preventing you from moaning out as you came around his fingers, your body squirming from the pleasure. when he saw that it was safe he removed both of his hands from you and you gasped for air, your head still resting on his shoulder and your eyes still closed. mark took a piece of paper from his pocket and cleaned his fingers. you were startled when you heard the loud bells of the church ringing and all the commotion from people getting up and picking up their stuff. you lifted your head from mark’s shoulder and quickly fixed your messy hair, panties and dress as you heard mark chuckling beside you. you noticed some people looking at both of you as they walked by but no one seemed to know what had happened. that didn’t prevent you from blushing though, as you realized what you had done in such a holy place. mark got up and so did you. your legs felt a bit weak but you had to pull through, especially as you saw your parents approach you.

“we’re not done yet.” was the last thing you heard from mark before he greeted your parents again.

“how did she do?” your dad laughed but mark’s expression seemed serious.

“actually i noticed y/n has some difficulties.” your eyes widened at what he was saying and you looked at him in surprise but he didn’t return the look, continuing the conversation with your parents that now looked really upset and really concerned which was never good for you. “don’t get me wrong, your daughter is a very nice girl but she struggles to understand some of the concepts and gets distracted easily.” you couldn’t believe what you were hearing. was he trying to get you in trouble or something? you were fuming inside and you were already preparing the speech you were gonna give him after all this, but the look your mom gave you made you more concerned about the one you were gonna get instead. “i was thinking that maybe i could have some bible study sessions with her. i already do it for some of the younger kids but i wouldn’t mind doing it with y/n, if that’s something you’re interested in.” it baffled you how polite he spoke in front of your parents when he had been calling you a slut just minutes before.

“mark that’s so nice of you, you’re such a good kid.” you rolled your eyes at the big smile your mom gave him. “but we don’t wanna bother you with our daughter.” you frowned as your mom gave you a disappointed look.

“not at all. it would be my pleasure to help her and it would make my father happy as well.” he gave them a warm smile that was quickly returned.

“if i had a son like you i would be very proud too.” your dad laughed, squeezing the back of mark’s neck in a playful way but the look of horror in his face almost made you burst out laughing.

“y/d/n, let the kid go.” your mom intervened, pulling your dad by his arm. “mark, how much would you want for the sessions?” she asked with a big smile on her face.

“oh nothing mrs. y/ln. i do it for free.” he replied but he was quickly interrupted by your dad.

“nonsense! we must pay you something.”

“it really isn’t necessary, i don’t charge any other parents for it. i’m simply doing it to spread knowledge and to help out.” you almost puked at so much politeness.

“why don’t you come over to lunch with us at our house today? you could start your lessons after.” your mom suggested and that was the first time mark looked at you, a smirk on his face as he saw the angry look on yours, turning back to your parents proud of what he had achieved.

“i would love to.”

#nct smut #nct mark smut #mark lee smut #mark lee drabbles #nct 127 smut #nct dream smut #wayv smut #nct 127 scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct dream imagines #wayv imagines #mark imagines #mark headcanons

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tennessoui · 2 years

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kit's silly little hiatus

hey besties, don’t panic. it’s just for a little bit.

i’m facing like…a pretty busy next few....days? weeks?. with a lot of obligations and annoyances and things that meet in the middle. but some moments that promise to be really great too. and i think it’d be best for me, for y’all, for irl people, if i took a small break from tumblr to give everything the attention it deserves. i’m temporarily stepping up hours at work to save for a new laptop + i recently got a promotion with zero pay raise but basically i’m the singular task manager for over 200 people so that’s a big oof. i’ve got family and friends in and out of town starting soon, and the weather is supposed to get really, really nice really, really soon. and i absolutely love the sun.

so: cut to the point, what does this mean?

i figured i can probably guess some important faqs, so here’s my best shot:

This feels like a pretty serious announcement for something that’s supposed to be small.

i know. i figured it’s better safe than sorry. i get that when someone just stops posting for a bit, it’s easy to get worried. That’s the crux of internet friendships/internet people. sometimes you don’t know what happens to blogs and that is understandably worrying. i don’t want y’all to be worried. so even if it’s just the one person who would have noticed, i’m making a very long post about it. just in case.

People who take hiatuses never come back. Look at ao3 abandoned stories.

i understand the confusion. but i am not one direction.

Is this not fun anymore?

no, it absolutely is fun. it is so fun i have forgotten how to have other hobbies. last week i told my friend i couldn’t go to a concert with him because i was in for the night on tumblr.

When will you start your hiatus?

april 4th. i know, i’m jumping the gun on this """announcement""" a bit, but i also didn’t want to just spring this on you. i’m going to spend the rest of the week setting up a tiny queue (maybe) and answering asks/writing the tiny prompt fills i’ve been putting off since june 2021 (definitely).

When will you come back?

may 5th. it really will just be a month.

What are you going to do during your hiatus?

maybe start watching all those movies on my list that y’all have been telling me for like a year i need to see?

Most people can watch movies and have a tumblr/time for tumblr.

it’s a LONG list.

What are you seriously going to be doing?

i don’t know! isn’t that exciting?? maybe i’ll learn to parallel park. maybe i’ll finally buy another laptop. maybe i’ll get back into cooking, assuming i can budget well enough to do something nice. i know i’ll write. i can’t wait to write. i have one commission i will probably finish and post sometime during april because that’s an important commitment i won’t forget.

Will you keep your commissions open? Your ask box?

so. commissions, yes. i can’t…really afford anything else at the moment. as for my ask box, i don’t think so. i don’t want anyone who doesn’t catch this hiatus message to send me an ask and then think i’m ignoring them. it’d be better just to close it, so i think i will on april 4th.

You could just pin this hiatus message.

i could. i don’t want to. i think people think of blogs on hiatus as dead blogs, not worth the follow. and it’s so very vain of me, but i would like to think come may 5th, i’ll be just as worthy of a follow as i am now (which, you know. you decide what that worth is). but a pinned hiatus message? imo it scares people away.

So what happens now?

it’s march 30th. i’ve given myself five days ish to get everything set up, and in that time i’m just gonna be kit as normal. if you wanna send me an ask, please do! or a reply on a post! or a fic comment! i absolutely do not want to leave anyone hanging or waiting, and i absolutely don’t want you to…think i won’t miss you or this blog. it’s just a month because a month is all i can think i can do because i’ll miss y’all so much. but this is important i think. for me to do.

see you may fifth, bless 💙

#kit to kit #important kit posts #why am i using a tag i have never used before idk #anyway #kit's silly little hiatus #< that will be the tag i will use if you have an ask about this #i promise i love u 💙💙💙💙💙 like soooo much #i just need to figure out what else i love a lot? if that makes sense?#paired with the new time constraints and the ever present ever ahhhh money constraints #(i expect to do 50/55 hrs a week starting next week)#means for a bit i need to give something up #and it's this #FOR NOW #ill be so sad if everyone unfollows me/thinks im a dead blog tho tbh #and tbh knowing how sad i'll be is a good indication it might be time to take a step back #etc etc #anyway it's next monday i know it's wild i'm telling you now #but i've been thinking about this for a while #and i don't want to miss any of the kenobi show or the lead up to the kenobi show #but i also don't want to miss spring time #(though i still dont like room temperature outside weaather)#so #compromise

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sapphire-strikes · 2 years

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Over The Weather: Chapter 2

Seeing as I am still incapable of predicting my own pacing, there is probably gonna be one more little chapter after this, probably just fluff though.

Chapter 1

Y/n: {Got the stuff!}

{On my way now!}

You typed out the message with one hand as you strode out of the store and down the sidewalk with purpose.

Boris: {Perpfect! Plz let yrself in!}

The response was almost instant and you smiled, shoving your phone back into your pocket. Your other hand hung low, the handles of the two plastic grocery bags around your wrist tempting you to swing them slowly back and forth, but you resisted, not wanting to damage their contents.

It felt good to be outside, the cool air doing wonders for your foggy head even if you still felt a bit nauseous. There was still snow on the ground even if it was beginning to turn to slush at this point and the wet dreary atmosphere was almost depressing. It would snow at least a couple more times before March so hopefully, it wouldn't last for long, but the muddy season would be inevitable soon enough once the ground began to thaw.

The change in weather always brought something with it and not often was it good. Especially in Kamal's case. The way that guy bundled up, you'd think he was safe from catching anything close to a cold, but that was probably one of the downsides of working as a dentist, you get to work up close and personal with the most contagious part of the human body.

You sniffled; on your end, it was probably just carelessness. You almost felt inclined to give Boris a heads up that you had come down with something yourself if he wanted to keep his distance, but the way he'd so desperately messaged you about Kamal, you couldn't even imagine piling on to that worry.

You almost doubted your ability to pull this off without attracting suspicion, and as you approached the front door of their house, you definitely hesitated. You "looked" fine, if not a bit red around the nose, talking would be the issue, you definitely sounded hoarse and quite inconveniently, you were sure if you breathed in the wrong way, you'd go into a coughing fit. Maybe you were simply too paranoid, Boris was probably so preoccupied right now he wouldn't even notice, and if he did he would most likely just brush it under the rug, right? You were just a little congested is all.

Deep down, you were positive the anxiety in your gut was because you weren't nearly as confident in that reasoning as you told yourself you were, but you opened the door regardless, letting yourself in as he'd asked you to.

You probably looked even more suspicious the way you initially stepped around the door as if you were sneaking inside, but you instantly grew more comfortable once you were in, realizing how silly you were being.

You didn't bother to hang up your coat as you entered the living room, turning your attention to the sound of boisterous stirring coming from the kitchen. It was cartoonishly chaotic and you snickered to yourself.

"Boris?" You called out, only able to assume him as the culprit behind it and on queue, he stepped out of the kitchen curiously; his hair was tied back in a ponytail and he wore a frilly, blue apron, smiling ear to ear as soon as he saw you.

"Ah, Y/n, you are here, thank you!" Not giving you much time to act he closed the distance between you quickly, wrapping you in a quick one-arm hug. "So good of you to come, you brought everything, yes?"

"Sure did!" You assured him, handing him the grocery bags. "Chicken stock, fresh rosemary, ibuprofen, and ice pops." You listed off the items inside as he peered into them quickly.

"Excellent! Come come!" He said, ushering you to follow him as he made his way back into the kitchen. Setting the bags on the table he pulled the ice pops from them first, putting them in the freezer before focusing on the rest, pulling the stock and herbs out to set them on the counter beside the stove.

There was a rather large pot on the stove that caught your attention, and he lifted the lid to stir it gingerly before lifting the ladle to take a small taste, cocking his head and humming to himself as he looked quite unsatisfied with the result. It was actually impressive the way he rushed around so focused, adding things to the steaming pot and prepping the ingredients you'd brought.

"I can take a guess with the ibuprofen, but can I ask what the popsicles were for?" You asked taking a seat at the table to watch him work

"I remember Kamal saying that he used to eat ice pops when he was sick as a child and that they would make him feel better. So I wanted to have some in case the soup ees too much for him right now..." He answered and after a few minutes, he took another taste of the soup, perking up quite happily this time at the result. "Ooh, that ees good!" He cheered, scooping up a little more and stepping around the kitchen island over to you, holding the spoon to your lips for you to try it as well. "Tell me what you think?"

You flinched in surprise as he approached eyeing the ladle for a moment. He even held his other hand under it and your chin as he smiled at you expectantly, so with a small laugh you excepted, immediately humming at the taste.

"That is actually pretty good!" Tasting wasn't your strong suit at the moment, but even you could agree, its warm aroma breaking through your stuffiness with just one taste and he looked overjoyed at your response.

"Oooh, I am so glad you think so! At least something is turning out right today!" He said that last part with a bit of sadness as he went back to stirring. "You and Kamal have quite similar tastes, so I just know he will like it. I am sorry for not taking the time to welcome you more properly. It has been..." He paused looking for the right word. "lacking something all day and you brought me just the things to finish it so I could not wait! Now it just needs to stew for a while and it will be perfect!"

"I'm sure Kamal's gonna love it. Speaking of which...how's he doing? Is it okay if I go say 'Hi'?" You asked and Boris paused again, turning the heat down on the stove and undoing his apron to hang it off one of the kitchen chairs.

He pursed his lips, glancing to the side. "He is in his room but please be careful, I do not want you to get sick too now!"

You cringed, his words bringing that nauseous feeling in your head back to your attention. You'd gotten so caught up here that you'd almost forgotten about it and you realized how lucky you were that he hadn't noticed anything yet. "I don't think you need to worry about that, I'll be just fine."

Boris hummed, nodding in agreement, then in a motion you were sure was only supposed to be symbolic, he rested a hand on your forehead. "Of course you will :-) Please do be quiet if you find him asleep."

"Sure thing." But there his hand lingered and for a second your confident smile twitched downward into a much more nervous one when his brow furrowed ever so slightly as he looked at you with what was about to be concern. "Here! I'll bring these to him as well!" Quickly changing the subject, you jumped away from his touch, snagging the bottle of ibuprofen off the table, and began walking back into the living room.

"Oh, okay!" Caught off guard by your sudden movement he just went back to smiling cheerfully. "Thank you, that would be helpful, and...." While you were eager to put some distance between you, Boris only stepped closer, pulling you into a hug once more. "Thank you again for coming all this way, you were a beeeg help."

"No problem, I'm always happy to help." You said, patting his back as he'd crouched down to better hug you. Ibuprofen still in your hand you felt bad at how worried you knew he really was. That scare with Kamal had done a number on him for sure, you knew that just by the way he'd hugged you when you first walked him.

And this time, after only a few seconds of this embrace, you realized something was off as well, in a much different way at that. You were no stranger to drawn-out hugs from Boris but he was being especially quiet and you knew in an instant what he was getting at when he moved his head from your shoulder and pressed his ear against your chest, not yet letting go.

"Boris?" You questioned nervously, but he only responded with narrowed sockets as he was completely focused on your breathing. You were half tempted to hold your breath, but you knew there was a reason he opted to trap you in a hug, he was already onto you and there was no hiding it now. As you let out a sigh of defeat, he heard it; that same thick heave of congestion accompanying each breath just as it had with Kamal when he'd been listening for a heartbeat.

"Flower...."

"Come on, what's.....what's that look for?"

His head felt heavy, that was the best way to describe it, but his tired body had grown used to the feeling enough that he was actually able to get some rest with that metaphorical weight keeping his head anchored to the pillow. It wasn't consistent, as he nodded in and out of it with each cough but it was actually surprising how unbothered he was by it, simply dozing right back off again seamlessly.

The ibuprofen had done a great deal for his headache, and the ice pack Boris had left him was a welcome relief to the heat, at this rate Kamal knew he was in for a smooth recovery.

"Kamal, make some room!"

Even in his drowsy state, the loud slam that accompanied his bedroom door being kicked open sent him skyrocketing up in bed and immediately regretting it as that sudden motion sent his head spinning all over again.

"Boris, put me down I am fine!"

Thankfully it only lasted for a second, mellowing back down to a numb stuffiness as he rubbed his eyes and finally focused on what was going on. Coming clamoring towards his bed was Boris currently struggling to keep you in his arms as you struggled equally to get back on your own two feet. This instantly garnered a laugh from him, even if it did faze into a cough; a cough that you unintentionally parroted after yelling as you just had, giving Boris the perfect opportunity to get a better hold on you while you were distracted with it.

"Just listen to you, you are in no condition to be out of bed either! I can not believe you walked the whole way here!" As Boris approached the left side of his bed, Kamal scooted over on queue, even flipping the covers back as he knew exactly where this was going, having decided this situation was as amusing as it was absurd.

"Boris, I'm serious I am- " another string of coughs and Boris set you down on the side of the bed, kneeling beside you and resting a hand gently on your back as you finished. He fell so naturally into the caretaker role it was funny how much it contrasted your resistance of it. "I'm okay, just a little congested." You were finally able to finish, not doing a good job at all at hiding the fact you were barely holding in another fit.

" 'Okay' my rump!" Boris huffed. "You people are so difficult sometimes, you know that? So intent to be up and about with one foot in the grave! You will be 'okay' after you get some rest." He ranted as he worked to try to tuck you into bed beside Kamal.

"Come on, I am not just gonna-!" Your protest was cut short as Boris pulled your leg up, making you lay back as he yanked off your shoe and then the other. Defensively this time you backed up into bed before he decided to take your socks as well. "Dude!"

"Welcome to the infirmary, kid." Kamal chuckled and you finally seemed to have noticed him, turning to him in surprise.

"Kamal, I'm sorry, can you please tell him this is silly. You need space to recover and I need to go home."

"Heck, I don't mind none." Kamal commented rather unhelpfully, finally laying back with his arms behind his head. "Get some rest, kid, we're in this for the long run, and don't worry, I promise I'm an easy roommate." He joked.

"That you are!" Before you could voice your frustration Boris returned to the bedside. "Neither of you are getting up until you are back to 100% and not a smidgen less! But worry not, you have got the best doctor in town to see you through it." He remarked proudly, setting the doctor's bag he carried at the foot of the bed.

"You're a dentist." You commented dryly but he didn't seem fazed.

"Eh, I went to medical school." He waved you off as he rooted through his bag, pulling out a small thermometer. "Here we go! Kamal, it is time to check your temperature again."

"Hmm?" Kamal cocked an eye open. "Oh sure give it here." He extended a hand and Boris handed it over to which Kamal casually popped it in his mouth. It definitely seemed like these two had a routine down.

"Ah ha!" Boris cheered once more, pulling something else from the bag. It was a strange-looking device that you couldn't immediately recognize with the way his large hand hid most of it and he stepped up beside you. You just kind of stared at him, but before doing anything, his eyes darted down to the blanket that up until now, had been in tangles on your side of the bed and slowly pulled it up over your legs and lap. "There we go." He nodded, satisfied to have you at least somewhat covered.

You were tempted to say something, but you weren't oblivious to how sweet he was actually being, even if it was initially kind of intrusive being scooped up and plopped into bed.

Catching you off guard, he placed a hand under your chin and you flinched eyeing him suspiciously. His response was to give you a small smile before he angled your head up slightly. Just a little taken aback you let him.

"This may be a little cold." He warned, and you were about to question what he meant but before you were able, the end of whatever he had been holding was gently placed in your ear and you let out a small surprised huff. You didn't immediately push him away but you raised a hand to grip the wrist of the hand he had currently probing your ear. "Whaaat are you doing?" You asked, eyes wide with concern.

"Checking your temperature, it is an ear thermometer." He answered, with a cheery tone of voice.

"O-oh...okay." You responded, slowly removing your hand.

"They are usually used for babies!" He followed up, and while you were sure he wasn't making any kind of fun on purpose, you still frowned when you heard Kamal snicker.

"Gee...thanks."

"Would ya rather share?" Kamal joked, pulling the thermometer out of his mouth to hold it out to you. You couldn't exactly glare at him from the awkward position you were currently in but you did roll your eyes.

"It ees good to see you are feeling better, Kamal." Boris commented and you heard a small beep sound from the device in your ear, prompting him to finally remove it. "Hmmm..." He hummed as he looked at its reading. "101.8°, you definitely need to get some rest..." He commented sadly, resting a hand on your forehead, affectionately this time.

"What? No way." You said in mild disbelief and he handed you the thermometer, the numbers clear on the reading. You didn't pay much mind to his touch at first, but after looking at the thermometer you glanced up at him and you felt some red rushing to your cheeks at the comforting touch. Turning away, you handed him back the thermometer wordlessly and he removed his hand almost melancholically.

"What about you, Kamal?" He asked, his former cheer returning somewhat as Kamal handed over his thermometer. "102°, that is better than this morning!" He said hopefully.

"Course it is, got the best doctor in town remember?" Kamal laughed and you turned to him in surprise. Although he seemed to have been in relatively good spirits this whole time, you finally noticed that he really did seem in rough shape. His cheeks were flush, his voice was hoarse and he looked tired as all hell. You were beginning to feel even worse now for having been the disturbance that you had.

"Oh my! The soup, I had almost forgotten!" Boris quickly wiped down the thermometers and set them aside. "The stove is still on I need to go check it." He remarked, setting his doctor's bag back down on the floor by the bed but kneeled beside you once more. "Would you like me to get you an ice pack too? If you are feeling hot it might help."

"Boris...." You were prepared to speak up again but stopped yourself. "No, I'm okay, thank you.

"Well, I will bring one back with me just in case, you can use it if you start to feel too hot." He reasoned and finally stepped away, heading for the door. "I will be riiight back, you two sit tight!" And with that, he disappeared around the door.

You sat in silence for a moment, glancing to your left at Kamal who laid back with half-lidded eyes, giving you a small grin when he saw you looking at him, then you finally spoke.

"Alright!" You yelled but quickly shushed yourself when you realized you didn't want to attract Boris' attention again, and threw off the half of the blanket covering you. "Alright, I'm outta here." You continued in a hushed voice as you threw your legs over the side of the bed.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Kamal spoke up, rolling over to prop his head up on his hand and watch you stand up. "Big guy's got a point, you ain't lookin too hot. Or rather, you are and that's the problem." He joked once more and you rolled your eyes again but his voice did soften as he continued. "Wouldn't hurt to get some shut-eye, kid."

"I didn't..." You paused, crouching to look under the bed in search of your stolen shoes. "I didn't come over to take it easy, I was just worried about you and wanted to help, but I've got things to do at home so I....Okay, where did he put my shoes?!" You huffed in frustration, continuing to search the room as you talked with Kamal.

"I get that, I do, sorry to poke fun." He apologized, rolling back over in a more relaxed position. "But you really shouldn't be pushing it. I know you, kid, you won't take care of yourself unless someone makes ya." He said that last part very matter-of-fact, confident that he was in the right and you didn't even respond, just avoiding his gaze.

"Screw it, if you find my shoes, message me please." You said in defeat and began making your way across the room to the window.

"Alright, you do you, kid." Kamal relented with a shrug and rolled back over, closing his eyes.

"See you around." You heaved open the window and stepped on the windowsill, gripping the sides and began climbing outside.

"Take it easy." Kamal flashed you a thumbs up as a goodbye.

"I'm outy five-thoudy." You remarked proudly, but before you'd managed to take your first step off the windowsill and into the grass, something dropped from above in a small flash of green with a shrill yell."

"AaAAAaAAAaaaAAHHhhh."

"Whuu-?!" You instinctively stumbled backward, falling back through the window and onto the floor of Kamal's room with a thud. With a small wince of pain, you rubbed the back of your head and scooted away from the window as you sat up. "What the heck was-"

"LoOks lyke weave gOt a patiEnt on da Run!" Answering your question, hopping up onto the windowsill from outside came Pabit, arms crossed with a serious expression on his little felt face as he glared down at you.

"Pabit?! What are you doing?" You asked, raising a brow at the puppet from your place on the floor.

"Oh, so that's where he went...oops." Kamal commented quietly, and you sighed.

"WhAt am eYe doin?!" Pabit parroted your question, hoping down from the window onto your lap to poke a finger into your chest accusingly "I shyouLd bee askin U da sAme ting! You's syupposed 2 bee gettin better!"

"Did...did Boris have you staking out the window?"

"Nyope! I's was ouT looking 4 birds and heard the hOle ting! Ur nyot feelin well and nyeed 2 get sum resties!"

"You know we told you to leave those birds alone." Kamal commented once more, sounding half asleep at this point, but neither you nor Pabit paid him any mind.

"Pabit, I'm fine, nothing I can't handle on my own, I promise. There's no reason for you guys to be so worried". Locked in a staredown with the puppet on your lap, you picked him up and set him aside, standing up once more. "Now I gotta head home before Boris gets back, do me a favor and tell him not to worry and that I was looking better, okay?" You asked and began climbing through the window once more.

"Nyope!" Only for Pabit to cling to the leg still straddling that side of the windowsills. "WEEEWOOO WEEEEWOOO, PATIENT ON DA RUN, PATIENT ON DA RUN! REQWUESTING BACKUP!" He was yelling as loud as he could and you took a deep frustrated breath, reaching down to pull him off your leg.

"Would you be quiet?!" You knew he was trying to alert Boris and when you tried to shush him he just began to nom your hand furiously, continuing to make a scene. "You little weirdo, knock it off!" Yelling yourself finally, you grew extremely light-headed, enough so that you almost dropped him and leaned back against the frame of the windowsill. "Crap..." You whispered, raising your free hand to press it to your temple.

Pabit, who had been preoccupied nomming his way up your arm, stopped when he noticed, hopping to sit in front of you and tug on your shirt. "U OK? Sea, what did eyE tells ya? U need 2 Get baCk in bed!" He jumped to the floor griping your pant leg and trying to pull you back inside. "Pweeeaase!" He finally begged, hugging your ankle and looking up at you with big, somehow teary eyes.

"I...", taking a deep breath, you did your best to steady yourself. "You know that's, that's probably not such a bad idea." You'd put yourself through far more than your body was ready for in this last hour and it was finally catching up to you. Maybe you weren't as okay as you'd thought, because right now, just keeping yourself upright on the windowsill was beginning to be a challenge. "Yeah, I'm not..." You froze, your words catching in your throat as your mouth began to water.

"Kid, you okay?" Kamal asked, sitting up in concern.

"Y/n?" Pabit questioned quietly.

"Crap..."

"I heard yelling is everything okay?!" Boris burst in right on time, walking in on quite the sight in his hurry. The sound of vomiting was unmistakable as you kneeled leaning out the window as Kamal stood at your side, holding your hair back.

"It's okay, kid, take it easy." Another round of gagging was followed by deep breaths as he began rubbing slow circles on your back. "Pabit, go find me a hair-tie, will ya? Kamal asked quietly, bringing Boris' attention down to his puppet that sat on the floor beside you, hugging your thigh.

"S-sure ting!" The little guy looked nervous but he hopped away with purpose to search through one of Kamal's dressers.

Having stood there staring enough, Boris finally sprang to action, coming up on your other side and resting a hand on your back as well. "Oh dear..." He commented quietly, meeting eyes with Kamal who gave him a tired but knowing smile before they both turned back to you. You spit, pulling your head back inside and slumping against the wall under the window.

"S-sorry..." You apologized breathlessly, wiping the side of your mouth with your sleeve.

"Don't even start, kid." Kamal remarked, alluding to the fact that you had nothing to apologize for as he plopped down beside you. "Phew...I stood up to way too fast back there...." He laughed to himself, leaning against your shoulder. "Let's not do that again, okay?"

"Yeah...yeah, good call."

Boris eyed you cautiously, wrapping an arm around your back and under your knees as he lifted you from the floor, when you didn't look uncomfortable, he carried you back to the bed, setting you down gently before doing the same with Kamal. "Where you up and about while I was gone?" He asked and you smiled sadly, rubbing the back of your neck.

"You could say that." Kamal snickered at your response then laid back down with a sigh of relief.

"U bEt they Was!" Returning in the nick of time to be a snitch, Pabit jumped onto the bed, hair tie in hand as he hopped beside his maker.

"Hmm?" Boris looked at him curiously but you and Pabit were once again locked in a staredown, but this time you surrendered quite easily, gripping the blanket on your lap and staring downward at your hands. You really felt like you'd messed up. You'd wanted to prove you were fine but just made everyone worry about you that much more, so needless to say you'd kind of lost the will to fight, mentally as well as physically this time. Boris would probably be upset with you if he found out, but the formerly narrow-eyed glare of the puppet softened when he saw your sad expression, and instead of continuing he let out a little huff and hopped in your direction, stopping in front of you, lifting up your hands in his little ones and sitting between your legs as he pulled your arms around him.

"Hmph, nyever mined." He replied grumpily but his little frown didn't last long when you wrapped your arms around him yourself hugging him back against your chest as you leaned forward.

Boris raised a brow initially but smiled softly at the sight of you finally relaxing somewhat and placed a hand on your shoulder.

"I...know I can come off a bit strong," he began and you looked up at him. "But I really am worried about you, so ees Kamal, and Pabit too." He reasoned. "If you really feel better by tomorrow morning, I will not bug you anymore, I promise, but...I do not want you pushing yourself because you do not think it is worth it to take that time to help yourself feel better. Because I assure you it is!"

"It's not that, I just don't want you to have-"

"Oh, You do not want me to waste my time?" He held a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Well, I assure you I will waste my time however I wish. And right now that happens to be seeing you healthy", Before you could stop him, one of his hands was squeezing your side gently, "and happy again!"

You nearly used Pabit as a shield, but Boris pulled away as quickly as he'd attacked, not wanting to temp fate considering your current condition, but it was just enough to pull a smile out of you. "Okay, okay!" You relented, pulling the blanket up to better protect yourself in case he tried again, but instead, he stepped back and stood up straight, looking hopeful as he smiled down at you.

"Will you get some rest, for me please?"

You glanced to Kamal who was already curled up asleep right behind you then down to Pabit who had made himself comfortable in your arms and you nodded, your voice coming out strained and quiet, true to how you were actually feeling. "Y-yeah, okay." You finally agreed and scooted down, resting your head against the pillow and squeezing Pabit to your chest.

Boris' expression perked up once more, "Oh, here!" Plucking something from the nightstand, you closed your eyes as he placed it on your forehead and you recognized it immediately as the cool pressure of an ice back. The bewildered expression on your face must have been obvious because he adjusted it gingerly. "Ees that okay?" He asked once it was better in place.

You weren't sure what got into you to reject his offer for one earlier, because you instantly breathed a comfortable sigh at the coolness. "Mmmhmm..." You nodded ever so slightly, nestling into the blanket that had now been pulled up to your chin.

"Good. Is there anything I can..." Boris stopped his question, cut off by what was now a pair of soft snores coming from the bed. "Ah, never mind." He raised a finger to his mouth to shush himself with a smile. Gently patting your head and then Kamal's, he made sure the two of you were thoroughly tucked in before turning to Pabit. "You be sure to keep an eye on them now." He whispered and Pabit responded with a salute, making him chuckle proudly.

"Now...." Boris whispered once more, flicking off the light as he stepped out into the hall. "That soup is not going to finish itself!"

#smile for me #smile for me game #boris habit #kamal bora #fk/reader #sfm #sfm writing #I feel like Boris would make amazing soup #Kamal means well even if he's kind of sarcastic #Pabit is a snitch most days but the little guy's a sweet heart #next chapter is the last chapter for real #it's probably just gonna be a bunch of fluff kind of like a bonus chapter #sometimes you just gotta let the caretaker take care of you #as always I will spend the next few days rereading this and finding more and more typos despite my best efforts

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aliwritesss · 3 years

Text

~ Labyrinth

Pairings: Eric x reader

Genre: fuckboy au!

Warnings: angst, slightly suggestive, slow burn, swearing

Based on this AU! Highly recommended to read it before you start the series, but can be read alone.

1/? Masterlist

-“… And remember! The deadline for the essay is in three weeks.”- You hear your History teacher’s voice but no one listens to him. The bell just ringed and that meant freedom.

-“ It’s Friday!!! Let’s do something fun.” You hear Kevin’s voice next to you. You thank the heavens and stars to have him in your life, you don’t know what you would have done without him all this time.

-“ What are you thinking?”

-“ Well… You know, everyone’s been on the edge these past months with the exams and all. So Juyeon thought I’d be fun to do a small gathering, only close friends.” He says with the smallest voice and you feel all your body tense up. If you knew one thing is that you couldn’t go to parties, not yet. Not when it’s been so long since you’ve seen him and you’re actually starting to move on. To wake up and not think of him.

-“ It sounds fun! But I think I’m gonna pass this time, I better start working on this assignment.”

-“ Cmon (Y/N), it’s been a month. You gotta go to your old self, I miss you. I miss us having fun.” It pains your heart to hear Kevin, you’d love to have the balls to go to their dorms and be yourself, to dance again till you can’t stand up, to laugh freely but you feel that the spark inside of you has died and you’re afraid that if you go, it won’t light up anymore.

-“ I promise you I’ll go back to my old self. You’ll get back your partner in crime, my little moon.” You say hugging him and exiting the class. -“ Just give me a little bit and you’ll get back your star.”

-“ The world better get ready once the moon and star duo comes back.” He says giving you one of his best smiles and you feel a little bit better. You’ve known him for so long and clicked since then. One day you two were in class and someone said you looked like the team rocket from Pokémon, always together being mischievous. And since then you baptized your friendship as the moon and star duo.

As you walk outside you feel his comment nag you in the back of your head. “Why do I have to feel so bad when he’s doing fine? Was everything a lie? Did he truly love me?” These thoughts have been bugging you lately and you’re starting to get annoyed. You thought you were doing fine but sometimes these dark clouds will come and shake you down. And it seems like today was one of these days.

“ So… Juyeon is doing a gathering huh? Do you realize that it means half of the campus is going, right?”

-“ Yeah… We told him only close people and Changmin said that meant around 50 friends.” He says, rolling his eyes. -“ Thank god we have Sangyeon and Jacob to keep him in check or else It’d be a nightmare.” And that makes you laugh because it’s true, you remember one night you were staying the night in their dorms and suddenly Sunwoo and Chanhee started arguing about the smallest thing. Sangyeon only needed to look at them to make them stop. It was so funny, you don’t want to mess with an angry Sangyeon to be honest.

-“ And… Here we go. I knew it.” You hear Kevin’s annoyed voice. -“ They’re asking me to buy drinks, it seems like more people are coming tonight. I have to go now bubs, but we should do something fun this weekend okay? Just the two of us.” He says while hugging you and you nod. Maybe that’s what you need, to start slowly coming out of your cave.

You start making your way to your dorm thinking about the million things you have to get done in these two weeks and you can feel your anxiety already coming. The pressure you’ve been feeling these past few days it’s getting worse everyday. And the worst of it, it’s that you don’t have anyone to talk about it. Unconsciously, you touch your necklace, feeling a little bit better. You look down to the tiny shiny star and remember the night he gave it to you.

-“ I’ll be your star, ready to guide you even in the darkest times, even when there’s no moon shining.” He said softly in your neck. You smiled at him and looked at the charm. It was a little star filled with crystals. Stunning.

-“ When you feel like giving up, remember that I’ll be here with you. Faintly.” Eric said, touching your necklace.

“Where are you now? Where are you now when I need you the most?” You think for yourself, It’s not like you weren’t starting to move on from him, which you are doing. But you were not forgetting him, and you wish you could.

You wish you could erase all these sweet moments, act like nothing happened. Act like him, cold and unbothered. Why did him have to play you? Was everything a lie? Everything he said, was just a trap to only have fun with you? You couldn’t trust your memories, it seems like you only could remember the good ones.

But what about that night you two had a fight on a party because he was with this girl, laughing and talking the whole night while you were alone? You still remember his words: “ Stop being a pain in the ass, if I wanted to hook up with her dont you think I would have already done it?”. And you being a silly naive girl in love, acted like it didn’t hurt you. Like he didnt had the power to destroy you in matter of seconds if he wanted.

And that was the reason you broke up with him.

Everyone knew you were his girl and god forbid anyone who dared to touch you. But that’s it, you were only that, his girl. He didn’t bother to put a label, you were there for him and that was enough.

-“ Eric what are we doing?”- You asked him the night you two broke up.

-“ What do you mean?”-

-“ What are we doing together? What is this? Are we exclusive? Are we truly in a relationship?”- You asked trembling, you weren’t ready to hear his answer.

-“ Not this again (Y/N). I told you I don’t want to talk about it and you keep bringing this up. I said you are my girl and that should be enough.”-

-“ But it isn’t. It isn’t when there’s a queue of girls waiting for you to get tired of me and drop me like a toy. And I had enough, I need to know what I am to you.” You said sitting in his bed.

-“ You are making me tired with all these questions. I said drop it, (Y/N). You know how I am and still chose to be here with me.”-

-“ I chose you bc you said that you couldn’t do this without me, Eric! You told me that I was special and-.”

-“ So? That gives you the right to be called my girlfriend?”- And that was the last straw. You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, it’s like someone snapped you back to reality. Like you just woke up from a beautiful dream and got hit with the true world.

He loved you, but not in the right way.

He cared about you, but not enough.

You got dressed and started to pick yoiur things while crying. You needed to get out as soon as possible, even if it was 3 in the morning.

-“Cmon (Y/N) don’t be like this. I got mad and you know I say things I regret later. Please let’s talk in the morning when we are calm, okay? Babe please-“

-“ Don’t touch me, Eric. I’ve had enough. I can’t keep doing this. I can’t keep falling in love with you more and more when we are not in the same page. Not even in the same book.”- You said putting on your sweatshirt, well, his sweatshirt now yours.

-“ Are you serious? Are you going to be like this? After all we’ve been through?”-

-“ Exactly, after all we’ve been through you still think I don’t deserve to be your girlfriend. And let me correct you, you’re the one who doesn’t deserve to be my boyfriend. I’m tired of your shit.”

-“ I know you’re angry (Y/N) but I swear if you leave this room that’s it.”- He said staring at you. You gave him one last smile and closed the door. It was so late at night and you decided to bring this topic up… That was a stupid move of you to be honest, but it needed to be done.

You can feel your vision getting blurry with all the tears falling but you don’t care anymore.

-“ Star? Is everything ok?”- you feel Kevin’s sleepy voice coming from the other side of the hallway and you let out a sob. -“ Hey, Hey. What happened bubs? Why are you crying? Where’s Eric?”-

-“ I… I- I think we just broke up.” You said hugging him and starting to sob even harder.

- “ Oh gosh…” He said quietly while stroking your hair.

And after that everything was a blur, you only remember him and Haknyeon taking you to your dorm and sleeping there. Everyone knew what happened because they heard you two arguing but no one could bring the topic up. It was typical of you two to argue, but in a matter of hours everything was cleared. But this time was different and both of you knew it.

This time the damage was done and there was no going back now.

A/N: So it’s finally here!! The first chapter of this little series. Thanks to all of you for liking so much the AU and for telling me what you preferred to see on this series. It’ll be after the break up, but I thought it’d be nice to have a little context of why did the discussion happen and to see the dynamic of the relationship. Honestly speaking, I love Eric’s fuckboy vibes so much.. But still it pains me to see him acting this way :( I apologise for any typo or mistake! And remember you can ask in the comments or dms to be tagged and that requests are open!!

TAGLIST: @asherbl @fairycob @givememunjang

#tbz #the boyz #tbz x reader #tbznetwork #the boyz au #the boyz drabbles #the boyz imagines #the boyz scenarios #the boyz series #eric sohn #the boyz eric #tbz imagines #tbz scenarios #tbz eric #tbz angst #tbz drabbles

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yurtletheturtlehenderson · 3 years

Text

Scars That Heal || Eddie Kaspbrak x Reader Series

• Ch. 12: Changes •

A/N: The missing gaps in time are on purpose since they will be in book 2 as flashbacks, which will include references to events you have not read yet. All fluff and shenanigans this chapter to make up for last, I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: brief mention of nausea and gore towards the very end, but otherwise, tooth-rotting fluff!

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞

𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧

𝐀𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝𝐬

𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲'𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧' 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡

- David Bowie, Changes

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

- 𝗠𝗜𝗗 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 -

"I still can't believe you went after Bowers," Richie scoffs.

As he steps off his porch and onto his lawn he looks over at his best friend and takes another gander at the bruises and welts littering her skin. Her lip was still busted and despite his and his mother's efforts to clean her bottom lip of blood, it must have started bleeding again sometime during the night as more had crusted over.

"Yeah, well," she shrugs. "It felt good,"

"Yeah," he snorts. "It looks like it,"

"You know what I mean," She elbowed him and he nodded with a little laugh.

"What d'ya want to do? I mean, we could keep standing around here like a bunch of idiots, but-" he shrugs, hands falling into his pockets, and Y/n smiles.

"I dunno," she shrugs. A wince falls over her face, a painful-looking one at that. "But I don't think I'm gonna be welcome back at the Capitol Theatre any time soon."

Richie nodded, a ghostly look falling over his face at all that had transpired in the past twenty-four hours alone. He still couldn't believe she had done that. He still couldn't believe a lot of things but her being in his corner after what she had found out seemed a little harder to believe right now. Especially after the junkyard... But - Jesus, that was already a week and a half ago, it felt like only hours.

He could hear her words from the park the other day in his ears and he suddenly felt the urge to pay her back. He smiled his charming crooked smile and hoped for the best.

"You still craving fries?"

"Always," she answered, a look of suspicion written in her features. "Why?"

Y/n didn't know why she kept asking these questions when she knew the answer. She didn't at all like the look growing in his eyes or the stupid feeling of guilt growing in her stomach.

"Cause I'm prepared to make a deal with ya toots,"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Sure am," he says, patting his hand over his left pocket. "I'd been saving up for a long weekend at the arcade but that's a bust. And I just got a raise on my allowance ━ that's again, toots. Allowance. It's the money you get when you do stuff for people, you might never have heard of it--"

"Is there a point here, Rich? Cause if so, you better get to it faster,"

"Point is, I'm packing and I'm also craving milkshakes. So how's about I treat you to the biggest pile of fries your staved ass has ever seen--"

Y/n shoots him a knowing look, ready to detest when he holds out a finger.

"If," he continues. "you take me there."

"Take you there?"

"Take me there," he nodded. "By piggyback."

Y/n gave thought to this, all while hiding behind an unimpressed look. As much as she hated to admit it, she was starving.

Richie shrugged. "Hey, you're the one always saying you don't want to feel like charity. Well, this ain't charity, this is work with a reward. Take it or leave it,"

Her unimpressed look grows stronger in an attempt to buy her time. But it's useless, her stomach answers for her with a long growl and a smile sneaks up on her.

She steps forward, crouching down a bit for him to jump on her back. "Alright, let's get this over with."

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

"You know, I was really worried about carrying you, but dude, you weigh like nothing. You're a fucking bean pole," Y/n says.

She comes to a slow before straightened her back letting him slide off her back and onto the ground. The two of them had arrived at the nearest diner in the town square where they now stood.

"Well, not to brag or anything, but," he fluffs his collar. "I took a massive shit before we left,"

"Ugh!" a shocked and uncomfortable laugh breaks loose from Y/n and she sticks out her tongue in disgust. "Regretting this already."

She threw open the doors and the two found themselves inside one of Derry's lesser diners.

It smelled like sausage and coffee beans, and it had a vibrant red and black theme. There were maybe nine or ten people there, little kids included and they could hear the jukebox blasting a David Bowie song. Y/n had a hard time enjoying it with the combination of a full bladder and an empty stomach so she turns to Richie and nudges him with her elbow.

"I'm gonna run to the restroom. Get us a booth?"

"Do your thing," Y/n nods and disappears around the corner. As his eyes follow her, they land on the corner in question she had disappeared around where there sat the jukebox.

He wanders over, eyeing the machine as Changes reaches a crescendo. A mischievous smile blooms as the lights from the window illuminated his face.

"Three plays for a dollar, huh?"

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

When Y/n returned from the restroom, she had expected to find Richie lounging in a booth somewhere, feet up and bugging the employees. She did not expect to turn the corner and nearly collide with the boy as he stood at the Jukebox and feeding all his money into it.

"Dude! I carried you here, you owe me fries!"

"And you shall get them my liege," answered Richie in a Shakespearean tone. "But first!" He dropped the act and looked away from the Jukebox for the first time, wearing an almost evil grin. "A social experiment,"

Y/n's brow furrowed as she watched Richie punch in the same Tom Jones song over and over and over. It was then she caught on to what he was doing. She held out a hand as her eyes watched the Jukebox.

"Hey, hey, hey, wait," she said, stopping Richie in his tracks.

He looked up at her with a pout. "Relax, toots. I saved just enough for their biggest basket of fries, you'll get them." Then Richie saw the look on her face. He could practically see the gears turning.

"No, not that. It's just..." she said, eyes never leaving the list of songs. "Before you put in more, you should throw in one It's Not Unusual,"

And that's when the afternoon went from good to great.

· · ─── ·𖥸· ─── · ·

By now, the duo had ordered and waited. They now sat tucked into a corner booth with a great view of the street corner and the passers-by of Derry. Changes had long since ended, and the remaining songs in the queue had trickled out. Richie memorized the song queue and was silently counting down until the big moment as he sat across from his battered-up best friend.

Her busted lip poked out in a bored pout, her chin propped up on her palm as she balanced her head on the table while looking out at the graying town landscape. It always escaped her how Derry could possibly look so gloomy on even the hottest, brightest days of summer. Until recently that is, the truth all too clear to her and her friends now.

The thought of the Losers scattered all over this hellhole only added to the gloom. They should all be here, together. Pointlessly debating which condiment goes best with fries, not fighting over... Over what they had fought over.

Y/n's eyes finally broke away from the manhole at the center of the little intersection outside and wandered over to Richie. He had stolen the salt and pepper shakers from a few empty (and not so empty) tables and was currently doing his best to construct a salt and pepper shaker tower. His tongue was sticking out from between his curled lips and his glasses were sliding to the end of his nose at the angle he looking. The tower was nearly three shakers high and Y/n could hear him muttering, 'where's Haystack when you need him?' under his breath.

The gloom Y/n had been thinking so intently on was suddenly ebbed away at the sight, and the corners of her lips hooked into a small smile.

At least she had her favorite Trashmouth.

"If you keep undressing me with your eyes, I'm gonna catch a cold," said Richie, never once looking up from his tower.

Y/n snorts. "You're unbearable,"

Richie shrugs defensively. "Hey, you're the one who said we're stuck with each other," he clicks his tongue and winks. "No going back on that kind of deal,"

"Oh, I meant what I said," Y/n releases her chin and folds both arms on the table. She hated getting all serious again, but she just needed to be sure. Her voice softens, trying to catch Richie's eye. "All of it, okay?"

Richie's hand around the salt shaker stops, and he pries his eyes off the tower and to his best friend. Despite her intentions and promises, everything that transpired the day before -- good and bad -- flooded over him and made him tense.

She suddenly offered him her pinky and a small smile.

"Stuck forever?"

Richie rolls his eyes. He didn't quite know who to blame, maybe just the losers in general, but he was going all soft and lame.

"Like my ass and a toilet seat, toots,"

He locked his pinky with hers and the deal was sealed forever.

Y/n leaned back on her side of the booth and took a large swig of the complimentary water as her eyes returned to the streets. The chatter of the diner had died down a little. There weren't as many people since they got there, but they were still filtering in and out. But when Y/n had a hard time shaking off the images she had of her best friend in the state he had been, she deems it safe enough to lean forward and lowered her voice.

"You know," she began picking at her napkin, making slow and tiny tears here and there. "I--" she sighs, not knowing how or where to begin. "I wouldn't blame you."

Richie, having abandoned his shaker tower, frowns.

"I wouldn't blame you if maybe, it was -- or is hard to be..." she shakes her head again and rubs her forehead trying to find the words. "I wouldn't blame you if it was hard to be around me and Eddie," She blurts.

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Richie says. "We're not gonna do that, okay? You have exceeded your sappy meter and you're gonna need to wait about 48 hours for it to charge up again. I think we've both had enough, right?"

Y/n swallowed her words. She swallowed any promise she was holding out to him that their feelings for Eddie wouldn't change anything. That she wouldn't ever want to stand in their way, however true it was. And instead, she made a new one.

"Let's just agree, whatever happens, happens. Let that be whatever it needs to be. Even if that means neither of us gets to see that adorable, asthmatic pipsqueak ever again. Deal?"

Y/n fought the bittersweet smile threatening to appear. She could see it now. Richie knew what he needed to know about himself now, and that was already a lot for him to handle. She could see in his eyes he wasn't ready for the possibility of whatever was his feelings for Eddie Kaspbrak.

Y/n's stomach turns to knots when the thought crosses her mind, but that only confirms to her it was time.

She looks around the diner, looking for prying eyes and she still finds none. She leans in, voice lowered as she fiddles with her napkin again. "I'm uh--," she clears her throat. "I've never told anyone this, but..."

She lets out a sharp breath. "Well, let's just say Eddie isn't the first Loser I've ever had feelings for,"

Richie shakes his head, making a "what am I supposed to do with that?" face at her sudden shyness. She only gives him a solid stare until it finally clicks.

Richie collapses against the seatback with a gaping, triumphant look.

"No. Fucking. Way," Richie slaps his hands on the table and leans forward, and an ugly excited laugh comes barreling out of his chest. "You big homo!"

"Would you fucking shut up?!" Y/n hisses, reaching over and shoving him back against his seat by his forehead. She looks around the diner and determines no one had heard that. Maybe except one guy in his forties, but that was most likely about him knowing they did something to the jukebox. He was sat with his young kids, looking tired and all too suspicious of their laughter at the jukebox. Finally, she laughs a little. "Beep, beep you moron."

"You telling me you and Little Orphan Annie...?"

"I'm saying," Y/n sighs, shrugging her shoulders. "I meant it when I said you're not alone, alright?"

The look in Richie's eyes hardly changes.

"No!" She answers. "No, nothing's happened but..." Y/n shook her head. "I had feelings for a really long time, up until about two years ago."

"Wowza," Richie sighs, leaning back into his seat and plopping one hand on the table. He sighs. "We sure know how to pick em,"

"Yeah, you could say that," Y/n laughs.

In fact, that's all she could say. A million things ran through her head, things she wanted to say to Richie but couldn't. Cause when she looked in Richie's eyes at that moment she -- they both -- knew everything unsaid could remain that way. With one look they knew. They knew that they could both count on each other, have each other's back. And that included Eddie too. They knew that no matter who held Eddie's heart, they could both agree that Eddie's happiness -- and each other's -- was most important.

The sound of brass instruments invaded the atmosphere, pulling the duo's eyes to the jukebox across the diner. Their faces lit up in matching grins, both of them nearly forgetting the psychological horror they had just unleashed upon the diner.

"What's new pussycat? Woah, wo~ah,"

And thus began the best meal they ever had.

- 𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗔𝗨𝗚𝗨𝗦𝗧 -

Y/n relished at the demanding burst of cool air that bombarded her sweaty skin as she stepped inside Keene's pharmacy. The grip on the money she had scraped together tucked tightly in her right palm grew tighter when the shopkeeper's bell announced her arrival. Her eyes fell to her injured leg, and by now her feet have already begun their journey forward towards the first aid supplies. The last of the bandages secured around her leg, and she winced at the faded and stained cloth that was in dire need of a change.

Her eyes pick up from the ground when she hears a choked gasp only to find the boy that had been occupying her thoughts standing before her.

"Y/n," His voice is meek and heavy with sadness, and you can hear the absence of breath in his lungs that she always seemed to create.

Despite the staggering stampede of emotions she felt, she found herself releasing a chuckle. "Hey, shrimp."

The name itself would have been strong enough to send hooks into the corner of his lips, tugging them into a half-smile had it not been for the sight before him; she was a wreck. Looked as if she had been put through an actual wringer and his heart stops for a moment, in fear. At that moment he is grateful he has his inhaler, Y/n had a talent for taking his breath away but he never would have dreamed of it happening this way. Already his mind is going at twice its speed, a mad swarm of thoughts that dizzy his head, and as quickly as he can he tries to pluck one - just one - thing to say to her. When he finally speaks, he is thankful that his voice has returned to him.

"How's your leg?"

He doesn't have to ask, the first thing he saw - the very feature that tipped him off about her - was the blood-soaked bandages wrapped around her left calf. He couldn't imagine why it would still be bleeding, much less this profusely given how long ago it had been. Perhaps it had opened back up. And Eddie felt it best not to address the new set of scrapes and bandages that were scattered across her arms and legs, though each one filled him with worry. But her eye... it was completely swollen, and several shades darker than a usual bruise.

She grew rather sick looking at the question and instantly he was filled with dread. Had It gotten to her again? Was it something new entirely? Either way, he felt a great deal of guilt he hadn't been there, and more than anything he wanted her safe. Maybe, if it wasn't too crazy, be the one to look out for her. To protect her.

"I just," she swallows thickly, eyes darting around to avoid his eye line.

Eddie tilts his head, encouraging her to continue. She looks as if she's about to unload a great deal off of her chest, but after a moment she shakes her head.

"Nothing," she lies. "Just need new bandages."

Eddie's horrified expression does not waver, but only intensifies, zeroing in on her. He just simply can't ignore the state she's in. And while every instinct inside him screams to jump in and help, he knows that's not his call nor his place. But he had to ask, he had to know.

"Are you okay?" He blurts suddenly. He mentally slapped himself. Of course she wasn't. "What happened...? You're leg? You're eye? Are you in trouble at home? Was it...?"

She grows tense, and Eddie scolds himself once more when he sees her walls rebuilding themselves. He hated his stupid word vomit sometimes.

"No, Eddie!" she says tiredly, sighing at her slight outburst. "I'm..." she sighs again, staring at the floor, looking almost... calculated.

Finally, she picks her head back up, her expression flat, but her tone a bit softer. "Just Bowers. The usual."

Eddie couldn't help but feel like she was lying. And that hurt him. But he understood. If she had pressed him about things at home he probably would have done the same. Eddie sighed deeply as well.

He missed the way things were.

He missed Y/n.

He missed the feeling he got around her, the storm of butterflies and mind-numbing fits of laughter they'd bring out in one another. He missed the way his skin would tingle like every blood cell was on fire when their skin accidentally brushed together. Eddie missed the way he'd lose himself in thoughts about her like he was now.

Eddie didn't realize it until that last thought crossed his mind, but this was the first time in weeks he felt something other than anxiety and fear. And maybe he was crazy, but when he looked in Y/n's eyes now he thought he saw it too -

"I'm sorry, Eddie," she says, breaking him from his daydream, sending him falling back down to earth. "But I really need to take care of this."

He glances down at her leg, the bandage still soaked with blood and he feels fear squeeze his chest again. She was leaving. And that meant he had to, as well. He would have to say goodbye and go back home to his mother. He could hear her haunted cries, whining at him and wailing. What took you so long, Eddie? Don't you know what you're doing to my heart?

Eddie goes rigid at the thought when he realizes; the last time he saw Y/n... Those horrible things his mother had said to her and he... Jesus, what she must think.

"Y-Y/n," he sputters desperately as she begins to limp around him. She had gotten no answer for once again he had gotten lost in his thoughts. But he couldn't have it end like this. He just couldn't. "Y/n, I'm sorry."

She stops in her tracks and looks back at him, thoughtfully. A sad smile graces her face.

"I know, shrimp,"

Her eyes hold a thousand words, a million things she wants to say to him as he wants to say to her. But they die out, and she turns away.

"Y/n!"

He couldn't let her go, he just couldn't. Then why was this so difficult? He always had a mouthful to say, but around Y/n L/n, Eddie was always speechless.

"I wanna..." he gulps, a pleading, sincere look in his eyes. "I wanna see you again." He admits.

Y/n smiles sadly. Like she doesn't want to let him go either. But still, she gives him a pleading look after gesturing to her leg.

"Eddie, I gotta take care of this,"

His head sunk to the floor and he nodded, embarrassed. Of course, what the hell was he thinking? She didn't need him coming in and messing things -

Her sudden sigh broke his thoughts. "Meet me outside in five? I could use some help,"

A nervous smile broke out, stretching and hurting his cheeks and Eddie nodded when he met her eye. He was out the door without another word, back in the alley where he had first bandaged her up all those months ago.

His mind raced with possibility and more unanswered questions. What would he do, what would he say? What had happened to her, and could he have been there to stop it? His face still burned with embarrassment when he thought of the things he let his mother say to her, how livid he was with himself.

It was all he could do not to bounce off the walls from the jitters. The crates from the last alley visit, or at least some like it, remained and so Eddie eagerly took a seat. His knee bounced up and down at unnatural speeds as his mind raced, his eyes wandering the alley as the wind swept in a familiar summer breeze against his cheeks.

"I really need to focus right now," he orders, his hands making delicate work of the bandage over the new kid's stomach.

"You need to focus?" Richie snorts over his shoulder, causing Eddie's cheeks to burn.

"Yeah, can you go get me something?"

"Jesus! What do you need?"

"Go get my bifocals. I hid 'em in my second fanny pack."

Y/n leaned forward, balanced on her knees with a crooked smile that would with Eddie for days. "You have a second fanny pack?"

The burning in his cheeks grew, and Stan joined in. "Yeah, why do you have two?"

Eddie didn't dare meet anyone's eye, let alone Richie or Y/n's.

"I need to focus right now and it's a long story. I don't want to get into it."

Besides! He was telling the truth! He needed to focus. Who knows what kind of shit has gotten into this kid's system by now?

Eddie had nearly finished with the new kid's bandages when he heard the jingle of the store bell.

"Yep. Thanks." Came the hardened voice of Y/n backing out and towards the alley with a pressed and forced smile before turning for the alley and away from whoever she had been talking to. Eddie was the only one to have caught the small whispered words under her breath from the silence of the alley. "-for nothing, I guess..."

Eddie shot up from his seat, subconsciously straightening out his shirt.

"Everything okay? What was that all about?" He asked as Y/n finally joined him. Eddie sputtered, mentally kicking himself for prying. "I mean, you don't have to tell me or anything, it's just you seemed frustrated. You know what never mind, you probably want to get your leg fixed up, right?"

Eddie stopped again, shifting on his feet when he realized Y/n must be waiting to talk. "Sorry," he mumbled. And to his great surprise, she smiled.

"Don't be. I've missed your word vomit," she joked.

Eddie could feel the corners of his lips twitching up in a smile, and something happened to him he hadn't felt in a long time; flutters invaded his chest, making the air he breathed feel lighter and his stomach was doing flips. And he would have fallen harder had he known Y/n's stomach was doing flips right along with him, and a burning sensation lighting up her neck and ears.

"Well, here-" Eddie said, snapping out of his daze, no longer able to stand by and ignore the gash in her leg. He supposed it really was like old times. He stepped aside, gesturing for the crates and taking the bag of supplies Y/n had handed over.

"For real though," Eddie began, eyeing her nervously as he unzipped his fanny bag and begun fishing inside for hand wipes. "What happened, Y/n?"

Her smile fell, and her eyes dropped to her lap where her fingers fiddled together. To Eddie, it felt like a long time before she finally answered.

"A lot's happened since Niebolt, I'll leave it at that,"

Eddie nodded, and stepped forward, lowering himself to his knees before her injured leg, and began unwrapping the first of the supplies from her grocery bag. "It feels like years ago,"

"Yeah, it does," Y/n croaks.

There's another small silence and Eddie feels a tug in his chest when her eyes linger over him. He only spares a moment to meet her eyes back before taking a deep breath and holding it. With a wince, he unraveled the cloth and quickly discarded it. He tried not to linger on the injury; the edges of her claw-like scars remained, but it looked as if they had been messily pried back open.

Like deja vu, Eddie found himself battling to keep his lunch in his stomach, but the overall worry in his system for one of his best friends triumphed over it this time around. He dismissed the urge to gag and instead darted his eyes to Y/n in between his work.

"So..." he asked, realizing he didn't really know where to start. "how have you been? Other than, you know," he laughed nervously.

To his relief, Y/n smiled.

"It's hard not being around the losers. I only ever see Richie anymore. Even Bev and I haven't really spoken since the fight, which has been really hard. We've been in each other's lives for so long,"

As Eddie finishes cleaning the wound, his heart sinks a little at her words. True, he missed Beverly very much. But he also knew all too well what Y/n spoke of, and judging by the look in her eye as she softens at him, she knows it too. She gives him a gentle nudge with her foot.

"He misses you too," she says, growing another small smile. "Won't shut up about you, in fact. Which is saying something... Guess I'm one to talk, though," she adds, watching him nervously out of the corner of her eye, and Eddie's heart skipped another beat.

"What about you, shrimp? Dare I ask?" She says with a smile.

Eddie, Y/n noticed, had been unusually quiet. By now, on any other occasion, he would have talked laps around her by now but something was keeping him. Maybe he just feels a bit out of step, she thinks, as she did. It had been far too long since things had been normal for either of them. But something told her he was now particularly quiet perhaps because he wasn't all that eager to share how things had been for him since the losers split. She couldn't imagine things had been well at home with his mother given everything that had transpired.

So she didn't pry. She changes the subject, hoping to get his mind off of whatever might be bothering him. Her mind returns to his previous questions, and she bites the bullet.

"Quitting my job." She says finally, stunning Eddie enough to pull his attention away for a split second. "You wondered what I was doing there. And aside from restocking, I was um... I was quitting my job."

"You got a job at Keene's Pharmacy? When?" Eddie asked, reaching for a strip of gauze.

Y/n seemed to think about it for a minute, counting the days in her head before shrugging. Leaning forward, she holds the gauze in places Eddie begins applying the bandages. "I guess a little over two weeks after Niebolt. I did little things around the store, this and that really,"

"How come I never saw you?" Eddie asked, and Y/n shrugged.

"He had me running errands most of the time," and she smiled a little. "But sometimes I'd stick around a little longer. I'd offer to sweep or restock the shelves or something. It's stupid, I know, but... I don't know, I guess I was hoping to see some admittedly cute... shrimpy little dude come walking in to refill his inhaler. Is that stupid?"

Eddie paused, unable to hide the smile or the raging blush taking over his face. Y/n smiled to herself when she saw it, and she'd be lying if she said she wasn't feeling a little bit of it too. Finally, Eddie spoke. Or at least, he tried to. His voice came out hoarse and he cleared his throat, quickly shaking his head as he secured the bandages in place and began disinfecting his hands.

"No. No, that's not stupid at all. I mean, I don't know if I'd say shrimpy, necessarily, maybe a little skinny but-"

Y/n laughed, smiling hard at the boy she hadn't stopped thinking about for weeks. Like Eddie, she hadn't realized just how much she had missed him until now. But, she hoped, maybe she could change that.

Eddie trailed off, his ears burning at her laugh but a smile on his face all the same. At this moment, everything was perfect. Or seemingly so, at least. And then...

"Thanks, Doctor K,"

He smiled, a sinking feeling in his chest knowing what was coming next as she hoisted herself back on her feet. "Yeah, of course."

A silence falls over the two, a silence they know won't last.

"I guess I should get going," Y/n says finally, gesturing down the alleyway. "I'm meeting up with Richie later, he's swinging by my place." And for a moment, she looks hopeful and Eddie already knows what she's going to ask. "You're welcome to come. We both really miss you,"

Yet again, Eddie Kaspbrak finds himself with a million thoughts racing in his head, but no words on his tongue. What could he say that wouldn't hurt her? What could he say that wouldn't essentially admit he was still a coward who couldn't stand up to his own mother? What could he say?

But evidently, he doesn't have to. Y/n can see it in his eyes, and any trace of hope deflates with her. She nods sadly, eyes now on the ground and her freshly bandaged leg. "I get it, Eddie. It's fine. You don't have to say anything."

"Y/n..." He didn't know what felt worse; knowing he let her down, or the sound of her using his real name.

"Really, it's okay,"

But it wasn't okay. And Eddie knew that. Today he had been given a second chance with Y/n, and already he had fucked it up. Or so he thought...

A smile returned to her face just before she left; it wasn't nearly as bright as it had been moments ago, but it was as real as any other he had seen all summer. And then she spoke. She spoke the three words over her shoulder as she disappeared out of view that returned a familiar spark to his chest.

"I'll call you."

There was hope yet.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

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donaidk · 3 years

Text

Marcus Armstrong - Almost Home I.

In advance: This is getting a Part 2 for sure. I don’t want to leave it here, but at the same time I felt like it would be really long if I left it in one piece. Turns out I have a whole lot of inspiration for Marcus fics right now. 😂 I also wanna let everyone, who’s waiting for their request, know that uni is starting next week for me. It means less free time, but I will make sure to finish every one of them in the next week or so, and then focus on all the series I started. There’s gonna be slower updates to them, but I’ll make sore to have one or two per week at least. Hopefully they won’t try to kill us in the starting weeks and I will finish up the Lando one so I could start posting that every week and just add some parts from the others to the queue 😊

Thank you Anon for requesting this one though, and sorry for the wait. Hope you will enjoy it and as it’s almost the next day here, have a really happy start to your Friday everyone 🧡

Kind of Taglist: @mickschumcher, @art-gp

Title Song | Masterlist | Taglist/Queue | Request

With the Australian GP knocking on the door Melbourne filled up with tourists and fans even more than usual. The first time I got to witness it in 2017 was actually scary in a way for someone who didn’t know the city well yet. Getting from one part of the city to another was a hard task already, and all the shouting and crazy fans weren’t of much help when I tried to get some usable info out of them so I could finally get to my destination and get off the streets. It almost held me back from choosing Melbourne’s university, but I had to remind myself that it was just once a year and I shouldn't give up my plans because of it. Melbourne was beautiful and their schools were highly rated, giving me everything for a stable future. Luckily I was never disappointed by my choices as it was easy to get used to the life here and I even found some new friends who helped me every time I felt homesick. It wasn’t the worst usually, as I was truly content with how my life was going, but sometimes it just hit me out of nowhere and in those moments they were always there for me.

It was now the third year when we lived through the race weekend, meaning we finally had a working schedule with which we still followed our usual plans but stayed out of the bigger crowds. Although we were in the middle of the semester we always found time to enjoy the still warm weather and spend most of our free time outside. Usually our choice was the beach for the afternoons as even though it was packed until noon, the tourists never stayed for long. We usually arrived in the late afternoon and stayed well after the sun went down, and the temperature went down a little finally. The water usually stayed comfortable until later in the evening making it bearable for almost a whole 24 hours if you weren’t squeamish. Even if you were after spending a few weeks at the beach, everyone got used to it.

As soon as everyone finished with their lectures we got our things together and took the 5 minutes walk down to the beach. We had a favourite spot which was luckily never taken when we got down there. For a few minutes we just sat down, talking about our weeks. I shared a dorm room with two other girls, but we had a few friends who had their own apartments or lived with their family a bit farther away from our university. We usually had one or two days every week to catch up with them as in between lectures we were either too tired or didn’t have the time to do so. But most of the afternoons were ours fully and we used it the best we could to relax but still use that time to make memories for the few years we’re spending together. We could say it’s gonna stay the same after we graduate but everyone knew we would move to different countries as soon as we weren’t connected to Australia. Even I planned to go home, although I enjoyed living here and getting to be independent without my family behind my back.

“ Are you coming? ” One of the girls asked me, as they were already walking down to the water, while I was still standing around our towels with my phone in my hand. I was in the middle debating which sunset photo I should post from my gallery, but her voice made me look up.

“ Just a second. I’ll catch up. ” I smiled at her before looking back down at my screen. In the end my finger finally tapped the posting button and I pushed it aside while I got the sundress off that was on over my bikini.

Right before I would have ran after the girls, the device was back in my hands so I could check that the picture uploaded without a problem. A smile got on my face when I saw a reaction from one of my family members but as soon as it showed the whole list of the people who looked at my story, it faded away. For the past few months whenever I posted something he was always there in the first few seconds or at least minutes. I couldn’t understand what changed that he showed up in my life again, but I didn't really want to give him space in my thoughts either. It has been almost 4 years since we last talked and could call each other best friends, but I wasn’t about to take the first step and message him after he forgot about me until now. I just dropped my phone back into my bag, closing it and then caught up with my friends so they could make me forget about him again.

We spent quite some time in the water, swimming a few laps back and forth before just standing around and enjoying the last rays of sunshine while we chatted away. My thoughts were already in a different direction thanks to all the different topics that came up between us. Sometimes it was harder to make me forget time and time again, but turns out today I only needed some distraction and everything was set for an enjoyable night. With the sun completely off the sky the temperature dropped quickly and it was getting a bit chilly for my liking in just a few minutes. When it was truly uncomfortable I gave up and walked back to the shore, sitting down on my own blanket and draping my towel around my shoulders. It immediately brought enough warmth over my body that I stopped shivering and could wait for them until they would get cold too. Until then I just went onto my phone to go through some posts of my friends. Sometimes I looked up to check on them just so they wouldn’t leave me out of something. One of those times I saw a person coming my way and although I didn’t mind too much attention to it, when he continued and there was no one else in my close proximity I felt like he might be coming to me. In the end I was right as he turned right towards me and then stopped just a few steps away from our blankets.

“ Never thought you would exchange our lovely and perfect red stars for ugly white ones. ” He spoke up and I could recognise the voice even though his face was almost unseeable thanks to him standing with his back towards the moon. My jaw dropped immediately and I felt like I grew roots into the ground as I couldn’t move my body. “ If you want me to fuck off, just tell me. It’s okay. I just thought we could maybe talk, and from the pictures I saw that you’re here. Hoped you didn’t go home yet so I could catch you and... ” He started rambling but I was quick to finally push myself up and hug him immediately. I always imagined our reunion with me being angry at him, but somehow I couldn’t get myself to feel that way now that he was standing right in front of me.

“ You idiot. ” I told him not leaving any space for questions and I could feel as he finally relaxed and hugged me back. “ The biggest in the whole world. ” I added with a sigh, closing my eyes as my brain started functioning again and I had an urge to kick his shin at least.

“ I can live with that. ” Marcus let out a laugh and I could feel as my heart jumped a little at the sound. It was something that always reminded me of our home and spending every possible second together. “ I’m sorry for disappearing. ” He let out a sigh, letting go of me only when we realised my wet bathing suit soaked his shirt, although even he didn’t care about it for too long.

“ What are you doing here? I thought F2 wasn't coming here. ” I asked him confused, knowing that we wouldn’t be in this situation if he traveled here for one of the races in the past two years. “ Not like I’m complaining, but I can hardly believe my own eyes and senses. ” I shook my head a little before looking up at him again. He changed, quite a bit since we last met and even though I saw pictures of him it was different in a face-to-face situation.

“ Ferrari invited a few of us so we could gather some experience. The speed I accepted the offer with might have raised some eyebrows. ” Marcus hid his face in his palm, making me chuckle as I could see the situation unfold in front of my eyes like I was there. “ Thought I would DM you and ask if you wanted to meet up maybe. But I realized it would be better offline. ” I had to roll my eyes at his first idea although I knew he wasn’t lying and it for sure went through his brain as a real possibility.

“ You’re lucky you didn’t. I would have blocked you forever I think. My plan was connecting my fist with your face if we ever meet again, right until you showed up here. ” I shook my head with a smile, as I wasn’t proud of what I wanted to do to him. “ I was really angry when you just stopped talking to me. I tried so hard to reach you, but it felt like you didn’t even exist anymore even though they were talking about you almost every week. ” I sighed, sitting back down and leaving enough space for him too.

“ Would have been deserved actually. ” His fingers scratched at the nape of his neck and I could see the tint of purple traveling up his neck. I watched him as he sat down, pulling his legs up and resting his arms onto them. “ I really am sorry. For a part everything got busy with all the training, races and studying, but at the same time I know damn well a message here and there should have been possible. I messed up, everything. ” His eyes shined even in the minimal light of the moon, and I could get myself to look away. Even feeling the burning stares on my back from my friends didn’t get me to turn around.

“ I won’t say that it’s okay, but I accept your apology. How could I not. ” I let out a breath that I realized was still stuck in me since the initial surprise took over my body. “ It feels like we didn’t even skip over like 3 years of each other’s life. Only difference is that you’re finally taller than me, but the baby face’s still there. ” My hand went up to his cheek to pat it gently like my grandma did for him all the time when he came over for lunch. He always hated it but knew that it was a gesture of love from her and a way to show Marcus that she considered him part of our family.

“ Yeah, I guess it’s going to stay forever. ” Marcus huffed, moving his head back a little to avoid my attack, although he failed miserably. “ I almost forgot, congrats for uni. I remember how hard you were studying to get in. Everyone home was ecstatic when I told them about it. ” His hand slapped his forehead, making me laugh with his expression at the slight stinging he caused himself.

“ Thank you, but it’s nothing compared to your second place last year. ” I shrugged a little but as soon as his lips pulled into a slight smirk my eyes rolled on their own. “ Surprise, surprise, I followed your career. Just as much as you followed my life for the past few months. ” I poked him in the ribs with my finger, making him wince for a second before we both started laughing at the little sound he made.

“ Fair. I still hate how Instagram shows who opened your stories. ” He shook his head a little and both of our heads turned towards the water when we realized the background chatting was getting closer and closer to where we were sitting. They were just a few meters away when my eyes landed on their figures and I sensed when Marcus stood up from next to me, making me push myself up too.

I didn’t feel too anxious about him meeting my other friends, although I knew what this meant for my evening at the dorm with them. They would have an immense amount of questions both about him and us, even though I already mentioned him when we were bringing up our past. A few of them even knew about my past feelings about him and how him reappearing on my socials played with my emotions, but they only saw a few photos of him. This was another level and I knew he would be the topic for at least the next week between us, for one reason or another. Depends on how we get on from this point and if we manage to keep in contact when they have to fly away again.

“ Oh, I knew it wasn’t just my imagination. I told you someone was coming here. ” My roommate spoke up as soon as they got close enough to make us out from the darkness. “ You’re Marcus, right? ” She stepped right in front of him, reaching her hand out while introducing herself. I always admired her boldness even in front of strangers.

“ Yes, although I didn’t know so many people knew me from here. ” Marcus let out an uneasy chuckle, looking at me a bit concerned. I just shook my head dismissively, almost telling him that it was just a ‘Girl group’ thing. Relief washed over me though that I didn’t share a lot about him, behind his back.

I watched from the sideline as everyone introduced themselves to him and for a second it felt domestic as all of them shot me a concerned glance towards me. It felt like they would pounce at him if they saw that I was uncomfortable in his presence. While it made me feel loved in a way, I also didn’t want them to really chip on the situation. It was something that better dealt with in private as I felt like we had to talk lots of things through to get back to the friendship we left behind years ago. This wasn’t the setting for a conversation like that.

“ We should probably get home before it gets really late. School won’t wait in the morning. ” I spoke up before any of them could start questioning him. We would never be able to get going then. “ Maybe we can catch up sometime before the race? I’m sure you will have enough to do during the weekend. ” I turned back towards Marcus who looked just as relieved as I did seconds ago.

“ Yeah, that would be better. Maybe lunch, or a coffee in the afternoon? Whenever you’re free of course. ” He nodded a little, still glancing at the girls who were either packing up or staring him down behind me.

“ I’m up for either of those. Surprise me. ” I grinned at him, feeling the pull on my arm when everyone was ready. “ Is your number the same? ” I asked him, already taking a step back, but waiting for his answers.

“ Yes. Never changed. ” Marcus nodded again, a little smile playing on his lips at the idea that we’re going to meet up again probably. At least I hoped so. Why else would he stalk me down and come up to me for a chat?

“ I’m gonna text you in the morning when’s my last lecture. We can meet up after that. ” I told them, before turning around with one last wave and catching up to my group. I could only hope that they would at least let me sleep before the questions start pouring out of them all at once.

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kanerallels · 3 years

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Heyy, I saw your prompt list— could you maybe do Mackelena (with a side of Philinda and Huntingbird, if possible) and soulmates? Congrats of 111 followers!!

Thank you so much!!! I hope you enjoy this-- it's my first AOS fic so here goes nothing!

Pairing: Alphonso Mackenzie/Elena Rodriguez (minor Philinda and Huntingbird)

Word Count: 3,143

Tags/Warnings: rated G (for giant simp, which Mack is, good talk), character death mentioned, as is divorce

For most of his life, Mack had believed in soulmates. He’d grown up being taught that he’d meet someone, and when they first touched, their respective soulmate marks-- for him, a mark on his right hand, very dark brown streaked through with honey-gold-- would light up, and they would share a Moment. A brief snippet of time from the future that would show them their life together, if they chose to move forward with their relationship.

Some didn’t. Mack knew people who hadn’t stayed with their soulmate. But he’d seen, overwhelmingly, that when a person found their soulmate and stuck with them, they were far happier than if they didn’t.

He’d always thought that the only woman he’d ever be in a serious relationship with would be his soulmate. But then he’d met Nicole. The two of them had fallen hard and fast, and even now, after their divorce, Mack would never say he regretted it. Regretted how it ended, yes. But he had loved Nicole, even if she hadn’t been his soulmate.

Some days, Mack wasn’t sure if he’d ever find his soulmate. But he was fine with that for now, fine working at the mechanic shop that he co-owned. He had friends around him, and he visited his brother whenever he could. So he’d wait, and that was okay for now.

There were days, though, when he wondered. Was there really one woman waiting out there for him somewhere?

The sound of arguing broke Mack out of his musings, and he looked up from the car just as Fitz stalked into the back of the garage, looking irritated. Running a hand through his already messy hair, he said, “I’ve had about enough of this, it’s your turn. Have fun.”

“Have fun with what?” Mack asked, wiping his hands off on the rag he had resting next to his toolbox. “Something wrong, Turbo?”

Clearly trying to calm himself, Fitz took a deep breath and pointed over his shoulder. “There’s an irate customer out there, demanding that we hurry up and fix her car. I tried telling her that we’ve got a queue and we’re going to start on hers soon, but she didn’t exactly give me a chance. She wants to talk to the mechanic who’s working on her car.”

“Which name is that?” Mack asked.

“Rodriguez-- she’s on your list, I think.”

“Great.” Suppressing a grimace, Mack set aside the rag and headed towards the door that separated the garage where they worked and their main office. “I’ll be back in a minute or two.”

“If you’re lucky,” Fitz muttered.

Ignoring that, Mack stepped through the doorway. He spotted the customer almost immediately-- a Latina woman with dark brown hair braided back from her face, dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans. She caught sight of him and stomped up towards him. “Oh, you must be the turtle man who’s working on my car,” she said, her low voice furious.

One of Mack’s eyebrows shot up, despite himself. “Turtle man? We’ve only had the car for a couple weeks.”

“Yes, and I need it fixed,” the woman said emphatically. “Fast, so why don’t you get a move on? If I’d known you were going to take all year--”

Holding up his hands, Mack said, “I understand you’re upset, Ms. Rodriguez. But one of our best workers quit last week, and we’re having a hard time catching up. Obviously we’ll get your car done as soon as possible, but there are a few other cars before it. I should be done with them over the next few days, and I will personally make sure that your car is taken care of. Does that sound fair?”

Ms. Rodriguez eyed him for a moment, looking skeptical, but then let out a sigh. “Okay. I’m-- I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were short-staffed.”

“Nothing we can’t handle, it’s just a little backlog,” Mack assured her. “But I promise you, Ms. Rodriguez, your car will be one of the next ones.”

“Good to know,” she said with a nod. “And you can call me Elena. I mean, it’s the least I can do considering I kind of chewed out your friend back there. And you.”

Releasing a chuckle, Mack said, “Fitz can handle it. You can call me Mack, and we’ll call you as soon as your car is ready.”

Shaking her head, Elena said, “Oh, I don’t think so, Turtleman.”

“Sorry?” Mack asked, caught off guard.

“After how long it’s taken already? I’m coming back here to make sure you don’t start ignoring me again. I’ll be back in two days. See you then.”

With that, Elena breezed out of the office, leaving Mack with his mouth open as he stared after her. Huh, he thought, eventually turning to head back to his work. It looked like he’d be seeing a lot more of this Elena.

Sure enough, Elena was back two days later, just as Mack finished work on the last car and had started an assessment to see what was wrong with Elena’s. The short answer was, he soon learned, everything. This car was not going to be a short project.

When he told Elena that, she just shrugged. “Guess you’ll be seeing me a lot, Turtleman. Get used to it, and get to work.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mack said, hiding a grin as he headed off to find his toolbox.

~ ~ ~

“Soulmates definitely aren’t real,” Bobbi told him.

Mack raised a skeptical eyebrow at his friend. “What makes you say that?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink. They were at a bar, celebrating the promotion Bobbi had gotten at her job-- although Mack had a feeling there was another reason they were here. He’d known Bobbi long enough that he could figure it out when there was something she wanted to tell him.

“It doesn’t make any sense, scientifically,” Bobbi explained. “And it’s definitely not logical. I mean, touching someone and you see the future? It doesn’t really make any sense, Mack.”

“Maybe not,” Mack admitted, deciding not to expand on his own theories in that area. “But there’s a lot about love that doesn’t make sense, and it’s not like the whole world had one mass hallucination.”

“Maybe not,” Bobbi said, sounding skeptical. “But unless you can provide me with a scientific explanation for it, I’d say it’s a load of bull.”

“Uh-huh,” Mack said. “So the soulmate thing had nothing to do with the fact that you’re back with Hunter again?”

“Of course not--” Bobbi stopped. “Wait. You knew?”

“Didn’t take much to put it back together,” Mack said wryly. “You only take me out for drinks out of the blue like this when you need to tell me something important, and it’s usually about you and him. Also, he changed his Facebook photo to you and him again.”

“Wha-- I told him to be subtle!” Bobbi let out a groan, burying her face in her hands. “He is so typical.”

“So, you are back together,” Mack said, and he saw a small smile start across Bobbi’s face.

“Well… yeah. We are. We’re taking it slow, and he’s at least trying to not make soulmate comments-- but that’ll last.” Giving him a sideways glance, Bobbi asked, “How do you feel about this?”

“What, you and Hunter?” Mack took another drink to avoid answering right away. “I’m happy for you two, obviously. I just don’t want to see either of you hurt again. I’ve had to bail Hunter out of too many drunk tanks for that.”

“I know-- that’s part of why we’re taking it slow this time,” Bobbi said with a laugh. “For your sanity.”

“My sanity appreciates the effort, but I’m not the one in the relationship,” Mack pointed out. “It’s up to you two, not me. But seriously, I am happy for you guys.”

“Thanks, Mack,” Bobbi said. “By the way, I might have asked Hunter if he’d meet us for dinner nearby.”

“I had a feeling there was another part to the plan,” Mack said. “Well, if you two are paying, I’m in.”

They made their way to the restaurant where Hunter was waiting, and had just settled down at the table with him and were starting to flip through the menus to order when Mack’s phone buzzed.

“Ah-- hang on one minute,” he told them, pulling out his phone and checking it. He was pleasantly surprised to see it was a text from Elena, who had gotten his phone number the second time she’d come by the garage, in order to ‘make sure he was keeping on task’ in her words.

The text held an image of a turtle, and the words, at the zoo earlier. I think I found your long lost brother.

Mack found himself grinning as he texted back, For someone who wants their car fixed fast, you’re not very nice to the guy fixing it.

Elena’s response was quick. What, are you gonna not fix it now? I found your long lost brother! Mack chuckled as her next text came a few seconds later. Besides, you’re too much of a softie to refuse to finish the job for me.

Guess you know me too well, Mack responded.

Well enough to know you’re a softie.

Shaking his head, Mack put away his phone and looked up to see Bobbi and Hunter watching him, both wearing sly grins. “Who was that?” Hunter asked, innocence dripping from his tone.

“Just a friend,” Mack said. He knew better than to give Hunter too much information when he was in a mood like this. Grabbing his menu, he flipped it open and started browsing, ignoring the sly looks that Bobbi and Hunter exchanged. He was going to get interrogated about this, he knew already. But there would be nothing for them to find out. Elena was just a friend, after all.

~ ~ ~

“By the way, soulmates are definitely real,” Phil Coulson told him.

Mack gave him a surprised look as he took the paper bag from the older man. He’d stopped at Phil’s coffee shop on the way into work, as he did from time to time, and was picking up coffee and desserts for the shop. “Why do you bring that up?” he asked.

Shrugging, Phil said, “Something Bobbi and Hunter mentioned when they were in here yesterday.”

“Let me guess-- Hunter brought up him and Bobbi being soulmates again?” Mack said, grinning wryly.

“Surprisingly, no,” Phil said as he rang up his bill. “They were discussing you. Hunter is under the impression you’ve met your soulmate for some reason, and Bobbi was telling them that they don’t exist.”

“Huh. Sounds about right,” Mack said, trying to hide his surprise. Although it shouldn’t shock him that Hunter immediately made the leap from “texting someone he likes” to “he has a soulmate and hasn’t told us”. Bobbi would probably handle things a little more cautiously, thankfully. “Looks like I’d better tell him he’s wrong.”

“Really? No one yet?” Phil asked.

Mack shrugged as he handed over cash for the order. “I have no idea who she is or where she is. I have been married before, but I guess that was part of why we didn’t last. Part of it, anyway.”

Nodding, Phil said, “I know the feeling. I was in love quite a few times before May and I finally met.”

“Really?” Mack said in surprise.

“Sure. Just because there’s one specific person out there for you doesn’t mean you won’t be attracted to other people. It’s normal.” Putting the cash in the register, Phil said, “But there’s something different about the woman who’s the one for you. I could tell right away that she was special. Just took a while for us to realize just what was different.”

“What he’s not telling you,” came the voice of Melinda May as she came in through the front door, a duffel bag over her shoulder, “is that it took us two years to finally figure out that we were soulmates, and it was only because he’d just been hit by a car and I had to give him CPR.” She held up one hand, stained a sunny yellow.

“We all find love in different ways,” Phil said, giving May a soft, loving grin. “How was class?”

“We’ve got some new idiots to beat up on,” May replied, moving behind the counter to drop a kiss onto her husband’s cheek. “And Daisy kicked a practice dummy through a wall, so she’s getting even better.”

“My wife and daughter are terrifying,” Phil said, grinning even wider. “Here’s your change, Mack.”

“Oh-- thanks.” Pocketing it, Mack gave May and Phil a nod before heading out the door and down the street.

It only took him a few minutes to walk the short distance back to the garage, and when he got there, he found a familiar, slight figure waiting for him next to her car, with a sly grin on her face.

“Late again, Turtleman,” Elena teased him as Mack set the paper bag down on the nearest clean surface.

“I’m pretty sure you’re always here early, Yo-Yo,” he told her.

“Yo-Yo?” Elena lifted a curious eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, cause you keep coming back here.”

“You’d almost think you minded me showing up,” she teased as Mack pulled open the paper bag and pulled out two disposable cups of coffee.

Handing her one, he said, “I don’t mind.”

The smile Elena shot at him was brighter than the sunshine coming through the window in the corner, and it warmed Mack as he got to work.

~ ~ ~

“Hey, Mack?”

Mack looked up from his work on Elena’s car to where Daisy was sitting in the back of her dad’s 1962 Chevy Corvette, which he affectionately referred to as “Lola.” However, Lola needed a little work done, so Phil had relinquished the car into Daisy’s hands, and she’d brought it to Mack for him to look at.

“What’s up, Tremors?” he asked.

Daisy didn’t respond right away, fiddling with the edge of her jacket as she bit her lip. “Do you believe in soulmates?” she blurted out.

One of Mack’s eyebrows shot up, and he almost asked what prompted the question-- but stopped abruptly as he remembered what day it was. A year to the day since Daisy’s boyfriend, Lincoln, had died when a robber had broken into his house and shot him when he’d tried to protect Daisy. The man had been arrested, but Mack knew that only soothed part of the pain for his friend.

“I do,” he said cautiously-- he’d never learned whether Lincoln was Daisy’s soulmate or not. Regardless, he decided to speak the truth. “I believe in soulmates. But I also believe you can be truly, deeply in love with a person who’s not your soulmate. It doesn’t make them any less important to you and your life.”

Daisy jerked a quick nod, staring determinedly up at the ceiling. “He wasn’t mine,” she said suddenly. “Lincoln. May and Dad already know, but I just…” She trailed off, blinking hard.

Mack nodded slowly. “Maybe he wasn’t. But I knew Lincoln. He was happy with you, and he loved you. In the end, that might matter more than being someone’s soulmate.”

Taking a deep breath, Daisy nodded. “Thanks, Mack.”

“Any time, Tremors.”

They dropped into silence after that, until Mack heard someone knock on the office door. “Hey, Mack!”

Mack felt a smile crossing his face as he moved from behind the car to see Elena strolling towards him, hands in her pockets. “Hey, Yo-Yo,” he said, and Elena returned the smile.

“You know, the nickname is growing on me, Turtleman.” Turning her gaze to the car behind him, she said, “So? Do you have good news for me?”

“I do,” Mack said, patting the side of her car. “After almost a month of work, I finally finished it. Your car is finally fixed.”

A grin flashed across Elena’s face. “About time-- but thank you. I owe you. Literally and figuratively. I probably owe you for all that coffee you bought me.”

Waving a hand, Mack said, “Don’t worry about it. I was happy to do it.” He paused, the reality of it finally hitting him. If his work was finished… he wouldn’t be seeing Elena again.

No sense in moping about it, he told himself sternly. Grabbing the keys from the table next to him, he dropped them in Elena’s outstretched hand. “All yours,” he told her.

Elena nodded, stuffing the keys in her pocket. “Thanks, Mack.” She paused for a second, then extended a hand to shake.

Mack blinked in surprise-- he hadn’t expected such a formal goodbye. But he went to shake her hand, and it was only as his fingers were curling around hers that he noticed the dark blue soulmark on her palm.

A flash of light radiated from their hands, and Mack felt himself transported away from the garage:

He was sitting on the couch in his apartment, leaning back and relaxing. He could hear voices in the kitchen-- a man’s baritone, and Daisy laughing-- and music was emanating from a radio a little ways away.

A soft noise from next to him caught his attention, and he glanced over to see Elena, curled up next to him, her head resting on his chest as she hummed along to the song. Mack wrapped an arm around her and dropped a kiss onto her forehead, and she let out a soft noise. “Te amo,” she whispered, and Mack felt a smile pull at the corner of his mouth.

“Love you back,” he said as a wave of contentment swept over him.

Mack’s eyes snapped open and caught hold of Elena’s. To his shock, a slow smile was spreading across her face. “I knew it,” she said.

“Oh, you knew it?” Mack said, trying to steady his voice. “How exactly did you know it?”

“You’ve got your mark on your hand, too,” she said with a shrug. “Other than that… put it together, Turtleman. I wasn’t just hanging around here waiting for my car. Well, other than the first time.”

Mack felt a smile start to grow on his own face, and then another voice broke through his thoughts.

“Holy. Crap.”

Both of them looked at where Daisy was still lounging in her dad’s car, her eyes wide and a huge grin on her face. “This is awesome,” she said.

Mack exchanged a look with Elena. “I’ll call you?” he offered, and Elena snorted.

“Knowing you? I’ll call you first, Turtleman.” Shooting him a wink, she turned and strolled out of the garage, a spring in her step. For a long minute, Mack watched her, feeling himself grinning like an idiot. Then he turned back to his work, making a mental note to learn Spanish.

#alphonso mack mackenzie #alphonso mackenzie #elena rodriguez #yo yo rodriguez #mackelena #daisy johnson #phil coulson #melinda may #bobbi morse #lance hunter #agents of s.h.i.e.l.d #aos #aos fanfic #111 followers celebration #it was dope. the end

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