#specifically so that we can be calm again and have fun together

[princessmaybank]

Crazy JJ Sex Dream

Pairings: JJ x Fem!Friend!reader

Warnings: MDNI, explaining wet dreams

Summary: JJ hearing that you had a wet dream about him that you were telling Sarah and Kiara about

Authors Note: I like cliffhangers if you can't tell! Let me know if you want a part 2!

*Y/N's POV*

"Fine! I'll tell you guys about the dream! But you have to be quiet!" I whisper yelled to the ladies sitting in front of me. I knew the guys were outside and one of the windows was cracked so they could possibly hear something. They both freaked out. "You have a crush on one of the guys?!" Sarah exclaimed almost too loud. I nodded.

"Well John B is obviously off the table." Kiara said looking to Sarah, I only nodded in response. "That leaves Pope or JJ! Unless you just don't want the guys to know about another guy?!" Sarah yelled...again. I shushed her and she apologized.

"It was about JJ." I whispered and their jaws dropped. Anyone could tell they were trying so hard not to squeal.

*JJ's POV*

John B was talking about some stupid shit dealing with Sarah when I heard my name from the room the girls went into. I sat closer to the window to do what one would call eavesdropping.

*Y/N's POV*

"So basically we were at the annual bonfire. You all were there." "Ew we were in your crazy JJ sex dream?" Thankfully Kiara questioned at a whisper. I only nodded back at her. "I was having a fun time dancing and drinking with JJ. He gave me his jacket because I expressed how cold I was to him, which made him get close to me. We started kissing. Pretty heavily might I add."

Both girls were so excited to see where the story was going. They sat criss cross in front of me begging for me to continue. "He whispered in my ear, he asked if we could take this back to the chateau. Of course since it's my brain we magically jumped to the chateau." The girls showed they understood what I meant by giggling.

"He took me inside and laid me on the guest bed. His lips kissed up and down my neck, making me moan when he would suck on my soft spots. Even in my dream he knew what he was doing." I took a pause to sit and think back to my dream.

"He pulled my shorts and panties off, then my tube top. He stopped and admired my body, putting some delicate kisses where he saw fit. He gave me one more sloppy, hungry kiss, before he traveled downward to kiss me below the belt." I secretly squeezed my thighs together after specifically remembering that part.

"Then basically he whipped out his huge cock and flipped me into doggystyle. He said some great things that would make any girl melt, but I'll keep that to myself. Anyways, we cuddled afterwards. It was great. Then there was some more kissing, which led to round 2." I smiled. " What did round 2 consist of??" Kiara asked, getting excited. "I hopped on that dick and rode him like I was a cowgirl!" They squealed so loud then we all had a long laugh. "That sounds fucking awesome." Kiara said. "I'm jealous, I need John B to do that to me." Sarah responded.

Next thing I know I hear the window opening, and JJ peeks in. "What are we talking about ladies?" He asked with a smirk. "Nothin" Kiara was calm. "Nothing!!" I was not. "Just the crazy JJ sex dream Y/N had." Sarah said out loud and realized what she had said but it was already too late. I tried to hide my face from him but he came into the room through the window. "Really? Can I share one of mine?" JJ asked before walking behind me and placing his hands on the back of my chair. The girls nodded eagerly, but in all honesty I really didn't wanna hear JJ talk about dicking some other girl down. I tried standing up but I felt a strong hand push me back into my sitting position.

"It was maybe a few nights ago. I was in my room and this girl came in, gorgeous y/h/c hair, with y/e/c eyes that I could easily get lost in. She was wearing this pretty shade of red lipstick. She was wearing it for herself, but I swear it felt like she only wore it so I could smear the shit out of it." I was slowly getting uncomfortable but the girls were enjoying this. "I sat at the edge of my bed and asked her if she'd be a good girl for me." The girls suddenly felt a little gross about the situation. "I pulled her hair into a makeshift ponytail and she sucked my di-" "Okay JJ you're done, it's not fun hearing you talk about that." Sarah said breaking the news. "You don't wanna hear how I tossed Y/N around, and fucked her so good she couldn't walk straight? What about the time I praised her so well? Or when I was the sub and she dominated me? Maybe the time I fucked her while on the phone with her ex? Or when I went down on her an-" He was cut off by the two girls screaming. He smirked to himself knowing what he did.

Not only was my jaw on the floor, but the girls' definitely were and the guys eventually heard the conversation from the window so they joined as well. "As much as I love telling you all about my sexual fantasies, I think I need to have a private conversation with the star of all of those dreams."

Everyone walked out and while he was turned around to close the window I tried to escape as well. He never turned around he simply said "You have five seconds to get that juicy ass of yours into a chair, baby." I was shocked, but complied.

"What's up Jayj?" I asked, trying to play dumb. He turned around and crouched in front of me. He rubbed his large hands up and down my thighs. "Wanna play a game?" He smirked. Oh fuck...

[donatellawritings]

touch - r. jerimovich

pairing(s): richie jerimovich x f!reader

warning(s): none

song: nothing specific - whatever you desire

Richie absolutely feels the need to constantly maintain physical contact with you, especially if you are in the same vicinity as him, it brings him comfort, plus, it shows everyone that you're his, he'd never waste a chance to show his girl off

If the stars were to align and you both had the day off, nine times out of ten, the two of you would spend it together - whether you chose to spend it at home, or out running errands, Richie made sure to be at your side. If it were to be a day spent on the couch, Richie would be found laying on your stomach, mindlessly toying with the waistband of your shorts as you scratched at his scalp

Now, running errands easily became a challenge with a lover like Richie Jerimovich - if you bent down to grab your favorite box of cereal, there he was, either slapping your backside, or pretending to bang you from behind. And heaven forbid, if the young cashier happened to become a bit too smiley with you, you'd suddenly feel the weight of Richie's arm hanging around your shoulder as he stares down the cashier

Whether it be a drive home from work, or a drive to pick up Eva from school, maybe even a quick drive to pick up your paycheck - Richie's hand never failed to make its way to your thigh as he patted your leg along to the beat of whichever song that happened to be playing on the radio. And boy, did he love whenever you'd randomly lean over the center console to steal a quick kiss from him, even though he'd quickly become stressed out, "I'm going to fuckin' crash, if you keep doing this, sweetheart," and he'd say it with a gleeful smile

Of course, you loved having a bit of innocent fun with Richie's need for physical touch - maybe, you'd purposely brush against him as you made your way through the restaurant, or you'd allow your hand to fall high on his thigh as you leaned over him to talk to Sydney, maybe you'd even slide your hands across his stomach and nuzzle yourself into his side as he obnoxiously ranted to Neil

Now, what Richie loved the most? Showing everyone that you were his girl, and his alone. If you were at the bar, he'd have you sitting in his lap as he bounced his knee. If you were at dinner, he'd have your fingers interlocked with his across the table for the entirety of your meal - he'd even make sure to press his lips to your knuckles every now and again, sometimes he'd playfully bite down on your knuckles, for his own satisfaction.

You would think that his cravings for touch would calm down a bit, once the two of you were asleep, but you couldn't be more wrong. "Come here, baby, its cold," he'd rasp as he groggily pulled you into his chest, hooking your leg over his front as you sleepily hummed in response. And if you'd manage to roll over in your sleep, Richie would somehow find himself with his head laying on your chest with his hand cupping your breast, underneath his oversized shirt that you'd staked your claim on

Richard Lawrence Jerimovich absolutely loved taking showers with his girl. Half of the time would be spent with him rambling on and on about his frustrations at work, while you stood of your tiptoes to properly shampoo his hair, "Hold on, babe, let me fuckin'," he turned you around as he began to work the shampoo into your hair, "ah, there we go, so I fuckin' told Carmen-" and he'd continue his rant, unknowingly lulling you into a silent trance, but he didn't care, he got to play with his girl's hair while she leaned her naked body into his touch

Maybe physical touch eased his always looming cloud of anxiety? Maybe it made him feel wanted by the one he cherished the most? Richie doesn't know what it was about feeling you that could bring him back down to earth, even at his most blistering fits of rage, but it soothed him, it made him feel safe. Feeling you was a reminder to him that he has you, and god, Richie Jerimovich can never get enough of his girl

-

thank you so much to my first ever anonymous request who sent this in <3 this was so so so much fun and cute to write and thank you for being my first request xoxo

[readsaboutreid]

Permanent Solution (part II) | S.R.

contains: lots of discussion of suicide, other typical criminal minds violence, heavy heavy angst but a happy ending (i promise!), MORGAN GETS REDEEMED

look i'm sorry to put spencer and reader through so much pain T-T but also i wanted to use my own negative thoughts in a better way than just stewing in them so i adapted them to fit this

i also had someone request that i tag them so i guess if you'd like for me to tag you in future posts lmk and i'll add you onto a taglist! when you request just specify if you want to be tagged for a specific part 2 (or continuation of a specific story) or tagged for any future fics :)

Spencer jolted awake, the faint ringing of his alarm clock dragging him out of sleep. He sat up and rubbed his sore neck, wondering why his alarm sounded like it was in a different room. And then the memories from the previous night came rushing back to him, and he realized that it sounded that way because it was, in fact, coming from a different room. He had fallen asleep on the couch, Dr. Mewshroom taking up (Y/N)’s usual place wrapped in his arms. He checked his phone, no missed calls from her (but about 20 from Garcia, and only one voicemail, also from Garcia), and the clock on its little digital screen told him it was 6:30 AM. He got up and went into the bedroom, checking to see if maybe she had decided against waking him. Anxiety rushed through his veins when he saw the empty bed, and he called her phone again, which rang four times before going to voicemail.

“Hi, you’ve reached the voicemail of Dr. (Y/L/N), I can’t come to the phone right now but if you leave your name and number, I’ll return your call as soon as I am able. Thanks!” Beep.

He swallowed, struggling around the lump forming in his throat. He got a call from Hotch right as he started getting dressed for a day off (much earned after their last case). “I’m sorry, Reid, but I need you and (Y/L/N) here immediately. We have a new case, local, and we need all hands on deck for this one. I need you two in the briefing room in 20 minutes.” Spencer groaned internally at the prospect of back-to-back cases but confirmed that he’d be there. Then, he covered for (Y/N)’s absence. He said that she was sick and couldn’t leave the bathroom for longer than five minutes at a time and that seemed to be all the convincing Hotch would need. “Since the case is local that’s fine, she can join us when she recovers. But get here ASAP, Reid.” Click.

Spencer took a deep breath to calm the anxiety bubbling in his gut and chest. This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it hadn’t happened since they had moved in together five months ago. Since she had stopped taking The Walk. He took a deep breath and assured himself that the chances of (Y?N) being missing were slim-to-none.

Spencer walked through the glass doors of the BAU and hurried to the round table, the last one of the team to enter. He nodded to Garcia, Prentiss (who looked like she had a very fun mystery date the previous night), Hotch, and Rossi. He pointedly ignored the greetings of both JJ and Morgan, the latter rolling his eyes slightly at the passive aggressive behavior.

“Reid, glad you could make it. Okay JJ, fill us in,” Hotch nodded to JJ, who stepped forward and placed a file in front of each of them.

"Where's (Y/N)?" Penelope asked Spencer, giving him a confused and worried look. He avoided her gaze as he muttered something about her having a stomach bug while he took his seat.

“Last night, a body turned up in the Anacostia River, near the 11th Street bridge,” JJ began as she placed files in front of each of them. Spencer’s blood ran cold, and his stomach dropped at her words. Not there, anywhere but there.

“It’s the third body they’ve found this month, and the timeframe between bodies seems to be around the same each time, one week. All the victims are female, mid-to-late 20s, and all three had a history of multiple suicide attempts," she explained, pulling up some of the crime scene photos on the projector in front of them.

“Hold up, JJ,” Morgan interjected, “if all three victims have a history of suicidal tendencies, how do we know these aren’t just run-of-the-mill suicides?”

“Each body was disposed of in a large black trash bag,” Hotch explained.

“That and they found evidence of torture as well as ligature marks on the wrist and ankle of each of the victims,” she elaborated, switching the slide to show some of the coroner’s photos. Electrical burns littered the torso of the victim on the slide, and Spencer's stomach churned at the sight. She looked so much like (Y/N) it was uncanny.

“Each victim has a similar build and they've all got the same hair cut and color,” Prentiss observed, “maybe a surrogate for the Unsub’s real target?” Please, no.

"Could be a mother or girlfriend," Rossi speculated. "Do the DC police have any idea of where he's taking his victims from, or is it just the dump site that they know? And are there any witnesses?"

"Until last night, the victims had all been taken from their homes with no witnesses on what the police assume were the same nights the previous victims' bodies had been dumped," JJ answered, "but last night he seems to have escalated and abducted someone straight from the bridge itself according to a nearby eyewitness, a man who had been out for a late night jog. They found this—" she clicked to the next slide, "at the scene, along with the victim's cell phone, both of which have been bagged as evidence and are at the local precinct."

Spencer’s world came to a crashing, burning halt. In the image on the screen was a rather generic looking, but still all too familiar, green knit cardigan and black cell phone with a cracked screen. No one else had seemed to put it together yet, except perhaps Rossi, who had shifted his gaze to Spencer.

"Do we know the identity of the most recent abductee—" Prentiss had started to ask before Spencer had to stand and run to the trash can to vomit.

"That's some stomach virus," Rossi mused, giving Spencer a concerned and knowing look.

"Reid? Are you alri—" Prentiss was cut off again, this time by Hotch.

"Prentiss, Morgan, go to the location where the bodies were found, and the most recent victim abducted. Track down the eye witness through any means possible and interview him. Rossi and JJ, you two head to the precinct. Reid, my office. Now." Hotch issued the orders with a deeper sense of urgency than usual. Spencer stood and shakily walked to Hotch's office after the rest of the team had hurried off, and as soon as Hotch entered and closed the door behind him Spencer’s legs gave out, leaving him to collapse onto his knees.

"Talk,” Hotch said, his tone dangerously quiet.

"(Y/N)'s not sick," he managed to choke out between the gasping sobs that now wracked his chest. "Di-didn't— come home— last night," his words were punctuated by gasping breaths. "M-my sweater— wearing my sweater—" he couldn't breathe, and his vision was like looking through a tunnel, the edges getting darker and pushing in more and more with each second, he struggled to inhale. He shouldn't have gone home last night. He should have gone after her.

"And you have reason to believe she was at the 11th Street bridge?" Hotch questioned.

"She used to walk there every night," Spencer jumped at the sound of Garcia's hollow voice coming from behind him. He hadn't even noticed her come in through his panicked haze. "When she first started here. It's why she always looked so tired those first five months, because she'd barely sleep. She'd walk there and pace back and forth along the bridge. Sometimes she'd just sit on the railing."

"Sh-she hasn't been there in months," Spencer's voice was hoarse, "but last night she— something happened that upset her and she walked off—" another round of sobs forced their way out. "Hotch, he's gonna—" Spencer reached for the trash can next to Hotch's desk and vomited again, and again.

"Spencer," Hotch knelt in front of the young agent, gently moving the trash can to the side. "Deep breaths. I know you're terrified. If you need to take yourself off the case, don't worry. We'll find her."

"Off the case?" He panted, trying to steady his breathing.

"Well you're clearly in no state to be doing much of anything. I don't think anyone on the team would blame you for having to step back on this one," Hotch reasoned.

"What? No, no I've got to find her!" He felt his head clearing a bit as his breathing finally returned to a normal rhythm, his vision slowly returning until he could see the full room properly.

"Reid, are you sure that’s a good idea—"

"Hotch," Spencer interrupted, "I can't just do nothing while he tor—" he reached for the trashcan and vomited yet again at the thought of what the Unsub was going to do to her, what he probably already was doing to her; he was honestly surprised there was anything left for his stomach to throw up at this point. “I can’t just sit by and watch, knowing that every second she’s there with him she’s being subjected to one sort of torture or another.”

Hotch paused and observed Spencer briefly before he rose to his feet and offered Spencer a hand to help him stand, as well. “Take a few minutes to compose yourself and then meet me at the SUV downstairs. We’ll head to the precinct together and you can fill me in on what happened that upset her last night. It might help with the victimology, which you’re going to be working on with me for now since you know (Y/N) better than anyone else.”

“Thank you, Hotch,” Spencer managed to force out, the words quiet and trembling. Hotch left the office and Garcia lingered, giving Spencer a look of pure sorrow.

“I— I’m so sorry, Spencer,” she began, an echo of their conversation outside of the bar last night.

“Garcia, this isn’t your fault,” he responded, continuing the reprisal.

“When you didn’t call me last night I—I just figured that you two had—I don't know—kissed and made up and fallen asleep, I didn’t realize that she never even made it home,” her voice broke on the very last word, and her hand shot up to her mouth as sobs began to escape. Spencer’s legs were still shaky, but he managed to cross the room to her and give her a tight embrace. “I—no, you shouldn’t have to comfort me right now, Spencer, I’m sorry!”

“Consider this me returning the favor from yesterday,” he muttered, his own voice tearful while he kept holding on to her. He swallowed around the lump in his throat.

“Spencer, you have to find her before he can—”

“I know. I will,” he said, trying his very best to sound determined. Instead, his voice came out sounding more like that of a frightened boy than a grown FBI agent.

“What’s going on with Reid?” Emily asked Derek, giving him a quizzical look from the passenger seat of the SUV.

“Last night I sort of went off on (Y/N) after one too many glasses of whiskey and I may have told her nobody wanted her there,” he confessed, shame swirling in his head as he drove. He didn’t really dislike her; he found her demeanor slightly off-putting, but he had felt the same way about Reid when he first joined the team, and she was an excellent profiler, so the least he could do was give (Y/N) the same benefit of the doubt he had given Reid. “Garcia tore me a new one after he had come back into the bar and told us that she had broken things off between them because of my...outburst.”

“Damn it, Morgan,” Emily muttered, flipping through the file in her hands. “You see, this is why we can’t have nice things!”

“Look, look, I know I was wrong about what I said to her, but I can’t turn back the clock. I’ll just have to find her and apologize once she’s feeling better.” They approached the 11th Street bridge, and he stopped the car and put it in park. They both stepped out into the crisp morning air, a light fog slightly obscuring their vision.

“According to the witness statement, this guy was out for a late-night jog when he called the non-emergency police line after seeing a man toss what the was presumed to be trash into the river in a giant black trash bag,” Emily recited what she had read from the file on the drive there. “But he called 911 when he said he heard what sounded like the start of a scream and then saw the struggle before saying the woman went entirely limp. Report says he tried to catch up with the Unsub, who then got into an unmarked black van and drove away.”

"Looks like the CSI team may have missed something," Derek called out to Emily as he caught a glimpse of what looked like an earring and some dried blood under some fallen leaves on the bridge. He snapped a glove onto his hand, and when he pushed the leaves aside he felt his blood run cold. He'd recognize this earring anywhere. "Oh, no."

"I-I like your earrings," a soft, small voice spoke from behind Derek and Penelope as they did their morning flirting routine. They both turned and saw the newest member of the team looking shyly at Penelope.

"Oh these? Thanks! You know, I could make you a pair if you'd like," Garcia smiled at (Y/N), whose eyes widened in panic.

"O-oh! No, don't worry, y-you don't n-n-need to trouble yourself like that!" The young agent hurried off in a panic.

"That was...weird," Derek mused to himself as he walked to his desk.

"I guess she decided to take up Garcia's offer on a pair of her own after all," he muttered, his voice sorrowful.

"What'd you find, Morgan?" Emily asked as she made her way over. "Is that one of Garcia's earrings? How'd that get here?"

"She had offered to make a pair for (Y/N) right around the time she joined the team," Derek explained before looking up to find Emily's face falling at the realization.

"Oh, god," she gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "Bag that, I'll call Hotch and let him know what we found."

"I'll also call Garcia, ask her to get the address of the witness. We got to get (Y/N) out of there ASAP." Derek pulled out his phone and dialed Garcia.

"What, Derek?" She snapped, and Derek had to fight every urge in his body to playfully argue with her to try to lessen her anger with him. There were more pressing things he had to talk about right now.

"Hey, Garcia, we found something at the scene," he began, "it was, uh, an earring you had made for (Y/L/N) from the looks of it. Got a little bit of dried blood on the post." He took in a deep breath before adding on, "I'm sorry." The line was silent for a minute before she finally spoke again.

"Poor Reid," she whispered, her voice tearful. He could hear her take a shaky breath before she asked, "what, uh, what do you need me to do?"

"I need the address of the witness, a man named Jonathan Levi," he he explained.

"Yeah, uh, yeah I can get that for you right now," she said, her voice growing stronger. He could almost see her wiping her tears from her cheeks as he heard her sniffle on the other end. "I'm sending it to your phone now. And Derek?"

"Yeah, baby girl?"

"You find this son of a bitch," she said before the line disconnected.

"We will," he said to himself.

"Prentiss," Hotch's voice came through Emily's cell phone, "what have you been able to learn from the crime scene?"

"Uh, well not very much, yet. Morgan's calling Garcia to get the address of the witness so we can interview him," she answered, trying to keep her voice from sounding shaky. She failed.

''But?" Hotch pressed.

"...but we did find an earring with some dried blood on the post that was missed under some leaves," she added, swallowing nearly audibly. "Earrings that—that Morgan thinks Garcia had made for (Y/L/N) a little while back."

"Thanks, Prentiss. I've got Reid with me, I'll let him know what you've found," Hotch said before the line disconnected.

"—yeah, baby girl?" She heard from where Morgan stood, followed by a determined, "We will."

"Prentiss!" He called out, heading to the black SUV. "Garcia sent me the address, can you drive?" He tossed her the keys and she caught them, jogging over to the drivers' seat.

"Reid, you doing okay?" Rossi asked him as they rushed to the home they had finally tracked the Unsub to.

"I—I just—," he stammered, swallowing the lump in his throat. "I just hope we get to her in time." His voice was barely above a whisper.

"We know he keeps them for a week. It's only been three days," Spencer felt Rossi's hand land on his shoulder. "She's a fighter, Spencer. You know that better than anyone else here."

The address Garcia had tracked down for them led them to the fairly large but still dilapidated house of a man named Andrew Warren, a CNA at a local mental facility who lost his parents in a double suicide as a child, and then his older sister to suicide a month ago after she had gone through multiple rounds of ECT as a teenager in the 1990s.

The other SUV containing Prentiss, JJ, and Morgan arrived at the house slightly before theirs and Spencer could see as his coworkers stopped the car and raced towards the door of the house. Morgan kicked down the door and raced inside right as Hotch put their vehicle in park and Spencer was out of the door before he could hear any of Hotch's orders. He didn't care about orders, right now. All he cared about was getting the love of his life to safety.

As he ran over the threshold of the house, he heard shouting coming from up a bunch of old stairs. He took the steps two at a time and he went up each floor until he finally reached what seemed to be the third floor landing. The shouting became more distinct as he approached and he could make out Morgan negotiating with the Unsub.

"She's weak," the Unsub spat, followed by a whimper from (Y/N) that sent a stab of pure fear through his gut. "Weak members of our species like her need to be removed from the gene pool."

"Drop the knife, Andrew," Spencer heard Morgan say in a calm voice as he rounded the final corner and the entire situation came into his view. The Unsub had (Y/N) in front of him with a knife held to her throat, both of them standing before a large, open window. She was in nothing but her underwear and bra and had multiple electrical burns marring her skin. (Y/N) made eye contact with Spencer and tears started streaking down her cheeks as she mouthed I'm sorry to him, sending a crack through his chest.

"Don't come any closer!" The Unsub screamed as he finally noticed Spencer approaching with his gun drawn. Spencer's eyes widened as he slowly put his gun back into the holster and then raised his hands just as slowly. He halted his steps and took a deep breath.

"It's okay, Andrew," Spencer attempted to sound calm and collected through his panic. "I'm just trying to help."

Spencer looked around the room at JJ and Prentiss who were flanking Morgan in the center, both with their guns drawn. He could hear Hotch and Rossi approaching behind him and he turned and softly told them, "stay back." He then started slowly approaching again as he turned to the Unsub. "I know what you've been through, Andrew," he said, his voice steadier than he thought it would be.

"You lost your parents in a double suicide when you and your sister were little. Your foster parents would torment you and your sister and blamed you both for the way you reacted to the trauma you had been through and your sister ended up institutionalized after a suicide attempt at 17. Once she got out and took custody of you when she turned 18 and you were 16, she had trouble being able to keep up with everything. She started harming herself," Spencer took another shaky breath as he slowly continued forward, watching as tears welled in Andrew's eyes. "And then you lost her, too, when she jumped from the 11th Street bridge a month ago."

"Sh-she was weak, just like my mom and dad." Andrew responded, but his voice cracked and faltered.

"No, Andrew, they weren't weak. They were sick," Spencer reasoned with him. "Your sister was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, just like your parents. She was sick and in pain. She wasn't weak."

"She was weak," Andrew said. "She left me here all alone!"

"I know," Spencer said, the slightest amount of relief sparking within him as the knife at (Y/N)'s throat began to lower. "I know she did. You can't blame yourself, though, Andrew. It's not your fault. They needed help that you couldn't give by yourself, and that's not your fault. Just let her go and we can get you the help that you need." He pleaded with him, his voice wavering slightly as he looked (Y/N) in the eye again and saw all of the fear and pain radiating from them.

"No," Andrew responded as tears streaked down his face. "I can't—" As he raised the knife back to (Y/N)'s neck, Spencer heard the sound of gunfire and watched in terror as Andrew started to fall backward with his arms still around (Y/N). Spencer tried to run to her but didn't make it before they fell through the open window.

"No!" Morgan shouted as he lunged forward, grabbing (Y/N)'s hand right as she fell backward out the window. Andrew's lifeless body plummeted to the ground beneath them, landing with a crunch. "Hold on, (Y/L/N), I've got you!" He called to her as she dangled from the window, his hand her only lifeline.

Spencer rushed forward to his side before reaching his own hand out the window toward (Y/N), and together they pulled her back up through the window. They moved back and Morgan closed the window as Spencer wrapped (Y/N) into his arms while she sobbed in relief.

"I'm so sorry," she muttered into his chest over and over. Spencer just held her close and kept assuring her that she had nothing to apologize for.

I sat on the back lip of the ambulance, a blanket around my shoulders in some borrowed clothes. Spencer refused to leave my side until he was called away by Hotch. "I'll be right back, okay, love?" He looked at me before giving my forehead a soft, gentle kiss and then walked over to our boss.

"(Y/N)," I heard from a few feet away. I turned and was faced with Derek Morgan.

"M-Morgan," I stammered as my eyes widened. "I-I'm so sorry—"

"Stop, (Y/N). You don't have to apologize to me for anything," he started, "I'm the one who needs to be apologizing for my behavior."

"I—you just kept me from being dragged out of a window and likely breaking my neck. You don't owe me anything. I owe you my life." I muttered, looking at the ground.

"You don't owe me anything. I did the same thing for you that I would have done for any other member of this team," he looked at me while I kept my gaze on the ground in front of me. "Look at me, (Y/N)." I looked at him and he looked me right in the eye as he said, "my behavior the other night was uncalled for. "This team is a family, and you are a vital part of that family. We need you, Spencer needs you, and I'm so, so sorry. I hope that you'll let me try to make it up to you in the future."

Vital. He called me vital. That word clanged through me and I broke down crying again. He wrapped me in a bear hug and apologized again. "Th-thank you, Derek." I said, my voice small as I hesitantly wrapped my arms around him in return.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)," he said one more time before releasing me. The paramedics approached and asked if anyone was going to accompany me to the hospital.

"Reid!" Morgan called to Spencer, who had just finished up with Hotch. Spencer raced back to us, his eyes widening and growing concerned when he saw my fresh tears.

"What's wrong?! Is everything okay?" He asked as he gently grabbed me by the shoulders and looked into my eyes. I closed my eyes and nodded, unable to form any words. Vital. I'd never felt that I was wanted or needed anywhere I'd been in my life, much less vital to anyone or anything.

"Paramedics wanna know if you're gonna accompany her to the hospital," Morgan explained, and Spencer agreed in a heartbeat. I was then loaded onto a gurney and into the ambulance, one of the paramedics and Spencer following behind.

Vital. As I looked at Spencer, he grabbed by hand and pulled it up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on the back. "I'm so happy you're alive," Spencer whispered to me, his hand moving to stroke some of my hair out of my face. "I love you, (Y/N)."

@busy-buzzing here's part 2 sorry it took so long!

[maleyanderecafe]

My Menhera Boyfriend is very Cute (Oneshot)

Created by: 子羊ノニク

Genre: Comedy/Romance

This manga has my favorite type of yandere, which is kind of unstable but easy to tame. It seems like it's more or less a oneshot (though with an extra chapter) but I would love to see more of it. This creator actually also created Kareshi ni Donhiki Saretai Minamoto-san which features two yanderes, so we can see that they are no stranger to yandere content. That's always fun to see.

The story starts pretty simply with Ichika meeting up with Yuusei for a date. She sees a bunch of girls swarming Yuusei and decides to wait for him, before she herself is hit on. Yuusei doesn't take to this kindly and protects her from him, getting a bit jealous before she's able to calm him down. Later on, the two of them are seen at her apartment watching a movie together. Ichika tries to get up and use the restroom, but Yuusei stops her, getting jealous that she's trying to talk to a friend, before Ichika reassures him. At school, Ichika receives a threatening note from a girl telling her to break up with Yuusei. Yuusei gets angry again, initially believing that she got a letter from a guy before Ichika tells him what's going on. Yuusei seems to calm down, even stating that he'd burn his face so that she won't have to go through such hard times, before Ichika ends up reassuring him and tell him not to do that. The extras has a similar scenario where the two eat at a restaurant and Ichika burns her mouth. This prompts Yuusei to want to threaten the waiter, before Ichika calms him down again. He actually gets his tongue burnt this time and she gives him her drink so he can cool off.

This oneshot very vaguely reminds me of both Hysteria and How to Train your Handsome but Overbearing Boyfriend, especially the latter since they have similar traits. Like I said in those two recommendations, I really like this types of yandere since again, I tend to write/create my own yanderes to be like this. The idea of having a cute yandere that is overprotective of you but also easy to tame is pretty nice to have, and I like seeing the reactions of both Ichika and Yuusei as they navigate the dates, hang outs and other things within their lives. It seems that although Ichikia has her hands full with dealing with Yuusei and his jealousy, she ultimately loves him and wants the two of them to be happy. He's mostly a light yandere since he doesn't do anything drastic or cause that many problems, but it's always nice to see yanderes that are loved by their darling. I also just like the really long earrings that he wears when the two of them are out on dates and whatnot? I think it would be really cute to see the two of them in a longer series just exploring their relationship.

Although this is a oneshot, I am curious to see what other kinds of stories this creator makes since this is part of an anthology of stories which means there could be more than one yandere in it (as the author has a fondness of them) or just make this specific oneshot longer and into a smaller series. I did enjoy this one, so if you have a fondness for lighter and cute yanderes, this one might be for you.

[httpseungmxn]

Plushies

Quackity X Streamer!Female Reader

🍬 - fluffy

Authors Note: Hi there Angels, welcome back to another Quackity fic! I had some very sudden inspiration to write this fic and hardly any plans for it aside for that it continues off from the last one, so I’m just going for it! Hopefully it isn’t too bad and you guys can enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it! <3

Warnings: slight bit of cussing because its Q and he is brushing off onto reader:p, reader is called “hermosa” again!

Triggers: None as far as I am aware!

Since your birthday stream last month, your streams have been constant and exciting. You figured when the birthday stream ended, everyone would unfollow and disappear, but they didn’t. People actually enjoyed the content you did, and thought the streams were fun to watch. It was the same way with Alex. You assumed he would just unfriend and move on with his life, but instead he was constantly inviting you to calls to stream with him.

You two were now known as the chaotic duo on twitch. You both were constantly causing chaos everywhere. Streams, calls, games, etc. How were you causing chaos? In minecraft, tnt and mobs were constantly being dropped by the both of you. It was just little things that erupted into big messy things.

Speak of the devil. Interrupting yet another one of your streams was Q who had a very specific ringtone that the fans knew. Declining the call to focus on the timed obby your doing, just to get another call from the boy.  

“ Yes chat, that’s Q calling. This is like the fourth time since I started streaming. “

The chat was blowing up making comments about Alex being clingy and shipping the two of you together.

Finally deciding to answer the call when he called one las time.

“ Alex Quackity, if you cause me to lose this record, I will be coming for you next in the minecraft event. “

“ Its so rude to ignore me, ___, I’m your bestfriend! “

Letting out a snort at the slight whine in his words, knowing it was just a teasing thing. You focused back on your task while waiting for the man to speak up about what he called you for. He never did though. Instead he stayed eerily silent which was definitely not like him at all.

Letting out a yelp when he suddenly let out a scream.

“ alex, what the hell! “. Not getting a response but instead a notification that he had begun streaming as well to which you pulled it up on your phone. As soon as you caught sight of him, you busted out into laughter. 

There he sat in his chair with a box in his right hand, staring at the camera with a deadpan, covered in little stuffed cats and bunnies. The look on his face would surely be later turned into a meme by one of his fans.

“ ___, care to explain ? “ , waiting for your giggles to calm down. Looking down at the toys covering his lap, before looking back up to the camera.

“ happy birthday? “ ,was all you could muster before you were laughing again.

“ my birthday isn’t till December! What am I gonna do with all of these! “, regretting the question as soon as he said it, because of what chat began saying next.

“ no chat! I am not using it as a personal body pillow! Don’t bring ___ into this! Shes in big trouble, chat! “.

Your laughing suddenly came to a stop at his words. Glad the chat can’t see you because you know they’d all be freaking out over how red your cheeks were. Letting out a soft cough and focusing back on the obby until you made it to the end. “ we did it chat! “.

“ ___, chat is wondering when you’ll do a face reveal “,

“ I’ll do a face reveal when you do a hair reveal “,  “ so never? “. Letting out a soft laugh and shaking your head. 

“ No, I’ll do one. I want to, just hadn’t really put two thoughts in it to be honest. I have a facecam attached to my computer. “, the dramatic gasp Alex let out had you giggling again. 

“ you’ve been denying us from seeing your face, hermosa? Are you crazy? Let us see you! “, his nickname had you red all over again. 

“ you guys really want to see? “, you knew you really didn’t have to ask that question because you already knew the answer both from chat and Alex, you just wanted to see the reactions. Feeling satisfied when both chats blew up, and Alex began to frantically nod his head.

“ well, okay, here we go. “, feeling nervous as you turned on the Facecam and looked to it, waving shyly at it as a greeting to them. Rubbing your hands gently on your thighs as you looked to the chat to read over reactions. Smiling brightly at all the compliments you were getting. You looked to alex’s stream to see his reaction and held yourself back from blushing when you noticed him just staring at you.

“ Earth to Alex, are you there? “

“ ____, why did you deny all of us this sight? You are absolutely stunning, hermosa!  “, that brought out the blush. Thus forth causing chat to go wild over the interaction between you two. “ thank you, weirdo, now do you want to play a game with me? “.

“ yes! Lets play baddies “.

Somehow you knew that he was going to want to play that, but truthfully you didn’t mind. You would play anything right now if it turned the conversation to something else. You didn’t think you’d be able to live if Alex tried to have a whole conversation with chat over how pretty you were. 

The both of you streamed together for about another hour and played together on facetime for another four hours. More than half of the time spent with him making comments denying him the sight and the other percentage was spent kicking his ass in Baddies. He didn’t seem to mind much and took the time to admire your beauty while you beat his avatar to his demise.

When you both were tired of gaming it was late. You both were exhausted but wanted to talk a while more. You didn’t mind staying on facetime so late, Alex made you feel comfortable. Comfortable enough to listen to his voice talking to you about streaming as you fell asleep. The facetime staying on the whole night with both of you sleeping peacefully.

This was the day you learned your feelings for Alex.

Authors ending note; Soo how was that? This one was definitely more lengthy than the last one and I didn’t really know how to format the talking so I just kind of made it work! Hopefully you guys enjoyed this one because it was really fun to write! Also this gif is going to be at the end of every q fic because its like hes cheering at me for finishing! Please let me know if you want more Quackity fics and send me in some asks! Until next time, My Angels 🫶

[hotmessmaxpress]

in your a/b/o au how would marc's first heat after they got back together would happen? also and especially compared to all the heats he had to spent alone suffering?

also can we have a little something about how and when vale bit marc pretty pleaaaaase 🙏🏻

okay this isn't his actual heat but it's been sitting in my drafts and I think it needs to see the light of day

Marc knows that now that he and Vale are fully mated, he'll be spending heats with Vale. That's part of the point of being mated. Still, when he knows it's coming up he's too nervous to tell Vale. He's still too conditioned to expect rejection from the older man. His instinct to tell his mate is at war with his heart trying to protect him from pain.

Vale isn't stupid, though. He puts so much effort into learning all of Marc's smells and feelings and behaviors that he can tell immediately when Marc is off.

So Marc is trying to come up with a plan for how to handle it-- how to explain to Vale that he doesn't even know what to do with himself because he is so conditioned to dread heats. He's so used to suffering through them and being miserable and yearning during them. He can't even picture what it's going to be like.

Then it's imminent, and Vale can tell that they've got to be less than twelve hours away from it hitting and Marc still hasn't acknowledged it. So he just asks.

"What do you need for your heat? Bez always wants specific snacks and pillows and I want to make sure we have them," Vale asks with an eye roll, poking fun at Bez.

Marc is frozen in place, somehow surprised that his mate managed to figure out his very obvious symptoms of an oncoming heat.

Marc bursts into tears.

He's hormonal and tired and worried and something about hearing Vale's concern just throws him completely off.

Vale takes him into his arms immediately, terrified that he's somehow misread the situation and that he's hurt Marc again. So he pulls Marc close, thankful that the smaller man lets him do that despite whatever misstep just occurred.

And Marc tucks his face into Vale's neck, so soothed by the smell of his mate that he's able to calm down.

"I don't know," he says quietly, not letting go, even when that sentence makes Vale tense up. "I don't know what I like or need. I normally just-- I normally just lay there and wait for it to be over."

Marc feels guilty for the stress he can smell on Vale, who is frozen and speechless.

"You don't-- Marc you don't ever have someone help you?"

Marc shakes his head.

"I didn't want anyone or anything but you."

Not for the first time, Vale doesn't even know how to make up for that level of pain and hurt. It feels like a physical blow to the chest, knowing how deeply he failed as an alpha. He takes Marc into their bedroom, and guides Marc toward the bed. He's a little surprised when Marc takes a step away from him and starts throwing a nest together, but he waits patiently to be invited into bed.

When Marc allows him he wastes no time climbing into bed with him and wrapping him up in his arms again. They both are able to relax then, now that they're safe and warm in the nest.

"Tell me what they've been like," Vale insists gently.

Marc tangles his fingers in Vale's shirt, avoiding his eyes as he explains.

"When I went into heat it was just... I didn't want anyone other than you. I couldn't. I couldn't enjoy it and I didn't want to. I just wanted you. I locked myself in a room and waited it out."

Vale can't imagine how painful that would have been, and he also can't imagine that was good for Marc physically. He admittedly doesn't know much about omega biology, but he knows enough to know it would have been terrible. He runs a hand up Marc's arm and shoulder to where his healed bite mark sits, and he thinks about the pain there. He imagines it must have been agony; the pain from the infected bite and the pain of suffering through a heat completely alone.

There's a lump in his throat and he kisses Marc's forehead, feeling the heat underneath his skin.

"I'm never leaving you alone again," Vale says, vehemently.

"I know," Marc says sweetly. He tilts his head up, seeking a kiss, and Vale obliges. It's chaste and quick, but it feels loaded with significance. A promise of more, in the future.

[multi-fandoms-posts]

Training Chaos

X Men Masterlist

It’s a quiet afternoon at the School. Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are standing in the large training hall. Both are focused on training their powers or at least trying to. But as soon as Y/N enter the room, you know that focus won’t last long.

Charles stands upright with his arms crossed in front of his chest, while Erik stands next to him with a skeptical expression. They both look serious, but you know them well enough to understand that they’re quite easy to tease behind that façade. And that’s exactly what you’re planning to do today.

"Hey, guys," you call out with a mischievous grin as you close the door behind you. "Who slept upstairs last night? Or did you switch again?"

Charles’ eyebrow twitches slightly, but he holds back and replies calmly, "Y/N, we’re trying to train here. We should—"

"Train?" You interrupt him, your gaze deliberately wandering over his body. "So that’s what you call it? That explains why Erik always looks so… tense." You wink at Erik, who exhales deeply as if trying to maintain his patience.

"Y/N," Erik says calmly, though there's an undercurrent of humor he can’t completely suppress. "If you’re going to distract us, at least try to do it with some class."

"Class?" You laugh softly and move closer to him. "Oh, Erik, I thought you liked direct approaches. You know, how… ‘specific’ I can be." Your finger lightly trails over his chest as you circle him, feeling his muscles tense slightly.

Charles clears his throat, trying to regain control. "Y/N, we really have work to do. It would be… better if you—"

"Charles, Charles, Charles…" You slowly move toward him, placing a hand on his shoulder and looking deeply into his eyes. "I thought you liked it when I… challenge you." Your tone is deliberately ambiguous, and you see his eyes flicker before he regains his composure.

But before Charles can respond, the door suddenly opens. Wade Wilson—Deadpool—bursts in, wearing his typical red and black suit, and his face lights up as he sees you, Charles, and Erik.

"Ohhh, jackpot!" he exclaims loudly, theatrically rubbing his hands together. "I was actually just looking to mess with Logan, but THIS? It’s like Christmas and Valentine’s Day all rolled into one!"

You grin at Wade and make a theatrical bow. "Wade! You’ve come at just the right time. I’m having fun throwing Charles and Erik off balance a bit. Want to watch?"

Wade promptly sits on a bench, propping his chin on his hand as if he’s at a show. "Of course, Darling! You know I love drama. So, what did I miss? Any hot comments about Xavier’s telepathic ‘abilities’?"

You throw Wade an amused grin, then turn back to Charles, whose face shows a hint of embarrassment despite his usual composure. "Oh, Wade, you have no idea. Charles here isn’t just good at reading minds; he also… well, let’s just say he knows how to twist someone’s brain in other ways."

Charles clears his throat again, this time a bit louder, trying not to react to your cheeky grin. "Y/N, I really think that—"

"What? That I talk too much?" You lean closer to him, almost brushing your lips against his ear. "Or is it that you just have a hard time focusing on other things when I’m around?" You playfully slide your hand along his side, and though Charles remains outwardly calm, you feel his breath catch for a moment.

Erik, who has been trying to stay serious, finally shakes his head and lets out a soft laugh. "You’re driving him crazy, Y/N."

"Oh, Erik, you know that’s nothing new." You give him a meaningful look. "But don’t worry, I’ve got enough energy to throw you off balance too. We all know how much you like to keep control… at least most of the time."

Wade claps his hands, thrilled by the dynamic unfolding before him. "This is better than any soap opera! So, Charles, when are you finally going to let her have at it? I mean, we all know you’re just trying to look professional."

Charles sighs, but this time he can’t hide a slight smile. "Wade, if you only came to stir up trouble, then—"

"Trouble?!" Wade jumps up and dramatically approaches Charles. "Darling, I LIVE for trouble! But honestly, what’s happening here is the real reason I’m here. I mean, three sexy mutants pushing each other to the edge of insanity? I should have brought popcorn!"

Erik, who has been silently watching, steps forward and crosses his arms, his eyes on you. "Maybe we should kick Y/N out of the training hall if she can’t behave."

You grin at Erik, moving closer until you can feel his breath. "Oh, I can behave… but you know you secretly enjoy it when I don’t." You let your hand glide lightly along his arm. "And honestly, Erik, you don’t mind giving up control every now and then. At least sometimes."

Erik raises his eyebrows slightly, but the smile on his lips shows that you’re right. "Maybe you should focus on what you really want."

"Oh, I know exactly what I want." Your gaze shifts between Erik and Charles. "Two of the most powerful men I know… and neither of you can resist me."

Wade interrupts your playful banter with an amused laugh. "Wow, Y/N, I’m really impressed. You manage to drive two guys crazy at the same time. Respect!"

Charles sighs deeply and puts his hands on his hips. "I think we should end the training for today. It seems someone has already caused enough disruption."

You wink at him and back toward the door. "Disruption? Oh, Charles, that was just the beginning. But you know where to find me if you need more."

With a cheeky grin, you leave the training hall while Wade, Erik, and Charles watch you go. Wade calls after you, "You’re my role model, Y/N! I could learn a lot from you!"

Erik just shakes his head, while Charles shows a gentle smile that expresses both affection and amusement. Despite all your teasing and cheeky remarks, they both know that you have their hearts as firmly in your grasp as they have yours.

And so, the unusual trio remains intact, in a strange but beautiful balance of love, chaos, and a bit of madness.

[totallybakedcake]

hihi!~ I saw you were accepting wind breaker requests and I would loveeee to hear your thoughts about how the furin boys (mainly suo, kiryu, and kaji) react to their s/o flirting with another guy to get the attention of their recently very busy boyfies? >< alternatively, would LOVE your thoughts on how the furin boys protect u from some creepy guys that won't stop bothering you at school (⌒▽⌒)☆

Such a cute request and I really really wanted to write windbreaker boys as overprotective. Seriously my favourite types of fics are where the female (specifically) is hurt and the male patches her up. My second favourite is overprotective male boyfriend/bestie. So specific and I can't find fics like these nowadays. My favorite windbreaker boys are Kaij, Suo and Kiryu<3

In their care

You have always been more of an 'it's whatever' person. If something or someone bothers you, you shrug it off and continue the day. Even if it sometimes gets serious, you prefer to get your boyfriend out of it and solve it on your own. Today was no different.

It was a regular day at school, just doing your work and then walking back home, when suddenly a group of guys stopped you. "Hey beautiful. Want to come with us? You can have all the fun you want." His awfully sweet tone made you worried, but footsteps were heard coming your way as they ran off without a second thought.

It was Kaji and his vice captains on patrol, just strolling through the town. "That serves them right, morons." Scoffing, you walked away.

It happened another day. You were just going home as the same guys tried to approach you, but again they went away as furin members were behind you.

Two times is a coincidence, but the third time is not. Those guys would show up every day now just to smirk and walk off. It was starting to make you worried and scared, so you thought it was finally time to tell it to your boyfriend.

I was walking with the brownies you had made and his friends, just thinking about the ways to tell him so that he does not snap. When you arrived, you took a deep breath before going inside.

"Hey Hayato." You called out but saw all the members of Furin training and really having fun with determination. "Hey Sunshine!" Umemiya called out to you with a big grin on his face, "We have started training days where we all train together and get stronger. Isn't it great?"

Suo spotted you and came to you with a smile. "Sunshine, what happened?" His gentle tone was usually honey to your ears, but today it felt different. You knew you couldn't disturb him when he was training so hard. "Uhm, it's nothing. I just wanted to visit you; that's it." He smiled at you before pulling you into a hug. Pulling away and giving him an excuse for extra homework was enough for him to not suspect you. You would tell him later that you must avoid those gangsters.

The next day, it finally broke.

As you were running to get home, being as sneaky as possible, a hand pulled into an alley as your head hit the floor.

"Who will you call this time? Those Furin boys, their patrol time is over, and our fun time is beginning." You cried as your knees bled, and they came closer to touch you.

Ouch, it hurt to fall to the floor again as your head started to bleed. "Gosh, Suo, just please come" was the only thought running through your head as you closed your eyes, preparing for the worst.

The hit never came as you slowly opened your eyes to find Suo just standing there, looking over at the guys who were beaten up badly. They were unconscious, but Suo didn't have a single scratch on himself.

He did not say anything but carefully picked you up in his arms. He wrapped a handkerchief around your head and knees temporarily. His expression went from deadly to calm; it was not the normal calm but something different.

You didn't even dare to speak a single word, just closing your eyes in his warm embrace, feeling safe and protective.

"I am glad you came." You tried to break the silence, but no response came. Sighing, you closed your eyes and almost immediately fell asleep in Suo's warm and safe embrace.

The next time you opened your eyes, it was in your shared bedroom. The lights were switched off as you were wrapped in a warm blanket.

" S-suo?" You called out to your boyfriend, who had some soup and snacks in a tray; he placed them down and sat next to you before saying, "I am sorry, Name, you should have come quicker."

He interweaved his fingers with yours before looking down. It made you feel upset for not telling him. As an apology, you cupped his face and closed your eyes.

Pulling him close, you kissed Suo gently. It was to reassure him that you were okay; everything was fine, and he should not worry about it.

"Suo, it's alright; just forget about it, okay? As a punishment, you are on dinner duty and cleaning duty for two weeks." He couldn't help but laugh before pulling you in for another kiss.

"I am fine with that."

Sorry, needed to make this a 3 part series

[stars4ni]

⊹ ࣪ ˖ kissing into the new year

pairing — bsf chan x gn reader ! 🖤

word count — 611

warnings — drinking, cussing, kissing, mention of sex.

genre — slight suggestive, friends to lovers, first kiss.

notes — happy new year loves! currently gushing over chris and i thought you guys would love a new years imagine <3 also needed to cope with being around couples during the holidays:( hope your new year starts off well!

it was 5 minutes until 12. you were having a great night with your friends and especially your best friend chan. he was sitting next to you with his arm around your shoulder. you and your group of friends were at a big party, sitting in the backyard, you honestly didn’t even know who’s house it was. so many fucking people were here, but you were having fun. you looked over at him taking a sip of his wine, you stared at his face. he looked so perfect under the moonlight. so beautiful. “you want some?” he asked. “hmm?” you were startled and confused on what his pretty lips were asking. “do you want some of my wine?” he asked. “oh yeah sure” you said smiling taking the cup from him taking a sip. “ahh ew” you coughed. “this is why i don’t drink, that’s fucking disgusting” you said then took a sip of your soda. chan laughed, “you are so adorable haha” you blushed from his comment. “shut up” you said as you played with the grass that was beneath you.

you two were sitting away from the others, they were very loud and very drunk. you both wanted to be somewhere calm. you looked over at him, he was already looking at you. “i can’t believe it’s almost 2024, this year has felt so long but also so fast” you said. “i know, it’s weird…how many minutes is left till midnight-” he took out his phone from his pocket. “oh! it’s 12 now!” he said as he looked at you. “oh haha we missed the countdown” you said as you looked over to see the group of drunks kissing their partners, you felt low. he noticed the sudden change that you showed. “what’s wrong hm? don’t have anyone to kiss?” he said as he caressed your thigh. you looked up at him, not saying anything. “well i’m here” he said as he looked you in the eyes. he grabbed your chin and pulled you closer, he stopped, smiled, and admired your face. “can i?” he asked. you nodded. he pulled you into a sweet but powerful kiss. and just like that you were kissing your best friend of 4 years. the fireworks going off in the background, with the mix of cheers and music blasting. it was perfect. he tilted his head, getting a better angle of getting into your mouth. you were so happy, finally after years of loving him you were kissing him. no you were making out with him.

practically eating each others faces by now, he placed his hands on your waist pulling you closer. kisses getting sloppier and sloppier. feeling harder to breathe, loosing your breathe. you pulled away, smiling so big. catching your breath. he smiled at you, breathing hard. “wow” you said biting your lip. “fuck this might be kinda crazy but, im in love with you. I have been for years” he said pushing his lips together anxiously. you scooted closer to him, putting your arms around his neck. “i love you too, i’m so in love with you chan, so fucking much, it’s actually crazy” you said smiling cute. “good” he smiled. kissing you again. “happy new year uh…boyfriend?” you asked. “happy new year my love” he said caressing your cheek. you blushed. “no way this is real” you laughed. “oh baby it’s 100% real” he said as he pushed you back on the grass, kissing you. “wanna take this inside?, we can find a empty room…specifically one with a bed” he smirked. “chan…of course i want to” you laughed, you took his hand as he helped you up.

[artdcnaldson]

omg you just made my day after my long distance bf went home yesterday and i been like lowkey depressed since 😭

anyways!! i have 2 ideas!

first: (set during stanford era with reader also going to stanford) ong distance idea - you and art are on ft with patrick as he’s away competing and it starts off as just you all catching up as you do every night but then art starts feeling needy after a moment where he felt left out of the conversation cuz his adhd ass zoned out and got lost (very me coded tbh haha) and so he starts nuzzling and licking your neck. you don’t pay it any mind at first and just choose to ignore him knowing how your bf can be but then he moves behind you and starts grinding into your ass causing you to start moaning and whimpering. patrick on the other hand is just grinning at his two horny puppies as he encourages but also degrades the both of you as he jerks himself off whilst watching.

second: (set more in 2011 era with you all living together + a lil bit more hardcore so ignore if not comfy with it) tw lil bit of somno. it starts off innocent enough with both you and art deep in a calm puppy space napping together completely naked after going at it all afternoon with only your collars on as you wait for patrick to get home. when patrick gets home, he notices his puppies don’t greet him kneeling at the door as they usually do. he walks further inside and finds you and art on the couch in the living room covered in cum, he smiles at first but then smirks as he specifically told the two of you not do anything without him around but you just couldn’t help yourselves cuz you’re just horny little puppies. he walks over to the two of you, grazes his hand over your pussy making you flinch from how sensitive it is, he smirks again pushing 2 fingers inside of you teasing you awake. you whimper and then moan loudly causing art to wake up and then idk icb assed writing anymore but basically patrick teases the both of you for touching each other whilst he’s gone and then he fucks the both of you without letting either of you cum cuz you’ve cum enough today in his opinion

PUPPY!READER ANDDDD PUPPY!ART…. We won <3

Second concept literally has me salivating shivering shaking and quaking

Because the sight is so cute, Patrick just grins when he sees the two of you. You passed out on top of Art’s body, your hair in his mouth. Your chests and tummies and thighs smeared with dried cum :(( you just got so needy and had to play, neither of you could help it.

And yeah, you’re so sensitive— still wet and slick from Art cumming inside of you. Patrick rubs over your pussy, makes you squirm and sigh beneath him. You slowly wake up as he slips two fingers inside your sticky, used little pussy. It takes a minute as you blink yourself awake, but soon you’re whining and moaning as he thrusts his fingers inside, slow and deep.

Art wakes up, his cheeks pink and flushed as he listens to your moans, as he watches Patrick above you.

“There he is,” Patrick coos, a smirk playing at his lips. “Did you get so sleepy after playing?” Art nods, and Patrick pulls his fingers from your cunt and pressed them between Art’s open mouth. The blond moans, licking them clean.

“Poor little puppies.” Patrick grins, looking at how pathetic you two looked beneath him. “Too needy, hm? Couldn’t wait until I got home? You had to fuck like animals, get all messy and dirty.”

And sighhhh :((( Patrick making his puppies suck his cock together, make them make him cum while he doesn’t even touch them because they already had all their fun today :(( and you’re both whining and eager to please him, but you want his affection and attention so bad :(((

And if he makes you both curl up by his feet instead of sitting with him on the couch, that’s because it’s a privilege for good puppies only :((

[lovelaurs]

HOW SWEET IT IS (TO BE LOVED BY YOU)

pairing : garroth x laurance synopsis : while training in the woods together, laurance suggests the two of them take a break and enjoy each other's company. how will they enjoy it you may ask? well... tags : pre-established relationship, not so secret relationship, dueling, romantic, kissing, making out, suggestive word count : 1k a/n : i originally misunderstood my first request, which was meant to be garrance related and NOT an x reader (my bad). so, here's the awaited original prompt that was meant to be written about in the first place! title is after the same named song by remi wolf! i could see it playing as they kissed so i just HAD to name it after it. hope you enjoy!

MASTERLIST

The sound of metal clashing was all that could be heard within the forest.

Garroth and Laurance were having their weekly training session out in the woods, a place they chose specifically for its factor of being quiet. Nobody would be able to bother them out here.

As they continued their third battle for the day, Laurance dodged attack by attack from his trusty partner, managing to outrun each strike Garroth sent him.

Of course, his luck would only run so long after so many battles today.

With Laurance dodging each of his attacks, Garroth quickly noticed his footwork getting sloppier with each blow, giving him an idea.

His plan ended up being masterful indeed, with himself dodging to the left, catching Laurance off guard and causing him to trip.

With Laurance on the ground and Garroth’s sword aimed at his throat; the duel was over.

Laurance smiled, looking up at O’Khasian. “You win again it seems.”

“Naturally.” Garroth grinned, feigning a sense of confidence as he attempted a hair flip. Laurance couldn’t help but giggle at the blonde, before a mischievous smile arrived on his lips.

“Can we take a break? I have an idea as to what we can do while we rest.”

He pulled back his sword and sheathed it, offering out his hand to Laurance. “Of course.” Garroth tilted his head in curiosity. “What do you have in mind?”

Laurance stood off his knees and took the hand Garroth had offered him, pulling himself up; allowing himself to move in closer to the blonde.

With the proximity between them closing in, Laurance whispered, “Why don’t we have some fun while we’re alone, hm?”

The suggestive tone in his voice was enough to make Garroth fluster; a light pink tinting his cheeks. He knew exactly what Laurance meant. “I-I’m not sure that would be appropriate…” He whispered, “We’re outside, Laurance. I don’t… I don’t want to get caught.” He began to nervously look around.

Laurance trailed a finger from the bottom of his neck to his chin, tilting his head up. “Are you sure? I mean, this is a very covered place… with all the shrubbery, well, I doubt we’d be seen.”

His touch sent Garroth spiraling, his eyes almost fluttering close at the feeling.

The brunette watched as the blonde’s breathing slowed, clearly calmed at Laurance’s touch, and decidedly put his other hand on his waist. 

“Well?”

Garroth drew a deep breath in, closing his eyes as he tried his best to stay composed as the other man teased him. His brain scrambled to try and think of a proper response, but alas, no solid thoughts were produced.

As the blonde was falling into the feeling, Laurance abruptly pulled his hands back and started to back away.

“But hey, if you really don’t want to, I understand-”

Within a second of Laurance trying to deescalate the situation, Garroth swooped forward, pinning the Shadow Knight against the nearest tree, his voice slightly above a whisper as he pleaded, “Please don’t stop.” 

Laurance raised an eyebrow at the request. “Wow, with the magic word and all.”

“I’ve learned from our previous encounters that you love to see me plead, Laur.” “That I do.” Laurance brought his hand around and gripped his ass, drawing a squeak out of the bulkier man.

His hand raised, wandering to the small of his back, letting his hand graze over it while giving Garroth a devious smirk. “What do you want from me, Ro’Meave? I want to hear it.”

“Everything."

That was all Laurance needed to hear before he cupped his cheek in his hand and leaned in; their lips colliding in what felt like perfect harmony.

It seemed that their more, how you say, abrupt romantic encounters were becoming ever so frequent as of late. Could it be because of Laurance’s flirtatious actions? Or perhaps how Garroth’s is so easily flustered? It’s hard to say, really. But with Laurance’s hands wandering over Garroth’s form, and his lips so passionately pressed against his, it wasn’t a hard argument to say they were completely infatuated with each other.

Garroth lowered his hands from the tree and placed them on Laurance’s hips, gripping them and pulling him closer.

Laurance pulled away with a smirk. “It seems that training riled you up, huh, Garroth?”

The blonde didn’t respond, but instead kissed him once more, shutting the brunette up. Oh how he loved doing that.

Usually, the two would fight over who would take the lead, but in this case, it seemed Laurance was fine in complying to Garroth’s overtaking presence. 

Laurance brought his other hand to his cheek as he continued to slowly rub his back as they kissed.

Garroth just couldn’t get enough.

From the way Laurance held him, to the feeling of his slightly bruised, cracked lips against him, and the way he always made sure he was okay whenever he flustered and lost his breath… he loved him.

Even if the man was quite unserious when it came to dire moments, he always made sure Garroth had a smile on his face. And after years of running and never experiencing much happiness behind his safe-guarded helmet? He needed it.

The next thing he knew, tears were running down his cheeks at the realization at just how caring Laurance really was.

Laurance pulled back at the feeling of the salt water against his hand, frowning. “What’s wrong, my love?” He wiped away the trail with his thumb. “Is everything alright?”

The blonde nodded, smiling softly at his lover. “I… I can’t believe you care for me so much.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

Garroth’s grip on Laurance’s hips loosened. “It’s just that I feel unworthy of your love. That I’m not strong enough. Or- Or that I’m just not as good at showing my affection.”

“How about I show you just how worthy you are?” Laurance continued rubbing away the tears. He wanted to show Garroth all the love he deserved.

He leaned into Laurance’s touch, smiling. “I’d like that very much.”

Moments later, Garroth was on the ground with Laurance on top of him, his face in the crook of his neck planting kisses while his hands traced every curve and muscle on his body. 

Laurance pulled his face from his neck and looked Garroth in the eyes; his pupils dilated and lips puffed. “You asked me to do everything to you earlier, correct?”

"Yes…”

“Well mark my words, Garroth Ro’Meave. I’ll make sure you’ll never feel unworthy after this.”

@lovelaurs, 2024. do not repost this work in any way!

[koolades-world]

OK OMG this is so fun so sorry for the long wait, also taking inspo from honkai star rail's heliobi which are basically little fire guys that take a host and feed off their emotions and uses their deepest desire against them which either kills them directly, or drives them insane! fun right?

part one can be found here if you haven't read it or want to reread it haha

dance of the haunted (part two)

Instead of running home, Satan began to run towards the Demon Lord's palace. He still wasn't sure what Lucifer could want, but he thinks it would be wisest to get Diavolo and Barbatos first. He quickly barged in the front door without knocking. Little D's crowded around him, asking what was wrong. He ignored them.

"Barbatos! We need to talk!" He yelled out. Like magic, Barbatos was behind him, a hand on his shoulder.

"What's the matter? No need to yell." He tried to quiet down the disturbed demon.

"I think Lucifer might want to harm Mc over this journal I found. I found it one time at a bookstore and it was Lilith's and it spoke to me as her and I don't really know if it was her and..." Satan began to ramble, spilling out everything at once.

"Lucifer wanting to harm Mc? That seems out of character for him. Are you sure?" Barbatos hushed Satan again.

"I think. He called me asking me to bring Mc home with me, when the matters of this journal don't concern them at all. That journal gave me negative feelings overall and it makes me wonder if it asked for them specifically. I apologize for the lack of detail and how unclear this all is, but I just don't know." Satan confessed.

"Alright. I understand. I will go with you to check this out." Barbatos agreeded.

"Let's get Lord Diavolo too. He might be able to help." Satan sucked in a deep breath to calm himself down a little more.

"As you wish. I'll fetch the young master. Please wait here." Barbatos began to walk away. Satan turned away to pay attention to the chattering, worried Little D's and when he turned back, Barbatos had simply disappeared. He tried to consul them, telling them that everything was going to be alright, but he couldn't even convince himself of that. At some point, Barbatos returned with Diavolo. Satan quickly ran through the story one last time for Diavolo, who seemed the most worried. Together they made their way to the House of Lamentation. They passed Purgatory Hall on the way there. They saw one light on in the kitchen with a shadow passing in front of it. Satan didn't know who it was, but he hoped they would remain safe. Satan dreaded arriving at the place he called home. He wasn't ready. But, did he really have a choice?

As soon he arrived, he decided to make their presence known. He slammed the door open. "I'm here, just as you requested, dearest brother." Satan snarled. A soft buzzing overhead could be heard overhead.

"And where is Mc?" Lucifer was standing with his arms crossed between the double staircases, just like he had predicted. He was in his demon form. His wings rustled, agitated.

“That’s none of your business.” He curtly answered. Barbatos stood behind him silently, while Diavolo started at Lucifer intently. "Where's the journal? I'm not here to mess around."

"How dare you hide something like that from me? Did you steal this?" Lucifer held the book in front of him, clutching it tightly.

"I found it at a bookstore and bought it. Why does it matter?" Satan was already frustrated. He let out a sharp breath of air from his nose.

"Because this is one of the few thing I managed to recover from the Celestial Realm. It went missing a while back and after finding this in your room I can only assume you are responsible." Lucifer pointed an accusatory finger at Satan.

"Don't you think you would have found it sooner? This is pointless. What do you even want?" Satan's tail lashed about behind him. He had transformed at some point. Barbatos opened his mouth, but paused as they heard a thump behind them. They turned around to see Beel with the sternest expression on his face Satan had ever seen. His arms were crossed and he started at them with dead, unreadable eyes.

"Lucifer, what is all this about? You know you can always talk to me, right?" Diavolo spoke up.

"You have no part in this conversation. You couldn't bring Lilith back to me. Nothing that comes out of your mouth matters anymore, Diavolo." Lucifer snapped back. Satan froze for a moment. He had never heard Lucifer address Lord Diavolo with such animosity. Diavolo paused too.

"That's absolutely no way to speak to your Prince, Lucifer." The tension in the room could have been cut with a knife. The way Diavolo spat out Lucifer's name was something Satan never thought he would hear, no less see them on separate sides of anything this serious. "You of all demons would know I did everything in my power to resolve the situation as best as possible. If I had done what you initially asked, we would have risked war with the Celestial Realm." Diavolo sighed, malice growing in his usually kind features.

"You took advantage of me. I knew what I was getting into but it wasn't clear that by save her, you would rip her away from me. Now, we can be together again, no thanks to you lousy idiots." Lucifer held the book out in front of him.

"Lucifer, what are you talking about?" Satan watched as Lucifer opened the green journal. A mysterious wind whipped up the pages and opened it to a specific page. A tiny woman popped out, sitting on the edge of the book. As she jumped off of it and onto the ground, she grew into a more normal size. She was beautiful, and eerily reminded Satan of Mc in a few ways he couldn't place. Looking into her eyes was just like looking into Mc's. However, instead of appearing fully fleshed out, she was opaque and flickered in and out of existence. Her hands passed though anything she touched. Her smile would have lit up the room if it didn't seem so empty. That had to be what Lucifer thought was Lilith. Based on the reactions of Diavolo and Barbatos, his fear was confirmed.

"Hello Luci!" She threw her arms around his middle. "I've missed you." Lucifer smiled a smile Satan had never seen before, something that was clearly reserved for Lilith. But, he knew that couldn't be Lilith. She had died so long ago. This wasn't his brother's sister. Like moths to a flame, his brothers began to appear, like they sensed her arrival.

“Lilith!” Asmo flung himself at her after basically leaping off the top of the staircase. Beel stepped out from behind them and stared in awe.

“It’s good to have you back.” Lucifer told her. Satan could’ve believe his eyes. Didn’t he see what Satan saw?

“I recognize those two. Prince Diavolo and his beloved attendant, Barbatos. It’s an honor to meet you.” She bowed, making Diavolo’s eye tick. “But I don’t recognize you. You must be Satan. Luci, you really should be thanking him. He freed me. He showed me that there was more than that book.” Lilith stepped into the middle of the room and reached a hand out. Satan stepped back. Lilith grimaced and stepped back to Lucifer. He put his arm around her shoulder. “Where Mc? I’ve heard so much about them and are dying to meet them.” Lilith looked around the room again.

"You can't be serious." Satan immediately knew that wasn't Lilith. The real Lilith was not only dead, but had some inkling of who Mc was, according to what they had told him.

"How dare you disrespect her like that!" Lucifer raised his arm to point, but Lilith lowered it for him.

"Pointing is rude. Maybe he doesn't believe I'm actually here. Ask me anything, my dear brother, that might make you believe me. How about your past with Mc, hmm?" She spoke with a sickly sweet tone that lured his brothers in successfully. He began to sweat, and briefly glanced at Barbatos and Diavolo. Barbatos was studying Lilith with an intesity he rarely saw. Diavolo met his eyes and nodded at him, as if to signal him to move forward with the plan he thought Satan might have.

But he didn't. He wracked his brain for a question good enough to ask that she also wouldn't know the answer to. Something small would sound stupid and probably be rejected. Suddenly the perfect question hit him like a sack of bricks.

A smile grew on his face. "This should be an easy one. This question is for Lilith, and Lilith only. Has Mc ever died?" It was so simple it was nauseating, but he knew she would not be able to answer it. The real Lilith knew about the moment her brother murdered Mc, but the fake did not. He hadn't told her when they first met, and since her brothers thought she was the real deal, they hadn't bothered to ask.

"Of course not! How else would they be here with us today? That reminds me, are they on their way? I'm just dying to meet them." The room froze at her casual response. A look of horror began to dawn on her brothers faces. Belphie seemed the most stunned.

"Lils?" Belphie quietly addressed her.

"Yes?" She turned to face her brother. Belphie opened his mouth to speak, but shut it again, at a loss for words. The faux Lilith scanned everyone's faces, realizing she had said something very wrong. Before she could address her mistake, the doors slammed open behind them.

It was Satan's turn to become horrified. Behind him stood Mc, Solomon, and Simeon. Mc looked weak, and every pact mark except his own was glowing brightly. Solomon also looked slightly drained, a slight pink glow emitting from underneath his shirt. More than anything, they both look distressed, as if they knew something was wrong with the demons they had a pact with.

"Satan! What's going on?" They stumbled in, a hand on their head.

"What are you doing here?" Satan lunged forward to catch them before they fell.

"Something is wrong. Everything burns. What aren't you telling me?" Mc groaned. He held them against himself, cradling them.

"I'm sorry, but now's not the time to explain. Just hang in there, ok? You're going to be alright." As he spoke, Mc began to visibly deteriorate in condition. Their body was wracked with tremors, trying their best to focus in on Satan's face. They placed their shaky hands on his face in an attempt to steady themselves and to retain focus on him. Solomon made retching noises and doubled over, holding his side. Satan had never seen the sorcerer react in such a way to anything.

"It's that book. You may have already realized, but that is not Lilith. It's merely a copy of her based on her memories." Barbatos spoke up and pointed an accusatory finger at the fake Lilith. A look of rage crossed her face.

"After all my hard work, all it took to unravel my illusion was a Lucifer ripoff? Ugh. Whatever, I'm almost ready anyways." She grabbed the book out of Lucifer's hand and held it to her chest. She was solid enough to touch things in the real world now. Like dominoes, the six brothers standing next to her collapsed, causing Mc and Solomon to worsen. Solomon fell onto all fours. Mc desperately looked into Satan's eyes, their grip slackening. Both of them were gasping for breath.

"Barbatos, what's wrong with them?" Simeon hoisted Solomon off the ground, lifting him like a feather. A quick look at his side where he had been grabbing showed that Asmo's pact mark had begun to dim. He searched Barabatos' eyes pleadingly.

"If I'm right about the creature we're dealing with, Solomon and Mc are indirectly having their souls drained due to their link with the brothers. Their strong emotions over being reunited with their sister allowed the creature to access their soul and in turn, the human's they're linked with. The brothers were alright for much longer due to the power imbalance. Solomon and Mc are merely humans. Solomon has so many pacts so his soul is divided, leading to 'cracks' and more weaknesses, so to say, and Mc is having most of their soul siphoned out. However, If a more powerful being, for example, Satan and I, were to channel power into them, it would sustain them temporarily, like setting up a barrier between the force and their soul." Barbatos took Solomon from Simeon and concentrated on his pact mark. It started to glow brightly, and caused Solomon to stir.

Satan wasn't sure when Solomon had shut his eyes. He was busy focusing on Mc. Their pact marks began to dim, their eyes beginning to also flutter shut for longer and longer between each blink. He didn't have to be told twice to concentrate all his being into channeling power into Mc. His pact mark began to glow brighter than he had ever seen it before.

"Young Master, Simeon. Destroy that book. We cannot keep this up for a prolonged amount of time. All of the energy we funnel into Solomon and Mc is effectively being taken by the false Lilith. We can only sustain until that book is taken care of." Barbatos looked at the two entities gathered around them. Faux Lilith was more focused on the fallen brothers than what was happening across from her.

"We won't let you down." Diavolo wasted no time charging her, sending flames that sprouted from his palms at her. They licked the book and singed her clothes. There was a noticeable stir in the grounded brothers and the humans. Simeon ran behind her and attempted to snatch to book from her. She ducked under his hands and dashed deeper into the house. After a quick glance back at the rest of the group, the two of them charged after her.

"Mc? Solomon? Are you with us?" Their grip on his face was so weak at this point, so he took one off his cheek to grip it tightly.

"Everything is blurry. Lean in closer." Mc relaxed into his arms and he got closer to peer into their eyes.

"I'm here, but I hope they hurry with that thing. At this point I feel like it might hurt less to just cut the pact mark off my body." Solomon was lightly shaking and grimacing.

"Are you in pain, Mc?" Satan noticed they hadn't said anything regarding how they were feeling.

"It feels like hot irons are being pressed to the pact marks. Don't stop whatever you're doing. It feels nice." They were quieter this time, and moved sluggishly.

"Don't worry. Diavolo and Simeon are going to put an end to this. It will get better, just hold on." They could hear the fight raging on somewhere else in the house, the kitchen based on the sound of pots and pans being flung. After they heard a shrill scream, the brothers began to stir again, and Solomon and Mc looked like they had just taken a breath of fresh air.

As Satan was about to ask how Mc felt again after the look on their face, the fight was brought back into the front room. This time, faux Lilith seemed to have a different goal in mind; Mc. She lunged at the two of them. Satan was quick to move. Barbatos hoisted Solomon onto his shoulder and moved back. She redirected to follow Satan's every move and tried to grab at Mc. Simeon and Diavolo rushed after her every time to no avail.

"What do you want with Mc?" He had his back to the faux Lilith, to hold himself between her and Mc.

"I need their body to complete my transformation. They're a real descendent of Lilith! If I use their body, I can finally be close to her again!" She gave Satan no time to think and rushed at him again. He fled up the stairs, planning to go to the one place he thought might keep her out.

He hurriedly climbed the long, twisty staircase to the attic. She was right on his tail. As he passed the threshold, he slammed the door shut with his tail, locking it. He looked around for anything that might be of use desperately, still clutching Mc to his chest. They seemed barely coherent, still trying their best to look at his face. If he tried to channel his power to use against Lilith, it would take away from what he was channeling into Mc, but it was all he had. She slammed on the door, starting to bash a small hole in it. Satan set Mc down on the bed that was always in the attic so he had time to search through everything in the attic for help. At this point, he noticed something long and shiny sticking out from under the bed. As he reached for it, he jumped back. It stung where he had made contact with it. He reached back under again, and despite the burning, he got it out into full view. He recognized it as Simeon's sword. It was blessed in several different ways, which was why he had issues picking it up. If he wanted to defeat this creature, he knew what he had to do.

As the door was finally broken through, he wielded the sword, despite the burns forming on his hand. He lunged at the faux Lilith, causing her to stumble back and onto the stairs again. She scurried past him and at Mc again and as she did, he caught sight of the book in her waistband. He knew he wouldn't be able to reach Mc in time at this rate, so he plunged the sword right into the book, and into faux Lilith. She collapsed to the floor, screaming loudly. Satan dropped the sword and hurried past her to stand between her and Mc. He watched as she disintegrated while writhing, leaving just the book behind, with a large gash right through the middle.

He jumped at the sound of Mc behind him. They were attempting to sit up, a hand on their head. "Mc! How are you feeling?" He sat beside them, holding their hand with his uninjured one.

"It feels like I got burnt, everything is spinning, and I kind of feel like throwing up but better than before. What happened?" They looked around. "How did we even get here?" They asked.

"Long story. Right now, we need to get you back downstairs to Barbatos. Everyone is probably waiting for us. Do you need a hand?" He got up and walked around to the side Mc was on.

"That would be nice." He extended an arm to them, which they took and hung off of. On their way out, he picked up the ruined book. It had begun to ooze a black substance.

"Do you mind grabbing Simeon's sword? I would, but it really stings." He opened his domainant hand to show them the outline of the sword in his hand from where he had held it.

"Satan! When did you get this?" They took his hand to spread his fingers while leaning against him for support, wincing as they did so.

"Just now. Also part of the long story. What's most important is getting you downstairs, Mc! Worry about me later, love." Mc gave him a quick glare, but did as he asked and picked up the sword. Together, they hobbled down the stairs and reunited with everyone else.

They were swarmed by the brothers who were on the ground last time they saw them. After seeing Mc hiss in pain and the holy blade, they moved back a little. Behind them was the others. Solomon was sitting on the ground, being tended to by Simeon and Barbatos.

"I believe this belongs to you." Mc held the sword out in front of them, catching Simeon's attention.

"Oh, thank you! I was wondering where it was sent when I lost it during the battle." He took the sword from them, to which it vanished after he briefly inspected it. "Now, come sit over here and let me look after you." After he saw Satan's hands, he made him sit down too.

"So, us three again, huh? Cats, am I right?" Solomon chuckled, causing the other two to laugh too.

"Do you remember anything? I just remember entering the house and staring at Satan." Mc asked Solomon.

"It's about the same for me. I remember getting here and almost throwing up, and that's it." As he was speaking, Barbatos moved around to his injured side and pulled up his shirt. "Barbatos, at least buy me dinner first." This earned him a strained, tight smile and a swat to the head. After seeing what Barbatos was looking at, the levity of the moment was drained. Over where his pact with Asmo was crusted over with a burn so deep in color you wouldn't be able to tell it was there if the pink glow wasn't emitting from the cracks in his skin. In contrast, his pact with Barbatos was baby smooth and looked refreshed.

"Is that what I'm going to look like?" With a gulp, they peeled off their shirt, and revealed the caked over pact marks. The only visible one was Satan's. It looked revitalized. Each of the burnt marks hurt to touch. The men around them looked a little embarrassed. As Simeon began tending to the burns and assessing the situation, the six brothers approached them again.

"I'm sorry, Mc, Satan, Solomon. For my reaction." Lucifer began his apology. Surprisingly, Satan interrupted him.

"It's not you're fault. It's the creature that possessed you. It's not you fault it went missing. It probably meant to find it's way back into our home. You wouldn't have known. I know this won't take away the guilt, but you just wanted to see her again. I don't blame you." He stunned Lucifer.

"I'll make it up to you. Thank you." Lucifer gently smiled at his younger brother, something he never thought he'd see. His brothers gathered around them, also apologizing. Mammon and Levi were in tears and Asmo was gripping Solomon so tightly he almost lost circulation.

As Lucifer took his injured hand, Satan looked around at everyone there, grateful to had been part of such a family.

SUPER SUPER proud of this one! honestly at first I didn't know where I wanted this to go but I am SO happy with it. I've def improved with fight scenes but I tried to avoid it because i never like them haha

but thank you all for patiently waiting! happy new year <3

all the people I promised to tag :D

@jasthelazyelf @boxofgasoline @clemtastica @cosmic-caffelatte @hananacchi @anxious-chick @smc-angl @exrellian @majesticselena @marvelous-maniac

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AMITA?:

I(18) had a specific poor drug encounter with a friend(17).

So, for context, I get high with my friends a lot. I'll explain my share, what it does, general dosages, etc. They'll do the same. Then we all dig in together and have a fun time. I've never had issues with it up until this moment.

I made a new friend and I was explaining all the information on my stash I knew at the time. We took stuff. Got high on and off. It was fun.

At some point that night though, the friend started having trouble. They have a panic disorder and forgot to mention they had an eating disorder as well. This affects how hard something hits the body. They had trouble breathing and started to panic which exacerbated the symptoms. I managed to calm them down after a while, but by the end of it they were saying they almost died, and frankly with the way they were acting I was a little scared they were too, up until time passed and they sobered up.

But beyond that point, they, and a few key people in my life effectively kept saying I drugged this person or that I was specifically the one who "almost killed them".

I offered it because i would've did it with or without them and i knew they partied so i thought i'd ask, I told them all I knew about the drug, danger and all, they listened, I asked again if they were sure, and they'd go yes of their own volition, i always do my best not to pressure people with this sort of thing. We'd do whatever. Then suddenly by the end of the night they're puking and the next they're blaming Me for offering it at all, when they could've just Said No or Listened to their body.

I understand I am partially to blame since I was the substance Source and I can now admit I need to be picky-choosey about who I share my substances with rather than just trust anyone who happens to say they do stuff, but this person talks like I spiked their food or lied about the effects of things we were taking.. it's like they 100% blame Just Me.

Am I the asshole here?

[polyklok]

When they’re down bad

Dethklok and their massive, throbbing crush. You can interpret this as and xReader, xOC, or even towards each other idk I don’t make the rules.

Nathan Explosion

Unlike the other members, Nathan has had experience with actual girlfriends (rather than just flings) before, and so can identify the difference between attraction and actual romantic interest pretty quickly.

But he’s still a total idiot about it. He basically hasn’t developed his flirting style since high school; he hasn’t needed to. He’s famous! So, he just sorta forces himself into their attention all the time. He purposely bumps into them, asks to borrow random things, always stands or sits next to them. He just wants to constantly be around them.

He tries to start conversations too but, my god, he’s so awkward! They’ll be sitting in silence together and he just shouts “MAN, THIS WEATHER IS CRAZY.” While it’s been perfectly sunny for three days straight. BTW, he’s always yelling around his crush. It’s partly because he’s nervous, partly because he’s trying to assert his “dominance” (he doesn’t have any)

He tries to drop not-so-subtle hints about his feelings. Like, there will be a couple in public, clearly on a very romantic, cheesy date and he’ll be like “THAT LOOKS FUN, WE SHOULD DO THAT SOMETIME” to his crush. Or if there’s a kissing scene in a movie, he squeezes their hand or something. Just, out of the blue.

In general, he’s pretty obvious and is sort of a disaster, but it’s cute and oddly charming. 7/10 because I suddenly decided I’m ranking them

Pickles The Drummer

If Nathan was a disaster, he’s the end of the world

He desperately tries to play himself up in front of his crush, specifically trying to seem more classy and sophisticated, which are two things Pickles is not. He’s the kind of guy to try to be suave and lean up against a wall and then immediately eat shit, falling to the floor.

He likes to talk around his crush but never to his crush, ya’know? Like, if they are in a room, he’ll speak all loudly to a group about how cool he is and all the things he’s done. But in a one-on-one convo, he’s literally shaking and sweating and nodding along like his brain isn’t in full panic mode (it is). Because he physically can stand how gorgeous his crush is and how obsessed he is with them.

He’ll probably try to drink more than usual to calm his nerves, but it really makes it worse. Cause now he’s a bumbling idiot who’s only talking about how ‘damn pretty’ they are and threatening to get into a fight with the bartender.

Eventually, he does calm down. And he gets to be his natural, funny and relaxed self around them. His heart still flutters, but the anxiety doesn’t consume him like it used to and he has a real conversation with his crush and it feels like he’s falling in love all over again.

Like in most situations, Pickles is kinda a wreck. But he needs time and the right amount of booze to be a pretty great guy, 6/10

Skwisgaar Skwigelf

Sound the fucking alarms because this Swedish whore has himself a crush. Seriously though, the realization hits him like a fucking truck. He’s just like, wow this person is hot and I like spending time with them and they have a great personality and they’re funny and they make me feel nice and HOLY FUCK

He gets so pissed. Like, genuine anger at himself and them and everyone else in the world because something is wrong. He can’t bring himself to take it out on them, so he just always scoffs and ignores them for weeks on end. But the whole time, they’re in his head. He feels all warm and fuzzy in more places than just his dick for once.

Eventually, he stops being just a baby and gives them a weird, half-assed apology his ego is still fragile, ok?! And starts flirting. Hard. Constantly praising their body and making unsubtle sexual innuendos, it’s the only thing he really knows how to do in this situation. God forbid they giggle or flirt back, because his face is gonna turn completely red and he’ll need to excuse himself for a 10-minute freak out.

Skwisgaar just feels so many strong emotions, and these new, affectionate ones are just kicking his ass. There’s a good chance that he gives up because he just can’t handle it. But, he might just persist and slowly open up and let them in.

He’s pretty much a noob for these sorts of things. He’s a sex god, not a Prince Charming. 3/10

Toki Wartooth

Toki is actually more passive when it comes to romantic feelings than you would expect; he can accept potential love interests as friends very easily. But once someone has embedded themselves in his brain as more than just a groupie or a good friend, my man is COMPLETELY ride or die

Doesn’t make any effort to hide it either. He gets all giggly around them, biting his lip, twirling his hair, kicking his feet. He’s seriously smitten and everyone can tell, including the crush. He won’t deny it either, “Of course I’s likes them! Who wouldn’ts?”

His wooing methods are completely cheesy as well. Like, leaving a large, lovey-dovey gift basket on their doorstep or writing awful poetry for them completely in Norwegian. In fact, he’s pretty much always getting them little gifts and they’re all genuine, even the stereotypical ones.

He also gets very, very touchy. Greeting them with hugs and holding hands and even little surprise kisses. He knows that they’re not technically dating, but he still sees them as his one and only, so he already begins cementing himself as their partner.

Although, if they don’t show any interest back, he’ll stop after a week or so simply because he gets bored easily. I’m not gonna sit her and act like he doesn’t have the patience of a four-year-old.

Man goes all in with his flirting but it fizzes out very quickly. 7/10

William Murderface

I was wrong about Pickles; THIS is the ultimate disaster. Poor guy really can’t take it, he’s so flustered and anxious and a bit furious at the whole situation. William is so fueled by hatred and hostility that he can’t fathom the fact that he genuinely likes someone and craves their love. For him, it feels like he’s gonna die without them and yet he refuses to go within a foot of them.

Most of the time, he just stares at them with his angry look on his face. If they ask what’s wrong, he just mumbles and walks away. But really, he gets so excited that they talked to him, even though he immediately fucked it up.

Maybe with some time, he can find a slightly better way to deal with his intense feelings. He mostly just needs to learn to relax and have some confidence, but those are both things he has never been good at. But, if he does manage do to so and have a conversation with them…it’s still pretty bad. He’ll stutter and stumble, walking on eggshells because he knows that he has a tendency to say stupid shit.

Even if the relationship doesn’t ever go anywhere, there’s a very good chance he’ll be this nervous around them for months, possibly years. If his crush manages to get the message and starts encouraging his ‘advances’, it’ll still be a while until he’s anything less than a wreck.

Someone please help Murderface, he’s dying out here. 2/10

Btw I wrote this last night and am posting it without much proofreading so sorry if it’s awful

[ideasarestuckinmyhead]

A silly thought I had 👀

What about Rook begging Auron to go on a zoo or aquarium date and after like a week of asking he reluctantly agrees

BUT THEN they go and it goes great until they do one of those things where you hold an animal (or for an aquarium; a touch tank) and he freaks out internally cause he doesn’t know what to do and then what happens next to is up to you 😋

Aquarium date!

"Please can we go to the Aquarium??" Begging with puppy dog eyes Rook was leaning on Auron's bed. Both were enjoying time together when Rook got a date idea, but Auron was a bit iffy on it. He had some bad memories there, like a hermit crab crawled on his had when younger and he cried. His mom took almost half an hour to calm him down, so yeah he kinda didn't want to go there. Auron didn't know how to tell them this because it was really, really embarrassing, but they never really chose where the date is so he agreed to make them happy.

"I don't see why not. Let's do it Friday, is that okay with you?" The red head already knew it was okay with them, he knew their schedule and everything they do in a week. Rook smiled wide and leaned over to kiss Auron all over his face while saying "Thank you!" Over and over again.

Now fast forward top Friday, Auron was wearing something causal for this date. But Rook always said he doesn't have causal in his vocabulary and his definition is very different compared to others. But hopefully he wasn't over dressed, his thinking was cut short by Rook tapping his shoulder. He turned to greet his partner, he was picking them up from their apartment and gave them a chaste kiss.

"Are you ready, dear?" Getting confirmation from his lover he gave the chauffeur the signal to drive. It was 11 am so they can be the first few people to get there so they don't get interrupted by children. On the way there the couple were talking about their day, mostly Rook since they had things to do in the morning starting at 6 am.

"And the lady just glared at me like I caused her to slip! I was trying to warn her that there was a paper on the floor." Huffing Rook looked out the window for a moment to ease themselves. "Oh! We're here! This is going to be so fun!" Excitingly chirping as they turned to look at Auron. Their smile made him smile, yeah maybe ding this won't be so bad for him. As long as their happy with this date that's all that matters to him.

"I hope so, there's lots of sea creatures to look at here. It was newly opened last month." Of course when Rook asked to go to this specific aquarium he looked into it to see if it was good or just claimed to be so. He was pleased to find that it was, there is many exhibits you can go to here. There was even some penguins here, it was a good idea to put the aquarium almost in he center of the city, lots of foot traffic.

Getting the tickets were easy, walking into the aquarium was interesting to do. There seemed to be some schools here for a trip for the children, shrugging that off Auron looked at Rook as they skimmed the map they got form one of the workers where to go to.

"hhmm, where should we go? Auron is there anything that catches your interest?" Questioning as they kept their eyes on the map. Auron looked and saw a shark tank, turtles, penguins, coral reef and even the touch tank.

"How about the penguins?" Rook nodded and wrapped their arm around Auron's. Both smiling from the simple contact and walked to the exhibit they agreed on. Seeing penguins in person was really interesting, watching them dive in to the water, doing small tricks for fish and Rook even got to feed one. They clapped excitedly when the small penguin 'Rock' took it, it even let them pet it a bit!

"Auron oh my god that was so cool! And Rock was so cute I'm going to cry." Gushing about the penguins Auron smiled as they walked to the next exhibit, the shark tank. "Wow that's a big shark." Rook looked in awe at the Coral Cat shark the aquarium had.

They both watched the shark a bit before Rook "Wanna go somewhere else? I think there's a touch tank somewhere?" Hesitantly saying as Rook looked back at the map to confirm yes, there was one. Auron froze a bit and was thinking about his memory before seeing Rook look up to him waiting for an answer.

"Anything you want, dear." Rook gave him a suspicious look but decided not to pry. Both walked in arms Rook pointed at the many tanks they passed going to the touch tank. They ended up hearing a lot of laughter as people touched random animals that were okay to feel.

"Oh I always wanted to touch a hermit crab! Oh I hope they have some bamboo sharks. They are so cute!" Auron nodded as he looked slightly uncomfortable to be there, but got his shit together when Rook came up to the side of a touch tank and marveled at the animals in it. Slowly they let their hands in and lightly pet a hermit crab, "This is so weird!" Giggling as they continued Auron slowly came next to them.

"Hey Auron, are...you okay?" Rook decided to bite the bullet and ask their partner. Auron went to open his mouth to slightly lie but Rook gave him a look that said 'tell me the truth, please.' and he sighed.

"I don;t have the fondest memories of it. Where I was like 6 I cried bc a hermit crab touched me." Looking away in slight shame but Rook asked for him to look at them.

"It's okay if you don't wanna be here, this is a date for both of us. If your not comfortable I'm not. Lets go to a different part of the aquarium then." Taking out the map Rook was trying to find something that Auron would like. Seeing Rook do this made him fall a bit more in love with them, and because of that he decided something.

"I think I want to touch one, animal from here." Saying as he turned back to the touch tank, Rook paused and looked at him.

"Are you sure?" Getting a look in return they giggled and nodded, "Okay then, what do you wanna touch?" Auron looked and saw a hermit crab, seeing how small it was he was sure it would do anything if he touched it lightly. And so he did, it felt a little weird kinda reminding him of that memory when younger but, he didn't freak out. Was just a bit discomforted, the little creature simply stood there not doing a lot and Auron took his hand away.

"Okay now I see how silly it was to be scared of this hermit crab I guess." The red head said then turn to Rook, "Wanna go some where else now?" Rook nodded then pointed to one part of the Aquarium map. Seeing where it was Auron smiled, "Sure Rook let's go see the jelly fish." Locking arms once again, the couple enjoyed the rest of their date.

[cowgurrrl]

Dear Arkansas Daughter

Pairing: Joel Miller x fem!reader

Summary: A truce [2.8k]

Warnings: guilt, Andie being a menace, so much yearning, Ellie has an anxiety attack, comfort, June pushing her Mary Oliver agenda once again

You don't speak to Joel all throughout the winter break. You get so busy with family events, work, and painting that you don't even notice it until a song he recommended comes on while you're working, and you reach for your phone to tell him about it. You stared at his contact for a little too long, debating your options, before you finally sighed and threw your phone on your bed. 

Sarah's home for the break. He's probably busy with the girls. The last thing he needs is to hear from you after you got out of his truck without even saying a proper goodbye. The silence feels like a staring contest or a challenge of wills to see who will break no contact first. It sucks, but thankfully, Ellie is none the wiser and even texts you Merry Christmas with a picture of her and Sarah with reindeer ears on the abnormally cold December morning. You reason this is the best-case scenario for a really shitty situation. No reason for anyone to get more involved than they absolutely have to, right?

Andie's reappearance on Texas soil is a welcome reprieve from the guilt. You pick her up from the airport once she gets back from visiting her parents in Dallas and run into her arms like she's a long-lost lover. "You're here!" You yell as you squeeze her tight.

"You're here!" She mimics. Her dark curls tickle your face, and she laughs loudly in your ear, but you don't care. Just having her within the same zip code again makes you feel like a kid. On the drive to your apartment, you sing along to a playlist she curated specifically for your time together— a perfect mix of Beyonce, ABBA, and Joni Mitchell— and talk about everything from her parents to work to Vienna weather. She takes all of five steps into your apartment before she guns for your newest canvases drying against the wall. 

"Those aren't done!" You scold but you couldn't stop her from fawning over them if you tried.

"Are you kidding? These are amazing." She says, gasping when she sees the corner of another one peeking out behind the stack. "Babe!" 

"Alright, alright, calm down. They're still in the early stages. They probably won't look anything like this when they're done." 

"You're right. I'm sure they'll be even better when they're done," she calls as you walk into your bedroom and drop her suitcase at the foot of the bed. You don't have a guest room, and there's no way you're gonna make her sleep on the couch, so you get to have a good old-fashioned sleepover again. You’re secretly really excited just to sit in bed and do nothing with her. When you walk back into the living room, she's holding an old, reworked painting with a fond smile. "Are you going to submit these for exhibition?" She asks, and you shrug as you lean against the back of the couch.

"I don't know. Maybe? They just don't feel done." 

"That's because the longer you stare at something, the more things you want to change about it." 

"It's not a bad thing to want to make sure something's perfect." 

"If you wait for perfection, you'll never make anything, and you know that." She says, cocking an eyebrow at you, and you roll your eyes at how well she knows you. "Isn't that what you tell your students?"

"Oh, God, please don't pull the teacher card on me right now. I'm supposed to be on vacation." You groan, and she laughs.

"Does it count as vacation if we have to go to the student showcase tonight?" She asks.

"Yes, it does because you're here, and I don't have to lecture a group of thirty teenagers about pointillism," you say. "And you really don't have to come. All I have to do is show up to support the kids for a couple of hours and leave. I'll be home before nine, and then we can go out and actually do something fun." 

"Is Hot Single Dad gonna be there?" She asks, waggling her eyebrows at you, and you give her a look.

"You said you'd stop calling him Hot Single Dad."

"Hot Single Dad is so fun, though," she whines. "Also, you're avoiding the question. Is he gonna be there?"

"Ellie's work is being shown, so yeah, most likely, but there will be lots of people there. I doubt we'll even see him." 

"Oh, I'll see him."

"Andrea Lynn," you scold, and she throws her hands up. "We're gonna go and be professional and not cross any lines that could get us in trouble, right?" You think you're saying it more for your own benefit than hers, but she still puts up three fingers and nods.

"Scouts honor." 

The gallery's atrium is buzzing with conversation and excited kids from all across the district. The winter sun set long ago, but the warm lighting of the space makes it feel a little less oppressive. Small trays of refreshments make their rounds as you talk with other teachers and some parents you know. You introduce Andie to each of them, mostly to sing her praises about being a professional musician in Vienna, and she chatters away with anyone about anything. You easily kill half an hour just mingling with people before the exhibition officially starts.

At the hour, someone on the school board (you don't know their name or position, and honestly, you think it's too late to pretend like you care enough to find out) stands on a makeshift stage and says something about the importance of art in academia. You doubt it's a sentiment he actually shares, considering you've never seen him at any other art-related events, but you clap politely anyway. Halfway through his spiel, you just barely catch the sound of squeaky boots coming through the door and turn to see the source without fully thinking it through. 

There, through the crowd of heads, you lock eyes with Joel. Tommy and Ellie are at his side and wave politely. Sarah must've gone home before the New Year. You think you remember him saying something about her working at a clinic in Boston? You're a little disappointed you won't get to meet her, especially after hearing such amazing things, but you can't focus on that. Joel's eyes don't move from yours, even when Ellie and Tommy turn their attention to the speaker at the front. 

His hair has gotten long since the last time you saw him, the curls defiantly sweeping around his ears after an obvious attempt to tame it, and he looks well-rested. Despite the extra length of his hair, his beard has been recently trimmed and the salt-and-pepper stubble well maintained. He's wearing a nice dark green shirt (a Christmas gift?) and a well-broken-in denim jacket. He looks good. Of course, he does. Andie notices you're not paying attention and bumps your shoulder. 

"'S that Hot Single Dad?" She whispers, and you shake your head. 

"Not here." You beg. She seems to want to question you further about it, but she doesn't. You're sure she'll buy you a drink or two to loosen up after this and spill your guts. You sit through the rest of the speech without any more hiccups before you're finally allowed to view the gallery. 

Everyone is all smiles and excited chatter when you enter the colorful room. Thrilled parents take pictures of their kids next to their work, and proud art teachers point out their student's talents to others. There's a wide array of art. Anything from photography, drawings, paintings, sculptures, and even a video of a performance projected onto the wall. You catch bits of people’s conversations and hear a lot of chatter about the artist from your school. You don’t need any more context to know who they’re talking about. You and Andie walk side-by-side in silence as you look at the different works, only talking when you come across one of your kids' works. She makes you take a picture in front of each one, and you feel a little silly, but you can't fight the pride in your chest. 

Andie has always had the unique ability to celebrate you for things you wouldn't celebrate yourself for. In reality, all you did was push them to make the art and consult them through the process, but she reminds you that they might not even have made anything if it weren't for you. It makes you feel special and seen. It makes you wish she lived closer so you could do the same for her by showing up to performances and taking pictures of her in her element so she can cherish them. It makes you forget about Hot Single Dad until Tommy rushes up to you, calling your name. 

"Mr. Miller, it's good to see you." You greet politely, but he's out of breath and looks stressed as he looks at both of you. He softens when he sees Andie and takes a deep breath to pull himself together.

"I don't believe we've met," he charms and offers his hand to Andie. "I'm Tommy, Ellie's uncle." 

"I'm Andie, the forever teacher's pet," she shakes his hand and gives you a look over her shoulder. "Honey, you didn't tell me how handsome Ellie's uncle is." She says. Tommy smirks and looks flattered, but mentioning Ellie brings him back to the moment. 

"Ellie's askin' for you." He says, and you furrow your brows and look behind him.

"Where is she? Is she okay?" 

"She got real upset bout somethin' but wouldn't say. She just said she wanted to talk to you." Fuck, you think. Did she find out? If so, how? There's no way Joel would've told her, especially tonight of all nights. Is she upset about how her art is being shown? Is she mad at you? Possibilities run through your head and twist your stomach into knots, but you don't hesitate to follow Tommy. If she says she needs you, then you need to be there. 

Andie follows closely behind as you and Tommy weave through the crowd until you come to a stairwell off the side of the gallery, away from overlapping voices and bright colors. When the door creaks open and echoes through the empty space, you see Joel and Ellie sitting on a step, tears staining her face. Andie says something about hanging back, and Tommy agrees to wait with her, but all your focus is on the crying kid in front of you. You wait until the door shuts behind you to settle onto the step under theirs and pull Ellie's hand out of her balled-up fist. Joel watches you carefully but doesn't try to stop you. 

"Hey," you say gently, like she's a scared animal. "What's goin' on? I heard you wanted to talk to me." 

"I," she tries, but her voice catches in her throat, and more tears well in her eyes. You rub your thumb across her knuckles and shush her gently. 

"You're alright. Take a breath, okay?" She does, and Joel reaches out to rub her back soothingly. A few more tears fall down Ellie's face as you wait her out. You catch Joel's eyes over her shoulder, and he gives you a grateful look. All you do is nod. 

"I'm not good enough to be here," she finally gets out. "Everyone's work is so much better than mine, and I... I think they made a mistake. I can't compete." 

"That's not true. That's what your anxiety is telling you. That's not even close to the truth." You say firmly. She shakes her head as she looks at her dad.

"We shouldn't have even come." She says, and he pulls her under his arm, kissing her temple.

"Honey, they took your art for a reason. We're not here by accident. We're here because you worked hard and made somethin' so beautiful that they had to show it." 

"He's right," you say. "Hundreds of students apply for this exhibition every year, and every year, hundreds of students get rejected. But not you. You worked and earned your spot here. How many days did you show up early to my classroom to work on it, huh?" You ask, and she wipes her eyes. She seems to calm down a little at your words but still shrugs like she’s unsure of herself. 

"I don't know."

"Ellie, you were in my room for at least a month straight working on this. Somedays, you were painting before I even had a chance to turn on the lights. You got up early and stayed late, and it shows. You made something so wonderful the district couldn't keep it a secret. Do you know how many people are talking about your yellow painting?" 

"People were talking about it?" She asks, and you nod, squeezing her hand.

"They kept saying they'd be surprised if you didn't win, and I'm not just saying that because I'm your art teacher. I'm saying that because it's true." You say. She chews at her bottom lip and stares at her shoes as she thinks. 

You knew about Ellie's anxiety long before this moment. She's spent many planning periods in your classroom venting or crying about it, and you pointed her to the correct resources. She's in therapy and on medication to help her control it, but it still rears its ugly head every once in a while. With all the teenage emotions and daily battles, you're not surprised that it does. But it does surprise you that she can't see how special she is. She works so fucking hard— sometimes too much— and she gives her all in everything she does. Of course, people are going to recognize that greatness. Of course, she deserves to be here. Of course, she's going to be amazing.

"Every time I look at it, I just see all the bad things about it." She admits, and you sigh. Of course, she treats her work the exact same way you do.

"I do the same thing," you say, and she looks at you with wide eyes like she wasn't expecting you to actually cop to it. "It doesn't matter how much time I spend on it or if I like the concept; I will find a million things wrong with a piece before I can admit that it's a semi-okay piece of work. I have a canvas sitting in my apartment right now that makes me want to throw up every time I look at it." 

"How do you get over it?" 

"I'll let you know the second I figure it out," you say, and she smiles a little now that she knows she's not alone in her internal fight. "You deserve to be here, kid. You are hard-working, creative, and smart. You are going to make so much beautiful art in your life, you won't believe it. And it's true that it won't always be the best, and you won't always love it, but the thing all great artists have, regardless of medium, isn't talent. It's resilience. If you wait for perfection, you'll never make anything, so you have to keep going and making things even when you feel like it's bad because the world needs your art. The world needs you, Ellie." You say, echoing Andie's words from earlier. She takes a deep breath, and the weight on her shoulders seems lighter. Her anxiety rolls away like a wave from the shore. It will be back again and again, but she knows people are going to grab her before she can drown. She knows she's got lighthouses. She knows she's okay. 

"Thank you," she mumbles, and you nod as you squeeze her hand. She relaxes into Joel and looks up at him. "'M sorry."

"You've got nothin' to be sorry for, baby girl. I'm on your team," he says. He looks at you and chews the inside of his cheek. "We're both on your team." It's a peace offering. An end to the challenge. An acknowledgment that you can't ignore each other forever. You take a deep breath and let your free hand squeeze his calf where Ellie can't see, letting him know you know. 

You read a poem once in college about not being afraid of joy and taking advantage of the happiness while it's there. You remember reading the words "Joy is not made to be a crumb" and feeling your chest crack open in that funny way that only art can cause. It couldn't have been longer than two hundred words, and you read it so long ago you're surprised you even remember it, but you're glad you do. You're glad Joel and Ellie came into your life. You're glad you made so many memories with him, and you hope he'll let you in enough to make more as friends. You're glad you called the parent-teacher meeting when you did. 

You decide joy is not made to be a crumb, but neither is affection. In that cold, dingy stairwell in downtown Austin, you think you could paint something about this feeling. You think you could be okay with its imperfections. You think you could even submit it. You think you could win the bet.

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