#the last gif...catch it drake!

[sunniss]

HISS // MEGAN THEE STALLION 2024

[durrtydawg]

can i just say how thankful i am that you are keeping us samuel sluts WELL FED LATELY!!

And can i also please request something, anything angsty :3 i literally do not care what happens I'm just excited to see what you can provide 🥵

Thank you, kind anon. My heart is full of love from you and everyone else in my inbox (what the hell where did you all come from???) I hope this meets your expectations. It definitely made my chest tighten. Didn't specify a gender here- hope that's okay! would love to hear your thoughts bc this isn't the usual from me. big love <3

[Masterlist]

WOUNDED- Sam drake x Reader {angst one-shot}

CW: Injury, blood | 1.3k Words | Gif is absolutely unrelated I just think he's neat <3

“You’re….we can’t go back in there.” You hunch, dumfounded, pointing towards the entrance of the mid-collapsing crypt you’d just somehow fought your way out of. You clutch the bleeding gash on your upper arm, coughing as dust continues to settle around you.

The cough sparks a pain in your torso, drawing your attention to a bloodied score in your shirt.

“We can, and we will.” Sam grumbles, teeth gritted as he removes his plaid over-shirt, knuckles coated in a thick layer of crimson.

“Come on, Sam,” you urge, raspy and desperate, chin trembling. “We should get out while we still-”

“And then what?!” He snarls in your direction. You step back in trepidation, eyes glossing over as he waits for an answer. His eyes burn into yours, and you don’t know whether to chastise yourself for being such a coward, or scream some sense into him. His newfound aggression, however, pulls you away from the latter.

Never had a job gone so horrendously wrong at the last hurdle. Months of planning and physical toil, rotted down into a husk of nothing but severe injury and anger in mere minutes.

Sam scoffs at your silence, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt. The fragmented tearing of the fabric only makes you shrink further away from him.

You gnaw at your bottom lip, attempting to forego tears that threaten to spill, but the sudden sting from a freshly punched split has your cheeks dampen anyway. You wince, limping over to the wall to catch your breath and try to calm down. 

Sliding unsteadily down the wall, you land with a thud, boots forcing another cloud of dust to roll over the ground as gravel gets scuffed aside by your heel. 

The pain in your torso intensifies, and you shakily peel the torn fabric of your shirt away from your skin. It’s not good.

You watch through watery vision as Sam wraps scraps of his shirt around his bleeding knuckles, his expression stiff and unmoving from his indignant glare. His grey t-shirt clings to his torso, with help from sweat and blood that steadily grows more and more stagnant from time and exertion. His jaw is clenched so frighteningly tense that you swear you feel your own teeth ache, and oh, the anger in his eyes is horrible. You’ve never seen him so enraged- so…intoxicated by his own determination to succeed, to the point where he doesn’t seem to care whether or not you bleed out in front of him.

Does he care? Has he even noticed the extent of your injuries? You wince as the rise and fall of your chest repeatedly pushes and pulls soiled fabric from the laceration on your side. With reluctance, you press your palm against it, squeezing sore, cracked fingers around the expanding red stain on your t-shirt, and you hiss, unintentionally catching his glare.

He takes in your appearance, and it’s hard to tell if he’s more angry at you or himself. Then, he looks away. 

He fucking looks away, and you feel sick. You squeeze your eyes shut after taking an anxious glance towards your fingers. The small spaces between each are thickly oozing crimson that’d be so beautiful if it were any substance other than your own blood. God. No- you didn’t think it was this bad. 

“It’s just a graze”, you whisper to yourself. Just a graze. Your chin quivers. He’ll come around.

“Shouldn’t’a brought you.” What? Your eyes snap open in disbelief. “I shouldn’t…” You shake your head at the venomous grumble he mutters from across the room. Through a haze, you watch him smack blood and dirt-encrusted hands over pockets in search for more ammunition that you both know doesn’t exist. He grunts, loud, angry, before kicking the stone. 

You shrink back further into the wall out of a fear that you’ve never felt around Sam before, stifling a yelp of pain as your wound twists painfully under your hand.

He covers his mouth with his palm, nostrils flaring as his eyes squeeze shut- an attempt at suppressing his outburst to give way for some capacity to think. You watch on apprehensively, head throbbing as he turns back towards the crypt entrance you’ve only just managed to scramble away from, scathed, exhausted, and possibly on the brink of passing out all together. His brows shift from a tightened rage into a conflicted indecisiveness that makes your mouth go tight and dry.

It’s purgatory that you can’t afford right now.

“Sam.” You croak, trying to adjust your uncomfortable posture. “I…I can’t.”

Your lungs are suddenly under a painful pressure that you can’t shift. What would happen if he makes you go back in? Sam storming off ahead, blind-firing into mercenaries far more prepared for battle than the pair of you could ever hope to be, as you lamely hobble behind, becoming more and more lightheaded by the second. 

Your chest tightens more as you imagine him looking back at you as he ducks down behind a precariously structured pile of rubble to reload his pistol, with nothing but disappointment- no, scrap that- disgust in his eyesas you fail to keep up with him. 

You’d plead from a small but dangerous distance, crying out for him to help you get back to your feet after your inevitable fall; blood loss rendering your legs into useless jelly, bullet and stab wounds too sore to pick yourself back up again. The pain you’d feel as he mutters something towards you one last time before taking off into the gunfire smoke subduing your peripheral.

No. No! He’d never leave you behind. No matter how desperate he is to prove his worth again. No. Not your Sam. He’ll come around.

You pant through parted lips, damning your panic attack back to the confines of your stomach.

“We’re…gonna die if we go back in there.” You murmur, resting your head back against the stone wall, eyes squeezed shut as if to try and shut out the incessant pain pulsating around your body.

“Don’t be ridiculous-”

“I want to go home. Before I can’t.” You spit, causing Sam to glare in your direction. He stands slowly, taking in your weakened form. He’s trying to uphold his expression of anger, but a brief softness in his eyes fails him. You feebly grab at the wall behind you, dragging yourself halfway upright, stopping to hiss in pain. You’re lightheaded.

You collapse back onto the ground, and you feel your energy dwindle even faster.

Had you actually felt your own mortality bite at your heels this harshly before?

God, your heart is pounding, the sound beginning to echo around your head, taunting you with your own failure. Your own weakness.

He stares at you for a moment. Eventually, his eyes soften even more. 

Your brows arch slightly in hope.

Crouching in front of you, he grabs a hold of your head, taking you in for a moment before placing a soft kiss onto the bridge of your nose that twists deep into your guts more than any enemy blade ever could.

He pulls his lips away, hands still holding the sides of your face as the weight of your eyelids becomes another burden you’re trying hard to fight against. You watch his eyes flit between every feature on you, a watery glaze of his own forming as your brows twitch in defeated disbelief, and a distraught understanding, your hands growing ever wetter from your own blood.

He looks away again. Back to the tight space you just escaped from. You begin to shake your head with whatever strength you can muster.

You know what he’s about to do, and you try to pull together the will to push yourself up, but you can’t. Your body is tired. Drained.

“No.” You whisper, voice strained by the silent sob bubbling up your throat.

“I’m sorry.”

He never apologises. He never ever apologises.

You want to kick, and scream, and beg, but your mouth is tight and your lips won’t let you form words anymore.

“I… have to see this through.” He whispers. Any louder and you’ll hear that he’s crying too.

Then Sam stands, turns from you, wipes his eyes, and walks.

Knowing that you’ve both seen each other’s faces for the last time is more painful than the feeling of your life draining from you.

[madeofvoid]

Okay. Okay. Last kung fu kenny post for now. I just. I've been in a constant groupchat since meet the grahams dropped. I cannot impart how radically my evening changed when Not Like Us was released. Long ass rant below.

In fairness, as a Kendrick fan, I warned everyone in the call that he wasn't done when he didn't let it all out in MTG. And quite fucking honestly? He still isn't.

I just hope senpai gets to cool off. maybe take his son to mcdonalds. Also that Metro keeps trolling because he the real winner here and didn't even have to do shit. I hope J Cole enjoys frolicking in the flowers knowing that Aubrey dumbass was executed on shit that he started. I hope that bitch mf Aubrey never finds peace because that George Zimmerman bar was fucking nauseating among other things. Also its his leaf ass fault that lightskins are gonna be catching strays for the forseeable fucking future. Can't have shit in this house. I sincerely hope he gets epstein'd by his own crew.

Adonis, Eternity, enjoy ur new dad lol.

im never getting over how J Cole backing down didn't give Drake pause. He HAD to say some shit because he just so happens to be rap's taylor swift. the only man with greater potential for this sort of violence than kendrick was xxx and may he rest in power. Also chris but he's busy murdering quavo i fucking guess.

Just. Why. If im in a forest with cocaine bear or Kendrick pissed, im picking the goddamn bear bc id rather be eaten than fucking eviscerated for sport. Did drake think he was different sonehow? He's just fucking lucky and marketable. He is NOT with the shit. People on twitter are editing him out of gifs. He's being dragged EVERYWHERE and metro is still trolling his ass. Just. What was he thinking? Why? Of all people to beef with? Rick Ross was RIGHT THERE, BEGGING FOR THE SHADE, and you go after the best poet and rapper of our generation post 3000. Darwin award. Enjoy your Chris Hansen feature, pedo ass.

[catxsnow]

ELEVATOR MISHAP T.D.

Request: hi if requests are open i was wondering if i could request for tim 👉👈 maybe where the reader is his assistant/secretary at WE and is really smart and accomplished and everyone in the batfam who has met her think that she's perfect for tim in more ways than one. maybe one day the sexual tension gets too much and they end up making out or something like that but she pushes him away because she's older than him and she thinks he deserves better? you can choose how it ends!

Warning: sadly no elevator sex so it’s SFW, angst, yearning, language

A/N: CEO!Tim?? me?? writing it again?? couldn’t be. also that gif tho

Word Count: 2.8k

Mr. Drake was a very kind man.

Though he was young, he made sure to recognize the importance of everyone that worked under him. He learned the names of everyone he interacted with and always showed a smile when passing by. There was never a day that he wasn't kind to his employees, even when it was evident his day was hard.

Mr. Drake-Wayne, though he always pestered for you to call him Tim, was a young man. He was just barely at the age of eighteen. However, it seemed that he carried the weight of the world on his shoulders. Dark bags under his eyes every time you saw him, walking as if his joints were too old for his body.

As young as he was, he seemed older than you. Tim seemed to know a little bit too much about everything and he never faltered when something new was thrown at him. He wasn't just a smart man, he was prepared. You respected him for that. While many degraded him for his age, it seemed that he only earned more and more respect from you every day.

You were the secretary for Mr. Wayne shortly after he took over his father's position as CEO. From the start you had been right alongside him, watching him become accustomed to this new life at WE. You took his kindness as being a good boss, not as someone who thought about you in the late hours of the night.

Tim's crush on you - if you even wanted to call it a crush - was more than evident. His brothers saw it when they came to the office, most of your coworkers knew about it. You on the other hand, it seemed as if you were the only one who didn't know the full extent of his feelings. You picked up on the tension, the desire between the both of you.

He was too young for you. Sure, it was only a few years but it felt as if you were far too old for someone who was under constant scrutiny for their role in society. Tim didn't need another added stress of someone chastising him for liking someone older than him. You couldn't do that to him.

"Mr. Drake, you're late this morning," Tim held two coffees in his hands and a tired look on his face. His eyes lit up the second that he heard your voice. He stopped at your desk that was stationed just outside his own office. Tim slid one of the coffees towards you and kept the other for himself.

"That's no way to talk to your boss," Tim looked down at you. He was kidding, of course. "You know I don't like it when you call me Mr. Drake."

"Yeah, but, you always get a little flustered when I do," you beamed up at him. It was true, Tim always felt his cheeks get warm and a little stutter in his words when you called him that name. He seemed at a loss of words for a moment. You took the chance to change the subject, "you've got a meeting at two today."

"Will you be there?"

"If you want me to be."

Tim said nothing. He sent a wink your way and headed to his office. Typical response - never telling you yes or no and never sure what he really wanted. He was a man of many unanswered questions - ones that you'd hope to learn some day. It seemed unlikely.

You teetered between a professional and flirtatious relationship with Tim. It was easy to get lost in the conversation and forget that he was your boss and that you were in the middle of his office. Half the women in the building envied you and the other thought you to be mooching for more money that your job was worth.

No one had any reason to feel this way. There was nothing to envy and you certainly weren't getting any money added onto your paycheque every month. As desperately as you wanted to know more behind the wall Tim Drake put up, there was no such chance.

Less than an hour after Tim locked himself in his office, a familiar face stood in front of your desk. Tall, dark hair, romantic blue eyes that didn't quite hold the same adoration as Tim's.

"Mr. Grayson," You smiled up at him. "What do I owe the pleasure of seeing you today?" Dick sat on the empty edge of your desk. His arms were crossed over his chest and straining against his jacket. A friendly smile spread across his lips.

"Stopping by to see Tim," He vaguely answered. It wasn't uncommon for his family to come into the office, though none of them really spoke of what they were truly there for. "He was going on and on about you the other day about how this company wouldn't survive if he didn't have you to keep him in order."

You felt heat crawl up your neck at the thought of Tim talking about you to his family, talking good things about you. Sure you had to remind him every hour about what he had to do, but he would be just fine without you in the long run. Now, according to his oldest brother, he thought about you outside the office.

He sure as hell didn't make it any easier not to like him, not to think about him as well outside of your workspace. Tim consumed your thoughts at night. It was hard not to - the way his muscles rippled under his dress shirt when leaning against your desk or the smile he had when he knew that he was flirting a little too much with you.

Dick chuckled at how quickly flustered you got at his news. To be honest, he was mad at Tim for letting you stay single this whole time. It was obvious that you both had strong feelings for each other - and he thought that you would be great for Tim. He'd have to remember to smack some sense into his brother about it.

It wasn't just him who felt this way. Jason, who had only met you once, thought you to be a hot and Tim and idiot for not getting with you sooner. There were several threats made that if he didn't, Jason would. Dick had never seen his brother get so angry from a sly comment from Jason.

Damian, the one person it seemed impossible to get on the good side of, liked you too. He found your smile to be kind and genuine, and you didn't treat him like a kid like his father's old secretary did. The only reason that he wanted you and Tim to be together was because any other person Tim was interested in never treated him this way.

"Mr. Drake does just fine without me," you finally managed to stutter out. You took a sip of the coffee he had brought you, hoping to clear the scratch in your voice. Tim's favourite coffee shop - a clear sign that he had been the one to buy it for you. Dick knew his brother well enough that he was well wrapped around you finger.

"We both know that's a lie, (Y/N)."

><

"Join me for lunch?"

Tim stood in front of your computer, coat on and ready to face the cool Gotham air. His hair was tousled since the last time you saw him and you were sure that he was stressed out. He watched you peer up at him from your screen. It wasn't uncommon for him to ask you to join him for lunch. For the longest time you thought it was just because he didn't want to be alone, not because he wanted you.

"How can I say no to a smile like that?" you shrugged. Tim rolled his eyes and proceeded to grab your coat off the hook for you. He held it out, making it easy to just slip your arms in. He hooked his arm into his coat pocket, waiting for you to loop yours around him. The two of you walked side by side towards the elevator.

Tim looked over at you as the elevator door closed. A sly smile was on his face and you couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head in that moment. He turned to face you completely, causing you to drop your arm from him. You were taken aback to see him reach up to your face.

The tips of his fingers were rough against you skin. His hands were callused as if he had lived a life of labor three times over. Though it was shocking, his warmth was welcomed. He glided up along side your jaw, pausing for a moment as his palm cupped your cheek completely. Whatever had gotten over him in this moment had you frozen in shock.

Your flirtatious relationship had never been left to something like this. Tim was never forward about his desire for you - though it was there he never did anything about it. His conversation with Dick the other day left him unnerved. His brother was right - what if you had gotten whisked away from him before he even got the chance to do something about it.

He was scared to meet your gaze. His bold move suddenly feeling too much, too unexpected. There was no sign, no reason behind his sudden need to hold you. It left you bewildered, but needing more. Needing his burning hand to be on more of your bare skin and his lips on yours.

Tim felt himself succumbing to his desires. He felt himself leaning into you. Mostly, he felt himself needing to spill his heart out to you.

Instead, he heard the loud ding of the elevator and the treacherous sound of the doors opening. You peeled away from him before whoever was entering the elevator could see what was happening - what was about to happen. Tim's eyes fell in defeat, he sighed before putting on a fake smile for those who joined the two of you.

He sparked conversation with his employees, talking as if nothing had happened. You on the other hand, couldn't stop feeling the fire along your skin where he had touched you.

><

Tim's subtle touches became problematic.

He often pressed his hand into your waist if he was passing behind you or leading you through an known area with a reassuring hand at the small of your back. Catching you at the wrist if you weren't paying attention where you were going and stopping you from hitting something or someone. Arms brushing as you stood so close to one another.

He had always done those movements since the time you worked with him. His touches that always made you feel comforted, his touches that left you wanting more. Those same touches left a burning print on your skin and consumed your body for the rest of the day. You couldn't get him out of your mind, not after that almost kiss.

It was why you were avoiding him. Impossible to do with your job as his secretary, but you did your best. Tim shouldn't have this big of an affect on you - he was your boss he wasn't allowed to. At least, he wasn't supposed to.

A fat stack of files sat on your desk. They were supposed to be brought into Tim and yet they had remained there all morning. Of course at some point you would need to bring them to him - but the part of you still hoped that they would magically move themselves. After staring at the stack for another moment, you let out a sigh and picked them up.

The walk to his door seemed shorter than normal. It wasn't enough time to collect your thoughts or figure out what you wanted to say to him. Tim hadn't said anything since your moment alone together and as badly as you wanted to forget the whole thing, you were dying to know what the hell was going through his head.

You knocked once before hearing his voice. Tim was furiously typing at his computer, concentrated on whatever the hell he was doing. He stopped immediately upon looking at you, a faint smile gracing his face.  

"Papers, nothing to get excited about," You gestured to the pile in your hands. They were placed on the corner of his desk but before you could turn away and back to the safety of your own desk, his hand was placed over yours. Heat trailed up your skin from his touch, igniting your veins with a fire that you hated to welcome.

"You should know by now that I always get excited to see you." Of course you did. It was impossible not to see how evidently his face lit up around you, how he gained a small bounce to his step when he was at your side. The nervous tic of always pushing his already gelled hair from his face.

He gained a lot of habits because of you, and he was the only one that didn't seem to notice them. You retracted your hand suddenly, causing Tim to jolt at your movement. "I've got work to do, Mr. Drake."

You didn't. He knew that, you knew that. It wasn't hard for him to pick up on the idea that you were hesitant to be with him after that almost kiss. The only issue, was that he was unsure if it was you feared the feelings he had, or genuinely wasn't interested. He wouldn't know unless you admitted it.

You paused before turning back to the door. The question you so desperately wanted to ask right on the tip of your tongue, yet struggling to come out. Tim's eyes were glued on your fingers tapping along your arm. He could easily tell that you were in deep thought.

"Tim..." you finally spit out. No Mr. Drake. No Mr. Wayne. Just Tim. He met your eyes, hope running through him. "Never mind,  I'll see you in the meeting later this afternoon."

Tim jumped up from his desk. Before you could even take a step towards his door, he was blocking it from you. His chest heaved up and down with anticipation, with hope and desire.

A small, faint bruise laid against his jaw. Faint enough that you couldn't notice it unless you were as close as you were. Your fingers trailed along the mark without even noticing that you were doing it. Tim grabbed you hand, pressing it flat against his cheek. Your touch left an electric tail down his body.

"What were you going to ask me?" He whispered.

"The elevator..." You trailed off as his gaze flickered to your lips. Tim didn't need to hear anymore, he knew the rest of your question. He also knew words didn't seem sufficient enough to give you a real answer. He leaned into you, slow enough that if felt as if time itself had slowed.

Tim's lips brushed against yours. He was hesitant this time, worried that you would react badly. It wasn't until your hold on his cheek moved to the back of his neck and pulled him close. Weeks, months you had been dreaming of this moment. His lips just as soft as they always looked to be.

As wrong at this moment felt, you couldn't deny how it was too perfect. Tim's hands like fire against you, his lips molding to yours perfectly. His slow movements were only reeling you in for more, to be dragged into his hold forever. As badly as you wanted this forever, it couldn't. This couldn't.

He felt his breathing catching in his throat as you pulled away from him suddenly. His body cold without you flush against him. Defeat filled him.

"I'm sorry Mr. Drake," You stood my the door. A shake stayed in your hand as you reached for the door handle. Refusing to meet his eyes, the posture you held - it was easy for him to see that this wasn't embarrassment or regret, it was the wish for this to be an occurrence but feeling like you couldn't.

Tim had laid his cards on the table, he expressed how he felt for you, just like Dick suggested. He had done everything in his power to keep you close and it seemed that his acts only pushed you away further.

"I'm sorry, I have work to do."

[crapitskizaru]

Trafalgar Law x Wyvern!Fem!Reader

Heya! Can I please get a scenario of Law and a fem S/O who has a devil fruit ability to turn into a smooth, grey wyvern? The only issue is that she turns into the size of a thumb. She's venomous, but other than that she's embarrassed by it and never uses when her allies are looking. Bonus: She met X Drake once and was jealous of his devil fruit compared to hers.

thank you @one-piece-dumpster-fire​ for assuring me that what i wrote somehow makes sense

Warning: i had this in my drafts for over a year. now thats an achievement + the gif is law’s alternate reaction. bonus headcanons at the end!

Word Count: 1,1k

“It’s so obvious that you’re staring,” she sighs. “I’m not gonna do it if you look.”

“I just need my pen back.”

“You could easily get it back with your creepy Room thing.”

“I don’t have the energy. I’ve been studying for so long, how can you be so cruel?”

“I’ll bite you.”

He just smirks and locks his eyes on the textbook, seemingly engrossed in it; but she knows he’s just playing coy with her. The second she turns, he’ll be staring and - what a terrifying thought - calling his crewmates over to see her for themselves.

His famous girlfriend, a slick lizard.

“I swear. If I catch you stealing even a peek, I’ll inject all my venom-”

“Could you please hurry up? I need to write down a word before I forget it. Axoneme. Do you know what axoneme means?

No, and I don’t care. But she just grits her teeth without a voiced answer and gives the chest of drawers a once-over. When she thinks about it, it seems rather suspicious that Law just happened to drop his favorite pen so that it landed underneath the furniture, as far from reach as possible.

He’ll nag her about it until she drops dead, so there’s not much choice. Of course, she could drag it in time, but that might be exactly what he wants. To prolong the torture.

She sighs for the last time and, making sure Law is still behind the desk, pseudo-fascinated by his textbook, drops to the floor and tries to spot the pen. It’s not too difficult - the tiny Bepo’s head figurine at the end is bright white.

The chest of drawers begins to feel bigger and bigger as she uses her power until it gets enormous; what seemed like just a few steps to Law’s desk now turned into the whole Mojave Desert diving them. Quickly, before Law gets a chance to do something he’d most definitely regret later, she dives under the piece of furniture.

There. Now she can relax.

Stretching, she relishes in the way her smoothly-arranged scales ripple with every movement. She wants to spread out her wings as well - oh, how she would love to have a few rounds in the air, sharp turns, descends, climbs, maybe a couple of corkscrews? Unfortunately, there’s little room underneath the chest of drawers to even straighten out her wings, let alone to take to the air.

Eventually, she gets moving. As far as she could tell, this was supposed to be child’s play. What she hasn’t taken into account, however, is the fact that clumps of dust would fill the entire area, successfully preventing her from reaching the pen in a straight line - she needs to make her way around or else her wings get tangled up in the dustballs.

As a general rule, Law sticks to his cleaning schedule religiously, although he hadn’t had enough time to keep up with it as of late. Despite her mixed feelings about him presenting themselves during her current situation - she is so sure Law is going to humiliate her in some way or another - she can’t be mad at him. He has always possessed the habit of overworking himself to a brink, which left him with little time for housework; or, rather, submarine-work.

Despite her deepest efforts, a few dusty clumps manage to stick to her wings as she finally grabs the pen between her tiny teeth and makes her way back.

“What’s taking you so long down there, (Name)-ya?”

The gap between the furniture and the floor is suddenly filled with Law’s face as he lays on the floor, gaze wandering around in search of her. She wants to grind her teeth in annoyance but it only results in them sinking into the pen and getting stuck there - no matter how much she tries, she can’t unclasp her bite.

Stepping wobbly from underneath the chest of drawers, she looks up at him, tail waving in hope he reads it as the most hostile signal she could muster. He wasn’t supposed to see her like this!

First, he tries to choke back a chuckle but soon gives up and starts smirking. The smirk then turns into a full-blown smile; such a rare sight when it comes to Law.

“You’re even smaller than I imagined. And what’s with this tail? Are you trying to poke my eye out?”

She growls through the pen, assuming a defensive pose, wings flailing in animosity.

“Okay, that’s enough. Give me that pen.” Still smirking, he grabs it but she’s not able to let it go. Instead, she produces an irritated groan.

“Stuck? See, that’s what you get from threatening me.”

In spite of his snarky tone, he catches hold of her snout using two fingers with unexpected care and gentleness. She can feel her jaw slowly releasing from the pen until it eventually pops off and she’s free to speak again.

“Trafalgar Law!” she yells, but her voice is thin and distorted. “I will murder you where you stand!”

His only response is a chuckle as he shifts his position on the floor, now gently grabbing her wing and lifting up in awe.

“So cool. You look like a tiny axolotl without gills. I can’t believe you haven’t let me see you like this sooner.”

“And I can’t believe I let you set me up like this! It’s the last time, so enjoy it.”

“Oh, I am enjoying it. Every second,” he mutters, picking a dustball stuck to her wing and throwing it away. “Would you get on my palm?”

“Okay, that’s enough.” She shakes the remaining dust off and turns human again, now laying in front of him on the floor.

No matter what she’d say, it probably wouldn’t bother him so she gets up to leave, pouting. However, before she has a chance to stand up, he grabs her hand, pulling her back down.

“Now I’m serious, (Name)-ya. This is such a cool power. If I was someone else, I’d envy you.”

“But you don’t, because you have one of the best Devil Fruits in the world,” she snaps.

He gives her a smirk, rotating the Bepo pen in between his fingers. “Maybe. But are you aware of just how many possibilities you have with this? Enemies can’t spot you, either when you’re in the air on a battlefield or sneaking inside their headquarters. And with just one bite, you can send anyone to their grave.” He pauses, then suddenly reaches to touch her cheek. “It would be an honor to study your anatomy. You’re one of a kind.”

“Fine, fine, you don’t need to lay it on so thick. I’m saying maybe.” The excited spark in Law’s eyes already makes her regret saying it. “I’m so tiny, though. Drake can turn into a whole dinosaur. Now that is the definition of cool.”

“You’re not tiny, (Name)-ya. You’re just pocket-sized.” He gets up from the floor, seemingly content. She observes as he goes back behind his desk. Indeed, maybe a wyvern isn’t as bad as she previously thought. Before she has time to reflect on it, she hears Law’s displeased bark.

“Wait. You left teeth marks on my Bepo pen?!”

Bonus Headcanons: 

🐉 with enough unrelenting nagging from Law’s side, she’d eventually agree to show herself to the world - i can only imagine it as one morning, Law would show up for breakfast with his tiny girlfriend curled up on top of his hat; they would both pretend as if everything was normal

🐉 “C-Captain...What’s that on your head?” 

🐉 ”It’s my hat, Bepo.”

🐉 when she’s comfortable enough to stay in her wyvern form for longer, Law would use her as a paperweight whenever he studies - he claims it’s essential for his productivity (in reality she’s just too tiny to fit on a whole sheet of paper, but he likes the sight of a mythical wyvern snoring on his notes) 

🐉 ^ This is how Law’s interrogations of captured pirates/Marines would start to look like

🐉 “Oh, so you’re not going to talk? Very well. Bite him, (Name)-ya.”

[prettyinpymtech]

If You Don’t Mind

Part 1

Detective!Din Djarin x Fem!Reader (1920s AU)

Summary: When the famed Darksaber is stolen, Bo-Katan employs the help of her best detectives to solve the case.

Warnings: Swearing, mentions of an injury.

A/N: I’ve been watching so many episodes of Frankie Drake Mysteries and I was inspired to write a new series for Din! (And yes, I know the GIF is Javier, but that’s kind of the look I imagined for Din when I was writing this.)

MANDALORE’S PRIZED RELIC HAS VANISHED! KRYZE ASSURES THE DARKSABER WILL BE FOUND!

The headline echoed throughout the crowd. Folks from all over town had gathered along the front steps of the museum, ignoring the severe downpour to catch a glimpse of the hectic investigation in front of them. The sight offered very little to observe, but that did not deter the crowd in their quest to find some sort of amusement to share with their friends in conversations afterwards.

Struggling to maintain order among the masses was a young officer stationed at the very top of the steps. He barked his orders and some composure had finally reached the scene, but the officer paced back and forth with concerns that it would not last for long.

And it was exactly why he stood in your way with an outstretched arm when you stepped forward.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, but you can’t come in here. There’s been a crime.”

“Yes, I know. That’s why I’m here.” The officer did not budge, however, and you offered a business card in his direction. “Y/N L/N, private detective.”

He examined the piece of paper with slight interest and shook his head once more. “Look, ma’am, we already have our best team working on this case.”  

“And yet no one has been able to solve the crime.”

The officer immediately turned his attention towards the voice and a tense silence unfolded among the crowd as Bo-Katan emerged. Her repute among the people of Mandalore varied from family to family, but everyone agreed that her presence alone commanded a great deal of respect.  

In a brief moment you were escorted inside with little protest, leaving the poor officer alone with his own efforts to keep the people away from the museum.  

“Has it been like this all morning?” you asked.

“It’s that damn paper. Some reporter heard all about what happened before the officers even showed up and we had a huge crowd already waiting outside.”

The hallway was a frenzied mess of men and women in uniforms and you tried not to laugh as many of them turned in another direction when they noticed Bo-Katan marching forward. Her crossed expression and fiery red hair certainly stressed her authority, but you had learned to overlook her temper. She was a rather close friend and had been among the first to recognize your efforts as the city’s only female private detective.

“So, what can you tell me?”

“I’m sure you heard most of it by now,” replied Bo-Katan. “Someone broke into the museum last night and when we got here the Darksaber was missing.”

She guided you towards a platform in the middle of the museum’s entrance, where a velvet cushion now sat without a Darksaber to show. The surrounding expanse remained untouched, with no signs of an apparent spontaneous affair. Whoever had done this had made sure to employ both strategy and precision in their efforts.

“Any witnesses?”  

“Just the guard that was stationed here last night. You should have seen the bruise she got.” A fierce look overcame Bo-Katan’s expression at the mention of one of her own suffering from an attack. “They ambushed her before she could get a good look at them.”

“Where is she now?”

“I sent her home once the officers finished their questioning.”  

With no other witnesses to provide evidence, you asked Bo-Katan for a moment to wander through the hallways to look for clues. She relented in your request, of course, and retreated to her office where a group of reporters were eagerly waiting for her company.

The polished marble walls directed you to a narrow passageway usually reserved for curious guests. There was no one there to admire the paintings of Mandalore in its initial glory and there were no signs of what had occurred the night before. You were just about to return to the front entrance when you caught a glimpse of a man leaning against one of the nearby pillars with a notepad in his hand.

“Morning, detective.”

He didn’t even look up from his notepad. “You’re late.”

You bit your lip in an unsuccessful attempt to hide your smile, amused by his observation. During your first week as a private detective, you had made it a point to arrive to an investigation long before any officers could arrive to interrupt your work. Detective Din Djarin had only expressed slight annoyance in the beginning but, over time, he had accepted your work and had even encouraged others to recognize it as well.

The months that would later follow often found you in Din’s company, though your professions often prevented you from spending too much time together. You refused to complain, however, and found any moment with the detective quite enjoyable.  

“Got caught in all of the excitement outside,” you explained. With a teasing smile, you added, “Have you been waiting for me all this time?”

Din rolled his eyes, but he didn’t answer. He only met your gaze with warm brown eyes and a charming smile that always left you feeling dizzy.

“So,” you said, hoping he wouldn’t notice the nervousness in your voice, “what do you have so far?”

He cleared his throat, the professional front returning to his expression. “Not much. The only witness we have is Koska Reeves and she was too shocked to answer any of our questions.”

“There doesn’t seem to be any clues here, either.”

You both decided there was nothing more that could be done and soon walked back to Bo-Katan’s office. She had just finished dismissing the last group of reporters when she took notice of your return. “One of you better have something for me.”

Din gave you a weary look before forcing himself to meet Bo-Katan’s stare. “We’ve looked everywhere, Miss Kryze. There are no signs of any apparent break-in at the front entrance, and the only other way they could have gotten in is through the back door. I think you need to accept that one of your own employees stole the Darksaber.”

“There’s a back door?” you asked.

Bo-Katan nooded. “That’s right. But I already told your friend here that the back door can only be opened from the inside. And Koska would never do something like that.”

Intrigued by this new piece of evidence, you immediately left the office in search of the supply closet. Din and Bo-Katan exchanged inquisitive glances, surprised by your haste, and hurried to follow in your footsteps through the narrow hallways.

The small storeroom was tucked away in the far corner of the museum-a perfect escape from prying eyes. You opened the wooden door, surprised to find it unlocked, and stepped inside to inspect the floor.

“What are you doing?”

You met Bo-Katan’s bewildered stare. “If the back door was used for the crime, and you’re confident that it wasn’t one of your employees, then maybe we should consider that it was one of your guests that committed the crime.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Do you usually keep the supply closet unlocked?”

“We’ve never had any reason to keep it locked.”

“I think someone walked into the museum during visiting hours, hid in the supply room until you closed-“

“And opened the back door for their friends,” finished Din. The same affection from before returned to his eyes as he joined you inside the supply closet to help you search for clues. You were both mindful of the close proximity and he had reached for your hand more than once to prevent your fall after bumping into each other, though you could hardly voice any complaints for his warm touch.  

Shocked as she was from the newfound implication, Bo-Katan watched the two of you exchange apologies with amusement in her eyes. Such obliviousness among Mandalore’s best detectives was certainly an entertaining spectacle and she was just about to comment on your unawareness when you lifted something in your hands.

It was a round pin no bigger than a coin, with black lines etched onto its white surface. You presented it to Din as he cursed at the sight of it. “Do you recognize it?”

You had never seen such rage fill his eyes as he stared at the pin. “It was one of Gideon’s boys.”

“Gideon?”

“He belongs to the Galactic Empire, a cruel band of ruffians that like to cause trouble here in Mandalore,” answered Bo-Katan. “He’s been trying to steal the Darksaber for years. We haven’t heard from him in so long that I almost believed he had given up his irrational claim. I shouldn’t have been so foolish.”  

A number of questions gathered on your tongue, but in that moment a reporter rushed in with a few questions of his own, and Bo-Katan was obliged to respond to his demands.

She met your stare with an all too familiar ire in her eyes. “That Darksaber has been in my family for generations. I have no idea what Gideon wants with it, but I can’t imagine it’s good. Please promise me you will find it.”  

“I promise we’ll do everything we can.”

It wasn’t quite as reassuring as you wished it could be, but the words were enough to comfort Bo-Katan before she turned to greet her correspondent. Determined not to disappoint her, you returned your gaze to Din with a fierce resolve.

“So, where do we start?”

He shook his head. “I’m going to go down to the station and see what I can find. I’ll give you a call if something comes up, but I think you should let me handle this for now.”

“That’s it? I thought we were going to solve this case together.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”

“Is this about your officers?” It was no secret that many of Din’s colleagues disapproved of your collaboration with their renowned detective when it came to imperative cases. But Din had never allowed such critiques to interfere with his work and you could not comprehend why he was so hesitant to accept your offer. “I’m sure they’d be willing to allow my company this one time-“

“It’s not them I’m worried about.”  

You scoffed at his remark. “I can handle myself just fine, detective.”

“I know you can, but if you take this case then you’re putting yourself in more danger than any one person should have to face.”  

“And who’s going to look out for you?”

Din didn’t answer your question and instead stepped closer. The close proximity surprised you, but you could not force yourself to evade his presence as you caught a glimpse of something so familiar and earnest in his stare. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but with a shake of his head he stepped back and a look of doubt immediately overcame his features.

“I’ll give you a call if something comes up,” he repeated and soon left you alone without another glance in your direction.

You were too stunned to discern his manner and you decided that you would have to solve the mystery on your own, with the pin in your hands to serve as your only clue.

[preciousthingsareprecious]

Finding Us Chapter 20

Insert Mushu’s I liiiiive gif here because Finding Us is back! My goal for this year is to get this fic finished, because as surprising as it may seem I don’t think there are that many chapters left waiting to be written. 

I hope you guys enjoy it, and I am so sorry for the just wildly long delay between chapters. 

AO3 Link

~

Titus moved at a faster pace than Damian was willing to run. He watched as his dog scampered ahead on the sidewalk, pausing here and there to sniff at trees or examine bushes and flowers, but always darting forward to something new and interesting. Still, he stayed within Damian’s line of sight, and even paused to look back at him every so often with an inquisitive tilt of his head.

Damian had allowed the dog off his leash after Titus’s excitement had almost pulled him off his feet. It had been a few days since he’d been able to take him out for a proper walk, and the dog was eager to stretch his legs and explore. Damian wasn’t worried about Titus getting into trouble, he was well trained and the chance of meeting someone else was slim, especially since they were walking the path between home and Drake Manor. It was private property, and far enough from most civilization that few bothered to wander out here for fun.

He was happy to follow the animal at a slower pace. He refused to admit that Pennyworth’s reminder that he was not fully recovered yet had been accurate. His inability to balance properly earlier, had nothing to do with his head. Neither did his lethargy. He was simply tired from the stress of having to worry about Drake.

Everything was Drake’s fault, even Damian’s escape outside. Damian had needed to get away from the tense atmosphere filling the house, and the tension there. So he’d claimed Titus needed a walk, promised to return soon, and scurried away from Father and Grayson’s grumpy voices, irritated with their lack of progress. Damian was frustrated himself, having worked from the early morning and past lunch alongside everyone.

Damian bit his lip before huffing, Drake was an imbecile.

Honestly, did he not realize this was an issue he should have spoken of before now? It was as if he thought he could ignore weirder than normal stalking and it would simply go away.

He kicked at a pebble, sending it arcing through the air to thump against a tree trunk. Drake had not learned anything apparently. It was one thing to hide it from Damian, he could understand that. They still did not have the best relationship (little relationship at all if Drake could have his way and Damian did not want that), but he would have expected his brother to have spoken to Grayson or Father at the very least. But no, Timothy had not even considered how his family would see the situation, had not thought of what allowing that psychopath to get close to him would do to any of them.

“The fool.” Damian mumbled.

At his voice, Titus stopped his examination of a stump and ran back to him to butt his leg for a moment. When Damian did little more than give him a quick pat to the head, Titus ran forward again.

Damian wished he were still home, digging through information. Part of the reason he’d taken his walk was because he’d been banned from doing just that. He had been outvoted. Father, Grayson, and even Todd had insisted it was time for Damian to take a break and see to his growing headache. As if any of them were resting. It was too much fuss over injuries that were paltry. He might not be as irritated if Grayson had been forced to rest as well.

The man was as stubborn as Father. While he had been partnered with Grayson, Damian had been told of his brother’s famous hard head, but he had not truly realized it until he began to work with the man. He wondered how the two ever worked together when disagreeing, their attitudes were so similar. When they got it in their heads to do something, they were almost unmovable. Like Titus when he refused to give Damian his favorite stuffed toy.

Damian could be that stubborn. He had many times, but when faced with not one but two people wielding such power, well he’d much rather find an alternate means of helping. He did make a mental note to sway Father to his side in forcing Grayson to rest later. He would not be the only one bullied into a break.

Drake Manor came into sight as Damian and Titus moved out of a tree line. The building was not as stately as Wayne Manor, but it was kept up well, even with Drake spending hardly any time there anymore. Damian liked to think that if he had a whole mansion to himself he’d use it more than Drake did. Though that might get lonely. Perhaps he would use it the same way his brother did: as more of an escape than anything.

Now that he was here, Damian’s reasons for coming felt shaky at best. He had been so sure of himself when he’d snatched the keys to the estate from Drake’s room and decided to secretly investigate. He’d hoped that-- well Damian wasn’t sure what he’d hoped. To find the stalker here? Camped out at Drake’s childhood home sifting through his mail or something? It felt silly. Like he was grasping at straws.

It would be even sillier to turn on his heel and leave, so Damian stomped ahead. He turned the gate key in his hands, Drake had probably already been out here, searching the grounds for any signs of his stalker. Father too would have come to look. And Todd and Cain and Grayson and the whole lot of his family. Damian was simply last to come up with the idea.

“Tt,” he said, and put the key into the lock, turning it until he heard a click.

The gate swung inwards, giving Damian access to a spot he was sure would lead to nothing. But he would not give up. Grayson used to-- and sometimes still did -- give him cases to read over that he thought he’d solved but wanted ‘fresh eyes on’. When Damian had asked why, when they were already solved, Grayson had said that everyone saw things differently, and a new perspective could reveal things everyone else missed.

Damian was going to be the new perspective.

He decided to check the inside first, and circle around the grounds after. That way if he took too long and someone came looking for him Damian would have managed to explore most of the spot he was most curious about.

Titus darted through the open gate off to explore the new area. Damian let him frolic for the time it took him to approach the house then called the dog over to him. He’d rather have his friend close by through the exploration.

Only his whistle didn’t catch Titus’s attention, and when Damian didn’t see the dog coming close, he looked up to search for him, the keys dangling in his fingers.

Titus stood close to the front gate to the driveway, growling, with his ears pulled back, at a man. The man stood very still, even separated by wrought iron.

Damian hurried over to stand near Titus, “Hey boy, it’s okay.” he said, resting a hand on the dog’s head and frowning at the person Titus had decided was no good.

The man looked to be in his late forties, with dark hair speckled with some grey, and deep lines on his face. He was dressed plainly, and in a coat and gloves that were appropriate for the weather only if he’d planned to stay out late. Everything was done in dark tones, with nothing that really stood out. What was most interesting was the fact that a small envelope was held tightly to his side in one of his hands.

Damian did not glare at the man since he did not wish to make him bolt, but every fiber of his being said there was something very wrong about this guy.

“Can I help you?” Damian asked, raising himself up and filling his tone with as much authority as he might have in addressing one of Grandfather’s men who’d stepped out of line.

“Hi, you wouldn’t happen to be Tim Drake would you?”

Damian’s heart sped up, and he squeezed his hand around Titus’s collar, “I do not think I should tell you. I don’t know you, and so far you have not introduced yourself.”

“Oh, sorry, I’m Joe, I’m an old acquaintance of your dad’s.” The man gave Damian a smile that felt a little too bright, “Listen, I’ve been out of town for a couple years, and well I came by to give my condolences and just say hi. We used to be pretty close back in the day.”

He thought Damian was Timothy. Well then he couldn’t have been that close a friend. Damian shared a hair color with his brother, that was it. It should be obvious he was not the son of a supposed ‘old friend’.  

“Timothy is my brother, and he would not appreciate you snooping around. Now I would kindly ask you to leave.”

Titus’ growl turned into a bark, and he tried to pull away from Damian to lurch at the man. Damian held firm, but did not hush his loyal friend.

The man glanced down at Titus and back up at Damian, “Alright, okay, I’ll try calling ahead next time. Have a nice day.”

“Wait--” Damian called, as the man turned, “Did you not have a letter you wished delivered?” he pointed to the envelope clasped close to the man’s side.

“Oh! Yeah.” The man smiled, “Will you give this to your brother? I wasn’t sure if I’d catch him or not, so I thought I’d say hi with it.”

Damian stepped a little closer to the gate and took the offered letter. It did not seem to weigh much, and might have been what the man said. He gave him a sharp nod of dismissal.  

Once the man was gone, Damian turned and hurried back to the manor at an almost sprint. He would have run, but moving quickly was making his headache return and he was not certain the man he’d just run into was Drake’s stalker or not. It could be a false alarm.

When he returned home he came in the back he quickly examined Titus’ paws for mud or any pebbles he might have picked up on the walk then let him run into the house. He paused in the kitchen where Pennyworth was enjoying a cup of tea.

“Back so soon?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I have brought news.” Damian told him, “Where are Father and Timothy?”

“Downstairs with the others. Might I ask what this news is?”

“I ran into a strange man on my walk. He was attempting to enter Drake Manor.”

Pennyworth straightened at this, and looked Damian over. “That is news.”

Something told Damian that the butler was not just reacting to the man, but Damian’s involvement. He seemed concerned, but in that way that said he was trying to hide it.

“I was perfectly safe.” Damian said, “Titus was there and the gate was between us. I had planned to examine the house for clues to help the search.”

Now Pennyworth’s lips turned up in a smile, “I see. Well then, head downstairs. I’m sure the others will be interested to hear of your news. And I expect you back up here in a reasonable amount of time. Breakthrough or not, you are still recovering, and I could use a hand with dinner.”

Damian nodded, “Of course.”

He made his way out of the kitchen and down to the cave at a more sedate pace, knowing Pennyworth’s eyes and ears were on him, alert for any sounds of Damian “exerting” himself. Thankfully it was not long before he was exiting the elevator and moving into the cave proper.

There, he found Father at the computer, with Richard leaning over his shoulder as they both read something. Todd and Drake were sparring on the mats while Cain watched, and Brown did handstands. Damian stopped just between the practice mats and computer to watch them all.

Upon seeing him, Brown dropped from her handstand to wave, “Back from your walk?”

Richard turned to frown at Damian, but before he could send him back upstairs Todd spoke up, ducking under Drake’s fist.

“Nope, you are not supposed to be down here, Squirt. Upstairs before Alfred figures out you’ve snuck down.”

Damian huffed, “I did not sneak anywhere, Pennyworth is aware of my location. While you all have been dallying I have made a breakthrough in Drake’s case.”

Todd froze, and took a kick directly to his stomach for it. He oofed and doubled over while Drake scrambled to make sure he was fine. Father and Richard both turned fully in Damian’s direction.

“What do you mean, Dames?” Richard asked.

“You weren’t supposed to be doing case work upstairs either.” Father reprimanded.

“I was taking Titus on a walk.” Damian defended.

Yes he had been planning on sneaking case work into the walk, but it really hadn’t come up, so technically he was still telling the truth. He had only really managed the walk before he’d run into “Joe”. It was pure luck he’d come across the man at that time. If he had been any slower or faster he might have missed him altogether. Or perhaps even been mistaken for Timothy inside the house. That might not have gone over nearly as well as the meeting at the gate had.

“Well what did you find?” Drake asked.

He and Todd had straightened and were moving closer. Cain and Brown kept back, they were interested, but leaving things up to those who’d been closest to the investigation so far.

Damian held up the letter, “A man gave this to me outside Drake Manor. He initially mistook me for Drake despite claiming to be an old family friend. From his manner and way of speaking I suspect he is either Drake’s stalker, or someone hired by them to drop off the latest threat. In either case he was a terrible actor.”

Drake snatched the envelope from Damian’s hands and tore it open before anyone could stop him. He removed a single sheet from within, stared at it for a moment, then silently handed it over to Father.

Father read it, his face darkening with every line he scanned. Damian resisted the urge to stand up on his tiptoes to peer over the sheet and read what was on it. Whatever it contained, he was certain it was more of the same creepy and unsettling information Drake had been receiving for a while now.

Part of him thought he should have opened the letter himself before presenting it to the family. It had been an oversight to just hold it out as he had done. What if there had been something dangerous inside? And to have put more threats upon Drake like this, after they were trying to stop everything--it was embarrassing. He should have checked.

But then again, Drake would have insisted on reading it. Everyone would probably insist. Still, it wasn’t the letter that was important. It was the person who had delivered it.

“Damian, you said you saw the person who delivered this?” Richard asked, looking up, concern on his face.

He nodded, “Yes, I can sketch him, and we should be able to use it to identify him.”

Todd moved over beside Damian, and ruffled his hair, “That’s great! Even if he’s not the guy, he’s connected with him, this is a good lead.”

Damian scowled, and ducked away from him, “It was simply luck. I was in the right place at the right time. If not, we would only have another creepy letter.”

“And boy is it creepy.” Todd said, yanking the letter away with a whistle, “He said he likes the smell of your shampoo on your pillow? Ew, and also totally false unless he somehow got in here.” Todd looked up with a frown, “He couldn’t have gotten in here right?”

“It is most likely a lie intended to be built upon a truth. Either he believed Timothy was still staying at Drake Manor or it was supposed to come here and the hired hand chose the wrong home.” Damian said.

Both Richard and Drake’s attention shot up to look at Damian. He frowned at them confused for a moment, then realized his mistake. He turned the frown into a glare.

“Pennyworth asked me not to be too long. I will return upstairs to aid him then draw the picture of your stalker.”  

With that he turned on his heel and left them to glean whatever they could from the letter

[welllpthisishappening]

Welllp These Are Books: the January 2021 Edition

Tumblr’s gif search leaves a lot to be desired, so there’s no actual gif of her slamming the book shut, which is—y’know, disappointing. Still, the continued ability of the public library system to send books to my Kindle ensures that I continue to read every romantic comedy and fantasy story I can find. Of which I have plenty of thoughts and opinions. But, like, what’s the point of having thoughts and opinions if you’re not putting them on the internet? There isn’t one, obviously. Books and links and feelings and more ridiculous headlines all under the cut. 

BEST BOOK AWARD WINNER OF A VERY WEIRD JANUARY THAT HELPED DISTRACT FROM A VERY WEIRD JANUARY

The Wrath & the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh Every dawn brings horror to a different family in a land ruled by a killer. Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, takes a new bride each night only to have her executed at sunrise. So it is a suspicious surprise when sixteen-year-old Shahrzad volunteers to marry Khalid. But she does so with a clever plan to stay alive and exact revenge on the Caliph for the murder of her best friend and countless other girls. Shazi’s wit and will, indeed, get her through to the dawn that no others have seen, but with a catch . . . she’s falling in love with the very boy who killed her dearest friend. She discovers that the murderous boy-king is not all that he seems and neither are the deaths of so many girls. Shazi is determined to uncover the reason for the murders and to break the cycle once and for all.

This was so good?!?! I finished the first book and them immediately started the sequel, like no break whatsoever?!! I wish they weren’t teenagers?!! But seriously I wish they hadn’t been teenagers. Like, I get it. It’s YA. That probably sells better, something about markets that I don’t understand. I don’t care. It was weird that they were teenagers. Also, some of the plot points just kind of...happened? And I’m not entirely sure they were ever resolved. (Although there are a bunch of short stories, so. Maybe I just haven’t gotten there yet.) Despite that, the writing was gorgeous, I remain as prone to swooning over sad boys patent pending as I was when I was sixteen and Shahrzad was a fantastic heroine. Nine out of ten (would have been ten if they weren’t teenagers) and have already put holds on other books Ahdieh has written. 

OBLIGATORY RAGE-INDUCING ROM-COM

Head Over Heads by  Hannah Orenstein The past seven years have been hard on Avery Abrams: After training her entire life to make the Olympic gymnastics team, a disastrous performance ended her athletic career for good. Her best friend and teammate, Jasmine, went on to become an Olympic champion, then committed the ultimate betrayal by marrying their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri. Now, reeling from a breakup with her football star boyfriend, Avery returns to her Massachusetts hometown, where new coach Ryan asks her to help him train a promising young gymnast with Olympic aspirations. Despite her misgivings and worries about the memories it will evoke, Avery agrees. Back in the gym, she's surprised to find sparks flying with Ryan. But when a shocking scandal in the gymnastics world breaks, it has shattering effects not only for the sport but also for Avery and her old friend Jasmine.

I stopped reading it. Honestly. I got, like, 46% of the way through, kept complaining to Justin about how goddamn annoying Avery was and how no one had any personality and I wanted them all to fall off the beam and he was like—stop reading it, then? And I was like—I can do that? And then I did! Also, I understand it needed conflict, but the “shocking scandal” in the description is a sexual assault that was not only NOT my cup of tea, but felt like a massive attempt to be topical by using what happened at Michigan State without actually saying it was about Michigan state. 

PEOPLE WHO DON’T KNOW SPORTS WRITE SPORTS AND DO IT OK

Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes In a sleepy seaside town in Maine, recently widowed Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her large, painfully empty house nearly a year after her husband’s death in a car crash. Everyone in town, even her best friend, Andy, thinks grief keeps her locked inside, and Evvie doesn’t correct them. Meanwhile, in New York City, Dean Tenney, former Major League pitcher and Andy’s childhood best friend, is wrestling with what miserable athletes living out their worst nightmares call the “yips”: he can’t throw straight anymore, and, even worse, he can’t figure out why. As the media storm heats up, an invitation from Andy to stay in Maine seems like the perfect chance to hit the reset button on Dean’s future. When he moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal: Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken—and what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more. To move forward, Evvie and Dean will have to reckon with their pasts—the friendships they’ve damaged, the secrets they’ve kept—but in life, as in baseball, there’s always a chance—up until the last out.

I am admittedly a sports snob. Writing about sports is my thing and I’m super particular about reading about it. But this sounded good and for the most part it was good. Emotional, too. Like, “jeepers, that was intense” kind of emotional. But also some of the things Dean talked about were just...not how sports work and that drives me nuts. Also another story that was, as mentioned, super emotional only to get tied up in this nice little bow. Which, cool, but also...not? Just felt rushed at the end. 

IN WHICH SHIPPING IS QUESTIONED AND I JUST LIKE BEN BARNES

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo Soldier. Summoner. Saint. Orphaned and expendable, Alina Starkov is a soldier who knows she may not survive her first trek across the Shadow Fold—a swath of unnatural darkness crawling with monsters. But when her regiment is attacked, Alina unleashes dormant magic not even she knew she possessed. Now Alina will enter a lavish world of royalty and intrigue as she trains with the Grisha, her country's magical military elite—and falls under the spell of their notorious leader, the Darkling. He believes Alina can summon a force capable of destroying the Shadow Fold and reuniting their war-ravaged country, but only if she can master her untamed gift.As the threat to the kingdom mounts and Alina unlocks the secrets of her past, she will make a dangerous discovery that could threaten all she loves and the very future of a nation. Welcome to Ravka . . . a world of science and superstition where nothing is what it seems.

I wanted to like this so much. So, so much. And sometimes I did. Sometimes I did not. At all. World building is my weakness and this has got it in spades, but the characters are kind of—boring? I couldn’t really bring myself to care about Alina and I wanted to kick Mal in the shins sometimes. The only interesting one was The Darkling who’s like the embodiment of all evil and I am not here to ship-shame anyone, but it’s kinda weird to ship him and Alina. I pictured Ben Barnes the entire time. I’m still excited for the show. I’ll read the sequel at some point, probably. 

BEING A JERK IS NOT ROMANCE, YOU’RE JUST A JERK

Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters It's Evie Summers's job to find out. Because if she can't convince her film agency's biggest client, Ezra Chester, to write the romantic-comedy screenplay he owes producers, her career will be over. The catch? Arrogant Ezra thinks rom-coms are unrealistic—and he'll only put pen to paper if Evie proves to him that it's possible to meet a man in real life the way it happens on the big screen. Cynical Evie might not believe in happily ever after, but she'll do what it takes to save the job that's been her lifeline . . . even if it means reenacting iconic rom-com scenes in public. Spilling orange juice on a cute stranger? No problem. Leaving her number in books all over London to see who calls? Done. With a little help from her well-meaning friends and the adorable father-daughter duo who keep witnessing her humiliations, Evie is determined to show Ezra she can meet a man the way Sally met Harry. But can a workaholic who's given up on love find a meet-cute of her very own?

I love cliches. Love ‘em. Want to read about ‘em, want to write about ‘em. Here for happily ever after. Much less here for the overused and antiquated cliche of dude doesn’t believe in love like girl does, dude ridicules girl’s belief, dude was secretly in love with her the whole time. It’s super dumb. And we should stop writing it. Also really done with rom com girl can’t figure out her life! she’s overworked! she doesn’t have time for her friends! Super duper dumb. I don’t know guys, this book happened. 

FAST-PACED ROMANCE ISN’T AS WEIRD WHEN IT’S WELL WRITTEN AND THERE’S A MOOSE INVOLVED

The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler He had a strict "no tourists" policy...until she broke all of his rules. When Graham Barnett named his diner The Tourist Trap, he meant it as a joke. Now he's stuck slinging reindeer dogs to an endless parade of resort visitors who couldn't interest him less. Not even the sweet, enthusiastic tourist in the corner who blushes every time he looks her way...

Two weeks in Alaska isn't just the top item on Zoey Caldwell's bucket list. It's the whole bucket. One look at the mountain town of Moose Springs and she's smitten. But when an act of kindness brings Zoey into Graham's world, she may just find there's more to the grumpy local than meets the eye...and more to love in Moose Springs than just the Alaskan wilderness.

This story of Alaska marries together all the things you didn't realize you needed: a whirlwind vacation, a friendly moose, a grumpy diner owner, a quirky tourist, plenty of restaurant humor, and a happy ending that'll take you away from it all.

I’m not one for slow burn, but I also have a hard time believing romances that happen in, like, a blink. Not the case here! It was so goddamn cute! There was a moose! Graham kept calling Zoey darlin’ and it made my heart try to explode in my chest! Stars Hollow-levels of small town with lots of side characters and a good plot and a restaurant that everyone always went to! You guys know I’m trash for everyone always going to hang out in the same restaurant! I’m reading the sequel now, so that’s how much I enjoyed it. 

AMAZON BOOKS THAT CONTINUE TO BE WAY BETTER THAN THEY SHOULD BE

Elodie of the Sea by Shari L. Tapscott (part of the Eldentimber Series) Eight years have passed since the marriage tournament that decided the fate of Princess Pippa of Lauramore and strengthened alliances between the kingdoms of Elden. The competitors have moved on with their lives. Some have found adventure; some have found love. Prince Bran of Triblue, however, has put his life on hold, preparing for his father's crown. Two days before Bran's winter coronation, just when the prince cannot afford distractions, a girl washes onto the Triblue shore. She has no memory of her past life, no clue who she is or where she belongs—nothing but a ring on her finger and a peculiar marking on her cheek. And the newly crowned king has more than a mysterious girl to worry about. The sea has become unpredictable. Storms claim ships in the dead of night, and sailors return with horrifying stories of monsters from the deep. It soon becomes clear the girl and the bizarre events are connected. The girl came from the sea... and the sea wants her back. But Bran isn't willing to give her or his kingdom up without a fight, even if it means he must request help from every corner of Elden.

Listen, sometimes you have to read about a mermaid who lost her memory and the soon-to-be-king who’s, like, immediately in love with her. I mentioned Tapscott’s books in the 2020 post and the sentiment remains the same. You ever read a book that reads like fic? Lots of banter, some romance, steady pacing. That’s what her books are like. There are five in the Eldentimber series, all about a different princess in a different kingdom, but they all connect so characters pop up again and again and then they kiss. It’s real good. 

[star-linedsoul]

Five Shows That Make Me Smile

Post five shows with a gif that always make you smile! Tag friends to keep it going! 🥰

I was tagged by @wordspin-shares​. Thank you so much!!

I never have watched a whole lot of TV, but there are a few shows that have stuck with me and that I still watch re-runs of whenever I need a pick-me-up!

1. Avatar: the Last Airbender

A modern classic full of memorable characters and mastercraft storytelling. Forever and always my favorite animated show!

2. Tom & Jerry

A forever classic that kept me entertained for hours as a child...I never even noticed the lack of dialog until I was much older!

3. Sabrina the Teenage Witch

My mother and I used to watch this show together on ABC EVERY Friday night. It still brings up very fond memories and was overall a fun sitcom.

4. Drake & Josh

My siblings and I grew up watching this together and laughing at all the antics the characters got up to. We still quote it to each other all the time!

5. The Andy Griffith Show

How can you not love this classic? I still catch myself whistling the opening tune all the time!

Tagging: @darknightfrombeyond​, @howdy-writes​, @viragosouls​, @lnevada​, @ocfairygodmother​, @randomestfandoms-ocs​

[berjhawn]

Lady Light - Character Bio

I wanted to make this little get to know my character thing before I release the last few chapters of Day & Night. This will list all her abilities and Weaknesses. Yes she is a Reader insert character but when I write her I have to envision something to base her off of. I understand that my view will be different from what most of my readers look like but please have an open mind. With Lady Light I haven’t used any descriptive words so that I could keep the reader tag true. Hopefully this will help some readers understand exactly how powerful she truly is. 

Day & Night - Master-list

Lady Light

(Yes I see Lady Light as Halsey. She is the most amazing artist and person I have ever had the pleasure of hearing.)

Name: Reader insert so her name is up to you.

Age: Unknown (Thank you Themyscira)

Relationships: 

Cosette & Xavier - Birth parents (Deceased)

Hippolyta - Adoptive mother

Diana Prince - Adoptive sister

Clark Kent / Superman - Ex-boyfriend

Connor Kent / Superboy - Son (Technically her son because of DNA used in cloning)

Bruce Wayne / Batman - Boyfriend (Maybe more wink wink)

Dick Grayson Wayne / Nightwing - Adoptive son

Jason Todd Wayne / Red Hood - Adoptive son

Timothy Drake / Red Robin - Adoptive son

Damian Wayne / Robin - Adoptive son

Powers and Abilities: 

Superhuman Strength: Lady Light’s strength varies greatly and depends on her mental stability. She possesses vast superhuman strength, granting her the ability to lift (press) far in excess of 100 tons easily. She is one of the strongest beings in the Universe. She is strong enough to rip Darkseid in half with absolutely no problem.

Superhuman Speed: she possesses the ability to think, move, and react at superhuman speeds. She can catch bullets and can move far in excess of supersonic speeds; her speed on earth is enough to be gauged as fast enough to move at orbital velocity (5 miles a second). She can fly to the sun in less than ten minutes. 

Superhuman Stamina: Lady Light’s enhanced musculature is far more efficient than that of a human. As a result her muscles produce no fatigue toxins. However, her stamina greatly varies, depending on her mental state.

Superhuman Agility: Lady Light’s natural balance, agility, and body coordination are enhanced to levels that are far beyond the natural physical limits of even the finest human athlete.

Superhuman Reflexes: She can react at superhuman speeds exceeding several times the speed of Sound.

Superhuman Senses: Possesses vastly enhanced senses. Is able to hear almost any sound at any volume or pitch. The range of her eyesight is also far greater than that of a human being. She is able to detect a single person from hundreds of miles in the air and above cloud level. 

Flight: possesses the ability to float by defying gravity, utilizing her superhuman speed to fly far above hypersonic speeds (above mach 10).  

Nigh Invulnerability: She is, for all intents and purposes, almost completely impervious to harm, unless she wills herself to be killed she has no direct weakness. Like all of her abilities, her durability depends on her mental state, she can go to completely no-selling Class 100-level characters but as soon as he wishes herself dead she could be killed in an instant. She has allowed herself to get hurt just to fake that she has a weakness to something. 

Photokinesis: She has the superhuman ability to generate, control, and emit light. 

Light Projection: By conscious control over the light she produces, she can control its direction, frequency (color), amplitude (intensity), and duration. She can produce numerous effects with the light she manipulates. She can simply cause a bright glow all about her body. She can create a pulse of light on the order of several tens of thousands lumens of power per second (the sun produces at most 10,000 lumens of brightness at noontime), which temporarily blinds people with its brilliance. 

Energy Blasts: Can generate light, heat, force, and other forms of energy as powerful blasts and explosions of a yellow color. These blasts are usually generated from the hands and eyes. The maximum power of these blasts is unknown. It has burned Superman’s skin. (He found out the hard way when they were arguing one night.)

Psionic Abilities: Possesses powerful psychic and mental powers, She could erase her existence from everyone’s memories in a single moment if she wanted too.

Healing Factor: Can heal herself from virtually all injuries. 

Resurrection: (This one is kind of a spoiler if I continue with my plot line) Is able to bring the dead back to life under extreme emotional distress. This also extends to simply healing others' injuries.

Genius Level Intellect: (Partially thanks to Themyscira)  is very intelligent. is capable of using her powers to detect all substances in a single object and thence determine how much of what substances make up an object. Is adept with mechanics, architecture, machinery, tracing energy sources, cybernetics, robotics and computer science. 

Weaknesses- 

None, unless she wills herself to be hurt or killed.

Void

Locked inside Lady Light

Only comes out when LL’s mental state is in tatters

Has all lady light’s power and abilities

doesn’t care about the human race

will kill without a hesitation 

surprisingly a defense mechanism for when LL just can’t handle things anymore.

Doesn’t like anyone but Bruce, his kids, and Connor

Will commit murder to protect those she cares about

Well there you have it. I hope this clears things up for everyone who is curious. Again the gifs are how I see her. You can see her however you wish too since she is a Reader insert character. 

[katedrakeohd]

What happens in Paris ....stays with us forever (part deux.)

♡Awesome gif provided by the sweet and wonderful @ravenpuff02 . 😍🔥😘 My precious Drake and Kate look lovely, thanks so much.♡

Author's note: Although I know the slow burn romance between Drake and the MC didn't finally catch fire until the Homecoming Ball at the end of book 2, I just had to strike the match early while they were in Paris.

Book: TRR 2

Pairing: Drake × Kate Darling (MC)

Rated: Mature 18+ 🍋🍋NSFW🍋🍋

la première partie ici (The first part here)

.............word count: 3332.....................

He lets go of the door frame to place his hands gently on my wrists, pulling my hands away from his neck and folding his hands around mine. Although he's trying to shut me down, I can't help but feel a thrill at having him touching me.

"Uh, Darling?  What do you think you're doing? You know we can't..." he says, although the look in his eyes betrays the way he really feels.

"We can't what, Drake?" I say, stepping away from the door and pressing my body up against his. He's still holding onto my hands, and now our faces are so close I can feel his breath on my cheek. 

"Darling…" he warns, as I flex my hands out of his grasp and undo the next button of his shirt. It's such a tease how he's already left the top button undone for me. My thumbs push the material aside and I slide my hands in. He takes a sharp breath in when I touch him, and I feel his chest rise and fall along with the rapid beating of his heart.

I pop another button out of its hole, and lean in to kiss his throat as my hands continue to explore his chest, tugging his shirt out of the waist of his pants. He hasn't stopped me yet, and I look up at the darkness in his eyes and the pained expression on his face. 

"Kiss me, Drake." I plead. "I know you want to."

Cupping my head in his hands, he tilts my chin up and leans in. I close my eyes. But instead of feeling his lips on mine he plants kisses along my jawline and I hear his voice rasp in my ear, hitching with desire, "And if I want to.. do more than kiss you?"

I gasp, bunching the fabric of his shirt in my fists as his nose traces the shell of my ear, and his stubble bristles against my cheek. "Ye -..."

But my reply is swallowed up by his mouth as it captures mine, and he presses me up against the door. 

His kisses are hungry and I struggle for breath as he grabs my wrists again and pins them up above my head. His knee parts my thighs and I can feel how hard he is underneath his jeans.

When he finally releases my mouth, and presses his forehead against mine we're both panting. "Tell me.. to stop," he groans between breaths.

I run my swollen bottom lip through my teeth, it's still tingling from the way he had sucked on it. "No, Drake...don't stop now," I whisper back.

He lets go of my wrists and runs his fingers down my arms, past my shoulders and then places his hands on my waist. When he grips my ass and lifts me, I wrap my arms around his neck. He swings us around and then puts me down again. I can feel his hands running up and down my bare back, and the smile on his face speaks volumes. I reach back and unsnap the fastener on the halter top of my dress. From behind I feel him tug down at the skirt around my ass and then my dress starts to fall. Kissing me again, he wraps his arms around my back and lifts me up against his chest. I grab him around the shoulders and he stumbles with me toward the bed. When he tries to lay me down I knock him off balance and pull him down with me. 

He lets out a muffled grunt of surprise and I roll him over onto his back. 

"You're horribly overdressed, Drake." I chuckle, and straddling his thigh I unbuckle his belt and tug it free. He pushes himself up into a sitting position and shrugs out of his jacket and I work on the last button of his shirt before helping him toss it aside. He pulls me over to straddle his lap, and then he grabs my ass roughly in his hands, his mouth and tongue travelling sloppily over my breasts. It was like he wanted to taste all of my chest at once, but didn't know where to start. 

I grind myself against his groin, and dig my fingernails into the muscles of his back. He grunts in retaliation and I feel him pull a nipple into his mouth and suck on it hard. 

"Drake," I gasp, feeling myself dampen my panties. 

He leans back again, bringing me with him, and I dive in to give him kisses of my own. His hands come up to push my hair back from my face and I can feel him twist it up into his fist. His free hand wanders down my back and delves into the back of my panties, grasping a handful of cheek before forcing them down. 

"Take these off," he whispers as he kisses my neck.

I slowly back up, placing kisses down his chest, my breasts dragging against his skin. I smile at his groans and sighs of pleasure, as I make my way down across his belly. Finally undoing his bluejeans and slowly tugging down the zipper, I reach in and stroke him through the fabric of his boxers. A jolt of pure molten pleasure shoots down into my lower belly as I see him close his eyes and hear him gasp and curse quietly to himself. 

 I climb off the bed and pull off his shoes and socks. He tucks one hand behind his head and the other goes into his jeans to make adjustments, he watches me with a grin, "You know it's not too late to back out of what's coming next. We can still write this off as a drunken escapade that never happened, preserving what's left of our status as just friends.."

I bite my lip, sliding my hands up his calves to grab at his pantlegs and give his jeans a tug to pull them down. He grasps at the waistband to stop me, and I tug again.  "Don't you ever get tired of being just the best friend, Drake? The shoulder to cry on? Being there for him when nobody else is there just for you?"

Drake sighs, rubbing his forehead and closing his eyes. "Constantly."

I stroke up and down his calves, working my way up to his knees, squeezing and kneading his thighs as he groans and adjusts himself inside his jeans again and opens his legs wider.

"Aren't you tired of playing it safe? And tiptoeing around Liam's feelings?"

"Yes," he sucks in a breath, his eyes are still closed, and now his hand is in his boxers and he's stroking himself.

"Well, what then? Are you going to let yourself feel for a change?"

"Yes.." he groans, and he looks me in the eyes. There's a raw honesty in his expression as he searches my face and it makes my heart skip.

I tug at his pant legs and he raises his hips and shoves his jeans down over his ass. I chuckle as I struggle to yank the tough fabric off of his legs and over his big feet.

After I toss his jeans aside, he sits up and toys with the waistband of his underwear pulling them down dangerously low as I watch, my heart pounding in my throat. "Last chance, Darling, if these come off we've reached the point of no return."

"Worried you'll disappoint me?"

Drake covers his face and laughs, shaking his head. Pushing his hair back from his forehead he fixes me with a look that was all serious as it traveled over my body. "No, Darlin' ..I never disappoint."

My face feels hot and an ache blossoms in my center, as I drop my panties, and watch him climb off of the bed and approach me. There's a confident swagger to his walk as he bends slightly and pushes down his boxers, and then steps out of them. My eyes go wide at what he was bringing me, and I regret teasing him.

Pulling me into his arms again, his kisses are more desperate as his hands travel down my back to cup my ass. When I follow his lead and do the same thing, I can feel him smile and chuckle against my lips. "You can grab me ass harder than that."

"Oh really?" I grin, digging in my fingers and giving his ass a squeeze and then a slap. "What else do you like Drake?"

Dropping his face to my shoulder he kisses up the side of my neck, brushing my hair to the side and taking a handful of it in his fist again. Holding his hand firmly on my lower back, so that I can't pull away, he rocks his hips forward and presses his hard cock up against my belly. I hold onto him tightly as he continues to rock up against me. With both arms wrapped around me and his fist still clenching my hair, he keeps kissing and whispering against my skin quietly, taking pleasure in our full body contact.  Being pressed up to his hard, muscular body as he enjoyed the softness of mine brought tingles all over me from head to toe. I felt light headed as he held me tight, lost in the motions of his body and the feel of his mouth on my skin.

 When he suddenly stops moving I fall limp against him, my knees going weak and a warm throbbing simmers in my core. I hear him whisper hoarsely in my ear.

 "You asked me what I liked.."

"Uh huh," I moan, leaning my cheek against his chest, and delighting in the way his warm hand caressed my lower back and down over my ass.

He backs us up toward the bed, and I whimper as he pulls his hands free of me. Drake sits down on the edge of the bed and then lifts me to straddle his lap. His erect cock is now trapped between us and he pulls me in tightly to him. "Rub yourself all over me,  I want to be your scratching post kitty kitty.."

I bite my lip as I rock my hips against him, "You like being on the bottom?"

"Why not?  Ladies first. I want you to cum all over me before I take my turn. Butter me up baby, I want to hear the sounds you make. That's what I like, to watch and listen to a woman taking pleasure in what her body can do, while I'm her play thing."

I laugh and push him backward on the bed, "So you figure you'll be able to outlast all of the moves and sounds I make while I make you my sex toy? Doubt it. But hey, I like a challenge."

Drake grins, "Bring it on."

I lean forward and run my slick folds along his length, enjoying the way the head of his cock slides and bumps against my clit. He groans with pleasure, "Oh God, yes."

Locking eyes with him I sit up, stroking the velvety soft skin of his cock up against me, alternating rubbing the wet fluids I've made around my folds with my fingers and using him to do it. 

He watches me intently, licking his lips, "Talk to me, and tell me how that feels."

I feel my face flush as I try to put it into words how great he feels rubbing up against me.

"So warm, the friction of you against me feels so good." I moan.

I look away as he smiles at me, "Trust me the feeling is mutual. Keep going, I want to watch you come undone in front of me, on top of me."

His words ignite me further, and I feel more bold. I tilt my head back and squeeze my breast, trapping the nipple between my fingers. I slip the middle fingers of my other hand into my pussy. The wet, silky and plump interior is a delicious contrast to the velvety texture of his cock rubbing against the back of my hand. I moan at the pleasure of it, knowing that he's watching my every move.

I can feel his hands on my thighs, so big and so strong, and then they're on my hips, my waist. "Taste yourself and then share it with me," he whispers.

Raising my eyebrow in question, he grins and nods to me. "Unless you're too shy to do it."

"What, me shy?" I respond, bringing my hand up to my face. I make a vee with my fingers and can smell the both of us on my skin. I lick the junction of my fingers and look at the pleased expression on his face. Reaching forward I see him open his lips and then he's sucking my fingertips into his mouth.  His tongue caresses the underside of my fingers and I gasp at the sensation shooting up my arm that rockets down into my core.

 "Mmm, tasty," he says, when I pull my hand from his mouth.

By now the sound of his voice is pretty much all it takes to make me ache with need, and I can't stand it anymore. I need him inside me.

He opens his mouth to say something else, and I place my fingers to his lips to shush him, "No more talking."

Drake grins against my hand, pulling me forward to kiss me, his hands roaming my back as he bucks his hips up into me. I whimper against his mouth in frustration, as his tongue slices into my mouth. Between the rocking of my hips and the movement of his, we're so close to penetration it's maddening.

The narrow bed in my train compartment creaks rhythmically and I wonder how much others might hear. I lift up my hips and reach down between us to guide him to where I need him and then sit up.

Drake gasps and then lets out a groan of satisfaction as he bucks upward into me, "fffuck, yes."

Panting heavily, I sit still and allow myself a moment to get used to the size of him, fighting the burning and stretching sensation and trying to relax. He looks up at me and strokes my thighs, his own chest rising and falling with deep breaths. 

"Are we ok?" he asks, studying my face with concern.

I nod, and begin to rock my hips against him slowly, letting him fill me over and over until the burn is replaced by a comfortable and pleasurable friction. I look down into Drake's face and don't have to wonder if he's enjoying himself too. The crease of his brow and the goofy grin on his face says it all. 

When I don't move fast enough for him he bucks upward to bring us together, a quiet grunt escaping his lips. "Damn you feel amazing, Kate."

Hearing my name coming out of his mouth snaps me out of my rhythm, and I stop moving to give him a lopsided grin. "Say that, again?"

"What?" He asks, with a frown.

I slide my hands up and down his chest, and grin widely. "You called me Kate, not Darling, but Kate."

His eyes shift side to side, and he grins sheepishly, "Did I?"

"Uh huh," I say, resuming my movements. 

"Didn't realize I'd let that slip, see now how you affect me?"

He brings his hands up to place them on my breasts again, and I smile down at him. "I like it, at least for when we're alone, cuz then you can be honest about your feelings for me."

"My f-feelings ..huh." He says with effort, as he pushes up against me again. "And what are my feelings if you're so sure about them?"

"You said that you want me, have wanted me, for a while." 

"Yeah," he says, pinching one of my nipples between his fingers, his other hand sliding up to grasp my shoulder up next to my neck.

"Is that all there is between us, just a physical attraction, and nothing more? Do you even like me?"

Drake frowns, a strangled groan of frustration rising up out of his throat as he tries to avoid answering.

When he doesn't answer I push a few more buttons to see if I can get him to confess. "You know, the night of the Coronation, Liam told me he loved m-..."

Suddenly Drake's eyes go wide, "Woah, hold on a minute. When did we go from let's fuck, to let's talk about our fucking feelings? And you just had to mention his name."

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry." I cover my face, feeling so embarrassed and stupid for pushing the issue.

I hear Drake sigh, and feel him struggle to sit up beneath me. "Ok, get off. We're done."

I drop my hands down on my thighs with a slap, "Damn it, Drake. I'm sorry."

"Stop saying you're sorry. This was just a mistake in the first place."

Carefully I climb off him and flop down on the bed beside him feeling dejected. He brings his arm up and lays it across his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut. When I lay my hand on his chest he flinches and then relaxes with a sigh.

 "I should go." he says quietly. 

I curl up into his side and press my forehead into his shoulder, hugging his arm. "No. Please, stay."

He lifts his hand and places it on my hip, drawing little circles on my skin. I giggle because it tickles. He drops his arm from his forehead and lays it on his chest and then turns his head to look at me.

"You really want me to stay?"

I kiss his shoulder and then sit up on my elbow, reaching over to rest my hand on his cheek. "Yes."

He smirks and then rolls over with a soft grunt to face me, placing his hand on my hip again. I lean in to kiss him and he brings his hand up to cup my cheek. When he pulls back, he has that pained look creasing his features again and it makes my heart sink.

"You're leaving aren't you." 

He sighs, tracing my jaw with his thumb. "We don't want to get caught together. Doesn't Maxwell knock on your door every morning to get you up for Breakfast?"

"Yeah," I say, feeling disappointed.

"And he and I share a room, so he's going to know I didn't sleep there."

I shrug, "If you were to pass him in the hall tomorrow morning in last night's rumbled clothes, you'd only have to say you passed out drunk in the lounge or something."

Drake quirks an eyebrow and lifts his lip into a smirk, "That would probably be a convincing enough cover story."

I sit up next to him and hug my knees to my chest. "So, you do like me enough to not just dick me then ditch me."

He laughs, covering his face, and then shakes his head as he looks at me.  "Ok, fine. I care about you, Kate. Did I ever not kiss you back during all those times you snuck one on me."

I grin, "Well, no."

Drake sits up on the side of the bed, chuckling at the mess we've made with our discarded clothing. "It sure looks like we were having fun in here."

Crawling over I hug him around the shoulders from behind and kiss the side of his neck. "Is there any way we could start over?"

Drake sighs, glancing down at his lap. "I suppose it's worth a try."

I giggle as I kiss my away across his shoulder and it makes him shiver. "You told me earlier that you 'don't disappoint' Drake. Well I must admit to being very disappointed."

"Hey!" he protests, "That was totally not my fault."

"I know, I know."

Part three

::.

tagging: @jovialyouthmusic @sirbeepsalot @emceesynonymroll @emichelle @mskaneko @speedyoperarascalparty @dcbbw @drakeandcamilleofvaltoria @pedudley @kingliam2019 @kimmiedoo5 @gardeningourmet @drakesensworld @mfackenthal @thequeenchoices @debramcg1106 @fluffy-marshmallow-heart @wickedgypsymoon @griselda1121 @indiacater @texaskitten30 @nikkis1983 @lynne1993 @bobasheebaby @drakesfiance @ravenpuff02 @moonlightgem7 @princessleac1 @janezillow @jlpplays1 @walker7519 @drakesensworld @furiousherringoperatortoad @samihatuli @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @rainbowsinthestorm @burnsoslow @bbrandy2002 @jessiembruno @msjpuddleduck @princess-andromeda-nazario @princess-geek

[karahalloway]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who reblogged something from you. Get to know your mutuals and followers :)

Thank you for sending this through @angelasscribbles. I already posted a list of things that I like here, but no reason I can't do another set!

6. Music. I love listening to music when I'm writing or driving. When I'm writing it tends to be instrumental (like celtic, soundtracks or piano) but when I'm driving it is like 99% country music (as I love listening to the story of the lyrics and singing along)

7. Movies / TV Shows Both my husband and I love sitting down and watching something funny / compelling together (we tend to gravitate towards action / adventure / comedy, but I will watch rom-coms sometimes when the mood hits me). Our current favourite show is Yellowstone (as you very well know!) but we are also mega excited about season 2 of The Witcher! And I'm looking forward to watching Wheel of Time (once Amazon releases all the episodes!) And my personal guilty pleasures are Outlander and Virgin River (need some girly things in my life!)

8. Getting comments on my fics. When I started writing, I never expected to receive so many wonderful comments and reactions to my work! It really makes my day to open my Tumblr and/or Wattpad inbox to find that people have not only read my stuff, but commented on it (especially when they include gifs - gifs are the best!)

9. Chatting with my Tumbr besties! I am 100% an introvert and find it hard to strike up / maintain a conversation with real people, but I do love getting pinged on Tumblr and having random convos about writing, TRR, life, funny videos and drooling over Drake FC pics 🥰. You guys really make my day!

10. A great view. We are so incredibly lucky to live within spitting distance of the Rocky Mountains. And, since we live on the edge of the city that faces the mountains, when I'm driving home, I love catching a glimpse of the beautiful view - especially in the winter when the peaks are covered in snow! It never fails to lift my heart and put a smile on my face!

[catxsnow]

PROTECT YOU D.W.

Request:  Could I request something with angst and fluff for Damian Wayne please? One where there's a mission that he isn't involved in because he's injured but his s/o is on it but then he freaks out when her coms are off bcs reader might have been injured or dead but when they all get back to the cave s/o is fine. Thanks!

Warning: angst, fluff, Older!Damian

A/N: I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of writing for Damian

GIF not mine

Word Count: 2.5k

Damian hated being left out of a mission. No matter how damaged he was, there was always still argument that he could pull his weight on the team. The time that he had a concussion he had convinced Bruce to still let him go out, and another time when he had a sprained wrist. Damian always found a way to make sure that he was still going out as Robin, especially when you were going with them as well.

You and Damian had been dating just under two years. He arrived at the manor just about a year after you did. It took a while for him to warm up to you, to anyone there, but you seemed to be the easiest to get along with. Damian found himself allured by you. Your skills were comparable to his and when you had put him on his ass in a matter of minutes, he had some respect for you as well.

The more you trained together, the more he was impressed by you. It didn't help that the longer you spent time together, the more you realized that you had grown immense feelings for him. Feelings that were too stubborn to go away or be ignored. It was why, when Damian had won a spar against you, arms pinned to the mat and hovering above him, you had acted on impulse and kissed him.

He was shocked at first, unsure of where this had come from. It didn't take long for his grip on you to loosen, leaving you just enough wiggle room to flip your positions. Damian wasn't sure if he was more surprised by the fact that you had kissed him or that you had used it again him to win your spar.

Either way, it had led to more kisses, more time together, and a relationship that Bruce was weary about. Damian had already acted so high and mighty when he was fighting as Robin, he couldn't imagine what he was going to be like when the two of you fought together. And he was right to be worried.

Damian became protective of you. He wouldn't let you leave on a mission, or even patrol, without him. He would be the one to constantly have your back because there was no one he trusted more to keep you safe than himself. Damian had fallen in love with you and he couldn't bare the thought of losing you to anything.

It was why Damian had once again tried to convince his father that he was healthy enough to go on a mission. His arm was in a cast, but that didn't stop him from wanting to go along side you against a dangerous mission. It was the first time that you were going without him since you had been dating and he was terrified.

It lead to comments about keeping you safe, being there to protect you, and how useless his brothers were. You couldn't stand by and watch any longer as Damian continued to be spoiled with getting what he wanted. This behavior that he had - about only him being able to keep  you safe - it drove you crazy.

"Damian Wayne!" You bellowed. Your voice echoed through the walls of the cave and had caused everyone to freeze in their spots. Damian was yelling at his father to let him go with them as well. He desperately wanted to be there for you, there was just something in his gut telling him that you weren't going to be safe that night.

Damian stopped arguing with Bruce and winced. He slowly turned to face you with his mouth still agape. You stood there with your suit on and hands on your hips, nothing but disappointment fell in your eyes.

Dick looked wearily between Tim and you, unsure of what was about to go down. It wasn't very often that you had yelled at him, much less using his whole name. The tension in the batcave grew as you continued to say nothing until it got unbearable.

"I am a grown adult, I can take care of myself without you being there all the time!" You finally snapped. "I'm tired of you acting like I'm less of a valued member of this team. You go around making it seem like I can't take care of myself! It's degrading. I don't need you to protect me, I never needed you to protect me."

"Beloved, that's not-"

"Save it, Damian," you cut him off, pulling the cowl above your head. He watched silently as you got on top of you bike, revving it up to leave. "Listen to your father, stay here."

Even when you and Damian went on missions together, before leaving the cave, you had always told each other you loved them. There was always the chance that something would go wrong and that someone wouldn't make it back. It wasn't a risk that you were willing to take about missing a final 'I love you'.

However, as you sped out of the cave without another word, Damian had the words hanging off the tip of his tongue. His head hung low as the rest of his family looked at him. They had all known that he was protective of you and that sometimes he did push the limits to keep you safe.

He had never known that you felt that strongly about this. Damian groaned in frustration at your fight, he hated arguing with you, especially right before a mission. You were more reckless when you were angry, and this time he wasn't there for you. No one was there for you, this mission had you going solo.

Bruce looked down to his son, unsure of what to say to him to make things better. He simply squeezed his shoulder before jumping into the batmobile. Tim got in beside him and Dick on his motorcycle.

"Damian," Dick called out to him as the other two left. "They're going to be fine out there, okay? (Y/N) is strong. They aren't angry with you, trust me."

"Better catch up, Grayson."

><

Damian was freaking out.

His father had announced half way through the mission that your comms had been turned off. He wasn't sure if you had done this yourself or something worse. Either way, if it wasn't for Alfred nearly tying him down to the chair, he would have been off searching the city for you. Damian was terrified about what was going on with you.

He knew that this feeling in his gut should have been something he worried about more. Damian should have known that you shouldn't have gone out on your own, he knew that something bad was going to happen. Bruce had full faith that you were fine, he wasn't worried about your comms being off - which had only frustrated Damian even more.

They should be out searching the city for you to see what happened, not come back to the cave where nothing was being done. The mission had been successful, there was no need for worry about where you were. You were the farthest part from the city, it made sense that you would arrive last.

Yet, even Dick was starting to get a little nervous about your whereabouts. It wasn't common for you to turn your comms off, at least not for this long. Whatever happened to you out there, it had to have been for good reason. There was no point in poking the fire with Damian and getting him more worried about you.

It was different for Dick to see Damian so worried about someone. Of course he worried about the rest of his family, but nothing like he worried about you. In Damian's nineteen short years of life, he never expected to love someone so much. It was an unbreakable love between the two of you, no matter how much you argued.

"Where are they!" Damian yelled. He wanted to take his father's vehicle and race out in the streets to find you. He would have too if he wasn't constantly held back.

"(Y/N) said that they were fine right when the mission was over," Tim tried to reassure his brother. "There's nothing to worry about, Damian."

"Bullshit, Drake," Damian snapped. He paused his pacing to glare at his brother. "(Y/N) never does this. Something must be wrong." It was true, you never turned off your comms unless you were meant to go dark. Damian only hoped that you were doing this because you were mad at him still, not because you were injured.

The only thing he hated seeing more than you getting hurt, was you being mad at him. Whenever the two of your fought, there was always a very short period of time before one of you apologized. Damian prayed that this wasn't going to be escalated. He didn't know that you felt so strongly about this, otherwise he would have been less over protecting of you.

The echo of your bike bounced off the walls of the cave. Damian eagerly perked up from his place to wait your arrival. He had no idea what kind of shape you were going to be in when you finally got here, he was worried about you. Damian stood just beside the place you parked your motorcycle with an anxious look.

The second you put the kickstand down and removed your helmet, Damian had thrown himself in your arms. He pulled away from you only to to place his lips on yours. All the concern and anxiety he was feeling melted away with your touch. It was always you that was able to calm him down.

"I was so worried about you, beloved," Damian admitted to you. His eyebrows furrowed as he noticed the small cut along your cheek and the frown on your face. The pad of his thumb gently wiped below your wound. It was then that he noticed the blood dripping down your neck as well. "What happened?"

"Nothing that I couldn't handle on my own," you assured. The tightness in your voice caught him off guard - you were still mad at him. That was confirmed as you pushed past him and everyone else waiting for you. Just as you were about to leave the cave, it was Bruce that stopped you.

"Why were your comms off," he asked. Damian wasn't the only one worried about you. Not to mention that turning them off could have endangered the whole mission - lucky for you, it hadn't. Without another word, you ripped off your cowl and tossed and threw it backwards for him to catch.

The earpiece in your cowl had been damaged. Lucky for you, the bullet shot in your direction had just grazed your suit, not your head. The cowl seemed to satisfy Bruce's question enough, he didn't say anything else as you left to your room.

"I think you messed up," Dick pointed out the obvious. Damian shot a deathly glare at him and stormed out of the cave as well. At that moment, he didn't care if you were mad at him, he was just glad that you were alive.

He hovered by your door for a moment, debating whether or not to knock or just walk in. As he heard the shower going, he decided to just wait on your bed (shared bed at that point, Damian rarely slept in his own anymore). For once, the room seemed foreign to him, like he shouldn't be in there without you.

This fear that resided within him wasn't fear that he normally had when you went on missions, this was a fear that you had finally had enough of him. This kind of fear overpowered every other emotion trying to break through. It left him unable to sit still and cowering from his own thoughts.

The second that he heard the shower turn off, Damian felt as if his heart was going to burst through his chest. His leg bounced up and down as he waited for you to walk out.

"Damian," you spoke as you opened the door. A towel was wrapped around you and water droplets fell from your hair. You knew that he was waiting in your room for you, and yet the surprise of seeing him so nervous shocked you. 

"Beloved, please," Damian stood up to meet you. "I'm sorry that I made you fell this way. I know that you're capable of taking care of yourself, I know you don't need me to protect you."

You said nothing as you continued to pull out a pair of pajamas. Damian sighed at your silence. He hastily grabbed both your hands and forced you to face him. The fear in his eyes took you back. Damian didn't show fear, he always exuded confidence. Seeing him like this, you knew that he was being truthful.

"I love you, (Y/N)," Damian told you. "I only argued to go on these missions because... because I'm petrified that one day something is going to go wrong and that I'm not going to be able to say goodbye, or you to I. If I'm ever going to die out there, I want to make sure that your face is the last I see."

Your bottom lip wobbled as he spoke. You tore your hands out of his so you could pull him into a hug. Tears spilled down your cheeks - you couldn't bare the thought of losing Damian. "I love you, Damian. So, much. I'm sorry that I was angry with you, I know you just want what's best."

Damian shook his head - you were right to be angry, he just wished that he had known about it sooner. Your hands rest at the back of his neck as you pulled him in for a heart-warming kiss.

"Stay with me tonight?" You asked, playing with the few baby hairs at the back of his neck. Your touch sent a chill up his spine. The lingering water on your skin left you cold and you craved the warmth that Damian always had radiating off of him.

"Of course."

"You might not always be able to protect me out on the streets, but you always keep me safe from the nightmares that haunt me."

At the end of the day, that was the protection that you needed the most. You didn't need him to hover over you like a child when you were protecting Gotham. You needed him to remind you that your nightmares weren't real, that they were nothing but a figment of your imagination. Damian was real, and he knew how to keep you safe.

You would always need Damian, even if it wasn't in the way that he imagined.

[axwalker]

Tears in Heaven 8: Revelations

Synopsis: Alexis O’Brien is about to get married but memories of her old life are coming back to haunt her.

Pairings: Liam x MC Drake x MC (TRR)

Warnings:  NO ONE UNDER 18 should read this story. This is an 18+ blog.

This story will deal with very dark subjects such as death, severe depression and suicide attempt (among others) if you’re triggered by any of those issues, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS STORY

To catch up: Masterlist

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry.

Word count: 6,495

Songs inspiration: Tears in heaven by Eric Clapton

Thank you,  @burnsoslow for being the absolute MVP of this chapter. You helped me find my story back. And, of course for correcting my numerous English mistakes ... 😋  @mskaneko for creating the amazing GIF of Drake and Alexis. @pedudley​ Thank you for beta reading and your great feedback. I LOVE YOU ALL ❤️❤️!!

Liam adjusted his tie and put on his suit jacket. He sat on the bed next to Alexis, who was still sleeping, and ran the back of his hand over her cheek, careful not to wake her up. He had arrived late from Valtoria the night before, so they hadn't had a chance to talk after Bertrand's party. Since Drake's return, Liam was worried about Alexis and their relationship. She seemed different, nervous, on edge. He hadn't seen her that agitated since she had left the clinic three years ago. To make matters worse, Tom's birthday and that damned conciliatory hearing were taking place soon, only days from each other.

What if it was too much for her? What if seeing Drake brought back her old feelings for him? Maybe he should contact Rashad and ask him if the hearing was the only way to get the divorce. Liam couldn't bear the thought of losing her. After 10 years of loving Alexis, he would be damned if he was going to let Drake ruin their wedding and life together. Not now that Alexis finally loved him back.

Alexis stirred on the bed and opened her eyes. Liam smiled at her.

“Good morning, love." He leaned in to give her a soft kiss. "Were you able to work last night at the coffeehouse?"

Alexis knew that Liam wasn't going to be pleased about her afternoon with Drake. Liam was still jealous of him, and her old marriage was a sore subject between them. But she refused to lie. 

Alexis brought her knees against her chin and hugged herself. "I didn't work much. I ran into Drake, and we talked for a while."

Liam stiffened. His eyes narrowed as he spoke to her. "What do you mean, 'you ran into him'? Is he following you?"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Please, Liam. Of course not. It was a coincidence. We just talked."

 "About what?" Liam inquired.

 "About our jobs, our new lives. Nothing important," she answered, uncomfortable with the questioning.

 Liam observed her eyes darting; there was something Alexis wasn't telling him. "That's it?" he insisted.

"Yes, that's it." Drake touching her face hadn't meant anything. Liam didn't need to know about it.

 Liam took Alexis's hand. "To be honest, I'm a bit nervous about that court hearing with him next week. I'd prefer it if you never had to see him again, darling."

 "It'll be fine, Li. According to Rashad, the hearing is fast. In one week, we'll sign the papers, and then you and I will be able to marry. Don't worry," she reassured him with a smile.

 Liam nodded. He took her hand and kissed it. "How are you feeling with… with everything else?" he asked, frowning.

 Every year, when her son's birthday arrived, she broke, relieving his last celebration over and over again. Every year, Alexis wondered if she really had been that utterly happy or if her mind was idealizing her old family life. Every year, in the days preceding that date, Liam walked on eggshells trying to avoid the subject. Sometimes Alexis asked herself if it wouldn't be better if he'd force her to talk about her son. But it wasn't in Liam's nature. And she didn't want to burden him even more, so neither of them spoke about it openly.

 Alexis tried to comfort him. "I'll be fine, Li. Thank you for everything you do for me. I mean it." She tugged Liam's hand, pulling his body to hers, and kissed him. "What time do you need me to be at the university for the Opening Ceremony?" she asked. 

 Liam aimed to improve education in Valtoria by creating as many schools and universities as possible. One of Alexis' duties as the future Duchess was to make an appearance on the day of the opening, cut the inaugural ribbon, and smile for the press: a job she hated but did to make Liam happy.

 "At 11:00 sharp, darling. And I say this with all the love in the world: Please don't be late. Hana will be there waiting for you. Frantz will take you to Valtoria; he's the best driver there is."

 "I can drive to Valtoria myself; I enjoy the road," Alexis said as she stood up and put on her robe.

 "I'd feel better if he takes you, love. It's safer. And you'll be on time." 

 Alexis sighed; she was exasperated but didn't want to start a fight. "As you like. See you tonight at Valtoria for Leo's welcome dinner."

 "Are you going to be alright with Milos there?" Liam asked, worried, again.

 "Liam, please. I'll be fine." Alexis kissed him before stepping into the shower. "I better start getting ready."

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 Hana Lee had been working for the Duke of Valtoria for five years. She was Liam Rhys' right hand. He was the person Hana admired the most in the world. Liam was handsome, intelligent, and worldly but extraordinarily kind and generous. He wanted to improve Valtoria in ways that Constantine, the former duke, hadn’t even imagined. Liam's enthusiasm was contagious; he truly loved his duchy, his people.

Hana would've loved to see him engaged to someone who shared his passion. The future duchess didn't seem very happy with her new role. Actually, Alexis never seemed completely happy anywhere. Hana had heard of her tragedy, like everyone else in Valtoria. She pitied her sincerely, but she wished that Alexis was more involved in her future husband's life. The duke was a formidable man. And his future wife didn't seem to appreciate him as much as he deserved.

 Emily Black, Hana's assistant, was waiting for her with a coffee and the guest list for the event. They had been working together for three years, and more than her assistant, Emily was a close friend. 

 "Is she coming?" Emily's contemptuous expression told Hana that she was talking about Alexis.

 "Yes, Emi, the future duchess is coming. The duke told me she'd be here at 11:00."

 "She's always late. She's so lucky to have this life and share her bed with that delicious man, and she doesn't even realize it," Emily criticized.

 Hana scolded her, "Emily! Please show some respect. That is the duke and the future duchess you're talking about, and there are some things you don't know about Alexis."

 "Sorry! I just meant that the great and honorable Duke of Valtoria is extremely hot." Emily giggled. "Admit it, Han, you think so, too."

 Hana shook her head, laughing. She would never confess it to her assistant, but she found Liam Rhys much more than attractive.

 At quarter to eleven, Alexis came into the university in an elegant burgundy suit with nude heels and soft makeup.

 "Alexis might hate to be a duchess, but she looks the part. She's gorgeous," Hana told Emily, slightly jealous. Of course Liam was in love with a woman like Alexis; he would never see Hana as anything else than his loyal right hand.

 Emily shrugged. "Yeah, she's not ugly, and maybe today she looks fine, but she's not you. You're much more beautiful and poised, Han. You'd be a perfect duchess," Emily claimed, convinced.

 Hana blushed. Making a difference in Valtoria was essential to her. But the handsome duke was her forbidden dream, and she would do anything for him. Including helping his fiancée.

 "Ms. O'Brien. Good morning," Hanna said respectfully, when Alexis finally reached them. Emily excused herself.

 "Please, Hana, as I told you before, you can call me Alexis. We'll have to work together often," Alexis said. She would've liked to have been closer to Hana. After all, they were the same age, and Hana seemed agreeable and smart. She could make a good friend when Alexis would be forced to move to Valtoria after the wedding. But Hana had always put a distance between them, and Alexis wasn't able to get past it.   

 Her old self would have been able to befriend Hana. Drake used to tease her because she loved to be friends with everyone she met. But Alexis' new personality wasn't happy and charismatic anymore. It was sad and bleak, tainted by tragedy. Alexis shook her head, sick of feeling sorry for herself.

 --------------------------------------------------------------------

 Drake woke up in good spirits, almost hopeful. For the first time in years, he would be able to practice as a veterinarian again. He hadn't realized how much he missed his career. Drake had been up all night going through his textbooks, files, and old cases. He was determined to be the best again. Before getting out of bed, Drake picked up the picture on his nightstand and sighed nostalgically. It had been taken two months before Tom's death, on a camping trip. In the photo, Drake had Tom and Alexis in his lap. He remembered laughing at Alexis' silly attempts to make Tom smile for the picture. Looking at it was painful, but the photo reminded him why he kept living, why he was fighting. Tom was gone, but Alexis was still there, alive. He took a cold shower and put on a blue shirt and a pair of jeans.

 Before going downstairs, Drake stood in front of Tom's old room. Sadly, he thought that he would have to empty it. It wasn't healthy to keep it as a sanctuary forever. His heart tugged when he realized that he'd have to speak to Lexie about it. On the other hand, it might be a good thing for her to face reality instead of running from it. In any case, he'd have to talk to Alexis; it was a decision that they had to make together.

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 After the opening ceremony at the university, Alexis decided to call Olivia and Maxwell. They agreed to meet in a bar downtown for cocktails.

 Thirty minutes later, the three friends were sitting in a trendy pub with a dDirty mMartini, a glass of whiskey and a Cosmopolitan.

 Olivia took a sip of her martini. She observed Alexis, who was absentmindedly fidgeting her engagement ring. "How are the wedding preparations going?"

 Alexis flicked her hair. "Regina is in charge of almost everything. Li and I wanted something small, but the guest list is already up to 200 guests," she said, annoyed.

 "In old Connie's defense, a 200-guest wedding is small for him. According to Father, Constantine and Regina got married in front of 500 people," Maxwell said while he stirred his Cosmopolitan.  

 Olivia arched her eyebrows. "Who cares? The point is that you don't want a big wedding, Alexis. I don't know why you don't say anything. The Lexie I knew would have never taken this shit."

 "The Alexis you knew doesn't exist anymore," Alexis retorted.

 "Yes, she does. Liam has convinced you that you're weak now and that you can't take care of yourself. But that's not true." Olivia paused to let her words sink in. "Look, I know that he means well. Li is a good man who loves you. And I understand that he's so protective of you, especially after you tried to … well, you know."

 Maxwell gasped, interrupting her. It was the first time in three years that they had openly discussed the subject.

 "Come on, Max, it's not like she doesn't know this." Olivia turned back to Alexis. "Liam saved your life, and since then, you've been playing these weird roles. You're the defenseless princess, and he's the knight in shining armor. And it suits you both. Liam gets to marry you, and you can finally stop living. You gave him all control of your life."

 "What do you mean, stop living?" Alexis asked.

 "Last time, Maxwell lectured me  for an hour, so I'll try to say this as gentle as I can." Olivia took a deep breath. "You're not living your life anymore, Alexis. You're like a robot. You never talk about Tom. You're in a job you don't enjoy. You're committing yourself to a life that we all know you'll hate. You are with Liam because he makes you feel safe. Because you know he can't hurt you like Walker did. That's why you're with him. Which, excuse me, seems pretty damn selfish to me. You both deserve better."

 Max shook his head. "That's gentle, Liv? What the hell!"

Olivia rolled her eyes. “I’m not apologizing for saying that. I just want Alexis to be the strong, independent woman she was before all of this. And for her and Li to be happy.”

“Do you think I enjoy  this? Do you think I like feeling like this? I feel like my life ended five years ago. Most days I miss my son so much I can’t get out of bed.  I’m aware I’m not the same strong woman that I was before. But believe me, Olivia, I’m trying.” Alexis paused to give herself the courage to say the rest. "You have to respect my relationship. And Liam." Alexis sighed. "Of course, it's not the same passion I felt for Drake when I was 19, but I'm not 19 anymore. My love for Drake almost killed me. The main reason I tried to end everything that day was because of my son, but a big part of me also wanted to die because Drake had left. The heartbreak of knowing that I had lost him forever almost killed me, too. Drake and I are over. That's final," Alexis stated.

 "I know you’re trying, darling. And, I'm not saying that you should get back with Drake." Olivia saw that Alexis was going to defend Drake, so she raised her hand. "I get why he left." She squeezed Lexie's hand. "I can't even imagine how he felt when you said those horrible things to him. But I called Drake three months later, I told him how desperate you were, he promised to come back, and then he didn't. So, Drake doesn't deserve you, Alexis. The point is that you shouldn't marry someone you don't love when you're still clearly in love with someone else. Maybe you should be alone for a while," Olivia advised, as she had many times before.

 "If you'd been in the cabin that day, you'd understand why he never came back. I broke him, Liv." Alexis' eyes watered. "Of course Drake hated me. I would never forgive myself for what I said to him. Never. But he's part of the past. A past that I'm trying to leave behind. Liam … Liam is my future," Alexis said, trying to convince herself more than her friends.

 ----------------------------------------------------------- 

 Alexis had arrived at Valtoria that afternoon. She was reading in the duchy's library when Leo's eldest son entered the room. Milos was an adorable four-year-old. He was dragging a teddy bear and seemed lost.

 Alexis closed her book and took him into her arms. He giggled when she lifted him.

 "Hi, Milos! Are you lost, babe?" Alexis asked.

 Milos nodded shyly. Alexis spun him around the room, and he laughed. "You like this, don't you, little bean?" She gave him a nose kiss. "You're so cute, Milos."

 "I love you, auntie!" Milos screamed happily.

 Her heart tugged. Milos' laughter was both blissful and painful. Images of her own son giggling and smiling as she played with him washed over her. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she was happy to spend a few minutes with her nephew. The Rhys assumed that playing with Milos was too much for her, so they tried to keep the boy away. Alexis understood. Only one year ago, the mere thought of seeing a boy that age would've broken her. However, now that she was feeling stronger, she liked to spend time with him. 

 Liam walked in, and his heart sank, seeing Alexis with Milos in her arms. Every time after playing with him, she felt a bit sad and nostalgic. Liam believed that both feelings were a trigger for her. He took the boy out of her arms.

 "I'm sure Leo and Amanda are looking for this little devil." Liam grinned at Milos. "I'll take him to them, my love; I'll be back in a few minutes."

Alexis wished that Liam wouldn't worry about her so much. Sometimes, his concern made her feel suffocated. And Olivia was right, she was an adult woman, capable of making her own decisions.

She stood up and took Milos back. “I’m going to be fine, Li. We’re just playing, aren't we Milos?”

The boy nodded happily. “Yes, auntie. I want to draw trees!”

“That is so cool, Milos!” Alexis kissed the top of Milos’ head. “Let’s go look for a piece of paper and some colored pencils.” 

“I don’t think that is a good idea, my love,” Liam whispered. 

“I do, Li. Trust me. It’s time.” Alexis kissed his fiancé and left the room with Milos in her arms.

 Liam watched her leave the library visibly worried. As much as he wanted to, he didn’t think Alexis was strong enough yet. 

---------------------------------------------------------------- 

 A week later, Alexis was getting ready for her court hearing. She looked at herself in the mirror and ran her hand over the dark circles around her eyes. She hadn't slept all night thinking about her son's birthday.

Liam was worried; he thought that seeing Drake was only adding to her stress. But Alexis was relieved to be seeing the only person who understood precisely what she was feeling.

 Drake put on a grey shirt and a pair of black pants and went downstairs. As he poured coffee into his portable mug, his eyes set on the calendar glued to the wall. In two days, Tom would have turned eight. The memory of his last birthday was still alive in his mind, almost burning. He was grateful to see Lexie today: the only other person in the world who knew what he was going through.

 Alexis and Rashad entered the family courthouse and found Drake already there, sitting on one of the benches.

 "Hi," Alexis said shyly, as she tucked her hair behind her ear. Suddenly, she felt like a 19-year-old teenager all over again.

 "Hi, Lex," Drake replied, smiling. His heart was beating abnormally fast.

 "No lawyer?" she asked softly.

 Drake shrugged. "I don't need it."

 "Me neither!" she answered quickly. "Liam insisted. Rashad is only here in case we need him. Plus, he's a friend. He's Max's future husband; they're getting married in two weeks, at the beach in Portavira. The ceremony will be beautiful," she rambled.

 Drake smiled at her reassuringly. Lexie always rambled when she was nervous. He extended his hand to Rashad. "Nice to meet the most patient person in the world," he said, smirking.

 "There's been some talks about making the title official." Rashad laughed. "I'm crazy about him, though," he added.

 Drake smiled. "I'm happy for you both; Max is one of the best people I know."

 A marshal came out to the hallway. "Mr. and Mrs. Walker?" he called.

 Alexis' heart leaped. She blushed crimson red, hearing her old last name.

 "It's us," Drake answered with a firm voice and placed his hand on the small of Alexis' back to let her pass. The movement was soft and brief, but Alexis felt a jolt going through her body, awakening every nerve. She blushed again, ashamed of her reaction. Drake noticed it and smiled to himself, hopeful.

 They entered a conference room. The judge was sitting at one side of a round table with her assistant next to her. Alexis and Drake sat across from them.

 "Good afternoon, I'm Judge Gina Connors," she said, smiling.

 Drake and Alexis answered back, so the judge proceeded, "First of all, I want you to know that this is a safe space. Nothing you say in here will leave this room." she paused to make sure they understood. "The purpose of this hearing is to figure out whether or not you can save your marriage. I'll ask you some questions, we'll talk, and at the end of the hearing, I'll leave you alone for a few minutes. I'll give you my assessment, but the final choice belongs to you. If you're not ready to make a decision at the end of the hearing, the court will give you one week to think about it. If your decision to get a divorce is final, we'll agree on the terms. If everything goes smoothly, my assistant, Tess," she nodded at a small woman with red hair and big glasses who was typing into a computer, "will send you the divorce papers in one week. Is everything clear?"

 They both nodded. The judge looked at them over her glasses. "Let's start. I'll repeat your complete names for the record. Mrs. Alexis Jade Walker and Mr. Drake James Walker. Is that correct?"

 Alexis and Drake answered in perfect unison. "Yes, Your Honor." They looked at each other and exchanged a small smile.

 Gina Connors was 58 years old and had been a judge for almost two decades. She had seen hundreds of couples come and go out of her office, and she prided herself on having an impeccable instinct. Something about the Walkers told her that they still had a chance to save their marriage.

 The judge read the papers that Rashad had sent her. "So you got married 10 years ago, in 2009. Is that correct?"

 Drake nodded. He turned to watch his wife, but Alexis was suddenly occupied toying with her ring. Drake sensed her nervousness and almost reached out to hold her hand, but he restrained himself.

 "You have a son, Thomas Scott Walker …" Suddenly, Judge Connors stopped talking. The room went silent while she read the boy's death certificate. The judge lifted her head and saw that Alexis was looking down, trying very hard not to cry. Drake had immediately covered Alexis' hand with his and was rubbing it with his thumb soothingly. Feeling instantly calmer, Alexis took a sharp breath and looked at the judge again.

 "I'm deeply, deeply sorry. Most couples have trouble adjusting after the loss of a child, but I can give you the number of an excellent therapist who might be able to help you," the judge advised with empathy. Her chest tightened with sadness for the young, broken couple in front of her.

 Alexis talked through the lump in her throat. "Thank you, Your Honor, but that won't be necessary." She folded her arms over her chest.

 "In the documents that Mr. Domvallier filed, it's stated that you separated in 2015." The judge took her glasses off and leaned against her chair. "What happened exactly?"

 Alexis rubbed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It was my fault."

 Drake shook his head firmly. "It wasn't your fault, Lexie."

Alexis raised her hand. "Please, Drake, let me speak. I've wanted to say this for a long time, but I didn't know how." Her eyes watered as she turned to look right into his eyes. Drake's heart broke, watching her struggle to speak. "I'm sorry. I was so angry at life and at our fate that I needed an outlet." Her voice broke, so she took another sharp breath. "But please, Drake, you have to believe me; it wasn't your fault. I don't blame you. I really, really don't. I know how much you loved him. Love him. I know you'd never have done anything to hurt him." Alexis started crying, and Drake couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand and, very softly, brushed his thumb on her cheeks to wipe her tears.

"Shh, it's fine, Lexie. I know. Don't cry, I know." Drake tried to comfort her, but Alexis couldn't stop crying.

 Drake took her hand and squeezed it. "Lexie, you have nothing to be sorry about. I know you don't blame me." Her eyes were still fixed to the floor, so he insisted. "Hey, Lex, look at me." Finally, her brown eyes met his. "I know, baby. Please don't blame yourself either."

 The judge observed the exchange silently. After a few minutes, she asked, "What happened next?"

 Alexis spoke. "I left our home because I didn't know how to deal with the death of our son. Drake tried to do everything he could. It was my fault.”

 Drake shook his head. "Please, Lexie, stop protecting me."

 The judge interrupted them. "I'll admit that I don't have a lot of couples in here who fight to take responsibility for the divorce." She gave them a benevolent smile. "Let's make this simple. Who left the marital home?"

 They both answered at the same time. "I did." The judge smiled again.

 Alexis added, "I did first. We fought, and I left. Drake must've thought that I wasn't going to come back, and he left for Spain." She looked sideways at Drake.

 Judge Connors looked at Drake. "Is that true?"

 "Yes. It is, Your Honor." He turned to Alexis. "I was a fool. I thought you were gone for good."

 The judge nodded. She kept going through the documents. "In June 2015, you were committed to a psychiatric clinic," the judge looked at Alexis, "and Mr. Walker couldn't come back."

 Alexis looked at Drake, puzzled. "What does she mean you ‘couldn't’?" she asked him.

 Drake rubbed his beard. "Olivia called me to tell me how bad you were. I was desperate to see you, but the night before my flight back to Cordonia, I got into a stupid fight. I was sent to prison for almost a year; that's why I couldn't come back earlier."

 Shock. Confusion. Surprise. Anger. Sadness. A mix of emotions invaded her. For four years, Alexis had lived convinced that the person she loved the most in the world had abandoned her because he hated her. Not one night had passed without her reliving the night she had lost him, over and over again.

 Alexis was unable to talk. After a few minutes, she looked at Drake, wide-eyed. "You couldn't," she murmured. "That's why you didn't come back, because you couldn't." Her eyes teared up again. "Why the fuck you didn't tell someone, Drake? Max or Li? Someone?!"

 "No one could help me anyway," Drake answered. "I wanted our friends to be focused on helping you."

 Alexis ran her hand through her hair angrily. "Do you know how many nights I cried myself to sleep because I thought you didn't care? How many times I crumbled because I was sure you hated me?" Her eyes were filled with tears; her voice was trembling with rage. "I would have done anything to help you, Drake." Alexis threw her hands in the air. "Anything. You didn't have to go through that alone. And I would've known that you didn't hate me. It would've changed everything."

 "I thought you hated me back then too," Drake replied simply.

 "Why?" she asked, almost seething.

 "Why what?"

 "Why did you have to get into a fight the night before coming back? What was so important?"

 Drake knew that he needed to be honest. It was going to be hard to talk about his feelings, but if he wanted a real shot with Alexis, it was the only way. "It wasn't about that. It's like you said, I was so fucking angry all the time that I needed an outlet. I hated myself, Lexie. The guilt was too strong; it became so unbearable that the only way to be able to breathe was to drink and fight. The physical pain made the grief easier somehow. When Liv called, I tried to leave that same day, but there weren't any flights available. I shouldn't have gone out that night; I wasn't thinking straight. I only wanted one drink to take the edge off the idea of seeing you again. But one drink became two and then three and then a bottle. And once the fight started, I lost all control of myself. I'm sorry, Lexie."  

 - It breaks my heart every single time I look at you. You're hurting me. You killed my son -

Her own horrible words came back, rushing at her. "No one knows better than me what it feels like, Drake. I'm sorry, too. It's just that I can't believe you went to prison. That you had no one there to help you." She paused, thinking about all the things they had lost. Alexis turned to the judge apologetically. "I'm sorry for my outburst, Your Honor."

 Judge Connors smiled at her playfully. "I'm a family judge. If someone doesn't yell at a hearing, I feel like I'm not doing my job correctly." She turned to Drake. "Continue your story, Mr. Walker," the judge demanded.

  "I came back to Cordonia when I was released, but Lexie wasn't ready to see me," Drake explained.

 Alexis shook her head in disbelief. "Excuse me? What are you talking about?"

 Drake pinched the bridge of his nose, reluctant to tell the truth about Liam. Again, he decided to be honest. "I came back when you were about to leave the psychiatric clinic, but Liam thought that it was better if I didn't see you. I agreed," Drake said, placing his hand on his chest, "so I went back to Spain."

 "You came back," Alexis muttered. "You came back for me. Liam knew how much I missed you. Why did he do that?"

 Drake's heart leaped in his chest. Alexis had been waiting for him all that time, and he had failed her. He should have known better. "Of course I came back, Lexie. You were the only thing on my mind all that time. I didn't think about anything else. I tried to be the perfect inmate, so they'd let me out sooner and I could come back to see you. You have to believe me that when I was in prison, I didn't know that you had tried to --” Fuck, it was hard to say. “ -- to kill yourself."

 Alexis nodded. "I believe you, Drake." She hesitated before asking, but she needed to know. "And Liam knew? All this time, he knew?"

 Drake knew that Liam was Lexie's rock. He didn't want her to feel lost, so he decided to leave the suicide letter out of the story. "Liam didn't know I had been in prison, Lexie. And I'm sure that he honestly thought that it was best for you if we didn't see each other. I believed it too," he answered honestly.

 "So, both of you decided for me what I wanted, what I needed?" She was beyond angry.

"We were just trying to protect you."

 "From you? You were the only one who could've helped me." Her voice broke again.

 Drake's heart jumped at her last words. "No, not from me. From strong emotions. You weren't ready."

 Alexis didn't reply. She needed to speak with Liam.

  "Well," the judge finally intervened, "after what I observed here today, I don't think you should file for a divorce so fast. I'll leave you alone for a few minutes, but my professional opinion is that you shouldn't make any decisions today. As you know, you can make a request to postpone the decision for a week, or, better yet, suspend the process altogether." The judge stood up and left, followed by her secretary.

 Alexis stood up and opened the window. She needed fresh air. Drake stood up as well and cut the distance between them.

 "Are you okay, Lexie?" Drake asked, worried.

 Alexis nodded. "It's just that all these years, I was so sure of everything. I thought you hated me. I thought Liam was perfect."

 Drake shook his head. He had to be very careful if he didn't want to scare her off. He took another step and raised his hand, slowly placing it on her face. "I could never hate you, Lexie." She didn't move, so Drake raised his other hand as well, cupping her face. "I love you, Alexis. Like crazy, like a madman. Even more than 10 years ago." He sighed. "I miss you so fucking much, baby. I miss everything about you. Give me another chance. Give us another chance."

 Alexis' heart was beating so fast that she was sure that Drake could hear it. He was only a few inches from her. His manly presence was intoxicating her, making it impossible for her to think straight.

And for a minute, she considered it. She thought about leaving everything behind and running away with Drake. But Liam's image popped into her head. Despite his lie, he had done everything for her. He had saved her; he had helped her to come back to life. She took a step back.

"I'm sorry, Drake. It's too late now. I can't do that to Liam."

 Drake took a step in her direction. "You're the only reason I still fight, Lexie." He looked at her, at her flushed cheeks, at her nervousness, at the way she was avoiding his eyes. "I know you still love me too, Lexie."

 "I don't." Her trembling voice betrayed her. She darted her eyes to the window. Drake took a step towards her.

 Drake took her chin with his hand and raised it to him. "Repeat that looking at me."

 Her breath hitched; they locked eyes with each other, both knowing that she wouldn't be able to repeat it.

 Drake loved that Alexis was still using the same cherry fragrance that she used when they were together. He smiled, thinking of the numerous times he had inhaled her scent while he made love to her. Drake would do anything to kiss her again. To feel her again.

 Drake's eyes turned to her lips. He leaned in and whispered, "I'm going to kiss you now, Lexie. If you want to stop me, just say the word and I will."  

 Heat rose from Alexis' stomach to her chest. Drake's lips were getting closer, and her heart skipped a beat; the smell of sandalwood was mesmerizing. His large hands were tenderly rubbing her face, but she felt them everywhere. Alexis parted her lips and felt Drake all over her, filling all her senses as the taste of him nearly silenced all her guilt.

Drake's heart pounded in his chest as every breath he took smelled like cherry. He pulled her in, claiming her mouth again, hungry and intense, until her knees gave in. She tasted precisely as he remembered. Her lips felt so soft on his. As his tongue explored her mouth, he decided that he was never going to let her go. Alexis was his, and he was hers. It couldn't be any other way. Alexis got lost in the kiss for a few minutes until Liam's face came back to haunt her.

 She gently pushed Drake away. "I'm sorry, Drake. I can't. It's too late now. Liam-"

 "I know. You can't do this to him," Drake said, disappointed.

"No, I can't! Liam not only saved my life, but he fought day and night to make me happy again. Liam lied, yes, but he doesn't deserve this. I'm not going to leave him, Drake. I'm sorry." Alexis felt her heart breaking, but she added, "It's too fucking late for us."

"Just one week."

"What?" she asked, puzzled.

"Just give me one week. You can't possibly make a decision right now. Not after everything you just heard. And you can't lie to me, Lexie. I know you're not happy." Drake looked at her. "I'm just asking you to take one week and really think about this. If, in the end, you're still sure that you love Liam and want to divorce me, I swear, I'll sign the papers."

 Alexis tucked her hair behind her ears. She couldn't resist Drake’s pleading eyes. "Alright, one week, so we get used to the idea. But that's it."

 Drake shook his head no. "You have to promise me that you'll think about everything that happened here today; please, Lex."

"Ok, I promise," she assured him.

Judge Connors and her secretary reentered the room and sat in their chairs.

 "Did you reach a decision?" the judge asked.

 "We'd like to take one week to think about it," Drake replied. He couldn't help the hopeful tone in his voice. 

Judge Connors smiled. Her intuition never failed. "You have one week to reconsider. At the end of that week, if you still want to, you have to come back here to sign the agreement for the divorce," she paused and added, smiling, "but if I'm honest with you, I prefer if I didn’t see you ever again."  

She stood up and shook their hands. 

 They both went out of the building in silence. Rashad was waiting for Alexis. 

"Was everything all right?" he asked.

"Yes, Rash, thank you. I'm sorry that you had to come here for nothing."

"Well, I have to verify the divorce agreement. Is it ready?" 

“No, it’s not. We asked for one more week,” Alexis replied without further explanation. 

Rashad arched his eyebrows. He hadn't known them as a couple, but even after a few minutes with them, their chemistry was palpable. He worried about Liam, though; the duke wasn't going to be exactly happy about the news. "All right, let me know what you decide."

"Rashad, please, don't say anything to Liam yet. I'll tell him in person, but he's in Valtoria today," Alexis pleaded.

"Don't worry, Alexis, I won't. It was nice to meet you, Drake."

 "Same, man; give my best to Max," Drake replied.

 "I will! Bye, darling." Rashad kissed Alexis on both cheeks and left.

Drake looked at her, unsure of what to say. They were both exhausted. Alexis probably needed time to process everything that she had heard that day. Drake walked her to her car.

"Are you okay, Lexie?" 

She nodded slowly. "I am."

 "I know you're strong, but this was a lot to take in."

 Alexis bit her lip: her universal sign when she hesitated to say something. 

"What's going on, Lex? You can tell me anything." 

"His things." Alexis turned to Drake as she played with her ring again. "What are you doing with them?"

 "I was actually thinking about emptying his room. What do you think about that?" Drake asked carefully.

 She nodded with tears in her eyes. "I understand. I don't know how you do it, to live in the cabin with his room still intact." She surprised herself by asking, "Can I be there?"

 Drake gave her a sad smile. "Of course. When do you want to do it?"

 "I don't know." She hugged herself, feeling suddenly cold.

 Drake had to actively stop himself from hugging her as tight as he could. "I thought that we could do this on his birthday. We hate that day anyway. Maybe it'll be less horrible if we're together."

 Alexis nodded slowly. "Maybe." She thought about it for a few seconds. "I agree. Let's do it next Wednesday. We'll see each other only for that." She looked at Drake knowingly and he nodded.

 She looked for her car keys until she found them at the bottom of her bag. They stared at each other; Drake leaned in to kiss her on the cheek as he brushed her face with his fingers longingly.

"See you Wednesday, Lexie."

She smiled, flustered. "See you Wednesday, Drake."

Alexis got into her car and drove away. 

Drake was right; she had a lot of things to consider and think about. But at that moment, she was more furious than anything else. Alexis couldn't understand why Liam had lied to her all those years. She decided to go to Valtoria immediately. Her conversation with Liam couldn't wait another day.

PERMATAG (Drake x Alexis): @ac27dj​ @twinkle-320​ @kimmiedoo5​ @marshmallowsandfire​ @loveellamae​ @burnsoslow​ @mskaneko​ @pedudley​ @lauzales​ @debramcg1106​ @ravenpuff02​ @pug-bitch​ @princessleac1​

TIH: @ao719 @yukinagato2012 @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @cordonia-gothqueen @bebepac @nomadics-stuff @cordonianroyalty @hopefulmoonobject @msjr0119  @forthebrokenheartedthings​ @bascmve01​ @marshmallowaremyfavorite 

[camillemontespan]

ten years from now [AU. drake walker x camille montespan] [part eleven: whiskey & roses]

I really like this gif.. just everything about it.

Master List if you want to catch up

A/N: I think I’m not 100% happy with this chapter because a large part of this is taken from personal experience so I guess it kinda hurts. I’m actually nervous to post this!

My situation wasn’t exactly like Drake and Camille’s (like I’ve never been engaged lol or had an affair) but my ex boyfriend sort of inspired this fic.  Our relationship was absolutely not like Drake and Camille’s, for one thing we weren’t best friends lol but we ended the way Drake ended things with Camille - he went to university while I was in my final year of high school. He just stopped messaging me back. I felt left behind. I was both Drake and Camille in that situation. 

Three years after, he re-appeared in my life again. Camille’s confusion stems from my own personal confusion because I too felt adrift and unsure. Camille’s indecision, I hope, was written in a more realistic way. It’s not clear cut because it never is. She’s only human, she isn’t perfect. She is going to make mistakes. 

So, Camille’s realisation in this chapter is inspired by my own thoughts. 

FYI, I am now in a happy long term relationship with the best guy ever.  Nearly 7 years! I’m starting to hint about weddings etc.. let’s watch him run for the hills! Lol I joke. 

@moonlightgem7​​​​​​​​ @jovialyouthmusic​​​​​​​​ @mskaneko​​​​​​​​ @ibldw-main​​​​​​​​ @katedrakeohd​​​​​​​​ @pug-bitch​​​​​​​​ @gooddaykate​​​​​​​​ @princessleac1​​​​​​​​ @burnsoslow​​​​​​​​  @loveellamae​​​​​​​​  @pedudley​​​​​​​​ @oofchoices​​​​​​​​ @emichelle​​​​​​​​ @simplymissjulia​​​​​​​​ @dcbbw​​​​​​​​ @sirbeepsalot​​​​​​​​ @rainbowsinthestorm​​​​​​​​ @notoriouscs​​​​​​​​ @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore​​​​​​​​ @addictedtodrakefanfic​​​​​​​​ @marshmallowsaremyfavorite​​​​​​​​ @nomadics-stuff​​​​​​  @gardeningourmet​​​​ @marshmallowsandfire​​

**********************************************

Camille woke up to a text from Liam. 

Thinking of you, darling. I'm sorry I couldn't come with you. I feel terrible. Call me later? I'd love to know how Gisele is doing. I've ordered flowers to be delivered to her FYI. She likes roses right? Who am I kidding, of course she does! She only gave me a tour of her garden! Anyway, I love you. Can't wait to see you when you're home x

********************

Drake dropped Camille off at the hospital that morning. She was very quiet, more so than usual. At first, he was worried he had done something wrong but after their phone call last night, when they had spoken about Jackson and laughed about past memories, he thought that perhaps she was just worried about her grandma. 

‘Let me know when you’re out and I’ll pick you up,’ he told her gently. ‘You okay?’

Camille nodded. ‘She’s never been in hospital before.. Just nervous, that’s all.’

Drake squeezed her hand, reassured. ‘She’ll be fine. See you soon.’

Camille smiled bravely and got out of the pick up truck. Drake watched her enter the hospital, hoping all would be well. 

*************************************

Gisele was awake, although slightly woozy from morphine, when Camille entered the hospital room. A bouquet of roses stood on the window sill. The note card had a message from Liam. 

Keep smelling the roses. Get better soon, thinking of you. Liam x

Camille had fought back tears as she read the message. Forcing down the lump in her throat, Camille turned her attention to Gisele. 

‘Mon petit chou..’ she croaked, reaching out to take Camille’s hands. ‘You’re so pretty, like my roses.'

Camille kissed her grandma’s hands and sat down close to the bed. ‘How are you feeling?’ she asked.

‘Pfft, fine,’ Gisele said. ‘Fine, fine, fine..’ 

Gisele eyed Camille. ‘You don’t look fine though. What’s wrong, mon cheri?’

Camille waved her hand but Gisele narrowed her eyes, not believing her. ‘Camille..’

Gisele never called Camille by her first name. She always called her granddaughter by pet names, such as little sunflower, little mushroom, little flower, always in French. 

Swallowing, Camille shook her head. ‘I’m fine,’ she said. ‘Anyway, Drake was telling me about your fall. You’ve been in the wars, haven’t you? Silly grandma.’

Gisele brightened at the mention of Drake. ‘Oh yes, he helped me! He called the ambulance, such a kind, good man..’

She smiled wistfully. ‘Liam is also kind and good.. He sent me roses.. '

Camille's heart beat a little faster at Gisele mentioning Liam. But then, why wouldn’t she? The two of them got on like a house of fire when they met properly. Gisele had flirted with him, for God’s sake. 

‘Two young men, both so loyal and kind to you, mon cheri..’ Gisele whispered, smiling wider. ‘One from your past, the other is.. Well, he is your one, isn’t he? He is your present and future..’

She was really doped up on morphine.

‘Grandma..’ Camille muttered. 

Gisele pointed her finger in the air. ‘Drake and Liam.. Both so good.. Past and future collide.’

Camille blinked back tears as the heavy weight of reality bore down on her shoulders. Indeed, Drake was her past. The past had already been written. So why was she going back to it? Why was she opening the door to the past when her future looked bright? Why was she hurting the man she was going to marry? 

Camille knew why if she really thought about it. Drake made her feel things. He made her feel like fire. He made her feel alive. 

Their history was a well written and comprehensive book made up of volumes. Each page was filled with their words, spoken and unspoken. They had been together through everything. They had supported each other and loved each other. Nobody else could read their book and understand it. It was the book of Drake and Camille. 

But Drake had left her all those years ago without warning. He had taken her heart and crushed it into pieces, not even bothering to give her an explanation.  He had left her life without saying goodbye. He left her suspended, floating in the air, unable to fall to earth. Life without Drake had left her without an anchor to keep her grounded. Without Drake, she hadn't known who she was. Who was Camille Montespan? 

Of course, she knew now what Drake had gone through. Why he had stopped talking to her. But if he had truly loved her, he would have treated her heart like fine china, like Liam did. He would have kept it safe. He would have realised what he was dealing with. The fifteen years that shaped their relationship should not have been so easily discarded. 

Camille didn't want to hurt him. She really didn't. But their relationship had already been fractured by hurt and pain. It was complicated, too complicated. Seeing him again had only made her doubt everything she had; she felt untethered again, suspended in the air, floating like a balloon, unable to drop back to earth. Camille was sick of this feeling.

For ten years, Camille had unknowingly been keeping the door open for him. Drake could have re-entered whenever he wished. 

Enough now. 

Camille needed to return to earth. 

**************************************

Drake noted how quiet Camille was when he picked her up an hour later. ‘How was she?’ he finally asked when they were driving through town. 

‘Doped up on morphine, could barely get a coherent sentence out of her,’ Camille muttered, looking out of the window. 

Drake sighed and stopped talking. He knew that when Camille was in these uncharacteristic moods, he should let her be. She would come to him eventually.

They reached her grandma's house. Clambering out of the truck, they walked up the path to the house together. Camille unlocked the door and entered, Drake close behind. 

'I need to water her roses,' Camille said softly. 

Drake sank down at the kitchen table and watched Camille as she filled a pitcher with water. She went outside and started to water the roses that her grandmother loved so much. 

Drake watched Camille as she crouched to inspect a rose bush. In her unguarded moment, she looked like she might crumble. Drake saw with alarm that tears were starting to trickle down her cheeks. 

He was on his feet instantly, rushing outside to comfort her. Drake got to his knees and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. 

'Don't worry about Gisele, she'll be fine..' he soothed. 'It's okay..' 

Camille let out a harsh sob. She burrowed her face into Drake's neck, crying openly, her tears sliding down Drake's throat. 

'Shh honey, it's alright..' he murmured. 

'It's not,' Camille choked out. 'It's really not.' 

'She'll be out of hospital soon -' 

'I'm thinking about us, Drake,' Camille interrupted, her voice thick. 'This situation. It's getting hard. Really fucking hard.' 

Drake went silent. His heart sank as he realised that she had been quiet because of him. She had been thinking. 

'Okay,' he said, keeping his voice steady. 'What do you want to do about it?' 

Camille exhaled. Her eyes met his. 'I'm getting married, Drake,' she whispered. 'It's not clean cut for me-'

'Do you still love him?' Drake interrupted. 

Camille went quiet, her jaw setting. Drake closed his eyes. 'Camille..' 

Camille nodded, mutely answering his question.

'So you've just been stringing me along then?' Drake asked. His heart was hammering inside his chest. 'You see your ex and thought it would spice things up if you had some fun before you settled down? Is that it?' 

'No!' Camille burst out. 'I'd never do that to you!' 

'Then tell me how it is then!' Drake cried. 'How can you kiss me in mazes and sleep with me? How can you talk to me about your deepest thoughts and have phone calls with me late at night reminiscing? How can you do all of that while still loving him?' 

Camille struggled to her feet. Drake followed suit so he stood over her. 

'You confuse me!' Camille said, her voice rising. 'You remind me of everything that has happened with us. The good and the bad. The good is fucking incredible, Drake, but I feel like we're just picking up where we left off.  With Liam in the mix, I feel like I’m free falling. It’s gotten too hard!-' 

'I get it!' Drake interrupted. 'Look, I've tried to be your friend but it's not working. There's too much under the surface. So yeah, it is complicated. But maybe it's complicated because really, deep down, you want me. You want us. If you didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation!'

He was aware he sounded desperate now. It was pathetic. 

Camille took a deep breath. 'Do you want me to break up with him? Cancel my wedding? Throw away everything I've worked for?' 

'You're not happy,' Drake said, his eyes boring into hers. He took her by the arms. 'I know you're not. You're not the same when you're with him. You fit into this mould that's been made for you, this sophisticated New Yorker with the job, the lifestyle, the fiancée. But that's not you. Camille, everything you have worked for is just a facade. It's smoke and mirrors - '

'How dare you!' Camille shouted, pushing him away. 'You know nothing about my life! You know nothing about Liam! You were out of my life for ten years, Drake. Ten years!' 

'Camille,' Drake ground out. He was losing patience now. 'If you go back to him, you’re settling. You’re settling for a life of comfort and safety but that’s not the way to live-' 

'I stand to lose everything while you don't put anything on the line,' Camille told him, raising her chin defiantly. 'You want me to break his heart.'

'Someone's gonna get their heart broken, Camille,' Drake muttered. 'And right now, you seem more keen to break mine.' 

Camille stepped back. She swallowed down the lump in her throat.

'Liam is a good man,' Camille told him. 'He's never hurt me. He loves me. I can't keep doing this, going behind his back and lying.' 

'So you're ending this?' Drake asked in disbelief. Camille looked up, willing the tears to stop falling. Drake stared at her, his eyes narrow. ‘Camille, fucking talk to me.’

Camille wrung her hands together. 'Given our track record, Drake, surely we should be used to leaving each other by now.' 

Drake looked away. Camille stepped forward. 'Drake, it's getting too messy.' 

'So you've made your decision?' Drake asked, still not looking at her. 

'I'm taking the space you gave me,' Camille whispered. 

Drake nodded mutely. He shoved his hands in his pockets. 

'Nothing more to say then, huh?' he said quietly. 

'Drake -' 

'Don't, Camille,' Drake interrupted, looking at her now. She looked distraught. Drake imagined he looked the same.  'I'll give you your space. Enjoy life with Liam.' 

Camille watched as Drake shoved past her. She heard the front door slam and she knew that he had left her life for the second time, but this time, from her own making. 

************************ 

That evening, Drake sat on the jetty with a bottle of whiskey in his hand. He was intending to get black out drunk and sink into oblivion. 

He felt empty. His life had become brighter with her in it. Camille had a way of making him feel light, happy and content. He felt like he was worth something when he was with her. 

Drake regretted how things had ended between them. He always did. If Drake had his way, things between him and Camille would never end. 

Drake loved her. 

He closed his eyes. 'I never told her I loved her..' he whispered to himself. 'I told her everything else except that.' 

Realisation dawned on him. It was true. Not once had he told Camille those three important words while they had reunited this past month. He had been too caught up in the heated moments with her. He had been drowning, unable to come up for air. Now, he had reached the surface, breaking the still waters.

'I love you,' he said out loud. 'I love you. I love you.' 

Drake let out a breath and clenched the bottle of whiskey. 

'I love you.' 

Drake needed to tell her. He needed to show her what life with him would be like. Endless summers in Texas. Coffee and pancakes in the morning. Complete and utter adoration. Babies. 4th of July. Fireworks. Whiskey. Love. 

He had grown up now. He was older and wiser than he had been ten years ago. He could offer her a future he hadn't been aware of before. Drake could see clearly now, crystal clear.

Camille still saw him as her ex boyfriend. Drake hadn't done anything to show her that he could be more than that. 

He couldn't make the same mistake twice. Swigging his whiskey, Drake made a decision. He was going to fight for his future. He swore to himself that ten years from now, Camille would be in it. 

She was his past, present and future and there was no way he was giving that up so easily. 

***********************************

 In the pit of her stomach, Camille felt pain. Sheer, blinding pain.

She had hurt Drake. She hadn’t wanted to. But she had to get back to reality and own up to her indiscretions. She had to move forward, even if that meant doing the hard thing. 

Camille drafted a text to Liam now.

I’ll be flying home tomorrow. Grandma is alright. Can we talk? x

She sent the message. 

Camille was back to reality, colliding with the earth, bracing for impact.

[bbrandy2002]

Something Flubbed:

Consequences of A Bad Reblog

Part 1

Wacky Drabble #15: It could be worse.

Liam and Riley

Word count: 1102

Summary: This is a continuation of a drabble I did several weeks ago, Riley's Secret Life.

A/N: So much for hiatus 😯 Im feeling better though and thanks to everyone who reached out with love, support and encouragement.

Thanks Burnsy for pre-reading and helping to tweak a certain paragraph or two.

Warning: Lot and Lots of bad language. Riley is not holding back in this; Im almost embarrassed for her...almost.

**I will not deny, nor, confirm this is loosely autobiographical**

Sorry, my read more is not working again.

'Haha, Drake's hogtied naked on Liam's jet', Riley chuckled to herself as she read, careful to not awaken a sleeping Liam to her antics. Oh yeah, he still doesn’t know Riley reads and writes fanfic about their life on tumblr like an obsessive tool. Would he care? she has no idea, nor, does she ever intend to find out.

He starts to stir in their oversized bed, a light snore escapes him as he grumbles something about pootang. Riley hits the panic app on her laptap, bringing up the Cordonian Fall expenses report. She was supposed to look over the numbers weeks ago, but, since her ass belongs to Tumblr now, the only numbers she cares about are followers and notes.

She remains perfectly still, holding her breath, as he rolls over, his back towards her, and with a quick scratch to his balls, he blissfully resumes his slumber. Riley exhales in relief and with a little snort she returns back to her tumblring, eagerly typing out a DM, to share the newest Liamism.

Notthequeenofcordonia: Burnsy, you there? This mofo is playing with his balls again 🤣

@burnsoslow LMFAO!!

@burnsoslow Alyssa is gonna get a mouthful of Drake's balls in Chapter 394 of Heavier Things: The Nursing Home Years

Notthequeenofcordonia: At least her new dentures will make it easier. Don't need her choking and having heart palpatations again...Drakey Baby's got that new hip, should probably take it easy on him for a while.

@burnsoslow BUT I WANT THEM TO FUCK SO BAD!!!!!!!

After arguing with Burnsy for 10 minutes that at 102 years old, HT Drake's colossus is shriveled and no longer working, she returns to reading. Riley hits the little heart and begins her well crafted, 500 word reblog with five-on point gifs-to accessorize it. As she prepares to post her reblog, a light knock on the bedroom alerts her to their 5 year old, Nikolas, who does not wait for an invitation to enter.

“Mommy?”, he wearily asks, being just a small silhouette in the doorway of the surrounding darkness.

Riley huffs, lowering her laptop and shushes him, glaring over at Liam to ensure he hasn’t been disturbed before drawing her attention back to her son. “What is it kiddo?”, she cautiously whispers.

He rubs his heavy eyes with one tiny hand and holds on tightly to his blue, stuffed dragon in the other. “I had a nightmare momma, I’m really scared”, he replies softly with a sniffle.

Riley stared at the small boy, who was the perfect mixture of she and Liam, the proof of their love….then she looked at the pending reblog that kept calling out for her to finish, the other proof of her love.

“Um, Nikolas”, she bit her fingernail as she contemplated the terrible example she was about to set as a mother, “go sleep with Grandma Regina”.

Nikolas’ eyes widened in disgust as he slumped in frustration, “But momma”, he cried, “she pisses the bed and blames me for it”.

"It could be worse", Riley grumbled, wishing Regina would just have her vaginal mesh surgery already. As Liam began to toss again, rolling over this time to face her side and muttering, little cockblocker, Riley decided to help her son find comfort back in his own room. She eased up from the bed, placing the laptop by her pillow and threw her pink cottony, mom robe over her pajamas.

"I'm coming Nik, just have to do...something", she trailed, reaching back over for her laptop. She typed out one last sentence before hitting, post.

Riley tapped at the keys, squinting her eyes at those words.....

Something flubbed. Try again.

Her breathing became a little more heavier, her heart starting to race. She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, knowing that if she believed hard enough, her massive reblog would suddenly reappear.

All of time and space froze in existence as she continued to hit the 'retry' option again and again and again and again....nothing...it was gone.

"YOU SON OF A MOTHER FUCKING WHORE, COCKSUCKING, BILLY JOE DICKWAFFLE, SHIT EATING, HONKY TONK PECKERWOOD, SKANKASSED, DICKHEADED, JIZZSTAINED, CUMWIPED, TINY NUTSACKED, BITCH!!!!!!!!!! The laptop flew across the room.

It really was like something out of a horror flick, a creepy ass Stephen King novel, a Dateline NBC story. King Fabian's large naked portait shook vigorously at the reverberations before bouncing off the wall and crashing to the marbled floor.

"Mommy!", Nikolas yelled in a panic as he ran away to seek refuge.

Liam's eyes shot open, not completely awake but ready to pounce whatever the hell was torturing his wife. His body weaved back and forth in attack mode, demonstrating his highly skilled martial arts moves, kicks and spins, slashes and puches. Unbeknowest to him, his dick was poking through the hole in his boxers, bouncing and flopping with each technique, causing Riley to burst into a fit of laughter.

"What the hell happened! Are you okay?", he asked breathless and confused, his dick still poking through.

Riley covered her mouth, attempting to stifle her laughs, still baffled that he didn't realize his dick and now half a ball had escaped their confines. "I'm fine...I'm fine....but, g'day mate, permission to come upboard captain", she squeeled, saluting in gest to his manhood.

Liam looked down, a slight growl escaping as he tucked his jewels back in its place. "I heard screams....why is Fabian's portrait busted...and.. stop fucking laughing, it's over."

"I'm trying, but...oh god...I cant", she cackled, "I have to go check on Nikolas, he had a nightmare", she scurried past him and out of the room before he could ask any further questions.

If he wasnt pissed before, he was about to be. Just as he turned to head towards the bathroom, his foot stepped on the opened laptop Riley threw, sliding him forward before he corrected himself and skid backwards with a thud.

"Goddamit!", he howled, twisting and contorting his back, wallowing from the bruising pain. As he laid there, trying to catch his breath, he glanced over at the object that has caused his affliction in more ways than one. His head popped up, pulling the laptop closer to him, completely shocked by its contents, his blood boiling the more he read and saw. DRAKES COLOSSUS DICK...RIDING DRAKE IS MY CHOICE, EDITS OF LIAM AND RILEY WITH CREEPY KIDS THAT LOOK LIKE DRAKE........DRAKE, DRAKE, FUCKING DRAKE.....

"I finally got him back to sleep with some Nyquil and a shot of whiskey....", Riley stopped talking as she entered their bedroom again moments later and realized, Liam knew.

"Uhhh, I..I can explain".

__________________

Wacky Drabbler tags: @emceesynonymroll @sirbeepsalot @dcbbw @jessiembruno @fromthedeskofpaisleybleakmore @pedudley @romanticatheart-posts @of-course-i-went-to-hartfeld @theroyalromancexx