#the other day i was helping my dad bring his office upstairs and by the time we were done i could barely breathe

[transgaysex]

im abt to go to sleep but i am thinking

[obessedwithfictionalmen]

Training

Joe Rantz X Ulbrickson!Reader

Summary: When Joe Rantz meets his coach's daughter. He develops a crush...

Warning: 18+/ blowjob/ Swearing/ Mean Joyce (she's a sweetheart, but in this, she's annoying)/ historical sexism/ use of Y/n/

Word count: 1.6k

A/n: Guys! I just watched The boys in the Boat and I'm in love with Joe Rantz. Thanks for the request! Hope you enjoy❤️

The first training for the new rowing team. Al Ulbrickson, his daughter and other people made their way to the dock. ‘’Honey, can you go upstairs? The boys need their maximum focus, it’s their first training and I don’t want them to be distracted by you.’’ Her father asked. Normally, she would’ve complained, saying it wasn’t fair. But her father was already stressed, so she nodded and went upstairs, to watch the training while she did her homework. She was studying to be a teacher, even though it wasn’t her first choice, she wanted to help design the boats, but engineering wasn’t an option for woman. ‘’Distracting, yeah, my outfit is distracting, its like a million degrees outside, try wearing a blouse!’’ she whispered, complaining about her father. She also wore pants, just like her mother. She liked skirts, but pants were better. She pulled her things out of her bag and started to work.

He was exhausted and his body hurt. The other guys on the team went away, but when he saw a light upstairs, he decided to let his curiosity win. She heard footsteps coming up, but when a man that was not her dad opened the door, she was surprised. But she recognized him, he was in class with her. ‘’Oh, sorry I thought the room was empty. ‘’ He said. ‘’Hey you’re Joe Rantz, right?’’ she asked. He looked at her, he thought that she was beautiful, and really cool for wearing pants. ‘’Yeah, but I’m sorry I don’t remember your name.’’ he said, shyly. ‘’Don’t worry, I’m Y/n’’ she extended her hand. They shook hands. His were rough, it showed that his body was tired. ‘’Rough day?’’ she asked. ‘’Yeah, what are you doing up here alone?’’ he asked. ‘’Uh, my dad is, uh, the coach’’ she mumbled. ‘’And he didn’t want me to be by the dock, he was scared that I would distract the boys.’’ She was nervous, but for no reason at all. He was really handsome, and it intimidated her, usually, she didn’t have trouble speaking with boys. But that blonde boy was making it hard to look at him in the eyes. ‘’Well, he’s right, you’re really pretty, and I would’ve been distracted.’’ He flirted. She blushed and bit her bottom lip. Just when she was going to say something, her dad comes in the office. ‘’Y/n let’s – Joe, what are you doing here?’’ he asks. ‘’Nothing coach, I, uh, I thought someone let one of the lights open, so I came to check’’ he stutters. ‘’It’s okay, dad, he and I have a class together, I know him’’ Y/n came to his rescue. ‘’Alright, go home, get some rest. Come on Y/n, I’ll bring you back to your dorm.’’ He spoke. She decided to stay on campus, she wanted her parents to have the house for themselves and she wanted the hole experience.

Weeks passed since they first met, they kept talking and they sat next to each other in class. But now, he couldn’t be fins, today was the first race and coach wanted them to be there early. Joe was at the library, when he was about to leave, a girl he went to school with stopped him. ‘’You’re Joe Rantz, I remember you, you had a huge crush on me in 4th grade’’ Joyce rambled. Joe wanted nothing more than leave, to avoid being late, but Joyce was holding him. Y/n was running in the halls to try and find the missing blonde, when she ran past the library, she finally found him, with Joyce. She entered the room, sweating from the running she just did. ‘’Finally, Joe!’’ she said, walking up to him. Joyce stared at her, judging her. ‘’Joe, we have to go, you’re almost late.’’ She panted. ‘’Hi, I’m Joyce! And this is Joe, but he’s nervous right now, so he’s not very chatty’’ she said. Y/n wanted to roll her eyes, but she managed to put a fake smile on her lips. ‘’Nice to meet you, and I know who he is. Come on’’ he was packing his stuff as Joyce walked away. ‘’By the way, did you ever lose that crush?’’ she teased as she left the room. Joe wanted to explain that she was just a friend, and an annoying fan. ‘’Y/n – ‘’ she cut him off. ‘’I don’t care, explain later, you have to go!’’ she rushed him.

He'd just won the race! He felt so happy! He’d work so hard to get there, and now he just won his first race. She felt so happy! Her dad’s team just won! They were gonna have a party to celebrate. She decided to leave to go and get ready, she had the perfect dress for the occasion. It was a baby blue long dress with small puffy short sleeves. It was simple, but really pretty, she let her long hair down and putted white heels on. 2 hours later, she stepped inside the reception room, with the loud music. She didn’t see Joe, but he saw her. The second she stepped in the room, he spotted her. Joyce was becoming a problem, not wanting to leave him. ‘’Joyce, you’re really great, but please I need space.’’ He said, trying not to sound mean. The second she left him, Joe almost ran to Y/n. She saw him walking towards her, Joyce was not with him, so she smiled. ‘’Hi!’’ he said. She had to lean in to reach his ear do they could hear the other. ‘’Hi, congratulations on the win!’’ she said. He had trouble hearing her. After they tried to yell in the other’s ear, the decided to go somewhere quiet. They went to her dorm room, she was on the first floor, the only room there. Being the Coach’s daughter had its privileges. When she shut the door, they were both standing up. ‘’Look, Y/n about earlier. – ‘’ he begun. ‘’Joe, it’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself to me. You’re an adult, you do what you want, with who you want, as long as it doesn’t affect the team, your okay’’ she said, hiding the pain in her voice. She didn’t want him to be with Joyce. She developed a crush on him over the past weeks. He did too, he thought she was amazing, and so smart. ‘’Y/n, I don’t care about Joyce. And I don’t have a crush on her, I have a crush on you!’’ he confessed, his confession wasn’t supposed to be heard. She blushed and smile. ‘’I, uh, I’m sorry I – ‘’ she cut him off by quickly kissing him. She kissed him before her brain starts to panic. When they broke the kiss, he was red, so was she. ‘’I have a crush on you too, Joe’’ she admitted. She saw that he was not believing what just happened, so she pulled him by the tie and kissed him again. ‘’You deserve a reward for your win today’’ she whispered.

He wasn’t a virgin, but he wasn’t the most experienced person on earth. When she said those words, he thought he was going to faint. ‘’I know your stiff, and we don’t want to make it worse, sit down’’ she said, pointing her bed. He didn’t know what she was going to do, but when she straddled his lap to kiss him, he knew that she was in charge. ‘’You’re okay with this?’’ she asked him. He nodded and kissed her again. ‘’You trust me?’’ he nodded again. She felt him get hard underneath her, so when she dropped to her knees, she took his pants with her. He never got sucked before, the guys on the team said it was amazing, he was about to find out. She spat on his dick, before taking him in her mouth. He was big, but she’d done it before, so she didn’t gag. She started to bob her head at a medium pace, not wanting to torture him, but not making him cum too fast. ‘’Holy shit’’ he moaned as his hand found her hair. He felt really good, he was so excited. He just won a race, and the girl he has a crush on, feels the same thing, and is currently sucking him off. He was in heaven. She felt him jerk his hips a little, after all, he didn’t do it for a long time. And he had roommates, it was hard to jerk off. She took him further down her throat, making him moan again. ‘’Y/n, oh my, this is a-a-amazing. Shit’’ his brain was starting to malfunction. She felt him twitch in her mouth, she moaned on his dick. The vibration from the sound she just made drove him crazy. ‘’ I’m gonna cum, shit Y/n, I’m gonna – ‘’ his sentence was cut short by his orgasm. His sperm went down her throat as she swallowed. He was feeling euphoric. She got up, wiping her mouth. She smiled at him, seeing how beautiful he was.

‘’Thank you, it was amazing.’’ He praised her. She blushed and looked at him while he laid down in her bed. She went to lay next to him. ‘’I’m really proud of you, Joe Rantz’’ she whispered. ‘’And I really like you, Y/n Ulbrickson’’ he said, kissing the top of her head. ‘’When you win in Berlin, would you let me wear the gold medal?’’ she asked him. ‘’Of course I will, so does that mean you’re my girlfriend now?’’ he asked. ‘’Do you want me to be your girlfriend?’’ she asked, joy in her voice. ‘’I would love for you to be my girlfriend’’ he replied. ‘’Then yes, I’m your girlfriend, Joe.’’

[vintagexherry]

5 ways to say "I love you" without words.

Serial Killer!Miguel O'Hara x Reader

//Multiple Scenarios, Both reader and Miguel are unhinged, heavy Gore, blood, murder, torture, expirements, possessive themes, graphic depictions of wounds, Fluff, Suggestive themes

A/N: This is a collection of scenarios of you and Miguel's married life, heed the warnings

----

[Way #1: Gift Giving]

You exhaled a breath of relief once you enter your house, removing your shoes and replacing it with house slippers.

You sigh as you set down your bag and groceries on top of the kitchen counter.

Today's work wasn't that busy but the amount of meetings made you tired. Atleast that pesky co worker wasn't there to harass you to date him.

You look up to the clock seeing it's perfectly time for dinner and a few minutes till your husband comes back from his work. You can't wait to eat and sleep at the arms of your husband.

Gabriella was still at her friend's house, having a sleepover. You chuckled at the memory of her painting his dad's nails. You wonder if she's doing that with her other friends right now.

"Y/N? Are you home?" Miguel called from upstairs.

"You're home early today?" You watch as Miguel comes downstairs to greet you with a kiss while you hung up your coat.

"Yeah, leaked gas occured, and all of us got dismissed early today. How's yours?" Miguel asks as he unloads the ingredients of today's dinner to the counter.

"Well, wasn't that busy aside from meetings." You kissed his cheek as a thank you while you put on your apron.

Miguel smiled as he went back to the living room, wanting to check the news while he waits for dinner.

You nodded and headed to the fridge, but as you opened the fridge, you froze.

There sat a decapitated head of that one pesky co-worker you always told Miguel about, his head was inside a jar full of unknown liquid, his eyes wide open, almost making his eyeballs pop out and his jaw slacked open wide as if he was killed before he could even screamed.

"Miguel!" You called from the kitchen and Miguel arrives a second later.

"Si, Mi amor?"

"You shouldn't have~" You cooed

Miguel smirked at your reaction.

"Surprise" He went closer to you, kissing you on the forehead.

"No wonder my day at work is brighter than usual." You kissed him back on the lips.

"Cualquier cosa por ti mi amor" (Anything for you my love) Miguel smiled.

He's glad that you enjoyed the gift he got for you.

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[Way #2: Acts of Service]

Miguel was at work today while it's your day off today.

Not wanting to feel bored, you decided to clean the house since dust started to gather.

You changed the bedsheets in yours and Miguel's room, dusted the bookshelves, arranged the items of Miguel's home office table, and finally sanitized the kitchen counter.

All of these chores don't compare on what you're about to clean next. All of these chores didn't even made you drop a sweat.

But you know what will.

You prepared your mop, your cleaning chemicals, your mask, and elbow length gloves so you don't inhale or touch unnecessary bacteria.

You bring all these items downstairs until you reach your basement.

You hummed a tune while you opened the basement lights.

On the bed, you saw was a naked woman near your age. Her ankles and wrist were strapped by leather belts into a metallic bed table. Her body is covered in cuts, some dried and caked with blood, while others look like it's been stitched.

The basement got renovated to look like a hospital room, complete with a medical bed, cabinets of surgical equipment, a table by the side, and a bookshelf full of thick medical related books.

An IV was plugged into her arm, keeping her alive, while a monitor next to her shows her heartbeats.

She seemed to be awakened by the harsh bright light and her panicked wide eyes landed to your form.

"Pl-please, I do-I don't know... Who you are but please, help!" Her voice wheezed out, and you could just hear the dryness of her throat.

You ignored her pleas as you headed straight to the table next to the bed, arranged with medical tools like scapels, a kidney tray, and some forceps, but what caught your attention was a cup of empty Starbucks coffee.

You sigh. How many times have you told your husband that there's a trash can for a reason? For a medical type of expirements he's running he doesn't seem to know how to keep a station clean.

You grabbed the coffee cup and swayed it to the face of the lady.

"I swear! He never listened to me when I told him to throw his trashes properly. Husbands amiright?"

You chuckled at the end while you threw the cup away.

The woman seemed to be taken aback by your carefree attitude to the whole situation, talking as if it's just another Friday afternoon.

"Ple-please!" She tried begging again.

"You gott-a to he-help me!"

"'fraid can't do that hun, that's what you get for not teaching your child any manners."

You held yourself back from slapping her.

Miguel took the opportunity to kidnap her at the dead of night, when both of you found out during yesterday afternoon that Gabriella got reportedly bullied by some kid during soccer practice.

He left the kid sleeping on his bed, unaware that his mother was here bleeding out. He also tried to find the father, but found out they were divorced and the dad is living in another state and could only take his child during holidays due to custody reasons.

You and Miguel only met the dad a few times, but he seemed to be a better role model than the mom, so maybe taking her out of the picture will be better for the child.

You turn your back from the woman and decide to clean the floor, which you could see a few dried droppings of blood.

You started to hum again while you pour chemical solutions on the bucket and dipped your mop into it.

"Ple-please I-Im sorry!"

You still ignored her, continuing your moping duty.

Your thoughts start to drift off to what lunch you could make before Gabriella returns from school.

While you drag your mop on the floor, your eyes land on the wall of the basement where you can see framed pictures of your family, and so is a few drawings of Gabi.

Your heart always melts at the sight. How could you get so lucky with a man like that?

"I beg you ple-"

You groaned, getting tired of her incessant whining.

"Look, sweetie, my husband always tells me not to touch with his work, but you're making me break that rule." You said as you turned to face her.

She whimpered, You wonder if she could feel the pain of her wounds, but knowing Miguel, he probably didn't give her anesthetics.

Her hands started wiggling around the straps around her wrists.

"I suggest you stop doing that, Im not a doctor, but you might reopen some of those wounds." You suggested as you put back the mop on the bucket and turned to the wall so you could wipe the framed pictures.

While you back is turned, you didn't notice the straps on her wrist loosened. You didn't notice her sudden silence. You didn't notice her taking the scapel from the table. And you didn't notice her quiet steps towards you.

"You bitch!-" She shouted, and that gave you enough to turn around in surprise and move out of the way, but the scapel still grazed your cheek, leaving a bleeding cut on its way.

You wince from the sudden sharp pain on your face, but there's more important things to worry about, like a naked bleeding wounded lady coming at you with wobbly yet swift steps with a scapel.

You immediately stepped back and grabbed the forceps off the table.

"Fuck you! and your daugh-"

She didn't get to finish that sentence since you drove the sharp end of the forceps to her left eye.

Blood sprayed on you while she screamed loudly from her throat while stumbling back, holding her eye that's still has the forceps dangling from.

You quickly gathered your bearings and ran up to the lady, pulling out the forceps out of her, making more blood spray onto the floor and onto you.

"Don't you dare talk about my daughter!" You angrily spat. The nerve of this woman.

Both you and that woman started to go at each other's throat.

Literally.

You dodge the upcoming scapel that was aimed at your neck and she dodged the forceps too.

You gotta admit, for a heavily wounded woman this bitch got spirit.

"Fuck you!" the woman swung the scapel, cutting a tear from your dress. Dammit Miguel just brought this one for you.

While she moved desperately to kill you, her stitched wounds reopened one by one. Her movements started to become wobbly due to blood loss, but that didn't deter her from leaving another cut to your exposed forearm.

You swinged your forceps to her other neck.

This time you were successful.

You seemed to hit a vein since blood sprayed everywhere, some to your face up to your body.

Her screams sounded bloody while she started to choke on her blood, and her legs started to move backwards, making her trip on her own foot.

She fell backwards, and that seemed to deal with her enough. Her body started swimming with her own blood, and her one eye showed no light.

You started to breathe heavily, the smell of blood with chemicals made your head foggy, so as the event that transpired.

The straps on her wrists seemed to be loosened, and you hated yourself for not noticing it sooner, but right now, anger is still coursing through you. The fact that she tried to talk bad about Gabriella seemed to make you move automatically to her dead body.

dropping the forceps, you kneeled and took the scapel next to her and started stabbing her chest even more. Anger did nothing but blind you that you didn't notice Miguel coming down.

"....amor! I heard screaming what happe-"

You froze.

Shit.

You turned around and immediately stood up, dropping the scapel. You somehow forgot the words of Miguel about touching the expirements.

You looked at Miguel, who froze at the sight of the bloody scene, the while porcelein walls were covered with speckles of blood and the floor wasn't any better.

But his attention was mostly on you, covered with blood all around, especially the new dress he got for you. Your arm and cheek seemed to have cuts but weren't that deep.

Miguel's gaze made you nervous. This is the first time you have broken a rule. You felt nervous about what's to come. It grew more as he started approaching you.

"Mi-Mi-Miguel, Im-im so sorry, I know what you told m-me but-"

Your words were cut off when a pair of strong lips covered yours in a passionate deep kiss.

Your eyes widened at the action, taken a back, but his lips continued to lick and bite yours, the taste blood seemed to spur him on, and you felt something twitch between his legs.

He finally let go of your lips, his eyes looked at you with nothing but admiration, your name fell from hips in whispers, as if calling you like a mantra.

"Oh mi amor, mi amor....You...I...I love you." He breathed out while he smiled down upon you, his hands caressed your face lovingly, and you melt from his touch, relieved that he isn't mad.

Miguel froze at the sight of you since this was the first time he ever saw you covered in blood, he usually does the dirty work but seeing you all bloodied up with a corpse behind you just seems to do something to him.

"How... Did I ever get so lucky to marry you, huh?" His eyes seemed to be still in daze.

You were about to say something but was cut off when you yelp, seeing that he carried you over his shoulder, heading straight back up the stairs and to your bedroom.

Safe to say, that you had to clean both basement and bedroom all over again.

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[Way #3: Quality time]

You and Miguel have been busy with work and "other things" (depends on you how you interpret that.)

So when the weekend came, it was finally time to enjoy each other, especially with Gabriella.

Miguel couldn't wait to pick her up from school to finally bond more without distractions from work.

During the drive, Gabriella excitedly talked about her biology class.

"Oh?, and what did you learn?"

"The anatomy of human beings! Our teacher said we have this upcoming contest, and the best project gets to have their work displayed."

"Project? I can help with that."

"Thanks, Papa! And after that you and Mama have to come with me to see the winner."

Few hours has passed and Miguel and Gabriella were doing the project.

What he didn't expect was it's supposed to be clay.

After buying supplies and planning the entire thing out, Miguel didn't expect to work with clay to be harder than disecting a full-grown adult.

So he did the best thing he could think of.

Call for your help.

Now, all of you three are on the floor, moulding and sculpting organs of the human body. You mould the kidneys, Miguel moulds the heart and Gabi the lungs.

Having a husband that specializes in the human body, he made sure each organ looks the best they can be.

And both you and Gabi think it's too much. The way Miguel stares down at the model of the heart his creating, the way he moulds each aorta, and the way he mixes clay to get the right tone of red. Whatever he's making, it could pass enough to be the real thing, and you know for sure Miguel has experience with the real thing.

Time passes by, and after moulding the kidney, heart, lungs, and other organs you all need a human cutout to place and glue the clay models on.

And what better model for the cutout other than Miguel O' Hara himself.

You and Gabi giggle as Miguel spreads his body out on a flat piece of cardboard, and both of you start tracing an outline of body. After tracing and giggling in the process, Miguel took the responsibility to cut out the cardboard.

After molding more organs, tracing the model and cutting the cardboard. The three of you arranged it accordingly.

Once done, Miguel placed it upon the wall for all of you to see the final result.

"Woah...It looks real," Gabi admired the project.

"Maybe not real. We could put blood on it."

You chuckled at his words, you admired the finished product and the organs done by Miguel looked too real, making it stand out like a sore thumb.

"I'm sure it looks real enough." You mused.

But Gabi seemed to like the idea of blood on her project, you laughed.

Like father like daughter.

So with that, you took the food colouring off the kitchen shelf and gave it to Miguel, who coated the organs with as much red he could put, Gabi cheering him on the process.

The next day came by, and everyone was on school showing off their projects. Once you and Miguel arrived, Miguel puffed his chest in pride when he saw other projects don't compare to the ones you three made.

You were glad Miguel made (threatened) his job to give him a free day so he could attend. While the school staff displayed each work and judges picked the best, Gabi went off to find her friends while Miguel entertained you on criticising the other work done by others, and you can't help but be amused

"Psh, That liver isn't even big enough"

"Tsk, that one didn't even try on the brain."

"Someone get this person a proper reference. That kidney looks like it got murdered. And that's saying something from me." He whispered the last part to you, and you had to cover your mouth to hide your laugh.

Time passed by, and while Gabi sits with her friends, the parents sit at their designated chairs.

The announcer applauded everyone of their hard work (Miguel rolls his eyes) and proceeded to announce the winner.

Everyone applauded as Gabriella's name was announced first place, and you and Miguel excitedly stood up to give her the medal.

Miguel could admit he enjoyed the time he got to spend with both of his loved one.

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[Way #4: Physical Touch]

Miguel is fully aware that he isn't a people person.

Miguel is fully aware his mouth spits nothing but fire to his co workers.

Miguel is fully aware his eyes aren't meant for looking for affection, always set in a permanent glare to whoever looks his way.

Miguel is fully aware that his hands aren't meant for soft caressing and touches.

Yet here he is.

His mouth sings a soft lullaby for the newborn in his arms. Something that he once heard from his mother.

His eyes looked at admiration for your hard work to bring a new life to your and Miguel's already perfect life.

His hands cradled you and his daughter in his arms, his world in just the palm of his being.

He never thought how he would get to this, never thought he could be a better man. Never thought redemption was a thing until you came.

His calloused hand, rough from his work, rough from the murders he committed. As of right now, he used to feed the baby that babbles incoherently at him.

"Si, si mija. Here you go"

In one swoop of his hands, the spoon arrives at the destination of Gabi's mouth, and she babbled happily.

He finds himself smiling, something he thought he stopped doing since forever.

That night, Miguel and you put the baby to sleep, admiring her peacful face, her nose just like his father.

You two prepare for bed, but Miguel wants more time with you. The day has been hectic with work and duty to care for the baby.

During the bath, his hands scrubbed your body gently, contrasting the way he scrubs himself off the blood of his victims.

Miguel dries the both of you off, and after some persuassion, you let him choose your clothes for the night.

That should have been it.

But Miguel is a selfish man, always wanting to get what he wants whenever he wants to.

His hands looked for his phone and automatically played a soft and sensual music.

His hands lead you to dance with him while you chuckle at his invitation. The song progresses, and Miguel leads you to spin, to dip and to sway.

The song progresses even more to a romantic tone, but both of you didn't notice when the two of you were busy touching and caressing each other's naked body.

His hands roamed around yours, his lips kissing each scar and beauty mark he could find. He found all of them,for his eyes memorise the dips and curve and every inch of skin he could caress.

He thought he would never be close to a person this much, sure there were women who warmed his bed. But that's only temporary, temporary feelings and temporary touches that would soon be replaced by another.

This felt different, intimate even. The way you held his both in both your hands after an energy draining night felt different. And his glad its permanent this time.

He has someone to wake up to, look for, touch with and to talk to.

And with Gabi in the image?

He couldn't ask for more.

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[Way #5: Words of Affirmation][this has inspiration from Corpse Bride]

Large church bells, a grand cathedral, bountiful amount of guests, a three layered cake.

And don't forget the Bride and Groom.

This day was the day you felt true happiness. You felt as if the world did revolve around you, at least just for this day.

People watch in awe as you walk down the aisle, a flower girl leading you in, leaving pink colored petals on the floor.

Your dress flows behind you eloquently. Your veil hides your face, but everyone knows you're the happiest you could be.

You look forward, and you see your soon-to-be husband, standing by the altar, watching you with awe more than the guest, and his eyes speak of emotions no great poetry could describe.

Everything that transpired that day felt like a blur.

You said your vows, and he said his

The priest declared both of you husband and wife, and Miguel didn't waste time holding your veil and gently yet swiftly put it behind you and kissing your lips.

Reception came in, and it was time for you and Miguel to have you a moment by dancing together and cutting the cake.

Miguel would sometimes mingle with other guests but would mostly stay by your side and you did the same.

You both had fun dancing, eating, talking, and throwing the bouquet as you and Miguel drove off to your honeymoon place.

That was a year ago, and now both you and Miguel are placing boxes on top of boxes in your new home. Where memories could grow.

After your honeymoon phase, Miguel surprised you with his own wedding gift, a house both of you could live in, three rooms, an island type kitchen, a backyard and a basement, You couldn't ask for more.

More years passed by, and you felt yourself living the dream.

But something feels off.

You would sometimes blame it on the passing of the honeymoon phase, but it feels bigger than that.

He would come home normal.

Tired but normal.

But instead of going to the bathroom to freshen up, he would head to the basement.

At first, you brush it off, thinking he was redecorating the basement to his liking of some sort. You asked him about it, but all he said was for you not to go down due to dangerous equipment.

But now you feel like as if you're missing something. Something that tells you that your husband isn't saying something to you.

You first feared that maybe he was cheating, but after making sure, he doesn't go home late, and if he does, he would tell you, second, there's no foreign smell of perfume or a stray lipstick mark. Third, you trust him, perhaps as deep as the pacific ocean and he trusts you too.

You decided maybe he's still renovating the basement and doesn't want you to see and wanting it to be a surprise.

Headaches start to form when you think about it deeply so once again you brushed it off.

Until one night.

You and Miguel were sleeping in your bedroom.

Until you thought Miguel was sleeping.

Your body jerked away when you heard a distant scream of a woman downstairs.

It was loud and sounded desperate.

You felt scared and it increased more when you didn't see your husband next to you.

The screams would continue, and you got concerned. You put on a robe to cover yourself and head downstairs cautiously. You quickly head to the kitchen to grab a knife in case something bad happened.

You start to notice the screaming would continue down to the basement and you hesitated.

Your husband isn't with you, there's a woman screaming and he told you not to go down.

But more pressing matters made you ignore that rule and went downstairs, clutching the knife tightly.

You winced at the volume of the screams, and the more you descend, the more the screams sounded choked.

But all that attention to the sound was immediately thrown out the window when the sight in front of made you freeze.

There stood Miguel slicing and cutting a woman alive, her torso covered in so much bloof you don't know which cut it orignated from. Her eyes are bloodshot and wide, and her throat sounds choked from the screaming.

The basement seemed messy with empty boxes scattered and the walls covered in dirt, grime, and dried blood. The odour didn't help much since all you could smell was iron and rotting bodies.

He seemed to be focused on what he's doing, and you didn't realize that the woman was an ex of Miguel who started bad mouthing you when she found out you two got married.

"te mereces esto perra" (you deserve this you bitch) you hear him murmur himself over the choking woman.

Yet your focus was still straight to your husband, who seemed to not notice your presence. His face held anger you had never seen, his eyebrows turned down, and his mouth formed a deep frown.

The woman seemed to die when her screams suddenly went to a full volume to wet chokes, and then finally nothing. Yet you felt no remorse for some reason, no guilt when you realized your husband killed a person.

"Mi-Miguel?" You stammered, testing the waters.

Miguel's body jerked up as if he got electrocuted. His body turned immediately to face you, and he froze.

"Mi-mi-Vida...." He stammered, his body shaking in horror as if he was the one who found you killing someone instead of him.

"Miguel...I-"

"Kill me."

"Wha-what?"

You paused, taking in his words. You realized his eyes were set on the knife you were grasping.

"No I-"

"I... You...Mi Vida, you weren't supposed to see this, I..."

"Mi amor if it makes you feel better, please." He shouted, and you froze, confusion set in on you when he demands for you to kill him.

You waited for him to finish.

"Listen, I-I know you're confused, but por favor...." He seemed to be holding back tears

"Don't leave me, please... You can kill me, report me to the police but please don't leave me mi amor.."

You didn't say anything, but your feet find themselves walking straight to Miguel.

Miguel's eyes seemed to beg you. He never wanted you to find this side of him, and if you did, he swore to never forgive himself. You were the best thing to ever happen to him. You accepted his perfection so as his flaws, but he fears you will never accept this. He can handle being killed by hands, thrown behind bars by your order, but you leaving him? He couldn't bring himself to accept that.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, mi vida, just please kil-"

His words were interrupted when he felt a pair of lips pressing onto him, your hands on each side of his face. Feelings and promises seemed to fill out from that kiss, and he couldn't help but melt.

After a while, you paced back a bit letting go his lips, and he held himself back from grabbing you again.

"Do you... Do you remember our vows?" You asked as you grasp both of his large hands on your palm and carresed the wedding ring. The knife long forgotten on the floor.

He seemed to pause for a while. You don't seem to be scared nor hesitant to talk to him. Which is good.(?)

"Y-yea..."

You chuckled.

"Well...Do you remember when I said."

"I, Y/N L/N will promise to take all weaknesess and make them your strengths, I promise to take your soul either be it perfect...."

"....or flawed." Miguel finished the sentence for you. His eyes seemed to glisten with tears. And you smiled. it seems like he remembered

Everything felt as if it's your wedding all over again. This time, it was in a basement with a dead body. But just like your wedding, both of you only focused on each other and nothing else. His eyes find yours, although a bit blurry from the tears his holding back he still looks at you, and you look at him.

"Y/N...." His eyes bore into you with a longing gaze, His hand took your hand with the ring.

He paused for a while, seeming to take in everything, and you watched him with tears already flowing down.

"With this hand, I will lift your sorrows. Your cup shall never empty for I will be your wine...." He paused for a moment. He felt a tear coming down while yours started streaming slowly but surely.

".....With this candle, I will light your way to darkness...."

"With this ring... I ask you to be mine."

His hand lifted yours to kiss your ring, after, he lifted his head,awaiting your answer.

Your words are choked due to the tears flowing down, and Miguel smiled widely at you.

"I-I do.." You continue to cry happily.

Miguel didn't waste time lifting you up to his height and kissed your lips as deeply as he can, both of you closed your eyes, and tears were streaming down. Everything felt like your wedding day, except this one felt lighter, even better. A weight on his shoulder has been lifted with you.

The two of you always find different ways to say "I love you" without words.

The End

[soxcietyy]

Temptation

Chapter 7

Your dad is tired of you bringing home these unworthy men. None of them being fit to take care of you or to be given the family business since you are the only daughter. He decides to find you someone fit to be your husband and receive help from the father of the church. That’s when you meet Yuta, though just because he goes to church doesn’t mean he’s much of a saint

Mafia, murder, violence, mentions of religion, (will contain other things in the next chapters)

The rest of the week he spent as far away from you as he could. He would come home late, sleep in a spare room or sometimes he wouldn't come home at all. Ever since that day he couldn't help but maintain his distance. He was scared, he didn't want to frighten you like that again. Not only did that cause him fear but also the fact that he cared about that.

He was Yuta Okkotsu, one of Gojos most important business partners that worked under him. Everyone was supposed to be terrified of him. But just the single though oh you being scared of him gave him an itch.

He tried to convince himself multiple times that maybe it was because this was all new to him. The concept of marriage and now having to care for Someone else other than him. Yea that sounds about right. This will soon pass and he'll be back to his normal self.

He's been away from you for a good length of time that he kinda felt prepared to face you again. Putting his foot down and putting you in your place. A women shouldn't be walking over a men. Maybe his actions were justifiable last week. He told you to stay put and you did not listen which created consequences.

Yea that's it, you deserved what you got and he will not let it slide.

"Yu?" He hears a soft feminine voice speak. He snaps his head from the paper he held to the door way where you stood in a sun dress.

"Darling you know well you're not allowed in my offic..." as he spoke to you he noticed the bruises on your neck that he left last week. That delicate skin of yours being harmed by his own hands. He couldnt bare to see the injury's he caused so he looked back down at his paper.

"Yes I know but I'm worried. We haven't been able to sit down and relax. You're always busy or coming home late. We haven't even slept in the same bed. Im worried about us." you say

About us? what a joke, with the way he's been treating you he was surprised you thought that way. A normal girl would of already attempted to run away.

"I don't think what I’m doing should concern you. Go back to bed and get some rest." Yuta says as he scans the paper he's been rereading over and over again. To him it seemed like a never ending paper, every time he read it he would get lost in the words making him have to reread it over and over again.

“Can I least go out for some fresh air?” you ask him “Of course.” He says as he begins sign the paper he held.

“Without someone following me.” You cross your arms. The number of times they had stopped you this week from walking out was outrageous. Every time you confronted Yuta about it he would ignore you and keep on with his business.

“you’re not allowed to go out without anyone accompanying you.”

————————

Your angry thoughts influenced your actions immediately. Storming out of his office you quickly made your way upstairs snatching up his wallet that rested on the nightstand. You couldn’t believe that he had just spoke to you that way. This wasn’t what you imaged being married to him was. You felt like an idiot for actually agreeing to something so dumb like this. Anyone would have seen something like this coming a mile away. You were just so stupid, so gullible to believe every word that fell out of his mouth. After putting your heels on you walk downstairs. You knew well that Yuta had guards stationed right out the doors.

You were so sick of being stuck here with an arrogant man. All you did was try and be the best wife but clearly, he could care less about you and your efforts. Opening the door, you see a tall buff man standing with is back facing you. You let out a small huff as you quietly closed the door behind you. Taking a few small steps forward you see him turn around at the slightest sound of your heels hitting the floor. “Go back inside before I throw you like last time." That did happen didn’t it. “Yuta said he’ll meet me outside the gates. He seemed to have lost his wallet.” You say trying to get pass him.

He lets out a laugh as he blocks you from going further. “do you think I’m stupid little girl? He would never let you go even a few feet from him.” The guard laughs even harder as he shoves you back making you stumble a bit.

You give the man an innocent smile. “Clearly you don’t know him enough to know that he would let me do that. Let me through before I tell him that you put your hands on me.” You talk back.

“What would people say if Yuta’s wife was being man handled? Clearly you would be fired right away.” You stare into his shocked eyes. He mumbled a few words before letting you get pass him. If you knew it was this easy you would if been escaped this place.

Immediately you started walking to the open gates. Walking with the fear of him possible looking outside his window to see you walking off the property. Once you made it out the gates you turn around and shut them. The guard looked at you confused for a second before booking it towards you. That’s when you quickly lock it with the key Yuta always carried in his wallet. You gave him another innocent smile before you ran down the road. Luckily those gates where as tall as pine trees, that means he had no choice but to get another key from Yuta who should be at a meeting about now. That’s if he had the guts to interrupt a meeting.

Running as fast as you could in heels, you cut through people’s property’s so you wouldn’t be found so easily. Eventually after so long of running you made it to the city of New York. Yuta did not live far from the city at all making everything supper close to you guys. Stopping at a coffee shop you rest by the wall and catch your breath. You haven’t ever ran this much in your life before. The adrenalin in your body was still pumping as you held your chest.

“Oh, darling are you alright?”

Alarm bells ran in your head once you heard them say darling. When you look up your met with blue eyes but not the dark ones you know. They were infused with a light green color making them look really friendly. Moving from his eyes to his face you realize this was a total stranger. This man had blonde short hair, chiseled jaw, he wore such a nice navy-blue suit that complimented him. Your mouth seemed to have dropped, mesmerized by his beauty. “y-yes! I’m fine I just got done with my morning run.” You say

“A run? In heels?” he raises his brow.

“yes...”

“Your quite an interesting girl, how about I invite you to grab a drink with me?” he says holding his hand out. You looked at him not being able to believe him but take his hand either way. He grabbed it firmly and walked out with you in his arm.

“ I know this coffee shop with better drinks up the street. I had came to the one we had just left to grab a quick drink to go. Then I ran into you, and I just love having drinks with people.” He says as he walks with a fast pace. This man was really tall, to the point where it kind of hurt your neck to look up at him.

When you guys got to the place you couldn’t believe how beautify it looked. Plants where planted in so many spots and it smelled like roses from the pots that surrounded you. This was something you’ve never seen before. As you approached a table, he pulled your seat out and letting you sit before taking his own. A waiter soon came up to you guys and asked if you guys needed time to order.

“No need, I would like Americano and for the lovely lady hmm, what do you want tea or coffee?” he tilts his head making his golden locks fall to the side.

“I uh, I like tea.” You say

“ Hōjicha please! Oh and maybe a set of your delicious biscuits.”

As the waiter left, he put his attention back towards you. “so do you usually take strangers on-“

“Coffee dates? No, no I am quite a busy man, I was actually free this morning and well I couldn’t just ignore you.” He smiles.

“Oh well thank you for taking me out uhh.” You say ignoring the fact that he called this a date.

“How rude of me! I haven’t introduced myself, haven’t I? The name is Angelo.” He says.

“Oh, I’m y/k Okkotsu.”

His eyes seemed to have lighten up once you told him your name.

“Magnificent.”

“Do you work Angelo?” You ask him curious to know his profession if he could afford to go to such a coffee shop.

“I own many restaurants and coffee shops around here, including the one were at. Its quite new actually.” He says as he looks around admiring his work.

“Really? Wow I really love what you did with the place. It’s so stunning and it feels like I’m in the middle of a flower field.” You say surprised.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it darling. What do you do for work?"

“um currently nothing, I’m just home all the time but I want to get into my husbands business. I want to feel useful you know? But how can I do that when I’m not even allowed to know anything about it.” You look down at the wooden table “oh sorry I started venting without realizing it.” You say embarrassed.

“No need to feel bad I enjoy giving advice to people.” He says as he receives the drink from the waiter that you didn’t even notice. He set your drink in front of you as he took a sip of his. He let out a satisfied sound come out as he tasted the drink.

“What does your husband work in” he asks as he licks his lips.

“Trading under a company.” You say as you also took a sip out of your drink. Your eyes brightened the second your tastebuds made contact with the liquid. This was really good, this man kept on surprising you by the second.

“What is this? It’s so good, I’ve never had such a flavorful tea.” You bring the cup up to your lips once again.

“Ha, I knew it would be to your taste. It’s a Japanese’s tea that has roasted green tea leaves. Its naturally sweet yet has a hint of a smokey flavor in it.” He lifts his hand up in the air to get a waiter’s attention.

The man quickly runs to him and ask him if everything is okay. Angelo reassures him everything is good and that he just wanted to know if he had a bag of the tea you were currently drinking.

“oh you don’t have to do that! I can always come on my own, I want to support the business.” You say.

“oh sweety but what if you can’t go out when you crave it? You already know how husband can be, ugh so bitter for no reason, Speaking of.” He brings his drink to his mouth. “Y- your husband how is he like?”

For a second you thought he was going to say your husband’s name. Then again, he shouldn’t even know him.

“Well, he’s…nothing like I expected him to be like.” You say with a sense of sadness. You had no idea why you held such high expectations for him in the first place. You didn’t even know him for that long and here you thought he was going to be the best husband ever. “I just wish he was more caring, kind, and well just loving in general.”

You had no idea what had happened, when you first met him, he was the most kindest person ever now he was someone else.

“Sorry to hear that,” Angelo crosses his legs as he stretches them out. “Something like that must not be easy to go through, I trust your strong enough to pull through, right?” Angelo looks down at his watch and raises his brows. “it’s near noon, do you need a ride?”

Ride, but to where? You couldn’t possibly go back to Yuta’s. He was going furious when he finds out you escaped. If you ran back home, you feared your dad would call Yuta since apparently, they were buddy’s now. You could get a hotel room, but they would be able to track you right? At this point he must have already called everyone he knew to look for you. At your wedding the kinds of people that came up to him were unexpected, bank tellers, police, business people, doctors, and more. He probably had all eyes and ears out for you. You couldn’t held but fiddle with your wedding ring to ease your thoughts.

“Or you could come to work for me, you can be my secretary for the day.” He offers with a genuine smile.

“Really?! But I’m a women, wouldn’t people look down on you?” You say feeling a bit excited for the opportunity.

“You think I care about other opinion? Is that the way your husband thinks? Such a childish mindset. Common let’s go to my company building.” He says as he helps you get up.

AN: Guys I wrote this on my laptop on word during my finals. I typed 5 pages of fanfic and thought I out did myself and once I posted it onto here I screamed. YOUR TELLING ME THIS IS HOW 5 PAGES LOOK LIKE.

[specialagentlokitty]

Bobby x daughter!reader - hard days

Hey, I saw you were hoping for some more asks for Bobby and I just had an idea of his youngest daughter who possibly survived the fire somehow and she perhaps struggles with something caused by it and Bobby is there to help her as well as the rest of the 118. Hope this is ok ❤️ - Anon 💜

Sitting on the table, you kicked your legs a little bit as you watched your dad cooking you something to eat for lunch.

“Hey kid, shouldn’t you be at school?” Chim asked.

You looked at him and shook your head.

“She’s having a difficult time today with her breathing, so we thought we’d take the day off and hang out here, right sweetheart?”

You smiled at your dad and nodded your head a little bit.

“Want me to take a listen?” Hen asked you.

You shrugged a little and got up, following behind her as she took you down to one of the trucks and you sat in the back and she pulled some stuff out.

She listened to your breathing, and how raspy it sounded snd frowned a little bit.

“Is that why you’re not talking today? Does it hurt?”

You nodded again and she nodded, handing you some painkillers she kept in her pocket, and she looked around with a small frown.

“Where’s your oxygen tank?”

You got up and took her hand, pulling her behind you as you led her to your dads office and pointed to the tank in the corner.

“Right, let’s take this upstairs.”

She picked up up and followed you back up the stairs and she got you to sit down at the table and hooked your up to the cannula again.

“That should help a little. How come she’s not using it?” Hen asked.

“She gets tired of carrying it around all day, so as long as she’s in my sight she doesn’t need to use it.” Bobby explained.

Hen nodded and Bobby set the food down in front of you and you grinned happily up at him and he smiled sitting next to you.

“I heard we have a stray.” Buck grinned.

You rolled your eyes and put some of the scrambled eggs of the plate and flicked them at him and everyone laughed.

“You’re cleaning that up.” Your dad scolded lightly.

You shrugged and began to eat your lunch while everyone grabbed some food to sit down with you, and you hummed a little to yourself.

Bobby looked at you and he smiled.

You were slowly getting better everyday, and he could see it, from the healed burns on your arm, to the way you’re able to go longer and longer breathing on your own.

Some days were harder than others though, and he understood that.

When you were finished you cleaned your mess and walked over to Eddie, tapping his shoulder.

“Hey kid, what’s up?” He smiled.

You gestured for him to stand up and he did, and you got him to go back down to one of the trucks with you and he knew immediately what you wanted.

“Well… you’re dad is busy. I’m sure they won’t miss one truck.” He whispered.

“If we’re stealing the truck we’re all going.” Chim said.

They helped you up, and put your oxygen in the truck as well and Buck pulled some headphones over your head.

“Comfy?” He asked.

“Wait! She’s missing something!” Hen called.

She came rushing back in with your dads jacket and you grinned, pulling on the much larger jacket and sat back down while Chim rolled up the sleeves for you.

“Are you seriously stealing my daughter?” Bobby asked.

“We’ll bring her back cap!” Buck grinned.

Bobby rolled his eyes and climbed into the truck as well, sitting next to you.

“Come on then, let’s go.” Chim cheered.

Everyone cheered as well and you held your dads hand tightly as you looked out the window, watching the streets roll by.

You loved this.

You loved going out in one of the engines, sometimes they would have to rush away but you didn’t mind that.

You just liked going for rides.

And although the wasn’t supposed to condone this kind of behaviour Bobby knew how much you loved it.

And on hard days like this he was alright with it just to see your smiling happily

[its-time-to-write]

i hold it like a grudge - ch. 3

I don’t know why I’m awake and still editing 😭 I have to go to work tomorrow morning. It’s not even the weekend yet and I’m acting like it is but it’s ok, right? Right.

table of contents watch me fall

Five hours later, Keeley is scrolling through pictures of you and Jamie on your phone. 

“Oh my god, you’re both so tiny!” she crows. She can hold her alcohol much better than you would have expected, but by this point, she’s definitely far gone.

You can’t bring yourself to have more than two drinks. Everything leaves behind an acrid taste, so you switched to water a while ago. That means you’re completely fucking sober as Keeley swipes through your entire friendship with Jamie.

“Wow, you two were like, attached at the hip,” she comments. “Is this your mums?”

It’s a picture of two women about the same age, looking at the camera with strained smiles. You remember that day. Your mum had slipped you and Jamie money to get ice cream with the condition that you’d eat it at the shop and not bring it home. She’d looked right into your eyes as she said it, conveying a message beyond her words. You were maybe ten years old and not sure exactly what she meant, but you nodded seriously and ran to drag Jamie down the street.

You and Jamie had come back, hours later with ice cream drips on your shirts, none the wiser to what had transpired in your absence.

“I remember that picture,” you say aloud. “Jamie’s dad took it, the piece of shit. He dropped ‘round and was a happy drunk until he wasn’t. Mum threatened to call the police, but Georgie still came away with a black eye. They thought me and Jaim didn’t know, but,” you shrug. “You know how it is when you’re ten. You know fucking everything.”

Keeley nods, and you take it as an invitation to keep talking. “We used to share a brain, basically. Hardly ever seen without each other. You know we didn’t even date till I was in secondary? Mum was so surprised we weren’t already sneaking around behind her back. Guess she and Georgie used to talk about it a lot. Jamie was home four hours after she died. Not even sure how, really, he was out of town. I asked him about it once and he wouldn’t tell me, the little shit. That night… I couldn’t sleep. It was awful. I sneaked out of my room and down the hall to her bed, because it still smelled like her, you know? I had this dream that she was still there with me and when I woke up it felt like I had lost her all over again. I had to remember that she wasn’t just downstairs making breakfast.”

You pause. It’s all coming out so matter-of-factly, like it happened to someone else.

“Anyway, I just laid there and cried. The first tear had barely fallen when Jamie just came in and got in bed next to me. I think he had just woken up, but he… he held me so fucking tight and whispered, ‘I felt you crying. I can be here as long as you want,’ and then we just stayed there. We were there for fucking…hours. He just let me cry and didn’t say anything, just kissed the tears off my face and handed me tissues. The next couple days he moved all my things from the house to a room at Georgie’s. She had this like, office thing upstairs that was basically a closet, but it was the same layout for mine and theirs so it was familiar if that makes sense? Like they were mirrored, so her room was the same as mum’s and Jamie’s was the same as mine, then a third little bedroom that had room for a bed and that’s pretty much it. Jamie offered his room, but I didn’t want it. It felt wrong, somehow. And I couldn’t bring myself to get out of bed to do any of it but he did everything. I think Georgie probably helped, but when it was all done, he brought me over and he’d decorated it just how I would’ve. Except he made a copy of his Roy Kent poster and stuck it on my wall, right next to one of his dumb headshots he liked so much. He slept in that little bed with me every night until he went back. We were nineteen at the time, right before he got signed for City. We loved that team. Used to watch it every time it was on the telly, and he always told me he’d play for them some day and take me to every match, even the away games.”

You trail off. You’ve run out of steam, back in the present reality. This is the first time you’ve allowed yourself to look back fondly, to wonder how Georgie and Simon are.

Meanwhile, Keeley’s staring at you, openmouthed.

“Shit, babe,” she says.

“Shit,” you agree.

“How the fuck did he know you were crying?”

You wiggle your head back and forth. “Like I said, he said he felt it. I mean… sounds strange, but we used to be able to feel when things were wrong with each other. Even if we were in different places. We used to text and be like, ‘oi, you good?’ and every time, the answer was no. It’s like a nauseous feeling, you know?”

“No,” Keeley shakes her head. “I don’t fucking know.”

“Right,” you say, “I’m done being sober. Give me the fucking bottle.”

Keeley cheers and passes it your way. You take a swig and make a face. It still tastes like shit, but it’s better than trying to figure out the implications of Keeley’s five little words.

No. I don’t fucking know.

—

The next week, you’re slipping charms on a necklace for someone name Ashley, part of a set for a wedding party. You’ve had a steady stream of customers this weekend, many tourists from out of town passing through on their way to the heart of London. You check instagram in between sales and see that your location is getting tagged in stories and public posts, and you smile. 

The day passes by smoothly and by the time you lock up, it’s drizzling ever so slightly. You grin and step out the door, turning the lock then back around to head up the street. You run smack into someone and say, “Shit, sorry,” before realizing it’s fucking Jamie. You scoff and go to step around him but he puts himself in your path.

“I’m going back to Manchester,” he tells you without preamble.

“Gaffer sent me back. Thought you might want to know.”

“Okay,” you reply lightly, as if to a stranger, then duck past him again. You hurry away and risk a glance back. He’s still standing in the rain by your store, watching you walk away.

table of contents

[quennofsblog]

Rosy cheeks

Suguru Geto

You enjoy a good night after work with your family.

Warnings: au!no curses (we want happiness), Suguru calls the reader "Kika", they are married and have a beautiful pair of twins, mentions of Gojo and Satoru, reader is clumsy.

Enjoy <3

⚠️English is not my first language, high chances of finding mistakes because I am not confident with my English !!!

"Mommy? Are we going to be long?"

"Honey, we're already home." You say softly as you help one of your daughters out of her car seat, taking the opportunity and grabbing her primary school bag and your own from work, you both smile as you watch your apartment floor with lights on.

"I wonder what dad made for dinner? Huh? Huh? I hope curyl!!" Hana jumps up and holds her hand tightly.

"It's curry dear, and we ate it yesterday, don't you want something else?" You wave to the doorman and enter the elevator, pressing button five, the addiction to curry, more specifically your daddy's curry that your daughters had, was a little evident, if it weren't for your demand for different dishes, they would certainly they would eat curry their whole lives.

"I don't know, whatever daddy does is fine." She says with a beautiful smile, remembering yesterday's chocolate cake for dessert, as well as other aspects of the previous night.

Taking the keys out of the suitcase, (not before almost dropping all the contents of the suitcase), opening the door, a smell of Ramen appeared making your mouths salivate, in addition to the smell of the soft house appeared, it was like entering another universe, as if there were no problems on the other side of the door.

You were deeply proud to have created this loving home with your long-time husband Suguru Geto, your soulmate, together the two of you created a beautiful environment to raise the next generations.

"Daddy made ramelen!" She takes off her shoes and coat as quickly as possible, then runs down the hallway in search of her father and sister. "Daddy! Kana! We're here!"

You smile, taking off your shoes and placing your coat and suitcase on the rack, stretching your arms and heading straight to the kitchen, only to find a bowl of ramen on the floor, a Suguru cleaning up, and a Kana comforting a crying Hana.

"What happened?" You run over to Suguru, helping him clean up the contents from the floor.

"It seems like Hana-chan inherited your bad manners." He smiles sweetly, placing the bowl in the sink. He comes close to you, tucking a strand of hair behind your hair, tilting his head towards you, looking closely at your face, before grabbing your waist and bringing you closer with a warm hug.

"Um, what a good hug, I missed you love..." Suguru hugs you tightly, squeezing his strangely beautiful waist also with tenderness, he has always been sly and affectionate, since the days of dating.

You rub your head against Geto's chest, your cheeks with reddish tones and your ears that used to be cold, now warming up, you move away a little and look into each other's eyes, love surrounded you and hovered in the air, he got closer, pressing your lips together In yours, at this moment everything disappeared and only the sweet strawberry flavor was felt.

But everything was broken into pieces by Hana's gentle fungi, who still felt guilty about the bowl of ramen.

"Daddy! I'm sorry!" Your heart broke when you saw your daughter's sadness, you moved away from Suguru, kneeling in front of your daughters, hands on their small shoulders.

"Hana, it's okay... Daddy isn't upset, you were just a little careless, weren't you?" You dictate softly, Hana nods carefully before grabbing her sister.

"How about taking a shower while Daddy finishes dinner?" The two look at each other before running upstairs and finding out who will choose today's toy.

You get up awkwardly, due to the tiredness of office work, before also heading towards the stairs, giving Geto an air kiss.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

Having showered, everyone sits at the table to have dinner calmly, with the twins sitting in front of you.

"So how was school?" You suck down a large portion of tasty dough, almost choking, but you covered it well.

"It was cool, Professor Helena taught me about numbers and gave me good behavior stamps." Kana says with a shy smile, she was always a little more closed off and quite shy around new people, much more like Suguru, while Hana was much more like you.

"It's good that Kana-chan already knew them before learning them at school, isn't it? And you, Hana-chan?"

"Um... It's just... I..." She shrinks in the chair, you and Geto look at each other before asking.

"Kana? What happened?"

"It's just that Professor Puff gave me stamps of... of... bad behavior, but Hilo took a piece of the Pope's bento!" She says determinedly, even at her young age, she understands how important food is, a courtesy of you for sure.

"Hana-chan... You didn't need to take such violent actions and that's why you have Puff Sensei to help, you have to talk to him about what happened, okay?" He says calmly as always but inside Suguru just repeats:

Hiro-kun isn't it... I want to see if he will steal again when he sees the beautiful amount of very green vegetables tomorrow...

"Daddy is right, whenever something happens to you, tell Professor Puff or Professor Helena right away, yes?"

"Yes mommy!!"

"When are we going on vacation? I want to go to Uncle Toru's house..."

"There's still a long way to go before vacation, Hana-chan, school started a month ago."

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

With dinner finished, you and the twins eagerly awaited Suguru's return, as October was the month of dessert debuts, that is, once a week, your husband debuted a new dessert, so far everyone received 5 stars.

"Tcharam!" Suguru placed a plate with cookies of several different colors.

"That's what daddy?"

"Macarons! It's a typical French recipe, it has chocolate, matcha, I even made a special one for Kana-chan, purple, just how you like it."

"Great!!"

You all took one, before sighing in pleasure at the intense flavor, you quickly got up and grabbed Suguru who was waiting for your evaluations, you hugged him by the arm.

"Suguruuuu! It's so good! Should you give up your life as a teacher and become my personal cook...?" You smile at Geto's side profile, who was taking out the purple (grape) macaron to hand to Kana, who opened her mouth and bit off a piece of the macaron with her small hands.

"As much as I'd love to be your personal chef, I love my job as a teacher, and also, how would I go home without the school gossip?"

"Um, you're right! Don't even think about quitting your job!" You squeeze him tightly and feel a kiss on the top of your head.

Leaving the hug and picking up another macaron, only to find a plate with only five, as it didn't start with about sixteen.

"D-Did you... Take t-all of them? Especially the chocolate ones?" Her eyes became bright and trembling, she picked up a matcha macaron, looking at it sadly.

"Own, my love... I can do more for you..."

"I know, Su-chan, but these were at the premiere, I didn't want to do this, but I'm going to have to punish-" A wind blew in her face and looking at the girls' now empty seats.

Suguru laughed loudly, and wrapped his arms around your shoulders, you hit him and tears ran down your eyes.

"So much drama, Kika. I'll check that they brush their teeth for two minutes."

"MY NAME IS NOT KIKA SUGURU!" He quickly ran up the stairs and disappeared, you just sighed in defeat.

Hello everyone, not many expectations for this, but I hope you like it 🤪🤪.

[8philip20hamilton4]

Trigger Warning: Implied sexual abuse.

The Nightmare Phone of Screams

9th of November in 1983

3:11 PM

A year. It had been a whole year since Steve Orth was murdered & his girlfriend, Casey Becker, had disappeared without a trace. This, of course, caused many rumors around the town. Some had thought that Casey had killed Steve & ran away. Others assumed that the the boy's murderer kidnapped the girl.

2 years. 2 years ago, Marge Thompson, the beloved wife & mother of Donald & Nancy Thompson, was found dead in her home. No one knew if she had died through suicide, murder, sickness or even drug overdose. There was not a single warning of her kicking the bucket. To this day, her death was the most mysterious in the town.

Sidney Prescott was walking home from school. Despite the many anniversaries of the day, it was a normal day for her. She didn't really know any of them personally. Out of the 3 of them, she was acquainted with Casey the most, as they once sat next to each other in English. Sidney shook her head, not wanting to dwell on the past & smiled when she saw her neighbor before waving.

"Hi Nancy!"

"Hi Sidney, how are you?"

"Fine, thank you, how is everything?"

Nancy shrugged. Today was weird. Everyone in town who knew the Thompsons knew it was weird. Though her & her mom were never really close, she lover her. Still, the curlyhaired grinned happily when thinking about the boy who made things better.

"I'm doing ok, Glen & I are going to a small Cafe to help me take my mind off of some things, I don't know what I would do without him."

Sidney was happy for Nancy. After all, not everyone was lucky enough to have a loving boyfriend. Glen seemed like a good guy, so she was glad that things were looking out between them. It reminded her of her own boyfriend. Life was the sweetest when you had a loving partner like that.

"Well, I wish the best for the both of you."

"Thank you."

Glen Lantz than came out of the house. In his hand was a small bouquet of daisies. This caused Nancy to beam with satisfaction. Those were her favorite flowers, given to her by her favorite person. She kissed Glen's cheek, waved goodbye to Sidney & left with her boyfriend.

Once the couple was gone, Sidney than started to unlock the door. She entered her house & locked it back. She hummed a small tune & sighed in peace. The girl was clearly in a pleasantly good mood. Nothing could bring her down, or so she thought.

"Mom, I'm home!"

She waited for a little bit before the smile on her face gradually disappeared. Her mom normally answered, so what was so different about now? She than heard her noise coming from upstairs, causing her to freeze & debate if she should investigate the matter or not. A drunk man stumbled from the stairs, nearing towards the unexpected girl. Sidney screamed in terror before throwing her bag at & ran out the front door as the backpack had caused the man to fall backwards against the stairway, falling unconscious.

The poor girl was in a fright. She had never seen the intruder before, but to her, he had probably meant to do harm. She ran to the Thompsons as Nancy's dad was an officer. Banging on the door, she begged to be let inside.

"Mr. Thompson! Please let me in, there is an intruder in my house!"

She was quickly let inside before he went to see the issue. He called for a bit of backup, not wanting to take any chances. They soon arrived & investigate the matter. Mr. Thompson had arrested the unconscious man while the others had checked to make sure no one else was there. When checking out with a grizzly sight.

On the bed, lied Maureen Prescott. Well, that used to be Maureen Prescott. Now, however, she was just a body. She was definitely stabbed & gutted just like Steve was. However, the word "whore" that was carved on her back with an immense hatred as blood & semen poured out of her.

They took the suspect to the police station. He was later revealed to be Cotton Weary. Although he insisted on his innocence, though no one really believed him. He was placed in a holding cell until he would be placed in trial the following year. After a few months, a police officer came rushing towards the chief of the department's office.

"Chief! Chief!"

"What, what is it?"

"He's gone!"

"Who?"

"Cotton Weary! Cotton Weary is gone!"

[kookiemonster123]

Heeseung FF

My annoying neighbor

words:1108k

warning:none

authors note: This is my first time writing anything, so I apologize if it's bad. I am going to try and make this into a series. If you have any suggestions or can feedback, please let me know! Thank you

I can’t believe this is happening right now. 17 years of my life down the drain; everything and everyone I know is basically gone. I never thought this day would come, I thought it was a guarantee but I was wrong. My dad’s job has finally decided to move him to a different office. Which I thought would never happen because of how high up he was in the company and because they haven’t transferred him in 17 years! But what can I do? It’s his job not mine.

We are moving to this small town out of the city. The drive is long and the closer we get to our new home the less stores I see and more farm life I see. My dad pulls into the driveway and I look out the window and see a 2 story brick house. I let out a sigh as I got out of the car and grabbed my bags. We didn’t have to bring much because my dads job paid for all of our belongings to be moved a couple days ago. I see a man and a woman in the house next to us walk over to where my mom and dad are standing. I made a beeline for inside, I don’t want to talk to anyone right now.

I get inside, I walk upstairs to my room, I set my bags down and flop down on my bed. After a while there is a knock on my door “Come in” I call out and my door opens and my parents walk in. “Y/N our next door neighbors the Lee’s are coming over for dinner” My dad says. I sit up and look at him with wide eyes “Already? But we just got here! Why are people already coming over?” I ask. My dad scoffs and before he can speak my mom says “Honey you sound like a spoiled brat, we didn’t raise you that way. And the Lee’s are coming over as a welcoming dinner. They have a son your age so, get changed and be downstairs in 10.” I roll my eyes “Fine” I say as I stand up. “Alos Y/N behave yourself at this dinner, don’t be rude. Your mother and I understand you are not happy about this but you need to understand we can’t do anything about it.” My dad says softly and then he and my mom leave the room and shut my door on their way out. I go to my closet, grab my black sweater, put on some ripped blue jeans, and wear some fuzzy socks. I walk downstairs and I can hear people talking in the dinner room, I turn the corner and see my mom, dad, two other people around their age and then I see a boy my age but he doesn’t look like any of the guys back home. This boy is taller, cuter, very son-in-law vibes.  My mom looks at me and smiles and waves me over; I walk over to them and I smile shyly. My mom wraps her arm around my shoulders “And this is our lovely daughter Y/N” My mom says sweetly. Mr. and Mrs. Lee introduces themselves and then their son looks at me, smirks, holds his hand out and says “Hello Y/N, I’m Heeseung”. I shake Heeseung’s hands and then I look up at him. I almost broke my neck looking up at him, the dude is tall. 

I let go of his hand and sat down at the table and Heeseung sat down next to me. “Not really a talker are you?”Heeseung asks as he sits down. I turn my head to look at him, shrug my shoulders and reply “I’m not good with meeting new people.”. Everyone else sits down at the table and we begin making our plates and start eating. Throughout the whole dinner I answered basic questions and pretended to care about what was being said. After we were all done eating, I went to the kitchen to start washing the dishes. As I start washing the dishes I hear someone walk into the kitchen and I look over my shoulder to see who it was. It was Heeseung. 

Heeseung walks over to me and begins to help me wash the dishes. We were washing the dishes in silence when Heeseung spoke up “You know you could make it seem like you actually care about what was being said at dinner”. I roll my eyes at his comment and I let out a sigh before I speak “Listen Heeseung, I don’t want to be here. I am here because I didn’t have the choice in the matter. So, don’t take it personally.” “I am going to take it personally. Just because you are made at the word doesn’t mean you get to sit here and act like a bitch.” Heeseung responds.

I stop washing the dishes and turn to look at him and cross my arms. “Then get used to it. I don’t like being fake okay? If you don’t like it, don’t talk to me.” I say coldly. Heeseung just scoffs and shakes his head and starts walking out of the kitchen; before he leaves, he turns to look at me and says “Good luck with making it out alive with that attitude. The kids at school will tear you apart” He gives me a once over, turns around and leaves the kitchen. I turn back to the sink and finishes washing the dishes,Once I am done with the dishes, I go upstairs, do my nighttime routine and then goes to sleep. I wake up the next morning, I put on black tights, a black jean skirt, a kuromi sweater and my docs. I grab my keys and bag. I walk downstairs and get in my mom and I’s shared car and drive to my new school. It takes me twenty minutes to get there. Once I am there, I go to the office, get my schedule, and wait for the student body president to come get me to show me around. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I hear footsteps and I look up to see Heeseung looking at me. “Nice to see you again Y/N. I am the student body president, so I will be showing you around today” Heeseung says with a smirk on his face. I sigh, roll my eyes “Just my luck” I say under my eyes. Why does he of all people be the student body president? Makes him just even more perfect I think to myself

[takeeachdayonebookatatime]

Why did you elbow me? 137

Achilles Castle part 42

Alexis: pov I got out of school early and decided to head to the loft, I totally forgot Kate had a cardiologist appointment today. I hope the appointment went well. I can hear Kate say as I walk towards dad's room. I'm scared. I thought my heart was okay. Dad says it is Kate. I knock on the door asking if I can come in, Dad says sure. I apologize for interrupting their important conversation, Kate says it's okay, that is when I notice the pamphlet on the bed.

Castle: pov I can see Alexis looking at the pamphlets. She looks confused, I explain to her that these 2 procedures are something Kate's cardiologist mentioned that could help Kate but she does not want to get it done, because she is scared of what could happen.

Alexis: pov I tell Kate it's okay to be scared and afraid. She says no it's not I'm a cop. Fear/weakness is a sign of failure and failure means you get injured on the job. I tell her we are all human and being afraid/scared is okay. I can hear the front door opening, It must be Lanie.

Lanie: pov Alexis shouts from the bedroom, she asks how the medical examiner thing went i tell her it went Fine, Alexis goes upstairs saying she should change for her date with Dave.

Castle: pov I sit on the bed and put Kate on my lap holding her close to me, I kiss her on the forehead saying everything is going to be okay. I tell Lanie what the Dr said. Kate it's okay to be scared and afraid but if the cardiologist says these procedures will help you have less episodes then you should do it. In the end it's your body and your choice, but me and Lanie agree with your cardiologist that you should have the procedures done.

Castle: pov Kate just starts crying, I understand why she is upset she might not be able to have kids. I tell her it's okay we will make the appointment with the high risk ob gyn and see what they say. We can always use a surrogate. It would still be our child. The only difference is you didn't Carry it.

Lanie: pov I quietly wait for Castle wheel himself in his office and tell him everything about both procedures and why it would benefit her. In Kate's case a small incision would have to be made on her chest so they can remove some of the scar tissue since she has a lot. They would also probably do the icd procedure at the same time as the catheter ablation procedure since it would only remove a little bit. Obviously these procedures will help her but it's 100 percent her choice if she wants it, we can't force her to get it done. Don't be pushy when talking about it, but mention the benefits it will have on her health.

Castle: pov Dr Burkett is scheduling her for a muga scan and sleep study the Muga scan will show how her heart is pumping/functioning.

Kate; pov Lanie says I should lay down and relax for a bit. She gives me a hug and says call me when you decide what you want to do. Lanie has plans with Esposito later when he gets home from the precinct. I grab my anti-roll pillow and puts it next to my left side so I can take a nap after we talk

Martha: pov I arrive home from my acting class to find Richard in the kitchen cooking. I ask how his day went. He says good, didn't Katherine have a Dr appointment today.

Castle: pov Yes mother it was a cardiologist appointment and it did not go well. He wants her to have these 2 procedures done. One on her scar tissue and the other is an icd device and Kate does not want to have it done. Also she might not be able to have children. I discuss the procedures a little bit more and tell mother to not bring it up let her mention it.

Esposito: pov after work I arrive at Lanie's so we can spend some time together. She looks upset, Lanie says it's nothing Kate was just rough today at the Dr's. I ordered some Chinese food so that we can cuddle and watch a movie together.

Kate: pov I spent most of the night up thanks to a nightmare. I'm trying to get my curly hair into a ponytail before I have to leave for work. My shirts don't have normal buttons, they are fastener type things that pull apart when you pull on them. I grab a black shirt and black pants, Castle is making oatmeal for breakfast while I take my pills. I still have not decided if I'm getting the procedures done. Dr Burkett managed to squeeze me in for the MUGA scan tomorrow. I'm kind of scared, Castle is going with me. I can't eat six hours before the scans. The scariest part is that I can't take my heart meds. We discontinued my pod today, Castle will put it back on tomorrow after the scan. I also will remove my ampstrip in the morning. Me and Castle are going to go shopping today after work at the baby store to buy Jenny a gift since she is having a boy. Maybe we can stop for ice cream after.

Ryan: pov Kate spent most of the day in her office. I asked how Castle was doing and she said fine, surprisingly he is not that bored this time. He is at home getting some writing done. Kate brought some lunch from home. She is being careful trying to avoid getting food poisoning.

Castle: pov Kate got off early enough that we can go out to eat after, at the baby store me and Kate are looking at some options in the newborn section when an employee walks over asking if we need help. He is suggesting some options we might like, I think he thinks the stuff is for us. He mentions there are some great bottles we might like unless we are breastfeeding the baby. To be continued. …….

[captainsimagines]

the warmth of the future || three

Summary: It’s been two years since you fell in love with Bucky Barnes, and the holidays are just around the corner. With even more love, more friends, and more family in attendance, you and Bucky fully intend to enjoy these days with as little drama as possible. But that’s not always the case with a relationship like yours, is it?

Pairing: DBF James “Bucky” Barnes x (Fem) Reader

Based on the Song: ‘Willow’ by Taylor Swift 

Warnings: strong language; angst; money talk; mention of dead parents; age difference; accidental voyeurism; unprotected sex

Word Count: 7,130+

Author’s Note: The finale! We’ve come to yet another end for these characters! Love them with all my heart, and I’m so happy (as always) to share them with you. xxMoni

~

       The firefighters had the fire controlled within thirty minutes of the faulty switch striking a flame. Or rather, they controlled the remaining flames. Apparently the fire started around one in the morning when the fundraiser was still going strong and most of the townspeople were either at the bar or asleep. Someone finally called 911 around twenty minutes later, but by then the fire had consumed every item in the store. And since plant life burns with villainous purpose, the walls didn’t stand much of a chance.

All that remained now was the black outline of the structure, chipped and broken wood sticking in all directions. The couches were charred, as was the register and back office. Clint and Steve carried the burnt safe out into the street so they could load it into Pietro’s truck. Your dad already volunteered to store it in the garage.

It was heartbreaking to see so many flowers burned. Some lifeless, some gone. Bucky had run back home to bring you a heavier jacket and some shoes as he knew you would want to help your friends salvage what they could. Once he saw that you were bundled up and no longer at risk for frostbite, he got to work.

Hours of cleaning, sweeping, calling contractors and customers.

Customers.

Pietro had released a garbled, angry yell when Wanda mentioned the Christmas Eve and Christmas orders. He rubbed at his temples, then his chest, muttering something along the lines of, We needed that money.

Wanda and Pietro are somewhat paralyzed—Clint at least tried to sprinkle in some jokes here and there—and it’s killing you.

The holidays were always festive. Nothing bad was supposed to happen during the holidays. Because when they do, they’re never the same.

“All the money we raised last night for the roof—I’ll put it toward the store.” You were now all seated at the barstools and booths in Kate’s bar as she made that drastic declaration. She passed Sam a plate of fried eggs and bacon that she had cooked upstairs twenty minutes before, ignoring the way everyone immediately rejected her idea.

“Kate, you spent all that time organizing that event. You earned the money,” you say, stealing a piece of bacon yourself. The shock from the morning finally wore off long enough for you to put some food into your stomach. Bucky adjusts you on his lap as he adds, “You have a business too, Kate. You need to keep it up and running.”

Kate rolls her eyes. “That bucket is holding up just fine.” She points at the bucket near the tiny stage, nearly filled with water.

Wanda sighs, rubbing the tension from her shoulder as her other hand nestles a mug of coffee to her chest. “They’re right, Kate. Besides, I’ve been too lenient on our annual inspections. We were supposed to have a check-up two months ago. I kept pushing it back.”

“Don’t blame yourself,” Pietro orders. “I use the same calendar as you do.”

At that moment, everyone shares a collective sigh. This was bad. Very bad. That shop was Wanda and Pietro’s only source of income. Clint’s, too. It was their parent’s memory.

“What are we going to do?” Wanda whimpers, resting her forehead against Sam’s shoulder. Everyone else shares a look, a look that conveys no answers and no ideas.

After talking logistics and finishing breakfast, everyone begins filing out to get back to work. Sam, Steve, Bucky, and your dad decided they would stay behind, driving anything that wasn’t too badly burned back to the house. Kate offered to bring everyone water and lunch. Clint, Wanda, and Pietro hopped into Pietro’s truck immediately, their list full and priorities straight. Most of their day would be spent out of town, away from the wreckage. You figure that’s convenient—they probably don’t want to stare at what they lost.

Bucky meets you at the bar entrance, kissing your cheek briefly before following Steve.

“Bucky?” He turns, hands in his pockets. “I didn’t get you a present yet.”

His mouth twitches, and something beautiful gleams in his eyes. “You got the money for it, though. Don’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“You’re gonna make sure their flower orders get out one way or another, aren’t you?”

The fact that he knows you so well has you believing in the concept of soulmates. “Yeah.”

He smiles, at you and at nothing. “You’ve already given me your heart. I would be honored if you used it for this.”

Then he turns, chuckling softly to himself. Rubbing at his chest—rubbing at something in his coat pocket.

~

     “Don’t take this the wrong way, but when I agreed to a holiday vacay in a town that resembled the set of Gilmore Girls, I didn’t expect to get the ‘Oh, no! Our beloved inn burned down and now I’m unemployed’ storyline.”

Peter’s admission, no matter how inappropriate, evokes a short burst of laughter from your chest. Peter Parker had that ability—make the best out of the worst.

The two of you were driving to the next town over, aiming to cross out the biggest item on the list: find a flower shop that would fulfill the orders. It made a good impression on the customers and could make them donate loads of cash to rebuilding the shop. It was worth it to try.

“I only meant to introduce you to my family and attend the Christmas party. Trust me, this wasn’t planned.”

“You think throwing the party is still a good idea? What if they don’t want to celebrate during a time like this?”

You pull into the parking lot, parking in front of a gothic-style flower shop whose display sign read, Flowers For The Living. “Probably no party. And I think Wanda and Pietro realize they’re getting help whether they like it or not, so they’ll be okay.”

Peter hums, and gets out of the car with you. The shop is smaller, with vintage furniture and flowers ranging from all colors, especially the darker shades. It was a nice contrast to the stereotype that all flower shops had to be these lively, colorful places. There are no holiday decorations, either.

“Hello?” you call out, running your finger along the leaves of black roses.

A tall woman enters from the back office, dusting her pants of lint. She chews the final bites of her food as she answers, “Yes, yes! I’m here, I’m here.”

Peter blinks, his mouth forming a tiny ‘O’ as he takes her in. Quite obviously, you might add.

“Uh, I’m MJ. Who are you?”

When you realize Peter’s mouth isn’t actually going to be forming words anytime soon, you let out the whole spiel. How the only flower shop in your town burned down, how orders needed to start shipping today, how the owners are family and this was the least you could do for them. The woman, MJ, listens. And all the while a small smile creeps onto her face, noticing that your explanation is turning into rambling.

“So, yeah. We’d be honored to buy some flowers from you.”

MJ tilts her head up, biting her bottom lip. “You’re going to buy my flowers and market them as your own?”

Fuck. Okay, backtrack.

But it’s Peter who snaps out of whatever trance he was in, coming up with, “Actually, with your permission, we were hoping that we could attach small notes to every order. Custom-made. Your stamp, your name, and a message from us thanking you for saving the day. It would show that Wanda and Pietro still cared enough to get the orders in and sent out, and you’d get free publicity.”

That right there. That’s why he’s the best assistant.

MJ smirks, fingering the massive bouquet beside the register. She makes a show of thinking about her answer, ignoring the fumbling of your thumbs and Peter’s giant grin.

“When I first set up this shop,” she starts, walking around the register. You don’t miss the way Peter studies her further. You're tempted to hit him upside the head. “I knew jackshit about business. All I knew was that I wanted to have an alternative flower shop where people could buy one-of-a-kind bouquets. Do you have any idea what my first act as a new business owner was?”

Both you and Peter shake your head.

“I bought more inventory before even making a sale.”

Ooof.

“It was Wanda Maximoff who ventured to this part of town, looking for advice on how to darken certain flowers. Where to order them, how to arrange them. I had been open for a week and was already in debt. I gave her all my tips, and she came in the next day with her hair in a scarf, a broom, and a whole itinerary.”

“She did?”

MJ nods, smiling to herself as she remembers the memory. “Wouldn’t take no as an answer. Said her father hammered the rules of business into her head by age twelve and that she would do the same for me. I don’t speak to my parents and I have no siblings, so…”

MJ pauses, then pulls out her notebook, turning to a blank page. “This is the first I’m hearing about the fire.” Sorrow flashes across her features. “So I’ll help her get back on two feet if it’s the last thing I do. Give me the order information. I’ve got a big job ahead of me.”

Wanda had never mentioned MJ, but she did talk about this town and the businesses in it. She often brought home food from family-run restaurants, antiques for her apartment—she just never mentioned making another friend.

Peter snaps his fingers multiple times, cheering as he says, “You got sticky tabs and highlighters?”

MJ lights up. “In the back! Hold on, hold on!”

As she skips back to the office to retrieve more supplies, you turn to Peter. “Match made in Heaven.”

Peter scoffs, shoving your shoulder with his. A blush creeps from the base of his neck to his cheeks. “Everybody likes office supplies. If you don’t, there’s something wrong with you.”

“Ah.”

You set the teasing aside for the next two hours, working with MJ on getting the orders fulfilled and loading them up in delivery trucks. By the end, you’ve made a new friend. And you bet Peter Parker will be tagging along on your family vacations every holiday season from now on.

~

     “This is just shit luck, man.”

Everyone mumbles their agreement to Sam’s comment. They’re currently cleaning glass shards, rolling the shredded curtains, and piling picture frames.

“How long do you think it’ll take to rebuild?” Sam continues, broom in one hand and dustpan in the other.

Bucky sends him a half-hearted glare, wiping his face free of soot. “Considering it just burned down this morning, I’m gonna say a ton of time.”

“Five months, tops.”

Bucky’s eyes widen at your dad’s declaration. “You’re optimistic.”

Your dad shrugs, sweeping his designated corner. He carefully creates a pile of glass. “Those kids have some otherworldly determination. You remember how they picked up the mantle after their parents died?”

“We helped…” Steve grimaces.

“Nah, they ran that shop like their parents were watching. They did most of it.”

“Think they can do it again?” Sam pushes, curious. He bends down to sweep your dad’s glass pile.

“I know they can do it again. But the emotional toll might just hit harder than last.”

Steve clears his throat, raising his hand like a kid in the classroom. “Hey…Is the party tonight…”

“Cancelled? Most likely,” your dad answers.

Bucky sighs, “Always looked forward to your little shindigs.”

Then Steve says something that makes Bucky think he’s truly gone mad. “Hey…Why don’t we still have it?”

Your dad half-cackles, half-snorts. “Oh, for obvious reasons, Steven! God, you’re even more dense than Bumblebee claimed.” And even as he says it, it’s with love etched into each word.

Steve grumbles, “No, idiot! I mean—Why don’t we bring the decorations here? Make this into something…To tell those kids that we’re going to help them. And that we should celebrate the fact that we know they’ll be okay.”  

To throw a party on the gravesite of their parent’s business…Steve was both dense and confident, Bucky concludes. “Think they’ll go for it?”

“Won’t know unless we try, right?”

Maybe it was a good idea. On a day as gloomy as this one, perhaps a little cheer is what was needed. And who knows? Having it in the center of town could bring a crowd desperate to donate.

“Gonna go drive all we’ve got in the truck back to the house,” your dad announces. “Meet me there in a few hours for the decorations, alright?” Everyone agrees, seemingly excited for the prospect of such a wild idea.

Bucky throws aside some random wood the same moment he catches sight of the one person he really doesn’t want to converse with. “Woah…What are you doing here?”

Quill strolls past the crumbling doorway, hands in his pockets and wearing an expression of shame. “I apologize for last night. I honestly didn’t know, and I thought there was something still between us. Like…some holiday fairytale.”

Bucky cringes, but gives him the benefit of the doubt. His jealousy is still burning in his stomach, but he squashes it long enough to give Quill a proper verbal response. “Okay?”

“I came to offer my assistance. And my men.”

“You don’t have to—”

“I’m already drawing up plans.” And with that, Bucky realizes his jealousy was misplaced. Because even though the thought of another man touching you without his permission gets him heated, he realizes that this was not the situation he thought it was. Quill is not Rumlow. Quill did not force you to do anything, nor has he attempted to contact you afterward. He owes you another apology, sure, but Bucky’s thankful Quill had the gall to apologize at all. “Clint’s an old friend. I don’t hang out much with people anymore. But seeing all of you makes me want to have a social life again.”

And Bucky has to admit, his heart breaks a little. Breaks even more when he understands exactly what Quill means.

Bucky grabs the nearest broom leaning against the wall, holding it out to Quill. “Here…You can help us with that bit over there.”

Quill takes it, gives Bucky a quick and respectful nod, and gets to work. Even with extra hands, the shop wasn’t going to magically rebuild itself in a few weeks. Wanda and Pietro needed income by the end of January or else they risked dipping into their savings. Which, that’s the point of savings, but they didn’t have much. At least, that’s what Pietro mumbled this morning.

So Bucky puts down his broom and tears off his gloves, heading for the crumbling door and to the street.

“Buck, where you going?” Sam calls out.

“You said it yourself: Those kids are gonna need all the help they can get! And I have a favor to cash in!”

~

     It’s clean. Well, less messy than this morning. Half the town came out to offer some assistance, bringing food and water to everyone working overtime. Clint, Pietro, and Wanda were off being responsible—insurance, their tax guy, going through the documents stored in the safe. Luckily those weren’t too harmed.

You figure helping with the clean up would be too emotional for them. You saw how Pietro was—his face hadn’t fallen that way since he witnessed what Brock Rumlow was planning to do to you two Christmases ago.

“Everything go good at the flower shop?” Your dad’s voice rocks you from your thoughts. You’re currently sitting on the charred front steps, knees tucked high enough that your chin rests on them.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure my assistant pulled a date, too.”

He laughs, releasing a low grunt as he sits beside you. “Oh, everyone’s falling in love nowadays.”

You allow the silence to fester between you for a while longer. It seems like your dad expects it because he pretends to study the storefronts directly within eyesight, waiting for you to drop the bomb. The bomb he should have dropped months ago when he made up his mind. “When were you going to tell me that you’re going to propose to Monica?”

He dips his head, sighing heavily. A spot of shame tainting his features. “Who told you?”

“Does it matter? You didn’t tell me.”

It’s only been you and your dad since you could remember. Sure, Sam and Bruce were there, raising you like you were their own. Because you were, by some definition. One of their best friends had a child at fifteen, who was then abandoned and left to raise that child alone. They stepped up, as did Steve whenever he visited, and you couldn’t be more thankful.

But even with such a crowd, it was only you two. Sharing inside jokes, downloading the same video games on your phone so you could play together, taking bike rides and trying new foods in the town over. Him not telling you this major milestone hurts.

“Bumblebee…I didn’t mention it for a reason.”

Turning to him, it’s impossible to shield the pain in your eyes. “Did you think I wouldn’t approve? Because I do, a million times yes.”

“I wasn’t doubting that. It just—just wasn’t the right time to bring it up.”

The way he says the right time—he’s hiding something and you know it.

“Then when? The day you proposed?”

Your dad chuckles. “I’m going to propose sometime in the new year. Obviously not at this moment considering I don’t want to steal the spotlight.” He motions to the scene before him, his dark joke landing strong enough that a laugh bursts from your chest. You shake your head, a gesture of half-assed chastising.

“I wanted to tell you in person.”

It makes some sense. But you can’t help the feeling that he’s hiding something big. So you play it off. “Marriage. Wow.”

“Not a fan?” your dad asks, his smile growing.

Marriage. The next milestone that so many people your age conquer. People from high school have been getting married and having children since you were in your early twenties. Sometimes you feel like you’re a little late. But it was never a priority or something with a ticking clock. If it happened, it happened.

“I’ve never really thought of it. Well, I have…but it’s never been a priority.”

“Tell me, Bumblebee—Would you marry James?”

Goddamnit, you would. You would, you would, you would. No other man you’ve dated has ever elicited those feelings. To ponder a life with them. A lifelong commitment. “Would you like me marrying your friend?”

“This isn’t about me. It hasn’t been about me in a long time. So answer the question: Would you marry him?”

“The scary thing is that I think I would.”

“Saying all that, and there’s still a part of you that wants to seek my approval of such a union?” The way he says union makes his statement sound sarcastic.

“Don’t make it into a joke. I care about what you think, Dad.”

His mouth twitches into a small grin, slight wrinkles stretching across his left cheek. “Your only job in this life is to love someone without conditions. Whether it be yourself, a friend, blood, or a partner.”

“Your approval is a condition?”

“My approval is a bonus. But even then, I see how he looks at you. It’s how I used to look at your mother. How I now look at Monica.”

You snort, “My mother isn’t the best example.”

Looking up at the sky, your dad considers his next words carefully. “No but, the love was real. Just because it wasn’t the right person doesn’t mean that my feelings were invalid. We love a lot of people in our lifetime. When you find that you’re capable of it, it’s really easy to recognize it in others.”

“Like Kate and Pietro?” You click your tongue, raising one eyebrow at your dad.

Your dad laughs, rubbing at his chin. “I have seen that boy’s eyes since high school. You won’t believe the amount of talks I’ve had with him.”

“You knew?”

“He didn’t know until earlier this year. Sam made a comment and Pietro had some, out of body realization.”

Did all the adults know? You guess that Wanda didn’t, or maybe she considered it to be mundane or anything but romantic. Boys were attracted to girls all the time—didn’t mean their feelings came from a place of respect and admiration.

“I really do miss a lot by living in New York, huh?”

He throws an arm around your shoulders, tugging you close to his side. Lightly shaking you as he declares, “You’re not allowed to feel guilty about working at your dream job.”

“It’s not that. I just miss you guys all the time.”

“Then visit more often.”

Scoffing, you rest your head on his shoulder. “Being a working girl is tedious.”

“Even I would go crazy with just James and Steven for company.”

You giggle. New York wasn’t all it was jacked up to be, but it was a pleasant place to live. Were you in love with New York before meeting Bucky? Did it hold the same influence over you? Sometimes places aren’t really called home until you have a reason to name it so. It’s the people who make a place, and Bucky is your home.  

“They tell you we’re going to bring the decorations over here?”

You blink at him. Bring the decorations over? Over here? In this area of ash and debris? “In what capacity?”

Your dad brings a finger to his lips, miming for you to be quiet. He stands, holding out his hand to help you up. “Stall the three flower nerds. I’ll call you when it’s all ready.”

He starts jogging down the street, completely ignoring your question. You yell out after him, “Is Bucky going to help you?”

“Stall the flower nerds!”

You look around the street, perplexed. Huh?

~

     To be honest, it didn’t take much to stall the flower nerds. It took a while to locate them around town, anyway. They hadn’t passed by the house or noticed that everyone was driving decorations back and forth. The mini Christmas trees, the lights, the Hanukkah decorations, the food. Many nearby businesses donated tables and chairs, some even offering to keep their doors open tonight so that guests may use the restroom.

It was now a party of not just your friends, neighbors, and family—but of the entire town. A town that came together on Christmas Eve.

“I really don’t feel like seeing the area right now,” Pietro moaned, sitting in the passenger seat as Clint drove his truck.

“I know, but Bucky asked me if we could pick him up there.”

“He’s got one arm, but two legs,” Clint mutters, earning a smack on the shoulder from the backseat.

“Just drive,” you softly order, anticipation simmering in your chest. The town felt empty as you drove through it, as if they all went to sleep. Wanda even commented on it.

When the final turn came about, and your heart was burning a nauseating hole in your mouth, you just prayed these three didn’t outright scream with fury. That the spot in which all their hard work had been was being desecrated—

“What in the—” Clint curses, leaning forward in the driver’s seat to get a better look. Parking across the street, he’s out of the car immediately. Pietro and Wanda follow, hesitant at first.

“Surprise?” you try, cringing at how stupid you sound.

“Is this why you were acting so weird?” Clint asks, eyes wide in what you hope is wonder.

And wonder would be correct. In the last few hours, your friends have managed to turn an area that was burnt to a crisp in the early hours of this morning into something revolutionary. You figure they got the fire department’s permission to add some of these decorations…because oh my god.

Displayed like a grand patio, its deck carried about a dozen tables, each filled with food, flowers, drinks, and mini Christmas trees. Your dad seems to have brought out the Menorah as well, lighting all the candles even if the last candle was still missing. Chairs were spread about, some of the older townspeople seated and comfortable. Music played from two tiny speakers, crackling at a mediocre frequency, but still strong enough to make out the song. It’s then that you recognize the two boys setting them up and tinkering with them—taller than you remember, and looking more like Sarah each day.

Lights are strung in the same zig-zag formation as the ones on the street, flickering red and green and gold. All those damn paper snowflakes rest on the tables, probably mocking Clint since they aren’t currently hanging from a ceiling. Yet it’s the person on the ladder, tightening one of the green bulbs that surprises you. Quill, who looks across the crowd and over at you, smiling shyly as he raises one hand in polite greeting.

“It wasn’t my idea,” you clarify, walking over to the entrance that the guys have simply torn down. The door’s archway is gone—the shop officially starts from scratch. “The orders were sent out, by the way.”

Wanda snaps her head toward you. Then she sees MJ in the crowd, and her shoulders drop.

Steve breaks through the crowd, his flannel shirt still a little dirty from a hard day’s work. Sam and Bucky tilt their heads at him, obviously surprised by his forwardness. The surprise hits you too as Steve strolls forward to none other than Wanda herself.

“I, uh—” Steve blushes, running a hand down the back of his neck. “I thought that a little Christmas cheer might help. I know you’re Jewish and all, but Hanukkah has passed and it seemed…nice.”

You and Clint stare at the two, silent but communicating with your eyes.

He’s flirting.

I can fuckin’ see that. Why is he flirtin’?

He’s blushing.

I can fuckin’ see that! Why is he blushin’?

“You are red.” Wanda’s observation only makes Steve turn even more scarlet.

“I’m a very pale person.”

Pietro—who has decided he doesn’t care if Wanda and Steve flirt—walks toward Kate, who’s dressed as a waiter rather than a guest. Black tie attire, and her combat boots to pull it all together.

“You have a hand in this?” Pietro playfully interrogates, scanning her up and down. It’s the first time Kate’s never worn a dress for a party, and by the look on Pietro’s face, he’s loving it all the same.

She shrugs, like this was all casual. “Who do you think donated all the alcohol?”

Pietro smirks, then runs a slow hand through his white hair. “I’m still going to help fix your roof.”

“Oh, yeah. I’m not letting you off the hook that easily.” Kate goes to step toward him, for a hug no doubt, but he holds out a hand to stop her. Kate looks wounded in that second, before Pietro crouches, onto one knee, to tie her shoe.

Kate blinks, and the world makes sense.

“Merry Christmas!” Clint exclaims, practically sprinting into the crowd. He jumps into the arms of your dad, who somehow anticipated his weight, and screams it over and over again.

The stress of not knowing how they would react disintegrates to dust, releasing its tension from your ribs and shoulders. This isn’t a solution, nor is it the first step, but it is progress. Self-defined progress for the long road ahead.

~

     “Now…I promised my mother, myself, and God that I would never do this again!” Clint proclaims, gassing himself up as he stands between Sam and Steve, ready to flip. He steadies his hands on the chair in front of him, kicks his legs up, and allows the two veterans to hold them high. Then Kate guides the pump to his mouth, and Clint proceeds to accomplish the most insanely coordinated keg stand in the history of keg stands.

He lasts a total of twenty seconds. When Kate announces that she’s next, you decide it’s time to mingle with other people. Peter speaks with MJ at the drinks table, while Quill chats up that girl from yesterday. Carol, was it? She was twisting the ends of her hair, obviously enjoying Quill's flirting. The hair twirling was encouragement.

Heading over to grab a water bottle, a rare face drops into your peripheral. Tall and handsome, perhaps one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen. He grabs the attention of dozens, his elegant face vibrant as his mouth spreads into a smile. He greets everyone who flocked to him with the same grace, with the same delight. A man who hasn’t been seen in this town for a long time.

“Is that the one and only T’Challa?” Monica’s voice booms over the music. You turn to her to see she’s already dragging your dad through the crowd. It clicks through you—the picture in Kate’s bar, the one where Bucky looks like a twenty-year old twink.

Your dad beams, accepting T’Challa's handshake. “This is even rarer than my daughter and James visiting.”

T’Challa laughs, scanning the room as if in search of the man mentioned. Instead, he finds you as you timidly walk over, giving him a good-natured wave in exchange.

“I heard what happened. Plus, my mother still lives here and it was about time I jumped on a plane instead,” T’Challa admits, giving you a slight nod in greeting.

“Have you been in town since this morning?” your dad asks.

“Actually, Barnes called me.”

“He what?” T’Challa nearly laughs again from your shocked expression.

“Did you know that I asked him to be my patient when I came up with the prototype for his arm?”

“Well, no. But it makes sense.”

He finally finds Bucky in the crowd, watching as he jokes around with Steve and Pietro. His eyes never leave him as he confesses, “I gave him his arm without cost. He was my guinea pig, my selfish science experiment when I was in my late twenties. He let me work on him, tear him apart and put him back together, as a favor to me. I owe him for believing in me and my brain.”

“You…owe him?”

He nods. Then, as casual as ever, says, “I’m here to throw my millions of dollars into rebuilding the flower shop.”

Everyone near pauses, the surprise emitting around the room. Even Clint, recovering from his kegs-capades, saddles up beside you. Elbow stabbing your side, being annoying as ever.

“I…don’t think it’ll take a million dollars.”

Clint scoffs, “Shit! I’ll take the million! Don’t listen to her!”

T’Challa chuckles, “Good to see you again, Clint.”

“I’m a pleasure, I know. What’s this about a million?”

“Clint—” Your elbow stabs him this time.

“Monica.” T’Challa turns to her, bowing a little. Clint laughs to himself, like he expected the dismissal. “I’m so glad to see you again. Is your mother doing well?”

“Attached to your mother’s hip as usual,” Monica responds, rolling her eyes at the mental image it causes.

“I’ll see about staying longer this time. My sister can handle everything back in California.” Then, more shyly, he asks, “And how is your friend?”

“Oh, the nurse I work with? Your mother’s nurse?” T’Challa clears his throat awkwardly as Monica continues. “Nakia’s fine. She’s actually around here somewhere—”

T’Challa starts, speechless and stuttering. Both you and Clint look on, the concept of holiday romanticism growing more real by the second. But neither of you say a word, happy to be spectators to yet another love story in the making.

Bystanders. Readers. Onlookers.

When you turn to find Bucky, he’s gone.

~

      “Are the festivities too much for you?”

Entering the store next door, a rustic cafe, you spot Bucky leaning against the diner and counting his breaths. He blinks one eye open at your question, smiling a little as you cautiously make your way to him. It was your way of non-verbally asking if he wanted you here at all, or truly needed some time to himself.

“The day was a lot.” He loosens a breath that’s both a groan and sigh, then rolls his neck to crack it. “To be honest, I’m surprised my back is still holding out.”

You chuckle lightly. "T'Challa?"

"Ah. So he did come."

Pausing halfway toward him, the red light from outside shining upon the left side of your face, the original question still stands.

“Just let me hold you.” Well, you can certainly give him that.

His words hang in the air as you allow it, melting in his embrace. He’s tired, but he walks you to the wall, providing that extra leverage. Something about the hug turns vibrant, innocence deteriorating quickly as Bucky’s hands begin to wander. As your hands trace up his chest, his neck, his cheeks. Those beautiful, high cheeks that retain the most gorgeous pink. That pink he turns when his blood decides to also travel elsewhere. That pink he turns when he decides his time would be better spent worshiping you.

His emotions get the better of him. Multiplying. He whimpers as he digs his face into the crook of your neck, fisting your velvet dress. Noises that mean he’s desperate. Noises that mean he needs you.

Not wants.

Needs.

“I—” you choke, a rush of air leaving your lungs as your back meets the wall. He hoists you up, holding your thighs the second you wrap them around his waist. Your high heels knock against each other. Bundling the dress to your waist, Bucky dips his flesh fingers into your heated center.

The heat from this moment and the chill from outside amplifies the pleasure building in your abdomen. The knowledge that anyone could interrupt does so as well. You internally thank Bucky for choosing to fuck you against the wall—that way you won’t be defiling someone’s table.

Bucky draws tight circles against your clit, breathing heavily into your neck. Pushing his body against yours, holding you to him. He leaves your neck, only to rest his forehead against yours, your lips barely touching. Intimate.

“Are you sure?” you drag out, the pressure in your chest increasing.

Bucky nods, mumbling a yes as soft as you’ve ever heard it. He sets you down so he can unzip his pants while you remove your underwear and your heels. Until you’re back in his arms, legs around him, guiding him into you.

You both release a collective sigh of relief, clutching onto each other in a frenzied display of emotion. Your hands in his hair, his lips on your neck, his cock buried deep inside you. It’s not fast and it’s not quick. Instead, it’s slow and deep, stirring your heartstrings and dragging out short whimpers from your chest.

Half of you wants to get this over with as quickly as possible in fear that someone will walk in. The other half wants to experience this forever, bask in the glow of Bucky’s warm embrace. Why he felt the need to be with you right now, you don’t know. But whatever it was, you’re thankful for it.

To feel wanted—that’s a blessing.

“I’m—close,” you push out, gritted teeth making it hard to do so. This angle isn’t the best, but Bucky’s fingers circling your clit adds the necessary pressure. “Bucky.”

“You can come, Doll,” he groans, hiking his hips a little more forceful now. Moaning, you discover that all you can do is listen to him.

You’re on the verge of toppling over that sweet edge, to witnessing those wonderful black dots across your vision, when the door opens and Peter Quill walks through. Stunted, probably here to use the bathroom, staring wide-eyed. Bucky doesn’t seem to notice.

With your eyes locked on Quill’s and him completely paralyzed a few feet away, you come around Bucky’s cock. Eyebrows furrowed, mouth dropped open, silky legs pulling Bucky’s body tighter against you. You fist a handful of Bucky’s hair at the back of his head, grinding your hips down to help him reach his end.

Quill blinks, his eyes scanning from the top of your head to your curling toes. Nothing in his stare gives off jealousy or anger. Instead, his mouth twitches upward and his neck reddens. He gives you a small salute, walking back to the party like he didn’t witness a thing.

Bucky thrusts a few more times, the generosity of his fingers not enough to throw you into a second orgasm, but still pleasurable nonetheless. You hold him, playing with his hair, and smiling to yourself about what just happened.

~

     The party is still in full swing when you and Bucky decide to take a walk around the block. The snow had stopped falling around mid-day, so the streets weren’t difficult to navigate. The sounds of the party carried on as you two walked, flowing like magic through the street.

“Will this be our tradition then? Visiting every holiday season?” you ask, swinging your conjoined hands back and forth.

Bucky squeezes you. “Families create traditions, don’t they?”

“Am I your family?”

Bucky’s insides turn into heavenly mush. He doesn’t know the exact moment that he considered you more important than himself, but he knows that he considers you to be more important than anything else. Family meant a connection. Not blood—your family can be anybody you choose. He would describe your relationship as an ethereal connection, one molded by sensations he didn’t even know existed.

“Am I yours?”

“We’ve been over this.”

“No, I mean…Will you have me?”

You stop walking, and Bucky accidentally tugs at your arm. It doesn’t hurt, but it does shake you from the shock.

This sounds a lot like a—

You meet his eyes, silver already gleaming in his. Your heart threatens to leap from your chest, too joyful from the mere sight of him. His tall build, his longer hair, his beautiful pink lips.

It’s the very simple fact that you would allow Bucky Barnes to take your hand, guide you through war, and seal your fate. If there was anyone in the world you wanted to be stranded in the middle of the ocean with, fighting the currents with, it would be him. Any person you wanted to climb down balconies with, co-own a bar with, share New York with, it would be him. Any person you wanted to climb trees with, celebrate every holiday with, catch the train for, it would be him. It would always be him.

You know it the moment he bends down to one knee. The moment he pulls a velvet box from his jacket pocket. The moment it’s lifted, revealing a gorgeous emerald ring. The moment his breath hitches and he looks up at you, his blue eyes meeting yours. Blue eyes that are soft and tender.

Then he whispers your full name softly, the sound like marvelous honey, and asks, “Will you marry me?”

This was the grand secret he and everyone else was hiding from you, wasn’t it? The reason your dad wasn’t going to steal Bucky’s thunder by proposing to Monica tonight. Because Bucky Barnes asked for permission, made sure your most annoying friends knew, and waited until he was back in your hometown, his hometown, to buy a ring and propose.

And the stranger yesterday was correct: you know everything the moment a man is on their knees for you. Whatever plans you had before this, they’re all wrecked for the better. Whatever paths that were carved out, new ones have just been made for you. All worries, all questions, have been squashed and answered. The warmth of the future has never felt more inviting.

Bucky Barnes is the man you want to leave the Christmas lights up until January with. The man you want to share a bed with, share breakfast with, share a life with. This man is yours, and you are his.

“Yes.” You mean for it to come out louder, but it’s barely above a whisper. Like your voice is shocked silent. “Yes.”

Bucky expels a quick breath. “Yes?”

With a quick nod, you smile wide. “Yes!"

Bucky bursts up, capturing your lips with his. Overdramatic and true. “Yes,” he repeats against your mouth. “Yes, yes, yes!”

A laugh erupts from your chest, but Bucky just keeps trying to kiss you silent. Or not silent, but attempting to swallow the sound, as if it fuels his soul.

“I love you,” he promises.

Here, in the glistening winter night with flowers barely sprouting from the sidewalk and the town voices in the background, you’ve never felt so happy.

“You make me so happy, Bucky Barnes.”

His smile damn near breaks your heart. Resting his forehead on yours, he vows, “Tell me if that ever changes, Doll. I only ever want to make your heart beat for mine. I only ever want my heart to ache for you. Love of my life, introduce me as yours.”

You giggle, “Poetic, Barnes.”

He smiles again, happy to see his words landing. “Only around you.”

And isn’t that what love is? Spouting random poetic verses because you just can’t help it? Finally meeting the person who prompts you to do so. They don’t have to be pure Shakespeare—the emotion behind the poems is enough.

So you vow to make your life with Bucky Barnes a poem, where each new verse is more beautiful than the last, original and sincere. Endless, and true.

~

     “Let me see, let me see, let me see!” Kate shouts, jumping up and down, practically shaking the windows of the living room. Everyone’s crowded in your dad’s house for Christmas morning, even Sarah and the boys, Monica, and Peggy. No one tells Kate to calm down, nor do they ask what she’s so excited about.

They saw the ring. They grabbed your hand. They’ve all been screaming just as loud as her.

You didn’t show anyone last night. After Bucky proposed, you had simply gone home and made love again. So the proposal was just yours and his, a secret to keep for a few hours. You basked in the glow, in the knowledge no other human being had. Sure, everyone knew he was going to do it, but they didn’t know if he was going to go through with it.

And when you walked down the stairs, realizing that Steve had not come into your room last night and no one had pulled Bucky out, you know that they all expected.

So you show Kate the ring again, holding your hand out as she tugs you across the living room, modeling you to everyone. Everyone gives their congratulations; everyone looks so damn happy.

Presents are exchanged—you still managed to buy that book for Bucky—plans are discussed, and food is eaten. You look around the room, at your full house, and cannot contain your glee. Turning slightly, you let the tear slip, hoping nobody noticed.

But Bucky does. With a gentle swipe across your cheek, he reinforces your love for him. Shows his love for you. Fortifies it. Simple, and yet not at all.

~

TAGLIST: [on masterlist]

[jade-parcels]

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The bunnies’ other jobs!

From my bunny cafe au

((I am so peeved :((( I had this all written out!! And I deleted it by accident!! Darnnnnn!!!))

Anon asked “You mentioned that some of the bunnies have day jobs so do they all have jobs outside the cafe or just a few?” (Something along these lines…again…I deleted it by accident 😔)

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Diluc/‘Angel’

After his father got bored with the wine industry, he passed the whole company off to Diluc on his 18th birthday in order to shift his focus to mining. Diluc found himself swamped with all kinds of business decisions while just barely being an adult. He expanded the company and hired some very trustworthy people to handle things for him so he could finish college

When the business was given to him, Diluc and Kaeya had an explosive fight over it. Kaeya felt like he deserved to have some say in what happens to the business, he’s still a part of the family! But Diluc refused to let him in on any decisions so Kaeya packed his bags and left (not before cussing him out in front of their father, staff and business partners). He was just in a silly, goofy mood. They’re fine now, not on the best terms but they do chat and meet up for lunch on occasion.

He is filthy rich, he couldn’t spend all of his all of his money if he tried, so he doesn’t really need the job at the cafe! Kaeya got him the job because he knew his brother was stuck in a weird, antisocial funk and needed some fun in his life

Diluc loves this job, he has a great time, but it isn’t his main job. His priority will always be the family business!! If he has to quit his job at the cafe, he would in a heartbeat

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Kaeya

Kaeya was going to go into the police academy but was scouted out by a modeling agency. They had seen him at Ragnvindr company events and thought ‘well damn’ so they gave him a pretty generous deal

Kaeya makes a good living off of modeling, the tips and paycheck from the cafe. He rakes in cash pretty quickly just cause he knows how to get it. That, and his dad sends him checks every other month as well. Kaeya thinks of it as ‘I’m sorry’ money. He isn’t wrong

He doesn’t travel much for modeling, which he doesn’t mind, so he kinda just hangs around the city with a lot of free time on his hands between photo shoots. That’s why he got this job at the cafe! It gives him something to do and it’s fun as hell ;)

Albedo

Bedo is one busy bunny. He finished college early and is getting his masters degree online. He works most days at the cafe and on the weekends, he tutors other college students in bio/chem/science related subjects

(He was actually Xiao’s tutor back when he was failing chemistry!! Xiao is very thankful for Albedo’s help!!)

His dream is to become a biochemist, he’s always been interested in cells and what makes up living beings. So having a career in that field would make him the happiest man alive

His mother and sister live outside the city in a more rural area so he spends a lot of time FaceTiming the two of them! Klee is always so excited to hear about Albedo’s experiments or the people he’s met while working in such a bustling, fun city :)

Zhongli

Zhongli is a simple man! He’s a bunny waiter and an artist

He creates intricate pieces based on folklore from different cultures, focusing mostly on dragons. His favorite medium is paint, he loves painting on glass and layering the panes in order to create a 3D piece

He sells his works to galleries, shops and anyone who wants them! As long as they appreciate the story behind the artwork. Sadly…He undersells his work. He could def be making more money but he just does not desire money or material goods the way others may

So he got his job at the cafe in order to help out his dear friend Ningguang, not for money, he only planned on working there for a month or two until she got more bunnies but…he ended up really loving the people he works with :’) he looks forward to working with them now and texts/calls them outside of work to meet up for lunch or bowling (such an old man thing to do omfg)

Dainsleif/‘Sweetie’

Dain was a bouncer at another bar before leaving to come to Celestia’s! He’s good friends with Beidou, they belong to the same motorcycle club so when she was talking to him about the lack of security at the cafe/bar, he stepped in to help out

Little did he know…he’d actually become a bunny…And like it

This is his full time job now, he doesn’t have another for the time being. While he is a bunny at the cafe, he still keeps an eye out for any threats to his coworkers and has access to the offices upstairs (Ningguang’s office and the security office)

When he isn’t waiting tables, he’s upstairs in a tank top and sweatpants keeping an eye on the security cameras and talking to the other security guards through their ear pieces

Ajax

Ajax is a student who doesn’t really have much time on his hands

He mows lawns in the summer and he’s quit his job as a cashier to come work at the cafe! He mostly works night shifts his cause he’s still going to school aaaaaand he’s on his college’s swim team! He’s about to graduate so he works close with his coach to help train the others on the team

He doesn’t really want his family knowing that he skips around in a skimpy bunny outfit and fucking customers most nights but I mean…They’re bound to find out if they see him in pictures people post

Xiao/‘Tofu’

Xiao is an art student!! He wants to be a tattoo artist :)

He’s already got one sleeve of tattoos, it’s unfinished but you can’t really tell just by looking. When he isn’t at the cafe, he’s either in class or shadowing Ganyu, his best friend and tattoo artist. Their art styles greatly differ, she focuses her craft on cutesy, colored tattoos, but she is skilled. And Xiao looks up to her

Xiao admires Zhongli too, they met at the cafe and when Zhongli found out Xiao wants to be a tattoo artist he told him that once he’s licensed, he wants to get a tattoo from him :’)

Baizhu/‘Honey’

Baizhu is a (mostly) full time pharmacist, hence why he isn’t usually at the cafe

He also has a niece, Qiqi, who he babysits often. He loves her very much so he has no problem watching her! Baizhu will even bring her to the pharmacy with him when he’s swamped with work. In the break room, he has a play kitchen, coloring books and a bunch of puzzles to keep Qiqi occupied while he works :)

When he’s not at work, he’s at home resting. He has chronic pain flare ups in his back and shoulders that can make life miserable :( he has plenty of good days that outweigh the bad! And as a pharmacist, he has access to any medicine he needs to make his life easier!

Dottore(Alain)/‘Doc’

Alain’s an oral surgeon who’s a little bit….too into his job

He isn’t phased by blood or gore so he’s easily able to conduct procedures that would make other squeamish. He’ll pull teeth, put in dental implants, remove rotten tissue, any of that without even flinching

Outside of that, he works at the cafe. He wears a mask in order to avoid being recognized even though at his job as a surgeon, he’s usually wearing a medical mask anyways. It’s just a precaution

This has nothing to do with his career but he used to be a tap dancer and actor so he’d join in on local theatre shows! He helped build sets when he wasn’t rehearsing. He doesn’t have time for that anymore (which kinda makes him sadddd) but he has all kinds of theatre playlists on his phone and in his car that he’ll sing along to

Scaramouche/‘Boss’

Scara’s job at the cafe is his main job! His side job is something you may not expect from such a grump

He works at an animal shelter! In fact, he brings cats home to train so they have an increased chance of being adopted. Someone is more likely to adopt a potty trained, socialized cat than a feral cat who doesn’t know what a litter box is. So Scara brings them to his apartment for some one-on-one socializing, training and cuddling

One time he offhandedly mentioned working at an animal shelter while he was working at the cafe and sure enough, three separate customers from the cafe came by to adopt!!! Only one actually took an animal home but he was still surprised that those people had listened to him and cared enough to come by

Scara is a jerk most of the time but when he’s at home…by himself…With a lil kitten sleeping in his lap while he plays games on his PC…Yeah, he softens up a bit

So as you can see, we have a very diverse group working at the cafe! They’ve all learned a lot from each other, come to appreciate each other’s friendship and come to help each other out when one of their coworkers is in need or upset.

[watchmegetobsessed]

TO LOVE AND BE LOVED - Part Three (Harry Styles)

a/n: part 3 wohoo! thank you so much for all the love you’ve been showing the series, it keeps me going and writing more and more! originally i thought it would turn out to be about three parts, but it has outgrown that limit so i added two more parts to the masterpost, that’s for sure is gonna happen but i might even add more?! not sure, im still in the writing process so i can’t tell how long it’s going to turn out to be, but this just means even more content for you guys!

as always, feedback is very much appreciated, please make sure to share your thoughts and comments on the part, it’s such a huge boost for writers to read what you thought!!

pairing: CEO!Dad!Harry X Reader

warning: mentions of death, cheating and divorce

word count: 11.4k

SERIES MASTERPOST masterlist

When you were working at the daycare you couldn’t focus on photography as much as you would have liked to. You often had to stay in for extra hours, wait until the last kid was picked up and then do paperwork, or change the decoration in your room or whatever Clair asked you to do that day. By the time you got home you just wanted to take a bath and fall into bed. You also had to travel 40 minutes to work which took away a lot of time from your day.

Working for Harry helped you immensely with focusing more on your passion. Even on his worse days he got home by six and since your workplace is your home, you don’t even have to drive forty minutes to enjoy the comfort of your home, you just walk up the stairs to your room and that’s it.

In addition, taking care of Izzy, you still have the chance to work on some editing or snap new pictures. You have time off when she has her classes and when you put her down for her nap. The best thing is that Izzy is quite interested in photography, she gets very interested whenever she sees you bring out one of your cameras and she always lets you take pictures of her, posing and goofing around. The folder on your computer that has her name is growing each day with more and more sweet photos of the little girl that has completely stolen your heart. You’ve been regularly getting your favorites shots of her printed and you always leave them on Harry’s desk so when he gets home he sees them and they make him forget about whatever happened at work that day.

You are getting more and more emails about possible sessions and slowly but surely, your weekends start to fill up with weddings, birthday parties and engagement photoshoots. It seems like you have definitely made the right choice when you took this job. No doubts.

“Can I ask a question, daddy?” Izzy is poking the peas around on her plate as the four of you sit at the dining table at dinner. Ruth has joined you today, because Harry had to make a quick trip to his office in the afternoon and you were out shopping with Trevor today.

“Sure, baby,” Harry hums nodding.

“Why don’t you eat meat?” she asks seriously, eyeing her own plate that has some chicken on it, while Harry’s is only stacked with veggies and potatoes.

“Because I decided that I won’t want to.”

“Can I decide that too?”

“You’re a little too young for that, baby. You need the meat to grow big. When you’re older you can think about what kind of things you want to and don’t want to eat.”

“Okay,” she nods without throwing a tantrum about her dad telling her no. You know quite a few kids who would have flipped over it, but not Izzy. Harry might not even realize how good of a job he is doing raising her and teaching her how to be a good human.

“I have another question,” she announces, glancing up at Harry.

“Go ahead.”

“If you don’t eat meat, does that make you an herbivore?”

You can’t push down a chuckle, you were not expecting this. Your eyes meet Ruth’s over the table, she is enjoying this conversation just as much as you do. It’s cute how Izzy put two and two together and made a seemingly logical conclusion.

“We learned about herbivore dinosaurs this week,” you inform Harry, who is a little lost about why his daughter just called him an herbivore. Also, you’re quite impressed that she remembered the word, though she struggled with it at first, but it seems like it finally stuck.

Harry shakes his head chuckling as he sets his fork down, looking over at Izzy.

“In a way I should be called an herbivore, but that’s not what you call people who don’t eat meat. I’m a vegetarian.”

“Oh, okay,” she nods, wrapping up the information in her head as she keeps eating.

You and Ruth clean up after dinner while Harry gives Izzy a bath, a little earlier than usually, because she spilled apple juice on herself, so he decided to just go straight for the bath instead of changing once more before bedtime.

“Will you be fine with putting these away, Darling?” Ruth asks as you’re drying the last few dishes.

“Sure! I’ll take care of it,” you smile back at her as she nods and heads into the living room.

Harry emerges from upstairs with a freshly cleaned Izzy on his arms. As soon as her little feet touch the floor she bolts over to join Ruth in front of the TV while Harry walks into the kitchen just as you put the last dish away.

“Hey, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about,” he starts and suddenly, you feel your stomach drop, especially because his face seems very serious.

“Oh God, what did I do?” you ask, feeling yourself panicking already.

“Nothing! It’s not like that!” he chuckles softly, realizing you kind of misunderstood the situation.

“Okay, good. Sorry, you just looked so serious.”

“Sorry, I was just… thinking. So two friends of mine that I work together with also are getting married soon. They had a photographer booked already, but the guy cancelled on them and, um, I hope you don’t mind, but I recommended you to them.”

“Really?” you ask in complete surprise.

“Yeah. Actually, they saw a picture of Izzy that you took in my office and we started talking about how you do photoshoots in your free time and then I told them to ask if you’d be up to do their wedding as well.”

“Wow, that’s really nice of you, Harry. Thank you!”

“I gave them your number, they’ll probably call you sometime next week or so.”

“Great!” you beam, excited about the new event you can work at. “I hope they’ll want to work with me.”

“I kind of hyped you up for them and they seemed very pleased with the pictures I showed them, so I’m sure they will want to,” Harry chuckles softly, even blushing a little. It always amazes you how a tall, muscular guy with so many tattoos can be such a soft, caring and loving person. It always reminds you not to judge the book by its cover.

“Thank you, Harry. This means a lot to me.” Reaching over you place your hand on his arm and give it a gentle squeeze before moving past him to join Ruth and Izzy in the living room.

Harry was right about Sarah and Mitch being all excited to get in contact with you, because they don’t even wait for the next week to reach out. Sunday afternoon you are working on some more editing at the dining table while Harry and Izzy are painting on the other end of the table, busy with their masterpieces when your phone starts ringing, an unknown number shown on the screen.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you answer it, leaning back in your seat.

“Y/N, hi! My name is Sarah Jones, I hope I’m not calling at a bad time, Harry gave me your number this week.”

“Oh! Sarah, yeah! So nice to talk to you!” you beam and Harry’s eyes snap up to you at the mentioning of the familiar name. “Harry mentioned you’d reach out and don’t worry, I’m happy to chat.”

“That’s great. I wanted to wait until Monday, but truth is that we are kind of in a short of time and I was afraid you’d be already busy for our date, so I wanted to call you as soon as possible.”

“No worries.”

“So first and foremost, I’m gonna ask if you have anything planned on the last weekend of May. I know it’s just in a few weeks, but I really hope we can work it out.”

“Let me pull up my calendar,” you tell her as you open up the app on your computer that you use to keep track with your sessions and events. Finding the weekend in question in it, you smile at the empty space. “Good news, seems like I’m free that weekend.”

“Oh thank God!” she breathes out in relief and you let out a chuckle. “That’s so amazing. So then would it be possible to meet up sometime next week? You could show some more works of yours and we can discuss more details, how does that sound?”

“This week? Well I have to work—“ you start, but Harry cuts you off.

“Come into the office tomorrow morning.” “What?”

“Put her on speaker,” he smiles nodding towards your phone and you do as he asked, setting it to the table with Sarah on speaker. “Hey Sarah!”

“Harry, hi!”

“Aunt Sarah?” Izzy’s ears perk up, some pink paint on her cheeks that you have no idea how it got there, because her painting doesn’t even have any pink in it.

“Hi Izzy! So good to hear your voice!” she chuckles through the phone.

“Sarah, you’re gonna be at the studio Monday morning, right?” Harry asks and you can’t not notice how his voice changed the slightest bit as soon as he started talking about business.

“Yeah and Mitch is coming too,” she confirms.

“Okay then how about you come in tomorrow morning, Y/N?”

“But what about Izzy?”

“She can come too. I’ll look after her while you discuss the details, it’s no big deal. It’s been a while since the last time she came to work with me,” he smirks over at the little girl, who is already excited to spend some more time with her daddy at his workplace.

“Are you sure about that?”

“Absolutely,” he nods smiling.

“Thank you, well then I’m okay with tomorrow if it’s fine for you as well, Sarah.”

“That would be perfect! Thank you guys both, Mitch and I really appreciate it.”

“No worries,” Harry nods, going back to his painting. You take Sarah off the phone as you say your goodbye before ending the call.

You start Monday off with some extra excitement. Not just because you are about to get booked for another event, but also because it’s going to be the first time you see Harry at his workplace. He has been quite good at keeping his business separated from his private life, it never really happens that you catch him dwell about anything work related whenever he is home and around Izzy. The phone call with Sarah was like a tiny glimpse of what he might be like when he is in work mode and you’re kind of curious to see more of this side of him.

Just as usual, Harry takes care of Izzy in the morning while you get ready on your own. You want to look good, not only are you going to meet more of his friends, but people he works with. Or should you say, people who work for him.

You choose a light pink dress, throwing a white knitted sweater over your shoulders with a pair of ballerinas. After putting on some light makeup and grabbing your purse and laptop you head downstairs to grab a quick breakfast. Izzy is already sitting at the table, still in her pajamas since her and food are a dangerous combination and Harry always makes sure to get her dressed once she is away from all of that.

“You look so pretty, Y/N!” she beams, her legs dangling from the chair as she digs into her oatmeal. Harry appears from the kitchen and he has the same look on his face like when he saw you leave for that wedding a while ago. A blush paints his cheeks as he slows his steps down, his eyes running down on the length of your body before they return to your face.

“Izzy is right, you look… really pretty, Y/N,” he compliments into your face, unlike last time when you only heard him call you pretty when he thought you were long gone.

“Thank you,” you breathe out with a soft chuckle.

The morning carries on as usual, Harry dresses Izzy for the day and then you all head out, however you stop short upon seeing the various cars parked on the driveway and the double garage.

“Maybe take the Rover, it’s got the child seat in it and I’ll take the Jaguar today,” Harry suggests as he hands you over the keys to the Rover and then nears the car he is taking for the day.

“Oh yeah, you just take the Jaguar, boss,” you chuckle under your breath, finding it a little funny that deciding on which car you’re taking for the day is even a question in someone else’s life.

Izzy sings along the radio as you follow Harry’s car into the label’s building. Of course, it’s not just some simple office building, it’s situated in the riches area of the city and the building is massive with loads of floors and a huge HES Records sign above the entrance where you meet Harry after parking down.

“Good morning, Mr. Styles! Hello, Izzy!” the woman behind the front desk smiles widely immediately, standing up from her chair to hand Harry a stack of envelopes. “Your post, sir.”

“Thank you, Veronica. Have a nice day,” Harry nods in her way as the three of you move through the hall to the elevators. Waiting for it to arrive, you glance at the board on the wall that lists everything you can find in the building and the level you should look for it at. There are endless amount of studios, at least three on each levels, offices, creative rooms and conference rooms. It’s pretty clear that HES Records manages a lot of talents and that requires a lot of space.

Arriving to the twentieth floor, which is of course the top of the building, you are in awe as you realize that the whole floor is basically Harry’s office. There’s a kind of hall area for his two assistants, he has his own conference room, his kitchen and dining area and of course, his office space. The whole place screams power and influence. The modern design of the interior makes it such a fancy work space not just for him, but for everyone else in the building. It’s truly impressive.

“Wow, Harry. This place is… amazing,” you breathe out as he walks the two of you into the conference room where Izzy immediately climbs up to one of the chairs, standing up so she can lean onto the table. Harry walks behind her and adjusts her so she just sits before she could fall off.

“Thank you. I really like this place too. I always thought it’s important to have a great place to work at,” he smiles, clearly proud of how far his business has come. “There’s a mini fridge over there, feel free to take anything you’d like. Sarah texted me on the way here that they’ll be here shortly.”

“Great, thank you,” you nod, taking a seat next to Izzy as you set your laptop up. The glass door of the room opens and one of the assistants peeks inside.

“Mr. Styles, Mrs. Wonstein is on the phone asking for you.”

“Oh, alright, give me a minute and I’ll take it.” The assistant nods and walks out. “Izzy, come with daddy a little, alright? Let Y/N do her thing.” “She can stay, if you want. I can look after her,” you tell him, but he shakes his head as Izzy climbs off the chair and running over to him, she takes his hand.

“No, just focus on this one. I’ll take care of her, don’t worry.”

“Thank you, Harry,” you smile with gratitude as the two of them walk out, leaving you alone. You start scrolling through your folders, wondering which photos you should show Sarah and Mitch, picking out some of your favorites while you wait for them, though they don’t take too long to arrive. Soon enough the glass door opens and the lovely couple walks in.

“Y/N! Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you!” Sarah greets you, wrapping you in a warm hug before stepping aside.

“Hi, I’m Mitch, nice to meet you,” the groom-to-be smiles shyly as he pulls you in for a short hug as well.

“Good to meet you guys too,” you smile back at them as you all sit to the table.

“Thank you so much for meeting us in such a short notice. Our photographer bailed out on us and I was starting to really worry when Harry mentioned that you are doing this kind of stuff in your free time,” Sarah explains.

“No worries. Would you like to go over some of my previous works?” you offer and they both nod in excitement before you start clicking through some old projects.

They share their vision for the whole wedding and the kind of pictures they would like and you like their approach and feel like it’s right up your alley. They both seem to like what you show them and Sarah compliments on how well you are able to catch small, but important moments.

“The wedding won’t be too big, just friends and family, but we do want a lot of memories, it means a lot to us,” Sarah explains and you nod, noting everything she says.

“Harry said you like this oldschool kind of vibe in your pictures,” Mitch chimes in.

“Oh, yeah. I like to make them look like they weren’t taken on a digital sometimes.”

“Do you think you can make some of those for us as well? Not all of them, just a couple,” Sarah asks.

“Sure! It’s more about the editing process, but it’s totally doable.”

You go over a few more things, making sure you’re on the same page, but you feel like things are working out perfectly. Though you guessed they would be great people, it’s still nice to work with such a nice and professional couple. You’ve had some crazy ones before, they definitely don’t make the job easy on you, but it’s not the case right now.

“Okay, so are you sure the date is okay for you? We wouldn’t want you to cancel on anything you had before just because we are Harry’s friends,” Mitch assures you, but you give them a warm smile.

“I’m totally free, don’t worry. Harry doesn’t have that kind of advantage here,” you chuckle softly.

“Thank you so much in this case. You’re truly a lifesaver,” Sarah breathes out in relief.

“Thank you for the trust. I’m really looking forward to working with you guys!”

Finishing up the meeting you pack up, chatting a little out of the business talk with Sarah and Mitch as you head over to Harry’s office.

“Hey! How did it go?” Harry asks as soon as the three of you walk in. Izzy is sitting at his desk, like a little boss, coloring something as he is sitting on the corner of the desk.

“Amazing, we owe you one for suggesting her,” Sarah sighs and you can’t help but just chuckle at how thankful she really is that you could help them out.

“You owe me no more than just one dance at the wedding,” Harry smiles at her.

“Can I dance too?” Izzy’s head perks up.

“Oh baby, you’re not coming to the wedding. You’ll be staying with Grandma, I already told you.” Izzy pouts at her dad, but she doesn’t seem to mind it that much, she quickly goes back to coloring.

“We’ll dance some other time, okay?” Sarah offers her and she nods happily.

“Can I dance with Uncle Mitch too?” she questions and Mitch just smiles down at her.

“Of course,” he hums, curling an arm around Sarah’s waist. “I have a meeting in ten so I’ll head out, I’m gonna pick James up in the afternoon, alright?” He kisses Sarah’s temple before pulling Harry into a brotherly hug. “Y/N, it was so nice to meet you and thank you for everything again,” he smiles at you, enveloping you in a quick hug as well.

“See you soon,” you smile back before he waves his last goodbye and leaves. “Who’s James?” you ask curiously.

“James is our son. He is turning three this year,” Sarah beams proudly.

“Oh! You two already have a son, that’s great! I’ll make sure to snap a bunch of photos of him too,” you chuckle.

“Please, our house is already packed with pictures, but there’s just never enough,” Sarah laughs.

The three of you chat a little longer while Izzy is busy with her coloring, talking about the wedding and whatnot, Harry invites her and Mitch over for dinner sometime and she happily says yes before business is calling her so she heads out as well.

“Okay, come one, little Sunshine. Let’s get home, Rosaline will be over soon for your piano lesson,” you smile down at Izzy who throws all her coloring stuff into one of Harry’s drawers before hopping off the leather seat.

“I’ll see you in the afternoon, okay?” Harry leans down and kisses the top of her head before pressing his lips to her cheek as well.

“Bye daddy, have a good day!” she calls out, grabbing your hand as you head to the door, Harry following behind.

“Mr. Styles, you have a meeting in five with—“ one of the assistants speaks up, but Harry stops her.

“I know, tell him I’ll be down in a minute. And please call Isaac to remind him about his deadline tomorrow,” he asks in that voice again you heard yesterday when Sarah called. There’s just something so intimidating yet exciting in the way he bosses around, but not like an asshole. He is a man in power, but he surely knows how to use it for the good.

“I forgot to talk to you about the time Izzy is spending at my mum’s, please remind me to go over it with you tonight, alright?” Harry asks and you nod as the elevator’s door opens and the two of you walk in.

“Bye daddy!” Izzy waves at him.

“Bye baby, be good! Bye Y/N!” he smiles as the door starts to close.

“See you later,” you smile back before he disappears from your sight.

The meeting with Sarah and Mitch got you buzzing, because it’s gonna be such an intimate yet beautiful wedding and those are your favorite. You can’t wait to start snapping the pictures and make their memories last forever of their big day.

You want to say thank you to Harry for suggesting you to them, so while Izzy is with Rosaline, you make a quick round to the grocery store and get everything you need to make some cupcakes, knowing well Harry loves those. He once told you that he could easily eat a dozen of those if he had the chance, so you think it’s gonna be the perfect way to thank him.

You keep the usual schedule, but after your little learning session in the afternoon, instead of heading out to the backyard to play, you suggest you bake the cupcakes together and Izzy is more than happy to help you.

It doesn’t take long for the kitchen to turn into a warzone, ingredients spilled to the counter all over the place, some music is playing in the background and you’ve been struggling to figure out how to use the different machines around the super modern kitchen.

You go all out with the decorations, you even bought some food coloring so you can make the cupcakes different colors and mess around with the icing and cream as well. You get so busy with the task on hand that time flies by faster than you expected. The two of you are still working on the decorating when the front door opens and Harry walks into the mess you’ve created in the past hours.

“What is doing on here?” he chuckles, seeing Izzy’s hair covered in flour, whipped cream on her nose and cheeks as she is throwing some sprinkles on one of the cupcakes, sitting on the kitchen island counter while you are finishing up another one.

“Oh! I wanted it to be a surprise!” you pout. “Izzy and I are making you cupcakes!”

“Why do I deserve a surprise?” he asks smirking, walking farther into the kitchen as he looks around, finding the mess quite amusing, rather than annoying. Harry knows well enough that it’s not easy to keep the place around you clean when there are kids involved in any process.

“I wanted to thank you for suggesting me to Sarah and Mitch. It was really nice of you.”

“Already told you it was nothing. Of course I suggest them a good photographer if I know one.”

You just smile at him shrugging, because no matter how hard he is trying to play it down, it meant a lot to you.

“Look daddy!” Izzy holds up her cupcake, half of it is covered with sprinkles, the other half is decorated with chocolate chips and she is clearly proud of it.

“That looks great, baby!” he smiles proudly, kissing the top of her head. “You have so much stuff on you, you could easily turn into a cupcake too,” he jokes, making her laugh.

“Be a cupcake with me, daddy!” Izzy beams and before Harry could stop her, she wipes some whipped cream to his face, getting him dirty as well. You gasp before letting out a laugh, Izzy shrieks happily seeing her dad all dressed up fancily and licking the cream off his face.

“Isabelle Styles, you have no idea what you just brought on yourself,” he warns in a low tone, already making Izzy scoot backwards as she is trying to escape, but she doesn’t have anywhere to go, the kitchen island’s edge is right behind her butt. However, she doesn’t realize it and tries to push herself back some more, deeming herself to fall right off, but before anything could happen Harry scoops her into his arms, pressing his creamy face to her cheek, making an even bigger mess that’s already there. Izzy is moving around, laughing and screaming as Harry gets some more cream to his hands, wiping it onto her anywhere he can.

“Oh my God, you are wasting all the cream!” you call him out, but it’s such a sweet moment to witness, you would never blame him for wasting it.

Harry stops attacking Izzy and turns to you with a dark look in his eyes.

“Izzy, I think Y/N looks too clean, doesn’t she?” he cocks his head to the side, exchanging a look with the girl in his arms.

“She does!” Izzy agrees as you start backing away from them. Harry sets Izzy down to her feet, grabbing the bowl with the remaining of the cream. He gets a handful for himself and lets Izzy fill her palms as well.

“Oh no, don’t you dare!” you warn them, holding up your pointing finger at them, trying to escape, but you are kind of cornered against the counter.

“It’s my house, I do whatever I want to,” he smirks, so full of himself and in a blink of the eye, they both launch themselves at you and Hell breaks loose.

They start whipping cream on you anywhere they can and when it’s gone, Harry just decides to go for anything else he can reach. Izzy is throwing sprinkles around while thanks to Harry, flour is flying everywhere, completely destroying the kitchen.

“Stop! No! I surrender!” you scream, fighting back, but it’s two against one.

“No mercy!” Harry shouts, so excited, as if he just transformed into a little boy, throwing mud around.

You grab his wrists when he tries to pour sugar on top of your head straight from the contained, holding him back, but he is so much stronger than you, it’s kind of a lost fight already. You don’t even realize how close he is, your chests are almost touching as he has you pinned against the counter, faces only about two inches away from each other. His wrist slides out of your hold, but he drops the sugar to the counter next to you. You try to snatch it to use his own weapon against him, but he is quick to stop you, forcing your hand down next to your side, but in the process he managed to bring you even closer, flushed against his hard chest and your lips part at the sudden mood change that he must be feeling as well, because the playfulness disappears from his eyes pretty fast and it’s replaced by something entirely different, something you can’t even read, because you haven’t seen it in his eyes before. And then…

Then you see his eyes flicker down to your lips, just a moment before yours move down to his. It’s that moment. It’s that exact moment when you just know you both are thinking about kissing, but you don’t know if it’s going to happen or now. You’re not even sure you want it to happen.

You fucking moron, of course you want to kiss him! That tiny voice in the back of your mind screams at you. In a heartbeat, it seems like he is about to move closer, but then the moment is interrupted and completely destroyed when a woman walks into the house, scaring you to death.

“Wow, it seems like Izzy took over control completely,” she comments, walking further into the house as you jump away from Harry, suddenly very aware of the mess you’ve made.

“Gemma, what—“ Harry starts, but he is quickly cut off.

“Don’t ask what I’m doing here, I literally texted you today that I would come by and you said it’s okay.” She gives him a look before her eyes move over to you as you’re trying to somehow clean everything up, but it’ll take a little longer probably. “You must be Y/N, hi! I’m Gemma, Harry’s sister.”

She steps over to you holding out a hand and you reach for it, but then stop, seeing that your palms are all floury. You both let out a chuckle, deciding to just move over the handshake.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you, though it would have been better if we met when I didn’t have whipped cream in my eyes,” you joke.

“Auntie Gemma, we made cupcakes, do you want one?” Izzy runs up to her, holding up a cupcake that was finished, unlike the majority that are going to have poor decorations, since Harry and Izzy decided to use everything in the fight. Now it’s the floor that’s covered with icing, cream and sprinkles.

“Maybe later, sweetie, but they look awesome!”

As you wipe your face with a kitchen towel, you can feel Harry’s gaze on you, your heart beating so fast in your chest, it’s pushing all the blood up into your head that’s already feeling dizzy. What would have happened if Gemma didn’t walk in? Would has he kissed you? Or did you misread the situation and it was nothing just part of the game?

You busy yourself with cleaning up as Harry cleans himself a little with a paper towel before stepping closer to his sister.

“I totally forgot you texted, I replied in the middle of a meeting, I think I didn’t process the message.”

“It’s fine,” Gemma sighs. “I’m already used to my little brother forgetting about me,” she teases him, but he just rolls his eyes at her.

“Let me just help Y/N clean up the kitchen and I’ll be right with you. Would you mind cleaning Izzy off?” Harry asks her, but you stop him short.

“Oh, I’ll take care of this, don’t worry,” you assure him, but as his eyes snap over at you, you lose your voice. He clearly felt the moment as well earlier and now it’s kind of getting awkward, you don’t really want to be left alone with him right now. Not until you figure out what this whole thing was.

“Are you sure? I mean I was the one who started it and—“

“It’s fine,” you try your best to smile at him without overheating. He is standing several feet away from you, but you can still feel what it felt like to be pushed up against him.

Harry hesitates, his eyes following your every move while you are trying to busy yourself and act normal, while you are literally crumbling inside. You almost kissed your boss in the middle of his kitchen, you need a moment to process that.

“Alright, let me know if you need help,” he murmurs before picking Izzy up and heading upstairs to clean them both, Gemma following them right behind. When they are out of your sight, you lean against the counter, breathing out heavily.

Meanwhile upstairs, Harry hands Izzy his phone to play some games while he cleans her and himself off in the bathroom. Gemma sits on the edge of the tub, eyeing her brother curiously, which Harry notices.

“What?” he asks, stripping Izzy out of her dirty clothes.

“What was all that about?”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you, Harry. You were like, ready to snog Y/N right then and there when I walked in. Did I miss something?”

“No idea what you’re talking about and I would appreciate it if you didn’t bring this up when it’s not just the two of us,” he replies firmly, looking down at the girl who is obliviously tapping on the screen. Gemma just rolls her eyes before leaving the two of them alone.

Wandering down she finds you scrubbing the counters from the mess you’ve made, deep in your thoughts. Seeing her walk in, you shoot her a smile, not sure what to say or if you even should say anything, but when she grabs a towel for herself and starts helping, you speak up.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I’ll take care of it.”

“Don’t be silly, I’m happy to help,” she smiles, as she starts cleaning the kitchen island up. “So how do you like working for my brother, so far? He mentioned what happened with the daycare. Honestly, those mothers are entitled spoiled brats,” she scoffs making you smile.

“They weren’t too delightful even before the whole fiasco,” you chuckle softly. “But I really like it here. There are a lot more perks and it’s so much easier to focus on one kid than to have fifteen at a time,” you point out making her laugh.

“Yeah, I’m good with my two, don’t think I could handle more.”

“Oh, you have kids?”

“Yes, two sons. Beau is turning ten this year and Jasper turned six in January.” Gemma pulls out her phone from her back pocket and unlocking it she shows you the homescreen that has a picture of two adorable boys sitting on a bench next to each other, munching on a big bowl of strawberries. The younger one, Jasper has a red sunhat on his head while Beau is rocking some cool sunglasses.

“Oh my God, they look so much like you!”

“I get that a lot and honestly, they really should!” Gemma scoffs. “It took twenty fucking hours for Jasper’s big head to come out!”

“Wow that sounds way too much,” you laugh and Gemma nods with a tired, but clearly proud smile.

“Yeah, but it was worth it. Anyway, after my two boys, Izzy is the little princess of the family.”

“The boys get along well with her?” you ask as you both keep cleaning.

“They act like her big brothers, they get so protective over her!”

“That’s cute.”

“Yeah, they really are. My mom has this summer barbeque every year, if Harry doesn’t invite you with him then I’m doing it now, because you need to see how crazy out family gets,” she smirks at you. “All of our cousins and the kids are there, it’s a whole parade.”

“I’m sure it’s a lot of fun,” you smile at her. “One of my friends in high school had a really big family and they always invited me to birthdays at their place, I loved how lively and buzzing it was always.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to get together from time to time,” she nods smiling. “So do you have a boyfriend or something?” she asks then, implying that she is not even sure if you are playing on the team she is assuming.

“Oh, um, no. It’s just me for now. So no boyfriend for me.” Your answer, making sure it gives her the information she was trying to get as well.

“Are you done interrogating her, Gem?” Harry appears from upstairs, Izzy running ahead of him before smashing herself against Gemma’s legs.

“We’re just having a chat, is that a crime now?” she rolls her eyes. “Swear to God, he is such a control freak sometimes,” she then adds turning to you.

“Would you stop offending me in my own house?” Harry gives him a look. Gemma leans down and picks Izzy up into her arms.

“Izzy, you really should tell your dad to pull the stick out of his as—“

“You are not finishing that!” Harry cuts her off and you can’t push your laughter back. Harry’s eyes meet yours over Gemma’s shoulders and he realizes that you are still all dirty and messed up. “Y/N, go and take a shower if you want. We’ll take this over, alright?”

It wasn’t an order, but you feel like it was a very firm suggestion. He is clearly uncomfortable with you talking to Gemma and though you’re not sure why, you don’t want to upset him, so just nodding you drop the kitchen towel and head upstairs to clean yourself up.

“I hope you didn’t say anything to upset her,” Harry comments as he takes over the cleaning. Gemma grimaces.

“What could have I possibly said? I was just trying to get to know her!”

“You are always a little too up in my business, Gems,” he sighs.

“Daddy, can I watch some TV, please?” Izzy asks, tugging on his pants.

“Sure. Do you need me to switch it on?”

“No, I’m a big girl, I can do it,” Izzy nods before running off, leaving the siblings alone.

“Didn’t know Y/N was your business,” Gemma tilts her head to the side. Harry opens his mouth to defend himself, but nothing comes out. He was caught with this one. “Oh my God. I knew I walked in on something, you have a thing for her!” Gemma gasps with wide eyes.

“Stop with this! You and Niall are like some middle schoolers, it’s so fucking annoying!”

“So Niall sees it too, huh?”

“Niall is an idiot,” he points out. “He is… obsessed with this idea that I should start dating again and he thinks I should make a move on Y/N.”

“Well, he is an idiot, but he has a point.”

“No he doesn’t!” Harry argues, but Gemma just rolls her eyes.

“So you want to die alone? Is that your plan?”

Harry has always hated his sister’s bluntness. She never held herself back when it came to giving her opinion, whether it was wanted or not. But what Harry hates even more is that most of the time… Gemma is right.

He doesn’t want to die alone, no one wants that, but being with someone is a hard topic for Harry after losing the person he thought he would spend the rest of his life with. Even just the thought makes him feel like he is doing something bad, like he shouldn’t even be thinking about anyone but his wife, even years after the tragedy.

“Harry, look…” Gemma breathes out leaning against the counter next to her brother. “I know it’s a fucked up situation and I know things are still not in the right place in your head. But eventually you’ll have to move on. We all want to see you happy and I think that… I think Maggie would want that for you as well.”

Harry tries not to physically cringe at the name, the familiar pain is already clutching his heart, like it has been since the day of the accident. Some days are easier, some days are harder, but Gemma is right. Things are still not in the right place in his head and he knows that, he is just not sure how to fix it at this point.

“I’m not saying you should date Y/N, I’m not Niall to force anyone on you. I’m just telling you to try to get out a little more, just to test the waters. But you obviously like her so if it happens to be her, it wouldn’t be a big deal, if you ask me.”

Gemma shrugs and goes back to the cleaning while Harry keeps his swirling thoughts to himself. Two of the most important people have told him the same thing recently and though part of him wants to stubbornly go against it, his rational side knows that they might be right.

But not much can be done when a man is still blaming himself for the death of his own wife. Because that’s exactly the case when it comes to Harry and no one really knows that the thought has been haunting him for years now…

After taking a quick shower, washing your hair and changing into clothes that are not covered in flour, you join Harry and Gemma downstairs and insist on finishing the rest of the cleaning while they move out to the terrace to talk. The evening goes by peacefully, Harry decides to order dinner and Gemma joins the three of you at the dining table.

You love watching the dynamic between them and they truly seem to be very close. Gemma likes to embarrass Harry with stories from their childhood and you are enjoying them all a little too much maybe, but it’s nice to think that he wasn’t always this confident businessman.

“It was so good to meet you, Y/N!” Gemma hugs you goodbye after dinner.

“You too!”

“Bye Izzy, come and give a smooch for your favorite auntie!” Squatting down she lets Izzy wrap her arms around her neck as she kisses her cheek sloppily.

“Bye Gemma,” she singsongs. Harry pulls his sister into a hug as well before walking her out.

You start washing the dishes, Izzy talking to you about whatever show she was watching earlier on TV. When Harry returns he tells you to just leave the rest of the cleaning up for him while he bathes Izzy, but you don’t listen to him and finish up while they are upstairs.

Bringing your laptop down you settle on the couch and just start scrolling through social media, reading articles and whatnot, the TV quietly playing in the background. You send out an email regarding the wedding you are attending this weekend, making sure everything is in place.

When Harry emerges again he joins you on the couch with a tired sigh.

“Thanks for washing the dishes but you really should just leave it to me when I ask you to,” he smiles at you softly.

“It’s not a big deal, I like to be useful,” you chuckle shutting your laptop down.

“As if you’re not useful enough already,” he huffs smiling to himself. “Oh, before I forget, I wanted to talk to you about Izzy going to my mum’s.”

“Oh, yeah, you mentioned it earlier.”

“Yeah. So she is going to spend a week at my mother’s and I timed it to line up with Sarah and Mitch’s wedding. So I’ll leave her at my mum’s Sunday evening and pick her up the next Sunday which lines up perfectly with the wedding on Saturday. That week is obviously free for you as well, like a paid vacation,” he chuckles.

“Sounds good. How far does your mother lives from here?”

“Just a few hours, not that horrible of a drive. If you’re up for it, we can carpool to the wedding and then pick her up together right from there and head home.”

“Yeah, that works for me, thanks,” you nod.

Harry stays and turns his attention on the TV, seemingly pretty unbothered while you still haven’t stopped thinking about what happened in the kitchen earlier. Glancing over at Harry it appears that it’s not that big of a deal for him, so it makes you settle with the thought that it’s not one for you either.

“Good night, Harry,” you smile at him grabbing your laptop and phone as you rise from your seat.

“Nigh, Y/N,” he smiles as you round the couch and head upstairs, but you stop at the bottom of the stairs, lancing back at the mop of locks that’s visible from him from behind. You watch him run his fingers through his hair and you let out a shaky breath, knowing well you did not convince yourself that it was nothing. Not for you, at least.

Because you wanted him to kiss you.

The wedding you’re attending is held on a farm owned by the parents of the bride. The whole barn was transformed into this very country like fairytale location, lots of fairy lights and candles along with some nice, pastel colored flowers with a hint of purple between them.

Everything goes planned. Arriving you meet first with the groom and then with the bride in their separated rooms of the house, going over everything they want just one last time before you get down to work, snapping loads of pictures from them getting ready for the big day.

Emily, the bride is a chatty girl and all her bridesmaids are her sisters, coming from a big family with five daughters, she is the second oldest. The groom, Jesse is a few years older than Emily, but they are such a cute couple and they are clearly so madly in love, it’s always nice to see people be so happy with the right person.

You keep going back and forth between the groom and the bride and later you do the first look thing as well, when Jesse stands outside in the field and Emily walks up behind him, letting him see her for the first time. It really is always such a special moment and you tear up as well, watching Jesse fall speechless upon seeing his beautiful fiancé.

As the ceremony is about to start and the guests slowly take their seats on the two sides of the aisle, you make a quick trip down there to make sure you are using the right lenses, not wanting to change a lot when the ceremony has started. You stop in the corner, just trying out if you can shoot some pictures of the guests as well with the lens you are planning to use, you take a look around using the camera and that’s when you almost faint.

You would pick out that face from any, it has grown to you way too much, but you didn’t think you’d ever see him again. Lowering the camera you stare at the tall figure with parted lips, blinking a few times just to make sure it’s who you think it is.

But it is in fact your ex-fiancé, Keith, and to make it even worse, the woman standing next to him with his arm around her waist is the one he cheated on you with. They are still together and now you are staring right at them.

Tears sting your eyes as you try to look for a way to escape before he spots you, though you know he’ll see you sooner or later, but right now they are standing right at the entrance of the barn and you can’t avoid walking past them.

Keeping your head down you try to stay unnoticed as you march towards the exit, but you apparently, you are out of luck.

“Y/N? Is that you?” Keith calls after you just when you thought you were successful in sneaking out. Stopping in your tracks you seriously think about just running off, pretending like you didn’t even hear him, but it’s kind of too late and it would be ridiculous. So turning around on your heels, you plaster the fakest smile on your lips as you look at him.

“Keith, hi!” you breathe out, taking just a few steps closer to him, still keeping some distance between the two of you. Stella, the lucky woman on his arm blinks at you and at first you’re not even sure she realizes who you are or if she even knows you. The longer she looks at you the more certain you become that she indeed does not know that you’re the woman Keith cheated on with her. Nice.

Keith realizes that the two of you have been staring at each other awkwardly, so clearing his throat he quickly introduces the two of you to each other.

“Um, Y/N, this is Stella. Stella, this is… Y/N.”

You can tell he was thinking about using titles, but he decided to leave it at that, though it would have been a lot more interesting if he just titled the two of you.

Y/N, this is the woman I cheated on you with, who is my girlfriend now. Stella, this is Y/N, to whom I was engaged when I was fucking you!

You flash her a quick, not too honest smile and it seems like she is catching onto that something is not right, but she can’t tell for sure.

“What are you doing here?” Keith asks, a little harsher than you would have liked him to talk to you, but it’s kind of understandable. Seeing each other after what happened is not a pleasant experience for either of you, you assume. You hold up the camera as the answer for the stupid question and Keith furrows his eyebrows at you. “Oh, you still to the photography thingy?”

“Thingy?” you ask, quite offended. Keith always belittled your love for photography. He thought it was just a hobby, something that should stay just a hobby and not get turned into anything more. He once told you during a fight that it takes your time away from more important things, like doing chores. That was one of the most sexist things he has ever said to you and you should have packed your stuff right then and there. But you didn’t, stuck around for three more months before you found out about the cheating.

“Well, this thingy is kind of a side job for me,” you inform him.

“Oh. That sounds… fun,” he nods, but it’s clearer than daylight that he thinks it’s just a waste of time. Good thing he has no business in anything about you anymore.

“Um, I’m gonna go now, but I guess see you two around.” You shoot them another fake smile before turning around and walking away from this conversation straight from Hell.

Marching away from the barn you rush into the nearest bathroom you can find. You need a minute. Or maybe two… five. This did not just happen. You didn’t just face your cheating ex-fiancé with the woman he cheated on you, what kind of sick movie plot is this you found yourself in?

Placing your camera to the counter near the sink you wash your hands and sprinkle some water to your face as well before you lean to the edge of the sink, staring at your reflection in the mirror. You look like you’ve just seen a ghost and quite frankly, you would have been happier with the ghost than with Keith and Stella.

You’ve been doing alright since the breakup, but it’s obvious that only because you didn’t have to see Keith. Following the blowup when you found the explicit texts in his phone, you only had to face him twice and never since then. It’s easier to be okay when you don’t have to look at the person who hurt you most all the time, but coming face to face with him now really threw you off, especially with Stella on his arm. The fucker did not only cheat on you with her, but he went straight into a relationship with her and she probably doesn’t even know that she was just the sidechick in the beginning. If you were really evil, you’d go up to her and enlighten her about who you really are, but you are not one to cause a scene. Keith kept the two of you apart consciously, he never let you go into his office because he wanted Stella to think that he is a single man while he was engaged. Sickening to think how slyly he played the both of you and even after his little plan failed, he kept lying to the poor girl and lured her into a relationship. You wonder if he is already fucking another girl behind her back.

Your fingers start to turn white, gripping the edge of the sink tightly so you loosen up a bit, shaking your arms and shoulders off to pull yourself together. You fix your makeup and run your fingers through your hair quickly to give it some volume before grabbing the camera from the counter and heading out. However shocking it is to be at the same place as Keith again, you have a job to do right now and the bride and groom are expecting some amazing photos and that’s exactly what you’re gonna deliver.

You manage to busy yourself to the point where you are able to forget about Keith’s existence for most of the time. Following the happy couple around you don’t get too much free time, the camera is glued in front of your face basically and it brings you some peace. For a while.

Emily and Jesse disappear for an outfit change and it gives you a short break since they didn’t want that to be photographed, only when they return. So you get yourself a virgin cocktail from the bar and head outside to get some fresh air. You text back Heather and Trevor and then just scroll through Instagram, enjoying some alone time from the buzzing you’ve been around all day.

“Y/N!”

Turning to your right you spot Keith walking towards you, this time alone, but it doesn’t stop you from rolling your eyes.

“What do you want?” you mumble under your breath.

“Just… though we could chat for a little. It’s been a long time.”

“Not enough,” you retort. “And I would like to skip the chatting.”

“Come on, you can’t be still that mad at me,” he chuckles and you almost punch him in the face right then and there.

“Well I am. So go back to your little girlfriend and leave me alone.”

“I know things didn’t end too well, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be civil towards each other.” You can’t help the laughter that bubbles from your throat. He can’t be serious, trying to act like the bigger person now after everything he has done to you. This has got to be a joke.

“This is me being civil, because I’m not throwing anything at you. So leave me the fuck alone, let me do my job and then we hopefully don’t see each other again.”

“Come on. You don’t miss me, baby?” he smirks at you, completely ignoring what you just told him. You physically cringe at the pet name he just called you and you take a step away from him, needing the distance more than ever.

“I don’t. Now leave.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Too fucking bad. Now leave!” you raise your voice, but it does nothing. He is still standing there, looking at you like he didn’t completely destroy you just about a year ago.

“Heard that you haven’t dated anyone since we broke up.”

“Are you asking around after me?” you scowl.

“We have a few mutual friends,” he shrugs. “Is it because you still want me?”

“My dating life is none of your business, Keith. And I don’t want you. Quite frankly, I don’t even know how I could ever want you, so now please let me enjoy my break and leave me alone.”

“Y/N, I just—“ Keith reaches for your hand, but you pull back before he could touch you, holding up a finger at him you start talking slowly and very clearly so the message goes through.

“Don’t ever fucking touch me or talk to me. I want nothing to do with you, you’re a manipulating, cheating, egoistic asshole who ruins the life of others. I’m telling you this for the last time, Keith: leave me the fuck alone.”

He looks a bit stunned at your harsh response, but you couldn’t care less if you’ve hurt him. He did way worse things to you than snapping at you. As you walk past him to head back into the barn, he doesn’t let the chance to punch you in the stomach with his words one last time.

“I wish I could say you were a good fuck, but that wouldn’t be true. Good luck finding some lowlife loser who would even think about marrying you!”

Every fiber in your body is screaming to launch yourself at him and punch him until he is unconscious, because that’s exactly what he deserves. The tears are already stinging your eyes, but you don’t give him the satisfaction to see you react to his words. So swallowing hard you just keep on walking until you are out of his sight, bottling up the sobs and tears for the time when you’re home and on your own.

It’s past two am when you arrive home, drained and exhausted, both emotionally and exhausted. Following the conversation you had wit Keith he didn’t try to talk to you anymore, but you could always feel his eyes on you, wherever you were, as if he wanted to see if you are watching him too, but you weren’t. Looking at him would have been too painful so you tried your best to keep your eyes away from him through the night.

You know damn well that what he told you when you were leaving was just to get a reaction out of you, to get you upset enough to start a fight with him, it’s just who he is, he enjoys having the last word and the higher ground in every situation, but you didn’t want to be his partner in his stupid games this time. However it still hurt, what he said.

Walking into the dead silent house you kick your shoes off, drop your keys into the little bowl next to the door and head to the kitchen to get yourself some water. Pouring yourself a glass you lean against the counter and as you stare ahead of you, nothing can stop the tears from falling.

Everything you kept bottled up during the afternoon and evening just hits you all at once, making you break down heavier than any time in the past months. You sob and cry, letting it all out until your head feels like exploding, but you still can’t stop. You were not ready to face the man that broke your heart like no one before.

In the middle of your breakdown you don’t even realize the footsteps coming from the stairs.

“Y/N?” Harry’s voice calls out, snapping you out of your pity party. He immediately sees that you’ve been crying like a baby, no doubt, but you still try to wipe your cheeks and eyes, pretending like everything is totally fine.

“Harry! What are you doing up so late?” you breathe out hoarsely.

“Just wanted to get some water, but have you been crying? What happened, are you alright?” he starts bombarding you with questions, clearly worried about you, seeing you in this state.

“Everything is fine, I just… had a rough night,” you chuckle through your tears that are still rolling down your cheeks, those bastards!

“A rough night doesn’t make you sob like this. What happened?” Rounding the kitchen island he stops in front of you, not sure how to approach the situation, but it’s kind of sweet how he wants to help, but doesn’t know how.

“I, uhh—I met my… ex-fiancé tonight. He was at the wedding I worked at,” you mumble shutting your eyes closed.

“Did he hurt you? Y/N, if he laid a hand on you, I swear—“ “No, he didn’t hurt me,” you shake your head before adding: “Well, not physically.”

“Come on, let’s sit down for a bit.” He gently takes your hand and pulls you to the couch in the living room, making you sit before he plops down next to you. “Tell me what happened.”

“It’s really stupid, I shouldn’t be this upset about it, but I just… It hurt and I can’t change it,” you whine, wiping some more tears away.

“I’m sure it’s not stupid. Tell me what happened!”

“He was there with the woman he cheated on me with. They are basically a couple now, but she doesn’t even know that Keith was engaged to me when they started dating, so it’s really fucked up. And it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, because, you know, fuck him, he can do whatever he wants, it’s not my business anymore, but then he came up to me and tried to chitchat with me, which I didn’t really want, of course.”

Harry listens carefully, giving you his undivided attention while you fumble with the hem of your shirt, kind of avoiding to look him in the eyes. Part of you is afraid you’d see judgment in them and you don’t think you would be able to handle that.

“I asked him to leave me alone, but he just kept talking and then I snapped at him a little harsher and when I was walking away he…”

You scowl again, hearing his words play in your head so clearly, as if he was standing behind you, repeating them to you. Harry reaches out and he gently covers your hand with his warm palm, giving it a gentle squeeze, letting you know that he is patiently waiting, not rushing you to talk. Taking a deep breath you blink your tears away before continuing.

“He basically said that I wasn’t even a good fuck and no man will want to marry me.”

“Jesus fuck, what kind of asshole did you date, Y/N?” Harry snaps in horror and it’s kinda funny, makes you laugh through your tears.

“Seems like the worst kind,” you mumble with a bitter chuckle. “I know I shouldn’t have let his words get to my head, but… it’s easier said than done. I feel like such a loser,” you breathe out, your lips trembling as the tears are threatening to flow again.

“Don’t blame yourself for having feelings, it’s completely normal. Of course his words hurt, he once meant a lot to you and he probably knows that too, that’s why he tried to use it against you. What he said held no truth.”

“You think so?” you ask, voice barely more than just a whisper as you finally look at him. His green irises appear so warm as he smiles at you, squeezing your hand again. He scoots a little closer, his knee bumping against the side of your thigh.

“Y/N, I know so,” he chuckles. “That guy was a proper idiot for what he did to you. You didn’t deserve any of that and any many would be lucky to have you as their wife.”

“Really?” you pout, feeling so touched and loved from his words. It’s exactly the reassurance you needed.

“Absolutely,” he nods smiling sweetly.

Everything that happened today messed with your head big time. And now sitting with Harry on the couch, listening to him telling you how worthy you are of love and happiness, it completely throws you off. Ever since that moment in the kitchen before Gemma walked in, you’ve been nonstop thinking about what would have happened and it made you notice even the tiniest things about him.

Harry Styles is a man who is clearly a sight for the eyes, with his chiseled jawline, pink lips and gorgeous green eyes, the duality of his powerful and business appropriate attires he wears during the day and the tattoos hidden under his dress shirts, you’d have to be blind to say that he is not an attractive man. But on top of everything on the outside, he is a wonderful person on the inside and it twists your head more than you’d like it.

Your brain switches off for a moment, or just the rational side, but you completely stop thinking as you stare at each other. The intimacy and emotionality of the moment pushes all your common sense to the side as your gaze wanders down his lips.

The thought of kissing him comes fast and before you could even stop yourself, you move forward and press your lips to his. The touch of his lips against yours is sweet and warm and kind of intoxicating, but in just a blink of the eye your rationality gets a grip of you and your eyes pop open in realization of what you just did. Pulling back you gasp and cover your mouth in shock, feeling your whole inside trembling at the thought of getting yourself fired by this move.

Harry seems frozen and quite shocked as well, his lips are parted as he stays still in his spot.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I-I don’t know what’s gotten into me! Harry, I’m sorry, I promise—“

You start rambling in panic, but you don’t get to finish. Harry moves forward, his hand coming to the back of your head as he pulls you in for another kiss, this time making it a lot more passionate and even your tongues get involved. He is kissing you hard and you almost moan into his mouth when you feel his other hand come to your thigh, squeezing it just enough to send a shockwave up your spine. Your hands come up to the back of his hair and you hold onto him for dear life, carrying the kiss on like you’re two teenagers in your parents’ basement, doomed to get caught any moment. Harry goes in again and again, tugging on your bottom lip, licking into your mouth and making your insides twist just from having his lips on yours.

And then you both let go of each other, needing some time to breathe and you slowly realize what just happened. You both stare at each other in disbelief, completely shocked at your own actions, but neither of you have any idea what should happen next.

You let go of each other, sitting back to your normal positions, awkwardly breathing heavily and you realize you cannot deal with this right now. You are way too drained and tired to make it make sense so you decide to just… call it a night.

“I’ll head to bed,” you quietly inform him as you stand up from the couch, walking like a zombie, the shock still clouding your judgment.

“Good night,” Harry mumbles, just as confused as you are.

“Good night,” you nod and basically sprint up the stairs and don’t stop until you shut your door behind you.

Leaning your back against it, you slide down to the floor, hugging your knees to your chest as you stare into the darkness for long minutes. Quite some time passes by before you hear Harry walk upstairs, his door opens and then closes before silence falls on the house again. With a blank mind, you push yourself up, take a quick shower and just go to bed, ignoring everything that has happened today. You’ll deal with it in the morning.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

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[icerosecrystal]

An Unexpected Turn Of Events

Mominette Month 2021

Day 01 - Find A Child

Masterlist

Authors note: Hi, everyone! Just one quick to let you all know so that this fic is not confusing for you. This fic is a reverse Robin fic. In other words, Dick is the youngest instead of the eldest, and Damian is the oldest instead of the youngest. This same thing applies to all of the other bat children as well.

Marinette sighed in relief as she finished rifling through her purse. She had woken up late and had hastily left her hotel room for her consultation. She had thankfully not left behind anything that she would need during the consultation. Feeling a bit paranoid, she looked once more through her purse, and there was the tape measure, pencils, notebook, sewing kit, and the NDAs. She may or may not have flipped through the grimoire belonging to the guardians and found the spell for expanding the space in her purse to be the way it was for her yo-yo when she transforms into Ladybug. Unlike her yo-yo, the expansion was still limited. But the extra space was still beneficial.

As Marinette was walking, she pulled out her phone to look at the time. 9:50, she thought, leaves me enough time to get to Wayne Tower by 10:00 if I want to be on time. As she was putting her phone away, she felt something hit her legs and torso. She let out a slight oof at the unexpected weight against her lower body. As she peered down, she saw a cute boy, probably around eight years old clinging onto her legs. He had black hair, and as he looked up at her with teary eyes, she saw the most devastating sparkling blue eyes she had ever seen. His slightly chubby cheeks were flushed pink, and his nose also had a pink tinge to it. The flushness was probably a result of the choked sobs he was currently letting out.

As Marinette looked around, she realized that none of the nearby grown-ups looked to be his parents, nor did they look like they were missing a child. She bent down and smiled softly at him, hoping to calm him down a bit. After a beat or two, her smile seemed to do the trick, and his sobs reduced down to a few tears. Once she knew that he had calmed down, she softly whispered, “ Hey, honey. Are you lost? Do you want me to find your parents?”

He sniffled a few times before replying with a slight tremor in his voice, “Yes. Please help me find my Boose.”

“Your Boose?” Marinette questioned.

“Yes,” he slightly whimpered, “Boose is my new daddy. My other daddy and mommy had to say goodbye to me.”

Marinette gasped in shock at his words. This poor kid, so young, and yet his parents were gone. Dead. Marinette thought about the many akumas which her parents didn’t survive. She then shook herself out of her thoughts. Come on, Marinette. Stop worrying about yourself all time. Your parents are okay now. But this kid is lost! Get out of your head! Steeling herself, she gently asked him, “What’s your name, hon? Mine is Marinette, but you can call me Mari..”

Surprised by the kindness and warmth in her voice, he stuttered out, “Richard… but I like Dick better. Richard sounds old. I’m not old!” He then shyly added, “It’s nice to meet you, miss. You have a pretty name.”

Marinette smiled as she saw his confidence growing with every word he spoke. Marinette laughed aloud at the words he shyly said, “It’s nice to meet you too.” She then questioned, “Do you remember where your daddy is?”

Dick was now bouncing on his heels, and he squealed out in excitement, “Yes! My daddy is in the big, tall building with the huge ‘W’ on it!”

The corners of her mouth twitched in amusement. Dick’s excitement was infectious. His words then caught up to her. Well! It looked like luck was on her side after all! She would have enough time to get Dick back to his dad and still be on time for her consultation. She stood back up and then smiled down at him, “Well, I’m heading there too! So why don’t I take you back to your daddy?”

Dick nodded his head rapidly before holding her hand with his much smaller one. They then started walking towards Wayne Tower. Dick continued to babble on about the most random of things. He talked about his grumpy older brother, who it seemed begrudgingly liked him. He also discussed the many pets his older brother had. It also seemed like Dick’s adoptive dad had a slight problem with adopting too many children from what could be told from the many siblings that Dick mentioned.

When the door of Wayne Tower came into sight, Dick stopped talking, allowing them to walk in comfortable silence. As she was about to speak to ask him where in the building his father worked or the name of his dad, Dick blurted out, “I like you, Miss Mari. Can you be my mommy? I don’t have a new one yet!”

Marinette stopped in shock before trying to stutter out something, anything, but all of her words were incoherent. What do you say in response to a question like that, she thought to herself? She saw Dick looking at her for an answer, and after a while, he decided to pull out some puppy eyes. Shoot! Marinette thought. I need to say something to stall for time. At least until I get him to his dad. She reassured him, “I am thinking about my answer, Dickie! But how about we first get back to your daddy, and then we talk about it?”

Dick contemplated her words before nodding in agreement and practically bouncing through the doors. Marinette sighed in relief and also walked through the doors. Her head was down as she speculated what she should do about Dick’s question. Suddenly, a rough voice spoke up in front of her, “Hello. Ms. Dupain-Cheng, I presume.”

Marinette lifted her head, and there in front of her was Bruce Wayne, her newest client. And clinging to him was the very boy that was holding her hand just seconds ago. She suddenly remembered hearing something about Bruce Wayne adopting the son of some acrobats who were in an accident. The name of the kid was Richard Grayson! She hadn’t made the connection!

Realizing that Bruce was looking for an answer, she hastily stuck out her hand, stuttering, “That is correct, Monsieur Wayne. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

He stared at her hand before gently taking it and raising the back of her hand to his lips. “Please, the pleasure is all mine. Let’s make our way upstairs.”

She blushed at his gentlemanly actions before squeaking out a small, “Let’s.” The three of them climbed into the elevator and went to the top floor of the building. The doors of the elevator opened up, and Bruce gestured for her to go first. She did so and looked around at the beautiful interior of the building that she had not yet noticed. Bruce then opened up the door to what seemed to be his office. Inside she saw there to be seven kids. She smiled at them in greeting. Most of them smiled back at her. The exception to this was what looked to be the oldest and one of the younger ones. (Damian and Jason, if you didn’t figure it out.)

Marinette felt Bruce step closer so that he was next to her before he spoke once more, “These are all of my children, biological, adopted, or otherwise.” He pointed to the man with stunning green eyes stating, “This is my oldest son, Damian. He’s 22.” Damian gave a tight-lipped smile in response, along with a slight tilt of his head.

Next, Bruce gestured to what looked to be the second oldest saying, “This is Tim. He’s 18 years old.” He was sipping coffee and giving the briefest of nods to her. He looked seconds away from collapsing.

He then acknowledged a blonde girl, remarking, “This is Stephanie, but she likes to be called Steph. She’s 17 years old.” The girl seemed to be bouncing in place and close to bursting from excitement.

He pointed to a rough-looking boy stating, “This here is Jason. He just turned 15. He’s a few months older than the next youngest.” The boy smirked at Marinette in acknowledgment of his introduction.

Bruce finally gestured to a girl with Asian features saying, “This is Cassandra or Cass. She’s 14, but like I said, a few months younger than Jason.” The girl seemed to be peering through her very soul. After gazing for a few seconds, she hummed in what Marinette deemed to be satisfied as if she liked what she saw.

Bruce then turned towards her, “And you’ve already met Richard or Dick. Thank you for bringing him back.”

Marinette smiled in acknowledgment of his compliment before replying, “It was nothing Monsieur Wayne. He was all alone, so I had to help him. But he was delightful the whole time. Now as for what I came here for, what type of clothes have you been looking for–”.

But before she could continue, Dick blurted out, “Daddy, I like Ms. Mari! Can we keep her? I want her to be my mommy!”

The result was instant. The room burst into a flurry of noises, each of Bruce’s kids trying to speak over one another. Marinette was blushing very brightly. In fact, from how hot her face felt, she was sure that she was inventing new shades of red. Marinette looked over to see Bruce’s reaction and squeaked when she saw him staring at her with a sharp, analytical gaze.

Marinette took a few breathes to calm herself down. She then softened both her gaze and voice as she addressed Dick, “Dickie, honey, as much as I loved meeting you and talking with you, I, unfortunately, cannot be your mommy. Bruce is your daddy, and he will someday find a lovely lady who will be your mommy.”

At her last sentence, all or most of the kids seemed to have snorted in amusement. It seemed as if they disagreed with her statement. Dick looked sad and seemed to be growing teary-eyed. Marinette looked over to Bruce for some help but only found him concealing the amusement that he was most likely feeling quite well. If she hadn’t been Ladybug, she probably would have never noticed the slight bit of emotion peaking through his mask. She glared at him reproachfully as if saying, this is your kid, so you need to help me convince him that I would not make a good mother.

He rolled his eyes in return as if trying to say, Don’t kid yourself. You would make an excellent mother. And you’re already attached to him, don’t deny it.

As Marinette sighed in response, Bruce turned away from her towards Dick and knelt to his level. He then gently said, “Now Dick. Miss Mari can’t be your mommy.” Marinette started nodding as if agreeing with Bruce’s words. But then stopped when he continued, “But she can visit you and maybe one day be your mommy.”

Marinette opened and closed her mouth, no words coming out. Before shyly looking down before raising her head, stammering, “Well, I guess I could visit.”

All the kids started cheering in response. The exception to this was Damian. But the corner of his lips was slightly raised as if the start of a smile. Dick bounded over to her, hugging her and babbling out everything he wanted to do with her. And in all the chaos, Marinette’s and Bruce’s eyes met. They both exchanged small smiles.

Marinette then clapped her hands together, reminding them, “I do still have to do a consultation with all of you. So how about we do that, and then we can do something fun together?” Seeing everyone’s nods, Marinette then continued with the consultation. But unbeknownst to anyone in the room, their relationship would change drastically in the coming months. But ultimately, it would change for the better.

One Year Later

It has been a year since the faithful day when Dick requested Marinette to be his mom. And since then, they only seemed to grow closer. She had met Alfred, Bruce’s Psuedo father and the children’s pseudo grandfather. She thought that he was extraordinary. And honestly godsent. She also experienced a lot of adventures with the Waynes. In fact, after only four months of knowing each other, she figured out that they were the Bat-Family. She had caught them once after patrol and raised her eyebrow as if demanding an answer, and god did she get an answer from them!

Marinette and Bruce had also started dating. This change in their relationship occurred a few weeks after she found out their identities. They were now engaged to be married in a few months. All the children had warmed up to Marinette over the months, even Damian, who always withheld his emotions. But they had all come to see her as their mother figure and were ever so grateful for her. And so they wanted to do something for her birthday.

The very morning of her birthday, everything went wrong. Marinette woke up to quite the sight. All over the kitchen was what looked to be cake batter. It seemed as if they were trying to put the baking she had taught them to good use, but they had also made the cake batter explode. Marinette and Bruce stared at the mess before they both started laughing. Marinette had a light, melodic laugh, while Bruce had a very gruff laugh.

Marinette beckoned all of them forward for a hug before proclaiming, “I love that you all were trying to do something for me, but none of you had to do anything. But it’s the thought that counts, so thank you. But next time, please stay away from the kitchen.”

She then shooed them on their way before getting two mops, handing one to Bruce as she passed by him. She kissed him on the cheek before starting to clean up the mess, Bruce following her actions. She then quietly snickered, “Well, this was quite a sight to wake up to on your birthday. I would have thought that today would have been relaxing.”

She looked up to see Bruce shoot her a small look before shaking his head in amusement. “Mari, darling, when has our lives with them ever been relaxing? They are always getting into trouble.”

She snorted in response, “Yes, well, they get it from their father.”

Bruce glared at her lightly before pulling her into a deep kiss, “I don’t know. Their mother seems to be just as chaotic sometimes.”

She shook her head in amusement, pulling herself away from Bruce’s embrace and questioning, “How is this even my life anymore?”

He chuckled lightly, alerting her that he was about to sass her in some way. “Well, from what I remember, about a year ago, you came across this kid that–”

Marinette held up a finger to his mouth, stopping him from uttering another word. She was also glaring at him reproachfully. “Yes, I do know-how. I was there. Now go away so that I can clean up the rest of the kitchen. You’re distracting me.”

He let go of his mop before giving her another deep kiss and then darting away. As he strolled out of the room, he shouted over his shoulder, “Oh, I know how distracting I am. I am well aware of how irresistible I am, ma coccinelle.” He could hear her spluttering in response before yelling back at him, but he continued on his way to his office. Along the way, he chuckled to himself.

Back in the kitchen, Marinette was glaring at nothing. She was also plotting ways to show her fiance who the irresistible one was. She then sighed in happiness. Yes, her life was amazing. A year ago, if someone told her this would be her life, she wouldn’t have believed it. But now she was living it, and god was it amazing. Funny what finding a child will do to you, Marinette thought to herself before carrying on with her task of cleaning up the mess her kids had made. Yeah, life was amazing.

2,683 words

I actually got it done!

~ ❄ Crystal ❄

@mominettemonth

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[lumosandnoxwriting]

No Returns or Exchanges - Fred Weasley

Title: No Returns or Exchanges Pairing: Fred x Fem!Reader Summary: Fred and Y/N get to start their happily ever after A/N: this is for @mrs-fredweasley​. I usually do my requests in the order I receive them, but she asked for some fluff with Fred and the reader getting married and having kids for her birthday, and since she’s my birthday twin I couldn’t resist! Feedback is always welcome and requests are open!

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

“There you are, Mrs. Weasley,” Fred greets as he sneaks up behind Y/N and wraps his arms around her waist.

“I’m not Mrs. Weasley quite yet, Freddie,” Y/N teases as she turns around in his embrace. Her arms wind around Fred’s neck and she pulls him in for a brief kiss. “You’re about twelve hours too early.”

Fred starts to slowly sway them back and forth, humming quietly to the music drifting through the air from the large tent behind them. Fred and Y/N aren’t getting married until tomorrow, but Ginny, Y/N’s maid of honor, insisted on mixing some muggle wedding traditions in alongside the regular wizard ones. Tonight, had been what Ginny referred to as the rehearsal dinner, where the wedding party and their close family went through the ceremony that will take place tomorrow, before having a mini celebration together.

“Do I really have to go home without you?” Fred pouts. Another muggle tradition Ginny insisted on was that Y/N and Fred would not be allowed to see each other until Y/N was heading down the aisle towards him.

Y/N giggles and kisses Fred’s pout away. “I think it’ll be romantic. Distance makes the heart grow fonder, isn’t that what they say?” Y/N rolls her eyes playfully when Fred frowns at her. “Oh, come on, Freddie. It’s only one night apart.”

“When’s the last time we spent more than 1 hour apart outside of work?” Fred ask, looking down at Y/N expectantly. When she doesn’t answer he smiles. “Exactly. One night is going to feel like an eternity.”

“Okay so maybe it’ll be a bit hard,” Y/N concedes. “But after tomorrow we’ll get to spend every day for the rest of eternity together, that’s gotta be worth it, isn’t it? And have you forgotten that we’ll be spending the next two weeks completely alone together in a cabin in the woods.”

“How can I forget about that?” Fred muses. “Just me, you, and as little clothing as possible for two weeks straight. That’s the only kind of honeymoon I want.” Most of their friends and family were surprised that Fred and Y/N didn’t want to go on some adventurous honeymoon but wanted to just relax together in some secluded forest. But for them that seemed like the only option. It’s only been 13 months since the war ended, and after Fred’s near-death experience he and Y/N decided to take life slow for a bit.

“So that’s why you wanted to go somewhere secluded,” Y/N says, realization washing over her.

Fred laughs. “I may have had ulterior motives when I convinced you to book the cabin in the woods over the beach house.”

Y/N shakes her head fondly. “You’re a bit of a menace, you know that?”

“Yeah but I’m your menace. And you’re way past the return or exchange date so you’re stuck with me,” he jokes, leaning down to press a kiss to Y/N’s forehead.

“Oi, lover boy!” George calls from behind them. Y/N and Fred break apart so they can look at him. “Ginny says it’s time to go, and she’s already wacked me over the head once so get your arse over here before she does it again.”

“See you tomorrow?” Fred asks as he leans down to kiss Y/N briefly.

“Meet you at the altar,” she confirms with a smile.

-

“You sure you wanna marry my brother?” Ginny teases as they get ready to walk down the aisle. “Because I could cause a distraction if you wanna slip out the front door and run away.”

Y/N rolls her eyes and grabs the bouquet Ginny hands her.  “Ha, ha. Very funny, Gin.”

Ginny beams at her before taking her place in line. Y/N takes a deep breath as the music starts, silently regretting that she chose to not have her dad walk her down the aisle. A few months ago, she had bashed the archaic notion of someone giving her away to Fred as if she were a piece of property, but as nerves start to bubble in her stomach she wishes she had someone by her side to calm her down. Everyone in front of her starts to slowly head towards the alter, and she fixes her dress one last time before she follows behind Ginny.

“Holy shit, Y/N,” Fred whispers as she takes his hands at the altar. There are tears in his eyes, and a few leak down his cheeks. “You’re absolutely stunning.”

Y/N blushes, trying to blink away her own tears as to not ruin her makeup. “You clean up quite nice as well, Freddie.”

Fred smiles down at her, maintaining eye contact as the official from the ministry starts the ceremony. Fred squeezes Y/N’s hands tightly as he talks, only half paying attention to what he’s saying. His thoughts are completely consumed with Y/N and how breathtakingly beautiful she is. The dress she picked out compliments all of her best features, and the veil cascading down her shoulders makes her look like a goddess. Fred has imagined this day over a dozen times since he proposed last year, but everything he thought of pales in comparison to how beautiful Y/N looks right now.

“Can I have the rings?” the officiant asks, pulling Fred’s thoughts fully to the ceremony. George digs around in his pocket for a moment before handing the delicate silver rings to the man. He hands the smaller one to Fred. “Now it’s my understanding that the bride and groom have prepared their own vows?” When Fred and Y/N nod, he smiles and motions for Fred to start.

“Y/N, I’ve been enamored with you since I was 11 years old, when you made your cauldron blow up and covered Snape head to toe in the worst smelling goo I’ve ever encountered – and that’s saying something,” Fred pauses as everyone chuckles, and he starts to slide the ring down Y/N’s finger. “When you agreed to accompany me to Hogsmeade during third year I felt like the luckiest guy in the world and I still do. I was so nervous, I had no idea how I managed to convince the pretties girl in school to go out with me, and all these years later I have no idea how I convinced you to marry me. But like I said last night, there’s no returns or exchanges you’re stuck with me for good now.”

Fred slides the ring down Y/N’s finger until it meets her engagement ring. “You’ve stuck by me through every risk I’ve taken and every dumb idea that’s popped into my mind. You were one of the first people to support my dream of opening the joke shop with George, and you were there to support me every step of the way. Every late-night George and I had planning things out or developing products you were right there with me, usually you were asleep, but it was still nice to have you there. You were always the first person to volunteer to test out a product and you were always there for me to vent to when something didn’t work out. You pushed me to leave school early with George, and once you moved in with us you were always there to snuggle with me after a long day.”

Fred takes a deep breath and brings one of his hands up to wipe away the tears Y/N has started to shed. “You gave up so much of your life to be there for me after I was crushed by that wall. No matter how hard I tried to get you to go back to work or just leave the house in general. You’ve always shown me unconditional love and support, and that’s what I’m promising to show you for the rest of our lives. No matter how crazy or hard or scary life gets, I’ll be there by your side, loving you and helping you through it.”

By the time the officiant is pronouncing them husband and wife, both Fred and Y/N are openly crying, but as they share their first kiss as husband and wife, neither of them really cares.

-

“Glad to see you’re feeling better,” Fred greets with a smile as Y/N pushes the door to his office open. He pushes away from his desk slightly and pats his lap.

“Me too, I hate throwing up,” Y/N responds, taking a seat on Fred’s lap. She settles in and presses a kiss to his cheek. “How’s work going today, husband?” she asks with a giggle. They’ve been married for just over two months, and it still gives Y/N butterflies every time she refers to Fred as her husband.

Fred rolls his eyes and grabs Y/N’s face so he can press a kiss to her lips. “It’s been quite busy today wife. The restock of the new whizbang line already sold out.” Fred settles his hands on Y/N’s hips and kisses her again. “What about you? What have you been getting up to on your day off?”

“I had breakfast with Ginny and Hermione. Did some shopping,” she says casually pointing towards the bags she dropped near the door. “Nothing too crazy or exciting.”

Fred’s eyes light up at the sight of the bags. “Shopping, hm? Did you happen to pick up a present for your lovely, adorable, adoring husband while you were out?” he asks hopefully.

“Maybe,” Y/N muses with a wink. “You’ll have to wait until after work to find out.” Y/N giggles as Fred frowns and she kisses him one last time before standing up.

“You’re such a tease,” he scolds as Y/N gathers the bags in her hand.

“I know.” She waves at Fred and blows him a kiss before heading back into the joke shop and upstairs to their flat. They’re still living with George for the time being as they save up for a house, and as Y/N places her shopping bags on the bed she starts to wonder if they’ll have to start looking for one sooner rather than later.

Y/N sticks her hand in one of the bags and fumbles around a bit, humming as her hands closes around a rectangular cardboard box. Her hand shakes slightly as she pulls the pregnancy test out and starts to familiarize herself with the instructions. While her and Fred have already come to the conclusion that they both want a house full of children someday, she never imagined that they may be starting their family so soon after their wedding.

“Now or never,” Y/N mutters to herself as she heads towards the bathroom. Y/N thought they had been careful while on their honeymoon, she knows there were a few times they had forgotten to use the contraceptive charm in the heat of the moment, but she figured it would be okay. However, when her period never came she began to suspect that they weren’t in fact okay, and the random nausea spells she’s been having for the past week seemed to only solidify that fact.

After she’s closed and locked the door behind her, Y/N does what she needs to do and sets the pregnancy test on the counter face down. “Who knew three minutes could feel like a lifetime?” she asks to no one as she watches the time go by on her watch. When the three minutes is finally up Y/N’s hand starts to shake again as she reaches for the stick. She shuts her eyes tightly as she flips it over, and after a few deep breaths she finally takes a peek.

Pregnant.

Y/N starts to cry as a whirlwind of emotions flow through her. On one hand she’s so overwhelmingly happy, being a mother is something she’s always wanted and to be doing it with Fred makes her heart burst with joy. But she can’t help but also feel an intense bout of worry flowing through her. She and Fred are only 21, and they haven’t even been married six months yet. Y/N knows that Fred wants to be a dad, but she can’t help but worry that he’ll think this is a bad thing and that it’s far too soon for them to become parents.

“Hey, love. You left one of your bags downstairs,” Fred calls out as he walks through the door.

Y/N furiously wipes away her tears and sticks the pregnancy test in the back pocket of her jeans. She takes a deep breath and opens the bathroom door, jumping slightly when she sees Fred. “You scared me, Freddie. I didn’t hear you come down the hall.”

Fred frowns at her. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling okay?” When Y/N nods he gives her a look. “Were you throwing up again? You’re all pale, love. Are you sure we shouldn’t go see a muggle doctor or a healer or something?”

“I’m fine, love,” Y/N reassures, pushing past Fred. She starts to head down the hall when she feels Fred’s hand brush her ass. “What are you- oh,” she gasps, turning around to face Fred. He’s staring down at the pregnancy test in his hands. “Fred,” Y/N starts, not really sure what to say.

“Is this what I think it is?” Fred murmurs, looking up at Y/N. He grips the test in his hand tightly, tears starting to form in his eyes. “You’re pregnant?”

Y/N nods slowly as she bites her lip. “Yeah, I am.” Fred falls to his knees and brings Y/N close to him, shoving her shirt up a little. He starts to pepper kisses all over her warm skin, laughing as Y/N starts to giggle and squirm. “Fred! Fred stop that tickles!”

Fred presses one final kiss to her stomach before he stands up and kisses Y/N passionately. “I can’t believe you’re pregnant. I can’t believe we’re gonna have a baby.” Fred lets go of Y/N and starts to head towards the door. “I have to go tell George.”

“Freddie, wait,” Y/N calls with a laugh, chasing after him. She closes her hand around his wrist and pulls him back towards her. “You’re not mad? Or upset?”

Fred gives Y/N a look like she’s crazy. “Upset? Mad? Why would I be any of those things? You know I want to be a dad, love. We’ve talked about this before.”

“I dunno,” Y/N shrugs. “We’re young and we haven’t been married for that long. I just thought you wouldn’t think it’s the right time.”

Fred sighs and comes back towards Y/N, wrapping her up in a hug. “Love I don’t care about any of that. So, what we’ve only been married for two months? We’ve been as good as married since we were 18 when you first moved in here.” Fred presses a kiss to her forehead and smiles down at her. “Besides if we’re gonna have enough kids to fill a quidditch team we need to have them young, I can’t be an old man teaching my kids how to fly,” he jokes with a laugh.

“A whole quidditch team?” Y/N asks. When Fred gives her a wink Y/N rolls her eyes. “You’re lucky I love you Fred Weasley.”

-

“Fred what are you doing?” Y/N murmurs around a yawn. She started to wake up after a warm heavy weight rested on her stomach, and when she finally opened her eyes she saw Fred half hanging off the bed as he laid on his front. He’d pushed her shirt up and his head is hovering over the swell of her stomach while his hand strokes it lightly.

“Talking to the baby,” he responds, as if the answer is obvious.

Y/N shifts so she’s laying on her elbows so that she can look down at him properly. “At 2 am?”

Fred nods, pressing a light kiss to her skin. “I couldn’t sleep. And I read in that muggle book Hermione gave us last week that the baby can hear things now, so I figured I’d try it out.”

Y/N chuckles brings a hand up to rub her stomach. “Well I think the baby likes the sound of your voice, they’ve been moving like crazy.” Early last week Y/N had started to feel the baby move around inside of her. The first time it happened it scared the shit out of her, but now she’s started to miss it when the baby is still.

“Really?” Fred asks, his eyes lighting up. The movements Y/N has been feeling are still far too light for Fred to feel from the outside, but every night he spends hours rubbing her bump to try and feel something.

“Yeah, really. My ribs have become a punching bag.” Y/N smiles as the baby lands a few kicks to her stomach. “Here, gimme your hand.

Fred gives Y/N the hand that isn’t already on her stomach, watching as she places it on the side of her bump. She presses his hand into her skin, and he holds his breath, hoping to feel something. “Holy shit,” he gasps as the skin beneath his hand moves ever so slightly. Fred watches his hand in awe, smiling as it moves lightly with each movement. “That’s so cool.”

Y/N laughs and lets go of Fred’s hand so she can run her hand through his hair. “Innit? Though it does feel kinda weird that it’s like, coming from inside of me. But it’s nice. Like I’m never alone.”

“Hey little one,” Fred coos against Y/N’s skin, pressing down against her stomach as he feels the baby kick him in response. “I’m your Daddy, and I can’t wait to meet you.” Fred presses a kiss to Y/N’s skin and tears form in his eyes when he feels a small movement against his mouth. “I know your Mummy is doing such an amazing job of growing you in there but hurry up and get out of there so I can hold you and play with you and kiss you and cuddle you.” Fred tears his eyes away from Y/N’s bump so he can wink at his wife. “Plus, the sooner you get out of there the sooner Daddy can give you a sibling.”

Y/N scoffs and flicks Fred on the forehead. “Can we finish making this one before you start planning the next?”

“What? There’s no harm in planning ahead,” he teases, crawling up the bed to kiss Y/N sweetly.

-

“Hi there little bug,” Fred coos, gently rocking his newborn daughter. She’s only a few hours old, and her big eyes are bright as she blinks up at Fred. “I’m your Daddy and I love you so much Miss Ellie belly.”  Her actual name is Electra, but Fred has settled on calling her Ellie. Y/N had found her name in a baby book Hermione dropped off, and they both instantly fell in love with it. It means bright one, and after the dark times Fred and Y/N had survived in order to bring her into the world it seemed like the perfect fit.

Fred presses a kiss to her forehead, his heart melting as she makes a little noise. “You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he whispers. “Just don’t tell Mummy I said that.”

“Maybe you should check to make sure Mummy is asleep before you start spilling your secrets,” Y/N responds with a laugh.

Fred turns around, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry, love. I figured you’d be a goner after the past few days you’ve had.”

Y/N moves over to make room for Fred and pats the space next to her. “I was only in labor for what 36 hours? That’s nothing,” she says with a laugh.

Fred comes over and sits next to Y/N, cradling Ellie tightly against his chest. “Don’t downplay yourself, love. You’re an absolute superhero.” He begrudgingly passes the baby back to Y/N and wraps an arm around her, his other hand coming up to grab Ellie’s foot through the blanket she’s wrapped up in. “We wouldn’t have our perfect little angel without you.”

Y/N blushes, looking over at Fred. “You helped a little bit. And I did nearly break your hand while I was pushing.”

“Aw, Y/N. You flatter me,” Fred teases. He presses a kiss to her temple and takes a moment to just watch as Y/N cuddles Ellie close. “I didn’t know I could love something this much,” Fred says quietly, crying slightly for the second time that day. The first had been when the doctor placed Ellie in his arms for the first time. “But every time I look at her my heart feels like it’s going to burst from how much love is in it.”

“I know, right? Every time I look at her I feel like crying. She’s just so tiny and perfect and ours.” Y/N leans down and presses a kiss to Ellie’s forehead. “I almost can’t believe that we made her. I don’t know how you and I could make something so beautiful.”

Fred gently grabs Y/N’s chin and turns her head so he can kiss her passionately. “You are the most beautiful woman in the world, so it is no surprise that our daughter is the most beautiful little girl in the world.” Fred kisses Y/N again briefly, before letting go of her chin so he can stroke Ellie’s cheek. “How are you feeling, love? Can I get you anything?”

“I’m alright, Freddie, thank you,” Y/N says softly, looking back down at their daughter. “I actually feel really good. To be honest your Mum scared me a bit, I thought it would be way worse.”

Fred chuckles, melting as Ellie’s eyes flutter closed. “I think Healers have revolutionized childbirth in the twenty years it’s been since she had a baby.” He bites his lip, nudging Y/N so she’ll look at him. “So now that this one’s out, when can we start trying for number 2?”

-

“Y/N love, I’m home!” Fred calls, stepping out of their fireplace and into the living room. He dusts the ashes from his suit, frowning when his wife doesn’t answer him immediately. But it turns into a smile when he spots his daughter peering at him over top of her play pen.

“Ellie,” he coos, heading over to her. “Look at you, standing up on your own!” he praises, lifting her out and up into the air. He tosses her up gently, laughing as she giggles madly at him. “Where’s your Mummy?” he asks, settling the infant on his hip. He presses a kiss to her forehead, his stomach turning to mush when she cuddles into his chest. “Let’s go find her then, hm?”

Fred starts to explore the house, grinning as Ellie babbles baby nonsense into his skin. He can’t believe how fast the past 8 months have gone, and while he loves watching Ellie grow and learn new things, he misses the baby stage already. “What do you think Mummy’s doing?” he asks, nodding along to her babbles as if she’s actually answering him. “I think she might be hiding to scare Daddy. What do you think?”

After checking their downstairs Fred starts to head up the stairs, his fingers lightly digging into Ellie’s belly to tickle her. She shrieks with laughter, and it sounds like music in Fred’s ears. “Daddy misses you while he’s at work, Miss Ellie belly. I think I should take you with me tomorrow. What do you think? Do you wanna spend the day with Daddy and Uncle George at the joke shop?”

Fred peppers kisses to Ellie’s head as he walks down the hallway. The door to his and Y/N’s room is shut and as he goes to grab the doorknob it swings open and Y/N practically runs into him.

“Oh, Fred,” she gasps, holding something to her chest. “I didn’t hear you come in, love.” Fred eyes her wearily as Y/N leans forward to tickle Ellie’s stomach with her free hand and press kisses to her chubby cheeks. “Is your Daddy home, Miss Ellie? Did Daddy finally come home to see you?” she asks, laughing as Ellie giggles at her.

“What’s in your hand?” Fred asks.

Y/N looks up at him, trying to seem as innocent as possible. “Nothing,” she responds, showing him the hand that was on Ellie’s stomach.

Fred rolls his eyes playfully. “The other one, gorgeous.”

“Oh, um,” Y/N blushes and looks away from Fred as she takes her hand from her chest and opens her palm. A positive pregnancy test is laying in her hand, staring up at Fred.

Fred gasps. “Another one?”

Y/N nods and snuggles into Fred’s chest as he pulls her into a hug with his free hand. “Dunno why you’re so surprised, you’ve been trying to get me pregnant since Ellie was born.”

Fred laughs and leans down to kiss Y/N deeply. “Guess it’s time to start thinking about the next one then,” he teases.

Y/N glares at Fred. “Are you sure it’s not too late to return or exchange you?”

“Sorry love, I burned the receipt long ago,” Fred responds with a laugh, kissing Y/N again.

[masterwords]

running toward nothing (part eleven)

Summary: Hotch is injured in an explosion while on overseas assignment, putting Derek in a difficult position both with the team and with Spencer who has spent the last few months inadvertently falling in love with him. (Set around 07x01 - It Takes a Village but canon divergent by a lot.)

Warnings: lots of hospital talk, vomit, passing out, addiction talk

Words: 2.6k

Pairings: Hotch/Morgan

Notes: This is for @tobias-hankel’ s Spencer Whump Challenge. My assigned prompts to do my evil with were Derek Morgan & Betrayal. Fuuuuuuuuuuuck dudes. I'm so sorry. BUT, I have something for you tonight and more tomorrow...and we'll finish this week. With a few more chapters but we're getting there! I know I thought we'd be here sooner but I'm not a planner guys, okay? I go where the story takes me so I should stop trying to predict this stuff. I hope you're still enjoying! Let me know?

CHAPTER LIST

Read on AO3: Running Toward Nothing

**

“Jack?”

The kid was crouched on the floor digging through a drawer in the bottom of the exam table through countless baby toys. Blocks and Sesame Street books and magnets, trying to find something to amuse himself. All baby toys, and while he wasn't exactly too old to play, he was definitely too old and sophisticated for these toys. He'd been playing Risk for the last few weeks, after all, it was a little insulting to be faced with Elmo now. He glanced up at the sound of his name, peering at the door with his one good eye to see who it was. The other eye was fine, too, it was just shrouded in gauze to cover the gnarly gash just above his eyebrow, and he thought it made him look like a pirate or an action movie star. He kind of hoped he'd come away with a scar that would scare people, the kind that all the best villains had, but he knew his dad would hate that.

His dad was going to hate all of this. He'd probably be really mad at Spencer. Jack was vaguely aware that Spencer had been acting strange but not enough to put any of it together.

“Huh?” His dad hated when he said huh. He was on a roll today.

“Your aunt Jessica just called, she's on her way.”

He frowned and fell to his butt, hugging his knees to his chest. He'd been so happy, so easily entertained until now. She figured it might have enough to do with coming down from the adrenaline of the wreck, but it looked like more than that. Crouching, she got close to him and offered him a soft smile. “What's the matter? Can I help?”

He turned away from her, not exactly throwing a fit (he was too old for fits, really) but not being very nice either. His mood had gone sour quickly. “I wanted Derek to come.”

“She didn't say if she was bringing anyone...”

At that, he perked up. He hadn't anticipated that answer. Really, he was so caught up in the ebb and flow of his intense emotions (and that bubblegum flavored medicine they gave him for his head made him feel swimmy and light) that he hadn't anticipated much of today. It was all a blur. He could barely remember the accident, so he avoided it. That part of his day was big and scary. Instead, he shifted gears. “Can I have some juice?”

“Sure, honey. Anything else? I have cheese and crackers, jello, popsicles...”

His face lit up at the promise of food and he realized how hungry he was. He'd asked Derek if he could get breakfast at school today, it was pancake day and he loved pancake day. Derek never made pancakes on weekdays, it was always eggs and the toast he didn't like that had nuts and seeds and yuck things in it. He wanted syrup. The nurse smiled. “How about a little of everything?” He nodded enthusiastically.

(x)

Downstairs, Derek was already pacing the waiting room. He knew he wanted to go upstairs to see Jack, but he had to find out what the hell was happening before he could be around Jack. In his current state, if he saw Jack, he might lose it completely.

The police officer milling around set his nerves on fire. Flashing his credentials, he hoped it would get him somewhere. All it got him were questions about Spencer, not answers. It was Emily who provided him with the first answers.

He rubbed his tired eyes at the sight of her walking down the hallway, confused but not unhappy to see her. He still hadn't gotten used to her being alive again, even weeks later. His arms were around her fast, hers quickly following suit. A squeeze, a little too long.

“Emily? What are you doing here?” His voice was a gravel whisper, choking on emotion.

“Garcia saw Reid's name pop up on...well she can explain it better than me. She keeps an eye on all of us you know. Big Brother Garcia style. Anyway...” she paused, biting her lip and he recognized it as one of her tells so without even thinking about it, he glanced at her hands and saw that her nails were chewed up. Gnawed right to the quick. It made his stomach flop.

“Out with it, Em,” he snapped and she flinched a little at his aggression.

“Walk with me to get coffee.” That was all she could do, knowing she had to get him out of here. Away from the waiting room. “Come on. You can't do anything here.”

In the cafeteria, there wasn't an empty table in sight but they could take their coffees outside. Emily wanted a cigarette. God she'd fucking kill for one. “Was he...did they run a blood test?”

“They said there were opioids in his system. The quick test couldn't determine how much but...there shouldn't be any so it doesn't matter. The kid's been clean for years.”

Emily made a hissing noise and clenched her teeth, tightening her grip on the coffee cup. Exactly the answer she'd been hoping he wouldn't give.

“In Colorado,” she started, staring down at her hands for a moment before sighing. She couldn't hide from this, she needed to look him in the eye. “The morning after...what happened between you guys...I accidentally knocked his bag into the sink in the bathroom. There was a pill bottle in there. He said they were there by accident. That Jack gave them to him because he had a headache and he forgot to put them back in the bathroom but he promised me he wasn't taking them.”

“A pill bottle?” His voice was barely working now. He was going to be sick. First place his mind went was the phone call with Hotch, and Reid sitting right there, right in front of him and...blaming fucking Sean.

“Vicodin. It was Hotch's. There was one pill left in there, but he kept saying 'pills' like there were more. I wanted to believe him, Derek. I promised I wouldn't say anything if he put it back. He told me he did. He swore.” She hadn't been back long enough to cause problems, to know where Spencer's head was at...she should have said something but her instincts were broken. Her ability to read this team was broken.

“I accused Hotch of...” Derek stopped himself for a moment, choking on his tears. She couldn't think of many times she saw him cry, but right now there were hot lava tears burning down his cheeks. “His head, you know? He doesn't think clearly right now, I thought maybe he lost track of doses...I didn't believe him...”

“You had every reason to think what you did. It was the logical answer, Derek. Why would you assume Reid had relapsed? Or was stealing from Hotch? There were other more logical answers.”

More logical answers didn't help him now. Jack's life was in danger because of more logical answers.

(x)

“Aaron?”

Sean was hanging in the doorway, wide-eyed and taking in the scene before him. Hotch was standing at the sink, leaning heavily with one hand, the other trembling with a pill bottle sitting right in the middle of his palm. He blinked owlish and slow, like he was struggling through a flickering movie of memories, a slow motion time lapse. It didn't help that his vision was swimming, that his heart was hammering slow and thick in his chest.

“Aaron?” The last thing he wanted to do was startle his brother. “I'm coming in...” It fell on deaf ears, he knew that much. Hotch didn't hear well anyway but this was something else altogether. With one hand outstretched, he touched his brother's elbow, sliding up beside him slowly. “What's the matter?”

“Where did this come from?” The look on his face was pure bewilderment, and Sean grabbed the bottle and examined it. The Vicodin bottle, empty, a drawer ajar.

“I don't know,” was all Sean could think to say. He and Jessica had torn the bathroom apart, top to bottom. The drawers all pulled and emptied, cabinets contents exploded on every surface, they had taken a complete inventory of the entire small room and this was simply not there when they looked. “You found it in here?”

“Jack's drawer...”

Sean's eyes darted to the drawer and then to Hotch again, confused. “No way. Jess and I both looked there.”

“I know,” Hotch replied, his voice small and fragile. “I don't...it doesn't make sense.”

It occurred to Sean that this was going to point back to him, somehow it would have to. He could see the writing on the wall. He and Jess checked, he had his hands in everything, it would have been so easy to hide it until after Jess was sure nothing was there and then put it back...one damning piece of evidence to another shot through his mind and he dropped the bottle into the sink and took a step backward, hitting the wall with a thud.

“Sean?” The way Hotch looked at him wasn't accusatory though, and it almost shocked him out of his state of panic. He'd never seen his brother look so helpless or so defeated. So completely lost. Sean steadied himself and pushed off of the wall, walking toward his brother cautiously.

“I don't know,” he replied to the impossible silent question. “I don't know how that got there.”

There wasn't anything else to say. It was rare that two Hotchners could be in a room and neither of them would have an answer, but Sean figured there was a first time for everything. “Come on, let's finish getting you ready. Jack is waiting. What did you need in here?”

Hotch shuffled a little, shifting his weight completely off of his sore leg and frowned. He looked so like Jack that it almost made Sean laugh except that the gravity of the situation made that response more than a little inappropriate. “I don't remember.” He couldn't. His mind was white washed and his skin felt hot, prickly. Something wasn't right but he couldn't even seem to voice that, instead he just stood there.

Until he started throwing up, anyway. Right into the sink, down the front of him. Heavy and surprised, his eyes went wide and glassy. Sean tried not to act shocked, instead he just walked cautiously into the hallway to find a towel when things got worse.

“Sean...” it came out slurry and fogged, and before anything else could flutter over his suddenly ashen lips he was collapsing. Folding like a house of cards, landing with a thud against the tiled floor. Sean jumped back into the bathroom a moment too late, catching only the faintest bit of fabric, nothing substantial. Skidding across the floor on his knees he scrambled toward his brother whose eyes were rolled back in his head, he was limp and cold but he was breathing.

“Aaron?” He paused, pressing his ear to Hotch's lips, just to feel that warm breath against his skin. Afraid to touch him. “JESS!”

The panic in his voice made her freeze, dropping the cup of coffee she'd been holding. Cold coffee, from early that morning, all she'd meant to do was empty it into the sink and wash the cup but now it was slamming into the counter and breaking in half. Cold coffee sloshed out everywhere by the time she was moving toward the bathroom.

As she rushed, she thought about how he had them all fleeced. And she knew it but she allowed it anyway. Hotch's limp took all the attention, and he liked it that way. It took all of the worry away from his head injury, away from the fact that speaking took every ounce of energy he had in his reserves, that walking and physical therapy weren't hard because his hip hurt, it was because he couldn't figure out how to do it the right way. Put your foot down and focus on rolling heel to toe, they would say, and he would scrunch up his nose and try and fuck. It never worked. He ended up limping, no heel, no flex, just a limp. A painfully irritating limp.

So, him passing out after a morning of overexerting himself with Derek in bed and then the stress over Jack shouldn't have come as a shock but it did because none of them were prepared. Jess had been ready to lay into Derek for letting Hotch talk him into sex, really. He should have known better but she knew damn well he was thinking about the hip and not the damn head. Of course. Hotch had them all fooled.

Sean was worried about him hitting his hip, it wasn't until Jessica mentioned his head that he even considered that. It wasn't until Hotch didn't immediately wake up that it even occurred to him to call for her. He'd seen Hotch hit the bricks so many times over the last few weeks, it was just usually that he was in bed or on the couch and had nowhere to fall. A cold wash rag or an ice pack for his forehead, an icepack for his hip and he would come to grouchy and indignant about the extra eyes and worry but he'd be fine.

The vomiting was new. And this time he wasn't coming to. Sean's hand on the back of his neck was met with clammy cold skin. “Aaron, wake up!” he shouted. Like that was going to fucking work, like Hotch was going to come around just because his little brother was terrified. He knew better. Now he had to decide if this was a time to move him or leave him. Calling for Jess seemed to be the right thing to do. He knew plenty of first aid, more than most people he'd come across in his life, but he didn't know this.

“Hospital,” she said, jerking Sean up by his collar. Scruffing him like a kitten. “Call 911. Wait with him, I have to go get Jack. Fuck.” She'd never said so many swears in her life, but today was just one of those days. “Now Sean.”

“But he's breathing. We've never called before...”

The distressed look on his face gave her pause. She sucked in a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to remind herself that this was his brother. That he was not a caretaker, he was not a nurse, he was Hotch's baby brother and she was being unfair. It still came out like venom in her voice. “Nevermind. I'll call from the car, I know what to tell them about his head injury. Just pick him up and carry him to the front room so the EMTs can get in easier okay? Can you do that one thing for me?”

“Don't bite my head off,” Sean muttered, sliding his arms beneath his brother who felt impossibly light. “I don't know as much as you do about this shit. Doesn't mean I'm a moron.”

She sighed, fumbling through her purse for her phone. “I'm sorry. You're right. Just get him out there please and make sure he's still breathing.”

Pausing, she steadied him in her gaze and locked eyes with him. “Okay, it's okay, he's okay...” she sucked air, closing her eyes and blinking long and hard. “Everything will be okay.”

Sean's eyes were wide, sparking blue flame but he nodded and carried his brother behind her, all legs and arms dangling. He angled him through narrow doorways and down the hall, gently tipping him onto the couch and listening again for the sound of him breathing. He didn't realize Jess was gone until he heard the ambulance pull up with sirens blaring and lights flashing.