#their birthday was actually Thursday but it’s been a busy fucking week

[doesntseeyourbeauty]

✨ never be so polite, you forget your power ✨

happy birthday to my biggest inspirations, the ones i miss the most , my great-grandparents. i’m so glad that i got the chance to take them with me to my eras tour show and to sing marjorie with @taylorswift with them there

i still feel you all around 💖

[incognijo]

SIXTY DAYS.

Warning; 18+ themes, sexual themes, swearing. 

Part Three.

Part Four - Friendly Favours

Sy finally got home, and from the second he walked through the door he had to try everything he had to keep himself in check. He was angry, livid even, when explaining what happened to his mother he could tell a little piece of her broke inside.

He really didn’t want Clay to think of him that way, but he couldn’t bring himself to talk to the kid. What could he say to make it any better? Even with all three of them under the same roof Sy managed to create distance, he emotionally retreated, was quiet, and started spending all of his time keeping himself busy. Old weights in the garage. Cleaning up the backyard. Anything, so he could avoid the elephant in the room.

Tuesday. Wednesday. Thursday. The days passed and even though Sy didn’t show, Haley kept making him lunch, and writing little notes on post-its. She woke up each morning really hoping he’d show, this was her way of willing it into the universe, or whatever those self help books say. She was concerned when he wasn’t the one to pick Clay up from school, she wondered if Mrs Syverson knew the whole story, naturally she was worried.

The Syverson family had been through enough over the years, with all of it at the viewing pleasure of the town. She really hoped that what unfolded in her class stayed there, just like Vegas. It plagued Haley just how little she actually knew about Sy. Had he ever been to Vegas before? When was his birthday? What was his full name? She knew his title, but what did he actually do? All she knew was, he was in the army, was a smart ass who loved his family, and happened to be good in bed. Haley knew she couldn’t beat herself up too much over it, she did only meet the guy two weeks ago, but here she was feeling some kind of way about a guy who wasn’t hers.

Sy’s mother couldn’t take any more, her son being around the house in his current mood drove her crazy, her solution? Sending him to the store in hopes it allowed her five minutes of silence. His music taste wasn’t easy on her ears, and that’s all she’s been hearing since Monday.

The sun was low in the sky, it meant Thursday was on its way to being another day over and done with. Everything going through Sy’s head made him wish he had taken some of the guys up on their offer. Sy couldn’t deny that he had contemplated meeting up with them, thinking how much easier it would be if the only thing he had to worry about was which blonde he was going to take home for the night.

Those thoughts soon fell to the pit of his stomach, becoming feelings of guilt when his eyes clocked the brunette he knew held his balls in a vice. There she was, Haley sat in the window of the laundromat, he knew it wasn’t her fault and the way he acted towards her wasn’t fair. All attempts to pretend he didn’t see her failed. How could anyone pretend they didn’t see her? An internal battle broke out inside of him, shoud he go talk to her or not? Sy received a few strange looks when he left the store without buying anything. He made five attempts at crossing the street, but each time he would turn on his heals and unlock the car, until he finally slammed the door closed muttering ‘fuck it’.

Haley, while waiting on her laundry to finish, sat on the table going over her classes work plan for the next week. It took her a lot longer than it should have to notice a figure leaning against the table next to her. She fumbled when pulling out her earphones, bringing her full attention to Sy.

“Hey!” Haley’s voice was a mix of relief and surprise.

“What’re ya listen to?” Sy’s curiosity genuinely peaked.

“Devils Rejects soundtrack.” Haley tossed everything down on the table next to them.

“Wouldn’t have pegged you for a zombie fan.” her answer caught Sy off guard.

“Wouldn’t say I’m a fan of his music, but his movies, yeah.” she couldn’t quite figure out the look Sy was giving her “Surprised?”

“Impressed.” Not once, in the time Sy knew Haley, would he have ever guessed she was into horror, let alone gore.  

The sounds of the washers and dryers filled the air as neither Haley, nor Sy, wanted to bring up the subject of what happened Monday. Sucking it up Sy jumped right in “Look I’ve done things I’m not proud of,” keeping his line of sight on the far back wall, he didn’t want to see it in her eyes, the disappointment, disgust, hate, any of it.

“Sy, you don’t have to explain yourself.” her soft eyes sage were hoping he would at least look at her, but her hopes were met with disappointment. Haley watched as his arms unfolded, and his hands took a white knuckle grip on the table.

“I just need you to listen,” Haley placed a hand on his, a small gesture he didn’t know he needed. “there has been situations where I’ve shot people, which has resulted in them dying,” he let out a heavy breath, he really didn’t want to admit any of this. “So yeah, I’ve blood on my hands, and that makes me exactly what that kid said I am.” Sy cut Haley off by pulling his hand away when she start to say something.

“No, I don’t want you to say anything.”

It was the first time Sy looked Haley in the eye, he wished things could be different, that he could be different. There was always a part of him that felt he didn’t deserve someone like her, that feeling rising more as he got to know her.

Haley was anxious, a tell tale sign was the lip biting, it was killing her not to say what was on her mind. There was a time and place for everything, and Haley knew that Sy didn’t need to hear anything she had to say right now.

Sy cleared his throat “maybe it’s better for me if you live in your little bubble of ignorance.” his statement was like a punch to the gut. Haley wanted to say something, anything, but nothing came out. The buzz of the machine, signaling it was done, a sign for Sy to leave.

 “I should get going.”

“Sy?”

“Yeah?”

“It’s not what I think.” Haley had to let him know, an expressionless nod is all she got in return. For Sy, she didn’t need to say it, but it was nice to hear.

“Oh and Hale?” a head peaked back through the doorway “next time you want to play hide and seek with the tools, maybe leave some hints?” pondering for a half second “Never managed to find the measuring tape.”

Haley recoiled in embarrassment “right!” her face slowing turning a shade of puce “sorry.” She had completely forgot her wine time fun. She was very grateful he didn’t find the measuring tape, she vividly remembered where she had hidden it, and let’s just say it’s not somewhere she would want him rooting around. Haley wouldn't mind the Captain seeing her underwear, but she would prefer if she was wearing them when he did.

 Mrs Syverson had no idea what had changed her sons mood, but she was glad. She loved her son but when he shut himself off, she couldn’t stand him. She never pushed him to talk to her, if he needed her she was there and she knew whe would eventually tell her what was going on. It was getting late, Clay was tucked up in bed and the only light was that of the tv.

“Ma?” glued to the television the only response he got was a soft ‘hmm’

“I’ve been helping out Clay’s teacher.”

“Miss Kennedy?” like a dog Mrs Syverson’s ears perked up “Ok?”

“That’s where I was all last week, and will be for the foreseeable.” Mrs Syverson turned to look at her son, she couldn’t help but give him a disapproving look.

“Ma, c’mon, what’s that look for?” Sy knew exactly what that look was, he just didn’t want to hear it.

“She’s a sweet, and respected girl Sy.”

“Yeah I get it!” he had been hearing the same thing since he was a teenager.

“No. You don’t!” Sy was well aware what his mothers tone meant. Shit down, shut up, and listen.

“That girl showed up as a substitute the start of spring last year,” Sy slouched in his seat, he was in for a lecture “that child asleep up those stairs was lost, broken, and I didn’t know how we were going to get through it,” Sy fidgeted with the cushion as his mother continued “but in the fall, that woman was like a gift. Clayton absolutely worships the ground that woman walks on, she fills a hole in his little heart.” Sy may not have wanted to hear this, but by god was his mother making sure he heard it loud and clear.

“So I don’t know what’s happened between you and Miss Kennedy, but I am begging your for the sake of that sweet boy, do not hurt her. This whole town knows your track record with girls, and as your mother I love you unconditionally,” taking a second to compose herself “but what happens when you have to leave?”

“Ma, I’m just helping her like you offered.” as his mother got up off of her chair to leave, she left him with one final thought. “I’m just saying, you need to think about it, because it’s not just Miss Kennedy who can get hurt, it’s Clay too.”

Sy wasn’t going to let the fact that they had slept together get in the way of him helping Haley out. He knew exactly why Clay adored her so much, he didn’t intend on hurting her, but his mother was right. When his leave was up he would be back on base, or even on another tour. He felt bad enough putting his family through it and he didn’t want to put someone like Haley through it too. He thought that if they could be friends it would be fine. He could do friends. A little lie he kept telling himself, at least if they were friends he couldn’t hurt her and everything would be fine.

 Before Sy knew it another week home had gone by. Two weeks, that's how long he had been home. Fourteen days, leaving him with forty-six more. For a man who saw forty-six days as a lifetime away, that was when he was sweating his balls of in the middle of a gun fight, but being home with a pretty young thing? Well forty-six days didn’t seem long enough, he woke up each morning wishing he had more time.  

He had fallen into a nice routine, it kind of scared him how much he relied on the things Haley did, they were small but they made him feel content. Sy was awake earlier than usual, he assumed Haley wouldn’t mind if he showed a little ahead of schedule. When he got there he was met with a different greeting than he was used to, just a string of fucks as Haley ran around like a chicken with its head cut off. Sy was minding his own business when Haley sung open the door.

“I’m late for a meeting and my car won’t start!” Haley was frantic.

“ain’t that a daisy?”

“Get your keys, you’re taking me to work.”

Sy blinked at her before explaining, “Well see the only woman who has a right to boss me around is my momma, and I don’t see her here,” Sy snorted as he fiddled with a box full of random nails, screws, and washers “So darlin’ looks like you’re walking.”

Haley was far from impressed with the Captain “I’m not going to say it again, get your god damn keys and move that tight little behind to the car.” Haley barked her orders before stomping out of the house, that’s when the Captain heard her bellow his name.

Sy was a little shocked, but also a little turned on at how she had just spoken to him. “Alright.” he felt he had no other choice than to take the volatile woman’s command. Bouncing down the porch steps, he wondered, was her bark worse than her bite? However, Sy was smarter than he looked, and knew today wasn’t the day to get that answer.

“You’re not driving miss daisy, can you speed it up a little?” Sy found Haley to be more than a little infuriating, it wasn’t his fault she was late.

“You know, walking could still be the way you get to work today.” Haley slouched back in her seat, thinking maybe she needed to cool her jets a little, but it wasn’t going to stop her from pouting.

“Wait, why do you have the car with you?” Haley had a ‘wait a minute’ moment.

“Supplies.” Sy flatly declared.

“Wait, what?” When he didn’t answer it dawned on her  “Have you been buying stuff?”

“Bits and pieces.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Haley received a broad shrug “Sy I have money,” pausing before making her next statement “granted not a lot, but that’s not the point, it’s not your responsibility.”

“Woman would ya just zip it? Its early and it really wasn’t that much.” It was now Haley’s turn to be ever so slightly aroused. There wasn’t many pleasantries shared after that. The last words exchanged between the two was about Clay, who Haley was genuinely concerned about. Sy informed her that he had it sorted when she quizzed him about who was taking the kid to school, she didn’t argue, she trusted him to make sure Clay was taken care of.

The Captain, like most weekdays, was hungry around eleven. Like he did every day he worked on the house, Sy made his way to the fridge and to his surprise there was no lunch waiting for him. He was a grown man, well that’s what he told himself, and he ‘didn’t need a woman to make him lunch’ was muttered as he gathered everything he needed to make himself a sandwich. He opened the drawer, he didn’t find cutlery, but he did find crumpled up sticky notes. Unrolling the paper it hit him, they were notes from Haley, notes from the days he didn’t show. That’s when he mentally concluded, if she hadn’t made him lunch, then she probably didn’t have any either.

Noon.

Haley was on recess duty, this was the part of the job most of her fellow teachers hated, they always said they felt like glorified babysitters. The younger teacher didn’t see it that way. Did she miss out on a full lunch break? Yes, but she used this time to engage with the kids. She wanted to make sure none of her students were sat off to the side, she would encourage friendships outside of the students social bubbles.

The bell rang, making her way back to her classroom she noticed a brown paper bag sat on her desk, she couldn’t deny that she was a little apprehensive. As her students all found their seats she peaked inside, the contents were truly a surprise, it was a packed lunch with a yellow sticky note. Haley’s stomach filled with butterflies, there was only one person who that could be from. Unlike Sy she couldn’t wait to read it and grab sticky note. The front addressed to her ‘Miss Kennedy’, what was written on the back made her chuckle to herself ‘Don’t get used to it’.

At the end of the day, Sy was waiting outside. With the kid secured in the back seat, he indicated for Haley to get in with a jerk of his head. As soon as she slid into the passenger seat the interrogation started.

‘Miss Kennedy why are you here?’

‘Are you and my uncle friends?’

‘Where do you live?’

Sy was entertained by how she handled the spitfire round of questions.

‘Because I need a ride home.’

‘Sure.’

And the best answer yet ‘in my house.’

Sy’s plan was to drop Clay off first, then Haley, and then he he thought maybe he could grab a beer in town. Making a plan is one thing, but it actually happening was another thing completely.

He currently found himself awkwardly sat in his living room as Haley took in all of the family photos on the wall. When his mother noticed the car wasn’t pulled into the drive she had to investigate, it was in her nature, and she always said she wasn’t nosy but rather a curious individual.

Finding three people sat in her car took her completely by surprise, a welcomed one, but a surprise nonetheless. Sy’s mother being the kind woman she was, invited Haley to stay for dinner. Clayton was quick to second it, meaning Haley felt obligated to say yes.

Haley picked up a frame, talking in the features of who she guessed was Clay’s mom.

“Is this your sister?”

Paying more attention to his nails than her, he grunted in response and she took that as a hint.

‘don’t wanna talk about it.’

Haley offered so many times to help with dinner but was told ‘don’t be silly you’re our guest’. Clayton took full advantage of having his favourite teacher in his house. Showing off the stuff he made in his spare time, his favourite gadgets, and even talked her into a game of battle ship. When dinner was all set, Haley made her way towards the kitchen, not before she noticed a particular picture on the wall.

“Keep walking.” the Captain barked his command.

“Why?” a giggle escaped Haley’s lips “are you afraid I’ll see too much?”

“Kitchen’s that way.” trying to coerce her down the hall.

“Would never have thought you could grow a head of curls from that bald head of yours.” she might have been having fun but Sy wasn’t. He grabbed her by the waist and directed her towards the kitchen. Haley sporting an accomplished grin, he fucked with her all the time when she couldn’t retort, payback was a bitch and she loved every bit of it.

Dinner was full of laughter, conversation, and warmth. Sy knew what his mother was talking about, even though Haley and his sister were nothing alike, they both had one thing in common. They both had a very caring, loving spirit. For Clay, Haley helped him cope with the loss of his mother, nothing could really ever fill the void; but Haley gave him something that was was familiar to cling onto.

After dinner Sy took Haley home, turning the ignition off, they both stepped out of the car.

“Your battery was loose.”

“It was?”

“Took a look at it earlier,” Sy leaned on the hood of the car “should run fine now.”

Without saying a word Haley threw her arms around Sy. He wasn’t prepared for it, the gesture caused him to freeze. His arms awkwardly hovering behind her, before he let himself melt into her. Both of his arms wrapping tightly around Haley. When he finally let her go she thanked him, Sy said goodbye before fleeing like a criminal. He didn’t want hurt Haley but he also didn’t want to lead her on. His mother never thought that maybe, just maybe, he genuinely liked this woman. A few bad decisions and a bad reputation causing even his mother write him off.

 Saturday.

The whole Syverson clan found themselves out shopping, Clay had been invited to a classmate’s birthday party and of course he needed his uncle’s help to pick out a gift. Every time her two boys chose a gun, of any type, Mrs Syverson would veto it. They were definitely shopping more for themselves than the birthday boy. They both pictured themselves launching foam darts at one another, but grandma was always close by to bust their bubble. It wasn’t the biggest store in town, so no matter where you stood you could see every corner, making avoiding others impossible. Waiting for the cashier to ring them up the bell of the door chimed.

Todd Kelly.

Sy’s blood was boiling, he wanted nothing more than to slug this guy in the face but he was smarter than that. Mrs Syverson knew this man since he was a boy, knew his character, and it wasn’t surprising to her that his child acted the way he did. She felt sorry for the young boy, left with just his father after his mother just up and left, no one to keep him on the right track. Some people peak in high school, Todd was one of them and his recent actions prove he really didn’t grow up all that much. Sy didn’t like him then, and shocker, he still didn’t like him now.

For the sake of his mother and nephew, Sy tried to remain civil, his preferred approach was to ignore the little weasel. Unfortunately that wouldn't last long. Trying to keep things polite, Mrs Syverson greeted them and made small talk.

Even a blind man could see that Sy wanted out of there, he was protective of what was his, instinct kicked in and as they were making their way to the exit, he kept Clay close with an arm slung around the kid’s shoulder.

“Soldier.” Sy gave a low chuckle at Todd’s snide remark. He knew that Todd was baiting him, knowing from experience that he wanted to cause a scene. With a couple inches on the guy, Sy got intimidatingly close “It’s nice to know somethings never change,” glaring at Todd as he continued “never thought you could get any lower, yet you used your kid to throw your punches for you.” Sy brushing past, leaving Todd with an even bigger chip on his shoulder.

Haley was sat in her mess of a kitchen, her butt planted on a chair, as she sported a sweatshirt and not much else while shoveling cereal into her mouth.

“Come in!” expecting the faint knock to be Emily at her door, oh but was she very wrong.

“It’s the middle of the day and you’re having breakfast?”  

“what are you doing here?” Haley chocked.

“I can leave?”

“No!” Haley blurted “I mean, I wasn’t expecting you,” slightly fumbling over her words, trying to backtrack and play it cool “you usually spend the weekend with the kid?”

“He’s at a birthday party,” scratching the back of his head before admitting “not my idea of fun.”

“Understandable.”

“Speaking of kids, do you usually spend your weekends like one?” His comment was clearly poking fun of the way he found her. Haley slowly shrugged while crunching on the sugary goodness “want some?”

“I’ll pass.” Sy pulled out a chair joining Haley at the table.

“Can you ever sit with your legs closed?” Haley acting appalled at his seating position.

“You can’t even keep your mouth shut when you’re eating, can you?” Sy clapped back while spreading his legs further apart, knowing well it would drive her crazy.

“Why are you even here?” scoffing and rolling her eyes.

“Talked to a friend”

“You have friends?” Haley over exaggerating, almost a little too dramatic.

“You know darlin’, I don’t even know why I bother.” that was a bold face lie, he knew exactly why he kept coming back and taking her mocking.

“I’m sorry,” Haley saying through soft smile, she liked joking with Sy more than he would ever know “go ahead.”

“Was talkin’ to a friend who owes me a favour.” Haley placed her bowel on the table, unsure where this conversation was heading.

“I can have a couple of guys in here starting Monday, all I need you to do is pick what colo-“

Haley started chocking, “couple.. guys?”

“Yeah I figured if I had a couple extra pair of hands around here I could get this place looking less, sad.”

“How big of a favour does this guy owe you?”

“Well the guy still has air in his lungs, so it’s a pretty huge favour.” Haley picked up on the unwritten rule when it came to Sy, don’t press on topics that could link back to what he does or doesn’t do in his career. She felt this was one of those.

“I can’t ask you to cash in that big of favour for me.”

“You didn’t ask, I’m offering.” Sy leaned forward in his seat “plus if I don’t cash in now, when?”

She didn’t want to take advantage of his kindness, to her, he had done more than enough to help her out. His words also stung, ‘if not now, when?’

“What’s the cost.”

“What do you mean?”

“Labour? Materials?”

“What didn’t you get by huge favour?”

“Bu-“

“HUGE.”

Haley was hesitant, it caught her totally off guard, “you don’t have to.” Haley tried to relieve him of any obligation that he might feel, she could tell he was a ‘finish what you start’ kinda guy.

“I want to,” those three words again, Haley didn’t understand why. “let me do this. Please?”

Haley silently picked back up her cereal, she didn’t know what to say, what could she say? She couldn’t understand why he wanted to help her, why he was still here, and why nothing had happened between them since they met.

No sound would come out and Sy was waiting on an answer, he took the silent nodding as approval. Sy going over the details helped ease her anxiety, he had a calming effect when he was like this. No front, no cockiness, just Sy.

“You know you were right,” regret evident in her voice “I bought a dump.”

“It won’t be by the time we’re finished,” everything about the Captain’s statement caused Haley’s stomach to flip “how do you feel about manual labour?”

 Haley had changed into more appropriate attire and they spent the day moving boxes, the table and chairs, all while music blasted through the house. They worked together to remove cabinet doors for painting, and before long they kitchen looked, well it looked exactly how you’d imagine a kitchen if two people dismantled it.

Sy was patient when explaining to Haley what she was doing wrong when, giving her tips for future renovations she might find herself partaking in. For the most part, Haley just stood back and watched, while Sy made jokes about how he never usually had an audience when he worked.

“I can get some ones if it would make you feel more comfortable?”

Sy slowly lowered from the ladder, grabbing the neck of his t-shirt, it clung to him as he pulled it off “Sweetheart if you want me naked, all you have to do is ask.” he tossed it at her before stepping back up the ladder.

“gross,” she tossed his damp shirt back in his direction and wiped her hand on the leg of her sweatpants “plus if I wanted a strip tease I’d hire a professional.”

“why when you can have me for free?” Sy shook his head in amusement, even when she scrunched up her face he wanted to kiss her.

Time went faster than either of them realised, Sy knew it was time to call it when Haley was dramatically laying in the middle of the floor loudly sighing.

“Alright, what’s wrong?” he used his foot to lightly jiggle her.

“Oh nothing, just you know, my stomach has decided to start it’s own angry chorus group!”

“We didn’t really think this one through did we?” Haley now had no kitchen for a few days. She had a fridge, and a disconnected stove.

“We definitely could have thought about it a bit more, before-” the cogs turning for both of them, as if a light bulb blinked on above their heads.

“I’m driving.” Sy snatching the keys up before Haley could get off the floor.

“At ease soldier, it’s my car!” she tried to stand up to him, when that didn’t work she tried the grab approach, which definitely wasn’t going to work for her either, who was she kidding. All Sy had to do to make it impossible was to raise his arm, her protests feel on deaf ears and Haley found herself in the passenger seat of her own car.

The smell of food filled Haley nostrils, she was starting to get a little hangry. Sy being a smart man decided it was best to divide and conquer. He would go to the store pick up a few things, mainly some form of alcohol, while Haley went to get the food. Haley said pizza, Sy was not going to deny her what she wanted.

Haley was sat at the counter waiting for her number to be called, she was swinging in her seat when she heard her name.

“Mr Kelly.” refusing to address him by his first name was her way of trying to let him know things would only ever be professional between them. He was a student’s parent, her a teacher, end of story. That and he was a complete creep.

“You look like you were busy,” Haley started to feel extremely uncomfortable, pulling the sleeves of her top down over her hands before folding her arms across her chest. She was covered in dust, and looked a mess “still working on fixing up the house?”

“Yep.”

“That’s no way to spend your Saturday!” his tone was vomit inducing. Haley gave a forced smile “Yep.” popping the ‘p’.

“Well you know, if you need any help I’m here.” he leaned in a little too close for comfort, Todd had her trapped between him and the counter. She thanked her lucky stars when the teen behind the counter called her number.

“That’s me,” she was trying carefully to squeeze past without making physical contact, the man made her skin crawl “I gotta go.”

 As Haley buckled herself in, she thought it was best not to bring up Todd. After the situation at school, she didn’t want to add fuel to the fire, especially since she didn’t know where they stood and if he would even care that the creep had been chasing after her.

Sy stretched into the bag he tossed behind the passenger seat, he rummaged for a second before pulling out a candy bar, he tossed it at a now confused Haley.

“For my safety I’d really appreciate if you ate that.” he commanded.  

“Excuse you?”

“You’re a massive bitch when you’re hungry.” Sy said bluntly.

“Fuck you!” Haley spat with full offence.

“See?” Haley sat back in her seat and quietly munched on the bar as they drove. She couldn’t argue with him, he had proven is point.

 When they got home Haley opened the door carefully taking the pizza inside, Sy brought back in the kitchen table they had left on the porch earlier and placed it in the living room. Haley wondered was this as close to a date she would get with the Captain. There was her favourite playlist, beer, and dinner. What more could she want?

“I forgot how anticlimactic the pizza in the town is.”

“How can you talk shit about any food when you eat those” slapping her thigh struggling to find the word “those-“

“Rations?”

“Yes!”

“Sure they taste like shit, but I have no choice but to eat them,” throwing his crust into the greasy box “but you chose this.”

“How do rations work?”

“I actually think I might have one back at the house,” Sy tried to recall the contents of his bag “can show you?” Sy offered.

“another?” Haley referring to his empty beer, wanting desperately to avoid the topic of his profession.

Walking back with two beers Haley couldn’t ignore the flirting anymore deciding she was just going to go for it, she knew if she thought about it too much, she would chicken out. Neither of them made a move for weeks now, with constant flirting she was a more than a little sexually frustrated.

Sy was trying to get comfortable in the wooden chair when Haley kicked his foot offering out a beer. When she didn’t move to sit down Sy straightened up in his seat, fixing his eyes on her, he was trying so hard to just be her friend. She wasn’t making it easy for him.

Haley used her foot to move Sy’s legs further apart, she quickly slid in between them. Sy lowered his head, he wanted her, but his mother’s words kept repeating in his head and this was not a moment he wanted to be thinking about his mother. Haley took the bottle from his hand placing both beers onto the table. Sy’s now empty hand found its way to Haley’s leg, squeezing it, Haley let out a shaky breath when the Captain’s other hand moved her shirt to expose the skin of her midriff.

He placed soft kisses along the band of her sweatpants, Haley ran a hand over Sy’s head, down to the back of his neck and across to his shoulder. She crawled her way onto Sy’s lap while pushing him back into his chair. When Haley finally captured Sy’s lips in a kiss it was feverish, he was grabbing handfuls of her ass, and Haley wanted him more than ever. Haley couldn’t grasp how he had this effect on her, she craved his touch. Sy almost losing it when she was started grinding on him.

“Hale wait,” Sy knew he would live to regret this “we shouldn’t.”

“Right,” she never thought she could feel this stupid “sorry.” Heat found it’s way to her face, she was more than a little embarrassed.

Haley cleaned the table taking the pizza box to the trash as Sy mentally kicked himself, they both found themselves sat in awkward silence.

Trying to erase what just happened, Haley piped up “I get this,” presenting a bottle cap in the palm of her hand “into that,” snapping her arm in the direction of a container with no top “you have to answer my question.” both her eyebrows raising in anticipation of his answer “deal?”

“Deal.” Not knowing what she was thinking made Sy nervous. He wasn’t ready to open up to someone, it has been a long time since someone actually cared enough.

“Yes!” Haley exclaimed with pure joy, celebrating her accomplishment.

“Ok come on,” taking a swig from his bottle “hit me with it?”

“what’s your name?”

“Syverson,” gulping his drink “or Sy,” his smugness making a return “or I’ll accept Captain.”

“Come on don’t be a dick,” being addressed by his last name wasn’t just a thing that happened after joining the army, he joined the football team in high school, from then on the whole town including his family just called him Sy. “you grew up in this town, I could easily find out.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“Because it doesn’t feel right knowing if you don’t wanna tell me.” Haley’s eyes were downcast, feeling extremely foolish admitting it, all she cared about was him wanting to openly tell her things.

“Noah.” Haley’s head snapped up to look at him, she didn’t know what to expect, but would never in a million years guessed his name was Noah.

“What?” she heard him loud and clear, but just wanted to hear him say it again.

“You heard me.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No one’s called me that since I was maybe 16,” Sy shrugged off his statement “just a little strange when someone uses it.”

“Noted.” Haley wasn’t going to call him by his first name if he didn’t want people to. Sy had thought about how his name would sound coming out of her mouth “I won’t stop you from calling me it.” Haley wished he would stop sending mixed signals, one minute he’s flirting and being sweet, and the next he is pushing her away when she’s all over him.

“Your turn.” Sliding a cap across the table, Haley wanted to change the subject.

“What if I don’t wanna play?” his tone was flat. Haley matched it “Can’t force you.”

He caved, he wanted to make her happy. Sy slapped his hand over the cap, picking it up and with no effort he nailed the shot.

As the night went on the caps were made redundant. The more the drink flowed, so did the conversation. Sy found out what the hint in Haley’s accent was, her father is Irish, she quickly moved away from the subject of family which Sy completely understood. Sometimes it’s better left alone.

Haley thought suggesting shots was a good idea, that’s when Sy decided it was time for him to go, but the five foot something feather weight wasn’t letting that happen. Haley stood between him and the door “Please stay?” The brunette giving the biggest puppy dog eyes Sy had ever seen.

At that point Sy didn’t care, she was what he wanted, and here she was asking him to stay. Taking a step forward Sy softly took hold of her by the throat catching Haley off guard, rubbing his thumb along her jaw, displaying the built up tension from earlier.

They both had drank a little more than they probably should have. Haley didn’t know what came over her, she couldn’t help herself, and on complete impulse she tapped him on the crotch causing him to flinch in discomfort. It was most definitely the drink that made her do it, or maybe a little bit of her wanted to rile him up. All she could do was apologies “I’m sorry.”

Syverson grabbed her, moving behind her so he could get an iron tight grip on her hip and throat making it so she couldn’t move. He wanted to make sure she could feel just how hard he was. He was definitely a little more angry than he should have been in that moment “yeah darlin’ you will be.”

“Promise?” Haley moaned as she dragged her nails down his arm.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish.” Warning her once and only once.  

“It says more about you than it does about me if I can’t finish.”  

His mistake last time was thinking she was shy, innocent, and didn’t need to be taught a lesson. He wasn’t going to make that mistake twice. This time he was going to make sure she couldn’t walk afterwards.

Taglist; @memoriesat30 @wheretheriversrunintothesea @identity2212 @pretty-toxic-revolver @oddsnendsfanfics

[syuga-s]

just another night

w.c 5.2k

pairing. Seungsik x gn!reader

genre. fluff, friends in love

a/n. lmao, I can't believe I'm here again after 5 MONTHS, and basically, I'm here again bc Seungsik has been living in my head like a cute lil parasite for weeks. i truly love this man and I just had to write something very self-indulgent,,, ALSO i know I'm very late for valentine's, tried to post this like 2 weeks ago but look where we are (and warnings?) mentions of alcohol, moderate consumption nothing extreme, also alcohol preparation? the word sex is there, food is mentioned too, nothing crazy i swear

You and Seungsik have been friends since high school. It’s been about 10 years since you’ve been in each other's life. You’re always texting each other, even if you don’t see often. He’s your best friend. You’ve fallen into a comfortable friendship when you see each other every other month. When you both feel it’s been too long, and you need to catch up with your lives. It wasn’t until two days after Valentine's Day that it occurred to you that you hadn’t asked him what he did on that day. Unfortunately, you had your own little love “trouble” that you forgot to ask him about his day. The reason is, that your ex hasn’t left you alone for months.

He’s been begging you nonstop to go out with him. Telling you he’s changed, that he wants to treat you better for once. You know they’re just easy words. But the part of you that feels great when you’re with him would like to believe everything he says.

“I want to take you out to dinner” “I intend to keep knowing you, please don’t shut me out” “We can go to the movies, for coffee, you name it” “Please let me see you again”

It’s so funny how you may have wanted this years ago. And now, when it’s actually happening, him telling you everything you wanted to hear. You ended up falling for it. Despite not wanting to be in a relationship with him anymore, you finally caved in to his pleads, and it’s like he shifts into someone else every time we get to this point.

This time his text said, “what are we supposed to do on a Thursday?” idk bro, everything? Anything? BE TOGETHER LIKE YOU WANTED? “I guess you could come watch anime? i mean if you want” By no means I’m saying it’s a bad idea but, why does it only have to come to that EVERY time?

Whatever you have with him is difficult. Your love life (or lack thereof) is beyond hard, for sure. Feelings are difficult. So, your head has been on that topic for a few days because he asked you out for the 14th, and you couldn’t even muster up the energy to answer him.

You just wanted to see your best friend.

When you texted Seungsik on Wednesday night, you finally asked him if he had an eventful Valentine's Day. And when his reply was, “i didn’t do much, had a lot of work”, you immediately knew he was upset.

Now you needed to call him. He picked up at the first ring. Before anything, you spoke, “what happened with Sol? tell me everything.” He groaned, apparently not wanting to discuss it, but he knew you knew something had happened, and he clearly had to let it out.

“They were avoiding me, they barely wanted to go out on dates, always busy with who knows what, so when I wanted to plan something for valentine’s they simply said no. Obviously, I got upset, we got into an argument, and you know how that ends.”

While you were listening to him, you suddenly came up with a plan.

“I’m sorry Seungsikie, I always knew they were too boring for you.” You said in a teasing tone and he laughed. “And look if they never wanted to go out with you that’s their fucking loss.” “Yeah, well, I guess I was hoping things would be different at some point.” It hurt your heart to hear him say that. He’s always been a romantic, but in all seriousness, he always gets the worst partners. “I know what won’t make you upset anymore, let’s go out this Friday, you can’t say no alright, plus I really really want to see you.” “I know, we haven’t gone out since your birthday, I’m missing you too”, then his tone got kinda doubtful, “what exactly are your plans nerd?” you were both THE nerds in high school, always the ones that handed the tests at the same time, always the two that got up and solved math problems for the whole class, you’ve always been a team. “What makes you think I’ll tell you, dork? Knowing that you’re gonna see me should be enough for you” Neither of you knows how the two have been smiling just by hearing each other’s voices. You always forget how much you miss seeing him every day. He never notices how fast time goes by because suddenly, it’s been months since he felt this relaxed. And it was just your voice that made him feel at home after the past few days when he felt like shit. “I still need to know where, so I know how to pick my outfit, dummy” This man dresses better than you, so it made you laugh how he’s always worried about those things. “So?” “Oh my god, just wear whatever you like, you’re gonna be the best dressed no matter what, plus I bet you have new clothes you’ve been dying to wear so…” This time you made him laugh louder at your annoyed tone and that made him go along with your secret plan. “Alright then, but are you gonna dress cute though?” “Don’t know, maybe, we’ll see on Friday, love you bye” “Good night nerd, love you too” You’ve been organizing things all Thursday to make tomorrow perfect. Usually, Seungsik was the one that planned things when you went out, he always took you to the best restaurants, the best bars, always making sure you had a good time. So, you wanted to take care of everything this time. He deserved it. When you felt confident with your plan, you let Seungsik know that same night that you wanted him ready at 6:00 pm tomorrow. You took the day off, so you could clean your house and prep things for the night. You decided to do Seungsik’s favorite things. The first stop was to go for coffee to this new shop one of your coworkers recommended you. Next stop, go to one of his fave Japanese restaurants. Then you wanted to invite him to your apartment, so you could show him off your new mixology skills. You’ve been teaching yourself to make cocktails lately. Always on your never-ending search for new hobbies. And you felt you were pretty good at it, so you were dying to make him some of his favorite drinks. And it felt right because if you ended up deciding to get drunk you were gonna avoid a lot of, let’s say, unpleasant steps.

Finally, you were getting ready, and you decided to go for an all-black outfit. Black turtleneck sweater, black leather skirt, and black stockings. Today was cold, so a sherpa black denim jacket and black platform boots were a must. You went for gold jewelry and your beloved pink wool scarf. As for your makeup, your routine had changed to simply concealer, blush, mascara, eyeliner, and whatever lipstick you were vibing lately. You quickly gave your dog some water, food, and a little pad in case he needed to do his little business. “I’ll come back later Maxy, be good.” Grabbed all your keys and made your way to the café. Seungsik was already there when you arrived. He was waiting for you outside. It made you so happy to see him. And it may sound cheesy, but when you saw his outfit, you couldn’t help but smile. He was wearing the pink satin jacket you bought him a few years ago. Black turtleneck sweater, black denim jeans, and black boots. One would have thought that you managed to dress the same on purpose. When you got closer, you both couldn’t help but laugh at how you both looked. You were the one who hugged him first. For some reason, he had thought it was a good idea to stand outside in the freezing cold waiting for you to come. So, when he felt your hug, he was so glad you were this warm. It was one of those hugs where he could feel all the warmth radiating from you. For you, it was different. For a moment everything felt so calm, so safe, like nothing could hurt you. He softly rubbed your back and finally talked. “Let’s go inside, my face is getting numb from the cold”. You laughed in his chest, and he took you in his arms and walked together to order something. The café had this Parisian feel to it. It was beautiful and Seungsik told you he loved it. That got you happy once again. He ordered an espresso and you had a latte. As soon as you tasted them, you both looked at the eyes of each other, without having to speak you know he meant he didn’t like it because you thought the same about your drink. “You want to taste mine?” You offered. He gave you his cup too, so you could try it, and both had the same eyes again. You had to laugh now because both drinks were really bad, and you weren’t used to that. He muttered, “well at least the place is nice, we could take some photos”. Later you met the owner, and you found out that it’s only been open for three days. So, you agreed to come back another day to give them another chance. Seungsik’s been insisting on taking photos of you here. He said you looked adorable in this place and that you actually needed to update your feed. You couldn’t help but roll your eyes at that. He knew you weren’t fond of taking pics, but ultimately, you gave in to his request. And he wasn’t lying, you felt cute in the pictures he took, but that was enough effort for the day. You figured it was time to take him to eat, so you got into your car and headed to the restaurant. His favorite restaurant turned into your favorite too after a few years. Since it always reminded you of him. You’ve been here with your other friends, but it’s never the same without Seungsik. Being here, watching him in the subtle red glow of neon signs, you realize how cool he looks right now, particularly with his cherry-red hair, in your eyes he’s always been the best guy ever. He is unaware of your gaze, looking at the menu, deciding what to order. The scenario you had was begging to be captured, so you took your phone out and took a picture of your best friend. He noticed after you took it, and he just gave you a sweet smile. The servers already knew you two were regulars, so they always took special care of you. Tonight you went for some gyozas, ramen, and an order of sushi to share. A few beers and you were set. “I’ve been meaning to talk about your hair” he blurted out. You narrowed your eyes and gave him a playful smile but didn’t say anything, urging him to keep talking. “You dyed it, I- I mean” he started stuttering for some reason. it was just you, though? “I really like it, out of

all your looks I think this is my favorite” and now you blushed. “When did you change it? Last time I saw you, you still had your two-toned thing going on.” You tilted your head and rested your chin on your hand to think about it a bit. “Around mid-December, I think? It was before Christmas, for sure.” “Well, I like it” you smiled with his words and he smiled knowing that his words made you happy. Your food came, and the conversation moved on to some work stuff. How you both have been busier lately. Then you mentioned your parents and what you did over the holidays. How stressed you were at the end of the year because you took care of everything those days. He told you he’s been stressed for a while too because he moved to another apartment, finally on his own. You told him you had seen Diane and Ash last week for Ash’s birthday. That her boyfriend threw her a little surprise party and how you thought that those two are gonna end up married soon. He asked about Diane. She was the only one of your friends that he really liked for some reason. “She actually moved back into my building! Her clothing line has been doing really well, that’s why she came back.” “And what about you?” He fixed his gaze on you. “What do you mean? I’ve been talking about me all this time” His question threw you off, along with his expression. Suddenly, an air of seriousness. Seungsik repeated, “About you, tell me what you’ve been up to? Who are you going out with? i don’t know something like that.” The first thing you could do was shrug. “I mean I’m good? everything’s calm for once, but — you remember Louis, right?” Seungsik couldn’t hide his disgust. He hated Louis. His face turned into a frown, and he crossed his arms. Instinctively rejecting the thought of that person. You continued telling him. “Well, it’s not actually something, but he’s still there, you know? he begs me constantly to go out with him, i haven’t seen him in about 8 months or so? Apparently, he’s dying to be with me again, but you know him.” “Yeah, good, don’t go out with him.” It wasn’t funny, but you chuckled at that. “Yeah, don’t worry, I’m not planning on it.” Seungsik hated Louis since the moment you met him. He knew he wasn’t serious about anything. And with time, he knew how unaware Louis was about all he had when you were in a relationship. He didn’t understand what you loved about him, despite all the times he heard you say it. In his eyes, you were far too much for that good-for-nothing dumbass. He figured he always thought that way because you’re his best friend. He loved you too much to see you with someone like that. But maybe somewhere along the way, he got confused about that love. Or possibly, involuntarily, he maintained that love as platonic. You raised your brow at him, watching how his mind went somewhere else, “what’s on your mind? tell me". He hadn’t even noticed he was clenching his teeth. “just thinking about how unlucky we are in love” lie. But that made you laugh. “Seungsik, you’re saying that as if it was new information”, “we’re dumb that’s all.” You took a few more beers, and he asked you if you wanted to share one of the desserts you loved in here. And you obviously said yes. He told you that he had talked to his mom earlier. “Mom says she misses you, she asked me how you’ve been doing, but I didn’t know what to tell her, so you need to visit her soon.” Moments like this, when he says those kinds of things, make you think how lucky you are to have him in your life. It’s not common to be this meshed in someone’s life. All you could do was smile and nod at him. The silence between you was starting to burn. Onset to illuminate something else. You explained to Seungsik that your next and last stop was your house, so you paid the bill and made your way out of the restaurant. The entire staff seeing you off loudly, “mata okoshi kudasaimase!”. It was getting even colder outside, making your nose turn red instantly. You had left your car a little far from the restaurant, so you clung to Seungsik’s torso. And as if

it were the most mundane act, he placed his arm around you. Enjoying the source of a bit of warmth once again. Walking along the street in each other’s embrace. Relishing in the other’s perfumes. Content. Just when you thought you were walking alone, a guy in the street approached you and offered to sell you flowers. As you were mistaken for a couple by him. Both laughed it off because that was a regular occurrence whenever you went out, but it always caught you off guard, like now. You never explained to others that you’re not together because you know the exact words that’ll come out of their mouths. “But you look so good together!” Yes, we know.“Are you sure you’re not a couple?” As far as we know, we’re just friends. It’s simply bothersome to discuss the nature of your relationship with strangers. But at the same time, one would think you were staying away from that conversation yourselves. Ultimately, Seungsik bought you a couple of flowers from the guy, thanking him for the small bouquet as you walked away. Still headed to your car, you kept laughing about what just happened. “So that was new”, you giggled as you searched for your car keys. He smirked while you unlocked your car doors, once you were both inside he joked and said, “next time pay for your own flowers won’t you?” When you entered your house, your dog Max didn’t waste time jumping at Seungsik’s feet. His little tail wagging incessantly, giving him the most enthusiastic welcome, which made you jealous. Your tiny baby quickly forgot about you as soon as he saw your best friend, which hasn’t been at your place in about forever. “Hello Maxy, you’ve gotten so big!!!” His voice getting into a high pitch as if he were talking to a baby. Which he was. He held up your dog, again, like a baby. Soon you cleaned up his mess, thankfully it wasn’t much so you got done with it in 5 minutes. You stood next to him while he kept baby talking to your fur baby. Top 10 most heartwarming scenes in your life. Finally, your dog remembered you existed and started slipping away from Seungsik’s hold. When you took him, you mumbled in your baby voice too, “oh so you like Seungsikie more than me now, huh? can’t blame you, Maxy.” Seungsik wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear that, or if he just has excellent hearing. However, he got this fuzzy feeling even though your place was freezing. His eyes followed you as you set your dog in his tiny bed with a little bone to chew at. He noticed how you were rushing to do things just so you could give him all your attention again. A sensation burning brighter. You finally came back to him and pushed him into your kitchen, which made him laugh at your action. You brought Seungsik to your little island and made him sit on a stool. When he saw everything you had left on the counter, he asked, “what’s all this?” “Behold!” gesturing him all your things neatly put in a stand which included a shaker, jiggers, various strainers, and a mixing glass. Along with bottles with different liquors and some new glasses you had bought for tonight’s drinks. A few herbs, leaves, and orange slices weren’t missing either. You were so proud of your setup that it had your hands on your hips with a proud look on your face. Then you clapped your hands together, making Seungsik jump at the sudden sound. “SO, I have everything for your faves, get ready to have me as your favorite bartender from now on.” A smug expression now on your face. First, you got some coffee out to start making a cup of espresso. While you allowed the coffee to steep, Seungsik was wrapped in the smell of the coffee grounds, already knowing which drink was coming his way. His view was a bit limited from where he was sitting, all he could see was how focused you were on doing this and that in the counter. You actually know what you’re doing with alcoholic drinks, so you can say they’re pretty easy to make. But the chances of messing them up are really high too. Mixology really is an art. You prepped the glasses with ice cubes and poured the Liquor 43 in each

of them, all that was left was the espresso, and they were done. You and Seungsik have had them with a lit-up cinnamon stick on top, which is an excellent plus, but maybe it’d be too much now when it’s just the two of you. Handing him the glass seemed like an accomplishment. You’ve been thinking about this moment for days. You wanted to clink glasses, and he got up from the stool. Suddenly, you felt how tall he was as he was facing you. His eyes crinkled when he said, “cheers!” You knew the drink was good, you MADE IT. But now you needed to know if it had lived up to Seungsik’s expectations. You were holding on to your glass for dear life, just waiting for a sign, an expression, anything. He wanted to toy with you. He saw the anticipation in your eyes. And in your whole body, actually. You seemed like a puppy waiting to be picked up. Trying his best not to demonstrate any emotion, he placed the glass on the counter and spent a few minutes squinting his eyes, pursing his lips, as if he was some connoisseur all of a sudden. Catching up on his game, you rolled your eyes and lightly hit him in the arm. Now he threw his head back in amusement, touching the spot where your hand had touched his arm. Still laughing, he finally assured you that he loved it. “it’s so good i can’t believe you” — “never thought you’d make drinks this GOOD.” “and if you keep that game going on that’s the last one you’ll get” you retorted. But soon your exasperation turned into a beaming smile followed by a giggle. Even prouder than before. “you’re so annoying, i swear.” As you slowly emptied your glasses, you started telling him about your journey in making cocktails. How you just decided one day that you wanted to learn how to make good drinks and spent several weeks attempting to master some recipes. You told him it’s not really hard because it’s not like you’re set on becoming a pro, but that you still needed a lot of practice and patience. “i can teach you later if you want.” After those words, he felt motivated to finish his drink and return to the kitchen with you. It was amusing seeing him like this. He looked awkward at your kitchen, not knowing whether you were gonna let him do something or just explain the steps to making a drink. The next drink you had thought of was even simpler. A gin and tonic with frozen berries and mint leaves. You urged Seungsik to get closer so he could see everything going on. When you reached for the alcohol and tonic water, you asked him to fill other glasses with berries and a bit of ice. When he brought them back, he stood beside you, watching how you filled them with the new mix. Shortly, you grabbed the mint leaves you had in front of you and handed some to him. “go crazy.” You were about to taste it when he stopped you because he wanted to clink glasses again. Or so you thought. Because in fact, he cheered softly, “to another 10 years”, which made you lock eyes with him. You could only muster up to raise the glass. You moved to your sofa and started talking about your friendship. Which was brought up from his most recent words. “can’t believe it’s been about 10 years and we’re still here”, “not many people get to that.” He said while facing you. It made you think. Well, certainly not. We go through so much in our lives, we grow constantly. And that means that we outgrow feelings, even whole parts of ourselves. Our lives change, and that means people leave. Friends leave. In some cases, we are the ones who end up leaving. And that never stops. So, when you acknowledge there’s someone in your life where you only feel a quiet calmness when they’re around, you have to make sure they stay a part of your life. With Seungsik, even a text or a phone call at the end of the day would always bring a smile to your face. You’ve been through enough in the past years to know that neither of you will leave the other. As time goes by, you’ve made sure to keep safe in your heart all the memories you’ve made together. From the countless nights where you went out to get intoxicated; where

you would run to him and cry your eyes out because someone had hurt you; to the days you would drag him to concerts where he didn’t know who the artist was. And the most insignificant things (to most people) as well. Like the times he would send you a song just because it made him think of you; the notes he would give you when you were in school; to even the short walks to anywhere because for a few minutes you were hugging all his warmth. You finally spoke, ”i’m really glad you haven’t left my life, i mean it” and leaned your head on his shoulder. Over the years, you had found you’re quite content in just having him nearby. Sure, you’ve been in romantic relationships before, you’ve been in love. But the love you and Seungsik have for each other is different. Even if you haven’t acknowledged it yet. The intimacy between you is what everyone would dream of having in their lives. The talking with your eyes. The way, you can’t go 2 seconds without some sort of physical touch. The back rubs when you hug. The late-night talks in your cars. And days like today especially. He had leaned his head against yours earlier. But both ended up spending minutes wrapped in your own thoughts instead of doing or saying something else. Strangely so, you’ve never had felt the rush to act on your feelings. And tonight wasn’t any different, both just enjoying how close you were at the moment. The night felt endless, you kept making drinks, but in the end, you both got drunk enough to go back to basics. Meaning beers. The heartfelt comments from earlier turned into jokes. Jokes turned into half-drunk singing to some random list of greatest hits on youtube for hours. He could hear you sing the same song on replay for days. He has always loved your voice, and tonight, he sat on your sofa to watch you sing one of your favorite songs. He could see the passion you felt, and his eyes couldn’t hide how he felt about you. For the first time in years, he wanted to kiss you. When the song ended, you turned to your left to face him. Not being sure if you or him were already very drunk, but there was something about the way he was staring at you that you felt like you were meant to fall for him all along. Both brushed off those thoughts once again when you asked him if he was already drunk. “i got sleepy all of a sudden” his code for yes. He sank into your couch and whined, “i should go before it gets too late.” You ended up cuddling next to him, drunk enough to feel your eyes closing on their own. Seungsik soon lovingly running his fingers through your hair. Relishing on how relaxed he was making you feel. You mumbled he should stay. “it’s not like you have work tomorrow.” His eyes were closed, too, and he wasn’t expecting those words at all. If he wasn’t this tired or drunk, he wouldn’t have been able to keep his composure in front of you. He even stopped the movements of his hand and stilled it at your shoulder. You gently moved your hand, so it could rest on top of his. It was just a touch. Innocent like friends. But it’s like time stopped for him. He now knew how he’s been lying to himself all along. You were touching his hand so casually, but it was driving him wild. It’s like you had electric charges in your fingertips. And he couldn’t deny he loved you more than a friend. Not a word was said for the rest of the night. You both fell asleep like that. Both wanting to stay right there a little longer. And that’s how you slept together for the first time. No kisses, no sex, just sleeping. Seungsik woke up first and saw you still asleep. Both still in the same position. He smiled when he saw you deep in slumber. He attempted to hold you closer to him without waking you up. Falling in love. Last night, he heard those words in his head. He realized he would’ve rather spent valentine’s with you. In fact, he actually never wants to have another date if it’s not with you. Currently, he hears his heart saying, you’re all i want. At long last, he decided to wake you up. He moved your shoulder, tickled your ear, and moved

his fingers through your hair again. You finally yawned, meaning you had woken up. You felt it was a miracle how you weren't feeling hungover but actually starving. With one eye open and the other closed, you turned your face upwards to get a look at Seungsik. He smiled at your face and whispered, “i’m hungry let's get some food come on” and with that, he kissed your cheek. Once you were awake enough to realize what he did, you stared at his eyes while he did the same. You don’t know if you imagined the small lingering moment, the way you’d both held your breaths as if time stopped. Both thinking that you should wait, that you shouldn’t be this close for the sake of your friendship. While the other part of you didn’t want to wait any longer and was screaming for you to finally take that step. Both knew that you loved each other without needing to say it. He ran his fingers through your hair for the second time today. You were about to kiss when your phone started to ring. The two of you were brought down back to earth against your will. You didn’t care about the call. Not planning to answer this early while you were with him, but it felt like the universe wasn’t agreeing on you two yet. Eventually, you got up from the sofa to stretch your legs and took the chance to go see who had called you. And you audibly groaned at the name that appeared on your screen. Seungsik hesitated to ask, but he did it anyway. “who was it?” Although, based on your reaction, he already had someone in mind.

"You don’t want to know,” you told him while you let out a dry laugh. Not even wanting to think about him yourself. When he asked if it was Louis and you nodded at him, he felt upset. That’s when he comprehended that he didn’t want to play games anymore. He just wanted to be with you. And by the look in your eyes, it was not just him who thought that. Finally, you were undeniably in sync with one another.

[ptergwen]

4 times peter loved you and 1 time he said it

warnings: angst, swearing, and flash being a dickwad (love him tho)

a/n: i wasn’t sure if i would ever finish this bc i started in march? and gave up but i really like the concept so i made myself get back into it and AHH i’m really happy with how it turned out! fingers crossed y’all like too ahaha. also this is unrelated but send me requests!

-

to say you and peter were each other’s missing halves would be an absolute understatement. there wasn’t a secret you didn’t share, an inside joke you didn’t have, a text or call left unanswered, or a second you weren’t on the other’s mind.

it had been like that since your first day of freshman year. you took the seat next to peter in first period spanish, and the rest was history.

peter knew you better than you knew yourself. as cheesy as it sounded, it was true. he could guess what you were going to order at a restaurant before you picked up the menu. if you had a bad day, he’d come over to your place with tissues and hugs, without you having to ask. he knew all the little things.

you? you were a peter parker encyclopedia. you watched all his favorite movies so he could rant to you about them, and you’d actually understand what he was saying. whenever he felt overwhelmed by his chaotic life, you found a way to calm him.

you two were soulmates in best friend form.

best friends, nothing more.

♡ 1.

you had an arm around peter’s neck as you picked at some fruit on his lunch tray. his head was resting comfortably against your cheek, whole body leaning on you. impromtu cuddle sessions weren’t unusual for the two of you. they worked in both of your favors. peter was your own personal heater, and you were just really comfortable to nap on, in his opinion.

“are you gonna eat all my grapes? i was looking forward to those,” peter whined, taking one out of your hand. “are you gonna keep using me as a pillow?” you challenged. he responded by moving his head to your shoulder and chewing. “then, yes. i am gonna eat all your grapes.”

“you know what two people who share food are?” ned chimed in from across the cafeteria table. already knowing what he was implying, you sighed. “what, ned?” he cupped his hand over his mouth like he was about to spill the world’s biggest secret. “a couple.”

it wouldn’t be a regular day without ned trying to play matchmaker for you and peter. the idea made peter scoff. “leave us alone, man. that doesn’t even make sense.” “yes it does!” ned nudged mj for backup. she only raised her hands in defense. it was always a hard pass from her on getting involved in these types of things, unless she found a reason to.

“really? how?” you grabbed peter’s milk and took a sip just for the hell of it. he chuckled at that, forgetting he was supposed to be annoyed with you. a bit of milk dripped down your chin in the process. “oops,” you grimaced at yourself and licked it away.

something about the whole thing made peter’s heart clench. it was so... you were so... cute. cute was definitely the word he was looking for. wait, what? that was new. peter had always thought you were pretty and all, but he’d never found himself endeared like this over such a little thing you did. or had he? no. nope. it was ned’s stupid theory messing with him. that was all.

“y/n, dude, everyone knows it’s a thing. like, why else would someone give up their whole lunch? it’s flirting,” ned interrupted peter’s sudden thoughts about your cuteness. the smug look on his face made you want to throw the tray at him.

before you even joined their friend group, ned was on a mission to set the two of you up. peter described you to him and mj as “the actual sweetest girl ever. she makes me laugh a lot. you guys gotta meet her.” mj obviously ‘tsked’ at him, but a light bulb went off in ned’s head. peter was crushing. he just didn’t know it yet.

part of how you and peter got so close was that ned and mj used to back out of group plans. you’d end up hanging out alone most of the time. of course, it was ned’s idea. a successful idea, yes, but neither of you understood the obsession. apparently it was a guy in the chair’s duty to be a good wingman, and you should leave it to him. whatever that meant.

“if i remember correctly, you and your mom went halfsies on a piece of cake at your birthday party last year. what are you trying to tell us, leeds?” mj asked with a smirk. you and peter looked at each other and burst into laughter, ned’s mouth hanging open. the girl could really get someone when she wanted to.

“shut up, you guys! that’s different!” “so is y/n stealing my food and you calling it sharing,” peter made a point of saying more to you than ned. despite his words, he pushed the tray over to you. it was basically yours, anyway.

you thanked him with a pat on his cheek and popped more grapes into your mouth. in that moment, peter decided he’d get you all the grapes in the world if he could. jeez, he seriously needed to reel it in.

ned was only going to keep going now. “see that? peter’s such a sweet boyfriend. isn’t he, y/n?” he cooed and clasped his hands under his chin. you didn’t have the chance to change the topic before flash appeared at your table. he’d probably overheard your conversation. “penis parker is somebody’s boyfriend? good one.”

feeling peter tense up next to you, you put a hand on his shoulder to let him know you were there. you’d been in too many of these situations. the way flash talked to peter pissed you off in ways you didn’t think were possible. he was fine with everybody else, so why did he choose to pick on him? peter was the least deserving person of having to put up with it from anyone.

“just ignore him, okay? he’ll get bored and leave. works every time,” you reminded peter. too uneasy to say anything, he reached back and put his hand on top of yours. he tried to focus on how nice your touch felt instead of the fact that he was about to be humiliated by flash yet again.

“peter could totally get a girlfriend! he has, like, tons of girls after him,” ned attempted to back peter up, pleased with himself. groaning, peter put his head down on the table. he couldn’t bare to watch his friend destroy what was left of his social life. “you’re really pushing this now. stop talking,” mj warned in a whisper yell to ned. that didn’t stop flash from hearing her.

“she’s right. even parker agrees! look at him,” he snickered at peter’s embarrassed state. you’d had more than enough of him at that point. screw the silence. it wasn’t going to cut it for this one. while wingman ned was still making up stories, you tapped peter’s shoulder to find out how he was doing. his head remained down.

“you okay? want me to say something?” “i’m used to it, and no. i don’t wanna make you deal with him.” peter hated putting his issues on other people, but you couldn’t stand another second of listening to the things flash was saying. you cut into an argument between him and ned about peter’s body count. like his was any higher.

“fuck off, flash!” he stopped in the middle of his sentence. “huh?” “i said fuck off. anyone would be so lucky to date peter. you’re probably salty at him all the time because it’ll never be you,” you finally snapped. his tough guy persona faltered for a few seconds at your words, ned and mj taking the opportunity to high five you for telling him off.

peter was glad his head was still down because his cheeks were pinker than he’d like to admit. did you really mean that? would you be lucky to date him, too?

“what are you, president of the parker protection squad? or are you two a thing?” flash quickly recovered. there he went trying to get the last word in. the embarrassment for peter if you denied it was exactly what he wanted, but you weren’t letting him have it.

“ask me again some other time.” you plastered on a shit-eating grin and waved goodbye. unsatisfied with your answer, flash huffed his way back to his own table. after he was gone, peter looked up at you with something you’d never seen before twinkling in his eyes.

“thank you, y/n. you really didn’t have to say all of that.” “oh, no. don’t thank me. i‘d do it for you anytime. i am president of the parker protection squad, after all.” your fake smile turned into a genuine one for him. peter couldn’t help but mirror it.

his was heart doing that thing again. he guessed it was because he loved you so much, but this love felt different somehow. it wasn’t the friend kind of love he’d had for you all those years.

it was the kind of love he saw in the rom coms you made him watch when you got to pick for movie night. cupid’s love was the official name for it. when he put two and two together, the realization smacked him straight in the face. ned was right.

peter was starting to fall in love with you, and there was no way he could stop.

♡ 2.

peter was a workaholic. patrolaholic to be exact, especially when he had a reason. he’d sometimes find himself in a cycle of getting home late and going out early for days on end. he’d gotten used to the sleep deprivation. his grumbling stomach from missing meals wasn’t too big of a deal either. not when he had a city to save.

it was also a good distraction from everything else going on in his life. man, did he need a distraction. after peter came to terms with the fact that he loved loved his best friend, he narrowed it down to two options; telling you about his feelings or taking them to his grave. since the city was so busy, he was thankful he could throw himself into patrolling and not decide just yet.

may would usually only allow peter to patrol on weekends. school existed, and he had to take breaks. peter really wanted to help out more, so he proposed an idea that could potentially let him up it to the full seven days. he had to make it home in one piece every night for a trial week. that would prove to may he could handle it.

ignoring his black eye on tuesday and limp on thursday, it worked out. peter was positive he could finish off the week just fine. may didn’t have the same optimism. she decided that so much as a scratch on friday and it was strike three. friday came, and peter had impressively managed to end the day, like he thought, just fine.

he did one last swing around the neighborhood he was in, then started heading back to queens to gloat to may. on his way, he remembered he had to text you goodnight. he was bound by a pinky swear to you that he would do it every time he finished patrolling.

peter being spider-man was something you figured out only a few months after he got his powers. he technically exposed himself, and you pieced everything together. it all happened when spider-man offered to walk you home from school one day.

the way he rubbed the back of his neck while asking was a nervous habit that was oddly familiar, and urged you to say yes. you also thought it was strange how even though he didn’t ask for your address, he somehow knew where he was taking you. then again, he was spider-man. it was his job to know new york city and the people living in it.

you came to the conclusion you were making things up until he was about to leave. he walked you to the door of your apartment building and said, “stay safe, squirt.” nobody called you that besides peter. he came up with it because he had recently grown a few inches taller and could finally give you hell for being the short one.

needless to say, peter didn’t take off like he was intending to. he realized his slip up as soon as the nickname came out of his mouth. you brought him upstairs and had a long afternoon of questioning, explanations, and making promises.

peter typed out a message telling you he was fine and to go to sleep. as he was about to hit send, he swung too low and smacked his head right into a traffic light. that was what he got for texting while swinging. he could imagine mj giving him one of her famous safety lectures already, but that wasn’t first on his list of worries. he had a throbbing head and may’s third strike to deal with.

crap, may couldn’t know about this. she’d ban him from patrolling probably forever. going home was out of the question, but peter was in desperate need of an ice pack. there was already a bump forming from where the light hit him. his next choice would be to go to happy, only he couldn’t do that because he‘d tell may.

peter’s hands worked faster than his brain, and he started swinging over to your apartment. the overthinking began soon after. nobody wants to deal with a surprise appearance from their possibly concussed friend at 2 a.m. besides, what would he say? he’d barely seen you all week. it wasn’t fair to you, but it was too late to turn back.

peter landed on the sidewalk with an “oof” and crawled up the wall of your building. when he reached your window, he knocked in the same rhythm that he always did. no answer. he knocked louder. no answer again.

seeing as he had no other option, peter had to let himself in. he pushed on your window to see if it was unlocked. thank god it slid up then, but he made a mental note to remind you about keeping it locked another time. he climbed through the window with as little noise as possible so your family wouldn’t hear.

after navigating in the dark, peter pulled off his mask by the side of your bed. he instantly melted at the sight of you. your face was squished into your pillow, hair sprawled everywhere. you’d must have fallen asleep waiting for his text because you were holding your phone. peter was sure he’d never seen something so adorable.

he let himself stand there and watch the peaceful rise and fall of your chest. the bump on his head was no longer a priority. peter was utterly and completely entranced with you. god, why was he acting like this? oh, right. he was secretly in love with you.

before peter could help himself, he brushed some hair that had fallen into your eyes away with his fingers. you squirmed in your sleep, peter pulling his hand back. he was such an idiot sometimes. your eyes fluttered open and landed on him.

“peter? ‘s that you?” you squinted to see in the darkness of your room. he moved closer. your legs dangled over the bed as you slowly sat up. “yeah, it’s me. sorry to wake you.” he went to scratch his head out of nerves, but stopped when he remembered it really freaking hurt right there.

“‘s okay. i was hoping you’d come over soon. missed you all week.” you frowned at the red and blue clad boy in front of you. except for school, you hadn’t seen peter the past few days. “lots of crime to fight lately?” “missed you more, and yeah. been kicking lots of asses.” the awkwardness peter was imaging faded away when he plopped down next to you on your bed.

“how’s your eye doing? and the limp?” you turned his head towards you by his chin. he exhaled in relief. “getting better, i think. now that we’re talking about injuries...” the sleepiness was knocked out of you. you all but leapt to your feet and turned on the lamp by your bed. peter had a feeling you’d slightly freak.

“we’ve been making small talk and you’re hurt? what happened, peter?” “i-i sort of, um, i was texting you and swung into a traffic light.” “oh my god, where?” he pointed at his forehead with a weak smile. surely enough, there was a big bump. you gasped. “please don’t be mad at me.” “i’m not mad at you. just feel bad it was kinda my fault. do you think you have a concussion?”

you weren’t sure what to do beyond the mostly useless first aid videos they played in gym class. being an avenger, peter had had his share of experience with wounds. whenever he came to you hurt, he talked you through how to help him. the most you’d ever dealt with was a few particularly deep cuts. this was not the same.

“i‘m not sure. you could try that finger thing?” he suggested. you crouched down in front of him. “good idea. let’s do that.” as you waved your index finger back and forth and peter’s eyes followed it seemingly well, his mind was elsewhere. he was thinking about crawling into bed with you and sleeping in your arms.

“well, you passed or whatever they say. i’m pretty sure you don’t have a concussion. you’ll heal fast because of... you know.” you stood up and mimicked the way he shoots his webs. peter chuckled quietly. your thumb ran lightly over his bump, making him wince. “how bad does it feel?” “on a scale from one to ten it’s, like, a five and a half.”

although not what you wanted to hear, it was manageable. you hoped so, at least. “i’m gonna go get some stuff. change into comfortable clothes.” “yes, doctor y/n.” peter saluted you. you were happy to see he still felt up to joking around. biting your lip to hold back a smile, you made your way to the kitchen.

peter searched through the spare clothes he’d left here over the years. there were so many, you had to give him a drawer. he changed into pajama pants and a t-shirt, then sat back down criss cross on your bed.

you came in shortly after with a water bottle, two advil, and an ice pack wrapped in a towel. “i was kidding about the whole doctor thing, you know.” “too bad.” you handed him the advil and water. “take these. they’ll help until your magic healing powers kick in.” peter took the pills while you pressed the ice pack to his bump. he took it from you when he was finished.

“is that any better?” “much better. i’m all good. i should probably go soon.” he mumbled, not meaning it but also not wanting to overstay his welcome. you’d already done so much for him. you stopped him from getting up by putting a hand on his chest.

“what? you already changed, and i’m not sending you home to get killed by may. just stay.” “are you sure? i don’t wanna bother you anymore. it was annoying for me to come here so late in the first place.”

a frown set on your face. “peter, don’t you remember my promise?” there was a beat of silence while he thought about it. “that you’d help out with spidey stuff?” “however and whenever i can. i don’t know what made you think differently just now, but nothing’s gonna change that. doesn’t matter if it’s the middle of the night or early in the morning. i’m always here.”

only you could reassure him just like that. peter was really lucky to have you. really, really lucky.

“right. you’re right. sorry for... whatever that was.” “you apologize too much.” you poked his chest to punctuate your statement and switched the light off. “sorry for that, too,” he teased, wanting a reaction from you. “peter benjamin parker, just get in the bed.” “yes, ma’am.” that was enough before you changed your mind and threw him out.

you rolled to lay on the other side of peter. still pressing the ice pack to his head, he laid down next to you. it didn’t take long for both of you to be settled under the covers. “try not to bang into the wall or something,” you joked and pulled your comforter up to your chin.

peter puffed some air out of his cheeks, tugging more of it back. “you can’t be mean and hog the blanket.” “it’s my bed, so i actually can. i’ll hog everything.”

to prove your point, you moved over to peter until there was no room between you. both of you knew it was an excuse to cuddle. he wasn’t mad about it at all. peter opened an arm for you. you curled into his side, letting him hold you close. his whole body relaxed as you hugged him against you. “goodnight, spidey.” “night, squirt.”

♡ 3.

“what does that cloud look like to you?” you pointed up at the sky. peter’s eyes darted around as he tried to find exactly which one you were talking about. there were a lot of them, in his defense. you made a big circle with your finger around the cloud in question.

“the really curvy one. right there.” “kinda looks like a tiger. can we keep walking now?” peter tugged your arm linked in his in an attempt to move you from the spot you’d randomly stopped in. he made a whiny noise when you didn’t budge.

“i think it looks more like a horse, and no. why are you in such a rush?” furrowing your brows at him, you tightened your grip on his arm. “because some people don’t like cloud watching, grandma.” “i only asked you about one! i’m just... trying to get the most out of today.”

with college around the corner, you and peter both had a lot to do and a little bit of time to get it done. your only hangouts had become some shared extracurriculars and weekly study group with your other friends. trying to binge watch your shows together on facetime hadn’t been easy, for one thing. you fumbled to keep your phone up more than you payed attention.

on a more serious note, being apart sucked majorly. it was going to be this times a million when you would inevitably have to split up in a few months. thinking about it for too long usually made you cry.

peter was struggling in other ways. his more than a friend feelings for you were only getting stronger. having all that love and not being able to give it to you was hurting like hell, and he had to just pack everything up and act normal during the rare moments you were together. you were both going through it.

this was the first sunday in what felt like forever that you and peter were both free. you decided that the nice weather called for a meetup at central park. so, there you were, arm in arm on your afternoon stroll.

“don’t say it like that, y/n. you’re making me sad.” peter let out a breath as you rested your head on his shoulder. “that was the point.” you started walking again, peter following next to you. he kicked at pebbles while you smiled up at him. that made him smile at his feet. you were getting really good at making him flustered.

“so, did you finish that pre calc packet?” peter asked to distract himself. you lifted your head off his shoulder with a groan. “peter, we’re not talking about school for once. let’s talk about literally anything else.” “like what?” you were about to make a suggestion, but something caught your attention.

you raced over to a swingset, dragging peter along with you before he could realize where you were taking him. you stopped in front of it and threw your hands up to present it to him. he let out a breathy laugh. “when was the last time you went on one of these?” you asked, taking peter’s arm again. peter shook his head. “way too long ago.”

with a smile, you walked him over and took a seat on one of the swings. peter sat on the one next to you. you spun around in a circle to see how much you could twist the chains, peter laughing. “y/n, what are you doing?” “having fun. you should try it sometime.” he backed up to get himself started and grabbed his own chains. “i do have fun. it’s just not in the ways you think.”

you untwisted yourself to watch peter. “so, how?” “well,” he started going higher, “i like learning about stuff, even the things we have to in school.” “everybody knows that. that’s the first thing i thought of.” you did know everything possible about him.

everything except his new feelings for you, but this wasn’t the time for him to blurt that out. he was still figuring out when or if he should.

“guess i’m not gonna say i like movies, either.” “singing?” you were swinging next to him, turning it into an unspoken competiton for who could get the highest. peter slowed down a bit since he’d had a head start. “i suck. the only person who’s allowed to hear me is you.”

“it’s possible to suck at something and still enjoy it.” the breeze blew your hair around, peter seeing it from the corner of his eye. he’d always loved how carefree you were around him. it rubbed off.

“remind me to force you to do karaoke one day.” “you’re so annoying.” that motivated you to kick off harder on the ground. peter huffed and tried to catch up to you. “don’t be mean to your only source of fun.” if that wasn’t true, he would’ve came up with a comeback.

the only time peter remembered to relax was when he was with you. it was usually because you reminded him. he skidded to a stop on the swing and looked up at you.

“why’d you let me win? was that too mean?” you looked over your shoulder. “nah, i just got tired.” “oh. we can do something else now. catch me?” “sure,” peter chuckled and got off the swing. he stood in front of you on the grass and waited for you to get lower. you clenched your teeth into a nervous smile.

“ready?” “ready.” swinging towards him, you jumped off and expected to land in his arms. you ended up completely on top of him instead.

the wind was knocked out of both of you, but peter had it worse because he broke your fall. your hands were on his shoulders and one of his was around your lower back. neither of you realized the position you were in. you were too busy trying to breathe again.

“god, that hurt.” “my bad,” peter mumbled. in any other circumstance, he wouldn’t be complaining about this. “i should’ve warned you or something,” you dismissed him.

you were still hovering over peter, your lips dangerously close to his. he could’ve sworn they almost touched. that was when you got off of him. he only forced out a laugh. nothing ever went his way. you offered him a hand, oblivious to his inner conflict. peter took it and pulled himself up, falling into step next to you as you headed to another path.

that could’ve been a chance to make some sort of move, and he blew it.

♡ 4.

it hadn’t been easy for peter to move on from that day. his mind kept replaying the split second you almost kissed on an endless loop, and all he could do was come up with what he should’ve done in the moment.

things were getting to a point where he had no clue how to act around you. being your friend was hard, but becoming your boyfriend would be that much harder. his stupid feelings put him in an awkward place, and he was afraid you were starting to realize. he couldn’t lose you altogether.

you asked peter to meet you for coffee after school. it was this small place in between your apartments you’d both been to once before. they had really good cookies and an overall cozy feeling you liked. peter wasn’t sure what this was all about.

were you going to confront him? did ned say something? maybe it was a mistake to confide in his most gossipy friend about how he felt.

with a headache from stress and a heavy backpack hanging off his shoulders, peter walked into the café. he spotted you at a table near the window. you’d already taken the liberty of ordering, two drinks and a chocolate chip cookie waiting there. you looked up from your phone when peter pulled a chair out.

“hi.” you gave him a small smile and put your phone down. “i already got everything.” peter shrugged off his backpack with a grin. he sat down facing you. “thanks. sorry i’m kinda late. i had to stop at my locker.” you usually met him there. come to think of it, why hadn’t you today? you pushed peter’s drink over to him. “you’re fine. i came here early to get us a table, anyway.” phew.

peter bent the straw to his iced macchiato and took a sip. it made him feel grown up, casually drinking coffee with you over a boring conversation. adult life must’ve sucked. “so, how was the rest of your day?” he asked to fill the silence. you only had two classes without him after lunch, so that was a dumb question. he’d never had so much trouble talking to you.

“eh. betty fell asleep on me during this cold war documentary we had to watch.” “didn’t she say american history is her favorite?” you broke off a piece of the cookie with a laugh. “not after that. what about your day?” the light from the window was shining directly on you, blocking out everything else from peter’s view. he wanted to tell you how beautiful you were so bad, but that would be creepy.

you took a bite of your cookie and raised an eyebrow. he was staring. “uh, nothing interesting. i’m gonna patrol a little bit later.” peter sipped his drink again. you clicked your tongue and let out a breath. “that’s all you do these days.” he knew you were catching on to how off he’d been. what was he supposed to say? it would’ve helped if he’d prepared a few excuses.

“just trying to help out while i’m still here.” that was a half truth. “yeah, but you should still take some time for yourself.” you ripped open your straw wrapper and blew it at peter. he caught it just before it hit his face. rolling your eyes, you put the straw into your drink. “i hate your reflexes sometimes.” he shrugged one of his shoulders casually. “jealousy is a disease.”

neither of you said anything for a few minutes. you stared out the window while peter finished the rest of the cookie. he could tell something was on your mind. whenever you were deep in your thoughts, you sort of zoned out like this.

he was too nervous to ask you what was wrong because of the conversation you just had. it sounded like you had already considered he was being distant before today. his feelings aside, he needed to reassure you. that was more important.

“y/n?” you turned your head to look at him. “yeah?” peter’s gaze shifted from you to his thumbs twiddling in his lap. “i know we’ve both been really... busy lately, but i’m still here. don’t forget that.” a hint of a smile played on your lips. you would’ve hugged him if you could reach. “thank you, peter. i kinda needed to hear that.” he nudged your leg under the table. “of course. hey, you wanna come with me tonight?”

a couple of hours later, you were in peter’s arms on a rooftop that was much higher up than it looked. he insisted on taking you for a swing so you could get the full experience. he’d been trying to get you to do this for the longest time, so he wondered what made you agree today. you wanted to find out what was so enjoyable about it.

“i trust you, but you’re not gonna drop me, right?” your legs were around his waist, and he had one hand supporting you by your back. that wasn’t terrifying at all. you grabbed peter’s shoulders, the idea of it making you nervous. he wrapped his arm tighter around you.

“oh my god, no. i can always web you back up.” “peter! that’s not funny.” even behind the mask, you could tell he was smirking. “you’re always safe with me, squirt. don’t worry.” you brought your arms up to loop around his neck.

“i feel better now.” “good. i’m gonna jump when we get to the edge, okay?“ your whole body stiffened up. peter could sense it. as excited as he was to share this with you, he didn’t want to make you feel pressured. “or we don’t have to do it.” his voice was quiet. you tried to relax in his hold. “i’m just gonna close my eyes. i think that’ll help.” “we’re about to find out.”

peter started walking towards the edge of the building with you holding on even tighter to him, your eyes squeezed shut. he kept finding himself in situations where he was close to you in the ways he’d been wishing for, but never for the same reasons. it was bittersweet.

he bit down on his lip and aimed his free hand at a building. you squealed when he leaned back. “i’m jumping now,” he prepared you, and before you could respond, you were in the air. you hid your face in peter’s chest the second you felt yourself pretty much flying.

“what the fuck, you like this?” you had to yell so he could hear you. peter shot another web to keep swinging. “it’s really not that bad! try looking up!” he shouted back, clearly amused.

grip tightening around his neck, you slowly pulled your face away from him. he kept you close as he swung. you somehow convinced yourself you weren’t going to die by looking at something besides peter. your eyes landed on the sky behind his head.

the sun was almost completely set, deep pink and orange merging together against the glowing lights of the city. you were finally understanding why he liked this so much. it was beautiful.

peter peeked at you for a second to check on you. he swore his heart was going to explode out of his chest. the look of adoration on your face, it was even better than the view. it was the view. the little moments where peter got to see you this way made him realize how in love with you he really was.

“this is... wow. i get it now,” you laughed in disbelief, watching as the city whirled past you. peter smiled so big it hurt. “pretty awesome, huh?” one of your hands slid back down to his shoulder. “take me with you more often.”

♡ 5.

peter licked his lips out of habit as he held the door open for may, who was following behind him with a look of pride. he was about to graduate high school. the ceremony was being held in a really nice stadium-like place. trying to find it added minutes on to the parker tradition of being late to everything important.

peter wasn’t as concerned with his tardiness as he was with finding you.

while he tossed and turned in bed the night before, he went over his whole school year in his head. that meant little things and big things. he was starting to drift off until he remembered a conversation with ned a few weeks back. they decided on a deadline for peter to tell you about his feelings, and it was before graduation.

they chose it because if peter got rejected, he’d be over it by the time college started. that was the goal.

it wasn’t that peter had changed his mind. it was that he completely forgot. he didn’t have a solid plan for what he should do. these things needed to be decided way in advance. he ended up pulling something together last minute because it was you. plus, this extra pressure gave him the push to go through with it. somewhere between steps seven and eight, he passed out.

may rushed him to get ready because he’d slept past his alarm. the whole morning was a mess, and he had at most fifteen minutes to confess his love to you by the time he got there.

“you should go make sure you’re marked here. i’ll see you after. love you.” may pressed a kiss to his cheek and half-jogged to the auditorium for a seat. he squeezed her arm and headed off to check in. your whole grade was already lined up along the walls for what looked like miles. the deal was to tell you before graduation. he still had about ten minutes.

peter walked past hundreds of students with his heartbeat thumping in his ears. everyone was in alphabetical order, so it didn’t take too long to find you. relief washed over you when you saw peter. you were worried he wouldn’t show up at all. his cap was in his hand, hair getting tangled from running his fingers through it. he looked at you with pleading eyes.

“finally, i’ve been trying to call you all morning. where were you?” your tone was dripping with concern. “i overslept. there’s something i gotta tell you, y/n.” he gulped. you smiled in a way that was kind of pitying. “we’re about to start going inside. i- you have to wait, pete. go get lined up.”

this wasn’t how it was going to end. not again.

he looked around to see who was watching, then he grabbed your wrist. “peter, what are you-“ “just come with me really quick.” despite yourself, you let him lead you down the hallway. you dodged a couple of teachers having a conversation and went into a bathroom that was vacant by some chance. he let go of you after the door shut. you stood behind it while he walked over to a sink.

it was making you anxious to not be out there. you could be late. peter was the same way when it came to school, so you knew this had to be pretty serious. you gave up the battle with yourself and made your way over to him. he was looking at himself in the mirror, trying to get a stray curl back in place.

“let me help.” you stood next to him. he turned to face you, that same look of urgency still in his eyes. you used two fingers to brush through his hair. there was so much gel that it was wet enough to mess with. you smiled a bit and took your hand out of his hair. his hand was gripping the sink.

“you look good, pete. you smell good, too.” “so do you.” his voice was lower than usual. you flattened out the material of your blue gown. “thanks. so, talk to me. what’s up?”

the question was so simple, but way too many answers were running through peter’s brain. he wasn’t even sure he’d have enough time to explain everything now. this was why he needed a written out and carefully crafted plan.

but, like he said to himself last night, this was you. his best friend in the entire world and any other that might exist. the person who’s been there for his most embarrassing moments, and who’s been responsible for some of his best ones. if he couldn’t finally say the three words he’d said to you so many times before, what was the point?

his fingers drummed a steady rhythm while he mustered up the last remaining bit of courage in him. you watched him expectantly, waiting for him to say something. “just, um...” he was stalling. he pulled his hand off the sink. “i... love you.” peter only glanced at you for a second, too afraid to see your reaction. “i love you, too. is everything okay?” his heart sank. you thought he meant it in the friend way.

that was what he got for being so terrible with words.

“no, y/n. not like that.” he blurted. you were lost. peter pressed his back against the wall and sat down. confused and equally worried, you sat next to him on the floor. “then what do you mean? you’re scaring me.” he checked the watch may made him wear to see how much time was left before graduation. four minutes. he really should’ve woken up on time.

“we have to get back in line soon. i don’t wanna miss-“ “i love you, y/n. i’m in love with you.” a weight that had been on peter’s chest for months was lifted just by saying it. you squinted your eyes at him, but said nothing.

“i’ve been trying to tell you for a while, and it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. i just had to say it.” “fuck, are you serious?” you sounded what peter could only describe as disappointed. yeah, it was unrequited. here came a summer of crying. “i was gonna tell you first.”

peter’s breath hitched in his throat, and he swore you could hear it. he was so sleep deprived that it felt like he was hallucinating. you shook your head as heat came to your cheeks.

“how long have you...” peter trailed off, an eye crinkling smile interrupting him. “that day we went for coffee. something clicked, so i thought for a while and figured it out. i think i’ve loved you for a really long time.”

you inched closer to peter, just barely resting your head on his shoulder. for once, you felt like the shy one. he put his hand on top of yours. his thumb traced over each of your fingers. “i’d ask you out, but you know. we don’t really have time.”

“peter, it won’t take that long.” you giggled. he squeezed your hand in his. “hm. y/n, would you wanna go out with me after this?” you thought about teasing him for it, but he was right. you had to go. that was the friend still in you. “i’d love to go out with you, peter.”

with that, you both jumped to your feet and ran out of the bathroom. you were still holding hands, and a few classmates made faces when you rushed past them to get to your spots. you exchanged one last smile with peter before lining up.

the person in front of you said everybody was looking for you two. honestly, you didn’t care all that much. you were too excited for your date later. peter already knew he’d be checking his watch throughout the whole ceremony.

it was a best friend and soulmate thing.

[footballfanfictions]

The thrill of the chase - Chapter Six

Pairings: Mason Mount/OC, Ben Chilwell/OC

Warnings: Grovelling Ben and a very upset Mason. 

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

Katie

  Three more days passed with radio silence from Ben. I stormed into my office on Thursday morning feeling incredibly grumpy and resentful towards everyone else. That was until I opened the door and the smell of fresh flowers hit my nose. 

Every available surface apart from a small workspace on the desk was covered in vases filled with white roses, lilies and purple flowers that I didn’t recognise. 

As I moved some of the vases to make space to set up my computer and tablet next to my screen I realised that there was someone stood in my doorway.

“Billy! I’ve not seen you for days. How are you?”I asked chirpily, my bad mood already lifting.

“Ye good darl, see you got Chilly’s flowers then?” he stepped closer to one vase and inspected the flowers before saying “I think mine for Bri were better.”

I laughed, shaking my head at him. The start up screen on the computer flashed up and I logged in. Immediately I started to get google alerts and other pop ups for our social media channels and some of the players’ personal accounts.

“You’re going to be busy today. Mason’s mrs has been all over social media going bat shit crazy all evening, accusing him of cheating and allsorts.” 

I narrowed my eyes at the screen trying to pick out Mason’s name in the pop ups. 

“Are you sure?” I asked as I scrolled through.

Billy was right though, Mason’s social media was flooded with people commenting in the defence of his girlfriend, asking how he could ever dare cheat on her. I clicked through from Mason’s page to hers and listened to the short clip from her tik tok where she explained that Mason’s head wasn’t fully in their relationship and she felt that could only mean one thing, that he was cheating on her. I rolled my eyes but at the same time I didn’t quite know what to think. Was Mason really that type of guy? Footballers have a really shit reputation for cheating because they can basically get any girl that they want but we had that chat the other day when I was upset about Ben and he had told me that he didn’t want to end things with her because he was scared of being alone.

“Do you think he actually did it? I can do a better job of squashing this if he didn’t” 

Billy shook his head and straight away said “No way. Ok he’s not really in it anymore but he feels really bad about that because they’ve been together so long and she even went with him when he played for Vitesse.”

“Do you think that you can send him my way when he’s free? I’ll do my best to block the trolls and we’ll deal with the rest when I see him.”

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

  “I am so sorry for running out on you last weekend.” 

Ben had come in from training to spend his lunch break with me and was currently grovelling. I was quite enjoying having his attention again and wasn’t going to let him off the hook for disappearing that easily. 

“Can I ask what was so important?”

“It’s going to sound stupid but I went back to Leicester. There was this kid there that I used to give my shirts to every week and he tweeted that it was his birthday and that he never got my shirt from the last game I played so I kind of panicked and drove up there with it.” he said.

He seemed genuine and if true, that was a very nice thing to do for a young fan. I felt the ice wall around my heart melt a little. 

“I guess I can forgive you then.” I smiled.

“I hope no one told you to stop seeing me.” he mumbled, his head slightly turned in the direction of the door as if he was checking no one was listening.

I laughed and took a dramatic pause before I responded. “Bri was too loved up with Billy to give any kind of real opinion on the matter and the only other person I spoke to was Mase who told me that I should give you another chance.”

Ben shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the mention of Mason’s name which seemed a little bit weird but then again he probably knew about what was happening in Mason’s relationship right now so dropped whatever he was going to say about it. 

“Do you want to go and see a movie later? Mads has been going on and on about one he saw recently. Can’t remember the name of the top of my head but it sounds good.” 

“That sounds nice. As long as it’s not a horror film then I’m up for it.” I responded.

Then feeling bad that I had been a bit stand-offish with him, I leant across the desk and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. As I sat back down in my seat he mumbled “tease.”

“Sorry you still don’t get to go back to full benefits that easy Mr Chilwell.” I grinned. 

“Ok then gorgeous. Can I pick you up at about 7? I’ll look at the film times and see if we can squeeze dinner in before.” he said, standing from his chair and subtly trying to brush crumbs from his sandwich onto the floor. 

“Yeah ok, I’ll be ready by then. I’m hoping that I won’t need to stay late tonight.” I stood from behind the desk to see him out and pecked him again on the lips just outside my office. 

“See you later.” he grinned before leaving in the direction of the training pitches.

Just as Ben turned the corner, Mason came towards the door from the opposite direction, his brow furrowed. 

“Are you here to see me?” I asked him.

“Of course, you asked for me?” 

He sounded very upset so I tried my best not to get snappy at him.

“Sorry, I just wasn’t sure if you had gotten the message that’s all. Come in and I’ll make us a drink.”

His expression softened a little then and he entered the office, heading straight for the more comfortable chairs over the in the corner.

Thinking that it might be more comforting than a coffee, I made him a hot chocolate and finished it off with whipped cream on top. The only thing missing from it was some chocolate sprinkles.

He laughed when I passed him the mug and said “hey where are the smarties or the dolly mixtures?”

“It does seem like it needs something on top of the cream doesn’t it?” I laughed.

We sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes while Mason sipped his drink and tried to calm himself down. 

“I’ve seen her video.” I started.

“It’s a load of shit. You know it’s a load of shit right? Do you know what brought her to post that? They have a fucking new song coming out that’s about cheating and revenge and she wanted to use our relationship to promote it so their PR people told her to post a video about suspecting me of cheating to get her social media engagement up!” his voice escalated in volume as he spoke.

“Are you telling me that it was fake?”

He nodded. “Sorry for getting so angry and aggressive about it but how dare she shit on me and my image to further hers?!”

“Fuck, ok. I’m trying to think about how we manage this. If we come out and say that you haven’t done anything then I’m sure she’ll make your life living hell for it. If you were to break up with her over this, she can then make it spiral even more out of control and can use that to almost confirm her story.” I sighed, feeling so frustrated and angry for him. 

“I want to break up with her now. I can’t stand the sight of her face. I don’t think I can go home and see her tonight. I don’t know what to do. I know you say she can then make it worse but I don’t know if I care at this point.” he put his head in his hands.

“Speaking to you as a friend, I think you need to do what is best for you and we will deal with the fall out from it together. We put out something this afternoon on your socials that deny her claims and we continue to do that until the story dies.” I said.

He looked over the top of his hands at me and nodded.

“Do you trust me to do this for you?” I asked.

“Of course. I’m grateful for your time. I know this isn’t exactly part of your job.”

“Marina would never forgive me if I let this get out of control and it started to affect your performance of the pitch or brought the image of the club into disrepute.” I put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently, hoping that he found the little bit of contact reassuring. 

He looked at me, the hands that had been covering his face now in his lap and bit his lip. There was a silence between us again, and just as I was about to ask him if he felt any better, he leant in and pressed his lips against mine, his left hand coming up and cupping my cheek.

It took a lot longer for me to react and pull away from him than it should have, and he looked shocked when I did.

“Fuck!” he shouted before scrambling out of his seat and walking quickly to the door, running his hands through his hair. “Fuck!” he shouted again before slamming the door shut behind him.

[kaistarus]

Just A Line Without A Hook

Pairing: Hinata X Reader

Words: 5.9K

Summary: You and Hinata share your point-of-views during important milestones throughout your relationship.

A/N: This is a full relationship development and I’m very proud lol hopefully you can find some joy in it :3

Masterlist // Ko-Fi

Hinata was weird.

That lurked in your mind as you leaned on a conspicuously sticky bar table listening to him tell you his entire life’s story. Your original intent for the night had been to quickly pop into Yachi’s birthday party since you worked at the butt crack of dawn. Give her the present and maybe have a drink. Whatever you did it was meant to be fast.

Too bad you had never been good at sticking to plans.

“I moved to Brazil right after high school to learn beach volleyball,” Hinata said, his smile soft as he looked longingly in the distance. “But I didn’t explore as much as I should have. I really want to go back.”

“Out of high school?” You cocked your head to the side, “that’s wild. I moved to Tokyo and still felt completely out of place.”

“Well, it didn’t go too hot at first.” He scratched his cheek. “I actually got my wallet stolen my first week there…”

You fought to keep lips from pulling into a smile.

There was something in the carefree way he carried himself that made it hard to turn away. The moment Yachi introduced you there was an odd sense of comfort that washed over you. Which made no sense because you had known absolutely nothing about the guy-aside from him being a professional volleyball player and attending high school with Yachi.

Still, it was no reason to let your guard down.

“Sounds like they took advantage of the clueless foreigner,” you teased, curious butterflies tickling your abdomen when he pouted. “I’ve always thought Italy looked cool. If I could travel somewhere.”

Hinata’s lips mindlessly curved into a relaxed smile as you spoke, as if that was their default expression when not preoccupied. And it made conversation with him easy. It dissipated your usual anxieties about overthinking every action or word. You truly felt like you could be yourself and just exist within his presence.

“I have a friend in Italy!” Hinata said, elation lighting up his amber eyes. He began drawing circles in the condensation of his glass with an awkward laugh. “I think anyway. He travels all over the place, but he was in Italy last I knew.”

“That’s so cool,” your jaw went a little slack. You didn’t know people actually did stuff like that.

“Yeah Noya’s the best,” Hinata nodded resolutely. “He visited me for a while in Brazil. I taught him some Portugese and we played beach volleyball. He was so jealous everyone called me Ninja Shoyo. It was awesome.”

Hinata could speak Portugese? Ninja Shoyo?

So many questions…

“What’s a Ninja Sho-” You began until your phone lit up after receiving a message and you realized just how late it was. “Oh my god, I have to go.”

“Wait,” Hinata interrupted you mid-frantic scrabble to zip your jacket. You furrowed your brow at the smartphone he placed unlocked on the table between you. “Could I-uh-you know… talk to you again sometime?”

You blinked a few times before swiping the device off the bar’s gross table. “Yeah,” you said, a warmth you didn’t recognize filling your chest as you created your contact. “I’d like that.”

An absentminded smile painted Hinata’s face after you waved good-bye and when you stepped outside beneath the light snowfall you realized your lips were curved to match. But there was still too wide a gap between how little you knew about Hinata and how much you desired to be close to him. That new part of you burned too bright in your chest to be ignored.

And you would simply have to change that.

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

Hinata huddled in the corner of the gymnasium over his duffle bag, staring at his cellphone in case he received a last second message. His eyes flickered between the ticking clock above the bleachers and his phone’s black screen, stomach sinking as the seconds passed. He anxiously unlocked his phone to scroll through and analyze his last conversation.

Had he said something wrong? He supposed he’d never actively tried to flirt before, so it wasn’t unlikely he offended you somehow. He furrowed his brow and chewed on his thumbnail, rereading his last message. Maybe he overdid it with the emojis?

Wait, were you at work? You could also just be busy. Maybe he was just overthinking everything…

“Why are you crouched in the corner like a creep?” Atsumu crept up behind him, eyeing him suspiciously.

Hinata jumped, shoving his phone back into his duffle bag. “Nothing.”

“Bull shit. You’ve been acting off for weeks,” Atsumu squatted to Hinata’s eye-level and leaned forward with a sly grin. “Someone’s keeping secrets.”

A warmth rushed to Hinata’s face. He was a terrible liar if questioned directly. “I wouldn’t keep secrets from you guys. I mean, we’re practically family now.” he chuckled unconvincingly.

“Right,” Atsumu gave him a once-over before standing. Hinata let out a relieved sigh that he’d been spared for now.

“What’s happening over here?” Bakuto boisterously called out while skipping over to the boys. Sakusa trailed behind him with his hands shoved deep into his sweatpant’s pockets.

“Hinata’s lying out his ass.”

Hinata whipped around toward Atsumu with his jaw slack. The audacity of this guy. “I am not!”

“The guy’s zoning out at practice, making heart eyes at his phone, and fucking notre daming over his duffle?” Atsume raised his brows at Hinata. “Either he’s getting scouted for a different team or he’s dating someone.”

“You’re leaving the team?” Sakusa asked monotone, as if he couldn’t care either way. If Hinata wasn’t used to the constant monotone he’d be offended.

“No,” he denied, qualming Bokuto’s prepared puppy-dog eyes. “And I’m not dating anyone.”

Which wasn’t a lie. You were nothing more than a friend at this point. Even if his heart ignited a flame anytime your name crossed his mind.

“A crush then,” Atsumu waved him off. “Either way a massive Hinata life development you lied to us about.”

“I didn’t lie, I just,” Hinata wrinkled his nose while thinking of ways out of the predicament. “I think Shugo is calling to start practice. We should probably-”

“You’ve got a crush?” Bokuto’s eyes appeared to sparkle when he flung an arm around Hinata’s shoulder. “Who is it? Do we know them? You don’t need to sweat Hinata I’m an excellent wingman.”

Hinata waved his hands in front of him. “You don’t know them and it’s okay. You really don’t have to-”

“Oh, don’t be so considerate. We’re offering our services Hinata.” Atsumu said smugly while Bokuto nodded excitedly.

Hinata forced a half-smile. This had been exactly what he wanted to avoid. If his feelings were just a measly crush he would have gladly brought them up to the guys, but they were way more extreme then that.

“I’m not offering anything,” Sakusa raised his brows slightly in Hinata’s direction before walking off. “Good luck.”

“Buzz kill.” Atsumu pouted.

“Look, this is more complicated than you guys realize,” Hinata brushed Bokuto’s arm off his shoulders. “I can’t really explain it, but I don’t think you guys can help me.”

“Hinata, it’s okay. We all have our faults. Some more than others, but we’re here for you.” Atsumu patted his shoulder understandably and Hinata shot him a glare.

“Akaashi always tells me to ‘just be yourself’.” Bokuto nodded proudly, clasping his fist with determination. “Then you’ll attract the people who are meant to be in your life.”

Hinata blinked a few times. That… was really good advice.

“That’s stupid,” Atsumu scoffed. “You gotta stalk them on all social media. Analyze their personality and figure out exactly what they're into. Learn their ins and outs and become their type.”

That… was the dumbest thing he had ever heard.

“I don’t know Atsumu, that sounds kind of wrong,” Bokuto tapped his chin and Atsumu pinched the bridge of his nose, sighed deeply.

“Okay, but numbers don’t lie and I have the highest success rate.”

Bokuto and Hinata tilted their heads mulling that one over. No. It still seemed dumb.

Hinata zoned off as Bokuto and Atsumu began debating the morals of online stalking and the value of Akaashi’s opinions. He already knew that if he wanted real help picking apart the fire in his chest he’d have to talk to someone who’d take him seriously like Yamaguchi. Then he’d actually get to dissect the confusing emotions in his heart-look at them from all angles.

Learn to understand them and tend to them properly. Help them grow.

He watched Atsumu chase a cackling Bokuto around the gym until their captain Shugo scolded them. Hinata smirked. Even if they weren’t the most helpful he still appreciated knowing he had people willing to help him... in their own way.

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

You and Hinata spent the majority of your free time together, but even after several months it was nothing more than two friends placing comfort in each other’s company. Most Thursdays it was normal to find Hinata lounging on your living room sofa. He watched some volleyball commentary video on his cellphone, legs propped lazily on the armrest, while you answered work emails at your coffee table.

On a normal Thursday night you would continue whatever show you’d been watching-currently Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood-but tonight you were stuck finishing last minute work. You heaved a sigh and glanced over your shoulder at Hinata, his breathing relaxed while his eyes flickered across his phone’s screen.

You weren’t oblivious to your feelings. Maybe at first you were able to brush them off as excitement about a new friend, but they had shifted into something intense. Always festering in the forefront of your mind throughout your daily routine.

It became obvious when you noticed you spent more time counting the freckles scattered across the bridge of his nose than focusing on conversations. When you realized you spent more time at work trying to pin-point the exact shade to call his hair than getting actual work done. Even more so when your heart would do acrobatics at the sound of his voice whenever you talked on the phone.

No matter how you looked at it, it became impossible to deny.

“Hey, are you okay?”

You looked back again and Hinata’s eyebrows were furrowed with concern, his earbuds pulled out and phone placed on his stomach. 

“Yeah,” you half-smiled and he raised his brows to show he clearly didn’t believe you. You let out a breathy laugh, breaking the eye-contact to lean back against the couch and place your head on his bicep. “I’m just thinking.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” he teased, a hand gently placed on the crown of your head.

“Shut up,” you said with no bite behind your words.

He snorted, rubbing his thumb against the top of your head. “...what if I was also thinking?”

“That’s probably more dangerous than me thinking,” you laughed, rubbing your socked toes together with a soft smile. When he didn’t respond you twisted around to check on him, but he wouldn’t meet your eyes. “Hinata?”

“Nevermind.”

You gripped the couch cushion for support as you leaned in slightly. There was no way for you to be sure, but you could have sworn Hinata was blushing.

“What were you thinking about?” You questioned. Your heart was beating a million times a second in your chest and there was something akin to hope burning beside it.

Hinata looked in your eyes challengingly, “what were you thinking about?”

“You.”

He seemed taken aback by your bluntness, but brushed it off quickly. “I want to kiss you.”

Your eyes widened. It felt like all the air had been sucked from the room as you stared into his hopeful amber eyes.

“Well, do it then.” You responded, barely above a whisper. Hinata took a while to process, but once he had his face lit up crimson.

His hand cradled the side of your face and you watched him carefully, allowing him to make the moves. You kept your mind blank so as not to overthink the situation, but you hoped at least one brain cell was functioning enough to get you through it.

The kiss Hinata pressed against your lips was a little too hesitant, too off-center, and too brief. Yet the beaming smile he gave you afterward sent your heart into a frenzy unlike anything you’d ever experienced. The dopey smile on your lips felt too embarrassing and you buried your face against Hinata’s chest.

After a little coaxing with promises of television and snacks you peeked back up, happily met with Hinata’s dazed smile. The rest of the night was spent wrapped in each other’s arms and supplying random kisses because ‘they definitely needed practice’; ending with Hinata falling asleep in your bed for the first, but definitely not last, time.

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

Hinata hated being sick.

He hated fighting through a thick fog to collect words when stringing together sentences was usually effortless. He hated the pounding headaches following any light reaching his unfocused eyes. And Hinata especially hated his fit lungs struggling through breaths that came out raspy and weak through his aching throat.

Nothing good came from being sick. It was a lesson he learned long ago.

“You need to sleep,” you whispered against the crown of his head, your fingers carding gently through his sweaty locks. He nuzzled the tip of his nose against the cool skin at your collarbone while gripping your shirt at your shoulder.

Unfortunately, you were making it really hard for him to hate anything anymore.

“You’re going to get sick,” he pointed out, voice scratchy from his throat’s soreness.

You hummed dismissively, planting a small kiss on the top of his head. “My immune system’s pretty strong.”

Hinata knew it didn’t work that way, but was too selfish to argue your flawed logic. The bare skin of your neck helped chill his overheated forehead and he cuddled ever closer into you, twining your legs together. He wrinkled his nose when he realized how gross his fever was probably making him.

He’d have to wash your sheets and stuff when he was feeling better.

“I wish I could kiss you,” he pouted.

“That one’s gonna have to wait,” you chuckled lightly, beginning to rub soothing circles into his lower back. The vibrations from your voice sent a pleasant shiver down Hinata’s spine and the corners of his lips lifted. “You know, you’ll get better faster if you sleep.”

“But I wanna stay awake with you,” Hinata whined, lazily beginning to trace designs on your shoulder. The world was so cruel.

“I’ll be here when you wake up,” you said, barely above a whisper. Hinata grumbled a nonsense of a response and you chuckled lightly. You fell silent for a long enough period that Hinata began believing you fell asleep before him until you asked, “can I tell you a secret?”

“Yeah,” Hinata yawned, snuggling against your chest. “I love secrets.”

Silence enveloped his apartment again and Hinata almost dozed off.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

He blinked himself back to consciousness while the words rolled over in his mind. He froze. The fast paced rhythm of your heart was the only source available to keep him grounded as his foggy brain worked to unpack your words.

Love?

He glanced up to meet your nervous eyes paired with flushed cheeks. He stared in disbelief while you continued to patiently wait for his reaction. This better not be some sort of fever induced hallucination.

“No one’s ever said that to me before,” he said, eyebrows creased. Aside from his mom and Natsu, obviously, but he figured you’d know what he meant.

The corner of your mouth lifted into a hopeful half-smile. “Well, I’m honored.” Your touch was gentle as you brushed the hair back from his forehead. He subconsciously leaned into your touch with a wondrous stare and his eyes scoured your face for his answer.

Except you were the answer.

“I’ve never been in love before, but…” He struggled for the right words-any words-settling on what he could piece together at the moment. “I feel like things are better when you’re here. Like, I can do anything I hope to and more. I just feel happier when I’m with you and it’s easier and everything makes sense…” He wrinkled his nose. “Is… is that love?”

You cradled his fevered cheeks tenderly. “I think that’s for you to decide Hinata.”

He nodded to himself. “Okay,” he said determinedly. “Then yeah. It is, I love you, (Y/N).”

“I’m glad,” you smiled, looking at him with an affectionate stare that set his heart ablaze. He took a deep breath before disappointedly letting his forehead drop to your chest.

“Fuck, I want to kiss you so bad.”

You let out a bubble of laughter, rubbing your thumbs tenderly against his cheeks. “We’ll make up for it plenty when you’re feeling better.”

He tried to hold back a smirk, but failed. “Fine.”

“Now go to sleep,” You ordered, planting a quick peck to the top of his head.

He grumbled half-assed as he situated himself more comfortably, but Hinata was all talk at this point. His eyelids were heavy with sleep and his heart hummed with contentment. He was in love. A smile dusted his lips as he began drifting off.

Maybe being sick wasn’t so bad after all.

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

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously at your boyfriend across the couch chowing down on take-out sushi. Hinata’s eyes were glued to the television’s screen, his hand alternating between shoveling food into his mouth and rubbing mindless circles on your shin across his lap. Things were comfortable, easy, perfect some might even say.

Too perfect.

“Why aren’t we fighting?”

Hinata turned, cheeks stuffed with food and eyebrows raised with surprise. Under normal circumstances you’d consider it adorable, but you wanted to be serious.

He swallowed with a wince before raising an eyebrow. “Did something happen?”

“No, but we’ve been dating for a while and we haven’t had the big fight.”

“We fight all the time,” he placed his plate on the coffee table with a roll of his eyes. You huffed because he clearly wasn’t on the same page. “Just yesterday I was pissed because you left an empty container of milk in my fridge.”

“It wasn’t empty.”

“There was a dribble. That’s not enough for-” He put up a hand and took a breath. “Not the point. Point is: we fought right?”

“That was hardly a discussion.” You waved him off. He had angrily brought it up, you kissed him sorry, and he forgave you. Hinata didn’t know how to hold a grudge and all you had to do was buy him more milk.

“Okay, a few weeks ago then. You fell in the toilet because I forgot to put the seat down.” He nodded confidently. “You woke me up in the middle of the night for that one.”

You shuddered at the memory of being shocked into full consciousness by falling into a pool of your own piss. In your shocked state you may have chosen violence and decided to pick a fight with Hinata at three in the morning, but it was well deserved.

“Okay, but that’s not what I mean.”

“Are you sure?” He raised a brow. “Waking up with my girlfriend on top of me and slowly realizing she’s threatening to end my bloodline kind of feels like a fight.”

“Okay, that’s-” You pinched the bridge of your nose and ignored his amused smirk. “I’m talking about relationship ruining fights.”

He tilted his head, clearly not following you.

“Like, you insult me using some secret I’ve only divulged to you and I leave crying with no self-esteem.” You explained with exaggerated hand gestures and his nose wrinkled. “Or I walk in on you having an explicit affair with Kageyama, or maybe you get drunk and I over hear you talking with-”

He put both his hands up, “back it up. What the hell was that last one?”

“An explicit affair?” You blinked a few times and cocked your head to the side. “With… Kageyama?”

“Yeah that’s what I-we’re gonna unpack that later.” He palmed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Anyway, why would any of this happen?”

“Because that’s what always happens.” You answered honestly. Maybe you sounded like a pessimist, but that was just the reality of the world. At least, you had never seen it work any other way. “So just… tell me how it’s going to happen.”

Hinata looked crestfallen at your statement and the dejected look in his eyes made your heart sink to your stomach. You closed your eyes, waiting for him to question your sanity, but was taken back when he crawled forward to rest his head on your chest.

“If I ever hurt you like that,” he mouthed against your collarbone. “I would never forgive myself.”

Your heart raced and you brought a hand to card through his unruly locks, nodding to acknowledge his words.

“Don’t overthink,” he said, kissing your neck softly. “If we’re good then we’re good. Maybe that’s just how it’s meant to be.”

Your lips curved into a small smile and you nodded again. You let yourselves just exist with him for a while. Heart’s beating in unison while you twirled tufts of autumn through your fingers. His lips dusting across your neck as he whispered loving affirmations against you. And maybe he was right.

Maybe it was just meant to be.

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

Hinata moved expertly around his kitchen preparing breakfast, sneaking glancing at you perched drowsily beside the stove adorning one of his larger shirts. Obviously it wasn’t the first time he’d seen you like that-hair mussed, eyes heavy with sleep, in only his clothes-but it still warmed his heart when you existed so casually in space. Like you belonged there.

His lips curved into a smile as he cracked several eggs into a heated frying pan. The dull thudding of your heels hitting a cupboard mixed with the sizzling on the pan for the background of your comfortable silence. Even without conversation his life felt brighter in your presence and he was thankful his apartment was such a convenient location for the both of you.

You yawned deeply, rubbing the sleep from your eyes and finally focusing on him. Hinata selfishly wished you could be with him more often. The days he woke up without you were the coldest.

“What are you staring at?” You slurred with another yawn.

Hinata shot you a lopsided grin, “my beautiful girlfriend.”

You side-eyed him with an amused smirk, “kiss ass.”

Hinata slid the eggs onto a couple plates before going to stand in front of you. You raised a curious brow, but weren’t given enough time to voice a question before he pressed his lips to yours. His mouth curved into a smile against yours-another reason he loved you being here so often was it meant more of this.

Your hands cradled his face as he appreciated that you still tasted like mint from his borrowed toothpaste this morning. Another subtle way he’d nudged himself into your life he realized, toying with the bottom of his shirt you were wearing.

“What’s this for?” You asked, sliding your hands over his shoulders and hooking them behind his neck.

“I just love you,” he replied earnestly. Your fingers laid a scorching touch as they teased the baby hairs on his neck, sending a shiver down his spine. Hinata took his time with languid kisses-he could kiss you a million times and the hunger for more would always linger.

Your breaths were heavy when you pulled back to place your forehead against his, eyeing him with pure affection that set his heart ablaze. “I love you too, Shoyo.”

He trailed his knuckles down your cheek and relished in the way you leaned into his touch. How had he gotten this luck? Hinata placed a tender kiss on your forehead, temple, cheekbone, tip of your nose, and finally on your lips.

“You should move in.”

Hinata’s eyes widened in shock at his own question because that had been the last thing he’d planned on doing this morning. Well, the suggestion was out there and it’s not like he wanted to take it back...

You blinked several times as you processed. “With you?”

“Ideally.”

You furrowed your brow while mulling it over and Hinata counted his heartbeats to stay grounded. Worst case scenario you say no and things are awkward for a bit. Best case scenario he takes a large step forward with the love of his life.

Oh god, he should’ve planned this better.

“Okay.”

“I understand,” Hinata sighed. “It was totally random and I shouldn’t have expected-did you say yes?”

“Yeah,” your cheeks flushed and you bit your bottom lip to fight down a smile. “I mean, I’m here most of the time anyway, right?”

Hinata nodded mindlessly before a face splitting grin covered his features and he scooped you off the corner. You squealed while he spun you around with a bright laugh, interrupting any of your comments with a passionate kiss. While you were busy tangling your fingers into his unruly hair he glanced toward his bedroom’s door.

There was probably enough time to celebrate.

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

“She’s beautiful,” you said in awe, cradling the swaddled newborn in your arms. She was sleeping soundly, tiny breaths leaving her partly open mouth. The baby looked too fragile for this world, features too small and delicate to be realistic.

She was amazing.

“Well, she’s our daughter,” Tanaka’s chest puffed up proudly. He sat beside Shimizu on her hospital bed with an arm hung loosely around her. “Obviously she’s going to be perfect.”

You wouldn’t fight his dramatics; he deserved to be happy today.

“What’s her name?” Hinata breathed. Seated beside you he leaned heavily against your side to observe the baby.

“Sayori,” Shimizu yawned. She and Tanaka had deep bruises under their eyes, and you smirked knowingly down at the sleeping demon in disguise.

Hinata hesitantly moved his hand toward Sayori before planting it back on his lap. You raised a brow, reaching over with the hand not helping cradle Sayori’s head and grabbed his forefinger. Hinata looked at you panicked, but relaxed as you guided him toward Sayori’s small fist that pressed gently against her pink cheeks.

When she instinctively wrapped her fingers around his forefinger his eyes widened and he whipped his gaze to you. “She grabbed my finger,” he whispered.

“They do that,” you smirked, a frenzy of butterflies attacking your stomach as he stared at Sayori wondrously.

“That’s amazing.”

“Okay, stop using my kid as a way to feed your baby fever.” Tanaka huffed. Shimizu elbowed him in the stomach and a warmth trickled up your face when his words hit you.

“What’s a baby fever?” Hinata asked, raising an eyebrow at you. “Is it dangerous?”

“No,” you stumbled over a reply that wouldn’t make the situation incredibly awkward. “It’s when you, uh, want kids.”

“Oh,” Hinata shrugged, bouncing his finger to play with Sayori’s hand. “What’s wrong with eventually wanting kids?”

“That’s not-”

“No, it means you want a kid now.” Tanaka emphasized by smacking the hospital bed. “Like, go home immediately and make a baby level now.”

Hinata blinked a few times before his face lit up red, “oh.”

You nodded awkwardly and both of you remained quiet while Shimizu chastised Tanaka in the background. One of you should probably deny the baby fever thing… right? You glanced over to Hinata, but his eyebrows were furrowed as he stared intently at Sayori.

“Okay, Sayori needs to eat soon, so I’m kicking Hinata out.” Tanaka announced.

Hinata didn’t put up any fights and you passed Sayori back to Shimizu, making plans to see each other again soon. You offered your services for future babysitting with Hinata’s vigorous agreeing behind you and they were more than grateful for it. Regardless Tanaka shooed you out when Sayori began wriggling in Shimizu’s arms.

As you and Hinata made your way to the metro that would bring you to your apartment complex the air between you was heavy. An obvious awkwardness that was harder to ignore the longer you walked together.

“I’m not surprised their baby ended up looking so cute,” you laughed, filling the space with nervous chatter. “Shimizu is really pretty.”

He nodded, looking up at the cloudless sky thoughtfully. “Do you think our baby would be cute?”

Your heart rate quickened at the idea. It wasn’t like you’d never thought of it, but talking about it outloud was a completely different monster. “I think it would have pretty great genes.”

He nodded, furrowing his brow at the sidewalk ahead.

Hinata wasn’t an idiot. Neither of you were ready for something like that. Several nights ago you’d decided to get drunk and attempt making meat buns-you’d nearly set the kitchen on fire. That doesn’t scream parent material.

On a larger scale, Hinata had just been selected for Japan’s Olympic team. There just wasn’t time for something like that. No, a baby wasn’t realistic.

However...

“What’s our apartment’s pet policy?”

He turned to you with a raised brow, “probably an extra fee and a weight limit. Why?”

You smirked mischievously at him, “want to get a dog?”

His jaw dropped. “Oh my fu-can I name it?”

“Only if I get to pick the breed.”

“Well then, what are you waiting for?” Hinata grasped your hand and yanked you toward the closest metro station. “Look up the closest pet store and let’s go!”

You chuckled, allowing him to pull you toward a random station that probably wouldn’t lead you where you needed. It would work out in the end. Things always seemed to fall perfectly into place with HInata.

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

Hinata glared across the roll of wrapping paper at the small puppy crushing the end of the tube, tearing edges of red and white striped paper with its sharp teeth. Hinata tugged it out of the pup’s mouth, but that only encouraged the behavior as it leapt forward to chew with more vigor.

“Can you grab your son?” Hinata waved the roll around, letting the Shiba Inu chase the end that Hinata held just out of reach. “He’s making this more difficult than it needs to be.”

You paused your typing at the dining table and giggled at Hinata’s antics. After closing the laptop you jogged over to scoop the puppy up, flipping him over in your arms to rub its belly. The puppy let its tongue hang out and wagged its tail vigorously at the attention.

“Oh, Deku, are you giving your dad a hard time,” you cooed down at the puppy, lifting him to look him in the eyes with a furrowed brow. “That’s not very nice.”

Hinata rolled his eyes fondly at your pathetic attempt of scolding while Deku licked you on the nose. Just several months old and he already knew how to manipulate people with his cuteness.

“I bought our bullet train tickets,” you said while nudging him the roll of tape he’d started looking around for. “Natsu called me earlier. We decided that you and I should get there around 3.”

Hinata tore a piece of tape off with his teeth while he held the wrapping paper still around the boxed pair of rollerskates with his foot.

“We have to stop by Tanaka’s place before we head out,” Hinata wrinkled his nose at his poor wrapping job. “Noya’s visiting for a while and he wants to meet Deku.”

“Of course,” you smiled as you held a chew toy above Deku’s face so he could nibble on it in your lap. “We have some presents for Sayori, anyway.”

Oh yeah. You had split the present wrapping in terms of difficulty, so you had the pleasure of wrapping weirdly shaped toys while he was left with boxes. Somehow, his still turned out to be a disaster.

He could hear Natsu’s complaints already.

“The train doesn’t leave till one, so we should have plenty of time.” You stated once Hinata taped the final present, completing his small present tower. Deku wriggled himself free from your grip and immediately attacked the empty wrapping paper roll.

Hinata smiled absentmindedly as he watched Deku hold the tube still with his small paws as he gnawed the cardboard. He felt you crawl over, lying your head onto his lap as your eyes followed his to watch your dog-son together. He felt at peace, running his fingers through your hair while Deku wreaked mischief nearby.

He felt like he could never get happier than this, and he never wanted it to end.

“He really is a troublemaker,” you snorted as Deku dragged the tube across the living room proudly. “Gets it from you.”

Hinata rolled his eyes and pinched your cheek. “It’s because you let him do whatever he wants.”

“Do not!”

He chuckled, taking his time tracing your features. The curve of your cheekbones, the dip of your lips, the bridge of your nose-everything he’d kissed into his memory by now but still couldn’t get enough of.

Hinata’s heart burned bright as he ran his knuckles along your cheek, “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” You smiled softly, leaning subconsciously into his touch.

“I mean… I really love you, (Y/N).” Hinata grabbed your hand and brought it to his lips. “I think this is it.”

You met his stare for several moments before your cheeks reddened. “Oh.”

Hinata nodded, pressing a loving kiss to the back of your hand. “I just-I always want you with me and if it’s not you in the end then… then what’s the point?”

Your mouth fell slightly open and he felt your hand flex in his grasp. He assumed he made a mistake-said too much too fast-but his chest was so warm and full and it was hard to reign in his emotions when he got that way.

A smile blossomed across your face and it eased his anxieties when you held his cheek. “You’re it for me too, Sho.”

He blinked several times as the words rolled over in his mind. “Wha-really?” He twisted himself so he could look you in the eyes, begging for you to be telling the truth.

You nodded shyly, your face crimson. “Yeah. You have been. I’m not… I don’t think I’d be able to love anyone else ever again.”

It felt like he’d been hit by a train at your confession and he pressed his mouth against yours before he’d even processed the statement. Your content hum against his lips was enough to drive him insane.

“Well, I’m going to love you forever.” Hinata promised with a dopey smile. “So don’t even think about that.”

You snorted, but nodded anyway. Hinata glanced down at your lips again with hooded eyes and started leaning forward, but was rudely interrupted by a damp cardboard tube hitting his forehead.

He glanced up exhaustedly at the Shiba Inu puppy panting obliviously at the both of you, waiting patiently for the love and attention he knew he deserved. You pushed Hinata off to grab Deku, but he jumped into a play bow and jolted back when you reached for him.

Hinata smiled dazedly as you chased Deku around the apartment, juking around furniture to attempt to throw the puppy off-course. He had never felt so complete than he had in that moment because he realized that this was it for him.

It was you. It was him. It was a troublemaker dog. And it was a promise that you’d be together forever.

And that was pretty damn perfect.

[murderousginger]

Temporary Bliss

John Shelby x reader x Finn Shelby

Word count: 4,330

Warnings: Angst. Yearning. Smutty things. They're criminals guys, they do bad things.

Note: So this took some time and might be a bit rough, but we all need a distraction right now. I hope you all enjoy!

(gif by @bonniebirddoesgifs​ )

Every day, John thought, Like fucking clockwork.

Finn was outside his office, like a lovestruck idiot, making moon eyes over his secretary. Five minutes before end of day. Every. Day.

It started cute enough. Finn ran past her one afternoon to give John a message from Tommy. He was so wrapped up in getting the message to John that he didn't even notice the girl that he pushed past in John's doorway. That was, until, Finn was knocked off balance from her hands on his collar as she dragged him out of the office. He was taller than she was, which only made it easier for her to move him.

"Excuse me," she had said, face red as she glared up at the youngest Shelby, "I don't believe you have an appointment and you are supposed to see me before you interrupt Mr. Shelby."

"(Y/N)," John said, hiding his smile with his hand before he pointed to the scoffing boy in her grip. "I see you haven't met Finn, my youngest brother."

She immediately loosened her grip on his shirt with a gasp, her eyes dropped to the floor as a waterfall of apologies left her lips like prayers.

"It's okay," John said laughing. "We don't think much of him, either. What do you want, Finn?"

Finn scoffed at his brother as he smoothed out his suit and walked back into the office, closing the door loudly behind him.

John watched through the frosted glass as (Y/N) settled back into her seat at the desk in front of his office before he stood up and met Finn's waiting eyes.

"Well," Finn said, "what's your response?"

John tilted his head.

"To what?"

"To what I just told you," Finn exhaled, hitting his thighs with his hands. "The message."

"The message," John said as he cleared his throat. "Right, well tell me again while I gather a good answer."

Finn groaned.

When Finn left, he had stopped by (Y/N)'s desk to tell her that it was okay, he wouldn't take it to heart, that it was a misunderstanding. But his breath caught as he looked down at her wide eyes looking up at him. He stammered his words as she gave him a smile, politely nodding to encourage him to finish his sentence.

It was all over at that moment, John thought, the idiot fell in puppy love.

Honestly, that was the day John looked at her differently, too. She had always been a good secretary, but her courage to pull a man out of his office made him want to know more about her. He started to notice more, pulling himself out of his head to acknowledge her. For a 20 year old, seven years his junior --far closer to Finn's tender age of 18 than his own-- she had a good head on her shoulders.

She was always nice to the other women, even the gossips and the complainers, and always encouraging on busy days. She did her work and went home. She was always respectful when someone stepped out of line but she had no hesitation in correcting what she thought was wrong. John started finding himself watching her from his office on slow afternoons.

I wonder what she's like when she finally relaxes, he thought. I'd like to be the one that knows. That gets to make her smile.

Finn must have had the same idea, because only a few weeks after their first encounter he started showing up at the office more. He would make small talk, leaning on her desk, bringing her little presents like wildflowers from the ditch or a treat from the bakery. Visit by visit she became friendlier, more animated, relaxed.

The first laugh was music to John's ears. It rang through the empty room after work only to be stifled by her hand. Finn was smiling, leaning over her as he sat on her desk, and something warm knawed at John's stomach. Finn tucked a stray hair behind her ears. He locked eyes with his brother as Finn sat back up and he sheepishly smiled as John's eyebrow quirked.

"I should probably be off," Finn shrugged, looking back at (Y/N). "Let you go home for the day."

"You could walk me, if you'd like," (Y/N)'s voice said softly and John's blood ran cold in the other room. "But only if you'd like."

"Y-yeah," Finn sputtered, standing from her desk. "I'd like that."

After that, Finn walked her home every day. John was always the last one out of the office.

Months went on. Finn continued visiting, bringing her trinkets, walking her home. (Y/N) got more and more comfortable with her position in the company and even began to relax around John. She often stayed late with John to finish counting the books or organize after a particularly busy day.

John found her presence comforting. He started to sit at the table near the safe with his paperwork after hours so that they could talk while the work was being done.

"Exciting plans this weekend, doll?" He asked one Thursday evening after a particularly busy day.

She smiled brightly as she counted a stack of money.

"Actually, yes," (Y/N) said as she scribbled into the book before picking up another stack. "Finn asked if I wanted to see the new Chaplin movie."

John's heart sank as his head shot up. He gave her a weak smile.

"You like Chaplin, eh?"

She nodded excitedly.

"I never really go to the pictures, so it's nice to be able to go."

"A girl like you should have suitors lining up to take you anywhere you'd like," John said as he looked back down to his paperwork. "My idiot brother should be the least of your choices."

"Finn's sweet."

"That what you're looking for?" John asked as he dropped his pen.

(Y/N)'s face is pinched, a troubled look flashing between confusion and annoyance. She bit her lip, as if she had words that would tumble out of she did not hold them.

"Just a question," John sighed as he leaned back. "But not mine to ask. I'm sorry."

"You know what I think?" She said, scrambling to her feet. "Tea. I think we both need a spot of tea. Yes."

She was gone in a blink, off to the kitchens to boil the water. John groaned and pressed his face into his hand a moment, exhaling out the frustration. He tried to read the papers again, but couldn't get past the first few lines.

"Idiot, John, idiot," he mumbled. "Finn's not the only Shelby without a fucking clue."

"He's not," she said as she brought in a cup of tea, setting it beside him.

John flushed as he looked up at her sheepishly.

"Thanks, doll," he said, briefly smiling at her before burying his head back into the stack of paperwork.

She smiled thinly, walking to the door but paused in the frame to look back at him.

"My name's not doll, Mr. Shelby."

John's head snapped up and he frowned as he studied his secretary in the doorway.

"I know your name, (Y/N)," he said, his pen falling from his hand. "Just like I know your last name. Just like I know your family. Just like I know your address."

She froze, and his frown deepened, realizing how that must sound.

"I'm your boss," he smiled as he said in a lighter tone. His eyes softened. "I also know that when the room goes to chaos, you run over and make all the girls a spot of tea, to calm everyone's nerves. Earl Grey, I believe. Probably what I have here beside me, too."

She relaxed as his finger swirled the top of the steaming cup.

"I don't call you doll because I don't know your name," John pressed quietly, tucking the words into the silence like you tuck the edges of a bed cover. "I call you doll because you look it. You're angelic, even in this 'shit lighting' you girls like to complain about."

"I--"

"And I've told you before," he said, picking up the cup and pausing it against his lips. "Call me John."

Her mouth clamped down and she studied the man in front of her drinking tea before she smiled softly.

"Yes, John."

----

When your birthday came the next week, you gasped when you found a box on your desk when you sat down for the day. The small white box was wrapped in a red velvet ribbon and tucked in front of her typewriter. You touched the ribbon, feeling the plush fabric as you carefully pulled on it. You lifted the too to find a white note.

Happy birthday, (Y/N).

You deserve a little sparkle after all the hard work you've put in lately.

-J.S.

Under the note was a sliver of the moon woven into a gorgeous band that felt cool against your fingers as it glistened. It was the most gorgeous silver bracelet you had ever seen.

You appeared in his doorway and closed the door before you could even think straight.

"I can accept this, John," you said as you set the box on his desk.

"Why not?" He frowned as he reached for it. "It's your birthday."

"It's far too much," you said. "I'm just a secretary. This isn't proper."

John's eyes widened as he scoffed.

"There's no attachments," he said. "I'm not asking for anything. I just wanted to give you something nice for your birthday. You've worked so hard around here, a card didn't feel enough." He paused, moving the box in his hand. "And maybe there's an apology wrapped in it as well."

"An apology?"

"The other night I was a git," he said as he scratched his neck. "None of my business who or why you run around with anyone. Not my place. Now come 'round so I can put this on your wrist. I'm not taking it back."

You came around his desk as he opened the box, the chain looking so delicate in his large hands. Feelings bubbled inside and you giggled as he fumbled with the clasp.

"Thank you, John," you said softly as he clasped it around your wrist.

"Pretty bracelet for a pretty girl," he rumbled, smiling at you as you hand lingered in his. He cleared his throat. "Right. Well, work calls. Best go back before the chickens gossip."

He patted your hand before you stepped back, and he smiled at your wrist as you rotated it to watch the bracelet gleam in the light.

"Right, work," you said slowly, watching his eyes follow your wrist as you moved. "Do you need anything while I'm here, John?"

His attention snapped to your face as you said his name and he gave you a lopsided smile that gave you butterflies.

"No, thank you," he said. "Happy birthday again, (Y/N)."

"Thank you, John."

Days went by and you found yourself wearing the bracelet every day. Smiling at it when it caught your eye, even when you were in Finn's company.

One Monday morning, John didn't show up for work. Finn told you that his older brothers were in London, drinking and fucking under the guise of expansion. The answer itched under your skin, but you chalked it up to having to take John's place to keep the girls in the office moving. When he came back, you had no hesitation to visit his office.

"No one's seen you in days," you said as you crossed your arms and eyed him carefully from the doorway.

It has been nearly a week and you had to keep the girls in line as well as the bookies during a huge race while your boss, whose job it was, was off doing who knows what. Or who, the annoying little voice in your head chipped in. The whole thing made you feel tired and agitated. And now he's back, on a Friday evening no less, like nothing ever happened.

"Business in London," John said gruffly as he sat down at his desk to the mountain of paperwork waiting for him. "Tom called it a vacation, but there wasn't no free time. All business."

John sighed as he reached for a pen.

"And there's enough papers to go through I aughta be here half the night."

"Any," you said, smiling softly. So no girls.

"Wasn't any free time. Welcome back, John."

John looked up from his paperwork perplexed until his pursed lips slid into a small smile.

"Thank you, (Y/N)," he said as you kicked off the door and sat back at your desk to finish your work.

"Thought I was doll," you called just loud enough for it to carry into his room. You hoped he could hear the smile in your voice.

"You are," he laughed.

An hour or so later you had finished gathering the information from the last race's earnings and stacked the papers to take to John. You tapped on his door frame and walked in without hesitation.

John jolted in his seat and sat up, a guilty look across his face as if he was caught passing notes in class.

"Papers from the last race you missed," you said, tossing them on top of his pile.

John shuffled in his seat, both hands under his desk. You frowned. His hands reappeared and started shuffling the papers, his eyes not meeting yours. You looked down his pinstripe jacket before you realized why he would look guilty and your eyes snapped back up when you saw his trousers undone.

Oh.

You turned around to walk to the door. You stopped there, a hand on the frame as you looked over your shoulder.

"You know quite a few girls fawn over you," you said. "You could have any of them, really. I don't think I've seen you with a girl in some time. You look" you paused. "Stressed."

John frowned as he looked up from his desk.

"I don't want a razor chaser," he said. "Those girls will blind a Blinder fast. They want the snow and the money but they never think of the violence as more than a thrill."

"Only want those that don't want you?" You smiled, watching closely for any response. A glimmer.

John chuckled before he looked back down to the papers.

"Something like that," he murmured.

Monday afternoon, you were at your desk when Tommy --Mr. Shelby-- stormed past you, cigarette burning between his fingers. The door slammed behind him and you could hear pacing in the room behind you.

"Right, John, you're to lead the Italian meeting in my stead," Tommy's muddled voice said, already moving toward the door. The door jiggled.

"Me? But what--"

"I don't want to hear it," Tommy interrupted, walking through the door before pointing behind him at John. "Just make it happen. This company is growing rapidly. Remind me why you should keep your position."

Tommy walked out with a curt nod at you. Conversation over.

You heard papers scatter as Tommy left and immediately stood up and walked into his office to find John pacing behind his desk. You flinched as he grabbed his chair and threw it into a corner, his hands flying to his head as he growled in frustration. You quickly closed the door behind you.

"John?" Your voice wavered.

He stopped in his tracks and looked up, his wild eyes looked over you before he closed them and took a deep breath.

"Yes, (Y/N)," he said tiredly. "What do you want?"

"It's a slow day today," you said as you looked him over, his hands shaking as he fought to stay still, calm, under your gaze. "The girls were hoping to leave early. Make up the hours when we're slammed later this week."

"Yes," John sighed. "Send them home. Thank you, (Y/N). Now if you could kindly go home yourself, I can properly go 'round the bend in peace."

He started pacing again, but you didn't move to leave.

"John?" You were quiet, and yet it was deafening even as he stomped and growled. You could tell your presence set him on edge, but wasn't entirely sure why. You had started to feel safe around him, joking and talking to each other in after hours. You had thought you were friendly with each other, but his demeanor was tense, agitated.

"What?"

"Is there something wrong?"

You stepped forward and he stopped again, rubbing his eyes in his hand.

"Yes," he said, agitation spilling over like bubbles over a boiling kettle. "Yes there's quite a bit wrong. I've got to lead a meeting with the fucking Italians and I've already been on edge, fucking chomping at the bit for weeks. Between the kids and work I've not had a bloody minute alone."

"Can I help?"

John barked a laugh before he could stop himself.

"Not unless you can dress up as me and talk to the bloody Italians," he said bitterly. "Or you're ready to wank off your boss so his head's on straight again."

His head shot up, eyes wide as he took a step around his desk, his hand outstretched.

"I didn't mean that," he said quickly. "Christ, I'm going bloody crazy."

John started pacing again, a wild animal in a cage. The floor under his feet would wear if he kept going. The boards would creak, give way until he was pacing himself into the ground.

"It's fine," you said quietly. "I'll send the girls home."

You stepped out, keeping John closed in his office to pace as you sent everyone home. Your head was racing with his words. They had been carelessly tossed out without a thought only to be reeled back in, back to the boss you had come to know. They had shocked you. But also intrigued you, you thought. Did he mean it?

After telling the girls the good news, you sat back at your desk for a moment and finished a page of type. As they all filed out and said their goodbyes, you gathered your things but left them on your seat as you went back to John's door.

He stopped in mid pace in the middle of his room as you opened the door. He sighed, as his palms pressed into his eyes. As if to press his brains back in to his head before he did anything stupid.

"I'm fine, really," he said pressing his palms deeper into his eyes. "You can go home."

"I want to help."

John looked at you standing in the doorway. You bit your lip as you watched him watch you. The heat from his hungry eyes made your heart flutter.

"Do I have to say it again?" You asked, your voice stronger than you expected it to be. The longer he stared the more uncertain you felt. You looked down for a moment.

"I--"

John's lips collided into your own as his hand raked into your hair and his hips pressed you into the door. He was hungry, needy, wild. He licked your lip and deepened the kiss. You jolted back to earth as his bit your lip a little too hard. You gasped as you pulled back and his moan was ripped out of your mouth. His hazy blue eyes sharpened as he cupped your face.

"Shit, sorry, doll," he said as he pecked your lips. "You taste so sweet. I got carried away."

You squeezed his forearm and pulled him closer to you again, your skin begging for his touch.

"Kiss me again," you said, watching his eyes light up and an easy smile spread across his face.

He did, and this time he didn't bite you. His hands wandered your frame, expertly memorizing every inch as his kisses made you forget everything but his blue eyes. He lightly tugged on your hair and kissed down your neck, illiciting a moan as he found the spot that made you see stars.

"I could listen to that sound forever," he chuckled into your neck before nipping at the same spot.

You pressed yourself to him as you loosened his tie and pulled his shirt from his trousers.

"Aren't I supposed to be relaxing you?" You laughed before you felt his hand push your skirts up to grab at your thighs.

"Multitasking," he said into your ear and pushed his knee between your legs.

You writhed as he pressed you into the door and you felt the friction he caused at your core. You grabbed his chin and pulled him back to your lips for a kiss as you grinded against his leg without a thought. The pleasure had you. He felt entirely too good against you, and you could not bear to be separated.

"You like grinding, eh?" He chuckled as you gasped when he moved his leg with you and you flushed.

He pulled you from the door, leading you to his desk to sit on top of all the papers. John cupped your face and kissed you so hard you saw stars. You followed as he pulled away, half lidded as he pushed you back onto the desk as he pulled his chair from the corner he had thrown it in.

"Stockings come off, love, before I rip them," he said, setting the chair back in front of you.

"Then rip them," you said lowly as you kicked your heels under his desk and propped a foot on the chair.

"Right," he smiled wolfishly as he sat down between your legs and slipped his hand on your calf and into your skirts. "Come 'ere."

You lifted yourself off the desk for a moment so he could pull your stockings over your ass. John tore them off of you without hesitation and tossed them aside as he ran his rough hands along your legs and up your skirt, pulling you off of the desk and straddling his knee. You purred into his ear.

"Your hands feel so good, John," you rasped. "How do I make you feel good?"

You had no thoughts, no cares, you only wanted more. The world, the room you were in, everything but this feeling and him were static to be ignored. You were lost in lust and couldn't pull yourself out, only through.

You grinded into him and whined as you pulled back to look him in the eye. His eyes were heavy and he cupped your cheek as he pulled you into a kiss.

"Did I need this or do you, doll?" He exhaled a smile as he rested his forehead on yours. "I'm not the only one pent up. Someone hasn't been taking care of you, have they?"

You growled and pressed yourself against him.

"Can you shut up for once in your life?" You gritted your teeth.

"I want to hear it from your lips, doll," he said as he teased you, just out of your reach.

"I want it," you whispered as you rubbed him through his slacks. "I want it. I want it. I want it."

----

Completely spent, John buried his head in her hair for a moment before standing up and fastening his trousers.

"I still have that meeting soon," John said, holding his hand out to help her sit up on the desk. "But after. After I tuck the children in," he kissed her hand, the bracelet catching his eye and causing him to smile. "I want to see you with nothing on but that bracelet. I'm not done. Come over tonight."

She smiled weakly, and he frowned and kissed her hand again. His mind was clear, the fog of cum spent between her legs. The clarity sent warning bells through his brain as he watched her face tighten, her smile artificial and cracking near the corners.

"Or yours," he amended and watched her expression stay the same. "Less chances of interruptions."

He frowned deeper and let go of her hand.

"Did I do something wrong? You're still shaking like a leaf, you can't tell me you didn't--"

"Oy, (Y/N)? John?" Finn's voice echoed outside his office. "Hello?"

John and (Y/N) both froze for a moment as they locked eyes. She gave him a pleading look as she stood up and smoothed her dress back down, slipping her heels back on with effort. John tucked his shirt back in and straightened his tie as she walked to the door and opened it.

"Hey Finn," she smiled weakly, opening the door wide as he strode in. "John was just going over last minute reports before we leave."

"I caught the other ladies down the street," Finn said and eyed his brother. "You're entirely unfair keeping (Y/N) while the rest are allowed to run off for the day. She works so hard for you already, you should appreciate her more."

"I suggested it," (Y/N) cut in as John frowned and opened his mouth. "To get a leg up for tomorrow. But we're done here, so I really should head home. John, good luck with your meeting. I hope I helped."

John nodded and cleared his throat, his brain growing dark. Is she really pretending like I didn't just take her over my desk, he thought. Surely she's just saving his feelings.

"Right, right," he said as he shoved his hands in his pockets. "Have a nice evening, (Y/N)."

"Can I walk you home?" Finn smiled at her as he asked. "Maybe take you to an early dinner?"

John's jaw set as she gave him one last pleading glance before smiling and nodding to Finn, nestling her arm in his.

"I'd love that," she said, her voice shaky as she looked back to John. "I'll see you tomorrow, Mr. Shelby."

John's heart dropped as Finn led her out of his office. He sank into his chair and settled his face into his hands.

Masterlist

[angelicamerlinbarnes]

Albus Dumbledore being an awesome teacher and human being

Bubblegum Bitch - MARINA

(Imma be honest with y’all, it’s mostly just him being a crackhead.)

He tells stories about Grindelwald, about their marriage and their beliefs and their lives together. All of the stories have lessons - sure, a lot of those lessons are about how NOT to make pasta, but they’re still lessons!

He likes to matchmake students using seating charts and certain magical spell assignments. He’s very good at it. I mean, he’s shit at figuring out who likes each other, but he is great at meddling, so Mcgonogall tells him who to mess with and he does as he’s told. They make a great team (and are invited to a lot of weddings). Couples they’ve helped include but are not limited to: Dean and Seamus, Luna and Ginny, Hermione and Harry and Ron, Sirius and Remus, Peter and Maxwell Needles, Peter and Regulus (that was later), Lily and Severus and James, Fred and Lee plus George and Lee, Charlie and Newt (queerplatonic), Leta and Newt (queerplatonic), Harry and Luna (queerplatonic), and Sirius and James and Remus (queerplatonic). They’ve been very busy.

He and Mcgonogall have teatime almost every day. They talk about their students and work on their matchmaking plans. There’s a lot of sass and deadpanning involved. Sometimes they invite Remus, Sirius, and James. (Not Peter. He doesn’t need the same level of torturing that they do.) Bubbles of all shapes and sizes and colors float around the room the whole time. It’s fantastic.

He accepts gossip in exchange for extra credit. He’s a really good secret keeper too, so a lot of students go for it. (It hasn’t broken any friendships. There’s an understanding among the student population that Dumbledore is like Ms. Potts from that Muggle film Beauty and the Beast - well-meaning and trustworthy, but terribly, terribly bored.)

Everything in his classroom is pink. And glittery. And covered in sequins. Once a student asked him why and he just smirked for a solid minute before whispering, “Lemonade.” (As if that makes any fucking sense.)

He once taught class in a full-fledged glittery ballgown that faded from light pink to deep purple. He did not once acknowledge it or act like anything was out of the ordinary. One student raised their hand and asked timidly, “Professor? Why are you wearing a ballgown?” And his brow furrowed as he frowned, looked down at himself, and muttered, “Thought it was a bathrobe.” (Harry does not let him live this one down. His dad is not much help - Severus took many, many pictures.) (Not that it mattered. On Wednesdays Dumbledore wears pink (glittery ballgowns).)

He speaks to kids who have parents, friends, and relatives in prison, whether for being Death Eaters or otherwise. He chaperones visits to Azkaban for them so they can see their loved ones. He casts protective and invisibility charms on them so only the one they’re visiting can see or hear them, and he teaches them Patronuses (with Remus’ help, of course). He often spends these visits on the other side of Grindelwald’s bars, playing wizard’s chess against him. (Sometimes Grindelwald gives him flowers. It always makes Dumbledore smile. There may be no one left in the world who understands why they love each other, but they don’t need to understand it for it to be true.)

He stands at the front of the classroom and makes funny faces during tests and waits to see how long it takes for a student to look up. His latest record is seven minutes.

When he’s teaching Grindelwald’s history, he makes snarky comments about his husband. They range from “I mean really. Who the fuck thought wizards ruling Muggles was a good idea?” (Rest in peace that one student who thought it was a good idea to say, “You did, Professor.”) to “Honestly, that man has no concept of romance. I ask him for a nice night out and he takes me to a Muggle rally about witchcraft and tries to impress me by playing practical magical jokes on the speaker. A toddler could do that.” (He often gets mushy during those stories though, usually trailing off like “But that time he took me to my childhood home for my birthday was sweet… brought me flowers for Ariana’s grave and everything. Sure, he killed her, but… he has a sweet side…” and from there on out he’s basically a lost cause and you might as well go to your next class because he’s not going to stop humming that fucking Elvis song).

He “loses” his glasses all the time by casting an invisibility charm on them and forces his students to search the classroom for them when they’re on his face the whole time. He thinks it’s funny. Harry does not. (But Severus and Mcgonogall do, and that’s really what matters.) (Severus and Mcgonogall and Dumbledore are  a fantastic trio full of snark and sarcasm and shit, I have just decided.)

He makes little animals out of multi-colored magical dust and they fly around the classroom and perch on his favorite students’ heads. Once a dragon fell asleep on Newt’s head and wouldn’t leave even when class was over. Newt had to wait for the magic to wear off so it would disintegrate. (Of course, he had named it by that point and had a meltdown when it disappeared, so Dumbledore recreates the dragon (Robert) every class and just lets Newt coo at it, even during tests.)

He conjured and charmed two giant (I mean Egypt half-animal half-man guard statue size giant) fluffy pink teddy bears that are alive and stand on either side of him like bodyguards during class. A Slytherin student punched one in the stomach once and it vomited enough M&Ms over their head to completely bury them. The student’s partner, a Ravenclaw student, punched the other one in an ill-advised burst of illogical thought and received the same treatment, but in Skittles. (Luckily their Gryffindor aro-ace friend and nonbinary Hufflepuff friend stayed after class and ate until they could move again. Safe to say no one has dared punch the bears again.) (Though I hear they do give very good hugs. And they eat homework if you ask nicely enough!)

He has a bunch of cloaks that act as portals to realms like Merlin’s Celestiums (S.G.E., Soman Chainani). He gives one to each student for tests, and they are transported to their ideal test-taking environments, complete with whatever song they feel like listening to at any given minute playing all around them. Unsurprisingly, his students have the best grades in all of Hogwarts. (He also has a secret cloak that he uses for himself, to see Grindelwald. Grindelwald has his own matching one so he can always make it home for Thursday date night.) (They have been caught. Of course they have. But no one is going to challenge Dumbledore for his right to see his husband, even if he did marry a murderer.) (Sirius and Remus used to steal the cloak for their own dates. And later on James would steal it to take the two of them on friend-dates. Inspired by that, Dumbledore made a special cloak for Mcgonogall that he gifted her on her fiftieth birthday. The smile she gave him then is his favorite of all time.)

He bickers with Fawkes constantly. This often evolves into full-fledged screaming matches with spastic hand gestures, gratuitous spit, and angry hops on both sides. Once Dumbledore drew wand on his “useless babbling bastard of a bird”. No one has bothered to tell Dumbledore that Fawkes probably can’t understand a word of their arguments. (They do evacuate the classroom when these fights start though. The last time they stayed their hair was gone for a week, and when it grew back it was glittery and pink.) (Harry looked especially fantastic. Sirius thought he looked great. He laughed until he was in tears. Harry was not amused.) (Remus was.)

Sometimes he’s absent from class and Mcgonogall teaches them instead. When asked if he’s alright, Mcgonogall simply answers, “My partner is away on personal business for the day. Now, turn to page -” Soon enough people figured out that “personal business” meant “conjugal visit with Genocidal Maniac Husband™ in prison”. They stopped asking.

He gives all of his students the red button test (without knowing what it does, do you press the red button?). Those who pass get automatic A’s and a lollipop. Those who fail get a talking pet pygmy puff. The thing that usually trips people up is that Dumbledore considers the “correct” answer to be pressing the goddamn button. (Seamus is the only one who has ever passed (enthusiastically too!). Newt half-passed because Niffy the Niffler sat on it.) (Sirius and James would have passed too if they had not been the life partners of one Remus Lupin, whose creativity with threats and extensive curse-word vocabulary rivaled Mcgonogall’s even at the tender age of fifteen.)

He has floating war maps just lying around. He plays battleship with his students on them. What he neglects to tell them is that their moves have actual consequences in the world, as the maps are magical and reflect real battles and places. When Harry finds out (he blew up Denmark, completely unawares) he shows up at Dumbledore’s door soaking wet at five-thirty in the morning with a newspaper, his fists clenched, his face red, and his chest heaving. He wouldn’t stop glaring for weeks. (Alas, Dumbledore’s glorious beard has great resistance to fire spells.) (Following an incident involving the original four Marauders in their third year. Shhh… we do not speak of that.)

He has a habit of walking into random classrooms, gesturing for a student to come with him with his finger, and then taking them to his office for teatime. He usually asks them inane questions about a specific theme (fish, pasta strainers, socks, throw pillows, mooses, etc.) for hours until finally dismissing them. It drives Mcgonogall crazy. (She’s yelled at him plenty for “kidnapping students to ask them questions you know you could easily find on that Muggle infer-het thing! They have exams, Albus -” but he just smiles at her while calmly sipping his tea and she always ends up collapsing in the chair across from him with a sigh, taking the tea from his hands and chugging it before wiping her mouth, slamming it down on the desk, and asking, “So. Fish. What’s up with them?” and Albus just beams.)

He spends half of his class lessons babbling on about how Merlin was gay for Arthur and Arthur was gay for Merlin, but not in long tangents. Just a bunch of random comments without context, warning, or explanation. (He mentions “poetry” a lot and waggles his eyebrows for some reason, so… what’s up with that? (Merlin BBC))

He overshares A LOT about his and Grindelwald’s lives. It’s a problem because 90% of the time it’s something sweet or innocent like “Oh, he brought me a tiger lily that bloomed open to show a gold and ruby ring nestled inside on our first anniversary. That’s how he proposed to me” and “He used to hum while he did the housework, you know? He’d stand in the middle of the house and close his eyes and just hum. Almost entire symphonies too, just waving his wand in the air like a conductor” to “This one time in bed he…” and there is NO warning. The amount of things these poor children’s ears have had to endure… (*shakes head in mock disappointment*)

He often cooks during class using wandless magic. The pots and pans heat themselves and float around in the air. Sometimes Dumbledore dances and then they start dancing too. He whistles and creates a base beat for the sizzling, popping, clanging, and other kitchen noises to follow. This usually happens during tests. Oh joy.

He leaves the windows open when it rains, but somehow nothing ever gets wet. Harry and Hermione have a theory that it’s protection charms. (Really it’s a spell Severus made up when he was drunk because he was angry that umbrellas don’t have enough room under them for three, and he’s always been the most self-sacrificial person in his marriage.)

He regularly makes bets with Mcgonogall about the students’ love lives. Not money, but little things the other doesn’t want to do or buy. Dumbledore usually has to handle the Marauders’ detentions or give up one of his teddy bear guards for Mcgonogall’s experimental enjoyments. Mcgonogall has to do something embarrassing or let him borrow one of her glittery hats. They should really stop making bets at this point; the stakes and the winners are dreadfully predictable. He always wins when the bet is on a student’s sexuality or gender and she always wins when the bet is on who a student will end up with. Nonetheless, the bets continue. So too does their grumbling amusement.

He figured out how to make a broom invisible when he and Grindelwald first fell in love, so they could be showy with each other at their Greater Good rallies. They later used it for dates, prison breaks, and daring escapes complete with kisses under the moon. Once Grindelwald went to Azkaban, Dumbledore used it to find some privacy where he could grieve. Now, he uses it to travel around his classroom and Hogwarts and trick everyone into thinking he can fly by sheer will. Only Mcgonogall knows his secret. (And Severus, but Dumbledore doesn’t know that because he told him when he was black out drunk. So.)

He lets pygmy puffs sleep in his beard. Sorry, I don’t make the rules.

He once taught class while teetering on his feet because he had somehow gotten himself tangled in Christmas lights from shoulders to ankles and couldn’t move. (Sirius wandered in and saw this, cried he was laughing so hard, and then warbled his off-key way through as many Christmas carols as he could remember for the rest of class.) (Dumbledore tried to Silencio him but just fell over trying to make the wand movement. He broke his nose. Sirius almost had a panic attack because he couldn’t breathe from how hard he was laughing. By the end of this he had curled up in a fetal position on the floor, Remus was lying down next to him and muttering jokes to him, Mcgonogall was trying to fix Dumbledore’s face, and Severus had taken over the class. Not that they got much done - James was visiting that day. And him, Sirius, and Remus all laughing about the same thing rarely leads to a quiet and calm learning environment.) (They gave him a joint present of rainbow Christmas lights for his birthday - “Happy Gay Day, Professor!” - and he was not amused.) (Grindelwald was though. So was everyone else.)

He tends to mix up holidays in his head and often decorates for the wrong one. He goes all out too. He’s kind of a disaster, and so is his classroom. It became such a problem that the Marauders actually took pity on him and made him a very big calendar with all the holidays marked on it in glitter and fake jewels and flowers. It sits behind his desk and occasionally works.) (Occasionally.)

He’s queerplatonic partners with Mcgonogall. They held a friend-wedding and forced Severus to be the flowergirl. Harry officiated, Remus was Dumbledore’s best man, Sirius was Mcgonogall’s, James wasn’t given a job cause he was crying too much, Lily was in charge of taking care of James, and Peter was the ring bearer (he only lost them TWICE and they were ring pops anyway). Mcgonogall screeches at him a lot and Dumbledore can be depressive and neglectful because he misses Grindelwald but they love each other so it works. (And they’re the prime source of advice for James, Sirius, and Remus regarding their own queerplatonic relationship, for better or for worse.)

He puts his feet up on the desk even though it’s bad for his knees. Mcgonogall told him it’s bad for his knees and he has stubbornly put them up there every class since. (His knees are killing him but he will not give in to “a paranoid, batty old witch who doesn’t know shit about what’s good for me and wouldn’t if she was hit with an Imperio and I told her -” “I’M YOUR FUCKING PARTNER, YOU BLASPHEMOUS ARROGANT BRAT OF AN OLD FART!”)

Instead of walking around his classroom, he struts. (Yes, it worsens his knees.) He does strike poses, he does make obnoxious expressions, and he does look fabulous. WORK! (Yes, that was a Hamilton reference.)

He once taught class without a  face because Mcgonogall cursed him for “fucking up the alphabetical organization of my tea, you old twit. Honestly, Albus, it’s not that hard”. (How did he teach without a mouth, you ask? Easy, he used intermediate BSL (deaf students, plus Azkaban isn’t great on old men’s ears and he and Grindelwald are both gettin’ up there) and Sirius interpreted.) (Incredibly wrongly, crudely, and foul-mouth-ly, but nonetheless he interpreted.)

He has difficulty understanding the straight people in his class. He is fully accepting of everyone and wants the best for all of them, but when it comes to relationship advice, he’s shit.

Excerpt pulled from Pensieve of a conversation he had with a student who identified as female:

Dumbledore: “So your boyfriend is a dick, is what you’re saying?”

Student’s best friend: “Yes. Merlin, he’s such a dick. Would you believe he -”

Dumbledore: *looks at student and points to her best friend* “Why don’t you just date her?”

*cue red faces and sputtering*

(They did not take his advice.)

He wears bowties ALL THE TIME. If he’s not wearing a bowtie, there are bows in his hair and tying the ends of his beard together. Once he wore pigtails. It was great.

He has a habit of bursting into song randomly and performing full-blown Broadway musical numbers (yes, he can rap Guns and Ships at full speed). This usually involves all of the complex moves to be expected in a musical - dramatically climbing up the stairs while looking forlorn, leaping onto the desk and squatting as you launch into a whispered limerick, speedy costume changes - you know, the works. Sometimes Sirius and James back him up, if they’re there. Severus will take over teaching with a bored look on his face (“What are you looking at, Harry?” “Dad, there’s -” “I don’t see anything interesting happening, Harry.” *glares*) while Mcgonogall screeches at Dumbledore to “GET THE FUCK DOWN, YOU NARCISSISTIC HEATHEN!” It’s a problem.

When the Marauders challenge the dress code, Dumbledore is the first Professor to encourage it. While Sirius is perfectly confident in a skirt and Regulus isn’t far behind (neither is Severus, surprisingly), James and Remus are far more insecure. Dumbledore wears a tutu to class one day to show his support, and Remus wouldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day. (James just turned bright red and beamed when Sirius started laughing.) He also backed Lily up when she wore pants (along with Marlene, Dorcas, and Mary) by convincing Mcgonogall to wear pantsuits for a week. (Sirius, despite being a hardcore gay, was quite affected by this. Remus did not appreciate the water spit in his face and refused to kiss Sirius for a week.)

He plays Cecily Smith (Will Connolly) on the ukulele on late nights and stares out at the stars thinking of Grindelwald. Sometimes he forgets to turn off the Sonorus from earlier that day and ends up broadcasting his little song to the whole school. Sirius and Remus will dance to it in the common room while James watches his partners with a happy smile on his face (and Peter sleeps, because he’s tired and doesn’t force himself to stay up simply for the purpose of being cool or finishing that one assignment that isn’t due for another two weeks) (I’m sorry, do you feel called out?).

This man has weed brownies stashed away in his desk and he does eat them during class. He also offered one to Remus once, who is the only student that knows about the stash and tends to use marijuana for medical purposes (helping with anxiety and pain regarding the full moon, courtesy of my beautiful girlfriend who has never read nor seen Harry Potter but nonetheless insists to me that Remus Lupin is a stoner who wears red beanies). This prompted Sirius to ask for one, which Dumbledore refused, but then James joined in and they started a riot by standing on their desks and pumping their fists in the air and screaming, “BROWNIES FOR ALL!” while Remus giggled into his hand and was no help at all, so Dumbledore gave them each a brownie just to shut them up. (Sirius wouldn’t stop rambling about how pretty Remus’ eyes were, James was babbling on about unicorns, Severus was hissing at something no one else could see, Regulus was hissing at the same thing for some reason, Peter was crying because he couldn’t tell the difference between hamsters and gerbils and guinea pigs, and Lily was muttering pi under her breath until she fell asleep.) (Mcgonogall was unimpressed.) (No teatime for eight weeks. Damn.)

Dumbledore cares about all of his students, however little he shows it. He wants them to lead a better life than he did. And maybe fall in love with better people than he did.

[y0itsbri]

Red Meets Blue

for a.u.gust @gallavichthings - a time travel au of sorts

slightly abstract & angstier than i expected. i realize that red and blue are the characters in 'this is how you lose the time war.' although i haven't read that, there may have been some subconscious influence with the names.

uhhh fair warning: writing this made me cry so idk if that's a personal problem or if i actually wrote something sad so sorry in advance

words: 1.9k

Ian turned his glass over in his hands, watching the amber liquid chase the fall of gravity. Red lights overhead illuminated his fingertips, still shaky.

He jumped when the bar door was heaved up with more force than necessary, causing it to leave a dent in the wood behind it.

An unfamiliar face strode in like he owned the place, which wouldn't be abnormal if Ian hadn't frequented this bar since he was seven. He knew he didn't recognize this man. And yet he couldn't look away.

"Tequila."

A cup was filled almost instantly and he downed it even quicker.

"Another one." The man pounded on the bar. The bartender filled his glass again and moved onto the next patron when he didn't request another.

Ian couldn't help but stare. There was something about him that Ian simply couldn't tear himself away from. His gruff but confident demeanor. His short stature but loud presence. His cool energy but warm aura.

And apparently his ability to see out of his own two fucking eyeballs because he was staring directly at Ian with a glint of something in his eye.

"Can I fuckin' help you?" The man's dark eyebrows shot up his forehead as the corners of his lips tugged up into a half smirk.

Ian's thoughts clouded over as he watched the man's features, but he successfully managed to stutter out a "No, sir."

The man outright laughed. "Sir," he mocked with no real heat in his words. "'m just fuckin' with ya."

Ian released a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding.

"Can I buy your next round?" Ian asked, eager to amend any tensions with the newcomer.

"I gotta go, but I'll see you around, Red, don't worry," and he winked.

Red.

"Uh- sure." Ian murmured long after the door had already closed behind the unnamed man.

---

Ian stopped by the bar at nearly the same time everyday. It had been over a week since the mysterious man who called him 'Red' had made an appearance. Ian would have thought the whole thing as some hallucination if there wasn't that dent in the wall behind the front door. Proof that Ian wasn't completely off his rocker. At least yet. He scrubbed his hands down the side of his face and closed his eyes.

He hadn't remembered falling asleep, but he woke up to the sound of a glass clinking on the table mere inches from his head. He expected one of the usual workers, kicking him out of his table for the night. Which is why it startled him all the more when he heard that unfamiliar familiar voice.

"How's it hanging, Sleeping Beauty?" He smiled at Ian, almost like he was the butt of a joke he didn't know was going on, but also with something more akin to fondness. Either way, Ian didn't understand and he was even slower at responding. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, assuming the dark-haired man was solely a figment of his dreams.

He remained.

The man pushed the glass closer to Ian. His usual amber liquid replaced with something more red.

"It's your usual, just with cherries. Wanted something a bit more colorful, but fair warning, it might taste like shit." He smirked.

Ian only stared between him and the drink.

"Here, I'll try it, it's not drugged or whatever, promise." Ian watched as the man took a sip and proceeded to grimace. "On second thought, maybe don't try that. It does taste like shit. It's the sentiment that counts though, right, Red?"

There it was again. Red.

Ian took in the sight in front of him. His eyes were blue. Piercingly blue. Cold but open. Daring Ian to share all of his secrets. His gaze travelled down to his cheek. There was a wide scratch along the side of the man's face. Surely that hadn't been there a week ago. But the gash was too healed for it to not have been.

"Your cheek?" He mustered through his confusion.

The man's smile faltered for a moment, revealing something akin to fear, before perking up even brighter than before. A façade maybe. "Observant fucker aren't you?"

Ian didn't know why he felt so safe. He'd all but spoken a few sentences to the stranger. He didn't even know his name. But he held his gaze like the answers to all his prayers were floating in the pools of blue. Like maybe he was supposed to be here. Like maybe this meant something. Like maybe he meant something.

Blue.

---

Ian didn't go to the bar everyday anymore, but told the bartender to let him know if the man, Blue, ever stopped by again.

Ian spent days at home and nights at school. He kept himself busy. He kept himself on track, at least what he thought was a proper track. It was something. And he was starting to feel proud of his progress. Of his stability.

On a seemingly random Thursday, after a particularly gruesome exam, he found himself at the bar again. His usual table was occupied so he turned to leave. But before he could do so, he recognized the occupant. Maybe not by name, but by being. He sat down across from him.

"Red."

"Blue."

They greeted. They smiled. Like it was a secret.

Blue was first to speak, as usual.

"You look well."

Ian blushed. He didn't know the man, but he felt his words in earnest. Ian took in the man's face. The gash that previously took up half his cheek was now nothing but a faded shiny scar. But a vibrant bruise colored his eye socket. Ian knew not to ask. But nevertheless commented.

"Wish I could say the same for you."

Blue smiled, his eyes, bruise and all, crinkling. Ian was sure it hurt to smile that big, but if it did, he couldn't tell.

Ian felt something strong. A connection of sorts. He looked down at his fingertips, slightly purple. He looked up at the lights, a couple burnt out. He felt a boot kick his own under the table.

"Here." Two glasses of amber liquid were waiting on the table between them. "No cherries."

They clinked glasses. It felt like a celebration of sorts. Of what, Ian didn't know. He didn't care.

---

Days had come and gone. Weeks had come and gone. Ian spent days at work and nights at home. Home being alone. Not quite lonely, but not quite right either. Ian didn't go to the bars much anymore. He ordered in quite a bit, working exhausting him too much, his social life working not enough. He heard a knock at his door, expecting it to be his usual takeout. Instead, he was greeted with Blue.

Ian's mouth dropped open in an o. It had been months, going on a year maybe? Blue's scar and bruise looked the same, as if nothing had changed.

"Got your address from the barkeep. I told them it was an emergency and you left this," He wiggled a jacket in front of him, "They said you were a family friend. Sorry, man, I would've came sooner, but I didn't know how to-"

Ian tugged Blue's shirt, inviting him inside. Inviting him into his arms. Into his mouth. He was warm and he made Ian feel right.

Later, when their bodies were bare and tangled under Ian's sheets, heartbeats thrumming red blood through blue veins, Ian slipped the truth into the universe.

"Ian."

Blue turned his head upwards and caressed the side of Ian's face, "Ian, you're beautiful."

A pause stretched between the two of them long enough that Ian began to drift off, floating into his dreams. Taking the form of a swan, Blue's voice spoke, "Mickey."

Mickey.

It was the last thing he remembered him by.

---

Years had passed. There had been up and downs. High highs and low lows. His hair was strands of salt and pepper. His cheeks a shade of tomato red. His body kissed by the sun. He let his mind wander quite a bit, but he was happy enough. He didn't move as fast as he used to, but he was doing alright.

On an autumn day, his daughter, home from college, strolled into the living room of his house, hand in hand with another girl. Ian couldn't not stare. The girl's blue eyes met his green.

He was hit with something. A realization. A pillow. His daughter threw it at him. "Dad, stop staring at Mandy!" Mandy. It wasn't familiar but it wasn't unfamiliar.

Ian cleared his throat, "Uh, yeah, sorry about that. Are you staying for dinner? We're making spaghetti."

Mandy smiled, her eyes crinkling with it. "That'd be great."

Her voice rang in the air as Ian prepped the food. Laughter coming from his daughter's bedroom.

---

Mandy came around pretty often after that. Birthdays. Holidays. Weekends.

Things were fine before, they were. But with Mandy around, things felt better. Closer. Fuller.

One Thanksgiving, Mandy asked if her brother could join them. He had just gotten back from his backpacking trip or something or other.

He had to have known, right?

The doorbell rang, a familiar chime echoing throughout the near-empty house aside from the table set for four waiting in the dining room.

Ian opened the door and came face to face with Blue.

"This is my brother, Mickey. Thanks again for letting him come over!" Mandy hugged Ian once before running off to find his daughter.

Red and Blue stared at each other for a long moment. Too long. Not long enough. He looked the exact same as he did all those years ago. Blue smiled. Mickey smiled. Ian's vision became blurry.

Mickey spoke first as usual, "I'm sorry it's been so long." An edge of regret in his voice.

A hot tear trailed down Ian's cheek, mimicking the scar on Blue's own.

Mickey wiped the tear gently. He let his hand fall onto Ian's clutching tightly. You're here. You're real.

"I'm here now."

Dinner was filled with loud chatter and laughs from the girls, oblivious to the intense gazes between Red and Blue. Between Ian and Mickey.

Ian didn't know how long this would last this time, afraid to imagine a lonely future without him again. He wouldn't let himself think any thoughts besides this feels good, this feels right.

---

Ian and Mickey spent time together. Learning the secrets of Red and Blue - past, present, future alike.

When all the secrets were spilled, they both knew this was it. There was nothing else left to learn, to do. They had explored each other's bodies, memorizing each freckle and scar like the universe was written in them. And maybe it was.

Time was incomprehensible and it ripped a shred through their reality.

Mickey had to go. He didn't when he could return. If he could return in time.

Ian's fingers brushed across Mickey's eyelid, under the purple hollows of his eye. He felt the flutter of Blue's eyelashes. Mickey's fingers combed through the locks of hair atop Ian's head, no longer red.

Maybe this was it. And maybe it wasn't. But they had existed together in something that was real.

Something Purple.

[connordavidscamera]

Extra Shot | Connor Brashier

A/n: My precious Rina @goldenflickerx has been attacking me with CONcepts again and I decided that it was time to write one that we’ve talked about. Also, it’s Connor’s birthday, so what better way to kick that off?

Summary: You come into the same cafe at the same time, three times a week and Connor (your barista) has taken a liking to you.

Warnings: fluff, humor

Word count: 2.1k

***

“Hey, wasn’t your shift supposed to end like ten minutes ago?” My coworker, and unfortunate best friend, Sam asks. 

I check the time on the clock again. She was supposed to be here by now, but I guess there’s a lot of traffic. At least, that’s what I’ve heard like six customers complaining about this afternoon. I don’t want to leave until I see her. It’s the best part of my day and if I could just hold off for - 

The bell above the door rings and there she is. I push Sam out of the way and stand at the register to greet her with a bright smile. “Hi, y/n.”

She smiles back at me, and I swear my heart stops when she does. “Hi, Connor,” she says back and oh wow, my name sounds like heaven slipping off her tongue with ease.

“What can I get you today? Vanilla latte, right?” I ask, even though I know her order by heart. “Or are we looking to branch out a little this time?”

She sucks in a breath and looks at the menu, chewing on her bottom lip. “Hmm… I don’t think today will be a something new day. Maybe next time though. Next time you can get me your favorite drink. How about that?”

I nod, grabbing a cup and writing her order on the side. “I think I can’t wait for that.” I tap on the screen, “So that comes out to $4.36.”

She already has her card out, she always does, and inserts it in the chip reader. I watch her perfectly manicured nails tap the counter as she waits. She always has her nails done. Not in those long acrylics that most girls come in with, although I have seen her come in with those a couple times too. But they’re always done, I’ve noticed. “So, how’s your day going today? Busy?”

I shake my head, “Not too bad. It’s been pretty steady. You’re actually my last customer of the day. My shift ends in five minutes.”

“Oh, well lucky me,” she teases, but I know she means it and I have to look away so she can’t tell that I’m blushing.

The machine prompts her to take out her card, and at the same time we go, “No receipt.”

She smiles softly at me and gives me a single nod. “I’ll have your drink right out for you.”

“Thank you, Connor. You’re an angel.”

Now I really can’t fight the blush.

I take extra care making her latte. I’m the only one who makes it. Not because she requests me, but because I won’t let anyone else touch it. She’s my customer and I’m not letting anything get in the way of that.

“Here you go, y/n. Iced vanilla latte. I added an extra shot. Looked like you needed it.”

She smiles brightly at me, “An angel, Connor. I mean it. Thank you.”

I nod, “Of course. I’ll see you next week?”

“Same time,” she nods. “Yes. Have a good weekend.”

“You too,” I say as she turns to leave.

The door barely closes behind her before Sam is right behind me. “You’re drooling,” he says in my ear, causing me to jump.

“What? No, I’m not. Shut up.”

“Bro, you’ve been caught up on that girl since the day she started coming in. Just ask her out already.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, no? So you didn’t just push me out of the way so you could take her order? And you haven’t done it every single time she’s come in since the beginning?”

“Nope,” I shrug, untying my apron.

“Your shift ended almost twenty minutes ago. You were waiting for her.”

“Drop it, Sam. You have no idea what you’re even talking about.”

He holds his hands up in surrender. “Okay. Sure. I’ll leave it alone. But she does have you so fucked.”

I toss my apron at his head. “Fuck off! I’m gone,” I say, clocking out and grabbing my keys from my locker.

He laughs as I walk out of the building. I shake my head as I head to my car. Maybe he isn’t wrong. Okay, no. He isn’t wrong at all. I am completely and totally gone for her and I know next to nothing about her.

I do know this though. Tuesday, the first day she comes in during the week, she almost always gets an extra shot of espresso in her drink. And on Wednesday, she always gets a scone – if we have them, she prefers blueberry, but she’ll settle for any other kind if we’re out. (And when I’m in charge of ordering inventory, I make sure we have enough.) And Thursday is usually a surprise. She flip flops between what she gets on those days. I think she’s just worn out from school or work – I’m not sure which one, if either – at that point that she just comes in for a pick me up.

Little does she know that she’s my pick me up. Every day she comes in, I’m so excited to see her. The first time I saw her? I swear I saw my future walking through that door. She just looked so fucking pretty. And she was so sweet, and she smiled at me like she knew me, like she could see right through me. And not to be dramatic, but I’m pretty sure her smile could light up the night sky if the moon wasn’t out. Actually, it could probably compete with the moon and win. (But again, I’m not being dramatic.)

---

Tuesday is crazy busy. Finals week. It always get s like this, and honestly, I am running around the café like a chicken with my head cut off. People aren’t getting what they ordered, they’re complaining that we’re out of something. Others are complaining that we’re taking our sweet precious time as if their time doesn’t matter – or as if there aren’t fifteen other orders in front of them that we have to take care of before theirs. It’s absolute chaos and I’m so ready for this shift to be over so I can go home and pass the fuck out.

And I swear if one more person complains about the fact that we’re having to use paper straws, I’m going to lose it. I’m in the middle of filling the coffee maker with more grounds when the bell rings above the door and I swear I can feel my heart beating in my eyeballs (although that might be because I added three extra shots to my drink when I took my break).

“Connor,” Sam pats my shoulder. “You take this one.”

“What? No, why? I’m already doing-“

“Y/n’s here,” he says.

I quickly turn to the register and it’s like my whole mood has changed. “Oh, yeah. I got this one.” I set the water down on the counter and run my hand through my hair that’s no doubt a mess at this point. I hope she doesn’t notice. “Hi.”

She sends me a sympathetic smile and that’s how I know I must look as bad as I feel. “Hi, Connor. You doing okay?”

“Better now,” I say matter-of-factly. “I’m glad you’re here. Good to see a friendly face.”

She hums, “Not a lot of nice customers today.”

I chuckle, “Let’s just say drinks have been spilt, names have been called, and my two week notice has been typed up and it’s ready to be sent if one more person complains about us being out chocolate chip cookies.”

She laughs, “Oh no. I’m so sorry.”

I shake my head, “It’s okay. Helping you out has been the highlight of my day.”

“Oh? Well, I am flattered.”

“What am I getting you today?”

“Well, I think we discussed last time, you making me your favorite drink. So I can branch out.”

I nod and smile, grabbing a cup, “Yes. We did. I’ll have it ready for you in a minute.”

“How much?” She asks, ready to insert her card, but I shake my head.

“No charge. It’s on me today.”

“What? No, Connor. I can’t let you do that.”

“No, please. I got it. Especially because I don’t want you paying for something and then you don’t like it? No way. It’s on me.”

“But-“

“Y/n, I’m not taking your money. And if you argue with me, I will put in my two weeks’ notice right now.”

She gasps, “The audacity!”

I laugh, I can’t help it. “Your order will be right out,” I say smugly.

Reluctantly, she puts her card away and moves to the side of the counter to pick up her drink. I’m about to start swirling in the caramel when it all comes out in one big glob and then nothing at all. I groan and look to Sam, “Gotta get more caramel from the back. You good here for a minute?”

“Yeah, got it covered.”

It takes me five minutes to find the caramel because whoever put it away during the morning shift didn’t put it where it was supposed to go. And in these five minutes, I have heard the bell above the door ring six more times and I know Sam can’t handle this on his own. But I finally get it, and promise to rip the morning staff a new one next time I come in. I rush out the back and Sam is working the cash register again, and y/n is standing there at the counter patient as ever.

I breathe a sigh of relief because of course she’s there with a soft smile on her face. I return the sentiment when I catch her eye. Then I’m back to making her drink. Before I hand it to her, I draw a semi-terrifying smiley face on the side of the cup and hand it to her. “I hope you like it. And sorry about that wait. The morning staff is so gonna get it tomorrow.”

She laughs, and I melt. I want to hear that sound for the rest of my life. It’s the most beautiful sound in the world. “Don’t worry about the wait. I’ve got nowhere to be, so I don’t mind the wait. Or the company,” she smiles. “You’re working tomorrow?”

I nod, “Same time.”

“Okay, maybe if it’s not so busy, you can tell me about how it goes with the morning staff.”

I smile, “Yes, I will definitely do that.”

“Okay, well I will leave you to work. Sam looks like he’s about to pull his hair out.”

I look over at my friend who is attempting to make three drinks at a time, which in a rush like this, is only a recipe for disaster. “Yeah, I should help him. I’ll see you tomorrow then?”

She hums, “Yes, you will. Have a good rest of your day, Connor.”

“You too, y/n.”

---

I plop down on my bed, completely exhausted. Besides the drive home, this was the first time I’ve been off my feet since I got to work. I check the time on the clock by my bed and groan. I was supposed to meet a couple of my friends for a drink tonight, but honestly, nothing sounds more unappealing than that right now. So, I shoot a text to Will and tell him I won’t be coming out tonight and then I slowly push myself off the bed.

A shower would be nice. You wouldn’t think being a barista would cause you to sweat so much, btu dear god, when we hit that afternoon rush, it feels like you’re running a marathon. And right now, I just need to get out of these clothes and into bed.

My shower takes longer than usual, not for any particular reason other than I just stood under the water for a good ten minutes before I even thought of grabbing any soap.

I come back into my bedroom to my phone dinging with a message. I assume it’s just Will calling me out for not wanting to go with them tonight, so I ignore it and go to my dresser to get some boxers and a pair of shorts. I’m wringing out the water in my hair (that desperately needs a cut, but I’m far too busy to get one right now) when I go to grab my phone as it dings again.

I have one message from Will, and one from an unknown number. I furrow my brows at that and click on it.

Unknown

Hey! Did your day end up getting better after I left?

That’s weird. I never get random texts like this.

Me

I’m sorry. I think you have the wrong number.

Unknown

Is this Connor?

M

… yeah

Unknown

It’s y/n. Sam gave me your number. Apparently you get mopey when I leave.

So… did it get better? Or were you mopey lol

***

I hope you enjoyed!! Please like, reblog, and leave feedback!!

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[cowboy-eddie]

Tumblr Exclusive: Chaotic at the best of times

Maddie, unable to find her brother for babysitting duty, stops by his apartment. She’s not even slightly surprised but also- she didn’t need to see that much of Eddie Diaz.

Shouldering Jee-Yun’s diaper bag, Maddie knocked on Buck’s apartment door again and glanced down to her daughter.

“I think your Uncle Buck is still asleep! Should we go and wake him up? What do you think?”

Jee-Yun gurgled in her mother’s arms, clearly no idea what’s going on, and Maddie smiled as she reached into her back pocket, pulling out her keys.

 There’s two details she missed when she entered; one is the extra pair of work boots on his boot rack at the front door. The second is the duffel on the couch, still zipped shut… but with military dog tags attached to the handle. Placing Jee-Yun on the couch, Maddie reached for her phone and checked to see if Buck had texted her back. When seeing there wasn’t anything, she glanced at the stairs.

“Wait here, okay sweetie?”

Jee-Yun didn’t move, as expected of a baby, so Maddie headed upstairs. She made sure her footsteps were gentle, just in case her little brother was sleeping, and paused at the top.

“Hey, Evan, are you-“

 ~~~

 There was Eddie Diaz, sound asleep. The only way Maddie could tell it was him was the tattoo on his tanned arm, the one she’d spotted when he’d been helping Chim put together the changing table and he’d pulled up his sleeves. Buried under the blankets, he didn’t look like the Eddie Maddie knew. She knew the sassy, slightly snappy, always on guard Eddie. In her brother’s bed, he looked… peaceful. She didn’t know if it was cute or terrifying.

“Hey, Eds, you should probably- holyfuckingshit!”

 ~~~

 Buck bolted back into his bathroom and Maddie slapped her hand over her eyes, undoubtedly waking Eddie who stretched out like a cat. It took him a second to register Maddie, but the second he did he hit the ground with a thud as he tried to scramble out of the sheets.

“Uh, hey, Maddie, long time no see.”

“Hey, Eddie, you too- please put some pants on.”

“Oh, right, yeah, definitely.”

At that moment Buck emerges from the bathroom, fully dressed, and the blush on his cheeks is permanent.

“What are you doing here, anyway?” He asked and Maddie gestured downstairs.

“You promised you’d babysit-“

“-fuck, I forgot, I’m sorry Mads. I got caught up-“

“-clearly.”

Buck blushes harder, but he can tell from Maddie’s smile that she thinks this is hilarious. Eddie has gathered enough of his clothing and put it on- Maddie doesn’t have the heart to tell him he’s wearing his shirt backwards- and slipped downstairs.

“I’ll call you later!” Buck yelled after him, getting that hardened Diaz glare that doesn’t make Buck flinch but Maddie winced anyway.

“Yeah, so that happened. Can I leave my daughter here, or is Eddie coming back?”

“I-“

Buck shut his mouth, rolled his eyes, and gestured downstairs.

“Is Jee-Yun here or did you let her get kidnapped?”

“Jesus, Buck, Eddie is definitely rubbing off on you.”

The innuendo is not lost on Buck, who groaned.

“Look, it just- it was spur of the moment. I don’t- we’re not-“

“-mmhmm. Sure thing. Listen, Buck, I won’t- I won’t tell Chimney. He’s awful at keeping secrets.”

Buck’s face relaxed and he went to hug his sister, but she put a hand on his chest.

“You might want to tell him soon, though. His bet was this week.”

“Of course it was,” Buck huffed, “it’s Eddie’s birthday on Thursday.”

“Right. Anyway, I should get going. There are bottles in the bag, and diapers as well as cream and wipes. If you need anything-“

“-I know, Maddie. Go, I’ll see you later.”

Maddie finally hugged her brother, pressed a kiss to his cheek, before she pulled back to hold his shoulder.

“Finally.”

Then she’s gone, and Buck headed downstairs to greet his niece.

“Hey, Jee-Yun, can we keep it a secret between us that Eddie has been here almost twice a week for the last month?”

The baby giggled, smacking her hands on Buck’s and he grinned at her.

“Thanks. You’re way better at keeping a secret than your father.”

 ~~~

 The next time Maddie’s at the firehouse, she can’t look Eddie in the face and to be fair, he can’t look at her either. He disappeared to the trucks soon after she got there, and then to the bunk room. Buck nudged Maddie’s shoulder gently.

“Not subtle,” he whispered. Maddie raised her eyebrows.

“I’m not subtle? You’re not exactly hiding that you and him are- are…”

Buck’s face pinched, before he let out a sigh and headed for the bunks too. Maddie watched him go, before turning to see Bobby right beside her.

“Are they-“

“-yeah.”

Bobby exhaled.

“Finally.”

“Thank you!” Maddie exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air exasperatedly and Bobby chuckled.

“Don’t worry, the secret’s safe with me.”

Maddie’s eyes widened- Bobby Nash was just that good, he’d managed to pull it out of her in seconds- but he just waved off her panic.

“No complaints from me here. They’ve been nothing but professional, so it’s none of my concern.”

 ~~~

 A week or so later, Maddie heard a knock on her front door and opened it to see Eddie Diaz.

“Oh, uh, Eddie! Chim is out at the moment, but-“

“-I actually… I wanted to talk to you.”

Maddie stepped back to let him in, but Eddie kept his mask on.

“Just in case,” he said in way of explanation.

“So… what did you want to talk about?”

“The fact you caught me literally with my pants down and we haven’t spoken about it.”

Maddie had never known Eddie to be direct- granted, she didn’t know Eddie very well aside from a few meetups with the 118- and she blinked.

“Oh. That. Right.”

“Maddie, I wanted you to know… I wouldn’t ever intentionally hurt Buck. He’s, god, he’s-“

“-he’s Buck,” Maddie finished and Eddie looked like he knows Maddie gets it.

“Yeah. And I know that, uh, you might have some reservations about Buck and me-“

“-yours and Buck’s relationship is none of my business. Of course I’m going to be worried about my little brother, but he’s 6’2 and clearly competent of making good decisions. He’s got you, hasn’t he?”

Eddie smiled under his mask, and Maddie hesitantly reached out to squeeze his shoulder.

“Thank you for coming to me, though, instead of just letting it slide. That being said… make sure Buck puts a sock on his door next time, or leaves something on the couch, okay?”

And Eddie blushed, but Maddie could tell he wasn’t quite uncomfortable. Nudging his shoulder, she smiled.

“Go and be with him. Tell him I’ll kick his ass if he ever hurts you.”

Then Eddie was gone, and Maddie let out a breath. God, her brother and Eddie were chaotic at the best of times.

Catch me on my ao3: CallMeG :)

[wiypt-writes]

Riding High

Ch16: Roast Beef, Cake and Ponies

 Chapter Summary: It’s Mary’s birthday…and Evelyn is back in town.

 Chapter Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, 18+). 

 Chapter Pairings:  Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

 A/N: A nice, fluffy chapter for Friss after the heartache of the last one! 

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding High Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 15

 "How does the Waldorf Astoria grab you?" Frank asked, looking up from the screen he had open on his phone.

 Fliss, who was busy at the dining table with her nose buried in diagrams and goodness knows what else she had spread over the surface for lesson planning, glanced over to where he was sat on the new sofa, watching her over the back of it.

 "What?"

 "For New York"

 "Frank, I'm not following you, babe…"

 "I said we were gonna go this December. Take Mary for the snow." He looked at her, "did you forget?"

 "Actually I did..." she said with a chuckle as she dropped the pen she was holding "but that aside, it's only just gone May!"

 "Yeah but I was talking to Simon and he says it gets booked up pretty quickly so thought I'd start looking.” He shrugged "There’s a pretty good offer on at the Waldorf. Start of December, Thursday to a Sunday…taking her outta school shouldn’t be a problem…”

 He stood up and made his way over and handed her the phone, leaning over her from behind with his palms flat on the table as she scanned the info. He glanced down and saw her face split into a smile.

 "It’s a dream isn’t it?" She turned her head to look at him. "To go to New York and stay in the Plaza or here..."

 "Shall I book it?  He asked and she bit her lip and gave a little nod.  With a smile he took the phone from her and dropped a kiss to her lips. 

"How much is it?" she asked

 "Doesn’t matter..." 

"Frank..."

 "Fliss..." he mimicked her and she rolled her eyes and Frank met her look with one of his own, raising  an eyebrow watching her carefully. Since their bare all conversation a few weeks ago, things had been a little different between the pair of them. Not bad different, quite the opposite. Fliss seemed less tentative towards certain things now, she didn’t try to hide the way she was feeling when certain things made her uncomfortable and Frank didn’t get or feel as frustrated when she thanked him or praised him for doing things that to him didn’t warrant it.

Greg had been amazing, not that Frank had expected anything else, and been nothing but patient and sympathetic with Fliss. He’d written the Victim Impact statement for her, taken her through it, listened and made the amendments she wanted before he’d filed it on her behalf, assuring her that her part in the process was now over and there was nothing more she could do. That in itself had been a huge weight off Fliss’ shoulders, and she admitted to Frank that the thought of John getting out made her more angry than scared, which Frank was secretly pleased about. He didn’t want her to be scared, at all.

It had been the first big hurdle their relationship had reached, and Frank was both relieved and pleased to see they’d made it through, and although he didn’t think it had been possible, he felt even closer to her now. And he wanted to spoil her. Just because he could. And because she fucking deserve it.

 “Come on, let me treat you…" he coaxed, and when she gave him a small smile he mimicked her, knowing he’d won her round.

 "Ok." She said smiling "but I'm paying for our take out tonight."

 "Deal."

 Frank straightened up, phone clutched in his hand as he headed over the drawer in the kitchen that held his wallet. Grabbing his card he leaned on the unit, keying in the information the website booking form required and a few minutes later it was done. 

"All booked" he smiled and she looked at him. "We fly out at 10:25 the Thursday morning, home at 15:45 on the Sunday..." 

"Why do they always have stupid times like that?" Fliss asked "like 10:25...why not 10:30?"

 Frank shrugged "No idea."

 Fliss paused and then gave a little squeak and pushed her chair back before she skipped over to him and threw herself into his arms. With a chuckle he caught her, hands wrapping around her back.

 "New York, in the run up to Christmas!" She beamed as he kissed her softly. "I can’t believe it"

 "Well you better as I'm gonna need to get some warm clothes...for the first time in years." He mused and Fliss laughed as her feet hit the floor again.

 “We can get matching shit Christmas sweaters with huge reindeers or something else equally as gaudy on the front.” she grinned.

 “No.” Frank shook his head

“Oh come on…” Fliss teased. “You wear hideous shirts all the time, what’s the difference? Or would you prefer a jumper with a giant palm tree or a yacht on it instead?” “Fuck you.” He shot back and she gave a loud laugh, her head falling back slightly before she recovered and grinned at him.

 "Gonna tell Mary?" She asked and he nodded.

 "On her birthday. Can be part of her present."

 "What can?" The girl asked.

 "Well if I told you that it wouldn't be a surprise would it?"  Frank looked at her.

 "Guess not." Mary shrugged. "What time are we seeing Evelyn tomorrow?"

 "Lunch time" Frank said. 

“And then after you gonna come help me with Monty?” Fliss looked at Mary.

Mary nodded “Is his leg better?” “Almost.” Fliss assured her. “He needs another week or so rest I think. But I think his days as a riding school pony are over.” “Are you still going to have to rehome him?” Mary’s voice dropped at little and Fliss took a deep breath.

 “I don’t know. I don’t want to, but he can’t cope with doing lessons every day. It would be nice for him to get a home with a family who can love him has a pet and just ride him a few times a week…but I’ll see.” “You ready to go to Roberta’s?” Frank looked at Mary and she perked up a little and nodded. “Ok, I’ll walk you down.”

 “Night Lissy!” Mary grinned, heading over to give her a hug before they both headed out of the door.

 Fliss looked down at her plans and then deciding she was done, gathered them all up and stuck them back in her folder, clearing the table. She really did need to give some more thought to what she was going to do with Monty. She had a soft spot for the animal but knew that he wasn’t going to be able to cope with the pressures of being a riding school pony anymore. The thing was, at almost nineteen he was still sprightly and far too active to be put out to pasture. The kindest thing to do would be to find a home for him, a little boy or a little girl to love him as a pet…and then it came to her. A simple solution, that was a win-win for everyone involved.

 Why hadn’t she thought of it before?

“Hell no!” was Frank’s response when she ambushed him with her idea the minute he walked in the door, flopping onto the sofa next to him. “Absolutely fucking not!”

 “Oh come on!” Fliss looked at him. “It won’t cost anything.” “You said yourself you can’t afford stables to be clogged up.” “We can build him a smaller one, round the back on the end of my private block.” Fliss shrugged

“By we, you mean me…” “And Dad.”

Frank sighed “You’d still be out of pocket…you already refuse to take money for her lessons as it is.” “Yeah, because your my boyfriend and I’m not taking money off you for Mary’s lessons.” “Exactly, so how much would you be missing out on if you were renting the stable to someone else? And don’t lie as I’ll look it up on your website.” Frank shot her a look. 

“For a pony his size, about Forty-bucks a week, but it doesn’t cost me that. Anyway, it doesn’t matter as I’m not I’m not gonna be taking money off you for her pony!” “It’s not her pony.” Frank rolled his eyes.

 “No, but he could be…” Fliss grinned.

 “Fucks sake…” Frank groaned.

 “That a yes?”

 “No, it’s a for fucks sake. You’re exasperating at times.”

 She paused for a moment before she bit her lip and crawled across him, straddling his lap, grinning as he looked up at her, eyebrows raised.

 “Is it a yes yet?” she asked, rolling her pelvis down, making his breath hitch as he felt the familiar arousal blooming in his crotch.

 “Are you seriously trying to seduce me into letting you give Mary a pony?” he snorted.

 “Is it working?”

 “No…”

 “Really?” she asked. “Because the bulge in your pants is telling me otherwise.” “Stop it.” he warned her.

 “Stop what?” She asked, rolling her hips again. 

“I mean it Lissy…” his voice was low.

 She did it again, and he took a deep breath before he quickly pivoted them so she was led underneath him, causing her to shriek in surprise. She grinned up at him before his lips crashed onto hers. Fliss wrapped her arms round his neck as his hands crept to her hips, settling just under the hem of her top as she placed both hands on his face, the pads of her finger tips cupping his jaw through his short beard. She broke away this time to breathe, head resting on the arm of the couch and he dropped his head, pausing his lips inches from her neck.

 “You gonna shut up about the damned pony?” he asked.

 “No.” she said stubbornly.

 “Alright…” Frank sighed, and she gave a little giggle as he pressed his mouth to her neck. He gripped her hips again and they gave a little jerk of their own accord, pushing up against him and they both groaned slightly at the contact. At the noise Frank pulled back to stare at her again.

 “Gonna shut up yet?” “Make me.” she teased, pushing her head upwards, lips crashing onto his and her hands slid under his t- shirt. His muscles twitched under her touch as the sensation of her gently dragging her nails caused him to groan as desire lanced through his entire body like red hot pokers.

 “Oh, sweetheart…challenge accepted…” he muttered he grasped the bottom of her top. She moved her arms and sat up slightly as he pulled it up over her head, her hair falling around her shoulders, his lips catching hers as he gently slipped one strap of her bra down at a time placing a soft kiss on each of her shoulders. Her breasts spilled over the tops of the cups and his groin twitched, the crotch of his jeans now painfully tight. Her hands moved to the hem of his T-shirt and he held his arms for her to yank it off. Once he was free he kissed her again his rough hands gently sliding up her rib cage to her chest, delicately squeezing and kneading the soft flesh and white lace, before his hand slid into the cups, teasing her taught nipples with his thumbs. She groaned gently, arching her back as his groin bumped against hers. He was gently at first, before his rocking became harder, and Fliss buried her fingers in his hair, pulling, hard, forcing his head back sharply. As she tugged he let out a low growl and when she let go he stared down at her to see her smirking as she watched him, his pupils blown so wide there was hardly any blue left.

The rhythm of his hips was growing more frantic and their kisses were growing more desperate. "More," she moaned into his mouth, and he obliged in the best of way moving his hips even faster, rubbing against her through the barrier of their clothes in ways that had her clutching at his back like her life depended on it. As he continued to rub against her, pushing her into the soft cushions of the sofa, it wasn’t long before the tell-tale tightening across his lower stomach warned him he was fast approaching his release

"Lissy, tell me your close baby, please?" Frank begged because of course he wanted to get her there first. He had to smirk at the fact he’d finally shut her up, as it was all she could do to moan brokenly, her words no longer forming coherently, and she gave a nod as his mouth fell to that spot on her neck which drove her wild. She tipped her head back as he gently nipped beneath her ear with his teeth and a few more thrusts of his hips against hers and she was done, fingers wrapped around his hair as the lights exploded in front her eyes and she felt the coil in her stomach unravelling as she came hard underneath him, hips bucking upwards, almost violently. Her voice was broken as she gasped out “Frankie…”

He loved it when she called him that, her name for him, the name that no-one called him other than her. It tumbled from her lips so easily, and seeing and feeling her fall apart in his arms sent him over the edge right behind her in a pure surge of ecstasy. His head dropped to the crook of her shoulder and she gently ran her fingers through his hair as they both breathed deeply as they waited to regain control of their bodies. Eventually both of them evened out and he raised his head to look at her, to find her smirking a little, her eyes twinkling with what looked like humour.

“What?” he managed to ask, his nose sliding against hers.

“So, about Monty…”

“For fucks…fine, she can have the damned pony.” he groaned, dropping his head to her chest and she grinned, as one of her hands ran up and down his spine causing the muscles in his back and shoulders to gently twitch at her touch.

“I’m starving.” she said, as he raised his head to look at her.

“I’ll order food.” he said, “Then I think I should probably shower before it arrives…seeing as I just shot my load in my pants like a fourteen year old kid.”

“I’ll go start it running.” she bit her lip and he grinned at her as he pushed himself up off the couch before offering her his hand. She took it and he pulled her up, dropping a kiss to her forehead as his gaze once more dropped to her chest. With a certain glint in her eye she turned around and sauntered to the doorway before she stopped, and turned to look at him over her shoulder. “Best hurry before I use all the hot water.”

As she walked off down the hall, her hips swaying slightly, Frank was hard again like it had never left. Grabbing his phone he ordered the food before he shot off to join her.

***** “Evelyn.” he greeted his mother as she stood up from the table she was sat at which was outside the back of the small café bar, overlooking the beach.

“Hello Frank, hello Mary.” she greeted them both.

“Hi.” Mary smiled, settling into a seat and Frank took the one next to her. After an awkward moment of small talk, the waitress arrived and Frank ordered himself a beer and a soda for Mary, Evelyn taking an ice tea.

“So, how have you been?” Evelyn asked, her question directed to Mary, which was fine by Frank.

“Good.” Mary said and she launched into an explanation of everything that had happened in her life since she had last seen Evelyn as Frank had taken her home from Tampa. Frank was listening, vaguely, simply observing how easy Mary found it to simply forgive and forget everything that had happened. But then again, she was merely eight years old (well, as of tomorrow anyway) and that was the beauty and innocence that came with childhood he supposed.

“And then we moved into the new house.” Mary said as their drinks arrived. ”Fliss stays with us a lot, she practically lives with us now…Frank says she will do properly at some point but not yet.”

“You moved?” Evelyn looked at Frank who nodded.

“Part of the conditions of me getting Guardianship.” he said simply.

“Have you moved far or…” “It’s on the same park as our old one but it’s bigger” Mary answered for him. “My room is awesome, it’s blue and I have a cabin bed with a desk underneath it and a big TV.” “Still fixing boats?” Evelyn asked and Frank rolled his eyes.

“Mother.” “I’m just asking.” she held her hands up.

“Yes, I am. But I’m working for someone now. A friend of Fliss’ dad, he has a repair-shop attached to a sales place. Good wage, health insurance.” he added, unable to stop himself and he saw his mother’s mouth twitch.

“I’m impressed. I never thought I’d see the day”

At that point, Mary announced she was hungry and the three of them studied the menus, before Mary decided on a cheeseburger and fries. Frank opted for a steak hoagie whilst Evelyn went for a salad

“How long are you in town for?” Frank asked her as soon as their order was taken

“Until Monday…” Evelyn said “I thought, if it’s ok that is, that maybe I could take you all to dinner tomorrow for Mary’s birthday”

Ok, so that was unexpected.

“We can’t.” Mary said “We’re going to Verity’s like we do every Sunday. That’s Fliss’ mom.” she explained “We play in the pool and then she does a big Sunday dinner and makes ice cream sundaes or pies…but tomorrow she’s doing me a special birthday cake.”

“That sounds very nice.” Evelyn replied

“You should come. Roberta is….” Mary added.

Oh, for fucks sake…

“Mary…” Frank began but she turned and shrugged at him, recognising his warning tone.

“What? Verity says it’s my special birthday dinner so I could pick what I wanted to eat and I could bring someone…”

“Yeah and you chose to take Roberta…” Frank looked at her “Verity already does enough for you…” 

“It’s okay.” Evelyn said, hastily cutting him off. “Thank you for the invite Mary but, well let’s see shall we?”

The rest of the afternoon was reasonably pleasant, well as pleasant as it could be. Mary told Evelyn all about what she was doing at School and then Evelyn filled Frank in a little bit on what she’d been doing with Diane’s work. Frank could tell she was surprised when he told her he’d been following the process on the internet, and when the time came to say goodbye, he promised he’d call her and arrange for her to be able to see Mary at least for some time tomorrow so she could give her the gifts she had bought.

Frank drove them to the yard and Mary shot out as soon as the truck had stopped, barrelling round the corner to go and see Monty. Fliss was busy teaching in the paddock and Frank spotted that Bill was in the Office, already screwing up one of the shelves that Frank had made ready to put up.

“Hey Bill.” he said, “You know I was gonna do that…” “Oh it’s no bother.” Bill smiled, “I’ve been fixing the door on the back barn anyway so…” “I was gonna do that too.” Frank chuckled.

“Yeah, well I told Fliss to stop asking you.” Bill shrugged, marking a spot on the wall to fix the bracket to “You work enough, weekends should be free.” Frank smiled, and then stepped forward to help Bill hold up the wooden plank whilst he made sure it was straight.

“How did it go with your mother?” Bill asked.

 “Surprisingly okay.” Frank said “She was reasonable and seemed genuinely interested in how Mary was doing.” “She in town long?” “Until Monday. “Frank said.

“She coming to dinner tomorrow?” Bill asked, and Frank frowned, his head cocking to one side.

“You been talking to Mary by any chance?” “No, how can I?” Bill asked, looking at him “You just got here.” “Fair point.” Frank conceded.

“Why do you ask?” “Because that’s exactly what Mary did. Invited her. Thankfully Evelyn was tactful enough to put her off but…” “You should let her come.” Bill said.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea.” Frank shook his head.

“Why?” Bill pressed.

 “I just…” Frank took a deep breath “Her seeing Mary is one thing, integrating herself in to our lives is another.”

“Can I give you a bit of advice son?” Bill looked at him, and when Frank didn’t protest he continued “Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face. I know you owe her nothing, but if she’s reaching out here. Maybe think about giving it a whirl, test how serious she actually is and take the olive branch. That or look at it as giving her enough rope to hang herself. Either way, you win.” Frank didn’t really have an answer. And he didn’t until much later that evening when they were all sat outside the back of Bill and Verity’s with a few drinks.

 And, of course, when he asked Verity if she minded accommodating one more person, she assured him she didn’t.

**** Naturally Mary was up at the crack of dawn the following morning, unwrapping a pile of gifts that Frank and Fliss had bought her. Some books, DVDs, new clothes, a pair of new sneakers and then after breakfast Frank took her out into the yard where she squealed when she spotted the new blue and pink BMX she’d asked him for. After she donned her helmet and did a few rides up and down the drive, demanding to know how long she’d need stabilisers for, Fliss emerged from the annex, Thor at her feet and gave Frank a wink.

 “Mary, Joanna just called…” she said “I need to pop up to the stables for an hour. Wanna come?” “Yeah!” She grinned, and immediately set off biking back towards the house.

 Frank announced that he’d come too and Mary didn’t’ give it a second thought. They drove to the yard and climbed out, Mary shooting off straight to see Monty. 

Frank took Fliss’ hand in his as they followed, and finally caught up with her as she was stood, her mouth hanging open at the fact that Monty’s door had a huge Happy Birthday banner on it, and the white pony wore a bow around his neck. He turned his head to face them, completely nonplussed by all the fuss.

“I don’t…why is he…” Mary turned to Fliss then looked at Frank and then back to the pony “Is he wishing me happy birthday?” “Kind of.” Fliss said, smiling. “Open the card.” She grabbed the card that was tacked to the door and her eyes roved the writing inside. Immediately they widened and filled with tears as she looked up at the two adults in front of her.

 “He’s mine?” she whispered.

 “Yeah.” Frank nodded, a lump forming in his own throat at the sight of how happy she was. 

“For real?”

“For real.” he assured her.

 “Like, really? Mine? No one else is sharing him anymore?” “No one else.” Frank shook his head.

 She gave a loud squeal and threw herself at Frank, wrapping her arms around his legs. “Thank you!” “Happy birthday Stack.” he smiled, bending down to hug her back.

“You’re the best uncle ever…” “Makes a change.” he muttered, “And this was Fliss’ idea…you have her to thank.”

“Took me ages to persuade him…” Fliss grinned and Frank snorted, as Mary moved over and gave Fliss a huge hug

 “You’re the best too.” she smiled, before the attention turned back to her new pet.

 They spent an hour or so at the yard, Mary doing her first jobs as Monty’s owner, mucking his stable out, grooming him, filling his hay net up. Eventually they dragged her away after Fliss and Frank both assured her now that she had her pony she could come after school three nights a week and then both days at weekends to take care of him and ride when she wanted to. They picked Roberta up on the way home, and then once Mary had unwrapped her gift from Roberta which was another large lego set much to her delight, the three adults sat outside with a beer, Mary scribbling away in the new journal they’d bought her, no doubt writing about Monty, and then Frank received a call from his mother to tell him she was at the gate.

 Fliss, Roberta and Mary headed over to the main house whilst Frank walked down to collect Evelyn. He didn’t miss the appraising look she was taking at the property as they walked back down the drive, Frank taking the bag of gifts off Evelyn politely. He introduced her to Bill, who was stood outside with Mary admiring her bike, and then Frank led her into the large entrance area of the old farmhouse.

 Once the ‘pleasantries’, if you could call them that were over and Evelyn had met Verity and been handed a glass of wine, they all headed out onto the raised decking that overlooked the pool.

 “This is…nice.” Evelyn said, as she took in the surroundings “I expected something different.” “In what way?” Verity asked, and Frank didn’t miss the way the woman bristled as his mother’s tone.

 “Oh, just, well, seeing where Frank lives…”

“Excuse me?” Verity looked at the woman, frowning.

“What my mother means…” Frank butt in, glaring at Evelyn “is thank you for inviting her over.”

“Yes, I didn’t mean anything by it, I haven’t actually seen Frank’s new place yet.” Evelyn smiled, the expression not meeting her eyes “And, thank you of course.” “I didn’t invite you.” Verity shrugged “Mary did. And as it’s my little pud’s birthday who am I to argue…speaking of which, where is she?”

“Here!” Mary said, running out of the house, Bill following “I was just showing Bill my new bike!” she ran to Verity and gave her a hug and Verity smiled, wrapping her arms around her.

 It didn’t escape Frank’s notice the way his mother was watching the pair of them, as Mary pulled back and asked if she could go in the pool.

 “Dinner’s almost ready.” Bill cut in. “Well, that’s what my nose is telling me anyway. Maybe later.”

 “On a full stomach?” Evelyn looked at Frank “is that really a good idea?”

“Hasn’t killed her yet.” Verity shot back. And Evelyn turned her eyes to the woman again.

There was a moment’s frosty silence, and Fliss turned her eyes to her dad, begging him to help. And he did. “Shall we go in?” Bill asked, “Someone has presents to open!” “Oh, yes!” Verity smiled, frostiness completely gone “Come on!”

 Mary gave a squeal and Bill laughed, swinging her up easily onto his shoulders as the 3 of them headed up the steps. Frank followed behind, falling into step with his mother as Fliss hung back slightly, turning to Roberta when the woman spoke to her.

 “Remind me who thought this was gonna be a good idea?”

Five minutes or so later, the Gallagher living room was on its way to being a mass of shredded wrapping paper, Mary sat in the middle of another pile of gifts which were from Bill and Verity, and also Evelyn. Evelyn had brought Mary some new Maths books, which Frank refrained from rolling his eyes at, and then Mary opened her mouth.

“I don’t read a lot of maths books now in my spare time, we’re reading Harry Potter.” she mused. “We’re on the fourth one now.”

 “But they’ll be good for school.” Frank looked at her sternly.

 “Yes, thank you Evelyn.” Mary corrected herself. Evelyn smiled and told her she was welcome, as Mary moved on to the next set, which Frank was surprised to see was a pile of seven Leather bound Children’s classics.

 “I bought your mother something similar when she was your age.” Evelyn explained “I thought you might like them.” Mary’s eyes widened as she ran her hands over the cover of “Black Beauty” and looked up at Evelyn. “I do, thank you.” Evelyn had also placed a few hundred dollars in her card for her to spend on whatever she wanted, which she grinned at and informed everyone she was going to be spending it on new things for Monty.

 “Who’s Monty?” Evelyn asked.

“My pony!” Mary grinned “Fliss and Frank gave him to me this morning.”

 Evelyn’s eyebrows raised slightly and she smiled “How nice…”

“Did you ever have a pony?” Mary asked.

 “No.” Evelyn said, “But Frank and your mother’s Step-Father now has several.” Frank smiled, shaking his head slightly, the thought of that still amused him.

 “Does he show jump?” Mary pressed.

 “I believe he does western riding.” Evelyn shrugged “Although I haven’t seen him in a while.”

 Mary nodded, taking the information in before she looked at Fliss “We should do Western Riding.”

“One day, maybe.” Fliss mused “I mean I do have the boots and the hat…”

 Mary nodded “Yup, you do…” before she reached over to Bill and Verity’s pile, picking out the longest one.  Her eyes widened as she unwrapped the box, and glanced up at Fliss before she pulled the lid off and removed one of the long De-Niro riding boots. They were patent snake-skin effect leather, with a band of pink glitter around the tops.

 “They’re…” Mary’s mouth flopped open “They’re like yours but pink!” she looked at Fliss, then turned to Bill and Verity.

“Fliss told us you liked hers.” Verity beamed at her. “So now you have your own pair.” After a scramble, during which Frank told her to calm down about fifty times, she soon had them on and Frank helped her with the zips as they were still a little stiff.

 “You’ll need to wear them in like you did with your short ones.” Fliss said, “But these are ONLY for riding in. Use your other ones for yard work and stuff.”

 “Damned girl!” Robert grinned as Mary did a cat walk of sorts, strutting down the centre of the room “Think I should get myself a pair…” “You don’t’ ride!” Mary gave Roberta a withering look.

“No but they’d look good with some jeans.”

 As Mary began to point out to Roberta that she was being ridiculous, Frank looked at Bill raising an eyebrow. He knew exactly how much those boots had cost, as he had been looking into getting her a pair himself but then she’d told him she wanted a bike.

 “I don’t suppose there’s any point in telling you off for how much you’ve spent on those is there?” he asked.

 “Nope.” Bill smirked “Don’t suppose there is.”

 “She’s worth it.” Verity smiled.

 Mary flopped down and opened the rest of her gifts which consisted of her own copies of the Harry Potter films on DVD and some vouchers for the Tack Shop and a book about horse breeds.

 “Thank you!” she said, smiling as she stood up and launched at Bill who gave her a hug before she moved to Verity.

 “You’re very welcome Pudding!” Verity smiled, brushing her hair back. “Now, someone said something about wanting a roast beef dinner!”

 “Can I help?” Mary asked.

 “Of course you can.” Verity said, and she stood up.

 “Boots.” Frank said, and Mary stopped

 “But I need to wear them in.” “Not in here…” “Frank, she’s fine.” Verity soothed him “They’re clean…not that I care, it all vacuums up.” Frank shook his head “You let her get away with murder.” Verity grinned “My prerogative as her Pseudo Nana.”

 “Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” Evelyn suddenly spoke up. Frank glanced at her, noticing that her face was overly passive, a look she had often worn with him when he’d done something she disapproved of but was refraining from passing comment. Seems like Verity’s comment had had an effect on her, not that she had any right to be upset, mind.

 “Course, out in the hall, second on the left.” Bill nodded and she made her way out of the room.

 “She ok?” Fliss asked, looking at Frank.

 “Who knows, she’s Evelyn.” he shrugged by means of an answer.

 Half an hour later they were all seated round the large table, tucking into their roast Dinner. Mary’s plate was piled with her favourite things, beef, mash, 3 Yorkshire puddings, and broccoli all accompanied by what looked like enough gravy to fill a bath tub with. For once Verity had foregone insisting Mary eat more veg, because who wants veg on their birthday anyway?

The conversation was polite, Evelyn thanking Verity for her food and complementing her cooking. Fliss was pleased to see her mother softening slightly. Evelyn was a very sore subject to the woman, given what she’d put Frank through, but both Bill and Fliss had warned her previously that if Frank’s mother was going to be a fixture in Mary’s life going forward, then Verity needed to accept that. 

“Did you manage to get that wardrobe up, son?” Bill asked looking at Frank who gave a chuckle as Fliss hit his arm.

 “Eventually…once we realised someone was reading the instructions out wrong.” “I warned you.” Fliss shrugged. “You should have paid someone to come fit it.” “I managed fine once my narrator had sorted herself out.” he rolled his eyes.

 “What is it about men and their insistence on being able to do everything themselves?” Roberta asked.

 “I’ll remember that next time you ask me to come fix something in your apartment.” Frank pointed his fork at her.

 “So, you said you haven’t seen Frank’s new place yet?” Verity asked Evelyn who shook her head in response. “Any particular reason or…”

 “I’m actually allergic to cats so…” Verity made to say something else but one look from Bill stopped her dead and she nodded. “Well, if you can you should pop a Benadryl and go over. Bill and Frank did the work themselves, and they did a very good job.” “Yeah and now Frank says Fliss is filling it full of crap.” Mary supplied and Fliss turned to Frank, who groaned.

 “Oh did he?” “No, that’s…all I said was that you were buying too many throw cushions and stuff…”

 “It looked boring.” Fliss shrugged “Needed colour.”

“I agree.” Mary nodded

 “Course you do.” Frank rolled his eyes.

 “It was too grey, Frank.” Mary said, mimicking exactly what Fliss had said “The cushions and the rug look good.”

 “Well when you move out and get your own apartment you can fill it with all the cushions you want.” Frank looked at her.

 “I’m never moving out.” Mary shrugged.

 “Oh, trust me. You are.” Frank teased “Soon as you’re 16 I’m packing your bags and you’re gone.” “Whatever.” Mary rolled her eyes at his empty threat “We all know that’s rubbish. You told me I’d have a home with you for life.” “Yeah well I changed my mind.” “You can move in with me baby!” Roberta looked at Mary who grinned.

 “You want her you can have her.” Frank said “Be my guest.”

“Oh behave Frank.” Verity scoffed “We all know you’d fight tooth and nail to keep her with you…”

 Fliss let out an inward groan and glared at her mother who scrunched her eyes closed in an ‘oh shit’ expression.

 “I didn’t…” Verity began, before she shook her head “That’s not what I meant.” “It’s ok.” Evelyn looked at her. “You clearly have very strong opinions on the matter.” “Which she will be keeping to herself as it’s not the time or the place.” Fliss said, effectively ending the conversation “What’s done is done.” She felt Frank’s hand squeeze her knee under the table before he reached over for his glass of water.

 “Did Mary tell you she’s going to Camp this summer?” Bill said, swiftly changing the subject.

“Camp?” Evelyn tuned to Mary who nodded “How…nice.”

Frank fought his desire to snort at his Mother’s expression, because he knew camping was her idea of hell.

 “Yeah I’m going with scouts.” she said “We’re going to…err…what’s it called again?” “Sandkey Park.” Frank said “In Clearwater.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Mary said, swallowing another huge bite of food “We’re doing outdoor activities and water sports and stuff.” “How long for?” Evelyn asked.

“Five days.” Mary said “And then I’m staying with Verity and Bill for a weekend so Frank can take Fliss away on holiday whilst I’m gone.” “Anywhere nice?” Evelyn looked at Frank.

 “Not decided yet have we?” Frank looked at Fliss who shook her head. 

“And then we’re all going to New York in December.” Mary said, “ I can’t wait to see the Christmas Trees and lights and snow…” “You’ll love it.”  Evelyn smiled “New York at Christmas is magical.” Ok, now that surprised Frank. “You’ve been?” he asked, frowning.

 “Your father took me the first Christmas we moved to Boston.” she said, looking at Frank “Did I never tell you?” “No, you didn’t” Frank said “I always thought you hated Christmas.” “I hated it without your Father.” Evelyn corrected him, causing him to frown even more, before she hastily recovered herself. “Where are you staying?”

 “The Waldorf.” Fliss said, and Evelyn nodded her head, clearly impressed.

“Your new job must be paying well.” “It keeps me afloat.” Frank said simply. 

The rest of the meal passed in comfortable conversation, and once everyone was finished Verity stood up, announcing that it was time for some coffee and cake. “How do you take yours Evelyn?” Verity asked. “Black, no sugar thank you.” Evelyn replied. “I don’t know how people can drink it like that, I find it too bitter.”  Roberta pulled a face.

 “Me too.” Bill mused “Milk and two sugar kind of man.” “Well I find that taking it bitter helps me keep the mosquitos away.” Evelyn said, with a glance at Fliss, directly referencing their first ever conversation. Fliss choked slightly on her water and side-eyed Frank who was smirking into his glass. When Fliss looked back at Evelyn, she was surprised to see the woman was wearing an amused smile.

 “Bit like Garlic keeps the Vampires away huh?” Roberta quipped.

“So that’s how to get rid of you!” Bill smirked, looking up at Verity who shot him a glare as she headed into the kitchen. Fliss got to her feet to help clear down the table along waving both Roberta and Evelyn back into their seats when they too rose to help and insisted that as guests they remained put.

 An hour or so later after the candles had been blown out and the cake had been eaten, they all retired outside onto the decking, Mary finally getting her way and after a quick change taking a running jump into the pool. After a round of drinks, Evelyn announced that her car was here and that she should be leaving. After politely thanking them for their hospitality, she smiled and then Frank stood to walk her to the gate one Mary had bid her goodbye.

“They seem a nice family.” Evelyn smiled at him as they walked down the gravel Frank nodded “Yeah, they’re great. Brilliant with Mary too so…” “You seem happy Frank.”

 “I am.” He nodded as he pressed the button on the gate to open it, revealing the silver Mercedes that was waiting.

 “I’m glad.” she said, gently touching his arm. Frank glanced down at her hand before he looked at her, his eyebrow raised.

 “You’re not going to try and hug me now are you?” he asked, a little playfully, but it was enough to make his point. That was the first motherly touch he’d felt from Evelyn in about 20 years.

 “I don’t think we’re quite at that point, do you?” “Were we ever?”

“You’d be surprised.” she smiled at him “You were quite an affectionate little boy. Very like your father that way.”

 Frank raised his eyebrows a little, as she stepped towards the car and he opened the door for her.

 “You remind me a lot of him now.” she looked at Frank “Both in looks, personality, your mannerisms.”

 “That why we don’t get along?” Frank asked as she climbed into the car. 

 “Who knows?” Evelyn said, with a slight smile “Thank you for this weekend. I’ll contact you about seeing her again soon if that’s ok.” Frank nodded “Like I said, as long as Mary’s happy then…”

 With that he stepped back, closing the car door. He watched it drive off up the road before he turned and made his way back into the house, deciding that overall it hadn’t been that bad an afternoon. 

**** “Stop bouncing on the bed.” Frank said sternly “It’s not a trampoline”

 “It’s like one.” Mary replied.

 “Yeah well a mine field is technically a field but I wouldn’t let you walk through one…”

 Mary flopped down onto the bed “Sorry, I’m just so excited.” “I can tell, but it’s bed time. It’s already late…come on.”

She scrambled under the covers and Frank perched on the edge of the bed as Fliss popped her head in the door.

“Just going for a shower.” she smiled, walking into the room to pop a kiss onto Mary’s head “Night honey.” “Night Fliss, thank you for the best day ever.” “You’re welcome.” Fliss said, straightening up before she headed out of the room. “I wish Fliss was my mom.” Mary sighed, and Frank looked at her, frowning slightly. “I mean, I know my mom loved me but…I never knew her.” Frank sighed, and ran his hand over Mary’s head “I know, Stack, but…well, she would be very proud of you, you know that.” “It’s Mothers’ Day in a week.” Mary said “I heard Fliss talking to Verity about it before, asking her if there was anything she wanted.” she reached out, her hand grabbing Frank’s, her fingers playing with his “Do you think Fliss would mind if I made her a card and maybe got her some flowers?” “I’m sure she would be fine about it.” Frank felt his chest tightening. He hated how wise and old she acted at times. “Now come on, lights out and…try and worry about something else, like how much Monty shit you’re gonna be shovelling from now on.” “The best type of shit!” Mary grinned.

 “I’ll let that one go because it’s your birthday.” he pointed at her “But repeat that again, I’ll hang you out of the window by your ears.” She giggled as he stood up and dropped a kiss to her head, before he made his way into the bedroom.

 As soon as Fliss was out of the shower, Frank was on her. His hands and mouth roving every bit of her body as he laid her on the bed. He was needy, wanting to feel grounded after the, frankly, surreal weekend he’d had and she was his home, the one person he knew he could rely on to keep him sane, and feeling safe. It was intense, and when it was finally over, they both collapsed, at the complete wrong end of the bed, tangled under a blanket, neither having mustered the energy or the desire to move.

As good as their sex was, no scratch that, as mind blowing as their sex was, he knew that Fliss craved the after moments just as much, where Frank would simply tenderly hold her, snuggle her, kiss her...treat her like a human instead of some kind of object there merely for his gratification and he was happy to oblige. They lay together, Franks left arm resting under Fliss' neck as her long hair spilled in a mass of waves off the edge of the bed as her face rested mere inches from Frank's, a dazed smile on her features. He smiled softly back at her, his right hand reaching up from where it had been resting on her hip to gently cup her face, his thumb stroking her cheek.

 "What you thinking about Sailor?" She asked softly, looking onto his ocean blue eyes as he took a deep breath. 

 "How lucky I am." He replied. 

 She gave a soft chuckle as she scooted a bit closer to him, nuzzling her head under his chin. His arms both moved to wrap around her and cradle her close as he dropped a kiss to her head. 

 "Do you think Mary had a good day?" Fliss asked softly and Frank made a noise of affirmation in his throat.

 "Are you kidding?" He looked down at her. “She got a new bike, her own pony, a library's worth of books, a tonne of money, a trip to New York, a ridiculously expensive pair of riding boots, which by the way your parents are still in big trouble for, and to top it all off she ate enough cake and roast beef to feed a small army. I'd say she’s had a fucking amazing day." 

 "I think it went ok with Evelyn too. Well in that no one drowned one another"

 Frank gave a huff of a laugh as his hand ran up and down Fliss's spine "it's a sad state of affairs when that's the sign of a successful dinner...no one being drowned."

 "You clearly don't know my mother that well." she snorted and at that Frank gave another small laugh, the vibrations from his chest passing to Fliss'.

 “Speaking of Mothers.” he said, suddenly remembering his conversation with Mary as he had tucked her into bed before. “Mary asked me something before…” “Yeah?” Fliss looked at him.

“So, it’s Mother’s Day on Sunday.” His hand brushed Fliss’ hair back “And she asked me if I thought you’d mind her giving you a card.”

 Fliss blinked for a moment, her mouth falling ever so slightly open.

 “If you do, then it’s not an issue…” Frank hastily began but Fliss cut him off.

“No, I…” she took a deep breath “Of course I don’t mind…not at all. But do you?” “What?”

“Well, how do you feel about it?”

 Frank shrugged “She gives one to Roberta every year, not a card about her being a mother as such, it’s more a thank you for everything she does…I suspect yours will be the same.”

“Feel like a bit of a fraud though.” Fliss shrugged. “Fraud?” Frank looked at her.

 “Well, yeah.” Fliss shrugged. “You’re the one that does the hard work with her, I just get to do the fun stuff.” “I don’t think you realise just how much of an impact you’ve had on her since coming into our lives.” Frank said honestly “I notice things she does now, that she never did before, things which she’s blatantly picked up from you.” “Like what?” Fliss looked at him.

 “She helps you with dinner…” “You never cook.” Fliss cut him off

“The way she’s far less serious…” Frank pressed on “The way she is with Monty, how she gets on with your parents…wants to buy damned throw cushions.”

Fliss chuckled, her hand resting on Frank’s bare hip “You know, you don’t give yourself enough credit for how she has turned out. I know you don’t look upon yourself as her dad but…well, you are. In everything but name and have been since she was six months old. Don’t sell yourself short.”

“So in conclusion you’re ok about the card?” Frank said, and Fliss laughed, recognising that for what it was. Him moving the conversation along, the way he always did when he was feeling bashful about praise.

“Yes, I’m fine about the card.” she smiled at him, her hand reaching up to run through his soft, fluffy hair.

 “We should probably get in bed…” he mused, his eyes closed.

“We are.” “I mean the right way round.” “Oh…” Fliss sat up, and Frank heard the rustling of bedcovers before something soft hit him in the face.

 “Problem solved” Fliss grinned as he reached up and grabbed the pillow she’d smacked him with, chuckling. Shoving it under his head he settled down slightly, arms round his girl, closing his eyes.

**** Chapter 17

[irishseeeker]

                                              the story of us

summary:  Five times Kate Sheffield and Anthony Bridgeton were just friends and one time they were more.

--

chapter 1: if one thing had been different, would everything be different?

Kate Sheffield and Anthony Bridgerton meet at Oxford University.

They’re both studying law and business, and they’re in the same college of the many in their university. They have nearly identical schedules, which usually resulted in heated debates in most of their lectures. They’re partnered up for seminars for their first semester, which means an hour a week the two of them and a tutor spend an hour discussing readings, essays and of course, arguing further.

Oddly enough, after a month of arguing and bickering, they sort of become best friends.  

They lived in the same accommodation, a co-ed accommodation which Kate had thought was scandalous at first, but it ends up being amazing. They form a friend group in their course, and they all live together. It's sort of perfect, really. Kate had had friends in school, but she had never had a friendship group like this or a best friend like Anthony. For the first time, she felt like she truly belonged.

They still argued constantly, much to the amusement of their friends, but they also knew each other’s coffee orders and why he’s scared of bees and she’s scared of thunderstorms.

He’s the first boy-friend Kate has ever had, and she’s definitely his first platonic girl-friend as he seems to sleep with the rest of them.

They’re completely different, yet they understand each other. He’s a Bridgerton, an Oxford legacy with an actual title, and she’s a Sheffield from a small town in Somerset on a scholarship to Oxford. He went to Eton, she went to her local secondary school.

They spend their first year at university either in the library, in their rooms or drunk in a club or pub. Always together.

“So, you and Anthony,” Her friend, Anna, commented as they walked to class one chilly December day. Anthony was up ahead with some of the lads, the group of them laughing loudly and occasionally shoving each other. Kate had decided a while ago she would never fully understand the male species.

“Yes?” Kate asked, turning to raise an eyebrow at Anna. She knew what Anna was implying, it wasn’t the first time she had been asked about it and it was only December.

“You’re quite close,” She commented further, grinning at Kate as she opened up the Law building’s door.

“We’re good friends,” Kate shrugged, feeling her cheeks heat up. “That’s all.”

“The way he looks as you doesn’t seem that friendly to me,” said Anna, nudging Kate with her hip. Anna had long blonde hair, pale skin and a wide smile. She was also very petite. Kate was the opposite.

Kate was tall, around 5’10, which people oddly liked to to remind her about a lot. As if she wasn't aware of it. She was lucky she had never suffered from acne, bar the occasional stress spots, so her skin was clear and smooth. She had long, dark thick hair. It never stayed straight and was always knotted, so she usually just let it lie down her back. She had met the girls Anthony typically went for and she didn’t fit the picture.

Kate had long accepted that and wouldn't entertain the idea any further.

“He doesn’t look at me like anything,” Kate rolled her eyes, feeling her throat closing up slightly as they walked into their lecture hall and took a seat in the middle. “He saw me puke my guts out last week, so it’s fair to say he’s not looking at me like anything.”

She had gotten far too drunk on a night out last Thursday and she could still feel her hangover. It had been a particularly stressful day with a bad grade on an essay and a harsh feedback session from a tutor. She had embarrassingly burst into tears when Anthony had stopped by her room to go to dinner, and he held her as she cried and called their tutor a twat.

He then suggested they all go out. She had apparently danced on top of tables, attempted to take most of her clothes off (and was stopped from doing so) and then passed out. Anthony had carried her home. Not that she remembered anything, most of the night was a blur.

She was never drinking tequila again.

“He was the one holding your hair back,” Anna gave her a pointed look, raising her eyebrows. “I’m just saying, I think you two would be good together. Kate and Anthony has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

Before Kate could object, she felt someone appear sit down beside them. “Hey,” A voice appeared beside them and Kate nearly jumped, looking at Anthony. He was wearing a grey jumper and jeans, his nose red from the cold outside. “What are you talking about?”

“What we’re wearing to the Law ball,” Anna replied swiftly, and Kate let out a sigh of relief that her friend had stopped talking. The Law Ball was being held next weekend, just before the term ended for Christmas and all assignments were over.

“Oh,” Anthony said, taking out his laptop and logging into it. “Well, Kate, you should wear something that’s hard to get out of. I don’t think the law society will take kindly to one of its members stripping in the middle of the dancefloor.”

“Fuck off.” She elbowed him as Anna burst out laughing, and Anthony grins at her. She can’t help but laugh too even if she’s mortified.

After Christmas, when they’re back at university and exams are over, he teaches her how to drive. Mary, her step-mother and the only mother she’s ever had, never learned, and everything had been within walking distance back home. She had never had the chance to learn. She had got the train to university when she’d moved, and you walked everywhere. Anthony always had his car with him as he went home a lot to see his siblings and mother.

When he finds out she can’t drive, he insists on teaching her. “I’ve taught two of my siblings. Including Colin. If I can teach Colin, I can teach anyone.”

They’re about ten minutes into it before they start arguing.

Kate had never thought driving could be so stressful.

“Clutch!”

“I am clutching!” She shrieked, pushing the pedal forward as her ankles began to ache.

“Fuck me-brake, Kate!”

“Stop shouting at me!”

She pulls up the handbrake so hard she’s surprised she didn’t break it, and gets out of the car and refuses to get back in. They had gone to a retail park with a largely empty parking lot to practice in. He eventually convinces her to get back in the car, after apologizing numerous times, and he’s a lot nicer as she gets behind the wheel again.

Her birthday is in March, and he gets her driving lessons. They’re ridiculously expensive, and she initially refuses to accept them for a week. They argue about it, money has never been an object to him and it’s something she’s never had much of, so their perspectives are different.

She eventually accepts them and thanks him, after he insists for the twentieth time he didn’t mean it in any way other than to help her and so he would never have to teach her. She really wanted to be able to drive, to be able to afford a car eventually and drive home to Mary and Edwina more. She did warn him if he ever spent more than 20 pounds on her again, she’d murder him.

It’s the start of May when she passes her test, and he’s waiting for her outside the centre. He twirls her around as she runs towards him, shouting she’d passed, and they get McDonalds to celebrate. She thanks him for everything, and he shrugs it off because he’s Anthony. They do celebrate with their friends in the pub later that evening, and she gets very drunk, but their McDonalds that afternoon will hold a special place in her heart.

She’s beginning to think he always will, too.

Her dad’s memorial service is on a Sunday in June. It had been five years since he died, five years of missing him and him missing everything. Her graduating school, her getting into university, her first day at university. Kate planned to get the train back home for the day and get the last one back this evening. She had two exams on Friday and Saturday so she couldn’t have gone home earlier, and she couldn’t miss any of her tutorials or lectures tomorrow. A part of her was relieved, she didn’t want to stay at home. It was too sad and university was a good distraction.

It was far too early to be awake on a Sunday, it was 7am, but she had to be home before twelve for the service and the train was two hours.

Her phone buzzed, and she glanced at the whatsapp messages that appeared on her screen.

Anthony: i’m outside

Kate raised an eyebrow at the text, grabbing her bag and heading downstairs, outside their accommodation. She walked out onto the road, eventually spotting him. “Anthony?”

“Hey,” He said, smiling at her. He was leaning against his car, his hands in his pockets. “We better hit the road. We’ll need to stop at a Starbucks drive through as well, I need caffeine.”

Kate stared at him, unsure of what to say or what was going on. He had been the person she had mentioned it to out of their friends, that she wouldn’t be around on Sunday. “What do you mean? I’m going to my dad’s service.”

“I know Kate,” He said softly, opening the passenger side door for her. “I figured I’d drive you. I don’t want you to be alone, so I thought I’d come. I know how hard today can be, so,” He shuffled his feet awkwardly, clearly very uncomfortable. “If it’s okay, that is. If you don’t want me to come, I can go.”

She stared at him. “Oh Anthony,” She half sobbed, completely breaking down and throwing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. It was probably the nicest thing someone had ever done for her. She hadn’t realized how much she had needed someone until she saw him in front of her. She squeezed him tightly, pushing the tears back that were brewing under her eyelids. “Thank you.”

She hadn’t had to ask, he was just there. That was Anthony Bridgerton.

“It’s okay,” He murmured, squeezing her back before she removed herself off him, half sniffling. Anthony had never handled emotional women well. “Let’s go? You have music privileges but if I hear one one direction song, they’re gone.”

“As if you don’t already know the lyrics and like them,” Kate teased, climbing into the car and putting on her seatbelt.

“I have three younger sisters,” He grumbled, flicking a glance at the rearview mirror as he pulled out onto the road. “Of course I know the lyrics.”

It’s a long and hard day, but she feels better when Mary, her stepmother, her mum, opens their front door and hugs her. Edwina squeals as she runs towards Kate, hugging her tightly.

“Hey guys,” Kate said, smiling as she stepped aside and gestured awkwardly to Anthony. “This is my friend from university, Anthony.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Anthony said, oddly formal as he extended his hand. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you. It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” Mary said, smiling at Anthony as she gestured to them to come inside. “Come in! We can have some tea and biscuits before we head off.” She shot Kate an amused smile behind Anthony’s back, who was being lead into the kitchen by a chattering Edwina.

Kate ignored Mary, because she knew that look and there was no look needed. There was nothing going on between her and Anthony.

The memorial is long, and quite sad. Anthony puts his arm around Kate at one point, when she can’t hold her tears, silently streaming down her cheeks. There’s a small lunch at the local pub afterwards, which Kate spends mostly talking to old friends of her fathers and familiar faces she hadn’t seen since she had left for university.

Kate takes Anthony on a walk down the pier, where she spent most of her childhood hanging out with her friends. “I had my first kiss there,” She pointed at the edge of the pier where there were a few steps that led to the sea. “I had my first drink there as well. I remember how disgusted I was about how disgusting beer was. All that hype for it to taste like piss.”

Anthony snorted, licking his lips as he tried to keep up with his melting ice cream. His face was a mess, a few sprinkles at the edge of his ice cream stained mouth. “Very romantic. So this is where the Kate Sheffield came to be?”

“It is indeed. Here,” She chuckled, stopping in her tracks as she reached up to wipe his white stained mouth softly. “You’re very messy.”

He was staring at her as she wiped his mouth, and her brain had only caught up with her actions a few moments later. She was touching his face, her hand on his cheek as she wiped his mouth.

His mouth.

His perfectly, slightly rose tinted lips.

“Oh my god! Kate!” Her old school friend, Ophelia Nixon, who had gone to university in Nottingham screeched as she ran up to Kate and hugged her. Kate introduced Anthony and they made polite conversation before Kate said they better head back as they had a long drive ahead of them.

The moment between her and Anthony had come and gone as quickly as it had happened. Neither of them acknowledged it.

Kate shook her head, thinking she was being ridiculous. There wasn’t a moment, of course there wasn’t.

Right?

“I like him,” Mary said later that evening, hugging Kate at the doorstep as her and Anthony were about to leave. Anthony had already said goodbye, and he was waiting in the car to give the Sheffields a private moment.

“I like him too,” Kate said, giving her mother a pointed look. “As a friend.”

“Of course dear,” Mary brushed Kate’s thick hair out of her eyes, winning at her. “It was lovely to see you, darling. Safe drive home. I love you a lot.”

“I love you too,” She hugged Mary one last time, before moving to hug her sister.

“I hate when you go,” Edwina murmured, wrapping her arms around her sister tightly. “You should bring back boys more. Especially ones who look like that.”

“Edwina!”

“What?” Her sister replied innocently, but she was smirking. “He definitely likes you.”

“I love you,” Kate said pointedly, ending the conversation as she pulled away from her sister. “I’ll call you both later.”

“Love you,” Edwina was laughing, waving in her and Anthony’s direction. “Bye Anthony!”

Anthony looked up and waved as Kate groaned, turning to give her a sister a murderous glare as she climbed into the car.

“You okay?” Anthony asked as Kate waved at her mother and sister’s fading figures as they drove off.

“Yeah,” She said, that feeling of sadness still aching slightly in the pit of her stomach. The years passed, and it got slightly easier, but it would always hurt. She smiled at him. “Thank you for today.”

“Of course,” said Anthony, returning her smile before focusing back on the road as they sat in a comfortable silence. Kate felt herself dozing off, the events of the day catching up on her, but as she fell asleep thinking about how much her dad would have liked Anthony.

Siena Rosso comes into the picture at the start of their second year. Kate doesn’t understand their relationship, if it even is a relationship, and deep down she knows she doesn’t want to understand. She prefers to not think about it, prefers to not think about that gut wrenching feeling in the pit of her stomach when she sees them together.

Besides, Siena is nice. She’s studying drama in the year below them. She’s witty, gorgeous, has no problem putting Anthony in his place and Kate understands why he likes her. She’s absolutely nothing like Kate.

Kate had never had much experience with boys, something she had long come to terms with in school and was once aware of again in university. It did happen, she had more opportunities in university-it just didn't happen a lot. Boys didn’t seem to gravitate towards her and she never got asked out on dates. It just wasn’t something that happened to her.

Edwina had even gotten a boyfriend long before Kate had.

She’s at a party one night in October, and Anthony isn’t there. Kate had been trying to make more of an effort with people outside of their friendship group and particularly people who weren’t Anthony. He had a life outside of her, and she would have one outside of him. She was invited by Poppy, a girl she had met in one of her history electives.

She gets paired up with Simon Basset for beer pong at the pre-drinks, and they were getting on very well. She didn’t know him at all, she only knew of him from Anthony. They had gone to Eton together, but Kate hadn’t met him until tonight. Anthony had been good friends with him for years, but hadn’t thought to introduce Kate or invite her whenever him and Simon met up.

“I’m Simon,” He introduced himself as grinned at her. “I really don’t like losing at beer pong.”

“Good thing I don’t lose,” Kate replied swiftly, smirking right back at him.

They walk to the club together and he gives her a piggyback when she complains her feet hurt. She puts up an instagram story of Simon and her winning beer pong and another of them smiling at the camera.

She ignores Anthony’s reply to her story, and she drinks more.

When she's on her third drink, Kate decides her and Simon were flirting. They were definitely flirting.

“What course did you say you were in again?” Simon shouts over the music, his hands lingering on her waist.

“Law,” Kate shouts back at him, leaning up slightly to speak in his ear.

“Ah! Do you know Anthony Bridgerton?”

"Yeah!" Kate tries to contain the grin that forms on her face the minute he's mentioned. "He's one of my best mates."

“Wait,” said Simon, the grin on his face completely disappearing. “You’re Kate?”

“Yeah,” She said, raising an eyebrow slightly at Simon's fallen face. “Has he mentioned me?”

“I can’t do it, I’m sorry,” Kate looks confused and Simon sighs, shaking his head. “I can’t do it to Anthony.”

“What? Can’t do what?” said Kate, raising an eyebrow. “Oh! No, no. We’re just friends!”

“I still can’t,” Simon insisted, actually taking a step back from her. Did Eton breed these boys to be so dramatic? “Believe me, I want to, but I can’t. Bro-code.”

“That’s ridiculous. Wait, did he say something to you?” Kate asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at him and feeling quite infuriated. Why couldn’t he do that to Anthony? Kate was his friend, not his sister. Not that it made a difference but to boys it clearly did. Kate didn’t know what category it fell into.

Simon just winked at her, “I better go before I do something I’ll regret but really won’t regret. I’ll see you around Kate,” Simon then literally ran away from Kate, and Kate was left standing there, gobsmacked.

“What just happened?” Poppy asked, walking up to Kate and following her gaze towards the back of Simon’s head, fading into the crowd.

Kate sighed, taking a long gulp of her vodka and cranberry. “I have absolutely no idea.”

The following day, Kate was feeling rather sorry for herself as she sat in the common room of their accommodation. She was incredibly hungover, exhausted and had sat through two lectures back to back that morning. She was meeting Anthony for lunch before she went to sleep for the rest of the day.

Anthony strode into the common room, a frown on his face as he sat down opposite her. "Were you with Simon Basset last night?”

“Wha?” Kate mumbled, her hangover pounding against her temple. “Hello to you too. Oh, yeah.” She would have rather forgotten about him, the guy who had rejected her in the middle of the club.

“And?” Anthony pressed, staring at Kate rather disgruntled.

Kate sat up, rather confused at his attitude. She was more than familiar with Anthony's moodiness, but this was slightly bizarre. He looked pissed. “And what?”

“Kate,” Anthony snapped, looking oddly serious as he pulled out his sandwich. “What do you think? Did you get with him?”

She didn’t care for his tone and she glared at him as she lifted her head. She ignored his question. “Did you say something to Simon Basset about me?”

Anthony gaped at her, his mouth hanging open with his half chewed lunch. “What?”

“Ew, shut your mouth you animal,” She scolded, making a face at him. “He mentioned you last night.”

Anthony put his sandwich down, looking at her seriously. “Did you get with him?”

Kate felt her cheeks heat up, forcing herself to look at him and scowl. “That’s none of your business!”

He was not pleased in the slightest. His tone was cold with a hint of irritation, lower than usual. “Kate.”

“Anthony.”

He leaned forward as he spoke, “Seriously, Kate.”

“Not that it has anything to do with you, but no, we didn’t!” She exclaimed, not understanding why he was acting quite hostile and why he was acting that question. They weren’t the type of friends to talk about who they got with, and Kate wasn’t really that type of person anyway. She was easily mortified. “He wouldn’t because of you. Something about some misogynistic bro-code.”

Anthony let out what looked like a sigh of relief, but she wasn’t sure. She knew that she would never truly understand men, and this was another example of why she shouldn’t ever bother trying.

“What did you say to him?” Kate asked, frowning at him, now happily munching away at his sandwich. She felt ridiculous asking, but she was confused and annoyed. “Did you tell him not get with me? You better not have Anthony Bridgerton. I will murder you.”’

“I didn’t tell him anything! Jesus, Kate. It’s Bro-Code. You don’t get with sisters, girlfriends, ex-girlfriends or girls who are best friends of your friends. There’s some lines you don’t cross,” He shrugged. “It would be like me getting with Edwina.”

“Okay, I’m eating my lunch and I'm extremely hangover,” She gagged, shuddering at the thought. “That is not the same. That code is ridiculous. Women aren't possessions you can ban your friends from getting with simply because they mean something to you.”

“It would be like you getting with Benedict!” The coloured veins in his neck were sticking out and she could see his frustration. “It’s wrong and immoral.”

“Again, eating my lunch. Benedict is a child so that’s another disgusting example I won't be entertaining. You're being absolutely ridiculous,” She shook her head, “I can still get with whoever I want. I don’t need your permission or some stupid code dictating that.”

“I never said you did,” He retorted, wiping his mouth with a napkin. “Besides, Basset is my friend and all, but he’s bad news. He flies through girls. He’s not relationship material.”

“That’s sort of the pot calling the kettle black, though, isn’t it? Siena is still with you.” She felt like she had gone too far, but she was too angry to care. Siena was a sensitive topic, an unspoken topic, but she did it anyway. “I know what I can handle.”

“Do you, though?” His tone wasn’t angry, it was cold. She had struck a nerve. He looked at her with a blank expression and Kate felt like he was looking right through her. “It’s not like you know what you’re talking about. You’re not exactly experienced, are you?”

Kate stared at him, speechless, as if her ability to speak had been slapped out of her. She felt the heat rush behind her eyes and the tears that were quickly following, but in that moment she’d rather die than cry in front of him.

She just grabbed her bag and walked off, ignoring his calls behind her.

They don’t speak for three days, which frankly, sucks. It's their first big fight in the two years they've known each other. They bickered constantly but they never actually fought. It was awful. They still had to see each other, at lectures and around the university, but she sits at the back and as far away from him as possible. He had tried to speak to her and pretend like nothing had happened the following day, but she had just walked past him.

He had really hurt her feelings. Her lack of experience was a sensitive topic, and he knew that, everyone knew that and he had still thrown it back in her face.

“Kate?”

It’s a Wednesday night and she’s in her room, writing an essay about corporate law. She had said no to going to the pub with her friends, she wasn’t in the mood. She was trying to focus on her lectures but her mind kept revolving back to Anthony bloody Bridgerton.

“Kate, I know you’re in there. I can see the light,” Anthony’s voice was loud and clear through her door. “Please talk to me. I’m really sorry about what I said. I didn’t mean it. I was an asshole.”

She didn’t say anything, twirling her pen around with her fingers. Her breath had caught in her throat as she heard his voice, she hadn’t expected him to be there. She figured he had gone to the pub, or was out with Siena.

“I hate not talking to you. I miss you. Please? I brought you those cookies you like. And those fizzy bears,” His voice was pleading, and she knew he meant it. “I’m so sorry. Please.”

She opened the door after a few seconds, staring at him, and then at the goods in his hands. Her willpower had long expired and he sounded so sad, so desperate. He sounded like she felt. “White chocolate chip?”

“Of course,” He said, standing up straight and handing her the food. “I’m so sorry, Kate. Can I-?"

“Come in,” She murmured, walking in and collapsing on her bed. She pulled her legs up, making room for him on the bed. She opened the fizzy bears, offering them to him first.

He hesitated as he looked at her, biting his lip. “We’re okay?”

She nodded, “We’re okay. I am sorry about what I said too, you know. About the pot calling the kettle black comment. You were still a bigger asshole, but I’m sorry.”

“I deserved it. You’re not wrong and I wasn’t exactly nice, was I?” She snorted, and he laughed. “I really did mean it from a good place. I don’t want anyone to mess you around like that.”

“I know, but I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself,” She replied, licking the sugar off her lips. “You need to take that toxic masculinity down a notch, Bridgerton.”

“I know, I know what I said was wrong. It took me longer than I'd like to admit, but I understand that now,” He replied, his voice soft and she felt guilty for being mean to him. He didn’t look great, he looked tired and the skin under his eyes was darker than usual. “I am sorry. Please don’t ever ignore me again. I’d rather get my wisdom teeth out again than go through that.”

“Well, don’t be an asshole and we won’t have any problems, will we?” said Kate, smiling sweetly at him as she opened up the cookies, feeling the white chocolate melt in her mouth. It tasted glorious.

“Whatever or who you want to do, I will support it. I promise,” He looked slightly in pain as he spoke. “I really am sorry.”

“I know,” She nudged him with her foot. “We’re friends again, relax.”

He looked relieved but slightly uneasy. “Is this one of those friendship moments where we should hug?”

She snorted, rolling her eyes. Affection was not something that came natural to Anthony Bridgerton but it was adorable when he tried. “Hard pass.”

They spent the rest of the evening in her dorm, chatting about everything and anything. It had only been three days of not speaking, and she had missed him more than she should have. She had missed him a dangerous amount, and it seemed like he had missed her too.

Kate shook her head, pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind as she focused on Anthony’s story about some trouble his younger brother Colin had gotten into in Eton yesterday. Ever since his father died, Colin had been acting more and more reckless. Anthony didn’t know what to do with him and his mother just coddled Colin.

Their second year is a blur of exams, parties, clubbing, more exams, assignments as winter turns to spring and spring to summer. It’s over before it feels like it has started, and Kate can’t believe it.

Anthony’s on and off relationship ends as well, when Sienna decides to study abroad in Paris for her second year and leaves at the start of the summer. Kate doesn’t let herself think about why she feels lighter, but she still brings him McDonalds and beer when he texts them they broke up. His room is pretty much packed up, unlike Kate, Anthony is very organized. Their second year was officially over and they were leaving tomorrow. Kate hadn’t even packed, but she knew he’d help in the morning.

He doesn’t talk about his feelings, obviously, because he’s Anthony. They watch New Girl instead, on his laptop, eating crisps and drinking coke, until he shocks her and talks.

“She said I was lost,” He murmured, playing with his pocket watch. It was something he always did. “That I didn’t know what I wanted and she couldn’t keep waiting for me to figure it out. I wasn’t fair to her.”

“Oh,” said Kate, gulping slightly. Kate was just above Anthony on how to deal with feelings and general emotion, and that bar was set pretty low anyway. “I think, sometimes, some of us just take longer to figure out what we want. She must know she wants and she’s not wrong for going after it, even if it means leaving other people behind.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s right about you though,” She continued, trying to phrase her words delicately. “You’ve been through a lot, Anthony. It’s okay if you need more time to figure things out. We’re still young. No one meets the person they’re meant to be with when they’re 20 years old.”

“My parents met when they were 18,” He retorted, raising a pointed eyebrow. Anthony’s parents had been madly in love since they were teenagers and they had had Anthony quite young.

“Okay, well, they’re the exception then, not the rule,” She nudged him with her elbow lightly. “I know we’re not the feeling sort, but everything is going to be okay. It hurts because she mattered, and that’s a good thing. It’s better than not feeling anything at all. And eventually it will hurt less and less, and I’ll be here until it doesn’t.”

“Thanks, Kate,” murmured Anthony, looking uncomfortable but he still nudged her back which is probably the most affectionate exchange they’ve ever had between them. “Thank god you’re you. I couldn’t handle a friend who asks me how I’m feeling all the time.”

Kate snorted, rolling her eyes. The word rang in her head, a friend, but that’s what she was. That’s what he was to her. Her best friend, really. Then why did it sting when he said it? “I mean this is the nicest way possible, you need to see a therapist.”

He smacked her with a pillow, and she kicked him in the ribs, and that was the last they spoke of Siena and anything remotely to do with feelings.

Kate ignored the mixture of guilt and relief in her chest to see the back of Siena. She didn't question why it was there.

Kate had been away for most of the summer after their second year of university, traveling abroad with Edwina and Mary. It had been a trip Mary had saved up for for years and it was finally happening. They went interrailing around Europe, from Prague to Paris, staying in hostels and traveling by train.

It was the longest Kate and Anthony had ever been apart since they had met, and it was strange. They spoke on facetime most days, well, Kate spoke and Anthony listened as she spoke about her travels around Europe with her mum and sister. She sent him the picture of her holding the eiffel tower, a picture of her at the colosseum and sunset at a beach in Mykonos.

Not that Kate would ever admit it to another living soul, as much as Edwina had teased her relentlessly about it, she had missed him a lot. She had come to the realization that Anthony was her best friend. Her first, true best friend. He was someone she had always wanted to have in a friend, one that was depicted in movies and television shows-she had had good friends before university, but no one was like Anthony. She didn’t have to be anyone but herself around him.

She was thrilled when he had asked her to spend the last month of the summer with Anthony at his house in Kent. She loved Mary and Edwina but Somerset was boring and she needed to get away.

Kate felt strange.

She had this uncomfortable, nauseous feeling in the pit of her stomach for most of the train ride on her way to Kent. Their flight had arrived in England yesterday morning and once they had driven home, Kate was gone the next morning. She had barely slept last night but she wasn’t sure if it was out of excitement or anxiety at the thought of seeing Anthony again.

She had changed her outfit three times before setting on a violet sundress with a daisy print.

It was just Anthony, Kate.

That was the problem.

It was Anthony.

The train finally pulled in at her station, snapping Kate out of her complicated thoughts and she dragged her suitcase off the baggage railing, glancing around. It was an old station, all she could see in the distance was fields and trees. It was just before noon and all the station had was a man behind the information desk and a small corner shop.

She walked out to the front of the station, half wheeling and half dragging her semi-functioning suitcase behind her as she glanced around the car park. Kate pulled out her phone, pressing the call button on Anthony’s contact.

“About time.”

Kate turned around to see Anthony Bridgerton grinning at her, a pair of black sunglasses covering his eyes. He looked so relaxed, in a simple white t-shirt and blue shorts, suitable for a warm English August in Kent.

It made her feel warm inside.

“Hey there, stranger,” Kate said, her cheeks beginning to ache as her grin matched his own.

She didn’t know who moved first, but when Anthony’s tanned arms wrapped around her, essentially lifting her off the ground and her arms wrapped around his neck, there was one thing Kate knew for certain.

It was the best hug of her entire life.

[berrynarrybanana]

Mrs. Styles - Honeybee Extra

A/N: I would like to let you all know that I don’t know what happened here. I started writing at the beginning of my shift and I just didn’t stop and then bam, this happened? I have links to the outfit and other things mentioned in the fic below. I hope you enjoy the visual trip and the journey of this fic as it is a whirlwind ride. Please let me know if you enjoy this and please tell Harry to stop trying to kill me if you see him, kay? I love you all and I’m here if you need to talk!

Rental House | Outfit |

Word Count: 3k+ 

Warnings: Daddy kink, impreg!kink, roleplay

November 2020

The second the photos broke, I lost it. 

Harry wearing a wedding ring on the set of his new film sent me reeling in a pit of lust and wanting unlike any other. I spent my entire afternoon clenching my thighs together and avoiding small talk with coworkers. I was meant to fly out on Friday afternoon to visit him for the weekend, but I was struggling to hold it together. The wedding band on his finger was taunting me from two thousand miles away and I was caving. Anna had no problem with me disappearing a little early, so long as I had my laptop with me and my articles submitted. 

My flight was switched for Thursday morning instead of Friday evening as originally planned. I had to jump through some hoops to ensure no one actually saw me entering JFK or leaving LAX. Having pap photos taken of me would certainly ruin my surprise. I spent too much time hatching my plan for a group of sleazy men with camera’s to ruin it. 

“Why are you dressed like that?” Harry rubbed at his eyes, his voice scratchy and his brain groggy due to the early hour. “You look like you’re going on a run.”

“I’m doing a bunch of errands for Anna today, so I decided to dress casual.” I shrugged, shifting around in my private lounge seat at the airport. “I’m waiting for a friend of hers to get off their flight before I take them into the office.”

“Thought you were hopping on your flight a little early to surprise me.” He pouted, his eyes shining under the dim lighting. “Made my heart race a little.”

“I wish I could, darling.” I said softly. “I miss you so much already and it’s barely been two weeks.”

“I know, it sucks.” He inhaled sharply, shaking his head. “Only one more sleep and then we’ll be together for the weekend.”

“I can’t wait, squid.” I said softly. “I’ll talk to you later today, okay? Don’t be upset if I can’t answer a text or anything, I’ll be so busy with Anna’s errands-”

“S’alright, honey.” He gave me a reassuring smile. “I’ll be on set so I might not be able to text as often either.”

“Alright.” I said. “I love you.”

“I love you.” He blew a kiss to the camera and I caught it, pressing my fingers to my cheek with a soft giggle. “Have a great day, honey.”

“You too, squid.”

After I hung up with Harry, I jumped into planning mode. 

I already had the address to the rental house and a copy of the key. Harry had sent it to me the moment he got one himself just in case I ever wanted to come visit. We both knew that flight times and his filming schedule might not line up perfectly, so it didn’t hurt to have a key just in case I had to drive from LAX to Palm Springs on my own. I planned on stopping at the Malibu house to steal Roxanne from the garage. It would take me two hours and a half hours to get from Malibu to Palm Springs once I finally started my solo road trip. 

As I switched over to a calming playlist that Harry made for me on my birthday, I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. 

I knew that it would be a fun trip, but I could only hope that Harry really liked his surprise. 

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

The sun was beating down on my bare legs as I leaned against Roxanne. 

I anxiously twirled the set of keys around my perfectly painted fingernails. I picked one of the most infamous shades from the 1950’s to match my hair, makeup, and outfit. I rubbed my painted lips together nervously, taking a shuddery breath as I watched the gate of the production set carefully. I thought that it was going to open four times before, but no one had stumbled off set yet. 

They were all set to do a two hour lunch break today and that gave me plenty of time to do what I wanted with Harry back in his rental home. I spent most of my time getting ready there, following several tutorials on vintage hair and makeup before I dressed in my adorable outfit. It was something I saw on a show about a female comedian in the fifties. I adored her style throughout the whole show, but I really loved this outfit on me. 

It was a pair of black and white check shorts with a matching, three quarter sleeve blazer. I went through Harry’s closet, in search of his ivory silk shirt that I’d seen him wear in a pap photo years ago, to add a little special touch to the outfit. It had his last name stitched on the pocket to compliment the fake wedding ring I’d slipped on my finger. 

That was the part I was nervous about. 

I didn’t want him to think that I was insane for finding a piece of costume jewelry to match his own fake wedding ring. I got the idea on the flight over from New York, my mind racing with ideas and scenarios to play out. I ultimately decided that if he could torture me with a wedding ring, then I could torture him with one. 

The gate finally opened as I started to contemplate picking my nails, a loud screeching sound pulling me from my thoughts as I gripped the keys to the benz in my hand tightly.

Florence was the first out, and while I was delighted to meet the girl who was spending so much time with my boyfriend, I didn’t care to meet her just yet. I watched her turn back, letting out a charming giggle as my boyfriend followed suite behind her. Olivia Wilde was next, a bag on her shoulder and a wide smile on her face. A few other familiar faces trailed out after Harry, and suddenly, my nerves had skyrocketed. A lot of famous people were about to see me in a classic fifties get up with a car scarf around my curls and my legs exposed. 

My nerves were soothed for just a moment as I looked at Harry’s freshly cut hair, slicked back in a style that I thought I would hate on him. As per usual, he looked like a daydream. My breath caught in my throat when he looked over at me, his eyes growing wide and a smirk pulling at the corner of his lips. Florence caught on to his line of sight, following his gaze until her eyes landed on me. I gave him a quick wave as everyone else turned to look at me and I felt my face grow hot. He pressed a quick kiss to Olivia’s cheek and then Florence’s before jogging my way. 

“What the hell is all this?” He gripped my elbow gently, leaning down to press his lips to mine with a wide smile. “Beatrice, you look so good.”

“I know.” I hummed against his lips, brushing my fingers over his cheek. “Hi.”

“Hiya, honey.” He cooed, wrapping his arms around me. “Fuck me, you’re gorgeous.”

“I thought I’d do a little something to surprise you.” I wrapped my arms around his neck, tossing my head back when he pulled the scarf from my head. “Harry!” 

“You did your hair and makeup, too?” He kissed my cheek. “Come on, I want you to meet Olivia and Florence. They’re going to love this.”

“I don’t want her to think I’m mocking her movie.” I glanced down at Harry, causing him to frown slightly. “I did it because I knew you would love it and I had a lot of fun dressing up, but I don’t want to offend her.”

“You won’t.” He reassured me. “She’ll probably make you an extra.”

“Shut up.” I rolled my eyes as he pouted. “Fine, I’ll go over there.”

“Thank you.” He set me down, grabbing my hand before tugging me along. 

“Olivia, Florence,” Harry glanced back at me with a giddy grin. “This is my girlfriend, Beatrice.”

“Hello,” I stuck my hand out between us and they both went for a shake. “It’s really nice to meet y’all.”

“You too.” Florence beamed back at me with a smile that was almost as bright as the sun. “I just want to thank you for letting me borrow your boyfriend. He’s such a lovely person and a dream to work with.”

“Try baking with him, you’ll change your mind.” I squeezed Harry’s hand, letting out a soft chuckle. “He’s like a toddler when he gets in the kitchen.”

“I can’t imagine him in an apron.” Olivia laughed. “We have to see that.”

“I have pictures, I’ll make sure to give him a framed one for his trailer.” I pressed my lips together as Harry squeaked out. 

“Alright, I didn’t think you’d all gang up on me.” He said playfully. “I wanted to show you off and here you are, teasing me for baking.”

“I’m teasing you because you steal the batter on a spoon, not because you’re baking. I love baking with you.” I bumped my hip into his, smiling up at him. “But I’ve got to keep you grounded, don’t I? Your head will inflate and I’ll have to tie a cinder block to your foot to keep you from floating off.” 

“Haha, you’re so funny.” He scrunched his nose up and I tossed my head back, letting out a loud laugh. “Anyways, what do you think of her outfit?”

“Oh, Harry, don’t-”

“It looks great, actually.” Olivia said. “Did I see that on the set of the Marvelous Mrs. Masiel?” 

“Yeah, you did.” I nodded. “I love that show and all of her outfits so much.”

“It looks adorable on you.” Florence said. “You work for Vogue, don’t you?” 

“Yeah.” I nodded. “I did a piece with one of your Little Women co-stars not too long ago, actually.”

“I thought you seemed familiar.” She exclaimed. “You came on set one day, didn’t you?”

“I did.” I nodded. “It was an honest to god, out of body experience for me. I loved Little Women so much as a girl. I seriously wanted to change my name to Josephine after reading it.”

“And then the film was so bloody amazing!” Florence exclaimed. “Harry, why have you kept her away from us for so long?”

“S’not my fault she has a job.” He rolled his eyes, chortling playfully. “I tried to convince her that being a housewife was much more fun, but I think she read the script and decided against it.”

“Yeah, I sure did.” I laughed softly alongside Olivia and Florence. “We should do dinner or something this weekend. I don’t know if you all have plans, but Harry’s rental house has a table that seats like, eight people.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Olivia said. “Just let us know the details and I’ll pass it along to the other main actors.”

“Sounds great.” Harry said. “Well, I’m going to steal my girl away if you don’t mind. I’ll see you in two hours?”

“See you then, Harry.” Florence waved before she took off in the direction of her car. “Bye, Beatrice!”

“Bye, Florence.” I waved back at her with a giggle before turning to Olivia. “It was really lovely to meet you. I’ll make sure to get him back in time.”

“Thank you.” She laughed. “Have a great lunch, you two.” 

“Thanks.” Harry and I said at the same time. 

When Olivia was gone, Harry looked down at me with a smirk. 

“Do I get to fuck you now?” He asked, his dimple popping out. 

“It depends.” I said slowly. “Would you, by chance, like to partake in a little role play?”

“It depends.” He said back. “What do you have in mind?”

I walked forward, smoothing my hands over his t-shirt covered chest. I pressed up on my toes, bringing my lips as close to his ears as I could get them. 

“Do you still have your wedding ring from set?”

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

“Honey!” I heard Harry’s voice from where I was lounging on the sofa, a magazine draped over my thighs. “I’m home.”

I smiled, flipping through my magazine without actually paying attention to it. 

I heard Harry’s footsteps moments later, his dress shoes tapping along the concrete floor of the house. I tilted my head up when he moved in front of me, his eyes trailing over my body. 

“You look comfortable.” He said, reaching for my magazine with two fingers. “You didn’t answer when I called out for you.”

“Sorry, darling,” I hummed out when he pressed his lips to mine. “I was invested in an article.”

“You and your articles.” He breathed against my lips. “It’s been ages since I’ve seen you. Are you just going to sit there?”

“I was planning on it, sweet pea.” I brushed my thumb over his bottom lip. “I’m relaxing my feet.”

“Now, I’ve been gone on business for six days, honey. I would like the chance to properly greet my beautiful wife.” He smirked, setting his briefcase to the coffee table behind him. 

“Mr. Styles,” I twisted my legs off the couch, standing up between the furniture and Harry. “I don’t know what you’re insinuating, but I’ve got far too much to get done today. I’ve still got grocery shopping to do and well, I have to call your Mother.”

“I have a better plan, doll.” He roughly gripped my hips, his fingers digging into my sides harshly as he yanked me against his chest. “How about we sneak off for a little afternoon delight?” 

“Harry Styles, I don’t think so.” I mocked offense, swatting his shoulder. “I’m far too busy.”

“Make time for your husband, honey.” He cooed, brushing his knuckles against my cheek gently before he gripped my chin. “Make love with your husband.” 

“Mr. Styles, you do drive a hard bargain.” I whispered, my breath catching in my throat as our eyes connected in a lustful gaze. “I do have something I’ve been wanting to show you.”

“Mrs. Styles, what have you been up to while daddy’s been away?” He hummed out as his lips brushed against my red painted lips. “Have you been naughty?” 

“No,” I smirked. “I’ve been an angel.”

“Prove it.” He whispered moments before our lips collided. 

He kissed me just like they did in the old movies, his body wrapping around mine. I moaned against him when I felt his tongue slip over my own, giving me a taste of what I had been craving for two weeks now. I let out a giggle and then a squeak of surprise when I felt his hands under my bum, lifting me up into his arms. I wrapped my legs around him, holding on tight as he walked us from the living room towards the bedroom. He dropped me on the bed before grabbing my right ankle, holding my leg up as my ankle rested on his shoulder. 

“These heels…” He started to fiddle with the clasp, finally pulling the strap loose before he slipped it off. “They’re new.”

“Just bought them.” I gripped the duvet under my fingers. “Do you like them?” 

“Yes.” He kissed my ankle before gently resting my right leg on the bed. “Did you buy them with daddy’s money?” 

“I did.” I bit my lower lip as my core clenched, my walls fluttering at his tone. “I bought them for you.”

“You didn’t even ask daddy before you bought them.” He tutted, reaching for my left ankle. “You’re getting bold.”

“I just wanted to surprise you.” I said. 

“I’m very surprised.” He gave me a soft wink, one that let me know my Harry was still in this version of him that we’d quickly created in the car. 

A business man with a daddy kink in the 1950’s that wanted to knock his wife up after a long business trip. It was a simple plot, but it combined quite a few kinks into one scenario, so we didn’t really mind. I giggled when he reminded me that daddy was a common nickname in that time period, something girls called their husbands in a provocative setting. 

When both of my heels were off, Harry brushed his hands up my bare thighs until they landed on my hips. He gently guided me towards the center of the bed before kneeling over me. I lifted both hands up, cupping his cheeks as he leaned down to kiss my lips. 

“Mrs. Styles,” He hummed out. “I’ve been thinking?”

“About what, Mr. Styles?” I pressed my lips over his cheek, sliding my fingers towards the back of his neck. 

“I think it’s been quite lonely around here.” He said. “I can’t imagine you’re enjoying all of this time alone when I’m away on business.” 

“I get by just fine.” I said softly, dropping my head back to the mattress. “Do you want to get a dog, Harry? Is that what this is about?”

“I don’t want to get a dog, darling.” He chuckled, brushing his nose over mine. “I want a baby.”

“A baby?” My eyes grew wide. “Isn’t it a bit soon, darling? We’ve only been married for five months.” 

“That’s more than enough time, doll.” He whined. “I want us to have a beautiful little baby to love and to dote on. I want to show her off in front of my friends and my family-”

“Oh, Mr. Styles.” I sighed, shaking my head. “Don’t you know I’d do anything for you, darling.”

“Is that a yes?” He smirked, his eyes lighting up.

“Yes.” I gasped out when he rutted his hips forward. “Please.”

He wasted no time, stripping me from my blazer and then my tiny shorts. He tossed them aside carelessly, his hands falling to the buttons on the silk shirt that I had stolen from our closet. 

“S’this mine?” He glanced up at me with a confused smirk. “Haven’t seen this in ages.”

“S’yours.” I nodded, holding the lapel to the side to show off his name. “S’got your name on it and everything.”

“Cheeky girl.” He cooed out, dropping his head to press a kiss to my stomach. “It’s our name.”

I let out a low whine in the back of my throat, shifting my hips as Harry made it to the last button towards the top of the dress shirt. I watched his face carefully as he pushed it to the side, his eyes scanning the black, vintage set that I had purchased for today. 

“You’re trying to kill me.” He gasped out as his fingers brushed over the skin of my stomach to my breasts. “Fucking….I can’t take this anymore. I need to be inside of you.”

“Then get inside of me, Mr. Styles.” I lifted my legs, spreading them apart slightly so he could see the cut out area on the crotch of the panties. “You don’t even have to take everything off.”

Harry’s eyes were on mine, burning a dark shade of emerald as he licked over his bottom lip. I giggled when he started to unbuckle his trousers, tanking the zipper down before he tucked his hand in. He pulled his cock out, giving it a few firm strokes before he hovered his body over mine. Seconds later, I felt the stretch of my walls around his cock, causing my body to tense.

“There’s my girl.” He grunted out, pushing himself in as far as he could possibly go before pressing a few, sloppy kisses to my face. “So snug around me, aren’t you?”

“Harry.” I dropped my hands to his back, digging my nails into the cotton of his shirt as he pulled out slowly. Seconds later, he was pushing back in and I was gasping for air. “Fuck, that’s nice.”

“Mrs. Styles, you have such a filthy mouth.” He smeared his lips over mine before both of his hands found their home by my ears. “Who taught you to talk like that?” 

“You.” I let out a breathless chuckle that quickly faded as the tip of his cock massaged my g-spot. 

“Yeah?” His eyelids fluttered shut as he continued to work his hips in a steady rhythm. “No other blokes have been hangin’ round here?” 

“None.” I shook my head as my nails drug down to his lower back and eventually to his bum. I pushed my fingers down his pants, digging my nails into the flesh there. “Just you.”

“You’re my girl.” He gritted out as a single curl fell to his forehead. “Only mine.”

“Only yours.” I whimpered, biting at my lower lip. “You feel so good, Harry.” 

“Can’t wait to see you pregnant, honey.” He let out a whine of his own, clenching his eyes. “It’s gonna be so beautiful, seeing you round and full while you carry my baby..”

“I want it so bad, Harry.”

“And after this baby,” He let out a strangled moan, delivering another sharp thrust that had me gasping. “I’m gonna put another one in you, and then another.” 

“Please, I want it.” I nodded, sliding my fingers back up his back. “Want you closer.”

He pressed his body into mine, his hips moving in desperate thrusts and his pelvis applying pressure to my clit with each move. I tossed my head back, silently asking for his lips to press against my throat. I felt him latch on as his thrust started to get sloppier. I knew that he was close by the little whines pulling from his throat and the puffs of air hitting my skin. 

Harry’s hand slipped between our bodies in no time, rubbing my clit with an urgency that I’d never experienced before with him. I felt my body flush warm and my walls tighten around him as he delivered three final thrusts. We both cried out when he spilled into me, filling my walls with his cum until it dripped out onto the black panties still settled onto my hips. 

“You bought yourself a ring?” our chests were both heaving, his body still pressed into mine. 

I tried to let out a giggle, but he was heavy against my body and it came out wheezy. 

“It’s costume jewelry.” I brushed my hand over his back. “Just thought it would be fun after I saw you wearing that ring on set. I saw the pictures online and they nearly killed me.”

“Mhm, you’re just trying to seduce me into proposing earlier than I planned.” He lifted his head, pressing his lips against mine in a sweet kiss. “Hello, honey.”

“Hiya, darling.” I lifted my hand, tugging gently on the curl that fell over forehead with a fond smile. “I love you.”

“Love you, too.” He whispered. “I love you and everything you do for me. I don’t tell you enough how much I appreciate you for being the best girlfriend out there.”

“Harry-” 

“Don’t deflect or play it down,” He said sternly. “I mean every word from the bottom of my heart, Beatrice. I...no one else on set has had a spouse or partner come visit them on the weekends. No one else had flowers sent to their trailer or daily facetime calls and inspirational messages. You make me feel so loved and so special on a daily basis and that means the world to me. So thank you for being you, honey. I love you with all of my heart.”

“I love you, too.” I sniffled, blinking rapidly as a few tears fell down my temples, into my hair. “I hope you liked your surprise. I didn’t want to freak you out, but I thought it would be fun.”

“It was.” He brushed his nose over mine. “It was a lot of fun, actually. I think we should mess around like that more often.”

“Not too often, though.” I chuckled. “One of these days, I’ll actually end up pregnant.” 

“Wheat’s wrong with that?” He hummed out. 

“One step at a time, darling.” I patted his shoulder. “Oh, just so you know, we won’t be having a girl first.”

“Excuse me?” Harry hissed when I pushed at his shoulders, causing him to slip out of my walls. I guided him to his back before I climbed on top of him, pressing my palms to his tummy. “I don’t...what?” 

“You said ‘her’ earlier, but we’re having a boy first.” I said casually. “I know it.”

“How do you know it?” He chuckled as his brows creased. “Did you make a deal with Stevie at one of her witch things?” 

“I didn’t need to make a deal, I just know it.” I patted his cheek. “Gonna name him Ellis.”

“Why Ellis?” He tilted his head to the side. “Where did you hear that?” 

“Ellis Island.” I smiled. “We took our first vacation together in New York and the ferry to Ellis Island was one of my favorite parts of that trip. It’s a piece of our history.”

“I love that.” He said softly. “I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” I giggled, leaning forward to press my lips against his. “Round two?” 

“Why, Mrs. Styles, I like the way you think.”

[anythingandeverything1d]

Birthday Affair

Friday 7/17/20:

You were sitting in your bed crying. Not just crying though, a very sloppy cry. Snot and tears were running down your face, your body echoing with hiccups and sobs. How had things even gotten to this point? How could he have done this? No. How could SHE have done this. You climbed out of bed, grabbed your packed bags, and looked at the room once more. The room that held so many memories and so much love. You looked at the picture of you and Harry on the wall. It had been an anniversary gift. You grabbed it and threw it. Watching it shatter only made you cry harder. You bit your lip, debating everything, maybe you were still overreacting....maybe you should trust them....but the fact was you couldn’t deny the truth. They were sneaking around, lying, creating excuses, texting, calling and avoiding you. Harry had grown distant, and she had grown defensive. And you didn’t want to stand around and watch the inevitable happen. You were moving out so that Harry could move on...with your sister. You walked out the door, threw your stuff in the car, and tried thinking back to when everything had actually gone to hell.

Tuesday 7/7/20:

“Ugh” you groaned, walking through the door with an armful of groceries. It felt like it had been forever since you and Harry had gone shopping and with the cabinets almost empty, an emergency trip after work had been necessary. You kicked off your shoes and walked towards the kitchen, “Harry?” You dropped the bags in the kitchen, looking around for the curly haired boy you knew was home. “Haz?” you called out again. You looked in the living room which was empty and moved to his office. You were about to walk in when you heard a giggle. You froze, ear to the door and heart racing. 

“No, no I love that....” Harry laughed. You bit your lip, listening for the other voice again.

“Yay! I’m glad, you have better taste than I thought Styles.” The girl’s voice was familiar, a little too familiar...

You pushed open the door with a confused frown, “(y/s/n)?” You crossed your arms and stood in the doorway. Your sister was sitting on Harry’s desk, leaning down towards him. Harry’s cheeks flushed red, the way they always did when he was caught doing something wrong. “What’s going on?”

Your sister sat up with a smile, not looking at Harry. “Hey sis!” She walked over and threw her arms around you. “I was just in the neighborhood and figured I’d stop by to see you, though you weren’t home so Harry here was keeping me entertained.”

“Hm.” you mumbled looking at Harry for a different explanation. 

He stood up with a nod, and walked over, pressing a kiss to your cheek. Instead he changed the subject. “How was work love?”

“Fine.”

Harry shifted uncomfortably, he knew you well enough to know you were upset about what you had just walked into. You sister had also noticed. She hugged you once more, gave Harry a smiling nod and then walked to the door. “Well I better get home, I’ll talk to you guys later. Thanks for everything H.”

After the door had closed, you turned to Harry. “H? Since when is she calling you H?”

Harry sighed and moved towards you, pulling you into his arms. “It’s just a nickname babe...one that you call me all the time. She probably picked it up from you.” Harry smiled and spun you in a circle before kissing you softly. 

You grinned, he was right. You were probably overreacting, it was your sister after all. You kissed him back and walked towards the kitchen, smacking his butt on the way out. Harry of course took that as an opportunity to grab you, pull you back and lift you into his arms and against the office door. You laughed, holding his cheeks in your hand and kissed him again. “We have groceries that need put away.”

“Can’t we do that later?”

“No...there are freezer items.” You laughed, touching your nose to his.

“I only need like 5 minutes though.” Harry smirked and you shook your head, wiggling out of his arms.

“Please when do we ever only take 5 minutes.” you grabbed his hand, tugging him into the kitchen.

Harry laughed and shook his head, “I could do it all in 5 minutes if I wanted, but why rush a delicious treat like yourself.”

You just laughed, unpacking the bags and handing him items to put away, forgetting all about the drama that had just unfolded.

Thursday 7/9/20:

You were snuggled up in Harry’s lap, nearly asleep when his phone rang. You groaned, burying your face into his belly, trying to tune out the noise. Harry lifted the phone, read the name and promptly stood up. You sat up with a frown. “Where are you going?”

“I just need a minute for this call. I’ll be quick.” He kissed your nose, and then answered. “Hey, just a sec.” You laid your head back into the couch but sat up when you heard a woman's voice clearly tease him about always needing a minute. You shook your head, probably hearing things or looking for a reason to be upset. 

You focused on the tv show you had been previously watching, but when the episode ended you realized Harry was still not back. You stood up, stretching and walking around the house to find Harry. You stopped at the office door, listening to see if he was still on the phone. You heard him laughing and then whisper, “No...she doesn’t have to know....yeah it can be our little secret.” You frowned pushing the door open. Harry’s head whipped up, “I have to go, I’ll talk to you later.” Harry hung up and smiled, “Everything okay ba-”

“Who was that?” you hung your hands on your hips and frowned at him.

“No one...it was just a work call.” Harry mumbled, walking back out of the office and back towards the living room. “Sorry I missed the end of the show what happened.”

“Harry.” You stopped following him in the kitchen. He sighed and turned around looking at you. “Who were you on the phone with?” you asked again.

“(y/n)...I promise it was no one important okay?”

“Fine. What were you talking about then?”

“Nothing....just- just” Harry was stumbling for words and you were getting angrier. “You know what, no. I don’t always have to explain who I was talking to and what it was about.” Harry was now angry too, stomping to the living room and grabbing the remote off the floor.

“Fine.” You spun around on your heels with tears in your eyes. On top of Harry lying, he had now also yelled at you. You ran to the bedroom, collapsing in bed crying. 

Harry wandered in a few minutes later with a sigh. “Babe....” He rubbed your back, trying to get your face out of the pillow it was buried in. “Babe come on....I’m sorry I got upset with you..”

“Whowereyoutalkingto?” you mumbled into the pillow, refusing to look at him.

“What?” Harry laughed softly. “I can’t understand pillow talk like that...”

You couldn’t help but smile at the joke. You rolled over and looked at him through tears. “Please...you love pillow talk more than anyone I’ve ever met.” 

Harry grinned and wiped the tears falling from your eyes. “I love pillow talk with YOU.” He tapped your nose and sighed, catching another tear.

“Who were you talking to Harry?” You couldn’t let it go, you didn’t know why but something just didn’t feel right. 

“It was just Louis...we were talking about how he wanted to surprise El for their anniversary...that’s it.”

“Then why did you say it was work related...”

Harry bit his lip and intertwined his fingers in yours. “I just know you’re friends with El and didn’t want to make you feel like you were keeping secrets from her. I know how much you hate that. I’m sorry if it seemed like I was hiding something and I’m sorry for yelling.”

You smiled, climbing into his lap. “You should've just told me...”

“I will next time okay?”

“Okay.” you grinned. Harry attacked your face with kisses and laughed.

“I’m going to go get showered and then maybe we can actually have some pillow talk?”

You nodded and he kissed you once more before walking into the bathroom. You heard the shower start and saw his phone sitting in bed. You don’t know why you felt you needed to fact check him, but you did. You grabbed the phone, entering his password and clicking on calls. You went to recents and frowned, instead of Louis’ name at the top, it was your sisters. Harry had lied.

Sunday 7/12/20:

You hadn’t let Harry know you were snooping through his phone the other day and you hadn’t let him know you knew he was lying. You were waiting to catch him in the act again. You had though, been distant and spacey with him and could tell it was driving him mad. “Babe.” Harry walked into the kitchen after his workout.

Without looking up from your computer you mumbled, “yeah?”

“We are going out tonight?”

“Ok.” you answered still working on your project.

Harry sighed, closing the computer and staring into your eyes. “What’s going on?” he frustratedly yelled.

“Harry!” you groaned finally meeting his eyes. “I was doing a project for work!”

“Well now we are talking so spill. What’s going on?”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I want to know why you barely look at me, why you don’t want to cuddle anymore at night, and why you can’t seem to have a conversation with me when I’m trying to plan something nice for you.”

“I said okay, I didn’t know I needed to ask more since you normally keep these things a secret. I’ve been busy at work this week as well and you know that! I have a huge project due tomorrow that I need to make sure is perfect.”

“Yeah but this isn’t just a busy work week thing. It’s literally been going on since like what Friday?”

“I don’t know.” you mumbled looking down at your nails.

“See! You can’t even look at me. What the fuck is wrong?” Harry was pulling at his hair the way he did when he was nervous or anxious.

“Maybe I don’t want to look at a liar.” you growled, meeting his glare.

“What are you talking about?” His green eyes were searching yours with confusion.

“How about that call with Louis the other day? Or did you forget to tell me that Louis was just a code name for my sister.”

Harry bit his lip, his cheeks flushing red. He was caught and there was nothing he could do about it. “(y/n) I swear-”

“You swear what Harry? You flat out lied to me. You know how I feel about lying!”

“I’m sorry!” Harry stepped towards you but you stepped back.

“What were you even talking about with her? Why does she even have you number because I didn’t give it to her.”

“We were talking about...about...-”

“Stop trying to think of another lie!” you cried.

“We were talking about your mom.”

“What?” your mouth dropped and you looked at him like he was crazy.

“Yeah...your sister said that she wanted to surprise your mom and dad with everyone flying home for a visit.”

“Why would she be talking to you about that and not me?”

“She wanted to surprise you as well...thought a weekend getaway would be good because of how busy work has been. She was just checking with me to see if we had any plans.” You bit your lip, trying to decide if that was the truth or not. It made sense....but also with everything going on it didn’t. Harry sighed and walked towards you. You let him pull your body against his. “Baby I’m sorry for lying...I know how you feel about it and I was wrong to keep you in the dark.”

“When is this supposed to happen?”

“This weekend.”

You circled your arms around Harry’s waist and sighed. “I’m sorry too....I shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions...”

“(y/n)....I love you. No one else. Just you.”

You smiled and looked up. “I love you too H.”

Harry kissed you before smiling and pulling away. “Now come on, lets get ready for dinner.”

You nodded, racing Harry to the bathroom. Once you were both showered and ready, you jumped in the car and headed to the restaurant. Harry’s phone had been blowing up with texts since the minute you had gotten in the car and it was driving you crazier and crazier with every ding. “Do you want me to check those for you?” 

“No...no that’s okay?”

“You sure...it seems kind of important..”

Harry sighed, picking the phone up and scrolling the messages. “It’s not.” He assured setting the phone back down. A few dings later and Harry picked it up again, reading the messages with a smile and texting back. You watched with your mouth open as the king of “no texting while driving” replied to the texts. Harry caught you looking, mumbled sorry and then focused on the road.

You tried to put the whole thing behind you, but all throughout dinner Harry was grinning ear to ear at his phone, barely present in the conversation at the table. You tried looking at who he was talking to but he always turned the phone off and placed it down when you did, which only made you feel like he was hiding something even more.

After dinner once you were home, Harry was still focused on his phone so much he didn’t even see you leave the couch to go to bed. You rolled your eyes, crossing your arms and sighing as you walked up stairs. Once he finally made his way up to bed and tried to snuggle into you, you turned to your side, scooting over away from him and saying nothing. He seemed to get the hint and rolled over without another word. Pretty soon you heard his gentle snores coming from the pillow next to yours. That wasn’t the only thing though, it was also his phone that kept receiving texts. You groaned, reaching across his body to turn the sound off, but instead found yourself scrolling through his notifications. “Harry what the hell.” you nearly yelled, causing him to jump up, hitting you body.

“What?” he asked groggily.

“Why are you texting my sister.”

Harry sat up straight, suddenly very awake. He grabbed his phone from your hands and looked at you. “Why are you going through my phone?”

“Maybe because its been going off all fucking night and I can’t sleep.” You rolled your eyes. “Why is my sister telling you to delete the previous messages so that ‘she doesn’t see’”

“I don't know...I-”

You were done with it all, the lies the messages, all of it. “Well come and get me when you figure it out.” You grabbed your pillow and the blanket at the foot of the bed and ran downstairs. There was no way you were sleeping with him until the truth came out.

Wednesday 7/15/20

Things with Harry had been tense. He had taken the couch every night allowing you to sleep in bed. He tried explaining different situations, none of which made sense and only made you angrier, but now that the week was half over...you were feeling the stress of it as well. You missed him. You missed talking to him, the jokes he would tell before you fell asleep, the cuddles, the kisses, sex, you really just missed HIM.  That’s why you had come home from work early, with his favorite ice cream, and an evening of movies planned. It was time to just move on...you hated being mad at him and honestly felt a little guilty for the accusations that had been thrown around the last few days. Him fucking your sister was ridiculous...right? Yeah, yeah it was.... 

“Harry?” you called out. “HARRY” you yelled a little louder. With no response, but his car in the driveway you grabbed your phone, checking his location. According to the location of his phone, he was at....your favorite cafe...the one he always went to write at. You stuck the ice cream in the freezer and got in the car, you really just wanted to apologize and make up. 

You made it to the cafe fairly quickly and walked inside looking around for Harry. You smiled when you spotted him at the table the two of you would always sit in. You hurried over, sitting in the free seat with a smile, not even realizing someone else’s stuff was already there. Harry looked up surprised, and little guilty looking. “(y/n)? What are you-”

“I’m sorry.” you grabbed his hands and sighed, dropping your head. “I want to be done arguing...I miss you...I miss us....”

“I-”

“No...just wait. I took off work early today. I just kept thinking about everything that has been going on this week and it’s not okay. I mean when have you ever slept on the couch...we never fight like this and it’s making me feel sick. I don’t want to lose you.”

Harry smiled and kissed the top of your hand. “You’re not going to lose me. I hate fighting like this as well.”

“Do you forgive me?” you asked, a tear falling down your cheek. 

Harry wiped the tear away and stood up arms open. “Of course, do you forgive me?” 

You stood up, hugging him tightly and enjoying the warmth you had missed out on the last few days. “Yeah. I love you.”

“I love you too beautiful.” Harry kissed the top of your head and took his seat. 

“So what are you working o-”

“(y/n)!” you sisters arms went around your shoulders and you froze. Harry also froze, looking up with a guilty expression.

“(y/s/n) what are you doing here?” You looked at her and then realized that you were now sitting in her seat. It was her purse on the chair, her cup of coffee. You felt sick and stood up, gripping the chair for support. 

“I uh-” Harry began.

“Harry messaged me. He said he wanted to talk...since you guys were having problems and he was asking for some advice on how to handle everything.”

“He was?” You looked at Harry and frowned. “Why wouldn’t you just talk to me? You knew what the problem was....and you thought this would help?”

“Well I didn’t really think you would show up...” he mumbled.

You blinked away tears, walking towards the door. “(y/n) wait.” You sister called out, grabbing your arm. You shook her free and got to the car before truly breaking down. After a few minutes there was a knock on the door and Harry was standing outside. 

“Go away.” you cried.

“Let me in...” You reluctantly unlocked the door and let him into the passenger seat. “Babe...I’m sorry.”

“Why do you even have to involve her? She’s my sister. I don’t want her knowing every problem I have in a relationship. And you know that the whole thing with us started because of your communication with her. Why can’t you just talk to me?” you were crying harder, the tears blurring him out.

“Shh...baby don’t cry. I didn’t do this to hurt you...I just thought she may know how to approach the situation better than I did. I wanted to make sure I could correct the problem.”

“She’s the problem. She’s the problem, Harry. And you brought her into it again.”

“I-”

“Why can’t you see that? The problem started with her in the office that day, then with the phone call, and the texts, and now this...”

“Babe. I swear. I just wanted advice on how to fix us. I-”

“Then why didn’t you ask one of your friends!”

“You really want me to ask Louis, or any of the guys for advice on how to talk to you. Have you seen the relationships they are in?” You sniffled and looked at him. He had a point. “I’m sorry about everything okay? I love you. So much. I miss you at night, and during the day. These past three days have been torture for me. I just wanted to fix this.” You let him grab your hand and kiss it, calming down a little bit. “Tell you what, why don’t you let me drive and we will go get some ice cream. You took time off, let’s use it okay? I want to spend time with you today...I want things to be better.” You nodded, climbing out of the car. Harry pulled you into a tight hug and kissed your nose before getting in the drivers seat. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You smiled, grateful to get over this hump and move on.

Thursday 7/16/20:

You and Harry were finally getting back to normal. Last night had fixed everything. Ice cream, movies, dinner, more ice cream and then there was the sex. You weren’t sure why but something about make up sex was just so good, and after everything you had been through with Harry. Last night had been amazing.

You had decided to take off work for the day, allowing you some time to mentally relax. Most of the day was spent lounging around, talking to Harry, and enjoying some time in the sun. “Hey babe, I need to do some work so I think I’m going to the cafe.”

“Okay. Do you want company?” You were lounging by the pool, but also wouldn’t mind a snack and some more time with Harry.

“No...no I think I need to get this done so I can come back and enjoy the evening just being with you.”

“Okay, I understand.” You stood up, pressing your lips to his. His hands went down your back and he sighed. “What was that for?” “I just wish I didn’t have to work so we could explore what’s underneath the bikini.”

“You did that last night.” you laughed.

“And I’ll do it again tonight.” He kissed you one more time before giving you a wink and disappearing through the doors. 

You sighed, laying back in the sun and enjoying the quiet. After an hour, you wandered inside for lunch and found Harry’s notebook. The one he always writes in. You grabbed your phone, texting him to see if he needed it but then just deciding you would take it to him and grab a sandwich at the cafe.

You made it to the cafe within the hour, but didn’t see his car in the parking lot. You wandered inside, placing your order and looking around. He was nowhere to be seen. You checked your phone, realizing he had texted back no. *Hows writing going?* you asked. *Is the cafe busy?*

You waited, eating your sandwich and read the text with an eye roll. *Not too busy. Writing is going well...should be done soon* Harry was lying again. You looked at his location, he wasn't anywhere near the cafe, or any cafe for that matter. He was at your sisters house. *Oh that’s good. Mind if I join you for lunch?*

You were annoyed. No, you were pissed off. *I’d rather just keep working so I can have more time with you tonight* You laughed, and shook your head dialing his number. “Hey babe.” he answered, out of breath.

“You sound like you can barely breathe are you okay?”

“Uh yeah....just choked on a uh on a muffin.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah, uh...I’d really like to get back to writing though...”

“Yeah...yeah I’m sure you would...”

"Mhm.”

“Well you know what, I’m going to let you get back to writing, and while you’re at it, maybe you can ask my fucking sister if you can sleep at her house because I’m down with whatever this is.”

“What? (y/n) I thought we were over the sister thing..” Harry sighed.

You walked to the car, feeling the tears fall down your cheeks already. “What are you doing Harry?”

“I told you-”

“No. I know what you told me. I want to know what you are doing. Why you lied about writing, about being at the cafe. What are you doing at her house?”

“Babe I-”

“Nevermind. I don’t want to know. I was serious though, don’t come home tonight.” You hung up the phone, driving home in a fit of tears and racing to bed.

Friday 7/17/20:

You opened your eyes and looked at the clock, 2:38 am. You didn’t know where to go. You didn’t want to go, but you also knew Harry would be home and you didn't want to be here when that happened. You didn’t want to believe that he was cheating on you with his sister but after everything, it only made sense. You weren’t in a great position to drive so you settled on a hotel not far from the highway. You would get a few hours of sleep and then start the 20 hour drive to your parents the following morning. Maybe they would know what to do.

You exhaustedly crawled into the hotel bed only to stare at the ceiling. You couldn’t sleep. It was too cold, too quiet, and you had too much on your mind. You were pretty certain you had run out of tears, leaving your eyes itchy, red, and puffy. Your nose was so stuffy you couldn’t breathe out of it, and you just felt drained. You rolled over, gripping a pillow for support. You were about to close you eyes when a knock startled you. You stood up, expecting it to be the hotel staff bringing you the pillows you had requested, but instead a stressed, puffy eyed, Harry stood in front of you. “Harry what do you want?”

“We need to talk.” He grabbed your arm, pulling you with him in the room and sitting you on the bed.

“I don’t want to talk to you. That’s why I left. How did you even find me?”

“Your sister’s phone.” Of course. You had stopped sharing your location with Harry and not her. How stupid.

“Well why don’t you just go back there, I’m sure she can make you just as happy.”

“What?” Harry shook his head. “I told you, I’m not cheating on you and I’m sure as hell not cheating on you with your sister. I-”

“Why should I believe that?” You stood up, yelling. “You have done nothing but lie. Lie about talking to her, about seeing her, and you really think I’ll believe that? I’m not stupid Harry.”

Harry sighed and grabbed your shoulders, forcing you to sit. “I’m going to tell you the truth okay? I just need you to listen and-”

“I DONT WANT TO LISTEN. I’m over this.” You had been wrong, the tears were back.

“Babe....” Harry tangled his fingers into his hair. He looked at you and then rashly moved forward, his lips attacking yours. You sat there frozen, confused as to what was happening. You tried to push him away but your body gave in, your hands tightened around his shirt and you responded to the kiss. Harry smiled and pulled away, kneeling between your legs. “I’m not cheating on you. I’m not having an affair with your sister. I did lie, yeah, because we were trying to plan you a big surprise for your birthday.”

“What?”

Harry laughed. “Your sister came to me last week and said she wanted to do something big for your birthday this year. I said I would help. We’ve only been meeting up to plan the party...”

You shook your head and looked at him, “But, but my birthday is-”

“Sunday...Your birthday is Sunday. I was at her house to finalize things for the party and help get everything put together.” Harry laughed. “Babe you know I’m not your sisters biggest fan. I would never even have met up with her or texted her or anything. But I am your biggest fan and you deserve the world for your birthday. I wanted to make it special.” You were still confused. Harry moved forward, kissing you softly. “Say something...”

You tried thinking of what to say, tried figuring out what was in your head. “Oh.”

Harry laughed and stood up, pulling you into a hug. “I’m sorry I lied, I just wanted this to be a surprise.” To say you were speechless was an understatement. You couldn’t get anything out of your mouth. “Here look.” Harry pulled out his phone and scrolled through the messages all revolving around your birthday.

“Oh.” you mumbled again. You looked at Harry and frowned, crying again. “Harry I-”

“No stop...shh love its okay. I understand.” He kissed you softly and laughed. “I know it looked bad..I should’ve just told you sooner and I’m sorry.”

“I don’t....I don’t like surprises...”

“I know.” Harry laughed. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” You crawled into his lap and brushed back his hair. “I’m sorry for not trusting you.”

“It’s okay...” Harry kissed you and grinned. “I forgive you.”

“Should we go home”

“We have the room, might as well break it in don’t you think?” You grinned and nodded, allowing him to pull you back into the bed. 

“So what are we doing for my birthday..” you asked, now curious what had been planned.

“Well the rest has to stay a secret or your sister is going to kill me. But it does start tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow?”

“Babe, don’t worry about your birthday right now. It’s been a long day...and I think we have something more important to do.”

“Do we?” you giggled.

“Well you don’t just get off the hook for not trusting me that easily....you’ll need to pay up.”

You laughed, crawling on top of him and straddling his lap. You kissed him long and slowly. “Whats your payment?”

“You’re about to find out.” Harry laughed, rolling your back onto the bed, his body over yours. “But you have quite the hefty fine.”

---

A request I had, enjoy!

xoxo

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Anniversary

Summary: Marrying Donaka Mark wasn’t what you imagined your life would be. Yet it turned out to be the best decision ever.

Pairing: Donaka Mark / F!Reader

Wordcount: 2.518

Warnings: mentions of working as an escort, swearing, smut, Dom vibes, sex toys, general nudity idk

A/N: I watched Men of Tai Chi for the first time and god damn Donaka can get it. So this happened. Also big thanks to @ladyreapermc​ for beta-ing this mess in it’s unedited form cause i’m a lazy fuck LOL

*Taglist in reblog

Silence.

All there was was silence. Every day. Every hour of the day. At least when Donaka was home. Which seemed to be more often in the last couple of months.

You were oh so young when you met him. Struggling to earn your own money after you didn’t have enough to pay for uni, you did the last thing you ever wanted to do. You became an escort. Looking back it had to be fate that he was your first client.  He had been searching for a young woman to accompany him to a dinner party.

“Look nice and don’t speak a word.” Was the only sentence he spoke to you the whole evening. Not that you would have been able to form an intelligent sentence on the yacht he had taken you on. He was dressed in all black, while you were wearing a dark purple dress he had bought you. It was the single most expensive thing you ever had worn. Not counting in the diamond earrings he had made you wear. 

Apparently you had done a great job as his pretty arm candy because from that night on, he had booked you regularly. So often that after a couple of months he made you the offer to become his exclusive escort. 

He didn’t like to share. 

He never had made any intentions in taking this thing between you further than just for appearances. Yet you couldn’t deny that he was an attractive man. You didn’t know exactly what he did for a living, but you were pretty sure it wasn’t just a security firm he was running. Donaka was someone you didn't want to have on your bad side. And overall he was more than generous. You agreed to become his exclusive escort if he would pay for you to get your masters degree. Which he did.

He still was as cold as the first time you met him, yet sometimes you got a glimpse on the man beneath the mask. That was mostly when the two of you were alone. 

It was a year into your arrangement when something changed. You had met him in his penthouse more often. Being alone with him still sent a thrill through your body, because you couldn’t deny the attraction you felt towards him. And it wasn’t just his looks. You felt like he genuinely cared for you in his own way. 

But on that day he was on edge. He sat on his big couch when you entered his penthouse, dressed in all black as usual, though his face was a hard mask.

“I didn’t know you would be coming over today.” He hadn’t even looked at you, yet you could see his eyes dark and clouded with anger.

“It’s thursday. You said to always come over on thursday.”

“Well… I’m not in the mood today.” He snapped.

Feeling brave, you stepped into his line of sight, when he finally looked up at you.

“What are you in the mood for then?” You held his gaze as your hands slowly opened the first button of the blouse you were wearing.

“Don’t…” He hissed.

“Why?”

“Cause you won’t be able to take it, once I get up from this couch.” He said quietly, his eyes not leaving yours.

“I am not as innocent as you think Donaka.” You answered, opening the next button. As if you had known something like this would finally happen, you had decided to wear a deep blue lacy bra with matching panties. He continued to watch you for a while, as you slowly stripped down, your confidence shrinking with every second he continued to just sit there, before he finally got up.

“You’ll address me as Sir.” He said, towering over you, one of his hands gathering your hair in a ponytail and slowly tugging your hair so you had to look up at him.

“And tomorrow you are gonna move out of your shitty apartment and move in here.” He stated, his other hand on your hip shooting electricity through your body.

“Yes, Sir.”

A year after this encounter he had suggested getting married.

Like a business transaction. And against all your better judgement you agreed. You never had the intention of marrying anyway. Yet when a dark blue velvet box was waiting on your plate at dinner the next day, the most beautiful emerald cut diamond ring you had ever set your eyes on inside of it, you couldn’t help the nervous flutter in your belly. That Donaka had the hint of a smile on his lips as he watched you slip the ring on your ring finger, didn’t help the whole situation.

He had fucked you against his bedroom window the whole night.

It wasn’t a big ceremony. As a matter of fact it was just you and him on a normal tuesday afternoon. You were getting ready in your bedroom, you still had your own room, even if most nights you spent in the safety of Donaka’s bed, when he had walked in.

“You look beautiful.” He had startled you. You had decided on an ivory shoulder free dress, that hugged you curves perfectly, and ended just over your knees. Looking up you caught his eyes in your mirror, he was wearing a simple black suit, a dark grey dress shirt underneath and the black silk tie you had gifted him for his last birthday. Smiling shyly you had turned around, bending down to get your shoes on, when he got on his knees.

“Let me…” He had mumbled, and helped you in the dark red velvety Jimmy Choos you had fallen in love with. His fingertips on your ankles were driving you insane. When he looked up, you had the words you so desperately wanted to tell him on your lips. I love you.

You didn’t know why it was so hard for you to actually say them. You were getting married to the guy. You had spent almost three years with him, yet you still felt like you only knew so much about him.

“I know this isn’t probably how you imagined your wedding day.” His big hand came to rest on your knee as he looked up at you.

“I never actually imagined ever getting married, Donaka.” You had smiled but sighed.

“Then why did you say yes?”

“I…” You gulped. Before you could stop yourself your hand reached out, your fingertips stroking over his freshly shaved cheek.

“I like being with you. And this…” You shook your head. “Thing between us might be, in a weird way, the healthiest relationship I ever had. I feel happy being with you.”

“I feel happy with you too.”

It was the first time Donaka showed his vulnerable side.

Your wedding day now was exactly five years ago. Donaka had been gone for three weeks on a business trip leaving you alone. Which gave you time to work almost every hour and you were happy when he got back home. You still had your own bedroom. But you couldn’t remember the last time you had slept in it. Ever since the wedding Donaka had opened up more and more. The first time he told you that he loved you, had to be one of the happiest days of your life. Smiling to yourself you got out of the shower, just drying yourself off, before you slipped on the long slip robe he had brought you from one of his trips and tiptoed to the bedroom. 

The door was fully open, letting you see Donaka sit with his back against the massive headboard, sheets spread around himself as he read some reports. He was completely naked, his hair getting a little longer.

Donaka mostly ran around naked when he was home, something you only had found out after you’ve gotten married. The amount of sex you have had in all rooms of his, your penthouse, was insane. For a man in his late forties he had a stamina some twenty years olds would be jealous of. 

His huge king size bed was the only piece of furniture in the room. Black, heavy wood posters framed it and it’s massive dark grey headboard set against the dark green Silk wall behind it. The whole bedroom was rather dark. Much like Donaka.

“You’re home.” You said quietly. You saw him nod, not even looking up at you as he continued to read.

“Everything went fine?” You asked.

He shook his head. “One big fucked up mess is what it is.” He growled, the tone of his voice sending shivers over your whole body, arousal shooting right to your core.You hadn’t touched yourself ever since he left, like he instructed, leaving you a horny mess. And you were ready for him.

“Anything I can help to make it better… Sir?” You added. That made him look up.

“Not today.” He said after a while and focused back on his reading.

With an open mouth you looked at him. You could see that his cock clearly had other ideas as he got hard.

“Well…” You grinned mischievious to yourself as you slowly walked over to your side of the bed, letting you robe slip over your shoulder before you sat on the bed next to him. You could see him watching you from the corner of your eyes as you reached for your moisturizer, beginning to massage it into your skin. 

“I thought a couple of years would go by until my husband neglected me.” You sighed, making sure you spend more time massaging between your thighs, making yourself moan lowly as your hand brushed over your clit.

“I’m not neglecting you, I’m busy. Now be a good girl and go to sleep.” Donaka said. You looked at him, still reading. Yet his cock was standing proudly against his stomach.

Biting your lip you grinned. You could be a good girl, but maybe today you wanted to be a bad girl. You pulled the papers he was reading out of his grasp, laying them down next to him. Before he could open his mouth you had straddled his lap, your hands grabbing the headboard behind him. Dark eyes looked up at you.

“I know you don’t really give a fuck, but it’s our wedding anniversary today. And I haven’t had an orgasm since the morning you left. So I think I’m gonna be a bad girl today, Sir.” You whispered against his ear. His hands were on your ass, his fingers digging into your skin.

“Is my girl horny?” He asked as you began to roll your hips, his cock brushing over your clit with every move.

“Is my wife desperate to cum? To be filled to the brink? To be fucked so hard the whole fucking building hears just what a slut she is?” He asked, closing his mouth around one of your nipples and sucking harshly, making you moan loudly, arching your back against his chest.

“Fuck me, Donaka.” You whimpered.

“No.” He said. Confused you looked down at him, a grin on his lips.

“You want to cum, you take what you want.”

The surprise must have been prominent on your face as he tilted his head up, to meet your lips in a longing kiss. 

“Fuck me and you get to cum as often as you want.”

Reaching with your hand between your bodies, to pump his cock slowly you lined yourself up on top of him, before you slowly sank down on his cock, your eyes not leaving his before he filled you to the brink. Breathing in puffs you looked at each other, until you slowly began to move. With your nipples brushing over his chest hair, everytime you moved up and down, the only noise in the room were your whimpers. With your hand grabbing the headboard behind him you rode him, jumping up and down on his cock, feeling evey ridge and vein, the burn you always felt when he filled you, slowly turning into pleasure.

“Slap me.” You moaned, throwing your head back in ecstasy. His hand slapped your ass with force, his groans muffled by his mouth sucking bruised on the skin on your boobs. He loved to mark you there. For no one to see but him. 

You were almost there when one of his arms sneaked behind your back, flipping you with your back on the mattress. Your surprised yelp turned into a long moan as he began to pump into you hard, his hand holding your wrists over your head down on the mattress, you automatically had brought up. Closing your eyes, as he hit your G Spot with every thrust you whimpered.

“Fuck! You are so sexy. I love when I make your tits jump with every fucking thrust.” He groaned. Opening your eyes, you just saw something pink flash beside him, when you screamed as he brought your vibrator down on your clit on the highest setting.

“Fuck Donaka….” You moaned. He let your wrists go, not that you had any intention on moving your arms.

“You better cum for me, cause I still have some work to do.” He growled, moving the vibe on your clit as his thrusts became deeper, making your toes curls.

With your last strength you brought one arm up to touch his biceps, making him kiss your hand. 

“I…” He rubbed the vibe in circles over your clit, making you explode, you hand clutching the dark sheets. Whimpering, your whole body shook, as he fucked you through your orgasm, making it last until you almost passed out.

“Want me to cum inside you? Fill my wife with my cum?” He asked, making you moan. You loved when he called you wife.

“Yes, cum inside me Don…” You sighed, still trying to breathe normally when he groaned and spilled his massive load inside you. Looking into each other’s eyes as you tried to breathe you couldn’t believe that he was yours.

“I love you.” You whispered. A soft smile graced his lips, a smile that was only reserved for you.

“I love you too. Can you now go to sleep and let me work?” He asked, arching his left eyebrow.

“Seriously?” You asked.

“You’ve been a bad girl. You’re gonna need your strength for your punishment tomorrow.” He said in all seriousness, making you bite your lip.

“And we have an early flight out, so best to let me finish this.” He said, his cock slipping out of you. His eyes left yours for a moment, to look at your pussy, his cum dripping out of you, making him smirk.

“Early flight?” You asked.

“You really thought I’d forget our anniversary? I bought an island.” He said.

“An island?” You asked.

“Your island.” He corrected.

“What do I need to pack?” You asked. Grinning he leaned down, kissing you deeply.

“Nothing. Except maybe the diamond plug. Because that’s all you are going to be wearing for the next two weeks.” He whispered against your lips, before he sat back against the headboard.